ACC 
Accius, a poet of the 16th century, to whom is attri¬ 
buted “ A Paraphrafe of flop’s Fables,” on which Julius 
Skaliger bellows great encomiums. 
ACCLAIM, f. [ acclamo , Lat. from which probably 
firft the verb acclaim , now loft, and then the noun.] A 
Ihout of praife, acclamation: 
The herald ends; the Vaulted firmament 
With loud acclaims, and vaft applaufe, is rent.- Dryden. 
ACCLAMATION, f. [acdamatio, Lat.] A confufed 
noife or fiiout of joy, by which the public exprefs their ap- 
■'plaufe, efteem, or approbation. 
Acclamation, in a more proper fenfe, denotes a cer¬ 
tain form of words, uttered with extraordinary vehe¬ 
mence, and in a peculiar tone fomewhat refembling a fong, 
frequent in the ancient aflTemblie$. Acclamations were 
ufually accompanied with applaufes, with which they are 
fometimes confounded : though they ought to be diftjn- 
guilhed ; as acclamation was given by the voice, applaufe 
by the hands; add, that acclamation was alfo bellowed on 
perfons abfent, applaufe only on thofe prefent. Accla¬ 
mation was alfo given by women, whereas applaufe feems 
to have been confined to men. 
Acclamations are of various kinds; ecclefiaftical, mili¬ 
tary, nuptial, fenatorial, fynodical, fcholaftic, theatrical, 
&c. We meet with loud acclamations, mulical and ryth¬ 
mical acclamations; acclamations of joy and refpect, and 
even of reproach and contumely. 
Acclamations were not unknown on the theatres in the 
earlieft ages of the Roman commonwealth ; but they were 
artlefs then, and little other than confufed Ihouts. Af¬ 
terwards they became a fort of regular concerts. That 
mentioned by Phaedrus, lecture incolumu Roma falvoprincipe, 
which was made for Augultus, and proved the occalion 
of a pleafant miftake of a flute-player called Princeps, 
Ihow's that mulical acclamations were in ufe in that empe¬ 
ror’s reign. Nero, paflionately fond of mufic, took lpe- 
cial care to improve and perfect the mu lie of acclamations. 
Charmed with the harmony w herewith the Alexandrians, 
who came to the games celebrated at Naples, had fung 
his praifes, he brought feveral over to inftruit a number 
of youth, chofen from among the knights and people, in 
the different kinds of acclamations pratliled at Alexan¬ 
dria. Thefe continued in ufe as long as the reign of Thco- 
doric. But the people did not always make a fingle cho¬ 
rus ; fometimes there were two, who anfwered each other 
alternately: thus, when Nero played on the theatre, Burr¬ 
hus and Seneca, who were on either hand, giving the lig- 
nal by clapping, 5000 foldiers called Augultals, began to 
chant his praife, which the fpedtators were obliged to re¬ 
peat. The whole was conducted by a mulic-mufter call¬ 
ed Mefochorus or Paufarius.—To theatrical acclamations 
may be added thofe of the foldiery and the people in 
time of triumph. The victorious army accompanied their 
general to the capitol; and, among the verfes they fung in 
his praifes, frequently repeated “ Io Triumphe,” which 
the people anfwered in the fame drain. It was alfo in the 
way of acclamation that the foldiers gave their general the 
title of Imperator after fome notable victory; a title which 
he only kept till the time of his triumph. 
The acclamations of the fenate were fomewhat more fe- 
rious than the: popular ones; but arofe from the fame 
.principle, viz. a delire of pleafing the prince or his favour¬ 
ites ; and aimed likewife at the fame end, either tq exprefs 
the general approbation and zeal of the company, or to 
Congratulate him on his victories, or to make him new 
protestations of fidelity. Thefe acclamations were ufually 
given after a report made by fome fenator, to which the 
reft all exprefied their confent by crying “ Qnmes, Om- 
nes;” or elfe, “ Equum eft, Juftum eft.” Sometimes they 
began with acclamations, and fometimes ended with them 
without other debates. . It was after this manner that all 
the. elections and proclamations of emperors, made by the 
fenate, were conducted; fon\ething of which practice is 
ftill retained at modern elections of kings and emperors, 
Vol. I. No. 
