Part 2

Begin file 2 of 11: C. (Version 0.50) of An electronic field-marked version of:

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary Version published 1913 by the C. & G. Merriam Co. Springfield, Mass. Under the direction of Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D.

This electronic version was prepared by MICRA, Inc. of Plainfield, NJ. Last edit February 11, 1999.

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C. (sē) 1. C is the third letter of the English alphabet. It is from the Latin letter C, which in old Latin represented the sounds of k, and g (in go); its original value being the latter. In Anglo-Saxon words, or Old English before the Norman Conquest, it always has the sound of k. The Latin C was the same letter as the Greek Γ, γ, and came from the Greek alphabet. The Greeks got it from the Phťnicians. The English name of C is from the Latin name ce, and was derived, probably, through the French. Etymologically C is related to g, h, k, q, s (and other sibilant sounds). Examples of these relations are in L. acutus, E. acute, ague; E. acrid, eager, vinegar; L. cornu, E. horn; E. cat, kitten; E. coy, quiet; L. circare, OF. cerchier, E. search.

See Guide to Pronunciation, žž 221-228.

2. (Mus.) (a) The keynote of the normal or "natural" scale, which has neither flats nor sharps in its signature; also, the third note of the relative minor scale of the same. (b) C after the clef is the mark of common time, in which each measure is a semibreve (four fourths or crotchets); for alla breve time it is written &?;. (c) The "C clef," a modification of the letter C, placed on any line of the staff, shows that line to be middle C.

3. As a numeral, C stands for Latin centum or 100, CC for 200, etc.

C spring, a spring in the form of the letter C.

||Ca*a"ba (k&adot;*ā"b&adot;), n. [Ar. ka'bah, lit., a square building, fr. ka'b cube.] The small and nearly cubical stone building, toward which all Mohammedans must pray. [Written also kaaba.]

&fist; The Caaba is situated in Mecca, a city of Arabia, and contains a famous black stone said to have been brought from heaven. Before the time of Mohammed, the Caaba was an idolatrous temple, but it has since been the chief sanctuary and object of pilgrimage of the Mohammedan world.

Caas (kńs), n. sing. & pl. Case. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Cab (kăb), n. [Abbrev. fr. cabriolet.] 1. A kind of close carriage with two or four wheels, usually a public vehicle. "A cab came clattering up." Thackeray.

&fist; A cab may have two seats at right angles to the driver's seat, and a door behind; or one seat parallel to the driver's, with the entrance from the side or front.

Hansom cab. See Hansom.

2. The covered part of a locomotive, in which the engineer has his station. Knight.

Cab (kăb), n. [Heb. qab, fr. qābab to hollow.] A Hebrew dry measure, containing a little over two (2.37) pints. W. H. Ward. 2 Kings vi. 25.

Ca*bal" (k&adot;*băl"), n. [F. cabale cabal, cabala, LL. cabala cabala, fr. Heb. qabbālēh reception, tradition, mysterious doctrine, fr. qābal to take or receive, in PiŰl qibbel to adopt (a doctrine).] 1. Tradition; occult doctrine. See Cabala [Obs.] Hakewill.

2. A secret. [Obs.] "The measuring of the temple, a cabal found out but lately." B. Jonson.

3. A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in church or state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few designing persons; a junto.

It so happend, by a whimsical coincidence, that in 1671 the cabinet consisted of five persons, the initial letters of whose names made up the word cabal; Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. Macaulay.

4. The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons united in a close design; intrigue.

By cursed cabals of women. Dryden.

Syn. -- Junto; intrigue; plot; combination; conspiracy. -- Cabal, Combination, Faction. An association for some purpose considered to be bad is the idea common to these terms. A combination is an organized union of individuals for mutual support, in urging their demands or resisting the claims of others, and may be good or bad according to circumstances; as, a combiniation of workmen or of employers to effect or to prevent a change in prices. A cabal is a secret association of a few individuals who seek by cunning practices to obtain office and power. A faction is a larger body than a cabal, employed for selfish purposes in agitating the community and working up an excitement with a view to change the existing order of things. "Selfishness, insubordination, and laxity of morals give rise to combinations, which belong particularly to the lower orders of society. Restless, jealous, ambitious, and little minds are ever forming cabals. Factions belong especially to free governments, and are raised by busy and turbulent spirits for selfish purposes". Crabb.

Ca*bal", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Caballed (-băld"); p. pr. & vb. n. Caballing]. [Cf. F. cabaler.] To unite in a small party to promote private views and interests by intrigue; to intrigue; to plot.

Caballing still against it with the great. Dryden.