Word Finder - antiquity

definition

Ancient times; faraway history; former ages

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Cicero was an eloquent orator of antiquity.

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The people of ancient times.

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That such pillars were raised by Seth all antiquity has avowed. —Sir W. Raleigh.

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An old gentleman.

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You are a shrewd antiquity, neighbor Clench. —B. Jonson.

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(history) The historical period preceding the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500), primarily relating to European history.

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(often constructed as an uncountable plural) A relic or monument of ancient times, such as a coin, a statue, etc.; an ancient institution.

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The state of being ancient or of ancient lineage.

We should be as good as the worthies of antiquity, but partly by first knowing how good they were.

The material looks like crushed velvet, offering a feeling of antiquity.

While the Tigris never played the same role historically as the Euphrates, numerous remains of antiquity are to be seen along its course.

Their antiquity and their stagnation are attested by the remains found in their kitchen-middens.

The origin and antiquity of the episcopal mitre have been the subject of much debate.

As a scholar, he failed to recognize the distinctions between different periods of antiquity and various schools of thought.

From the 6th century onwards he was looked upon as one of the chief poets and musicians of antiquity, the inventor or perfecter of the lyre, who by his music and singing was able not only to charm the wild beasts, but even to draw the trees and rocks from their places, and to arrest the rivers in their course.

Amongst Cycads, Zamia is confined to the New World, and amongst Conifers, Araucaria, limited to the southern hemisphere, has scarcely less antiquity; Pinus reaches as far south as Cuba and Nicaragua.

Russia from a remote antiquity, but now navigable only in its lower portion, and the Embach, navigated by steamers to Dorpat (Yuryev).

Assuming that the lower strata were formed at approximately the same rate as the upper, we have an antiquity of from 12,000 to 14,000 years indicated for the first Neolithic settlement on this spot.

The second half of the 15th century was destined to be the age of academies in Italy, and the regnant passion for antiquity satisfied itself with any imitation, however grotesque, of Greek or Roman institutions.

The whole of antiquity seemed precious in the eyes of its discoverers; and even a thinker so acute as Pico di Mirandola dreamed of the possibility of extracting the essence of philosophical truth by indiscriminate collation of the most divergent doctrines.

He could not separate his philosophical from his astrological studies, and caught eagerly at any fragment of antiquity which seemed to support his cherished delusions.

The office of archdeacon is of great antiquity.

Ficino differed from the majority of his contemporaries in this that, while he felt the influence of antiquity no less strongly than they did, he never lost his faith in Christianity, or contaminated his morals by contact with paganism.

Zoroaster was already famous in classical antiquity as the founder of the widely renowned wisdom of the Magi.

The Pythagorean theory of numbers, Neoplatonic ideas of emanation, the Logos, the personified Wisdom, Gnosticism - these and many other features combine to show the antiquity of tendencies which, clad in other shapes, are already found in the old pre-Christian Oriental religions.

That eminent scholars both in the synagogue and in the church should have been induced to believe in its antiquity is owing to the fact that the Zohar embodies many older opinions and doctrines, and the undoubted antiquity of some of them has served as a lever in the minds of these scholars to raise the late speculations about the En Soph, the Sephiroth, &c., to the same age.

This is perhaps the most satisfactory comparison, for besides the Greco-Roman remains there is an extensive subterranean city of unknown date, which may be of great antiquity, though even this is still sub judice.

The industries include cotton-spinning, weaving, nail-making and oilworks, and there are frequent markets for cattle and sheep. Lanark is a place of considerable antiquity.

Another point agreed upon is that the Australian flora is one of vast antiquity.

This belief appears to be of a more primitive character than the view which places the seat of life in the heart, though we are accustomed to think that the latter was the prevailing view in antiquity.

It is believed by many critics that they were intended for the guidance of Aurelius's son, Commodus (q.v.); at all events they are generally considered as one of the most precious of the legacies of antiquity.

Stratford-on-Avon (Stradforde, Straf f ord, Straffordon-Avon) is a place of great antiquity.

