Chapter Aplomb to Apparel of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Aplomb to Apparel

Aplomb means true to the plumbline, but is generally used to express that self-possession which arises from perfect self-confidence. We also talk of a dancer's aplomb, meaning that he is a perfect master of his art. (French. à plomb.)

"Here exists the best stock in the world men of aplomb and reserve, of great range and many moods, of strong instincts, yet apt for culture." - Emerson: English Traits, p. 130.

Apocalyptic Number The mystic number 666. (Rev. xiii. 18.) (See Number of the Beast.)

Apocrypha Those books included in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions of the Old Testament, but not considered to be parts of the original canon. They are accepted as canonical by Catholics, but not by Protestants, and are not printed in Protestant Bibles in ordinary circulation. The word means hidden (Greek, apokrupto), "because they were wont to be read not openly. ... but, as it were, in secret and apart" (Bible, 1539, Preface to the Apocrypha). As the reason why these books are not received as canonical is because either their genuineness or their authenticity is doubtful, therefore the word "apocryphal" means not genuine or not authentic.

Apollinarians An ancient sect founded in the middle of the fourth century by Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea. They denied that Christ had a human soul, and asserted that the Logos supplied its place. The Athanasian creed condemns this heresy.

Apollo The sun, the god of music. (Roman mythology.)

"Apollo's angry, and the heavens themselves
Do strike at my injustice."
Shakespeare: Winter's Tale, iii. 2.

A perfect Apollo. A model of manly beauty, referring to the Apollo Belvidere (q.v.).

The Apollo of Portugal. Luis Camoëns, author of the Lusiad, so called, not for his beauty, but for his poetry. He was god of poetry in Portugal, but was allowed to die in the streets of Lisbon like a dog, literally of starvation. Our own Otway suffered a similar fate. (1527--1579.)

Apollo Belvidere [Bel-ve-dear ]. A marble statue, supposed to be from the chisel of the Greek sculptor Calamis, who flourished in the fifth ante-Christian era. It represents the god holding a bow in his left hand, and is called Belvidere from the Belvidere Gallery of the Vatican, in Rome, where it stands. It was discovered in 1503, amidst the ruins of Antium, and was purchased by Pope Julius II.

Apollodoros Plato says: "Who would not rather be a man of sorrows than Apollodoros, envied by all for his enormous wealth, yet nourishing in his heart the scorpions of a guilty conscience?" (The Republic). This Apollodoros was the tyrant of Cassandrea (formerly Potidea). He obtained the supreme power B.C. 379, exercised it with the utmost cruelty, and was put to death by Antigonos Gonatas.

Apollonius Master of the Rosicrucians. He is said to have had the power of raising the dead, of making himself invisible, and of being in two places at the same time.

Apollyon King of the bottomless pit. (Rev. ix. 11.) His contest with Christian, in Bunyan's allegory, has made his name familiar. (Greek, the destroyer.)

Apostate (The). Julian, the Roman emperor. So called because he forsook the Christian faith and returned to Paganism again. (331, 361--363.)

A posteriori [Latin, from the latter ]. An a posteriori argument is proving the cause from the effect. Thus, if we see a watch, we conclude there was a watchmaker. Robinson Crusoe inferred there was another human being on the desert island, because he saw a human footprint in the wet sand. It is thus the existence and character of Deity is inferred from his works. (See A Priori.)