post and pair,a card-game, played with three cards each, wherein much depended onvying, or betting on the goodness of the cards in your own hand. The best hand was three aces; then three kings, queens, &c. If there were no threes, the highest pairs won; or the highest game in the three cards. B. Jonson, Love Restored (Plutus); ‘The thrifty and right worshipful game of Post and Pair’, id., Masque of Christmas (Offering). See Nares.
postil,an explanatory note or comment on a word or passage in the Bible. Earle, Microcosmographie, § 2 (ed. Arber, 23);postill, to annotate, Bacon, Henry VIII (ed. Lumby, 193). ME.postille(Wyclif, Prol. 1 Cor.); see NED. Mod. L.postilla, a gloss on the Bible (Ducange).
post-knight,a knight of the post, a notorious perjurer. A Knack to know a Knave, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 538. Seeknight of the post.
posy,a short motto, orig. a line or verse of ‘poesy’, inscribed within a ring, on a knife, &c. Hamlet, iii. 2. 162; Middleton, Widow, i. 1 (Francisco); a bunch of flowers, Marlowe, Passionate Sheph. iii. See Dict.
pot.In the expressionsto the pot, orto go to pot, orto go to the pot, the reference is to the cooking-pot; ‘Your poor sparrows . . . go to the pot for’t’, Webster, White Devil (ed. Dyce, p. 37);to the pot, to destruction, Coriolanus, i. 4. 47; Peele, Edw. I (ed. Dyce, p. 389).
potargo,‘botargo’, cake made of the roe of the sea-mullet. Fletcher, Sea-Voyage, iv. 3 (Master). Prov.poutargo, ‘caviar’ (Mistral, Calendal). See Dict. (s.v. Botargo); also Stanford.
potch,to poach an egg. B. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 1 (P. jun.).
potch,to thrust. Coriolanus, i. 10. 15. Still in use in Warw. in this sense. See EDD. (s.v. Poach.)
potestate,chief magistrate. Morte Arthur, bk. v, c. 8; p. 174, l. 30; pl., Gascoigne, Supposes, iii. 3 (Damon).
pot-gun,used contemptuously for a small fire-arm; ‘How! fright me with your pot-gun?’, Beaumont and Fl., Knight of Malta, iv. 4 (Norandine).
poting-stick,a piece of wood, bone, or iron, for adjusting the pleats of a ruff. Marston, Malcontent, v. 3 (Maquerelle); Yorkshire Tragedy, i. 74. OE.potian, to push, thrust.
potshare,a potsherd. Spenser, F. Q. vi. 1. 37. In use in Lonsdale, Lancashire, see EDD. (s.v. Pot, 17 (65)).
pottle,half a gallon, or two quarts. Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, ii. 1 (Roger);a pottell oyle(i.e. of oil); Naval Accounts of Henry VII, p. 16. ‘Pottle’ (a measure of two quarts) is still in use in Cheshire (EDD.).
pouke, pooke,a ‘puck’, demon, goblin; ‘Chymæra, that same pooke’, Golding, Metam. vi. 646; ‘Nor let the Pouke nor other evill sprights . . . Fray us’, Spenser, Epithalamion, 341. ‘Pouk’ (‘pook’), a mischievous fiend, still in use in Sussex and Shropshire, see EDD. (s.v. Puck, sb.1). ME.pouke: ‘I wene that knyght was a pouke’ (Coer de Leon, 566); OE.pūca(Napier’s OE. Glosses, 23. 2).
pouke-bug,forpuck-bug,a malicious spectre. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii. 594. Seebug.
pould,bald-headed, or with lost hair. Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 1. 91.
pouldre,to beat into powder or dust. Spenser, F. Q. i. 7. 12; to spot, id., iii. 2. 25. OF.pouldre(F.poudre).
pouldron, poldron,a shoulder-plate; a piece of armour covering the shoulder. Warner, Alb. England, bk. xii, c. 70, st. 13; Drayton, David and Goliath. OF. espauleron, a shoulder-plate;espaule(F.épaule), shoulder. See NED.
poulter,a dealer in poultry. Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), ed. Dyce, p. 19; 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. Frompoult, a chicken.
poulter’s measure,poulterer’s measure; a fanciful name for a metre consisting of lines of 12 and 14 syllables alternately, common in Surrey and Gascoigne. See Gascoigne’s Steel Glas (ed. Arber, 39).
poult-foot, powlt-foot,a club-foot, Lyly, Euphues (Arber, 97); B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 7. See NED. (s.v. Polt-foot).
