perceivance
English edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
perceivance (uncountable)
- (obsolete) Power of perception.
- 1642, John Milton, The Reason of Church-Government Urg’d against Prelaty; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume I, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 229:
- His particular End in every Man is, by the infliction of pain, damage, and diſgrace, that the Senſes and common perceivance might carry this Meſſage to the Soul within, that it is neither eaſeful, profitable, nor praiſ-worthy in this Life to do evil.
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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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 “perceivance”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)