Part 155

||Pel"ta (?), n.; pl. PeltÊ. [L., a shield, fr. Gr. &?;.] 1. (Antiq.) A ||small shield, especially one of an approximately elliptic form, or ||crescent-shaped.

2. (Bot.) A flat apothecium having no rim.

{ Pel"tate (?), Pel"ta*ted (?), } a. [Cf. F. peltÈ. See Pelta.] Shield-shaped; scutiform; (Bot.) having the stem or support attached to the lower surface, instead of at the base or margin; -- said of a leaf or other organ. -- Pel"tate*ly (#), adv.

Pelt"er (?), n. One who pelts.

Pel"ter (?), n. A pinchpenny; a mean, sordid person; a miser; a skinflint. [Obs.] "Let such pelters prate." Gascoigne.

Pel"ti*form (?), a. [Pelta + - form.] Shieldlike, with the outline nearly circular; peltate. Henslow.

Pel"ting (?), a. Mean; paltry. [Obs.] Shak.

Pelt"ry (?), n. [F. pelleterie peltry, furriery, fr. pelletier a furrier, fr. OF. pel skin, F. peau, L. pelis. See Pelt a skin, Pell, n., Fell a skin.] Pelts or skins, collectively; skins with the fur on them; furs.

Pelt"ry*ware` (?), n. Peltry. [Obs.]

||Pe*lu"do (?), n. [Sp. peludo hairy.] (Zoˆl.) The South American hairy ||armadillo (Dasypus villosus).

Pe*lu"si*ac (?), a. [L. Pelusiacus.] Of or pertaining to Pelusium, an ancient city of Egypt; as, the Pelusiac (or former eastern) outlet of the Nile.

Pel"vic (?), a. Of, pertaining to, or in the region of, the pelvis; as, pelvic cellulitis.

Pelvic arch, or Pelvic girdle (Anat.), the two or more bony or cartilaginous pieces of the vertebrate skeleton to which the hind limbs are articulated. When fully ossified, the arch usually consists of three principal bones on each side, the ilium, ischium, and pubis, which are often closely united in the adult, forming the innominate bone. See Innominate bone, under Innominate.

Pel*vim"e*ter (?), n. [Pelvis + -meter.: cf. F. pelvimËtre.] An instrument for measuring the dimensions of the pelvis. Coxe.

Pel"vis (?), n. [L., a basin, laver; cf. Gr. &?;, &?;, bowl.] 1. (Anat.) The pelvic arch, or the pelvic arch together with the sacrum. See Pelvic arch, under Pelvic, and Sacrum.

2. (Zoˆl.) The calyx of a crinoid.

Pelvis of the kidney (Anat.), the basinlike cavity into which the ureter expands as it joins the kidney.

Pem"mi*can (?), n. [Written also pemican.] 1. Among the North American Indians, meat cut in thin slices, divested of fat, and dried in the sun.

Then on pemican they feasted.

Longfellow.

2. Meat, without the fat, cut in thin slices, dried in the sun, pounded, then mixed with melted fat and sometimes dried fruit, and compressed into cakes or in bags. It contains much nutriment in small compass, and is of great use in long voyages of exploration.

||Pem*phi"gus (?), n. [Nl., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, a bubble.] (Med.) A ||somewhat rare skin disease, characterized by the development of blebs ||upon different part of the body. Quain.

Pen (?), n. [OE. penne, OF. penne, pene, F. penne, fr. L. penna.] 1. A feather. [Obs.] Spenser.

2. A wing. [Obs.] Milton.

3. An instrument used for writing with ink, formerly made of a reed, or of the quill of a goose or other bird, but now also of other materials, as of steel, gold, etc. Also, originally, a stylus or other instrument for scratching or graving.

Graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock.

Job xix. 24.

4. Fig.: A writer, or his style; as, he has a sharp pen. "Those learned pens." Fuller.