lack-thought 
lack-thought (lak'that), . [< lackl, v.,+ obj. 
tliouyht.] Lacking thought ; foolish; stupid. 
An air 
So lack-thouyht and so lackadaisycal. 
Southey, To A. Cunningham. 
lacky 1 (lak'i), v. t.; pret. and pp. lackied, ppr. 
lackyiny. [Var. of /ncfri, . ., 5.] To beat. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
lacky^t, . and c. An obsolete spelling of 
lackey, 
lac-lake (lak'lak), . The coloring matter which 
is extracted frqm stick-lac ; lac-dye. See lac' 2 . 
lacmoid (lak'raoid), n. [< lacmus + -oid.~\ A 
coal-tar color used in dyeing: same B.& fluores- 
cent resorcinal blue (which see, under blue). 
lacmus (lak'mus), n. [< D. lakmoes ( G. luck- 
iiiitg, lac/cmuss = Dan. Svv. lakmus), lacmus, < 
//.-, lac, + moes, pulp. The word has been 
perverted to litmus, q. v.] Same as litmus. 
Laconian (la-ko'ni-an), a, and n. [< L. Laco- 
nia, a country of the Peloponnesus, < Laco(n-), 
Lawn, < Gr. A.&KUV, an inhabitant of Lacedasmon, 
a Spartan. Cf. Lacedicmonian.'] I. . Pertain- 
ing to Laconia or its inhabitants ; Lacedaemo- 
nian or Spartan. 
II. . An inhabitant of Laconia, a division 
of the Peloponnesus in Greece, anciently con- 
stituting the country of the Spartans or Lace- 
daemonians, now a uomarchy of the kingdom of 
Greece ; a Lacedssmouian or Spartan. The La- 
conians were exceptionally distinguished for the peculiar- 
ities of character and manner which have made laconic 
and laconism terms of common speech in both ancient 
and modern times. In part of Laconia a distinct dialect 
of Greek, called the Tzakonian, is still spoken. 
Laconic (la-kon'ik), a. and n. [= F. lacoitique 
= Sp. laconico = Pg. It. laconico, < L. Laconi- 
cus, < Gr. Aa/ojwKOf, Laconian, Lacedaemonian, 
laconic, < Gr. AOKUV, a Laconian, an inhabitant 
of Lacedaemon or Sparta.] I. a. 1. Pertain- 
ing to Lacouia or its inhabitants ; Lacedaemo- 
nian or Spartan. [Rare.] 2. [?. c.] Express- 
ing much in few words, after the manner of the 
ancient Laconians ; sententious; pithy; short: 
brief: as, a laconic phrase. 
Why, if thou wilt needs know 
How we are freed, I will discover it, 
And with laconic brevity. 
Beau, and Fl. t Little French Lawyer, v. 1. 
Boccalini, in his " Parnassus," indicts a laconic writer 
for speaking that in three words which he might have said 
in two. Steele, Tatler, No. 264. 
King Agis, therefore, when a certain Athenian laughed 
at the Laced&eiuonian short swords, . . . answered in his 
laconic way, "And yet we can reach our enemy's hearts 
with them." Lamjhorne, tr. of Plutarch's Lycurgus. 
3. [1. c.] Characteristic of the Laeonians ; in- 
exorable; stern; severe. [Bare.] 
The latest revolution [among the Greeks] that we read 
of was conducted, at least on one side, in the Grecian style, 
with laconic energy. J. Adams, Government, IV. 287. 
Laconic meter. Same as II., S. = Syn. 2. Condensed, Suc- 
cinct, etc. See concise. 
II. . [/. c.] 1. Conciseness of language ; la- 
conicism. [Rare.] 
Shall we never again talk together in laconic > Addison. 
2. A concise, pithy expression ; something ex- 
pressed in a concise, pithy manner ; a laconism : 
chiefly used in the plural : as, to talk in laconics. 
3. In anc.2'os.,&n anapestic tetrameter cata- 
lectic with a spondee instead of the penulti- 
mate auapest (^=> =o | '=^ =53 | co 
00 I ). So called as a variety of the 
tetrameter used in the Lacouian or 'Spartan 
ernba_teria. 
laconica, . Plural of laconicum. 
laconical (la-kon'i-kal), a. [< laconic + -7.] 
Same as laconic. [Rare.] 
