Wednesday, October 24, 2007

[P]

pacify v. To bring into a peaceful state.
packet n. A bundle, as of letters.
pact n. A covenant.
pagan n. A worshiper of false gods.
pageant n. A dramatic representation, especially a spectacular one.
palate n. The roof of the mouth.
palatial adj. Magnificent.
paleontology n. The branch of biology that treats of ancient life and fossil organisms.
palette n. A thin tablet, with a hole for the thumb, upon which artists lay their colors for painting.
palinode n. A retraction.
pall v. To make dull by satiety.
palliate v. To cause to appear less guilty.
pallid adj. Of a pale or wan appearance.
palpable n. perceptible by feeling or touch.
palsy n. Paralysis.
paly adj. Lacking color or brilliancy.
pamphlet n. A brief treatise or essay, usually on a subject of current interest.
pamphleteer v. To compose or issue pamphlets, especially controversial ones.
panacea n. A remedy or medicine proposed for or professing to cure all diseases.
Pan-American adj. Including or pertaining to the whole of America, both North and South.
pandemic adj. Affecting a whole people or all classes, as a disease.
pandemonium n. A fiendish or riotous uproar.
panegyric n. A formal and elaborate eulogy, written or spoken, of a person or of an act.
panel n. A rectangular piece set in or as in a frame.
panic n. A sudden, unreasonable, overpowering fear.
panoply n. A full set of armor.
panorama n. A series of large pictures representing a continuous scene.
pantheism n. The worship of nature for itself or its beauty.
Pantheon n. A circular temple at Rome with a fine Corinthian portico and a great domed roof.
pantomime n. Sign-language.
pantoscope n. A very wide-angled photographic lens.
papacy n. The official head of the Roman Catholic Church.
papyrus n. The writing-paper of the ancient Egyptians, and later of the Romans.
parable n. A brief narrative founded on real scenes or events usually with a moral.
paradox n. A statement or doctrine seemingly in contradiction to the received belief.
paragon n. A model of excellence.
parallel v. To cause to correspond or lie in the same direction and equidistant in all parts.
parallelism n. Essential likeness.
paralysis n. Loss of the power of contractility in the voluntary or involuntary muscles.
paralyze v. To deprive of the power to act.
paramount adj. Supreme in authority.
paramour n. One who is unlawfully and immorally a lover or a mistress.
paraphernalia n. Miscellaneous articles of equipment or adornment.
paraphrase v. Translate freely.
pare v. To cut, shave, or remove (the outside) from anything.
parentage n. The relation of parent to child, of the producer to the produced, or of cause to effect.
Pariah n. A member of a degraded class; a social outcast.
parish n. The ecclesiastical district in charge of a pastor.
Parisian adj. Of or pertaining to the city of Paris.
parity n. Equality, as of condition or rank.
parlance n. Mode of speech.
parley v. To converse in.
parliament n. A legislative body.
parlor n. A room for reception of callers or entertainment of guests.
parody v. To render ludicrous by imitating the language of.
paronymous adj. Derived from the same root or primitive word.
paroxysm n. A sudden outburst of any kind of activity.
parricide n. The murder of a parent.
parse v. To describe, as a sentence, by separating it into its elements and describing each word.
parsimonious adj. Unduly sparing in the use or expenditure of money.
partible adj. Separable.
participant n. One having a share or part.
participate v. To receive or have a part or share of.
partition n. That which separates anything into distinct parts.
partisan adj. Characterized by or exhibiting undue or unreasoning devotion to a party.
passible adj. Capable of feeling of suffering.
passive adj. Unresponsive.
pastoral adj. Having the spirit or sentiment of rural life.
paternal adj. Fatherly.
paternity n. Fatherhood.
pathos n. The quality in any form of representation that rouses emotion or sympathy.
patriarch n. The chief of a tribe or race who rules by paternal right.
patrician adj. Of senatorial or noble rank.
patrimony n. An inheritance from an ancestor, especially from one's father.
patriotism n. Love and devotion to one's country.
patronize v. To exercise an arrogant condescension toward.

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