ACA

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ACC

KnTax>i4if, comprehension.] in philosophy, incomprehensibility;that which cannot be conceived.

ACATHARSIA, in medicine, an impurity of the blood orhumours.

ACATHISTUS, a solemn hymn, anciently sungiin the Greekchurch, on the Saturday of the fifth week in lent, in honour ofthe Virgin, for having thrice delivered Constantinople from theinvasions of barbarous nations. It was called ax»9ic“r, i. e. with-out sitting, because it was celebrated standing.

ACATIUM, in ancient navigation, a kind of boat or pinnace, IIused for military purposes Strabo represents it as a kind of priva-teer, or pirate sloop.

ACAULIS, [from « negative, and xa:Ao;, a stalk,] a term ap-plied to plants, the flowers of which have no pedicle or stalk tosupport them, but rest immediately on the ground, such as thecarline thistle, &c.

ACAULOSE, or ACAULOUS, plants, such as have no propercaulis, or stem.

ACBAR, an idol of enormous size, which the Arabians are saidformerly to have worshipped, it was with difficulty that Mohammedrestrained them from this species of idolatry.

ACBARABAD, the capital of a province of Hindostan, sonamed from the emperor Acbar. It is the largest city in the GreatMogul’s dominions.

ACCA, ST, bishop of Hagulstaldt, or Hexam, in Northum-berland , succeeded Wilfred in that see, in 709. He was accounteda very able divine, and was famous for his skill in church music.He wrote Passioncs Sanctorum, the Sufferings of the Saints, andPro illustrandis scripturis ad Bedam; for explaining the scrip-tures addressed to Bede . He died in 740, having enjoyed thesee of Hexam 31 years, under Egbert king of the Northumbrians .ACCALIA, in Roman antiquity, solemn festivals held in honour

of A.CC<1 T 11 ppnt l

ACCAPITARE, ACCAPTARE, or AC APT ARE, [from ad,to, and caput, the head, because vassals own their lord for theirhead.] in old law, the act of becoming vassal to a lord, or yieldinghomage to him.

AGCAPITUM, ACCAPITAMENTUM, ACCAPTATIO,or ACCAPTAGIUM, the money paid by a vassal upon his ad-mission to a feud.

ACCEDAS AD CURIAM, in the English law, a writ lying,where a man has received, or fears, false judgment in an inferiorcourt. It lies also for justice delayed, and is a species of the writRecordare.

Accedas ad Vice-comitem, is a writ directed to the coroner,commanding him to deliver a writ to the sheriff, who having a ponedelivered to him, suppresses it.

ACCELERANDO, in music, an Italian term for quickeningthe time in the middle of a piece.

ACCELERATION, in mechanics, the increase of velocity ina moving body. It is directly opposed to retardation, or a dimi-nution of velocity. See Mechanics.

Acceleration of the motion of compressed bodies, inexpanding or restoring themselves. See Dilatation.

Acceleration of the motion of Pendulums . See Me-chanics and Pendulum .

Acceleration of the motion of Projectiles. See Pro-jectile .

Acceleration of the Fixed Stars , in the ancient astro-nomy, was the difference between the revolution of the primummobile and the solar revolution; which was computed at 3' 56”, theterm is still used to express the daily anticipation of the stars, oc-casioned by the earth’s progressive motion, which is 59' 8"J, of adegree per day, this causes the starsto rise, come to the meridian,set ( or to be in any other given position at a given place, about 3'56'' sooner each day, than on the preceding one. This accelera-tion is the difference between a solar and a sidereal day.

Acceleration of the Moon , is a term used to express theincrease of the moon’s mean motion from the sun, compared withthe diurnal motion of the earth; so that it is now a little swifterthan formerly. See Moon, Astronomy Index .

Acceleration of a Planet, is when its real or true motionexceeds its mean motion. A planet is said to be retarded, whenthe mean exceeds the true motion. This inequality arises from theeccentricity of the orbit, making a variation in the distance of theplanet from the sun. See Astronomy.

