Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Lexicon: habiliment – halcyon
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habiliment (-s), n. [OFr habile, fit, suitable.]
Clothes; clothing; raiment; garments; physical attire; outward appearance; [fig.] springtime renewals; beauties in Nature.
habit, n. [OFr < L. habitus.] (webplay: children, custom, year).
- Demeanor; expression; examination; countenance.
- Ordinary occurrence; repeated experience; regular repetition; [fig.] witnessing death frequently; [word play] tunic; grave clothes; dress worn by a nun.
- Role; trait; quality; [word play] clothing; crown of laurel for a prize-winning poet; [fig.] fragrant flower.
- Appearance; aspect; [word play] custom; culture; comfortable convention.
- Phrase. “In the habit of”: accustomed to.
habitation, n. [Fr. < L. habitāre, dwell.]
Home; abode; dwelling; resting place; [fig.] cocoon; butterfly casing; covering of a dormant caterpillar during metamorphosis.
had, v. [see have, v.]
had'nt, v. [see have, v.]
had'st (hadst), v. [see have, v.]
haggard, adj. [Fr. hagard, wild, strange.]
Poor; lean; meager; wretched; pathetic.
hair (-'s), n. [OE hér < Germanic.] (webplay: distance, filament, fine, go, growth, hollow, long, judges, part, short, small, thing).
- Millimeter; very small measure; extremely short distance.
- Coiffure; natural head covering; mass of filaments growing from the scalp.
- Strand; small filament; fiber issuing out of the skin from a follicle.
- String; single strand of rope; [fig.] last chance; final opportunity.
hairbreadth, adj. [see hair, n.; breadth, n.]
Narrow; close; [fig.] risky; dangerous; almost not achieved; too close for comfort.
halcyon, adj. [L. < Gk. 'kingfisher'.] (webplay: happy).
- Calm; quiet; mild; peaceful; tranquil; undisturbed; [word play] like a kingfisher bird's whistle in the winter solstice.
- Fine; blessed; dainty; exquisite; prosperous.