ahu 
below and on tlic anal disk, with a light stripe on the side, 
;i dark stripe on the haunches, and the end of the tail black. 
Also called jairou. 
ahuatle (ii'6-at-l), n. [Mex.] A preparation 
of the eggs of a dipterous insect of Mexico, 
Ephydra Mans, used for food. 
It is of the eggs of this Insect . . . that the greater part 
of the food products of this lake [Lake Texeoco], known 
as Ahuatle, is composed. . . . The eggs are . . . cleaned 
and ground into flour, which is called Ahuatle. This food 
is deemed suitable for those days in which the religions 
observances prohibit the use of flesh. It is prepared by 
mixing with hens' eggs and fried with fat in small cakes. 
The taste is similar to that of caviare. 
Stand. Nat. Hint., II. 432. 
a-hufft (a-huf'), prcjt. phr. as adv. [< a 3 + 
huff.] lia a swaggering manner. 
Set cap a-hujf, and challenge him the field. 
Greene, James IV., iv. 
ahull t (a-hul'), prep. phr. as adv. or a. [< a 3 , 
on, in, 4- hull.'] Naut., in or into the position 
of a ship when her sails are furled and the 
helm is lashed to the lee side ; in the position 
of a vessel when she lies to, with all her sails 
furled. 
ahungeredt (a-hung'gerd), a. or pp. [Also an- 
hungered, < ME. ahungred, ahungryd, anhungred, 
with substituted prefix are-, earlier ofhungered, 
ofhungred, ofliyngred, offingred, ofyngred, afin- 
gred, pp., < AS. of-hyngred, pp. of of-hyngrian, 
cause to hunger, < of- intensive + hyngrian, 
cause to hunger: see a-* and hunger, v. Cf. 
athirst.] Pinched with hunger ; hungry. [Er- 
roneously printed in the New Testament as 
two words, in the forms (in different editions) 
a hungered, an hungered, and an hungred.] 
ahungryt (a-hung'gri), a. [Same as ahungered, 
with suffix changed in imitation of hungry.) 
Hungry: as, "I am not a-hutigry," Sliak., M. 
W. of W., i. 1. 
Ahuramazda (a*h6-ra-maz'da), n. [Zend 
Ahuro mazdao, > Pers. OmMMKi] Same as Or- 
muzd. 
ahyu (a'u), n. [Jap.] The ai, a Japanese 
salmonoid fish, Salmo (Plecoglossus) altivelis, 
also known as the one-year fish. It is catadro- 
mous, and an annual. 
The ahyu is specially worthy of record as the only fish 
known to combine the habits of the two classes [of cata- 
dromous and annual fishes]. 
Gill, Smithsonian Hep., 1883, p. 726. 
ai 1 . [(!)_< ME. ai, ay, ei, ey, cei, 03, ei, ff^ L < AS. 
ceg, eg, ceg, eg, that is, the vowel ce or e, te or e, 
followed by the palatal g, in ME. g, g, or y, also 
written i, merging with vowel yori: see g, y, i. 
(The digraph in hair, ME. here, has taken the 
place of earlier e as in ere, there, their, etc.) 
(2) < ME. ai. ay, ei, ey, with following vowel 
aie, etc., < OF. ai, ei, etc., of various origin, 
usually developed from L. a or e. (3) Of vari- 
ous other origin. See examples cited below.] 
A common English digraph, representing gen- 
erally the sound of "long a" (a), which be- 
comes a before r, as in ail (sounded like ale), 
vain (sounded like vane, vein), air (sounded like 
ere, heir), etc. As commonly pronounced, it is strictly 
a diphthong consisting of " long a " (a), or e (e), followed by 
a vanish, i (i), which is, in words of Anglo-Saxon origin, 
historically identical with the consonant y. This di- 
graph occurs in words (1) of Anglo-Saxon "origin, as in 
ail, haili, nail, nail, fain, wain, fair*, lair, etc., being also 
used, parallel with ae, in modern Scotch spelling for " long 
o" equivalent to E. "long o," oa, o-e, as in aith, raid, 
ain, etc., = E. oath, road, rode, own, etc.; (2) of French, 
and ultimate Latin origin, as in fail, faint, vain, grain, 
aim, fairs, etc.; (3) of Greek origin, being used some- 
times as a direct transliteration of Greek ai instead of the 
usual Latin transliteration ae or ce (see eel), as in aitiology, 
etc. ; (4) of various other origin, usually representing the 
diphthong ai or i, as in German kaiser and Oriental and 
"native" words, especially proper names, as Aino, Cairo, 
etc. In the words of Anglo-Saxon and French origin ai 
varied with ay, which now prevails when final, usually 
changing back to ai when made medial by the addition 
of a suffix, as in day, clay, gay, affray, array, etc., daily, 
afraid, raiment, etc.; but in some such cases, especially 
before a suffix beginning with a vowel, ay remains un- 
changed, as in payment, betrayed, clayey, etc. 
ai 2 (a'e), n. [= F. ai, hay, < Braz. ai, hai (Malm).] 
