president 
]. residing, as a noun a director, ruler, presi- 
dent, ppr. otjirmidcrr, dirri-t. preside: (< /in- 
xiilr.] I. a. Presiding; directing; guiding; oc- 
cupying the chief place or first rank. [Obsolete 
or archaic.] 
Quid petttur sacris nisi tantnin fama poetis, which, al- 
though it be oftentimes Imprisoned In ladycs cask(et]s, 
and the president booke of mcb as cannot see without 
another man's spectacles, yet at length It breakes (oorth 
in splght of his keepers. 
Nashe, quoted In Int. to Pierce Penllesse, p. xxiii. 
I IK prime and president zealot of the earth. 
Middleton, Game at Chess, II. 2. 
Whence hast thnu then thy truth, 
Hut from htm. or his angels president 
In every province? Milton, P. R., i. 447. 
They (Israel) would be left in the same condition with 
other Gentile nations, who must therefore be supposed 
to be under the immediate conduct ol president angels. 
J. Scott, Christian Life, ii. 7. 
II. . If. One who presides; one who super- 
intends and directs the proceedings of others; 
a ruler; a ruling spirit. 
Commaunde as Romanies, and we shall obel as Hehrues ; 
leiie vs a president that Is merciful!, and all our realme 
.-luil be obedient Gulden Boole, xi. 
A charge we bear i' the war, 
And, as the president of my kingdom, will 
Appear there for a man. 
Shak., A. and C., 111. 7. 18. 
Thou wonder of all princes, president, and glory. 
Middleton, The I'll. mix, I. 1. 
Happy Is Rome, of all earth's other states, 
To have so true and great & president 
For her inferior spirits to imitate 
As Ctesar is. B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1. 
2. An officer elected or appointed to preside 
over and control the proceedings of others, 
(a) The presiding officer of an assembly : as, the prendent 
of a convention. 
For which delibered was by parlemente, 
Kor Antrn.tr to yelden out Cryseyde, 
And It pronounced by the president. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 213. 
Daughter to that good carl, once President 
( If England's council and her treasury. 
Milton, Sonnets, v. 
('<) The chief officer of a corporation, company, or society : 
as, the prendent of a railway company, or of a bank. 
They elected the Presidents (originally called Aldermen, 
afterwards Masters and Wardens) and other officials. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. .), Int., p. cxxv. 
(c) The governing officer of a college or university, (rf) 
The highest officer of state in a modern republic. The 
President of the 1'nited Mates is chosen once In four 
years by presidential electors, who are elected by the peo- 
ple of the several States, the electors in every State )>eing 
equal in number to the senators and representatives of 
the State in Congress. The action of the electors is a 
mere formality, as they always vote for the nominees of 
the national conventions of their party. The President is 
commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United 
States, and of the militia of the several States when called 
into the service of the I nit,-. I states. He Is authorized 
to grant reprieves and pardons for violation of United 
States laws (except in cases of Impeachment), to make trea- 
ties with the concurrence of two thirds of the Senate, to 
recommend legislation, and to see that the laws are faith- 
fully executed. His powers of appointment to office are 
partly provided for in the Constitution and partly statu- 
tory : his chief appointments (requiring confirmation by 
the Senate) are cabinet officers and heads of bureaus 
or sulHlivlsions, diplomatic and consular agents, federal 
judges, officers of territories, postmasters of the first, sec- 
ond, and third classes, and the principal officers of the 
army and navy. His salary is $50,000 a year. President 
was the title of the chief executive magistrate in New 
Hampshire from 1784 to 1792 (President of Council, 1776- 
-I). in Pennsylvania from 1776 to 1790, In Delaware from 
1776 to 172, and in South Carolina from 1776 to 1778. 
Subsequently these titles were exchanged for that of gov- 
ernor. The President of the French republic is elected 
for seven years by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies 
united in National Assembly. The President of the Swiss 
Confederation ts elected for one year hy the Federal As- 
sembly, from among the members of the Federal Council. 
