proscription, in ancient Rome, a posted notice listing Roman citizens who had been declared outlaws and whose goods were confiscated. Rewards were offered to anyone killing or betraying the proscribed, and severe penalties were inflicted on anyone harbouring them. Their properties were confiscated,

proscription, in ancient Rome, a posted notice listing Roman citizens who had been declared outlaws and whose goods were confiscated. Rewards were offered to anyone killing or betraying the proscribed, and severe penalties were inflicted on anyone harbouring them. Their properties were confiscated,

Pietro Bembo: …Castiglione, and Torquato Tasso; and Prose della volgar lingua (1525; “Discussions of the Vernacular Language”). In the Prose, Bembo codified Italian orthography and grammar, essential for the establishment of a standard language, and recommended 14th-century Tuscan as the model for Italian literary language. His view, opposed by those who wanted…

elf: In the Prose, or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly equivalent to the Scottish seelie court and unseelie court. The notable characteristics of elves were mischief and volatility. They were…

literature: Prose fiction: Extended prose fiction is the latest of the literary forms to develop. We have romances from Classical Greek times that are as long as short novels; but they are really tales of adventure—vastly extended anecdotes. The first prose fiction of any psychological depth is…

Julio Ramón Ribeyro: …fiction, and the essay in Prosas apátridas (1975; “Prose of a Man with No Country”), an introspective examination of his experience in France, had a wide readership, particularly in Peru.

prose poem, a work in prose that has some of the technical or literary qualities of a poem (such as regular rhythm, definitely patterned structure, or emotional or imaginative heightening) but that is set on a page as prose. The form was introduced into French literature by Louis Bertrand, with his

Donna Tartt: The Goldfinch: …of Books, writer and critic Francine Prose wondered, “Doesn’t anyone care how something is written anymore?” James Wood of The New Yorker was similarly dismissive.

crime: The decision to prosecute: In countries where the legal system follows the English common-law tradition, the function of prosecution is usually distinguished from that of investigation and adjudication. In most countries the prosecution is performed by an official who is not part of either the police or the…

prosecutor, government official charged with bringing defendants in criminal cases to justice in the name of the state. Although responsibilities vary from one jurisdiction to another, many prosecutors are in charge of all phases of a criminal proceeding, from investigation by the police through

legal profession: Public-directed practice: …the office of the “prosecutor general,” or “officer of justice”; a similar service existed in most of the socialist countries of eastern Europe.

procedural law: Prosecutorial discretion: In all legal systems the prosecutor should bring an accusation only if he thinks that the available evidence, discounted by probable defense evidence, is so strong that the defendant is likely to be convicted after trial. In some countries, such as Italy, the…

St. Peter the Apostle: The position of Peter in the apostolic church: … and be acceptable as a proselyte. In accepting Cornelius and the others—who may have had some informal connection with the synagogue (Acts 10:1)—and ordering “them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:48) without submission to the prior rite of circumcision, Peter introduced an innovation that ensured…

forebrain, region of the developing vertebrate brain; it includes the telencephalon, which contains the cerebral hemispheres, and, under these, the diencephalon, which contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, and subthalamus. The forebrain plays a central role in the processing of

angiosperm: Ground tissue: Prosenchyma cells are starch-containing parenchymal cells whose cell walls have become lined with lignin, as occurs in the stems of Bougainvillea (Nyctaginaceae). A specialized type of parenchyma cell, called a transfer cell, is involved in the short-distance movement of solutes by cell-to-cell transfer. Transfer cells

Persephone, in Greek religion, daughter of Zeus, the chief god, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture; she was the wife of Hades, king of the underworld. In the Homeric “Hymn to Demeter,” the story is told of how Persephone was gathering flowers in the Vale of Nysa when she was seized by Hades

dam: The Romans: …Roman dams in southwestern Spain, Proserpina and Cornalbo, are still in use, while the reservoirs of others have filled with silt. The Proserpina Dam, 12 metres (40 feet) high, features a masonry-faced core wall of concrete backed by earth that is strengthened by buttresses supporting the downstream face. The Cornalbo…

dam: The Romans: …Roman dams in southwestern Spain, Proserpina and Cornalbo, are still in use, while the reservoirs of others have filled with silt. The Proserpina Dam, 12 metres (40 feet) high, features a masonry-faced core wall of concrete backed by earth that is strengthened by buttresses supporting the downstream face. The Cornalbo…

