Chapter 58

Por"toir (?), n. [OF., fr. porter to bear.] One who, or that which, bears; hence, one who, or that which, produces. [Obs.]

Branches . . . which were portoirs, and bare grapes.

Holland.

Por"toise (?), n. [Perhaps fr. OF. porteis portative, portable.] (Naut.) The gunwale of a ship.

To lower the yards a-portoise, to lower them to the gunwale. -- To ride a portoise, to ride an anchor with the lower yards and topmasts struck or lowered, as in a gale of wind.

Por"tos (?), n. See Portass. [Obs.]

Port"pane (?), n. [From L. portare to carry + panis bread; prob. through French.] A cloth for carrying bread, so as not to touch it with the hands. [Obs.]

Por"trait (?), n. [F., originally p. p. of portraire to portray. See Portray.] 1. The likeness of a person, painted, drawn, or engraved; commonly, a representation of the human face painted from real life.

In portraits, the grace, and, we may add, the likeness, consists more in the general air than in the exact similitude of every feature.

Sir J. Reynolds.

The meaning of the word is sometimes extended so as to include a photographic likeness.

2. Hence, any graphic or vivid delineation or description of a person; as, a portrait in words.

Portrait bust, or Portrait statue, a bust or statue representing the actual features or person of an individual; -- in distinction from an ideal bust or statue.

Por"trait, v. t. To portray; to draw. [Obs.] Spenser.

Por"trait*ist, n. A portrait painter. [R.] Hamerton.

Por"trai*ture (?; 135), n. [F. portraiture.] 1. A portrait; a likeness; a painted resemblance; hence, that which is copied from some example or model.

For, by the image of my cause, I see The portraiture of his.

Shak.

Divinity maketh the love of ourselves the pattern; the love of our neighbors but the portraiture.

Bacon.

2. Pictures, collectively; painting. [Obs.] Chaucer.

3. The art or practice of making portraits. Walpole.

Por"trai*ture, v. t. To represent by a portrait, or as by a portrait; to portray. [R.] Shaftesbury.

Por*tray" (?), v. t. [Written also pourtray.] [imp. & p. p. portrayed (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Portraying.] [OE. pourtraien, OF. portraire, pourtraire, F. portraire, fr. L. protrahere, protractum, to draw or drag forth; pro forward, forth + trahere to draw. See Trace, v. t., and cf. Protract.] 1. To paint or draw the likeness of; as, to portray a king on horseback.

Take a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.

Ezek. iv. 1.

2. Hence, figuratively, to describe in words.

3. To adorn with pictures. [R.]

Spear and helmets thronged, and shields Various with boastful arguments potrayed.

Milton.

Por*tray"al (?), n. The act or process of portraying; description; delineation.

Por*tray"er (?), n. One who portrays. Chaucer.

Port"reeve` (?), n. A port warden.

Por"tress (?), n. A female porter. Milton.

Port-roy"al*ist (?), n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of the dwellers in the Cistercian convent of Port Royal des Champs, near Paris, when it was the home of the Jansenists in the 17th century, among them being Arnauld, Pascal, and other famous scholars. Cf. Jansenist.

Port"sale` (?), n. [Port gate + sale.] Public or open sale; auction. [Obs.] Holland.

Por"tu*a*ry (?; 135), n. [Cf. Portass.] (R. C. Ch.) A breviary. [Eng.]

Por"tu*guese (?), a. [Cf. F. portugais, Sp. portugues, Pg. portuguez.] Of or pertaining to Portugal, or its inhabitants. -- n. sing. & pl. A native or inhabitant of Portugal; people of Portugal.

Portuguese man-of-war. (Zoˆl.) See Physalia.

||Por`tu*la"ca (?), n. [L., purslane.] (Bot.) A genus of polypetalous ||plants; also, any plant of the genus.

Portulaca oleracea is the common purslane. P. grandiflora is a South American herb, widely cultivated for its showy crimson, scarlet, yellow, or white, ephemeral blossoms.

Por`tu*la*ca"ceous (?), a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a natural order of plants (PortulacaceÊ), of which Portulaca is the type, and which includes also the spring beauty (Claytonia) and other genera.

Por"wi`gle (?), n. See Polliwig.

Por"y (?), a. Porous; as, pory stone. [R.] Dryden.

||Po`sÈ" (?), a. [F., placed, posed.] (Her.) Standing still, with all ||the feet on the ground; -- said of the attitude of a lion, horse, or ||other beast.

