kerite 
caoutchouc is replaced by asphaltum or tar, 
combined with animal or vegetable oils. 
kerite-wire (ke'rit-wir), . In teleg.,wire in- 
sulated by a covering of kerite. E. D. 
kerl (kerl), n. A variant of carl. 
kerlokt, . A Middle English and provincial 
form of charlock. 
kermes (ker'mez), a. [Formerly also chermcs; < 
Ar. Pers. qlrmis, kermes, crimson: see carmine 
and crimson.'] 1. A red dyestuff consisting of 
the dried bodies of the females of one or two 
species of Coccus, especially C. ilicis, an insect 
found on various species of oak in countries 
bordering on the Mediterranean. The bodies are 
round, and of about the size of a pea. The dye is more per- 
manent but less brilliant than cochineal. It was a favor- 
ite red dye before the discoveiy of cochineal, and some of 
the Oriental reds are derived from it. Also called alkermet. 
2. [oop.l [NL.] A genus of Coccinai erected by 
Targioni-Tozzetti. They are of globular form, often 
with a slight median constriction, frequently highly col- 
ored, and of quite large size. Less than 12 species are 
known, all living upon oaks. 
kermes-berry (ker'mez-ber"i), n. The kermes- 
insect, which was formerly regarded as the fruit 
of the tree upon which it lived. 
kermesite (ker'me-sit), n. [< kermes + -ite 2 .] . . - 
Native oxysulphid of antimony, occurring in kernf (kern), n. and v. 
monoclinie crystals, or crystalline aggregates, lated) form of churn. 
of a cherry-red color. Also called antimony- kern^ (kern), n. A dialectal form of quern, 
blende and red antimony. kern* (kern), . [Also kerne, and formerly 
kermes-mineral(kei'mez-min"e-ral),!. Amor- tearn; < ME. term ;lr. ceatharnach (1h and ch 
phous antimony trisulphide : so'cailed from its nearly silent), a soldier^ Gael, ceathairneach j 
327G 
The grene corn in ssorner ssolde mrne, 
To foule wormes muche del the eres ganne turne. 
Rob. of Gloucester, p. 490. 
An ill kerned or saued Earnest soone emptieth their old 
store. -ft. Carew, Survey of Cornwall, fol. 20. 
2. To granulate, as salt by evaporation. 
They who come hither to lade salt take it up as it kerns, 
and lay it in heaps on the dry land, before the weather 
breaks in anew. Dumpier, Voyages, an. 1699. 
II. trans. If. To sow with corn. 
Perseyve je and heere je my speche, wher he that erith 
schal ere al day for to sowe, and schal he kerne, and purge 
hislond. Wyclif, MS. Bodl. 277. (Ualliwell.) 
2f. To cause to granulate, as salt by evapora- 
tion. 
In Haraia of Paria, they found plentie of salt, which the 
Fore-man in Natures shop, and her chiefe worke-man, the 
Sunne, turned and kerned from water into salt ; his worke- 
house for this businesse was a large plaine by the waters- 
side. Purchai, Pilgrimage, p. 828. 
'Tis certain, there is no making good Salt by Fierce 
and vehement boiling, as is used ; but it must be kerned 
either by the heat of the Sun, as in France ; or by a full 
and over-weighty Brine, as at Milthrope. 
Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 147. 
3. In type-founding, to form with a kern or pro- 
jection, as a type or letter. 
A dialectal (unassibi- 
orauge-red color, 
kermes-oak (ker'mez-ok), n. A dwarf oak, 
Quercus coccifera, from 2 to 5 feet high, with 
evergreen somewhat spiny-toothed leaves. On 
it lives the kermes-insect, which appears like a gall upon 
its twigs, buds, and to some extent leaves, and is sur- 
rounded with a flocky substance. 
kermess, kirmess, kermis (ker'mes, -mis), n. 
