▪ I. erect, a. and n.
(ɪˈrɛkt)
[ad. L. ērect-us, pa. pple. of ērigĕre to set up, f. ē out + regĕre to direct.]
A. adj.
1. Upright, in an upright posture; not bending forward or downward. Of straight lines and plane surfaces: Vertical. erect vision, the fact that we see objects ‘the right way up’, notwithstanding the inverted position of the retinal image. erect dial: see dial.
| c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 9 The schade of every tree Was in the lengthe the same quantite That was the body erecte, that caused it. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. lvi, Whether that thy lord sit or yet stande erect Stil must thou stande. 1593 T. Fale Dialling 3 When the plat standeth upright, it maketh a right angle with the Horizon and is called Erect. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. i. 180 Birds..are so farre from this kinde of pronenesse, that they are almost erect. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 666 A Snake..in his Summer Liv'ry rouls along: Erect, and brandishing his forky Tongue. 1726 tr. Gregory's Astron. I. 362 The erect or vertical Diameter of the Luminary seems contracted. 1799 J. Wood Elem. Optics vii. (1811) 148 An erect image of the figure intended to be represented. 1841 Brewster Mart. Sc. iii. ii. (1856) 184 He ascribed erect vision to an operation of the mind. 1863 Fr. Kemble Resid. Georgia 42 The figures of some of the women are handsome..erect and good. 1872 Blackie Lays Highl. 89 Erect with majesty severe The Buchail More upshoots his Titan cone. |
b. Used Bot. and Her. in general sense.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 115/1 Erect Flowers [are] such as grow upright without hanging the head. 1766–87 Porny Heraldry Gloss., Erect or Erected.. said of any⁓thing upright, or perpendicularly elevated. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 256 The stamens are erect, and longer than the corolla. 1880 Gray Struct. Bot. vi. §8. 277 Ovules are erect, when they rise from the very bottom of the cell. 1882 Cussans Heraldry vi. 95 Erect, when used in blazoning wings, signifies that the principal wing feathers make nearly a right angle with the back of the bird. |
c. fig.
| 1672 Cave Prim. Chr. ii. vii. (1673) 195 A mind erect amongst the Ruines of a tottering Age. a 1735 Glanville (J.), Stand erect, and sound as loud as fame. 1837 Thirlwall Greece iv. xxxiii. 321 A spirit as erect as the king's tiara. 1878 Morley Carlyle 175 Here was a way of erect living within. |
2. Chiefly participial: † a. Of the countenance: Not downcast, unabashed. Obs. b. Of the hands: Uplifted. c. Of the hair, tail of animals, etc.: Set up, rigid, bristling.
| 1618 Chapman Hesiod. ii. 542 Not..with face erect, Against the Sun, but, sitting. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. i. 394 Her front erect with majesty she bore. 17.. Philips (J.), Vows, and plaints, and suppliant hands to Heav'n erect. 1735 Somerville Chase ii. 91 With Ears And Tail erect, neighing he paws the ground. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace Wks. 1842 II. 326 It is an erect countenance, it is a firm adherence to principle..that assert our good faith and honour. 1870 Bryant Iliad II. xxiv. 403 With hair erect He stood, and motionless. |
† 3. fig. Of the mind: Uplifted, directed upwards; alert, attentive. Obs.
| 1544 Litany in Priv. Prayers (1851) 570 Having their minds erect to Almighty God. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1637) §266 It conduceth much to haue the Sense Intentiue, and Erect. 1756 Burke Subl. & B. i. xv, Just at the moment when their minds are erect with expectation. |
† B. n. Obs. rare.
