erminites 
1996 
err 
Erminois. 
side of the black spots. This 
can be shown only on a very 
large scale, and is rare. 
erminois (er'mi-nois), n. 
[Heraldic F., < OF. ermin, 
ermine.] In her., a fur of 
a tincture resembling er- 
mine, except that the ground 
is or. 
ermitt, . An obsolete form of hermit. 
Taylor. 
em' 1 ! erne 1 !, * Obsolete forms of earn 1 . 
ern 2 t, eme 2 t, Obsolete forms of earrft. 
ern 3 , erne 3 . . See ears. 
ern 4 t, erne 4 t, v. * Same as earn*. 
ern 5 t, [AS. (Ern, a retired place or habitation, 
scarcely used except in comp. (-(ern, -ern), as 
in berern, contr. lern (> E. barnl), eorth-ern, a 
grave, etc.] A retired place or habitation: 
chiefly in composition. See etymology. 
-ern. [L. -ernus, -erna, -ternus, -terna, prop, a 
compound suffix, < -er, -ter + -no-; used to form 
nouns and adjectives.] A termination of Latin 
origin, occurring in nouns, as in cavern, cistern, 
lantern, tavern, etc., also in adjectives, as mod- 
ern, but in adjective use generally extended 
with -al, as in eternal, fraternal, maternal, pater- 
nal, external, internal, infernal, supernal, etc. 
In some words -ern is an accommodation of various other 
terminations, aa in pastern, pattern, postern, bittern, etc. 
Some think such manner of erogatim not to be worthy question or questions for oratorical purposes, 
the name of liberality. Sir T. Elyot, The Governour. agj f or instance, to imply a negative, as in the 
Touching the Wealth of England, it never also appeared following quotation. Also called cperotesis and 
so much by public Erogations and Taxes, which the long e mtfocluismus. See question. 
p-irliitiipiit raised HowKit. letters, iv. 9t, f 
Must we but weep oer days more bleat? 
erogenic (er-o-jen ik), a. same as erogenous. Must we but blush? Our fathers bled. 
In somnambulism the various hyper-excitable spots or Byron, Don Juan, iii., The Isles of Greece (song), 
zones erogenic, reflexogenic, dynamogenic, hypnogcnic, e rotetic (er-6-tet'ik), a. [< Gr. (purrrrtKOf, skill- 
hysterogenic-are best studied^ ^^ PtychoLt i. 497. ed in questioning, < ipurav, question, ask.] In- 
Jer. erogenous (e-roj'e-nus), o. [< Gr. Ipof, love (see terrogatory. 
Eros), + -ytwk, producing: see -genous.] In- 
ducing erotic sensation; producing sexual de- 
sire. 
log-bleater, heather-bleater. 
ernest 1 !, and a. An obsolete form of earnest*. 
ernest 2 t, n. An obsolete form of earnest 2 . 
Ernestine (er'nes-tin), a. Of or pertaining to 
the elder and ducal branch of the Saxon house 
with his younger brother Albert the territories 
ruled by them in common. The Ernestine and Al- 
bertine lines thus founded still continue. The latter 
wrested the electoral title from the former in 1547, and 
became the royal house of Saxony in 1806. The Ernestine 
line now holds the grand duchy of Saxe-Weimar and the 
duchies of Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, and Saxe- 
Coburg-Gotha. Ernestine pamphlet, a pamphlet pub- 
lished about 1530, under the auspices of the Ernestine 
Saxon line, advocating the debasement of the currency. 
See Albertine tracts, under Albertine. 
erode (e-rod'), v. ; pret. and pp. eroded, ppr. 
eroding. [< L. erodere, gnaw off, < e, out, off. 
+ rodere, gnaw: see rodent.] I. trans. 1. To 
gnaw or eat into or away; corrode. 
It hath been anciently received, that the sea-air hath 
an antipathy with the lungs if it cometh near the body, 
and erodeth them. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 983. 
The blood, being too sharp or thin, erodes the vessels. 
Wiseman, Surgery. 
Hence 2. To wear away, as if by gnawing: 
specifically used in geology of the action of 
water, etc., in wearing down the earth's sur- 
face. 
When this change began, it caused a decreasing river- 
slope in the northern portions, and a diminishing power 
to erode. Science, III. 57. 
II. intrans. To become worn away Eroded 
margin, in entom., a margin with irregular teeth and 
emarginations. Eroded surface, in entom., a surface 
with many irregular and sharply defined depressions, ap- 
pearing as if gnawed or carious. 
e-rot'ik), a. and n. [Formerly crotick ; = 
_ Ique = Sp. erdtico = Pg. It. erotica (cf . D. 
G. erotisch = Dan. Sw. erotisk), < Gr. epunrif, 
pertainingto love,< cpuf (cpur-), love : see Eros.] 
