insolent 
be wont.] If. Unwonted; unusual; uncom- 
mon. 
They admitted all men that desired it ; ... sometimes 
with some little restraint in great or insolent cases (as in 
the case of apostacy, in which the council of Aries denied 
absolution). Jer. Taylor, Holy Dying, v. 4. 
2. Showing haughty disregard of others ; over- 
bearing; contemptuously impertinent. 
Aiax. A paltry, insolent fellow ! 
Kett. How he describes himself ! 
Shak., T. and C., ii. 3, 218. 
Does not the insolent soldier 
Call my command his donative? and what can take 
More from our honour? 
Fletcher (and another ?), Prophetess, v. 1. 
3. Proceeding from insolence; insulting; su- 
percilious : as, insolent words or behavior. 
The rugged frowns and insolent rebuffs 
Of knaves In office, partial in the work 
Of distribution. Cowper, Task, iv. 411. 
4. Producing the effect of insolence; exces- 
sive; unbearable. [Rare.] 
I shall hate the insolent monotony of ocean all my days. 
T. Winthrop, Cecil Dreeme, viii. 
5f. Unfrequented; lonely. 
Where is lande unkept & insolent, 
Take from the trunncke al clene until so hie 
As beestes may by noon experiment 
Attayne, and there let bowes multiplie. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 209. 
=Syn. 2 and 3. Insolent, Insulting; abusive, impudent, 
contemptuous. Insolent is now chiefly used of language 
that is intentionally and grossly rude, defiant, or rebel- 
lious. Where it applies to conduct^ the conduct includes 
language as the most offensive thing. Insulting is freely 
applicable to either words or deeds that are intended to 
lower a person's sel'-respect : as, an insulting gesture. 
Insolent generally implies pride, but insulting does not. 
A man may be insolent or insulting to his superior, his in- 
ferior, or his equal. See arrogance and a/ront, n. 
insolently (in'so-lent-li), adv. If. Unusually ; 
strangely. 
The interpreter of Hans Bloome names it [Tsenia] the 
top of a pillar, but very insolently ; it being Indeed the 
small fascia part of the Doric architrave. 
Evelyn, Architects and Architecture. 
2. In an insolent manner; with contemptuous 
pride; haughtily; rudely; saucily, 
insoliblet, a. An obsolete form of insoluble. 
insqlidt (in-sol'id), a. [= OF. insolide; < L. in- 
solidus, not solid, < in- priv. -I- soMus, solid: 
see solid.'] Not solid; incoherent; flimsy. 
The second defect in the eye is an insolid levity. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works, II. 381. 
insolidity (in-so-lid'i-ti), . [= OF. im-ulidile; 
as in- s + solidity.] Lack of solidity; weakness : 
as, the insolidity of a wall. 
in SOlido (in sol'i-do). [L.: in, in; solido, neut. 
abl. of solidus, solid: see solid.] Jointly. A num- 
ber of persons are said to be liable in solido when they are 
liable severally to the same extent, each for the whole. 
insolubility (in-sol-u-bil'i-ti), M. [= F. insolu- 
bilite = Sp. insolitbilidad = Pg. insolubilidade = 
It. insolubilitcl, < LL. insolubilita(t-)s, insolubil- 
ity^ L. insolubilis, insoluble: see insoluble."} 1. 
Lack of solubility ; incapability of being dis- 
solved. 
Cocaine itself is not employed for administration on 
account of its insolubility, but its salts dissolve in water 
readily and several are in use. 
Buck's Handbook of Med. Sciences, II. 219. 
2. Incapability of being solved, as a problem 
or a doubt ; inexplicability. 
insoluble (in-sol'u-bl), a. and . [< ME. 'in- 
soluble, insolible, < OF. (and F.) insoluble = Sp. 
insoluble = Pg. insoluvel = It. insolubile, < L. iti- 
solubilis, that cannot be loosed, < in- priv. + 
solubilis, that can be loosed: see soluble.'] I. a. 
