S E M 
is exceedingly like that of roasted apples: unroasted they 
taste astringent and acrid, leaving a painful sensation on the 
tongue for some time. 
It is in general use for marking cotton cloths ; the colour 
is improved and prevented from running, by a little mixture 
of quick-lime and water. This juice is not soluble in water, 
and only diffusible in spirits of wine, for it soon falls to the 
bottom, unless the menstruum be previously alkalized. The 
solution is then pretty complete, and of a deep black colour. 
It sinks in expressed oils, but soon unites perfectly with 
them; alkaline lixivium acts upon it with no belter success 
than plain water. 
SEMEGONDA, a city described by the Arabian geo¬ 
graphers as situated in Wangara, in Central Africa, upon 
the shore of a great fresh water lake. 
SEMEIOTICA ^EypeiaTiK'/i, formed from a"r]i/.eiov, S!gn, 
or symptom'], that part of medicine which considers the signs 
or symptoms of diseases. 
SEMELA, a village of Tripoli, in Africa; 145 miles 
south of Mesurada. 
SEMELE, in Mythology, the mother of Bacchus. 
SEMEN, in Physiology, an animal fluid secreted by the 
male, the contact of which is necessary to render the germs 
formed by the female prolific. 
SEMENCAN, a town of great Bukharia; 100 miles south¬ 
east of Balkh. 
SEMENDERY, a town on the south coast of the island 
of Java. Lat. 7. 1. S. long. 106. 50. E. 
SEMENDRIA, a town in the north-west of European 
Turkey, in Servia, situated on the south side of the Danube, 
and containing above 9000 inhabitants. It is defended by 
an old castle, and was, in a remote age, the residence of the 
kings of Servia. It has been repeatedly taken and retaken 
by the Turks and their Christian opponents, viz., in 1688, 
by the Hungarians ; in 1690, by the Turks; and again by 
the Hungarians in 1718, after which it was ceded to the 
Turks; 20 miles south-east of Belgrade, and 50 south of 
Temesvar. Lat. 44. 52. N. long. 20. 41. E. 
SEMENGE, an instrument used in Arabia by those 
wandering musicians who accompany the dancing women. 
It is a sort of bad violin, joined with a drum. The body 
is commonly a cocoa-nut shell, with a piece of skin extended 
upon it; three strings of catgut, and sometimes of horsehair, 
are fitted to it; and it is played with a bow, not less awk¬ 
ward in its form than the Greek lyre. 
SEMENNUD, a considerable town of Lower Egypt, the 
site of which, however, is not marked by any ruins; 53 
miles north of Cairo. 
SEMENOV, a small town in the north of European Rus¬ 
sia; 40 miles north of the town of Niznei-Novgorod. Po¬ 
pulation only 700. 
SEMENTINiE Ferine, feasts held annually among the 
Romans, to obtain of the gods a plentiful harvest. 
SEMER, or Seamer, a parish of England, in Suffolk ; 
2 miles south-by-east of Bildeston. 
SE'MI, s. [Latin.] A word which, used in composition, 
signifies half; as semicircle, half a circle. 
SEMIA'NNULAR, adj. Half round. Another boar 
tusk, somewhat slenderer, and of a semiannular figure. 
Grew. 
SEMI-ARIANS, a branch of the ancient Arians, con¬ 
sisting, according to Epiphanius, of such as, in appearance, 
condemned the errors of that heresiarch, but yet acquiesced 
in some of his principles, only palliating and hiding them 
under softer and more moderate terms. 
As the zeal of the Arians was chiefly levelled against the 
second person in the Trinity, that of the Semi-Arians was 
bent against the third; whence, as the former were some¬ 
times called Xjuo-o/za^oi, the latter were denominated Jlyev^a- 
SE'MIBRIEF, or Se'mibreve, s. [ semibreve , French.] 
