Persecute – Petrify

Persecute

PER'SECUTE, verb transitive [Latin persequor; per and sequor, to pursue. See Seek and Essay.]

1. In a general sense, to pursue in a manner to injure, vex or afflict; to harass with unjust punishment or penalties for supposed offenses; to inflict pain from hatred or malignity.

2. Appropriately, to afflict, harass, or destroy for adherence to a particular creed or system of religious principles, or to a mode of worship. Thus Nero persecuted the Christians by crucifying some, burning others, and condemning others to be worried by dogs. See Acts 22:4.

3. To harass with solicitations or importunity.

Persecuted

PER'SECUTED, participle passive Harassed by troubles or punishments unjustly inflicted, particularly for religious opinions.

Persecuting

PER'SECUTING, participle present tense Pursuing with enmity or vengeance, particularly for adhering to a particular religion.

Persecution

PERSECU'TION, noun The act or practice of persecuting; the infliction of pain, punishment or death upon others unjustly, particularly for adhering to a religious creed or mode of worship, either by way of penalty or for compelling them to renounce their principles. Historians enumerate ten persecutions suffered by the Christians, beginning with that of Nero, adjective D. 31, and ending with that of Diocletian, adjective D. 303 to 313.

1. The state of being persecuted.

Our necks are under persecution; we labor and have no rest. Lamentations 5:5.

Persecutor

PER'SECUTOR, noun One that persecutes; one that pursues another unjustly and vexatiously, particularly on account of religious principles.

Henry rejected the pope's supremacy, but retained every corruption beside, and became a cruel persecutor

Perseverance

PERSEVE'RANCE, noun [Latin perseverantia. See Persevere.]

1. Persistence in any thing undertaken; continued pursuit or prosecution of any business or enterprise begun; applied alike to good or evil.

Perseverance keeps honor bright.

Patience and perseverance overcome the greatest difficulties.

2. In theology, continuance in a state of grace to a state of glory; sometimes called final perseverance

Perseverant

PERSEVE'RANT, adjective Constant in pursuit of an undertaking. [Not used.]

Persevere

PERSEVE'RE, verb intransitive [Latin persevero. The last component part of this word, severo, must be the same as in assevero, with the radical sense of set, fixed or continued. So persist is formed with per and sisto, to stand. Constant and continue have a like primary sense. So we say, to hold on.]

To persist in any business or enterprise undertaken; to pursue steadily any design or course commenced; not to give over or abandon what is undertaken; applied alike to good and evil.

Thrice happy, if they know

Their happiness, and persevere upright!

To persevere in any evil course, makes you unhappy in this life.

Persevering

PERSEVE'RING, participle present tense Persisting in any business or course begun.

1. adjective Constant in the execution of a purpose or enterprise; as a persevering student.

Perseveringly

PERSEVE'RINGLY, adverb With perseverance or continued pursuit of what is undertaken.

Persiflage

PER'SIFLAGE, noun [Latin sibilo, to hiss.] A jeering; ridicule.

Persimmon

PERSIM'MON, noun A tree and its fruit, a species of Diospyros, a native of the states south of New York. The fruit is like a plum, and when not ripe, very astringent.

Persist

PERSIST', verb intransitive [Latin persisto; per and sisto, to stand or be fixed.]

To continue steadily and firmly in the pursuit of any business or course commenced; to persevere. [Persist is nearly synonymous with persevere; but persist frequently implies more obstinacy than persevere, particularly in that which is evil or injurious to others.]

If they persist in pointing their batteries against particular persons, no laws of war forbid the making reprisals.

Persistence

PERSIST'ENCE, noun The state of persisting; steady pursuit of what is undertaken; perseverance in a good or evil course, more generally in that which is evil and injurious to others, or unadvisable.

1. Obstinacy; contumacy.

Persistent

PERSIST'ENT

PERSIST'ING, adjective In botany, continuing without withering; opposed to marcescent; as a persisting stigma; continuing after the corol is withered, as a persistent calyx; continuing after the leaves drop off, as a persistent stipule; remaining on the plant till the fruit is ripe, or till after the summer is over, as a persistent leaf.

PERSIST'ING, participle present tense Continuing in the prosecution of an undertaking; persevering.

Persisting

PERSIST'ING, a. In botany, continuing without withering; opposed to marcescent; as a persisting stigma; continuing after the corol is withered, as a persistent calyx; continuing after the leaves drop off, as a persistent stipule; remaining on the plant till the fruit is ripe, or till after the summer is over, as a persistent leaf.

PERSIST'ING, ppr. Continuing in the prosecution of an undertaking; persevering.

Persistive

PERSIST'IVE, adjective Steady in pursuit; not receding from a purpose or undertaking; persevering.

Person

PERSON, noun per'sn. [Latin persona; said to be compounded of per, through or by, and sonus, sound; a Latin word signifying primarily a mask used by actors on the state.]

1. An individual human being consisting of body and soul. We apply the word to living beings only, possessed of a rational nature; the body when dead is not called a person It is applied alike to a man, woman or child.

A person is a thinking intelligent being.

