Webster's Dictionary, 1913
I O U [ i. e., I owe you.] A paper having on it these letters, with a sum named, and duly signed; -- in use in England as an acknowledgment of a debt, and taken as evidence thereof, but not amounting to a promissory note; a due bill. Wharton. Story.
I. e. Abbreviation of Latin id est , that is.
I. W. W. (Abbrev.) Industrial Workers of the World (the name of two American labor organizations, one of which advocates syndicalism) .
I' faith In faith; indeed; truly. Shak.
I' ll Contraction for I will or I shall .
I'll by a sign give notice to our friends. Shak.
Iamatology noun [ Greek ..., ..., medicine + -logy .] (Medicine) Materia Medica; that branch of therapeutics which treats of remedies.
[ Confer French iambe
. See Lambus
.] An iambus or iambic.
[ Latin iambicus
, Greek ...: confer French iambique
.] 1. (Pros.) Consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one, or of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented; as, an iambic foot. 2. Pertaining to, or composed of, iambics; as, an iambic verse; iambic meter. See Lambus .
Iambic noun 1. (Pros.) (a) An iambic foot; an iambus. (b) A verse composed of iambic feet.
» The following couplet consists of iambic verses.
Iambical adjective Iambic. [ Obsolete or R.]
Iambically adverb In a iambic manner; after the manner of iambics.
Iambize transitive verb [ Greek ....] To satirize in iambics; to lampoon. [ R.]
, English Iambuses
. [ Latin iambus
, Greek ...; probably akin to ... to throw, assail (the iambus being first used in satiric poetry), and to Latin jacere
to throw. Confer Jet
a shooting forth.] (Pros.) A foot consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one, as in ămāns , or of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one, as invent ; an iambic. See the Couplet under Iambic , noun
, English Ianthinas
. [ New Latin , from Latin ianthinus
violet-blue, Greek ...; ... violet + ... flower.] (Zoology) Any gastropod of the genus Ianthina , of which various species are found living in mid ocean; -- called also purple shell , and violet snail .
[ Written also janthina
.] » It floats at the surface by means of a raft, which it constructs by forming and uniting together air bubbles of hardened mucus. The Tyrian purple of the ancients was obtained in part from mollusks of this genus.
Iatraliptic adjective [ Greek ...; ... physician + ... belonging to the ... or anointer, from ... to anoint: confer French iatraliptique .] Treating diseases by anointing and friction; as, the iatraliptic method. [ Written also iatroleptic .]
Iatric, Iatrical adjective [ Greek ... healing, from ... physician, from ... to heal.] Of or pertaining to medicine, or to medical men.
Iatrochemical adjective Of or pertaining to iatrochemistry, or to the iatrochemists.
Iatrochemist noun [ Greek ... physician + English chemist .] A physician who explained or treated diseases upon chemical principles; one who practiced iatrochemistry.
Iatrochemistry noun Chemistry applied to, or used in, medicine; -- used especially with reference to the doctrines in the school of physicians in Flanders, in the 17th century, who held that health depends upon the proper chemical relations of the fluids of the body, and who endeavored to explain the conditions of health or disease by chemical principles.
Iatromathematical adjective Of or pertaining to iatromathematicians or their doctrine.
Iatromathematician noun [ Greek ... physician + English mathematician .] (Hist. Med.) One of a school of physicians in Italy, about the middle of the 17th century, who tried to apply the laws of mechanics and mathematics to the human body, and hence were eager student of anatomy; -- opposed to the iatrochemists .
Iberian adjective Of or pertaining to Iberia.
(-ĕz), Latin Ibices
(īb"ĭ*sēz). [ Latin , a kind of goat, the chamois.] (Zoology) One of several species of wild goats having very large, recurved horns, transversely ridged in front; -- called also steinbok .
» The Alpine ibex ( Capra ibex
) is the best known. The Spanish, or Pyrenean, ibex ( C. Hispanica
) has smoother and more spreading horns.
Ibidem adverb [ Latin ] In the same place; -- abbreviated ibid. or ib.
[ Latin ibis
, Greek ...; of Egyptian origin.] (Zoology) Any bird of the genus Ibis and several allied genera, of the family Ibidæ , inhabiting both the Old World and the New. Numerous species are known. They are large, wading birds, having a long, curved beak, and feed largely on reptiles.
