1. The sixteenth letter and 
i we nth consonant of the 
English alphabet, having a 
corresponding position in 
other alphabets. The scheme 
of parallel forms, as given in the 
case of the other letters (see espe- 
cially A), is as follows : 
B *** 
Egyptian. I'hcni- 
Uieroglyphic. Hier.itic. cian. 
Early 
< .11 '< il '< 
The usual Greek II was made by extending the originally 
short second perpendicular Hmb ; the Latin (whence our) 
/', by curving the same around to meet the perpendicular 
(see R). P in all these alphabets stands for the same un- 
varying sound : namely, for the surd labial mute (corre- 
sponding to b as sonant, and m as nasal), made with closure 
of the lips, during the maintenance of which closure there 
la complete silence, its character being brought to light 
by explosion upon the following sound. The p-sound is 
in English much less common (below a third) than the t- 
sound, and slightly less common (about four fifths) than the 
i-sound. The character p has no varieties or irregularities 
of pronunciation in English save as it is silent at the !>- 
ginning of afew Greek words, as pgalm,pneumatic,pter(*pod, 
and, much more rarely, elsewhere, as in receipt, accompt. 
It enters into one important digraph, namely ph, found in 
numerous words of classical origin, and pronounced as/ 
(but originally as written, or as an aspirated />'>!' with an 
audibloAafterit,asinourcoinpoundup/iil)- (SeepA.) Ac- 
cording to the general law of correspondence, a p in the 
Germanic part of our language should represent an original 
b; but b appears to have been almost altogether wanting 
in the primitive language of our family ; and hence our 
p, when notot classical origin, or borrowed from elsewhere, 
is the result of some irregular process. 
2. As a medieval numeral, 400 ; with a dash over 
it (P), 400,000. 3. As a symbol: () In ehem., 
the symbol for phosphorus, (b) In math., the 
Greek capital n denotes a continued product. 
Thus, Up (1 + p\ for which n (1 + m) is also written, de- 
notes the product (1 + m) m (m 1) . . . 8.2.1. The 
small Greek letter - denotes the ratio of the circumfer- 
ence to the diameter, or 3.14159205359 +. This notation 
was introduced by Euler. The other form of the Greek 
minnacule, a, denotes in astronomy the longitude of the 
perihelion. 
4. An abbreviation: (a) Otpost in P. M., post 
meridiem, afternoon, and P. $., postscript, (b) 
ship's log-book, of passing showers, (e) [I. e.] 
Inzool.: (1) Of partim. (2) In dental formulas, 
sameas7. (3) In ichth., of pectoral (fin). (4) 
In echinoderms, of polyplacid. (/) In iiu-d., of 
(1) (Optic) papilla; (2)pupil; (3) pvgillns,laa\A- 
ful. To mind one's p's and q's. See mindi. 
pa 1 (pa), n. [A short form of papa 1 . Cf. ma- 
for mama.'} A more childish form of papa 1 . 
pa'-', pa', N. A Scotch form of pall 1 . 
The cowardly Whittam, for fear they should cut him, 
Seeing glittering broad swords with a pa'. 
Battle of Sheri/.Muir (Child's Ballads, VII. 158). 
p. a. An abbreviation of participial adjective, 
employed in this dictionary, 
paaget, [OF., also poiage, paiage, F. ptagr, 
etc. : see pedage.] Same as pedage. 
Trade was restrained, or the privilege granted on the 
payment of tolls, passages, panyet, pontages, and innu- 
merable other vexatious imposts. 
Burke, Abridg. of Eng. Hist., iii. B. 
paalstab (pal'stab), . Same as pahtaff. 
paasH, . A Middle English variant of JKH-I . 
paas'-'t (p&s), . [An old form of pace*, juim-li : 
in mod. use (in New York), < D. pansrh = K. 
/>/if cli: see pasch.] Same as pascli. 
Here will I holde, as I bane hlght, 
The feeste of Paas with frendis in feere. 
York Play." , 
Under his | Peter Rtuyvesant's] reign there was a great 
cracking of eggs at Paas or Easter. 
li-rnn.i. Knickerbocker, p. 403. 
Paas dayt (pas'da). Easter day. 
Poos Day. Easter Day, in an old English sermon : "In 
die Paeche punt Rftcureccwnem Goode men and women 
as 36 knowe welle this day U called in some place* Astur 
Day i In sume place* Pool Day, Ac." Lantd. M.S. 392, 
fo.W, b. 
