agenhine, hogenhine, hogenhyne

[A.S. agen own; hin a, hine = domestic, one's own domestic.] Old Law: By an enactment of Edward the Confe or, a guest who having lodged three consecutive nights at an inn, was looked upon as if that was his residence. His host was therefore made responsible for his good conduct. On the first night he was called uncuth = a stranger; on the second, gust = a guest. a-gěns', prep . [AGAINST.] a'-ġent, adj . & s. [In Ger. and Fr. agent , s.; Sp. agent, agente, s.; Port. agente , a. & s.; all fr. Lat. agens doing, pr. par. of ago to do.] A. As adjective: Acting; opposed to patient in the sense of being the object of action. "This succe is oft truly ascribed unto the force of imagination upon the body agent ."-Bacon: Nat. Hist. B. As substantive: I. Ordinary Language: 1. Of persons or other animated beings: (a) Generally : One who acts or exerts power; an actor. "Heaven made us agents free to good or ill, And fore'd it not, though he foresaw saw the will; Freedom was first bestow'd on human race, And prescience only held the second place.' Dryden. "A miracle is a work exceeding the power of any created agent . "- South : Serm . A free agent or a voluntary agent is a person who is under no external compulsion to act as he does, and who is therefore responsible for his actions. (b) Specially : One who acts for another, a factor, substitute, deputy, or attorney. Agents are of four cla es: (1) Commercial Agents , as auctioneers, brokers, masters of ships, .; (2) Law Agents , as attorneys at law, solicitors, .; (3) Social Agents , as attorneys in fact, and servants. ( Will : Wharton's Law Lexicon .) (4) Political Agents : Diplomatic functionaries appointed by a powerful government to arrange matters with one of inferior dignity. Such have been frequently employed by the Anglo Indian Government to maintain communica tions with the semi-independent rajahs. "All hearts in love use their own tongues; Let every eye negotiate for itself, And trust no agent ." Shakesp.: Much Ado about Nothing , 11. L "The agent of France in that kingdom must be equal to much more than the ordinary functions of an envoy."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng . , ch. xii. "It was therefore nece ary that another agent should be employed to manage that party."- Ibid . , ch. xiii. The functionary who in England is generally termed a steward is called in Scotland a farm agent or factor . 2. Of things inanimate, and of natural law: Anything which exerts action upon another. that natural selection had been the chief agent of change." Darwin: The Descent of Man, vol. i., ch. iv. [See also II. 1, 2, 3, 4.] II. Technically : 1. Law. Agent and Patient: The terms applied to a person who at once does a deed, or has it done to him or her; as when a widow endows herself with the best part of her deceased husband's property; or when a creditor, being made a deceased person's executor, pays himself out of the effects which he has to collect and distribute. 2. Nat. Phil. A physical agent is one of the natural forces acting upon matter; viz., gravitation, heat, light, magnetism, or electricity. (At kins on: Ganot's Physics .) 3. Chem. A chemical agent is a substance of which the action is chemical. In various phenomena light acts as a chemical agent. 4. Med .: A medical or medicinal agent is a substance the action of which on the human or animal body is medical. such articles of electrical apparatus as are indispensable with a view to its application as a medicinal agent." -Cyclop. Pract. Med., i. 703.