a
_register_ of births and deaths. _Archives_, in the sense here
considered, are _documents_ or _records_, often legal _records_,
preserved in a public or official depository; the word _archives_ is
also applied to the place where such _documents_ are regularly deposited
and preserved. _Muniments_ (L. _munio_, fortify) are _records_ that
enable one to defend his title. Compare HISTORY; STORY.

* * * * *

RECOVER.

Synonyms:

be cured _or_ healed, heal, recuperate, restore,
be restored, reanimate, regain, resume,
cure, recruit, repossess, retrieve.

The transitive use of _recover_ in the sense of _cure_, _heal_, etc., as
in _2 Kings_ v, 6, "That thou mayest _recover_ him of his leprosy," is
now practically obsolete. The chief transitive use of _recover_ is in
the sense to obtain again after losing, _regain_, _repossess_, etc.; as,
to _recover_ stolen goods; to _recover_ health. The intransitive sense,
_be cured_, _be restored_, etc., is very common; as, to _recover_ from
sickness, terror, or misfortune.

Antonyms:

die, fail, grow worse, relapse, sink.

Prepositions:

_From_; rarely _of_; (_Law_) to recover judgment _against_, to recover
damages _of_ or _from_ a person.

* * * * *

REFINEMENT.

Synonyms:

civilization, cultivation, culture, elegance, politeness.

_Civilization_ applies to nations, denoting the sum of those civil,
social, economic, and political attainments by which a community is
removed from barbarism; a people may be civilized while still far from
_refinement_ or _culture_, but _civilization_ is susceptible of various
degrees and of continued progress. _Refinement_ applies either to
nations or individuals, denoting the removal of what is coarse and rude,
and a corresponding attainment of what is delicate, elegant, and
beautiful. _Cultivation_, denoting primarily the process of cultivating
the soil or growing crops, then the improved condition of either which
is the result, is applied in similar sense to the human mind and
character, but in this usage is now largely superseded by the term
_culture_, which denotes a high development of the best qualities of
man's mental and spiritual nature, with especial reference to the
esthetic faculties and to graces of speech and manner, regarded as the
expression of a refined nature. _Culture_ in the fullest sense deno