Part 1066

Sym`phy*sot"o*my (?), n. Symphyseotomy.

Sym"phy*tism (?), n. [Gr. &?; grown together.] Coalescence; a growing into one with another word. [R.]

Some of the phrasal adverbs have assumed the form of single words, by that symphytism which naturally attaches these light elements to each other.

Earle.

Sym`pi*e*som"e*ter (?), n. [Gr. &?; compression (fr. &?; to press together; sy`n with + &?; to press, squeeze) + -meter.] A sensitive kind of barometer, in which the pressure of the atmosphere, acting upon a liquid, as oil, in the lower portion of the instrument, compresses an elastic gas in the upper part.

The column of oil of a lower part BC of a glass tube compresses hydrogen gas in the upper part AB, and is thus measured on the scale pq by the position of a surface of the oil in the tube. The scale pq is adjustable, and its index must be set to the division on the scale rs corresponding to the temperature indicated by the termometer t, in order to correct for the effects of temperature on the gas. It is sensitive, and convenient for use at sea, but inferior in accuracy to the mercurial barometer.

Sym*plec"tic (?), a. [Gr. &?; plaiting together, fr. &?; to plait together.] (Anat.) Plaiting or joining together; -- said of a bone next above the quadrate in the mandibular suspensorium of many fishes, which unites together the other bones of the suspensorium. -- n. The symplectic bone.

||Sym"plo*ce (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?; an interweaving, fr. &?; to twine ||together; &?; + &?; to twine.] (Rhet.) The repetition of a word or ||phrase at the beginning and another at the end of successive clauses; ||as, Justice came down from heaven to view the earth; Justice returned ||to heaven, and left the earth.

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Sym"pode (?), n. (Bot.) A sympodium.

Sym*po"di*al (?), a. (Bot.) Composed of superposed branches in such a way as to imitate a simple axis; as, a sympodial stem.

||Sym*po"di*um (?), n.; pl. Sympodia (#). [NL., fr. Gr. sy`n with + ||&?;, dim. of &?;, &?;, foot.] (Bot.) An axis or stem produced by ||dichotomous branching in which one of the branches is regularly ||developed at the expense of the other, as in the grapevine.

Sym*po"si*ac (?), a. [L. symposiacus, Gr. &?;.] Of or pertaining to compotations and merrymaking; happening where company is drinking together; as, symposiac meetings.

Symposiac disputations amongst my acquaintance.

Arbuthnot.

Sym*po"si*ac, n. A conference or conversation of philosophers at a banquet; hence, any similar gathering.

Sym*po"si*arch (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;; &?; a symposium + &?; to be first, to rule.] (Gr. Antiq.) The master of a feast.

Sym*po"si*ast (?), n. One engaged with others at a banquet or merrymaking. Sydney Smith.

||Sym*po"si*on (?), n. [NL.] A drinking together; a symposium. "Our ||symposion last night." Sir W. Scott.

Sym*po"si*um (?), n.; pl. Symposia (#). [L., fr. Gr. sympo`sion a drinking party, feast; sy`n with + po`sis a drinking. See Syn-, and cf. Potable.] 1. A drinking together; a merry feast. T. Warton.

2. A collection of short essays by different authors on a common topic; -- so called from the appellation given to the philosophical dialogue by the Greeks.

Symp"tom (?), n. [F. symptôme, Gr. &?; anything that has befallen one, a chance, causality, symptom, fr. &?; to fall together; sy`n with + &?; to fall; akin to Skr. pat to fly, to fall. See Syn-, and cf. Asymptote, Feather.] 1. (Med.) Any affection which accompanies disease; a perceptible change in the body or its functions, which indicates disease, or the kind or phases of disease; as, the causes of disease often lie beyond our sight, but we learn their nature by the symptoms exhibited.

Like the sick man, we are expiring with all sorts of good symptoms.

Swift.

2. A sign or token; that which indicates the existence of something else; as, corruption in elections is a symptom of the decay of public virtue.

Syn. -- Mark; note; sign; token; indication.

{ Symp`tom*at"ic (?), Symp`tom*at"ic*al (?), } a. [Cf. F. symptomatique, Gr. &?; causal.] 1. Of or pertaining to symptoms; happening in concurrence with something; being a symptom; indicating the existence of something else.

Symptomatic of a shallow understanding and an unamiable temper.