A semibreve is a note of half the quantity of a breve, con¬ 
taining two minims, four crotchets, &c. It is accounted one 
measure or time, or the integer in fractions and multiples, 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1551. 
S E M 21 
whereby the time of the other notes is expressed. Mus. 
Diet. 
SEMICI'RCLE, s. [semicir cuius, Lat.] A half round 
part of a circle divided by the diameter. 
Black brows 
Become some women best, so they be in a semicircle. 
Or a half-moon, made with a pen. Shakspeare. 
SEMICI'RCLED, or-SEMici'RcuLAR, adj. Half round 
—The rainbow is caused by the rays of the sun falling upon 
a rorid and opposite cloud, whereof some reflected, others 
refracted, beget the semicircular variety we call the rain¬ 
bow. Brown. 
SEMICIRCULAR CANALS, in Anatomy, three small 
membranous tubes, inclosed in excavations of the bone, and 
composing part of the labyrinth of the ear. See Ear. 
SEMICO'LON, s. [semi and xwXov.] Half a colon ; a 
point made thus [;] to note a greater pause than that of a 
comma. 
Dr. Ward, formerly professor at Gresham, says, that the 
semicolon is properly used to distinguish the conjunct mem¬ 
bers of sentences. Now by a conjunct member of a sen¬ 
tence, he means, such an one as contains at least two simple 
members. 
Whenever, then, a sentence can be divided into several 
members of the same degree, which are again divisible into 
other simple members, the former are to be separated by a 
semicolon. 
E. gr. “ If Fortune bear a great sway over him, who has 
nicely stated and concerted every circumstance of an affair; 
we must not commit every thing, without reserve, to For¬ 
tune, lest she should have too great a hold of us.” 
According to Bishop Lowth, a member of a sentence, 
whether simple or compounded, that requires a greater pause 
than a comma, yet does not of itself make a complete sen¬ 
tence, but is followed by something closely depending on it, 
may be distinguished by a semicolon. E. gr. “ But as this 
passion for admiration, when it works according to reason, 
improves the beautiful part of our species in every thing that 
is laudable; so nothing is more destructive to them, when it 
is governed by vanity and folly.” Here the whole sentence 
is divided into two parts by the semicolon; each of which 
parts is a compounded member, divided into its simple mem¬ 
bers by the comma. It is obvious, however, that no rule 
can be laid down for the use of the semicolon ■ but its use 
is a matter partly of taste. The — generally supersedes the 
frequent use of the semicolon amongst fashionable writers, 
which is to be regretted, since the hyphen has a proper and 
peculiar use of its own. 
SEMICON, a musical instrument among the Greeks, 
which had thirty-five strings. 
SEMI-CUBICAL PARABOLA, a curve of the second 
order, in which the cubes of the ordinates are as the squares 
of the abscisses. Its equation is a x 2 —y . 
SEMICUPIUM, a half bath, in which the patient is only 
placed up to the waist. 
SEMI-DIA'METER, s. Half the line which, drawn 
through the centre of a circle, divides it into two equal 
parts; a straight line drawn from the circumference to the 
centre of a circle.—Their difference is as little considerable 
as a semi-diameter of the earth in two measures of the highest 
heaven, the one taken from the surface of the earth, the other 
from its centre: the disproportion is just nothing. More. 
SEMI-DIAPASON, a defective octave; or an octave di¬ 
minished by a lesser semitone, or four commas.— Semi-dia- 
pente, a defective fifth, called usually by the Italians^/a/sa 
quinta, and by us a false ffth.— -Semi-diatessaron, a 
defective fourth, called, properly a false fourth. — Sf.mi- 
ditonus, is used by some writers, as Salinas, for the third 
minor. 
SEMIDIAPHANE'ITY, s. Half transparency ; imper¬ 
fect transparency.—The transparency or semidiaphaneity 
of the superficial corpuscles of bigger bodies may have an 
interest in the production of their colours. Boyle. 
G SEMIDIA'- 
