Medicean see medic1), +-e-an.] Of or pertaining to the Medici, an illustrious family of Florence, appearing first as merchants of the medieval republic, and at the dawn of the Renaissance, in the fifteenth century, raised to supreme power through their liberality and merit. From this time on, for three centuries, amid fortunes of varying brilliancy, this family produced popes, sovereigns, and tyrants, and it occupies a large place in the history of Europe. In the fine arts and literature the epithet has particular reference to Cosimo dei Medici, known as Cosimo the Elder, and to Lorenzo the Magnificent. The former was virtual master of the Florentine republic from 1434 to 1464, and was a generous patron of the new art and letters founded on antique models; the latter was chief of the state in fact, though not in name, from 1469 to 1492, a brilliant protector of all learning, particularly of that of Greece surviving from the wreck of Constantinople, and a powerful benefactor of the arts. The Popes Leo X. (Lorenzo's son) and Clement VII. (Giulio dei Medici) carried on the traditions of the family Medicean Library. Same as Laurentian Library (which in the fields of intellectual cultivation and achievement. see, under Laurentian).-Medicean stars, the name given by Galileo to the satellites of Jupiter. medicephalic (me" di-se-fal'ik or -sef'a-lik), a. [<median) + cephalic.] Connecting the median vein of the arm with the cephalic: specifically used of the median cephalic vein. Coues, 1887. medicerebellar (me-di-ser-e-bel'är), a. [<medi(an) + cerebellar.] Situated in the middle of the cerebellum: specifically applied to the anterior cerebellar artery. medicerebral (mē-di-ser'e-bral), a. and n. [< medi(an) + cerebral.] I. a. "Lying about the middle of each cerebral hemisphere: specifically applied to the middle cerebral artery. II. n. The medicerebral artery, a branch of the internal carotid. medicinable (me-dis'i-na-bl, formerly med'isi-na-bl), a. [ME. medicinable, < OF. medicinable, medecinable; as medicine, v. t., + -able.] Capable of medicining or curing; medicinal; healing; wholesome. [Obsolete or archaic.] Al maner eggis of foulis that ben holsum and medicy nable to ete for man kynde. Book of Quinte Essence (ed. Furnivall), p. 12. Some griefs are medicinable; that is one of them, For it doth physic love. Shak., Cymbeline, iii. 2. 33. No man hath sought to make an imitation by art of nat ural baths and medicinable fountains. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 199. The physicians make the galls and stones in the heads of Carps to be very medicinable. I. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 145. Medicinable ring, a ring supposed, as in the middle ages, to prevent or remove disease. Compare cramp-ring. medicinal (me-dis'i-nal, formerly med'i-si-nal), a. [KOF. medicinal, medecinal, F. médicinal Pr. medecinal, medicinal Sp. Pg. medicinal It. medicinale, L. medicinalis, of or belonging to medicine, medical, medicina, medicine: see medicine.] 1. Having the properties of a medicine; adapted to medical use or purposes; curative; remedial. = = noxious work or company, nature is medicinal and restores their tone. Emerson, Misc., p. 21. 21. Pertaining to medicine; medical. = 3684 Nature too unkind, That made no medicine for a troubled mind. Beau. and Fl., Philaster, iii. 2. The only medicine for suffering, crime, and all the other woes of mankind is wisdom. Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 39. 2. The art of preventing, curing, or alleviating diseases and remedying as far as possible the results of violence and accident. Practical medi cine is divided into medicine in a stricter sense, surgery, and obstetrics. These rest largely on the sciences of anatomy and physiology, normal and pathological phar. macology, and bacteriology, which, having practical relations almost exclusively with medicine, are called the medical sciences and form distinct parts of that art. Ab breviated med. Ne hide it nought, for if thou feignest, I can do no medicine. Gower, Conf. Amant., i. 3. Something which is supposed to possess curative, supernatural, or mysterious power; any object used or any ceremony performed as a charm: an English equivalent for terms used among American Indians and other savage tribes. And as an angler med'cine (i. e. bait], for surprize Chapman, Odyssey, xii. (Nares.) Among the North American Indians, the fetish-theory seems involved in that remarkable and general proceed. ing known as getting medicine. E. B. Tylor, Prim. Culture, II. 141. The medicine used as bait, sometimes denominated barkstone, is the product of a gland of the beaver. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXV. 20. 4t. A physician. [A Gallicism.] Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal; Cephalic medicines. See cephalic.-Clinical medi cine. See clinical.- Domestic, eclectic, forensic, Hermetic medicine. See the adjectives. Institutes of medicine. See institute.-Logical medicine. See logical. medicine (med'i-sin), v. t.; pret. and pp. medi- Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees Their medicinal gum. Shak., Othello, v. 2. 351. To the body and mind which have been cramped by medicine-man (med'i-sin-man), n. Among American Indians and other savage races, a man supposed to possess mysterious or supernatural powers: a name used in English to translate various native names. Among the Indians medicinemen are persons prepared for their office by a long and severe course of training, of a kind supposed to endow them with magical powers of cure and prophecy. Learned he was in med'e'nal lore. = = S. Butler, Hudibras, I. ii. 223. medicinally (me-dis'i-nal-i), adv. In a medicinal manner; with the effect of a medicine; for medicinal purposes: as, some kinds of food act medicinally; to use a mineral medicinally. medicine (med'i-sin, more often med'i-sn), n. [< ME. medecine, medycyne, medcin, medcyn, medsyn, OF. medecine, also mecine, F. médecine Pr. medecina, medicina, metzina Sp. Pg. It. medicina = D. medicijn G. Dan. Sw. medicin, <L. medicina, (sc. ars) the healing art, medicine, (sc. officina or taberna) a physician's shop, (sc. res) a remedy, medicine; fem. of medicinus, of or belonging to physic or surgery, or to a physician or surgeon (OF. medecin, F. médecin, >E. obs. medicine (def. 4), a physician), < medicus, a physician, surgeon: see medic1.] 1. A substance used as a remedy for disease; a substance having or supposed to have curative properties; hence, figuratively, anything that has a curative or remedial effect. Than par auenture send sall he Sum of his angels to that tre, Of whilk springes the oile of life, That medcyn es to man and wife. Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 65. Thei perceyveden wel that no Syknesse was curable by gode Medycyne to leye thereto, but zif men knewen the nature of the Maladye. Mandeville, Travels, p. 120. If the rascal have not given me medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., ii. 2. 