PENULT — PERFECTIONIST

PENULT — PERFECTIONIST NWAD PENULT.1

PENULT, n. [L. penultimus; pene, almost, and ultimus, last.] NWAD PENULT.1

The last syllable of a word except one. NWAD PENULT.2

PENULTIMATE, a. [supra.] The last but one; a word used of the last syllable of a word except one. It may be sometimes used as a noun. NWAD PENULTIMATE.1

PENUMBRA, n. [L. pene, almost, and umbra, shade.] In astronomy, a partial shade or obscurity on the margin of the perfect shade in an eclipse, or between the perfect shade, where the light is entirely intercepted, and the full light. NWAD PENUMBRA.1

PENURIOUS, a. [L. penuria, scarcity, want; Gr. poor; rare.] NWAD PENURIOUS.1

1. Excessively saving or sparing in the use of money; parsimonious to a fault; sordid; as a penurious man. It expresses somewhat less than niggardly. NWAD PENURIOUS.2

2. Scanty; affording little; as a penurious spring. NWAD PENURIOUS.3

PENURIOUSLY, adv. In a saving or parsimonious manner; with scanty supply. NWAD PENURIOUSLY.1

PERURIOUSNESS, n. Parsimony; a sordid disposition to save money. NWAD PERURIOUSNESS.1

1. Scantiness; not plenty. NWAD PERURIOUSNESS.2

PENURY, n. [L. penuria, from Gr. needy.] NWAD PENURY.1

Want of property; indigence; extreme poverty. NWAD PENURY.2

All innocent they were exposed to hardship and penury. NWAD PENURY.3

PEON, n. In Hindoostan, a foot soldier, or a footman armed with sword and target; said to be corrupted from piadah. [Qu. L. pes, pedis.] Hence, NWAD PEON.1

1. In France, a common man in chess; usually written and called pawn. NWAD PEON.2

PEONY, n. [L. poeonia; Gr. from Apollo.] NWAD PEONY.1

A plant and flower of the genus Paeonia. It is written also piony. NWAD PEONY.2

PEOPLE, n. [L. populus.] NWAD PEOPLE.1

1. The body of persons who compose a community, town, city or nation. We say, the people of a town; the people of London or Paris; the English people. In this sense, the word is not used in the plural, but it comprehends all classes of inhabitants, considered as a collective body, or any portion of the inhabitants of a city or country. NWAD PEOPLE.2

2. The vulgar; the mass of illiterate persons. NWAD PEOPLE.3

The knowing artist may judge better than the people. NWAD PEOPLE.4

3. The commonalty, as distinct from men of rank. NWAD PEOPLE.5

Myself shall mount the rostrum in his favor, NWAD PEOPLE.6

And strive to gain his pardon from the people. NWAD PEOPLE.7

4. Persons of a particular class; a part of a nation or community; as country people. NWAD PEOPLE.8

5. Persons in general; any persons indefinitely; like on in French, and man in Saxon. NWAD PEOPLE.9

People were tempted to lend by great premiums and large interest. NWAD PEOPLE.10

6. A collection or community of animals. NWAD PEOPLE.11

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. Proverbs 30:25. NWAD PEOPLE.12

7. When people signified a separate nation or tribe, it has the plural number. NWAD PEOPLE.13

Thou must prophesy again before many peoples. Revelation 10:11. NWAD PEOPLE.14

8. In Scripture, fathers or kindred. Genesis 25:8, 17. NWAD PEOPLE.15

9. The Gentiles. NWAD PEOPLE.16

--To him shall the gathering of the people be. Genesis 49:10. NWAD PEOPLE.17

PEOPLE, v.t. To stock with inhabitants. Emigrants from Europe have peopled the United States. NWAD PEOPLE.18

PEOPLED, pp. Stocked or furnished with inhabitants. NWAD PEOPLED.1

PEOPLING, ppr. Stocking with inhabitants. NWAD PEOPLING.1

PEOPLISH, a. Vulgar. NWAD PEOPLISH.1

PEPASTIC, n. [Gr. to concoct or mature.] A medicine that serves to help digestion; applied particularly to such medicines as tend to promote the digestion of wounds. NWAD PEPASTIC.1

