mew 
mew' 2 (raii). r. i. [Formerly also meaic ; also 
with (HIT. proll. mime, mi/ilir, ilium, iin-nii ; I). 
lllilltinri-li = Mill!, iinlirili. lliinii-fil, (i, mil in 11, 
iiiiniii'ii = I );i n. iiiiiuir. ii/iiirr = \\ . mi'iriini . men ; 
also froi). ;//. niiinil, i-\f. (see mrirl); cf. Slav. 
Sorv. iiniiil.iili I'.. I. iiiiiiin--.in' = HUBS. HII/IIII- 
kat(, mew; Hind, iniydun. mewing; imitative 
of a cat's peculiar cry.] To cry as a cat. 
Thrice the brinded cat hath meic'd. 
Skat., Macbeth, Iv. 1. 1. 
To cry mewl. See cry. 
mew'-* (mu), n. [Formerly also meaa; from the 
verb.] The cry of a cat. 
mew- 1 (mu), r. t. [Karly mod. E. also muc ; < ME. 
iniiri'ii, < OF. iiiiii'r, change, molt, < L. mature, 
change : see in/i/i '-', iiinli". Cf. mew*, n. and r.J 
To change (the covering or dross) ; especially, 
to shed, as feathers; molt. 
With that he gan hire humbly to salewe 
With dredeful chere, and oft his hewesm!. 
Chaucer, Trollus, 11. 1258. 
M c-t hi nk* I tee her as an eagle muiny her mighty youth, 
and kindling her undazl'd eyes at the (nil raid-day beam. 
MUton, AreopnKitica. 
'Tls trae, I was u lawyer, 
But 1 have mew'd that coat ; 1 hate a lawyer. 
Beau, and /'/., Little French Lawyer, ih. 2. 
Forsooth, they say the king has //,..// 
All his gray beard. /'..;,/ Broken lleart, U. 1. 
mew* (mu), . [Early mod. E. also mue; <ME. 
meice, miewe, mue, < OF. mue, F. mue = Pr. Sp. 
Pg. It. muda, a molting, a cage for birds when 
molting, a mew for hawk* ( M I ,. mubi), < muer, 
change, molt: see utete 3 , miite^, mute 3 .] 1. A 
cage for birds while mewing or molting; hence, 
any cage or coop for birds, especially for hawks. 
Krcsah as blyve 
As thai be take unhurt, with IIII or V 
Of thrusshes tamed, putte hem In this mewe, 
To doo disport among thees gestcs newe. 
PaUadiiu, Husbondrle (E. E. T. 8.), p. 21 . 
The first that devised a barton & mue to keepe foule, 
was M. Leneus Strabo, a gentleman of Rome, who made 
such an one at Brindis, where he had enclosed birds of all 
kinds. Holland, tr. of Pliny, x. 50. 
As the haggard, clolster'd in her mew, 
To scour her downy robes. 
Quartet, Emblems, ill. 1. 
Hence 2. An inclosure ; a close place ; a place 
of retirement or confinement. 
Where griesly Night, with visage deadly sad, . . . 
She nudes forth commlng from her darksome mew, 
Where she all day did hide her hated hew. 
Spenner, V. Q., L V. 21). 
Therefore to your Mew: 
Lay down your weapons, heer s no Work for you. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, II., The Vocation. 
St. A place where fowls were confined for fat- 
tening. 
Ful many a fat partrich hadde he in mewe. 
Chaucer, Geu. Prol. to C. T., 1. S4i). 
4. ill. A stable. See mevs 1 . 
I wold fayne my gray horse wer kept in mewe for gnattys. 
Pattnn Letter* (\m\ III. 12. 
In mew', in close keeping ; In confinement ; in secret. 
Kepe not thi tresure aye llosyd in mewe; 
sucne old tresure wyll i!r shame ynowe. 
Boo** of Precedence (E. E. T. s., extra ser.), i. B9. 
mew 1 (mu). r. t. [Early mod. E. also mue; < 
MI *, .] To shut up; confine, as in a cage or 
other iuclosure ; immure. 
lie meipde hir up as men tnew hawkett. 
Taming of a Shrew (Child's Ballads. VIII. 185). 
Mere pity that the eagle should be mew'd, 
\\ liili kites and buzzards prey at liberty. 
Slialt., Rich. III., 1. 1. 132. 
They keep me meic'd up here, as they meic mad folks, 
No company but my afflictions. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, tv. 5. 
mew 5 (mu). An obsolete or dialectal preterit of 
(Hini'l. Hnlliiri'll. [Prov. Eug.] 
mew", a. A dialectal variant of wioM? 2 . 
mew" (mu). . [Ult. < L. mi'iiui. spignel: soo 
Mfiiiii-.} The herb spignel. 
mewer (mu'er), . [< - + -rr 1 .] One who 
or that which mews or cries. Cotgrave. 
mewett, a. s-e mute 1 . 
mew-gull (rou'gul), H. Same as wrw-l; some- 
t imos. spocilically. Lit r us i-nnia. 
mewl (mul), r. i. [Formerly also meairl, also 
\villi dill', pron. initial, inijinil (cf. F. miaule r = 
Sp. mtiulltir, null/in- = It. mintinliirr. miaijultirr. 
mewl, etc.); freq. of wcw 2 .] If. To cry as a 
cat; mew. Cotgrarc. 2. To cry as a child. 
