YOKE, y[=o]k, _n._ that which joins together: the frame of wood joining oxen for drawing together: any similar frame, as one for carrying pails: (_prov._) a chain of hills: a stretch of work--e.g. from meal-time to meal-time: a mark of servitude: slavery: a pair or couple.--_v.t._ to put a yoke on: to join together: to enslave.--_v.i._ to be joined: to go along with.--_ns._ YOKE'-DEV'IL (_Shak._), a companion devil; YOKE'-FELL'OW, -MATE, an associate: a mate or fellow.--_adj._ YOKE'-TOED, pair-toed.--_n._ Y[=O]K'ING, as much work as is done at a stretch. [A.S. _geoc_, _iuc_, _ioc_; Ger. _joch_; L. _jugum_, Gr. _zygon_.]
YOKEL, y[=o]'kl, _n._ a country bumpkin.--_adj._ Y[=O]'KELISH. [Ety. dub.; but cf. _Gawk_ and _Gowk_.]
YOLDING, YOLDRING. Same as YOWLEY.
YOLK, y[=o]k, YELK, yelk, _n._ the yellow part of an egg: the vitellus of a seed: wool-oil.--_adjs._ YOLKED, having a yolk; YOLK'Y, like yolk. [A.S.
_geoloca_, _geoleca_--_geolo_, yellow.]
YON, yon, YONDER, yon'd[.e]r, _adv._ at a distance within view.--_adj._ being at a distance within view. [A.S. _geon_; Goth. _jains_ (masc.), _jaina_ (fem.), Ger. _jen-er_, that.]
YOND, yond, _adj._ (_Spens._) furious, mad--apparently a mere coinage from the foregoing.
YONI, y[=o]'n[=e], _n._ the _pudendum muliebre_, the symbol under which Sakti is worshipped in India.
YONKER=_Younker_ (q.v.).
YOOP, yoop, _n._ a word imitative of a sobbing sound.
YORE, y[=o]r, _n._ in old time. [A.S. _geara_, formerly, gen. pl. of _gar_, a year.]
YORKER, york'[.e]r, _n._ a term in cricket applied to a ball pitched to a point directly under the batsman's bat--formerly called _tice_ from _entice_. [Prob. from _Yorkshire_, but history quite unknown.]
YORKISH, york'ish, _adj._ pertaining to the county or city of _York_: adhering to the House of York in the Wars of the Roses.--_n._ YORK'IST, one of this party.--YORKSHIRE GRIT, a grit from Yorkshire used for polishing; YORKSHIRE PUDDING, a pudding made of unsweetened batter, and baked under meat so as to catch the drippings.
YOU, [=u], _pron._ 2d pers. pron. pl., but also used as singular.--_pron.pl._ YOU'-UNS, a provincial form for _you_, _you ones_.--YOU'RE ANOTHER, the vulgar form of _tu quoque_, effective in vituperation, but not an argument. [A.S. _eow_, orig. only dat. and accus.
Cf. _Ye_.]
YOUNG, yung, _adj._ not long born: in early life: in the first part of growth: vigorous: relating to youth: junior, the younger of two persons having the same name: inexperienced: newly arrived--in Australia.--_n._ the offspring of animals.--_adjs._ YOUNG'-EYED (_Shak._), with the bright eyes of youth; YOUNG'ISH, somewhat young.--_n._ YOUNG'LING, a young person or animal.--_adj._ youthful, young.--_adv._ YOUNG'LY.--_ns._ YOUNG'NESS; YOUNG'STER, a young person: a lad; YOUNGTH (_Spens._), youth.--_adj._ YOUNGTH'LY (_Spens._), youthful.--YOUNG BLOOD, fresh accession of strength; YOUNG ENGLAND, the name applied, during the Corn-Law struggle (1842-45), to a little band of young Tory politicians, who hated Free Trade and Radicalism, and professed a sentimental attachment to earlier forms of social life in England; YOUNG ENGLAND, AMERICA, &c., the rising generation in England, America, &c.; YOUNG IRELAND, a group of Irish politicians who broke away from O'Connell about 1844, because of his rooted aversion to physical force; YOUNG ITALY, an association of Italian republican agitators, active about 1834, under the lead of Mazzini; YOUNG PERSON, Mr Podsnap's phrase for youth generally, considered as too inexperienced to hear about some matters within the range of adult human experience--from Dickens's _Our Mutual Friend_; YOUNG PRETENDER, Prince Charlie, as distinguished from his father the Pretender or Old Pretender.--WITH YOUNG, pregnant. [A.S. _geong_; Ger. _jung_; also conn. with L. _juvenis_, Sans.