If. That cannot be loosed or undone. 
Another prest, . . . the which is not maad vp the laws 
of fleischly maundement, but vp vertu of lyf insolible, or 
that may not be vndon. Wyclif, Heb. vii. 16. 
2. Not soluble ; incapable of being dissolved. 
Absolutely insoluble bodies are, without exception, taste- 
less. O. T. Ladd, Pbysiol. Psychology, p. 312. 
3. Incapable of being solved or explained; not 
susceptible of solution or explanation. 
Freres f ele sithes to the folke that the! prechen 
Meuen [move] motifs meny tymes insoliblei and fallaces, 
That bothe lered and lewed of here by-leyue douten. 
Piers Plowman (C), xvii. 231. 
For one great insoluble problem of astronomy or geology 
there are a thousand insoluble problems in the life, in the 
character, in the face of every man that meets you in the 
street. Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 74. 
H. n. A thing which is insoluble ; a problem 
that cannot be solved. 
This is an insolible; 
If I strogel, slaundred shal I be ; 
To satisfye it is but impossible. 
Lyi.ga.te, Minor Poems, p. 43. 
inaolubleness (in-sol'u-bl-nes), . Insolubility. 
Boyle, Works, III. 624! 
3120 
insolvable (in-sol'va-bl), a. [= F. insolvable; 
as i/(- 3 + solvable.'} 1. Not solvable ; incapable 
of being solved or explained: as, an insolvable 
problem or difficulty. 2. Incapable of being 
paid or discharged. Jolmson. 3. Incapable 
of being loosed. 
To guard with bands 
Iniolnable these gifts thy care demands : 
Lest, in thy slumbers on the wat'ry main, 
The hand of rapine make our bounty vain. 
Pope, Odyssey, viii. 
insolvency (in-sol'ven-si), n. [= OF. insolvenee 
= Sp. Pg. insolvencia; as insolven(t) + -cy. Of. 
solvency.] 1 . The condition of being insolvent ; 
want of means or of sufficiency for the discharge 
of all debts or obligations ; bankruptcy; failure 
of resources : as, the insolvency of a person or 
of an estate. When used of traders or merchants, and 
in bankrupt and insolvent laws generally, insolvency sig- 
nifies the inability of a person to pay his debts as they 
become due in the ordinary course of business. But the 
mere fact that a debtor having ample assets is unable in 
an emergency to pay every existing obligation as it be- 
comes due, is not regarded as insolvency if he is able to 
avoid making any actual default by obtaining further 
credit, or if the exigency is a general panic suspending all 
business, and his suspension of payment is temporary and 
terminates with the restoration of a reasonable degree of 
general confidence. 
2. A proceeding for the application of all the 
assets to the payment of debts by judicial au- 
thority: as, a petition in insolvency. Assignee In 
insolvency. See assignee. Discharge In insolvency. 
See discharge . = Syn. Bankruptcy, etc. See failure. 
insolvent (in-sol'vent), a. and n. [= Sp. Pg. 
insolvents; as in- 3 + solvent.] I. a. 1. Not sol- 
vent; unable or inadequate to satisfy all claims; 
bankrupt : as, an insolvent debtor or estate. 
When a person is unable to pay his debts, he Is under- 
stood to be insolvent. Thus an instrument executed by 
an indebted person, reciting that " he is indebted to divers 
persons in considerable sums of money, which he is at 
present unable to pay in full," admits his insolvency. 
Cunningham v. Norton, 125 U. ., 77. 
We see that most nations are insolvent, cannot satisfy 
their own wants, have an ambition out of all proportion 
to their practical force. Emerson, Self-reliance. 
Of positive truth he was born insolvent. 
