1. The fourteenth letter 
and eleventh consonant in 
the English alphabet, hav- 
ing a corresponding place 
also in the alphabets from 
which ours comes. The com- 
parative scheme of forms in these 
alphabets and In the Egyptian (see 
A) la as follows: 
Hierogl 
I'heiu- 
. l.ltl. 
Early 
Greek and Latin. 
The value of the character has been the same through the 
whole history of its use. It stands for the "dental " nasal, 
the nasal sound corresponding to d and I, as does m to ft 
and p, and ng to g and k. This sound, namely, implies for 
Its formation the same check or mute-contact as d and t, 
with sonant vibration of the vocal cords as in d, and fur- 
ther with unclosure of the passage from the mouth into 
the nose, and nasal resonance there. Among the nasals, 
It Is by far the most common in English pronunciation 
(more than twice as common as m, and eight times as com- 
mon as ivj). While all the nasals are semlvocalic or li- 
quid, n is the only one which (like I, but not more than 
half as of ten) is used with vocalic value in syllable-making : 
namely, in unaccented syllables, where an accompanying 
vowel, formerly uttered, is now silenced : examples are 
token, rotten, open, lesson, reason, oven; such form, on an 
average, about one In eight hundred of English syllables. 
The sign n has no variety of sounds : but before ch, i, in 
the same syllable (as in inch, hinge) it takes on a slightly 
modified a palatalized character; and similarly it is 
gutturalized, or pronounced as ng, before k and g (hard), 
as in ink.finger; and its digraph ny (see G) is the usual rep- 
resentative of the guttural or back-palatal nasal, which 
in none of our alphabets has a letter to Itself. .V is doubled 
under the same circumstances as other consonants, and in 
a few words (as kiln, damn, hymn) is silent. In the pho- 
netic history of our family of languages, n Is on the whole 
a constant sound : that is to say, there is no other sound 
Into which it passes on a large scale ; but its loss, with 
accompanying vowel-modincatlon, has been a frequent 
process. 
2. As a medieval numeral, 90, and with a stroke 
over it (N), 90,000. 3. In chem., the symbol 
for nitrogen. 4. [I. c. or cap.~\ In math., an in- 
definite constant whole number, especially the 
degree of a quantic or an equation, or the order 
of a curve. 5. An abbreviation (a) of north 
or northern; (b) [/. c.] of noun (so used in this 
work) ; (c) [J. c.] of neuter; (d) [. c.] of nail (or 
iinil.-i), a measure. 
na (nil), adv. An obsolete or dialectal (Scotch) 
form of no 1 . 
Na. In chem., the symbol for sodium (NL. na- 
trium). 
N. A. An abbreviation (a) of North America, or 
North American; (b) of National Academy, or 
National Academician; (c) in microscopy, of 
numerical aperture VSIT objective). 
naamt, An archaic form of nanft. 
naambarr (nam'bar), n. [Australian.] The 
prii'kly ten-troo. Mfliileiien Kti//iliclinidcit, of New 
Smith Wales. It is a tall tree with hard wood, almost 
imperishable under ground, the bark in thin layers, used 
for thatching, etc. 
nab 1 (nab), r. t.; pret. and pp. nabbed, ppr. nab- 
bing. [Formerly a,\sok>uib, as var. of knap 1 ', but 
also nap, < Sw. nappa = Dan. nappe, catch, 
snatch at, seize: see ria/).] To catch or seize 
suddenly or by a sudden thrust and grasp, (a) 
To seize and make off with : as, to nab a purse, (ft) To cap- 
ture or arrest: as, he was tutbbed by the police. [Colloq.] 
Ay, but if so be a man 's nabbed, you know. 
Goldsmith, Good-natured Man, lit. 
nab 2 (nab), n. [For knab, var. of knap'*, as knob 
of knop. Cf. loel. nabbi, a knob, knoll.J 1. The 
summit of a mountain or rock ; any piece of 
rising ground : same as knob (c). 
Will you just turn this nab of heath, and walk into my 
house? B. Bronte, Wuthering Heights, xxl. (Danes.) 
2. The cock of a gun-lock. K. //. Knit/lit. 
3. A projecting box screwed to the jamb of a 
door, or to one door of a pair, to receive the 
latch or bolt, or both, of a rim-lock. 4t. A hat ; 
a head-covering. 
Kite. O(T with yonr hat ! 
Pear. Ise keep on my nab. 
FartpiJiar, Recruiting Officer, II. 3. 
There were those who preferred the Nab, or trencher 
hat, with the brim Hupping over their eyes. 
fielding, Jonathan Wild, II. 0. (Davit*.) 
