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VAMPLATE, vam'pl[=a]t, _n._ the iron plate through which the lance passed, serving as a protection to the hand when the lance was couched. [Fr.

_avant-plat_--_avant_, before, _plat_, plate.]

VAN, van, _n._ the front: the front of an army or a fleet: the leaders of any movement. [Abbrev. of _vanguard_.]

VAN, van, _n._ a fan for grain, &c.: a vane, wing: a test for ascertaining the value of an ore by washing a small quantity on a shovel.--_v.t._ to separate ore in this way.--_ns._ VAN'NER, an ore-separator; VAN'NING.

[Fr.,--L. _vannus_.]

VAN, van, _n._ a large covered wagon for goods, &c.: a light vehicle, covered or not, used by tradesmen in delivering goods: a carriage in a railway-train for carrying luggage, for the use of the guard, &c. [Short for _caravan_.]

VANADIUM, van-[=a]'di-um, _n._ a rare metal somewhat resembling silver in appearance, very brittle and infusible, and unoxidisible either by air or water.--_ns._ VAN'AD[=A]TE, VAN[=A]'DI[=A]TE, a salt formed by vanadic acid combined with a base.--_adjs._ VANAD'IC, VAN[=A]'DIOUS, VAN'ADOUS, pertaining to or obtained from vanadium; VANADIF'EROUS, yielding vanadium.--_n._ VAN'ADINITE, a compound of lead vanadate and lead chloride.

[Named from _Vanadis_, a Scandinavian goddess.]

VANCOURIER, van'k[=oo]-ri-er, _n._ a precursor. [Fr.

_avant-courier_--_avant_, before.]

VANDAL, van'dal, _n._ one of a fierce race from north-eastern Germany who entered Gaul about the beginning of the 5th century, crossed the Pyrenees into Spain (leaving their name in _Andalusia_=_Vandalitia_), next under Genseric crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and carried devastation and ruin from the shores of the Atlantic to the frontiers of Cyrene: any one hostile to arts or literature, a barbarian.--_adjs._ VAN'DAL, VANDAL'IC, barbarous, rude.--_n._ VAN'DALISM, hostility to arts or literature. [Low L. _Vandali_, _Vinduli_--the Teut. name seen in Dut. _Wenden_, the Wends.]

VANDYKE, van-d[=i]k', _n._ one of the points forming an edge or border, as of lace, ribbon, &c.: a painting by _Vandyke_: a small round cape, the border ornamented with points and indentations, as seen in paintings by Vandyke of the time of Charles I.--_adj._ pertaining to the style of dress represented in portraits by Vandyke.--_v.t._ to cut the edge off in points.--_n._ VANDYKE'-BROWN, a reddish-brown pigment, a species of peat or lignite.--_adj._ VANDYKED', notched with large points like a Vandyke collar. [Anthony _Van Dyck_ (1599-1641), a great Flemish painter.]

VANE, v[=a]n, _n._ a flag or banner: a thin slip of wood or metal at the top of a spire, &c., to show which way the wind blows: a weather-cock: the thin web of a feather: one of the blades of a windmill.--_adjs._ VANED, furnished with vanes; VANE'LESS. [Older form _fane_--A.S. _fana_; Goth.

_fana_, cloth, Ger. _fahne_; akin to L. _pannus_, Gr. _penos_, a cloth.]

VANESSA, va-nes'a, _n._ a genus of butterflies, e.g. the _Vanessa atalanta_ or Red Admiral, _Vanessa antiope_ or Camberwell Beauty. [Perh. intended for _Phanessa_--Gr. _Phan[=e]s_, a mystic divinity.]

VANG, vang, _n._ (_naut._) one of two guy-ropes from the end of a gaff to the deck to steady the peak. [Dut.]

VANGUARD, van'gard, _n._ the guard in the van of an army: the part of an army preceding the main body: the front line. [Formerly _vantgard_--Fr.

