oppression 
4132 
2. A feeling of weight ; that state in which opprobrium (o-pro'bri-um), n. [Formerly op- 
one experiences a sensation of weight or pres- probri/ (<j. v.); < L. opprobrium, a reproach, 
sure; hence, lassitude; dullness of spirits; de- scandal, disgrace, < ob, upon, + probrum, dis- 
presxion. grace.] 1. Imputation of shameful conduct ; 
Drowsiness, oppression, heaviness, and lassitude are signs insulting reproach ; contumely ; scurrility. 2. 
of a too plentiful meal. Arkuthnot, Aliments. Disgrace ; infamy. = Syn. 2. Obloquy, Infamy, etc. See 
3. The act of 
reasonable or unjust 
authority or power ' 
severe manner; tk 
cruel measures or exactions; tyrannical or cruel 
exercise of power. 
So I returned, and considered all oppressions that are 
dune under the sun. Eccl. iv. 1. 
Violence 
Proceeded, and oppression, and sword-law, 
Through all the plain, and refuge none was found. 
Milton, P. L., xi. 67-2. 
4. An oppressed state or condition ; the state 
of those who are overburdened or oppressed, 
or treated with unjustness or undue severity, 
by persons in authority or power. 
When we cried unto the Lord God of our fathers, the 
Lord heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and 
our labour, and our oppression. Deut. xxvi. 7. 
Retire ; we have engaged ourselves too far. 
Ceesar himself has work, and our oppression 
Exceeds what we expected. 
Shak., A. andC., iv. 7. 2. 
5. Whatever oppresses or causes hardship ; an 
unjust or unreasonable imposition, exaction, or 
measure ; a hardship. 
We are all subject to the same accidents ; and when we 
see any under particular oppression, we should look upon 
it as a common lot of human nature. Addison. 
6f. Ravishment; rape. Chaucer. =Syn. 3 and 4. 
Oppression, Tyranny, Despotism, cruelty, persecution. Op- 
pression is the general word for abuse of power over an- 
other, pressing him down in his lights or interests. 
oppugn (o-pun'), v. t. [< F. oppugner = Sp. 
opugnar = Pg. oppugnar = It. oppugnare, < L. 
oppugnare, fight against, < ob, against, + pug- 
nare, fight, < pugna, a fight: see pugnacious. 
Cf. expugn, impugn.] 1. To fight against ; op- 
pose; resist. 
Every one 
Moues by his power, lives by his permission, 
And can doe nothing if the prohibition 
Of the Almighty doe oppunne. 
Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 3. 
Sins of malice, and against the Holy Ghost, oppugn the 
greatest grace with the greatest spite. 
Jtr. Taylor, Works (ed. 1886), I. 729. 
2. To attack ; oppose, as by argument ; make 
an assault upon. 
How can we call him "Christ's vicar "that resisteth 
Christ oppugneth his verity, persecuteth his people ? 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Soc., 1853), II. 146. 
I justify myself 
On every point where cavillers like this 
Oppugn my life. 
Browning, Bishop Blougram's Apology- 
oppugnancy (o-pug'nan-si), . [< oppugnan(t) 
T -<V/.] Opposition; resistance; contention. 
Take but degree away, untune that string, 
And, hark, what discord follows ! each thing meets 
In mere oppugnancy. Shak., T. and C., i. 3. 111. 
-_-.. Ty- 
ranny and despotism are forms of oppression, namely abuse Oppugnant (o-pug'nant), (t. and n. [= It. op- 
of governmental or autocratic power. Oppression is ap- pugnante, < L. oppugnan(t-)s, ppr. of oppug- 
plied to the state of those oppressed, as tyranny and des- 
potism are not. See despotism. 
oppressive (q-pres'iv), a. [< F. oppressif= Sp. 
oprexivo = Pg. oppressive = It. oppressiro, < 
ML. oppressivus, oppressive, < L. opprimere, 
pp. oppressus, oppress: see oppress.'] 1. Un- 
reasonably burdensome; unjustly severe: as, 
Re- 
ware, fight against: see oppugn.] I. a. 
sisting; opposing; repugnant; hostile. 
It is directly oppugnant to the laws established. 
Darcie, Annals of Queen Elizabeth, p. 86. 
II. n. One who oppugns ; an opponent. Cole- 
ridge. [Rare.] 
oppressive" taxes ; oppressive "exactions of ser- Oppugnationt (op-ug-na'shon),n. [= Sp. opug- 
vice. 2. Given or inclined to oppression ; ty- nation = Pg. oppugnacao = It. oppugnazione, 
rannical: as, an oppressive government. 3. ^ 
Heavy; overpowering; overwhelming; burden- 
some ; causing discomfort or uneasiness : as, 
The great siege, cruel oppugnation, and piteous taking 
of the noble and renowmed citie of Rhodes. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 72. 
oppugnatio(n-), an assault, < oppugnare, 
fight against: see oppugn.] Opposition; resis- 
tance; assault. 
oppressive grief or woe. 
