n. 1. compound lens or lens system designed to be free of astigmatism and able to form approximately point images. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Pref. an-not + astigmatic. ] (Optics) Not astigmatic; free of astigmatism; -- pertaining to a lens or lens system, and used especially of a lens system which consists of a converging lens and a diverging lens of equal and opposite astigmatism but different focal lengths, and sensibly free from astigmatism. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Med. & Opt.) Affected with, or pertaining to, astigmatism; as, astigmatic eyes; also, remedying astigmatism; as, astigmatic lenses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_;, &unr_;, a prick of a pointed instrument, a spot, fr. &unr_; to prick: cf. F. astigmatisme. ] (Med. & Opt.) A defect of the eye or of a lens, in consequence of which the rays derived from one point are not brought to a single focal point, thus causing imperfect images or indistinctness of vision. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The term is applied especially to the defect causing images of lines having a certain direction to be indistinct, or imperfectly seen, while those of lines transverse to the former are distinct, or clearly seen. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Castigated; p. pr. & vb. n. Castigating. ] [ L. castigatus, p. p. of castigare to correct, punish; castus pure, chaste + agere to move, drive. See Caste, and cf. Chasten. ] 1. To punish by stripes; to chastise by blows; to chasten; also, to chastise verbally; to reprove; to criticise severely. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To emend; to correct. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. catigatio. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Corrective punishment; chastisement; reproof; pungent criticism. [ 1913 Webster ]

The keenest castigation of her slanderers. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Emendation; correction. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who castigates or corrects. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. castigatorius. ] Punitive in order to amendment; corrective. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An instrument formerly used to punish and correct arrant scolds; -- called also a ducking stool, or trebucket. Blacktone. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. evestigatus traced out; e out + vestigatus, p. p. of vestigare. See Vestigate. ] To investigate. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. fastigium gable end, top, height, summit. ] 1. Narrowing towards the top. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Clustered, parallel, and upright, as the branches of the Lombardy poplar; pointed. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) United into a conical bundle, or into a bundle with an enlarged head, like a sheaf of wheat. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. fustigare, fr. fustis stick. See 1st Fust. ] To cudgel. [ R. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. fustigation. ] A punishment by beating with a stick or club; cudgeling. [ 1913 Webster ]

This satire, composed of actual fustigation. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. So tightly fitted as to preclude the escape of gas; impervious to gas. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. one who instigates; someone who deliberately provokes trouble; an instigator.
Syn. -- instigator, provoker, inciter. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Instigated p. pr. & vb. n. Instigating ] [ L. instigatus, p. p. of instigare to instigate; pref. in- in + a root akin to G. stechen to prick, E. stick. See Stick. ] To goad or urge forward; to set on; to provoke; to incite; -- used chiefly with reference to evil actions; as, to instigate one to a crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath only instigated his blackest agents to the very extent of their malignity. Bp. Warburton.

Syn. -- To stimulate; urge; spur; provoke; tempt; incite; impel; encourage; animate. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Incitingly; temptingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. instigatio: cf. F. instigation. ] The act of instigating, or the state of being instigated; incitement; esp. to evil or wickedness. [ 1913 Webster ]

The baseness and villainy that . . . the instigation of the devil could bring the sons of men to. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. arousing to action or rebellion.
Syn. -- incendiary, incitive, inflammatory, rabble-rousing, seditious. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. instigateur. ] One who instigates or incites. Burke.
Syn. -- inciter, instigant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. investigabilis. See In- not, and Vestigate. ] Unsearchable; inscrutable. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

So unsearchable the judgment and so investigable the ways thereof. Bale. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. investigabilis. See Investigate. ] Capable or susceptible of being investigated; admitting research. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Investigated p. pr. & vb. n. Investigating. ] [ L. investigatus, p. p. of investigare to investigate; pref. in- in + vestigare to track, trace. See Vestige. ] To follow up step by step by patient inquiry or observation; to trace or track mentally; to search into; to inquire and examine into with care and accuracy; to find out by careful inquisition; as, to investigate the causes of natural phenomena. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To pursue a course of investigation and study; to make investigation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the work of inquiring into something thoroughly and systematically.
Syn. -- investigation. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. investigatio: cf. F. investigation. ] The act of investigating; the process of inquiring into or following up; research; study; inquiry, esp. patient or thorough inquiry or examination; as, the investigations of the philosopher and the mathematician; the investigations of the judge, the moralist. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Given to investigation; inquisitive; curious; searching. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.: cf. F. investigateur. ] One who searches diligently into a subject. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Of or pertaining to an investigation; accomplished by investigation; designed to find information or ascertain facts; as, investigatory committee; the investigatory excesses of the prosecutor.
Syn. -- fact-finding, investigative. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. [ NL., fr. Gr. ma`stix, ma`stigos, a whip + fe`rein to bear. ] (Zool.) A phylum of protozoans the kingdom Protista, consisting mainly of free-living flagellated unicellular organisms, lacking photosynthetic capability. Some members are pathogenic in man. [ PJC ]

