Tergiferous plants(Bot.), plants which bear their seeds on the back of their leaves, as ferns.

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

Tergiferous
(Ter*gif"er*ous) a. [L. tergum the back + -ferous.] Carrying or bearing upon the back.


  By PanEris using Melati.

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