Emily Dickinson Lexicon

open (-ed, -ing, -s), v. [see open, adj.] (webplay: admitting, all, before, comers, country, door, earth, expanded, eyes, gate, hand, shut, spread, summer, unclosed, warm, window, winter).

1. Unclose; unlock.
2. Set in order.
3. Show; reveal; disclose; bring to view or knowledge what is inside.
4. Begin; enter on.
5. Part; divide.
6. [Fig.] welcome.

opening, n. [open, adj. + -ing.] (webplay: door, unclosed).

1. Unclosing so as to admit entrance.
2. Dawn; beginning; birth.

opera, n. [It. < L. 'work, labor, exertion, a work produced'.] (webplay: dancing, sings).

Musical production; dramatic composition acted out and sung on the stage.

Ophir, proper n. [L. < Heb. ōphīr.]

Son of Joktan (see Genesis 10:29); descendent of Shem in the Old Testament; Biblical location where gold is refined (see Job 22:24); legendary location of Solomon's mines (see 1 Kings 9:28); source of gold for the temple in Jerusalem; place where King David procured gold, ivory, wood, and precious stones to build the temple; possibly, the rich natural resources of South America (see ED letters 395, 585, 593, 677); place name associated with some of the most productive mines in the Gold Rush of northern California; a boomtown in the California gold mine district from 1849-1853 (see the Springfield Republican 1856 May 2 p. 2; see also 1874 Dec 31 p. 8, 1875 Oct 28 p. 5, and 1882 Nov 11 p. 5).

opinion (-s), n. [Fr. < L. opīn-ārī, to be of opinion, to think.] (webplay: certainty, mind, think, truth).

1. Belief; idea; persuasion.
2. Personal interpretation; popular thinking; not absolute knowledge; belief which is probable but not proved.

opon (upon), prep. [variant spelling used by Dickinson; does not appear in Webster's 1844 dictionary; see upon, prep.]

opportunity, n. [Fr. opportunité < L. opportūn-us, fit, suitable, convenient, seasonable, advantageous, serviceable.] (webplay: chance, circumstances, come, desired, fit, heaven).

1. Chance; suitable time; favorable circumstance.
2. Conveniences; pleasures; chances for gain.

oppose, v. [Fr. opposer < L. 'to place, put down, to oppose in argument'.]

Resist; hinder; prevent effect of.

opposing, verbal adj. [see oppose, v.] (webplay: demand, facing, parties, passed, words).

1. Opposite; different.
2. Competing; counteracting; moving in the opposite direction.

opposite, adj. [Fr. < L. oppōn-ěre, to set against.] (webplay: against, discipline, house, passed, presumption, winds).

1. Facing.
2. Different; on the contrary.