alluvion 
The wash of the sea against the shore, or of a 
river against its bunks, (b) The material de- 
posited by seas or rivers ; alluvium (which see). 
2. In modern legal use, an increase of laud 
on a shore or a river-bank by the action of 
water, as by a current or by waves, whether 
from natural or from artificial causes. If the ad- 
dition has been gradual and imperceptible, the owner of 
the land thus augmented has a right to the alluvial earth ; 
but if the addition has been sudden and considerable, by 
the common law the alluvion is the property of the sov- 
ereign or state. By the law of Scotland, however, it re- 
mains the property of the person of whose lands it origi- 
nally formed part. If witnesses could see from time to time 
that progress had been made, though they could not per- 
ceive the progress while the process was going on, the 
change is deemed gradual within the rule. 
alluvious (a-lu'vi-us), a. [< L. alluvius, allu- 
vial: see alluvium.] Same as alluvial. [Rare.] 
alluvium (a-lu'vi-um), .; pi. alluvia (-a). [L., 
prop. neut. of allueius, adlueins, alluvial, < al- 
luere, adluere, flow to, wash upon : see alluvion.] 
A deposit, usually of mingled sand and mud, 
resulting from the action of fluviatile currents : 
applied by geologists to the most recent sedi- 
mentary deposits, especially such as occur in 
the valleys of large rivers : opposed to diluvium 
(which see). Alluvion (which see) was formerly used 
for both marine and fresh-water deposits, but alluvium 
has taken its place, although generally used only for flu- 
viatile deposits. 
allwhere (al'hwar), adv. [< ME. alwhere; < all 
+ where.] Everywhere. [Rare.] 
I follow allwhere for thy sake. 
Lowell, To the Muse. 
allwhither (al'hwiTH"er), adv. [< all + whither.] 
In every direction. B. Taylor, Deukalion, IV. 
iii. 153. (N. E. D.) 
ally 1 (a-lT), v. ; pret. and pp. allied, ppr. allying. 
[< ME. alyen, alien, < OF. alter,!?, allier, combine, 
mix, alloy ; in another form OF. aleier, allayer, 
mod. F. aloyer, mix, alloy (> E. allay 2 and alloy, 
q. v.); < L. alligare, adligare, bind to, (.ad, to, 
T ligare, bind. Cf. alligate and alliance.] I. 
trans. 1 . To unite by marriage, treaty, league, 
or confederacy ; connect by formal agreement : 
generally used in the passive or with reflexive 
pronouns. 
Salamis . . . revolted, and allied itself to Megara. 
J. Adams, Works, IV. 476. 
2. To bind together; connect, as by resem- 
blance or friendship. 
Ah, madam, true wit is more nearly allied to good-na- 
ture than your ladyship is aware of. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, ii. 2. 
No fossil form allied to Amphioxus is known. 
Huxley, Anat. Vert., p. 108. 
D!. intrans. To join or unite; enter into al- 
liance. 
Jly 1 (a-lT, often al'i), n. ; pi. allies (a-liz', often 
al iz). [< ME. alie, ally, esp. kinsman,< OF. alie, 
< alter, F. allier, ally : see ally 1 , v.] 1 . One united 
or associated with another by kinship, treaty, 
or league ; a confederate ; more particularly, a 
sovereign or state connected with another by 
league offensive and defensive, or a subject or 
citizen of such sovereign or state. 
England . . . and France entered the war as allies. 
J. McCarthy, Hist. Own Times, xxvii. 
2. An auxiliary ; an associate or friend. 
What did not a little contribute to leave him thus with- 
out an ally was, that if there were any one post more 
untenable than the rest, he would be sure to throw himself 
into it. Sterne, Tristram Shandy. 
3. In zool., an animal more or less closely re- 
lated to another in respect to morphological 
characters, and placed in the same alliance 
(which see). = Syn. Associate, Friend, Companion, etc. 
See associate. 
ally 2 t, A former spelling of alley 1 . 
ally 3 , . See alley 2 . 
allyl (al'il), n. [< L. all(ium), garlic, + -yl, < Gr. 
ii'Ar/, matter.] An organic radical, C3H 6 , which 
does not exist in the free state. At the moment 
of ite liberation two molecules combine to form diallyl, 
CnHioi a pungent ethereal liquid. Also spelled allyle. 
Allyl sulphid, (C ;t H f ,)S, the oil of garlic, which gives to 
onions and garlic their peculiar smell and taste. 
allylamine (a-lil'a-min), . [< allyl + amine.] 
A mobile liquid, SHMJJl*), having a sharp, 
burning taste, produced by the action of potash 
on allyl cyanate. It may be regarded as am- 
monia in which one hydrogen atom is replaced 
by allyl. 
allyle, n. See allyl. 
allylic (a-lil'ik), a. [< allyl + -ic.] Of or be- 
longing to allyl: as, an allylic sulphid. 
alma, almah (al'ma), n. [< Ar. 'almah, learned, 
knowing (with ref . to their instruction in music 
and dancing), < 'alama, know. Cf. alim, alem.] 
