2843 
trio(n-), a stage-player, < Etruscan histcr. " The 
orig. sense was probably ' one who makes others 
laugh,' cf . Skt. 7i, laugh, hasra,a f ool" (Skeat).] 
A stage-player; an actor. Minaheu. 
histrionic (his-tri-on'ik), a. and w. [= P. liix- 
trionique = Sp. histriditico = It. intnonico, < L. 
liixtrionicus.t histrio(n-), a stage-player: see 
/i Istrton.'] I. a. Pertaining to actors or acting ; 
history 
One man in his time plays many parts. 
His acts being seven ages. . . . Last scene of all, 
That ends this strange eventful history, 
Is second childishness. Shak., As you Like it, ii. 7. 
All town sprinkled lands that be, 
Sailing through stars with all their history. 
Emerson, Monadnoc. 
The history of Europe, the history of Aryan man in 
Europe, the history of man as a really civilized and politi- __ ^ ^ _ _ _ 
cal being, begins in the lands round the Mediterranean, Vipfittino- rhp sracrp- theatrical- hence feigned 
and of them it begins in the islands and peninsulas of oentting tae stage, tneatrical, n ice, leigne 
Greece. E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 277. for effect; unreal. 
4 An nvpiitfiil r>arppT" a nast worthv of rec- In consequence of his [Edward's] love and his knowledge 
eer , a past worthy 01 of the hist ? imM ^ he taught the choristers over which 
ord : as, a man with a history. Of. In liturgies, ne pre8i d e( i to act plays. 
in medieval English uses, as in the Use of Sa- 
rum, the series of responsories to a set of lec- 
tions from the historical or other books of Scrip- 
ture. The history was named from the initial words of 
the first responsory, and these were often also used as the 
name of the Sunday on which the history was said, or of the 
period following during which the lections continued to 
be taken from the book then begun. 
6. A historical play or drama. 
The national history likewise continued to furnish sub- 
jects ; and the chronicle history remained a favourite spe- 
cies of dramatic composition. 
A. W. Ward, Eng. Dram. Lit., 1. 146. 
Ancient 
. 
T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, III. 285. 
Foppish airs 
And histrionic mumm'ry, that let down 
The pulpit to the level of the stage. 
Cowper, Task, ii. 6C8. 
I have been through as many hardships as Ulysses, in 
the pursuit of my histrionic vocation. 
0. W. Holmes, Autocrat, ii. 
Histrionic spasm, spasm of the facial muscles. 
II. . 1. A dramatic performer; a stage- 
player. [Bare.] 2. pi. The art of theatrical 
representation; dramatic manner or expres- 
sion: as, the histrionics of a stump-speaker. 
[< histrionic 
icient history, the history of man from the earliest histrionical (his-tri-on'i-kal), a. [ 
then tic records to the destruction of the Roman empire, jf ", TH *_: 
D. 476. Classical history, the history of the Greeks ~ al -\ oamt 
____ , 
and Romans. Ecclesiastical history. See mlexiastical. Such naked and forlorn Quakers act a part much more 
Medieval history, the history of the period which ex- cunning, false, and histrionical than those that least af- 
tends from A. D. 476 to the beginning of the sixteenth cen- feet such pitiful simplicities. 
tury. See middle ages, under age. Modern history, the Jer. Taylor (?), Artif. Handsomeness, p. 164. 
history of the period which extends from the close of the i,4 a .f 5/v\i/iTlTT /Tii tri An'i Vnl it nrin Tn n 
middle ages to the present time. Some Gei-man historians histrionically (his-tri-on i-kal-1), aav. . 
subdivide modern history into later history (from 1492 to histrionic manner ; theatrically. Johnson. 
the beginning of the French revolution in 1789) and latest histrionicism (his-tn-on l-sizm), n. [< hism- 
Af6r!/(fromi789tothepre8enttime). Natural nl story, OB J C + -ism.'] A stroke of histrionic art; a 
a popular designation of the study and description of nat- 
ui-al objects, as animals, plants, and minerals, especially 
the two former, as distinguished from civil, ecclesiastical, 
military, etc., history. Profane history, the history 
of secular events, as distinguished from sacred history, 
, 
Sacred history, the history recorded in the Bible. 
Tribal history. 
theatrical 
How could this girl have taught herself, in the solitude 
of a savage island, a species of histrionicism which women 
in London circles strove for years to acquire? 
