Part 18

<hw>A*bele"</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[D. <ets>abeel</ets> (<ets>abeel</ets>-<ets>boom</ets>), OF. <ets>abel</ets>, <ets>aubel</ets>, fr. a dim. of L. <ets>albus</ets> white.]</ety> <def>The white polar <spn>(Populus alba)</spn>.</def>

<blockquote>Six <b>abeles</b> i' the churchyard grow. <i>Mrs. Browning.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Abelian, Abelite, Abelonian</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw><hw>A*bel"i*an</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <hw>A"bel*ite</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <hw>A`bel*o"ni*an</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>,<hw> <tt>n.</tt> <fld>(Eccl. Hist.)</fld> <def>One of a sect in Africa (4th century), mentioned by St. Augustine, who states that they married, but lived in continence, after the manner, as they pretended, of Abel.</def>

<h1>Abelmosk</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw>A"bel*mosk`</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[NL. <ets>abelmoschus</ets>, fr. Ar. <ets>abu</ets>-<ets>l</ets>-<ets>misk</ets> father of musk, <ets>i</ets>.<ets>e</ets>., producing musk. See <er>Musk</er>.]</ety> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>An evergreen shrub <spn>(Hibiscus -- formerly Abelmoschus-moschatus</i>)</spn>, of the East and West Indies and Northern Africa, whose musky seeds are used in perfumery and to flavor coffee; -- sometimes called <i>musk mallow</i>.</def>

<h1>Ab er-de-vine</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw>Ab` er-de-vine"</hw> (#), <tt>n.</tt> <fld>(Zo\'94l.</fld>) <def>The European siskin <spn>(Carduelis spinus)</spn>, a small green and yellow finch, related to the goldfinch.</def>

<h1>Aberr</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw>Ab*err"</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>v.i.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>aberrare</ets>. See <er>Aberrate</er>.]</ety> <def>To wander; to stray.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Sir T. Browne.</i>

<h1>Aberrance, Aberrancy</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw><hw>Ab*er"rance</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <hw>Ab*er"ran*cy</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>,<hw> <tt>n.</tt> <def>State of being aberrant; a wandering from the right way; deviation from truth, rectitude, etc.</def>

<cs><col>Aberrancy of curvature</col> <fld>(Geom.</fld>), <cd>the deviation of a curve from a circular form.</cd></cs>

<h1>Aberrant</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw>Ab*er"rant</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>aberrans</ets>, <ets>-rantis</ets>, p.pr. of <ets>aberrare</ets>.]</ety> <def>See <er>Aberr</er>.] <p><b>1.</b> <def>Wandering; straying from the right way.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <fld>(Biol.)</fld> <def>Deviating from the ordinary or natural type; exceptional; abnormal.</def>

<blockquote>The more <b>aberrant</b> any form is, the greater must have been the number of connecting forms which, on my theory, have been exterminated. <i>Darwin.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Aberrate</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw>Ab"er*rate</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>v.i.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>aberratus</ets>, p.pr. of <ets>aberrare</ets>; <ets>ab + errare</ets> to wander. See <er>Err</er>.]</ety> <def>To go astray; to diverge.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<blockquote>Their own defective and <b>aberrating</b> vision. <i>De Quincey.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Aberration</h1> <Xpage=3>

<hw>Ab`er*ra"tion</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>aberratio</ets>: cf. F. <ets>aberration</ets>. See <er>Aberrate</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of wandering; deviation, especially from truth or moral rectitude, from the natural state, or from a type.</def> "The <i>aberration</i> of youth." <i>Hall</i>. "<i>Aberrations</i> from theory." <i>Burke</i>.

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A partial alienation of reason.</def> "Occasional <i>aberrations</i> of intellect." <i>Lingard</i>.

<blockquote>Whims, which at first are the <b>aberrations</b> of a single brain, pass with heat into epidemic form. <i>I. Taylor.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Astron.)</fld> <def>A small periodical change of position in the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer; called <i>annual aberration</i>, when the observer's motion is that of the earth in its orbit, and <i>dairy</i> or <i>diurnal aberration</i>, when of the earth on its axis; amounting when greatest, in the former case, to 20.4'', and in the latter, to 0.3''. <i>Planetary aberration</i> is that due to the motion of light and the motion of the planet relative to the earth.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <fld>(Opt.)</fld> <def>The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; called <i>spherical aberration</i>, when due to the spherical form of the lens or mirror, such form giving different foci for central and marginal rays; and <i>chromatic aberration</i>, when due to different refrangibilities of the colored rays of the spectrum, those of each color having a distinct focus.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <fld>(Physiol.)</fld> <def>The passage of blood or other fluid into parts not appropriate for it.</def>