beleave 
II. intraits. To remain; continue; stay. 
Hot the lettres biltuerl fill large upon plaster. 
Alliterative PoOTW(L Morris), ii. 15-l!i. 
belection (be-lek'shon), n. Same as bolectioti. 
belecture (be-lek'tur), v. t. [< be- 1 + lecture.] 
To vex with 'lectures : admonish persistently. 
She now had somebody, or rather something, to lecture 
and !>,-/, .-I:,,; as before. Savage, Reuben Medlicott, I. xvi. 
belee 1 (be-le'), r. t. [< be- 1 + lee 1 .] To place 
on the lee. or in a position unfavorable to the 
wind. [Rare.] 
I ... must be belef'd and calm'd 
By debitor and creditor. Shak., Othello, i. 1. 
belee-t, '' ' An apocopated form of beleeve, now 
written believe. 
/'mil. llflef me, sir. 
riii. I would I could, sir ! Fletcher, Mad Lover, v. 4. 
beleftt. Preterit and past participle of beleave. 
belemnite (be-lem'nit), n. [= F. belemnite, < 
NL. belemnites, < Gr. /?c/U//rar, poet, for /3f/loc, 
a dart, missile ( < (SaUeiv, 
throw, cast), + -ites.] 1. A 
straight, solid, tapering, dart- 
shaped fossil, the internal 
bone or shell of a molluscous 
animal of the extinct family 
Belemnitidas, common in the 
Chalk and Jurassic limestone. 
Belemnites are popularly known as 
arrow-heads or flngfr-etonc*. from 
their shape ; also as thunderbolts 
and tliiiiuler-stnaai, from a belief as 
to their origin. See Belemnitidte. 
2. The animal to which such 
a bone belonged. 
Also called ceraunite. 
Belemnitella (be-lem-ni- 
tel'S), n. [NL., dim. of Be- 
Iciiiiiiti'x.'] A genus of the 
family Belemnitidw, charac- 
terized by having a straight 
fissure at the upper end of 
the guard, on the ventral side 
of the alveolus. The species 
are all Cretaceous. 
Belemnites (bel-em-m'tez), 
n. [NL. : see belemnite.] The Belemnite, with re- 
typical genus of the family ^ ^ t , 
JyVlcmnitldCK. *, head; c, ink-bag; 
belemnitic (bel-em-nit'ik), a. *J5fSSS3t' ' 
Of or pertaining to a belem- 
nite, or to the family to which it belongs : as, a 
belemnitic animal; a beleninitic shell; belemmtic 
deposits. 
belemnitid (be-lem'ni-tid), n. A cephalopod 
of the family Belemnitida;. 
Belemnitidae (bel-em-nit'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Belemnites + -ida;.] A family of extinct di- 
branchiate cephalopods, having 10 arms near- 
512 
belcmuite. Some specimens have been found exhibiting 
other points of their anatomy. Thus we learn that the 
organs were inclosed in a mantle ; that there were 10 arm- 
like processes, 8 of them booked at the end, ealled the un- 
cinated arm*, and '2 not uncinated, called the tentacula ; 
that the animal was furnished witli an ink-bag, and that 
its mouth was armed with mandibles. There are four 
known genera, Belemnita, Relemimtruthix, SAmmtttSa, 
and Xipltitteitthij. 
belemnoid (be-lom'noid), a. [< belemn-ite + 
-oid.] Like a belemnite. 
beleper (be-lep'er), r. t. [< be- 1 + leper.'] To 
infect witli or as with leprosy. 
Belepered all the clergy with a worse infection than (!<- 
hazi's. MUtnn, Eikonoklastes, xiv. 
bel esprit (bel es-pre') ; pi. beait.r m/iriUt (boz 
es-pre'). [F., a fine spirit : see bel 1 and esprit.] 
A fine genius or man of wit. 
