incest 
riage is prohibited by tho law or established 
usage of a country. In this offense illegitimate 
consanguinity is of the same effect as legitimate. 
Spiritual Incest, () Sexual Intercourse between 
persons who have been baptized or confirmed together: 
sometimes recognized as an otfonse by ecclesiastical au- 
thorities in the middle ages. (4) The holding, by a vicar 
or other benetlclary, of two bcnellces, one of which de- 
pends upon the collation of the other, 
incestuous (in-ses'tu-us), a. [< F. incestucux 
= Pi. ,'iii-i:itniM = Sp. Pg. It. incestuoso, < LL. 
mcestuomts, < L. incentus (incestii-), incest: see 
n/fi:it.] 1. Guilty of incest: as, an incestuous 
person. 
We may easily guess with what Impatience the world 
would have heard an incestwnu Herod discoursing of 
chastity. South, Sermons. 
2. Involving the crime of incest : as, an inces- 
tuous connection. 
For have we not as natural a sense or feeling of the 
voluptuous? yes, he will say, but this sense has Its proper 
object, virtuous love, not adulterous or incfutuottx. 
H'arliurton, Ded. to the Freethinkers, Postscript 
incestuously (in-ses'tu-us-li), adv. In an in- 
cestuous manner ; in "a manner to involve the 
crime of incest. 
incestuousness (in-ses'tu-us-nes), n. The state 
or quality of being incestuous. 
inch 1 (inch), n. and a. [< ME. incite, ynche, < AS. 
ynce, ince, an inch, < L. uncia, Sicilian Gr. ovynia, 
a twelfth part, as an inch (one twelfth of a foot), 
an ounce (one twelfth of a pound), orig. a small 
weight; of . Gr. 6y/coc, bulk, weight. Seeouncei, 
a doublet of inch.] I. n. I. A lineal measure, 
the twelfth part of a foot. It Is of Roman origin, and 
was formerly divided into 12 lines. The text-books of arith- 
metic, following an old statute, divide the Inch Into 3 bar- 
leycorns. A binary division is most common In rough 
mechanical work, while for finer work it is divided Into 
thousandths (as in gunnery), or even into ten-thousandths 
(by makers of gages only). The English inch is equal to 
2.54 centimeters. The old Scotch inch was slightly long- 
er than the English, being one thirty-seventh part of the 
Edinburgh ellwand. See foot, 10. Abbreviated in. 
Arthur smote hym on the llfte shuldre in to the flesshe 
two large ynche. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), Hi. 629. 
Most ancient measures have been derived from one of 
two great systems, that of the cubit of 20.63 inches, or the 
digit of .729 inch. Encyc. Brit., XXIV. 483. 
2. Proverbially, a small quantity or degree: 
the least part or amount. 
There's not a lord in England breathes 
Shall gar me give an inch of way. 
Duel a/ Wharttm and Stuart (Child's Ballads, VIII. 261). 
With me they'd starve, for want of Ivory ; 
For not one Inch does my whole House afford. 
Cmgreve, tr. of Juvenal's Satires, xl. 
3f. A critical moment. 
Lay hands upon these traitors, and their trash. 
BeUlame, I think, we watch d you at an inch. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VL, L 4. 
If It fall out, we are ready ; if not, we are scatter'd : 
111 wait you at an inch. Fletcher, Loyal Subject, IT. 2. 
At Inches, very near or close. [Prov. Eng.] Auction 
or sale by Inch of candle. See auction. By Inches, or 
inch by Inch, by slow or small degrees ; very gradually. 
The plebeians have got your fellow-tribune, 
And hale him up and down ; all swearing . . . 
They'll give him death by inches. Shak., Cor., v. 4. 
No, don't kill him at once, Sir Rowland, starve him grad- 
ually, inch by Inch. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 12. 
Every Inch, in every respect ; completely ; every whit. 
All spoke of one who was every inch the gentleman and 
the parson. Bulwer, My Novel, xi. 2. 
