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Potential – Pre-Establishment
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Potential
POTEN'TIAL, adjective [Latin potentialis.] Having power to impress on us the ideas of certain qualities, though the qualities are not inherent in the thing; as potential heat or cold.
1. Existing in possibility, not in act.
This potential and imaginary materia prima, cannot exist without form.
2. Efficacious; powerful. [Not in use.]
Potential cautery, in medicine, is the consuming or reducing to an eschar, any part of the body by a caustic alkaline or metallic salt, etc. instead of a red hot iron, the use of which is called actual cautery.
Potential mode, in grammar, is that form of the verb which is used to express the power, possibility, liberty or necessity of an action or of being; as, I may go; he can write. This, in English, is not strictly a distinct mode, but the indicative or declarative mode, affirming the power to act, instead of the act itself. I may go or can go, are equivalent to, I have power to go.
POTEN'TIAL, noun Any thing that may be possible.
Potentiality
POTENTIAL'ITY, noun Possibility; not actuality.
Potentially
POTEN'TIALLY, adverb In possibility; not in act; not positively.
This duration of human souls is only potentially infinite.
1. In efficacy, not in actuality; as potentially cold.
Potently
PO'TENTLY, adverb Powerfully; with great force or energy.
You are potently opposed.
Potentness
PO'TENTNESS, noun Powerfulness; strength; might. [Little used.]
Potestative
PO'TESTATIVE, adjective [from Latin potestas.] Authoritative. [Not used.]
Potgun
POTGUN, for popgun. [Not used.]
POT'-HANGER, noun [pot and hanger.] A pot-hook.
Pothecary
POTH'ECARY, contracted from apothecary, and very vulgar. [See the latter.]
Pother
POTH'ER, noun [This word is vulgarly pronounced bother. Its origin and affinities are not ascertained.]
1. Bustle; confusion; tumult; flutter. [Low.]
2. A suffocating cloud.
POTH'ER, verb intransitive To make a blustering ineffectual effort; to make a stir.
POTH'ER, verb transitive To harass and perplex; to puzzle.
Potherb
POT'HERB, noun An herb for the pot or for cookery; a culinary plant.
Potion
PO'TION, noun [Latin potio; poto, to drink.]
A draught; usually, a liquid medicine; a dose.
Potlid
POT'LID, noun The lid or cover of a pot.
POT'-MAN, noun A pot companion.
Potsherd
POT'SHERD, noun A piece or fragment of a broken pot. .
Potstone
POT'STONE, noun potstone appears to be indurated black talck, passing into serpentine. It has a curved and undulatingly lamellar structure, passing into slaty.
Potstone is of a greenish gray color. It occurs massive, or in granular concretions.
Potstone is a variety of steatite.
Pottage
POT'TAGE, noun Broth; soup. [See Potage, the more correct orthography.]
Potted
POT'TED, participle passive Preserved or inclosed in a pot; drained in a cask.
Potter
POT'TER, noun [form pot.] One whose occupation is to make earthen vessels.
Pottern-Ore
POT'TERN-ORE, noun A species of ore, which, from its aptness to vitrify like the glazing of potter's ware, the miners call by this name.
Pottery
POT'TERY, noun The vessels or ware made by potters; earthen ware, glazed and baked.
1. The place where earthen vessels are manufactured.
Potting
POT'TING, noun [form pot.] Drinking; tippling.
1. In the W. Indies, the process of putting sugar in casks for draining.
POT'TING, participle present tense Preserving in a pot; draining, as above; drinking.
Pottle
POT'TLE, noun
1. A liquid measure of four pints.
2. A vessel; a pot or tankard.
Pouch
POUCH, noun
1. A small bag; usually, a leathern bag to be carried in the pocket.
2. A protuberant belly.
3. The bag or sack of a fowl, as that of the pelican.
POUCH, verb transitive To pocket; to save.
1. To swallow; used of fowls, whose crop is called in French, poche.
2. To pout. [Not used.]
POUCH'-MOUTHED, adjective Blubber-lipped. [Not used.]
POUL'-DAVIS, noun A sort of sail cloth. [Not used.]
POULE. [See Pool.]
Poule
POULE, noun The stakes played for in certain games of cards.
Poult
POULT, noun A young chicken. [Little used.]
Poulterer
POULTERER, noun
1. One who makes it his business to sell fowls for the table.
2. Formerly, in England, an officer of the king's household, who had the charge of the poultry.
Poultice
POULTICE, noun [Latin puls, pultis.] A cataplasm; a soft composition of meal, bran, or the like substance, to be applied to sores, inflamed parts of the body, etc.
POULTICE, verb transitive To apply a cataplasm to.
Poultive
POULTIVE, for poultice, is not used.
