Part 553

7. (Arch.) A pattern or design representing a maze, -- often inlaid in the tiled floor of a church, etc.

Syn. -- Maze; confusion; intricacy; windings. -- Labyrinth, Maze. Labyrinth, originally; the name of an edifice or excavation, carries the idea of design, and construction in a permanent form, while maze is used of anything confused or confusing, whether fixed or shifting. Maze is less restricted in its figurative uses than labyrinth. We speak of the labyrinth of the ear, or of the mind, and of a labyrinth of difficulties; but of the mazes of the dance, the mazes of political intrigue, or of the mind being in a maze.

Lab`y*rin"thal (?), a. Pertaining to, or resembling, a labyrinth; intricate; labyrinthian.

Lab`y*rin"thi*an (&?;), a. Intricately winding; like a labyrinth; perplexed; labyrinthal.

Lab`y*rin"thi*branch (?), a. [See Labyrinth, and Branchia.] (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Labyrinthici. -- n. One of the Labyrinthici.

{ Lab`y*rin"thic (?), Lab`y*rin`thic*al (?), } a. [L. labyrinthicus: cf. F. labyrinthique.] Like or pertaining to a labyrinth.

||Lab`y*rin"thi*ci (?), n. pl. [NL. See Labyrinth.] (Zoöl.) An order of ||teleostean fishes, including the Anabas, or climbing perch, and other ||allied fishes. || They have, connected with the gill chamber, a special cavity in which a labyrinthiform membrane is arranged so as to retain water to supply the gills while the fish leaves the water and travels about on land, or even climbs trees.

Lab`y*rin"thi*form (?), a. [Labyrinth + -form: cf. F. labyrinthiforme.] Having the form of a labyrinth; intricate.

Lab`y*rin"thine (?), a. Pertaining to, or like, a labyrinth; labyrinthal.

Lab`y*rin"tho*don (?), n. [Gr. laby`rinqos labyrinth + 'odoy`s, 'odo`ntos, tooth.] (Paleon.) A genus of very large fossil amphibians, of the Triassic period, having bony plates on the under side of the body. It is the type of the order Labyrinthodonta. Called also Mastodonsaurus.

Lab`y*rin"tho*dont (?), a. (Paleon.) Of or pertaining to the Labyrinthodonta. -- n. One of the Labyrinthodonta.

||Lab`y*rin`tho*don"ta (?), n. pl. [NL. See Labyrinthodon.] (Paleon.) ||An extinct order of Amphibia, including the typical genus ||Labyrinthodon, and many other allied forms, from the Carboniferous, ||Permian, and Triassic formations. By recent writers they are divided ||into two or more orders. See Stegocephala. || { Lac (lk), ||Lakh (läk) }, n. [Hind. lak, lkh, lksh, Skr. laksha a mark, sign, lakh.] One hundred thousand; also, a vaguely great number; as, a lac of rupees. [Written also lack.] [East Indies]

Lac, n. [Per. lak; akin to Skr. lksh: cf. F. lague, It. & NL. lacca. Cf. Lake a color, Lacquer, Litmus.] A resinous substance produced mainly on the banyan tree, but to some extent on other trees, by the Coccus lacca, a scale-shaped insect, the female of which fixes herself on the bark, and exudes from the margin of her body this resinous substance.

Stick-lac is the substance in its natural state, incrusting small twigs. When broken off, and the coloring matter partly removed, the granular residuum is called seed-lac. When melted, and reduced to a thin crust, it is called shell-lac or shellac. Lac is an important ingredient in sealing wax, dyes, varnishes, and lacquers.

Ceylon lac, a resinous exudation of the tree Croton lacciferum, resembling lac. -- Lac dye, a scarlet dye obtained from stick-lac. -- Lac lake, the coloring matter of lac dye when precipitated from its solutions by alum. -- Mexican lac, an exudation of the tree Croton Draco.

Lac"cic (lk"sk), a. [Cf. F. laccique.] (Chem.) Pertaining to lac, or produced from it; as, laccic acid.

Lac"cin (?), n. [Cf. F. laccine.] (Chem.) A yellow amorphous substance obtained from lac.

{ Lac"co*lite (?), Lac"co*lith (?), } n. [Gr. &?; a cistern + -lite, - lith.] (Geol.) A mass of igneous rock intruded between sedimentary beds and resulting in a mammiform bulging of the overlying strata. -- Lac`co*lit"ic (#), a.

Lace (ls), n. [OE. las, OF. laz, F. lacs, dim. lacet, fr. L. laqueus noose, snare; prob. akin to lacere to entice. Cf. Delight, Elicit, Lasso, Latchet.] 1. That which binds or holds, especially by being interwoven; a string, cord, or band, usually one passing through eyelet or other holes, and used in drawing and holding together parts of a garment, of a shoe, of a machine belt, etc.

His hat hung at his back down by a lace.

Chaucer.

For striving more, the more in laces strong Himself he tied.

Spenser.

2. A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net. [Obs.] Fairfax.

Vulcanus had caught thee [Venus] in his lace.

Chaucer.

3. A fabric of fine threads of linen, silk, cotton, etc., often ornamented with figures; a delicate tissue of thread, much worn as an ornament of dress.

Our English dames are much given to the wearing of costly laces.