congiary

English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin congiarium, from congius (“a liquid measure”).

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒə.ɹi/, /ˈkɒn.d͡ʒi.ə.ɹi/

Noun edit

congiary (plural congiaries)

A present of corn, wine, oil, etc. or later of money, made by a Roman emperor to the soldiers or the people.
- 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  We often fee on them the emperor, and two or three general officers, sometimes sitting, and sometimes standing, as they made speeches, or distributed a congiary to the soldiers or people

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “congiary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)