19. In fact, for a year or two he held the position-doubtless to his own amusement-of a medicine man, to whom any mystery was easy. Nineteenth Century, XIX. 186. In medicine-pannier (med'i-sin-pan"yer), n. the United States army, a pannier for the transportation of medicines either in wagons or on pack-animals. mediciner (med'i-si-ner), n. [medicine + er1.] A medical man; a physician. Better fashioned mediciners have brought fewer patients through. Scott, Abbot. medicinerea (mē di-si-nē ́rē-ä), n. [NL., <L. medius, median, + NL. cinerea, q. v.] The cinerea or gray matter of the lenticula and of the claustrum of the brain, which occupies a position intermediate between the ectocinerea and the entocinerea. What may, for the sake of a general term, be called medicinerea. Buck's Handbook of Med. Sciences, VIII. 136. medicine-seal (med'i-sin-sel), n. One of certain small greenish square stones found near old Roman towns and stations throughout Europe, engraved with inscriptions on one or more borders, which were used as seals by Roman physicians to stamp the names of their medicines on wax or other plastic substance. medicine-stamp (med'i-sin-stamp), n. Same as medicine-seal. medieval medicine-stone (med'i-sin-stōn), n. A smooth stone found among American prehistoric remains. It was probably used as a sinker or plummet for fishing. H. W. Henshaw, Amer. medicis (med'i-sē), n. Jour. Archæol., I. 110. A covering or wrap for the shoulders and breast, consisting generally of a loosely gathered piece of tulle or blond, worn about the close of the eighteenth century. See medic1. medick1t, a. and n. medick2, n. See medic3. medico (med'i-kō), n. [< Sp. médico- Pg. It. medico, a physician: see medic1.] A doctor. [Cant.] medicochirurgical (med i-kō-ki-rėr'ji-kal), a. gical: see chirurgic, chirurgical.] Pertaining or [K L. medicus, medical, + chirurgicus, chirurrelating to medicine and surgery; consisting chirurgical journal; the Medicochirurgical Soof both physicians and surgeons: as, a medicociety. medicolegal (med'i-kō-lē'gal), a. [< L. medicus, medical, legalis, legal: see legal.] Pertaining to medical jurisprudence, or to law as affected by medical facts. medicst (med'iks), n. [Pl. of medic1: see-ics.] The science of medicine. In medicks, we have some confident undertakers to rescue the science from all its reproaches and dishonours, [and] to cure all diseases. J. Spencer, Prodigies, p. 402. (Latham.) medietas linguæ (me-di'e-tas ling'gwe). [L.: medietas, middle, middle course, half (see moiety); linguæ, gen. of lingua, tongue, speech.] A jury composed half of natives and half of foreigners (hence said to be de medietate lingua, of half-tongue), formerly allowed under the English common law for the trial of an alien. In the United States the practice is still permitted by the laws of Kentucky. mediety (me-di'e-ti), n.; pl. medieties (-tiz). [= F. médiété (vernacularly moitié, > E. moiety), L. medieta(t-)s, the middle, middle course, the half, moiety, medius, middle: see medium.] The middle state or part; half; moiety. Lancaster. Which [sirens] notwithstanding were of another description, containing no fishy composure, but made up of man and bird; the human mediety variously placed not only above but below. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., v. 19. The archdeacon of Richmond (in 1246] granted the mediety of Poulton and Biscopham to the priory of St. Mary, Baines, Hist. Lancashire, II. 507. There were two rectors, the living being held in medieties. Encyc. Brit., XIV. 715. medieval, medieval (mē-di-e'val), a. and n. [< L. medius, middle, + avum, age, period: see medium and age.] I. a. Pertaining to or characteristic of the middle ages: as, medieval art or architecture; the medieval spirit; a medieval habit of thought. See middle ages, under age. The darkest portion of the medieval period was different in different countries. . . . In a general way, however, it Hallam, Middle Ages. Medieval architecture, the most important branch of medieval art, including a great number of varied styles. may be assigned to the tenth century. This architecture embodies a union of the Greek system medieval about A. D. 300, in the palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalato, in which arcades were introduced supported on free-standing shafts instead of the Roman piers with engaged columns, and in which the profile of the architrave was continued around the archivolt, which had usurped the architrave's function, and now sprang directly from the capital, abandoning the meaningless Roman interposition between archivolt and column of a small section of a mock entablature. Despite local differences, medieval architecture represents a continuous development from the classical Roman to the modifications wrought by the Renaissance. At its origin, copying Roman models, it was poor and rude, owing to the lack of skill and of resources in its builders. Every succeeding generation sought to perfect the system of vaulted ceilings to which the characteristic forms of this architecture are due. The application of the Roman groined vault was extended and brought into new combinations; the pointed arch and vault were evolved, as possessing more sta bility and elasticity than the old round-arched forms; and finally the use of ribs to strengthen and support the vault was elaborated. By about 1225 medieval architecture could solve with the utmost economy and artistic excellence any problem that could be presented to masonry construction. From about 1250 architects, embarrassed no longer by inherent difficulties, began to lose the simple beauty of their style in unnecessary elaboration of details, as in complicated window-traceries and in distorted profiles of moldings; and architecture progressively declined, so that the simplification of external forms effected by the Renaissance was a gain. But the sound and scientific medieval methods of construction remained in great part beneath the Renaissance exterior, and indeed are not yet wholly abandoned, especially in France. Many fanciful theories have been formed as to the origin of medieval architecture, especially that deriving its groined vaulting from an imitation of the lines of interlacing branches in an avenue of trees. It was, however, in fact a thoroughly logical growth from classical models, and the result of consistent efforts to adapt means to the ends sought. Thus, the problem in a great church or hall was to cover in securely a large space with as few interruptions as possible to sight and sound; hence the tendency to widen the arches and to reduce the thickness of the pillars. The great height of such buildings was not induced by a desire to "soar heavenward," but by the necessity to secure light for the nave by windows pierced above the roofs of the aisles. The typical decoration of this architecture is of the highest beauty and fitness, ornamenting but not masking the construction; and, while based chiefly on natural forms, it always, until the decline of the style, conventionalized these appropriately to their architectural function. This architecture attained its best development in France. See Byzantine, Romanesque, Pointed, etc.