PYROSULPHURIC, p[=i]-r[=o]-sul-f[=u]'rik, _adj._ obtained from sulphuric acid by the action of heat.
PYROTECHNICS, p[=i]-r[=o]-tek'niks, _n._ the art of making fireworks: the use and application of fireworks--also PY'ROTECHNY.--_adjs._ PYROTECH'NIC, -AL, pertaining to fireworks.--_n._ PYROTECH'NIST, a maker of fireworks: one skilled in pyrotechny. [Gr. _pyr_, fire, _technikos_, artistic--_techn[=e]_, art.]
PYROTIC, p[=i]-rot'ik, _adj._ burning: caustic.--_n._ a caustic medicine.
[Gr. _pyr[=o]tikos_--_pyr_, _pyros_, fire.]
PYROXENE, p[=i]'rok-s[=e]n, _n._ an important mineral species, occurring in monoclinic crystals.--_adj._ PYROXEN'IC. [Gr. _pyr_, fire, _xenos_, a guest.]
PYROXYLIC, p[=i]-rok-sil'ik, _adj._ obtained by distilling wood.--_ns._ PYROX'YLE, PYROX'YLIN, -E, gun-cotton.--PYROXYLIC SPIRIT, a mixture of acetone, methyl-alcohol, acetate of methyl, &c., obtained by the destructive distillation of wood in the manufacture of pyroligneous acid.
[Gr. _pyr_, fire, _xylon_, wood.]
PYRRHIC, pir'ik, _n._ a kind of war-dance among the ancient Greeks: a poetical foot consisting of two short syllables.--_adj._ pertaining to the dance or to the poetical foot.--_n._ PYR'RHICIST, one who dances the pyrrhic. [Gr. _pyrrhich[=e]_ (_orch[=e]sis_), a kind of war-dance, so called from _Pyrrhichos_, the inventor.]
PYRRHIC, pir'ik, _adj._ of or pertaining to _Pyrrhus_, king of Epirus (318-272 B.C.).--PYRRHIC VICTORY, a victory gained at too great a cost, in allusion to Pyrrhus's exclamation after his victory of Asculum (279), 'Another such victory and we are lost!'
PYRRHONIST, pir'r[=o]-nist, _n._ one who holds the tenets of _Pyrrho_, a philosopher of Elis (360-270 B.C.), who taught universal scepticism: a sceptic.--_adjs._ PYRRH[=O]'NEAN, PYRRHON'IC.--_n._ PYR'RHONISM, scepticism.
PYRRHOUS, pir'us, _adj._ reddish. [Gr.]
PYRUS, p[=i]'rus, _n._ a genus of trees and shrubs of the natural order _Rosaceae_, sub-order _Pomeae_. [L. _pyrus_, for _pirus_, a pear-tree.]
PYTHAGOREAN, pi-thag-[=o]-r[=e]'an, _adj._ pertaining to _Pythagoras_ (_c._ 532 B.C.), a celebrated Greek philosopher, or to his philosophy.--_n._ a follower of Pythagoras.--_ns._ PYTHAG'ORISM, PYTHAGOR[=E]'ANISM, his doctrines.--PYTHAGOREAN PROPOSITION, the 47th proposition of Euclid, Book I., said to have been discovered by Pythagoras; PYTHAGOREAN SYSTEM, the astronomical system of Copernicus, erroneously attributed to Pythagoras; PYTHAGOREAN TRIANGLE, a triad of whole numbers proportional to the sides of a right-angled triangle--e.g. 3, 4, 5.
PYTHIAN, pith'i-an, _adj._ pertaining to the _Pythia_, the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered the oracles of the god there: noting one of the four national festivals of ancient Greece, in honour of Apollo, held every four years at Delphi.--PYTHIAN VERSE, the dactylic hexameter.
[Illustration]
PYTHOGENIC, p[=i]-th[=o]-jen'ik, _adj._ produced by filth.--_n._ PYTHOGEN'ESIS. [Gr. _pythein_, to rot, root of _gignesthai_, to become.]
PYTHOMETRIC, p[=i]-th[=o]-met'rik, _adj._ pertaining to the gauging of casks. [Gr. _pithos_, a wine-jar, _metron_, a measure.]
