among 
3. Between whiles; at intervals; from time to 
time; now and then. 4. During the time; 
meanwhile. =Syn. Arnid, In the ittidxtof. Among, Be- 
tween, Betwixt. The midst is the middle place ; hence 
amid or in the midst of should be used where a person or 
thing is in a position which is, or may be imagined to be, 
central ; they are naturally the expressions between which 
to choose when the noun is in the singular, or a plural noun 
stands for that which is virtually one: as, "Lo, I see four 
men loose, walking in the midst of the fire" (Dan. iii. 25); 
amid the waves. By derivation among suggests a min- 
gling ; it may be properly used with collective nouns : as, 
ht> disappeared among the crowd. Between is nearly equiv- 
alent etymologically to by twain, so applying only to two ; 
among refers to more than two ; it is therefore improper 
to say either among them both, or between the three. Be- 
twixt is the same as between. 
Plac'd far amid the melancholy main. 
Thomson, Castle of Indolence, i. 30. 
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them. Mat. xviii. 20. 
He passes to be king among the dead. 
Tennyson, Passing of Arthur. 
The question hath bin all this while between them two. 
Mill,,,,. Eikonoklastes, vi. 
What is there now that can stand betwixt me and fe- 
licity? Beau, and Fl., Woman-Hater, v. 4. 
amongst (a-mungsf), prep. [An extension 
(with excrescent -t as in against^ amidst, whilst, 
etc.) of ME. amonges, an adverbial gen. form of 
among.'] Same as among. 
A son, who is the theme of honour's tongue ; 
Amongst a grove the v< 
ery straightest plan! 
Skalr., 1 Hen. 
IV., i. 1. 
amontillado (a-mon-til-ya'do), n. A name 
given to sherry which has little sweetness, and 
is light in color and body rather than dark and 
rich. See sherry. 
amor (a'm6r), re. [Early mod. E. amor (with ac- 
cent on first syllable, later accented and pron. 
as F. amour: see amour), < ME. amour, amur 
(accented on first syllable, earlier on the sec- 
ond). < OF. amor, amur, amour, mod. F. amour = 
Sp. Pg. amor = It. amore, < L. amor, ace. amo- 
rem, love; personified, Love, Cupid, Eros; < 
amare, love, perhaps orig. "camare (cf. earns, 
orig. "eamrus, loving, loved, dear) = Skt. -\fkam, 
love (cf. Tcama, n., love). Cf. amiable, amity, 
amour, etc.] 1+. Love; affection; friendship; 
especially, love toward one of the opposite sex : 
now only in the form amour (which see). 2. 
[co/i.] [L.] In ROM, myth., the god of love; 
Cupid. 
amoradot (am-o-ra'do), n. [< Sp. enamorado 
(with prefix en- ignored in the transfer: cf. 
eqniv. ML. amoratus) (= It. innamorato, < ML. 
inamoratus: see inamorato), pp. of enamorar, < 
ML. inamorare, inspire love, < L. in, in, + amor, 
love: see)Mor.] A lover. 
Mark Antony was both a courageous soldier and a pas- 
sionate amorado. 
Christ. Relig.'x AjtjH'al to Bar oj Keason, p. 55. 
amorcet (a-m6rs'), n. [< F. amorce, bait, prim- 
ing, < OF. amors, pp. of amordre, < L. admor- 
dere, bite, gnaw at, < ad, to, + mordere, bite: 
see mordant, morse, morsel. Cf. E. bait as re- 
lated to bite.] Priming ; the name commonly 
given to the finer-grained powder used for 
priming the musket or harquebuse, and which 
was carried in a separate horn (see morsing- 
horn) ; also, the priming of a single charge. 
amorean (am-o-re'an), n. [< Heb. 'amoraim, 
teachers, expounders.] One of the later Tal- 
mudic doctors; one of those compilers of the 
Gemara who lived subsequent to the close of 
the Mishna. 
amorett, amorettet (am'o-ret, am-o-ret'), n. [< 
ME. amorette, < OF. amorete, amourete, -ette 
(mod. F. amourette (> E. amourette), amour, 
= It. amoretto, a little love or cupid), dim. of 
amor, F. amour = It. amore, love: see amor 
and amour. ] 1 . A sweetheart ; an amorous girl ; 
a paramour. 
When amorets no more can shine, 
And Stella owns she's not divine. 
T. Warton, Sappho's Advice. 
2. A love-knot. 
Nought clad in silk was he, 
But alle in floures & in flourettes, 
Painted alle with amorettes. 
Rom. of the Rare, 1. 892. 
3. A love-sonnet or love-song. 
His amorets and his canzonets, his pastorals and his 
madrigals to his Phyllis and his Amaryllis. Heywood. 
4. A trifling love-affair; a slight amour. 5. 
pi. Looks that inspire love ; love-glances. 
Should . . . Phcebus 'scape those piercing amorets. 
That Daphne glanced at his deity? 
Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. 
