21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia - Pimento to Popcorn

Piñon

Piñon, small, low-growing nut pines (genus Pinus) of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

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Pimento

Pimento, tree (Pimenta officinalis) of the myrtle family whose small berry-like fruit is used to make the spice allspice.

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Pimpernel (Pimpinella magna), perennial plant that grows along the edges of woods and in many meadows; the rootstock is used for medicinal purposes, in treating sore throats, colds, bronchitis, and inflammation of the larynx.

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Pinching bug

Pinching bug See: Stag beetle.

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Gifford Pinchot

Pinchot, Gifford (1865–1946), U.S. politician and conservationist who was largely responsible for making conservation a public issue.

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Pinckney

Pinckney, South Carolina family whose members were notable in the founding period of the republic.

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Pinckney Treaty

Pinckney Treaty (1795), negotiated with Spain by Thomas Pinckney, establishing commercial relations with Spain, opening the entire Mississippi River to U.S. navigation, granting Americans the right of deposit at New Orleans, and fixing the boundaries of Louisiana and east and west Florida.

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Pindar

Pindar (518–438 B.C.), ancient Greek lyric poet, inventor of the Pindaric ode, a poetic form in which complex rhythms in a series of stanzas hailed the victors in national athletic contests such as the Olympics.

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Pine

Pine, common name for the evergreen conifer trees of the family Pinaceae.

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Pine siskin

Pine siskin, North American bird (Spinus pinus) of the finch family, measuring about 5 in (13 cm) in length.

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Pineal gland

Pineal gland, pea-sized glandlike structure situated over the brain stem that appears to be a vestigial remnant of a functioning endocrine gland in other animals.

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Pineapple

Pineapple, short-stemmed plant (Ananas comosus) with pointed, spiny leaves.

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Sir Arthur Wing Pinero

Pinero, Sir Arthur Wing (1855–1934), British playwright known both for his farces and for his plays based on social realism.

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Pink

Pink, common name for various flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae.

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Pink bollworm

Pink bollworm, small, dark-brown moth (Pectinophora gossypiella) of the gelechiid moth family.

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Pink-eye

Pink-eye See: Conjunctivitis.

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Allan Pinkerton

Pinkerton, Allan (1819–84), Scottish-born U.S. founder of a pioneer detective agency.

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Augusto Pinochet Ugarte

Pinochet Ugarte, Augusto (1915– ), president of Chile (1973–88).

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Pinochle

Pinochle, card game played with a 48-card deck containing 2 each of the cards 9, 10, jack, queen, king, and ace in each of the 4 suits.

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Pinta

Pinta See: Columbus, Christopher.

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Pintail

Pintail, duck (Anas acuta) of the family Anatidae.

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Harold Pinter

Pinter, Harold (1930– ), English dramatist and stage director.

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Pinworm

Pinworm, parasitic nematode worm (family Oxyuridae) that infests the intestines of vertebrates.

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Pinzón

Pinzón, family of 3 Spanish brothers, navigators who took part with Columbus in discovering America.

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Pion

Pion See: Meson.

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Pioneer life in America

Pioneer life in America, way of life characteristic of the people who first settled the western reaches of the continental United States. Pioneer life in America has two aspects. It is the story of migration and settlement. It is also an important part of American identity, one of the fundamental images Americans have of themselves, and an important part of the development of the country's …

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Pipal

Pipal See: Bo tree.

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Pipe

Pipe, musical instrument consisting of a tube of wood or metal, that produces sounds when air is blown through it.

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Pipe

Pipe, long hollow tube that transports gas, steam, or liquids.

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Pipe

Pipe, hollow stem connected to a small bowl used for smoking tobacco.

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Pipefish

Pipefish, eellike fish with tubular mouth of the family Syngnathidae.

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Pipeline

Pipeline, tube for conveying fluids—liquids, gases, or slurries.

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Pipit

Pipit, small songbird (family Motacillidae) of open country that looks and sings rather like a lark.

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Piraeus

Piraeus (pop. 196,400), city in Greece.

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Luigi Pirandello

Pirandello, Luigi (1867–1936), Italian dramatist and author, winner of the 1934 Nobel Prize for literature.

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Giovanni Battista Piranesi

Piranesi, Giovanni Battista (1720–78), Italian etcher, draftsperson, and architect, known for his prints of old and contemporary Roman buildings, Views of Rome (begun 1748), and for a series of fantastic Imaginary Prisons (c.1745).

