pretty 
cf. the histories of cunning, fine, neat. There 
is ait unconscious sympathy with neat trickery, 
or a secret admiration of it, that imparts to 
words denoting it a quality of commendation: 
the epithets cunning, shrewd, clevei^ sharp, smart, 
keen, cute, etc., though they may insinuate dis- 
honesty, are likely to be received with a secret 
complacency by those to whom they are ap- 
plied.] I. Crafty; cunning; clever; shrewd; 
keen. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
It is great pltle that BO prettie a fellow had not occu- 
pied his braynes In studies of more consequence. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 258. 
Mfhlritch, intending to make his passage perforce, was 
advised of e,prMy stratagem by the English Smith. 
Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 26. 
Aboute some 3. or 4. years before this time ther came 
over one Captalne Wolastone (a man of pretie parts). 
Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 236. 
Egad ! ma'am, he has a pretty wit, and is a pretty poet 
too. Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
2f. Strong and bold ; warlike; accomplished in 
arms. 
Euen before in the frunt of that faire yle 
Was a prouynse of prise, & praty men in. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 10815. 
Did you ever see a prettier man 
Than this Trumpeter of Fyvie? 
Andrew Lammie (Child's Ballads, II. 192). 
There is risen a rumour . . . that we would have broken 
the prison with such violence as, if master bailiffs had 
not played the pretty men, we should have made a scape. 
/;/-. /.'/.//,./. in Bradford's Letters ( Parker Soc., 1853), II. 83. 
He even mentioned the exact uum!>er of recruits who 
had Joined Waverley's troop from his uncle's estate, and 
observed they were pretty men meaning not handsome, 
but stout warlike fellows. Scott, Waverley. 
3. Comely; handsome; good-looking; hence, 
in later use, pleasing to the esthetic sense; 
attractive through grace, elegance, neatness, 
harmony of parts, or delicacy of outline or col- 
oring; having delicate beauty; pleasing the eye 
or ear rather than impressing the mind : as, a 
pretty face ; a pretty cottage ; a pretty picture. 
In this use the word implies a certain slightness, limita- 
tion, or lack of power, and hence is easily made deprecia- 
tive in cases where these attributes are out of place. 
To curte he came a pratye yong seruaunt 
Generyda (E. E. T. S.), 1. 302. 
So doth the earth seeme to dance, in little Hillocks and 
pretie Vallies, diuersifying the soile. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 615. 
That which is little can be but pretty, and by claiming 
dignity becomes ridiculous. Johnson. 
Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll ; 
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. 
Pope, R. of the L. 
Can any wife be prettier than an after dinner fancy, idle 
and yet vivid, can paint for you? 
D. O. Mitchell, Reveries of a Bachelor, i. 
It will be a sufficient word to the wise to say that it is 
a pretty book, and that it ends with a death. 
The Academy, Xo. 891, p. 374. 
Hence 4. Affectedly neat or fastidious about 
one's personal appearance ; finical ; foppish. 
I don't design you to personate a real Man, you are only 
to be a pretty Gentleman. Steele, Tender Husband, i. 1. 
The pretty gentleman must have his airs. 
Steele, Uuardlan, No. 88. 
5. Pleasing in general; pleasing to the mind; 
interesting; entertaining; gratifying. 
Birds . . . that at sun-rising tilled the wood with such 
a variety of notes as made the prettiest confusion imagin- 
able. Addison, Ancient Medals, ill. 
Tis pretty to observe how the King Disciplines this great 
City by small instances of Obedience. 
Lister, Journey to Paris, p. 16. 
It was pretty to see how easily the membranous cap of 
the rostellum [in Epipactis Palustris] came ult. 
Daruia, Fertil. of Orchids by Insects, p. 97. 
6. Excellent; good; fine; nice: said loosely, 
like fine and nice, of almost any object or action 
as a general term of commendation, and also, 
like fine and nice, often used ironically, espe- 
cially in exclamatory sentences. 
Some speech may be whan it is spoken very vndecent, 
and yet the same, hauing afterward somewhat added to it, 
may become prety and decent. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 230. 
A pretty chandelier for a Christian Bishop to be chaining 
to the roof and lighting up for the glory of heathenism ! 
De Quincey, Secret Societies, i. 
I had a pretty dinner for them : viz., a brace of stewed 
carps, six roasted chickens, and a jowle of salmon, hot, 
for the first course. Pepyt, Diary, J. 267. 
The quarrel is a very pretty quarrel as it stands ; we 
should only spoil it by trying to explain it. 
Sheridan, The Rivals, iv. 3. 
In the convent his news made & pretty to do. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 316. 
Yes, we have a pretty artillery of tools now in our social 
arrangements : we ride four times as fast as our fathers 
did; travel, grind, weave, forge, plant, till, and excavate 
better. Kmenon, Works and Days. 
