Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRO-NOM'IN-AL, a. [L. pronomen. See Pronoun.]

Belonging to or of the nature of a pronoun. – Lowth.

PRO'NOUN, n. [Fr. pronom; It. pronome; Sp. pronombre; L. pronomen; pro, for, and nomen, name.]

In grammar, a word used instead of a noun or name, to prevent the repetition of it. The personal pronouns in English, are I, thou or you, he, she, we, ye and they. The last is used for the name of things, as well as for that of persons. Other words are used for the names of persons, things, sentences, phrases and for adjectives; and when they stand for sentences, phrases and adjectives, they are not strictly pronouns, but relatives, substitutes or representatives of such sentences. Thus we say, “the jury found the prisoner guilty, and the court pronounced sentence on him. This or that gave great joy to the spectators.” In these sentences, this or that represents the whole preceding sentence, which is the proper antecedent. We also say, “the jury pronounced the man guilty, this or that or which he could not be, for he proved an alibi.” In which sentence, this or that or which refers immediately to guilty, as its antecedent.

PRO-NOUNCE, v.i. [pronouns'.]

To speak; to make declaration; to utter an opinion. How confidently soever men pronounce of themselves. – Decay of Piety.

PRO-NOUNCE, v.t. [pronouns'; Fr. prononcer; It. pronunziare; Sp. pronunciar; L. pronuncio; pro and nuncio.]

1. To speak; to utter articulately. The child is not able to pronounce words composed of difficult combinations of letters. Adults rarely learn to pronounce correctly a foreign language.
2. To utter formally, officially or solemnly. The court pronounced sentence of death on the criminal. Then Baruch answered them, he pronounced all these words to me with his mouth. – Jer. xxxvi. Sternly he pronounc'd / The rigid interdiction. – Milton.
3. To speak or utter rhetorically; to deliver; as, to pronounce an oration.
4. To speak; to utter, in almost any manner.
5. To declare or affirm. He pronounced the book to be a libel; he pronounced the act to be a fraud.

PRO-NOUNCE-A-BLE, a. [pronouns'able.]

That may be pronounced or uttered. – Pinkerton.

PRO-NOUN'CED, pp.

Spoken; uttered; declared solemnly.

PRO-NOUN'CER, n.

One who utters or declared.

PRO-NOUN'CING, ppr.

1. Speaking; uttering; declaring.
2. adj. Teaching pronunciation.

PRO-NUN'CIAL, a.

Pertaining to pronunciation.

PRO-NUN-CI-A'TION, n. [Fr. prononciation, from L. pronunciatio.]

1. The act of uttering with articulation; utterance; as, the pronunciation of syllables or words; distinct or indistinct pronunciation.
2. The mode of uttering words or sentence; particularly, the art or manner of uttering a discourse publicly with propriety and gracefulness; now called delivery. – J. Q. Adams.

PRO-NUN'CIA-TIVE, a.

Uttering confidently; dogmatical. Bacon.

PROOF, n. [Sax. profian, to prove; Sw. prof, proof; Dan. pröve, D. proef; G. probe; W. praw; Fr. preuve; It. prova; Sp. prueba; Russ. proba. See Prove.]

1. Trial; essay; experiment; any effort, process or opration that ascertains truth or fact. Thus the quality of spirit is ascertained by proof; the strength of gunpowder, of firearms and of cannon is determined by proof; the correctness of operations in arithmetic is ascertained by proof.
2. In law and logic, that degree of evidence which convinces the mind of the certainty of truth or fact, and produces belief. Proof is derived from personal knowledge, or from the testimony of others, or from conclusive reasoning. Proof differs from demonstration, which is applicable only to those truths of which the contrary is inconceivable. This has neither evidence of truth, nor proof sufficient to give it warrant. – Hooker.
3. Firmness or hardness that resists impression, or yields not to force; impenetrability of physical bodies; as, a wall that is proof against shot. See arms of proof. – Dryden.
4. Firmness of mind; stability not to be shaken; as, a mind or virtue that is proof against the arts of seduction and the assaults of temptation.
5. The proof of spirits consists in little bubbles which appear on the top of the liquor after agitation, called the bead, and by the French, chapelet. Hence,
6. The degree of strength in spirit; as, high proof; first proof; second, third, or fourth proof.
7. In printing and engraving, a rough impression of a sheet, taken for correction; plur. proofs, not proves.
8. Armor sufficiently firm to resist impression. [Not used.] – Shak. Proof is used elliptically for of proof. I have found thee / Proof against all temptation. – Milton. It is sometimes followed by to, more generally by against. Proof-impression, an early impression of an engraving, considered the best as being first taken.

PROOF'LESS, a.

Wanting sufficient evidence to induce belief; not proved. – Boyle.

PROOF'LESS-LY, adv.

Without proof.

PRO-OR-CON, adv. [Pro or con. L.]

For or against.

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.

PROP, v.t. [D. and Dan. prop, a stopple, Sw. propp; G. pfropf, id.; D. proppen; G. pfropfen, to stuff or thrust; Dan. propper. These are probably the same word differently applied.]

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. – Pope.
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. – Pope.

PROP'A-GA-BLE, a. [See Propagate.]

1. That may be continued or multiplied by natural generation or production; applied to animals and vegetables.
2. That may be spread or extended by any means, as tenets, doctrines or principles.

PROP'A-GAND-ISM, n. [See Propagate.]

The art or practice of propagating tenets or principles. – Dwight.

PROP-A-GAND'IST, 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. – Walsh.

PROP'A-GATE, 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 South America.

PROP'A-GATE, v.t. [L. propago; It. propaggine; G. pfropf, a stopple; pfropfen, to thrust, also to graft. See Prop. The Latin noun propago, is the English prop, and the termination ago, as in cartilago, &c. 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. – Shak.
6. To generate; to produce. Superstitious notions, propagated in fancy, are hardly ever totally eradicated. Richardson.

PROP'A-GA-TED, pp.

Continued or multiplied by generation or production of the same kind; spread; extended.

PROP'A-GA-TING, ppr.

Continuing or multiplying the kind by generation or production; spreading and establishing.

PROP-A-GA'TION, n. [Fr. from 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 propagatian. – Ray.
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 forwarding or promotion.