*lection*

n. (Arch.) A projecting molding round a panel. Same as Bilection. Gwilt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An election held by itself, not at the time of a general election. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Circumflexion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. collectio: cf. F. collection. ] 1. The act or process of collecting or of gathering; as, the collection of specimens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is collected; as: (a) A gathering or assemblage of objects or of persons. “A collection of letters.” Macaulay. (b) A gathering of money for charitable or other purposes, as by passing a contribution box for freewill offerings. “The collection for the saints.” 1 Cor. xvi. 1 (c) (Usually in pl.) That which is obtained in payment of demands. (d) An accumulation of any substance. “Collections of moisture.” Whewell. “A purulent collection.” Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The act of inferring or concluding from premises or observed facts; also, that which is inferred. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

We may safely say thus, that wrong collections have been hitherto made out of those words by modern divines. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The jurisdiction of a collector of excise. [ Eng. ]

Syn. -- Gathering; assembly; assemblage; group; crowd; congregation; mass; heap; compilation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to collecting. [ 1913 Webster ]

The first twenty-five [ years ] must have been wasted for collectional purposes. H. A. Merewether. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. deflexio, fr. deflectere: cf. F. déflexion. ] 1. The act of turning aside, or state of being turned aside; a turning from a right line or proper course; a bending, esp. downward; deviation. [ 1913 Webster ]

The other leads to the same point, through certain deflections. Lowth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gunnery) The deviation of a shot or ball from its true course. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Opt.) A deviation of the rays of light toward the surface of an opaque body; inflection; diffraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Engin.) The bending which a beam or girder undergoes from its own weight or by reason of a load. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of freeing from inflections. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To free from inflections. [ 1913 Webster ]

Deflectionized languages are said to be analytic. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. dilectio: dilection. See Diligent. ] Love; choice. [ Obs. ] T. Martin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. élection, L. electio, fr. eligere to choose out. See Elect, a. ] 1. The act of choosing; choice; selection. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of choosing a person to fill an office, or to membership in a society, as by ballot, uplifted hands, or viva voce; as, the election of a president or a mayor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Corruption in elections is the great enemy of freedom. J. Adams. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Power of choosing; free will; liberty to choose or act. “By his own election led to ill.” Daniel. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Discriminating choice; discernment. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To use men with much difference and election is good. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Theol.) Divine choice; predestination of individuals as objects of mercy and salvation; -- one of the “five points” of Calvinism. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is a remnant according to the election of grace. Rom. xi. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Law) The choice, made by a party, of two alternatives, by taking one of which, the chooser is excluded from the other. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Those who are elected. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The election hath obtained it. Rom. xi. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

To contest an election. See under Contest. --
To make one's election, to choose. [ 1913 Webster ]

He has made his election to walk, in the main, in the old paths. Fitzed. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Electionered p. pr. & vb. n. Electioneering. ] To make interest for a candidate at an election; to use arts for securing the election of a candidate. [ 1913 Webster ]

A master of the whole art of electioneering. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who electioneers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Emplecton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Flexion. ] 1. The act of bending, or state of being bent. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The variation of words by declension, comparison, or conjugation; inflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of, or pertaining to, flection or inflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

A flectional word is a phrase in the bud. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. génuflexion, fr. LL. genuflexio, fr. L. genu knee + flexio a bending, fr. flectere, flexum, to bend. See Knee, Flexible. ] The act of bending the knee, particularly in worship or reverence. Bp. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. inflexio : cf. F. inflexion. See Inflect. ] [ Written also inflecxion. ] 1. The act of inflecting, or the state of being inflected. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A bend; a fold; a curve; a turn; a twist. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A slide, modulation, or accent of the voice; as, the rising and the falling inflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Gram.) The variation or change which words undergo to mark case, gender, number, comparison, tense, person, mood, voice, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mus.) (a) Any change or modification in the pitch or tone of the voice. (b) A departure from the monotone, or reciting note, in chanting. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Opt.) Same as Diffraction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Point of inflection (Geom.), the point on opposite sides of which a curve bends in contrary ways. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to inflection; having, or characterized by, inflection. Max Müller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. intellectio synecdoche: cf. F. intellection. ] A mental act or process; especially: (a) The act of understanding; simple apprehension of ideas; intuition. Bentley. (b) A creation of the mind itself. Hickok. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of reflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. lectio, fr. legere, lectum, to read. See lesson, Legend. ] 1. (Eccl.) A lesson or selection, especially of Scripture, read in divine service. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A reading; a variation in the text. [ 1913 Webster ]

