pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
DECENNALIA, ancient Roman festivals, celebrated by the emperors every tenth year of their reign, with sacrifices, games, and largesses for the people. The emperor Augustus first instituted these solemnities, in which he was imitated by his successors. At the same time the people offered up vows for the emperor, and for the perpetuity of the empire, which were therefore called vota decennalia. Augustus’s view in establishing the decennalia was to preserve the empire and the sovereign power without offence or restraint to the people; for during the celebration of this feast that prince used to surrender all his authority into the hands of the people, who, filled with joy, and charmed with the goodness of Augustus, immediately delivered it to him again, as it was no doubt expected that they should.
DECHALES, Claudius Frances Milliet, a mathematician, mechanic, and astronomer, descended from a noble family, and born at Chambery in 1611. His principal performances are an edition of Euclid’s Elements of Geometry, in which the unserviceable propositions are rejected, and the uses of those retained annexed; a discourse on fortification, and another on navigation. These, with some other pieces, were collected, first in three volumes folio, and afterwards in four, under the title of Mundus Mathematicus ; being indeed a complete course of mathematics. He died in 1678, being then professor of mathematics in the university of Turin.
DECIDUOUS, an appellation chiefly used in respect of plants; thus the calyx or cup of a flower is said to be deciduous when it falls along with the flower-petals; and, on the contrary, it is called permanent when it remains after they have fallen. Again, deciduous leaves are those which fall in autumn, in contradistinction to those of the evergreens, which remain all the winter.
DECIL, in Astronomy, an aspect or position of two planets, when they are distant from each other a tenth part of the zodiac.
DECIMAL Arithmetic, the art of computing by decimal fractions. See Arithmetic. Circulating Decimals, called also recurring or repeating decimals, are those in which a figure or several figures are continually repeated. They are distinguished into single and multiple, and these again into pure and mixed.

A pure single circulate is that in which one figure only is repeated; as ∙222, &c. and is marked thus ∙2.

A pure multiple circulate is that in which several figures are continually repeated; as ∙232323, &c. marked ∙23; and •524524, &c. marked ∙524.

A mixed single circulate is that which consists of a terminate part and a single repeating figure; as 4∙222, &c. or 4∙2. And

A mixed multiple circulate is that which contains a terminate part with several repeating figures; as 45∙524.

That part of the circulate which repeats is called the repetend ; and the whole repetend, supposed to be infinitely continued, is equal to a vulgar fraction whose numerator [7:7:663] is the repeating number or figures, and its denominator the same number of nines; so ∙2 is = §; and ∙23 is and ∙524 is =

, Dr Wallis, it appears, was the first who distinctly considered or treated of infinite’circulating decimals, as he himself informs us in his Treatise of Infinites.
DECIMATION, a punishment inflicted by the Romans on such soldiers as quitted their posts, or behaved themselves in a cowardly manner in the field. The names of the guilty were put into an urn or helmet, and as many having been drawn out as made the tenth part of the whole number, these were put to the sword and the others saved. This was called decimare, a word of the ancient Roman disciplinarians, who, to punish whole legions when they had failed in their duty, made every tenth soldier draw lots, and put him to death as an example to the others.

As the Romans had their decimatio, they had also the vicesimatio, and even centesimatio, when only the twentieth or hundredth man suffered by lot.
DECIPHERING, the art of finding the alphabet of a cipher, or discovering a method of reading an unknown character or tongue. See Cipher.
DECIUS Mus, a celebrated Roman consul, who, after many glorious exploits, devoted himself to the gods manes for the safety of his country in a battle against the Latins, about 340 years before the Augustan age. His son Decius imitated his example, and devoted himself in like manner in his fourth consulship, when fighting against the Gauls and Samnites. His grandson also did the same thing in the war against Pyrrhus and the Taren tines. This action of devoting one’s self was of infinite service to the state. The soldiers were animated by the example, and induced to follow with intrepidity a commander who, arrayed in an unusual dress, and addressing himself to the gods with solemn invocation, rushed into the thickest part of the enemy to meet his fate.
DECIZE, a city of the department of the Nièvre, in France, upon an island in the Loire. It contains 158 houses, and 2468 inhabitants. Some good coal is obtained near this place. Long. 3. 31. 3. E. Lat. 46. 50. 24. N.
DECK of a Ship (from decken, to cover), the planked floors of a ship, which connect the sides together, and serve as platforms to support the artillery and lodge the men, as also to preserve the cargo from the sea in merchant vessels. See Ship-building. FIusJi-Dece. implies a continued floor laid from stem to stern, upon one line, without any stops or intervals.

