dilucidation 
If such dUMidatimu be necessary to make us value diluvianism (di- or dW^'vi-an-izm), . 
dime 
K di- 6. Not clearly apprehending; dull of appre- 
I SUCH anncKitifunt-y "c iic^coowij vv. i....... ,.w .-.-.- mitA ***"o** v . 
writins . . . written in an European language, and in i uriun + -ism.] A geological theory which IS hension. 
times and countries much nearer to ours, ho_w muc^do i arffe i v ^ ase d on the supposition of the former The understanding is dim. 
= Syn. 2. Indistinct, ill-defined, indefinite, shadowy, con- 
fused, mysterious, imperfect. 
II. t n. The dark; darkness; night. 
Wen the day vp drogh, & the dym voidit, 
All the troiens full tit ti.kyn thaire armys, 
That were hoole and vnhurt hastid to fflld. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 7133. 
dilucidityt \ ,- - .-. -- 
Cf. lucidity.'] The quality of being dilucid or 
clear. Holland, tr. of Plutarch. 
dilucidlyt (di- or di-lii'sid-li), adv. Clearly; 
lucidly. 
Linguistic philology has been actually created by it [the 
scientific movement of the age] out of the crude observa- 
tions and wild deductions of earlier times, as truly as 
chemistry out of alchemy, or geology out of dilvvianiinn. 
Whitney, Encyc. Brit., XVIII. 785. 
sistence of another fluid upon mixture. 
There is no real diluent but water. 
Arlinthnot, Aliments, v. 
This deluvie of pestilence. 
Chaucer, L'Envoy to Scogan, 1. 14. 
distinct ; becloud ; obscure ; tarnish ; sully : as, 
to dim the eye ; to dim the vision ; to dim the 
prospect ; to dim gold. 
I hate to see, mine eyes are dimd with teares. 
Spenser, Daphnaida, v. 
2. In med., a substance which increases the 
percentage of water in the blood. Diluents 
consist of water and watery liquors, 
dilute (di- or dl-lut'), r. ; pret. and pp. diluted, 
ppr. diluting. [< L. dilittm, pp. of diluere ( > It. 
diluire = Sp. Pg. diluir^F. diluer), wash away, 
dissolve, cause to melt, dilute, < di-, dis-, away, 
apart, + lucre = Gr. "tjavtiv, wash. Hence also 
(< L. diluere) diluent, diluvium.'] I. trans. 1. 
To render more liquid; make thin or more 
fluid, as by mixture of a fluid of less with one of 
Bp. Bale, Apology, fol. 101. 
The tliluui/r drowned not the worlde iu one daye. 
Joye, Expos, of Daniel, x. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Childe. 
Thus while he spake, each passion dimm'd his face, 
Thrice changed with pale ire, envy, and despair. 
Milton, P. L., Iv. 114. 
i- or di-lu'vi-on), n. [= F. dilumon, 
<~L. diluvio(n-), equiv. to diluvium : see diluvi- 
um."] Same as diluvium. 
liluvium (di- or di-lu' vi-um), . [= F. di- 
luvium = Sp. Pg. It. diluvio, < L. diluvium (also 
diluvies and diluvio, a flood, deluge (whence dim. An abbreviation of diminuendo. 
, ., ult. E. deluge, a. v.), < diluere, wash away: dimaris,dimatis(<lim a-ris, -tis),n. |_Anar 
greater consistence ; attenuate the strength or gee a n u t e -] l A deluge or an inundation; cialterm.] The mnemonic name of that mood ot 
consistence of: often used figuratively: as, to an overflowing. 2. Coarse detrital material, the fourth figure of syllogism which has affirma- 
wherevor found: a term introduced into ge- tive propositions for its premises, one universal, 
ology in consequence of a general belief in 
the past occurrence of a universal deluge. 
Finer materials, usually occupying the lower parts of 
valleys, and occurring especially along the courses of 
great rivers, were called alluvium (which see). In 
the use of the words diluvium and allumum (diluvial, 
alluvial) there is an obscure recognition of a fundamental 
dilute a narrative with weak reflections. 
The aliment ought to be thin to dilute, demulcent to 
temper, or acid to subdue. Arlmtlinot, Aliments. 
Hence 2. To weaken, as spirit or an acid, by 
an admixture of water or other liquid, which 
renders the spirit or acid less concentrated. 
3. To make weak or weaker, as color, by mix- 
ture ; reduce the strength or standard of. 
