widgeon 
4. A small teasing fly; a midge. Enoic. Brit., 
XXIV. 561. [Loeal, Eng.] _ American widgeon, 
AtuMot Mareea amencana, which dilters specifically from 
the common widgeon of Europe, M. peneli/te ■ tlie green- 
headed widgeon. Also called locally hald-faced widgeon 
gmilhem icidgeon, California widgeon, baU-a-own, bald- 
pate, bald-/ace, baldhead, ichitebelly, poacher, wheat-duck 
and mwktng-duck. See cut above. — Black Widgeon' 
Same as curre mdijeon. [Devonshire, Eng.] — Bull-head- 
ed Widgeon, the pochard, Fidigula ferina. — Carre Wid- 
geon, the tufted duck, FiUigvla erintata. Also called black 
curre. IlaiitM. See cut under (ii/rerf. [Somerset, Eng.] — 
Pied widgeon, (a) .Same as garganey. (b) The golden- 
eyed duck, Clangula glaiwlon. (c) The male goijsander, 
Mergmmerga iwr. - Popping widgeon. .See poj)l . - Red- 
beaded Widgeon. .Same as redhead, 2 — SnufF-headed 
Widgeon, the pochard or redhead. Compare care headed 
and weofel-headed.—Wbiie widgeon, the white mer- 
ganser, nun, or smew, Mergellug albellus. .See cut under 
rmew. [Devonshire, Eng.] 
widgeon-coot (wij'on-kot), «. The ruddy duck, 
F.nsmatura rubkla. See out under Krisnuitura. 
[Massachusetts.] 
widgeon-grass (wij'ou-gras), u. The grass- 
wrack, Zont^ra mariiKi. Britten and Holland. 
[Local, Ireland.] 
WidmannstSttian (wi<l-inan-stet'i-an), a. Per- 
taining to Aloys Beck von Widraaiinstatt, of 
Vienna (17.53-1849). -widmannstattlan figures, 
the name given to certain peculiar markings seen on 
the polished surfaces of many meteoric irons (sidero- 
lltes) when these have been acteil on by an acid. They 
were first noticed by Widmannstatt in 18<)8, on the Agram 
meteorite. The general appearance of these markings 
may be learned from the annexed figure, which is a copy 
of a photograph, of natural size, of a part of an etched 
section of the Laurens county (.South Carolina) meteoric 
Iron. The Widmannstattian figures are sections of planes 
of cleavage or of crystalline growth, along which segrega- 
tion, or chemical change of some sort, has taken place, 
and whose form and position with reference to each other 
are in accordance with the laws governing the develop- 
ment of crystalline substances belonging to the isometric 
system. Reichenbach divided these figures int<j what he 
6921 
plained, from the Skt., as 'without a husband,' 
as if Skt. ridhavd were < ri, without, -I- dhava, 
husband; but it is more prob. derived from the 
root (Skt.) (■(■«(//(, lack. The L. riduus, lacking, 
deprived of, is prob. developed from the fem. 
vidiui, taken as adj., widowed, deprived. Simi- 
larly the words for ' widower' are derived from 
those for 'widow.' From L. riduus are ult. E. 
vmd, avoid, etc.] 1. A woman who has lost 
her husband by death, in the early church, widows 
formed a separate class or order, whose duties were devo- 
tion and the care of the orphans, the sick, and prisoners. 
And whan the Queen and alle the othere noble Ladyes 
sawen that thei weren alle Wydewef, and that alle the 
rialle Blood was lost, thei armed hem, and, as Creatures 
out of Wytt, thei slowen alle the men of the Contrey that 
weren laft. MnndeiiUe, Travels, p. l.=.-l. 
We'll throw his castell down, 
And make a widmce o' his gaye ladye. 
.'kiivj of the Outlaw Murray (Child's Ballads, VI. 23). 
wie 
wuduire, f., widow: see Mvrffxcl.] 1. A man 
who has lost his wife by death. 
