Part 101

-in. A suffix. See the Note under - ine.

In, prep. [AS. in; akin to D. & G. in, Icel. , Sw. & Dan. i, OIr. & L. in, Gr. 'en. √197. Cf. 1st In-, Inn.] The specific signification of in is situation or place with respect to surrounding, environment, encompassment, etc. It is used with verbs signifying being, resting, or moving within limits, or within circumstances or conditions of any kind conceived of as limiting, confining, or investing, either wholly or in part. In its different applications, it approaches some of the meanings of, and sometimes is interchangeable with, within, into, on, at, of, and among. It is used: --

1. With reference to space or place; as, he lives in Boston; he traveled in Italy; castles in the air.

The babe lying in a manger.

Luke ii. 16.

Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west.

Shak.

Situated in the forty-first degree of latitude.

Gibbon.

Matter for censure in every page.

Macaulay.

2. With reference to circumstances or conditions; as, he is in difficulties; she stood in a blaze of light. "Fettered in amorous chains." Shak.

Wrapt in sweet sounds, as in bright veils.

Shelley.

3. With reference to a whole which includes or comprises the part spoken of; as, the first in his family; the first regiment in the army.

Nine in ten of those who enter the ministry.

Swift.

4. With reference to physical surrounding, personal states, etc., abstractly denoted; as, I am in doubt; the room is in darkness; to live in fear.

When shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

Shak.

5. With reference to character, reach, scope, or influence considered as establishing a limitation; as, to be in one's favor. "In sight of God's high throne." Milton.

Sounds inharmonious in themselves, and harsh.

Cowper.

6. With reference to movement or tendency toward a certain limit or environment; -- sometimes equivalent to into; as, to put seed in the ground; to fall in love; to end in death; to put our trust in God.

He would not plunge his brother in despair.

Addison.

She had no jewels to deposit in their caskets.

Fielding.