rhamphothecal 
rhamphothecal (ram-fo-the'kal), . [< rham- 
pliotlitea + -al.~\ (Sheathing "or covering the 
beak, as integument; of or pertaining to the 
rhamphotheca. 
Rhamphus(ram'fus>, n. [NL. (Clairville, 1798, 
as Eamphus), < Gr. pa/ujmi;, a curved beak.] A 
genus of coleopterous insects, giving name to 
the Bhamphidee,\>ut usually placed in the family 
Curculionidx, having a few European species.' 
rhaphe, n. See raphe. 
Rhaphidia, Rhaphidiidae. See Saphidia, etc. 
Rhaphidopsis (raf-i-dop'sis), . [NL. (Ger- 
staeeker, 1855), < Gr. pa<j>if (pajuti-), needle, + 
by/if, face, aspect.] A genus of exclusively Af- 
rican longicorn beetles, of eleven known spe- 
cies and generally handsome coloration. 
Rhaphiosaurus (raf"i-o-sa'rus), n. [NL., < Gr. 
pd(j>iov, a little needle or pin (dim. of paif/ic, 
needle, pin), + oai'/wf, a lizard.] A genus of 
fossil lizards of the Cretaceous period, so called 
from the acicular teeth. Usually Eaphiosa a rim. 
rhaphis, . See raphis. 
Rhapidophyllum (rap'i-do-fil'um), n. [NL. 
( Wendlana and Drude, 1876), < Gr. pams (panvt!-), 
a rod, + fvtfjov, leaf.] A genus of palms of the 
tribe Cori/phese. It is characterized by glcose, partly 
dioecious flowers, with three broad and imbricated petals, 
six stamens with large linear and versatile anthers, and an 
ovary of three free ovoid carpels, tapering into a short re- 
curved stigma, only one carpel usually ripening, forming 
aone-seeded nut tipped by a persistent subterminal stigma 
and composed of a hard crust covered with a fibrous peri- 
carp which is clad in a loose wool. It is distinguished 
from the allied and well-known genus Chamserops by the 
fruit and by its spines. The only species, It. Hyutrix 
(Chamsrops Hystni), is the blue palmetto of Florida, 
etc., a low palm with the leaves deeply plaited and cut, 
and the minute satfron flowers sessile on the branches of 
the two to five spadices, which are surrounded by woolly 
spathes. See blue palmetto, under palmetto. 
Rhapis (ra'pis), M. [NL. (Linnseus filius, 1789), 
so called in allusion to the wand-like stem; < Gr. 
fla-rrit;, a rod.] A genus of palms of the tribe 
Corypheae. It is characterized by a fruit of one to three 
small obovoid one-seeded carpels, each tipped by a termi- 
nal style, with a fleshy pericarp which is fibrous within, 
and with a soft endocarp, and by flowers mostly dioecious, 
sessile and solitary on the slender branches of a leafy spa- 
dix, with a three-cleft valvate corolla, anthers opening 
outward, and three distinct ovary-carpels borne on an 
elongated pedicel or carpophore. There are 4 or 5 species, 
natives of China and Japan. They are low palms with 
reed-like stems springing up in dense tufts from the same 
root, each stem wrapped in a network of fibers which are 
the remnants of leaf-sheaths. They bear alternate and ter- 
minal roundish leaves, irregularly and radiately parted 
into linear, wedge-shaped, or elliptical segments with con- 
spicuous transverse veins. The yellowish flowers are borne 
on a spadix which is shorter than the leaves and is sheath- 
ed along ita axis with deciduous bracts, the whole at first 
inclosed within two or three membranous spathes. The 
slender stems of R. flabelliformis, the ground-ratan, are 
available for numerous uses (see ratan), and the plant is 
one of the best for table decoration. K. humOis is a beau- 
tiful species, rare in collections. 
lit. 'Pontic rha': see rlia and Pontic, and cf. 
rhubarb.] Ehubarb: chiefly in phar. in com- 
position, rhapontic-root. 
rhapsode (rap'sod), . [= F. rapsode. rhapsode 
= Sp. rapsoda = It. rapsodo, < Gr. pa^Ms, a 
writer of epic poetry, a bard who recites poetry, 
lit. ' one who strings or joins songs together,' < 
pdirreiv (paifj-), stitch together, fasten together. 