At first the Infiint, 
Mrrclinn and puking in the nurse's arms. 
CMk, As you Like it. ii. 7. 144. 
Our future Ciceros are mewting infants. 
/-'. Kterett, Orations, I. 419. 
mewl (mul), H. [< meu-l, r.] The cry of achild. 
A woman's voice and a baby's ineirl were heard. 
Mrs. Anne Harsh, Rose of Ashurst, 111. (Hoppe.) 
37 : 
mewler (mu'ler). . [Formerly also meaifler; 
< Hii-irl + -cr 1 .] One who crys or mewls. 
mews 1 (muz), n. j>l. [Formerly also mues ; pi. 
of mew*, n., 4.] 1. The royal stables in Lou- 
don, so called because built where the mews of 
the king's hawks were situated ; hence, a place 
where carriage-horses are kept in large towns. 
The Jfeu* at Charing-cross, Westminster, ! so called 
from the word Mew. which in the falconer's language It 
the name of a place wherein the hawks are pat at the moult - 
ing time, when they ca&t their feathers. The king's hawks 
were kept at this place as early as the year 1377, an. 1 
Richard II.; but A. D. 15S7, the 27th year of Henry VIII 
it was converted into stables for that monarch's horses, ana 
the hawks were removed. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 96. 
There was some disturbance last night In consequence 
of the mob assembling round the King's ineu-, where the 
rest of the battalion that had marched to Portsmouth still 
remained. OreviUe, Memoirs, Juue 10, 1820. 
2. [Used as a singular.] An alley or court in 
which stables or mews are situated: as, he lives 
up a mews. 
Mr. Turveydrop's great room . . . was built into a nwin 
at the kirk. Dickens, Bleak House, xlv. 
The meat of London, Indeed, constitute a world of their 
own. They are tenanted by one class coachmen and 
grooms, with their wives and families men who are de- 
voted to one pursuit, the care of horses and carriage*. 
Mayheic, London Labour and London Poor, II. 283. 
mews' 2 , n. A dialectal form of OTOSI. Ualli- 
u-ell. [Prov. Eng.] 
mewtt, See routes. 
Mexican (mek'si-kan), n. and n. [= F. Meii- 
cain = It. Slexicano = Sp. Mejicano = Pg. Mez- 
icano, < NL. Mexicaniis, of Mexico; < Mexico 
(Sp. Mejico).] I. a. Native or pertaining to 
Mexico, a republic lying south of the United 
States, or to its inhabitants Mexican asphalt. 
Same as chapapote. Mexican banana, crow, eleml, 
etc. See the nouns. Mexican clover. See Itirhardia. 
Mexican embroidery, a kind of embroidery In use for 
the decoration of towels, table-cloths, etc., done with a 
simple stitvh and In outline patterns, and especially adapt- 
ed to washable materials. The name is derived from tne 
angular and grotesque character of the design, suggesting 
ancient Mexican carving. Mexican goose, Illy, mul- 
berry, onyx, orange-flower, persimmon, poppy. See 
the nouns. Mexican pottery, pottery made by the in- 
habitants of Mexico before the Spanish conquest, com- 
prising utensils, and also Idols and images of grotesque 
character. Spanish writers of the sixteenth century speak 
with admiration of the pottery found In use In Mexico by 
the Spanish Invaders. The few specimens that have been 
spared to the present day have been found In tombs, and 
occasionally among the ruins of temples. Mexican anil- 
ling. See M<2, 7. Mexican tea, a weedy plant, Chtnopo- 
dium ambronoiden, naturalized In the I niu-d states from 
tropical America. Also callediespetlally the variety ai;W 
intnrwum) vonnteed. Mexican thistle, tiger-flower, 
etc. See the nouns. Mexican turkey, Meleayrit mexi- 
cana, the supposed original of the domestic turkey. See 
turkey. Mexican Vine. Same as Madeira-vine. Mexi- 
can weasel. Same as kintajau. Mexican whisk. Same 
as broom-root. 
II. n. A native or an inhabitant of Mexico. 
Meyt, An obsolete form of May*. 
meynet, See meiny. 
meynealt, An obsolete form of menial. 
Meynert's commissure. Same as commissura 
biiititlis of Mi'ijnert (which see, under commin- 
mrtt), 
meynpernourt, . A variant of mainpernor. 
meynpriset, . See nuiinprise. 
meyntt. An obsolete preterit and past partici- 
ple of mingi. 
meyntenet, r. An obsolete variant of >ni- 
tuiii. 
meyntenourt, An obsolete variant of min- 
tililirr. 
meynyt, . See meiny. 
mezail, . See mesail. 
mezeledt, mezeldt, . See meseled. 
Mezentian (me-zen'shian), a. [< Mi;<n tins (see 
def.) + -<i.] 'Relating to Mezentius, a myth- 
ical Etruscan king, noted for his cruelty, al- 
leged to have formed an alliance with the Rutu- 
liaus. 
