Part Part, adv (part 6)

Defn: One of the five most general relations of attributes involved in logical arrangements, namely, genus, species, difference, property, and accident.

PREDICAMENT
Pre*dic"a*ment, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prédicament, L. praedicamentum. See
Predicate.]

1. A class or kind described by any definite marks; hence, condition; particular situation or state; especially, an unfortunate or trying position or condition. "O woeful sympathy; piteous predicament!" Shak.

2. (Logic)

Defn: See Category.

Syn.
— Category; condition; state; plight.

PREDICAMENTAL
Pre*dic`a*men"tal, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a predicament. John Hall (1646).

PREDICANT
Pred"i*cant, a. Etym: [L. praedicans, -antis, p. pr. of praedicare.
See Predicate.]

Defn: Predicating; affirming; declaring; proclaiming; hence; preaching. "The Roman predicant orders." N. Brit. Rev.

PREDICANT
Pred"i*cant, n.

Defn: One who predicates, affirms, or proclaims; specifically, a preaching friar; a Dominican.

PREDICATE
Pred"i*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Predicated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Predicating.] Etym: [L. praedicatus, p. p. of praedicare to cry in
public, to proclaim. See Preach.]

1. To assert to belong to something; to affirm (one thing of another); as, to predicate whiteness of snow.

2. To found; to base. [U.S.]

Note: Predicate is sometimes used in the United States for found or base; as, to predicate an argument on certain principles; to predicate a statement on information received. Predicate is a term in logic, and used only in a single case, namely, when we affirm one thing of another. "Similitude is not predicated of essences or substances, but of figures and qualities only." Cudworth.

PREDICATE
Pred"i*cate, v. i.

Defn: To affirm something of another thing; to make an affirmation.
Sir M. Hale.

PREDICATE Pred"i*cate, n. Etym: [L. praedicatum, neut. of praedicatus, p. p. praedicare: cf. F. prédicat. See Predicate, v. t.]

1. (Logic)

Defn: That which is affirmed or denied of the subject. In these propositions, "Paper is white," "Ink is not white," whiteness is the predicate affirmed of paper and denied of ink.

2. (Gram.)

Defn: The word or words in a proposition which express what is affirmed of the subject.

Syn.
— Affirmation; declaration.

PREDICATE
Pred"i*cate, a. Etym: [L. praedicatus, p. p.]

Defn: Predicated.

PREDICATION
Pred`i*ca"tion, n. Etym: [L. praedicatio: cf. F. prédication.]

1. The act of predicating, or of affirming one thing of another; affirmation; assertion. Locke.

2. Preaching. [Obs. or Scot.] Chaucer.

PREDICATIVE
Pred"i*ca*tive, a. Etym: [L. praedicativus.]

Defn: Expressing affirmation or predication; affirming; predicating, as, a predicative term. — Pred"i*ca*tive*ly, adv.

PREDICATORY
Pred"i*ca*to*ry, a. Etym: [Cf. L. praedicatorius praising.]

Defn: Affirmative; positive. Bp. Hall.

PREDICROTIC
Pre`di*crot"ic, a. (Physiol.)

Defn: A term applied to the pulse wave sometimes seen in a pulse curve or sphygmogram, between the apex of the curve and the dicrotic wave. The predicrotic or tidal wave is best marked in a hard pulse, i. e., where the blood pressure is high. Landois & Stirling.

PREDICT
Pre*dict", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Predicted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Predicting.] Etym: [L. praedictus, p. p. of praedicere to predict;
prae before + dicere to say, tell. See Diction, and cf. Preach.]

Defn: To tell or declare beforehand; to foretell; to prophesy; to presage; as, to predict misfortune; to predict the return of a comet.

Syn. — To foretell; prophesy; prognosticate; presage; forebode; foreshow; bode.

PREDICT
Pre*dict", n.

Defn: A prediction. [Obs.] Shak.

PREDICTABLE
Pre*dict"a*ble, a.

Defn: That may be predicted.

PREDICTION
Pre*dic"tion, n. Etym: [L. praedictio: cf. F. prédiction.]

Defn: The act of foretelling; also, that which is foretold; prophecy.
The predictions of cold and long winters. Bacon.

Syn. — Prophecy; prognostication; foreboding; augury; divination; soothsaying; vaticination.

PREDICTIONAL
Pre*dic"tion*al, a.

Defn: Prophetic; prognostic. [R.]

PREDICTIVE
Pre*dict"ive, a. Etym: [L. praedictivus.]

Defn: Foretelling; prophetic; foreboding.
— Pre*dict"ive*ly, adv.

PREDICTOR
Pre*dict"or, n.

Defn: One who predicts; a foreteller.

PREDICTORY
Pre*dict"o*ry, a.

Defn: Predictive. [R.] Fuller.

PREDIGEST
Pre`di*gest", v. t. (Med.)

Defn: To subject (food) to predigestion or artificial digestion.

PREDIGESTION
Pre`di*ges"tion, n.

1. Digestion too soon performed; hasty digestion. [Obs.] Bacon.

2. (Med.)

Defn: Artificial digestion of food for use in illness or impaired digestion.

PREDILECT
Pre`di*lect", v. t.

Defn: To elect or choose beforehand. [R.] Walter Harte.

PREDILECTION Pre`di*lec"tion, n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + L. dilectus, p. p. diligere to prefer: cf. F. prédilection. See Diligent.]

Defn: A previous liking; a prepossession of mind in favor of something; predisposition to choose or like; partiality. Burke.

PREDISCOVER
Pre`dis*cov"er, v. t.

Defn: To discover beforehand.

PREDISCOVERY
Pre`dis*cov"er*y, n.

Defn: A previous discovery.

PREDISPONENCY
Pre`dis*po"nen*cy, n.

Defn: The state of being predisposed; predisposition. [R.]

PREDISPONENT
Pre`dis*po"nent, a.

Defn: Disposing beforehand; predisposing.
— n.

Defn: That which predisposes. Predisponent causes. (Med.) See
Predisposing causes, under Predispose. Dunglison.

PREDISPOSE
Pre`dis*pose", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Predisposed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Predisposing.] Etym: [Pref. pre- + dispose: cf. F. prédisposer.]

1. To dispose or incline beforehand; to give a predisposition or bias to; as, to predispose the mind to friendship.

2. To make fit or susceptible beforehand; to give a tendency to; as, debility predisposes the body to disease. Predisposing causes (Med.), causes which render the body liable to disease; predisponent causes.

PREDISPOSITION Pre*dis`po*si"tion, n.Etym: [Pref. pre- + disposition: cf. F. prédisposition.]

1. The act of predisposing, or the state of being predisposed; previous inclination, tendency, or propensity; predilection; — applied to the mind; as, a predisposition to anger.

2. Previous fitness or adaptation to any change, impression, or purpose; susceptibility; — applied to material things; as, the predisposition of the body to disease.

PREDOMINANCE
Pre*dom"i*nance, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prédominance.]

1. The quality or state of being predominant; superiority; ascendency; prevalence; predomination. The predominance of conscience over interest. South.

2. (Astrol.)

Defn: The superior influence of a planet. Shak.

PREDOMINANCY
Pre*dom"i*nan*cy, n.

Defn: Predominance. Bacon.

PREDOMINANT
Pre*dom"i*nant, a. Etym: [Cf. F. prédominant. See Predominante.]

Defn: Having the ascendency over others; superior in strength,
influence, or authority; prevailing; as, a predominant color;
predominant excellence.
Those help . . . were predominant in the king's mind. Bacon.
Foul subordination is predominant. Shak.

Syn. — Prevalent; superior; prevailing; ascendant; ruling; reigning; controlling; overruling.

PREDOMINANTLY
Pre*dom"i*nant*ly, adv.

Defn: In a predominant manner.

PREDOMINATE
Pre*dom"i*nate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Predominated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Predominating.] Etym: [Pref. pre- + dominate: cf. F. prédominer.]

Defn: To be superior in number, strength, influence, or authority; to have controlling power or influence; to prevail; to rule; to have the mastery; as, love predominated in her heart. [Certain] rays may predominate over the rest. Sir. I. Newton.

PREDOMINATE
Pre*dom"i*nate, v. t.

Defn: To rule over; to overpower. [R.]

PREDOMINATION
Pre*dom`i*na"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prédomination.]

Defn: The act or state of predominating; ascendency; predominance. W.
Browne.

PREDOOM
Pre*doom", v. t.

Defn: To foredoom.

PREDORSAL
Pre*dor"sal, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the back; immediately in front, or on the ventral side the dorsal part of the vertebral column.

PREDY
Pre"dy, a. Etym: [Cf. F. prêt ready.]

Defn: Cleared and ready for engagement, as a ship. Smart.

PREEDY
Preed"y, adv.

Defn: With ease. [Prov. Eng.]

PREEF
Preef, n.

Defn: Proof. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PREELECT
Pre`ë*lect", v. t.

Defn: To elect beforehand.

PREELECTION
Pre`ë*lec"tion, n.

Defn: Election beforehand.

PREEMINENCE
Pre*ëm"i*nence, n. Etym: [F. pré\'82minence, L. praeeminentia. See
Preëminent.]

Defn: The quality or state of being preëminent; superiority in prominence or in excellence; distinction above others in quality, rank, etc.; rarely, in a bad sense, superiority or notoriety in evil; as, preëminence in honor. The preëminence of Christianity to any other religious scheme. Addison. Painful preëminence! yourself to view Above life's weakness, and its comforts too. Pope. Beneath the forehead's walled preëminence. Lowell.

PREEMINENT
Pre*ëm"i*nent, a. Etym: [L. praeminens, -entis, p. pr. praeminere to
be prominent, to surpass: cf. F. pré\'82minent. See Pre-, and
Eminent.]

Defn: Eminent above others; prominent among those who are eminent; superior in excellence; surpassing, or taking precedence of, others; rarely, surpassing others in evil, or in bad qualities; as, preëminent in guilt. In goodness and in power preëminent. Milton.

PREEMINENTLY
Pre*ëm"i*nent*ly, adv.

Defn: In a preëminent degree.

PREEMPLOY
Pre`ëm*ploy, v. t.

Defn: To employ beforehand. "Preëmployed by him." Shak.

PREEMPT
Pre*ëmpt", v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Preëmpted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preëmpting.] Etym: [See Preëmption.]

Defn: To settle upon (public land) with a right of preemption, as under the laws of the United States; to take by preëmption.

PREEMPTION
Pre*ëmp"tion, n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + emption: cf. F. préemption. See
Redeem.]

Defn: The act or right of purchasing before others. Specifically: (a) The privilege or prerogative formerly enjoyed by the king of buying provisions for his household in preference to others. [Eng.] (b) The right of an actual settler upon public lands (particularly those of the United States) to purchase a certain portion at a fixed price in preference to all other applicants. Abbott.

PREEMPTIONER
Pre*ëmp"tion*er, n.

Defn: One who holds a prior to purchase certain public land. Abbott.

PREEMPTIVE
Pre*ëmp"tive, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to preëmption; having power to preëmpt; preëmpting.

PREEMPTOR
Pre*ëmpt"or, n. Etym: [Cf. L. praeemptor.]

Defn: One who preëmpts; esp., one who preëmpts public land.

PREEMPTORY
Pre*ëmpt"o*ry, a.

Defn: Pertaining to preëmption.

PREEN Preen, n. Etym: [AS. preón a clasp, bodkin; akin to D. priem punch, bodkin, awl, G. pfriem, Icel. prjonn a knitting needle, pin, Dan. preen a bodkin, punch.]

Defn: A forked tool used by clothiers in dressing cloth.

PREEN
Preen, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preened; p. pr. & vb. n. Preening.] Etym:
[See Preen, n.; or cf. Prune.]

1. To dress with, or as with, a preen; to trim or dress with the beak, as the feathers; — said of birds. Derham.

2. To trim up, as trees. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

PREENGAGE
Pre`ën*gage", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preëngaged; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preëngaging.]

Defn: To engage by previous contract; to bind or attach previously;
to preoccupy.
But he was preëngaged by former ties. Dryden.

PREENGAGEMENT
Pre`ën*gage"ment, n.

Defn: Prior engagement, obligation, or attachment, as by contract,
promise, or affection.
My preëngagements to other themes were not unknown to those for whom
I was to write. Boyle.

PREERECT
Pre`ë*rect", v. t.

Defn: To erect beforehand.

PREES
Prees, n.

Defn: Press; throng. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PREESTABLISH
Pre`ës*tab"lish, v. t.

Defn: To establish beforehand.

PREESTABLISHMENT
Pre`ës*tab"lish*ment, n.

Defn: Settlement beforehand.

PREETERNITY
Pre`ë*ter"ni*ty, n.

Defn: Infinite previous duration. [R.] "The world's preëternity."
Cudworth.

PREEXAMINATION
Pre`ëx*am`i*na"tion, n.

Defn: Previous examination.

PREEXAMINE
Pre`ëx*am"ine, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preëxamined; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preëxamining.]

Defn: To examine beforehand.

PREEXIST
Pre`ëx*ist", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Preëxisted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preëxisting.]

Defn: To exist previously; to exist before something else.

PREEXISTENCE
Pre`ëx*ist"ence, n.

1. Existence in a former state, or previous to something else. Wisdom declares her antiquity and preëxistence to all the works of this earth. T. Burnet.

2. Existence of the soul before its union with the body; — a doctrine held by certain philosophers. Addison.

PREEXISTENCY
Pre`ëx*ist"en*cy, n.

Defn: Preëxistence. [Obs.]

PREEXISTENT
Pre`ëx*ist"ent, a.

Defn: Existing previously; preceding existence; as, a preëxistent state. Pope.

PREEXISTENTISM
Pre`ëx*ist"ent*ism, n. (Philos.)

Defn: The theory of a preëxistence of souls before their association with human bodies. Emerson.

PREEXISTIMATION
Pre`ëx*is`ti*ma"tion, n.

Defn: Previous esteem or estimation. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

PREEXPECTATION
Pre*ëx`pec*ta"tion, n.

Defn: Previous expectation.

PREFACE
Pref"ace (; 48), n. Etym: [F. préface; cf. Sp. prefacio, prefacion,
It. prefazio, prefazione; all fr. L. praefatio, fr. praefari to speak
or say beforehand; prae before + fari, fatus, to speak. See Fate.]

1. Something spoken as introductory to a discourse, or written as introductory to a book or essay; a proem; an introduction, or series of preliminary remarks. This superficial tale Is but a preface of her worthy praise. Shak. Heaven's high behest no preface needs. Milton.

2. (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: The prelude or introduction to the canon of the Mass. Addis & Arnold. Proper preface (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.), a portion of the communion service, preceding the prayer of consecration, appointed for certain seasons.

Syn.
— Introduction; preliminary; preamble; proem; prelude; prologue.

PREFACE
Pref"ace, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prefaced; p. pr. & vb. n. Prefacing.]

Defn: To introduce by a preface; to give a preface to; as, to preface a book discourse.

PREFACE
Pref"ace, v. i.

Defn: To make a preface. Jer. Taylor.

PREFACER
Pref"a*cer, n.

Defn: The writer of a preface.

PREFATORIAL
Pref`a*to"ri*al, a.

Defn: Prefatory.

PREFATORILY
Pref"a*to*ri*ly, adv.

Defn: In a prefatory manner; by way of preface.

PREFATORY
Pref"a*to*ry, a.

Defn: Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a preface; introductory to a book, essay, or discourse; as, prefatory remarks. That prefatory addition to the Creed. Dryden.

PREFECT Pre"fect, n. Etym: [L. praefectus, fr. praefectus, p. p. of praeficere to set over; prae before + facere to make: cf. F. préfet.]

1. A Roman officer who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc.; as, the prefect of the aqueducts; the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guard, of provisions; the pretorian prefect, who was commander of the troops guarding the emperor's person.

2. A superintendent of a department who has control of its police establishment, together with extensive powers of municipal regulation. [France] Brande & C.

3. In the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, a title of certain dignitaries below the rank of bishop. Apostolic prefect (R. C. Ch.), the head of a mission, not of episcopal rank. Shipley.

PREFECTORIAL
Pre`fec*to"ri*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a prefect.

PREFECTSHIP
Pre"fect*ship, n.

Defn: The office or jurisdiction of a prefect.

PREFECTURE
Pre"fec*ture, n. Etym: [L. praefectura: cf. F. préfecture.]

Defn: The office, position, or jurisdiction of a prefect; also, his official residence.

PREFECUNDATION
Pre*fec`un*da"tion, n. (Physiol.)

Defn: A term collectively applied to the changes or conditions preceding fecundation, especially to the changes which the ovum undergoes before fecundation.

PREFECUNDATORY
Pre`fe*cun"da*to*ry, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to prefecundation.

PREFER
Pre*fer", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preferred; p. pr. & vb. n. Preferring.]
Etym: [F. préférer, L. praeferre; prae before + ferre to bear or
carry. See 1st Bear.]

1. To carry or bring (something) forward, or before one; hence, to bring for consideration, acceptance, judgment, etc.; to offer; to present; to proffer; to address; — said especially of a request, prayer, petition, claim, charge, etc. He spake, and to her hand preferred the bowl. Pope. Presently prefer his suit to Cæsar. Shak. Three tongues prefer strange orisons on high. Byron.

2. To go before, or be before, in estimation; to outrank; to surpass. [Obs.] "Though maidenhood prefer bigamy." Chaucer.

3. To cause to go before; hence, to advance before others, as to an office or dignity; to raise; to exalt; to promote; as, to prefer an officer to the rank of general. I would prefer him to a better place. Shak.

4. To set above or before something else in estimation, favor, or liking; to regard or honor before another; to hold in greater favor; to choose rather; — often followed by to, before, or above. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Ps. cxxxvii. 6. Preferred an infamous peace before a most just war. Knolles. Preferred stock, stock which takes a dividend before other capital stock; — called also preference stock and preferential stock.

Syn.
— To choose; elect. See Choose.

PREFERABILITY
Pref`er*a*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being preferable; preferableness. J. S.
Mill.

PREFERABLE
Pref"er*a*ble, a. Etym: [Cf. F. préférable.]

Defn: Worthy to be preferred or chosen before something else; more desirable; as, a preferable scheme. Addison.

PREFERABLENESS
Pref"er*a*ble*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being preferable.

PREFERABLY
Pref"er*a*bly, adv.

Defn: In preference; by choice.
To choose Plautus preferably to Terence. Dennis.

PREFERENCE
Pref"er*ence, n. Etym: [Cf. F. préférence.]

1. The act of Preferring, or the state of being preferred; the setting of one thing before another; precedence; higher estimation; predilection; choice; also, the power or opportunity of choosing; as, to give him his preference. Leave the critics on either side to contend about the preference due to this or that sort of poetry. Dryden. Knowledge of things alone gives a value to our reasonings, and preference of one man's knowledge over another's. Locke.

2. That which is preferred; the object of choice or superior favor; as, which is your preference

PREFERENTIAL
Pref`er*en"tial, a.

Defn: Giving, indicating, or having a preference or precedence; as, a preferential claim; preferential shares.

PREFERENTIAL VOTING
Preferential voting. (Political Science)

Defn: A system of voting, as at primaries, in which the voters are allowed to indicate on their ballots their preference (usually their first and second choices) between two or more candidates for an office, so that if no candidate receives a majority of first choices the one receiving the greatest number of first and second choices together in nominated or elected.

PREFERMENT
Pre*fer"ment, n.

1. The act of choosing, or the state of being chosen; preference. [R.] Natural preferment of the one . . . before the other. Sir T. Browne.

2. The act of preferring, or advancing in dignity or office; the state of being advanced; promotion. Neither royal blandishments nor promises of valuable preferment had been spared. Macaulay.

3. A position or office of honor or profit; as, the preferments of the church.

PREFERRER
Pre*fer"rer, n.

Defn: One who prefers.

PREFIDENCE
Pref"i*dence, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being prefident. [Obs.] Baxter.

PREFIDENT
Pref"i*dent, a. Etym: [Cf. L. praefidens overconfident. See Pre-, and
Confident.]

Defn: Trusting beforehand; hence, overconfident. [Obs.] Baxter.

PREFIGURATE
Pre*fig"u*rate, v. t. Etym: [L. praefiguratus, p. p. See Prefigure.]

Defn: To prefigure. [R.] Grafton.

PREFIGURATION
Pre*fig`u*ra"tion, n. Etym: [L. praefiguratio.]

Defn: The act of prefiguring, or the state of being prefigured.
A variety of prophecies and prefigurations. Norris.

PREFIGURATIVE
Pre*fig"ur*a*tive, a.

Defn: Showing by prefiguration. "The prefigurative atonement." Bp.
Horne.

PREFIGURE
Pre*fig"ure, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prefigured; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prefiguring.] Etym: [F. préfigurer, or L. praefigurare,
praefiguratum; prae before + figurare to figure. See Figure, and cf.
Prefigurate.]

Defn: To show, suggest, or announce, by antecedent types and similitudes; to foreshadow. "Whom all the various types prefigured." South.

PREFIGUREMENT
Pre*fig"ure*ment, n.

Defn: The act of prefiguring; prefiguration; also, that which is prefigured. Carlyle.

PREFINE Pre*fine", v. t. Etym: [L. praefinire; prae before + finire to limit, determine: cf. F. préfiner.]

Defn: To limit beforehand. [Obs.] Knolles.

PREFINITE
Pre*fi"nite, a. Etym: [L. praefinitus, p. p.]

Defn: Prearranged. [Obs.] " Set and prefinite time." Holland.

PREFINITION
Pref`i*ni"tion, n. Etym: [L. praefinitio.]

Defn: Previous limitation. [Obs.] Fotherby.

PREFIX Pre*fix", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prefixed; p. pr. & vb. n. Prefixing.] Etym: [L. praefixus, p. p. of praefigere to fix or fasten before; prae before + figere to fix: cf. F. préfix fixed beforehand, determined, préfixer to prefix. See Fix.]

1. To put or fix before, or at the beginning of, another thing; as, to prefix a syllable to a word, or a condition to an agreement.

2. To set or appoint beforehand; to settle or establish antecedently. [Obs.] " Prefixed bounds. " Locke. And now he hath to her prefixt a day. Spenser.

PREFIX
Pre"fix, n. Etym: [Cf. F. préfixe.]

Defn: That which is prefixed; esp., one or more letters or syllables combined or united with the beginning of a word to modify its signification; as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure.

PREFIXION
Pre*fix"ion, n. Etym: [Cf. OF. prefixion.]

Defn: The act of prefixing. [R.] Bailey.

PREFLORATION
Pre`flo*ra"tion, n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + L. flos, floris, flower.]
(Bot.)

Defn: Æstivation.

PREFOLIATION
Pre*fo`li*a"tion, n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + L. folium leaf.] (Bot.)

Defn: Vernation.

PREFORM
Pre*form" (, v. t. Etym: [L. praeformare. See Pre-, and Form.]

Defn: To form beforehand, or for special ends. "Their natures and preformed faculties. " Shak.

PREFORMATION
Pre`for*ma"tion, n. (Biol.)

Defn: An old theory of the preëxistence of germs. Cf. Emboîtement.

PREFORMATIVE
Pre*form"a*tive, n.

Defn: A formative letter at the beginning of a word. M. Stuart.

PREFRONTAL
Pre*fron"tal, a. (Anat. & Zoöl.)

Defn: Situated in front of the frontal bone, or the frontal region of the skull; ectethmoid, as a certain bone in the nasal capsule of many animals, and certain scales of reptiles and fishes. — n.

Defn: A prefrontal bone or scale.

PREFULGENCY Pre*ful"gen*cy, n. Etym: [L. praefulgens, p. pr. of praefulgere to shine forth. See Pre-, and Fulgent.]

Defn: Superior brightness or effulgency. [R.] Barrow.

PREGAGE
Pre*gage" (, v. t.

Defn: To preëngage. [Obs.] Fuller.

PREGLACIAL
Pre*gla"cial, a. (Geol.)

Defn: Prior to the glacial or drift period.

PREGNABLE
Preg"na*ble, a, Etym: [F. prenable. See Impregnable.]

Defn: Capable of being entered, taken, or captured; expugnable; as, a pregnable fort. [R.] Cotgrave.

PREGNANCE
Preg"nance, n.

Defn: Pregnancy. [Obs.] Milton.

PREGNANCY
Preg"nan*cy, n.

1. The condition of being pregnant; the state of being with young.

2. Figuratively: The quality of being heavy with important contents, issue, significance, etc.; unusual consequence or capacity; fertility. Fuller.

PREGNANT Preg"nant, a. Etym: [L. praegnans, -antis; prae before + genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. prégnant. See Gender, 2d Kin.]

1. Being with young, as a female; having conceived; great with young; breeding; teeming; gravid; preparing to bring forth.

2. Heavy with important contents, significance, or issue; full of consequence or results; weighty; as, pregnant replies. " A pregnant argument." Prynne. " A pregnant brevity." E. Everett.

3. Full of promise; abounding in ability, resources, etc.; as, a pregnant youth. [Obs.] Evelyn. Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. Shak. Pregnant construction (Rhet.), one in which more is implied than is said; as, the beasts trembled forth from their dens, that is, came forth trembling with fright.

PREGNANT
Preg"nant, n.

Defn: A pregnant woman. [R.] Dunglison.

PREGNANT
Preg"nant, a. Etym: [F. prenant taking. Cf. Pregnable.]

Defn: Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt.
[Obs.] " Pregnant to good pity." Shak.

PREGNANTLY
Preg"nant*ly, adv.

Defn: In a pregnant manner; fruitfully; significantly.

PREGNANTLY
Preg"nant*ly, adv.

Defn: Unresistingly; openly; hence, clearly; evidently. [Obs.] Shak.

PREGRAVATE Pre"gra*vate, v. t. Etym: [L. praegravatus, p. p. of praegravare to be heavy upon, fr. praegravis very heavy.]

Defn: To bear down; to depress. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.

PREGRAVITATE
Pre*grav"i*tate, v. i.

Defn: To descend by gravity; to sink. [R.] Boyle.

PREGUSTANT Pre*gus"tant, a. Etym: [L. praegustans, p. pr. of praegustare to taste beforehand; prae before + gustare to taste.]

Defn: Tasting beforehand; having a foretaste. [R.] Ed. Rev.

PREGUSTATION
Pre`gus*ta"tion, n.

Defn: The act of tasting beforehand; foretaste. [R.] Dr. Walker (1678).

PREHALLUX
Pre*hal"lux, n. Etym: [NL. See Pre-, and Hallux.] (Anat.)

Defn: An extra first toe, or rudiment of a toe, on the preaxial side of the hallux.

PREHEND
Pre*hend" (, v. t. Etym: [L. prehendere. See Prehensile.]

Defn: To lay hold of; to seize. [Obs.] Middleton.

PREHENSI-BLE
Pre*hen"si-ble, a. Etym: [Cf. F. préhensible.]

Defn: Capable of being seized.

PREHENSILE
Pre*hen"sile, a. Etym: [L. prehensus, p. p. of prehendere to lay hold
of, seize; pre- (equiv. to prae before) + hendere (in comp.), akin to
E. get: cf. F. préhensile. See Get, and cf. Prison, Prize, n.]

Defn: Adapted to seize or grasp; seizing; grasping; as, the prehensile tail of a monkey.

PREHENSION
Pre*hen"sion, n. Etym: [L. prehensio; cf. F. préhension. See
Prehensile.]

Defn: The act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping, as with the hand or other member.

PREHENSORY
Pre*hen"so*ry, a.

Defn: Adapted to seize or grasp; prehensile.

PREHISTORIC
Pre`his*tor"ic, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a period before written history begins; as, the prehistoric ages; prehistoric man.

PREHNITE Prehn"ite, n. Etym: [So called from the German Colonel Prehn, who first found it.] (Min.)

Defn: A pale green mineral occurring in crystalline aggregates having a botryoidal or mammillary structure, and rarely in distinct crystals. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime.

PREHNITIC
Prehn*it"ic, a. (Chem.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or designating, a tetrabasic acid of benzene obtained as a white crystalline substance; — probably so called from the resemblance of the wartlike crystals to the mammillæ on the surface of prehnite.

PREIGNITION
Pre`ig*ni"tion, n. (Engin.)

Defn: Ignition in an internal-combustion engine while the inlet valve is open or before compression is completed.

PREINDESIGNATE
Pre`in*des"ig*nate, a. (Logic.)

Defn: Having no sign expressive of quantity; indefinite. See
Predesignate.

PREINDISPOSE
Pre*in`dis*pose" ( v. t.

Defn: To render indisposed beforehand. Milman.

PREINSTRUCT
Pre`in*struct" ( v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preinstructed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preinstructing.]

Defn: To instruct previously or beforehand. Dr. H. More.

PREINTIMATION
Pre*in`ti*ma"tion n.

Defn: Previous intimation; a suggestion beforehand. T. Scott.

PREJUDGE
Pre*judge" ( v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prejudged (; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prejudging.] Etym: [Pref. pre + judge: cf. F. préjuger. Cf.
Prejudicate, Prejudice.]

Defn: To judge before hearing, or before full and sufficient examination; to decide or sentence by anticipation; to condemn beforehand. The committee of council hath prejudged the whole case, by calling the united sense of both houses of Parliament" a universal clamor." Swift.

PREJUDGMENT
Pre*judg"ment, n.

Defn: The act of prejudging; decision before sufficient examination.

PREJUDICACY
Pre*ju"di*ca*cy, n.

Defn: Prejudice; prepossession. [Obs.] Sir. H. Blount.

PREJUDICAL
Pre*ju"di*cal, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the determination of some matter not previously decided; as, a prejudical inquiry or action at law.

PREJUDICANT
Pre*ju"di*cant, a. Etym: [L. praejudicans, p. pr.]

Defn: Influenced by prejudice; biased. [R.] " With not too hasty and prejudicant ears." Milton.

PREJUDICATE Pre*ju"di*cate, a. Etym: [L. praejudicatus, p. p. of praejudicare to prejudge; prae before + judicare to judge. See Judge.]

1. Formed before due examination. "Ignorance and prejudicate opinions." Jer. Taylor.

2. Biased by opinions formed prematurely; prejudiced. "Prejudicate readers." Sir T. Browne.

PREJUDICATE
Pre*ju"di*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prejudicated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prejudicating.] Etym: [Cf. Prejudge.]

Defn: To determine beforehand, especially to disadvantage; to
prejudge.
Our dearest friend Prejudicates the business. Shak.

PREJUDICATE
Pre*ju"di*cate, v. i.

Defn: To prejudge. Sir P. Sidney.

PREJUDICATELY
Pre*ju"di*cate*ly, adv.

Defn: With prejudice.

PREJUDICATION
Pre*ju`di*ca"tion, n.

1. The act of prejudicating, or of judging without due examination of facts and evidence; prejudgment.

2. (Rom. Law) (a) A preliminary inquiry and determination about something which belongs to a matter in dispute. (b) A previous treatment and decision of a point; a precedent.

PREJUDICATIVE
Pre*ju"di*ca*tive, a.

Defn: Forming a judgment without due examination; prejudging. Dr. H.
More.

PREJUDICE Prej"u*dice n. Etym: [F. préjudice, L. praejudicium; prae before + judicium judgment. See Prejudicate, Judicial.]

1. Foresight. [Obs.] Naught might hinder his quick prejudize. Spenser.

2. An opinion or judgment formed without due examination; prejudgment; a leaning toward one side of a question from other considerations than those belonging to it; an unreasonable predilection for, or objection against, anything; especially, an opinion or leaning adverse to anything, without just grounds, or before sufficient knowledge. Though often misled by prejudice and passion, he was emphatically an honest man. Macaulay.

3. (Law)

Defn: A bias on the part of judge, juror, or witness which interferes with fairness of judgment.

4. Mischief; hurt; damage; injury; detriment. Locke. England and France might, through their amity, Breed him some prejudice. Shak.

Syn. — Prejudgment; prepossession; bias; harm; hurt; damage; detriment; mischief; disadvantage.

PREJUDICE
Prej"u*dice, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prejudiced; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prejudicing.] Etym: [Cf. F. préjudicier. See Prejudice, n.]

1. To cause to have prejudice; to prepossess with opinions formed without due knowledge or examination; to bias the mind of, by hasty and incorrect notions; to give an unreasonable bent to, as to one side or the other of a cause; as, to prejudice a critic or a juryman. Suffer not any beloved study to prejudice your mind so far as to despise all other learning. I. Watts

2. To obstruct or injure by prejudices, or by previous bias of the mind; hence, generally, to hurt; to damage; to injure; to impair; as, to prejudice a good cause. Seek how may prejudice the foe. Shak

PREJUDICIAL Prej`u*di"cial a. Etym: [L. praejudicialis belonging to a preceding judgment: cf. F. préjudiciel.]

1. Biased, possessed, or blinded by prejudices; as, to look with a prejudicial eye. [Obs.] Holyday.

2. Tending to obstruct or impair; hurtful; injurious; disadvantageous; detrimental. Hooker. His going away . . . was most prejudicial and most ruinous to the king's affairs. Clarendon. — Prej`u*di"cial*ly, adv. — Prej`u*di"cial*ness, n.

PREKNOWLEDGE
Pre*knowl"edge, n.

Defn: Prior knowledge.

PRELACY
Prel"a*cy n.; pl. Prelacies. Etym: [LL. praelatia. See Prelate; cf.
Prelaty.]

1. The office or dignity of a prelate; church government by prelates. Prelacies may be termed the greater benefices. Ayliffe.

2. The order of prelates, taken collectively; the body of ecclesiastical dignitaries. "Divers of the reverend prelacy, and other most judicious men." Hooker.

PRELAL
Pre"lal, a. Etym: [L. prelum a press.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to printing; typographical. [Obs.] Fuller.

PRELATE Prel"ate (; 48), n. Etym: [F. prélat, LL. praelatus, fr. L. praelatus, used as p. p. of praeferre to prefer, but from a different root. See Elate.]

Defn: A clergyman of a superior order, as an archbishop or a bishop, having authority over the lower clergy; a dignitary of the church.

Note: This word and the words derived from it are often used invidiously, in English ecclesiastical history, by dissenters, respecting the Established Church system. Hear him but reason in divinity, . . . You would desire the king were made a prelate. Shak.

PRELATE
Prel"ate, v. i.

Defn: To act as a prelate. [Obs.]
Right prelating is busy laboring, and not lording. Latimer.

PRELATEITY
Prel`a*te"i*ty, n.

Defn: Prelacy. [Obs.] Milton.

PRELATESHIP
Prel"ate*ship, n.

Defn: The office of a prelate. Harmar.

PRELATESS
Prel"a*tess, n.

Defn: A woman who is a prelate; the wife of a prelate. Milton.

PRELATIAL
Pre*la"tial, a.

Defn: Prelatical. Beaconsfield.

