<B>somite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Zoology.) any one of a longitudinal series of more or less similar parts or segments composing the body of certain animals, such as the earthworm; metamere. </DL>
<A NAME="somitic">
<B>somitic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>like a somite. <BR> <I>Ex. the somitic divisions of the body.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with somites. <BR> <I>Ex. a somitic ring or joint.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sommelier">
<B>sommelier, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a wine steward in a restaurant. <BR> <I>Ex. The sommelier then proffered the wine selected for us (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
<B>somnambular, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with a somnambulist or somnambulism. </DL>
<A NAME="somnambulate">
<B>somnambulate, </B>intransitive verb, transitive verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to walk during sleep. noun <B>somnambulation.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="somnambulator">
<B>somnambulator, </B>noun. =sleepwalker.</DL>
<A NAME="somnambule">
<B>somnambule, </B>noun. =sleepwalker.</DL>
<A NAME="somnambulic">
<B>somnambulic, </B>adjective. =somnambular.</DL>
<A NAME="somnambulism">
<B>somnambulism, </B>noun. =sleepwalking.</DL>
<A NAME="somnambulist">
<B>somnambulist, </B>noun. =sleepwalker.</DL>
<A NAME="somnambulistic">
<B>somnambulistic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with sleepwalking or sleepwalkers. adv. <B>somnambulistically.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="somnial">
<B>somnial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or involving dreams. </DL>
<A NAME="somnifacient">
<B>somnifacient, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a drug that causes sleep. <DD><I>adj. </I> causing sleep, as some drugs. </DL>
<B>somnolent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>sleepy; drowsy. <BR> <I>Ex. a somnolent expression.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>tending to produce sleep. <BR> <I>Ex. The sound of the babbling brook had a pleasant and somnolent effect.</I> adv. <B>somnolently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="somnus">
<B>Somnus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the Roman god of sleep. </DL>
<A NAME="sompa">
<B>SOMPA, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (an intelligence test that compares individual scores with the scores of others from similar cultural backgrounds to compensate for the cultural bias of standard IQ tests). <BR> <I>Ex. The SOMPA technique would remove the "retarded" stigma from many children but leaves them in a position where they still need special educational attention (Edward B. Fiske).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="son">
<B>son, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a male child. A boy is the son of his father and mother. (Abbr:) s. <DD><B> b. </B><B>=son-in-law.</B> <DD><B> c. </B>a kindly term of address to a boy, as from an older person, priest, or the like. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a male descendant. <BR> <I>Ex. Adam's sons are my brethren (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) a boy or man attached to a country, cause, organization, project, or other undertaking, as a child is to its parents. <BR> <I>Ex. Sam Rayburn was a son of Texas. Many Boston citizens were Sons of Liberty. Affliction's sons are brothers in distress (Robert Burns).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>anything thought of as a son in relation to its origin. <BR> <I>Ex. Man, who is a worm, and the son of a worm (John Morley).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="son">
<B>Son, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> Jesus Christ. </DL>
<A NAME="sonance">
<B>sonance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>sonant quality or condition. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) <DD><B> a. </B>a sound. <DD><B> b. </B>a melody; tune. </DL>
<A NAME="sonancy">
<B>sonancy, </B>noun. =sonance.</DL>
<A NAME="sonant">
<B>sonant, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of sound; having sound; sounding. <DD><B> 2. </B>pronounced with the vocal cords vibrating; voiced. <DD><I>noun </I> a sound pronounced with the vocal cords vibrating; voiced sound. <I>Z</I> and <I>v</I> are sonants; <I>s</I> and <I>f</I> are not. </DL>
<A NAME="sonar">
<B>sonar, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a device for detecting and locating objects under water by the reflection of sound waves. <BR> <I>Ex. Sonar revealed details of lake and ocean coastline bottoms in a new, quick and less costly method of sounding (Science News Letter).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any device or system using the reflection of sound waves. <BR> <I>Ex. In our studies of bats ... we use an apparatus which translates the bats' high-pitched, inaudible sonar signals into audible clicks (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sonarman">
