theme 
5. In i/liilnl., the part of a noun or verb to 
which inflectional endings are added; stem; 
base. 
The variable final letters of a noun are its case-endinga ; 
the rest is its t/teme. 
F. A. March, Anglo-Saxon Gram., 60. 
6. In nnigic, same as subject. The terra is some- 
times extended to a short melody from which 
a set of variations is developed. 7t. That by 
which a thing is done; an instrument; a means. 
Nor shall Vanessa be the theme 
To manage thy abortive scheme. 
Swf/t, Cadenus and Vanessa. 
8. A division for the purpose of provincial 
administration under the Byzantine empire. 
There were twenty-nine themes, twelve in 
Europe and seventeen in Asia. Also thema. 
The remaining provinces, under the obedience of the 
emperors, were cast into a new mould ; and the jurisdic- 
tion of the presidents, the consulars, and the counts was 
superseded by the institution of the themes or military 
governments, which prevailed under the successors of He- 
raclius. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, liii. 
9. In logic, same as thema, 3.=Syn. 1. Topic, Point, 
etc. (see subject), text. 
themelt, A Middle English form of thimble. 
themert (the'mer), n. One who sets or gives 
out a theme. Tarlton's Jests, p. 28. (F. Hall.) 
Themis (the'mis), n. [< L. Tliemis,< Gr. 6f/us, 
law, justice personified, Themis, the goddess 
of justice and right, < riBevai (/ 0c), set, place, 
dispose: see theme.'] 1. A Greek goddess, the 
Eersoniiication of law, order, and abstract right; 
ence, law and justice personified. 
Such thine, in whom 
Our British Themis gloried with just cause, 
Immortal Hale. Couyer, Task, iii. 257. 
2. The twenty-fourth planetoid, discovered by 
De Gasparis at Naples in 1853. 
Themistian (the-mis'ti-an), n. [< LL. Themis- 
tius, founder of the sect, -f- -I'CTO.] One of a body 
of Christians also called the Agnoetee. See Ag- 
noetee, 2. 
themselves (THem-selvz'), pron., pi. of himself, 
hc,rself,itself, andusedlike these words. [< them 
+ selves, pi. of self.'] See himself. 
then (THen), adv. and coxj. [Early mod. E. also 
thenne; also than, thanne ; < ME. then, thenne, 
thene, than, thanne, < AS. thsenne, thanne, thonne, 
then, rel. when, after comparatives than ; = OS. 
thanna = OFries. thenne, thanne = D. dan = 
OHG. MHG. danne, G. dann, also OHG. danna 
MHG. denne, G. denn = Goth, than, then: see 
than.'] I. adv. 1. At that time: referring to a 
time specified, either past or future. 
Ich for-gat jouthe, and gorn in-to etde. 
Thenne was Fortune my foo for al here fayre by-heste. 
Piers Plowman (C), xiii. 14. 
Now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also 
I am known. 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 
When thou canst get the ring upon my finger, . . . then 
call me husband ; but in such a ' ' then " 1 write a " never. " 
Shak., All's Well, iii. 2. 62. 
2. Afterward; next in order; soon afterward 
or immediately. 
First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and 
offer thy gift. Mat. v. 24. 
First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in 
the ear. Mark iv. 28. 
Their ranks began 
To break upon the galled shore, and than 
Retire again. Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1440. 
3. At another time : as, now and then, at one 
time and another. 
Sometime the flood prevails, and then the wind ; 
Now one the better, then another best. 
Shale., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 5. 10. 
Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars 
Up to the fiery concave towering high. 
Milton, P. L., ii. 634. 
By then, (a) By that time : as, Return at four, I shall be 
ready by then. 
All will be ended by then. 
Swift, To Mrs. Johnson, Feb. 23, 1711-12. (JodreU.) 
(i>t) By the time when or that : then in this phrase having 
the force of a relative. 
This evening late, 6y then the chewing flocks 
Had ta'en their supper on the savoury herb, . . . 
I sat me down to watch. Milton, Comus, 1. 540. 
Every now and then. See everyi. Now and then. 
See now. Till then, until that time. 
Till then who knew 
The force of those dire arms? 
Milton, P. L., i. 93. 
II. conj. 1. In that case; in consequence; 
therefore; for this reason. 
So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful 
Abraham. Gal. iii. 9. 
If God be true, then is his word true. 
J. Bradford, Letters (Parker Hoc., 1S53), II. 245. 
He calls the conscience Gods sovrantie ; why then doth 
he contest with God about that supreme title? 
Milton, Eikonoklastes, xv. 
6272 
Pan't we touch these bubbles then 
But they break? Brmming, In a Year. 
Then is often used in offering a substitute for a word or 
statement rejected. 
Fal. Good morrow, good wife. 
Quick. Not so, an 't please your worship. 
Fal. Good maid, then. Shak., M. W. of W., ii. -2. 35. 
