perron 
perron (per' on), . [< ME. perron, < OF. (and 
F.) perron, a flight of steps, = Pr peiro, perro, 
peiron, < ML. petronus, a heap of stones, < L. 
petra, stone: see pier.] In arch., an external 
flight of steps by which access is given to the 
4412 
Perron. Cour du Cheval Blanc, Palace of Fontainebleau, France. 
entrance-door of a building when the principal 
floor is raised above the level of the ground. 
It is often so treated as to form an important 
architectural adornment. 
When that GaS ray was descendid tho, 
At the perron longe bode not in that place. 
Rom. ofPartenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4974. 
perroquet (per'o-ket), n. See parrakeet. 
perrotatory (per-ro'ta-to-ri), a. [< L. per, 
through, + rotare, pp. rotatus, go round in a 
circle, roll round : see rotatory.] Passing com- 
pletely through a series from one member to 
the next, and then from the last to the first 
member again. 
perrotine (per'o-tin), . [Named after the in- 
ventor, M. Perr'ot.] A calico-printing machine 
in which the printing-blocks are three in num- 
ber, and which prints in three colors. The 
blocks are engraved in relief, and are arranged like the 
sides of a box which has one side and its ends removed, 
except that their edges do not join as in a box. Their 
engraved sides face inwardly. Within the space between 
the blocks is a revolving prism, over which the calico 
passes by an intermittent winding motion, and which is ac- 
tuated by a spring mechanism to press the cloth against 
the printing-blocks, one after another, to give the required 
impressions. 
perruquet (pe-rok'), n. [F.: see peruke."] See 
peruke. 
perruquier (pe-rii-ki-a'), n. [F., < perruque: 
see peruke."] A wig-maker. 
After ingratiating himself into the familiarity of the 
waiter, and then of the perruquier, he succeeded in pro- 
curing a secret communication with one of the printers. 
I. niiraeli, Amen, of Lit, II. 413. 
perry 1 (per'i), . [Also perrie; < F. poire, perry, 
< poire, < L. pirum, pear: see pear 1 ."] A fer- 
mented liquor, similar to cider, but made from 
the juice of pears. It is extensively produced 
in England, but is little known in America. 
Prithee, go single; what should I do there? 
Thou know'st I hate these visitations, 
As I hate peace or perry. 
Beau, and Fl., Captain, iii. 3. 
perry 2 t, Same aspirry. 
perry 3 ! (per'i), n. [Also perrie, perrey ; < ME. 
perreye, perree, perre, < OF. pierrerie, F. pierre- 
ries (pi.), < pierre, stone: see pier."] Jewels; 
precious stones. 
Draf were hem leuere 
Than al the preciouse perre ye that eny prince weldeth. 
Piers Plowman (C), xii. 10. 
In habit maad with chastitee and shame 
Ye wommen shul apparaille yow, quod he, 
And noght in tressed heer and gay perree. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 344. 
perst, a. and . See perse%. 
persantt, persauntt, Obsolete forms ofper- 
ceant. 
Hir laughing eyen, persaunt and clere. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 2809. 
persavet, i>. t. A Middle English form of per- 
ceive. 
perscht, . A Middle English form of perish 1 . 
perscrutation (per-skrij-ta'shon), n. [= F. 
perscrutation = Pg. perscrutafao, < L. perscru- 
tatio(n-), investigation, < perscrutari, pp. per- 
scrutatus, search through : see perscrute."] A 
searching thoroughly; minute search or in- 
quiry. [Rare.] 
Such guessing, visiouing, dim perscrutation of the mo- 
mentous future ! Carlyle, Past and Present, ii. 8. 
perscrutet (per-skrof), v. i. and *. [< F. per- 
scruter = Pg. perserutar = It. perscrutare, < L. 
perscrutari, perscrutare, search through, < per, 
through, + scrutari, search carefully : see scru- 
tiny."] To make a thorough search or inquiry ; 
investigate. 
If they have reason to perscrute the matter. 
Horde, Introduction of Knowledge. (Nares.) 
perg = It. perso, < ML. person, also perseus, 
persicus, bluish-green; according to some, < L. 
persicum, a peach (see pencil 1 ); according to 
others, < Gr. m-pia>6f, livid (see perch 1 ); but 
prob. < L. Persia, Persia (cf. ME. inde, a color, 
ult. < L. India, India, etc.).] I. a. Of a rich 
dark blue; of a dark- or bluish-gray color. 
