opulent (opulent)

[F. opulent = Sp. Pg. opulento It. opulente, opulento, What can you say, to draw A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak. Shak ., Lear, i. 1. 88. If the circumstances of our state be such as to favour the accumulation of wealth, and make the opulent still more rich, this will increase their ambition. Goldsmith, Vicar, xix. 2. Unstinted; plentiful; abundant; profuse. All bathed in opulent sunshine. Lathrop , Spanish Vistas, p. 53. 3. Blooming; brilliant; splendid. [Rare.] Beast or bird or fish, or opulent flower. Tennyson, Lucretius. opulently (op'u-lent-li), adv. In an opulent manner; richly; with abundance or splendor. Opuntia (o-pun's hi-ä), n. [NL. (Tournefort, 1700), IMG:content-1776.png:[blocks in formation] sharp spines. They bear small scale like leaves on the younger branches, lateral yellow, red, or purple flowers, and pear-shaped berries. For uses and names, see cochineal and prickly - pear; also Indian fig (under fig2), hedgehog thistle, and tuna. Opuntiaceæ (ō-pun-shi-ā'se-e), n. pl. [NL. (A. L. de IMG:content-1777.jpg:[blocks in formation] sometimes given to the natural order Cactaceæ. Ju ieu, 1825), Greece: so called from their chief town Opus. II. n. A citizen or native of Opus. Opuntieæ (ō-pun-ti'ē-ē), n. pl. [NL. (Bentham and Hooker, 1865), Opuntia + -eæ.] A tribe of polypetalous plants of the order Cactaceæ, distinguished by the short calyx-tube, not pro longed beyond the ovary. It contains 4 genera, of which Opuntia is the type and only important one, and about 250 species, principally American. They are succulent perennials, shrubs or sometimes trees, armed with sharp spines. Their usually lateral and large flowers are followed by pear-shaped or roundish berries. See cut under Opuntia. opus (ō'pus), n.; pl. opera (op'e-rä). [L., work, a work: see opera.] Work; a work, as a literary or musical composition (in the latter use often abbreviated op.). The published works of a musical composer are frequently numbered in order for reference: as, Op. 23. A single opus may contain two or more numbers: as, Op. 48, No. 3.- Opus Alexandrinum, Alexandrian work: a type of mosaic pavement consisting of geometric figures in black and red te eræ on a white ground. - Opus araneum, a kind of needlework done in white thread, with figures of men, angels, and animals, liturgical ve els, etc. The name is given especially to such work of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. - Opus filatorium, the ancient name for fancy work of all sorts done with threads, including drawn and darned embroidery, and all kinds of netting and the like; especially, an embroidery in thread or colored silk on a fabric of small square meshes, sometimes having a pattern cut out of thin stuff applied and edged with needlework. - Opus incertum or opus antiquum, masonry formed of small rough stones set irregularly in mortar, and in some examples traversed by beds of bricks or tiles. - Opus insertum, in masonry, regular stonework in which the vertical joints of every IMG:content-1778.jpg:[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small] Opus operant is, literally, the work of the worker; in theol ., the effect of a sacrament considered as proceeding from the spiritual disposition or condition of the recipient. The doctrine that the sacraments confer benefits ex opere operant is , from the act of the person acting or taking part in them, is regarded as a distinctively Protestant view, in opposition to the doctrine that the benefit is derived ex opere opera to . - Opus operatum, literally, a work wrought: in scholastic and Roman Cath theology, the due celebration of a sacrament, considered as nece arily and inherently involving the grace of the sacrament. Sacramental grace is said by Roman Catholic theologians to be conferred ex opere opera to, 'from the (sacramental) act performed,' the sacrament deriving its power from the institution of Christ, and not from the merit of the minister or recipient. Sacraments or are therefore viewed as conveying grace to the recipient, unle by want of the due dispositions, such as faith, love, repentance, etc., he wilfully interposes a barrier which prevents his receiving the grace. Certain schoolmen are thought to have taught that the sacraments produce their full effect in all cases without restriction, and this doctrine has often been imputed by Protestant controversialists to the Roman Catholic Church, instead of that contained in the decrees of the Council of Trent (se ion vii., canon viii.) as explained by Bellarmine and others, and given above. Anglican theologians have sometimes used this phrase to expre the doctrine of the Church of England that the inward grace is one of the two integral parts of a sacrament (Catechism), that the sacraments are signs which are effectual (Article xxv.), and that, as the English bishops declared at the Savoy conference, "sacraments have their effects where the receiver doth not 'ponere obicem,' put any bar against them." Procter, Book of Common Prayer (Amer. ed.), p. 124. - Opus phrygicum, in the middle ages, embroidery. Compare Phrygian work (under Phrygian) and auriphrygia. - Opus plumarium, an old name for feather - stitch. - Opus punctatum. Same as pounced work. Opus reticula tum, in masonry, regular stonework or brickwork in square blocks, the courses of which are inclined at an angle of 45° to the horizon, so that the joints resemble a network. - Opus Saracenicum, Saracenic work (that is, tapestry, rugs, etc.), imported from the East. - Opus sectile, a kind of pavement formed of slabs or tiles of gla or other material, the pieces having a definite size, far larger than the te eræ of ordinary mosaic. They are sometimes of plain color and sometimes mottled and veined. - Opus signinum, a kind of tough cement or stucco used by the ancient Romans to coat the interior of aqueducts, etc. - Opus spicatum herring-bone masonry. - Opus te ella tum, a pavement with designs executed in pieces of different colors, called te eræ or te elæ, of larger size and more regular form than the pieces used in mosaic.