Emily Dickinson Lexicon

derision, n. [Fr. dérision; see deride, v.] (webplay: religion, turn, who).

Ridicule; mockery; contemptuous laughter; deriding to scorn; (see Psalms 2:4).

derive (-s, -d), v. [Fr. dérive-r, lead or draw off; de- + rīvus, brook, stream of water.] (webplay: much, often, sin, turn).

Spring; flow; carry; lead; come or precede from; conduct from a source.

descend (-ing), v. [Fr. < L. dēscendere, climb down.] (webplay: beggar, considered, father, feet, flow, himself, pass, place, run, suddenly, town).

1. Alight; fly down; arrive on earth; come from heaven; [fig.] be born.
2. Fall; come to pass; move towards darkness.
3. Lower; decline; pass from a higher to a lower place; (see Genesis 28:12).
4. Enter within; go down into; [fig.] explore; probe; investigate.
5. Return to earth; come back down; [fig.] return to normal.
6. Humble oneself; come to a humbler status; move to a lower position; [fig.] consent; agree to go voluntarily.
7. Fly around; take flight; dive through the air.

describe (-d, describing), v. [L. dēscrīb-ere, copy off, transcribe, write down.] (webplay: distant, heavens).

1. Represent; show; render; report; write down; make a record of; speak about the qualities of; give a detailed account; (see Joshua 18:4).
2. Show; picture; portray; delineate; demonstrate in pictorial representation.

descry (descried), v. [OFr descrier, cry, publish, decry.] (webplay: any, distance, have, house, see, seen).

Declare; cry out; espy; behold; notice a discovered item; (see Judges 1:23).

desert, adj. [ME < L. dēsert-us, forsaken, lying waste.] (webplay: wilderness).

Lonely; abandoned; barren; treeless; (see Deuteronomy 32:10).

desert (-s), n. [OFr < L. dēsertum, abandoned, left waste.] (webplay: land, natural, sandy, sweetness, untilled, wilderness, wood).

Wasteland; wilderness; vast, sandy plain; barren region; (see Exodus 3:1).

deserve (-d), v. [OFr deserv-ir < L. dēservīre, serve zealously, well, to merit by service.] (webplay: done, man, possessed, worthy).

Win; earn; merit; credit; gain; (see Ezra 9:13).

deserving, verbal adj. [see deserve, v.]

Meriting; earning; gaining.

design, n. [Fr. desseing, intention, determination.] (webplay: first, general, man, now, order, plan, purpose, works).

Plan; purpose; project; aim; focus.