Chapter 42

Syn. -- Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. -- Pity, Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and therefore requiers a certain degree of equality in situation, circumstances, etc., to its fullest exercise. Compassion is deep tenderness for another under severe or inevitable misfortune. Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but weak, and hence as inferior.

Pit"y (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pitied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Pitying.] 1. To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

Ps. ciii. 13.

2. To move to pity; -- used impersonally. [Obs.]

It pitieth them to see her in the dust.

Bk. of Com. Prayer.

Pit"y, v. i. To be compassionate; to show pity.

I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy.

Jer. xiii. 14.

Pit"y*ing, a. Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word. -- Pit"y*ing*ly, adv.

||Pit`y*ri"a*sis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?;, lit., bran.] ||(Med.) A superficial affection of the skin, characterized by ||irregular patches of thin scales which are shed in branlike ||particles.

||Pityriasis versicolor [NL.] (Med.), a parasitic disease of the skin, ||characterized by the development of reddish or brownish patches.

Pit"y*roid (?), a. [Gr. &?; bran + - oid.] Having the form of, or resembling, bran. Smart.

||Pi"˘ (?), adv. [It., fr. L. plus. See Plus.] (Mus.) A little more; ||as, pi˘ allegro, a little more briskly.

Piv"ot (?), n. [F.; prob. akin to It. piva pipe, F. pipe. See Pipe.] 1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.

2. The end of a shaft or arbor which rests and turns in a support; as, the pivot of an arbor in a watch.

3. Hence, figuratively: A turning point or condition; that on which important results depend; as, the pivot of an enterprise.

4. (Mil.) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place whike the company or line moves around him in wheeling; -- called also pivot man.

Pivot bridge, a form of drawbridge in which one span, called the pivot span, turns about a central vertical axis. -- Pivot gun, a gun mounted on a pivot or revolving carriage, so as to turn in any direction. -- Pivot tooth (Dentistry), an artificial crown attached to the root of a natural tooth by a pin or peg.

Piv"ot, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pivoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Pivoting.] To place on a pivot. Clarke.

Piv"ot*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a pivot or turning point; belonging to, or constituting, a pivot; of the nature of a pivot; as, the pivotalopportunity of a career; the pivotal position in a battle.

Pix (?), n. & v. See Pyx.

{ Pix"y, Pix"ie } (?), n.; pl. Pixies (#). [For Pucksy, from Puck.] 1. An old English name for a fairy; an elf. [Written also picksy.]

2. (Bot.) A low creeping evergreen plant (Pyxidanthera barbulata), with mosslike leaves and little white blossoms, found in New Jersey and southward, where it flowers in earliest spring.

Pixy ring, a fairy ring or circle. [Prov. Eng.] -- Pixy stool (Bot.), a toadstool or mushroom. [Prov. Eng.]

Pix"y-led` (?), a. Led by pixies; bewildered.

||Piz`zi*ca"to (?). [It., pinched.] (Mus.) A direction to violinists to ||pluck the string with the finger, instead of using the bow. (Abrev. ||pizz.)

Piz"zle (?), n. [Cf. Prov. G. pissel, pesel, peisel, peserich, D. pees a tendon or spring.] The penis; -- so called in some animals, as the bull. Shak.

Pla`ca*bil"i*ty (?), n. [L. placabilitas: cf. F. placabilitÈ.] The quality or state of being placable or appeasable; placable disposition.

Pla"ca*ble (?), a. [L. placabilis, fr. placare to quiet, pacify: cf. F. placable. See Placate.] Capable of being appeased or pacified; ready or willing to be pacified; willing to forgive or condone.

Methought I saw him placable and mild.

Milton.

Pla"ca*ble*ness, n. The quality of being placable.

Pla*card" (?), n. [F., fr. plaquer to lay or clap on, plaque plate, tablet; probably from Dutch, cf. D. plakken to paste, post up, plak a flat piece of wood.] 1. A public proclamation; a manifesto or edict issued by authority. [Obs.]