We ourselves are offended by the obtrusion of the new lections into the text. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. -ries [ LL. lectionarium, lectionarius : cf. F. lectionnaire. ] (Eccl.) A book, or a list, of lections, for reading in divine service. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Erroneous or inaccurate recollection. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A collection of objects of various kinds; a hodgepodge; a medley; a confused mixture; an omnium gatherum. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. neglectio. ] The state of being negligent; negligence. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Failure of election. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not admitting of, or characterized by, inflection. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A collection previously made. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. pre- + L. dilectus, p. p. diligere to prefer: cf. F. prédilection. See Diligent. ] A previous liking; a prepossession of mind in favor of something; predisposition to choose or like; partiality. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Election beforehand. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. praelectio. ] A lecture or discourse read in public or to a select company. “The prelections of Faber.” Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. récollection. ] 1. The act of recollecting, or recalling to the memory; the operation by which objects are recalled to the memory, or ideas revived in the mind; reminiscence; remembrance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The power of recalling ideas to the mind, or the period within which things can be recollected; remembrance; memory; as, an event within my recollection. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is recollected; something called to mind; reminiscence. “One of his earliest recollections.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The act or practice of collecting or concentrating the mind; concentration; self-control. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

From such an education Charles contracted habits of gravity and recollection. Robertson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Reminiscence; remembrance. See Memory. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Election a second time, or anew; as, the reelection of a former chief. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. reflexio: cf. F. réflexion. See Riflect. ] [ Written also reflexion. ] 1. The act of reflecting, or turning or sending back, or the state of being reflected. Specifically: (a) The return of rays, beams, sound, or the like, from a surface. See Angle of reflection, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

The eye sees not itself,
But by reflection, by some other things. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) The reverting of the mind to that which has already occupied it; continued consideration; meditation; contemplation; hence, also, that operation or power of the mind by which it is conscious of its own acts or states; the capacity for judging rationally, especially in view of a moral rule or standard. [ 1913 Webster ]

By reflection, . . . I would be understood to mean, that notice which the mind takes of its own operations, and the manner of them, by reason whereof there come to be ideas of these operations in the understanding. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

This delight grows and improves under thought and reflection. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Shining; brightness, as of the sun. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is produced by reflection. Specifically: (a) An image given back from a reflecting surface; a reflected counterpart. [ 1913 Webster ]

As the sun water we can bear,
Yet not the sun, but his reflection, there. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A part reflected, or turned back, at an angle; as, the reflection of a membrane. (c) Result of meditation; thought or opinion after attentive consideration or contemplation; especially, thoughts suggested by truth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Job's reflections on his once flourishing estate did at the same time afflict and encourage him. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Censure; reproach cast. [ 1913 Webster ]

He died; and oh! may no reflection shed
Its poisonous venom on the royal dead. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Physiol.) The transference of an excitement from one nerve fiber to another by means of the nerve cells, as in reflex action. See Reflex action, under Reflex. [ 1913 Webster ]

Angle of reflection, the angle which anything, as a ray of light, on leaving a reflecting surface, makes with the perpendicular to the surface. --
Angle of total reflection. (Opt.) Same as Critical angle, under Critical. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Meditation; contemplation; rumination; cogitation; consideration; musing; thinking. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. selectio: cf. F. sélection. ] . The act of selecting, or the state of being selected; choice, by preference. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is selected; a collection of things chosen; as, a choice selection of books. [ 1913 Webster ]

Natural selection. (Biol.) See under Natural. [ 1913 Webster ]