plectrum
n.,
pl. 3trums or 3tra 73tr!8 5L < Gr plcktron, device for plucking the lyre < plcssein, to strike: see PLAINT6 a thin piece of metal, bone, plastic, etc., used for plucking the strings of a guitar, mandolin, etc. Also plec4tron# 73tr9n#, 3tr!n8, pl. 3tra 73tr!8
plectridial - drumstick shaped. I have never seen it used. There is a medical condition in which the
fingertips become enlarged, with a jaw-breaking name I forget, but also called “doigts en baguette de tambour”. Something like “hypertrophic pulmonary osteopathy:” Wofa, Alex???
pleiotropic - causing more than one effect
plinth
n.
5L plinthus < Gr plinthos, brick, tile6
1 the square block at the base of a column, pedestal, etc.: see COLUMN, illus.
2 the base on which a statue is placed
3 a course of brick or stone, often a projecting one, along the base of a wall: also plinth course
4 a flat block at the base of door trim, an architrave, etc.
pliss=
n.
5Fr plisse < pp. of plisser, to pleat < MFr < pli, PLY1, n. 6
1 a crinkled finish given to cotton, nylon, etc. by treatment with a caustic soda solution
2 a fabric with this finish
ploce - rhetoric, the repetion of a single word for effect: You shall be hanged by the neck, until dead,dead,dead.
plumose - having feathers, feathery
pluvial
adj.
5L pluvialis < pluvia, rain < IE *pleu3, to flow, pour < base *pel3, to pour, fill > FULL1, L pluere6
1 a) of or having to do with rain b) having much rain
2 Geol. formed by the action of rain
One of Jupiter’s titles was “Jupiter Pluvius” = the god of rain.
podagra - foot pain, gout
poilu
n.
5Fr, hairy, virile < poil, hair < L pilus: see PILE26 [Slang] a soldier in the French army: term used esp. in World War I