n. (Zool.) One of the Mastigopoda. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. ma`stix, ma`stigos, a whip + poy`s, podo`s, foot. ] (Zool.) Formerly considered identical to the Infusoria, now distinguished from that group, which has been reordered. See Mastigophora. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ Gr. ma`stix, ma`stigos, a scourge + &unr_; tail. ] (Zool.) Any one of several large spiny-tailed lizards of the genus Uromastix. They inhabit Southern Asia and North Africa. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖‖ }, n. [ F. mistigri. ] A variety of the game of poker in which the joker is used, and called mistigris or mistigri. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. pervestigatus, p. p. of pervestigare. ] To investigate thoroughly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. pervestigatio. ] Thorough investigation. [ Obs. ] Chillingworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) An alkaloid found in the Calabar bean (the seed of Physostigma venenosum), and extracted as a white, tasteless, substance, amorphous or crystalline; -- formerly called eserine, with which it was regarded as identical. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F., fr. L. praestigum delusion, illusion, praestigae deceptions, jugglers' tricks, prob. fr. prae before + the root of stinguere to extinguish, originally, to prick. See Stick, v. ] 1. Delusion; illusion; trick. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The sophisms of infidelity, and the prestiges of imposture. Bp. Warburton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Weight or influence derived from past success; expectation of future achievements founded on those already accomplished; force or charm derived from acknowledged character or reputation. “The prestige of his name must go for something.” Sir G. C. Lewis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praestigiare to deceive by juggling tricks, fr. praestigae. See Prestige. ] Legerdemain; prestidigitation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praestigiator. ] A juggler; prestidigitator. [ Obs. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Consisting of impostures; juggling. [ Obs. ] Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. praestigiosus. ] Practicing tricks; juggling. [ Obs. ] Cotton Mather. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Pterostigmata [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; wing + &unr_;, &unr_;, a mark. ] (Zool.) A thickened opaque spot on the wings of certain insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To investigate again. -- Re`in*ves`ti*ga"tion n. [1913 Webster]

n.; pl. E. Stigmas L. Stigmata [ L., a mark, a brand, from Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, the prick or mark of a pointed instrument, a spot, mark, from &unr_; to prick, to brand. See Stick, v. t. ] 1. A mark made with a burning iron; a brand. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any mark of infamy or disgrace; sign of moral blemish; stain or reproach caused by dishonorable conduct; reproachful characterization. [ 1913 Webster ]

The blackest stigma that can be fastened upon him. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

All such slaughters were from thence called Bartelmies, simply in a perpetual stigma of that butchery. Sir G. Buck. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) That part of a pistil which has no epidermis, and is fitted to receive the pollen. It is usually the terminal portion, and is commonly somewhat glutinous or viscid. See Illust. of Stamen and of Flower. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Anat.) A small spot, mark, scar, or a minute hole; -- applied especially to a spot on the outer surface of a Graafian follicle, and to spots of intercellular substance in scaly epithelium, or to minute holes in such spots. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Pathol.) A red speck upon the skin, produced either by the extravasation of blood, as in the bloody sweat characteristic of certain varieties of religious ecstasy, or by capillary congestion, as in the case of drunkards. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) (a) One of the external openings of the tracheae of insects, myriapods, and other arthropods; a spiracle. (b) One of the apertures of the pulmonary sacs of arachnids. See Illust. of Scorpion. (c) One of the apertures of the gill of an ascidian, and of Amphioxus. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Geom.) A point so connected by any law whatever with another point, called an index, that as the index moves in any manner in a plane the first point or stigma moves in a determinate way in the same plane. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. pl. (R. C. Ch.) Marks believed to have been supernaturally impressed upon the bodies of certain persons in imitation of the wounds on the crucified body of Christ. See def. 5, above. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL. See Stigma. ] (Paleon.) The fossil root stem of a coal plant of the genus Sigillaria. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. of Stigma. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A notorious profligate or criminal who has been branded; one who bears the marks of infamy or punishment. [ R. ] Bullokar. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person who is marked or deformed by nature. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ See Stigma. ] 1. Marked with a stigma, or with something reproachful to character. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Impressing with infamy or reproach. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot., Anat., etc) Of or pertaining to a stigma or stigmata. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stigmatic geometry, or
Stigmatics, that science in which the correspondence of index and stigma (see Stigma, 7) is made use of to establish geometrical proportions. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With a stigma, or mark of infamy or deformity. [ 1913 Webster ]