Half- Deck, a space under the quarter-deck of a ship of war, contained between the foremost bulk-head of the steerage and the fore-part of the quarter-deck. In the colliers of Northumberland the steerage itself is called the half-deck, and is usually the habitation of the crew.
DECKNALL, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Cuttack, thirty-eight miles north-north-west from the town of Cuttack. Long. 85. 55. Έ. Lat. 21. 1. N.
DECLA, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Canara, on the coast of Malabar, thirty miles south from Mangalore, near to which are the ruins of an extensive wall or rampart, which divides the province from Malabar. Long. 75. 6. E. Lat. 12. 26. N.
DECLINATION, in Grammar, an inflection of nouns, according to their divers cases; as nominative, genitive, dative, and so on. See Grammar. Declination, in Astronomy, the distance of any celestial object from the equinox, either northward or southward. It is either true or apparent, according as the real or apparent place of the object is considered.

Declination of the Sea Compass or Needle, is its variation from the true meridian of any place.

Declination of a Plane or Wall, in Dialing, is the horizontal[7:7:665] arch contained between the plane and the prime vertical circle, reckoning from east to west, or between the meridian and the plane, reckoning from north to south. Many ways are used for finding this declination, but the most easy and practicable is by a declinator.
DECLINATOR, or Declinatory, an instrument chiefly used in practical dialing, for taking the declinations, inclinations, or reclinations of the planes on which the dials are to be delineated. See Dialing.
DECOCTION usually signifies either the action of boiling a substance in water, or the water itself in which the substance has been boiled. It is only applicable to matters containing principles soluble in water; such particularly as animal and vegetable matters.
DECOLLATION, Beheading, a term seldom used except in the phrase decollation of St John Baptist; which denotes a painting representing the Baptist’s head struck off from his trunk, or the feast held in honour of that martyr.
DECOMPOSITION, in Chemistry, usually signifies the disunion or separation of the constituent parts of bodies. See Chemistry.
DECORATION, in Architecture, any thing that adorns and enriches a building, church, triumphal arch, or the like, either without or within.

Decoration is more particularly applied to the scenes of theatres. In operas and other theatrical performances, the decorations must frequently be changed, conformably to the subject. The ancients had two kinds of decorations for their theatres: the one, called versatiles, having three sides or faces, which were turned successively to the spectators; and the other, called ductiles, showing a new decoration by drawing or sliding another before it. This latter sort is still used, and apparently with much greater success than among the ancients, who were obliged to draw a curtain whenever they made a change in the decorations; whereas on our stage the change is made in a moment, and almost without its being perceived.
DECORUM, in Architecture, is the suitableness of a building, and the several parts and ornaments thereof, to the station and occasion.
DECOUPLE, in Heraldry, the same as uncoupled. Thus a chevron decouple is a chevron wanting so much of it towards the point, that the two ends stand at a distance from one another, being parted and uncoupled.
DECOY, in naval affairs, a stratagem employed by a ship of war to betray a vessel of inferior force into an un-cautious pursuit, until she has drawn her within the range of her cannon, or what is called within gun-shot distance. It is usually performed by painting the stern and sides in such a manner as to disguise the ship, and represent her either as much smaller and of inferior force, or as a friend to the hostile vessel, which she endeavours to ensnare, by assuming the emblems and ornaments of the nation to which the stranger is supposed to belong. When she has thus provoked the adversary to chase, in hopes of acquiring a prize, she continues the decoy, by spreading a great sail, as endeavouring to escape; at the same time that her course is considerably retarded by an artful alteration of her trim, till the enemy approaches. Decoying is also performed in order to elude the chase of a ship of a superior force in a dark night, by throwing out into the sea a lighted cask of pitch, which will burn for a considerable time, and thus mislead the enemy. Immediately after the cask is thrown out, the ship changes her course, and may easily escape, if at any tolerable distance from the foe.

