The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section I, J, K, and L

Part 1

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.

I (). 1. I, the ninth letter of the English alphabet, takes its form from the Phœnician, through the Latin and the Greek. The Phœnician letter was probably of Egyptian origin. Its original value was nearly the same as that of the Italian I, or long e as in mete. Etymologically I is most closely related to e, y, j, g; as in dint, dent, beverage, L. bibere; E. kin, AS. cynn; E. thin, AS. þynne; E. dominion, donjon, dungeon. In English I has two principal vowel sounds: the long sound, as in pne, ce; and the short sound, as in pn. It has also three other sounds: (a) That of e in term, as in thirst. (b) That of e in mete (in words of foreign origin), as in machine, pique, regime. (c) That of consonant y (in many words in which it precedes another vowel), as in bunion, million, filial, Christian, etc. It enters into several digraphs, as in fail, field, seize, feign. friend; and with o often forms a proper diphtong, as in oil, join, coin.

See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 98-106.

The dot which we place over the small or lower case i dates only from the 14th century. The sounds of I and J were originally represented by the same character, and even after the introduction of the form J into English dictionaries, words containing these letters were, till a comparatively recent time, classed together.

2. In our old authors, I was often used for ay (or aye), yes, which is pronounced nearly like it.

3. As a numeral, I stands for 1, II for 2, etc.

I- (?), prefix. See Y- .

I (), pron. [poss. My (m) or Mine (mn); object. Me (m). pl. nom. We (w); poss. Our (our) or Ours (ourz); object. Us (s).] [OE. i, ich, ic, AS. ic; akin to OS. & D. ik, OHG. ih, G. ich, Icel. ek, Dan. jeg, Sw. jag, Goth. ik, OSlav. az', Russ. ia, W. i, L. ego, Gr. 'egw`, 'egw`n, Skr. aham. √179. Cf. Egoism.] The nominative case of the pronoun of the first person; the word with which a speaker or writer denotes himself.

I*am`a*tol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;, medicine + -logy.] (Med.) Materia Medica; that branch of therapeutics which treats of remedies.

I"amb (?), n. [Cf. F. iambe. See Lambus.] An iambus or iambic. [R.]

I*am"bic (?), a. [L. iambicus, Gr. &?;: cf. F. iambique.] 1. (Pros.) Consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one, or of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented; as, an iambic foot.

2. Pertaining to, or composed of, iambics; as, an iambic verse; iambic meter. See Lambus.

I*am"bic, n. 1. (Pros.) (a) An iambic foot; an iambus. (b) A verse composed of iambic feet.

The following couplet consists of iambic verses.

Thy gen- | ius calls | thee not | to pur- | chase fame In keen | iam- | bics, but | mild an- | agram.

Dryden.

2. A satirical poem (such poems having been anciently written in iambic verse); a satire; a lampoon.

I*am"bic*al (?), a. Iambic. [Obs. or R.]

I*am"bic*al*ly, adv. In a iambic manner; after the manner of iambics.

I*am"bize (?), v. t. [Gr. &?;.] To satirize in iambics; to lampoon. [R.]

I*am"bus (?), n.; pl. L. Iambi (#), E. Iambuses (#). [L. iambus, Gr. &?;; prob. akin to &?; to throw, assail (the iambus being first used in satiric poetry), and to L. jacere to throw. Cf. Jet a shooting forth.] (Pros.) A foot consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one, as in mns, or of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one, as invent; an iambic. See the Couplet under Iambic, n.

||I*an"thi*na (?), n.; pl. L. Ianthinæ (#), E. Ianthinas (#). [NL., fr. ||L. ianthinus violet-blue, Gr. &?;; &?; violet + &?; flower.] (Zoöl.) ||Any gastropod of the genus Ianthina, of which various species are ||found living in mid ocean; -- called also purple shell, and violet ||snail. [Written also janthina.] || It floats at the surface by means of a raft, which it constructs by forming and uniting together air bubbles of hardened mucus. The Tyrian purple of the ancients was obtained in part from mollusks of this genus.

I*a`tra*lip"tic (?), a. [Gr. &?;; &?; physician + &?; belonging to the &?; or anointer, fr. &?; to anoint: cf. F. iatraliptique.] Treating diseases by anointing and friction; as, the iatraliptic method. [Written also iatroleptic.]

{ I*at"ric (?), I*at"ric*al (?), } a. [Gr. &?; healing, fr. &?; physician, fr. &?; to heal.] Of or pertaining to medicine, or to medical men.

I*a`tro*chem"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to iatrochemistry, or to the iatrochemists.

I*a`tro*chem"ist (?), n. [Gr. &?; physician + E. chemist.] A physician who explained or treated diseases upon chemical principles; one who practiced iatrochemistry.

Part 2

I*a`tro*chem"is*try (?), n. Chemistry applied to, or used in, medicine; -- used especially with reference to the doctrines in the school of physicians in Flanders, in the 17th century, who held that health depends upon the proper chemical relations of the fluids of the body, and who endeavored to explain the conditions of health or disease by chemical principles.

I*a`tro*math`e*mat"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to iatromathematicians or their doctrine.

I*a`tro*math`e*ma*ti"cian (?), n. [Gr. &?; physician + E. mathematician.] (Hist. Med.) One of a school of physicians in Italy, about the middle of the 17th century, who tried to apply the laws of mechanics and mathematics to the human body, and hence were eager student of anatomy; -- opposed to the iatrochemists.

I*be"ri*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Iberia.