ACCELERATOR, in anatomy, the name of two muscles ofthe penis. Spe Anatomy.

ACCENDENTES, or ACCENSORF.S, a lower order of ministers in the church of Rome, whose office is to light, and trimthe candles or tapers.

ACCENDONES, [from Accendo, to kindle,] in Roman anti-quity, a species of gladiators, who enlivened and animated thecombatants during their engagement.

ACCENSI, in Roman antiquity, supernumerary soldiers,designed to supply the places of those who should be killed or dis-abled. Also an inferior order of officers, appointed to attend theRoman magistrates, in the manner of ushers, serjeants, or tip-stavesamong us. Part of their office was to call assemblies of the people,summon parties to appear aud answer before the judges, &c. Andlikewise an adjutant appointed by the tribune to assist each centu-rion and decunon.

ACCENT, in reading or speaking, an inflection of the voice,which gives to each syllable of a word its due pitch, in respect ofheight or lowness. The word acccntus is a compound of ad, to;and cano, to sing. Accentus, quasi adcantus, ovjuxta car turn.In this sense, accent is synonymous with the Greek too; ; the Latin tenor, or tonor\ and the Hebrew DJttfl, gustus, taste.

Accent, among grammarians, is a certain mark or characterilaced over a syllable, to direct the stress of its pronunciation.We generally reckon three grammatical accents in ordinary use,all borrowed from the Greeks, viz., the acute accent ( ' ), whichshows when the tone of the voice is to be raised. The grave ac-cent (' ), when the note or tone of the voice is to be depressed.The circumflex accent (- ), is composed of both the acute andthe grave, and points out a kind of undulation of the voice. TheLatins have made the same use of these three accents. Somecall the long and short quantities of syllables accents, but errone-ously. See Quantity. Accents not only give a pleasing varietyand beauty to the modulation of the voice, but serve to ascer-tain the true meaning of the word, as in prSsent and to present.The Chinese are remarkable for the use they make of accents:thus the word yu, according to the way in which they place theaccent signifies God , a wall, an elephant, stupidity, and a goose.Concerning the antiquity of the Greek accents authors are notagreed; some making them of modern date, and others contend-ing for their having been known to the ancient Greeks.

Accent, in music, a certain modulation or warbling of thesounds to express passion; either naturally by the voice, or artifi-cially by instruments. Every bar or measure is divided into theaccented and unaccented parts; the former being the emphatical,on which the spirit of the music depends. The harmony oughtalways to be full, and void of discords, in the accented part ofthe measure.

Accents of Sentences seem to have been almost totallyoverlooked, while those of words have been studied most minutely.It is indeed remarkable, that all mankind seem to agree in lower-ing the voice at the end of a period, and elevating it in interroga-tions, and the like. See ISacon de Aug. Sclent, vi. 1. and Elein.Crit. ii.

ACCENTOR, he that sings the leading part in a choir.

ACCENTUATION, The act of placing the accent in pro-nunciation. Marking the accent in writing.

ACCEPTANCE, in law, the tacitly agreeing to some actbefore done by another, which might have been defeated with-out such acceptance. Thus if a husband and w ife, seized ofland in right of the wife, make a joint lease or feoffment, re-serving rent, and the husband dies; alter which the widow re-ceives or accepts the rent; such receipt is deemed an accept-ance, confirms the lease of feoffment, and bars her from bring-ing the writ cui in vita.

Acceptance, in commerce, is the signing or subscribing of abill of exchange, hv which the acceptor obliges himself to paythe contents of the till. Rills payable at sight are not accepted,because they must either be paid on being presented, or elseprotested for want of payment. The acceptance of bills pay-able at a fixed day, at usance, or double usance, Arc. need notbe dated; because the tune is reckoned from the date of thebill; but it is necessary to date the acceptance of bills payableat a certain number of (lays after sight, because the time does notbegin to run till the next day after that acceptance: this kind of ac-ceptance is made thus, Acccptedsuch u day and year, andsigned,r ACCEITILATION