Part 186

Sed"a*tive (?), a. [Cf. F. sédatif.] Tending to calm, moderate, or tranquilize; specifically (Med.), allaying irritability and irritation; assuaging pain.

Sed"a*tive, n. (Med.) A remedy which allays irritability and irritation, and irritative activity or pain.

Se"dent (?), a. [L. sedens, - entis, p. pr. of sedere to sit. See Sit.] Sitting; inactive; quiet. [R.]

Sed"en*ta*ri*ly (?), adv. In a sedentary manner.

Sed"en*ta*ri*ness, n. Quality of being sedentary.

Sed"en*ta*ry (?), a. [L. sedentarius, fr. sedere to sit: cf. F. seédentaire. See Sedent.] 1. Accustomed to sit much or long; as, a sedentary man. "Sedentary, scholastic sophists." Bp. Warburton.

2. Characterized by, or requiring, much sitting; as, a sedentary employment; a sedentary life.

Any education that confined itself to sedentary pursuits was essentially imperfect.

Beaconsfield.

3. Inactive; motionless; sluggish; hence, calm; tranquil. [R.] "The sedentary earth." Milton.

The soul, considered abstractly from its passions, is of a remiss, sedentary nature.

Spectator.

4. Caused by long sitting. [Obs.] "Sedentary numbness." Milton.

5. (Zoöl.) Remaining in one place, especially when firmly attached to some object; as, the oyster is a sedentary mollusk; the barnacles are sedentary crustaceans.

Sedentary spider (Zoöl.), one of a tribe of spiders which rest motionless until their prey is caught in their web.

||Se*de"runt (?), n. [L., they sat, fr. sedere to sit.] A sitting, as ||of a court or other body.

'T is pity we have not Burns's own account of that long sederunt.

Prof. Wilson.

Acts of sederunt (Scots Law), ordinances of the Court of Session for the ordering of processes and expediting of justice. Bell.

Sedge (?), n. [OE. segge, AS. secg; akin to LG. segge; -- probably named from its bladelike appearance, and akin to L. secare to cut, E. saw a cutting instrument; cf. Ir. seisg, W. hesg. Cf. Hassock, Saw the instrument.] 1. (Bot.) Any plant of the genus Carex, perennial, endogenous, innutritious herbs, often growing in dense tufts in marshy places. They have triangular jointless stems, a spiked inflorescence, and long grasslike leaves which are usually rough on the margins and midrib. There are several hundred species.

The name is sometimes given to any other plant of the order Cyperaceæ, which includes Carex, Cyperus, Scirpus, and many other genera of rushlike plants.

2. (Zoöl.) A flock of herons.

Sedge hen (Zoöl.), the clapper rail. See under 5th Rail. -- Sedge warbler (Zoöl.), a small European singing bird (Acrocephalus phragmitis). It often builds its nest among reeds; -- called also sedge bird, sedge wren, night warbler, and Scotch nightingale.

Sedged (?), a. Made or composed of sedge.

With your sedged crowns and ever-harmless looks.

Shak.

Sedg"y (?), a. Overgrown with sedge.

On the gentle Severn\'b6s sedgy bank.