Part 36

Das"tard*li*ness (?), n. The quality of being dastardly; cowardice; base fear.

Das"tard*ly, a. Meanly timid; cowardly; base; as, a dastardly outrage.

Das"tard*ness, n. Dastardliness.

Das"tard*y (?), n. Base timidity; cowardliness.

Das"we (?), v. i. See Dasewe [Obs.] Chaucer.

Da*sym"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. dasy`s rough, thick + -meter.] (Physics) An instrument for testing the density of gases, consisting of a thin glass globe, which is weighed in the gas or gases, and then in an atmosphere of known density.

Das`y*pæ"dal (?), a. (Zoöl.) Dasypædic.

||Das`y*pæ"des (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. dasy`s hairy, shaggy + &?;, &?;, a child.] (Zoöl.) Those birds whose young are covered with down when hatched.

Das`y*pæ"dic (?), a. (Zoöl.) Pertaining to the Dasypædes; ptilopædic.

Das"y*ure (ds"*r), n. [Gr. dasy`s thick, shaggy + o'yra` tail: cf. F. dasyure.] (Zoöl.) A carnivorous marsupial quadruped of Australia, belonging to the genus Dasyurus. There are several species.

Das`y*u"rine (?), a. (Zoöl.) Pertaining to, or like, the dasyures.

||Da"ta (?), n. pl. [L. pl. of datum.] See Datum.

Dat"a*ble (?), a. That may be dated; having a known or ascertainable date. "Datable almost to a year." The Century.

||Da*ta"ri*a (?), n. [LL., fr. L. datum given.] (R. C. Ch.) Formerly, a part of the Roman chancery; now, a separate office from which are sent graces or favors, cognizable in foro externo, such as appointments to benefices. The name is derived from the word datum, given or dated (with the indications of the time and place of granting the gift or favor).

Da"ta*ry (?), n. [LL. datarius. See Dataria.] 1. (R. C. Ch.) An officer in the pope's court, having charge of the Dataria.

2. The office or employment of a datary.

Date, n.[F. datte, L. dactylus, fr. Gr. &?;, prob. not the same word as da`ktylos finger, but of Semitic origin.] (Bot.) The fruit of the date palm; also, the date palm itself.

This fruit is somewhat in the shape of an olive, containing a soft pulp, sweet, esculent, and wholesome, and inclosing a hard kernel.

Date palm, or Date tree (Bot.), the genus of palms which bear dates, of which common species is Phœnix dactylifera. See Illust. -- Date plum (Bot.), the fruit of several species of Diospyros, including the American and Japanese persimmons, and the European lotus (D. Lotus). -- Date shell, or Date fish (Zoöl.), a bivalve shell, or its inhabitant, of the genus Pholas, and allied genera. See Pholas.

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Date (?), n. [F. date, LL. data, fr. L. datus given, p. p. of dare to give; akin to Gr. &?;, OSlaw. dati, Skr. d. Cf. Datum, Dose, Dato, Die.] 1. That addition to a writing, inscription, coin, etc., which specifies the time (as day, month, and year) when the writing or inscription was given, or executed, or made; as, the date of a letter, of a will, of a deed, of a coin. etc.

And bonds without a date, they say, are void.

Dryden.

2. The point of time at which a transaction or event takes place, or is appointed to take place; a given point of time; epoch; as, the date of a battle.

He at once, Down the long series of eventful time, So fixed the dates of being, so disposed To every living soul of every kind The field of motion, and the hour of rest.

Akenside.

3. Assigned end; conclusion. [R.]

What Time would spare, from Steel receives its date.