2f. Than. See than But then, but on the other 
hand; but notwithstanding; but in return. 
He is then a giant to an ape ; but then is an ape a doc- 
tor to such a man. Shak., Much Ado, v. 1. 205. 
= Syn. L Wherefore, Accordingly, etc. See therefore. 
then (Tiien), a. [An ellipsis for then being.] 
Then being; being at that time. 
Our then Ambassador was there. 
J. D. (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 643). 
It was the letter of the noble lord upon the floor, and 
of all the king's then ministers. Burke, Amer. Taxation. 
01 quite another stamp was the then accountant, John 
Tipp. Lamb, South-Sea House. 
thenadays (THen'a-daz), adv. In those days; 
in time past : opposed or correlative to nowa- 
days. [Rare.] 
The big, roomy pockets which our mothers wore under 
their gowns there were no dresses thenadays. 
N. and Q., 7th ser., X. 154. 
thenal (the'nal), n. [< then(ar) + -al.] Same 
as thenar. 
thenar (the'nar), n. and a. [NL., < Gr. ffevap 
(= OHG. tenor, MHG. tener, also OHG. tenra, 
MHG. tenre), the flat of the hand.] I. n. In 
OHO*, and zool., the palm of the hand or sole of 
the foot; the ball of the thumb; the vola. 
II. a. Of or pertaining to the thenar. 
Thenar muscles, those muscles which form the fleshy 
mass of the ball of the thumb, acting upon the meta- 
carpal and basal phalangeal bone of the thumb, as dis- 
tinguished from the hypothenar muscles, which similarly 
act upon the metacarpal bone and first phalanx of the 
little finger. See hypothenar and thumb. Thenar 
prominence or eminence, the ball of the thumb. 
thenardite (the-nar'dit), n. [Named after L. 
J. de Thenard (1777-1857), a French chemist 
and peer of France.] Anhydrous sodium sul- 
phate (Na 2 SO 4 ). It occurs in crystalline coatings at 
the bottom of some lakes at Espartinas (near Madrid), in 
South America, and in extensive deposits in Arizona. It is 
used in the preparation of sodium carbonate. 
Thenard's blue. Same as cobalt blue (which 
see, under blue). 
thence (THens), adv. [< ME. thens, thense, 
thennes, thennus, thannes; with adv. gen. -es 
(see -ce 1 ), < thenne, thence: see thenne^. Cf. 
hence, whence.] 1. From that place. 
Also a lityll thense ys the place wher ower Savyor Crist 
taught hys Discipulis to pray. 
Torkington, Marie of Eng. Travell, p. 29. 
When ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your 
feet. Mark vi. 11. 
2. From that time ; after that. 
There shall be no more thence an infant of days. 
Isa. Ixv. 20. 
3. From that source; from or out of this or 
that; for that reason. 
Thence comes it that my name receives a brand, 
And almost thence my nature is subdued 
To what it works in, like the dyer's hand. 
Shak., Sonnets, cxi. 
Their parents, guardians, tutors, cannot agree ; thence 
all is dashed, the match is unequal. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 550. 
Not to sit idle with so great a gift 
Useless, and thence ridiculous, about him. 
Maton, S. A., 1. 1501. 
4. Not there; elsewhere; absent. 
They prosper best of all when I am thence. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 5. 18. 
From thence, fro thencet, thence : a pleonasm. 
Aftre gon Men be Watre ... to Cypre, and so to Athens, 
and fro thens to Costantynoble. Mandevitte, Travels, p. 55. 
All mist from thence 
Purge and disperse. Milton, P. L. , iii. 53. 
Those who were mounting were dashed upon the rocks, 
and /ran thence tumbled upon the plain. 
Irving, Granada, p. 54. 
thenceforth (wnens' forth'), adv. [t ME. 
thennesforth; < thence + forth*.] From that 
time forward. 
If the salt have lost his savour, ... it is thenceforth 
good for nothing. Mat. v. 13. 
From thenceforth, thenceforth : a pleonasm. 
And/rom thenceforth Pilate sought to release him. 
John xix. 12. 
Resolving from thenceforth 
To leave them to their own polluted ways. 
Milton, P. L. , xii. 109. 
thenceforward (THens'fdr'wiird), adv. [< 
thence + forward 1 .] From that time or place 
onward. 
Thencefoneard oft from out a despot dream 
The father panting woke. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
Theocritean 
thencefrom (THens'from'), ooV. [< thence + 
from.] From that place. /y. Diet. 
thenneM, adr. and conj. An old spelling of 
tlien. 
thenne 2 t, <'<' [< ME. theunc, ttaMM, thonne, 
flieonne, earlier thanene, thanen, theoneiie, < AS. 
thanon, theoiien, thonon (=OHG. danninia, daii- 
HIIII. dunlin, MHG. G. dannen), thence; with for- 
mative -nan, -non, < *tha, the pronominal base 
of that, this, etc., then, than, etc. Hence thence.] 
