Part 8

4. To have perception, experience, or enjoyment; to partake; as, to taste of nature's bounty. Waller.

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Shak.

Taste, n. 1. The act of tasting; gustation.

2. A particular sensation excited by the application of a substance to the tongue; the quality or savor of any substance as perceived by means of the tongue; flavor; as, the taste of an orange or an apple; a bitter taste; an acid taste; a sweet taste.

3. (Physiol.) The one of the five senses by which certain properties of bodies (called their taste, savor, flavor) are ascertained by contact with the organs of taste.

Taste depends mainly on the contact of soluble matter with the terminal organs (connected with branches of the glossopharyngeal and other nerves) in the papillæ on the surface of the tongue. The base of the tongue is considered most sensitive to bitter substances, the point to sweet and acid substances.

4. Intellectual relish; liking; fondness; — formerly with of, now with for; as, he had no taste for study.

I have no taste Of popular applause.

Dryden.

5. The power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances; the faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever constitutes excellence, particularly in the fine arts and belles-letters; critical judgment; discernment.

6. Manner, with respect to what is pleasing, refined, or in accordance with good usage; style; as, music composed in good taste; an epitaph in bad taste.

7. Essay; trial; experience; experiment. Shak.

8. A small portion given as a specimen; a little piece tasted or eaten; a bit. Bacon.

9. A kind of narrow and thin silk ribbon.

Syn. — Savor; relish; flavor; sensibility; gout. — Taste, Sensibility, Judgment. Some consider taste as a mere sensibility, and others as a simple exercise of judgment; but a union of both is requisite to the existence of anything which deserves the name. An original sense of the beautiful is just as necessary to æsthetic judgments, as a sense of right and wrong to the formation of any just conclusions on moral subjects. But this "sense of the beautiful" is not an arbitrary principle. It is under the guidance of reason; it grows in delicacy and correctness with the progress of the individual and of society at large; it has its laws, which are seated in the nature of man; and it is in the development of these laws that we find the true "standard of taste."

What, then, is taste, but those internal powers, Active and strong, and feelingly alive To each fine impulse? a discerning sense Of decent and sublime, with quick disgust From things deformed, or disarranged, or gross In species? This, nor gems, nor stores of gold, Nor purple state, nor culture, can bestow, But God alone, when first his active hand Imprints the secret bias of the soul.

Akenside.

Taste of buds, or Taste of goblets (Anat.), the flask-shaped end organs of taste in the epithelium of the tongue. They are made up of modified epithelial cells arranged somewhat like leaves in a bud.

Taste"ful (?), a. 1. Having a high relish; savory. "Tasteful herbs." Pope.

2. Having or exhibiting good taste; in accordance with good taste; tasty; as, a tasteful drapery.

— Taste"ful*ly, adv. — Taste"ful*ness, n.

Taste"less, a. 1. Having no taste; insipid; flat; as, tasteless fruit.

2. Destitute of the sense of taste; or of good taste; as, a tasteless age. Orrery.

3. Not in accordance with good taste; as, a tasteless arrangement of drapery.

— Taste"less*ly, adv. — Taste"less*ness, n.

Tast"er (?), n. 1. One who tastes; especially, one who first tastes food or drink to ascertain its quality.

Thy tutor be thy taster, ere thou eat.

Dryden.

2. That in which, or by which, anything is tasted, as, a dram cup, a cheese taster, or the like.

3. (Zoöl.) One of a peculiar kind of zooids situated on the polyp-stem of certain Siphonophora. They somewhat resemble the feeding zooids, but are destitute of mouths. See Siphonophora.

Tast"i*ly (?), adv. In a tasty manner.

Tast"ing, n. The act of perceiving or tasting by the organs of taste; the faculty or sense by which we perceive or distinguish savors.

||Tas"to (?), n. [It.] (Mus.) A key or thing touched to produce a tone. || ||Tasto solo, single touch; — in old music, a direction denoting that ||the notes in the bass over or under which it is written should be ||performed alone, or with no other chords than unisons and octaves. || Tast"y (?), a. [Compar. Tastier (?); superl. Tastiest.] 1. Having a good taste; — applied to persons; as, a tasty woman. See Taste, n., 5.

