Abbe is a French word for an abbot, or for anyone regularly wearing the clerical dress. Before the French Revolution, all who had studied theology, either with a view to become ordained clergymen, or merely to obtain some ecclesiastical appointment or benefice, were generally so designated. Many of them had little that was clerical in their manners or character. Marked out by their special dress, they were seen everywhere - at the court, the ball, the theatre, and other places of public resort, and in private families, where they acted sometimes as tutors and sometimes as confidential advisers. Others again adopted the literary profession or became teachers in the higher educational establishments. Research Abbe
A ballot is a method of secret voting. Voting by ballot signifies literally voting by means of little balls (called by the French ballottes), usually of different colours, which are put into a box in such a manner as to enable the voter, if he chooses, to conceal for whom or for what he gives his suffrage. The method is adopted by most clubs in the election of their members - a white ball indicating assent, a black ball dissent. Hence, when an applicant is rejected, he is said to be blackballed. The term voting by ballot is also applied in a general way to any method of secret voting, as, for instance, when a person gives his vote by means of a ticket bearing the name of the candidate whom he wishes to support. In this sense vote by ballot is the mode adopted in electing the members of legislative assemblies in most countries, as well as the members of various other bodies. In ancient Greece and Rome the ballot was in common use. In Britain it had long been advocated in the election of members of Parliament and of municipal corporations, but it was only introduced by an act passed in 1872. Research Ballot
A bead was originally a prayer; then the name was given to a small perforated ball of gold, pearl, amber, glass, or the like, to be strung on a thread, and used in a rosary by Roman Catholics in numbering their prayers, one bead being passed at the end of-each ejaculation or short prayer. Later the word came to mean any such small ornamental body. Since the 19th century glass beads have been among the most common sort.
Cinderella is a fairy story about an abused scullery girl who lives with her wicked step-mother and two ugly step-sisters; who is invited to a royal ball, provided with a temporary enchantment of rich costume and coach and horses by a fairy god mother, while at the ball dances with the prince who falls in love with her, but leaving quickly before the enchantment wears off she leaves behind one of her slippers. The prince then endeavours to locate his love, which he does by having the girls of the neighbourhood try on the slipper until he finds the one girl the slipper fits. In English the slipper is referred to as a glassslipper, but this is a mistake in the story's translation. It should actually be a sableslipper, which were only worn by royalty - hence the fairy god mother gave the heroine of the story a pair of royal slippers to wear. Research Cinderella
The crozier or crosier is a bishop's staff of office. It generally resembles a shepherd's crook in shape, and may have developed from the hooked staff carried by the Roman augurs. The original form of the staff resembled a shepherd's crook, but from the middle of the 14th century the archbishops began to carry, sometimes in addition to the pastoralcrook, sometimes instead of it, a crosier terminating in a cross or double cross. The crosier is carried by bishops and archbishops themselves only in procession and when pronouncing benediction; on all other occasions it is carried before them by a priest. At Rome the right of bearing the crosier is peculiar to the pope himself, his crosier being in the form of a triple cross. The crosier or dikanion used in the Greek Church originally consisted of a simple staff ending in a large knob. At a later period it terminated in a ball (representing the world) with a cross above and two serpents twined round the upper part of the staff. The staff used in the ArmenianChurch is headed with a serpent in the form of a crook. Research Crozier
There is evidence of the use of crystal balls as a means of divination in medieval times, and 'scrying' in some of its many forms was by no means rare in the Greek and Roman periods. The essential requisite for the exercise of this species of divination is a polished surface of some sort upon which the scryer shall gaze intently; for this purpose mirrors, globules of lead or mercury, polished steel, the surface of water, and even pools of ink, have been employed and have been found to ensure quite as satisfactory results as the crystal ball. The points of light reflected from the polished surface serve to attract the attention of the gazer and to fix the eye until, gradually, the optic nerve becomes so fatigued that it finally ceases to transmit to the sensorium the impression made from without and begins to respond to the reflex action proceeding from the brain of the gazer. In this way the impression received from within is apparently projected and seems to come from without.
It is easy to understand that the results must vary according to the idiosyncrasy of the various scryers; for everything depends upon the sensitiveness of the optic nerve. In many cases the effect of prolonged gazing upon the brilliant surface will simply produce a loss of sight, the optic nerve will be temporarily paralysed and will as little respond to stimulation from within as from without; in other cases, however, the nerve will be only deadened as regards external impressions, while retaining sufficient activity to react against a stimulus from the brain centres. It is almost invariably stated that, prior to the appearance of the desired visions, the crystal seems to disappear and a mist rises before the gazer's eye. The Achaians, as Pausanius relates, frequently used a mirror to divine diseases or to learn whether there was danger of sudden death. Research Crystal Gazing
A fancy dress party, formerly known as a costume ball, or fancy dress ball, is an entertainments at which the guests adopt a style of dress different from the one usually worn. It may be one which was worn at another period, or one worn in another country, or a modern dress worn by some particular class of society, or more popularly in modern times a form of costume associated with a character from fiction. A favourite plan is to make up as some well-known character in history or literature. Research Fancy Dress Party
A mound or orb is a sign of sovereign authority and majesty. It consists of a ball or globe surmounted by a cross and encircled with a horizontal band, from the upper edge of which springs a semi-circular band, both of which are enriched with precious stones. The mound forms part of a sovereigns royal regalia. Research Mound
A pomander was originally a ball of perfume carried in a small, usually round box or case which was also known as a pomander. Today, the term applies to a small box or case with perforations used for holding pot-pourri and often hung in wardrobes to keep clothes smelling fresh. Research Pomander
Prom is an originally American term for a dance or ball held at a school or college. The term originated in the middle of the 19th century and slowly took hold in the United Kingdom during the late part of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century, until proms were common-place as leaving celebrations for the eldest students, first at secondary schools (with the children leaving being of an age of about sixteen) and later slowly extending to the leaving celebrations of younger children leaving primary school at an age of about eleven. Typically a prom is a formal-dress affair, the girls wearing expensive, long, evening ball gowns usually of a satin finish and the boys wearing a suit incorporating a dinnerjacket (or tuxedo as the Americans call it, the term tuxedo becoming more common in the United Kingdom at the start of the 21st century). Research Prom
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Abbe 
