sirocco 
European word.] The Italian name for a south- 
east wind. Two distinct classes of Italian winds are in- 
cluded by the term. One is a warm, humid, sultry wind 
accompanied by rain. This is the characteristic wind on 
the east side of an area of low pressure, and prevails main- 
ly during the winter season. The other type of sirocco 
that to which the term is generally applied in English 
usage is a hot, dry, dust-laden wind blowing from the 
high land of Africa to tile coasts of .Malta. Sicily, and 
Naples. During its prevalence the sky is covered with a 
dense haze, persons suffer from extreme lassitude, and 
vegetation is parched and burned. No month is free from 
it, but it is most frequent in the spring. Its direction 
varies from southeast to southwest. 
Forth rush the Levant and the Fonent winds, 
Kurus and Zephyr, with their lateral noise, 
Sirocco and Libecchio. Hilton, P. L., x. 706. 
sirogonimium (si"ro-go-nim'i-um), n. ; pi. siro- 
ijiiiiiii/in (-ii). [NL'., <'Gr. aupa, a cord, -f- NL. 
yoniniiHin.] In tichciiol., a gouimium which is 
scytonemoid or sirosiphonoid and truncated: 
it is characteristic of the family fiphebacei. See 
aottidium, 3. 
Sironidae (si-ron'i-de), . pi. [NL., < Siro(n-) 
+ -idee.] A family of tracheate arachnidaus of 
the order Plialanijida or O/iiHoii inn . They have an 
oval flattened body, comparatively short legs, very long 
three-jointed cheliceres, and stalked eyes situated farapart 
on each side of the head. The family is typified by the 
genus Siro, and is synonymous with CiiphnpMltalmidie. 
the species are of small size and resemble mites. 
Sirop (sir'op), H. If. A former spelling of syrup. 
2. One of the kettles used in the open-kettle 
process of sugar-making. [Southern U. S.] 
The cane-juice . . . in the course of the boiling is ladled 
successively into the others [kettles], called, in order "the 
prop or "proy," "the flambeau," "the sirop," and "the 
battery." The Century, XXXV. 116. 
Sirosiphon (si-ro-si'fon), B. [NL. (Kiitzing, 
1843), < Gr. ocipd, a cord, + o'ujiuv, a tube: see 
siphon.] A genus of fresh-water algsa, of the 
class Cyanophyceie and order or section Sirosi- 
plioness. The cells of the filaments are in one, two, or 
many series, by lateral division or multiplication The 
younger forms have one or two series; the older ones 
often six to ten. The cells are surrounded by a distinct 
membrane, which is very prominent in the older fila- 
ments. Some of the species partake largely of the na- 
ture of lichens. 
sirosiphonaceous (si-ro-si-fo-na'shius), a. [< 
Sirosiphon + -aceous.] ' In liot., same as sirosi- 
phonoid. 
Sirosiphoneae (sl"ro-si-f6'ne-e), n. pi. [NL., < 
Sirosiphon + -ex.] An order, or according to 
some a section, of fresh-water algse, of the class 
Cyanophyrex. It takes its name from the genus giro- 
siphon, which has filaments destitute of a hair-point, and 
trichomes inclosed in a sheath, profusely branched. The 
division of the cells takes place in a line parallel with the 
sides _as well as transversely. 
Sirosiphonoid (si-ro-si'fo-noid), a. [< Sirosi- 
phon, + -oid.] In bot., resembling or belonging 
to the genus Sirosiphon or the Siros-iphoneie. 
Sirphus, ft. See Syrphus. 
Sirple (ser'pl), v. t. and i. ; pret. and pp. sirpled, 
ppr. sirplina. [Appar. a var. of sipple.] To 
sipple. Broekett; Jamiesoii. [Prov. Eng. and 
Scotch.] 
Sirrah (sir'a), . [Formerly also sirra, sirrha, 
serrha (the last form being indicated also by 
the pron. " sar'ra " given by Walker and other 
authorities); appar. an extension of sir, or a 
modified form, in address, of the orig. dissyl- 
labic sire (not < Icel. sira, sir, now used, like 
sirrah, in contempt) : see sir, sire.] A word of 
address, generally equivalent to "fellow," or 
to "sir" with an a.n0TV nr rnTitoTnrtiirnic, f^-*. 