PRELATIC; PRELATICAL
Pre*lat"ic, Pre*lat"ic*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to prelates or prelacy; as, prelatical authority. Macaulay.

PRELATICALLY
Pre*lat"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In a prelatical manner; with reference to prelates. Milton.
The last Georgic was a good prelude to the Æneis.

PRELATION Pre*la"tion, n. Etym: [L. praelatio: cf. F. prélation. See Prelate, and cf. Prefer.]

Defn: The setting of one above another; preference. [R.] Jer. Taylor.

PRELATISM
Prel"a*tism, n.

Defn: Prelacy; episcopacy.

PRELATIST
Prel"a*tist n.

Defn: One who supports of advocates prelacy, or the government of the church by prelates; hence, a high-churchman. Hume. I am an Episcopalian, but not a prelatist. T. Scott.

PRELATIZE
Prel"a*tize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prelatized; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prelatizing.]

Defn: To bring under the influence of prelacy. Palfrey.

PRELATIZE
Prel"a*tize, v. i.

Defn: To uphold or encourage prelacy; to exercise prelatical
functions.
An episcopacy that began then to prelatize. Milton.

PRELATRY
Prel"a*try, n.

Defn: Prelaty; prelacy. [Obs.]

PRELATURE; PRELATURESHIP Prel"a*ture, Prel"a*ture*ship, n. Etym: [F. prélature, or LL. praelatura.]

Defn: The state or dignity of a prelate; prelacy. Milman.

PRELATY
Prel"a*ty, n.

Defn: Prelacy. [Obs.] Milton.

PRELECT
Pre*lect" v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prelected; p. pr. & vb. n. Prelecting.]
Etym: [L. praelectus, p. p. of praelegere to read before. See Pre-,
and Lection.]

Defn: To read publicly, as a lecture or discourse.

PRELECT
Pre*lect", v. i.

Defn: To discourse publicly; to lecture.
Spitting . . . was publicly prelected upon. De. Quincey.
To prelect upon the military art. Bp. Horsley.

PRELECTION
Pre*lec"tion, n. Etym: [L. praelectio.]

Defn: A lecture or discourse read in public or to a select company.
"The prelections of Faber." Sir M. Hale.

PRELECTOR
Pre*lec"tor, n. Etym: [L. praelector.]

Defn: A reader of lectures or discourses; a lecturer. Sheldon.

PRELIBATION Pre`li*ba"tion, n. Etym: [L. praelibatio, fr. praelibare to taste beforehand: cf. F. prelibation.]

1. A. tasting beforehand, or by anticipation; a foretaste; as, a prelibation of heavenly bliss.

2. A pouring out, or libation, before tasting.

PRELIMINARILY
Pre*lim"i*na*ri*ly, adv.

Defn: In a preliminary manner.

PRELIMINARY Pre*lim"i*na*ry, a. Etym: [Pref. pre + L. liminaris belonging to a threshold, fr. limen, liminis, threshold, entrance: cf. F. préliminaire. Cf. Limit.]

Defn: Introductory; previous; preceding the main discourse or business; prefatory; as, preliminary observations to a discourse or book; preliminary articles to a treaty; preliminary measures; preliminary examinations.

Syn. — Introductory; preparatory; prefatory; proemial; previous; prior; precedent; antecedent.

PRELIMINARY
Pre*lim"i*na*ry, n.; pl. Preliminaries (.

Defn: That which precedes the main discourse, work, design, or business; something introductory or preparatory; as, the preliminaries to a negotiation or duel; to take one's preliminaries the year before entering college.

Syn.
— Introduction; preface; prelude.

PRELIMIT
Pre*lim"it, v. t.

Defn: To limit previously. [R.]

PRELOOK
Pre*look", v. i.

Defn: To look forward. [Obs.] Surrey.

PRELUDE Pre"lude, n. Etym: [F. prélude (cf. It. preludio, LL. praeludium), fr. L. prae before + ludus play. See Prelude, v. t.]

Defn: An introductory performance, preceding and preparing for the principal matter; a preliminary part, movement, strain, etc.; especially (Mus.), a strain introducing the theme or chief subject; a movement introductory to a fugue, yet independent; — with recent composers often synonymous with overture. The last Georgic was a good prelude to the Ænis Addison. The cause is more than the prelude, the effect is more than the sequel, of the fact. Whewell.

Syn. — Preface; introduction; preliminary; preamble; forerunner; harbinger; precursor.

PRELUDE
Pre*lude", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Preluded; p. pr. & vb. n. Preluding.]
Etym: [L. praeludere, praelusum; prae before + ludere to play: cf. F.
préluder. See Ludicrous.]

Defn: To play an introduction or prelude; to give a prefatory
performance; to serve as prelude.
The musicians preluded on their instruments. Sir. W. Scott.
We are preluding too largely, and must come at once to the point.
Jeffrey.

PRELUDE
Pre*lude", v. t.

1. To introduce with a previous performance; to play or perform a prelude to; as, to prelude a concert with a lively air.

2. To serve as prelude to; to precede as introductory. [Music] preluding some great tragedy. Longfellow

PRELUDER
Pre*lud"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, preludes; one who plays a prelude.
Mason.

PRELUDIAL
Pre*lud"i*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a prelude; of the nature of a prelude; introductory. [R.]

PRELUDIOUS
Pre*lud"i*ous a.

Defn: Preludial. [R.] Dr. H. More.

PRELUMBAR
Pre*lum"bar, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated immediately in front of the loins;- applied to the dorsal part of the abdomen.

PRELUSIVE
Pre*lu"sive, a. Etym: [See Prelude.]

Defn: Of the nature of a prelude; introductory; indicating that something of a like kind is to follow. "Prelusive drops." Thomson. — Pre*lu"sive*ly, adv.

PRELUSORILY
Pre*lu"so*ri*ly, adv.

Defn: In a prelusory way.

PRELUSORY
Pre*lu"so*ry, a.

Defn: Introductory; prelusive. Bacon.

PREMATURE
Pre`ma*ture", a. Etym: [L. praematurus; prae before + maturus ripe.
See Mature.]

1. Mature or ripe before the proper time; as, the premature fruits of a hotbed.

2. Happening, arriving, existing, or performed before the proper or usual time; adopted too soon; too early; untimely; as, a premature fall of snow; a premature birth; a premature opinion; premature decay.

3. Arriving or received without due authentication or evidence; as, a
premature report.
— Pre`ma*ture"ly, adv.
— Pre`ma*ture"ness, n.

PREMATURITY
Pre`ma*tu"ri*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prématurité.]

Defn: The quality or state of being premature; early, or untimely, ripeness; as, the prematurity of genius.

PREMAXILLA
Pre"max*il"la n.; pl. Premaxillæ. Etym: [NL. See Pre-, and Maxilla.]
(Anat.)

Defn: A bone on either side of the middle line between the nose and mouth, forming the anterior part of each half of the upper jawbone; the intermaxilla. In man the premaxillæ become united and form the incisor part of the maxillary bone.

PREMAXILLARY
Pre*max"il*la*ry, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the maxillary bones; pertaining to the premaxillæ; intermaxillary. — n.

Defn: A premaxilla.

PREMEDIATE
Pre*me"di*ate, v. t.

Defn: To advocate. [R.]

PREMEDITATE Pre*med"i*tate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Premeditated (-ta`td); p. pr. & vb. n. Premeditating.] Etym: [L. praemeditatus, p. p. of praemeditari; prae before + meditari to meditate. See Meditate.]

Defn: To think on, and revolve in the mind, beforehand; to contrive and design previously; as, to premeditate robbery. With words premeditated thus he said. Dryden.

PREMEDITATE
Pre*med"i*tate, v. i.

Defn: To think, consider, deliberate, or revolve in the mind, beforehand.

PREMEDITATE
Pre*med"i*tate, a. Etym: [L. praemeditatus, p. p.]

Defn: Premeditated; deliberate. [Archaic] Bp. Burnet.

PREMEDITATELY
Pre*med"i*tate*ly, adv.

Defn: With premeditation. Burke.

PREMEDITATION
Pre*med`i*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. praemeditatio: cf. F. préméditation.]

Defn: The act of meditating or contriving beforehand; previous deliberation; forethought.

PREMERIT
Pre*mer"it, v. t.

Defn: To merit or deserve beforehand. [Obs.] Eikon Basi

PREMIAL; PREMIANT
Pre"mi*al, Pre"mi*ant, a. Etym: [L. praemialis. See Premium.]

Defn: Serving to reward; rewarding. [R.] Baxter.

PREMICES
Prem"i*ces, n. pl. Etym: [F. prémices, L. primitiae. See Primitia.]

Defn: First fruits. [Obs.] Dryden.

PREMIER Pre"mi*er, a. Etym: [F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]

1. First; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister. Camden. Swift.

2. Most ancient; — said of the peer bearing the oldest title of his degree.

PREMIER
Pre"mi*er, n.

Defn: The first minister of state; the prime minister.

PREMIERE Pre*mière", a. fem. [F., prop. fem. of premier first. See Premier, a.]

Defn: First; chief; as, a première danseuse. — n. fem.; pl. -mières
(F. pre*myâr").
(a) The leading woman of a group, esp. in a theatrical cast.
(b) A first performance, as of a play; a first night.

PREMIERSHIP
Pre"mi*er*ship, n.

Defn: The office of the premier.

PREMILLENNIAL
Pre`mil*len"ni*al, a

Defn: , Previous to the millennium.

PREMIOUS
Pre"mi*ous, a. Etym: [L. praemiosus, fr. praemium a premium.]

Defn: Rich in gifts. [R.] Clarke.

PREMISE
Prem"ise, n.; pl. Premises (. [Written also, less properly, premiss.]
Etym: [F. prémisse, fr. L. praemissus, p. p. of praemittere to send
before; prae before + mittere to send. See Mission.]

1. A proposition antecedently supposed or proved; something previously stated or assumed as the basis of further argument; a condition; a supposition. The premises observed, Thy will by my performance shall be served. Shak.

2. (Logic)

Defn: Either of the first two propositions of a syllogism, from which the conclusion is drawn.

Note: "All sinners deserve punishment: A B is a sinner." These propositions, which are the premises, being true or admitted, the conclusion follows, that A B deserves punishment. While the premises stand firm, it is impossible to shake the conclusion. Dr. H. More.

3. pl. (Law)

Defn: Matters previously stated or set forth; esp., that part in the beginning of a deed, the office of which is to express the grantor and grantee, and the land or thing granted or conveyed, and all that precedes the habendum; the thing demised or granted.

4. pl.

Defn: A piece of real estate; a building and its adjuncts; as, to lease premises; to trespass on another's premises.

PREMISE
Pre*mise", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Premised; p. pr. & vb. n. Premising.]
Etym: [From L. praemissus, p. p., or E. premise, n. See Premise, n.]

1. To send before the time, or beforehand; hence, to cause to be before something else; to employ previously. [Obs.] The premised flames of the last day. Shak. If venesection and a cathartic be premised. E. Darwin.

2. To set forth beforehand, or as introductory to the main subject; to offer previously, as something to explain or aid in understanding what follows; especially, to lay down premises or first propositions, on which rest the subsequent reasonings. I premise these particulars that the reader may know that I enter upon it as a very ungrateful task. Addison.

PREMISE
Pre*mise", v. i.

Defn: To make a premise; to set forth something as a premise. Swift.

PREMISS
Prem"iss, n.

Defn: Premise. Whately. I. Watts

PREMIT
Pre*mit", v. t.

Defn: To premise. [Obs.] Donne.

PREMIUM Pre"mi*um, n.; pl. Premiums. Etym: [L. praemium, originally, what one has got before or better than others; prae before + emere to take, buy. See Redeem.]

1. A reward or recompense; a prize to be won by being before another, or others, in a competition; reward or prize to be adjudged; a bounty; as, a premium for good behavior or scholarship, for discoveries, etc. To think it not the necessity, but the premium and privilege of life, to eat and sleep without any regard to glory. Burke. The law that obliges parishes to support the poor offers a premium for the encouragement of idleness. Franklin.

2. Something offered or given for the loan of money; bonus; — sometimes synonymous with interest, but generally signifying a sum in addition to the capital. People were tempted to lend, by great premiums and large interest. Swift.

3. A sum of money paid to underwriters for insurance, or for undertaking to indemnify for losses of any kind.

4. A sum in advance of, or in addition to, the nominal or par value of anything; as, gold was at a premium; he sold his stock at a premium.

PREMOLAR
Pre*mo"lar, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the molar teeth. —n.

Defn: An anterior molar tooth which has replaced a deciduous molar.
See Tooth.

PREMONISH
Pre*mon"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Premonished; p. pr. & vb. n.
Premonishing.] Etym: [Pref. pre- + monish: cf. L. praemonere.]

Defn: To forewarn; to admonish beforehand. [R.] Herrick.
To teach, and to premonish. Bk. of Com. Prayer.

PREMONISHMENT
Pre*mon"ish*ment, n.

Defn: Previous warning or admonition; forewarning. Sir H. Wotton.

PREMONITION
Pre`mo*ni"tion, n. Etym: [L. praemonitio. See Premonish.]

Defn: Previous warning, notice, or information; forewarning; as, a premonition of danger.

PREMONITOR
Pre*mon"i*tor, n. Etym: [L. praemonitor.]

Defn: One who, or that which, gives premonition.

PREMONITORY
Pre*mon"i*to*ry, a. Etym: [L. praemonitorius.]

Defn: Giving previous warning or notice; as, premonitory symptoms of
disease.
— Pre*mon"i*to*ri*ly, adv.

PREMONSTRANT
Pre*mon"strant, n.

Defn: A Premonstratensian.

PREMONSTRATE Pre*mon"strate, v. t. Etym: [L. praemonstratus, p. p. of praemonstrare; prae before + monstrate to show.]

Defn: To show beforehand; to foreshow. [R.] Herbert.

PREMONSTRATENSIAN Pre*mon`stra*ten"sian, n. Etym: [F.prémontré, fr. Prémontré, fr. L. pratum monstratum.] (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: One of a religious order of regular canons founded by St. Norbert at Prémontré, in France, in 1119. The members of the order are called also White Canons, Norbertines, and Premonstrants.

PREMONSTRATION
Pre`mon*stra"tion, n. Etym: [L. praemonstratio.]

Defn: A showing beforehand; foreshowing.

PREMONSTRATOR
Pre*mon"stra*tor, n. Etym: [L. praemonstrator.]

Defn: One who, or that which, premonstrates. [R.]

PREMORSE Pre*morse", a. Etym: [L. praemorsus, p. p. of praemordere to bite off; prae before + mordere to bite.]

Defn: Terminated abruptly, or as it bitten off. Premorse root or leaves (Bot.), such as have an abrupt, ragged, and irregular termination, as if bitten off short.

PREMOSAIC
Pre`mo*sa"ic a.

Defn: Relating to the time before Moses; as, premosaic history.

PREMOTION
Pre*mo"tion n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + motion.]

Defn: Previous motion or excitement to action.

PREMUNIRE
Prem`u*ni"re, n. (Law)

Defn: See Præmunire.

PREMUNITE Prem`u*nite", v. t. Etym: [L. praemunitus, p. p. of praemunire to fortify in front; prae before + munire to fortify.]

Defn: To fortify beforehand; to guard against objection. [Obs.]
Fotherby.

PREMUNITION
Pre`mu*ni"tion, n. Etym: [L. praemunitio: cf. F. prémunition.]

Defn: The act of fortifying or guarding against objections. [Obs.]

PREMUNITORY
Pre*mu"ni*to*ry, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a premunire; as, a premunitory process.

PRENASAL
Pre*na"sal, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the nose, or in front of the nasal chambers.

PRENATAL
Pre*na"tal, a.

Defn: Being or happening before birth.

PRENDER
Pren"der, n. Etym: [F. prendre to take, fr. L. prehendere to take.]
(Law)

Defn: The power or right of taking a thing before it is offered.
Burrill.

PRENOMEN
Pre*no"men, n.

Defn: See Prænomen.

PRENOMINAL
Pre*nom"i*nal, a.

Defn: Serving as a prefix in a compound name. Sir T. Browne.

PRENOMINATE Pre*nom"i*nate a. Etym: [L. praenominatus, p. p. of praenominare to give the prenomen to, to prenominate, fr. praenomen prenomen.]

Defn: Forenamed; named beforehand. [R.] "Prenominate crimes." Shak.

PRENOMINATE
Pre*nom"i*nate, v. t.

Defn: To forename; to name beforehand; to tell by name beforehand.
Shak.

PRENOMINATION
Pre*nom`i*na*tion, n.

Defn: The act of prenominating; privilege of being named first. Sir
T. Browne.

PRENOSTIC Pre*nos"tic, n. Etym: [L. praenoscere to foreknow; prae before + noscere, notum, to know.]

Defn: A prognostic; an omen. [Obs.] Gower.

PRENOTE
Pre*note", v. t. Etym: [L. praenotare; prae before + notare to note.]

Defn: To note or designate beforehand. Foxe.

PRENOTION
Pre*no"tion n. Etym: [L. praenotio: cf. F. prénotion. See Prenostic.]

Defn: A notice or notion which precedes something else in time; previous notion or thought; foreknowledge. Bacon.

PRENSATION Pren*sa"tion, n. Etym: [L. prensatio, from prensare, prehensare, v. freq. from prehendere to seize.]

Defn: The act of seizing with violence. [Obs.] Barrow .

PRENTICE
Pren"tice, n. Etym: [Aphetic form of apprentice.]

Defn: An apprentice. [Obs. or Colloq.] Piers Plowman. "My accuser is my prentice." Shak.

PRENTICEHOOD
Pren"tice*hood (, n.

Defn: Apprenticehood. [Obs.] This jolly prentice with his master bode Till he was out nigh of his prenticehood. Chaucer.

PRENTICESHIP
Pren"tice*ship, n.

Defn: Apprenticeship. [Obs. or Colloq.]
He served a prenticeship who sets up shop. Pope.

PRENUNCIATION Pre*nun`ci*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. praenunciatio, fr. praenunciare to announce beforehand. See Pre-, and Announce.]

Defn: The act of announcing or proclaiming beforehand. [Obs.]

PRENUNCIOUS
Pre*nun"cious, a. Etym: [L. praenuncius.]

Defn: Announcing beforehand; presaging. [Obs.] Blount.

PREOBLONGATA
Pre*ob`lon*ga"ta, n. Etym: [NL. See Pre-, and Oblongata.] (Anat.)

Defn: The anterior part of the medulla oblongata. B. G. Wilder.

PREOBTAIN
Pre`ob*tain", v. t.

Defn: To obtain beforehand.

PREOCCUPANCY
Pre*oc"cu*pan*cy, n. Etym: [See Preoccupate.]

Defn: The act or right of taking possession before another; as, the preoccupancy of wild land.

PREOCCUPATE Pre*oc"cu*pate, v. t. Etym: [L. praeoccupatus, p. p. of praeoccupare to preoccupy. See Preoccupy.]

1. To anticipate; to take before. [Obs.] "Fear preoccupateth it [death]." Bacon.

2. To prepossess; to prejudice. [Obs.] Sir H. Wotton.

PREOCCUPATION
Pre*oc`cu*pa"tion, n. Etym: [L. praeoccupatio: cf. F. préoccupation.]

1. The act of preoccupying, or taking possession of beforehand; the state of being preoccupied; prepossession.

2. Anticipation of objections. [R.] South.

PREOCCUPY
Pre*oc"cu*py, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preoccupied (-pid); p. pr. & vb. n.
Preoccupying.] Etym: [Cf. F. préoccuper. See Preoccupate, Occupy.]

1. To take possession of before another; as, to preoccupy a country not before held.

2. To prepossess; to engage, occupy, or engross the attention of, beforehand; hence, to prejudice. I Think it more respectful to the reader to leave something to reflections than to preoccupy his judgment. Arbuthnot.

PREOCULAR
Pre*oc"u*lar, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Placed just in front of the eyes, as the antennæ of certain insects. — n.

Defn: One of the scales just in front of the eye of a reptile or fish.

PREOMINATE
Pre*om"i*nate, v. t.

Defn: To ominate beforehand; to portend. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

PREOPERCULAR
Pre`o*per"cu*lar, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the operculum; pertaining to the preoperculum. — n.

Defn: The preoperculum.

PREOPERCULUM
Pre`o*per"cu*lum, n Etym: [NL.] (Anat.)

Defn: The anterior opercular bone in fishes.

PREOPINION
Pre`o*pin"ion, n.

Defn: Opinion previously formed; prepossession; prejudice. Sir T.
Browne.

PREOPTION
Pre*op"tion, n.

Defn: Right of first choice.

PREORAL
Pre*o"ral, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of, or anterior to, the mouth; as, preoral bands.

PREORBITAL
Pre*or"bit*al

Defn: a. (Anat.) Situated in front or the orbit.

PREORDAIN
Pre`or*dain", v. t. Etym: [Pref. pre + ordain: cf. L. praeordinare.]

Defn: To ordain or appoint beforehand: to predetermine: to foreordain. Milton.

PREORDER
Pre*or"der, v. t.

Defn: To order to arrange beforehand; to foreordain. Sir W. Hamilton.

PREORDINANCE
Pre*or"di*nance, n.

Defn: Antecedent decree or determination. Shak.

PREORDINATE
Pre*or"di*nate, a. Etym: [L. praeordinatus, p. p. See Preordain.]

Defn: Preordained. [R.] Sir T. Elyot.

PREORDINATION
Pre*or`di*na"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. préordination.]

Defn: The act of foreordaining: previous determination. "The preordination of God." Bale.

PREPARABLE
Pre*par"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being prepared. "Medicine preparable by art." Boyle.

PREPARATION
Prep`a*ra"tion, n. Etym: [F. préparation, L. praeparatio. See
Prepare.]

1. The act of preparing or fitting beforehand for a particular purpose, use, service, or condition; previous arrangement or adaptation; a making ready; as, the preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the preparation of troops for a campaign.

2. The state of being prepared or made ready; preparedness; readiness; fitness; as, a nation in good preparation for war.

3. That which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; a preparatory act or measure. I will show what preparations there were in nature for this dissolution. T. Burnet.

4. That which is prepared, made, or compounded by a certain process or for a particular purpose; a combination. Specifically: (a) Any medicinal substance fitted for use. (b) Anything treated for preservation or examination as a specimen. (c) Something prepared for use in cookery. I wish the chemists had been more sparing who magnify their preparations. Sir T. Browne. In the preparations of cookery, the most volatile parts of vegetables are destroyed. Arbuthnot.

5. An army or fleet. [Obs.] Shak.

6. (Mus.)

Defn: The holding over of a note from one chord into the next chord, where it forms a temporary discord, until resolved in the chord that follows; the anticipation of a discordant note in the preceding concord, so that the ear is prepared for the shock. See Suspension.

7. Accomplishment; qualification. [Obs.] Shak.

PREPARATIVE
Pre*par"a*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. préparatif.]

Defn: Tending to prepare or make ready; having the power of preparing, qualifying, or fitting; preparatory. Laborious quest of knowledge preparative to this work. South.

PREPARATIVE
Pre*par"a*tive, n.

1. That which has the power of preparing, or previously fitting for a purpose; that which prepares. "A preparative unto sermons." Hooker.

2. That which is done in the way of preparation. "Necessary preparatives for our voyage." Dryden.

PREPARATIVELY
Pre*par"a*tive*ly, adv.

Defn: By way of preparation.

PREPARATOR
Pre*par"a*tor, n. Etym: [L. praeparator.]

Defn: One who prepares beforehand, as subjects for dissection, specimens for preservation in collections, etc. Agassiz.

PREPARATORY
Pre*par"a*to*ry, a. Etym: [L. praeparatorius: cf. F. préparatoire.]

Defn: Preparing the way for anything by previous measures of adaptation; antecedent and adapted to what follows; introductory; preparative; as, a preparatory school; a preparatory condition.

PREPARE
Pre*pare", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prepare; p. pr. & vb. n. Preparing.]
Etym: [F. préparer, L. praeparare; prae before + parare to make
ready. See Pare.]

1. To fit, adapt, or qualify for a particular purpose or condition; to make ready; to put into a state for use or application; as, to prepare ground for seed; to prepare a lesson. Our souls, not yet prepared for upper light. Dryden.

2. To procure as suitable or necessary; to get ready; to provide; as, to prepare ammunition and provisions for troops; to prepare ships for defence; to prepare an entertainment. Milton. That they may prepare a city for habitation. Ps. cvii. 36

Syn. — To fit; adjust; adapt; qualify; equip; provide; form; make; make; ready.

PREPARE
Pre*pare" (, v. i.

1. To make all things ready; to put things in order; as, to prepare for a hostile invasion. "Bid them prepare for dinner." Shak.

2. To make one's self ready; to get ready; to take the necessary previous measures; as, to prepare for death.

PREPARE
Pre*pare", n.

Defn: Preparation. [Obs.] Shak.

PREPARED
Pre*pared", a.

Defn: Made fit or suitable; adapted; ready; as, prepared food;
prepared questions.
— Pre*par"ed*ly, adv. Shak.
— Pre*par"ed*ness, n.

PREPARER
Pre*par"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, prepares, fits, or makes ready. Wood.

PREPAY
Pre*pay", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prepaid; p. pr. & vb. n. Prepaying.]

Defn: To pay in advance, or beforehand; as, to prepay postage.

PREPAYMENT
Pre*pay"ment, n.

Defn: Payment in advance.

PREPENIAL
Pre*pe"ni*al, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of, or anterior to, the penis.

PREPENSE
Pre*pense", v. t. Etym: [Pref. pre + F. penser to think. See Pansy.]

Defn: To weigh or consider beforehand; to premeditate. [Obs.]
Spenser. Sir T. Elyot.

PREPENSE
Pre*pense", v. i.

Defn: To deliberate beforehand. [Obs.]

PREPENSE
Pre*pense", a. Etym: [See Pansy, and cf. Prepense, v. t.]

Defn: Devised, contrived, or planned beforehand; preconceived; premeditated; aforethought; — usually placed after the word it qualifies; as, malice prepense. This has not arisen from any misrepresentation or error prepense. Southey.

PREPENSELY
Pre*pense"ly, adv.

Defn: In a premeditated manner.

PREPOLLENCE; PREPOLLENCY
Pre*pol"lence, Pre*pol"len*cy, n. Etym: [L. praepollentia.]

Defn: The quality or state of being prepollent; superiority of power; predominance; prevalence. [R.] Coventry.

PREPOLLENT Pre*pol"lent, a. Etym: [L. praepollens, p. p. of praepollere to surpass in power; prae before + pollere to be powerful.]

Defn: Having superior influence or power; prevailing; predominant.
[R.] Boyle.

PREPOLLENT
Pre*pol"lent, n.; pl. Prepollices Etym: [NL. See Pre-, Pollex.]
(Anat.)

Defn: An extra first digit, or rudiment of a digit, on the preaxial side of the pollex.

PREPONDER
Pre*pon"der v. t.

Defn: To preponderate [Obs.]

PREPONDERANCE; PREPONDERANCY
Pre*pon"der*ance, Pre*pon"der*an*cy, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prépondérance.]

1. The quality or state of being preponderant; superiority or excess of weight, influence, or power, etc.; an outweighing. The mind should . . . reject or receive proportionably to the preponderancy of the greater grounds of probability. Locke. In a few weeks he had changed the relative position of all the states in Europe, and had restored the equilibrium which the preponderance of one power had destroyed. Macaulay.

2. (Gun.)

Defn: The excess of weight of that part of a canon behind the trunnions over that in front of them.

PREPONDERANT Pre*pon"der*ant a. Etym: [L. praeponderans, -antis: cf. F. prépondérant. See Preponderate.]

Defn: Preponderating; outweighing; overbalancing; — used literally
and figuratively; as, a preponderant weight; of preponderant
importance.
— Pre*pon"der*ant*ly, adv.

PREPONDERATE
Pre*pon"der*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preponderated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preponderating.] Etym: [L. praeponderatus, p. p. of praeponderare;
prae before + ponderare to weigh, fr., pondus, ponderis, a weight.
See Ponder.]

1. To outweigh; to overpower by weight; to exceed in weight; to overbalance. An inconsiderable weight, by distance from the center of the balance, will preponderate greater magnitudes. Glanvill.

2. To overpower by stronger or moral power.

3. To cause to prefer; to incline; to decide. [Obs.] The desire to spare Christian blood preponderates him for peace. Fuller.

PREPONDERATE
Pre*pon"der*ate, v. i.

Defn: To exceed in weight; hence, to incline or descend, as the scale of a balance; figuratively, to exceed in influence, power, etc.; hence; to incline to one side; as, the affirmative side preponderated. That is no just balance in which the heaviest side will not preponderate. Bp. Wilkins.

PREPONDERATINGLY
Pre*pon"der*a`ting*ly, adv.

Defn: In a preponderating manner; preponderantly.

PREPONDERATION
Pre*pon`der*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. praeponderatio.]

Defn: The act or state of preponderating; preponderance; as, a preponderation of reasons. I. Watts.

PREPOSE Pre*pose", v. t. Etym: [F. préposer; pref. pré- (L. prae before) + poser. See Pose.]

Defn: To place or set before; to prefix. [Obs.] Fuller.

PREPOSITION
Prep`o*si"tion, n. Etym: [L. praepositio, fr. praeponere to place
before; prae before + ponere to put, place: cf. F. préposition. See
Position, and cf. Provost.]

1. (Gram.)

Defn: A word employed to connect a noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word; a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word; — so called because usually placed before the word with which it is phrased; as, a bridge of iron; he comes from town; it is good for food; he escaped by running.

2. A proposition; an exposition; a discourse. [Obs.] He made a long preposition and oration. Fabyan.

PREPOSITIONAL
Prep`o*si"tion*al a. Etym: [Cf. F. prépositionnel.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to a preposition; of the nature of a
preposition. Early.
— Prep`o*si"tion*al*ly, adv.

PREPOSITIVE
Pre*pos"i*tive, a. Etym: [L. praepositivus: cf. F. prépositif.]
(Gram.)

Defn: Put before; prefixed; as, a prepositive particle.
— n.

Defn: A prepositive word. Tooke.

PREPOSITOR
Pre*pos"i*tor, n. Etym: [NL.]

Defn: A scholar appointed to inspect other scholars; a monitor. Todd.

PREPOSITURE
Pre*pos"i*ture, n. Etym: [L. praepositura. See Preposition, and cf.
Provost.]

Defn: The office or dignity of a provost; a provostship. Lowth.

PREPOSSESS
Pre`pos*sess", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prepossessed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prepossessing.]

1. To preoccupy, as ground or land; to take previous possession of. Dryden.

2. To preoccupy, as the mind or heart, so as to preclude other things; hence, to bias or prejudice; to give a previous inclination to, for or against anything; esp., to induce a favorable opinion beforehand, or at the outset. It created him enemies, and prepossessed the lord general. Evelyn.

PREPOSSESSING
Pre`pos*sess"ing, a.

Defn: Tending to invite favor; attracting confidence, favor, esteem, or love; attractive; as, a prepossessing manner. — Pre`pos*sess"ing*ly, adv.

PREPOSSESSION
Pre`pos*ses"sion, n.

1. Preoccupation; prior possession. Hammond.

2. Preoccupation of the mind by an opinion, or impression, already formed; preconceived opinion; previous impression; bias; — generally, but not always, used in a favorable sense; as, the prepossessions of childhood. "The prejudices and prepossessions of the country." Sir W. Scott.

Syn.
— Bent; bias; inclination; preoccupancy; prejudgment. See Bent.

PREPOSSESSOR
Pre`*pos*sess"or, n.

Defn: One who possesses, or occupies, previously. R. Brady.

PREPOSTEROUS Pre*pos"ter*ous a.Etym: [L. praeposterus; prae before + posterus coming after, latter. See Posterior.]

1. Having that first which ought to be last; inverted in order. [Obs.] The method I take may be censured as preposterous, because I thus treat last of the antediluvian earth, which was first in the order of nature. Woodward.

2. Contrary to nature or reason; not adapted to the end; utterly and glaringly foolish; unreasonably absurd; perverted. "Most preposterous conclusions." Shak. Preposterous ass, that never read so far! Shak.

Syn.
— Absurd; perverted; wrong; irrational; foolish; monstrous. See
Absurd.
— Pre*pos"ter*ous*ly, adv. -Pre*pos"ter*ous*ness, n.

PREPOSTOR
Pre*pos"tor n.

Defn: See Prepositor.

PREPOTENCY
Pre*po"ten*cy, n. Etym: [L. praepotentia: cf. F. prépotence.]

1. The quality or condition of being prepotent; predominance. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: The capacity, on the part of one of the parents, as compared with the other, to transmit more than his or her own share of characteristics to their offspring.

PREPOTENT
Pre*po"tent a. Etym: [L. praepotens. See Pre-, and Potent.]

1. Very powerful; superior in force, influence, or authority; predominant. Plaifere.

2. (Biol.)

Defn: Characterized by prepotency. Darwin.

PREPROVIDE
Pre`pro*vide", v. t.

Defn: To provide beforehand. "The materials preprovided." Fuller.

PREPUBIC
Pre*pu"bic, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of, or anterior to, the pubis; pertaining to the prepubis.

PREPUBIS
Pre*pu"bis, n. Etym: [NL. See Pre-, and Pubis.] (Anat.)

Defn: A bone or cartilage, of some animals, situated in the middle line in front of the pubic bones.

PREPUCE
Pre"puce, n. Etym: [F. prépuce, L. praeputium.] (Anat.)

Defn: The foreskin.

PREPUTIAL
Pre*pu"tial, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the prepuce.

PRERAPHAELISM; PRERAPHAELITISM
Pre*raph"a*el*ism, Pre*raph"a*el*i`tism, n. (Fine Arts)

Defn: The doctrine or practice of a school of modern painters who profess to be followers of the painters before Raphael. Its adherents advocate careful study from nature, delicacy and minuteness of workmanship, and an exalted and delicate conception of the subject.

PRERAPHAELITE
Pre*raph"a*el*ite, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the style called preraphaelitism; as, a preraphaelite figure; a preraphaelite landscape. Ruskin.

PRERAPHAELITE
Pre*raph"a*el*ite, n.

Defn: One who favors or practices art as it was before Raphael; one who favors or advocates preraphaelitism.

PRE-RAPHAELITE
Pre-Raph"a*el*ite, n.

Defn: Popularly, any modern artist thought to be a would-be restorer of early ideas or methods, as one of the German painters often called Nazarenes, or one who paints and draws with extreme minuteness of detail.

PREREGNANT
Pre*reg"nant, n.

Defn: One who reigns before another; a sovereign predecessor. [R.]
Warner.

PREREMOTE
Pre`re*mote a.