I. a. Pertaining to or prompted by love ; treat- 
ing of love ; amorous. 
An erotic ode is the very last place in which one would 
expect any talk about heavenly things. Saturday Rev. 
On the'front of the base (of the statue of Zeus at Olym- H. n ^^^""^^ V'JT^ 
pia] were attached works in gold representing in the cen- erotlCal (e-rot l-k&l), a. [.< * ~ al -l c 
tre Aphrodite rising from the sea and being received by as erotic. 
Eros and crowned by_Peitho. _ ,,__ ,, So doth Jason Pratensis ... (who writes copiously of 
this troticall love) place and reckon it amongst the affec- 
tions of the braine. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 442. 
erotomania (e-ro-to-ma'ni-a), n. [NL., < Gr. 
epuTopavia, raving love, < />of (cpwr-), love, + 
fiavia, madness.] In pathol., mental alienation 
or melancholy caused by love; love-sickness. 
erotomaniac (e-ro-to-ma'ni-ak), n. [< eroto- 
mania + -ac.] A person suffering from or af- 
flicted with erotomania. 
erotomany (er-o-tom'a-ni), n. [< NL. eroto- 
mania.] Same as erotomania. 
erotylid (e-rot'i-lid), a. and n. I. a. Of or per- 
taining to the Erotylidce. 
II. n. One of the Erotylidce. 
Erotylidse (er-o-til'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Ero- 
tylus + -idee.] ' A family of clavicorn Coleop- 
tera. The dorsal abdominal segments are partly mem- 
branous ; the ventral segments are free ; the tarsi are four- 
jointed, more or less dilated and spongy beneath ; the 
wings are not fringed with hairs ; and the anterior coxa; 
of love, a personification of ... 
< ipav, love.] 1. PI. Erotes or Erases (e-ro'tez, 
e'ros-ez). In Gr. myth., the god of love, iden- 
tified by the Romans with Cupid. See Cupid. 
A. S. Murray, Greek Sculpture, II. 12V. 
A bevy of Erases apple-cheek'd, 
In a shallop of crystal ivory-beak'd. 
Tennyson, The Islet. 
2. [NL.] In zodl., a genus of mal- 
acodermatous beetles, of the fam- 
ily Teleplioridce. There are many 
species, of Europe and America, as 
E. mundus of North America. 
of erodere, gnaw off: see erode.] 
Gnawed; having small irregular si- 
nuses in the margin, as if gnawed: 
applied to a leaf, to an insect's 
wing, etc. 
'' (e'ros), a. See cerose. 
< erodere, pp. erosus, gnaw off: see erode.] 
1. The act or operation of eating or gnawing 
away. Hence 2. The act of wearing away 
by any means. Specifically (a) In gun., the wearing 
away of the metal around the interior of the vent, around 
the breech-mechanism, and on the surfaces of the bore and 
chamber of cannon, due to the action of powder-gas at the 
high pressures and temperatures reached in firing. 
The heated gases, passing over these fused surfaces at a 
are globose. The species are mostly South American, and 
Erotylides, and Erotylusidce. 
Jrotylus (e-rot'i-lus), n. 
a darling, sweetheart, dim. 
The typical ge- 
high "velocity "and pressure, absolutely remove that sur- nus of the family 
face and give rise to that erosion which is so serious an ErotillidtB dis- 
evil in guns where large charges are employed. 
Science, V. 392. 
< Gr. eporviof, 
cpur-), love.] 
(!>) In zoiil.. the abrasion or wearing away of a surface 
or margin, as if by 
gnawing ; the state 
of being erose ; the 
act of eroding, (c) 
In geol., the wear- 
ing away of rocks 
Section showing the erosion of the summit by water and other 
of a mass of stratified rock bent into a low agencies of geo- 
anticlinal. logical change. 
Erosion through solvent action is promoted by the pres- 
ence in the waters both of carbonic acid and organic acids. 
Amer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., XXX. 186. 
3. The state of being eaten or worn away; 
corrosion ; canker ; ulceration. Erosion theory, 
in geol., the theory that valleys are due to the wearing in- 
fluences of water and ice, chiefly in the form of glaciers, 
as opposed to the theory which regards them as the result 
of fissures in the earth's crust produced by strains during 
its upheaval. 
erodent (e-ro'dent), n. [< L. eroden(t-)s, ppr. erosionist (e-ro'zhon-ist), n. [< erosion + -ist] 
of erodere, gnaw off: see erode.] A drug which In geol., one who holds the erosion theory. 
There were the erosionists, or upholders of the efficacy 
of superficial waste. Geikie, Geol. Sketches, ii. 5. 
eats away, as it were, extraneous growths; a 
caustic. 
