cenation 
cenation, coenation (sf-na'shon), . [< L. ee- 
natio(n-), < ceiurre, pp. cenatus, dine, oat, < mm 
(alsoimprop. ca'na, cimna), OL. ccesna = Umbrian 
ces/w, dinner, supper, the principal meal of the 
Romans.] The act of dining or supping. Sir 
T. Browne. Also cccnatioti. [Bare.] 
cenatory (sen'a-to-ri), a. [< L. cenatorius, < 
eenare, dine : see ceitutioit.~] Pertaining to din- 
ner or supper. [Rare.] 
The Romans washed, were anointed, and wore a ceiiatory 
garment. Sir T. Bromie, Vulg. Err., v. 6. 
cenchri. . Plural of cenclirus. 
Cenchrina (seng-kri'na), . pi. [NL., < Cen- 
ehris + -i 2 .] A group of American venomous 
serpents, of the family Crotalidcc, taking name 
from the genus Ceiichris. 
Cenchris (seng'kris), M. [L., < Gr. Keyxp'S, also 
KEJ 'xptac , KfyxP"?! Kf yxp' v 1Gi ft serpent with millet- 
like protuberances, < neyxpos, a kind of millet 
(Holcus sorghum).] In herpet. : (a) A genus of 
tropical American venomous serpents, of the 
family CrotaUdce. (b) [I. c.] The specific name 
of some serpent, as a boa. See aboma. 
cenchrus (seng'krus), . ; pi. cenchri (-kri). 
[NL., < Gr. Ktyxpos, a kind of millet, anything 
in small grain.] In entom. : (a) One of two 
small (often white) points situated superiorly 
and laterally on the metathorax. (b) A hyme- 
nopterous insect of the family Tenthredinidce. 
cendalt, cendalet, cendelt, . See sendal. 
cenegildt, . [An old law form, intended for 
AS. *cyngild, < cyn (ME. kin, rarely ken), kin, 
+ gild, payment : see kin and yield.'] In old 
law, an expiatory mulct exacted from one who 
had killed another and paid to the kindred of 
the deceased. 
ceno- 1 . [NL. L. ceno-, < Gr. nevof, empty.] An 
element in some compound words of Greek 
origin, meaning empty, as in cenotaph. 
ceno- 2 . [NL. ceno-, prop., as LL., cceno-, < Gr. 
Koiv6f, common.] An element in some com- 
pound words of Greek origin, meaning common, 
as in cenobite, etc. For words not found under 
this form, see cceno-. 
ceno- 3 . [NL. ceno-, c<eno-, < Gr. naiv6i;, new, 
fresh, recent. The NL. spelling is prop, cceno-, 
the E. prop, ceno-.] An element in some com- 
pound words of Greek origin, chiefly scientific, 
meaning new, recent. For words not found 
under this form, see cceno-. 
Oenobita, Ccenobita (sen-o-bi'ta), n. [NL., 
(prop. Cceno-), < LL. ccenobita, a nermit: see 
cenobite.'] A genus of hermit-crabs, of the 
family Pagnridce or giving name to the family 
Cenobitidte. C. rugosa is an example. 
cenobite, coenobite (sen 'o- bit), n. [=F. ce- 
nobite = Sp. Pg. It. cenobita, < LL. ccmobita, < 
cwnobium, a convent, monastery, < Gr. Kotv6/3un>, 
a convent, neut. of Koiv6j3ioc, living in common, 
< KMv6f, common, + /3/of, life.] 1. One of a 
religious order living in a convent or in com- 
munity; a monk: opposed to anchoret or her- 
mit (one who lives in solitude). 
He pushed his quarrels to the death, yet prayed 
The saints as fervently on bended knees 
As ever shaven cenobite. Bryant, Knight's Epitaph. 
Z. A social bee. Shuckard. 
cenobitic, COenobitic (sen-o-bit'ik), a. [< ceno- 
bite, coenobite, + -ic ; = F. cenobitique, etc.] 1. 
Of or pertaining to a cenobite, or to cenobitism. 
The other [instance] is in the cenobitic life of the first 
Christians and apostles : they had all things in common, 
which was that state of nature in which men lived chari- 
tably and without injustice. 
Jer. Taylor, Great Exemplar, Pref., p. IB. 
The second stage of monasticism was cenobitic or clois- 
ter life, a substitution of the social for the solitary form 
of devotion. Stille, Stud. Sled. Hist., p. 336. 
2. Living in community, as men belonging to 
a convent. 
cenobitical, ccenobitical (sen-o-bit'i-kal), . 
Same as cenobitic. 
Religious orders, black and gray, eremitical and ceno- 
bitical. Stillingfleet. 
Cenobitidae, Coenobitidae (sen-o-bit'i-de), . 
pi. [NL. (prop. Cceno-), < Cenobita, Ccenobita, 
+ -idee.'] A family of hermit-crabs, resembling 
the Pagnridce, but with long antennute and of 
terrestrial habits. It consists of the genera 
Cenobita and Birgus. 
cenobitism, ccenqbitism (sen'o-bi-tizm), . 
