828 D I M 
to fubdue. Arbuthnot. —To make weak.—The chamber 
was dark, left thefe colours fhould be diluted and weak¬ 
ened by the mixture of any adventitious light. Newton. 
To DILU'TE, v. n. To attenuate itfelf.—When I fee 
it at a greater diftancc, the joinings of the ftones are lefs 
diftinft, and the colours of the ftone and of the cement, 
begin to dilute into one another. Reid. 
DILU'TE, adj. Thin ; attenuated.—If the red and 
blue colours were more dilute and weak, the diftance of 
the images would be lefs than an inch ; and if they were 
more intenfe and full, that diftance would be greater, 
Newton. 
DILU'TER, f. That which makes any thing elfe 
thin.—Water is the only diluter ,, and tHe bed diflblvent 
of moft of the ingredients of our aliment. Arbuthnot. 
DILUTION,_/l [dilutio, I.at.] The aft of making any 
thing thin or weak.—Oppofite to dilution is coagulation, 
or thickening, which is performed by difiipating the 
moft liquid parts by heat. Arbuthnot. 
DILU'VI AL, adj. [from diluvium, Lat.] Belonging to 
a flood. Not much ufed. 
DILU'VIAN, adj. [from diluvium, Lat.] Relating to 
the deluge.—Suppofe that this diluvian lake fhould rife 
to the mountain tops in one place, and not diftufe itfelf 
equally into all countries about. Burnet. 
DIM, adj. [bimme, Sax. dy, Welfh ; dow, Erfe.] Not 
having a quick fight; not feeing clearly : 
For her true form how can my fpark difeern. 
Which, dim by nature, art did never clear? Davies. 
Dull of spprehenfion.—The underftanding is dim , and 
cannot by its natural light difeover fpiritual truths, Ro¬ 
gers. —Not clearly feen ; obfeure ; imperfectly difeover- 
ed.—We might be able to aim at fome dim and feeming 
conception, how matter might begin to exift by the power 
of that eternal firlt Being. Locke. 
Something, as dim to our internal view, 
Is thus, perhaps, the caufe of all we do. Pope. 
Obftrufting the aft of vifion ; not luminous; fomevvhat 
dark : 
Her face right wond’rous fair did feem to be, 
That her broad beauty’s beam great brightnefs threw' 
Thro’ the dim fhade, that all men might it fee. Spcnfcr. 
To DIM, v. a. To cloud; to darken ; to hinder from 
a full perception of light, and free exercife of vifion.— 
It hath been obferved by the ancients, that much ufe of 
Venus doth dim the fight ; and yet eunuchs, which are 
unable to generate, are neverthelefs alfo dim fighted. 
Bacon. —Every one declares againft blindnefs, and yet who 
almoft is not fond of that which dims his fight ? Locke. 
Where the Almighty’s lightning brand does light, 
It dims the dazed eyen, and daunts the fenfes quite. Spenf. 
To make lefs bright; to obfeure.—The principal figure 
in a pifture is like a king among his courtiers, who dims 
all his attendants. Dryden. 
A flvip that through the ocean wide, 
By conduft of fome ftar, doth make her way, 
When as a ftorm hath dimm'd her trufty guide, 
Out of her courfe doth wander far aftray. Spcnfer. 
DI'MACH 2 E,/. [from he, double; and a-ciya, Gr. I 
fight.] In antiquity, a kind of horfemen, firft inftituted 
by Alexander, who afted as horle or foot, as occafion 
required. 
DIM'BACH, a town of Germany, in the archduchy 
of Auftria : four miles north of Grein. 
DIM'BLE,/. [him, Sax. a cave.] A dingle: which 
fee.—And in a dimble near, an ivy-ceiled bower. Drayton. 
—Deep in a gloomy dimble (lie doth dwell. Ben Jonfon. 
Some commentators, on meeting with dimble in our early 
writers, have fuppofed it an erratum for dingle, merely 
becaule Milton ufes the latter word and not the former; 
D I M 
but what plaufible reafon is there to be given againft the 
exiftence of both words ? Mafon's Suppl. 
