seal 
It comes now to you sealed, and with it as strong imd 
assured write of my service and love to you. 
Donne, Letters, i. 
5f. A scaled instrument; a writ or warrant 
given under seal. 
On Thorisday last was ther wer hrowt unto this towne 
many 1'revy Selix, and on of hem was indosyd to yow, . . . 
and anodyr was sent onto yowr sone, and imlosyd to hym 
selfe alone, and asynyd wytliinne wyth the Kynggys howyn 
hand. Paston Letters, I. 438. 
He gaf Johne the seel in hand, 
The scheref for to bere, 
To hrynge Robyn hym to, 
And no man do hym dere. 
Robin Hood and the Monk (Child's Ballads, V. 11). 
6f. The office of the sealer or official who au- 
thenticates by affixing a seal. 
As for the commission from the king, we received only 
a copy of it, but the commission itself staid at the seal for 
want of paying the fees. 
Winthray, Hist. New England, I. 276. 
7. The wax or wafer with which a folded let- 
ter or an envelop is closed ; also, any other sub- 
stance similarly used to assure security or se- 
crecy, as lead for sealing bonded cars, etc. See 
leaden seal, below. 
As soone as Oawein herde speke of tho childeren, he lepe 
on his feet, and toke the letter and brake the seall and hit 
radde all to the ende as he that well hadde lerned in his 
yowthe. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), 11. 280. 
Arthur spied the letter in her hand, 
Stoopt, took, brake seal, and read it. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
8. Figuratively, that which effectually closes, 
confines, or secures ; that which makes fast. 
Under the seal of silence. Milton, 9. A., 1. 49. 
9. In plumbing, a small quantity of water left 
standing in a trap or curve of tubing connected 
with a drain or sewer in order to prevent the 
escape of gas from below. 10. Eccles.: (a) 
The sign of the cross, (ft) Baptism, (c) Con- 
firmation, (d) Same as hoi!/ lamb (which see, 
under lamb). 11. In old med., the so-called 
sigil or signature of a plant, mineral, etc. See 
signature. Broad seal See broad-seal. Clerk of 
the privy seal. See clerk. Collation of seals. See 
collation. Common seal. See common. Fisher's Seal. 
Seal of the Fisherman, the papal privy seal impressed 
on wax and not on lead (see bvll'J and butta), representing 
St. Peter fishing. 
Everything that appears in the Osservatore Romano may 
be taken as having been sealed with the Fisher's Seal. 
Fortnightly Rev., N. 8., XLI. 642. 
Great seal, a seal of state. The great seal of the United 
Kingdom of England and Scotland is used in sealing the 
writs to summon Parliament (Irish members included), also 
in sealing treaties with foreign states, and all other papers 
of great importance affecting the United Kingdom. The 
Lord Chancellor is the official custodian of the great seal ; 
during a vacancy in the chancellorship it rests with an 
officer of equal dignity styled the Lord Keeper. The great 
seal of Ireland is used in the same manner as before the 
Union in 1800, except in the matter of summoning Parlia- 
ment, etc. There is also a seal in Scotland for sealing 
grants and writs affecting private rights there. The great 
seal of the United States is placed in the custody of the 
Secretary of State ; State seals usually are in the charge of 
the State secretaries. Hermetic seal. See hermetic. 
Keeper of the Privy Seal, or Lord Privy Seal. See 
keeper. Leaden seal, a disk of lead pierced perpendicu- 
larly to its axis with two holes, through which are passed 
the ends of a twisted wire conn ecting two objects, as a hasp 
and staple. When the lead has been stamped down, the 
fastening cannot be removed without cutting the wire or 
defacing the seal. Manual seal. See manual. Me- 
tallic seal. Stanem leaden seal. Our Lady's seaL See 
Polygonatum.'Privy seal, (a) In England, the seal ap- 
pended to grants which are afterward to pass the great 
seal, and to documents of minor importance which do not 
require the great seal. There is a privy seal in Scotland 
which is used to authenticate royal grants of personal or 
assignable rights. (6) (caps.] Same as Lord Privy Seal, 
(c) In Eng. hist., an instrument imposing a forced loan 
so called because it was authenticated by the clerk of the 
privy seal. 
I went againe to his Grace, thence to the Council, and 
mov'd for another itrimj seale for 20,000. 
Evelyn, Diary, June 8, 1666. 
Seal Of an altar, a small stone placed over the cavity in 
an altar containing relics. Seal of baptism. See bap- 
tism. Seal of cause, in Scots law, the grant or charter 
by which power is conferred on a royal burgh, or the supe- 
rior of a burgh of barony, to constitute subordinate cor- 
porations or crafts, and which defines the privileges and 
powers to be possessed by a subordinate corporation. 
Seal of confession. See confession. Solomon's seal 
See Solomon's-seal. Testimonial of the great seal. 
See quarter -seal. To Pass the seals. See pass. To set 
one 8 seal to, to give one's authority or imprimatur to 
give one's assurance of. Under seal, authenticated or 
confirmed by sealing. 
If the agreement of the grantee is considered as under 
seal, by reason of the deed being sealed by the grantor, it 
falls within the settled rule of the common law. 
