eccentricity 
Whose [Kreilelic VVIHiiim'Kl i-wnlrirltir* were such as 
had never before been seen out of a ma-l-h" 
Mucaulay, Frederic the Great, 
Also cxcciitrii-iti/ iii the literal uses. 
Angle of eccentricity, in '/""".. ill- 1 angle whose sine is 
equal to the eccentricity of an ellipse.- Bisection of the 
eccentricity, see i,ix,;-t/mt. Temporal eccentricity, 
in (inc. astrun., the eccentricity of the orbit of Mercury at 
any time. Since the eccentric of Mercury was supposed 
itself to In; currieii on an eccentric, it follows that the ec- 
centricity would not he a constant <|uantlty. 
eccentric-rod (ok-sen'trik-rod), .. Inmeeh., the 
main connecting-link by whicL the motion of 
an eccentric is transmitted. 
eccentric-Strap (ek-sen'trik-st rap), n. In week., 
the band of iron which embraces the circum- 
ference of an eccentric, and within which it 
revolves. The eccentric-rod is attached to it. 
Also called eccentric-hoop. 
eccentrometer (ek-sen-trom'o-ter), H. [< LL. 
eccentros, eccentric, + metrum, measure. J Any 
instrument used to determine the eccentricity 
of a projectile. 
eccephalosis (ek-sef-ii-16'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. 
EK, out, 4- Kctjia'Af/, head: see cephalic and -osis.] 
In obstet., an operation in which the brain of 
the child is removed to facilitate delivery; ex- 
cerebration. 
ecce signura (ek'se sig'num). [L., behold, the 
sign : ecce, behold (see c cce homo) ; signum, sign : 
see sign.'] Behold, the sign ; here is the proof. 
ecchondroma (ek-on-dro ma), .j pi. ecchon- 
dromata (-ma-til). [NL., ^Gr. CK, out of, + 
xtvipor,, cartilage, -I- -oma.~\ A chondroma or 
cartilaginous tumor growing from the surface 
of a bone ; a chondroma originating in normal 
cartilage, and forming an outgrowth from it. 
ecchondrosis (ek-on-dro'sis), . [NL., < Gr. 
tic, out of, + ^ovoyjof, cartilage (cf. cKxavtp&tv, 
make into cartilage), + -osin.] Same as ecchon- 
droma. Also ekchondrosis. 
ecchyrnoma (ek-i-mo'inti), n. ; pi. ecchymomata 
(-ma-ta). [NL., < Gr. CK, out of, + ;^i>/-of, juice, 
+ -oiwa.] A swelling on the skin caused by 
extravasation of blood. 
ecchymosed (ek'i-most), a. [< eccliymos-is + 
-d 2 .] Characterized by or partaking of the 
nature of ecchymosis. 
The changes which take place in the colour of an ecchy- 
mostd spot are worthy of attention, since they may serve 
to aid the witness in giving an opinion on the probable 
tiine at which a contusion has been inflicted. 
A. S. Taylor, Meil. Jurisprudence, p. 192. 
ecchymosis (ok-i-mo'sis). n. ; pi. ecchymoses 
(-sez). [= F. ecchymose, ^ NL. ecchymosis, < 
Gr. fKxvftooic,, < CKXvp6ea6ai, shed the blood and 
leave it extravasated under the skin, < CK, out, 
+ ^ti/iof, juice, animal juice, < x* etv > pour: see 
chyme 1 .] In med., a livid, black, or yellow spot 
produced by extravasated blood. In dermatol- 
ogy the word usually denotes an extravasation 
of greater extent than the small spots called 
petechi<e. 
M. Tardieu states that he has seen these subpleural 
ecchymoscs in the body of an infant ten months after 
death I A. S. Taylor, Med. Jurisprudence, p. 30. 
ecchymotic (ek-i-mot'ik), a. [= F. ecchymo- 
tique; as ecchymosis (-mot-) + -t'c.] Pertain- 
ing to or of the nature of ecchymosis : as, ec- 
chymotic collections. 
In purpnra hemorrhagica the lesions are usually more 
numerous, more extensive, ecchymotic in character. 
Duhring, Skin Diseases, plate K. 