+ v&>i, song, ode: see ode 1 .] A rhapsodist. 
I venture to think that the rhapsodes incurred the dis- 
pleasure of Kleisthenesby reciting, not the Homeric Iliad, 
but the Homeric Thebais and Epigoni. 
Grote, Hist. Greece, i. 21, note. 
rhapsodert (rap'so-der), n. [< rhapsode + -er*.~] 
A rhapsodist. 
By this occasion (printing my own poems] I am made a 
rhapsoder of mine own rags, and that cost me more dili- 
gence to seek them than it did to make them. 
Donne, Letters, li. 
rhapsodic (rap- sod 'ik), a. [= F. rapsodiqve, 
rhapsodique, < Gr. patli^iHiKof, < pa-fyuSia, rhapsody: 
see rhapsody.] Same as rhapsodical. 
rhapsodical (rap-sod'i-kal), a. [< rhapsodic + 
-alT] Of, pertaining to, "or consisting of rhap- 
sody; of the nature of rhapsody ; hence, enthu- 
siastic to extravagance ; exaggerated in senti- 
ment and expression ; gushing. 
They (Prynne's works] ... by the generality of Scholars 
are looked upon to be rather rapmdical and confused than 
any way polite or concise. Wood, Athens Oxon., II. 43. 
The odes of Jean Baptiste Rousseau ... are animated, 
without being rhapsodical. H. Blair, Rhetoric, xxxix. 
rhapsodically (rap-sod'i-kal-i), adv. In tin- 
manner of rhapsody. 
rhapsodise, r. See rhapsodize. 
rhapsodist (rap'so-dist), . [= F. rapsodisti: 
rlntpsodiste = Sp. Pg. It. rapsodista; as rhapsode 
5148 
+ -i.s'<.] 1. Among the ancient Greeks, one 
who composed, recited, or sang rhapsodies ; es- 
pecially, one who made it his profession to re- 
cite or sing the compositions of Homer and 
other epic poets. 
While the latter |the poet] sang, solely or chiefly, his 
own compositions to the accompaniment of his lyre, the 
rhapsodist . . . rehearsed . . . the poems of others. 
W. Mure, Lang, and Lit. of Anc. Greece, II. ii. 4. 
The rhapsodist did not, like the early minstrel, use the 
accompaniment of the harp : he gave the verses in a flow- 
ing recitative, bearing in his hand a branch of laurel, the 
symbol of Apollo's inspiration. Jincyc. Brit., XI. 137. 
2. One who recites or sings verses for a liveli- 
hood; one who makes and recites verses ex- 
tempore. 
As to the origin of this [harvest] song whether it came 
in Its actual state from the brain of a single rhapsoditt, or 
was gradually perfected by a school or succession of rhap- 
nodMs1 am ignorant. George Eliot, Adam Bede, liii. 
3. One who speaks or writes with exaggerated 
sentiment or expression; one who expresses 
himself with more enthusiasm than accuracy 
or logical connection of ideas. 
Let me ask our rhapsodist, "if you have nothing . . . 
but the beauty and excellency and loveliness of virtue to 
preach, . . . and ... no future rewards or punishments 
. . . how many . . . vicious wretches will you ever re- 
claim?" Watts, Improvement of Mind, I. x. 11. 
rhapsodistic (rap-so-dis'tik), n. [< rhapsodist 
+ -if.] Same as rhajinodical. 
rhapsodize (rap'so-dlz), v. ; pret. and pp. rhap- 
soaized, ppr. rhapsodizing. [< rhapsode + -ize."\ 
1. intrana. To recite rhapsodies ; act as a rhap- 
sodist ; hence, to express one's self with poetic 
enthusiasm ; speak with an intenseness or ex- 
aggeration due to strong feeling. 
