<B>-et,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (suffix forming nouns from other nouns.) little ______. <BR> <I>Ex. Owlet = a little owl. Islet = a little isle. This meaning has, however, disappeared in most words formed by adding -et, as in turret, tablet.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="et">
<B>Et</B> (no period),<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) ethyl. </DL>
<A NAME="et">
<B>e.t.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> elapsed time. </DL>
<A NAME="et">
<B>E.T.</B> or <B>ET</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>Eastern Time. <DD><B> 2. </B>electrical transcription. <DD><B> 3. </B>ephemeris time. </DL>
<A NAME="eta">
<B>eta</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding to English long a. </DL>
<A NAME="eta">
<B>eta</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a former Japanese caste consisting of laborers and workers living in segregated slums and held to be inferior to the rest of the population. <DD><B> 2. </B>a member of the eta caste. </DL>
<A NAME="eta">
<B>ETA</B> (no periods) or <B>E.T.A.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> estimated time of arrival. </DL>
<A NAME="etaac">
<B>etaac, </B>noun. =blaubok.</DL>
<A NAME="etacarinae">
<B>Eta Carinae,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a star in the southern constellation Carina noted for its periodic explosions and the increased brightness they produce. </DL>
<A NAME="etaerio">
<B>etaerio, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) a fruit consisting of a mass of achenes, drupelets, or follicles, such as the strawberry. Also, <B>hetaerio.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="etage">
<B>etage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a story or floor of a house. </DL>
<A NAME="etagere">
<B>etagere, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a stand with open shelves for small ornaments or bric-a-brac; whatnot. <BR> <I>Ex. Antique apothecary jars were arranged on the gilded shelves of a slim etagere (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etal">
<B>et al.,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. </B>and others (Latin, <I>et alii</I>). <BR> <I>Ex. I moved back to Manhattan--wife, kids, lawn furniture, dog, et al. (Esquire).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>and elsewhere (Latin, <I>et alibi</I>). <BR> <I>Ex. ... as it [a movie] moves through a wide assortment of scenes, from St. Petersburg, to a Moscow flat, to a train, et al. (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etalon">
<B>etalon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an interferometer used in physics and astronomy to measure wave lengths of light, producing fringes by reflection rather than by transmission. <BR> <I>Ex. High resolving power can be obtained with etalons (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etameson">
<B>eta meson,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a meson of zero electric charge, having a mass 1072 times that of the electron. Eta mesons decay to form pi-mesons and gamma rays. </DL>
<A NAME="etamin">
<B>Etamin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a star of the second magnitude in the constellation Draco. </DL>
<A NAME="etamine">
<B>etamine, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a light cotton or worsted fabric with a loose weave, used for clothing. <DD><B> 2. </B>a kind of embroidered canvas. <DD><B> 3. </B>a worsted fabric with a highly twisted yarn in an open weave. </DL>
<A NAME="etape">
<B>etape, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a public storehouse. <DD><B> 2a. </B>an allowance of supplies for soldiers on the march. <DD><B> b. </B>the halting place at the end of a march. <DD><B> c. </B>the distance marched by troops during one day. <DD><B> 3. </B>(in old Russia) a stockade used to confine and shelter exiles or refugees going from one place to another. </DL>
<A NAME="etat">
<B>etat, </B>noun, pl. <B>etats.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>state; condition. <DD><B> 2. </B>position, rank, or calling. <DD><B> 3. </B>an estate or social order. <DD><B> 4. </B>a government; a commonwealth or nation. </DL>
<A NAME="etatism">
<B>etatism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>extreme development of the power of the state over the individual citizen. <BR> <I>Ex. Where is the antithesis between etatism and liberalism here, or between collectivism and individualism, for that matter? (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a form of socialism in which the state uses its power to improve social conditions; state socialism. </DL>
<B>etatist, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> characterized by or favoring etatism. <BR> <I>Ex. an etatist society. an etatist structure of industry.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etc">
<B>etc.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> et cetera. <BR> <I>Ex. Symbolism plays a much greater role in the Japanese mentality--in language, gesture, sensibility, dress, etc.--than in Western consciousness (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etcetera">
<B>et cetera,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> and others; and the rest; and so forth; and so on; and the like. (Abbr:) etc. </DL>
<A NAME="etceteras">
<B>etceteras, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> extra things; usual additions. <BR> <I>Ex. the hundred etceteras of traveling baggage (Charles J. Lever).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etch">
