acquisible 
acquisible (a-kwiz'i-bl), a. [< L. acquix-itux, pp. 
of acquirer/', acquire (seo rtri/uirc), 4- E. -iwe.] 
Capable of being acquired. [Rare.] 
acquisitet (ak'wi-zit), a. [< L. arquisituii, 
gained, pp. of acquirers, gain : see acijuin: ( '!'. 
exquisite, requisite.] Acquired; gained. 
A humour is a liquid or fluent part of the body, com- 
prehended in it, for the preservation of it ; and is either 
innatt- ur burn with us, or adventitious ami BOOIlMte. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 95. 
acquisition (ak-wi-zish ' on), n. [< L. ac</i<ixi- 
tio(n-), acquisition, < acqitirere : see acquire."] 
1. The act of acquiring or gaining possession : 
as, the acquisition of property. 
Any European state may be restrained from pursuing 
plans of acquisition, or making preparations looking to- 
ward future acquisitions, which are judged to be hazard- 
ous to the independence . . . of its neighbors. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, 43. 
2. That which is acquired or gained; especially, 
a material possession obtained by any means, 
but sometimes used in the plural of mental 
gains. 
The Cromwellians were induced to relinquish one third 
of their acquisitions. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. 
They learn so fast and convey the result so fast as to 
outrun the logic of their slow brother and make his ac- 
quisitiong poor. Emerson, Woman. 
-Syn. 2. Acquirements, Acquisitions, etc. See acquire- 
ment. 
acquisitive (a-kwiz'i-tiv), a. .[< L. as if *acqui- 
xitirns, < acquisitws, pp. : see acquisite.] If. 
Acquired. 
He died not in his acquisitive, but in his native soil. 
Wotton, Reliquiffi, p. 106. 
2. Making or tending to make acquisitions; 
having a propensity to acquire : as, an acquis- 
itive disposition. 
The first condition then of mental development is that 
the attitude of the mind should be creative rather than 
acquisitive. W. K. Clifford, Lectures, I. 105. 
Acquisitive faculty, in psychol., perception; the pre- 
sentative faculty. 
acquisitively (a-kwiz'i-tiv-li), adv. In an ac- 
quisitive manner ; by way of acquisition. 
acquisitiveness (a-kwiz'i-tiv-nes), n. 1. The 
quality of being acquisitive ; a propensity to 
acquire property. 2. In phren., the organ to 
which is attributed the function of producing 
the general desire, to acquire and possess, apart 
from the uses of the objects. Sometimes called 
covetiveness. See cut under phrenology. 
acquistt (a-kwisf), [A form of acquest, after 
It. acquisto, ML. acqnistum, L. acqmitum.~\ Ac- 
quest; acquirement. 
New acquist 
Of true experience. Milton, S. A., 1. 1755. 
acquit (a-kwif), v. t. ; pret. and pp. acquitted, 
ppr. acquitting. [< ME. aquiten, acwiten, < OF. 
aquifer, acuHer, later acquiter, "to quit, acquit, 
free, clear, discharge, rid of, deliver from " 
(Cotgrave), F. acquitter = Pr. aquitar = It. ac- 
quetare, appease, quiet, < ML. "acquitare, acquie- 
tare, settle a claim, appease, quiet, < L. ad, to, 
+ quietare, quiet, < quietus, discharged, free, at 
rest, quiet: see acquiet, quiet, and quit.'] 1. To 
release or discharge, as from an obligation, ac- 
cusation, guilt, censure, suspicion, or whatever 
is laid against or upon a person as a charge or 
duty; specifically, in law, to pronounce not 
guilty: as, we acquit a man of evil intentions ; 
the jury acquitted the prisoner, it is followed by of 
before the thing of which one is acquitted ; to acquit from 
is obsolete. 
His poverty, can you acquit him of that ? 
Sheridan, The Duenna, ii. 3. 
