semi-uncial 
II. ii. One of the characters exhibiting the 
transitioTi from uncial to minuscule writing. 
It [Irish script] Is usually called the Irish uncial or terni- 
uncial, but its connection with the normal uncial script 
has never been explained. 
Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, v. ii. 178. 
semivitreous (sem-i-vit're-us), a. Partially 
vitreous; having more or less of a vitreous 
structure : a term used in describing the struc- 
ture of various minerals, constituents of rocks, 
especially of volcanic rocks. See vitreous. 
Finely vesicular rhyolitic rock with compact semivitre- 
ous green-grey base. Quart. Jour. Oeol. Soc., XLVI. 74. 
semi-vitrification (sem-i-vit'ri-fi-ka'shon), . 
1. The process of partly vitrifying anything, 
or the state of being partly vitrified. 2. A 
substance or mass in the state of being semi- 
vitrified, or partially converted into glass. 
semi-vitrified (sem-i-vit'ri-fld), a. Half-vitri- 
fied, or imperfectly vitrified; partially converted 
into glass. 
semivivet, [ME. semivyf, < OF. *semirif = It. 
semii'iro, <! L. semivivus, half -alive, half-dead, < 
semi-, half, + virus, alive, living: see vivid.] 
Half-alive ; half -dead. 
He myjte neither steppe ne stonde ne stere fote ne handes, 
Ne helpe hym-self sothely for semiuyf he semed. 
Piers Plowman (B), xvii. 55. 
semivocal (sem-i-vo'kal), a. [< L. semirocalis, 
half-sounding, half-vocal, as a noun a semi- 
vowel, < semi-, half, + rocalis, vocal: see vo- 
cal, vowel.'} Of or pertaining to a semivowel; 
half -vocal ; imperfectly sounding. 
semivowel (sem-i-vou'el), n. [< F. itemivoyells 
= It. semivoeale, < L. semivocalis, so. litera 
(translating Gr. i^ii^uvov, sc. aroixeiov), semi- 
vowel: see semivocal.] A half- vowel; a sound 
partaking of the nature of both a vowel and a 
consonant ; an articulation lying near the line 
of division between vowel and consonant, and 
so capable of being used with either value ; also, 
the sign representing such a sound. The name 
is very variously applied by different authorities ; w and y 
are oftenest called semivowels, also I and r, and some- 
times the nasals in and n. 
semi-weekly (sem-i-wek'li), a. and n. I, . 
Made, issued , or occurring twice a week, or once 
every half -week : as, a semi-weekly tour of in- 
spection; a semi-weekly newspaper. 
II. n. A journal that is issued twice a week. 
Semla gum. See i/wm 2 . 
semlandt, . A Middle English form of sem- 
blant. 
semlyif, A Middle English form of seemly. 
semly 2 t, A Middle English form of semble 2 . 
semmit (sem'it), . [Prob. orig. a form of sam- 
ite, q. v.] An undershirt. [Scotch.] 
semnablet (sem'na-bl), . [A corrupt form of 
semblablc.] Similar. 
"From Berwick to Dover, three hundred miles over." 
That is, from one end of the land to the other. Semnable 
the Scripture expression, "From Dan to Beersheba." 
Fuller, Worthies, Northumberland, II. 542. (Dames.) 
semnopithece (sem"no-pi-theV), n. [< Semno- 
pitheeus.] One of the so-called sacred monkeys, 
as the entellus or hanuman ; any member of the 
Semnopithecinse. 
Semnopithecidae (sem^no-pi-the'si-de), n. pi. 
[NL., < ftemnopitiiecus + -idse.] The Semno- 
pitliecime advanced to the rank of a family. 
Semnopithecinae (sem-no-pith-e-si'ne), n. pi. 
