ipse dixit 
himself (< in, he (see /it' 1 ), + -pse for -pte, an 
emphasizing suffix, 'self,' 'same,' connected 
with potis, powerful: see potent); dixit, 3dpers. 
perf. ind. of dicerc, say : see diction.'] An asser- 
tion without proof; a dogmatic expression of 
opinion ; a dictum. 
It requires something more than Brougham's flippant 
ipse dixit to convince me that the office of chancellor is 
such a sinecure and bagatelle. 
Gremlle, Memoirs, March 15, 1831. 
To acquiesce in an ipse dixit. Whately. 
That day of ipsedixits, I trust, is over. 
J. H. Newman, Letters (1875), p. 146. 
ipsedixitism (ip-se-dik'sit-izm), . [< ipse 
dixit + -ism.] The practice of dogmatic asser- 
tion. [Rare.] 
It was also under Weigel's influence that he [Puf endorf ] 
developed that independence of character which never 
bent before other writers, however high their position, 
and which showed itself in his profound disdain 
dixitism, to use the piquant phrase of Bentham. 
Encyc. Brit., XX. 99. 
ipsissima verba (ip-sis'i-ma ver'bii). [L.: ip- 
sissima, neut. pi. of ipsissimus, the very same, 
superl. of ipse, he himself, the same (see ipse 
dixit); verba, pi. of verbum, word: see verb.] 
The very same words ; the self -same words ; the 
precise language, word for word. 
It is his [the medical man's] duty to make, on the spot, 
a note of the words actually used. There should be no 
paraphrase or translation of them, but they should be the 
ipsissima verba of the dying man. 
A. S. Taylor, Med. Jurisprudence, p. 7. 
ipsq facto (ip'so fak'to). [L.: ipso, abl. neut. 
of ipse, he himself (see ipse dixit)-, facto, abl. of 
factum, f act : see fact.] By the fact itself ; by 
that very fact. 
The religion which is not the holiest conceivable by the 
man who holds it is condemned ipso facto. 
F. P. Cobbe, Peak in Darien, p. 6. 
i. q. An abbreviation of Latin idem quod, 'the 
same as.' 
ir- 1 . Assimilated form (in Latin, etc.) of in- 2 
before r. In the following words, in the ety- 
mology, the prefix ir-l is usually referred di- 
rectly to the original in- 2 or in 2 . 
ir- 2 . Assimilated form (in Latin, etc.) of iti- s 
before r. In the following words, in the ety- 
mology, the prefix ir- 2 is usually referred di- 
rectly to the original in-3. 
Ir. 1. An abbreviation of Irish. 2. Iii diem., 
the symbol for iridium, 
iracund (I'ra-kund), a. [= OP. iracond = Sp. 
Pg. iracundo = It. iracundo, iracondo, < L. ira- 
cundus, angry, < ira, anger : see ire 2 .] Angry; 
irritable; passionate. [Rare.] 
A spirit cross-grained, fantastic, iracund, incompatible. 
Carlyle, Misc., IV. 87. 
iracundiously t (i-ra-kun'di-us-li), adv. [< *ira- 
cundious (cf. OF. iracondieux), for *iracundous 
(cf. OF. iracondos) (< L. iracundus, angry: see 
iracund), + -ly 2 .] Angrily; passionately. 
Drawing out his knife most iracundimuly. 
Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (Harl. Misc., VI. 166). 
irade (i-ra'de), n. [Turk, trade, a decree, com- 
mand, order, will, volition.] A written decree 
of the Sultan of Turkey. 
For the ministers were already obliged to exercise many 
of the attributes of the Sovereign, and had constantly to 
act upon their own authority in cases where an imperial 
irade was strictly requisite. 
Nineteenth Century, XXIII. 292. 
I-rail (I'ral), n. An iron rail shaped in section 
like the letter I ; a reversible rail. 
iraint, n. A Middle English form of arain. 
Iranian (I-ra'ni-an), a. and n. [< Iran (see 
del), < Pers. Iran, Iran, Persia (see Aryan), + 
-ian.] I. a. Relating or pertaining to Iran or 
the people of Iran, the ancient name of the 
region lying between Kurdistan and India, and 
the modern Persian name of Persia: specifi- 
cally applied to a branch of Indo-European or 
Aryan tongues, including Persian, Zend, Peh- 
levi, Parsi or Pazend, and cognate tongues. 
The word is derived from the legendary history of the 
Persian race given in Firdusi's " Book of Kings," accord- 
ing to which Iran and Tur were two of three brothers from 
whom the tribes Iran (Persians) and Turan (Turks and 
their cognate tribes) sprang. See Turanian. 
The word Iranian, as yet unappropriated as an alpha- 
betic designation, is perhaps less unsatisfactory than any 
other name that can be found, since it may fairly be ap- 
plied to the oldest as well as to the more modern forms 
of the alphabet of the old Persian empire. 
Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, II. 229. 
