P

orguillous,proud, haughty; ‘Proud and orgulllous’, Caxton, Reynard (ed. Arber, 36);orgillous, Tr. and Cr., Prol. 2. Anglo-F.orguillous(Gower, Mirour, 1612). F.orgueilleux, proud.

oricalche,a very precious metal. Spenser, Muiopotmos, 78. L.orichalcum, yellow copper ore, brass, highly prized by the ancients; Gk. ὀρείχαλκος, mountain-copper (hence F.archal, infil d’archal, brass-wire).

orient,applied to pearls and precious stones of superior quality and brilliancy, as coming from the East. B. Jonson, Volpone, i. 1 (Mosca). Hence lustrous, brilliant, bright; ‘Now Morn . . . sowed the earth with orient pearl’, Milton, P. L. v. 2; ‘Ten thousand banners rise into the air with orient colours waving’, id., i. 516. Cp. F.perles d’Orient(Dict. Acad. 1762).

oringado,candied orange-peel. Shirley, Lady of Pleasure, i. 1 (Steward). Cp. Span.naranjada, ‘a conserve made with oranges’;naranja, orange (Stevens). Seeorangeado-pie.

ork, orc,a sea-monster. Drayton, Pol. ii. 95; vii. 51. L.orca.

orkyn,a small coin, a quarter of a stiver; ‘Bye an yearthen potte . . . for an orkyn’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Diogenes, § 28. Du.oortken, ‘anorkey, or the fourth part of a stiver, or two doits’ (Hexham); dimin. ofoort, a small coin; see Franck.

orped,stout, active, bold. Speltorpid, Golding, Metam. vii. 440; fol. 85 (1603); (of a boar) fierce, furious, id., viii. 395; fol. 99. ME.orped, stout, brave (Gower, C. A. i. 2590); see Dict. M. and S. OE.orped, gloss ofadultus, syn.snell(Napier, OE. Glosses, 3361).

orpharion,a large kind of lute with from six to nine pairs of strings, played with a plectrum; ‘The orpharion to the lute’, Drayton, Pastorals, iii. 111. Composed of the names of Orpheus and Arion, mythical musicians of Greek poetry.

orphelin,an orphan. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 171. 11. Anglo-F.orphelin, destitute,orphanin, an orphan (Gower); Late L. type *orphaninus, deriv. oforphanus, Gk. ὀρφανός, bereft of parents or children.

orpin,orpiment, yellow arsenic. Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, ii. 713. F.orpin, ‘orpine, orpiment or arsenick’ (Cotgr.).

ortyard,orchard. Golding, Metam. xiv. 624; fol. 175, back (1603). OE.ortgeard. The first elementort= L.hortus(in Med. L.ortus), a garden; cp. Norm. F.ort, ‘jardin, verger’ (Moisy 558), Anglo-F.ort(Gower, Mirour, 12868).

ospringer,an osprey. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xviii. 557; ‘Ospringe, a byrde’, Palsgrave.

ossifrage,the Lammergeyer or Geir Eagle, identified with the ‘ossifraga’ of Pliny; ‘Ossifrage, a kind of Eagle, having so strong a Beak that therewith she breaks bones and is therefore called a bone-breaker’, Blount; inBible, Lev. xi. 13, ossifrage (RV. gier eagle). Identified with the ‘osprey’ or fish-hawk. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, iii. 505.

ostend,to show. Webster, Sir T. Wyatt (Q. Mary), ed. Dyce, p. 194; Heywood, Silver Age (Jupiter), vol. iii, p. 163. L.ostendere.

ostent,a prodigy, manifestation. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, v. 748; show, Hen. V, v, chorus, 21; ostentation, Heywood, Iron Age, Part I (Ulysses); vol. iii, p. 329. Also, to display, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, bk. ii, c. 14, § 6. L.ostentum, a prodigy (Vulg., Exod. vii. 3);ostentare, to display (Vulg., Heb. vi. 11).

osteria,a hostelry, inn. B. Jonson, Volpone, ii. 3 (Mosca); Beaumont and Fl., Fair Maid of the Inn, ii. 2. 1. Ital.osteria(Florio), Med. L.hostellaria, ‘diversorium’ (Ducange).

ostry,a hostelry. Marlowe, Faustus, ii. 3 (Robin). Henceostry-faggot, a faggot in a hostelry, Greene, Looking Glasse, iii. 3 (1242); p. 133, col. 1. Seehostry.

otacousticon,an ear-trumpet, an instrument used to assist hearing. Tomkis, Albumazar, i. 3 (Ronca). Gk. ὠτ- (ὠτός, gen. of οὖς an ear) + ἀκουστικός, acoustic.

other,left;other leg, left leg, Spenser, F. Q. ii. 11. 23;other eye, left eye, id., iii. 9. 5;other hand, left hand, id., v. 12. 36.

other-gates,of another kind. Middleton, Blurt, Mr. Constable, ii. 1 (Truepenny); ‘Works . . . requiring other-gates workmen’, Gauden, Tears of the Church, Pref. (Davies); in another way, Twelfth Nt. v. 1. 199. Still survives in the north country and in Warwicksh. (EDD.).

ouch,the socket of a precious stone, an ornament, jewel. Fletcher, Woman’s Prize, iv. 1 (Moroso); ‘Thou shalt make them (the stones) to be set in ouches of gold’,Bible, Exod. xxviii. 11; 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 52. ME.nowch, ‘monile, scutuler’ (Prompt. EETS. 309). Anglo-F.nouche, a brooch (Gower, Balades, xxxiii. 2);nusche(Rough List). Seeowch.

ought,pt. t.owned, possessed. Webster, Devil’s Law-case, iii. 1 (Leonora). Also, owed; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, xi. 608; Spenser, F. Q. i. 4. 39; ii. 8. 40. ME.oght(Dest. Troy, 12404),ouhte, owned, possessed (P. Plowman, C. iv. 72). OE.āhte, pt. t. ofāgan, to possess, own. Seeowe.

oultrage,‘outrage’, violence. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 182, back, 31. Anglo-F.oultrage,oltrage,outrage, extravagant conduct (Gower). Med. L.ultragium, ‘immoderatio’, ‘injuria’ (Ducange), deriv. of L.ultra, beyond.

oultrance:phr.put to oultrance, put to the extremity, put to death; Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 67, back, 10. Anglo-F.oultrance: ‘la guerre jusques al oultrance’ (Gower, Mirour, 8040); see NED. (s.v. Outrance). Seeutterance.

