promptness 
They teemed desirous to prove their title to them by 
their thorough discipline ami by their pramptnem to ex- 
ecute the most dangerous and difficult services. Preteott. 
prompt-note (prompt'not), n. In com., a note 
of reminder of the day of payment and sum due, 
etc., given to a purchaser at a sale of merchan- 
dise, tiee prompt, n. 
prompt-side (prompt'sid), n. See stngi-. 
promptuary (promp'tu-a-ri), n.; pi. promjiltin- 
ries (-riz). [= F. promptuaire = Sp. prontuario 
= Pg.promptuario, < LL. promptuarium, prom- 
tuanum, a repository, storehouse, store-room, 
hence in ML. used (like E. magazine) for a re- 
pository of information, handbook (in this 
sense also irreg. promptorium, promptorius), 
as in Promptuarium Parvulorum Clericorum or 
Promptorium Parvulorum, 'the little scholars' 
handbook,' or Promptorius Puerorum, ' the boys' 
handbook,' the name of an English-Latin dic- 
tionary of the 15th century; < L. promptus, 
promtus, pp. ofpromere, produce, bring out: see 
prompt.] That from which supplies are drawn ; 
a storehouse ; a magazine ; a repository. 
History, that great treasury of time and promptuary of 
herolque actions. Ilmrell, Forreine Travell, p. 22. 
Bid Naddo think, at Mantua, he had but 
To look Into his promptuary, put 
Finger on a set thought in a set speech. 
Browning, Sordello. 
prompture (promp'tur), n. [< prompt + -ttre.] 
Suggestion; incitement; instigation. 
Ill to my brother ; 
Though he hath fall'n by prompture of the blood. 
Shak., M. for M., IL 4. 178. 
promulgate (pro-mul'gat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
promulgated, ppr. promulgating. [< L. promvl- 
gatuti, pp. of promulgare, make known, publish, 
< pro, forth, + -mulgare, of uncertain origin. 
Cf. promulge.] To make known by open dec- 
laration, as laws, decrees, or tidings ; publish ; 
announce; proclaim. 
Tlsyet to know 
Which, when I know that boasting Is an honour, 
I shall promulgate I fetch my life and being 
From men of royal siege. Shak., Othello, L 2. 21. 
The Statute of t'ses was delayed until 1536, and the Stat- 
ute of Wills until 1540, but both statutes were pr<rmulgatett 
In 1582. Stubbt, Medieval and Modern Hist, p. 265. 
= 8yn. Declare, Announce, Proclaim, etc. See announce. 
promulgation (pro-mul-ga'shon), n. [= F. 
promulgation = Sp. promulgacion = Pg. pro- 
mulgacSo = It. promulgazione, < L. promulga- 
lint a-), a proclamation, a publication, < promul- 
gare, pp. proinulgatus. publish, make known: see 
promulgate.] 1. The act of promulgating; 
publication; open declaration. 
The stream and current of this rule hath gone as far, ft 
hath continued as long, as the very promulgation of the 
gospel. Hooter, Eccles. Polity. (Latham.) 
The doctrine of evolution at the present time rests upon 
exactly as secure a foundation as the Copernican theory of 
the motions of the heavenly bodies did at the time of its 
promulgation. Iluxby, Amer. Addresses, p. 90. 
2. In law: (a) The first official publication of a 
law which has been passed, or of an ordinance 
or a proclamation, (b) More strictly, the final 
order of the sovereign power which puts an en- 
acted law into execution. Clark. 
promulgate! (pro'mul-ga-tor), n. [= F. pro- 
mulgatcur = Sp. Pg. promulgador = It. promul- 
gatore, < li.promiilyatw, one who publishes or 
proclaims, (promulgare, pp. promulgatus, pub- 
lish, make known: see i promulgate.] One who 
promulgates or publishes; one who makes 
known or teaches publicly. 
An old legacy to tttepromvlgatart of the law of liberty. 
Warburton, Sermons, xL (Latham.) 
promulge (prci-mulj'), r. t. ; pret. and pp. pro- 
mulged, ppr. promulging. [= F. promulguer = 
Sp. Pg. promulgar = It. promulgare, < L. pro- 
mulgare, publish, make known: see promulgate. ] 
To promulgate ; publish ; teach publicly. 
Extraordinary doctrines these for the age In which they 
were promulgea. Preteott. (Webdrr.) 
Considering his Hlghness's wisdom, . . . they would 
henceforth make, promulge, or execute no such constitu- 
tions without his consent. 
R. W. Vixon, Hist. Church of F.ng., IL 
promulger (pro-mul'jer), n. Same as promul- 
Its [the gospel's] promulyert delivered It not out by par- 
cell, as Is the way of cunning and designing men, but 
offered the whole of It to be altogether examined and 
' mini. 1 Bp. Atterbvrv, Sermons, I. III. 
promuscidate (pro-mus'i-dat), a. [<i>romttsci 
(-muxcid-) + -afel.] In entom.: (a) Having the 
form of a promuscix: ax, a promuscidate mouth, 
(ft) Furnished with a promuscis: as, zpromusci- 
date insect. 