4715 
7. Good or sufficient; moderately large in 
quantity, number, extent, duration, etc.; con- 
siderable. 
There were a pretty many of us upon the shore of Calais, 
who were carried thence In a chaloupe to a large ship. 
y. BaUey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, p. 360. 
A ;/-.//,( while these pretty creatures stand, 
Like ivory conduits coral cisterns tilling. 
Aoi.,Lucrece, 1. 1233. 
It is a pretty way distant from the town. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 6. 
They . . . call upon me to help them with tooles faster 
then I can get them, though I have now bought pretty 
store. '/'. Shepard, Clear Sunshine of the Gospel, p. 42. 
8. A term of endearment, supplying the place 
of a diminutive. 
Piteous plalniiigs of the pretty babes. 
Shot., C. of E., i. 1. 73. 
This pretty, puny, weakly little one. 
Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
Syn. 3. Handsome, Fair, etc. See beautiful. 
pretty (prit'i),arfr. [< pretty, a. ,7.] Moderate- 
ly; reasonably; tolerably: expressing a degree 
less than very : as, a farm pretty well stocked ; 
pretty good lodgings ; I am pretty sure of the 
fact. 
You are pretty near the business, for the bottom of all 
is for want of a change in their mind and will. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 208. 
We sat pretty late over our punch. 
Addison, Tory Foxhunter. 
I think your tricks are pretty well known. 
Sheridan (?), The Camp, i. 1. 
Pretty much, very nearly ; in considerable degree. 
The gallants of these times pretty much resembled the 
bloods of ours. Goldsmith, Reverie at Boar's-Head Tavern. 
The trade to India . . . carried on ///.//// much in the 
same manner as it had been before the days of Alexander. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 468. 
pretty-grass (prit'i-gras), w. [Tr. NL. Calo- 
cliortiiM.] A plant of the genus f'alochnrtus. 
These plants are grass-like below, but have large and 
beautiful flowers. Also called butterfly-weed, mariposa- 
lily, and tril'l tulip. 
prettyism (prit'i-izm), . [< pretty + -ism."] 
Affected prettiuess of manner, style, orthe like. 
Edinburgh Her. (Imp. Diet.) 
prettypretty (prit'i-prit'i), . ; pi. prettypret- 
ties (-iz). K pretty + pretty.] A knickknack. 
[Colloq.] 
My mother . . . had contrived to keep a certain num- 
ber of prettyprettus which were dear to her heart. They 
were not much ; . . . some china and a little glass, a few 
books, and a very moderate supply of household silver. 
TrMope, Autobiog., p. 21. 
pretty-spoken (prit'i-spo'kn), a. Spoken or 
speaking prettily. 
pretympanic (m-e-tim-pan'ik), a. and . [< L. 
prse, before, -r NL. tympanum.] I. a. 1. In 
anat., placed in advance of the tympanum of 
the ear: as, & pretympanic nerve. 
A smaller pretympanic, which may represent the chorda 
tympani, and a larger post-tympanic or hyoid nerve. 
Huxley and Martin, Elementary Biology, p. 29. 
2. In ichth., anterior with reference to the 
tympanic pedicle or suspensorium of the man- 
dible; anterior among a set of bones compos- 
ing this pedicle: correlated with epi-, mcso-, 
and hypolyntpanic. 
II. n. The pretympanic bone or cartilage of 
the suspeusorium of the lower jaw of fishes, 
now generally called metapteryyoid, under 
which name it is shown in the cut under palrt- 
toquadrate. 
pretypify (pre-tip'i-fi), v. t.; pret. and pp. pre- 
typified, ppr. pretypifying. [< pre- + typtfy.] 
To typify what is to come after in course of evo- 
lution, as an archetype ; prefigure, forecast, or 
foreshadow. 
Thus the session of the Messias was pretypi/ied. 
Bp. Pearson, Expos, of Creed, vi. (Latham.) 
Paramrecium and its allies would thus appear to pretyp- 
y the Turbellarians. H . S. Kent, Man. Infos., p. 103. 
pretzel (pret'sel), n. [< G. pretzel, var. of bret- 
zel, formerly brezel, dial, brestell, bretzen, brdt- 
zet, < MHG. brezel, prezel, brezile, < OHG. briz- 
zilla, brezitella, prezitella, also brezita, precita 
(MHG. brtezte, breze), a pretzel ; cf . It. braccia- 
tello, bracciello, a kind of cake or roll; appar. 
(with some variations of form) < ML. bracelhts, 
also bracliiolum, a kind of cake or roll, lit. ' an 
armlet' (OF. bracel): see bracelet.] A small 
brittle biscuit, usually baked in the form of a 
knot, and salted on the outside; a cracknel. 
