U n.
tiated, U being used only as a vowel or semivowel, and V only as a consonant. The true primary vowel sound of U, in Anglo-Saxon, was the sound which it still retains in most of the languages of Europe, that of long oo, as in tool, and short oo, as in wood, answering to the French ou in tour. Etymologically U is most cl…
USAGE n. 2 definitions
Long-continued practice; customary mode of procedure; custom; habitual use; method. Chaucer. It has now been, during many years, the grave and decorous usage of Parliaments to hear, in respectful silence, all expressions, acceptable or unacceptable, which are uttered from the throne. Macaulay.
VICE n.
; especially, immoral conduct or habit, as in the indulgence of degrading appetites; customary deviation in a single respect, or in general, from a right standard, implying a defect of natural character, or the result of training and habits; a harmful custom; immorality; depravity; wickedness; as, a life of vice; the v…
VIRGIN n.
dation by a male; a parthenogenetic insect. The Virgin, or The Blessed Virgin, the Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord. -- Virgin's bower (Bot.), a name given to several climbing plants of the genus Clematis, as C. Vitalba of Europe, and C. Virginiana of North America.
VISITATION n.
A festival in honor of the visit of the Virgin Mary to Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist, celebrated on the second of July. The Order of the Visitation of Our Lady (R. C. Ch.), a religious community of nuns, founded at Annecy, in Savoy, in 1610, and in 1808 established in the United States. In America these nuns ar…
WIDE a.
a less tense, and more open and relaxed, condition of the mouth organs; -- opposed to primary as used by Mr. Bell, and to narrow as used by Mr. Sweet. The effect, as explained by Mr. Bell, is due to the relaxation or tension of the pharynx; as explained by Mr. Sweet and others, it is due to the action of the tongue. T…