brutality 
brutality (brii-tal'i-ti), .; pi. brutalitir* (-tiz). 
[= F. brulaliti; < ML. brutalittt(t-), < brutiilix: 
see fer<J.] 1. The quality of being brutul; 
inhiiniiitiity; xavageness; gross cruelty; in- 
sensibility to pity or shume. 
It is to lie note. I (hat (In- unredeemed '/ 'Hi, i, hi implied 
tiv the sioi ies of (he earlier gods Is in the fttorieti of the 
later considerably mitigated. 
//. .-I/"'"'''''. I'rin. .if Si.,-io!., | 107. 
2. A Havagc, shameless, or inhuman act. 
The mere bnitiilitir* exercised In war by enraged con- 
i|iieKus .11. pel-imps to ) laid out of view in estimating 
the praetieal effects of despotism. Brougttam. 
= Syn. 1. ltarl)arity, ferocity, truciilence. 
brutalization (brO*tl-i-za'shgn), n. [< bru- 
l<ili;r: see -titiiiii.] The act o? brutalizing, or 
the state of being brutalized. Also spelled 
brutaliatition. 
Smtples of conscience respecting the rectitude of their 
cause would paralyze ..tlieers nd soldiers. So that a cer- 
tain brtitnlization has t l>e maintained during our pass- 
ing phase of civilization. 
U. Spencer, Study of Soclol., p. 190. 
brutalize (brO'tal-iz), r. ; pret. and pp. brutal- 
ized, ppr. brutalizing. [= P. brutaluer, < bru- 
tal: see brutal."] I. tram. To make brutal, 
coarse, gross, or inhuman ; lower to the level 
of a brute. 
Strange ! that a creature rational, ant) cast 
In himmn mould, should tirutaliz? by choice 
His nature. Coteper, Task, i. 
Degraded anil brutalized by a long course of oppressive 
niispn eminent. H'hatrli/. 
II. intrtniK. To become brutal, inhuman, or 
coarse and beastly. [Kare.] 
He . . . brutalized with them in their habits and man- 
ners. Addimn, Freeholder. 
Also spelled brutaltse. 
brutally (br6'tal-i), adv. In a brutal manner ; 
cruelly; inhumanly ; in a coarse, gross, or un- 
feeling manner. 
Brutally repulsed by the attending lictors. 
(roldtinith, Alcander and Septimius. 
brute (brot), u. and . [= F. brut, fern, brute, 
= Sp. Pg. It. brutu, < L. brutun, heavy, unwieldy, 
stupid, insensible, unreasonable ; particularly 
applied in later I-/, to the lower animals.] I. 
a. 1. Senseless; unconscious. 
Not walking statues of clay, not the sons of brute earth. 
Bentleii. 
2. Wanting reason ; animal ; not human : as, 
a brute beast. 
A creature . . . not prone 
And brute as other creatures, but endued 
With sanctity of reason. Hilton, P. L., vii. 607. 
1 was amazed to see such actions and behaviour in /..;', 
beasts. Strift, Gulliver's Travels, iv. 1. 
3. Characteristic of animals; of brutal charac- 
ter or quality. 
Brute violence and proud tyrannic power. 
Milton, P. R., I. 219. 
The oppressed invoked the power of Christianity to re- 
sist the tyranny of brute force. 
Bancroft, Hist. I". S., II. 4M. 
4. Blunt or dull of sentiment ; without seusi- 
' bility ; rough ; uncivilized ; insensible. 
The brulf philosopher who ne'er has proved 
The joy of loving or of l>eing loved. Pope. 
5. Not associated with intelligence or intellec- 
tual effort ; unintelligent ; irrational. 
A more legitimate kind of valour that, showing itself 
against the untamed forests and dark brute Powers of na- 
ture, to conquer nature for us. Carlylt. 
6. Harsh; crude. [Rare.] 
The brute fact is expressed iu tlie phrase "One man's 
meat is another man's poison." 