PEPPER, n. [L. piper.] A plant and its seed or grain, of the genus Piper. The stem of the plant is a vine requiring a prop, which is usually a tree. The leaves are oval and the flower white. We have three kinds of pepper, the black, the white, and the long. The black pepper is the produce of Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, and other Asiatic countries; The white pepper is the black pepper decorticated; the long pepper is the fruit of a different species, also from the E. Indies. It consists of numerous grains attached to a common footstalk. Pepper has a strong aromatic smell and a pungent taste. NWAD PEPPER.1

PEPPER, v.t. To sprinkle with pepper. NWAD PEPPER.2

1. To beat; to pelt with shot; to mangle with blows. NWAD PEPPER.3

PEPPER-BOX, n. A small box with a perforated lid, used for sprinkling pulverized pepper on food. NWAD PEPPER-BOX.1

PEPPER-CAKE, n. A kind of spiced cake or gingerbread. NWAD PEPPER-CAKE.1

PEPPER-CORN, n. The berry or seed of the pepper-plant. NWAD PEPPER-CORN.1

1. Something of inconsiderable value; as lands held at the rent of a pepper-corn. NWAD PEPPER-CORN.2

PEPPERED, pp. Sprinkled with pepper; pelted; spotted. NWAD PEPPERED.1

PEPPER-GINGERBREAD, n. A kind of cake made in England. NWAD PEPPER-GINGERBREAD.1

PEPPERGRASS, n. A plant of the genus Pilularia; also, a plant of the genus Lepidium. NWAD PEPPERGRASS.1

PEPPERING, ppr. Sprinkling with pepper; pelting. NWAD PEPPERING.1

1. a. Hot; pungent; angry. NWAD PEPPERING.2

PEPPERMINT, n. A plant of the genus Mentha. It is aromatic and pungent. Also, a liquor distilled from the plant. NWAD PEPPERMINT.1

PEPPERMINT-TREE, n. The Eucalyptus piperita, a native of New South Wales. NWAD PEPPERMINT-TREE.1

PEPPER-POT, n. A plant of the genus Capsicum. NWAD PEPPER-POT.1

PEPPER-TREE, n. A plant of the venus Vitis. NWAD PEPPER-TREE.1

PEPPER-WATER, n. A liquor prepared from powdered black pepper; used in microscopical observations. NWAD PEPPER-WATER.1

PEPPER-WORT, n. A plant of the genus Lepidium. NWAD PEPPER-WORT.1

PEPTIC, a. [Gr. to digest.] NWAD PEPTIC.1

Promoting digestion; dietetic, as peptic precepts. NWAD PEPTIC.2

PER, a Latin preposition, denoting through, passing, or over the whole extent, as in perambulo. Hence it is sometimes equivalent to very in English, as in peracutus, very sharp. As a prefix, in English, it retains these significations, and in chimistry it is used to denote very of fully, to the utmost extent, as in peroxyd, a substance oxydated to the utmost degree. NWAD PER.1

Per is used also for by, as per bearer, by the bearer. NWAD PER.2

Per annum, [L.] by the year; in each year successively. NWAD PER.3

Per se, [L.] by himself; by itself; by themselves. NWAD PER.4

PERACUTE, a. [L. peracutus; per, through, and acutus, sharp.] NWAD PERACUTE.1

Very sharp; very violent; as a peracute fever. [Little used.] NWAD PERACUTE.2

PERADVENTURE, adv. [L. venio, to come.] By chance; perhaps; it may be. NWAD PERADVENTURE.1

It has been used as a noun for doubt or question, but rather improperly. The word is obsolescent and inelegant. NWAD PERADVENTURE.2

PERAGRATE, v.i. [L. peragro; per, through, over, and ager, a field.] To travel over or through; to wander; to ramble. [Little used.] NWAD PERAGRATE.1

PERAGRATION, n. The act of passing through any space; as the peragration of the moon in her monthly revolution. [Little used.] NWAD PERAGRATION.1

