To Ere'ct. v.a. [erectus, Latin.]
- To raise in a strait line; to place perpendicularly to the horizon.
- To Erect a Perpendicular. To cross one line by another at right angles.
- To raise; to build.
Happier walls expect,
Which, wand'ring long, at last thou shalt erect. Dryd. Virg.There are many monuments erected to benefactors to the republick. Addison's Remarks on Italy.
- To establish anew; to settle.
Great difference there is between their proceedings, who erect a new commonwealth which is to have neither regiment nor religion the same that was, and theirs who only reform a decayed estate. Hooker, b. v. s. 17.
He suffers seventy-two distinct nations to be erected out of the first monarchy, under distinct governours. Raleigh.
- To elevate; to exalt.
I, who am a party, am not to erect myself a judge. Dryden's Fables, Preface.
I am far from pretending infallibility: that would be to erect myself into an apostle. Locke on St. Paul's Epistles.
- To raise consequences from premises.
Men being too hasty to erect to themselves general notions and ill-grounded theories, find themselves deceived in their stock of knowledge. Locke.
Malebranche erects this proposition, of seeing all things in God, upon their ruin. Locke.
- To animate; not to depress; to encourage.
Why should not hope
As much erect our thoughts, as fear deject them. Denham.