quiert

An obsolete variant of quire1. quiesce (kwi-es'), v. i.; pret. and pp. quiesced, ppr. quiescing. [ The village, after a season of acute conjecture, quiesced into that sarcastic sufferance of the anomaly into which it may have been noticed that small communities are apt to subside from such occasions. Howells, Annie Kilburn, xxx. will neuer displease a Souldier: but the quiddity of Ens, 2. In philol., to become silent, as a letter; come Sir P. Sidney , Apol. for Poetrie. Neither shal I stand to trifle with one that will tell me of quiddities and formalities. Milton , Church-Government, ii. 1. The Quiddity and E ence of the incomprehensible Creator cannot imprint any formal Conception upon the finite Intellect of the Creature. Howell , Letters, ii. 11. Reason is a common name, and agrees both to the understanding and e ence of things as explained in definition. Quiddity they commonly call it. The intellect they call reason reasoning, quiddity reason reasoned. Burgersdicius , tr. by a Gentleman, L. xxi. 4. 2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quirk or quibble. But she, in quirks and quiddities of love, Sets me to school, she is so overwise. to have no sound. Amer. Jour. Philol., VIII. 282. quiescence (kwi-es'ens), n. [ 'Tis not unlikely that he [Adam] had as clear a perception of the earth's motion as we think we have of its quiGlanville, Vanity of Dogmatizing, i. It is not enough that we are stimulated to pleasure or to pain, we must lapse into muscular quiescence to realize either. A. Bain , Emotions and Will, p. 149. Evasion was was his armature, quiddity his defence. 2. In philol ., silence; the condition of not beJ. T. Fields , Underbrush, p. 80. ing heard in pronunciation: as, the quiescence escence. Greene, George-a-Greene. contented. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 1 Pet. iii. 4. Grant to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind. Book of Common Prayer , Collect for [21st Sunday after Trinity. Margaret Duche of Burgundy, a Woman that could never be quiet in her Mind as long as King Henry was quiet in his Kingdom. Baker, Chronicles, p. 241. 5. Free from noise or sound; silent; still: as, a quiet neighborhood. Much of mirthe watz that ho made, Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), i. 1149. Her days Henceforth were given to quiet tasks of good. Bryant , Sella. Till he find The quiet chamber far apart. Among her ferez that watz so quyt ! Tennyson , Day-Dream, The Arrival. All was quiet , but for faint sounds made By the wood creatures wild and unafraid. William Morris , Earthly Paradise, II. 221. 6. Free from fu or bustle; without stiffne or formality. A couple of Mrs. Bardell's most particular acquaintance, who had just stepped in to have a quiet cup of tea. Dickens , Pickwick, xxvi. 7. Not glaring or showy; not such as to attract notice; in good taste: as, quiet colors; a quiet dre . A large frame,... which I afterwards found to contain a rather highly colored seventeenth-century master, was covered with a quiet drapery. The Century, XXXVIII, 91. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia quiet =Syn. 1-5. Placid , Serene , etc. (see calm1 ), peaceful, unruffled, undisturbed.-4. Meek, mild. quiet (kwi'et), n . [ quiete , quyete = Sp. quiete = It. quiete , quies ( quiet- ), rest; cf. quiet , a.] 1. Rest; repose; stillne . For now the noonday quiet holds the hill. Tennyson , Enone. That cloistered quiet which characterizes all university towns. Lowell , Cambridge Thirty Years Ago. Long be it ere the tide of trade Shall break with harsh resounding din The quiet of thy banks of shade. 4912 ism were Molinos and Mme. Guyon, in the seventeenth century. See Molinist2 . If the temper and constitution were cold and phlegmatic, their religion has sunk into quietism ; if bilious or sanguine, it has flamed out into all the frenzy of enthusiasm. War burton , Alliance, i. The Monks of the Holy Mountain [Mount Athos], from the eleventh century, appeared to have yielded to a kind of quietism , and to have held that he who, in silence and solitude, turned his thoughts with intense introspection on himself, would find his soul enveloped in a mystic and ethereal light, the e ence of God, and be filled with pure and perfect happine . J. M. Neale , Eastern Church, i. 870, note. 2. An undisturbed condition; tranquillity; 2. The state or quality of being quiet; quiet[Rare.] peace; repose. Whittier, Kenoza Lake. And take hede hou Makamede, thorwe a mylde doue, He hald al Surrye as hym-self wolde and Sarasyns in quyete ; Nouht thorw manslauht and mannes str eng the Maka- mede hadde the mastrie. Piers Plowman (C), xviii. 