INSANITY.

Of these terms insanity is the most exact and comprehensive, including in its widest sense all morbid conditions of mind due to diseased action of the brain or nervous system, but in its more frequent restricted use applied to those forms in which the mental disorder is persistent, as distinguished from those in which it is temporary or transient. Craziness is a vague popular term for any sort of disordered mental action, or for conduct suggesting it. Lunacy originally denoted intermittent insanity, supposed to be dependent on the changes of the moon (L. luna): the term is now applied in general and legal use to any form of mental unsoundness except idiocy. Madness is the old popular term, now less common, for insanity in its widest sense, but with suggestion of excitement, akin to mania. In the derived sense, lunacy denotes what is insanely foolish, madness what is insanely desperate. Derangement is a common euphemism for insanity. Delirium is always temporary, and is specifically the insanity of disease, as in acute fevers. Dementia is a general weakening of the mental[222] powers: the word is specifically applied to senile insanity, dotage. Aberration is eccentricity of mental action due to an abnormal state of the perceptive faculties, and is manifested by error in perceptions and rambling thought. Hallucination is the apparent perception of that which does not exist or is not present to the senses, as the seeing of specters or of reptiles in delirium tremens. Monomania is mental derangement as to one subject or object. Frenzy and mania are forms of raving and furious insanity. Compare synonyms for DELUSION; IDIOCY.

Antonyms:

INTERPOSE.

[223]

INVOLVE.

Synonyms:

To involve (L. in, in, and volvo, roll) is to roll or wind up with or in so as to combine inextricably or inseparably, or nearly so; as, the nation is involved in war; the bookkeeper's accounts, or the writer's sentences are involved. Involve is a stronger word than implicate, denoting more complete entanglement. As applied to persons, implicate is always used in an unfavorable sense, and involve ordinarily so; but implicate applies only to that which is wrong, while involve is more commonly used of that which is unfortunate; one is implicated in a crime, involved in embarrassments, misfortunes, or perplexities. As regards logical connection that which is included is usually expressly stated; that which is implied is not stated, but is naturally to be inferred; that which is involved is necessarily to be inferred; as, a slate roof is included in the contract; that the roof shall be water-tight is implied; the contrary supposition involves an absurdity. See COMPLEX.

Antonyms:

JOURNEY.

A journey (F. journée, from L. diurnus, daily) was primarily a day's work; hence, a movement from place to place within one day, which we now describe as "a day's journey;" in its extended modern use a journey is a direct going from a starting-point to a destination, ordinarily over a considerable distance; we speak of a day's journey, or the journey of life. Travel is a passing from place to place, not necessarily in a direct line or with fixed destination; a journey through Europe would be a passage to some destination beyond or at the farther boundary; travel in Europe may be in no direct course, but may include many journeys in different directions. A voyage, which was formerly a journey of any kind, is now a going to a considerable distance by water, especially by sea; as, a voyage to India. A trip is a short and direct journey. A tour is a journey that returns to the starting-point, generally over a considerable distance; as, a bridal[224] tour, or business tour. An excursion is a brief tour or journey, taken for pleasure, often by many persons at once; as, an excursion to Chautauqua. Passage is a general word for a journey by any conveyance, especially by water; as, a rough passage across the Atlantic; transit, literally the act of passing over or through, is used specifically of the conveyance of passengers or merchandise; rapid transit is demanded for suburban residents or perishable goods. Pilgrimage, once always of a sacred character, retains in derived uses something of that sense; as, a pilgrimage to Stratford-on-Avon.

Prepositions:

A journey from Naples to Rome; through Mexico; across the continent; over the sea; a journey into Asia; among savages; by land, by rail, for health, on foot, on the cars, etc.

JUDGE.

[225]

JUSTICE.