Poultry,the Counter prison in the Poultry, London. Middleton, Phœnix, iv. 3 (1 Officer); ‘Some four houses west from this parish church of St. Mildred is a prison-house pertaining to one of the sheriffs of London, and is called the Compter in the Poultrie’, Stow’s Survey (ed. Thoms, p. 99).
pounce,to ornament (cloth, &c.) by punching small holes or figures; also, to cut the edges into points and scallops, to jag. ‘A . . . cote, garded andpounced’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 3, § 1; Skelton, Bowge of Courte, 508. Cognate with Norm. F.ponçon, ‘poinçon, instrument de fer ou d’acier servant à percer’ (Moisy).
pouncet-box,1 Hen. IV, i. 3. 38; a Shaks. term for a small box for perfumes, with a perforated lid. It may be forpounced box, frompounce, to perforate. See above.
pouncing,the action of powdering the face with a cosmetic, ‘Pouncings and paintings’, Beaumont and Fl., Wit without Money, iii. 1 (Valentine); Knight of Malta, ii. 1 (Norandine). See NED. (s.v. Pounce, vb.33).
pouned,impounded, shut up (as horses) in a pound; ‘Married once, a man is . . .poun’d’, Massinger, Fatal Dowry, iv. 1 (Novall jun.). Cp.pounded; ‘fairly pounded’ (i.e. married), Colman, Jealous Wife, ii. 1 (Sir H. Beagle).
powder,to sprinkle with salt, to salt. 1 Hen. IV, v. 4. 112. HencePowder-beef, salted beef, Dekker, Shoemakers’ Holiday, ii. 3. 4. Also, to sweat in a hot tub, to cure disease; Meas. for M. iii. 2. 62;powdering-tub, Hen. V, ii. 1. 79.
practice,scheming or planning, treachery. King Lear, ii. 4. 116; B. Jonson, Catiline, iii. 5 (Catulus). See Nares.
practive,practical, active, expert; ‘Most hardy practive knights’, Phaer, Aeneid viii, 518. See NED.
†prage,a spear or similar weapon; ‘Their blades they brandisht, and keenepragesgoared in entrayls Of stags’, &c., Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 197. Ispragea misreading ofprāge=prange=prong(see NED.)?
praise,to appraise, value. Puritan Widow, ii. 2. 14. In prov. use in Somerset, see EDD. (s.v. Prize, v.21).
prancome,a prank, trick. Gammer Gurton’s Needle, i. 2 (Hodge). Not found elsewhere.
prank,showily dressed; ‘Pretie pranck parnel’, Appius and Virginia, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iv. 120. See Dict. (s.v. Prank, 1).
prankie-cote,pranky coat; a jocose term for a fellow full of pranks. Udall, Roister Doister, iii. 3. 117. Not found elsewhere.
prats,buttocks (Cant); ‘Prat, a buttocke’, Harman, Caveat, p. 82; ‘Set me down here on both my prats’, Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Mort).
prease,to press. Spenser, F. Q. i. 12. 19; to throng, F. Q. ii. 7. 44; a press, crowd, throng, F. Q. ii. 10. 25; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, i. 226. Gk. ὄχλος in Luke viii. 19 is rendered bypreasein Tyndale and in Cranmer’s Bible, also in the Geneva and AV. versions. See Nares. This is still the pronunc. of ‘press’ in Lanc. (EDD.).
precisian,one who is very punctilious, Merry Wives, ii. 1. 5; synonymous with ‘Puritan’, ‘He’s no precisian, that I’m certain of, Nor rigid Roman Catholic’, 13. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iii. 3. 102; Massinger, New Way to Pay, i. 1. 6. See Nares.
pree,short forpree thee,prithee, i.e. I pray thee. Marston, What you Will, iii. 2 (Holofernes).
pregnant,pressing, compelling, cogent, convincing; hence, clear, obvious. Meas. for M. ii. 1. 23; Othello, ii. 1. 241. OF.preignant, pressing, pp. ofpreindre, L.premere, to press; cp.preignantes raisons(Godefroy, Compl.).
pregnant,receptive, fertile, imaginative. Twelfth Nt. iii. 1. 101; ready, ‘The pregnant Hinges of the knee’, Hamlet, iii. 2. 66; phr.a pregnant wit, Heywood, Maidenhead Lost, i. F.prégnant(Rabelais), L.praegnans.
prepense,to consider beforehand, to premeditate. Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 25, § 2; Spenser, F. Q. iii. 11. 14. Seepurpense.
presence:phr.in presence, present; often, in reference to ceremonial attendance upon a person of superior, esp. royal, rank, Barclay, Cyt. and Uplondyshman (Percy Soc. 13); Richard II, iv. 1. 62; a place prepared for ceremonial presence or attendance, a presence-chamber, ‘The two great Cardinals Wait in the presence’, Hen. VIII, iii. 1. 17;chamber of presence, Bacon, Essay 45. Evelyn, Diary, Dec. 5, 1643.
presently,immediately. Temp. iv. 42; v. 101; Two Gent. ii. 1. 30; ii. 4. 86;Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 16; Matt. xxvi. 53. See Bible Word-Book. Cp. F. ‘presentement, presently, quickly, anon, at an instant, speedily, suddenly’ (Cotgr.).
president,a precedent. Bacon, Essay, Of Great Place; Of Innovations; Of Judicature.
press,press-money, i.e. prest-money, as paid to an impressed soldier. Beaumont and Fl., Faithful Friends, i. 2 (Marcellius).
prest,ready. Merch. Ven. i. 1. 160; Marl., 2 Tamburlaine, i. 1 (Orcanes); Dido, iii. 2. 22. An E. Anglian word (EDD.). ME.prest(Chaucer, Tr. and Cr. iii. 917). F. ‘prest, prest, ready, full-dight; prompt; quick’ (Cotgr.); now writtenprêt.
