peggy 
one of several small warblers, as the white- 
throat, Sylrin ciiitrea, or blackcap, S. atri- 
/ii/>i/la, or garden-warbler, S. hortensis. 2. A 
slender poker having a small part of the end 
bent at right angles, used for raking a fire. 
HalUmctt. [Local, Eng.] 
peggy-chaw (peg'i-cha), . The whitethroat, 
Hi/lria cinerea. [Prov. Eng.] 
peggy-Ctltthroat (peg'i-kuf'throt), n. Same 
as pcggy-chaw. 
pegh, y. i. See peck. 
peg-joint (peg'joint), n. Gomphosis. 
peg-ladder (peg'lad'er), re. A ladder, usually 
fixed, having a single standard, into or through 
which cross-pieces are inserted. 
peg-leg (peg'leg), n. 1. A wooden leg of the 
simplest form. 2. One who walks on a wooden 
leg : so called in contempt or derision . [Slang.] 
pegmat (peg'mii), n. [L.: seopcgme.'] Same as 
pegme. 
The Verses are even enough for such odde pegma's. 
N. Ward, Simple Cobler, p. 27. 
pegmatite (peg'ma-tit), n. [< Gr. 7^0(1--), 
anything fastened together, congealed, or cur- 
dled (see pegme), + -zfe 2 .] Coarsely crystal- 
lized granite. Also called granitel, granitelle. 
pegmatitic (peg-ma-tit'ik), a. [< pegmatite + 
-tc.] Consisting of, characteristic of, or resem- 
bling pegmatite Pegmatitic structure, the type 
of structure characteristic of pegmatite, the component 
minerals being of considerable size and having a tendency 
to a similar optical orientation. 
pegmatoid (peg'ma-toid), a. [< Gr. iryy/ia(T-), 
anything fastened together: see pegmatite.] 
Same as pegmatitic, 
pegmet (pem), n. [< Ii.pegma, < Gr. irijy/ia, any- 
thing fastened together, as a stage or plat- 
form, etc., < Kirfvvvai, fix in, make fast: see 
pact.] A sort of moving machine or triumphal 
car used in old pageants ; a speech written for 
these ; also, a written bill announcing what was 
to be expected. 
Four other triumphal pegmes are, In their convenient 
stages, planted to honour his lordship's progress through 
the city. Middleton, Triumphs of Integrity. 
In the centre or midst of the pegme there was an aback, 
or square, wherein this elogie was written. 
B. Jonson, King's Entertainment 
pegqmancy (pe'go-man-si), n. [< Gr. m/yr/, a 
spring, fountain, 4- ftavrela, divination.] Divi- 
nation by the agency of fountains. 
peg-Striker (peg' stri"ker), re. One who catches 
turtles, lobsters, etc., by driving through their 
shells a peg fixed to a string 
or a pole. 
peg-strip (peg'strip), n. In 
slioemamng, a ribbon of wood 
cut to the width and longitu- 
dinal section of a shoe-peg. 
The separate pegs are both auto- 
matically split from the ribbon 
and driven nome by the pegging- 
machine. 
peg-tankard (peg ' tang"- 
kard), n. A drinking-vessel 
in which a peg or knob is in- p rf 
sorted to mark the level to 
which one person's draught is allowed to lower 
the liquor. These tankards are said to have contained 
two quarts, and to have been divided by pegs into eight 
equal draughts. 
Our modern Bacchanalians . . . may discover some in- 
genuity in that invention among our ancestors of their 
peg-tankards, of which a few may yet occasionally be found 
fn Derbyshire. /. D'Jsmeli, Curios, of Lit, III. 29. 
peg-top (peg'top), n. and a. I. re. 1. A variety 
of top, commonly of solid wood with a metal 
peg, which is spun by the rapid uncoiling of 
a string wound round it. 2. pi. A kind of 
trousers very wide at the top, and gradually nar- 
rowing till they become tight at the ankles : so 
called from their resemblance when on the per- 
son to the toy so named. [Properly pegtops."] 