Decoy, among fowlers, a place made for catching wildfowl. A decoy is generally made where there is a large pond surrounded by a wood, and beyond that a marshy and uncultivated country. If the piece of water is not thus surrounded, it will be attended with noise and other accidents, which may be expected to frighten the wild-fowl from a quiet haunt, where they mean to sleep during the , day-time in security.
DECREE, an order made by a superior power for the regulation of an inferior.

Decree, in the civil law, is a determination which the emperor pronounced upon hearing a particular cause between the plaintiff and defendant.

Decrees of Councils are the laws made by councils in order to regulate the doctrine and policy of the church.

Decrees in Chancery are the determination of the lord chancellor, upon a full hearing in regard to the merits of a cause.
DECREMENT, in Heraldry, signifies the wane of the moon from the full to the new. The moon in this state is called moon decrescent or in decours ; and when borne in coat armour, she faces to the left side of the escutcheon, as she does to the right side when in the increment.
DECREPITATION, in Chemistry, signifies the quick separation of the parts of a body, occasioned by a strong heat, and accompanied with a crackling noise. This effect is most frequently produced by water contained betwixt the parts of the decrepitating body, when these parts possess a certain degree of adhesion. This water being quickly reduced into vapour by the heat suddenly applied to it, rarefies and bursts the parts which compress it, with a crackling noise. The bodies most subject to decrepitation are certain salts, sucli as common salt, sulphate of potash, nitrate of lead, and the like, the decrepitation of all which proceeds from the water of their crystallization. Clays which are not perfectly dry, and flints, are also subject to decrepitation.
DECRETAL, in the canon law, is a letter of a pope, determining some point or question in the ecclesiastical law. The decretals compose the second part of the canon law. The first genuine decretal, acknowledged by all the learned as such, is a letter of Pope Siricius, written in the year 385, to Himerus, bishop of Tarragona, in Spain, concerning some disorders which had crept into the churches of that coun ’ try. Gratian published a collection of decretals, containing all the ordinances made by the popes until the year 1150. Gregory IX. in 1227, following the example of Theodosius and Justinian, formed a constitution of his own, collecting into one body all the decisions and all the causes which had served to advance the papal power; and this collection of decretals was called the pentateuch, because it contains five books.
DECTAN, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Malwah, situated among the Vinduya Mountains, 28 miles south from Oojain. Long. 75. 40. E. Lat∙ 22. 49. N.
DECUMATES Agri, tithed fields, or fields granted on a tithe, as appears from Tacitus, to the rabble of Gauls who succeeded the Marcomanni, who had till then proved a check to the Roman conquests up the Rhine; and hence probably their name, which signifies people living on the marches or limits of the empire. In Cicero we meet with Ager Decumans, which is of the same import with the Ager Decumans of Tacitus.
DECUPLE Proportion, that of ten to one.
DECURIO, a subaltern officer in the Roman armies. He commanded a decuria, which consisted of ten men, and was the third part of a turma, or the thirtieth part of a legion of horse, which was composed of 580 men. There were certain magistrates in the provinces, called decuriones municipales, who represented the Roman senate in free and corporate towns. As the name implies, they consisted of ten; and their duty was to watch over the interests of their fellow citizens, and to increase the revenues of the commonwealth. Their court was called curia decurionum [7:7:666]and minor senatus ; and their decrees, called decreta decurionum., were marked with two D’s at the top. They generally styled themselves civitatum patres curiales, and honorati municipiorum senatorum. They were elected with the same ceremonies as the Roman senators; they required to be at least twenty-five years of age, and to be possessed of a certain sum of money. The election took place in the kalends of March.
DECURY, ten persons ranged under one chief or leader, called the decurio. The Roman cavalry was divided into decuries, which were subdivisions of a century, each century containing ten decuries.
DECUSSATION, a term in geometry, optics, and anatomy, signifying the crossing of two lines, rays, or nerves, when they meet in a point, and then proceed separately.
DECUSSORIUM, a surgeon’s instrument, which, by pressing gently on the dura mater, causes an evacuation of the pus collected between the cranium and the membrane just mentioned, through the perforation made by the trepan.
DEDDINGTON, a town of the hundred of Wootton, in Oxfordshire, sixty-nine miles from London, and seventeen from Oxford. In the neighbourhood are two medicinal springs. It has a market, which is held on Saturday. The inhabitants amounted in 1801. to 1172, in 1811 to 1296, in 1821 to 1404, and in 1831 to 1590.
DEDHAM, a town of the hundred of Lcxden, in the county of Essex, fifty-three miles from London, and situated in a pleasant valley on the river Stour. It has a good market on Thursday. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 1537, in 1811 to 1432, in 1821 to 1651, and in 1831 to 1770.
DEDICATION, the act of consecrating a temple, altar, statue, palace, or other work, to the honour of some deity.

