Dictionary of phrase and fable, giving the derivation, source or origin of common phrases, allusions, and words that have a tale to tell... . To which is added a concise bibliography of English literature / by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer.

  • Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham, 1810-1897.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Dictionary of phrase and fable, giving the derivation, source or origin of common phrases, allusions, and words that have a tale to tell... . To which is added a concise bibliography of English literature / by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    16/1457 (page 4)
    have the hair on end). To abhor is to have a natural antipathy, and to show it by shuddeidng with disgust. Abiala. Wife of Makainbi; African deities. She holds a pistol in her hand, and is greatly feared. Her aid is im- ])lored in sickness. Abida. A god of the Kalmucks, who receives the souls of the dead at the moment of decease, and gives them permission to enter a new body, either human or not, and have another spell of life on earth. If the spirit is spotless it may, if it likes, rise and live in the air. Abidhar'ma. The book of meta- physics in the Tripit'aka {q.v.). Abigail. A lady’s maid, or lady- maid. Abigail, wife of Nabal, who introduced herself to Havid and after- wards married him, is a well-known Scripture heroine (1 Sam. xxv. 3). Abi- gail was a popular middle class Christian ]iame in the seventeenth century. Beau- mont and Fletcher, in The Scornful Lady, call the “waiting gentlewoman” Abigail, a name employed by Swift, Fielding, and others, in their novels. Probably “Abigail Hill,” the original name of Mrs. Masham, waiting-woman to Queen Anne, popularised the name. Abim'elech is no proper name, but a regal title of the Philistines, meaning Father-king. Able. An able seammi is a skilled seaman. Such a man is termed anA.B. (Able-Bodied) ; unskilled seamen are called “ boys ” without regard to age. Able-bodied Seaman. A sailor of the first class. A crew is divided into three classes:—(1) able seamen, or skilled sailors, termed A.B. ; (2) ordin- ary sea,men ; and (3) boys, which in- clude green - hands, or inexperienced 7uen, without regard to age or size. Aboard. He fell aboard o f me—met me; abused me. A ship is said to fall aboard another when, being in motion, it runs against the other. To go aboard is to embark, to go on the board or deck. Aboard ■main tack is to draw one of the lower corners of the main- sail down to the chess-tree. Figurativelv, it means “ to keep to the point.” Aboil 'a. An ancient military garment worn by the Creeks and Romans, opposed to the toga or robe of peace. The abolla Deing woi'B by the lower ox'ders, was affected by philosophers in the vanity of humility. Abominate {aboniinor, I pray that the omen may be averted ; used on men- tioning anything unlucky). As ill-omened things are disliked, so, by a simple figure of speech, what we dislike we consider ill-omened. Abomination of Desolation {The). The Roman standard is so called (Matt, xxiv. 15). As it was set up in the holy temple, it was an abomination; and, as it brought destruction, it was the “abomination of desolation.” Abon Hassan. A rich merchant, transferred during sleep to the bed and palace of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid. Next morning he was treated as the caliph, and every effort was made to make him forget his identity. Arabian Nights (“The Sleeper Awakened”). The same trick was played on Christo- pher Sly, in the Induction of Shake- speare’s comedy of Taming of the Shrew; and, according to Burton {Anatomy of Melancholy, ii. 2, 4), by Philippe the Good, Duke of Burgundy, on his mar- riage with Eleono'ra. “ Were I caliph for a day, as honest Abon Hassan, I Avould scourge me these jugglers out of the Commonwealth.”—/Si? Walter Scott. Abonde {Fame). The French Santa Claus, the good fairy who comes at night to bring toys to children while they sleep, especially on New Year’s Day. Abortive Flowers are those which have stamens but no pistils. Abou ebn Sina, commonly called Avicenna. A great Persian physician, born at Shiraz, whose canons of medi- cine were those adopted by Hippoc'rates and Aristotle. Died 1037. Abou-Bekr, called Father of the Virgin, i.e., Mahomet’s favourite wife. He was the first caliph, and was founder of the sect called the Sunnites. (571- 634.) Abou Jahi'a. The angel of death in Mchainmedan mythology. Called Azrael by the Arabs, and Mordad by the Persians. Aboulomri {in Mohammedan mytho- logxf). A fabulous bird of the vulture sort which lives 1,000 years. Called by the Persians Kerkes, and by the Turks Ak-Baba.—Herbelot. Above properly applies only to matter on the same page, but has been extended