2. A man, woman or child, considered as opposed to things, or distinct from them.

A zeal for persons is far more easy to be perverted, than a zeal for things.

3. A human being, considered with respect to the living body or corporeal existence only. The form of her person is elegant.

You'll find her person difficult to gain.

The rebels maintained the fight for a small time, and for their persons showed no want of courage.

4. A human being, indefinitely; one; a man. Let a person's attainments be never so great, he should remember he is frail and imperfect.

5. A human being represented in dialogue, fiction, or on the state; character. A player appears in the person of king Lear.

These tables, Cicero pronounced under the person of Crassus, were of more use and authority than all the books of the philosophers.

6. Character of office.

How different is the same man from himself, as he sustains the person of a magistrate and that of a friend.

7. In grammar, the nominative to a verb; the agent that performs or the patient that suffers any thing affirmed by a verb; as, I write; he is smitten; she is beloved; the rain descends in torrents. I, thou or you, he, she or it, are called the first, second and third persons. Hence we apply the word person to the termination or modified form of the verb used in connection with the persons; as the first or the third person of the verb; the verb is in the second person

8. In law, an artificial person is a corporation or body politic.

In person by one's self; with bodily presence; not be representative.

The king in person visits all around.

PER'SON, verb transitive To represent as a person; to make to resemble; to image. [Not in use.]

Personable

PER'SONABLE, adjective Having a well formed body or person; graceful; of good appearance; as a personable man or woman.

1. In law, enabled to maintain pleas in court.

2. Having capacity to take any thing granted or given.

[The two latter senses, I believe, are little used.]

Personage

PER'SONAGE, noun A man or woman of distinction; as an illustrious personage

1. Exterior appearance; stature; air; as a tall personage; a stately personage

2. Character assumed.

The Venetians, naturally grave, love to give in to the follies of such seasons, when disguised in a false personage

3. Character represented.

Some persons must be found, already known in history, whom we may make the actors and personages of this fable.

Personal

PER'SONAL, adjective [Latin personalis.] Belonging to men or women, not to things; not real.

Every man so termed by way of personal difference only.

1. Relating to an individual; affecting individuals; peculiar or proper to him or her, or to private actions or character.

The words are conditional; if thou doest well; and so personal to Cain.

Character and success depend more on personal effort than on any external advantages.

So we speak of personal pride, personal reflections.

2. Pertaining to the corporal nature; exterior; corporal; as personal charms or accomplishments.

3. Present in person; not acting by representative; as a personal interview.

The immediate and personal speaking of God almighty to Abraham, Job and Moses.

Personal estate, in law, movables; chattels; things belonging to the person; as money, jewels, furniture, etc. as distinguished from real estate in land and houses.

Personal action, in law, a suit or action by which a man claims a debt or personal duty, or damages in lieu of it; or wherein he claims satisfaction in damages for an injury to his person or property; an action founded on contract or on tort or wrong; as an action on a debt or promise, or an action for a trespass, assault or defamatory words; opposed to real actions, or such as concern real property.

Personal identity, in metaphysics, sameness of being, of which consciousness is the evidence.

Personal verb, in grammar, a verb conjugated in the three persons; thus called in distinction from an impersonal verb, which has the third person only.

PER'SONAL, noun A movable. [Not in use.]

Personality

PERSONAL'ITY, noun That which constitutes an individual a distinct person, or that which constitutes individuality.

The personality of an intelligent being extends itself beyond present existence to what is past, only by consciousness--

1. Direct application or applicability to a person; as the personality of a remark.

Personally

PER'SONALLY, adverb In person; by bodily presence; not by representative or substitute; as, to be personally present; to deliver a letter personally They personally declared their assent to the measure.

1. With respect to an individual; particularly.

She bore a mortal hatred to the house of Lancaster, and personally to the king.

2. With regard to numerical existence.

The converted man is personally the same he was before.

Personate

PER'SONATE, verb transitive To represent by a fictitious or assumed character so as to pass for the person represented.

1. To represent by action or appearance; to assume the character and act the part of another.

2. To pretend hypocritically. [Little used.]

3. To counterfeit; to feign; as a personated devotion.

4. To resemble.

The lofty cedar personates thee.

5. To make a representation of, as in picture.

6. To describe.

7. To celebrate loudly. [Latin persono.] [Not used.]

PER'SONATE, adjective [Latin persona, a mask.] Masked. A personate corol is irregular and closed by a kind of palate; or ringent, but closed between the lips by the palate.

Personation

PERSONA'TION, noun The counterfeiting of the person and character of another.

Personator

PER'SONATOR, noun One who assumes the character of another.

1. One that acts or performs.

Personification

PERSONIFICA'TION, noun [from personify.] The giving to an inanimate being the figure or the sentiments and language of a rational being; prosopopoeia; as, 'confusion heard his voice.'

Personified

PERSON'IFIED, participle passive Represented with the attributes of a person.

Personify

PERSON'IFY, verb transitive [Latin persona and facio.] To give animation to inanimate objects; to ascribe to an inanimate being the sentiments, actions or language of a rational being or person, or to represent an inanimate being with the affections and actions of a person. Thus we say, the plants thirst for rain.