In its governmental relations, human or divine, justice is the giving to every person exactly what he deserves, not necessarily involving any consideration of what any other may deserve; equity (the quality of being equal) is giving every one as much advantage, privilege, or consideration as is given to any other; it is that which is equally right or just to all concerned; equity is equal justice and is thus a close synonym for fairness and impartiality, but it has a philosophical and legal precision that those words have not. In legal proceedings cases arise for which the law has not adequately provided, or in which general provisions, just in the main, would work individual hardship. The system of equity, devised to supply the insufficiencies of law, deals with cases "to which the law by reason of its universality can not apply." "Equity, then, ... is the soul and spirit of all law; positive law is construed and rational law is made by it." Blackstone bk. iii, ch. 27, p. 429. In personal and social relations justice is the rendering to every one what is due or merited, whether in act, word, or thought; in matters of reasoning, or literary work of any kind, justice is close, faithful, unprejudiced, and unbiased adherence to essential truth or fact; we speak of the justice of a statement, or of doing justice to a subject. Integrity, rectitude, right, righteousness and virtue denote conformity of personal conduct to the moral law, and thus necessarily include justice, which is giving others that which is their due. Lawfulness is an ambiguous word, meaning in its narrower sense mere legality, which may be very far from justice, but in its higher sense signifying accordance with the supreme law of right, and thus including perfect justice. Justness refers rather to logical relations than to practical matters; as, we speak of the justness of a statement or of a criticism. See JUDGE, n.

Antonyms:

Prepositions:

The justice of the king; to or for the oppressed.

[226]

KEEP.

Keep, signifying generally to have and retain in possession, is the terse, strong Saxon term for many acts which are more exactly discriminated by other words. We keep, observe, or celebrate a festival; we keep or hold a prisoner in custody; we keep or preserve silence, keep the peace, preserve order—preserve being the more formal word; we keep or maintain a horse, a servant, etc.; a man supports his family; we keep or obey a commandment; keep or fulfil a promise. In the expressions to keep a secret, keep one's own counsel, keep faith, or keep the faith, such words as preserve or maintain could not be substituted without loss. A person keeps a shop or store, conducts or carries on a business; he keeps or carries a certain line of goods; we may keep or restrain one from folly, crime, or violence; we keep from or refrain from evil, ourselves. Keep in the sense of guard or defend implies that the defense is effectual. Compare CELEBRATE; RESTRAIN.

Prepositions:

Keep in hand, in mind, in or within the house; from evil; out of mischief; keep to the subject; keep for a person, an occasion, etc.

KILL.

To kill is simply to deprive of life, human, animal, or vegetable, with no suggestion of how or why. Assassinate, execute, murder, apply only to the taking of human life; to murder is to kill with premeditation and malicious intent; to execute is to kill in fulfilment of a legal sentence; to assassinate is to kill by assault; this word is chiefly applied to the killing of public or eminent persons through alleged political motives, whether secretly or openly. To slay is to kill by a blow, or by a weapon. Butcher and slaughter apply primarily to the killing of cattle; massacre is applied primarily and almost exclusively to human beings, signifying to kill them indiscriminately in large numbers; to massacre is said when there is no chance of successful resistance; to butcher when the killing is especially brutal; soldiers mown down in a[227] hopeless charge are said to be slaughtered when no brutality on the enemy's part is implied. To despatch is to kill swiftly and in general quietly, always with intention, with or without right.

Prepositions:

To kill with or by sword, famine, pestilence, care, grief, etc.; killed for his money, by a robber, with a dagger.

KIN.

Synonyms:

Kind is broader than kin, denoting the most general relationship, as of the whole human species in mankind, humankind, etc.; kin and kindred denote direct relationship that can be traced through either blood or marriage, preferably the former; either of these words may signify collectively all persons of the same blood or members of the same family, relatives or relations. Affinity is relationship by marriage, consanguinity is relationship by blood. There are no true antonyms of kin or kindred, except those made by negatives, since strangers, aliens, foreigners, and foes may still be kin or kindred.

KNOWLEDGE.

