sesquisulphid 
sesquisulphid, sesquisulphide (sos-kwi-sul'- 
fid, -fid or -fid), it. [< xexqui- + snli>lii<l.] A 
basic compound of sulphur with some other ele- 
ment in the proportion of three atoms of sul- 
phur to two of the other element. 
sesquitertia (ses-kwi-ter'shia), n. [NL., < L. 
."c.ii/iiitertia, fora, of xi-xqniu rtiim, containing one 
and a third, bearing the ratio of four to three, 
< sesqui-. one half more, + trrtinx, third, < tres, 
three.] In music, an interval having the ratio 
1 : Ijv or 3:4 that is, a perfect fourth. 
sesquitertial (ses-kwi-ter'shal), a. [As sesqui- 
tertin + -/il.] Same as sesqui tertian. 
sesquitertian (ses-kwi-ter'shan), a. [As ses- 
i/i/iti'/-liii 4- -an.] Being in the ratio of 4 to 3. 
sesquitertianal (ses-kwi-ter'shan-al), a. [< 
sesquitertian + -al.] Same as sesquitertian. 
sesquitone (ses'kwi-ton), n. [< L. sesqui-, one 
half more, + tonus, tone.] In music, a minor 
third that is, an interval equal to a tone and a 
half. 
sessH(ses), v. t. [Also misspelled cess; byapher- 
esis from assess : see assess and cess 2 .] To as- 
sess; tax. 
The Grecians were contented a tax should be levied, 
and that every city should be reasonably sessed accord- 
ing to their wealth and ability. 
North, tr. of Plutarch, p. 285. 
BOSS 1 (ses), n. [Also misspelled cess ; < sessl, 
cess 2 , v. : see cess 2 , assess.] A tax. 
sess a (ses), . [Perhaps a variant form and par- 
ticular use of suss, soss, as in cesspool : see soss, 
cesspool.] In soap-making, one of a number of 
rectangular frames which are fitted one on an- 
other, and secured together with screw-rods so 
as to form a kind of well, in which the soap is 
left to cool and solidify. 
sessat (ses'a), interj. [A variant of sa sa, < D. 
sa.' sa.' "come on, cheer up, quickly: an in- 
terjection much used to stir up fighting dogs " 
(Sewel); a repetition of the sibilant syllable 
sa, come on ! used to excite or encourage dogs, 
etc.] A word used by Shakspere with uncer- 
tain and disputed meaning. 
Let the world slide : sessa ! 
Shak., T. of the 8., Ind., i. a 
Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind. . . . 
Dolphin, my boy, my boy, sessa ! let him trot by. 
Shak., Lear, iii. 4. 104. 
sessile (ses'il), a. [= F. sessile = Sp. scsil 
= Pg. sessil = It. sessile; < L. sessilis, pertain- 
ing to sitting, < sedere, pp. sessus, sit: see se- 
dent, session.] 1. In bot., attached without 
any sensible projecting support ; sitting di- 
rectly on the body to which it belongs without 
a support ; attached by the base : as, a sessile 
1. Sessile Flower of Trillium sessile. 2. Sessile Leaves of Uvttlarin 
Sfssili/olfa. 
leaf, one issuing directly from the main stem 
or branch without a petiole or footstalk ; a ses- 
sile flower, one having no peduncle; a sessile 
stigma, one without a style, as in the poppy. 
2. In zool. and anat. : (a) Seated flat or low ; 
fixed by a broad base ; not stalked or peduncu- 
lated. 
Such outgrowths ... are at first sessile, but become 
elongated. Quain, Med. Diet., p. 12. 
(6) Fixed ; not free ; sedentary. [Rare.] 
It is now important to observe that great numbers of 
centrifugal animals are sedentary or sessile, while the lon- 
gitudinal are vagrant, moving from place to place. 
E. D. Cope, Origin of the Fittest, p. 193. 
(r) Specifically, in Crustacea: (1) Having no 
peduncle, as a cirriped ; belonging to the Sex- 
silia. (2) Having no stalk or ophthalmite, as 
an eye. (d) In conch., having no stalk or om- 
matophore, as an eye. (e) In entom., not petio- 
late, as an abdomen. (/) In Hydroida, not de- 
tachable or separable, as a gonophore. 
sessile-eyed (ses'il-id). . Having sessile eyes, 
(a) Edriophthalmous, as a crustacean : opposed to stalk- 
eyed. See Arthrostraca. (V) Basommatophorous ; not sty- 
lommatophorous, as a gastropod. 
347 
5521 
Sessiliat (so-sil'i-a), n. pi. [NL., neut. pi. of 
L. sessilis, pertaining to sitting: see sessile.] 
1. A group of fixed rotifers; the Flosculariidse 
and MtUaertidte: opposed to Natantia. See 
Pedata. 2. In Lamarck's classification (1801- 
1812), one of two orders of Cirripedia, dis- 
tinguished from Pedunculata, and containing 
the sessile as distinguished from the peduncu- 
late cirripeds ; the sessile barnacles, as acorn- 
shells. 