II. n. 1. A blue color; dark blue. 
The water was more sombre far than perse. 
Lonyfellow, tr. of Dante's Inferno, vii. 103. 
2. A kind of cloth, of a bluish-gray color. 
A long surcote of pers upon he hadde. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 617. 
3. Printed calico or cambric. 
[Obsolete or archaic in all uses.] 
perse 3 t, v. An obsolete form of parse 1 . 
perse (perse). Keeper. 
Persea (per'se-a), n. [NL. (Gaertner, 1805), < 
L. persea, < Gr! Trepaea, Kepaeia., Trfpaiov, a fruit- 
bearing tree in Egypt and Persia, sometimes 
confused with the peach-tree (^Ma Hefeudf). 
and referred doubtfully to Tlipnt/f, Persian.] A 
genus of apetalous trees and shrubs of the order 
Laurinese (Lauracese), the laurel family, type of 
the tribe Perseaceee, and characterized by the 
four-celled anthers, nine perfect stamens, and 
calyx either somewhat closely persistent under 
the fruit or entirely deciduous. There are about 100 
species, natives chiefly of the tropics, widely diffused in 
Asia, and in America from Virginia to Chili. They bear 
alternate or scattered rigid leaves, small panicled flowers 
chiefly from the axils, and a large fleshy one-seeded fruit 
or berry. Many species produce wood valuable for furni- 
ture, as the red bay (which see, under froi/i) or isabella-wood 
of the southern United States. See canary-wood, lingue, 
nanmu,vinatico; for the fruit, called alliyalor-pear or veye- 
table marrow, see avocado. 
Perseaceae (per-se-a'se-e), n. pi. [NL. (Meiss- 
ner, 1864), < Persea + '-aceee."] A tribe of ever- 
green trees and shrubs of the order Laurinese, 
distinguished by the extrorse anther-cells of 
the third row of stamens. It includes 29 genera, 
mainly tropical, of which Persea is the type, and Cinna- 
momum, Ifectandra, and Ocotea are the best-known. See 
cuts under avocado and cinnamon. 
persecott, See persi.cot. 
persecute (per'se-kut), v. t.; pret. and pp. per- 
secuted, ppr. persecuting. [< F. persecute!' = It. 
perseguitare, < L. as if "persecutare, (persecutes, 
pp. of persequi (> It. perseguire, persequire = 
Sp. Pg. perseguir), follow after, chase, hunt, 
pursue, seek to obtain, prosecute, LL. perse- 
cute, < per, through, + sequi, follow: see se- 
quent.'} If. To pursue; follow close after. 
Whiles their enemies reioysing in the victory haue per- 
secuted them flying some one way and some another. 
Sir T. More, Utopia, tr. by Robinson, ii. 
2. To pursue with harassing oroppressive treat- 
ment; harass or afflict with repeated acts of 
cruelty or annoyance ; injure or afflict persis- 
tently ; specifically, to afflict, harass, or punish 
on account of opinions, as for adherence to a 
particular creed or system of religious princi- 
ples, or to a mode of worship. 
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute 
you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, 
for my sake. Mat. v. 11. 
Should banded unions persecute 
Opinion, and induce a time 
When single thought is civil crime, 
And individual freedom mute. 
Tennyson, To .T. S. 
3. In a weakened sense, to harass or pursue 
with persistent attentions, solicitations, or other 
importunities ; vex or annoy. = Syn. 2. To oppress, 
worry, hunt, run down. 
persecution (per-se-ku'shon), n. [< ME. per- 
secucioun, < OF. persecution, F .persecution = Sp. 
persecution = Pg. perseguifao = It. persecuzione, 
perseguzione, perseguizione, < li.persecutio(u-), a 
following after, pursuit, chase, in law a prose- 
cution, action, LL. persecution, < persequi, pp. 
persecutes, follow after, chase, persecute : see 
persecute.'] 1. The act or practice of persecut- 
ing; harassing or oppressive treatment; espe- 
cially, the infliction of injury (as loss of prop- 
erty or civil rights, physical suffering, or death) 
as a punishment for adhering to some opinion 
or course of conduct, as a religious creed or a 
mode of worship, which cannot properly be re- 
garded as criminal. 