ouphe,a fairy, an ‘elf’, ‘oaf’, goblin, Merry Wives, iv. 4. 49. Icel.ālfr, an elf. Seeaulf.

out,proverbial saying,out of God’s blessing into the warm sun, from better to worse, Heywood’s Proverbs, bk. ii, ch. 5 (ed. Farmer, pp. 67 and 148); Harrison, Desc. Britain, in Holinshed (ed. 1577, i. fol. 11a). Cp. Lyly’s Euphues (ed. Arber, 320), ‘Thou forsakest God’s blessing to sit in a warme Sunne’; and, ‘If thou wilt follow my advice . . . thou shalt come out of a warme Sunne into God’s blessing’ (id. 196), where the proverb is reversed; ‘Thou must approve the common saw, Thou out of heaven’s benediction comest To the warm sun!’ King Lear, ii. 2. 157, 158 (see W. A. Wright’s note in C. P. Series). The original meaning of this proverbial expression is not clear.

out,to put out, extinguish, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 735; ‘Witness that Taper whose prophetick snuff Was outed and revived with one puff’, Quarles, Argalus and Parthenia (ed. 1678, 77).

outbrast,pt. t.burst out. Sackville, Induction, st. 11. Pt. t. of ME.outbresten; ‘The blode outbrast’ (Dest. Troy, 8045); see NED. (s.v. Outburst).

out-brayed,pt. t.brayed out, uttered aloud. Sackville, Induction, st. 18. Doubtless confused withabraid.

out-breast,to outvoice, surpass in singing. Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 3. 145.

outcept,except. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, i. 2 (Pan); ii. 1 (Hilts).

out-cry,an auction; because such a sale was proclaimed by the common crier. B. Jonson, Catiline, ii. 1 (Fulvia); New Inn, i. 1 (Host); Fletcher, Maid in the Mill, v. 1 (Bellides). See Nares.

outrecuidance,arrogance. Chapman, Mons. d’Olive, iv. (Dique); Eastward Ho, iv. 1 (or2) (Golding). F.oultrecuidance, an overweening presumption, pride, arrogancy (Cotgr.); F.outrecuidance; O. Prov.oltracuidar,oltra, L.ultra, beyond +cuidar, to think, L.cogitare.

outrider,a highwayman. Heywood, 1 Edw. IV (Hobs), vol. i, p. 43.

outsquat,to throw out (as from a sling), to scatter; ‘The greatest sort with slings their plummet-lompes of lead outsquats’, Phaer, tr. of Aeneid, vii. 687.

overcraw,to triumph over, lit. to crow over. Spenser, F. Q. i. 9. 50. See Nares.

overdight,pp.covered over. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 53; iv. 8. 34.Dight, pp., appears in later poetic language to be often taken as an archaic form ofdecked, see NED. (s.v. Dight, vb. 10).

overflown,flushed with wine. Middleton, Phœnix, iv. 2 (Ph.). Cp. Milton, P. L., i. 502, ‘Then wander forth the sons of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.’

overgrast,overgrown with grass. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Sept., 130.

overhaile,to draw over. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Feb., 75. Seehale and ho.

overlashing,extravagant. Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, 105); extravagance, Gosson, School of Abuse, p. 39.

overlive,to survive. Bacon, Essay 27, § 4.

overlook,to look down upon, despise. Hen. V, iii. 5. 9; B. Jonson, Alchem. iv. 1 (Subtle).

overlop,the planking of a deck; the ‘orlop’; ‘His bed was not laid upon the overlop’, North, tr. of Plutarch, Alcibiades (Shak. Plutarch, p. 295, § 3). Du.overloop, ‘the covert or deck of anything; the hatches of a ship’ (Hexham).

overseen,betrayed into error, deluded. Chapman, Argument 2 to Iliad, bk. xiv; intoxicated, Earle, Microcosmographie, § 16; ed. Arber, p. 37. ‘Overseen’ is still in prov. use in both senses: (1) cheated, deluded; (2) overcome with drink, intoxicated; see EDD. (s.v. Overseen, 3 and 4).

over-shot,i.e. anover-shot mill, a mill worked by water pouring over the top of the wheel. Fletcher, Mad Lover, iv. 2 (Chilax).

overthwart,across, transversely. Morte Arthur, leaf 262, back, 15; bk. x, c. 64; cross, malicious, id., lf. 180. 25; bk. ix, c. 15; an adverse circumstance, Surrey, Praise of Mean Estate, 12; in Tottel’s Misc. p. 27. ‘Overthwart’ (meaning across) is in prov. use in many parts of England (EDD.). ME.overthwarte: ‘ovyr wharte, transversus’ (Prompt. EETS. 321).

overture,an open space. Spenser, Shep. Kal., July, 28. The gloss has: ‘Overture, an open place; the word is borrowed of the French, and used in good writers.’ Anglo-F.overture, an opening (Gower).

overture,used to meanoverthrow. Middleton, Family of Love, i. 1 (Glister). See NED. for other examples.

overwent,oppressed, subdued. Spenser, Shep. Kal., March, 2. The gloss has: ‘overwent, overgone.’

owch,a clasp, esp. a jewelled clasp, jewel. Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 31. Seeouch.

owdell,a kind of poem. Drayton, Pol. iv. 184. Welshawdl, a rime or assonance.

owe,to possess. Tempest, i. 2. 407; Meas. for M. i. 4. 83; ii. 4. 123. ME.owen, to possess (Chaucer, C. T.C.361); OE.āgan. Seeought.

ower,a form ofoar; ‘And there row’d off with owers of my hands’, Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, xii. 628; cp. ‘my hands for oars’, id., x. 482.

