Chapter 62

5. The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual invested with authority; an institution, or government, which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe; hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity. "The powers of darkness." Milton.

And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

Matt. xxiv. 29.

6. A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host. Spenser.

Never such a power . . . Was levied in the body of a land.

Shak.

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7. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o&?; good things. [Colloq.] Richardson.

8. (Mech.) (a) The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an engine of twenty horse power.

The English unit of power used most commonly is the horse power. See Horse power.

(b) A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand power, etc. (c) Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as, the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a weight at the other end.

This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force, is improper and is becoming obsolete.

(d) A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power.

Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a power press.

9. (Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and a cube is third power, of a number.

10. (Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, hoping, etc. I. Watts.

The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a received belief.

Shak.

11. (Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and usually in the microscope, the number of times it multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it multiplies the apparent surface.

12. (Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment. Wharton.

13. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power.

Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the winds and waves, electricity and magnetism, gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings; and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.

Mechanical powers. See under Mechanical. -- Power loom, or Power press. See Def. 8 (d), note. -- Power of attorney. See under Attorney. -- Power of a point (relative to a given curve) (Geom.), the result of substituting the coˆrdinates of any point in that expression which being put equal to zero forms the equation of the curve; as, x2 + y2 - 100 is the power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x2 + y2 - 100 = 0.

Pow"er*a*ble (?), a. 1. Capable of being effected or accomplished by the application of power; possible. [R.] J. Young.

2. Capable of exerting power; powerful. Camden.

Pow"er*ful (?), a. 1. Full of power; capable of producing great effects of any kind; potent; mighty; efficacious; intense; as, a powerful man or beast; a powerful engine; a powerful argument; a powerful light; a powerful vessel.

The powerful grace that lies In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities.

Shak.

2. (Mining) Large; capacious; -- said of veins of ore.

Syn. -- Mighty; strong; potent; forcible; efficacious; energetic; intense.

-- Pow"er*ful*ly, adv. -- Pow"er*ful*ness, n.

Pow"er*less, a. Destitute of power, force, or energy; weak; impotent; not able to produce any effect. -- Pow"er*less*ly, adv. -- Pow"er*less*ness, n.

Powl"dron (?), n. [OF. espauleron, from espaule shoulder, F. Èpaule.] Same as Pauldron.

Powp (?), v. i. See Poop, v. i. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Pow"ter (pou"tr), n. (Zoˆl.) See Pouter.

Pow"wow` (?), n. 1. A priest, or conjurer, among the North American Indians.

Be it sagamore, sachem, or powwow.

Longfellow.

2. Conjuration attended with great noise and confusion, and often with feasting, dancing, etc., performed by Indians for the cure of diseases, to procure success in hunting or in war, and for other purposes.

3. Hence: Any assembly characterized by noise and confusion; a noisy frolic or gathering. [Colloq. U. S.]

Pow"wow`, v. i. 1. To use conjuration, with noise and confusion, for the cure of disease, etc., as among the North American Indians.

2. Hence: To hold a noisy, disorderly meeting. [Colloq. U. S.]

Pox (?), n. [For pocks, OE. pokkes. See Pock. It is plural in form but is used as a singular.] (Med.) Strictly, a disease by pustules or eruptions of any kind, but chiefly or wholly restricted to three or four diseases, -- the smallpox, the chicken pox, and the vaccine and the venereal diseases.

Pox, when used without an epithet, as in imprecations, formerly signified smallpox; but it now signifies syphilis.

Pox, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Poxed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Poxing.] To infect with the pox, or syphilis.

Poy (?), n. [OF. apui, apoi, a support, prop., staff, F. appui, fr. OF. apuier, apoier, to support, F. appuyer, fr. ‡ to (L. ad) + OF. pui, poi, a rising ground, hill, L. podium. See Podium, Pew.] 1. A support; -- used in composition; as, teapoy.

2. A ropedancer's balancing pole. Johnson.

3. A long boat hook by which barges are propelled against the stream. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

Poy*na"do (?), n. A poniard. [Obs.] Lyly.