4770 
promuscis (prv-mus'is), . ; pi. promuscidm (-i- 
dez). [NL., < L. promuscis, a corrupt form for 
proboscitt, proboscis: see proboscis.] In entom., 
a proboscis; a beak or rostrum of various in- 
sects : originally applied by llliger (1806) to the 
mouth-parts of bees; applied by Kirby and 
Spence (1818) and subsequent authors to the 
oral instrument of hemipterous insects, in 
which the ordinary trophi are replaced by a 
sheath containing four hair-like lancets or 
scalpella. 
Punctures the cuticle with a proboscis (a very short 
three-jointed promutcis) springing as It were from the 
breast, but capable of being greatly porrected. 
B. P. Vnght, Anlm. Life, p. 47i 
promycele (pro-mi-sel'), n. [< NL. promyce- 
1 1 n in.] In lint., same as promycelium. 
promycelial (pro-ml-se'Ii-al), a. [< promyce- 
lium + -al.] In hot., of or pertaining to the 
promycelium. 
The promycelial tube is divided by transverse walls into 
a series of two or more short cells. 
Iff Bary, Fungi (trans.), p. 177. 
promycelium (pro-mi-se'li-um), n. [NL., < L. 
pro, oefore, -I- NL. mycelium, q. v.] In bot., a 
short and short-lived filamentous product of 
the germination of a spore, which bears sporidia 
and then dies. Also promycele. 
pron. An abbreviation of (a) pronoun ; (b) pro- 
nounced; (c) pronunciation. 
pronaos (pro-na'os), n. [< Or. vpovaof, also 
neut. trp6vaov, a porch before a temple, prop, 
adj., :ryxii<aof, xp&MUOf, Attic vptveuf, before a 
temple, < vpo, before, + voof, a temple, a cella: 
see naos.] lu area. : (a) An open vestibule or 
Pronaos. Heroum adjoining the baths at ASS..S in the Troad, as 
discovered and restored by the Archaeological Institute of America, 
1881-2. 
portico in front of the naos or cella of a tem- 
ple. See naos, '2. 
The temple . . . consists of a pronaot or vestibtilnm 
. . . and of the naos proper. Schliemann, Troja, p. 79. 
(ft) Same as narthex, 1. [This use is not to be 
recommended. ] 
pronate (pro'nat), P. t. ; pret. and pp. pronated, 
ppr. pronating. [< LL. pronatux, pp. of pro- 
nare, bend forward, bow, < L. pronus, bent: see 
prone.] To render prone ; specifically, to rotate 
(the hand) so that its palmar surface faces in 
the same direction as the posterior surface of 
the ulna. 
probation (pro-na'shon), . [= F. pronation 
= Sp. pronacion = Pg. pronacHo = It. pronazi- 
one, < LL. pronare, pp. pronaius, bend forward, 
bow : see pronate.] The act or result of pronat- 
ing; the prone position of the fore limb, in 
which the bones of the forearm are more or less 
crossed, and the palm of the hand is turned 
downward : the opposite of supination. Pronation 
and Its reverse movement, supinatlon, are free and perfect 
In man and In some other mammals which use their fore 
paws as hands. In pronation the bones of the forearm are 
crossed: in supinatlon they lie parallel to each other. The 
fore limbs of most quadrupeds are permanently fixed In 
the state of pronation, with the palmar surface or sole of 
the fore foot downward or backward, and the knuckles or 
convexities of the Joints of the digits upward or forward ; 
supfnatfon is absent, and the ulna is often reduced to a 
mere appendage of the radius, ankylosed at the upper end 
of the latter. 
pronator (pro-na'tor), .; pi. pronatoreg, pro- 
initiirn (pro-na-to'rlz, pro-na'torz). [ F. pro- 
nateur = Sp. Pg. pronador = It. pronatore, < 
LL. pronare, pp. pronatus, bend forward, bow: 
see pronation?] A muscle of the forearm whose 
action pronatesthehandor us>ists in pronation : 
opposed to mipinator Pronator quadra tun, a flat 
muscle on the lower part of the forearm In front, pass- 
ing from the ulna to the radius. Also called cubitorattia 
lit, ovadratt pronatnr, and more fully pronator radii quad- 
prong 
ratu*.- Pronator radii teres, pronator and flexor of 
the forearm. It arises chic-fly from the Inner condyle of the 
hnmerns, and passes across obliquely in front, to be Insert- 
ed in the outer side of the radius near Its middle. Also 
called pnmalur ttrts, and round or tcrttr pronator. See 
cut under inwtclf. 
prone (pron), a. [< F. prone = Sp. Pg. It. prono, 
< L. pronus, bent, leaning forward, < pro, for- 
ward: see pro-.] 1. Bending forward with the 
face downward ; inclined; lying flat; not erect. 