Defn: More remote in previous time or prior order. In some cases two more links of causation may be introduced; one of them may be termed the preremote cause, the other the postremote effect. E. Darwin.

PREREQUIRE
Pre`re*quire", v. t.

Defn: To require beforehand.
Some things are prerequired of us. Bp. Hall.

PREREQUISITE
Pre*req"ui*site, a.

Defn: Previously required; necessary as a preliminary to any proposed effect or end; as, prerequisite conditions of success.

PREREQUISITE
Pre*req"ui*site, n.

Defn: Something previously required, or necessary to an end or effect
proposed.
The necessary prerequisites of freedom. Goldsmith.

PRERESOLVE
Pre`re*solve", v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Preresolved; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preresolving.]

Defn: To resolve beforehand; to predetermine. Sir E. Dering.

PREROGATIVE Pre*rog"a*tive, n. Etym: [F. prérogative, from L. praerogativa precedence in voting, preference, privilege, fr. praerogativus that is asked before others for his opinion, that votes before or first, fr. praerogare to ask before another; prae before + rogare to ask. See Rogation.]

1. An exclusive or peculiar privilege; prior and indefeasible right; fundamental and essential possession; — used generally of an official and hereditary right which may be asserted without question, and for the exercise of which there is no responsibility or accountability as to the fact and the manner of its exercise. The two faculties that are the prerogative of man — the powers of abstraction and imagination. I. Taylor. An unconstitutional exercise of his prerogative. Macaulay.

2. Precedence; preëminence; first rank. [Obs.] Then give me leave to have prerogative. Shak.

Note: The term came into general use in the conflicts between the Crown and Parliaments of Great Britain, especially in the time of the Stuarts. Prerogative Court (Eng. Law), a court which formerly had authority in the matter of wills and administrations, where the deceased left bona notabilia, or effects of the value of five pounds, in two or more different dioceses. Blackstone. — Prerogative office, the office in which wills proved in the Prerogative Court were registered.

Syn.
— Privilege; right. See Privilege.

PREROGATIVED
Pre*rog"a*tived, a.

Defn: Endowed with a prerogative, or exclusive privilege. [R.] Shak.

PREROGATIVELY
Pre*rog"a*tive*ly, adv.

Defn: By prerogative.

PRESAGE
Pre"sage, n. Etym: [F. présage, L. praesagium, from praesagire. See
Presage, v. t. ]

1. Something which foreshows or portends a future event; a prognostic; an omen; an augury. "Joy and shout — presage of victory." Milton.

2. Power to look the future, or the exercise of that power; foreknowledge; presentiment. If there be aught of presage in the mind. Milton.

Syn.
— Prognostic; omen; token; sign; presentiment.

PRESAGE
Pre*sage" v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presaged (-sajd"); p. pr. & vb. n.
Presaging. ] Etym: [F. présager, L. praesagire: prae before + sagire
to perceive acutely or sharply. See Sagacious.]

1. To have a presentiment of; to feel beforehand; to foreknow.

2. To foretell; to predict; to foreshow; to indicate. My dreams presage some joyful news at hand. Shak.

PRESAGE
Pre*sage", v. i.

Defn: To form or utter a prediction; — sometimes used with of.
Dryden.

PRESAGEFUL
Pre*sage"ful a.

Defn: Full of presages; ominous.
Dark in the glass of some presageful mood. Tennyson.

PRESAGEMENT
Pre*sage"ment, n.

1. The act or art of presaging; a foreboding. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

2. That which is presaged, or foretold. [R.] "Ominous presagement before his end. " Sir H. Wotton.

PRESAGER
Pre*sa"ger n.

Defn: One who, or that which, presages; a foreteller; a foreboder.
Shak.

PRESAGIOUS
Pre*sa"gious, a.

Defn: Foreboding; ominous. [Obs.]

PRESBYOPE
Pres"by*ope, n. (Med.)

Defn: One who has presbyopia; a farsighted person.

PRESBYOPIA
Pres`by*o"pi*a Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Med.)

Defn: A defect of vision consequent upon advancing age. It is due to rigidity of the crystalline lens, which producepresbytia.

PRESBYOPIC
Pres`by*op"ic a.

Defn: Affected by presbyopia; also, remedying presbyopia; farsighted.

PRESBYOPY
Pres"by*o`py n. Etym: [Cf. F. presbyopie.]

Defn: See Presbyopia.

PRESBYTE
Pres"byte, n. Etym: [Gr.

Defn: Same as Presbyope.

PRESBYTER
Pres"by*ter, n. Etym: [L. an elder, fr. Gr. Priest.]

1. An elder in the early Christian church. See 2d Citation under Bishop, n., 1.

2. (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.)

Defn: One ordained to the second order in the ministry; — called
also priest.
I rather term the one sort presbyter than priest. Hooker.
New presbyter is but old priest writ large. Milton.

3. (Presbyterian Ch.)

Defn: A member of a presbytery whether lay or clerical.

4. A Presbyterian. [Obs.] Hudibras.

PRESBYTERAL
Pres*byt"er*al a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a presbyter or presbytery; presbyterial.

PRESBYTERATE
Pres*byt"er*ate n. Etym: [L. presbyteratus: cf. F. presbytérat.]

Defn: A presbytery; also, presbytership. Heber.

PRESBYTERESS
Pres"by*ter*ess, n.

Defn: A female presbyter. Bale.

PRESBYTERIAL
Pres`by*te"ri*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. presbytéral.]

Defn: Presbyterian. "Presbyterial government." Milton.

PRESBYTERIAN
Pres`by*te"ri*an, a. Etym: [Cf. F. presbytérien.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to a presbyter, or to ecclesiastical government by presbyters; relating to those who uphold church government by presbyters; also, to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of a communion so governed.

PRESBYTERIAN
Pres`by*te"ri*an, n. Etym: [Cf. F. presbytérien.]

Defn: One who maintains the validity of ordination and government by presbyters; a member of the Presbyterian church. Reformed Presbyterians. See Cameronian.

PRESBYTERIANISM
Pres`by*te"ri*an*ism, n. Etym: [Cf. F. presbytérianisme.]

Defn: That form of church government which invests presbyters with all spiritual power, and admits no prelates over them; also, the faith and polity of the Presbyterian churches, taken collectively.

PRESBYTERIUM
Pres`by*te"ri*um, n. Etym: [L.] (Arch.)

Defn: Same as Presbytery, 4.

PRESBYTERSHIP
Pres"by*ter*ship, n.

Defn: The office or station of a presbyter; presbyterate.

PRESBYTERY
Pres"by*ter*y, n.; pl. Presbyteries. Etym: [L. presbyterium, Gr.
Presbyter, and cf. Presbyterium.]

1. A body of elders in the early Christian church.

2. (Presbyterian Ch.)

Defn: A judicatory consisting of all the ministers within a certain district, and one layman, who is a ruling elder, from each parish or church, commissioned to represent the church in conjunction with the pastor. This body has a general jurisdiction over the churches under its care, and next below the provincial synod in authority.

3. The Presbyterian religion of polity. [R.] Tatler.

4. (a) (Arch.) That part of the church reserved for the officiating priest. (b) The residence of a priest or clergyman. Gwilt.

PRESBYTIA
Pres*byt"i*a n. Etym: [NL. See Presbyte.] (Med.)

Defn: Presbyopia.

PRESBYTIC
Pres*byt"ic, a. (Med.)

Defn: Same as Presbyopic.

PRESBYTISM
Pres"byt*ism, n.

Defn: Presbyopia.

PRESCAPULA
Pre*scap"u*la, n. Etym: [NL.] (Anat.)

Defn: The part of the scapula in front of, or above, the spine, or mesoscapula.

PRESCAPULAR
Pre*scap"u*lar, a.

Defn: (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the prescapula; supraspinous.

PRESCIENCE
Pre"sci*ence n. Etym: [F. prescience, L. praescientia. See
Prescient.]

Defn: Knowledge of events before they take place; foresight.
God's certain prescience of the volitions of moral agents. J.
Edwards.

PRESCIENT
Presci*ent, a. Etym: [L. praesciens, -entis, p. pr. of praescire to
foreknow; prae before + scire to know: cf. F. prescient. See
Science.]

Defn: Having knowledge of coming events; foreseeing; conscious
beforehand. Pope.
Henry . . . had shown himself sensible, and almost prescient, of this
event. Bacon.

PRESCIENTLY
Pre"sci*ent*ly, adv.

Defn: With presciense or foresight.

PRESCIND Pre*scind", v. t. Etym: [L. praescindere to cut off in front; prae before + scindere to cut asunder: cf. F. prescinder.]

1. To cut off; to abstract. [Obs.] Norris.

2. (Metaph.)

Defn: To consider by a separate act of attention or analysis. Sir W.
Hamilton.

PRESCINDENT Pre*scind"ent, a. Etym: [L. praescius; prae before + scius knowing, fr. scire to know.]

Defn: Cutting off; abstracting. [R.] Cheyne.

PRESCIOUS Pre"scious (pre"shus), a. [L. praescius; prae before + scius knowing, fr. scire to know.]

Defn: Foreknowing; having foreknowledge; as, prescious of ills. [R.]
Dryden.

PRESCRIBE
Pre*scribe", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prescribed; p. pr & vb. n.
Prescribing.] Etym: [L. praescribere, praescriptum; prae before +
scriebe to write. See Scribe.]

1. To lay down authoritatively as a guide, direction, or rule of action; to impose as a peremptory order; to dictate; to appoint; to direct. Prescribe not us our duties. Shak. Let streams prescribe their fountains where to run. Dryden.

2. (Med.)

Defn: To direct, as a remedy to be used by a patient; as, the doctor prescribed quinine.

Syn. — To appoint; order; command; dictate; ordain; institute; establish.

PRESCRIBE
Pre*scribe", v. i.

1. To give directions; to dictate. A forwardness to prescribe to their opinions. Locke.

2. To influence by long use [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

3. (Med.)

Defn: To write or to give medical directions; to indicate remedies; as, to prescribe for a patient in a fever.

4. (Law)

Defn: To claim by prescription; to claim a title to a thing on the ground of immemorial use and enjoyment, that is, by a custom having the force of law.

PRESCRIBER
Pre*scrib"er, n.

Defn: One who prescribes.

PRESCRIPT Pre"script, a. Etym: [L. praescriptus, p. p. of praescribere: cf. F. prescrit. See Prescribe.]

Defn: Directed; prescribed. " A prescript from of words." Jer.
Taylor.

PRESCRIPT
Pre"script, n. Etym: [L. praescriptum: cf. OF. prescript.]

1. Direction; precept; model prescribed. Milton.

2. A medical prescription. [Obs.] Bp. Fell.

PRESCRIPTIBILITY
Pre*scrip`ti*bil"i*ty, n

Defn: , The quality or state of being prescriptible. Story.

PRESCRIPTIBLE
Pre*scrip"ti*ble, a. Etym: [Cf. F. prescriptible. ]

Defn: Depending on, or derived from, prescription; proper to be prescribed. Grafton.

PRESCRIPTION Pre*scrip"tion, n. Etym: [F. prescription, L. praescriptio,an inscription, preface, precept, demurrer, prescription (in sense 3), fr. praescribere. See Prescribe.]

1. The act of prescribing, directing, or dictating; direction; precept; also, that which is prescribed.

2. (Med.)

Defn: A direction of a remedy or of remedies for a disease, and the manner of using them; a medical recipe; also, a prescribed remedy.

3. (Law)

Defn: A prescribing for title; the claim of title to a thing by virtue immemorial use and enjoyment; the right or title acquired by possession had during the time and in the manner fixed by law. Bacon. That profound reverence for law and prescription which has long been characteristic of Englishmen. Macaulay.

Note: Prescription differs from custom, which is a local usage, while prescription is personal, annexed to the person only. Prescription only extends to incorporeal rights, such as aright of way, or of common. What the law gives of common rights is not the subject of prescription. Blackstone. Cruise. Kent. In Scotch law, prescription is employed in the sense in which limitation is used in England and America, namely, to express that operation of the lapse of time by which obligations are extinguished or title protected. Sir T. Craig. Erskine.

PRESCRIPTIVE Pre*scrip"tive, a. Etym: [L. praescriptivus of a demurrer or legal exception.] (Law)

Defn: Consisting in, or acquired by, immemorial or long-continued use and enjoyment; as, a prescriptive right of title; pleading the continuance and authority of long custom. The right to be drowsy in protracted toil has become prescriptive. J. M. Mason.

PRESCRIPTIVELY
Pre*scrip"tive*ly, adv.

Defn: By prescription.

PRESCUTUM
Pre*scu"tum, n.; pl. Prescuta (. Etym: [NL. See Præ-, and Scutum.]
(Zoöl.)

Defn: The first of the four pieces composing the dorsal part, or tergum, of a thoracic segment of an insect. It is usually small and inconspicuous.

PRESEANCE
Pre"se*ance, n. Etym: [F. préséance. See Preside.]

Defn: Priority of place in sitting.[Obs.] Carew.

PRESELECT
Pre`se*lect", v. t.

Defn: To select beforehand.

PRESENCE
Pres"ence, n. Etym: [F. présence, L. praesentia. See Present.]

1. The state of being present, or of being within sight or call, or at hand; — opposed to absence.

2. The place in which one is present; the part of space within one's ken, call, influence, etc.; neighborhood without the intervention of anything that forbids intercourse. Wrath shell be no more Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire. Milton.

3. Specifically, neighborhood to the person of one of superior of exalted rank; also, presence chamber. In such a presence here to plead my thoughts. Shak. An't please your grace, the two great cardinals. Wait in the presence. Shak.

4. The whole of the personal qualities of an individual; person; personality; especially, the person of a superior, as a sovereign. The Sovran Presence thus replied. Milton.

5. An assembly, especially of person of rank or nobility; noble company. Odmar, of all this presence does contain, Give her your wreath whom you esteem most fair. Dryden.

6. Port, mien; air; personal appearence. "Rather dignity of presence than beauty of aspect." Bacon. A graceful presence bespeaks acceptance. Collier. Presence chamber, or Presence room, the room in which a great personage receives company. Addison." Chambers of presence." Bacon. — Presence of mind, that state of the mind in which all its faculties are alert, prompt, and acting harmoniously in obedience to the will, enabling one to reach, as it were spontaneously or by intuition, just conclusions in sudden emergencies.

PRESENSATION
Pre`sen*sa"tion, n.

Defn: Previous sensation, notion, or idea. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

PRESENSION Pre*sen"sion, n. Etym: [L. praesensio, fr. praesentire to perceive beforehand. See Presentient.]

Defn: Previous perception. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

PRESENT Pres"ent, a. Etym: [F. présent, L. praesens,-entis, that is before one, in sight or at hand, p. p. of praeesse to be before; prae before + esse to be. See Essence.]

1. Being at hand, within reach or call, within certain contemplated limits; — opposed to absent. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. John xiv. 25.

2. Now existing, or in process; begun but not ended; now in view, or under consideration; being at this time; not past or future; as, the present session of Congress; the present state of affairs; the present instance. I'll bring thee to the present business Shak.

3. Not delayed; immediate; instant; coincident. "A present recompense." "A present pardon." Shak. An ambassador . . . desires a present audience. Massinger.

4. Ready; quick in emergency; as a present wit. [R.]

5. Favorably attentive; propitious. [Archaic] To find a god so present to my prayer. Dryden. Present tense (Gram.), the tense or form of a verb which expresses action or being in the present time; as, I am writing, I write, or I do write.

PRESENT
Pres"ent, n. Etym: [Cf. F. présent. See Present, a.]

1. Present time; the time being; time in progress now, or at the moment contemplated; as, at this present. Past and present, wound in one. Tennyson.

2. pl. (Law)

Defn: Present letters or instrument, as a deed of conveyance, a lease, letter of attorney, or other writing; as in the phrase, " Know all men by these presents," that is, by the writing itself, " per has literas praesentes; " — in this sense, rarely used in the singular.

3. (Gram.)

Defn: A present tense, or the form of the verb denoting the present tense. At present, at the present time; now. — For the present, for the tine being; temporarily. — In present, at once, without delay. [Obs.] "With them, in present, half his kingdom; the rest to follow at his death." Milton.

PRESENT
Pre*sent", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presented; p. pr. & vb. n.
Presenting.] Etym: [F. présenter, L. praesentare, fr. praesens, a.
See Present, a.]

1. To bring or introduce into the presence of some one, especially of a superior; to introduce formally; to offer for acquaintance; as, to present an envoy to the king; (with the reciprocal pronoun) to come into the presence of a superior. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the lord. Job i. 6

2. To exhibit or offer to view or notice; to lay before one's perception or cognizance; to set forth; to present a fine appearance. Lectorides's memory is ever . . . presenting him with the thoughts of other persons. I. Watts.

3. To pass over, esp. in a ceremonious manner; to give in charge or possession; to deliver; to make over. So ladies in romance assist their knight, Present the spear, and arm him for the fight. Pope.

4. To make a gift of; to bestow; to give, generally in a formal or ceremonious manner; to grant; to confer. My last, least offering, I present thee now. Cowper.

5. Hence: To endow; to bestow a gift upon; to favor, as with a donation; also, to court by gifts. Octavia presented the poet for him admirable elegy on her son Marcellus. Dryden.

6. To present; to personate. [Obs.] Shak.

7. In specific uses; (a) To nominate to an ecclesiastical benefice; to offer to the bishop or ordinary as a candidate for institution. The patron of a church may present his clerk to a parsonage or vicarage; that is, may offer him to the bishop of the diocese to be instituted. Blackstone.

(b) To nominate for support at a public school or other institution . Lamb. (c) To lay before a public body, or an official, for consideration, as before a legislature, a court of judicature, a corporation, etc.; as, to present a memorial, petition, remonstrance, or indictment. (d) To lay before a court as an object of inquiry; to give notice officially of, as a crime of offence; to find or represent judicially; as, a grand jury present certain offenses or nuisances, or whatever they think to be public injuries. (e) To bring an indictment against . [U.S] (f) To aim, point, or direct, as a weapon; as, to present a pistol or the point of a sword to the breast of another. Pesent arms (Mil.), the command in response to which the gun is carried perpendicularly in front of the center of the body, and held there with the left hand grasping it at the lower band, and the right hand grasping the small of the stock, in token of respect, as in saluting a superior officer; also, the position taken at such a command.

PRESENT
Pre*sent", v. i. (Med.)

Defn: To appear at the mouth of the uterus so as to be perceptible to the finger in vaginal examination; — said of a part of an infant during labor.

PRESENT
Pres"ent, n. Etym: [F. présent .]

Defn: Anything presented or given; a gift; a donative; as, a
Christmas present.

Syn.
— Gift; donation; donative; benefaction. See Gift.

PRESENT
Pre*sent", n. (Mil.)

Defn: The position of a soldier in presenting arms; as, to stand at present.

PRESENTABLE
Pre*sent"a*ble, a. Etym: [Cf. F. présentable.]

1. Capable or admitting of being presented; suitable to be exhibited, represented, or offered; fit to be brought forward or set forth; hence, fitted to be introduced to another, or to go into society; as, ideas that are presentable in simple language; she is not presentable in such a gown.

2. Admitting of the presentation of a clergiman; as, a church presentable. [R.] Ayliffe.

PRESENTANEOUS
Pres`en*ta"ne*ous, a. Etym: [L. praesentaneus. See Present, a.]

Defn: Ready; quick; immediate in effect; as, presentaneous poison.
[Obs.] Harvey.

PRESENTATION Pres`en*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. praesentatio a showing, representation: cf. F. présentation.]

1. The act of presenting, or the state of being presented; a setting forth; an offering; bestowal. Prayers are sometimes a presentation of mere desires. Hooker.

2. Hence,

Defn: exhibition; representation; display; appearance; semblance;
show.
Under the presentation of the shoots his wit. Shak.

3. That which is presented or given; a present; a gift, as, the picture was a presentation. [R.]

4. (Eccl.)

Defn: The act of offering a clergyman to the bishop or ordinary for institution in a benefice; the right of presenting a clergyman. If the bishop admits the patron's presentation, the clerk so admitted is next to be instituted by him. Blackstone.

5. (Med.)

Defn: The particular position of the child during labor relatively to the passage though which it is to be brought forth; — specifically designated by the part which first appears at the mouth of the uterus; as, a breech presentation. Presentation copy, a copy of a book, engraving, etc., presented to some one by the author or artist, as a token of regard.

PRESENTATIVE
Pre*sent"a*tive, a.

1. (Eccl.)

Defn: Having the right of presentation, or offering a clergyman to the bishop for institution; as, advowsons are presentative, collative, or donative. Blackstone.

2. Admitting the presentation of a clergyman; as, a presentative parsonage. Spelman.

3. (Metaph.)

Defn: Capable of being directly known by, or presented to, the mind; intuitive; directly apprehensible, as objects; capable of apprehending, as faculties. The latter term, presentative faculty, I use . . . in contrast and correlation to a "representative faculty." Sir W. Hamilton.

PRESENTEE
Pres`en*tee", n. Etym: [F. présenté, p. p. See Present, v. t. ]

Defn: One to whom something is presented; also, one who is presented; specifically (Eccl.), one presented to benefice. Ayliffe.

PRESENTER
Pre*sent"er, n.

Defn: One who presents.

PRESENTIAL
Pre*sen"tial, a. Etym: [LL. praesentialis.]

Defn: Implying actual presence; present, immediate. [Obs.]
God's mercy is made presential to us. Jer. Taylor.
— Pre*sen"tial*ly, adv. [Obs.]

PRESENTIALITY
Pre*sen`ti*al"i*ty, n.

Defn: State of being actually present. [Obs.] South.

PRESENTIATE
Pre*sen"ti*ate, v. t.

Defn: To make present. [Obs.]

PRESENTIENT Pre*sen"tient, a. Etym: [L. praesentiens, p. pr. of praesentire to perceive beforehand; prae before + sentire to feel.]

Defn: Feeling or perceiving beforehand.

PRESENTIFIC Pres`en*tif"ic, a. Etym: [L. praesens, -entis, present + facere to make.]

Defn: Making present. [Obs.] — Pres`en*tif"ic*ly, adv. [Obs.] Dr. H.
More.

PRESENTIFICAL
Pres`en*tif"ic*al, a.

Defn: Presentific. [Obs.]

PRESENTIMENT Pre*sen"ti*ment, n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + sentiment: cf. F. pressentiment. See Presentient.]

Defn: Previous sentiment, conception, or opinion; previous apprehension; especially, an antecedent impression or conviction of something unpleasant, distressing, or calamitous, about to happen; anticipation of evil; foreboding.

PRESENTIMENTAL
Pre*sen`ti*men"tal, a.

Defn: Of nature of a presentiment; foreboding. [R.] Coleridge.

PRESENTION
Pre*sen"tion, n.

Defn: See Presension. [Obs.]

PRESENTIVE
Pre*sent"ive, a. (Philol.)

Defn: Bringing a conception or notion directly before the mind; presenting an object to the memory of imagination; — distinguished from symbolic. How greatly the word "will" is felt to have lost presentive power in the last three centuries. Earle. — Pre*sent"ive*ly, adv. — Pre*sent"ive*ness, n.

PRESENTLY
Pres"ent*ly, adv.

1. At present; at this time; now. [Obs.] The towns and forts you presently have. Sir P. Sidney.

2. At once; without delay; forthwith; also, less definitely, soon; shortly; before long; after a little while; by and by. Shak. And presently the fig tree withered away. Matt. xxi. 19.

3. With actual presence; actually . [Obs.] His precious body and blood presently three. Bp. Gardiner.

PRESENTMENT
Pre*sent"ment, n.

1. The act of presenting, or the state of being presented; presentation. " Upon the heels of my presentment." Shak.

2. Setting forth to view; delineation; appearance; representation; exhibition. Power to cheat the eye with blear illusion, And give it false presentment. Milton.

3. (Law) (a) The notice taken by a grand jury of any offence from their own knowledge or observation, without any bill of indictment laid before them, as, the presentment of a nuisance, a libel, or the like; also, an inquisition of office and indictment by a grand jury; an official accusation presented to a tribunal by the grand jury in an indictment, or the act of offering an indictment; also, the indictment itself. (b) The official notice (formerly required to be given in court) of the surrender of a copyhold estate. Blackstone. Presentment of a bill of exchange, the offering of a bill to the drawee for acceptance, or to the acceptor for payment. See Bill of exchange, under Bill.

Mozley & W.

PRESENTNESS
Pres"ent*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being present; presence. [Obs.]
"Presentness of mind in danger." Clarendon.

PRESENTOIR
Pres`en*toir", n. Etym: [Formed after analogy of French.]

Defn: An ornamental tray, dish, or the like, used as a salver.

PRESENT VALUE; PRESENT WORTH
Pres"ent value or worth (of money payable at a future date).

Defn: The principal which, drawing interest at a given rate, will amount to the given sum at the date on which this is to be paid; thus, interest being at 6%, the present value of $106 due one year hence is $100.

PRESERVABLE
Pre*serv"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being preserved; admitting of preservation.

PRESERVATION
Pres`er*va"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. préservation.]

Defn: The act or process of preserving, or keeping safe; the state of being preserved, or kept from injury, destruction, or decay; security; safety; as, preservation of life, fruit, game, etc.; a picture in good preservation. Give us particulars of thy preservation. Shak.

PRESERVATIVE
Pre*serv"a*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. préservatif.]

Defn: Having the power or quality of preserving; tending to preserve, or to keep from injury, decay, etc.

PRESERVATIVE
Pre*serv"a*tive, n.

Defn: That which preserves, or has the power of preserving; a
presevative agent.
To wear tablets as preservatives against the plague. Bacon.

PRESERVATORY
Pre*serv"a*to*ry, a.

Defn: Preservative. Bp. Hall.

PRESERVATORY
Pre*serv"a*to*ry, n.; pl. Preservatories (.

1. A preservative. [Obs.] Whitlock.

2. A room, or apparatus, in which perishable things, as fruit, vegetables, etc., can be preserved without decay.

PRESERVE
Pre*serve", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Preserved; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preserving.] Etym: [F. préserver, from L. prae before + servare to
save, preserve; cf. L. praeservare to observe beforehand. See Serve.]

1. To keep or save from injury or destruction; to guard or defend from evil, harm, danger, etc.; to protect. O Lord, thou preserved man and beast. Ps. xxxvi. 6. Now, good angels preserve the king. Shak.

2. To save from decay by the use of some preservative substance, as sugar, salt, etc.; to season and prepare for remaining in a good state, as fruits, meat, etc.; as, to preserve peaches or grapes. You can not preserve it from tainting. Shak.

3. To maintain throughout; to keep intact; as, to preserve appearances; to preserve silence. To preserve game, to protect it from extermination.

Syn. — To keep; save; secure; uphold; sustain; defend; spare; protect; guard; shield. See Keep.

PRESERVE
Pre*serve", v. i.

1. To make preserves. Shak.

2. To protect game for purposes of sport.

PRESERVE
Pre*serve", n.

1. That which is preserved; fruit, etc., seasoned and kept by suitable preparation; esp., fruit cooked with sugar; — commonly in the plural.

2. A place in which game, fish, etc., are preserved for purposes of sport, or for food.

PRESERVER
Pre*serv"er, n.

1. One who, or that which, preserves, saves, or defends, from destruction, injury, or decay; esp., one who saves the life or character of another. Shak.

2. One who makes preserves of fruit. Game preserver. See under Game.

PRESHOW
Pre*show", v. t.

Defn: To foreshow.

PRESIDE
Pre*side", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Presided; p. pr. & vb. n. Presiding.]
Etym: [L. praesidere; prae before + sedere to sit: cf. F. présider.
See Sit.]

1. To be set, or to sit, in the place of authority; to occupy the place of president, chairman, moderator, director, etc.; to direct, control, and regulate, as chief officer; as, to preside at a public meeting; to preside over the senate.

2. To exercise superintendence; to watch over. Some o'er the public magazines preside. Dryden.

PRESIDENCE
Pres"i*dence, n.

Defn: See Presidency. [Obs.]

PRESIDENCY
Pres"i*den*cy, n.; pl. Presidencies. Etym: [Cf. F. présidence.]

1. The function or condition of one who presides; superintendence; control and care.

2. The office of president; as, Washington was elected to the presidency.

3. The term during which a president holds his office; as, during the presidency of Madison.

4. One of the three great divisions of British India, the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Presidencies, each of which had a council of which its governor was president.

PRESIDENT
Pres"i*dent, n.

Defn: Precedent. [Obs.] Bacon.

PRESIDENT
Pres"i*dent, a.

Defn: Occupying the first rank or chief place; having the highest authority; presiding. [R.] His angels president In every province. Milton.

PRESIDENT Pres"i*dent, n. Etym: [F. président, L. praesidens, -entis, p. pr. of praesidere. See Preside.]

1. One who is elected or appointed to preside; a presiding officer, as of a legislative body. Specifically: (a) The chief officer of a corporation, company, institution, society, or the like. (b) The chief executive officer of the government in certain republics; as, the president of the United States.

2. A protector; a guardian; a presiding genius. [Obs.] Just Apollo, president of verse. Waller.

PRESIDENTIAL
Pres`i*den"tial, a.

1. Presiding or watching over. "Presidential angels." Glanvill.

2. Of or pertaining to a president; as, the presidential chair; a presidential election.

PRESIDENTSHIP
Pres"i*dent*ship, n.

Defn: The office and dignity of president; presidency. Hooker.

PRESIDER
Pre*sid"er, n.

Defn: One who presides.

PRESIDIAL; PRESIDIARY
Pre*sid"i*al, Pre*sid"i*a*ry, a. Etym: [L. praesidialis and
praesidiarius, fr. praesidium a presiding over, defense, guard. See
Preside.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to a garrison; having a garrison.
There are three presidial castles in this city. Howell.

PRESIDIARY
Pre*sid"i*a*ry, n. Etym: [L. praesidiarium.]

Defn: A guard. [Obs.] "Heavenly presidiaries." Bp. Hall.

PRESIDING
Pre*sid"ing,

Defn: a. & n. from Preside. Presiding elder. See under 2d Elder.

PRESIDIO
Pre*si"di*o, n. Etym: [Sp.]

Defn: A place of defense; a fortress; a garrison; a fortress; a garrison or guardhouse.

PRESIGNIFICATION
Pre*sig`ni*fi*ca"tion, n. [praesignificatio. See Presignify.]

Defn: The act of signifying or showing beforehand.

PRESIGNIFY
Pre*sig"ni*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presignified; imp. & p. p.
Presignifying.] Etym: [L. praesignificare; prae before + significare
to signify.]

Defn: To intimate or signify beforehand; to presage.

PRESPHENOID
Pre*sphe"noid, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the sphenoid bone; of or pertaining to the anterior part of the sphenoid bone (i. e., the presphenoid bone). Presphenoid bone (Anat.), the anterior part of the body of the sphenoid bone in front of the basisphenoid. It is usually a separate bone in the young or fetus, but becomes a part of the sphenoid in the adult.

PRESPHENOID
Pre*sphe"noid, n. (Anat.)

Defn: The presphenoid bone.

PRESPHENOIDAL
Pre`sphe*noid"al, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the presphenoid bone; presphenoid.

PRESPINAL
Pre*spi"nal, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Prevertebral.

PRESS
Press, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An East Indian insectivore (Tupaia ferruginea). It is arboreal in its habits, and has a bushy tail. The fur is soft, and varies from rusty red to maroon and to brownish black.

PRESS Press, v. t. Etym: [Corrupt. fr. prest ready money advanced, a loan; hence, earnest money given soldiers on entering service. See Prest, n.]

Defn: To force into service, particularly into naval service; to
impress.
To peaceful peasant to the wars is pressed. Dryden.

PRESS
Press, n. Etym: [For prest, confused with press.]

Defn: A commission to force men into public service, particularly
into the navy.
I have misused the king's press. Shak.
Press gang, or Pressgang, a detachment of seamen under the command of
an officer empowered to force men into the naval service. See Impress
gang, under Impress.
— Press money, money paid to a man enlisted into public service.
See Prest money, under Prest, a.

PRESS
Press, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pressed; p. pr. & vb. n. Pressing.] Etym:
[F. presser, fr. L. pressare to press, fr. premere, pressum, to
press. Cf. Print, v.]

1. To urge, or act upon, with force, as weight; to act upon by pushing or thrusting, in distinction from pulling; to crowd or compel by a gradual and continued exertion; to bear upon; to squeeze; to compress; as, we press the ground with the feet when we walk; we press the couch on which we repose; we press substances with the hands, fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together. Luke vi. 38.

2. To squeeze, in order to extract the juice or contents of; to squeeze out, or express, from something. From sweet kernels pressed, She tempers dulcet creams. Milton. And I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. Gen. xl. 11.

3. To squeeze in or with suitable instruments or apparatus, in order to compact, make dense, or smooth; as, to press cotton bales, paper, etc.; to smooth by ironing; as, to press clothes.

4. To embrace closely; to hug. Leucothoe shook at these alarms, And pressed Palemon closer in her arms. Pope.

5. To oppress; to bear hard upon. Press not a falling man too far. Shak.

6. To straiten; to distress; as, to be pressed with want or hunger.

7. To exercise very powerful or irresistible influence upon or over; to constrain; to force; to compel. Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. Acts xviii. 5.

8. To try to force (something upon some one); to urge or inculcate with earnestness or importunity; to enforce; as, to press divine truth on an audience. He pressed a letter upon me within this hour. Dryden. Be sure to press upon him every motive. Addison.

9. To drive with violence; to hurry; to urge on; to ply hard; as, to press a horse in a race. The posts . . . went cut, being hastened and pressed on, by the king's commandment. Esther viii. 14.

Note: Press differs from drive and strike in usually denoting a slow or continued application of force; whereas drive and strike denote a sudden impulse of force. Pressed brick. See under Brick.

PRESS
Press, v. i.

1. To exert pressure; to bear heavily; to push, crowd, or urge with steady force.

2. To move on with urging and crowding; to make one's way with violence or effort; to bear onward forcibly; to crowd; to throng; to encroach. They pressed upon him for to touch him. Mark iii. 10.

3. To urge with vehemence or importunity; to exert a strong or compelling influence; as, an argument presses upon the judgment.

PRESS
Press, n. Etym: [F. presse. See 4th Press.]

1. An apparatus or machine by which any substance or body is pressed, squeezed, stamped, or shaped, or by which an impression of a body is taken; sometimes, the place or building containing a press or presses.

Note: Presses are differently constructed for various purposes in the arts, their specific uses being commonly designated; as, a cotton press, a wine press, a cider press, a copying press, etc. See Drill press.

2. Specifically, a printing press.

3. The art or business of printing and publishing; hence, printed publications, taken collectively, more especially newspapers or the persons employed in writing for them; as, a free press is a blessing, a licentious press is a curse.

