septemvirate (septemvir at)

[L. sep temviratus (see def.), sons. septenarius (sep-te-nā'ri-us), n.; pl. septenarii (-1). [L., sc. versus, a verse of seven feet; prop. adj., consisting of seven: see septenary.] In Latin pros., a verse consisting of seven feet. The name is used especially for the trochaic tetrameter catalectic ( versus quadratus ), which in the older Latin writers admits a spondee or anapest in the first, third, and fifth, as well as in the second, fourth, and sixth places, and for the iambic tetrameter catalectic. septenary (sep'te-nā-ri), a. and n. [F. sep ténaire = Pr. setenari = Sp. setenario = Pg. septenario = It. set ten a rio, L. septenarius, consisting of seven, They [Mohammedan Arabs] have discovered or imagined an immense number of septenary groups in religion, history, art, philosophy, and indeed all branches of human knowledge. J. Hadley, E ays, p. 338. 2. Lasting seven years; occurring once in seven years: as, a septenary term; a septenary council. II. n.; pl. septenaries (-riz). 1. The number seven; the heptad. [Rare.] These constitutions of Moses, that proceed so much upon a septenary, or number of seven, have no reason in the nature of the thing. 2. A group of seven things. Burnet . The modern literature of Persia abounds in sevens. Native dictionaries enumerate above a hundred septena ries, groups of objects designated as the seven so-and-so. 5501 Septennial Act, a British statute of 1716 fixing the existence of a parliament at seven years from the date of the writ summoning it, unle previously di olved. septennially (sep-ten'i-al-i), adv. Once in seven years.