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A following; a body of adherents; as, the Roman Catholic obedience, or the whole body of persons who submit to the authority of the pope.

Performance of what is prescribed; adherence in practice; observance. [Obs.] We are to procure dispensation or leave to omit the observation of it in such circumstances. Jer. Taylor.

can not be shaken at all, or only with great difficulty; firm and usually unreasonable adherence to an opinion, purpose, or system; unyielding disposition; stubborness; pertinacity; persistency; contumacy. You do not well in obstinacy To cavil in the course of this contract. Shak. To shelter their ignorance, or obstin…

An adherent of occultism.

The state of being official; a system of official government; also, adherence to office routine; red-tapism. Officialism may often drift into blunders. Smiles.

An adherent of Oliver Cromwell. Macaulay.

and pistils united in a single column, and normally three petals and three sepals, all adherent to the ovary. The flowers are curiously shaped, often resembling insects, the odd or lower petal (called the lip) being unlike the others, and sometimes of a strange and unexpected appearance. About one hundred species occu…

Forming a whole composed of organs. Hence: Of or pertaining to a system of organs; inherent in, or resulting from, a certain organization; as, an organic government; his love of truth was not inculcated, but organic.

One of the adherents of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846-91) in his advocacy of home rule for Ireland.

One of the adherents of the Zoroastrian or ancient Persian religion, descended from Persian refugees settled in India; a fire worshiper; a Gheber.

An adherent to a party or faction; esp., one who is strongly and passionately devoted to a party or an interest. "The violence of a partisan." Macaulay. Both sides had their partisans in the colony. Jefferson.

The state of being a partisan, or adherent to a party; feelings or conduct appropriate to a partisan.

y or malignity; to harass; especially, to afflict, harass, punish, or put to death, for adherence to a particular religious creed or mode of worship. Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. Matt. v. 44.

act or practice of persecuting; especially, the infliction of loss, pain, or death for adherence to a particular creed or mode of worship. Persecution produces no sincere conviction. Paley.

The inherent power of a government to regulate its police affairs. The term police power is not definitely fixed in meaning. In the earlier cases in the United States it was used as including the whole power of internal government, or the powers of government inherent in every sovereignty to the extent of its dominions…

A coherent mass of pollen, as in the milkweed and most orchids.

A fruit composed of several cartilaginous or bony carpels inclosed in an adherent fleshy mass, which is partly receptacle and partly calyx, as an apple, quince, or pear.

An adherent of the pope. [R.] Marlowe.

The quality or state of being potent; physical or moral power; inherent strength; energy; ability to effect a purpose; capability; efficacy; influence. "Drugs of potency." Hawthorne. A place of potency and away o' the state. Shak.

The quality or state of being potential; possibility, not actuality; inherent capability or disposition, not actually exhibited.