Dictionary: NAIVE-LY – NA'PER-Y



NAIVE-LY, adv. [Fr. naïf, from L. nativus.]

With native or unaffected simplicity.


Native simplicity; unaffected plainness or ingenuousness. – Gray.

NA'KED, a. [Sax. nacod; G. nacket, nackt; D. naakt; Sw. naken; Dan. nögen; Russ. nagei, nagost and nagota, nakedness; Ir. nochta, open, discovered; nochduighe, naked; nochduighim, to strip. Class Ng, No. 5, 10, 47, and 15, 16.]

  1. Not covered; bare; having no clothes on; as, a naked body, or a naked limb.
  2. Unarmed; defenseless; open; exposed; having no means of defense or protection against an enemy's attack, or against other injury. Behold my bosom naked to your swords. – Addison.
  3. Open to view; not concealed; manifest. – Heb. iv.
  4. Destitute of worldly goods. – Job i.
  5. Exposed to shame and disgrace. – Exod. xxxii.
  6. Guilty and exposed to divine wrath. – Rev. iii.
  7. Plain; evident; undisguised; as, the naked truth.
  8. Mere; bare; simple; wanting the necessary additions. God requires of man something besides the naked belief of his being and his word.
  9. Not inclosed in a pod or case; as, naked seeds of a plant.
  10. Without leaves, fulcres or arms; as, a naked stem or trunk. – Martyn.
  11. Not assisted by glasses; as, the naked eye.

NA'KED-LY, adv.

  1. Without covering.
  2. Simply; barely; merely; in the abstract. – Holder.
  3. Evidently.


  1. Want of covering or clothing; nudity; barrenness. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. – Gen ix.
  2. Want of means of defense. Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land are ye come. Gen. xlii.
  3. Plainness; openness to view. Shak. To uncover nakedness, in Scripture, is to have incestuous or unlawful commerce with a female.

NA'KER, n. [Sp. nacar; It. nacchera; Fr. nacre.]

Mother of pearl; the white substance which constitutes the interior surface of a shell producing a pearl.

NA'KIR, n.

A wandering pain passing from one limb to another. Schenk.

NALL, n. [Dan. naal, a needle.]

An awl, such as collar-makers or shoe-makers use. [Not used or local.] Johnson.

NAME, n. [Sax. nama; D. naam; G. name; Sw. namn; Dan. navn; Ice. nafn; L. nomen; Gr. ονομα; It. and Port. nome; Sp. nombre; Fr. nom; Pers. nam, namah; Sans. and Hindoo, nama, nom; Malay and Bengalee, namma; Ostiak, nemen. Qu. Heb. נשם.]

  1. That by which a thing is called; the sound or combination of sounds used to express an idea, or any material substance, quality or act; an appellation attached to a thing by customary use, by which it may be vocally distinguished from other things. A name may be attached to an individual only, and is then proper or appropriate, as John, Thomas, London, Paris; or it may be attached to a species, genus or class of things, as sheep, goat, horse, tree, animal, which are called common names, specific or generic.
  2. The letters or characters written or engraved, expressing the sounds by which a person or thing is known and distinguished.
  3. A person. They list with women each degenerate name. Dryden.
  4. Reputation; character; that which is commonly said of a person; as, a good name; a bad name. Clarendon.
  5. Renown; fame; honor; celebrity; eminence; praise; distinction. What men of name resort to him? Shak. But in this sense, the word is often qualified by an epithet; as, a great name; a mighty name.
  6. Remembrance; memory. The Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. Deut. xxix.
  7. Appearance only; sound only; not reality; as, a friend in name. Rev. iii.
  8. Authority; behalf; part; as, in the name of the people. When a man speaks or acts in the name of another, he does it by their authority or in their behalf, as their representative.
  9. Assumed character of another. Had forged a treason in my patron's name. Dryden.
  10. In Scripture, the name of God signifies his titles, his attributes, his will or purpose, his honor and glory, his word, his grace, his wisdom, power and goodness, his worship or service, or God himself.
  11. Issue; posterity that preserves the name. Deut. xxv.
  12. In grammar, a noun. To call names, to apply opprobrious names; to call by reproachful appellations. Swift. To take the name of God in vain, to swear falsely or profanely, or to use the name of God with levity or contempt. Exod. xx. To know by name, to honor by a particular friendship or familiarity. Exod. xxxiii. Christian name, the name a person receives by baptism, as distinguished from surname.

NAME, v.t. [Sax. naman, nemnan, Goth. namnyan, to call, to name, to invoke; D. noemen; G. nennen; Sw. nämna; Dan. nævner.]

  1. To set or give to any person or thing a sound or combination of sounds by which it may be known and distinguished; to call; to give an appellation to. She named the child Ichabod. I Sam. iv. Thus was the building left / Ridiculous, and the work confusion named. Milton.
  2. To mention by name; to utter or pronounce the sound or sounds by which a person or thing is known and distinguished. Neither use thyself to the naming of the Holy One. Ecclus.
  3. To nominate; to designate for any purpose by name. Thou shalt anoint to me him whom I name to thee. 1 Sam. xvi.
  4. To entitle. Milton. To name the name of Christ, to make profession of faith in him. 2 Tim. iv.

NAM'ED, pp.

Called; denominated; designated by name.


  1. Without a name; not distinguished by an appellation; as, a nameless star. Waller.
  2. He or that whose name is not known or mentioned. Atterbury.


In a nameless manner.

NAME'LY, adv.

To mention by name; particularly. For the excellency of the soul, namely, its power of divining dreams; that several such divinations have been made, none can question. Addison.

NAM'ER, n.

One that names or calls by name.


One that has the same name as another. Addison.

NAM'ING, ppr.

Calling; nominating; mentioning.

NAM'ING-LY, adv.

By name.

NAN, pron. [particle.]

A Welsh word signifying what, used as an interrogative. [This word has been extensively used within my memory by the common people of New-England.]

NAN-KEEN', n. [Nankin, a Chinese word.]

A species of cloth of a firm texture, from China, made of a sort of cotton, viz. Gossypium religiosum, that is naturally of a kind of yellow color, which is quite indestructible and permanent. This cloth is now imitated by the manufacturers in Great Britain, though with far less permanency of color. It is now made in Georgia of cotton raised in that state.

NAP, n.1 [Sax. hnappian. Qu. its connection with hnepan, to lean, that is, to nod.]

A short sleep or slumber. Sidney.

NAP, n.2 [Sax. hnoppa, nap; It. nappa, a tassel; Ar. كِنَابٌ kinabon. Class Nb, No. 20.]

  1. The woolly or villous substance on the surface of cloth.
  2. The downy or soft hairy substance on plants. Martyn.
  3. A knop. [See Knop.]

NAP, v.i.

  1. To have a short sleep; to be drowsy.
  2. To be in a careless, secure state. Wickliffe.

NAPE, n. [Sax. cnæp, a knob; Ar. كَنَبَ kanaba, to be hard or callous, whence a callus. Class Nb, No. 20.]

The prominent joint of the neck behind. Bacon.

NA'PER-Y, n. [Fr. nappe; It. nappa, napparie.]

Linen for the table; table-cloths or linen cloth in general. [Obs.] Shelton.