Knowledge is all that the mind knows, from whatever source derived or obtained, or by whatever process; the aggregate of facts, truths, or principles acquired or retained by the mind, including alike the intuitions native to the mind and all that has been learned respecting phenomena, causes, laws, principles, literature, etc. There is a tendency to regard knowledge as accurate and systematic, and to a certain degree complete. Information is knowledge of fact, real or supposed, derived from persons, books, or observation, and is regarded as casual and haphazard. We say of a studious man that he has a great store of knowledge, or of an intelligent man of the world, that he has a fund of varied information. Lore is used only in poetic or elevated style, for accumulated knowledge, as of a people or age, or in a more limited sense for learning or erudition. We speak of perception of external[228] objects, apprehension of intellectual truth. Simple perception gives a limited knowledge of external objects, merely as such; the cognition of the same objects is a knowledge of them in some relation; cognizance is the formal or official recognition of something as an object of knowledge; we take cognizance of it. Intuition is primary knowledge antecedent to all teaching or reasoning, experience is knowledge that has entered directly into one's own life; as, a child's experience that fire will burn. Learning is much higher than information, being preeminently wide and systematic knowledge, the result of long, assiduous study; erudition is recondite learning secured only by extraordinary industry, opportunity, and ability. Compare ACQUAINTANCE; EDUCATION; SCIENCE; WISDOM.

Antonyms:

LANGUAGE.

Language (F. langage < L. lingua, the tongue) signified originally expression of thought by spoken words, but now in its widest sense it signifies expression of thought by any means; as, the language of the eyes, the language of flowers. As regards the use of words, language in its broadest sense denotes all the uttered sounds and their combinations into words and sentences that human beings employ for the communication of thought, and, in a more limited sense, the words or combinations forming a means of communication among the members of a single nation, people, or race. Speech involves always the power of articulate utterance; we can speak of the language of animals, but not of their speech. A tongue is the speech or language of some one people, country, or race. A dialect is a special mode of speaking a language peculiar to some locality or class, not recognized as in accordance with the best usage; a barbarism is a perversion of a language by ignorant foreigners, or some usage akin to that. Idiom refers to the construction of phrases and sentences, and the way of forming or using words; it is the peculiar mold in which each language casts its thought. The great difficulty of translation is to give the thought expressed in one language in the idiom of another. A dialect may be used by the highest as well as the[229] lowest within its range; a patois is distinctly illiterate, belonging to the lower classes; those who speak a patois understand the cultured form of their own language, but speak only the degraded form, as in the case of the Italian lazzaroni or the former negro slaves in the United States. Vernacular, from the Latin, has the same general sense as the Saxon mother tongue, of one's native language, or that of a people; as, the Scriptures were translated into the vernacular. Compare DICTION.

LARGE.

LAW.

Law, in its ideal, is the statement of a principle of right in mandatory form, by competent authority, with adequate penalty for disobedience; in common use, the term is applied to any legislative act, however imperfect or unjust. Command and commandment are personal and particular; as, the commands of a parent; the ten commandments. An edict is the act of an absolute sovereign or other authority; we speak of the edict of an emperor, the decree of a court. A mandate is specific, for an occasion or a purpose; a superior court issues its mandate to an inferior court[230] to send up its records. Statute is the recognized legal term for a specific law; enactment is the more vague and general expression. We speak of algebraic or chemical formulas, municipal ordinances, military orders, army regulations, ecclesiastical canons, the rules of a business house. Law is often used, also, for a recognized principle, whose violation is attended with injury or loss that acts like a penalty; as, the laws of business; the laws of nature. In more strictly scientific use, a natural law is simply a recognized system of sequences or relations; as, Kepler's laws of planetary distances. A code is a system of laws; jurisprudence is the science of law, or a system of laws scientifically considered, classed, and interpreted; legislation, primarily the act of legislating, denotes also the body of statutes enacted by a legislative body. An economy (Gr. oikonomia, primarily the management of a house) is any comprehensive system of administration; as, domestic economy; but the word is extended to the administration or government of a state or people, signifying a body of laws and regulations, with the entire system, political or religious, especially the latter, of which they form a part; as, the code of Draco, Roman jurisprudence, British legislation, the Mosaic economy. Law is also used as a collective noun for a system of laws or recognized rules or regulations, including not only all special laws, but the principles on which they are based. The Mosaic economy is known also as the Mosaic law, and we speak of the English common law, or the law of nations. Polity (Gr. politeia, from polis, a city) signifies the form, constitution, or method of government of a nation, state, church, or other institution; in usage it differs from economy as applying rather to the system, while economy applies especially to method, or to the system as administered; an economy might be termed a polity considered with especial reference to its practical administration, hence commonly with special reference to details or particulars, while polity has more reference to broad principles.

