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rosary

rosary is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 3 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(R.C.Ch.) A series of prayers (see Note below) arranged to be recited in order, on beads; also, a string of beads by which the prayers are counted. His idolized book, and the whole rosary of his prayers. Milton. Note: A rosary consists of fifteen decades. Each decade contains ten Ave Marias marked by small beads, preceded by a Paternoster, marked by a larger bead, and concluded by a Gloria Patri. Five decades make a chaplet, a third part of the rosary. Bp. Fitzpatrick.
  2. 2.A chapelet; a garland; a series or collection, as of beautiful thoughts or of literary selections. Every day propound to yourself a rosary or chaplet of good works to present to God at night. Jer. Taylor.
  3. 3.A coin bearing the figure of a rose, fraudulently circulated in Ireland in the 13th century for a penny. Rosary shell (Zoöl.), any marine gastropod shell of the genus Monodonta. They are top-shaped, bright-colored and pearly.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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