proof-staff 
proof-staff (prof 'staf), n. A metallic straight- 
edge used as a standard to correct a wooden 
staff made for ordinary service. 
proof-stick (prof'stik), w. In sugar-manuf., a 
rod of wood for dipping in boiling svrup to test 
its condition by the rapidity and character of 
the crystallization. E. 11. Knight. 
proof-text (prof tekst), n. A passage of bcnp- 
turr brought forward to prove a special doc- 
trine. 
It i> not a legitimate use of the Old Testament to seek 
In It proof-text* for all the doctrines that are found in the 
New Testament BMiotheca Sacra, X1III. 663. 
proof- valiantt (prof ' val'yant), a. Of tried cou- 
rage. 
Believe me. captain, such dlstemper'd spirits, 
Once out of motion, though they be proof-valiant, 
If they appear thus violent and fiery, 
Breed but their own disgraces. 
Beau, and I 'I,. Captain, ii. 1. 
proostracal (pro-os'tra-kal), a. [< proostraeum 
+ -/.] Forming or formed by the proostra- 
cum ; of or pertaining to a proostracum. 
proostraeum (pro-os'tra-kum), . [NL., < Gr. 
irp6, before, + oarpanov, shell: see Ostracea.] 
The broad and projecting lamella of the thick 
covering of the phragmacone of a cephalopod, 
extending beyond the base of the phragmacone, 
and being a continuation of the wall of the 
most anterior chamber of the shell ; the fore- 
most part of the guard or rostrum of a fossil 
cephalopod of the belemnite group. It Is vari- 
ously shaped, usually lamellate, and with the rostrum 
represents the pen of the squids. See cuts under Mem- 
n Hi', Belemnitida, and ealamary. 
The genus Acanthotenthis, ... in which the guard is 
4774 
propagate 
The first attempts at a propaganda of liberty, and the flrit 
attempt* at a propaganda of nationality, were marked by 
great excesses and great mistakes. 
SruMw, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 237. 
The rule* of the association (the National Secular Soci- 
ety] Inform us that it is the duty of an "active member" 
to promote the circulation of secular literature, and gen- 
erally to aid the Free-thought propaganda of his neigh- 
bourhood Saturday Jlev. 
cing something under or against: as, to prop a 
roof or wall. 
Here wee saw certain great Serraglios, exceeding high, 
andjn-opt up by buttrease*. Sandys, Travalles, p. 106. 
What shalt thou expect, 
To be depender on a thing that leans, 
Who cannot be new built, nor ha* no friends, 
Bo much as but to prop him? 
Shale., Cymbellne, i. 5. 00. p ropagan dic (prop-a-gan'dik), a. [< propa- 
ne wa propped up on a bed-rest, and always had his aand-<t + -o.1 Pertaining to a propaganda or 
gold-headed stick lying by him. A 
George Eliot, Mlddlemarch, xixiL 
2. To support by standing under or against: 
as, a pillar props a roof; beams prop a wall. 
He li. .-! Arms alone sustain'il the Toll, 
And propp'd the nodding Frame of Britain'* Isle. 
Congreve, Birth of the Mue. 
Eternal snows the growing mas* supply, 
Till the bright mountains prop th' incumbent sky. 
Pope, Temple of Fame, L 58. 
propagandism (prop-a-gan'dizm), n. [= F. 
propagandists = Pg. propagandixmo ; & prop- 
aganda + -ism.] The system or practice of 
propagating tenets or principles; zealous dis- 
semination of doctrines; proselytism. 
We have attempted no propagandinn, and acknowledged 
no revolution. Lincoln, In Raymond, p. 309. 
What were the causes which made his [Mohammed's] 
disciples the leaders of a successful armed pr<i)n<jandtsml 
Stille, si u.l. Med. Hit, p. 102. 
[= 
But build a castle on his head, 
" 11 , t E I pigram on a Coxcomb, propagandist (prop-a-gan'dist), n. and a 
f *-*j**fiMir*rtniiAAiolt> _ \)fr , . ,-, nut Hit nfltufjl * O.H 
3. To support or sustain in a general sense : as, 
to prop a failing cause. 
Wise men must be had to prop the republic. 
Fletcher (and another ?), Prophetess, 1. S. 
It behoved our Merchants to get an Interest here to prop 
up their declining Trade. Dampier, Voyages, II. L 182. 
To prop fair Liberty's declining Cause, 
And flx the jarring World with equal Laws. 
Prior, To Boileau Despreaux (1704). 
4. To help; assist. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. intrans. To stop or pull up suddenly; 
balk : said of a horse or other beast. Douglas 
Sladen. [Australia.] 
1 lie Kt'I'Ua J*VUMI*MV***U*JM**q * " mmmtnemm |. - , - ^ 
almost rudimentary, while the pro-ottracum is large and prop' 2 (prop), II. A shell used in the game OI 
F. propagandiste = Pg. propagandinta ; as prop- 
aganda + -ist.] I. n. One who devotes him- 
self to the propagation or spread of any system 
of principles. 