From that place ; thence. 
Lat men shette the dores and go thenne, 
Yet wol the fyr as faire lye and brenne 
As twenty thousand men myghte it biholde. 
Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 285. 
thennesfortht, adv. A Middle English form of 
thenceforth. Chaucer. 
thentoforet, <tdr. [< then + toforc; cf. hereto- 
fore.] Before then. 
Bishop Atterbury had thentofore written largely. 
Disney, Life of Sykes (1785), quoted in N. and Q., 6th 
[ser., X. 147. 
Theobroma (the-o-bro'ma), 71. [NL. (Linnseus, 
1737), < Gr. 0fOf, god (see theism), + fipu/ja, food: 
see broma.] 1. A genus of trees, of the order 
Sterculiacex and tribe Bilttneriese. It is charac- 
terized by flowers with inflexed petals each with a spatu- 
late lamina, and anthers two or three in a place between 
the staminodes or lobes of an urn-shaped stamen-column. 
The 15 species are natives of the warmer parts of America. 
They are trees with large oblong undivided leaves, and 
small lateral solitary or clustered flowers. For T. Cacao, 
the principal species, see cacao and chocolate. 
2. \l. c.] A plant of this genus Oil of theo- 
broma. See oil. 
theobromine (the-o-bro'min), 7i. [< Theobroma 
+ -ine' 2 .] A crystalline alkaloid (C^Hg^Ojj), 
forming salts with acids, volatile and very bit- 
ter. In composition it is nearly related to thein or caf- 
fein. It is found in the seeds of Theobroma Cacao. 
theochristic (the-o-kris'tik), . [< Gr. 6e6xpic- 
rof, anointed by God (< 6e6f, god, + ^/worof, 
anointed: see Christ), + -ic.] Anointed by 
God. [Rare.] 
theocracy (the-ok'ra-si), n.; pi. theocracies (-siz). 
[= F. theoci-atie =" teocracia = Pg. theocracia 
= It. teocrasia,<. NL. *theocratia,< Gr. BfoKparia, 
the rule of God, < feof, god, + -Kparia, < KpaTElv, 
rule.] 1. A form of government in which God 
is recognized as the supreme civil ruler of the 
state, and his laws are taken as the statute-book 
of the kingdom. 2. A state so governed : usu- 
ally applied, with the definite article, to the 
Jewish commonwealth from the time of its or- 
ganization under Moses until the inauguration 
of the monarchy under Saul. 
Thus, the Almighty becoming their king, in as reala sense 
as he was their God, the republic of the Israelites was 
properly a Theocracy. Warburton, Divine Legation, v. 2. 
theocrasy (the-ok'ra-si), . [< Gr. 0cof, god, + 
Kpaatf, a mixing or blending: see crasis.] 1. 
In one. pliilos., the intimate union of the soul 
with God in contemplation, which was consid- 
ered attainable by the newer Platonists. Simi- 
lar ideas are entertained by the philosophers 
of India, and by many religious sects. 2. A 
mixture of the worship of different gods. 
theocrat(the'o-krat),M. [=F. theocrate; <theo- 
crat-ic : of. democrat, etc.] A member of a the- 
ocracy ; one who rules in a theocracy. 
theocratic (the-o-krat'ik), a. [= F. theocra- 
tique = Sp. teocrdtico = Pg. theocratico = It. 
teocratico, < NL. 'theocraticus, < "theocratia, the- 
ocracy: see theocracy.] Of, pertaining to, or 
of the nature of a theocracy. 
And the elder Saints and Sages laid their pious framework 
right 
By a theocratic instinct covered from the people's sight. 
LoweU, Anti-Apis. 
The Kingdom of God existed at the outset in a national 
form, in the form of a theocratic state. 
G. P. Fisher, Begin, of Christianity, p. 7. 
theocratical(the-o-krat'i-kal), a. [< theocratic 
4- -al.] Same as theocratic. G. P. Fisher, Be- 
gin, of Christianity, p. 124. 
theocratist (the-ok'ra-tist), n. [< theocrat + 
-1st.] One who emphasizes the principle of 
authority, placing revelation above individual 
reason, and order above freedom and progress, 
and explains the origin of society as a direct 
revelation from God. Encyc. Brit., III. 286. 
Theocritean (the-ok-ri-te'an), a. [< Theocritus. 
< Gr. Qe6icptTOf,, Theocritus' (see def.), + -e-an.] 
Pertaining to or in the manner of Theocritus 
of Sicily (third century B. c.), the founder of 
the Greek idyllic school of poetry; pastoral: 
idyllic. 
In England the movement in favor of Theocritean sim- 
plicity ulm-h hsul been introduced by Spenser in the Shep- 
herd's Calendar was immediately defeated by the success 
of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia. Enciic. Brit., XVIII. 346. 
