X.
(_The syllable_ ξυν- _in Greek is generally rendered Syn_, _q.v._)
=X.= The Roman numeral for ten.
=Xanthian Marbles.= Sculptures found in 1838 at Xanthus, in ancient Lycia, now in the British Museum. The figures are Assyrian in character, and of a date not later than 500 B.C. Besides the so called Harpy tomb (see HARPIES), there are sieges, processions, and many figures, in the energetic action so remarkable in the Nineveh sculptures. Most of the figures are in profile; but the eyes, like those of Egyptian sculptures, are shown in full.
=Xebec.= A small lateen-rigged three-masted vessel, common in the Mediterranean.
=Xenagia=, Gr. (ξεναγία). A subdivision of the Greek army consisting of 256 men, and subdivided into four tetrarchies, commanded by the _Xenagos_, an officer appointed by the Spartans, who had the control of the armies of the Greek states.
=Xenia=, Gr. (ξένια, lit. friendly gifts). (1) Delicacies, dainties, or pastry which were sent to one another by the Greeks and Romans as a pledge of friendship, chiefly during the Saturnalia. (2) Decorations to the walls of _guest_-chambers consisting of paintings of _still life_ representing game, fruits, fish, and flowers.
=Xenodochium=, R. (ξενο-δοχεῖον). A low Latin term for a hospice intended for the reception of pilgrims and sick persons. Childebert founded a _xenodochium_ at Lyons in the 6th century.
=Xerophagia=, Chr. (ξηρο-φαγία). A six days’ fast throughout Holy Week, during which the Christians of the primitive Church ate only bread with a little salt, and drank nothing but water.
=Xestes=, Gr. (Lat. Sextarius). A Greek measure of capacity; very nearly a _pint_; equivalent to the Latin SEXTARIUS.
=Xoïtes=, Egyp. A nome or division of Lower Egypt, the capital of which was _Khsonou_; Ammon-Ra was the principal deity there worshipped.
=Xylography.= Wood-engraving (q.v.).
=Xylon=, Gr. (lit. wood). A Greek measure of length, equal to 4 feet and 6·6 inches.
=Xylopyrography.= Poker-painting; the art of burning pictures on to wood.
=Xyneciæ=, Gr. (συν-οίκια). Festivals held at Athens in honour of Minerva, to commemorate the union of the inhabitants of Attica into a single city. These festivals were instituted by Theseus, and held every year in the month of July. Another name for them was _Metœciæ_ (μετοίκιαι).
=Xystus=, Gr. (ξυστός). A covered place situated near a portico, within which, in a palæstra or stadium, athletes went through their exercises. Pausanias tells us that this part of the stadium received its name from the fact that Hercules used every day to clear out the palæstra at Elis in order to inure himself to toil, and that he tore up many weeds by scraping (ξύω, to scrape, ξυστός). The baths and thermæ at Rome were furnished with large xysti, in which young men went through a number of exercises. The term _xystus_ was also generally applied by the Romans to the beds of rare flowers and shrubs in the centre of the peristyle; it also denoted a garden walk perfectly straight, and planted in a regular style; and lastly, an open walk or terrace in a garden attached to any building.
Y.
The letter =Y= is called the letter of Pythagoras because that philosopher made it the symbol of life. The foot of the letter, he said, represented infancy, and as man gradually rises to the age of reason, he finds two paths set before him, the one leading to good, the other to evil, portrayed by two forks of the letter. The illustration is the device of Jean de Morvilliers (+ 1577), Chancellor of France; the harrow tied to the Pythagorean Υ, a _rebus_ on his name _Mort-vie-liers_—“Death and life united.” The harrow is the symbol of Death, which makes all things equal. (Fig. 701.)
[Illustration: Fig. 701. Device of Morvilliers. (The Pythagorean Y.)]
=Yacca.= An ornamental Jamaica wood used for cabinet-making.
=Yard= (from the Saxon _geard_ or _gyrd_, from _gyrdan_, to enclose). Originally estimated to measure the _girth_ of a man’s body; until Henry I. decreed that it should be the length of his arm.
=Yataghan.= A Turkish dagger or scimitar.
=Yawl.= A man-of-war’s boat, rowed with six oars.
=Ychma=, Peruv. The name for wild cinnabar among the ancient Peruvians; it was employed by them for painting the body and drawing figures on the face and arms.
=Yellow.= One of the three primary colours; producing with _green_, blue; and with _red_, orange. The principal yellow pigments are _gamboge_ (bluish), _gold ochre_ (reddish), _yellow ochre_, _Naples yellow_, _chrome yellow_, _lemon yellow_, _Indian yellow_, _gall-stone_, _Roman ochre_, _Mars yellow_, _terra di Siena_, _Italian pink_, _cadmium yellow_, &c.
