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trary or opposed to, wholly, completely; as in cataclysm, catarrh. It sometimes drops the final vowel, as in catoptric; and is sometimes changed to cath, as in cathartic, catholic.

An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune. The strange catastrophe of affairs now at London. Bp. Buret. The most horrible and portentous catastrophe that nature ever yet saw. Woodward.…

e cause. Burke. Efficient cause, the agent or force that produces a change or redult. -- Final cause, the end, design, or object, for which anything is done. -- Formal cause, the elements of a conception which make the conception or the thing conceived to be what it is; or the idea viewed as a formative principle and…

A ceasing of discontinuance, as of action, whether termporary or final; a stop; as, a cessation of the war. The temporary cessation of the papal iniquities. Motley. The day was yearly observed for a festival by cessation from labor. Sir J. Hayward. Cessation of arms (Mil.), an armistice, or truce, agreed to by the comm…

ss in or near a fortified city, commanding the city and fortifications, and intended as a final point of defense. Syn. - Stronghold. See Fortress.

aw, clerici, or clerks. This privilege was abridged and modified by various statutes, and finally abolished in the reign of George IV. (1827). -- Regular clergy, Secular clergy See Regular, n., and Secular, a.

ation, printer's name, etc., formerly placed on the last page of a book. The colophon, or final description, fell into disuse, and . . . the title page had become the principal direct means of identifying the book. De Morgan. The book was uninjured from title page to colophon. Sir W. Scott.

To make a final determination or judgment concerning; to judge; to decide. But no frail man, however great or high, Can be concluded blest before he die. Addison. Is it concluded he shall be protector Shak.

Final decision; determination; result. And the conclusion is, she shall be thine. Shak.

Serving to consummate; completing. "The final, the consummative procedure of philosophy." Sir W. Hamilton.

A contraction of two vowels (as the final and initial vowels of united words) into one long vowel, or into a dipthong; synæresis; as, cogo for coago.

lements ofcriticism depend on the two principles of Beauty and Truth, one of which is the final end or object of study in every one of its pursuits: Beauty, in letters and the arts; Truth, in history and sciences. Brande & C. By criticism, as it was first instituted by Aristotle, was meant a standard of judging well. D…

tive cadence (Mus.), a cadence on the subdominant, or in some foreign key, postponing the final close.

quality of deciding a question or controversy; putting an end to contest or controversy; final; conclusive. "A decisive, irrevocable doom." Bates. "Decisive campaign." Macaulay. "Decisive proof." Hallam.

rease. [R.] It [the river] flows and flows, and yet will flow, Volume decreaseless to the final hour. A. Seward.

The final judgment of the Court of Session, or of an inferior court, by which the question at issue is decided.

unto the Lord. 2 Sam. viii. 10, 11. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. . . . But in a larger sense we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. A. Lincoln.

Determinate; positive; final; conclusive; unconditional; express. A strict and definitive truth. Sir T. Browne. Some definitive . . . scheme of reconciliation. Prescott.

One of a sect of Anabaptists who maintain that the demons or devils will finally be saved.

Last; final. Dernier ressort ( Etym: [F.], last resort or expedient.