casual 
852 
There is an expression, evidently not casual or acci- genus of peculiar plants, of Australia and adja- 
dental, but inserted with design. D. Webster, Oct. 12, 1832. cen t j s l an( j Si nearly related to the birches and 
2. Occasional ; coming at uncertain times, or 
without regularity, in distinction from stated 
or regular; incidental: as, casual expenses. 
Is it a certain business or a casual f 
B. Jonson, Staple of News, in. 2. 
The revenue of Ireland certain and casual. 
Sir J. DavieK, Statt 
Any one may do a casual act of good nature. 
Casual ejector, in law, the name given to the defen- 
dant in the fictitious action of ejectment formerly allowed 
oaks, and constituting the natural order Casu- 
(irinaceat. They are jointed leafless trees and shrubs, 
very much like gigantic horsetails or equisetums. Some 
of the species afford wood of extreme hardness, as the 
forest oak of Australia, C. suberosa, etc., and the she-oak, 
C. stricta. See beefwood. 
2. [I. c.] A plant of this genus. 
< Casuarina + -aceai.] A natural order of 
plants, of which Casuarina is the typical and 
only genus. 
n i^j^vi _ _ _. v | KTT /T 
by the common law, where the real object of the action CaSUariUS (kas-u-a ri-us), M. [NL. (Lmnseus, 
w'as to determine a title to land. TO form the ground of 1735) ; s ee cassowary.] The typical and only 
r^^?SSK A1w%4Kwta g lus f the "nbfamily Casuariina, ; the casso- 
Doe, and an action was then brought in the name of John wanes. About 12 different species are known, one of them 
Doe'against another fictitious person, usually designated 
Richard Roe (the casual ejector), who was stated to have 
illegally ejected John Doe from the land which he held on 
lease. The landholder was permitted to defend in place 
of Richard Roe, and thus the determination of the action 
involved the proving of the lessor's right to grant a lease. 
This fiction is now everywhere abolished. = Syn. 1. Acci- 
dental, Chanci', etc. See occasional. 
II. . 1. A person who receives relief and Casuaroideae (kas"u-a-roi de-e), n. pi. [NL., 
shelter for one night at the most in a work- < Casuarius + -oidea;.] A superfamily of birds 
house or police-station, or who receives treat- containing both the emus and the cassowaries : 
ment in a hospital for an accidental injury. same as Casuariidai, 1. 
2. A laborer or an artisan employed only ir- casuary (kas'u-a-ri), re. ; pi. casuaries (-riz) . [< 
regularly. Mai/hew Casual ward, the ward in a NL. casuarius: see cassowary.] A cassowary 
workhouse or a hospital where casuals are received. 
casualism (kaz'u-al-izm), n. [< casual + -ism.~\ 
The doctrine that all things are governed by 
chance or accident. [Bare.] 
casualist (kaz'u-al-ist), n. [< casual + -ist."] 
One who believes in the doctrine of casualism. 
casuality (kaz-u-al'i-ti), n. [< casual + -ity. 
Cf. casualty.] ' The quality of being casual. 
casually (kaz'u-al-i), adv. [ME. casuelly, < 
casuel: see casual.] In a casual manner; ac- 
cidentally; fortuitously; without design; by 
chance : as, to meet a person casually ; to re- 
mark casually. 
Their gettings in this voyage, other commodities, & 
their towns, were casually consumed by fire. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 757. 
That it might casually have been formed so. 
Bentley, Sermons, v. 
The squash-vines were clambering tumultuously upon 
an old wooden framework, set casually aslant against the 
fence. Hawthorne, Seven Gables, xvi. casu i s tt (kaz'u-ist), V. i. [< casuist, n.~\ To play 
casualness (kaz'u-al-nes), n. [< casual + -ness.] the part of a casuist. Milton. 