Pose (?), n. [AS. gepose; of uncertain origin; cf. W. pas a cough, Skr. ks to cough, and E. wheeze.] A cold in the head; catarrh. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Pose (?), n. [F. pose, fr. poser. See Pose, v. t.] The attitude or position of a person; the position of the body or of any member of the body; especially, a position formally assumed for the sake of effect; an artificial position; as, the pose of an actor; the pose of an artist's model or of a statue.

Pose, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Posing.] [F. poser to place, to put, L. pausare to pause, in LL. also, to place, put, fr. L. pausa a pause, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to make to cease, prob. akin to E. few. In compounds, this word appears corresponding to L. ponere to put, place, the substitution in French having been probably due to confusion of this word with L. positio position, fr. ponere. See Few, and cf. Appose, Dispose, Oppose, Pause, Repose, Position.] To place in an attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect; to arrange the posture and drapery of (a person) in a studied manner; as, to pose a model for a picture; to pose a sitter for a portrait.

Pose, v. i. To assume and maintain a studied attitude, with studied arrangement of drapery; to strike an attitude; to attitudinize; figuratively, to assume or affect a certain character; as, she poses as a prude.

He . . . posed before her as a hero.

Thackeray.

Pose, v. t. [Shortened from appose, for oppose. See 2d Appose, Oppose.] 1. To interrogate; to question. [Obs.] "She . . . posed him and sifted him." Bacon.

2. To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or scrutiny; to bring to a stand.

A question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose and puzzle him.

Barrow.

Posed (?), a. Firm; determined; fixed. "A most posed . . . and grave behavior." [Obs.] Urquhart.

Pos"er (?), n. One who, or that which, puzzles; a difficult or inexplicable question or fact. Bacon.

Po"sied (?), a. Inscribed with a posy.

In poised lockets bribe the fair.

Gay.

Pos"ing*ly (?), adv. So as to pose or puzzle.

Pos"it (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posited; p. pr. & vb. n. Positing.] [L. ponere, positum, to place. See Position.] 1. To dispose or set firmly or fixedly; to place or dispose in relation to other objects. Sir M. Hale.

2. (Logic) To assume as real or conceded; as, to posit a principle. Sir W. Hamilton.

Po*si"tion (?), n. [F. position, L. positio, fr. ponere, positum, to put, place; prob. for posino, fr. an old preposition used only in comp. (akin to Gr. &?;) + sinere to leave, let, permit, place. See Site, and cf. Composite, Compound, v., Depone, Deposit, Expound, Impostor, Opposite, Propound, Pose, v., Posit, Post, n.]

1. The state of being posited, or placed; the manner in which anything is placed; attitude; condition; as, a firm, an inclined, or an upright position.

We have different prospects of the same thing, according to our different positions to it.

Locke.

2. The spot where a person or thing is placed or takes a place; site; place; station; situation; as, the position of man in creation; the fleet changed its position.

3. Hence: The ground which any one takes in an argument or controversy; the point of view from which any one proceeds to a discussion; also, a principle laid down as the basis of reasoning; a proposition; a thesis; as, to define one's position; to appear in a false position.

Let not the proof of any position depend on the positions that follow, but always on those which go before.

I. Watts.

4. Relative place or standing; social or official rank; as, a person of position; hence, office; post; as, to lose one's position.

5. (Arith.) A method of solving a problem by one or two suppositions; -- called also the rule of trial and error.

Angle of position (Astron.), the angle which any line (as that joining two stars) makes with another fixed line, specifically with a circle of declination. -- Double position (Arith.), the method of solving problems by proceeding with each of two assumed numbers, according to the conditions of the problem, and by comparing the difference of the results with those of the numbers, deducing the correction to be applied to one of them to obtain the true result. -- Guns of position (Mil.), heavy fieldpieces, not designed for quick movements. -- Position finder (Mil.), a range finder. See under Range. -- Position micrometer, a micrometer applied to the tube of an astronomical telescope for measuring angles of position in the field of view. -- Single position (Arith.), the method of solving problems, in which the result obtained by operating with an assumed number is to the true result as the number assumed is to the number required. -- Strategic position (Mil.), a position taken up by an army or a large detachment of troops for the purpose of checking or observing an opposing force.

