Also 7 adstr-. [f. ASTRINGENT: see -ENCY.]
1. Astringent quality.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 510. Astringencie of Vitrioll.
1743. trans. Heister’s Surg., 46. Caustic Medicines, which act by their great astringency.
1881. A. Griffith, in Sci. Gossip, No. 203. 249. The astringency of tea is due to the tannin present.
† 2. Astriction, astricted state. Obs.
1669. W. Simpson, Hydrol. Chym., 344. [It] gives a gentle astringency to the Membranous Parts.
3. fig. Harshness, sternness, austerity.
1823. Galt, Entail, II. xix. 179. The doubtful credit of any wiser person might produce the same astringency.
1862. Draper, Intell. Devel. Eur. (1868), xxi. 504. The lank-haired Puritan … his face corrugated with religious astringency.