His ... tailor . . . produced ... the cut-away coat 
and mauve-coloured pegtops, in which unwonted splen- 
dour Hazlet was now arrayed. Farrar, Julian Home, xx. 
II. a. Shaped like a child's top. 
On Sundays the street was reasonably full of young men 
in the peg-top trousers which the Swiss still cling to, mak- 
ing eyes at the girls in the upper windows. 
Uarper's Mag., LXXVI. 465. 
Peg-top form, a usual form of the amphora that is, a 
cone of slightly convex outline, but especially without 
handles. Peg-top vase, a vessel having the peg-top 
form. 
Peguan (pe-go'an), a. and n. [< Pegu (see def . ) 
+ -aw.] I. a. Of or pertaining to Pegu in Bur- 
ma, or its inhabitants. 
II. re. 1. A native or an inhabitant of Pegu. 
Also called Peguer. 2. The Burmese tree- 
shrew, Tupaia pegnana. 
4360 
Pehlevi, n. and a. See Pahlavi. 
peh-tsai (pa'tsi'), n. [Chin., < pen, white, + 
tsai, vegetable.] A variety of cabbage much 
eaten by the Chinese. 
pehtuntse, n. Same as petuntse. 
peignoir (pe-nywor'), n. [F., < peigncr, comb.] 
A loose dressing-sack worn by women, usually 
of washable material ; by extension, a woman's 
dressing-gown or morning-gown ; a wrapper. 
She threw back the ends of her India shawl, which she 
had put over her purple cashmere morning peignoir. 
New Princeton Kev., IV. 387. 
pein, n. See peen. 
peinctt, . An obsolete form of paint. 
peineH, and v. An obsolete form of pain 1 -. 
peine 2 (pan), n. [F., punishment, penalty, pain: 
see pain 1 .'] A punishment more commonly 
called peine forte et dure. See below. 
A case of peine occurred as lately as 1726. At times 
tying the thumbs with whipcord was used instead of the 
peine. Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 465. 
Peine forte et dure [F., < L. poena .fortis et dura, intense 
and severe punishment], a barbarous punishment formerly 
inflicted on those who, being arraigned of felony, refused 
to put themselves on the ordinary trial, but stood mute. 
It was inflicted by putting great weights on the prostrate 
body of the prisoner, until he pleaded or died, and was 
commonly known as pressing to death. 
peintt, c. An obsolete form of paint. 
peirameter (pl-ram'e-ter), n. [< Gr. Treipav, at- 
tempt, make trial or proof of, 4- uerpov, mea- 
sure.] An instrument for ascertaining the de- 
gree of resistance which the surfaces of differ- 
ent kinds of roads offer to wheeled carriages, 
etc., passing over them. Also parameter. 
peirastic (pi-ras'tik), a. [< Gr. irctpaoTtKof, fit- 
ted for trying or proving, < ireipav, attempt, 
make trial of, < mlpa, a trial, an attempt.] 
Fitted for or pertaining to trying or testing ; 
making trial ; tentative : as, the peirastic dia- 
logues of Plato. 
Peirce's criterion. See criterion. 
peiret, Same a,Bi>air%. 
peisantt, a. [< QT?.pesant.peisant, ppr. otpeser, 
peiser, weigh. Cf.pesanfl.~\ Heavy; weighty. 
They did sustaine 
Their peisant weight. 
Hudson, tr. of Du Bartas's Judith, ii. 
peiset, v. and n. An obsolete form of poise. 
peishwah, n. Same aspeshwa. 
peit, n. [Origin obscure.] A whip. [Scotch.] 
It is my peit. 