All placards or edicts are published in his name.

Howell.

2. Permission given by authority; a license; as, to give a placard to do something. [Obs.] ller.

3. A written or printed paper, as an advertisement or a declaration, posted, or to be posted, in a public place; a poster.

4. (Anc. Armor) An extra plate on the lower part of the breastplate or backplate. PlanchÈ.

5. [Cf. Placket.] A kind of stomacher, often adorned with jewels, worn in the fifteenth century and later.

Pla*card", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Placarded; p. pr. & vb. n. Placarding.] 1. To post placards upon or within; as, to placard a wall, to placard the city.

2. To announce by placards; as, to placard a sale.

Plac"ate (?), n. Same as Placard, 4 & 5.

Pla"cate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Placated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Placating.] [L. placatus, p. p. of placare to placate, akin to placere to please. See Please.] To appease; to pacify; to concilate. "Therefore is he always propitiated and placated." Cudworth.

Pla*ca"tion (?), n. [L. placatio.] The act of placating. [R.] Puttenham (1589).

Place (?), n. [F., fr. L. platea a street, an area, a courtyard, from Gr. platei^a a street, properly fem. of platy`s, flat, broad; akin to Skr. pthu, Lith. platus. Cf. Flawn, Piazza, Plate, Plaza.] 1. Any portion of space regarded as measured off or distinct from all other space, or appropriated to some definite object or use; position; ground; site; spot; rarely, unbounded space.

Here is the place appointed.

Shak.

What place can be for us Within heaven's bound?

Milton.

The word place has sometimes a more confused sense, and stands for that space which any body takes up; and so the universe is a place.

Locke.

2. A broad way in a city; an open space; an area; a court or short part of a street open only at one end. "Hangman boys in the market place." Shak.

3. A position which is occupied and held; a dwelling; a mansion; a village, town, or city; a fortified town or post; a stronghold; a region or country.

Are you native of this place?

Shak.

4. Rank; degree; grade; order of priority, advancement, dignity, or importance; especially, social rank or position; condition; also, official station; occupation; calling. "The enervating magic of place." Hawthorne.

Men in great place are thrice servants.

Bacon.

I know my place as I would they should do theirs.

Shak.

5. Vacated or relinquished space; room; stead (the departure or removal of another being or thing being implied). "In place of Lord Bassanio." Shak.

6. A definite position or passage of a document.

The place of the scripture which he read was this.

Acts viii. 32.

7. Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding; as, he said in the first place.

8. Reception; effect; -- implying the making room for.

My word hath no place in you.

John viii. 37.

9. (Astron.) Position in the heavens, as of a heavenly body; -- usually defined by its right ascension and declination, or by its latitude and longitude.

Place of arms (Mil.), a place calculated for the rendezvous of men in arms, etc., as a fort which affords a safe retreat for hospitals, magazines, etc. Wilhelm. -- High place (Script.), a mount on which sacrifices were offered. "Him that offereth in the high place." Jer. xlviii. 35. -- In place, in proper position; timely. -- Out of place, inappropriate; ill-timed; as, his remarks were out of place. -- Place kick (Football), the act of kicking the ball after it has been placed on the ground. -- Place name, the name of a place or locality. London Academy. -- To give place, to make room; to yield; to give way; to give advantage. "Neither give place to the devil." Eph. iv. 27. "Let all the rest give place." Shak. -- To have place, to have a station, room, or seat; as, such desires can have no place in a good heart. -- To take place. (a) To come to pass; to occur; as, the ceremony will not take place. (b) To take precedence or priority. Addison. (c) To take effect; to prevail. "If your doctrine takes place." Berkeley. "But none of these excuses would take place." Spenser. - - To take the place of, to be substituted for.

Syn. -- Situation; seat; abode; position; locality; location; site; spot; office; employment; charge; function; trust; ground; room; stead.

Place (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Placed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Placing (?).] [Cf. F. placer. See Place, n.] 1. To assign a place to; to put in a particular spot or place, or in a certain relative position; to direct to a particular place; to fix; to settle; to locate; as, to place a book on a shelf; to place balls in tennis.

Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown.

Shak.

2. To put or set in a particular rank, office, or position; to surround with particular circumstances or relations in life; to appoint to certain station or condition of life; as, in whatever sphere one is placed.

Place such over them to be rulers.

Ex. xviii. 21.

3. To put out at interest; to invest; to loan; as, to place money in a bank.

4. To set; to fix; to repose; as, to place confidence in a friend. "My resolution 's placed." Shak.

5. To attribute; to ascribe; to set down.

Place it for her chief virtue.

Shak.

To place (a person), to identify him. [Colloq. U.S.]

Syn. -- See Put.

||Pla*ce"bo (?), n. [L., I shall please, fut. of placere to please.] 1. ||(R. C. Ch.) The first antiphon of the vespers for the dead.

2. (Med.) A prescription intended to humor or satisfy.

To sing placebo, to agree with one in his opinion; to be complaisant to. Chaucer.

Place"ful (?), a. In the appointed place. [Obs.]

Place"less, a. Having no place or office.

Place"man (?), n.; pl. Placemen (&?;). One who holds or occupies a place; one who has office under government. Sir W. Scott.

Place"ment (?), n. [Cf. F. placement.] 1. The act of placing, or the state of being placed.

2. Position; place.

Pla*cen"ta (?), n.; pl. L. PlacentÊ (#), E. Placentas (#). [L., a cake, Gr. &?; a flat cake, from &?; flat, fr. &?;, &?;, anything flat and broad.] 1. (Anat.) The vascular appendage which connects the fetus with the parent, and is cast off in parturition with the afterbirth.

In most mammals the placenta is principally developed from the allantois and chorion, and tufts of vascular villi on its surface penetrate the blood vessels of the parental uterus, and thus establish a nutritive and excretory connection between the blood of the fetus and that of the parent, though the blood itself does not flow from one to the other.

2. (Bot.) The part of a pistil or fruit to which the ovules or seeds are attached.

Pla*cen"tal (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to the placenta; having, or characterized by having, a placenta; as, a placental mammal.

2. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the Placentalia.

Pla*cen"tal, n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Placentalia.

<! p. 1093 !>

||Plac`en*ta"li*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) A division of Mammalia ||including those that have a placenta, or all the orders above the ||marsupials.

Pla*cen"ta*ry (?), a. Having reference to the placenta; as, the placentary system of classification.

Plac`en*ta"tion (?), n. 1. (Anat.) The mode of formation of the placenta in different animals; as, the placentation of mammals.

2. (Bot.) The mode in which the placenta is arranged or composed; as, axile placentation; parietal placentation.

Plac`en*tif"er*ous (?), a. [Placenta + -ferous.] (Bot. & Zoˆl.) Having or producing a placenta.

Pla*cen"ti*form (?), a. [Placenta + -form.] (Bot.) Having the shape of a placenta, or circular thickened disk somewhat thinner about the middle.

Pla*cen"tious (?), a. [See Please.] Pleasing; amiable. [Obs.] "A placentious person." Fuller.

Place"-proud` (?), a. Proud of rank or office. Beau. & Fl.

Pla"cer (?), n. One who places or sets. Spenser.

Plac"er (?), n. [Sp.] A deposit of earth, sand, or gravel, containing valuable mineral in particles, especially by the side of a river, or in the bed of a mountain torrent. [U.S.]

||Pla"cet (?), n. [L. placet it pleases.] 1. A vote of assent, as of ||the governing body of a university, of an ecclesiastical council, ||etc.

2. The assent of the civil power to the promulgation of an ecclesiastical ordinance. Shipley.

The king . . . annulled the royal placet.

J. P. Peters.

Plac"id (?), a. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.] Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. "That placid aspect and meek regard." Milton. "Sleeping . . . the placid sleep of infancy." Macaulay.