[= Bohem. karmesh = Pol. kiermasz = Little 
Russ. kermesh = White Russ. kermash = Russ. 
dial, kirmashu = Lith. kermosJtius (all < G.), < D. 
and Flem. kermis, kerkmis, MD. kermisse, kerck- 
misse = MLG. kerkmisse, kerkenmisse, kermisse = 
MHG. kirmesse, G. kirmes, kirmse, kirms, kermes, 
kirchmesse = Ot>a,n. kirkemesse =E. as if "church- 
mass, i. e. a church festival, a ' church-ale ' (see 
church and mass*), orig. the feast of dedication 
of a church, then an annual fair or market.] 
1. In the Low Countries and in French Flan- 
ders, an annual fair and festival of a town or 
commune, characterized by feasting, dancing, 
grotesque processions, target-shooting, and 
other forms of amusement, which at one time 
reached a licentious extravagance. Thekerraess 
was originally, and is still in many places, held on the 
feast-day of the patron saint of the place or of its princi- 
pal church, with religious observances, whence the name. 
> E. cateran, q. v.) ; cf . cathfear, a soldier, 
cath (= Gael, cath = W. cad = AS. heathu), bat- 
tle, + fear (= L. vir = AS. wer), a man.] 1. 
In the ancient militia of Ireland and the High- 
lands of Scotland, a light-armed foot-soldier kernel 2 ! (ker'nel), . 
of the lowest and poorest grade, armed with a 
dart or skean : opposed to gallowglass, a heavy- 
armed soldier. The word is sometimes used in 
a collective sense. 
Both him and the kearne also (whom onely I tooke to be 
the proper Irish souldiour) can I allowe. 
Spenser, State of Ireland. 
The merciless Macdonwald 
. . . from the western isles 
Of kernes and gallowglasses is supplied. 
Shot., Macbeth, i. 2, 13. 
Hence 2. An Irish churl or boor; by exten- 
sion, any ignoble person ; a drudge; a bumpkin. 
Kerria 
dig for the wealth of wit in any ground that they know 
not. Nash (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 498). 
Proserpine was found to have eaten three kernels of a 
pomegranate. Bacon, Physical Fables, xi. 
What is left of you seems the mere husk of some kernel 
that has been stolen. 
D. G. Mitchell, Reveries of a Bachelor. 
4. The bundle of fat on the fore shoulder ; any 
swelling or knob of flesh. 5. Figuratively 
(a) The central partof anything; amass around 
which other matter is concreted; a nucleus in 
general. 
The sanctuary of this goddess [Astarte] had formed the 
kernel of every Phoenician settlement on the coasts and 
islands of the Aegean sea. 
B. V. Head, Historia Numorum, Int., p. xxxviii. 
The castle is the kernel of the whole place. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 49. 
(6) The important part of anything, as a matter 
in discussion ; the main or essential point, as 
opposed to matters of less import; the core; 
the gist : as, to come to the kernel of the ques- 
tion. 
" You that talk'd 
The trash that made me sick, and almost sad?" 
" trash," he said, "but with a kernel in it. " 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
Waxing kernels, enlarged lymphatic glands, particularly 
in the groin of a child : so called because supposed to be 
connected with the growth of the body. [Prov. Eng.] 
kernel 1 (ker'nel), v. i. ; pret. and pp. kerneled 
or kernelled, ppr. kerneling or kernelling. [< 
ME. "kirnelen, kyrnellen; < kernel*, m.] To 
harden or ripen into kernels, as the seeds of 
plants. 
In Staffordshire, garden-rouncivals sown in the fields 
kernel well, and yield a good increase. 
Mortimer, Husbandry. 
[A variant of camel, ul- 
A battlement. 
timately of crenel, eremite.] 
The cowntas of Crasyne with Mr clere maydyns 
Knells downe in the kurnelles thare the kyng hovede. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3047. 
The maydene, whitt als lely-floure, 
Laye in a kirnelle of a towre. 