J. T. Fields, Underbrush, p. 72. 
2. Of or respecting insolvency or bankruptcy : 
as, insolvent laws insolvent law, a law providing 
for the release of a debtor from imprisonment for debt, 
or from debt itself, on a surrender of his property. The 
term is often defined as extending only to laws which do 
this at the application of the debtor. In the United States 
the term has recently become extended to cover State 
laws which release the debtor at the application of either 
party, in contradistinction to the United States or national 
bankruptcy laws, which, wherever in force, suspend the 
State laws to a considerable extent. See bankruptcy laws, 
under bankruptcy. 
II. . A debtor who is not solvent. See in- 
solvency. 
insomnia (in-som'ni-a), n. [= F. inxomnie = 
Sp. insomnia = Pg. insomnia = It. insonnio, < 
L. insomnia, sleeplessness, < insomnis, sleep- 
less, < in- priv. + soinnus, sleep: see somno- 
lent. ] Sleeplessness ; inability to sleep, espe- 
cially when chronic. 
Various cases are on record in which absolute insomnia 
has lasted not only for days but even for weeks, inter- 
rupted only by mere snatches of sleep. Quain, Med. Diet. 
insomnious(in-som'ni-us),a. [< L. insomniosus, 
< insomnia, sleeplessness : see insomnia.] Af- 
fected with insomnia ; sleepless, or restless in 
sleep: as, insomnious patients. Blount. 
insomnolence (in-som'no-lens), n. [= Pg. in- 
somnolencia; as in- 3 + somnolence.] Sleepless- 
ness; insomnia. [Rare.] 
Twelve by the kitchen clock ! still restless ! One ! O, 
Doctor, for one of thy comfortable draughts ! Two ! here's 
a case of insomnolence! Southey, The Doctor, vi. A. 1. 
insomuch (in'so-much'), adv. [Orig. written 
separately, in so much. Of. inasmuch.] To 
such a degree; in such wise; so: followed by 
that, and formerly sometimes by as. 
There wee found a mightie riuer, insomuch that wee 
were constrained to imbarke our seines, and to saile ouer 
it. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 113. 
And he answered him to never a word ; insomuch that 
the governor marvelled greatly. Mat. xxvii. 14. 
insouciance (in-so'si-ans, F. an-so-syoiis'), n. 
[< F. insouciance, < insouciant, careless, heed- 
less : see insouciant.] The quality of being in- 
souciant ; heedless indifference or unconcern ; 
carelessness of feeling or manner. 
It was precisely this gay insouciance, this forgetf ulness 
that the world existed for any but a single class in it, and 
this carelessness of the comfort of others, that made the 
catastrophe [the French Revolution] possible. 
Lowell, New Princeton Rev., I. 164. 
insouciant (in-so' si-ant, F. an-so-syon'), a. 
[< F. insouciant, careless, heedless, < 'in- priv. 
+ souciant, ppr. of soucier, care, < xoiici. care.] 
Destitute of care or forethought; heedless of 
inspector 
consequences or of the future ; indifferent ; un- 
concerned. 
What race would not be indolent and insouciant when 
things are so arranged that they derive no advantage from 
forethought or exertion? J. S. Mill. 
insoul (in-sol'), v. t. [< in- 1 + soul.] 1. See 
ensoul. Jer. Taylor. 2. To place one's soul, 
or the affections of one's soul, in. 
Modest she was, and so lovely ; That whosoever look't 
but stedfastly upon her, could not, but iiuvwl himself in 
her. Feltham, Resolves, i. 9. 
inspan (in 'span), r.j pret. and pp. inspanned, 
ppr. inspanning. [< D. inspannen (= G. ein- 
spannen), yoke, as draft-oxen, < in, in, + span- 
new, stretch, tie, join, = E. span: see in 1 and 
span."} I. trans. To yoke to a vehicle ; make 
ready by yoking up: as, to inspan the oxen or 
the wagon. See outspan. [S. African Eng.] 
The oxen and they [the Kafirs] reached us undrowned, 
however, and were inspanned to our cart. 