Abbreviated Pres. 
3. A title given to the head of the Mormon 
hierarchy. He act* In conference with two counselors. 
It Is his dnty "to preside orer the whole Church, and to 
lw a Seer, a Kevclator, a Translator, and a Prophet" (Har- 
mon Catechism, p. 17). 
4. A protector; a tutelary power; a patron. 
[Kare.] 
Just Apollo, president of verse. Waller, At Pens-Hunt 
6. A kind of dinuask of silk, or silk and wool, 
iisccl for upholstery. Lord President. See lord. 
Lord President of the Council, a cabinet officer of 
(treat Britain, who must be a member of the House of 
Lords. He presides over the department of the privy coun- 
cil, and has special supervision of education ; he also pre- 
pares minutes on matters which do not come to any ..tln-r 
department, and has superintendence of the public health, 
quarantine, etc. President's freshman. Src/rAman. 
Prince President See prince. 
president-t, " An erroneous spelling of prece- 
,!,,!>. 
Presently obteynlng two such aunclent and famous 
champions, . . . by whose presidents, directions, an. I cmi- 
ductlons I was forthwith deliuered of all perplexities. 
B. Uellmcei, I'r.-f. I.. Ir. of Guevara's Letters (1T.77I, ii 
4700 
This president will much condemn 
Your grace another day. 
True Tale a} Robin Hand (Child's Ballads, V. 366). 
presidentess (prez'i-dent-es), n. [< president^ 
+ -ens.'] A female president. 
I became by that means the pnridentat of the dinner 
and tea-table. HIM. D"Arblay, Diary, III. 171. 
The day on which I was there [at the Moravian estab- 
lishment at Ebersdorf I was Sunday, and I ... was intro- 
duced to the well-bred, accomplished prrndentess, Frau- 
leln Gerstendorf. Henry Craub Robinson, Diary, I. 59. 
presidential (prez-i-den'shal), a. [=F. presi- 
dentiel,<. ML. 'prxsiden tialis, pertaining to pres- 
idence (prxsidentialis magna curia, a supreme 
council), <preesidcntia, presidence, presidency: 
see presidence. Presidential means prop, 're- 
lating to presidence or presidency'; for 'relat- 
ing to a president,' the prop, form would be 
"presidental (= P. presidental = Pg. presiden- 
tal).] 1. Pertaining to presidency; having 
presidency; presiding. 
This Institution of these Presidential! Courts was, at first, 
a very profitable ordinance, and much eased the people. 
Ileylin, Full Relation of Two Journeys, etc. (1656X p. 134. 
Spoken [Jer. II. 0], as some of the learned ancients sup- 
pose, by the presidential angels. Gtant-ille, Discourses, Iv. 
2. Pertaining to a president, or relating to a 
presidency: as, the presidential chair; & presi- 
dential term. 
The presidential fever, that typical disease which has 
Proved fatal to the true glory of so many statesmen of the 
nited States, permeated the very marrow of his bones. 
H. von Hoist, John C. Calhoun (trans.), p. 57. 
They [the Democrats] will at the same time have before 
their eyes an unusually good chance of success at the next 
Presidential election. The Nation, Nov. 16, 1882, p. 416. 
Presidential electors. See elector. Presidential 
postmaster, in the I'nited States, a postmaster appoint- 
ed by the President. See postmaster, 2. 
presidentship (prez'i-dent-ship), 11. [< presi- 
ilrnti + -ship.] 1. The office and dignity of 
president ; presidency. 
I wishe the newe proulslon that his Malestie hath be- 
stowed vppon your honour for the Presidentship of this 
royall audience of Granado may lie fortunate. 
Guevara, Letters (tr. by Hellowca, 1577), p. 101. 
In France the re-election of SI. Grevy to the President- 
ship has come and gone. 
Fortnightly Ret., N. S., XXXIX. 288. 