MS. Lincoln, A. i. 17, f. 107. (Hattiwell.) 
kernel 2 ! (ker'nel), v.t. [< kerneP,n.'] Tocrene- 
late. 
The king had given him License to fortifle and kernell 
his mansion house ; that is. to embatle it. 
Holland, tr. of Camden, p. 753. 
These walls are kernelled on the top. 
Some barbarous Out-law, or uncivill Kerne. , ArchceJogia (1775) HI. 20 
Heywood, Woman Killed with Kindness, kerneled, kernelled (ker'neld), a. [< kernel* 
A bare-legged Irish kerne, whose only clothing is his + -d 2 .] Having a kernel. 
ragged yellow mantle, and the unkempt "glib" of hair, kemelly, a. See kernely. 
through which his eyes peer out. kernel-Substance (ker'nel-suV'stans), n. The 
Kingttey, Westward Ho, p. 191. gubstance of the n uc l eus o f an ovum or sper- 
^^^ 
3. In Eng. law, an idle person or vagabond. __ wort> Scrophularia nodosa. 
^^ *r / f - ^W _ , _ WU1 t* *Jl/f l/f/l*l>Wf *lv IWVWVVWI 
The painting of clowns, the representation of a Dutch kern-baby (kern'ba/bi), n. [< kern*, 4:,+ baby.] Vprnalv kernellv (ker'nel-i) a [< kernel* + 
She??hL\ e s b onMsTeanlv n enUor neei ^ ' th U8an<1 ^ *8 ca f ied b f, fo , re re f P 6 ^, ^ halV * Full of kernels ; containingor resembling 
kernels, in any sense. 
Dryden, Parallel of Poetry and Painting. 
2. A kind of entertainment, usually given for 
charitable purposes, in which the costumes and 
sports of the Flemish kermess are imitated. 
[Recent, U. S.] 
kern 1 (kern), . [Also (Sc.) ctirn and kirn; a 
var. of corn* ; cf . D. kern = OHG. kerno, cherno, 
MHG. kerne, kern, G. kern = Icel. kjarni = Dan. 
kjerne = Sw. karna, core, kernel; derivatives, 
like E. kernel, which has another suffix, of the 
orig. noun, AS., etc., corn: see corn*. See kern*, 
ti.] It. A corn; grain; kernel. 2. Inprinting, 
that part of a type which projects beyond the kern-dollie (kern dor'i), n 
body or shank, as in the Roman letters f and j [Scotch.] 
as formerly made and some italic letters. 3. kernel 1 (ker nel), . 
Prohibitions [were] published by the censors, forbidding 
expressly That neither the kernellie part of a bore's necke, 
nor dormice, and other smaller matters than these to be 
spoken of, should be served up to the bourd at great 
feasts. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxxvi. 1. 
vest-home. It is usually decorated with blades of corn, 
and crowned with flowers, and is borne to and from the 
fleldsonthe last day of the reaping, with music and merry- 
making. Also called harvest-queen. [Prov. Eng.] 
Not half a century ago they used every where [in Nor- 
thumberland] to dress up something ... at the end of 
harvest, which was called a harvest doll, or kern baby. . , 
Quoted in Hone's Every-day Book, II. 1162. kerning (ker'mng), n. [Verbal n. of kern*, v.} 
kern-cut (kern'kut), n. Same as kern*, 3. Corn-bearing. [Prov. Eng.] 
["Scotch 1 kernisll(ker'nish),(i. [< kern* + -zsft 1 .] Hav- 
. iner the character of a kern or boor ; clown- 
From the same pin depended the kirn cut of com, curl- . f 
ously braided and adorned with ribbons. lstl - 
Remains of Nithsdale Song, p. 260. Ireland, that was once the conquest of one single Earle 
with his privat forces, and the small assistance of a petty 
Kernish Prince. Milton, Church-Government, i. 7. 
[< 
Same as kern-baby. 
