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Webster 1913 Edition


Urn

Urn

,
Noun.
[OE.
urne
, L.
urna
; perhaps fr.
urere
to burn, and sop called as being made of burnt clay (cf.
East
): cf. F.
urne
.]
1.
A vessel of various forms, usually a vase furnished with a foot or pedestal, employed for different purposes, as for holding liquids, for ornamental uses, for preserving the ashes of the dead after cremation, and anciently for holding lots to be drawn.
A rustic, digging in the ground by Padua, found an
urn
, or earthen pot, in which there was another
urn
.
Bp. Wilkins.
His scattered limbs with my dead body burn,
And once more join us in the pious
urn
.
Dryden.
2.
Fig.: Any place of burial; the grave.
Or lay these bones in an unworthy
urn
,
Tombless, with no remembrance over them.
Shakespeare
3.
(Rom. Antiq.)
A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a haft, wine measure. It was haft the amphora, and four times the congius.
4.
(Bot.)
A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca.
5.
A tea urn. See under
Tea
.
Urn mosses
(Bot.)
,
the order of true mosses; – so called because the capsules of many kinds are urn-shaped.

Urn

,
Verb.
T.
To inclose in, or as in, an urn; to inurn.
When horror universal shall descend,
And heaven’s dark concave
urn
all human race.
Young.

Webster 1828 Edition


Urn

URN

,
Noun.
[L. urna.]
1.
A kind of vase of a roundish form, largest in the middle; used as an ornament.
2.
A vessel for water.
3.
A vessel in which the ashes of the dead were formerly kept.
4.
A Roman measure for liquids, containing about three gallons and a half, wine measure. It was half the amphora, and four times the congius.

Definition 2024


urn

urn

See also: URN and urn.

English

Noun

urn (plural urns)

  1. A vase with a footed base.
    • Bishop Wilkins
      A rustic, digging in the ground by Padua, found an urn, or earthen pot, in which there was another urn.
    • Dryden
      His scattered limbs with my dead body burn, / And once more join us in the pious urn.
    • 1967, Sleigh, Barbara, Jessamy, 1993 edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, ISBN 0 340 19547 9, page 47:
      ‘You would take her side Marcus! You don’t know what it’s like at school. Mary Fibbs and all her friends start making coughing noises whenever I come near them, and then they all giggle and Mary says Grandfather mixes his cough medicine in the urns on top of the gate posts after dark with his umbrella, and now Jessamy! I only wish Harry was here. You’re all against me. I hate you all. I hate you!’
  2. A metal vessel for serving tea or coffee.
  3. A vessel for the ashes or cremains of a deceased person.
  4. (figuratively) Any place of burial; the grave.
    • Shakespeare
      Or lay these bones in an unworthy urn, / Tombless, with no remembrance over them.
  5. (historical, Roman antiquity) A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a half, wine measure. It was half the amphora, and four times the congius.
  6. (botany) A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca.

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