digenesis 
and asexual; parthenogenesis alternating with 
ordinary sexual reproduction. 
digenetic (di-je-net'ik), ii. [< (ligrnfsix, after 
(/ciir/ic. ] Pertaining to or of the nature of di- 
genesis. 
digenoUS (dij'e-nus), a. [< ML. (lir/cniis, of two 
kinds, < (Jr. fr/fvi/r, of two kinds or sexes, < it-, 
t i >-, + )-rvor, kind, sex : see genus.] Bisexual ; 
of or pertaining to both sexes ; done by the two 
sexes; syngenetic; originating from opposite 
sexes. 
The digenmu or sexual reproduction depends upon the 
production of two kinds of germinal cells, the combined 
action of which is necessary for the development of a new 
organism. Clam, Zoology (trans.), p. 97. 
digerentt (dij'e-rent), a. [< L. digeren(t-)s, ppr. 
ot digerere, digest: see digest, v.] Digesting. 
Hiiiley. 
digest (di-jesf), v. [< ME. digest, only as pp., 
< L. digestus, pp. of digerere (> It. digerire = 
Sp. Pg. digerir = F. digHrcr), carry apart, sepa- 
rate, divide, distribute, arrange, set in order, 
digest, dissolve, < di- for din-, apart, + gcren; 
carry: see gest, Jest. Cf. equiv. disgest.] I. 
traits. If. To divide ; separate. 
This part of invention ... I purpose ... to propound, 
having digested it into two parts. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Ii. 217. 
Cornwall and Albany, 
With my two daughters' dowers, digest tne third. 
Shak., Lear, I. 1. 
2. To analyze and distribute into suitable 
classes, or under proper heads or titles, usually 
with condensation, so as to state results iu con- 
cise form; arrange in convenient order; dis- 
pose methodically. 
Many laws . . . were read over, and some of them 
scanned, but finding much difficulty in digesting and 
agreeing them, . . . another committee was chosen. 
Winthrop, llist. New England, II. 317. 
A series of an emperor's coins is his life, digested into 
annals. Addison, Ancient Medals, i. 
Such a man seemed to her the properest person to di- 
gett the memoirs of her life. Goldsmith, Voltaire. 
Matthew Paris . . . was a compiler who appropriated 
and digested the work of a whole school of earlier annal- 
ists. Stnbbs, Medieval and Modern llist, p. 79. 
3f. To draw up in order; arrange. 
When that I heard where Richmond did arrive, 
I did digest my bands in battell-ray. 
Mir. for Mags., p. 763. 
4. To arrange methodically in the mind; think 
out with due arrangement of parts; ponder; 
settle in one's mind: as, to digest a plan or 
scheme. 
Every one hath not digested when it is a sin to take 
something for money lent, or when not. O. Herbert. 
Father Christopher took upon him, with the greatest 
readiness, to manage the letters, and we digested the plan 
of them. Bruce, Source of the Nile, 1. 35. 
6. To prepare for assimilation, as food, by the 
physiological process of digestion : applied also 
by extension to the action of certain insectivo- 
rous plants. 
Mrs. Treat . . . informs me that several leaves caught 
successively three insects each, but most of them were 
not able to digest the third fly, but died in the attempt 
Darwin, Insectiv. Plants, p. 311. 
Hence 6. To assimilate mentally; obtain 
mental nourishment or improvement from by 
thorough comprehension: as, to digest a book 
or a discourse. 
Grant that we may in such wise hear them [the Scrip- 
tures], read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them. 
Boot of Common Prayer, Collect for Second Sunday ill 
[Advent. 
The pith of ornclea 
Is to be then digested when th' events 
Exixmnd their truth. Ford, Broken Heart, iv. 3. 
7. To bear with patience or with an effort; 
brook; receive without resentment; put up 
with ; endure : as, to digest an insult. 
Then, howsoe'er thou speak'st, . . . 
I shall digest it Shak., M. of V., lii. 5. 
There may be spirits also that digest no rude affronts. 
Ford, Perkin Warbeck, ii. 3. 
I never can digest the loss of most of Origen's works. 
Coleridge. 
8. In cJiem., to soften and prepare by heat; ex- 
pose to a gentle heat in a boiler or matrass, as 
a preparation for operations. 
The rtfthe maner is that the brennynge water be 10 
tyuies ilistillid in hory dounge contynurly <!!!, *t. 
Book of Quint >' fcV.Vf'mv (eii. Funiivall). p. c. 
9. To dissolve and prepare for manure, as 
plants and other substances. 10f. In /<<(.. to 
dispose to suppurate, as an ulcer or a wound. 
11. To mature ; ripen. [Kare.] 
Well digested fruits. Jer. Taylor. 
1613 
= Syn. 2. To classify, codify, systematize, methodize, re- 
ilnc ' to iinler. 4. To study out, meditate, ponder, work 
II|HI|I. 