_yuvan_, young.]
YOUNKER, yung'k[.e]r, _n._ a young person: (_Shak._) a simpleton: (_Spens._) a young gentleman or knight. [Old Dut. _joncker_ (Dut.
_jonker_), from _jonk-heer_, 'young master' or 'lord;' Ger. _junker_.]
YOUR, [=u]r, _pron._ poss. of _you_: belonging to you: (_Shak._) used to denote a class or species well known, the use implying something of contempt.--YOURN (_prov._), yours. [A.S. _eower_. Cf. _Ye_.]
YOURS, [=u]rz, _pron._ poss. of _you_, not followed by a noun: used in many idiomatic senses, as e.g. 'you and _yours_,' your family, property, '_yours_ of yesterday,' your letter, &c.--YOURS FAITHFULLY, SINCERELY, TRULY, &c., YOURS TO COMMAND, &c., are forms used in letters just before the signature, as phrases of conventional politeness, for the most part: also sometimes used by a vulgar speaker in alluding to himself.
YOURSELF, [=u]r-self', _pron._ your own self or person:--_pl._ YOURSELVES'.
YOUTH, y[=oo]th, _n._ state of being young: early life: a young person: young persons taken together: (_Shak._) recentness, freshness.--_adj._ YOUTH'FUL, pertaining to youth or early life: young: suitable to youth: fresh: buoyant, vigorous.--_adv._ YOUTH'FULLY.--_ns._ YOUTH'FULNESS; YOUTH'HEAD, YOUTH'HOOD (_obs._), youth.--_adjs._ YOUTH'LY (_Spens._), young, youthful; YOUTH'SOME, youthful; YOUTH'Y, young. [A.S.
_geogoth_--_geong_, young; Ger. _jugend_.]
YOWL, yowl, _v.i._ to cry mournfully, as a dog: to yell, bawl.--_n._ a distressed cry.--_n._ YOWL'ING, a howling. [M. E. _yowlen_--Ice. _gaula_, to howl; cf. Scot. _gowl_ and Eng. _yell_.]
YOWLEY, yow'li, _n._ the yellow-bunting.--Also YEL'DRING, YEL'DROCK, YOR'LING, &c. [A.S. _geolu_, yellow.]
Y-POINTING, i-point'ing, _adj._ (_Milt._) pointing, looking up into the air. [An erroneous formation, as the prefix y- was confined to the past participle, and then, too, only or nearly always to words of Anglo-Saxon origin.]
Y-RAVISH, i-rav'ish, _v.t._ (_Shak._) to ravish. [An erroneous formation.
Cf. _Y-pointing_.]
YSLAKED, an obsolete _pa.p._ of _slake_.
Y-TRACK. See Y.
YTTERBIUM, i-ter'bi-um, _n._ an element discovered by Marignac in gadolinite.
YTTRIUM, it'ri-um, _n._ a rare metal obtained as a blackish-gray powder, and contained in a few minerals in which there are usually also present compounds of one or more other rare metals, such as cerium, didymium, erbium, and lanthanum.--_n._ YTT'RIA, its oxide, a yellowish-white powder.--_adjs._ YTT'RIC; YTTRIF'EROUS; YTT'RIOUS.--_ns._ YTT'RO-C[=E]'RITE, a violet mineral found embedded in quartz, a fluoride of yttrium, cerium, and calcium; YTT'RO-COL'UMBITE, -TAN'TALITE, a brownish mineral found at YTTERBY, a tantalate of yttrium, uranium, and iron, with calcium. [From _Ytterby_, a town in Sweden, where it was first discovered.]