Hampton, Medll jKvi Kalendarlum, II. 290 (Glossary). 
paastt, " An obsolete form of paxte 1 . 
pab, " . Same as pob. 
pabouche (pa-bOsh'), n. A slipper: same as 
baboosh. 
I always drink my coffee as Boon as my feet are In my 
pabouchet; It 's the way all over the East. 
Scott, St. Ronan's Well, xxx. 
pabular (pab'u-lSr). a. [< L. pabularis, fit for 
fodder, < pabulum, fodder, food : see jiabuium.] 
Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of pabulum; 
affording food or aliment. Johnson. 
pabulationt (pab-u-la'shon), n. [< L. pabula- 
fio(n-), pasture, foraging, < pabulari, graze, for- 
age, < pabulum, food, fodder : see pabulum.] 1. 
The act of grazing or foraging ; the act of feed- 
ing or of procuring food to eat. Bailey, 1731 . 
2. Same as pabulum. 
pabuloust (pab'u-lus), a. [< LL. pabulosus, 
abounding in fodder, < L. pabulum, food, fod- 
der: see pabulum.] Same as pabular. 
pabulum (pab'u-lum), M. [= OF. pabule = Sp. 
pdbulo = Pg. It. pabulo, < L. pabulum, food, 
fodder, < / pa, in pascere, feed : see pasture.] 
1. Food, in the widest sense; aliment; nutri- 
ment; that which nourishes an animal or 
vegetable organism ; by extension, that which 
nourishes or supports any physical process, as 
fuel for a fire. 
Which seems the sole use of oil, air, or any other thing 
that vulgarly passeth for a pabulum or food of that ele- 
ment [fire]. Bp. Berkeley, Slrla, i 197. 
Nutrition, then, involves the conversion of lifeless pab- 
ulum into living germinal matter. 
Beale, Protoplasm, p. 102. 
2. Hence, food for thought; intellectual or 
spiritual nourishment or support. 
There Is an age, we know, when tales of love 
Form the sweet pabulum our hearts approve. 
Craobe, Works, VII. 44. 
pac, M. See pact*. 
paca (pak'ji), n. [NL. (< Sp. Pg. paca), < 
Braz. i in I.-, paq, the native name.] 1. The 
spotted cavy, C&logenys paca, a large hystrico- 
morphic rodent quadruped of the family Dasy- 
proctida, inhabiting South America and Central 
America. It is one of the largest rodents, though far in- 
ferior In size to the capibara, and Is a near relative of the 
agouti and other cavies. Its length is about two feet, and 
its stature one foot. The body Is robust, with coarse close- 
set hair of a variable brownish color above and whitish 
below, with several streaks or rows of spots of white OD 
the sides. The head is large and broad, with obtuse muz- 
zle ; the tail Is a mere stump ; and the inner digit of each 
foot is reduced, the others being stout and hoof-like. The 
animal is somewhat nocturnal, spending most of the day 
In burrows, often several feet deep, dug usually in moist 
ground near watercourses. It is a vegetable-feeder, some- 
times Injurious to crops, and its flesh is edible. See cut 
under Coelogenyt. 
Their I'ant* [In Brazil! are like Pigs, their Flesh Is pleas- 
ant, they never bring forth above one at a time. 
& Clarke, Geog. Descrip. (1671), p. 282. 
2. [cap.] Same as Cedogenys. Fischer, 1814. 
pacable (pa'ka-bl), a. [< ML. pacabilis, paid, 
taken in sense 'that may be pacified,' < L. pa- 
care, pacify, pay: see pacate, pay 1 . Cf. pay- 
able.] Capable of being pacified; pacifiable: 
placable. 
The august prince who came to rule over England was 
the most pacable of sovereigns. 
Thackera;/, Virginians, 111. 
pacanet, . Same as pecan. 
pacatet (pa'kat), o. [= F. pave, paid, expi- 
ated, = Sp. pacato, pacado = Pg. It. pacato, 
pacified, < L. paeatus, pp. of pacare, pacify, < 
pax (pac-), peace : see pay*, peace.] Peaceful: 
tranquil. 
Poured out those holy raptures, hymns, and sentences, 
as moved by the Holy Spirit ; but with this difference 
from the Pagan oracles, that it was in a pacate way, not 
in a furious transport. 