6. A cupid; a little love. See amoretto. 
Also written amourette. 
180 
amoretto (am-o-ret 'to), . ; pi. amoretti (-ti). 
[It.: see amoret.] l'. A person enamored; a 
lover. 
The amoretto was wont to take his stand at one place 
where sat his mistress. 
Gayton, Notes on Don Quixote, p. 47. 
2. A little love ; a cupid. 
A painting in which amoretti are plentiful. 
J. A. Symondi, Greek Poets, p. 335. (A'. E. D.) 
amorevolqust (am-o-rev'o-lus), a. [< It. limit- 
revolt, loving, < amore, love: see amor.] Lov- 
ing; kind; charitable. [Bare.] 
He would leave it to the Princesse to show her cordial 
and (ttnorepolous affection. 
Bp. Hacket, Life of Abp. Williams, p. 161. 
amorino (am-o-re'no), n. ; pi. amorini (-ni). 
[It., dim. of amore, love, cupid: see amor.'] A 
little love ; a cupid. Applied to figures common in 
Roman decorative art, and in Renaissance and modern 
styles which are imitative of Roman art ; also to merely 
decorative representations of children in works of art. 
amorist (am'o-rist), . [< amor + -ist.] A 
lover; a gallant; an inamorato. Also written 
amourist. 
Justle that skipping feeble amorist 
Out of your loves seat. 
Marston, Antonio and Mellida, I., ii. 1. 
Our gay amourists then could not always compose if 
they could write their billets-doux. 
/. D' Israeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 168. 
a-morningst (a-mor'ningz), prep. phr. as adv. 
[< a 3 + mornings, adverbial gen. of morning. 
Cf. adays.] In the morning; every morning. 
Such pleasant walks into the woods 
A -mornings. 
Fletcher (and another), Noble Gentleman, ii. 1. 
amorosa (am-o-ro'sa), n. [It., fern, of amoroso: 
see amoroso.] An amorous or wanton woman. 
I took them for amorosa*, and violators of the bounds 
of modesty. Sir T. Herbert, Travels, p. 191. 
amoroso (am-o-ro'so), a. and n. [It., < ML. 
amorosus : see amorous.] I. a. In music, amo- 
rous ; tender : descriptive of passages to be ren- 
dered in a manner expressive of love. 
II. n. ; pi. amorosi (-si). A man enamored; 
a lover ; a gallant. 
It is a gibe which an heathen puts upon an amoroso, 
that wastes his whole time in dalliance upon his mistress, 
viz., that love is an idle man's business. 
Bp. Racket, Life of Abp. Williams, p. 125. 
amorous (am'or-ns), a. [< ME. amorous, amorus, 
amerous, amerus, < OF. amorous, amoros, F. 
amoureux = Pr. amoros = Sp. Pg. It. amoroso, 
< ML. amorosus, full of love, < L. amor, love : 
see amor and amiable.] 1. Inclined to love; 
having a propensity to love ; sexually attracted ; 
loving; fond: as, an amorous disposition. 
Our fine musician groweth amorous. 
Shale., T. of the S., iii. 1. 
A prince I was, blue-eyed, and fair in face, 
Of temper amorous as the first of May. 
Tennyson, Princess, i. 
2. In love; enamored: usually with of, for- 
merly sometimes with on. 
In a gondola were seen together 
Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica. 
Shale., M. of V., ii. 8. 
Sure, my brother is amorous on Hero. 
Shak., Much Ado, it. 1. 
So amorous is Nature of whatever she produces. 
Dryden, tr. of Dufresnoy. 
3. Pertaining or relating to love ; produced by 
or indicating love ; conveying or breathing love. 
The spirit of love and amorous delight. 
Milton, P. L., viii. 477. 
With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre, 
And breathes three amorous sighs to raise the fire. 
Pope, R. of the L., ii. 42. 
=Syn. Loving, tender, passionate, ardent, amatory. 
amorously (am'or-us-li), adv. In an amorous 
manner; fondly'; lovingly. 
With twisted metal amorously impleach'd. 
Shak., Lover's Complaint, 1. 205. 
amorousness (am'or-us-nes), n. The quality 
of being amorous, or inclined to love or to sex- 
ual pleasure ; fondness ; lovingness. 
Amorpha (a-m6r'fa), n. [NL., fern, of amor- 
phus, irregular : see amorphous.] A genus of 
leguminous plants of the United States, some- 
times known as false, indigo or lead-plant. The 
species are shrubs of moderate size, having pinnate leaves 
and long, dense clusters of blue-violet flowers, which are 
abnormal from having only the standard or vexilluro, the 
other four petals being wholly absent (whence the name). 
The false indigo, A. frutwosa, is occasionally cultivated 
for ornament. A coarse sort of indigo is said to have been 
made from it in Carolina in early times ; hence ite com- 
mon name. Also called bastard or wild indigo. 
amorphic (a-m&r'fik), a. Same as amorphous. 
amortization 
More seldom they [inorganic elements] appear as crys- 
tals or crystalline forms, or also as amorphic masses'in 
the cell membrane or cell contents. 