Supreme Court Reporter, X. 832. 
seal 2 (sel), v. [< ME. seelen, selen, < OF. sceler, 
F. sceller, < L. sigillare, seal, < sigittitm, seal : see 
seal?, n. Cf. AS. sigetian = D. zegelen = MLG. 
segelen = G. siegeln = Goth, sigljan (in comp.) 
(cf. OHG. bisigiljan, MHG. besigelen = Sw. be- 
5442 
xrgla = Dan. beset/It; seal); from the noun.] I. 
lr<ni!<. 1. To set or affix a seal to, as a mark of 
authenticity, confirmation, or execution: as, to 
seal a deed. 
Lord Scroop was deposed from the Chancfllurship for 
refusing to seal some Grants which the Kinj; h;nl niiulc. 
linker, Chronicles, p. 14(1. 
I grant a free pardon, 
Well seal'd by my own han'. 
Young Akin (Child's Ballads, I. 186). 
2. To stamp, as with a seal. 
But that which Is sold to the merchants is made into 
little pellets, and sealed with the Turkish character. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 19. 
Specifically 3. To certify with a stamp or 
mark ; stamp as an evidence of standard exact- 
ness, legal size, or merchantable quality : as, to 
seal weights and measures; to seal leather. 
4. To attest ; affirm ; bear witness to the truth 
or genuineness of, by some outward act : as, 
to seal one's loyalty with one's life ; hence, to 
confirm ; ratify ; establish ; fix. 
But who will lay downe his life to seale some Politicians 
authoritie 1 I'urcha*, Pilgrimage, p. 32. 
Jove seals the league, or bloodier scenes prepares ; 
Jove, the great arbiter of peace and wars ! 
Pope, Iliinl. iv. 113. 
He (Grenvflle | would seal it with his blood that he never 
would give his vote for a Hanoverian. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 15. 
One in fire, and two in field, 
Their belief in blood have teal'd. 
Byron, Prisoner of Chillon. 
5. To grant authoritatively or under seal. 
Scorn him, and let him go ; seem to contemn him, 
And, now you have made him shake, teal him his pardon. 
Fletcher, Pilgrim, ii. 2. 
Immortalitie had beene sealed, both in smile and bodie, 
to him and his for euer. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 24. 
At all times remission of sins may be sealed to a peni- 
tent soul in the sacrament. Donne, Sermons, xv. 
6. To fasten or secure with a seal, or with some 
fastening bearing a seal ; close or secure with 
sealing-wax, a wafer, or the like: as, to seal a 
letter. 
She sealed it (a letter] wl' a ring. 
Sweet William (Child's Ballads, IV. 262). 
The rector sealed his epistles with an immense coat of 
arms, and showed, by the care with which he had per- 
formed this ceremony, that he expected they should be cut 
open. Mrs. Gaskell, Cranford, v. 
7. To shut up or close : as, to seal a book ; to 
seal one's lips or eyes ; hence, to establish; de- 
termine irrevocably. 
Now pleasing sleep had seal'd each mortal eye. 
Pope, Iliad, Ii. 1. 
Something seal'd 
The lips of that Evangelist 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxxi. 
How I tremble for the answer which is to seal my fate ! 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xvi. 
8. To mark ; designate ; appoint. 
Hath some wound. 
Or other dire misfortune, seal'd him for 
The grave ? Shirley, Grateful Servant, iii. 1. 
9. To set apart or give in marriage, according 
to the system of plural marriages prevalent 
among the Mormons of Utah. This use is apparent- 
ly derived from such phrases as " I pronounce you legally 
and lawfully husband and wife for time and for all eter- 
nity ; and I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resur- 
rection," etc., in the Mormon formula for marriage. 
Hence the necessity and Justification of polygamy, and 
the practice of having many wives sealed to one saint. 
. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 828. 
10. To inclose; confine; imprison. 
Back to the infernal pit I drag thee chain'd, 
And seal thee so as henceforth not to scorn 
The facile gates of hell. Milton, P. L., iv. 966. 
Be blown about the desert dust, 
Or seal'd within the iron hills. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Ivi. 
11. In hydraul., sanitary engin., etc., to secure 
against a flow or escape of air or gas, as by the 
use of a dip-pipe in any form. A vessel is thus 
sealed when a shallow channel formed around the neck is 
filled with water, into which dips the rim of a cover or 
cap inclosing the orifice. Such a device is said to form a 
water-seal. The principle has many and various applica- 
tions, as in the different forms of plumbers' traps. 
12. In arch., to fix, as a piece of wood or iron 
in a wall, with cement, plaster, or other bind- 
ing material for staples, hinges, etc. Hence 
13. To close the chinks of, as a log house, 
with plaster, clay, or the like. 
The house . . . was constructed of round logs sealed 
with mud and clay. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 3. 
14. To accept; adopt: as, to seal a design. 
[Eng. Admiralty use.] 
This design was sealed by the Ordnance Committee, who 
did so, stating at the time that they had no opportunity 
of considering the design. Contemporary Rev., LI. 271. 
sea-leopard 
15. Krrlcx.: (a) To sign with the cross. (6) 
To baptize, (c) To confirm Sealed earth, terra 
siKillatii, JIM old name for medicinal earths, which were 
ni:tdi> np into cakes and stamped or sealed. 