240. Enjoys his garden and his book in quiet . Pope , Imit. of Horace, II. i. 199. And, like an infant troublesome awake, Is left to sleep for peace and quiet's sake. Cowper , Truth, 1. 428. 3. An undisturbed state of mind; peace of soul; patience; calmne . Thy greatest help is quiet , gentle Nell. Shak ., 2 Hen. VI., ii. 4. 67. A certain quiet on his soul did fall, As though he saw the end and waited it. William Morris , Earthly Paradise, II. 314. At quiett, still; peaceful. IMG:content-1493.png:[blocks in formation] ne . He feared that the thoughtle ne of my years might sometimes make me overstep the limits of quictism which he found nece ary. Godwin, Mandeville, I. 110. ( Davies .) quietist (kwi'et-ist), n. [= F. quiétiste = Sp. Pg. It. quietist a = G. quietist , quietist a ; as quiet + -ist .] 1. One who believes in or practises quietism: applied especially [ cap .] to a body of mystics (followers of Molinos, a Spanish priest) in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Somewhat similar views were held by the Euchites, Beghards, Beguines, Hesychasts, Brethren of the Free Spirit, and others of le note. The best persons have always held it to be the e ence of religion that the paramount duty of man upon earth is to amend himself; but all except monkish quietists have annexed to this the additional duty of amending the world, and not solely the human part of it, but the material, the order of physical nature. J. S. Mill . 2. One who seeks or enjoys quietne ; one who advocates a policy of quietne or inactivity. Too apt, perhaps, to stay where I am put. I am a quiet ist by constitution. The Century , XXVI. 280. quietistic (kwi-e-tis'tik), a . [ quietist + -ic.] Of or pertaining to quietists or quietism. Jeanne Marie Guyon,... a leading exponent of the quietistic mysticism of the 17th century. Encyc. Brit ., XI. 341. quietive (kwi'et-iv), n . [ quiet + -ive .] That which has the property of inducing quiet or calm, as a sedative medicine. Every one knows of a few plants that are good as laxatives, emetics, sudorifics, or quietives . Pop . Sci . Mo. , XXVIII. 529. Since the youth of the count's was to-day with my lady, she is much out of quiet . Shak ., T. N., ii. 3. 144. =Syn. Repose , Tranquillity , etc. See rest . quiet (kwi'et), v . [ quiet are , quietari , make quiet, quietus , quiet: see quiet , a . Cf. quit, v.] I. trans. 1. To bring to a state of To make quiet; calm. IMG:content-1494.png:[blocks in formation] The ideas of moving or quieting corporeal motion. Locke . 2. To make or cause to be quiet; calm; appease; pacify; lull; allay; tranquillize: as, to quiet the soul when it is agitated; to quiet the clamors of a nation; to quiet the disorders of a city. After that Gallia was thus quieted , Cæsar (as he was determined before) went into Ifaly to hold a par lament. Golding , tr. of Cæsar, fol. 175. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother. Ps. cxxxi. 2. The growth of our di ention was either prevented or soon quieted . Milton , Eikon ok las tes, xxvi. =Syn. 2. To compose, soothe, sober; to still, silence, hush. II. in trans . To become quiet or still; abate: as, the sea quieted . IMG:content-1495.png:[blocks in formation] quietize (kwi'et-iz), v. t. [ quiet , a ., + -ize .] Solitude, and patience, and religion have now quietized both father and daughter into tolerable contentment. Mme . D'Arblay , Diary, V. 271. ( Davies .) quietly (kwi'et-li), adv . In a quiet state or manner. Especially - ( a ) Without motion or agitation; in a state of rest. Lie quietly , and hear a little more; Nay, do not struggle. Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 709. (b) Without tumult, alarm, dispute, or disturbance; peaceably: as, to live quietly . After all these Outrages, the King proclaimed Pardon to all such as would lay down Arms and go quietly home. Baker , Chronicles, p. 138. (c) Calmly; tranquilly; without agitation or violent emotion; patiently. Quietly , modestly, and patiently recommend his estate to God. IMG:content-1496.png:[blocks in formation] quieten (kwi'et-n), v . [ quiet , a . , + -enl .] I. quietne (kwi'et-nes), n. [ in trans . To become quiet or still. II. trans . To make quiet; calm; pacify. I will stay,. partly to quieten the fears of this poor faithful fellow. Mrs. Gaskell , Ruth, xxxiv. ( Davies .) quieter (kwi'et-ér), n. [ quiet + -er1 .] One who or that which quiets. quieting-chamber (kwi'et-ing-chām"ber), n. In a steam-engine, an exhaust-pipe fitted with a number of small branch tubes the sections of which, taken together, equal that of the main pipe. It is intended to prevent the usual noise of blowing off steam. IMG:content-1497.png:[blocks in formation] quiet oust (kwi'et-us), a. Quiet; peaceable. Bryngynge men to a quyetouse holde and sure step in the Lorde. Bp . Bale , Image, i. quietouslyt (kwīʼet-us-li), adv . [ quietous + -ly2.] In a quietous manner; quietly. Bp . Bale. quiet so met (kwi'et-sum), a . [ quiet + -some . ] Calm; still; undisturbed. quietism (kwi'et-izm), n . [= F. quiétis me = Sp. Pg. It. quietismo = G. quietism us , tismus ; as quiet + -ism .] 1. That form of mysticism which consists in the entire abnegation of all active exercise of the will and a purely pa ive meditation on God and divine things But let the night be cal me and quietsome . as the highest spiritual exercise and the means Spenser , Epithalamion, 1. 326. of bringing the soul into immediate union with quietude (kwi'e-tūd), n . [ quiétude = Sp. the Godhead. Conspicuous exponents of quiet- quietud = It. quietudine , quietudo , quiet quill ne , rest, calmne , for * quiet it udo , quietus , quiet: see quiet , a .] Rest; repose; quiet; tranquillity. A future quietude and serenitude in the affections. Sir H. Wotton , Reliquiæ, p. 79. Never was there a more venerable quietude than that which slept among their sheltering boughs. Hawthorne , Marble Faun, viii. There broods upon this charming hamlet an old-time quietude and privacy. H. James , Jr. , Pa . Pilgrim, p. 42. quietus (kwi-ē'tus), n. [ quietus , or qui etus est , (he (he is) 'free' or 'quitted,' i. e. he is discharged from the debt: a formula in noting the settlement of accounts: see quiet , a.] 1. A final discharge of an account; a final settlement; a quittance. Till I had signed your quietus . Webster. I hoped to put her off with half the sum; That's truth; some younger brother would have thank'd me, And given [me] my quietus . Shirley , The Gamester, v. 1. Hence-2. A finishing or ending in general; stoppage. When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin. Shak ., Hamlet, iii. 1. 75. Why, you may think there's no being shot at without a little risk; and if an unlucky bullet should carry a quietus with it- I say it will be no time then to be bothering you about family matters. Sheridan , The Rivals, v. 3. 3. A severe blow; a "settler.” Hall i well . [Slang.] quightt, adv . An erroneous spelling of quite1 . qui-hi, qui-hye (kwi'hi'), n. [Hind. koi hai , who is there?"] 1. In Bengal, the Anglo Indian call for a servant, one being always in attendance, though not in the room. The seal motto [of a letter] qui hi ("who waits") denoting that the bearer is to bring an answer. J. W. Palmer , The New and the Old, p. 298. 2. Hence, the popular nickname for an Anglo Indian in Bengal. The old boys, the old generals, the old colonels, the old qui - his from the club came and paid her their homage. Thackeray , New comes, lxii. ( Davies .) Quiina (kwi-i'nä), n . [NL. (Aublet, 1775), from the native name in Guiana.] A genus of polypetalous plants of the order Guttiferæ , type of the tribe Quiineæ . It is characterized by ovary-cells with two ovules, the numerous stamens and several styles all filiform, and the fruit a berry with fibrous interior and from one to four woolly seeds, each filled by the two thick and distinct seed-leaves. The 17 species are natives of tropical America. They are trees or shrubs or sometimes climbers, bearing opposite or whorled stipulate leaves, elegantly marked with transverse veinlets. The small flowers are arranged