response 
opiuent implied in a distinct appreciation of objective 
beauty. J. Sully, Sensation and Intuition, p. 17. 
More specifically (a) An oracular answer. 
Then did my response clearer fall : 
" No compound of this earthly ball 
Is like another, all in all." 
Tennyson, Two Voices. 
(b) In liturgies: (1) A verse, sentence, phrase, or word said 
or sung by the choir or congregation in sequence or reply 
to the priest or ottlciant. Among the most ancient re- 
sponses besides the responsories (which see) are Et cum 
spiritu tuo after the Dominus vobiscum, Habemus ad 
Dominum after the Sursum Corda, Amen, etc. Sometimes 
the response is a repetition of something said by the offi- 
ciant. A verse which has its own response subjoined, the 
two together often forming one sentence, is called a ver- 
sicle. In liturgical books the signs V and R are often 
prefixed to the versicle and response respectively. Also 
(formerly) responsal. (2) A versicle or anthem said or sung 
during or after a lection ; a respond or responsory. (f) 
Reply to an objection in formal disputation, (d) In music, 
same as answer, 2 (b). 
2. The act of responding or replying; reply: 
as, to speak in response to a question Consul- 
tary response. See contultary. 
responsibility (re-spon-si-bil'i-ti), n.\ pi. re- 
sponsibilities (-tiz). [= F. responsibility = Sp. 
responsabilidad = Pg. responsabilidade = It. ri- 
sponsabilita ; as responsible + -ity (see -bility).] 
1. The state of being responsible, accountable, 
or answerable. 
A responsibility to a tribunal at which not only minis- 
ters, . . . but even nations themselves, must one day an- 
swer. Burke, A Regicide Peace, ill. 
Responsibility, in order to be reasonable, must be limited 
to objects within the power of the responsible party. 
A. Hamilton, The federalist, No. 63. 
Gen. Jackson was a man of will, and his phrase on one 
memorable occasion, " I will take the responsibility," is a 
proverb ever since. Emerson, Fortune of the Republic. 
2. That for which one is responsible or account- 
able ; a trust, duty, or the like : as, heavy re- 
sponsibilities. 
His wife persuaded him that he had done the beat that 
any one could do with the responsibilities that ought never 
to have been laid on a man of his temperament and habits. 
Howells, A Fearful Responsibility, xiii. 
3. Ability to answer in payment; means of 
paying contracts. 
responsible (re-spon'si-bl), a. [= OF. (and F. ) 
resfonsable = !Pr. Sp. responsable = Pg. respon- 
savel = It. risponsabile, \ ML. responsabilis, re- 
quiring an answer, < L. responsum, response : 
see response.] If. Correspondent; answering; 
responsive. 
I have scarce collected my spirits, but lately scattered 
in the admiration of your form ; to which if the bounties 
of your mind be any way responsible, I doubt not but my 
desires shall find a smooth and secure passage. 
B. Jonson, Every Mail out of his Humour, ii. 1. 
2. Answerable, as for an act performed or for 
its consequences, or for a trust reposed or a 
debt; accountable; specifically, in ethics, in 
general, having such a mental or moral char- 
acter as to be capable of knowing and observ- 
ing the distinction of right from wrong in con- 
duct, and therefore morally accountable for 
one's acts; in particular (with reference to a 
certain act), acting or having acted as a free 
agent, and with knowledge of the ethical char- 
acter of the act or of its consequences. With 
regard to the legal use of the word, two conceptions are 
often confused namely, that of the potential condition 
of being bound to answer or respond in case a wrong 
should occur, and that of the actual condition of being 
bound to respond because a wrong has occurred. For 
the first of these responsible is properly used, and for the 
second liable. 
With ministers thus responsible, "the king could do no 
wrong." Sir E. May, Const Hist. Eng., I. i. 
In this sense of the word we say that a man is responsi- 
ble for that part of an event which was undetermined when 
he was left out of account, and which became determined 
when he was taken account of. 
W. K. Cliford, Lectures, II. 150. 
3. Able to answer or respond to any reason- 
able claim or to what is expected; able to dis- 
charge an obligation, or having estate adequate 
to the payment of a debt. 
He is a rapojisiMe-looking gentleman dressed in black. 
Dickens, Bleak House, xxviii. 
4. Involving responsibility. 
But it is a responsible trust, and difficult to discharge. 
Dickens. 
Responsible business (theat.), roles next in importance 
above those described as "utility." Responsible util- 
ity (theat.\ a minor actor who can be trusted with very 
small parts who is also said to play "genteel business." 
responsibleness (re-spon'si-bl-nes), n. The 
state of being responsible; responsibility. Bai- 
ley, 1727. 
responsibly (re-spon'si-bli), adv. In a respon- 
sible manner. 
responsion (re-spon'shon), . [= OF. respon- 
.sioii, an answer, surety, suretyship, = Pg. re- 
5112 
sponsSo, ground-rent, = It. rittponsione, an an- 
swer, reply, < L. responsio(n-), an answer, reply, 
refutation, < respondere, pp. responses, answer: 
see response.] 1. The act of answering; an- 
swer; reply. 
