recensions

Noun

recension (plural recensions)

1. A census, an enumeration, a review, a survey.
   • The recenſion of the inhabitants is conſidered, firſt, 'with reſpect to the general population, and to the local diſtribution of them into counties, towns, boroughs, villages, and pariſhes.' Among the conveniences expected from ſuch an annual recenſion, it is obſerved, that 'one might ſee what...1754 September, “Art. XVIII. Remarks on the Advantages and Disadvantages of France and Great Britain, with Respect to Commerce, &c. […]”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged: [...]...
2. A critical revision of a text.
   • Of Theon of Alexandria, there remain a recension of Euclid's Elements, Scholia on Aratus, and a Commentary on the Syntaxis of Ptolemy.1800, “[Appendix to the Thirty-third Volume of the Monthly Review Enlarged.] Art. XVIII. M. Meusel’s Guide to the History of Literature, &c.”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged...
3. A text established by critical revision.
   • The Śatapatha-Bráhmaṇa has been commented in the Mádhyaṃdina recension by Harisvámin and Sáyaṇa; but their commentaries are so far extant only in a fragmentary form. The Vṛihad-Áraṇyaka has been explained by Dviveda Gan̄ga (of Gujarát); and in the Káṇva recension by Śaṃkara, to whose commentary a...1882, Albrecht Weber, “First Period. Vedic Literature.”, in John Mann, Theodor Zachariae, transl., The History of Indian Literature. […], 2nd edition, London: Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, section...
4. A family of manuscripts which share similar traits; the variety of a language which is used in such manuscripts.
   • The existence of two major literary centres in the First Bulgarian Empire led to the emergence of two recensions of Old Church Slavonic: the Bulgarian Recension and the Macedonian Recension.