in short axillary panicles or terminal racemed clusters. Q. Jam a i cens is is an entire-leafed species, known in Jamaica as old - woman's tree. Quiineæ (kwī-in'ē-ē), n . pl . [NL. (Bentham and Hooker, 1862), Quiina + -ex.] A tribe of dicotyledonous polypetalous plants of the order Guttiferæ , consisting of the genus Quiina , the embryo having large cotyledons and minute radicle, while in the rest of the order, except the Calophylleæ , the radicle is large and the seed-leaves are minute. quilisma (kwi-lis'mä), n . [ML., κύλισμα , a roll, κυλίειν , roll: see cylinder .] In medieval musical notation , a sign or neume denoting a shake or trill. = quilll (kwil), n . [ quille , quylle , a stalk (L. calamus ); cf. LG. quiele , kiele MHG. kil , G. kiel , dial. keil , a quill; connections uncertain. Cf. OF. quille , a peg or pin of wood, a ninepin, kegil , MHG. G. kegel , a ninepin, skittle, cone, bobbin: see kail2 . The Ir. cuille , a quill, is appar. For they bene daughters of the hyghest Jove, And holden scorne of homely shepheards quill. Spenser , Shep. Cal., June. On a country quill each plays Madrigals and pretty lays. Shirley, Love Tricks, iv. 2. He touch'd the tender stops of various quills , With eager thought warbling his Dorick lay. Milton , Lycidas, 1. 188. 3. One of the large, strong feathers of geese, swans, turkeys, crows, etc., used for writing pens and the like. Snatch thee a quill from the spread eagle's wing. Quarles , Emblems, i., Invoc. And reeds of sundry kinds, more used than quils by the people of these countreys. Sandys , Travailes, p. 110. 4. A quill pen; hence, by extension, any pen, especially considered as the characteristic instrument of a writer. Thy Pencil triumphs o'er the poet's Quill . Congreve, To Sir Godfrey Kneller, The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia Who now so long hath praised the chough's white bill That he hath left her ne'er a flying quill . the body of the bird, the tube or barrel, or quill proper, which is a hard, horny, hollow, and semi-transparent cyl- inder, containing a little pith in the interior; it bears no webs. Coucs , Key to N. A. Birds, p. 84. 7. One of the much enlarged and peculiarly modified hairs with which some animals, as porcupines, are provided; a large hollow spine. IMG:content-1499.png:[blocks in formation] Quillaieæ (kwi-lā yē-ē), n . pl . [NL. (Endlicher, 1840), Quillaia + -cæ .] A tribe of rosaceous quill-work plants somewhat resembling the Spiræcæ , dif- (kwil werk), n. fering in the usually broadly winged seeds, and Embroidery characterized by commonly persistent bractle with porcupine- sepals, five, ten, or many stamens, one or many quills, such as usually ascending ovules, and fruit of five fol- licles or a capsule. It includes 8 genera, mainly American, of which Quillaia is the type. See Kageneckia . Also spelled Quillajeæ . quillback (kwil bak), n. The sailfish, spear- fish, or skim back, Carpiodes cyprinus , a kind of carp-sucker. The name is also given to other fishes of that genus, as C. difform is . [Local, U. S.] quill-bit (kwilʼbit), n. A small shell-bit: same as gouge - bit . quill-coverts (kwil'kuverts), n . pl . Feathers immediately covering the bases of the large feathers of the wings or tail of a bird; wing coverts or tail-coverts; tectrices. See covert , 6. quill-driver (kwil'drī"vėr), n . One who works with a quill or pen; a scrivener; a clerk. [Slang.] quill-driving (kwil'drī"ving), n. The act of working with a pen; writing. [Slang.] Some sort of slave's quill - driving . Kingsley , Hypatia, xii. See quill2 . Quilled nished with quills. IMG:content-1500.png:[blocks in formation] the genus Isoëtes. See Isoëtes and Merlin's- gra . quilly (kwil'i), a. [ quilll +-y1.] Abounding in quills; showing the quills, as a bird's plum- age when frayed or worn away. His wings became quilly and draggled and frayed. J. Owen , Wings of Hope. quilt (kwilt), n. [ quilte , quylte , cuilte , also cotre , coutre , also coite , coitte , coistre , a tick, mattre , = Sp. Pg. colcha = It. coltre = W. cylched , a quilt, culcita , culcitra , a cushion, pillow, mattre , quilt: see cushion. His thighs with darts Were almost like a sharp- quill'd porpentine. Shak ., 2 Hen. VI., iii. 1. 363. 