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M (&ebreve;m). 1. M, the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant, and from the manner of its formation, is called the labio-nasal consonant. See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 178-180, 242.

The letter M came into English from the Greek, through the Latin, the form of the Greek letter being further derived from the Phœnician, and ultimately, it is believed, from the Egyptian. Etymologically M is related to n, in lime, linden; emmet, ant; also to b.

M is readily followed by b and p. the position of the lips in the formation of both letters being the same. The relation of b and m is the same as that of d and t to n. and that of g and k to ng.

2. As a numeral, M stands for one thousand, both in English and Latin.

M, n. 1. (Print.) A quadrat, the face or top of which is a perfect square; also, the size of such a square in any given size of type, used as the unit of measurement for that type: 500 m's of pica would be a piece of matter whose length and breadth in pica m's multiplied together produce that number. [Written also em.]

2. (law) A brand or stigma, having the shape of an M, formerly impressed on one convicted of manslaughter and admitted to the benefit of clergy.

M roof (Arch.), a kind of roof formed by the junction of two common roofs with a valley between them, so that the section resembles the letter M.

Ma (mä), n. [Cf. Mamma.] 1. A child's word for mother.

2. [Hind.] In Oriental countries, a respectful form of address given to a woman; mother. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

||Ma, conj. [It.] (Mus.) But; — used in cautionary phrases; as, "Vivace, ma non troppo presto" (i. e., lively, but not too quick). Moore (Encyc. of Music).

Maa (?), n. [See New a gull.] (Zoöl.) The common European gull (Larus canus); — called also mar. See New, a gull.

Maad (?), obs. p. p. of Make. Made. Chaucer.

Maa"lin (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) The sparrow hawk. (b) The kestrel.

Ma'am (?), n. Madam; my lady; — a colloquial contraction of madam often used in direct address, and sometimes as an appellation.

Ma"a*ra shell` (?). (Zoöl.) A large, pearly, spiral, marine shell (Turbo margaritaceus), from the Pacific Islands. It is used as an ornament.

||Ma*ash"a (?), n. An East Indian coin, of about one tenth of the weight of a rupee.

Maat (?), a. [See Mate, a.] Dejected; sorrowful; downcast. [Obs.] "So piteous and so maat." Chaucer.

Mab (măb), n. [Cf. W. mad a male child, a boy.]

1. A slattern. [Prov. Eng.]

2. The name of a female fairy, esp. the queen of the fairies; and hence, sometimes, any fairy. Shak.

Mab"ble (?), v. t. To wrap up. [Obs.]

Mab"by (?), n. A spirituous liquor or drink distilled from potatoes; — used in the Barbadoes.

||Ma*bo"lo (?), n. (Bot.) A kind of persimmon tree (Diospyros discolor) from the Philippine Islands, now introduced into the East and West Indies. It bears an edible fruit as large as a quince.

Mac (?). [Gael., son.] A prefix, in names of Scotch origin, signifying son.

||Ma*ca"co (?), n. [Cf. Pg. macaco.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of lemurs, as the ruffed lemur (Lemur macaco), and the ring- tailed lemur (L. catta).

||Ma*ca"cus (?), n. [NL., a word of African origin. Cf. Macaco, Macaque.] (Zoöl.) A genus of monkeys, found in Asia and the East Indies. They have short tails and prominent eyebrows.

Mac*ad`am*i*za"tion (?), n. The process or act of macadamizing.

Mac*ad"am*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Macadamized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Macadamizing.] [From John Loudon McAdam, who introduced the process into Great Britain in 1816.] To cover, as a road, or street, with small, broken stones, so as to form a smooth, hard, convex surface.

Mac*ad"am road` (?). [See Macadamize.] A macadamized road.

Ma*ca"o (?), n. (Zoöl.) A macaw.

||Ma`caque" (?), n. [F. See Macacus.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of short-tailed monkeys of the genus Macacus; as, M. maurus, the moor macaque of the East Indies.

Mac`a*ran"ga gum` (?). A gum of a crimson color, obtained from a tree (Macaranga Indica) that grows in the East Indies. It is used in taking impressions of coins, medallions, etc., and sometimes as a medicine. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

Mac"a*rize, v. t. [Gr. &?; to bless.] To congratulate. [Oxford Univ. Cant] Whately.

Mac`a*ro"ni (?), n.; pl. Macaronis (#), or Macaronies. [Prov. It. macaroni, It. maccheroni, fr. Gr. &?; happiness, later, a funeral feast, fr. &?; blessed, happy. Prob. so called because eaten at such feasts in honor of the dead; cf. Gr. &?; blessed, i. e., dead. Cf. Macaroon.] 1. Long slender tubes made of a paste chiefly of wheat flour, and used as an article of food; Italian or Genoese paste.