5657 
The mess 
And half of suitors that attend to usher 
Their love's fir-reverence to your daughter wait 
With one consent, which can best please her eye 
In offering at a dance. 
Fletcher (and another), Fair Maid of the Inn, lii. 1. 
Marry, out upon him ! sir-reverence of your mistress- 
8l "P- Middletan, Michaelmas Term, ii. 3. 
sirtt, ii. See si/rt. 
sist 
sirup, siruped, etc. See syrup, etc. 
Sirvente (sir-voiif), . [< F. sirrente, < Pi. 
gtrventeg, .(/</< ( = OF. sirrentois = Sp. sei- 
ventesio = It. servcntcse), a song (see del), < 
servir, serve: see serve*, and cf. servant.] In 
music, a service-song (so called in distinction 
from a love-song), a kind of song composed by 
the trouveres and troubadours of the twelfth 
and thirteenth centuries, usually to satirize 
the faults and vices of the great and of the 
society of their day. With the satire religious or love 
poetry was often mingled, forming curious contrasts 
inere were also political sirventes, such as those of the 
warrior poet Bertrand de Born, Viscount of Hautefort in 
Pengord, who moved peoples to strife, scattered his ene- 
mies, or expressed his emotions in verse of strange energy 
and consummate skill. 
, ,, . ' C" ------- J -^. . i(JllV , __ 
to sir" with an angry or contemptuous force. 
Now obsolete or archaic, ft was formerly applied some- 
times to children in a kind of playfulness, or to male ser- 
vants in hastiness, and sometimes also to females. 
Serrha, heus, io. Levins, Manip. Vocab., col. 1, 1. 6. 
Sirra, a contemptuous word, irronically compounded of 
Sir and a, ha, as much to say, ah sir or sir boy, &c. 
Minsheu. 
Sirrah Iras, go. Shalt., A. and C., v. 2. 229. 
Page, boy, and sirrah: these are all my titles. 
B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, ii. 1. 
Guess how the Goddess greets her Son : 
Come hither, Sirrah ; no, begone. 
Prior, Cupid and Ganymede. 
Sir-reverencet (ser-rev'e-rens), n. [A corrup- 
tion of sare-reverence, a 'translation or transfer 
of L. sah'd rcrcreiitia, reverence or decency be- 
ing safe, i. e. preserved or regarded: sah'd, 
fern. abl. of sftlnis, safe; reverentid, abl. of 
reverentia, reverence: see safe and reverence.] 
Same as save or saving your reverence (which 
see, under reverence), used as a noun. See sare- 
'- 
The stream of time, in which so many more precious 
things have been submerged, has brought down to us 
some few sinentes or satiric lays that entitle Richard [I.] 
to the name of a trouvere. 
Stublts, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 123. 
SIS 1 , siss 2 (sis), n. [Also in dim. sissy; a general 
use of the fern, name Sis, Siss, formerly also 
Cis, Sys, < ME. "Cisse, Cesse, an abbr. of Cicely, 
ME. *Cecilie, Sissilie, Cecile, Sisille (also Cecilia), 
< OF. Cecile, a fern, name made familiar in 
England as that of a daughter of William the 
Conqueror, < L. Ceeeiliu, a fern. name. Cicely 
was formerly a very common fern. name. Cf. 
jill 2 , gilla, similarly derived from Jillian, Gil- 
lian, also formerly a common fern, name, now, 
like Cicely, almost disused. From Sis, Siss is 
derived the surname Sisson. In def. 2 the 
word is commonly regarded as an abbr. of sis- 
ter.] 1. A girl; a sweetheart; a jill: a famil- 
iar term. 
The plowman that in times past was contented in rus- 
set must now udaies have his doublet of the fashion with 
wide cuts, his garters of flue silke of Granado, to meet 
his Sis on Sunday. 
