Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

REVENDICATE — REVOCABLE

REVENDICATE, v.t. [L. vindico. See Vindicate.]

To reclaim what has been taken away; to claim to have restored what has been seized.

Should some subsequent fortunate revolution deliver it from the conqueror’s yoke, it can revendicate them.

REVENDICATED, pp. Reclaimed; regained; recovered.

REVENDICATING, ppr. Reclaiming; redemanding; recovering.

REVENDICATION, n. The act of reclaiming or demanding the restoration of any thing taken by an enemy; as by right of postliminium.

The endless disputes which would spring from the revendication of them, have introduced a contrary practice.

REVENGE, v.t. revenj’. [L. vindex, vindico. See Vindicate.]

1. To inflict pain or injury in return for an injury received.

[Note. this word and avenge were formerly used as synonymous, and it is so used in the common version of the Scripture, and applied to the Supreme Being. “O Lord - revenge me of my persecutors.” Jeremiah 15:15. In consequence of a distinction between avenge and revenge which modern usage has introduced, the application of this word to the Supreme Being appears extremely harsh, irreverent and offensive. Revenge is now used in an ill sense, for the infliction of pain maliciously or illegally; avenge for inflicting just punishment.]

2. According to modern usage, to inflict pain deliberately and maliciously, contrary to the laws of justice and humanity, in return for injury, pain or evil received; to wreak vengeance spitefully on one who injures or offends. We say, to revenge an injury or insult, or with the reciprocal pronoun, to revenge ourselves on an enemy or for an injury, that is, to take vengeance or satisfaction.

3. To vindicate by punishment of an enemy.

The gods are just and will revenge our cause.

[According to modern usage, avenge should here be substituted for revenge.]

REVENGE, n. revenj’.

1. Return of an injury; the deliberate infliction of pain or injury or a person in return for an injury received from him.

2. According to modern usage, a malicious or spiteful infliction of pain or injury, contrary to the laws of justice and christianity, in return for an injury or offense. Revenge is dictated by passion; vengeance by justice.

3. The passion which is excited by an injury done or an affront given; the desire of inflicting pain on one who has done an injury; as, to glut revenge.

Revenge, as the word is now understood, is always contrary to the precepts of Christ.

The indulgence of revenge tends to make men more savage and cruel.

REVENGED, pp. Punished in return for an injury; spitefully punished. The injury is revenged.

REVENGEFUL, a. revenj’ful.

1. full of revenge or a desire to inflict pain or evil for injury received; spiteful; malicious; wreaking revenge.

If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive.

2. Vindictive; inflicting punishment.

May my hands never brandish more revengeful steel.

REVENGEFULLY, adv. revenj’fully. By way of revenge; vindictively; with the spirit of revenge.

REVENGEFULNESS, n. revenj’fulness. Vincidtiveness.

REVENGELESS, a. revenj’less. Unrevenged.

REVENGEMENT, n. revenj’ment. Revenge; return of an injury. [Little used.]

REVENGER, n.

1. One who revenges; one who inflicts pain on another spitefully in return for an injury.

2. One who inflicts just punishment for injuries. [Less proper.]

REVENGING, ppr.

1. Inflicting pain or evil spitefully for injury or affront received.

2. Vindicating; punishing.

REVENGINGLY, adv. With revenge; with the spirit of revenge; vindictively.

REVENUE, n. [L. revenio; re and venio, to come.]

1. In a general sense, the annual rents, profits, interest or issues of any species of property, real or personal, belonging to an individual or to the public. When used of individuals, it is equivalent to income. In modern usage, income is applied more generally to the rents and profits of individuals, and revenue to those of the state. In the latter case, revenue is

2. The annual produce of taxes, excise, customs, duties, rents, etc. which a nation or state collects and receives into the treasury for public use.

3. Return; reward; as a rich revenue of praise.

4. A fleshy lump on the head of a deer.

REVERB, v.t. To reverberate. [Not in use.]

REVERBERANT, a. [L. reverberans. See Reverberate.]

