A B I 
tional belief; and yet it is fo abhorrent from the vulgar, 
that they would as foon believe Anaxagoras, that fnow is 
black, as him that fliould affirm it is not white. Glanville. 
ABHORRER,/] The perfon that abhors; a hater, a 
detefter. 
ABHORRING, the obje£t of abhorrence. This feems 
not to be the proper ufe of the participial noun.—They 
fliall go forth, and look upon the carcafes of the men that 
have tranfgreffed againft me: for their worm (hall not die, 
neither (hall their fire be quenched, and they fliall be an 
abhorring unto all flefh. Ifaiafi , lxvi.44. 
ABIAD, a town on the coaft of Abex, feated on a high 
mountain, remarkable for its trade in ebony and aromatic 
plants. 
ABIANS, anciently a people of Thrace, or (according 
to fome authors) of Scythia. They had no fixed habita¬ 
tions ; they led a wandering life. Their lioufes were wag¬ 
gons, which carried all their pofTeflions. They lived on 
the flefh of their herds and flocks, on milk, and cheefe, 
chiefly on that of mare’s milk. They were unacquainted 
with commerce, and only exchanged commodities with 
their neighbours. They poflefled lands, but they did not 
cultivate them; for they afligned their agriculture to any 
who would undertake it, referving only to themfelves a 
tribute; which they exadted, not with a view to live in 
affluence, but merely to enjoy the neceftaries of life. 
They never took arms but to oblige thofe to make good a 
promife to them by whom it had been broken. They 
paid tribute to none of the neighbouring ftates. They 
deemed themfelves exempt from fuch an impofition; for 
they relied on their ftrength and courage, and confequently 
thought themfelves able to repel any invafion. The Abi- 
ans, we are told, were a people of great integrity. This 
honourable eulogium is given them by Homer. Strabo. 
ABIATHAR, high-pried of the Jews, fontoAbime- 
lech, who had borne the fame office, and received David 
into his houfe. This fo enraged Saul, who hated David, 
that he put Abimelech to death, and eighty-one priefts; 
Abiathar alone efcaped the maffacre. He afterwards was 
high-pried; and often gave king David teftimonies of his 
fidelity, particularly during Abfalom’s confpiracy, at 
which time Abiathar followed David,- and bore away the 
ark. But after this he confpired with Adonijah, in order 
to raife him to the throne of David his father; this fo ex- 
afperatea Solomon, that he afterwards diverted him of 
the priefthood, and banifhed him, A. M. 3021, before 
Chrift 1014. 
ABIB,/] fignifying an ear of corn, a name given by the 
Jews to the firrt month of their eecleliaftical year, after¬ 
wards called Nifan. It commenced at the vernal equinox ; 
and according to the courfe of the moon, by which their 
months were regulated, anfwered to the latter part of our 
March and beginning of April. 
To ABIDE, v. n. I abode or abid, [from bidian, or au- 
bidian. Sax.] To flay in a place; not to remove.—Thofe 
who apply themfelves to learning, are forced to acknow¬ 
ledge one God, incorruptible and unbegotten; who is the 
only true being, and abides for ever above the highert hea¬ 
vens, from whence he beholds all the things that are done 
in heaven and earth. Stilling fleet. —To remain; not ceafe 
or fail; to be immoveable. To continue in the fame rtate. 
To endure without offence, anger, or contradiction. It is 
ufed with the particle with before a perfon, and at or in 
before a place.—It is better that I give her to thee, than 
I give her to another man : abide with me. Gen. xxix. 19. 
—For thy fervant vowed a vow, while I abode at Gefliur in 
Syria, faying, if the Lord fhall bring me again indeed to 
Jerufalem, then I will ferve the Lord. 2 Sam. xv, 8.— 
It is ufed with by before a thing; as, to abide by his tefti- 
mony; to abide by his own fkill; that is, to rely upon them. 
To abide by an opinion, to maintain it; to abide by a man, is 
alfb-to defend or fupport him. But thefe forms are fonie- 
thinglow.—Of the participle abid, I have found only the 
example in Woodward, and fliould rather determine that 
A B I lg 
abide in the active fenfe has no paffive participle, or com¬ 
pounded preterite. John/on. 