» The sacred ibis of the ancient Egyptians ( Ibis Æthiopica
) has the head and neck black, without feathers. The plumage of the body and wings is white, except the tertiaries, which are lengthened and form a dark purple plume. In ancient times this bird was extensively domesticated in Egypt, but it is now seldom seen so far north. The glossy ibis ( Plegadis autumnalis
), which is widely distributed both in the Old World and the New, has the head and neck feathered, except between the eyes and bill; the scarlet ibis ( Guara rubra
) and the white ibis ( G. alba
) inhabit the West Indies and South America, and are rarely found in the United States. The wood ibis ( Tantalus loculator
) of America belongs to the Stork family ( Ciconidæ
). See Wood ibis
Ibsenism noun The dramatic practice or purpose characteristic of the writings of Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906), Norwegian poet and dramatist, whose best-known plays deal with conventional hypocrisies, the story in each play thus developing a definite moral problem.
Icarian adjective [ Latin Icarius , Greek ..., from ..., the mythic son of Dædalus, who, when flying from Crete on wings cemented with wax, mounted so high that the sun melted the wax, and he fell into the sea.] Soaring too high for safety, like Icarus; adventurous in flight.
[ Middle English is
, Anglo-Saxon īs
; aksin to Dutch ijs
, German eis
, Old High German īs
, Icelandic īss
, Swedish is
, Danish iis
, and perhaps to English iron
.] 1. Water or other fluid frozen or reduced to the solid state by cold; frozen water. It is a white or transparent colorless substance, crystalline, brittle, and viscoidal. Its specific gravity (0.92, that of water at 4Â° C. being 1.0) being less than that of water, ice floats.
» Water freezes at 32Â° F. or 0Â° Cent., and ice melts at the same temperature. Ice owes its cooling properties to the large amount of heat required to melt it. 2. Concreted sugar. Johnson. 3. Water, cream, custard, etc., sweetened, flavored, and artificially frozen. 4. Any substance having the appearance of ice; as, camphor ice . Anchor ice
, ice which sometimes forms about stones and other objects at the bottom of running or other water, and is thus attached or anchored to the ground.
-- Bay ice
, ice formed in bays, fiords, etc., often in extensive fields which drift out to sea.
-- Ground ice
, anchor ice.
-- Ice age (Geol.)
, the glacial epoch or period. See under Glacial .
-- Ice anchor (Nautical)
, a grapnel for mooring a vessel to a field of ice. Kane.
-- Ice blink
[ Danish iisblink
], a streak of whiteness of the horizon, caused by the reflection of light from ice not yet in sight.
-- Ice boat
. (a) A boat fitted with skates or runners, and propelled on ice by sails; an ice yacht. (b) A strong steamboat for breaking a channel through ice.
-- Ice box
, a box for holding ice; a box in which things are kept cool by means of ice; a refrigerator.
-- Ice brook
, a brook or stream as cold as ice.
[ Poetic] Shak.
-- Ice cream
[ for iced cream
], cream, milk, or custard, sweetened, flavored, and frozen.
-- Ice field
, an extensive sheet of ice.
-- Ice float
, Ice floe
, a sheet of floating ice similar to an ice field, but smaller.
-- Ice foot
, shore ice in Arctic regions; an ice belt. Kane.
-- Ice house
, a close-covered pit or building for storing ice.
-- Ice machine (Physics)
, a machine for making ice artificially, as by the production of a low temperature through the sudden expansion of a gas or vapor, or the rapid evaporation of a volatile liquid.
-- Ice master
. See Ice pilot (below).
-- Ice pack
, an irregular mass of broken and drifting ice.
-- Ice paper
, a transparent film of gelatin for copying or reproducing; papier glacé .
-- Ice petrel (Zoology)
, a shearwater ( Puffinus gelidus ) of the Antarctic seas, abundant among floating ice.
-- Ice pick
, a sharp instrument for breaking ice into small pieces.
-- Ice pilot
, a pilot who has charge of a vessel where the course is obstructed by ice, as in polar seas; -- called also ice master .
-- Ice pitcher
, a pitcher adapted for ice water.
-- Ice plow
, a large tool for grooving and cutting ice.
-- Ice sludge
, bay ice broken small by the wind or waves; sludge.
-- Ice spar (Min.)
, a variety of feldspar, the crystals of which are very clear like ice; rhyacolite.
-- Ice tongs
, large iron nippers for handling ice.
-- Ice water
. (a) Water cooled by ice. (b) Water formed by the melting of ice.
