Dianthus 
DianthUS ((ll-an'thus), n. [NL., said to be < 
Ur. (Kof, divine, + avt)o$, a flower ; but perhaps 
< Gr. Smvtifc, double-flowering, < 61-, two-, + av- 
6of, a flower.] A large herbaceous genus of the 
natural order Caryophyllaceie, natives of the 
Mediterranean region and temperate Asia, dis- 
tinguished from other related genera by a ea- 
lyculate tubular calyx and peltate seeds with 
a straight embryo. Various species are known by the 
common English name of pink, and several have long been 
in cultivation for the fragrance and beauty of their flow- 
ers. From the clove-pink (D. Caryophyllus) of southern 
Europe have originated all the numerous forms of the 
carnation. (See carnation*.) The sweet-william or bunch- 
pink (Z>. barbatus), the pheasant's eye (D. plumarius), and 
the China or Indian pink (D. Chinensis), in many varieties, 
are common in gardens, as well as hybrids of these and 
other species. See pink, and cut on preceding page. 
diapaset (di'a-pas), n. Same as diapason. 
And make a tunefull Diapase of pleasures. 
Spenser, Tears of the Muses. 
diapasmt (di'a-pazm), n. [= P. diapasme, < Gr. 
SiairaaiM, scented powder to sprinkle over the 
person, < iiairdaactv, sprinkle, < ti&, through, + 
iraaaeiv, sprinkle.] A perfume consisting of the 
powder of aromatic herbs, sometimes made 
into little balls and strung together to be worn 
as a chain. 
There's an excellent diapasm, in a chain too, if you like 
it. B. Jonson, Cynthia's .Revels, v. 2. 
diapason (di-a-pa'zon), n. [= D. G. F. Sp. It. 
diapason = Pg. diapasao, < L. diapason, an oc- 
tave, < Gr. diairaauv, the concord of the first 
and last tones, more correctly written sepa- 
rately, ff 6A vaauv, an abbrev. of the phrase % 
flia Kaaarv xpp&uv avftijxjvia, a concord through all 
the tones that is, a concord of the two tones 
obtained by passing through all the tones: Sia, 
prep., through ; iraauv, gen. pi. fern, of naf, all ; 
Xopouv, gen. pi. of xP^Vi * string; avfujxjvia, 
symphony: see dia-, pant-, chord, symphony.'] 
In music : (a) In the ancient Greek system, the 
octave. 
The diapason or eight in musick is the sweetest con- 
cord ; inasmuch as it is in effect an unison. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 103. 
(6) The entire compass of a voice or an instru- 
ment. 
But cheerfull Birds, chirping him sweet Good-morrows, 
With Natures Musick do beguile his sorrows ; 
Teaching the fragrant Forrests, day by day, 
The Diapason of their Heav'nly lay. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 3. 
From harmony to harmony 
Through all the compass of the notes it ran, 
The diapason closing full in Man. 
Dryden, Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687, 1. 15. 
(c) Correct tune or pitch. 
Love their motion sway'd 
In perfect diapason, whilst they stood 
In first obedience, and their state of good. 
Milton, A Solemn Music, 1. 23. 
(d) (1) A rule by which organ-pipes, flutes, 
etc., are constructed, so as to produce sounds 
of the proper pitch. (2) A fixed standard of 
pitch, as the French diapason normal, accord- 
ing to which the A next above middle C 
has 435 vibrations per second. See pitch. (3) 
A tuning-fork, (e) In organ-building, the two 
principal foundation-stops, called respectively 
the open diapason and the stopped diapason. 
The open diapason has metal pipes of large scale, open at 
the top, giving that full, sonorous, majestic tone which is 
the typical organ-tone. The stopped diapason has wooden 
pipes of large scale, stopped at the top by wooden plugs, 
giving that powerful, flute-like tone which is the typical 
flute-tone of the organ. The most important mutation- 
stops of the open-diapason species are the double open 
diapason, sounding the octave below the key struck ; the 
principal or octave, sounding the octave above ; and the 
fifteenth, sounding the second octave above. Those of the 
stopped-diapason species are the bourdon, sounding the oc- 
tave below ; the flute, sounding the octave above ; and the 
piccolo, sounding the second octave above. Many varieties 
of each of these occur. See stop. Diapason diapente, 
or diapason cum diapente, in Gr. and medieval music, 
the interval of an octave and a fifth, or a twelfth. Dla- 
pason diatessaron, or diapason cum dlatessaron, 
in Gr. and medieval music, the interval of an octave and a 
fourth, or an eleventh. Diapason ditone, in Gr. and 
medieval music, the interval of an octave and a major 
third, or a major tenth. Diapason normal, the pitch 
which is recognized as the standard in France. See pitch. 