Owlglass,a jester, buffoon. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1 (Tucca to Histrio). The word is an English equivalent of GermanEulenspiegel; see below. ‘A merye jeste of a Man that was called Howleglas’, Title of an old German jest-book translated into English in 1560.

owl-spiegle,an English part-rendering of GermanEulenspiegel(Eule, owl +spiegel, glass mirror), the name of a German jester of mediaeval times, the hero of a jest-book. Used as a term of abuse: ‘Out, thou houlet! . . . owl-spiegle!’, B. Jonson, Sad Sheph. ii. 1 (Maud.); ‘Ulen Spiegel!’, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle). Hence F.espiègle(Hatzfeld). See above.

ox:Proverbial saying—The black ox has trod on his foot, i.e. he has fallen into decay or adversity; it often implies old age: ‘She was a pretty wench . . now . . the black oxe hath trod on her foote’, Lyly, Sapho and Phao, iv. 2 (Venus); ‘When . . the blacke Oxe (shall) treade on their foote—who wil like of them in their age who loved none in their youth’, id., Euphues (ed. Arber, 55); ‘The black ox had not trod on his nor her foot’, Heywood’s Proverbs (ed. Farmer, p. 17); ‘The black ox never trod on his foot, i.e. he never knew what sorrow or adversity meant’, Ray, Prov. Phrases (ed. Bohn, 173). Cp. Gascoigne, Glasse of Governement, v. 6 (Gnomaticus). The saying is still in prov. use, see EDD. (s.v. Black, 5 (11)).

paciens,‘patience’, a name given in the north and north-west of England to the bistort; ‘The herbe [Tobacco] is . . . garnished with great long leaves like the paciens’, Harrison, Descr. of England, Chronology, 1573 (ed. Furnivall, p. lv). See NED. (s.v. Passions).

pack,to practise deceitful collusion, to plot. Titus And. iv. 2. 155;packed, confederate, Com. Errors, v. 1. 219; contrived, Fletcher, Span. Curate, iv. 5 (Bartolus).

packing,confederacy, conspiracy, collusion. Tam. Shrew, v. 1. 121; Massinger, Gt. Duke of Florence, iii. 1 (Giovanni).

pad,a toad, proverbial saying,a pad in the straw, a lurking danger; ‘In straw thear lurcketh soom pad’, Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, i. 656; Gosson, School of Abuse, 63; Gammer Gurton’s Needle, v. 2 (Chat). In Yorks. ‘pad’ is used for a frog (EDD.); Icel.padda, a toad; Flem.padde, ‘crapauld’ (Plantin).

paddock,a toad. Hamlet, iii. 4. 190; a frog, ‘Padockes,grenouilles’, Palsgrave, 502. In gen. prov. use for a frog or toad (EDD.).

pad,a path, track. B. Jonson, Staple of News, ii. 1 (P. Can.);horse pad, a horse-path, Bunyan, Grace Abounding (NED.);high pad, the highway, Harman, Caveat, 84; also, a highwayman, ‘The High-Pad or Knight of the Road’, R. Head, Canting Acad. 88.Pad, a road-horse, a pad-nag, Shirley, Witty Fair One, i. 1. 5. Hencepadder, a foot-pad, Massinger, New Way to pay, &c., ii. 1 (Marrall);padding, robbing on the highway, ‘Ride out a-padding’, Dryden, Princess of Cleves, Prol. 29. ‘Pad’ is in gen. prov. use for a path in various parts of the British Isles (EDD.). Low G.pad, path;padden, to go on foot (Koolman).

pad,a wicker pannier; ‘A haske is a wicker pad’, Glosse by E. K. to Spenser, Shep. Kal., Nov., 16. In prov. use in the eastern counties, see EDD. (s.v. Pad, sb.5), and NED. (Pad, sb.4).

pagador,pay-master. Spenser, State of Ireland (Wks., Globe ed., 657). Span.pagador, a paymaster (Stevens).

pagan,a cant term of reproach. A paramour, 2 Hen. IV, ii. 2. 168; a bastard, Fletcher, Captain, iv. 2 (Host).

paggle,to hang loosely down, like a bag. Greene, Friar Bacon, iii. 3 (1421); scene 10. 63 (W.); p. 171, l. 1 (D.).

paigle,a cowslip. B. Jonson, Pan’s Anniversary (Shepherd, l. 7); speltpaggles, pl., Tusser, Husbandry, § 43. 25. In gen. prov. use (EDD.).

painful,painstaking, laborious. L. L. L. ii. 23; Tam. Shrew, v. 2. 147; ‘Such servants are oftenest painfull and good’, Tusser, Husbandry, 170. Still in use in the north country (EDD.).

painted,adorned with bright colouring; ‘A peinted sheathe’, a handsome exterior, Udall, tr. of Apoth., Diogenes, § 190; pride, vainglory, id., Socrates, § 56; ‘Peinted termes’, grandiloquence, id., Antigonus, § 14.

painted cloth,cloth or canvas painted in oils and used for hangings in rooms. L. L. L. v. 2. 579; As You Like It, iii. 2. 290; 1 Hen. IV, iv. 2. 28. It often showed moral pictures. See NED.

pair of cards,a pack of cards; ‘A payre of cardes’, Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 49; Fletcher, Sea-voyage, i. 1 (Tibalt). See Nares.

pair of organs,an organ. Middleton, A Mad World, ii. 1 (Sir B.); ‘Unes orgues, a payre of organs, an instrument of musyke’, Palsgrave, 183. See NED. (s.v. Organ, 2 c).

pair-royal,in cribbage and other card games, three cards of the same denomination; a throw of three dice all turning up the same number of points, as three twos, &c. Hence, a set of three persons or things, Ford, Broken Heart, v. 3; ‘That great pair-royal of adamantine sisters’, Quarles, Emblems, v; Howell, Lex. Tetraglotton, Dedication; Butler, Ballad upon the Parliament (last line;pair-royal, riming withtrial); ‘That paroyall of armies’, Fuller, Pisgah, iv. 2. 22. See Nares and NED. ‘Prial’ is in prov. use in various parts of England in the sense of (1) a ‘pair-royal’ in cards, (2) three of a sort, (3) a gathering of persons of a similar disposition (EDD.). Seeparreal.

paise;seepeise.

pall,to become faint, to fail in strength. Hamlet, v. 2. 9; Phaer, Aeneid ix (NED.); to enfeeble, weaken; to daunt, appal, King James I, Kingis Quair, st. 18; Fletcher, Bloody Brother, ii. 1 (Latorch); Peele, Sir Clyomon (ed. Dyce, 532).

palliard,a lewd person, a thorough rascal. Dryden, Hind and Panther, ii. 563; Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song).Palliards, one of the twenty-four orders of Vagabonds; beggars who excited compassion by means of artificial sores, made by binding some corrosive to the flesh; see Harman, Caveat, p. 44, and Aydelotte, p. 27. F.paillard, ‘a knave, rascall’, &c. (Cotgr.); lit. one who lies on straw; F.paille, L.palea, straw.

palm,the flat expanded part of a deer’s horn, whence the points project. Chapman, tr. of Iliad, iv. 124.

palmplay,a game resembling tennis, but played with the hand instead of a bat. Surrey, Prisoned in Windsor, 13; in Tottel’s Misc., p. 13. Cp. F.jeu de paume(Dict. de l’Acad., s.v. Paume).

palped,that can be felt, palpable. Webster, Appius, iii. 1 (Icilius); Heywood, Brazen Age (Hercules), vol. iii, p. 206. L.palpare, to feel.

palt,to trudge; ‘Palting to school’, Nice Wanton, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, ii. 165.

palter,to shift, shuffle, equivocate. Macbeth, v. 8. 20; Ant. and Cl. iii. 11. 63.

paltock,a short coat, sleeved doublet. Morte Arthur, leaf 89, 27; bk. v, c. 10; OF.paletocque; ‘Paltocke, a garment,halcret’ (Palsgrave). ME.paltok(P. Plowman, B. xviii. 25);paltoke(Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 1569). F.palletoc, ‘a long and thick pelt or cassock, a garment like a short cloak with sleeves’ (Cotgr.). See Dict. (s.v. Paletot).