The German beer-houses, with their baskets of pretzel, 
are more frequent as we approach thecommercial quarters. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVIII. 692. 
prevail (pre-val'), r. [Early mod. E. prevaylf, 
< ME. i>i-rrniUii,< OF. prt-mli'r, jinraloir. V.pre- 
raloir = OSp. preraler = It. premiere (cf. Sp. 
prevalence 
Pg. premlecer), prevail, < L. pr&valcre, be very 
able or more able, be superior, prevail, < prse, 
before, + valere, be able or powerful : see val- 
id.] I. intrans. 1. To be superior in strength; 
hence, to have or gain the advantage, as in a 
contest or matching of strength; be victorious; 
triumph ; have the upper hand : often followed 
by over or against. 
It came to pax, when Moses held up his hand, that 
Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek 
precaued. Ex. xvll. 11. 
Meldritch, seeing there was no posBlblliti long to prt- 
uaile, ioyned his small troopes in one body. 
Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 28. 
The disquiets of my mind prevailed oner my weariness, 
and kept me awake. X"i.'t, Gulliver's Travels, Hi. 1. 
2. To have or exert superior influence ; have a 
controlling or overmastering authority; be pre- 
dominant. 
Barbarous climes, where violence prevails, 
And strength is lord of all. Covper, Task, I. 604. 
Will he (man) not see, through all he miscalls accident, 
that Law prevails for ever and ever? 
Emerson, Domestic Life. 
3. To operate effectually; be effective; suc- 
ceed, especially in persuading, inducing, orcon- 
viucing. 
If then 
My words preuailde when they were wlckednesse, 
How much more now when they are just and good ! 
Tourneur, Revenger's Tragedy, iv. 4. 
For when a world of men 
Could not prevail with all their oratory. 
Yet hath a woman's kindness over-ruled. 
ShoJc., 1 Hen. VI., il. 2. 49. 
If Arguments prcvaile not with such a one, force Is well 
us'd. Milton, Eikonuklastes, vi. 
4. To be in force ; extend with power or effect ; 
hence, to be prevalent or current. 
It is plain from all history that two alx>minahle prac- 
tices, the one the eating of men, the other of sacrificing 
them to the devil, prevailed all over Africa. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 393. 
The Canarese alphabet prevail* on the plateau of My- 
sore, in the western districts of the Nizam territory', and 
to a small extent in the I'anara district on the Malabar 
coast. Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, II. 35S. 
The morning comes; and thickening fogs prevail, 
Hanging like curtains all the horizon round. 
Jones Very, Poems, p. 99. 
5f. To be currently received or believed; be 
established. 
The second shock having happened exactly n month 
after the former, it prevails that there will be a third. 
Walpole, Letters, II. 201. 
6f. To avail; be of value or service. 
What he shuld do he told hym euery thing, 
That myght only to his wurchippe prevaile. 
UcnerydeK (E. K. T. S.),l. 1040. 
For speech it selfe is artiflciall and made by man, and 
the more pleasing it is the more it preuailelh to such pur- 
pose as It is intended for. 
PutUnham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 5. 
H.t trans. To avail : used reflexively. 
Prevail yourself of what occasion gives. 
Dryden, Abs. and Achit, 1. 461. 
prevailing (pre-va'ling), p. a. 1. Predominant; 
having superior influence or efficiency; con- 
trolling; moving. 
The nightingale sings with more prevailing passion in 
Greece that we first heard her from the thickets of a Eu- 
ripidean chorus. Lowell, Oration, Harvard, Nov. 8, 1886. 
2. Prevalent; current; general; common. 
Nothing sheds such light on the superstitions of an age 
as the premiliny interpretation and treatment of disease. 
0. W. Holmes, Med. Essays, p. 314. 
= Syn. 1. Predominant, Ruling, etc. (see prevalent), domi- 
nant, preponderating. 2. Received, established, ordi- 
nary, usual. 
prevailingly (pre-va'ling-li), adv. 1. With su- 
perior power or influence; so as to prevail. 
2. Prevalently; currently; generally; for the 
most part. 
prevailment (pre-val'ment), . [< prevail + 
-ment.] Prevailing influence ; efficacy; ruling 
power. [Rare.] 
Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats, messengers 
Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth. 
Sha*., M. M. D., i. 1.35. 
prevalence (prev'a-lens), n. [< OP. prevalence, 
F.prei-alence = H.j>revalenza,< LL. prsnalentia, 
superior force, < L. prvalen(t-)s, very strong: 
see prevalent.] The state or quality of being 
prevalent, (a) Superior strength, influence, or efficacy ; 
predominance. 
The absolute tyranny of the human will over a noble 
and powerful beast develops the instinct of personal preva- 
lence and dominion. O. W. Holmes, Elsie Vernier, xi. 
Words and sense 
Fail through the tune's imperious prevalence. 
Swinburne, Two Dreams. 
