U'NION, noun [Latin unio, to unite, from unus, one.]

1. The act of joining two or more things into one, and thus forming a compound body or a mixture; or the junction or coalition of things thus united. union differs from connection, as it implies the bodies to be in contact, without an intervening body; whereas things may be connected by the intervention of a third body, as by a cord or chain.

One kingdom, joy and union without end.

2. Concord; agreement and conjunction of mind, will, affections or interest. Happy is the family where perfect union subsists between all its members.

3. The junction or united existence of spirit and matter; as the union of soul and body.

4. Among painters, a symmetry and agreement between the several parts of a painting.

5. In architecture, harmony between the colors in the materials of a building.

6. In ecclesiastical affairs, the combining or consolidating of two or more churches into one. This cannot be done without the consent of the bishop, the patron, and the incumbent. union is by accession, when the united benefice becomes an accessory of the principal; by confusion, where the two titles are suppressed, and a new one created, including both; and by equality, where the two titles subsist, but are equal and independent.

7. States united. Thus the United States of America are sometimes call the union

8. A pearl. [Latin unio. Not in use.]

Union, or Act of union the act by which Scotland was united to England, or by which the two kingdoms were incorporated into one, in 1707.

Legislative union the union of Great Britain and Ireland, in 1800.

Union by the first intention, in surgery, the process by which the opposite surfaces of recent wounds grow together and unite without suppuration, when they are kept in contact with each other; the result of a wonderful self-healing power in living bodies.