The chamber was dark, lest these colours should be di- 
luted and weakened by the mixture of any adventitious 
light. Statin. 
II. intrans. To become liquid or more liquid ; 
become thin or reduced in strength : as, vinegar 
II. intrans. To become dim, faint, or obscure; 
fade. 
Turning the dimming light into yellow murk. 
L. Wallace, Ben-Uur, p. 157. 
the other particular. The oldest name for this mood 
seems to have been drimatis, of which ihuiat,* is nnim- 
actions are recognized by the political economists; but 
every action recognized by the economists is a selfish one ; 
therefore, some selfish actions are commendable. The let- 
ters of the word have the following significations : 1,0, and 
uects itself'with diminished erosive power. But the idea 
of a catastrophic period of diluvial action, preceded and 
followed by repose, such as lies at the base of the belief 
in the deluge, is no longer in vogue, and the word dilit- 
'. premises are 
transposed in reduction ; , that the conclusion of the re- 
that the reduction is to darii ; m. that th 
; concl. 
See M, 2 (b), and con - 
< Gr. 
liitus, pp. : see the verb.] 1 . Thin ; attenuated ; 
reduced in strength, as spirit or color. 
Dilute acids are almost without action. 
duction is to be simply converted. 
version, 2. 
mum has "become almost obsolete except among Herman Dimastiga (dl-mas'ti-ga), n. pi. P^L., 
geologists. <!<-, two-, + [idoTtZ (^aany-), a whip (flagellum).J 
A division of the pantostomatous or true flagel- 
late infusorians, containing those which have 
two flagella: distinguished from Monomastiga 
Polymastiga. 
(dim), a. and n. [< ME. dim, dym, < AS. 
dim, dimm = OFries. dim = OS. 'dim (found 
only once, altered to tliim, in a verse alliterat- dimastigate (di-mas'ti-gat), a. [As Dimastiga 
Bened,kt, Coal-tar Colours (trans.), p. 121. inj / with ^ = Icel . dimmr , dim (c f. Sw. Aimma, +^, "l 8 ] Biflagellate ; having two flageUa ; 
' - - 
2. Weak; paltry; poor. 
They had but dilute ideas of God's nature, and scant 
discoveries of his will. Barrow, Sermons, III. iii. 
a fog, mist, haze, dimmig, foggy), = OHG. Urn- specifically, of or pertaining to the 
l>er, MHG. timber, timmer, dark, dim. Prob. not flimatis, n. See dimaris. 
connected with OHG. demar, MHG. demere, flimblet (dim'bl), n. [The equiv. form dingle 
. , , . . 
The state of twilight (whence G. dammcrn (> Dan. dcemre), see ms to be a variation of dimble, and dimWe 
l, e ,jj m) dammerung (> Dan. damring), dim- a variation (perhaps through association with 
And Satyrs, that in shades and gloomy dimbles dwell, 
Run whooting to the hills to clap their ruder hands. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. 190. 
diluteness (di- or di-lut'nes), n. 
being dilute ; thinness. 
What that diluteness is which Vossius saith i: 
proper to F than Q, I understand not. 
Bp. Willrins, Real Character, iii. 12. 
diluter (di- or di-lu'ter), n. One who or that 
which dilutes. 
dilution (di- or di-lu' shon), n. [= F. dilution 
(of. Sp. diluicion = Pg. diluicao), < L. as if "dilu- 
tio(n-), < diluere, pp. dilutus, dilute : see dilute."] 
1. The act of making thin, weak, or more 
liquid; the thinning or weakening of a fluid by 
mixture; the state of being diluted : of ten used 
figuratively with respect to argument, narra- 
tion, or the like. 
Opposite to dilution is coagulation or thickening. ___ _ 
Arbuthnot, Aliments, v. gome intervening medium imperfectly trans- uci ^ ^ , ., ...^ .... , 
2. A diluted substance ; the result of diluting, parent, as mist or haze ; misty; hazy; hence, ^.sroe! 'F! dflwcl'tvthe, tenth, = Pr. desme, 'deime, 
< L. decimus, tenth, < decem = E. ten : see deci- 
mal.] 
Vnto me es this mater dym, 
Bot sum knawing I haue by him. 
Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 93. 