2. Being in conformity to the principles of good taste; elegant; as, tasty furniture; a tasty dress.

Tat (?), n. [Hind. tt.] Gunny cloth made from the fiber of the Corchorus olitorius, or jute. [India]

Tat, n. [Hind. tatt&?;.] (Zoöl.) A pony. [India]

Ta*tau"pa (?), n. [From the native name.] (Zoöl.) A South American tinamou (Crypturus tataupa).

Tatch (?), n. [F. tache spot. See Techy.] A spot or stain; also, a trick. [Obs.] Sir T. Elyot.

Tath (?), obs. 3d pers. sing. pres. of Ta, to take.

Tath, n. [Prov. E.; of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. ta&?; dung, ta&?;a the grass of a manured pasture, te&?;ja to manure. √58. Cf. Ted.] 1. Dung, or droppings of cattle. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

2. The luxuriant grass growing about the droppings of cattle in a pasture. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Tath, v. t. To manure (land) by pasturing cattle on it, or causing them to lie upon it. [Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

Ta*tou" (?), n. [Cf. Tatouay.] (Zoöl.) The giant armadillo (Priodontes gigas) of tropical South America. It becomes nearly five feet long including the tail. It is noted for its burrowing powers, feeds largely upon dead animals, and sometimes invades human graves.

Tat"ou*ay (?), n. [Of Brazilian origin; cf. Pg. tatu, F. tatou.] (Zoöl.) An armadillo (Xenurus unicinctus), native of the tropical parts of South America. It has about thirteen movable bands composed of small, nearly square, scales. The head is long; the tail is round and tapered, and nearly destitute of scales; the claws of the fore feet are very large. Called also tatouary, and broad-banded armadillo.

Tat"ou*hou (?), n. [Cf. Tatouay.] (Zoöl.) The peba.

Tatt (?), v. t. & i. To make (anything) by tatting; to work at tatting; as, tatted edging.

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||Tat"ta (?), n. [Hind. &?;a&?;&?;, tt.] A bamboo frame or trellis hung ||at a door or window of a house, over which water is suffered to ||trickle, in order to moisten and cool the air as it enters. [India] || Tat"ter (?), n. One who makes tatting. Caulfield & S. (Doct. of Needlework).

Tat"ter (?), n. [Icel. tötur, töttur, pl. tötrar, &?;öttrar; cf. Norw. totra, pl. totror, LG. taltern tatters. √240.] A rag, or a part torn and hanging; — chiefly used in the plural.

Tear a passion to tatters, to very rags.

Shak.

Tat"ter, v. t. [p. p. Tattered (?).] To rend or tear into rags; — used chiefly in the past participle as an adjective.

Where waved the tattered ensigns of Ragfair.

Pope.

Tat`ter*de*mal"ion (?), n. [Tatter + OF. desmaillier to break the meshes of, to tear: cf. OF. maillon long clothes, swadding clothes, F. maillot. See Tatter, and Mail armor.] A ragged fellow; a ragamuffin. L'Estrange.

Tat"ting (?), n. A kind of lace made from common sewing thread, with a peculiar stitch.

Tatting shuttle, the shuttle on which the thread used in tatting is wound.

Tat"tle (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tattled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tattling (?).] [Akin to OE. tateren, LG. tateln, D. tateren to stammer, and perhaps to E. titter.] 1. To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat.

The tattling quality of age, which is always narrative.

Dryden.

2. To tell tales; to communicate secrets; to be a talebearer; as, a tattling girl.

Tat"tle, n. Idle talk or chat; trifling talk; prate.

[They] told the tattle of the day.

Swift.

Tat"tler (?), n. 1. One who tattles; an idle talker; one who tells tales. Jer. Taylor.

2. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of large, long-legged sandpipers belonging to the genus Totanus.

The common American species are the greater tattler, or telltale (T. melanoleucus), the smaller tattler, or lesser yellowlegs (T. flavipes), the solitary tattler (T. solitarius), and the semipalmated tattler, or willet. The first two are called also telltale, telltale spine, telltale tattler, yellowlegs, yellowshanks, and yelper.

Tat"tler*y (?), n. Idle talk or chat; tittle-tattle.

Tat"tling (?), a. Given to idle talk; apt to tell tales. — Tat"tling*ly, adv.

Tat*too" (?), n. [Earlier taptoo, D. taptoe; tap a tap, faucet + toe to, shut (i. e., the taps, or drinking houses, shut from the soldiers).] (Mil.) A beat of drum, or sound of a trumpet or bugle, at night, giving notice to soldiers to retreat, or to repair to their quarters in garrison, or to their tents in camp.

The Devil's tattoo. See under Devil.

Tat*too", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tattooed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tattooing.] [Of Polynesian origin; cf. New Zealand ta to tattoo, tatu puncturation (in Otaheite).] To color, as the flesh, by pricking in coloring matter, so as to form marks or figures which can not be washed out.

Tat*too", n.; pl. Tattoos (&?;). An indelible mark or figure made by puncturing the skin and introducing some pigment into the punctures; — a mode of ornamentation practiced by various barbarous races, both in ancient and modern times, and also by some among civilized nations, especially by sailors.

Ta*tu" (?), n. (Zoöl.) Same as Tatou.

Ta*tu"si*id (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any armadillo of the family Tatusiidæ, of which the peba and mule armadillo are examples. Also used adjectively.

Tau (?), n. [Gr. tay^ the letter τ (English T).] (Zoöl.) The common American toadfish; — so called from a marking resembling the Greek letter tau (τ).

Tau cross. See Illust. 6, of Cross.

Taught (?), a. See Taut. Totten.

Taught, imp. & p. p. of Teach. [AS. imp. thte, p. p. getht.] See Teach.

Taunt (?), a. [Cf. OF. tant so great, F. tant so much, L. tantus of such size, so great, so much.] (Naut.) Very high or tall; as, a ship with taunt masts. Totten.

Taunt (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Taunted; p. pr. & vb. n. Taunting.] [Earlier, to tease; probably fr. OF. tanter to tempt, to try, for tenter. See Tempt.] To reproach with severe or insulting words; to revile; to upbraid; to jeer at; to flout.

When I had at my pleasure taunted her.

Shak.

Syn. — To deride; ridicule; mock; jeer; flout; revile. See Deride.

Taunt, n. Upbraiding language; bitter or sarcastic reproach; insulting invective.

With scoffs, and scorns, and contemelious taunts.

Shak.

With sacrilegious taunt and impious jest.

Prior.

Taunt"er (?), n. One who taunts.

Taunt"ing, a. & n. from Taunt, v.

Every kind of insolent and taunting reflection.

Burke.

Taunt"ing*ly, adv. In a taunting manner.

Taunt"ress (?), n. A woman who taunts.

Taur (?), n. [L. Taurus.] The constellation Taurus. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Tau`ri*cor"nous (?), a. [L. tauricornis; taurus a bull + cornu a horn.] (Zoöl.) Having horns like those of a bull. Sir T. Browne.

Tau`ri*dor" (?), n. [See Toreador.] A bullfighter; a toreador. Sir W. Scott.

Tau"ri*form (?), a. [L. tauriformis; taurus a bull + -form: cf. F. tauriforme.] Having the form of a bull.

Tau"rine (?), a. [L. taurinus, fr. taurus a bull. See Taurus.] (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the genus Taurus, or cattle.