The three-toed sloth, Bradypus tridactylus or 
torquatus: so called from having a feeble, 
plaintive cry somewhat resembling the sound 
represented by its name. See sloth, and Bra- 
dypus. 
ai^ (i), n. [Jap.] Same as ahyu. 
aiaia, aiaiai (i-i'a, -I), n. [Native name, prob. 
imitative; of unsettled orthography, found as 
a book-name in the forms above given, and 
also in the forms ayaya, ajaia, ajaja.] 1. The 
South American name of the roseate spoonbill, 
a large grallatorial bird of the genus Platalea, 
family Plataleidce, related to the ibis. 2. In 
the form ajaja : (a) The specific name of the 
120 
bird Platalea ajaja. (b) [cap.'] Reichenbach's 
generic name of the bird, which he calls Ajaja 
rosen, to separate it j*em>rica]ly from the old- 
Koseate Spoonbill (Ajaja rosea). 
world spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia. See spoon- 
bill. 3. In Paraguay, the jabiru, Mycteria 
americaua : in this sense only in the form aiaiai. 
E. D. See cut under jabiru. 
aiblins (ab'linz), adv. [Also spelled ablins, 
ablis, abil, able (Jamieson); < able, "fit, proper, 
apt, liable, in danger of" (Jamieson), + -tins, 
-lings, -Its: see able 1 and -ling'*.] Perhaps; per- 
adventure; possibly. [Scotch.] 
But fare-ye-weel, auld Nickie-ben ! 
Oh wad ye tak' a thought and men', 
Ye aibling might I dinna ken 
Still ha'e a stake. Burns, To the De'il. 
Aich metal. See metal. 
aid 1 (ad), r. t. [< ME. aiden, < OF. aulcr, also 
eider, aitlier, mod. F. aider = Pr. ajiular, < L. ad- 
jutare, help, aid, freq. of adjurare, pp. adjutus, 
help, < ad, to, + jurare, help: see adjutant, ad- 
jute.] 1. To help; assist; afford support or 
relief; promote the desire, purpose, or action 
of: as, to aid a person in his business, or an 
animal in its efforts ; to aid a medicine in its 
operation. 
Till more hands 
Aid us, the work under our labour grows, 
Luxurious by restraint. Milton, P. L., ix. 208. 
So aid me Heaven when at mine uttermost. 
Tennygon, Geraint. 
2. To promote the course or accomplishment 
of; help in advancing or bringing about; for- 
ward; facilitate: as, to aid the recovery of a 
patient, or the operation of a machine ; to aid 
one's designs. 
Take your choice of those 
That best can aid your action. Shak., Cor., i. 6. 
No more these scenes my meditation aid. 
Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, L 161. 
[In this sense aid is often followed by in, giving it the 
appearance of an intransitive verb, the direct object of 
assistance being unexpressed : as, he actively aided in the 
search.] Aiding and abetting, in criminal law, an of- 
fense committed by one who, though not directly perpe- 
trating a crime, is yet present at its commission and ren- 
ders aid to the perpetrator. = Syn. To support, sustain, 
serve, back, second, abet, cooperate with, relieve. 
aid 1 (ad), n. [< F. aide, < OF. aide, eide, etc. ; 
from the verb.] 1. Help; succor; support; 
assistance. 
Sweet father, I behold him in my dreams 
Gaunt as it were the skeleton of himself, 
Death-pale, for lack of gentle maiden's "/*'. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
2. He who or that which aids or yields as- 
sistance; a helper; an auxiliary; an assistant: 
as, Coleridge's " Aids to Reflection." 
It is not good that man should be alone ; let us make 
unto him an aid like unto himself. Tobit viii. 6. 
The aids to noble life are all within. 
M. Arnold, Worldly Place. 
3. In feudal law, a customary payment made 
by a tenant or vassal to his lord, originally a 
voluntary gift; hence, in Eng. hist., applied to 
the forms of taxation employed by the crown 
between the Norman conquest and the four- 
teenth century. Aids in the narrower sense, whether 
to the crown or mesne lords, were by Magna Charta lim- 
ited to grants on three special occasions : (a) to ransom 
the lord when a prisoner ; (6) to make the lord's eldest son 
a knight ; (c) the marriage of the lord's eldest daughter. 
The legal authority to enforce such aids was abolished in 
1600. 
First there were payments called aids ; in the theory of 
our earlier authors they were offered of the tenant's free 
will, to meet the costs incurred by the lord on particular 
occasions ; but they settled into a fixed custom afterwards, 
if they had not really done so when those authors wrote. 
F . Pollock, Land Laws, iii. 
The marriage was, according to the new feudal ideas, 
made the excuse for a heavy exaction of money, an aid, as 
the feudal lawyers call it. 