Paltock’s inn,a mean or inhospitable place; Paltock is probably here a proper name, but the allusion is unknown. Gosson, School of Abuse, p. 52; Stanyhurst, tr. of Aeneid, iii, l. 65 (a rendering of the Lat. ‘pollutum hospitium’, l. 61).

pampestry,a corrupt form ofpalmistry. Mirror for Mag., Bladud, st. 25. ME.pawmestry(Lydgate, Assembly of Gods, 870).

pamphysic,concerning all nature. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Subtle). Gk. παμ- + φυσικός.

panada, panado,bread boiled to a pulp, and flavoured with currants, sugar, &c.Panada, Massinger, A New Way, i. 2 (Furnace);panado, Middleton, The Witch, ii. 1 (Gasparo). In Eastward Ho, ii (Quicksilver), the word is speltpoynado. Span.panada. See Stanford (s.v. Panade).

panarchic,all-ruling. A nonce-word. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Subtle). Gk. πάναρχος, all-ruling +-ic.

panax,all-heal; a healing plant, whence opopanax is made. Middleton, The Witch, iii. 3 (Firestone). L.panax; Gk. πάναξ, πανακής, all-healing.

pandora,a ‘bandore’, a musical instrument, a kind of lute. Rowley, All’s Lost, ii. 1. 4;pandore, Drayton, Pol. iv. 63. Gk. πανδοῦρα. See Stanford.

paned hose,breeches made of strips of different coloured cloth joined together; or of cloth cut into strips, between which ribs or stripes of another material or colour were inserted or drawn through. Beaumont and Fl., Woman-hater, i. 2 (Lazarillo); Wit at several Weapons, iv. 1 (Cunningham). Frompane, a patch of cloth. OF.pan, L.pannus.

panel;seepannel.

pannam,bread (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); Harman, Caveat, p. 83.

pannel,a panel; a piece of cloth placed under the saddle to protect the horse’s back; also, a rough saddle. Butler, Hud. i. 1. 447; ‘A straw-stufft pannel’, Hall, Sat. iv. 2. 26;panel, Tusser, Husbandry, § 17. 5. OF.panel, a piece of cloth for a saddle, F. ‘paneau(panneau), a pannel of a saddle’ (Cotgr.).

pannikell,the brain-pan, skull. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 23. L.panniculus, the membranous structure of the brain, see NED. (s.v. Pannicle).

pantler,the officer of a household in charge of the pantry. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 4. 258; Brome, Jovial Crew, i. 1 (Springlove); ‘A pantler,panis custos,promus’, Gouldman. ME.pantelere, ‘panitarius’ (Prompt. EETS. 326, see note, no. 1571).

pantofle,a slipper, Massinger, Bashful Lover, v. 1; Unnat. Combat, iii. 2 (Page); Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, ii. 2 (Servant); Spanish Curate, iv. 1 (Ascanio); ‘Baseæ. . . a kynde of slippers or pantofles’, Cooper, Thesaurus. F.pantoufle(1489 in Hatzfeld). The usual English stress on the first syllable facilitated the corruptions:pantapple(Baret),pantable(Sydney, Arcadia),pantocle(Ascham, Scholemaster, ed. Arber, 84), assimilated to words in-ple,-ble,-cle. See NED.

pap:phr.pap with a hatchet, infant’s food administered with a hatchet instead of a spoon; an ironical phrase for a form of reproof or chastisement; ‘They give us pap with a spoon before we can speak; and when wee speake for that wee love [like],pap with a hatchet’, Lyly, Mother Bombie, i. 3 (Livia); the name of a controversial tract attributed to Lyly.

parage,lineage; esp. noble lineage, high birth. Morte Arthur, leaf 110, back, 5; bk. vii, c.5; ‘Of high and noble parages’, Udall, Roister Doister, Act i, sc. 2; ed. Arber, p. 17. OF.parage, ‘parente, affinité; noblesse, naissance illustre’ (Didot); see Moisy. O. Prov.paratge, ‘naissance noble, noblesse’ (Levy); Med. L.paraticum, see Ducange (s.v. Paragium).

paramento,an article of apparel. Fletcher, Love’s Pilgrimage, i. 1 (Incubo). Span.paramento, ornament; Med. L.paramentum, ornament;parare, ‘ornare’ (Ducange). Seepare.

paranymph,friend of the bridegroom. Milton, Samson, 1020. F.paranymphe, ‘. . . an assistant in the . . . ordering of bridall businesses’ (Cotgr.). Gk. παράνυμφος, friend of the bridegroom (John iii. 29); Gk. παρά, beside; νύμφη, bride.

parator;seeparitor.

paravaunt,beforehand, first of all. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 16; vi. 10. 15. F.par avant.

parboil,to boil thoroughly. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iv. 1 (Downright). See Dict.

parbreak, parbrake,to vomit. Skelton, Duke of Albany, 322; Hall, Satires, i. 5. 9; Palsgrave. 478; Horman, Vulg. 39 (NED.); also, as sb., vomit, Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 20. ME.parbrakynge, ‘vomitus’ (Prompt.); the usual form in Prompt. isbrakyn, ‘vomo’ (see ed. EETS., Index, p. 749).

parcel,a portion, part, share; ‘A parcel of ground’,Bible, John iv. 5; Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 68. 63; Merry Wives, i. 1. 237; item, particular, All’s Well, iv. 3. 104; small party, L. L. L. v. 2. 160.

parcel,partly;parcel-gilt, partly gilded, esp. of silver ware. 2 Hen. IV, ii. 1. 94.Parcel, used forparcel-gilt, Beaumont and Fl., Coxcomb, iv. 3 (Mother). So alsoparcel-bawd; Meas. for M. ii. 1. 63; Fletcher, Captain, i. 1 (Lodovico).Parcel-popish, Fuller, Worthies, Somerset. See NED. (s.v. Parcel,B.1).

