*mira*

a. [ L. admirabilis: cf. F. admirable. ] 1. Fitted to excite wonder; wonderful; marvelous. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In man there is nothing admirable but his ignorance and weakness. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having qualities to excite wonder united with approbation; deserving the highest praise; most excellent; -- used of persons or things. “An admirable machine.” “Admirable fortitude.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Wonderful; marvelous; surprising; excellent; delightful; praiseworthy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being admirable; wonderful excellence. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an admirable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. amiral, admiral, OF. amiral, ultimately fr. Ar. amīr-al-bahr commander of the sea; Ar. amīr is commander, al is the Ar. article, and amīr-al, heard in different titles, was taken as one word. Early forms of the word show confusion with L. admirabilis admirable, fr. admirari to admire. It is said to have been introduced into Europe by the Genoese or Venetians, in the 12th or 13th century. Cf. Ameer, Emir. ] 1. A naval officer of the highest rank; a naval officer of high rank, of which there are different grades. The chief gradations in rank are admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral. The admiral is the commander in chief of a fleet or of fleets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The ship which carries the admiral; also, the most considerable ship of a fleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like some mighty admiral, dark and terrible, bearing down upon his antagonist with all his canvas straining to the wind, and all his thunders roaring from his broadsides. E. Everett. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A handsome butterfly (Pyrameis Atalanta) of Europe and America. The larva feeds on nettles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Admiral shell (Zool.), the popular name of an ornamental cone shell (Conus admiralis). [ 1913 Webster ]

Lord High Admiral, a great officer of state, who (when this rare dignity is conferred) is at the head of the naval administration of Great Britain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office or position oaf an admiral; also, the naval skill of an admiral. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Admiralties [ F. amirauté, for an older amiralté, office of admiral, fr. LL. admiralitas. See Admiral. ] 1. The office or jurisdiction of an admiral. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The department or officers having authority over naval affairs generally. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The court which has jurisdiction of maritime questions and offenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In England, admiralty jurisdiction was formerly vested in the High Court of Admiralty, which was held before the Lord High Admiral, or his deputy, styled the Judge of the Admiralty; but admiralty jurisdiction is now vested in the probate, divorce, and admiralty division of the High Justice. In America, there are no admiralty courts distinct from others, but admiralty jurisdiction is vested in the district courts of the United States, subject to revision by the circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. Admiralty jurisprudence has cognizance of maritime contracts and torts, collisions at sea, cases of prize in war, etc., and in America, admiralty jurisdiction is extended to such matters, arising out of the navigation of any of the public waters, as the Great Lakes and rivers. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The system of jurisprudence of admiralty courts. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The building in which the lords of the admiralty, in England, transact business. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. admirance. ] Admiration. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. admiratio. See Admire. ] 1. Wonder; astonishment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Season your admiration for a while. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Wonder mingled with approbation or delight; an emotion excited by a person or thing possessed of wonderful or high excellence; as, admiration of a beautiful woman, of a landscape, of virtue. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Cause of admiration; something to excite wonder, or pleased surprise; a prodigy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now, good Lafeu, bring in the admiration. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Note of admiration, the mark (!), called also exclamation point. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Wonder; approval; appreciation; adoration; reverence; worship. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to or expressing admiration or wonder. [ R. ] Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An obsolete form of admiral. “The mast of some great ammiral.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A natural family of fish including the halfbeaks, marine and freshwater fishes closely related to the flying fishes but not able to glide.
Syn. -- family Hemiramphidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ NL., from L. mirus wonderful. ] (Astron.) A remarkable variable star in the constellation Cetus (ο Ceti). [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Mirabilaries One who, or a work which, narrates wonderful things; one who writes of wonders. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Latin. ] Remarkably; strange to say; marvelous to relate. [ PJC ]

‖prop. n. [ L., wonderful. ] (Bot.) A genus of plants. See Four-o'clock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) Native sodium sulphate; Glauber's salt. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. mirabilis, fr. mirari to wonder: cf. OF. mirable. See Marvel. ] Wonderful; admirable. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make wonderful. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. miraculum, fr. mirari to wonder. See Marvel, and cf. Mirror. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A wonder or wonderful thing. [ 1913 Webster ]

That miracle and queen of genus. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: An event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature; a supernatural event, or one transcending the ordinary laws by which the universe is governed. [ 1913 Webster ]

They considered not the miracle of the loaves. Mark vi. 52. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A miracle play. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A story or legend abounding in miracles. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When said was all this miracle. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Miracle monger, an impostor who pretends to work miracles. --
Miracle play, one of the old dramatic entertainments founded on legends of saints and martyrs or (see 2d Mystery, 2) on events related in the Bible. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to seem to be a miracle. [ R. ] Shaftesbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. miraculeux. See Miracle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of the nature of a miracle; performed by supernatural power; effected by the direct agency of almighty power, and not by natural causes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Supernatural; wonderful. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Wonder-working. “The miraculous harp.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Mi*rac"u*lous*ly, adv. -- Mi*rac"u*lous*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp., fr. mirar to behold, view. See Mirror. ] (Arch.) Same as Belvedere. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. mirer to look at carefully, to aim, se mirer to look at one's self in a glass, to reflect, to be reflected, LL. mirare to look at. See Mirror. ] An optical effect, sometimes seen on the ocean, but more frequently in deserts, due to total reflection of light at the surface common to two strata of air differently heated. The reflected image is seen, commonly in an inverted position, while the real object may or may not be in sight. When the surface is horizontal, and below the eye, the appearance is that of a sheet of water in which the object is seen reflected; when the reflecting surface is above the eye, the image is seen projected against the sky. The fata Morgana and looming are species of mirage. [ 1913 Webster ]

By the mirage uplifted the land floats vague in the ether,
Ships and the shadows of ships hang in the motionless air. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Admiration of one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Half radial. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. (Mach.) See Radial engine, above. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]