Adze, a cutting instrument used for chipping the surface of timber, somewhat of a mattock shape, and having a blade of steel forming a portion of a cylindrical surface, with a cutting edge at right angles to the length of the handle.
Ædiles (ē′dīlz), Roman magistrates who had the supervision of the national games and spectacles; of the public edifices, such as temples (the name comes from ædes, a temple); of private buildings, of the markets, cleansing and draining the city, &c.
Æ′dui, one of the most powerful nations of Gaul, between the Liger (Loire) and the Arar (Saône). On the arrival of Julius Cæsar in Gaul (58 B.C.) they were subject to Ariovistus, but their independence was restored by Cæsar. Their chief town was Bibracte (Mont Beuvray, near Autun).
Ægade′an Islands, a group of small islands lying off the western extremity of Sicily, and consisting of Maritimo, Favignana, Levanso, and Le Formiche.
Ægag′rus, a wild species of ibex (Capra ægagrus), found in herds on the Caucasus, and many Asiatic mountains, believed to be the original source of at least one variety of the domestic goat.
Ægean Civilization, a term applied to the pre-Hellenic civilization of south-eastern Europe, including Crete, Greece and the Cyclades, and the Danubian or Mid-European area. See Crete and Danubian Civilization.
Ægean Sea (ē-jē′an), that part of the Mediterranean which washes the eastern shores of
Greece, and the western coast of Asia Minor. See Archipelago.
Æ′gilops, a genus of grasses, very closely allied to wheat, and somewhat remarkable from the alleged fact that by cultivation one of the species becomes a kind of wheat.