Part 469

Dog"ger*el (?), a. [OE. dogerel.] Low in style, and irregular in measure; as, doggerel rhymes.

This may well be rhyme doggerel, quod he.

Chaucer.

Dog"ger*el, n. A sort of loose or irregular verse; mean or undignified poetry.

Doggerel like that of Hudibras.

Addison.

The ill-spelt lines of doggerel in which he expressed his reverence for the brave sufferers.

Macaulay.

Dog"ger*man (?), n. A sailor belonging to a dogger.

Dog"get (?), n. Docket. See Docket. [Obs.]

Dog"gish (?), a. Like a dog; having the bad qualities of a dog; churlish; growling; brutal. -- Dog"gish*ly, adv. -- Dog"gish*ness, n.

Dog"grel (?), a. & n. Same as Doggerel.

Dog"-head`ed (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having a head shaped like that of a dog; -- said of certain baboons.

Dog"-heart`ed (?), a. Inhuman; cruel. Shak.

Dog"hole` (?), n. A place fit only for dogs; a vile, mean habitation or apartment. Dryden.

dog"-leg`ged (?), a. (Arch) Noting a flight of stairs, consisting of two or more straight portions connected by a platform (landing) or platforms, and running in opposite directions without an intervening wellhole.

Dog"ma (dg"m), n.; pl. E. Dogmas (-mz), L. Dogmata (-m*t). [L. dogma, Gr. do`gma, pl. do`gmata, fr. dokei^n to think, seem, appear; akin to L. decet it is becoming. Cf. Decent.] 1. That which is held as an opinion; a tenet; a doctrine.

The obscure and loose dogmas of early antiquity.

Whewell.

2. A formally stated and authoritatively settled doctrine; a definite, established, and authoritative tenet.

3. A doctrinal notion asserted without regard to evidence or truth; an arbitrary dictum.

Syn. -- tenet; opinion; proposition; doctrine. -- Dogma, Tenet. A tenet is that which is maintained as true with great firmness; as, the tenets of our holy religion. A dogma is that which is laid down with authority as indubitably true, especially a religious doctrine; as, the dogmas of the church. A tenet rests on its own intrinsic merits or demerits; a dogma rests on authority regarded as competent to decide and determine. Dogma has in our language acquired, to some extent, a repulsive sense, from its carrying with it the idea of undue authority or assumption. This is more fully the case with its derivatives dogmatical and dogmatism.

Dog*mat"ic (dg*mt"k), n. One of an ancient sect of physicians who went by general principles; -- opposed to the Empiric.

{ Dog*mat"ic (dg*mt"k), Dog*mat`ic*al (-*kal), } a. [L. dogmaticus, Gr. dogmatiko`s, fr. do`gma: cf. F. dogmatique.] 1. Pertaining to a dogma, or to an established and authorized doctrine or tenet.

2. Asserting a thing positively and authoritatively; positive; magisterial; hence, arrogantly authoritative; overbearing.

Critics write in a positive, dogmatic way.

Spectator.

are as assertive and dogmatical as if they were omniscient.