Eragrostis 
Us.'] A large genus of grasses, distinguished 
from Poa by the more flattened spikelets and 
the deciduous, carinate, three-nerved flower- 
ing glume. There are about 100 species, of warm and 
temperate regions, of which 20 are found in the United 
States. They are of little agricultural value. 
erandt, An obsolete form of errand 1 . 
1990 
The Emstian doctrine, according to which the Church, 
as such, has none of the prerogatives of government, 
which inhere wholly in the State, had its adherents in 
England and left its influence upon the English polity. 
V. P. fisher, The Reformation, p. 500. 
II. n. One who maintains the doctrines held 
by or attributed to Erastus. 
Winter Aconite (Eran- 
this hitiiuili* . 
cal genus of acanthaeeous plants, including 30 
species, a few of which are occasionally culti- 
vated in greenhouses. 
Eranthis (e-ran'this), w. [NL., < Gr. ijp, contr. 
of lap (= L. ver), spring, + 
avOor,, a flower.] A genus of 
dwarf spring-flowering herbs, 
of the natural order Ranun- 
eulaeea?, allied to Helleborus. 
The stem bears a solitary flower 
with several colored sepals. There 
are only two species, the winter 
aconite, E. hiemalis, of Europe, 
and E. Sibiriciu, of the mountains 
of Asia. 
erasable, erasible (e-ra'sa- 
bl, -si-bl), a. [(.erase + -riblt; 
-ible.~\ Capable of being 
erased. Clarke. 
erase (e-ras'), v. t.; pret. and 
pp. erased, ppr. erasing. [< 
L. erasus, pp. of eradere, 
scratch out, < v, out, + r<i- 
dere, scrape, scratch: see 
rase, raze.'] 1. To rub or 
scrape out, as letters or char- 
acters written, engraved, or 
painted; efface; blot or 
strike out ; obliterate ; ex- 
punge : as, to erase a word or a name. 
The image that, wellnigh erased, 
Over the castle gate he did behold. 
Above a door well wrought in colored gold 
Again he saw. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 328. JJraX (e'raks), w. 
Hence 2. To remove or destroy, as if by rub- [NL. ; irreg. < Gr. 
bing or blotting out. 
New England, we love thee ; no time can erase 
From the hearts of thy children the smile on thy face. 
O. W. Holmes, Semi-Centennial of the N. E. Society, p. 136. 
St. To destroy to the foundation ; raze. 
The city [Aquileial was entirely erased by Attila in the 
year four hundred and fifty-three. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. ii. 266. 
= Syn. 1. Cancel, Obliterate, etc. (see efface) ; wipe out, rub 
off, remove. 
erase (e-ras'), a. [< L. erasus, pp.: see the 
verb.] ' In en torn., sinuate, with the sinuses 
cut into smaller irregular notches: applied 
especially to the wings of certain Lepidoptera. 
erased (e-rasf), p. a. In her., ^ 
represented as having been for- 
cibly torn off, the separated 
parts being left jagged, as op- 
posed to couped. Also erased. 
erasementt (e-ras'ment), n. [< 
erase + -ment.~] Same as era- 
sure, 1. Bailey (1727), Suppl. 
eraser (e-ra'ser), n. One who 
or that which erases. Specifically 
government. 
irasure (e-ra'zur), n. [< erase + -tire.'] 1. 
The act of erasing, or rubbing or scraping out 
or off; obliteration. Also erasitnt. 
Fear would prevent any corruptions of them [records] 
by wilful mutilation, changes, or eramres. 
Homey, Prophecies of the Messiah. 
2. An instance of erasing, or that which has 
been erased, scratched out, or obliterated; the 
place where something has been erased or ob- 
literated: as, there were several eras-ares in the 
document. 
Tischendorf and Tregelles, in their separate examina- 
tions of several thousands of corrections and eraturei. 
differed in hardly a single case respecting the original 
reading. 
T. H. Home, Introd. to Study of Holy Script., IV. xv. 
If some words are erased [in the deed] and others su- 
perinduced, you mention that the superinduced words 
were written on an erasure. Prof. Menzifx. 
St. The act of razing or destroying to the 
foundation ; total destruction : as, the erasure 
of cities. Gibbon. 
Erato (er'a-to), n. FL., < Gr. 'Epara, lit. the ere^t, - 
Lovely <>aro f , lovely, beloved, < tpiiv, love.] eret, r. t. An obsolete form of MB*. 
