Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Configuration

Con·fig′u·ra′tion (kŏn·fĭg′ū·rā′shŭn), n. [L. configuratio.] 1. Form, as depending on the relative disposition of the parts of a thing; shape; figure.

It is the variety of configurations [of the mouth] . . . which gives birth and origin to the several vowels. Harris.

2. (Astrol.) Relative position or aspect of the planets; the face of the horoscope, according to the relative positions of the planets at any time.

They [astrologers] undertook . . . to determine the course of a man's character and life from the configuration of the stars at the moment of his birth. Whewell.

3. (Chem.) the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule as determined by the covalent bonds between them; the three-dimensional structure that cannot be changed without breaking the covalent bonds between atoms of a molecule. It is distinguished from conformation, which is the exact relative location in space of all of the atoms of a molecule, which may vary at different times or in different environments. [PJC]

4. (Computers) a specification of the parts of a computer system, consisting of the essential components of the computer plus the complete set of all internal and external devices directly attached to it; as, by the year 2000, a microcomputer configuration without a CD-ROM or DVD drive will be unsalable. [PJC]

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.