4. An upright case or closet for the safe keeping of articles; as, a clothes press. Shak.

5. The act of pressing or thronging forward. In their throng and press to that last hold. Shak.

6. Urgent demands of business or affairs; urgency; as, a press of engagements.

7. A multitude of individuals crowded together; They could not come nigh unto him for the press. Mark ii. 4. Cylinder press, a printing press in which the impression is produced by a revolving cylinder under which the form passes; also, one in which the form of type or plates is curved around a cylinder, instead of resting on a flat bed. Hydrostatic press. See under Hydrostatic. — Liberty of the press, the free right of publishing books, pamphlets, or papers, without previous restraint or censorship, subject only to punishment for libelous, seditious, or morally pernicious matters. — Press bed, a bed that may be folded, and inclosed, in a press or closet. Boswell. — Press of sail, (Naut.), as much sail as the state of the wind will permit.

PRESSBOARD
Press"board`, n.

Defn: A kind of highly sized rag paper or board, sometimes containing a small admixture of wood pulp; — so called because used originally, as now, in presses for pressing and finishing knit underwear.

PRESS CAKE
Press cake.

Defn: A cake of compressed substance, as: in gunpowder manufacture, the cake resulting from compressing the meal powder; in the treatment of coal tar, the pressed product at various stages of the process; or, in beet-sugar manufacture, the vegetable residue after the sugar juice has been expressed.

PRESSER
Press"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, presses. Presser bar, or Presser wheel (Knitting machine), a bar or wheel which closes the barbs of the needles to enable the loops of the yarn to pass over them. — Presser foot, the part of a sewing machine which rests on the cloth and presses it down upon the table of the machine.

PRESSGANG
Press"gang`, n.

Defn: See Press gang, under Press.

PRESSING
Press"ing, a.

Defn: Urgent; exacting; importunate; as, a pressing necessity.
— Press"ing*ly, adv.

PRESSION
Pres"sion, n. Etym: [L. pressio: cf. F. pression. See 4th Press.]

1. The act of pressing; pressure. Sir I. Newton.

2. (Cartesian Philos.)

Defn: An endeavor to move.

PRESSIROSTER Pres`si*ros"ter, n. Etym: [L. presssus pressed (p. p. of premere) + rostrum beak: cf. F. pressirostre. See 4th Press.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of a tribe of wading birds (Pressirostres) including those which have a compressed beak, as the plovers.

PRESSIROSTRAL
Pres`si*ros"tral, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the pressirosters.

PRESSITANT
Pres"si*tant, a. Etym: [See 4th Press.]

Defn: Gravitating; heavy. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

PRESSIVE
Pres"sive, a.

Defn: Pressing; urgent; also, oppressive; as, pressive taxation. [R.]
Bp. Hall.

PRESSLY
Press"ly, adv.

Defn: Closely; concisely. [Obs.]

PRESSMAN
Press"man, n.; pl. Pressmen (.

1. One who manages, or attends to, a press, esp. a printing press.

2. One who presses clothes; as, a tailor's pressman.

PRESSMAN
Press"man, n. Etym: [See 2d Press.]

Defn: One of a press gang, who aids in forcing men into the naval service; also, one forced into the service.

PRESSOR
Press"or, a. (Physiol.)

Defn: Causing, or giving rise to, pressure or to an increase of pressure; as, pressor nerve fibers, stimulation of which excites the vasomotor center, thus causing a stronger contraction of the arteries and consequently an increase of the arterial blood pressure; — opposed to depressor. Landois & Stirling.

PRESSPACK
Press"pack`, v. t.

Defn: To pack, or prepare for packing, by means of a press.

PRESS PROOF Press proof. (Print.) (a) The last proof for correction before sending to press. (b) A proof taken on a press, esp. to show impression, margins, color, etc.

PRESS REVISE
Press revise. (Print.)

Defn: A proof for final revision.

PRESSURAGE
Pres"sur*age, n. Etym: [F.]

1. Pressure.

2. The juice of the grape extracted by the press; also, a fee paid for the use of a wine press.

PRESSURE Pres"sure (; 138), n. Etym: [OF., fr. L. pressura, fr. premere. See 4th Press.]

1. The act of pressing, or the condition of being pressed; compression; a squeezing; a crushing; as, a pressure of the hand.

2. A contrasting force or impulse of any kind; as, the pressure of poverty; the pressure of taxes; the pressure of motives on the mind; the pressure of civilization. Where the pressure of danger was not felt. Macaulay.

3. Affliction; distress; grievance. My people's pressures are grievous. Eikon Basilike. In the midst of his great troubles and pressures. Atterbury.

4. Urgency; as, the pressure of business.

5. Impression; stamp; character impressed. All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past. Shak.

6. (Mech.)

Defn: The action of a force against some obstacle or opposing force; a force in the nature of a thrust, distributed over a surface, often estimated with reference to the upon a unit's area. Atmospheric pressure, Center of pressure, etc. See under Atmospheric, Center, etc. — Back pressure (Steam engine), pressure which resists the motion of the piston, as the pressure of exhaust steam which does not find free outlet. — Fluid pressure, pressure like that exerted by a fluid. It is a thrust which is normal and equally intense in all directions around a point. Rankine. — Pressure gauge, a gauge for indicating fluid pressure; a manometer.

PRESSURE WIRES
Pressure wires. (Elec.)

Defn: Wires leading from various points of an electric system to a central station, where a voltmeter indicates the potential of the system at those points.

PRESSWORK
Press"work`, n.

Defn: The art of printing from the surface of type, plates, or engravings in relief, by means of a press; the work so done. MacKellar.

PRESS WORK 5. Usually Press work. The work of a press agent. [Chiefly Theat. Cant]

PREST
Prest,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Press.

PREST
Prest, a. Etym: [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf.
Presto.]

1. Ready; prompt; prepared. [Obs.] All prest to such battle he was. R. of Gloucester.

2. Neat; tidy; proper. [Obs.] Tusser. Prest money, money formerly paid to men when they enlisted into the British service; — so called because it bound those that received it to be ready for service when called upon.

PREST Prest, n. Etym: [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. OF. prester to lend, F. prêter, fr. L. praestare to stand before, to become surety for, to fulfill, offer, supply; prae before + stare to stand. See Pre-, and Stand, and cf. Press to force into service.]

1. Ready money; a loan of money. [Obs.] Requiring of the city a prest of six thousand marks. Bacon.

2. (Law)

Defn: A duty in money formerly paid by the sheriff on his account in the exchequer, or for money left or remaining in his hands. Cowell.

PREST
Prest, v. t.

Defn: To give as a loan; to lend. [Obs.]
Sums of money . . . prested out in loan. E. Hall.

PRESTABLE
Prest"a*ble, a.

Defn: Payable. [Scot.]

PRESTATION Pres*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. praestatio a performing, paying, fr. praestare: cf. F. prestation.] (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: A payment of money; a toll or duty; also, the rendering of a service. Burrill.

Prestation money, a sum of money paid yearly by archdeacons and other dignitaries to their bishop.

PRESTER
Pres"ter, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr.

1. A meteor or exhalation formerly supposed to be thrown from the clouds with such violence that by collision it is set on fire. [Obs.]

2. pl.

Defn: One of the veins of the neck when swollen with anger or other excitement. [Obs.]

PRESTER
Pres"ter, n. Etym: [OF. prestre. See Priest.]

Defn: A priest or presbyter; as, Prester John. [Obs.]

PRESTERNUM
Pre*ster"num, n. Etym: [NL.] (Anat.)

Defn: The anterior segment of the sternum; the manubrium.
— Pre*ster"nal, a.

PRESTIDIGITAL
Pres`ti*dig"i*tal, a.

Defn: Nimble-fingered; having fingers fit for prestidigitation, or juggling. [R.] "His prestidigital hand." Charles Reade.

PRESTIDIGITATION
Pres`ti*dig`i*ta"tion, n.

Defn: Legerdemain; sleight of hand; juggling.

PRESTIDIGITATOR Pres`ti*dig"i*ta`tor, n. Etym: [L. praesto ready + digitus finger: cf. F. prestidigitateur.]

Defn: One skilled in legerdemain or sleight of hand; a juggler.

PRESTIGE Pres"tige, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. praestigum delusion, illusion, praestigae deceptions, jugglers' tricks, prob. fr. prae before + the root of stinguere to extinguish, originally, to prick. See Stick, v.]

1. Delusion; illusion; trick. [Obs.] The sophisms of infidelity, and the prestiges of imposture. Bp. Warburton.

2. Weight or influence derived from past success; expectation of future achievements founded on those already accomplished; force or charm derived from acknowledged character or reputation. "The prestige of his name must go for something." Sir G. C. Lewis.

PRESTIGIATION Pres*tig`i*a"tion, n. Etym: [L. praestigiare to deceive by juggling tricks, fr. praestigae. See Prestige.]

Defn: Legerdemain; prestidigitation. [Obs.]

PRESTIGIATOR
Pres*tig"i*a`tor, n. Etym: [L. praestigiator.]

Defn: A juggler; prestidigitator. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

PRESTIGIATORY
Pres*tig"i*a*to*ry, a.

Defn: Consisting of impostures; juggling. [Obs.] Barrow.

PRESTIGIOUS
Pres*tig"i*ous, a. Etym: [L. praestigiosus.]

Defn: Practicing tricks; juggling. [Obs.] Cotton Mather.

PRESTIMONY Pres"ti*mo*ny, n. Etym: [LL. praestimonium, fr. L. praestare to furnish, supply: cf. F. prestimonie. See Prest, n.] (Canon Law)

Defn: A fund for the support of a priest, without the title of a benefice. The patron in the collator.

PRESTISSIMO
Pres*tis"si*mo, adv. Etym: [It., superl. of presto.] (Mus.)

Defn: Very quickly; with great rapidity.

PRESTO
Pres"to, adv. Etym: [It. or Sp. presto quick, quickly. See Prest, a.]

1. Quickly; immediately; in haste; suddenly. Presto! begone! 'tis here again. Swift.

2. (Mus.)

Defn: Quickly; rapidly; — a direction for a quick, lively movement or performance; quicker than allegro, or any rate of time except prestissimo.

PRESTRICTION Pre*stric"tion, n. Etym: [L. praestrictio a binding fast, fr. praestringere. See Pre-, and Stringent.]

Defn: Obstruction, dimness, or defect of sight. [Obs.] Milton.

PRESULTOR
Pre*sul"tor, n. Etym: [L. praesultor; prae before + salire to dance.]

Defn: A leader in the dance. [R.]

PRESUMABLE
Pre*sum"a*ble, a. Etym: [Cf. F. présumable.]

Defn: Such as may be presumed or supposed to be true; that seems entitled to belief without direct evidence.

PRESUMABLY
Pre*sum"a*bly, adv.

Defn: In a presumable manner; by, or according to, presumption.

PRESUME
Pre*sume", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presumed; p. pr. & vb. n. Presuming.]
Etym: [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere
to take. See Assume, Redeem.]

1. To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner Shak. Bold deed thou hast presumed, adventurous Eve. Milton.

2. To take or suppose to be true, or entitled to belief, without examination or proof, or on the strength of probability; to take for granted; to infer; to suppose. Every man is to be presumed innocent till he is proved to be guilty. Blackstone. What rests but that the mortal sentence pass, . . . Which he presumes already vain and void, Because not yet inflicted Milton.

PRESUME
Pre*sume", v. i.

1. To suppose or assume something to be, or to be true, on grounds deemed valid, though not amounting to proof; to believe by anticipation; to infer; as, we may presume too far.

2. To venture, go, or act, by an assumption of leave or authority not granted; to go beyond what is warranted by the circumstances of the case; to venture beyond license; to take liberties; — often with on or upon before the ground of confidence. Do not presume too much upon my love. Shak. This man presumes upon his parts. Locke.

PRESUMEDLY
Pre*sum"ed*ly, adv.

Defn: By presumption.

PRESUMER
Pre*sum"er, n.

Defn: One who presumes; also, an arrogant person. Sir H. Wotton.

PRESUMINGLY
Pre*sum"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: Confidently; arrogantly.

PRESUMPTION Pre*sump"tion, n. Etym: [L. praesumptio: cf. F. présomption, OF. also presumpcion. See Presume.]

1. The act of presuming, or believing upon probable evidence; the act of assuming or taking for granted; belief upon incomplete proof.

2. Ground for presuming; evidence probable, but not conclusive; strong probability; reasonable supposition; as, the presumption is that an event has taken place.

3. That which is presumed or assumed; that which is supposed or believed to be real or true, on evidence that is probable but not conclusive. "In contradiction to these very plausible presumptions." De Quincey.

4. The act of venturing beyond due beyond due bounds; an overstepping of the bounds of reverence, respect, or courtesy; forward, overconfident, or arrogant opinion or conduct; presumptuousness; arrogance; effrontery. Thy son I killed for his presumption. Shak. I had the presumption to dedicate to you a very unfinished piece. Dryden. Conclusive presumption. See under Conclusive. — Presumption of fact (Law), an argument of a fact from a fact; an inference as to the existence of one fact not certainly known, from the existence of some other fact known or proved, founded on a previous experience of their connection; supposition of the truth or real existence of something, without direct or positive proof of the fact, but grounded on circumstantial or probable evidence which entitles it to belief. Burrill. Best. Wharton. — Presumption of law (Law), a postulate applied in advance to all cases of a particular class; e. g., the presumption of innocence and of regularity of records. Such a presumption is rebuttable or irrebuttable.

PRESUMPTIVE
Pre*sump"tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. présomptif.]

1. Based on presumption or probability; grounded on probable evidence; probable; as, presumptive proof.

2. Presumptuous; arrogant. [R.] Sir T. Browne. Presumptive evidence (Law), that which is derived from circumstances which necessarily or usually attend a fact, as distinct from direct evidence or positive proof; indirect or circumstantial evidence. "Presumptive evidence of felony should be cautiously admitted." Blackstone. The distinction, however, between direct and presumptive (or circumstantial) evidence is now generally abandoned; all evidence being now more or less direct and more or less presumptive. — Presumptive heir. See Heir presumptive, under Heir.

PRESUMPTIVELY
Pre*sump"tive*ly, adv.

Defn: By presumption, or supposition grounded or probability; presumably.

PRESUMPTUOUS
Pre*sump"tu*ous, a. Etym: [L. praesumptuosus: cf. F. présomptueux,
OF. also presumptuous. See Presumption.]

1. Full of presumption; presuming; overconfident or venturesome; audacious; rash; taking liberties unduly; arrogant; insolent; as, a presumptuous commander; presumptuous conduct. A class of presumptuous men, whom age has not made cautious, nor adversity wise. Buckminster.

2. Founded on presumption; as, a presumptuous idea. "False, presumptuous hope." Milton.

3. Done with hold design, rash confidence, or in violation of known duty; willful. "Keep back the servant also from presumptuous sins." Ps. xix. 13.

Syn. — Overconfident; foolhardy; rash; presuming; forward; arrogant; insolent.

PRESUMPTUOUSLY
Pre*sump"tu*ous*ly, adv.

Defn: In a presumptuous manner; arrogantly.

PRESUMPTUOUSNESS
Pre*sump"tu*ous*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being presumptuous.

PRESUPPOSAL
Pre`sup*pos"al, n.

Defn: Presupposition. [R.] "Presupposal of knowledge." Hooker.

PRESUPPOSE
Pre`sup*pose", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Presupposed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Presupposing.] Etym: [Pref. pre- + suppose: cf. F. présupposer.]

Defn: To suppose beforehand; to imply as antecedent; to take for granted; to assume; as, creation presupposes a creator. Each [kind of knowledge] presupposes many necessary things learned in other sciences, and known beforehand. Hooker.

PRESUPPOSITION Pre*sup`po*si"tion, n. Etym: [Pref. pre- + supposition: cf. F. présupposition.]

1. The act of presupposing; an antecedent implication; presumption.

2. That which is presupposed; a previous supposition or surmise.

PRESURMISE
Pre`sur*mise", n.

Defn: A surmise previously formed. Shak.

PRESYSTOLIC
Pre`sys*tol"ic, a. (Physiol.)

Defn: Preceding the systole or contraction of the heart; as, the presystolic friction sound.

PRETEMPORAL
Pre*tem"po*ral, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the temporal bone.

PRETENCE; PRETENCEFUL; PRETENCELESS
Pre*tence", n., Pre*tence"ful, a., Pre*tence"*less, a.

Defn: See Pretense, Pretenseful, Pretenseless.

PRETEND Pre*tend", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pretended; p. pr. & vb. n. Pretending.] Etym: [OE. pretenden to lay claim to, F. prétendre, L. praetendere, praetentum, to stretch forward, pretend, simulate, assert; prae before + tendere to stretch. See Tend, v. t. ]

1. To lay a claim to; to allege a title to; to claim. Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend. Dryden.

2. To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden. [R.] Lest that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. Milton.

3. To hold out, or represent, falsely; to put forward, or offer, as true or real (something untrue or unreal); to show hypocritically, or for the purpose of deceiving; to simulate; to feign; as, to pretend friendship. This let him know, Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal. Milton.

4. To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt. [Obs.] Such as shall pretend Malicious practices against his state. Shak.

5. To hold before one; to extend. [Obs.] "His target always over her pretended." Spenser.

PRETEND
Pre*tend", v. i.

1. To put in, or make, a claim, truly or falsely; to allege a title; to lay claim to, or strive after, something; — usually with to. "Countries that pretend to freedom." Swift. For to what fine he would anon pretend, That know I well. Chaucer.

2. To hold out the appearance of being, possessing, or performing; to profess; to make believe; to feign; to sham; as, to pretend to be asleep. "[He] pretended to drink the waters." Macaulay.

PRETENDANT
Pre*tend"ant, n.

Defn: A pretender; a claimant.

PRETENDED
Pre*tend"ed, a.

Defn: Making a false appearance; unreal; false; as, pretended friend.
— Pre*tend"ed*ly, adv.

PRETENDENCE
Pre*tend"ence, n.

Defn: The act of pretending; pretense. [Obs.] Daniel.

PRETENDER
Pre*tend"er, n.

1. One who lays claim, or asserts a title (to something); a claimant. Specifically,

Defn: The pretender (Eng. Hist.), the son or the grandson of James II., the heir of the royal family of Stuart, who laid claim to the throne of Great Britain, from which the house was excluded by law. It is the shallow, unimproved intellects that are the confident pretenders to certainty. Glanvill.

2. One who pretends, simulates, or feigns.

PRETENDERSHIP
Pre*tend"er*ship, n.

Defn: The character, right, or claim of a pretender. Swift.

PRETENDINGLY
Pre*tend"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: As by right or title; arrogantly; presumptuously. Collier.

PRETENSE; PRETENCE Pre*tense", Pre*tence, n. Etym: [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]

1. The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. Spenser. Primogeniture can not have any pretense to a right of solely inheriting property or power. Locke. I went to Lambeth with Sir R. Brown's pretense to the wardenship of Merton College, Oxford. Evelyn.

2. The act of holding out, or offering, to others something false or feigned; presentation of what is deceptive or hypocritical; deception by showing what is unreal and concealing what is real; false show; simulation; as, pretense of illness; under pretense of patriotism; on pretense of revenging Cæsar's death.

3. That which is pretended; false, deceptive, or hypocritical show, argument, or reason; pretext; feint. Let not the Trojans, with a feigned pretense Of proffered peace, delude the Latian prince. Dryden.

4. Intention; design. [Obs.] A very pretense and purpose of unkindness. Shak.

Note: See the Note under Offense.

Syn. — Mask; appearance; color; show; pretext; excuse. — Pretense, Pretext. A pretense is something held out as real when it is not so, thus falsifying the truth. A pretext is something woven up in order to cover or conceal one's true motives, feelings, or reasons. Pretext is often, but not always, used in a bad sense.

PRETENSED
Pre*tensed", a.

Defn: Pretended; feigned. [Obs.] — Pre*tens"ed*ly, adv. [Obs.]

PRETENSEFUL
Pre*tense"ful, a.

Defn: Abounding in pretenses.

PRETENSELESS
Pre*tense"less, a.

Defn: Not having or making pretenses.

PRETENSION
Pre*ten"sion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prétention. See Pretend, Tension.]

1. The act of pretending, or laying claim; the act of asserting right or title. The arrogant pretensions of Glengarry contributed to protract the discussion. Macaulay.

2. A claim made, whether true or false; a right alleged or assumed; a holding out the appearance of possessing a certain character; as, pretensions to scholarship. This was but an invention and pretension given out by the Spaniards. Bacon. Men indulge those opinions and practices that favor their pretensions. L'Estrange.

PRETENTATIVE Pre*ten"ta*tive, a. Etym: [Pref. pre- + tentative: cf. L. praetentare to try beforehand.]

Defn: Fitted for trial beforehand; experimental. [R.] Sir H. Wotton.

PRETENTIOUS
Pre*ten"tious, a. Etym: [Cf. F. prétentieux. See Pretend.]

Defn: Full of pretension; disposed to lay claim to more than is
one's; presuming; assuming.
— Pre*ten"tious*ly, adv.
— Pre*ten"tious*ness, n.

PRETER- Pre"ter-. Etym: [L. praeter past, beyond, originally a compar. of prae before. See For, prep.]

Defn: A prefix signifying past, by, beyond, more than; as, preter- mission, a permitting to go by; preternatural, beyond or more than is natural. [Written also præter.]

PRETERHUMAN
Pre`ter*hu"man, a. Etym: [Pref. preter- + human.]

Defn: More than human.

PRETERIENT
Pre*te"ri*ent, a. Etym: [L. praeteriens, p. pr. See Preterit.]

Defn: Passed through; antecedent; previous; as, preterient states.
[R.]

PRETERIMPERFECT
Pre`ter*im*per"fect, a. & n. Etym: [Pref. preter- + imperfect.]
(Gram.)

Defn: Old name of the tense also called imperfect.

PRETERIST
Pret"er*ist, n. Etym: [Pref. preter- + -ist.]

1. One whose chief interest is in the past; one who regards the past with most pleasure or favor.

2. (Theol.)

Defn: One who believes the prophecies of the Apocalypse to have been already fulfilled. Farrar.

PRETERIT
Pret"er*it, a. Etym: [L. praeteritus, p. p. of praeterire to go or
pass by; praeter beyond, by + ire to go: cf. F. prétérit. See Issue.]
[Written also preterite and præterite.]

1. (Gram.)

Defn: Past; — applied to a tense which expresses an action or state as past.

2. Belonging wholly to the past; passed by. [R.] Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa. Lowell.

PRETERIT
Pret"er*it, n. (Gram.)

Defn: The preterit; also, a word in the preterit tense.

PRETERITE
Pret"er*ite, a. & n.

Defn: Same as Preterit.

PRETERITENESS
Pret"er*ite*ness, n.

Defn: Same as Preteritness.

PRETERITION
Pre`ter*i"tion, n. Etym: [L. praeteritio: cf. F. prétérition.]

1. The act of passing, or going past; the state of being past. Bp. Hall.

2. (Rhet.)

Defn: A figure by which, in pretending to pass over anything, a summary mention of it is made; as, "I will not say, he is valiant, he is learned, he is just." Called also paraleipsis.

3. (Law)

Defn: The omission by a testator of some one of his heirs who is entitled to a portion. Bouvier.

PRETERITIVE
Pre*ter"i*tive, a. (Gram.)

Defn: Used only or chiefly in the preterit or past tenses, as certain verbs.

PRETERITNESS
Pret"er*it*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being past. Bentley. Lowell.

PRETERLAPSED Pre`ter*lapsed", a. Etym: [L. praeterlapsus, p. p. of praeterlabi to glide by. See Preter-, Lapse.]

Defn: Past; as, preterlapsed ages. [R.] Glanvill.

PRETERLEGAL
Pre`ter*le"gal, a. Etym: [Pref. preter- + legal.]

Defn: Exceeding the limits of law. [R.]

PRETERMISSION
Pre`ter*mis"sion, n. Etym: [L. praetermissio. See Pretermit.]

1. The act of passing by or omitting; omission. Milton.

2. (Rhet.)

Defn: See Preterition.

PRETERMIT
Pre`ter*mit", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pretermitted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Pretermitting.] Etym: [L. praetermittere, praetermissum; praeter
beyond + mittere to send. See Mission.]

Defn: To pass by; to omit; to disregard. Bacon.

PRETERNATURAL
Pre`ter*nat"u*ral, a. Etym: [Pref. preter + natural.]

Defn: Beyond of different from what is natural, or according to the regular course of things, but not clearly supernatural or miraculous; strange; inexplicable; extraordinary; uncommon; irregular; abnormal; as, a preternatural appearance; a preternatural stillness; a preternatural presentation (in childbirth) or labor. This vile and preternatural temper of mind. South.

Syn.
— See Supernatural.

PRETERNATURALISM
Pre`ter*nat"u*ral*ism, n.

Defn: The state of being preternatural; a preternatural condition.

PRETERNATURALITY
Pre`ter*nat`u*ral"i*ty, n.

Defn: Preternaturalness. [R.] Dr. John Smith.

PRETERNATURALLY
Pre`ter*nat"u*ral*ly, adv.

Defn: In a preternatural manner or degree. Bacon.

PRETERNATURALNESS
Pre`ter*nat"u*ral*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being preternatural.

PRETERPERFECT
Pre`ter*per"fect, a. & n. Etym: [Pref. preter- + perfect.] (Gram.)

Defn: Old name of the tense also called preterit.

PRETERPLUPERFECT
Pre`ter*plu"per`fect, a. & n. Etym: [Pref. preter- + pluperfect.]
(Gram.)

Defn: Old name of the tense also called pluperfect.

PRETERTIARY
Pre*ter"ti*a*ry, a. (Geol.)

Defn: Earlier than Tertiary.

PRETERVECTION Pre`ter*vec"tion, n. Etym: [L. praetervectio, fr. praetervehere to carry beyond. See Invection.]

Defn: The act of carrying past or beyond. [R.] Abp. Potter.

PRETEX
Pre*tex", v. t. Etym: [L. praetexere. See Pretext.]

Defn: To frame; to devise; to disguise or excuse; hence, to pretend; to declare falsely. [Obs.]

PRETEXT Pre"text, n. Etym: [F. prétexte, L. praetextum, fr. praetextus, p. p. of praetexere to weave before, allege as an excuse; prae before + texere to weave. See Text.]

Defn: Ostensible reason or motive assigned or assumed as a color or cover for the real reason or motive; pretense; disguise. They suck the blood of those they depend on, under a pretext of service and kindness. L'Estrange. With how much or how little pretext of reason. Dr. H. More.

Syn.
— Pretense; excuse; semblance; disguise; appearance. See Pretense.

PRETEXTURE
Pre*tex"ture, n.

Defn: A pretext. [Obs.]

PRETIBIAL
Pre*tib"i*al, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the tibia.

PRETOR Pre"tor, n. Etym: [L. praetor, for praeitor, fr. praeire to go before; prae before + ire to go. See Issue.]

1. (Rom. Antiq.)

Defn: A civil officer or magistrate among the ancient Romans.

Note: Originally the pretor was a kind of third consul; but at an early period two pretors were appointed, the first of whom (praetor urbanus) was a kind of mayor or city judge; the other (praetor peregrinus) was a judge of cases in which one or both of the parties were foreigners. Still later, the number of pretors, or judges, was further increased.

2. Hence, a mayor or magistrate. [R.] Dryden.

PRETORIAL
Pre*to"ri*al, a.

Defn: Pretorian. Burke.

PRETORIAN
Pre*to"ri*an, a. Etym: [L. praetorians: cf. F. prétorien.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to a pretor or magistrate; judicial; exercised by, or belonging to, a pretor; as, pretorian power or authority. Pretorian bands or guards, or Pretorians (Rom. Hist.), the emperor's bodyguards, instituted by the Emperor Augustus in nine cohorts of 1,000 men each. — Pretorian gate (Rom. Antiq.), that one of the four gates in a camp which lay next the enemy. Brande & C.

PRETORIAN
Pre*to"ri*an, n.

Defn: A soldier of the pretorian guard.

PRETORIUM
Pre*to"ri*um, n. Etym: [L. praetorium, fr. praetor.]

1. The general's tent in a Roman camp; hence, a council of war, because held in the general's tent.

2. The official residence of a governor of a province; hence, a place; a splendid country seat.

PRETORSHIP
Pre"tor*ship, n.

Defn: The office or dignity of a pretor. J. Warton

PRETORTURE
Pre*tor"ture, v. t.

Defn: To torture beforehand. Fuller.

PRETTILY
Pret"ti*ly, adv.

Defn: In a pretty manner.

PRETTINESS
Pret"ti*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being pretty; — used sometimes in a
disparaging sense.
A style . . . without sententious pretension or antithetical
prettiness. Jeffrey.

PRETTY Pret"ty, a. [Compar. Prettier; superl. Prettiest.] Etym: [OE. prati, AS. prættig, prætig, crafty, sly, akin to præt, prætt, deceit, trickery, Icel. prettugr tricky, prettr a trick; probably fr. Latin, perhaps through Celtic; cf. W. praith act, deed, practice, LL. practica execution, practice, plot. See Practice.]

1. Pleasing by delicacy or grace; attracting, but not striking or impressing; of a pleasing and attractive form a color; having slight or diminutive beauty; neat or elegant without elevation or grandeur; pleasingly, but not grandly, conceived or expressed; as, a pretty face; a pretty flower; a pretty poem. This is the prettiest lowborn lass that ever Ran on the greensward. Shak.

2. Moderately large; considerable; as, he had saved a pretty fortune. "Wavering a pretty while." Evelyn.

3. Affectedly nice; foppish; — used in an ill sense. The pretty gentleman is the most complaisant in the world. Spectator.

4. Mean; despicable; contemptible; — used ironically; as, a pretty trick; a pretty fellow.

5. Stout; strong and brave; intrepid; valiant. [Scot.] [He] observed they were pretty men, meaning not handsome. Sir W. Scott.

Syn.
— Elegant; neat; fine. See Handsome.

PRETTY
Pret"ty, adv.

Defn: In some degree; moderately; considerably; rather; almost; —
less emphatic than very; as, I am pretty sure of the fact; pretty
cold weather.
Pretty plainly professes himself a sincere Christian. Atterbury.

PRETTYISH
Pret"ty*ish, a.

Defn: Somewhat pretty. Walpole.

PRETTYISM
Pret"ty*ism, n.

Defn: Affectation of a pretty style, manner, etc. [R.] Ed. Rev.

PRETTY-SPOKEN
Pret"ty-spo`ken, a.

Defn: Spoken or speaking prettily. [Colloq.]

PRETYPIFY
Pre*typ"i*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pretypified; p. pr. & vb. n.
Pretypifying.]

Defn: To prefigure; to exhibit previously in a type. Bp. Pearson.

PRETZEL
Pret"zel, n. Etym: [G. pretzel, bretzel. Cf. Bretzel.]

Defn: A kind of German biscuit or cake in the form of a twisted ring, salted on the outside.

PREVAIL
Pre*vail", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prevailed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prevailing.] Etym: [F. prévaloir, OF. prevaleir, L. praevalere; prae
before + valere to be strong, able, or worth. See Valiant.]

1. To overcome; to gain the victory or superiority; to gain the advantage; to have the upper hand, or the mastery; to succeed; — sometimes with over or against. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Ex. xvii. 11. So David prevailed over the Philistine. 1 Sam. xvii. 50. This kingdom could never prevail against the united power of England. Swift.

2. To be in force; to have effect, power, or influence; to be predominant; to have currency or prevalence; to obtain; as, the practice prevails this day. This custom makes the short-sighted bigots, and the warier skeptics, as far as it prevails. Locke.

3. To persuade or induce; — with on, upon, or with; as, I prevailedon him to wait. He was prevailed with to restrain the Earl. Clarendon. Prevail upon some judicious friend to be your constant hearer, and allow him the utmost freedom. Swift.

PREVAILING
Pre*vail"ing, a.

1. Having superior force or influence; efficacious; persuasive. Shak. Saints shall assist thee with prevailing prayers. Rowe.

2. Predominant; prevalent; most general; as, the prevailing disease of a climate; a prevailing opinion.

Syn. See Prevalent.

PREVAILINGLY
Pre*vail"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: So as to prevail.

PREVAILMENT
Pre*vail"ment, n.

Defn: Prevalence; superior influence; efficacy. [Obs.] Shak.

PREVALENCE
Prev"a*lence, n. Etym: [L. praevalentia: cf. F. prévalence. See
Prevail.]

Defn: The quality or condition of being prevalent; superior strength, force, or influence; general existence, reception, or practice; wide extension; as, the prevalence of virtue, of a fashion, or of a disease; the prevalence of a rumor. The duke better knew what kind of argument were of prevalence with him. Clarendon.

PREVALENCY
Prev"a*len*cy, n.

Defn: See Prevalence.

PREVALENT
Prev"a*lent, a. Etym: [L. praevalens, -entis, p. pr. of praevalere.
See Prevail.]

1. Gaining advantage or superiority; having superior force, influence, or efficacy; prevailing; predominant; successful; victorious. Brennus told the Roman embassadors, that prevalent arms were as good as any title. Sir W. Raleigh.

2. Most generally received or current; most widely adopted or practiced; also, generally or extensively existing; widespread; prevailing; as, a prevalent observance; prevalent disease. This was the most received and prevalent opinion. Woodward.

Syn. — Prevailing; predominant; successful; efficacious; powerful. — Prevalent, Prevailing. What customarily prevails is prevalent; as, a prevalent fashion. What actually prevails is prevailing; as, the prevailing winds are west. Hence, prevailing is the livelier and more pointed word, since it represents a thing in action. It is sometimes the stronger word, since a thing may prevail sufficiently to be called prevalent, and yet require greater strength to make it actually prevailing.

PREVALENTLY
Prev"a*lent"ly, adv.

Defn: In a prevalent manner. Prior.

PREVARICATE Pre*var"i*cate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prevaricated; p. pr. & vb. n. Prevaricating.] Etym: [L. praevaricatus, p. p. of praevaricari to walk crookedly, to collude; prae before + varicare to straddle, fr. varicus straddling, varus bent. See Varicose.]

1. To shift or turn from one side to the other, from the direct course, or from truth; to speak with equivocation; to shuffle; to quibble; as, he prevaricates in his statement. He prevaricates with his own understanding. South.

2. (Civil Law)

Defn: To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.

3. (Eng. Law)

Defn: To undertake a thing falsely and deceitfully, with the purpose of defeating or destroying it.

Syn. — To evade; equivocate; quibble; shuffle. — Prevaricate, Evade, Equivocate. One who evades a question ostensibly answers it, but really turns aside to some other point. He who equivocate uses words which have a double meaning, so that in one sense he can claim to have said the truth, though he does in fact deceive, and intends to do it. He who prevaricates talks all round the question, hoping to "dodge" it, and disclose nothing.