1 In dr. myth., one of the Muses, she presided ereart, r. t. [An erroneous spelling of arear 1 , 
over lyric and especially amatory poetry, and is generally 
Erechtheum 
= Goth, airis, sooner), compar. form of AS. mr 
= Icel. ar = Goth, air, adv., soon, early. See 
the superl. erst and the deriv. early.'] l.t adv. 
1. Early; soon. 
Er ant late y be thy f o. Lyrical Poems (ed. Wright), p. 99. 
or thay be dantit [daunted] with dreid, erar will thai de. 
Gawan and Goloyras, ii. 16. 
2. Before; formerly. 
When it turnyt to the tyme as I told ere. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 980. 
Whan Galashyn hadde herde that Gawein hadde seide, 
he was neuer er so gladde. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 190. 
Sich noyse hard [heard] I never ere. 
Towneley Mystenes, p. lob. 
II. prep. Before, in respect of time. 
We sculen . . . forletol lire misdede er lire lives ende. 
Old Eng. Uomilies (ed. Morris), I. 19. 
He would ere long make it dearer, and make a Penny 
Loaf be sold for a Shilling. Baker, Chronicles, p. 75. 
Our fruitful Nile 
Flow'd ere the wonted season. 
Dryden, All lor Love. 
III. cottj. Before ; sooner than. 
But his term was tint, or it time were. 
Alimvtider of Maceduine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 30. 
It was not long ere. she intlam'd him so, 
That he would algates with Pyrochles fight 
Spenser, F. Q., II. v. 20. 
Yer Eurus blew, yer Moon did Wex or Wane, 
Yer Sea had fish, yer Earth had grass or grain, 
God was not void of sacred exercise. 
Kyltetter, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 1. 
The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my 
child die. John iv. 49. 
An obsolete form of ear 1 . 
represented crowned with roses and myrtle, and with the 
lyre in the left hand and the plectrum in the right in the 
act of playing. 
2. [NL.] In soiil., a genus of cowries, of the 
family CypraiUhe. 
Risso, 1826. 
cpav, love.] A ge- 
nus of dipterous 
insects, or flies, 
of the family 
Jsilidte, found- 
ed by Macquart 
in 1838 (after 
Scopoli, 1763). It 
is characterized by 
a prominent face, by 
the third joint of the 
antennae being long- 
er than the first, and 
by the second sub- 
marginal cell of the 
wing being appen- 
dicular. The larva of Erax bastardi feeds on the eggs of 
the Rocky Mountain locust, Caloptenut xpretus. 
erazed (e-razd'), a. In her., same as erased. 
erbt, erbet, Obsolete spellings of lierb. 
erberM, erberet, n. 
arbor 2 . 
the 
6 
Erax bastardi. 
IT, fly ; b, pupa : 
, full-grown larva. (All 
al size. ) 
appar. by association with crce<.] To raise up. 
That other love infects the soul of man ; thiscleanseth ; 
that depresseth, this erears. Bm-ton, Anat. of Mel. 
Brebus (er'e-bus), . [L., < Gr.'E/it/tof, in Ho- 
mer, etc., a place of nether darkness between 
the Earth and Hades (see def. 1); in Hesipd a 
mythical being; cf. adj. iptfievvbc,, contr. 
vof, dark, gloomy; perhaps akin to b^vi, 
darkness of night, night, or else to Goth, r 
darkness, Skt. rajas, the atmosphere, thick air, 
mist, darkness.] 1. In classical myth.: (a) A 
place of nether darkness through which the 
shades pass on their way to Hades. 
The motions of his spirit are dull as night, 
And his affections dark as Erelms. 
Shalt., M. of V., v. 1. 
Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook 
Of Krebus. Milton, P. L, ii. 883. 
(6) The son of Chaos, who married his sister 
Night and was the father of ./Ether (the pure 
air) and Day; darkness. 2. [NL.] In ro67., 
a genus of noctuid moths. E. odora is the largest 
North American species of Xoctuidce, expanding six inches 
Orchegardes and erberes euesed well clene. 
Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 166. 
In a lytyl erbi'.r that I have, 
(a) A sharp- Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 97 (1st version). 
pointed knife or blade set in a handle 'for scraping out ,.,o, . r-vr-p. -i rnu,, __,n Q t . fcuntirKr TAI-TY, 
ink-marks, (b) A piece of prepared caoutchouc used for erber^t, [MK.] Ihe gullet . a hunting term. 
rubbing out pencil-marks or ink-marks ; a rubber. Sythen thay slyt the slot, sesed the erber, 
raslble, ". See erasable. Schaued wyth a scharp knyf, & the schyre knitten. 
