1. Word finder
  2. Word definitions
  3. act of uniformity

Find the word definition

What is "act of uniformity"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Act of Uniformity

Uniformity \U`ni*form"i*ty\, n. [L. uniformitas: cf. F. uniformit['e].]

  1. The quality or state of being uniform; freedom from variation or difference; resemblance to itself at all times; sameness of action, effect, etc., under like conditions; even tenor; as, the uniformity of design in a poem; the uniformity of nature.

  2. Consistency; sameness; as, the uniformity of a man's opinions.

  3. Similitude between the parts of a whole; as, the uniformity of sides in a regular figure; beauty is said to consist in uniformity with variety.

  4. Continued or unvaried sameness or likeness.

  5. Conformity to a pattern or rule; resemblance, consonance, or agreement; as, the uniformity of different churches in ceremonies or rites.

    Act of Uniformity (Eng. Hist.), an act of Parliament, passed in 1661, prescribing the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments, and other rites of the Established Church of England. Its provisions were modified by the ``Act of Uniformity Amendment Act,'' of 1872.

Wikipedia
Act of Uniformity

Over the course of English parliamentary history there were a number of Acts of Uniformity. All had the basic object of establishing some sort of religious orthodoxy within the English church.

  • The Act of Uniformity 1549 (2 & 3 Edw. 6, c. 1) which established the Book of Common Prayer as the only legal form of worship.
  • The Act of Uniformity 1552 (5 & 6 Edw. 6, c. 1) required the use of the Book of Common Prayer of 1552.
  • The Act of Uniformity 1559 (1 Eliz., c. 2) was adopted on the accession of Elizabeth I. See Elizabethan Religious Settlement
  • The Act of Uniformity 1662 (13 & 14 Ch. 2, c. 4) was enacted after the restoration of the monarchy. It required the use of all the rites and ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 in church services.
  • The Act of Uniformity (Explanation) Act 1663 (15 Car 2 c 6)

(The '13&14 Ch. 2 c. 2' nomenclature is reference to the statute book of the numbered year of the reign of the named monarch in the stated chapter. This is the method used for Acts of Parliament from before 1962.)

Usage examples of "act of uniformity".

By the act of Uniformity in 1662 he broke the power of the Puritan clergy by banishing all dissenting clergymen from their parishes.

One of them, John Comstock, had drawn up an Act of Uniformity, and the King had signed it—.