PERAMBULATE, v.t. [L. perambulo; per and ambulo, to walk.] NWAD PERAMBULATE.1

To walk through or over; properly and technically, to pass through or over for the purpose of surveying or examining something; to visit as overseers; as, to perambulate a parish. So in New England, the laws require the select men of towns to appoint suitable persons annually to perambulate the borders or bounds of the township, and renew the boundaries, or see that the old ones are in a good state. NWAD PERAMBULATE.2

PERAMBULATED, pp. Passed over; inspected. NWAD PERAMBULATED.1

PERAMBULATING, ppr. Passing over or through for the purpose of inspection. NWAD PERAMBULATING.1

PERAMBULATION, n. The act of passing or walking through or over. NWAD PERAMBULATION.1

1. A traveling survey or inspection. NWAD PERAMBULATION.2

2. A district within which a person has the right of inspection; jurisdiction. NWAD PERAMBULATION.3

3. Annual survey of the bounds of a parish in England, or of a township in America. NWAD PERAMBULATION.4

PERAMBULATOR, n. An instrument or wheel for measuring distances, to be used in surveying or traveling; called also a pedometer. NWAD PERAMBULATOR.1

PERBISULPHATE, n. A sulphate with two proportions of sulphuric acid, and combined with an oxyd at the maximum of oxydation. NWAD PERBISULPHATE.1

PERCARBURETED, a. The percarbureted hydrogen of the French chimists is said to be the only definite compound of these two elements. NWAD PERCARBURETED.1

PERCASE, adv. [per and case, by case.] NWAD PERCASE.1

Perhaps; perchance. [Not used.] NWAD PERCASE.2

PERCEANT, n. Piercing; penetrating. [Not used.] NWAD PERCEANT.1

PERCEIVABLE, a. [See Perceive.] Perceptible; that may be perceived; that may fall under perception or the cognizance of the senses; that may be felt, seen, heard, smelt or tasted. We say, the roughness of cloth is perceivable; the dawn of the morning is perceivable; the sound of a bell is perceivable; the scent of an orange is perceivable; the difference of taste in an apple and an orange is perceivable. NWAD PERCEIVABLE.1

1. That may be known, understood or conceived. [Less proper.] NWAD PERCEIVABLE.2

PERCEIVABLY, adv. In such a manner as to be perceived. NWAD PERCEIVABLY.1

PERCEIVANCE, n. Power of perceiving. [Not in use.] NWAD PERCEIVANCE.1

PERCEIVE, v.t. [L. percipio; per and capio, to take.] NWAD PERCEIVE.1

1. To have knowledge or receive impressions of external objects through the medium or instrumentality of the senses or bodily organs; as, to perceive light or color; to perceive the cold or ice or the taste of honey. NWAD PERCEIVE.2

2. To know; to understand; to observe. NWAD PERCEIVE.3

Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understanding, we are in the dark. NWAD PERCEIVE.4

3. To be affected by; to receive impressions from. NWAD PERCEIVE.5

The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air below. NWAD PERCEIVE.6

PERCEIVED, pp. Known by the senses; felt; understood; observed. NWAD PERCEIVED.1

PERCEIVER, n. One who perceives, feels or observes. NWAD PERCEIVER.1

PERCEPTIBILITY, n. The state or quality of being perceptible; as the perceptibility of light or color. NWAD PERCEPTIBILITY.1

1. Perception. [Less proper.] NWAD PERCEPTIBILITY.2

PERCEPTIBLE, a. [L. percipio, perceptus.] NWAD PERCEPTIBLE.1

1. That may be perceived; that may impress the bodily organs; that may come under the cognizance of the senses; as a perceptible degree of heat or cold; a perceptible odor; a perceptible sound. A thing may be too minute to be perceptible to the touch. NWAD PERCEPTIBLE.2

2. That may be known or conceived of. NWAD PERCEPTIBLE.3

PERCEPTIBLY, adv. In a manner to be perceived. NWAD PERCEPTIBLY.1

The woman decays perceptibly every week. NWAD PERCEPTIBLY.2

PERCEPTION, n. [L. perceptio. See Perceive.] NWAD PERCEPTION.1

1. The act of perceiving or of receiving impressions by the senses; or that act or process of the mind which makes known an external object. In other words, the notice which the mind takes of external objects. We gain a knowledge of the coldness and smoothness of marble by perception. NWAD PERCEPTION.2

