runcation 
runcationt (rung-ka'shgn), ii. [< L. nmca- 
tio(it-), a weeding-, weeding out, < runcare (>It. 
roucare), weed.] A weeding. Evelyn. (Imp. 
Diet. ) 
runch (ranch), n. [Origin obscure.] The char- 
lock, Brassica Sinapintrum ; also, the wild rad- 
ish (jointed charlock), Baplumusltaphanistrtim. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
runch-balls (runch'balz), . Dried charlock. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
Runcina (run-si'ua), n. [NL., < L. Euncina, a 
rural goddess presiding over weeding, < run- 
care, weed: see runcation.] The typical genus 
of Euncinidte. Pelta is a synonym. 
runcinate (run'si-nat), a. [= P. roncine, < NL. 
niHcinatujs, < L. runcina, a plane, = Gr. pvnavij, 
a plane. Cf. rugine."] In 6of., 
irregularly saw-toothed or pin- 
nately incised, with the lobes 
or teeth hooked backward : said 
chiefly of leaves, as those of the 
dandelion. 
Runcinidae (run-sin'i-de), n. pi. 
[NL., < Euncina + -idee.] A fam- 
ily of notaspidean nudibrauchiate 
gastropods, typified by the genus 
Euncina. They have a distinct mantle, 
no tentacles, three or four branchial leaf- Runcinate Leaf 
lets, and triserial lingual teeth. Ihey of Taraxacum a/. 
mostly inhabit the European seas. ficinaic <dande- 
runcivalt, . See rounceval. 
runcl (rund), n. A dialectal form of rand 1 . 
rundale (run'dal), n. A system of land-hold- 
ing, in which single holdings consisted of de- 
tached pieces. Runrig (which see) was a form 
of rundale. 
There certainly seem to be vestiges of ancient collec- 
tive enjoyment in the extensive prevalence of rundale 
holdings in parts of the country. 
Maine, Early Hist, of Institutions, p. 101. 
rundle 1 , rundel (nm'dl, -del), . [A var. of 
runnel."] If. A small stream: same as runnel. 
The river is enriched with many goodly brookes, which 
are maintained by an inlinit number of small rundles and 
pleasant springs. Capt. John Smith, Works, I. 116. 
2. A moat with water in it. Halliwell. 
rundle 2 (run'dl), n. [A var. of roundel, rondel^. 
Hence rundlet, runlet, q.y,] If. A circular line 
or path ; a ring ; an orbit. 
Euery of the Pianettes are earned in their rundels or cir- 
cles by course. 
R. Eden, First Books on America (ed. Arber), p. xlviii. 
2. Something disposed in circular form; a cir- 
cular or encircling arrangement; specifically, 
a peritrochium. 
The third mechanical faculty, stiled "axis in peritrochio," 
consists of an axis or cylinder having a rundle about it, 
wherein are fastened divers spokes, by which the whole 
may be turned about. Bp. Wilkins, Hath. Magick. 
3f. A ball. 
An other Serpent hath a rundle on his Taile like a Bell, 
which also ringeth as it goeth. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 659. 
4. A rung of a ladder; a round. 5. That part 
of a capstan round which a rope is wound in 
heaving. 6. One of the bars of a lantern- 
wheel ; a rung. 
rundledt (run'dld), a. [< rundle^ + -ed 2 .] 
Bound ; circular. Chapman. 
rundlet, runlet' 2 (rund'let, run'let), n. [Early 
mod. E. &lsorundelet, roundlet ; < OF. *rondelei, 
dim. of rondelc, rondelle, a little tun or barrel, 
aroundshield,etc.: see rundle' 2 . Gt.roundelay."} 
A small barrel ; a unit of capacity, equal, ac- 
cording to statutes of 1439 and 1483, to 18| gal- 
lons, but in modern times usually reckoned 
at 18 gallons. The often-repeated statement that the 
rundlet varies from 3 to 20 gallons appears to be a blun- 
der. 
Roundlet. a certayne measure of wine, oyle, <fcc., contain- 
ing 18S gallons ; an. 1. Kich. III. cap. 13; so called of his 
roundness. Minsheu. 
Of wine and oyl the rundlet holdeth 18J gallons. 
Jlecorde, Orounde of Artes. 
A catch orpinck no capabler than a rundler [read rund- 
let] or washing bowle. 
Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (Marl. Misc., VI. 163). (Dames.) 
Would you drink a cup of sack, father? here stand some 
with runlets to fill it out. 
The Great Frost (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 85). 
It were good to set a rundlet of verjuice over against 
the sun in summer ... to see whether it will ripen and 
sweeten. Bacon, Nat. Hist., 898. 