&fist; A paste similarly prepared is largely used as food in Persia, India, and China, but is not commonly made tubular like the Italian macaroni. Balfour (Cyc. of India).

2. A medley; something droll or extravagant.

3. A sort of droll or fool. [Obs.] Addison.

4. A finical person; a fop; — applied especially to English fops of about 1775. Goldsmith.

5. pl. (U. S. Hist.) The designation of a body of Maryland soldiers in the Revolutionary War, distinguished by a rich uniform. W. Irving.

{ Mac`a*ro"ni*an (?), Mac`a*ron"ic (?), } a. [Cf. It. maccheronico, F. macaronique.] 1. Pertaining to, or like, macaroni (originally a dish of mixed food); hence, mixed; confused; jumbled.

2. Of or pertaining to the burlesque composition called macaronic; as, macaronic poetry.

Mac`a*ron"ic (?), n. 1. A heap of thing confusedly mixed together; a jumble.

2. A kind of burlesque composition, in which the vernacular words of one or more modern languages are intermixed with genuine Latin words, and with hybrid formed by adding Latin terminations to other roots.

Mac`a*roon" (?), n. [F. macaron, It. maccherone. See Macaroni.] 1. A small cake, composed chiefly of the white of eggs, almonds, and sugar.

2. A finical fellow, or macaroni. [Obs.]

Ma*cart"ney (?), n. [From Lord Macartney.] (Zoöl.) A fire-backed pheasant. See Fireback.

Ma*cas`sar oil" (?). A kind of oil formerly used in dressing the hair; — so called because originally obtained from Macassar, a district of the Island of Celebes. Also, an imitation of the same, of perfumed castor oil and olive oil.

||Ma*cau"co (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of small lemurs, as Lemur murinus, which resembles a rat in size.

||Ma`ca*va"hu (?), n. (Zoöl.) A small Brazilian monkey (Callithrix torquatus), — called also collared teetee.

Ma*caw" (?), n. [From the native name in the Antilles.] (Zoöl.) Any parrot of the genus Sittace, or Macrocercus. About eighteen species are known, all of them American. They are large and have a very long tail, a strong hooked bill, and a naked space around the eyes. The voice is harsh, and the colors are brilliant and strongly contrasted.

Macaw bush (Bot.), a West Indian name for a prickly kind of nightshade (Solanum mammosum). — Macaw palm, Macaw tree (Bot.), a tropical American palm (Acrocomia fusiformis and other species) having a prickly stem and pinnately divided leaves. Its nut yields a yellow butter, with the perfume of violets, which is used in making violet soap. Called also grugru palm.

Mac`ca*be"an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Judas Maccabeus or to the Maccabees; as, the Maccabean princes; Maccabean times.

Mac"ca*bees (?), n. pl. 1. The name given in later times to the Asmonæans, a family of Jewish patriots, who headed a religious revolt in the reign of Antiochus IV., 168-161 B. C., which led to a period of freedom for Israel. Schaff-Herzog.

2. The name of two ancient historical books, which give accounts of Jewish affairs in or about the time of the Maccabean princes, and which are received as canonical books in the Roman Catholic Church, but are included in the Apocrypha by Protestants. Also applied to three books, two of which are found in some MSS. of the Septuagint.

{ Mac"ca*boy (?), Mac"co*boy (?), } n. [From a district in the Island of Martinique where it is made: cf. F. macouba.] A kind of snuff.

Mac"co (?), n. A gambling game in vogue in the eighteenth century. Thackeray.

Mace (?), n. [Jav. & Malay. mās, fr. Skr. māsha a bean.] A money of account in China equal to one tenth of a tael; also, a weight of 57.98 grains. S. W. Williams.

Mace (?), n. [F. macis, L. macis, macir, Gr. &?;; cf. Skr. makaranda the nectar or honey of a flower, a fragrant mango.] (Bot.) A kind of spice; the aril which partly covers nutmegs. See Nutmeg.

&fist; Red mace is the aril of Myristica tingens, and white mace that of M. Otoba, — East Indian trees of the same genus with the nutmeg tree.

Mace, n. [OF. mace, F. masse, from (assumed) L. matea, of which the dim. mateola a kind of mallet or beetle, is found.] 1. A heavy staff or club of metal; a spiked club; — used as weapon in war before the general use of firearms, especially in the Middle Ages, for breaking metal armor. Chaucer.

Death with his mace petrific . . . smote.

Milton.

2. Hence: A staff borne by, or carried before, a magistrate as an ensign of his authority. "Swayed the royal mace." Wordsworth.