The use of dedications is very ancient, both amongst the worshippers of the true God and amongst the heathens. In the Scripture we meet with dedications of the tabernacle, of altars, of the first and second temple, and even of the houses of private persons. There were also dedications of vessels and garments of the priests and Levites, and even of the men themselves. The heathens had likewise dedications of temples, altars, and images of their gods. Nebuchadnezzar made a solemn dedication of bis statue. Pilate at Jerusalem dedicated gilt bucklers to Tiberius; in like manner Petronius would have dedicated a statue to the emperor in the same city; and Tacitus mentions the dedication of the capitol, upon its being rebuilt by Vespasian.

The Jews every year celebrated the anniversary of the dedication of their temple for eight days. This was first enjoined by Judas Maceabeus, and the whole synagogue, in the year of the Syro-Macedonian era 148, or 164 years before Christ. The heathens had similar anniversaries, as that of the dedication of the temple of Parthenope, mentioned by Lycophron. Under Christianity, dedication is only applied to a church, and is properly the consecration thereof, performed by a bishop, with a number of ceremonies prescribed by the church.

The Christians finding themselves in possession of liberty under Constantine, instead of their ruinous churches, built new ones in every place, and dedicated these with much solemnity. The dedication was usually performed in a synod; at least a number of bishops was assembled to assist at the service. The description of those of the churches at Jerusalem and Tyre may be found in Eusebius, and many others in later writers.

Dedication, in literature, is an address prefixed to a book, soliciting patronage, or testifying respect for the person to whom it is inscribed.
DEED, an instrument written on paper or parchment, comprehending some contract, bargain, or agreement between the parties thereto, in relation to the matter therein contained.
DEEG, a town and celebrated fortress in the province of Agra, belonging to the Jauts. In 1760 this place was occupied and strongly fortified by Soorag Mull, the rajah of the Jauts. In 1776 it was taken from that tribe by Nujuff Khan, after a siege of twelve months, but was soon afterwards restored to them. In 1805, the Mahratta army, commanded by Holkar, was defeated under its walls by Lord Lake, who, to the great astonishment of all the Indian powers, took this place, supposed to be impregnable, by storm. At the conclusion of peace, it was restored to the Rajah Runjeet Sing. Long. 77. 17. E. Lat. 27. 30. N.
DEEMSTERS, or Demsters, from the Saxon dema, judge or umpire. All controversies in the Isle of Man are decided without process, writings, or any charges, by certain judges, chosen yearly from among the people, called deemsters, there being two of them for each division of the island. The deemsters sit as judges in all courts, either for life or property; and, with the advice of twenty-four keys, declare what is law in uncommon emergencies.
DEEPING-MARKET, a town of the hundred of Ness, and division of Kesteven, in the county of Lincoln, eighty-eight miles from London. It is situated in a fenny but fertile district on the river Welland. The market-day is Thursday. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 803, in 1811 to 899, in 1821 to 1016, and in 1831 to 1091.
DEER. See Mammalia.
DEERLYK, a market-town in the circle of Courtrai, and province of West Flanders, containing 4340 inhabitants.
DEES, or Deescii, a market-town in the Austrian province Siebenbergen, at the junction of the two rivers Szamos, containing a Catholic, a reformed, and a Lutheran church, and a Franciscan convent, with about 2200 inhabitants.
DEFAMATION, the speaking slanderous words of another; for which the slanderer is punishable, according to the nature of his offence, either by action upon the case at common law, or by statute in the ecclesiastical court.
DEFAULT, in Law, is generally taken for non-appearance in court at a day assigned; but it imports any omission of that which we ought to do, for which judgment may be given against the defaulter.
DEFECTION, the act of abandoning or relinquishing a party or interest which a person had been engaged in. The word is formed from the Latin deficio, to fall off.
DEFECTIVE, in general, an appellation given to things which want some of the properties that they ought naturally to possess. Thus, Defective, or Deficient Nouns, in Grammar, are such as want either a whole number, a particular case, or are totally indeclinable. The term defective is also applied to a verb which has not all its moods and tenses.
DEFENCE, in Fortification, all sorts of works which cover and defend the opposite posts, as flanks, casements, parapets, and faussebraies.