=Yellow=, in Christian art, or gold, was the symbol of the sun; of the goodness of God, initiation or marriage, faith or fruitfulness. In a bad sense yellow signifies inconstancy, jealousy, deceit; in this sense it is given to the traitor Judas, who is generally habited in dirty yellow.
=Yellow Arsenic.= (See YELLOW ORPIMENT.)
=Yellow Flag.= Denoting sickness on board of a ship or quarantine.
=Yellow Lake.= A bright pigment, very susceptible to the action of light or metal. (See PINKS.)
=Yellow Metal.= A composition, two-thirds copper and one-third zinc.
=Yellow Ochre.= An argillaceous earth, coloured by admixture of iron. (See OCHRE.)
=Yellow Orpiment= (_auripigmentum_). A bright and pure yellow pigment, but not durable, and dries very slowly; called also _Yellow Arsenic_.
=Yeoman= of the Guard. A beef-eater; one of the British sovereign’s state body-guard; below the _gentleman-at-arms_. Instituted at the coronation of Henry VII. in 1485.
=Yew.= _Taxus baccata._ The word is largely used in cabinet-making. The excellence of the wood for making bows led to the trees being planted in churchyards, to preserve them.
=Ymaigier.= (See IMAGIER.)
=Ymaigerie=, =Imagery=, Med. (1) Illuminated borders on missals and manuscripts executed by the miniaturists of the Middle Ages. (2) Bas-reliefs and sculptures on wood and stone.
[Illustration: Fig. 702. Yoke. Device of Pope Leo X.]
=Yoke.= A symbolical device assumed by Pope Leo X. in allusion to the text “My yoke is easy,” expressed in the one word of the motto “_Suave_.” (See JUGUM.) Fig. 702.
=York Collar.= Her. Was formed of alternate _Suns_ and _Roses_.
=York Herald.= One of the six Heralds of the College of Arms. (See HERALDS.)
=York Rose.= Her. The _white_ rose of the family of York. (See Fig. 589.)
=Yorkshire Grit.= A stone used for polishing marble and engravers’ copper plates.
=Ypres Lace= is the finest and most costly kind of VALENCIENNES.
=Yu=, Chinese. (1) A hard and heavy stone, supposed to be a kind of agate which was used for the ancient musical instrument KING, which was a kind of harmonicon made of slabs of sonorous stone of different sizes. (2) An ancient name for a curious wind instrument of high antiquity, which is still in use and is now called _cheng_. It consists of a number of tubes placed in a _calabash_, or bowl, and blown into through a long curved tube.
=Yucatan.= A province of Mexico remarkable for its architectural monuments of a forgotten civilization, described by _Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan_. (See MEXICAN ARCHITECTURE.)
=Yufts.= A kind of Russia leather, red and soft, with a pleasant smell.
=Yule=, O. E. Christmas time.
Z.
_The initials Z and S and Z and C frequently interchange, especially in old words derived from the German, as zither, cither; zentner, centner, &c. The German Z is pronounced ts._
=Zaba=, =Zava=. An Arabic cuirass. (_Meyrick._)
=Zabaoth.= (See SABAOTH.)
=Zafferano=, It. Saffron. A vegetable yellow pigment.
=Zaffre= (It. _zaffiro_). An ancient blue pigment, prepared from _cobalt_, of a _sapphire_ blue, resembling _smalt_.
=Zamarilla=, Sp. A loose jacket of sheepskins.
=Zarf.= An oriental saucer for coffee-cups.
=Zauca=, =Zaucha=, or =Zauga=, Gr. and R. A soft and flexible leather boot peculiar to Eastern nations; it was worn under the trousers.
=Zazahan=, Sp. A kind of flowered silk.
=Zebec.= A common form of sailing vessel in the Mediterranean, rigged with a lateen sail.
=Zebra Wood.= The _Hyawaballi_ of Guiana, a beautiful wood for furniture.
=Zebu.= The humped species to which the sacred Brahmin bull belongs, represented in Hindu art.
=Zema=, Gr. and R. (ζέμα). A vessel of earthenware or metal, a saucepan.
=Zemzemeeyeh=, Arabic. A skin for carrying water in the desert.
=Zend-Avesta=, Pers. “The Word of Life” or “Living Word.” The sacred book of the Parsees; it consists of two parts, one of which is written in _Zend_, the other in _Pehloi_ and _Parsee_. The first part is called _Vendidad-Salé_, and the second _Boundehech_.
=Zenith.= The centre of the arch of the sky overhead. (Cf. NADIR.)
=Zephyr Yarn= is the dyed worsted thread usually known as _Berlin wool_.
