Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AL'KA-LI-FY, v.t.

To form, or to convert into an alkali.

AL-KA-LIG'E-NOUS, a. [Alkali, and γενναω, to generate.]

Producing or generating alkali.

AL-KA-LIM'E-TER, n. [Alkali, and Gr. μετρον, measure.]

An instrument for ascertaining the strength of alkalies, or the quantity of alkali in potash and soda. – Ure.

AL'KA-LINE, a.

Having the properties of alkali.

AL'KA-LIN'I-TY, n.

The quality which constitutes an alkali. – Thomson.

AL-KA'LI-OUS, a.

Having the properties of alkali. – Kinnier.

AL'KA-LI-ZATE, a.

Alkaline; impregnated with alkali. [Obs.] – Boyle. Newton.

AL-KA-LI-ZA'TION, n.

The act of rendering alkaline by impregnating with an alkali.

AL'KA-LIZE, v.t. [and formerly Alkalizate.]

To make alkaline; to communicate the properties of an alkali to, by mixture.

AL'KA-LOID, n.

A salifiable base formed and existing in some vegetables as a proximate principle, and having only in a slight degree the peculiar properties of an alkali. The alkaloids are numerous. All, which have been accurately analyzed, are composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, and their differences in comparison with each other, depend upon a variation in the proportions of their component elements.

AL'KA-NET, n.

A species of anchusa. The root is used to impart a deep red color to oily substances, ointments, plasters, &c. – Encyc.

AL-KE-KEN'GI, n.

The winter cherry, a species of Physalis. The plant bears a near resemblance to solanum, or night-shade. The berry is medicinal. – Chambers.

AL-KEN'NA, or AL-HEN'NA, n.

Egyptian privet, a species of Lawsonia. The pulverized leaves of this plant are much used by the Eastern nations for staining their nails yellow. The powder, being wet, forms a paste, which is bound on the nails for a night, and the color thus given will last several weeks. – Encyc.

AL-KERM'ES, n. [Arab. See Kermes.]

In pharmacy, a compound cordial, in the form of a confection, derived from the kermes berries. Its other ingredients are said to be pippin-cider, rose-water, sugar, ambergris, musk, cinnamon, aloes-wood, pearls, and leaf-gold. – Quincy. Chambers. Encyc.

AL-KER'VA, n.

An Arabic name of the Palma Christi. – Quincy.

AL'KO-RAN, n. [Arab. al, the, and koran, book. The Book by way of eminence, as we say the Bible. See Koran. It is pronounced, I believe, by orientalists, alkoraum.]

The book which contains the Mohammedan doctrines of faith and practice. It was written by Mohammed, in the dialect of the Koreish, which is the purest Arabic; but the Arabian language has suffered such changes since it was written, that the language of the Koran is not now intelligible to the Arabians themselves, without being learned like other dead languages. – Niebuhr. Encyc.

AL'KO-RAN, or AL'CO-RAN, n.

Is also the name of a high tower on Persian buildings.

AL'KO-RAN-IST, n.

One who adheres strictly to the letter of the Koran, rejecting all comments. The Persians are generally Alkoranists; the Turks, Arabs, and Tartars, admit a multitude of traditions.

AL-KUS'SA, n.

A fish of the Silurus kind, with one beard only under the chin. – Dict. of Nat. Hist.

ALL, a. [awl'; Sax. eal; Dan. al; G. all; Sw. all; W. oll or holl; Arm. oll; Ir. uile; Gr. ὁλος; Shemitic כל, from כלה, calah, to be ended or completed, to perfect. The Welsh retains the first radical letter. This is radically the same word as heal; for in Sw. hel, and in Dan. hele, signify all, and these words are from the root of heal. See Call, Heal, and Whole.]

1. Every one, or the whole number of particulars.
2. The whole quantity, extent, duration, amount, quality, or degree; as, all the wheat; all the land; all the year; all the strength. This word signifies then, the whole or entire thing, or all the parts or particulars which compose it. It always precedes the definitive adjectives the, my, thy, his, our, your, their; as, all the cattle; all my labor; all thy goods; all his wealth; all our families; all your citizens; all their property. This word, not only in popular language, but in the Scriptures, often signifies, indefinitely, a large portion or number, or a great part. Thus all the cattle in Egypt died; all Judea and all the region roundabout Jordan; all men held John as a prophet; are not to be understood in a literal sense, but as including a large part or very great numbers. This word is prefixed to many other words; to enlarge their signification; as, already, always, all-prevailing.

ALL, adv.

Wholly; completely; entirely; as, all along; all bedewed; all over; my friend is all for amusement; I love my father all. In the ancient phrases, all too dear, all so long, this word retains its appropriate sense; as, "he thought them sixpence all too dear," that is, he thought them too dear by the sum of sixpence. In the sense of although, as "all were it as the rest," and in the sense of just, or at the moment, as, "all as his straying flock he fed," it is obsolete, or restricted to poetry. It is all one, is a phrase equivalent to the same thing in effect; that is, it is wholly the same thing. All the better, is equivalent to wholly the better; that is, better by the whole difference.

ALL, n.

1. The whole number; as, all have not the same disposition; that is, all men.
2. The whole; the entire thing; the aggregate amount; as, our all is at stake. And Laban said, All that thou seest is mine. – Gen. xxxi. This adjective is much used as a noun, and applied to persons or things. All in all, is a phrase which signifies, all things to a person, or every thing desired. Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee, / Forever. – Milton. When the words, and all, close an enumeration of particulars, the word all is either intensive, or is added as a general term to express what is not enumerated; as, a tree fell, nest, eagles, and all. – L'Estrange. At all, is a phrase much used by way of enforcement or emphasis, usually in negative or interrogative sentences. He has no ambition at all; that is, not in the least degree. Has he any property at all? All and some, in Spenser, Mason interprets, one and all. But from Lye's Saxon Dictionary, it appears that the phrase is a corruption of the Sax. calle et somne, all together, all at once, from somne, together, at once. See Lye, under somne. All in the wind, in seaman's language, is a phrase denoting that the sails are parallel with the course of the wind, so as to shake. – Mar. Dict. All is well, is a watchman's phrase, expressing a state of safety. All, in composition, enlarges the meaning, or adds force to a word; and it is generally more emphatical than most. In some instances, all is incorporated into words, as in almighty, already, always; but in most instances, it is an adjective prefixed to other words, but separated by a hyphen.

ALL-A-BAN'DON-ED, a.

Abandoned by all. – Skelton.

ALL-AB-HOR'RED, a.

Detested by all. – Shak.

ALL-AB-SORB'ING, a.

Engrossing; that drowns or supersedes all other considerations.