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n. [ NL. baccalaureatus, fr. LL. baccalaureus a bachelor of arts, fr. baccalarius, but as if fr. L. bacca lauri bayberry, from the practice of the bachelor's wearing a garland of bayberries. See Bachelor. ] 1. The degree of bachelor of arts (B.A. or A.B.), the first or lowest academical degree conferred by universities and colleges. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A baccalaureate sermon. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to a bachelor of arts. [ 1913 Webster ]

Baccalaureate sermon, in some American colleges, a sermon delivered as a farewell discourse to a graduating class. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. E. Bureaus F. Bureaux [ F. bureau a writing table, desk, office, OF., drugget, with which a writing table was often covered, equiv. to F. bure, and fr. OF. buire dark brown, the stuff being named from its color, fr. L. burrus red, fr. Gr. &unr_; flame-colored, prob. fr. &unr_; fire. See Fire, n., and cf. Borel, n. ] 1. Originally, a desk or writing table with drawers for papers. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The place where such a bureau is used; an office where business requiring writing is transacted. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence: A department of public business requiring a force of clerks; the body of officials in a department who labor under the direction of a chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ On the continent of Europe, the highest departments, in most countries, have the name of bureaux; as, the Bureau of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In England and America, the term is confined to inferior and subordinate departments; as, the “Pension Bureau, ” a subdepartment of the Department of the Interior. [ Obs. ] In Spanish, bureo denotes a court of justice for the trial of persons belonging to the king's household. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A chest of drawers for clothes, especially when made as an ornamental piece of furniture. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Bureau system. See Bureaucracy. --
Bureau Veritas, an institution, in the interest of maritime underwriters, for the survey and rating of vessels all over the world. It was founded in Belgium in 1828, removed to Paris in 1830, and reëstablished in Brussels in 1870. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bureau + Gr. &unr_; to be strong, to govern, &unr_; strength: cf. F. bureaucratie. ] 1. A system of carrying on the business of government by means of departments or bureaus, each under the control of a chief, in contradiction to a system in which the officers of government have an associated authority and responsibility; also, government conducted on this system. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Government officials, collectively; -- used especially of nonelected government officials. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. An official of a bureau; esp. an official confirmed in a narrow and arbitrary routine. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the formal and often obscure style of writing characteristic of some government officials; officialese; -- it is characterized by euphemisms, circumlocutions, vague abstractions, and circumlocutions. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

{ } a. [ Cf. F. bureaucratique. ] Of, relating to, or resembling, a bureaucracy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. nonelective government officials; same as bureaucracy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. An advocate for, or supporter of, bureaucracy. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n. [ NL. See Centaury. ] (Bot.) A large genus of composite plants, related to the thistles and including the cornflower or bluebottle (Centaurea Cyanus) and the star thistle (Centaurea Calcitrapa). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A remedy for all diseases, or for all ills; a panacea. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Epicureus, Gr. &unr_;: cf. épicurien. ] 1. Pertaining to Epicurus, or following his philosophy. “The sect Epicurean.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Given to luxury; adapted to luxurious tastes; luxurious; pertaining to good eating. [ 1913 Webster ]

Courses of the most refined and epicurean dishes. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

Epicurean philosophy. See Atomic philosophy, under Atomic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A follower or Epicurus. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One given to epicurean indulgence. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Attachment to the doctrines of Epicurus; the principles or belief of Epicurus. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. laureatus, fr. laurea laurel tree, fr. laureus of laurel, fr. laurus laurel: cf. F. lauréat. Cf. Laurel. ] Crowned, or decked, with laurel. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Soft on her lap her laureate son reclines. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Poet laureate. (b) One who received an honorable degree in grammar, including poetry and rhetoric, at the English universities; -- so called as being presented with a wreath of laurel. [ Obs. ] (b) Formerly, an officer of the king's household, whose business was to compose an ode annually for the king's birthday, and other suitable occasions; now, a poet officially distinguished by such honorary title, the office being a sinecure. It is said this title was first given in the time of Edward IV. [ Eng. ] (c) A poet who has been publicly recognized as the most pre-eminent poet of a country or region; as, the poet laureate of the United States. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. 1. One crowned with laurel; a poet laureate. “A learned laureate.” Cleveland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person who has been presented with an award for some distinguished achievement; as, a Nobel laureate; the Pris de Rome laureate; the Music Director Laureate; the conductor laureate. [ PJC ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Laureated p. pr. & vb. n. Laureating ] To honor with a wreath of laurel, as formerly was done in bestowing a degree at the English universities. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State, or office, of a laureate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. lauréation. ] The act of crowning with laurel; the act of conferring an academic degree, or honorary title. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. Named from William Maclure, the geologist. ] (Paleon.) A genus of spiral gastropod shells, often of large size, characteristic of the lower Silurian rocks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A white crystalline acid derived from pyrimidine; it is used in preparing barbiturate drugs.
Syn. -- barbituric acid. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of a purple color; purple. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ NL. See Urine. ] (Physiol. Chem.) A very soluble crystalline body which is the chief constituent of the urine in mammals and some other animals. It is also present in small quantity in blood, serous fluids, lymph, the liver, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It is the main product of the regressive metamorphosis (katabolism) of proteid matter in the body, and is excreted daily to the amount of about 500 grains by a man of average weight. Chemically it is carbamide, CO(NH2)2, and when heated with strong acids or alkalies is decomposed into carbonic acid and ammonia. It unites with acids to form salts, as nitrate of urea, and it can be made synthetically from ammonium cyanate, with which it is isomeric. [ 1913 Webster ]

Urea ferment, a soluble ferment formed by certain bacteria, which, however, yield the ferment from the body of their cells only after they have been killed by alcohol. It causes urea to take up water and decompose into carbonic acid and ammonia. Many different bacteria possess this property, especially Bacterium ureae and Micrococcus ureae, which are found abundantly in urines undergoing alkaline fermentation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to urea; containing, or consisting of, urea; as, ureal deposits. [ 1913 Webster ]