1. The tenth letter in the 
English alphabet. The char- 
acter la only another form of i, the 
two forma having been formerly 
used indilTerently, or _;' preferred 
when final or affording a terminal 
flomixh (as In writing the numer- 
als, lilj, etc.: see 2). The differen- 
tiation in use was established about 
the year 1B30. In Latin, for exam- 
ple, i was written where we write 
both i and ) e. y., iuna instead of juris and had now 
the vowrl value of i (see /), and now the consonant-value 
of y (sec FX being pronounced as y where we now write 
and pronounce j. The only quasi-English word in which 
we now give It such a valuo Is hallelujah (better written 
halleluiah) ; elsewhere, } is written only where the original 
i/ sound has been thickened Into the compound dzh, the 
sonant counterpart of the cA-sound, and identical with what 
we call the soft sound of g (see G) ; and, with a consistency 
very rare In English orthography, it has always (with .the 
exception mentioned above) this value and this only. It 
occurs chiefly in words of Latin descent, being found only 
exceptionally, as a late variant of ch (Anglo-Saxon c). In 
words of Anglo-Saxon descent (eejarl,jar2,jowl). Owing 
to the equivalence In Latin of i and ), words beginning with 
these letters (as those t>eginnlng with u and r) respectively 
have, notwithstanding their great ditf ercnce In pronuncia- 
tion, only within a short time been separated In dictionaries. 
They are not separated in Hailey (1721-175.") and later), nor In 
Johnson (1755X nor in Todd's revision of Johnson (1818), nor 
in Nares s Glossary (1822; ed. Halliwell and Wright, 1859). 
2. (a) As a numeral, a variant form of I: used 
chiefly at the end of a series of numerals, and 
now only in medical prescriptions: as, vj (six) ; 
viy (eight). 
Also ther was a grett Vesell of Sylver, And It had at every 
ende rouude rymys gylte and it was iiii cornarde. 
Turkington, Diarle of Eng. Travel!, p. 13. 
(6) In math., -j stands for the second unit vector 
or other unit of a multiple algebra. J usually 
denotes the Jacobian. (c) In thermodynamics, 
Jis the mechanical equivalent of heat (being 
the initial of Joule) j function. See function. 
jaal-goat (ja'al-got), . [A\sojacl-goat; <jaa!, 
an African name, + goat.'] The Abyssinian 
ibex, Capra jaala or jaela, a wild goat found 
in the mountains of Abyssinia, Upper Egypt, 
and elsewhere. 
jab (jab), v. t. i pret. and pp. jabbed, ppr. jab- 
bing. [A dial., orig. 8c., form otjoo, in same 
sense: seejofei.] 1. To strike with the end 
or point of something ; thrust the end of some- 
thing against or into ; poke. 
The Missouri stoker pulls and jabi his Plutonic monster 
aa an irate driver would regulate his mule. 
Putnams Mag., Sept, 1868. 
2. To strike with the end or point of; thrust: 
as, to jab a stick against a person ; to jab a 
cane into or through a picture. [Scotch, and 
colloq. U. S.] 
jab (jab), n. [= job 1 , n. ; from the verb.] A 
stroke with the point or end of something ; a 
thrust. [Scotch, and colloq. U. S.] 
"O yea, I have," I cried, starting up and giving the fire a 
jab with the poker. C. D. Warner, Backlog Studies, p. 279. 
jabber (jab'er), v. [Early mod. E. jaber, also 
jabble, jabil, assibilated form of gabber and gab- 
ble, freq. of gab 1 : see gab 1 , gabber, gabble, gib- 
ber 1 ."] I. intrans. To talk rapidly, indistinctly, 
imperfectly, or nonsensically; utter gibberish ; 
chatter; prate. 
We dined like emperors, and jabbered In several lan- 
guages. Macaulay, in Trevelyan, I. 213. 
II. trans. To utter rapidly or indistinctly. 
He told me, he did not know what travelling was good 
for but to teach a man to ride the great horse, to jabber 
French, and to talk against passive obedience. 
AriiKxnn, Tory Foxhunter. 
jabber (jab'er), n. [< jabber, v.] Rapid talk 
with indistinct utterance of words; chattering. 
There are so many thousands, oven in this country, who 
only differ from their brother brutes in Houyhnhnmlaml 
because they use a sort otjabbrr, and do not go naked. 
S<ri.ft, Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver to his Cousin Sympson. 
jabberer (jab'er-er), n. One who jabbers. 
Both parties join'd to do their best . . . 
T' out-cant the Babylonian labourers 
At all their dialects of jabberers. 
S. Butler, Hudibraa. III. IL 152. 
202 
jabbering-crow (jab'er-ing-kro), n. The com- 
mon crow of Jamaica, Corvus jamaicenxis. It is 
a small species, closely related to the fish-crow 
(C. ossifragtu) of the United States. 
jabberihgly (jab'er-ing-li), adv. In a jabber- 
ing manner. 
jabberment (jab'er-ment), n. [< jabber + 
-went.] Tho act of jabbering; idle or nonsen- 
sical talk. [Rare.] 
We are come to his farewell, which is to be a conclud- 
ing taste of Us jabberment In the law. Miltmi, Colaaterlon. 
jabbernowlt, . Same Asjobbernoll. 
jabbleH (jab'l), . . [Early mod. E. jabil (for 
*jabcl); an assibilated form of gabble, as jabber 
is of gabber.] To jabber ; gabble. 