Wedewea and wedeweres that here owen wil for-saken, 
And chast leden here lyf. Piers Plowman (C), xix. 76. 
Our widower's second marriage-day. 
Shak., All's Well, v, 3. 70. 
2. See the quotation. 
Let there be nidowrn, which you call releevers, ap- 
pointed everywhere to the church-service. 
Bp. Hall, Apologie against Brownists, § 19. (Encyc. Did.) 
■widower^ (wid'6-er), n. [< widoto'^, v., + -ec'.] 
One who or that which widows or bereaves. 
Hengist, begirt with that fam'd falchion call'd 
The *' Widower of Women." 
Milman, Samor, Lord of the Bright City, xi. 
Widowerhood (wid'o-er-hud), n. [< icidower^ + 
-hood.'i The condition of a widower. 
Ine spoushod, other ine wodewehod. 
Ayenbite of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 185. 
Widow is also used attributively (now only coll«iuially): 'WidoW-finch (wid'6-fineh), n. Same as u-hidnh- 
as, "a mdow woman, 2 Sam. xiv. 6. tinch 
This widow lady=°" "SLT. K."joh„, ii. 1. ,S48. ^d°?^lieadt. (wid ' o -hed). n. [< widou-A + 
Who has the paternal power whilst the widow queen is 
with child? Locke, Of Oovernment, § 123. 
2. A European geometrid moth, Cidaria luc- 
tuata, more fully called mourning widow ; an 
English collectors' name. — 3. In some card- 
(jamen, an additional hand dealt to the table, 
sometimes face up, sometimes not Hempen 
widow. See /wmpen.— Locality of a widow. See <o- 
radfi/.— Mournful 'Widow, mourning -widow. See 
inouriyfiU-indou; mmirnimi-tridmr.— Widow bewitched, 
a woman living apart from her husband ; a grass-widow. 
What can you be able to do, that would be more grate- 
ful to them, than if they should see you divorced from _ 
your husband ; a widow, nay, to live (a widow bemtcht) plied to the state or conditioii of being a widow 
worse than a widow ; for widows may marry again. 
Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, p. 136. (Dacies.) 
Ay ! and yo' were Sylvia Robson, and as bonny and light- 
licad.^ Widowhood. 
Virginity, wedlock, and widorvhead are none better than 
other, to be saved by, in their own nature. 
Tyndale, Ans. to SirT. More, etc. (Parker Soc, 18,i0), p. I.'i7. 
ITpon you, who are a member of the spouse of Christ, 
the church, there can fall no tridowticad, nor orphanage 
upon those children to whom God is father. 
Donne, Letters, Ixxvi. 
widowhood (wid'o-Iiud), »i. [< ME. wydow- 
hood, wijdcKood, Kidichode, wideweliad ; < widow'^ 
+ -hood.'] 1. The state of a man whose wife 
is dead, or of a woman whose husband is dead, 
and who has not married again : generally ap- 
hearted a lass as any in all t' Riding, though now yo . , .. 
poor widow bewitched. Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, xx.\ix. 
Widow's chamber, the apparel and furniture of the bed- 
chaml>er of the widow of a London freeman, to which she 
was formerly entitled.— Widows' lawn, a kind of fine 
thin muslin, made originally for widows' caps. [Eng. ] — 
Widow's man. .See the quotations. 
As to Square, who was in his person what is called a 
jolly fellow, or a widow's man, he easily reconciled his 
choice to the eternal fitness of things. 
Fielding, Tom Jones, iii. 6. (Dames.) 
Widow's mfntire imaginary sailors, borne on the books, 
and receiving pay and prize-money, which is appropriated 
to Greenwich Hospital. 
Marryat, Peter Simple, vii., note. (Dacies.) 
Widow's mantle. See mantle.— WiAow's ring. Sec 
n'liyi.— Widows' silk, a silk fabric made with a very 
dull surface, and considered especially fit for mcturning. 
-Widow's weeds, the mourning-dress of a widow. 
What have I done at home, since my Wife died? 