Erodii (e-ro'di-I), n. pi. [NL., < Gr. fpu6i6f, the erosive (e-ro'siv), a. [= It. erosiro, < L. ero- 
dere, pp. erosns, erode (see erode, erose*), + -ive.] erpetology (er-pe-tol'o-ji), n 
1. Having the property of eating away or cor- form of nerpetology. 
- r. TIT : -,,4.: (er), . [< ME. ( 
heron or hernshaw.] Same as Herodii. 
Erodium (e-ro'di-um), n. [< Gr. epudi6f, also 
pudidc (= L. ardea), the heron (Ardea cinerea, 
A. egretta, A. stellaris, A. iiycticorax).] A ge- 
nus of plants, closely related to Geranium, from 
which it differs in having only five fertile sta- 
tinguished by 
the two spines 
with which the 
maxilla? are 
armed at the tip. 
and the ovate, 
not cylindric, 
form of the body. 
The species are pecu- 
liar to Central and 
South America, only 
one, E. boisduvali, 
extending from Mex- 
ico into Arizona and 
Colorado. It is 10 
millimeters long.ob- 
ovate, black, opaque, ^~ 
with the elytra / VW 
ocherous and cov- <^S f 
ered with numerous z 
deeply impressed 
black punctures,and 
having a triangular 
black spot near the 
middle of the side 
margin. It lives in 
fungi growing on old 
pine logs. 
Fungus-beetle (Erotylus boisdui>alC<, 
a, b, larva, lateral and dorsal views ; 
d, pupa, ventral and dorsal surfaces ; 
bee'tle ; /, paipus : g, tarsus, from below ; 
h. terminal joint of tarsus, from above ; I, 
antenna. /, g , h, and i enlarged. 
An erroneous 
roding; corrosive. 2. Wearing away; acting err 
by erosion. 
erren, < OF. errer = Pr. Sp. 
Pg. error = It. errare, < L. errare, wander, 
west. 
of the old world, though several are very widely natural- 
ized. Some of the common species are known as heron's- 
bill or stork's-bill. 
erogatet (er'o-gat), v. t. [< L. erogatus, pp. of 
erogare (> It. erogare = Sp. Pg. crogar), pay, 
y erosion. rg. errur = 11. er//e, \ .u. cr/ru/c, waunc*, 
The great erosive effect of water on the clay soil of the stray, err, mistake, orig.*ersare = Goth, airzjan, 
est. Science, III. 214. tr., cause to err, mislead, = OHG. irreon, irron, 
mens, and the tails of the carpels bearded upon erostrate (g-ros'trat), a. [< L. e- priv. + ros- 
de. There are about 50 species, natives mostly tratug> beaked, < rostrum, a beak : see rostrum. ] 
In lot., having no beak. 
erotematic (er"o-te-mat'ik), a. [< Gr. epo-n?- 
fiariKof, interrogative, < epor^fia(T-), interroga- 
tion: see eroteme.] Proceeding by means of 
payout, expend (prop, out of the public frea- questions. Erotematic method, a method of in- 
sury, after asking the consent of the people), < struction in which the teacher asks questions, whether 
e, out, + rogare, ask: see rogation. Cf. arro- catechetical or dialogical. 
aate, derogate.] To expend, as public money; eroteme (er o-tem), . [< LL. erotema, < (jr. 
ep&nifLa, a question, < cpurav, ask.] The mark 
or note of interrogation: a name adopted by 
the grammarian Goold Brown, but not in com- 
mon use. 
lay out; bestow. 
For to the acquiryngeof science belongeth understand- 
yng and memorye, which, as a treasory, hath power to re- 
tayne, and also to eroqate, and dystribnte, when opportu- mvu uoc. 
nitie happeneth. Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, iii. 22. Erotes, n. Latin plural of Eros. 
erogationt (er-o-ga'shon), n. [= Sp. erogacion erotesis (er-o-te'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. epurr/ai(, a 
= It. erogazione, < L. erogatio(n-), < erogare, pay questioning, < eporav, question, ask.] In rhet., 
out: see erogate.] The act of erogating. a figure of speech consisting in the use of a 
MHG. G. wren, intr., wander, stray, err; cf. 
Goth, airnyis, adj., = OHG. irri, G. irre, astray; 
prob. the same word as OHG. irri = AS. yrre, 
eorre, angry, enraged (for sense cf. L. delirus, 
crazy, raving, lit. out of the furrow: see deliri- 
ous), but (?) cf. L. ira, anger.] I. intrans. 1. 
To wander; go in a devious and uncertain 
course. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
O verrey goost, that errest to and fro. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 302. 
O, in no labyrinth can I safelier err, 
Thar when I lose myself in praising her. 
B. Jonson, Poetaster, i. 1. 
2. To deviate from the true course or purpose ; 
hence, to wander from truth or from the path of 
duty; depart from rectitude ; go astray morally. 
We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. 
Book o/ CUM uum Prayer, General Confession. 