Syn. -- Situation; station; place; condition; attitude; posture; proposition; assertion; thesis.

Po*si"tion (?), v. t. To indicate the position of; to place. [R.] Encyc. Brit.

Po*si"tion*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to position.

Ascribing unto plants positional operations.

Sir T. Browne.

Pos"i*tive (?), a. [OE. positif, F. positif, L. positivus. See Position.] 1. Having a real position, existence, or energy; existing in fact; real; actual; -- opposed to negative. "Positive good." Bacon.

2. Derived from an object by itself; not dependent on changing circumstances or relations; absolute; -- opposed to relative; as, the idea of beauty is not positive, but depends on the different tastes individuals.

3. Definitely laid down; explicitly stated; clearly expressed; -- opposed to implied; as, a positive declaration or promise.

Positive words, that he would not bear arms against King Edward's son.

Bacon.

4. Hence: Not admitting of any doubt, condition, qualification, or discretion; not dependent on circumstances or probabilities; not speculative; compelling assent or obedience; peremptory; indisputable; decisive; as, positive instructions; positive truth; positive proof. "'T is positive 'gainst all exceptions." Shak.

5. Prescribed by express enactment or institution; settled by arbitrary appointment; said of laws.

In laws, that which is natural bindeth universally; that which is positive, not so.

Hooker.

6. Fully assured; confident; certain; sometimes, overconfident; dogmatic; overbearing; -- said of persons.

Some positive, persisting fops we know, That, if once wrong, will needs be always.

Pope.

7. Having the power of direct action or influence; as, a positive voice in legislation. Swift.

8. (Photog.) Corresponding with the original in respect to the position of lights and shades, instead of having the lights and shades reversed; as, a positive picture.

9. (Chem.) (a) Electro- positive. (b) Hence, basic; metallic; not acid; -- opposed to negative, and said of metals, bases, and basic radicals.

Positive crystals (Opt.), a doubly refracting crystal in which the index of refraction for the extraordinary ray is greater than for the ordinary ray, and the former is refracted nearer to the axis than the latter, as quartz and ice; -- opposed to negative crystal, or one in which this characteristic is reversed, as Iceland spar, tourmaline, etc. -- Positive degree (Gram.), that state of an adjective or adverb which denotes simple quality, without comparison or relation to increase or diminution; as, wise, noble. -- Positive electricity (Elec), the kind of electricity which is developed when glass is rubbed with silk, or which appears at that pole of a voltaic battery attached to the plate that is not attacked by the exciting liquid; -- formerly called vitreous electricity; -- opposed to negative electricity. -- Positive eyepiece. See under Eyepiece. -- Positive law. See Municipal law, under Law. -- Positive motion (Mach.), motion which is derived from a driver through unyielding intermediate pieces, or by direct contact, and not through elastic connections, nor by means of friction, gravity, etc.; definite motion. -- Positive philosophy. See Positivism. -- Positive pole. (a) (Elec.) The pole of a battery or pile which yields positive or vitreous electricity; -- opposed to negative pole. (b) (Magnetism) The north pole. [R.] -- Positive quantity (Alg.), an affirmative quantity, or one affected by the sign plus [+]. -- Positive rotation (Mech.), left-handed rotation. -- Positive sign (Math.), the sign [+] denoting plus, or more, or addition.

Pos"i*tive, n. 1. That which is capable of being affirmed; reality. South.

2. That which settles by absolute appointment.

3. (Gram.) The positive degree or form.

4. (Photog.) A picture in which the lights and shades correspond in position with those of the original, instead of being reversed, as in a negative. R. Hunt.

5. (Elec.) The positive plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.

Pos"i*tive*ly, adv. In a positive manner; absolutely; really; expressly; with certainty; indubitably; peremptorily; dogmatically; -- opposed to negatively.

Good and evil which is removed may be esteemed good or evil comparatively, and positively simply.

Bacon.

Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord, Before I positively speak herein.

Shak.

I would ask . . . whether . . . the divine law does not positively require humility and meekness.

Sprat.

Positively charged or electrified (Elec.), having a charge of positive electricity; -- opposed to negatively electrified.

Pos"i*tive*ness, n. The quality or state of being positive; reality; actualness; certainty; confidence; peremptoriness; dogmatism. See Positive, a.

Positiveness, pedantry, and ill manners.

Swift.

The positiveness of sins of commission lies both in the habitude of the will and in the executed act too; the positiveness of sins of omission is in the habitude of the will only.