Froude, Sketches, p. 221. 
II. intrans. To yoke oxen to a cart, espe- 
cially in preparation for a journey : as, they 
inspanned and started. [S. African Eng.] 
inspect (in-spekf), v. [= F. inspector, < L. in- 
spectare, look at, observe, view, f req. of inspicere, 
pp. inspectus, look at, inspect, < in, in, on, at, 
+ specere, look, view : see species, spectacle, etc. 
Cf . aspect, expect, etc.] I. trans. To view closely 
and critically ; examine (a thing or place) in or- 
der to ascertain its quality or condition; espe- 
cially, to examine officially in order to make a 
formal report. 
The eye of the mistress was wont to make her pewter 
shine, and to inspect every part of her household furniture 
as much as her looking-glass. 
Aadison, Pretty Disaffection. 
= Syn. To scrutinize, investigate, oversee. 
H.t intrans. To look closely ; examine : with 
into. Varies. 
Their General . . . was a great Mandarin, and was the 
person appointed by the King to inspect into our English 
Trafflck. Damjiier, Voyages, II. i. 79. 
He had not more vigilantly inspected into her sentiments 
than he had guarded his own from a similar scrutiny. 
Miss Burney, Cecilia, 1. 1. 
inspect! (in'spekt), . [< L. inspectus, a look- 
ing at, inspection, < inspicere, pp. inspectus, look 
at: see inspect, v.] Inspection. 
Not so the Man of philosophic eye, 
And inspect sage. Thomson, Autumn, 1. 1134. 
inspectingly (in-spek'ting-li), adv. In an ex- 
amining manner. 
inspection (in-spek'shon), n. [< ME. inspec- 
cioun, < OF. (and F .)' inspection = Pr. inspec- 
tion = Sp. inspeccion = Pg. inspecqao = It. ispe- 
zione, inspezione, < L. inspectio(n-), an examina- 
tion, inspection, < inspicere, pp. inspectus, look 
at: see inspect.] The act of inspecting; criti- 
cal examination; close or careful survey; spe- 
cifically, a formal or official inquiry by actual 
observation into the state, efficiency, safety, 
quality, etc., of something of special moment, 
as troops, police, buildings, steam-vessels, 
drugs, etc. 
Lat hym advert and have inspeccioun 
What ther befyl in Awstynes tyme. 
Lydyate, Minor Poems, p. 137. 
Conceal yonrsel' as well 's ye can 
Frae critical dissection ; 
But keek through ev'ry othe_r man 
Wi' sharpen'd, sly inspection. 
Burns, To a Young Friend. 
= Syn. Investigation, Search, etc. See examination, 
inspectional (in-spek'shon-al), a. [< infection 
+ -al.] Of or pertaining to inspection ; giving 
results by direct inspection : applied to an in- 
strument from which results are read directly 
or by inspection, no reduction or calculation 
being required. 
inspection-car (in-spek'shpu-kar), n. On rail- 
roads, a large hand-car provided with seats, or 
a platform car fitted with a hood and seats de- 
signed to be pushed before an engine, for use 
in inspecting the road. 
inspective (in-spek'tiv), a. [< LL. inspectivns, 
contemplative, considering, < L. iwtpirtre, pp. 
inspectus, look at : see inspect.'} Pertaining to 
inspection; inspecting; that may be inspected. 
These three draughts upon paper belong as much to the 
ordonance as the disposition, shewing and describing the 
measures and dimensions of tile inspectire parts, order, 
and position. Evelyn, Architects and Architecture. 
inspector (in-spek'tor), . [= F. iHspecteur = 
Sp. Pg. inspector = It. ixpettorr, inspettore, < L. 
inspector, one who views or observes, < inx/ii- 
cere, pp. iiix/yectus, view: see inspect.] 1. One 
who inspects or oversees ; one whose duty it is 
to secure by supervision the proper perform- 
ance of work or any kind, or to ascertain by 