PREVARICATE
Pre*var"i*cate, v. t.

Defn: To evade by a quibble; to transgress; to pervert. [Obs.] Jer.
Taylor.

PREVARICATION
Pre*var`i*ca"tion, n. Etym: [L. praevaricatio: cf. F. prévarication.]

1. The act of prevaricating, shuffling, or quibbling, to evade the truth or the disclosure of truth; a deviation from the truth and fair dealing. The august tribunal of the skies, where no prevarication shall avail. Cowper.

2. A secret abuse in the exercise of a public office.

3. (Law) (a) (Roman Law) The collusion of an informer with the defendant, for the purpose of making a sham prosecution. (b) (Common Law) A false or deceitful seeming to undertake a thing for the purpose of defeating or destroying it. Cowell.

PREVARICATOR
Pre*var"i*ca`tor, n. Etym: [L. praevaricator: cf. F. prévaricateur.]

1. One who prevaricates.

2. (Roman Law)

Defn: A sham dealer; one who colludes with a defendant in a sham prosecution.

3. One who betrays or abuses a trust. Prynne.

PREVE
Preve, v. i. & i.

Defn: To prove. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PREVE
Preve, n.

Defn: Proof. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PREVENANCE
Prev"e*nance, n. Etym: [F. prévenance.] (Metaph.)

Defn: A going before; anticipation in sequence or order. "The law of prevenance is simply the well-known law of phenomenal sequence." Ward.

PREVENANCY
Prev"e*nan*cy, n.

Defn: The act of anticipating another's wishes, desires, etc., in the way of favor or courtesy; hence, civility; obligingness. [Obs.] Sterne.

PREVENE
Pre*vene", v. t. & i. Etym: [F. prévenir, L. praevenire. See
Prevent.]

Defn: To come before; to anticipate; hence, to hinder; to prevent.
[Obs.] Philips.

PREVENIENCE
Pre*ven"i*ence, n.

Defn: The act of going before; anticipation. [R.]

PREVENIENT
Pre*ven"i*ent, a. Etym: [L. praeveniens, p. pr.]

Defn: Going before; preceding; hence, preventive. "Prevenient grace descending." Milton.

PREVENT
Pre*vent", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prevented; p. pr. & vb. n.
Preventing.] Etym: [L. praevenire, praeventum; prae before + venire
to come. See Come.]

1. To go before; to precede; hence, to go before as a guide; to direct. [Obs.] We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 1 Thess. iv. 15. We pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us. Bk. of Common Prayer. Then had I come, preventing Sheba's queen. Prior.

2. To be beforehand with; to anticipate. [Obs.] Their ready guilt preventing thy commands. Pope.

3. To intercept; to hinder; to frustrate; to stop; to thwart. "This vile purpose to prevent." Shak. Perhaps forestalling night prevented them. Milton.

PREVENT
Pre*vent", v. i.

Defn: To come before the usual time. [Obs.]
Strawberries . . . will prevent and come early. Bacon.

PREVENTABILITY
Pre*vent`a*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being preventable.

PREVENTABLE
Pre*vent"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being prevented or hindered; as, preventable diseases.

PREVENTATIVE
Pre*vent"a*tive, n.

Defn: That which prevents; — incorrectly used instead of preventive.

PREVENTER
Pre*vent"er, n.

1. One who goes before; one who forestalls or anticipates another. [Obs.] Bacon.

2. One who prevents or obstructs; a hinderer; that which hinders; as, a preventer of evils or of disease.

3. (Naut.)

Defn: An auxiliary rope to strengthen a mast. Preventer bolts, or
Preventer plates (Naut.), fixtures connected with preventers to
reënforce other rigging.
— Preventer stay. (Naut.) Same as Preventer, 3.

PREVENTINGLY
Pre*vent"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: So as to prevent or hinder.

PREVENTION
Pre*ven"tion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prévention.]

1. The act of going, or state of being, before. [Obs.] The greater the distance, the greater the prevention. Bacon.

2. Anticipation; esp., anticipation of needs or wishes; hence, precaution; forethought. [Obs.] Hammond. Shak.

3. The act of preventing or hindering; obstruction of action, access, or approach; thwarting. South. Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention. Shak.

4. Prejudice; prepossession. [A Gallicism] Dryden.

PREVENTIONAL
Pre*ven"tion*al, a.

Defn: Tending to prevent. [Obs.]

PREVENTIVE
Pre*vent"ive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. préventif.]

1. Going before; preceding. [Obs.] Any previous counsel or preventive understanding. Cudworth.

2. Tending to defeat or hinder; obviating; preventing the access of; as, a medicine preventive of disease. Physic is either curative or preventive. Sir T. Browne. Preventive service, the duty performed by the armed police in guarding the coast against smuggling. [Eng]

PREVENTIVE
Pre*vent"ive, n.

Defn: That which prevents, hinders, or obstructs; that which intercepts access; in medicine, something to prevent disease; a prophylactic.

PREVENTIVELY
Pre*vent"ive*ly, adv.

Defn: In a preventive manner.

PREVERTEBRAL
Pre*ver"te*bral, a. (Anat.)

Defn: Situated immediately in front, or on the ventral side, of the vertebral column; prespinal.

PREVIOUS Pre"vi*ous, a. Etym: [L. praevius going before, leading the way; prae before + via the way. See Voyage.]

Defn: Going before in time; being or happening before something else;
antecedent; prior; as, previous arrangements; a previous illness.
The dull sound . . . previous to the storm, Rolls o'er the muttering
earth. Thomson.
Previous question. (Parliamentary Practice) See under Question, and
compare Closure.
— Previous to, before; — often used adverbially for previously.
"Previous to publication." M. Arnold. "A policy . . . his friends had
advised previous to 1710." J. H. Newman.

Syn.
— Antecedent; preceding; anterior; prior; foregoing; former.

PREVIOUSLY
Pre"vi*ous*ly, adv.

Defn: Beforehand; antecedently; as, a plan previously formed.

PREVIOUSNESS
Pre"vi*ous*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being previous; priority or antecedence in time.

PREVISE Pre*vise", v. t. Etym: [L. praevisus, p. p. of praevidere to foresee; prae before + videre to see. See Vision.]

1. To foresee. [R.]

2. To inform beforehand; to warn. Ld. Lytton.

PREVISION
Pre*vi"sion, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prévision.]

Defn: Foresight; foreknowledge; prescience. H. Spencer.

PREVOYANT
Pre*voy"ant, a. Etym: [F. prévoyant.]

Defn: Foreseeing; prescient. [R.] Mrs. Oliphant.

PREWARN
Pre*warn", v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Prewarned; p. pr. & vb. n.
Prewarning.]

Defn: To warn beforehand; to forewarn. [R.]

PREY Prey, n. Etym: [OF. preie, F. proie, L. praeda, probably for praeheda. See Prehensile, and cf. Depredate, Predatory.]

Defn: Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything
taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto
Moses, and Eleazar the priest. Num. xxxi. 12.

2. That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey. Job iv. ii. Already sees herself the monster's prey. Dryden.

3. The act of devouring other creatures; ravage. Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, . . . lion in prey. Shak. Beast of prey, a carnivorous animal; one that feeds on the flesh of other animals.

PREY
Prey, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Preyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Preying.] Etym:
[OF. preier, preer, L. praedari, fr. praeda. See Prey, n.]

Defn: To take booty; to gather spoil; to ravage; to take food by violence. More pity that the eagle should be mewed, While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. Shak. To prey on or upon. (a) To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob. Shak. (b) To seize as prey; to take for food by violence; to seize and devour. Shak. (c) To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or pine away; as, the trouble preyed upon his mind. Addison.

PREYER
Prey"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, preys; a plunderer; a waster; a devourer. Hooker.

PREYFUL
Prey"ful, a.

1. Disposed to take prey. [Obs.] The preyful brood of savage beasts. Chapman.

2. Rich in prey. [Obs.] Shak.

PREZYGAPOPHYSIS Pre*zyg`a*poph"y*sis, n.; pl. Prezygapophyses. Etym: [NL. See Pre-, and Zygapophysis.] (Anat.)

Defn: An anterior zygapophysis.

PRIAL
Pri"al, n.

Defn: A corruption of pair royal. See under Pair, n.

PRIAN
Pri"an, n. Etym: [Cornish, clayey ground, from pri clay.] (Mining)

Defn: A fine, white, somewhat friable clay; also, the ore contained in a mixture of clay and pebbles. [Written also pryan.]

PRIAPEAN
Pri`a*pe"an, n. Etym: [Cf. L. Priapeius pertaining to Priapus.] (Lat.
Pros.)

Defn: A species of hexameter verse so constructed as to be divisible into two portions of three feet each, having generally a trochee in the first and the fourth foot, and an amphimacer in the third; — applied also to a regular hexameter verse when so constructed as to be divisible into two portions of three feet each. Andrews.

PRIAPISM Pri"a*pism, n. Etym: [L. priapismus, Gr. Priapus the god of procreation, the penis, Gr. priapisme.] (Med.)

Defn: More or less permanent erection and rigidity of the penis, with or without sexual desire.

PRIAPULACEA
Pri*ap`u*la"ce*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Priapism.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A suborder of Gephyræa, having a cylindrical body with a terminal anal opening, and usually with one or two caudal gills.

PRICASOUR
Pric"a*sour, n.

Defn: A hard rider. [Obs.]

PRICE
Price, n. Etym: [OE. pris, OF. pris, F. prix, L. pretium; cf. Gr. pa
to buy, OI. renim I sell. Cf. Appreciate, Depreciate, Interpret,
Praise, n. & v., Precious, Prize.]

1. The sum or amount of money at which a thing is valued, or the value which a seller sets on his goods in market; that for which something is bought or sold, or offered for sale; equivalent in money or other means of exchange; current value or rate paid or demanded in market or in barter; cost. "Buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isa. lv. 1. We can afford no more at such a price. Shak.

2. Value; estimation; excellence; worth. Her price is far above rubies. Prov. xxxi. 10. New treasures still, of countless price. Keble.

3. Reward; recompense; as, the price of industry. 'T is the price of toil, The knave deserves it when he tills the soil. Pope. Price current, or Price list, a statement or list of the prevailing prices of merchandise, stocks, specie, bills of exchange, etc., published statedly or occasionally.

PRICE
Price, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Priced; p. pr. & vb. n. Pricing.]

1. To pay the price of. [Obs.] With thine own blood to price his blood. Spenser.

2. To set a price on; to value. See Prize.

3. To ask the price of; as, to price eggs. [Colloq.]

PRICED
Priced, a.

Defn: Rated in price; valued; as, high-priced goods; low-priced labor.

PRICEITE
Price"ite, n. Etym: [From Thomas Price of San Francisco.] (Min.)

Defn: A hydrous borate of lime, from Oregon.

PRICELESS
Price"less, a.

1. Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.

2. Of no value; worthless. [R.] J. Barlow.

PRICK
Prick, n. Etym: [AS. prica, pricca, pricu; akin to LG. prick, pricke,
D. prik, Dan. prik, prikke, Sw. prick. Cf. Prick, v.]

1. That which pricks, penetrates, or punctures; a sharp and slender thing; a pointed instrument; a goad; a spur, etc.; a point; a skewer. Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary. Shak. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts ix. 5.

2. The act of pricking, or the sensation of being pricked; a sharp, stinging pain; figuratively, remorse. "The pricks of conscience." A. Tucker.

3. A mark made by a pointed instrument; a puncture; a point. Hence: (a) A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour. [Obs.] "The prick of noon." Shak. (b) The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin. "They that shooten nearest the prick." Spenser. (c) A mark denoting degree; degree; pitch. [Obs.] "To prick of highest praise forth to advance." Spenser. (d) A mathematical point; — regularly used in old English translations of Euclid. (e) The footprint of a hare. [Obs.]

4. (Naut.)

Defn: A small roll; as, a prick of spun yarn; a prick of tobacco.

PRICK
Prick, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pricked; p. pr. & vb. n. Pricking.] Etym:
[AS. prician; akin to LG. pricken, D. prikken, Dan. prikke, Sw.
pricka. See Prick, n., and cf. Prink, Prig.]

1. To pierce slightly with a sharp-pointed instrument or substance; to make a puncture in, or to make by puncturing; to drive a fine point into; as, to prick one with a pin, needle, etc.; to prick a card; to prick holes in paper.

2. To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing; as, to prick a knife into a board. Sir I. Newton. The cooks prick it [a slice] on a prong of iron. Sandys.

3. To mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark; — sometimes with off. Some who are pricked for sheriffs. Bacon. Let the soldiers for duty be carefully pricked off. Sir W. Scott. Those many, then, shall die: their names are pricked. Shak.

4. To mark the outline of by puncturing; to trace or form by pricking; to mark by punctured dots; as, to prick a pattern for embroidery; to prick the notes of a musical composition. Cowper.

5. To ride or guide with spurs; to spur; to goad; to incite; to urge on; — sometimes with on, or off. Who pricketh his blind horse over the fallows. Chaucer. The season pricketh every gentle heart. Chaucer. My duty pricks me on to utter that. Shak.

6. To affect with sharp pain; to sting, as with remorse. "I was pricked with some reproof." Tennyson. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. Acts ii. 37.

7. To make sharp; to erect into a point; to raise, as something pointed; — said especially of the ears of an animal, as a horse or dog; and usually followed by up; — hence, to prick up the ears, to listen sharply; to have the attention and interest strongly engaged. "The courser . . . pricks up his ears." Dryden.

8. To render acid or pungent. [Obs.] Hudibras.

9. To dress; to prink; — usually with up. [Obs.]

10. (Naut) (a) To run a middle seam through, as the cloth of a sail. (b) To trace on a chart, as a ship's course.

11. (Far.) (a) To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness. (b) To nick.

PRICK
Prick, v. i.

1. To be punctured; to suffer or feel a sharp pain, as by puncture; as, a sore finger pricks.

2. To spur onward; to ride on horseback. Milton. A gentle knight was pricking on the plain. Spenser.

3. To become sharp or acid; to turn sour, as wine.

4. To aim at a point or mark. Hawkins.

PRICK-EARED
Prick"-eared`, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having erect, pointed ears; — said of certain dogs.
Thou prick-eared cur of Iceland. Shak.

PRICKER
Prick"er, n.

1. One who, or that which, pricks; a pointed instrument; a sharp point; a prickle.

2. One who spurs forward; a light horseman. The prickers, who rode foremost, . . . halted. Sir W. Scott.

3. A priming wire; a priming needle, — used in blasting and gunnery. Knight.

4. (Naut.)

Defn: A small marline spike having generally a wooden handle, — used in sailmaking. R. H. Dana, Ir.

PRICKET
Prick"et, n. Etym: [Perhaps so called from the state of his horns.
See Prick, and cf. Brocket.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A buck in his second year. See Note under 3d Buck. Shak.

PRICKING
Prick"ing, n.

1. The act of piercing or puncturing with a sharp point. "There is that speaketh like the prickings of a sword." Prov. xii. 18 [1583].

2. (Far.) (a) The driving of a nail into a horse's foot so as to produce lameness. (b) Same as Nicking.

3. A sensation of being pricked. Shak.

4. The mark or trace left by a hare's foot; a prick; also, the act of tracing a hare by its footmarks. [Obs.]

5. Dressing one's self for show; prinking. [Obs.]

PRICKING-UP
Prick"ing-up, n. (Arch.)

Defn: The first coating of plaster in work of three coats upon laths.
Its surface is scratched once to form a better key for the next coat.
In the United States called scratch coat. Brande & C.

PRICKLE Pric"kle, n. Etym: [AS. pricele, pricle; akin to LG. prickel, D. prikkel. See Prick, n.]

1. A little prick; a small, sharp point; a fine, sharp process or projection, as from the skin of an animal, the bark of a plant, etc.; a spine. Bacon.

2. A kind of willow basket; — a term still used in some branches of trade. B. Jonson.

3. A sieve of filberts, — about fifty pounds. [Eng.]

PRICKLE
Pric"kle, v. t.

Defn: To prick slightly, as with prickles, or fine, sharp points.
Felt a horror over me creep, Prickle skin, and catch my breath.
Tennyson.

PRICKLEBACK; PRICKLEFISH
Pric"kle*back`, Pric"kle*fish`, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The stickleback.

PRICKLINESS
Prick"li*ness, n. Etym: [From Prickly.]

Defn: The quality of being prickly, or of having many prickles.

PRICKLING
Prick"ling, a.

Defn: Prickly. [Obs.] Spenser.

PRICKLOUSE
Prick"louse`, n.

Defn: A tailor; — so called in contempt. [Old slang] L'Estrange.

PRICKLY
Prick"ly, a.

Defn: Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shrub. Prickly ash (Bot.), a prickly shrub (Xanthoxylum Americanum) with yellowish flowers appearing with the leaves. All parts of the plant are pungent and aromatic. The southern species is X. Carolinianum. Gray. — Prickly heat (Med.), a noncontagious cutaneous eruption of red pimples, attended with intense itching and tingling of the parts affected. It is due to inflammation of the sweat glands, and is often brought on by overheating the skin in hot weather. — Prickly pear (Bot.), a name given to several plants of the cactaceous genus Opuntia, American plants consisting of fleshy, leafless, usually flattened, and often prickly joints inserted upon each other. The sessile flowers have many petals and numerous stamens. The edible fruit is a large pear-shaped berry containing many flattish seeds. The common species of the Northern Atlantic States is Opuntia vulgaris. In the South and West are many others, and in tropical America more than a hundred more. O. vulgaris, O. Ficus-Indica, and O. Tuna are abundantly introduced in the Mediterranean region, and O. Dillenii has become common in India. — Prickly pole (Bot.), a West Indian palm (Bactris Plumierana), the slender trunk of which bears many rings of long black prickles. — Prickly withe (Bot.), a West Indian cactaceous plant (Cereus triangularis) having prickly, slender, climbing, triangular stems. — Prickly rat (Zoöl.), any one of several species of South American burrowing rodents belonging to Ctenomys and allied genera. The hair is usually intermingled with sharp spines.

PRICKMADAM
Prick"mad`am, n. Etym: [F. trique-madame. Cf. Tripmadam.] (Bot.)

Defn: A name given to several species of stonecrop, used as ingredients of vermifuge medicines. See Stonecrop.

PRICKPUNCH
Prick"punch`, n.

Defn: A pointed steel punch, to prick a mark on metal.

PRICKSHAFT
Prick"shaft`, n.

Defn: An arrow. [Obs.]

PRICKSONG
Prick"song`, n. Etym: [See Prick, v. t., 4.]

Defn: Music written, or noted, with dots or points; — so called from the points or dots with which it is noted down. [Obs.] He fights as you sing pricksong. Shak.

PRICKWOOD
Prick"wood`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: A shrub (Euonymus Europæus); — so named from the use of its wood for goads, skewers, and shoe pegs. Called also spindle tree.

PRICKY
Prick"y, a.

Defn: Stiff and sharp; prickly. Holland.

PRIDE
Pride, n. Etym: [Cf. AS. lamprede, LL. lampreda, E. lamprey.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A small European lamprey (Petromyzon branchialis); — called also prid, and sandpiper.

PRIDE Pride, n. Etym: [AS. pryte; akin to Icel. pryedhi honor, ornament, pr to adorn, Dan. pryde, Sw. pryda; cf. W. prydus comely. See Proud.]

1. The quality or state of being proud; inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, rank, etc., which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others. Those that walk in pride he is able to abase. Dan. iv. 37. Pride that dines on vanity sups on contempt. Franklin.

2. A sense of one's own worth, and abhorrence of what is beneath or unworthy of one; lofty self-respect; noble self-esteem; elevation of character; dignified bearing; proud delight; — in a good sense. Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride. Goldsmith. A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants. Macaulay.

3. Proud or disdainful behavior or treatment; insolence or arrogance of demeanor; haughty bearing and conduct; insolent exultation; disdain. Let not the foot of pride come against me. Ps. xxxvi. 11. That hardly we escaped the pride of France. Shak.

4. That of which one is proud; that which excites boasting or self- gratulation; the occasion or ground of self-esteem, or of arrogant and presumptuous confidence, as beauty, ornament, noble character, children, etc. Lofty trees yclad with summer's pride. Spenser. I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. Zech. ix. 6. A bold peasantry, their country's pride. Goldsmith.

5. Show; ostentation; glory. Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war. Shak.

6. Highest pitch; elevation reached; loftiness; prime; glory; as, to be in the pride of one's life. A falcon, towering in her pride of place. Shak.

7. Consciousness of power; fullness of animal spirits; mettle; wantonness; hence, lust; sexual desire; esp., an excitement of sexual appetite in a female beast. [Obs.] Pride of India, or Pride of China. (Bot.) See Margosa. — Pride of the desert (Zoöl.), the camel.

Syn. — Self-exaltation; conceit; hauteur; haughtiness; lordliness; loftiness. — Pride, Vanity. Pride is a high or an excessive esteem of one's self for some real or imagined superiority, as rank, wealth, talents, character, etc. Vanity is the love of being admired, praised, exalted, etc., by others. Vanity is an ostentation of pride; but one may have great pride without displaying it. Vanity, which is etymologically "emptiness," is applied especially to the exhibition of pride in superficialities, as beauty, dress, wealth, etc.

PRIDE
Pride, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prided; p. pr. & vb. n. Priding.]

Defn: To indulge in pride, or self-esteem; to rate highly; to plume; — used reflexively. Bp. Hall. Pluming and priding himself in all his services. South.

PRIDE
Pride, v. i.

Defn: To be proud; to glory. [R.]

PRIDEFUL
Pride"ful, a.

Defn: Full of pride; haughty. Tennyson.
— Pride"ful*ly, adv.
— Pride"ful-ness, n.

PRIDELESS
Pride"less, a.

Defn: Without pride. Chaucer.

PRIDIAN
Prid"i*an, a. Etym: [L. pridianus.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the day before, or yesterday. [R.]
Thackeray.

PRIDINGLY
Prid"ing*ly, adv.

Defn: Proudly. [Obs.]

PRIE
Prie, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The plant privet. [Obs.] Tusser.

PRIE
Prie, v. i.

Defn: To pry. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PRIED
Pried,

Defn: imp. & p. p. of Pry.

PRIEDIEU
Prie`dieu", n. Etym: [F., literally, pray God.]

Defn: A kneeling desk for prayers.

PRIEF
Prief, n.

Defn: Proof. [Obs.] Spenser. Lydgate.

PRIER
Pri"er, n. Etym: [From Pry.]

Defn: One who pries; one who inquires narrowly and searches, or is
inquisitive.
So pragmatical a prier he is into divine secrets. Fuller.

PRIEST
Priest, n. Etym: [OE. prest, preost, AS. preóst, fr. L. presbyter,
Gr. pristinus. Cf. Pristine, Presbyter.]

1. (Christian Church)

Defn: A presbyter elder; a minister; specifically: (a) (R. C. Ch. & Gr. Ch.) One who is authorized to consecrate the host and to say Mass; but especially, one of the lowest order possessing this power. Murdock. (b) (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.)

Defn: A presbyter; one who belongs to the intermediate order between bishop and deacon. He is authorized to perform all ministerial services except those of ordination and confirmation.

2. One who officiates at the altar, or performs the rites of sacrifice; one who acts as a mediator between men and the divinity or the gods in any form of religion; as, Buddhist priests. "The priests of Dagon." 1 Sam. v. 5. Then the priest of Jupiter . . . brought oxen and garlands . . . and would have done sacrifice with the people. Acts xiv. 13. Every priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Heb. v. 1.

Note: In the New Testament presbyters are not called priests; but
Christ is designated as a priest, and as a high priest, and all
Christians are designated priests.

PRIEST
Priest, v. t.

Defn: To ordain as priest.

PRIESTCAP
Priest"cap`, n. (Fort.)

Defn: A form of redan, so named from its shape; — called also swallowtail.

PRIESTCRAFT
Priest"craft`, n.

Defn: Priestly policy; the policy of a priesthood; esp., in an ill sense, fraud or imposition in religious concerns; management by priests to gain wealth and power by working upon the religious motives or credulity of others. It is better that men should be governed by priestcraft than by violence. Macaulay.

PRIESTERY
Priest"er*y, n.

Defn: Priests, collectively; the priesthood; — so called in contempt. [R.] Milton.

PRIESTESS
Priest"ess, n.

Defn: A woman who officiated in sacred rites among pagans. Abp.
Potter.

PRIESTHOOD
Priest"hood, n.

1. The office or character of a priest; the priestly function. Bk. of Com. Prayer.

2. Priests, taken collectively; the order of men set apart for sacred offices; the order of priests.

PRIESTING
Priest"ing, n.

Defn: The office of a priest. [Obs.] Milton.

PRIESTISM
Priest"ism, n.

Defn: The influence, doctrines, principles, etc., of priests or the priesthood. [R.]

PRIESTLESS
Priest"less, a.

Defn: Without a priest. Pope.

PRIESTLIKE
Priest"like`, a.

Defn: Priestly. B. Jonson.

PRIESTLINESS
Priest"li*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being priestly. R. Browning.

PRIESTLY
Priest"ly, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a priest or the priesthood; sacerdotal; befitting or becoming a priest; as, the priestly office; a priestly farewell. Shak.

PRIEST-RIDDEN
Priest"-rid`den, a.

Defn: Controlled or oppressed by priests; as, a priest-ridden people.
Swift.

PRIEVE
Prieve, v. t.

Defn: To prove. [Obs. or Scot.]

PRIG
Prig, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prigged; p. pr. & vb. n. Prigging.] Etym:
[A modification of prick.]

Defn: To haggle about the price of a commodity; to bargain hard.
[Prov. Eng. & Scot.]

PRIG
Prig, v. t.

1. To cheapen. [Scot.]

2. Etym: [Perhaps orig., to ride off with. See Prick, v. t.]

Defn: To filch or steal; as, to prig a handkerchief. [Cant]

PRIG
Prig, n.

1. A pert, conceited, pragmatical fellow. The queer prig of a doctor. Macaulay.

2. A thief; a filcher. [Cant] Shak.

PRIGGERY
Prig"ger*y, n.

Defn: Priggism.

PRIGGISH
Prig"gish, a.

Defn: Like a prig; conceited; pragmatical.
— Prig"gish*ly, adv.
— Prig"gish-ness, n.

PRIGGISM
Prig"gism, n.

1. The quality or state of being priggish; the manners of a prig. Ed. Rev.

2. Roguery; thievery. [Obs.] Fielding.

PRIGHTE
Prigh"te, obs.

Defn: imp. of Prick. Chaucer.

PRILL
Prill, n. Etym: [Cf. Brill.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The brill.

PRILL
Prill, v. i.

Defn: To flow. [Obs.] Stow.

PRILL
Prill, n.

Defn: A stream. [Obs.] Davies (Microcosmos).

PRILL
Prill, n. Etym: [Etymol. uncertain.]

1. (Mining) (a) A nugget of virgin metal. (b) Ore selected for excellence.

2. The button of metal from an assay.

PRILLION
Pril"lion, n.

Defn: Tin extracted from the slag.

PRIM
Prim, n. Etym: [See Privet.] (Bot)

Defn: The privet.

PRIM Prim, a. Etym: [OF. prim, prin, prime, first, principal. sharp, thin, piercing, fr. L. primus first. See Prime, a.]

Defn: Formal; precise; affectedly neat or nice; as, prim regularity; a prim person. Swift.

PRIM
Prim, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Primmed; p. pr. & vb. n. Primming.]

Defn: To deck with great nicety; to arrange with affected preciseness; to prink.

PRIM
Prim, v. i.

Defn: To dress or act smartly. [R.]

PRIMACY
Pri"ma*cy, n. Etym: [LL. primatia, fr. L. primas, -atis, one of the
first or principal, chief, fr. primus first: cf. F. primatie. See
Prime, a.]

1. The state or condition of being prime or first, as in time, place, rank, etc., hence, excellency; supremacy. [R.] De Quincey.

2. The office, rank, or character of a primate; the chief ecclesiastical station or dignity in a national church; the office or dignity of an archbishop; as, the primacy of England.

PRIMA DONNA
Pri"ma don"na; pl. E. Prima donnas, It. Prime Donne. Etym: [It., fr.
primo, prima, the first + donna lady, mistress. See Prime, a., and
Donna.]

Defn: The first or chief female singer in an opera.

PRIMA FACIE Pri"ma fa"ci*e. Etym: [L., from abl. of primus first + abl. of facies appearance.]

Defn: At first view; on the first appearance. Prima facie evidence (of a fact) (Law), evidence which is sufficient to establish the fact unless rebutted. Bouvier.

PRIMAGE
Pri"mage (; 48), n. Etym: [F.] (Com.)

Defn: A charge in addition to the freight; originally, a gratuity to the captain for his particular care of the goods (sometimes called hat money), but now belonging to the owners or freighters of the vessel, unless by special agreement the whole or part is assigned to the captain. Homans.

PRIMAL Pri"mal, a. Etym: [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]

Defn: First; primary; original; chief.
It hath the primal eldest curse upon it. Shak.
The primal duties shine aloft like stars. Wordsworth.

PRIMALITY
Pri*mal"i*ty, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being primal. [Obs.]

PRIMARILY
Pri"ma*ri*ly, adv.

Defn: In a primary manner; in the first place; in the first place; in the first intention; originally.

PRIMARINESS
Pri"ma*ri*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being primary, or first in time, in act, or in intention. Norris.

PRIMARY
Pri"ma*ry, a. Etym: [L. primarius, fr. primus first: cf. F. primaire.
See Prime, a., and cf. Premier, Primero.]

1. First in order of time or development or in intention; primitive;
fundamental; original.
The church of Christ, in its primary institution. Bp. Pearson.
These I call original, or primary, qualities of body. Locke.

2. First in order, as being preparatory to something higher; as, primary assemblies; primary schools.

3. First in dignity or importance; chief; principal; as, primary planets; a matter of primary importance.

4. (Geol.)

Defn: Earliest formed; fundamental.

5. (Chem.)

Defn: Illustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement. Primary alcohol (Organic Chem.), any alcohol which possess the group CH2.OH, and can be oxidized so as to form a corresponding aldehyde and acid having the same number of carbon atoms; — distinguished from secondary and tertiary alcohols. — Primary amine (Chem.), an amine containing the amido group, or a derivative of ammonia in which only one atom of hydrogen has been replaced by a basic radical; — distinguished from secondary and tertiary amines. — Primary amputation (Surg.), an amputation for injury performed as soon as the shock due to the injury has passed away, and before symptoms of inflammation supervene. — Primary axis (Bot.), the main stalk which bears a whole cluster of flowers. — Primary colors. See under Color. — Primary meeting, a meeting of citizens at which the first steps are taken towards the nomination of candidates, etc. See Caucus. — Primary pinna (Bot.), one of those portions of a compound leaf or frond which branch off directly from the main rhachis or stem, whether simple or compounded. — Primary planets. (Astron.) See the Note under Planet. — Primary qualities of bodies, such are essential to and inseparable from them. — Primary quills (Zoöl.), the largest feathers of the wing of a bird; primaries. — Primary rocks (Geol.), a term early used for rocks supposed to have been first formed, being crystalline and containing no organic remains, as granite, gneiss, etc.; — called also primitive rocks. The terms Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary rocks have also been used in like manner, but of these the last two only are now in use. — Primary salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a polybasic acid in which only one acid hydrogen atom has been replaced by a base or basic radical. — Primary syphilis (Med.), the initial stage of syphilis, including the period from the development of the original lesion or chancre to the first manifestation of symptoms indicative of general constitutional infection. — Primary union (Surg.), union without suppuration; union by the first intention.

PRIMARY
Pri"ma*ry, n.; pl. Primaries (.

1. That which stands first in order, rank, or importance; a chief matter.

2. A primary meeting; a caucus.

3. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the large feathers on the distal joint of a bird's wing.
See Plumage, and Illust. of Bird.

4. (Astron.)

Defn: A primary planet; the brighter component of a double star. See under Planet.

PRIMATE Pri"mate, n. Etym: [OE. primat, F. primat, L. primas, -atis one of the first, chief, fr. primus the first. See Prime, a.]

1. The chief ecclesiastic in a national church; one who presides over other bishops in a province; an archbishop.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of the Primates.

PRIMATES
Pri*ma"tes, n. pl. Etym: [NL.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: The highest order of mammals. It includes man, together with the apes and monkeys. Cf. Pitheci.

PRIMATESHIP
Pri"mate*ship, n.

Defn: The office, dignity, or position of a primate; primacy.

PRIMATIAL
Pri*ma"tial, a. Etym: [Cf. F. primatial.]

Defn: Primatical. [R.] D'Anville (Trans. ).

PRIMATICAL
Pri*mat"ic*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a primate. Barrow.

PRIME
Prime, a. Etym: [F., fr. L. primus first, a superl. corresponding to
the compar. prior former. See Prior, a., Foremost, Former, and cf.
Prim, a., Primary, Prince.]

1. First in order of time; original; primeval; primitive; primary. "Prime forests." Tennyson. She was not the prime cause, but I myself. Milton.

Note: In this sense the word is nearly superseded by primitive, except in the phrase prime cost.

2. First in rank, degree, dignity, authority, or importance; as, prime minister. "Prime virtues." Dryden.

3. First in excellence; of highest quality; as, prime wheat; a prime quality of cloth.

4. Early; blooming; being in the first stage. [Poetic] His starry helm, unbuckled, showed him prime In manhood where youth ended. Milton.

5. Lecherous; lustful; lewd. [Obs.] Shak.

6. Marked or distinguished by a mark (') called a prime mark. Prime and ultimate ratio. (Math.). See Ultimate. — Prime conductor. (Elec.) See under Conductor. — Prime factor (Arith.), a factor which is a prime number. — Prime figure (Geom.), a figure which can not be divided into any other figure more simple than itself, as a triangle, a pyramid, etc. — Prime meridian (Astron.), the meridian from which longitude is reckoned, as the meridian of Greenwich or Washington. — Prime minister, the responsible head of a ministry or executive government; applied particularly to that of England. — Prime mover. (Mech.) (a) A natural agency applied by man to the production of power. Especially: Muscular force; the weight and motion of fluids, as water and air; heat obtained by chemical combination, and applied to produce changes in the volume and pressure of steam, air, or other fluids; and electricity, obtained by chemical action, and applied to produce alternation of magnetic force. (b) An engine, or machine, the object of which is to receive and modify force and motion as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water- pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the prime mover in English antislavery agitation. — Prime number (Arith.), a number which is exactly divisible by no number except itself or unity, as 5, 7, 11. — Prime vertical (Astron.), the vertical circle which passes through the east and west points of the horizon. — Prime-vertical dial, a dial in which the shadow is projected on the plane of the prime vertical. — Prime-vertical transit instrument, a transit instrument the telescope of which revolves in the plane of the prime vertical, — used for observing the transit of stars over this circle.

