REF 1889 Copyright, 1889, by THE CENTURY Co. All Rights Reserved. By permission of Messrs. Blackie & Son, publishers of The Imperial Dictionary by Dr. Ogilvie and THE DE VINNE PRESS. The capitalizing and italicizing of certain or all of the words in a synonym-list indicates that the words so distinguished are discriminated in the text immediately following, or under the title referred to. The figures by which the synonym-lists are sometimes divided indicate the senses or definitions with which they are connected. The title-words begin with a small (lower-case) letter, or with a capital, according to usage. When usage differs, in this matter, with the different senses of a word, the abbreviations [cap.] for "capital " and [l. c.] for “lowercase" are used to indicate this variation. The difference observed in regard to the capitalizing of the second element in zoological and botanical terms is in accordance with the existing usage in the two sciences. Thus, in zoology, in a scientific name consisting of two words the second of which is derived from a proper name, only the first would be capitalized. But a name of similar derivation in botany would have the second element also capitalized. The names of zoological and botanical classes, orders, families, genera, etc., have been uniformly italicized, in accordance with the present usage of scientific writers. 1 G 1. The seventh letter and fifth consonant in the English alphabet. It is a sign of Italic origin, having been fabri cated by the Romans by a slight modification of C, when the distinction of the (hard) g-sound from the k-sound, both until then rep resented alike by e, was found advisable and was effected. (See C.) G has in English two principal or normal sounds, usually called “hard g” and “soft g" respectively. The former is the value originally belonging to the sign. The "hard" g-sound is the sonant (or voiced, or intonated) correlative of the k-sound, made by a close contact between the upper surface of the back part of the tongue and the adjacent palate, while breath enough to set the vocal chords vibrating is, during the continuance of the contact, forced up into the pharynx - the breach of this contact, as in the case of the other so-called mutes (or stops, or checks), giving the alphabetic element. The kand g-sounds are most often called the guttural mutes; although (since the guttur proper has nothing to do with their formation) many authorities prefer to call them palatal, or back-palatal. The "soft" sound of g in English is compound (= j = dzh), the sonant correlative of the chsound (see ch); it is, like the soft c-sound in relation to hard c, a product of the alteration of the hard g, the point of contact being shifted forward on the tongue, and a spirant or sibilant vanish being added to the mute element. It belongs mainly to the Romance part of the language. It never occurs at the beginning of words of Anglo-Saxon origin (where g is always hard or has changed to y); and but rarely at the end of such words (before "silent" e, as in hinge, singe, swinge). Except in such instances, g, in The principal digraphs containing g are gh and ng. The words of Germanic origin, is hard also before e and i. former is written instead of the earlier guttural spirant h (as night for earlier niht), and is either silent (as in night) or pronounced as f(as in laugh). With the digraph ng is written the nasal which corresponds to g and k in the same manner as n to d and t, or m to b and p, and which (for example, in singing) is just as much a simple sound as n or m. This guttural or palatal nasal is not an independent alphabetic element in any such way as is n or m; in the older stages of the languages of our family, it appears only before a next following g or k, as a nasal made guttural by assimilation to them; and the combination ng representing it is simply one in which the g, formerly pronounced, has become silent, like the b of mb in lamb, climb, tomb, etc. G is now silent before n in the same syllable, as in gnaw, sign. For g as the original of consonant y, see y. 2. As a medieval Roman numeral, 400, and with a line over it, G, 400,000.-3. In the calendar, the seventh dominical letter.