Lou 
Of s 
We were 
lane 
From the illumined hall 
>ng lanes of splendour slanted o'er a press 
: snowy shoulders. Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
. . driven to shore, and anchored behind 
south after the flowing tide set in. 
A. W. Qreely, Arctic Service, p. 103. 
3. The throat: more usually called the red 
lane. [Vulgar.] 
1H. Mumb. And sweete malte maketh ioly good ale for the 
nones; 
Tib Talk. Whiche will slide downe the lane without any 
bones. Udall, Koister Doister, i. 3. 
butter'd egg, best eaten with a spoon, 
1 bid your yelk glide down my throat's red lane. 
Colmar, Poetical Vagaries, p. 76. 
A blind lane, a lane not open at both ends ; a cul-de-sac. 
Lurking in hernes and in lanes blvnde. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 105. 
Ocean lane, a fixed route or course of navigation pursued 
by a vessel or a line of vessels in crossing the ocean, etc. : 
as, the ocean lane of the Cunard steamers. Seelane-route. 
lane 2 (Ian), a. A dialectal (Scotch) form of feme 1 , 
yourselves, themselves alone. These usages arose by cor- 
ruption from the older expressions me lane, him lane. 
[Scotch.] 
I was walking by my lane, 
Atween a water and a wa. 
The Wee Wee Han (Child's Ballads, 1. 126). 
Iane 3 ti A Middle English form of loan 1 . 
lanely (lan'li), a. A dialectal (Scotch) form 
of lonely. 
lanert, An obsolete form of lanner. 
laneret, Same as lanyard. 
laneret, . See lanneret. 
lane-route (lan'rot), re. A route laid out for 
ocean steamers, confined within narrow limits ; 
specifically, a double route or course laid out 
across the North Atlantic ocean, from about 
Nantucket shoals to the entrance of the Eng- 
lish channel. The northern track is used for west- 
ward-bound steamers and the southern one for steamers 
bound to the eastward. These routes follow approxi- 
mately a great-circle course, and were first suggested, in 
order to diminish the risk of collisions, by Lieutenant M. 
F. Maury, U. S. N., in 1855. Also called ocean lane or ocean- 
lane route. 
lang (lang), a., adv., and v. A dialectal (Scotch) 
form of long 1 . To think lang, to become weary, es- 
pecially in waiting. 
He said, Think 
3346 
(of a shoe). Towneley Mysteries, p. 26. 2. A 
chain for hobbling a horse. Halliwell. [Prov. 
langet 2 (lang'get), n. [D., thread lace ; < OF. 
languette, dim. of langue, tongue : see langetl.] 
A lace used in the modern costume of the women 
of Holland. It is stiffly starched in the head-dresses 
of which it forms part, and is sufficiently stout to bear 
washing and ironing. 
langite (lang'It), re. [Named after Prof. Victor 
von Lang, a physicist of Vienna.] A basic sul- 
phate of copper occurring in blue earthy crusts, 
less often in crystals, found in Cornwall, Eng- 
land. 
lang-kale (lang 'kal), n. [= Dan. langkaal.] 
Cofeworts not cut or chopped. [Scotch.] 
And there will be langkail and pottage, 
And bannocks of barley meal. 
Ritson's Scottish Songs, I. 208. 
langle (lang'gl), . i.; pret. and pp. langled, ppr. 
Mng. [Prob. a var. of linger, formerly len- 
To saunter slowly. Halliwell. [Prov. 
",] 
langoont, . [Origin not ascertained.] A kind 
of wine. Praise of Yorkshire Ale (1697), p. 3. 
(Halliwell.) 
Suspition then I washt away 
With old langoon and cleansing whey. 
Gallantry a la Mode, p. 16. (Nares.) 
langott (lang'got), n. Same as langet 1 . Bailey, 
1731. 
langourt, and v. An old form of languor. 
langraget, n. Same as langrel. 
langrelt, [Also langrage, langridge; origin 
obscure.] A particular kind of projectile for- 
merly used at sea for tearing sails and rigging, 
and thus disabling an enemy's ship. It con- 
sisted of bolts, nails, and other pieces of iron 
fastened together. 
langrett, [Origin obscure.] A die so loaded 
that certain numbers come up more readily and 
more frequently than others. 
His langrets, with his hie men and his low, 
Are ready what his pleasure is to throw. 
Rowlands, Humors Ordinarie. (Halliwell.) 
First you must know a langret, which is ... a well fa- 
voured die, and seemeth good and square, yet it is forged 
longer upon the cater and trea than any other way, and 
therefore it is called a langret. 
