Search the Dictionary

An assembly of persons; a gathering; esp. an assembly of persons met for the worship of God, and for religious instruction; a body of people who habitually so meet. He [Bunyan] rode every year to London, and preached there to large and attentive congregations. Macaulay.

That system of church organization which vests all ecclesiastical power in the assembled brotherhood of each local church.

A gathering or assembly; a conference.

the act of uniting or combining; union; assemblage. [Obs.] Mixtures and conjugations of atoms. Bentley.

t the base so as to produce a broad foliaceous body through the center of which the stem passes; -- applied to leaves, as the leaves of the boneset.

Corrupt or guilty assent to wrongdoing, not involving actual participation in, but knowledge of, and failure to prevent or oppose it.

a making known or designating something additional; implication of something more than is asserted.

ess of the operation. Sir W. Hamilton. And, when the steam Which overflowed the soul had passed away, A consciousness remained that it had left. . . . images and precious thoughts That shall not die, and can not be destroyed. Wordsworth. The consciousness of wrong brought with it the consciousness of weakness. Froude.…

Consecrated; devoted; dedicated; sacred. They were assembled in that consecrate place. Bacon.

ndicate or express a willingness; to yield to guidance, persuasion, or necessity; to give assent or approval; to comply. My poverty, but not my will, consents. Shak. And whispering "I will ne'er consent," -- consented. Byron.

Conservation, as from injury, defilement, or irregular use. [An act was] passed in 1866, for vesting in the Conservators of the River Thames the conservancy of the Thames and Isis. Mozley & W.

Primarily, a place of standing or staying together; hence, any solemn assembly or council. To council summons all his mighty peers, Within thick clouds and dark tenfold involved, A gloomy consistory. Milton.

to wed, Well pleased to want a consort of his bed. Dryden. The consort of the queen has passed from this troubled sphere. Thakeray. The snow-white gander, invariably accompanied by his darker consort. Darwin.

An assemblage of splendors or excellences. The constellations of genius had already begun to show itself . . . which was to shed a glory over the meridian and close of Philip's reign. Prescott.

One for whom another acts; especially, one who is represented by another in a legislative assembly; -- correlative to representative. The electors in the district of a representative in Congress, or in the legislature of a State, are termed his constituents. Abbot. To appeal from the representatives to the constituents…

as not constitutionally appointed. Nothing would indue them to acknowledge that [such] an assembly . . . was constitutionally a Parliament. Macaulay.

Marked by constraint; not free; not voluntary; embarrassed; as, a constrained manner; a constrained tone.

An expression of assent to a bill or motion; an affirmate vote; also, a member who votes "Content.". Supposing the number of "Contents" and "Not contents" strictly equal in number and consequence.Burke.

An assemblage; a collection; harmonious union. [Obs.] That person of his [George Herbert], which afforded so unusual a contesseration of elegancies. Oley.

ttering objects. Dryden. Law of continuity (Math. & Physics), the principle that nothing passes from one state to another without passing through all the intermediate states. -- Solution of continuity. (Math.) See under Solution.