Part 2681

<blockquote>The owlets hoot, the owlets <b>curr</b>. <i>Wordsworth.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Currant</h1> <Xpage=357>

<hw>Cur"rant</hw> <tt>(k?r"r<it>a</it>nt)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. <ets>corinthe</ets> (raisins de <ets>Corinthe</ets> raisins of Corinth) currant (in sense 1), from the city of <ets>Corinth</ets> in Greece, whence, probably, the small dried grape (1) was first imported, the <ets>Ribes</ets> fruit (2) receiving the name from its resemblance to that grape.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>A small kind of seedless raisin, imported from the Levant, chiefly from Zante and Cephalonia; -- used in cookery.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The acid fruit or berry of the <spn>Ribes rubrum</spn> or common red currant, or of its variety, the white currant.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>A shrub or bush of several species of the genus <spn>Ribes</spn> (a genus also including the gooseberry); esp., the <spn>Ribes rubrum</spn>.</def>

<cs><col>Black currant</col>,<cd>a shrub or bush (<spn>Ribes nigrum</spn> and <spn>R. floridum</spn>) and its black, strong-flavored, tonic fruit.</cd> -- <col>Cherry currant</col>, <cd>a variety of the red currant, having a strong, symmetrical bush and a very large berry.</cd> -- <col>Currant borer</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>the larva of an insect that bores into the pith and kills currant bushes; specif., the larvae of a small clearwing moth (<spn>\'92geria tipuliformis</spn>) and a longicorn beetle (<spn>Psenocerus supernotatus</spn>).</cd> -- <col>Currant worm</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>an insect larva which eats the leaves or fruit of the currant. The most injurious are the currant sawfly (<spn>Nematus ventricosus</spn>), introduced from Europe, and the spanworm (<spn>Eufitchia ribearia</spn>). The fruit worms are the larva of a fly (<spn>Epochra Canadensis</spn>), and a spanworm (<spn>Eupithecia</spn>).</cd> -- <mcol><col>Flowering currant</col>, <col>Missouri currant</col></mcol>, <cd>a species of <spn>Ribes</spn> (<spn>R. aureum</spn>), having showy yellow flowers.</cd></cs>

<h1>Currency</h1> <Xpage=357>

<hw>Cur"ren*cy</hw> <tt>(k?r"r?n-c?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Currencies</plw> <tt>(-s<?/z)</tt>.</plu> <ety>[Cf. LL. <ets>currentia</ets> a current, fr. L. <ets>currens</ets>, p. pr. of <ets>currere</ets> to run. See <er>Current</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>A continued or uninterrupted course or flow like that of a sream; <as>as, the <ex>currency</ex> of time</as>.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Ayliffe.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The state or quality of being current; general acceptance or reception; a passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulation; <as>as, a report has had a long or general <ex>currency</ex>; the <ex>currency</ex> of bank notes.</as></def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>That which is in circulation, or is given and taken as having or representing value; <as>as, the <ex>currency</ex> of a country; a specie <ex>currency</ex>; esp., government or bank notes circulating as a substitute for metallic money.</as></def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Fluency; readiness of utterance.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Current value; general estimation; the rate at which anything is generally valued.</def>

<blockquote>He . . . takes greatness of kingdoms according to their bulk and <b>currency</b>, and not after intrinsic value. <i>Bacon.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>The bare name of Englishman . . . too often gave a transient <b>currency</b> to the worthless and ungrateful. <i>W. Irving.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Current</h1> <Xpage=357>

<hw>Cur"rent</hw> <tt>(k?r"r<it>e</it>nt)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <ety>[OE. <ets>currant</ets>, OF. <ets>curant</ets>, <ets>corant</ets>, p. pr. of <ets>curre</ets>, <ets>corre</ets>, F. <ets>courre</ets>, <ets>courir</ets>, to run, from L. <ets>currere</ets>; perh. akin to E. <ets>horse</ets>. Cf. <er>Course</er>, <er>Concur</er>, <er>Courant</er>, <er>Coranto</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Running or moving rapidly.</def> <mark>[Archaic]</mark>

<blockquote>Like the <b>current</b> fire, that renneth Upon a cord. <i>Gower.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>To chase a creature that was <b>current</b> then In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns. <i>Tennyson.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Now passing, as time; <as>as, the <ex>current</ex> month</as>.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulating through the community; generally received; common; <as>as, a <ex>current</ex> coin; a <ex>current</ex> report; <ex>current</ex> history.</as></def>

<blockquote>That there was <b>current</b> money in Abraham's time is past doubt. <i>Arbuthnot.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce <b>current</b>. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<blockquote>His <b>current</b> value, which is less or more as men have occasion for him. <i>Grew.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Commonly estimated or acknowledged.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic; passable.</def>

<blockquote>O Buckingham, now do I play the touch To try if thou be <b>current</b> gold indeed. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>