Tau"rine (?), n. [So named because it was discovered in the bile of the ox. See Taurus.] (Physiol. Chem.) A body occurring in small quantity in the juices of muscle, in the lungs, and elsewhere, but especially in the bile, where it is found as a component part of taurocholic acid, from which it can be prepared by decomposition of the acid. It crystallizes in colorless, regular six-sided prisms, and is especially characterized by containing both nitrogen and sulphur, being chemically amido-isethionic acid, C2H7NSO3.

Tau`ro*cho"late (?), n. (Physiol. Chem.) A salt of taurocholic acid; as, sodium taurocholate, which occurs in human bile.

Tau`ro*chol"ic (?), a. [Taurine + cholic.] (Physiol. Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, a conjugate acid (called taurocholic acid) composed of taurine and cholic acid, present abundantly in human bile and in that of carnivora. It is exceedingly deliquescent, and hence appears generally as a thick, gummy mass, easily soluble in water and alcohol. It has a bitter taste.

{ Tau"ro*col (?), Tau`ro*col"la (?), } n. [NL. taurocolla, fr. Gr. tayro`kolla; tay^ros a bull + ko`lla glue: cf. F. taurocolle.] Glue made from a bull's hide.

Tau`ro*ma"chi*an (?), a. [See Tauromachy.] Of or pertaining to bullfights. — n. A bullfighter.

Tau*rom"a*chy (?), n. [Gr. tayromachi`a; tay^ros bull + ma`chh fight.] Bullfighting.

||Tau"rus (t"rs), n. [L., akin to Gr. tay^ros, and E. steer. See Steer ||a young ox.] 1. (Astron.) (a) The Bull; the second in order of the ||twelve signs of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 20th of ||April; — marked thus [] in almanacs. (b) A zodiacal constellation, ||containing the well- known clusters called the Pleiades and the ||Hyades, in the latter of which is situated the remarkably bright ||Aldebaran. || 2. (Zoöl.) A genus of ruminants comprising the common domestic cattle.

Tau*ryl"ic (?), a. [L. taurus a bull + E. phenylic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an acid found of a urine of neat cattle, and probably identical with cresol.

Taut (?), a. [Dan. tæt; akin to E. tight. See Tight.] 1. (Naut.) Tight; stretched; not slack; — said esp. of a rope that is tightly strained.

2. Snug; close; firm; secure.

Taut hand (Naut.), a sailor's term for an officer who is severe in discipline.

Tau`te*gor"ic*al (?), a. [Gr. &?;, for &?; &?; the same + &?; to speak. Cf. Allegory.] Expressing the same thing with different words; — opposed to allegorical. [R.] Coleridge.

Tau"to*chrone (?), n. [Gr. &?;, for &?; &?; the same + &?; time: cf. F. tautochrone.] (Math.) A curved line, such that a heavy body, descending along it by the action of gravity, will always arrive at the lowest point in the same time, wherever in the curve it may begin to fall; as, an inverted cycloid with its base horizontal is a tautochrone.

Tau*toch"ro*nous (?), a. (Math.) Occupying the same time; pertaining to, or having the properties of, a tautochrone.

Tau*tog" (?), n. [The pl. of taut, the American Indian name, translated by Roger Williams sheep's heads, and written by him tautaúog.] (Zoöl.) An edible labroid fish (Haitula onitis, or Tautoga onitis) of the Atlantic coast of the United States. When adult it is nearly black, more or less irregularly barred, with greenish gray. Called also blackfish, oyster fish, salt-water chub, and moll. [Written also tautaug.]

Tau`to*log"ic (?), a. Tautological.

Tau`to*log"ic*al (?), a. [Cf. F. tautologique.] Involving tautology; having the same signification; as, tautological expression. — Tau`to*log"ic*al*ly, adv.

Tautological echo, an echo that repeats the same sound or syllable many times.

Tau*tol"o*gist (?), n. One who uses tautological words or phrases.

Tau*tol"o*gize (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tautologized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tautologizing (?).] To repeat the same thing in different words.

Tau*tol"o*gous (?), a. [Gr. &?;; &?;, for &?; &?; the same + &?; to speak.] Repeating the same thing in different words; tautological. [R.] Tooke.