[< cenobite, ccenobite, + -ism.'] The state of be- 
ing a cenobite ; the principles or practices of 
cenobites. Mil-man. 
cenobium, n. See ccenobimn. 
cenobyt (sen'o-bi), n. [< LL. ccenobium : see 
eenobtte.] A place where persons live in com- 
munity. Sir G. Buck. 
882 
Cenogsea, Cenogaean. See Ccenogcea, Cceno- 
yman. 
cenogamous, coenogamous (se-nog'a-mus), a. 
[< eenocjuniy, cwiioijnmy, + -ous.J Pertaining to 
or characterized by cenogamy. 
cenogamy, ccenogamy (so -nog 'a -mi), n. [< 
Gr. KOIVOI;, common, + }d,uoc, marriage.] The 
state of having husbands or wives in common ; 
a community of husbands or wives, such as 
exists among certain primitive tribes. 
cenogonous (se-nog'o-nus), a. [< Gr. /comic, 
common, + jorac, generation.] In entom., a 
term applied to certain insects which are ovip- 
arous at one season of the year and ovovivip- 
arous or viviparous at another, as the Aphides. 
cenosity (se-nos'i-ti), n. [< LL. ctenosita(t-)s, 
< L. ccenosu's, filthy, < ccenwm, dirt, filth.] Filthi- 
ness. [Rare.] 
cenosphaera (sen-o-sfe'ra), n. ; pi. cenosphcero' 
(-re). [NL., < Gr. nev6f, empty, 4- atyalpa, sphere.] 
A protozoan lattice-sphere ; the spherical skele- 
ton developed in certain radiolarians. 
cenotaph (sen'6-taf), n. [= F. cenotaphe = Sp. 
It. ceiwtafio = Pg. cenotaphio, < L. cenotaphium, 
< Gr. nevorafyiav, an empty tomb, < KEV&S, empty, 
+ rcupof, a tomb.] An empty tomb erected m 
honor of some deceased person; a sepulchral 
monument erected to one who is buned else- 
where. 
A cenotaph his name and title kept. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., xii. 3. 
Perhaps this building [tomb of Zechariah] should proper- 
ly be called a cenotaph, as it is perfectly solid, and no cave 
or sepulchral vault has been found beneath it. 
J. Feryusson, Hist. Arch., I. 356. 
cenotaphyt (sen'o-taf-i), n. Same as cenotaph. 
Cenozoic, a. See Ccenozoic. 
cens (F. pron. sons), n. [F., < L. census: see 
cense!, census.] In French-Canadian law, an an- 
nual payment by a tenant to the seignior or 
lord, in recognition of his superiority. 
cense 1 t (sens), n. [< OF. cens, cense, mod. F. cens 
= Sp. Pg. It. censo, rent, rate, tax, < L. census, a 
registering and rating of persons and property, 
a census, registered property, wealth : see cen- 
sus.'] 1. A public rate or tax. 
The cense or rates of Christendom are raised since ten 
times, yea, twenty times told. Bacon. 
2. A census ; an enumeration. 
The number of grafts which sprung at one time in and 
about her walls, in a famous cense that was made, amount- 
ed to above three millions. 
Howell, Dodona's Grove (ed. 1640), p. 73. 
3. Condition as to property ; rank. 
A man whose state and cense . . . you are familiar with. 
B. Jonson, Discoveries. 
cense 2 (sens), v. ; pret. and pp. censed, ppr. cens- 
ing. [< ME. censen, sensen, by apheresis for 
encensen, incense: see incense*, r.] I. trans. 
To perfume with odors from burning gums and 
spices ; burn incense before or about. 
Cenainge the wives of the parish faste. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 155. 
The Salii sing, and cense his altars round. Dryden. 
II. intrans. To scatter incense. 
Where the devil is resident, that he may prevail, up 
with all superstition and idolatry, censing, painting of 
images, candles, palms, ashes, holy water, and new ser- 
vice of men's inventing ; as though man could invent a 
better way to honour God with, than God himself hath ap- 
pointed. Latimer, Sermon of the Plough. 
He censeth: the 
boy strews flowers, 
B. Jonson, Every 
[Man out of his 
[Humour, ii. 2. 
cense 2 t (sens), n. 
[< ME. cense, 
cens, by apher- 
esis for encense, 
incense : see in- 
cense 2 , .] In- 
cense. 
The smel of thi 
clothingus as the 
smel of cens. 
Wyclif, Cant. iv. 
[11 (Oxf.). 
cense-moneyt 
(sens'mun'*!),?!. 