Poultry
POULTRY, noun [Latin pullus, a chicken, or other young animal; allied to Eng. foal; Latin pullulo.] Domestic fowls which are propagated and fed for the table, such as cocks and hens, capons, turkeys, ducks and geese.
Poultry-Yard
POULTRY-YARD, noun A yard or place where fowls are kept for the use of the table.
Pounce
POUNCE, noun pouns.
1. Gum-sandarach pulverized, a fine powder used to prevent ink from spreading on paper.
2. Charcoal dust inclosed in some open stuff, as muslin, etc. to be passed over holes pricked in the work, to mark the lines or designs on a paper underneath. This kind of pounce is used by embroiderers to transfer their patterns upon their stuffs; also by lace-makers, and sometimes by engravers. It is also used in varnishing.
3. Cloth worked in eyelet-holes.
POUNCE, verb transitive To sprinkle or rub with pounce
POUNCE, noun [Latin pungo.] The claw or talon of a bird of prey.
POUNCE, verb intransitive To fall on suddenly; to fall on and seize with the claws; as, a rapacious fowl pounces on a chicken.
Pounce-Box
POUNCE-BOX
POUN'CED, participle passive Furnished with claws or talons.
Pounced
POUN'CED, pp. Furnished with claws or talons.
Pouncet-Box
POUN'CET-BOX, noun A small box with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling pounce on paper.
Pound
POUND, noun [Latin pondo, pondus, weight, a pound; pendo, to weigh, to bend.]
1. A standard weight consisting of twelve ounces troy or sixteen ounces avoirdupois.
2. A money of account consisting of twenty shillings, the value of which is different in different countries. The pound sterling is equivalent to $4.44.44 cts. money of the United States. In New England and Virginia, the pound is equal to $3 1/3; in New York to $2 1/2.
POUND, noun An inclosure erected by authority, in which cattle or other beasts are confined when taken in trespassing, or going at large in violation of law; a pin-fold.
POUND, verb transitive To confine in a public pound
POUND, verb transitive
1. To beat; to strike with some heavy instrument, and with repeated blows, so as to make an impression.
With cruel blows she pounds her blubber'd cheeks.
2. To comminute and pulverize by beating; to bruise or break into fine parts by a heavy instrument; as, to pound spice or salt.
Loud strokes with pounding spice the fabric rend.
Poundage
POUND'AGE, noun [from pound.] A sum deducted from a pound, or a certain sum paid for each pound.
1. In England, a subsidy of 12d. in the pound, granted to the crown on all goods exported or imported, and if by aliens, more.
Poundbreach
POUND'BREACH, noun The breaking of a public pound for releasing beasts confined in it.
Pounded
POUND'ED, participle passive Beaten or bruised with a heavy instrument; pulverized or broken by pounding.
1. Confined in a pound; impounded.
Pounder
POUND'ER, noun A postle; the instrument of pounding.
1. A person or thing denominated from a certain number of pounds; as a cannon is called a twelve-pounder; a person of ten pounds annual income is called a ten-pounder; a note or bill is called a ten-pounder.
2. A large pear.
Pound foolish. The phrase, penny wise and pound foolish, signified negligent in the care of large sums, but careful to save small sums.
Pounding
POUND'ING, participle present tense Beating; bruising; pulverizing; impounding.
Poupeton
POUPETON, noun A puppet or little baby.
Poupies
POUPIES, noun In cookery, a mess of victuals made of veal steaks and slices of bacon.
Pour
POUR, verb transitive
1. To throw, as a fluid in a stream, either out of a vessel, or into it; as, to pour water from a pail, or out of a pail; to pour wine into a decanter. pour is appropriately but not exclusively applied to fluids, and signifies merely to cast or throw, and this sense is modified by out, from, in, into, against, on, upon, under, etc. It is applied not only to liquors, but to other fluids, and to substances consisting of fine particles; as, to pour a stream of gas or air upon a fire; to pour out sand. It expresses particularly the bestowing or sending forth in copious abundance.
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. .
To pour out dust. Lex.14.
2. To emit; to send forth in a stream or continued succession.
London doth pout out her citizens.
3. To send forth; as, to pour out words, prayers or sighs; to pour out the heart or soul. .
4. To throw in profusion or with overwhelming force.
I will shortly pour out my fury on thee. .
POUR, verb intransitive To flow; to issue forth in a stream, or continued succession of parts; to move or rush, as a current. The torrent pours down from the mountain, or along the steep descent.
1. To rush in a crowd or continued procession.
A ghastly band of giants,
All pouring down the mountain, crowd the shore.
Poured
POURED, participle passive Sent forth; thrown; as a fluid.
Pourer
POURER, noun One that pours.
Pouring
POURING, participle present tense Sending, as a fluid; driving in a current or continued stream.
Pourlieu
POURLIEU. [See Purlieu.]