2. The term for which a president holds his 
office. 
presider (pre-zi'der), >i. [< preside + -fr 1 .] 
One who presides. 
presidial (pre-sid'i-al), n. [< OF. presidial, P. 
privi'litil = Sp. Pg. presidial, ( tDj.prte8idwli, 
pertaining to a garrison, < L. presidium, de- 
fense, protection, a garrison, guard, post, for- 
tification, < prsexidere, keep guard: see preside. 
Cf. li\j.prspsidalis,prjBxidialig, belonging to the 
governor of a province, gubernatorial, (praxes 
(prifsitl-). chief, governor: see preset.] 1. Of 
or pertaining to a garrison ; having a garrison. 
There are three Precidial Castles in this City. 
Houxll, Letters, I. I. 39. 
2. Pertaining or belonging to a presidio. 
A second class of pueblos, called, in the legal phrase of 
California's later days, "I'residial Pueblos," had originated 
in the settlement of the presidios. 
The Century, XXVI. 2O3. 
presidiary (pre-sid'i-a-ri), a. and n. [= Sp. 
Pg. presidiario, a criminal condemned to hard 
laborer banishment in a garrison; < L. priesi- 
diarius, that serves for defense or protection, 
< prsesidium, defense, protection, guard: see 
preside.] I. a. Same as presidial. 
The presidian/ souldiers . . . are all Spaniards. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 126. 
The Protestants being so numerous, and having near 
upon fifty presidiarjt walled Towns In their Hands for Cau- 
tion, they have Power to disturb France when they please. 
llmcrll, Letters, I. IL 25. 
II. n. ; pi. presidiaries (-riz). A guard. 
Not one of those heavenly presiriiaries struck a stroke 
for the prophet. Up. 7/<j#, Cont, xlx. 9. (Dames.) 
presidio (pre-sid'i-6), . [Sp., < L. presidium, 
a garrison, guard, post, fort: see presidial.] 1. 
A seat of government; especially, a place of 
military authority ; a military post: used in the 
southwestern United States. 
He referred me to the M Isslon and Presidio of San Ysabel, 
that had sent out the relief party, for further Information. 
Bret llartf, Gabriel Conroy, xi. 
2. A place of deportation for criminals; a peni- 
tentiary. 
The bulk of the prison population in Spain Is still sent 
to presidio*, or convict establishments, where general as- 
sociation U)th in the prison and at labour is the rule. 
Encye. Brit., XIX. 763. 
presidyt, . [< It. presidio, a fort, < L. preesi- 
rliinii. :i fort : ttj* prttUNol.] A fortress. 
press 
The French king hath ordained that seignour Renzlo 
shall he In a presidie, between the army of Naples and the 
citle of Rome. Fore. Martyrs, p. 905, an. 1527. 
presignification (pre-sig'ni-fi-ka'shon), . [< 
1.1.. prfsi</>iijieatio(n-), a showing beforehand, 
< L. prfesignijicare, pp. prxsigniJtcatUH, fore- 
show: see presignify?] The act of signifying 
or showing beforehand. [Rare.] 
There, Indeed, having scarce happened any considerable 
revolution in state or action in war whereof we do not 
find mentioned in history some presiynijifatinn or predic- 
tion. Barrow, Works, II. Ix. 
presignify (pre-sig'ni-fi), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
premgnijled, ppr. presigiiifying. [< L. prsesiy- 
nifieare, foresnow, < prie, before, + significare, 
signify: see signify.] To signify or intimate 
beforehand. [Rare.] 
Orlgen draws from this a mystical sense, and under- 
stands these two combatants to l.r within us ; as if It had 
presii/nifted what Paul afflrmeth, Gal. v. 17 : The flesh lust- 
eth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. 
Rev. T. Adams, Works, I. 21. 
preslyt, adr. See pressli/. 
presphenoid (pre-sfe'noid), a. and n. [< prc- + 
sphenoid.] I. . Situat ed in advance of the basi- 
sphenoid ; forming an anterior median part of 
a compound sphenoid bone ; pertaining to the 
presphenoid. 
