Part 617

<hw>Ar"du*ous</hw> <tt>(?; 135)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[L. <ets>arduus</ets> steep, high; akin to Ir. <ets>ard</ets> high, height.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb.</def>

<blockquote>Those <b>arduous</b> pats they trod. <i>Pope.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Attended with great labor, like the ascending of acclivities; difficult; laborious; <as>as, an <ex>arduous</ex> employment, task, or enterprise</as>.</def>

<syn>Syn. -- Difficult; trying; laborious; painful; exhausting.</syn> <usage> -- <er>Arduous</er>, <er>Hard</er>, <er>Difficult</er>. <i>Hard</i> is simpler, blunter, and more general in sense than <i>difficult</i>; <as>as, a <ex>hard</ex> duty to perform, <ex>hard</ex> work, a <ex>hard</ex> task, one which requires much bodily effort and perseverance to do</as>. <i>Difficult</i> commonly implies more skill and sagacity than <i>hard</i>, as when there is disproportion between the means and the end. A work may be <i>hard</i> but not <i>difficult</i>. We call a thing <i>arduous</i> when it requires strenuous and persevering exertion, like that of one who is climbing a precipice; <as>as, an <ex>arduous</ex> task, an <ex>arduous</ex> duty</as>. "It is often <i>difficult</i> to control our feelings; it is still <i>harder</i> to subdue our will; but it is an <i>arduous</i> undertaking to control the unruly and contending will of others."</usage>

<h1>Arduously</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw>Ar"du*ous*ly</hw>, <tt>adv.</tt> <def>In an arduous manner; with difficulty or laboriousness.</def>

<h1>Arduousness</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw>Ar"du*ous*ness</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The quality of being arduous; difficulty of execution.</def>

<h1>Ardurous</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw>Ar"du*rous</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Burning; ardent.</def> <mark>[R.]</mark>

<blockquote>Lo! further on, Where flames the <b>arduous</b> Spirit of Isidore. <i>Cary.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Are</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw>Are</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>. <ety>[AS. (Northumbrian) <ets>aron</ets>, akin to the 1st pers. pl. forms, Icel. <ets>erum</ets>, Goth. <ets>sijum</ets>, L. <ets>sumus</ets>, Gr. <?/, Skr. <ets>smas</ets>; all from a root <ets>as</ets>. <?/ See <er>Am</er> and <er>Is</er>, and cf. <er>Be</er>.]</ety> <def>The present indicative plural of the substantive verb to <i>be</i>; but etymologically a different word from <i>be</i>, or <i>was</i>. <i>Am</i>, <i>art</i>, <i>are</i>, and <i>is</i>, all come from the root <i>as</i>.</def>

<h1>Are</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw>Are</hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F., fr. L. <ets>area</ets>. See <er>Area</er>.]</ety> <fld>(Metric system)</fld> <def>The unit of superficial measure, being a square of which each side is ten meters in length; 100 square meters, or about 119.6 square yards.</def>

<h1>Area</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw>A"re*a</hw> <tt>(?; 277)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Areas</plw> <tt>(#)</tt> </plu>. <ety>[L. <ets>area</ets> a broad piece of level gro<?/<?/<?/. Cf. <er>Are</er>, <tt>n.</tt>]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Any plane surface, as of the floor of a room or church, or of the ground within an inclosure; an open space in a building.</def>

<blockquote>The Alban lake . . . looks like the <b>area</b> of some vast amphitheater. <i>Addison.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The inclosed space on which a building stands.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The sunken space or court, giving ingress and affording light to the basement of a building.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>An extent of surface; a tract of the earth's surface; a region; <as>as, vast uncultivated <ex>areas</ex></as>.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <fld>(Geom.)</fld> <def>The superficial contents of any figure; the surface included within any given lines; superficial extent; <as>as, the <ex>area</ex> of a square or a triangle</as>.</def>

<p><b>6.</b> <fld>(Biol.)</fld> <def>A spot or small marked space; <as>as, the germinative <ex>area</ex></as>.</def>

<p><b>7.</b> <def>Extent; scope; range; <as>as, a wide <ex>area</ex> of thought</as>.</def>

<blockquote>The largest <b>area</b> of human history and man's common nature. <i>F. Harrison.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>Dry area</col>. <cd>See under <er>Dry</er>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Aread, Areed</h1> <Xpage=79>

<hw><hw>A*read"</hw>, <hw>A*reed"</hw><hw> <tt>(#)</tt>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>areden</ets>, AS. <ets>\'ber<?/dan</ets> to interpret. See <er>Read</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>To tell, declare, explain, or interpret; to divine; to guess; <as>as, to <ex>aread</ex> a riddle or a dream</as>.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>