ELECTUARY, e-lek't[=u]-ar-i, n. a composition of medicinal powders with honey or sugar. [Low L. electuarium--Gr. ekleikton--ekleichein, to lick up.]

ELECTRON. See page 1208.

ELEEMOSYNARY, el-e-mos'i-nar-i, adj. relating to charity or almsgiving: dependent on charity: given in charity. [Gr. ele[=e]mosyn[=e], compassionateness, alms--eleos, pity. See ALMS.]

ELEGANT, el'e-gant, adj. pleasing to good taste: graceful: neat: refined: nice: richly ornamental.--ns. EL'EGANCE, EL'EGANCY, the state or quality of being elegant: the beauty of propriety: refinement: that which is elegant; ELEGANTE (el-e-gangt'), a lady of fashion.--adv. EL'EGANTLY. [Fr.,--L. elegans, -antis--e, out, and root of leg[)e]re, to choose.]

ELEGY, el'e-ji, n. a song of mourning: a funeral-song: a poem written in elegiac metre.--adj. ELEG[=I]'AC, belonging to elegy: mournful: used in elegies, esp. noting the kind of metre, alternate hexameter and pentameter lines.--n. elegiac verse.--adj. ELEG[=I]'ACAL.--ns. EL[=E]'GIAST, EL'EGIST, a writer of elegies.--v.i. EL'EG[=I]SE, to write an elegy.--v.t. to write an elegy on. [Fr.,--L.,--Gr. elegos, a lament.]

ELEMENT, el'e-ment, n. a first principle: one of the essential parts of anything: an ingredient: the proper state or sphere of any thing or being: (pl.) the rudiments of learning: the bread and wine used in the Eucharist: fire, air, earth, and water, supposed by the ancients to be the foundation of everything: (chem.) the simplest known constituents of all compound substances: (astron.) those numerical quantities, and those principles deduced from astronomical observations and calculations, which are employed in the construction of tables exhibiting the planetary motions.--adj. ELEMENT'AL, pertaining to elements or first principles: fundamental: belonging to or produced by elements.--n. ELEMENT'ALISM, the theory which resolves the divinities of antiquity into the elemental powers.--adv. ELEMENT'ALLY.--adj. ELEMENT'ARY, of a single element: primary: uncompounded: pertaining to the elements: treating of first principles.--ELEMENTAL SPIRITS, beings in medieval belief who presided over the four 'elements,' living in and ruling them. [Fr.,--L. elementum, pl. elementà, first principles.]

ELEMI, el'em-i, n. a fragrant resinous substance, obtained from the Manila pitch-tree, Arbol de la Brea.--n. EL'EMIN, the crystallisable portion of elemi. [Cf. Fr. élémi, Sp. elemi; perh. Ar.]

ELENCH, e-lengk', ELENCHUS, e-lengk'us, n. refutation: a sophism.--adjs. ELENCH'IC, -AL, ELENC'TIC. [L.,--Gr. elengchos--elengchein, to refute.]

ELEPHANT, el'e-fant, n. the largest quadruped, having a very thick skin, a trunk, and two ivory tusks: a special size of paper.--ns. ELEPHAN'TIAC, one affected with elephantiasis; ELEPHANT[=I]'ASIS, a disease chiefly of tropical climates, consisting of an overgrowth of the skin and connective tissue of the parts affected, with occasional attacks of inflammation resembling erysipelas.--adjs. ELEPHANT'INE, pertaining to an elephant: like an elephant: very large or ungainly; ELEPHANT'OID, elephant-like.--ns. EL'EPHANT-SEAL, the largest of the seals, the male measuring about 20 feet in length; EL'EPHANT'S-FOOT, a plant of which the root-stock forms a large fleshy mass resembling an elephant's foot, used as food by the Hottentots; EL'EPHANT-SHREW, name applied to a number of long-nosed, long-legged Insectivora, natives of Africa, and notable for their agile jumping over loose sand.--A WHITE ELEPHANT, a gift which occasions the recipient more trouble than it is worth--a white elephant being a common gift of the kings of Siam to a courtier they wished to ruin. [M. E. olifaunt--O. Fr. olifant--L. elephantum, elephas, -antis--Gr. elephas, acc. to some from Heb. eleph, aleph, an ox.]

ELEUSINIAN, el-[=u]-sin'i-an, adj. relating to Eleusis in Attica.--ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES, the mysteries of Demeter celebrated at Eleusis.

ELEUTHERIAN, el-[=u]-th[=e]'ri-an, adj. bountiful.

ELEUTHEROMANIA, el-[=u]th-er-o-m[=a]'ni-a, n. mad zeal for freedom.--n. ELEUTHEROM[=A]'NIAC (Carlyle), one possessed with such. [Formed from Gr. eleutheros, free, and mania.]

ELEVATE, el'e-v[=a]t, v.t. to raise to a higher position: to raise in mind and feelings: to improve: to cheer: to exhilarate: to intoxicate.--p.adjs. EL'EVATE, -D, raised: dignified: exhilarated.--ns. ELEV[=A]'TION, the act of elevating or raising, or the state of being raised: exaltation: an elevated place or station: a rising ground: height: (archit.) a representation of the flat side of a building, drawn with mathematical accuracy, but without any attention to effect: (astron., geog.) the height above the horizon of an object on the sphere, measured by the arc of a vertical circle through it and the zenith: (gun.) the angle made by the line of direction of a gun with the plane of the horizon; EL'EVATOR, the person or thing that lifts up: a lift or machine for raising grain, &c., to a higher floor: a muscle raising a part of the body.--adj. EL'EVATORY, able or tending to raise. [L. elev[=a]re, -[=a]tum--e, out, up, lev[=a]re, to raise--levis, light. See LIGHT (2).]