Fauee Knight upon the Road (Child's Ballads, VIII. 260). 
peitrelt, . Same &spoitrel. 
peizet, v. and n. An obsolete form of poise. 
peizlesst, a. Same as poiseless. 
pejoration (pe-jo-ra'shon), re. [< L. pejor, worse, 
compar. of mains, bad', 4- -ation.~\ 1. Deteri- 
oration; a becoming worse: specifically used 
in Scots law. 2. Depreciation; a lowering or 
deterioration of sense in a word. 
pejorative (pe'jo-ra-tiv), a. and re. [<L. pejor, 
worse, compar. of mains, bad, + -ative.] I. 
a. Tending or intended to depreciate or dete- 
riorate, as the sense of a word; giving a low or 
bad sense to. 
II. n. In gram., a word that depreciates or de- 
teriorates the sense : thus, poetaster is & pejora- 
tive of poet, criticaster of critic. 
pejoratively (pe'jo-ra-tiv-li), adv. In a low or 
bad sense. 
pejorityt (pe-jor'i-ti), re. [< L. pejor, worse, + 
-ity.~] A becoming worse; deterioration; pe- 
joration. 
" The last state of that man shall be worse than the 
first." . . . This pejority of his state may be amplified in 
six respects. Sen. T. Adams, Works, II. 66. 
pekan (pek'an), n. [= F. pekan.] The fisher, 
or Pennant's marten. See cut under fisher. 
pekea (pe-ke'a), re. [Native name.] A timber- 
tree, Caryocar butyrosum, of the natural order 
Ternstmmiacese, of Guiana, which produces nuts 
that resemble souari-nuts, but are more oily. 
Pekin duck. [Named from Pelting, in China.] 
A favorite variety of the domestic duck, of 
large size, solid creamy-white plumage, and 
orange beak and legs. 
Peking lacquer. See lacquer. 
pekket. " A Middle English form of peck 1 , pick 1 . 
pekoe (pe'ko), re. [Alsopecfcoe, pecco; < Chin, 
(in Cantonese pronunciation) pak-hao, < pel; 
white, + hao, hair, down.] A superior kind of 
black tea, so called because the leaves are 
picked young with the "down" still on them. 
pel 1 (pel), re. A stake set up for the use of 
swordsmen and others, to be struck at with 
their weapons for practice. The beginner is di- 
rected to attack it in certain specified ways, keeping him- 
self covered by his shield as if engaged in actual combat. 
pel' 2 t, M. Ai obsolete form ofpeelS. 
Pelagosaurus 
pela (pe'la), H. [Chin.] 1. A Chinese scale- 
insect or bark-louse, Eriecrus pda, a coccid from 
whose secretions Chinese wax is prepared. 2. 
The so-called Chinese wax, prepared from the 
waxy secretions of certain hemipterous insects. 
pelade (pe-liid'), . [F., <pc!cr, strip of hair: 
see pill2.~\ Same as alopecia arcata (which see, 
under alopecia). 
pelage (pi'l'aj), . [< F. pelage (= Pr. pctagge = 
Sp. pelaje), hair (collectively), < OF. pcil, pel, 
F.poil, < L. pilus, hair: see pil<.~\ The hair, 
fur, wool, or other soft covering of a mammal : 
a common technical term in zoology, used as 
plumage is with regard to birds. 
Pelagia (l>e-la'ji-ii), n. [NL., < Gr. Trt/layof, the 
sea.] 1. The typical genus of jellyfishes of 
the family Pelagiidx, founded by P6ron and 
Lesueur in 1809. 2. A genus of gymnosoma- 
tous pteropods. Quoy and Gaimard, 1833. 
Pelagiada (pel-a-ji'a-da), n.pl. [NL., < Pela- 
gia T -ada.] A group of hydromedusans rep- 
resented by such families of jellyfishes as Pe- 
lagiidie, Cyaneidie, and Aureliidse. 
pelagian 1 (pe-la'ji-an), a. and. [< L. pelai/ins 
= Gr. TrcAayiof, pertaining to the sea, < TrWnj-of, 
the sea, particularly the open sea.] I. a. Same 
&spelagic. 
II. n. A pelagic animal. 
Pelagian 2 (pe-la'ji-an), a. and n. [< LL. Pelagi- 
anus, a follower of Pelagius, < Pelagius, a 
proper name.] I. a. Of or pertaining to Pela- 
gius or Pelagianism. 