-4. In music: (a) The key-note of the major key of one sharp, having the signature shown at 1, or of the minor key of two flats, having the signature shown at 2; also, in medieval music, the final of the Mixolydian mode. (b) In the fixed system of solmization, the fifth tone of the scale, and called sol: hence so named by French musicians. (c) On the keyboard of the pianoforte, the white key next to the left of the middle of each group of three black keys. (d) The tone given by such a key, or a tone in unison with such a tone. (e) The degree of a staff assigned to such a key or tone; with the treble clef, the second line or the first added space above, as at 3. (f) A note on such a degree, indicating such a key or tone, as at 4.-5. In physics, a symbol for acceleration of gravity, which is about 9.8 meters (or 32 feet) per second.-6. In chem., a symbol for glucinum: now rarely used, Gl being substituted for it.-G clef. See clef. ga1t, v. i. An earlier form of go. ga2, n. See gau. ga3 (g). A dialectal preterit of go. See giel. Ga. 1. In chem., the symbol for gallium.—2. An abbreviation of Georgia, one of the United gabl (gab), v.; pret. and pp. gabbed, ppr. gabbing. [<ME. gabben, talk idly, jest, lie in jest, lie (the alleged AS. *gabban, in Somner, is a myth), Icel. gabba, mock, make game of one; cf. OFries. gabbia, accuse, prosecute, NFries. gobbien, laugh, gabben, jest, sport (Richthofen). States. 153 The Rom. forms, OF. gaber = Pr. gabar = It. gabbare, mock, deride, deceive, cheat, Pg. gabar, praise, refl. boast, are also of Scand. origin. Hence gab1, n., gabble, freq., and ult. gibber and jabber: see these words, and ef. gab5, n. There is no proof of the supposed ult. Celtic origin (Ir. cab, gab, gob, the mouth, etc.: see gab2, gob).] I. intrans. 1t. To jest; lie in jest; speak with exaggeration; lie. Thaire goddis will not gab, that grauntid hom first The cité to sese, as hom selfe lyked. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), l. 10604. I lye not, or gabbe not. Wyclif, Gal. i. 20 (Oxf.). Soth to sigge [sooth to say], and not to gab. Early Eng. Poems, p. 6. 2. To talk idly; talk much; chatter; prate. [Now only colloq.] I nam no labbe, Ne, though I seye, I am not lief to gabbe. Chaucer, Miller's Tale. Thou art one of the knights of France, who hold it for glee and pastime to gab, as they term it, of exploits that are beyond human power. Scott, Talisman, ii. II. trans. To speak or tell falsely. My sonne, and sithen that thou wilt That I shall axe, gabbe nought, But tell, etc. Gower, Conf. Amant., ii. ffull trewe seide thei that tolde me ther was not soche a-nother knyght in the worlde, ffor he ne gabbed no worde. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 532. gab1 (gab), n. [< ME. gabbe, idle talk, lying; cf. Icel. gabb Sw. gabb, mocking, mockery (OF. gab, etc.: see gab5); from the verb. Cf. gab2.] Idle talk; chatter; loquacity. [Colloq.] = Some unco blate [shy], and some wi' gabs Gar lasses' hearts gang startin' Whiles fast at night. Burns, Hallowe'en. Gift of gab, or of the gab, a talent for talking; fluency: used in jest or in obloquy. I always knew you had the gift of the gab, of course, but I never believed you were half the man you are. gab2 (gab), n. [Sc., North. E. gob, the mouth: see gob.] The mouth. Ye take mair in your gab than your cheeks can had [hold]. Ramsay's Scottish Proverbs, p. 86. gab3+ (gab), v. i. [Appar. <gab2, the mouth; or a var. of gag or gap, assimilated to gab2.j To project like a tusk. = Of teeth there be three sorts: for either they be framed like sawes, or else set flat, even and levell, or last of all stand gabbing out of the mouth. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xi. 25. gab4 (gab), n. [Origin obscure.] A hook or crook; specifically, the hook on an eccentricrod which engages the wrist on the rock-shaft lever of a valve-motion. E. H. Knight. gab5+ (gab), n. [OF., also gap, gaab, m., also gabe, f., Pr. gab= It. gabbo, a jest, joke, mock, mockery, Pg. gabo, praise (ult. identical with gab1, n., q. v.); from the verb: see under gab1, .] A jest; joke; mock; a piece of pleasantry. On no account perhaps is it [the "Ballad of King Arthur" more remarkable than the fact of its close imitation of the famous gabs made by Charlemagne and his companions at the court of King Hugon, which are first met with in a romance of the twelfth century. . . . It is to be presumed that the author of the ballad borrowed from the printed work, substituting Arthur for Charlemagne, Gawayne for Oliver, Tristram for Roland, etc., and embellishing his story by converting King Hugon's spy into a "lodly feend," by whose agency the gabs are accomplished. Child's Ballads, I. 231, App. gabaraget (gab'a-raj), n. [Perhaps connected with gabardine (?).] Coarse packing-cloth: a term formerly used for the wrappers in which Irish goods were