assurance 
Plight me tin- full < 
x*urfiin-r of your faith. 
Shak., T. N., iv. 
2. Pledge; guaranty; surety. 
You should jirocure him better assurance than Bar- 
ilolph; he would not take his bond and yours; lie liked 
not the security. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. i 
3f. Affiance; betrothal. 
The day of their assurance drew nigh. 
Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia. 
I am sure 
I never courted you, nor gave you tokens 
That might eoncern assurance. 
Beau, and Fl., Coxcomb, iii. 1. 
4. In law, documentary evidence of the title 
or right of possession of property. 5. Insur- 
ance; a contract for the payment of a sum on 
the occurrence of a certain event, as loss or 
death. 
Remit writers have sought to establish distinctions of 
a novel character between them [assurance&n&insurance]. 
One of these is that a person insures his life, his house, or 
his ships, and the office assures to him in each of these 
eases a sum of money payable in certain contingencies. 
Another is that assurance represents the principle and 
insurance the practice. Encyc. Brit., XIII. 169. 
6. Certain proof ; clear evidence ; positive dem- 
onstration; undeniable grounds for belief or 
trust; assuredness. 
Whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
he hath raised him from the dead. Acts xvii. 31. 
A form, indeed, 
Where every god did seem to set his seal, 
To give the world assurance of a man. 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 
I feel desires 
That give assurance of their own success, 
And that, infus'd from Heav'n, must thither tend. 
Cowper, The Task, v. 
A brightness, like that of the eyes of some smaller ani- 
mals, which gives assurance of life, but of a life foreign 
and unintelligible. Lowell, Study Windows, p. 44. 
7. Firm persuasion; full confidence or trust; 
freedom from doubt ; certain expectation ; the 
utmost certainty. 
Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of 
faith. Heb. x. 22. 
I'll make assurance double sure, 
And take a bond of fate. Shak., Macbeth, iv. 1. 
There have prevailed very widely . . . among mankind 
the sad tradition of a lost or forfeited life of perfection 
and happiness, and a dim expectation or the firm assur- 
ance of a future life of perfection and happiness. 
Maudsley, Body and Will, p. 197. 
Especially 8. Firmness of mind; undoubting 
steadiness; intrepidity; courage. 
Brave men meet danger with assurance. Kiwlles. 
He is wanting in neither personal courage, assurance, 
nor promptitude, but he abuses these virtues by using 
them in the service of vice. 
P. Robinson, Under the Sun, p. 31. 
9. Freedom from timidity or bashfulness; laud- 
able confidence ; self-reliance. 
Conversation with the world will give them knowledge 
and assurance. Locke. 
I have been often surprised that you, who have seen su 
much of the world, . . . could never yet acquire a requi- 
site share of assurance. 
Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, ii. 
10. Excess of boldness ; impudence: as, his as- 
.inrance is intolerable. 
Immoderate assurance is perfect licentiousness. 
Shenstone. 
Upon my soul, Jack, thou art a very impudent fellow ! 
to do you justice, I think I never saw a piece of more con- 
summate assurance .' Sheridan, The Rivals, iv. 2. 
Chamber of assurance. See chamber. Collateral 
assurance. See collateral. Common assurances. 
See rammon. Further assurance. x?e further. = Syn. 
2. Pledge, etc. See promise. 10. Effrontery, presump- 
tion. 
assure (a-shor'), v. ; pret. and pp. assured, ppr. 
insuring. [< ME. assuren, asuren, asseuren, < 
OF. aseiircr, mod. F. assurer = Pr. assegurar = 
Sp. asegurar = Pg. assegurar = It. assecurare (= 
E. assecure, q. v.), < ML. assecurare, assure, < L. 
ad, to, + securus (> OF. segur, seiir), secure, 
sure: see secure, sure."] I. trans. 1. To make 
sure or certain ; convince or make confident, 
as by a promise, declaration, or other evidence : 
as, to assure a person of one's favor or love. 
It is idle to propose remedies before we are assured of 
the disease. Swfft, Advancement of Eeligion. 
'T is a vast privilege for a Christian to be assured that 
the Lord will do this or that individual thing for him. 
C. Mather, Mag. Chris., iv. 1. 
And, for I am a_ man, I dare not do 
God's work until assured I see with God. 
Browning, Ring and Book, I. 94. 
2. To declare solemnly to ; assert earnestly to ; 
endeavor to convince by assertion : as, I assure 
you I am speaking the truth. 
I dare assure thee that no enemy 
Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus. 
Shak., J. ('., v. 4. 
They are recommended by people of consequence, I <i- 
mre you. Sheridan, The Critic, i. 1. 
