*digre*

n. Digression. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. digressio: cf. F. digression. ] 1. The act of digressing or deviating, esp. from the main subject of a discourse; hence, a part of a discourse deviating from its main design or subject. [ 1913 Webster ]

The digressions I can not excuse otherwise, than by the confidence that no man will read them. Sir W. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A turning aside from the right path; transgression; offense. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Then my digression is so vile, so base,
That it will live engraven in my face. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Anat.) The elongation, or angular distance from the sun; -- said chiefly of the inferior planets. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or having the character of, a digression; departing from the main purpose or subject. T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. digressif. ] Departing from the main subject; partaking of the nature of digression. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By way of digression. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of unknown origin; possibly fr. F. par degrés by degrees, -- for a pedigree is properly a genealogical table which records the relationship of families by degrees; or, perh., fr. F. pied de grue crane's foot, from the shape of the heraldic genealogical trees. ] 1. A line of ancestors; descent; lineage; genealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors. [ 1913 Webster ]

Alterations of surnames . . . have obscured the truth of our pedigrees. Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

His vanity labored to contrive us a pedigree. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am no herald to inquire of men's pedigrees. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their tribes. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Stock Breeding) A record of the lineage or strain of an animal, as of a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A clause sometimes inserted in contracts or specifications, requiring that a material of construction, as cement, must be of a brand that has stood the test of a specified number of years' use in an important public work. [ Cant, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]