RIGOR (2)

Rig″or (?), n. [[OE. rigour, OF. rigour, F. rigueur, from L. rigor, fr. rigere to be stiff. See Rigid.]] [Written also rigour.] 1. 1. The becoming stiff or rigid; the state of being rigid; rigidity; stiffness; hardness.
The rest his look Bound with Gorgonian rigor not to move. Milton. 2. 2. (Med.) See 1st Rigor, 2.
3. 3. Severity of climate or season; inclemency; as, the rigor of the storm; the rigors of winter.
4. 4. Stiffness of opinion or temper; rugged sternness; hardness; relentless severity; hard-heartedness; cruelty.
All his rigor is turned to grief and pity. Denham. If I shall be condemn'd Upon surmises, . . . I tell you 'T is rigor and not law. Shak. 5. 5. Exactness without allowance, deviation, or indulgence; strictness; as, the rigor of criticism; to execute a law with rigor; to enforce moral duties with rigor; — opposed to lenity.
6. 6. Severity of life; austerity; voluntary submission to pain, abstinence, or mortification.
The prince lived in this convent with all the rigor and austerity of a capuchin. Addison. 7. 7. Violence; force; fury.
Whose raging rigor neither steel nor brass could stay. Spenser. Syn. — Stiffness; rigidness; inflexibility; severity; austerity; sternness; harshness; strictness; exactness.