To ease the soul of one oppressive weight, 
This quits an empire, that embroils a state. 
Pope, Moral Essays, i. 105. oppugner (o-pu'ner), . One who attacks or 
oppressively (o-pres'iv-li), a<fe. In an oppres- assails by act or by argument ; anopposer; an 
sive manner ; with unreasonable severity. 
oppressiveness (o-pres'iv-nes), n. The charac- 
ter of being oppressive. 
oppressor (o-pres'or), n. [< ME. oppressour, < 
, . . , 
OF. (and F.) oppresseur = Sp. opresor = Pg. 
< 
opponent. 
These sports have many oppugners, whole volumes writ 
against them. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 316. 
He was withal a great Oppugner of Superstition. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 51. 
oppressor = It. oppressore, < L. oppressor, a opsimathy (op-sim'a-thi), n. ; pi. opsimathies 
crusher, destroyer (oppressor), < opprimere, (-thiz). [< Gr. oi^a&ia, late learning/ oi/^aftfc, 
pp. oppressus, oppress: see oppress.] One who late in learning, < btj>e, after a long time, late, 4- 
ODTlTPSSfiS. OT PYPWlQPe Tinrlim aoTtn*i-fi7 \r\ f lin ,ir,i>ft A .>,.,>,, ,,f,ftc.~.,. ! ~\ I .. i ..!... i : J __ 
oppresses, or exercises undue severity in the 
use of power or authority. 
Deliver him that suflereth wrong from the hand of the 
oppressor. Ecclus. iv. 9. 
oppressuret (o-presh'ur), n. [= It. oppressura ; 
as oppress + -ure, after pressure.] Oppression. 
Bp. Socket, Abp. Williams (1693), II. 222. 
opprobrious (o-pro'bri-us), a. [= Sp. oprobioso 
uavddveiv, fiatielv, learn.] Late education ; edu- 
cation late in life ; something learned late. 
Opiimathie, which is too late beginning to learn, was 
counted a great vice, and very unseemly amongst moral 
and natural men. Hale, Golden Remains, p. 218. 
Whatever philological learning he possesses is, on the 
contrary, in all seeming, the latest of opsimathies. 
F. Hall, False Philol., p. 73. 
proachful; expressive of opprobrium or dis- 
grace; contumelious; abusive; scurrilous: as, 
an opprobrious epithet. 
The man that is accustomed to opprobrious words will 
never be reformed all the days of his life. 
Ecclus. xxiii. IB. 
2f. Ill-reputed ; associated with shame and dis- 
grace ; rendered odious ; infamous. 
dainty, in a more general sense meat, flesh, 
orig. boiled meat (< tyem, boil, seethe), + uavia, 
madness: see mania.'] A mania or morbid 
love for some particular aliment. 
opsomaniac (op-so-ma'ni-ak), n. [< opsomania 
+ -ac, after maniac.'] One who exhibits opso- 
mania. 
opsonium (op-so'ni-um), n. ; pi. opsonia (-a). 
[L. opsonium, < Gr. irfyuviw, provisions, provi- 
sion-money, < 6-ij/ov, anything eaten with bread.] 
In class, antiq., anything eaten with bread to 
give it relish, especially fish; in general, a 
relish. 
jsu,u.< The Jow' were very limited onions and water- 
= Syn. 1. Condemnatory, offensive. ' cresses. Encyc. Brit., XIII. 257. 
opprobriously (o-pro'bri-us-li), adv. In an op- opt. In gram., an abbreviation of optative. 
brious manner; with abuse and insult; with optablet (op'ta-bl), a. [< L. optabilis, to be 
wished for, desirable, < optare, wish for, desire: 
opprobriousness (o-pro'bri-us-nes), . The see opiate.] Desirable. Cockeram. 
er of being opprobrious; scurrility; op- optatet (op'tat), v. t. [< L. optatus, pp. of op- 
tare (> It. ottare = Pg. Sp. optar = F. optef), 
A righteous man is better that hath none images for he choose, select, wish for, desire ; akin to oninari, 
* from opprobrimutnes. Barnes, Workes, p. 344. suppose, think, and to apisci, obtain, Skt / ap, 
The wisest heart 
f Solomon he led by fraud to build 
His temple right against the temple of God, 
On that opprobrious hill. Miltnn, P. L., 
I will not here defile 
My unstain'd verse with his opprobrious name. 
403. 
Daniel. 
optic 
obtain: see opine, apt.] To wish for; choose; 
desire. Cotgrun'. 
optationt (op-ta'shon), n. [< OF. optation, < 
L. optaiio(n-), a choosing, in rhet. the expres- 
sion of a wish, < optare, choose : see optate.] A 
desiring; the expression of a wish. 
To this belong . . . optation, obtestation, interrogation. 
Peaeham, Garden of Eloquence (1577), sig. I 1 , iii. 