parclose, perclose,close, conclusion, esp. of literary matter. Warner, Alb. Eng. Epit. (ed. 1612, 377); Quarles, Sol. Recant. vii. 97. Norm. F.parclose, conclusion (Moisy); see also Didot.

parcloos, parclose,an enclosed space in a building, small chamber. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 9, back, 25. Anglo-F.parclose, an enclosure (Gower); OF.parclouse, ‘clos, lieu cultivé et fermé de murs ou de haies’ (Didot).

pardalis,a panther. Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 667;pardale, Spenser, F. Q. i. 626. Gk. πάρδαλις, fem., a panther.

pare,to adorn. Caxton, Hist. Troye, leaf 245, back, 26; Knight of la Tour (EETS.), p. 67, l. 2. Henceparement, an ornament, id., leaf 236. 27. Seeparamento.

paregal,fully equal. Skelton, Dethe of E. of Northumberland, 134;peregall, id., Speke Parrot, 430. Norm. F.paregal, ‘parfaitement égal’; see Moisy (s.v. Parigal). Seeperegall.

parel,‘apparel’, clothing, attire; ‘A shining parel . . . of Tirian purple’, Surrey, Aeneid iv, 337. Hence,parrelments, clothes, Heywood, Witches of Lancs., i (near end), Wks. iv. 186. ME.paraille, clothing (P. Plowman, B. xi. 228). Norm. F.apareiller, ‘parer, orner’ (Moisy).

parerga,unimportant matters, secondary business. B. Jonson, Magnetic Lady, i. 1 (Compass). Gk. πάρεργα, pl. of πάρεργον, by-work.

parget,ornamental work in plaster. Spenser, Visions of Bellay, ii. 9. Anglo-F.pargeter, projeter, jeter et répandre en avant (Ch. Rol. 2634); see Moisy (s.v. Parjeter). See Dict., and seepergit.

parish-top,a large top kept for public exercise in a parish. Twelfth Nt. i. 3. 44. Seetown-top.

paritor, parator,‘apparitor’, a summoning officer of an ecclesiastical court. Fletcher, Span. Curato, v. 2 (Bartolus);parator, Heywood, 2 Edw. IV (1 Apparitor), vol. i, p. 161. L.apparitor, a public servant, such as a lictor (Cicero).

parket,a ‘parakeet’. Marston, The Fawn, ii. 1 (Nymphadore).

parlance,speaking, speech; parleying. Speed, Hist. Gt. Britain, ix. 12. 575 (NED.). Norm. F.parlance, ‘entretien’ (Moisy).

parlant,one who parleys, or takes part in a conference. Warner, Alb. England, bk. iii, ch. 19, st. 32.

parle,a parley, conference. Tam. Shrew i. 1. 117; Hamlet, i. 1. 62; to parley. L. L. L. v. 2. 122.

parlous,alarming, mischievous, ‘perilous’, shrewd. Mids. Night’s D. iii. 1. 14; Richard III, ii. 4. 35.

parmesant,cheese made in the duchy of Parma. Middleton, The Changeling, i. 2 (3 Madman);parmesent, Ford, ’Tis pity, i. 4 (Poggio). F.parmesan, Ital.parmegiano, belonging to Parma. See Stanford (s.v. Parmesan).

parnel,a wanton young woman. Phillips, Dict., 1678; Becon, Popish Mass (Works, iii. 41), see NED. ME.pernelle(P. Plowman, B. iv. 116); F.peronnelle, ‘une femme de peu’ (Dict. Acad., ed. 1762). ‘Parnel’ orig. a feminine Christian name, ME.Peronelle(Gower, C. A. i. 3396); OF.Peronelle, a Christian name from St.Petronilla. Hence the surname Parnell (Bardsley, 582).

paroli,at faro or basset, the leaving of the money staked and the money won as a new stake; a doubling of the stakes. Farquhar, Sir Harry Wildair, ii. 1 (Banter); id., ii. 2 (Wildair). Ital.paroli, ‘a grand part, set, or cast at dice’;parolare, ‘to play at a grand part at dice’ (Florio). See Stanford.

paronomasia,a pun, play upon words; ‘The jingle of a more poor paranomasia’, Dryden, Account of Annus Mirabilis. Gk. παρονομσία. See Stanford.

parreal,‘pair-royal’; meaning three of a sort. ‘Thewe’s, which is a distinctparrealof wit bound by itself’, &c., Parson’s Wedding, ii. 3 (Wanton). The allusion is probably to the public-house sign, ‘We Three Loggerheads be’, a jocular painting oftwosilly-looking faces, the unsuspecting spectator being of course the third. See History of Signboards (1866), p. 458. Seepair-royal.

parrelments;seeparel.

parsee,the trail of blood left by a wounded animal; ‘A . . . dogge that hunts my heart Byparseeeach-wheare found’ (i.e. found everywhere by means of the blood-trail), Warner, Albion’s England, bk. vii, ch. 36, st. 90; ‘Ascanius and his company, drawing byparsie[by the trail] after the stagge’, id., prose addition to bk. ii, § 22. F.percé, lit. pierced; hence, a wounded animal. Finally, confused withpursue. Seepersue.

parson,a prov. pronunciation of ‘person’. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, iii. 1 (Sir G. Lamb.); Dekker, Honest Wh., Pt. I, iv. 1 (Servant).

part,a party, a body of adherents or partisans; ‘The part of Chalengers’, Spenser, F. Q. iv. 4. 25.

partage,a share. Fletcher, Fair Maid of the Inn, iii. 2 (Mariana). Anglo-F.partage, sharing (Gower, Mirour, 1654).

parted,gifted with good parts. Tr. and Cr. iii. 3. 96; Massinger, Gt. Duke of Florence, iv. 2 (Sanazzaro).

