Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
PROOFLESS — PROSCRIBING
PROOFLESS, a. Wanting sufficient evidence to induce belief; not proved.
PROP, v.t.
1. To support or prevent from falling by placing something under or against; as, to prop a fence or an old building.
2. To support by standing under or against.
Till the bright mountains prop th’ incumbent sky.
3. To support; to sustain; in a general sense; as, to prop a declining state.
I prop myself upon the few supports that are left me.
PROP, n. That which sustains an incumbent weight; that on which any thing rests for support; a support; a stay; as a prop for vines; a prop for an old building. An affectionate child is the prop of declining age.
PROPAGABLE, a. [See Propagate.] That may be continued or multiplied by natural generation or production; applied to animals and vegetables.
1. That may be spread or extended by any means, as tenets, doctrines or principles.
PROPAGANDISM, n. [See Propagate.] The art or practice of propagating tenets or principles.
PROPAGANDIST, n. A person who devotes himself to the spread of any system of principles.
Bonaparte selected a body to compose his Sanhedrim of political propagandists.
PROPAGATE, v.t. [L. propago. See Prop. The Latin noun propago, is the English prop, and the termination ago, as in cartilago, etc. The sense of the noun is that which is set or thrust in.]
1. To continue or multiply the kind by generation or successive production; applied to animals and plants; as, to propagate a breed of horses or sheep; to propagate any species of fruit tree.
2. To spread; to extend; to impel or continue forward in space; as, to propagate sound or light.
3. To spread from person to person; to extend; to give birth to, or originate and spread; as, to propagate a story or report.
4. To carry from place to place; to extend by planting and establishing in places before destitute; as, to propagate the christian religion.
5. To extend; to increase.
Griefs of my own lie heavy in my breast,
Which thou wilt propagate.
6. To generate; to produce.
Superstitious notions, propagated in fancy, are hardly ever totally eradicated.
PROPAGATE, v.i. To have young or issue; to be produced or multiplied by generation, or by new shoots or plants. Wild horses propagate in the forests of S. America.
PROPAGATED, pp. Continued or multiplied by generation or production of the same kind; spread; extended.
PROPAGATING, ppr. Continuing or multiplying the kind by generation or production; spreading and establishing.
PROPAGATION, n. [L. propagatio.]
1. The act of propagating; the continuance or multiplication of the kind by generation or successive production; as the propagation of animals or plants.
There is not in nature any spontaneous generation, but all come by propagation.
2. The spreading or extension of any thing; as the propagation of sound or of reports.
3. The spreading of any thing by planting and establishing in places before destitute; as the propagation of the gospel among pagans.
4. A forward or promotion.
PROPAGATOR, n. One that continues or multiplies his own species by generation.
1. One that continues or multiplies any species of animals or plants.
2. One that spreads or causes to circulate, as a report.
3. One that plants and establishes in a country destitute; as a propagator of the gospel.
4. One that plants, originates or extends; one that promotes.
PROPEL, v.t. [L. propello; pro, forward, and pello, to drive.]
To drive forward; to urge or press onward by force. The wind or steam propels ships; balls are propelled by the force of gun-powder; mill wheels are propelled by water or steam; the blood is propelled through the arteries and veins by the action of the heart. [This word is commonly applied to material bodies.]
PROPELLED, pp. Driven forward.
PROPELLING, ppr. Driving forward.
PROPEND, v.i. [L. propendeo; pro, forward, and pendeo, to hang.]
To lean towards; to incline; to be disposed in favor of any thing. [Little used.]
PROPENDENCY, n. [L. propendens.] A leaning towards; inclination; tendency of desire to any thing.
1. Preconsideration; attentive deliberation. [Little used.]
PROPENDING, ppr. Inclining towards.
PROPENSE, a. propens’. [L. propensus.] Leaning towards, in a moral sense; inclined; disposed, either to good or evil; as women propense to holiness.
PROPENSION, PROPENSITY, n. [L. propensio.]
1. Bent of mind, natural or acquired; inclination; in a moral sense; disposition to any thing good or evil, particularly to evil; as a propensity to sin; the corrupt propensity of the will.
It requires critical nicety to find out the genius or propensions of a child.
2. Natural tendency; as the propension of bodies to a particular place.
[In a moral sense, propensity is now chiefly used.]
PROPER, a. [L. proprius, supposed to be allied to prope, near.]