-Medieval art, the art of the entire middle ages in Europe, beginning in the gradual transformation of classical forms and ideals, and extending to the Renaissance, or, roughly, to the year 1500, though in Italy it actually became merged earlier in the new current of modern art, and in the north, as in England and Germany, it continued later. It embraces a countless number of regional and local styles and schools, yet all animated by a kindred spirit. It is second in importance in art history only to the art of Greece; and, while in many ways it fell far short of Greek art, the course of its development from rude beginnings was very similar, and, like the Greek, presents a consecutive and sincere effort on the part of succeeding craftsmen and artists constantly to do better. Its ideal of beauty was less high than that of the Greeks; it was more of a didactic art, seeking, in its illuminations and painting and sculpture, to illustrate and enforce the teachings of the Bible and the inherent imperfection of man. Yet the general similarity of methods of observation and work was so close that in France especially, after the close of the archaic period in the thirteenth century, much figure-sculpture was produced, as that in the por tals of the cathedral of Rheims and on the north transept of that of Rouen, which is in spirit thoroughly Greek, and is equal to all but the best Greek draped work. In decoration medieval art was preeminent. Like Greek art, it was understood and appreciated not by a small cultivated class, but by the whole people. It consistently sought to give to the commonest tools and utensils beautiful forms and characteristic ornament; while the architectural sculpture and decorative combinations of forms have never been surpassed in their variety, in their beauty of execution, and in their fitness to the ends which it was sought to attain. To the general artistic sentiment, religious fervor, and emulative spirit of the period most of the great cathedrals, embodying, like a Greek temple, the best architecture and sculpture and the best decoration of the day, owe their origin.- Medieval history, Latin, etc. See the nouns. II. n. One belonging to the middle ages. This view of landscape differs from that of the mediavals. Ruskin. medievalism, mediævalism (mē-di-ē'val-izm), n. [medieval + -ism.] 1. That which is characteristic of the middle ages; the medieval spirit, practice, or methods in regard to anything; a peculiarity or characteristic of the middle ages. Again, I say, it is a pity to have our language interlarded with Orientalisms and Mediaevalisms, Nineteenth Century, XIX. 665. 2. Devotion to or adoption of the spirit or practice of the middle ages; medieval tendency in thought or action, as with respect to religion or politics. 12. Even Abbotsford, despite its cherished associations, jarred upon me a little, because I knew its mediæralism was all carton pierre. Miss Braddon, Hostages to Fortune, p. medievalist, mediævalist (mē-di-ē ́val-ist), n. [medieval + -ist.] 1. One who is versed in the history of the middle ages.-2. One who sympathizes with the spirit and principles of 232 3685 the middle ages: often with the sense of one who is antiquated or behind the times.-3. One who lived in the middle ages. You have but to walk aside, however, into the Palazzo Pubblico, to feel yourself very much like a thrifty old mediævalist. H. James, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 264. medievalize, mediævalize (mē-di-ē ́val-iz), v. t.; pret. and pp. medievalized, mediavalized, ppr. medievalizing, mediavalizing. [< medieval +ize.] To render medieval. Mr. Fellows, the painter, had helped with the costumes, dicevalizing others. supplying some from his own artistic properties, and meHowells, Annie Kilburn, xvi. medievally, mediævally (me-di-ẽ'val-i), adv. In a medieval manner; in accord with the spirit or method of the middle ages. medifixed (me'di-fikst), a. [< L. medius, middle, + fixus, fixed, + -ed2.] In bot., attached by the middle, as an anther upon its filament. Compare basifixed. medifurca (mē-di-fèr ́kä), n.; pl. medifurca (-sē). [NL., < L. medius, middle, furca, fork.] In entom., the middle forked or double apodema which projects from the sternal wall into the cavity of a thoracic somite of an insect. medifurcal (mē-di-fér'kal), a. [< medifurca + -al.] Pertaining to the medifurca, or having its character: as, a medifurcal process. medillt, a. and n. A Middle English form of middle. Medina (mē-di'nē), n. pl. [< Meda + -inæ.] A subfamily of Cyprinidæ, typified by the genus Meda. It is characterized by a short posterior dorsal fin armed with two spines, the posterior of which closes into a groove in the other, and by the adherence of the ventral fins to the abdomen by their inner margins. Few species are known, all confined to streams of the southwestern part of the United States. Medina sandstone. See sandstone. medine (me'din), n. [Also medino; F. medin (Cotgrave); appar. of Ar. origin.] A small coin and money of account in Egypt, the fortieth part of a piaster. 47 medines passe in value as the duckat of gold of Venice. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 271. Medinilla (med-i-nil'ä), n. [NL. (Gaudichaud, 1826), named after D. J. de Medinilla y Pineda, governor of the Marianne Islands.] A genus of plants of the natural order Melastomacea, type of the tribe Medinillea. It is characterized by eight, ten, or twelve nearly equal stamens, the connective of the anthers two-lobed or spurred in front and with two lobes or one spur at the back, and a calyx-tube scarcely longer than the ovary. About 75 species are known, natives of the East Indies, the Malay archipelago, Madagascar, and the islands off the west coast of Africa. They are erect or climbing shrubs, generally quite smooth, with opposite or whorled entire fleshy leaves, and clusters of white or rose-colored flowers. Several of the species are very ornamental. The most common greenhouse species is perhaps M. magnifica, a beautiful plant with pink flowers. natives of the Old World. Medinilleæ (med-i-nil'e-ē), n. pl. [NL. (Bentham and Hooker, 1867), ‹ Medinilla + -eœ.] A tribe of plants of the natural order Melastomacea, typified by the genus Medinilla. It is distinguished by a berry-like or coriaceous fruit, which breaks open irregularly; by having the stamens usually equal and recurved, with a connective lobed or spurred both at the back and in front, or only posteriorly; and by leaves which are not striolate between the primary nerves. The tribe includes 12 genera and about 145 species, all medinot, . Same as medine. mediocral (me'di-o-kral), a. [< mediocre + -al.] 1. Being of a middle quality; mediocre: as, mediocral intellect. Addison.-2. In entom., being of middle length.-Mediocral antennæ, in entom., those antenna which have the same length as the insect's body, or which, being turned backward on the body, attain the posterior extremity. Kirby. mediocre (meʼdi-o-kér), a. and n. [= F. médiSp. Pg. It. mediocre, < L. mediocris, in a middle state, of middle size, middling, modI. a. Of moderate degree or quality; middling; erate, ordinary, < medius, middle: see medium.] indifferent; ordinary. ocre = A very mediocre poet, one Drayton, is yet taken some notice of. Pope, To Dr. Warburton, Nov. 27, 1742. II. n. 1. One of middling quality, talents, or merit. Southey. [Rare.]