Partlet,a word used as the proper name of any hen; also applied to a woman. Winter’s Tale, ii. 3. 75; 1 Hen. IV, iii. 3. 60. ME.Pertelote, the name of the hen in Chaucer’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale (C. T.B.4075, 4295, 4552).

partlette,a neckerchief or handkerchief. Tyndale, Acts xix. 12,partlettes= ‘semicinctia’ (Vulgate), σιμικίνθια, aprons;partelettes, Cranmer’s Bible, 1539; ‘Un collet ou gorgias de quoi les femmes couvrent leurs poictrines, a partlet’, Hollyband, 1580 (NED.).

pash,the head; usually in a depreciatory sense. Wint. Tale, i. 2. 128. In prov. use in Scotland (EDD.).

pash,to dash into pieces. Massinger, Virgin Martyr, ii. 2 (Harpax); Tr. and Cr. ii. 3. 213; v. 2. 10; to hurl, Greene, Orl. Fur. i. 2 (414) (Orlando). In prov. use in various parts of England (EDD.).

pashe:in phr.for the pashe of God, Roister Doister, iv. 3;for the pashe of our sweete Lord Jesus Christ, id., v. 5;for the passion of God, id., iv. 3.

pass,to go beyond, exceed, surpass. Merry Wives, i. 1. 310. Hencepassing, surpassing; ‘Passing the love of women’,Bible, 2 Sam. i. 26; Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 24; extremely, Mids. Night’s D. ii. 1. See EDD. (s.v. Pass, vb. 8).

pass,to care, reck; ‘I do not pass a pin’, Greene (Alphonsus), i. 1;to pass of, to care for, regard, ‘I pass not of his frivolous speeches’, id., Friar Bacon, i. 2. 271;to pass for, to care for, Marlowe, Edw. II, i. 4 (Edward).

passado,a motion forwards and thrust in fencing. L. L. L. i. 2. 184; Romeo, ii. 4. 26; iii. 1. 88. Cp. F.passade, Sp.pasada, It.passata.

passage,a game at dice; ‘Passage is a game at dice to be played at but by two, and it is performed with 3 dice. The caster throws continually till he hath thrown dubblets under ten, and then he is out or loseth, or dubblets above ten, and then hepasseth, and wins’, Compleat Gamester, 1680, p. 119 (Nares); ‘Passe-dix, such a game as our Passage’, Cotgrave; ‘Learn to play at primero and passage’, B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Hum. i. 1 (Carlo); Rowley, A Woman never vexed, ii. 1. 3. Seecourt-passage.

passant(in heraldry), walking and looking toward the dexter side, with three paws down, and the dexter forepaw raised; said of an animal. Merry Wives, i. 1. 20. F.passant, passing.

passata,the same aspassado.Nabbes, Microcosmus, ii. 1 (Choler).

passe-measure, passameasure(Florio, 1598, s.v. Passamezzo), a slow dance of Italian origin, a variety of the ‘pavan’;a passy measures Pavyn, Twelfth Nt. v. 1. 205;passa-measures galliard, Middleton, More Dissemblers, v. 1 (Page). Ital.passamezzo, forpasso e mezzo, i.e. a step and a half; see NED.

passement,gold or silver lace, braid of silk or other material. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, iii. 1 (Arber, 150). F.passement; Span.passamano, ‘lace of gold, silver or silk for cloaths’ (Stevens).

passion,sorrow, grief. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman’s, i. 3 (Dutch Merchant); iii. 1 (Weatherwise); a pathetic speech, Massinger, The Old Law, i. 1 (Simonides).

passionate,sorrowful; compassionate, loving, pitiful. King John, ii. 1. 554; Richard III, i. 4. 121; Shirley, Changes, i. 2; Spenser, Colin Clout, 427.

pastance,pastime; ‘For my pastance, hunt, syng, and daunce’, Song by Henry VIII; The Four Elements, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, i. 23 (l. 5). F.passe-temps; see Montaigne, Essais, III. xiii (ed. 1870, p. 584), on ‘cette phrase ordinaire de “Passe-temps” ’.

pastillo,a small roll of aromatic paste prepared to be burnt as a perfume. B. Jonson, Devil an Ass, iv. 1 (Wit.). L.pastillus, an aromatic lozenge (Horace).

pastler,a maker of pastry, confectioner. Udall, tr. of Apoph., Alexander, § 9; ‘Cooks or Pastelars’, Stow, Survey of London (ed. Thoms, 115). ME.pastelere, ‘pastillarius’ (Prompt. EETS. 329, see note, no. 1582). OF.pastellier(Godefroy).

patache,a tender, a vessel attending a squadron of ships; ‘Ships, pynaces, pataches’, Dekker, Wh. of Babylon; Works, ii. 256. Span.patache(Stevens). Probably a Dalmatian word, cp. Med. L.bastasia, ‘naviculae apud Dalmatas species’ (Ducange). See Stanford.

patch,a clown, a paltry fellow. Macbeth, v. 3. 15; Massinger, Virgin Martyr, ii. 1 (Hireius).

†pathaires,explosive outbursts (?). Arden of Fev. iii. 5. 51. Not found elsewhere.

patish,to agree upon, bargain for; ‘The money, which the pirates patished for his raunsome’, Udall, tr. of Apoph., Julius, § 1; ‘To pattish, patise, covenant,pacisci’, Levins, Manip. ‘Pattish’ is given as an obsolete Yorks. word in the sense of ‘to plot or contrive together’ (EDD.). Cp. OF.patis, ‘pacte, traité’ (Didot);patiser, to agree upon; deriv. of L.pactum, an agreement.

patoun,the meaning is uncertain. In B. Jonson, Ev. Man out of Hum. iv. 4, ‘the making of the patoun’ may refer to the moulding of the tobacco into some shape for the pipe; cp. F.pâton, lump or pellet of paste (Dict. de l’Acad., 1762).

patrico,a hedge-priest among the gipsies, who performed marriages. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, ii. 1. 4; B. Jonson, Barthol. Fair, ii (Waspe), near the end. See Aydelotte, p. 19.

patrone,a ‘pattern’, copy, sampler, exemplar; ‘Make all thynges accordynge to the patrone’ (κατὰ τὸν τύπον), Tyndale, Heb. viii. 5. The Gk. τύπος is so rendered in Cranmer’s Bible (1539), and in the Geneva Bible (1557); Coverdale, 2 Kings xvi. 10. F.patron, ‘modèle, exemple’ (Gloss. to Rabelais). O. Prov.patron, ‘modèle’ (Levy).

patten,a form ofpattern. B. Jonson, Every Man in Hum. iii. 5 (or2) (E. Knowell); ‘A Patten,prototypon’, Levins, Manip.

paunce, pawnce,the ‘pansy’, or heart’s-ease. Spenser, Shep. Kal., April, 142; Warner, Alb. England, bk. v, c. 28, st. 43;panse, Holland, Pliny, xxi. 10. 92. OF.panse,pense, thought, O. Prov.pensa, ‘pensée’ (Levy).

pauncie,the pansy. Tusser, Husbandry, § 43. 24; F.pensée, ‘a thought, also the flower Paunsie’ (Cotgr.).