The state of being' casual; casuality. casuistic, casuistical (kaz-u-is'tik, -ti-kal), a. 
casualty (kaz'u-al-ti), n. ; pi. casualties (-tiz). [< casuist + -ic, -ical; = F. casuistique = Sp. 
[< ME. casuelte, <! OF. * casuelte, F. casualite = Pg. casuistico.] Pertaining to casuists or cas- 
Sp. casualidad = Pg. casualidade = It. casualita, uistry ; relating to cases of conscience, or to 
< ML. cflswafe'tas (-<-),< LL.caswa/is, of chance, doubts concerning conduct; hence, pver-sub- 
casual: see casual."] 1. Chance, or what hap- tie; intellectually dishonest; sophistical, 
pens by chance ; accident; contingency. casuistically (kaz-u-is'ti-kal-i), adv. In a cas- 
Losses that befall them by mere casualty. uistic manner. 
Raleigh, Essays. casuistlCS (kaz-u-is'tiks), n. [PI. of casuistic : 
There were some . . . who frankly stated their impres- gee -tcs.] Cas'uistry. 
sion that the general scheme of things, and especially the 
casualties of trade, required you to hold a candle to the 
devil. George Eliot, Middlemarch, I. 170. 
2. An unfortunate chance or accident, espe- 
cially one resulting in bodily injury or death ; 
specifically, disability or loss of life in battle or 
military service from wounds, etc. : as, the cas- 
ualties were very numerous. 
The Colonel was, early in the day, disabled by a casualty. 
Emerson, Address, Soldiers' Monument, Concord. 
Numerous applications for pensions, based upon the 
casualties of the existing war, have already been made. 
Lincoln, in Raymond, p. 174. 
3. In Scots law, an emolument due from a 
vassal to his superior, beyond the stated yearly 
duties, upon certain casual events. Casualty of 
wards, the mails and duties due to the superiors in ward- 
holdings. Casualty ward, the ward in a hospital in 
which patients suffering from casualties or accidents are 
treated. 
Casuariidse (kas'u-a-ri'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Casuarius + -ida;.~\ 1. A family of struthious 
being the Struthio casuarius of I/innseus, now known as 
the Casuarius yaleatus, or C. emeu, of the island of Ceram 
in the Moluccas. Emu is said to be the native name of this 
species ; but the bird now called emu belongs to a differ- 
ent genus (Dromxuf;) and subfamily. The common Aus- 
tralian cassowary is C. australis. C. biearuneulatus in- 
habits New Guinea. C. bennetti is from New Britain. See 
cassowary. 
or an emu ; any bird of either of the subfami- 
lies Casuariina; and Dromceina. P. L. Sclater. 
[Rare.] 
casuist (kaz'u-ist), n. [< F. casuiste = Sp. Pg. 
It. casuisto (It. also casista), < NL. casuista, a 
casuist, < L. casus, a case.] 1. One versed in 
or using casuistry ; one who studies and re- 
solves cases of conscience, or nice points re- 
garding conduct. 
The judgment of any casuist or learned divine concern- 
ing the state of a man's soul is not sufficient to give him 
confidence. South. 
Those spiritual guardians, . . . the only casuists who 
could safely determine the doubtful line of duty. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 17. 
Hence 2. An over-subtle reasoner; a sophist. 
To call a man a mere casuist means that he is at best a 
splitter of hairs ; to call a chain of argument casuistical 
is a rather less unpolite way of saying that it is dishonest. 
//. N. Oxenham, Short Studies, p. 91. 
The question is raised in the casuistic* of Mohammedan 
ritual, whether it is right to eat the flesh of the Nesnas. 
Pop. Sri. Mo., XXI. 660. 
special problems of right and duty by the ap- 
plication of general ethical principles or theo- 
logical dogmas ; the answering of questions of 
conscience. In the history of Jewish and Christian the- 
ology, casuistry has often degenerated into hair-splitting 
and sophistical arguments, in which questions of right 
and wrong were construed to meet selfish aims. 