-2. A monk between twenty-four and forty years of age, who was excused from the office of the chantry and from reading the epistle and gospel, but performed his duty in choir, cloister, and refectory. Shipley. mediocrist (mēʼdi-ō-krist), n. [< mediocre + diocre person. [Rare.] -ist.] A person of middling abilities; a me He [John Hughes] is too grave a poet for me, and, I think, among the mediocrists in prose as well as verse. Swift, To Pope, Sept. 3, 1735. = mediscalenus mediocrity (me-di-ok'ri-ti), n.; pl. mediocrities (-tiz). [= F. médiocrité = Pr. mediocritat = Sp. mediocridad Pg. mediocridade = It. mediocrità, ‹ L. mediocrita(t-)s, a middle state, < mediocris, in a middle state: see mediocre.] 1. The character or state of being mediocre; a middle state or degree; a moderate degree or rate; specifically, a moderate degree of mental ability. Albeit all bountye dwelleth in mediocritic, yet perfect felicitye dwelleth in supremacie. Spenser, Shep. Cal., July, Embleme. For modern Histories. . . there are some few very worthy, but the greater part beneath mediocrity. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 130. His humanity, ingenuousness, and modesty, the medi ocrity of his abilities. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., i. 2+. Moderation; temperance. highly extolled in morality. Mediocrity, or the holding of a middle course, has been Bacon, Physical Fables, vi. Body and mind must be exercised, not one, but both, and that in a mediocrity. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 324. 3. A mediocre person; one of moderate capacity or ability; hence, a person of little note or repute; one who is little more than a nobody. They proclaim, with a striking unanimity of bitterness, that their managers are nearly all mediocrities, with no training for the duties they venture to assume, without influence on the destinies of the country they pretend to govern. Nineteenth Century, XXIV. 475. mediodorsal (medi-o-dôr'sal), a. =Syn. 1. Medium, Average, etc. See mean3, n. us, middle, + dorsum, back: see dorsal.] Me[< L. medidian and dorsal; situated in the middle line of the back; dorsimesal. Huxley and Martin. mediopalatine (me di-o-pal'a-tin), a. and n. [< L. medius, middle, + palatum, palate: see palate.] I. a. Situated in the median line of the palate, as a suture; uniting the right and left palate bones. II. n. A mediopalatine bone. Other formations which, like the mediopalatine, serve to bind the palate halves together. Coues, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 173. mediopectus (me di-o-pek'tus), n.; pl. mediopectora (-to-rä). [NL.] Same as medipectus. mediosubmedian (medi-o-sub-me'di-an), a. [< medi(an) + submedian.] In entom., common to or intervening between the median and submedian nervures of an insect's wing: as, the mediosubmedian interspace. mediotarsal (mē ̋di-o-tär'sal), a. [<L. medius, middle, + NL. tarsus, tarsus: see tarsal.] Situated in the middle of the tarsus; especially, formed between the proximal and distal rows of tarsal bones: as, a mediotarsal ankle-joint. See tibiotarsal.-Mediotarsal articulation, the kind of ankle-joint which is characteristic of all those vertebrates below mammals which have a tarsus, the joint being formed between the rows, proximal and distal, of tarsal bones, not between the proximal row and the leg, as in mammals. It mediotransverse (mē di-o-trans-vérs′), a. [< occurs in all birds, and in those reptiles which have tarsi. medi(an) + transverse.] Same as transmedian. medioventral (me di-o-ven'tral), a. [<medi(an) + ventral.] In anat. and zööl., median and ventral; situated in the middle line of the ventral or under side of an animal; ventrimesal. medioxumoust (mē-di-ok'sū-mus), a. [<L. meAlso median-ventral. dioximus, medioxumus, that is in the middle, superl., <*medioc, in mediocrio, in a middle state, medius, middle: see mediocre and medium.] Middlemost; intermediary. The whole order of the medioxumous or internuncial deities. Dr. H. More, Mystery of Iniquity, I. xii. § 6. medipectoral (mē-di-pek'tō-ral), a. [< medipectus (-pector-) + -al.] Of or pertaining to the medipectus.-Medipectoral legs, in entom., the intermediate or second pair of legs of a hexapod. medipectus (mē-di-pek’tus), n.; pl. medipectora breast.] In entom., the middle breast; the un(-to-rä). [NL., < L. medius, middle, + pectus, der side of the mesothorax; the central portion of the sternum of an insect: more frequently called mesosternum. Also mediopectus. medipeduncle (mē ́di-pe-dung kl), n. Same as medipedunculus. medipeduncular (me di-pe-dung'ku-lar), a. Of or pertaining to a medipedunculus. medipedunculus (me di-pe-dung'ku-lus), n.; pl. medipedunculi (-lī). [L. medius, middle, + pedunculus, peduncle: see peduncle.] The middle peduncle of the cerebellum; the pontibrachium. B. G. Wilder. mediscalene (mē-di-skā lēn), a. [< mediscalenus.] Of or pertaining to the mediscalenus. mediscalenus (medi-ska-lē'nus), n.; pl. mediscaleni (-nī). [NL., L. medius, middle, + NL. mediscalenus scalenus, q. v.] The middle scalene muscle of Coues. the neck; the scalenus medius. medisect (mē-di-sekt'), v. t. [< L. medius, middle, secare, pp. sectus, cut.] To cut through the middle; sever into equal right and left parts. B. G. Wilder. medisection (mē-di-sek'shon), n. [medisect + -ion, after section.] Hemisection: dissection at the meson or median longitudinal line of the body. B. G. Wilder. 3686 And the imperial votaress passed on meditabund+ (med i-ta-bund'), a. [<LL. medi- 2. Religious contemplation. Your first thought is more Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, i. 1. meditant (med'i-tant), a. and n. [< L. meditan(t-)s, ppr. of meditari, meditate: see meditate.] I. a. Meditating. A wise justice of peace meditant. B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, Ind. He is within, with two right reverend fathers, Divinely bent to meditation. Shak., Rich. III., iii. 7. 62. Meditations in order to a good life, let them be as exalted as the capacity of the person and subject will endure up to the height of contemplation; but if contemplation comes to be a distinct thing, and something besides or beyond a distinct degree of virtuous meditation, it is lost to all sense, and religion, and prudence. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 73. 3. In theol.: (a) A private devotional act, consisting in deliberate reflection upon some spiritual truth or mystery, accompanied by mental prayer and by acts of the affections II. n. One who meditates; one who gives and of the will, especially formation of resohimself up to meditation. [Rare.] lutions as to future conduct. Meditation differs from study in that its principal object is not to acquire knowledge, but to advance in love of God and holiness of life. (b) A public act of devotion, in which a director leads a congregation in meditating upon some spiritual subject.-4. A short literary composition in which the subject (usually religious) is treated in a meditative manner: as, a volume of hymns and meditations. = Celestial Meditant! whose Ardours rise Deep from the Tombs, and kindle to the Skies. A Physician, To James Hervey, on his Meditations among [the Tombs (1748). meditate (med'i-tāt), t.; pret. and pp. meditated, ppr. meditating. [L. meditatus, pp. of meditari (> It. meditare = Sp. Pg. meditar F. méditer), think or reflect upon, consider, design, purpose, intend; in form as if freq. of mederi, heal, cure; in sense (and in form, allowing for the possible interchange of d and 7) near to Gr. μeεrav, care for. attend to, study, practise, etc.] I. intrans. 