packed. gabardine, gaberdine (gab-är-den', -ér-den'), n. [= It. gavardina, formerly also cavardina = OF. galvardine, Sp. gabardina, a gabardine; appar. extended from Sp. gabán, a great-coat with hood and close sleeves, OF. gaban It. gabanio, a shepherd's cloak, dim. gabanella, a gabardine, etc.; perhaps connected with Sp. cabaza, a large cloak with hood and sleeves, cabaña, a cabin, hut, etc.: see cabas, cabin, capel, capouch, capuchin2, etc.] A long loose 2423 = cloak or frock, generally coarse, with or without sleeves and a hood, formerly worn by common men out of doors, and distinctively by Jews when their mode of dress was regulated by law; hence, any similar outer garment worn at the present day, especially in Eastern countries. You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine, And all for use of that which is mine own. Shak., M. of V., i. 3. The storm is come again; my best way is to creep under his gaberdine. Shak., Tempest, ii. 2. Under your gabardine wear pistols all. Suckling, The Goblins. Here was a Tangier merchant in sky-blue gaberdine, with a Persian shawl twisted around his waist. T. B. Aldrich, Ponkapog to Pesth, p. 203. gabatat (gab ́a-tä), n. [< L. gabata, a kind of dish or platter; ML. as in def.] Eccles., a vessel suspended in a church, probably to hold a light. See basin, 5. gabbard, gabbart (gab ́ärd, -ärt), n. [Formerly also gabard, gabart, gabert; « F. gabare = It. gabarra, a lighter, a store-ship; hence dim. F. gabarot, ML. gabarotus. Cf. gabata.] A kind of heavy-built vessel, barge, or lighter, intended especially for inland navigation: as, a coalgabbard. [Obsolete or dialectal.] Carumusalini be vessels like vnto ye French Gabards, sailing dayly vpon the riuer of Bordeaux, which saile wi a misen or triangle saile. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 122. Little gabbards with coals and groceries, &c., come up here from Bristol, Dr. T. Campbell, Diary (1775), quoted in N. and Q., [7th ser., IV. 149. I swung and bobbit yonder as safe as a gabbart that's moored by a three-ply cable at the Broomielaw. Scott, Rob Roy, xxxi. gabbatha (gab'a-thä), n. [Heb., platform.] The place where Pilate sat at Christ's trial. It appears to have been a tessellated pavement outside the pretorium or judgment-hall, on which the tribunal was placed, from which the governor pronounced final sen tence. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. John xix. 13. gabbet, v. and n. A Middle English form of gabl gabber1 (gab'èr), n. [< ME. gabbere, a liar, deceiver; gabi + -er1.] 1. One who gabs, prates, talks idly, or lies. He is a japer and a gabber, and no verray [true] repentant, that eftsoone doth thyng for which hym oughte to repente. Chaucer, Parson's Tale. Drouthie fu' aft the gabber spits, 2. A person skilful in the art of burlesque. Franklin, Autobiog. (ed. 1819), p. 57. gabber2 (gab'èr), v. i. and t. [Cf. D. gabberen, gabble; a var. of gabble, freq. of gab1. Cf. equiv. jabber.] To gabble. [Prov. Eng. and Scotch.] gabbingt, n. [ME. gabbynge; verbal n. of gab1, v.] Idle talk; prating; lying; deceit. His wepne was al wiles to wynnen and to hyden; Such gabbyngis may me noght be-gyle. Be ye right syker, when this chelde shalbe borne, I shall well knowe yef ye have made eny gabbynge, and I have very trust in God, that yef it be as ye have seide, ye shall not be deed ther-fore. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), i. 13. gabbling. [Like gabber2 (= D. gabberen), gabgabble (gab'l), v.; pret. and pp. gabbled, ppr. jabble and jabber, and ef. gibber.] I. intrans. ble, freq. of gabi. Cf. the assibilated forms 1. To talk noisily and rapidly; speak incoherently or without sense; prate; jabber. Such a rout, and such a rabble, Run to hear Jack Pudding gabble. Swift. Upon my coming near them, six or eight of them surrounded me on horseback, and began to gabble in their own language. Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 195. gabble 2. To utter inarticulate sounds in rapid suc- Where'er she trod grimalkin purr'd around, 2424 excise duty, especially in continental Europe; The thre estates ordenid that the gabell of salt shulde [Who] lisps and gabbles if he tries to talk. Crabbe, Works, II. 104. II. trans. 1. To utter noisily, rapidly, and incoherently: as, to gabble a lesson. [Colloq.] -2. To affect in some way by gabbling. What do I talk about the gift of tongues?... It was no gift, but the confusion of tongues which has gabbled me deaf as a post. Charlotte Brontë, Shirley, i. gabble (gab'l), n. [< gabble, v.] 1. Loud or Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud Milton, P. L., xii. 56. 