[NL., < Semnopitliecus + -in a.] A subfamily 
of catarrhine monkeys. The stomach is complex and 
sacculated, with a dilated cardiac and elongated pyloric 
aperture ; there are no cheek-pouches and no vermiform ap- 
pendix of t-he colon ; the limbs and tail are long ; the ster- 
num is narrow ; the third lower molar tooth is flve-tuber- 
culate ; and ischial callosities are present. It includes 
many large monkeys, most nearly approaching the apes of 
the family Simiidie. The leading genera, besides Semno- 
pithecus, are Nasaliz, Colobus, and Guereza. These monkeys 
are found in Africa and Asia. They date back to the Mio- 
cene. Also called Colobinte. See cuts under entellus, 
yuereza, and yasalis. 
semnopithecine (sem-uo-pith'e-sin), a. and u. 
I. a. Of or pertaining to the Semnopithecinse; 
aemnopithecoid. 
II. H. A monkey of the subfamily Semnopi- 
thecus; a semnopitheeoid. 
semnopithecoid (sem/'no-pi-the'koid), . and . 
Same as semnopltliecine.' 
Semnopithecus(sem''no-pi-the'kus), n. [NL., 
< Gr. ae/iv6f, revered, honored, saered (< a/3ea- 
6<u, revere), + 7n'ft?KOf, an ape.] The typical ge- 
nus of Semnopithecittse, the so-called sacred mon- 
keys of Asia, having a thumb, and not found 
in Africa. (Compare Colobus.) Numerous species 
inhabit wooded portions of the Oriental region, from the 
Himalayas southward, and extend into Borneo and Java. 
They are of large size and slender-bodied, with long limbs 
and tail and often handsome coloration. The best-known 
5488 
is the hanuman, or sacred monkey of the Hindus, 5. entel- 
lui. One species, S. rojrellana, inhabits Tibet. See cut 
under entellus. 
semola (sem'o-la), . [= F. senwulc, OF. seniole 
= Sp. semola = Pg. nentolii, fine flour, < It. semo- 
la, bran, < L. simila, fine wheaten flour ; cf. 
ML. simella, wheaten bread ; Gr. ae/ii6a/.if, fine 
wheaten flour. Cf. OHG. semala, simila, fine 
wheat, flour, bread, MHG. semel, semele, simel, 
G. semmel (> Sw. semla), wheaten bread, a roll ; 
appar. an independent word, < OHG. semon, 
eat (but influenced by the L. word).] Same 
as semolina. 
semolina, semolino (sem-o-le'na, -016), n. [< 
It. semolino, grits, a paste for soups, etc., small 
seed, dim. of semola, bran : see semola.] The 
large hard grains retained in the bolting-ma- 
chine after the fine flour has been passed through 
it. It is of various degrees of fineness, and is often made 
intentionally in considerable quantities, being a favorite 
food in France, and to some extent used in Great Britain 
for making puddings. Also called inauna-croup. Com- 
pare Qlyceria. 
Semostomae (se-mos'to-me), n. pi. [NL., fern, 
pi. of semostomus: see semostomotis.] A subor- 
der of Discomedusie, containing ordinary jelly- 
fishes or sea-jellies with the parts in fours and 
eights, having four genital pouches arranged 
about the single centric mouth, which is pro- 
vided with long arm-like (or flag-like) processes. 
The families Pelagiida, Cyaneida, nndAureliidie illustrate 
this group, which is also called Monostvmea. The name 
would be preferably written Sematogtomata or Semiosto- 
inata. See cuts under Aurelitt and Cyanea. 
semostomous (se-mos'to-mus), a. [< NL. se- 
mostomws, < Gr. af/ua, sign, mark, + ar6ua, 
mouth.] Having long oral processes, as a 
jellyfish ; pertaining to the Semostomee, or hav- 
ing their characters. 
gemotedt (se-mo'ted), a. [< L. semotus, pp. of 
srmorere, move apart, separate (< se-, apart, + 
movers, move: see move), + -erf 2 .] Separated; 
removed; remote. 