1. To think abstractedly; engage in mental contemplation; revolve a subject in the mind; cogitate; ruminate. Gen. xxiv. 63. Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide. While I roved about the forest, long and bitterly meditating. Tennyson, Boadicea. 2. To think out a plan or method; engage in planning or contriving; fix one's thoughts with reference to a result or conclusion: followed by on or upon. But natheles this meditacioun I putte it ay under correccioun meditationist (med-i-tä'shon-ist), n. [< medi- I will meditate the while upon some horrid message for 2. Pertaining or inclining to or expressing a challenge. Shak., T. N., iii. 4. 219. Resolved to win, he meditates the way Blessed is the man that doth meditate good things. Alas! what boots it with incessant care To tend the homely. slighted, shepherd's trade, And strictly meditate the thankless Muse? Milton, Lycidas, 1. 66. 3. To observe thoughtfully or intently; contemplate vigilantly; watch. [Rare.] Crouch'd close he [a spaniel] lies, and meditates the prey. Pope, Windsor Forest, 1. 102. =Syn. 1. To devise, concoct.-2. To contemplate, ruminate, revolve, study. meditatio fugæ (med-i-tà'shi-ō fū'je). [L., contemplation of flight: see meditation and fugue.] In Scots law, a phrase noting the position of a debtor who meditates an escape to avoid the payment of his debts. When a creditor can make oath that his debtor, whether native or foreigner, is in meditatione fuga, or when he has reasonable ground of apprehension that the debtor has such an intention, he is entitled to a warrant to apprehend the debtor. The warrant may be obtained from any judge of the Court of Session, the sheriff, a magistrate of a burgh, or a justice of the peace, and is termed a meditatio fuga warrant. Under the Debtors (Scotland) Act, 1881, which abolishes imprisonment for debt except in a few special cases, warrants of this kind are practically obsolete. Imp. Dict. meditation (med-i-ta'shon), n. [< ME. meditacioun, < OF. meditation, F. méditation = Sp. meditacion Pg. meditação It. meditazione, <L. meditatio(n-), meditari, meditate: see meditate.] 1. The act of meditating; close or continued thought; the turning or revolving of a subject in the mind; sustained reflection. = Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Ps. xix. 14. meditation: as, a meditative mood. Inward self-disparagement affords To meditative spleen à grateful feast. Wordsworth, Excursion, iv. meditatively (med'i-ta-tiv-li), adv. In a meditative manner; with meditation. meditativeness (med'i-ta-tiv-nes), n. The state or character of being meditative; thoughtfulness. medium countries or races.- Mediterranean fan-palm, fever, etc. See the nouns.-Mediterranean subregion, in zoogeog., the second of four subregions into which the Palearctic region is divided. As bounded by Wallace, it includes all the countries south of the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, and Caucasus mountains, all the southern shores of the Mediterranean to the Atlas range and beyond to the extratropical part of the Sahara and the Nile valley to the second cataract; while eastward it includes the northern half of Arabia, all Persia and Baluchistan, and perhaps Afghanistan to the Indus. mediterraneous+ (med i-te-rā'nē-us), a. [<L. mediterraneus, midland: see mediterrane.] Inland; remote from the ocean or sea. It is found in mountains and mediterraneous parts. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., ii. 4. meditullium+ (mē-di-tul'i-um), n. [NL., < ML. meditullium, meditolium, etc., the middle of a thing, a yolk, hub, etc., L. medius, middle, + -tullium, -tolium, etc., apparently a mere termination.] In bot., same as diploë, 2. See cut under diploë. [= F. médium Sp. medio = Pg. meio = It. medio, n., a medium, middle course, L. medium, neut. of medius, middle, = Gr. μtoos, middle: see middle.] I. n.; pl. media or mediums (-a, -umz). 1. That which holds a middle place or position; that which comes or stands between the extremes in a series, as of things, principles, ideas, circumstances, etc.; a mean. medium (mēʼdi-um), n. and a. They love or hate, no medium amongst them. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 167. For there is no medium between living in sin and forsaking of it; and nothing deserves the name of Repentance that is short of that. Stillingfleet, Sermons, iii. A gen'rous friendship no cold medium knows, Burns with one love, with one resentment glows. Pope, Iliad, ix. 725. The piece, however, has no medium; all that is not excellent is intolerably bad. Gifford, Int. to Ford's Plays, p. xl. Technically-(a) In math., a mean. See means. (b) In logic, the mean or middle term of a syllogism. (e) A size of paper between demy and royal. American printing-medium is 19 x 24 inches; American writing-medium, 18 x 23 inches; English printing-medium, 18 x 28 inches; English writing-medium, 17 x 22 inches; American double medium, 24 × 38 inches; and American medium and a half, 24 x 30 inches. 2. Anything which serves or acts intermediately; something by means of which an action is performed or an effect produced; an intervening agency or instrumentality: as, the atmosphere is a medium of sound. meditet (med'it), v. t. [< OF. mediter, < L. meditari, meditate: see meditate.] To meditate ing body in waves of condensation and rarefaction to the upon; consider or study thoughtfully. Mediting the sacred Temple's plot. Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Magnificence. mediterranet (med ̋i-te-ran'), a. [= F. méditerrané Pr. mediterrane Sp. Pg. It. mediterraneo, L. mediterraneus, midland, inland, remote from the sea (LL. Mediterraneum mare, the Mediterranean Sea, previously called Mare magnum, nostrum, internum); as a noun, the interior; medius, middle, + terra, land. Cf. mediterranean.] Same as mediterranean. These facts appear to be opposed to the theory that rock-salt is due to the sinking of water charged with salt in mediterranean spaces of the ocean. Darwin, Geol. Observations, p. 580. 2. Nearly or quite surrounded by land; existing in the midst of inclosing land; confined or cut off by a bordering of land: used specifically [cap.] as the name of the sea between Europe and Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, or (substantively) the Mediterranean, and rarely otherwise. -3. [cap.] Pertaining to, situated on or near, or dwelling about the Mediterranean Sea: as, the Mediterranean currents; the Mediterranean Nothing comes to him not spoiled by the sophisticating medium of moral uses. Lamb, Old and New Schoolmaster. A negotiation was opened through the medium of the ambassador. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xviii. The social medium has been created for man by humanity. Maudsley, Body and Will, p. 157. Specifically-(a) In painting, any liquid vehicle, as linseedoil, poppy-oil, varnish, or water, with which dry pigments are ground, or with which pigments are mixed by the painter while at work, in order to give them greater fluidity. (b) In acoustics, a ponderable elastic substance, as air or other gas, water, etc., which transmits the energy of the soundear. (c) In heat and light, that which transmits the energy of the heated or luminous body to a distance in undulatory waves; the ether. (d) In bacteriology, the nutritive substance, either a liquid or a solid, in which or upon which the various forms of microscopic life are grown for study. The liquid media employed are infusions of hay, extract solid media most used are eggs, slices of potatoes and of beer-yeast, and broth of various kinds of meat. The carrots, agar-agar, and especially gelatin and the gelatinized serum of the blood of oxen. After being thoroughly sterilized by heat, they are usually placed in test-tubes, and inoculated with the form that it is desired to study; the cultures may then be observed through the glass. 3. A person through whom, or through whose agency, another acts; specifically, one who is supposed to be controlled in speech and action by the will of another person or a disembodied being, as in animal magnetism and spiritualism; an instrument for the manifestation of another personality. Many of the socalled spiritual mediums claim the power of acting upon them, in a manner independent of ordinary material conand through matter, by means of the spirits controlling ditions and limitations. In this sense the plural mediums is preferred. Although particular persons adopted the profession of media between men and Elohim, there was no limitation of the power, in the view of ancient Israel, to any special class of the population. Huxley, in Nineteenth Century, XIX. 354. 4. Something of mean or medium weight, size, etc. [Colloq.] The present classification of the cavalry of the line is as follows: thirteen regiments of Mediums, comprising the seven regiments of Dragoon Guards, numbered 1 to 7; etc. N. and Q., 7th ser., VIII. 111. The 4th Dragoon Guards are no longer "Heavies," but Mediums. N. and Q., 7th ser., VIII. 111. Circulating medium, coin and bank-notes, or paper convertible into money on demand; currency.-Medium cæli, in astrol., midheaven; the meridian of the place of medium observation. Medium of cognition, a cognition producing other cognition inferentially or quasi-inferentially. -Medium of form or of participation, in logic, something which partakes of the nature of both of two extremes. Syn. 1. Average, Mediocrity, etc. See means. II. a. Middle; middling; mean: as, a man of medium size. Syn. See mean3, n. Of or permediumistic (me di-um-is'tik), a. taining to spiritualistic mediums: as, mediumistic phenomena. = Private and unpaid "mediums," or other persons in whose presence mediumistic phenomena occur. Amer. Soc. Psych. Research, I. 266. mediumship (me'di-um-ship), n. [< medium+ -ship.] The state or condition of being a spiritualistic medium; the vocation or function of such a medium. Animal magnetism, clairvoyance, mediumship, or mesmerism are antagonistic to this science. Quoted in Contemporary Rev., LI. 803. Of medium medium-sized (meʼdi-um-sīzd), a. or middle size; of an intermediate or of an average size. medius (meʼdi-us), n. [ML. and NL. use of L. medius, middle: see medium.] In music: (a) In Gregorian music, an inflection, modulation, or deviation from monotone, used to mark a partial break in the text, as at the end of a clause. It consists of a downward step of a minor third. See accent, 8. (bt) A tenor or alto voice or voice-part; a mean. medle1t, r. medle2+, n. 3687 An obsolete form of meddle. [ME., < OF. mesle, mesple, medlar: see medlar.] A medlar: perhaps only in the compound medle-tree. medleet, n. and a. An obsolete form of medley. medle-treet, n. [ME.] Same as medlar-tree. A sat and dinede in a wede, Under a faire medle-tre. = = Beres of Hamtoun, p. 52. (Halliwell.) [Formerly also medley (med'li), n. and a. medly, medlie; ME. medlee, medle, < OF. medlee, meslee, meilee, mellee, F. mêlée (>E. mêlée Sp. mezcla Pg. mescla, a mixand melley) ing, orig. fem. of medle, mesle, etc., pp. of medler, mesler, mix: see meddle and mell.] I. n. 1. A mixture; a mingled and confused mass of elements, ingredients, or parts; a jumble; a hodgepodge. Love is a medley of endearments, jars, Walsh. They... will bear no more This medley of philosophy and war. Addison, Cato. The ballet had been a favourite subject of court diversion since Beaujoyeaulx produced in 1581 Le Ballet Comique de la Royne, a medley of dancing, choral singing, and muEncyc. Brit., XVII. 87. sical dialogue. 2. A musical composition, song, or entertainment consisting of incongruous or disjointed scraps or parts selected from different sources; a mélange or potpourri.-3. A fabric woven from yarn spun from wool which has been dyed of various colors. Every Woolen Weaver shall have . . . for every yard [Vagrants and Vagrancy, p. 444. of Medlie 1d. Qs. Statute (1609), quoted in Ribton-Turner's As Medleys are most made in other shires, as good Whites as any are woven in this county. Fuller, Worthies, Wilts, II. 435. (Davies.) As soone as the speres were spente, thei drough oute theire swerdes, and be-gonne the medle on foote and on Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 457. horsebak. =Syn. 1. Miscellany, Jumble, etc. See mixture. II. a. 1. Mingled; confused. Dryden. Qualms at my heart, convulsions in my nerves, Wordsworth, Peter Bell. He rood but hoomly in a medlee coote. The superius, medius, tenor, and bassus parts of Athenæum, No. 3190, p. 821. Byrd's Gradualia. Medjidie (me-jid'i-e), n. [Turk. mejidi, mejid, medjid (see def.), lit. glorious ('Abd-ul-mejid, lit. glorious servant of God), < Ar. mejid, glori1. A Turkish order of ous, mejd, glory.] knighthood, instituted in 1852 by the sultan Abdul-Medjid, and conferred on many foreign officers who took part with Turkey in the Cri- 4t. A hand-to-hand fight; a melley or mêlée. mean war.-2. A modern silver coin of Turkey, named from the sultan Abdul-Medjid, who coined it in 1844. It is equivalent to 20 piasters, and worth, approximately, 85 cents. [< Medjid (see def.) medjidite (me-jid'it), n. +-ite2.] In mineral. (named after the sultan Abdul-Medjid), a hydrous sulphate of uranium and calcium, occurring with uraninite. medlar (med'lär), n. [Formerly also medler; < ME. medler, meddeler, OF. medler, mesler, meslier (F. néflier), a medlar-tree, < mesle, mesple, 2. Mixed; of a mixed stuff or color. F. dial. mêle, also (with change of orig. m ton, as in map, nape2, napkin, etc.) OF. *nesple, neple, F. nèfle Sp. néspera Pg. nespera It. nespola, f., the medlar (fruit); cf. Sp. nispero = It. nespolo, medlar-tree; D. MLG. mispel OHG. mespila, nespela, MHG. mespel, nespil, G. mispel= Sw. Dan. mispel = Bohem. mishpule, nyshpule = Pol. mespil, pul, nieszpul Hung. nespolya, naspolya Turk. mushmula (> Serv. mushmula), < L. mespilus, f., a medlar, medlar-tree, < Gr. utoTov, neut., a medlar, medlar-tree, μeonin, the medlar-tree.] 1. A small, generally bushy tree, Mespilus Germanica, related to the crab-apple, cultivated in gardens for its fruit. It is wild in central and southern Leaves and Fruit of Medlar-tree (Mespilus Germanica). medleyt (med'li), v. t. [< medley, n.] To mix. Europe, but was introduced from western Asia. medrinack (med'ri-nak), n. [Also medrinaque, Meddellers in hoote lande gladdest be, So it be moist; thai come also in cold. Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 121. Witwoud grows by the Knight, like a Medlar grafted on Congreve, Way of the World, i. 5. a Crab. 2. The fruit of the above tree, resembling a small brown-skinned apple, but with a broad disk at the summit surrounded by the remains of the calyx-lobes. When first gathered, it is harsh and uneatable, but in the early stages of decay it acquires an acid flavor much relished by some. There are several varieties. You'll be rotten ere you be half ripe, and that's the right virtue of the medler. Shak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 123. The stalk [of the cotton-wool plant], no bigger than that of wheat, but rough as the Beans; the head round and bearded, in size and shape of a medlar. Sandys, Travailes, p. 12. Dutch medlar, the common variety of medlar.-Japan ese medlar. Same as loquat, 2.-Neapolitan or Welsh [Cf. ME. medle medlar. See azarole. medlar-tree (med'lär-tre), n. tree.] Same as medlar, 1. Some hardmedlar-wood (med lär-wůd), n. wooded species of Myrtus, growing in Mauritius and adjacent islands, as M. mespiloides. = medrick, madrick (med'rik, madʼrik), n. [Ori- Medusa (a) In exogens, the central column of parenchymatous tissue about which the wood is formed. (b) In heteromerous lichens, the innermost stratum of colorless tissue compos ing the thallus. It exhibits three well-marked forms: (1) the woolly, composed of simple or branched entangled fila ance; (3) the cellulose, which consists of angular, rounded, or oblong cellules.- Columns of the medulla obments; (2) the crustaceous, which is tartareous in appearlongata. See column.- Medulla oblongata. See def. 1 (c); see also brain.- Medulla spinalis. See def. 1 (b). medullar (me-dul'är), a. [= F. médullaire = - It. midollare, < Pg. medullar Sp. medular = LL. medullaris, situated in the marrow, < L. medulla, marrow: see medulla.] Same as medullary. [Rare.] = These little emissaries, united together at the cortical part of the brain, make the medullar part, being a bundle of very small, threadlike channels of Abres. G. Cheyne, Philosophical Principles. [As medullar.] medullary (med'u-la-ri), a. 1. In anat. and zool., pertaining to marrow or medulla, or resembling it in form or position; myelonal: as, medullary substance; a medullary cavity; medullary cancer; a medullary foramen. -2. In bot., composing or pertaining to the medulla or pith of plants. See phrases below. Medullary axis, in lichens, same as medullary layer. Same as encephaloid cancer (which see, under encephaloid).-Medullary cavity, in embryol.: Medullary cancer. (a) The hollow of the primitively tubular spinal cord. The primitive medullary cavity, which persists as the Gegenbaur, Comp. Anat., p. 512. central canal, remains open in the lumbar swelling of birds. (b) The hollow of a bone which contains marrow.-Medullary foramen. See foramen.- Medullary furrow or groove, in embryol., the primitive trace or furrow of a vertebrate embryo, or a corresponding formation in an medulla. invertebrate: so called from being the site of a future As the medullary groove deepens, its edges become more the entoderm, thus forcing asunder the two halves of the sharply defined, and its inner border comes close down to mesoderm. Buck's Handbook of Med. Sciences, III. 174. See medulla, 2 (b).Medullary layer, in lichenol. Medullary plate, in bot., one of the lips of the medullary groove.-Medullary rays, the radiating vertical bands or plates of parenchymatous tissue in the stems of exogenous plants, popularly called the silver-grain. 1. Longitudinal radial section through the wood of a branch of maple one year old: P, pith; B, bark. 2. Longitudinal tangential section of the same wood, showing the ends of the medullary rays. There are two kinds-the primary, which extend from the pith (medulla) to the cortex, and the secondary, which are shorter than the primary. The rays may be simple, posed cells, as in many conifers; or compound, consisting consisting of a single cell or a single layer of superim of more than one layer of superimposed cells, as in most dicotyledons.-Medullary sheath, in bot., a narrow zone made up of the innermost layer of woody tissue immedithe spinal cord in the primitive tubular stage. ately surrounding the pith in plants. Medullary tube, medullated (med u-la-ted), a. [< L. medulla, marrow, +-atel+-ed2.] Having a medulla. The [spinal] cord will be seen to be mainly made up of Martin, Human Body, p. 177. medullated nerve-fibres. [<L. medulla, pith, medullin (me-dul'in), ". +-in2.] A name given by Braconnot to the cellulose obtained from the pith or medulla of certain plants, as the sunflower and lilac. medullispinal (me-dul-i-spi'nal), a. [<L. medulla, marrow, pith, + spina, spine: see spinal.] Pertaining to the medulla spinalis, spinal marrow, or spinal cord. The medullispinal or proper veins of the spinal cord lie Holden, Anat. (1885), p. 794. within the dura mater. medullitis (med-u-li'tis), n. [NL., < medulla, marrow, +-itis.] In pathol., same as myelitis. medullose (med'u-los), a. [= F. médulleux = Sp. meduloso = Pg. medulloso = It. midolloso, < L. medullosus, full of marrow, medulla, marrow, pith: see medulla.] Having the texture of pith. Maunder. Medusa (me-du'sä), n. [L. Medusa, <Gr. Médovoa, a fem. name, orig. fem. of pédov, a ruler, ppr. of pédew, rule.] 1. In Gr. myth., one of the three Gorgons, the only one of them who was mortal. She was slain by Perseus, with the aid of that its sight turned all beholders to stone. It was afterAthena; and her serpent-entwined head was so awful ward borne by Athena on her ægis or on her shield. The later artists beautified the grimacing head of Medusa, retaining only the writhing serpents of the legend. See Gorgon and agis. Medusa 2. Pl. medusa (-sē). In zoöl.: (a) [l. c.] A jelly-fish, sea-jelly, or sea-nettle; an acaleph, in a strict sense; a discophoran or discophorous hydrozoan; any member of the family Medusida or order or subclass Discophora: a term very loosely used, and now chiefly as an English word. See medusoid, n. (b) [cap.] [NL.] An old genus of jelly-fishes, used with great and varying latitude, more or less nearly equivalent to the order Discophora or family Medusida, now greatly restricted or entirely discarded. In the latter case Aurelia is used instead. See cut under acaleph. [In this sense there is no plural.] (c) [l. c.] Some hydrozoan resembling or supposed to be one of the foregoing; a medusoid: as, the naked-eyed medusæ of Forbes, which are the reproductive zoöids or gonophores of gymnoblastic hydroids. medusa-bell (mē-du ́sä-bel), n. The swimmingbell, gelatinous disk, or umbrella of a medusa. medusa-bud (me-du'sä-bud), n. A budding medusa; a rudimentary medusa, or one not detached from its stock, forming a generative bud or gonophore. Medusa (mē-dū ́sē), n. pl. [NL., pl. of Medu = 3688 = meed (med), n. [< ME. meede, mede, <AS. mēd, = As muche mede for a myte that he offreth Who cheers such actions with abundant meeds. A sordid soul, 9. 