Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-FI'ER, n. [See Defy.]

A challenger; one who dares to combat or encounter; one who braves; one who acts in contempt of opposition, law, or authority; as, a defier of the laws. [Better written defyer.]

DE-FIG-U-RA'TION, n.

A disfiguring. [Not in use.] Hall.

DE-FIG'URE, v.t.

To delineate. [Not in use.] Weever.

DE-FILE', n. [Fr. defilé, from fil, file, a thread, a line.]

A narrow passage or way, in which troops may march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long narrow pass, as between hills, &c.

DE-FILE', v.i. [Fr. defiler; de and file, a row or line, from L. filum, a thread.]

To march off in a line, or file by file; to file off. Roscoe.

DE-FILE', v.t. [Sax. afylan, befylan, gefylan, afulan, from ful, fula, foul. See Foul. The Syr. ܛܦܠ tefal, is almost precisely the English word. Cast. 1553.]

1. To make unclean; to render foul or dirty; in a general sense.
2. To make impure; to render turbid; as, the water or liquor is defiled.
3. To soil or sully; to tarnish; as, reputation, &c. He is among the greatest prelates of the age, however his character may be defiled by dirty hands. Swift. They shall defile thy brightness. Ez. xxviii.
4. To pollute; to make ceremonially unclean. That which dieth of itself, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith. Lev. xxii.
5. To corrupt chastity; to debauch; to violate; to tarnish the purity of character by lewdness. Shechem defiled Dinah. Gen. xxxiv.
6. To taint, in a moral sense; to corrupt; to vitiate; to render impure with sin. Defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt. Ezek. xx. He hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Numb. xix.

DE-FIL'ED, pret.

Marched off in a line.

DE-FIL'ED, pp.

Made dirty, or foul; polluted; soiled; corrupted, violated; vitiated.

DE-FILE'MENT, n.

1. The act of defiling, or state of being defiled; foulness; dirtiness; uncleanness.
2. Corruption of morals, principles, or character; impunity; pollution by sin. The chaste can not rake into such filth without danger of defilement. Addison.

DE-FIL'ER, n.

One who defiles; one who corrupts or violates; that which pollutes.

DE-FIL'ING, ppr.

1. Polluting; making impure.
2. Marching in a file, or with a narrow front.

DE-FIN'A-BLE, a. [See Define.]

1. Literally, that may be limited, or have its limits ascertained. Hence, capable of having its extent ascertained with precision; capable of being fixed and determined. The extent of the Russian empire is hardly definable. The limits are hardly definable.
2. That may be defined or described; capable of having its signification rendered certain, or expressed with certainty or precision; as, definable words.
3. That may be fixed, determined, or ascertained; as, the time or period is not definable.

DE-FIN'A-BLY, adv.

In a definable manner.

DE-FINE', v.i.

To determine; to decide. [Not used.] Bacon.

DE-FINE', v.t. [L. definio; de and finio, to end, to limit, from finis, end; Fr. definir; Sp. definir; It. definire.]

1. To determine or describe the end or limit; as, to define the extent of a kingdom or country.
2. To determine with precision; to ascertain; as, to define the limits of a kingdom.
3. To mark the limit; to circumscribe; to bound.
4. To determine or ascertain the extent of the meaning of a word; to ascertain the signification of a term; to explain what a word is understood to express; as, to define the words virtue, courage, belief, or charity.
5. To describe; to ascertain or explain the distinctive properties or circumstances of a thing; as, to define a line or an angle.

DE-FIN'ED, pp.

1. Determined; having the extent ascertained; having the signification determined.
2. Having the precise limit marked, or having a determinate limit; as, the shadow of a body is well defined.

DE-FIN'ER, n.

He who defines; he who ascertains or marks the limits; he who determines or explains the signification of a word, or describes the distinctive properties of a thing.

DE-FIN'ING, ppr.

Determining the limits; ascertaining the extent; explaining the meaning; describing the properties.

DEF'IN-ITE, a. [L. definitus.]

1. Having certain limits; bounded with precision; determinate; as, a definite extent of land; definite dimensions; definite measure.
2. Having certain limits in signification; determinate; certain; precise; as, a definite word, term, or expression.
3. Fixed; determinate; exact; precise; as, a definite time or period.
4. Defining; limiting; determining the extent; as, a definite word.

DEF'IN-ITE, n.

Thing defined. Ayliffe.

DEF'IN-ITE-LY, adv.

In a definite manner.

DEF'IN-ITE-NESS, n.

Certainty of extent; certainty of signification; determinateness.

DEF-IN-I'TION, n. [L. definitio. See Define.]

1. A brief description of a thing by its properties; as, a definition of wit, or of a circle.
2. In logic, the explanation of the essence of a thing by its kind and difference.
3. In lexicography, an explanation of the signification of a word or term, or of what a word is understood to express.

DE-FIN'I-TIVE, a. [L. definitivus.]

1. Limiting the extent; determinate; positive; express; as, a definitive term.
2. Limiting; ending; determining; final; opposed to conditional, provisional, or interlocutory; as, a definitive sentence or decree.

DE-FIN'I-TIVE, n.

In grammar, an adjective used to define or limit the extent of the signification of an appellative or common noun. Such are the Greek ό, ή, το; the Latin hic, ille, ipse; the, this, and that, in English; le, la, les, in French; il, la, lo in Italian. Thus, tree is an appellative or common noun: the tree, this tree, that tree, designate a particular tree, determinate or known. Homo signifies man; hic homo, ille homo, a particular man, &c. But in some languages, the definitives have lost their original use, in a great degree; as in the Greek and the French. Thus, “La force de la vertu,” must be rendered in English, the force of virtue, not the force of the virtue. The first la is a definitive; the last has no definitive effect.