ACC 5; 
where' Vivat Rex , Vive It Roi,. and Long live the King-, are 
cuftomary forms. 
For the acclamations wherewith authors, poets, Sec. 
were received, who recited their works in public ; it is to 
be oblerved, the affemblies for this purpofe were held 
with great parade in the molt folemn places, as the capitol, 
temples, the Athenaeum, and the houfes of great men. 
Invitations were fent every where, in order to make the 
greater appearance. The chief care was, that the accla¬ 
mations might be given with all the order and pomp poffi- 
ble. Men of fortune who pretended to wit, kept able ap- 
plauders in their fervice, and lent them to their friends. 
Others endeavoured to gain them by prefents and treats-. 
Philoftratus mentions a young man named Vavus, who 
leht money to the men of letters, and forgave the intereft 
to fuch as applauded his exercifes. 
The acclamations wherewith the fpeftators honoured 
the victories of the athletae, were a natural confequence of 
the impetuous motions which attended the gymnaftic games. 
The cries and acclamations of the people, fometimes ex- 
prefting their companion and joy, fometimes their horror 
and difguft, are ftrongly painted by different poets and 
orators. 
Acclamations made alfo a part of the ceremony of mar¬ 
riage. They were ufed for the omen’s fake; being the 
Lata Omina, fometimes fpoken of before marriage in Ro¬ 
man writers. 
Acclamations, at firft praftifed in the theatre, and paf- 
fing thence to the fenate, See. were in procefs of time re¬ 
ceived into the a£ts of councils, and the ordinary aflem- 
blies of the church. The people exprefied their appro¬ 
bation of the preacher varioufly; the more ufual forms' 
were, “ Orthodox! Third Apoftle, See." Thefe accla¬ 
mations being fometimes carried to excefs, and often mif- 
placed, were frequently prohibited by the ancient doftors, 
and at length abrogated; though they appear to have been 
in fome ufe as low as the time of St. Bernard. 
Acclamation Medals, among antiquaries, fuch as 
reprefent the people exprefling their joy in the pofture of 
acclamation. 
ACCLIVITY,/! \_acdivus, Lat.] The fteepnefs or dope 
of a line inclining to the horizon, reckoned upwards; as, 
the afeent of an hill is the acclivity, the defeent is the de¬ 
clivity. 
ACCLIVOUS, adj. [acclivus, Lat.] Riling with a flope. 
To ACCLOY, v. a. To fill up, in an ill fenfe ; tocroud, 
to fluff full; a word almoft obfolete. To fill to fatiety ; 
in which fenfe cloy is ftill in ufe.—They that efcape beft in 
the temperate zone, would be accloyed with long nights, 
very tedious, no lefs than forty days. Ray. 
To ACCOIL, v. n. To croud, to keep a coil about, tc 
buftle, to be in a hurry : a word now out of ufe. 
ACCOLADE, f. a ceremony anciently ufed in the con¬ 
ferring of knighthood, and fuppofed to be the embrace or 
kifs, which princes anciently gave the new knight, as a 
token of their afteCtion: whence the word accolade-, q. d. 
a clalping, or taking round the neck. Others will rather 
have it to be a blow on the chine of the neck, given on 
the fame occalion. Greg, de Touts writes, that the kings 
of France, even of the firft race, in conferring the gilt 
flioulder-belt, killed the knights on the left cheek. For 
the accole'e, or blow, John of Salifbury allures us, was in 
life among the Normans: by this it was that \\ illiam the 
Conqueror conferred the honour of knighthood on his fon 
Henry. At firft, it was given with the naked fift; but 
was afterwards changed into a blow with the flat of the 
fword on the fhoulder of the knight. 
ACCOLEF,/. fometimes fynoymous with Accolade. 
It is alfo ufed in various fenfes in heraldry : fometimes it is 
applied to two thing's joined ; at other times, to animals 
with crowns, or collars, jibout their necks, as the lion in 
the Ogilvy's arms; and, iaftly, to kews, battons, nvjces, 
fwords, &c. placed faltjerwife behind the fliield. 
ACCOLENT,/. [accolens, Lat.] He that inhabits near 
a place; a borderer. 
CL. AC COLT L 