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Piranha

Piranha, or caribe, small, extremely ferocious, shoaling freshwater fish (family Characidae) of South America.

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Pirate

Pirate, person who robs ships at sea.

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Pisa

Pisa (pop. 97,900), historic city in the northwestern region of central Italy, on the Arno River in Tuscany.

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Council of Pisa

Pisa, Council of (1409), uncanonical Roman Catholic Ecumenical Council of 500 prelates and delegates from throughout Europe that met to try to heal the Great Schism.

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Leaning Tower of Pisa

Pisa, Leaning Tower of See: Leaning Tower of Pisa.

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Nicola Pisano

Pisano, Nicola (1210?–1278), Italian sculptor.

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Pisistratus

Pisistratus, or Peisistratus (600–527 B.C.), tyrant of Athens, whose benign rule and fostering of commerce and the arts made Athens the foremost city in Greece.

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Camille Pissarro

Pissarro, Camille (1830–1903), French impressionist painter.

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Pistachio nut

Pistachio nut (Pistacia vera), seed of the pistachio tree in the cashew family.

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Walter Piston

Piston, Walter (1894–1976), U.S. neoclassical composer, professor of music at Harvard (1926–60).

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Pit bull

Pit bull, any of several breeds or crossbreeds of dogs having a mixture of bulldog and terrier.

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Pit viper

Pit viper, predominantly New World venomous snake (family Crotalidae).

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Pitcairn Island

Pitcairn Island, British colony (2 sq mi/4 sq km) in the Pacific Ocean midway between New Zealand and Panama, famous as the uninhabited island settled by Bounty mutineers and Tahitian women (1790).

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Pitch

Pitch, frequency of the vibrations constituting a sound.

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Pitchblende

Pitchblende, or uraninite, brown, black, or greenish radioactive mineral, the most important source of uranium, radium, and polonium.

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Molly Pitcher

Pitcher, Molly (Mary Ludwig McCauley; 1754–1832), heroine of the American Revolution.

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Pitcher plant

Pitcher plant, name given to several insect-eating plants of 3 different families (North American, Old World, and Australian) in which the leaves form a pot-shaped trap for insects.

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Pitt

Pitt, name of 2 English statesmen. William, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–78), known as Pitt the Elder and a noted orator, was war minister during the Seven Years' War (1756–63). Through defeating the French, by 1761 he had gained imperial supremacy for Britain in Europe, Canada, and India, and made the British navy a formidable force. Out of office after 1768, he opposed taxing A…

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Pitti Palace

Pitti Palace, palace in Florence, Italy.

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Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh (pop. 366,800), steel-producing city in southwestern Pennsylvania, seat of Allegheny County, and the state's 2nd-largest city.

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Pituitary gland

Pituitary gland, major endocrine gland, situated just below the brain, under the control of the adjacent hypothalamus and in its turn controlling other endocrine glands.

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Pius

Pius, name of 12 popes. Saint Pius V (Michele Ghislieri; 1504–72), an Italian, was elected in 1566. With some severity he restored a degree of discipline and morality to the papacy in the face of the Protestant challenge and organized the Spanish-Venetian expedition that defeated the Turks at Lepanto in 1571. Pius VII (Gregorio Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonti; 1740–1823), an Italian, was e…

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Francisco Pizarro

Pizarro, Francisco (c. 1474–1541), Spanish conquistador who destroyed the Inca empire in the course of his conquest of Peru.

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PKU

PKU See: Phenylketonuria.

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Placebo

Placebo, tablet, syrup, or other form of seeming medication that is inactive, prescribed in lieu of active preparations.

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Placenta

Placenta, specialized structure derived from the uterus lining and part of the embryo after implantation.

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Placentia

Placentia (pop. 2,000), town in southeastern Newfoundland, Canada.

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Plagiarism

Plagiarism, the act of copying another's work (ideas, writings, or other creative work) and presenting it as one's own.

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Plain

Plain, expanse of nearly level land, usually surrounded by higher land forms.

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Planarian

Planarian, type of flatworm (turbellarian) having a flat, long body and broad head.

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Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck

Planck, Max Karl Ernst Ludwig (1858–1947), German physicist whose quantum theory, with Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, ushered physics into the modern era.

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Plane

Plane, in mathematics, surface having only length and breadth, any 2 points of which can be joined by a straight line composed entirely of points also in the plane.

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Plane tree

Plane tree See: Sycamore.