_avant-garde_--_avant_, before, _garde_, guard.]

VANILLA, va-nil'a, _n._ the dried aromatic sheath-like pod or fruit of a tropical epiphytal orchid, a favourite confection.--_adj._ VANILL'IC.

[Latinised from Fr. _vanille_--Sp. _vainilla_--_vaina_--L. _vagina_, a sheath.]

VANISH, van'ish, _v.i._ to pass away from a place, leaving it vacant or empty: to disappear: to be annihilated or lost: (_math._) to become zero: (_Shak._) to exhale.--_n._ VAN'ISHER.--_adv._ VAN'ISHINGLY.--_n._ VAN'ISHMENT.--VANISHING POINT, the point of disappearance of anything.

[Through Fr. from L. _vanesc[)e]re_, to pass away--_vanus_, empty.]

VANITY. See VAIN.

VANNER. See VAN (2).

VANQUISH, vangk'wish, _v.t._ to conquer: to defeat in any contest: to confute.--_adj._ VANQ'UISHABLE, capable of being vanquished.--_ns._ VANQ'UISHER; VANQ'UISHMENT. [Fr. _vaincre_ (pa.t. _vainquis_)--L.

_vinc[)e]re_, to conquer.]

VANTAGE, van't[=a]j, _n._ advantage: in lawn-tennis, same as advantage: (_Shak._) opportunity, convenience, excess, addition.--_v.i._ (_Spens._) to benefit, profit.--_ns._ VAN'TAGE-GROUND, -POINT, superiority of place, opportunity, &c.

VANTBRACE, VANTBRASS, _n._ See VAMBRACE.

VANWARD, van'wawrd, _adj._ (_rare_) situated in or pertaining to the van or front.--_n._ the advance-guard of an army on the march. [_Van_ and _ward_.]

VAPID, vap'id, _adj._ having the spirit evaporated: spiritless: insipid.--_adv._ VAP'IDLY.--_ns._ VAP'IDNESS, VAPID'ITY. [L. _vapidus_.]

VAPOROLE, v[=a]'p[=o]-r[=o]l, _n._ a thin glass capsule, containing a volatile drug wrapped in cotton-wool and enclosed in a silk bag, to be crushed in the fingers so as to permit inhalation.

VAPOUR, VAPOR, v[=a]'pur, _n._ the gas into which most liquids and solids are convertible by heat: the condition of a body when it becomes gas by heat: water in the atmosphere: anything vain or transitory: (_pl._) a disease of nervous weakness in which a variety of strange images float before the mind, temporary depression of spirits, dejection.--_v.i._ to pass off in vapour: to evaporate: to boast: to brag.--_v.t._ to make to pass into vapour: to cause to dissolve into gas, thin air, or other unsubstantial thing: (_rare_) to depress, dispirit: (_obs._) to bully.--_adjs._ V[=A]'PORABLE, V[=A]'PORISABLE, capable of being converted into vapour.--_n._ VAPOR[=A]'RIUM, a Russian bath.--_adjs._ VAPORIF'EROUS, producing vapour; VAPORIF'IC, converting into steam or other vapour; V[=A]'PORIFORM, existing in the form of vapour.--_n._ VAPORIS[=A]'TION.--_v.t._ V[=A]'PORISE, to convert into vapour.--_v.i._ to pass off in vapour.--_adj._ V[=A]'PORISH, full of vapours: hypochondriacal: peevish.--_n._ VAPOROM'ETER, an instrument for measuring the pressure of a vapour.--_adjs._ V[=A]'POROUS, V[=A]'POROSE, full of or like vapour: vain: affected with the vapours: unsubstantial, vainly imaginative.--_adv._ V[=A]'POROUSLY.--_ns._ V[=A]'POROUSNESS, VAPOROS'ITY; V[=A]'POUR-BATH, an apparatus for bathing the body in vapour of water.--_adj._ V[=A]'POURED, full of vapours: affected with the vapours.--_ns._ V[=A]'POURER, one who vapours, a boaster; V[=A]'POURING, windy or ostentatious talk.--_adv._ V[=A]'POURINGLY.--_adj._ V[=A]'POURY, full of vapour: affected with the vapours: peevish. [Fr.,--L. _vapor_.]

