definitorn.
/dɛfɪˈnʌɪtə/ 1. An officer of the chapter in certain monastic orders, charged with the ‘definition’ or decision of points of discipline.
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society > faith > church government > monasticism > monastic functionary > disciplinary officer > [noun]
searchc1500
definitor1648
zealator1849
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. (1655) iii. 7 When the Provinciall Chapter is kept, then..is there one named by name of Procurator or Diffinitor, who is to goe in the name of the whole Province to the next election of the Generall.
1704 tr. A. de Ovalle Of Kingdom of Chile in A. Churchill & J. Churchill Coll. Voy. III. 51/1 [St. Francis] having been Definitor of his Order.
1757 A. Butler Lives Saints III. 119 The saint held a general chapter at Narbonne, and in concert with the definitors gave a new form to the old Constitutions.
1867 R. Palmer Life P. Howard 15 (note) The order [Dominicans] is governed by a master-general with his council of definitors.
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the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > [noun] > surveying instruments > other surveying instruments
quadrat?c1400
trigon1590
square1600
peractor1616
definitor1664
Marquois scale1783
topograph1865
outkeeper1868
aba1876
1664 J. Evelyn tr. L. Alberti Statues in tr. R. Fréart Parallel Antient Archit. 153 This whole Instrument..consisting of Horizon, Ruler, and Plummet we shall call our Definitor.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §97 The instrument will shew the situation, distance from the center, and depression of any given point..below the plane of the dial..which instrument he calls a Definitor.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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