acupressure 
through the sides or flaps of the wound, instead 
of tying with a thread. There are various modes 
of inserting the pin. 
acupuncturation (ak-u-pungk-tu-ra'shon), n. 
A pricking with or as ii with a needle ; the 
practice of acupuncture. [Bare.] 
acupuncturator (ak-u-pungk'tu-ra-tor), . 
An instrument for performing th'e operation of 
acupuncture. 
acupuncture (ak'u-pungk-tur), . [< L. ocas, a 
needle, + punctum, a prMkmg : see puncture.] 
1. A surgical operation consisting in the in- 
sertion of delicate needles in the tissues. This 
operation has been practised for ages in many parts of the 
world. Apart from the employment of needles to evacu- 
ate a morbid fluid, as in edema, or to set up an inflamma- 
tion, as in ununited fractures, acupuncture has been mostly 
used for myalgic, neuralgic, and other nervous affections. 
2. A mode of infanticide in some countries, 
consisting in forcing a needle into the brain of 
the child. 
acupuncture (ak'u-pungk-tiir), v. t. ; pret. and 
pp. acupunctured, ppr. acupuncturing. In aury., 
to perform the operation of acupuncture upon. 
acurset, r. t. See accurse, 
acus (a'kus), . ; pi. acus. [L. aeus (acu-), a 
needle or pin, as being pointed; cf. acuerc, 
make sharp or pointed: see acute, a.] 1. A 
needle, especially one used for surgical pur- 
poses. 2. In arcna'ol., sometimes, the pin of 
a brooch or fibula. 3. leap.] (|) A genus of 
fishes. Johnston, 1650. (b) A genus of mol- 
lusks. Humphreys, 1797. See Terebra Acus 
cannulata, a trocar* or a tubular needle for discharging 
fluids. -Acus interpunctoria, a couching-needle, used 
in operations for cataract. -Acus ophthalmica, a needle 
used in operations for ophthalmia or cataract. ACUB 
triquetra, a three-sided needle ; a trocar. 
Acusidae (a-ko'si-de), n.pl. [NL.,irreg. < Acus, 
3 (6), + -idte.] Same as Terebrid<e. 
acustomt, acustomancet, etc. See aectmtoiu, 
accustomance, etc. 
acutangular (a-kut'ang'gu-lar), a. Same as 
acute-angular. Warburton. 
acutate (a-ku'tat), . [< acute + -ate 1 .] Slight- 
ly pointed. 
acute (a-kuf), a. [< L. acutuis, sharp, pp. of 
acuere, sharpen, < -\? *ac, be sharp, pierce : see 
Acutenaculum, or Needle-holder. 
Acute Leaves. 
acid.] 1. Sharp at the end; 
ending in a sharp point or an- 
gle : opposed to blunt or 06- 
tlise. Specifically applied, (<r) in bot., 
to a leaf or other organ ending in a 
sharp angle ; (b) in .</<<</<.. to an angle 
less than a right angle. See acute- 
angled. 
2. Sharp or penetrating in in- 
tellect ; possessing keenness of 
insight or perception ; exercis- 
ing nice discernment or discrimination : op- 
posed to dull or xtupid : as, "the acute and 
ingenious author," Locke. 3. Manifesting in- 
tellectual keenness or penetration ; marked or 
characterized by quickness of perception or 
nice discernment: applied to mental endow- 
ments and operations: as, acute faculties or 
arguments. 
Leigh Hunt, whose feminine temperament gave him 
acute- perceptions at the expense of judgment. 
Loire II, Study Windows, p. 261. 
4. Having nice or quick sensibility ; suscepti- 
ble of slight impressions ; having power to feel 
or perceive small or distant objects or effects : 
as, a man of acute eyesight, hearing, or feeling. 
Were our senses made much quicker and acuter, the ap- 
pearance and outward scheme of things would have quite 
another face to us. Locke. 
The acute hearing of the Veddahs is shown by their 
habit of finding bees' nests by the hum. 
//. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., 40. 
