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Webster 1913 Edition

Vatican

Vat′i-can

,
Noun.
[L.
Vaticanus
,
mons
, or
collis
,
Vaticanus
, the Vatican hill, in Rome, on the western bank of the Tiber: cf. F.
Vatican
, It.
Vaticano
.]
A magnificent assemblage of buildings at Rome, near the church of St. Peter, including the pope’s palace, a museum, a library, a famous chapel, etc.
☞ The word is often used to indicate the papal authority.
Thunders of the Vatican
,
the anathemas, or denunciations, of the pope.

Webster 1828 Edition

Vatican

VAT'ICAN

,
Noun.
In Rome, the celebrated church of St. Peter; and also, a magnificent palace of the pope; situated at the foot of one of the seven hills on which Rome was built. Hence the phrase, the thunders of the Vatican, meaning the anathemas or denunciations of the pope.

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