Tau*tol"o*gy (?), n. [L. tautologia, Gr. &?;: cf. F. tautologie.] (Rhet.) A repetition of the same meaning in different words; needless repetition of an idea in different words or phrases; a representation of anything as the cause, condition, or consequence of itself, as in the following lines: —

The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day.

Addison.

Syn. — Repetition. — Tautology, Repetition. There may be frequent repetitions (as in legal instruments) which are warranted either by necessity or convenience; but tautology is always a fault, being a sameness of expression which adds nothing to the sense or the sound.

Tau`to*mer"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Relating to, or characterized by, tautomerism.

Tau*tom"er*ism (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?;, for &?; &?; the same + &?; part.] (Chem.) The condition, quality, or relation of metameric substances, or their respective derivatives, which are more or less interchangeable, according as one form or the other is the more stable. It is a special case of metamerism; thus, the lactam and the lactim compounds exhibit tautomerism.

{ Tau`to*ou"si*an (?), Tau`to*ou"si*ous (?), } a. [Gr. &?;; &?;, for &?; &?; the same + &?; being, essence.] Having the same essence; being identically of the same nature. [R.] Cudworth.

Tau`to*phon"ic*al (?), a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, tautophony; repeating the same sound.

Tau*toph"o*ny (?), n. [Gr. &?;; &?;, for &?; &?; the same + &?; voice.] Repetition of the same sound.

Tau`to*zon"al (?), a. [Gr. &?;; &?;, for &?; &?; the same + E. zonal.] (Crystallog.) Belonging to the same zone; as, tautozonal planes.

Tav"ern (?), n. [OE. taverne, F. taverne, from L. taberna a hut, booth, tavern. Cf. Table, Tabernacle.] A public house where travelers and other transient guests are accomodated with rooms and meals; an inn; a hotel; especially, in modern times, a public house licensed to sell liquor in small quantities.

Tav"ern*er (?), n. [F. tavernier, L. tabernarius.] One who keeps a tavern. Chaucer. Camden.

Tav"ern*ing, n. A feasting at taverns. [Obs.] "The misrule of our tavernings." Bp. Hall.

Tav"ern*man (?), n.; pl. Tavernmen (&?;). The keeper of a tavern; also, a tippler. [Obs.]

Taw (?), n. Tow. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Taw, v. t. [Cf. Tew to tow, Tow, v. t.] To push; to tug; to tow. [Obs.] Drayton.

Taw (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tawed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tawing.] [OE. tawen, tewen, AS. twian to prepare; cf. D. touwen, Goth. twa order, taujan to do, and E. tool. √64. Cf. 1st Tew, Tow the coarse part of flax.] 1. To prepare or dress, as hemp, by beating; to tew; hence, to beat; to scourge. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

2. To dress and prepare, as the skins of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids, for gloves, and the like, by imbuing them with alum, salt, and other agents, for softening and bleaching them.

Taw, n. [Cf. AS. tw instrument.] 1. A large marble to be played with; also, a game at marbles.

2. A line or mark from which the players begin a game of marbles. [Colloq. U. S.]

Taw"dri*ly (?), adv. In a tawdry manner.

Taw"dri*ness, n. Quality or state of being tawdry.

A clumsy person makes his ungracefulness more ungraceful by tawdriness of dress.

Richardson.

Taw"dry (?), a. [Compar. Tawdrier (?); superl. Tawdriest.] [Said to be corrupted from Saint Audrey, or Auldrey, meaning Saint Ethelreda, implying therefore, originally, bought at the fair of St. Audrey, where laces and gay toys of all sorts were sold. This fair was held in Isle Ely, and probably at other places, on the day of the saint, which was the 17th of October.] 1. Bought at the festival of St. Audrey. [Obs.]

And gird in your waist, For more fineness, with a tawdry lace.

Spenser.