Poynd (?), v., Poynd"er (&?;), n. See Poind, Poinder.

Poy nette" (?), n. [Cf. Point.] A bodkin. [Obs.]

Poyn"tel (?), n. [See Pointal.] (Arch.) Paving or flooring made of small squares or lozenges set diagonally. [Formerly written pointal.]

Poy"ou (?), n. (Zoˆl.) A South American armadillo (Dasypus sexcinctus). Called also sixbanded armadillo.

Poze (?), v. t. See 5th Pose.

{ Poz`zu*o*la"na (?), Poz`zo*la"*na (?) }, n. [It.] Volcanic ashes from Pozzuoli, in Italy, used in the manufacture of a kind of mortar which hardens under water.

Praam (?), n. [D. praam; cf. G. prahm, F. prame; all of Slavonic origin, from a word akin to E. fare. See Fare.] (Naut.) A flat- bottomed boat or lighter, -- used in Holland and the Baltic, and sometimes armed in case of war. [Written also pram, and prame.]

Prac"tic (?), a. [See Practical.] 1. Practical.

2. Artful; deceitful; skillful. [Obs.] "Cunning sleights and practick knavery." Spenser.

Prac"ti*ca*bil"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being practicable; practicableness; feasibility. "The practicability of such a project." Stewart.

Prac"ti*ca*ble (?), a. [LL. practicare to act, transact, fr. L. practicus active, Gr. &?;: cf. F. practicable, pratiquer to practice. See Practical.] 1. That may be practiced or performed; capable of being done or accomplished with available means or resources; feasible; as, a practicable method; a practicable aim; a practicable good.

2. Capable of being used; passable; as, a practicable weapon; a practicable road.

Practicable breach (Mil.), a breach which admits of approach and entrance by an assailing party.

Syn. -- Possible; feasible. -- Practicable, Possible. A thing may be possible, i. e., not forbidden by any law of nature, and yet may not now be practicable for want of the means requisite to its performance.

-- Prac"ti*ca*ble*ness, n. -- Prac"ti*ca*bly, adv.

Prac"ti*cal (?), a. [L. practicus active, Gr. &?; fit for doing or performing, practical, active, fr. &?; to do, work, effect: cf. F. pratique, formerly also practique. Cf. Pragmatic, Practice.] 1. Of or pertaining to practice or action.

2. Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry. "Man's practical understanding." South. "For all practical purposes." Macaulay.

3. Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.

4. Derived from practice; as, practical skill.

Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of which consists in something done, in distinction from something said; esp., a trick played upon a person.

Prac`ti*cal"i*ty (?), n. The quality or state of being practical; practicalness.

Prac"ti*cal*ly (?), adv. 1. In a practical way; not theoretically; really; as, to look at things practically; practically worthless.

2. By means of practice or use; by experience or experiment; as, practically wise or skillful; practically acquainted with a subject.

3. In practice or use; as, a medicine practically safe; theoretically wrong, but practically right.

Prac"ti*cal*ness, n. Same as Practicality.

Prac"ti*cal*ize (?), v. t. To render practical. [R.] "Practicalizing influences." J. S. Mill.

Prac"tice (?), n. [OE. praktike, practique, F. pratique, formerly also, practique, LL. practica, fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; practical. See Practical, and cf. Pratique, Pretty.] 1. Frequently repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage; habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of daily exercise.

A heart . . . exercised with covetous practices.

2 Pet. ii. 14.

2. Customary or constant use; state of being used.

Obsolete words may be revived when they are more sounding or more significant than those in practice.

Dryden.

3. Skill or dexterity acquired by use; expertness. [R.] "His nice fence and his active practice." Shak.

4. Actual performance; application of knowledge; -- opposed to theory.

There are two functions of the soul, -- contemplation and practice.

South.

There is a distinction, but no opposition, between theory and practice; each, to a certain extent, supposes the other; theory is dependent on practice; practice must have preceded theory.

