Brahmaic 
Brahmaic (bra-ma'ik), a. [< Brahma^ + -ic.] 
Brahmanic. 
Brahman, Brahmin (bra'man, -min), . [For- 
merly also Brachman, Brackman, etc. (L. Brach- 
mance, Brachmanes, Gr. Bpaxpavef, pi.); < Hind. 
brahman, corruptly bdman, < Skt. brahmana', m. 
(brdhmani', f. ), < brah'man, prayer, etc.: see 
Brahma^, Brahm.] A member of the sacred or 
sacerdotal caste among the Hindus. From being 
in the beginning individuals and families distinguished for 
wisdom, sanctity, and poetic power, they gradually con- 
solidated their influence and became a strictly hereditary 
class, holding in their hands the ministry of holy things, 
the custody of the scriptures and knowledge of their sacred 
and learned dialect, and the performance of the sacrifice. 
They were held to be created from the mouth of Brahma, 
to be inviolable, and entitled to the worship of the other 
castes. Theoretically, the life of a Brahman was divided 
into four stages, those of student, householder, anchorite, 
and ascetic. In later times the relations and occupations 
of the castes have become much confused, and Brahmans 
are to he found in every grade of dignity and of very va- 
rious modes of life. There are many subdivisions of the 
caste, more or less isolated, and refusing intercourse with 
one another. Also written Bramin. Brahman'8-bead, 
the name given in India to the seed of El&ocarpus, made 
into rosaries for the priests, and into bracelets, necklaces, 
etc. 
Brahmana (bra'ma-na), n. [Skt. Brd'hmana, 
prop, the dictum of a priest/ brahman', a priest, 
Brahman.] One of the prose portions of the 
Vedas, which contain injunctions for the per- 
formance of sacrifices, and explain their origin 
and the occasions on which the mantras had to 
be used, sometimes adding illustrations and 
legends, and sometimes mystical and philo- 
sophical speculations. 
Brahmanee (bra'ma-ne), n. [Also Brahminee, 
< Hind, brdhmani, brahmni, corruptly bdmni, < 
Skt. brdhmani', fern, of brahmana', a Brahman.] 
A woman of the Brahman caste ; the wife of a 
Brahman. 
My mother was a Brahmanee, but she clave to my father 
well; 
She was saved from the sack of Jullesar when a thousand 
Hindoos fell. Sir A. C. Lyall, The Old Pindaree. 
Brahmaness (bra'man-es), n. [< Brahman + 
-ess.] Same as Brahmanee. 
Brahmanic, Brahmanical (bra-man'ik, -i-kal), 
a. [< Brahman + -ic, -ieal.] Of or pertaining 
to the Brahmans or to their doctrines, worship, 
and polity. Also Brahminic, Brahminical. 
Brahmanism (brii/man-izm), n. [< Brahman 
+ -ism.] The religion or system of doctrines 
of the Brahmaus ; the social system of ancient 
India, with the Brahmans as leading caste. 
Also Brahminism. 
Brahmanist (bra'man-ist), H. [< Brahman + 
-ist.] An adherent of Brahmanism. Also 
Brahminist. 
Brahmin, Brahminic, etc. See Brahman, Brah- 
manic, etc. 
brahmlny (bra'mi-ni), a. [Cf . Hind, brdhmani, 
the wife of a Brahman, also a ghost : see Brah- 
manee and Brahma."] Devoted to Siva by the 
Brahmans : as, a brahminy bull Brahmlny duck, 
the Casarca rutila, or ruddy sheldrake. Brahmlny ld.te[ 
an East Indian bird of prey, the HaKastur indus, rever- 
enced by the Hindus as sacred to Vishnu. 
Brahmoism (bra'mo-izm), n. [< Brahmo(-So- 
maj) + -ism.] The tenets of the Brahmo- 
Somaj. 
Brahmo-Somaj (bra'mo-so-maj'), n. [< Hind. 