Nabalus (nab'a-lus), n. [NL. (Cassini, 1826); 
according to Gray so called (in allusion to its 
lyrate leaves) < Or. v&ftta, a harp; according 
to others, from a N. Amer. name for the rattle- 
snake-root.] An important section of Prettan- 
tiies, containing all the American species, long 
regarded as a distinct genus of plants, the rat- 
tlesnake-roots. 
Nabataean, Nabatean (nab-a-te'an), a. and . 
[Also Nabathaan; < LL. Nabattn, Nabathtei, < 
Gr. Na/3oraM, also No/3dra<, < Heb. Nebhaydth : 
see def.] I. a. Of or pertaining to the Naba- 
i ii'ii s: as, Nabat<ean kings; Nabakean inscrip- 
tions. 
II. n. One of the Arab people dwelling in an- 
cient times on the east and southeast of Pales- 
tine, often identified with the people mentioned 
in the Old Testament under the name of Xebai- 
oth (Isa. Ix. 7), and in the first book of Macca- 
bees (v. 25) as Xabathites. Their ancestor Nebajoth 
is spoken of as the first-born of l8hmael(Oen. xxv. 13). They 
are referred to In Assyrian inscriptions of the seventh cen- 
tury B. c. , but the period of their greatest historical impor- 
tance was the century Immediately preceding and that im- 
mediately succeeding the Christian era. They seem to 
have been for a long time the chief traders between Egypt 
and the valley of the Euphrates. Important Nabatican 
inscriptions have been recovered, and the rock-inscrip- 
tions In the valleys around Mount Sinai have been attrib- 
uted to them. 
Nabathite (nab'a-thit), M. [As Nabath(<ean) + 
-ite 2 .] Same as Nabata-an. 
nab-cheatt, . [< ft 2 , 4, -I- cheafi.] A cap; a 
hat. 
Thus we throw up our nab-cheats, first for joy. 
Fletcher, Beggar's Bush, ii. 1. 
nabee (nab'e), . [. Iml. ] Same as hil.-ii. 
nabk (nabk), n. [Ar. (f).] One of the plants 
which is alleged to have furnished the crown 
of thorns, Zi:yph\is Spina-Christi, a bush of 
northern Africa and adjacent parts of Asia. 
nabob (na'bob), i. [Also (in defs. 1, 2) naicab; 
cf. F. nabob = Sp. nabob = Pg. nababo = It. iia- 
ba = G. nabob, a nabob (def. 3), < E.; < Hind. 
nawwdb, a deputy governor, < Ar. nawvab, pi. 
(used as sing., as a title of honor) of ndi&(> Turk. 
naib), a deputy, viceroy ; cf . naicb, supplying the 
place of another.] 1. A viceroy or governor of 
a province in India under the Mogul empire : as, 
the nabob of Oudh ; the nabob of Surat. The na- 
bob was, properly speaking, a subordinate pro- 
vincial governor, wno acted under a soubah or 
viceroy. 2. An honorary title occasionally 
conferred upon Mohammedans of distinction. 
3. An Anglo-Indian who has acquired great 
wealth and lives in Eastern luxury; hence, any 
very rich and luxurious man. [Colloq.] 
He that goes out an insignificant hoy in a few years re- 
turns a great Nabob. 
Burke, On Fox's E. I. Bill (Works, ed. 1852, III. 506). 
The Indian adventurer, or, as he was popularly called, 
the Nabob, was now a conspicuous and a very unpopular 
figure in Parliament. Lecky. Eng. In 18th Cent., xiii. 
nacarat (nak'a-rat), n. [< F. nacarat, < Sp. Pg. 
iiiii-antiln, < Sp. ndcar, Pg. nacar, mother-of- 
pearl, nacre: see nacre.] 1. Alight-red color: 
scarlet. 
A small box I had bought for its brilliancy, of sometroplc 
shell of the colour called nacarat. C. Bronte, Villette, xxix. 
2. A crape or fine linen fabric dyed fugitively 
of this tint, and used by women to give a rose- 
ate hue to their complexions. Brande. 
nachet, An obsolete variant of natch*. 
nache-bonet, . An obsolete variant of natcli- 
lnu : . 
nacker , . Another spelling of knacker?. 
nacket (nak'et), n. [Cf. OF. naquer,bite, gnaw.] 
1. A small cake or loaf. 2. A luncheon; a 
piece of bread eaten at noon. 
Trlptolemus . . . seldom saw hah* so good a dinner as 
his guest's luncheon, . . . and even tin- lady herself . . . 