< kern-sui>per (kern 'sup'' fer), n n % 
A rural festiv- 
as formerly made and some italic letters.-3. Kernes ^er ney, . L s ivir.. , Kyrne,, x . celebrating the end of the reaping, and 
The last handful or sheaf of grain cut down at AS 2/rf little corn or grain, dim of corn a g. ^ ^ counties a t ^J ' har . 
the close of the harvest. Also called kern-cut. 
[Scotch. In this sense usually spelled kirn."] 
The Cameronian . . . reserved several handfuls of the 
fairest and straightest corn for the Harvest kirn. 
Blackwood's Mag., Jan., 1821, p. 400. 
4. A harvest-home. [Scotch. In this sense 
usually spelled kirn.~\ 
As bleak-fac'd Hallowmas returns, 
They get the jovial ranting kirns, 
When rural life o' ev'ry station 
Unite in common recreation. 
Burns, The TwaDogs. 
To cry the kern, in harvesting, to cheer and hurrah after 
the last handful of grain is cut down. [Scotch. ] To Win 
the kern, to win the honor of cutting down the last hand- 
ful of grain in the field. [Scotch.] 
forming in some counties a part of the har- 
vest-home. Also called churn-supper. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
The cnurn-supper was always provided when all was 
shorn, but the mel-supper after all was got in. 
Hone's Year Book, p. 1066. 
kerolite (ker'6-llt), w. See aerolite. 
Hector shall have a great catch if he knock out either J; ? /li,'- a ~J,\ rf<f 1? i,f rn ,i nf i\M \ . 
of your brains; 'awereasgood crack a fusty nut with no kerosene (ker o-sen),n. [Cf.F. keiosene (>E.) ; 
kernel. Shak., T. and C., U. 1,112. irreg. < Gr. KJ/pof, wax, + -ene.\ A mixture of 
corn or grain: see com 1 . Cf. kern*.'] 1. The 
edible substance contained in the shell of a 
nut or the stone of a fruit. 
As on a walnot with-oute is a bitter barke, 
And after that bitter barke (be the shell aweye) 
Is a kirnelle of conforte. Piers Plowman (B), xi. 253. 
2. Technically, in bot. : (a) In phanerogams, 
strictly, the whole body of a seed within the 
coats, namely, the embryo, and, when present, 
the albumen. (6) In pyrenomycetous fungi, in 
old usage, all of the soft parts of the pyrenocarp 
or perithecium within the firm outer wall. In 
kern 1 (kern), v. [< ME. kernen, kurnen, citrnen both these senses a synonym of nucleus. 3. 
(= G. kornen, kornen), form corns or grains, A gramineous seed with its husk or integu- 
sow with corn, < com, a grain, etc.: see kern*, men t ; a grain or corn : as, a kernel of wheat, 
x.,andeomi,w., and ef. corn 1 , ?.] I.f intrans. I. O ats, or maize: formerly applied also to the 
To form corns or grains ; take the form of corns S6 ed of the apple and oth er pulpy fruits, 
or grains; granulate; harden, as com in ripen- 
ing; set, as fruit or grain. 
irreg. 
liquid hydrocarbons distilled from petroleum, 
coal, bitumen, etc., extensively used as an il- 
luminating fluid in all parts of the world, when 
of good quality it is nearly colorless, and its specific grav- 
ity varies from 0.780 to 0.825. Its boiling-point should be 
above 77 C. (170 F.), and the point at which it evolves 
explosive vapor (that is, its "flashing-point") 65 C. 
(149 F.). It is the same as. or very closely related to, the 
British paraffin-oil. Also called photogen, mineral oil, and 
in England American paraffin-oil. Kerosene shale.bi- 
tuminous shale ; any shaly rock from which illuminating 
oil has been or may be profitably obtained. 
kerret, An obsolete form of car 5 . 
The coxcombToTourdayMrke'lsopVcock, hid rather Kerria (ker'i-a) w. [NL. (DeCandolle, 1817) 
have a barley kernel wrapt up in a ballet than they will named after Bellenden Ker, a British botanist.] 