brahma, Brahma (prayer), + samdj, society, as- 
sembly, lit. a worshiping assembly. See Brah- 
wa 1 , Brahman.] A monotheistic religion in 
India, which originated with Rajah Earn Mohun 
Roy, a Hindu reformer, who died in 1833, and 
received a new impulse and a new direction 
under his successor, Keshub Chunder Sen, who 
died in 1885. The mystical theology of the Brahmo- 
Somaj can only be proximately stated in the language of 
Occidental philosophy. Its fundamental tenet is the uni- 
versal presence of the Divine Spirit, who pervades all na- 
ture and inspires all who are willing to receive him. Man 
is equipped for this purpose with a faculty of spiritual in- 
sight, a faith-faculty, called Yoga. Inspiration ia a univer- 
sal fact, and all the great world-teachers have been divinely 
inspired prophets ; all the great world-religions contain 
some divine truth ; and in all their great sacraments there 
is some spiritual benefit. It is not clear whether Christ 
is regarded as simply the greatest of these inspired pro- 
phets, or as something more. Some utterances indicate 
a recognition of his character as divine. The Brahmo- 
Somaj differs from Deism in teaching the personal com- 
munion of the soul with a personal God, and from Chris- 
tianity in not teaching any specific revelation of a remedy 
for sin. It is an aggressively missionary religion, and it's 
preaching has been accompanied by works of practical 
reformation, such as the abolition among its adherents of 
polygamy, of caste, and of idolatry in all its forms the re- 
formation of marriage customs, and a temperance reform. 
braid 1 (brad), v. [Early mod. E. also brayde, 
breyde, breide, etc., < ME. braiden, breiden, bray- 
den, breyden, etc., < AS. bregdan, bredan (pre't. 
brizgd, brad, pi. bnigdon, brudon, pp. brogden, 
656 
broden), move to and fro, vibrate, brandish, 
draw, weave, braid, turn, change, etc., = OS. 
bregdait = OFries. brida = LG. breiden = OHG. 
brettan = Icel. bregdha, draw, weave, braid, 
etc. ; orig. ' move quickly to and fro, glance ' ; 
cf. Icel. braga, flicker; prob. from same root 
as bright 1 , q. v. Cf. abraid and upbraid. The 
word took in AS. and ME., and in later dial. 
use, a great variety of senses, all arising ult. 
from that of ' quick motion.' Other forms, obs. 
or dial., are breads, breed, brede?, broud, browd, 
broid, etc. : see also brmder, brouder, browder.] 
1. trans. If. To take, draw, pull, or snatch 
quickly; reach; throw; cast; brandish. 
He ryt [rideth] his spere brayding. 
King AKsaunder, 1. 7373. 
Hir kerchef of hir heed she brayde. 
Ctumcer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 739. 
2. To weave by passing three or more strands, 
strips, or lines of over and under each other 
alternately ; plait ; interlace : as, to braid, the 
hair, straw, tape, etc. 
Braid your locks with rosy twine. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 105. 
3. To form by braiding; interweave the ma- 
terial of in strands or strips : as, to braid a straw 
hat or a rug. 4. In domestic econ., to beat and 
blend, as soft substances, particularly to press 
them with a spoon through a sieve. 5f. To 
upbraid; reproach. 
If thou talkest a little longer, I thinke thou wilt braid 
mee with the sailing of his life. 
J. Brende, tr. of Quintns Curtius, vill. 
Few love to hear the sins they love to act ; 
'Twould 'braid yourself too near for me to tell it. 
Shak., Pericles, i. 1. 
Braided rug, a rug or mat for the floor, formed by braid- 
ing strips of woolen or silk fabrics, and afterward sewing 
them together. To braid St. Catherine's tresses, to 
live a virgin. 
Thou art too fair to braid St. Catharine's tresses. 
Longfellow, Evaugeline, ii. 1. 
Il.intrans. If. To move quickly ; start; rush. 
Whan she saugh tweyne come hir to socour, she braied 
rudely oute of theire handes. Merlin(E. E. T. S.), iii. 464. 
Troilus . . . disposed wod out of his wit to breyde. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 230. 
2t. To start suddenly (out of sleep) ; awake. 
With the falle right out of slepe she brayde. 
Chaucer, Reeve's Tale, 1. 365. 
3. To nauseate ; desire to vomit. [Prov. Eng.] 
4. To be like; resemble in appearance or 
character. [Prov. Eng.] 
braid 1 (brad), n. [< ME. braid, breid, < AS. 
braid, bred (for *br(egd, *bregd), trick, deceit, 
gebregd, quick motion, trick, deceit (= Icel. 
bragdh, a quick motion, trick, scheme), < breg- 
dan = Icel. bregdha, move quickly, etc. : see 
braifP-, v.] If. A quick motion; a start. 
brain 
braiding-machine (bra'ding-ma-shen'O, n. I. 
A machine for weaving braid, or for covering 
tubes, cords, or wires with a flat or round 
plaiting. 2. A machine for sewing braid upon 
a fabric ; a braider. 
braidism (bra'dizm), n. [From James Braid 
of Manchester, Eng., who published his inves- 
tigations in 1843.] Hypnotism (which see). 
braidist (bra'dist), n. [As braid-ism + -ist.] 
