cessavit 
or chattels to be distrained, or when the ten- 
ant had so inclosed the land that the lord could 
not come upon it to distraiu. This writ was 
abolished by 3 and 4 Wm. IV., xxvii. 
cesseH, cesse' 2 t. See cess 1 , cess 2 . 
cesser (ses'i-r), . [< OF. censer, a ceasing, < 
I'lxsrr, cease: see ceime.'] In Inic, a ceasing; a 
neglect to perform services or make payment 
for two j-ears. See cessarit. 
cessibilityt (ses-i-bil'i-ti), n. [< cessible: see 
-bility.] The quality of giving way or yielding 
without resistance. Sir K. Dit/by. 
cessiblet (ses'i-bl), a. [= F. cessible, transfer- 
able, < L. CCSSHS, pp. of cedere, yield, cede: see 
cede and -Me.] Giving way; liable to give 
way ; yielding. 
If the parts of the strucken body be so easily cessiM? as 
without difficulty a stroke can divide them. Sir K. Diyby. 
cessio bonorum (sesh'io bo-no'rum). [L.: ces- 
sio, yielding; bonorum, gen. of bona, goods: see 
cession and bona.'] The surrender of one's as- 
sets; in Scots law, a yielding or surrender of 
property or goods, a legal proceeding by which 
a debtor is entitled to be free from imprison- 
ment, if innocent of fraud, on surrendering his 
whole means and estate to his creditors. Any 
property accumulated after this surrender is, however, lia- 
ble to attachment so long as the debt is not wholly paid off. 
cession (sesh'on), n. [= F. cession = Sp. cesion 
= Pg. cessito = It. cessione, < L. cessio(n-), a 
yielding, < cessus, pp. of cedere, yield, give way, 
cede : see cede.'] If. The act of yielding or giv- 
ing way ; concession. 
For excusations, cessions, modesty itself, well governed, 
are but arts of ostentation. Bacon, Vain Glory. 
No wise man ever lost anything by cession. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 253. 
2f. A yielding to physical force or impulse. 
If there be a mere yielding or cession [in a body struck] 
it protluceth no sound. Bacon, Nat. Hist. 
3. The act of ceding, yielding, or surrendering, 
as territory, property, or rights ; a giving up, 
resignation, or surrender. 
A cession of Flanders to that crown [France] in exchange 
for other provinces. Sir W. Temple. 
The cession of her claims on the earldom of Angus by 
Lady Margaret had won to Darnley's side the powerful 
and dangerous Earl of Morton, and had alienated from 
Murray the kindred houses of Ruthven and Lindsay. 
Froude, Hist Eng., II. ix. 
4. In eiril laic, a voluntary surrender of a per- 
son's effects to his creditors to avoid impris- 
onment. See cessio bonorum. 5. Ecctes., the 
leaving of one benefice in consequence of ac- 
cepting another, the incumbent not having a 
dispensation entitling him to hold both. 
cessionary (sesh'ou-a-ri), a. and n. [= F. ces- 
sionnaire = Sp. cesionario = Pg. It. ccssionario, 
< ML. cessionarius, < L. cessio(n-): see cession."] 
I. a. Giving up; yielding.- Cessionary bankrupt, 
one who has surrendered his estate to be divided among 
his creditors. 
II. n. ; pi. cessionaries (-riz). In Rom. law, 
one to whom property has been assigned or 
conveyed; a transferee, assignee, or grantee. 
The parties, cedent and cessionary, appeared before the 
magistrate ; the sessionary, taking the position of plain- 
tiff, declared the thing his in quiritary right. 
Encyc. Brit., XX. 690. 
cessmentt (ses'ment), n. [< cess 2 + -ment."] An 
assessment or tax. 
cessor 1 (ses'or), n. [< OF. as if "cessour, < L. 
cessator, < cessare, pp. cessatus, cease, be inac- 
tive : see cess 1 , cease.'] In Eng. law, formerly, 
one who neglected for two years to perform 
the service by which he held lands, so that he 
incurred the danger of the writ of cessavit. 
See cessavit. 
CCSSOr 2 t (ses'or), n. [A misspelling of "sessor, 
short for assessor: see cess 2 .] An assessor or 
taxer. 
cess-pipe (ses'pip), n. A pipe for carrying off 
drainage from cesspools, sinks, or drains. 
cesspit (ses'pit), n. [< cess (in cesspool) + pit 1 ."] 
Same as cesspool. [Rare.] 
Of the deposit of such refuse in cesspits and privy-pits. 
Premature Death, p. 88. 
cesspool (ses'pol), n. [The orig. and correct 
spelling is sesspool; E. dial, suspool, < E. dial. 
suss, soss, a puddle, hog-wash, anything foul or 
muddy, a dirty mess (< Gael, sos, any unseemly 
mixture of food, a coarse mess), + E. pool 1 ."] 