pautener, pawtener,a wallet, scrip. Skelton, Ware the Hauke, 44; ‘Pautner,malette’, Palsgrave. ME.pawtenere,pawytnere, ‘cassidile’ (Prompt. EETS. 330, see note, no. 1592). F.pautonniere, ‘a shepherd’s scrip’ (Cotgr.).

pavan,a stately dance in which the dancers were elaborately dressed. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, i. 23 (Arber, 61);pavin, Twelfth N. v. 1. 207;paven, Fletcher, Mad Lover, ii. 2 (near end);pavion, Sir T. Elyot, Governour, i. 19. 12. F.pavane, Ital.pavana, Span.pavana(pabana). See Stanford.

pavis,a convex shield large enough to cover the whole body, used esp. in sieges; ‘The shotte . . . they defended with Pavishes’, Hall, Chron. Hen. VIII, 42; ‘A pavis coveris thair left sydis’, Douglas, Aeneid vii, 13. 67; as used on board a ship, ranged along the sides as a defence against archery, Lydgate, Siege Harfleur (Arber’s Garner, viii. 16). Span.paves(Stevens); Ital.pavese,palvese(Florio); Med. L.pavenses, pl. (Ducange); perhaps from Pavia, see Hatzfeld (s.v. Pavois).

paw,improper, nasty, obscene; ‘Paw words’, Wycherley, Country Wife, v. 2 (Horner); ‘Marrying is a paw thing’, Congreve, Love for Love, v. 2 (Tattle). Frompaw, orpah!interj., expressive of disgust.

Pawn,‘the Pawn’; a corridor, which formed a kind of bazaar, in Gresham’s Royal Exchange. Westward Ho, ii. 1 (Justiniano); ‘Little lawn then served the Pawn’, T. Campion (ed. Bullen, 114). See Nares. F.pan(de muraille), used in the Low Countries in the sense of ‘une gallerie ou cloistre, lieu ou on vend quelque marchandise, ou où on se pourmeine,ambulacrum’ (Kilian, 1599, s.v. Pandt). Cp. Du.pandt, ‘a Covert-walking place, or a gallerie where things are sould’ (Hexham).

pax,a tablet bearing a representation of a sacred object, kissed by the celebrating priest at mass, and passed round to be kissed by others. Hen. V, iii. 6. 42. Eccles. L.pax, ‘instrumentum quod inter Missarum solemnia populo osculandum praebetur’ (Ducange); also calledosculatorium, see Dict. Ch. Antiq. (s.v. Kiss, 903).

payne mayne,white bread of the finest quality; ‘Payne mayne,payn de bouche’, Palsgrave. ME.payndemayn(Chaucer, C. T.B.1915);payman, ‘placencia’ (Voc. 788. 32). Anglo-F.pain demeine, Med. L.panis dominicus, lord’s bread, bread eaten by the master of the house; cp. L.vinum dominicum, Petronius, Sat. § 30. Seedemain.

payre,to impair, make worse, spoil. Fitzherbert, Husbandry, § 4. 26; § 97. 3. Seeappair.

paytrelle,‘poitrel’, breastplate for a horse. Morte Arthur, leaf 119, back, 2; bk. vii, c. 17. Anglo-F.peitral(Moisy). See Dict. (s.v. Poitrel).

peace,to keep silence; ‘Peace, foolish woman.Duchess.I will not peace’, Richard II, v. 2. 80; ‘He peaste and couched while that we passed by’, Sackville, Mirror Mag., Induction, lxxii.

peak,to make a mean figure, to play a contemptible part. Hamlet, ii. 2. 594;peaking, sneaking, mean-spirited, Merry Wives, iii. 5. 71.

peak,to droop, to be sickly, Macbeth, i. 3. 23; Tusser, Husbandry, § 67. 27. The word ‘peaking’ is used in the sense of sickly, wasted away, in many parts of England and Scotland, see EDD. (s.v. Peak, vb.21 (2)). Seepick.

peak-goose,a dolt, a simpleton. Ascham, Scholemaster (ed. Arber, 54); Prophetess, iv. 3 (1 Guard); speltpea-goose, Beaumont and Fl., Little French Lawyer, ii. 3 (Dinant); Cotgrave (s.v. Benet); Chapman, Mons. d’Olive, iii. 1 (Rhoderique).

peakish,remote, solitary; ‘Did house him in a peakish grange Within a forest great’, Warner, Alb. England, bk. viii, ch. 42, st. 2; ‘Snow on Peakish Hull’ (hill), Drayton, Pastorals, Ecl. 4 (Ballad of Dowsabel, st. 5); ‘A pelting grange that peakishly did stand’, Golding, tr. of Ovid, Met. vi. 521 (L.obscura). See NED., where ‘Peakish’ is shown to refer (probably) to the ‘Peak’ in Derbyshire.

pearl,a disease of the eye. Middleton, Span. Gipsy, ii. 1 (Costanza). In Scottish use (EDD.). ME.perleof þe eye, ‘glaucoma’ (Prompt.).

pease, pese,a pea. Spenser, Shep. Kal., Oct., 69; ‘A pese above a perle’, Surrey, The Lover excuseth himself, in Tottel’s Misc., p. 25; ‘Not worth two peason’, Surrey, Frailty of Beauty, id., p. 10;Peason, peas, Tusser, Husbandry, § 53, st. 9. ME.pese, ‘pisa’ (Prompt.); OE.pisa,piosa, a pea (Sweet).

pease, peaze,to pacify, satisfy, ‘appease’. Ferrex and Porrex, iii. 1 (Gorboduc); iv. 1 (Videna); Surrey, tr. of Aeneid ii, l. 147. ME.pese, to appease (Chaucer, C. T.H.98; so Lansdowne MS.; Ellesmere,apese). OF.apaisier(Didot).

peat,used as a term of endearment to a girl, with various shades of meaning; ‘A pretty peat’, Tam. Shrew, i. 1. 78; ‘Lettice and Parnell prety lovely peates’, Drayton, Man in Moon, ix; used as a term of obloquy, ‘Proud peat’, Fletcher, Wife for Month, i. 1 (Sorano); Massinger, Maid of Honour, ii. 2. See Nares. In prov. use in Scotland for a girl, gen. as a term of obloquy, ‘a proud peat’, see EDD. (s.v. Peat, sb.2).

peaze;seepeise.

peccadillo,a collar.Wooden peccadillo, wooden collar (i.e. the pillory); Butler, Hud. iii. 1. 1454. Seepickadil.