2. Very fine and showy in colors, without taste or elegance; having an excess of showy ornaments without grace; cheap and gaudy; as, a tawdry dress; tawdry feathers; tawdry colors.

He rails from morning to night at essenced fops and tawdry courtiers.

Spectator.

Taw"dry, n.; pl. Tawdries (&?;). A necklace of a rural fashion, bought at St. Audrey's fair; hence, a necklace in general. [Obs.]

Of which the Naiads and the blue Nereids make Them tawdries for their necks.

Drayton.

Taw"er (?), n. One who taws; a dresser of white leather.

Taw"er*y (?), n. A place where skins are tawed.

Taw"ni*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being tawny.

Taw"ny (?), a. [Compar. Tawnier (?); superl. Tawniest.] [F. tanné, p. p. of tanner to tan. See Tan, v. t. & n. Cf. Tenné.] Of a dull yellowish brown color, like things tanned, or persons who are sunburnt; as, tawny Moor or Spaniard; the tawny lion. "A leopard's tawny and spotted hide." Longfellow.

Taws (?), n. [See Taw to beat.] A leather lash, or other instrument of punishment, used by a schoolmaster. [Written also tawes, tawis, and tawse.] [Scot.]

Never use the taws when a gloom can do the turn.

Ramsay.

Tax (?), n. [F. taxe, fr. taxer to tax, L. taxare to touch, sharply, to feel, handle, to censure, value, estimate, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch. See Tangent, and cf. Task, Taste.] 1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed by authority. Specifically: —

(a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for the support of a government.

A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious.

Macaulay.

(b) Especially, the sum laid upon specific things, as upon polls, lands, houses, income, etc.; as, a land tax; a window tax; a tax on carriages, and the like. Taxes are annual or perpetual, direct or indirect, etc.

(c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society to defray its expenses.

2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject.

3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health.

4. Charge; censure. [Obs.] Clarendon.

5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] Johnson.

Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.]

Syn. — Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand.

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Tax (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Taxed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Taxing.] [Cf. F. taxer. See Tax, n.] 1. To subject to the payment of a tax or taxes; to impose a tax upon; to lay a burden upon; especially, to exact money from for the support of government.

We are more heavily taxed by our idleness, pride, and folly than we are taxed by government.

Franklin.

2. (Law) To assess, fix, or determine judicially, the amount of; as, to tax the cost of an action in court.

3. To charge; to accuse; also, to censure; — often followed by with, rarely by of before an indirect object; as, to tax a man with pride.

I tax you, you elements, with unkindness.

Shak.

Men's virtues I have commended as freely as I have taxed their crimes.

Dryden.

Fear not now that men should tax thine honor.

M. Arnold.

Tax`a*bil"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being taxable; taxableness.

Tax"a*ble (?), a. 1. Capable of being taxed; liable by law to the assessment of taxes; as, taxable estate; taxable commodities.

2. (Law) That may be legally charged by a court against the plaintiff of defendant in a suit; as, taxable costs.

— Tax"a*ble*ness, n. — Tax"a*bly, adv.

Tax`as*pid"e*an (?), a. [Gr. ta`xis an arrangement + &?;, &?;, shield.] (Zoöl.) Having the posterior tarsal scales, or scutella, rectangular and arranged in regular rows; — said of certain birds.

Tax*a"tion (?), n. [F. taxation, L. taxatio a valuing, estimation, from L. taxare. See Tax.] 1. The act of laying a tax, or of imposing taxes, as on the subjects of a state, by government, or on the members of a corporation or company, by the proper authority; the raising of revenue; also, a system of raising revenue.

2. (Law) The act of taxing, or assessing a bill of cost.

3. Tax; sum imposed. [R.] Daniel.

4. Charge; accusation. [Obs.] Shak.

Tax"el (?), n. (Zoöl.) The American badger.

||Tax`e*op"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; (?) + -poda.] (Paleon.) ||An order of extinct Mammalia found in the Tertiary formations. || Tax"er (?), n. 1. One who taxes.