DIMIDIATION. 251 DIMSDATE. DIMID'IA'TION (Lat. dimidiatio. a halving. from -/i»n./Mi/<, lu lialve. from dimidius, half, from di-. apart + iiitrfiHs, middle). In heraldry, a modi' of marshaling (q.v.) arms followed chief- ly before quartering and impaling came into use, and retained to some extent in ConlinonUil heraldry. It consists in cutting two eoats-of- arms in half by a vertical line, and xmiting the dexter half of the one to the sinister half of the other. DIMIN'TJEN'DO (It., diminishing). A term m music, meaning to diminish in loudness. Di- minuendo <'an be applied to a single note, when it is a long note, as well as to a passage of many notes; but the diminuendo on a single note can be executed only on wind instruments, or on stringed instruments played with a bow. Di- minuendo is so nearly of the same meaning as deoriscendo that it is frequently marked with the same sign, thus: ir=- DIMINtJTION (Lat. diminutio, deminutio, from drmiiiutn; to lessen, from de, down + miii- virc. to make small, from minor, less). In music, the repetition of a theme in such a manner that each note of the original theme is reduced to one- half or one-quarter of its original value. Diminu- tion occurs most frequently in the stretta of the fugue, but also in the free'style of writing. For diminution of intervals, see Istkrval. DIMINtTTIONS. A word indiscriminately used ill heraldry for differences, marks oi ca- dency, and brisures. DIMINUTIVE (Fr. diminutif, "SVL. diminii- tivii.s. from I.at. dciiiinuliviis, diminutive, from deniiiiulus, p.p. of deminucre, to lessen). A form of words, chiefly of substantives, in which the primitive notion has become lessened or di- minished, as ;n7/oc/.- = a Utile hill. With little- ness is associated the idea of neatness, and also of needing protection: hence diminutives are u.sed as terras of endearment; sometimes they im- ply contempt. There is perhaps no language with- out diminutives; and the most common method of formation is by the addition of a syllable. The commonest of "the English diminutive affixes are or/,-, kin, el. or le. which are of Gemianic origin, and et or let, of classical origin; as in Inillock, lambkin, kernel (little corn), lancet. The ter- mination ling, or rather ing, was originally pat- ronnnic. IJiiiiinutives often occur in proper names; I'vikin is the diminutive of I'elcr, Jenkin of Juhn, These liave settled down into peniianent and distinct names; but in the language of fondness and familiarity, (Jhurles becomes Vhurlcy; John, Johnny: etc. In Lowland Scotch, this form of diminutive is not confined to proper names, but is ajiplied to every object, animate or inanimate — hiddie, lioisie, wific, firic. Sometimes one diminutive affix is joined to anofher, as las- .sock, laasockie : and in exjiressions like "A icec, loec bit hontikic," the diiiiimitlon is carried to the fifth degree. It is principally in the mouths of the people and in friendly familiarity that these diminutive forms are most common. It.alian is remarkable in this respect, especially the Tus- can dialect. Casn, house, becomes ca.iarellii, little house, and ranarellina. ])retty little house: from fratcllo, brother, which is itself a diminutive of the Latin frntcr . children, it is said, may be hear I forming such fond names as fnilcllinnccicllimllo. The aflecf ion of the Ck'rm.ins expresses itself large- ly in this form: laler, father, becomes r^ilcrchen, dearfalher : and even Iheprououn (iu,thou, is made into jMcAf)iand<fi(?i. Some of the Low lierman dia- lects are even richer than (.leniian in diminutives. Diminutives are not confincif to nouns; nhilisi is the diminutive of the adjective ir/ii/i ; and tipple, seribble. dandle, are examples of diminu- tive verbs. Opposed to diminutives are aug- mentatives, which abound in the Romanic lan- guages, especially in Italian and Spanish, and ex- press not only largeness, but coarseness and vul- garity: casotta, in Italian, a large house: caral- Inccio, a worthless house; hombracho, in Spanish (from hombrc) . a fat. robust man. DIMITRI RXJDIN, de'mt'tr*' roii'den'. A novel by TurgcnyelT (1855). It deals with the misfortunes of a Kussian would-be cosmopolite. DIMITY (ML. dimitum, Gk. SlfuTos. dimitos, dimity, from dt-, di; double + fulTot. milos, thread). The name originally ai>plled to a stout figured cotton fabric, used chielly for bed-hang- ings. The figure or stripe is raised on one side and depressed on the other, .so that the two faces present reversed patterns. It is commonly white, or of a single color: hut variegated dimities are made, the pattern and the ground being of dif- ferent colors. The name is also applied to a line cotton fabric for dresses, which sometimes re- sembles the coarser kind in that the figure or stri])e is reversible, being raised on one side where it is depresscil on the other. DIM'MESDALE, AnTinn. A powerfully drawn character in riawthorne's Scarlet Letter. He is a clergyman of intense sensitiveness, living a blameless life, but tormented by the conscious- ness of his concealed sin formerly committed with Hester Prynne. DIMOCK, dim'ok, or DYMOKE. A Lineoln- .shire familv which has held the feudal title, 'Champion of England,' since 1377. See Cham- pion. DIMORPHISM. (1) Tn plants. See Leaf; roi.i IN HON-. (2) In animals. See Polymor- ph i^! : Kvoi ITION. DIMORPH'ODON (Neo-Lat., from Ok. S/fiop- ^os, dimorphon. two - formed + 6Swv od6n, Ionic for oSors, odniis, tooth). The oldest known genus of the Ornithosauria, allied to the pterodactyl and rliamphorhynchns, and found fossil in the Lower Liassic rocks near Lyme Regis, in the south of Kiigland. The head is large and the jaws are armed with two kinds of teeth — those in the anterior half of the jaws are large, irrc'jularly arranged, and spreading, while those in the posterior portions of the jaws are small anil closely set. Both pairs of legs are long and slender, and the fifth fingers of the fore liml)s are greatly elongated, to furnish support for the niemhranous wings. Dimorphodon is tfie earliest known vertebrate animal that possessed the power of flight, and it antedated the enrliest Icnown bird. Archa-opteryx, of the Kimeridgian or T'pper .Tiirassic. by almost the entire epoch of the .lurassic period. See ORNiTnosAUBiA: Ptebo- DACTYT.. DIMORPHOUS. See TsoMonnii.sM. DIMS'DALE, I'lio.MAS ( 17l-2-lSiiO| . .
Eng-
lish physician, grandson of RobiTt l)ini>dAle, one of the companions of William Peiin on his first voyage to America, in 1C>S2. He wa» bom at Tlicvden-Cieruon, was educated at Saint Thomas's
