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Belonging to a certain number; counting as one of a collection or body. A supernumerary canon, when he obtains a prebend, becomes a numerary canon. Ayliffe.

e Middle Ages which related to the supposed action or influence of occult qualities, or supernatural powers, as alchemy, magic, necromancy, and astrology.

An ancient form of test to determine guilt or innocence, by appealing to a supernatural decision, -- once common in Europe, and still practiced in the East and by savage tribes.

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.

Pestilential; noxious; pernicious; mischievous. "Corrupt and pestilent." Milton. "What a pestilent knave is this same!" Shak.

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

on the instrument and it is allowed to move, are sometimes translated as of oracular or supernatural import.

o animal poison. [Eng] Dr. Prior. -- Poor man's weatherglass (Bot.), the red-flowered pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis), which opens its blossoms only in fair weather. -- Poor rate, an assessment or tax, as in an English parish, for the relief or support of the poor. -- Poor soldier (Zoöl.), the friar bird. -- The poo…

s restraint or censorship, subject only to punishment for libelous, seditious, or morally pernicious matters. -- Press bed, a bed that may be folded, and inclosed, in a press or closet. Boswell. -- Press of sail, (Naut.), as much sail as the state of the wind will permit.

ent from what is natural, or according to the regular course of things, but not clearly supernatural or miraculous; strange; inexplicable; extraordinary; uncommon; irregular; abnormal; as, a preternatural appearance; a preternatural stillness; a preternatural presentation (in childbirth) or labor. This vile and pretern…

an order of herbaceous plants (Primulaceæ), of which the primrose is the type, and the pimpernel, the cyclamen, and the water violet are other examples.

in astronomical tables published in the sixteenth century, founded on the principles of Copernicus, a Prussian.

d stars revolving around it. This theory was received for ages, until superseded by the Copernican system.

only received system of astronomy, first taught by Pythagoras, and afterward revived by Copernicus, whence it is also called the Copernican system. -- Pythagorean letter. See Y.

rly into an upper and lower half, of which the former acts as a kind of lid, as in the pimpernel and purslane.

conspicuousness to; to Her tall figure relieved against the blue sky; seemed almost of supernatural height. Sir W. Scott.

ifically, to communicate (that which could not be known or discovered without divine or supernatural instruction or agency).

Filling up; supplementary; supernumerary; -- a term applied to those instruments which only swell the mass or tutti of an orchestra, but are not obbligato.

Causing, or tending to cause, ruin; destructive; baneful; pernicious; as, a ruinous project. After a night of storm so ruinous. Milton.

A very destructive scale insect (Aspidiotus perniciosus) that infests the apple, pear, and other fruit trees. So called because first introduced into the United States at San José, California.