The trees said to the fig-tree, come thou, and reign over us. Judges 9:1.

Personifying

PERSON'IFYING, participle present tense Giving to an inanimate being the attributes of a person.

Personize

PER'SONIZE, verb transitive To personify. [Not much used.]

Perspective

PERSPEC'TIVE, adjective [infra.] Pertaining to the science of optics; optical.

1. Pertaining to the art of perspective

PERSPEC'TIVE, noun [Latin perspicio; per and specio, to see.]

1. A glass through which objects are viewed.

2. The art of drawing on a plane surface true resemblances or pictures of objects, as the objects appear to the eye from any distance and situation, real and imaginary; as the rules of perspective

3. A representation of objects in perspective

4. View; vista; as perspectives of pleasant shades.

5. A kind of painting, often seen in gardens and at the end of a gallery, designed expressly to deceive the sight by representing the continuation of an alley, a building, a landscape or the like.

Aerial perspective the art of giving due diminution to the strength of light, shade and colors of objects, according to their distances and the quantity of light falling on them, and to the medium through which they are seen.

Perspectively

PERSPEC'TIVELY, adverb Optically; through a glass; by representation.

Perspicable

PER'SPICABLE, adjective Discernible.

Perspicacious

PERSPICA'CIOUS, adjective [Latin perspicax, from perspicio.]

1. Quick sighted; sharp of sight.

2. Of acute discernment.

Perspicaciousness

PERSPICA'CIOUSNESS, noun Acuteness of sight.

Perspicacity

PERSPICAC'ITY, noun [Latin perspicacitas.]

1. Acuteness of sight; quickness of sight.

2. Acuteness of discernment or understanding.

Perspicacy

PER'SPICACY, noun Acuteness of sight or discernment.

Perspicil

PER'SPICIL, noun [Latin per and speculum, a glass.]

An optic glass. [Little used.]

Perspicuity

PERSPICU'ITY, noun [Latin perspicuitas, from perspicio.]

1. Transparency; clearness; that quality of a substance which renders objects visible through it. [Little used.]

2. Clearness to mental vision; easiness to be understood; freedom from obscurity or ambiguity; that quality of writing or language which readily presents to the mind of another the precise ideas of the author. perspicuity is the first excellence of writing or speaking.

Perspicuous

PERSPIC'UOUS, adjective [Latin perspicuus.]

Transparent; translucent. [Little used.]

1. Clear to the understanding; that may be clearly understood; not obscure or ambiguous. Language is perspicuous when it readily presents to the reader or hearer the precise ideas which are intended to be expressed. Meaning, sense or signification if perspicuous when it is clearly and easily comprehended.

Perspicuously

PERSPIC'UOUSLY, adverb Clearly; plainly; in a manner to be easily understood.

Perspicuousness

PERSPIC'UOUSNESS, noun Clearness to intellectual vision; plainness; freedom from obscurity.

[We generally apply perspicuous to objects of intellect, and conspicuous to objects of ocular sight.]

Perspirability

PERSPIRABIL'ITY, noun [from perspirable.]

The quality of being perspirable.

Perspirable

PER'SPIRABLE, adjective [from Latin perspiro. See Perspire.]

1. That may be perspired; that may be evacuated through the pores of the skin.

2. Emitting perspiration. [Not proper.]

Perspiration

PERSPIRA'TION, noun [Latin perspiro. See Perspire.]

1. The act of perspiring; excretion by the cuticular pores; evacuation of the fluids of the body through the pores of the skin.

2. Matter perspired.

Perspirative

PER'SPIRATIVE, adjective Performing the act of perspiration.

Perspiratory

PER'SPIRATORY, adjective Perspirative.

Perspire

PERSPI'RE, verb intransitive [Latin per and spiro, to breathe.]

1. To evacuate the fluids of the body through the pores of the skin; as, a person perspires freely.

2. To be evacuated or excreted through the pores of the skin; as, a fluid perspires.

PERSPI'RE, verb intransitive To emit or evacuate through the pores of the skin.

Perstringe

PERSTRINGE, verb transitive perstrinj'. [Latin perstringo; per and stringo, to graze or brush.] To graze; to glance on.

Persuadable

PERSUA'DABLE, adjective [See Persuade.] That may be persuaded.

Persuadably

PERSUA'DABLY, adverb So as to be persuaded.

Persuade

PERSUA'DE, verb transitive [Latin persuadeo; per and suadeo, to urge or incite.]

1. To influence by argument, advice, intreaty or expostulation; to draw or incline the will to a determination by presenting motives to the mind.

I should be glad, if I could persuade him to write such another critick on any thing of mine.

Almost thou persuadest me to be a christian. Acts 26:26.

2. To convince by argument, or reasons offered; or to convince by reasons suggested by reflection or deliberation, or by evidence presented in any manner to the mind.

Beloved, we are persuaded better things of you. Hebrews 6:9.

