narrowness 
see narrow*, a.] The quality or condition of 
being narrow, in any sense of that word. 
narrow-nosed (nar'6-nozd), a. In zool., catar- 
rhiue : specifically applied to the Catarrhina or 
Old World apes and monkeys. 
narrow-SOUled (nar'6-sold), . Illiberal; de- 
void of generosity. 
narrow-work (iiar'o-werk), n. In coal-min- 
ing, all the work done in the mine in the way 
of opening it, previous to the removal of the 
pillars : nearly the same as dead-work, or that 
which is done preparatory to beginning to take 
out the coal. 
narry, . See nary. 
nartt. A contracted form of ne art, art not. 
Narthecium (nar-the'si-um), . [NL. (Mohring, 
1742), < Gr. vdpOtit, a tall hollow-stemmed um- 
belliferous plant : see narthex.] A genus of 
herbs of the order Liliacece, type of the tribe 
Nartheciece, known by its single style, stiff open 
flowers, and rigid linear leaves in two ranks, 
rising from a creeping rootstock. There are 4 spe- 
cies, of north temperate regions, with yellow flowers in ra- 
cemes. The name boy-asphodel, applied to the genus, be- 
longs especially to N. ossifmgum, the Lancashire aspho- 
del of England, and JV. Americanum, a rare plant of New 
Jersey. 
narthex (uar'theks), n. [NL., < L. narthex, < Gr. 
vapBrii;, a tall hollow-stemmed umbelliferous 
plant (L. ferula), also a waiid of this plant, a 
case, casket; in LGr. also as in def. 1.] 1. 
A part of an early Christian or an Oriental 
church or basilica, at the end furthest from the 
bema or sanctuary, and nearest to the main en- 
trance. It was originally separated from the nave merely 
by a railing or screen ; but after the earliest Christian cen- 
turies it was generally divided from the church proper by 
a complete wall, in which were the main entrance-doors 
to the church, the narthex thus forming a capacious and 
lofty vestibule of the full width of the church. In primi- 
tive times the narthex waa the part of the church to which 
the catechumens, the energurnens, and the class of peni- 
tents called audientes or hearers were admitted. Some- 
times it was set apart for the women of the congregation. 
Occasionally it was double, in which case the inner division 
was called the esonarthex and the outer division the exo- 
narthex. In the church-building of western Europe, in 
certain types of monastic churches, notably in those of the 
Benedictines and Cistercians, the narthex persisted until 
the end of the twelfth century, and often formed a very 
important architectural feature, as in the splendid example 
in the great abbey-church of Vezelay, France. Also called 
antechurch, antenave, pronaos. See diagram under bema. 
2. In antiq., a small box or casket for unguents 
or perfumes. 3. [cap.'] An old genus of um- 
belliferous plants, now referred to Ferula. See 
asafetida. 
narwet, a. and adv. A Middle English form of 
narrow 1 . 
narwhal (nar'hwal), n. [Also narwhale, normal; 
= F. narval = Gr"narwal, < Sw. Dan. narhval = 
Icel. nahvalr, a narwhal; the Icel. form is appar. 
lit. ' a corpse-whale,' < nar (nom.; in comp. -), 
a corpse, + hvalr = E. whale, and is usually sup- 
posed to be so called from its pale color; but 
the term seems unusual, and the form does not 
suit the Sw. Dan. narhval. The name may be 
a native (Greenland?) term adapted to Icel.; 
of. Greenland anarnak, a kind of whale. Of. wal- 
rus, AS. horshwcel, in which the element whale 
appears.] A cetacean, Monodon monoceros, of 
the family Delphinida! and the subfamily Del- 
3936 
senses modern, < F. nasal = Sp. Pg. nasal = 
It. nasale, < NL. nasalis, of the nose, < L. - 
sws=E. nose 1 : see nose 1 .] I. a. 1. Of or per- 
taining to the nose or nostrils ; narial; rhinal. 
2. Uttered with resonance in the nose, or 
with admission of the expelled air into the 
nasal passages, by relaxation or dropping of 
the palatal veil that shuts them off from the 
pharynx. A nasal sound uttered with complete closure 
of the month-organs is a nasal stop, or check, or mute, or 
oftenest called a nasal merely : such in English are ?i 
m, ng, uttered respectively in the mouth-positions of a, 
b, g. There are apt to be in any language as many such 
as there are positions of mute-closure ; thus, in Sanskrit 
there are five. A nasal uttered in a vowel-position of the 
mouth-organs is a nasal vowel : such are the French an, 
on, in, tin, the Portuguese do, etc. Nasal semivowels are 
also possible. And 
sometimes the di_V f ST 
whole utterance 
is rendered more 
or less nasal (the 
"nasal twang") by 
habitual relaxa- 
tion of the velar 
closure. 
