measles 
mor, G. maser, a spot, speckle, as on wood or on 
the skin ; dim. of MD. *mase = MLG. mase = 
OHG. masa, MHG. mane, Or. mase, a spot, the 
mark of a wound; whence also ult. mazer, a 
bowlorig.of spotted wood: see mazer. Theword 
measles, ME. meseles, masales, is entirely dis- 
tinct from ME. -mend, a leper, whence meselry, 
leprosy, but has been more or less confused 
with it, as in MD. masel-sueht, MLG. masel-, 
massel-, mesel-swcht, -nuke, defined as "the mea- 
sell-sieknesse" (Hexam), or measles, but prop, 
the 'leper-sickness,' or leprosy. The words 
mesel, meselry became nearly obsolete before 
the 17th century; in ME. the words were pro- 
nounced differently. Hence the equiv. mcas- 
lings, q. v. The singular measle (def. 1, above) 
appears to have been developed from the plural 
(which is now used as singular), in the sense 
'a spot like those of measles,' and not in the 
orig. lit. sense (in MD., etc.), of 'a little spot.'] 
1. A contagious disease of man, with an incu- 
bation period of about nine or ten days, and a 
period of invasion of about three or four days, 
in which there are pyrexia and rapid pulse, in- 
flammation of the mucous membrane of the 
eyes and upper air-passages, and bronchitis, 
followed by an eruption of small rose-colored 
papules, which arrange themselves in curvilin- 
ear forms. The period of eruption usually lasts about 
four days. The eruption is succeeded by a bran-like des- 
quamation. The poison is conveyed directly from the 
patient through the air and by fomites. It is given off in 
the period of invasion as well as in later periods. Also 
called rubeola and morbilli. 
So shall my lungs 
Coin words till their decay against those measles, 
Which we disdain should tetter us, yet sought 
The very way to catch them. Shak., Cor., iii. 1. 78. 
Petecchie [It.], the disease we call the Meazels or Gods 
marks. Florio. 
From whence they start up chosen vessels, 
Made by contact, as men get measles. 
Butler, Hudibras, I. iii. 1248. 
2. An old name for several diseases of swine or 
sheep, caused by the scolex or measle of a tape- 
worm, and characterized by reddish watery pus- 
tules on the skin, cough, feverishness, and dis- 
charge at the nostrils. 3. A disease of plants; 
any blight of leaves appearing in spots, whether 
due to the attacks of insects or to the action of 
weather. See measle, 1. 
Fruit bearers are often infected with the measles, by be- 
ing scorched with the sun. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
4. See measle, 2 False, French, German, or hy- 
brid measles, rubella. 
measle-worm (me'zl-werm), . The scolex 
of a tapeworm; a measle. 
measlings (mez ' lingz), . [= Sw. masling, 
messling = Dan. mceslinger (pi.); as measle-s + 
-ing 1 .'] The measles. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
measly (me'zli), a. [< measU-s + -J/ 1 .] 1. In- 
fected with measles or the measle, as an ani- 
mal or its flesh, especially pork. 
Last trotted forth the gentle swine, 
To ease her itch against the stump, 
And dismally was heard to whine, 
All as she scrubb'd her meazly rump. 
Swift, On Cutting down the Old Thorn at Market Hill. 
If a portion of measly pork be eaten by a man, then the 
scolex will develop itself into a tapeworm. 
H. A. Nicholson, Zoology, p. 220. 
2. Good-for-nothing; miserable; wretched; con- 
temptible. [Low.] 
nieasonduet, n. [Sc. also messandew, masson- 
dew; < ME. mesondue, mesondieu, maisondeioe, 
masondewe, etc., < OF. maisn dieu, orig. maison 
de Dieu, a hospital, lit. (like mod. F. Ii6tel-dieu, 
a hospital) 'house of God': maison, < L. man- 
sio(n-), a dwelling, a house ; de, < L. de, of ; Dieu, 
< L. Dens, God.] A monastery; a religious 
house or hospital. 
And saue the wynnynge, 
And make meson-deux ther-with meseyse to helpe, 
And wikkede wones wihtly to amende. 
Piers Plowman (A), viil. 28. 
Mynsteris and masmdeives malle to the erthe. 
Marte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 3038. 
Measondue is an appellation of divers Hospitalls in this 
kingdome, and it comes of the French (Maison de Dieu), 
and is no more but Gods house in English. 
Les Terms de la Ley (1841), fol. 202. 
measurable (mezh'ur-a-bl), a. [<ME.eswra&fe, 
mesurabel, < OF. arid F. mesurable = Pr. mezw- 
rable = Sp. mensurable = Pr. mensuravel = It. 
misurabile, < L. mensurabilis, that may be mea- 
sured^ meitsitrare, measure: see measure, v. Cf. 
mensurable.] 1. Capable of being measured ; 
susceptible of mensuration or computation. 