Miners' Inch, the amount of water that will pass in 24 
hours through an opening 1 Inch square under a pressure 
of 6 inches. 
II. . Measuring an inch in any dimension, 
whether length, breadth, or thickness inch 
stuff, in carp., deal boards sawed one inch thick. 
inch 1 (inch), v. [< incfcl, n.] I. trans. 1. To 
drive or force by inches or small degrees : as, 
to inch one's way along. [Rare.] 
Like so much cold steel inched through his breast-blade. 
Brooming, Ring and Book, 1. 118. 
2. To deal out by inches; give sparingly. 
Ainsworth. [Rare.] 3. To mark with lines an 
inch apart. 
II. intrtinx. To advance or retire by small 
degrees ; move reluctantly or by inches : as, to 
in fit away from the fire. [Rare.] 
Now Tunms doubts, and yet disdains to yield, 
But with slow paces measures back the field, 
And inches to the walls. Dryden, -Eneid, ix. 
inch 2 (inch), n. [< Gael, inais, an island: see 
iniiix, amis.] An island. Inch is an element fre- 
quent in names of small islands belonging to Scotland: as, 
Inchcolm, 7/ic/ikeith. It appears also in many names of 
places on the mainland, wbieb before the last elevation 
of central Scotland were islands : as. the Inches of Perth. 
In Irish names it appears in the forms //mi'*, Ennis. 
He disbursed, at St Colmes 1 inch, 
Ten thousand dollars. Shak., Macbeth, 1. 2. 
inchace), v. t. An obsolete spelling of enclia.it -. 
inchafet, v. Same as enchafe. 
:n >:;.-, 
inchaint, r. t. An obsolete form of enchain. 
incb.am.Der (in-cham'ber), v. t. [< in- 2 + cham- 
ber. C'f. incamcration.] To lodge in a cham- 
ber. 
inchantt, inchantert, etc. Obsolete forms of 
enchant, etc. 
incharget, '' * Same as encharge. 
incharitablet (in-char'i-ta-bl), a. [< in- 3 + 
charitable.] Uncharitable!' 
Is not the whole nation become sullen and proud, ig- 
norant and suspicious, incharitabte, curst, and, in fine, the 
most depraved and perfidious under heaven ? 
Kr lim, Apology for the Royal Party. 
incharityt (in-char'i-ti), n. [< F. incharite; as 
i-3 + charity.] Uncharitableness. 
Some chars J the Popes 
Of meere incharitie, for that 
To wreake their priuate splght 
Gainst kingdomes klngdomes they incense. 
Warner, Albion's England, v. 24. 
It la high incharity to proceed . . . severely upon meer 
suppositions. Perm, Liberty of Conscience, v. 
inchase (in-chas'), v. t. Same as enchase"*. 
inchastet, a. [= Sp. Pg. ineasto (rare) = It. in- 
casto (L. tncestus : see incest) ; as in- 3 + chaste.] 
Unchaste. 
Now yon that were my father's concubines, 
Liquor to his inchaste and lustful fire, 
Have seen his honour shaken in his house. 
Petit, David and Bethsabe, p. 476. 
inchastityt (in-chas'ti-ti), n. [< F. inchastete 
= It. incastita ; as in- 3 "+ chastity. ] Unchastity. 
Tis not the act that ties the marriage knot, 
It Is the will; then must I all my life 
Be stained with inchaslitie's foul blot 
P. 1 1 HI i na ii, Sheretine and Mariana. 
inched (incht), a. [< incfc 1 + -fd 2 -] 1. Con- 
taining inches: used in composition. [Rare.] 
Made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting- 
horse over tour-inched bridges, to course his own shadow 
for a traitor. Shak., Lear, iii. 4. 
2. Marked with inches for measuring: as, an 
inched staff or rule. 
inchestt, enchestt (in-chesf, en-chest'), v. t. 
[< in- 3 + chest 1 .] To put into a chest ; keep in 
or as if in a chest. 
