tenzon, tenson

[ Fr.tenson; Ital.tenzone; from Low Lat. tensionem, acc us. of tensio a contending, a contest, from Lat. tens us, pa, par. of ten do to stretch.] A contention in verse between rival troubadours before a tribunal of love or gal lantry; hence, a subdivision of a chanson composed by one of the contestants or competitors. te-o-căl-li, s. [Mex.=God's house.] Antiq .: The name given to the temples of the aborigines of Mexico. They were built in the form of a four-sided pyramid, in two, three, or more stories, or terraces, on the highest of which the temple proper was situated. The Teocallis of Yucatan are not built in terraces, but rise at an angle of 45° to the platforms on which the temple is placed. [PYRAMID, 2.] "A spacious and imposing building, erected on the ruins of the great teocalli , or temple of the Aztec god, Mixitli." Chambers ' Encyc ., vi. 436. tē-o-păn, s. [Mex.=place of God.] The same as TEOCALLI (q. v.). tē'-pal, subst. [Altered from petal, and with a reference to sepal.] Botany: 1. A petal. 2. One of the portions of a perianth. të-pée, s. An American Indian wigwam. těp-ě-făc-tion, *těp-i-făc-tion, subst . [Lat. tepefactus , pa. par. of tepefacio to tepefy (q. v.). The act or operation of warming or making tepid or moderately warm. těp'-ě-fӯ, *těp-i-fỹ, v. t. & i. [Lat. tepefacio, from tepeo to be warm, and facio =to make.] marine; gō, pot, tepejilote A. Trans.: To make tepid or moderately warm. "They (pike) lie close to the bottom, where the water is most warm, and seldom venture out, except the day be particularly fine, and the shallows at the edges of the stream become tepified by the powerful rays of the sun." -Goldsmith: Animated Nature , iv. 233. B. Intransitive: To become tepid or moderately warm. tê-pê-ji-10-tê (jash), subst. [Native name in Central America.] Bot.: The young, unexpanded flower-buds of a species of Chamedorea (q. v.); highly esteemed as a vegetable.