Returning sound; resounding; driving back.

REVERBERATE, v.t. [L. reverbero; re and verbero, to beat.]

1. To return, as sound; to send back; to echo; as, an arch reverberates the voice.

2. To send or beat back; to repel; to reflect; as, to reverberate rays of light

3. To send or drive back; to repel from side to side; as flame reverberated in a furnace.

REVERBERATE, v.i.

1. To be driven back; to be repelled, as rays of light, or sound.

2. To resound.

And even at hand, a drum is ready brac’d, that shall reverberate all as well as thine.

REVERBERATE, a. Reverberant.

REVERBERATED, pp. Driven back; sent back; driven from side to side.

REVERBERATING, ppr. Driving or sending back; reflecting, as light; echoing, as sound.

REVERBERATION, n.

The act of driving or sending back; particularly, the act of reflecting light and heat or repelling sound. Thus we speak of the reverberation of the rays of light from an object, the reverberation of sound in echoes, or the reverberation of heat or flame in a furnace.

REVERBERATORY, a. Returning or driving back; as a reverberatory furnace or kiln.

REVERBERATORY, n. A furnace with a kind of dome that reflects the flame upon a vessel placed within it, so as to surround it.

REVERE, v.t. [L. revereor; re and vereor, to fear.]

To regard with fear mingled with respect and affection; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation.

Marcus Aurelius, whom he rather revered as his father, than treated as his partner in the empire -

REVERED, pp. Regarded with fear mingled with respect and affection.

REVERENCE, n. [L. reverentia.]

1. Fear mingled with respect and esteem; veneration.

When quarrels and factions are carried openly, it is a sign that the reverence of government is lost.

The fear acceptable to God, is a filial fear, an awful reverence of the divine nature, proceeding from a just esteem of his perfections, which produces in us an inclination to his service and an unwillingness to offend him.

Reverence is nearly equivalent to veneration, but expresses something less of the same emotion. It differs from awe, which is an emotion compounded of fear, dread or terror, with admiration of something great, but not necessarily implying love or affection. We feel reverence for a parent, and for an upright magistrate, but we stand in awe of a tyrant. This distinction may not always be observed.

2. An act of respect or obeisance; a bow or courtesy. 2 Samuel 9:6.

3. A title of the clergy.

4. A poetical title of a father.

REVERENCE, v.t. To regard with reverence; to regard with fear mingled with respect and affection. We reverence superiors for their age, their authority and their virtues. We ought to reverence parents and upright judges and magistrates. We ought to reverence the Supreme Being, his word and his ordinances.

Those that I reverence, those I fear, the wise.

They will reverence my son. Matthew 21:37.

Let the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:33.

REVERENCED, pp. Regarded with fear mingled with respect and affection.

REVERENCER, n. One that regards with reverence.

REVERENCING, ppr. Regarding with fear mixed with respect and affection.

REVEREND, a. [L. reverendus.]

1. Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; as reverend and gracious senators.

A reverend sire among them came.

[This epithet is, I believe, never applied to the Supreme Being, or to his laws or institutions. In lieu of it we use venerable.]

2. A title of respect given to the clergy or ecclesiastics. We style a clergyman reverend; a bishop is styled right reverend; an archbishop most reverend. The religious in catholic countries, are styled reverend fathers; abbesses, prioresses, etc. reverend mothers. In Scotland, as in the United States, the clergy are individually styled reverend. A synod is styled very reverend, and the general assembly venerable.

REVERENT, a.

1. Expressing reverence, veneration or submission; as reverent words or terms; a reverent posture in prayer; reverent behavior.

2. Submissive; humble; impressed with reverence.

They prostrate fell before him reverent.

REVERENTIAL, a. [from reverence.] Proceeding from reverence, or expressing it; as reverential fear or awe; reverential gratitude or esteem.

Religion - consisting in a reverential esteem of things sacred.

REVERENTIALLY, adv. With reverence, or show of reverence.

REVERENTLY, adv.