352 
3. To secure or confirm ; make sure to be or to 
continue ; give certainty or stability to : as, to 
assure a person's position or possessions. 
This shall assure my constant loyalty. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., iii. 3. 
My penance hath not slacken'd, though my pardon 
No way asstn-i'rl. Miltnn, S. A., 1. 7:iit. 
So irresistible an authority cannot be reflected on with- 
out the most awful reverence, even by those whose piety 
assures its favour to them. //. /iVwrix 
4. To free from obscurity, ambiguity, or un- 
certainty. 
So reason's glimmering ray 
Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way, 
But guide us upward to a better day. 
Dri/den, Religio Laici. 
5. To embolden ; make confident. 
And hereby we . . . shall assure our hearts before him. 
1 John iii. 1. 
6f. To affiance ; betroth. 
This drudge, or diviner, laid claim to me; called me 
Dromio; swore I was assured to her. 
Shak., C. of E., iii. 2. 
7. To insure, as against loss. =Syn. immn, Assure 
(see insure) ; to asseverate to, encourage, vouch to, wan-ant. 
II. t intrans. 1. To confide; trust. 
Therfore as frend fullych in me assure. 
Chaucer, Troilus, i. 680. 
2. To promise ; pledge one's self. Chaucer. 
assured (a-shord'),/>. a. 1. Certain; sure; in- 
dubitable; undoubted: as, " an assured experi- 
ence," Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
We dare not leave his fortunes, 
Though most assured death hung round about us. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, i. 1. 
In history, as in tragedy, the master's hand has not yet 
come to its full stretch and skill ; its touch is not yet 
wholly assured, its work not yet wholly blameless. 
Swinburne, Shakespeare, p. 50. 
2. Bold ; confident ; self-possessed. 
He looked frank, unconstrained, something assured, but 
not bordering upon assurance. 
Steriie, Tristram Shandy, it. IB. 
He ... came forth with an assured air and bade defi- 
ance to the messenger. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xx. 
St. Affianced. 8hak. 4. Insured; having one's 
life or goods insured. 
assuredly (a-shSr'ed-li), adr. 1. Certainly; in- 
dubitably. 
Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign. 1 Ki. i. 13. 
2. With assurance ; confidently ; impudently. 
The more 
Actions of depth and danger are considered, 
The less assuredly they are performed. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iii. 3. 
assuredness (a-shor'ed-nes), . The state of 
being assured; certainty; full confidence. 
assurer (a-shor'er), w. 1. One who or that 
which assures, or gives assurance ; specifically, 
an insurer or underwriter. 2. One who takes 
out a policy of insurance ; one who is assured. 
assurgency (a-ser'jen-si), n. [< assurgent.'] 
The tendency or disposition to rise. [Rare.] 
The continual assuryency of the spirit through the b<nly 
Coleridge, Lit. Rein. (1839), IV. 167. 
assurgent (a-ser'jent), a. [< L. assurgen(t-)s, 
ppr. of assurgere,iise up, ascend, < ad, to, + 
surgere, rise: see surge.~\ Rising; ascending. 
Specifically (o) In her., applied to a bearing when de- 
picted as rising out of the sea, as the sun. (6) In bnt., 
rising in a curve to an erect position ; ascending. Also 
admrgent. Assurgent leaves, leaves first bent down, 
but rising erect toward the apex. 
assuringly (a-shor'ing-li), adv. In an assuring 
manner ; in a way to give confidence. 
asswaget, *'. An old spelling of assuage. 
Assyrian (a-sir'i-an), a. and n. [< L. Assyrius, 
< Gr. 'Aaai-pioi; pertaining to 'Aaavpia, Assyria.] 
I. o. Pertaining or relating to Assyria or to its 
inhabitants Assyrian architecture, the most im- 
portant branch of the architecture of Mesopotamia, de- 
veloped in Assyria during the period of its supremacy. Its 
chief monuments were the royal palaces, which were of 
enormous extent, and constructed of massive walls of sun- 
dried brick on great mounds of clay, of which they have now 
virtually become a part, owing to the disintegrating influ- 
ence of time and the elements upon their friable mate- 
rials. They were never more than one or two stories high, 
owing to the limited endurance of the unbaked bricks, and 
consisted chiefly of corridors and long, narrow halls, either 
arched over with brick or closed in with ceilings of wood, 
and surrounding open courts. The entrances were of im- 
posing height and width, ornamented with colossal stone 
figures of winged human-headed bulls or lions, or other 
mythological conceptions. The interior walls were com- 
monly lined with a revetment of soft alabaster slabs, on 
which were carved in low relief the remarkable series of 
sculptures which have preserved the record of Assyrian 
triumphs, character, and customs. Color in somewhat 
subdued tints was generally employed upon the sculptures 
and the wall-spaces. The temple, in Assyria, was sub- 
ordinate to the palace, the opposite being the case in Baby- 
lonia. Assyrian art, one of the later branches of Meso- 
potamian art, parallel to the later Babylonian. Its most 
characteristic manifestation is presented in its lavish 
sculptured architectural decoration in low relief. In its 
Astacidas 
first period, culminating in the ninth century B. c., it dis- 
played great vigor and truth in its interpretation of nature, 
particularly in its portrayal of animal forms. Later it suf- 
fered a decline until the close of Assyrian supremacy, to- 
ward the end of the seventh century B. c. Its human 
ti.uiuvs m-vrr Imvc the life :ind force of its animals, but are 
Assyrian Sculpture. 