Diapason semi-dltone, in Gr, and medieval music, 
the interval of an octave and a minor third, or a minor 
tenth. Out of diapason, out of tune. 
diaped (di'a-ped), n. In math., a line common 
to the planes of two non-contiguous faces of a 
polyhedron, just as the diagonal of a polygon 
is the line joining two non-contiguous vertices. 
diapedesis (dl"a-pf-de'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. <5<a- 
trijorinif, a leaping tnrough , an oozing through the 
tissues, < 6iaxr/6av, leap through, ooze through, 
< 6id, tnrough, + vrjSav, leap, spring.] The ooz- 
ing of the blood-corpuscles through the walls 
of the blood-vessels without visible rupture. 
Diapensia Lappo. 
1594 
diapedetic (di"a-pe-det'ik), a. [< 
(-<let-) + -ic.] Pertaining to or of the nature 
of diapedesis. 
Diapensiaceae (di-a-pen-si-a'se-e), n.pl. [NL., 
< Diapensia (Linmeus), the typical genus (< Gr. 
dia TTCVTC, by five, in ref. to the 
flower: see diapente), + -acece.~\ 
A small order of gamopetalous 
dicotyledons, somewhat allied 
to the Ericacece, including 6 gen- 
era and 8 or 9 species, widely 
separated in their distribution. 
Diapensia, of 2 species, alpine or arctic 
in eastern North America, northern 
Europe and Asia, and Tibet, and Pyxi- 
danthera, of the pine-barrens of New 
Jersey, are dwarf heath-like evergreens. 
The other genera, Shortia, Qalax, etc., 
of the Alleghany mountains, Japan, 
and Tibet, are acaulescent scapigerous 
plants with creeping rootstocks and evergreen leaves. 
diapente (di-a-pen'te), . [< L. diapente, < Gr. 
dia7rVT, for rj oid TT^VTS, sc. %opti>>v GVfjtpuvia, the 
interval of a fifth (cf. diapason): oia, prep., 
through; irevre = E. five."] 1. In Gr. and medie- 
val music, the interval of a fifth. 2. In phar., 
a composition of five ingredients ; an old elec- 
tuary consisting of the diatessaron with the ad- 
dition of another medicine. Diapason diapente. 
See diapason. 
diaper (di'a-per), n. [< ME. dyaper, diapery, < 
OF. diapre, 'diaspre = Pr. diaspre (cf. ML. dias- 
prus, diaspra), a kind of ornamented cloth, 
diapered cloth ; a particular use of OF. diapre, 
diaspre = Pr. diaspre = Sp. didspero, diaspro = 
Pg. diaspro = It. diaspro, jasper, < L. iaspi(d-)s, 
jasper: see jasper, which is thus a doublet of 
diaper.'] 1. Originally, a silken fabric of one 
color having a pattern of the same color woven 
in it; now, a textile fabric having a pattern 
not strongly defined, and repeated at short 
intervals ; especially, such a fabric of linen, 
where the pattern is indicated only by the di- 
rection of the thread, the whole being white or 
in the unbleached natural color. Compare 
damask, 1 (d). The pattern of such diaper is usually 
a series of squares, lozenges, and the like, or of sets of 
squares, etc., one within another. 
Anie weaver, which his worke doth boast 
In dieper, in damaske, or in lyne. 
Spenser, Muiopotmos, 1. 364. 
Six chests of diaper, four of damask. 
B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 1. 
2. A pattern for decoration of any kind con- 
sisting of a simple figure often repeated, as in 
the woven fabric. Hence 3. Any pattern 
constantly repeated over a relatively large sur- 
face, whether consisting of figures separated 
by the background only, or of compartments 
constantly succeeding one another, and filled 
diaphemetric 
A cope covered with trees and diapered birds. 
Inventory in S. K. Textiles, p. 38. 
II. intraiis. To draw a series or succession of 
flowers or figures, as upon cloth. 
If you diaper upon folds, let your work be broken, and 
taken, as it were, by the half : for reason tells you that 
your fold must cover somewhat unseen. 
f'eacham, Drawing. 
diapering (di'a-per-ing), n. [Verbal n. of dia- 
per, v.~\ 1. (o) A diaper pattern. (6) A surface 
covered with diaper ornament. 2. In /icr.,the 
decoration of the surface with ornament other 
than heraldic bearings : said of the field or of 
any ordinary. Also called diaper. 
Diaperis (di-a-pe'ris), n. [NL., irreg. < Gr. Sia- 
ireipeiv, drive through, perforate, < 6ia, through, 
+ treipetv, pierce, perforate.] A genus of atra- 
cheliate heteromerous beetles, of the family 
Tenebrionidce and subfamily 2'enebrionince. it 
is characterized 
by the broadly 
oval body, entire- 
ly corneous front, 
eyes emarginate 
in front, pygidi- 
um not exposed, 
and the first joint 
of the tarsi slen- 
Diaperis hydni. 
a, larva ; b, beetle ; c, under side of head of 
larva ; d, leg of same ; e, antenna of beetle. 
