*vane*

n. (Naut.) A small vane of bunting, feathers, or any other light material, carried at the masthead to indicate the direction of the wind. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Evanesced p. pr. & vb. n. Evanescing. ] [ L. evanescere; e out + vanescere to vanish, fr. vanus empty, vain. See Vain, and cf. Evanish. ] To vanish away; to become dissipated and disappear, like vapor. [ 1913 Webster ]

I believe him to have evanesced or evaporated. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or state of vanishing away; disappearance; as, the evanescence of vapor, of a dream, of earthly plans or hopes. Rambler. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. evanescens, -entis, p. pr. of evanescere. ] 1. Liable to vanish or pass away like vapor; vanishing; fleeting; as, evanescent joys. [ 1913 Webster ]

So evanescent are the fashions of the world in these particulars. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Vanishing from notice; imperceptible. [ 1913 Webster ]

The difference between right and wrong, in some petty cases, is almost evanescent. Wollaston. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a vanishing manner; imperceptibly. Chalmers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Havana, in Cuba. -- n. sing. & pl. A native or inhabitant, or the people, of Havana. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Java, or to the people of Java. -- n. sing. & pl. A native or natives of Java. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. & Prov. E. fane weathercock, banner, AS. fana a banner, flag; akin to D. vaan, G. fahne, OHG. fano cloth, gund fano flag, Icel. fāni, Sw. fana, Dan. fane, Goth. fana cloth, L. pannus, and perhaps to Gr. ph^nos a web, phni`on a bobbin, spool. Cf. Fanon, Pane a compartment, panel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

1. A contrivance attached to some elevated object for the purpose of showing which way the wind blows; a weathercock. It is usually a plate or strip of metal, or slip of wood, often cut into some fanciful form, and placed upon a perpendicular axis around which it moves freely. [ 1913 Webster ]

Aye undiscreet, and changing as a vane. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any flat, extended surface attached to an axis and moved by the wind; as, the vane of a windmill; hence, a similar fixture of any form moved in or by water, air, or other fluid; as, the vane of a screw propeller, a fan blower, an anemometer, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The rhachis and web of a feather taken together. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One of the sights of a compass, quadrant, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Vane of a leveling staff. (Surv.) Same as Target, 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Probably from Swift's poem of Cadenus and Vanessa. See Vanessa, in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. ] (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of handsomely colored butterflies belonging to Vanessa and allied genera. Many of these species have the edges of the wings irregularly scalloped. [ 1913 Webster ]