LIBERTY.

Synonyms:

In general terms, it may be said that freedom is absolute, liberty relative; freedom is the absence of restraint, liberty is primarily the removal or avoidance of restraint; in its broadest sense, it is the state of being exempt from the domination of others[231] or from restricting circumstances. Freedom and liberty are constantly interchanged; the slave is set at liberty, or gains his freedom; but freedom is the nobler word. Independence is said of states or nations, freedom and liberty of individuals; the independence of the United States did not secure liberty or freedom to its slaves. Liberty keeps quite strictly to the thought of being clear of restraint or compulsion; freedom takes a wider range, applying to other oppressive influences; thus, we speak of freedom from annoyance or intrusion. License is, in its limited sense, a permission or privilege granted by adequate authority, a bounded liberty; in the wider sense, license is an ignoring and defiance of all that should restrain, and a reckless doing of all that individual caprice or passion may choose to do—a base and dangerous counterfeit of freedom. Compare ALLOW; PERMISSION.

Antonyms:

LIGHT.

Light, strictly denoting a form of radiant energy, is used as a general term for any luminous effect discernible by the eye, from the faintest phosphorescence to the blaze of the noonday sun. A flame is both hot and luminous; if it contains few solid particles it will yield little light, tho it may afford intense heat, as in the case of a hydrogen-flame. A blaze is an extensive, brilliant flame. A flare is a wavering flame or blaze; a flash is a light that appears and disappears in an instant; as, a flash of lightning; the flash of gunpowder. The glare and glow are steady, the glare painfully bright, the glow subdued; as, the glare of torches; the glow of dying embers. Shine and shining refer to a steady or continuous emission of light; sheen is a faint shining, usually by reflection. Glimmer, glitter, and shimmer denote wavering light. We speak of the glimmer of distant lamps through the mist; of the shimmer of waves in sunlight or moonlight. A gleam is not wavering, but transient or intermittent; a sudden gleam of light came through the half-open door; a glitter[232] is a hard light; as, the glitter of burnished arms. A sparkle is a sudden light, as of sparks thrown out; scintillation is the more exact and scientific term for the actual emission of sparks, also the figurative term for what suggests such emission; as, scintillations of wit or of genius. Twinkle and twinkling are used of the intermittent light of the fixed stars. Glistening is a shining as from a wet surface. Illumination is a wide-spread, brilliant light, as when all the windows of a house or of a street are lighted. The light of incandescence is intense and white like that from metal at a white heat.

Antonyms:

LIKELY.

Synonyms:

Apt implies a natural fitness or tendency; an impetuous person is apt to speak hastily. Liable refers to a contingency regarded as unfavorable; as, the ship was liable to founder at any moment. Likely refers to a contingent event regarded as very probable, and usually, tho not always, favorable; as, an industrious worker is likely to succeed. Credible signifies readily to be believed; as, a credible narrative; likely in such connection is used ironically to signify the reverse; as, a likely story! A thing is conceivable of which the mind can entertain the possibility; a thing is conjectural which is conjectured as possible or probable without other support than a conjecture, or tentative judgment; a thing is presumable which, from what is antecedently known, may betaken for granted in advance of proof. Reasonable in this connection signifies such as the reason can be satisfied with, independently of external grounds for belief or disbelief; as, that seems a reasonable supposition. Compare APPARENT.

Antonyms:

LISTEN.