2. In philosophy, the faculty of perceiving; the faculty or peculiar part of man’s constitution, by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs. NWAD PERCEPTION.3

3. Notion; idea. NWAD PERCEPTION.4

4. The state of being affected or capable of being affected by something external. NWAD PERCEPTION.5

This experiment discovers perception in plants. NWAD PERCEPTION.6

PERCEPTIVE, a. Having the faculty of perceiving. NWAD PERCEPTIVE.1

PERCEPTIVITY, n. The power of perception of thinking. NWAD PERCEPTIVITY.1

PERCH, n. [L. perca.] A fish of the genus Perca. This fish has a deep body, very rough scales, an arched back, and prickly dorsal fins. NWAD PERCH.1

PERCH, n. [L. pertica.] NWAD PERCH.2

1. A pole; hence, a roost for fowls, which is often a pole; also, any thing on which they light. NWAD PERCH.3

2. A measure of length containing five yards and a half; a rod. In the popular language of America, rod is chiefly used; but rod, pole, and perch, all signifying the same thing, may be used indifferently. NWAD PERCH.4

PERCH, v.i. To sit or roost; as a bird. NWAD PERCH.5

1. To light or settle on a fixed body; as a bird. NWAD PERCH.6

PERCH, v.t. To place on a fixed object or perch. NWAD PERCH.7

PERCHANCE, adv. [per and chance.] By chance; perhaps. NWAD PERCHANCE.1

PERCHERS, n. Paris candles anciently used in England; also, a larger sort of wax candles which were usually set on the altar. NWAD PERCHERS.1

PERCHLORATE, n. A compound of perchloric acid with a base. NWAD PERCHLORATE.1

PERCHLORIC, a. Perchloric acid is chlorine converted into an acid by combining with a maximum of oxygen. NWAD PERCHLORIC.1

PERCIPIENT, a. [L. percipiens.] Perceiving; having the faculty of perception. Animals are percipient beings; mere matter is not percipient. NWAD PERCIPIENT.1

PERCIPIENT, n. One that perceives or has the faculty of perception. NWAD PERCIPIENT.2

PERCLOSE, n. s as z. Conclusion. [Not used.] NWAD PERCLOSE.1

PERCOLATE, v.t. [L. percolo; per and colo, to strain.] To strain through; to cause to pass through small interstices, as a liquor; to filter. NWAD PERCOLATE.1

PERCOLATE, v.i. To pass through small interstices; to filter; as, water percolates through a porous stone. NWAD PERCOLATE.2

PERCOLATED, pp. Filtered; passed through small interstices. NWAD PERCOLATED.1

PERCOLATING, ppr. Filtering. NWAD PERCOLATING.1

PERCOLATION, n. The act of straining or filtering; filtration; the act of passing through small interstices, as liquor through felt or a porous stone. NWAD PERCOLATION.1

Percolation is intended for the purification of liquors. NWAD PERCOLATION.2

PERCUSS, v.t. [L. percussus, from percutio, to strike.] NWAD PERCUSS.1

To strike. [Little used.] NWAD PERCUSS.2

PERCUSSION, n. [L. percussio.] The act of striking one body against another, with some violence; as the vibrations excited in the air by percussion. NWAD PERCUSSION.1

1. The impression one body makes on another by falling on it or striking it. NWAD PERCUSSION.2

2. The impression or effect of sound on the ear. NWAD PERCUSSION.3

PERCUTIENT, n. [L. percutiens.] That which strikes, or has power to strike. NWAD PERCUTIENT.1

PERDIFOIL, n. [L. perdo, to lose, and folium, leaf.] A plant that annually loses or drops its leaves; opposed to evergreen. NWAD PERDIFOIL.1

The passion flower of America and the jasmine of Malabar, which are evergreens in their native climates, become perdifoils when transplanted into Britain. NWAD PERDIFOIL.2