<B>etch, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to engrave (a design) on metal, glass, wood, mineral, or plastic by acid or heat that burns lines into it. Filled with ink, the lines of the design will reproduce a copy on paper. <DD><B> 2. </B>to engrave (metal, glass, mineral, wood, or plastic) by this process. <BR> <I>Ex. The artist etched only a few copperplates.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to impress deeply; fix firmly; engrave. <BR> <I>Ex. Her face was etched in my memory. The author ... can etch a flying moment with a sharpness denied Dreiser (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to use this method of producing designs and pictures; practice the art of etching. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act or process of etching. <DD><B> 2. </B>a substance used for etching; etchant. noun <B>etcher.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="etchant">
<B>etchant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a solution used to etch, especially metal or glass. <BR> <I>Ex. The etchant is a mixture based on hydrochloric, nitric, and phosphoric acids, containing a high proportion of dissolved stainless steel to facilitate control (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="etching">
<B>etching, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a picture or design printed from an etched plate. <BR> <I>Ex. All that I own is a print, An etching, a mezzotint (Robert Browning).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an etched plate; etched drawing or design. <DD><B> 3. </B>the art or process of engraving a drawing or design on metal, glass, wood, mineral, or plastic, by means of acid or heat. </DL>
<A NAME="etchingground">
<B>etching ground,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the varnish or coating used in etching to protect the surface of the metal plate from the action of the acid, except where the artist scrapes the ground away. The etching ground is usually a composition of wax, gum, resin, and bitumen. </DL>
<A NAME="etchmiadzin">
<B>Etchmiadzin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a monastery in Vagharshapad, Russian Armenia, the residence of the primate of the Armenian Church. </DL>
<A NAME="etcumspiritutuo">
<B>et cum spiritu tuo,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) and with thy spirit (the response to the salutation <I>Dominus vobiscum</I>). </DL>
<A NAME="etd">
<B>ETD</B> (no periods) or <B>e.t.d.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> estimated time of departure. </DL>
<A NAME="eteocles">
<B>Eteocles, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Legend.) a son of Oedipus and Jocasta, and the King of Thebes who defended the city against seven heroes (the Seven Against Thebes) who sought to restore the rights of Polynices, his brother. </DL>
<A NAME="eteoclus">
<B>Eteoclus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Greek Legend.) one of the Seven against Thebes, according to some accounts. </DL>
<A NAME="eteocretan">
<B>Eteocretan, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> an ancient language used in Crete and found on stone inscriptions. The script uses a form of the Greek alphabet. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with this language or script. </DL>
<A NAME="etern">
<B>etern, </B>adjective. =eterne.</DL>
<A NAME="eternal">
<B>eternal, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>without beginning or ending; lasting throughout all time; timeless. <BR> <I>Ex. Eternal Father! strong to save, Whose arm has bound the restless wave (William Whiting).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>always and forever the same. <BR> <I>Ex. the eternal truths.</I> (SYN) immutable. <DD><B> 3. </B>seeming to go on forever; occurring very frequently. <BR> <I>Ex. When will we have an end to this eternal noise?</I> (SYN) constant, perpetual, incessant, interminable. <DD><B> 4. </B>independent of time conditions; timeless. <BR> <I>Ex. the eternal fitness of things (Henry Fielding).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>that has, or is thought of as having, always existed. <BR> <I>Ex. the eternal granite of the mountains.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>eternals,</B> eternal things. <BR> <I>Ex. A certain stock of eternals transmigrates through various forms (James Martineau).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the Eternal,</B> </I>God. <BR> <I>Ex. His trust was with the Eternal to be deemed equal in strength, and rather than be less cared not to be at all (Milton).</I> noun <B>eternalness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="eternalcity">
<B>Eternal City,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> Rome. </DL>
<A NAME="eternalize">
<B>eternalize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make eternal; perpetuate; immortalize; eternize. <BR> <I>Ex. Is it as maiden, matron, or crone that the females will be eternalized? (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="eternallight">
<B>eternal light,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a continuously burning flame, used as a memorial. A perpetual flame burns in the Eternal Light Peace Memorial at Gettysburg. <DD><B> 2. </B>a light hanging above and in front of the ark in synagogues as a symbol of the Torah. </DL>
<A NAME="eternally">
<B>eternally, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>without beginning or ending; throughout all time. <DD><B> 2. </B>always and forever. <DD><B> 3. </B>constantly; incessantly. <BR> <I>Ex. There's a pleasure eternally new (Andrew Lang).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="eternals">
<B>eternals, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>eternal.</B> </DL>