In order to facilitate the attainment of uniformity in type-founding, Moxon proposed to divide the square of the height of each kind of type into smaller squares by 42 vertical lines (erects) and 42 horizontal lines (parallels).
| 1676 Moxon Print Lett. 7 The Divisions that are imagined to be made between the Left Hand and the Right are called Erects. Ibid. 20 Set your Compasses to 9..placing one Foot in Parallel 21, Erect 9. |
Add: [A.] [1.] d. Of the penis, nipples, or clitoris: enlarged and rigid through the engorgement of erectile tissue, as during sexual arousal.
| 1897 White & Martin Genito-Urinary Surg. & Venereal Dis. i. 1 Its average length is about three inches when in the flaccid condition and twice that when erect. 1933 R. L. Dickinson Human Sex Anat. vi. 73/2 Elaborate search of medical and other literature has brought to light no published series of measurements of the erect penis. 1973 D. Potter Hide & Seek v. 152, I..shuddered as her fingers touched my erect penis. 1977 E. J. Trimmer et al. Visual Dict. Sex (1978) vi. 62/1 The external genital organs swell and the clitoris becomes erect with its tip..exposed between the folds of the labia. 1990 D. M. Thomas Lying Together xvi. 176 He..buried his head on her bosom, kissing a cold erect nipple surrounded by its brown aureole. |
▪ II. erect, v.
(ɪˈrɛkt)
Also 6 Sc. ereck, 5–6 pa. pple. erect(e.
[f. L. ērect- ppl. stem of ērigĕre: see prec.]
† I. trans. To elevate in direction or position.
† 1. To direct upwards; to lift up (the eyes, hands, etc.). Also to erect up. Obs.
| 1609 Man in Moone (1849) 39 Erect thy countenance, like a man. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. ii. (1636) 61 The Bishop..erecting his hands stood all the while with his face to the Altar. a 1634 Chapman Revenge Hon. Wks. 1873 III. 337 Good sir, erect your looks. 1704 Swift T. Tub Wks. 1760 I. Introd. 26 To stand with their mouths open, and erected. |
| fig. 1548 Gest Pr. Masse 117 Having our mindes erected up into heaven. 1629 H. Burton Babel no Bethel 4 Wee erect our best attention to this motion. 1690 Norris Beatitudes (1694) I. 54 The Minds of Men began to be more generally erected towards Heaven. |
† b. To put up on high; to lift up (the head); also, to hoist up. Obs.
| 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 52 Moyses..made & ereckit a brassin ymage of a serpent. 1567 Trial Treas. in Hazl. Dodsley III. 273 That thou are nat erected, in faith, it is pity, As high as three trees and a halter will reach. 1611 Coryat Crudities 9 A little chappell..wherein is erected the picture of Christ and the Virgin Mary. 1696 Tate & Brady Ps. xxiv. 7 Erect your Heads, eternal Gates. 1767 Babler I. 224 However we may erect the crest upon the superior dignity of manhood. |
† 2. To exalt in consideration or dignity; to raise to eminence or importance; elevate to office; in earlier use, to raise to (a kingdom); to set up for, to be (an emperor, king, etc.). Also to erect up.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 283 Grete Charles..was erecte to the kyngedome of Fraunce after the dethe of his fader. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. lxxxix. 20 A man of might I have erect your king and guide to be. 1583 Exec. for Treason (1675) 27 Bishops, who in the Popes name had erected him up. a 1592 Greene Jas. IV, Wks. (1861) 198 He shall erect your state and wed you well. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. xlii. 3 The ægyptians erected one Saturninus a Captaine..for Emperour. a 1631 Donne in Select. fr. Donne (1840) 16 Thou shalt find..as many records of attainted families..as of families newly erected and presently celebrated. 1656 Bramhall Replic. vi. 238 Lawfull for the King and Church of England..to have erected a new Primate. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 130 ¶2 We have seen..Monarchs erected and deposed. |
† b. To elevate into or unto (a specified condition). Obs.