Sir W. Hamilton.

5. Systematic exercise for instruction or discipline; as, the troops are called out for practice; she neglected practice in music.

6. Application of science to the wants of men; the exercise of any profession; professional business; as, the practice of medicine or law; a large or lucrative practice.

Practice is exercise of an art, or the application of a science in life, which application is itself an art.

Sir W. Hamilton.

7. Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; -- usually in a bad sense. [Obs.] Bacon.

He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.

Sir P. Sidney.

8. (Math.) A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.

9. (Law) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts. Bouvier.

Syn. -- Custom; usage; habit; manner.

Prac"tice (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Practiced (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Practicing (?).] [Often written practise, practised, practising.] 1. To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of; as, to practice gaming. "Incline not my heart . . . practice wicked works." Ps. cxli. 4.

2. To exercise, or follow, as a profession, trade, art, etc., as, to practice law or medicine.

2. To exercise one's self in, for instruction or improvement, or to acquire discipline or dexterity; as, to practice gunnery; to practice music.

4. To put into practice; to carry out; to act upon; to commit; to execute; to do. "Aught but Talbot's shadow whereon to practice your severity." Shak.

As this advice ye practice or neglect.

Pope.

5. To make use of; to employ. [Obs.]

In malice to this good knight's wife, I practiced Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her.

Massinger.

6. To teach or accustom by practice; to train.

In church they are taught to love God; after church they are practiced to love their neighbor.

Landor.

Prac"tice, v. i. [Often written practise.] 1. To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword or with the rifle; to practice on the piano.

2. To learn by practice; to form a habit.

They shall practice how to live secure.

Milton.

Practice first over yourself to reign.

Waller.

3. To try artifices or stratagems.

He will practice against thee by poison.

Shak.

4. To apply theoretical science or knowledge, esp. by way of experiment; to exercise or pursue an employment or profession, esp. that of medicine or of law.

[I am] little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me.

Sir W. Temple.

Prac"ticed (?), a. [Often written practised.] 1. Experienced; expert; skilled; as, a practiced marksman. "A practiced picklock." Ld. Lytton.

2. Used habitually; learned by practice.

Prac"ti*cer (?), n. [Often written practiser.] 1. One who practices, or puts in practice; one who customarily performs certain acts. South.

2. One who exercises a profession; a practitioner.

3. One who uses art or stratagem. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Prac*ti"cian (?), n. [F. praticien, OF. also practicien.] One who is acquainted with, or skilled in, anything by practice; a practitioner.

Prac"tick (?), n. Practice. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Prac"ti*sant (?), n. An agent or confederate in treachery. [Obs.] Shak.

Prac"tise (?), v. t. & i. See Practice.

The analogy of the English language requires that the noun and verb which are pronounced alike should agree in spelling. Thus we have notice (n. & v.), noticed, noticing, noticer; poultice (n. & v.); apprentice (n. & v.); office (n. & v.), officer (n.); lattice (n.), latticed (a.); benefice (n.), beneficed (a.), etc. Cf. sacrifice (&?;; n. & v.), surmise (&?;; n. & v.), promise (&?;; n. & v.); compromise (&?;; n. & v.), etc. Contrast advice (&?;; n.), and advise (&?;); device (&?;), and devise (&?;), etc.

Prac"ti*sour (?), n. A practitioner. [Obs.]

Prac*ti"tion*er (?), n. [From Practician.] 1. One who is engaged in the actual use or exercise of any art or profession, particularly that of law or medicine. Crabbe.

2. One who does anything customarily or habitually.

3. A sly or artful person. Whitgift.

General practitioner. See under General, 2.

Prac"tive (?), a. Doing; active. [Obs.] Sylvester. -- Prac"tive*ly, adv. [Obs.]

The preacher and the people both, Then practively did thrive.

Warner.

Prad (?), n. [Cf. D. paard.] A horse. [Colloq. Eng.]

