mansion, mansioun

[O. Fr. mansion =a dwelling-place, from Lat. mansionem, acc us. of mansio =an abiding, a place of abode, from mans us, pa. par. of maneo =to remain, to dwell; Ital. man sione; Fr.maison.] "And in that mansion children of his own, Or kindred, gathered round him." Words worth: Excursion, bk. vii. 2. The lord's house in a manor; a manor-house. *3. A place of residence; an abode. "These poets near our princes sleep, And in one grave their mansions keep." By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath Smells wooingly here." Shakesp.: Macbeth , i. 6. "Before the hev'ns thou wert, and at the voice Of God, as with a mantle didst invest The rising world." 1. Entom .: A family of Orthopterous Insects, tribe Cursor i a. The first pair of limbs are very peculiarly modified, the coxa being greatly elon- 1. Anat .: The name given by Reichert to the cov- gated, while the femur bears on its curved under ering portion of the hemisphere-vesicle in the brain. side a channel armed on each edge by strong, movable spines. Into this groove the tibia closes like the blade of a penknife, the sharp, serrated edges being adapted to cut and hold. Prothorax generally exceeding the mesothorax in length, Antenne mostly setaceous. Elytra and wings in all. Chief genera: Mantis, Empusa, and Eremophila (q. v.). 2. Paleontology : Dr. Henry Woodward considers Litho mantis carbonarius , of the English Coal Meas- ures, to belong to this family. IMG:content-0912.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0913.png:[blocks in formation] feet, perhaps Mantis religiosa . ( Liddell & Scott .)] Entom.: Soothsayer, or Praying Insect; the typ- ical genus of the family Mantide (q. v.). Two species occur in Southern Europe: Mantis religiosa , from two to two and a half inches in length, and M. or at or i a , a smaller species. Others are found in the warmer regions of the world. The popular names by which they are known in different coun- tries have reference to their supposed power of indicating the way to a lost traveler, and derive their force from the religious significance attrib- uted to the slow and solemn motions of the insect. But the seemingly devotional attitude of the Mantis is that in which it watches for its prey, seizing unfortunate insects between its femur and tibia, thus maiming, and then devouring them. They are very pugnacious; the Chinese are said to keep them in cages and match them against each other, as western nations used to do with game-cocks. Zool .: Squilla mantis . Its popular name is a translation of the scientific name given it by some writers, Cancer mantis ( is ). (LOCUST- SHRIMP.] mantis-shrimp, s. [MANTIS-CRAB.] măn-tis-I-a, s. [Named from the insect mantis , to which the flowers bear some resemblance.] Bot.: A genus of Zingiberacese. Mantis i a salt a- toria, Opera Girls' Mantis i a, a plant introduced into greenhouses from the East Indies in 1808, de- rives its specific name from the fanciful notion that the flowers are like a dancing figure attached to a wire. 2. Arch .: A mantel (q. v.). 3. Building: IMG:content-0914.png:[blocks in formation] "In maiden confidence she stood, Though mantled in her cheek the blood." IMG:content-0915.png:[blocks in formation] "The Italians apply it [plastic] to the mantling of chimneys with great figures, a cheap piece of magnificence."- Reliquiæ Wottoniana, p. 63. 2. The same as MANTLE, 8. , II. 4. †măn-tol-o-gist, s. [Eng. man to log (y); -ist .] One skilled or versed in man to logy or divination; a diviner, a prophet. †măn-tol-ô-gỹ, s. [Gr. mantis = a prophet, a diviner, and logos a discourse.) The art of divination or prophecy. Măn-ton, s. [See def.] A name given to fowling pieces made by Joseph Manton, a celebrated Lon don gunsmith. Often called a Joe Manton.