Eccl. An abbreviation (a) of Ecclesiastes ; (b) 
[I. c.] of ecclesiastical. 
eccle, H. See eckle 1 . 
Eccles. An abbreviation (a) of Ecclesiastes ; 
(b) [I. c.] of ecclesiastical. 
ecclesia (e-kle'zi-a), n. ; pi. ecclesia, ecclesias 
(-e, -az). [= F.'cglisc = Pr. gleiza, glieyza, 
fllicia'= Sp. itjlesia = Pg. igreja = It. ctiiesa 
(also ecclesia), church, < L. ecclesia, an assem- 
bly of the (Greek) people, LL. (also, as in ML., 
sometimes eclnsia) a church, congregation of 
Christians, = Ar. Jcelise, kenise = Turk, kilisc = 
Pers. kalisa, kanisa, a church, < Gr. eiaAtiaia, an 
assembly of the people, LGr. an assembly of 
Christians, a church, < eKK).^Tof, summoned, < 
cMi<i?.eiv, summon, call out, < fie, out, + Kafalv, 
call: see calends.] 1. An assembly ; the great 
assembly of the people in certain ancient Greek 
states, as Athens, at which every free citizen 
had a right to vote. 
Tile people in the I'nited States, . . . planted, as they 
:tre. over lar^e Hominions, cannot meet in one assembly, 
and therefore are not exposed to those tumultuous com- 
motions, like the raging waves of the sea, which always 
agitated the ecclesia at Athens. 
J. Adman, Works. IV. 491. 
1820 
In ancient Greece and Italy the primitive clan-assembly 
or township-meeting did not grow by aggregation into the 
assembly of the shire, but it developed Into the comitia or 
eccletia of the city. J. Fiske, Auier. Pol. Ideas, p. 67. 
2. A society for Christian worship ; a church; 
a congregation : the Greek and Latin name, 
sometimes used in English writing with refer- 
ence to the early church. 
ecclesialt (e-kle'zi-al), a. [< ML. ecclesialis, < 
LL. ecclesia, the church : see ecclesia.] Eccle- 
siastical. 
(Mir ecclegial and political choices. 
Milton, Reformation in Eug., il. 
It Is not the part of a King ... to meddle with Eccle- 
gial Government. Mil/mi, Eikonoklastes, xiii. 
ecclesian (o-klc'/.i-an), . [< ML. ecclesianus. 
a supporter of the church as against the civil 
power, also as adj., < LL. ecclesia, the church: 
see ecclesia.] One who maintains the suprem- 
acy of the ecclesiastical domination over the 
civil power. Imp. Diet. 
ecclesiarch (e-kle'zi-ark), n. [= F. ecclesiarque, 
< LGr. (KK'/.tiaidpxvf, < Gr. iurfjiola, an assembly, 
+ apx6f, a leader.] 1. A ruler of the church ; 
an ecclesiastical magnate. Bailey, 1727. 2. 
In the Gr. Ch., a sacrist or sacristan ; a church 
officer who has charge of a church and its con- 
tents, and summons the worshipers by seman- 
tron or otherwise. In the more important 
churches the ecclesiarch formerly had minor 
officials under his authority. 
ecclesiast (e-kle'zi-ast), n. [< ME. ecclesiaste; 
= F. ecclesiaste, < LL. ecclesiastes, < Gr. CKK).II- 
aiaarfa, in classical Gr. a member of the assem- 
bly (ecclesia), < eKKfaiaiae.tv, sit in the assembly, 
debate as an assembly, later call an assembly, 
LGr. summon to church, come into the church, 
< eKiihiaia, an assembly of the people, LGr. a 
church : see ecclesia. The word tioc>j?<jiaoTifc is 
usually translated 'preacher,' but this is an 
imperfect rendering, being rather an inference 
from the verb cKK^r/atd^fiv in its later sense, ' call 
an assembly ' (hence, by inference, give it di- 
rections or admonitions), or from the Heb. word 
of similar import.] 1. An ecclesiastic ; one 
who addresses the church or assembly of the 
faithful ; a preacher or sacred orator ; specifi- 
cally, with tne definite article, Coheleth, or the 
Preacher that is, Solomon, or the author of 
the book of Ecclesiastes. 