His head had now felt the razor, his back the rod : 
All that laconical discipline pleased him well. 
Bp. Hall, Epistles, L 5. 
laconically (la-kon'i-kal-i), rtdr. Briefly; con- 
cisely: as, a sentiment laconically expressed. 
I write to you very laconically. 
Pope, To Warburton, xvii. 
laconicism (la-kon'i-sizm), . [< laconic + 
-ism.'} 1. A laconic mode or style of expres- 
sion; laconism. 
I grow laconic even beyond laconicism, for sometimes I 
return only yes or no to questionary or petitionary epistles 
of half a yard long. Pope, To Swift, Aug. 17, 1736. 
2. A laconic phrase or expression ; a laconism. 
He [the theologian] then passes to its " Sharh," or com- 
mentary, generally the work of some other savant, who ex- 
plains the difficulty of the text, amplifies its Laconicisms. 
X. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 81. 
laconicum (la-kon'i-knm), n. ; pi. laconica (-ka). 
[L. laconicum, a sweating-room, a sweating- 
bath, neut. (sc. balneum) of Laeotiicun, Spartan: 
see laconic.] In Horn, arrlueol., a vapor-bath ; 
3324 
a chamber in a bathing-establishment warmed 
by means of air artificially heated : so called 
because the Laconians used such a dry or su- 
dorific bath, avoiding the use of warm water as 
enervating. 
laconism (lak'o-nizm), n. [= F. laconisme = 
Sp. Pg. It. laconismo, < Gr. Aa/cuiwjuo?, the imi- 
tation of Lacedaemonian manners, dress, etc., 
esp. of their short and pointed way of talk- 
ing, < A.aKov%civ, imitate Lacedasmonian man- 
ners, etc.: see laeonize.'] 1. Pointed brevity of 
speech or expression ; sententiousness ; con- 
ciseness; pithiness. 2. A concise or pithy 
expression; an utterance conveying much 
meaning in few words. 
laeonize (lak'o-mz), . *. ; pret. and pp. laco- 
ni:cd, ppr. laconizing. [< Gr. \anuvifciv, imitate 
Lacedaemonian manners, dress, etc. ; < \OKUV, a 
Lacedaemonian : see Laconic.] To imitate the 
Lacouians, either in austerity of life or in short- 
ness and pithiness of speech. 
lac-painted (lak'pan'ted), a. Decorated with 
colored lacquer-work, as is much Japanese or 
Indian work. 
lacquer, lacker 2 (lak ' er), . [Formerly also 
leckar; < F. lacre (Cotgrave), < Sp. lacre = Pg. 
lucre, sealing- wax, < laca, gum lac : see lac 2 . The 
spelling lacquer, in supposed imitation of the F. 
(cf. F. laque, formerly also lacque, lac), is now 
commonly used instead of the more correct 
lacker.'} If. Lac as used in dyeing. [Rare.] 
Enquire of the price of leckar [read lacker"!}, and all other 
things belonging to dying. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 432. 
2. An opaque varnish containing lac, properly 
SO called. Especially a kind of varnish, consisting of 
shellac dissolved in alcohol, with the addition of other in- 
gredients, particularly coloring matters. It is applied to 
different materials to protect them from tarnish and to 
lve them luster, especially to brass. 
. Decorative work colored and then varnished 
so as to produce a hard, polished appearance 
like that of enamel. 4. A resinous varnish 
obtained from the Bhus vernicifera by making 
incisions in the bark. When dissolved in spring-wa- 
ter and mixed with other ingredients, such as gold, cinna- 
bar, or some similar coloring matter, it is applied in suc- 
cessive coatings to wood-ware, imparting to it a highly 
polished lustrous surface. 
5. Lacquer-ware ; articles of wood which have 
been ornamented by coating with lacquer. The 
making of this ware is an extensive industry in China and 
Japan, especially in the latter country, which excels in the 
beauty and delicacy of the articles produced. The chief 
kinds are : black lacquer ; gold lacquer, which is of many 
different shades, and, when fine, of brilliant metallic lus- 
ter ; and aventurin or sprinkled lacquer, in which thegrains 
of gold are of various degrees of minuteness, and are put 
on sometimes in a uniform sprinkle, sometimes in cloud- 
ings. On many pieces decorated with lacquer, figures in 
relief of one of these kinds are applied upon a surface of 
another. A surface of lacquer is often adorned with pieces 
of gold- or silver-foil, and incrusted with small reliefs 
in bronze, mother-of-pearl, ivory, and other materials. 
