stele 
Stele 3 (ste'le, sometimes stel), n. ; pi. stelse or 
stelai. [= F. stele, < L. stela, < Gr. nrrfl^ri, an 
upright slab or pillar, < iaravai, stand, set: see 
stand and stool.] In archeeol. : (a) An upright 
slab or pillar, often crowned with a rich an- 
themion, and sometimes bearing more or less 
5928 
Stelmatopoda 
England and about 20 in North America, of which 7afe stelleridan (ste-ler'i-dnn), (i. and . f< Xtilli r- 
natlves of the northeastern United States. Theyarecom- ,>/. + -.] J . O t 'or pertaining to the Stel- 
Icriita. 
II. n. A member of the Stcllerida, as a star- 
fish or brittle-star. 
Stelleridean (stel-e-rid'o-an), n. Same as stcl- 
5 Yvv.fr A> AVfA 1 <IC * > 
METOF.PITEUANAr' .JOAFXUNTOS 
Great Chickweed (Sfrt/arin pubtra), 
monly diffuse herbs, with weak, smooth, or hairy stems, 
loosely ascending or growing in matted tufts. Their 
flowers are usually white, and form terminal panicled 
cymes, sometimes mixed with leaves. Several species are 
known as chiclcweed, and several others as startcort or stitch- 
mirt, especially S. llulustea (seestitchwort\ a common Eng- 
lish species, bearing such local names as aUbone, break- 
bones, shirt-buttons, snap-jack. S. lon<r(folia, the long-leafed 
stitchwort, frequent in the Northern Atlantic States, forms 
Sculptured Stele. Monument of the Knight Dexileos (who fell before 
Corinth 304 B. C.), on the Sacred Way, Athens. 
elaborate sculpture or a painted scene, com- 
monly used among the ancient Greeks as a 
gravestone, (ft) A similar slab or pillar serv- 
ing as a milestone, to bear an inscription in 
some public place, or for a like purpose. 
StelecMte (stel'e-kit), H. [= F. StelecMte, < Gr. 
ort'/le^of, the crown of the root of a tree, stump, 
block, log, the trunk, + -ite 2 .] A fine kind of 
storax, in larger pieces than the calamite. Also, 
erroneously, stelochite. 
Stelgidopteryx (stel-ji-dop'te-riks), . [NL. 
(S. F. Baird, 1858), < Gr. oretyif (<rre).yit-), a 
scraper, + Trrt/juf, a wing.] A genus of Hirun- 
dinidee, having the outer web of the first primary 
serrate by conversion of the barbs into a series 
of recurved hooks ; the rough-winged swallows. 
5. serripennis is the common rough-winged swallow of the 
United States, of plain brownish coloration, greatly resem- 
bling the bank-swallow. Several others inhabit Central 
and South America. See cut under rough-winged. 
Stell (stel), v. t. [< ME. stellen, < AS. stcllan (= 
MD. D. MLG. LG. OHG. MHG. G. stellen), set 
up, place, fix, < steal! (= MD. D. stal = MLG. 
stal, LG. stall = OHG. MHG. stal, G. stall), a 
place, stall: see stall 1 .] To set; place; fix. 
[Obsolete or dialectal.] 
Mine eye hath play'd the painter, and hath sltll'd 
Thy beauty's form in table of my heart. 
Shak., Sonnets, niv. 
Stell (stel), n. [A var. of stain, after stell, v.] 
It. A place; a station. 
The said stell of PleSsis. 
Danet's Comines, sig. V 6. (If ares.) 
2. A stall; a fold for cattle. Halliwell; Jamie- 
son. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] 
Stella (stel'a), w. ; pi. Stella (-). [NL., < L. 
stella, a star: see .s-toi-i.] A stellate sponge- 
spicule; an aster; a stellate. 
stellar (stel'ar), . [= F. stellaire = Sp. estrel- 
lar = It. stellare, < LL. utellaris, pertaining to a 
star, starry, < L. stella, a star: see Stella.] Of 
or pertaining to stars; astral: as, stellar worlds; 
stellar space ; stellar regions. 
These soft fires 
Not only enlighten, but . . . shed down 
Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 671. 
