sike 
5627 
./, fall, sink: see xicl, .*/(/.] 1. A small stream silenal (si-le'nal), . Typified by the genus 
of water; a rill; a gutter. 2. A marshy bot- Silene: as, the silenal alliance. Linideij. 
torn with a small stream in it. [Scotch and silence (si'lens), n. [< ME. silciiri; si/tcnce, < 
North. Eng. in both uses.] OF. (and F".') silence = Pr. silenci, m., sileucia, 
sike'-'t, r. and . A Middle English form of f., = Sp. Pg. silencio = It. silensio, < L. sileiitinm, 
xii/ti 1 - a being silent, silence, < silcn(t-)s, silent: see 
Sike a t, a. A Middle English form of sicfci. ' 
sikert, sikerlyt sikernesst. 
Middle English 
spellings of sicker, sicker/;/, sickcrinv.". 
Sikh (sek), . [Formerly also Scikh, SeeMi, 
Neck, Sicquc, Si/c, Si/kc, Sikc; < Hind. Silch, lit. 'a 
disciple,' the distinctive name of the disciples 
of Nanak Shah, who founded the sect.] A mem- 
ber of a politico-religious community of India, 
founded near Lahore about 1500 as a sect based 
on the principles of monotheism and tinman 
brotherhood. Under their hereditary theocratic chiefs 
the Sikhs were organized into a political and military 
force, and in the eighteenth century formed a confedera- 
tion of states in the Punjab, collectively called Klmlsa; 
their power was greatly developed in the beginning of 
the nineteenth century by Eunjeet Singh. The Punjab 
was annexed to British India in 1849, after the two Sikh 
wars of 1845-6 and 1848-9. 
Sikhism (se'kizm), H. [< Sikh (seedef.) + -ism.} 
The religious system and practices of the 
" Adi-Granth," compiled by the immediate suc- 
cessors of Nauak, tneir founder. The system 
embodies an attempt to combine the leading 
doctrines of Brahmanism and Mohammedan- 
ism. 
siklatont, n. A variant of ciclaton. 
Sikyonian, a. Same as Sicyouian. 
Sil (sil), n. [= F. Sp. nil, < L. sil, a kind of 
yellowish earth.] A kind of yellowish earth 
used as a pigment by ancient painters ; yellow 
ocher. Sil atticum, an ancient name for red ocher. 
silage (si'laj), n. [< silo + -age.} Feed for 
cattle prepared by treatment in a silo; ensi- 
lage. [Recent.] 
Many agriculturists . . . have not the least doubt as 
to the superiority of silage over hay. 
Mature, XXXVII. 212. 
silage (si'laj), r. t. ; pret. and pp. silagecl, ppr. 
silaging. [< silage, n.} To make si'lage of; 
treat in a silo. [Recent.] 
Any grass in excess of the requirements of the stock 
could be silaged. The Field, Dec. 19, 1885. (Encyc. Diet.) 
Silaus (si'la-us), n. [NL. (Besser, 1820), < L. 
silatis, an umbelliferous plant, said to be Apiuui 
graveolens.} A genus of polypetalous plants, 
of the order Umbettiferse and tribe Seselinese, 
closely allied to the lovage (Ligiisticum), and 
distinguished by its yellowish flowers and in- 
conspicuous or obsolete oil-tubes. The two spe- 
cies are natives of Europe and Siberia. They are smooth 
perennials, bearing pinnately decompound leaves with 
the segments narrow and entire, and compound umbels 
with involucels of many small bractlets, but the bracts of 
th:< involucre are only one or two or absent. For S. pra- 
tensis, see meadow-saxifrage. 
silch, . Same as sealgli. [Scotch.] 
Sile 1 (sil), r. [Formerly also gyle; < ME. silen, 
sylen, < MLG. silen, LG. silen, sielen = G. sielen, 
let off water, filter, = Sw. sila, filter; with freq. 
formative -I, from the simple verb seen in AS. 
"silian, se6n, etc., let fall, drip, etc.: see siei. 
Cf. silt.} I. trans. To strain, as milk; pass 
through a strainer or anything similar ; filter. 
[Old and prov. Eng.] 
Tho euwere thurgh towelle gyles clene, 
His water into tho bassynges shene. 
Jiabess Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 322. 
II. intrans. 1. To flow down; drop; fall; 
sink. [Old and prov. Eng.] 
The kyng for that care coldit at his hert, 
And siket full sore with sylyng of teris. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), L 1307. 
2f. To settle down ; compose or calm one's 
self. 
Than [they] sylen to sitte vppon silke wedis 
Hadyn wyn for to wale & wordes ynow. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 372. 
3f. To pass ; go. 
Jason full iustly and Joly knightesmoo, . . 
Wonen vp wynly vppon wale horses, 
Silen to the Citie softly and faire. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1166. 
