Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIST'LESS, a.

Not listening; not attending; indifferent to what is passing; heedless; inattentive; thoughtless; careless as, a listless hearer or spectator.

LIST'LESS-LY, adv.

Without attention; heedlessly.

LIST'LESS-NESS, n.

Inattention; heedlessness; indifference to what is passing and may be interesting.

LIT, pret.

of light. The bird Ea on a tree before me. I lit my pipe with the paper. Addled. [This word, though used by some good writers, is very inelegant.]

LIT'A-NY, n. [Fr. iilanie; Gr. {foreign} at supplication, from hirariose, Airrcropm, to pray.]

A solemn form of supplication, used in public worship. Supplications for the appeasing of God's wrath, were by Greek church termed litanies, by the Latin, rogations. Hoake.

LITE, a.

Little. [Not in use.]

LI'TER, n. [Fr. litre, from Gr. {foreign}.]

A French measure of capacity, being a cubic decimeter, containing, according to Lunier, about a pint and a half French measure. The liter is equal to 60.02800 cub inches, or nearly 2 1-8 wine pints. Cyc.

LIT'ER-AL, a. [Fr. from L. liters, a letter.]

1. According to the letter; primitive; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase.
2. Following the letter or exact words; not free; as, a literal translation.
3. Consisting of letters. The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the ciphers. Johnson.

LIT'ER-AL, n.

Literal meaning. [Not used.] Brow.

LIT'ERALISM, n.

That which accords with the letter. Milton.

LIT'ER-AL'ITY, n.

Original or literal meaning. Brow.

LIT'ER-AL-LY, adv.

1. According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively. A man and his wife can not be literally one flesh.
2. With close adherence to words; word by word. So wild and ungovernable a poet can not be translated literally. Dryden.

LIT'ER-AL-NESS, n.

The state of being literal; literal import. Quart. Rev.

LIT'ER-A-RY, a. [L. literarius.]

1. Pertaining to letters or literature; respecting learning or, learned men; as, a literary history; literary conversation. L.
2. Derived from erudition; as, literary fame.
3. Furnished with erudition; versed in letters; as, a literary man.
4. Consisting in letters, or written or printed compositions; as, literary property.

LIT'ER-ATE, a. [L. literatus.]

Learned; lettered; instructed in learning and science. Johnson.

LIT-ER-A'TI, n. plur. [L. literatus.]

The learned men; men of erudition. Spectator.

LITERATIM, [L.]

Letter for letter.

LIT'ER-A-TOR, n. [L.]

A petty schoolmaster. Burke.

LIT'ER-A-TURE, n. [L. literaturo.]

Learning; acquaintance with letters or books. Literature; comprehends a knowledge of the ancient languages, denominated classical, history, grammar, rhetoric, logic, geography, &c., as well as of the sciences. A knowledge of the world and good breeding give luster to literature.

LITH, n. [Sax.]

A joint or limb. [Obs.] Chaucer.

LI-THAN'THRAX, n. [Gr. {foreign}, a stone, and {foreign}, a coal.]

Stone-coal, a black, compact, brittle, inflammable substance of laminated texture, more or less shining. Nichelson.

LITH'ARGE, n. [Fr. from L. lithargyros, Gr. {foreign}, the spume or scum of silver.]

A semi-vitreous oxyd of lead, produced in refining silver by cupellation with lead. It appears in the form of soft flakes, or semi-transparent shining plates. Dict. Nat. Hist. Encyc. Nicholson.

LITH'ATE, n. [Gr. {foreign}, a stone.]

A salt or compound formed by the lithic acid with a base. Hooper.

LITHE, a. [Sax. lith, lithe; W. llyth.]

That may be easily bent; pliant; flexible; limber; as, the elephant's lithe proboscis. Milton.

LITHE, v.t.

1. To smooth; to soften; to palliate. [Obs.] Chaucer.
2. To listen. [Obs.] [See Listen.]