Xo Turtle ever kept a undowhood 
More strict then I have done. 
Broine, Queens Exchange, i. 
ifother and daughter, you behold them both in their 
uidotphood — Torceilo and Venice. 
Ituskin, Stones of Venice, II. ii. § 2. 
He was nmch older than his wife, whom he had married 
after a protracted widouhood. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. im. 
2t. A widow's right ; the estate settled on a 
widow. 
For that dowry, I'll assure her of 
Her widowhood, be it that she survive me. 
In all my lands. Shak., T. of the S., ii. 1. 12.'S. 
widow-hunter (wid'6-hnn"ter), n. One who 
seeks or courts widows for the .sake of a joint- 
ure or fortune. Addiaon. 
■Widowly I wid'o-li), adv. [< widow^ + -li/-.] In 
a manjier beiitting a widow. [Kare.] 
widowl (wid'o), 1. /. [< jr(f/oH-l, «.] 1. To re- 'widow-maker (wid'o-ma'''ker), «. One who or 
annsLltti^iii Fi,;iires, 
called a triuM (more properly a /rwit/)- namely, kama- 
cite (Balkeneisen), ttenite (Kandeisen), and plessite (Full- 
eisen)— the first consisting, wi far as Itas been as yet made 
out, of distinct plates of iron, with a comparatively small 
percentage of nickel ; the second consisting of thitmer 
plates enveloping the kamacite, and richer in nickel ; and 
the third being a sort of ground-mass filling the cavities, 
and having less obvious indications of structure and gener- 
ally a darker color than the others. It has frequently been 
stated that some meteoric irons do not exhibit the Wid- 
mannstattian figures, and that consequently tlieii- absence 
is not a pnK>f of non-celestial origin ; it is certain, how- 
ever, that few, if any, siderolites do not show traces of 
some kind of structure, although investigators in this 
branch of science are by no means agreed as to what kiml 
of figures are properly designated by the name Wvi- 
nuinnMiittian. A somewhat similar uncertainty prevails 
with regard to the figures developed by etching on tlie 
terrestrial iron of Ovifak : so that, at the present time, it 
cannot be said that the Widmannstattian figures furnish 
(luce to the condition of a widow; bereave of 
a husband or mate : commonly in the ])ast par- 
tici])le. 
In this city he 
Hath widow'd and unchildtfd many a one. 
.Shak., Cor., v. 6. IfiS. 
We orphaned many children, 
.And widowed many women. 
Peacock, VVarSong of Dinas Vawr. 
2. To endow with a widow's right. [Rare.] 
For his possessions. 
Although by contiscation they are ours. 
We do instate and widow you withal. 
To buy you a better husband. 
tShak.. M. for M., v. 1. 42ii. 
that which makes widows by bereaving women 
of their husbands. 
O, it grieves my soul 
That I must draw this metal from my sule 
'To be a widow-maker! Shak., K. John, v. 2. 17. 
Widow's-cross (wid'6z-kr6s), *(. .See Scdum. 
'WidoW-wail (wid'o-wal), n. 1. A dwarf hardy 
sljrub, CiKorHni tricoccon. of the Simaruliacea', 
found in Spain and the south of France. It has 
procumbent stems. Iance-shape<l evergreen leaves, and 
clusters of pink sweet-scented rtowers. 'The name ex- 
tends to the only other species of the genus, C. pulverti- 
lentum, of Teneriffe. 
2. Same iis wccpiini-u-idow. [Prov. Eng.] 
Widret, ''• An obsolete form of wither'^ 
3. Figuratively, to deprive of anything regarded width (width), «. [< wide + -tli^.] 1. Breadth; 
Dryden. 
as analogous to a hus'oand; bereave 
times with of. 
'I'he uidow'd isle in mourning 
Dries up her tears. 
Trees o/ their shrivell'd fruits 
Are witlow'd. J. Philips, Cider, ii. 74. 
4t. To survive as the widow of; be widow to. 
