%mat_e%

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. droma`s running + qhri`on beast. See Dromedary. ] (Paleon.) A small extinct triassic mammal from North Carolina, the earliest yet found in America. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. a"i^ma blood + &unr_; warm.] (Zool.) A warm-blooded animal. [R.] [1913 Webster]

a. (Zool.) Warm-blooded; hematothermal. [ R ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to iatromathematicians or their doctrine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; physician + E. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ W. madfelen. ] (Bot.) The knapweed (Centaurea nigra). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. mathématique, L. mathematicus, Gr. &unr_; disposed to learn, belonging to learning or the sciences, especially to mathematics, fr. &unr_; that which is learned, learning, pl. &unr_; things learned, learning, science, especially mathematical science, fr. &unr_;, &unr_;, to learn; akin to E. mind. See Mind. ] See Mathematical. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Mathematic. ] Of or pertaining to mathematics; according to mathematics; hence, theoretically precise; accurate; as, mathematical geography; mathematical instruments; mathematical exactness. -- Math`e*mat"ic*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Cf. F. mathématicien. ] One versed in mathematics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. mathématiques, pl., L. mathematica, sing., Gr. &unr_; (sc. &unr_;) science. See Mathematic, and -ics. ] That science, or class of sciences, which treats of the exact relations existing between quantities or magnitudes, and of the methods by which, in accordance with these relations, quantities sought are deducible from other quantities known or supposed; the science of spatial and quantitative relations. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Mathematics embraces three departments, namely: 1. Arithmetic. 2. Geometry, including Trigonometry and Conic Sections. 3. Analysis, in which letters are used, including Algebra, Analytical Geometry, and Calculus. Each of these divisions is divided into pure or abstract, which considers magnitude or quantity abstractly, without relation to matter; and mixed or applied, which treats of magnitude as subsisting in material bodies, and is consequently interwoven with physical considerations. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Madder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Perh. corrupted fr. L. anthemis camomile, Gr. &unr_; . ] (Bot.) The mayweed. Cf. Maghet. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, from &unr_;, &unr_;, to learn. ] Learning; especially, mathematics. [ R. ] Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A fat herring with undeveloped roe. [ Written also matty. ] [ Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Matress. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. matte; cf. F. mat, masc., matte, fem., faint, dull, dim; -- said of metals. See Mate checkmate. ] 1. (Metallurgy) A partly reduced copper sulphide, obtained by alternately roasting and melting copper ore in separating the metal from associated iron ores, and called coarse metal, fine metal, etc., according to the grade of fineness. On the exterior it is dark brown or black, but on a fresh surface is yellow or bronzy in color. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A dead or dull finish, as in gilding where the gold leaf is not burnished, or in painting where the surface is purposely deprived of gloss. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a dull, lusterless surface finish; opposed to glossy or polished; as, a matte photograph; a proof coin with matte figures on a polished field. [ PJC ]

a. [ See Matte. ] Having a dull surface; lusterless; unburnished; same as matte; as, matted gold leaf or gilding. [ 1913 Webster ]

Matted glass, glass ornamented with figures on a dull ground. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See 3d Mat. ] 1. Covered with a mat or mats; as, a matted floor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Tangled closely together; having its parts adhering closely together; as, matted hair. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. matere, F. matière, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. Mother, Madeira, Material. ] 1. That of which anything is composed; constituent substance; material; the material or substantial part of anything; the constituent elements of conception; that into which a notion may be analyzed; the essence; the pith; the embodiment. [ 1913 Webster ]

He is the matter of virtue. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That of which the sensible universe and all existent bodies are composed; anything which has extension, occupies space, or is perceptible by the senses; body; substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Matter is usually divided by philosophical writers into three kinds or classes: solid, liquid, and gaseous. Solid substances are those whose parts firmly cohere and resist impression, as wood or stone. Liquids have free motion among their parts, and easily yield to impression, as water and wine. Gaseous substances are elastic fluids, called vapors and gases, as air and oxygen gas. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That with regard to, or about which, anything takes place or is done; the thing aimed at, treated of, or treated; subject of action, discussion, consideration, feeling, complaint, legal action, or the like; theme. “If the matter should be tried by duel.” Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Son of God, Savior of men! Thy name
Shall be the copious matter of my song. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge. Ex. xviii. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That which one has to treat, or with which one has to do; concern; affair; business. [ 1913 Webster ]

