Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VES'SIC-NON, n. [L. vesica.]

A soft swelling on a horse's leg, called a windgall. – Cyc.

VEST, n. [Fr. veste; It. vesta; L. vestis, a coat or garment; vestio, to cover or clothe, Goth. vestyan; W. gwisg.]

1. An outer garment. Over his lucid arms / A military vest of purple flow'd. – Milton.
2. In common speech, a man's under garment; a short garment covering the body, but without sleeves, worn under the coat; called also waistcoat.

VEST, v.i.

To come or descend to; to be fixed; to take effect, as a title or right. Upon the death of the ancestor, the estate, or the right to the estate, vests in the heir at law.

VEST, v.t.

1. To clothe; to cover, surround or encompass closely. With ether vested and a purple sky. – Dryden.
2. To dress; to clothe with a long garment; as, the vested priest. Milton. To vest with, to clothe; to furnish with; to invest with; as to vest a man with authority; to vest a court with power to try cases of life and death; to vest one with the right of seizing slave-ships. Had I been vested with the monarch's pow'r. – Prior. To vest in, to put in possession of; to furnish with; to clothe with. The supreme executive power in England is vested in the king; in the United States, it is vested in the president. #2. To clothe with another form; to convert into another substance or species of property; as, to vest money in goods; to vest money in land or houses; to vest money bank stock, or in six percent-stock; to vest all one's property in the public funds.

VEST'AL, a. [L. vestalis, from Vesta, the goddess of fire, Gr. εστια.]

1. Pertaining to Vesta, the goddess of fire among the Romans, and a virgin.
2. Pure; chaste. – Shak.

VEST'AL, n.

A virgin consecrated to Vesta, and to the service of watching the sacred fire, which was to be perpetually kept burning upon her alter. The Vestals were six in number, and they made a vow of perpetual virginity.

VEST'ED, pp.

1. Clothed; covered; closely encompassed.
2. adj. Fixed; not in a state of contingency or suspension as, vested rights. Vested legacy, in law, a legacy the right to which commences in presenti, and does not depend on a contingency, as a legacy to one, to be paid when he attains to twenty one years of age. This is a vested legacy, and if the legatee dies before the testator, his representative shall receive it. – Blackstone. Vested remainder, is where the estate is invariably fixed, to remain to a determinate person, after the particular estate is spent. This is called a remainder executed, by which a present interest passes to the party, though to be enjoyed in future. – Blackstone.

VEST'I-A-RY, n.

A wardrobe.

VES'TI-BULE, n. [Fr.; L. vestibulum.]

1. The porch or entrance into a house, or a large open space before the door, but covered. Vestibules for magnificence are usually between the court and garden.
2. A little antechamber before the entrance of an ordinary apartment.
3. An apartment in large buildings, which presents itself into a hall or suit of rooms or offices. An area in which a magnificent staircase is carried up is sometimes called a vestibule.
4. In anatomy, a cavity belonging to the labyrinth of the ear. – Cyc.

VES'TI-GATE, v. [See INVESTIGATE. Vestigate is not in use.]

VES'TIGE, n. [Fr.; L. vestigium. This word and vestibule, show that some verb signifying to tread, from which they are derived, is lost.]

A track or footstep; the mark of the foot left on the earth; but mostly used for the mark or remains of something else; as, the vestiges of ancient magnificence in Palmyra; vestiges of former population.

VEST'ING, n.

Cloth for vests; vest patterns. United Stales.

VEST'ING, ppr. [from vest.]

Clothing; covering; closely encompassing; descending to and becoming permanent, as a right or title; converting into other species of property, as money.

VEST'MENT, n. [L. vestimentum, from vestio, to clothe; Fr. vêtement.]

A garment; some part of clothing or dress; especially some part of outer clothing; but it is not restricted to any particular garment. The sculptor could not give vestments suitable to the quality of the persons represented. – Dryden.

VEST'RY, n. [L. vestiarium; Fr. vestiaire.]

1. A room appendant to a church, in which the sacerdotal vestments and sacred utensils are kept, and where parochial meetings are held.
2. A parochial assembly, so called because held in the vestry. The council are chosen by the vestry. – Clarendon.

VEST'RY-CLERK, n. [vestry and clerk.]

An officer chosen by the vestry, who keeps the parish accounts and books. – Cyc.

VEST'RY-MAN, n. [vestry and man.]

In London, vestrymen are a select number of principal persons of every parish, who choose parish officers and take care of its concerns. – Cyc.

VEST'URE, n. [Fr. vêture. See Vest.]

1. A garment; a robe. There polished chests embroider'd vesture grac'd. – Pope.
2. Dress; garments in general; habit; clothing; vestment; as, the vesture of priests.
3. Clothing; covering. Rocks, precipices and gulfs appareled with a vesture of plants. – Bentley. And gild the humble vestures of the plain. – Trumbull.
4. In old law books, the corn with which land was covered; as, the vesture of an acre.
5. In old books, seisin; possession. [Obs.]

VE-SU'VI-AN, a.

Pertaining to Vesuvius, a volcano near Naples.

VE-SU'VI-AN, n.

In mineralogy, a subspecies of pyramidical garnet, a mineral found in the vicinity of Vesuvius classed with the family of garnets; called by Haüy idocrase. It is generally crystalized in four-sided prisms, the edges of which are truncated, forming prisms of eight, fourteen or sixteen sides. It sometimes occurs massive. It is composed chiefly of silex, lime and alumin, with a portion of oxyd of iron, and oxyd of manganese. – Dict. Ure.

VETCH, n. [Fr. vesce; It. veccia; L. vicia; Sp. veza; D. wik, wikke, vetch, and a weight; wikken, to weigh; G. wicke, a vetch; wickel, a roller; wichtig, weighty; wickeln, to wind up. We see vetch is from the root of weigh, wag, wiggle, and signifies a little roller.]

A plant of the genus Vicia. It is a common name of most species of the genus. The name is also applied, with various epithets, to many other leguminous plants of different genera; as, the chichling vetch, of the genus Lathyrus; the horseshoe vetch, of the genus Hippocrepis; the milk vetch, of the genus Astragalus, &c. – Lee.

VETCH'LING, n. [from vetch.]

In botany, a name of the Lathyrus aphaca, expressive of its diminutive size. The meadow vetchling is a wild plant common in meadows, which makes good hay.

VETCH'Y, a.

1. Consisting of vetches or of pea straw; as, a vetchy bed . – Spenser.
2. Abounding with vetches.

VET'ER-AN, a. [L. veteranus, from vetero, to grow old, from vetus, old.]

Having been long exercised in any thing; long practiced or, experienced; as, a veteran officer or soldier; veteran skill. – Thomson.

VET'ER-AN, n.

One who has been long exercised in any service or art, particularly in war; one who has grown old in service, and has had much experience. Ensigns that pierc'd the foe's remotest lines, / The hardy veteran with tears resigns. – Addison.