To An ide, v. a. To wait for, expedt, attend, wait upon, 
await: uled of things prepared for perfons, as well as of 
perfons expecting things. To bear or fupport the confe- 
quences of a. thing. To bear or fupport, without being-con¬ 
quered or deftroyed.—But the Lord he is the true^God, 
he is the living God, and an everlafting king: at his 
wrath the earth (hall tremble, and the nations ihall not be 
able to abide his indignation. Jfer. x. 10.—To bear with¬ 
out ayerfion; in which fenfe it is commonly ufed with a 
negative. To bear or fiiffer: 
-Girt with circumfluous tides, 
He Hill calamitous conrtraint abides. Pope. 
ABIDER, f. The perfon that abides or dwells in a 
place; perhaps that lives or endures. A word little in ufe. 
ABIDING,/] Continuance; flay; fixed date. ■—We are 
ft rangers before thee and fojourners, as were all our fa¬ 
thers : our days on the earth are as a Ihadow, and there is 
none abiding. 1 Chron. xxix. 15. 
ABJECT, adj. [ abjeElus , Lat. thrown away as of no va¬ 
lue.] Mean; worthlefs; bale; groveling: fpoken of per¬ 
fons, or their qualities.—Honeft men, who tell their So¬ 
vereigns v. hat they expe£t from them, and what obedience 
they fliall be always ready to pay them, are not upon an 
equal foot with bafe and abjcEl flatterers. Addifon. —Beino- 
of no hope or regard: ufed of condition.—We fee man 
and woman in the highert innocence and perfection, and in 
the moft abjeEl rtate of guilt and infirmity. Addifon.— . 
Mean and defpicable: ufed of aCfions : 
To what bafe ends, and by what abjeEl ways, 
Are mortals urg’d, through facred luft of praife ? Pope. 
ABJECT, /. A man without hope ; a man whofe mi- 
feries are irretrievable; one of the loweft condition._ 
Yea, the objects gathered themfelves together againft me, 
PJalm xxxv. 13. 
ABJECTEDNESS,/] The ftate of anabjeCh 
ABJECTION,/] Meannefs of mind; want of fpirit; 
fervility; bafenefs.—That this fliould be termed bafenefs, 
abjeElion of mind, or fervility, is it credible ? Hooker. 
ABJECTLY, adv. I11 an abjeCt manner, meanly, bafe- 
ly, fervilely, contemptibly. 
ABJECTNESS, f. Abjeftion, fervility, meannefs.— 
Servility and abjeElncfs of humour is implicitly involved in 
the charge of lying. 
ABIES, f . the fir-tree. See Pinus. 
ABIGEAT,/] an old law-term, denoting the crime of 
dealing cattle by droves or herds. This crime was Se¬ 
verely puniflied; the delinquent being often condemned to 
the mines, banifliment, or fomething capital. 
ABIHU, brother to Nadab, and fon to Aaron. The 
two former had the happinefs to afcend mount Sinai with 
their father, and there to behold the glory of God: but 
afterward putting ftrange fire into their cenfers, inrtead of 
the facred fire commanded by God, fire ruflied upon them, 
and killed them. Though all the people bewailed this 
terrible cataftrophe, Mofes forbad Aaron and his two 
fons Eleazar and Lthamar to join in the lamentation. 
ABII SCYTHEE, taken by Strabo to denote the Euro¬ 
pean Sarmatae, bordering on the Thracians and Baftanae : 
they were commended by Curtius for their love of juftice, 
and by Ammielius for their contempt of earthly things. ' 
ABILITY,/] [habilete', Fr.] The power to do any thing, 
whether depending upon (kill, or riches, or ftrength, or 
any other quality. Capacity of mind; force of under- 
ftanding; mental power. When it has the plural number, 
abilities , it frequently fignifies the faculties or powers of 
the mind, and fometirnes the force of underftanding given 
by nature, as diftinguiftied from acquired qualifications. 
ABIMELECH, king of Gerar, a country of the Phi- 
liftines, was cotemporary with Abraham. This patriarch 
and his family being there, his wife Sarah, though ninety 
veai-s 
