compurgatory 
If the price of life and the value of the cotnpurffatory 
oath among the Welsh were exactly what they were among 
the Saxons, it would nut lie one dcsree less certain than 
it is that the wencild of the Saxons is the wciyild of the 
Goth, the Frank, and the Lombard. 
Stuobs, Const. Hist., 30. 
compursiont (kom-per'shon), . [< com- + 
liurse + -ion: a humorous formation.] Apurs- 
ing up or wrinkling together. [Rare.] 
With the help of some my faces and compitrsion* of the 
mouth. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, iv. 27. 
computability (kom-pu-ta-bil'i-ti), n. [< cnm- 
putable : see -bitity.] Tb.e quality of being 
computable. 
computable (kom-pu'ta-bl), n. [= Sp. compu- 
table = It. computabile, < L. computaliilis, < com- 
putare, count: see compute, v., count 1 , and cf. 
countable.'] Capable of being computed, num- 
bered, or reckoned. 
Not easily computable by arithmetic. 
Sir M. Hale, Orig. of Mankind. 
computatet (kom'pu-tat), v. t. [< L. computa- 
tus, pp. of computare, compute : see compute, 
v.] Same as compute. Cockeram. 
computation (kom-pu-ta'shon), . [= F. com- 
putation = Sp. computation = Pg. computafao 
= It. computazione,<.~L. compiitatio(n-), (compu- 
tare, pp. computatus, compute: see compute, v.] 
1. The act, process, or method of computing, 
counting, reckoning, or estimating; calcula- 
tion: in math., generally restricted to long and 
elaborate numerical calculations: as, the com- 
putation of an eclipse. 
By our best computation we were then in the 51 de- 
grees of latitude. Ilakluyt's Voyages, III. 149. 
By true computation of the time. 
Shak., Rich. III., iii. 6. 
We pass for women of flfty : many additional years are 
thrown into female computations of this nature. 
Addison, Guardian. 
2. A result of computing; the amount com- 
puted or reckoned. 
From Novalaise to Venice beganne our Computation of 
miles, which is generally used. Coryat, Crudities, I. 90. 
We receive from him, as a monument both of his power 
and learning, the then reformed computation of the year. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 89. 
= Syn. Calculation, estimate, account. 
computational (kom-pu-ta'shon-al), a. [< com- 
putation + -a/.] Pertaining to or of the nature 
of computation. 
It has generally been under the bias of such a formal 
computational logic that psychologists, and especially Eng- 
lish psychologists, have entered upon the study of mind. 
Encyc. Brit., XX. 78. 
computator (kom'pu-ta-tor), n. [= Pg. com- 
putador = It. computatore, < L. computator, < 
computare, pp. computatus, compute : see com- 
pute.] A computer; a calculator. Sterne. 
[Rare.] 
compute (kom-put'), v. ; pret. and pp. computed, 
ppr. computing. [= F. computer = Sp. Pg. com- 
putar= It. computare, < L. computare, conputare, 
sum up, reckon, compute, < com-, together, + 
putare, cleanse, trim, prune, clear up, settle, ad- 
just, reckon, count, deem, think, suppose (cf . E. 
reckon in sense of ' suppose '), < ptitus, cleansed, 
clear, orig. pp., < ^ "pit, purify, cleanse, > also 
purus, pure: seepute,pure. FromL. computare, 
through OF. and ME., comes E. count 1 , a doub- 
let of compute: see count 1 .] I. trans. To de- 
termine by calculation ; count ; reckon ; calcu- 
late: as, to compute the distance of the moon 
from the earth. 
Two days, as we compute the days of heaven. 
Milton, P. L., vi. 685. 
I could demonstrate every pore 
Where memory lays up all her store ; 
And to an inch compute the station 
'Twixt judgment and imagination. 
Prior, Alma, iii. 
= Sro. Reckon, Count, etc. See calculate. 
I!, intrans. To reckon ; count. 
A purse is twenty-five thousand Medines ; but in other 
parts of Turkey, it is only twenty thousand : And where 
they speak of great sums, they always compute by purses. 
Pococke, Description of the East, I. 175. 
computet (kom-put'), n. [< LL. computus, a 
computation, < L. computare, compute : see com- 
pute and counft, n.] Computation. 
In our common compute he hath been come these many 
years. Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, i. 46. 
The time of this Battell, by any who could do more than 
guess, is not set down, or any foundation giv'n from whence 
to draw a solid compute. Milton, Hist. Eng., iii. 
computer (kqm-pu'ter), n. One who com- 
putes; a reckoner; a calculator; specifically, 
one whose occupation is to make arithmetical 
calculations for mathematicians, astronomers, 
geodesists, etc. Also spelled computer. 
1158 
COmputistt (kom-pu'tist), n. [< compute + -ist.] 
A computer. " .S'*c T. Browne. 