All that philosophy of right and wrong which has be- 
come famous or infamous under the name of casuistry 
had its origin in the distinction between mortal and venial 
sin. Cambridge Essays, 1856. 
May he not have thought that he found there some 
stupendous exemplifications of what we read of, in books 
of casuistry, the "dialectics of conscience, "as conflicts of 
duties? S. Choate, Addresses, p. 329. 
Hence 2. Over-subtle and dishonest reason- 
ing; sophistry. 
birds, of the order or subclass Batitte, having casula (kas'o-la), . [ML. (> E. casule), dim. 
three toes, the wings rudimentary, and the af- of L. casa, a house ; cf. cassock, chasuble."] A 
a chasuble. 
casula, q. v.] A chasuble. 
s sus bel'i). [L. : casus, a case, 
spectively. See cuts under cassowary and emu. matter ; belli, gen. of bellum, war : see cose* and 
2. The Casuariina; alone, elevated to the rank bellicose.] A matter or occasion of war ; an ex- 
of a family, the emus in this case being sep- 
arated as another family, DromaAdce. 
Casuariinse (kas-u-ar-i-i'ne), n. pi. [NL., < 
Casuarius + 
cuse or a reason for declaring war : as, the right 
of search claimed by Great Britain constituted 
a casus belli in 1812. 
The typical subfamily of cat 1 (kat), n. [< ME. cat, catt, Jcat, katt, < AS. 
the family Casuariida;, containing the casso- cat, catt (only in glosses), m.. = OFries. katte, 
wanes only, as distinguished from the emus, f., = MD. D. kater, m., MD. katte, D. kat, f., = 
and coextensive with the genus Casuarius. MLG. kater, m., katte, f., LG. kater, m., katte, f., 
Casuarina (kas"u-a-ri'na), n. [NL., < casua- = MHG. kater, katero, Or. kater, m., OHG. chazza, 
riiis, the cassowary; from the resemblance the cazzd, cazd, MHG. G. katze, f., = Icel. kottr, m., 
branches bear to the feathers of that bird.] 1. A ketta, f., = Norw. katt, m., katta, f., = Sw. katt, 
cat 
m., katta, f., = Dan. kat, m., f. (not recorded in 
Goth.); cf. W. cath = Corn, eath = Ir. cat = 
Gael, cat = Manx cayt = Bret, kaz ; OBulg. ko- 
tell, m., kotuka, f., = Bohem. kot, kocour, m., 
kote, kochka, f., = Pol. kot, koczor = Russ. kotu, 
m., koshka, f., = OPruss. catto = Lett, kakjis ; 
Hung, kaczer = Finn, katti = Turk, qadi = Ar. 
qitt, quit, a cat; Hind, katds, a wildcat, polecat; 
LGr. KCITTO., f., NGr. K&TO, yara, f., rarof, yarof, 
m. ; OF. cat, F. chat, m., chatte, f., = Pr. cat, 
m., cato, f., = Cat. gat, cat, m., cata, f., = Sp. 