PERDITION, n. [L. perditio, from perdo, to lose, to ruin.] NWAD PERDITION.1

1. Entire loss or ruin; utter destruction; as the perdition of the Turkish fleet. NWAD PERDITION.2

[In this sense, the word is now nearly or wholly obsolete.] NWAD PERDITION.3

2. The utter loss of the soul or of final happiness in a future state; future misery or eternal death. The impenitent sinner is condemned to final perdition. NWAD PERDITION.4

If we reject the truth, we seal our own perdition. NWAD PERDITION.5

3. Loss. [Not used.] NWAD PERDITION.6

PERDU, PERDUE, adv. [L. perdo.] Close; in concealment. NWAD PERDU.1

The moderator, out of view, NWAD PERDU.2

Beneath the desk had lain perdue. NWAD PERDU.3

PERDU, n. One that is placed on the watch or in ambush. NWAD PERDU.4

PERDU, a. Abandoned; employed on desperate purposes; accustomed to desperate purposes or enterprises. NWAD PERDU.5

PERDULOUS, a. [L. perdo.] Lost; thrown away. [Not used.] NWAD PERDULOUS.1

PERDURABLE, a. [L. perduro; per and duro, to last.] NWAD PERDURABLE.1

Very durable; lasting; continuing long. [Not used.] NWAD PERDURABLE.2

PERDURABLY, adv. Very durably. [Not used.] NWAD PERDURABLY.1

PERDURATION, n. Long continuance. [Not used.] NWAD PERDURATION.1

PERDY, adv. Certainly; verily; in truth. NWAD PERDY.1

PEREGAL, a. Equal. [Not used.] NWAD PEREGAL.1

PEREGRINATE, v.i. [L. peregrinor, from peregrinus, a traveler or stranger; peragro, to wander; per and ager.] NWAD PEREGRINATE.1

To travel from place to place or from one country to another; to live in a foreign country. NWAD PEREGRINATE.2

PEREGRINATION, n. A traveling from one country to another; a wandering; abode in foreign countries. NWAD PEREGRINATION.1

PEREGRINATOR, n. A traveler into foreign countries. NWAD PEREGRINATOR.1

PEREGRINE, a. [L. peregrinus.] Foreign; not native. [Little used.] NWAD PEREGRINE.1

Peregrine falcon, a species of hawk, the black hawk or falcon, found in America and in Asia, and which wanders in summer to the Arctic circle. NWAD PEREGRINE.2

PEREMPT, v.t. [L. peremptus, perimo, to kill.] NWAD PEREMPT.1

In law, to kill; to crush or destroy. [Not used.] NWAD PEREMPT.2

PEREMPTION, n. [L. peremptio.] A killing; a quashing; nonsuit. [Not used.] NWAD PEREMPTION.1

PEREMPTORILY, adv. [from peremptory.] Absolutely; positively; in a decisive manner; so as to preclude further debate. NWAD PEREMPTORILY.1

Never judge peremptorily on first appearances. NWAD PEREMPTORILY.2

PEREMPTORINESS, n. Positiveness; absolute decision; dogmatism. NWAD PEREMPTORINESS.1

Peremptoriness is of two sorts; one, a magisterialness in matters of opinion; the other, a positiveness in matters of fact. NWAD PEREMPTORINESS.2

PEREMPTORY, a. [L. peremptorius, from peremptus, taken away, killed.] NWAD PEREMPTORY.1

1. Express; positive; absolute; decisive; authoritative; in a manner to preclude debate or expostulation. The orders of the commander are peremptory. NWAD PEREMPTORY.2

2. Positive in opinion or judgment. The genuine effect of sound learning is to make men less peremptory in their determinations. NWAD PEREMPTORY.3

3. Final; determinate. NWAD PEREMPTORY.4

4. Peremptory challenge, in law, a challenge or right of challenging jurors without showing cause. NWAD PEREMPTORY.5

PERENNIAL, a. [L. perennis; per and annus, a year.] NWAD PERENNIAL.1

1. Lasting or continuing without cessation through the year. NWAD PERENNIAL.2

2. Perpetual; unceasing; never failing. NWAD PERENNIAL.3

3. In botany, continuing more than two years; as a perennial stem or root. NWAD PERENNIAL.4

4. Continuing without intermission; as a fever. NWAD PERENNIAL.5

PERENNIAL, n. In botany, a plant which lives or continues more than two years, whether it retains its leaves or not. That which retains its leaves during winter is called an evergreen; that which casts its leaves, deciduous, or a perdifoil. NWAD PERENNIAL.6