II. intrtmx. 1 . To carry on the physiological 
process of digestion. 
It b the stomach that digesteth, and distributed to all 
the rest Bacon, Advancement ot Learning, II. low. 
2. To undergo digestion, as food. 
r's my cook ; my labour brings me meat, 
Which best digests when it is sauc'd with sweat. 
Brome, To his Friend, Mr. J. B. 
3. To be prepared by heat. 4f. To suppurate; 
generate pus, as an ulcer or a wound. 5. To 
dissolve and be prepared for manure, as sub- 
stances in compost. 
digest (driest), n. [< ME. digest = P. diqeste 
= Sp. Pg. It. digesto, < LL. digestum, usually in 
pi. digesta, a collection of writings arranged 
under different heads, esp. of Justinian's code 
of laws, the Pandects ; neut. of L. digestus, pp. 
of digerere, distribute, set in order, arrange: 
see digest, v.] 1. A collection, compilation, 
abridgment, or summary of literary, legal, sci- 
entific, or historical matter, arranged in some 
convenient order. 
They made and recorded a sort of institute and digest 
of anarchy, called the Bights of Man. 
Burke, The Army Estimates. 
A digest of ancient records, of tradition, and of observa- 
tion. Welsh, Eng. Lit., I. 146. 
Specifically 2. [cop.] The collection or body 
of Roman laws prepared by order of the emperor 
Justinian. See pandect. 
The volumes of the modern doctors of the civil law ex- 
ceed those of the ancient jurisconsults, of which Tribo- 
nian compiled the digest. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 369. 
If you take any well-drawn case of litigation in the mid- 
dle ages, such as that of the monks of Canterbury against 
the archbishops, you will find that its citations from the 
Code and Digest are at least as numerous as from the De- 
cretum. Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 306. 
3. In law, a compilation of concise statements, 
summaries, or analyses of statutes or of re- 
ported cases, or of both, arranged in alphabeti- 
cal order of subjects, usually with analytic sub- 
divisions, so as to form a systematic compend 
of the authorities represented in the collection. 
= Syn. 1. CoHijH-ndium, Compend, etc. See abridgment. 
digestationt (di-jes-ta'shon), . [< digest + 
-iition.] A digesting, ordering, or disposing. 
Bailey, 1727. 
digestedly (di-jes'ted-li), adv. In a well-ar- 
ranged manner. Mede. 
digester (di-jes'ter), n. One who or that which 
digests, (a) One who analyzes and arranges indue order; 
one who makes a digest 
We mid this digester of codes, amenderof laws, destroyer 
of feudality, equalizer of public burthens, <lfec., permitting, 
if he did not perpetrate, one of the most atrocious acts of 
oppression. Brougham. 
(b) One who digesta food, (c) That which assists the diges- 
tion of food, asa medicine or an article of food that strength- 
ens the digest! ve power of the alimentary canal, (d) A strong 
close vessel, in which bones or other substances may be sub- 
jected, in wateror other liquid, to a temperature aliove that 
of boiling. It is made of iron or other metal, with an air- 
tight lid in which is a safety-valve. In this vessel animator 
other substances are placed, and submitted to a higher de- 
gree of heat than could be obtained in upen vessels, by which 
means the solvent power of the liquid is greatly increased. 
It IB called In this form (first described in IfiSl) Papin's di- 
gester, from its inventor, Denis Papin, a Frenchman. The 
principle is applied in other forms, and by it various useful 
products are obtained on a large scale from animal car- 
cases mint for other use. In other kinds of digesters the 
operation is chemical, and does not imply the extreme pres- 
sures employed in thatal>ovedeBcribed. Thus, in one Kind, 
nut-galls or other vegetable products are placed in a ves- 
sel and saturated with ether ; the volatile extract falls 
in minute drops into a closed vessel below, which is con- 
ih'rti-il by means of a pipe with the top of the upper ves- 
sel to prevent the escape of the ether. See rendering-tank. 
dige'stibiUty (di-jes-ti-bil'i-ti), n. [= P. dtgc- 
xtibilitc ; as digestible + -ity.] The character 
or quality of being digestible. 
digestible (di-jes'ti-bl), a. [< ME. digestible, < 
OF. digmfHilc, F. digestible = Sp. digestible = 
Pg. digfstirel = It. digestibile, < LL. d'igestibilis, 
< L. digestus, pp. of digerere, digest: see digest, 
c.] Capable of being digested. 
A snug little supper of something light 
And diyettMe, ere they retire for the night 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 220. 
digestibleness (di-jes'ti-bl-nes), n. Digesti- 
bility. 
digestion (di-jes'tvon), . [< ME. digestioun, 
< OF. ilii/istimi. F. iliiii'xtinn = Pr. digestio = 
Sp. digestion = Pg. diiicxtfin = It. iHijixtiinie, < L. 
ilifiixtin(H-\ digestion, arrangement, < ilii/rnn. 