H. n. In anat., a bone of the skull of verte- 
brates, situated before the basisphenoid, in the 
mid-line of the base of the skull, commonly 
blended with the basisphenoid and other sphe- 
noidal elements. According to Owen, it is the centrum 
of the frontal cranial vertebra or prosencephallc cranial 
segment. According to others, who disregard the skull 
as representing vertebra, it is the centrum or basis of the 
third from behind or frontal cranial segment, other parts 
of which are the orbitosphenolds and frontal Iwnes. In 
man it Is represented by the anterior part of the body of 
the sphenoid bone, bearing the lesser wings of the sphe- 
noid, or processes of Ingrassias. At birth it is already 
ankylosed with the orbitosphenoids, yet totally distinct 
from both basl- and alisphenoids. See cuts under Crota- 
lus, Lepidosiren, Python, sphenoid, and Struthionula. 
prespnenoidal (pre-sfe-noi'dal), . [< prexphe- 
iioid + -al.] Sumo as presphenoid, 
prespinal (pre-spi'nal), a. [< L. prx, before, 
+ fpina, spine.] lii anal., situated in front 
(ventrad) of the spine; prevertebral. 
press 1 (pres), '. ; pret. and pp. pressed, some- 
times prest, ppr. pressing. [Early mod. E. also 
prease, preaee; \ ME. pressen, presen, precer, (. 
OF. presser, P. presser = Sp. prensar, a-preiisar 
= Pg. fi-pressar = It. pressure, press, = D. pres- 
sen = OHG. presxon, bresson, MHO. G. presscn = 
Sw. prassa = Dan. presse, < L. pressare, press, 
freq. of premere, pp. pressits, press, hola fast, 
cover, crowd, compress, contract, etc. (ina great 
variety of uses); no cognate forms found. Prom 
L. premere are also ult. appress, compress, de- 
press, express, impress, oppress, repress, suppress, 
etc., print, imprint, etc., imprimatur, reprimand, 
sprain, etc., with numerous derivatives.] I. 
trans. 1. To exert weight or force against ; bear 
down upon ; act upon with weight or force ; 
weigh heavily upon. 
Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and 
running over, shall men give into your bosom. 
Luke vl. 38. 
Vile earth, to earth resign ; end motion here ; 
And thou and Romeo press one heavy bier. 
Shalt., It. and J., ill. :'. GO. 
The law which condemned a prisoner who refused to 
plead on a capital charge to be laid naked on his back in 
a dark room, while weights of stone or iron were placed 
on his breast till he was slowly pressed to death, was en- 
forced In England In 1721 and In 1735. and in Ireland as 
late as 1740. Lrclnj, Eng. In 18th Cent., III. 
2. To compress; squeeze: as, to press fruit for 
the purpose of extracting the juice. 
I took the grapes, and pressed them Into Pharaoh's cup. 
Gen. xl. 11. 
Thy monarchs . . . only in distress 
Found thee a goodly sponge for Pow'r to press. 
Cowper, Expostulation, I. 531. 
3. To clasp; hold in an embrace. 
She took her son, and press'd 
'I'h' illustrious Infant to her fragrant breast. 
Dryden, Iliad, vi. 17.1 
Partakers of thy sad decline, 
Thy hands their little force resign ; 
Yet, gently press'd, press gently mine. 
Cinrper, To Mary. 
4. To reduce to a particular shape or form by 
pressure: as, to press cloth witn an iron; to 
press a hat. 5. To drive or thrust by pressure ; 
force in a certain direction : as, to press a crowd 
back. 
The yoke of the Established Church was pressed down on 
the people till they would bear It no longer. 
Hacnlay. Burlelgh. 
Baby Angers, waxen touches, prem me from the mother's 
breast. Tennyson, Locksley Hall. 