The treasurer was a wise man, and a strict comitutist. 
fiii- H. Wotton. 
Computer, n. See computer. 
comquat, . See kumquat. 
comrade (kom'rad or -rad. kum'rad or -rad), n. 
[Early mod. E. comerade, camarade (also cama- 
rado, camrado, after Sp. Pg.), < late ME. corne- 
red = MD. camerade, D. kamcraad = (T. kamcrad. 
also kii HI mcrntle, kammerad, camarud, = Dan. 
kammerat = Sw. kamrat (with term, after It.), 
< F. camerade, now camarade, < It. camerata = 
Sp. Pg. camarada, a company, society, a part- 
ner, comrade, = F. chambree, a (military) mess, 
a house (audience) ; orig. a collective name for 
those lodging in the same chamber or tent, < 
ML. "camarata, "camerata (sc. L. societa(t-).?, 
company), fern, of camaratus, cameratus, lit. 
chambered, < L. camara, camera (> It. camera 
= Sp. camara = Pg. camara = F. chambre, > 
E. cliamber), a chamber: see chamber, and cf. 
camerate.] An intimate associate in occupation 
or friendship ; a close companion; a fellow; a 
mate. 
Where is his son, 
The nimble-footed madcap, prince of Wales, 
And his comrades, that daff'd the world aside, 
And bid it pass? Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 
To be a comrade with the wolf and owl. 
Shak., Lear, ii. 4. 
Thus he moved the Prince 
To laughter and his comrades to applause. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
Women are meant neither to be men's guides nor their 
playthings, but their comrades, their fellows and their 
equals, so far as Nature puts no bar to that equality. 
Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 24. 
= Syn. Friend, Companion^ etc. See associate. 
comradery (kom'rad-ri or -rad-ri), n. [< com- 
rade + -ry, after F. camaraderie, < camarade, 
comrade.] The state or feeling of being a com- 
rade ; intimate companionship ; cordial fellow- 
ship. [Rare.] 
This visible expression of the power of the community 
generated a self-confidence and a spirit of generous com- 
radery in the mind of the young soldier. 
H. E. Scudder, Noah Webster, p. 21. 
comradeship (kom'rad-ship or -rad-ship), n. [< 
comrade + -ship."] The state of being a com- 
rade, especially a good or agreeable comrade ; 
intimate companionship ; fellowship. 
The comradeship of the camp is one of the strongest ties 
that ever bind men of all classes of society together. 
The American, VIII. 72. 
comroguet (kom-rog'), n. [< com- + rogue.] A 
fellow-rogue. 
You and the rest of your comragues shall sit . . . in the 
stocks. /'. Jongon, Masque of Augurs. 
You may seek them in Bridewell, or the Hole ; here are 
none of your coin-rogues. Maxsingcr, City Madam, iv. 1. 
comset, v. [ME. comsen, cumsen, contr., < OF. 
comencer, cumancer, commencer, F. commencer, 
> E. commence : see commence, of which comse is 
a contr. form.] I. trans. To begin ; commence. 
Comliche a clerk than conmrf the wordis. 
Kichard the Itedelesi, iv. 35. 
II. intrans. To make a beginning or com- 
mencement; begin. 
The couherd comsed to quake for kare <fe for drede. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 288. 
Ac for alle thes preciose presentes oure lord prince lesus 
Was nother kyng ne conquerour til he comsede wexe 
In the manere of a man and that by muche sleithe. 
Fieri Plowman (C), xxii. 97. 
comte (kfint), n. [F. : see count 2 .] A count: 
occurring in English use, in French titles. 
Comtian (kon'ti-an), a. [The F. proper name 
C'omieisthe same as comte, a count: see count 2 
and -Jan.] Of, pertaining to, or characteristic 
of Auguste Comte (1798-1857) or the system of 
philosophy founded by him. See positive phi- 
losophy (under positive) and positivism. Also 
Comtist. 
The purely theoretical part of Comte's Positive Religion 
is unfortunately mixed up with a great mass of practical de- 
tails referring to the ritual of Comtian worship, which may 
be more entertaining, but are less interesting, because 
more arbitrary, than the theory. N. A. Rev., CXX. 281. 
Comtism (kou'tizm), n. [< Cpmtc + -ism, after 
F. Comtisme.] The philosophical system found- 
ed by Auguste Comte ; positivism. See posi- 
tive philosophy, under positive. 
To deny the possibility of any single starting-point ; to 
take, in default of such, "Man" and "The World" as the 
only two positive and knowable data ; to infer the Su- 
preme Being as implied in them and presupposing both ; 
and to investigate the intellectual, physical, and moral laws 
underlying these data, by means of the inductive method 
as the only legitimate and universally applicable method 
that is the essence of Comtism. a. A. Rev., CXX. 238. 
con- 
Comtist (kon'tist), >i. and a. [< Comte + -ist, 
after F. Comtiste.] I. . A disciple of Comte ; 
a positivist. 