II. re. A follower of Pelagius; one who be- 
lieves in Pelagianism. 
Pelagianism (pe-la'ji-an-izm), n. [< Pelagian? 
+ -mw.] The doctrines of Pelagius, a British 
monk (flourished about A. D. 400), and his fol- 
lowers. They held that there was no original sin through 
Adam, and consequently no hereditary guilt, that every soul 
is created by God sinless, that the will is absolutely free, 
and that the grace of God is universal, but is not indispen- 
sable; and they rejected infant baptism. Pelagius, how- 
ever, held to the belief in the Trinity and in the person- 
ality of Christ. His views were developed by his pupil 
Coelestius, but were anathematized by Pope Zosimus A. D. 
418. Pelagianism was the principal anthropological heresy 
in the early church, and was strongly combated by Pela- 
gius's contemporary Augustine. 
pelagic (pe-laj'ik), a. [< Gr. Trefafyiric, pertain- 
ing to the open sea, < Tre^zyof, the sea, the open 
sea.] Marine ; oceanic ; of or inhabiting the 
deep or open sea : said of those aquatic plants 
and animals which inhabit the high seas. Also 
pelagian. Pelagic birds, the petrel family, ProceUari- 
ida. Pelagic fauna, as used by modern thalassographic 
zoologists, the fauna living at or near the surface of the 
ocean at some distance from land. 
The pelagic fish fauna, as defined by the author [John 
Murray], consists, first, of the trnly pelagic fish, those which 
habitually liveon the surface of the ocean. . . . Secondly, 
there are a number of fishes inhabiting the depths of the 
ocean, from a hundred fathoms downwards, which seem 
periodically to ascend to the surface, possibly in connec- 
tion with their propagation. Thirdly, the pelagic fauna 
receives a very considerable contingent from the littoral 
fauna. Nature, XLI. 217. 
Pelagic hydrozoans, the Siphonophora. Also called oce- 
anic hydrozoans. 
Pelagiidse (pel-a-j!'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Pelagia 
+ -idee.'] A family of jelly-fishes or pelagic 
acalephs, typified by the genus Pelagia, belong- 
ing to the order Discomedusse. They have a simple 
cross-shaped mouth, 4 folded perradial mouth-arms, sim- 
ple broad radial marginal pouches without branched dis- 
tal canals or ring-canal, 8 marginal bodies, and 16, 32, or 
more marginal flaps. Also Pelagidie. 
pelagite (pel'a-jlt), n. [< Gr. jrttaj-of, the sea, 
+ -ite 2 .] A name given to the manganiferous 
nodules brought up by dredging in the deep 
parts of the Pacific ocean. They consist largely 
of oxids of manganese and iron, but have not 
a definite mineralogical composition. 
Pelagius (pe-la'ji-us), n. [NL., < Gr. jrfAnjwf, 
pertaining to the sea, < iri/iayof, the sea.] In 
mammal., same as Monachus. 
Pelagonemertes (pel"a-go-ne-mer'tez), . 
[NL., < Gr. jrt/toyof, the sea, + NL. Nemertes, 
q. v.] The typical genus of Pelagoncmcrtidse. 
Mosely, 1875. 
Pelagonemertidas (pePa-go-ne-mer'ti-de), n. 
pi. [NL., < Pelagonemertes + -idse.~] A family 
of pelagic nemertean worms, typified by the 
genus Pelagonemertes. 
Pelagornls (pel-a-gor'nis), . [NL., < Gr. TTE- 
Aaj-or, the sea, H- opvif, a bird.] A genus of 
fossil birds from the Miocene of Europe, found- 
ed by Lartet in 1857. The remains indicate a 
bird resembling a pelican. 
pelagosaur (pel'a-go-sar), n. A member of the 
genus J't-liii/iixiiiii'iin. 
Pelagosaurus (pel"a-go-sa'rus), >i. [NL.,< Gr. 
, the sea, + om/wf, a lizard.] A genus 