E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, V. 123. 
aiguiere 
4. An aide-de-camp : so called by abbreviation. 
5. pi. In the manege, the helps by which a 
horseman contributes toward the motion or ac- 
tion required of a horse, as by a judicious use 
of the heel, log, rein, or spur Court of aid, in 
i'l-fnch hixt., a court for the collection of the royjd aids, 
or excise. Emigrant aid societies. See <nferant. 
Extents in aid. see ntmt.- TO pray In aid. s,-i 
<tiit I'l-atjcr. -Syn. 1. Cooperation, fiutluTimn-, relief. 
aid- (ad), . [Eug. dial. ; etym. unknown.] 1. 
A deep gutter cut across plowed land. [Shrop- 
shire, Eng.] 2. A reach in a river. [Shrop- 
shire, Eng.] 
aidance (.Vclnns), H. [< OF. d/duucr, < aidi-r. 
aid: see ni<n. i:] That which aids, or the act 
of aiding; help; assistance. {Rare.] 
The means and alliances supplied by the Supreme Rea- 
son. Coleridge. 
aidant (a'dant), a. [< OF. aidant, ppr. of aider, 
< L. adjuta>i(t-)s, ppr. of adjutare, aid : see aid 1 , 
v., and adjutant.] Helping; helpful; supplying 
aid. [Rare.] 
lie aidant and remediate, 
In the good man's distress ! Shalt., Lear, iv. 4. 
aid-de-camp, . See aide-de-camp. 
aide (ad), . Same as aide-de-camp. 
I Hamilton] was picked out by Washington to serve as 
his confidential aide. X. A. Ret., CXXIII. 117. 
aide-de-camp (E. pron. ad'de-kamp, F. pron. 
ad'de-kon), n. ', pi. aides-de-camp (adz'de-kamp 
or adz'de-kon). [< F. aide de camp, lit.' a field 
assistant: aide, aid, assistant (see aid 1 , u.); de, 
< L. de, of ; camp, < L. campus, field, battlefield: 
see camp 1 .] Milit., a confidential officer whose 
duty it is to receive and communicate the orders 
of a general officer, act as his secretary upon 
occasion, and the like. Sometimes written aid- 
de-camp. 
aider (a'der), n. One who helps; an assistant 
or auxiliary ; an abetter ; an accessory. 
All along as he went were punished the adherenU and 
aiders of the late rebels. Burnet. 
[Emerson] was the friend and aider of those who would 
live in the spirit. M. Arnold. 
aides-de-camp, n. Plural of aide-de-camp. 
aidful (ad 'ful), a. [< aid 1 + -ful.] Giving aid; 
helpful. [Rare.] 
Aidful to the distresses 
of God's people. 
Bp. Hall, Hainan Disrespected. 
aidless (ad'les), a. [< aid 1 + -less.] Without 
aid ; helpless ; without succor ; unsupported. 
aid-majort (ad'ma'jor), n. Same as adjutant. 
aid-prayer (ad'prar), n. A petition or plea for- 
merly employed in actions concerning estates 
in land, by which a defendant claimed the as- 
sistance of another person jointly interested 
with him in sustaining the title. 
aiglet 1 (a'glet), n. [Dim. of OF. aigle, eagle : 
see eaglet.] In her., an eaglet or young eagle. 
aiglet^, n. See aglet. 
aigocerine, a. See (egocerine. 
Algocerus, n. See zEgocerus. 
aigreH (a'ger), a. [< F. aigre : see eager 1 .] 
Sharp ; sour. See eager 1 . 
Like aigre droppings into milk. 
Shak. (1623), Hamlet, i. 5. 
aigre 2 (a'ger), n. See eager 2 . 
aigremore (a'ger-mor), n. [F.; origin un- 
known.] Charcoal made ready for the admix- 
ture of the other constituent materials of gun- 
powder. 
aigret, aigrette (a'gret, a-gret'), [< F. ai- 
grette: sea egret.] 1. The small white heron. 
See egret. 2. (a) A plume 
composed of feathers ar- 
ranged in imitation of the 
feathers on the head of 
the heron, and worn on hel- 
mets or by ladies as a part 
of their head-dress, etc. (b) 
A copy in jewelry of such a 
plume, often so made that 
the seeming feathers trem- 
ble with the movements of 
the wearer, causing the 
gems to sparkle. 3. In 
bot., same as egret. 4. In 
ichth., a labroid fish, Lach- 
< From Hans Burgkmair's nolaiMUS maxiMUS, better 
" Triumph of Maximilian known as the hogfish (which 
see), 
aigue-marine (ag-ma-ren'), . [F.] Same as 
<t<j i/a marine. 
aiguiere (a-gi-ar'), . [F., a ewer, jug: see 
e-er2.] A tall and slender vessel of metal, por- 
Aigret. 