Let me be manted to three kings in a forenoon, and 
widow them all. Sltak., A. and C, i. 2. 27. 
positive criterion by which the authenticity of a mete- widOW^ (wid'o), )(. [Hhori for widow-bird.] A 
.!„ I..... ■ ..K.,..,„.i . ..„. .. .. .._....,.. .u.. ....„ whidah-bird.- Mourning widow, a whiilah-bird ,.f 
the genus Coliuxpass^. See I'irfw/M,^. — Widow of para- 
dise, one of the whidah-birds. See Vidua (with cut). 
'Widow-bench (wid'6-bench), n. That share 
which a widow is allowed of her husband's es- 
tate, besides her jointure. MlKirtou. 
widow-bird (wid'o-berd), «. [An aceom. form 
(simulating E. widow^) of whidah-hird.] 
as whidali-hird. Also widoir-flnch. 
oric iron may be established ; yet it is certain that well 
developed figures of this kind ilo render it highly probable 
that the specimen in which they are seen is extraterres- 
trial. A classification i»f meteoric irons on the basis of 
the different forms of figures which they exhibit, in the 
present condition of this branch of science, does not seem 
to be Justifiable, although this has been attempted. 
widow' (wid'o), H. [Formerly also widdow : < 
ME. wideirr, iri/ilcwe, iridwf^, iridue, irodnrc (pi. 
widewrn, widous), < AS. widrwr, wi/deirr, wuduwe. 
wideness; the lineal extent of a thing from side 
to side; comprehensiveness: ojjposed to nar- 
7-0U'IICS.1. 
Whence from the width of many a gaping wound. 
There 's many a soul into the air must fly. 
Drayton, Battle of Agincourt, st. 142. 
The two reniain'il 
Apart by all the chamber's width. 
Tennyson, (ieraint. 
2. In tcxtile.'i, drci.imakiiig, etc., same as lircadtli. 
•^. =Syn. 1. See wide. 
■widthwise (width'wiz), adv. In the direction 
of the width; as regards the width. 
The stage is widthwise divided into five parts. 
Scrlhner's Mag., IV. 436. 
widualt, a. An erroneous form of vidua!. Bp. 
Bale. Ajiology, fol. 38. 
Same wldwet, widwehedt, "• Middle English forms 
of widiiu'K widowhood. 
widwr, wudwr, wroduwr = OS. widuwa. widoira. widow-buTning (wi(ro-ber''ning), n. Saine as 'wiet, 'wyeH, ". [ME. wic, wye, wige, also errone- 
leidwa = OFries. widirr = I), weduwf = L(i. .suttee, 'i. ' 
icedewr = <)ll(j. witutca (witiiwa), MHti. wiliwr. 'widow-duck(wid'6-duk), ». The Vieissy duck. 
witice, a. iritlwe = (Soth. widuwo. tridowo = W. Dcndroei/i/ua riduata, one of the best-known 
gweddw = OPriiss. widdewu = OBulg. vidorn tree-ducks. 
= Kuss. rdora = L. ritlua (> It. reilova = Sp. 'Widower' (wid'o-er), n. [< ME. widewer, wid- 
riiula = Pg. riiira = Pr. rrurii = F. reuri) = wrr ='S\V>. wediiwer = '^\y{(i.witewaerc,i~r.witt- 
Per«. biva = Skt. riiUiard. a widow; ef. (Jr. wer, a later substitute, with suffix -er, for the 
^ideoc, unmarried. The word is usually ex- AS. wudmca, a widower, etc., a masc. form to 
ously whe, < AS. wit/a, a warrior, < wig, war.] 
A warrior; poetically, a man. 
Missely marked he is way, & so manly he rides 
Tliat alle his uies were went ne wist he neuer winder. 
William of Paler ne (E. E. T. S. ), 1. 208. 
In god. Fader of lieuenc, 
Was the Sone in hym-selue in a simile, as Eue 
Was, whanne god wolde out of the wye y-drawe. 
Piers Plowman (('), xix. 230. 
I 
