Contestation

[Fr., from Lat. contestatio.] Act of contesting; debate; strife. "Domestic, unsociable contestations."-Clarendon. manner. Contest'ingly, adv . In a contesting or contending Con'test le , a . That which may not be questioned. Con'text, n. [Lat. context us , from contexo - con , and lezo , to weave. Connections or the end series or composition of a discourse; the parts of a discourse which precede or follow the sentence quoted; the pa ages of Scripture which are near the text, either before it or after it. Context'ure, n . [Fr., from Lat. con , and textura , from texo, text us , to weave.] The interweaving several parts into one body; the disposition and union of the constituent parts of a thing with respect to each other; system; texture. Context'ural, a. Pertaining to contexture. "He was not of any delicate contexture; his limbs rather sturdy than dainty." - Wotton. Context'ured, a . Woven together into one texture. Conti, (HOUSE OF.) This younger branch of the princely French house of Condé, q. v., took its name from the small town of Conti, near Amiens, and sprang from Armand de Bourbon, brother of the "Great Conde; " в. 16:29, D. 1666. The most remarkable member of the family was FRANÇOIS LOUIS, Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon, and Conti, в. 1664. Не took a brilliant part in the victories of Steinkirk and Neerwinden, and Ma ill on pronounced his funeral oration. Saint-Simon, in his celebrated Mémoires, thus speaks of him: "He was the delight of armies, the divinity of the people, the hero of officers, the darling of parliament, and the admiration of the most learned savans." D. 1709.- The last of the House of C. was LouIS FRANCO IS JOSEPH, B. 1734, D. in Spain, 1814. CONTI, ( Louise Marguerite de Lorraine, Prince e de,) celo brated for her beauty and brilliant talents, daughter of Henri, Duc de Guise, was loved by Henri IV., who proposed to marry her; she, however, married, in 1605, François de Bourbon, Prince de Conti, son of Louis de Bourbon, first Prince de Condé, who D. 1614, without i ue, and cannot therefore be accounted as the founder of the above house. After his death, the Prince e de Conti privately married the famous Marshal de Bas som pierre ( q . v .), shared in his disgrace, and D. in exile, 1631. Contigna'tion, n. [Lat. contignatio .] Act of framing together, as beams. - A frame, of beams joined toge ther; a fabric. "Several stories or contignations." - Wotton. Contiguous, a. [Lat. contiguus - con , and tango , tago , to touch.] Touching one another; meeting or joining at the surface or border; adjoining; adjacent; near. "Happine and misery, Contin'uate, a . Immediately or intimately connected. -Uninterrupted; unbroken. Contin'uatene , n. State or quality of being con- Continua'tion, n. [Fr., from Lat. continuatio , from continuo, continuatus. See CONTINUE.] Act of continu- ing; uninterrupted succe ion in space or in time; ex- IMG:content-0354.png:[blocks in formation] "Chastity is either abstinence or continence; abstinence is that of virgins or widows; continence, of married persons."-Taylor. Con'tinent, a. [Lat. continens.] Holding or keeping within due bounds, as the pa ions; refraining from un- lawful sexual commerce, or moderate in the indulgence of sexual pleasure: chaste; as, as continent as Joseph. -n. ( Geog .) The large unbroken tracts of land on the earth, whether altogether or entirely disconnected, are included under this name. Thus Europe and Asia toge- ther, Africa, N. America, S. America, and Australia, may all be thus regarded. There is absolutely no natural -To last; to be durable; to endure; to be permanent. -a. That continues; as, a continuative subject. Continuator, n . One who continues or keeps up a series or succe ion. separation between Europe and Asia; and thus, although in descriptive and political geography they are distinct, in physical geography they are one. -The mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Islands. Continental, a . Pertaining or relating to a conti- nent; as, a continental system. - Belonging or relating to the main-land of Europe, in contradistinction to the islands belonging thereto, more especially Great Britain; as, a continental tour. -( Amer . Hist .) Relating, or per- taining to, the American colonies confederated during the Revolutionary War; as, the Continental Congre . Contin'gentne , n. State of being contingent. Contin'uable, a . That may be continued. Contin'ual, a. [Fr. continuel; Lat, continuus . See CONTINUE.] Proceeding without interruption or ce a- tion; not intermitting; constant; perpetual; ince ant; IMG:content-0355.png:[blocks in formation] Contin'ue, v.n. [Fr. continuer ; Lat. continuo , from con- tinuus , from contineo - con , and teneo , to hold.] To hold or keep together without intermi ion; to remain in a state or place; to abide for any time indefinitely; to stay. "The popular vote "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Heb . xiii. 14. "The rain... continued till the earth No more was seen." - Milton . v. a. To add to the dimensions of; to draw out; to pro- tract; to prolong; to extend in space or duration; to produce; to persevere or persist in; as, to continue to lead a moral life. Continued, p.a. Extended in time without inter- mi ion; uninterrupted; unceasing. "There the series of a constant continued succe ion is lost." Locke . C. Ba . (Mus.) See THOROUGH-BASS. C. Fever. (Med.) A fever which presents no inter- ruption in its course. C. Fraction. ( Math .) A fraction, the numerator of which is 1, and the denominator a whole number plus a fraction whose numerator is 1, and whose denominator is a whole number plus a fraction, and so on. Contin'uer, n. One who continues; a continuator. "I would my horse had the speed of your tongue, And so good a continuer ."-Shaks. Continu'ity, n. [Lat. continuitas.] State of being continuous; uninterrupted connection; cohesion; close union of parts; unbroken texture. "It wraps itself about the flame, and by its continuity hinders any air or nitre from coming." - Add is on . Contour'niated, a . Having furrowed edges. Contoy', or LoG'GERHEAD, in the Caribbean Sea, an island off the coast of Yucatan, 16 m. W. by N. of Cape Catoche. Lat. 21° 32′ N., Lon. 86° 49′ W. Con'tra, a Latin preposition signifying against , over, opposite, in opposition , ., and entering into the com- position of many English words. Con'trabandist, n. [Sp. contrabandist a .] A smug- gler; one who engages in an illegal traffic. Con'tra-bas'soO, CONTRA-BASS, DOUBLE-BASS, n. [It. contra-ba o.] ( Mus .) The largest of the violin species of string and bowed instruments, of which it forms the lowest ba . Principle of C. (Geom.) A kind of postulate of great utility as a mode of discovery. According to it, any property of a geometrical figure which has been once established will still hold, (though it may po ibly have to be differently enunciated and demonstrated.) through all the succe ive states through which the figure may be conceived to pa . Thus, since two conics which do not intersect in more than two real points may always be projected into two circles, it is obvious that all de- scriptive properties of two circles, e. g ., those concerning their centres of similitude, ., remain true for the pro- jected conics. The property of intersecting, however, being merely contingent, or dependent upon position solely, the principle of continuity teaches that two conics which intersect, even in four real points, and which, consequently, cannot be projected into two cir- cles, also po e the descriptive properties in question. -To bargain for; to covenant; to stipulate by mutual ob- Continuous, a. [Lat. continuus.) Joined together closely or without intervening space or interruption; conjoined: connected; continued; as, a continuous sys- tem of telegraphs. (Bot.) Not interrupted; not deviating from uni- for mity. Contract', v. a. [Lat. contraho , contract us - con, and traho , to draw.] To draw together or nearer; to draw into a le compa ; to cause to shrink; to wrinkle; to shorten; to narrow; to abridge; to le en; to confine; as, to contract the forehead. "Why love among the virtues is not known, It is that love contracts them all in one." - Donne. ligations; as, to contract an alliance offensive and de- fensive. "But first contracted, that if ever found. His head should pay the forfeit." Dryden. -To betroth; to affiance; as, to contract a marriage. "She was contracted to a man of merit and quality." - Tatler . Cheshire co., traverses Hills borough and Merrimac cos., and enters the Merrimac River abt. 8 m. N. of Concord. Contor's ion, n. Same as CONTORTION, 9. v. Contort', v. a. [Lat. contorqueo , contort us - con, and torqueo, to twist.) To twist together; to cause to writhe; to wring; to pull awry. "Air seems to consist of spires contorted into small spheres." Cheyne. Contort'ed, p . a . Twisted over each other in oblique directions; as, a contorted limb, tion.