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bring a step down; and, figuratively, to lower in the estimation of others. Degrade respects the external station or rank, disgrace refers to the moral estimation or character.

A man may be said to depreciate human nature, who does not represent it as capable of its true elevation; he degrades it who sinks it below the scale of rationality. He who is most elevated in his own esteem may be the most humbled, he who is most elevated in the esteem of others may be most degraded. Dei-cide, from deus, God, and cœdo, I kill. The murder of God; the act of killing God. It is only used in speaking of the death of our blessed Saviour. De-jection, dejicio, (see Jacio, p. 18,) I cast down. Dejection, like depression, is occasional, and depends on outward circumstances; melancholy is permanent, and lies in the constitution.

Dei-fy. (See DEUS, p. 9.) Deification, in the Pagan Theology, the act or ceremony of placing the emperors among the Gods, and decreeing divine honours to be rendered them. Deification is the same as Apotheosis. The Asiatic Greeks were the first who admitted this practice, and their successors the first objects of this servile and impious mode of adulation. Under the Cæsars the Romans imitated the Greeks; and Augustus, at the age of twenty-eight, was the tutelary God of the Empire. Tiberius proposed to the Roman senate the Apotheosis of Jesus Christ. It is one of the doctrines of Pythagoras, that virtuous persons, after their death, were raised into the order of Gods; and hence, the ancients deified all the inventors of things useful to mankind.

Deism. (See DEUS, p. 9.) Deism, or Theism, (from the Greek word theos, God,) may be used to denote natural religion, as comprehending those truths which have a real foundation in reason and nature; and in this sense it is so far from being opposite to Christianity, that it is one great design of the gospel to illustrate and enforce it. But Deism more precisely signi

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fies that system of religion, relating both to doctrine and practice, which every man is to discover for himself by the mere force of natural reason, independent of all revelation, and exclusive of it.

De-legate, from delego, (see LEGO, No. II. p. 19,) signifies, one commissioned. A delegate has a more active office than a deputy, he is appointed to execute some positive commission; a deputy may often serve only to supply the place or answer in the name of one who is absent: delegates are mostly appointed in public transactions, deputies are chosen either in public or private matters.

De-liberate. (See LIBER, p. 20.)

"Deliberate, in La

tin, delibero, compounded of de, and libro, or libra, a balance, signifies to weigh as in a balance." Crabb.— Debate and deliberate, equally mark the acts of pausing or withholding the decision: to debate, supposes always a contrariety of opinion; to deliberate, supposes simply the weighing or estimating the value of the opinion that is offered.-Advice and information are given and received in consultations; doubts, difficulties, and objections, are started and removed in deliberations.

Thoughtful, considerate, and deliberate, rise upon each other in their signification: he who is considerate, pauses and considers properly what is his duty; he who is deliberate, considers deliberately. Deliberate may be used in a bad sense, to mark a settled intention to do evil; thus we speak of deliberate malice. De-lineate, delineo, (linea, line,) I draw the lines which include the contents. Delineate and sketch are properly employed in the art of drawing; and figuratively applied to moral subjects to express a species of description.

A delineation expresses something more than a sketch; the former conveying not merely the general outlines or more prominent features, but also as much of the details as would serve to form a whole; the latter, however, seldom contains more than some

broad touches, by which an imperfect idea of the subject is conveyed.

De-linquent, delinquo, (linquo, I leave,) omit to do that which I ought, and do that which I ought not. De-lude, from deludo, (see LUDO, p. 22,) signifies to play upon, or mislead by a trick. Every false impression produced by external objects, whether in trifles or important matters, is a deception; but delusion is confined to errors in matters of opinion. A deception does not always suppose a fault on the part of the person deceived, but a delusion does. De-mand, from demando, signifies to call for imperatively. To ask for, denotes simply the expressed wish to have what is considered as due; to claim, is to assert a right, or to make it known; to demand, is to insist on having without the liberty of a refusal. De-mise, demitto, (see MITTO, p. 23,) I put or send down. Death is a term which denotes the extinction of life, and is applicable to men or animals; demise, like departure and decease, is an expression applied only to the death of human beings. Departure is a Christian term, which carries with it an idea of a passage from one life to another; decease is a technical term in law.

