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A floral ornament, common in Greek and other ancient architecture; -- often called the honeysuckle ornament.

A polystome worm (Palolo viridis) that burrows in the coral reefs of certain of the Pacific Islands. A little before the last quarter of the moon in October and November, they swarm in vast numbers at the surface of the sea for breeding, and are gathered and highly esteemed as food by the natives. An allied species inh…

t slender calcareous processes which surround the central part of the calicle of certain corals.

s narrative of something which might really occur in life or nature, by means of which a moral is drawn; as, the parables of Christ. Chaucer. Declare unto us the parable of the tares. Matt. xiii. 36.

Situated beside, or near, the mastoid portion of the temporal bone; paroccipital; -- applied especially to a process of the skull in some animals.

Mutual discourse or conversation; discussion; hence, an oral conference with an enemy, as with regard to a truce. We yield on parley, but are stormed in vain. Dryden. To beat a parley (Mil.), to beat a drum, or sound a trumpet, as a signal for holding a conference with the enemy.

of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and the representatives of the commons, sitting in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, constituting the legislature, when summoned by the royal authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to enact and rep…

A word; an oral utterance. [Obs.]

A word; an oral utterance. [Obs.]

ll receive him gladly. Shak. If the particulars of each person be considered. Milton. Temporal blessings, whether such as concern the public . . . or such as concern our particular. Whole Duty of Man.

A genus of small fishes, having large pectoral fins, and the body covered with hard, bony plates. Several species are known from the East Indies and China.

A division of alcyonoid corals, including the seapens and related kinds. They are able to move about by means of the hollow muscular peduncle, which also serves to support them upright in the mud. See Pennatula, and Illust. under Alcyonaria.

so that nothing requisite is wanting; entire development; consummate culture, skill, or moral excellence; the highest attainable state or degree of excellence; maturity; as, perfection in an art, in a science, or in a system; perfection in form or degree; fruits in perfection.

One pretending to perfection; esp., one pretending to moral perfection; one who believes that persons may and do attain to moral perfection and sinlessness in this life. South.

A division of corals including those that have a porous texture, as Porites and Madrepora; -- opposed to Aporosa.

A division of ciliated Infusoria having a circle of cilia around the oral disk and sometimes another around the body. It includes the vorticellas. See Vorticella.

, self-conscious being, as distinct from an animal or a thing; a moral agent; a human being; a man, woman, or child. Consider what person stands for; which, I think, is a thinking, intelligent being, that has reason and reflection. Locke.

Noxious to peace, to morals, or to society; vicious; hurtful; destructive; as, a pestiferous demagogue. Pestiferous reports of men very nobly held. Shak.

Fig.: That which is pestilent, noxious, or pernicious to the moral character of great numbers. I'll pour this pestilence into his ear. Shak. Pestilence weed (Bot.), the butterbur coltsfoot (Petasites vulgaris), so called because formerly considered a remedy for the plague. Dr. Prior.

Hence: Mischievous; noxious; pernicious; morally destructive. So pestilential, so infectious a thing is sin. Jer. Taylor.