W. Black, Princess of Thule, vi. 
Same as "phytogeny: distinguished histrionism (his'tri-o-nizm), n. [= Sp. histri- 
its e 'gen ! eral' ? 8eiise incl l udes chronicles'! annals, biography, stage-players; stage-playing; acting, 
autobiography, and even travels: as, the history of a jour- histrionizet (his'tri-o-niz), V. t. [< histrion + 
ney. In a restricted sense it is an orderly account of the _i ze 1 fo represent on the stage ; act. 
principal events affecting the people of a nation or dis- 
trict for a given period. It is sometimes divided into 
history proper and philosophical history, the former pay- 
ing attention simply to the events themselves, the latter 
showing the events in connection with their causes and 
effects. When the order of time is most conspicuous, the 
history is a chronicle, which is generally divided into sec- 
tions, each section covering a separate period of time. Histriophoca (his"ti'i-0-fo'ka), n. [ 
Annals are a form of chronicle in which the subdivision / listrio ( n .) a stage-player, +"nhoca, a seal.] A 
into periods is by years. Chronicles and annals are, how- ~vj '' ""' a c f "J > J LH.V oool 
ever, sometimes used as names for simple and unpretend- genus of seals, represented by the ribbon-seal, 
ing histories. fl"./osa'flto,characterizedby double-rooted con- 
history (his'to-ri), v. t. ; pret. and pp. historied, ical molar teeth. 
ppr. historyin'g. [< OF. historier, < ML. histo- hit 1 (hit), v. ; pret. and pp. hit, ppr. hitting, 
riare, narrate, depict, < L. historia, history: see [< ME. kitten, hytten, hutten, hit, meet with, 
history, n.] To record ; relate. [Bare.] " * - ' 1 '"- 
During the five hours space that, at the duke's desire, 
the solicitation of the Court, and his own recreation, he 
was pleased to histrionize it, he shewed himself so natural 
a representative that any one would have thought he had 
been so many several actors. 
Urquhart, in Sir John Hawkins's Johnson, p. 303. 
[NL., < L. 
Keep no tell-tale to his memory, 
That may repeat and history his loss. 
Shale., 2 Hen. IV., IT. 1. 
late AS. hittan (once), meet with, < Icel. hitta, 
hit upon, meet with, = Sw. hitta, find, discover, 
light upon, invent, = Dan. hitte, hit upon.] I. 
trans. I. To strike or touch with some degree 
history -painting (his'to-ri-pan''ting), . The of force ; give a stroke or blow to ; especially, 
art of representing historical subjects by paint- to strike intentionally, 
ing; historical painting. .... . 
history-piece (his'to-ri-pes), . A pictorial 
representation of a historical event. 
histotrpphic (his-to-trof'ik), a. [< Gr. lorof, a 
web, tissue, T Tpotyr/, rearing.] Concerned in 
the formation of tissue. 
Agents, hygienical or curative, which take part in the 
formation of organized tissue, may be termed histotrophic 
or constructive. Dunglison. 
histozyme (his'to-zim), n. [< Gr. Jorof, a web, 
tissue, + t'vpv, leaven: see zymic.~\ A sub- 
stance or agent producing a zymotic action in 
the tissues. 
Schmiedeberg discovered that injections of histozyme 
into the blood of dogs produced high fever. 
Medical News, III. 542. 
Histriobdella (his"tri-ob-dera), n. [NL., < L. 
histrio, a stage-player, + Gr. p6e?Aa, a leech.] 
A genus of leeches, or Hirudinea, differing from 
all others of the group except Malacobdella in 
being dioecious, and further characterized by 
the possession of limb-like lateral appendages. 
This genus has lately been taken from among the leeches 
and associated with Polygordius and Protodrilus in a class 
Haploannelida. 
histrio (his'tri-o), n.\ pi. liistriones (his-tri-6'- 
nez). [L.: see histrion.] Same as histrion. 
He who was of greatest reputation, and had carried the 
name longest in all theatres, for his rare gift and dexterity 
that way, was called Hister ; of whose name all other af- 
terward were termed Histrionen. 
Holland, tr. of Plutarch, p. 725. 
They are called histriones, or rather histrices, which 
play, upon scaffolds and stages, enterludes and comedies. 
Xorthbrooke, quoted in Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, p. 237. 
histriont (his'tri-on), n. [< F. hi,itriti = Sp. 
kistriuit = Pg. histriao = It. istrione, ( L. his- 
As a blynde man in bataille . . . 
Hath none happ with his axe his enemye to hitte. 
Piers Plowman (B), xii. 108. 
Chain'd thunderbolts and hail 
Of iron globes ; which, on the victor host 
Levell'd, with such impetuous fury smote. 
That, whom they hit, none on their feet might stand, 
Though standing else as rocks. Milton, P. L., vi. 592. 
Often came 
Melissa, hitting all we saw with shafts 
Of gentle satire. Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
Ay, that's about it, Muster Bolsover. You've about hit 
the mark. T. A. Trollope, Garstang Grange, ii. 
2. To knock; move by means of a hit, stroke, 
or blow. 
Everything past use was hit, as they say in Berkshire, 
out into the street. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, xlii. 
The next ball is a beautifully pitched ball for the outer 
stump, which the reckless and unfeeling Jack catches 
hold of, and hits right 1'ound to leg for five. 
T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, ii. 8. 
3. To reach or attain to in perception or exe- 
cution ; come at ; light upon ; lay hold of so as 
to reproduce or portray. 
Your father's image is so hit in you, 
His very air, that I should call you brother, 
As I did him. Shak. , W. T., v. 1. 
Excellent actor, how she hits this passion ! 
B. Jonson, New Inn, iii. 2. 
It is a pleasing and airy trifle, in which its author has 
sometimes happily hit the tone of Ariosto. 
Ticknor, Spaii. Lit., I. 444. 