"could not but say that the young gentleman's nacket 
looked very good." Scott, Pirate, xi. 
S927 
3. A small parcel or packet. [Scotch in all 
uses.] 
nacre (na'ker), n. [Formerly naker ; < F. nacre, 
OF. nacaire = Pr. necari = 8p. ndcar, ndcara = 
Pg. nacar = It. naccaro, nacehera, ynacchera. na- 
cre, < ML. nacara, nacrr, nacrum, a pearl-shell, 
nacre; cf. Kurdish nakdra, an ornament of dif- 
ferent colors, nacre, < Ar. nakir, hollowed out, 
mil i-iil. small round hollow, niikuni, hollow out ; 
Heb. ndkar, dig, nekdrdh, a pit. Cf. naker 1 .'] 
Mother-of-pearl. Nacre of commercial value is ob- 
tained from many sources, as the top-shells (Tvrbinida). 
tower-shells (Trocluda), earshells (Ualiotida), river-mus- 
sels (Unitiuida), pearl-oyster shells (Aviculida), etc. 
nacr6 (nak-ra ), a. [F., < nacre, nacre: see 
nacre.] Having an iridescence resembling that 
of mother-of-pearl; nacreous: a French word 
applied in English to decorative objects: as, 
nacre" porcelain. 
nacreous (na'kre-us), a. [< nacre + -o.] 1. 
Consisting of, resembling, or pertaining to 
nacre or mother-of-pearl : as, a nacreous luster ; 
a nacreous layer. 2. Producing or possessing 
nacre, as shells which have a certain luster or 
lustrous laver on their inner surface. 
naddet, nadt. Contracted Middle English forms 
of ne hadde, had not. Chaucer. 
naddert (nad'er), n. [< ME. nadder, naddre, ned- 
dre, an adder: see adder 1 .] The earlier form 
of adder 1 . 
U servant traytour, false, hoomly bewe, 
Lyk to the naddre [var. nedder] in bosom sly, untrewe. 
L'haucer, Merchant s Tale, 1. 542. 
The! speke not, but thel maken a maner of hlssynge, as 
a Neddre dothe. MandeviUe, Travels, p. 205. 
nadir (na'der), . [< ME. nadir, < OF. nadir, 
nadair, F. nadir = Sp. Pg. It. nadir, < Ar. Pers. 
nazir, in full narir asgamt, nadir, lit. corre- 
sponding to the zenith, < nazir, alike, corre- 
sponding (< nazara, be alike), + as-samt, the 
zenith, the azimuth: see azimuth, zenith.] 1. 
That point of the heavens which is vertically 
below anv station upon the earth, it is diametri- 
cally opposite to the zenith, or point of the heavens verti- 
cally above the station. The zenith and the nadir are thus 
the two pole* of the horizon, the nadir being the Inferior 
pole. 
The two theories differed as widely as the zenith from 
the nadir In their main principles. 
Hawthorne, Bllthedale Romance, vil. 
Hence 2. The lowest point; the point of ex- 
treme depression. 
The reign of William the Third, as Mr. Hallam happily 
says, was the Nadir of the national prosperity. 
Macaulay, UiUam's Const. Hist. 
Nadir of the sun, in aitron., the axis of the conical shad- 
ow cast by the earth. Crabb. I Hare-] 
nadir-basin (na'der-ba'sn), n. A vessel of 
mercury used for observing the nadir with a 
meridian-circle. 
nadorite (nad'or-it), n. [< Nador (see def.) + 
-ite 2 .] A mineral containing antimony, lead, 
oxygen, and chlorin, occurring in brownish or- 
thorhombic crystals at Djebel-Nador in Algeria. 
nadst, n. [A form of adz, due to misdivision of 
an aj.] An adz. 
An ax and a nods to make troffe for thy bogs. 
Turner, Husbandrle, p. 36. 
nae (na), a. A Scotch form of no 2 . 
naenia, . See nenia. 
naething (na'thing), n. A Scotch form of no- 
thin/i. 
naeve, neve 4 (nev), n. [< L. ncevus, mole, a birth- 
mark, spot, blemish : see neru.] 1. A blemish 
on the skin, as a mole or blotch ; a birth-mark; 
a mi' vns. 
So many spots, like tumt, our Venus soil? 
Drydm, Death of Lord Hastings, 1. 55. 
Hence 2. A blemish of any kind. 
Besides these outward litre* or open faults, errors, there 
be many Inward Infirmities. Burton, Anat, of Mel., p. 539. 
naevi, . Plural of HOT**. 
naevoid (ne'void). a. [< nterus + -oid.] Re- 
sembling a nsevus. 