Art of Juggling (1612), C 4. (Nares.) 
langaha (lan-ga'ha), n. [Malagasy.] AMada- 
gascar wood-snake, having the snout elongated 
by a flexible acute appendage, as the cock's- 
Cock's-comb Langaha {Xiphorhynchus langaha]. 
comb langaha, Xiphorhynchus (or Dryophis) 
langaha, of the family Dryophidce. The snake 
is less than 3 feet long, the flat scaly probos- 
cis about half an inch. 
langbanite (lang 'ban -it), n. [< L&ngban, in 
Sweden, + -zie 2 .] A mineral occurring in hex- 
agonal prisms of an iron-black color and metal- 
lic luster. It contains silica and the oxids of 
antimony, manganese, and iron. 
langel (lang'gl), v. t, [< ME. langelen, *lanye- 
len, < lanyel, a hopple : see lanyel."] It. To bind 
together. 
Langelynoi byynd to-geder, [L.] colligo [var. compedio]. 
Prompt. Pan., p. 286. 
Specifically 2. To hobble (a horse). [Prov. 
Eng.] 
langet 1 (lang'get), re. [Formerly also langot; 
< ME. langett, < OF. languette, dim. of langue, 
tongue : see language. Cf. languet, a later form 
of the same word.] It. A strap; thong; latchet 
Langsdorffia (langz-dor'fi-a), re. [NL. (Mar- 
tius, 1829), named after Gr. fl. von Langsdorff, 
who traveled in South America and encouraged 
scientific research in Brazil. ] A genus of mono- 
chlamydeous plants belonging to the natural 
order Balanophoreas, and type of the tribe Langs- 
(lorffiece. It has dioecious or monoecious flowers, the 
perianth in the male flowers with 3 valvate lobes, the 
female flowers grown together below. These plants are 
thick, yellow, waxy herbs with purplish scales and flowers. 
The only species, L. hypogosa, is a native of tropical South 
America. 
Langsdorffieae (langz-dor-fi'e-e), n. pi. [NL. 
(Schott and Endlicher, 1832),' < Langsdorffia + 
-co;.] A tribe of plants of the order Balanopho- 
rece, consisting of the two genera Langsdorffia 
and Thonningia, characterized by dkecious or 
monoecious flowers, in which the perianth of 
the male flowers is 3-lobed or consists of 2 
or 3 scales, and that of the female flowers is 
tubular. The anthers are 2-celled, and the ovary is 
1-celled. They are natives of tropical America and tropi- 
cal Africa. 
lang-settle (lang'sef'l), n. A dialectal (Scotch) 
form of long-settle. See settle. 
langshan (lang'shan), n. [Chin.] A breed of 
the domestic hen, of Chinese origin, it is of 
the Asiatic type, of uniform glossy-black plumage, and of 
about the weight of the cochin, but taller, less heavily 
feathered on the shanks, and with white instead of yellow 
skin. It is a much more prolific layer than the cochin, 
the eggs being brown, and its flesh is excellent for the table. 
langspiel (lang'spel), n. [< Norw. langspel, a 
harp of a long and narrow form, (. lang, = E. 
long^,+ spel, a musical instrument, music, play : 
see spell' 2 .'] A kind of harp used in the Shet- 
land Islands. 
A knocking at the door of the mansion, with the sound 
of the Gue and the Langspiel, announced by their tinkling 
chime the arrival of fresh revellers. Scott, Pirate, xv. 
langsyne (lang'sin'), . [Sc. lang = E. long; 
Sc. syne = E. since."} Time long past; the days 
of long ago. See syne. 
langsyner (lang'si'ner), n. [< langsyne + -er 1 .] 
A person who lived long ago. [Scotch.] 
langteraloot, re. Same as lanterloo. 
language 1 (lang'gwaj), n. [The u is a modern 
insertion (orig. not pronounced), after Y. langue, 
L. lingua; < ME. langage, < OF. langage, F. Ian- 
language 
gage = Pr. lenguatge, lengatge, leitgage = Sp. 
lenguaje = Pg. linguage, linguagem = It. Knguag- 
gio, < ML. as if "Unguaticum, language (the reg. 