YUCCA, yuk'a, _n._ a genus of plants of natural order _Liliaceae_, natives of Mexico, &c., some cultivated in gardens on account of the singularity and splendour of their appearance.--YUCCA GLORIOSA, a native of Virginia, but quite hardy in England, the stem two or three feet high, its upper part producing a great tuft or crown of large sword-shaped evergreen leaves, each terminating in a sharp black spine. From the centre of this crown of leaves rises the flower-stalk, three feet high, branching out into a large panicle, the flowers white with a purple stripe. [West Indian name.]
YUCK, yuk, _v.i._ (_prov._) to itch.--_n._ the itch.--_adj._ YUCK'Y, itchy.
YUCKER, yuk'[.e]r, _n._ the American flicker or golden-winged woodpecker.
YUFTS, yufts, _n._ Russia leather.
YUGA, y[=oo]'ga, _n._ one of the Hindu ages of the world.--Also YUG.
[Sans.]
YULAN, y[=oo]'lan, _n._ a Chinese magnolia, with large white flowers.
[Chin.]
YULE, yool, _n._ the season or feast of Christmas.--_n._ YULE'TIDE, the time or season of Yule or Christmas.--YULE LOG, the block of wood cut down in the forest, then dragged to the house, and set alight in celebration of Christmas. [A.S. _geol_, yule, _se ['ae]rra geola_, December; Ice. _jol_.
Not conn. either with Ice. _hjol_, wheel, or M. E. _youlen_, _yollen_, to cry out or yawl.]
YUNX, yungks, _n._ the wry-neck.
Y-WIS, i-wis', _adv._ (_Spens._) certainly, truly. [Cf. _Iwis_.]
Z the twenty-sixth and last letter in our alphabet, is derived through the Greek _zeta_, from _zayin_, the seventh Semitic letter--its sound a voiced sibilant, either a voiced _s_ as in 'zeal,' or a voiced _sh_ as in 'azure.'--The _cedilla_ (_c_) is a 'little _zed_,' as is implied by the Italian name _zediglia_, from _zeticula_.
ZABIAN, z[=a]'bi-an, _adj._ and _n._ the same as SABIAN.--_ns._ Z[=A]'BAISM, Z[=A]'BISM, the doctrines esp. of the Pseudo-ZABIANS, or Syrian Zabians (in Hauran, Edessa, Bagdad), remnants of the ancient Syrian but Hellenised heathens, from about the 9th to the 12th century. Under the name _Zabians_ used to be grouped several peoples distinct in origin and by no means alike in religion. The medieval Arabic and Jewish writers called nearly all those heathens or _Sabaeans_ who were neither Jews or Christians, nor Mohammedans or Magians. Now the name _Sabaeans_ denotes strictly the ancient inhabitants of southern Arabia, who were but little modified by Babylonian influences; the _Zabians_ of the Koran were originally non-Christian Gnostics--the ancestors of the still existing Mandaeans (q.v.) or Joannes' Christians.
ZABRA, za'bra, _n._ a small vessel on the Spanish coast. [Sp.]
ZABRUS, z[=a]'brus, _n._ a large genus of caraboid beetles. [Gr. _zabros_, gluttonous.]
ZADKIEL, zad'ki-el, _n._ the name assumed by Richard James Morrison (1794-1874), the compiler of a popular astrological almanac, a retired commander in the royal navy, a Hebraist, mathematician, astronomer, and a real believer in his pseudo-science.
ZAFFRE, ZAFFER, zaf'[.e]r, _n._ the impure oxide obtained by partially roasting cobalt ore previously mixed with two or three times its weight of fine sand. [Fr. _zafre_, of Ar. origin.]
ZALOPHUS, zal'[=o]-fus, _n._ a genus of otaries or eared seals. [Gr. _za-_, intens., _lophos_, a crest.]
ZAMBOMBA, tham-bom'ba, _n._ a simple Spanish musical instrument made by stretching a piece of parchment over a wide-mouthed jar and inserting a stick in it which is rubbed with the fingers.
ZAMIA, z[=a]'mi-a, _n._ a genus of palm-like trees or low shrubs of the order _Cycadaceae_--some species yield an edible starchy pith. [L. _zamia_, a dead fir-cone--Gr. _z[=e]mia_, damage.]