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Webster 1913 Edition


Ionic

I-on′ic

,
Adj.
[L.
Ionicus
, Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] Ionia.]
1.
Of or pertaining to Ionia or the Ionians.
2.
(Arch.)
Pertaining to the Ionic order of architecture, one of the three orders invented by the Greeks, and one of the five recognized by the Italian writers of the sixteenth century. Its distinguishing feature is a capital with spiral volutes. See Illust. of
Capital
.
Ionic dialect
(Gr. Gram.)
,
a dialect of the Greek language, used in Ionia. The Homeric poems are written in what is designated old Ionic, as distinguished from new Ionic, or Attic, the dialect of all cultivated Greeks in the period of Athenian prosperity and glory.
Ionic foot
.
(Pros.)
See
Ionic
,
Noun.
, 1.
Ionic mode
, or
Ionian mode
,
(Mus.)
,
an ancient mode, supposed to correspond with the modern major scale of C.
Ionic sect
,
a sect of philosophers founded by
Thales of Miletus
, in Ionia. Their distinguishing tenet was, that water is the original principle of all things.
Ionic type
,
a kind of heavy-faced type (as that of the following line).


I-on′ic

,
Noun.
1.
(Pros.)
(a)
A foot consisting of four syllables: either two long and two short, – that is, a spondee and a pyrrhic, in which case it is called the
greater Ionic
; or two short and two long, – that is, a pyrrhic and a spondee, in which case it is called the
smaller Ionic
.
(b)
A verse or meter composed or consisting of Ionic feet.
2.
The Ionic dialect;
as, the Homeric
Ionic
.
3.
(Print.)
Ionic type.

Webster 1828 Edition


Ionic

ION'IC

,
Adj.
[from Ionia.] The Ionic order, in architecture, is that species of column named from Ionia, in Greece. It is more slender than the Doric and Tuscan, but less slender and less ornamented than the Corinthian and Composite. It is simple, but majestic; its highth is 18 modules, and that of the entablature four and a half.
1.
The Ionic dialect of the Greek language, is the dialect used in Ionia.
2.
The Ionic sect of philosophers, was that founded by Thales of Miletus, in Ionia. Their distinguishing tenet was, that water is the principle of all natural things.
3.
Denoting an airy kind of music. The Ionic or Ionian mode was, reckoning from grave to acute, the second of the five middle modes.

Definition 2024


Ionic

Ionic

See also: ionic and iònic

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

Ionic (not comparable)

  1. of or relating to Ionians
  2. (architecture) of an order of classical Greek architecture whose distinguishing feature is a capital with spiral volutes.
  3. (printing, dated) Of or relating to a kind of heavy-faced type.

Proper noun

Ionic

  1. A sub-dialect of the Attic-Ionic dialectal group of Ancient Greek consisting of Old Ionic and New Ionic.

Related terms

ionic

ionic

See also: Ionic and iònic

English

Adjective

ionic (not comparable)

  1. (chemistry) of, relating to, or containing ions

Translations