If he [Bacon] was convicted, it was because it was impos- 
sible to acquit him without offering the grossest outrage 
to justice and common sense. Macaulay, Lord Bacon. 
2. To atone for. [Rare.] 
Till life to death acquit my forced offence. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1071. 
3. To settle, as a debt ; requite ; pay ; discharge ; 
fulfil. 
Aquytf hym wel for goddes love, quod he. 
Chaucer, Troilus. ii. 1200. 
Midst foes (as champion of the faith) he ment 
That palme or cypress should his paines acquite. 
Carew, Tasso. 
I admit it to be not so much the duty as the privilege of 
an American citizen to acquit this obligation to the mem- 
ory of his fathers with discretion and generosity. 
Everett, Orations, I. 382. 
We see young men who owe us a new world, so readily 
and lavishly they promise, but they never acquit the debt. 
Emerson, Experience. 
4. With a reflexive pronoun : (a) To clear 
one's self. 
Pray God he may acquit him (himself] of suspicion I 
Shale., 2 Hen. VI., iii. _>. 
(6) To behave ; bear or conduct one's self : as, 
53 
the soldier acquitted himself well in battle ; the 
orator acquitted himself indifferently. 
Though this was one of the first mercantile transac- 
tions of my life, yet I had no doubt about ai-qi:ittin<t mi/- 
xelf witli reputation. Goldsmith, Vicar, xiv. 
5f. To release ; set free ; rescue. 
Till I have acquit your captive Knight. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. vii. 52. 
- Syn. 1. To exonerate, exculpate, discharge, set free. 
See atxolur. 4. (6) To behave, act, bear, conduct, demean, 
deport, or quit (one's self). 
acquitt. Past participle of acquit. 
I am glad I am so acquit of this tinder-box. 
Shak., M. W. of W., i. 3. 
acquitet (a-kwif), v.t. Same as acquit. [Com- 
pare requite,] 
acquitment (a-kwit'inent), . The act of ac- 
quitting, or the state of being acquitted ; ac- 
quittal. [Rare.] 
acquittal (a-kwit'al), n. [< ME. acquitalle, 
-ayle ;(. acquit + -al.~] 1. The act of acquitting, 
or the state of being acquitted. Specifically, in 
law: (a) A judicial setting free or deliverance from the 
charge of an off ense by pronouncing a verdict of not guilty. 
(6) In England, freedom from entries and molestations by 
a superior lord for services issuing out of lands. Cowell. 
2. Performance, as of a duty; discharge of an 
obligation or a debt. 
I have been long in arrears to you, but I trust you will 
take this huge letter as an acquittal. 
Walpole, Letter to H. Mann. 
acquittance (a-kwit'ans), re. [< ME. aquitance, 
-ans, acquitance, -ounce, <OF. aquitance, <"- 
ter, discharge: see acquit and -ance.] 1. The 
act of acquitting or discharging from a debt or 
any other liability; the state of being so dis- 
charged. 
Now must your conscience my acquittance seal. 
Shak., Hamlet, iv. 7. 
2. A writing in evidence of a discharge ; a re- 
ceipt in full, which bars a further demand. 
You can produce acquittances 
For such a sum. Shak., L. L. L., ii. 1. 
3f. The act of clearing one's self. 
Being suspected and put for their acquittance to take 
the sacrament of the altar. Jer. Taylor. 
acquittance! (a-kwit'ans), v. t. To acquit. 
Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me 
From all the impure blots and stains thereof. 
Shak., Hich. III., iii. 7. 
acquittance-roll (a-kwit'ans-rol), . In the 
British army, the pay-roll of a company, troop, 
or battery. 
Acraea (a-kre'a), n. [NL., < Gr. dxpoiof, equiv. 
to d/cpof, at the top or extremity.] A genus of 
nymphalid butterflies, typical of the subfamily 
Acr&itue. A. antias is an example. 
