in architecture, any square body, as the trunk or notched part of a pedestal: or it is the middle of the pedestal, or that part included between the base and the corniche; so called because it is often made in the form of a cube or dye.

a person who professes the art of dyeing all manner of colours. See Dyeing.

Dyer (Sir James), an eminent English lawyer, chief judge of the court of common pleas in the reign of queen Elizabeth. He died in 1581; and about 20 years after, was published his large collection of Reports, which have been highly esteemed for their succinctness and solidity: he also left other writings behind him, relative to his profession.

Dyer (John), the son of Robert Dyer, Esq.; a Welsh solicitor of great capacity, was born in 1700, and educated a painter; for which purpose he travelled to Rome, where he collected materials for his instructive poem called the Ruins of Rome: his ill health and literary turn, however, induced him to turn clergyman; and he obtained the living of Coningsby in Lincolnshire, where he resided until his death. He distinguished himself by his poems of Grongar Hill, the Ruins of Rome above-mentioned, and the Fleece, published in 1757, which his bad health hardly permitted him to finish.

Dyer's Weed, in botany. See Reseda.