P RE 



589 



PRI 



A term in canon law denoting a fund for 

 the support of a priest, appropriated by 

 the founder, but not erected into any title 

 or benefice, and not subject to the pope 

 or ordinary. In Spain prestimonio is a 

 prebend for the support of poor clergy- 

 men, on condition of their saying prayers 

 at certain stated times. 



PaEsxo. An Italian word meaning 

 quick ; used in music as a direction for a 

 quick lively movement or performance. 



PRESUMPTION OF LAW. The assumption 

 of the truth of a certain state of facts by 

 the ordinary custom of law. 



PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. In law, is 

 that which is derived from circumstances 

 which necessarily or usually attend a fact, 

 as distinct from direct evidence or posi- 

 tive proof. 



PRESUMPTIVE HEIR. One who would 

 inherit an estate if the ancestor should 

 die with things in their present state, but 

 whose right of inheritance may be de- 

 feated by the birth of a nearer heir be- 

 fore the death of the ancestor ; distinct 

 from heir- apparent, whose right is inde- 

 feasible, provided he outlives the ancestor. 



PRET'EHITE, from prater, beyond. A 

 term in grammar applied to the tense 

 which expresses an action perfectly past 

 or finished, but with a specification of 

 time : called also the perfect tense. 



PRETERIMPER'FECT. In grammar, a 

 term designating the tense which ex- 

 presses action or being, not perfectly 

 past. The term is awkward. 



PRETERI'TION, from prcetereo, to pass 

 by. A rhetorical figure, by which, in 

 pretending to pass over anything, we 

 nfake a summary mention of it. Praise 

 and blame are often artfully bestowed by 

 preterition. 



PRETERPER'FECT, from prater, more 

 than, and perfect (q. y.). A term in gram- 

 mar equivalent to preterite, applied to the 

 tense of verbs which expresses action, or 

 being absolutely past. 



PRETERPLUPER'FECT, from prater, be- 

 yond, plus, more, and perfect (q. v.). A 

 term in grammar designating the tense 

 of verbs which expresses action or being 

 past, prior to another past event or time ; 

 better denominated the prior past tense ; 

 that is, past prior to another event. 



PRE'TOR, 1 A judge among the ancient 



PRJE'TOR. } Romans, answering to the 

 modern chief justice or chancellor, or 

 both. In later times there were pretors 

 appointed to distribute justice in the pro- 

 vinces ; such provinces being called pre- 

 fectures. 



PREVARICATION. A shuffling; presva- 

 ricor, from prte, before, and varicor, to 

 straddle. In civil law, the collusion of an 

 informant with the defendant, for the 

 purpose of making a sham prosecution, 

 la common law, a seeming to undertake a 



thing falsely or deceitfully, for the pur- 

 pose of defeating it. 



PREVENTIVE SERVICE. A designation 

 for the duty performed by the armed po- 

 lice engaged in watching the coasts, for 

 the purpose of preventing smuggling and 

 other illegal acts. 



PRICE. By the price of a commodity 

 is meant its value estimated in money, or 

 simply the quantity of money for which 

 it will exchange. By price current is 

 meant a list or enumeration of the va- 

 rious articles of merchandise, with their 

 prices, the duties (if any) pay able thereon 

 when imported or exported, with the 

 drawbacks occasionally allowed upon 

 their exportation. 



PRICKING-UP. In architecture, the first 

 coat of plaster in work of three coats 

 upon lath. 



PRICK-POST. In architecture, a post, in 

 wooden buildings, between two princi- 

 pal posts. 



PRICK-PUNCH. A piece of tempered 

 steel with a round point, to impress a 

 round mark on cold iron. 



PRIEST, from Lat. preestes, a chief. 

 Among pagans, priests were persons 

 whose appropriate business was to offer 

 sacrifices and perform other sacred riteg 

 of religion. In the modern churches, a priest 

 is a person who is set apart or consecrated 

 to the ministry of the religion of his 

 country. In England, the word is un- 

 derstood to be chiefly applicable to the 

 subordinate orders of the clergy, above a 

 deacon and below a bishop, but in the 

 United States of America, the word de- 

 notes any licensed minister of the gospel. 



PRII/LON. A name, in Cornwall, for tin 

 extracted from the slag. 



PRI'MA FA'CIE. " On the first view " of 

 anything. A term in logic. 



PRI'MJE VI'.E. First passages. A term 

 in anatomy, employed to denote the sto- 

 mach and intestinal tube, because they 

 are the first passages for what is taken 

 into the stomach. 



PRI'MAOE. In commerce, a certain al- 

 lowance, paid by the shipper or consignee 

 of goods, to the marines and master of a 

 vessel for loading the same. It differs in 

 amount at different places, from a penny 

 to sixpence a pack, ball, &c. 



PRI'MARY, Lat. primarius, from primus, 

 first; first in order, original; as 1. In 

 pathology, applied to diseases, to their 

 symptoms, causes, &c., to denote priority, 

 in opposition to what follows, or what is 



secondary. 2. In geology, applied to 



rocks or strata, supposed, from the ab- 

 sence of fossil remains, to have been 

 formed before animals and vegetables ex- 

 isted : those in which organic remains 

 appear being termed secondary. It \3 now 

 known, however, that some portions of 

 those so called primary ruckt (gneus 