Line of Defence, a supposed line drawn from the angle of the curtain, or from any other part in the curtain, to the flanked angle of the opposite bastion.
DEFEND, in general, signifies much the same with protecting or warding off injuries offered to any person either by enemies or otherwise.

Defend, in our ancient laws and statutes, signifies to prohibit or forbid; as Usuarios defendit quoque rex Edwardus ne remanerent in regno. L. L. Edw. Conf. c. 38, and 5 Rich. IL c. 7. In this sense Chaucer also uses the following passage:

Where can, you say in any manner, age, That ever God defended marriage.

In 7 Edward I. there is a statute entitled “Statutum de defensione portandi arma? &c. And “it is defended by law to distrain on the highway.”
DEFENDER of the Faith (Fidei Defensor), a peculiar title belonging to the king of England, as Catholicus to the king of Spain, and Christianissimus to the king of France. These titles were given by the popes of Rome. That of Fidei Defensor was first conferred by Leo X. on King Henry VIII. for writing against Martin Luther; and the bull bestowing it bears date quinto idus Octob. 1521. This title was afterwards confirmed by Clement VII. But on Henry’s suppressing the houses of religion at the time of the Reformation, the pope not only deprived him of the title, but also deposed him from his crown, though, in the [7:7:668]thirty-fifth year of his reign, this title was confirmed by parliament, and has continued to be used by all succeeding kings to this day. Chamberlayne says the title belonged to the king of England before that time; and, in proof of his assertion, appeals to several charters granted to the University of Oxford; so that Pope Leo’s bull was only a renovation of an ancient right.
DEFENDERS were anciently notable dignitaries both in church and state, whose business it was to look to the preservation of the public weal, to protect the poor and helpless, and to maintain the interests and causes of churches and religious houses. (See Protector.) The council of Chalcedon (can. 2) calls the defender of a church E%δ∕zβj. Codin (Z>e officiis auloe Const.') makes mention of defenders of the palace. There were also a defender of the kingdom, defensor regni ; defenders of cities, defensores civitatis ; defenders of the people, defensores plebis; defenders of the poor, fatherless, widows, &c.

About the year 420, each patriarchal church began to have its own defender; a custom which was afterwards introduced into other churches, and continued till later days under other names, as those of ∠4<⅛ocnZe and Advowee. In the year 407, we find that the council of Carthage asked the emperor for defenders of the number of Scholastici, or advocates who were in office, and that it might be allowed them to enter and search the cabinets and papers of the judges and other civil magistrates, whenever it should be found necessary for the interest of the church.
DEFERENS, or Deferent, in the ancient astronomy, an imaginary circle, which sweeps round the body of a planet, and is the same with the eccentric, being invented to account for the eccentricity, perigee, and apogee of the planets.
DEFILE, in Fortification, a straight narrow passage, through which a company of horse or foot can pass only in file.
DEFINITE, in Grammar, is applied to an article which has a precise determinate signification, such as the article the in English, le and la in French, which fix and ascertain the noun they belong to, to some particular, as the king, le roi; whereas, in the quality of king, de roi, the articles of and de mark nothing precise, and are therefore indefinite.
DEFINITION, in general, a short description of a thing by its properties; or, in logic, the explication of the essence of a thing by its kind and difference.
DEFINITIVE, a term applied to whatever terminates a process, question, or the like, in opposition to provisional and interlocutory.