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Planet

Planet, in the solar system, 1 of the 9 major celestial bodies (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) orbiting the sun; by extension, a similar body circling any other star.

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Planetarium

Planetarium, optical device representing the relative positions and motions of celestial objects on the interior of a hemispherical dome.

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Planetoid

Planetoid See: Asteroid.

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Plankton

Plankton, microscopic marine animals and plants.

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Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Planned Parenthood Federation of America, organization that promotes voluntary family planning in the United States and developing countries.

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Plant

Plant, living organism belonging to the plant kingdom (Planta). Green plants are unique in being able to synthesize their own organic molecules from carbon dioxide and water, using light-energy, by the process known as photosynthesis. Mineral nutrients are absorbed from the environment. Plants are the primary source of food for all other living organisms. The possession of chlorophyll, the green p…

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Plant louse

Plant louse See: Aphid.

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Plantagenet

Plantagenet, name given to the branch of the Angevin dynasty descended from Geoffrey Plantagenet that ruled England from 1154 to 1485.

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Plantain

Plantain, group of herbs in the family Plantaginaceae.

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Plantain lily

Plantain lily See: Day lily.

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Plantation

Plantation, large farm on which a crop is planted, tended, and harvested by workers who live there.

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Planting

Planting See: Agriculture.

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Plasma

Plasma, in physics, almost completely ionized gas containing equal numbers of free electrons and positive ions.

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Plasma

Plasma, in biology, fluid portion of the blood, including fibrinogen; distinguished from serum, from which fibrinogen has been separated.

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Plaster

Plaster, mixture of water, sand, and lime used to coat walls and ceilings.

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Plastic

Plastic, material that can be molded (at least in production) into desired shapes. A few natural plastics are known, e.g., bitumen, resins, and rubber, but almost all are synthetic, made mainly from petrochemicals. They have a vast range of useful properties, including hardness, elasticity, transparency, toughness, low density, insulating ability, inertness, and corrosion resistance. Plastics are …

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Plastic explosive

Plastic explosive, putty like, flexible explosive.

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Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery, branch of surgery devoted to reconstruction or repair of deformity, surgical defect, or the results of injury.

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Plate tectonics

Plate tectonics See: Tectonics; Volcano.

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Plateau

Plateau, high plain.

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Platform tennis

Platform tennis, game resembling tennis in which players use paddles to hit a sponge rubber ball back and forth over a net.

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Sylvia Plath

Plath, Sylvia (1932–63), U.S. poet whose taut, melodic, highly imagistic works explore the nature of womanhood and her fixation with death.

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Platinum

Platinum, chemical element, symbol Pt; for physical constants see Periodic Table.

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Plato

Plato, Greek philosopher (c.427–347 B.C.).

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Platt Amendment

Platt Amendment, provision forced through Congress and into the Cuban constitution by Senator Orville Platt in 1901.

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Platte River

Platte River, river in Nebraska, U.S.

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Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh (pop. 21,057), largest city in northeastern N.Y.

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Platyhelminth

Platyhelminth See: Flatworm.

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Platypus

Platypus, or duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), amphibious monotreme (egg-laying mammal) found in Australia and Tasmania.

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Plautus

Plautus (c.254–184 B.C.), Roman writer of comedies, 21 of which have survived.

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Play

Play, in animals, a distinctive type of behavior of both adults and juveniles, of unknown function and involving the incomplete, ritualized expression of normal adult behavior patterns.

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Plea bargaining

Plea bargaining, agreement between the accused and the prosecutor under which the accused agrees to plead guilty to a lesser offense in order to receive a lighter sentence from the judge.

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Plebeians

Plebeians, nonaristocratic classes in ancient Rome.

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Plebiscite

Plebiscite, in Roman history, law enacted by the plebeian comitia, or assembly of tribes.

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Plecoptera

Plecoptera, or stonefly, order of insects that lays eggs in water.

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Pledge of Allegiance

Pledge of Allegiance, promise of loyalty to the United States.

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Pleistocene Epoch

Pleistocene Epoch, also known as the Great Ice Age, an earlier epoch of the Quaternary Period, stretching from between c.2 million and 3 million through 10,000 years ago.

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Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov

Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich (1857–1918), Russian Marxist thinker.

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Plesiosaur

Plesiosaur, huge, prehistoric marine reptile now extinct.

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Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v.

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Pleura

Pleura, thin connective membrane that covers the inside of the thorax (chest cavity) and the lungs in mammals.