II. n. An inhabitant of Iran; a member of 
one of the races speaking Iranian languages. 
For the ornamentation of their buildings, externally, 
and to some extent internally, the Iranians, imitating 
their Semitic predecessors, employed sculpture. 
0. Hawlinsan, Origin of Nations, p. 102. 
3180 
Iranic (i-ran'ik), a. [< NL. Iranicus, < Iran : 
see Iranian.] Of or pertaining to ancient Iran 
or to its inhabitants; Iranian in the widest 
sense : as, the Iranic family of languages. 
irascibility (i-ras-i-bil'i-ti), n. [= F. irasci- 
bilite = Pr. iracibilitat = Sp. irascibilidad = Pg. 
irascibilidade = It. irascibilitd; as irascible + 
-ity: see -bility.] The quality of being irasci- 
ble ; irritability of temper. 
The irascibility ol this class of tyrants is generally exert- 
ed upon petty provocations. Johnson, Rambler, No. 112. 
irascible (i-ras'i-bl), o. [<F. irascible = Sp. iras- 
cible = Pg. irascivel = It. irascibile, < LL. irasci- 
bilis, < L. irasei, be angry, < ira, anger: see ire 2 .] 
1 . Susceptible of anger ; easily provoked or in- 
flamed with resentment ; choleric : as, an iras- 
cible man ; an irascible temper. 
Middleton when young was a Dilettante in music ; and 
Dr. Bentley, in contempt, applied the epithet " fiddling 
Conyers." Had the irascible Middleton broken his violin 
about the head of the learned Grecian, and thus terminated 
the quarrel, the epithet had then cost Beutley's honour 
much less than it afterwards did. 
D'lsmeli, Quarrels of Authors, p. 395. 
2. Excited by or arising from anger ; manifest- 
ing a state of anger or resentment. 
I know more than one instance of irascible passions 
subdued by a vegetable diet. Arbuthnot, Aliments. 
I have given it as my opinion that the Irascible emotion 
and the strong antipathies are to a certain extent out- 
bursts of the sentiment of power, resorted to, like the 
tender outburst, as a soothing and consoling influence 
under painful irritation. 
A. Bain, Emotions and Will, p. 467. 
=Syn. 1. Irascible, Irritable, Passionate, hasty, touchy, 
testy, splenetic, snappish, peppery, fiery, choleric. Iras- 
cible indicates quicker and more intense bursts of auger 
than irritable, and less powerful, lasting, or manifest bursts 
than passionate. 
irascibleness (i-ras'i-bl-nes), n. Irascibility. 
irascibly (I-ras'i-bli), adv. In an irascible man- 
ner. 
irate (i-raf), a. [= Pg. irado = It. irato, < L. 
iratus, angered, angry, < irasei, be angry: see 
irascible.] Excited to anger ; made angry; en- 
raged; incensed. 
Here his words failed him, and the irate colonel, with 
glaring eyes and purple face, . . . stood . . . speechless 
before his young enemy. Thackeray, Virginians, x. 
irchent, irchont, irchount. Obsolete forms of 
urchin. 
ire 1 (i 're), n. [< ME. ire, yre, abbr. of iren, iron.] 
Iron. [Now only prov. Eng.] 
The cruel ire, red as any glede. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1139. 
He let nine platus of ire, 
Sumdel thinne and brode. 
its. Laud, 108, f. 92. (HalliweU.) 
Euerych cart that bryngeth yre other steel, twey pans. 
English Gads (E. E. T. S.), p. 58. 
ire 2 (ir), n. [< ME. ire, yre, < OF. ire = Pr. Sp. 
Pg. It. ira, < L. ira, anger, wrath.] Anger; 
wrath ; keen resentment. 
When Antenor had tolde & his tale endit, 
The kyng was caste into a clene yre, 
And wrothe at his wordes as a wode lion. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1860. 
My gode fader, tell me this, 
What thing is ire ? Sone, it is 
That in our englissh wrath is hote. 
Gower, Coat. Amant., I. 280. 
Language cannot express the awful ire of William the 
Testy on hearing of the catastrophe at Fort Goed Hoop. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 222. 
= Syn. Vexation, Indignation, etc. Seeongwrl. 
ire 2 t, v. t. [< ME. iren; < ire 2 , n.] To anger; 
fret; irritate. 
Eke to noo tree thaire dropping is delite, 
Her brere thorne and her owne kynde it ireth. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 67. 
ireful (Ir'ful), a. [< ME. ireful, irefull, yreful; 
< ire 2 + -ful.] Full of ire; angry; wroth. 
An yreful body is neuer quyet, nor in rest where he doth 
dwel 
One amonge .x. is ix. to many, his malyce is so cruell 
Quoted in Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. cxxx. 
The ireful bastard Orleans ... I soon encountered 
Shah., 1 Hen. VI., iv. 6, 16. 