Pla*cid"i*ty (?), n. [L. placiditas: cf. F. placiditÈ.] The quality or state of being placid; calmness; serenity. Hawthorne.

Plac"id*ly (?), adv. In a placid manner.

Plac"id*ness, n. The quality or state of being placid.

Plac"it (?), n. [L. placitum. See Plea.] A decree or determination; a dictum. [Obs.] "The placits and opinions of other philosophers." Evelyn.

Plac"i*to*ry (?), a. [See Placit.] Of or pertaining to pleas or pleading, in courts of law. [Obs.] Clayton.

||Plac"i*tum (?), n.; pl. Placita (#). [LL. See Placit.] 1. A public ||court or assembly in the Middle Ages, over which the sovereign ||president when a consultation was held upon affairs of state. Brande ||& C.

2. (Old Eng. Law) A court, or cause in court.

3. (Law) A plea; a pleading; a judicial proceeding; a suit. Burrill.

Plack (?), n. [F. plaque a plate of metal. Cf. Plaque.] A small copper coin formerly current in Scotland, worth less than a cent.

With not a plack in the pocket of the poet.

Prof. Wilson.

Plack"et (?), n. [F. plaquer to lay or clap on. See Placard.] 1. A petticoat, esp. an under petticoat; hence, a cant term for a woman. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

2. The opening or slit left in a petticoat or skirt for convenience in putting it on; -- called also placket hole.

3. A woman's pocket.

Plac"o*derm (?), n. [Gr. &?;, &?;, tablet + &?; skin.] (Paleon.) One of the Placodermi.

Plac`o*der"mal (?), a. (Paleon.) Of or pertaining to the placoderms; like the placoderms.

||Plac`o*der"ma*ta (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Paleon.) Same as Placodermi.

||Plac`o*der"mi (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, a tablet + &?; ||skin.] (Paleon.) An extinct group of fishes, supposed to be ganoids. ||The body and head were covered with large bony plates. See Illust. ||under Pterichthys, and Coccosteus.

Plac`o*ga"noid (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Pertaining to the Placoganoidei.

||Plac`o*ga*noi"de*i (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, a tablet + NL. ||ganoidei. See Ganoidei.] (Zoˆl.) A division of ganoid fishes ||including those that have large external bony plates and a ||cartilaginous skeleton.

Plac"oid (?), a. [Gr. &?;, &?;, a tablet + -oid.] (Zoˆl.) Platelike; having irregular, platelike, bony scales, often bearing spines; pertaining to the placoids.

Plac"oid, n. (Zoˆl.) (a) Any fish having placoid scales, as the sharks. (b) One of the Placoides.

||Pla*coi"des (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) A group of fishes including the ||sharks and rays; the Elasmobranchii; -- called also Placoidei.

Pla*coid"i*an (?), n. (Zoˆl.) One of the placoids.

||Pla*coph"o*ra (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. &?;, &?;, tablet + &?; to ||bear.] (Zoˆl.) A division of gastropod Mollusca, including the ||chitons. The back is covered by eight shelly plates. Called also ||Polyplacophora. See Illust. under Chiton, and Isopleura.

||Pla"ga (?), n.; pl. PlagÊ (#). [L. plga a blow, a welt, a stripe.] ||(Zoˆl.) A stripe of color.

Pla"gal (?), a. [F., from Gr. &?; sidewise, slanting.] (Mus.) Having a scale running from the dominant to its octave; -- said of certain old church modes or tunes, as opposed to those called authentic, which ran from the tonic to its octave.

Plagal cadence, a cadence in which the final chord on the tonic is preceded by the chord on the subdominant.

Pla"gate (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Having plagÊ, or irregular enlongated color spots.

Plage (?), n. [F., fr. L. plaga.] A region; country. [Obs.] "The plages of the north." Chaucer.

Pla"gia*rism (?), n. [Cf. F. plagiarisme.] 1. The act or practice of plagiarizing.

2. That which plagiarized.

Pla"gia*rist (?), n. One who plagiarizes; or purloins the words, writings, or ideas of another, and passes them off as his own; a literary thief; a plagiary.