=Zeuxite.= A gem. (See TOURMALINE.)
=Zigzag=, Arch. One of the mouldings frequently used in Norman architecture, running in zigzag lines. (See Fig. 488.) Fig. 123 is an illustration of a variety of this ornament on a column. _Zigzig_ mouldings in connexion with pointed arches are characteristic of the transition period of architecture, from the Norman to the Early English, frequently called _chevron_.
[Illustration: Fig. 704. Duchess of Parma in richly embroidered robes and zimarra.]
=Zimarra.= An Oriental robe, called in England also _Samare_. Described as a lady’s jacket: “it has a loose body and four side laps or skirts, which extend to the knee; the sleeves short, cut to the elbow, turned up and faced.”—_Randle Holme._
=Zincography.= Engraving on plates of zinc, introduced in 1817. (See PHOTOZINCOGRAPHY.)
=Zinc White.= A pigment recently introduced as a substitute for the preparations of white lead. It is little liable to change, either by atmospheric action or mixture with other pigments. It is the white oxide of zinc, and is also called _Chinese White_ (q.v.).
=Zipo=, Med. Lat. A shirt of mail.
=Zircon.= A peculiar rare grey and brown earth, found in the true rough and opaque varieties of hyacinth stone, which are met with in Ceylon, Norway, Carinthia, and the Ural. The term _hyacinth_ is applied to the transparent and bright-coloured varieties of zircon, and _jargoon_ to crystals devoid of colour and of a smoky tinge, occasionally sold as inferior diamonds. (_Simmonds’ Com. Dict._)
=Zither.= A favourite stringed instrument of a soft and sweet effect, much used in the Austrian Tyrol. It is played lying flat on a table, and the strings struck with a _plectrum_ worn on the thumb.
=Zocle= or =Socle=, Arch. The plinth in classical architecture.
=Zodiacus=, =Zodiac=, Gen. (ζωδιακὸς, i. e. pertaining to animals). The zone of the celestial sphere which extends to eight degrees on either side of the ecliptic. The Egyptians had representations of it in their temples, the most celebrated being that of _Denderah_, a cast of which is at the Louvre. Other zodiacs have also been found in the great temple of Esneh and at Contra-Lato. Many monuments of the Romano-Byzantine and Gothic periods possess representations of zodiacs. They occur on the doorways and other parts of churches from the end of the 10th century. In particular may be noted the one which figures on the bas-reliefs of the frieze in the side apsides of the Romano-Auvergniate church of St. Paul d’Issoire. One of the largest zodiacs, dating from the beginning of the 11th century, is that of the church of St. Vézelay. The series of medallions which surround the great tympanum representing Christ and the apostles, contain, independently of the signs of the zodiac, representations of the agricultural operations belonging to each month of the year.
[Illustration: Fig. 705. Zona.]
=Zona=, Gr. (1) A girdle, used to gird up the skirts of the dress for freedom of action (Fig. 157); on occasions of solemnity, as sacrifices or funerals, the girdle was relaxed, and the folds of the dress allowed to hang to the feet (Fig. 537); as a part of the marriage ceremony it was taken off. Upon the armour of men it supported the kilt, and was worn round the cuirass (Fig. 705; cf. Fig. 44). It was generally used as a purse. The celebrated girdle (_cestus_) of Venus, which conferred beauty and inspired love, is not represented on the statues of that goddess. There is a town on the Ægean Sea called Zona from the belt of trees upon it, still growing in the processional order in which they arrived when they left their native plantations and followed the music of Orpheus. (2) In Architecture, an entablature which encircles any isolated building. Lofty buildings surrounded by seven _zones_ were described as _septizonia_. (3) In painted vases, horizontal annular bands often decorated with animals. (See ZOOPHORI.)
=Zonula.= Diminutive of ZONA.
=Zoomara=, Arab. A double clarionet.
[Illustration: Fig. 706. Greek Vase decorated with Zoophori.]
=Zoophori.= Bands of ornament on friezes, vases, &c., representing animals. (See Figs. 706, 707.)
[Illustration: Fig. 707. Vase with bands of Zoophori.]
=Zophorus=, Gr. and R. (ζωφόρος). Literally, bearing animals, and thence a _frieze_, decorated with figures of animals, conventional or real.
=Zotheca=, Gr. and R. (ζω-θήκη). A small chamber adjoining a larger apartment, whither the occupant might retire for the purpose of study. (2) A small niche for the reception of a statue, vase, or any other object. The Romans had a diminutive for _zotheca_, viz. _zothecula_.
=Zummárah=, Egyp. A musical instrument; a double reed pipe.
THE END.
LONDON: PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. 2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 3. Moved illustrations to the head of the associated article. If more than one illustration then positioned some after the article. 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.