Persephone, in Greek religion, daughter of Zeus, the chief god, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture; she was the wife of Hades, king of the underworld. In the Homeric “Hymn to Demeter,” the story is told of how Persephone was gathering flowers in the Vale of Nysa when she was seized by Hades

Russian literature: Thaws and freezes: …novel Proshchaniye s Matyoroy (1976; Farewell to Matyora) about a village faced with destruction to make room for a hydroelectric plant. The novel’s regret for the past and suspicion of the new dramatically marks the difference between village prose and the Socialist-Realist collective farm novel. Yury Trifonov wrote about what…

Mathias Döpfner: …Springer’s $3 billion acquisition of ProSiebenSat.1, Germany’s largest television concern, marked its first step outside publishing. The merger gave the company access to five German television channels that claimed a combined 45 percent market share and moved the firm into direct competition with the privately owned German media giant Bertelsmann…

Dante: La vita nuova: Each is a prosimetrum—that is, a work composed of verse and prose. In each case the prose is a device for binding together poems composed over about a 10-year period. The Vita nuova brought together Dante’s poetic efforts from before 1283 to roughly 1292–93; the Convivio, a bulkier…

primate: Classification: …order Primates was divided into Prosimii (the primitive primates: lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers) and Anthropoidea (the bigger-brained monkeys and apes, including humans). It is now known that one of the “prosimians,” the tarsier, is actually more closely related to the “anthropoids,” so the classification of the primates has had to…

primate: Classification: …order Primates was divided into Prosimii (the primitive primates: lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers) and Anthropoidea (the bigger-brained monkeys and apes, including humans). It is now known that one of the “prosimians,” the tarsier, is actually more closely related to the “anthropoids,” so the classification of the primates has had to…

proscenium, in theatre, the frame or arch separating the stage from the auditorium, through which the action of a play is viewed. In the ancient Greek theatre, the proscenium (Greek: proskēnion) originally referred to a row of colonnades, supporting a raised acting platform (logeion), and afterward

Khmelnytskyy, city, western Ukraine. It lies along the upper Southern (Pivdennyy) Buh River. Originally a Polish military post, it dates from the late 15th century. The fort was seized by Cossacks during the mid-17th century. In 1793 it passed to Russia by the Second Partition of Poland, and in

Khmelnytskyy, city, western Ukraine. It lies along the upper Southern (Pivdennyy) Buh River. Originally a Polish military post, it dates from the late 15th century. The fort was seized by Cossacks during the mid-17th century. In 1793 it passed to Russia by the Second Partition of Poland, and in

ancient Greek civilization: The conquest of Bactria and the Indus valley: …the Persian court ceremonial involving proskynesis, or obeisance. Just what this entailed is disputed; perhaps it amounted to different things in different contexts, ranging from an exchange of kisses to total prostration before the ruler in the way a Muslim says his prayers. What is not in doubt is that…

history of logic: Theophrastus of Eresus: Such propositions he called prosleptic propositions, and inferences involving them were termed prosleptic syllogisms. Greek proslepsis can mean “something taken in addition,” and Theophrastus claimed that propositions like these implicitly contain a third, indefinite term, in addition to the two definite terms (“α” and “γ” in the example).

history of logic: Theophrastus of Eresus: …inferences involving them were termed prosleptic syllogisms. Greek proslepsis can mean “something taken in addition,” and Theophrastus claimed that propositions like these implicitly contain a third, indefinite term, in addition to the two definite terms (“α” and “γ” in the example).