3. To inculcate by argument or expostulation. [Little used.]

4. To treat by persuasion. [Not in use.]

Persuaded

PERSUA'DED, participle passive Influenced or drawn to an opinion or determination by argument, advice or reasons suggested; convinced; induced.

Persuader

PERSUA'DER, noun One that persuades or influences another.

1. That which incites.

Hunger and thirst at once.

Powerful persuaders!

Persuading

PERSUA'DING, participle present tense Influencing by motives presented.

Persuasibility

PERSUASIBIL'ITY, noun Capability of being persuaded.

Persuasible

PERSUA'SIBLE, adjective [Latin persuasibilis.]

That may be persuaded or influenced by reasons offered.

Persuasibleness

PERSUA'SIBLENESS, noun The quality of being influenced by persuasion.

Persuasion

PERSUA'SION, noun s as z. [Latin persuasio.]

1. The act of persuading; the act of influencing the mind by arguments or reasons offered, or by any thing that moves the mind or passions, or inclines the will to a determination.

For thou hast all the arts of fine persuasion

2. The state of being persuaded or convinced; settled opinion or conviction proceeding from arguments and reasons offered by others, or suggested by one's own reflections.

When we have no other certainty of being in the right, but our own persuasion that we are so--

3. A creed or belief; or a sect or party adhering to a creed or system of opinions; as men of the same persuasion; all persuasions concur in the measure.

Persuasive

PERSUA'SIVE, adjective Having the power of persuading; influencing the mind or passions; as persuasive eloquence; persuasive evidence.

Persuasively

PERSUA'SIVELY, adverb In such a manner as to persuade or convince.

Persuasiveness

PERSUA'SIVENESS, noun The quality of having influence on the mind or passions.

Persuasory

PERSUA'SORY, adjective Having the power or tendency to persuade.

Persulphate

PERSUL'PHATE, noun A combination of sulphuric acid with the peroxyd of iron.

Pert

PERT, adjective

1. Lively; brisk; smart.

Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth.

On the lawny sands and shelves,

Trip the pert fairies, and the dapper elves.

2. Forward; saucy; bold; indecorously free.

A lady bids me in a very pert manner mind my own affairs--

Pertain

PERTA'IN, verb intransitive [Latin pertineo, per and tenco, to hold.]

1. To belong; to be the property, right or duty of.

Men hate those who affect honor by ambition, which pertaineth not to them.

He took the fortified cities which pertained to Judah. 2 Kings 18:13.

It pertains to the governor to open the ports by proclamation.

2. To have relation to. Acts 1:3.

Perterebration

PERTEREBRA'TION, noun [Latin per and terebratio.]

The act of boring through.

Perterer

PERT'ERER, noun One that troubles or harasses with vexation.

Pertilence

PERT'ILENCE, noun [Latin pestilentia, from pestilens; pestis, plague.]

1. Plague, appropriately so called; but in a general sense, any contagious or infectious disease that is epidemic and mortal.

2. Corruption or moral disease destructive to happiness.

Profligate habits carry pestilence into the bosom of domestic society.

Pertinacious

PERTINA'CIOUS, adjective [Latin pertinax; per and teneo, to hold.]

1. Holding or adhering to any opinion, purpose or design with obstinacy; obstinate; perversely resolute or persistent; as pertinacious in opinion; a man of pertinacious confidence.

2. Resolute; firm; constant; steady.

Diligence is a steady, constant, pertinacious study--

[This word often implies a censurable degree of firmness of constancy, like obstinacy.

Pertinaciously

PERTINA'CIOUSLY, adverb Obstinately; with firm or perverse adherence to opinion or purpose. He pertinaciously maintains his first opinions.

Pertinaciousness

PERTINA'CIOUSNESS

PERTINAC'ITY, noun [Latin pertinacia.] Firm or unyielding adherence to opinion or purpose; obstinacy. He pursues his scheme with pertinacity.

1. Resolution; constancy.

Pertinacity

PERTINAC'ITY, n. [L. pertinacia.] Firm or unyielding adherence to opinion or purpose; obstinacy. He pursues his scheme with pertinacity. 1. Resolution; constancy.

Pertinacy

PER'TINACY, noun [supra.] Obstinacy; stubbornness; persistency; resolution; steadiness. [Little used.]

Pertinence

PER'TINENCE

PER'TINENCY, noun [Latin pertinens, pertineo; per and teneo, to hold.]

Justness of relation to the subject or matter in hand; fitness; appositeness; suitableness.

I have shown the fitness and pertinency of the apostle's discourse to the person he addressed.

Pertinency

PER'TINENCY, n. [L. pertinens, pertineo; per and teneo, to hold.]

Justness of relation to the subject or matter in hand; fitness; appositeness; suitableness. I have shown the fitness and pertinency of the apostle's discourse to the person he addressed.

Pertinent

PER'TINENT, adjective [Latin pertinens.] Related to the subject or matter in

hand; just to the purpose; adapted to the end proposed; apposite; not foreign to the thing intended. We say, he used an argument not pertinent to his subject or design. The discourse abounds with pertinent remarks. He gave pertinent answers to the questions.

