Emily Dickinson Lexicon

O-RANG-OU-TANG', n. [Orang is said.to be the Malay for man, that is, reasonable being, and outang is said to be the Malay of wild, that is, of the woods.]

A quadrumanous mammal, the Pythecus Satyrus, or Simia Satyrus. This animal seems to be confined to Borneo, Sumatra, and Malacca. It approaches the most nearly to man of any animal of its tribe. It is utterly incapable of walking in a perfectly erect posture. Its body is covered with coarse hair of a brownish red color. In some places on its back it is six inches long, and on its arms five inches. The hight of the adult animal is not known. A single specimen supposed to be of this species has been killed, which measured at least six feet. It eats both animal aad vegetable food. The African animal resembling it, is the chimpanzee, [Simia troglodytes, or Troglodytes niger.] Cuvier.

O-RA'TION, n. [L. oratio, from oro, to pray, to utter.]

1. A speech or discourse composed according to the rules of oratory, and spoken in public. Orations may be reduced to three kinds; demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial. Encyc.
2. In modern usage, an oration differs from a sermon, from an argument at the bar, and from a speech before a deliberative assembly. The word is now applied chiefly to discourses pronounced on special occasions, as a funeral oration, an oration on some anniversary, &c. and to academic declamations.
3. A harangue; a public speech or address.

OR'A-TOR, n. [L.]

1. A public speaker. In ancient Rome, orators were advocates for clients in the forum and before the senate and people. They were employed in causes of importance instead of the common patron. Encyc.
2. In modern usage, a person who pronounces a discourse publicly on some special occasion, as on the celebration of some memorable event.
3. An eloquent public speaker; a speaker, by way of eminence. We say, a man writes and reasons well, but is no orator. Lord Chatham was an orator.
4. In France, a speaker in debate in a legislative body.
5. In chancery, a petitioner.
6. An officer in the universities in England.

OR-A-TO'RI-O, n. [It.]

1. Italian music, a sacred drama of dialogues, containing recitatives, duets, trios, ritornellos, choruses, &c. The subjects are mostly taken from the Scriptures. Encyc.
2. A place of worship; a chapel.

OR'A-TO-RY, n. [Low L. oratoria, from orator.]

1. The art of speaking well, or of speaking according to the rules of rhetoric, in order to persuade. To constitute oratory, the speaking must be just and pertinent to the subject; it must be methodical, all parts of the discourse being disposed in due order and connection; and it must be embellished with the beauties of language and pronounced with eloquence. Oratory consists of four parts, invention, disposition, elocution, and pronunciation. Encyc. Cyc.
2. Exercise of eloquence. Arbuthnot.
3. Among the Romanists, a close apartment near a bed-chamber, furnished with an altar, a crucifix, &c. for private devotions.
4. A place allotted for prayer, or a place for public worship. Hooker. Taylor.

ORB, n. [L. orbiss; Fr. It. and Sp. orbe.]

1. A spherical body; as, the celestial orbs.
2. In astronomy, a hollow globe or sphere. Encyc.
3. A wheel; a circular body that revolves or rolls; as, the orbs of a chariot. Milton.
4. A circle; a sphere defined by a line; as, he moves in a larger orb. Holiday. Shak.
5. A circle described by any-mundane sphere; an orbit. Dryden.
6. Period; revolution of time. Shak.
7. The eye. Milton.
8. In tactics, the circular form of a body of troops, or a circular body of troops. Encyc. The ancient astronomers conceived the heavens as consisting of several vast azure transparent orbs or spheres inclosing one another, and including the bodies of the planets. Hutton.

ORB, v.t.

To form into a circle. Milton.

ORB'ATE, a. [L. orbatus.]

Bereaved; fatherless; childless.

ORB'ED, a.

1. Round; circular; orbicular. Shak.
2. Formed into a circular or round shape. Milton.
3. Rounded or covered on the exterior. The wheels were orbed with gold. Addison.

ORB'IC, a.

Spherieal. Bacon.

ORB-IC'U-LAR, a. [Fr. orbiculaire, from L. orbiculus.]

Spherical; circular; in the form of an orb. Milton. Addison.

ORB-IC'U-LAR-LY, adv.

Spherically.

ORB-IC'U-LAR-NESS, n.

Sphericity; the state of being orbicular.

OR-BIC-U-LA'TION, n.

The state of being made in the form of an orb. More.

ORB'ING, ppr.

Forming into a circle.

ORBIT, n. [Fr. orbite; L. orbita, a trace or track, from orbis, a wheel.]

1. In astronomy, the path of a planet or comet; the curve line which a planet describes in its periodical revolution round its central body; as, the orbit of Jupiter or Mercury. The orbit of the earth is nearly one hundred and ninety millions of miles in diameter. The orbit of the moon is 180,000 miles in diameter. The orbits of the planets are elliptical.
2. A small orb. [Not proper.] Young.
3. In anatomy, the cavity in which the eye is situated.

ORB'LIKE, a.

Resembling an orb.

ORB'Y, a. [from orb.]

Resembling an orb. Chapman.

ORC, n. [L. orcaa; Gr. {foreign}.]

A cetaceious mammal of uncertain and unsettled character; a species of whale. Drayton. The Delphinus orca of Linnaeus is the grampus.

OR'CHA-NET, n.

A plant, (Anchusa tinctoria.) Ainsworth.

OR'CHARD, n. [Sax. ortgeard; Goth. aurtigards; Dan. urtegaard; Sw. örtegård; that is, wort-yard, a yard for herbs. The Germans call it baumgarten,. tree-garden, and the Dutch boomgaard, tree-yard. See Yard.]

An inclosure for fruit-trees. In Great Britain, a department of the garden appropriated to fruit trees of all kinds but chiefly to apple-trees. In America, any piece of land set with apple-trees, is called an orchard; and orchards are usually cultivated land, being either grounds for mowing or tillage. In some parts of the country, a piece of ground planted with peach-trees is called a peach-orchard. But in most cases, I believe the orchard in both countries is distinct from the garden.

OR'CHARD-ING, n.

1. The cultivation of orchards. Evelyn.
2. Orchards in general. United States.

OR'CHARD-IST, n.

The cultivation of orchards. Evelyn.

OR'CHES-TRAL, a. [supra.]

Pertaining to an orchester; suitable for or performed in the orchester. Busby.

OR-CHI-DA'CEOUS, a.

Relating to that group of plants of which Orchis is the type.