I"bex ("bks), n.; pl. E. Ibexes (-z), L. Ibices (b"*sz). [L., a kind of goat, the chamois.] (Zoöl.) One of several species of wild goats having very large, recurved horns, transversely ridged in front; -- called also steinbok.

The Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) is the best known. The Spanish, or Pyrenean, ibex (C. Hispanica) has smoother and more spreading horns.

||I*bi"dem (?), adv. [L.] In the same place; -- abbreviated ibid. or ||ib. || I"bis (?), n. [L. ibis, Gr. &?;; of Egyptian origin.] (Zoöl.) Any bird of the genus Ibis and several allied genera, of the family Ibidæ, inhabiting both the Old World and the New. Numerous species are known. They are large, wading birds, having a long, curved beak, and feed largely on reptiles.

The sacred ibis of the ancient Egyptians (Ibis Æthiopica) has the head and neck black, without feathers. The plumage of the body and wings is white, except the tertiaries, which are lengthened and form a dark purple plume. In ancient times this bird was extensively domesticated in Egypt, but it is now seldom seen so far north. The glossy ibis (Plegadis autumnalis), which is widely distributed both in the Old World and the New, has the head and neck feathered, except between the eyes and bill; the scarlet ibis (Guara rubra) and the white ibis (G. alba) inhabit the West Indies and South America, and are rarely found in the United States. The wood ibis (Tantalus loculator) of America belongs to the Stork family (Ciconidæ). See Wood ibis.

-i*ble (?). See -able.

-ic (?). [L. -icus, Gr. &?;: cf. F. -ique.] 1. A suffix signifying, in general, relating to, or characteristic of; as, historic, hygienic, telegraphic, etc.

2. (Chem.) A suffix, denoting that the element indicated enters into certain compounds with its highest valence, or with a valence relatively higher than in compounds where the name of the element ends in -ous; as, ferric, sulphuric. It is also used in the general sense of pertaining to; as, hydric, sodic, calcic.

I*ca"ri*an (?), a. [L. Icarius, Gr. &?;, fr. &?;, the mythic son of Dædalus, who, when flying from Crete on wings cemented with wax, mounted so high that the sun melted the wax, and he fell into the sea.] Soaring too high for safety, like Icarus; adventurous in flight.

Ice (s), n. [OE. is, iis, AS. s; aksin to D. ijs, G. eis, OHG. s, Icel. ss, Sw. is, Dan. iis, and perh. to E. iron.] 1. Water or other fluid frozen or reduced to the solid state by cold; frozen water. It is a white or transparent colorless substance, crystalline, brittle, and viscoidal. Its specific gravity (0.92, that of water at 4° C. being 1.0) being less than that of water, ice floats.

Water freezes at 32° F. or 0° Cent., and ice melts at the same temperature. Ice owes its cooling properties to the large amount of heat required to melt it.

2. Concreted sugar. Johnson.

3. Water, cream, custard, etc., sweetened, flavored, and artificially frozen.

4. Any substance having the appearance of ice; as, camphor ice.

Anchor ice, ice which sometimes forms about stones and other objects at the bottom of running or other water, and is thus attached or anchored to the ground. -- Bay ice, ice formed in bays, fiords, etc., often in extensive fields which drift out to sea. -- Ground ice, anchor ice. -- Ice age (Geol.), the glacial epoch or period. See under Glacial. -- Ice anchor (Naut.), a grapnel for mooring a vessel to a field of ice. Kane. -- Ice blink [Dan. iisblink], a streak of whiteness of the horizon, caused by the reflection of light from ice not yet in sight. -- Ice boat. (a) A boat fitted with skates or runners, and propelled on ice by sails; an ice yacht. (b) A strong steamboat for breaking a channel through ice. -- Ice box or chest, a box for holding ice; a box in which things are kept cool by means of ice; a refrigerator. -- Ice brook, a brook or stream as cold as ice. [Poetic] Shak. -- Ice cream [for iced cream], cream, milk, or custard, sweetened, flavored, and frozen. -- Ice field, an extensive sheet of ice. -- Ice float, Ice floe, a sheet of floating ice similar to an ice field, but smaller. -- Ice foot, shore ice in Arctic regions; an ice belt. Kane. -- Ice house, a close-covered pit or building for storing ice. -- Ice machine (Physics), a machine for making ice artificially, as by the production of a low temperature through the sudden expansion of a gas or vapor, or the rapid evaporation of a volatile liquid. -- Ice master. See Ice pilot (below). -- Ice pack, an irregular mass of broken and drifting ice. -- Ice paper, a transparent film of gelatin for copying or reproducing; papier glacé. -- Ice petrel (Zoöl.), a shearwater (Puffinus gelidus) of the Antarctic seas, abundant among floating ice. -- Ice pick, a sharp instrument for breaking ice into small pieces. -- Ice pilot, a pilot who has charge of a vessel where the course is obstructed by ice, as in polar seas; -- called also ice master. -- Ice pitcher, a pitcher adapted for ice water. -- Ice plow, a large tool for grooving and cutting ice. -- Ice sludge, bay ice broken small by the wind or waves; sludge. -- Ice spar (Min.), a variety of feldspar, the crystals of which are very clear like ice; rhyacolite. -- Ice tongs, large iron nippers for handling ice. -- Ice water. (a) Water cooled by ice. (b) Water formed by the melting of ice. -- Ice yacht. See Ice boat (above). -- To break the ice. See under Break. -- Water ice, a confection consisting of water sweetened, flavored, and frozen.

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