Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun in law, an irresistible natural force, exempting one, barring special contract or fraud, from contract obligation. In both the civil and the common law the term has nearly the meaning of “act of God.”
- noun An abbreviation of
viscount . Also written Visc., Visct. - noun Vision; sight; appearance.
- noun An old spelling of
vise . - noun Force.
- noun Hence— Moral indisposition to commit one's self to an energetic line of action; mental sluggishness.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Force; power.
- noun Abbreviation of
viscount . - noun Alternative spelling of
viss .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Some physicians imagined that diseases were caused by a change in the qualities of the fluids, which became sometimes acid, and sometimes alkaline; or on a change of figure of the particles of the blood: some imagined diseases to be owing to a rational principle, which they called the vis medicatrix naturae, which governed the actions of the body, and excited fever or commotion in the system to remove any hurtful cause, or expel any morbid matter, which might have insinuated itself into the body.
Popular Lectures on Zoonomia Or The Laws of Animal Life, in Health and Disease Thomas Garnett 1784
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I feel your pain vis a vis engorgement – only I never have problems getting milk OUT.
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It is always worth keeping a weather eye on the blog of that most haughty of Frenchmen, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who seems, a bit like the Communist Party of Great Britain vis-à-vis the Labour Party of the 1970s, to be able to propose something today for it to become mainstream policy tomorrow.
Archive 2008-02-10 2008
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It is always worth keeping a weather eye on the blog of that most haughty of Frenchmen, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who seems, a bit like the Communist Party of Great Britain vis-à-vis the Labour Party of the 1970s, to be able to propose something today for it to become mainstream policy tomorrow.
The Oracle Speaks 2008
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Peterson was a far healthier human being, of course, but I think that the whole narrative of extreme virtuosity as a Faustian bargain vis-à-vis the soul is a pretty indelible trope in all kinds of music.
Come Fly With Me Matthew Guerrieri 2008
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When Leibniz published essentially the same objection in his Brief Demonstration of a Notable Error of Descartes's and Others Concerning a Natural Law in 1686, it sparked a now famous dispute among natural philosophers that has become known as the vis viva controversy
Leibniz's Philosophy of Physics Mcdonough, Jeff 2007
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We are seeing precisely that drama playing out this very term vis-a-vis Grutter and Stenberg.
"John Roberts, Centrist." Ann Althouse 2006
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Q Any more presidential phone calls vis a vis Iraq?
Press Briefing By Mike Mccurry ITY National Archives 1998
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Nearly all this doctrine of impetus is transformed into a very correct mechanical theory if one is careful to substitute the expression vis viva for impetus.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 12: Philip II-Reuss 1840-1916 1913
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Terence imitated him at Rome, and obtained the preference over Plautus, though Cæsar called him but a demi-Menander, because he appears to want that spirit and vivacity which he calls the vis comica.
The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 05 Miscellaneous Pieces Samuel Johnson 1746
bilby commented on the word vis
For WeirdNet's next trick: watch him make a plural from a Roman numeral!
August 13, 2008
yarb commented on the word vis
Five and one and the Roman numeral 's', meaning the square of zero.
August 13, 2008
Gammerstang commented on the word vis
(noun) - (1) If the stay of the guest exceeds a week, it should be called "a visitation." If it includes a dining, or a tea-drinking, or evening-spending, it may be termed "a visit," while a mere call can be mentioned as "a vis."
--Eliza Leslie's Behaviour Book, 1859
(2) If you cannot make me a visit, at least make me a vis, if you can.
--Charles Southey's Life of the Rev. Andrew Bell, 1844
January 17, 2018