Emily Dickinson Lexicon

OL-I-GARCH'AL, or OL-I-GARCH'IC-AL, a. [See Oligarchy.]

Pertaining to oligarchy, or government by a few. Burke.

OL'I-GARCH-Y, n. [Gr. ολιγαρχια; ολιγος, few, and αρχη, rule.]

A form of government in which the supreme power is placed in a few hands; a species of aristocracy. Swift.

OL'I-GIST, or OL-I-GIST'IC, a. [Gr. ολιγιστος, least.]

Oligist iron, so called, is a crystalized oxyd of iron.

O'LI-O, n. [It. from Sp. olla; Port. olha, a dish of meat boiled or stewed; L. olla; a pot.]

1. A mixture; a medley. Dryden.
2. A miscellany; a collection of various pieces; applied to musical collections.

OL'I-TO-RY, a. [L. olitor, a gardener, from olus, pot-herbs.]

Belonging to a kitchen-garden; as, olitory seeds. Evelyn. It may perhaps be used as a noun.

O-LI-VA'CEOUS, a. [from L. oliva, olive.]

Of the color of the olive. Pennant.

OL-I-VAS'TER, a. [Fr. olivâtre, from L. oliva, olive.]

Of the color of the olive; tawny. Bacon.

OL'IVE, n. [L. oliva, from olea, an olive-tree; Fr. olive; Gr. ελαια. See Oil.]

A plant or tree of the genus Olea. The common olive-tree grows in warm climates and rises to the highth of twenty or thirty feet, having an upright stem with numerous branches. This tree is much cultivated in the south of Europe for its fruit, from which is expressed the olive oil, and which is used also for pickles. Encyc.

OL'IV-ED, a.

Decorated with olive-trees. Warton.

OL'I-VEN-ITE, n.

An ore of copper. Ure.

OL'IVE-YARD, n.

An inclosure or piece of ground in which olives are cultivated. Exod. xxiii.

OL'I-VILE, n.

A peculiar amylaceous or crystaline substance obtained from the gum of the olive tree.

OL'I-VIN, or OL'I-VINE, n. [from olive.]

A subspecies of prismatic chrysolite of a brownish green, often inclining to a yellowish or grayish green, usually found in roundish grains in other stones; sometimes in large masses, but not crystalized. It is a constituent of many lavas and frequently occurs in basaltic rocks. Kirwan. Ure.

OL'LA, n.

An olio.

O-LYM'PI-AD, n. [L. Olympias; Gr. Ολυμπιας, from Ολυμπος, Olympus, a mountain of Macedonia.]

A period of four years reckoned from one celebration of the Olympic games to another, and constituting an important epoch in history and chronology. The first Olympiad commenced 775 years before the birth of Christ, and 22 years before the foundation of Rome. The computation by Olympiads ceased at the three hundred and sixty fourth Olympiad, in the year 440 of the Christian era. Encyc.

O-LYM'PI-AN, a.

Pertaining to Olympus; or to Olympia, a town in Greece.

OLYMPIC-GAMES, n. [Olympic games, or Olympics.]

Solemn games among the ancient Greeks dedicated to Olympian Jupiter, and celebrated once in four years at Olympia. [See Olympiad.]

OM'BER, or OM'BRE, n. [Fr. from Sp. hombre, man, L. homo.]

A game at cards, borrowed from the Spaniards, usually played by three persons, though sometimes by two or five. Encyc.

OM-BROM'ETER, a. [Gr. ομβρος, rain, and μετρον, measure.]

A machine or instrument to measure the quantity of rain that falls. Encyc.

O-ME'GA, n. [Gr. great Ο.]

The name of the last letter of the Greek alphabet, as Alpha, Α, is the first. Hence in Scripture, Alpha and Omega denotes the fast and the last, the beginning and the ending. Rev.

OM'E-LET, n. [Fr. omelette.]

A kind of pancake or fritter made with eggs and other ingredients. Encyc.

O'MEN, n. [L. omen; but according to Varro, it was originally osmen, that which is uttered by the mouth, denoting wish or vow, and with him agree Festus and Nonius, says Vossius. Another author derives the word from the Heb. ענן, an augur. Cicero assigns to the word the same origin as Varro. “Voces hominum, quæ vocent omina.” But the word came afterward to denote things rather than words.]

A sign or indication of some future event; a prognostic. Superstition and ignorance multiply omens; philosophy and truth reject all omens, except such as may be called causes of the events. Without a miracle, how can one event be the omen of another with which it has no connection?

O'MEN-ED, a.

Containing an omen or prognostic. Pope.

O-MEN'TUM, n. [L.]

In anatomy, the caul or epiploon; a membranaceous covering of the bowels, being placed under the peritoneum and immediately above the intestines. Encyc.

O'MER, n. [Heb.]

A Hebrew measure, the tenth of an epha. Exod. xvi. 36.