Synonyms:

Between listen and hear is a difference like that between the words look and see. (Compare synonyms for LOOK.) To hear is[233] simply to become conscious of sound, to listen is to make a conscious effort or endeavor to hear. We may hear without listening, as words suddenly uttered in an adjoining room; or we may listen without hearing, as to a distant speaker. In listening the ear is intent upon the sound; in attending the mind is intent upon the thought, tho listening implies some attention to the meaning or import of the sound. To heed is not only to attend, but to remember and observe. Harken is nearly obsolete.

Antonyms:

Prepositions:

We listen for what we expect or desire to hear; we listen to what we actually do hear; listen for a step, a signal, a train; listen to the debate.

LITERATURE.

Literature is collective, including in the most general sense all the written or printed productions of the human mind in all lands and ages, or in a more limited sense, referring to all that has been published in some land or age, or in some department of human knowledge; as, the literature of Greece; the literature of the Augustan age; the literature of politics or of art. Literature, used absolutely, denotes what has been called "polite literature" or belles-lettres, i. e., the works collectively that embody taste, feeling, loftiness of thought, and purity and beauty of style, as poetry, history, fiction, and dramatic compositions, including also much of philosophical writing, as the "Republic" of Plato, and oratorical productions, as the orations of Demosthenes. In the broad sense, we can speak of the literature of science; in the narrower sense, we speak of literature and science as distinct departments of knowledge. Literature is also used to signify literary pursuits or occupations; as, to devote one's life to literature. Compare KNOWLEDGE; SCIENCE.

LOAD, n.

Synonyms:

A burden (from the Anglo-Saxon byrthen, from the verb beran, bear) is what one has to bear, and the word is used always of that which is borne by a living agent. A load (from the Anglo-Saxon[234] lād, a way, course, carrying, or carriage) is what is laid upon a person, animal, or vehicle for conveyance, or what is customarily so imposed; as, a two-horse load. Weight measures the pressure due to gravity; the same weight that one finds a moderate load when in his full strength becomes a heavy burden in weariness or weakness. A ship's load is called distinctively a cargo, or it may be known as freight or lading. Freight denotes merchandise in or for transportation and is used largely of transportation or of merchandise transported by rail, which is, in commercial language, said to be "shipped." A load to be fastened upon a horse or mule is called a pack, and the animal is known as a pack-horse or pack-mule.

LOCK.

Synonyms:

A bar is a piece of wood or metal, usually of considerable size, by which an opening is obstructed, a door held fast, etc. A bar may be movable or permanent; a bolt is a movable rod or pin of metal, sliding in a socket and adapted for securing a door or window. A lock is an arrangement by which an enclosed bolt is shot forward or backward by a key, or other device; the bolt is the essential part of the lock. A latch or catch is an accessible fastening designed to be easily movable, and simply to secure against accidental opening of the door, cover, etc. A hasp is a metallic strap that fits over a staple, calculated to be secured by a padlock; a simple hook that fits into a staple is also called a hasp. A clasp is a fastening that can be sprung into place, to draw and hold the parts of some enclosing object firmly together, as the clasp of a book.

LOOK.

To see is simply to become conscious of an object of vision; to look is to make a conscious and direct endeavor to see. To behold is to fix the sight and the mind with distinctness and consideration upon something that has come to be clearly before the eyes. We may look without seeing, as in pitch-darkness, and we may see without looking, as in case of a flash of lightning. To gaze is to[235] look intently, long, and steadily upon an object. To glance is to look casually or momentarily. To stare is to look with a fixed intensity such as is the effect of surprise, alarm, or rudeness. To scan is to look at minutely, to note every visible feature. To inspect is to go below the surface, uncover, study item by item. View and survey are comprehensive, survey expressing the greater exactness of measurement or estimate. Watch brings in the element of time and often of wariness; we watch for a movement or change, a signal, the approach of an enemy, etc. Compare APPEAR.

LOVE.

