Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- Napier, John. Laird of Merchiston. 1550-1617. Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms and introduced the use of the decimal point in writing numbers.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- proper n. A Scottish occupational surname for someone who sold table linen, or was in charge of the linen of a great house.
- proper n. John Napier, Scottish mathematician etc
- proper n. A male given name transferred from the surname.
- proper n. Any of several cities and towns, but especially Napier, New Zealand.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms; introduced the use of the decimal point in writing numbers (1550-1617)
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Examples
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Slide 9: CUMBU NAPIER HYBRID (Bajra x Napier) - BN hybrid (Napier x Bajra) -
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Napier is definitely one of my favorite HP authors.
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Boss Napier is alive and well and living in Tacoma.
The 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 — Infoplease.com
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We never told what we had done, though we enjoyed the fun, but it is an anecdote worthy of record in Napier's History.
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
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This made him get up, and scramble over the wall with his men; but on the other side he was wild with terror – eyes staring and hands spread out – and when Napier ordered the men on to where Dobbs was, and ran forward himself, they, under their lieutenant's cowardly leading, all edged away to the right, out of the fire, and again Napier reached his friend alone.
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Then came another litter – "Captain Napier, of the 43rd – mortally wounded."
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-- Now I'm in the tea trade myself, you must know, and I contend that as things go, or at least as things went before the Barbarian eye, as they call Napier, kicked up a row with the Hong merchants, it's altogether a shameful imposition, and
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Napier, of Scotland, the first inventor of logarithms, contrived also a set of square pieces, with numbers on them, made generally of ivory, (which perform arithmetical and geometrical calculations,) and are commonly called Napier's Bones.
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We stayed in a charming seaside town called Napier, which is famous for having the world's largest collection of art deco buildings preserved from the early twentieth century.
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Veteran actor Charles Napier is reduced to playing racist for laughs, playing a dumber version of the same crazed war veteran we’ve seen in every bad comedy since the late 70s.
fbharjo commented on the word Napier
It is hard to get away 'clean handed'?!
May 22, 2012
ruzuzu commented on the word Napier
"Napier used his rooster to determine which of his servants had been stealing from his home. He would shut the suspects one at a time in a room with the bird, telling them to stroke it. The rooster would then tell Napier which of them was guilty. Actually, what would happen is that he would secretly coat the rooster with soot. Servants who were innocent would have no qualms about stroking it but the guilty one would only pretend he had, and when Napier examined their hands, the one with the clean hands was guilty.
Another occasion which may have contributed to his reputation as a sorcerer involved a neighbour whose pigeons were found to be eating Napier's grain. Napier warned him that he intended to keep any pigeons found on his property. The next day, it is said, Napier was witnessed surrounded by unusually passive pigeons which he was scooping up and putting in a sack. The previous night he had soaked some peas in brandy, and then sown them. Come morning, the pigeons had gobbled them up, rendering themselves incapable of flight."
--http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Napier&oldid=492990103
May 21, 2012