He was In chlrche a noble ecelesiaitr. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 708. 
Though thrice a thousand years are past 
Since David's son, the sad and splendid, 
The weary King Ecclegiagt, 
Upon his awful tablets penned it. 
Thackeray, Vanitas Vanitatum. 
2t. [cap.] Ecclesiasticus. 
Redeth Eccletiatte of flaterie 
Beth ware, ye lordes, of hire trecherle. 
Chaucer, Nun's Priest's Tale, 1. 507. 
Ecclesiastes (e-kle-zi-as'tez), n. [LL., < Gr. 
'EKK^T/aiaari/f ' the title in the Septuagint and 
hence in the Vulgate version of the book called 
in Heb. Qoheleth, lit. he who calls together an 
assembly of the people, the gatherer of the 
people, fern, (in use masc.) part. < qdhal, call, 
call together (otherwise defined 'heap toge- 
ther'). See ecclesiast.] One of the books of 
the Old Testament, also called the Preacher. 
Ecclesiasteg is the Greek title in the Septuagint version. 
But preacher, in its modern signification, is not synony- 
mous with the original. (See the etymology.) The book is 
a dramatic presentation of the fruftlessness of a life de- 
voted to worldly pleasure or ambition. It purports to be 
a record of the experience and reflections of Solomon, to 
whom its authorship is often attributed, but on this 
point Biblical critics disagree. Often abbreviated Eccl., 
Secies. 
ecclesiastic (e-kle-zi-as'tik), a. and . [For- 
merly also c cclesi astick ; < F. ecclfsiastique = 
Sp. eclesidstico = Pg. ecclesiastico = It. ecclesias- 
tico, ecchiesiastico, eccresiastico = Sw. ecklesias- 
tik (cf. G. ecclesiastisch = Dan. ekklesiastisk = 
Sw. ecklesiastisk), < L. ecelesiasticus, < Gr. CKxf.ri- 
aiarmKac,, of or for the assembly, LGr. and LL. 
of or for the church (as a noun, a church officer, 
an ecclesiastic) (cf. eixhimairHK, a member of 
the assembly, etc.), < eKiArtatafetv, sit in the as- 
sembly, LGr. summon to church, etc. : see ec- 
clesia, ecclesiast.] I. a. Ecclesiastical; specifi- 
cally, pertaining to the ministry or adminis- 
tration of the church. [Now rare.] 
And pulpit, drum ecclcsiastick, 
Was beat with list instead of a stick. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, L i. 11. 
An ecclesiastic person . . . ought not to go in splendid 
and vain ornaments. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1S36), II. 7. 
A church of England man has a true veneration for the 
scheme established among us of tcdetiattick government. 
Sld.ft. 
ecclesiastical 
II. ii. 1. In early usage, a member of the 
orthodox church, as distinguished from Jews, 
pagans, infidels, and heretics. 
I must here observe farther that the name of cecletiat- 
tics was sometimes attributed to all Christians in general. 
Bentkam. 
2. One holding an office in the Christian min- 
istry, or otherwise officially consecrated to the 
service of the church: usually restricted to 
those connected with an episcopate, and in the 
middle ages to subordinate officials. 
Among the Roman Cathollo, all monks, and, In the 
i Imn h of England, the various dignitaries who perform 
the episcopal functions, are entitled ccclrtiaitici. 
Crabb, English Synonymes, p. 369. 
From a humble tcch'tiastic, he was subsequently pre- 
ferred to the highest dignities of the church. J'rrtcott. 
ecclesiastical (o-kle-zi-as'ti-kal), a. [< eccle- 
siastic + -al.] Pertaining or relating to the 
church ; churchly ; not civil or secular : as, ec- 
clesiastical discipline or government; ecclesias- 
tical affairs, history, or polity; ecclesiastical 
courts. Sometimes abbreviated eccl., eccleg. 
There are in men operations, some natural, some ra- 
tional, some supernatural, some politic, some finally ec- 
clttiattical. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, L 16. 
A Bishop, as a Bishop, had never any Eccletiaitical 
Jurisdiction. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 22. 
The Anglo-Saxon sovereigns, acting in the closest union 
with their bishops, made ecclesiastical laws which clothed 
the spiritual enactments with coercive authority. 
Stukbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 298. 
Ecclesiastical books, in the early church, hooks allowed 
to be read in church, especially those read for edification 
and for the instruction of catechumens, but not belonging 
in the strictest sense to the canon of Scripture. This name 
waft applied to such books as those named in the sixth of 
the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, after 
the canonical books of the Old Testament, as " the other 
In inks," and collected in the King James Bible under the 
heading "Apocrypha." Ecclesiastical calendar. See 
calendar. Ecclesiastical colon. See color. Ecclesias- 
tical commission, (a) A court appointed by Queen Eliza- 
beth, and invested hy her with nearly absolute powers, for 
the purpose of regulating religious opinions, and punishing 
all departure from the church standards either in doctrine 
or in ritual. It was subsequently abolished by Parliament. 
(6) A standing commission In England, created by Parlia- 
ment in the early part of the nineteenth century, invested 
with Important powers for the reform of the established 
church. It* plans have to be submitted, after due notice 
to persons interested, to the sovereign in council, and be 
ratified by orders in council ; but after ratification and 
due publication they have the same effect as acts of Par* 
liament Ecclesiastical councils. See council, 7. Ec- 
clesiastical courts, church court* in which the canon 
law is administered and ecclesiastical causes are tried. 
In countries in which the church Is established by law the 
decisions of these courts have a binding legal effect, and 
the courts constitute a part of the judicial machinery of 
the community ; in other countries their decisions are 
binding only within the church, und enforced only by 
church discipline. In England there are several ecclesi- 
astical courts. That of primary resort is the Consistory 
Court of the diocese ; from it appeals go to the Court of 
Arches, and from there to the Privy Council. In the 
Protestant Episcopal Church of America the administra- 
tion of discipline of lay members is wholly in the hands 
of the rector, an appeal lying to the bishop. The method 
of proceeding against clergymen in each diocese Is deter- 
mined by diocesan canons. A bishop is tried by the House 
of Bishops. In the Presbyterian Church the ecclesiastical 
courts are the Session, Presbytery, Hynod, and General 
Assembly, the last being the court of last resort ; In the 
Methodist Church trials are had before a church commit- 
tee, with an appeal to the Conference ; In both churches 
there are provisions for the constitution of courts for the 
trial of clergymen for false doctrine or immoral conduct. 
In churches of the Congregational system there are no 
ecclesiastical courts ; the local church is the only tribunal 
recognized. In the Roman Catholic Church there are 
bishops' courts for the trial of ordinary church causes, 
the trial of bishops being reserved to the pope ; but the 
methods of procedure differ according to tne position of 
the church indifferent countries. Ecclesiastical epis- 
tles, in the Rom. ('nil. Ch., letters written by church 
dignitaries officially, and carrying with them ecclesiasti- 
cal authority, as apostolic epistles written by the Roman 
pontiff in virtue of his apostolic authority, commenda- 
tory epistles (see commendatory), dimissory epistles (see 
diinigf-ory), encyclical epistles (see encyclic), pastoral epis- 
tles, and episties of instruction to particular churches. 
Ecclesiastical fast. See/*(3. Ecclesiastical his- 
tory, the history of the church from the beginning to the 
present time, including both Old Testament and New 
Testament history ; more specifically, the history of the 
Christian church, including both its interior and its ex- 
terior development that is, its organization and also the 
development of its doctrinal beliefs. Ecclesiastical law, 
the law of the church as administered in the ecclesiastical 
courts ; in a more general sense, especially in those coun- 
tries where there is no church establishment, the whole 
body of the law relating to religion or religious institu- 
tions as administered in the civil courts. Ecclesiastical 
mode. See mode. Ecclesiastical moon, or calendar 
moon, a fictitious month used in determining the date 
of Easter. It Is made purposely to depart from the natural 
month, to avoid the possibility of a coincidence of Easter 
with the Jewish Passover.- Ecclesiastical notary. See 
notary. Ecclesiastical polity, the principles and laws 
of church government Ecclesiastical state*, the body 
of the clergy. 
A king ... In whose time also began that great altera- 
tion in the ttate ecclesiastical. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 131. 