1. Peculiar; naturally or essentially belonging to a person or thing; not common. That is not proper, which is common to many. Every animal has his proper instincts and inclinations, appetites and habits. Every muscle and vessel of the body has its proper office. Every art has it proper rules. Creation is the proper work of an Almighty Being.
2. Particularly suited to. Every animal lives in his proper element.
3. One’s own. It may be joined with any possessive pronoun; as our proper son.
Our proper conceptions.
Now learn the difference at your proper cost.
[Note. Own is often used in such phrases; “at your own proper cost.” This is really tautological, but sanctioned by usage, and expressive of emphasis.]
4. Noting an individual; pertaining to one of a species, but not common to the whole; as a proper name. Dublin is the proper name of a city.
5. Fit; suitable; adapted; accommodated. A thin dress is not proper for clothing in a cold climate. Stimulants are proper remedies for debility. Gravity of manners is very proper for persons of advanced age.
In Athens, all was pleasure, mirth and play
All proper to the spring and sprightly May.
6. Correct; just; as a proper word; a proper expression.
7. Not figurative.
8. Well formed; handsome.
Moses was a proper child. Hebrews 11:23.
9. Tall; lusty; handsome with bulk. [Low and not used.]
10. In vulgar language, very; as proper good; proper sweet. [This is very improper, as well as vulgar.]
Proper receptacle, in botany, that which supports only a single flower or fructification; proper perianth or involucre, that which incloses only a single flower; proper flower or corol, one of the single florets or corollets in an aggregate or compound flower; proper nectary, separate form the petals and other parts of the flower.
PROPERLY, adv. Fitly; suitably; in a proper manner; as a word properly applied; a dress properly adjusted.
1. In a strict sense.
The miseries of life are not properly owing to the unequal distribution of things.
PROPERNESS, n. The quality of being proper. [Little used.]
1. Tallness. [Not in use.]
2. Perfect form; handsomeness.
PROPERTY, n. [This seems to be formed directly from proper. The Latin is proprietas.]
1. A peculiar quality of any thing; that which is inherent in a subject, or naturally essential to it; called by logicians an essential mode. Thus color is a property of light; extension and figure are properties of bodies.
2. An acquired or artificial quality; that which is given by art or bestowed by man. The poem has the properties which constitute excellence.
3. Quality; disposition.
It is the property of an old sinner to find delight in reviewing his own villainies in others.
4. The exclusive right of possessing, enjoying and disposing of a thing; ownership. In the beginning of the world, the Creator gave to man dominion over the earth, over the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air, and over every living thing. This is the foundation of man’s property in the earth and in all its productions. Prior occupancy of land and of wild animals gives to the possessor the property of them. The labor of inventing, making or producing any thing constitutes one of the highest and most indefeasible titles to property. Property is also acquired by inheritance, by gift or by purchase. Property is sometimes held in common, yet each man’s right to his share in common land or stock is exclusively his own. One man may have the property of the soil, and another the right of use, by prescription or by purchase.
5. Possession held on one’s own right.
6. The thing owned; that to which a person has the legal title, whether in his possession or not. It is one of the greatest blessings of civil society that the property of citizens is well secured.
7. An estate, whether in lands, goods or money; as a man of large property or small property.
8. An estate; a farm; a plantation. In this sense, which is common in the United States and in the West Indies, the word has a plural.
The still-houses on the sugar plantations, vary in size, according to the fancy of the proprietor or the magnitude of the property.
I shall confine myself to such properties as fall within the reach of daily observation.
9. Nearness or right.
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood.
10. Something useful; an appendage; a theatrical term.
I will draw a bill of properties.
High pomp and state are useful properties.
11. Propriety. [Not in use.]
Literary property, the exclusive right of printing, publishing and making profit by one’s own writings. No right or title to a thing can be so perfect as that which is created by a man’s own labor and invention. The exclusive right of a man to his literary productions, and to the use of them for his own profit, is entire and perfect, as the faculties employed and labor bestowed are entirely and perfectly his own. On what principle then can a legislature or a court determine that an author can enjoy only a temporary property in his own productions? If a man’s right to his own productions in writing is as perfect as to the productions of his farm or his shop, how can the former by abridged or limited, while the latter is held without limitation? Why do the productions of manual labor rank higher in the scale of rights or property, than the productions of the intellect?
PROPERTY, v.t. To invest with qualities, or to take as one’s own; to appropriate. [An awkward word and not used.]
PROPHANE. [See Profane.]
PROPHASIS, n. [Gr. to foretell.] In medicine, prognosis; foreknowledge of a disease.