A creature who, not pront 
And brute as other creatures, but endued 
With sanctity of reason, might erect 
Ills stature. MMm, P. L., vil. 506. 
Ancient tow'rs, 
And roofs embattled high, . . . 
Fall prone. Coicper, Task, IL 126. 
2. Lying with the face or front downward. 
The lamb prone, 
The serpent towering and triumphant. 
l:rititin : i. Ring and Book, II. 56. 
Specifically, In anat. : (a) Lying face downward ; stretched 
at full length on the belly. (6) Lying with the palm down- 
ward ; pronated, as the hand. In both senses, the oppo- 
site of supine. 
3. Moving or sloping downward ; descending; 
inclined. 
The sun, 
Declined, was hasting now with prone career 
To the ocean isles. Milton, P. L., iv. S5S. 
Prone down the rock the whitening sheet descends. 
Burnt, Written by the Fall of Fyers. 
.Since the floods demand 
For their descent a prone and sinking land, 
Does not this due declivity declare 
A wise director's providential care? 
Sir R. Blaelnnorr. 
Just where the prone edge of the wood began 
To feather toward the hollow. 
'I'm 1 1 a*' n. Enoch Arden. 
4. Inclined by disposition or natural tendency; 
propense; disposed: usually in an ill sense. 
HA if ... as prone to mischief 
As able to perform 't. Shale., Hen. VIII., L 1. 160. 
Anna's mighty Mind, 
To Mercy and soft Pity prone. 
Cnnorecr, Pindaric Odes, 1. 
Prone mouth, a mouth which lies entirely on the lower 
surface of the head, owing to the fact that the head Itself 
forms a right angle with the thorax, as in the grasshop- 
pers. Prone surface, the lower surface. = Byn. 1 and 2. 
See prostrate. 
pronely (pron'li), adv. In a prone manner or 
position ; so as to bend downward. 
proneness (pron'nes), n. The state of being 
prone, (a) The state of bending downward: as, theprotw- 
ness of beasts that look downward : opposed to the erect- 
new of man. (b) The state of lying with the face or front 
downward : contrary to mpinenegf. (c) Descent ; decliv- 
ity : as, the pronenetg of a hill, (d) Inclination of mind, 
heart, or temper; propensity; disposition: as, pnineneu 
to self-gratification or to self-lustincation. = Syn. (d) Ten- 
dency, Dipo8itv>n, etc. See ornll. 
pronephron (pro-nef'ron), .; pi. pronejthra 
(-ra). [NL.,< L. im>, before,+ Gr. fttyxSf, akid- 
ney.] A part of the primitive kidney of the low- 
er vertebrates, which appears at the most ante- 
rior end of the archinephric duct before the rest 
of the kidney and at some distance from it. it 
consists of a number of colled tubuli, beginning with cili- 
ated iufundibula or nephrostomata : Its duct is the MU1- 
lerian duct. See mcwmtphron. 
pronephros (pro-nef ros), n. Same as proneph- 
ron. 
prong't (prong), n. [ME., also prmige, prange, 
a pang: see pang 1 , which is an altered form of 
the same word.] A pang. Prompt. Parr., pp. 
415, 493. 
prong 2 (prdng), n. [Early mod. E. also prongue ; 
cf. prog, thrust, proke, thrust.] 1. A sharp 
point or a pointed instrument; especially, one 
of several points which together make up a 
larger object: as, the prong of a fork; the 
prong of a deer's antler. 
I dine with forks that have but two pronyi. 
Xni.it. to Gay, March 19, 1729. 
The prongs of rock rose spectral on every side. 
S. }'. Serm-uveUy Tribune, Sept. 28, 1878. 
2. A hay-fork. Hallitrell. [Prov. Eng.] 
Would not sell me. 
But, being his domesticke friend, expel! me 
With forks and prongn, as one insencd with ire. 
Heyvood, Dialogues (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, VI. i..i . 
3. A fork or branch of a stream or inlet. 
[Southern U. 8.] 4. A prawn (T). 
They speed their way through the liquid waste; 
.Some are rapidly borne along 
On the mailed shrimp or the nrickly prong. 
J. Jt. Drakr, Culprit Fay, p. 29. 
prong'- (prdng), r. t. [< prong?, .] To stab 
with or as with a fork. [Humorous.] 
Dear brethren, let us tremble before those august por- 
tals. I fancy them gimnb-il l>\ ur.KrniB nf the chamber 
with flaming ilvcr forks with which they prong all those 
who have not the right of the entree. 
Tharfrrau, Vanity Fair, 11. 