St. Anselm of Canterbury: Early life and career: His Proslogion (“Address” or “Allocution”), originally titled Fides quaerens intellectum (“Faith Seeking Understanding”), established the ontological argument for the existence of God. In it he claimed that even a fool has an idea of a being greater than which no other being can be conceived to…

broomcorn: …also the common name of Panicum miliaceum, a type of millet.

broomcorn: …also the common name of Panicum miliaceum, a type of millet.

prosobranch, any snail of the subclass Prosobranchia, class Gastropoda. Most of these roughly 20,000 snail species are marine; a few live on land or in fresh water. Many prosobranchs breathe by means of gills, which are located in the mantle cavity in front of the heart; some have a special

prosobranch, any snail of the subclass Prosobranchia, class Gastropoda. Most of these roughly 20,000 snail species are marine; a few live on land or in fresh water. Many prosobranchs breathe by means of gills, which are located in the mantle cavity in front of the heart; some have a special

prosody: The 18th century: Joshua Steele’s Prosodia Rationalis (1779) is an early attempt to scan English verse by means of musical notation. (A later attempt was made by the American poet Sidney Lanier in his Science of English Verse, 1880.) Steele’s method is highly personal, depending on an idiosyncratic assigning of…

suprasegmental, in phonetics, a speech feature such as stress, tone, or word juncture that accompanies or is added over consonants and vowels; these features are not limited to single sounds but often extend over syllables, words, or phrases. In Spanish the stress accent is often used to

prosody, the study of all the elements of language that contribute toward acoustic and rhythmic effects, chiefly in poetry but also in prose. The term derived from an ancient Greek word that originally meant a song accompanied by music or the particular tone or accent given to an individual

arachnid: Body and appendages: …into two distinct regions: the cephalothorax, or prosoma, and the abdomen, or opisthosoma. The sternites (ventral plates) of the lower surface of the body show more variation than do the tergites (dorsal plates). The arachnids have simple (as opposed to compound) eyes.

prosopagnosia, neurological disorder in which affected persons are unable to recognize faces, despite having healthy vision and normal memory and intelligence. The severity of prosopagnosia ranges from mild to severe, from the inability to recognize faces seen only a small number of times to the

Aristolochiaceae: The genus Prosopanche occurs in Central and South America, and Hydnora occurs in Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula. The southern African H. triceps grows exclusively on succulent species of Euphorbia.

mesquite, (genus Prosopis), genus of spiny deep-rooted shrubs or small trees in the pea family (Fabaceae). They form extensive thickets in areas from South America into the southwestern United States. They are considered pests and have been eradicated in some places. The wood of the mesquite,

Thar Desert: Land: The khajri (or khejri) tree (Prosopis cineraria) grows throughout the plains.

desertification: Grazing lands: …in the southwestern United States, honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) is a native shrub, but it can increase its range considerably when cattle overgraze grasslands. The resulting plant community supports few livestock and is a persistent one—that is, the extensive thickets of mesquite often prevent grasses from recolonizing their former range.

Gran Chaco: Plant life: …species, among which the notorious vinal (Prosopis ruscifolia) was declared a national plague in Argentina because its thorns, up to a foot in length, created a livestock hazard in the agricultural lands it was invading.

whitefish: The round whitefishes (Prosopium) are the best sport fishes of the family. The Rocky Mountain whitefish (P. williamsoni) attains a weight of approximately 3 kg (6.6 pounds) and is often found in trout streams.

Nestorius: Nestorianism: The Greek term prosōpon means the external, undivided presentation, or manifestation, of an individual that can be extended by means of other things—e.g., a painter includes his brush within his own prosōpon. So the Son of God used manhood for his self-manifestation, and manhood was therefore included in…

mining: Prospecting and exploration: …containing a deposit, called the prospect, is explored to determine some of the more important characteristics of the deposit. Among these are its size, shape, orientation in space, and location with respect to the surface, as well as the mineral quality and quality distribution and the quantities of these different…

Beijing: Recreation: Jingshan (Prospect Hill) Park, also known as Meishan (Coal Hill) Park, is a man-made hill, more than a mile (1.6 km) in circumference, located north of the Forbidden City. The hill, offering a spectacular panorama of Beijing from its summit, has five ridges, with a…

Teraina Island, coral atoll of the Northern Line Islands, part of Kiribati, in the west-central Pacific Ocean. With a circumference of 9 miles (14 km), it rises to about 10 feet (3 metres) and has a freshwater lake at its eastern end. It was sighted in 1798 by an American trader and explorer,

