Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MU'CIL-AGE, n. [Fr. from L. mucus, the slimy discharges from the nose; muceo, to grow moldy or musty; It. mucillaggine; Sp. mucilago. The L. mucus, in Ir. is smug; smugaim, to blow the nose. It is probably allied to Eng. muck; Heb. Ch. מוג or מוק, to dissolve, to putrefy. Class Mg, No. 8, 10.]

1. In chimistry, one of the proximate elements of vegetables. The same substance is a gum when solid, and a mucilage when in solution. Thomson. Both the ingredients improve one another; for the mucilage adds to the lubricity of the oil, and the oil preserves the mucilage from inspissation. Ray. Mucilage is obtained from vegetable or animal substances. Nicholson.
2. The liquor which moistens and lubricates the ligament and cartilages of the articulations or joints in animal bodies. Encyc.