II. in I r<i us. Tn make t lie impression of a seal; 
attach a seal. 
\ i 's, shylnck, I will seal unto this bond. 
Shak., M. of V., i. :i. 172. 
To White Hall, to the Privy Seale, as my Lord Privy 
Seale did tell me he could seale no more this month, for 
he goes thirty miles out of towne, to keep his Christmas. 
Pepijs, Diary, I. 241. 
To seal under*, to become surety, as on a bond. 
I think the Frenchman became his surety, and sealed 
under for another. Shalt., M. of V., i. 2. 89. 
sea! 3 t, r. See sefT*. 
sea-lace (se'las), n. A species of algee, Chorda 
JUuni, the frond of which is blackish, slimy, 
perfectly cylindrical, or cord-like, and some- 
times 20 or even 40 feet in length. Also called 
Xra-l-lttgilt. 
sea-lamprey (se'lam"pri), . A marine lam- 
prey; any species of Petromyzon, specifically 
P. marinus: distinguished from rifcr-linn/n-i ;/ 
(Ammoccetes). See cuts under lamjirei/. 
sea-lark (se'liirk), n. 1. A sandpiper of some 
kind, as the dunlin, the sanderling, et.; iilso. 
the turnstone. 2. A ring-plover of some kind, 
as the ring-dotterel. 3. The sea-titling, An- 
lln/s nhsi'iirus. See rock-pipit. [Local, Eng.] 
sea-lavender (se'laVen-der), ii. A plant of the 
genus titatice; most often, S. Lim/miiim, in the 
United States called marsh-rosemary. The com- 
mon species Is a salt-marsh plant with radical leaves and 
a wiry stem, bearing at the top a panicle of extremely nu- 
merous small lavender-colored flowers. Several species 
are cultivated, the finest being S. liiHi'ntin. from Siberia, 
a plant similar in habit to the last. The flowers of the 
genus are of dry texture, and retain their color long after 
being cut. 
sea-lawyer (se'la'yer), w. 1. A querulous or 
captious sailor, disposed to criticize orders ra- 
ther than to obey them; one who is always 
arguing about his work, and making trouble. 
2. The gray or mangrove snapper. See.v;//i- 
per. 3. A shark. 
[Nautical slang in all senses.] 
seal-bag (sel'bag), . The bag in which the 
Lord High Chancellor of England formerly kept 
the great seal and other state seals. 
seal-bird (sel'b^rd), . The slender-billed 
shearwater, Puffimis tenmrostris, of the North 
Pacific. 
seal-brown (sel'broun), a. and . I. a. Hav- 
ingthe color of prepared seal-fur. 
H. w. The rich dark brown of the dressed 
and dyed fur of the fur-seal. 
seal-Club (sel'klub), n. A club used for killing 
seals. 
sealed (seld), p. a. 1. Certified or authenti- 
cated by seal. 2. Closed by sealing, or by 
clasping or fastening securely as with a seal ; 
hence, inaccessible ; unknown. 3. In textiles, 
same as nail-headed, 2 Sealed book, a book the 
contents of which are unknown or cannot be known ; 
hence, anything unknown or undiscoverable. 
The Disciplina Clericalis long remained a sealed book, 
known only to antiquaries. Ticknnr, Span. Lit., I. 64. 
Sealed Books of Common Prayer, certain copies of 
the English Book of Common Prayer, certified under the 
seal of England as the standard text, and by act of Parlia- 
ment in 1662 ordered to be placed in all cathedral and col- 
legiate churches. Sealed proposals. See proposal. 
sea-leech (se'leeh), . A marine suctorial an- 
nelid of the genus Potitobdella. Also called 
skate-sucker. 
sea-legs (se'legz), . pi. Legs suited for use at 
sea: a humorous term implying ability to walk 
on a ship's deck when she is pitching or roll- 
ing: as, to get one's sea-legs. [Colloq.] 
In addition to all this, I had not got my Sea legs on, was 
dreadfully sea-sick, with hardly strength enough to hold on 
to anything. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 7. 
sea-lemon (se'lem'on), n. A doridoid; anudi- 
branchiate gastropod of the family Dorididse : 
so called from some resemblance in shape and 
color to a lemon. See cuts under Doris, Gonio- 
dorididx, and ^Egirus. 
seal-engraving (sel'en-gra'ving), n. The ait 
of engraving seals, crests, coats of arms, and 
other designs on precious stones, gems, etc. 
Bloodstone, carnelian, and sard are most extensively used. 
The work is done by holding the stones against circular 
and disk-shaped small tools revolving very rapidly in the 
quill or lathe-head of a seal-engravers' engine. 
sea-lentil (se'len'til), . The gulfweed, Sar- 
f/assum vulgare. 
sea-leopard (se'lep"ard), w. A spotted seal of 
the southern and antarctic seas, belonging to 
the family Phoeidte and either of two different 
genera. One of these has been generally known as 
Stenorhynchus, and it has given name to the subfamily 
