Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary



INURED, pp. Accustomed; hardened by use.

INUREMENT, n. Use; practice; habit; custom; frequency.

INURING, ppr. Habituating; accustoming.

1. Passing in use to the benefit of.

INURN, v.t. [in and urn.] To bury; to inter; to intomb.

--The sepulcher

Wherein we saw thee quietly inurned.

1. To put in an urn.

INURNED, pp. Deposited in a tomb.

INURNING, ppr. Interring; burying.

INUSITATION, n. Want of use; disuse. [Little used.]

INUSTION, n. [L. inustio, inuro; in and uro, to burn.]

The action of burning.

1. A branding; the action of marking by burning.

INUTILE, a. [L. inutilis.] Unprofitable; useless. [Not in use.]

INUTILITY, n. [L. inutilitas; in and utilitas. See Utility.]

Uselessness; the quality of being unprofitable; unprofitableness; as the inutility of vain speculations and visionary projects.

INUTTERABLE, a. That cannot be uttered.

INVADE, v.t. [L. invado; in and vado, to go.]

1. To enter a country, as an army with hostile intentions; to enter as an enemy, with a view to conquest or plunder; to attack. The French armies invaded Holland in 1795. They invaded Russia and perished.

2. To attack; to assail; to assault.

There shall be seditions among men and invading one another. 2 Esdras 15:16.

3. To attack; to infringe; to encroach on; to violate. The king invaded the rights and privileges of the people, and the people invaded the prerogatives of the king.

4. To go into; a Latinism. [Not used.]

5. To fall on; to attack; to seize; as a disease.

INVADED, pp. Entered by an army with a hostile design; attacked; assaulted; infringed; violated.

INVADER, n. One who enters the territory of another with a view to war, conquest or plunder.

1. An assailant.

2. An encroacher; an intruder; one who infringes the rights of another.

INVADING, ppr. Entering on the possessions of another with a view to war, conquest or plunder; assaulting; infringing; attacking.

INVALESCENCE, n. [L. invalesco.] Strength; health.

INVALETUDINARY, a. Wanting health.

INVALID, a. [L. invalidus; in and validus, strong, from valeo, to be strong, to avail.]

1. Weak, of no force, weight or cogency.

2. In law, having no force, effect or efficacy; void; null; as an invalid contract or agreement.

INVALID, n. [L. invalidus, supra.]

1. A person who is weak and infirm; a person sickly or indisposed.

2. A person who is infirm, wounded, maimed, or otherwise disabled for active service; a soldier or seaman worn out in service. The hospitals for invalids at Chelsea and Greenwich, in England, are institutions honorable to the English nation.

INVALIDATE, v.t. [from invalid.]

1. To weaken or lessen the force of; more generally, to destroy the strength or validity of; to render of no force or effect; as, to invalidate an agreement or a contract.

2. To overthrow; to prove to be of no force; as, to invalidate an argument.

INVALIDATED, pp. Rendered invalid or of no force.

INVALIDATING, ppr. Destroying the force and effect of.

INVALIDITY, n. Weakness; want of cogency; want of legal force or efficacy; as the invalidity of an agreement or of a will.

INVALIDNESS, n. Invalidity; as the invalidness of reasoning.

INVALUABLE, a. [in and valuable.] Precious above estimation; so valuable that its worth cannot be estimated; inestimable. The privileges of christians are invaluable.

INVALUABLY, adv. Inestimably.

INVARIABLE, a. Constant in the same state; immutable; unalterable; unchangeable; that does not vary; always uniform. The character and the laws of the Supreme Being must necessarily be invariable.

INVARIABLENESS, n. Constancy of state, condition or quality; immutability; unchangeableness.

INVARIABLY, adv. Constantly; uniformly; without alteration or change. We are bound to pursue invariably the path of duty.

INVARIED, a. Unvaried; not changing or altering.

INVASION, n. s as z. [L. invasio, from invado. See Invade.]

1. A hostile entrance into the possessions of another; particularly, the entrance of a hostile army into a country for the purpose of conquest or plunder, or the attack of a military force. The north of England and south of Scotland were for centuries subject to invasion, each from the other. The invasion of England by William the Norman, was in 1066.