4. To boil gently ; simmer. Hall/well. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
Sile 1 (sil), ii. [= MLG. sil = G. siel, a drain, 
sewer; from the verb.] 1. A sieve. 2. A 
strainer or colander for liquids. 3. That which 
is sifted or strained; hence, settlings; sedi- 
ment; filth. Jfalliicell. 
sile 2 (sil), n. Same as silP. 
sile 3 (sil), H. A dialectal variant of soil 1 . 
sile 4 (sil), a. [Also sill; origin obscure.] A 
young herring. Day. [Prov. Eng.] 
silent.} 1. The state of being or keeping si- 
lent; forbearance or restraint of sound; absti- 
nence from speech or other noise; muteness; 
reticence : as, to listen in silence; the chairman 
rapped for silence. 
Be check 'd for silence, 
But never tax'd for speech. 
Shak., All's Well, i. 1. 76. 
At one end of the table sat Longfellow, . . . whose si- 
lence was better than many another man's conversation. 
0. W. Holmes, Emerson, viii. 
2. Absence of sound or noise ; general stillness 
within the range or the power of hearing: as, 
the silence of midnight ; the silence of the tomb. 
The night's dead silence 
Will well become such sweet-complaining grievance. 
Shak., 1. G.of V., iii. 2. 85. 
A silence soon pervaded the camp, as deep as that which 
reigned in the vast forest by which it was environed. 
J. F. Cooper, Last of Mohicans, i. 
3. Absence of mention : as, .the silence of Scrip- 
ture (on a particular subject) ; oblivion ; ob- 
scurity. 
Eternal silence be their doom. Milton, P. L., vi. 385. 
A few more days, and this essay will follow the Defen- 
sio Populi to the dust and silence of the upper shelf. 
Macavlay, Milton. 
4. In distilled spirits, want of flavor and odor ; 
flatness; deadness. See silent spirit, under si- 
lent. [Rare.] 
The Scotch manufacturer may, if he will, employ dam- 
aged grain, potatoes, molasses refuse, and various other 
waste products to yield the silent spirit, since, owing to 
its silence, there is no possibility of detecting afterwards 
from what source it has been obtained. 
Spans' Encyc. Manuf., I. 229. 
5. In music, same as rest 1 , 8 Amyclsean si- 
lence. See Amyclsean. Tower of silence, a tower, 
generally built about 25 feet high, on which the Parsees 
of Silence of Parsees, near Teheran. 
expose the bodies of their dead to be stripped of flesh by 
vultures. These towers are usually so arranged that the 
denuded bones fall through a grating into a pit, whence 
they are removed for burial. At Bombay, the principal 
seat of the Parsees, a number of towers of silence stand 
in a garden on a high hill. = Syn. See silent. 
silence (si'lens), f. . ; pret. and pp. silenced, 
ppr. silencing. [< silence, n.~] \. To cause to be 
or keep silent; put or bring to silence ; restrain 
from speech or noise ; stop the noise of : as, to 
silence a battery or a gun-boat. 
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, 
To silence envious tongues. 
Shale., Hen. VIII., iii. -2. 446. 
It is the little rift within the lute 
That by and by will make the music mute, 
And ever widening slowly silence all. 
Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien. 
2. To restrain from speech about something; 
cause or induce to be silent on a particular 
subject or class of subjects; make silent or 
speechless, as by restraint of privilege or li- 
cense, or by unanswerable argument. 
Is it therefore 
The ambassador is silenced ? 
Shak., Hen. VIII., i. 1. 97. 
Complaints being made against him unto the Bishop's 
courts, he was for a while then put under the circum- 
stances of a silenced minister. C. Mather, Mag. Chris., iii. 1. 
Hence 3. To make quiescent; put at rest or 
into abeyance ; stop the activity of : as, to si- 
lence one's conscience. 
Had they duly considered the extent of infinite know- 
ledge and power, these would have silenced their scruples. 
D. Rogers. 
silent 
They have made the happy discovery that the way to 
silence religious disputes is to take no notice of them. 
Jefferson, Notes on Virginia (1797), p. 268. 
silency (si'len-si), . [As silence (see -cy l ).~\ 
Same as silence. [Rare.] 
And, in love's silency, 
Whispcrd each other, Lord, what a back hath he! 