1. Regarding; concerning; belonging. [Little used.]

Pertinently

PER'TINENTLY, adverb Appositely; to the purpose. He answered pertinently

Pertinentness

PER'TINENTNESS, noun Appositeness.

Pertingent

PERTIN'GENT, adjective [Latin pertingens.] Reaching to.

Pertly

PERT'LY, adverb Briskly; smartly; with prompt boldness.

1. Saucily; with indecorous confidence or boldness.

Pertness

PERT'NESS, noun Briskness; smartness.

1. Sauciness; forward promptness or boldness; implying less than effrontery or impudence.

Pertness and ignorance may ask a question in three lines, which it will cost learning and ingenuity thirty pages to answer.

2. Petty liveliness; sprightliness without force, dignity or solidity.

There is in Shaftsbury's works a lively pertness and a parade of literature.

Perturb

PERTURB'

PER'TURBATE, verb transitive [Latin perturbo; per and turbo, properly to turn, or to stir by turning.]

1. To disturb; to agitate; to disquiet.

2. To disorder; to confuse.

[This verb is little used. The participle is in use.]

Perturbate

PER'TURBATE, v.t. [L. perturbo; per and turbo, properly to turn, or to stir by turning.] 1. To disturb; to agitate; to disquiet.2. To disorder; to confuse.[This verb is little used. The participle is in use.]

Perturbation

PERTURBA'TION, noun [Latin perturbatio.]

1. Disquiet or agitation of mind.

2. Restlessness of passions; great uneasiness.

3. Disturbance; disorder; commotion in public affairs.

4. Disturbance of passions; commotion of spirit.

5. Cause of disquiet.

O polished perturbation golden care!

Perturbator

PERTURBA'TOR

PERTURB'ED, participle passive Disturbed; agitated; disquieted.

Rest, rest, perturbed spirit.

Perturbed

PERTURB'ED, pp. Disturbed; agitated; disquieted. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit.

Perturber

PERTURB'ER, noun One that disturbs or raises commotion. [Little used.]

Pertuse

PERTU'SE

PERTU'SED, adjective [Latin pertusus, pertundo; per and tundo, to beat.]

1. Punched; pierced with holes.

2. In botany, full of hollow dots on the surface, as a leaf.

Pertused

PERTU'SED, a. [L. pertusus, pertundo; per and tundo, to beat.] 1. Punched; pierced with holes.2. In botany, full of hollow dots on the surface, as a leaf.

Pertusion

PERTU'SION, noun s as z. [Latin pertusus, pertundo.]

1. The act of punching, piercing or thrusting through with a pointed instrument.

The manner of opening a vein in Hippocrates's time, was by stabbing or pertusion

2. A little hole made by punching; a perforation.

Peruke

PERU'KE, noun An artificial cap of hair; a periwig.

Peruke-Maker

PERU'KE-MAKER, noun A maker of perukes; a wig-maker.

Peruriousness

PERU'RIOUSNESS, noun Parsimony; a sordid disposition to save money.

1. Scantiness; not plenty.

Perusal

PERU'SAL, noun s as z. [from peruse.] The act of reading.

This treatise requires application in the perusal

1. Careful view or examination. [Unusual.]

Peruse

PERU'SE, verb transitive s as z. [Some of the senses of this word would lead to the inference that it is from the Latin perviso. If not, I know not its origin.]

1. To read, or to read with attention.

2. To observe; to examine with careful survey.

I have perus'd her well.

Myself I then perus'd, and limb by limb

Survey'd.

Perused

PERU'SED, participle passive Read; observed; examined.

Peruser

PERU'SER, noun One that reads or examines.

Perusing

PERU'SING, participle present tense Reading; examining.

Peruvian

PERU'VIAN, adjective Pertaining to Peru, in South America.

Peruvian bark, the bark of the Cinchona, a tree of Peru; called also Jesuits' bark. The taste is bitter and pungent, and it is used as an astringent and tonic, in cases of debility, and particularly as a febrifuge in intermittents.

Pervade

PERVA'DE, verb transitive [Latin pervado; per and vado, to go; Eng. to wade.]

1. To pass through an aperture, pore or interstice; to permeate; as liquors that pervade the pores.

2. To pass or spread through the whole extent of a thing and into every minute part.

What but God

Pervades, adjusts and agitates the whole?

3. We use this verb in a transitive form to express a passive or an intransitive signification. Thus when we say, 'the electric fluid pervades the earth, ' or 'either pervades the universe, ' we mean only that the fluid is diffused through the earth or universe, or exists in all parts of them. So when we say, 'a spirit of conciliation pervades all classes of men, ' we may mean that such a spirit passes through all classes, or it exists among all classes.

Pervaded

PERVA'DED, participle passive Passed through; permeated; penetrated in every part.

Pervading

PERVA'DING, participle present tense Passing through or extending to every part of a thing.

Pervasion

PERVA'SION, noun s as z. The act of pervading or passing through the whole extent of a thing.

Perverse

PERVERSE, adjective pervers'. [Latin perversus. See Pervert.]