Prester John,the name given in the Middle Ages to an alleged Christian priest and king originally supposed to reign in the extreme East, beyond Persia and Armenia; but from the 15th cent. generally identified with the King of Ethiopia or Abyssinia (NED.). ‘I will fetch you a tooth-picker now from the farthest inch of Asia; bring you the length of Prester John’s foot’, Much Ado, ii. 1. 276; Dekker, Old Fortunatus, ii. 1 (near end); ‘The great Christian of Æthiopia, vulgarly called Prester, Precious or Priest-John’, Sir T. Herbert, Travels, 130. For the history of the subject see Col. Yule’s article in Encycl. Brit. xix. 715. See Stanford.
prestigiatory,relating to ‘prestigiation’, juggling, deceptive, delusive; ‘The art prestigiatory’, Tomkis, Albumazar, i. 7; ii. 3.
prestigious,practising juggling or legerdemain, deceptive, illusory; ‘That inchantresse . . . by prestigious trickes in sorcerie’, Dekker, Whore of Babylon (Wks. 173, ii. 195); ‘Prestigious guiles’, Heywood, Dial. 18 (Minerva), vi. 250. Late L.praestigiosus, full of deceitful tricks;praestigium, an illusion,praestigiae, juggler’s tricks; cp. F.prestiges, ‘deceits, impostures, juggling tricks’ (Cotgr.). See Dict. (s.v. Prestige).
pretence, pretense,an assertion of a right; a claim; ‘Spirits that in our just pretenses arm’d Fell with us’, Milton, P. L. ii. 825; an expressed aim, intention, purpose or design, Two Gent. iii. 1. 47; Winter’s Tale, iii. 2. 18.
pretenced, pretensed,intended, purposed, designed. More’s Utopia (ed. Lumby, 8). Late L.praetensus, forpraetentus, pp. ofpraetendere.
pretend,to stretch something over a person for defence; ‘Who . . . his target alwayes over her pretended’, Spenser, F. Q. vi. 11. 19; to put forward, set forth, ‘To that wench I pretend honest love’, Middleton, Changeling, iv. 2. 91. L.praetendere, to stretch forth.
pretor,one holding high civil office, a name for the Lord Mayor of London. Westward Ho, i. 1 (Justiniano); Webster, Monuments of Honour, § 1. Med. L.praetor, ‘urbis praefectus’ (Ducange); ‘Meyr,maior,pretor’ (Prompt. EETS. 284); cp. Cath. Angl. 225.
prevent,to anticipate. Merch. Ven. i. 1. 61; Twelfth Nt. iii. 1. 94;Bible, Ps. xviii. 5; cxix. 148; 1 Thess. iv. 15, &c. See Bible Word-Book.
preving, preeving,proving, trial. Spenser, Mother Hubberd, 1366. Seeprieve.
prick,to spur; hence, to ride. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 1;prickant, riding along, Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, ii. 2 (Ralph).
prick,the pin, or peg originally fixed in the very centre of thewhite, or circular mark upon the butt shot at by archers. Also called thepin, orclout. Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 99;at the prickes, beside the butts, id., p. 98.
prick,the highest point, apex, acme; ‘To pricke of highest praise’, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 12. 1; ‘The hygh prycke of vertue’, Udall, Erasmus, Paraph. Matt. iii. 30; phr.prick and praise, very high praise, Middleton, Family of Love, ii. 4 (Mrs. G.); ‘She had the prick and praise for a prettie wench’, London Prodigal, iv. 1. 15.
prick-eared,having sharply pointed, erect ears;prycke-eared, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 77; Hen. V, ii. 1. 44.
pricket,a buck in his second year, having straight unbranched horns. L. L. L. iv. 2. 12; Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, iv. 5 (Ralph). ME.pryket, ‘capriolus’ (Prompt. EETS. 316; see notes, no. 1681).
prickle,a wicker basket, for fruit or flowers. B. Jonson, Pan’s Anniversary (Shepherd, l. 3). In Kent used for a basket of a certain measure (EDD.). See NED.
prick-me-dainty,finical in language and behaviour. Udall, Roister Doister, ii. 3 (Trupeny). Still in use in Scotland (EDD.).
prick-song,music written down or sung from notes. Romeo, ii. 4. 21; Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 41. ‘The nightingale’s song, being more regularly musical than any other, was calledpricksong’ (Nares). ‘Prick-song’ used to mean counterpoint as distinguished from ‘plain-song’, mere melody.