<B>sonarman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a person who operates sonar. <BR> <I>Ex. Sonarmen hunched over their listening posts, monitoring the traffic in the North Atlantic shipping lane overhead (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sonata">
<B>sonata, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a piece of music, for one or two instruments, having three or four movements in contrasted rhythms and keys. <DD><B> 2. </B>(originally) any instrumental composition, as contrasted with a vocal composition or cantata. </DL>
<A NAME="sonatadacamera">
<B>sonata da camera,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an Italian instrumental composition of the 1600's in four movements, performed by two or more stringed instruments with keyboard accompaniment. </DL>
<A NAME="sonatadachiesa">
<B>sonata da chiesa,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a composition similar to the sonata da camera but in a more serious, contrapuntal style suitable for performing in a church. </DL>
<A NAME="sonataform">
<B>sonata form,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a complicated form for a movement, usually the first movement, of a sonata, symphony, or concerto, consisting of the exposition, the development, and the recapitulation, often followed by a coda. </DL>
<A NAME="sonatina">
<B>sonatina, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nas -ne.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a short or simplified sonata. </DL>
<A NAME="sonation">
<B>sonation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the giving forth of a sound; sounding. </DL>
<A NAME="sonde">
<B>sonde, </B>noun. =radiosonde.</DL>
<A NAME="sone">
<B>sone, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a unit of loudness. One sone is equivalent to a simple tone having a frequency of 1,000 cycles per second, 40 decibels above the listener's threshold. </DL>
<A NAME="sonetlumiere">
<B>son et lumiere,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a theatrical spectacle or pageant using subtle light effects and recorded music and narrative instead of actors and conventional stage settings. <BR> <I>Ex. We turned into Central Park south of the Metropolitan Museum, whose facade was floodlit as if for a performance of son et lumiere (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) sound and light. </DL>
<A NAME="song">
<B>song, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>something to sing; short poem set to music. <BR> <I>Ex. Songs are thoughts, sung out with the breath when people are moved by great forces and ordinary speech no longer suffices (Beals and Hoijer).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>poetry that has a musical sound. <BR> <I>Ex. The mightiest chiefs of British song, Scorn'd not such legend, to prolong (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>music to fit a poem that is to be sung. <DD><B> 4. </B>the act or practice of singing. <BR> <I>Ex. The canary burst into song.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) any sound like singing. <BR> <I>Ex. the cricket's song, the song of the teakettle, the song of the brook.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a mere trifle; low price. <BR> <I>Ex. a house offered at a song.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>for a song,</B> </I>very cheap. <BR> <I>Ex. Two men bought them [dogs], harness and all, for a song (Jack London).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="songanddance">
<B>song and dance,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) an explanation or account, not necessarily true, and often intended to impress or deceive. <BR> <I>Ex. What's all this I hear about some song and dance you gave Colonel Snow about not wanting to join ...? (Sinclair Lewis).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="songanddance">
<B>song-and-dance, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with singing and dancing, especially in a vaudeville act or a musical comedy. <BR> <I>Ex. a song-and-dance team.</I> </DL>
<B>songbook, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a book containing a collection of songs. <BR> <I>Ex. Songbooks were passed around, and the hundred or so men on hand began singing to the accompaniment of a piano (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=hymnbook.</B> <DD><B> 3. </B>the breviary used in the Anglo-Saxon church. </DL>
<A NAME="songcraft">
<B>songcraft, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the art of composing songs; skill in versification. </DL>
<A NAME="songcycle">
<B>song cycle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a group of art songs related in style or subject, usually written by one composer, and intended to be performed in a series. <BR> <I>Ex. Schubert's "Winterreise" is one of the earliest song cycles, and the greatest of them all (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="songe">
<B>Songe, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ge</B> or <B>-ges.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a member of a Bantu-speaking people of the eastern Congo (now Zaire) in central Africa, noted for their use of fetish figures. </DL>
