pensileness

[English pensile; -ne .] The quality or state of being pensile or hanging; suspension. bk. i. "The pensilene of the earth."-Bacon: Of Learning, †pěn-sil-1-ty, subst . [Eng. pensil(e); -ity.] The same as PENSILENESS (q. v.). pěn-sion, s . [Fr., from Lat. pensionem, acc us. of pensio = a payment, from pens us , pa. par. of pen do to weigh out, to pay, allied to pendeo =to hang; Sp. pension ; Ital. pensione .] 1. A payment; money paid for services rendered, or as a tribute; a tribute. "The pension that he payd to the Adriatickee hys next neyghbors."- Goldinge : Cæsar, fo. 123. 2. In the United States, a fixed allowance made to a person in consideration of past services; a periodical payment of money to a person retired from service on account of age or other disability; especially, a sum of money allowed yearly by the government to officers, civil or military, soldiers, sailors, and other government employes, who have retired, after having served a certain number of years, or who have been wounded or otherwise disabled in the public service, to the families of soldiers or sailors who have been killed in action, and in addition to the above (in other countries), to persons who have distinguished themselves in art, science, literature, . "Continued those pensions to men of learning which avaricious governors had monopolized to themselves." Goldsmith: The Bee, No. 1. 3. A sum of money paid to a clergyman in lieu of tithes. ( Eng .) 4. An annual payment made by each member of the inns of court to the houses. ( Eng .) 5. An a embly of the members of Gray's Inn, to consult about the affairs of the society. ( Eng . ) *6. Expenditure, expenses. "The stomach's pension and the time's expense." Sylvester: Du Bartas, Sixth day, First week, 585. 7. A boarding-house or boarding-school, especially on the continent. ( Eng .)