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M — M to Machine (Part 4 of 6)

Macco
(Mac"co) n. A gambling game in vogue in the eighteenth century. Thackeray.

Mace
(Mace) n. [Jav. & Malay. mas, fr. Skr. masha a bean.] A money of account in China equal to one tenth of a tael; also, a weight of 57.98 grains. S. W. Williams.

Mace
(Mace) n. [F. macis, L. macis, macir, Gr. cf. Skr. makaranda the nectar or honey of a flower, a fragrant mango.] (Bot.) A kind of spice; the aril which partly covers nutmegs. See Nutmeg.

Red mace is the aril of Myristica tingens, and white mace that of M. Otoba, — East Indian trees of the same genus with the nutmeg tree.

Mace
(Mace), n. [OF. mace, F. masse, from (assumed) L. matea, of which the dim. mateola a kind of mallet or beetle, is found.]

1. A heavy staff or club of metal; a spiked club; — used as weapon in war before the general use of firearms, especially in the Middle Ages, for breaking metal armor. Chaucer.

Death with his mace petrific . . . smote.
Milton.

2. Hence: A staff borne by, or carried before, a magistrate as an ensign of his authority. "Swayed the royal mace." Wordsworth.

3. An officer who carries a mace as an emblem of authority. Macaulay.

4. A knobbed mallet used by curriers in dressing leather to make it supple.

5. (Billiards) A rod for playing billiards, having one end suited to resting on the table and pushed with one hand.

Mace bearer, an officer who carries a mace before persons in authority.

Macedonian
(Mac`e*do"ni*an) a. [L. Macedonius, Gr. .] (Geog.) Belonging, or relating, to Macedonia.n. A native or inhabitant of Macedonia.

Macedonian
(Mac`e*do"ni*an), n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a certain religious sect, followers of Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople, in the fourth century, who held that the Holy Ghost was a creature, like the angels, and a servant of the Father and the Son.

Macedonianism
(Mac`e*do"ni*an*ism) n. The doctrines of Macedonius.

Macer
(Ma"cer) n. [F. massier. See Mace staff.] A mace bearer; an officer of a court. P. Plowman.

Macerate
(Mac"er*ate) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Macerated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Macerating.] [L. maceratus, p. p. of macerare to make soft, weaken, enervate; cf. Gr. to knead.]

1. To make lean; to cause to waste away. [Obs. or R.] Harvey.

2. To subdue the appetites of by poor and scanty diet; to mortify. Baker.

3. To soften by steeping in a liquid, with or without heat; to wear away or separate the parts of by steeping; as, to macerate animal or vegetable fiber.

Macerater
(Mac"er*a`ter) n. One who, or that which, macerates; an apparatus for converting paper or fibrous matter into pulp.

Maceration
(Mac`er*a"tion) n. [L. maceratio: cf. F. macération.] The act or process of macerating.