ELÈVE, [=a]-lev', n. a pupil. [Fr.]

ELEVEN, e-lev'n, n. the cardinal number next above ten: the figure (11 or xi.) denoting eleven: a team of eleven cricketers.--adj. noting the number eleven.--adj. and n. ELEV'ENTH, the ordinal number corresponding to eleven.--ELEVENTH HOUR, the very last moment, referring to Matt. xx. 6, 9. [A.S. endleofon; cf. Goth. ainlif.]

ELF, elf, n. in European folklore, a supernatural being, generally of human form but diminutive size, more malignant than a fairy: a dwarf: a tricky being:--(pl.) ELVES.--v.t. (Shak.) of the hair, to entangle.--n. ELF'-CHILD, a changeling, or a child supposed to have been left by elves in place of one stolen by them.--adj. ELF'IN, of or relating to elves.--n. a little elf: a child.--adjs. ELF'ISH, ELV'AN, ELV'ISH, elf-like, mischievous: tricky: disguised.--n. ELF'-LAND, the land of the elves or fairies.--n.pl. ELF'-LOCKS (Shak.) locks of hair clotted together, supposed to have been done by elves.--ns. ELF'-SHOT, ELF'-BOLT, ELF'-AR'ROW, an arrow-head of flint or stone. [A.S. ælf; cf. Ice. álfr, Sw. elf.]

ELGIN MARBLES. See MARBLE.

ELICIT, e-lis'it, v.t. to entice: to bring to light: to deduce.--n. ELICIT[=A]'TION. [L. elic[)e]re, elicitum.]

ELIDE, e-l[=i]d', v.t. to rebut: to cut off, as a syllable.--n. ELI'SION, the suppression of a vowel or syllable. [L. elid[)e]re, elisum--e, out, læd[)e]re, to strike.]

ELIGIBLE, el'i-ji-bl, adj. fit or worthy to be chosen: legally qualified: desirable.--n. (coll.) a person or thing eligible.--ns. EL'IGIBLENESS, ELIGIBIL'ITY, fitness to be elected or chosen: the state of being preferable to something else: desirableness.--adv. EL'IGIBLY. [Fr.,--L. elig[)e]re. See ELECT, _v.t._]

ELIMINATE, [=e]-lim'in-[=a]t, v.t. to thrust out: to remove, cancel: to leave out of consideration.--adj. ELIM'INABLE.--n. ELIMIN[=A]'TION. [L. elimin[)a]re, -[=a]tum--e, out, limen, liminis, a threshold.]

ELIQUATION, same as LIQUATION. See LIQUATE.

ELISION. See ELIDE.

ELITE, [=a]-l[=e]t, n. a chosen or select part: the best of anything. [Fr. élite--L. electa (pars, a part, understood). See ELECT, _v.t._]

ELIXIR, e-liks'[.e]r, n. more fully, ELIXIR VITÆ, or ELIXIR OF LIFE, a liquor once supposed to have the power of indefinitely prolonging life or of transmuting metals: the quintessence of anything: a substance which invigorates: (med.) a compound tincture. [Low L.,--Ar. al-iks[=i]r, the philosopher's stone, from al-, the, iks[=i]r, prob. from Late Gr. x[=e]rion, a desiccative powder for wounds--Gr. x[=e]ros, dry.]

ELIZABETHAN, e-liz-a-beth'an, adj. pertaining to Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603) or her time--of dress, manners, literature, &c.--n. a poet or dramatist of that age.--ELIZABETHAN ARCHITECTURE, a name applied to the mixed style which sprang up on the decline of Gothic, marked by Tudor bow-windows and turrets decorated with classic cornices and pilasters, long galleries, enormous square windows, large apartments, plaster ceilings wrought into compartments, &c.

ELK, elk, n. the largest species of deer, found in the north of Europe and in North America.--IRISH ELK, a giant deer now extinct, known from the remains found in the Pleistocene diluvium, esp. of Ireland. [Perh. from the Scand., Ice. elgr, Sw. elg.]

ELL, el, n. a measure of length originally taken from the arm: a cloth measure equal to 1¼ yd.--n. ELL'WAND, a measuring rod.--GIVE HIM AN INCH AND HE'LL TAKE AN ELL, a proverb, signifying that to yield one point entails the yielding of all. [A.S. eln; Dut. el, Ger. elle, L. ulna, Gr. [=o]len[=e].]

ELLAGIC, e-laj'ik, adj. pertaining to gall-nuts.

ELLEBORIN, el'[=e]-b[=o]-rin, n. a very acrid resin found in winter hellebore.

ELLIPSE, el-lips', n. an oval: (geom.) a figure produced by the section of a cone by a plane passing obliquely through the opposite sides.--ns. ELLIP'SIS (gram.), a figure of syntax by which a word or words are left out and implied:--pl. ELLIP'S[=E]S; ELLIP'SOGRAPH, an instrument for describing ellipses; ELLIP'SOID (math.), a surface every plane section of which is an ellipse.--adjs. ELLIPSOI'DAL; ELLIP'TIC, -AL, pertaining to an ellipse: oval: pertaining to ellipsis: having a part understood.--adv. ELLIP'TICALLY.--n. ELLIPTIC'ITY, deviation from the form of a circle or sphere: of the earth, the difference between the equatorial and polar diameters. [L.,--Gr. elleipsis--elleipein, to fall short--en, in, leipein, to leave.]