From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Ascension \As*cen"sion\, n. [F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr.
ascendere. See {Ascend}.]
1. The act of ascending; a rising; ascent.
[1913 Webster]
2. Specifically: The visible ascent of our Savior on the
fortieth day after his resurrection. (--Acts i. 9.) Also,
Ascension Day.
[1913 Webster]
3. An ascending or arising, as in distillation; also that
which arises, as from distillation.
[1913 Webster]
Vaporous ascensions from the stomach. --Sir T.
Browne.
[1913 Webster]
{Ascension Day}, the Thursday but one before Whitsuntide, the
day on which commemorated our Savior's ascension into
heaven after his resurrection; -- called also {Holy
Thursday}.
{Right ascension} (Astron.), that degree of the equinoctial,
counted from the beginning of Aries, which rises with a
star, or other celestial body, in a right sphere; or the
arc of the equator intercepted between the first point of
Aries and that point of the equator that comes to the
meridian with the star; -- expressed either in degrees or
in time.
{Oblique ascension} (Astron.), an arc of the equator,
intercepted between the first point of Aries and that
point of the equator which rises together with a star, in
an oblique sphere; or the arc of the equator intercepted
between the first point of Aries and that point of the
equator that comes to the horizon with a star. It is
little used in modern astronomy.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
Ascension
n 1: (Christianity) celebration of the Ascension of Christ into
heaven; observed on the 40th day after Easter [syn:
{Ascension}, {Ascension Day}, {Ascension of the Lord}]
2: a movement upward; "they cheered the rise of the hot-air
balloon" [syn: {rise}, {rising}, {ascent}, {ascension}] [ant:
{fall}]
3: (New Testament) the rising of the body of Jesus into heaven
on the 40th day after his Resurrection [syn: {Ascension},
{Ascension of Christ}]
4: (astronomy) the rising of a star above the horizon
5: the act of changing location in an upward direction [syn:
{rise}, {ascent}, {ascension}, {ascending}]
|
