%acity%

n. The practice or habit of drinking too much; tippling. Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Capacities [ L. capacitus, fr. capax, capacis; fr. F. capacité. See Capacious. ] 1. The power of receiving or containing; extent of room or space; passive power; -- used in reference to physical things. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had our great palace the capacity
To camp this host, we all would sup together. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The capacity of the exhausted cylinder. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The power of receiving and holding ideas, knowledge, etc.; the comprehensiveness of the mind; the receptive faculty; capability of understanding or feeling. [ 1913 Webster ]

Capacity is now properly limited to these [ the mere passive operations of the mind ]; its primary signification, which is literally room for, as well as its employment, favors this; although it can not be denied that there are examples of its usage in an active sense. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Ability; power pertaining to, or resulting from, the possession of strength, wealth, or talent; possibility of being or of doing. [ 1913 Webster ]

The capacity of blessing the people. Alex. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A cause with such capacities endued. Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Outward condition or circumstances; occupation; profession; character; position; as, to work in the capacity of a mason or a carpenter. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) Legal or moral qualification, as of age, residence, character, etc., necessary for certain purposes, as for holding office, for marrying, for making contracts, wills, etc.; legal power or right; competency. [ 1913 Webster ]

Capacity for heat, the power of absorbing heat. Substances differ in the amount of heat requisite to raise them a given number of thermometric degrees, and this difference is the measure of, or depends upon, what is called their capacity for heat. See Specific heat, under Heat.

Syn. -- Ability; faculty; talent; capability; skill; efficiency; cleverness. See Ability. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Greediness of appetite for flesh. [ Sportive. ] Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. dicacitas: cf. F. dicacité. See Dicacious. ] Pertness; sauciness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Dispute, v. i. ] Proneness to dispute. [ Obs. ] Bp. Ward. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. edacitas. ] Greediness; voracity; ravenousness; rapacity. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. efficacitas: cf. F. efficacité. ] Efficacy. [ R. ] J. Fryth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. feracitas. ] The state of being feracious or fruitful. [ Obs. ] Beattie. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L fugacitas: cf. F. fugacité. ] 1. The quality of being fugacious; fugaclousness; volatility; as, fugacity of spirits. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Uncertainty; instability. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. furacitas. ] Addictedness to theft; thievishness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Incapacities [ Cf. F. incapacité. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Lack of capacity; lack of physical or intellectual power; inability. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) Lack of legal ability or competency to do, give, transmit, or receive something; inability; disqualification; as, the inacapacity of minors to make binding contracts, etc.

Syn. -- Inability; incapability; incompetency; unfitness; disqualification; disability. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of veracity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. loquacitas: cf. F. loquacité. ] The habit or practice of talking continually or excessively; inclination to talk too much; talkativeness; garrulity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too great loquacity and too great taciturnity by fits. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Mendacities [ L. mendacitas. ] 1. The quality or state of being mendacious; a habit of lying. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A falsehood; a lie. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Lying; deceit; untruth; falsehood. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Disposition to threaten. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. mordacitas: cf. F. mordacité. See Mordacious. ] The quality of being mordacious; biting severity, or sarcastic quality. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. nugacitas, fr. nugax, -acis, trifling. ] Futility; trifling talk or behavior; drollery. [ R. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. opacitas: cf. F. opacité. ] 1. The state of being opaque; the quality of a body which renders it impervious to the rays of light; want of transparency; opaqueness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Obscurity; want of clearness. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. perspicacitas: cf. F. perspicacité. See Perspicacious. ] The state of being perspicacious; acuteness of sight or of intelligence; acute discernment. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. pertinacité. ] The quality or state of being pertinacious; obstinacy; perseverance; persistency. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Obstinacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Obstinacy; pervicaciousness. [ Obs. ] Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. procacitas. ] Forwardness; pertness; petulance. [ R. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. pugnacitas: cf. F. pugnacité. ] Inclination or readiness to fight; quarrelsomeness. “ A national pugnacity of character.” Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. rapacitas: cf. F. rapacité. See Rapacious. ] 1. The quality of being rapacious; rapaciousness; ravenousness; as, the rapacity of pirates; the rapacity of wolves. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or practice of extorting or exacting by oppressive injustice; exorbitant greediness of gain. “The rapacity of some ages.” Sprat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sagacitas. See Sagacious. ] The quality of being sagacious; quickness or acuteness of sense perceptions; keenness of discernment or penetration with soundness of judgment; shrewdness. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some [ brutes ] show that nice sagacity of smell. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Natural sagacity improved by generous education. V. Knox. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Penetration; shrewdness; judiciousness. -- Sagacity, Penetration. Penetration enables us to enter into the depths of an abstruse subject, to detect motives, plans, etc. Sagacity adds to penetration a keen, practical judgment, which enables one to guard against the designs of others, and to turn everything to the best possible advantage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. salacitas: cf. F. salacité ] Strong propensity to venery; lust; lecherousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being saponaceous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. sequacitas. ] Quality or state of being sequacious; sequaciousness. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. tenacitas: cf. F. ténacité. See Tenacious. ] 1. The quality or state of being tenacious; as, tenacity, or retentiveness, of memory; tenacity, or persistency, of purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That quality of bodies which keeps them from parting without considerable force; cohesiveness; the effect of attraction; -- as distinguished from brittleness, fragility, mobility, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That quality of bodies which makes them adhere to other bodies; adhesiveness; viscosity. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Physics) The greatest longitudinal stress a substance can bear without tearing asunder, -- usually expressed with reference to a unit area of the cross section of the substance, as the number of pounds per square inch, or kilograms per square centimeter, necessary to produce rupture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Want of veracity; untruthfulness; as, unveracity of heart. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. véracité. ] The quality or state of being veracious; habitual observance of truth; truthfulness; truth; as, a man of veracity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. vivicitas: cf. F. vivacité. ] The quality or state of being vivacious. Specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(a) Tenacity of life; vital force; natural vigor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The vivacity of some of these pensioners is little less than a miracle, they lived so long. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) Life; animation; spiritedness; liveliness; sprightliness; as, the vivacity of a discourse; a lady of great vivacity; vivacity of countenance. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Liveliness; gayety. See Liveliness. [ 1913 Webster ]