(Lines show natural sizes.) 
a l> c 
Diapers. a, from Westminster Abbey, and b, c, from Lincoln 
Cathedral, England. 
with a design, especially a geometric design, 
or one based on a flower-form. It is used in archi- 
tecture, especially medieval, sculptured in low relief as 
an ornamental ground, and is frequent as a background 
in manuscript illumination, in painted panels, especially 
with gilding, and as a decoration for other flat surfaces. 
4. In her., same as diapering. 5f. A towel or 
napkin. 
Let one attend him with a silver bason, . . . 
Another bear the ewer, the third a diaper. 
Shak., T. of the S., Ind., i. 
6. A square piece of cloth for swaddling the 
nates and adjacent parts of an infant ; a clout. 
Bird's-eye diaper, a kind of toweling. 
diaper (di'a-per), v. [ME. only in pp. diapred, 
dyapred, after OF. diapre, pp. of diaprer, F. 
diaprer, diaper, ornament with diaper-work; 
from the noun.] I. trans. 1. To variegate or 
diversify, as cloth, with figures; flower: as, 
diapered silk. 
Let the ground whereas her foot shall tread. 
For feare the stones her tender foot should wrong, 
Be strewed with fragrant flowers all along, 
And diapred lyke the discolored mead. 
Spenser, Epithalamion, 1. 51. 
Down-droop'd in many a floating fold, 
Engarlanded and diaper'd 
With inwrought flowers, a cloth of gold. 
Tennyson, Arabian Nights. 
2. To draw or work in diaper, or as part of a 
diaper; introduce in a diapered pattern or fabric. 
der, but not lon- 
ger than the sec- 
ond. The few 
species known, 
both of the old 
and the new 
world, live, in the 
larva and imago 
states, in fungi 
growing on old 
logs. D. hydni 
(Fabricius).ofthe 
eastern United 
States, is a shining-black beetle, with bright orange-red 
elytra with variable black markings. 
diaperyt, n. See diaper. 
diaphanalt (di-af'a-nal), a. [As diaphan-ous + 
-a/.] Same as diaphanous. 
Divers diaphanal glasses filled with several waters, 
that shewed like so many stones of orient and transparent 
hues. B. Jonson, Entertainment at Theobalds. 
diaphane (di'a-fan), n. [= F. diapltane, trans- 
parent, < Gr. '6ia<fmvr/c, transparent: see diaph- 
anous.'] 1. A silk fabric having figures more 
translucent than the rest of the stuff. 2. In 
anat., a cell-wall; the investing membrane of 
a cell or sac. [Rare.] 
diaphaneity (di' / a-fa-ne'i-ti), n. [< F. diapha- 
neiti, irreg. < Gr. cia<t>dveia, transparency, < 6ia<j>a- 
vfc, transparent: see diaphanous.] The power 
of transmitting light; transparency; diapha- 
nousness; pellucidness. 
It [the garnet] varies in diaphaneity from transparent to 
nearly opaque. Encyc. Brit., X. 81. 
diaphanict (di-a-fan'ik), a. [< Gr. 6ta<f>a-vf/f, 
transparent, + -4c.~\ Same as diaphanous. Ba- 
leigh. 
diaphanometer (di"a-fa-nom'e-ter), n. [< Gr. 
SuKjMvr/f, transparent, + fierpav, a measure.] 1 . 
An instrument for estimating the transparency 
of the air. 2. An instrument for testing 
spirits by comparing their transparency with 
that of spirits of known purity. 
diaphanoscope (di-a-fau'o-skop), n. [< Gr. 
Stofavfa, transparent, + CKOTTCIV, view: see di- 
aphanous.'] A dark box in which transparent 
positive photographs are viewed, either with or 
without a lens. The positive should be placed as far 
from the eye as the equivalent focal length of the lens 
with which the negative was taken ; and when a lens is 
used for viewing the picture, its focal length should be 
the same as that of the lens with which it was taken. 
diaphanotype (di-a-fan'o-tip), . [< Gr. faa- 
Qavqf, transparent, + rwrof, impression.] In 
photog., a picture produced by coloring on the 
back a positive lightly printed on a translucent 
paper, and placing this colored print exactly 
over a strong duplicate print. 
diaphanous (di-af 'a-nus), a. [(Cf. F. diaphane 
= Pr. diafan = Sp. didfano = Pg. diaphano = 
It. diafano) < Gr. dia<f>avr/(, transparent, < Sia- 
ipaiveiv, show through, < dia, through, + tyaiveiv, 
show: see/flwo/ = fantasy = phantasy, fantom 
= phantom.'] Transmitting light; permitting 
the passage of light ; transparent; clear; trans- 
lucent. 
Behold the daybreak 1 
The little light fades the immense and diai>lin<:n 
shadows I Walt Whitman. 
diaphanously (di-af'a-uus-li), adv. Transpa- 
rently. 
diaphanousness (di-af 'a-nus-nes), . The qual- 
ity of being diaphanous. 
diaphemetric (di-af-e-met'rik), a. [< Gr. &'a, 
through, + cuSiii, touch, + [ihpov, measure, + 
-/c.] Relating to the measurements of the 
