Part 64

||Par`a*sce"ve (?), n. [L., from Gr. &?;, lit., preparation.] 1. Among ||the Jews, the evening before the Sabbath. [Obs.] Mark xv. 42 (Douay ||ver.)

2. A preparation. [R.] Donne.

Par`a*sche*mat"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; to change from the true form.] Of or pertaining to a change from the right form, as in the formation of a word from another by a change of termination, gender, etc. Max M¸ller.

||Par`a*se*le"ne (?), n.; pl. ParaselenÊ (#). [NL., from Gr. para` ||beside + &?; the moon: cf. F. parasÈlËne.] (Meteor.) A mock moon; an ||image of the moon which sometimes appears at the point of ||intersection of two lunar halos. Cf. Parhelion.

||Par`a*si"ta (?), n. pl. [NL.] (Zoˆl.) (a) An artificial group ||formerly made for parasitic insects, as lice, ticks, mites, etc. (b) ||A division of copepod Crustacea, having a sucking mouth, as the ||lerneans. They are mostly parasites on fishes. Called also ||Siphonostomata.

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Par"a*si`tal (?), a. (Bot. & Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to parasites; parasitic.

Par"a*site (?), n. [F., fr. L. parasitus, Gr. &?;, lit., eating beside, or at the table of, another; para` beside + &?; to feed, from &?; wheat, grain, food.]

1. One who frequents the tables of the rich, or who lives at another's expense, and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger-on; a toady; a sycophant.

Thou, with trembling fear, Or like a fawning parasite, obey'st.

Milton.

Parasites were called such smell-feasts as would seek to be free guests at rich men's tables.

Udall.

2. (Bot.) (a) A plant obtaining nourishment immediately from other plants to which it attaches itself, and whose juices it absorbs; -- sometimes, but erroneously, called epiphyte. (b) A plant living on or within an animal, and supported at its expense, as many species of fungi of the genus Torrubia.

3. (Zoˆl.) (a) An animal which lives during the whole or part of its existence on or in the body of some other animal, feeding upon its food, blood, or tissues, as lice, tapeworms, etc. (b) An animal which steals the food of another, as the parasitic jager. (c) An animal which habitually uses the nest of another, as the cowbird and the European cuckoo.

{ Par`a*sit"ic (?), Par`a*sit"ic*al (?), } a. [L. parasiticus, Gr. &?;: cf. F. parasitique.]

1. Of the nature of a parasite; fawning for food or favors; sycophantic. "Parasitic preachers." Milton.

2. (Bot. & Zoˆl.) Of or pertaining to parasites; living on, or deriving nourishment from, some other living animal or plant. See Parasite, 2 & 3.

Parasitic gull, Parasitic jager. (Zoˆl.) See Jager.

-- Par`a*sit"ic*al*ly, adv. -- Par`a*sit"ic*al*ness, n.

Par`a*sit"i*cide (?), n. [Parasite + L. caedere to kill.] Anything used to destroy parasites. Quain.

Par"a*si`tism (?), n. [Cf. F. parasitisme.]

1. The state or behavior of a parasite; the act of a parasite. "Court parasitism." Milton.

2. (Bot. & Zoˆl.)The state of being parasitic.

Par"a*sol` (?), n. [F., fr. Sp. or Pg. parasol, or It. parasole; It. parare to ward off, Sp. & Pg. parar (L. parare to prepare) + It. sole sun, Sp. & Pg. sol (L. sol). See Parry, Solar.] A kind of small umbrella used by women as a protection from the sun.

Par"a*sol`, v. t. To shade as with a parasol. [R.]

Par`a*sol*ette" (?), n. A small parasol.

Par`a*sphe"noid (?), a. [Pref. para- + sphenoid.] (Anat.) Near the sphenoid bone; - - applied especially to a bone situated immediately beneath the sphenoid in the base of the skull in many animals. -- n. The parasphenoid bone.