Bonaparte selected a body to compose his Sanhedrim of 
political propagandist*. K. Valth. 
The eager propagandist who prowl about for souls. 
Hawthorne, Marble Faun, xx. 
II. a. Pledged to or employed in such prop- 
agation ; given to proselyting. 
On the second day after Kullmann's murderous attempt, 
the authorities had been ordered to deal with the Catho- 
lic Press, and with propagandist societies under the in- 
fluence of the Jesuits, according to the utmost rigour of 
the law. /.<"', Bismarck, II. 321. 
penlike. Huxley, Anat Invert, p. 465. p rO p g . See .prop* 1 . propagate (prop'a-gat), i). /. ; pret. and pp.; 
prootic (pro-6'tik), a. and n. [< Gr. irp6, before, prop. An abbreviation of (a) proposition ; (V) agated, ppr. propagating. [< L. propagatus, 
+ ovf (Lr-), ear, + -ic.] I. a. Anterior with properly. pp. of propagare (> It. propagare = Pg. Sp. 
reference to the otic capsule or among otic propaedeutic (pro-pe-du'tik), a. and n. [< Gr. propagar = F. propager), peg down (a layer), 
^ v. u-_* i j / j. v j. 8e t ( g iip g or cu ttings), propagate, extend, con- 
tinue (cf . propago, a layer of a plant, a set, slip, 
shoot, hence offspring, progeny), < pro, forth, + 
pangere (-^ pag), fasten, set: see pact. Hence 
ult. proin, prune*.] I. trans. 1. To multiply 
or continue by natural generation or repro- 
duction; cause to reproduce itself: applied to 
plants and animals: as, to propagate fruit- 
trees; to propagate a breed of horses or sheep. 
I sought the purchaie of a glorious beauty, 
From whence an issue I might propagate. 
Shak., Pericle*, L 2. 73. 
The wriggling fry *on nil the creeks around, . . . 
The projnyated myriads spread. 
Cmrper, Progress of Error, 1. 484. 
But cockle, spurge, according to their law, 
Might propagate their kind with none to awe. 
Browning, Childe Roland. 
2. To transmit or spread from person to per- 
son or from place to place ; carry forward or 
onward; diffuse; extend: as, to propagate a re- 
port; to propagate the Christian religion. 
I flnst upon the mountains high built altars to thy name, 
And grav'd It on the rock* thereby to pmjntjate thy fame. 
Drayton, (f m-st of Cynthia. 
By newspaper report*, any great effect in one asslse 
town, or electoral town, ha* been propagated to the ret of 
the empire. De Qtrincey, Style, i. 
The idle writers of the day continued to propagate dul- 
ness through a series of heavy tomes. 
I'rrmitl, Ferd. and Isa., I. 18. 
Throw a stone Into the stream, and the circles that prop- 
agate themselves are the beautiful type of all influence. 
Kim-ram, Nature. 
3f. To promote ; augment ; increase. 
Grief* of mine own lie heavy In my breast, 
Which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest 
With more of thine. Shale., R. and J., L 1. 193. 
While tender airs and lovely dames Inspire 
Soft melting thought*, and propagate diilre. 
Addlton, The Greatest ngll*h Poet*. 
4f. To produce; originate; invent. 
Thence to viit honest and learned Mr. Hartlih, a public 
spirited and ingenious person, who hud propagated many 
useful! things and art*. Evelyn, Diary, Nov. 27, 1656. 
For the greatest part of the Island (if Sumatra propa- 
gates this Plant Ipepperl and the Natives woiild^rcadily 
bones ; of or pertaining to the prootic : corre- 
lated with opisthotic, etc. See II., and otic. 
II. n. In zool. and anat., a bone of the ear, 
an anterior ossification of the periotic capsule, 
forming with the epiotic and opisthotic the pe- 
trosal or petromastoid bone, developed in es- 
pecial relation with the anterior vertical semi- 
circular canal of the bony labyrinth of the 
ear. It frequently remains distinct from the other otic 
bones; in man it assist* the opisthotic In the formation 
of the mastoid a* well a* the petrous part of the temporal 
bone. See cuts under Crocodilia, Gattina, and periotic. 
The pro-otic Is, in fact, one of the most constant bones 
of the skull in the lower Vcrtebrata, though It Is com- 
monly mistaken on the one hand for the allsphenoid, and 
on the other for the entire petro-mastoid. 
lln.rl,-!!, Anat Vert, p. 26. 
prop 1 (prop), n. [Early mod. E. proppe, < ME. 
proppe, a prop ; = MD. proppe, aj>rop, support ; propaedeutical (pro-pe-du t 
cf. MD. proppe, prop, a stopple, D. mop, a stop- 
ple, cork, plug, wad, pellet, = MLG. prop, 
proppe, LG. propp = G. propf, propfen, a stop- 
ple, cork (not found before the 19th century), 
= 8w. propp = Dan. prop, a cork, stopple, plug. 