A hypnotist or hypnotizer. 
Braid's squint. See squint. 
braik (brak), n. A Scotch spelling of brake 3 . 
brail (bral), n. [Early mod. E. also brayle, < 
ME. brayle, < OF. braiel, brawl, braioel, braoiel, 
braieul, a cincture, orig. for fastening breeches 
(cf. brayette, mod. F. brayette, the flap of trou- 
sers), < braie (> E. brayS, q. v.), < L. braces, 
breeches: see braces, breech.'] 1. Naut., one of 
certain ropes made fast to the after-leech of a 
She waketh, walwith, maketh many a brayde. 
Chmiter, Good Women, 1. 1164. 
2t. A moment. 
But curtois, debonair, and vertuous ; 
Hyt appered well by hys workes eche braide. 
Rom. offartenay (E. E. T. S), 1. 6239. 
For as 1 sodainely went in hand therewith, and made it 
in a breide. Sir T. More, Works (1557). 
3f. A turn (of work); a job. 4f. A trick; de- 
ception. 
Man rose with all her maids, 
Blushing thus at love's braids. 
Greene, Radagon in Dianam. 
Sail set. Sail '.railed up. 
a, peak-brail ; f>, throat-brail ; c, lower brail. 
fore-and-aft sail, and led through blocks on the 
mast or gaff down to the deck, to assist in tak- 
ing in the sail ; a rope made fast to the head of 
a jib for a similar purpose. 
The brails were hauled up, and all the light bauds In 
the starboard watch sent out on the gaff to pass the gas- 
kets. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 257. 
2. In falconry : (a) A piece of leather used to 
bind up a hawk's wing. (6) [< F. brayevl, "the 
parts or feathers about the Hauks fundament, 
called by our falconers the brayl in a short- 
winged and the pannel in a long-winged hauk" 
(Cotgrave).] The mass of feathers about a 
hawk's fundament; the crissum of a falcon. 
brail (bral), v.t. [< brail n.] 1. To fasten up 
(the wings of a bird). 2. Naut., to haul in by 
means of the brails : usually followed by up. 
These trades lasted nearly all the way ... to the line ; 
blowing steadily on our starboard quarter for three weeks, 
without our starting a brace, or even brailing down the 
skysails. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 341. 
brain (bran), . [< ME. brain, brein, brayne, 
earlier bragen, < AS. briegen, bregen, brcegn = 
OFries. brein = MD. breghen, breghe, D. brein 
= MLG. bregen, bragen, LG. brdgen, bregen, 
brain ; not in G. or Scand. ; root unknown.] 1. 
by plaiting or weaving together several strands of silk, 
cotton, wool, or other material, used as trimming for gar- 
ments, for stay-laces, etc. (c) Straw or other similar ma- 
terial plaited into bands for use in making bonnets or hats. 
6. A wicker guard for protecting trees newly 
grafted. [Prov. Eng.] -in a braldt, at a braldt, 
in a moment ; on the instant. ROM. of the Rose. 
braidif (brad), a. [An adj. use of braidl, n., 4, 
deceit.] Deceitful; crafty. 
Since Frenchmen are so braid, 
Marry that will, I live and die a maid. 
Shak., All's Well, iv. 2. 
braid 2 (brad), a. Broad. [Scotch.] 
braid-bonnet (brad'bon'et), n. Same as bon- 
net-piece. 
braid-comb (brad'kom), n. A back comb for a 
woman's hair. 
braider (bra'der), n. One who or that which 
braids ; specifically, an attachment to a sew- 
ing-machine for guiding a braid which is to be 
sewed on or into the work. 
braiding (bra'ding), n. [Verbal u. of braid}, 
v.] 1. The act of making or attaching braids. 
2. Braids collectively. 
A gentleman enveloped in mustachios. whiskers, fur 
Mdhn, and braiding. Thackeray. 
Side view of Human Brain and upper part of Spinal Cord, the skull 
and other coverings being removed. 
C. C, C, cerebrum, or brain proper, showing the convoluted surface 
of the right cerebral hemisphere ; Cb, cerebellum, or little brain 
the striated surface of its right half; MOb, medulla oblongata ; -V, 
the spinal cord with beginnings of the spinal nerves ; B, body of sixth 
cervical vertebra ; Sp, its neural spine, or spinous process. 
In anat., the soft grayish and whitish mass fill- 
ing the cranial cavity of a vertebrate, consist- 
ing of ganglionic nerve-cells and nerve-fibers, 
with the requisite sugtentacular ami vascular 
