an officer or dignitary in the Ottoman empire, whereof there are two kinds; the first, called by the Turks visier-azem, that is, grand visier, is the prime minister of state of the whole empire. He commands the army in chief, and presides in the divan or great council. Next to him are six other subordinate visiers, called visiers of the bench, who officiate as his counsellors, or confessors in the divan.

VISION; in optics, the act of seeing or perceiving external objects, by means of the organ of sight, the eye. See Anatomy, p. 289, and Optics.