erect
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English erect, a borrowing from Latin ērectus (“upright”), past participle of ērigō (“raise, set up”), from ē- (“out”) + regō (“to direct, keep straight, guide”).
AdjectiveEdit
erect (comparative more erect, superlative most erect)
- Upright; vertical or reaching broadly upwards.
- 1789, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 6, chapter 64.
- Among the Greek colonies and churches of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect — a column in a scene of ruins.
- 1789, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 6, chapter 64.
- (of body parts) Rigid, firm; standing out perpendicularly, especially as the result of stimulation.
- (of a man) Having an erect penis
- (obsolete) Bold; confident; free from depression; undismayed.
- 1827, John Keble, The Christian Year
- But who is he, by years / Bowed, but erect in heart?
- 1827, John Keble, The Christian Year
- (obsolete) Directed upward; raised; uplifted.
- 1715, Alexander Pope, The Temple of Fame:
- His piercing eyes, erect, appear to view / Superior worlds, and look all nature through.
- Watchful; alert.
- 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
- vigilant and erect attention of mind
- 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
- (heraldry) Elevated, as the tips of wings, heads of serpents, etc.
AntonymsEdit
- (rigid; standing out perpendicularly): flaccid
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
vertical in position
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standing out perpendicularly
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English erecten, from the adjective (see above).
VerbEdit
erect (third-person singular simple present erects, present participle erecting, simple past and past participle erected)
- (transitive) To put up by the fitting together of materials or parts.
- to erect a house or a fort
- (transitive) To cause to stand up or out.
- To raise and place in an upright or perpendicular position; to set upright; to raise.
- to erect a pole, a flagstaff, a monument, etc.
- To lift up; to elevate; to exalt; to magnify.
- 1595, Samuel Daniel, “(please specify the folio number)”, in The First Fowre Bookes of the Ciuile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke, London: […] P[eter] Short for Simon Waterson, OCLC 28470143:
- that didst his state above his hopes erect
- 1700, [John] Dryden, Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:, Preface
- I, who am a party, am not to erect myself into a judge.
- To animate; to encourage; to cheer.
- a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, Of Contentment (sermon)
- It raiseth the dropping spirit, erecting it to a loving complaisance.
- a. 1677, Isaac Barrow, Of Contentment (sermon)
- (astrology) To cast or draw up (a figure of the heavens, horoscope etc.).
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 332:
- In 1581 Parliament made it a statutory felony to erect figures, cast nativities, or calculate by prophecy how long the Queen would live or who would succeed her.
- 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society 2012, p. 332:
- To set up as an assertion or consequence from premises, etc.
- 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A. Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], OCLC 152706203:
- from fallacious foundations, and misapprehended mediums, erecting conclusions no way inferrible from their premises
- a. 1705, John Locke, “An Examination of P[ère] Malebranche’s Opinion of Seeing All Things in God”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, OCLC 6963663:
- Malebranche erects this proposition.
- To set up or establish; to found; to form; to institute.
- 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
- to erect a new commonwealth
- 1812, Arthur Collins & Sir Egerton Brydges, Peerage of England, F.C. and J. Rivington et al, page 330:
- In 1686, he was appointed one of the Commissioners in the new ecclesiastical commission erected by King James, and was proud of that honour.
- 1594, Richard Hooker, Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to put up by the fitting together of materials or parts
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to cause to stand up or out