Pla"gia*rize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plagiarized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Plagiarizing.] To steal or purloin from the writings of another; to appropriate without due acknowledgement (the ideas or expressions of another).

Pla"gia*ry, v. i. To commit plagiarism.

Pla"gia*ry (?), n.; pl. Plagiaries (#). [L. plagiarius a kidnaper, a literary thief, fr. plagium kidnaping; cf. plaga a net, perh. akin to E. plait: cf. F. plagiaire.] 1. A manstealer; a kidnaper. [Obs.]

2. One who purloins another's expressions or ideas, and offers them as his own; a plagiarist. Dryden.

3. Plagiarism; literary thief. Milton.

Pla"gia*ry, a. 1. Kidnaping. [Obs.] E. Browne.

2. Practicing plagiarism. Bp. Hall.

Pla`gi*he"dral (?), a. [Gr. &?; oblique + &?; base, seat.] (Crystallog.) Having an oblique spiral arrangement of planes, as levogyrate and dextrogyrate crystals.

Pla`gi*o*ce*phal"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; oblique + &?; the head.] (Anat.) Having an oblique lateral deformity of the skull.

Pla`gi*o*ceph"a*ly (?), n. (Anat.) Oblique lateral deformity of the skull.

Pla"gi*o*clase (?), n. [Gr. &?; oblique + &?; to break.] (Min.) A general term used of any triclinic feldspar. See the Note under Feldspar.

Pla"gi*o*nite (?), n. [Gr. &?; oblique. So called in allusion to its usually oblique crystallization.] (Min.) A sulphide of lead and antimony, of a blackish lead-gray color and metallic luster.

Pla`gi*o*stom"a*tous (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Same as Plagiostomous.

Pla"gi*o*stome (?), n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Plagiostomi.

||Pla`gi*os"to*mi (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. &?; slanting + &?;, &?;, ||mouth.] (Zoˆl.) An order of fishes including the sharks and rays; -- ||called also Plagiostomata.

Pla`gi*os"to*mous (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the Plagiostomi.

||Pla`gi*o*trem"a*ta (?), n. pl.; [NL., fr. Gr. &?; slanting + &?;, ||&?;, a hole.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Lepidosauria.

Pla`gi*o*trop"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; aslant + &?; to turn.] (Bot.) Having the longer axis inclined away from the vertical line.

||Pla"gi*um (?), n. [L.] (Civil Law) Manstealing; kidnaping.

Pla*gose" (?), a. [L. plagosus. See Plague.] Fond of flogging; as, a plagose master. [R.]

Plague (?), n. [L. plaga a blow, stroke, plague; akin to Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to strike; cf. L. plangere to strike, beat. Cf. Plaint.] 1. That which smites, wounds, or troubles; a blow; a calamity; any afflictive evil or torment; a great trail or vexation. Shak.

And men blasphemed God for the plague of hail.

Wyclif.

The different plague of each calamity.

Shak.

2. (Med.) An acute malignant contagious fever, that often prevails in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, and has at times visited the large cities of Europe with frightful mortality; hence, any pestilence; as, the great London plague. "A plague upon the people fell." Tennyson.

Cattle plague. See Rinderpest. -- Plague mark, Plague spot, a spot or mark of the plague; hence, a token of something incurable.

Plague, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Plagued (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Plaguing.] 1. To infest or afflict with disease, calamity, or natural evil of any kind.

Thus were they plagued And worn with famine.

Milton.

2. Fig.: To vex; to tease; to harass.

She will plague the man that loves her most.

Spenser.

Syn. -- To vex; torment; distress; afflict; harass; annoy; tease; tantalize; trouble; molest; embarrass; perplex.

Plague"ful (?), a. Abounding, or infecting, with plagues; pestilential; as, plagueful exhalations.

Plague"less, a. Free from plagues or the plague.

Pla"guer (?), n. One who plagues or annoys.

