Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PER-FUS-ED, pp.

Poured or spread over.

PER-FU'SIVE, a.

Sprinkling; adapted to spread or sprinkle.

PER'GO-LA, n. [It.]

A kind of arbor.

PER-HAPS', adv. [per and hap. See Happen.]

By chance; it may be. Perhaps her love, perhaps her kingdom charmed him. – Smith.

PE'RI, n.

In mythology, an imaginary being like an elf or fairy, represented as a descendant of fallen angels.

PER'I-ANTH, n. [Gr. περι, about, and ανθος, flower.]

That calyx which envelops only a single flower, and is immediately contiguous to it.

PER'I-APT, n. [Gr. περιαπτω, to fit or tie to.]

An amulet; a charm worn to defend against disease or mischief. [Not used.] – Hammer. Shak.

PER-I-AU'GER, or PER-I-A'GUA, n. [See PIROGUE.]

PER-I-CAR'DI-AN, a.

Relating to the pericardium.

PER-I-CARD'I-UM, n. [Gr. περι, around, and καρδια, the heart.]

A membrane that incloses the heart. It contains a liquor which prevents the surface of the heart from becoming dry by its continual motion. – Quincy.

PER'I-CARP, n. [Gr. περι, about, and καρπος, fruit.]

The seed-vessel of a plant; a general name, including the capsule, legume, silique, follicle, drupe, pome, berry, &c. – Martyn.

PER-I-CARP'I-AL, a.

Belonging to a pericarp. – Lindley.

PE-RIC'LI-TATE, v.t. [L. periclitor.]

To endanger.

PE-RIC-LI-TA'TION, n.

A hazarding or exposing to peril.

PER-I-CRA'NI-UM, n. [Gr. περι, about, and κρανιον, the skull.]

The periosteum or membrane that invests the skull. – Coxe.

PER-IC'U-LOUS, a. [L. periculosus. See Peril.]

Dangerous; hazardous. Brown.

PER-I-DO-DEC-A-HE'DRAL, a. [Gr. περι, and dodecahedral.]

Designating a crystal whose primitive form is a four-sided prism, and its secondary form is converted into a prism of twelve sides. – Cleaveland.

PER'I-DOT, n. [Fr.]

Another name of the chrysolite. It may be known by its leek or olive green color of various shades, and by its infusibility. It is found in grains, granular masses, and rounded crystals. – Dict. Nat. Hist.

PER'I-DROME, n. [Gr. περι and δρομος, course.]

In architecture, that part of a periptery, which, in form of a gallery or alley, was left between the columns and the walls; used as a promenade. – Elmes.

PER-I-E'CIAN, n. [Gr. περιοικος.]

An inhabitant of the opposite side of the globe, in the same parallel of latitude.

PER'I-ER-GY, n. [Gr. περι and εργον.]

Needless caution or diligence.

PER'I-GEE, or PER-I-GE'UM, n. [Gr. περι, about, and γη, the earth.]

That point in the orbit of the sun or moon in which it is at the least distance from the earth; opposed to apogee. Encyc.

PER'I-GORD-STONE, n.

An ore of manganese of a dark gray color, like basalt or trap; so called from Perigord, in France. – Encyc.

PER'I-GRAPH, n. [Gr. περι, about, and γραφη, a writing.]

1. A careless or inaccurate delineation of any thing.
2. The white lines or impressions that appear on the musculus rectus of the abdomen. – Encyc.

PE-RIG'Y-NOUS, a. [Gr. περι, about, and γυνη, female.]

Growing upon some body that surrounds the ovarium. Botanists are in the habit of saying that the stamens are inserted into the calyx or corolla, i. e. are perigynous, though they always originate from the space between the base of the petals and the base of the ovary. – Lindley.