Chapter Abdael to Above of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Abessa The impersonation of Abbeys and Convents, represented by Spenser as a damsel. When Una asked if she had seen the Red Cross Knight, Abessa, frightened at the lion, ran to the cottage of blind Superstition, and shut the door. Una arrived, and the lion burst the door open. The meaning is, that at the Reformation, when Truth came, the abbeys and convents got alarmed, and would not let Truth enter, but England (the lion) broke down the door. - Faërie Queen, i. 3.

Abesta A book said to have been written by Abraham as a commentary on the Zend and the Pazend. It is furthermore said that Abraham read these three books in the midst of the furnace into which he was cast by Nimrod. - Persian Mythology.

Abeyance really means something gaped after (French, bayer, to gape). The allusion is to men standing with their mouths open, in expectation of some sight about to appear.

Abhigit The propitiatory sacrifice made by an Indian rajah who has slain a priest without premeditation.

Abhor (Latin, ab, away from, and horreo, to shrink; originally, to shudder have the hair on end). To abhor is to have a natural antipathy, and to show it by shuddering with disgust.

Abiala Wife of Makambi; African deities. She holds a pistol in her hand, and is greatly feared. Her aid is implored in sickness.

Abida A god of the Kalmucks, who receives the souls of the dead at the moment of decease, and gives them permission to enter a new body, either human or not, and have another spell of life on earth. If the spirit is spotless it may, if it likes, rise and live in the air.

Abidharma The book of metaphysics in the Tripitaka (q.v.).

Abigail A lady's maid, or ladymaid. Abigail, wife of Nabal, who introduced herself to David and afterwards married him, is a well-known Scripture heroine (l Sam. xxv 3). Abigail was a popular middle class Christian name in the seventeenth century. Beaumont and Fletcher, in The Scornful Lady, call the "waiting gentlewoman" Abigail, a name employed by Swift, Fielding, and others, in their novels. Probably "Abigail Hill" the original name of Mrs. Masham, waiting-woman to Queen Anne, popularised the name.

Abimelech is no proper name, but a regal title of the Philistines, meaning Father-King.

Able An able seaman is a skilled seaman. Such a man is termed an A.B. (Able-Bodied); unskilled seamen are called "boys" without regard to age.

Able-bodied Seaman A sailor of the first class. A crew is divided into three classes: (1) able seamen, or skilled sailors, termed A.B.; (2) ordinary seamen; and (3) boys, which include green-hands, or inexperienced men, without regard to age or size.

Aboard He fell aboard of me - met me; abused me. A ship is said to fall aboard another when, being in motion it runs against the other.

To go aboard is to embark, to go on the board or deck.

Aboard main tack is to draw one of the lower corners of the main-sail down to the chess-tree. Figuratively, it means "to keep to the point."

Abolla An ancient military garment worn by the Greeks and Romans, opposed to the toga or robe of peace. The abolla being worn by the lower orders, was affected by philosophers in the vanity of humility.

Abominate (abominor, I pray that the omen may be averted; used on mentioning anything unlucky). As ill-omened things are disliked, so, by a simple figure of speech, what we dislike we consider ill-omened.