To inbil, multum loqul. 
Levins, Manip. Vocab. (E. E. T. S.X p. 126. 
jabble 2 (jab'l), v. t.; pret. and pp.jabbled, ppr. 
jabbling. [Also jable; prob. freq. of a form rep- 
resented by jaitp: see^'a;),r.,2.J To splash, as 
water: cause to splash, as a liquid. [Scotch.] 
jabble 2 (jab'l), n. [< jabble^, v.] A slight agi- 
tation on the surface of a liquid; small irregu- 
lar waves running in all directions. [Scotch.] 
The steamer Jumped, and the black buoys were dancing 
In the jabble. li. L. Stevenson, Silverado Squatters, p. 12. 
jabelt, A variant otjavel 1 . [Prov. Eng.] 
What, thnjuMl, canst not have do? 
Tim and thl cumpany shall not depart 
Tyll of our distavys ye have take part. 
Candlemas Day, 1512 (Hawkins, Eng. Drama, I. IK). 
jabiru (jab'i-ro), n. [Braz. name.] A large 
stork-like bird, Ifycteria americana. The jabiru 
and the maguari are the only American representatives of 
the subfamily CiennSna. The jabiru inhabits tropical and 
subtropical America,occasionallynorth to Texas. Theplu- 
mage Is entirely white; the bill, legs, and bare skin of the 
neck are black, with a red collar around the lower part of 
acutely lobed corolla, and leaves toothed, or va- 
riously pinnately dissected. J. runcinata la em- 
ployed oy South American nativea to excite amorous pas- 
sion. 
jabot (zha-W), N. [F.] A frilling or ruffle 
worn by men at the bosom of the snirt in the 
eighteenth century ; also, a frill of lace, or some 
soft material, arranged down the front of a wo- 
man's bodice. 
They wore men'a shirts, with ruffles tuvljabnt*; their hair 
waa clubbed, and their whips were long and formidable. 
Fortnightly Rev., N. 8., XLII. 290. 
She is debited with uno pairc de marl. Fortunately, 
however, for the Comtease'a E<>< ><1 repute, the " pair of hus- 
bands" turn out to be a double jabut, or projecting bosom 
frill of lace. Fortnightly Km., N. 8., XLII. 287. 
jacamar (jak'a-rnar). n. [S. Amer. name.] 
Any South American bird of the family Galbu- 
lidir. In general aspect the Jacamars resemble the bee- 
eaters of the old world, and have to a considerable extent 
the habite of the arboreal and insectivorous kingfishers. 
American Jabiru {Mjcttri* amtrttama). 
the neck. The wing Is 2 feet long ; the bill is a foot long, 
extremely thick at the base, and somewhat recurved at 
the tip. See Mycteria. 
Jablochkoff candle. See electric candle, under 
candle. 
jaborandi (jab-o-ran'di), n. [Braz. (Guarani).] 
A Brazilian plant, Pilocarpuspinnatijblius; also, 
the drug obtained from it. The leaves and bark of 
the plant furnish an agreeable, prompt, and powerful sudo- 
rific and stalogogue, with some diuretic effect, and has be- 
come the leading drug of its class. The name is also local- 
ly applied to several other plants and drugs having similar 
properties for example, some species of Piper and Her- 
pestis, and several other Rutacece, the order to which Pilo- 
earpus belongs. A\sojamborandi. 
jaborine (jab'o-rin), n. [< jabor(andi) + -iwe 2 .] 
An alkaloid extracted from the leaves of jabo- 
randi, and also derivable from pilocarpine. Its 
physiological effects are said to resemble those 
of atropin. 
Jaborosa (jab-o-ro'sa), n. [NL. (Jussieu), said 
to bo < Ar. jnbo'rose, a name of allied plants.] A 
South American genus of the natural order 
Solanace<e, containing C or 7 species of small 
herbs, having flowers with long funnelform, 
8207 
Jacamar (Gfjlfu/a T-irii/tjl. 
They neat in holes, and lay white eggs. The plumage in 
most cases is brilliant, and aa a rule the bill Is long, slen- 
der, and sharp ; the feet arc very weak, with the toea in 
pairs (In one genus there are but three toea). 
Jacamaralcyon (jak'a-ma-ral'si-on), n. [NL. 
(Lesson, 1831), < jacamar + alcyon.] A genus 
of jacamars with three toes ; the only three-toed 
genus of Galbulid<e. There la but one apeclea. J. tri- 
daftyla of Brazil, 7 A inches long, slaty -blaik with a bronze 
tint, with white belly, black bill, and brown-streaked head. 
Jacamarops (ja-kam'a-rops), n. [NL. (Les- 
son, 1831, out used as a F. vernacular name by 
Cuvier, 1829), < jacamar + Gr. <J^. eye.] A ge- 
nus of Galbulida;, consisting of the great jaca- 
mars. They are of large size, with a long curved bill di- 
lated at the base and with ridged culmen. a graduated tall 
of 12 rectricea, and very abort feathered tarsi. There Is but 
one species, J. grandis, a native of tropical America, 11 
inches long. goloWgreen In color, with rufous under parts 
and a white throat. 
jacana (ja-ka'na), n. [Braz. joynnrf.] 1. A 
bird of the genus Parra or Jacana, as P. jacana 
oiJ. spinosa; the book-name of any bird of the 
family Porridge or Jacanida;. There are several 
Mexican Jacana (Parra 