Its extreme richness in number of species (it comprises six-sevenths of the European flora) and the extremely restricted areas of many of them point to a great antiquity.

It precludes the explanation of any common features in the dissevered porciuns of the tropical area of vegetation by lateral communirations, and throws back their origin to the remotest geological antiquity.

To the petty states this meant only a change of masters; they now became part of one of the largest empires of antiquity.

As a scene of human settlement this site is of immense antiquity.

It was from this source that he derived the wisdom which enabled him to give to the Cretans the excellent system of laws and governments that earned for him the reputation of being the greatest legislator of antiquity.

The antiquity of Asiatic history is often exaggerated.

Of no hero of antiquity do we possess so life-like a portrait.

This double identification enabled Cassiodorus to bring the favoured race into line with the peoples of classical antiquity, to interweave with their history stories about Hercules and the Amazons, to make them invade Egypt, to claim for them a share in the wisdom of the semi-mythical Scythian philosopher Zamolxis.

And thus the hasty pamphlet of a half-educated Gothic monk has been forced into prominence, almost into rivalry with the finished productions of the great writers of classical antiquity.

This conjoint valley of the Rion-Kura was in remote antiquity the site of several Greek colonial settlements, later the seat of successive kingdoms of the Georgians, and for centuries it has formed a bulwark against hostile invasions from the south and east.

The buildings are modern, but some scanty remains of rock-hewn wine presses and a few scattered sarcophagi mark the antiquity of the site.

The cultivation of the pear extends to the remotest antiquity.

Hence the nations of antiquity ascribed to it a divine origin; Brahma in Hindustan, Isis in Egypt, Demeter in Greece, and Ceres in Italy, were its founders.

This " intensive " culture in a more or less developed form was practised by the great nations of antiquity, and little decided advance was made till after the middle ages.

Along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and Romans, the Israelites are classed as one of the great agricultural nations of antiquity.

The grandeur and antiquity of the empire and the vicissitudes through which it passed, their long series of wars and the magnificent monuments erected by their ancient sovereigns, could not fail to leave numerous traces in the memory of so imaginative a people as the Persians.

There is every reason therefore to believe that Firdousi adhered faithfully to these records of antiquity, and that the poem is a perfect storehouse of the genuine traditions of the country.

But he entered into no diplomatic compromises; it was his deepest and most solemn conviction that the sacredoracles of Christendom embraced all the ideals of antiquity.

Africa, was settled in the Aegean area from a remote Neolithic antiquity, but, except in Crete, where insular security was combined with great natural fertility, remained in a savage and unproductive condition until far into the 4th millennium B.C. In Crete, however, it had long been developing a certain civilization, and at a period more or less contemporary with Dynasties XI.

The town is of high antiquity, and is partially surrounded by earthworks probably of British construction.

For our knowledge of their doctrinal system, however, we still depend chiefly upon the sacred books already mentioned, consisting of fragments of very various antiquity derived from an older literature.8 Of these the largest and most important is the Sidra' rabbd (" Great Book"), known also as Ginza - ("Treasure"), consisting of two unequal parts, of which the larger is called yamina (to the right hand) and the smaller s'znala (to the left hand), because of the manner in which they are bound together.

After the determination of a number of cosmopolitan insects that may well have been artificially introduced, there remains a large proportion of endemic species - sometimes referable to distinct genera - which suggest a high antiquity for the truly insular faunas.

The antiquity of the Coleoptera is further shown by the great diversity of larval form and habit that has arisen in the order, and the proof afforded by the hypermetamorphic beetles that the campodeiform preceded the eruciform larva has already been emphasized.

More dimly still visions of what the first bird may have been like could be reasonably entertained; and, passing even to a higher antiquity, the reptilian parent whence all birds have sprung was brought within reach of man's consciousness.

But that these three oldest-known forms of birds should differ so greatly from each other unmistakably points to a great antiquity for the class.

From the 3rd century B.C., and possibly for a longer period, earthenware water-coolers and other pottery have been manufactured in the town, and many of the vessels produced are noteworthy for their beauty of form and antiquity of design.