Is it enough if I pray with my mind, the heart being tte- 
moted from mundane affairs and worldly businesses? 
Beem, Works, p. 13. (HaUiwell.) 
Semotilus (se-mot'i-lus), n. [NL. (Rafinesque, 
1820), < Gr. 'of/pa, a mark, + vri'/jtv, feather, 
wing (with ref. to the dorsal fin).] An Ameri- 
can genus of leuciscine fishes. The species are 
variously known as chub and dace. S. corporate is the 
horned chub or dace, 10 inches long, nboundingfrom New 
England to Missouri and Georgia. 5. bullaris is the fall- 
fish or silver chub, the largest of the Cyprinida in the re- 
gions it inhabits east of the Alleghanies from Massa- 
chusetts to Virginia. It reaches a length of 18 inches ; 
the coloration is brilliant steel-blue above, silvery on the 
sides and belly; in the spring the males have the belly 
and lower fins rosy or crimson. 
semper idem (sem'per J'dem). [L. : semper 
(> Pr. OF. sempre), always, ever (< sent-, sim-, 
in semel, once, simul, at once, E. same, etc., + 
-per, akin toper, through: see per-); idem, the 
same : see identic.] Always the same. 
sempervirent (sem-per-vi'rent), a. [< L. sem- 
per, always, + viren(t-)s, ppr. of virere, be 
green or verdant: see virid.] Always green 
or fresh; evergreen. 
sempervive (sem'per-viv), n. [< OF.sempervive, 
< L. semperviva, sempervivum, fern, or neut. of 
sempervivus, ever-living, < semper, always, + 
vivits, living, < vivere, live.] The houseleek. 
See Senipervivum. 
The greater temper-vine . . . will put out branches two 
or three years; but . . . they wrap the root in a cloth 
besmeared with oil, and renew it once in half a year. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 29. 
Sempervivum (sem-per-vi' vum), n . [NL. (Lin- 
naeus, 1737), < L. sempenirum, also semperviva, 
in full semperriva herba, houseleek, lit. the 
' ever-living plant' (tr. Gr. aei(uov), so called be- 
cause it is evergreen and of great vitality ; neut. 
or fern, of semperi-irut,; ever-living: see semper- 
vive.] A genus of polypetalous plants, of the 
order Crassulacex. It is characterized by flowers with 
numerous or more than five calyx-lobes, as many acute 
narrow petals, which are entirely separate or united only 
at the base, usually twice as many stamens, and as many 
carpels as petals, the fruit consisting of many-seeded folli- 
cles. There are about 50 species, natives especially of cen- 
tral and southern Europe, also extending to Madeira and 
the Canaries, into Asia .Minor and the western Himalayas, 
and into Africa in Nubia and Abyssinia. They are plants 
of peculiarly fleshy habit, in some species with a leaf- 
bearing stem, but in most stemless and consisting of a 
rosette of short and broad alternate fleshy and commonly 
revolute leaves. The flowers are white, rejl, green, yellow, 
or purple, and borne in panicled and commonly compactly 
flowered cymes. They are remarkable, like the related 
Sedum, for tenacity of life: 5. cxgpitosuin is said to have 
grown when planted after being for eighteen months 
pressed in a herbarium. Those with shrubby stems have 
yellow or rarely white flowers, are all from the Canary 
Islands, are cultivated under glass, and show many di- 
vergences from the typical structure some, as the sub- 
genus Greenovia, having as many as thirty-two petals. The 
sen 
best-known species of outdoor cultivation are S. ylobtfe- 
rmn(see hen-and-chickens)&wi S. tectorum (the houseleek). 
The latter is in England a familiar plant, with such old 
names as homewurt, Indlock'e-eye, imbfeke, joulmrb, etc. 
See houseleek, houxfleeh-tree. 
sempiternt (sem'pi-tern), a. [< ME. xfmpiterne, 
< OF. nfiiiinli-riie = Sp. Pg. It. m-nipit<'rin>, < L. 
xrm/iitmiini, everlasting, < sempi-, for setup' r, 
always, + -ternuts, as in sevitennts, atci'int*. 
etern, eternal.] Everlasting. 