To help the matter, the alchemists call in many vanities out of astrology. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some young female seems to have carried matters so far, that she is ripe for asking advice. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Affair worthy of account; thing of consequence; importance; significance; moment; -- chiefly in the phrases what matter? no matter, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

A prophet some, and some a poet, cry;
No matter which, so neither of them lie. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Inducing cause or occasion, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble. [ 1913 Webster ]

And this is the matter why interpreters upon that passage in Hosea will not consent it to be a true story, that the prophet took a harlot to wife. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Amount; quantity; portion; space; -- often indefinite. [ 1913 Webster ]

Away he goes, . . . a matter of seven miles. L' Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have thoughts to tarry a small matter. Congreve. [ 1913 Webster ]

No small matter of British forces were commanded over sea the year before. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or abscess; pus; purulent substance. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Metaph.) That which is permanent, or is supposed to be given, and in or upon which changes are effected by psychological or physical processes and relations; -- opposed to form. Mansel. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Print.) Written manuscript, or anything to be set in type; copy; also, type set up and ready to be used, or which has been used, in printing. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dead matter (Print.), type which has been used, or which is not to be used, in printing, and is ready for distribution. --
Live matter (Print.), type set up, but not yet printed from. --
Matter in bar,
Matter of fact. See under Bar, and Fact. --
Matter of record, anything recorded. --
Upon the matter, or
Upon the whole matter, considering the whole; taking all things into view; all things considered. [ 1913 Webster ]

Waller, with Sir William Balfour, exceeded in horse, but were, upon the whole matter, equal in foot. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Mattered p. pr. & vb. n. Mattering. ] 1. To be of importance; to import; to signify. [ 1913 Webster ]

It matters not how they were called. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate. [ R. ] “Each slight sore mattereth.” Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To regard as important; to take account of; to care for. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He did not matter cold nor hunger. H. Brooke. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A mountain in Italy and Switzerland, 14, 690 feet high. According to WordNet, 14, 780 feet high [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. Not being, or having, matter; as, matterless spirits. Davies (Wit's Pilgr.). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unimportant; immaterial. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Adhering to facts; not turning aside from absolute realities; not fanciful or imaginative; commonplace; dry. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Generating or containing pus; purulent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Full of substance or matter; important. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A small genus sometimes included in genus Onoclea; in some classifications both genera are placed in Polypodiaceae.
Syn. -- genus Matteuccia, Pteretis, genus Pteretis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Bot.) A name of several maritime grasses, as the sea sand-reed (Ammophila arundinacea) which is used in Holland to bind the sand of the seacoast dikes (see Beach grass, under Beach); also, the Lygeum Spartum, a Mediterranean grass of similar habit. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖‖, prop. n. pl. [ NL. See Nemato-, and Helminthes. ] (Zool.) An order of helminths, including the Nematoidea and Gordiacea; the roundworms. [ Written also Nematelminthea. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Nemathecia [ NL., fr. Gr. nh^ma a thread + &unr_; a box. ] (Bot.) A peculiar kind of fructification on certain red algae, consisting of an external mass of filaments at length separating into tetraspores. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A philomath. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Physico- + mathematics. ] Mixed mathematics. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ OE. smateren to make a noise; cf. Sw. smattra to clatter, to crackle, G. schmettern to dash, crash, to warble, quaver. ] 1. To talk superficially or ignorantly; to babble; to chatter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Of state affairs you can not smatter. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have a slight taste, or a slight, superficial knowledge, of anything; to smack. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To talk superficially about. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To gain a slight taste of; to acquire a slight, superficial knowledge of; to smack. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Superficial knowledge; a smattering. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who has only a slight, superficial knowledge; a sciolist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A slight, superficial knowledge of something; sciolism. [ 1913 Webster ]

I had a great desire, not able to attain to a superficial skill in any, to have some smattering in all. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Spermathecae [ NL., from Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; seed + &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; case, or receptacle. ] (Zool.) A small sac connected with the female reproductive organs of insects and many other invertebrates, serving to receive and retain the spermatozoa. [ 1913 Webster ]