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An assembly; hence, the place of assembly, especially the market place, in an ancient Greek city.

A genus of plants; the mandrake. See Mandrake, 1.

ng unconnected, grammatically, with the rest of the sentence; as, Tarquinio regnante, Pythagoras venit, i. e., Tarquinius reigning, Pythagoras came.

nt of such creation; as, the poetical cosmogony of Hesoid; the cosmogonies of Thales, Anaxagoras, and Plato. The cosmogony or creation of the world has puzzled philosophers of all ages. Goldsmith.

n act of folly or weakness; a foolish practice; something absurd or nonsensical. That Pythagoras, Plato, or Orpheus, believed in any of these fooleries, it can not be suspected. Sir W. Raleigh.

The act of legislating; preparation and enactment of laws; the laws enacted. Pythagoras joined legislation to his philosophy. Lyttelton.

A low plant (Mandragora officinarum) of the Nightshade family, having a fleshy root, often forked, and supposed to resemble a man. It was therefore supposed to have animal life, and to cry out when pulled up. All parts of the plant are strongly narcotic. It is found in the Mediterranean region. And shrieks like mandrak…

Of or pertaining to Pythagoras (a Greek philosopher, born about 582 b. c.), or his philosophy. The central thought of the Pythagorean philosophy is the idea of number, the recognition of the numerical and mathematical relations of things. Encyc. Brit. Pythagorean proposition (Geom.), the theorem that the square describ…

The doctrines of Pythagoras or the Pythagoreans. As a philosophic school Pythagoreanism became extinct in Greece about the middle of the 4th century [B. C.]. Encyc. Brit.

The doctrines taught by Pythagoras.

To speculate after the manner of Pythagoras.

Capable of living; in a state to live; viable. [R.] Pythagoras and Hippocrates . . . affirm the birth of the seventh month to be vital. Sir T. Browne. Vital air, oxygen gas; -- so called because essential to animal life. [Obs.] -- Vital capacity (Physiol.), the breathing capacity of the lungs; -- expressed by the numbe…

A learned or wise man. [Obs.] Pythagoras learned much . . . becoming a mighty wiseacre. Leland.