PrÊ- (?). A prefix. See Pre-.

||PrÊ"ca`va (?), n. [NL. See Pre-, and 1st Cave.] (Anat.) The superior ||vena cava. -- PrÊ"ca`val (#), a. B. G. Wilder.

PrÊc"i*pe (?), n. [L., imperative of praecipere to give rules or precepts. See Precept.] (Law) (a) A writ commanding something to be done, or requiring a reason for neglecting it. (b) A paper containing the particulars of a writ, lodged in the office out of which the writ is to be issued. Wharton.

||PrÊ"co*ces (?), n. pl. [NL. See Precocious.] (Zoˆl.) A division of ||birds including those whose young are able to run about when first ||hatched.

PrÊ*co"cial (?), a. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the PrÊcoces.

||PrÊ*cog"ni*ta (?), n. pl. [L. praecognitus, p. p. of praecognoscere ||to foreknow. See Pre-, and Cognition.] This previously known, or ||which should be known in order to understand something else.

PrÊ*com"mis*sure (?), n. [Pref. prÊ + commissure.] (Anat.) A transverse commissure in the anterior part of the third ventricle of the brain; the anterior cerebral commissure.

PrÊ*cor"a*coid (?), n. (Anat.) See Precoracoid.

||PrÊ*cor"di*a (?), n. [L., fr. prae before + cor, cordis, the heart.] ||(Anat.) The front part of the thoracic region; the epigastrium.

PrÊ*cor"di*al (?), a. (Anat.) Same as Precordial.

||PrÊ*cor"nu (?), n.; pl. PrÊcornua (#). [NL. See Pre-, and Cornu.] ||(Anat.) The anterior horn of each lateral ventricle of the brain. B. ||G. Wilder.

PrÊ"di*al (?), a. See Predial.

PrÊ`flo*ra"tion (?), n. Same as Prefloration. Gray.

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PrÊ*fo`li*a"tion (?), n. Same as Prefoliation. Gray.

PrÊ`max*il"la (?), n. See Premaxilla.

PrÊ*mo"lar (?), a. See Premolar.

PrÊ*morse" (?), a. Same as Premorse.

||PrÊm`u*ni"re (?), n. [Corrupted from L. praemonere to forewarn, cite. ||See Admonish.] (Eng. Law) (a) The offense of introducing foreign ||authority into England, the penalties for which were originally ||intended to depress the civil power of the pope in the kingdom. (b) ||The writ grounded on that offense. Wharton. (c) The penalty ascribed ||for the offense of prÊmunire.

Wolsey incurred a prÊmunire, and forfeited his honor, estate, and life.

South.

The penalties of prÊmunire were subsequently applied to many other offenses; but prosecutions upon a prÊmunire are at this day unheard of in the English courts. Blackstone.

PrÊm`u*ni"re, v. t. 1. To subject to the penalties of prÊmunire. [Obs.] T. Ward.

PrÊ*mu"ni*to*ry (?), a. See Premunitory.

||PrÊ*na"res (?), n. pl. [NL. See Pre-, Nares.] (Anat.) The anterior ||nares. See Nares. B. G. Wilder.

PrÊ*na"sal (?), a. (Anat.) Same as Prenasal.

PrÊ*no"men (?), n.; pl. PrÊnomina (#). [L., fr. prae before + nomen name.] (Rom. Antiq.) The first name of a person, by which individuals of the same family were distinguished, answering to our Christian name, as Caius, Lucius, Marcus, etc.

PrÊ`no*min"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a prÊnomen. [Obs.] M. A. Lower.

PrÊ`o*per"cu*lum, n. [NL.] (Anat.) Same as Preoperculum. -- PrÊ`o*per"cu*lar, a.

PrÊ*o"ral, n., PrÊ*pu"bis, n., PrÊ*scap"u*la, n., PrÊ*scu"tum, n., PrÊ*ster"num, n. Same as Preoral, Prepubis, Prescapula, etc.

PrÊ"ter- (?). A prefix. See Preter- .