To fle fro synne and derk flre seinpiterne. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 186. 
The god whose . . . beinge is iempiterne. 
Gower, Conf. Amant. , vii. 
sempiternal (8em-pi-ter'nal),n. [< ME. xf in in- 
ternal, < OF. (and F. ) sempiteriiel, < ML. sempi- 
ternalis (in adv. sempiterttaliter) ; as sempitern 
+ -al.] Eternal; everlasting; endless; having 
no end. 
As thou art cyte of God, & sempiternal throne, 
Here now, blessyd lady, my wofulle mone. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 82. 
The Sempiternall, Immortal!, Omnipotent, Inuisible, and 
the most consummate and absolute Ueitie. 
Heywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 90. 
All truth is from the sempiternal source 
Of light divine. Cmtper, Task, ii. 499. 
sempiternity (sem-pi-ter'ni-ti), . [< LL. 
sempitcrnila(t-)n, < L. sempiternus, everlasting: 
see sempitern.] Duration without end; end- 
less duration ; perpetuity. 
The future eternity or sempiternity of the world. 
Sir M. Hale, Orig. of Mankind, p. 94. 
sempiternizet (sem-pi-ter'niz), v. t. [< sempi- 
tern + -ize.] To perpetuate. 
Nature, nevertheless, did not after that manner provide 
for the sempiternizinff of the human race, but, on the con- 
trary, created man naked, tender, and frail. 
Urquhart, tr. of Rabelais, lit 8. 
sempiternoust (sem-pi-ter'nus), a. [< L. sem- 
pitermm, everlasting : see sempitern.] Sempi- 
ternal. 
A tempiternmu crone and old hag was picking up and 
gathering some sticks in the said forest. 
Urquhart, tr. of Kabelals, ii. 15. 
sempiternumt (sem-pi-ter'num), n. [< L. gempi- 
ternum, neut. of scmpiterniis, everlasting: see 
sempitern.] A stuff formerly in use in England, 
named from its durability. It is described as 
a twilled woolen material used for garments. 
Draper's Diet. 
semple (sem'pl), a. A dialectal (Scotch) form 
of simple. 
semplice(sem'ple-che),. [It., = TZ. simple.] In 
mi/sic, simple; unaffected: noting passages to 
be rendered without embellishments or rhyth- 
mic liberties. 
sempre (sem'pre), adi: [It., < L. semper, al- 
ways: see semper idem.] In music, in the same 
style throughout; similarly: used with some 
other direction, to prevent this from being for- 
gotten, or its force suspended : as, itempre piano, 
softly throughout. Compare simile. 
sempstert, See seamster. 
sempstress, n. See seamstress. 
semseyite (sem'si-it), . [Named after A. von 
Semsey.] A sulphid of antimony and lead, 
near jamesonite in composition, occurring in 
monoclinic crystals of a gray color and me- 
tallic luster: it is found at Fels6-Banya in 
Hungary. 
semstert, . See seamster. 
semuncia (se-mun'shi-B), .; pi. semuneite (-e). 
[L.,< semi-, half, + nneia, a twelfth part, an 
ounce: see ounce 1 .] A small Roman coin of 
the weight of four drachmas, being the twenty- 
fourth part of the Roman pound. 
Semuncial (se-mun'shial), a. [< semuncia + 
al.] Belonging to or based on the semuncia. 
Small bronze pieces belonging to the Semuncial system. 
B. V. Head, Historia Numorum, p. 48. 
sen 1 !, adv. and conj. A Middle English variant 
sen' 2 (sen), . [Jap.] A Japanese copper or 
bronze coin, equal to the one-hundredth part 
of a yen or dollar ; a Japanese cent. One- and 
Obverse. 
Size of original.) 