The origin of these words is uncertain ; some 
compete Or. pfropf, propfen, agraft, MHG.p/rop- 
fen, OHG. 'pfropfo, pfroffo, a set, slip, < L. pro- 
pago, a set, slip, layer of a plant: see propago, 
propagate, etc. The Gael, prop, IT. propa,^* 
A 
thing 
that on which anything rests for support; a 
support ; a stay ; a fulcrum : usually applied to 
something not forming a part of the object sup- 
ported : as, a prop for vines ; a prop for an old 
wall. 
Proppe, longe (staffe), contu*. Prompt. Pan., p. 415. 
You take my houe when you do take the prop 
That doth sustain my house. 
Shot., M. of V., Iv. 1. 876. 
Justice and religion are the two chief frrop and support- 
er* of a well-governed commonwealth. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 608. 
But wit '* like a luxuriant vine, 
I nleHB to virtue's prop it join, 
Firm and erect towards heaven bound. 
v, teach'b'eforehand, < nyjo, before, + 
v, teach, bring up or rear: seepeedeutiw.] 
I. a. Pertaining to propaedeutics, or the intro- 
duction to any art or science; relating to pre- 
liminary instruction ; instructing beforehand. 
The conceptual suppositions, which are taken for as- 
sured premises and are In tru th erroneous, and at best pro- 
vydeutic but are dragged unnoticed into the conclusion. 
Westminster Rev., CXXVI. 475. 
II. M. A branch of knowledge introductory 
to a particular art or science ; a subject to be 
mastered as a preliminary to some other subject. 
It lloglc] is a propiedeutic to all other sciences. 
Aticater, Logic, p. 87. 
That study (physical geography] which Kant Justly 
termed the "propxdeutic of natural knowledge." 
Huxley, Physiography, Pref., p. vi. 
a. [<.propse- 
deiitic + -al.] Same as propiedeutic. 
propaedeutics (pro-pe-du'tiks), n. [PI. otpro- 
jixdeutic (see -ics). ] ' The preliminary body of 
knowledge and of rules necessary for the study 
of some particular art, science, etc.; the intro- 
duction to an art or a science. 
It [our secular life] is not a mere instrumentality for the 
purpose of silencing the beaat of the body, but rather Is It 
the propirdrutio of human combination and communica- 
tion, wherein spiritual life becomes a reality. 
A. B. Alcott, Table-Talk, p. 114. 
It. propaga- 
rpp- 
e '. n f? 
propagated,"or of being continued or multiplied 
by natural generation or production. 
Such creatures as are produced each by It* peculiar seed 
constitute a distinct propagable sort of creatures. Boyle. 
2. Capable of being spread or extended by any 
means, as tenets, doctrines, or principles, 
propagand (prop'a-gand),n. [< F. propagande : 
see propaganda.'] Same as propaganda. 
A grand scheme for the union of Prote*tant Christen- 
dom, and his [Hartllb's] prnpayand of ComenluY* school- 
reform. Mark Pattison, Life of Milton, p. 38. 
propaganda (prop-a-gan'dft), n. [= F. propa- 
i/dnrtfi = Sp. Pg. It. propaganda ; short for L. 
They arc the props of national wealth and prosperity, 
not the foundations of them. 
D. Webster, Speech, House of Representatives, Jan. 2, 1815. 
2. In hot., same as fulcrum, 3. 3. pi. Legs. 
Hdlliwell. [Prov. Eng.l.gyn. 1. SeeKo/. 
prop 1 (prop), .; pret. and \>p. propped. \i\ir.prop- 
pini/. [Early mod. E. proppe; = Ml). I >. /"<>/'- 
pen, prop, stay, or bear up (cf. MLG. ~ 
tion for propagating the faith (see def.): pro- 
abl. fem. gerundive of propagare, 
_ G. propfen = 8w. proppa = Dan. proppe, st i pp 
up, cork); appar. from the noun, but the verb 
may possibly be older: see prop. n.~\ I. /ran*. 
1. To support or prevent from falling by pla- 
propagate: see propagate.] 1. A committee of 
cardinals (Congregation <!' 1'iapnganda Fide, 
' for propagating the faith') which has the su- 
pervision of foreign missions in the Roman 
Catholic Church. It wa* founded by Pope Gregory 
XV. In 162-2. One of Its chief Instrumentalities Is the 
Propaganda College In Rome. See congregation, 6 (a\ 10. 
Hence 2. Any kind of institution or organiza- 
tion d >r propagat ing a new doctrine or system of 
doctrines, or for proselyting. 
6. To scatter; disperse. [Rare.] 
This short harangue propagated the Juncto, and put nn 
end to their resolve*; however, they took rare of tbi-ii 
fee but then left all concern for the lady Mttnd them 
Gentleman Inrtnirtrd, p. 544. (IJanel.) 
= 8yn 1. To Increase, spread, disseminate. 
n. iutriiiiK. To ! multiplied <>r raprodaMd 
by generation, or by new shoots or plants; bear 
voung. 
Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot, 
To draw nutrition, pnipaiiatr, ami it. 
Pope, Kssay on Man, it 64. 