Lentons limes of Court A nagrammatiit (1634). (Nares. ) 
Silene (si-le'ne), ii. [NL. (Linnasus, 1737), so 
called in allusion to the frequent sticky exuda- 
tion on its stems ; < ~L.Silcnns, Silenus: seaSile- 
mis.} A genus of polypetalous plants, of the or- 
der Caryophyllacese, type of the tribe Silenese. it 
is characterized by flowers usually with a ten-nerved flve- 
toothed club-shaped ovoid or inflated calyx, five spread- 
ing petals upon erect and slender claws commonly with 
two small scales, ten stamens, and a stalked ovary with 
one cell, a free central placenta, and usually three styles, 
the capsule opening at the top by six or by three short 
valves to discharge the numerous opaque and roughened 
seeds. About 480 species have been described, but only 
about 250 are now thought to be distinct. They are annual 
or perennial herbs of great variety of habit, tall and erect, 
tulted or procumbent, or partial climbers, with narrow en- 
tire opposite leaves, and pink, scarlet, white, or variously 
colored flowers, commonly in cymes or in one-sided spikes 
disposed in a terminal panicle. They are abundant in 
Asia north of the tropics, and in southern Europe and 
northern Africa, and there are about 12 species in South 
Africa. Besides 6 or 6 introduced species in the Atlantic 
border, the United States contains about 32 species, chief- 
ly in the Eocky Mountain and Pacific region, about half 
of which are nearly or quite confined to California. Most 
of the species are known as catch-Jly. Many are cultivated 
for their flowers, especially S. mscosa and 8. Schafta, with 
S. Armeria, the sweetwilliam or Lobel's catch-fly, native of 
the south of Europe. .!?. Pennsylwnica, a glutinous early- 
flowering species, is the wild pink of the eastern United 
States (see cut under anthophore). (For S. Virginica, see 
Jire-pink.unAerpinkv.) Many species with an inflated blad- 
dery calyx are known in general as campion, among which 
S. Otitfs, abundant in sands of eastern Europe and known as 
Spanish campion, is used as an astringent. (For S. acau- 
lw, also known in England as cushion-pink, see moss-cam- 
pion.) S. Cucubaltts (S. inflata), the bladder-campion, is a 
wide-spread species of Europe, central and northern Asia, 
now introduced in the Atlantic United States. It is also 
called behen and spatting -poppy ; also, from the shape of 
its calyx, in America cowbell, in England knapbottle and 
whitebottte. S. maritima of the English coast (perhaps a 
variety of the last) has been called witches' -thimble. 
Silenese (si-le'ne-e), n. pi. [NL. (A. P. de Can- 
dolle, 1824), < Silene + -ex.] A tribe of poly- 
petalous plants of the order Caryophyllacese, it 
is characterized by flowers with a united and more or less 
tubular four- or five-toothed calyx, five petals with spread- 
ing border and a slender claw often bearing two scales at 
its summit, usually ten stamens, two or more styles sepa- 
rate to the base the ovary, stamens, and petals all com- 
monly elevated on a stalk-like gynophore or continuation 
of the receptacle. It includes 11 genera, all natives of 
the Old World except certain species of Dianthus and Si- 
lene. (See also Saponaria, Lychnis, anAGi/psophila.) Most 
of the genera are cultivated for their ornamental flowers, 
as the pink, catchfly, etc., which resemble salver shaped 
flowers, as phlox, in form, but are composed of separate 
petals. 
Silent (si'lent), a. and . [Early mod. E. also 
sylent; = fi. silente, < L. silen(t-)s, ppr. ofsilere, 
be silent; cf. Goth. *silan, in comp. ana-silati, 
become silent: cf. seld.} I. a. 1. Not speaking, 
or making a noise with the voice; withhold- 
ing or restraining vocal sounds; mute; dumb; 
speechless: as, a silent spectator; silent watch- 
ers. 
my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou nearest not; 
and in the night season, and am not silent. Fs. xxli. 2. 
Hear me for my cause, and be silent that you may hear 
Shak., J. C., iii. 2. 14. 
2. In a restricted use, not given to speaking; 
using few words; not loquacious. 
Ulysses, he adds, was the most eloquent and the most 
silent of men. \f. Broome. 
3. Not speaking about some specified thing; 
withholding mention or statement; saying no- 
thing; uncommunicative. 
This new-created world, whereof in hell 
Fame is not silent. MUton, P. L., iv. 938. 
It is very extraordinary that antient authors should be so 
silent in relation to Heliopolis. 
Pococke, Description of the East, II. i. 107. 
4. Lacking authority or ability to speak, as 
about something of personal concern ; not hav- 
ing a voice ; disqualified for speech : as, a si- 
lent partner in a firm (see partner); the silent 
part of creation. 5. Not uttered or expressed 
with the voice ; unmarked by utterance or de- 
monstrative speech ; unspoken ; unsounded : 
as, silent agony or endurance ; sHen t opposition : 
a silent letter (see below). 
I wish, my liege, 
You had only in your silent judgment tried it. 
Shak., W. T., ii. 1. 171. 
Her eyes are homes of silent prayer. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxxii. 
6. Free from or unattended by noise or sound; 
marked by stillness; quiet: as, silen t woods ; a 
silent assembly. 