Writers whose philosophy had its legitimate parent in 
Hume, or in themselves, were labelled Comtists or " Posi- 
tivists' 1 by public writers, even in spite of vehement pro- 
teats to the contrary. Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 160. 
II. <i. Same as Comtian. 
Comus (ko'mus), n. [< Or. KM/IOC, a revel, fes- 
tival, carousal, a band of revelers, a company, 
also an ode sung at sucli a festival ; perhaps < 
Kufirj, a village: see comedy.] In late classical 
myth., a god of festive mirth. 
CoinynH, a., n., and . An obsolete form of com- 
mon. 
comyn 2 t, An obsolete form of cumin. 
comynlyt, adv. An obsolete form of commonly. 
con 1 (kon), v. A dialectal or obsolete variant 
of can 1 . To con thankt. Sceconi, v. 
con 2 (kon), {. t. ; pret. and pp. conned, ppr. con- 
ning. [Early mod. E. also conne ; Sc. con, curt; 
orig. (as shown in the" alternative pronuncia- 
tion of the deriv. con 3 , pron. kon or kun) cnn, 
cunne, < ME. cunnen, < AS. cuiinian, try, test, ex- 
amine, also in comp. d-cuiinian, be-cunnian, ge- 
cunnian, try, inquire, experience (=OS. gi-kun- 
non = OHG. chunnan, MHG. kunnen, test, ex- 
amine, learn to know, = Goth. ga-kunnan, read, 
consider) ; a secondary verb, < cunnan (ind. can), 
know: see can 1 and its var. con 1 , to which con 2 
is now conformed.] If. To try; attempt (to do 
a thing). 
He wollde cunnenn swa 
To brinngenn inn hiss herrte 
Erthlike thingcss lufe. Ormulum, 1. 12137. 
2. To try; examine; test; taste. [Now only 
Scotch, in the form CM?*.] 
Ne thror ne fand he namnc drinnch [drink], . . . 
Ne wollde het [he it] najfre cuunenn. 
Ormulum, 1. 831. 
3. To peruse carefully and attentively ; study 
or pore over ; learn : as, to con a lesson : often 
with over. 
This boke is made for chylde jonge 
At the scowle that byde not longe, 
Sone it may be conyd had, 
And make them gode iff thei be bad. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 25. 
Here are your parts : and I am to intreat you ... to 
con them by to-morrow night. Shak., M. N. D., i. 2. 
I went with S' George Tuke to hear the comedians con 
and repeate his new comedy. Evelyn, Diary, Dec. 23, 1662. 
There he who cons a speech and he who hums 
His yet unfinished verses, musing walk. 
Bryant, The Path. 
con 3 , conn (kon or kun), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
conned, ppr. conning. [Early mod. E. also cun ; 
appar. a particular use of con 1 in the sense of 
'know how,' can, a verb (steer) being omitted: 
cf. "They conne nought here shippes stere" 
(Gower, Conf. Amant., I. 59). See con 1 , and 
cf. cow 2 .] Naut. : (a) To direct (the man at the 
helm of a vessel) how to steer. 
The four Chinese helmsmen, conned by the English quar- 
termasters, upping with the helm and downing with it. 
W. H. Russell, Diary in India, I. 95. 
(6) To give orders for the steering of: as, to 
con a ship. 
He that cuiid y ship before y e sea, was fame to be bound 
fast for washing away. 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 140. 
I could con or fight a ship as well as ever. 
T. Hughe*, Tom Brown at Oxford, viii. 
con 3 , conn (kon or kun), n. [< cow 3 , COHH, .] 
Naut. : (a) The position taken by the person 
who cons or directs the steering of a vessel. 
The tittering of the other midshipmen and the quarter- 
master at the conn. Marryat, Frank Mlldmay, iv. 
The first lieutenant, then at the conn, where, though 
wounded, he had remained throughout the fight. 
The Century, XXXII. 451. 
(6) The act of conning. 
C0n 4 t. A variant of ca 3 , for gan, preterit of 
jfjnl, begin. See cai 3 , gin 1 . 
Then Pirrus by purpos prestly [quickly] con wende 
Into Delphon. 
Destruction uf Troy (E. E. T. S.), I. 13705. 
con 5 - (kon). An abbreviation of the Latin co- 
tra, against (see contra), especially common in 
the phrase pro and con (Latin pro et contra), for 
and against, in favor of and opposed to : some- 
times used as a noun, with a plural, the pros 
and cons, the arguments, or arguers, or voters, 
for and against a proposition. 
Of many knotty points they spoke ; 
And pro and con by turns they took. 
Prior, Alma, i. 
con-. [L. co-: see com-.] The most frequent 
form of com-. 
