from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Horizon \Ho*ri"zon\, n. [F., fr. L. horizon, fr. Gr. ? (sc. ?)
the bounding line, horizon, fr. ? to bound, fr. ? boundary,
limit.]
1. The line which bounds that part of the earth's surface
visible to a spectator from a given point; the apparent
junction of the earth and sky.
[1913 Webster]
And when the morning sun shall raise his car
Above the border of this horizon. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
All the horizon round
Invested with bright rays. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Astron.)
(a) A plane passing through the eye of the spectator and
at right angles to the vertical at a given place; a
plane tangent to the earth's surface at that place;
called distinctively the sensible horizon.
(b) A plane parallel to the sensible horizon of a place,
and passing through the earth's center; -- called also
{rational horizon} or {celestial horizon}.
(c) (Naut.) The unbroken line separating sky and water, as
seen by an eye at a given elevation, no land being
visible.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Geol.) The epoch or time during which a deposit was made.
[1913 Webster]
The strata all over the earth, which were formed at
the same time, are said to belong to the same
geological horizon. --Le Conte.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Painting) The chief horizontal line in a picture of any
sort, which determines in the picture the height of the
eye of the spectator; in an extended landscape, the
representation of the natural horizon corresponds with
this line.
[1913 Webster]
5. The limit of a person's range of perception, capabilities,
or experience; as, children raised in the inner city have
limited horizons.
[PJC]
6. [fig.] A boundary point or line, or a time point, beyond
which new knowledge or experiences may be found; as, more
powerful computers are just over the horizon.
[PJC]
{Apparent horizon}. See under {Apparent}.
{Artificial horizon}, a level mirror, as the surface of
mercury in a shallow vessel, or a plane reflector adjusted
to the true level artificially; -- used chiefly with the
sextant for observing the double altitude of a celestial
body.
{Celestial horizon}. (Astron.) See def. 2, above.
{Dip of the horizon} (Astron.), the vertical angle between
the sensible horizon and a line to the visible horizon,
the latter always being below the former.
{Rational horizon}, and {Sensible horizon}. (Astron.) See
def. 2, above.
{Visible horizon}. See definitions 1 and 2, above.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Artificial \Ar`ti*fi"cial\, a. [L. artificialis, fr. artificium:
cf. F. artificiel. See {Artifice}.]
1. Made or contrived by art; produced or modified by human
skill and labor, in opposition to natural; as, artificial
heat or light, gems, salts, minerals, fountains, flowers.
[1913 Webster]
Artificial strife
Lives in these touches, livelier than life. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Feigned; fictitious; assumed; affected; not genuine.
"Artificial tears." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Artful; cunning; crafty. [Obs.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. Cultivated; not indigenous; not of spontaneous growth; as,
artificial grasses. --Gibbon.
[1913 Webster]
{Artificial arguments} (Rhet.), arguments invented by the
speaker, in distinction from laws, authorities, and the
like, which are called inartificial arguments or proofs.
--Johnson.
{Artificial classification} (Science), an arrangement based
on superficial characters, and not expressing the true
natural relations species; as, "the artificial system" in
botany, which is the same as the Linn[ae]an system.
{Artificial horizon}. See under {Horizon}.
{Artificial light}, any light other than that which proceeds
from the heavenly bodies.
{Artificial lines}, lines on a sector or scale, so contrived
as to represent the logarithmic sines and tangents, which,
by the help of the line of numbers, solve, with tolerable
exactness, questions in trigonometry, navigation, etc.
{Artificial numbers}, logarithms.
{Artificial person} (Law). See under {Person}.
{Artificial sines}, {tangents}, etc., the same as logarithms
of the natural sines, tangents, etc. --Hutton.
[1913 Webster]