‖ phasis
(ˈfeɪzɪs, ˈfeɪsɪs)
Pl. phases (ˈfeɪziːz, ˈfeɪsiːz).
[mod.L., a. Gr. ϕάσις appearance, phase, f. root ϕα-, ϕαν- of ϕαίν-ειν to show, appear.
As phases is the plural both of phasis and phase, it is often impossible to allot it to its proper singular. But all instances before 19th c. necessarily belong to phasis.]
1. Each of the aspects presented by the moon or any planetary body, according to the extent of its illumination. Now usually phase (phase n. 1).
| 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xxxiii. 242 May vary according to..the phases of the Moon. 1665–6 Phil. Trans. I. 69 This Author cannot conceive, how Saturn could..have no difference in its Phasis. a 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iv. vi. 341 The Figure that discovers the Phasis of the Moon. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Moon, The earth will present all the same phases to the moon, as the moon does to the earth. Ibid. s.v. Phases, To determine the phasis of an Eclipse for any given time. 1792 E. Sibly Occult Sci. I. 138 One phasis contains ten degrees, and every sign three phases. |
b. The first appearance of the new moon.
| 1880 Ch. Times XVIII. 855 The phasis or reappearance of the moon after her conjunction with the sun takes place in about eighteen hours. 1899 Expositor Nov. 363 After the phasis, i.e. after the first appearance of the moon's disk. |
2. The aspect presented by a person or thing; appearance; esp. any one aspect of a thing of varying appearances; a state or stage of change or development. Now usually phase (phase n. 2).
| 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. Address 20 The Phasies of the Universe. c 1800 H. K. White Time 406 Through every phasis still 'Tis shadowy and deceitful. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. by Seine (1835) 4 This agreeable scene assumed a new phasis at every turning. 1836 Sir W. Hamilton Discuss. (1852) 268 Some exercise, and consequently develope, perhaps, one faculty on a single phasis. 1862 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xi. i. (1872) IV. 15 A second and contemporaneous phasis of Friedrich's affairs. 1886 Blackie in 19th Cent. Apr. 528 It is..only a new phasis of an old thing. |