IMPLUVIUM

impluvium, the latin term for the sunk part of the floor in the atrium of a greek or roman house, which was contrived to receive the water passing through the compluvium (q.v.) of the roof. the impluvium was generally in marble and sunk about a foot below the floor of the atrium. imposition (from lat. _imponere_, to place or lay upon), in ecclesiastical usage, the "laying on" of hands by a bishop at the services of confirmation and ordination as a sign that some special spiritual gift is conferred, or that the recipient is set apart for some special service or work. the word is also used of the levying of a burdensome or unfair tax or duty, and of a penalty, and hence is applied to a punishment task given to a schoolboy. from "impose" in the sense of "to pass off" on some one, imposition means also a trick or deception. in the printing trade the term is used of the arrangement of pages of type in the "forme," being one of the stages between composing and printing. impost (through the o. fr. from lat. _impositum_, a thing laid upon another; the modern french is _impot_), a tax or tribute, and particularly a duty levied on imported or exported merchandise (see