1. Literally, turned aside; hence, distorted from the right.

2. Obstinate in the wrong; disposed to be contrary; stubborn; untractable.

To so perverse a sex all grace is vain.

3. Cross; petulant; peevish; disposed to cross and vex.

I'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay.

Perversely

PERVERSELY, adverb pervers'ly. With intent to vex; crossly; peevishly; obstinately in the wrong.

Perverseness

PERVERSENESS, noun pervers'ness. Disposition to cross or vex; untractableness; crossness of temper; a disposition uncomplying, unaccommodating or acting in opposition to what is proper or what is desired by others.

Her whom he wishes most, shall seldom gain

Through her perverseness

1. Perversion. [Not used.]

Perversion

PERVER'SION, noun [Latin perversus.] The act of perverting; a turning from truth or propriety; a diverting from the true intent or object; change to something worse. We speak of the perversion of the laws, when they are misinterpreted or misapplied; a perversion of reason, when it is misemployed; a perversion of Scripture, when it is willfully misinterpreted or misapplied, etc.

Perversity

PERVERS'ITY, noun Perverseness; crossness; disposition to thwart or cross.

Perversive

PERVERS'IVE, adjective Tending to pervert or corrupt.

Pervert

PERVERT', verb transitive [Latin perverto; per and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn from truth, propriety, or from its proper purpose; to distort from its true use or end; as, to pervert reason by misdirecting it; to pervert the laws by misinterpreting and misapplying them; to pervert justice; to pervert the meaning of an author; to pervert nature; to pervert truth.

2. To turn from the right; to corrupt.

He in the serpent had perverted Eve.

Perverted

PERVERT'ED, participle passive Turned from right to wrong; distorted; corrupted; misinterpreted; misemployed.

Perverter

PERVERT'ER, noun One that perverts or turns from right to wrong; one that distorts, misinterprets or misapplies.

Pervertible

PERVERT'IBLE, adjective That may be perverted.

Perverting

PERVERT'ING, participle present tense Turning from right to wrong; distorting; misinterpreting; misapplying; corrupting.

[Pervert, when used of persons, usually implies evil design.]

Pervestigate

PERVES'TIGATE, verb transitive [Latin pervestigo; per and vestigo, to trace; vestigium, a track.] To find out by research.

Pervestigation

PERVESTIGA'TION, noun Diligent inquiry; thorough research.

Pervicacious

PERVICA'CIOUS, adjective [Latin pervicax; composed perhaps of per and Teutonic wigan, to strive or contend.]

Very obstinate; stubborn; willfully contrary or refractory.

Pervicaciously

PERVICA'CIOUSLY, adverb With willful obstinacy.

Pervicaciousness

PERVICA'CIOUSNESS

PERVICAC'ITY, noun Stubbornness; willful obstinacy. [Little used.]

Pervicacity

PERVICAC'ITY , n. Stubbornness; willful obstinacy. [Little used.]

Pervious

PER'VIOUS, adjective [Latin pervius; per and via, way, or from the root of that word.]

1. Admitting passage; that may be penetrated by another body or substance; permeable; penetrable. We say, glass is pervious to light; a porous stone is pervious to water; a wood is pervious or not pervious to a body of troops.

A country pervious to the arms and authority of the conqueror.

2. That may be penetrated by the mental sight.

By darkness they mean God, whose secrets are pervious to no eye.

3. Pervading; permeating; as pervious fire. [Not proper.]

Perviousness

PER'VIOUSNESS, noun The quality of admitting passage or of being penetrated; as the perviousness of glass to light.

Pesade

PESA'DE, noun The motion of a horse when he raises his fore quarters, keeping his hind feet on the ground without advancing.

Peso

PE'SO, noun [supra.] A Spanish coin weighing an ounce; a piaster; a piece of eight.

Pessary

PES'SARY, noun [Latin pessus.] A solid substance composed of wool, lint or linen, mixed with powder, oil, wax, etc. made round and long like a finger, to be introduced into the neck of the matrix for the cure of some disorder.instrument that is introduced into the vagina to support the uterus. It is made of wood, elastic gum, waxed linen, etc.

Pest

PEST, noun [Latin pestis; Heb. to be fetid.]

1. Plague; pestilence; a fatal epidemic disease.

Let fierce Achilles

The god propitiate, and the pest assuage.

2. Any thing very noxious, mischievous or destructive. The tale bearer, the gambler, the libertine, the drunkard, are pests to society.

Of all virtues justice is the best;

Valor without it is a common pest

Pester

PEST'ER, verb transitive To trouble; to disturb; to annoy; to harass with little vexations.

We are pestered with mice and rats.

A multitude of scribblers daily pester the world with their insufferable stuff.

1. To encumber.

Pestered

PEST'ERED, participle passive Troubled; disturbed; annoyed.

Pestering

PEST'ERING, participle present tense Troubling; disturbing.

Pesterous

PEST'EROUS, adjective Encumbering; burdensome. [Little used.]

Pesthouse

PEST'HOUSE, noun A house or hospital for persons infected with any contagious and mortal disease.

Pestiferous

PESTIF'EROUS, adjective [Latin pestis, plague, and fero, to produce.]