Pourpresture
POURPRES'TURE, noun In law, a wrongful inclosure or encroachment on another's property.
Poursuivant
POURSUIVANT. [See Pursuivant.]
Pourveyance
POURVEYANCE. [See Purveyance.]
Pousse
POUSSE, corrupted from pulse, peas.
Pout
POUT, noun A fish of the genus Gadus, about an inch in length; the whiting pout
1. A bird.
2. A fit of sullenness. [Colloquial.]
POUT, verb intransitive
1. To thrust out the lips, as in sullenness, contempt or displeasure; hence, to look sullen.
2. To shoot out; to be prominent; as pouting lips.
Pouter
POU'TER, noun A variety of the common domestic pigeon, with an inflated breast.
Pouting
POUT'ING, participle present tense Shooting out, as the lips.
1. Looking sullen.
Poverty
POV'ERTY, noun [Latin paupertas. See Poor.]
1. Destitution of property; indigence; want of convenient means of subsistence. The consequence of poverty is dependence.
The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty .
2. Barrenness of sentiment or ornament; defect; as the poverty of a composition.
3. Want; defect of words; as the poverty of language.
Powder
POW'DER, noun [Latin pulvis.]
1. Any dry substance composed of minute particles, whether natural or artificial; more generally, a substance comminuted or triturated to fine particles. Thus dust is the powder of earth; flour is the powder of grain. But the word is particularly applied to substances reduced to fine particles for medicinal purposes.
2. A composition of saltpeter, sulphur and charcoal, mixed and granulated; gun-powder.
3. Hair powder; pulverized starch.
POW'DER, verb transitive To reduce to fine particles; to comminute; to pulverize; to triturate; to pound, grind or rub into fine particles.
1. To sprinkle with powder; as, to powder the hair.
2. To sprinkle with salt; to corn; as meat.
POW'DER, verb intransitive To come violently. [Not in use.]
Powder-Box
POW'DER-BOX, noun A box in which hair-powder is kept.
Powder-Cart
POW'DER-CART, noun A cart that carries powder and shot for artillery.
Powder-Chest
POW'DER-CHEST, noun A small box or case charged with powder, old nails, etc. fastened to the side of a ship, to be discharged at an enemy attempting to board.
Powder-Flask
POW'DER-FLASK, noun A flask in which gunpowder is carried.
Powder-Horn
POW'DER-HORN, noun A horn in which gunpowder is carried by sportsmen.
Powder-Mill
POW'DER-MILL, noun A mill in which gunpowder is made.
Powder-Room
POW'DER-ROOM, noun The apartment in a ship where gunpowder is kept.
Powdered
POW'DERED, participle passive Reduced to powder; sprinkled with powder; corned; salted.
Powdering
POW'DERING, participle present tense Pulverizing; sprinkling with powder; corning; salting.
Powdering-Tub
POW'DERING-TUB, noun A tub or vessel in which meat is corned or salted.
1. The place where an infected lecher is cured.
Powdery
POW'DERY, adjective Friable; easily crumbling to pieces.
1. Dusty; sprinkled with powder.
2. Resembling powder.
Powdike
POW'DIKE, noun A marsh or fen dike. [Local.]
Power
POW'ER, noun [The Latin has posse, possum, potes, potentia. The primary sense of the verb is to strain, to exert force.]
1. In a philosophical sense, the faculty of doing or performing any thing; the faculty of moving or of producing a change in something; ability or strength. A man raises his hand by his own power or by power moves another body. The exertion of power proceeds from the will, and in strictness, no being destitute of will or intelligence, can exert power power in man is active or speculative. Active power is that which moves the body; speculative power is that by which we see, judge, remember, or in general, by which we think.
Power may exist without exertion. We have power to speak when we are silent.
Power has been distinguished also into active and passive, the power of doing or moving, and the power of receiving impressions or of suffering. In strictness, passive power is an absurdity in terms. To say that gold has a power to be melted, is improper language, yet for want of a more appropriate word, power is often used in a passive sense, and is considered as two-fold; viz.as able to make or able to receive any change.
2. Force; animal strength; as the power of the arm, exerted in lifting, throwing or holding.
3. Force; strength; energy; as the power of the mind, of the imagination, of the fancy. He has not powers of genius adequate to the work.
4. Faculty of the mind, as manifested by a particular mode of operation; as the power of thinking, comparing and judging; the reasoning powers.
5. Ability, natural or moral. We say, a man has the power of doing good; his property gives him the power of relieving the distressed; or he has the power to persuade others to do good; or it is not in his power to pay his debts. The moral power of man is also his power of judging or discerning in moral subjects.