2. An attack on the rights of another; infringement or violation.

3. Attack of a disease; as the invasion of the plague, in Egypt.

INVASIVE, a. [from invade.] Entering on another’s possessions with hostile designs; aggressive.

INVECTION, n. Invective, which see. [Invection is little used.]

INVECTIVE, n. [L. inveho. See Inveigh.] A railing speech or expression; something uttered or written, intended to cast opprobrium, censure or reproach on another; a harsh or reproachful accusation. It differs from reproof, as the latter may come from a friend and be intended to the good of the person reproved; but invective proceeds from an enemy, and is intended to give pain or to injure.

INVECTIVE, a. Satirical; abusive; railing.

INVECTIVELY, adv. Satirically; abusively.

INVEIGH, v.i. inva’y. [L. inveho, to bear, throw or bring on or against; in and veho, to carry.] To exclaim or rail against; to utter censorious and bitter language against any one; to reproach; with against. The author inveighed sharply against the vices of the clergy in his age. Men inveigh against the follies of fashion.

INVEIGHER, n. inva’yer. One who rails; a railer.

INVEIGHING, ppr. inva’ying. Exclaiming against; railing at; uttering bitter words.

INVEIGLE, v.t. To entice; to seduce; to wheedle; to persuade to something evil by deceptive arts or flattery.

Yet have they many baits and guileful spells

To inveigle and invite th’ unwary sense--

INVEIGLED, pp. Enticed; wheedled; seduced from duty.

INVEIGLEMENT, n. Seduction to evil; enticement.

INVEIGLER, n. One who entices or draws into any design by arts and flattery.

INVEIGLING, ppr. Enticing; wheedling; persuading to any thing bad.

INVEILED, a. Covered as with a veil.

INVENT, v.t. [L. invenio, inventum; in and venio, to come; literally, to come to, to fall on, to meet, Eng. to find.]

1. To find out something new; to devise something not before known; to contrive and produce something that did not before exist; as, to invent a new instrument of music; to invent a machine for spinning; to invent gunpowder. [See Invention.]

2. To forge; to fabricate; to contrive falsely; as, to invent falsehoods.

3. To feign; to frame by the imagination; as, to invent the machinery of a poem.

4. To light on; to meet with. [This is the literal sense, but not now used.]

INVENTED, pp. Found out; devised; contrived; forged; fabricated.

INVENTER, n. [See Inventor.]

INVENTING, ppr. Finding out what was before unknown; devising or contriving something new; fabricating.

INVENTION, n. [L. inventio.]


2. That which is invented. The cotton gin is the invention of Whitney; the steam boat is the invention of Fulton. The Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders are said to be inventions of the Greeks; the Tuscan and Composite are inventions of the Latins.

3. Forgery; fiction. Fables are the inventions of ingenious men.

4. In painting, the finding or choice of the objects which are to enter into the composition of the piece.

5. In poetry, it is applied to whatever the poet adds to the history of the subject.

6. In rhetoric, the finding and selecting of arguments to prove and illustrate the point in view.

7. The power of inventing; that skill or ingenuity which is or may be employed in contriving any thing new. Thus we say, a man of invention.

8. Discovery; the finding of things hidden or before unknown. [Less proper.]

INVENTIVE, a. Able to invent; quick at contrivance; ready at expedients; as an inventive head or genius.

INVENTOR, n. One who finds out something new; one who contrives and produces any thing not before existing; a contriver. The inventors of many of the most useful arts are not known.

INVENTORIALLY, adv. In the manner of an inventory.

INVENTORIED, pp. Inserted or registered in an inventory.


1. An account, catalogue or schedule of all the goods and chattels of a deceased person. In some of the United States, the inventory must include an account of the real as well as the personal estate of the deceased.

2. A catalogue of movables.

3. A catalogue of account of particular things. [An indefinite use of the word.]

INVENTORY, v.t. To make an inventory of; to make a list, catalogue or schedule of; as, to inventory the goods and estate of the deceased.

