Emily Dickinson Lexicon

pay, n. [OFr paie.] (webplay: debt, life, merchant, purchased).

1. Compensation; reimbursement; reward; equal trade.
2. Salary; wage; money given in exchange for services rendered.

pay (-ing, -s, paid, paid'st), v. [ME < Fr. payer.] (webplay: defend, head, honor, law, life, loss, men, obligation, salary, vows).

1. Render; give; deliver; trade; offer in exchange.
2. Compensate; give a salary; offer wages; reimburse for services rendered.
3. Submit to; agree to.
4. Suffer.

pea, n. [ME pease < OE pise < L. pisa. ME singular pease reinterpreted as plural, creating the new singular pea cerca 1600.] (webplay: fruit, pod).

Unattainable fruit; small round legume encased in a pod; [fig.] thing that is desirable because it is off limits.

peace, n. [ME pais < OFr pais.] (webplay: death, die, earth, heaven, interruption, life, neighbors, peace-parted, press, riots, rural, sacrifice, scenes, slept, speak, suppress, thoughts, troubled).

1. Tranquility; freedom from pain; absence of suffering; serenity of mind.
2. Silence; stillness; quiet.
3. Bliss; ecstasy; rapture; supreme joy.
4. Absence of war.
5. Freedom from regret; absence of remorse.
6. Calm weather; quiet period after a storm.
7. [Fig.] eternal rest.
8. [Fig.] immortality; resurrection; life after death.
9. [Fig.] death.

peaceful, adj. [see peace, n.] (webplay: break, silent).

Calm; quiet; serene; tranquil; undisturbed; [fig.] related to death; free from the cares of mortal existence.

peacock (-'s), n. [ME pê- < OE péa + OE cocc.] (webplay: feather).

1. Large fowl with richly colored tail feathers.
2. Meadow; garden; landscape of brightly colored spring flowers.
3. Fan of iridescence; [fig.] sunset; the sun as it sinks toward the horizon in the evening.

peak (-s), n. [ME pīk, pike < OE piic.]

Top; summit; pinnacle; extremity; highest region.

peal, n. [ME pele < apele, appeal.]

Signal; ringing; music; song; tolling of bells to usher in; crowing of the rooster at dawn.

pearl, adj. [see pearl, n.] (webplay: softly).

Transparent; white; celestial; adorned with pearls; [fig.] deceased; immortal.

pearl (-s), n. [ME < Fr. perle.] (webplay: adorn, continent, dew, divers, drop, roundish, seas, shell, shores, silvery, smooth, softer, water, white, yields).

1. Round ball that divers extract from oysters in the depths of the sea; [fig.] soul; mortal; human being; child of God; (see Matthew 13:45-46).
2. Abalone; mother-of-pearl; lustrous white decorative matter from the inner side of an oyster shell; [fig.] celestial material; heavenly whiteness; that which adorns the gates of heaven; (see Revelation 21:21).
3. Valuable white gem; precious iridescent bead.
4. Gift; [fig.] being; precious soul; beloved person; rare opportunity to love and be loved.
5. Prize; precious object; valuable thing.
6. Treasure; natural gem; [fig.] truth; reality; substantial matters; real essence; [metaphor] paradise; heaven; immortality; eternal life.
7. Sun; sunlight; sunshine; ball of light; radiant solar globe that sustains life on earth; [metaphor] love; gospel; promise of redemption; [allusion] see Browning's Paracelsus.
8. White bloom; precious flower; beautiful blossom.
9. Wedding ring; gem in a gift of jewelry; [fig.] honorable name; marriage vow; gift of love; joy resulting from wifehood; symbol of status as a married woman in society; token of purity, fidelity, loyalty, and commitment; [metaphor] joyous moment; precious time of happiness in marriage.
10. Foam; spume; silvery seawater.
11. Whiteness; iridescent thread spun by a spider.
12. Rich melody; clear tone; exquisite music.
13. Secret; confidential matter; object that oysters form imperceptibly in the ocean within their shells; [fig.] truth hidden from the knowledge of humankind; private pain that eventually yields enormous gain.
14. White material; spotless clothing used to adorn the dead.