presbyterated 
Be inert* that a presbytrraleil society of the faithful 
hath within Itself acompleat |>wer of self -reformation, 
or, if you will, of rlf preservation, ami may within itself 
manage its own choices of officers and censures of delin- 
quents. C. Mather, Mag. Chris., v. 2. 
presbyteress (pres'bi-ter-es), . [< ML. /</<*- 
lii/li I-I.VMI. I'i'i tliiterissa, fem. of L./'* 1 ' xbijti r, pres- 
byter: see /iKsbyter and -ess.] 1. In the i-m-li/ 
riiiin-li. one of the elder women in the order 
of widows, presiding among these, and having 
authority to teach. 2. In the early church, 
and in the mcdieral church, a priest's wife, 
especially one living apart from ner husband; 
a priest's widow; later, a priest's concubine. 
Marianus sayth she was a jimbi/terrmif, or a priestes 
leman. Jlp. Bale, English Votaries, i. 
presbyteria, . Plural otpresbyterinm. 
presbyterial (pres-bi-te'ri-al), a. [< presbytery 
(ML. pnsbytt rium) + -at.]" Of or pertaining to 
presbyters or a presbytery; pertaining to gov- 
ernment by presbyteries. 
They have laboured ... to advance the new fancied 
sceptre of lay pretbyterial power. 
Hooter, Eccles. Polity, vl. 1. 
About the manner and order of this government, whe- 
ther it ought to be PresbyteriaH or Prelaticall, such end- 
lesse question, or rather uproare, is arisen in this land. 
Milton, Church-Uovermnent, Pref. 
presbyterially (pres-bi-te'ri-al-i), adv. After 
the manner of a presbytery ; according to Pres- 
byterianisra. 
Presbyterian (pres-bi-te'ri-an), . and n. [= F. 
presbyterien = Sp. It. presbiteriano = Pg. prcs- 
byteriano = G. Dan. presbyter ian-fr = Sw. pres- 
byterian, < NL. presbyterianitu, pertaining to a 
presbytery or to presbyters, < ML. presbyterium, 
a presbytery, LL. presbyter, a presbyter: see 
presbytery, presbyter.] I. a. Of or pertaining 
to ecclesiastical government by elders or by 
presbyteries. The word is specially used to note the 
various religious bodies which adopt the Presbyterian 
form of church government (see J*resbyterianum\ and 
hold a more or less modified form of Calvinism. Among 
the leading Presbyterian churches are the following: (1) 
The established Church of Scotland, formed in 1560 under 
the leadership of Knox ; it prepared the First Book of Dis- 
cipline in Kitiii, the Second Book of Discipline in I > I, and 
was formally established by the government in iflOi It 
was temporarily replaced by episcopacy during the period 
1661-89. Later events were secessions leading to tne for- 
mation of various liodies in the eighteenth century (Seces- 
sion Church in 173:), Relief Church In 1701) and of the Free 
Church in 1843. See Covenanter, 2. (2) The Presbyterian 
Church in the United States. Its first presbytery was 
founded In 1705. After a temporary disruption, the first 
(eneral Assembly met in 1789. In 1838 the church split 
on theology and the antislavery question. (See A'etc 
School and Old School, etc., below.) The two wings were 
reunited in 1870. It numbers over 700,000 memliers. 