Tasion (e-ra'zhon),. [< L. as if *era&io(n-), Sir Gawayne and the Green Kniyht (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1330. 
< eradere, pp. erasus, erase: see erase.] Same er |,i a (er'bi-a), n. [NL., < erbium.'] In chem., 
the oxid of the metal erbium (Er 2 O3), a white 
powder soluble in acids only. 
srbium (er'bi-um), n. [NL., < (Ytf)erby in 
Sweden, where gadolinite, the mineral which 
contains this substance, is found.] Chemical 
symbol, Er; A rare metal found along with 
yttrium, terbium, and a number of other rare 
elements in some rare minerals, as euxenite, 
fergusonite, and gadolinite, in which it exists 
as a tantalate or silicate. 
II. . One who supports the system of an- erdet, v. i. [ME., < AS. eardidn, dwell, < card, 
cient Greek pronunciation advocated by Eras- dwelling, country: see eard.'] To dwell. 
ere 1 (ar), adv., prep., and conj. [Also dial, ear 
(see ear*), yer; < ME. ere, er, rer, ar, or (see 
or 1 ), < AS. air, adv., before, sooner, earlier, 
formerly; prep., before; in the conjunctional 
phrases' ar tham the. Her than the (air, prep., be- 
fore ; tham, dat. of thwt, that; the, rel. conj., 
or more, and is of a dark-brown color sprinkled with gray 
scales ; the reniform spot is black, with blue scales, and 
encircled with brownish-yellow. The species isfound from 
ete spellings of lierl. Maine to Brazil. See cut .under Koctuidm. 
Middle English forms of Erechtheion (er-ek-thi'on), . Same as Erecli- 
tlieum. 
Erechtheum (er-ek-the'um), w. [NL., < Gr. 
A Lion's Head 
Erased. 
. PP' 
as erasure, 1. 
Erasmian (e-ras'mi-an), a. and n. [< Erasmus 
(see def.) 4- -ian,~\ '1. a. Pertaining or relat- 
ing to Erasmus, a famous Dutch theologian, 
scholar, and satirist (died 1536). 
He is sighing for . . . the monastery of the White 
Fathers, where he sipped the golden cordial, and listened 
to Erasmian stories while the mistral rushed howling 
through the belfry. Essays from The Critic, p. 121. 
Erasmian pronunciation (of Greek). See pronuncia- 
tion. 
, < 'Epf xfevf , Erechtheus. ] The ' ' house 
of Erechtheus"; a temple of Ionic order on the 
Acropolis of Athens, noted as one of the most 
original achievements of Hellenic architecture. 
In the Erechtheum were grouped togetherthe distinct cults 
of Athena I'olias (this foundation taking the place of the 
ancient temple destroyed by the Persians), of Poseidon, of 
the mythical hero-king of Athens, Erechtheus, and of other 
subordinated divinities and heroes. The material of the 
mus: opposed to Reuchlinian. 
Erastian (e-ras'tian), a. and n. [< Erastus (see 
def.) + -ian.~] I. a. Pertaining to Thomas Eras- 
tus, a Swiss polemic (1524-83), author of a 
work on excommunication, in which he pur- 
posed to restrict the jurisdiction of the church. 
Erastianism, or the doctrine of state supremacy in eccle- 
siastical matters, is often, but erroneously, attributed to 
him. 
An Eravtian policy has often smoothed the way for 
Uildebrandine domination. 
Bp. Chr, Wordsworth, Church of Ireland, ]). 102. 
that), abbr. csr tham, or thrm, or simply cer, conj., 
before (always with reference to time) ; a contr. 
of the full compar. form atror, adv., which also 
is frequent (= OS. er = OFries. er = D. n-r, 
sooner, = OHG. er, G. eher, ehe = Icel. ar, early, 
The Erechtheum, eastern elevation. 
Erechtheum was Pentelic marble almost thronghont; there 
was but little plastic decoration, apart from the caryatids ; 
but the architectural carving, all the proportions, the 
masonry, and the execution in general were of the utmost 
perfection and refinement. (Sec cuts under anthcmwn- 
nioldinij ean-aiul-ilart molainn, and caryatid.) The tem- 
ple was completed toward the close of the fifth century 
B. C. In the court of the temple crew the original olive- 
tree, created by Athena, which sprouted again in one night 
after its destruction by tin- Persians: and in buildings con- 
nected with this court dwelt the priestess of Athena and 
her attendant maidens called arrhephores. 