Sessiliventres (ses"i-li-ven'trez), n. pi. [NL., 
< L. sessilis, pertaining to sitting, + venter 
(ventr-), the belly.] In entont., same as Securi- 
fera. 
session (sesh'on), M. [< OF. (and F.)session = 
Sp. sesion = Pg. sessao = It. sessione, < L. ses- 
sio(n-), a sitting, session, < sedere, pp. sessus, 
sit, = E. sit: see sit, sedent.] 1. The act of 
sitting, or the state of being seated : now rare 
except in the specific theological sense of 
Christ's sitting or enthronement at the right 
hand of God the Father. Also assession. 
Christ . . . hath as Man, not as God only, supreme do- 
minion over quick and dead, for so much his ascension 
into heaven and his session at the right hand of God do 
import. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 55. 
The French and Italian translations, expressing neither 
position of session or recubation, do only say that he 
placed himself at the table. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., v. 6. 
But Vivien . . . 
Leapt from her session on his lap, and stood, 
Tennyson, Merlin and Vivien. 
2. The sitting together of a body of individu- 
als for the transaction of business ; the sitting 
of a court, academic body, council, legislature, 
etc., or the actual assembly of the members 
of these or any similar body for the transac- 
tion of business: as, the court is now in ses- 
sion (that is, the members are assembled for 
business). 
This sessions, to our great grief we pronounce, 
Even pushes 'gainst our heart: the party tried 
The daughter of a king. Shak., W. T., iii. 2. 1. 
The Stygian council thus dissolved, . . . 
Then of their session ended they bid cry 
With trumpets' regal sound the great result. 
Milton, P. L., 11. 514. 
3. The time, space, or term during which a 
court, council, legislature, or the like meets 
daily for business, or transacts business regu- 
larly with out breaking up. Thus, a session of the 
legislature commonly means the period from its assem- 
bling to its adjournment for the year or season, in contra- 
distinction to its daily sessions during that period. So a 
session of Parliament comprises the time from its meeting 
to its prorogation, of which there is in general but one in 
each year. Technically at common law it was held that 
a meeting of Parliament could not be called a session un- 
less the sovereign passed an act. The session of a judicial 
court is called a term. Also applied in the United States 
to the daily or half-daily periods of work of a school. 
During the twenty-five years of the York dynasty . . . 
the sessions of those parliaments which really met ex- 
tended over a very few months. Stitbbs, Const. Hist. ,373. 
The sessions of the Reichstag must be public ; it is not 
within its choice to make them private. A private session 
is regarded as, legally, only a private conference of the 
members of the Reichstag, and can have no public author- 
ity whatever. W. Wilson, State, 417. 
4. pi. In law, a sitting of justices in court, ori- 
ginally, as in England, upon commission: as, 
the sessions of oyer and terminer. See oyer. 
God is the ludge, who keeps continual! Sessions 
In every place to punish all Transgressions. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 7. 
5. Eccles., the lowest court of the Presby- 
terian Church, composed of the pastor and rul- 
ing or lay elders of the local church, it has 
the power to admit and discipline members, regulate the 
times of service, and administer all the spiritual affairs 
of the local church, and is answerable for its acts to the 
presbytery. In the Established Church of Scotland it 
is specifically called the kirk session (which see, under 
kirk). 
Wi' pinch I pat a Sunday's face on, 
An' snooved awa' before the Session. 
Burns, To a Tailor. 
Clerk of the Session. See clerk. County sessions. 
See rnmtyl. Court of Session, the supreme civil court 
of Scotland, having jurisdiction in all civil questions, 
and an appellate jurisdiction over the principal inferior 
courts. It was instituted in 1532, and consists of a lord 
president, a lord justice-clerk, and eleven ordinary lords. 
They sit in two divisions, the lord president and three 
ordinary lords forming the first division, and the lord 
justice-clerk and other three ordinary lords the second 
division. The first and second divisions form what is 
called the inner house. There are five permanent lords 
ordinary, each of whom holds a court, the courts of the 
lords ordinary forming what is called the outer house. 
The junior lord ordinary officiates in the bill-chamber 
during session. See btttehamber. Court of Sessions, 
Court of General Sessions, Court of Special Ses- 
sions, in the United States, local criminal courts whose 
jurisdiction does not generally extend to offenses of the 
highest grades. General session of the peace, in 
Great Britain, a meeting of the justices held for the pur- 
sestina 
pose of acting judicially for the whole district comprised 
within their commission. The sessions that are held once 
every quarter of the year are called the general quarter- 
sessions of the peace. Lords of Council and Session. 
See council. Ordinary of assize and sessions. See 
ordinary, 1 (d). Petty sessions, the meeting of two or 
more justices for trying offenses in a summary way under 
various acts of Parliament empowering them to do so. 