5. Keen; sharp ; intense; poignant: said of 
pain, pleasure, etc. 6. High in pitch; shrill: 
said of sound : opposed to grave. See acute ac- 
cent, below. 7. In pathol., attended with more 
or less violent symptoms and coming speedily 
to a crisis: applied to a disease: as, an acute 
pleurisy: distinguished from subacute and 
chronic. Acute accent, (a) Utterance of a single 
sound, as a syllable of a word, at a higher piteh than 
others ; accentual stress of voice. (&) A mark (') used to 
denote accentual stress, and also for other purposes. To 
denote stress in English, it is now generally placed after 
the accented syllable, as in this dictionary, but sometimes 
over the vowel of that syllable. The latter is done regu- 
larly in such Greek words as take this accent, and in all 
Spanish words the accentuation of which varies from the 
standard rule. In some languages it is used only to de- 
termine the quality or length of vowel-sounds, as on e in 
French (as in ete), and on all the vowels in Hungarian ; and 
in Polish and other Slavic languages it is also placed over 
some of the consonants to mark variations of their sounds. 
For other uses, see amiit, n. Acute angle. Secii/i;//.-". 
Acute ascending paralysis. See Landnfs paratynii, 
under paraltixis. Acute bisectrix. See bixectrix. = Syn. 
64 
1. K''< it. rtr. ,-MV ,*7m/7>. 2 anil 3. .1 '*"'-'. A"fv, Shrrird, 
penetrating, piercing, slmrp-nittc<l, bright. (So- xiihllr.) 
An acute mind pierces a subject like a needle ; a kf-n iniml 
has a line, incisive edge, like a knife. Ki'i-n may be the 
most objective of these words. Anacufc answer is one that 
shows penetration into the subject ; a kern answer unites 
with acuteness a certain amount of sarcasm, or antagonism 
to the person addressed ; a *tn-''><-<l answer is one that com- 
bines remarkable acuteness with wisdom as to what it Sis 
practically best to say. Xhr>'ir>l differs from act/tr ami 
/,.../ by bavin;; an element of practical sagacity or as- 
tuteness. Only kern has the idea of eagerness : as, he was 
{-frit in pursuit. See atttute and sharp. 
Powers of acute and subtile disputation. .Sir J. Hmtchrl. 
The tongues of mocking wenches are as keen 
As is the razor's edge invisible. Shak., L. L. L., v. >. 
Mother-wit and the common experiences of life do often 
furnish people with a sort of shrewd and sound judgment 
that carries them very creditably through the world. 
J. Mortrii, popular Culture, p. 303. 
acut6 (a-kiit'), c. t. To render acute in tone. 
[Rare.]' 
He acute* his rising inflection too much. Walker, Diet. 
acute-angled (a-kut'anggld), a. Having sharp 
or acute angles, or angles less than right angles. 
Acute-angled triangle, a triangle that has each of its 
angles lessthan a right angle. 
acute-angular (a-kut'anggu-lar), fl. 1. Hav- 
ing an angle less than a right angle ; aeute- 
angled. 2. In hot., having stems with sharp 
corners or edges, as labiate plants. 
Also written acutangular. 
acutely (a-kut'li), adv. In au acute manner; 
sharply ; keenly ; with nice discrimination. 
acutenaculum (ak'u-te-nak'u-lum), n. ; pi. acu- 
teiKicula (-la). [<L. actin, needle, + tenacidum, 
holder, < tettcrc, 
hold.] In surg., 
a needle-nolder 
used during op- 
erations. 
acuteness (a- 
kut'nes), n. The quality of being acute, (a) The 
quality of being sharp or pointed. 
The lance-shaped windows form at their vertex angles 
of varying degrees of aeuteneia. Oxford Olonmri/. 
(b) The faculty of nice discernment or perception ; quick- 
ness or keenness of the senses or understanding. [By a 
acutfitens of the senses or of mental feeling we perceiv 
small objects or slight impressions ; by an acutenrmt of ii 
tellect we disceni nice distinctions.] 
He [Berkeley] was possessed of great acutenenK imd ii 
genuity, but was not distinguished for good sense o 
shrewdness. McCiah, Berkeley, p. 53. 
There may lie much of acuteurm in & thing well said, but 
there is more in a quick reply. 
Dnitlrn, Pref. to Mock Astrol. 
(<) In rhet. or intutir, sharpness or elevation of sound, 
(rf) In pathol., violence of adisease. which brings itspeedily 
to a crisis. 
acutiatort (a-ku'shi-a-tor), . [ML., < acuti- 
are, sharpen, < L. acutuii, sharp: see acute, a. 
