Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AL-EX-AN'DRI-AN, a.

Pertaining to Alexandria. There are many cities of this name, in various parts of the earth. The term is often applied as an attribute, or used as a noun, for one who professed or taught the sciences in the school of Alexandria, in Egypt; a place highly celebrated for its literature and magnificence, and whose library, it is said, consisted of 700,000 volumes. The Persians and Turks write for Alexander, Scander or Sconder; and for Alexandria, Scanderona; hence Scanderoon, a sea-port in Syria.