Responsiota unto the questions. 
Bp. Burnet, Records, ill., No. 21. 
Everywhere in nature, Whitman finds human relations, 
human respontions. The Century, XIX. 294. 
2. In anc. pros. : (a) The metrical correspon- 
dence between strophe and autistrophe. (6) 
A formal correspondence between successive 
parts in dialogue. 3. pi. The first examination 
which those students at Oxford have to pass 
who are candidates for the degree of B. A. 
responsive (re-spou'siv), a. and n. [< OF. (and 
F.) responsif= It. rigponsh-o, < LL. responsivus, 
answering (ML. responsiva, f. , an answering 
epistle), < L. respondere, pp. responses, respond : 
see respond.] I. a. 1. Answering; correspon- 
dent; suited to something else; being in accord. 
The vocal lay responsive to the strings. Pope. 
2t. Responsible; answerable. 
Such persons ... for whom the church herself may 
safely be responsive. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), II. 288. 
3. Able, ready, or inclined to respond or an- 
swer; answering; replying. 
A responsive letter, or letter by way of answer. 
Aylijfe, Parergon. 
The swain responsive as the milk-maid sung. 
Goldsmith, Des. Vil, 1. 117. 
A may be more quickly responsive to a stimulus than B, 
and may have a wider range of sensibility, and yet not be 
more discriminative. J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 145. 
4. Characterized by the use of responses : as, 
a responsive service of public worship. 5. In 
law, pertinent in answer; called for by the 
question: as, a party is not bound by an an- 
swer given by his own witness if it is not re- 
sponsive to the question, but may have the irre- 
sponsive matter struck out. 
H.t n. An answer; a response; a reply. 
Responsive! to such as ye wrote of the dates before re- 
hearsed. Bp. Burnet, Records, ii. 23. 
responsively (re-spon'siv-li), adv. In a respon- 
sive manner. 
responsiveness (re-spon'siv-nes), . The state 
of being responsive. 
responsorial (res-pon-so'ri-al), a. and n. [< 
responsory + -al.] I. a. Responsive; specifi- 
cally, sung in response to or alternation with a 
lector or precentor. 
II. n. An office-book formerly in use, con- 
taining the responsories or these and the an- 
tiphons for the canonical hours. 
responsorium (res-pon-so'ri-um), n. ; pi. respon- 
soria (-a). [ML., neut. of "responsorius: see 
responsory."] Same as responsory. 
responsory (re-spon'so-ri), a. and n. [< ML. 
*responsorius, 'adj. (as a noun, responsorium, 
neut., responsoria, f., eccl., a response), < L. re- 
spondere, pp. responsus, respond: see respond, 
response.] I. a. Containing answer. 
II. .; pi. responsories (-riz). In liturgies: (a) 
A psalm or portion of a psalm sung between 
the missal lections. Among the anthems represent- 
ing this custom are the Greek prokeimenon, the Ambro- 
sian psalmulus or psalmellus, the Galilean psalmus res- 
ponsorius (responsory psalm), and the Mozarabic psal- 
terium or psallendo all these preceding the epistle, and 
the Roman and Sarum gradual preceding the gospel. The 
responsory was sung not antiphonally, hut by a lector, 
precentor, or several cantors, the whole choir responding. 
The name responsory is often given specifically to the 
gradual (which see), (h) A portion of a psalm 
(originally, a whole psalm) sung between the 
lections at the canonical hours; a respond. 
Also responsorium. 
responsure (re-spon'gur), n. [< response + -ure.] 
Response. [Rare.] 
Fogs, damps, trees, stones, their sole encompassore, 
To whom they mone, Mack todes giue responsure. 
C. Tourneur, Transformed Metamorphosis, st. 87. 
ressala (res'a-la), n. See risala. 
ressaldar (res'al-dar), n. See risaldar. 
ressantt, ressauntt, n. Same as ressaut. 
ressaut (res-af), n. [Also ressault, also erro- 
neously ressant, ressaunt; < OF. ressaut, ressault, 
F. ressaut = Pr. ressaut, resaut = Cat. ressalt = 
Sp. Pg. resalto = It. risalto, a projection (in 
arch.), < ML. as if "resaltus, < L. resilire, pp. 
"resultus, leap back : see resile, and cf. result.] 