1. Pestilential; noxious to health; malignant; infectious; contagious.

2. Noxious to peace, to morals or to society; mischievous; destructive.

3. Troublesome; vexatious.

Pestilent

PEST'ILENT, adjective [Latin pestilens, from pestis, plague.]

1. Producing the plague, or other malignant, contagious disease; noxious to health and life; as a pestilent air or climate.

2. Mischievous; noxious to morals or society; destructive; in a general sense; as pestilent books.

3. Troublesome; mischievous; making disturbance; corrupt; as a pestilent fellow. Acts 24:5.

Pestilential

PESTILEN'TIAL, adjective Partaking of the nature of the plague or other infectious disease; as a pestilential fever.

1. Producing or tending to produce infectious disease; as pestilential vapors.

2. Mischievous; destructive; pernicious.

Pestilently

PEST'ILENTLY, adverb Mischievously; destructively.

Pestillation

PESTILLA'TION, noun [from Latin pistillum; Eng. pestle.]

The act of pounding and bruising in a mortar. [Little used.]

Pestle

PESTLE, noun pes'l. [Latin pistillum, and probably pinso, for piso, to pound or beat.] An instrument for pounding and breaking substances in a mortar.

PESTLE of port, a gammon of bacon.

Pet

PET, noun [This word may be contracted from petulant, or belong to the root of that word. Peevish, which is evidently a contracted word, may be from the same root.]

A slight fit of peevishness or fretful discontent.

Life given for noble purposes must not be thrown away in a pet nor whined away in love.

PET, noun [formerly peat. Latin peto.]

1. A cade lamb; a lamb brought up by hand.

2. A fondling; any little animal fondled and indulged.

PET, verb transitive To treat as a pet; to fondle; to indulge.

Petal

PE'TAL, noun [Gr. to expand; Latin pateo.] In botany, a flower leaf. In flowers of one petal the corol and petal are the same. In flowers of several petals, the corol is the whole, and the petals are the parts, or the petal is one of the leaves of which the whole corol is composed.

Petal-Shaped

PET'AL-SHAPED, a Having the shape of a petal.

Petaled

PET'ALED

PET'ALINE, adjective Pertaining to a petal; attached to a petal; as a petaline nectary.

Petaline

PET'ALINE, a. Pertaining to a petal; attached to a petal; as a petaline nectary.

Petalism

PET'ALISM, noun [Gr. See Petal.] A form of sentence among the ancient Syracusans, by which they proscribed a citizen whose wealth or popularity alarmed their jealousy, or who was suspected of aspiring to sovereign power; temporary proscription, or banishment for five years. The mode was to give their votes by writing his name on a leaf. petalism in Syracuse answered to ostracism in Athens.

Petalite

PET'ALITE, noun [Gr. a leaf.] A rare mineral occurring in masses, having a foliated structure; its color milk white or shaded with gray, red or green. The new alkali, lithia, was first discovered in this mineral.

Petaloid

PET'ALOID, adjective [petal and Gr. form.] Having the form of petals.

Petalous

PET'ALOUS, adjective Having petals; as a petaled flower; opposed to apetalous. This word is much used in compounds; as one-petaled; three petaled.

Petard

PET'ARD, noun An engine of war made of metal, nearly in the shape of a hat, to be loaded with powder and fixed on a madrier or plank, and used to break gates, barricades, draw-bridges and the like, by explosion.

Petechiae

PETE'CHIAE, noun Purple spots which appear on the skin in malignant fevers.

Petechial

PETE'CHIAL, adjective Spotted. A petechial fever is a malignant fever accompanied with purple spots on the skin.

Petency

COMPETENCE, PETENCY, noun

1. Sufficiency; such a quantity as is sufficient; property or means of subsistence sufficient to furnish the necessaries and conveniences of life, without superfluity.

Reasons whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,

Lie in three words, health, peace, and competence.

2. Sufficiency, applied to other things than property; but this application is less common.

3. Legal capacity or qualifications; fitness; as the competence of a witness, which consists in his having the qualifications required by law, as age, soundness of mind, impartiality, etc.

4. Right or authority; legal power or capacity to take cognizance of a cause; as the competence of a judge or court to examine and decide.

5. Fitness; adequacy; suitableness; legal sufficiency; as the competency of evidence.

Peter

PETER

PET'EREL

PE'TERPENCE, noun A tax or tribute formerly paid by the English people to the pope; being a penny for every house, payable at Lammas day. It was called also Romescot.

Peterel

PET'EREL

Peterwort

PE'TERWORT, noun A plant.

Petiolar

PET'IOLAR

PET'IOLARY, adjective Pertaining to a petiole, or proceeding from it; as a petiolar tendril.

1. Formed from a petiole; as a petiolar bud.

2. Growing on a petiole; as a petiolar gland.

Petiolary

PET'IOLARY, a. Pertaining to a petiole, or proceeding from it; as a petiolar tendril. 1. Formed from a petiole; as a petiolar bud.2. Growing on a petiole; as a petiolar gland.