O. W. Holmes, A Mortal Antipathy, vii. 
= 8yn. Unite, BrutM, Brutal, BeaMy, Bential. Brute is 
the most general of these words, and remains nearest to the 
distinguishing difference between man and beaut, irration- 
ality: as, brute force, Rruti*h is es|>ecially uncultured, 
stupid, -K.vriin- : as, brutes and still more brutish men. 
Itriitnl implies cruelty or lack of feeling: as, brutal lan- 
guage or conduct, n<'<ixtlii expresses that which is alto- 
gether unworthy of a man, especially that which is filthy 
;unl dtagmttlig in conduct or manner of life. Bettial is 
applied chiefly to that which is carnal, sensual, lascivious : 
as, bextinl vices or appctit.-s. 
The feats of Hercules . . . were triumphs of brute force. 
Sninnfr, Fame and Glory. 
The brutith, the animal instincts, as is often the case, 
had been developed earlier than the intellectual qualities. 
llairtliiirm; Seven tlables, Xli. 
To m:isk . . . 
With a glassy smile his brutal scorn. 
'/sow, Maud, vi. 
This fllthy simile, this la*tl line. 
Pope, Ep. to Sat, U. 181. 
And since his ways are sweet, 
And theirs are bentlal, hold him less than man. 
'' n. Coining of Arthur. 
Tenntfxiii. Coming of Arthur. 
I. w. 1. A beast, especially one of the high- 
quadrupeds; any animal as distinguished 
in man. 
XX. ". *.. 
or quadruped 
from man. 
701 
Brutei may lie considered u either aerial, terrestrial, 
aquatic, or amphibious. Isrk'. 
2. A brutal person; a savage in disposition or 
manners ; a low-bred, unfeeling person. 
An ill-natured brute of a husband. r'ranklin. 
brutehood (brot'hud), . [< brute + -hood.] 
The state of being a brute; the condition of 
being brute or brutish in nature or habits. 
It ls modestly suggested, by no means dogmatically af- 
firmed, . . . that the influences that have raised mankind 
from brutehood to Its present condition have not yet ex- 
pen, led th.ir force. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVI. 461. 
brutelt, a. A Middle English form of brittle. 
brutely (brot'li), dr. 1. In a rude manner; as 
a brute. Milton. 2. By brute force ; without 
intelligent effort; blindly. [Rare.] 
Property will brutely draw 
Still to the proprietor. 
jfwenon, The Celestial Love. 
bruteness (brOt'nes), n. [< brute, a., + -aesg.] 
The state of being brutal or a brute. [Rare.] 
That sire he fowl bespake : Thou dotard vile, 
That with thy bnitenemif shendst thy comely age. 
Spenter.V. Q., II. Mil. 12. 
The immobility or bntteuetu of Nature is tbe absence 
of spirit. Kinenon, Nature. 
brutiflcation (brS'ti-fi-ka'shon), n. [< brutify : 
see -fy and -ation.] The act'of brutifyiug; the 
act or state of becoming or making brutal or 
degraded. 
She would have saved thee, as I said before, from bruti- 
fication. J. Baillif. 
This ultra Circcan transformation of spirit and brutiji- 
ration of speech we do not find in the lighter interludes of 
great and perfect tragedy. Smnburne, Shakespeare, p. 194. 
brutify (bro'ti-fi), v. t.; pret. and pp. bnttififtl, 
ppr. brutifyiny. [< F. brutifier, < L. as if *bm- 
tificare, < brutus, brute, a., + -ficare, < facere, 
make.] To bring into the condition of a brute ; 
degrade the moral or physical state of; make 
senseless, stupid, or unfeeling. 
Not quite brutijied and void of sense. 
Barrow, Works, III. 6. 
It has possessed only two secrets for governing, ... to 
drain and to brutify its subjects. Benthain. 
brutilt, a. A Middle English form of brittle. 
brutish (brS'tish), a. [< brute, n.. + -w*i.] 1. 
Of or pertaining to a brute or brutes. 
There his welwoven toyles, and subtil traines, 
He laid the brutinh nation to enwrap. 
Speiuer, Astrophel. 