Thou art Joves sister and Saturnus childe ; 
Vet can they [thy] breast eiu-hest such anger still? 
Vicars, -fineld (1632). 
inchipint, n. Same as inchpin. 
inchniealt (inch'mel), adv. [< inchi + -meal. 
Cf. piecemeal, etc.] By inches; inch by inch: 
often with by preceding. 
Qod loves your soul, if he be loth to let it go inchmeal, 
and not by swallowing. Donne, Letters, xi. 
All the infections that the sun sucks up 
From bogs, fens, flats, on Prospero fall, and make him 
By inch-meal a disease ! Shak., Tempest, ii. 2. 
inchoant (in'ko-ant), a. [< L. inchoan(t-)s, in- 
cohan(t-)s, ppr.' of inchoare, incohare, begin: see 
inchoate.] Inchoating; beginning inchoant 
cause, the procatarctlc cause ; that which extrinsically 
excites the principal cause Into action. 
inchoate (in'ko-at), v. t. ; pret. and pp. incho- 
ated, ppr. inchoating. [< L. inchoatus. inco- 
hatus. pp. of inchoare, prop, incohare (> Olt. 
incoare = Sp. incoar), begin, < in, in, on, to, 
+ *cohare, not otherwise found.] To begin. 
[Rare.] 
Conceives and inchoates the argument. 
Brooming, Ring and Book, L 42. 
inchoate (in'ko-at), a. [= Sp. incoado = Pg. 
inchoado = It. incoato, < L. inchoatus, pp. : see 
the verb.] Recently or just begun ; incipient ; 
in a state of incipiency; hence, elementary; 
rudimentary; not completely formed or estab- 
lished: as, inchoate rights. 
Philosophers dispute whether moral ideas . . . were not 
once inchoate, embryo, dubious, unformed. 
M. Arnold, Lit and Dogma, 1. 
Each one of us has the prerogative of completing his 
inchoate and rudimental nature. 
J. U. Keirman, Gram, of Assent, p. 336. 
In his early days Maximilian had tempted him [Henry] 
with the offer of the Empire, he himself to retire on the 
popedom with an inchoate claim to canonization. 
StiMs, Medieval and Modem Hist., p. 262. 
Inchoate right of dower. See dower?. 
inchoately (in'ko-at-li), adv. In an inchoate 
manner; rudimentarily. 
inchoatio (in-ko-a'shi-6), n. [< LL. inchoa- 
ti<>(n-),infoli(ttid(n-): seeinchoation.] In plain- 
song, the intonation or introductory tones of a 
melody. See iiitoiitititni 2 , 3. 
indication (in-ko-a'shon), n. [< LL. inchoa- 
tio(n-), incohatio(n-), < L. inchoare, incohare, be- 
gin: see inchoate.] The act of beginning; in- 
ception ; rudimentary state. 
Then doth baptism challenge to itself but the inchoa- 
tion of those graces the consummation whereof depend 
eth on mysteries ensuing. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 57. 
incidence 
The Religion of Nature is a mere inchiiation and needs 
a complement, It can have but one complement, and that 
very complement is Christianity. 
./. //. Aiirman, dram, of Assent, p. 478. 
inchoative (in-ko'a-tiv), a. and n. [= F. incho- 
atif= Pr. enchoatiu = Pg. inchoative = Sp. It. 
incoatiro, < LL. inchoativus, iucohativus, < L. 
inchoare, incohare, pp. inchoatun, incohatus, be- 
gin: see inchoate.] I. a. 1. In the state of in- 
ception or formation ; incipient ; rudimentary. 
These acts of our Intellect seem to be some inchoative or 
imperfect rays. W. Montague, Devoute Essays, L 387. 
2. Expressing or indicating beginning; incep- 
tive : as, an inchoative verb (otherwise called in- 
ceptive). 
II. w. That which begins, or that which ex- 
presses the beginning of, an action or state; 
specifically, in gram., an inchoative verb. 
