%haum%

n. [ G., lit., sea foam; meer sea + schaum foam; but it perh. is a corruption of the Tartaric name myrsen. Cf. Mere a lake, and Scum. ] 1. (Min.) A fine white claylike mineral, soft, and light enough when in dry masses to float in water. It is a hydrous silicate of magnesia, and is obtained chiefly in Asia Minor. It is manufacturd into tobacco pipes, cigar holders, etc. Also called sepiolite. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A tobacco pipe made of this mineral; a meerschaum pipe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. qay^ma, qay`matos, a wonder + latrei`a worship. ] Worship or undue admiration of wonderful or miraculous things. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The thaumatolatry by which our theology has been debased for more than a century. Hare. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. qay^ma a wonder + tre`pein to turn. ] (Opt.) An optical instrument or toy for showing the persistence of an impression upon the eyes after the luminous object is withdrawn. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It consists of a card having on its opposite faces figures of two different objects, or halves of the same object, as a bird and a cage, which, when the card is whirled rapidly round a diameter by the strings that hold it, appear to the eye combined in a single picture, as of a bird in its cage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See thaumaturgus. ] A magician; a wonder worker. Lowell.
Syn. -- thaumaturgist. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to thaumaturgy; magical; wonderful. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Feats of legerdemain, or magical performances. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who deals in wonders, or believes in them; a wonder worker; a thaumaturge. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

‖n. [ NL., from Gr. qaymatourgo`s wonder-working; qay^ma a wonder + 'e`rgon work. ] A miracle worker; -- a title given by the Roman Catholics to some saints. [ 1913 Webster ]