PYTHON, p[=i]'thon, _n._ a genus of serpents of the boa family, all natives of the Old World, and differing from the true boas by having the plates on the under surface of the tail double: a demon, spirit.--_n._ PY'THONESS, the priestess of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece: a witch.--_adj._ PYTHON'IC, pretending to foretell future events, like the Pythoness: prophetic: like a python.--_ns._ PY'THONISM, the art of predicting events by divination; PY'THONIST. [Gr. _Pyth[=o]n_, the serpent slain near Delphi by Apollo.]
PYX, piks, _n._ (_R.C._) the sacred box in which the host is kept after consecration: the box at the British Mint containing sample coins.--_v.t._ to test the weight and fineness of, as the coin deposited in the pyx.--TRIAL OF THE PYX, final trial by weight and assay of the gold and silver coins of the United Kingdom, prior to their issue from the Mint. [L.
_pyxis_, a box--Gr. _pyxis_--_pyxos_ (L. _buxus_), the box-tree.]
PYXIDIUM, pik-sid'i-um, _n._ (_bot._) a pod or seed-vessel which opens in two halves, the upper one resembling a lid. [Gr. _pyxidion_, dim. of _pyxis_.]
Q the seventeenth letter of our alphabet--absent from the Anglo-Saxon alphabet, in which the sound was expressed by _cw_; in Scotland replacing _hw_, now always followed by _u_: Roman numeral=500.
QUA, kwa, _adv._ as far as. [L.]
QUAB, QUOB, kwob, _v.i._ (_obs._) to tremble.
QUACK, kwak, _v.i._ to cry like a duck: to boast: to practise as a quack.--_v.t._ to doctor by quackery.--_n._ the cry of a duck: a boastful pretender to skill which he does not possess, esp. medical skill: a mountebank.--_adj._ pertaining to quackery: used by quacks.--_n._ QUACK'ERY, the pretensions or practice of a quack, esp. in medicine.--_adj._ QUACK'ISH, like a quack: boastful: trickish.--_n._ QUACK'ISM.--_v.i._ QUACK'LE (_rare_), to quack, croak.--_n._ QUACK'SALVER, a quack who deals in salves, ointments, &c.: a quack generally.--_adj._ QUACK'SALVING. [Imit.; cf. Ger. _quaken_, Dut. _kwaken_, Gr. _koax_, a croak.]
QUAD, kwod, _n._ a quadrangle: (_slang_) a prison.--_v.t._ (_slang_) to put in prison.--Also QUOD. [_Quadrangle._]
QUAD, kwod, _n._ (_print._) an abbreviation of _quadrat_.--_v.t._ to fill with quadrats.
QUADRA, kwod'ra, _n._ a frame enclosing a bas-relief:--_pl._ QUAD'Rae (-[=e]). [L. _quadrus_, square.]
QUADRAGENARIAN, kwod-ra-j[=e]-n[=a]'ri-an, _adj._ consisting of forty: forty years old.--_n._ QUAD'RAGENE, an indulgence for forty days.
QUADRAGESIMA, kwod-ra-jes'i-ma, _n._ the Latin name for the whole season of Lent, with its forty days: the name commonly assigned to the first Sunday in Lent, by analogy with the three Sundays which precede Lent--Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima.--_adj._ QUADRAGES'IMAL, belonging to or used in Lent. [L.--_quadragesimus_, fortieth--_quadraginta_, forty--_quatuor_, four.]
QUADRANGLE, kwod'rang-gl, _n._ a square surrounded by buildings: (_geom._) a plane figure having four equal sides and angles: in the jargon of palmistry, the space between the line of the heart and that of the head.--_adj._ QUADRANG'ULAR, of the form of a quadrangle.--_adv._ QUADRANG'ULARLY. [Fr.,--L. _quadrangulum_--_quatuor_, four, _angulus_, an angle.]
QUADRANS, kwod'ranz, _n._ a Roman copper coin, the fourth part of the _as_:--_pl._ QUADRAN'TES. [L.]
QUADRANT, kwod'rant, _n._ (_geom._) the fourth part of a circle, or an arc of 90: an instrument used in astronomy for the determination of angular measurements: an instrument of navigation for measuring the altitude of the sun.--_adj._ QUADRANT'AL, pertaining to, equal to, or included in a quadrant. [L. _quadrans_, from _quatuor_, four.]
QUADRAT, kwod'rat, _n._ a piece of type-metal lower than the letters, used in spacing between words and filling out blank lines (commonly QUAD)--distinguished as _en_ ([En quadrat]), _em_ ([Em quadrat]), _two-em_ ([Two-Em quadrat]), and _three-em_ ([Three-Em quadrat]).