Behrens, Micros, in Botany (trans.), v. 
amorphism (a-mor'fizm), n. [< amorphous + 
-ism.] 1. The state or quality of being amor- 
phous or without shape; specifically, absence 
of crystallization; want of crystalline struc- 
ture, even in the minutest particles, as in glass, 
opal, etc. 2. The anarchic, communistic sys- 
tem proposed by the Russian Bakunin ; univer- 
sal and absolute anarchy; nihilism; extreme 
communism. 
When we penetrate to the lowest stratum of revolu- 
tionary Socialism, we meet Bakunin. It is impossible to 
go further, for he is the apostle of universal destruction, 
of absolute Anarchism ; or, as he himself terms his doc- 
trine, of Amorphism. 
Orpen, tr. of Laveleye's Socialism, p. 192. 
amorphotae (am-6r-fo'te), n. pi. [NL., < Gr. 
<j//<ip0cjTof, not formed, < d- priv. + *//o/^wr(if (cf . 
ItopfyunKof), verbal adj. of jiopty&uv, fornij < faptf, 
form.] In astron., stars not formed into any 
constellation, and therefore not constituting a 
portion of any symmetrical figure. 
amorphous (a-m6r'fus), a. [< NL. amorphus, < 
(Jr. d/iop^of , without form, shapeless, misshapen, 
< a- priv. + ftopifi^, shape, form.] 1. Having no 
determinate form ; of irregular shape. 
He was supremely happy, perched like an amorphous 
bundle on the high stool. 
George Uliot, Mill on the Floss, ii. 4. 
2. Having no regular structure ; specifically, 
not crystallized, even in the minutest particles : 
as, glass and opal are amorphous. 3. Of no 
particular kind or character ; formless; charac- 
terless; heterogeneous; unorganized. 
Scientific treatises . . . are not seldom rude and amor- 
phous in style. Hare. 
An existing stupendous political order of things ... by 
no means to be exchanged for any quantity of amorphous 
matter in the form of universal law. 
R. Choate, Addresses, p. 301. 
4. Characterized by amorphism; founded on 
the principles of amorphism ; nihilistic ; anar- 
chic. 
Also amorphie. 
amorphously (a-mdr'fus-li), adv. In an amor- 
phous manner. 
amorphousness (a-m6r'fus-nes), n. The state 
of being amorphous ; shapelessness. 
Amorphozoa (a-m6r-fo-zo'a), n. pi. [NL., < Gr. 
aftofxpof, without form (see "amorphous), + fov, 
animal.] De Blainville's name of the sponges 
and their allies : so called from the absence of 
regular organic structure in their parts. Now 
only an inexact synonym of Protozoa. 
amorphozoic (a-m6r-fo-zo'ik), a. [< Amorpho- 
zoa.] Of or pertaining to the Amorphozoa. 
amorphozoous (a-mor-fo-zo'us), a. Same as 
amorphozoic. 
amorphy (a-m6r'fi), n. [< Gr. d/iop^/a, shapeless- 
ness, < a/idfxjx>f, shapeless : see amorphous.] Ir- 
regularity of form ; shapelessness ; want of defi- 
niteness. [Bare.] 
His epidemical diseases being fastidiosity, amorphy, and 
oscitation. Swift,- Tale of a Tub. 
amorrowt (a-mor'6), prep. phr. as adv. [< ME. 
amorowe, amorewe, a-morwe, earlier on morwen, 
on morgen, < AS. on morgen, on morgenne : on, 
prep.,E. a 3 ; morgen, morrow. Cf. a-mornings.] 
On the morrow ; to-morrow. 
A-morwe, whan the day bigan to sprynge, 
Upros our hoste. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 823. 
amort (a-m6rt'), a. [A term due to the phrase 
all amort (as if from all, adv., and amort), a cor- 
ruption of alamort, < F. a la rnort: see alamort.] 
Lifeless; spiritless; depressed: usually in the 
phrase all amort. 
How fares my Kate ? What, sweeting, all amort I 
Shah., T. of the S., iv. 3. 
I am all amort, as if I had lain 
Three days in my grave already. 
Massinger, Parliament of Love, iv. 5. 
She danced along with vague, regardless eyes, 
. . . all amort. 
Keats, Eve of 8t Agnes, at. 8. 
His sensitiveness idled, now amort, 
Alive now. Browning, Sordello, vi. 
amortisation, amortise. See amortization, 
amortize. 
amortization, amortisation (a-mor-ti-za'- 
shon), n. [< ML. amortisatio(n-), admortiza- 
tio(n-), < amortisare, admortizare : see amortize.] 
1. The act of alienating lands or tenements to 
a corporation in mortmain. In old French law, let 
ters of amortization could be granted only by the king, 
and supposed an indemnity or a tax to be paid by the cor- 
poration holding in mortmain. The term was often used 
for the tax alone. 