PROPHECY, n. [Gr. to foretell, before and to tell. This ought to be written prophesy.]
1. A foretelling; prediction; a declaration of something to come. As God only knows future events with certainty, no being but God or some person informed by him, can utter a real prophecy. The prophecies recorded in Scripture, when fulfilled, afford most convincing evidence of the divine original of the Scriptures, as those who uttered the prophecies could not have foreknown the events predicted without supernatural instruction. 2 Peter 1:19-21.
2. In Scripture, a book of prophecies; a history; as the prophecy of Ahijah. 2 Chronicles 9:29.
3. Preaching; public interpretation of Scripture; exhortation or instruction. Proverbs 31:1.
PROPHESIED, pp. Foretold; predicted.
PROPHESIER, n. One who predicts events.
PROPHESY, v.t. To foretell future events; to predict.
I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. 1 Kings 22:8.
1. To foreshow. [Little used.]
PROPHESY, v.i. To utter predictions; to make declaration of events to come. Jeremiah 11:21.
1. In Scripture, to preach; to instruct in religious doctrines; to interpret or explain Scripture or religious subjects; to exhort. 1 Corinthians 13:9; Ezekiel 37:4, 9.
PROPHESYING, ppr. Foretelling events.
PROPHESYING, n. The act of foretelling or of preaching.
PROPHET, n. [L. propheta.]
1. One that foretells future events; a predicter; a foreteller.
2. In Scripture, a person illuminated, inspired or instructed by God to announce future events; as Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah, etc.
3. An interpreter; one that explains or communicates sentiments. Exodus 7:1.
4. One who pretends to foretell; an imposter; as a false prophet. Acts 13:6.
School of the prophets, among the Israelites, a school or college in which young men were educated and qualified for public teachers. These students were called sons of the prophets.
PROPHETESS, n. A female prophet; a woman who foretells future events, as Miriam, Huldah, Anna, etc. Exodus 15:20; Judges 4:4; Luke 2:36.
PROPHETIC, PROPHETICAL, a. Containing prophecy; foretelling future events; as prophetic writings.
1. Unfolding future events; as prophetic dreams.
It has of before the thing foretold.
And fears are oft prophetic of th’ event.
PROPHETICALLY, adv. By way of prediction; in the manner of prophecy.
PROPHETIZE, v.i. To give prediction. [Not used]
PROPHYLACTIC, PROPHYLACTICAL, a. [Gr. to prevent, to guard against; to preserve.]
In medicine, preventive; defending from disease.
PROPHYLACTIC, n. A medicine which preserves or defends against disease; a preventive.
PROPINATION, n. [L. propinatio, propino; Gr. to drink.]
The act of pledging, or drinking first and then offering the cup to another.
PROPINE, v.t. [L. propino, supra.] To pledge; to drink first and then offer the cup to another. [Not used.]
1. To expose. [Not used.]
PROPINQUITY, n. [L. propinquitas, from propinquus, near.]
1. Nearness in place; neighborhood.
2. Nearness in time.
3. Nearness of blood; kindred.
PROPITIABLE, a. [See Propitiate.] That may be induced to favor, or that may be made propitious.
PROPITIATE, v.t. [L. propitio; pio. Eng. pity.]
To conciliate; to appease one offended and render him favorable; to make propitious.
Let fierce Achilles, dreadful in his rage,
The god propitiate and the pest assuage.
PROPITIATED, pp. Appeased and rendered favorable; conciliated.
PROPITIATING, ppr. Conciliating; appeasing the wrath of and rendering favorable.
PROPITIATION, n. propisia’shon.
1. The act of appeasing wrath and conciliating the favor of an offended person; the act of making propitious.
2. In theology, the atonement or atoning sacrifice offered to God to assuage his wrath and render him propitious to sinners. Christ is the propitiation for the sins of men. Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2.
PROPITIATOR, n. One who propitiates.
PROPITIATORY, a. Having the power to make propitious; as a propitiatory sacrifice.
PROPITIATORY, n. Among the Jews, the mercy-seat; the lid or cover of the ark of the covenant, lined within and without with plates of gold. This was a type of Christ.
PROPITIOUS, a. [L. propitius.] Favorable; kind; applied to men.
1. Disposed to be gracious or merciful; ready to forgive sins and bestow blessings; applied to God.
2. Favorable; as a propitious season.
PROPITIOUSLY, adv. Favorably; kindly.
