Part 273

Ya"men (?), n. [Chin. ya a civil or military court + men a gate.] In China, the official headquarters or residence of a mandarin, including court rooms, offices, gardens, prisons, etc.; the place where the business of any public department is transcated.

Yard (?), n. (Zoöl.) A place where moose or deer herd together in winter for pasture, protection, etc.

Yau*ti"a (?), n. [Native name in the Antilles.] In Porto Rico, any of several araceous plants or their starchy edible roots, which are cooked and eaten like yams or potatoes, as the taro.

Yawi (?), n. A fore-and-aft-rigged vessel with a mainmast stepped a little farther forward than in a sloop and carrying a mainsail and jibs, with a jigger mast far aft, usually placed abaft the rudder post.

Yaz"oo Fraud (?). (U. S. Hist.) The grant by the State of Georgia, by Act of Jan. 7, 1795, of 35,000,000 acres of her western territory, for $500,000, to four companies known as the Yazoo Companies from the region granted ; -- commonly so called, the act being known as the Yazoo Frauds Act, because of alleged corruption of the legislature, every member but one being a shareholder in one or more of the companies. The act granting the land was repealed in 1796 by a new legislature, and the repealing provision was incorporated in the State constitution in 1798. In 1802 the territory was ceded to the United States. The claims of the purchasers, whom Georgia had refused to compensate, were sustained by the United States Supreme Court, which (1810) declared the repealing act of 1796 unconstitutional. Congress in 1814 ordered the lands sold and appropriated $5,000,000 to pay the claims.

Y current. (Elec.) The current through one branch of the star arrangement of a three-phase circuit.

Year's purchase (?). The amount that is yielded by the annual income of property; -- used in expressing the value of a thing in the number of years required for its income to yield its purchase price, in reckoning the amount to be paid for annuities, etc.

Yel"low, a. 1. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he has a yellow streak. [Slang]

2. Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers, etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.]

Yellow Book. [F. livre jaune.] In France, an official government publication bound in yellow covers.

Yel"ting (?), n. [Orig. uncert.] The Florida and West Indian red snapper (Lutianus aya); also, sometimes, one of certain other allied species, as L. caxis.

Yeo"man*ry, n. A British volunteer cavalry force, growing out of a royal regiment of fox hunters raised by Yorkshire gentlemen in 1745 to fight the Pretender, Charles Edward. The members furnish their own horses, have fourteen days' annual camp training, and receive pay and allowance when on duty. In 1901 the name was altered to imperial yeomanry in recognition of the services of the force in the Boer war. See Army organization, above.

Yid (?), n. [See Yiddish.] A Jew. [Slang or Colloq.] "Almost any young Yid who goes out from among her people." John Corbin.

Yid"dish (?), n. [G. jüdisch, prop., Jewish, fr. Jude Jew. See Jew, Jewish.] A language used by German and other Jews, being a Middle German dialect developed under Hebrew and Slavic influence. It is written in Hebrew characters.

Yid"dish*er (?), n. [See Yiddish.] A Yid. [Slang]

Y*lang`-y*lang" (?), n. See Ihlang-ihlang.

Yo"gism (?), n. Yoga, or its practice.

Yoke (?), n. (Chiefly Mach.) A clamp or similar piece that embraces two other parts to hold or unite them in their respective or relative positions, as a strap connecting a slide valve to the valve stem, or the soft iron block or bar permanently connecting the pole pieces of an electromagnet, as in a dynamo.

Yom (?), n. [Heb. ym.] Day; -- a Hebrew word used in the names of various Jewish feast days; as, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement; Yom Teruah (lit., day of shouting), the Feast of Trumpets.

York rite (?). (Freemasonry) The rite or ceremonial observed by one of the Masonic systems, deriving its name from the city of York, in England; also, the system itself, which, in England, confers only the first three degrees.

Young Men's Christian Association. An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical welfare of young men, founded, June 6, 1844, by George Williams (knighted therefor by Queen Victoria) in London. In 1851 it extended to the United States and Canada, and in 1855 representatives of similar organizations throughout Europe and America formed an international body. The movement has successfully expanded not only among young men in general, but also specifically among railroad men, in the army and navy, with provision for Indians and negroes, and a full duplication of all the various lines of oepration in the boys' departments.

Young one. A young human being; a child; also, a young animal, as a colt.

Young Women's Christian Association. An organization for promoting the spiritual, intellectual, social, and economic welfare of young women, originating in 1855 with Lady Kinnaird's home for young women, and Miss Emma Robert's prayer union for young women,in England, which were combined in the year 1884 as a national association. Now nearly all the civilized countries, and esp. the United States, have local, national, and international organizations.

Yuc"ca bor`er. (a) A California boring weevil (Yuccaborus frontalis). (b) A large mothlike butterfly (Megathymus yuccæ) of the family Megatimidæ, whose larva bores in yucca roots.

Yu"man (?), a. Designating, or pertaining to, an important linguistic stock of North American Indians of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, nearly all agriculturists and adept potters and basket makers. Their usual dwelling is the brush wikiup, and in their native state they wear little clothing. The Yuma, Maricopa, Mohave, Walapi, and Yavapai are among the chief tribes, all of fine physique.

Yun"ca (y"k), n. An Indian of a linguistic stock of tribes of the Peruvian coast who had a developed agricultural civilization at the advent of the Spaniards, before which they had been conquered by the Incas. They constructed irrigation canals which are still in use, adorned their buildings with bas-reliefs and frescoes, and were skilled goldsmiths and silversmiths. -- Yun"can (#), a.

||Za*pas" (?), n. [Russ.] See Army organization, above.

Za`pa*te"ra (?), n. [Sp. aceituna zapatera.] (Olive trade) A cured olive which has spoiled or is on the verge of decomposition; loosely, an olive defective because of bruises, wormholes, or the like.