God's eternal duration is permanent and invisible, not 
measurable by time and motion. Bentley, Sermons. 
A measurable function. Maudttley, Mind, XII. 607. 
3676 
2. Moderate; temperate; limited; of small 
quantity or extent : as, to meet with measura- 
ble success. 
Be nieke & mesurabul nougt of many wordes, 
JJe no tellere of tails but trewe to thi lord. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), L 333. 
0) wiste a man how many maladyes 
Folwen of excesse and ol glotonyes, 
He wolde been the more mesurable 
Of his diete, sittinge at his table. 
Chaucer, Pardoner's Tale, 1. 53. 
Measurable or mensurable music. See mensurable, 2. 
measurableness (mezh'ur-a-bl-nes), n. The 
property of being measurable or admitting of 
mensuration. 
measurably (mezh'ur-a-bli), adv. 1. In a mea- 
surable manner. 2. Moderately; in a limited 
She yafe answare fulle softe and demurely, 
With-oute of chaungyng of coloure or corage 
Noo thyng in haste, but mesurably. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 60. 
Wine measurably drunk and in season bringeth gladness 
of the heart. Ecclus. xxxi. 28. 
measure (mezh'ur), n. [< ME. mesure, mesur, 
< OF. and F. mesure = Pr. mesura, mensura = 
Sp. mesura = Pg. mesura, mensura = It. misura, 
< L. mensura, a measuring, measure, a thing to 
measure by, < metiri, pp. mensus, measure : see 
mete 1 .] 1. A unit or standard adopted to de- 
termine the linear dimensions, volume, or other 
quantity of other objects, by the comparison of 
them with it ; a standard for the determination 
of a unit of reckoning. Measures of length are either 
line-measures or end-measures. Line-measures are ob- 
jects having lines marked upon them, between which it is 
intended that the measurement shall be made ; end-mea- 
sures are objects (bars) between the ends of which it is 
intended that the measurement shall be made. 
A perfect and just measure shalt thou have. 
Deut. xxv. 15. 
Who hath . . . comprehended the dust of the earth in 
& measure' Isa. xL 12. 
A tailor . . . 
With his shears and measure in his hand. 
Shak., K. John, iv. 2. 196. 
Nothing then could serve well for a convenient measure 
of time but what has divided the whole length of its du- 
ration into apparently equal portions by constantly re- 
peated periods. Locke, Human Understanding, II. xiv. 18. 
2. Hence, any standard of comparison, estima- 
tion, or judgment. 
But money may maken mesur of the peyne, 
(After [according to) that his power is to payen) his pen- 
ance schal faile. 
Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 571. 
The natural measure whereby to judge our doings is 
the sentence of Eeason. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 8. 
Some, valuing those of their own side or mind, 
Still make themselves the measure of mankind. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 453. 
3. A system of measurement ; a scheme of de- 
nominations or units of length, surface, vol- 
ume, or the like : as, weights and measures; long 
measure, square measure, etc. 
That he himself was skilled in weights and measures 
. . . there is no reason to doubt. 
Arbuthnot, Ancient Coins. 
4. The dimensions or extent of a thing as de- 
termined or determinable by comparison with 
a unit or standard ; size ; extent ; capacity (lit- 
eral or figurative); volume; duration; quantity 
in general. 
Both the cherubims were of one measure and one size. 
1 Ki. vi. 25. 
Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my 
days. Ps. xxxix. 4. 
If else thou seek'st 
Aught, not surpassing human measure, say. 
Milton, P. L., vii. 640. 
The elder Mirabeau . . . clearly enounced the doctrine 
that "the measure of subsistence is the measure of popu- 
lation." Amer. Anthropologist, I. 1. 
It is possible to determine the forms of the planetary 
orbits, their positions, and their dimensions, in terms of 
the earth's mean distance from the sun as the unit of mea- 
sure, with great precision. 
Newcomb and Holden, Astronomy, p. 214. 
5. An act of measurement or comparison with 
a standard of quantity, or a series of such acts : 
as, to make clothes to measure. 
Even now a tailor call'd me in his shop, . . . 
And therewithal took measure of my body. 
Shalt., C. olE., iv. 3. 9. 
6. A definite quantity measured off or meted 
out: as, a measure of wine or meal. In some 
places, as applied to certain things, a measure is a known 
quantity, the word being used specifically. Thus, in Eng- 
land, a measure of corn is a Winchester bushel ; in Con- 
necticut, a measure of oysters is five quarts. 
To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour 
be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a 
shekel. 2 Ki. vii. 1. 