DIM'CHURCH, or Dinchurch, a village in the 
county of Kent, fituated by the fide of a ftrong dyke, 
called Dimchurch Wall, between Romney and Hythe, to 
prevent the encroachments of the fea, with a carriage 
road on the top, wide enough for carriages to pafs each 
other: four miles and a half norih-north-eaft of New 
Romney, and four and a half fouth-fouth-weft of Hythe. 
DI'MEL, a river of Germany, in the circle of the 
Lower Rhine, which runs into the Wefer, near Ilelmer- 
fh au fen. 
DI MEN'SION,yi [ dimenjio, Lat.] Space contained ir> 
anything; bulk; extent; capacity. It is fcldom ufed 
but in the plural. The three geometrical dimenfions 
are, length, breadth, and depth : viz. a line hath one di- 
menfion, which is length: a fuperficies two ; length and 
breadtli : and a body, or folid, has three: viz. length, 
breadth, and depth. In algebra it is applied to the 
powers of any root in the equation, which are called the 
dimenfions of that root. Shakefpcare and Milton , how¬ 
ever, ufe it in the Angular: 
And in dimenfion and the fliape of nature 
A gracious perfon. Twelfth Night. 
A dark 
Illimitable ocean, without bound, 
Without dimenfion. Paradife Lofl. 
DIMEN'SIONLESS, adj. Without any definite bulk: 
In they pafs’d 
Dimenjionlfs through heav’nly doors. Milton. 
DIMEN'SIVE, adj. [ dimenfus , Lat.] That which 
marks the boundaries or outlines : 
All bodies have their meafure, and their fpace ; 
But who can draw the foul’s dimenjive lines ? Davies. 
DIME'TAi, the ancient Latin name of the people 
who inhabited the countries now called Caermarthen- 
fliire, Pembroke (hire, and Cardiganfliire. 
DI'METER, adj. [from he and iv, Gr.] Confid¬ 
ing of two poetic meafures.—Inftead of a dimeter iambic, 
it is a dimeter trochaic cataleftic. Tyrwhitt. 
DIME'TIENT, f. [_dimetiens, Lat ] The fame with 
diameter. 
DIMICA'TION, f. [ dimicatio, Lat.] A battle; the 
aft of fighting ; conteft. 
DIMIDI A'TION, f. [ dimidiatio, Lat.] The aft of 
halving; divifion into two equal parts. 
DIMIDIE'T AS, f. The moiety or one half of a thing. 
DIMIKUR', a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Ko- 
nigingratz : ten miles weft of Biezow. 
To DIMl'NlSH, v. a. [ diminuo, Lat.] To make lefs by 
abfcifiion or deftruftion of any part: the oppofite to in- 
creaj'c. —That we call good, which is apt to increafe plea- 
fure, or diminijh pain, in us. Locke .—To impair; to lef- 
fen ; to degrade : 
Impioufly they thought 
Thee to diminijh, and from thee withdraw 
The number of thy worlhippers. - Milton. 
To take any thing from that to which it belongs: the 
contrary to add .—Ye (hall not add unto the word which 
I command you, neither fha.ll you diminijh aught From it. 
Dcut. iv. i. 
To DIMI'NISH, v. n. To grow lefs ; to be impaired; 
Crete’s ample fields diminijh to our eye ; 
Before the boreal blafts the veffels fly. Pope. 
DIMI'NISHINGLY, adv. In a manner tending to vi¬ 
lify, or leflen.—I never heard him'cenfure, or fo much 
as fpeak diminijhingly of any one that was abfertt. Locke. 
DIMINU'i'E, adj. Diminutive.—.The firft feeds of 
things are little and diminute. Sir A. Gorges. 
DIMINUT ION, J. \_diminutio, Lat.] The aft of mak¬ 
ing lefs.; oppofed to augmentation. —The one is not capa¬ 
ble 