priefe, preife,proof, trial. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 48; Mother Hubberd, 408.Priefe= F.preuve, aspeople(pron.peeple) = F.peuple.
prieve,to prove. Spenser, F. Q. v. 4. 33; vi. 12. 18.Prieve= OF.prueve(preuve); L.próbat, with the stress on the stem-syllable, whereasprove= F.prouver(OF.prover) = L.probáre.
prig a prancer,to steal a horse (Cant). Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, v. 2 (Higgen); Audeley, Vagabonds, p. 4; Harman, Caveat, pp. 42, 43, 84. See Dict. (s.v. Prig, 1).
prima-vista,an old game at cards, resembling primero, and sometimes identified with it.Primviste, Earle, Microcosmographie, § 13 (ed. Arber, p. 33); ‘Prima. . . a game at cardes, called Prime, Primero, or Primavista’ (Florio). Ital.prima vista, ‘first seen, because he that can first show such an order of cards wins the game’ (Minsheu).
primum mobile,the ‘First Movement’, in the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, the outer sphere (of a system of spheres), which turns round from east to west once in 24 hours, carrying all the inner spheres with it. Bacon, Essay 15, § 4; Essay 51 (end). In Dante the Primum Mobile is called the Crystalline Heaven (‘Cielo Cristallino’), see Paget Toynbee’s Dante Dictionary.
princox,a pert saucy boy or youth, a conceited young fellow, Romeo, i. 588. A north-country word, see EDD. (s.v. Princock).
prink,to set off, show off, trim; ‘To prink and prank,exorno’, Coles, 1699.Prinke it, to show off, Gascoigne, Complaint of Philomene, st. 21, p. 93.
print:phr.in print, to the letter, exactly. L. L. L. iii. 173; ‘Gallant in print’ (i.e. a complete gallant), B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, ii. 2 (Fallace). In prov. use in E. Anglia, Oxf., Sussex, see EDD. (s.v. Print, 3).
prise, pryse,the note blown at the death of a hunted beast; ‘Thenne kynge Arthur blewe the pryse’, Morte Arthur, leaf 63. 25; bk. iv, c. 6. F. ‘prise, the death or fall of a hunted beast’ (Cotgr.).
privado,a favourite, intimate friend. Bacon, Essay 27, § 3. Span.privado, a favourite (Stevens); Port.privado, ‘favori, homme en faveur auprès d’un prince’ (Roquette). Med. L.privatus, ‘familiaris, amicus’ (Ducange).
private,private interest. B. Jonson, Catiline, iii. 2 (last speech).
prize,a contest, a match, a public athletic contest. Merch. Ven. iii. 2. 142; a fencing contest, Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. II, ii. 2 (Prentices); a turn in a match, ib., v. 2 (Infelice); phr.to play a prize, to engage in a public contest, to play one’s part, Beaumont and Fl., Hum. Lieutenant, v. 2 (Lieutenant); Massinger, New Way to Pay, iv. 2 (end); Titus Andron. i. 1. 399; B. Jonson, Volpone, v. 1. HencePrizer, one who fights in a ‘prize’ or match, As You Like It, ii. 3. 8. F. ‘prise, a hold in wrestling;estre aux prises, to wrestle or strive with one another’ (Cotgr.).
prize,to offer as the price; to risk, stake venture. Greene, Friar Bacon, iv. 3 (1784); scene 13. 41 (W.); p. 175, col. 1 (D.); to pay a price for, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 11. 5.
proake,to ask. Mirror for Mag., Claudius T. Nero, st. 4; ‘To proke,procare’, Levins, Manip.
proceed,to advance, in one’s University course, from graduation as B.A. to some higher degree; ‘He proceaded Bachelour of Divinitye in the sayde Universitye of Cambridge’, Foxe, Bk. of Martyrs, 1297; Middleton, A Chaste Maid, iv. 1 (Tim).
prochinge,approaching. Sackville, Induction, line 1. Cp. Sc.prochy-madame(Prush-madam!), a call to cows, Ramsey, Remin. = F.approchez, Madame!, see EDD. (s.v. Proochy).
procinct,readiness, preparation; ‘Procinct of war’, Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xii. 89. L.procintus, readiness for action.
prodigious,portentous, horrible. Mids. Night’s D. v. 419; King John, iii. 1. 46.
proface,much good may it do you. 2 Hen. IV, v. 3. 30; Chapman, Widow’s Tears, iv. 2 (Lysander). OF.prouface, ‘souhait qui veut dire, bien vous fasse’ (Roquefort);prou, advantage +fasse(L.faciat), may it do. See Nares.
profligate,routed. Butler, Hud. i. 3. 728. L.profligare, to strike down, overthrow.
profound,to fathom, to get to the bottom of. Sir T. Browne, Rel. Med., pt. 1, § 13.
prog,to search about, esp. for food; ‘Man digs . . . He never rests . . . He mines and progs, though in the fangs of death’, Quarles, Job xiv. 60; ‘Each in his way doth incessantly prog for joy’, Barrow, Sermon, Rejoice evermore; ‘We need not cark or prog’, id. In prov. use in various parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Prog, vb. 2).
