UNION n.
by which the two kingdoms were incorporated into one, in 1707. -- Union by the first, or second, intention. (Surg.) See To heal by the first, or second, intention, under Intention. -- Union down (Naut.), a signal of distress at sea made by reversing the flag, or turning its union downward. -- Union jack. (Naut.) See…
USE n.
or can not vest, and results or returns to him who raised it, after such expiration. -- Secondary, or Shifting, use, a use which, though executed, may change from one to another by circumstances. Blackstone. -- Statute of uses (Eng. Law), the stat. 27 Henry VIII., cap. 10, which transfers uses into possession, or wh…
V n.
V, the twenty-second letter of the English alphabet, is a vocal consonant. V and U are only varieties of the same character, U being the cursive form, while V is better adapted for engraving, as in stone. The two letters were formerly used indiscriminately, and till a comparatively recent date words containing them wer…
VENUS n.
One of the planets, the second in order from the sun, its orbit lying between that of Mercury and that of the Earth, at a mean distance from the sun of about 67,000,000 miles. Its diameter is 7,700 miles, and its sidereal period 224.7 days. As the morning star, it was called by the ancients Lucifer; as the evening star…
VESSEL n.
ions, and are usually marked with dots, pits, rings, or spirals by internal deposition of secondary membranes; a duct. Acoustic vessels. See under Acoustic. -- Weaker vessel, a woman; -- now applied humorously. "Giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel." 1 Peter iii. 7. "You are the weaker vessel." Shak.…
VISITATION n.
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 are devoted to the educa…
W n.
of the English alphabet, is usually a consonant, but sometimes it is a vowel, forming the second element of certain diphthongs, as in few, how. It takes its written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being the original form of the Roman capital letter which we call U. Etymologically it is most related t…