Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VERS-IC'OL-OR, or VERS'I-COL-OR-ED, a. [L. versicolor.]

Having various colors; changeable in color.

VERS-IC'U-LAR, a.

Pertaining to verses; designating distinct divisions of a writing.

VERS-IF-IC-A'TION, n. [Fr. from versifier.]

The act, art or practice of composing poetic verse. Versification is the result of art, labor and rule, rather than of invention or the fire of genius. It consists in adjusting the long and short syllables, and forming feet into harmonious measure . – Cyc.

VERS'IF-IC-A-TOR, n.

A versifier. [Little used.] [See Versifier.]

VERS'I-FI-ED, pp. [from versify.]

Formed into verse.

VERS'I-FI-ER, n.

1. One who makes verses. Not every versifier is a poet.
2. One who converts into verse; or one who expresses the ideas of another, written in prose; as, Dr. Watts was a versifier of the Psalms.

VERS'I-FY, v.i.

To make verses. I'll versify in spite, and do my best. – Dryden.

VERS'I-FY, v.t.

1. To relate or describe in verse. I'll versify the truth. – Daniel.
2. To turn into verse; as, to versify the Psalms.

VERS'I-FY-ING, ppr.

Converting into verse.

VER'SION, n. [Fr. from L. versio.]

1. A turning; a change or transformation; as, the version of air into water. [Unusual.] – Bacon.
2. Change of direction; as, the version of the beams of light. [Unusual.] – Bacon.
3. The act of translating; the rendering of thoughts or ideas expressed in one language, into words of like signification in another language. How long was Pope engaged in the version of Homer?
4. Translation; that which is rendered from another language. We have a good version of the Scriptures. There is a good version of the Pentateuch in the Samaritan. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament was made for the benefit of the Jews in Alexandria.

VERST, n.

A Russian measure of length, containing 1166 2-3 yards, or 3500 feet; about three quarters of an English mile.

VERSUS, prep. [Versus; L.]

Against; as, John Doe versus Richard Roe.

VER-SUTE', a.

Crafty; wily.

VERT, n. [Fr. verd, green, L. viridis.]

1. In the forest laws, every thing that grows and bears a green leaf within the forest. To preserve vert and venison, it the duty of the verderer. – England.
2. In heraldry, a green color.

VERT'E-BER, or VERT'E-BRA, n. [L. vertebra, from verto, to turn.]

A joint of the spine or back-bone of an animal.

VERT'E-BRAL, a.

1. Pertaining to the joints of the spine of back-bone.
2. Having a back-bone or spinal joints; as, vertebral animals.

VERT'E-BRAL, n.

An animal of the class which have a back-bone.

VER'TE-BRATE, n.

An animal having a spine with joints.

VERT'E-BRA-TED, a. [L. vertebratus.]

Having a back-bone, or vertebral column, containing the spinal marrow, as an animal; as man, quadrupeds, fowls, amphibia, and fishes. – Cuvier.

VERT'EX, n. [L. from verto, to turn; primarily a round point.]

1. The crown or top of the head. – Coxe.
2. The top of a hill or other thing; the point of a cone, pyramid, angle or figure; the pole of a glass, in optics. The vertex of a curve, is the point from which the diameter drawn, or the intersection of the diameter and the curve.
3. In astronomy, the zenith; the point of the heavens perpendicularly over the head. – Cyc.

VERT'IC-AL, a. [Fr. from L. vertex.]

1. Placed or being in the zenith, or perpendicularly over the head. The sun is vertical to the inhabitants within the tropics at certain times every year.
2. Being in a position perpendicular to the plane of the horizon. Vertical leaves, in botany, are such as stand so erect, that neither of the surfaces can be called the upper or under. Vertical anthers, are such as terminate the filaments, being inserted by their base, stand no less upright than the filaments themselves. – Cyc. Vertical circle, in astronomy, a great circle passing through the zenith and the nadir. The meridian of any place is a vertical circle. The vertical circles are called azimuths. – Cyc. Vertical line, in conics, is a right line drawn on the vertical plane, and passing through the vertex of the cone. – Cyc. Vertical plane, in conics, is a plane passing through the vertex of a cone, and through its axis. Prime vertical, a great circle of the sphere, perpendicular to the horizon, and passing through the zenith and the east and west points.

VERT'IC-AL-LY, adv.

In the zenith.

VERT'IC-AL-NESS, n.

The state of being in the zenith, or perpendicularly over the head. [Verticality is not used.]

VERT'I-CIL, n. [L. verticillus, from vertex, supra.]

In botany, a little whirl; a mode of inflorescence, in which the flowers surround the stem in a kind of ring. – Cyc.

VER-TIC'IL-LATE, a. [supra.]

In botany, verticillate flowers are such as grow in a whirl, around the stem or in rings, one above another, at each joint. The term is also applied in this sense to leaves and branches. Verticillate plants are such as bear whirled flowers. – Martyn. Lee.