Many an ireful glance and frown, between, 
The angry visage of the Phantom wore. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 105. 
irefully (ir'ful-i), adv. In an ireful or angry 
manner; angrily; wrathfully. 
The people . . . began . . . irefully to champ upon the 
bit they had taken into their mouths. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, Pref., ii. 
irefulness (5r'ful-nes), . [< ME. irefulnesse; < 
ireful + -ness.] The condition of being ireful; 
wrath; anger; fury. 
Some through couetousnes, and some through irefulnes 
and rashnesse, . . . riffled y goods of the Romane citizens. 
Qolding, tr. of Cresar, fol. 204. 
Iresine 
irent, and a. A Middle English form of iron. 
Irena (i-re'na), n. [NL. (Horsfield, 1820; later 
Irene Boie, 1826), < Gr. ~ElprjV>i, a personifica- 
tion of dpijvrj, peace: see Irene.] In orttith., a 
remarkable genus of old-world passerine birds 
of uncertain position, type of the subfamily Ire- 
ninai; the so-called fairy bluebirds. They are 
brilliantly blue and black in color, about as large as robins, 
with stout, somewhat shrike-like bill, whose nasal fossa; 
Fairy Bluebird (frena p_uella). 
are densely feathered, with rictal and nuchal bristles, and 
even tail of 12 feathers. There are several species charac- 
teristic of the region from India to the Philippines, as /. 
puella, I. cyanea, and I. turcosa. 
irenarch (I're-nark), n. [Also eirenarch ; <LL. 
irenarcha, ir'enarches, < Gr. upr/vapxiK, < Apf/vri, 
peace (see Irene), + apxij, government, rule, 
\ ap%eiv, rule.] A justice or guardian of the 
peace in the eastern part of the Roman em- 
pire and under the Eastern and Byzantine em- 
pires. 
Irene (i-re'ne), . [< Gr. 'Klpr/vri, a personifica- 
tion of eipr/vq, peace, quiet.] 1. The fourteenth 
planetoid, discovered by Hind at London in 
1851. 2. In zodl. : (a) A genus of acalephs. 
Also written Eirene. Eschsclioltz, 1820. (b) Same 
as Irena. 
irenic (i-ren'ik), a. [< Gr. eipj/vinof, of or for 
peace, peaceful, < dpf/vy, peace: see Irene.] 
Promoting or fitted to promote peace ; peace- 
ful ; pacific : chiefly used in theology. See wen- 
icon and irenics. 
Mark has no distinct doctrinal type, but is catholic, 
irenic, unsectarian, and neutral as regards the party ques- 
tions within the apostolic church. 
' ff, Hist. Christ. Church, I. 81. 
irenica, n. Plural of irenicon. 
irenical(i-ren'i-kal),a. [< irenic + -al] Of the 
character of an irenicon ; conciliatory ; irenic : 
as, irenical theology. 
The bishop of Carlisle, . . . whose thoughtful essays 
are essentially irenical, is an instructive companion. 
Science, III. 131. 
irenicon (I-ren'i-kon), n. ; pi. irenica (-ka). [< 
Gr. eipifviK&v, neut. of elpifviKOf, of or for peace: 
see irenic.] 1. A proposition, scheme, or trea- 
tise designed to promote peace, especially in 
the church. 
They must, in all likelihood (without any other irenicon), 
have restored peace to the Church. South. 
No doubt it [the Gospel of St. John] is an Irenicon of 
the church, in the highest and best sense of the term ; . . . 
but it is not an Irenicon at the expense of truth and facts. 
Schaf, Hist. Christ. Church, I. 83. 
2. pi. The deacon's litany (diaconica) or great 
synapte at the beginning of the liturgy of the 
Greek Church: named from the petitions "In 
peace let us pray of the Lord . . . For the 
peace from above . . . For the peace of the 
whole world ... let us pray, etc." (response 
"Kvrie eleison"), with which it opens. 
irenics (I-ren'iks), . [PI. of irenic: see -ics.] 
Irenical theology: opposed to polemics. Scliaff. 
Hist. Christ. Church, VI. 650. 
Ireninse (i-re-ni'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Irena + 
-ina;.] A subfamily of birds, typified by the 
genus Irena, of uncertain systematic position. 
The Irenince have been considered as related to the drongo- 
shrikes, and placed under Dicniridce, as by G. R. Gray 
(1869) and others, and to the bulbuls, PymemtUa, as by 
Jerdon and Blyth ; and later they have been referred to 
Timeliidce. 
Iresine (I-re-si'ne), n. [NL. (Linnaeus), so called 
in ref. to the woolly calyx, < Gr. npeniuvr/, a 
branch of laurel or olive entwined with fillets 
of wool, borne in processions at festivals, irreg. 
< elpof, wool.] A genus of plants of the natural 
order A maran tacea\ tribe GompJirenea.'. They are 
herbs, with opposite petioled leaves and minute scarious 
white flowers, crowded into clusters or spiked and branch- 
ing panicles. About 18 species are known, all natives of 