PrÊt"er*ist (?), n. (Theol.) See Preterist.

PrÊ`ter*mit" (?), v. t. See Pretermit.

PrÊ*tex"ta (?), n.; pl. PrÊtextÊ (#), E. PrÊtextas (#). [L. (sc. toga), fr. praetextus, p. p. of praetexere to weave before, to fringe, border; prae before + texere to weave.] (Rom. Antiq.) A white robe with a purple border, worn by a Roman boy before he was entitled to wear the toga virilis, or until about the completion of his fourteenth year, and by girls until their marriage. It was also worn by magistrates and priests.

PrÊ"tor (?), n. See Pretor.

||PrÊ*to"res (?), n. pl. [NL. See Pretor.] (Zoˆl.) A division of ||butterflies including the satyrs.

PrÊ*to"ri*an (?), a. See Pretorian.

PrÊ*to"ri*um (?), n. See Pretorium.

||PrÊ*zyg`a*poph"y*sis (?), n. (Anat.) Same as Prezygapophysis.

{ Prag*mat"ic (?), Prag*mat"ic*al (?), } a. [L. pragmaticus busy, active, skilled in business, especially in law and state affairs, systematic, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; a thing done, business, fr. &?; to do: cf. F. pragmatique. See Practical.] 1. Of or pertaining to business or to affairs; of the nature of business; practical; material; businesslike in habit or manner.

The next day . . . I began to be very pragmatical.

Evelyn.

We can not always be contemplative, diligent, or pragmatical, abroad; but have need of some delightful intermissions.

Milton.

Low, pragmatical, earthly views of the gospel.

Hare.

2. Busy; specifically, busy in an objectionable way; officious; fussy and positive; meddlesome. "Pragmatical officers of justice." Sir W. Scott.

The fellow grew so pragmatical that he took upon him the government of my whole family.

Arbuthnot.

3. Philosophical; dealing with causes, reasons, and effects, rather than with details and circumstances; -- said of literature. "Pragmatic history." Sir W. Hamilton. "Pragmatic poetry." M. Arnold.

Pragmatic sanction, a solemn ordinance or decree issued by the head or legislature of a state upon weighty matters; -- a term derived from the Byzantine empire. In European history, two decrees under this name are particularly celebrated. One of these, issued by Charles VII. of France, A. D. 1438, was the foundation of the liberties of the Gallican church; the other, issued by Charles VI. of Germany, A. D. 1724, settled his hereditary dominions on his eldest daughter, the Archduchess Maria Theresa.

Prag*mat"ic, n. 1. One skilled in affairs.

My attorney and solicitor too; a fine pragmatic.

B. Jonson.

2. A solemn public ordinance or decree.

A royal pragmatic was accordingly passed.

Prescott.

Prag*mat"ic*al*ly (?), adv. In a pragmatical manner.

Prag*mat"ic*al*ness, n. The quality or state of being pragmatical.

Prag"ma*tism (?), n. The quality or state of being pragmatic; in literature, the pragmatic, or philosophical, method.

The narration of this apparently trifling circumstance belongs to the pragmatism of the history.

A. Murphy.

Prag"ma*tist (?), n. One who is pragmatic.

Prag"ma*tize (?), v. t. To consider, represent, or embody (something unreal) as fact; to materialize. [R.] "A pragmatized metaphor." Tylor.

||Prai`ri`al" (?), n. [F., fr. prairie meadow.] The ninth month of the ||French Republican calendar, which dated from September 22, 1792. It ||began May, 20, and ended June 18. See Vendemiaire.

Prai"rie (?), n. [F., an extensive meadow, OF. praerie, LL. prataria, fr. L. pratum a meadow.] 1. An extensive tract of level or rolling land, destitute of trees, covered with coarse grass, and usually characterized by a deep, fertile soil. They abound throughout the Mississippi valley, between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains.

From the forests and the prairies, From the great lakes of the northland.

Longfellow.

2. A meadow or tract of grass; especially, a so called natural meadow.