L. and ML. word being lingua), < L. lingua (> It. 
lingua = Sp. lengua = Pg. lingoa, lingua = F. 
langue), the tongue, a tongue, language, = E. 
tongue : see tongue.] 1 . The whole body of ut- 
tered signs employed and understood by a given 
community as expression of its thoughts; the 
aggregate of words, and of methods of their com- 
bination into sentences, used in a community 
for communication and record and for carrying 
on the processes of thought : as, the English lan- 
guage; the Greek language. The languages of the 
world, each of them unintelligible to the speakers of any 
other, are very numerous, rather exceeding than falling 
short of a thousand. Of these, each individual (without 
reference to his race) acquires for his first language or 
"mother-tongue" that one which he hears used by those 
about him in childhood, as he may later learn some other, 
even to the substitution of it for his "mother-tongue" 
and oblivion of the latter. Many languages are related 
with one another that is, there is such correspondence 
in their words and forms as shows them to have descend- 
ed from a common ancestor, or to have reached their 
present form by gradual divergent alteration of the same 
original language, since, by the action of its speakers, 
every living language is undergoing constant change. A 
body of languages thus related is called a family or stock; 
and the classification of all human tongues into families 
is one of the most important results of the study of lan- 
guage. Families then are divided into subordinate divi- 
sions called groups, branches, subbranches, or the like. Ex- 
amples of families are the Aryan or Indo-European, the 
Semitic, and so on. (See the various names.) With refer- 
ence to their relationship to a larger class, languages are 
also called dialects: thus, Yorkshire and Scotch are dia- 
lects of English ; English and Dutch are Low-German dia- 
lects; German, Slavonic, Celtic, etc., are Aryan dialects. 
(See dialect.) Languages differ not only in material, but 
also in regard to structure, or the apparatus of forms, 
connections, auxiliaries, etc., by which the modifications 
and relations of ideas are expressed. Some are more syn- 
thetic, some more analytic ; some are isolating, or desti- 
tute of formal distinctions, whether of parts of speech 
or of inflections ; some are agglutinative, or have words 
made up of parts rather loosely joined together ; some 
have their words, or part of them, more completely inte- 
grated, to the complete disguise of their original constit- 
uents, and even, in greater or less part, the substitution 
of an internal change (as in ring, sang, sung, song) for an 
external (as in love, loved, loving, lover). This character- 
istic is called inflective, and is seen in highest degree in 
two of the families (Aryan and Semitic) mentioned above. 
(See agglutinate.) Languages are usually designated by 
an adjective formed (in -ish*, -an, -ese, -if, -tni, etc., or 
without any termination) from the name of the country or 
people (such adjective used alone, as a noun, being the 
particular name of the language), as English, Spanish, 
Scottish, Scotch, Dutch, Welsh, French, Italian, Russian, 
Chinese, Siamese, Gaelic, Arabic, Latin, Greek, etc. ; but the 
name is often of other origin or formation, as Sanskrit, 
Prakrit. 
In that lond of Caldee, thei ban here propre Langages, 
and here propre Lettres. Mandeville, Travels, p. 153. 
After a speach is fully fashioned to the common vnder- 
standing, & accepted by consent of a whole countrey & 
nation, it is called a language. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 120. 
2. Power of expression by utterance ; the capa- 
cities and impulses that lead to the production 
and use of languages ; uttered expression ; hu- 
man speech considered as a whole : as, language 
is the peculiar possession of man. 
You taught me language; and my profit on 't 
Is, I know how to curse. Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 363. 
The ends of language in our discourse with others be- 
ing chiefly these three : First, to make known one man's 
thoughts or ideas to another ; secondly, to do it with as 
much ease and quickness as is possible ; and thirdly, there- 
by to convey the knowledge of things. Language is either 
abused or deficient, when it fails in any of these three. 
Locke, Human Understanding, III. x. 23. 
3. The words or expressions appropriate to or 
especially employed in any branch of know- 
ledge or particular condition of life : as, the 
language of chemistry ; the language of common 
life. 4. The manner of expression, either by 
speech or writing ; style. 
With good ensaumple and faire langage 
His fadii taujt him weel and faire. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 48. 
Their language simple, as their manners meek, 
No shining ornaments have they to seek. 
Cowper, Hope, 1. 764. 
Hence 5. The inarticulate sounds by which 
irrational animals express their feelings and 
wants: as, the language of birds. 
Choughs' language, gabble enough, and good enough. 
Shak., All's Well, iv. 1. 22. 
6. The expression of thought in any way, ar- 
ticulate or inarticulate, conventional or uncon- 
ventional: as, the language of signs; the lan- 
t/uageof the eyes; the language of flowers. 
Fie, fie upon her ! 
There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip ; 
Nay, her foot speaks. Shak., T. and C., iv. 6. 55. 
To him who in the love of Nature holds 
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
A various language. Bryant. Thanatopsis. 