Evelyn. True Religion. I. 864. 
4221 
pacation (pu-ka'shgn;, w. [< L. i>(icati<>(n-), 
pacification, (.pacare, pp. paca tun, pacify 
pacate.] The act of pacifying or appeasing. 
i'nii i ni, i, . 
pacay (pa-ka'), [Peruv.] The tree ln</n 
i'> mill i. The name is apparently also applied 
in Peru to Prompts Jidiflora, the mesquit. 
paccant, n. Same as pecan. 
raccanarist (pak-a-nar'ist), n. Same as Bar- 
ni nitrist. 
pacchet, . A Middle English form of patch. 
Pacchionian (pak-i-d'ni-an)j a. [< Pacchioni 
(see def.) + -an.] Pertaining to Pacchioni, an 
Italian anatomist (born about 1U65, died 1726). 
Pacchionian depressions r fossae, Irregular depres- 
sions, variable in number, depth, and position, commonly 
found near the course of the sutures of the vault of most 
adult human skulls, produced by the Pacchionian bodies. 
- Pacchionian glands or bodies. .See gland. 
Paccinian, a. See Pacinian. 
pace 1 (pas), n. [< ME. pace, paas, pas, < OF. 
pas, F. pas Sp. pasp = Pg. It. passo, < L. 
paasus, a step, pace, lit. 'a stretch, sc. of the 
feet in walking, < pandere, pp. passus, pansus, 
stretch, be open; ct.patere, be open: see pat- 
ent 1 . Hence u\t. pass, v. and n.] 1. The space 
or distance traversed by the foot in one com- 
pleted movement in walking; hence, the move- 
ment itself; a step. 
The general 's ilisdain'd 
By him one step below ; ... so every step, 
Exampled by the first pace that is sick 
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever 
Of pale and bloodless emulation. 
Shale., T. andC., L 8. 182. 
She left the web, she left the loom. 
She made three paces thro* the room. 
Tennyton, Lady of Shalott. 
2. A lineal measure of variable extent, repre- 
senting the space naturally measured by the 
movement of the foot in walking. In some cases 
the name Is given to the distance from the place where 
either foot is taken up, in walking, to that where the same 
foot is set down, being assumed by some to be 5 feet, by 
others 42 feet this pace of a double step being called a 
geometrical pace, or great pace. The pace of a single step 
(the military pace) is estimated at 2J feet. The Welsh pace 
Is 2} English feet. The ancient Roman pace, the thou- 
sandth part of a mile, was 5 Roman feet, and every foot 
contained between 11.60 and 11.04 English inches, hence 
the pace was about 58.1 English Inches. 
Ful of degrees, the heighte of sixty paas. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1032. 
The lower towne ... Is about a hundred pacet distant 
from the higher. Can/at, Crudities, 1. 10. 
3. Manner or rate of walking or of progression ; 
gait; rate of advance; velocity: as, a quick 
pace; to set the pace; it is pace that kills. 
Komme inne an esy pace. 
Dabeet Book (E. E. T. 9,.\ p. 3. 
The! . . . rode as faste as the horse niyght hem here, 
till that the! were passed all theire peple, and than tin i 
encresed her pat gretter, and rode towarde the siege. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 209. 
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow. 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day. 
Shot., Macbeth, v. 6. 2O. 
Go on, sir Poet, ride once more 
Your hobby at his old free pace. 
Whittier, Tent on the Beach. 
4. Specifically, in music, same as tempo. 5f. 
The rate of moving on foot ; footpace. 
Forth we rlden a lltel more than paat. 
Chaucer, Oen. Prol. to C. T., L 825. 
6. A gait of the horse, in which the legs of the 
same side are lifted together. See rack. 
They rode, but authors having not 
I MiTmined whether pace or trot, . . . 
We leave It and go on. as now 
*iipuo*c they did, no matter how. 
& Butter, Hudibras, 1. 11. 46. 
7. A step; measure; thing to be done. [Rare.] 
The flrat pace necessary for his majesty to make Is to 
fall into confidence with Spain. Sir W. Temple. 
8t. A pass or passage. See pass. 
But when she saw them gone she forward went, 
As lay her journey, through that perlous Paw. 
Sperurr. F. Q-, IIL L ID. 
