Heresy, her′e-si, n. the adoption and maintaining opinions contrary to the authorised teaching of the religious community to which one naturally belongs: an opinion adopted for one's self in opposition to the usual belief: heterodoxy.—ns. Heresiarch (her′e-si-ärk, or he-rē′zi-ärk), a leader in heresy, a chief among heretics; Heresiog′rapher, one who writes about heresies; Heresiog′raphy, a treatise on heresies; Heresiol′ogist, a student of, or writer on, heresies; Heresiol′ogy, the study or the history of heresies; Her′etic, the upholder of a heresy.—adj. Heret′ical.—adv. Heret′ically.—v.t. Heret′icate, to denounce as heretical. [O. Fr. heresie—L. hæresis—Gr. hairesis—hairein, to take.]
Heriot, her′i-ot, n. (Eng. law) a kind of fine due to the lord of a manor on the death of a person holding land of the manor, and consisting of the best beast, jewel, or chattel that belonged to the deceased.—adj. Her′iotable. [A.S. heregeatu, a military preparation—here, an army, geatwe, apparatus.]
Herisson, her′i-son, n. a beam turning on a pivot and supplied with sharp spikes, for the defence of a gate, &c.: (her.) a hedgehog.—adj. Hérissé, bristled. [A doublet of urchin.]
Heritable, her′i-ta-bl, adj. that may be inherited.—n. Heritabil′ity.—adv. Her′itably.—n. Her′itor, in Scotland, a landholder in a parish.—Heritable property (Scots law), real property, as opposed to movable property or chattels; Heritable security, same as English mortgage. [O. Fr. heritable, hereditable—-Low L. hereditabilis—L. hereditas.]
Heritage, her′it-āj, n. that which is inherited: inherited lot, condition of one's birth: (B.) the children (of God). [O. Fr. heritage, heriter—Late L. hereditāre, to inherit.]
Herling, her′ling, n. the young of the sea-trout.
Hermæ. See Hermes.
Hermandad, ėr-man-dad′, n. a confederation of the entire burgher class of Spain for police and judicial purposes, formed in 1282, and formally legalised in 1485. [Sp., 'brotherhood,' hermano—L. germanus, kindred.]
Hermaphrodite, hėr-maf′rod-īt, n. an animal or a plant in which the two sexual characteristics are united: an abnormal individual in whom are united the properties of both sexes.—adj. uniting the distinctions of both sexes.—ns. Hermaph′rodism, Hermaph′roditism, the union of the two sexes in one body.—adjs. Hermaphrodit′ic, -al, pertaining to a hermaphrodite: partaking of both sexes.—Hermaphrodite brig, a brig square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged aft. [L.,—Gr. Hermaphrodītos, the son of Hermēs and Aphroditē, who, when bathing, grew together with the nymph Salmacis into one person.]
Hermeneutic, -al, hėr-me-nū′tik, -al, adj. interpreting: explanatory: exigetical.—adv. Hermeneu′tically.—n.sing. Hermeneu′tics, the science of interpretation or exegesis, esp. of the Scriptures.—n. Hermeneu′tist, one versed in hermeneutics. [Gr. hermēneu′tikos—hermēneus, an interpreter, from Hermēs, Mercury, the god of art and eloquence.]