Relief from Koyunjik, in the British Museum. King Assur-bani-pal 
pouring a libation. About 625 B. c. 
heavy and conventional. It is marked by great minuteness 
of detail, ornaments, texture of fabrics, etc., being care- 
fully rendered. In metal-work of all kinds the Assyrian 
craftsmen took a high place, and they excelled also in 
gem-engraving. 
II. n. 1. A native or an inhabitant of Assy- 
ria, an ancient country of Asia, east of the river 
Tigris, long at the head of the powerful As- 
syrian empire, including Babylonia and other 
neighboring countries. 2. The language of 
the Assyrians, which has been preserved by 
and largely recovered from their cuneiform 
inscriptions. See cuneiform. 
Assyriological (a-sir"i-o-loj'i-kal), a. Pertain- 
ing to Assyriology. 
The latest results of Assyn'oloffical research. 
Amer. Jour. Philol., IV. 343. 
Assyriologist (a-sir-i-ol'o-jist), H. [< Assyri- 
ology + -int.] A student of Assyriology; one 
versed in Assyriology. 
Assyriologue (a-sir'i'-o-log), w. [= F. Axsyrio- 
loguc, < Gr. 'Aaavpia + -/4<}}or, < '/tyeiv: see As- 
syriologu.] An Assyriologist. 
Assyriology (a-sir-i-ol'o-ji), H. [< Gr. 'Aaav/iia + 
-'/.o-jia, < >f}v, speak: see-ology.] The science 
of Assyrian antiquities ; that branch of know- 
ledge which includes the history, language, 
etc., of ancient Assyria. 
assytht, n. A Scotch form of assetli. 
assythment (a-srTH'ment), . [Sc., also by 
apheresis sithement, < attyfk, sithe, + -ment.] 
In Scots taw, an in- 
demnification due 
from a person guilty 
of murder to the 
heirs of the person 
murdered. Where the 
criminal has suffered the 
penalty of the law, no 
claim for assythment 
lies. 
-ast. [< Gr. -aarn; 
< -di,nv, after -t-, 
equiv. to -fonfc, < 
-/few: see -ist, -ize.] 
A suffix of Greek 
origin, occurring in- 
stead of -ist after -/-, 
as in chiliast, enthu- 
siast, etc. 
astacian (as-ta'- 
shian), n. [< Asta- 
cus + -ian.] An ani- 
mal of the genus 
Astacus or family 
Astacida!, as a craw- 
fish or lobster. 
astacid (as'ta-sid), . 
One of the Jataoiate, 
Astacidae (as-tas'i- 
de), . pi. [NL,., < 
+ -idee.] A 
n jtt 
tt 
Sm 'Ctureof 
Astacus 
/, //, ///, sterna of first, second, and 
third somites ; C, heart ; G, membra - 
family Of IliacrurOUS nous partof stomach ; /A, labrum ; /, 
-, inetastoma; c, cardiac ossicle; pt, 
decapod Crustaceans pterocardiac do.; uc, urocardiac tlo.l 
represented by the f A .lateral cardiac do.; p t cardio-py- 
n , JIT, lonc valve ; /*, infenor pvlonc val- 
Crawfish and lobster, vular apparatus ; tn, anterior gastric 
muscle ; >t, insertion of postenor do.; 
fc t procephalic process; A, opening 
of hepatic duct; v, pyloric cxcum ; 
it, intestine; gn, testis; fn', fn", 
vas defcrens ; a o, ophthalmic artery ; 
a a, antennary do.; a h, hepatic do. ; 
as, sternal do.;aA superior abdomi- 
nal do.; b, cerebral ganglia ; s g, azy- 
gous visceral nerve. 
Amoiii: fluviatile forms, 
the best known are As- 
tacus and Cainbarus, the 
former containing the 
river-crawfish, A. Flur/a- 
tilis, and the latter nu- 
merous species of North 
