Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Antiquity

An-tiq′ui-ty

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Antiquities
.
[L.
antiquitas
, fr.
antiquus
: cf. F.
antiquité
. See
Antique
.]
1.
The quality of being ancient; ancientness; great age;
as, a statue of remarkable
antiquity
; a family of great
antiquity
.
2.
Old age.
[Obs.]
It not your voice broken? . . . and every part about you blasted with
antiquity
?
Shakespeare
3.
Ancient times; former ages; times long since past;
as, Cicero was an eloquent orator of
antiquity
.
4.
The ancients; the people of ancient times.
That such pillars were raised by Seth all
antiquity
has [GREEK]vowed.
Sir W. Raleigh.
5.
An old gentleman.
[Obs.]
You are a shrewd
antiquity
, neighbor Clench.
B. Jonson.
6.
A relic or monument of ancient times; as, a coin, a statue, etc.; an ancient institution.
[In this sense, usually in the plural.]
“Heathen antiquities.”
Bacon.

Webster 1828 Edition


Antiquity

ANTIQ'UITY

,
Noun.
[L. antiquitas.]
1.
Ancient times; former ages; times long since past; a very indefinite term; as, Cicero was the most eloquent orator of antiquity.
2.
The ancients; the people of ancient times; as, the fact is admitted by all antiquity.
Meaning that mankind are inclined to verify the predictions of antiquity.
3.
Ancientness; great age; the quality of being ancient; as, a statue of remarkable antiquity; a family of great antiquity.
4.
Old age; a ludicrous sense used by Shak.
5.
The remains of ancient times. In this sense it is usually or always plural. Antiquities comprehend all the remains of ancient times; all the monuments, coins, inscriptions, edifices, history and fragments of literature, offices, habiliments, weapons, manners, ceremonies; in short, whatever respects any of the ancient nations of the earth.

Definition 2024


Antiquity

Antiquity

See also: antiquity

English

Proper noun

Antiquity

  1. The period of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Translations

antiquity

antiquity

See also: Antiquity

English

Noun

antiquity (countable and uncountable, plural antiquities)

  1. Ancient times; former ages; times long since past.
    Cicero was an eloquent orator of antiquity.
  2. The ancients; the people of ancient times.
    • That such pillars were raised by Seth all antiquity has avowed. Sir W. Raleigh.
  3. (obsolete) An old gentleman.
    • You are a shrewd antiquity, neighbor Clench. B. Jonson.
  4. (historical) The historical period preceding the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500), primarily relating to European history.
  5. (often constructed as an uncountable plural) A relic or monument of ancient times; as, a coin, a statue, etc.; an ancient institution.
  6. State of being ancient or of ancient lineage.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 5, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […], the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.

Related terms

Translations

External links

  • antiquity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • antiquity in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911