1. With reverence; with respectful regard.

Chide him for faults, and do it reverently.

2. With veneration; with fear of what is great or terrifying.

So reverently men quit the open air, when thunder speaks the angry Gods abroad.

REVERER, n. One who reveres or venerates.

REVERIE. [See Revery.]

REVERING, ppr. Regarding with fear mixed with respect and affection; venerating.

REVERSAL, a. [See Reverse.] Intended to reverse; implying reverse.

REVERSAL, n. [from reverse.] A change or overthrowing; as the reversal of a judgment, which amounts to an official declaration that it is false. So we speak of the reversal of an attainder or of an outlawry, by which the sentence is rendered void.

REVERSE, v.t. revers’. [L. reversus, reverto; re and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn upside down; as, to reverse a pyramid or cone.

2. To overturn; to subvert; as, to reverse the state.

3. To turn back; as with swift wheel reverse.

4. To turn to the contrary; as, to reverse the scene.

- Or affectations quite reverse the soul.

5. To put each in the place of the other; as, to reverse the distinctions of good and evil.

6. In law, to overthrow by a contrary decision; to make void; to annul; as, to reverse a judgment, sentence or decree. Judgments are reversed by writs of error; and for certain causes, may be reversed without such writs.

7. To recall. [Not in use.]

REVERSE, v.i. revers’. To return. [Not in use.]

REVERSE, n. revers’.

1. Change; vicissitude; a turn of affairs; in a good sense.

By a strange reverse of things, Justinian’s law, which for many ages was neglected, now obtains -

2. Change for the worse; misfortune. By an unexpected reverse of circumstances, an affluent man is reduced to poverty.

3. A contrary; an opposite.

The performances to which God has annexed the promises of eternity, are just the reverse of all the pursuits of sense.

REVERSED, pp.

1. Turned side for side or end for end; changed to the contrary.

2. In law, overthrown or annulled.

3. a. In botany, resupinate; having the upper lip larger and more expanded than the lower; as a reversed corol.

REVERSEDLY, adv. In a reversed manner.

REVERSELESS, a. revers’less. Not to be reversed; irreversible.

REVERSELY, adv. revers’ly. On the other hand; on the opposite.

REVERSIBLE, a. That may be reversed; as a reversible judgment or sentence.

REVERSING, ppr. Turning upside down; subverting; turning the contrary way; annulling.

REVERSION, n. [L. reversio.]

1. In general sense, a returning; appropriately, in law, the returning of an estate to the grantor or his heirs, after a particular estate is ended. Hence,

2. The residue of an estate left in the grantor, to commence in possession after the determination of the particular estate granted. Thus when there is a gift in tail, the reversion of the fee is, without any special reservation, vested in the donor by act of law.

3. Succession; right to future possession or enjoyment.

4. In algebra, reversion of series, a kind of reversed operation of an infinite series.

REVERSIONARY, a. Pertaining to a reversion, that is, to be enjoyed in succession, or after the determination of a particular estate; as a reversionary interest or right.

REVERSIONER, n. The person who has a reversion, or who is entitled to lands or tenements, after a particular estate granted is determined.

REVERT, v.t. [L. reverto; re and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn back; to turn to the contrary; to reverse.

Till happy chance revert the cruel scene.

[Instead of revert, in this sense, reverse is generally used.]

2. To drive or turn back; to reverberate; as a stream reverted.

REVERT, v.i.

1. To return; to fall back.

2. In law, to return to the proprietor, after the determination of a particular estate. A feud granted to a man for life, or to him and his issue male, or his death or failure of issue male, reverted to the lord or proprietor.

REVERT, n. In music, return; recurrence; antistrophy.

REVERTED, pp. Reversed; turned back.

REVERTENT, n. A medicine which restores the natural order of the inverted irritative motions in the animal system.

REVERTIBLE, a. That may revert or return.

REVERTING, ppr. Turning back; returning.

REVERTIVE, a. Changing; reversing.

REVERY, n.