The Latins go farther and have a species of verbs derived 
from others which do the duty of these tenses ; and are 
themselves for that reason called inchoatioei or inceptives. 
Harris, Hermes, L 7. 
inchpint (inch'pin), n. [Also corruptly inchipin, 
inne-pin; appar. < inch 1 + pin.] The sweet- 
bread of a deer. Also called fatgut. 
Gras boyau I FA or noyau cutter (the right gut); in 
beasts called the Inch-pin or Inne-pin. Cotgrave. 
Mar. Although I gave them 
All the sweet morsels call'd tongue, ears, and doucets. 
Hob. What, and the inch-pin I 
Mar. Yes. B. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, L 2. 
inch-pound (inch'pound), n. A unit of energy, 
being the work done in raising a pound through 
an inch. It is equal to about 1,154 centimeter-grams, or 
about 1,130,200 ergs ; but its value varies in different locali- 
ties, being dependent on gravity. 
inchurcht (in-cherch'), v. t. [< in-l + church.] 
To form or receive into a church. 
They that left Roxbury were inchurched higher up the 
river at Springfield. C. tlather, Mag. Chris., L 6. 
inchworm (inch'werm), n. A dropworm or 
measuring-worm. See looper. 
incicurable (in-sik'u-ra-bl), a. [< L. in- priv. 
+ "cicurabilis, < cicurdre, tame, < cicur, tame. 
Cf. L. incicur, not tame.] Not to be tamed; 
untamable. Aih. [Rare.] 
incidet (in-sid'), v. t. [= Pg. incidir = It. in- 
ciderc, < L. incidere, cut into, cut open, < in, in, 
-I- ctedere, strike, cut. Cf. incise.] 1. To cut 
into. 2. In med., to resolve or disperse, as a 
coagulated humor. 
Saponaceous substances, which incide the mucus. 
ArbuOmot. 
incidence (in'si-dens), . [< F. incidence = Sp. 
Pg. incidencia = ft. ineidenza, < ML. incidentia, 
a falling upon, < L. inciden(t-)s, falling upon: 
see incident.] It. A subordinate occurrence 
or thing; an incident; something incidental 
or casual. 
These meaner incidences. Bp. Hall, Solomon's Choice. 
He that hath wounded his neighbour is tied to the ex- 
penses of the surgeon and other incidences. 
Jer. Taylor, Holy Living, ill. 4. 
2. The manner of falling; direction of the line 
of fall; course. 
Yon may alter the incidence of the mischief, but the 
amount of it will inevitably be borne somewhere. 
U. Spencer, Study of Soclol., p. 22. 
The incidence of our taxation is, I believe, as equitable 
as it can be made ; the amount of it is far lighter than It 
nsed to be. W. K. Grey, Misc. Essays, 1st ser., p. 110. 
It [hearth-money I was hated on account of its incidence 
on a poorer class of persons than had been usually taxed 
under the easy regime of the subsidies. 
S. Dmcfll, Taxes in England, II. 43. 
3. I n physics, the falling or impinging of a ray 
of light or heat, etc., upon a surface: used es- 
pecially with reference to the direction of the 
ray. 
In equal incidences there is a considerable Inequality of 
refractions. Sewton, Opticks. 
4. In ash-on., same as immersion, 4. 5. In 
geom., the situation of two figures in which 
they have something more in common than they 
would have in some other situation, but do not 
completely coincide. The four kinds of incidence that 
are particularly considered are : 1st, that of a point and a 
line when the former lies on the latter ; 2d, that of a point 
and a plane when the former 
lies in the latter; 3d. that D 
of two lines when they cut 
each other ; and 4th, that of 
a line and a plane when the 
former lies In the latter 
Angle of incidence, (a) 
In physics, the angle formed 
by the line of incidence and 
line drawn from the 
point of contact perpen- 
dicular to the plane or sur- 
Angle of Incidence. 
face on which the Incident ray or body impinges. Thus, 
U a ray EC impinges on the plane AB at the point C, i 
.and 
