/mawr"il, mor"-/ , U.S. Hist.
1. an act of Congress (1862) granting each state 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of land for each member it had in Congress, 90 percent of the gross proceeds of which were to be used for the endowment and maintenance of colleges and universities teaching agricultural and mechanical arts and other subjects.
2. either of two supplementary acts (1890 and 1907) in which Congress made direct financial grants to assist the land-grant colleges and universities.
[ named after Justin Smith Morrill (1810-98), congressman and senator from Vermont ]