Pla"gui*ly (?), adv. In a plaguing manner; vexatiously; extremely. [Colloq.] "Ronsard is so plaguily stiff and stately." Landor.

Pla"guy (?), a. Vexatious; troublesome; tormenting; as, a plaguy horse. [Colloq.] Also used adverbially; as, "He is so plaguy proud." Shak.

Plaice (?), n. [F. plaise, plais, prob. fr. L. platessa flatish, plaice. See Place.] (Zoˆl.) (a) A European food fish (Pleuronectes platessa), allied to the flounder, and growing to the weight of eight or ten pounds or more. (b) A large American flounder (Paralichthys dentatus; called also brail, puckermouth, and summer flounder. The name is sometimes applied to other allied species. [Written also plaise.]

Plaice mouth, a mouth like that of a plaice; a small or wry mouth. [R.] B. Jonson.

Plaid (?), n. [Gael. plaide a blanket or plaid, contr. fr. peallaid a sheepskin, fr. peall a skin or hide. CF. Pillion.] 1. A rectangular garment or piece of cloth, usually made of the checkered material called tartan, but sometimes of plain gray, or gray with black stripes. It is worn by both sexes in Scotland.

2. Goods of any quality or material of the pattern of a plaid or tartan; a checkered cloth or pattern.

Plaid, a. Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scotch plaid; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another; as, plaid muslin.

Plaid"ed, a. 1. Of the material of which plaids are made; tartan. "In plaided vest." Wordsworth.

2. Wearing a plaid. Campbell.

Plaid"ing (?), n. Plaid cloth.

Plain (?), v. i. [OE. playne, pleyne, fr. F. plaindre. See Plaint.] To lament; to bewail; to complain. [Archaic & Poetic] Milton.

We with piteous heart unto you pleyne.

Chaucer.

Plain, v. t. To lament; to mourn over; as, to plain a loss. [Archaic & Poetic] Sir J. Harrington.

Plain, a. [Compar. Plainer (?); superl. Plainest.] [F., level, flat, fr. L. planus, perhaps akin to E. floor. Cf. Llano, Piano, Plan, Plane level, a level surface.] 1. Without elevations or depressions; flat; level; smooth; even. See Plane.

The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.

Isa. xl. 4.

2. Open; clear; unencumbered; equal; fair.

Our troops beat an army in plain fight.

Felton.

3. Not intricate or difficult; evident; manifest; obvious; clear; unmistakable. "'T is a plain case." Shak.

4. (a) Void of extraneous beauty or ornament; without conspicious embellishment; not rich; simple. (b) Not highly cultivated; unsophisticated; free from show or pretension; simple; natural; homely; common. "Plain yet pious Christians." Hammond. "The plain people." A. Lincoln. (c) Free from affectation or disguise; candid; sincere; artless; honest; frank. "An honest mind, and plain." Shak. (d) Not luxurious; not highly seasoned; simple; as, plain food. (e) Without beauty; not handsome; homely; as, a plain woman. (f) Not variegated, dyed, or figured; as, plain muslin. (g) Not much varied by modulations; as, a plain tune.

Plain battle, open battle; pitched battle. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Plain chant (Mus.) Same as Plain song, below. -- Plain chart (Naut.), a chart laid down on Mercator's projection. -- Plain dealer. (a) One who practices plain dealing. (b) A simpleton. [Obs.] Shak. -- Plain dealing. See under Dealing. -- Plain molding (Join.), molding of which the surfaces are plain figures. -- Plain sewing, sewing of seams by simple and common stitches, in distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also from designing and fitting garments. -- Plain song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the Roman Catholic service, sung in unison, in tones of equal length, and rarely extending beyond the compass of an octave. (b) A simple melody. -- Plain speaking, plainness or bluntness of speech.

Syn. -- Level; flat; smooth; open; artless; unaffected; undisguised; frank; sincere; honest; candid; ingenuous; unembellished; downright; blunt; clear; simple; distinct; manifest; obvious; apparent. See Manifest.