progress,the travel of the sovereign and court to visit different parts of his dominions. Webster, White Devil (Flamineo), ed. Dyce, p. 9; Massinger, Guardian, i. 1 (Durazzo).Progress-block, a block for a new fashion of hats, to be used on a progress, Beaumont and Fl., Wit at several Weapons, iv. 1.
proin, proyne(of a bird), to preen, prune, to trim or dress the feathers with the beak. B. Jonson, Underwood, Celebr. Charis, v; Gascoigne, Complaint of Philomene, st. 59, p. 98. Speltprune, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 36; Cymb. v. 4. 118; 1 Hen. IV, i. 1. 98. ME.proynen(Chaucer, C. T.E.2011). OF.poroign-, pres. pt. stem ofporoindre, to trim feathers (Godefroy), L.pro+ungere, to anoint.
proine, proyne,to prune trees. Gascoigne, Steel Glas, l. 458; Bacon, Essay 50; Drayton, Pol. iii. 358; Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 6. 292; Homilies 1, Falling fr. God (NED.); Machin, Dumb Knight, iii. 1. Norm. F.progner(Moisy), OF.proignier, to prune (Godefroy), Romanic type,protundiare, deriv. of L.rotundus, round. Cp. F.rogner des branches, des racines, ‘couper tout autour’ (Hatzfeld). Seeroyne.
project,to set forth, exhibit. Ant. and Cl. v. 2. 121; to presage, ‘When the south projects a stormy day’, Dryden, tr. of Virgil, Georg. i. 622.
projection,the application of ‘the elixir’ to the metal which is to be transmuted into gold. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Mammon).
proller,a prowler, wandering beggar. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xi. 490.
promont,a headland. Middleton, The Changeling, i. 1 (Vermandero); Drayton, Pol. iv. 7. 1.
promoter,a professional accuser, a common informer; ‘Enter two promoters’, Middleton, A Chaste Girl, ii. 2; Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, v. 2 (1 Madman); Tusser, Husbandry, § 64. 11. See Cowell’s Interpreter.
prompture,prompting, instigation. Meas. for M. ii. 4. 178.
prone,a sermon delivered in commemoration of a founder or benefactor; ‘The founder . . . used to be commemorated in some Prone’, T. Hearne, Remains (ed. Bliss, 655); ‘All founders and benefactors were duly and constantly commemorated in their Prones’, id., 754. F. ‘prone, notice given by a Priest unto his Parishioners . . . of the holy days, of Banes of Matrimony, of such as desire to be relieved or prayed for, &c.’ (Cotgr.).
proof,proof-armour, strong defensive armour. Beaumont and Fl., Chances, i. 10 (Fred.).Proof-arm, to put on armour of proof, Hum. Lieutenant, ii. 3 (Leucippe).
proper,handsome, fine. Tam. Shrew, i. 2. 144; Much Ado, i. 3. 54; 1 Hen. VI, v. 3. 37; ‘He was a proper childe’,Bible, Heb. xi. 23 (= ‘elegantem infantem’, Vulgate). Very common in prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Proper, 5).
proper,belonging exclusively to one, peculiar to one, Meas. for M. i. 1. 30; v. 1. 111; Shirley, Arcadia, iii. 1 (3 Rebel).
properties,rude paintings for scenery, or stage appliances. Shirley, Bird in a Cage, iii. 2 (Carlo); dresses for the actors, id., iv. 2 (Donella).
property,an implement, tool for a purpose. Merry Wives, iii. 4. 10; Jul. Caesar, iv. 1. 40; to use as a tool, King John, v. 2. 72.
propice,propitious, favourable. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Augustus, § 31;propise, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 4. F.propice; L.propitius.
propriety,peculiarity, special nature. Bacon, Essay 3, § 2; property, Dryden, Marriage a la Mode, v. 1 (Rhodophil). F. ‘proprieté, a property speciality in; the nature, quality, inclination of’ (Cotgr.).
prospective,a magic glass or crystal in which it was supposed that distant or future events could be seen, Bacon, Essay 26;glasse prospective, Greene, Friar Bacon, v. 110. The word also means a telescope, J. Taylor (Water Poet), Fennor’s Defence (NED.). Also, a scene, a view, Porter, Angry Women, i. 1. 12. F.prospective, ‘the prospective or optick art; also, a bounded prospect, a limited view’ (Cotgr.).
prostrate,one who is prostrate as a suppliant or a vanquished foe, Otway, Don Carlos, i. 1.
protense,extension, a story long drawn out. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3. 4. L.protensus, drawn out; pp. ofprotendere, to draw forth.
protract,delay, procrastination. Ferrex and Porrex, iv. 2 (Porrex).