To punish a man because he has committed a crime, or 
because he is believed, though unjustly, to have com- 
mitted a crime, is not persecution. 
Macaulay, Hallam's Const. Hist. 
By persecution I mean the employment of any pains or 
penalties, the administration of any uneasiness to body or 
mind, in consequence of a man's belief, or with a view to 
Perseus 
change it. Its essential feature is this, that it addresses 
itself to the will, not to the understanding ; it seeks to 
modify opinion by the use of fears instead of reasons, of 
motives instead of arguments. J. Martineau. 
2. Persistent or repeated injury or annoyance 
of any kind. 
I'll . . . with presented nakedness out-face 
The winds and persecutions of the sky. 
Shale., Lear, ii. 3. 12. 
3. A time of general or systematic oppression 
ov infliction of torture, death, etc., on account 
of religious opinion or belief : as, the ten per- 
secutions of Christians under the Komau em- 
perors. 
persecutional (per-se-ku'shon-al), a. [< per- 
secution + -al.] Of or relating to persecution ; 
specifically, relating to a morbid belief that one 
is suffering persecution. 
He finds persecutional delusions common [among insane 
criminals] as well as what he calls ' homicidal mania." 
Alien, and Neural., VIII. 663. 
persecutivet (per'se-ku-tiv), a. [< persecute + 
-ive."] Following; persecuting. 
Use is made of persecutive and compelling power, which 
is rather brutish than humane. 
Up. Gauden, Tears of the Church, p. 396. (Davies.) 
persecutor (per'se-ku-tor), n. [= F. persecutettr 
Sp. Pg. perseguidor "= It. persecutore, perse- 
guitore, < LL. persecutor, < L. persequi, pp. per- 
secutus, persecute: see persecute."] One who 
persecutes ; one who pursues and harasses an- 
other unjustly and vexatiously, particularly on 
account of religious principles. 
Olou. Think'st thou I am an executioner? 
JT. Hen. A persecutor, I am sure, thou art. 
Shak., 3 Hen. VI., v. 6. 31. 
persecutory (per'se-ku-to-ri),a. [< persecute + 
-ory."\ Same as persecutional. 
A persecutory element in a delusion. 
Alien, and Neurol., VII. 619. 
persecutrix (per'se-ku-triks), n. [= F. perse- 
cutrice = It. persecutrice, perseguitrice, \ LL. 
persecutrix, fern, of persecutor, persecutor: see 
persecute."] A female who persecutes. 
Knox . . . calls her . . . that Idolatrous and mischiev- 
ous Mary of the Spaniards bloud, and cruel persecutrix of 
God's people. 
Heylin, Hist. Presbyterians, p. 142. (Davies.) 
perseict (per-se'ik), a. [< per se + -ic."] Of or 
relating to perseity. 
Perseid (per'se-id), n. [< NL. Perseides."] One 
of the August meteors: so named because 
they seem to radiate from the constellation 
Perseus. 
Perseides (per-se'i-dez), n. pi. [NL., pi. of L. 
Perseis (-id-), < Gr. IlepoVc (-*-), a daughter of 
Perseus,< Uepaevc, Perseus: see Perseus.] Same 
as Perseids. 
perseityt (per-se'i-ti), n. [< ML. perseitu(t-)s 
(Duns Scotus),< C. per se, by itself : Keeper se.~] 
The condition of being or of inhering per se. 
perseleet, n. A Middle English form of parsley. 
perselinet, An obsolete variant of parsley. 
Fat coleworts and comforting perseline. 
Spenser, Mniopotmos. 
Persepolitan (per-se-pol'i-tan), a. and n. [= 
F. Persepolitain, < L. Persepolis, < Gr. IlepotTrofac, 
also HepaamoZtf, Persepolis (see def.), appar. 
Per- 
Sia, + TroAif, 
city.] I. a. Of 
or pertaining 
to Persepolis, 
the capital of 
ancient Per- 
sia, or its in- 
habitants. 
II. u. A na- 
tive or an in- 
habitant of 
Persepolis. 
Perseus (per'- 
sus), n. [L., 
< Gr. Tltpacitf, 
Perseus, also 
a northern 
constellation 
called after 
him.] 1. In 
Gr. myth., a 
hero, son of 
Zeus and Da- 
nae, who slew 
the Gorgon 
Medusa, and 
afterward 
saved Andro- 
meda from a 
the Loggia 