Aventurin lacquer. See def. 5. Burmese lacquer, a 
lacquer yielded By the black-varnish tree, Helanorrhosa 
ueitata. Cashmere lacquer, a decoration applied to 
wood and to papier-mache in flat designs of flowers, etc., 
in vivid color, afterward covered with a thick, transparent 
varnish. Cinnabar lacquer, a red lacquer prepared by 
mixing seshime lacquer with cinnabar or red sulphid of 
mercury. Coral lacquer. See coral. Foochow lac- 
quer, a kind of lacquered ware made in China in imita- 
tion of the Japanese, but greatly inferior in make and fin- 
ish. It is reputed to be the work of a family who had ob- 
tained some of the secrets of the Japanese workmen. 
Gold lacquer. See gold. Guri lacquer, a kind of lac- 
quered ware in which layers of different colors are super- 
imposed and a simple pattern of scrolls or the like is cut 
into the surface in a wedge-shaped groove, the sloping 
sides of which display the different layers up to the num- 
ber of fifteen, or occasionally more. Hira gold lacquer, 
gold lacquer which has a uniform smooth flat surface, the 
patterns, of whatever character, being in color in the sur- 
face itself, without relief . Hyderabad lacquer, decora- 
tion of furniture and the like done in water-color on a 
ground usually of metal, such as tin-foil, and covering the 
whole with a thick, transparent varnish. The work is simi- 
lar to that of Cashmere, but with a different chord of color ; 
it is done chiefly in the Deccan. Incrusted lacquer, lac- 
quered ware the decoration of which is partly obtained by 
means of pieces of other material inlaid in the surface, 
as mother-of-pearl, ivory plain or colored, or small plaques 
of metal. Iron lacquer, a Japanese lacquer in which the 
surface of the black lacquer is purposely roughened and 
stained to imitate the surface of wrought-iron. Japan 
lacquer. See japan, n. Kamakura lacquer, an an- 
cient lacquered ware named from the city of Kamaku- 
ra in Japan, the old capital of the shoguns. The pieces 
thought to be of this ware are in red lacquer over black, 
the under coat showing through the upper one irregularly, 
as if from wear. Peking lacquer, a kind of lacquered 
ware made in China, distinguished by flowers, sprays, and 
the like, in relief and in full color on a background usually 
of gold. Incrustations of ivory and other materials are 
also used. A Japanese imitation of it is made, which per- 
haps surpasses the Chinese in delicacy. Scratched lac- 
quer.lacquered ware in which the surface is scratched with 
a point, showing the layer of color below. Seshime lac- 
quer, a mixture of pure lacquer with finely powdered 
charred wood and a glaze made from seaweed : used in 
Japan for priming coats. A kind obtained from the lower 
lacrymal 
branches of the lacquer-tree is called kt-xeshime. Trans- 
parent lacquer, a lacquer obtained from the older lac- 
quer-trees and used for the final coat in any work in which 
transparency is required, as in inlayings, or to show the 
grain of the wood. Tsui-Shu lacquer, a carved or em- 
bossed cinnabar lacquer-ware originally made in China, 
whence the best specimens still come, but introduced into 
Japan in the reign of Go-Tsuchi (1465-1501). The lacquer 
is thickly laid on in successive coats to a depth of three 
sixteenths of an inch or more, and then deeply carved with 
arabesques, flowers, birds, etc., thus differing from Kama- 
kura lacquer, in which the wood is carved and then lac- 
quered. There is also a black embossed or carved lacquer 
called tsui-koku lacquer. Guri lacquer is another variety. 
Vermilion lacquer. Same as coral lacquer (which see, 
under corn!). Wakasa lacquer, a remarkable lacquered 
ware made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in 
the province of Wakasa in Japan. It is clouded with many 
different colors, upon which as background foliage and the 
like in gold- or silver-leaf are added. Yoshinp lacquer, 
lacquered ware made at Yoshino in the province of Ya- 
mato in Japan, usually black, with patterns in different 
colors, especially red. It is a durable ware, and more com- 
mon in articles of utility than in works of art. 
lacquer, lacker 11 (lak'er),. t. [< lacquer, lacker 2 , 
.] To varnish ; treat or decorate with lacquer. 
