RAPIDES, Fr. Falls in a river are so called; as the falls in the rivers Ohio and St. Laurence, &c.
RAPIER, (Rapiére, Fr.) formerly signified a long, old fashioned broadsword, such as those worn by the Scotch regiments; but now is understood only to mean a small sword, in contradistinction to a broad sword.
RAPINE, Fr. Rapine, plunder,
RAPPORT, Fr. Report.
Rapport, Fr. in mathematics, a term frequently used among the French. It bears the same import as raison, and signifies the relation which two quantities have one with another. Thus the rapport or relation between twelve and six is the same as between six and three.
RAPPORTEUR, Fr. in geometry, an instrument made in the figure of a half-circle, and divided into one hundred and eighty degrees. We call it a protractor. It is used for the purpose of ascertaining the openings in angles, and to take plans upon paper.
RAREFACTION, the extension of the parts of a body, by which it is made to take up more room than it did before. It is essentially connected with gunnery; for in proportion to the rapid combustion and consequent rarefaction of air, produced by the ignition of gunpowder confined in the chamber of a gun, so will be the force of expulsion with which the charge is propelled.
RAS, Fr. Every barge and vessel, &c. which is without any deck or upward covering, is called by the French batiment ras.
RASANTE, Fr. See [Ligne Rasante].
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