^W-aininr* i-n section just to one side of septum : left-hand 
pertaining tO ng - jre outer wall of right cavity ; right-hand 
the nasus or ' 
clypeus. Na- 
sal bone, a nasal. 
nash-gab 
PA 
Nasal Fossa of Man, 
figure, outer wall of right cavity ; right 
figure, inner or right wall of left cavity, being 
the left side of the median septum. 
/, olfactory nerve, its filaments passing 
Kahau, or Proboscis-monkey (Nasalis larvatus 
See II., s. Na- 
sal canal, crest, 
through 2, cribriform plate of ethmoid, t< 
ramify upon Schneiderian membrane (/ 
brain-cavity of th 
low interior or cav- 
ity of the nose. In man the nasal fossa; are right and left, 
separated by the nasal septum, and each is subdivided into 
three fossfe or meatus, superior, middle, and inferior. 
nasality (na-zal'i-ti), n. [< nasal + -ity.] The 
state or quality of being nasal. 
The Indian sound differs only in the greater nasality of 
the first letter. Sir W. Jones, Orthog. of Asiatick Words. 
nasalization (na"zal-i-za'shon), n. [< nasalize 
j?"paiate + -ation.'] The act of nasalizing or uttering 
with a nasal sound. 
. nasalized, 
To 
as the sound of a letter or syllable 
by modification or addition. 
II. intrans. To speak or pronounce with a 
nasal sound ; speak through the nose. 
(ft) In ornith., the depressions upon the bill of a bird in nasa lly (na'zal-i), adv. In"a nasal manner; by 
which the external nostrils open. These are usually well- " 
m'ark'edTosTee'at'or near the base ofthe bill, on either side or through the nose. 
of the culmen, naked or filled in with feathers, or arched nasard (naz ard), n. [= bp. nasarao, 
over by an operculum or nasal scale ; their characters are sard, an organ-stop (cf . OF. nasart, 
often of zoological importance. See cuts and diagram un- rt f ^ helmet which protected th 
derftiK. Nasal helmet, the helmet of the early middle ?____._,., .. ,\ / ^ ".._ 
ages to which a nasal was attached. See II., 1. Nasal 
index. See craniometry. Nasal meatus. See meatus. 
F. na- 
nazart, 
e nose: 
< L. nasus = E. wose 1 .] 
In organ-building, a mutation-stop, usually sim- 
L. nasus (F. nez), nose : see nose. 
Mean; foolish. Daisies. 
Cf. nasard.'] 
What ! such a nazardly Pigwiggen ! 
Cotton, Burlesque upon Burlesque. 
Nasal plate, in herpet., one of the special plates of the j] ar to the twelfth. Also nasarde, and corrupt- 
head of a reptile through or between which the nc i ly nassar ^ na zard, nazad, nasat. 
NM^ a sc^ 1 'i^^^, P th?hornyTp^ium e o""w 1 rd ; 8 nasardly (naz'ard-li), a. [< *nasard, appar. < 
nostril ; a naricorn ; a rhinotheca. Nasal septum, the OF. nasarde, a flout, mock, a rap on the nose, < 
partition between the right and left nasal fossa;, in man ' 
complete and consisting of the perpendicular plate of 
the ethmoid bone or mesethmoid, the vomer, and a large 
cartilage called triangular. Nasal spine, a spinous 
process of bone of the nose. Three such are named in 
I ppor < Ung'7he a two nSal^nes^V^'a''^^''^ median nascency (nas'en-si), re. [= F. naissance = Pr. 
process of each maxillary bone, together forming one naissensa, naysensa, naisquenza = OSp. nascen- 
spine which projects^ the basejrf the outerjiostrils or c j a _ {(-_ naseenza, < L. nascentia, birth, origin, < 
nascen(t-)s, ppr. of nasci, be born: see nascent.'] 
Origin, beginning, or production. 
.lascent (nas'ent), a. [= F. naissant = Pg. It. 
anterior process has some ethnological significance, being nascen t e < L'. nascen(t-)s, ppr. of nasci, orig. 
best developed in the higher races of men, and is also ., ' hfi horll h.^}^, ^ rh . < ,/ ma [ bea r. 
one of several datum-points in craniometry. Nasal su- 
ture, in entom., the impressed line dividing the clypeus 
from the front : same as clypeal suture (which see, under 
clypeal). Nasal tube, in ornith., a tubular naricorn or 
rhinotheca, such as oc- 
curs in the petrel fam- 
ily and some of the goat- 
suckers. 
II. n. 1. Apart of 
a helmet which pro- 
tects the nose and 
adjacent parts of the 
face. It was made in 
terior nares, at the root of the uvula. 
cesses are sometimes called preiMsal and postnasal. 
The last two pro 
The naSCCHt (nas'ent), a. 