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Pleurisy

Pleurisy, inflammation of the pleura, the thin membrane covering the outer lung surface and the inner chest wall.

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Plexiglas

Plexiglas, trademarked name of a type of plastic.

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Plexus

Plexus, network of stringlike structures, such as of nerves or blood vessels.

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Plimsoll mark

Plimsoll mark, line or series of lines on the side of a seagoing ship indicating the safe loading limit.

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Pliny

Pliny, name of 2 Roman authors.

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Pliocene

Pliocene, final period of the Tertiary, immediately preceding the Quaternary, c. 5–1.8 million years ago.

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PLO

PLO See: Palestine Liberation Organization.

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Ploiesti

Ploiesti (pop. 252,100), large city in southeastern Romania, center of the Romanian oil industry.

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Plotinus

Plotinus (205?–270?), Greek philosopher, founder of Neoplatonism.

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Plovdiv

Plovdiv (pop. 379,100), second-largest city in Bulgaria, situated on the Maritsa River.

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Plover

Plover, common name for various small or medium-sized wading birds of the family Charadriidae, which includes the lapwings and the true plovers.

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Plow

Plow, implement for tilling the soil: breaking up the surface crust for sowing and turning under stubble and manure.

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Plum

Plum, common name for many species of trees (genus Prunus) of the rose family that produce soft-fleshed fruits enclosing a single pit.

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Plumbago

Plumbago, any of several plants and shrubs belonging to the leadwort family, grown mostly in warm climates.

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Plumbing

Plumbing, system of pipes and fixtures through which water and drainage flow into and out of a building.

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Plutarch

Plutarch (c.A.D. 46–c.A.D. 120), Greek philosopher and biographer.

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Pluto

Pluto, in astronomy, ninth planet of the solar system, orbiting the sun at a mean distance of 3.67 billion mi (5.9 billion km) once every 248.4 years.

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Pluto

Pluto, in Greek and Roman mythology, ruler of the underworld and god of the dead.

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Plutonium

Plutonium, chemical element, symbol Pu; for physical constants see Periodic Table.

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Plymouth

Plymouth (pop. 35,913), town in southeastern Massachusetts, the site where the Pilgrims came ashore from the Mayflower on Dec. 21, 1620, and where they established the second permanent English settlement in America.

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Plymouth

Plymouth (pop. 257,500), city in Devon county, southwest England, on Plymouth sound, from which the Mayflower sailed in 1620.

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Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony, first English settlement in what is now New England, second permanent English settlement in America, founded by the Pilgrims in 1620.

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Plymouth Company

Plymouth Company, speculative joint-stock company founded in 1606 by a group of English “merchant adventurers.” Its purpose was to colonize the coast of North America and thus increase English wealth and trade.

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Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rock, granite boulder off the shore at Plymouth, Mass., on which, according to tradition, the Pilgrims first set foot in America in 1620.

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Plywood

Plywood, strong, light wood composite made of alternate layers of veneer glued together with their grain at right angles.

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Plzen

Plzen (pop. 173,000), city in Bohemia, a western region of Czech Republic.

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Pneumoconiosis

Pneumoconiosis See: Black lung.

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Pneumonia

Pneumonia, inflammation and consolidation of lung tissue (giving it a solid consistency).

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Pneumothorax

Pneumothorax, condition in which air is present in the pleural space between the lungs and the chest wall.

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Pnom Penh

Pnom Penh See: Phnom Penh.

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Pocahontas

Pocahontas (1595–1617), Native American who strove to improve relations between Native Americans and English settlers in Jamestown, Va.

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Pocatello

Pocatello (pop. 46,340), city in southeast Idaho.

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Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny

Podgorny, Nikolai Viktorovich (1903–83), Soviet political leader.

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Podiatry

Podiatry, science of disorders and diseases of the feet.

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Edgar Allan Poe

Poe, Edgar Allan (1809–49), U.S. short-story writer, poet, and critic, famous for his tales of mystery and the macabre, such as “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and “The Purloined Letter” (1844), prototypes of the detective story, and “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839).

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Poet laureate

Poet laureate, royal appointment held by a British poet who writes poems for state occasions.

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Poetry

Poetry, meaningful arrangement of words into an imaginative or emotional discourse, with a strong rhythmic pattern. The language, seeking to evoke image and idea, uses imagery and metaphor. Rhyme or alliteration may also be important elements. The length of poems varies from brief lyric poems to long narrative poems or epic poems, with the length and scope of the novel. The kind of forms and devic…

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Pogrom

Pogrom (from Russian for “devastation” or “riot”), term for the officially condoned mob attacks on Jewish communities in Russia between 1881 and 1921.