Acraeinae (ak-re-i'ne), n. pi. [NL., <Acra;a + 
-Hue.'] A subfamily of butterflies of the family 
Nympnalidie, taking name from the leading 
genus Acrcea, and containing mostly African 
species of small or moderate size, with semi- 
transparent wings, reddish-brown marked with 
black. There are about 85 species. 
Acramphibrya (ak-ram-fib'ri-a), n.pl. [NL., 
< Gr. anpof, at the end, + afiQi, on both sides, 
+/}pitov, a flower, blossom, < J3pi>Eiv, swell, be full 
to bursting.] In bot., a term used by Endlicher 
as a class name for exogenous plants, which he 
described as plants growing both at the apex 
and at the sides. 
acrania (a-kra'ni-a), n. [NL., < Gr. a- priv. + 
Kpaviav, L. cranium, the skull.] 1. [NL., fern, 
sing.] In teratol., a malformation consisting 
in an entire absence of the bones and integu- 
ments forming the vault of the skull. Also 
written acrany. 2. [cap.] [NL., neut.pl.] A 
name proposed by Haeckel as a class designa- 
tion for Ampnioxus or Sranchiostoma ; a syn- 
onym of Hyelozoa or Leptoeardia (which see). 
Also called A ceplmla. See Amphioxus and Sran- 
chiostoma. 
acranial (a-kra'ni-al), a. [See acrania.] Hav- 
ing no skull. 
acrany (ak'ra-ni), . Same as acrania, 1. 
acraset, . t. See acraze. 
acrasiat, See acrasy. 
Acraspeda, Acraspedota (a-kras'pe-da, a- 
kras-pe-do'ta), n. pi. [NL., < Gr. a- priv. + 
KpacmeSov, a hem or border.] The name given 
by Gegenbaur to the acalephs proper ; that is, 
to those jelly-fishes and sea-nettles the lobate 
border of whose disk is not provided (with few 
exceptions, as in Aurelia) with a contractile 
marginal fold or velum: nearly synonymous 
with Discophora (which see): opposed to Cras- 
lii'ilni/i. See cut under acaleph. 
acraspedote (a-kras'pe-dot), a. [< Gr. a- priv. 
(a-!8) + craspedote, or as Acraspeda + -ote.] 
acreage 
Having no velum, as a discophore ; of or per- 
taining to the Acraspeilii. 
The Hydroidea and Siphonophora are craspedot* ; the 
Dbcopbon are supposed to be destitute of a veil, and are 
therefore acraujjetlut:-. Stand. Sat. Hist., I. 94. 
acrasyt, acrasiat (ak'ra-si, a-kra'zi-a), n. [< 
ML. acrasia, which appears to combine the no- 
tions of (1) Gr. anpaaia, later form of aKpdreta, 
intemperance, want of self-control (< aKpari/(, 
wanting in self-control, intemperate, unbridled, 
< a- priv. + Kparof, strength, power, akin to E. 
hard, q. v.) ; and (2) Gr. aicpaaia, bad mixture, 
ill temperature, <<k/)aTOf , unmixed, untempered, 
intemperate, excessive, < a- priv. + "/cpardf, 
mixed : see crater and crasis.] Excess ; surfeit ; 
intemperance ; incontinence. 
Acrasits, whether of the body or mind, occasion great 
uneasiness. Cornish, Life of Firmin, p. 84. 
acratia (a-kra'shia), re. [< Gr. aKpdreia, want 
of power: see acrasy.] In pathol., failure of 
strength ; weakness ; debility. 
acrazet, acraset (a-kraz'), v. t. [<F.aeraser, 
"accraser, break, burst, craze, bruise, crush" 
(Cotgrave), same as ^eraser, escraser, "to squash 
down, beat flat," etc. (Cotgrave) : see a- 11 , a-15, 
and craze.] To weaken, impair, or enfeeble in 
mind, body, or estate. 
I acrazed was. Mir. for Mags., p. 138. 