Pl>. iligi-xiii.i, digest: see digest, v.] If. Order; 
arrangement. 
digger 
The chaos of eternal night, 
To which tin- h" >( tin- world 
In now returning. 
<'li" !>' i< , Revenge of Itussy d'Amliols, v. 1. 
2. The physiological process of converting the 
food from the state in which it enters the mouth 
to that in which it can pass from the alimentary 
canal into the blood-vessels and lymphatics. 
The principal features of the process, apart from tlicrojii 
munition of the food, are the convention of starch into 
sugar and of proteids into peptones, ami the cniuUioniz- 
ini; of thu futs. These changes are effected by the action 
of soluble ferments furnished by the salivary glands, the 
gastric glands, the pancreas, and the Intestinal glands. 
The bile is also of service, especially in the emulslonizinx 
of the fate. 
Hence 3. The function or power of assimi- 
lating nutriment. 
Digne not on the morewe to-fore thin appltlde ; 
Cleer elr A walking makith good diyrttimni. 
Halve* Book (K. E. T. 8.), p. M. 
Every morsel to a satisfied hunger Is only a new labour 
to a tired digestion. South, Sermons. 
Something seriously the matter this time with his di- 
gestion : dyspepsia in good earnest now. 
W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 319. 
4. In hot.: (a) The process carried on in leaves 
under the action of light, resulting in the de- 
composition of carbonic acid and the evolution 
of oxygen, (ft) In insectivorous plants, an action 
of secreted fluids upon insects or other organic 
matter, similar to the process of digestion in 
animals. 5. In chem. : (a) The operation of 
exposing bodies to heat to prepare them for 
some action on each other, (b) The action of 
a solvent on any substance, especially under 
the influence of heat and pressure; solution; 
liquefaction. See digester (d). 
We conceive, indeed, that a perfect good concoction, or 
digestion, or maturation of some metals will produce gold. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
6. The act of methodizing and reducing to or- 
der; codrdination. 
The digestion of the counsels in Sweden is made in (the] 
senate. Sir '. Temple. 
7f. The process of maturing an ulcer or a wound, 
and disposing it to generate pus; maturation. 
8. Tne process of dissolution and prepara- 
tion of substances for manure, as in compost. 
digestive (di-jes'tiv), a. and n. [< ME. digestive, 
n.; = F. digestif = Sp. Pg. It. digestiro, < LL. di- 
gestifus, digestive, < L. digestus, pp. of digerere, 
digest : see digest, r.] I. a. 1. Of or pertaining 
to the physiological process of digestion, in biol. -. 
(a) Alimentary In general ; pertaining in any way to diges- 
tion or alimentation : as, the digestive tract that is. the 
whole alimentary canal from mouth to anus (see cut under 
alimentarv) ; a digestive act or process. (b) Specifically ap- 
plied by Oken to sundry low organisms whose chief or only 
obvious physiological activity is digestion : as, a digestive 
animal. 
2. Promoting digestion: as, a digestive medi- 
cine. 
Digestive cheese, and fruit there sure will be. 
/.'. Jonson, Epigrams, cl. 
3. Pertaining to or used in the chemical pro- 
cess of digestion. See digester (d). 4. Per- 
taining to the process of analyzing and ar- 
ranging; analytical. 
To business, rlpen'd by digestive thought, 
His future rule is into method brought 
Dryden, Astnva Redux. 
5f. In surg., causing maturation in wounds or 
ulcers. 
H. n. 1. In med., any preparation or medi- 
cine which aids digestion. 
So I eie of medicyns comfortatyuesf,] digestyvet. 
Book o/Quinfr Essence (eel. Furnivall), p. 14. 
2f. In surg., an application which ripens an 
ulcer or a wound, or disposes it to suppurate. 
I dressed It with digestive*. Wurman, Surgery. 
digestively (di-jes'tiv-li), adv. By way of di- 
gestion, ll'ilkie Collins. 
digester (di-jes'tor), . See digester. 
digestnxet (di-jes'tur), . [< digest + -are.] 
Digestion. 
And further, his majesty professed that were he to In- 
vite the devil to a dinner, he should have these three 
dishes : 1, a pig ; 2, a pole of ling and mustard ; and 3, a 
pipe of tobacco lor digetture. 
Apothegm* of King Jama (1869). 
diggable (dig'a-bl), a. [< dig + -ablf.] That 
may be dug. 
digger (digger), n. [< ME. diggerc : < dig + -erl. 
Cf. dil.ii; rhii'lur.] 1. A person or au animal 
thatdigs; an instrument fordigging. 2. [cap.] 
One of a degraded class of Indians in California, 
Nevada, and adjacent regions, belongingto sev- 
eral tribes, all more or less intimately connected 
with the Shoshones : so called because they live 