(3) The Presbyterian church in the United States (South- 
ern). This body seceded from the Old School Presby- 
terian Church in 1861 on the establishment of the Con- 
federacy, and during the period 1861 -5 It had the title 
of General Assembly of the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica. It numbers alxmt 150,000 members. Other Ixxlles, 
besides the Free Church of Scotland (sce/rrr), and those 
mentioned below, are the Reformed Presbyterian ( 'hurches 
in the United States, the Welsh Presbyterian Church, the 
Presbyterian Churches of England, Canada, Ireland, etc. 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian 
ln.il) which seceded from the Presbyterian Church in the 
United states, and was developed from the Cumberland 
presbytery In Kentucky and Tennessee in 1810. It num- 
bers aliout 160,000 members. New School Presbyte- 
rian Church, that wing of the Presbyterian Church In 
the United States which In !-.:> separated from the other 
branch. It held pronounced views against slaver)', and was 
regarded as less conservative In theology. Old School 
Presbyterian Church, that wing of the Presbyterian 
Church In the United States which held more conservative 
views regarding slavery and Calvinism. The Southern Pres- 
byterian Churcn seceded from It in 1861, and the remainder 
united with the New School Presbyterians in 1870. Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church. See Camerunian, n., 1, 
and Ciiretiatiter, 2. United Presbyterian Church, (a) 
A Scottish church fanned by the union of the United Se- 
cession Church and the Relief Church (see above) in 1847. 
It numbers over 180,000 members. (6) A church In the 
i iiited States formed In 1858 by the coalition of various 
liodies. It numbers about 90,000 members. 
II. w. One who holds to the system of Pres- 
byterianism ; a member of any of the Presby- 
terian churches. 
Presbyterianism (pres-bi-te'ri-an-izm), . [= 
K. i>resbutcriuninnic = Sp. prcx'biterianigmo = 
Pg. preglnftfriiinisiiio; as 1'nxhyterian + -igm.] 
Tne system of church government by elders or 
by presbyteries. The essential features of church 
government in Prcsbytertanlum are the equality of the 
clergy, the Identification of the apostolic presbyter with 
the bishop, the division of elders Into teaching elders (or 
ministers) and ruling or lay elders the government of each 
local church by Its session, computed of pastor and piling 
elders, and tin- rabordtnuloa of sessions to a presbytery, 
of presbyteries to a synod, and of synods to a general assem- 
bly. In the Dutch Reformed church, which adopt* Presby- 
4700 
was adopted in fteneva and by the reformers In France, 
Si utlaml, i-tc. It supplanted episcopacy for :t short time 
in Kngland, in the period of the I'ivil ^;u anil Common- 
wealth, ll-esbytciianism in the predominating form of 
church government in Scotland, and prevails rvtrnnvi ly 
in the Netherlands, in the United States, and in Ireland 
and other parts of the British empire. 
Presbyterianize (pres-bi-te'ri-an-iz), v. t.; 
pret. and pp. I'resfn/terianised, ppr. Presbyteri- 
ii ur. in//. [< Presbyterian + -i:e.] To render 
Presbyterian. 
The Massachusetts churches . . . have always resisted 
the efforts . . . to presbyterianize them. 
Andoeer Her., VII. 638. 
Presbyterianly (pres-bi-te'ri-an-li), nrfr. After 
the manner of Presbyterians. 
This person, tho' presbyterianly affected, yet he luul the 
king's ear as much as any other person. 
H'(nul, Athenae Oxon., II. 
Presbyterismt (pres'bi-ter-izm), u. [< presby- 
ter + -ism.] Same as Presbyterianism. 
It looks not at all like Popery that I'mbytrrixm was dis- 
dained by the king ; his father had taught him that it was 
a sect so perfidious that he found more faith among the 
Highlanders. Bp. Backet, Abp. Williams, ii. 17. (flawed.) 
presbyterium (pres-bi-te'ri-um), . ; pi.presby- 
teria (-a). [NL. (ML.), < Or. irpeajSvn/jiov, a 
council of elders: see presbytery.'] Same as 
presbytery, 5. 
presbytef Ship ( pres'bi-ter-ship), n. [< presbyter 
+ -ship.] The office or rank of a presbyter. 
presbytery (pres'bi-ter-i), M.; pi. presbyteries 
(-i/). [= F.preebytere = Sp. prexbiterio = Pg. 
presbytcrio = It. prcsbiterio, a presbytery, par- 
sonage^ Mli. presbyterium, a council of elders, 
part of a church in whicli the elders sit, the 
function of a presbyter or priest, etc., < Gr. 
xpec/lvrepiov, a body of elders, < xpeepbnpos, 
Kptafivc,, an elder: nee presbyter.] 1. A body of 
presbyters or elders in the Christian church; 
the body or class of presbyters taken collec- 
tively. 
