Poise. To balance. Policy. A principle of action. Polype (G. polys, many, and pous, podos, a colour. Precious stones of a purple Portentous. Serious, alarming. Portico (porta, a gate). The entrance to a building. Posthumous (postumus, last). After death: a posthumous son is one born after his father's death. Precarious. Uncertain. Precedent (cedere, to go). One going before: hence, an example. Predominate (dominus, a lord). To be master. Prelude. An introduction. Prerogative. Special rights and privileges. Priam. King of Troy. Primeval (primus, first, ævum, age). Of olden times. Prism. Glass so cut as to reflect the colours of the rainbow. Proficiency. Excellence. Prologue. The introduction to a play. Proscription. A publishing the names of persons to be punished. Protract (trahere, tractus, to draw). To draw out, to prolong. Prowess. Proved courage and skill. Psychology (G. psyche, the soul). The science which treats of the mind. Ptolemies. A race of sovereigns ruling over Egypt. Pungent (pungère, to prick). Sharp, stinging. Pursuivant. A follower or attendant. Pusillanimous pusillus, very little, animus, courage. Cowardly, timid. Quadruple (quatuor, four). Multiplied by four. Quaint. Old-fashioned. Quairs. Quires, books. Quaternion (quatuor, four). A company of four soldiers. Reach, noun. A straight portion in the course of a river. Recompense. A repayment. Redress. A setting right, a reform. Redundant unda, a wave. Overflowing, more than is necessary. Reef. A range of rocks separated or reft from the land. Refractive (frangère, fractus, to break). Breaking the line of a ray, turning back. Regicide (rex, regis, a king, cædere, to kill). The killer of a king. Reinvigorate. To give new strength or vigour. Reiterate. To repeat over and over again. Rejoinder. A reply. Relume lumen, a light). To relight. Reminiscence. A bringing back to memory. Replete. Full of. Repugnant pugnare, to fight. opposed to. Strongly quital. Returning, repayment. atment. A strong feeling of injury. e. What remains behind. Respite. A delay. Resplendent. Very bright. Retard (tardus, slow). To hinder. Reveille. A French word meaning "Arouse, awake." Reverie. An idle fancy. Revile. To treat as vile, to reproach. Revolution principles. The principles which were established in the Revolution of 1688 when a new sovereign, William III., was appointed by Parliament. Rhætia. A mountainous district north of Italy. Rhetoric. The art of impressing others by speech. Routine. Going on in the same route. Ruminate. "To chew again, to consider carefully. Runnymede. The plain near Windsor where Magna Charta was signed, 1215 A.D. Russet. Homespun, unadorned, of a reddish colour. Sable. Dark-coloured. Salient (salire, to leap). Shooting out, prominent. Salubrious (salus, salūtis, health. Healthful. Samos. An island in the Ægean Sea. Sapient sapiens, sapientis, wise). Wise, or pretending to be wise. Satellite (satelles, satellitis, an attendant). Satiety (satis, enough). Fulness. Sectarian (secare, sectum, to cut). One who cuts off a part, belonging to a party. Sedimentary rocks. Rocks deposited in layers by the action of water. Seigniorial. Pertaining to the rights of the seignior or lord. Senate. An assembly for deliberation. Shinar. A plain near Babylon where the Shoddy. The name given to a coarse kind of cloth made in Yorkshire. Sidon. An ancient city of Phoenicia N. of Palestine. Silicious (silex, silicis, flint). Full of flint. Simnel. A kind of cake made in Shrewsbury and neighbourhood. Sinuous (sinus, a bending). Twisting about. Siren. A seductive and flattering person. See Myths and Legends, page 112. Sleight. A sly trick. Solicitude. Anxiety. Soliloquy (solus, alone, loqui, to speak). Speaking to one's self. Sombre. Dark, gloomy. Sordid. Mean. name stalactite is given; when the columns or heaps rise from the floor they are said to be stalagmites. Stockade. A place fenced off by stakes. Strata. Layers of rock or other substance deposited in regular succession. Stratagem. A trick to entrap. Striated. Marked with grooves or little furrows. Submerge (mergo, to plunge). To sink under. Subserve. To serve as an agent or instrument. Subterfuge (fugere, to fly). A means of escaping from a difficulty. Subtle. Artful, crafty. Succumb (cumbere, to lie). To yield, to submit. Sumptuary (sumptus, expense). Relating to expenses. Sumptuous. Expensive, splendid. Supersede (sedere, to sit). To take the place of another. Supplicate. To bend before, to entreat. Surge (surgere, to rise). To rise, to swell. Susceptible. Easily influenced. Sustenance. Nourishment. Unarrestable. Not to be arrested or checked. Unequivocally. Without any doubt. Without any previous Unwary Not wary, thoughtless. Usurp. To take wrongfully. Usury. Excessive interest for money. In the middle ages this word was used for any interest, which it was thought very sinful to receive. Vanguard. The front part of an army on march. Verdure. Greenness, freshness. Vicissitude (vicis, a change). A change. Villein. One of the lowest order in society in feudal times. Vista. A view, a prospect. Vitality (vita, life). Full of life. Vociferous (vox, vocis, the voice, ferre, to bear). Noisy, clamorous. Volatile (volare, to fly). Fleeting, evaporating. Voluptuous (voluptas, pleasure). Fond of pleasure, or giving pleasure. Volute (volvere, to roll). An architectural ornament resembling a ribbon or band rolled up. Voracious (vorax, voracis, devouring). Greedy. Votary (votum, a vow). One devoted to any |