Tergite
(Ter"gite) n. (Zoöl.) The dorsal portion of an arthromere or somite of an articulate animal. See
Illust. under Coleoptera.
Tergiversate
(Ter"gi*ver*sate) v. i. [L. tergiversatus, p. p. of tergiversari to turn one's back, to shift;
tergum back + versare, freq. of vertere to turn. See Verse.] To shift; to practice evasion; to use subterfuges; to
shuffle. [R.] Bailey.
Tergiversation
(Ter`gi*ver*sa"tion) n. [L. tergiversario: cf. F. tergiversation.]
1. The act of tergiversating; a shifting; shift; subterfuge; evasion.
Writing is to be preferred before verbal conferences, as being freer from passions and tergiversations.
Abp. Bramhall. 2. Fickleness of conduct; inconstancy; change.
The colonel, after all his tergiversations, lost his life in the king's service.
Clarendon. Tergiversator
(Ter"gi*ver*sa`tor) n. [L.] One who tergiversates; one who suffles, or practices evasion.
Tergum
(||Ter"gum) n.; pl. Terga [L., the back.] (Zoöl.) (a) The back of an animal. (b) The dorsal
piece of a somite of an articulate animal. (c) One of the dorsal plates of the operculum of a cirriped.
Terin
(Te"rin) n. [F. tarin, Prov. F. tairin, térin, probably from the Picard tère tender.] (Zoöl.) A small
yellow singing bird, with an ash-colored head; the European siskin. Called also tarin.
Term
(Term) n. [F. terme, L. termen, -inis, terminus, a boundary limit, end; akin to Gr. . See Thrum a
tuft, and cf. Terminus, Determine, Exterminate.]
1. That which limits the extent of anything; limit; extremity; bound; boundary.
Corruption is a reciprocal to generation, and they two are as nature's two terms, or boundaries.
Bacon. 2. The time for which anything lasts; any limited time; as, a term of five years; the term of life.
3. In universities, schools, etc., a definite continuous period during which instruction is regularly given to
students; as, the school year is divided into three terms.
4. (Geom.) A point, line, or superficies, that limits; as, a line is the term of a superficies, and a superficies
is the term of a solid.
5. (Law) A fixed period of time; a prescribed duration; as: (a) The limitation of an estate; or rather, the
whole time for which an estate is granted, as for the term of a life or lives, or for a term of years. (b) A
space of time granted to a debtor for discharging his obligation. (c) The time in which a court is held or
is open for the trial of causes. Bouvier.
In England, there were formerly four terms in the year, during which the superior courts were open: Hilary
term, beginning on the 11th and ending on the 31st of January; Easter term, beginning on the 15th of
April, and ending on the 8th of May; Trinity term, beginning on the 22d day of May, and ending on the
12th of June; Michaelmas term, beginning on the 2d and ending on the 25th day of November. The rest
of the year was called vacation. But this division has been practically abolished by the Judicature Acts
of 1873, 1875, which provide for the more convenient arrangement of the terms and vacations. In the