3. An officer who carries a mace as an emblem of authority. Macaulay.

4. A knobbed mallet used by curriers in dressing leather to make it supple.

5. (Billiards) A rod for playing billiards, having one end suited to resting on the table and pushed with one hand.

Mace bearer, an officer who carries a mace before persons in authority.

Mac`e*do"ni*an (?), a. [L. Macedonius, Gr. &?;.] (Geog.) Belonging, or relating, to Macedonia. — n. A native or inhabitant of Macedonia.

Mac`e*do"ni*an, n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a certain religious sect, followers of Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople, in the fourth century, who held that the Holy Ghost was a creature, like the angels, and a servant of the Father and the Son.

Mac`e*do"ni*an*ism (?), n. The doctrines of Macedonius.

Ma"cer (?), n. [F. massier. See Mace staff.] A mace bearer; an officer of a court. P. Plowman.

Mac"er*ate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Macerated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Macerating.] [L. maceratus, p. p. of macerare to make soft, weaken, enervate; cf. Gr. &?; to knead.] 1. To make lean; to cause to waste away. [Obs. or R.] Harvey.

2. To subdue the appetites of by poor and scanty diet; to mortify. Baker.

3. To soften by steeping in a liquid, with or without heat; to wear away or separate the parts of by steeping; as, to macerate animal or vegetable fiber.

Mac"er*a`ter (?), n. One who, or that which, macerates; an apparatus for converting paper or fibrous matter into pulp.

Mac`er*a"tion (?), n. [L. maceratio: cf. F. macération.] The act or process of macerating.

{ ||Ma*chæ"ro*dus (m&adot;*kē"r&osl;*dŭs), ||Ma*chai"ro*dus (m&adot;*kī"r&osl;*dŭs), } n. [NL., fr. Gr. ma`chaira dagger + 'odoy`s tooth.] (Paleon.) A genus of extinct mammals allied to the cats, and having in the upper jaw canine teeth of remarkable size and strength; — hence called saber-toothed tigers.

||Ma*che"te (m&adot;*chā"t&asl;), n. [Sp.] A large heavy knife resembling a broadsword, often two or three feet in length, — used by the inhabitants of Spanish America as a hatchet to cut their way through thickets, and for various other purposes. J. Stevens.

Mach`i*a*vel"ian (?), a. [From Machiavel, an Italian writer, secretary and historiographer to the republic of Florence.] Of or pertaining to Machiavel, or to his supposed principles; politically cunning; characterized by duplicity or bad faith; crafty.

Mach`i*a*vel"ian, n. One who adopts the principles of Machiavel; a cunning and unprincipled politician.

{ Mach"i*a*vel*ism (?), Mach`i*a*vel"ian*ism (?), } n. [Cf. F. machiavélisme; It. machiavellismo.] The supposed principles of Machiavel, or practice in conformity to them; political artifice, intended to favor arbitrary power.

Ma*chic"o*la`ted (?), a. [LL. machicolatus, p. p. of machicolare, machicollare. See Machicolation.] Having machicolations. "Machicolated turrets." C. Kingsley.

Mach`i*co*la"tion (?), n. [Cf. LL. machicolamentum, machacolladura, F. mâchicolis, mâchecoulis; perh. fr. F. mèche match, combustible matter + OF. coulis, couleis, flowing, fr. OF. & F. couler to flow. Cf. Match for making fire, and Cullis.]

1. (Mil. Arch.) An opening between the corbels which support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, for shooting or dropping missiles upon assailants attacking the base of the walls. Also, the construction of such defenses, in general, when of this character. See Illusts. of Battlement and Castle.

2. The act of discharging missiles or pouring burning or melted substances upon assailants through such apertures.

||Ma`chi`cou`lis" (?), n. [F. mâchicoulis.] (Mil. Arch.) Same as Machicolation.

Ma*chin"al (?), a. [L. machinalis: cf. F. machinal.] Of or pertaining to machines.

Mach"i*nate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Machinated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Machinating (?).] [L. machinatus, p. p. of machinari to devise, plot. See Machine.] To plan; to contrive; esp., to form a scheme with the purpose of doing harm; to contrive artfully; to plot. "How long will you machinate!" Sandys.

Mach"i*nate (?), v. t. To contrive, as a plot; to plot; as, to machinate evil.

Mach`i*na"tion (?), n. [L. machinatio: cf. F. machination.] 1. The act of machinating. Shak.

2. That which is devised; a device; a hostile or treacherous scheme; an artful design or plot.

Devilish machinations come to naught.

Milton.

His ingenious machinations had failed.

Macaulay.

