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temper is proper for _man_; that is, for all mankind."--Murray.
In English, nouns without any article, or other definitive, are often used in a sense _indefinitely partitive_: as, "He took bread, and gave thanks."--Acts. That is, "some bread." "To buy food are thy servants come."--Genesis. That is, "some food." "There are fishes that have wings, and are not strangers to the airy region."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 322. That is, "some fishes."
"Words in which nothing but the mere being of any thing is implied, are used without articles: as, 'This is not beer, but _water_;' 'This is not brass, but steel.'"--See _Dr. Johnson's Gram._, p. 5.
An or a before the genus, may refer to _a whole species_; and the before the species, may denote that whole species emphatically: as, "A certain bird is termed the cuckoo, from the sound which it emits."--Blair.
But an or a is commonly used to denote individuals as unknown, or as not specially distinguished from others: as, "I see an object pass by, which I never saw till now; and I say, 'There goes a beggar with a long beard.'"--Harris.
And the is commonly used to denote individuals as known, or as specially distinguished from others: as, "The man departs, and returns a week after; and I say, 'There goes the beggar with the long beard.'"--_Id._
The article the is applied to nouns of cither number: as, "The man, the men;" "The good boy, the good boys."
The is commonly required before adjectives that are used by ellipsis as nouns: as, "The young are slaves to novelty; the old, to custom."--_Ld. Kames._
The article an or a implies unity, or