| pecan | <botany> A species of hickory (Carya olivaeformis), growing in North America, chiefly in the Mississippi valley and in Texas, where it is one of the largest of forest trees; also, its fruit, a smooth, oblong nut, an inch or an inch and a half long, with a thin shell and well-flavored meat. Alternative forms: pacane. Origin: Cf. F. Pacane the nut. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| pecary | <zoology> See Peccary. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| peccant | Unhealthy; producing disease. Origin: L. Peccans (-ant-), pres. P. Of pecco, to sin (05 Mar 2000) |
| peccant humors | Based on the historic humoral theory of disease, such humor's or deranged fluids in the body were regarded as the direct causes of various illnesses. (05 Mar 2000) |
| peccary | Origin: From the native South American name: cf. F. Pecari, Sp. Pecar. <zoology> A pachyderm of the genus Dicotyles. The collared peccary, or tajacu (Dicotyles torquatus), is about the size and shape of a small hog, and has a white ring aroung the neck. It ranges from Arkansas to Brazil. A larger species (D. Labiatus), with white cheeks, is found in South America. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| peccatiphobia | <psychology> Morbid fear of sinning. Origin: L. Peccatum,, sin, + G. Phobos, fear (05 Mar 2000) |
| pecilocin | 1-(8-Hydroxy-6-methyl-1-oxo-2,4,6-dodecatrienyl)-2-pyrrolidinone;an antifungal agent. (05 Mar 2000) |
| peck | 1. To strike with the beak; to thrust the beak into; as, a bird pecks a tree. 2. Hence: To strike, pick, thrust against, or dig into, with a pointed instrument; especially, to strike, pick, etc, with repeated quick movements. 3. To seize and pick up with the beak, or as with the beak; to bite; to eat; often with up. "This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons peas." (Shak) 4. To make, by striking with the beak or a pointed instrument; as, to peck a hole in a tree. Origin: See Pick. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pecker | 1. One who, or that which, pecks; specif, a bird that pecks holes in trees; a woodpecker. 2. An instrument for pecking; a pick. Flower pecker. <zoology> See Flower. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pecopteris | <paleontology> An extensive genus of fossil ferns; so named from the regular comblike arrangement of the leaflets. Origin: NL, fr. Gr. To comb + a kind of fern. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| pecora | <zoology> An extensive division of ruminants, including the antelopes, deer, and cattle. Origin: NL, fr. L. Pecus. See Pecuniary. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Pecquet's cistern | A dilated sac at the lower end of the thoracic duct into which the intestinal trunk and two lumbar lymphatic trunks open; it occurs inconstantly and when present is located posterior to the aorta on the anterior aspect of the bodies of the first and second lumbar vertebrae. Synonym: ampulla chyli, chyle cistern, chylocyst, Pecquet's cistern, Pecquet's reservoir, receptaculum chyli, receptaculum pecqueti. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Pecquet's duct | <anatomy> The major efferent lymph duct into which lymph from most of the peripheral lymph nodes drains. Recirculating lymphocytes that have left the circulation in the lymph node return to the blood through the thoracic duct. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Pecquet's reservoir | A dilated sac at the lower end of the thoracic duct into which the intestinal trunk and two lumbar lymphatic trunks open; it occurs inconstantly and when present is located posterior to the aorta on the anterior aspect of the bodies of the first and second lumbar vertebrae. Synonym: ampulla chyli, chyle cistern, chylocyst, Pecquet's cistern, Pecquet's reservoir, receptaculum chyli, receptaculum pecqueti. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Pecquet, Jean | <person> French anatomist, 1622-1674. See: Pecquet's cistern, Pecquet's duct, receptaculum pecqueti, Pecquet's reservoir. (05 Mar 2000) |