Chapter Aminadab to Amundeville of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Amour propre One's self-love, vanity, or opinion of what is due to self. To make an appeal to one's amour propre , is to put a person on his metal. To wound one's armour propre , is to gall his good opinion of himself - to wound his vanity. (French.)

Amparo de Pobres A book exposing the begging impostors of Madrid, written by Herrera, physician to Felipe III

Ampersand the character made thus, "&" = and. In the old Hornbooks, after giving the twenty-six letters, the character & was added, and was called "Ampersand," a corruption of "and per-se &" (and by itself, and). A B C D. ... X Y Z &.

"Any odd shape folks understand
To mean my Protean amperzand."
Punch (17 April, 1869, p. 153, col. 2).

The martyr Bradford, says Lord Russell, was "A per se A" with them, "to their comfort," etc. - i.e. stood alone in their defence.

Amphialus son of Cecropia, in love with Philoclea, but he ultimately married Queen Helen of Corinth. - Sir Philip Sidney: The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.

Amphictyonic Council A council of confederate Greeks from twelve of their tribes, each of which had two deputies. The council met twice a year - in the spring at Delphi, and in the autumn at Thermopylæ. According to fable, it was so called from Amphictyon, son of Deucalion, its supposed founder. (Greek, amphiction&ebreves, dwellers round about.)

Amphigons Words strung together without any real connection. The two pleaders in Pantagruel by Rabelais (book ii. c. 11--13) give an excellent example.

Amphigouri nonsense verse, rigmarole.

"A kind of overgrown amphigouri, a heterogeneous combination." - Quarterly Review, i. 50, 1809.

Porson's "Three Children sliding on the Ice" is a good specimen of amphigouri.

Amphion is said to have built Thebes by the music of his lute, which was so melodious that the stones danced into walls and houses of their own accord. Tennyson has a rhyming jeu d'esprit.

Amphitrite (either 3 or 4 syl.) The sea. In classic mythology, the wife of Neptune (Greek, amphi-trio for tribo, rubbing or wearing away [the shore] on all sides).

"His weary chariot sought the bowers
Of Amphitritë and her tending nymphs."
Thomson: Summer. (1625-- 6).

Amphitryon Le véritable Amphitryon est l'Amphitryon où l'on dine (Molière). That is, the person who provides the feast (whether master of the house or not) is the real host. The tale is that Jupiter assumed the likeness of Amphitryon, and gave a banquet; but Amphitryon himself came home, and claimed the honour of being the master of the house. As far as the servants and guests were concerned, the dispute was soon decided - "he who gave the feast was to them the host."

Amphrysian Prophetess (Amphrysia Vates) The Cumæan sibyl; so called from Amphrysos, a river of Thessaly, on the banks of which Apollo fed the herds of Admetos; consequently Amphrysian means Apollonian.

Ampoulle (Sainte). The jug or bottle containing oil used in anointing the kings of France, and said to have been brought from heaven by a dove for the coronation service of St. Louis. It was preserved at Rheims till the first Revolution, when it was destroyed.