Affection is kindly feeling, deep, tender, and constant, going out to some person or object, being less fervent and ardent than love, whether applied to persons or things. Love is an intense and absorbing emotion, drawing one toward a person or object and causing one to appreciate, delight in, and crave the presence or possession of the person or object loved, and to desire to please and benefit the person, or to advance the cause, truth, or other object of affection; it is the yearning or outgoing of soul toward something that is regarded as excellent, beautiful, or desirable; love may be briefly defined as strong and absorbing affection for and attraction toward a person or object. Love may denote the sublimest and holiest spiritual affection as when we are taught that "God is love." Charity has so far swung aside from this original meaning that probably it never can be recalled (compare BENEVOLENCE). The Revised Version uses love in place of charity in 1 Cor. xiii, and elsewhere. Love is more intense, absorbing, and tender than friendship, more intense, impulsive, and perhaps passionate than affection; we speak of fervent love, but of deep or tender affection, or of close, firm, strong friendship. Love is used specifically for personal affection between the sexes in the highest sense, the love that normally leads to marriage, and subsists throughout all happy wedded life. Love can never properly denote mere animal passion, which is expressed by such words as appetite, desire, lust. One may properly be said to have love for animals, for inanimate objects, or for abstract qualities that enlist the affections, as we speak of love for a horse or a dog, for mountains,[236] woods, ocean, or of love of nature, and love of virtue. Love of articles of food is better expressed by liking, as love, in its full sense, expresses something spiritual and reciprocal, such as can have no place in connection with objects that minister merely to the senses. Compare ATTACHMENT; FRIENDSHIP.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ANTIPATHY; ENMITY; HATRED.

Prepositions:

Love of country; for humanity; love to God and man.

MAKE.

Make is essentially causative; to the idea of cause all its various senses may be traced (compare synonyms for CAUSE). To make is to cause to exist, or to cause to exist in a certain form or in certain relations; the word thus includes the idea of create, as in Gen. i, 31, "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Make includes also the idea of compose, constitute; as, the parts make up the whole. Similarly, to cause a voluntary agent to do a certain act is to make him do it, or compel him to do it, compel fixing the attention more on the process, make on the accomplished fact. Compare COMPEL; DO; INFLUENCE; (make better) AMEND; (make haste) QUICKEN; (make known) ANNOUNCE; AVOW; CONFESS; (make prisoner) ARREST; (make up) ADD; (make void) CANCEL.

Antonyms:

See synonyms for ABOLISH; BREAK; DEMOLISH.

Prepositions:

Make of, out of, or from certain materials, into a certain form, for a certain purpose or person; made with hands, by hand; made by a prisoner, with a jack-knife.

MARRIAGE.

Matrimony denotes the state of those who are united in the[237] relation of husband and wife; marriage denotes primarily the act of so uniting, but is extensively used for the state as well. Wedlock, a word of specific legal use, is the Saxon term for the state or relation denoted by matrimony. Wedding denotes the ceremony, with any attendant festivities, by which two persons are united as husband and wife, nuptials being the more formal and stately term to express the same idea.

Antonyms:

Prepositions:

Marriage of or between two persons; of one person to or with another; among the Greeks.

MASCULINE.

See synonyms for FEMININE.

MASSACRE.

Synonyms:

A massacre is the indiscriminate killing in numbers of the unresisting[238] or defenseless; butchery is the killing of men rudely and ruthlessly as cattle are killed in the shambles. Havoc may not be so complete as massacre, nor so coldly brutal as butchery, but is more widely spread and furious; it is destruction let loose, and may be applied to organizations, interests, etc., as well as to human life; "as for Saul, he made havoc of the church," Acts viii, 3. Carnage (Latin caro, carnis, flesh) refers to widely scattered or heaped up corpses of the slain; slaughter is similar in meaning, but refers more to the process, as carnage does to the result; these two words only of the group may be used of great destruction of life in open and honorable battle, as when we say the enemy was repulsed with great slaughter, or the carnage was terrible.

MEDDLESOME.