| 1508 Fisher Wks. 254 They were erecte vnto eternal lyfe. 1589 R. Robinson in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 364 Erect my spirite into thy blisse. |
II. To raise to an upright position.
3. To raise, set upright (the body, oneself, etc.); to rear (a standard). Also fig.
| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 5 Erecting one most like to fall. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 25 Ladie, erect your gratious simmetry. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. iii. 74 If unto the powder of Loadstone or Iron we admove the North pole of the Loadstone, the powders or small divisions will erect and conforme themselves thereto. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 93 The Charioteers sometimes bowed to the Ground, then erected themselves on high. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 6 ¶3 The necessity of erecting our⁓selves to some degree of intellectual dignity. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 49 The muscle..is capable of erecting itself on an edge. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. iii. 97 Erected against Aliverdi the standard of revolt. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. xiii. 325 His weak frame erected itself. |
b. Optics. To restore (an inverted optical image) to an upright position.
| 1831 Brewster Newton (1855) I. x. 245 Without using two glasses, the object may be erected. |
† c. intr. for refl. To straighten oneself, assume an upright position.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva (1631) §827 By Wet, Stalkes doe erect, and Leaues bow downe. |
4. To set upright (a member of the body); to prick up (the ears); also Phys. (chiefly in pass.), to render turgid and rigid any organ containing erectile tissue.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva (1637) §266 You..erect your Eare, when you would heare attentiuely. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan i. 540 At ev'ry Shout [the horse] erects his quiv'ring Ears. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace Wks. VIII. 318 That this faction..does erect its crest upon the engagement, there can be little doubt. |
† 5. fig. from 3, 4. To rouse, stir up, excite, embolden (the mind, oneself). Obs.
| a 1568 Coverdale Treat. Death i. xvi, We ought to erect and comfort ourselves with the resurrection. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. iv. §2 It doth raise and erect the mind. 1654 R. Codrington tr. Hist. Ivstine 314 With this Victory the courages of the Sicilians were erected. 1665 J. Sergeant Sure-footing 201 His Book coming forth..my Expectation was now erected. a 1668 Denham (J.), Why should not hope As much erect our thoughts, as fear deject them? a 1734 North Lives (1826) II. 131 He found his spirits low, and thought to..erect them by a glass or two of sherry. |
† b. occas. To stimulate (in a physical sense).
| 1620 Venner Via Recta (1650) 273 It..erecteth the digestive faculty of the stomack. |
† 6. To elate with pride. Obs.
| 1631 R. H. Arraignm. Whole Creature 137 Least..the contemplation of their proud plumes and feathers too much erect them and puffe them up. |
III. To set on a foundation, construct, establish.
7. To set up (a building, statue, framework, etc.); to rear, build. Also † to erect up.
| 1417 in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 19. I. 59 He hath erected a new tower upon the same for a warde. 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. i. iv. (Arb.) 80 The inhabitantes sawe newe buyldynges to bee dayly erected. 1570 Abp. Parker Corr. (1853) 372 Intending..to erect up certain iron mills. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 80 Erect his Statue, and worship it. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 229 Erect on the out-side Wall your Stove..of Brick. 1692 O. Walker History Illustrated 288 Gallus lamented much his death, and erected him a Sepulchre. 1701 De Foe True-born Eng. i. 1 Where⁓ever God erects a House of Prayer The Devil always builds a Chappel there. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 446 He erects trophies. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 190 An engine was erected in the vicinity of Bath..on this principle. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 16 A more peaceful class erected silk manufactories in the eastern suburb of London. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. ix. 382 The scaffold had been awkwardly erected. |
¶ To build (a vessel).
| 1650 Sir J. Burroughs in Wealth of Gt. Brit. (1749) 33 By erecting two hundred and fifty busses..there will be employment for one thousand ships. |
b. fig. To build up (a theory, conclusion, etc.), set up (a pretension). Also absol.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. vii. 25 Our advanced beliefs are not to be built upon dictates, but..[we] are to erect upon the surer base of reason. a 1704 Locke (J.), Malebranche erects this proposition, of seeing all things in God, upon their ruin. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. ii. 350 The pretension erected by Mr. Hastings..would destroy one great source of the evidence. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. 195 It was necessary for us to have a positive Church theory erected on a definite basis. |
8. a. Geom. To set up or draw (a perpendicular to a given line); † to construct (a triangle, etc. upon a given base). b. Astrol. and Astron. To ‘set up’ (a figure of the heavens).
