Emily Dickinson Lexicon

preserve (-d), v. [Fr. préserver, save from an evil that might happen < late L. præ, before + servāre, keep, protect.] (webplay: God, man, secure).

Keep; maintain; sustain; hold; cause to remain.

preside, v. [Fr. < L. præsidēre, preside over, guard < præ, before, in front of + sidēre, sit.]

Command; govern; maintain power; have control; [fig.] reside; exist; dwell; lie.

press, n. [ME < Fr. < L. pressāre.] (webplay: feet, people, safest, tight, truth).

1. Pressure; crush; force; weight; strain; tension; [fig.] overabundance; excess; suffocating surfeit; overwhelming surplus.
2. Crowd; throng; multitude.

press (-ed, prest), v. [ME < OFr < L. pressāre.] (webplay: books, closely, feet, force, hands, keeping, king's, pass, peace, pushing, slow, stand, toward, troubles, truth, turned).

1. Push; hold; force; squeeze; thrust.
2. Urge; give; impose; offer insistently.
3. Crowd; pack; arrange; place together.

presume (-d, presuming, -s), v. [Fr. présumer or L. præsūm-ěre, take before, anticipate, take for granted, assume, suppose, dare < præ, before + sūmere, take.] (webplay: before, belief, bold, confident, death, defeated, die, estate, far, favor, God, hope, known, pride, real, supposing, take, true).

1. Dare; venture; try; aspire; make an arrogant attempt.
2. Usurp; take liberties; take advantage of something or someone; seize without right; take possession unlawfully; lay claim to something without proper authority.
3. Suppose; assume; guess; conjecture; suspect; expect; anticipate; take for granted; believe without proof.
4. [Fig.] know; be certain; be aware; have foreknowledge.

presuming, verbal adj. [see presume, v.]

Audacious; bold; arrogant; dauntless; [fig.] certain; inescapable; unavoidable; inevitable; irreversible.

presumption, n. [ME < OFr < L. præsumptiōn-em, a taking beforehand, anticipation, confidence, audacity; see presume, v.] (webplay: admitted, ancestor, cautiously, circumstantial, death, existence, God, heir, hope, inherit, known, law, right, take, venture).

1. Guess; assumption; speculation; conjecture; supposition.
2. Liberty; license; perceived right; self-granted privilege; audaciously claimed prerogative.
3. [Fig.] estimation; beginning; taste; sample; portion; part; specimen; brief vision.

presumptuous, adj. [OFr presuntuex < L. præsumptuōsus, see presume, v.] (webplay: before, known, true).

1. Greedy; covetous; usurping; commandeering; audaciously possessive.
2. Assuming; hopeful; speculative; unproven; unattested; based on conjecture.
3. Confident; arrogant; bold.

pretense, n. [Late AFr. < medieval L. prætenděre, stretch forth, hold before, put forward, allege, pretend < præ, before + tenděre, stretch, extend.] (webplay: believe, real).

Simulation; replica; representation; imagined truth; falsehood; game; play; illusion; make-believe; self-deception; wishful thinking.

pretty, adj. [OE prætt, guile, trick.] (webplay: bearing, bird, children, claiming, countenance, creature, degree, face, fellow, flowers, ill, played, time, vivid, way, wind, world).

1. Modest; humble.
2. Fair; comely; lovely; attractive; handsome; delicately beautiful.
3. Pleasant; pleasing; charming; nice; agreeable; delightful.