Norris.

Pos"i*tiv*ism (?), n. A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives. It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws, which are to be discovered by observation, experiment, and comparison. This philosophy holds all inquiry into causes, both efficient and final, to be useless and unprofitable.

Pos"i*tiv*ist, n. A believer in positivism. -- a. Relating to positivism.

Pos`i*tiv"i*ty (?), n. Positiveness. J. Morley.

Pos"i*ture (?; 135), n. See Posture. [Obs.]

Pos"net (?), n. [OF. poÁonet, dim. of poÁon a pot, a vessel.] A little basin; a porringer; a skillet.

{ Pos`o*log"ic (?), Pos`o*log"ic*al (?), } a. [Cf. F. posologique.] Pertaining to posology.

Po*sol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; how much + -logy: cf. F. posologie.] (Med.) The science or doctrine of doses; dosology.

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Pos"po*lite (?), n. [Pol. pospolite ruszenie a general summons to arms, an arriere-ban; pospolity general + ruszenie a stirring.] A kind of militia in Poland, consisting of the gentry, which, in case of invasion, was summoned to the defense of the country.

Poss (?), v. t. [See Push.] To push; to dash; to throw. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

A cat . . . possed them [the rats] about.

Piers Plowman.

Pos"se (?), n. See Posse comitatus.

In posse. See In posse in the Vocabulary.

||Pos"se com`i*ta"tus (?). [L. posse to be able, to have power + LL. ||comitatus a county, from comes, comitis, a count. See County, and ||Power.]

1. (Law) The power of the county, or the citizens who may be summoned by the sheriff to assist the authorities in suppressing a riot, or executing any legal precept which is forcibly opposed. Blackstone.

2. A collection of people; a throng; a rabble. [Colloq.]

The word comitatus is often omitted, and posse alone used. "A whole posse of enthusiasts." Carlyle.

As if the passion that rules were the sheriff of the place, and came off with all the posse.

Locke.

Pos*sess" (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Possessed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Possessing.] [L. possessus, p. p. of possidere to have, possess, from an inseparable prep. (cf. Position) + sedere to sit. See Sit.] 1. To occupy in person; to hold or actually have in one's own keeping; to have and to hold.

Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

Jer. xxxii. 15.

Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power, After offense returning, to regain Love once possessed.

Milton.

2. To have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have; as, to possess property, an estate, a book.

I am yours, and all that I possess.

Shak.

3. To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize.

How . . . to possess the purpose they desired.

Spenser.

4. To enter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; -- said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc. "Weakness possesseth me." Shak.

Those which were possessed with devils.

Matt. iv. 24.

For ten inspired, ten thousand are possessed.

Roscommon.

5. To put in possession; to make the owner or holder of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; -- followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively.

I have possessed your grace of what I purpose.

Shak.

Record a gift . . . of all he dies possessed Unto his son.

Shak.

We possessed our selves of the kingdom of Naples.

Addison.

To possess our minds with an habitual good intention.

Addison.

Syn. -- To have; hold; occupy; control; own. -- Possess, Have. Have is the more general word. To possess denotes to have as a property. It usually implies more permanence or definiteness of control or ownership than is involved in having. A man does not possess his wife and children: they are (so to speak) part of himself. For the same reason, we have the faculties of reason, understanding, will, sound judgment, etc.: they are exercises of the mind, not possessions.

Pos*ses"sion (?), n. [F. possession, L. possessio.] 1. The act or state of possessing, or holding as one's own.

2. (Law) The having, holding, or detention of property in one's power or command; actual seizin or occupancy; ownership, whether rightful or wrongful.

Possession may be either actual or constructive; actual, when a party has the immediate occupancy; constructive, when he has only the right to such occupancy.

3. The thing possessed; that which any one occupies, owns, or controls; in the plural, property in the aggregate; wealth; dominion; as, foreign possessions.

When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Matt. xix. 22.

Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.

Acts v. 1.

The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

Ob. 17.

4. The state of being possessed or controlled, as by an evil spirit, or violent passions; madness; frenzy; as, demoniacal possession.

How long hath this possession held the man?

Shak.

To give possession, to put in another's power or occupancy. -- To put in possession. (a) To invest with ownership or occupancy; to provide or furnish with; as, to put one in possession of facts or information. (b) (Law) To place one in charge of property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry. -- To take possession, to enter upon, or to bring within one's power or occupancy. -- Writ of possession (Law), a precept directing a sheriff to put a person in peaceable possession of property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry.

