Pl. apses. [ad. L. apsis: cf. basis, base, axis, axe, etc. See APSIS.]

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  1.  Arch. A semi-circular or polygonal recess, arched or dome-roofed, in a building, esp. at the end of the choir, aisles or nave of a church. Cf. APSIS 3.

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1846.  in Parker, Concise Gloss. Arch.

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1849.  Freeman, Archit., 155. The altar was placed at the end of the nave, on the chord of the apse.

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1876.  M. Davies, Unorth. Lond., 329. Behind this, occupying the apse, was an organ.

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  2.  Astr. = APSIS 2.

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1822.  Imison, Sc. & Art, II. 427. The two points in a planet’s orbit … furthest and nearest to the body round which it moves, are called the apses, or apsides.

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1879.  Lockyer, Elem. Astron., ix. xlix. 307. The apses, or extremities of the major axis—the aphelion or perihelion points.

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