Petiolate

PET'IOLATE

PET'IOLE, noun [Latin petiolus, probably a diminutive from pes, pedis.]

In botany, a leaf-stalk; the foot-stalk of a leaf.

Petiole

PET'IOLE, n. [L. petiolus, probably a diminutive from pes, pedis.]

In botany, a leaf-stalk; the foot-stalk of a leaf.

Petioled

PET'IOLED, adjective Growing on a petiole; as a petiolate leaf.

Petit

PETIT, adjective pet'ty. Small; little; mean.

This word petit is now generally written petty.

PETIT constable, an inferior civil officer subordinate to the high constable.

PETIT jury, a jury of twelve freeholders who are empanneled to try causes at the bar of a court; so called in distinction from the grand jury, which tries the truth of indictments.

PETIT larceny, the stealing of goods of the value of twelve pence, or under that amount; opposed to grand larceny.

serjeanty, in English law, the tenure of lands of the king, by the service of rendering to him annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, lance, etc.

PETIT treason, the crime of killing a person, to whom the offender owes duty or subjection. Thus it is petit treason for a wife to kill her husband, or a servant his lord or master.

Petit-Maitre

PETIT-MAITRE, noun pet'ty-maitre. A spruce fellow that dangles about females; a fop; a coxcomb.

Petition

PETI'TION, noun [Latin petitio, from peto, to ask, properly to urge or press.]

1. In a general sense, a request, supplication or prayer; but chiefly and appropriately, a solemn or formal supplication; a prayer addressed by a person to the Supreme Being, for something needed or desired, or a branch or particular article of prayer.

2. A formal request or supplication, verbal or written; particularly, a written supplication from an inferior to a superior, either to a single person clothed with power, or to a legislative or other body, soliciting some favor, grant, right or mercy.

3. The paper containing a supplication or solicitation. Much of the time of our legislative bodies is consumed in attending to private petitions. The speaker's table is often loaded with petitions. Petitions to the king of Great Britain must contain nothing reflecting on the administration.

PETI'TION, verb transitive To make a request to; to ask from; to solicit; particularly, to make supplication to a superior for some favor or right; as, to petition the legislature; to petition a court of chancery.

The mother petitioned her goddess to bestow on them the greatest gift that could be given.

Petitionarily

PETI'TIONARILY, adverb By way of begging the question.

Petitionary

PETI'TIONARY, adjective Supplicatory; coming with a petition.

Pardon thy petitionary countrymen.

1. Containing a petition or request; as a petitionary prayer; a petitionary epistle.

Petitioner

PETI'TIONER, noun One that presents a petition, either verbal or written.

Petitioning

PETI'TIONING, participle present tense Asking as a favor, grant, right or mercy; supplicating.

PETI'TIONING, noun The act of asking or soliciting; solicitation; supplication. Tumultuous petitioning is made penal by statute.

Petitory

PET'ITORY, adjective Petitioning; soliciting. [Not used.]

Petong

PETONG', noun The Chinese name of a species of copper of a white color. It is sometimes confounded with tutenag.

Petre

PETRE, [See Saltpeter.]

Petrean

PETRE'AN, adjective [Latin petra, a rock.] Pertaining to rock or stone.

Petrel

PET'REL, noun An aquatic fowl of the genus Procellaria.

Petrescence

PETRES'CENCE, noun The process of changing into stone.

Petrescent

PETRES'CENT, adjective [Gr. a stone; Latin petra.]

Converting into stone; changing into stony hardness.

Petrifaction

PETRIFAC'TION, noun [See Petrify.] The process of changing into stone; the conversion of wood or any animal or vegetable substance into stone or a body of stony hardness.

When the water in which wood is lodged is slightly impregnated with petrescent particles, the petrifaction very slowly takes place.

1. That which is converted from animal or vegetable substance into stone.

--The calcarious petrifaction called osteocolla.

An organized body rendered hard by depositions of stony matter in its cavities.

2. In popular usage, a body incrusted with stony matter; an incrustation.

Petrifactive

PETRIFAC'TIVE, adjective Pertaining to petrifaction.

1. Having power to convert vegetable or animal substances into stone.

Petrific

PETRIF'IC, adjective Having power to convert into stone.

The cold, dry, petrific mace of a false and unfeeling philosophy.

Petrificate

PET'RIFICATE, verb transitive To petrify. [Not used.]

Petrification

PETRIFICA'TION, noun The process of petrifying.

1. That which is petrified; a petrifaction.

[The latter word is generally used.]

2. Obduracy; callousness.

Petrified

PET'RIFIED, participle passive Changed into stone.

1. Fixed in amazement.

Petrify

PET'RIFY, verb transitive [Latin petra; Gr. a stone or rock, and facio, to make.]

1. To convert to stone or stony substance; as an animal or vegetable substance.

North of Quito, there is a river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves.

2. To make callous or obdurate; as, to petrify the heart.

And petrify a genius to a dunce.

3. To fix; as, to petrify one with astonishment.

PET'RIFY, verb intransitive To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as animal or vegetable substances by means of calcarious or other depositions in their cavities.