Men who look up to me as a man of letters and a lift 
,.,,,,.,7. Truing. 
belfried (bel'frid), a. [< belfry + -ed*.] Hav- 
ing a belfry : as, a belfried tower. 
belfry (bel'fri), .; pi. belfries (-friz). [Early 
mod. E. also belfrey, belfery, belfrie, etc., < ME. 
belfray. earlier berfray, berfrey, berfreid, ber- 
freit, < OF. berfrai, berfray, berfrei, bcrefreit, 
berfroi, later belfrei, belefreit, belefroi, belfroi, 
bcfroi, baffray, etc., mod. F. beffroi = It. battifre- 
do, < ML. berefredus, berefridus, berfredtis, with 
numerous variations, bel-, bil-, bal-, berte-, 
balte-, bati-, butifredus, < MHG. bercvrit, bercfrit, 
berchfrit, berhfride, MD. bergfert, bergfrede (in 
sense 1), lit. 'protecting shelter,' < OHG. bcr- 
gan, MHG. G. bergen (= AS. bcorgan), cover, 
protect, + OHG. fridu, MHG. fride, G. friedc 
= AS. frithu, frith, E. obs. frith, peace, secu- 
rity, shelter. The origin of the word was not 
known, or felt, in Bom., and the forms varied ; 
the It. battifredo (after ML. batifredas) simu- 
lates battere, beat, strike (as an alarm-bell or 
a clock), and the E. form (after ML. belfredus) 
simulates bell, whence the restriction in mod. 
E. to a bell-tower. The same first element 
also occurs in baiiibern and liawberk; the 
second, with ac- 
cent, in affray.] 
If. A movable 
wooden tower 
used in the mid- 
dle ages in at- 
tacking fortified 
places. It consist- 
ed of several stages, 
was mounted on 
wheels, and was gen- 
erally covered with 
raw hides to protect 
those under it from 
fire, boiling oil, etc. 
The lowermost story 
sometimes sheltered 
a battering-ram ; the 
stories intermediate 
between it and the 
uppermost were fill- 
ed with bowmen, 
arbalisters, etc., to 
gall the defenders ; 
while the uppermost 
story was furnished 
with a drawbridge to let down on the wall, over which 
the storming party rushed to the assault. 
2f. A stationary tower near a fortified place, 
in which were stationed sentinels to watch the 
surrounding country and give notice of the 
approach of an enemy. It was furnished with a 
belie 
bell to give the alarm to the garrison, and also to sum- 
inoii the vassals c.f a feudal lord to his defense. This 
i irrmnstanee helped the belief that the word was con- 
nected with Ml. 
3. A bell-tower, generally attached to a church 
or other building, but sometimes standing apart 
as an independent structure. 
The same dusky walls 
Of cold, gray stone, 
The same cloisters and Mfrji and spire. 
LiiiinJ'rllinc, Golden Legend, ii. 
4. That part of a steeple or other structure in 
which a bell is hung; particularly, the frame 
of timberwork which sustains the bell. See 
cut under bell-gable. 5. Naut., the ornamen- 
tal frame in which the ship's bell is hung. 
[Eng.] 6. A shed used as a shelter for cattle 
or for farm implements or produce. [Local, 
Eng.] 
belfry-owl (bel'fri-owl), n. A name of the 
barn-owl (which see), from its frequently nest- 
ing in a belfry. 
belfry-turret (berfri-tur"et), n. A turret at- 
tached to an angle of a tower or belfry, to re- 
ceive the stairs which give access to its upper 
Stories. Belfry-turrets are polygonal, square, or round 
in external plan, but always round within for convenient 
adaptation to winding stairs. 
'" F \j (i ii / ii", i\j t * 
!.] A kind look 
Belfry used in the assault of a medieval 
fortress. (From Viollet-le-Duc's " Diet, de 
1' Architecture." J 
Belemnites. 
r, Beltmnoteitthis antiqitus, ventral side. 2, Belemnites Owetn'i 
(restored) : A, .guard; C, bhragmacone ; A muscular tissue of man- 
tle ; f-', infundibulum ; /, /, uncmated arms ; K, K, tentacula ; N, ink- 
bag. 3, Belemnite, British Museum. 
ly equally developed and provided with hooks, 
an internal shell terminated behind by a ros- 
trum of variable form, and a well-developed 
Straight phragmacone. The species are numerous 
in the Secondary geological formations, and especially in 
the Cretaceous, and their remains are the cigar-like shells 
familiar to most persons living in regions where the Cre- 
taceous seas once existed. The skeleton consists of a sub- 
cylindrical fibrous body called the rostrum or gnard, which 
is hollowed into a conical excavation called the alveolus, 
in which is lodged the phragmacone. This consists of 
a series of chambers, separated by septa perforated by 
apertures for the passage of the aiphvncle or infundibu- 
lum. The pen of the common squid is the modern rep- 
resentative, though on an inferior scale, of the ancient 
belgardt (bel-gard'), n. [< It. bet i/uardo. lovely 
look: see bel 1 and guard, rci/ 
or glance. 