Wandering gods disguised in brutuh forms. 
Milton, P. L., i. 481. 
2. Like a brute; characteristic of brutes, (a) 
Unfeeling ; savage ; ferocious ; brutal. 
Bombarding of Cadiz ; a cruel and brutuh way of mak- 
ing war, first begun by the French. 
Kcelyn, Diary, August 25, 1885. 
Not riches 
Can purchase him, nor honours, peaceably, 
And force were brutuh. 
Fletcher (and another f), Nice Valour, iv. 1. 
(6) Gross ; carnal ; bestial. 
It is the iirut;,h love of tbis world that is blind. 
Baxter, Saint's Rest, xlv. 
(c) Uncultured ; unrefined ; Ignorant ; stupid ; Insensible. 
Unites and brutiith men are commonly more able t bear 
pain than others. S. Grew, Cosmologia Sacra. 
They were not so brutuh that they could be Ignorant to 
call upon the name of God. Hooter, Eccles. Pol., v. 1 3ft. 
= Syn, Brutal, Beastly, etc. (see brute), dull, barbarous, 
animal, sensual. 
brutishly (bro'tish-li), adr. In a brutish man- 
ner; grossly; irrationally ; stupidly ; savagely. 
South. 
brutishness (brS'tish-nes), n. The state or 
quality of being brutish in nature, disposition, 
or appearance ; savageness. 
Not true valour, but brutithneM. Bp. Sprat. 
In many of the Cynocephali, longitudinal osseous ridges 
are developed upon the maxilla', and greatly increase the 
lirutinhnat of their aspect. Huxley, Anat. Vert., p. 898. 
brutism (bro'tizm), . [< brute + -ism.] Brutal 
instincts or tendencies; bruteness; animality. 
bruttingt (brut'ing), n. [Verbal n. of brut, v.] 
Browsing. 
Hornbeam preserves itself best from tbe bruttintt of the 
deer. />./,/, Sylva, I. Ti. 2. 
brutum fulmen (brS'tum ful'men). [L. : bru- 
timi, neut. of brutug, insensible; fulmen, a thun- 
derbolt: see brute and fulminate.] A harmless 
thunderbolt ; mere noise like thunder ; empty 
noise and nothing more. 
The actors do not value themselves upon the clap, but 
regard it as a mere brnfumfulmtn, or empty noise, when 
it has not the sound of the oaken plant in it. 
Addi*im, The Tnmkmaker at the Play. 
Brutus (bro'tus), . [Appar. in reference to 
Brutus, one of the two celebrated Romans of 
Biyum 
tlmt name. Roman busts ami stitttu-N often 
show such an arrangement of the hair.] A for- 
mer mode of dressing the hair, in which it wan 
brushed back from the forehead, and worn at 
first in disorder, afterward in close curls, i h. 
style seems to have originated In Paris at the time of ti,. 
Revolution (1793-94), when It wu the fashion to imitat. th. 
eoiiteniix.rary conception of Roman antiquity. As trmns- 
planu-d to F.ngland. the style lasted lunger than In France. 
The word is now used for a lock of hair brushed upward 
and backward from the forehead. 
He wore liis hair with the curls arranged in a Brutu* a 
laGcoive tin- Fourth. Mauhrir. 
bruyere (br8-yar'), . [F., formerly bruyerr, 
brtere., heath: see under brier.'] The tree- 
heath of Europe, Erica arborea. 
Bryaceae (bri-a'sf-e), n. pi. [NL., < liryuw + 
-actxe.] An order of mosses, comprising all tin' 
true mosses, as distinguished from the peat- 
moss (Hpliagnum) and the schizocarpous mosses 
(.4ndrea?a). See mow. 
Bryanite (bri'an-It), n. [From their founder, 
William Bryan (a.bout 1815).] One of a Metho- 
dist body, more properly known as Bible Chris- 
tiana (which see, under Bible). 