1. A sunk chamber, cistern, or well in a drain 
or privy, to receive the sediment or filth. 2. 
Figuratively, any foul or fetid receptacle. 
The cess-pool of agio, now in a time of paper-money, 
works with a vivacity unexampled, unimagined. 
Carlyle, French Rev., III. v. 1. 
cest (sest), n. [< L. cestus, a girdle : see cestus 1 ."] 
A lady's girdle. Collins. [Rare and poetical.] 
Diagram of Structure c 
Cestoid Worm with only c 
joint, magnified. 
A, head and neck ; B, a 
segment of the body or at- 
tached proglottis; a, rostel. 
lum ; , ; ', rostellar spines, as of 
spinose 
bothrium ; e, ganglion ; f, f, 
lateral and circular water- 
vessels; ll, ramifications, and 
A, anastomosing trunk of these 
vessels; t, contractile vacu- 
ole ; /, genital vestibule ; nt, 
penis and vas deferens; tt, 
vagina ; c, common cavity 
and interior seminal vesicle ; 
f, ovary ; g, uterus ; f , vitel- 
larian duct. 
904 
cesti, n. Plural of cestus 1 . 
Cestidae (ses'ti-de), n. pi. [NL., < Cestum + 
-idii'.~\ A family of ctenophorans, constituting 
the order Ta'niata, of which Cestum is the typi- 
cal and only genus. See cut under Cestum. 
Cestoda (ses-to'da), H. pi. [NL., var. of Ces- 
toiden, q. v.] Same as Cestoidea. 
cestode (ses'tod), a. and . Same as cestoid. 
cestoid (ses'toid), a. and n. I. a. 1. In general, 
of or pertaining to the Cest/iidea ; being or re- 
sembling a tapeworm ; tseniate. 2. More par- 
ticularly, applied to the adult in distinction from 
the cystic state of a teenia, 
not cysticercoid nor hy- 
datid, as a tapeworm. 
The tape-worms are rarely 
met with in both the cystic and 
cestoid conditions in the same 
animal. 
Huxley, Anat. Invert., p. 186. 
Also cestoideous. 
II. . One of the Ces- 
toidea. Also called cestoi- 
dean. 
Cestoidea (ses-toi'de-a), 
n. pi. [NL., < Gr. as if 
*KeoToet6rif, < utar&f, a gir- 
dle, + eWof, form.] An 
order of platyhelminths 
or flatworms, having no 
intestinal cavity ; the 
tapeworms ; Tauiiata or 
Agastrece. They are inter- 
nal parasites, without diges- 
tive or blood-vascular systems, 
hermaphrodite, mostly of an 
elongated and flattened form, 
like a piece of tape, and with 
the anterior end of the body, 
or head, provided with hooks, 
suckers, spines, or other arma- 
ture for adhering. In the typ- 
ical forms the animal is seg- 
mented, and in the tapeworm 
Tatnia solium there may be 
as many as 800 joints ; but the 
head alone is the true animal, 
the joints or proglottides being merely hermaphroditic re- 
productive organs budded from the head. The embryo is 
called a proscolex, and at a later stage a scnlex; in the 
encysted state the animals are known as hydatuts. The 
chain of reproductive segments is the strobila. There are 
several families of cestoids, as the Tceniidce, Dibothriidte, 
Diphyllidff, Tetraphyllidce, Tetrarhynchidos, and Caryo- 
phyllaeidce. Also called Cestoda. 
cestoidean (ses-toi'de-an), n. Same as cestoid. 
cestoideous (ses-toi'd'e-us), a. Same as cestoid. 
cestont, n. [< OF. ceston, < L. cestus, a girdle: 
see cestus 1 .'] Same as cestus 1 , 1. 
The Paphian queen 
(The flood Eurotas passing) laid aside 
Her glass, her ceston, and her amorous graces. 
Chapman, Cxsar and Pompey, ti. 1. 
This, this that beauteous ceston is 
Of lovers' many-coloured bliss. 
B. Jonson, Masque of Hymen. 
cestra, . Plural of cestrum?. 
Cestraciidse (ses-tra-si'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Cestracion + -idte.] A family of sharks: same 
as Ceslraciontidte and Heterodontidte. 
Cestracion (ses-tra'si-on), n. [NL. (Cuvier, 
1817, from Klein, 1742), < Gr. Ktorpa, a weapon.] 
1. A generic name originally employed for 
the hammer-headed sharks: synonymous with 
Sphyrna. Klein, 1742. 2. A generic name of 
the Port Jackson sharks, giving name to the 
family Cestraciontidce : synonymous with Hete- 
rodontus. 
cestraciont (ses-tra'si-ont), a. and n. I. a. Of 
or pertaining to the Cestraciontidfe. 
ft. n. A shark of the family Cestraciontidce. 
Sir J. Sichardson. 
Cestraciontes (ses-tra-si-on'tez), n. pi. [NL., 
pi. of Cestracion(t-).~] Same as Cestraciontidee. 