| a 1646 J. Gregory Assyr. Mon. in Posth. (1650) 215 This was the figure of the Heavens..Astronomically calculated and erected according to Tycho's tables. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. x, Upon the line given AB erect an equilateral triangle. a 1672 Wood Life (1848) 73 After Lillie (the astronomer) had erected his figure, he told her, etc. 1715 Kersey, To Erect a Figure, to divide the 12 Houses a-right. 1815 Scott Guy M. iv, He accordingly erected his scheme, or figure of heaven. 1828 J. H. Moore Pract. Navig. 44 On B erect the perpendicular BA. 1887 T. B. Reed O.E. Lett. Found 182 He [Moxon] professes to be able to erect in any other square..the same letter. |
† 9. To set up, establish, found (an office, court of justice, corporation, institution, etc.); to initiate, set on foot (a project, scheme). Obs. or arch. exc. in Law.
| 1565 J. Calfhill Answ. Treat. Crosse (1846) 24 A pilgrimage in Wales was straight erected. 1570 in Strype Ann. Ref. I. lvii. 626 The Divinity lecture, erected by the noble lady Margaret. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. x. lviii. (1612) 254 This League was halowed..gainst all That worke the gospell to erect. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xv. 73 There is no Civill Power erected over the parties promising. 1663 Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. xl. 88 Courts of Merchants to be erected in some..ports of the nation. 1683 Royal Proclam. in Lond. Gaz. No. 1856/1 The Office of Post-Master General hath been Erected by Act of Parliament. 1743 Tindal tr. Rapin's Hist. Eng. II. 151 note, This year Queen Elizabeth erected the East-India Company. 1761–2 Hume Hist. Eng. II. xli. 415 The Jesuits, a new order of regular priests erected in Europe. 1792 N. Chipman Amer. Law Rep. (1871) 12 The statute has erected a summary jurisdiction. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. ix. 702 The ministerial board erected by Mr. Pitt. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. iii. 125 Two Courts of High Commission were erected. 1865 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Curr. II. 56 Congress resolved to erect a lottery. |
† b. To raise (an armed force); to form (a nation). Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. iii. (1520) 24/2 These two erected an hoost ayenst Hanyball. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 20 When a Companie is newly leuied and erected, etc. a 1618 Raleigh (J.), He suffers seventy-two distinct nations to be erected out of the first monarchy under distinct governours. 1680 Hickes Spir. Popery 71 The Cess..for erecting and maintaining the foresaid additional Forces. 1698 J. Crull Muscovy 123 A new Body of Militia should be erected in their stead. |
10. to erect into [cf. Fr. ériger en]: to constitute or form into (e.g. an organization, municipality, territorial division, etc.); to set up as (a rule or precedent); to invest with the rank or character of; † to represent as.
| 1670–98 R. Lassels Voy. Italy Pref. 1, I had not the least thought..of erecting myself into an Authour. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 56 ¶1 For the Sharpers..are by Custom erected into a real and venerable Body of Men. 1718 Col. Rec. Penn. III. 58 The sd. town might be Erected into a Borough by a Charter, etc. a 1768 Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. (1773) 345 By secularizing, or, in our law-style, erecting most of the monasteries into temporal lordships. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 455 The Officers of an inferior order..erected themselves into seignorial proprietors. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 669 He could erect every interference in that sovereignty into an act of guilt. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vii, Her majesty was minded to erect the town into a staple for wool. 1822 M. A. Kelty Osmond I. 158 You..erect him into a standard of right and wrong. 1839 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. xi. (1847) 110 Valentia..was erected into a province. 1860 Mill Repr. Govt. (1865) 54/2 That portion..whom the institutions of the country have erected into a ruling class. |
¶ 11. ? Used for arrect, direct.
| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 2507 Unto me formest this processe is erectyd. 1655 M. Carter Hon. Rediv. (1660) Ep. Ded., No more then the Subject of it [i.e. Honour] erects. |