peck,meat (Cant). Middleton, Roaring Girl, v. 1 (Song); ‘Bene pecke, good meate’, Harman, Caveat, p. 86; ‘Let’s cly off our peck’, Brome, Jovial Crew, ii. 1 (Song).

peculiar,private, belonging to one person only; ‘The single and peculiar life’, Hamlet, iii. 3. 11.

ped,a wicker pannier; ‘Dorsers are Peds or Panniers’, Fuller, Worthies, Dorset, 1; Tusser, Husbandry, § 17. 5. In common prov. use in E. Anglia and E. Midlands, also in Somerset and Devon (EDD.). ME.pedde, ‘idem quodpaner’ (Prompt.). Seepad(3).

pedee;seepeedee.

pedescript,that which is written by the foot (not the hand); said humorously by one who had been kicked; withpede-substituted formanu-. Shirley, Honoria, iv. 1 (Dash).

pedlar’s French,unintelligible jargon. Middleton, Family of Love, v. 3 (Club).

pee,a coat of coarse cloth; also, of velvet; ‘A velvet pee’, Fletcher, Love’s Cure, ii. 1 (Lazarillo). Du.pije, ‘a pie-gowne, or a rough-gowne, as souldiers and sea-men weare’ (Hexham); whencepea-jacket.

peeble,pebble; ‘The chaste stream, that ’mong loose peebles fell’, Cowley, Davideis, i. 677 (NED.);peeble-stone, Golding, Metam. i. 575. The usual Scottish pronunc. (EDD.).

peedee,a foot-boy, serving-lad, drudge. Lady Alimony, ii. 1 (1 Boy);pedee, J. Jones, tr. of Ovid’s Ibis, 160, note (NED.); Phillips, Dict., 1706.

peek, peke,to peep. Skelton, Magnyfycence, 667; ‘I peke or prie’, Palsgrave. In common prov. use (EDD.).

peel-crow;seepilcrow.

peeled,bald, shorn, with tonsured head. 1 Hen. VI, i. 3. 30.

peep,an eye or spot on a die. Middleton, Father Hubberd’s Tales, ed. Dyce, v. 581. Also, a pip on a card; Herrick, Oberon’s Palace, l. 49; ‘Pinta, among Gamesters a peep in a card’ (Stevens). ‘Peep’ is the usual word for ‘pip’ of a card, die, or domino in NE. Derbyshire and S. Yorkshire (H. Bradley). Cp. ‘peep’ in prov. use in the sense of a single blossom of flowers growing in a cluster, see EDD. (s.v. Pip, sb.21). Seepip.

peepin, pepin,a pippin. Dekker, O. Fortunatus, v. 2. See Dict. (s.v. Pippin).

peevish,self-willed, obstinate. Two Gent. iii. 1. 68; Merry Wives, i. 4. 14; Massinger, Virgin Martyr, iii. 3 (Harpax); ‘Pertinax hominum genus, a peevish generation of men’, Burton, Anat. Mel., Pt. iii, § 4. Hencepeevishness, obstinacy, ‘An inbred peevishness and engraffed pertinacity’, Holland, Livy, 1152. See Trench, Select Glossary; also Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, Pref. to 8th ed., p. xxi.

pegma, pegme,a kind of framework or stage used in theatrical displays or pageants, sometimes bearing an inscription; also, the inscription itself; ‘In the centre . . . of the pegme there was an aback or square, wherein this eulogy was written’, B. Jonson, Jas. I’s Coronation Entertainment (Wks., Routledge, p. 529, after inscription ‘His Vincas’; ‘We shall heare . . . who penned the Pegmas’, Chapman, Widow’s Tears, ii. 3 (Ianthe). L.pegma, Gk. πῆγμα, framework fixed together.

peise, paise,weight, heaviness; ‘A stone of such a paise’, Chapman, tr. Iliad, xii. 167;peaze, a heavy blow, Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 20; to weigh, ‘To weigh and peise the mountains’, Holland, Amm. Marcell. 28 (NED.); to estimate the weight of a thing, Dekker, Old Fortunatus, ii. 1 (Soldan); to poise, ‘The workeman . . . Did peise his bodie on his wings’, Golding, tr. Metam. viii. 188; ‘Ne was it (the island) paysd Amid the ocean waves’, Spenser, F. Q., ii. 10. 5; to weigh down, Richard III, v. 3. 100; Middleton, Family of Love, ii. 4 (Maria); to put a weight upon, so as to retard, ‘ ’Tis to peize the time’, Merch. Ven. iii. 2. 22. ME.peisen, to weigh: ‘I wolde that my synnes . . . weren peisid, in a balaunce’ (Wyclif, Job vi. 2); Anglo-F.peise, pres. s. ofpeser; to weigh, to ponder, think (Ch. Rol. 1279); L.pensare, to weigh, ponder.

pelamis,a young tunny-fish. Middleton, Game at Chess, v. 3. 11. L.pelamys; Gk. πηλαμύς.

peld,‘peeled’, stripped; ‘Of all thing bare andpeld’, Phaer, Aeneid i, 599 (L.egenos). Seepeeled.

pelican,a retort with a fine end, like a bird’s beak. B. Jonson, Alchem. ii. 1 (Face); iii. 2 (Subtle); iv. 3 (Face).

pelowre,a plunderer, Morte Arthur, leaf 245, back, 31; bk. x, c. 48. ME.pelowre, thiefe, ‘appellator’ (Prompt. EETS. 331).

pelt,a light shield. Fisher, True Trojans, ii. 5 (Belinus). L.pelta, Gk. πέλτη, a leathern shield.

pelt,to strike a bargain; ‘I found the people nothing prest [not at all ready] topelt’, Mirror for Mag., Severus, st. 16. Perhaps the same word aspelt, to strike. See NED.

pelting,petty, trashy, contemptible. Richard III, ii. 1. 60; Meas. for M. ii. 2. 112; Two Noble Kinsmen, ii. 2. 328.

peltish,irritable, ill-tempered; ‘Peltish wasps’, Herrick, Oberon’s Palace, 17. Cp. ‘pelt’, in prov. use for a fit of ill-temper, see EDD. (s.v. Pelt, sb.58).

penner,a pen-case, case for holding pens. Two Noble Kinsmen, iii. 5. 139. A Scottish word for a tin cylinder used for holding pens, pencils, &c. (EDD.). ME.pennere, ‘calamarium’ (Prompt.).

penny-father,a miser, skinflint. Two Angry Women, ii. 1 (Philip); ‘Nigeshe penny fathers’, More’s Utopia (ed. Lumby, 102). Hence the surname Pennyfather; see Bardsley’s English Surnames, 482.

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