Lodge, Wits Miserie (1596). (HallimU.) 
2. A familiar term of address to a little girl. 
_[U. S.] 
sis 2 t, n. An obsolete form of sice 1 . 
sisal (sis'al), . [Also steal; short for Sisal 
f/rass.] Same as Sisal hemp. 
Sisal grass. Same as Sisal hemp. 
Sisal hemp. See Itenequen, and compare istle. 
siscowet, siskowet (sis'ko-et), . [Also sis- 
kawet, siskowit, siskiwit; Amer. Ind. Cf. Cisco.] 
A variety of the great lake-trout, Salvelinus 
(Cristivomer) namaycush, var. siscowet, found in 
Lake Superior, originally described as a dis- 
tinct species called Sal-mo siscowet. See lake- 
trout, 2. 
Siset. An old spelling of steel, size*. 
sisefoil (sis'foil), n. [< sise, sice 1 , + foil 1 .] 
In her., same as sexfoil. 
sisel (sis'el), . The suslik, a spermophile of 
eastern Europe and Siberia, Spermophilus citil- 
liis. See cut under suslik. 
siserary (sis'e-ra-ri), . [Also siserari, sise- 
rara, sisserara, sasserary, sasarara, sassarara, 
a popular corruption of certiorari : see certio- 
rari.] If. A certiorari, a legal writ by which 
a proceeding is removed to a higher court. 
Siskin (Cltrysomitris spinns). 
And, sir, sirrererence of your manhood and gentry I 
have brought home such money as you lent me. 
Greene and Lodge, Looking Glass for Lond. and Eng. 
A very reverent body ; ay. such a one as a man may not 
speak of without he say "Sir-reverence." 
Shak., C. of E., Hi. 2. 93. 
There are old men at the present that are so poysoned 
with the affectation of law-words . . . [that] they cannot 
so much as pray but in law, that their sinnes may be re- 
moued with a writ of Error, and their soules fecht up to 
heauen with a sasarara. 
Tourneur, Revenger's Tragedy, Iv. 2. 
Hence 2. Any effective, telling action; es- 
pecially, a stroke ; a blow. [Prov. Eng.] 
I have gi'en the dirty slut a siserary. 
Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, p. 83. 
He attacked it with such a siserary of Latin as might 
have scared the Devil himself. Scott. 
With a siserary, with suddenness, vehemence or vio- 
lence ; with a vengeance. 
It was on a Sunday in the afternoon when I fell in love 
all at once u-ith a sisserara; it burst upon me, an' please 
your honour, like a bomb. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, VI. 47. (Davies.) 
siskawett, . Same as siscowet. 
siskin (sis'kin), . [= D. siisje = MLG. sim-k, 
cisek, sisex, ziseke, LG. ziseke, sieske = MHG. 
zisec, else, G. zeisig, zeischen, zcisel, etc., = Dan. 
m.tf/i-H = Sw. siska = Norw. sisik, sisk, a siskin ; 
derived, all prob. through G., and with the ter- 
mination variously conformed to a dim. suffix 
(D. -je, G. -chen), < Slovenian chizhek = Bohem. 
chizh = Pol. czyzh = Upper Serbian clii~lii/,-= Lit- 
tle Kuss. <-hij-h = Kuss. rhi:.l,i'i; cf. Iluiiy. Gfie, 
OPruss. Kilix, a siskin. In view of this origin, 
the word is not connected witli Sw. dial, ni.tn, 
expressing the sound of the wood-grouse, or 
with E. sisg, D. sissen, hiss.] A small frin- 
gilline bird, cliriimnnitriK (or N/IK.V) n/iiiiiix, 
related to the goldfinch, inhabiting the temper- 
ate parts of the Palearctic region; the aber- 
devine or black- 
headed thistle- 
finch; the tarin. 
The length Is 4$ 
inches, the extent 
9 inches ; the male 
has the crown and 
throat black, the 
backgrayish green, 
streaked with black 
shaft-lines, the 
breast yellow, the 
abdomen whitish, 
the sides streaked 
with black, the 
wings and tail va- 
ried with yellow. 
