Part 175

Pe"quots (?), n. pl.; sing. Pequot (&?;). (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians who formerly inhabited Eastern Connecticut. [Written also Pequods.]

Per- (?). [See Per.] 1. A prefix used to signify through, throughout, by, for, or as an intensive as perhaps, by hap or chance; perennial, that lasts throughout the year; perforce, through or by force; perfoliate, perforate; perspicuous, evident throughout or very evident; perplex, literally, to entangle very much.

2. (Chem.) Originally, denoting that the element to the name of which it is prefixed in the respective compounds exercised its highest valence; now, only that the element has a higher valence than in other similar compounds; thus, barium peroxide is the highest oxide of barium; while nitrogen and manganese peroxides, so-called, are not the highest oxides of those elements.

Per (?), prep. [L. Cf. Far, For-, Pardon, and cf. Par, prep.] Through; by means of; through the agency of; by; for; for each; as, per annum; per capita, by heads, or according to individuals; per curiam, by the court; per se, by itself, of itself. Per is also sometimes used with English words.

Per annum, by the year; in each successive year; annually. -- Per cent, Per centum, by the hundred; in the hundred; -- used esp. of proportions of ingredients, rate or amount of interest, and the like; commonly used in the shortened form per cent. -- Per diem, by the day. [For other phrases from the Latin, see Quotations, Phrases, etc., from Foreign Languages, in the Supplement.]

Per*act" (?), v. t. [L. peractus, p. p. of peragere.] To go through with; to perform. [Obs.] Sylvester.

Per`a*cute" (?), a. [L. peracutus. See Per-, and Acute.] Very sharp; very violent; as, a peracute fever. [R.] Harvey.

Per`ad*ven"ture (?), adv. & conj. [OE. per aventure, F. par aventure. See Per, and Adventure.] By chance; perhaps; it may be; if; supposing. "If peradventure he speak against me." Shak.

Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city.

Gen. xviii. 24.

Per`ad*ven"ture, n. Chance; hap; hence, doubt; question; as, proved beyond peradventure. South.

Pe*rÊ"o*pod (?), n. [Gr. &?; on the opposite side + -pod.] (Zoˆl.) One of the thoracic legs of a crustacean. See Illust. of Crustacea.

Per"a*grate (?), v. t. [L. peragratus, p. p. of peragrate.] To travel over or through. [Obs.]

Per`agra"tion (?), n. [L. peragratio: cf. F. peragration.] The act or state of passing through any space; as, the peragration of the moon in her monthly revolution. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Per*am"bu*late (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Perambulated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Perambulating.] [L. perambulatus, p. p. of perambulare to perambulate; per through + ambulare to walk. See Per-, and Amble.] To walk through or over; especially, to travel over for the purpose of surveying or examining; to inspect by traversing; specifically, to inspect officially the boundaries of, as of a town or parish, by walking over the whole line.

Per*am"bu*late, v. i. To walk about; to ramble; to stroll; as, he perambulated in the park.

Per*am`bu*la"tion (?), n. 1. The act of perambulating; traversing. Bacon.

2. An annual survey of boundaries, as of town, a parish, a forest, etc.

3. A district within which one is authorized to make a tour of inspection. "The . . . bounds of his own perambulation." [Obs.] Holyday.

Per*am"bu*la`tor (?), n. 1. One who perambulates.

2. A surveyor's instrument for measuring distances. It consists of a wheel arranged to roll along over the ground, with an apparatus of clockwork, and a dial plate upon which the distance traveled is shown by an index. See Odometer.

3. A low carriage for a child, propelled by pushing.

||Per`a*me"les (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a pouch + L. meles a badger.] ||(Zoˆl.) Any marsupial of the genus Perameles, which includes numerous ||species found in Australia. They somewhat resemble rabbits in size ||and form. See Illust. under Bandicoot.

Per"bend (?), n. See Perpender.

Per"break` (?), n. [Obs.] See Parbreak.

Per*bro"mate (?), n. (Chem.)A salt of perbromic acid.

Per*bro"mic (?), a. [Pref. per- + bromic.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, the highest oxygen acid, HBrO4, of bromine.

Per*bro"mide (?), n. (Chem.) A bromide having a higher proportion of bromine than any other bromide of the same substance or series.