資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Metal \Met"al\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F. m['e]tal, L. metallum
metal, mine, Gr. ? mine; cf. Gr. ? to search after. Cf.
{Mettle}, {Medal}.]
1. (Chem.) An elementary substance, as sodium, calcium, or
copper, whose oxide or hydroxide has basic rather than
acid properties, as contrasted with the nonmetals, or
metalloids. No sharp line can be drawn between the metals
and nonmetals, and certain elements partake of both acid
and basic qualities, as chromium, manganese, bismuth, etc.
Note: Popularly, the name is applied to certain hard, fusible
metals, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc,
nickel, etc., and also to the mixed metals, or metallic
alloys, as brass, bronze, steel, bell metal, etc.
2. Ore from which a metal is derived; -- so called by miners.
--Raymond.
3. A mine from which ores are taken. [Obs.]
Slaves . . . and persons condemned to metals. --Jer.
Taylor.
4. The substance of which anything is made; material; hence,
constitutional disposition; character; temper.
Not till God make men of some other metal than
earth. --Shak.
5. Courage; spirit; mettle. See {Mettle}. --Shak.
Note: The allusion is to the temper of the metal of a sword
blade. --Skeat.
6. The broken stone used in macadamizing roads and ballasting
railroads.
7. The effective power or caliber of guns carried by a vessel
of war.
8. Glass in a state of fusion. --Knight.
9. pl. The rails of a railroad. [Eng.]
{Base metal} (Chem.), any one of the metals, as iron, lead,
etc., which are readily tarnished or oxidized, in contrast
with the noble metals. In general, a metal of small value,
as compared with gold or silver.
{Fusible metal} (Metal.), a very fusible alloy, usually
consisting of bismuth with lead, tin, or cadmium.
{Heavy metals} (Chem.), the metallic elements not included in
the groups of the alkalies, alkaline earths, or the
earths; specifically, the heavy metals, as gold, mercury,
platinum, lead, silver, etc.
{Light metals} (Chem.), the metallic elements of the alkali
and alkaline earth groups, as sodium, lithium, calcium,
magnesium, etc.; also, sometimes, the metals of the
earths, as aluminium.
{Muntz metal}, an alloy for sheathing and other purposes,
consisting of about sixty per cent of copper, and forty of
zinc. Sometimes a little lead is added. It is named from
the inventor.
{Prince's metal} (Old Chem.), an alloy resembling brass,
consisting of three parts of copper to one of zinc; --
also called {Prince Rupert's metal}.
Prince \Prince\, n. [F., from L. princeps, -cipis, the first,
chief; primus first + capere to take. See {Prime}, a., and
{Capacious}.]
1. The one of highest rank; one holding the highest place and
authority; a sovereign; a monarch; -- originally applied
to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female.
--Wyclif (Rev. i. 5).
Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince. --Milton.
Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex.
--Camden.
2. The son of a king or emperor, or the issue of a royal
family; as, princes of the blood. --Shak.
3. A title belonging to persons of high rank, differing in
different countries. In England it belongs to dukes,
marquises, and earls, but is given to members of the royal
family only. In Italy a prince is inferior to a duke as a
member of a particular order of nobility; in Spain he is
always one of the royal family.
4. The chief of any body of men; one at the head of a class
or profession; one who is pre["e]minent; as, a merchant
prince; a prince of players. ``The prince of learning.''
--Peacham.
{Prince-Albert coat}, a long double-breasted frock coat for
men.
{Prince of the blood}, {Prince consort}, {Prince of
darkness}. See under {Blood}, {Consort}, and {Darkness}.
{Prince of Wales}, the oldest son of the English sovereign.
{Prince's feather} (Bot.), a name given to two annual herbs
({Amarantus caudatus} and {Polygonum orientale}), with
apetalous reddish flowers arranged in long recurved
panicled spikes.
{Prince's metal}, {Prince Rupert's metal}. See under {Metal}.
{Prince's pine}. (Bot.) See {Pipsissewa}.