The name given in some parts of the East, and 
ally 
153 
especially in Egypt, to a girl whose occupation 
is to amuse company in the houses of the 
wealthy or to sing dirges at funerals ; a sing- 
ing girl, of a higher class than the ghawazee or 
dancing-girls of Egypt, with whom the almas 
are sometimes confounded. See ghaicazee and 
gltaziyeh. Also spelled alme and tilineh. 
almacantart, almacautaratht, n. Same as 
almiieaiitiir. 
almadia (al-ma-de'a), . [< F. almadie, < Ar. 
al-ma'diyah, < al, the, + ma'dii/ah, ferry-boat, < 
ma'diy, a passage, < 'aday, pass or cross over.] 
1. A river-boat used in India, shaped like a 
shuttle, about 80 feet long and 6 or 7 broad. 
2. A small African canoe made of the bark of 
trees. Some of the larger square-sterned boats 
of the negroes are also thus designated. 
Also written almadie, almady. 
Almagest (al'ma-jest), n. [< ME. almagest, al- 
mageste, < OF. aiid ML. almageste, < Ar. al-ma- 
jisti, < al, the (see al- 2 ), + Gr. ^eyiarii, fern, of 
/ic-ytarof, greatest, superl. of ftfyaf, great: see 
mega-.] The greatest work on astronomy be- 
fore Copernicus, written in the second century 
A. D. by the Alexandrian astronomer Ptole- 
my. Its proper title is "Mathematical Composition"; 
but it was called Almagest, or the greatest, to distinguish 
it from other books by the same author. 
Cross, and character, and talisman, 
And almagest, and altar. 
Scott, L. of L. M., vi. 17. 
almagra (al-ma'gra), n. [< Sp. almagra, alma- 
gre = Pg. almagre, (. Ar. al-maghrah, red ocher.] 
A fine deep-red ocher, with an admixture of 
purple, used in India for staining the person. 
It is also sometimes used as a paint, and for polishing sil- 
ver and glass, under the name of Itidian red. 
Alinaint (al'man), a. and . [Early mod. E. 
also Almayn, Almaigne, Alman, and in sense II., 
2, alman, almond, < ME. Almayn, Almaun, n., a 
German, < OF. Aleman, F. Allemand, German, 
< L. Alemanni, Alamanni: see Alemannic.] I. 
a. German. 
Almain ritters with their horsemen's staves. 
Marlowe, Faustus, i. 
Almain stone-ware vessels. 
Jour. Archceol. Ass., XXX. 131. 
II. n. 1. A German. 
He sweats not to overthrow your Almain. 
Shak., Othello, ii. 3. 
2. Akind of dance. 3. A kind of dance-music 
in slow time. 
Almain-rivet (armau-riv"et), . [< Almain + 
rivet.] In milit. antiq., one of a series of rivets 
or short pieces of metal 
sliding in slot-holes form- 
ed in overlapping* plates 
of armor, replacing the 
common appliance of 
riveting to straps of lea- 
ther or similar material : 
first used by the Germans 
about 1450. The term Al- 
main-rivets came afterward to 
be applied to suits of armor 
constructed in this manner. 
Also spelled Almayne-rivet, Al- 
man-rivet. 
alma mater (al'mii, ma'- 
ter). [L. : alma, fern, of almus, fostering, cher- 
ishing, benign, < alere, nourish, foster (see ali- 
ment and alumnus) ; mater = E. mother.] Liter- 
ally, fostering motner : in modern use, applied 
by students to the university or college in 
which they have been trained. 
Benjamin Woodbridge was the eldest son of our alma 
mater. Peirce, Hist, of Harv. Univ., App., p. 57. 
Almant (al'man), a. and n. Same as Almain. 
almanac (al'ma-nak), n. [Early mod. E. alma- 
nack, almanack, < ME. almcnak = F. almanack 
= Sp. almanac, almanaque = Pg. almanack, al- 
manac = It. almanacco = D. almanak = Gt. alma- 
nach (> Pol. almanack) = Sw. almanack = Dan. 
almanak; < ML. almanac, almanack (Roger Ba- 
con, A. D. 1267) ; appar. < Ar. al, the, + "ma- 
nakh, almanaque, calcndario," so given in the 
Arabic-Castilian " Vocabulista " of Pedro de 
Alcala (A. D. 1505), who also gives "manah, 
relax del sol," i. e., sun-dial. The word, used, it 
appears, by Arabic astronomers in Spain as 
early as the 12th or 13th century, is not found 
elsewhere as Arabic, and must be of foreign, 
presumptively of Greek, origin ; without proof 
from records, it has been identified with L. 
manachusoT: manacus, also cited as Gr. *//?/va^of, 
*fiavaxof, a false reading in Vitruvius for L. 
menarus, a circle on a sun-dial showing the 
months or signs of the zodiac, < Gr. [iT/vaiof, 
monthly, < ,u^i> = L. mensis, month: see month.] 