Cf . digitise.] In the middle ages, a person whose 
duty it was to sharpen weapons. Before the in- 
vention of firearms such persons were neces- 
sary attendants of armies. 
acutifoliate (a-ku-ti-fo'li-at), a. [< L. acutus, 
sharp, + foliaim, leaved: see foliate.] In bot., 
having sharp-pointed leaves. A. Gray. 
Acutilingues (a-ku-ti-ling'gwez), n. pi. [NL., 
< L. acutits, sharp, + lingua = E. tongue.] A 
division of Andrenidvc, containing those soli- 
tary bees whose labium is acute at the end : 
distinguished from Obtnsilingues, in which the 
labium is obtuse. 
acutilobate (a-ku-ti-16'bat), a. [< L. aeutus, 
sharp, + NL. lobatus, lobato: see lobate.] In 
bot., having acute lobes : said of certain leaves. 
A. Gray. 
acuto-nodose (a-ku-to-no'dos), a. [< L. ctt- 
tus, sharp, + nodosu/t, knotted: see nodose.] 
Acutely nodose. Dana. (N. E. D.) 
acuyan-wood (a-ko-ya'ri-wud), n. The aro- 
matic wood of the tree Bursera (Idea) altissima 
of Guiana. 
-acy. [(1) Directly, or through ME. and OF. 
-acic, < ML. -acia, < LL. -atia, forming nouns of 
quality, state, orconditiou from nouns in -a(t-)s, 
as in abb-acy, < LL. abb-at-ia, < abb-a(t-)s, abbot ; 
prim-acy, (F.prim-atie, <LL. prim-ut-ia,( prim- 
a(t-)s, primate, etc. (2) < LL. -atia, forming 
nouns of state from nouns in -atiis, as in ad- 
voc-acy, < LL. advoc-at-ia, < L. adi'oc-at-us, advo- 
cate, etc. (3) < L. -acia, forming nouns of qual- 
ity from adjectives in -ax (-aci-), as in fall-aey, 
< L. fall-aci-a, < fall-ajc (-aci-), deceptive, etc. 
These three sources of -acy were more or less 
confused, and the suffix has been extended to 
form many nouns which have no corresponding 
form in L., as in cur-acy, accttr-acy, etc. Analogy 
has extended -acy, < L. -atia, to some words of 
Gr. origin: (4) < L. -atia, < Gr. -areta, as in pir- 
iicy, < LL. "pir-atia, < Gr. ircipareia, < ireijwr//'-, 
A. D. 
pirate; similarly in -crncy, q. v. Ilrncn the 
short form -cy, esp. in designations of office, as 
in captaiu-cii, i-Hxiyn-ry, mnni-ci/, etc.] A suffix 
of Latin or Greek origin, forming nouns of qual- 
ity, state, condition, office, etc., from nouns in 
-ate (which becomes -<-, the suffix being -uh 
changed to -<tc-, + -y), as in primary, ciirary, /nl- 
focacy, piracy, etc., or from adjectives in -ari- 
ous, as infiii/nri/. 
acyanoblepsy (a-si'a-no-blep'si), . [< Gr. - 
priv. + ni-avoc, a blue substance, blue (see ryu 
nide), + -/W-t^/o, < ji'Mitetv, see, look on.] A de- 
fect of vision, in consequence of which the color 
blue cannot 1! distinguished. 
acyclic (a-sik'lik), fl. [<Gr. a- priv. + KI*/<M. 
circular: see a- 18 and cyclic.] fci bot., not cyclic ; 
not arranged in whorls. Applied by Braun to flowers 
that have a spiral arrangement <>f parts, when the f]>h:il 
turns made by each class of organs arc not all complete, 
in distinction from Aoyi /<//<//(, where all are complete. 
Braun has termed such flowers acyclic., when the transi- 
tion from one foliar structure to another, as from calyx to 
corolla or from corolla to stamens, does not coincide with 
a definite number of turns of the spiral (as Nymphajaceje 
and Helleborus odorus); hemicyclic when it does so coin- 
cide. Sack*, Botany (trans.), p. 523. 
acyprinoid (a-sip'ri-noid), a. [< Gr. a- priv. 