1. Properly, a raving or delirium; but its sense, as generally used, is a loose or irregular train of thoughts, occurring in musing or meditation; wild, extravagant conceit of the fancy or imagination. There are reveries and extravagancies which pass through the minds of wise men as well as fools.

2. A chimera; a vision.

REVEST, v.t. [Low L. revestio; re and vestio, to clothe.]

1. to clothe again.

2. To reinvest; to vest again with possession or office; as, to revest a magistrate with authority.

3. to lay out in something less fleeting than money; as, to revest money in stocks.

REVEST, v.i. to take effect again, as a title; to return to a former owner; as, the title or right revest in A, after alienation.

REVESTED, pp. clothed again; invested anew.

REVESTIARY, n. [L. revestio.]

The place or apartment in a church or temple where the dresses are deposited; now contracted into vestry.

REVETMENT, n.

In fortification, a strong wall on the outside of a rampart, intended to support the earth.

REVIBRATE, v.i. [re and vibrate.] to vibrate back or in return.

REVIBRATION, n. the act of vibrating back.

REVICTION, n. [L. re and vivo, victum, to live.] Return to life. [Not used.]

REVICTUAL, v.t. revit’l. [re and victual.] to furnish again with provisions.

REVICTUALED, pp. revit’ld. furnished with victuals again.

REVICTUALING, ppr. revit’ling. supplying again with provisions.

REVIE, v.t. [re and vie.] to accede to the proposal of a stake and to overtop it; an old phrase at cards. Obs.

REVIE, v.i. To return the challenge of a wager at cards; to make a retort.

REVIEW, v.t. revu’. [re and view.]

1. To look back on.

2. To see again.

I shall review Sicilia.

3. To view and examine again; to reconsider; to revise; as, to review a manuscript. It is said that Virgil was prevented by death from reviewing the AEneis.

4. To retrace.

Shall I the long laborious scene review?

5. To survey; to inspect; to examine the state of any thing, particularly of troops; as, to review a regiment.

REVIEW, n. revu’. [L. video, to see.]

1. A second or repeated view; a re-examination; resurvey; as a review of the works of nature; a review of life.

2. Revision; a second examination with a view to amendment or improvement; as an author’s review of his works.

3. In military affairs, an examination or inspection of troops under arms, by a general or commander, for the purpose of ascertaining the state of their discipline, equipment, etc.

4. In literature, a critical examination of a new publication, with remarks.

5. A periodical pamphlet containing examinations or analyses of new publications; as the Critical Review.

Commission of review, a commission granted by the British king to revise the sentence of the court of delegates.

REVIEWED, pp. Resurveyed; re-examined; inspected; critically analyzed.

REVIEWER, n. One that reviews or re-examines; an inspector; one that critically examines a new publication, and communicates his opinion upon its merits.

REVIEWING, ppr. Looking back on; seeing again; revising; re-examining; inspecting, as an army; critically examining and remarking on.

REVIGORATE, v.t. [re and vigor.] To give new vigor to. [Not in use.]

REVILE, v.t. [re and vile.]

To reproach; to treat with opprobrious and contemptuous language.

She revileth him to his face.

Thou shalt not revile the gods. Exodus 22:28.

Blessed are ye when men shall revile you. Matthew 5:11.

REVILE, n. Reproach; contumely; contemptuous language. [Not in use.]

REVILED, pp. Reproached; treated with opprobrious or contemptuous language.

REVILEMENT, n. Reproach; contemptuous language.

REVILER, n. One who reviles another; one who treats another with contemptuous language.

REVILING, ppr. Reproaching; treating with language of contempt.

REVILING, n. The act of reviling or treating with reproachful words. Isaiah 51:7.

REVILINGLY, adv. With reproachful or contemptuous language; with opprobrium.

REVINDICATE, v.t. To vindicate again; to reclaim; to demand and take back what has been lost.

REVISAL, n. [from revise.] Revision; the act of reviewing and re-examining for correction and improvement; as the revisal of a manuscript; the revisal of a proof sheet.

