Word origins

• polyommatousHaving many eyes or eye-like organs.
• polyoptrumAn old kind of kaleidoscope
• polypantheismBelief in multiple impersonal nontranscendent deities embodied by natural phenomena.
• polyphagiaAn excessive appetite for food
• polyphonalSynonym of polyphonic.
• polyphoniaA kind of mouth organ or harmonica.
• polypsychismThe belief that a person may have multiple souls; the theory that one's mind can contain multiple psychic elements.
• polyptotonA stylistic scheme in which words from the same root are used together, or a word is repeated in a different inflection or case.
• polyptychA work consisting of multiple painted or carved panels joined together, often with hinges.
• polytopianSomeone who visits many places.
• pomatorhineHaving the nostril covered with a scale.
• ponerologyThe study of evil.
• ponophobiaA fear of overwork.
• poophyteA plant that grows best in grass-covered meadows.
• porionThe point on the human skull located at the upper margin of each ear canal, and underlying the tragus.
• porismA proposition affirming the possibility of finding such conditions as will render a certain determinate problem indeterminate or capable of innumerable solutions.
• poristicOf or relating to a porism; of the nature of a porism.
• pornerasticLascivious; licentious.
• porno-Relating to prostitutes or prostitution.
• porphyrogeneBorn into the purple (royalty or the ruling class)
• posologyThe study of the dosages of drugs, especially the determination of appropriate dosages.
• potamianA softshell turtle (family Trionychidae)
• potamo-river
• potamographyAn account or description of a river, or rivers.
• potometerA device used for measuring the rate of water uptake of a leafy shoot due to photosynthesis and transpiration.
• potometricRelating to potometry.
• potometryMeasurement of the rate of water uptake of a leafy shoot due to photosynthesis and transpiration.
• powers that beThe holders of power or the authorities in a given situation, especially if seen as being faceless or unreasonably bureaucratic.
• practopoiesisThe theory concerning the hierarchic structure of mind and how it relates to processes in the brain
• prasinophyteAny of various flagellate, unicellular green algae of the class Prasinophyceae
• praxeologyThe study of human action or conduct.
• -praxiaForms names of impairments of motor control.
• praying mantisAny of various predatory, cannibalistic insects of the order Mantodea that have a prayer-like stance.
• presbyopeOne who has presbyopia: a farsighted person
• presbypropriaInability of the proprioceptive system to accurately interpret actual limb position or movement due to physiological aging.
• pro-agreeing with; supporting; favouring
• procatarxisThe kindling of a disease into action; the procatarctic cause.
• procliticA clitic that joins with the following word phonetically, graphically, or both.
• ProcneThe daughter of king Pandion of Athens, in Greek mythology, who got revenge on her husband Tereus for raping her sister Philomela by feeding him his own son, and was later transformed into a bird by the gods.
• procto-Dealing with the rectum and anus; anorectal; sometimes also the distal colon.
• proctodeumThe back ectodermal part of an alimentary canal.
• proctuchousOf certain Turbellaria: having the digestive canal furnished with an anal aperture.
• ProdicusGreek sophist and pre-Socratic philosopher.
• prodiorthosisA statement intended to prepare one’s audience for something shocking or offensive; an extreme form of protherapeia.
• prodromosa skirmisher cavalry unit used in an Ancient Greek army for scouting ahead of the main force
• proecthesisA figure of reasoning in which, at the conclusion of an argument, a justifying reason is provided.
• proepiplexisA figure in which the speaker blames or reproaches oneself beforehand in order to secure the attention or favor of the audience; a form of protherapeia.
• proglottidA segment of a tapeworm; they contain both male and female reproductive organs
• progymnasmataA series of preliminary rhetorical exercises originated in Ancient Greece, aiming to prepare students for writing declamations after they had completed their education with the grammarians.
• prokeimenonIn the liturgical practice of the Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite, a psalm or canticle refrain sung responsorially at certain points of the Divine Liturgy or the Divine Office, usually to introduce a scripture reading.
• pronaosThe inner area of the portico of a Greek or Roman temple
• pronoiaDivine providence, foreknowledge, foresight.
• prooemionA preface, an introduction.
• proostracumThe anterior prolongation of the guard of the phragmocone of belemnites and allied fossil cephalopods, whether horny or calcareous.
• propaedeuticPreparatory or introductory.
• propedeuseA diploma obtained after completion of a first year's (preparatory) study at some European universities.
• prophasesThe actual reasons for going to war. These may differ from proschemata, the pretexts offered to the public.
• prophoricenunciative
• prophyllThe frequently specialised or reduced leaf produced at the first node of a new shoot.
• PropontisSea of Marmara
• propterygiumThe anterior of three principal cartilages in the fins of some fishes.
• pros-To, toward, before, forward, in front.
• prosencephalonThe forebrain.
• proseucheA place of prayer; among the Jews, one that was not a synagogue, or the temple, usually roofless.
• prosiopeticOf the nature of prosiopesis; compare aposiopetic.
• proslambanomenosThe lowest note in Ancient Greek music, appended to the bottom of the scale.
• proslepsisThe pretence of passing over a subject while at the same time describing it fully.
• proso-Forward, in the front
• prosogyrateThat curves toward the anterior
• prosomaThe front segment of a body which is divided into two or more segments, especially the cephalothorax of an arachnid or crustacean.
• prosopalgiaFacial neuralgia.
• prosopo-Having to do with the face; facial.
• prosopolepsya premature opinion or prejudice against a person, formed from external appearance
• prosoponologyThe collection and classification of masks.
• prosphoraa holy bread; a small loaf of leavened bread, used for communion in Orthodox Church. Usually consists of two layers, symbolizing the dual nature of Christ.
• prosphysisA growing together of parts; specifically, a morbid adhesion of the eyelids to each other or to the eyeball.
• prosth-Placed before, added.
• prosthaphæresisA method of computing by means of a table of natural trigonometrical functions, without multiplication.
• prosthionThe most anterior point of the upper alveolar process
• prostho-Placed before, added, at the front, at the tip, before.
• prosthogonimidAny trematode flatworm in the family Prosthogonimidae.
• pros ton kaironAs the occasion requires.
• protacticGiving a previous narrative or explanation, as of the plot or personages of a play; introductory.
• protagonA supposed crystalline molecule that forms the brain. The idea was proposed by Matthias Eugen Oscar Liebreich and Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Thudichum later disproved it, showing that the brain contains various lipids.
• protaspisA stage in the development of a trilobite where the creature has not yet developed articulated segments.
• proteicproteinic
• protero-First
• prothalamionA song or poem in honour of a bride and bridegroom about to be married.
• protherapeiaA figure of speech used to secure indulgence or conciliate an audience before saying something potentially shocking, offensive, or difficult to accept.
• protideThe normal hydride ion using protium.
• protogenosAny of the first order of deities to come into existence, according to Greek cosmogony.
• protomatterThe ultimate basis of physical substance, before it has been given form.
• prototherianBelonging or pertaining to the subclass Prototheria.
• protyleA hypothetical base substance from which all chemical elements were believed to have been made; subatomic particles.
• proxenosA citizen of a state appointed by another state to host its ambassadors and to represent and protect its interests there.
• proxenyIn Ancient Greece, an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state.
• prytanyThe period during which the presidency of the senate belonged to the prytanes of the section
• psammiteAny sandstone, but most often a metamorphosed rock unit with a dominantly sandstone protolith
• psammo-Pertaining to sand.
• psellismstammering; stuttering