[(Latham.) 
optative (op'ta-tiv), a. and . [= P. optatif = 
Sp. Pg. optative = It. ottativo, < LL. optativus, 
serving to express a wish (modus optativus, tr. 
Gr. <J evKTiKJ/ (sc. ty/c/Uovf ) or TO CVKTIKUV, the opta- 
tive mode), < L. optare, pp. optatus, wish: see 
optate.] I. a. 1. Expressing or expressive of 
desire or wish. 
In the office of the communion . . . the church's form 
of absolution is optative and by way of intercession. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 260. 
2. Expressing wish or desire by a distinct 
grammatical form; pertaining to or constitut- 
ing the mode named from this use : as, the op- 
tative mode; optative constructions Optative 
mode, in gram., that form of the verb by which wish or 
desire (with other derived relations) is expressed, f orming 
part of the original system of the Indo-European or Aryan 
verb, and more or less retained in the later languages, espe- 
cially the Greek and Sanskrit: its sign is an i-element be- 
tween the tense-sign and the personal endings. 
II. n. 1. Something to be desired. [Rare.] 
By these optatives and potentials man's inquiry may be 
the more awake. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 176. 
2. In gram., the optative mode of a verb. Ab- 
breviated opt. 
Optatively(op'ta-tiv-li),a<to. 1. In an optative 
manner; by desire; by the expression of a 
wish. Bp. Hall. 2. By means of the optative 
mo_de; in the optative mode. 
optic (op'tik), a. and n. [Formerly opticlc, op- 
tique; < F. optique = Sp. optico = Pg. optico = 
It. ottico, < NL. options, < Gr. 67rr6f, of seeing 
(1} birrtKtf (> L. optice, > It. ottica = Pg. Sp. op- 
tica = F. optique) or ra m-nna, optics), < "on-rdf, 
verbal adj. of / on (fut. o\l>ea(iai, perf. OTTUTTQ), 
see (> 6\l>, uty, eye, face, 6<f>/c, seeing, vision, 
sight, 6/tua, eye, o^ftztyof, eye, etc.); a var. of 
\/ OK, in 6KKOf = L. oculus, eye: see ophthalmia, 
ocular, and eye 1 .] I. a. 1. Relating or pertain- 
ing to vision or sight; visual; subservient to 
the faculty or function of seeing. 
The moon, whose orb 
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views 
At evening, from the top of Fesole, 
Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, 
Rivers, or mountains in her spotty globe. 
Milton, P. L., i. 288. 
2. Of or pertaining to the eye as the organ 
of vision; ocular; ophthalmic. 3. Relating to 
the science of optics. 
Where our master handleth the contractions of pillars, 
we have an optick rule that the higher they are the less 
should be always their diminution aloft, because the eye 
itself doth naturally contract all objects, more or less, ac- 
cording to the distance. 
Sir H. Wotton, Elem. of Architecture, i. 
Basal optic ganglion. See ganglion. Brachia of the 
optic lobes. See brachium. Dispersion of tne optic 
axes. See dispersion. Optic angle, (a) The angle in- 
cluded between the two lines drawn from the two extrem- 
ities of an object to the first nodal point of the eye; the 
visual angle, (b) The angle which the visual axes of the 
eyes make with one another as they tend to meet at some 
distance before the eyes, (c) The angle between the optic 
axes in a biaxial crystal. Optic axis, (a) Seeaxftl. (b) 
The line in a doubly refracting crystal in the direction of 
which no double refraction occurs. Crystals belonging to 
the tetragonal and hexagonal systems have a single optic 
axis, coincident with their vertical crystallographical axis : 
hence they are said to be uniaxial. Crystals belonging to 
the orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic systems have 
two optic axes, and hence are biaxial. Optic chiasm, in 
anat., the commissure, decussation, or chiasm of the right 
and left optic nerves. See chiasm, and cuts under brain 
and corpus. Optic commissure. Sam e as optic Maim. 
Optic cup, a concave or cup-like area formed by the 
involution of the distal extremity of the primary optic 
vesicle. Optic disk, the slightly 
oval area on the retina formed by the 
entrance of the optic nerve. It is 
somewhat elevated, and is also called 
the optic papilla, colliculus nervi op- 
tici, and porus opticus. Optic fora- 
men. See foramen. Optic gan- 
glia, the corpora quadrigemina 
or bigemina. Optic groove, the 
groove lodging the chiasm on the 
upper surface of the sphenoid bone, 
in front of the olivary eminence. 
Optic lobes (lobi optici), the dorsal 
part of the midbrain or mesencepha- 
lon. The lobes are paired, right and 
left, and hence called corpoi-a bige- 
inina, in animals below mammals. 
In man and other mammals each 
lobe is also marked by a cross-fur- 
row, so that the two lobes form four 
protuberances whence they are call- 
ed corpora quadngemina, and consti- D, cerebellum. 
Brain of Pike (Esox 
fitcfus), anosseousfish, 
with optic lobes, C, as 
large as the cerebral 
