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Rigid purity; the quality of being affectedly pure or nice, especially in the choice of language; over-solicitude as to purity. "His political purism." De Quincey. The English language, however, . . . had even already become too thoroughly and essentially a mixed tongue for his doctrine of purism to be admitted to the…

One who aims at excessive purity or nicety, esp. in the choice of language. He [Fox] . . . purified vocabulary with a scrupulosity unknown to any purist. Macaulay.

aracterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. [Archaic] " The queynte ring." " His queynte spear." Chaucer. " A shepherd young quaint." Chapman. Every look was coy and wondrous quaint. Spenser. To show bow quaint an orator you are. Shak.

A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble. We laugh at the quiddities of those writers now. Coleridge.

Subtilty; nicety; quibble. "Nice, sharp quillets of the law." Shak.

A nice point; a subtilty; a debatable point. These are your quodlibets, but no learning. P. Fletcher.

ck a Scripture simile beyond the true intent thereof. Fuller. Try what my credit can in Venice do; That shall be racked even to the uttermost. Shak.

nge red. Called also redwinged thrush. (b) A North American passerine bird (Agelarius phoeniceus) of the family Icteridæ. The male is black, with a conspicuous patch of bright red, bordered with orange, on each wing. Called also redwinged blackbird, red-winged troupial, marsh blackbird, and swamp blackbird.…

To affect nicety or subtilty in thought or language. "He makes another paragraph about our refining in controversy." Atterbury.

Originally, a gondola race in Venice; now, a rowing or sailing race, or a series of such races.

To sew together so that the seam is scarcely visible; to sew up with skill and nicety; to finedraw.

as, a wedding ring. Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring. Chaucer. The dearest ring in Venice will I give you. Shak.

Having the odor of rose water; hence, affectedly nice or delicate; sentimental. "Rose-water philantropy." Carlyle.

To mold without nicety or elegance; to form with asperities and inequalities.

To work over coarsely, without regard to nicety, smoothness, or finish. Moxon.

Unformed by taste or skill; not nicely finished; not smoothed or polished; -- said especially of material things; as, rude workmanship. "Rude was the cloth." Chaucer. Rude and unpolished stones. Bp. Stillingfleet. The heaven-born child All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies. Milton.

iscernment or penetration with soundness of judgment; shrewdness. Some [brutes] show that nice sagacity of smell. Cowper. Natural sagacity improved by generous education. V. Knox.

Having nice discernment and powers of judging; prudent; grave; sagacious. All you sage counselors, hence! Shak.

The Arsenal in Venice; -- so called from having a figure of an archer over the door. Shak.

With a disposition to impute immorality or wrong. Shun their fault, who, scandalously nice, Will needs mistake an author into vice. Pope.