erection
(ɪˈrɛkʃən)
Also 6 ereccion.
[ad. late L. ērectiōn-em, n. of action f. ērect-: see erect v. Cf. F. érection.]
The action of erecting, the condition of being erected.
† 1. A lifting up (of the hands); also, an elevated condition; (of hills) elevation, altitude.
| 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xv. xxiv. 371 There must be erection of hands, confession. 1612 Brerewood Lang. & Relig. xiii. 138 We are not to consider only the erection of the hils. a 1649 Winthrop New Eng. (1853) I. 136 The congregation testifying their consent by erection of hands. 1692 Ray Dissol. World iii. (1732) 32. |
† 2. Advancement in condition or dignity; elevation to office. Obs.
| 1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 26 The seid Ereccion and Creacion to the Kinges seid sone made to hym as to the Duke of Yorke. 1528 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. xxiii. 46 Synnes his erection to this dignitie, his Holynes, etc. 1661 Ussher Power Princes i. (1683) 47 God..knoweth when and in what place to appoint the Erection of Kings. |
b. concr. in Sc. Law. A temporal lordship ‘erected’ out of a spiritual benefice.
| 1754 Erskine Princ. Sc. Law (1809) 244 That all the superiorities of erections..should be declared to be in the crown. |
3. A setting upright; an upright position.
| 1622 Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer (1661) 39 By the erection of our bodies, expressing the elevation..of our souls. 1691 Ray Creation (1714) 221 Of this Erection of the body of Man the ancients have taken notice. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. i. §7. (1864) 86 The erections and bendings of the body are outlets for spontaneous activity. |
4. Phys. The action of making rigid any bodily organ containing erectile tissue; the condition of being so erected; also, an instance of the same.
| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 18 As to woorke an erection of those engendring parts. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 164 That your Actiuity may defeate and quell The sourse of all Erection. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 216 Which serve the erection to Coition. 1658 J. Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 1004 They are good for such as want erection. 1787 H. Watson in Med. Commun. II. 158 His penis was in a state of erection. 1885 Law Rep. Appeal X. 176 The appellant had an erection on each of two unsuccessful attempts. |
† 5. Exaltation, excitement, invigoration (of the mind, spirits, etc.). Obs.
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 88 a, Her peereles height my minde to high erection Drawes up. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1631) §713 When a Man would listen suddenly to any Thing, he Starteth; For the Starting is an Erection of the Spirits to attend. 1651 Clarendon Contempl. Ps. Tracts (1727) 542 It must be a wonderful erection of their spirits, to know that God will be a father of those fatherless. |
6. The action of rearing (a building, column, etc.). Also fig.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. iii. 44 When we see the figure of the house, Then must we rate the cost of the Erection. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World (J.), Counting Seth to be an hundred years old at the erection of them [pillars]. 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 20 In the erection of a more judicious and consistent Fabrick. 1786 W. Thompson Watson's Philip III (1839) 337 Prohibiting the erection of all Protestant fabrics on lands belonging to the church. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 95 The erection of such mills is not to be recommended universally. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 187 Their respect for his memory was evinced by the erection of a monumental column. |
b. concr. That which is built up or reared; a building, structure. lit. and fig.
| 1609 Manch. Crt. Leet Rec. (1885) II. 242 Two small erections latelye adjoyned to the houses called the red houses. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World ii. 286 The English were driven to make such an erection upon a fable, or person fained. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 164 There is in Perthshire a barrow which seems to be a British erection. 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) II. xxi. 253 It..is surmounted by a wooden erection said to have been Newton's private observatory. |
7. Astrol. The construction of a scheme or figure of the heavens. Obs.
| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iv. iv, By erection of her figure, I gest it. |
8. a. Constitution or establishment (of an office, institution, etc.). b. Investment with a specified condition.
| 1508 Fisher Wks. 184 This mercyfull ereccion and buyldynge of crystes chirche. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. Scotl. (1587) 68/1 After the first erection of the Scotish Kingdome. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 506 Erection into life. 1701 Bp. Atterbury Serm. (1740) I. vii. 255 From their [the Jews'] first Erection into a People, down to their final Excision. 1706 tr. Dupin's Eccl. Hist. 16th C. II. iv. iii. 406 The Bull of Erection [of Bishopricks] was despatched. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace Wks. VIII. 187 Any capital innovation which may amount to the erection of a dangerous nuisance. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. x. 240 The statute..prohibits the erection of any such courts hereafter. 1885 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 34 He consolidated his possessions by obtaining their erection into a barony. |