Pg. goto, m., gata, f., = It. aatto, m., gatta, 
f., a cat; the oldest known forms being L., 
namely, LL. catus (catus or cdtus: cdtus occurs 
in Palladius, about A. D. 350), m., L. catta (once 
in Martial), f., ML. cattus, m., catta, f., a cat 
(a domestic cat, as opposed to felis, prop, a 
wildcat : see Felis), a word found earlier in the 
dim. catulus, in common classical use in the 
extended sense of 'the young of an animal, a 
kitten, whelp, cub, pup,' etc. (of a cat, lion, 
tiger, panther, wolf, bear, hog, and esp. of a 
dog, being regarded in this sense as a dim. of 
cairn, a dog: see Canis). The original source 
of the name is unknown. It is supposed, as the 
cat was first domesticated in Egypt, that the 
word arose there, and, being established in Ita- 
ly, spread thence throughout Europe. Hence 
kitten, kitting, Mttle 2 ,_ q. v. In the naut. sense 
the word is found in most of the languages 
cited (cf. D. Dan. kat, naut. cat, katblok, cat- 
block, D. katrol, 'cat-roller,' pulley, etc.), and 
is generally regarded as a particular use of cat, 
the animal ; cf . dog and horse, as applied to va- 
rious mechanical contrivances. The connec- 
tion is not obvious.] 1. A domesticated car- 
nivorous quadruped of the family Felida; and 
genus Felis, F. dbmestica. It is uncertain whether 
any animal now existing in a wild state is the ancestor of 
the domestic cat; probably it is descended from a cat 
originally domesticated in Egypt, though some regard the 
wildcat of Europe, F. catus, as the feral stock. The wild- 
cat is much larger than the domestic cat, strong and fero- 
cious, and very destructive to poultry, lambs, etc. 
2. In general, any digitigrade carnivorous 
quadruped of the family Felidce, as the lion, 
tiger, leopard, jaguar, etc., especially (a) of 
the genus Felis, and more particularly one of 
the smaller species of this genus; and (6) of 
the short-tailed species of the genus Lynx. 
3. A ferret. [Prov. Eng.] 4. A gossiny, 
meddlesome woman given to scandal and in- 
trigue. [Colloq.] 5. A catfish. 6. A whip: 
a contraction of cat-o' -nine-tails. 7. A double 
tripod having six feet: so called because it al- 
ways lands on its feet, as a cat is proverbially 
said to do. 8f. In the middle ages, a frame 
of heavy timber with projecting pins or teeth, 
hoisted up to the battlements, ready to be 
dropped upon assailants. Also called prickly 
cat. 9. A piece of wood tapering to a point at 
both ends, used in playing tip-cat. 10. The 
game of tip-cat. Also called cat-and-dog. 
In the midst of a game of cot. Southey. 
11. In/ro, the occurrence of two cards of the 
same denomination out of the last three in the 
deck. 12. In coal-mining, a clunchy rock. See 
clunch. [South Staffordshire, Eng.] 13. [Ap- 
parently in allusion to the sly and deceitful 
habits of the cat.] A mess of coarse meal, 
clay, etc., placed on dovecotes, to allure stran- 
gers. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 14. In plaster- 
ing, that portion of the first rough coat which 
fills the space between the laths, often project- 
ing at the back, and serving to hold the plaster 
firmly to the walls. 15. The salt which crys- 
tallizes about stakes placed beneath the holes 
in the bottom of the troughs in which salt is put 
to drain. 16. [Perhaps a different word ; cf. 
Icel. kati, a small vessel.] A ship formed on 
the Norwegian model, having a narrow stern, 
projecting quarters, and a deep waist. 17. 
Naut., a tackle used in hoisting an anchor from 
the hawse-hole to the cat-head A cat in the 
meal, a danger prepared and concealed : drawn from a 
fable of Misop, in which a cat hides herself in meal to catch 
certain mice. A cat In the pan, a falsehood given out as 
coming from one who did not originate it. Angora cat, 
one of the finest varieties of the domestic cat, distinguished 
for its size and beautiful long silky hair. It was originally 
from Angora in Asia Minor. Also called Persian cat, and 
sometimes, erroneously, Angola eat. Blue cat. () A 
Siberian cat, valued for its fur. (b) A name for the Mal- 
tese cat : so given from the blue-gray color of its fur. (c) 
A local name in the United States of the channel catfish, 
fctaturus punctatu*. Cat and dog. See cat-and-dog. 
Cat of the Mediterranean, n li-ii. the CUmara man- 
xtnixa. Enough to make a cat speak or laugh, some- 
thing astonishing or out of the way. 
Old liquor able to ntake a cat speak, and man dumb. 
The Old and Young Courtier (Percy's Reliques). 
