Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VOL-CA'NO, n. [It. from Vulcan.]

1. In geology, an opening in the surface of the earth or in a mountain, from which smoke, flames, stones, lava, or other substances are ejected. Such are seen in Etna and Vesuvius in Sicily and Italy, and Hecla in Iceland. It is vulgarly called a burning mountain. Herschel has discovered a volcano in the moon.
2. The mountain that ejects fire, smoke, &c.

VOLE, n. [Fr. from voler, to fly.]

A deal at cards that draws all the tricks. – Swift.

VO-LEE', n. [volā; Fr. a flying.]

A rapid flight of notes in music.

VO'LER-Y, n. [Fr. volerie, from voler, to fly.]

1. A flight of birds. – Locke.
2. A large bird-cage, in which the birds have room to fly. – Cyc.

VO-LI-TA'TION, n. [L. volito, dim. of volo, to fly.]

The act of flying; flight. – Brown.

VO-LI'TION, n. [L. volitio, from volo, to will. See Will.]

1. The act of willing; the act of determining choice, or forming a purpose. There is a great difference between actual volition, and the approbation of judgment. – South. Volition is the actual exercise of the power which the mind has of considering or forbearing to consider an idea. – Locke.
2. The power of willing or determining.

VOL'I-TIVE, a.

Having the power to will. They not only perfect the intellectual faculty, but the volitive. – Hale.

VOL'LEY, n. [plur. Volleys. Fr. volée, a flight, from voler, to fly, L. volo.]

1. A flight of shot; the discharge of many small arms at once. – Waller.
2. A burst or emission of many things at once; as, a volley of words. – Shak. But rattling nonsense in full volleys breaks. – Pope.

VOL'LEY, v.i.

To throw out or discharge at once. – Shak.

VOL'LEY, v.t.

To discharge with a volley.

VOL'LEY-ED, a. [from volley.]

Disploded; discharged with a sudden burst; as, volleyed thunder. – Milton. Philips.

VOLT, n. [Fr. volte, a ring; It. volta, a turn; from L. volutus, volvo.]

1. A round or circular tread; a gait of two treads, made by a horse going sideways round a center. – Far. Dict.
2. In fencing, a sudden movement or leap to avoid a thrust.

VOL'TA, v. [Volta.]

In Italian music, signifies that the part is to be repeated one, two, or more times.

VOL-TA'IC, a.

Pertaining to Volta, the discoverer of voltaism; as, the voltaic pile. Voltaic apparatus, the apparatus used for accumulating galvanic electricity. The agent itself is denominated galvanism, after its discoverer, Galvani, while the instruments used for exciting and accumulating it, are called voltaic, in honor of Volta, who first contrived this kind of apparatus. Voltaic pile, a column formed by successive pairs of metallic disks, as silver and zink, with moistened cloth between every two contiguous pairs. Voltaic battery, the larger forms of voltaic apparatus, used for accumulating galvanic electricity.

VOL'TA-ISM, n. [from Volta, an Italian.]

That branch of electrical science which has its source in the chimical action between metals and different liquids. It is more properly called galvanism, from Galvani, who first proved or brought into notice its remarkable influence on animals.

VOL-TAM'E-TER, n. [Volta and μετρον.]

An instrument for measuring the voltate electricity passing through it.

VOLTI, v. [Volti.]

In music, turn over.

VOLTI-SUBITO, v. [Volti subito.]

Turn over quickly.

VO-LU'BIL-ATE, or VOL'U-BILE, a.

In gardening, a volubilate stem is one that climbs by winding or twining round another body. – Cyc.

VOL-U-BIL'I-TY, n. [Fr. volubilité; L. volubilitas, from volvo, to roll.]

1. The capacity of being rolled; aptness to roll; as, the volubility of a bowl. – Watts.
2. The act of rolling. By irregular volubility. – Hooker.
3. Ready motion of the tongue in speaking; fluency of speech. She ran over the catalogue of diversions with such a volubility of tongue, as drew a gentle reprimand from her father. – Female Quixote.
4. Mutability; liableness to revolution; as, the volubility of human affairs. [Unusual.] – L'Estrange.

VOL'U-BLE, a. [L. volubilis.]

1. Formed so as to roll with ease or to be easily set in motion; apt to roll; as, voluble particles of matter. – Boyle.
2. Rolling; having quick motion. This less voluble earth. – Milton.
3. Nimble; active; moving with ease and smoothness in uttering words; fluent; as, a flippant, voluble tongue.
4. Fluent; flowing with ease and smoothness; as, a voluble speech. – Shak.
5. Having fluency of speech. Cassio, a knave very voluble. – Shak.

VOL'U-BLY, adv.

In a rolling or fluent manner. – Hudibras.

VOL'UME, n. [Fr. from L. volumen, a roll; volvo, to roll. To make u long, in this word, is palpably wrong.]

1. Primarily, a roll, as the ancients wrote on long strips of bark, parchment, or other material, which they formed into rolls or folds. Of such volumes, Ptolemy's library in Alexandria contained 3 or 700,000.
2. A roll or turn; as much as is included in a roll or coil as the volume of a serpent. – Dryden.
3. Dimensions; compass; space occupied; as, the volume of an elephant's body; a volume of gas. – Darwin. Parke.
4. A swelling or spherical body. The undulating billows rolling their silver volumes.
5. A book; a collection of sheets of paper, usually printed or written paper, folded and bound, or covered. A book consisting of sheets once folded, is called a folio, or a folio volume; of sheets twice folded, a quarto; and thus according to the number of leaves in a sheet, it is called an octavo, or a duodecimo. The Scriptures or sacred writings, bound in a single volume, are called the Bible. The number of volumes in the Royal Library, in Rue de Richlieu, at Paris, is variously estimated. It is probable it may amount to 400,000. An odd volume of a set of books, bears not the value of its proportion to the set. – Franklin.
6. In music, the compass of a voice from grave to acute; the tone or power of voice. – Busby.

VOL'UM-ED, a.

Having the form of a volume or roll; as, volumed mist. – Percy's Masque.

VO-LU'MIN-OUS, a.

1. Consisting of many coils or complications. The serpent roll'd voluminous and vast. – Milton.
2. Consisting of many volumes or books. The collections of Muratori and of the Byzantine history, are very voluminous.
3. Having written much, or made many volumes; as, a voluminous writer.
4. Copious; diffusive. He was too voluminous in discourse. [Not in use.]