Giorgio Bassani: …collection Cinque storie ferraresi (1956; Five Stories of Ferrara, also published as Prospect of Ferrara; reissued as Dentro le mura, 1973, “Inside the Walls”), five novellas that describe the growth of fascism and anti-Semitism, brought Bassani his first commercial success and the Strega Prize (offered annually for the best Italian…

cryonics: …cryonic preservation was popularized in The Prospect of Immortality, a book by Robert Ettinger that was initially released in 1962 and formally published in 1964. Ettinger subsequently became known as the father of cryonics. His body was cryonically preserved upon his death in 2011 and was stored at the Cryonics…

Glen Ellyn, village, DuPage county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It is a suburb of Chicago, lying 23 miles (37 km) west of downtown. Glen Ellyn’s phases of development were marked by seven name changes: Babcock’s Grove (1833), for the first settlers, Ralph and Morgan Babcock; DuPage Center (1834);

topographical poetry: A subgenre, the prospect poem, details the view from a height. The form was established by John Denham in 1642 with the publication of his poem Cooper’s Hill. Topographical poems were at their peak of popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries, though there are examples from the…

prospect theory, psychological theory of decision-making under conditions of risk, which was developed by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky and originally published in 1979 in Econometrica. The model has been imported into a number of fields and has been used to analyze various aspects

prospecting, search for economically exploitable mineral deposits. Until the 20th century prospecting involved roaming likely areas on foot looking for direct indications of ore mineralization in outcrops, sediments, and soils. Colours have been a traditional guide to ores. The reds, browns, and

cohort analysis, method used in studies to describe an aggregate of individuals having in common a significant event in their life histories, such as year of birth (birth cohort) or year of marriage (marriage cohort). The concept of cohort is useful because occurrence rates of various forms of

A prospectus is a legal document that every publicly traded stock, mutual fund, and exchange-traded fund (ETF) files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It lays out basic financial information as well as the mission of the company or fund. Mutual funds and ETFs usually include key

Saint Prosper of Aquitaine ; feast day July 7) was an early Christian polemicist famous for his defense of Augustine of Hippo and his doctrine on grace, predestination, and free will, which became a norm for the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. Prosper’s chief opponents were the

postmaterialism: Conversely, conditions of prosperity and security are conducive to tolerance of diversity in general and democracy in particular. This helps explain a long-established finding: rich societies are much likelier to be democratic than poor ones. One contributing factor is that the authoritarian reaction is strongest under conditions of…

prosperity gospel, in Protestant Christianity, the teaching that faith—expressed through positive thoughts, positive declarations, and donations to the church—draws health, wealth, and happiness into believers’ lives. It is also referred to as the “health and wealth gospel” or “name it and claim

prosperity gospel, in Protestant Christianity, the teaching that faith—expressed through positive thoughts, positive declarations, and donations to the church—draws health, wealth, and happiness into believers’ lives. It is also referred to as the “health and wealth gospel” or “name it and claim

Prospero, the first and only Earth satellite launched by Great Britain. It was launched with a British Black Arrow missile on Oct. 28, 1971, from the rocket-testing facility at Woomera, Australia. Prospero weighed 145 pounds (66 kg) and was primarily designed to test the efficiency of various

Prospero, the exiled rightful duke of Milan and a master magician in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Prospero has used the experience of shipwreck on an enchanted island to master all sorts of supernatural powers. He uses this knowledge to transform the island and its inhabitants and eventually to

Prospero Farinacci was an Italian jurist whose Praxis et Theorica Criminalis (1616) was the strongest influence on penology in Roman-law countries until the reforms of the criminologist-economist Cesare Beccaria (1738–94). The Praxis is most noteworthy as the definitive work on the jurisprudence of

Curzio Malaparte: …in his own literary magazine, Prospettive (1937), and in many articles written for fascist periodicals. He also wrote a particularly controversial and influential discussion of violence and means of revolution published in French, Technique du coup d’état (1931; Coup d’État, the Technique of Revolution; Italian trans., Tecnica del colpo di…

Gabriel was an American bondsman who planned the first major slave rebellion in U.S. history (Aug. 30, 1800). His abortive revolt greatly increased the whites’ fear of the slave population throughout the South. The son of an African-born mother, Gabriel grew up as the slave of Thomas H. Prosser.