2. Formed into a quill: said of bark: as, quilled calisaya, contrasted with flat calisaya. In drying it [cinchona-bark] rolls up or becomes quilled . U. S. Dispensatory (15th ed.), p. 433. 3. In her ., having a quill: said of a feather employed as a bearing, and used only when the quill of a feather is of a different tincture from the rest. quilled2 (kwild), a . [ quill2 + -ed2.] Crimped; fluted. In the Dahlia the florets are rendered quilled [by culti- vation), and are made to a ume many glowing colours. Encyc . Brit ., IV. 129. Quilled suture. See suture. quiller (kwil'èr), n. [ quill1 + -er1.] An un- fledged bird. Hall i well . [Prov. Eng.] quillet1 (kwil'et), n. [Origin obscure. Cf. quill2.] 1. A furrow. Hall i well . [Prov. Eng.] - 2. A croft, or small separate piece of ground. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] All the account to make of every bag of money, and of every quillet of land, whose it is. Donne , Sermons, ix. In the "Cheshire Sheaf," June, 1880, it was stated that there were close to the border town of Holt a number of IMG:content-1501.png:[blocks in formation] strips of marked only by mear or boundary stones at a distance of twenty-nine to thirty-two yards. There Affectation, with a sickly mien, On the rich quilt sinks with becoming woe. Pope , R. of the L., iv. 35. quillet2+ (kwil'et), n . [Contr. from L. quidlibet , anything you please: quid , anything; libet , lu- bet , it pleases.] A nicety or subtlety; a quib- ble. O, some authority how to proceed; Some tricks, some quillets , how to cheat the devil. Shak ., L. L. L., iv. 3. 288. swallowed in the quicksands of law- quillets . Middle ton, Trick to Catch the Old One, i. 1. quill-feather (kwil'fer a"er), п. Same as quill1, 5. See feather . quilling (kwil'ing), n. [ quill2 + -ing1.] A narrow bordering of net, lace, or ribbon plaited so as to resemble a row of quills. A plain quilling in your bonnet-and if ever any body looked like an angel, it's you in a net quilling . IMG:content-1502.png:[blocks in formation] quinarian (kwi-nā'ri-an), a . and n. +-an.] I. a. Quinary, as a system of cla i- fication; cla ified in sets of five. In zoology the word notes specifically the circular or so-called natural system of cla ification, originally propounded by Mac- leay in 1819, and further elaborated especially by Vigors and Swains on. As subsequently modified and formu lated by Swains on in 1835, it rests substantially upon the following five propositions: (1) Every natural series of beings, in its progre from a given point, returns or tends to return to that point, thus forming a circle. (2) The primary circular divisions of every group are actually three, or apparently five. (3) The contents of such a circular group are symbolically or analogically rep- resented by the contents of all other circles in the animal kingdom. (4) These primary divisions of every group are characterized by definite peculiarities of form, structure, and economy, which, under diversified modifications, are uniform throughout the animal kingdom, and are there- fore to be regarded as the primary types of nature. (5) The different ranks or degrees of the circular groups are nine in number, each being involved within the other. None of these propositions being intelligible, the system soon fell into disuse, and is now regarded as entirely groundle and fanciful. IMG:content-1503.png:[blocks in formation] Pop . Sci . Mo. , XXXIV. 740. quinatel (kwi'nāt), a . [ quin i , five each, + -ate1 .] In bot . , having an arrangement of five similar parts together, as five leaflets on a petiole. quinate2 (kwi'nāt), n. [ quin ( ic ) + -atel .] In chem ., a salt of quinic acid. quince1 (kwins), n. [Formerly also quence ; quence , an extension of quine , appar. orig. plural taken as singular: see quine2 . Cf. L. cydonia , pl., quince. Le prob. a reduction of OF. coigna e , the largest kind of quince; coin , quince: see quine2.] 