Comfit

[Lat. conficio, confect us, to make up together; Sp. confite; Fr. confiture; It. confettura.] A dry sweetmeat; a confect. -v. a. To preserve dry with sugar. Com'fort, n. That which gives strength, encourage. ment, and support in distre ; consolation; encouragement; solace. -Ease; rest; relief; that which gives consolation; tranquil enjoyment; freedom from that which disturbs or annoys. ( Law .) Support; a istance; countenance; as, to give comfort to rebels. -A comfortable or comforter; a woollen wrap; a wadded quilt. See COMFORTER. v. a. [Fr. conforter , from L. Lat. con for to con (intensive), and fortis , strong.] To strengthen, encourage, solace, console, or cheer. ( Law .) To a ist; to relieve, as an acce ory. Comfortable, a. Susceptible of comfort; po e ing comfort; being in a atate of ease or modern enjoyment; that of fords or may afford comfort, ease or enjoyment; as, a comfortable bed; a comfortable salary. -Tranquil; without actual pain or discomposure;-used of an invalid or sick person. "For my sake be comfortable ; hold death A while at the arm's end."-Shaks. Comfortable, n. A wadded bed-quilt; a comforter. Comfortably, adv . In a comfortable or easy manner. Comforter, n. One who, or that which, administers comfort; a consoler; a strengthener and supporter of the mind in time of sickne or trouble. "Miserable comforters are ye all." Job xvi. 2. (Scrip.) The Almighty, with regard to his power of affording strength and support to those who believe. "The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost." John xiv. 26. -A knitted woolen wrap or tippet to encircle the throat and neck. A comfort; a wadded bed-quilt. Com'fort le , a. Destitute of comfort; forlorn; wretched; miserable. Com'frey, n. ( Bot . ) See SYMPHITUM. Com'ic, Com'ical, a. [Lat. comic us.] Relating to Of English productions later than those named, the comedy, in opposition to tragedy; as, the comic muse. -To overlook; to be subject to the eye; to have within a sphere of control or influence; as, a commanding view. "His eye might there command." Milton. -To claim; to challenge; to secure; to exact or enforce by moral power or influence; as, to command esteem. "'Tis not in mortals to command succe ." - Add is on. -v. i. To have or to exercise supreme authority; to pos- se the chief power; to govern. "Queen or sovereign comm an dre , over all other virtues." Hooker . Com'matism, n. [From comma.] Concisene or brevity in writing. Commeasurable, ( kom - mězh'ur -abl,) a. [Lat. con, and Eng. measurable.] Commensurate; reducible to the same measure; as, "a commeasurable grief." - Walton . Commelyna'ceæ, n . pl . ( Bot . ) An order of plants, alliance Xyridales. DIAG. 3 sepals opposite the carpels, 3 petals, 6 or 3 stamens, axile placente, and a trochlear embryo half immersed in fleshy albumen. There are 16 genera, which include 260 species, chiefly natives of India, Africa, Australia, and the West Indies. They have flattened, narrow, and usually sheathing leaves. The perianth is inferior, more or le irregular, in six parts, arranged in two whorls; the outer parts being green, persistent, and opposite to the carpels; the inner petaloid. There are 6 or 3 stamens hypogynous, some being generally abortive; their properties are unim- portant. The rhizomes of some species, as Commelyna tuberosa, an gust i folia , and striata , contain much starch, and in a cooked state are edible. Some species have been reputed astringent and vulnerary, and others emmenagogue. Commemorable, a . [Lat. com memo rabi lis.] Worthy to be commemorated or remembered; memorable; de serving of honorable mention. Commemorate, v . a . [Lat. commemoro, commemo- ratus-con, and memoro , from mem or , mindful.] To keep or preserve in the mind; to call to remembrance by a solenin act; to celebrate with honor and solemnity. "Such is the divine mercy which we now commemorate; and, if we commemorate it, we shall rejoice in the Lord." - Fiddes. Commemoration, n . [Lat. com memo ratio.] An act of public celebration; act of publicly honoring some person or event; as, the commemoration of peace. Commemorative, a . Tending to preserve the re- serves to commend; presenting to favorable notice or reception; containing praise or recommendation; as, "Letters commendatory." ( Bacon .) - Holding a church- living in commendam; as, a commendatory priest. -n. A eulogy; a recommendation; a favorable report. "Commend a tories to our affection." Sharp. Commend'er, n. One who praises or commends; as, "The same commenders and disprovers."