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given 
thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the 
presbytery. 1 Tim. Iv. 14. 
Strictly speaking, any body of elders is a Presbytery, 
ff. A. Ken., CXLII. 551. 
2. In churches holding the Presbyterian form 
of government, a judicatory which ranks next 
above the session and bolovv tho svnod. In the 
l*resbyterian Church of the United States its composition 
and jMjwers arc thus defined in its Form of iiovernmcnt: 
"A presbytery consistsof all ministers, and one ruling elder 
from each congregation, within a certain district. . . . The 
Presbytery has power to receive and issue appeals from 
church-sessions, and references brought before tlii'in in an 
orderly manner; to examine and license candidates for 
the holy ministry; to ordain, install, remove, and judge 
ministers; to examine and approve or censure the records 
of church-sessions; to resolve questions of doctrine or 
discipline seriously and reasonably proposed ; to condemn 
erroneous opinions which injure the purity or peace of 
the church ; to visit particular churches, for the pur- 
pose of inquiring into their state and redressing the evils 
that may have arisen in them ; to unite or divide congre- 
gations, at the request of the people, or to fonn and re- 
ceive new congregations ; and, in general, to order what- 
ever pertains to the spiritual welfare of the churches un- 
der their care. " 
3. The ecclesiastical district ordivision under 
the jurisdiction of a presbyter. 4. [cap.] The 
Presbyterian polity. 
The question between Episcopacy and Presbytery. 
CraHc, Hist. Eng. Lit, II. 60. 
5. In arch., the part of the church appropriated 
to the clergy; in the early elntrcli, and in the 
Ureek Church, the space between the altar and 
apse, or the whole sanctuary; afterward, the 
space near the altar, or the sedilia; in later 
prescind 
Tin- enclosure of the choir was kept low, so as not to 
hide the view of the raised pretbytery, or to pi-event the 
congregation from witnessing the more sacred mysteries 
of the faith which were there performed by the higher 
order of clergy. J. t'rrytaton, lilsL Arch., I. 407. 
6. A clergyman's house; a parsonage. [Ko- 
man Catholic use.] 
Presbytes (pres-bi'tez), . [NL., < Gr. jr/jfo- 
. an old man : see presbyte.] A genus of 
semnopithecine or sacred monkeys: synony- 
mous with HemHojiitheeuf. 
prescapula, praescapula (pre-skap/u-ltt), n.; pi. 
prescapulie, prxscapulie (-le). [NL. pneneapti- 
la, < L. prif, before, + scapula, shoulder-blade: 
see fini/>nliii'.\ That part of the scapula which 
is anterior to (cephalad of) its spine or median 
axis: opposed to poxtscapula. In man the pre- 
scapula corresponds to the supraspinatus fossa. 
prescapular (pre-skap'u-lar), a. and ti. [< NL. 
pnescapularis, < pnrncapiila : see prescajiula.] 
I. ". Situated in front of the long axis of the 
shoulder-blade ; noting a section of the scapula 
or shoulder-blade in advance of the spine ; su- 
praspinous, with reference to the scapula: the 
opposite of postscapiilar : as, the preseapular 
fossa. See cut under omosternttm. 
II. n. The prescapularis or supraspinatus 
muscle. 
prescapularis (pre-skap-u-la'ris), .; pi. pre- 
scapulares (-TQZ). [NL. prsexcaptilaris : see pre- 
scapiilar.'] The muscle of the prescapular or su- 
praspinous aspect of the scapula; the supraspi- 
natus. Cones. 
prescenet (pre'sen), . [< L. prie, before, + 
sccna, scene.] A preliminary scene; a pro- 
logue; an induction. 