1. To insert or register in an account of goods.

INVENTRESS, n. [from invent.] A female that invents.

INVERSE, a. invers’. [L. inversus. See Invert.]

Inverted; reciprocal. Inverse proportion or ratio, is when the effect or result of any operation is less in proportion as the cause is greater, or is greater in proportion as the cause is less. Thus the time in which a quantity of work may be performed, will be less in proportion as the number of workmen is greater, and greater in proportion as the number of workmen is less. If ten men can perform a certain quantity of work in six days, then twenty men will perform the same work in three days. Inverse proportion is opposed to direct.

INVERSELY, adv. invers’ly. In an inverted order or manner; when more produces less, and less produces more; or when one thing is greater or less, in proportion as another is less or greater.

INVERSION, n. [L. inversio. See Invert.]

1. Change of order, so that the last becomes first and the first last; a turning or change of the natural order of things.

It is just the inversion of an act of parliament; your Lordship first signed it, and then it was passed among the lords and commons.

2. Change of places, so that each takes the place of the other.

3. A turning backwards; a contrary rule of operation. Problems in geometry and arithmetic are often proved by inversion, as division by multiplication, and multiplication by division.

4. In grammar, a change of the natural order of words; as, “of all vices, impurity is one of the most detestable.” instead of “impurity is one of the most detestable of all vices.”

5. In music, the change of position either of a subject or of a chord.

INVERT, v.t. [L. inverto; in and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn into a contrary direction; to turn upside down; as, to invert a cone; to invert a hollow vessel.

2. To place in a contrary order or method; as, to invert the rules of justice; to invert the order of words.

And winter storms invert the year.

3. In music, to change the order of the notes which form a chord, or the parts which compose harmony.

4. To divert; to turn into another channel; to embezzle. [Not in use.]

INVERTEBRAL, a. Destitute of vertebral column, as animals.

INVERTEBRATED, a. Destitute of a back bone or vertebral chain. [See Vertebrated.]

INVERTED, pp. Turned to a contrary direction; turned upside down; changed in order.

INVERTEDLY, adv. In a contrary or reversed order.

INVERTENT, n. A medicine intended to invert the natural order of the successive irritative motions in the system.

INVERTING, ppr. Turning in a contrary direction; changing the order.

INVEST, v.t. [L. investio; in and vestio, to clothe. See Vest.]

1. To clothe; to dress; to put garments on; to array; usually and most correctly followed by with, before the thing put on; as, to invest one with a mantle or robe. In this sense, it is used chiefly in poetry and elevated prose, not in colloquial discourse.

2. To clothe with office or authority; to place in possession of an office, rank or dignity; as, to invest a person with a civil office, or with an ecclesiastical dignity.

3. To adorn; to grace; as, to invest with honor.

4. To clothe; to surround; as, to be invested with light, splendor or glory.

5. To confer; to give. [Little used.]

6. To inclose; to surround; to block up, so as to intercept succors of men and provisions and prevent escape; to lay siege to; as, to invest a town.

7. To clothe money in something permanent or less fleeting; as, to invest money in funded or bank stock; to invest it in lands or goods. In this application, it is always followed by in.

INVESTED, pp. Clothed; dressed; adorned; inclosed.

INVESTIENT, a. Covering; clothing.

INVESTIGABLE, a. [from investigate.] That may be investigated or searched out; discoverable by rational search or disquisition. The causes or reasons of things are sometimes investigable.

INVESTIGATE, v.t. [L. investigo; in and vestigo, to follow a track, to search; vestigium, a track or footstep.]

To search into; to inquire and examine into with care and accuracy; to find out by careful disquisition; as, to investigate the powers and forces of nature; to investigate the causes of natural phenomena; to investigate the principles of moral duty; to investigate the conduct of an agent or the motives of a prince.

INVESTIGATED, pp. Searched into; examined with care.

INVESTIGATING, ppr. Searching into; inquiring into with care.