PROPITIOUSNESS, n. Kindness; disposition to treat another kindly; disposition to forgive.
1. Favorableness; as the propitiousness of the season or climate.
PROPLASM, n. [Gr. a device.] A mold; a matrix.
PROPLASTICE, n. [supra.] The art of making molds for castings.
PROPOLIS, n. [Gr. before the city, or the front of the city.]
A thick odorous substance having some resemblance to wax and smelling like storax; used by bees to stop the holes and crevices in their hives to prevent the entrance of cold air, etc. Pliny represents it as the third coat; the first he calls commosis; the second pissoceros; the third, more solid than the others, he calls propolis.
This account of the propolis may not be perfectly correct, as authors do not agree in their descriptions of it.
PROPONENT, n. [L. proponens; pro and pono, to place.]
One that makes a proposal, or lays down a proposition.
PROPORTION, n. [L. proportio; pro and portio, part or share. See Portion.]
1. The comparative relation of any one thing to another. Let a man’s exertions be in proportion to his strength.
2. The identity or similitude of two ratios. Proportion differs from ratio. Ratio is the relation which determines the quantity of one thing from the quantity of another, without the intervention of a third. Thus the ratio of 5 and 10 is 2; the ratio of 8 and 16 is 2. Proportion is the sameness or likeness of two such relations. Thus 5 is to 10, as 8 to 16, or A is to B, as C is to D; that is, 5 bears the same relation to 10, as 8 does to 16. Hence we say, such numbers are in proportion.
Proportion, in mathematics, an equality or ratios.
The term proportion is sometimes improperly used for ratio. The ratio between two quantities, is expressed by the quotient of one divided by the other; thus, the ratio of 10 to 5 is 2, and the ratio of 16 to 8 is 2. These two equal ratios constitute a proportion, which is expressed by saying, 10 is to 5 as 16 is to 8; or more concisely, 10: 5:: 16: 8. [See Ratio.]
3. In arithmetic, a rule by which, when three numbers are given, a fourth number is found, which bears the same relation to the third as the second does to the first; or a fourth number is found, bearing the same relation to the second as the first does to the third. The former is called direct, and the latter, inverse proportion.
4. Symmetry; suitable adaptation of one part or thing to another; as the proportion of one limb to another in the human body; the proportion of the length and breadth of a room to its highth.
Harmony, with every grace,
Place in the fair proportions of her face.
5. Equal or just share; as, to ascertain the proportion of profit to which each partner in a company is entitled.
6. Form; size. [Little used.]
7. The relation between unequal things of the same kind, by which their several parts correspond to each other with an equal augmentation and diminution, as in reducing and enlarging figures.
[This more properly belongs to ratio.]
Harmonical or musical proportion, is when, of three numbers, the first is to the third as the difference of the first and second to the difference of the second and third. Thus 2.3.6. are in harmonical proportion; for 2 is to 6 as 1 to 3. So also four numbers are harmonical, when the first is to the fourth, as the difference of the first and second is to the difference of the third and fourth. Thus, 24.16.12.9. are harmonical, for 24 : 9 :: 8 : 3.
Arithmetical and geometrical proportion. [See Progression, No. 4.]
Reciprocal proportion, an equality between a direct and a reciprocal ratio. Thus, 4 : 2 :: 1/3 : 1/6. [See Reciprocals, and Reciprocal ratio.]
PROPORTION, v.t. To adjust the comparative relation of one thing or one part to another; as, to proportion the size of a building to its highth, or the thickness of a thing to its length; to proportion our expenditures to our income.
In the loss of an object, we do not proportion our grief to its real value, but to the value our fancies set upon it.
1. To form with symmetry or suitableness, as the parts of the body.
PROPORTIONABLE, a. That may be proportioned or made proportional. This is the true sense of the word; but it is erroneously used in the sense of proportional, being in proportion; having a due comparative relation; as infantry with a proportionable number of horse.
PROPORTIONABLY, adv. According to proportion or comparative relation; as a large body, with limbs proportionably large.
PROPORTIONAL, a. Having a due comparative relation; being in suitable proportion or degree; as, the parts of an edifice are proportional. In pharmacy, medicines are compounded of certain proportional quantities of ingredients. The velocity of a moving body is proportional to the impelling force, when the quantity of matter is given; its momentum is proportional to the quantity of matter it contains, when its velocity is given.
Proportional, in chimistry, a term employed in the theory of definite proportions, to denote the same as the weight of an atom or a prime. [See Prime.]