2. Inarticulate chattering, as of fowl. gabblement (gab'l-ment), n. [<gabble +-ment.] They rush to the attack... with caperings, shoutings, and vociferation, which, if the Volunteer Company stands "This court's got as good ears as any man," said the magistrate, "but they ain't for to hear no old woman's gabblement, though it's under oath." Chron. of Pineville. gabbler (gab'lėr), n. One who gabbles; a prat er; a noisy, silly, or incoherent talker. gabbling (gab'ling), n. [Verbal n. of gabble, v.] Incoherent babble; jabber. Barbarians, who are in every respect scarce one degree above brutes, having no language among them, but a con- or worn. Addison, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bohn), I. 429. W. K. Sullivan, Int. to O'Curry's Anc. Irish, p. lxxxvi. rance... He flung gabellemen and excisemen into the river Du- or other food. Follow me frae town to town, Ritson's Scottish Songs, I. 166. 2. Short for gaberlunzie-man. I should die at the back of a dike, they'll find as muckle gaberlunyie-man, gaberlunzie-man (gab-ér- She's aff with the gaberlunyie-man. gabbro (gab'rō), n. [A word of obscure origin earth, and serv- a siege, when mak- = A B Part of Trench, with A, Fascines, and B, gabled pickets which form the frame for the gabion. Also called directing circle, form, and sometimes bottom. gabionade, gabionnade (ga"bi-o-nad'), n. [< F. gabionnade, It. gabbionata, intrenchment In fort., a work formed chiefly of gabions, espeof gabions, gabbione, gabion: see gabion.] 1. cially the gabions placed to cover guns from an enfilading fire. Gabionades used as traverses to protect guns from enfilading fire. Sci. Amer., N. S., LVII. 272. 2. Any hydraulic structure composed in whole or part of gabions sunk in a stream to control the current. gabionage (ga'bi-on-aj), n. [< gabion + -age.] The supply or disposition of gabions in a fortification. fort., furnished with, formed of, or protected gabioned (ga'bi-ond), a. [< gabion + -ed2.] In by gabions. = = = The fourth day were planted vnder the gard of the cloister two demy-canons and two coluerings against the towne, defended or gabbioned with a crosse wall, thorow the which our battery lay. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. ii. 140. He told me he had a plan of attacking Cherbourg by floating batteries, strongly parapetted and gabioned, which he was sure would succeed. W. H. Russell, Diary in India, I. 378. gabionnade, n. See gabionade. gable1 (ga'bl), n. [E. dial. also gavel; < ME. gable, gabyl, OF. F. gable, < ML. gabulum, gabalum, a gable, < OHG. gabala, gabal, MHG. gabile, gabel, G. gabel, a fork, MLG. gaffele, geffele D. gaffel (> Icel. gaffall, Sw. Dan. gaffel), a fork, AS. geafl, a fork, E. gaffle, q. V., Ícel. gaf =Sw. gafvel = Dan. gavl, a gable; cf. L. gabalus, a kind of gallows (of Teut. or Celtic origin); prob. all of Celtic origin: Ir. gabhal, a fork, a gable, Gael. gobhal: W. gaf, a fork. Similar in form and sense to the above words, and partly confused with them, although gibel, G. giebel, appar. of different origin, are OHG. gibil, gable, fore part, MHG. gable, = MLG. D. gevel, a gable, Goth. gibla, a pinnacle; words are per- Gable of the South Transept Door of Notre Dame, Paris: 13th century. (From Viol gular expanse of wall from the level of the eaves to the apex: distinguished from a pediment in that the cornice is not carried across the base of the triangle. Thatched were the roofs, with dormer windows; and ga- Over the basement below protected and shaded the door- The houses stand sidewaies backward into their yards, and onely endwaies with their gables towards the street. Fuller, Worthies, Exeter. Mutual gable, in Scots law, a wall separating two houses, and common to both. We constantly speak of a mutual gable, or a gable being mean and common to conterminous proprietors. N. and Q., 7th ser., IV. 66. Stepped gable, a gable in which the outline is formed by a series of steps, called corbel-steps. of gabions is placed on the outside nearest the fortress, and are filled with stones, and sunk or anchored in streams They had neither oares, mastes, sailes, gables, or anything else ready of any gally. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 134. gable-board (gā'bl-bōrd), n. Same as barge gabled (ga'bld), a. [< gable1 + -ed2.] Provided with a gable or gables. [Gabions are] curiosities of small intrinsic value, whether board. Lichfield has not so many gabled houses as Coventry. |