4. To conform to; agree with; fit; suit: as, 
this hits my fancy. 
I shall perform all these things in good time, I doubt 
not, they do so hit me. B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, iii. 3. 
Hard task ! to hit the palate of such guests, 
When Oldfleld loves what Dartineuf detests. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. ii. 86. 
hit 
5. In backgammon : (a) To take up (one of an 
opponent's men lying single or uncovered), by 
moving a man to its point. (6) To beat when 
one's opponent has thrown off one or more men 
from the board Hard hit, or hit hard, hurt or crip- 
pled as by a stroke of adversity, as one bereaved or disap- 
pointed ; seriously touched or affected, as one who is In 
love. [Colloq.] 
I got hit hard at the Brussels races, lost twelve hundred 
at ecarte, and had some ugly misadventures arising out 
of a too liberal use of my autograph. 
Lever, Dodd Family Abroad, I. 174. 
To hit it Off, to agree ; be in accord. [Colloq.] To hit 
Off. (a) To produce or imitate on the spur of the moment ; 
take off. [Rare.] 
We hit off a little Wit now and then, but no Animosity. 
Congreve, Way of the World, iii. 13. 
(ft) To represent or describe by characteristic strokes or 
touches. 
That genuine pleasure which a Yankee never fails to 
feel in anything smartly and neatly hit off in language. 
H. B. Stowe, Oldtowu, p. 365. 
To hit the Wot, to hit the cushion!, etc. See the 
nouns. To hit the nail on the head. See nail. To 
hit the pipe, to smoke opium. [Slang.] 
II. intrans. 1. To come hi forcible contact; 
strike; clash. 
Arthur with ane anlace egerly smyttez, 
And hittez ever in the hulke up to the hiltez. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1148. 
If bodies be extension alone, how can they move and 
hit one against another ? Locke. 
2. To reach an intended point or object; ef- 
fect an aim or purpose ; succeed as by a stroke 
of skill or luck. 
The hauyn that he hit to was hard by the cave 
There Pelleus in pouert priuely lay. 
Destructum of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 13495. 
Oft expectation fails, . . . and oft it hits 
Where hope is coldest, and despair most shifts. 
Shak., All s Well, ii. 1. 
A little wit 
Will serve to make our play hit. 
B. Jonson, Volpone, Prol. 
All human race would fain be quits, 
And millions miss for one that hits. 
Swift, On Poetry. 
3. To agree; suit; fit. 
The number so exactly hits. 
Waterland, Scripture Vindicated, iii. 6. 
If matters hit right, we may thereby get better returns 
than Cardigan silver Mines afford. Homll, Letters, ii. 33. 
4f. To act in harmony ; be of one mind. 
Pray you let us hit together. 
Shak., Lear, i. 1. (Steevens.) 
To hit on or upon, to come upon ; fall or light upon by 
chance; discover as by accident. 
" Ac yf thou happe, " quath hue, " that thow hitte on Clergie, 
And hast vnderstondyng what he wolde mene, 
Sey to hym thy -self ouer-see my bokes." 
Piers Plowman (C), xii. 114. 
I can never hit on 's name. Shak., M. W. of W., iii. 2. 
Scarcely any person who proposed to himself the same 
end with Bacon could fail to hit upon the same means. 
Macaulay, Lord Bacon. 
To hit out, to strike out with the flst ; deal a blow or blows. 
It was a sight to see the colonel, in his agony, hit right 
out ... at that senior clerk's unoffending stomach. 
Trollope, Autobiography, iii. 
hit 1 (hit), . [< hifl, !'.] 1. A stroke; ablow; 
the collision or impact of one body against an- 
other. 
Some have receiv'd the knocks, some given the hiti, 
And all concludes in love. 
Beau, and Fl., Wit at Several Weapons, v. 2. 
2. In fencing, a stroke or touch with the sword 
or foil. 
Ham. Ill play this bout first. . . . 
Come. Another hit : what say you? 
Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 
3. A stroke of good luck ; a casual or surpris- 
ing success; a favorable effect or outcome: as, 
the play made a hit. 
What late he call'd a blessing now was wit, 
And God's good providence a lucky hit. 
Pope, Moral Essays, iii. 378. 
The actors crowded round her. "We'd no idea of it ! " 
"Capital ! " "A great hit! " they exclaimed. 
Mrs. Whitney, Leslie Goldthwaite, xii. 
4. A striking expression or turn of thought ; a 
saying that goes to the point: as, a happy hit 
in a speech. 
A yet more accurate representation of flne passages, or 
felicitous hits in speaking. Brougham, Lord Chatham. 
The passage, with its comic after-echoes, has now ex- 
hausted itself, the hit has been made, and the interrupted 
threads of the former dramatic action are gathered up 
again as the scene moves on. 
Amer. Jour. Phtiol., VIII. 33. 
5. A stroke of satire or sarcasm; a touch of 
censure. 
No long bursts of declamation, but dramatic dialogue 
and interrogation, by-hints, and unexpected hits at one 
and the other most common-place soldier's failing. 
Kingsley, Hypatia, xxi. 
