painter (second word)
n.
5LME paynter < OFr pentour, ult. < L pendere, to hang: see PEND6 a rope attached to the bow of a boat for tying it as to a dock or for towing it
>paint[er3 7pant4!r8
pisiform - resembling a pea in size or shape. The smallest bone in the writst is so named. If I remember corectly, it is the type of bone called “sesamoid”. I learned the word sesame from Arabian Nights story
of Aladdin, and the magic words: “Open, Sesame!” The sesamoid bones form in tendons that pass across joints. The kneecap is the largest one. I didn’t know that babies have no kneecap, until just yesterday.
The kneecap appears towards end of second year.
pitta - a Near East thin bread cake of which top and bottom readily separate, so that opening it on one quarter of the perimeter makes a pocket into which chopped sandwich fillings can be placed, and will not fall out when it is eaten. Very handy for lunches to take to work or to a picnic. Which reminds me of the little girl seeing a boy uriate at a picnic, exclaiming: “What a handy thing to bring to a picnic.”
pith
n.
5ME pithe < OE pitha, akin to MDu pitte, pit of a fruit, kernel, pith of a tree6
1 the soft, spongy tissue in the center of certain plant stems
2 the soft core of various other things, as of a bone or feather
3 the spongy, fibrous tissue lining the rind and surrounding the sections of an orange, grapefruit, etc.
4 the essential part; substance; gist
5 importance: now usually in of great pith and moment
6 [Archaic] strength; vigor; force
vt.
1 to remove the pith from (a plant stem)
2 to pierce or sever the spinal cord of (an animal) in order to kill it or make it insensible for experimental purposes
And in Africa, a light weight headgear designed to be light weight, well ventilated, with brim that protected agaist excessive exposure to the sun was called a pith helmet. (no lisping allowed) Hindi name was topee. "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun."
pithy
adj.
pith$i[er, pith$i[est
1 of, like, or full of pith
2 terse and full of substance or meaning
—SYN CONCISE
pith$i[ly
adv.
pith$i[ness
n.
Considering how soft, weak, and virtually useless pith, is the definition of “pithy” is a bit surprising. I suppose it is a figure of speech based on the central position in the cross section of a branch or young tree, comparable position of the heart in anatomy, that is, central.