provand,food, provisions. Coriolanus, ii. 1. 267; Caxton, Reynard (Arber, p. 60). Flemish,provande, Fr.provende, Romanic typeprovendafor eccles. L.praebenda, a daily allowance (Dict. Christ. Antiq.).
provant,provender, food. Fletcher, Love’s Cure, ii. 1. Also, one who deals in provisions, a sutler. Beaumont and Fl., Four Plays in One, i. 1 (Nicodemus). Hence,Provant, of or belonging to the ‘provant’ or soldier’s allowance, and therefore, of common or inferior quality, Webster, Appius and Virg. i. 4; B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iii. 1 (Bobadil).
provecte,advanced; ‘Provecte in yeres’, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. i, c. 4, § 3. L.provectus, pp.
providence,foresight, timely care. Massinger, New Way to Pay, iii. 2 (Overreach); Shirley, Hyde Park, iii. 1. 5.
provincial garland,a garland given to one who had added aprovinceto the Roman Empire. Ford, Broken Heart, i. 2 (Calanthia).
prowest,most valiant. Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 41; ii. 8. 18. OF.prou, valiant (Bartsch). See Dict. (s.v. Prowess).
prune,the fruit.Stewed prunes, often referred to as being a favourite dish in brothels. Meas. for M. ii. 1. 93; 1 Hen. IV, iii. 3. 128; cp. Fletcher, Mad Lover, iv. 5 (Eumenes). Speltproin, inproin-stone, Peele, Sir Clyomon (ed. Dyce, p. 500).
prune;seeproin.
pry, prie,a local name of the small-leaved lime (Tilia parvifolia). Tusser, Husbandry, § 35. 15. An Essex word, see EDD. (sv. Pry, sb.14).
ptrow,interj., tut! an exclamation of contempt. Heywood, Jupiter and Io, vol. vi, p. 267, l. 3.
Pucelle.Joan la Pucelle, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, 1 Hen. VI, i. 4. 101; i. 6. 3. F.pucelle, a maid, virgin.
puckfist, puckfoist,the fungus usually called a puff-ball. Beaumont and Fl., Custom of the Country, i. 2 (Rutilio); B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. 5 (Tucca). Named after ‘Puck’. Seepouke.A common prov. word (EDD.). The ‘puff-ball’ was also called Bull-fist, Puff-fist, and Wolf’s-fist, see Cotgrave (s.v. Vesse de loup); see NED. (s.v. Fist).
puckle,a kind of bugbear or goblin. Middleton, The Witch, i. 2 (Hecate). OE.pūcel, a goblin (NED.), dimin. ofpūca; seepouke.
puckling,little goblin; used as a term of endearment by a witch. Heywood, Witches of Lancs. ii. 1 (Mawd.); vol. iv, p. 187. See above.
pudder,pother, confusion, turmoil. King Lear, iii. 2. 50 (1623); Ford, Fancies Chaste, iii. 3 (Romanello). A common prov. word (EDD.).
pudding-time, in,in good time, lit. in time for dinner, as dinner often began with pudding. Like will to Like, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iii. 219; Butler, Hud. i. 2. 865. Still in use; see EDD.
pudding tobacco,tobacco compressed into sausage-like rolls. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Revels, ii. 1 (Mercury); Middleton, Roaring Girl, iii. 2 (Laxton).
pudency,modesty. Cymbeline, ii. 5. 11. L.pudentia, modesty.
pug,to pull, to tug; ‘What pugging by the ear!’, Appius and Virginia, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, iv. 120. In prov. use from Warw. to Dorset, see EDD. (s.v. Pug, vb.2).
pug,a bargeman; ‘In a Westerne barge, when with a good winde and lustie pugges one may go ten miles in two daies’, Lyly, Endymion, iv. 2;Westerne pugs, men who navigated barges down the Thames to London; ‘The Westerne pugs receiving money there [in plague time] have tyed it in a bag at the end of their barge, and trailed it through the Thames’, Dekker, Wonderfull Yeare (NED.).
puggard,a thief (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Moll).
pugging tooth,Winter’s Tale, iv. 3. 7. Meaning uncertain. Usually taken as = thieving, cp.puggard.In Devon ‘pug-tooth’ means eye-tooth (EDD.). Possibly there may be a play of words here: Autolycus’s hungry eye-tooth (pug-tooth) set on edge tempts him to thieve (pug) ‘the white sheet bleaching on the hedge’.
puke,a superior kind of woollen cloth, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 78. M. Du.puuc,puyck, name of the best sort of woollen cloth (A.D.1420). Du.puyck, woollen cloth (Hexham);puik, choice, excellent (Sewel).
puke,the name of the colour formerly used for the cloth named ‘puke’. ‘Pauonaccio cupo, a deep darke purple or puke colour’ (Florio, ed. 1598); ‘Pewke, a colour,pers’, Palsgrave. See NED.
pull:in phr.to pull down a side, ‘to cause the loss or hazard of the side or party with which a person plays’ (Nares); ‘If I hold your card, I shall pull down the side’, Massinger, Duke of Florence, iv. 2 (Cozimo); id., Unnatural Combat, ii. 1 (Belgarde).