INVESTIGATION, n. [L. investigatio.] The action or process of searching minutely for truth, facts or principles; a careful inquiry to find out what is unknown, either in the physical or moral world, and either by observation and experiment, or by argument and discussion. Thus we speak of the investigations of the philosopher and the mathematician; the investigations of the judge, the moralist and the divine.

INVESTIGATIVE, a. Curious and deliberate in researches.

INVESTIGATOR, n. One who searches diligently into a subject.

INVESTITURE, n. The action of giving possession, or livery of seizin.


It was customary for princes to make investiture of ecclesiastical benefices.

1. The right of giving possession of any manor, office or benefice.

He had refused to yield to the pope the investiture of bishops.

INVESTIVE, a. Clothing; encircling.

INVESTMENT, n. The action of investing.

1. Clothes; dress; garment; habit. [We now use vestment.]

2. The act of surrounding, blocking up or besieging by an armed force.

The capitulation was signed by the commander of the fort, within six days after its investment.

3. The laying out of money in the purchase of some species of property; literally, the clothing of money with something.


INVETERACY, n. [L. inveteratio. See Inveterate.]

Long continuance, or the firmness or deep rooted obstinacy of any quality or state acquired by time; as the inveteracy of custom and habit; usually or always applied in a bad sense; as the inveteracy of prejudice, of error, or of any evil habit.

INVETERATE, a. [L. inveteratus, invetero; in and vetero, from vetus, old.]

1. Old; long established.

It is an inveterate and received opinion--


3. Having fixed habits by long continuance; used of persons; as an inveterate sinner.


INVETERATE, v.t. [L. invetero, to grow old.]


INVETERATELY, adv. With obstinacy; violently.

INVETERATENESS, n. Obstinacy confirmed by time; inveteracy; as the inveterateness of a mischief.

INVETERATION, n. The act of hardening or confirming by long continuance.


1. Envious; malignant.



INVIDIOUSLY, adv. Enviously; malignantly.

1. In a manner likely to provoke hatred.

INVIDIOUSNESS, n. The quality of provoking envy or hatred.

INVIGILANCE, n. Want of vigilance; neglect of watching.

INVIGORATE, v.t. To give vigor to; to strengthen; to animate; to give life and energy to. Exercise invigorates the body; cheerfulness invigorates the mind.

Christian graces and virtues they cannot be, unless fed, invigorated and animated by universal charity.

INVIGORATED, pp. Strengthened; animated.

INVIGORATING, ppr. Giving fresh vigor to; strengthening.

INVIGORATION, n. The action of invigorating, or state of being invigorated.

INVILLAGED, a. Turned into a village.

INVINCIBLE, a. [L. in and vinco, to conquer.]

1. Not to be conquered or subdued; that cannot be overcome; unconquerable; as an invincible army.

2. Not to be overcome; insuperable; as, an invincible obstacle, error, habit or objection.

INVINCIBLENESS, INVINCIBILITY, n. The quality of being unconquerable; insuperableness.

INVINCIBLY, adv. Unconquerably; insuperably.

INVIOLABLE, a. [L. inviolabilis; in and violabilis, violo, to violate.]

1. Not to be profaned; that ought not to be injured, polluted or treated with irreverence; as, a sacred place and sacred things should be considered inviolable.

2. Not to be broken; as an inviolable league, covenant, agreement, contract, vow or promise.

3. Not to be injured or tarnished; as inviolable chastity or honor.

4. Not susceptible of hurt or wound; as inviolable saints.

INVIOLABLENESS, INVIOLABILITY, n. [from inviolable.] The quality or state of being inviolable; as the inviolability of crowned heads.

1. The quality of not being subject to be broken.

INVIOLABLY, adv. Without profanation; without breach or failure; as a sanctuary inviolably sacred; to keep a promise inviolably.

INVIOLATE, a. [L. inviolatus.] Unhurt; uninjured; unprofaned; unpolluted; unbroken.

But let inviolate truth be always dear

To thee.

INVIOLATED, a. Unprofaned; unbroken; unviolated.

INVIOUS, a. [L. invius; in and via, way.] Impassable; untrodden.

INVIOUSNESS, n. State of being impassable.