Spared from the curse of the imperial system and the 
Mezentian union with Italy, ... It [England] developed 
its own common laws. Slubbt, Const. Hist., I. 6. 
mezereon (me-ze're-on). w. [< F. mt';i'r< : n = 
Sp. mezereon, < AT. and Pers. ><lrni/H. the 
camellia.] An O1<1 World shrub. Daphne M' < 
rruai. See cut under Dujilint ._ Mezereon bark. 
See baric-. 
mezereum (me-ze're-um), H. [XL.: see meze- 
'('>.] Same M mtaereon. 
mezquite, ". Soc n-s<iuit-. 
mezuzah tme-/d'/.jj). .: pi. me:u:tli (-zoth). 
[Hob.] Among the .lows, an emblem consist- 
ing of a pieoo of parchment, inscribed on one 
siilo with the words found in Dent. vi. 4-9 and 
x i . 1 ;i - L' 1 . on the other with " Shaddai, " ' the Al- 
mezzotlnt 
mighty,' and so placed in a small hollow cylin- 
der thiit the diviiif name is visible through, an 
opening covered by a glass. ihi i->llndrr Is affixed 
to the right-hand door-post In Jewish houses. The Jews 
believed that the mezuzah had the virtue of an amiili-r In 
protecting a house from disease and evil spirit*. 
Every pious Jew, as often as he puses the metutah. In 
leaving the house or In entering It, touches the divine 
name with the finger of his right hand, puts U to his 
month, and kisses It, laving In Hebrew "The Lord shall 
preserve thy going out and thy coming In from this time 
forth, and even for evermore " (Pa. cut. 8). 
McClintodc and Strong, Cjrc. 
mezza, a. See >/< 
mezza-majolica (med'zft-ma-jori-ktt), n. Early 
Italian pottery of decorative character similar 
to that of true majolica, but less ornamental. 
Mezza-majolica. Italian, 171(1 century. 
(a) Pottery painted and glazed, but without enamel. (6) 
Pottery having the enamel and richly painted, but without 
metallic luster. 
mezzanine (mez'a-nin), M. [< F. mezzanine, < 
It. mrzzanino, < mezzo, middle: see mezzo.] In 
arch.: (a) A story of diminished height intro- 
duced between two higher stories ; an entresol. 
See cut under entresol, (b) A window less in 
height than in breadth; a window in an en- 
tresol. 
mezzo i med'zo), a.; fern. ie.rr (med'zS). [It., < 
L. nifdiu*, middle: see/wirfl, mnlium.'] In niustr, 
middle ; half ; mean ; moderate. Abbreviated 
A/. Mezza manloa, a half-shift In violin-playing. 
Mezza orchestra, with but half the instruments of an 
orchestra Mezza voce, with but half the voice; not loud. 
Mezzo forte, moderately loud. Abbreviated m.t. 
Mezzo piano, moderately soft. Abbreviated mp.- Mez- 
zo punto. Same as Gueute lace (which see, under laee\ 
Mezzo-soprano, a voice or a voice-part of a compass 
between those of the soprano and the alto; a low soprano, 
especially one with a larger, deeper natural quality than 
a true soprano. Mezzo-soprano clef, a C clef when 
placed on the second line of the star?. Mezzo staccato, 
moderately or half staccato. Mezzo-tenore, a voice or 
a voice-part of a compass between those of the tenor and 
the bass ; a low tenor ; more usually called a barytone, 
though the latter is rather a high bass than a low tenor. 
mezzo-riliero (med'zo-re-lya'vo), . [It., < 
mezzo, middle, half, + riliero, relief: see relief.] 
1. In sculp., relief higher than bas-relief but 
lower than alto-rilievo ; middle relief. 2. A 
piece of sculpture in such relief. 
mezzotint (mez'o- or med'zo-tint), n. [< It. 
me::<itint<>, < MMV, middle, h'alf, + tinto (< L. 
linctmt), painted, pp. of tinyere, paint: see tint, 
tinge.] A method of engraving on copper or 
steel of which the essential feature is the bur- 
nishing and scraping away, to a variable extent. 
of a uniformly roughened surface consisting of 
minute incisions, accompanied by a bur, pro- 
duced by an instrument called a rraillear rofker. 
This surface la left nearly undisturbed In the deepest shad - 
ows of the subject, hut is partially removed In the middle 
tints, and completely in the highest lights. Thus treated, 
the plate, when Inked, prints impressions graded in light 
and shade according to the requirements of the design, 
from a rich velvety and perfectly uniform Mack np through 
every variation of tone to brilliant white, or showing, when 
desirable, the sharpest contrasts between the extremes. 
This style of engraving. Invented by Van Siegen, a Dutch- 
man, In 1043, though erroneously ascribed to his pupil 
Prince Rupert, has been pursued with most success In Eng- 
land. The defect of the process Is that It does not admit 
of clear and sharp delineation of forms: hence in modern 
practice the outline of the design is strongly etched with 
acid before the cradle is used, and texture is often given 
to the finished plate by lines produced by dry-point etch 
lug. 