QUADRATE, kwod'r[=a]t, _adj._ squared: having four equal sides and four right angles: divisible into four equal parts: (_fig._) balanced: exact: suited.--_n._ a square or quadrate figure: the quadrate bone, that between the lower jaw and the cranium in birds and reptiles, suspending the lower jaw.--_v.i._ to square or agree with: to correspond.--_adj._ QUADRAT'IC, pertaining to, containing, or denoting a square.--_n._ (_alg._) an equation in which the highest power of the unknown quantity is the second: an old instrument for measuring latitudes: (_pl._) that branch of algebra which treats of quadratic equations.--_adj._ QUADRATIF'EROUS, having a distinct quadrate bone.--_ns._ QUADR[=A]'TRIX, a curve by which may be found straight lines equal to the circumference of circles or other curves; QUAD'R[=A]TURE, a squaring: (_geom._) the finding, exactly or approximately, of a square that shall be equal to a given figure of some other shape: the position of a heavenly body when 90 distant from another: (_Milt._) a square space; QUADR[=A]'TUS, the _quadratus femoris_, or square muscle of the femur in man, the _quadratus lumborum_, that of the loins, the _depressor labii inferioris_, that of the chin, which draws down the upper lip.--QUADRATURE OF THE CIRCLE, the problem of squaring the circle, insoluble both by the arithmetical and the geometrical method.--METHOD OF QUADRATURES, the name applied to any arithmetical method of determining the area of a curve. [O. Fr. _quadrat_--L. _quadratus_, pa.p. of _quadr[=a]re_, to square--_quatuor_, four.]
QUADREL, kwod'rel, _n._ a square stone, brick, or tile: a square piece of turf.
QUADRENNIAL, kwod-ren'yal, _adj._ comprising four years: once in four years.--_adv._ QUADRENN'IALLY.--_ns._ QUADRENN'IATE, QUADRENN'IUM, QUADRIENN'IUM, a period of four years. [L. _quadrennis_--_quatuor_, four, _annus_, a year.]
QUADRIC, kwod'rik, _adj._ (_alg._) of the second degree, quadratic--esp. in solid geometry and where there are more than two variables.--_n._ QUAD'RICONE, a quadric cone.
QUADRICENTENNIAL, kwod-ri-sen-ten'i-al, _adj._ pertaining to a period of 400 years.--_n._ the 400th anniversary of an event or its celebration.
QUADRICEPS, kwod'ri-seps, _n._ the great muscle which extends the leg upon the thigh.--_adj._ QUADRICIP'ITAL. [L. _quatuor_, four, _caput_, head.]
QUADRICORN, kwod'ri-korn, _adj._ and _n._ having four horns, antennae, &c.--Also QUADRICORN'OUS.
QUADRICYCLE, kwod'ri-s[=i]-kl, _n._ a four-wheeled vehicle propelled by the feet. [L. _quatuor_, four, Low L. _cyclus_--Gr. _kyklos_, a circle.]
QUADRIDENTATE, kwod-ri-den't[=a]t, _adj._ having four teeth.
QUADRIDIGITATE, kwod-ri-dij'i-t[=a]t, _adj._ having four digits: quadrisulcate.
QUADRIFID, kwod'ri-fid, _adj._ four-cleft.
QUADRIFOLIATE, kwod-ri-f[=o]'li-[=a]t, _adj._ four-leaved.
QUADRIFORM, kwod'ri-form, _adj._ fourfold in form, arrangement, &c.
QUADRIGA, kwod-r[=i]'ga, _n._ in Greek and Roman times a two-wheeled car drawn by four horses abreast:--_pl._ QUADR[=I]'Gae. [L., a contr. of _quadrijugae_--_quatuor_, four, _jugum_, a yoke.]
QUADRIGEMINOUS, kwod-ri-jem'i-nus, _adj._ fourfold, having four similar parts.--Also QUADRIGEM'INAL, QUADRIGEM'IN[=A]TE.
QUADRIGENARIOUS, kwod-ri-j[=e]-n[=a]'ri-us, _adj._ consisting of four hundred.
QUADRIJUGATE, kwod-ri-j[=oo]'g[=a]t, _adj._ (_bot._) pinnate with four pairs of leaflets.--Also QUADRIJU'GOUS.