Quarter sessions. See quarter-sessions. Session of 
Christ, i" thfol., the perpetual presence of the human 
nature of Christ at the right hand of God. Sessions of 
the peace, in Great Britain, the name given to sessions 
held by justices of the peace, whether petty, special, 
quarter, or general. Similar judicial arrangements pre- 
vailed in most of the American colonies, also in some of 
the States subsequently to the Revolution. Special 
sessions, sessions held by justices acting for a division 
of a county or riding, or for a burgh, for the transaction 
of special business, such as granting licenses, etc. 
sessional (sesh'on-al), a. [< session + -al.] 
Relating or belonging to a session or sessions. 
Each [English] county is divided by its Quarter Sessions 
into petty sessional districts, and every neighborhood is 
given thus its own court of Petty Sessions from which 
in almost all cases an appeal lies to Quarter Sessions. 
W. Wilson, State, 744. 
Sessional orders, in Parliament, certain orders agreed 
to by both Houses of Parliament at the commencement 
of each session, which are renewed from year to year, and 
not intended to endure beyond the existing session. Sir 
E. May. 
session-clerk (sesh'on-klerk), w. In Scotland, 
an officer who officially records the transactions 
and keeps the books and documents of a kirk 
session. 
sesslet(ses'l),p. i. [Origin obscure.] Tochange 
seats very often. Halliicell. 
sesspoolt, . See cesspool. 
sester, '* A variant of sexier. 
sesterce (ses'ters), . [< F. sesterce = Sp. Pg. 
sestercio = It. sesterzio, < L. sestertius: see ses- 
tertius.] A Roman coin : same as sestertius. 
Put twenty into his hand, twenty sesterces I mean, and 
let nobody see. B. Jmison, Poetaster, iii. 1. 
A donative of ten sesterties, 
I'll undertake, shall make 'em ring your praises 
More than they sang your pleasures. 
Fletcher, Valentinian, i. 3. 
sesternet, A Middle English form of cistern. 
sestertium (ses-ter'shi-um), n. ; pi. sestertia 
(-a). [L. : see sestertius.] A money of account 
used by the ancient Romans in reckoning large 
sums : it was equal to a thousand sestertii. 
sestertius (ses-ter'shi-us), n.\ pi. sestertii (-i). 
[L., a silver coin (see def.), prop. adj. (sc. num- 
mus, coin), two and a hall, for "semistertius, < 
semis, half (see semi-), 
+ tertius, third, < tres, 
three.] 1. A silver 
coin of the Roman 
republic, first issued 
in 269 B. c. It was 
the quarter of the 
denarius. See dena- 
rius. In the quotation 
there is a confusion of sestertius and sestertium. 
The sestertius was a small silver coyne marked H. S. or 
rather LL, valu'd 2 pound and half of silver, viz. 250 de- 
narii, about 25 golden ducati. Evelyn, Diary, May 6, 1645. 
2. The largest coin of copper alloy of the Roman 
empire. It was coined in orichalc, or brass, a finer al- 
loy than the bronze of the as and of the usual coinage 
of antiquity. It was issued by Augustus and by some 
of his immediate successors, and was equivalent to four 
asses. 
sestet (ses'tet), n. [< It. sestetto, dim. of sesto, 
sixth, < L. sextus, sixth, < sex, six : see sixth, six.] 
1. In music, same as sextet. 2. The two con- 
cluding stanzas of a sonnet, consisting of three 
lines each ; the last six lines of a sonnet. 
Milton . . . frequently disregards the law which makes 
separate sections of octave and sestet, and welds the two. 
Athetueum, Ho. 3253, p. 273. 
sestetto (ses-tet'to), n. [It.: see sestet.] Same 
as sextet. 
sestina (ses-te'nS,), n. [It. -.seesestine.] Apoem 
in fixed form, borrowed from the French, and 
said to have been invented by the Provencal 
troubadour Arnaut Daniel (thirteenth century). 
It consisted originally of six stanzas of six unrimed 
lines, with a final triplet or half-stanza, also unrimed 
all the lines being of the same length. The terminal 
words of stanzas 2 to 6 were the same as those of stanza 
1, but arranged differently; and they were repeated in 
the triplet or envoy, partly at the end and partly in the 
middle of the lines. The modern sestina is written on 
two or three rimes, and the formula for a two-rimed ses- 
tina is thus given in the " Vers Francais et leur Prosodie " 
of the best French authority, M. de Gramont : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ; 
6, 1, 6, 2, 4, 3; 3, 8, 4, 1, 2, 5; 5, 3, 2, 6, 1, 4; 4, 5, 
1, 3, 6, 2 ; 2, 4, 6. 5, 3, 1 ; triplet 2, 4, B at the end, and 
1, 3, 5 at the beginning of the lines. In stanza 1, lines 1, 
3, and 4 rime, and 2, 5, and 6 rime. Sestinas were written 
in Italy by Dante and Petrarch, in Spain and Portugal by 
Cervantes and Camocns, and in England by Drummond of 
Hawthormlen (1585-1649). Mr. Swinburne (in "Poems 
and Ballads," 2d ser.) has achieved a double sestina. 
Obverse. Reverse. 
Sestertius (silver). British Mu- 
seum. (Size of original.) 