I have most dim apprehensions of the four great mon- 
precerting. archies. Lamb, Old and New Schoolmaster. 
diluvial (di- or di-lu' vi-al), a. [= F^ Pg. dilu- T)im with the mist O j Vear8| gray fljt s the shade of power. 
more ness, twilight), L. tenebrce for "tcmebrfe, dark- di m; c f. theepithet gloomy in the quotations) 
ness, = Skt. tamisrd, dark, night; cf. Skt. tamas, o f the equiv. E. dial, durable, a wooded dingle, 
gloom, Lith. tamsus, dark, tamsa, darkness, Origin unknown ; possibly a dim. of dump*, a 
Russ. temnuii, dim, dark, temno, darkly, Ir. teim, pjt a pool, a deep hole containing water: see 
dim.] I. a.; comp. dimmer, superl. dimmest. a um p3. Cf. E. dial, drumble, drumbmr, a dingle 
1. Faintly luminous ; somewhat obscure from or rav ine, appar. not connected with dumble.] 
lack of light or luminosity; dark; obscure; A dingle; a glen; a retired place, 
shadowy. 
Whan ony schalle dye, the Lyghte begynnethe to 
chaunge and to wexe dym. Mandeville, Travels, p. 60. 
And storied windows richly dight, 
Casting a dim religious light. 
Miltm, II Penseroso, 1. 160. 
Within a gloomy dimole shee doth dwell, 
Down in a pit, o'ergrown with brakes and briars. 
B. Jonton, Sad Shepherd, ii. 2. 
2. Not clearly seen; indistinct; obscured by d ^ (dim), H. and a. [Also, as a historical term 
:_*-.,.,: jj ; oww,*!,, t,r,c. -V. --'' drtme .<ig.^S f dtolMi,ttthe,<OF. 
dilutionist (di- or di-lu'shon-ist), n. [< dilution figuratively, not clearly apprehended ; famt ; 
+ -ist.] In homeopathy, one who advocates the vague : as, a dim prospect ; a dim recollection. 
medicinal use of drugs in a diluted or attenuated 
state. High-dilutlonlst, a homeopathist who advo- 
cates extreme dilution or attenuation of drugs. Low- 
diiutionist, one who takes a less extreme view than the 
preceding. 
iluvial (di- or di-lu'vi-al), a. [= F. Pg. dilu- 
vial, < LL. diluvialis, of a flood, < L. diluvium, a 
flood: see diluvium.] 1. Pertaining to a flood 
or deluge, especially to the deluge recorded in 
Genesis. 2. In geol., related to or consisting 
of diluvium. 
diluvialist (di- or di-lu'vi-al-ist), n. [< diluvial 
+ -ist.] One who endeavors to explain geologi- 
cal phenomena by reference to a general flood 
or deluge, particularly the Noachian deluge. 
diluvian (di- or di-lu'vi-an), a. [= F. dilurien = 
Sp. Pg. It. diluviano; as diluvium + -an."] Re- 
lating to or of the nature of a deluge ; diluvial. 
Interior Alps, gigantic crew, 
Who triumphed o'er diluvian power ! 
Wordsworth, Desultory Stanzas. 
Byron, Childe Harold, ii. 2. 
The light about the altar was the only light in the 
church ; the nave and aisles were dim in the twilight. 
C. E. Norton, Travel and Study in Italy, p. 6. 
3. Dull in luster; lusterless; tarnished. 
How is the gold become dim ! how is the most fine gold 
changed! Lam. iv. 1. 
4. Not seeing clearly; having the vision ob- 
scured and indistinct, as the eye. 
On the stranger's dim and dying eye 
The soft, sweet pictures of his childhood lie. 
Whittier, Bridal of Pennacook, vl. 
Eyes grown dim 
With hope of change that came not. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 20.1. 
I. n. If. A tithe. 
Take her [their] landes, 36 lordes and let hem [prelates] 
lyue by dymes. Piers Plovnnan (B), xv. 526. 
The Acte of Parlement for tythynges of trees aboue XX 
yere growinges, <fec. . . . Persuns vicars of holi chirche 
ye said marchauntes enpleden and trauaill in crysten 
coast for y> dymen of ye said -woede. 
Arnold's Chronicle, p. 45. 
2f. The number ten. 
Every tithe soul, 'mongst many thousand dixmes, 
Hath been as dear as Helen. Sliak., T. and ('., ii. 2. 
3. A silver coin 
of the United 
States, of the 
value of 10 cents, 
being the tenth 
part of a dollar, 
worth about 4J 
pence English. 
Obverse. Reverse. JJ_ g o ld for 
Dime of the United States. (Size of the rtimo Tlfmo 
original.) a ciime. Dime 
