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O — Ophiomancy to Opossum (Part 1 of 6)

Ophiomancy
(O"phi*o*man`cy) n. [Gr. 'o`fis a serpent + -mancy: cf. F. ophiomantie.] Divination by serpents, as by their manner of eating, or by their coils.

Ophiomorpha
(||O`phi*o*mor"pha) n. pl. [NL. See Ophiomorphous.] (Zoöl.) An order of tailless amphibians having a slender, wormlike body with regular annulations, and usually with minute scales imbedded in the skin. The limbs are rudimentary or wanting. It includes the cæcilians. Called also Gymnophiona and Ophidobatrachia.

Ophiomorphite
(O`phi*o*mor"phite) n. [Gr. 'o`fis a serpent + form.] (Paleon.) An ammonite.

Ophiomorphous
(O`phi*o*mor"phous) a. [Gr. 'o`fis a serpent + -morphous.] Having the form of a serpent.

Ophiophagous
(O`phi*oph"a*gous) a. [Gr. 'o`fis a serpent + fagei^n to eat: cf. F. ophiophage.] (Zoöl.) Feeding on serpents; — said of certain birds and reptiles.

Ophiophagus
(||O`phi*oph"a*gus), n. [NL. See Ophiophagous.] (Zoöl.) A genus of venomous East Indian snakes, which feed on other snakes. Ophiophagus elaps is said to be the largest and most deadly of poisonous snakes.

Ophite
(O"phite) a. [Gr. 'ofi`ths, fr. 'o`fis a serpent.] Of or pertaining to a serpent. [Obs.]

Ophite
(O"phite), n. [L. ophites, Gr. 'ofi`ths a kind of marble spotted like a serpent: cf. F. ophite.] (Min.) A greenish spotted porphyry, being a diabase whose pyroxene has been altered to uralite; — first found in the Pyreness. So called from the colored spots which give it a mottled appearance.O*phi"ic a.

Ophite
(O"phite), n. [L. Ophitae, pl. See Ophite, a.] (Eccl.Hist.) A mamber of a Gnostic serpent- worshiping sect of the second century.

Ophiuchus
(||O`phi*u"chus) n. [L., fr. Gr. lit., holding a serpent; 'o`fis a serpent + to hold.] (Astron.) A constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, delineated as a man holding a serpent in his hands; — called also Serpentarius.

Ophiura
(||O`phi*u"ra) n. [NL., from Gr. snake + a tail.] (Zoöl.) A genus of ophiurioid starfishes.

Ophiuran
(O`phi*u"ran) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Ophiurioidea.n. One of the Ophiurioidea.

Ophiurid
(O`phi*u"rid) n. (Zoöl.) Same as Ophiurioid.

Ophiurida
(||O`phi*u"ri*da) n. pl. [NL.] (Zoöl.) Same as Ophiurioidea.

Ophiurioid
(O`phi*u"ri*oid) a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Ophiurioidea.n. One of the Ophiurioidea. [Written also ophiuroid.]

Ophiurioidea
(||O`phi*u`ri*oi"de*a ||O`phi*u*roi"de*a) n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. serpent + tail + form.] (Zoöl.) A class of star-shaped echinoderms having a disklike body, with slender, articulated arms, which are not grooved beneath and are often very fragile; — called also Ophiuroida and Ophiuridea. See Illust. under Brittle star.

Ophryon
(||Oph"ry*on) n. [NL., fr. Gr. the brow.] (Anat.) The supraorbital point.

Ophthalmia
(Oph*thal"mi*a) n. [F. ophthalmie, L. ophthalmia, fr. Gr. 'ofqalmi`a, fr. 'ofqalmo`s the eye, akin to E. optic. See Optic.] (Med.) An inflammation of the membranes or coats of the eye or of the eyeball.