6. In mechanics, that which produces motion or force, or which may be applied to produce it. Thus the inclined plane is called a mechanical power as it produces motion, although this in reality depends on gravity. The wheel and axle, and the lever, are mechanical powers, as they may be applied to produce force. These powers are also called forces, and they are of two kinds, moving power and sustaining power
7. Force. The great power of the screw is of extensive use in compression. The power of steam is immense.
8. That quality in any natural body which produces a change or makes an impression on another body; as the power of medicine; the power of heat; the power of sound.
9. Force; strength; momentum; as the power of the wind, which propels a ship or overturns a building.
10. Influence; that which may move the mind; as the power of arguments or of persuasion.
11. Command; the right of governing, or actual government; dominion; rule, sway; authority. A large portion of Asia is under the power of the Russian emperor. The power of the British monarch is limited by law. The powers of government are legislative, executive, judicial, and ministerial.
Power is no blessing in itself, but when it is employed to protect the innocent.
Under this sense may be comprehended civil, political, ecclesiastical, and military power
12. A sovereign, whether emperor, king or governing prince or the legislature of a state; as the powers of Europe; the great powers; the smaller powers. In this sense, the state or nation governed seems to be included in the word power Great Britain is a great naval power
13. One invested with authority; a ruler; a civil magistrate. .
14. Divinity; a celestial or invisible being or agent supposed to have dominion over some part of creation; as celestial powers; the powers of darkness.
15. That which has physical power; an army; a navy; a host; a military force.
Never such a power--
Was levied in the body of a land.
16. Legal authority; warrant; as a power of attorney; an agent invested with ample power The envoy has full powers to negotiate a treaty.
17. In arithmetic and algebra, the product arising from the multiplication of a number or quantity into itself; as, a cube is the third power; the biquadrate is the fourth power
18. In Scripture, right; privilege. . .
19. Angels, good or bad. . .
20. Violence, force; compulsion. .
21. Christ is called the power of God, as through him and his gospel, God displays his power and authority in ransoming and saving sinners. .
22. The powers of heaven may denote the celestial luminaries. .
23. Satan is said to have the power of death, as he introduced sin, the cause of death, temporal and eternal, and torments men with the feat of death and future misery.
24. In vulgar language, a large quantity; a great number; as a power of good things. [This is, I believe, obsolete, even among our common people.]
Power of attorney, authority given to a person to act for another.
Powerful
POW'ERFUL, adjective Having great physical or mechanical power; strong; forcible; mighty; as a powerful army or navy; a powerful engine.
1. Having great moral power; forcible to persuade or convince the mind; as a powerful reason or argument.
2. Possessing great political and military power; strong in extent of dominion or national resources; potent; as a powerful monarch or prince; a powerful nation.
3. Efficacious; possessing or exerting great force or producing great effects; as a powerful medicine.
4. In general, able to produce great effects; exerting great force or energy; as a powerful eloquence.
The word of God is quick and powerful .
5. Strong; intense; as a powerful heat or light.
Powerfully
POW'ERFULLY, adverb With great force or energy; potently; mightily; with great effect; forcibly; either in a physical or moral sense. Certain medicines operate powerfully on the stomach; the practice of virtue is powerfully recommended by its utility.
Powerfulness
POW'ERFULNESS, noun The quality of having or exerting great power; force; power; might.
Powerless
POW'ERLESS, adjective Destitute of power, force or energy; weak; impotent; not able to produce any effect.
Powldron
POWL'DRON, noun In heraldry, that part of armor which covers the shoulders.
Powter
POW'TER
POX, noun Strictly, pustules or eruptions of any kind, but chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, the small pox, chicken pox, the vaccine and the venereal diseases. Pox, when used without an epithet, signifies the latter, lues venerea.
Pox
POX, n. Strictly, pustules or eruptions of any kind, but chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, the small pox, chicken pox, the vaccine and the venereal diseases. Pox, when used without an epithet, signifies the latter, lues venerea.
Poy
POY, noun A rope dancer's pole.
Poze
POZE, for pose, to puzzle. [See Pose.]
Practic
PRAC'TIC, for practical, is not in use. It was formerly used for practical, and Spenser uses it in the sense of artful.
Practicability
PRACTICABIL'ITY
PRAC'TICABLE, adjective
1. That may be done, effected or performed by human means, or by powers that can be applied. It is sometimes synonymous with possible, but the words differ in this; possible is applied to that which might be performed, if the necessary powers or means could be obtained; practicable is limited in its application to things which are to be performed by the means given, or which may be applied. It was possible for Archimedes to lift the world, but it was not practicable.
2. That may be practiced; as a practicable virtue.
3. That admits of use, or that may be passed or traveled; as a practicable road. In military affairs, a practicable breach is one that can be entered by troops.