pullen,poultry, chickens. Tusser, Husbandry, 87. 5; Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 2 (Elder Loveless);poleyn, Fitzherbert, Husbandry, 146. 21. In common prov. use in the north country and in E. Anglia (EDD.). OF.poulain, young of any animal (Hatzfeld). Med. L.pullanus, see Ducange (s.v. Pullani).
pulpamenta,delicacies. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour, v. 7 (Macilente). A word used by Plautus for tit-bits, delicacies.
pulpatoon,a dish made of rabbits, fowls, &c., in a crust of forced meat. Nabbes, Microcosmus, iii. 1 (Tasting). Span.pulpelón, a large slice of stuffed meat.
pulvilio,fine scented powder, cosmetic powder. Etherege, Man of Mode, iii. 3 (Sir Fopling);Pulvilio-box, a scent-box, Wycherley, Plain Dealer, ii (Manly). Hencepulvil, to perfume with scented powder, Congreve, Way of the World, iv. 1 (beginning). Ital.polviglio, fine powder. See Stanford.
pumey,‘pumice’. Peele, Anglorum Feriae, 26 (ed. Dyce, p. 595);pumie-stone, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 39; Shep. Kal., March, 89.
pun,to pound, to beat, pummel. Tr. and Cr. ii. 1. 42;pund, pt. t., Heywood, King Edw. IV, First Part (Spicing); vol. i, p. 19. In common prov. use from the north country down to Glouc., see EDD. (s.v. Pound, vb.3). OE.punian, to pound, beat, bray in mortar.
puncheon,a kind of dagger. Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, vii. 664 (L.dolones). O. Prov.ponchon, ‘poinçon’ (Levy).
puncto;seepunto.
punctual,no bigger than a point, very small; ‘This opacous Earth, this punctual spot’, Milton, P. L. viii. 23.
punese,a bug. Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 437. F.punaise.
†pung,a ‘punk’, courtesan. Middleton, Mich. Term, iii. 1 (Lethe). Not found elsewhere.
punkateero,a purveyor of punks, a pander. Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, iv. 1 (Curvetto). A jocose formation frompunk, a strumpet, in imitation of Span.mulatero, muleteer, frommulo, mule. Not found elsewhere.
punto,a small point;in a punto, in a moment, B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iv. 7 (Bobadil); a nice point of behaviour, a ‘punctilio’, ‘Puntos and Complementes’, Bacon. Adv. L., bk. ii, c. 23, § 3; a stroke or thrust with the point of the sword or foil, Merry Wives, ii. 3. 26;punto riverso, a back-handed thrust, Romeo, ii. 4. 27;punto beard, a pointed beard, Shirley, Honoria, i. 2 (Alamode). Ital. and Span.punto, L.punctum, a point.
purchase,to acquire, obtain, gain. Tempest, iv. 1. 14; Richard II, i. 3. 282. Hence,purchase, acquired property, wealth, Webster, Duch. Malfi, iii. 1 (Antonio); spoil, booty, 1 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 101; Hen. V, iii. 2. 45; Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 16; Marlowe, 1 Tamburlaine, ii. 5 (Theridamas). See Dict.
purfle,to embroider along an edge, to border, to ornament. Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 13; ii. 3. 26; Milton, Comus, 995; ‘Pourfiler, to purfle, tinsell or overcast with gold thread’, Cotgrave.
purfle,the contour or outline of anything, the profile. Chapman, Byron’s Conspiracy, iii. 1 (Breton).
puritan,used ironically for a courtesan (Cant). Marston, What you Will, iii. 3 (Slip).
purlieu,ground near a forest, which having been made forest, was by perambulation (OF.puralee) separated from the same, see Manwood, Forest Laws, cap. 20; ‘In the purlieus of this forest’, As You Like It, iv. 3. 77. The formpurlieu(for an olderpurley) is probably due to popular etymology, i.e. to association with F.pur lieu, L.purus locus, a free open space;purley, Randolph, Muses’ Looking-glass, iv. 3 (Nimis);purley-man, one who has lands within the ‘purlieu’ (NED.);Pourlie man, Cowell’s Interpreter (s.v. Purlue). Anglo-F.puralé(-lée), a going though, ‘perambulatio’ (Rough List, s.v. Purlieu). See NED.
purpense,to determine beforehand; ‘James Grame . . . wilfully assented and purpensed the murdre, &c.’, Act 12 Hen. VII, c. 7; ‘A purpensed malice’, Udall, Erasmus’s Paraph. Mark iii. 30. Anglo-F.purpenser:agwait purpensé, ‘insidiis praecogitatis’ (Laws of William I, § 1, 2); see Moisy. Seeprepense.
purpose,conversation, discourse. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 2. 45; ii. 6. 6; ii. 8. 56; Much Ado, iii. 1. 12; to converse, discourse, F. Q. ii. 12. 16. OF.pourpos(purpos), a purpose (Godefroy), cp. F.propos, a purpose, design, also, speech, discourse (Cotgr.).