REVISE, v.t. s as z. [L. revisus, reviso, to revisit; re and viso, to see, to visit.]

1. To review; to re-examine; to look over with care for correction; as, to revise a writing; to revise a proof sheet.

2. To review, alter and amend; as, to revise statutes.

REVISE, n.

1. Review; re-examination.

2. Among printers, a second proof sheet; a proof sheet taken after the first correction.

REVISED, pp. Reviewed; re-examined for correction.

REVISER, n. One that revises or re-examines for correction.

REVISING, ppr. Reviewing; re-examining for correction.

REVISION, n.

1. The act of reviewing; review; re-examination for correction; as the revision of a book or writing or of a proof sheet; a revision of statutes.

2. Enumeration of inhabitants.

REVISIONAL, REVISIONARY, a. Pertaining to revision.

REVISIT, v.t. s as z. [L. revisito; re and visito, from viso, to see or visit.] To visit again

Let the pale sire revisit Thebes.

REVISITATION, n. The act of revisiting.

REVISITED, pp. Visited again.

REVISITING, ppr. Visiting again.

REVISOR, n. In Russia, one who has taken the number of inhabitants.

REVIVAL, n. [from revive.]

1. Return, recall or recovery to life from death or apparent death; as the revival of a drowned person.

2. Return or recall to activity from a state of languor; as the revival of spirits.

3. Recall, return or recovery from a state of neglect, oblivion, obscurity or depression; as the revival of letters or learning.

4. Renewed and more active attention to religion; an awakening of men to their spiritual concerns.

REVIVE, v.i. [L. revivisco; re and vivo, to live.]

1. To return to life; to recover life.

The soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 1 Kings 17:22; Romans 14:9.

2. To recover new life or vigor; to be reanimated after depression.

When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived. Genesis 45:27.

3. To recover from a state of neglect, oblivion, obscurity or depression. Learning revived in Europe after the middle ages.

4. In chimistry, to recover its natural state, as a metal.

Sin revives, when the conscience is awakened by a conviction of guilt. Romans 7:9.

REVIVE, v.t.

1. To bring again to life; to reanimate.

2. To raise from languor, depression or discouragement; to rouse; as, to revive the spirits or courage.

3. To renew; to bring into action after a suspension; as, to revive a project or scheme that had been laid aside.

4. To renew in the mind or memory; to recall.

The mind has the power in many cases to revive ideas or perceptions, which it has once had.

5. To recover from a state of neglect or depression; as, to revive letters or learning.

6. To recomfort; to quicken; to refresh with joy or hope.

Wilt thou not revive us again? Psalm 85:6.

7. To bring again into notice.

Revive the libels born to die.

8. In chimistry, to restore or reduce to its natural state or to its metallic state; as, to revive a metal after calcination.

REVIVED, pp. Brought to life; reanimated; renewed; recovered; quickened; cheered; reduced to a metallic state.

REVIVER, n. That which revives; that which invigorates or refreshes; one that redeems from neglect or depression.

REVIVIFICATE, v.t. [L. re and vivifico; vivus, alive, and facio, to make.]

To revive; to recall or restore to life. [Little used.]

REVIVIFICATION, n.

1. Renewal of life; restoration of life; or the act of recalling to life.

2. In chimistry, the reduction of a metal to its metallic state.

REVIVIFY, v.t.

1. To recall to life; to reanimate.

2. To give new life or vigor to.

REVIVING, ppr. Bringing to life again; reanimating; renewing; recalling to the memory; recovering from neglect or depression; refreshing with joy or hope; reducing to a metallic state.

REVIVISCENCE, REVIVISCENCY, n. Renewal of life; return to life.

REVIVISCENT, a. Reviving; regaining or restoring life or action.

REVIVOR, n. In law, the reviving of a suit which is abated by the death of any of the parties. This is done by a bill of revivor.

REVOCABLE, a. [L. revocabilis. See Revoke.]

That may be recalled or revoked; that may be repealed or annulled; as a revocable edict or grant.