PRIME
Prime, n.

1. The first part; the earliest stage; the beginning or opening, as of the day, the year, etc.; hence, the dawn; the spring. Chaucer. In the very prime of the world. Hooker. Hope waits upon the flowery prime. Waller.

2. The spring of life; youth; hence, full health, strength, or beauty; perfection. "Cut off in their prime." Eustace. "The prime of youth." Dryden.

3. That which is first in quantity; the most excellent portion; the best part. Give him always of the prime. Swift.

4. Etym: [F. prime, LL. prima (sc. hora). See Prime, a.]

Defn: The morning; specifically (R. C. Ch.), the first canonical hour, succeeding to lauds. Early and late it rung, at evening and at prime. Spenser.

Note: Originally, prime denoted the first quarter of the artificial day, reckoned from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m. Afterwards, it denoted the end of the first quarter, that is, 9 a. a. Specifically, it denoted the first canonical hour, as now. Chaucer uses it in all these senses, and also in the sense of def. 1, above. They sleep till that it was pryme large. Chaucer.

5. (Fencing)

Defn: The first of the chief guards.

6. (Chem.)

Defn: Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; — so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1. [Obs. or Archaic]

7. (Arith.)

Defn: A prime number. See under Prime, a.

8. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system; - - denoted by [']. See 2d Inch, n., 1. Prime of the moon, the new moon at its first appearance.

PRIME
Prime, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Primed; p. pr. & vb. n. Priming.] Etym:
[From Prime, a.]

1. To apply priming to, as a musket or a cannon; to apply a primer to, as a metallic cartridge.

2. To lay the first color, coating, or preparation upon (a surface), as in painting; as, to prime a canvas, a wall.

3. To prepare; to make ready; to instruct beforehand; to post; to coach; as, to prime a witness; the boys are primed for mischief. [Colloq.] Thackeray.

4. To trim or prune, as trees. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

5. (Math.)

Defn: To mark with a prime mark. To prime a pump, to charge a pump with water, in order to put it in working condition.

PRIME
Prime, v. i.

1. To be renewed, or as at first. [Obs.] Night's bashful empress, though she often wane, As oft repeats her darkness, primes again. Quarles .

2. To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.

3. To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed; — said of a steam boiler.

PRIMELY
Prime"ly, adv.

1. At first; primarily. [Obs.] South.

2. In a prime manner; excellently.

PRIMENESS
Prime"ness, n.

1. The quality or state of being first.

2. The quality or state of being prime, or excellent.

PRIMER
Prim"er, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, primes; specifically, an instrument or device for priming; esp., a cap, tube, or water containing percussion powder or other capable for igniting a charge of gunpowder.

PRIMER
Prim"er, a. Etym: [OF. primer, primier, premier, F. premier. See
Premier.]

Defn: First; original; primary. [Obs.] "The primer English kings." Drayton. Primer fine (O. Eng. Law), a fine due to the king on the writ or commencement of a suit by fine. Blackstone. — Primer seizin (Feudal Law), the right of the king, when a tenant in capite died seized of a knight's fee, to receive of the heir, if of full age, one year's profits of the land if in possession, and half a year's profits if the land was in reversion expectant on an estate for life; — now abolished. Blackstone.

PRIMER Prim"er, n. Etym: [Originally, the book read at prime, the first canonical hour. LL. primae liber. See Prime, n., 4.]

1. Originally, a small prayer book for church service, containing the little office of the Virgin Mary; also, a work of elementary religious instruction. The primer, or office of the Blessed Virgin. Bp. Stillingfleet.

2. A small elementary book for teaching children to read; a reading or spelling book for a beginner. As he sat in the school at his prymer. Chaucer.

3. (Print.)

Defn: A kind of type, of which there are two species; one, called long primer, intermediate in size between bourgeois and small pica [see Long primer]; the other, called great primer, larger than pica.

Note: Great primer type.

PRIMERO Pri*me"ro, n. Etym: [Sp. primera, fr. primero first, from L. primarius. See Premier.]

Defn: A game at cards, now unknown. Shak.

PRIMEROLE
Prim"er*ole, n. (Bot.)

Defn: See Primrose. [Obs.] "She was a primerole." Chaucer.

PRIMEVAL
Pri*me"val, a. Etym: [L. primaevus; primus first + aevum age. See
Prime, a., and Age.]

Defn: Belonging to the first ages; pristine; original; primitive;
primary; as, the primeval innocence of man. "This is the forest
primeval." Longfellow.
From chaos, and primeval darkness, came Light. Keats.

PRIMEVALLY
Pri*me"val*ly, adv.

Defn: In a primeval manner; in or from the earliest times; originally. Darwin.

PRIMEVOUS
Pri*me"vous, a.

Defn: Primeval. [Obs.]

PRIMIGENIAL
Pri`mi*ge"ni*al, a.

Defn: First born, or first of all; original; primary. See
Primogenial.

PRIMIGENIOUS; PRIMIGENOUS Pri`mi*ge"ni*ous, Pri*mig"e*nous, a. Etym: [L. primigenus, primigenius. See Primogeniture.]

Defn: First formed or generated; original; primigenial. Bp. Hall.

PRIMINE
Pri"mine, n. Etym: [L. primus first: cf. F. primine.] (Bot.)

Defn: The outermost of the two integuments of an ovule.

Note: This word has been used by some writers to denote the inner integument, which is formed earlier than the outer. Cf. Secundine.

PRIMING
Prim"ing, n.

1. The powder or other combustible used to communicate fire to a charge of gunpowder, as in a firearm.

2. (Paint.)

Defn: The first coating of color, size, or the like, laid on canvas, or on a building, or other surface.

3. (Steam Eng.)

Defn: The carrying over of water, with the steam, from the boiler, as into the cylinder. Priming of the tide. See Lag of the tide, under 2d Lag. — Priming tube, a small pipe, filled with a combustible composition for firing cannon. — Priming valve (Steam Eng.), a spring safety valve applied to the cylinder of a steam engine for discharging water carried into the cylinder by priming. — Priming wire, a pointed wire used to penetrate the vent of a piece, for piercing the cartridge before priming.

PRIMIPARA Pri*mip"a*ra, n. Etym: [L., fr. primus first + parere to bring forth.] (Med.)

Defn: A woman who bears a child for the first time.

PRIMIPAROUS
Pri*mip"a*rous, a. Etym: [See Primipara.]

Defn: Belonging to a first birth; bearing young for the first time.

PRIMIPILAR Pri*mip"i*lar, a. Etym: [L. primipilaris, fr. primipilus the centurion of the first cohort of a Roman legion, fr. primus pilus the division made up of the triarii in the Roman army.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to the captain of the vanguard of a Roman army. Barrow.

PRIMITIA Pri*mi"ti*a, n.; pl. Primitiæ (Primitias, obs.). Etym: [L. primitiae, pl., fr. primus first. Cf. Premices.] (Eng. Law)

Defn: The first fruit; the first year's whole profit of an ecclesiastical preferment. The primitias of your parsonage. Spenser.

PRIMITIAL
Pri*mi"tial, a.

Defn: Being of the first production; primitive; original. [Obs.]
Ainsworth.

PRIMITIVE Prim"i*tive, a. Etym: [L. primitivus, fr. primus the first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.]

1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive great sire." Milton.

2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of dress.

3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar. Primitive axes of coördinate (Geom.), that system of axes to which the points of a magnitude are first referred, with reference to a second set or system, to which they are afterward referred. — Primitive chord (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of which is of the same literal denomination as the fundamental base of the harmony; — opposed to derivative. Moore (Encyc. of Music). — Primitive circle (Spherical Projection), the circle cut from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane. — Primitive colors (Paint.), primary colors. See under Color. — Primitive Fathers (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D. 325. Shipley. — Primitive groove (Anat.), a depression or groove in the epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of it. — Primitive plane (Spherical Projection), the plane upon which the projections are made, generally coinciding with some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a meridian. — Primitive rocks (Geol.), primary rocks. See under Primary. — Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma. — Primitive streak or trace (Anat.), an opaque and thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the vertebrate blastoderm.

Syn. — First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval; antiquated; old-fashioned.

PRIMITIVE
Prim"i*tive, n.

Defn: An original or primary word; a word not derived from another; - - opposed to derivative.

PRIMITIVELY
Prim"i*tive*ly, adv.

1. Originally; at first.

2. Primarily; not derivatively.

3. According to the original rule or ancient practice; in the ancient style. South.

PRIMITIVENESS
Prim"i*tive*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being primitive; conformity to primitive style or practice.

PRIMITY
Prim"i*ty, n.

Defn: Quality of being first; primitiveness. [Obs.] Bp. Pearson.

PRIMLY
Prim"ly, adv.

Defn: In a prim or precise manner.

PRIMNESS
Prim"ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being prim; affected formality or niceness; preciseness; stiffness.

PRIMO
Pri"mo, a. Etym: [It.] (Mus.)

Defn: First; chief.

PRIMOGENIAL
Pri`mo*ge"ni*al, a. Etym: [See Primigenial.]

Defn: First born, made, or generated; original; primary; elemental; as, primogenial light. Glanvill.

PRIMOGENITIVE
Pri`mo*gen"i*tive, a. Etym: [See Primogeniture.]

Defn: Of or pertaining to primogeniture. [R.]

PRIMOGENITIVE
Pri`mo*gen"i*tive, n.

Defn: Primogeniture. [Obs.]
The primogenitive and due of birth. Shak.

PRIMOGENITOR Pri`mo*gen"i*tor, n. Etym: [LL., fr. L. primus first + genitor a begetter.]

Defn: The first ancestor; a forefather.

PRIMOGENITURE Pri`mo*gen"i*ture, n. Etym: [LL., fr. L. primus first + genitura a begetting, birth, generation, fr. genere, gignere, to beget: cf. F. primogéniture, L. primogenitus firstborn. See Prime, a., and Genus, Kin.]

1. The state of being the firstborn of the same parents; seniority by birth among children of the same family.

2. (Eng. Law)

Defn: The exclusive right of inheritance which belongs to the eldest son. Thus in England the right of inheriting the estate of the father belongs to the eldest son, and in the royal family the eldest son of the sovereign is entitled to the throne by primogeniture. In exceptional cases, among the female children, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue. Blackstone.

PRIMOGENITURESHIP
Pri`mo*gen"i*ture*ship, n.

Defn: The state or privileges of the firstborn. Burke.

PRIMORDIAL Pri*mor"di*al, a. Etym: [L. primordialis, from primordium the first beginning; primus first + ordiri to begin a web, to begin: cf. F. primordial.]

1. First in order; primary; original; of earliest origin; as, primordial condition. "The primordial facts of our intelligent nature." Sir W. Hamilton.

2. (Geol.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to the lowest beds of the Silurian age, corresponding to the Acadian and Potsdam periods in American geology. It is called also Cambrian, and by many geologists is separated from the Silurian.

3. (Biol.)

Defn: Originally or earliest formed in the growth of an individual or organ; as, a primordial leaf; a primordial cell. Primordial utricle (Bot.), the interior lining of a young vegetable cell.

PRIMORDIAL
Pri*mor"di*al, n.

Defn: A first principle or element.

PRIMORDIALISM
Pri*mor"di*al*ism, n.

Defn: Devotion to, or persistence in, conditions of the primordial state. H. Spencer.

PRIMORDIALLY
Pri*mor"di*al*ly, adv.

Defn: At the beginning; under the first order of things; originally.

PRIMORDIAN
Pri*mor"di*an, n. Etym: [L. primordius first of all, fr. primordium.]
(Bot.)

Defn: A name given to several kinds of plums; as, red primordian, amber primordian, etc.

PRIMORDIATE
Pri*mor"di*ate, a.

Defn: Primordial. [R.] Boyle.

PRIMP
Primp, v. i. & t. Etym: [Cf. Prim, a.]

Defn: To be formal or affected in dress or manners; — often with up.
[Prov. Eng. & Scot.] Halliwell.

PRIMROSE Prim"rose`, n. Etym: [OE. primerole, F. primerole, a derivative fr. LL. primula, from L. primus first. See Prime, a.] (Bot.) (a) An early flowering plant of the genus Primula (P. vulgaris) closely allied to the cowslip. There are several varieties, as the white-, the red-, the yellow-flowered, etc. Formerly called also primerole, primerolles. (b) Any plant of the genus Primula. Evening primrose, an erect biennial herb (Enothera biennis), with yellow vespertine flowers, common in the United States. The name is sometimes extended to other species of the same genus. — Primrose peerless, the two-flowered Narcissus (N. biflorus). [Obs.]

PRIMROSE
Prim"rose`, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to the primrose; of the color of a primrose; - - hence, flowery; gay. "The primrose path of dalliance." Shak.

PRIMROSE LEAGUE
Prim"rose` League. (Eng. Politics)

Defn: A league of both sexes among the Conservatives, founded in 1883. So called because primrose was (erroneously, it is said) taken to be the favorite flower of the Conservative statesman Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield.

PRIMULA
Prim"u*la, n. Etym: [LL. See Primrose.] (Bot.)

Defn: The genus of plants including the primrose (Primula vera).

PRIMULACEOUS
Prim`u*la"ceous, a. (Bot.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to an order of herbaceous plants (Primulaceæ), of which the primrose is the type, and the pimpernel, the cyclamen, and the water violet are other examples.

PRIMUM MOBILE
Pri"mum mob"i*le. Etym: [L., first cause of motion.] (Astron.)

Defn: In the Ptolemaic system, the outermost of the revolving concentric spheres constituting the universe, the motion of which was supposed to carry with it all the inclosed spheres with their planets in a daily revolution from east to west. See Crystalline heavens, under Crystalline. The motions of the greatest persons in a government ought to be, as the motions of the planets, under primum mobile. Bacon.

PRIMUS
Pri"mus, n. Etym: [L., the first.]

Defn: One of the bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, who presides at the meetings of the bishops, and has certain privileges but no metropolitan authority. Internat. Cyc.

PRIMY
Prim"y, a. Etym: [From Prime, a.]

Defn: Being in its prime. [Obs.] "The youth of primy nature." Shak.

PRINCE Prince, n. Etym: [F., from L. princeps, -cipis, the first, chief; primus first + capere to take. See Prime, a., and Capacious.]

1. The one of highest rank; one holding the highest place and authority; a sovereign; a monarch; — originally applied to either sex, but now rarely applied to a female. Wyclif (Rev. i. 5). Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince. Milton. Queen Elizabeth, a prince admirable above her sex. Camden.

2. The son of a king or emperor, or the issue of a royal family; as, princes of the blood. Shak.

3. A title belonging to persons of high rank, differing in different countries. In England it belongs to dukes, marquises, and earls, but is given to members of the royal family only. In Italy a prince is inferior to a duke as a member of a particular order of nobility; in Spain he is always one of the royal family.

4. The chief of any body of men; one at the head of a class or profession; one who is preëminent; as, a merchant prince; a prince of players. "The prince of learning." Peacham. Prince-Albert coat, a long double-breasted frock coat for men. — Prince of the blood, Prince consort, Prince of darkness. See under Blood, Consort, and Darkness. — Prince of Wales, the oldest son of the English sovereign. — Prince's feather (Bot.), a name given to two annual herbs (Amarantus caudatus and Polygonum orientale), with apetalous reddish flowers arranged in long recurved panicled spikes. — Prince's metal, Prince Rupert's metal. See under Metal. Prince's pine. (Bot.) See Pipsissewa.

PRINCE
Prince, v. i.

Defn: To play the prince. [R.] Shak.

PRINCEDOM
Prince"dom, n.

Defn: The jurisdiction, sovereignty, rank, or estate of a prince.
Thrones, princedoms, powers, dominions, I reduce. Milton.

PRINCEHOOD
Prince"hood, n.

Defn: Princeliness. [Obs.] E. Hall.

PRINCEKIN
Prince"kin, n.

Defn: A petty prince; a princeling.
The princekins of private life. Thackeray.

PRINCELESS
Prince"less, a.

Defn: Without a prince. Fuller.

PRINCELET
Prince"let, n.

Defn: A petty prince. [R.]

PRINCELIKE
Prince"like`, a.

Defn: Princely. Shak.

PRINCELINESS
Prince"li*ness, n.

Defn: The quality of being princely; the state, manner, or dignity of a prince.

PRINCELING
Prince"ling, n.

Defn: A petty prince; a young prince.

PRINCELY
Prince"ly, a.

1. Of or relating to a prince; regal; royal; of highest rank or authority; as, princely birth, character, fortune, etc.

2. Suitable for, or becoming to, a prince; grand; august; munificent; magnificent; as, princely virtues; a princely fortune. "Most princely gifts." Shak.

PRINCELY
Prince"ly, adv.

Defn: In a princely manner.
My appetite was not princely got. Shak.

PRINCESS
Prin"cess, n. Etym: [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]

1. A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. Dryden. So excellent a princess as the present queen. Swift.

2. The daughter of a sovereign; a female member of a royal family. Shak.

3. The consort of a prince; as, the princess of Wales. Princess royal, the eldest daughter of a sovereign.

PRINCESSE
Prin*cesse", a. Etym: [F., a princess.]

Defn: A term applied to a lady's long, close-fitting dress made with waist and skirt in one.

PRINCESSLIKE
Prin"cess*like`, a.

Defn: Like a princess.

PRINCEWOOD
Prince"wood`, n. (Bot.)

Defn: The wood of two small tropical American trees (Hamelia ventricosa, and Cordia gerascanthoides). It is brownish, veined with lighter color.

PRINCIFIED
Prin"ci*fied, a. Etym: [Prince + L. -ficare (in comp.).]

Defn: Imitative of a prince. [R. & Colloq.] Thackeray.

PRINCIPAL
Prin"ci*pal, a. Etym: [F., from L. principalis. See Prince.]

1. Highest in rank, authority, character, importance, or degree; most considerable or important; chief; main; as, the principal officers of a Government; the principal men of a state; the principal productions of a country; the principal arguments in a case. Wisdom is the principal thing. Prov. iv. 7.

2. Of or pertaining to a prince; princely. [A Latinism] [Obs.] Spenser. Principal axis. See Axis of a curve, under Axis. — Principal axes of a quadric (Geom.), three lines in which the principal planes of the solid intersect two and two, as in an ellipsoid. — Principal challenge. (Law) See under Challenge. — Principal plane. See Plane of projection (a), under Plane. — Principal of a quadric (Geom.), three planes each of which is at right angles to the other two, and bisects all chords of the quadric perpendicular to the plane, as in an ellipsoid. — Principal point (Persp.), the projection of the point of sight upon the plane of projection. — Principal ray (Persp.), the line drawn through the point of sight perpendicular to the perspective plane. — Principal section (Crystallog.), a plane passing through the optical axis of a crystal.

PRINCIPAL
Prin"ci*pal, n.

1. A leader, chief, or head; one who takes the lead; one who acts independently, or who has controlling authority or influence; as, the principal of a faction, a school, a firm, etc.; — distinguished from a subordinate, abettor, auxiliary, or assistant.

2. Hence: (Law) (a) The chief actor in a crime, or an abettor who is present at it, - - as distinguished from an accessory. (b) A chief obligor, promisor, or debtor, — as distinguished from a surety. (c) One who employs another to act for him, — as distinguished from an agent. Wharton. Bouvier. Burrill.

3. A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous. Specifically: (a) (Com.) A capital sum of money, placed out at interest, due as a debt or used as a fund; — so called in distinction from interest or profit. (b) (Arch. & Engin.) The construction which gives shape and strength to a roof, — generally a truss of timber or iron, but there are roofs with stone principals. Also, loosely, the most important member of a piece of framing. (c) (Mus.) In English organs the chief open metallic stop, an octave above the open diapason. On the manual it is four feet long, on the pedal eight feet. In Germany this term corresponds to the English open diapason. (d) (O. Eng. Law) A heirloom; a mortuary. Cowell. (e) pl.

Defn: The first two long feathers of a hawk's wing. Spenser. J. H. Walsh. (f) One of turrets or pinnacles of waxwork and tapers with which the posts and center of a funeral hearse were formerly crowned. Oxf. Gloss. (g) A principal or essential point or rule; a principle. [Obs.]

PRINCIPALITY
Prin`ci*pal"i*ty, n.; pl. Principalities. Etym: [L. principalitas
preëminence, excellence: cf. F. principalité, principauté. See
Principal.]

1. Sovereignty; supreme power; hence, superiority; predominance; high, or the highest, station. Sir P. Sidney. Your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory. Jer. xiii. 18. The prerogative and principality above everything else. Jer. Taylor.

2. A prince; one invested with sovereignty. "Next upstood Nisroch, of principalities the prime." Milton.

3. The territory or jurisdiction of a prince; or the country which gives title to a prince; as, the principality of Wales.

PRINCIPALLY
Prin"ci*pal*ly, adv.

Defn: In a principal manner; primarily; above all; chiefly; mainly.

PRINCIPALNESS
Prin"ci*pal*ness, n.

Defn: The quality of being principal.

PRINCIPATE
Prin"ci*pate, n. Etym: [L. principatus: cf. F. principat.]

Defn: Principality; supreme rule. [Obs.] Barrow.

PRINCIPIA
Prin*cip"i*a, n. pl. Etym: [L. principium. See Principle.]

Defn: First principles; fundamental beginnings; elements; as.
Newton's Principia.

PRINCIPIAL
Prin*cip"i*al, a.

Defn: Elementary. [Obs.] Bacon.

PRINCIPIANT Prin*cip"i*ant, a. Etym: [L. principians, p. pr. of principiare to begin, fr. principium. See Principle.]

Defn: Relating to principles or beginnings. [R.] Jer. Taylor.

PRINCIPIATE
Prin*cip"i*ate, v. t. Etym: [See Principiant.]

Defn: To begin; to initiate. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.

PRINCIPIATION
Prin*cip`i*a"tion, n.

Defn: Analysis into primary or elemental parts. [Archaic] Bacon.

PRINCIPLE Prin"ci*ple, n. Etym: [F. principe, L. principium beginning, foundation, fr. princeps, -cipis. See Prince.]

1. Beginning; commencement. [Obs.] Doubting sad end of principle unsound. Spenser.

2. A source, or origin; that from which anything proceeds; fundamental substance or energy; primordial substance; ultimate element, or cause.

The soul of man is an active principle. Tillotson.

3. An original faculty or endowment. Nature in your principles hath set [benignity]. Chaucer. Those active principles whose direct and ultimate object is the communication either of enjoyment or suffering. Stewart.

4. A fundamental truth; a comprehensive law or doctrine, from which others are derived, or on which others are founded; a general truth; an elementary proposition; a maxim; an axiom; a postulate. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. Heb. vi. 1. A good principle, not rightly understood, may prove as hurtful as a bad. Milton.

5. A settled rule of action; a governing law of conduct; an opinion or belief which exercises a directing influence on the life and behavior; a rule (usually, a right rule) of conduct consistently directing one's actions; as, a person of no principle. All kinds of dishonesty destroy our pretenses to an honest principle of mind. Law.

6. (Chem.)

Defn: Any original inherent constituent which characterizes a substance, or gives it its essential properties, and which can usually be separated by analysis; — applied especially to drugs, plant extracts, etc. Cathartine is the bitter, purgative principle of senna. Gregory. Bitter principle, Principle of contradiction, etc. See under Bitter, Contradiction, etc.

PRINCIPLE
Prin"ci*ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Principled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Principling.]

Defn: To equip with principles; to establish, or fix, in certain
principles; to impress with any tenet, or rule of conduct, good or
ill.
Governors should be well principled. L'Estrange.
Let an enthusiast be principled that he or his teacher is inspired.
Locke.

PRINCOCK; PRINCOX
Prin"cock, Prin"cox, n. Etym: [Prim + cock.]

Defn: A coxcomb; a pert boy. [Obs.]

PRINK
Prink, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Prinked; p. pr. & vb. n. Prinking.] Etym:
[Probably a nasalized form of prick. See Prick, v. t., and cf. Prig,
Prank.]

Defn: To dress or adjust one's self for show; to prank.

PRINK
Prink, v. t.

Defn: To prank or dress up; to deck fantastically. "And prink their hair with daisies." Cowper.

PRINKER
Prink"er, n.

Defn: One who prinks.

PRINPRIDDLE
Prin"prid`dle, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The longtailed titmouse. [Prov. Eng.]

PRINT
Print, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Printed; p. pr. & vb. n. Printing.] Etym:
[Abbrev. fr. imprint. See Imprint, and Press to squeeze.]

1. To fix or impress, as a stamp, mark, character, idea, etc., into
or upon something.
A look will print a thought that never may remove. Surrey.
Upon his breastplate he beholds a dint, Which in that field young
Edward's sword did print. Sir John Beaumont.
Perhaps some footsteps printed in the clay. Roscommon.

2. To stamp something in or upon; to make an impression or mark upon by pressure, or as by pressure. Forth on his fiery steed betimes he rode, That scarcely prints the turf on which he trod. Dryden.

3. Specifically:

Defn: To strike off an impression or impressions of, from type, or from stereotype, electrotype, or engraved plates, or the like; in a wider sense, to do the typesetting, presswork, etc., of (a book or other publication); as, to print books, newspapers, pictures; to print an edition of a book.

4. To stamp or impress with colored figures or patterns; as, to print calico.

5. (Photog.)

Defn: To take (a copy, a positive picture, etc.), from a negative, a transparent drawing, or the like, by the action of light upon a sensitized surface. Printed goods, textile fabrics printed in patterns, especially cotton cloths, or calicoes.

PRINT
Print, v. i.

1. To use or practice the art of typography; to take impressions of letters, figures, or electrotypes, engraved plates, or the like.

2. To publish a book or an article. From the moment he prints, he must except to hear no more truth. Pope.

PRINT
Print, n. Etym: [See Print, v., Imprint, n.]

1. A mark made by impression; a line, character, figure, or indentation, made by the pressure of one thing on another; as, the print of teeth or nails in flesh; the print of the foot in sand or snow. Where print of human feet was never seen. Dryden.

2. A stamp or die for molding or impressing an ornamental design upon an object; as, a butter print.

3. That which receives an impression, as from a stamp or mold; as, a print of butter.

4. Printed letters; the impression taken from type, as to excellence, form, size, etc.; as, small print; large print; this line is in print.

5. That which is produced by printing. Specifically: (a) An impression taken from anything, as from an engraved plate. "The prints which we see of antiquities." Dryden. (b) A printed publication, more especially a newspaper or other periodical. Addison. (c) A printed cloth; a fabric figured by stamping, especially calico or cotton cloth. (d) A photographic copy, or positive picture, on prepared paper, as from a negative, or from a drawing on transparent paper.

6. (Founding)

Defn: A core print. See under Core. Blue print, a copy in white lines on a blue ground, of a drawing, plan, tracing, etc., or a positive picture in blue and white, from a negative, produced by photographic printing on peculiarly prepared paper.blueprint for action — In print. (a) In a printed form; issued from the press; published. Shak. (b) To the letter; with accurateness. "All this I speak in print." Shak. — Out of print. See under Out. — Print works, a factory where cloth, as calico, is printed.

PRINTA-BLE
Print"a-ble, a.

Defn: Worthy to be published. [R.]

PRINTER
Print"er, n.

Defn: One who prints; especially, one who prints books, newspapers, engravings, etc., a compositor; a typesetter; a pressman. Printer's devil, Printer's gauge. See under Devil, and Gauge. — Printer's ink. See Printing ink, below.

PRINTERY
Print"er*y, n.

Defn: A place where cloth is printed; print works; also, a printing office. [R.]

PRINTING
Print"ing, n.

Defn: The act, art, or practice of impressing letters, characters, or figures on paper, cloth, or other material; the business of a printer, including typesetting and presswork, with their adjuncts; typography; also, the act of producing photographic prints. Block printing. See under Block. — Printing frame (Photog.), a shallow box, usually having a glass front, in which prints are made by exposure to light. — Printing house, a printing office. — Printing ink, ink used in printing books, newspapers, etc. It is composed of lampblack or ivory black mingled with linseed or nut oil, made thick by boiling and burning. Other ingredients are employed for the finer qualities. Ure. — Printing office, a place where books, pamphlets, or newspapers, etc., are printed. — Printing paper, paper used in the printing of books, pamphlets, newspapers, and the like, as distinguished from writing paper, wrapping paper, etc. — Printing press, a press for printing, books, newspaper, handbills, etc. — Printing wheel, a wheel with letters or figures on its periphery, used in machines for paging or numbering, or in ticket-printing machines, typewriters, etc.; a type wheel.

PRINTING IN
Print"ing in. (Photog.)

Defn: A process by which cloud effects or other features not in the original negative are introduced into a photograph. Portions, such as the sky, are covered while printing and the blank space thus reserved is filled in by printing from another negative.

PRINTING OUT
Printing out. (Photog.)

Defn: A method of printing, in which the image is fully brought out by the direct actinic action of light without subsequent development by means of chemicals.

PRINTLESS
Print"less, a.

Defn: Making no imprint. Milton.

PRINTLESS
Print"less, a.

Defn: Making no imprint. Milton.

PRINTSHOP
Print"shop`, n.

Defn: A shop where prints are sold.

PRIOR Pri"or, a. Etym: [L. prior former, previous, better, superior; compar. corresponding to primus first, and pro for. See Former, and cf. Prime, a., and Pre-, Pro-.]

Defn: Preceding in the order of time; former; antecedent; anterior; previous; as, a prior discovery; prior obligation; — used elliptically in cases like the following: he lived alone [in the time] prior to his marriage.

PRIOR Pri"or, n. Etym: [OE. priour, OF. priour, prior, priur, F. prieur, from L. prior former, superior. See Prior, a.] (Eccl.)

Defn: The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity. Conventical, or Conventual, prior, a prior who is at the head of his own house. See the Note under Priory. — Claustral prior, an official next in rank to the abbot in a monastery; prior of the cloisters.

PRIORATE
Pri"or*ate, n. Etym: [LL. prioratus: cf. F. priorat.]

Defn: The dignity, office, or government, of a prior. T. Warton.

PRIORESS
Pri"or*ess, n. Etym: [OF. prioresse.]

Defn: A lady superior of a priory of nuns, and next in dignity to an abbess.

PRIORITY
Pri*or"i*ty, n. Etym: [Cf. F. priorité. See Prior, a.]

1. The quality or state of being prior or antecedent in time, or of preceding something else; as, priority of application.

2. Precedence; superior rank. Shak. Priority of debts, a superior claim to payment, or a claim to payment before others.

Syn.
— Antecedence; precedence; preëminence.

PRIORLY
Pri"or*ly, adv.

Defn: Previously. [R.] Geddes.

PRIORSHIP
Pri"or*ship, n.

Defn: The state or office of prior; priorate.

PRIORY
Pri"o*ry, n.; pl. Priories. Etym: [Cf. LL. prioria. See Prior, n.]

Defn: A religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; — sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and called also cell, and obedience. See Cell, 2.

Note: Of such houses there were two sorts: one where the prior was chosen by the inmates, and governed as independently as an abbot in an abbey; the other where the priory was subordinate to an abbey, and the prior was placed or displaced at the will of the abbot. Alien priory, a small religious house dependent on a large monastery in some other country.

Syn.
— See Cloister.

PRIS
Pris, n.

Defn: See Price, and 1st Prize. [Obs.]

PRISAGE Pris"age (; 48), n. Etym: [OF. prisage a praising, valuing, taxing; cf. LL. prisagium prisage; or from F. prise a taking, capture, prize. See Prize.] (O. Eng. Law) (a) A right belonging to the crown of England, of taking two tuns of wine from every ship importing twenty tuns or more, — one before and one behind the mast. By charter of Edward I. butlerage was substituted for this. Blackstone. (b) The share of merchandise taken as lawful prize at sea which belongs to the king or admiral.

PRISCILLIANIST
Pris*cil"lian*ist, n. (Eccl. Hist.)

Defn: A follower of Priscillian, bishop of Avila in Spain, in the fourth century, who mixed various elements of Gnosticism and Manicheism with Christianity.

PRISE
Prise, n.

Defn: An enterprise. [Obs.] Spenser.

PRISE
Prise, n. & v.

Defn: See Prize, n., 5. Also Prize, v. t.

PRISER
Pris"er, n.

Defn: See 1st Prizer. [Obs.]

PRISM
Prism, n. Etym: [L. prisma, Gr. prisme.]

1. (Geom.)

Defn: A solid whose bases or ends are any similar, equal, and parallel plane figures, and whose sides are parallelograms.

Note: Prisms of different forms are often named from the figure of their bases; as, a triangular prism, a quadrangular prism, a rhombic prism, etc.

2. (Opt.)

Defn: A transparent body, with usually three rectangular plane faces or sides, and two equal and parallel triangular ends or bases; — used in experiments on refraction, dispersion, etc.

3. (Crystallog.)

Defn: A form the planes of which are parallel to the vertical axis. See Form, n., 13. Achromatic prism (Opt.), a prism composed usually of two prisms of different transparent substances which have unequal dispersive powers, as two different kinds of glass, especially flint glass and crown glass, the difference of dispersive power being compensated by giving them different refracting angles, so that, when placed together so as to have opposite relative positions, a ray of light passed through them is refracted or bent into a new position, but is free from color. — Nicol's prism, Nicol prism. Etym: [So called from Wm. Nicol, of Edinburgh, who first proposed it.] (Opt.) An instrument for experiments in polarization, consisting of a rhomb of Iceland spar, which has been bisected obliquely at a certain angle, and the two parts again joined with transparent cement, so that the ordinary image produced by double refraction is thrown out of the field by total reflection from the internal cemented surface, and the extraordinary, or polarized, image alone is transmitted.

PRISMATIC; PRISMATICAL
Pris*mat"ic, Pris*mat"ic*al, a. Etym: [Cf. F. prismatique.]

1. Resembling, or pertaining to, a prism; as, a prismatic form or cleavage.

2. Separated or distributed by a prism; formed by a prism; as, prismatic colors.

3. (Crystallog.)

Defn: Same as Orthorhombic. Prismatic borax (Chem.), borax crystallized in the form of oblique prisms, with ten molecules of water; — distinguished from octahedral borax. — Prismatic colors (Opt.), the seven colors into which light is resolved when passed through a prism; primary colors. See Primary colors, under Color. — Prismatic compass (Surv.), a compass having a prism for viewing a distant object and the compass card at the same time. — Prismatic spectrum (Opt.), the spectrum produced by the passage of light through a prism.

PRISMATICALLY
Pris*mat"ic*al*ly, adv.

Defn: In the form on manner of a prism; by means of a prism.

PRISMATOIDAL
Pris`ma*toid"al, a. Etym: [Gr. -oid: F. prismatoïde.]

