Part 6104

<hw>-ist</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>. <ety>[Gr. <?/: cf. F. -<ets>iste</ets>.]</ety> <def>A noun suffix denoting an <i>agent</i>, or <i>doer</i>, <i>one who practices</i>, a <i>believer in</i>; <as>as, theor<ex>ist</ex>, one who theorizes; social<ex>ist</ex>, one who holds to socialism; sensual<ex>ist</ex>, one given to sensuality.</as></def>

<h1>Is't</h1> <Xpage=793>

<hw>Is't</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>. <def>A contraction of <i>is it</i>.</def>

<h1>Isthmian</h1> <Xpage=793>

<hw>Isth"mi*an</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>Isthmius</ets>, Gr. <?/. See <er>Isthmus</er>.]</ety> <def>Of or pertaining to an isthmus, especially to the Isthmus of Corinth, in Greece.</def>

<cs><col>Isthmian games</col> <fld>(Gr. Antiq.)</fld>, <cd>one of the four great national festivals of Greece, celebrated on the Isthmus of Corinth in the spring of every alternate year. They consisted of all kinds of athletic sports, wrestling, boxing, racing on foot and in chariots, and also contests in music and poetry. The prize was a garland of pine leaves.</cd></cs>

<h1>Isthmus</h1> <Xpage=793>

<hw>Isth"mus</hw> <tt>(?; 277)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Isthmuses</plw> <tt>(#)</tt></plu>. <ety>[L. <ets>isthmus</ets>, Gr. <grk>'isqmo`s</grk> a neck, a neck of land between two seas, an isthmus, especially the Isthmus of Corinth; prob. from the root of <grk>'ie`nai</grk> to go; cf. Icel. <ets>ei&edh;</ets> isthmus. See <er>Issue</er>.]</ety> <fld>(Geog.)</fld> <def>A neck or narrow slip of land by which two continents are connected, or by which a peninsula is united to the mainland; <as>as, the <ex>Isthmus</ex> of Panama; the <ex>Isthmus</ex> of Suez, etc.</as></def>

<cs><col>Isthmus of the fauces</col>. <fld>(Anat.)</fld> <cd>See <er>Fauces</er>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Istle</h1> <Xpage=793>

<hw>Is"tle</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>Same as <er>Ixtle</er>.</def>

<h1>Isuret</h1> <Xpage=793>

<hw>I*su"ret</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[<ets>Iso-</ets> + <ets>ur</ets>ea.]</ety> <fld>(Chem.)</fld> <def>An artificial nitrogenous base, isomeric with urea, and forming a white crystalline substance; -- called also <altname>isuretine</altname>.</def>

<h1>It</h1> <Xpage=793>

<hw>It</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>pron.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>it</ets>, <ets>hit</ets>, AS. <ets>hit</ets>; cf. D. <ets>het</ets>. &root;181. See <er>He</er>.]</ety> <def>The neuter pronoun of the third person, corresponding to the masculine pronoun <i>he</i> and the feminine <i>she</i>, and having the same plural (<i>they</i>, <i>their</i> of <i>theirs</i>, <i>them</i>).</def>

<note>&hand; The possessive form <i>its</i> is modern, being rarely found in the writings of Shakespeare and Milton, and not at all in the original King James's version of the Bible. During the transition from the regular <i>his</i> to the anomalous <i>its</i>, <i>it</i> was to some extent employed in the possessive without the case ending. See <er>His</er>, and <er>He</er>. In Dryden's time <i>its</i> had become quite established as the regular form.</note>

<blockquote>The day present hath ever inough to do with <b>it</b> owne grief. <i>Genevan Test.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Do, child, go to <b>it</b> grandam, child. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote><b>It</b> knighthood shall do worse. It shall fright all <b>it</b> friends with borrowing letters. <i>B. Jonson.</i></blockquote>

<note>&hand; In the course of time, the nature of the neuter sign <it>i</it> in <i>it</i>, the form being found in but a few words, became misunderstood. Instead of being looked upon as an affix, it passed for part of the original word. Hence was formed from <i>it</i> the anomalous genitive <i>it</i>, superseding the Saxon <i>his</i>.</note>

<i>Latham.</i>

<blockquote>The fruit tree yielding fruit after <b>his</b> (its) kind. <i>Gen. i. 11.</i></blockquote>

<usage><i>It</i> is used, --

<p><b>1.</b> <def>As a substance for any noun of the neuter gender; <as>as, here is the book, take <ex>it</ex> home</as>.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>As a demonstrative, especially at the beginning of a sentence, pointing to that which is about to be stated, named, or mentioned, or referring to that which apparent or well known; <as>as, I saw <ex>it</ex> was John</as>.</def>

<blockquote><b>It</b> is I; be not afraid. <i>Matt. xiv. 27.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Peter heard that <b>it</b> was the Lord. <i>John xxi. 7.</i></blockquote>

Often, in such cases, as a substitute for a sentence or clause; as, <i>it</i> is thought <i>he will come</i>; <i>it</i> is wrong <i>to do this</i>.