VAPULATION, vap-[=u]-l[=a]'shun, _n._ (_rare_) a flogging.--_adj._ VAP'UL[=A]T[=O]RY. [L. _vapul[=a]re_, to be flogged.]

VAQUERO, va-k[=a]'r[=o], _n._ a herdsman.--_n._ VACQUERIA (vak-e-r[=e]'a), a farm for grazing cattle. [Sp.,--Fr. _vacher_, a cowherd--L. _vacca_, a cow.]

VARA, va'ra, _n._ a Spanish-American linear measure, about thirty-three inches. [_Vare_.]

VARANGIAN, va-ran'ji-an, _n._ the name given by the Slavic Russians and the Greeks to one of those Northmen or Varings who made settlements on the east side of the Baltic in the second half of the 9th century, and laid the foundations under Rurik of the kingdom of Gardarike out of which grew the subsequent Russia.--VARANGIAN GUARD, a trusted bodyguard of the emperors of Constantinople from the end of the 10th century down to the close in 1453.

VARANUS, var'a-nus, _n._ the typical genus of _Varanidae_, a family of eriglossate lacertilians, a monitor.--_n._ VAR'AN, a varanoid lizard.--_adj._ VAR'ANOID.

VARE, v[=a]r, _n._ a wand of authority. [Sp. _vara_, a pole--L. _vara_, a trestle, forked stick--_varus_, crooked.]

VAREC, var'ek, _n._ a Breton impure sodium carbonate. [Fr.,--Ice. _vagrek_, _vagr_, a wave, _rek_, drift.]

VAREUSE, va-r[.e]z', _n._ a kind of loose jacket. [Fr.]

VARGUENO, var-g[=a]'n[=o], _n._ a form of cabinet made at _Vargas_ in Spain, having a box-shaped body with lid, resting on columns, and opening at the bottom so as to serve as a writing-desk.

VARIABLE, v[=a]'ri-a-bl, _adj._ that may be varied: changeable: liable to change: unsteady: (_bot._, _zool._) of a species embracing many individuals and groups departing more or less from the strict type: (_math._) quantitatively indeterminate: (_astron._) changing in brightness.--_n._ (_math._) a quantity subject to continual increase or decrease: a quantity which may have an infinite number of values in the same expression: a shifting wind.--_ns._ VARIABIL'ITY (_biol._), tendency to depart in any direction from the mean character of the species; V[=A]'RIABLENESS.--_adv._ V[=A]'RIABLY.--_v.t._ V[=A]'RIATE, to vary.--_v.i._ to change.--_adj._ V[=A]'RIATED, varied, diversified: varriated.--_n._ VARI[=A]'TION, a varying: a change: change from one to another: successive change: the extent to which a thing varies: (_gram._) change of termination: (_mus._) a manner of singing or playing the same air with various changes in time, rhythm, or key: (_astron._) deviation from the mean orbit of a heavenly body: (_biol._) departure from the mean character of a species.--_adjs._ VARI[=A]'TIONAL, pertaining to variation; V[=A]'RIATIVE, tending to variation.--VARIABLE SPECIES, any species with marked rate of variability.

[Fr.,--L. _variabilis_.]

VARIANCE, v[=a]'ri-ans, _n._ state of being varied: an alteration: a change of condition: (_law_) a discrepancy: difference that arises from, or produces, dispute.--_n._ V[=A]'RIANT, a different form of the same original word: a different reading, e.g. in a manuscript.--_adj._ diverse, variable, inconstant.--AT VARIANCE, in disagreement.

