Dura mater
(||Du"ra ma"ter) [L., lit., hard mother. The membrane was called mater, or mother, because
it was formerly thought to give rise to every membrane of the body.] (Anat.) The tough, fibrous membrane,
which lines the cavity of the skull and spinal column, and surrounds the brain and spinal cord; — frequently
abbreviated to dura.
Duramen
(||Du*ra"men) n. [L., hardness, a hardened, i. e., ligneous, vine branch, fr. durare to harden.
See Dure.] (Bot.) The heartwood of an exogenous tree.
Durance
(Dur"ance) n. [OF. durance duration, fr. L. durans, -antis, p. pr. durare to endure, last. See
Dure, and cf. Durant.]
1. Continuance; duration. See Endurance. [Archaic]
Of how short durance was this new-made state!
Dryden. 2. Imprisonment; restraint of the person; custody by a jailer; duress. Shak. "Durance vile." Burns.
In durance, exile, Bedlam or the mint.
Pope. 3. (a) A stout cloth stuff, formerly made in imitation of buff leather and used for garments; a sort of
tammy or everlasting.
Where didst thou buy this buff? let me not live but I will give thee a good suit of durance.
J. Webster. (b) In modern manufacture, a worsted of one color used for window blinds and similar purposes.
Durancy
(Dur"an*cy) n. Duration. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
Durant
(Dur"ant) n. [F. durant, p. pr. of durer to last. Cf. Durance.] See Durance, 3.
Durante
(||Du*ran"te) prep. [L., abl. case of the p. pr. of durare to last.] (Law) During; as, durante
vita, during life; durante bene placito, during pleasure.
Duration
(Du*ra"tion) n. [OF. duration. See Dure.] The state or quality of lasting; continuance in time; the
portion of time during which anything exists.
It was proposed that the duration of Parliament should be limited.
Macaulay.
Soon shall have passed our own human duration.
D. Webster. Durative
(Dur"a*tive) a. Continuing; not completed; implying duration.
Its durative tense, which expresses the thought of it as going on.
J. Byrne.