Demise is substituted for decease in speaking of princes, "The natural dissolution of the king is generally called his demise."

Blackstone.

De-molish, demolior, (moles, a heap,) I throw down that which has been heaped up.

De-monstrate, from demonstro, signifies, to show in a specific manner. We may prove any thing by simple assertion, but we must demonstrate by intellectual efforts. To prove, evince, and manifest, are the acts either of persons or things; to demonstrate, that of persons only. "Which way soever we turn ourselves, we are encountered with clear evidences and sensible demonstrations of a Deity."

De-mur, from demoror, (mora, delay,) is synonymous with hesitate and pause. Demurring is the act of an equal, hesitating is often the act of a superior: we

demur, from doubt or difficulty, in giving our assent; we hesitate, from an undecided state of the mind, in giving our consent.

Demurring and hesitating are both employed as acts of the mind; pausing is an external action: we demur and hesitate in determining, we pause in speaking or doing any thing.

De-nominate, from denomino, (nomen, a name,) is to give a specific name upon a specific ground; thus, we denominate the man who drinks excessively, “a drunkard." 66 Philosophy, the great idol of the learned part of the Heathen world, divided it into many sects and denominations; as Stoics, Peripatetics, Epicureans, and the like." "All men are sinners: the most righteous among us must confess ourselves to come under that denomination." Rogers.-Denominator of a Fraction, is the number below the line, showing into how many parts the integer is supposed to be divided by the fraction. Thus, in the fraction 8, (six eighths,) the number eight is the denominator, and shows that the integer is here divided into eight parts. The number above the line, 6, is called the numerator, and shows that 6 such parts are intended, that is, three quarters of the whole.

De-note, from denoto, signifies, to cause to know. Denote is employed with regard to things and their characters; thus we say, the bee-hive denotes industry, the cornucopia denotes plenty signify is employed with regard to the thoughts or movements. Among the ancient Egyptians, hieroglyphics were very much employed to denote certain moral qualities; in many cases looks or actions will signify more than words. De-nounce, denuncio, (nuncio, I tell,) I tell or accuse publicly.

Dental, from dens, dentis, a tooth. Dental, is applied to certain letters, in the pronunciation of which the teeth have a principal share. See CONSONANT.

Den-tifrice, from dens, dentis, a tooth, and frico, I rub A substance with which to rub the teeth in order to clean them.

De-ny, from denego, signifies, to say no to a thing. To deny, respects matters of fact or knowledge; to refuse, matters of wish or request: a denial must always be expressly verbal, a refusal may sometimes be signified by actions or looks as well as words.

To deny, is likewise sometimes used in regard to one's own gratifications as well as to one's own knowledge, in which case it is still more analogous to refuse, which regards the gratifications of others. Instances are not rare, of misers who have denied themselves the common necessaries of life, and yet have never refused to relieve those who were in distress. Deny approaches to the sense of disown, when applied to persons; thus we say, Peter denied our Saviour.

Deo-dand, from deo, to God, and dandum, given. Deodand denotes that which is the immediate occasion of the death of any reasonable creature, and which is forfeited to the king to be distributed in alms to the poor, though formerly destined to another purpose. Thus, if a horse or other animal kill a person, it is forfeited as a deodand. It seems to have been originally designed as an expiation for the souls of such as were snatched away by sudden death; in the same manner as the apparel of a stranger who was found dead, was applied to purchase masses for the good of

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his soul. De-pend, de-pendance, from dependeo, (see PENDEO, p. 27,) signifies, literally, to rest one's weight by hanging from that which is held. Dependance is a general term, reliance is a species of dependance: we depend either on persons or things, we rely on persons only. 'Every moment we feel our dependance upon God," De-pict and paint are both from pingo, I represent forms, but paint is employed either to represent figures on paper, or to represent circumstances and events by means of words, depict is used only in this latter sense; but the former word expresses a greater exercise of the imagination than the latter it is the art

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