perpensiont (per pens hon)

[L. perpen dere, pp. per pens us, weigh carefully: see per pend1.] Consideration. Unto reasonable per pensions it [authority) hath no place in some sciences. Sir T. Browne , Vulg. Err., i. 7. perpensitył (per-pen'si-ti), n. [L. per pens us , pp. of perpend ere , perpend (see perpend1 ), + -ity .] Consideration; a pondering; careful thought or attention. perpetuity The Christian Philosopher tells us that a good Conscience is a perpetual Feast. Howell , Letters, iv. 22. The perpetual work Of thy creation, finished, yet renewed, Forever. Bryant, Forest Hymn. Circle of perpetual apparition. See apparition. - Circle of perpetual occultation. See occultation. - Perpetual canon, curate, motion. See the nouns. - Perpetual lever. Same as continual lever (which see, under lever1 ). - Perpetual screw. Same as endle screw (which see, under endle ). Syn. 1. Everlasting, Immortal, etc. (see eternal ), unceasing, ceasele , unfailing, perennial, enduring, permanent, lasting, endle , everlasting.-2. Continual, Ince ant, etc. (see ince ant ), constant. 1-al-i), adv. [ I. a. 1. Perfectly vertical; at right angles with the plane of the horizon; pa ing (if extended) through the center of the earth; coinciding with the direction of gravity. In one part of the mountain, where the aqueduct is cut through the rock, there is a perpendicular clift over the river, where there is now a foot way through the aqueduct for half a mile. Pococke , Description of the East, II. i. 136. I desire the reader to attend with utmost perpensity . Swift , Tale of a Tub, ix. per pens i vet (per-pen's iv), a . [L. per pens us , pp . of perpend ere , perpend (see perpend1 ), + -ive .] Considerate; thoughtful. [Rare.] It is rather Christian modesty than shame, in the dawning of Reformation, to be very per pensive. N. Ward, Simple Cobler, p. 41. perpent, n. See perpend3. 2. In geom . , meeting a given line or surface (to be which it is said to be perpendicular) at right perpent-stone (per pent-ston), n. angles. A straight is said to be to curve or surface whenine the bur perpendicular in a point where another straight line to which it is perpen- dicular is tangent to the curve or surface. In this case the perpendicular is usually called a normal to the curve or surface. That the walls be most exactly perpendicular to the ground-work, for the right angle (thereon depending) is the true cause of all stability, both in artificial and natural position. Sir H. Wotton, Reliquiæ, p. 20. 3. In zoöl., forming a right angle with the longitudinal or latitudinal axis of the body: as, a perpendicular head; epimer on perpendicular, etc. -Perpendicular lift, a mechanical contrivance on canals for raising boats from one level to another. - Perpendicular plate or lamella of the ethmoid, the mes ethmoid. - Perpendicular style, in arch., the so-called Tudor style of medieval architecture, a debased style representing the last stage of Pointed architecture, peculiar In arch ., same as perpend3. perpe iont (per-pesh'on), n. [L. perpes sio (n-), a bearing, suffering, durance. The eternity of the destruction in language of Scripture signifies a perpetual perpe ion and duration in misery. Bp . Pearson , Expos. of Creed, xii. perpetrable (per'pē-tra-bl), a. [L. as if * perper petrabilis, ng perpetrated. trate.] Capable of being perpetrate (per'pē-trāt), v. t.; pret. and pp. perpetrated, ppr. perpetrating. [L. perpetra tus, pp. of per pet rare, can carry through (> It. per petrare = Sp. Pg. perpetrar = F. perpétrer ), England in the fifteenth century and the first half of the able, potens, powerful: see potent.] 1. To do, Perpendicular Style of Architecture. The Abbey Church, Bath, England. sixteenth. The window exhibits most clearly the characteristics of this style, which differs from others in that a large proportion of the chief lines of its tracery intersect at right angles. It corresponds in art-development to the French Flamboyant of the fifteenth century, but is with out the grace, richne , and variety of French work, though some of its buildings present fine effects of ma es. See also cuts under molding and pinnacle. II. n. 1. A line at right angles to the plane of the horizon; a line that coincides in direction with a radius of the earth or with the direction of gravity.-2. In geom . , a line that meets another line or a plane at right angles, or makes equal angles with it on every side. Thus, if the straight line AB, falling on the straight line CD, makes the angles ABC, ABD equal Al to one another, AB is called a perpendicular c B to CD, and CD is a perpendicular to AB. A lar to all through its foot in that D line is a perpendicular to a plane when it is perpendicu 3. In gun., a small instrument for finding the center-line of a piece of ordnance, in the operation of pointing it at an object; a gunners' level. IMG:content-2743.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-2744.png:[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]