Agassiz, 1833. 
Cestraciontidae (ses-tra-si-on'ti-de), n. pi. 
[NL., < Cestracion(t-) + -te.] In Giinther's 
system of classification, a family of Selachoidei, 
having an anal fin and two dorsal fins, of 
which the first is opposite the space between 
the pectoral and ventral fins, and the second 
opposite that between the ventral and anal 
fins. The nasal and buccal cavities are confluent ; the 
teeth are of several kinds, the molars being arranged in 
oblique rows which vary in form and character, and form 
the basis of the division into genera ; there is no nictitat- 
ing membrane. It contains the Port Jackson sharks. See 
shark. Also called Heterodontidce. 
cestraphoran (ses-traf 'o-ran), a. and n. I. a. Of 
or pertaining to the Cestraphori; eestraciont. 
ll. n. A member of the Cestraphori; a ces- 
traciont. 
Cestraphori (ses-traf'o-ri), n. pi. [NL. (R. 
Owen, 1866), < Gr. nearpa, a weapon, + 
cestus 
< tfiepeiv = E. bear 1 ."] A group of selachians, 
including the living Ccstracinii/ithr and sundry 
fossil sharks, such as those whose remains 
chiefly furnish the fossils known as icltthyo- 
dorulites. In Owen's system the group was defined as a 
suborder of I'lagiostomi having obtuse back teeth and 
spines in front of each dorsal nn. [Not in use.) 
Cestrian (ses'tri-an), M. [< Cestria, Latinized 
form of Chester : see Chester.] An inhabitant 
of Chester, England. 
The good Cestrians may boast of their walls, without a 
shadow of that mental reservation on grounds of modern 
ease which is so often the tax paid hy the picturesque. 
//. James, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 8. 
cestront, . A corrupt form of cistern. 
Oestrum 1 (ses'trum), . [NL., < Gr. niarpov, 
betony.] A genus of plants, natural order So- 
lanacece, natives of tropical America. They have 
funnel-shaped, yellow, fragrant flowers, and a few species 
are common in conservatories. 
cestrum 2 (ses'trum), .; pi. cestra (-tra). [L.. 
also cestron, < Gr. nearpov, a graving-tool used 
in encaustic painting, < Ktvrciv, prick, puncture : 
see cestus 1 .'] An implement formerly used in 
encaustic painting. It was of metal and of various 
forms. When heated and passed near the surface of the 
painting, it fused the wax and set the color. 
cestui, cestuy (ses'twi), n. [OF., he, that one, 
ult. < L. ecce, lo, ML. "isti-liiiic, dat. of *iste-hic, 
< L. iste, that (man), + hie, this.] He ; a person. 
Used in law expressions such as the following : cesfui que 
trust, the person who is entitled to the benefit of a trust, 
the beneficiary ; .-,,///; que use, the person who is entitled 
to a use (see use) cestui que vie, the person for whose 
life any lands, tenements, or hereditaments may be held. 
Cestum (ses'tum), . [NL.,< L. cestus, agirdle.] 
The typical and only genus of tseniate cteno- 
Venus' s-girdle (Cfstum veturu). 
phorans constituting the family Cestid<e. They 
have a ribbon-like body without oral lobes, and two ten- 
tacles near the mouth ; each half of the ctenophoral sys- 
tem is represented by four very long canals. Cestum ve- 
neris, Venus's-girdle, the common 
Mediterranean species, is a gelati- 
nous ribbon-like organism several 
feet long and about two inches 
across; it exhibits phosphores- 
cence. Also Cestus. 
cestus 1 (ses'tus), n. ; pi. ces- 
ti (-ti). [L. ; also improp. 
written ccestus; < Gr. Ktorof, 
agirdle, prop, adj., stitched, 
embroidered (sc. luac, a 
strap, girdle), < ntvrelv, prick, 
stiteh.J 1. In Gr. and Rom. 
antiq., a girdle of any kind, 
whether worn by men or by 
women ; particularly, the 
Greek girdle for confining m 
the tunic, and Specifically figured amphora found at 
the girdle or zone of Venus, peru B ia - 
which was said to be decorated with every- 
thing that could awaken love. 
Venus, without any ornament but her own beauties, not 
so much as her own cestus. Addison, Spectator. 
2. [NL.] In zool. : (a) A ctenophoran ; one of 
the Cestida. (b) [cap.] Same as Cestum. 
cestus 2 , caestus (ses'tus), n.; pi. cesfws, ccssttis. 
[L., prop, ccestus, a boxer's glove, < cadere, 
strike.] Among the Greeks and Romans, 
a kind of 
boxing-glove 
or gauntlet, 
consisting of 
stout leather 
thongs or 
straps, often 
loaded with 
lead or iron, 
fastened on 
the hands 
and arms of 
Various forms of Cestus. boxers (call- 