Proportionals, in geometry, are quantities, either linear or numeral, which bear the same ratio or relation to each other.
PROPORTIONALITY, n. The quality of being in proportion.
PROPORTIONALLY, adv. In proportion; in due degree; with suitable comparative relation; as all parts of a building being proportionally large.
PROPORTIONATE, a. Adjusted to something else according to a certain rate or comparative relation; proportional.
The connection between the end and means is proportionate.
Punishment should be proportionate to the transgression.
PROPORTIONATE, v.t. To proportion; to make proportional; to adjust according to a settled rate or to due comparative relation; as, to proportionate punishments to crimes. [This verb is less used than proportion.]
PROPORTIONATELY, adv. With due proportion; according to a settled or suitable rate or degree.
PROPORTIONATENESS, n. The state of being adjusted by due or settled proportion or comparative relation; suitableness of proportions.
PROPORTIONED, pp. Made or adjusted with due proportion or with symmetry of parts.
PROPORTIONING, ppr. Making proportional.
PROPORTIONLESS, a. Without proportion; without symmetry of parts.
PROPOSAL, n. s as z. [from propose.]
1. That which is offered or propounded for consideration or acceptance; a scheme or design, terms or conditions proposed; as, to make proposals for a treaty of peace; to offer proposals for erecting a building; to make proposals of marriage; proposals for subscription to a loan or to a literary work.
2. Offer to the mind; as the proposal of an agreeable object.
PROPOSE, v.t. s as z. [L. propono, proposui;]
1. To offer for consideration, discussion, acceptance or adoption; as, to propose a bill or resolve to a legislative body; to propose terms of peach; to propose a question or subject for discussion; to propose an alliance by treaty or marriage; to propose alterations or amendments in a law.
2. To offer or present for consideration.
In learning any thing, as little as possible should be proposed to the mind at first.
To propose to one’s self, to intend; to design; to form a design in the mind.
PROPOSE, v.i. To lay schemes. [Not in use.]
[Propose is often used for purpose; as I propose to ride to New York to-morrow. Purpose and propose are different forms of the same word.]
PROPOSED, pp. Offered or presented for consideration, discussion, acceptance or adoption.
PROPOSER, n. One that offers any thing for consideration or adoption.
PROPOSING, ppr. Offering for consideration, acceptance or adoption.
PROPOSITION, n. s as z. [L. propositio, from propositus, propono.]
1. That which is proposed; that which is offered for consideration, acceptance or adoption; a proposal; offer of terms. The enemy made propositions of peace; the propositions were not accepted.
2. In logic, one of the three parts of a regular argument; the part of an argument in which some quality, negative or positive, is attributed to a subject; as, “snow is white;” “water is fluid;” “vice is not commendable.”
3. In mathematics, a statement in terms of either a truth to be demonstrated, or an operation to be performed. It is called a theorem, when it is something to be proved; and a problem, when it is something to be done.
4. In oratory, that which is offered or affirmed as the subject of the discourse; any thing stated or affirmed for discussion or illustration.
5. In poetry, the first part of a poem, in which the author states the subject or matter of it. Horace recommends modesty and simplicity in the proposition of a poem.
PROPOSITIONAL, a. Pertaining to a proposition; considered as a proposition; as a propositional sense.
PROPOUND, v.t. [L. propono; pro and pono, to set, put or place.]
1. To propose; to offer for consideration; as, to propound a rule of action.
The existence of the church hath been propounded as an object of faith.
2. To offer; to exhibit; to propose; as, to propound a question.
3. In congregational churches, to propose or name as a candidate for admission to communion with a church. Persons intending to make public profession of their faith, and thus unite with the church, are propounded before the church and congregation; that is, their intention is notified some days previous, for the purpose of giving opportunity to members of the church to object to their admission to such communion, if they see cause.
PROPOUNDED, pp. Proposed; offered for consideration.
PROPOUNDER, n. One that proposes or offers for consideration.
PROPOUNDING, ppr. Proposing; offering for consideration.
PROPPED, pp. [from prop.] Supported; sustained by something placed under.
PROPPING, ppr. Supporting by something beneath.
PROPREFECT, n. Among the Romans, a prefect’s lieutenant commissioned to do a part of the duty of the perfect.
PROPRETOR, n. [L. proproetor.] Among the Romans, a magistrate who, having discharged the office of pretor at home, was sent into a province to command there with his former pretorial authority; also, an officer sent extraordinarily into the provinces to administer justice with the authority of pretor.
