Part 548

||Ky*tom"i*ton (k*tm"*tn), n. [NL., from Gr. ky`tos a hollow vessel + ||mi`tos a thread.] (Biol.) See Karyomiton. || ||Ky`to*plas"ma (k`t*plz"m), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ky`tos a hollow vessel + ||pla`sma thing molded.] (Biol.) See Karyoplasma. || <! p. 821 !>

L (l). 1. L is the twelfth letter of the English alphabet, and a vocal consonant. It is usually called a semivowel or liquid. Its form and value are from the Greek, through the Latin, the form of the Greek letter being from the Phœnician, and the ultimate origin prob. Egyptian. Etymologically, it is most closely related to r and u; as in pilgrim, peregrine, couch (fr. collocare), aubura (fr. LL. alburnus).

At the end of monosyllables containing a single vowel, it is often doubled, as in fall, full, bell; but not after digraphs, as in foul, fool, prowl, growl, foal. In English words, the terminating syllable le is unaccented, the e is silent, and l is preceded by a voice glide, as in able, eagle, pronounced "b'l, "g'l. See Guide to Pronunciation, § 241.

2. As a numeral, L stands for fifty in the English, as in the Latin language.

For 50 the Romans used the Chalcidian chi, &?;, which assumed the less difficult lapidary type, &?;, and was then easily assimilated to L.

I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

L (l), n. 1. An extension at right angles to the length of a main building, giving to the ground plan a form resembling the letter L; sometimes less properly applied to a narrower, or lower, extension in the direction of the length of the main building; a wing. [Written also ell.]

2. (Mech.) A short right-angled pipe fitting, used in connecting two pipes at right angles. [Written also ell.]

La (?), n. (Mus.) (a) A syllable applied to the sixth tone of the scale in music in solmization. (b) The tone A; -- so called among the French and Italians.

La (?), interj. [Cf. Lo.] 1. Look; see; behold; -- sometimes followed by you. [Obs.] Shak.

2. An exclamation of surprise; -- commonly followed by me; as, La me!

Laas (?), n. A lace. See Lace. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lab (?), v. i. [Cf. OD. labben to babble.] To prate; to gossip; to babble; to blab. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lab, n. A telltale; a prater; a blabber. [Obs.] "I am no lab." Chaucer.

Lab"a*dist, n. (Eccl. Hist.) A follower of Jean de Labadie, a religious teacher of the 17th century, who left the Roman Catholic Church and taught a kind of mysticism, and the obligation of community of property among Christians.

La`bar`raque's" so*lu"tion (?). [From Labarraque, a Parisian apothecary.] (Med.) An aqueous solution of hypochlorite of sodium, extensively used as a disinfectant.

||Lab"a*rum (&?;), n.; pl. Labara (#). [L.] The standard adopted by the ||Emperor Constantine after his conversion to Christianity. It is ||described as a pike bearing a silk banner hanging from a crosspiece, ||and surmounted by a golden crown. It bore a monogram of the first two ||letters (CHR) of the name of Christ in its Greek form. Later, the ||name was given to various modifications of this standard. || Lab"da*num (?), n. (Bot.) See Ladanum.

Lab`e*fac"tion (?), n. [See Labefy.] The act of labefying or making weak; the state of being weakened; decay; ruin.

There is in it such a labefaction of all principles as may be injurious to morality.

Johnson.

Lab"e*fy (?), v. t. [L. labefacere; labare to totter + facere to make.] To weaken or impair. [R.]

La"bel (l"bl), n. [OF. label sort of ribbon or fringe, label in heraldry, F. lambeau shred, strip, rag; of uncertain origin; cf. L. labellum, dim. of labrum lip, edge, margin, G. lappen flap, patch, rag, tatter (cf. Lap of a dress), W. llab, llabed, label, flap, Gael. leab, leob, slice, shred, hanging lip.] 1. A tassel. [Obs.] Huloet. Fuller.

2. A slip of silk, paper, parchment, etc., affixed to anything, and indicating, usually by an inscription, the contents, ownership, destination, etc.; as, the label of a bottle or a package.

3. A slip of ribbon, parchment, etc., attached to a document to hold the appended seal; also, the seal.

4. A writing annexed by way of addition, as a codicil added to a will.

5. (Her.) A barrulet, or, rarely, a bendlet, with pendants, or points, usually three, especially used as a mark of cadency to distinguish an eldest or only son while his father is still living.

6. A brass rule with sights, formerly used, in connection with a circumferentor, to take altitudes. Knight.

7. (Gothic Arch.) The name now generally given to the projecting molding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediæval architecture. It always has a square form, as in the illustration. Arch. Pub. Soc.