A stoup of sack, or a runlet of Canary. Scott. 
rune 1 (ron), n. [= F. rune = G. rune (LL. 
runa), a rune, a mod. book-form representing 
the AS. and Scand. word run, a letter, a 
writing, lit. a secret, mystery, secret or confi- 
dential speech, counsel (a letter being also 
5273 
called runstief (= Icel. runastafr), a letter, < 
run, mystery,' + vUef, staff; cf. bocst&f, a let- 
ter : see book), = Icel. rime = 
Sw. runa = Dan. rune, a let- 
ter, rune (applied to the old 
Northern alphabet, and some- 
times to the Latin), = OHG. 
runa, a secret, counsel, MHG. 
rune, a whisper, = Goth, runa, 
a secret, mystery, counsel. 
Cf. Ir. Gael, run, a secret, 
mystery, craft, deceit, pur- 
pose, intention, desire, love, 
etc., = W. rhin, a secret, j ross .' Rutimeii, twin- 
V t mi, T-I c fnesshire, Scotland. 
charm, virtue. The i.. torm 
descended from the AS. is roun, round, whisper : 
see roun, round 2 .] 1. A letter or character 
used by the peoples of northern Europe from 
an early peri- i...,,^**. f g 
runn 
Runes.- Part of runi 
rv; in the plu- 
41 the V 
cient Scandi- 
-.,.,,** x * 
n Jim KMT 
es. Runic alphabet, from MSS. at Fric- 
sengen and st ' Galle " (9th ceiltury) - 
to be derived 
from a Greek 
source; especially, the letters carved on stones, 
weapons, etc., found in Scandinavia, Scotland, 
and Ireland. Runes are found in almost all the 
maritime parts of Europe. 
The somewhat similar Scandinavian "tree runes," which 
were a sort of cryptograms, constructed on the plan of in- 
dicating, by the number of branches on the tree, the place 
occupied in the Futhorc by the corresponding ordinary 
rune. Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, II. 226. 
Odhinn taught mankind the great art of nines, which 
means both writing and magic, and many other arts of 
life. Eeary, Prim. Belief, vii. 337. 
2. A short mystic sentence embodying the 
wisdom of the old Northern philosophers. 
Of the Troll of the Church they sing the rune 
By the Northern Sea in the harvest moon. 
Whittier, Kallundborg Church. 
3. A secret; mystery; obscure saying. 
For wise he was, and many curious arts, 
Postures of runes, and healing herbs he knew. 
M. Arnold, Balder Dead, i. 
4. Early rimes or poetry expressed, or which 
might be expressed, in runic characters. 5. 
Any song, poem, verse, or the like, which is 
mystically or obscurely expressed. 
For Nature beats in perfect tune, 
And rounds with rhyme her every rune. 
Emerson, Woodnotes, ii. 
rune 2 t, n. An obsolete variant of rincl, runl. 
runecraft (ron'kraft), n. Knowledge of runes; 
skill in deciphering runic characters. 
Modern Swedish runecraft largely depends upon his 
[Dybeck's] many and valuable publications. 
Archssoloffia, XLIII. 98. 
runed (rond), a. [< rune 1 + -ed 2 .] Bearing 
runes ; inscribed with runes. 
The middenstead from which a leaden bulla of Arch- 
deacon Boniface and a runed ivory comb, to mention no- 
thing else, have been obtained. 
JIT. and Q., 7th ser., II. 50. 
runer (ro'ner), n. [< rune 1 + -er 1 . Cf. round- 
er 2 ."] A bard or learned man among the an- 
cient Goths. 
The Gothic Runers, to gain and establish the credit and 
admiration of their rhymes, turned the use of them very 
much to incantations and charms. 
Sir W. Temple, Of Poetry. 
runesmith (ron'smith), . A worker at runes. 
[Rare.] 
No one has workt with more zeal than Richard Dybeck 
of Stockholm ; no one has publish t half so many Runic 
stones, mostly in excellent copies, as that energetic rune- 
smith. Archeeologia, XLIII. 98. 
rune-stone (ron'ston), n. A stone having runic 
inscriptions. 
run-fish (run'fish), n. A salmon on its way to 
the sea after spawning. Sir J. Richardson. 
rung 1 (rung), n. [Formerly also reng; < ME. 
rang, < AS. lining, a rod or bar (found only 
once, with ref. to a wagon), = MD. ronr/e,- 
ronghe, the beam of a plow or of a wagon, D. 
rang, a rundle, = MLG. LG. range = OHG. 
runga, MHG. G. runge, a short thick piece of 
iron or wood, a pin, bolt, = Icel. rang, a rib of 
a ship, = Goth, hrugga, a staff; cf. Ir. ronga, 
a rung, joining spar, = Gael, rang, a joining 
spar, rib of a boat, staff (perhaps < E.). The 
OSw. rangr, vrd'ngr, pi. vrdnger, sides of a ves- 
sel (> F. varan f/ue, Sp. varenga, sides of a ves- 
sel), seems to be of diff. origin, connected with 
Sw. vrdnga, Dan. rrange, twist, and with E. 
wring (pp. wrung).'] 1. A rod or bar; a heavy 
staff; hence, a cudgel; a club. [Prov. Eng. 
and Scotch.] 