Belfry of the Duomo in Pisa, Italy : commonly called the 
Leaning Tower. 
Upon her eyelids many <iraces sate, 
Under the shadow of her even browes, 
Working bflgardex, and amorous retrate. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. iii. 25. 
Belgian (bel'jian), . and n. [See Belgic.'] I. 
a. Belonging to Belgium, a small country of 
Europe, between France and Germany, for- 
merly part of the Netherlands, erected into an 
independent kingdom in 1830-31 Belgian syl- 
lables, syllables applied to the musical scale by the Bel- 
gian waelrant alwut 1550. See bobaation and bocedaa- 
tinii. 
II. ii. A native or an inhabitant of the king- 
dom of Belgium. 
Belgic (bcl'jik), . [< L. Belgians, < lielga;.] 
1. Pertaining to the Belgse, who in Caesar's 
time possessed the country bounded by the 
Khine, the Seine, the North Sea, the Strait 
of Dover, and the English Channel. They were 
probably of mixed Teutonic and Celtic origin. At the time 
of Ccesar's invasion tribes of Belgre were found in south- 
ern Britain, whose connection with the continental Belgic 
is disputed. 
2. Pertaining to Belgium. 
Belgravian (bel-gra'vi-an), a. and n. I. a. Be- 
longing to Belgravia, an aristocratic district of 
London around Pimlico ; hence, aristocratic ; 
fashionable. Tliackeray. 
II. n. An inhabitant of Belgravia; an aris- 
tocrat ; a member of the upper classes. Tliack- 
eray. 
Belial (be'lial), . [Early mod. E. also Belyall, 
ME. Belial, '<: LL. (in Vulgate) Belial, < Gr. Be- 
fo'a/l, < Heb. Vliya'al, used in the Old Testament 
usually in phrases translated, in the English 
version, "man of Belial," "son of Belial," as if 
Belial were a proper name equiv. to Satan; 
hence onco in New Testament (Gr. Ec/lap) as 
an appellative of Satan (2 Cor. vi. 15). But the 
Heb. ffliya'alis a common noun, meaningworth- 
lessness or wickedness ; < b'li, without, + ya'al, 
use, profit.] The spirit of eVil personified; 
the devil; Satan; in Milton, one of the fallen 
angels, distinct from Satan. 
What concord hath Christ with Belial? 2 Cor. vi. 15. 
Belial came last, than whom a spirit more lewd 
Fell not from heaven. Milton, P. L., i. 490. 
belibel (be-H'bel), v. t. [< be- 1 + libel.-] To 
libel or traduce. 
Belideus (be-lid'e-us), n. [NL.] A genus of 
small flying phalangers, of the family I'halangis- 
tidat; the sugar-squirrels. These little marsupials 
resemble flying-squirrels in superficial appearance, having 
a large parachute, large naked ears, long bushy tail, and 
very soft fur. There are several species, such as B. sciu- 
reus, B. ariel, and B. jlarnvntcr, inhabiting Australia, 
New Guinea, and some of the neighboring islands. 
belie^t (be-lT), v. t. ; pret. belay, pp. belaiii, 
ppr. belying. [< ME. belyen, beliggen, < AS. be- 
licgan, bilicgan (= OHG. biligan, MHG. biligen, 
G. beliegen), < be-, about, by, + licgan, lie : see 
fee- 1 and lie 1 , and cf. belay.] To lie around; 
encompass ; especially, to lie around, as an 
army; beleaguer. 
belie 2 (bf-lT), v. t.; pret. and pp. belied, ppr. 
belying. '[< ME. belyen, belcogcn, < AS. belctigan 
(= OFries. biliaga = OHG. biliugan, MHG. be- 
liegen, G. beliigen), < be-, about, by, + leogan, 
lie: see be- 1 and Ke 2 .] 1. To tell lies concern- 
ing; calumniate by false reports. 