What shook the stage, and made the people stare? 
Cato's long wig, flower'd gown, and lacquer'd chair. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. i. 337. 
Lacquered leather. See leather. 
lacquerer (lak'er-er), n. One who applies 
lacquer or produces lacquered ware. 
lacquering (lak'er-ing), . Finish or decora- 
tion in lacquer, especially Japanese lacquer. 
In some cases the lacquering is in relief. 
Sir Rutherford Alcock, Art Journal, N. S., XVI. 162. 
laCQUering-stove (lak'er-ing-stov), n. A stove 
with a broad flat top, used in brasswork-fac- 
tories to receive articles which are to be heated 
preparatory to lacquering. 
lacquer-tree (lak'er-tre), n. The Bhus verni- 
cifera, a tree about 25 or 30 feet high, indige- 
nous in Japan. The Japan lacquer or varnish is ob- 
tained from it by incisions in the bark. Its drupes yield 
a wax used in making candles, similar to that more large- 
ly obtained from R. xuccedanea, and bringing a higher 
price. Its wood is fine-grained and golden at the heart, 
and much used in Japan for cabinet-work. 
lacquer-ware (lak'er-war), n. Ware treated or 
decorated with lacquer. See lacquer, 2. Can- 
ton lacquer-ware, Chinese furniture, boxes, and the like, 
having a brilliant black varnished ground with landscapes 
or other designs in gold. 
lacqueyt, A former spelling of lackey. 
lacrimal, . See lacrymal. 
lacrimoso (lak-ri-mo'so), a. [It., also lagri- 
moso = E. lacnjmose.'} See lagrimoso. 
lacrosse (la-kros'), n. [< Canadian F. la crosse : 
la, the; crosse, a crook, crutch, hockey-stick, 
crosier, etc. : see cross 2 .] A game of ball played 
by two parties of players, eleven on each side, 
on a level plot of ground, at each end of which 
is a goal through which the players strive to 
hurl the ball. The ball may not be touched by the hand, 
but is carried in a lacrosse-stick or crosse, which each 
player has, and with which he throws the ball toward the 
opponents' goal, or passes it to one of his own side when 
he is on the point of being caught. That side which 
succeeds in making the most goals within a certain time 
wins. The game is of Indian origin, and is much played 
in Canada. 
lacrosse-Stick (la-kros'stik), n. The imple- 
ment with which 
the ball is car- ^.^ ' 
ried or thrown """"^ '' ; - - 
ill the game Of Lacrosse-stick. 
lacrosse. It is a bent stick with a shallow net 
at the end. Also called crosse. 
lacrymable, lachrymable (lak'ri-ma-bl), a. 
[= OF. lacrimable, lacrymable = Sp. lacrimablr 
= Pg. lacrimarel = It. lacrimabile, < L. laerima- 
bilis, worthy of tears, lamentable, < lacrimare, 
shed tears: see lacrymation. Cf.laci-ymal.] Tear- 
ful; lamentable. [Rare.] 
No time yeelds rest unto my dulcide throat, 
But still I ply my lachrimable note, 
M. Parker, The Nightingale. 
Christi(lak'ri-me kris'ti). [ 
prop, lacrimai Cliristi : lacrima', pi. of lacrima. 
a tear (see lacrymal); Chrigti, gen. of CJiristus. 
Christ.] A strong and sweet red wine of 
southern Italy. Genuine lacrymse Christi is produced 
only on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, much of the wine 
sold under the name being factitious. 
lacrymal, lachrymal (lak'ri-mal), a. and . 
[= OF. lacrimal, lacrynitil, F. laon/mai = Sp. 
Pg. lacrimal, layrimul = It. lacrimale, latjrimuli; 
< ML. lacrimdlis, pertaining to tears (ML. lacri- 
, n., a tear-bottle), < L. lacrima. also writ- 
ten lacrnma, lacrymu, and in ML. NL. also cor- 
ruptly lachryma, in OL. <l<icrima (= Gr. S&upv/ia), 
a tear, with suffix -ma, = Gr. <5<kpi> = E. tear: 
see teai-%. The proper spelling of this and the 
related words is lacrim-; but lacryni- and the 
corrupt form lacliryni- are in prevalent use.] 
