Part 152

Pe*la"gi*an, n. [L. Pelagianus: cf. F. pÈlagien.] (Eccl. Hist.) A follower of Pelagius, a British monk, born in the later part of the 4th century, who denied the doctrines of hereditary sin, of the connection between sin and death, and of conversion through grace.

Pe*la"gi*an, a. [Cf. F. pÈlagien.] Of or pertaining to Pelagius, or to his doctrines.

Pe*la"gi*an*ism (?), n. [Cf. F. pÈlagianisme.] The doctrines of Pelagius.

Pe*lag"ic (?), a. [L. pelagicus.] Of or pertaining to the ocean; -- applied especially to animals that live at the surface of the ocean, away from the coast.

Pel`ar*gon"ic (?), a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, an organic acid (called also nonoic acid) found in the leaves of the geranium (Pelargonium) and allied plants.

||Pel`ar*go"ni*um (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a stork.] (Bot.) A large ||genus of plants of the order GeraniaceÊ, differing from Geranium in ||having a spurred calyx and an irregular corolla.

About one hundred and seventy species are known, nearly all of them natives of South Africa, and many having very beautiful blossoms. See the Note under Geranium.

{ Pe*las"gi*an (?), Pe*las"gic (?), } a. [L. Pelasgus, Gr. &?; a Pelasgian.] 1. Of or pertaining to the Pelasgians, an ancient people of Greece, of roving habits.

2. (Zoˆl.) Wandering.

Pel"e*can (?), n. (Zoˆl.) See Pelican.

||Pel`e*can`i*for"mes (?), n. pl. [NL. See Pelican, and -form.] (Zoˆl.) ||Those birds that are related to the pelican; the Totipalmi.

Pel"e*coid (?), n. [Gr. &?; a hatchet + -oid.] (Geom.) A figure, somewhat hatched-shaped, bounded by a semicircle and two inverted quadrants, and equal in area to the square ABCD inclosed by the chords of the four quadrants. [Written also pelicoid.] Math. Dict.

||Pel`e*cyp"o*da (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a hatchet + -poda.] ||(Zoˆl.) Same as Lamellibranchia.

Pel"e*grine (?), a. See Peregrine. [Obs.]

Pel"er*ine (?), n. [F. pËlerine a tippet, fr. pËlerin a pilgrim, fr. L. peregrinus foreign, alien. See Pilgrim.] A woman's cape; especially, a fur cape that is longer in front than behind.

Pelf (?), n. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder, and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. Pilfer.] Money; riches; lucre; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural. "Mucky pelf." Spenser. "Paltry pelf." Burke.

Can their pelf prosper, not got by valor or industry?

Fuller.

Pelf"ish, a. Of or pertaining to pelf. Stanyhurst.

{ Pel"fray (?), Pel"fry (?), } n. Pelf; also, figuratively, rubbish; trash. [Obs.] Cranmer.

Pel"i*can (?), n. [F. pÈlican, L. pelicanus, pelecanus, Gr. &?;, &?;, &?;, the woodpecker, and also a water bird of the pelican kind, fr. &?; to hew with an ax, akin to Skr. paraÁu.] [Written also pelecan.] 1. (Zoˆl.) Any large webfooted bird of the genus Pelecanus, of which about a dozen species are known. They have an enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is attached a pouch in which captured fishes are temporarily stored.

The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) and the brown species (P. fuscus) are abundant on the Florida coast in winter, but breed about the lakes in the Rocky Mountains and British America.

2. (Old Chem.) A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and redistillation.

The principle is still employed in certain modern forms of distilling apparatus.

Frigate pelican (Zoˆl.), the frigate bird. See under Frigate. -- Pelican fish (Zoˆl.), deep-sea fish (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) of the order Lyomeri, remarkable for the enormous development of the jaws, which support a large gular pouch. -- Pelican flower (Bot.), the very large and curiously shaped blossom of a climbing plant (Aristolochia grandiflora) of the West Indies; also, the plant itself. -- Pelican ibis (Zoˆl.), a large Asiatic wood ibis (Tantalus leucocephalus). The head and throat are destitute of feathers; the plumage is white, with the quills and the tail greenish black. -- Pelican in her piety (in heraldry and symbolical art), a representation of a pelican in the act of wounding her breast in order to nourish her young with her blood; -- a practice fabulously attributed to the bird, on account of which it was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, and of charity. -- Pelican's foot (Zoˆl.), a marine gastropod shell of the genus Aporrhais, esp. Aporrhais pes-pelicani of Europe.

Pel"ick (?), n. (Zoˆl.) The American coot (Fulica).

Pel"i*coid (?), n. See Pelecoid.

||Pel`i*co*sau"ri*a (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a wooden bowl (but ||taken to mean, pelvis) + &?; a lizard.] (Paleon.) A suborder of ||Theromorpha, including terrestrial reptiles from the Permian ||formation.