Prostějov, town, south-central Czech Republic, just southwest of Olomouc, in the farming region of the Haná Valley. Founded in the 12th century, the town became a centre for publishing Czech and Hebrew books after 1500. The town hall has a Renaissance portal (1521) and contains a museum featuring a

Alain Prost former French race car driver and motorsport executive. Prost competed in Formula One (F1) racing from 1980 to 1993, winning four championships. He won 51 races, a record at the time of his retirement. Nicknamed “the Professor” and “the Calculator” for his methodical approach to races,

prostaglandin: Vasodilation and blood clotting: Thromboxanes and prostacyclins play an important role in the formation of blood clots. The process of clot formation begins with an aggregation of blood platelets. This process is strongly stimulated by thromboxanes and inhibited by prostacyclin. Prostacyclin is synthesized in the walls of blood vessels and serves…

prostaglandin, any of a group of naturally occurring lipid compounds that act as chemical messengers, having diverse functions and effects in humans and other animals. Prostaglandins are powerful substances that serve to regulate essential physiological processes and that mediate inflammatory and

diplomatics: The Roman and Byzantine empire: …Byzantine imperial chancery include the prostagma, or horismos, a plain and short document known since the beginning of the 13th century. If directed to a single person, the document starts out with a short address, but, in all other cases, it begins immediately with the narratio, followed by the dispositio.…

drug: Drugs that affect smooth muscle: …function as local hormones are prostanoids. Prostanoids (e.g., prostaglandins) and leukotrienes (a related group of lipids) are derived by enzymatic synthesis from one of three 20-carbon fatty acids, the most important being arachidonic acid. These substances are important especially in producing tissue responses to injury. Among their most important sites

mint: Related species: …Australian genus Prostanthera are called mint bushes.

prostate cancer, disease characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells within the prostate gland, a walnut-sized organ surrounding the urethra just below the bladder in males. Prostate cancer is a frequently diagnosed cancer among males, particularly among those who are older (the disease is rare

prostate gland, chestnut-shaped reproductive organ, located directly beneath the urinary bladder in the male, which adds secretions to the sperm during the ejaculation of semen. The gland surrounds the urethra, the duct that serves for the passage of both urine and semen. Rounded at the top, the

prostate cancer: Diagnosis: A blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) may be used to detect prostate tumors in their earliest stages in high-risk individuals. If any of these tests suggest cancer, a biopsy is done to confirm the diagnosis. When caught early, prostate cancer is treatable. A large majority of prostate cancers…

cancer: Immunotherapy: …laboratory in the presence of prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), an enzyme that is overproduced by prostate cancer cells. The cells, now “activated” (capable of provoking an immune response), are infused back into the patient, leading to the expansion of populations of PAP-specific T cells and a more effective immune response…

prostatic disorder, any of the abnormalities and diseases that afflict the prostate gland in the male reproductive system. The prostate gland is dependent on the hormonal secretions of the testes for growth and development. When production of the male hormone (androgen) decreases, the prostate

human reproductive system: Ejaculatory ducts: …reach the floor of the prostatic urethra. This part of the urethra has on its floor (or posterior wall) a longitudinal ridge called the urethral crest. On each side is a depression, the prostatic sinus, into which open the prostatic ducts. In the middle of the urethral crest is a…

Prostějov, town, south-central Czech Republic, just southwest of Olomouc, in the farming region of the Haná Valley. Founded in the 12th century, the town became a centre for publishing Czech and Hebrew books after 1500. The town hall has a Renaissance portal (1521) and contains a museum featuring a

bacteria: Budding: …cell or on filaments called prosthecae. As growth proceeds, the size of the mother cell remains about constant, but the bud enlarges. When the bud is about the same size as the mother cell, it separates. This type of reproduction is analogous to that in budding fungi, such as brewer’s…

prosthesis, artificial substitute for a missing part of the body. The artificial parts that are most commonly thought of as prostheses are those that replace lost arms and legs, but bone, artery, and heart valve replacements are common (see artificial organ), and artificial eyes and teeth are also

enzyme: Chemical nature: …is referred to as a prosthetic group.