Than up scho gat ane mekle rung, 
And the gudman maid to the doir. 
Wyf of AuMinnuchty (Child's Ballads, VIII. 121). 
Till slap come in an unco loon 
An wi' a rumj decide it. 
Burns, Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat? 
Specifically 2. A round or step of a ladder. 
Thannefondeth'the Fende my fruit to destruye, . . . 
And leith a laddre there-to, of lesynges aren the ronyes, 
And feccheth away my flonres sumtyme afor bothe myn 
eyhen. Piers Plowman (B), xvl. 44. 
His owene hande made laddres three 
To elymber by the ronyes [var. rentes] and the stalkes, 
Into the tubbes, hangynge in the balkes. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 439. 
There have been brilliant instances of persons stepping 
at once on to the higher rungs of the ladder [of success] 
in virtue of their audacity and eneigy. 
Bryce, American Commonwealth, II. 76. 
3. One of the bars of a windmill-sail. 4. A 
spoke or bar of a wallower or lantern-wheel ; 
a rundle. 5. Naut. : (a) One of the projecting 
handles of a steering-wheel, (b) A floor-tim- 
ber in a ship. 
rung 2 . Preterit and past participle of ring 2 . 
rung 3 (rung), p. a. [Prop, ringed, < ring 1 ; er- 
roneously conformed to rung 2 , pp. of ring 2 ."] 
Ringed ; having a ring through the snout, as a 
hog. [Prov. Eng.] 
A cramp-ling 
Will be reward enough ; to wear like those 
That hang their richest jewels in their nose, 
Like a runt/ bear or swine. 
B. Junson, Underwoods, Ixxvil. 
rung-head (rung'hed), n. Naut., the upper end 
of a floor-timber. 
runic (ro'nik), a. [= F. runique = Sp. riinico 
= Pg. It. runico, < NL. runieus, < runa, a rune : 
see rime 1 .] 1. Pertaining to, consisting in, or 
characteristic of runes. 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Runic rhyme. Poe, The Bells. 
No graven line, 
Nor Druid mark, nor Runic sign 
Is left me here. Whittier, The Norsemen. 
2. Inscribed with runes. 
Thinking of his own Gods, a Greek 
In pity and mournful awe might stand 
Before some fallen Runic stone 
For both were faiths, and both are gone. 
M. Arnold, Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse. 
3. Resembling in style the work of the early 
civilization of the north of Europe. 
Three brooches, reproductions of Runic art. 
Rev. C. Boutell, Art Jour., 1867. 
Runic knots, a form of interlaced ornament occurring 
in jewels and the like of early Teutonic manufacture. 
Runic wand, bropch, etc., names given to articles found 
inscribed witn runic characters : the inscriptions are con- 
sidered generally to give the owner's and maker's name, 
or the like. 
runisht, runishlyt. Obsolete forms of rennish, 
rennishly. 
runkle (rung'kl), r. t. or i. ; pret. and pp. run- 
kled, ppr. runkling. [< ME. rounclen ; a form of 
wrunkle, var. of wrinkle: see wrunkle, wrinkle. 
The w is lost as in root 2 ."] To wrinkle ; crease. 
[Obsolete or prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Than waxes his gast seke and sare, 
And his face rouncles, ay mare & mare. 
Specimens of Early English (ed. llorris and Skeat), 
[II. x. 778. 
Gin ye'll go there, you runWd pair, 
We will get famous laughin* 
At them this day. 
Burns, Holy Fair. 
run-lace (run'las), n. Lace made by embroi- 
dering with the needle upon a r6seau ground. 
It has been in fashion at different times, and was made 
especially in England in the eighteenth century. 
runlet 1 (run'let), n. [< nm 1 , a stream, + dim. 
suf . -let. Cf . runnel."] A little rivulet or stream ; 
a runnel. 
And the runlet that murmurs away [seems] 
To wind with a murmur of wo. 
Wolcot (Peter 1'indar), Orson and Ellen, iv. 
The biographer, especially of a literary man, need only 
mark the main currents of tendency, without being of- 
ficious to trace put to its marshy source every runlet that 
has cast in its tiny pitcherfnl with the rest. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 255. 
And runlets babbling down the glen. 
Tennyson, Mariana in the South. 
runlet 2 , . See rundlet. 
run-man (run 'man), . Arunaway or deserter 
from a ship of war. [Eng.] 
runn (run), n. [Also run, ran, ratui : Hind, ran, 
a waste tract, a wood, forest.] In India, a tract 
of sand-flat or salt-bog, which is often covered 