Practicable
PRAC'TICABLE, a. 1. That may be done, effected or performed by human means, or by powers that can be applied. It is sometimes synonymous with possible, but the words differ in this; possible is applied to that which might be performed, if the necessary powers or means could be obtained; practicable is limited in its application to things which are to be performed by the means given, or which may be applied. It was possible for Archimedes to lift the world, but it was not practicable.2. That may be practiced; as a practicable virtue.3. That admits of use, or that may be passed or traveled; as a practicable road. In military affairs, a practicable breach is one that can be entered by troops.
Practicableness
PRACTICABLENESS, noun [from practicable.] The quality or state of being practicable; feasibility.
Practicably
PRAC'TICABLY, adverb In such a manner as may be performed. 'A rule practicably applied before his eyes, ' is not correct language. It is probably a mistake for practically.
Practical
PRAC'TICAL, adjective [Latin practicus.] Pertaining to practice or action.
1. Capable of practice or active use; opposed to speculative; as a practical understanding.
2. That may be used in practice; that may be applied to use; as practical knowledge.
3. That reduces his knowledge or theories to actual use; as a practical man.
4. Derived from practice or experience; as practical skill or knowledge.
Practically
PRAC'TICALLY, adverb In relation to practice.
1. By means of practice or use; by experiment; as practically wise or skillful.
2. In practice or use; as a medicine practically safe; theoretically wrong, but practically right.
Practicalness
PRAC'TICALNESS, noun The quality of being practical.
Practice
PRAC'TICE, noun [Gr. to act, to do, to make; Eng. to brook, and broker; Latin fruor, for frugor or frucor, whence fructus, contracted into fruit; frequens.]
1. Frequent or customary actions; a succession of acts of a similar kind or in a like employment; as the practice of rising early or of dining late; the practice of reading a portion of Scripture morning and evening; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of virtue or vice. Habit is the effect of practice
2. Use; customary use.
Obsolete words may be revived when the are more sounding or significant than those in practice
3. Dexterity acquired by use. [Unusual.]
4. Actual performance; distinguished from theory.
There are two functions of the soul, contemplation and practice according to the general division of objects, some of which only entertain our speculations, others employ our actions.
5. Application of remedies; medical treatment of diseases. Tow physicians may differ widely in their practice
6. Exercise of any profession; as the practice of law or of medicine; the practice of arms.
7. Frequent use; exercise for instruction or discipline. The troops are daily called out for practice
8. Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; usually in a bad sense.
He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.
[This use of the word is genuine; from Latin experior. It is not a mistake as Johnson supposes. See the Verb.]
9. A rule in arithmetic, by which the operations of the general rules are abridged in use.
PRAC'TICE, verb transitive [From the noun. The orthography of the verb ought to be the same as of the noun; as in notice and to notice.]
1. To do or perform frequently, customarily or habitually; to perform by a succession of acts; as, to practice gaming; to practice fraud or deception; to practice the virtues of charity and beneficence; to practice hypocrisy. .
Many praise virtue who do not practice it.
2. To use or exercise any profession or art; as, to practice law or medicine; to practice gunnery or surveying.
3. To use or exercise for instruction, discipline or dexterity. [In this sense, the verb is usually intransitive.]
4. To commit; to perpetrate; as the horrors practiced at Wyoming.
5. To use; as a practiced road. [Unusual.]
PRAC'TICE, verb intransitive To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broad sword; to practice with the rifle.
1. To form a habit of acting in any manner.
They shall practice how to live secure.
2. To transact or negotiate secretly.
I have practic'd with him,
And found means to let the victor know
That Syphax and Sempronius are his friends.
3. To try artifices.
Others, by guilty artifice and arts
Of promis'd kindness, practic'd on our hearts.
4. To use evil arts or stratagems.
If you there
Did practice on my state--
5. To use medical methods or experiments.
I am little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me.
6. To exercise any employment or profession. A physician has practiced many years with success.
Practiced
PRAC'TICED, participle passive Done by a repetition of acts; customarily performed or used.
Practicer
PRAC'TICER, noun One that practices; one that customarily performs certain acts.
1. One who exercises a profession. In this sense, practitioner is generally used.
Practicing
PRAC'TICING, participle present tense Performing or using customarily; exercising, as an art or profession.
Practisant
PRAC'TISANT, noun An agent. [Not used.]
Practitioner
PRACTI'TIONER, noun One who is engaged in the actual use or exercise of any art or profession, particularly in law or medicine.
1. One who does any thing customarily or habitually.
2. One that practices sly or dangerous arts.
Praecognita
PRAECOG'NITA, noun plural [Latin before known.] Things previously known in order to understand something else. Thus a knowledge of the structure of the human body is one of the praeacognita of medical science and skill.
Praemunire
PRAEMUNI'RE, noun [a corruption of the Latin praemonere, to pre-admonish.]