Money paid as 
tax. See cen- 
sure, n., 5. 
censer 1 (sen'- 
ser), n. [X ME. 
censer, senser, by 
apheresis for en- 
censer, < OF. en- 
censer, encensier 
Sir. IA ....^.v. Censer, 13th century. (From ViolleMe- 
= fep. mcensano Due's "Diet, du Mobilier frar^is." ) 
censor 
= It. incensiere, < ML. incensarium (also incen- 
sorium, yF.encensoir),< inccnsare, burn incense: 
see incense 2 , and cf. cense 2 .] 1. A vessel in 
which incense is burned before an altar. Cen- 
sers are now usually made of metal in the shape of a cup 
with a perforated cover, ami contain burning charcoal or 
other material capable of producing sufficient heat to burn 
the fragrant gums used as incense. The censer is swung 
in the hand by chains. In ancient Roman usage incense 
was carried to the altar in a square box called an acerra, 
from which it was taken and sprinkled on the flame. A 
similar practice prevailed among the Greeks. The eccle- 
siastical term for a censer is thurible. The only distinct 
biblical precepts regarding the use of the censer are found 
in Num. iv. 14 and Lev. xvi. 12. According to Bingham, 
neither incense nor censers were used in the Christian 
church during the first three centuries. They are now 
used in the Greek Church, the Koman Catholic Church, 
the Catholic Apostolic Church, and in some Anglican and 
other churches. 
Ther be also iij grett Sensurys of gold as hye as the 
Chalys ys. Tvrkinyton, Marie of Eng. Travell, p. 11. 
Antonius gave piety in his money, like a lady with a 
censer before an altar. Peach&m, Compleat Gentleman. 
Like two streams of incense free 
From one censer, in one shrine. 
Tennyson, Eleanore. 
2f. A fire-pan in which perfumes were burned 
to sweeten the atmosphere, having its lid per- 
forated, and sometimes decorated with figures 
and designs in open-work. 
And other two after hem with gencers soone, 
Set with riche stones ; and a viole of sence. 
Joseph of Arimathie (E. E. T. 8.), p. 10. 
censer 2 +(sen'ser), n. [< censel + -er 1 .] One who 
formerly paid cense-money. See censure, n., 5. 
censiont (sen'shon), n. [< L. censio(n-), < cen- 
sere, value, tax: see census.'] A rate, tax, or 
assessment. Bp. Hall. 
censitaire (F. pron. son-si-tar'), n. [F., a copy- 
holder, < ML. *censitarius,< L. census, tax: see 
cens, cense 1 , census.] In French-Canadian law, 
a tenant holding under a seignior by virtue of 
payment of cens. 
censo (Sp. pron. then'so), . [Sp. : see cense 1 .] 
In Spanish-American laid, a ground-rent; an 
annuity charged upon specific property; the 
right to a periodical payment out of a particu- 
lar fund or estate. 
censor (sen'sor), n. [L. (> Gr. icfjvnup), a Ro- 
man magistrate, a rigid judge of morals, < cen- 
sere, pp. census, tax, assess, value, judge, con- 
sider, etc.] 1. One of two superior magistrates 
of ancient Rome, who in the latter half of the 
fifth century B. c. succeeded to certain powers 
which had before been exercised by the consuls. 
Their functions included (a) the keeping of a register 
(census) of all Roman citizens, with the amount of their 
property, for the ends of taxation, and for the classification 
of the citizens according to their possessions, from the rank 
of senator down ; (6) the disciplinary control of manners 
and morals, in which their power was absolute, both in 
sumptuary matters and in the degradation of any citizen 
from his proper class for reasons affecting the moral or 
material welfare of the state, or in the imposition of fines 
at will upon those deemed by them to be offenders ; (c) 
the practical administration of the public finances, in- 
cluding the control under the senate of both direct and 
indirect taxation, the determining of the expenditures of 
the state other than fixed charges, the letting of public 
contracts, and the supreme direction of public works. The 
magistracy of the censors was interrupted at the time of 
the civil wars, and under Augustus and succeeding empe- 
rors was reestablished at various times, but with greatly 
diminished powers. 
2. An officer empowered to examine manu- 
scripts, books, pamphlets, plays, etc., intended 
for publication or public performance, in order 
to see that they contain nothing heretical, im- 
moral, or subversive of the established order of 
government. See censorship. Formerly called 
licenser. 
The oldest mandate for appointing a book censor is, as 
far as I know at present, that issued by Berthold, Arch- 
bishop of Hentz, in the year 1486. 
Bechmann, quoted in Introd. to Halea's ed. of Milton's 
[Areopagitica, p. xvil. 
3. One who censxires, blames, or reproves ; one 
addicted to censure or faultfinding; one who 
assumes the functions of a critic. 
Ill-natur'd censors of the present age. Roscommon. 
Let me tell my youthful censor that the necessities of 
that time required something very different from what 
others then suggested. Burke. 
4. (a) In old universities, the title of certain 
masters chosen by the nations to visit the col- 
leges and reform the administration, discipline, 
and instruction, (b) In the university of Cam- 
bridge, a college officer whose duties are similar 
to those of dean ; at Christ Church, Oxford, 
one of two fellows having similar functions, 
called senior and junior censor. 5. In China, 
one of a body of officials stationed at Peking, 
under the presidency of a Chinese and a Man- 
chu, who are charged with the duty of inspect- 