'' 
Narwhal {Moitodon moHOCfros). 
phinapterina; ; the sea-unicorn, unicorn-whale, 
or unicorn-fish. One of the teeth of the male is enor- 
mously developed into a straight spirally fluted tusk from 
6 to 10 feet long. This tusk is sometimes almost as long 
as the rest of the creature, and furnishes a valuable ivory. 
The narwhal also yields a superior quality of oil. It in- 
habits arctic seas. See also cut under Monodon. 
nary (ner'i), a. [Also narry, and formerly 
narro, narrow ; cf. ary, formerly also ery, arra, 
arrow.] A corruption of ne'er a, never a (the 
article being sometimes erroneously repeated 
after the word in which it is contained). 
I warrants me, there is narrow a one of all those officer 
fellows but looks upon himself to be as good as arrow a 
'squire of 500Z. a-year. Fielding, Tom Jones, viii. '2. 
As for master and the young squire, they have as yet 
had narro glimpse of the new light. 
Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, W. Jenkins to Mrs. Mary 
[Jones, p. 188. 
nasH. An obsolete contraction of ne was, was 
not. 
nas' 2 t. An obsolete contraction of ne has, has 
not. 
nasal (na'zal), a. and . [As a noun, in def. 1, 
ME. aseW,"< OF. nasal, nancl, na:el, a part of 
the helmet which protected the nose ; in other 
various forms. Also 
called nose-piece. See 
also cut under helmet. 
'gnasoi, be born, inceptive verb, < / O na , bear, 
related to / gen, bear, beget, = E. ken 2 : see 
fcere 2 , genus, etc. From L. nasci are ult. E. nas- 
cent, naissant, renascent, renascence, renaissance, 
etc., natal 1 , nation, native, etc., agnate, cognate, 
etc.] Beginning to exist or to grow ; commen- 
cing development; coming into being; incipi- 
ent. 
The asperity of tartarous salts, and the fiery acrimony 
of alcaline salts, irritating and wounding the nerves, pro- 
duce nascent passions and anxieties in the soul. 
Bp. Berkeley, Siris, 86. 
Nasals (adjustable), I3th century. 
Neuertheles he a-raught hym vpon the helme, and kutte 
of the naseU. Merlin (E. E. T. S.X iii. 629. 
2. A sound uttered through or partly through 
the nose ; especially, a nasal mute or stop, as m, 
Hj n g, 3. In anat., one of the nasal bones. In 
the higher vertebrates they are a pair of bones of the sur- 
face of the skull, in relation with the frontal, lacrymal, or 
maxillary bones, covering in more or less of the nasal cav- 
ity. They are very variable in shape in different animals, less 
so in position and relations ; in man they form thebridgeof 
the nose. In the osseous fishes different bones have been 
Wiping away the nascent moisture from my brow. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends (2d ed.), Pref., p. xii. 
Nascent State, in chem., the condition of an element at 
the instant it is set free from a combination in which it 
has previously existed. 
z'ber"i), . ; pi. naseberries (-iz). 
y, nisberry, an accom. form, simu- 
fating terry 1 (as also in barberry), < Sp. nispero, 
medlar, alsonaseberry-tree, < L. mespilus, med- 
lar: see medlar.'] The tree Achras Sapota, or 
its fruit. See Achras, bully-tree, chicle-gum, 
and sapodilla Naseberry bully-tree, a name of 
two West Indian trees, Achras Sideroxylon, commonly the 
tallest tree of Jamaican woods, and Lucuma multijlora, the 
latter distinguished as broad-leafed, the former sometimes 
as mountain. 
identified as representatives of the nasals. According to 
Cuvier, they are a pair of separated small tubiiorm bones 
in front of the frontals, called by others turtinals. Ac- , . , _ ,, . -.IT , 
cording to Owen, they are represented by an unpaired naseberry-bat (naz ber-1-bat), It. A \\est Ill- 
projecting bone in front of the frontals, more generally dian insectivorous and frugivorous bat ot the 
considered to be the ethmoid. The nasals were regarded genus Stenoderma or Artibeus, as A. jamaicensis 
rhinence halic^'''^^^?!"?^^ or ^- persj)icill-atus : so called from its fondness 
\iiofaciaF Vrotalus, Lepidosiren, Anura, and holorhinal. for the naseberry. 
4. Iii herpet., a nasal plate or shield. nasethmoid (na-zeth moid), . [< L. nasus, = K. 
Nasalis (na-sa'lis), n. [NL., < L. nasus = E. nose 1 , + E. ethmoid.'] Of or pertaining to the 
HOW! : see ' nasal.'] A remarkable genus of nasal and the ethmoid bone : as, the nasctlnuoiil 
semuopitheciue monkeys, containing the pro- suture. 
boscis-monkey of Borneo, XciiniopHliecus nasa- nash-gab (nash'gab), n. Insolent talk; im- 
UeoTNasallslaTvatus. Geoffrey Hi. Hilairc. See pertinent chatter. Scott, Old Mortality, viii. 
cut in next column. [Scotch. | 