1. A writ, or the offense for which it is granted. The offense consists in introducing a foreign authority or power into England, that is, introducing and maintaining the papal power, creating imperium in imperio, and yielding that obedience to the mandates of the pope, which constitutionally belongs to the king. Both the offense and the writ are so denominated from the words used in the writ, praemunine facias, cause A B to be forewarned to appear before us to answer the contempt wherewith he stands charged.
2. The penalty incurred by infringing a statute.
Pragmatic
PRAGMAT'IC, PRAGMAT'ICAL, adjective [Latin pragmaticus; Gr. business; to do. See Practice.]
Forward to intermeddle; meddling; impertinently busy or officious in the concerns of others, without leave or invitation. The fellow grew so pragmatical, that he took upon him the government of my whole family.
Pragmatic sanction, in the German empire, the settlement made by Charles VI. the emperor, who in 1722, having no sons, settled his hereditary dominions on his eldest daughter, the archduchess Maria Theresa, which settlement was confirmed by most of the powers of Europe.
In the civil law, pragmatic sanction may be defined, a rescript or answer of the sovereign, delivered by advice of his council to some college, order, or body of people, who consult him in relation to the affairs of their community. The like answer given to a particular person, is called simply a rescript. Hottoman Encyclopedia
Pragmatical
PRAGMAT'ICAL, a. [L. pragmaticus; Gr. business; to do. See Practice.] Forward to intermeddle; meddling; impertinently busy or officious in the concerns of others, without leave or invitation. The fellow grew so pragmatical, that he took upon him the government of my whole family. Pragmatic sanction, in the German empire, the settlement made by Charles VI. the emperor, who in 1722, having no sons, settled his hereditary dominions on his eldest daughter, the archduchess Maria Theresa, which settlement was confirmed by most of the powers of Europe.the civil law, pragmatic sanction may be defined, a rescript or answer of the sovereign, delivered by advice of his council to some college, order, or body of people, who consult him in relation to the affairs of their community. The like answer given to a particular person, is called simply a rescript.
Pragmatically
PRAGMAT'ICALLY, adverb In a meddling manner; impertinently.
Pragmaticalness
PRAGMAT'ICALNESS, noun The quality of intermeddling without right or invitation.
Pragmatist
PRAG'MATIST, noun One who is impertinently busy or meddling.
Prairy
PRAIRY, noun An extensive tract of land, mostly level, destitute of trees, and covered with tall coarse grass. These prairies are numerous in the United States, west of the Alleghany mountains, especially between the Ohio, Mississippi and the great lakes.
Praisable
PRA'ISABLE, adjective That may be praised. [Not used.]
Praise
PRAISE, noun s as z. [Latin pretium.]
1. Commendation bestowed on a person for his personal virtues or worthy actions, on meritorious actions themselves, or on any thing valuable; approbation expressed in words or song. praise may be expressed by an individual, and in this circumstance differs from fame, renown, and celebrity, which are the expression of the approbation of numbers, or public commendation. When praise is applied to the expression of public approbation, it may be synonymous with renown, or nearly so. A man may deserve the praise of an individual, or of a nation.
There are men who always confound the praise of goodness with the practice.
2. The expression of gratitude for personal favors conferred; a glorifying or extolling.
He hath put a new song into my mouth, even praise to our God. .
3. The object, ground or reason of praise
He is thy praise and he is thy God. .
PRAISE, verb transitive [Latin tollo, extollo; pretium.]
1. To commend; to applaud; to express approbation of personal worth or actions.
We praise not Hector, though his name we know
Is great in arms; 'tis hard to praise a foe.
2. To extol in words or song; to magnify; to glorify on account of perfections or excellent works.
PRAISE him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts. .
3. To express gratitude for personal favors.
4. To do honor to; to display the excellence of.
All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord.
Praised
PRA'ISED, participle passive Commended; extolled.
Praiseful
PRA'ISEFUL, adjective Laudable; commendable. [Not used.]
Praiseless
PRA'ISELESS, adjective Without praise or commendation.
Praiser
PRA'ISER, noun One who praises, commends or extols; an applauder; a commender.
Praiseworthily
PRAISEWORTHILY, adverb In a manner deserving of commendation.
Praiseworthiness
PRAISEWORTHINESS, noun The quality of deserving commendation.
Praiseworthy
PRAISEWORTHY, adjective Deserving of praise or applause; commendable; as a praiseworthy action.
Praising
PRA'ISING, participle present tense Commending; extolling in words or song.
Prame
PRAME, n. A flat-bottomed boat or lighter; used in Holland for conveying goods to or from a ship in loading or unloading. 1. In military affairs, a kind of floating battery or flat-bottomed vessel, mounting several cannon; used in covering the disembarkation of troops.
Prance
PR'ANCE, verb intransitive prans.
1. To spring or bound, as a horse in high mettle.
Now rule thy prancing steed.