Profan'd with mischiefs, the Pre-Sarne of Hell 
To cursed Creatures that 'gainst Heav'n rebell. 
Sylnxter, tr. of Du hortas's Weeks, I. 6. 
prescience (pre'shiens), . [< ME. prescience, 
< OF. prescience, F 1 '. prescience = Sp. Pg. pre- 
sciencia = It.prexcienzn, < LL. prascientia, fore- 
knowledge, < li.prtescien (t-)s, ppr. of prtescire, 
know beforehand : see prescient.] Foreknow- 
ledge; previous knowledge; knowledge of 
events before they take place ; foresight. 
And certes, If 1 hadde prescience 
Your wil to know er ye your lust me tolde, 
1 wolde it doon withouten necltgence. 
Chaucer, clerk's Tale, 1. 603. 
By my prescience 
I find my zenith doth depend upon 
A most auspicious star. 
Shalt., Tempest, i. 2. 180. 
The most exact calculator lias \wprettcience that some- 
what Incalculable may not balk the very next moment. 
Emerson, Essays, 1st ser. , p. 244. 
prescient (pre'shient), a. [< F. prescient = Pg. 
It.presciente.t L. preeiden(t-)e, ppr. of prtescire, 
know beforehand, < pree, before, + scire, know: 
see sclent.] Foreknowing; having knowledge 
of events before they take place. 
Governments rarely comprehend those prettcifnt minds 
which anticipate wants posterity cannot always supply. 
J. D'Jsraeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 2s9. 
prescientialt (pre-shi-en'shal), a. [Also pra- 
scicii tial : < lAj.pra'Scieiitia, prescience, + -/.] 
Prescient ; foreknowing. [Rare.] 
Love 's of so quick a sight that he 
Aforehand with his object Is, 
And Into dark Futurity 
With prxtcunlial rays doth press. 
Beaumont, Love's Eye. 
prescientiflc (pre-si-en-tif'ik), a. [< pre- + 
scientific.] Existing before the scientific age; 
belonging or relating to times prior to the re- 
duction of knowledge in general, or of some 
special branch of it, to the form of science. 
Even the Intellects of men of science arc haunted by 
prescifiitijic survivals. 
Littell'i Living Age, March 1, 1884, p. 623. 
In the prescientifa era of medicine, a brisk traffic took 
place in these prehistoric bone deposits, as In the analo- 
gous case of Egyptian mummies. 
Sci. Amer., N. 8., l.I.X. 247. 
presciently (pre'shient-li), adv. In a prescient 
manner; with prescience. 
opposed to episcopacy on one side and to congregational- 
tan and Independency on the other. It was dereloped In 
the sixteenth century by Calvin and other reformers, and 
ytcrj vt i.luucc^ur Cathcilr.il, kntfUiKl, looking coil. 
medieval and modem IIM-. t he spaee in a cathe- 
dral c.r large cliiiivh (often raised) between the 
choir and the altar; lens strictly, the choir or 
chancel. VlMJWMtytfrfeM, See diagram under 
On this memorable daya philosophical polltiriun 
have jrreHcientltt marked the secd-ploU of events which 
not many years afterwards were apparent to all men. 
/. lilmieli, Curios, of LIU, IV. S80. 
prescind (pre-sind'),''. [=OF. prcscintler=:Sp. 
1'g. prwimtir = It . )>rn<rhulerr,<.\j. prrsciml- / > , 
cutoff in front. < ;<c.v. In-fore, + si-imtere. slit, 
cleave: see scimtiou.] I. trans. To separate 
from other facts or ideas for special emisiilera- 
tion; strip of extrinsic adjuncts, cs|>ecially in 
The result of Attention, by concentrating tin- mind ii|x>n 
certain qualities, is ... to withdraw or abstract It from 
all else. In ti'chnlcnl language, we are said In jimcintl 
the phenomena which wi- exclusively consider. To pre- 