-- Ice yacht
. See Ice boat (above).
-- To break the ice
. See under Break .
-- Water ice
, a confection consisting of water sweetened, flavored, and frozen.
(īs) transitive verb
[ imperfect & past participle Iced
(īst); present participle & verbal noun Icing
(ī"sĭng).] 1. To cover with ice; to convert into ice, or into something resembling ice. 2. To cover with icing, or frosting made of sugar and milk or white of egg; to frost, as cakes, tarts, etc. 3. To chill or cool, as with ice; to freeze.
Ice plant (Botany) A plant ( Mesembryanthemum crystallinum ), sprinkled with pellucid, watery vesicles, which glisten like ice. It is native along the Mediterranean, in the Canaries, and in South Africa. Its juice is said to be demulcent and diuretic; its ashes are used in Spain in making glass. Ice-skater = one who skates on ice wearing an ice skate; esp. an athlete who performs athletic or artistic movements on a sheet of ice, wearing ice skates; including speed skater and figure skater -- >
1. Composed of ice. 2. Loaded with ice. " Ice-built mountains." Gray.
[ Prob. of Scand. origin; confer Danish iisbierg
, Swedish isberg
, properly, a mountain of ice. See Ice
, and Berg
.] A large mass of ice, generally floating in the ocean.
» Icebergs are large detached portions of glaciers, which in cold regions often project into the sea.
Icebird noun (Zoology) An Arctic sea bird, as the Arctic fulmar.
Icebound adjective Totally surrounded with ice, so as to be incapable of advancing; as, an icebound vessel; also, surrounded by or fringed with ice so as to hinder easy access; as, an icebound coast.
Iced adjective 1. Covered with ice; chilled with ice; as, iced water. 2. Covered with something resembling ice, as sugar icing; frosted; as, iced cake. Iced cream
. Same as Ice cream , under Ice .
Icefall noun A frozen waterfall, or mass of ice resembling a frozen waterfall. Coleridge.
Iceland moss (Botany) A kind of lichen ( Cetraria Icelandica ) found from the Arctic regions to the North Temperate zone. It furnishes a nutritious jelly and other forms of food, and is used in pulmonary complaints as a demulcent.
Iceland spar (Min.) A transparent variety of calcite, the best of which is obtained in Iceland. It is used for the prisms of the polariscope, because of its strong double refraction. Confer Calcite .
Icelander noun A native, or one of the Scandinavian people, of Iceland.
Icelandic adjective Of or pertaining to Iceland; relating to, or resembling, the Icelanders.
Icelandic noun The language of the Icelanders. It is one of the Scandinavian group, and is more nearly allied to the Old Norse than any other language now spoken.
; plural Icemen 1. A man who is skilled in traveling upon ice, as among glaciers. 2. One who deals in ice; one who retails or delivers ice.
Icequake (īs"kwāk`) noun The crash or concussion attending the breaking up of masses of ice, -- often due to contraction from extreme cold.
(ĭk) pron. I.
[ Obsolete] Chaucer.
» In the Southern dialect of Early English this is the regular form. Confer Ik
[ Latin , from Greek ..., lit., the tracker; so called because it hunts out the eggs of the crocodile, from ... to track or hunt after, from 'i`chnos
track, footstep.] 1. (Zoology) Any carnivorous mammal of the genus Herpestes , and family Viverridæ . Numerous species are found in Asia and Africa. The Egyptian species ( H. ichneumon ), which ranges to Spain and Palestine, is noted for destroying the eggs and young of the crocodile as well as various snakes and lizards, and hence was considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. The common species of India ( H. griseus ), known as the mongoose, has similar habits and is often domesticated. It is noted for killing the cobra. 2. (Zoology) Any hymenopterous insect of the family Ichneumonidæ , of which several thousand species are known, belonging to numerous genera.
» The female deposits her eggs upon, or in, the bodies of other insects, such as caterpillars, plant lice, etc. The larva lives upon the internal tissues of the insect in which it is parasitic, and finally kills it. Hence, many of the species are beneficial to agriculture by destroying noxious insects. Ichneumon fly
. See Ichneumon , 2.
Ichneumonidan adjective (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the Ichneumonidæ , or ichneumon flies. -- noun One of the Ichneumonidæ .
Ichneumonides noun plural
[ New Latin See Ichneumon
.] (Zoology) The ichneumon flies.