biomedical engineering: heart monitors, imaging machines, and prosthetic limbs, which help facilitate the diagnosis, treatment, and management of disease. Thus, by blending scientific understanding with creative problem-solving, the field contributes to advancing the safety, effectiveness, and personalization of health care.

prosthodontics, dental specialty concerned with restoration and maintenance of oral function, appearance, and comfort by use of prostheses. The oral prostheses replacing teeth may be removable dentures or partial dentures or permanently fixed tooth prostheses, connected to remaining teeth or

prosthodontics, dental specialty concerned with restoration and maintenance of oral function, appearance, and comfort by use of prostheses. The oral prostheses replacing teeth may be removable dentures or partial dentures or permanently fixed tooth prostheses, connected to remaining teeth or

chigger, (suborder Prostigmata), the larva of any of approximately 10,000 species of mites in the invertebrate subclass Acari (the mites and ticks). The name is also erroneously applied to an insect better known as the chigoe, jigger, or jigger flea. Chiggers range in length from 0.1 to 16 mm

prostitution, the practice of engaging in relatively indiscriminate sexual activity, in general with someone who is not a spouse or a friend, in exchange for immediate payment in money or other valuables. Prostitutes may be female or male or transgender, and prostitution may entail heterosexual or

ARCHIVED TOPIC: This topic was archived on Dec. 15, 2021 and will no longer be updated. Proponents of legalizing prostitution believe it would reduce crime, improve public health, increase tax revenue, help people out of poverty, get prostitutes off the streets, and allow consenting adults to make

ribbon worm: Within the genera Prostoma and Geonemertes, the species may be either dioecious (i.e., separate male and female animals) or hermaphroditic (i.e. male and female reproductive organs in one animal). All ribbon worms have the ability to regenerate lost or damaged parts of their bodies; some species actually break…

annelid: External features: The first segment, the prostomium, is in front of the mouth and may be a simple lobe or a highly developed projection. The next segment, the peristome, surrounds the mouth and is followed by a series of segments, the total number of which may be limited or unlimited. The…

pigweed: Prostrate pigweed, or mat amaranth (A. graecizans), grows along the ground surface with stems rising at the tips; spiny pigweed, or spiny amaranth (A. spinosus), has spines at the base of the leafstalks; and rough pigweed, or redroot (A. retroflexus), is a stout plant up…

rhododendron: Physical description: …(4 inches) high, such as prostrate rhododendron (R. prostratum) from Yunnan, China, while others are trees, such as tree rhododendron (R. arboreum), bearded rhododendron (R. barbatum), and the critically endangered big tree rhododendron (R. protistum variety giganteum) from

spurge: Major species: The weedy North American prostrate spurge (E. supine) is commonly found growing out of sidewalk cracks.

Alexander the Great: Campaign eastward to Central Asia: …the Persian court ceremonial, involving prostration (proskynesis), on the Greeks and Macedonians too, but to them this custom, habitual for Persians entering the king’s presence, implied an act of worship and was intolerable before a human. Even Callisthenes, historian and nephew of Aristotle, whose ostentatious flattery had perhaps encouraged Alexander…

Matija Nenadović was a Serbian priest and patriot, the first diplomatic agent of his country in modern times. He is often called Prota Matija, because, as a boy of 16, he was made a priest and, a few years later, became archpriest (prota) of Valjevo. His father, Aleksa Nenadović, was a local

protacanthopterygian, (superorder Protacanthopterygii), any member of a diverse and complex group of bony fishes made up of the orders Salmoniformes, Osmeriformes, and Esociformes. The superorder Protacanthopterygii, considered to be the most primitive of the modern teleosts, contains about 366

protacanthopterygian, (superorder Protacanthopterygii), any member of a diverse and complex group of bony fishes made up of the orders Salmoniformes, Osmeriformes, and Esociformes. The superorder Protacanthopterygii, considered to be the most primitive of the modern teleosts, contains about 366

protactinium (Pa), radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, rarer than radium; its atomic number is 91. It occurs in all uranium ores to the extent of 0.34 part per million of uranium. Its existence was predicted by Russian chemist Dmitry Mendeleyev in his 1871