Mach"i*na`tor (?), n. [L.] One who machinates, or forms a scheme with evil designs; a plotter or artful schemer. Glanvill. Sir W. Scott.

Ma*chine" (m&adot;*shēn"), n. [F., fr. L. machina machine, engine, device, trick, Gr. &?;, from &?; means, expedient. Cf. Mechanic.] 1. In general, any combination of bodies so connected that their relative motions are constrained, and by means of which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion from a prime mover or from another machine, and transmit, modify, and apply them to the production of some desired mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom, or the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine.

&fist; The term machine is most commonly applied to such pieces of mechanism as are used in the industrial arts, for mechanically shaping, dressing, and combining materials for various purposes, as in the manufacture of cloth, etc. Where the effect is chemical, or other than mechanical, the contrivance is usually denominated an apparatus, not a machine; as, a bleaching apparatus. Many large, powerful, or specially important pieces of mechanism are called engines; as, a steam engine, fire engine, graduating engine, etc. Although there is no well-settled distinction between the terms engine and machine among practical men, there is a tendency to restrict the application of the former to contrivances in which the operating part is not distinct from the motor.

2. Any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle. Dryden. Southey. Thackeray.

3. A person who acts mechanically or at the will of another.

4. A combination of persons acting together for a common purpose, with the agencies which they use; as, the social machine.

The whole machine of government ought not to bear upon the people with a weight so heavy and oppressive.

Landor.

5. A political organization arranged and controlled by one or more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends. [Political Cant]

6. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit. Addison.

Elementary machine, a name sometimes given to one of the simple mechanical powers. See under Mechanical. — Infernal machine. See under Infernal. — Machine gun.See under Gun. — Machine screw, a screw or bolt adapted for screwing into metal, in distinction from one which is designed especially to be screwed into wood. — Machine shop, a workshop where machines are made, or where metal is shaped by cutting, filing, turning, etc. — Machine tool, a machine for cutting or shaping wood, metal, etc., by means of a tool; especially, a machine, as a lathe, planer, drilling machine, etc., designed for a more or less general use in a machine shop, in distinction from a machine for producing a special article as in manufacturing. — Machine twist , silken thread especially adapted for use in a sewing machine. — Machine work, work done by a machine, in contradistinction to that done by hand labor.

Ma*chine", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Machined (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Machining.] To subject to the action of machinery; to effect by aid of machinery; to print with a printing machine.

Ma*chin"er (?), n. One who or operates a machine; a machinist. [R.]

Ma*chin"er*y (?), n. [From Machine: cf. F. machinerie.] 1. Machines, in general, or collectively.

2. The working parts of a machine, engine, or instrument; as, the machinery of a watch.

3. The supernatural means by which the action of a poetic or fictitious work is carried on and brought to a catastrophe; in an extended sense, the contrivances by which the crises and conclusion of a fictitious narrative, in prose or verse, are effected.

The machinery, madam, is a term invented by the critics, to signify that part which the deities, angels, or demons, are made to act in a poem.

Pope.

4. The means and appliances by which anything is kept in action or a desired result is obtained; a complex system of parts adapted to a purpose.

An indispensable part of the machinery of state.

Macaulay.

The delicate inflexional machinery of the Aryan languages.

I. Taylor (The Alphabet).

Ma*chin"ing, a. Of or pertaining to the machinery of a poem; acting or used as a machine. [Obs.] Dryden.

Ma*chin"ist, n. [Cf. F. machiniste.] 1. A constrictor of machines and engines; one versed in the principles of machines.

2. One skilled in the use of machine tools.

3. A person employed to shift scenery in a theater.

Ma"cho (?), n. [Sp.] (Zoöl.) The striped mullet of California (Mugil cephalus, or Mexicanus).

Mac"i*len*cy (?), n. [See Macilent.] Leanness. [Obs.] Sandys.

Mac"i*lent (?), a. [L. macilentus, fr. macies leanness, macere to be lean.] Lean; thin. [Obs.] Bailey.

Mac"in*tosh (?), n. Same as Mackintosh.

Mack"er*el (?), n. [OF. maquerel, F. maquereau, fr. D. makelaar mediator, agent, fr. makelen to act as agent.] A pimp; also, a bawd. [Obs.] Halliwell.

Mack`er*el (?), n. [OF. maquerel, F. maquereau (LL. macarellus), prob. for maclereau, fr. L. macula a spot, in allusion to the markings on the fish. See Mail armor.] (Zoöl.) Any species of the genus Scomber, and of several related genera. They are finely formed and very active oceanic fishes. Most of them are highly prized for food.

&fist; The common mackerel (Scomber scombrus), which inhabits both sides of t

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The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary Section M, N, and O

Noah Webster