VARICELLA, var-i-sel'a, _n._ chicken-pox--applied also loosely to various eruptive diseases, as swine-pox, hives, or varioloid.--_adjs._ VARICELL'AR, pertaining to varicella; VARICELL'OID, resembling varicella.

VARICOCELE, var'i-k[=o]-s[=e]l, _n._ an enlargement of the veins of the spermatic cord, or sometimes of the veins of the scrotum. [L. _varix_, a dilated vein, Gr. _k[=e]l[=e]_, a tumour.]

VARICOLOURED, v[=a]'ri-kul-urd, _adj._ diversified in colour.--Also VARICOL'OROUS. [L. _varius_, various, _color_, colour.]

VARICORN, v[=a]'ri-korn, _adj._ having diversiform antennae.--_n._ a varicorn beetle. [L. _varius_, various, _cornu_, a horn.]

VARICOSE, var'i-k[=o]s, _adj._ permanently dilated or enlarged, as a vein, the actual dilatation being called a varix--most often in the sub-mucous veins of the rectum (constituting _haemorrhoids_ or _piles_), in the spermatic veins (giving rise to _varicocele_), and in the veins of the lower extremities--also VAR'ICOUS.--_adjs._ VAR'IC[=A]TED, marked by varicose formations (said of shells); VAR'ICOSED.--_n._ VARICOS'ITY, state of being varicose.--VARICOSE VEINS, a condition in which the superficial veins, usually of the leg, are swollen for no apparent physiological reason. [L. _varicosus_, full of dilated veins--_varix_, a dilated vein--_varus_, bent, crooked.]

VARIEGATE, v[=a]'ri-e-g[=a]t, _v.t._ to mark with different colours.--_ns._ VARIEG[=A]'TION, in plants, a condition in which other colours are exhibited in parts where green is the normal colour; V[=A]'RIEG[=A]TOR. [L.

_variegatus_--_varius_, various, _ag[)e]re_, to make.]

VARIETY, va-r[=i]'e-ti, _n._ the quality of bring various: difference: many-sidedness, versatility: a collection of different things: one of a number of things nearly allied to each other: one or more individuals of a species, which, owing to accidental causes, differ from the normal form in minor points:--_pl._ VAR[=I]'ETIES.--_adj._ V[=A]R[=I]'ETAL (_biol._), having the character of a zoological or botanical variety.--_adv._ VAR[=I]'ETALLY.--_ns._ VAR[=I]'ETY-SHOW, a mixed entertainment comprising dances, songs, negro-minstrelsy, farces, short sketches, &c.; VAR[=I]'ETY-TH[=E]'ATRE, a theatre devoted to variety-shows.--_adj._ V[=A]'RIFORM, varied in form.--_v.t._ V[=A]'RIFY, to variegate. [L.

_varietas_--_varius_, various.]

VARIOLA, v[=a]-r[=i]'[=o]-la, _n._ smallpox.--_adjs._ VAR[=I]'OLAR, VARIOL'IC, VAR[=I]'OLOUS.--_ns._ VARIOL[=A]'TION, inoculation with the virus of smallpox; V[=A]'RIOLE, a shallow pit or pitted marking, a foveole; VAR[=I]'OLITE, a rock covered with pea-like pustular forms, held in India as a preventive of smallpox and worn sometimes as an amulet round the neck.--_adjs._ VARIOLIT'IC, pertaining to variolite; V[=A]'RIOLOID, resembling smallpox: resembling measles.--_n._ modified smallpox. [Low L.,--L. _varius_, various, spotted.]

VARIOMETER, v[=a]-ri-om'e-t[.e]r, _n._ an instrument used in measuring magnetic intensity. [L. _varius_, various, Gr. _metron_, measure.]

VARIORUM, v[=a]-r[=i]-[=o]'rum, _adj._ a term applied to an edition of some work in which the notes of various commentators are inserted. [From the full Latin 'editio cum notis _variorum_.']

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