2. To ride with bounding movements; to ride ostentatiously.
Th' insulting tyrant prancing o'er the field.
3. To walk or strut about in a showy manner or with warlike parade.
Prancing
PR'ANCING, participle present tense Springing; bounding; riding with gallant show.
PR'ANCING, noun A springing or bounding, as of a high spirited horse. .
Prank
PRANK, verb transitive To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or adjust to ostentation.
In sumptuous tire she joyed herself to prank
It is often followed by up.
--And me, poor lowly maid,
Most goddess-like prankt up.
PRANK, noun Properly, a sudden start or sally. [See Prance.] Hence, a wild flight; a capering; a gambol.
1. A capricious action; a ludicrous or merry trick, or a mischievous act, rather for sport than injury. Children often play their pranks on each other.
--In came the harpies and played their accustomed pranks.
PRANK, adjective Frolicksome; full of gambols or tricks.
Pranked
PRANK'ED
PRANK'ER, noun One that dresses ostentatiously.
Pranker
PRANK'ER, n. One that dresses ostentatiously.
Pranking
PRANK'ING, ppr. Setting off or adorning for display.
PRANK'ING, n. Ostentatious display of dress.
Prankt
PRANKT, participle passive Adorned in a showy manner.
Prase
PRASE, noun s as z. A silicious mineral; a subspecies of quartz of a leek green color.
Prason
PRASON, noun pra'sn. [Gr.] A leek; also, a sea weed green as a leek.
Prate
PRATE, verb intransitive To talk much and without weight, or to little purpose; to be loquacious; as the vulgar express it, to run on.
To prate and talk for life and honor,
And make a fool presume to prate of love.
PRATE, verb transitive To utter foolishly.
What nonsense would the fool, thy master, prate
When thou, his knave, canst talk at such a rate?
PRATE, noun Continued talk to little purpose; trifling talk; unmeaning loquacity.
Prater
PRA'TER, noun One that talks much to little purpose, or on trifling subjects.
Pratic
PRAT'IC
PRA'TING, participle present tense Talking much on a trifling subject; talking idly.
Prating
PRA'TING, ppr. Talking much on a trifling subject; talking idly.
Pratingly
PRA'TINGLY, adverb With much idle talk; with loquacity.
Pratique
PRATIQUE, noun In commerce, primarily, converse; intercourse; the communication between a ship and the port in which she arrives. Hence, a license or permission to hold intercourse and trade with the inhabitants of a place, after having performed quarantine, or upon a certificate that the ship did not come from an infected place; a term used particularly in the south of Europe, where vessels coming from countries infected with contagious diseases, are subjected to quarantine.
Prattle
PRAT'TLE, verb intransitive [dim. of prate.] To talk much and idly; to be loquacious on trifling subjects.
This word is particularly applied to the talk of children.
PRAT'TLE, noun Trifling talk; loquacity on trivial subjects.
Mere prattle without practice,
Is all his soldiership.
Prattlement
PRAT'TLEMENT, noun Prattle.
Prattler
PRAT'TLER, noun An idle talker.
Prattling
PRAT'TLING, participle present tense Talking much on trivial affairs.
Pravity
PRAV'ITY, noun [Latin pravitas, from pravus, crooked, evil.]
Deviation from right; moral perversion; want of rectitude; corrupt state; as the pravity of human nature; the pravity of the will.
Prawn
PRAWN. noun A small crustaceous fish of the genus Cancer, with a serrated snout bending upwards.
Praxis
PRAX'IS, noun [Latin from the Gr. See Practice.] Use; practice.
1. An example or form to teach practice.
Pray
PRAY, verb intransitive [Latin precor; proco; this word belongs to the same family as preach and reproach; Heb. to bless, to reproach; rendered in , to curse; properly, to reproach, to rail at or upbraid. In Latin the word precor signifies to supplicate good or evil, and precis signifies a prayer and a curse. See Imprecate.]
1. To ask with earnestness or zeal, as for a favor, or for something desirable; to entreat; to supplicate.
PRAY for them who despitefully use you and persecute you. .
2. To petition; to ask, as for a favor; as in application to a legislative body.
3. In worship, to address the Supreme Being with solemnity and reverence, with adoration, confession of sins, supplication for mercy, and thanksgiving for blessings received.
When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. .
4. I pray that is, I pray you tell me, or let me know, is a common mode of introducing a question.
PRAY, verb transitive To supplicate; to entreat; to urge.
We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. .
1. In worship, to supplicate; to implore; to ask with reverence and humility.
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee.
.
2. To petition. The plaintiff prays judgment of the court.
He that will have the benefit of this act, must pray a prohibition before a sentence in the ecclesiastical court.
3. To ask or intreat in ceremony or form.
PRAY my colleague Antonius I may speak with him.