Pos*ses"sion, v. t. To invest with property. [Obs.]

Pos*ses"sion*a*ry (?), a. Of or pertaining to possession; arising from possession.

Pos*ses"sion*er (?), n. 1. A possessor; a property holder. [Obs.] "Possessioners of riches." E. Hall.

Having been of old freemen and possessioners.

Sir P. Sidney.

2. An invidious name for a member of any religious community endowed with property in lands, buildings, etc., as contrasted with mendicant friars. [Obs.] Wyclif.

Pos`ses*si"val (?), a. Of or pertaining to the possessive case; as, a possessival termination. Earle.

Pos*sess"ive (?), a. [L. possessivus: cf. F. possessif.] Of or pertaining to possession; having or indicating possession.

Possessive case (Eng. Gram.), the genitive case; the case of nouns and pronouns which expresses ownership, origin, or some possessive relation of one thing to another; as, Homer's admirers; the pear's flavor; the dog's faithfulness. -- Possessive pronoun, a pronoun denoting ownership; as, his name; her home; my book.

Pos*sess"ive (?), n. 1. (Gram.) The possessive case.

2. (Gram.) A possessive pronoun, or a word in the possessive case.

Pos*sess"ive*ly, adv. In a possessive manner.

Pos*sess"or (?), n. [L.: cf. F. possesseur.] One who possesses; one who occupies, holds, owns, or controls; one who has actual participation or enjoyment, generally of that which is desirable; a proprietor. "Possessors of eternal glory." Law.

As if he had been possessor of the whole world.

Sharp.

Syn. -- Owner; proprietor; master; holder; occupant.

Pos*sess"o*ry (?), a. [L. possessorius: cf. F. possessoire.] Of or pertaining to possession, either as a fact or a right; of the nature of possession; as, a possessory interest; a possessory lord.

Possessory action or suit (Law), an action to regain or obtain possession of something. See under Petitory.

Pos"set (?), n. [W. posel curdled milk, posset.] A beverage composed of hot milk curdled by some strong infusion, as by wine, etc., -- much in favor formerly. "I have drugged their posset." Shak.

Pos"set, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posseted; p. pr. & vb. n. Posseting.] 1. To curdle; to turn, as milk; to coagulate; as, to posset the blood. [Obs.] Shak.

2. To treat with possets; to pamper. [R.] "She was cosseted and posseted." O. W. Holmes.

Pos`si*bil"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Possibilities (#). [F. possibilitÈ, L. possibilitas.] 1. The quality or state of being possible; the power of happening, being, or existing. "All possibility of error." Hooker. "Latent possibilities of excellence." Johnson.

2. That which is possible; a contingency; a thing or event that may not happen; a contingent interest, as in real or personal estate. South. Burrill.

Pos"si*ble (?), a. [F., fr. L. possibilis, fr. posse to be able, to have power; potis able, capable + esse to be. See Potent, Am, and cf. Host a landlord.] Capable of existing or occurring, or of being conceived or thought of; able to happen; capable of being done; not contrary to the nature of things; -- sometimes used to express extreme improbability; barely able to be, or to come to pass; as, possibly he is honest, as it is possible that Judas meant no wrong.

With God all things are possible.

Matt. xix. 26.

Syn. -- Practicable; likely. See Practicable.

Pos"si*bly, adv. In a possible manner; by possible means; especially, by extreme, remote, or improbable intervention, change, or exercise of power; by a chance; perhaps; as, possibly he may recover.

Can we . . . possibly his love desert?

Milton.

When possibly I can, I will return.

Shak.

Pos"sum (?), n. [Shortened from opossum.] (Zoˆl.) An opossum. [Colloq. U. S.]

To play possum, To act possum, to feign ignorance, indifference or inattention, with the intent to deceive; to dissemble; -- in allusion to the habit of the opossum, which feigns death when attacked or alarmed.

Post- (pst). [L. post behind, after; cf. Skr. paÁcbehind, afterwards.] A prefix signifying behind, back, after; as, postcommissure, postdot, postscript.

Post, a. [F. aposter to place in a post or position, generally for a bad purpose.] Hired to do what is wrong; suborned. [Obs.] Sir E. Sandys.