T asset of Plates, Almain-rivet 
Armor, isth century. 
almoin 
A yearly calendar showing the correspondence 
between the days of the week and the days of 
the month, the rising and setting of the sun and 
moon, the changes of the moon and of the tides, 
and other astronomical data, and usually also 
the ecclesiastical fasts and feasts, chronological 
information, etc. Many annual publications called 
almanacs are largely extended by the insertion of liistori- 
c;il, political, statistical, and other current information, as 
supplemental to the calendar. Nautical almanac, an 
almanac for the use of navigators and astronomers, in 
which are given the ephemerides of all the bodies of the 
solar system, places of the fixed stars, predictions of as- 
tronomical phenomena, and the angular distances of the 
moon from the sun, planets, and fixed stars. Nautical al- 
manacs are published by the governments of Great Britain, 
the Tnited States, and most other maritime powers. 
almandert (al-man'der), n. [ME. almander, 
almaundcr, < OF. almandier, mod. amandier (cf. 
Sp. almendro, ML. amondalarius), an almond- 
tree, < almande, almond : see almond.] An 
almond-tree. Chaucer; Wyclif. 
almandin, almandine (al'man-din), n. [< F. 
almandine, < LL. alamaudina, a corruption of 
alabandina : see alabandine.] Precious or no- 
ble garnet, a beautiful mineral of a red color, 
of various shades, sometimes tinged with yel- 
low or blue. It is commonly translucent, sometimes 
transparent, and usually crystallizes in the rhombic dode- 
cahedron. Also called almandite. See garnet. 
Almaynet, and n. Same as Almain. 
alme, almeh (al'me), n. See alma. 
almena (al-me'na), n. [Sp. almena = Pg. 
ameia, a two-pound weight, prob. < Ar. al, the, 
+ menn, a measure, a two-pound weight.] A 
weight of about a kilogram, or 2^ pounds, used 
in the East Indies. 
almeriet, almeryt, . Variant forms of ambry. 
almesset, An old form of alms. 
almicantaratht, n. Same as almucantar. 
almightt, a. [< ME. almight, almyght, almygt, 
almiht, < AS. celmiht, almighty, < eel-, al, all, + 
miht, might.] Almighty. 
Blessed be God, Father almight. 
Primer Hen. VIII. (N. E. D.) 
almightily (al-mi'ti-li), adv. In an almighty 
manner ; with almighty power : sometimes used 
vulgarly as an expletive : as, I was almightily 
angry. [Rare.] 
almightiness (al-ml'ti-nes), n. The quality of 
being almighty; omnipotence ; infinite or bound- 
less power : as, ' ' the force of his almightiness," 
Jer. Taylor. 
God . . . made them promises binding the strength of 
his Almightiness with covenants sworn to everlastingly. 
L. Wallace, Ben-Hur, p. 106. 
almighty (al-ml'ti), a. [< ME. almighty, al- 
myghty, almigti, almihti, < AS. eahnihtig, eallmih- 
tig, (elmihtig, (elmeahtig (= OS. almahtig, alamah- 
tig, alomahtig = OHG. almahtig, alamahtig), < 
eal, eall, all, + mihtig, mighty: see all, adv., and 
mighty.] 1. Possessing all power; omnipotent; 
of unlimited might ; of boundless sufficiency. 
Him the Almighty Power 
Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal sky. 
Milton, P. L., i. 44. 
2. Great; extreme; overpowering. [Colloq.] 
Poor Aroar can not live, and can not die, so that he is 
in an almighty fix. De Quincey. 
Almighty dollar, a phrase forcibly expressive of the 
power of money: first used by Washington Irving in "A 
Creole Village," published in 1837. The Almighty, the 
omnipotent God. 
By the Almighty, who shall bless thee. Gen. xlix. 25. 
almightyship (al-mi'ti-ship), n. [< almighty + 
-ship.] The state or quality of being almighty ; 
omnipotence. Cowley. 
almiqui (al-me'ke), n. The native name of 
Solenodon cubanus, an insectivorous mammal 
peculiar to Cuba, belonging to the family Sole- 
nodontida;. The animal is about 11 inches long, with 
a tail 7i inches in length. It strikingly resembles an 
opossum in general appearance, though belonging to 
an entirely different order of mammals. The almiqui is 
the largest of American Inttectivora, and one of the rarest 
of American mammals. It is nocturnal in habits and 
lives under ground in caves. There is a similar Haytian 
animal, Solenodon paradox-us, called agouta (which see). 
See Solenodon. 
almirah (al-me'ra), n. [Anglo-Ind., < Hind. 
almari, < Pg. almario,armario, < 'L.armarium, a 
closet, chest, > E. ambry, q. v.] A kind of cup- 
board used in India ; an armoire or wardrobe ; a 
chest of drawers. Also written almyra, almura. 
almner, . See almoner 1 . 
almoint, almoignt (al-moin'), n. [Early mod. 
E. also almone, allmone, ME. almoyn, alms, 
alms-chest, < AF. 'almoin, *almoign, OF. al- 
mone, almosne, later aumone: see alms, and 
cf. almo-ner 1 .] 1. Alms. 2. An alms-chest. 
Frank almoin. literally, free alms ; a perpetual tenure by 
free gift of charity : usually written as one word, jrankal- 
moin (which see). 
