Part 309

Place"ment (?), n. [Cf. F. placement.] 1. The act of placing, or the state of being placed.

2. Position; place.

Pla*cen"ta (?), n.; pl. L. PlacentÊ (#), E. Placentas (#). [L., a cake, Gr. &?; a flat cake, from &?; flat, fr. &?;, &?;, anything flat and broad.] 1. (Anat.) The vascular appendage which connects the fetus with the parent, and is cast off in parturition with the afterbirth.

In most mammals the placenta is principally developed from the allantois and chorion, and tufts of vascular villi on its surface penetrate the blood vessels of the parental uterus, and thus establish a nutritive and excretory connection between the blood of the fetus and that of the parent, though the blood itself does not flow from one to the other.

2. (Bot.) The part of a pistil or fruit to which the ovules or seeds are attached.

Pla*cen"tal (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to the placenta; having, or characterized by having, a placenta; as, a placental mammal.

2. (Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to the Placentalia.

Pla*cen"tal, n. (Zoˆl.) One of the Placentalia.

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||Plac`en*ta"li*a (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) A division of Mammalia ||including those that have a placenta, or all the orders above the ||marsupials.

Pla*cen"ta*ry (?), a. Having reference to the placenta; as, the placentary system of classification.

Plac`en*ta"tion (?), n. 1. (Anat.) The mode of formation of the placenta in different animals; as, the placentation of mammals.

2. (Bot.) The mode in which the placenta is arranged or composed; as, axile placentation; parietal placentation.

Plac`en*tif"er*ous (?), a. [Placenta + -ferous.] (Bot. & Zoˆl.) Having or producing a placenta.

Pla*cen"ti*form (?), a. [Placenta + -form.] (Bot.) Having the shape of a placenta, or circular thickened disk somewhat thinner about the middle.

Pla*cen"tious (?), a. [See Please.] Pleasing; amiable. [Obs.] "A placentious person." Fuller.

Place"-proud` (?), a. Proud of rank or office. Beau. & Fl.

Pla"cer (?), n. One who places or sets. Spenser.

Plac"er (?), n. [Sp.] A deposit of earth, sand, or gravel, containing valuable mineral in particles, especially by the side of a river, or in the bed of a mountain torrent. [U.S.]

||Pla"cet (?), n. [L. placet it pleases.] 1. A vote of assent, as of ||the governing body of a university, of an ecclesiastical council, ||etc.

2. The assent of the civil power to the promulgation of an ecclesiastical ordinance. Shipley.

The king . . . annulled the royal placet.

J. P. Peters.

Plac"id (?), a. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.] Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. "That placid aspect and meek regard." Milton. "Sleeping . . . the placid sleep of infancy." Macaulay.

Pla*cid"i*ty (?), n. [L. placiditas: cf. F. placiditÈ.] The quality or state of being placid; calmness; serenity. Hawthorne.

Plac"id*ly (?), adv. In a placid manner.

Plac"id*ness, n. The quality or state of being placid.

Plac"it (?), n. [L. placitum. See Plea.] A decree or determination; a dictum. [Obs.] "The placits and opinions of other philosophers." Evelyn.