Defn: Having a prismlike form. Ure.

PRISM GLASS
Prism glass.

Defn: Glass with one side smooth and the other side formed into sharp-edged ridges so as to reflect the light that passes through, used at windows to throw the light into the interior.

PRISMOID
Pris"moid, n. Etym: [Cf. F. prismtoïde.]

Defn: A body that approaches to the form of a prism.

PRISMOIDAL
Pris*moid"al, a.

Defn: Having the form of a prismoid; as, prismoidal solids.

PRISMY
Pris"my, a.

Defn: Pertaining to a prism. [R.]

PRISON
Pris"on, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. prehensio, prensio, a seizing,
arresting, fr. prehendre, prendere, to lay hold of, to seize. See
Prehensile, and cf. Prize, n., Misprision.]

1. A place where persons are confined, or restrained of personal liberty; hence, a place or state o Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name. Ps. cxlii. 7. The tyrant Æolus, . . . With power imperial, curbs the struggling winds, And sounding tempests in dark prisons binds. Dryden.

2. Specifically, a building for the safe custody or confinement of criminals and others committed by lawful authority. Prison bars, or Prison base. See Base, n., 24. — Prison breach. (Law) See Note under 3d Escape, n., 4. — Prison house, a prison. Shak. — Prison ship (Naut.), a ship fitted up for the confinement of prisoners. — Prison van, a carriage in which prisoners are conveyed to and from prison.

PRISON
Pris"on, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prisoned; p. pr. & vb. n. Prisoning.]

1. To imprison; to shut up in, or as in, a prison; to confine; to
restrain from liberty.
The prisoned eagle dies for rage. Sir W. Scott.
His true respect will prison false desire. Shak.

2. To bind (together); to enchain. [Obs.] Sir William Crispyn with the duke was led Together prisoned. Robert of Brunne.

PRISONER
Pris"on*er, n. Etym: [F. prisonnier.]

1. One who is confined in a prison. Piers Plowman.

2. A person under arrest, or in custody, whether in prison or not; a person held in involuntary restraint; a captive; as, a prisoner at the bar of a court. Bouvier. Prisoner of Hope thou art, — look up and sing. Keble. Prisoner's base. See Base, n., 24.

PRISONMENT
Pris"on*ment, n.

Defn: Imprisonment. [Obs.] Shak.

PRISTINATE
Pris"tin*ate, a.

Defn: Pristine; primitive. [Obs.] "Pristinate idolatry." Holinshed.

PRISTINE
Pris"tine, a. Etym: [L. pristinus, akin to prior: cf. F. pristin. See
Prior, a.]

Defn: Belonging to the earliest period or state; original; primitive; primeval; as, the pristine state of innocence; the pristine manners of a people; pristine vigor.

PRITCH
Pritch, n. Etym: [See Prick.]

1. A sharp-pointed instrument; also, an eelspear. [Prov. Eng.]

2. Pique; offense. [Obs.] D. Rogers.

PRITCHEL
Pritch"el, n.

Defn: A tool employed by blacksmiths for punching or enlarging the nail holes in a horseshoe.

PRITHEE
Prith"ee, interj.

Defn: A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used
without I. Shak.
What was that scream for, I prithee L'Estrange.
Prithee, tell me, Dimple-chin. E. C. Stedman.

PRITTLE-PRATTLE
Prit"tle-prat`tle, n. Etym: [See Prattle.]

Defn: Empty talk; trifling loquacity; prattle; — used in contempt or ridicule. [Colloq.] Abp. Bramhall.

PRIVACY
Pri"va*cy, n.; pl. Privacies. Etym: [See Private.]

1. The state of being in retirement from the company or observation of others; seclusion.

2. A place of seclusion from company or observation; retreat; solitude; retirement. Her sacred privacies all open lie. Rowe.

3. Concealment of what is said or done. Shak.

4. A private matter; a secret. Fuller.

5. See Privity, 2. [Obs.] Arbuthnot.

PRIVADO
Pri*va"do, n. Etym: [Sp., fr. L. privatus. See Private.]

Defn: A private friend; a confidential friend; a confidant. [Obs.]
Fuller.

PRIVATDOCENT Pri*vat"do*cent`, n.; G. pl. -docenten (#). [Also Privatdozent.] [G.; privat private + docent teacher. See Docent.]

Defn: In the universities of Germany and some other European countries, a licensed teacher or lecturer having no share in the university government and dependent upon fees for remuneration.

PRIVATE Pri"vate (; 48), a. Etym: [L. privatus apart from the state, peculiar to an individual, private, properly p. p. of privare to bereave, deprive, originally, to separate, fr. privus single, private, perhaps originally, put forward (hence, alone, single) and akin to prae before. See Prior, a., and cf. Deprive, Privy, a.]

1. Belonging to, or concerning, an individual person, company, or interest; peculiar to one's self; unconnected with others; personal; one's own; not public; not general; separate; as, a man's private opinion; private property; a private purse; private expenses or interests; a private secretary.

2. Sequestered from company or observation; appropriated to an individual; secret; secluded; lonely; solitary; as, a private room or apartment; private prayer. Reason . . . then retires Into her private cell when nature rests. Milton.

3. Not invested with, or engaged in, public office or employment; as, a private citizen; private life. Shak. A private person may arrest a felon. Blackstone.

4. Not publicly known; not open; secret; as, a private negotiation; a private understanding.

5. Having secret or private knowledge; privy. [Obs.] Private act or statute, a statute exclusively for the settlement of private and personal interests, of which courts do not take judicial notice; — opposed to a general law, which operates on the whole community. — Private nuisance or wrong. See Nuisance. — Private soldier. See Private, n., 5. — Private way, a right of private passage over another man's ground. Kent.

PRIVATE
Pri"vate, n.

1. A secret message; a personal unofficial communication. [Obs.] Shak.

2. Personal interest; particular business.[Obs.] Nor must I be unmindful of my private. B. Jonson.

3. Privacy; retirement. [Archaic] "Go off; I discard you; let me enjoy my private." Shak.

4. One not invested with a public office. [Archaic] What have kings, that privates have not too Shak.

5. (Mil.)

Defn: A common soldier; a soldier below the grade of a noncommissioned officer. Macaulay.

6. pl.

Defn: The private parts; the genitals. In private, secretly; not openly or publicly.

PRIVATEER
Pri`va*teer" n. Etym: [From Private.]

1. An armed private vessel which bears the commission of the sovereign power to cruise against the enemy. See Letters of marque, under Marque.

2. The commander of a privateer. Kidd soon threw off the character of a privateer and became a pirate. Macaulay.

PRIVATEER
Pri`va*teer", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Privateered; p. pr. & vb. n.
Privateering.]

Defn: To cruise in a privateer.

PRIVATEERING
Pri`va*teer"ing, n.

Defn: Cruising in a privateer.

PRIVATEERSMAN
Pri`va*teers"man, n.; pl. Privateersmen (.

Defn: An officer or seaman of a privateer.

PRIVATELY
Pri"vate*ly, adv.

1. In a private manner; not openly; without the presence of others.

2. In a manner affecting an individual; personally not officially; as, he is not privately benefited.

PRIVATENESS
Pri"vate*ness, n.

1. Seclusion from company or society; retirement; privacy; secrecy. Bacon.

2. The state of one not invested with public office.

PRIVATION
Pri*va"tion n. Etym: [L. privatio: cf. F. privation. See Private.]

1. The act of depriving, or taking away; hence, the depriving of rank or office; degradation in rank; deprivation. Bacon.

2. The state of being deprived or destitute of something, especially of something required or desired; destitution; need; as, to undergo severe privations.

3. The condition of being absent; absence; negation. Evil will be known by consequence, as being only a privation, or absence, of good. South. Privation mere of light and absent day. Milton.

PRIVATIVE
Priv"a*tive a. Etym: [L. privativus: cf. F. privatif. See Private.]

1. Causing privation; depriving.

2. Consisting in the absence of something; not positive; negative. Privative blessings, blessings of immunity, safeguard, liberty, and integrity. Jer. Taylor.

3. (Gram.)

Defn: Implying privation or negation; giving a negative force to a word; as, alpha privative; privative particles; — applied to such prefixes and suffixes as a- (Gr. un-, non-, -less.

PRIVATIVE
Priv"a*tive, n.

1. That of which the essence is the absence of something. Blackness and darkness are indeed but privatives. Bacon.

2. (Logic)

Defn: A term indicating the absence of any quality which might be naturally or rationally expected; — called also privative term.

3. (Gram.)

Defn: A privative prefix or suffix. See Privative, a., 3.

PRIVATIVELY
Priv"a*tive*ly, adv.

Defn: In a privative manner; by the absence of something; negatively.
[R.] Hammond.

PRIVATIVENESS
Priv"a*tive*ness, n.

Defn: The state of being privative.

PRIVET
Priv"et, n. Etym: [Cf. Scot. privie, Prov. E. prim-print, primwort.
Prob. for primet, and perh. named from being cut and trimmed. See,
Prim, a., and cf. Prime to prune, Prim, n., Prie, n.] (Bot.)

Defn: An ornamental European shrub (Ligustrum vulgare), much used in hedges; — called also prim. Egyptian privet. See Lawsonia. — Evergreen privet, a plant of the genus Rhamnus. See Alatern. — Mock privet, any one of several evergreen shrubs of the genus Phillyrea. They are from the Mediterranean region, and have been much cultivated for hedges and for fancifully clipped shrubberies.

PRIVILEGE Priv"i*lege, n. Etym: [F. privilège, L. privilegium an ordinance or law against or in favor of an individual; privus private + lex, legis, law. See Private, and Legal.]

1. A peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor; a right or immunity not enjoyed by others or by all; special enjoyment of a good, or exemption from an evil or burden; a prerogative; advantage; franchise. He pleads the legal privilege of a Roman. Kettlewell. The privilege birthright was a double portion. Locke. A people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties. Burke.

2. (Stockbroker's Cant)

Defn: See Call, Put, Spread, etc. Breach of privilege. See under Breach. — Question of privilege (Parliamentary practice), a question which concerns the security of a member of a legislative body in his special privileges as such. — Water privilege, the advantage of having machinery driven by a stream, or a place affording such advantage. [ U. S.] — Writ of privilege (Law), a writ to deliver a privileged person from custody when arrested in a civil suit. Blackstone.

Syn. — Prerogative; immunity; franchise; right; claim; liberty. — Privilege, Prerogative. Privilege, among the Romans, was something conferred upon an individual by a private law; and hence, it denotes some peculiar benefit or advantage, some right or immunity, not enjoyed by the world at large. Prerogative, among the Romans, was the right of voting first; and, hence, it denotes a right of precedence, or of doing certain acts, or enjoying certain privileges, to the exclusion of others. It is the privilege of a member of Congress not to be called in question elsewhere for words uttered in debate. It is the prerogative of the president to nominate judges and executive officers. It is the privilege of a Christian child to be instructed in the true religion. It is the prerogative of a parent to govern and direct his children.

PRIVILEGE
Priv"i*lege, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Privileged; p. pr. & vb. n.
Privileging.] Etym: [Cf. F. privilégier.]

1. To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize; as, to privilege representatives from arrest. To privilege dishonor in thy name. Shak.

2. To bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption from evil or danger; to exempt; to deliver. He took this place for sanctuary, And it shall privilege him from your hands. Shak.

PRIVILEGED
Priv"i*leged, a.

Defn: Invested with a privilege; enjoying a peculiar right, advantage, or immunity. Privileged communication. (Law) (a) A communication which can not be disclosed without the consent of the party making it, — such as those made by a client to his legal adviser, or by persons to their religious or medical advisers. (b) A communication which does not expose the party making it to indictment for libel, — such as those made by persons communicating confidentially with a government, persons consulted confidentially as to the character of servants, etc. — Privileged debts (Law), those to which a preference in payment is given out of the estate of a deceased person, or out of the estate of an insolvent. Wharton. Burrill. — Privileged witnesses (Law) witnesses who are not obliged to testify as to certain things, as lawyers in relation to their dealings with their clients, and officers of state as to state secrets; also, by statute, clergymen and physicans are placed in the same category, so far as concerns information received by them professionally.

PRIVILY
Priv"i*ly, adv.

Defn: In a privy manner; privately; secretly. Chaucer. 2 Pet. ii. 1.

PRIVITY Priv"i*ty, n.; pl. Privities (-tîz). Etym: [From Privy, a.: cf. F. privauté extreme familiarity.]

1. Privacy; secrecy; confidence. Chaucer. I will unto you, in privity, discover . . . my purpose. Spenser.

2. Private knowledge; joint knowledge with another of a private concern; cognizance implying consent or concurrence. All the doors were laid open for his departure, not without the privity of the Prince of Orange. Swift.

3. A private matter or business; a secret. Chaucer.

4. pl.

Defn: The genitals; the privates.

5. (Law)

Defn: A connection, or bond of union, between parties, as to some particular transaction; mutual or successive relationship to the same rights of property.

PRIVY
Priv"y, a. Etym: [F. privé, fr. L. privatus. See Private.]

1. Of or pertaining to some person exclusively; assigned to private uses; not public; private; as, the privy purse. " Privee knights and squires." Chaucer.

2. Secret; clandestine. " A privee thief." Chaucer.

3. Appropriated to retirement; private; not open to the public. " Privy chambers." Ezek. xxi. 14.

4. Admitted to knowledge of a secret transaction; secretly cognizant; privately knowing. His wife also being privy to it. Acts v. 2. Myself am one made privy to the plot. Shak. Privy chamber, a private apartment in a royal residence. [Eng.] — Privy council (Eng. Law), the principal council of the sovereign, composed of the cabinet ministers and other persons chosen by the king or queen. Burrill. — Privy councilor, a member of the privy council. — Privy purse, moneys set apart for the personal use of the monarch; also, the title of the person having charge of these moneys. [Eng.] Macaulay. — Privy seal or signed, the seal which the king uses in grants, etc., which are to pass the great seal, or which the uses in matters of subordinate consequence which do not require the great seal; also, elliptically, the principal secretary of state, or person intrusted with the privy seal. [Eng.] — Privy verdict, a verdict given privily to the judge out of court; — now disused. Burrill.

PRIVY
Priv"y, n.; pl. Privies (.

1. (Law)

Defn: A partaker; a person having an interest in any action or thing; one who has an interest in an estate created by another; a person having an interest derived from a contract or conveyance to which he is not himself a party. The term, in its proper sense, is distinguished from party. Burrill. Wharton.

2. A necessary house or place; a backhouse.

PRIZABLE
Priz"a*ble, a.

Defn: Valuable. H. Taylor.

PRIZE Prize, n. Etym: [F. prise a seizing, hold, grasp, fr. pris, p. p. of prendre to take, L. prendere, prehendere; in some senses, as 2 (b), either from, or influenced by, F. prix price. See Prison, Prehensile, and cf. Pry, and also Price.]

1. That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. I will depart my pris, or may prey, by deliberation. Chaucer. His own prize, Whom formerly he had in battle won. Spenser.

2. Hence, specifically; (a) (Law) Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; esp., property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel. Kent. Brande & C. (b) An honor or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort. I'll never wrestle for prize more. Shak. I fought and conquered, yet have lost the prize. Dryden.

(c) That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery.

3. Anything worth striving for; a valuable possession held or in
prospect.
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. Phil. iii. 14.

4. A contest for a reward; competition. [Obs.] Shak.

5. A lever; a pry; also, the hold of a lever. [Written also prise.] Prize court, a court having jurisdiction of all captures made in war on the high seas. Bouvier. — Prize fight, an exhibition contest, esp. one of pugilists, for a stake or wager. — Prize fighter, one who fights publicly for a reward; — applied esp. to a professional boxer or pugilist. Pope. — Prize fighting, fighting, especially boxing, in public for a reward or wager. — Prize master, an officer put in charge or command of a captured vessel. — Prize medal, a medal given as a prize. — Prize money, a dividend from the proceeds of a captured vessel, etc., paid to the captors. — Prize ring, the ring or inclosure for a prize fight; the system and practice of prize fighting. — To make prize of, to capture. Hawthorne.

PRIZE
Prize, v. t.

Defn: To move with a lever; to force up or open; to pry. [Written also prise.]

PRIZE Prize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prized; p. pr. & vb. n. Prizing.] Etym: [F. priser, OF. prisier, preisier, fr. L. pretiare, fr. pretium worth, value, price. See Price, and cf. Praise.] [Formerly written also prise. ]

1. To set or estimate the value of; to appraise; to price; to rate. A goodly price that I was prized at. Zech. xi. 13. I prize it [life] not a straw, but for mine honor. Shak.

2. To value highly; to estimate to be of great worth; to esteem. "[I] do love, prize, honor you. " Shak. I prized your person, but your crown disdain. Dryden.

PRIZE
Prize, n. Etym: [F. prix price. See 3d Prize. ]

Defn: Estimation; valuation. [Obs.] Shak.

PRIZEMAN
Prize"man, n.; pl. Prizemen (.

Defn: The winner of a prize.

PRIZER
Priz"er, n. Etym: [See 3d Prize.]

Defn: One who estimates or sets the value of a thing; an appraiser.
Shak.

PRIZER
Priz"er, n. Etym: [See 1st Prize.]

Defn: One who contends for a prize; a prize fighter; a challenger.
[Obs.] Shak.
Appeareth no man yet to answer the prizer. B. Jonson.

PRIZING
Priz"ing, n. Etym: [See 2d Prize.]

Defn: The application of a lever to move any weighty body, as a cask, anchor, cannon, car, etc. See Prize, n., 5.

PRO-
Pro-. Etym: [L. pro, or Gr. Pro.]

Defn: A prefix signifying before, in front, forth, for, in behalf of, in place of, according to; as, propose, to place before; proceed, to go before or forward; project, to throw forward; prologue, part spoken before (the main piece); propel, prognathous; provide, to look out for; pronoun, a word instead of a noun; proconsul, a person acting in place of a consul; proportion, arrangement according to parts.

PRO Pro, prep. Etym: [L.; akin to prae before, Gr. for. See For, prep., and cf. Prior, a.]

Defn: A Latin preposition signifying for, before, forth. Pro confesso Etym: [L.] (Law), taken as confessed. The action of a court of equity on that portion of the pleading in a particular case which the pleading on the other side does not deny. — Pro rata. Etym: [L. See Prorate.] In proportion; proportion. — Pro re nata Etym: [L.] (Law), for the existing occasion; as matters are.

PRO
Pro, adv.

Defn: For, on, or in behalf of, the affirmative side; — in contrast with Ant: con. Pro and con, for and against, on the affirmative and on the negative side; as, they debated the question pro and con; — formerly used also as a verb. — Pros and cons, the arguments or reasons on either side.

PROA
Pro"a, n. Etym: [Malay praah.] (Naut.)

Defn: A sailing canoe of the Ladrone Islands and Malay Archipelago, having its lee side flat and its weather side like that of an ordinary boat. The ends are alike. The canoe is long and narrow, and is kept from overturning by a cigar-shaped log attached to a frame extending several feet to windward. It has been called the flying proa, and is the swiftest sailing craft known.

PROACH
Proach, v. i.

Defn: See Approach. [Obs.]

PROATLAS
Pro*at"las, n. Etym: [Pref. pro- + atlas.] (Anat.)

Defn: A vertebral rudiment in front of the atlas in some reptiles.

PROBABILIORISM
Prob`a*bil"i*o*rism, n.

Defn: The doctrine of the probabiliorists.

PROBABILIORIST Prob`a*bil"i*o*rist, n. Etym: [From L. probabilior, compar. of probabilis probable.] (Casuistry)

Defn: One who holds, in opposition to the probabilists, that a man is bound to do that which is most probably right.

PROBABILISM
Prob"a*bil*ism n. Etym: [Cf. F. probabilisme.]

Defn: The doctrine of the probabilists.

PROBABILIST
Prob"a*bil*ist, n. Etym: [Cf. F. probabilists.]

1. One who maintains that certainty is impossible, and that probability alone is to govern our faith and actions.

2. (Casuistry)

Defn: One who maintains that a man may do that which has a probability of being right, or which is inculcated by teachers of authority, although other opinions may seem to him still more probable.

PROBABILITY
Prob`a*bil"i*ty, n.; pl. Probabilities. Etym: [L. probabilitas: cf.
F. probabilité.]

1. The quality or state of being probable; appearance of reality or truth; reasonable ground of presumption; likelihood. Probability is the appearance of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas, by the intervention of proofs whose connection is not constant, but appears for the most part to be so. Locke.

2. That which is or appears probable; anything that has the appearance of reality or truth. The whole life of man is a perpetual comparison of evidence and balancing of probabilities. Buckminster. We do not call for evidence till antecedent probabilities fail. J. H. Newman.

3. (Math.)

Defn: Likelihood of the occurrence of any event in the doctrine of chances, or the ratio of the number of favorable chances to the whole number of chances, favorable and unfavorable. See 1st Chance, n., 5.

Syn.
— Likeliness; credibleness; likelihood; chance.

PROBABLE Prob"a*ble, a. Etym: [L. probabilis, fr. probare to try, approve, prove: cf. F. probable. See Prove, and cf. Provable.]

1. Capable of being proved. [Obs.]

2. Having more evidence for than against; supported by evidence which inclines the mind to believe, but leaves some room for doubt; likely. That is accounted probable which has better arguments producible for it than can be brought against it. South. I do not say that the principles of religion are merely probable; I have before asserted them to be morally certain. Bp. Wilkins.

3. Rendering probable; supporting, or giving ground for, belief, but not demonstrating; as, probable evidence; probable presumption. Blackstone. Probable cause (Law), a reasonable ground of presumption that a charge is, or my be, well founded. — Probable error (of an observation, or of the mean of a number), that within which, taken positively and negatively, there is an even chance that the real error shall lie. Thus, if 3" is the probable error in a given case, the chances that the real error is greater than 3" are equal to the chances that it is less. The probable error is computed from the observations made, and is used to express their degree of accuracy. — The probable, that which is within the bounds of probability; that which is not unnatural or preternatural; — opposed to the marvelous.

PROBABLY
Prob"a*bly, adv.

Defn: In a probable manner; in likelihood.
Distinguish between what may possibly and what will probably be done.
L'Estrange.

PROBACY
Pro"ba*cy, n. Etym: [See Probate.]

Defn: Proof; trial. [Obs.] Chaucer.

PROBAL
Pro"bal, a.

Defn: Approved; probable. [Obs.] Shak.

PROBALITY
Pro*bal"i*ty, n.

Defn: Probability. [Obs.] "With as great probality." Holland.

PROBANG
Pro"bang, n. Etym: [See Probe.]

Defn: A slender elastic rod, as of whalebone, with a sponge on the end, for removing obstructions from the esophagus, etc.

PROBATE
Pro"bate, n. Etym: [From L. probatus, p. p. of probare to prove. See
Prove.]

1. Proof. [Obs.] Skelton.

2. (Law) (a) Official proof; especially, the proof before a competent officer or tribunal that an instrument offered, purporting to be the last will and testament of a person deceased, is indeed his lawful act; the copy of a will proved, under the seal of the Court of Probate, delivered to the executors with a certificate of its having been proved. Bouvier. Burrill. (b) The right or jurisdiction of proving wills.

PROBATE
Pro"bate, a.

Defn: Of or belonging to a probate, or court of probate; as, a
probate record. Probate Court, or Court of Probate, a court for the
probate of wills.
— Probate duty, a government tax on property passing by will.
[Eng.]

PROBATE
Pro"bate v. t.

Defn: To obtain the official approval of, as of an instrument purporting to be the last will and testament; as, the executor has probated the will.

PROBATION Pro*ba"tion, n. Etym: [L. probatio, fr. probare to try, examine, prove: cf. F. probation. See Prove.]

1. The act of proving; also, that which proves anything; proof. [Obs.] When by miracle God dispensed great gifts to the laity, . . . he gave probation that he intended that all should prophesy and preach. Jer. Taylor.

2. Any proceeding designed to ascertain truth, to determine character, qualification, etc.; examination; trial; as, to engage a person on probation. Hence, specifically: (a) The novitiate which a person must pass in a convent, to probe his or her virtue and ability to bear the severities of the rule. (b) The trial of a ministerial candidate's qualifications prior to his ordination, or to his settlement as a pastor. (c) Moral trial; the state of man in the present life, in which he has the opportunity of proving his character, and becoming qualified for a happier state. No [view of human life] seems so reasonable as that which regards it as a state of probation. Paley.

PROBATIONAL
Pro*ba"tion*al, a.

Defn: Probationary.

PROBATIONARY
Pro*ba"tion*a*ry a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to probation; serving for trial.
To consider this life . . . as a probationary state. Paley.

PROBATIONER
Pro*ba"tion*er, n.

1. One who is undergoing probation; one who is on trial; a novice. While yet a young probationer, And candidate of heaven. Dryden.

2. A student in divinity, who, having received certificates of good morals and qualifications from his university, is admitted to several trials by a presbytery, and, on acquitting himself well, is licensed to preach. [Scot.]

PROBATIONERSHIP
Pro*ba"tion*er*ship, n.

Defn: The state of being a probationer; novitiate. Locke.

PROBATIONSHIP
Pro*ba"tion*ship, n.

Defn: A state of probation.

PROBATIVE
Pro"ba*tive, a. Etym: [L. probativus: cf. F.probatif.]

Defn: Serving for trial or proof; probationary; as, probative judgments; probative evidence. South.

PROBATOR
Pro*ba"tor n. Etym: [L.]

1. An examiner; an approver. Maydman.

2. (O. Eng. Law)

Defn: One who, when indicted for crime, confessed it, and accused others, his accomplices, in order to obtain pardon; a state's evidence.

PROBATORY
Pro"ba*to*ry, a. Etym: [Cf. F. probatoire.]

1. Serving for trial; probationary. Abp. Bramhall.

2. Pertaining to, or serving for, proof. Jer. Taylor. Probatory term (Law), a time for taking testimony.

PROBE
Probe, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Probed; p. pr. & vb. n. Probing.] Etym:
[L. probare to try, examine. See Prove.]

1. To examine, as a wound, an ulcer, or some cavity of the body, with a probe.

2. Fig.: to search to the bottom; to scrutinize or examine thoroughly. Dryden. The growing disposition to probe the legality of all acts, of the crown. Hallam.

PROBE
Probe, n. (Surg.)

Defn: An instrument for examining the depth or other circumstances of a wound, ulcer, or cavity, or the direction of a sinus, of for exploring for bullets, for stones in the bladder, etc. Parr. Probe, or Probe-pointed, scissors (Surg.), scissors used to open wounds, the blade of which, to be thrust into the orifice, has a button at the end. Wiseman.

PROBEAGLE
Pro"bea`gle, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: See Porbeagle.

PROBE-POINTED
Probe"-point`ed, a. (Surg.)

Defn: Having a blunt or button-shaped extremity; — said of cutting instruments.

PROBITY Prob"i*ty, n. Etym: [F. probité, fr. L. probitas, fr. probus good, proper, honest. Cf. Prove.]

Defn: Tried virtue or integrity; approved moral excellence; honesty; rectitude; uprightness. "Probity of mind." Pope.

Syn. — Probity, Integrity. Probity denotes unimpeachable honesty and virtue, shown especially by the performance of those obligations, called imperfect, which the laws of the state do not reach, and can not enforce. Integrity denotes a whole-hearted honesty, and especially that which excludes all injustice that might favor one's self. It has a peculiar reference to uprightness in mutual dealings, transfer of property, and the execution of trusts for others.

PROBLEM
Prob"lem, n. Etym: [F. problème, L. problema, fr. Gr. Parable. ]

1. A question proposed for solution; a matter stated for examination or proof; hence, a matter difficult of solution or settlement; a doubtful case; a question involving doubt. Bacon.

2. (Math.)

Defn: Anything which is required to be done; as, in geometry, to bisect a line, to draw a perpendicular; or, in algebra, to find an unknown quantity.

Note: Problem differs from theorem in this, that a problem is something to be done, as to bisect a triangle, to describe a circle, etc.; a theorem is something to be proved, as that all the angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles. Plane problem (Geom.), a problem that can be solved by the use of the rule and compass. — Solid problem (Geom.), a problem requiring in its geometric solution the use of a conic section or higher curve.

PROBLEMATIC; PROBLEMATICAL Prob`lem*at"ic, Prob`lem*at"ic*al, a. Etym: [L. problematicus, Gr. problématique.]

Defn: Having the nature of a problem; not shown in fact; questionable; uncertain; unsettled; doubtful. — Prob`lem*at"ic*al*ly, adv. Diligent inquiries into remote and problematical guilt leave a gate wide open to . . . informers. Swift.

PROBLEMATIST
Prob"lem*a*tist n.

Defn: One who proposes problems. [R.] Evelyn.

PROBLEMATIZE
Prob"lem*a*tize v. t.

Defn: To propose problems. [R.] "Hear him problematize." B. Jonson.

PROBOSCIDATE
Pro*bos"ci*date, a. Etym: [See Proboscis.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having a proboscis; proboscidial.

PROBOSCIDEA
Pro`bos*cid"e*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Proboscis.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of large mammal

PROBOSCIDEAN
Pro`bos*cid"e*an, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Proboscidian.

PROBOSCIDIAL
Pro`bos*cid"i*al, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Proboscidate.

PROBOSCIDIAN
Pro`bos*cid"i*an, a. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Pertaining to the Proboscidea.
— n.

Defn: One of the Proboscidea.

PROBOSCIDIFERA
Pro*bos`ci*dif"e*ra, n. pl. Etym: [NL. See Proboscis, and -ferous.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: An extensive division of pectinibranchiate gastropods, including those that have a long retractile proboscis, with the mouth at the end, as the cones, whelks, tritons, and cowries. See Illust. of Gastropoda, and of Winkle.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A subdivision of the tænioglossate gastropods, including the fig-shells (Pyrula), the helmet shells (Cassis), the tritons, and allied genera.

PROBOSCIDIFORM
Pro`bos*cid"i*form a.

Defn: Having the form or uses of a proboscis; as, a proboscidiform mouth.

PROBOSCIS
Pro*bos"cis, n.; pl. Proboscides. Etym: [L. fr. Gr.

1. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A hollow organ or tube attached to the head, or connected with the mouth, of various animals, and generally used in taking food or drink; a snout; a trunk.

Note: The proboscis of an elephant is a flexible muscular elongation of the nose. The proboscis of insects is usually a chitinous tube formed by the modified maxillæ, or by the labium. See Illusts. of Hemiptera and Lepidoptera.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: By extension, applied to various tubelike mouth organs of the lower animals that can be everted or protruded.

Note: The proboscis of annelids and of mollusks is usually a portion of the pharynx that can be everted or protruded. That of nemerteans is a special long internal organ, not connected with the mouth, and not used in feeding, but capable of being protruded from a pore in the head. See Illust. in Appendix.

3. The nose. [Jocose] Proboscis monkey. (Zoöl.) See Kahau.

PROCACIOUS Pro*ca"cious, a. Etym: [L. procax, -acis, fr. procare to ask, demand.]

Defn: Pert; petulant; forward; saucy. [R.] Barrow.

PROCACITY
Pro*cac"i*ty n. Etym: [L. procacitas.]

Defn: Forwardness; pertness; petulance. [R.] Burton.

PROCAMBIUM
Pro*cam"bi*um n. Etym: [NL. See Pro-, and Cambium.] (Bot.)

Defn: The young tissue of a fibrovascular bundle before its component cells have begun to be differentiated. Sachs.

PROCATARCTIC
Pro`cat*arc"tic, a. Etym: [Gr. procatarctique. ] (Med.)

Defn: Beginning; predisposing; exciting; initial. [Obs.]

Note: The words procatarctic causes have been used with different significations. Thus they have been employed synonymously with prime causes, exciting causes, and predisposing or remote causes. The physician inquires into the procatarctic causes. Harvey.

PROCATARXIS
Pro`cat*arx"is, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Med.)

Defn: The kindling of a disease into action; also, the procatarctic cause. Quincy.

PROCEDENDO Pro`ce*den"do, n. Etym: [Abl. of the gerundive of L. procedere. see Proceed.] (Law) (a) A writ by which a cause which has been removed on insufficient grounds from an inferior to a superior court by certiorari, or otherwise, is sent down again to the same court, to be proceeded in there. (b) In English practice, a writ issuing out of chancery in cases where the judges of subordinate courts delay giving judgment, commanding them to proceed to judgment. (c) A writ by which the commission of the justice of the peace is revived, after having been suspended. Tomlins. Burrill.

PROCEDURE
Pro*ce"dure, n. Etym: [F. procédure. See Proceed.]

1. The act or manner of proceeding or moving forward; progress; process; operation; conduct. "The true procedure of conscience." South.

2. A step taken; an act performed; a proceeding; the steps taken in an action or other legal proceeding. "Gracious procedures." I. Taylor.

3. That which results; issue; product. [Obs.] Bacon.

PROCEED
Pro*ceed" v. i. [imp. & p. p. Proceeded; p. pr. & vb. n. Proceeding.]
Etym: [F. procéder. fr. L. procedere, processum, to go before, to
proceed; pro forward + cedere to move. See Cede.]

1. To move, pass, or go forward or onward; to advance; to continue or renew motion begun; as, to proceed on a journey. If thou proceed in this thy insolence. Shak.

2. To pass from one point, topic, or stage, to another; as, to proceed with a story or argument.

3. To issue or come forth as from a source or origin; to come from; as, light proceeds from the sun. I proceeded forth and came from God. John viii. 42. It proceeds from policy, not love. Shak.

4. To go on in an orderly or regulated manner; to begin and carry on a series of acts or measures; to act by method; to prosecute a design. He that proceeds upon other principles in his inquiry. Locke.

5. To be transacted; to take place; to occur. [Obs.] He will, after his sour fashion, tell you What hath proceeded worthy note to-day. Shak.

6. To have application or effect; to operate. This rule only proceeds and takes place when a person can not of common law condemn another by his sentence. Ayliffe.

7. (Law)

Defn: To begin and carry on a legal process.

Syn.
— To advance; go on; continue; progress; issue; arise; emanate.

PROCEED
Pro"ceed n.

Defn: See Proceeds. [Obs.] Howell.

PROCEEDER
Pro*ceed"er, n.

Defn: One who proceeds.

PROCEEDING
Pro*ceed"ing, n.

1. The act of one who proceeds, or who prosecutes a design or transaction; progress or movement from one thing to another; a measure or step taken in a course of business; a transaction; as, an illegal proceeding; a cautious or a violent proceeding. The proceedings of the high commission. Macaulay.

2. pl. (Law)

Defn: The course of procedure in the prosecution of an action at law. Blackstone. Proceedings of a society, the published record of its action, or of things done at its meetings.

Syn.
— Procedure; measure; step, See Transaction.

PROCEEDS
Pro"ceeds, n. pl.