((1-18) + cyprinnid.] Inzoogeog., characterized 
by the absence of cyprinoid fishes: applied to 
one of the fresh-water divisions of tlie equa- 
torial zone, embracing the tropical American 
and tropical Pacific regions. (Hintlier. 
ad-. [< L. ad-, prefix, ad, prep. , to, unto, toward, 
upon, for, etc., = AS. <Kt, E. (it, q. v. In later 
L. ad- before b, c, f, g, I, n, p, (j, r, s, t, was 
assimilated, as /</>-, <-, /-, ag-, al-, an-, y(-, 
ac-, ar-, as-, at- (see ab-breriate, ac-cuse, af-feet, 
ag-grarute, al-ludr, an-nex, aj>-plaud, ac-quiesce, 
ar-rogatf, ax-sixt, at-tract). Before so, sp-, st-, 
it was reduced to - (see a-scend, a-spire, a- 
itringent, and -l 2 ). Before d, ii, j, m, before 
vowels, and often in other cases, it remained 
unchanged. In OF. ad- with all its variants 
was reduced to a-, and was so adopted into ME. 
But in the 14th and loth centuries a fashion of 
" restoring" the L. spelling (lid-, ao, (if-, etc.) 
began to prevail, and soon became the rule in 
both P. and E., though P. still retains many, 
and E. a few, of the old forms (see ac-company, 
ad-dress, af -front, ag-grieve, al-lay%, al-low, an- 
nounce, ap-peal, ar-rest, at-tend, etc.). By con- 
fusion of the ME. -, for ad-, ac-, af-, etc., with 
ME. - of other origin (< L. al>-, OF. en-, es-, 
AS. a-,ge-, on-, etc.), the latter fl- has been in 
some cases erroneously "restored" to ad-, ac-, 
af-, etc., as in ad-ranee, ac-cloy, ac-curse, ac- 
knowledge, af-ford, af-fray, al-layl^ ad-miral, 
etc.] 1. A prefix of Latin origin, with primary 
sense "to," and hence also " toward, upon, for," 
etc., expressing in Latin, and so in English, 
etc., motion or direction to, reduction or change 
into, addition, adherence, intensification, etc., 
in English often without perceptible force. 
According to the following consonant, it is 
variously assimilated tib-, ac-, af-, etc., or re- 
duced to -. See etymology. 2. A prefix of 
various other origin, erroneously put for other 
prefixes, as in advance, etc. See etymology. 
-ad 1 . [< L. -as (-ad-), < Gr. -af (-<?-), fern, suffix 
equiv. to -<f (-5-) : see -irf 2 .] A suffix of Greek 
origin appended to nouns. It is used in forming 
(1) collective numerals, as monad, dyad, triad, trtrad, etc., 
terms used in classifying chemical elements or radicals 
according to the number of their combining units; (2) 
feminine patronymics (=-/), as in dryad, I'lriadex, etc. 
(see -adtv, -idt?); hence used in IXia? (IAia5-), liiail, and 
in the titles of poems named in imitation of it, as Ditnciad, 
Columbiad : compare ^Eneid, Thebaid ; (3) by Lindley, 
family names of plants akin to a genus, as liliad, trilliiul, 
etc., on words ending in -a or after a vowel ; otherwise -id, 
as in orchid. 
-ad 2 . [<F. -ade: see -adel.] A suffix in ballad 
and salad (formerly balade and salade), usually 
represented by -ade. See -ade 1 . 
-aa 3 . [A mod. use of L. ad, to.] In anat., a 
suffix denoting relation, situation, or direction, 
having the same force as the English suffix 
-ward, or the word toward. Thus, dorsad, liackwnnl, 
toward the dorsum or back ; ectad, outward, toward the 
exterior ; entad, inward, toward the interior. So, also, 
ctphalad, headward, forward ; dextrad, to the right, on 
the right hand of, etc. It is used almost at will, with 
either Greek or Latin words. Its use is advantageous ;i> 
restricting the idea of direction to the body of the animal 
itself, without considering the position in which that 
body may be with relation to externals; since, for ex- 
ample, what is baelnmril in the anatomy of man when in 
the erect posture is upward in that of a qiiadruped when 
in the correlative!)- natural horizontal attitude, while in 
both it is equally dorsad. 
ad. An abbreviation of advertisement. 
A. D. An abbreviation of the Latin phrase anno 
Domini, in the year of the Lord: as, .1. /'. 1887. 