purprise,an enclosure, enclosed area. Bacon, Essay 56 (Judicature). Norm. F.purprise,pourprise, ‘pourpris, enceinte, enelos, demeure’ (Moisy);porprise(Didot);porprendre, ‘investir, entourer’ (Didot). Med. L.porprisa,porprisum, ‘possessio vel locus sepibus, muris, ant vallis conclusus’; see Ducange (s.v. Porprendere).
purse,to steal purses. Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, ii. 1 (Yo. Loveless).
purse-net,a net, the mouth of which could be drawn together by a string. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, iv. 2 (Ariosto); Appius, iv. 1 (Advocate).
purveyance,providence. Surrey, tr. of Aeneid, iv, l. 58; provision, equipment, Spenser, F. Q. i. 12. 13. ME.purveyaunce, providence, also, provision (Chaucer). See Dict. (s.v. Purvey).
push,a pustule, pimple; ‘Black poushes or boyles’, Sir T. Elyot, Castel of Helthe, bk. iii, c. 7; ‘Pimples or pushes’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 6. Still in use in many parts of England, see EDD. (s.v. Push, sb.3).
push,interj., pish! Massinger, The Old Law, ii. 1 (Simonides); Middleton, Mich. Term, ii. 3 (Shortyard). Very common in Middleton.
push-pin,a childish game noticed by Strutt, Sports, v. 4. 14. In L. L. L. iv. 3. 169; Herrick, Hesper., Love’s Play at Push-pin. Also calledput-pin.
pussle,a maid, girl, drab. Stubbes, Anat. Abuses (ed. Furnivall, 78); ‘A puzell verie beautifull’, Holinshed (ed. 1587, iii. 545); Laneham’s Letter (ed. Furnivall, 23); ‘The Fayre Pusell’, W. de Worde, Treatyse of a Galaunt (see title of the play). F.pucelle, a maid.
put,a silly fellow, a ‘duffer’ (Cant). Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, i. 1 (Shamwell). See Slang Dict., 1874.
put case,suppose. Middleton, A Chaste Maid, ii. 1 (end).
put forth,to lend out (money). B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Humour ii. 1 (Puntarvolo). Cp. Temp. iii. 3. 48; Sonnet cxxxiv. 10.
put on,to put on a hat. This was the occasion of much empty compliment. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, ii. 1 (Ariosto).Putting off his hat, taking it off, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 7.
put up,to sheathe a sword, to replace it in the scabbard. Temp. i. 2. 469; Twelfth Nt. iii. 4. 343;put up(without a following sb.), Middleton, The Widow, i. 2 (Martino).
puther,pother, trouble, disturbance. Buckingham, The Rehearsal, ii. 4 (Bayes);pudder, K. Lear, iii. 2. 50 (1623);poother, Coriolanus, ii. 1. 234.
put-pin,‘Playing at put-pin’, Marston, Scourge of Villainy, Sat. viii. 205. Seepush-pin.
puttock,a bird of prey of the kite kind. 2 Hen. VI, iii. 2. 191; Cymb. i. 1. 140; Puritan Widow, iii. 3. 110; ‘Puttocke,escoufle’, Palsgrave. In common prov. use for a kite or buzzard, see EDD. (s.v. Puttock, sb.11 and 2). ME.puttocke, ‘milvus’ (Prompt. EETS. 339, see note, no. 1647).Puttockis a not uncommon surname, see Bardsley, 493. An older form for this surname wasPutthawke, see Chronicles of Theberton (Suffolk), by H. M. Doughty, 1910, p. 177, ‘That year [1748] John Puttock or Putthawke was churchwarden.’ Canputtock, the name of the bird, stand forpout-hawk,from the pouts, i.e. small birds, on which it feeds? [Forpout, see NED. (s.v.Poult).]
puzell;seepussle.
pylery hole,the hole through which the head of the offender was thrust in the pillory. Skelton, Magnyf. 361. OF.pillorie(Ducange, s.v. Pilorium), O. Prov.espilori,espitlori(Levy); Med. L. *spect’lorium< *spectaculorium, a place for a ‘spectacle’ (L.spectaculum).
pyonyng;seepion.
pyromancy,divination by fire. Greene, Friar Bacon, i. 2 (186); scene 2. 15 (W.); p. 155, col. 1 (D.). Gk. πυρομαντεία, divination by fire.
Pythonissa,the witch of Endor; ‘Saith the Pythonissa to Saul’, Bacon, Essay 35. L.pythonissa, applied to the witch of Endor (1 Sam. xxviii), see Vulgate, Lib. 1 Regum xxviii, Argument (‘Saul pythonissam consulit’); properly, a woman possessed with Python, the spirit of divination, cp. Vulgate, Lib. 1 Regum xxviii. 7 (‘Mulier pythonem habens in Endor’). SeePhitonessa.