Be large in mirth ; anon we'll drink a measure 
The table round. Shak., Macbeth, iii. 4. 11. 
measure 
7. Used absolutely, a full or sufficient quan- 
tity. [Rare.] 
I'll never pause again, never stand still, 
Till either death hath closed these eyes of mine, 
Or fortune given me measure of revenge. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 3. 32. 
8. Quantity, amount, extent, or any dimension, 
as measured or meted out; the result of any 
mensural determination or rule: as, the mea- 
sure of or for the beams is 10 feet 4 inches; 
full or short measure. In many technical uses mea- 
sure has specific applications, according to the particular 
case involved. Thus, in printing, the measure of a line, 
page, or column is its width stated in ems. 
Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and 
running over, shall men give into your bosom. 
Luke vi 38. 
9. Moderation; just degree or proportion; rea- 
sonable bounds or limits: as, beyond measure; 
within measure. 
We should keep a measure in all things. 
Latimer, Misc. Set. 
Measure is a merry mean, as this doth shew, 
Not too high for the pye, nor too low for the crow. 
Heywooffa Proverbs (ed. 1562). (Uadm.) 
There is a measure in everything. 
Shak., Much Ado, ii. 1. 74. 
10. Degree; proportion; indefinite quantity. 
Thou f eedest them with the bread of tears ; and givest 
them tears to drink in great measure. Ps. Ixxx. 6. 
If you will fish for a Carp, you must put on a very large 
measure of patience. I. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 145. 
There is a great measure of discretion to be used in the 
performance of confession. Jer. Taylor. 
It is not in human nature to deceive others for any long 
time without in a measure deceiving ourselves also. 
J. H. Newman, Parochial Sermons, i. 125. 
11. In pros.: (a) Determination of rhythm by 
division into times or groups of times ; rhythm, 
as so determined; meter. In ancient prosody 
the unit of measure is the primary time or 
mora. See moral, (b) A group of times or 
syllables used to determine the length of a 
colon, period, or meter. In ancient prosody the mea- 
sure was sometimes a single foot (monopody), and some- 
times a pair of feet (dipody). Iambic, trochaic, and ana- 
pestic rhythms were as a rule measured by dipodies, 
other meters by monopodies. The measure was marked 
as such by beating time, the secondary ictus of a dipody 
not receiving the beat. According to the number of mea- 
sures contained in it, a meter was designated as manome- 
ter, dimeter, trimeter, etc., and these terms are those still 
in use for modern poetry, some writers, however, counting 
every foot a measure. 
Meeter and measure is all one, for what the Greekes 
call fj-erpov, the Latines call Mensura, and is but the quan- 
titie of a verse, either long or short. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 55. 
(e) A rhythmical period or meter, especially 
as determined by division into such groups ; a 
rhythm, line, or verse. 
Long, stately, and swelling measures, whose graver 
movement accords with a serious and elevated purpose. 
E. C. Stedman, Viet. Poets, p. 93. 
12. In music: (a) One of the groups of tones 
or of accents included between any two pri- 
mary or heavy accents or beats. A measure al- 
ways'begins with such a primary accent, and includes one 
or two (or even more) secondary accents, with various pos- 
sible lesser accents. Most rhythms may be reduced to 
measures having either one primary and one secondary 
accent or one primary and two secondary accents, the for- 
mer rhythm being called duple and the latter triple. Mea- 
sures are indicated in printed music by bars, one of which 
is placed before each primary accent. All the notes be- 
tween two bars are said to belong to the same measure or 
bar. The essential structure of the pleasures in a given 
piece of music is indicated at the beginning by the rhyth- 
mical signature. See signature, (b) Same as tempo. 
[Rare.] 13. Any regulated or graceful mo- 
tion; especially, motion adjusted to musical 
time. 
Hath not my gait in it the measure of the court? 
Shak., W. T., iv. 4. 757. 
14. A slow, stately dance or dance-move- 
ment. 
Wooing, wedding, and repenting is as a Scotch jig, a 
measure, and a cinque pace : the first suit is hot and hasty, 
like a Scotch jig, and full as fantastical; the wedding, 
mannerly-modest, as a measure, full of state and an- 
cientry. Shak., Much Ado, ii. 1. 77. 
My dancing well, I know what our usher said to me 
last time I was at the school. Would I might have led 
Philautia in the measures! 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, iv. 1. 
He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar 
" Now tread we a measure ! " said young Lochinvar. 
Scott, Marmion, v. 12. 
15. A determinate action or procedure, intend- 
ed asmeans to an end; anything devised or done 
with a view to the accomplishment of a purpose ; 
specifically, in later use, any course of action 
proposed or adopted by a government, or a bill 
introduced into a legislature : as. measures (that 
is, a bill or bills) for the relief of the poor; a 
wise measure; rash measures. 