Brydges clotht. S&me a& cloth of Bruges (which 
see, under clutli). 
brygmus (brig'mus), . [NL., < Or. fipvfft6f, a 
biting, gnashing of teeth, < fipi'itciv, bite, gnaw, 
gnash.] In itatliol., gnashing or grating of the 
teeth during sleep : a symptom in certain dis- 
eases. 
bryle (bril), . Same as brt>U3. 
brym't, brymme 1 *, etc. See &ri/i, etc. 
brynkt, n. See brink. 
bryological (bri-o-loj'i-kal), a. Relating to 
bryology ; consisting of mosses : as, the bry<>- 
logical flora. Suture. 
bryologist (bri-ol'o-jist), w. [< bryology + -iff.] 
A botanist who hai* made a special study of the 
mosses and is skilled in their determination ; 
a specialist in bryology. 
Thanks to our sole surviving bryiiloyiit, the venerable 
Lesquerenx, we have at length a comprehensive manual 
of North-American mosses. Science, IV. 44H. 
bryology (bri-ol'o-ji), n. [< Gr. flpiw, moss (see 
Kryuin), + -/oyia, < ttyetv, speak : see -olngy.~\ 
The science of mosses, their structure, affinities, 
classification, etc. 
Bryonia (bri-o'iii-a), . [L., < Gr. flpvuvia, also 
ll/jvuvy, bryony, ^ fl/ri'tiv, teem, swell, be full. 
Hence E. bryony.'} 1. A genus of plants, nat- 
ural order Cucurbitacece : seebryitny. 2. [/. c.] 
The name in the pharmacopoeias of the root of 
Bryonia alba and B. dioicu, used as a cathartic. 
brypnin, bryonine (bn'o-nin), . [< bryony + 
-in 2 , -int 2 .] A white intensely bitter principle, 
a glucoside (C^oHgoOjg) extracted from the 
root of Bryonia alba and It. dioica. Mao spelled 
brionin, brionine. 
bryony (bri'o-ni), n. [< L. bryonia: see Bryo- 
nia.] The common name of species of Bryo- 
nia, a cucurbitaceous genus of plants, possess- 
ing acrid, emetic, and purgative properties 
which have given them repute as remedies for 
many diseases from early times. The common 
white- or red-berried bryony, B. dioita, and the black- 
berried, B. alba, are t>th natives of Europe. Also spelled 
brinny. Bastard bryony, of the West Indies. \'itu(Cu- 
nu) neyiiidm. Black bryony, of Europe, the Tamv* 
rommunw, a tall climbing plant )>elonging to the natural 
order Diotcoreateir. It has large black roots, the acrid 
juice of which has been used In plasters. 
Bryophyta (bri-of'i-tft), . pi. [< NL. bryo- 
ntum, < Gr. (ipim>, moss, + fvrfo, a plant.] 
ivision of the higher cryptogams, including 
the lli/intii;i and mosses. 
bryophyte (bri'o-fi*), A member of the 
Bryophytft. 
brybretin (bri-o-ret'in), M. [Irreg. < bryonin.] 
A substance produced from the glucoside bry- 
onin by treating it with an acid. 
Bryozoa (bri-o-zo'a), . pi. [NL., < Gr. ppim, 
moss (see Bryum),'+ fyw, pi. <#a, an animal.] 
A name formerly given to the I'olyzoa, from 
their resemblance to mosses. Ehrenberg, 1831. 
See 1'olyzoa. 
bryozpan (bri-o-zo'an), a. and . I. In -<>>,l.. 
relating to the Bryozoa. 
II. . One of the Bryozoa. 
bryozoid (bri-o-zo'id), n. and n. Same as bryo- 
~<*tn. 
bryozoon (bri-o-zo'on), . Same as bryo:<xin. 
bryozoum (bii-o-zo'um), . [NL., sing, of 
MyMMj One of the Bryozoa. Dana. 
Bryum (bri'um), . [NL. (L. bryon), < Or. 
,1/n in; a kind of mossy seaweed, tree-moss, 
lichen, the clustering male blossom of the 
hazel, a blossom or flower, < pai-civ, teem or 
swell, be full, grow luxuriantly.] A large and 