Thefemaleisduller 
and more simply 
colored. The bill is extremely acute. The name is ex- 
tended, with a qualifying term, to a few closely related 
birds : thus, the American siskin is the pine-finch, Chry- 
somitris (or Spinm) pinw. Siskin parrot, one of the 
pygmy parrots of the genus Nasitema. 
siskin-green (sis'kin-greu), . A shade of light 
green inclining to yellow, as the color of the 
mineral uranite. 
siskiwit, siskowet, w. Same as siscowet. 
sismograph, n. Same as seismograph. 
sismometer, n. Same as seismometer. 
sisniondine (sis-mon'din), n. [Named after 
Prof. Sismonda, an Italian geologist and min- 
eralogist.] A variety of chloritoid from St. 
Marcel in Piedmont. 
Sisor (si'sor), . [NL. (Hamilton-Buchanan, 
1822).] A genus of Indian fishes, representing 
in some systems the family Sisoridse, as S. rhab- 
dopliorus. 
Sisoridae (si-sor'i-de), . pi. [NL., < Sisor + 
-idse.] A family of nematognathous fishes, ex- 
emplified by the genus Sisor. In the typical species 
the body is elongate, and mostly naked, but with a row of 
bony plates along the middle of the back, and rough along 
the lateral line ; the head is depressed, and the mouth 
inferior ; a short dorsal is connected with the abdominal 
part of the vertebral column, the anal is short, and the 
ventrals are six- or seven-rayed. The few known species 
are confined to the fresh waters of southern Asia. 
Sispurt, ". [ME., also sysour, sisoure, by apher- 
esis from "asisour, < AF. "asisour (vernacularly 
asseour: see sewer^j, ML. reflex assisor, prop. 
assessor, lit. 'one who sits beside,' an assessor, 
etc. : see assize and assessor.] One who is de- 
puted to hold assizes. 
Ac Symonye and Cyuile and simires of courtes 
Were moste pryue with Mede. 
Piers Plouman (B), ii. 62. 
The xij. siaourei that weren on the quest 
The! shul ben honged this day so haue I gode rest 
Tale ofGametyn (Chaucer Soc.), 1. 871. 
sisourest, n.pl. An obsolete variant of scissors. 
SISS 1 (sis), v. i. [< ME. sissen = D. sisgen, hiss, 
= G. sischen, hiss ; cf. Sw. dial, sisa, ' siss ' like 
the wood-grouse; imitative. Cf. hiss, sizzle.] 
To hiss. 
SISS 2 , . See sigl. 
Sisserskite (sis'er-skit), . [< Sissersk (see 
def.) + -fc2.] A variety of iridosmium from 
Sissersk in the Ural. 
Sissing (sis'ing), . [Verbal n. of aii, v.] A 
hissing sound. 
Sibilus est genus serpentis, Anglice a susstmn 
MS. KM. Reg. 12 B. i. f. 12 (1400). (HaUimll.) 
Sissy (sis'i), n. Diminutive of sis 1 , 2. 
sist (sist), v. t. [< ME. sisten (rare), < L. *is- 
tere, cause to stand, set, place, put, stop, pre- 
sent a person before a court, etc. : see state.] 
1. In Scots law : (a) To present at the bar: used 
reflexively: for example, a party is said to sist 
Inmself when appearing before the court to an- 
swer. (6) To cause to appear; cite into court; 
summon. 
Some, however, have preposterously sisted nature as 
the first or generative principle, and regarded mind as 
merely the derivative of corporeal organism. 
Sir W. Hamilton. 
2. To stop; stay; delay: now only in Scots 
law. 
Thus siste it that the graynes stille abide 
Inwithe the syve, and floures downe to shake 
Palladms, Husbondrie (E. E. X. S.), p. 163. 
To Sist one's self, to take a place at the bar of a court 
where one s cause is to be judicially tried and determined 
To aist parties, to join other parties in a suit or ac- 
tion, and serve them with process. To Blst procedure 