[In most instances, this verb is transitive only by ellipsis. To pray God, is used for to pray to God; to pray a prohibition, is to pray for a prohibition, etc.]
To pray in aid, in law, is to call in for help one who has interest in the cause.
Prayer
PRA'YER, noun In a general sense, the act of asking for a favor, and particularly with earnestness.
1. In worship, a solemn address to the Supreme Being, consisting of adoration, or an expression of our sense of God's glorious perfections, confession of our sins, supplication for mercy and forgiveness, intercession for blessings on others, and thanksgiving, or an expression of gratitude to God for his mercies and benefits. A prayer however may consist of a single petition, and it may be extemporaneous, written or printed.
2. A formula of church service, or of worship, public or private.
3. Practice of supplication.
As he is famed for mildness, peace and prayer
4. That part of a memorial or petition to a public body, which specifies the request or thing desired to be done or granted, as distinct from the recital of facts or reasons for the grant. We say, the prayer of the petition is that the petitioner may be discharged from arrest.
Prayer-Book
PRA'YER-BOOK, noun A book containing prayers or the forms of devotion, public or private.
Prayerful
PRA'YERFUL, adjective Devotional; given to prayer; as a prayerful frame of mind.
1. Using much prayer.
Prayerfully
PRA'YERFULLY, adverb With much prayer.
Prayerless
PRA'YERLESS, adjective Not using prayer; habitually neglecting the duty of prayer to God; as a prayerless family.
Prayerlessness
PRA'YERLESSNESS, noun Total or habitual neglect of prayer.
Praying
PRA'YING, participle present tense Asking; supplicating.
Prayingly
PRA'YINGLY, adverb With supplication to God.
Pre
PRE, an English prefix, is the Latin proe, before, probably a contracted word.
Pre-Elect
PRE-ELECT', verb transitive [pre and elect.] To choose or elect beforehand.
Pre-Election
PRE-ELEC'TION, noun Choice or election by previous determination of the will.
Pre-Eminence
PRE-EM'INENCE, noun
1. Superiority in excellence; distinction in something commendable; as pre-eminence in honor or virtue; pre-eminence in eloquence, in legal attainments or in medical skill.
The preeminence of christianity to any other religious scheme--
2. Precedence; priority of place; superiority in rank or dignity.
That in all things he might have the preeminence. .
Painful preeminence! yourself to view
Above life's weakness and its comforts too.
3. Superiority of power or influence.
4. Sometimes in a bad sense; as pre-eminence in guilt or crime.
Pre-Eminent
PRE-EM'INENT, adjective [Latin proe, before, and eminens, emineo. See Menace.]
1. Superior in excellence; distinguished for something commendable or honorable.
In goodness and in power preeminent.
2. Surpassing others in evil or bad qualities; as pre-eminent in crime or guilt.
Pre-Eminently
PRE-EM'INENTLY, adverb In a preeminent degree; with superiority or distinction above others; as pre-eminently wise or good.
1. In a bad sense; as pr-eminently guilty.
Pre-Emption
PRE-EMP'TION, noun [Latin proe, before, and emptio, a buying; emo, to buy.] The act of purchasing before others.
1. The right of purchasing before others. Prior discovery of unoccupied land gives the discoverer the prior right of occupancy. Prior discovery of land inhabited by savages is held to give the discoverer the pre-emption or right of purchase before others.
2. Formerly, in England, the privilege or prerogative enjoyed by the king, of buying provisions for his household in preference to others, abolished by statute 19. Charles II.
Pre-Engage
PRE-ENGA'GE, verb transitive [pre and engage.] To engage by previous contract.
To Cipseus by his friends his suit he mov'd,
But he was pre-engag'd by former ties.
1. To engage or attach by previous influence.
The world has the unhappy advantage of pre-engaging our passions.
2. To engage beforehand.
Pre-Engaged
PRE-ENGA'GED, participle passive Previously engaged by contract or influence.
Pre-Engagement
PRE-ENGA'GEMENT, noun Prior engagement; as by stipulation or promise. A would accept my invitation, but for his pre-engagement to B.
1. Any previous attachment binding the will or affections.
My pre-engagements to other themes were not unknown to those for whom I was to write.
Pre-Engaging
PRE-ENGA'GING, participle present tense Previously engaging.
Pre-Establish
PRE-ESTAB'LISH, verb transitive [pre and establish.]
To establish or settle beforehand.
Pre-Established
PRE-ESTAB'LISHED, participle passive Previously established.
Pre-Establishing
PRE-ESTAB'LISHING, participle present tense Settling or ordaining beforehand.
Pre-Establishment
PRE-ESTAB'LISHMENT, noun Settlement beforehand.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828); edition by akaitsurugi (github.com/akaitsurugi/webster1828). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text from the CrossWire Bible Society.