Defn: That which comes forth or results; effect; yield; issue; product; sum accruing from a sale, etc.

PROCELEUSMATIC Proc`e*leus*mat"ic, a. Etym: [L. proceleusmaticus, Gr. procéleusmatique.]

1. Inciting; animating; encouraging. [R.] Johnson.

2. (Pros.)

Defn: Consisting of four short syllables; composed of feet of four short syllables each.

PROCELEUSMATIC
Proc`e*leus*mat"ic, n. (Pros.)

Defn: A foot consisting of four short syllables.

PROCELLARIAN
Pro`cel*la"ri*an, n. Etym: [L. procella a storm.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: One of a family of oceanic birds (Procellaridæ) including the petrels, fulmars, and shearwaters. They are often seen in great abundance in stormy weather.

PROCELLOUS
Pro*cel"lous, a. Etym: [L. procellosus, fr. procella a storm.]

Defn: Stormy. [Obs.] Bailey.

PROCEPHALIC
Pro`ce*phal"ic, a. Etym: [Pref. pro- + cephalic.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: Pertaining to, or forming, the front of the head. Procephalic lobe (Zoöl.), that part of the head of an invertebrate animal which is in front of the mouth.

PROCEPTION
Pro*cep"tion, n. Etym: [Pref. pro- + L. capere to take.]

Defn: Preoccupation. [Obs.] Eikon Basilik

PROCERE
Pro*cere", a. Etym: [L. procerus tall.]

Defn: Of high stature; tall. [Obs.] Evelyn.

PROCEREBRUM
Pro*cer"e*brum n. Etym: [Pref. pro- + cerebrum.] (Anat.)

Defn: The prosencephalon.

PROCERES
Proc"e*res n. pl. Etym: [NL., fr. L. procer (Zoöl.)

Defn: An order of large birds; the Ratitæ; — called also Proceri.

PROCERITE
Proc"er*ite, n. Etym: [Pref. pro- + Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: The segment next to the flagellum of the antennæ of Crustacea.

PROCERITY
Pro*cer"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. proceritas.]

Defn: Height of stature; tallness. [R.] Johnson.

PROCESS
Proc"ess, n. Etym: [F. procès, L. processus. See Proceed.]

1. The act of proceeding; continued forward movement; procedure; progress; advance. "Long process of time." Milton. The thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns. Tennyson.

2. A series of actions, motions, or occurrences; progressive act or transaction; continuous operation; normal or actual course or procedure; regular proceeding; as, the process of vegetation or decomposition; a chemical process; processes of nature. Tell her the process of Antonio's end. Shak.

3. A statement of events; a narrative. [Obs.] Chaucer.

4. (Anat. & Zoöl.)

Defn: Any marked prominence or projecting part, especially of a bone; anapophysis.

5. (Law)

Defn: The whole course of proceedings in a cause real or personal, civil or criminal, from the beginning to the end of the suit; strictly, the means used for bringing the defendant into court to answer to the action; — a generic term for writs of the class called judicial. Deacon's process Etym: [from H. Deacon, who introduced it] (Chem.), a method of obtaining chlorine gas by passing hydrochloric acid gas over heated slag which has been previously saturated with a solution of some metallic salt, as sulphate of copper. — Final process (Practice), a writ of execution in an action at law. Burrill. — In process, in the condition of advance, accomplishment, transaction, or the like; begun, and not completed. — Jury process (Law), the process by which a jury is summoned in a cause, and by which their attendance is enforced. Burrill. — Leblanc's process (Chem.), the process of manufacturing soda by treating salt with sulphuric acid, reducing the sodium sulphate so formed to sodium sulphide by roasting with charcoal, and converting the sodium sulphide to sodium carbonate by roasting with lime. — Mesne process. See under Mesne. — Process milling, the process of high milling for grinding flour. See under Milling. — Reversible process (Thermodynamics), any process consisting of a cycle of operations such that the different operations of the cycle can be performed in reverse order with a reversal of their effects.

PROCESSION
Pro*ces"sion, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. processio. See Proceed.]

1. The act of proceeding, moving on, advancing, or issuing; regular, orderly, or ceremonious progress; continuous course. Bp. Pearson. That the procession of their life might be More equable, majestic, pure, and free. Trench.

2. That which is moving onward in an orderly, stately, or solemn manner; a train of persons advancing in order; a ceremonious train; a retinue; as, a procession of mourners; the Lord Mayor's procession. Here comes the townsmen on procession. Shak.

3. (Eccl.)

Defn: An orderly and ceremonial progress of persons, either from the sacristy to the choir, or from the choir around the church, within or without. Shipley.

4. pl. (Eccl.)

Defn: An old term for litanies which were said in procession and not kneeling. Shipley. Procession of the Holy Ghost, a theological term applied to the relation of the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son, the Eastern Church affirming that the Spirit proceeds from the Father only, and the Western Church that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Shipley. — Procession week, a name for Rogation week, when processions were made; Cross-week. Shipley.

PROCESSION
Pro*ces"sion, v. t. (Law)

Defn: To ascertain, mark, and establish the boundary lines of, as lands. [Local, U. S. (North Carolina and Tennessee).] "To procession the lands of such persons as desire it." Burrill.

PROCESSION
Pro*ces"sion, v. i.

Defn: To march in procession. [R.]

PROCESSION
Pro*ces"sion, v. i.

Defn: To honor with a procession. [R.]

PROCESSIONAL
Pro*ces"sion*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a procession; consisting in a procession.
The processional services became more frequent. Milman.

PROCESSIONAL
Pro*ces"sion*al, n. Etym: [F. processionnal, LL. processionale.]

1. (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: A service book relating to ecclesiastical processions. J.
Gregory.

2. A hymn, or other selection, sung during a church procession; as, the processional was the 202d hymn.

PROCESSIONALIST
Pro*ces"sion*al*ist, n.

Defn: One who goes or marches in a procession. [R.]

PROCESSIONARY Pro*ces"sion*a*ry, a. Etym: [Cf. LL. processionarius, F. processionnaire.]

Defn: Pertaining to a procession; consisting in processions; as, processionary service. Processionary moth (Zoöl.), any moth of the genus Cnethocampa, especially C. processionea of Europe, whose larvæ make large webs on oak trees, and go out to feed in regular order. They are covered with stinging hairs.

PROCESSIONER
Pro*ces"sion*er, n.

1. One who takes part in a procession.

2. A manual of processions; a processional. Fuller.

3. An officer appointed to procession lands. [Local, U. S. (North Carolina and Tennessee).] Burrill.

PROCESSIONING
Pro*ces"sion*ing, n.

Defn: A proceeding prescribed by statute for ascertaining and fixing the boundaries of land. See 2d Procession. [ Local, U. S.] Bouvier.

PROCESSIVE
Pro*ces"sive, a.

Defn: Proceeding; advancing.
Because it is language, — ergo, processive. Coleridge.

PROCESS PLATE Proc"ess plate. (a) A plate prepared by a mechanical process, esp. a photomechanical process. (b) A very slow photographic plate, giving good contrasts between high lights and shadows, used esp. for making lantern slides.

PROCES VERBAL
Pro`cès" ver`bal". Etym: [ F.] (French Law)

Defn: An authentic minute of an official act, or statement of facts.

PROCHEIN Pro"chein, a. Etym: [F. prochain, fr. L. (assumed) proximanus, fr. proximus.]

Defn: Next; nearest. Prochein ami or amy ( (Law), the next friend.
See under Next.

PROCHORDAL
Pro*chor"dal, a. Etym: [Pref. pro + chordal.] (Anat.)

Defn: Situated in front of the notochord; — applied especially to parts of the cartilaginous rudiments in the base of the skull.

PROCHRONISM
Pro"chro*nism n. Etym: [Gr. prochronisme.]

Defn: The dating of an event before the time it happened; an antedating; — opposed to Ant: metachronism.

PROCHRONIZE
Pro"chro*nize, v. t.

Defn: To antedate. Fitzed. Hall.

PROCIDENCE; PROCIDENTIA Proc"i*dence, Proc*i*den"ti*a, n. Etym: [L. procidentia, fr. procidens, p. pr. of procidere to fall down forward.] (Med.)

Defn: A falling down; a prolapsus. [R.] Parr.

PROCIDUOUS
Pro*cid"u*ous (, a. Etym: [ L. prociduus.]

Defn: Falling from its proper place.

PROCINCT Pro*cinct" n. Etym: [L. procinctus, fr. procingere, procinctum, to gird up.]

Defn: A state of complete readiness for action. [Obs.] "War in procinct." Milton.

PROCLAIM
Pro*claim", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Proclaimed; p. pr. & vb. n.
Proclaiming.] Etym: [OE. proclamen, L. proclamare; pro before,
forward + clamare to call or cry out: cf. F. proclamer. See Claim.]

1. To make known by public announcement; to give wide publicity to; to publish abroad; to promulgate; to declare; as, to proclaim war or peace. To proclaim liberty to the captives. Isa. lxi. 1. For the apparel oft proclaims the man. Shak. Throughout the host proclaim A solemn council forthwith to be held. Milton.

2. To outlaw by public proclamation. I heard myself proclaimed. Shak.

Syn.
— To publish; promulgate; declare; announce. See Announce.

PROCLAIMER
Pro*claim"er, n.

Defn: One who proclaims.

PROCLAMATION
Proc`la*ma"tion n. Etym: [F. proclamation, L. proclamatio. See
Proclaim.]

1. The act of proclaiming; official or general notice; publication. King Asa made a proclamation throughout all Judah; none was exempted. 1 Kings xv. 22.

2. That which is proclaimed, publicly announced, or officially declared; a published ordinance; as, the proclamation of a king; a Thanksgiving proclamation.

PROCLITIC
Pro*clit"ic, a. Etym: [Gr. Enclitic.] (Gr. Gram.)

Defn: Leaning forward; — said of certain monosyllabic words which are so closely attached to the following word as not to have a separate accent.

PROCLIVE Pro*clive" a. Etym: [L. proclivis sloping, inclined; pro forward + clivus hill: cf. F. proclive. See Declivity, and cf. Proclivous.]

Defn: Having a tendency by nature; prone; proclivous. [R.] Mrs.
Browning.

PROCLIVITY
Pro*cliv"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. proclivitas: cf. F. proclivité.]

1. Inclination; propensity; proneness; tendency. "A proclivity to steal." Abp. Bramhall.

2. Readiness; facility; aptitude. He had such a dexterous proclivity as his teachers were fain to restrain his forwardness. Sir H. Wotton.

PROCLIVOUS
Pro*cli"vous, a. Etym: [L. proclivus. See Proclive.]

1. Inclined; tending by nature. [R.]

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Having the incisor teeth directed forward.

PROCOELE
Pro*coele", n. Etym: [Pref. pro + Gr. (Anat.)

Defn: A lateral cavity of the prosencephalon; a lateral ventricle of the brain. B. G. Wilder.

PROCOELIA
Pro*coe"li*a n.; pl. Procoeliæ (. Etym: [ NL.] (Anat.)

Defn: Same as Procoele.

PROCOELIA
Pro*coe"li*a, n. pl. Etym: [NL.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: A division of Crocodilia, including the true crocodiles and alligators, in which the dorsal vertebræ are concave in front.

PROCOELIAN
Pro*coe"li*an a. Etym: [See Procoele.] (Anat & Zoöl.)

Defn: Concave in front; as, procoelian vertebræ, which have the anterior end of the centra concave and the posterior convex.

PROCOELIAN
Pro*coe"li*an, n. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A reptile having procoelian vertebræ; one of the Procoelia.

PROCOELOUS
Pro*coe"lous, a.

Defn: Same as Procoelian.

PROCONSUL
Pro*con"sul, n. Etym: [L., fr. pro for + consul consul.] (Rom.
Antiq.)

Defn: An officer who discharged the duties of a consul without being himself consul; a governor of, or a military commander in, a province. He was usually one who had previously been consul.

PROCONSULAR; PROCONSULARY Pro*con"su*lar, Pro*con"su*la*ry, a. Etym: [L. proconsularis: cf. F. proconsulaire.]

1. Of or pertaining of a proconsul; as, proconsular powers.

2. Under the government of a proconsul; as, a proconsular province.

PROCONSULATE
Pro*con"su*late, n. Etym: [L. proconsulatus: cf. F. proconsulat.]

Defn: The office jurisdiction of a proconsul, or the term of his office.

PROCONSULSHIP
Pro*con"sul*ship n.

Defn: Proconsulate.

PROCRASTINATE Pro*cras"ti*nate v. t. [imp. & p. p. Procrastinated; p. pr. & vb. n. Procrastinating.] Etym: [L. procrastinatus, p. p. of procrastinare to procrastinate; pro forward + crastinus of to-morrow, fr. cras to- morrow.]

Defn: To put off till to-morrow, or from day to day; to defer; to postpone; to delay; as, to procrastinate repentance. Dr. H. More. Hopeless and helpless Ægeon wend, But to procrastinate his lifeless end. Shak.

Syn.
— To postpone; adjourn; defer; delay; retard; protract; prolong.

PROCRASTINATE
Pro*cras"ti*nate, v. i.

Defn: To delay; to be dilatory.
I procrastinate more than I did twenty years ago. Swift.

PROCRASTINATION Pro*cras`ti*na"tion, n. Etym: [L. procrastinatio: cf. F. procrastination.]

Defn: The act or habit of procrastinating, or putting off to a future time; delay; dilatoriness. Procrastination is the thief of time. Young.

PROCRASTINATOR
Pro*cras"ti*na`tor n.

Defn: One who procrastinates, or defers the performance of anything.

PROCRASTINATORY
Pro*cras"ti*na*to*ry a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to procrastination; dilatory.

PROCRASTINE
Pro*cras"tine v. t.

Defn: To procrastinate. [Obs.]

PROCREANT
Pro"cre*ant, a. Etym: [L. procreans, p. pr. of procreare. See
Procreate.]

Defn: Generating; producing; productive; fruitful; assisting in procreation. [R.] "His pendent bed and procreant cradle." Shak.

PROCREANT
Pro"cre*ant, n.

Defn: One who, or that which, procreates.

PROCREATE
Pro"cre*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Procreated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Procreating.] Etym: [L. procreatus, p. p. of procreare; pro forward,
forth + create to create.]

Defn: To generate and produce; to beget; to engender.

PROCREATION
Pro`cre*a"tion n. Etym: [F. procréation, L, procreatio.]

Defn: The act of begetting; generation and production of young.
South.

PROCREATIVE
Pro"cre*a`tive, a.

Defn: Having the power to beget; generative. Sir M. Hale.

PROCREATIVENESS
Pro"cre*a`tive*ness, n.

Defn: The power of generating.

PROCREATOR
Pro"cre*a`tor, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: One who begets; a father or sire; a generator.

PROCRIS
Pro"cris n. Etym: [L., the wife of Cephalus, Gr. (Zoöl.)

Defn: Any species of small moths of the genus Procris. The larvæ of some species injure the grapevine by feeding in groups upon the leaves.

PROCRUSTEAN
Pro*crus"te*an, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to Procrustes, or the mode of torture practiced by him; producing conformity by violent means; as, the Procrustean treatment; a Procrustean limit. See Procrustes.

PROCRUSTEANIZE Pro*crus"te*an*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Procrusteanized; p. pr. & vb. n. Procrusteanizing.]

Defn: To stretch or contract according to some rule or standard.

PROCRUSTES
Pro*crus"tes n. Etym: [L., fr. Gr. (Gr. Antiq.)

Defn: A celebrated legendary highwayman of Attica, who tied his victims upon an iron bed, and, as the case required, either stretched or cut of their legs to adapt them to its length; — whence the metaphorical phrase, the bed of Procrustes.

PROCRUSTESIAN
Pro`crus*te"si*an, a.

Defn: See Procrustean.

PROCTITIS
Proc*ti"tis, n. Etym: [NL., from Gr. -itis.] (Med.)

Defn: Inflammation of the rectum.

PROCTOCELE
Proc"to*cele, n. Etym: [Gr. (Med.)

Defn: Inversion and prolapse of the mucous coat of the rectum, from relaxation of the sphincter, with more or less swelling; prolapsus ani. Dunglison.

PROCTODAEUM
Proc`to*dæ"um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Anat.)

Defn: See Mesenteron.

PROCTOR
Proc"tor, n. Etym: [OE. proketour, contr. fr. procurator. See
Procurator.]

Defn: One who is employed to manage to affairs of another. Specifically: (a) A person appointed to collect alms for those who could not go out to beg for themselves, as lepers, the bedridden, etc.; hence a beggar. [Obs.] Nares. (b) (Eng. Law) An officer employed in admiralty and ecclesiastical causes. He answers to an attorney at common law, or to a solicitor in equity. Wharton. (c) (Ch. of Eng.) A representative of the clergy in convocation. (d) An officer in a university or college whose duty it is to enforce obedience to the laws of the institution.

PROCTOR
Proc"tor, v. t.

Defn: To act as a proctor toward; to manage as an attorney or agent.
Bp. Warburton.

PROCTORAGE
Proc"tor*age n.

Defn: Management by a proctor, or as by a proctor; hence, control; superintendence; — in contempt. "The fogging proctorage of money." Milton.

PROCTORIAL
Proc*to"ri*al, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a proctor, esp. an academic proctor; magisterial.

PROCTORICAL
Proc*tor"ic*al, a.

Defn: Proctorial. [R.]

PROCTORSHIP
Proc"tor*ship n.

Defn: The office or dignity of a proctor; also, the term of his office. Clarendon.

PROCTOTOMY
Proc*tot"o*my, n. Etym: [Gr. (Surg.)

Defn: An incision into the rectum, as for the division of a stricture.

PROCTUCHA Proc"tu*cha, n. pl. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Zoöl.) (a) A division of Turbellaria including those that have an intestine terminating posteriorly. (b) The Nemertina.

PROCUMBENT Pro*cum"bent, a. Etym: [L. procumbens, -entis, p. pr. of procumbere to fall, bend, or lean forward; pro forward + cumbere (in comp.), akin to cubare to lie down: cf. F. procombant. Cf. Incumbent.]

1. Lying down, or on the face; prone. " Procumbent each obeyed." Cowper.

2. (Bot.)

Defn: Lying on the ground, but without putting forth roots; trailing; prostrate; as, a procumbent stem.

PROCURABLE
Pro*cur"a*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being procured; obtainable. Boyle.

PROCURACY Proc"u*ra*cy, n.; pl. Procuracies. Etym: [LL. procuratia: cf. F. procuratie. See Procuration, and cf,. Proxy.]

1. The office or act of a proctor or procurator; management for another.

2. Authority to act for another; a proxy. [Obs.]

PROCURATION
Proc`u*ra"tion n. Etym: [L. procuratio: cf. F. procuration. See
Procure.]

1. The act of procuring; procurement.

2. The management of another's affairs.

3. The instrument by which a person is empowered to transact the affairs of another; a proxy.

4. (Ch. of Eng.)

Defn: A sum of money paid formerly to the bishop or archdeacon, now to the ecclesiastical commissioners, by an incumbent, as a commutation for entertainment at the time of visitation; — called also proxy. Procuration money (Law), money paid for procuring a loan. Blackstone.

PROCURATOR
Proc"u*ra`tor, n. Etym: [L.: cf. F. procurateur. See Procure, and cf.
Proctor. ]

1. (Law)

Defn: One who manages another's affairs, either generally or in a special matter; an agent; a proctor. Chaucer. Shak.

2. (Rom. Antiq.)

Defn: A governor of a province under the emperors; also, one who had charge of the imperial revenues in a province; as, the procurator of Judea. Procurator fiscal (Scots Law), public prosecutor, or district attorney.

PROCURATORIAL
Proc`u*ra*to"ri*al (, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a procurator, or proctor; made by a proctor. Ayliffe.

PROCURATORSHIP
Proc"u*ra`tor*ship, n.

Defn: The office or term of a procurator. Bp. Pearson.

PROCURATORY
Pro*cu"ra*to*ry, a. Etym: [L. procuratorius.]

Defn: Tending to, or authorizing, procuration.

PROCURE
Pro*cure", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Procured; p. pr. & vb. n. Procuring.]
Etym: [F. procurer, L. procurare, procuratum, to take care of; pro
for + curare to take care, fr. cura care. See Cure, and cf. Proctor,
Proxy.]

1. To bring into possession; to cause to accrue to, or to come into possession of; to acquire or provide for one's self or for another; to gain; to get; to obtain by any means, as by purchase or loan. If we procure not to ourselves more woe. Milton.

2. To contrive; to bring about; to effect; to cause. By all means possible they procure to have gold and silver among them in reproach. Robynson (More's Utopia) . Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall. Shak.

3. To solicit; to entreat. [Obs.] The famous Briton prince and faery knight, . . . Of the fair Alma greatly were procured To make there longer sojourn and abode. Spenser.

4. To cause to come; to bring; to attract. [Obs.] What unaccustomed cause procures her hither Shak.

5. To obtain for illicit intercourse or prostitution.

Syn.
— See Attain.

PROCURE
Pro*cure", v. i.

1. To pimp. Shak.

2. To manage business for another in court. [Scot.]

PROCUREMENT
Pro*cure"ment, n.

1. The act of procuring or obtaining; obtainment; attainment.

2. Efficient contrivance; management; agency. They think it done By her procurement. Dryden.

PROCURER
Pro*cur"er, n. Etym: [Cf. F. procureur.]

1. One who procures, or obtains; one who, or that which, brings on, or causes to be done, esp. by corrupt means.

2. One who procures the gratification of lust for another; a pimp; a pander. South.

PROCURESS
Pro*cur"ess, n.

Defn: A female procurer, or pander.

PROCYON
Pro"cy*on, n. Etym: [L., a constellation which rises before the Dog
Star, Gr.

1. (Astron.)

Defn: a star of the first magnitude in the constellation Canis Minor, or the Little Dog.

2. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A genus of mammals including the raccoon.

PROD Prod, n. Etym: [Cf. Gael. & Ir. brod goad, prickle, sting, and E. brad, also W. procio to poke, thrust.]

1. A pointed instrument for pricking or puncturing, as a goad, an awl, a skewer, etc.

2. A prick or stab which a pointed instrument.

3. A light kind of crossbow; — in the sense, often spelled prodd. Fairholt.

PROD
Prod, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prodded; p. pr. & vb. n. Prodding.]

Defn: To thrust some pointed instrument into; to prick with something sharp; as, to prod a soldier with a bayonet; to prod oxen; hence, to goad, to incite, to worry; as, to prod a student. H. Taylor.

PRODD
Prodd, n.

Defn: A crossbow. See Prod, 3.

PRODIGAL
Prod"i*gal, a. Etym: [L. prodigus, from prodigere to drive forth, to
squander away; pro forward, forth + agere to drive; cf. F. prodigue.
See Agent. ]

Defn: Given to extravagant expenditure; expending money or other things without necessity; recklessly or viciously profuse; lavish; wasteful; not frugal or economical; as, a prodigal man; the prodigal son; prodigal giving; prodigal expenses. In fighting fields [patriots] were prodigal of blood. Dryden.

Syn.
— Profuse; lavish; extravagant; squandering; wasteful. See Profuse.

PRODIGAL
Prod"i*gal, n.

Defn: One who expends money extravagantly, viciously, or without necessity; one that is profuse or lavish in any expenditure; a waster; a spendthrift. "Noble prodigals of life." Trench.

PRODIGALITY
Prod`i*gal"i*ty, n. Etym: [F. prodigalité, L. prodigalitas. See
Prodigal.]

Defn: Extravagance in expenditure, particularly of money; excessive liberality; profusion; waste; — opposed to frugality, economy, and parsimony."The prodigality of his wit." Dryden.

PRODIGALIZE
Prod"i*gal*ize, v. i.

Defn: To act as a prodigal; to spend liberally. Sherwood.

PRODIGALIZE
Prod"i*gal*ize, v. t.

Defn: To expend lavishly. Ld. Lytton.

PRODIGALLY
Prod"i*gal*ly, adv.

Defn: In a prodigal manner; with profusion of expense; extravagantly; wasteful; profusely; lavishly; as, an estate prodigally dissipated. Nature not bounteous now, but lavish grows; Our paths with flowers she prodigally strows. Dryden.

PRODIGATE
Prod"i*gate, v. t.

Defn: To squander. Thackeray.

PRODIGENCE Prod"i*gence, n. Etym: [L. prodigentia, fr. prodigens, p. pr. of prodigere. See Prodigal. ]

Defn: Waste; profusion; prodigality. [R.] Bp. Hall.

PRODIGIOUS
Pro*di"gious, a. Etym: [L. prodigiosus, fr. prodigium a prodigy; cf.
F. prodigieux. See Prodigy.]

1. Of the nature of a prodigy; marvelous; wonderful; portentous. [Obs. or R.] Spenser. It is prodigious to have thunder in a clear sky. Sir T. Browne.

2. Extraordinary in bulk, extent, quantity, or degree; very great; vast; huge; immense; as, a prodigious mountain; a prodigious creature; a prodigious blunder. "Prodigious might." Milton.

Syn. — Huge; enormous; monstrous; portentous; marvelous; amazing; astonishing; extraordinary.

PRODIGIOUSLY
Pro*di"gious*ly, adv.

1. Enormously; wonderfully; astonishingly; as, prodigiously great.

2. Very much; extremely; as, he was prodigiously pleased. [Colloq.] Pope.

PRODIGIOUSNESS
Pro*di"gious*ness, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being prodigious; the state of having qualities that excite wonder or astonishment; enormousness; vastness.

PRODIGY Prod"i*gy, n.; pl. Prodigies. Etym: [ L. prodigium; pro before + (perh.) a word appearing in adagium adage: cf. F. prodige. Cf. Adage. ]

1. Something extraordinary, or out of the usual course of nature, from which omens are drawn; a portent; as, eclipses and meteors were anciently deemed prodigies. So many terrors, voices, prodigies, May warn thee, as a sure foregoing sign. Milton.

2. Anything so extraordinary as to excite wonder or astonishment; a marvel; as, a prodigy of learning.

3. A production out of ordinary course of nature; an abnormal development; a monster. B. Jonson.

Syn.
— Wonder; miracle; portent; marvel; monster.

PRODITION Pro*di"tion, n. Etym: [L. proditio, from prodere to give forth, betray: cf. OF. prodition.]

Defn: Disclosure; treachery; treason. [Obs.] Ainsworth.

PRODITOR
Prod"i*tor, n. Etym: [L.]

Defn: A traitor. [Obs.]

PRODITORIOUS
Prod`i*to"ri*ous, a. Etym: [Cf. OF. proditoire.]

1. Treacherous; perfidious; traitorous. [Obs.] Daniel.

2. Apt to make unexpected revelations. [Obs.] "Nature is proditorious." Sir H. Wotton.

PRODITORY
Prod"i*to*ry, a.

Defn: Treacherous. [Obs.]

PRODROMAL
Prod"ro*mal, a. (Med.)

Defn: Of or pertaining to prodromes; as, the prodromal stage of a disease.

PRODROME
Pro"drome, n. Etym: [Gr. prodrome.]

Defn: A forerunner; a precursor.

PRODROMOUS
Prod"ro*mous, a.

Defn: Precursory. [R.]

PRODROMUS
Prod"ro*mus, n. Etym: [NL.]

1. A prodrome.

2. A preliminary course or publication; — used esp. in the titles of elementary works.

PRODUCE
Pro*duce", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Produced; p. pr. & vb. n. Producing.]
Etym: [L. producere, productum, to bring forward, beget, produce; pro
forward, forth + ducere to lead. See Duke.]

1. To bring forward; to lead forth; to offer to view or notice; to exhibit; to show; as, to produce a witness or evidence in court. Produce your cause, saith the Lord. Isa. xli. 21. Your parents did not produce you much into the world. Swift.

2. To bring forth, as young, or as a natural product or growth; to give birth to; to bear; to generate; to propagate; to yield; to furnish; as, the earth produces grass; trees produce fruit; the clouds produce rain. This soil produces all sorts of palm trees. Sandys. [They] produce prodigious births of body or mind. Milton. The greatest jurist his country had produced. Macaulay.

3. To cause to be or to happen; to originate, as an effect or result; to bring about; as, disease produces pain; vice produces misery.

4. To give being or form to; to manufacture; to make; as, a manufacturer produces excellent wares.

5. To yield or furnish; to gain; as, money at interest produces an income; capital produces profit.

6. To draw out; to extend; to lengthen; to prolong; as, to produce a man's life to threescore. Sir T. Browne.

7. (Geom.)

Defn: To extend; — applied to a line, surface, or solid; as, to produce a side of a triangle.

PRODUCE
Pro*duce", v. i.

Defn: To yield or furnish appropriate offspring, crops, effects, consequences, or results.

PRODUCE
Prod"uce, n.

Defn: That which is produced, brought forth, or yielded; product; yield; proceeds; result of labor, especially of agricultural labors; hence, specifically, agricultural products.

PRODUCEMENT
Pro*duce"ment, n.

Defn: Production. [Obs.]

PRODUCENT
Pro*du"cent, n. Etym: [L. producens, p. pr.]

Defn: One who produces, or offers to notice. [Obs.] Ayliffe.

PRODUCER
Pro*du"cer, n.

1. One who produces, brings forth, or generates.

2. One who grows agricultural products, or manufactures crude materials into articles of use.

3. (Iron & Steel Manuf.)

Defn: A furnace for producing combustible gas which is used for fuel.

PRODUCE RACE
Prod"uce race. (Horse Racing)

Defn: A race to be run by the produce of horses named or described at the time of entry.

PRODUCER'S GOODS
Pro*duc"er's goods. (Polit. Econ.)

Defn: Goods that satisfy wants only indirectly as factors in the production of other goods, such as tools and raw material; — called also instrumental goods, auxiliary goods, intermediate goods, or goods of the second and higher orders, and disting. from consumers' goods.

PRODUCER'S SURPLUS; PRODUCER'S RENT
Producer's surplus. (Polit. Econ.)

Defn: Any profit above the normal rate of interest and wages accruing to a producer on account of some monopoly (temporary or permanent) of the means or materials of production; — called also Producer's rent.

PRODUCIBILITY
Pro*du`ci*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being producible. Barrow.

PRODUCIBLE
Pro*du"ci*ble, a.

Defn: Capable of being produced, brought forward, brought forth, generated, made, or extended. — Pro*du"ci*ble*ness, n.

PRODUCT
Prod"uct, n. Etym: [L. productus, p. pr. of producere. See Produce.]

1. Anything that is produced, whether as the result of generation, growth, labor, or thought, or by the operation of involuntary causes; as, the products of the season, or of the farm; the products of manufactures; the products of the brain. There are the product Of those ill-mated marriages. Milton. These institutions are the products of enthusiasm. Burke.

2. (Math.)

Defn: The number or sum obtained by adding one number or quantity to itself as many times as there are units in another number; the number resulting from the multiplication of two or more numbers; as, the product of the multiplication of 7 by 5 is 35. In general, the result of any kind of multiplication. See the Note under Multiplication.

Syn. — Produce; production; fruit; result; effect; consequence; outcome; work; performance.

PRODUCT
Pro*duct", v. t.

1. To produce; to bring forward. "Producted to . . . examination." [Obs.] Foxe.

2. To lengthen out; to extend. [Obs.] He that doth much . . . products his mortality. Hackett.

3. To produce; to make. [Obs.] Holinshed.

PRODUCTIBILITY
Pro*duct`i*bil"i*ty, n.

Defn: The state of being productible; producibility. Ruskin.

PRODUCTIBLE
Pro*duct"i*ble, a. Etym: [Cf. F. productible.]

Defn: Capable of being produced; producible.

PRODUCTILE Pro*duc"tile, a. Etym: [L. productilis, fr. producere to stretch out.]

Defn: Capable of being extended or prolonged; extensible; ductile.

PRODUCTION
Pro*duc"tion, n. Etym: [L. productio a lengthening, prolonging: cf.
F. production. See Produce. ]

1. The act or process or producing, bringing forth, or exhibiting to view; as, the production of commodities, of a witness.

2. That which is produced, yielded, or made, whether naturally, or by the application of intelligence and labor; as, the productions of the earth; the productions of handicraft; the productions of intellect or genius.

3. The act of lengthening out or prolonging.

Syn.
— Product; produce; fruit; work; performance; composition.

PRODUCTIVE Pro*duc"tive, a. Etym: [F. productif, L. productivus fit for prolongation.]

1. Having the quality or power of producing; yielding or furnishing results; as, productive soil; productive enterprises; productive labor, that which increases the number or amount of products.

2. Bringing into being; causing to exist; producing; originative; as, an age productive of great men; a spirit productive of heroic achievements. And kindle with thy own productive fire. Dryden. This is turning nobility into a principle of virtue, and making it productive of merit. Spectator.

3. Producing, or able to produce, in large measure; fertile;
profitable.
— Pro*duc"tive*ly, adv.
— Pro*duc"tive*ness, n.

PRODUCTIVITY
Pro`duc*tiv"i*ty, n.

Defn: The quality or state of being productive; productiveness.
Emerson.
Not indeed as the product, but as the producing power, the
productivity. Coleridge.

PRODUCTRESS
Pro*duc"tress, n.

Defn: A female producer.

PRODUCTUS
Pro*duc"tus, n. Etym: [NL. See Product.] (Paleon.)

Defn: An extinct genus of brachiopods, very characteristic of the
Carboniferous rocks.

PROEGUMINAL
Pro`e*gu"mi*nal, a. Etym: [Gr. proégumène.] (Med.)

Defn: Serving to predispose; predisposing; as, a proeguminal cause of disease.

PROEM
Pro"em, n. Etym: [L. prooemium, Gr. proème.]

Defn: Preface; introduction; preliminary observations; prelude.
Thus much may serve by way of proem. Swift.

PROEM
Pro"em, v. t.

Defn: To preface. [Obs.] South.

PROEMBRYO Pro*em"bry*o, n. Etym: [Pref. pro- + embryo. ] (Bot.) (a) The series of cells formed in the ovule of a flowering plant after fertilization, but before the formation of the embryo. (b) The primary growth from the spore in certain cryptogamous plants; as, the proembryo, or protonema, of mosses.

PROEMIAL
Pro*e"mi*al, a.

Defn: Introductory; prefatory; preliminary. [R.] Hammond.

PROEMPTOSIS
Pro`emp*to"sis, n. Etym: [NL., from Gr. (Chron.)

Defn: The addition of a day to the lunar calendar. [R.] See
Metemptosis.

PROFACE Pro"face, interj. Etym: [OF. prou face, prou fasse; prou profit + faire to make, do.]

Defn: Much good may it do you! — a familiar salutation or welcome.
[Obs.]
Master page, good master page, sit. Proface! Shak.

PROFANATE
Prof"a*nate, v. t.

Defn: To profane. [Obs.]