Acroceph′ali, tribes of men distinguished by pyramidal or high skulls.
Acrocerau′nia (thunder-smitten peaks) (now Cape Glossa or Linguetta), a promontory of Western Greece, in Epirus, running into the Adriatic.
Acrocorin′thus, a steep rock in Greece, nearly 1900 feet high, overhanging ancient Corinth, and on which stood the acropolis or citadel, the sacred fountain of Pirēnē being also here. This natural fortress has proved itself of importance in the modern history of Greece.
Ac′rogens (-jenz), lit. summit-growers, a term applied to the ferns, mosses, and lichens (cryptogams), as growing by extension upwards, in contradistinction to endogens and exogens.
Ac′rolith, an early form of Greek statuary in which the head, hands, and feet only were of stone, the trunk of the figure being of wood draped or gilded.
Acrop′olis (Gr. akros, high, and polis, a city), the citadel or chief place of a Grecian city, usually on an eminence commanding the town. That of Athens contained some of the finest buildings in the world, such as the Parthenon, Erechthēum, &c.
Acros′tic, a poem of which the first or last, or certain other, letters of the line, taken in order, form some name, motto, or sentence. A poem of which both first and last letters are thus arranged is called a double acrostic. In Hebrew poetry, the term is given to a poem of which the initial letters of the lines or stanzas were made to run over the letters of the alphabet in their order, as in Psalm cxix.—Acrostics have been much used in complimentary verses, the initial letters giving the name of the person eulogized. They were very popular among French poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In modern times Edgar Allen Poe has written quite remarkable acrostic verses.
Act, in special senses: (1) In dramatic poetry, one of the principal divisions of a drama, in which a definite and coherent portion of the plot is represented; generally subdivided into smaller portions called scenes. The Greek dramas were not divided into acts. The dictum that a drama should consist of five acts was first formally laid down by Horace, and is generally adhered to by modern dramatists in tragedy. In comedy, especially since the time of Molière, more freedom is allowed, and a division into two or three acts is common.—(2) Something formally done by a legislative or judicial body; a statute or law passed.—(3) In universities, a thesis maintained in public by a candidate for a degree. See Act of God, of Parliament, of Settlement.
Acta Diur′na (Lat., proceedings of the day), a daily Roman newspaper which appeared under both the republic and the empire.
Actæ′a. See Baneberry.