Yon will think me rhapsodising; but . . . one cannot 
fix one's eyes on the commonest natural production with- 
out finding food for a rambling fancy. 
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, xxii. 
Walter, the young Franconian knight, with his rhapso- 
dising and love-making, needs a representative with a 
good voice and a good appearance. 
The Academy, No. 898, p. 46. 
II. trans. To sing or narrate or recite as a 
rhapsody; rehearse in the manner of a rhapsody. 
Upon the banks of the Garonne, . . . where I now sit 
rhapsodizing all these affairs. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vii. 28. 
Also spelled rhapsodise. 
rhapsodomancy (rap'so-do-man-si), >i. [< F. 
rhapsodomancie = Sp. Pg. rapsodomancia, < Gr. 
pa^jj<f>o6f, a rhapsodist (see rhapsode), + fiavreia, 
divination.] Divination by means of verses. 
There were various methods of practising this rkapso- 
domancy. Sometimes they wrote several verses or sen- 
tences of a poet on so many pieces of wood, paper, or the 
like, shook them together in an urn, and drew out one. 
. . . Sometimes they cast dice on a table on which verses 
were written, and that on which the die lodged contain- 
ed the prediction. A third manner was by opening a book, 
and pitching on some verse at first sight. This method 
they particularly called the Sortes Prenestinse, and after- 
wards, according to the poet thus made use of, Sortes 
Homericse, Sortes Virgilianre, <c. Bees, Cyclopaedia, 
rhapsody (rap'so-di), .; pi. rhapsodies (-diz). 
[Formerly also rhapsodie, rapsodie; < OF. rap- 
sodie, F. rapsodie, rhapsodie = Sp. Pg. It. rap- 
sodia, < L. rhapsodia, < Gr. paij^dia, the reciting 
of epic poetry, a part of an epic recited at a 
time, a rhapsody, a tirade, < pai/y<!of, a rhapso- 
dist: see rhapsode."] 1. The recitation of epic 
poetry; hence, a short epie poem, or such a 
part of a longer epic as could be recited at 
one time : as, the Homeric rhapsodies. 
A rhapsody 
Of Homer's. 
B. Jonson, tr. of Horace's Art of Poetry, 1. 184. 
Rhapsody, originally applied to the portions of the poem 
habitually allotted to different performers in the order of 
recital, afterwards transferred to the twenty-four books 
into which each work [the Iliad and the Odyssey] was 
permanently divided by the Alexandrian grammarians. 
W. Mure, Lang, and Lit. of Anc. Greece, II. ii. 5. 
2. The exaggerated expression of real or af- 
fected feeling or enthusiasm; an outburst of 
extravagant admiration or regard; especially, 
a poetic composition marked rather by exag- 
gerated sentiment or fancy than by sober, con- 
nected thought. 
Then my breast 
Should warble airs whose rhapsodies should feast 
The ears of seraphims. Quarles, Emblems, iv. 15. 
Spend all the pow'rs 
Of rant and rhapsody iu virtue's praise. 
Cowper, Task, v. 677. 
3. In muftic, an instrumental composition in ir- 
regular form, somewhat like a caprice, im- 
promptu, or improvisation, though properly 
more important: as, Liszt's Hungarian rhapso- 
dies. 4f. Any rambling composition; a cento; 
hence, a medley ; a jumble. 
rhematic 
O, such a deed 
As from the body of contraction plucks 
The very soul, and sweet religion makt-a 
A rhapsody of words. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 4. 48. 
He was very light-headed, and had uttered nothing but 
a rhapsiuli/ of nonsense all the time he stayed in the room. 
Fielding, Joseph Andrews, i. 13. 
rhatany, . See ratnui/. 
rhaw, ii. [W. rhaw, a shovel, spade.] A mea- 
sure of peat in Wales, 140 or 120 cubic yards. 