My substance impaired, my credit acrased. 
Qascoigne, Letter in Hermit's Tale, p. 21. 
Cold in the night which acraxeth the bodie. 
Holinshed, Chronicles, III. 1049. 
acre (a'ker), n. [<ME. aker, akir, a field, an 
acre, < AS. aicer, a field, later -also an acre, = 
OS. akkar = OFries. ekker = D. akker= OHG. 
ahhar, achar,accar, MHG. G. acker = Ice\. akr = 
Sw. dkcr = Dan. ger = Goth, akrs = L. ager= Gr. 
ayp6g = Skt. ajra, all in the sense of field, orig. 
a pasture or a chase, hunting-ground ; < if *ag, 
Skt. \/ aj = Gr. ayetv = L. agere = Icel. oka, 
drive: see ake = ache l , and (<L. agere) act, 
etc. Hence acorn, q. v. The spelling acre in- 
stead of the reg. aker (cf. baker, AS. btecere) is 
due to its legal use in imitation of OF. acre, < 
ML. (Law L.) acra, acrum, from Teut.] 1. 
Originally, an open plowed or sowed field. This 
signification was gradually lost after the acre was made a 
definite measure of surface. Still used in the plural to 
denote fields or land in general. 
My bosky acres, and my unshrubb'd down. 
Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., i. 1. 
2. A superficial measure of land, usually 
stated to be 40 poles in length by 4 in breadth ; 
but 160 perches (= 4840 square yards, or 43,560 
square feet) make an acre, however shaped. 
An acre, as a specific quantity of land, was reckoned in 
England as much as a yoke of oxen could plow in a day 
till the establishment of a definite measure by laws of the 
thirteenth century and later. This is known in Great 
Britain and the United States as the statute acre, to dis- 
tinguish it from the customary acres still in use to some 
extent in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The Scotch acre 
is larger than the statute acre, as it contains 6150.4 square 
yards, 48 Scotch acres being equal to 61 statute acres. The 
Irish acre is 7840 square yards, 100 Irish acres being nearly 
equivalent to 162 statute acres. In Wales different mea- 
sures, the erw, the stana, the paladr, are called acres. The 
true erw is 4320 square yards ; the stang is 3240. There 
is also the Cornish acre, of 5760 square yards. Among 
the customary English acres are found measures of the 
following numbers of perches : 80 (of hops), 90 (of hops), 
107, 110, 120 (shut acre), 130, 132, 134, 141, 180 (forest 
acre), 200 (for copyhold land in Lincolnshire), 212, 256 (of 
wood). The Leicestershire acre has 2308J square yards, 
the Westmoreland acre 6760 square yards, the Cheshire 
acre 10,240 square yards. Often abbreviated to A. or a. 
The acre was in many cases a small field simply, i. e., 
an ager ; and a hundred and twenty small fields were 
called a hide. A standard acre was hardly established 
until the thirteenth century. 
D. W. Ross, German Land-holding, Notes, p. 131. 
3f. A lineal measure equal to a furrow's length, 
or 40 poles ; more frequently, an acre's breadth, 
4 poles, equal to 22 or 25 yards Burgh acres. 
See burgh. God's acre. See God's-acre. 
acreable (a'ker-a-bl), a. [< acre + -able.] Ac- 
cording to the acre ; measured or estimated in 
acres or by the acre. 
The acreable produce of the two methods was nearly the 
same. Complete Farmer, Art. Potatoe (Ord. MS.). 
acreage (a'ker-aj), n. [< acre + -age.] The num- 
ber of acres in a piece or tract of land ; acres 
taken collectively ; extent in acres : as, the 
acreage of farm-land in a country ; the acreage 
of wheat sown. 
No coarse and blockish God of acreage 
Stands at thy gate for thee to grovel to. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
The interests of a nation of our acreage and population 
are a serious load to be conducted safely. 
Jf. A. Rev., CXLI. 211. 
