Part 83

Ad"a*mant (d"*mnt), n. [OE. adamaunt, adamant, diamond, magnet, OF. adamant, L. adamas, adamantis, the hardest metal, fr. Gr. 'ada`mas, -antos; 'a priv. + dama^,n to tame, subdue. In OE., from confusion with L. adamare to love, be attached to, the word meant also magnet, as in OF. and LL. See Diamond, Tame.] 1. A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness; but in modern mineralogy it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness.

Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield. Milton.

2. Lodestone; magnet. [Obs.] "A great adamant of acquaintance." Bacon.

As true to thee as steel to adamant. Greene.

Ad`a*man*te"an (&?;), a. [L. adamantus.] Of adamant; hard as adamant. Milton.

Ad`a*man"tine (&?;), a. [L. adamantinus, Gr. &?;.] 1. Made of adamant, or having the qualities of adamant; incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; as, adamantine bonds or chains.

2. (Min.) Like the diamond in hardness or luster.

Ad`am*bu*la"cral (&?;), a. [L. ad + E. ambulacral.] (Zoöl.) Next to the ambulacra; as, the adambulacral ossicles of the starfish.

{ A*dam"ic (&?;), A*dam"ic*al (&?;), } a. Of or pertaining to Adam, or resembling him.

Adamic earth, a name given to common red clay, from a notion that Adam means red earth.

Ad"am*ite (&?;), n. [From Adam.] 1. A descendant of Adam; a human being.

2. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of visionaries, who, professing to imitate the state of Adam, discarded the use of dress in their assemblies.

Ad"am's ap"ple (&?;). See under Adam.

A*dance" (&?;), adv. Dancing. Lowell.

A*dan"gle (&?;), adv. Dangling. Browning.

||Ad`an*so"ni*a (&?;), n. [From Adanson, a French botanist.] (Bot.) A genus of great trees related to the Bombax. There are two species, A. digitata, the baobab or monkey-bread of Africa and India, and A. Gregorii, the sour gourd or cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the bark is used by the natives for making ropes and cloth. D. C. Eaton.

A*dapt" (&?;), a. Fitted; suited. [Obs.] Swift.

A*dapt", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Adapted; p. pr. & vb. n. Adapting.] [L. adaptare; ad + aptare to fit; cf. F. adapter. See Apt, Adept.] To make suitable; to fit, or suit; to adjust; to alter so as to fit for a new use; -- sometimes followed by to or for.

For nature, always in the right, To your decays adapts my sight. Swift.

Appeals adapted to his [man's] whole nature. Angus.

Streets ill adapted for the residence of wealthy persons. Macaulay.

{ A*dapt`a*bil"i*ty (&?;), A*dapt"a*ble*ness (&?;), } n. The quality of being adaptable; suitableness. "General adaptability for every purpose." Farrar.

A*dapt"a*ble (&?;), a. Capable of being adapted.

Ad`ap*ta"tion (&?;), n. [Cf. F. adaptation, LL. adaptatio.] 1. The act or process of adapting, or fitting; or the state of being adapted or fitted; fitness. "Adaptation of the means to the end." Erskine.

2. The result of adapting; an adapted form.

A*dapt"a*tive (&?;), a. Adaptive. Stubbs.

A*dapt"ed*ness (&?;), n. The state or quality of being adapted; suitableness; special fitness.

A*dapt"er (&?;), n. 1. One who adapts.