1. The fruit of the tree Pyrus Cydonia. (See def. 2.) It is pear- shaped, or in one variety apple-shaped, large, sometimes weighing a pound, of a golden-yellow color when ripe, and very fragrant. The quince was known to the ancients, and it has been argued that the golden apples of the Hesperides were quinces. While raw it is hard and austere, but it becomes edible by boiling or baking, and is largely used for jelly, preserves, and marmalade (see etymology of mar- malade ), and for flavoring sauces of other the seeds of the common quince are used in medicine and arts, on account of their highly mucilaginous coat. In decoction they afford a demulcent application, and they are sometimes used in eye-lotions. Their mucilage is em- ployed in making bandoline and in marbling books. See bandoline . Of ripen'd Quinces such the yellow Hue. Congreve, tr. of Ovid's Art of Love, iii. 2. The fruit-tree Pyrus Cydonia , sometimes quincunx (kwin'kungks), n. [F. quinconce = Pg. quincunce , a quincunx; quincunx ( quin- cunc-), five twelfths (of anything), quinque , = E. five , + uncia , a twelfth part: see five and ounce1.] 1. An arrangement of five objects in a square, one at each corner and one in the middle (thus,:::); especially, an arrangement, as of trees, in such squares continuously. A col- lection of trees in such squares forms a regular grove or wood, presenting parallel rows or alleys in different direc-- tions, according to the spectator's position. See diagram under quincuncial . Before them obliquely, in order of quincunx , were pits dug three foot deep. Bladen , tr. of Cæsar's Com., vii. 31. The single quincunx of the Hyades upon the neck of Taurus. Sir T. Browne , Urn-burial, iii. 2. In bot . , same as quincuncial estivation (which see, under quincuncial ).-3. In astrol ., the pos i- tion of planets when distant from each other five signs or 150°. An erro- ing based (insufficiently) on the many-seeded cells of the fruit. The quince is a small hardy tree, usually dwarfed, but sometimes reaching 15 or 20 feet in height, having crooked spreading branches which produce the flowers singly at their ends. Besides bearing fruit, the quince often serves as a stock for dwarfing the pear. The local origin of the quince is not clearly known, but it occurs spontaneously from northwestern India westward through the Mediterranean basin. The name quince applies also to any of the plants formerly referred to Cydonia . See the phrases below. Bengal quince, Ægle Marmelos . See Egle.Chinese quince, a species, Pyrus Cathayensis le ornamental. Its large green egg-shaped fruit can be used to make jelly.-Japanese quince, a garden shrub, Pyrus ( Cydonia ) Japonica , a great favorite, on account chiefly of its abundant early large scarlet or crimson flow- ers, varying to white. It is well suited for ornamental hedges. The fruit, which resembles a small apple, is in- edible, but is sometimes used for making jelly. Also called japonica and, locally, burning - bush . P. (C.) Maulei , more lately from Japan, bears abundant smaller orange-scarlet flowers on every twig. - Portugal quince, a variety of the common quince, having superior finely colored fruit, but le productive than other sorts. - Quince-e ence. See ænanthic ether , under ænanthic . quince2t (kwins), n . [ME. quynce ; appar. an abbr. form of quinsy , quinancy.] Scrofula. For the quynce . Take horehownde and columbyne, and set he it in wyne or ale, and so thereof let hym dryncke fyrste and laste. quince3 (kwins), n . Same as quinze . quincentenary (kwin-sen'te-nā-ri), a . and n. [Irreg. quin ( que ), five, + centenarius , con- sisting of a hundred: see centenary .] I. a. Re- lating to or consisting of five hundred, especial- ly five hundred years. IMG:content-1504.jpg:[ocr errors] fifteen magistrate public, had charge of the Sibylline books. They succeeded the board of the decemvirs ( decemviri sacris fa- ciundis , or decemviri sacrorum ), who were keepers of the Sibylline books from 367 B. C., and who continued the func- tions of the duumvirs, or two patricians of high rank who kept the books under the kings. It was the duty of the quin decemvirs to celebrate the festival of Apollo and the secular games, and they were all regarded as priests of Apollo. quin decemvirate (kwin-de-sem'vi-rāt), n. [ quindecimviratus , the dignity of a quindecem- vir, quindecimviri , the quin decemvirs: see quin decemvir .] The body or office of the quin- decemvirs. quindecima music, the interval of a fifteenth, or double octave.-2. An organ-stop two octaves above the foundation-stops.