The meddlesome person interferes unasked in the affairs of others; the intrusive person thrusts himself uninvited into their company or conversation; the obtrusive person thrusts himself or his opinions conceitedly and undesirably upon their notice; the officious person thrusts his services, unasked and undesired, upon others. Obtrusive is oftener applied to words, qualities, actions, etc., than to persons; intrusive is used chiefly of persons, as is officious, tho we speak of officious attentions, intrusive remarks; meddlesome is used indifferently of persons, or of words, qualities, actions, etc. Compare INQUISITIVE; INTERPOSE.

Antonyms:

MELODY.

Harmony is simultaneous; melody is successive; harmony is the pleasing correspondence of two or more notes sounded at once, melody the pleasing succession of a number of notes continuously following one another. A melody may be wholly in one part; harmony must be of two or more parts. Accordant notes of different pitch sounded simultaneously produce harmony; unison is the simultaneous sounding of two or more notes of the same pitch. When the pitch is the same, there may be unison between sounds of very different volume and quality, as a voice and a bell may[239] sound in unison. Tones sounded at the interval of an octave are also said to be in unison, altho this is not literally exact; this usage arises from the fact that bass and tenor voices in attempting to sound the same note as the soprano and alto will in fact sound a note an octave below. Music may denote the simplest melody or the most complex and perfect harmony. A symphony (apart from its technical orchestral sense) is any pleasing consonance of musical sounds, vocal or instrumental, as of many accordant voices or instruments.

MEMORY.

Synonyms:

Memory is the faculty by which knowledge is retained or recalled; in a more general sense, memory is a retention of knowledge within the grasp of the mind, while remembrance is the having what is known consciously before the mind. Remembrance may be voluntary or involuntary; a thing is brought to remembrance or we call it to remembrance; the same is true of memory. Recollection involves volition, the mind making a distinct effort to recall something, or fixing the attention actively upon it when recalled. Reminiscence is a half-dreamy memory of scenes or events long past; retrospection is a distinct turning of the mind back upon the past, bringing long periods under survey. Retrospection is to reminiscence much what recollection is to remembrance.

Antonyms:

MERCY.

Mercy is the exercise of less severity than one deserves, or in a more extended sense, the granting of kindness or favor beyond what one may rightly claim. Grace is favor, kindness, or blessing shown to the undeserving; forgiveness, mercy, and pardon are exercised toward the ill-deserving. Pardon remits the outward penalty which the offender deserves; forgiveness dismisses resentment or displeasure from the heart of the one offended;[240] mercy seeks the highest possible good of the offender. There may be mercy without pardon, as in the mitigation of sentence, or in all possible alleviation of necessary severity; there may be cases where pardon would not be mercy, since it would encourage to repetition of the offense, from which timely punishment might have saved. Mercy is also used in the wider sense of refraining from harshness or cruelty toward those who are in one's power without fault of their own; as, they besought the robber to have mercy. Clemency is a colder word than mercy, and without its religious associations, signifying mildness and moderation in the use of power where severity would have legal or military, rather than moral sanction; it often denotes a habitual mildness of disposition on the part of the powerful, and is matter rather of good nature or policy than of principle. Leniency or lenity denotes an easy-going avoidance of severity; these words are more general and less magisterial than clemency; we should speak of the leniency of a parent, the clemency of a conqueror. Compare PITY.

Antonyms:

Prepositions:

The mercy of God to or toward sinners; have mercy on or upon one.

METER.

Euphony is agreeable linguistic sound, however produced; meter, measure, and rhythm denote agreeable succession of sounds in the utterance of connected words; euphony may apply to a single word or even a single syllable; the other words apply to lines, sentences, paragraphs, etc.; rhythm and meter may be produced by accent only, as in English, or by accent and quantity combined, as in Greek or Italian; rhythm or measure may apply either to prose or to poetry, or to music, dancing, etc.; meter is more precise than rhythm, applies only to poetry, and denotes a measured rhythm with regular divisions into verses, stanzas, strophes, etc. A verse is strictly a metrical line, but the word is often used as synonymous with stanza. Verse, in the general sense, denotes metrical writing without reference to the thought involved; as, prose and verse. Compare MELODY; POETRY.

[241]

MIND.