1. Scott, Marmion, ii. 22. sa.] Jelly-fishes, acalephs proper, or discopho- 2. A gift; also, a bribe. See orchis. 3t. meet meekent (mē’kn), v. t. [< meek+-en1.] Same Then with soft steps enseal'd the meekned valleys, W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, ii. 1. Milton, Nativity, 1. 46. meekness (mēk'nes), n. [ME. meekenes, mekenes; < meek + -ness.] The quality of being meek; softness of temper; mildness; gentleness; forbearance under injuries and provocations; unrepining submission. Syn. Lowliness, humility, self-abasement. See comparison under gentle. Tennyson, Enone. meert. An obsolete form of mere1, mere2, mere3. meerkat (mēr kat), n. 1. The African penciled ichneumon, Cynictis penicillata. See cut under Cynictis.-2. The African suricate or zenick, Suricata tetradactyla. meerschaum (mer' shâm or -shum; G. pron. mārʼshoum), n. [< G. meerschaum, lit.seafoam,' meer, the sea (= E. mere1), + schaum, foam, froth, E. scum.] 1. A hydrated silicate of magnesium, occurring in fine white clay-like masses, which when dry will float on water; sepiolite. The name, from the German for 'sea-foam,' alludes to the lightness and the snowwhite color. It is found in various regions, but occurs chiefly in Asia Minor, Livadia, and the island of Euboea. When first taken out it is soft, and makes lather like soap. It is manufactured into tobacco-pipes, which, after being carved or turned, are baked to dry them, then boiled in milk, polished, and finally boiled in oil or wax. Artificial meerschaum is made from the chips and waste left from meerschaum-cutting, consolidated by pressure. Meerschaum is imitated also in plaster of Paris, treated with paraffin and colored with gamboge and dragon'sblood, and in other ways. For certes by no force ne by no meede = II. n. A hydrozoan of the family Medusida. Medusa's-head (mē-dū ́säz-hed), n. 1. A basket-fish, basket-urchin, or sea-basket; a euryalean ophiurian or branching sandstar of the family Astrophytida. Also medusa-head and medusa-headstar. See cut under basket-fish.— 2. An extant crinoid of the genus Pentacrinus, P. caput-medusa.-3. In bot., the plant Euphorbia Caput-Medusa.- Medusa's-head orchis. medusian (me-du'si-an), a. and n. [< NL. Medusa + -ian.] Same as medusan. Medusidæ (mē-dū ́si-dē), n. pl. [NL.,< Medusa +-ida.] The medusa, acalephs, discophorans, 2. To deserve or merit. or jelly-fishes, as a family of Hydrozoa, typified by the genus Medusa proper. The hydrosome is free and oceanic, consisting of a single nectocalyx or swimming-bell, from the roof of which one or several polypites are suspended. The nectocalyx is furnished with a system of canals, and a number of tentacles depend from its My meed hath got me fame. Shak., 3 Hen. VI., iv. 8. 38. meedt (med), v. t. [<ME. meden OS. mēdean, miedon MLG. mēden = OHG. miaten, mietan, MHG. G. mieten, reward; from the noun.] 1. To reward; bribe. margin. The reproductive organs appear as processes either of the sides of the polypite or of the nectocalycine canals. The family as thus defined is coextensive with the order or subclass Discophora, and equivalent to Medusa, 2 (b), but the term is often used in a much more restricted sense, as synonymous with Aureliida. & [he] meded hem so moche with alle maner thinges, = 2. A pipe made from this substance. Such pipes are valued from their taking a rich brown color from the Yet, yet thy body meeds a better grave. oil of tobacco gradually absorbed by the material. Heywood, Silver Age (ed. Collier), i. meerswinet, n. See mereswine. See measel. meedfult (med'fül), a. [<ME. medeful; <meed meeset, n. +ful.] Worthy of meed or reward; deserv-named after David Meese, a gardener of the Meesia (me'si-ä), n. [NL. (Hedwig, 1782), ing. A genus of mosses typical of the tribe Meesiea, University of Franeker, in the Netherlands.] having long, densely cespitose stems and linear lar-hexagonal small areolation. or narrowly lanceolate leaves, with rectanguThe capsule is cernuous, clavate, and thick-walled, the annulus simple or wanting. The species are distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, some occurring in North America. Also spelled Meesea. meedfully+ (med'fül-i), adv. [ME. medefully; to be rewarded. medusidan (mē-dū ́si-dan), a. and n. I. a. Of meek (mēk), a. or pertaining to the Medusida. II. n. One of the Medusida. medusiform (mē-du'si-fôrm), a. dusa L. forma, form.] Resembling a medusa in form; medusoid; in the form of a bell; k campanulate.-Medusiform bud, a budding medusoid contained in the gonophore of some hydrozoans. medusite (mē-du'sīt), n. [<NL. Medusites, Medusa + -ites, E. -ite2.] A fossil medusa or acaleph. Notwithstanding the softness of jelly-fishes, fossil traces of some have been found in the lithographic slate of Solenhofen in Bavaria. A wight, without nedeful compulsion, ought medefully Testament of Love, iii. [< ME. meek, meke, meok, meoc, <Icel. mjukr, soft, mild, meek, Sw. mjuk, soft, = Dan. myg, soft, pliant, supple, Goth. *muks, in comp. mukamodei, gentleness.] 1. Gentle or mild of temper; self-controlled and gentle; not easily provoked or irritated; forbearing under injury or annoyance. = Full meke was the kynge a-gein god and the peple, and and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Medusiform Zooid of 2. Pliant; yielding; submissive. Campanularia. Medusites (med-u-sī ́tēz), n. medusoid (mē-dū'soid), a. and A, nectocalyx; A', velum; o, lithocysts; nubrium; 4, radial canals; o, mouth. n. [ NL. Medusa + Gr. eldoç, form.] I. a. Like a medusa; resembling a medusa in form or function; medusiform: as, a medusoid bud; the medusoid organization. Sometimes acalephoid.-Medusoid bud, the generative bud or gonophore of a fixed or free hydrozoan. Hee had take the toune that tristy was holde, Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 44. 3. Humble; unpretentious. meet1 (mēt), v.; pret. and pp. met, ppr. meeting. 2. To come up to from a different direction; Milton, P. L., x. 1104. join by going toward; come to by approaching from the opposite direction, as distinguished from overtake: as, to meet a person in the road. So we buried him quietly. in the sloping little II. n. 1. The medusiform generative bud or receptacle of the reproductive elements of a hy-church-yard of Oare, as meek a place as need be. drozoan, whether it becomes detached or not. Such an organism constitutes the middle stage in the process of metagenesis. The gonophore may present every stage of development and degree of complication until it becomes medusiform or bell-shaped, when it is called a medusoid from its resemblance to a medusa or jelly-fish. 2. Loosely, any medusa, medusidan, or medusoid organism. meelt, pron. An obsolete spelling of mel. mee2 (me), n. [E. Ind.] An evergreen tree of India. See Bassia. meech, meeching. See miche1, miching. R. D. Blackmore, Lorna Doone, v. For he that highith himself shal be mekid, and he that And thus thei conveyed hem vn-to the town, whereas 3. To come into physical contact with; join by The broad seas swell'd to meet the keel. Tennyson, The Voyage. 4. To come upon; encounter; attain to; reach the perception, possession, or experience of: |