Prologue
a preface or introduction to a discourse or performance; especially introductory discourse an or verses spoken before a dramatic performance or play begins.
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Single-source entries: P (111)
These 14 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Prologue, Prome, Promerops.
Prome
capital of the district of Prome, Lower Burma, India, on the Irrawaddy, 160 miles N. of Rangoon. Euildjected obliquely has initially a certain ings include a splendid Shevesandau Pagoda, with 83 gilded temples, administration offices, markets, and a Christian church. Industries of district comprise rice, sugar, silk, cotton. Former capital of Prome kingdom. Taken by British in 1825. Pop. about 27,500.
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Promerops
in ornithology, the sole genus of the Promeropinæ.
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Prong-Horn Antelope
inhabiting the W. parts of North America, from 53° N. to the plains of Mexico and California. It is rather more than four feet PRONG-HORN ANTELOPE in length. Pale fawn above and on the limbs; breast, abdomen, and rump white. The horns are branched.
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Pronoun
a word used in place of a noun or name. Pronouns in English are divided into: (1) Personal, (2) Demonstrative, (3) Interrogative, (4) Relative, and (5) Indefinite. Interrogative pronouns are those which serve to ask a question, as who? Indefinite pronouns, or such as do not specify any particular object, are used, some as stantives, some as adjectives; as, any, aught.
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Propeller
An instrument placed at the back part of a steam-vessel for the purpose of propelling her through the water. See SCREW-PROPELLER. Puddled Steel, or Semi-steel, is produced by the decarburization of cast iron in the pudding-furnace. Krupp, of Germany, makes the bulk of his steel by this process, using irons rich in manganese and carbon, which are suited for conversion into steel. The puddling process for steel is very like that for malleable iron, except that the former is conducted at a lower temperature and needs more careful manipulation. There is no previous refinement of the iron to be operated upon when steel is produced by pudding. About 400 pounds are first melted, mixed with silicate of iron (slag), and kept stirred with a rabble. During this operation the carbon contained in the iron is oxidized by the oxygen present in the cinder, producing carbonic oxide, which as it escapes causes the appearance of boiling. When this boiling is general through the mass, the temperature is increased until the appearance of incipient solidification occurs; the temperature is then reduced, and the ordinary process of balling proceeded with. The work in this case demands more than ordinary skill. This steel, after being made into bars, is cut up and remelted in crucibles, in order to produce cast steel. See MALLEABLE IRON; CRUCIBLE STEEL. Puddle-rolls are the pair of rolls on the left of the train, usually called the roughing-rolls. See MALLEABLE IRON; ROLLS; TRAIN.
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Propertius
SEXTUS AURELIUS, a Roman poet; born in Melvina, about 52 b. c. Nothing more of his life is known than that, after the end of the civil war, he found a patron at Rome, in Mæcenas, through whom he obtained the favor of the emperor. His life appears to have been a series of amours, and his "elegies" are expressions of his passion.
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Property
movables; chattels; things belonging to the person, as money, jewels, furniture, etc., as distinguished from real estate in lands and houses.
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Property Tax
a rate or duty levied by the State, county, or municipality on the property of individuals, the value of the property being fixed by assessment.
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Prophets
THE, men divinely inspired, and who often uttered predictions of future events. Three Hebraic words are applied to the Old Testament prophets; the most common is nabhi, from the verb nabha = primarily, to bubble forth, to send forth copious floods of speech, hence in Niphal=to speak under a divine impulse, to prophesy.
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Proportion
a word with several applications. In archæology, art, etc., that due observance of the balance of parts, in a statue or picture, which constitutes excellence. In arithmetic, a rule by which from three given quantities a fourth may be found bearing the same ratio to the third as the second bears to the first. Also called the Rule of Three. In mathematics, the relation which one quantity bears to another of the same kind, with respect to magnitude or numerical value. Compound proportion, the equality of the ratio of two quantities to another ratio, the antecedent and consequent of which are respectively the products of the antecedents and consequents of two or more ratios. Reciprocal proportion: a proportion in which the first term is to the second as the fourth to the third, 4:2::3:6. Rhythmical proportion in music. The proportion in relation to time or measure between different notes representing durations; thus, the semibreve is to the minim as 2:1, the semibreve to the crotchet as 4:1. Simple proportion: The relation of equality subsisting between two ratios. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTA- TION, an idea of representation a realization of which would insure the presence in a representative assembly of members divided in opinions in the same proportion in respect of numbers as the community represented.
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Proposition
in geometry and mathematics, a statement in terms of something proposed to be proved or done. In grammar, a sentence, or part of one, consisting of a subject, a predicate, and copula. In logic, a sentence, or part of a sentence, affirming or denying a con- ⚫nection between the terms; limited to express assertions rather than extended to questions and commands. In poetry, the first part of a poem, in which the author states the subject subject or matter of it. In rhetoric, that which is proposed, offered, or affirmed, as the subject of a discourse or discussion.
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Propylaeum
in Greek architecture, a portico in front of a gate or temple doorway; the entrance to a Greek temple, a sacred inclosure, consisting of a gateway flanked by buildings.
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Prosecution
in law, (1) the instituting and carrying on of a suit in court of law or equity to obtain some right, or to redress and punish an injury or wrong. (2) The act or process of exhibiting formal charges against an offender before a legal tribunal, and pursuing them to final judgment; the instituting and continuing of a criminal suit against any person or persons. (3) The party by whom criminal proceedings are instituted; the prosecutor or prosecutors collectively.
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