Rhe (re), n. A variant of Ba. 
Rhea 1 (re'a), n. [= F. Ilkee, < L. Shea, < Gr. 
'Pta, Rhea (see def. 1).] ],. In anc. myth., a 
daughter of Uranus and Ge, or Heaven and 
Earth, wife and sister of Kronos, and mother 
of various divinities. 
However intimate the connection, however inextricable 
the confusion between the Great Mother and Rhea, even 
down to late days the memory remained that they were 
not in origin one and the same. 
Harrison and Verrall, Ancient Athens, p. 51. 
2. [NL.] In ornith.: (a) The only genus of 
Bheidee; the only American genus of living ra- 
tite birds; the only three-toed ostriches. B. 
americana is the common American ostrich, avestruz, or 
South American Ostrich (Rhia amer. 
nandu. It. daruini is a second very distinct species, some- 
times placed in another genus, Pteroenemis, owing to the 
extensive feathering of the legs. B. macrifrhyncha is a 
third species, which is closely related to the first. (6) 
[1. c.] An American ostrich. 3. The fifth sat- 
ellite of Saturn. 
rhea 2 (re'a), n. [Also rlieea; E. Ind.] The 
ramie-plant or -fiber. 
Rheae (re'e), n. pi. [NL., pi. of liheai, 2.] A 
superfamily group, by Newton made an order, 
of extant ratite birds, including only the Jthei- 
dse, or family of the American ostriches. 
rhea-flber (re'-fl"ber), . Same as ramie. 
rhea-grass (re v ii-gras), n. The ramie-plant. 
See ramie. 
rheebok, A corrupt spelling of reebot. 
rheic (re'ik), a. [< F. rheiqve; as Rheum'* + 
-ic.] Pertaining to or derived from rhubarb. 
Rheic add, CijHjoO^, the yellow crystalline granular 
matter of rhubarb, procured from Ihe plant by extraction 
with potash solution, precipitation with hydrochloric acid, 
and purification by crystallizing from a solution in chloro- 
form. Also called rheinic acid and fhrysophanic acid. 
Rheidse (re'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Shea* + -idse.~\ 
A family of living ratite birds confined to 
America and having three toes, typified by the 
genus Rliea ; the nandus or American ostriches. 
There is an ischiac symphysis beneath the sacral verte- 
bra;, but no pubic symphysis; the maxillopalatincs are 
free from the vomer ; the carotid is single, sinistial ; the 
lower larynx is specialized and has a pair of intrinsic syr- 
ingeal muscles ; the ambiens is present; the gall-bladder 
is absent; the wing-bones are unusually well developed 
for ratite birds ; and the manus has three digits. 
rhein (re'in), . [< Jiheum 2 + -i'x 2 .] Same as 
rheic acid (which see, under rheic). 
Rhein-berry (rm'ber"i), n. [Also Bhine-berr;/; 
early mod. E. rheyn-berrie ; appar. accomX Jit). 
reyn-besie, also rijn-besie, D. rijn-bezie, black- 
berry, = G. rheinbeere (Webster), as if 'Rhine- 
berry' (berry growing along the Bhine J); < 
MD. ri'i/ii-, riji/-, occurring also, appar., in other 
plant-names, namely rcyrt-bloeme, rijn-bloeme 
(D. rijiililocaii'), cudweed; rcymeeyde, also reyn- 
icili/lie, rijnirilghe, privet; reynracren, reynvaer 
(D. rehiraar), tansy; the element reyn-, rijn-, 
being uncertain.] The common buckthorn. 
rhematic (re-mat'ik), a. and . [< Gr. jania-t- 
',<>. belonging to a verb, < ////, a word, a verb, 
lit. 'that which is said or spoken,' < cpclv, tlpciv, 
say, speak : sc-e rhetor and rcrli.~\ I. u. Pertain- 
ing to or derived from a verb. 
