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DESIDERATUM

Volume 7 · 64 words · 1860 Edition

(Latin) is used to signify the desirable but not yet acquired perfection in any art, science, &c.; thus, it is a desideratum with the blacksmith to render iron fusible by a gentle heat, and yet preserve it hard enough for ordinary uses; with the glass-maker, to render glass malleable; and with the clockmaker to bring pendulums to be useful where there are irregular motions.