PROPRIETARY, n.
1. A proprietor or owner; one who has the exclusive title to a thing; one who possesses or holds the title to a thing in his own right. The grantees of Pennsylvania and Maryland and their heirs were called the proprietaries of those provinces.
2. In monasteries, such monks were called proprietaries, as had reserved goods and effects to themselves, notwithstanding their renunciation of all at the time of their profession.
PROPRIETARY, a. Belonging to a proprietor or owner, or to a proprietary. The governments of Pennsylvania and Maryland were formerly proprietary.
PROPRIETOR, n. [from L. proprietas, proprius.] An owner; the person who has the legal right or exclusive title to any thing whether in possession or not; as the proprietor of a farm or of a mill. By the gift of God, man is constituted the proprietor of the earth.
PROPRIETRESS, n. A female who has the exclusive legal right to a thing.
PROPRIETY, n. [L. proprietas, from proprius.]
1. Property; peculiar or exclusive right of possession; ownership. [This primary sense of the word, as used by Locke, Milton, Dryden, etc. seems not to be nearly or wholly obsolete. See Property.]
2. Fitness; suitableness; appropriateness; consonance with established principles, rules or customs; justness; accuracy. Propriety of conduct, in a moral sense, consists in its conformity to the moral law; propriety of behavior, consists in conformity to the established rules of decorum; propriety in language, is correctness in the use of words and phrases, according to established usage, which constitutes the rule of speaking and writing.
3. Proper state.
PROPT. [See Propped.]
PROPUGN, v.t. propu’ne. [L. propugno; pro and pugno, to fight.]
To contend for; to defend; to vindicate. [Little used.]
PROPUGNACLE, n. [L. propugnaculum.] A fortress. [Not used.]
PROPUGNATION, n. [L. propugnatio.] Defense. [Not used.]
PROPUGNER, n. propu’ner. A defender; a vindicator.
PROPULSATION, n. [L. propulsatio, propulso. See Propel.]
The act of driving away or repelling; the keeping at a distance.
PROPULSE, v.t. propuls’. [L. propulso; pro and pulso, to strike. See Propel.] To repel; to drive off. [Little used.]
PROPULSION, n. [L. propulsus, propello. See Propel.]
The act of driving forward.
Pro rata, [L.] in proportion.
PRORE, n. [L. prora.] The prow or fore part of a ship. [Not in use, except in poetry.]
Pro re nata, [L.] according to exigencies or circumstances.
PROROGATION, n. [L. prorogatio. See Prorogue.]
1. Continuance in time or duration; a lengthening or prolongation of time; as the prorogation of something already possessed. [This use is uncommon.]
2. In England, the continuance of parliament from one session to another, as an adjournment is a continuance of the session from day to day. This is the established language with respect to the parliament of Great Britain. In the United States, the word is, I believe, rarely or never used; adjournment being used not only in its etymological sense, but for prorogation also.
PROROGUE, v.t. prorog. [L. prorogo; pro and rogo. The latter word signifies to ask, or to propose; but the primary sense is to reach, to stretch forward; and this is its import in the derivative prorogo.]
1. To protract; to prolong.
He prorogued his government.
2. To defer; to delay; as, to prorogue death.
[In the foregoing senses, the word is now rarely used.]
3. To continue the parliament from one session to another. Parliament is prorogued by the king’s authority, either by the lord chancellor in his majesty’s presence, or by commission, or by proclamation.
PRORUPTION, n. [L. proruptus, prorumpo; pro and rumpo, to burst.]
The act of bursting forth; a bursting out.
PROSAIC, a. s as z. [L. prosaicus, from prosa, prose.]
Pertaining to prose; resembling prose; not restricted by numbers; applied to writings; as a prosaic composition.
PROSAL, a. Prosaic. [Not used.]
PROSCRIBE, v.t. [L. proscribo; pro and scribo, to write. The sense of this word originated in the Roman practice of writing the names of persons doomed to death, and posting the list in public.]
1. To doom to destruction; to put one out of the protection of law, and promise a reward for his head. Sylla and Marius proscribed each other’s adherents.
2. To put out of the protection of the law.
Robert Vere, earl of Oxford, was banished the realm and proscribed.
3. To denounce and condemn as dangerous and not worthy of reception; to reject utterly.
In the year 325, the Arian doctrines were proscribed and anathematized by the council of Nice.
4. To censure and condemn as utterly unworthy of reception.
5. To interdict; as, to proscribe the use of ardent spirits.