In arch., a projection of any member or part 
from or before another. 
rest 1 (rest), n. [< ME. rest, reste, < AS. rest, 
rsest, rest, quiet, = OS. resta, rasta, resting- 
place, burial-place, = D. rust = MLG. reste, rest, 
= OHG. rasta, rest, also a measure of distance, 
resti, rest, MHG. raste, G. rast, rest, repose, 
rest 
= Icel. rost, a mile, i. e. the distance between 
two resting-places, = Sw. Dan. rant, rest, = 
Goth, rasta, a stage of a journey, a mile ; with 
abstract formative -st, < \f ra, rest, Skt. yram, 
rest, rejoice at, sport, > rati, pleasure.] 1. A 
state of quiet or repose ; absence or cessation 
of motion, labor, or action of any kind ; release 
from exertion or action. 
Whils forto sytte ye haue In konmundement, 
Youre heede, youre hande, your feet, holde yee In reste. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. 8.), p. 4. 
Our rural ancestors, with little blest, 
Patient of labour when the end was rest. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, II. i. 242. 
The working of a sea 
Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest. 
Cowper, Task, vi. 739. 
2. Freedom or relief from everything that dis- 
quiets, wearies, or disturbs; peace; quiet; se- 
curity; tranquillity. 
Yet we may hem discounflte, we shall be riche and in 
resle alwey aftere. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 174. 
The man will not be in rest until he have finished the 
thing this day. Ruth iii. 18. 
Yet shall the oracle 
Give rest to the minds of others. 
Shale., W. T., ill. 191. 
Rest, 
As deep as death, as soft as sleep, 
Across his troubled heart did creep. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 48. 
3. Sleep; slumber; hence, the last sleep; 
death; the grave. 
After al this surfet and accesse he hedde, 
That he slepte Seturday and Sonenday til sonne wente to 
reste. Piers Plowman (A), v. 210. 
One that thinks a man always going to bed, and says, 
"God give you good rest! " Shak., C. of E., iv. 3. 33. 
4. A place of quiet; permanent habitation. 
In dust, our final rest and native home. 
Milton, P. L., x. 1085. 
5. Stay; abode. 
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court 
Some little time. Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 13. 
6. That on or in which anything leans or lies 
for support. 
Be made narrowed rests round about, that the beams 
should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 
1 Kl. vi. 6. 
Specifically (a) A contrivance for steadying the lance 
when couched for the charge: originally a mere loop or 
stirrup, usually of leather, perhaps passed over the shoul- 
der, but when the cuirass or breastplate was introduced 
secured to a hook or projecting horn of iron riveted to this 
on the left side. This hook also is called rest. A simi- 
lar hook was sometimes arranged so far at the side, and 
so projecting, as to receive the lance Itself ; hut, this form 
being inconvenient, the projecting hook was arranged 
with a hinge. In the justs of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries the heavy lance was found to require a counter- 
poise, and the rest was made double, the hook projecting 
sidewise, and a long tongue or bar projecting backward 
under the arm with a sort of spiral twist at the end to pre- 
vent the butt of the lance from rising, so that the lance 
was held firmly, and required from the juster only the 
exertion of directing its point. 
When his staff was in his rest, coming down to meet 
with the knight, now very near him. he perceived the 
knight had missed his rest. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, ill. 
Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest, . . . 
Shot thro' the lists at Camelot. 
Tennyson, Passing of Arthur. 
(6) A device of any kind for supporting the turning-tool 
or the work in a lathe, (c) A support for the barrel of a 
gun in aiming and firing. 
Change love for arms ; girt to your blades, my boys \ 
Your rests and muskets take, take helm and targe. 
Peele, A Farewell. 
(d) In billiards, a rod having fixed at its point a crosspiece 
on which to support the cue : used when the cue-ball can- 
not easily be reached in the usual way. Also called bridge. 
(e) A support or guide for stuff fed to a saw. E. H. Knight. 
(f) In glyptics, a support, somewhat resembling a vise in 
form, attached to the lathe-head, and serving to steady 
the arm while the edges of graving-tools are being shaped. 
7. In pros., a short pause of the voice in read- 
ing ; a cesura. 
So varying still their [bards'] moods, observing yet In all 
Their quantities, their resta, their ceasures metrical. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, iv. 186. 
8. In music: (a) A silence or pause between 
tones. (6) In musical notation, a mark or sign 
denoting such a silence. Rests vary in form to in- 
dicate their duration with reference to each other and to 
the notes with which they occur ; and they are named 
from the notes to which they are equivalent, as follows : 
breve rest, f ; semibreve or whole-note rest, ; minim 
or half-note rest. ; crotchet or quarter-note rest, r or X ; 
quaver or eighth-note rest, ~\; semiquaver or sixteenth- 
note rest, ^ ; demisemiquaver or thirty-second-note rest, 
;j; hemidemisemiquaver or sixty-fourth-note rest, ^ The 
duration of a rest, as of a note, may be extended one half 
by a dot, as 1 . ( = 1 ^ ), or Indefinitely by a hold,^. The 
semibreve rest is often used as a measure-rest, whatever 
may be the rhythmic signature (as a below); similarly, 
the two-measure rest is like b, the three measure rest like 