Stellaria (ste-la'ri-a),>i. [NL. (Linnanis, 1753), 
name transferred, on account of the star-like 
blossoms, from a Corispermum so named by 
Dillenius (1719); < L. stella, a star.] A genus 
of polypetalpus plants, of the order Caryopliyl- 
lacea; and tribe Alsinex. It is characterized by the 
absence of stipules, by flowers usually with five deeply 
two-cleft or completely parted valves. There are about 
85 species, scattered throughout the world ; in the tropics 
they occur only on mountains. Seven species occur in 
weed or starwort, the most showy Atlantic species, forms 
conspicuous dark-green tufts along shaded banks in ear- 
liest spring, from Pennsylvania southward. See also cut 
under ovary. 
stellary (stel'a-ri), a. Same as stellar. 
stellate (stel'at), a. and . [< L. stellatus, pp. 
of stellare, set or cover with stars, < stella, star: 
see stella.] I. a. Star-like in form ; star-shaped; 
arranged in the form of a conventional star; 
radiating from a common center like the rays 
or points of a star: as, stellate leaves; thestellate 
groups of natrolite crystals Stellate bristle or 
hair, a bristle or hair which branches at the end in a star- 
shaped manner. See cut under hair, 4. Stellate frac- 
ture, a fracture, occurring usually in a flat bone, in which 
several fissures radiate from the central point of injury. 
Stellate leaves, leaves, more than two in number, sur- 
rounding the stem in a whorl, or radiating like the spokes 
of a wheel or the points of a star. Also called verticillate 
leaves. See cut under pipsissewa. Stellate ligament, 
a costovertebral ligament; the anterior costocentrai liga- 
ment uniting the head of a rib with the body of a verte- 
bra : so called from the radiated figure in man. Stellate 
splcule, an aster ; a stellate. Stellate veins, very mi- 
nute venous radicles situated just under the capsule of 
the kidney, arranged in a radiating or stellate manner. 
II. n. A stellate microsclere, or flesh-spicule 
in the form of a star. Encyc. Brit., XXII. 417. 
stellated (stel'a-ted), a. [< stellate + -ed%.] 
Same as stellate. stellated polygon, polyhedron, 
etc. See the nouns. 
stellately (stel'at-li), adr. Badiately; like a 
star ; in a stellate manner. 
stellate-pilose (stel'at-pl'los), a. In lui/.. pilose 
with stellate hairs. 
Stellationt (ste-la'shon), n. [< ML. stellatio(n-) 
(f), < L. stella, a star: see stellate.] 1. The 
act or process of becoming a star or a constel- 
lation. 
The skaly Scorpion 's flirt amongst the rest, . . . 
The cause of it's steUation to enquire, 
And why so beautify'd with heauenly flre, 
Comes next in course. 
Heywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 138. 
2. Same as constellation. 
Stars, and stellations of the heavens. 
Ret. T. Adams, Works, II. 4. 
stellature (stel'a-tur), n. [< ML. 'stellatura, 
irreg. taken as equiv. to stellionatus: see stel- 
lionate.] Same as stellionate. 
Extortion and cozenage is proverbially called crimen 
stellionatus, the sin of stellature. 
Ret. T. Adams, Works, I. 79. 
Stelledt (steld), p. a. [Pp. of stell : see stell, and 
cf. sttilled, pp. of stall.] Fixed. 
The sea, with such a storm as his bare head 
In hell-black night endured, would have buoy'd up, 
And quench 'd the stelled fires. Shalr., Lear, iii. 7. 01. 
[Some commentators define the word as 'stellated,' 
'starry.'] 
Stelleert, Stelleeret, . [See steelyard?.] Same 
as steelyard 2 . Cotgrare. 
Stelleria (ste-le'ri-ft), w, [NL., named after 
G. W. Steller: see stellerine.] In ornith., a ge- 
nus of sea-ducks, the type of which is Steller's 
eider, S. dispar, usually called Polysticta stellen. 
Bonaparte, 1838. 