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Pohnpei

Pohnpei, island in the western Pacific Ocean.

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Jules Henri Poincaré

Poincaré, Jules Henri (1854–1912), French mathematician, cosmologist, and scientific philosopher, best known for his many contributions to pure and applied mathematics and celestial mechanics.

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Raymond Poincaré

Poincaré, Raymond (1860–1934), French politician, three times premier (1912–13, 1922–24, 1926–29) and president (1913–20).

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Poinciana

Poinciana, any of various tropical flowering trees in the pea family.

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Poinsettia

Poinsettia, name for a variety of spurges (genus Euphorbia) with colorful, attractive bracts (whorled leaves that enclose the small flower).

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Point Four Program

Point Four Program, technical assistance plan for less developed nations proposed by President Harry Truman in his inaugural address, Jan. 1949, so named because it was the fourth point in the speech.

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Pointer

Pointer, large hunting dog.

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Pointillism

Pointillism, painting technique in which tiny paint dots of color are juxtaposed on a canvas to build up the form.

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Poison

Poison, substance that causes illness or death when it is eaten or absorbed into the body.

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Poison gas

Poison gas See: Chemical and biological warfare.

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Poison ivy

Poison ivy, vine that grows plentifully in the United States and southern Canada.

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Poison oak

Poison oak, vine similar to poison ivy and poison sumac.

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Poison sumac

Poison sumac See: Sumac.

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Poisonous plant

Poisonous plant, any plant that produces harmful effects to people or animals.

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Sidney Poitier

Poitier, Sidney (1927– ), U.S. film and stage actor.

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Battle of Poitiers

Poitiers, Battle of, English victory in the Hundred Years' War, fought in 1356, near Poitiers in west-central France.

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Poker

Poker, card game whose earliest forms date back to 520 in Europe, developing into bet-and-bluff games like brag in England, pochen (“bluff’) in Germany, and poque in France.

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Pokeweed

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), tall, herbal plant belonging to the pokeweed family.

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Poland

Poland, former communist state in central Europe. Poland is situated on the Baltic Sea and borders Russia, Lithuania, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. The land is generally low, with about 90% of it less than 1,000 ft/305 m above sea level, but in the south are the peaks of the Sudeten and Carpathian mountains, forming a natural border with Czech Republic. Poland&…

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John Charles Polanyi

Polanyi, John Charles (1929– ), Canadian chemist.

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Polar bear

Polar bear, large (up to 1,650 lb/750 kg), white-furred, arctic bear (Thalarctos maritimus).

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Polaris

Polaris See: North Star.

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Polarized light

Polarized light, light that exhibits unmixed properties (a particular vibration) in a given direction at a right angle to the line of propagation.

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Pole vault

Pole vault, sporting event in which an athlete jumps over a crossbar using a pole to push him- or herself off the ground.

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Polecat

Polecat, small carnivore of the weasel family (Mustela putorius), found throughout northern and central Europe.

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Polestar

Polestar See: North Star.

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Police

Police, civil body charged with maintaining public order and protecting persons and property from unlawful acts.

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Polio

Polio See: Poliomyelitis.

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Poliomyelitis

Poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis, viral disease causing muscle paralysis as a result of direct damage to motor nerve cells in the spinal cord.

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Polish

Polish, West Slavic language, the official and literary language of Poland.

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Polish Corridor

Polish Corridor, strip of Polish land about 25–65 mi (40–105 km) wide and 90 mi (145 km) long.

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Polish Succession War

Polish Succession War See: Succession wars.

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Polishing

Polishing See: Grinding and polishing.

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Politburo

Politburo, in the former USSR, permanent secretariat of top political officials, first formed in 1917, that dominated the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party.

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Political convention

Political convention, gathering at which political parties nominate their candidates for president and vice president of the United States.

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Political party

Political party, body or organization that puts forward candidates for public office and contends for power in elections.

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Political science

Political science, study of government and political institutions and processes.

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James Knox Polk

Polk, James Knox (1795–1849), 11th president of the U.S. Polk was elected on a pledge to extend the nation's existing territory. During his presidency, the United States—in accordance with the doctrine of “manifest destiny”—expanded across the entire continent and, as part of that expansion, fought the Mexican War. Polk graduated from the University of Nor…

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