- Wotton . Commensurability, n. [Fr. commensurabilité.] The capacity of being commeasurable, or of being mea- sured by another, or of having a common measure. Commen's urable, a. [Fr.; from Lat. con, and men sura, measure, from metior , mens us, to measure.) That has a common measure; that may be measured by the same number or quantity, as two or more numbers or quantities. Commence', v. i. [Fr. commencer , from Lat. con , and initio, in it i at us, to begin, to originate; It. com inc i are.] To make the first motion or step; to begin to take rise or origin; to begin to be. "Man...cannot be without concern for that state that is to commence after this life." - Rogers. -To initiate; to perform the first act of; to begin to appear; as, the play is about to commence. "We commence judges ourselves." - Cole ridge . Commence'ment, n. Beginning; rise; origin; first existence; as, the commencement of a new state of things. "The third day from the commencement of the creation." Woodward. -The first day of a university term, when degrees are conferred upon students and others. [Lat. commendo-con and man do. "They plainly require some special commandment for that which is exacted at their hands." - Hooker. -Authority; use of controlling or coercive power. Therefore put I on the countenance Of stern commandment." - Shaks. See COMMAND.] To intrust or commit to the care, cus- tody, or charge of another; to deliver up to with con- "To thee I do commend my watchful soul." - Shaks. -To recommend; to represent as worthy of notice, re- gard, or a istance; as, to commend a theory. -To praise; to mention with approbation. Commendable, a . That may be commended; wor- thy of praise or approbation; laudable, as; a commend- able act. Commendablene , n. State of being worthy of commendation. Commend'ably, adv . Laudably; in a praiseworthy Commen'dam, n . [From L. Lat. commend are .] ( Eccl .) The holding of a vacant benefice interim, before the col- lati on of a new incumbent. The intrusting of the revenues of a benefice to a layman for a certain time and purpose. Commend'atary, n. [Fr. commend at a ire One who holds a church-living in commendam. Commend a'tion, n. [Lat. commendatio.] Act of commending; praise; eulogy; recommendation; ap- proval. -A me age of love or respect; a complimentary service. "Mrs. Page has her hearty commendations to you too."-Shaks. Commend'at or, n. [It. commend a tore.] The holder of a benefice in commendam. IMG:content-0286.png:[blocks in formation] -Social intercourse; dealings of one cla of society with another; fellowship; familiar interchange of the social observances of common life. "The ordinary commerce and occurrences of life."-Add is on. -Sexual intercourse; coition. (Games.) A game at cards, which is played thus:Each player deposits an equal stake in the pool, and the banker (dealer) gives 3 cards all round, and asks, "Who'll trade?" The players, beginning with the elder hand, either "trade for ready money," or "barter." By the first is meant, giving a card and counter to the dealer, who places the card under the remainder of the pack, which is called the "stock," and gives a card from the top in exchange. The counter is pa ed to the banker, who then trades with the stock free of expense. "Barter" means exchanging a card with the right-hand player. Barter cannot be refused, unle the player of whom the exchange is requested decides to stand on his cards without trading or bartering. The trading and bartering is concluded by one having the highest "tricon," which wins the pool. The object of the trading or bartering is to obtain-1, a tricon (three like cards, like a pair-royal in cribbage); 2, a sequence , or 3 following cards of the same suit; 3, a point , or the smallest number of pips on 3 cards of the same suit. The ace reckons for 11, the tens and court-cards for 10 each, and the other cards according to the number of their pips. The highest tricon wins the pool; if no tricon is shown, then the highest sequence, or the best point in failure of a sequence. The banker reckons as eldest hand in case of ties; and if he holds a lower tricon or sequence than either of the others, he loses the game, and pays a counter to each player higher than himself. -v.a. To hold intercourse with. "And looks commercing with the skies, Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes." -Milton . Com'merce, in Michigan , a post-village of Commerce township, Oakland co., on the Huron River, abt. 32 m. N.W. of Detroit. Com'merce, in Mi i ippi, a post-village of Tunica co., on the Mi i ippi River, about 200 m. N. by W. of Jackson. Commerce, in Mi ouri , a post-village, cap. of Scott co., on the Mi i ippi River, about 35 m. above Cairo, Ill., and 170 below St. Louis, Commerce, in Tenne ee , a township of Wilson co, about 35 m. E. of Nashville, Commercial, a . Pertaining to commerce or trade; mercantile; trading; proceeding from trade; as, com mercial statistics, commercial interests. Commercially, adv. In a commercial manner or view. Commercial Town, in Ohio, a village of Adams co., about 15 m. S.W. of Portsmouth. Com mercy, ( kom - mer -se',) a town of France, dept. Meuso, on the river Meuse, 20 m. E. of Bar-le-Duc; pop. 4,099. Commere, ( kom'mar,) n. [Fr.] A godmother; a foster mother; a go ipy old woman.