Stellerida (ste-ler'i-da), n. pi. [NL., prop. Stel- 
larida, < stellaris, starry, + -ida.] A class or 
other large group of echinoderms of obviously 
radiate figure; the starfishes and brittle-stars': 
synonymous with Asteroidea, 2. 
stellerine (stel'e-rin), . [Named after G. W. 
Steller, the traveler (1709-45).] The arctic or 
Steller's sea-cow. Jf/ii/tiii/i xlt-ili-ri. Sec m;-<wr. 
2, and cut under Rlii/timi. 
Steller's eider. Sn- r<il</xti<-ta, 1, smU Stelleria. 
Steller's jay. A jay of northwestern North 
America, Cyanocitta xtrllrri, crested like the 
common blue jay, but chiefly of a blackish 
color, shading into dull blue on some parts. 
Steller's sea-COW. See sea-con; 2, and cut un- 
der llln/tina. 
Steller's sea-lion. The northern sea-lion. See 
/,'/< /oyims- (with cut). 
stellett, a. An obsolete form of stylet, 1. 
liiili/cll, Frag, of Scottish History. 
stelliferous (ste-lif' e-rus), a. [< L. stellifer, 
starry, < stella, a star, + ferre = E. bear 1 .] 
Having or abounding with stars. 
Stelliform (stel'i-fonn), a. [< L. Stella, a star, 
+ forma, form.] Star-like in shape ; stellate 
inform; asteroid; radiated. 
stellifyt (stel'i-fi), v. t. [< ME. stcllifyen, < OF. 
stfl/i_titr, < ML. stellijicare, place among the 
stars, convert into a constellation, < L. stella, 
a star, + facere, make, do (see -fy).] To turn 
into or cause to resemble a star; convert into 
a constellation ; make glorious ; glorify. 
. No wonder is thogh Jove her steUiJye. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 525. 
Some thinke this timid to be Nilus, which is also Gyon ; 
and therefore stellified, because it dlrecteth his course from 
the Meridian. It consisteth of many stars, and lieth lust 
beneath the star called Canopus, or Ptoloma. 
Ueywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 176. 
Stellio (stel'i-6), n. [NL., < L. stellio(n-), a 
lizard: see stellion.] 1. A genus of agamoid 
lizards, giving name to the Stelliomdte. They 
have acrodont dentition, naked tympanum, no pores, and 
Common Stellion {Srellto 
the scales of the tail disposed in whorls or verticils. There 
are several species, ranging from countries bordering the 
Mediterranean to India. The common stellion or star- 
Hzard, the hardim of the Arabs, >' vulyaris, is abundant 
in ruins. S. tuberculalus is an Indian species. 
lizard marked with star-like spots, also a crafty, 
knavish person (cf. stellionate), < stella, a star: 
see stella.] An agamoid lizard of the genus 
Stellio or family Stellionidse ; a star-lizard. 
When the stfllion hath cast his skin, he greedily de- 
vours it again. Sei: T. Adams, Works, I. 79. 
Stellionate (stel'yon-at), n. [< LL. stellionatus, 
cozenage, trickery, < L. stellio(n-), a crafty, 
knavish person, lit. a newt, lizard: see stellion.] 
In Scots and civil law, a word used to denote all 
such crimes in which fraud is an ingredient as 
have no special names to distinguish them, and 
are not defined by any written law. 
dont agamoid lizards, named from the genus 
Stellio, properly merged in Agamirlx; the stel- 
lions or star-lizards. See cut under Stellio. 
Stellular (stel'u-lar), a. [< L. stellula, a little 
star, dim. of stella, a star: see stella.] Finely 
or numerously stellated, as if spangled with 
little stars; stelliferous, as the surface of a 
coral; shaped like a little star; resembling lit- 
tle stars ; small and stelliform in figure or ap- 
pearance. Encyc. Brit., XVI. 370. 
Stellulate (stel''u-lat), a. [< L. stellula, a little 
star (see stellular), + -ate 1 .] Resembling little 
stars or a little star; stellular. 
Stellwag's symptom. See symptom. 
Stelmatopoda (stel-ma-top'o-dS), . pi. Adi- 
vision of Polyzoa or Bryozoa, corresponding to 
the Gymnolitniata : contrasted with Lophopoda. 