PERENNIALLY, adv. Continually; without ceasing. NWAD PERENNIALLY.1

PERENNITY, n. [L. perennitas.] An enduring or continuing through the whole year without ceasing. NWAD PERENNITY.1

PERERRATION, n. [L. perrro; per and erro, to wander.] NWAD PERERRATION.1

A wandering or rambling through various places. NWAD PERERRATION.2

PERFECT, a. [L. perfectus, perficio, to complete; per and facio, to do or make through, to carry to the end.] NWAD PERFECT.1

1. Finished; complete; consummate; not defective; having all that is requisite to its nature and kind; as a perfect statue; a perfect likeness; a perfect work; a perfect system. NWAD PERFECT.2

As full, as perfect in a hair as heart. NWAD PERFECT.3

2. Fully informed; completely skilled; as men perfect in the use of arms; perfect in discipline. NWAD PERFECT.4

3. Complete in moral excellencies. NWAD PERFECT.5

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48. NWAD PERFECT.6

4. Manifesting perfection. NWAD PERFECT.7

My strength is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9. NWAD PERFECT.8

Perfect chord, in music, a concord or union of sounds which is perfectly coalescent and agreeable to the ear, as the fifth and the octave; a perfect consonance. NWAD PERFECT.9

A perfect flower, in botany, has both stamen and pistil, or at least another and stigma. NWAD PERFECT.10

Perfect tense, in grammar, the preterit tense; a tense which expresses an act completed. NWAD PERFECT.11

PERFECT, v.t. [L. perfectus, perficio.] To finish or complete so as to leave nothing wanting; to give to any thing all that is requisite to its nature and kind; as, to perfect a picture or statue. 2 Chronicles 8:16. NWAD PERFECT.12

-Inquire into the nature and properties of things, and thereby perfect our ideas of distinct species. NWAD PERFECT.13

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12. NWAD PERFECT.14

1. To instruct fully; to make fully skillful; as, to perfect one’s self in the rules of music or architecture; to perfect soldiers in discipline. NWAD PERFECT.15

PERFECTED, pp. Finished; completed. NWAD PERFECTED.1

PERFECTER, n. One that makes perfect. NWAD PERFECTER.1

PERFECTIBILITY, n. [from perfectible.] NWAD PERFECTIBILITY.1

The capacity of becoming or being made perfect. NWAD PERFECTIBILITY.2

PERFECTIBLE, a. Capable of becoming or being made perfect, or of arriving at the utmost perfection of the species. NWAD PERFECTIBLE.1

PERFECTING, ppr. Finishing; completing; consummating. NWAD PERFECTING.1

PERFECTION, n. [L. perfectio.] The state of being perfect or complete, so that nothing requisite is wanting; as perfection in an art or science; perfection in a system of morals. NWAD PERFECTION.1

1. Physical perfection, is when a natural object has all its powers, faculties or qualities entire and in full vigor, and all its parts in due proportion. NWAD PERFECTION.2

2. Metaphysical or transcendental perfection, is the possession of all the essential attributes or all the parts necessary to the integrity of a substance. This is absolute, where all defect is precluded, such as the perfection of God; or according to its kind, as in created things. NWAD PERFECTION.3

3. Moral perfection, is the complete possession of all moral excellence, as in the Supreme Being; or the possession of such moral qualities and virtues as a thing is capable of. NWAD PERFECTION.4

4. A quality, endowment or acquirement completely excellent, or of great worth. NWAD PERFECTION.5

In this sense, the word has a plural. NWAD PERFECTION.6

What tongue can her perfections tell? NWAD PERFECTION.7

5. An inherent or essential attribute of supreme or infinite excellence; or one perfect in its kind; as the perfections of God. The infinite power, holiness, justice, benevolence and wisdom of God are denominated his perfections. NWAD PERFECTION.8

6. Exactness; as, to imitate a model to perfection. NWAD PERFECTION.9