Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON-SPEC'TION, n.

A beholding. [Not used.]

CON-SPEC-TU'I-TY, n.

Sight; view. [Not used.]

CON-SPER'SION, n.

A sprinkling. [Not used.]

CON-SPI-CU'I-TY, n.

Conspicuousness; brightness. [Little used.] – Shak.

CON-SPIC'U-OUS, a. [L. conspicuus, from conspicio, to look or see; con and specio, to see. See Species.]

1. Open to the view; obvious to the eye; easy to be seen; manifest; as, to stand in a conspicuous place. Or come I less conspicuous. – Milton.
2. Obvious to the mental eye; clearly or extensively known, perceived or understood. Hence, eminent; famous; distinguished; as, a man of conspicuous talents; a lady of conspicuous virtues.

CON-SPIC'U-OUS-LY, adv.

In a conspicuous manner; obviously; in a manner to be clearly seen; eminently; remarkably.

CON-SPIC'U-OUS-NESS, n.

1. Openness or exposure to the view; a state of being visible at a distance; as, the conspicuousness of a tower.
2. Eminence; fame; celebrity; renown; a state of being extensively known and distinguished; as, the conspicuousness of an author.

CON-SPIR'A-CY, n. [L. conspiratio, from conspiro. See Conspire.]

1. A combination of men for an evil purpose; an agreement between two or more persons, to commit some crime in concert; particularly, a combination to commit treason, or excite sedition or insurrection against the government of a state; a plot; as, a conspiracy against the life of a king; a conspiracy against the government. More than forty had made this conspiracy. – Acts xxiii.
2. In law, an agreement between two or more persons, falsely and maliciously to indict, or procure to be indicted, an innocent person of felony. – Blackstone.
3. A concurrence; a general tendency of two or more causes to one event. – Sidney.

CON-SPIR'ANT, a. [L. conspirans.]

Conspiring; plotting; engaging in plot to commit a crime. – Shak.

CON-SPI-RA'TION, n.

Conspiracy; agreement or concurrence of things to one end.

CON-SPIR'A-TOR, n.

1. One who conspires; one who engages in a plot to commit a crime, particularly treason.
2. In law, one who agrees with another falsely and maliciously to indict an innocent person of felony. By the British statute, a conspirator is defined to be one who binds himself by oath, covenant, or other alliance, to assist another falsely and maliciously to indict a person, or falsely to maintain pleas. – Encyc.

CON-SPIRE, v.i. [L. conspiro, to plot; con and spiro, to breathe. But the primary sense is to throw, to wind; hence spira, a fold, circle, wreath or band; and the sense of the verb is, to breathe together, or more probably, to wind or band together.]

1. To agree, by oath, covenant, or otherwise, to commit a crime; to plot; to hatch treason. The servants of Ammon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house. – 2 Kings xxi. They conspired against Joseph to slay him. – Gen. xxxvii.
2. In law, to agree falsely and maliciously to indict an innocent person of felony.
3. To agree; to concur to one end; as, all things conspire to make us prosperous. The press, the pulpit, and the stage, / Conspire to censure, and expose our age. – Roscommon.

CON-SPIR'ER, n.

One who conspires or plots; a conspirator. – Shak.

CON-SPIR'ING, ppr.

1. Agreeing to commit a crime; plotting; uniting or concurring to one end.
2. In mechanics, conspiring powers are such as act in a direction not opposite to one another; cooperating powers. – Harris.

CON-SPIR'ING-LY, adv.

In the manner of a conspiracy; by conspiracy. – Milton.

CON-SPIS-SA'TION, n. [L. conspissatus.]

The act of making thick or viscous; thickness. – More.

CON-SPUR-CA'TION, n. [L. conspurco; con and spurco, to defile.]

The act of defiling; defilement; pollution. [Not in use.] – Bp. Hall.

CON'STA-BLE, n. [Sp. condestable; Port. id.; It. conestabile; Fr. connetable; Sp. conde, It. conte, a count, and L. stabulum, a stable; L. comes stabuli, count of the stable.]

1. The Lord High Constable of England, the seventh officer of the crown. He had the care of the common peace, is deeds of arms, and matters of war; being a judge of the court of chivalry, now called the court of honor. To this officer and to the Earl Marshal belonged the cognizance of contracts, deeds of arms, without the realm, and combats and blazonry within the realm. The power of this officer was so great and so improperly used, that it was abridged by the 13th Richard II, and was afterwards forfeited in the person of Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, in 1521. It has never been granted to any person, since that time, except pro hac vice, or on a particular occasion. – Encyc.
2. An officer of the peace. In England, there are high constables, petty constables, and constables of London. The high constables are chosen at the court leets of the franchise or hundred, over which they preside, or in default of that, by the justices of the quarter sessions, and are removable by the same authority that appoints them. The petty constables are chosen by the jury of the court leet, or if no court is held, they are appointed by two justices of the peace. In London, a constable is nominated in each precinct by the inhabitants, and confirmed at the court of ward mote. The duty of constables is to keep the peace, and for this purpose they are invested with the power of arresting and imprisoning, and of breaking open houses. In the United States, constables are town or city officers of the peace, with powers similar to those possessed by the constables in Great Britain. They are invested also with powers to execute civil as well as criminal process, and to levy executions. In New England, they are elected by the inhabitants of towns in legal meeting. To overrun the constable, to spend more than a man is worth or can pay; a vulgar phrase.

CON'STA-BLER-Y, n.

The body or jurisdiction of constables.

CON'STA-BLE-SHIP, n.

The office of a constable.

CON'STA-BLE-WICK, n.

The district to which a constable's power is limited. – Hale.

CON-STAB'U-LA-RY, a.

Pertaining to constables; consisting of constables.

CON'STAN-CY, n. [L. constantia, from consto; con and sto, to stand.]

1. Fixedness; a standing firm; hence, applied to God or his works, immutability; unalterable continuance; a permanent state. – Hooker.
2. Fixedness or firmness of mind; persevering resolution; steady, unshaken determination; particularly applicable to firmness of mind under sufferings, steadiness in attachments, and to perseverance in enterprise. Lasting affection; stability in love or friendship.
3. Certainty; veracity; reality. – Shak. Johnson.

CON'STANT, a. [L. constans.]

1. Fixed; firm; opposed to fluid. To turn two fluid liquors into a constant body. – Boyle. [In this sense, not used.]
2. Fixed; not varied; unchanged; permanent; immutable. The world's a scene of changes, and to be / Constant, in nature were inconstancy. – Cowley.
3. Fixed or firm in mind, purpose, affection or principle; unshaken; unmoved; as, a constant friend or lover.
4. Certain; steady; firmly adherent; with to; as, a man constant to his prayers, or to his duties.

CON-STAN-TI-NO-POL'I-TAN, a.

Relating to Constantinople, the metropolis of Turkey in Europe.