PAGE n.
A serving boy; formerly, a youth attending a person of high degree, especially at courts, as a position of honor and education; now commonly, in England, a youth employed for doin errands, waiting on the door, and similar service in households; in the United States, a boy emploed to wait upon the members of a legislati…
PENITENTIARY n.
An office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc. Its chief is a cardinal, called the Grand Penitentiary, appointed by the pope.
PER prep.
ach; 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 o…