Part 58
9. (Chem.) (a) Electro- positive. (b) Hence, basic; metallic; not acid; -- opposed to negative, and said of metals, bases, and basic radicals.
Positive crystals (Opt.), a doubly refracting crystal in which the index of refraction for the extraordinary ray is greater than for the ordinary ray, and the former is refracted nearer to the axis than the latter, as quartz and ice; -- opposed to negative crystal, or one in which this characteristic is reversed, as Iceland spar, tourmaline, etc. -- Positive degree (Gram.), that state of an adjective or adverb which denotes simple quality, without comparison or relation to increase or diminution; as, wise, noble. -- Positive electricity (Elec), the kind of electricity which is developed when glass is rubbed with silk, or which appears at that pole of a voltaic battery attached to the plate that is not attacked by the exciting liquid; -- formerly called vitreous electricity; -- opposed to negative electricity. -- Positive eyepiece. See under Eyepiece. -- Positive law. See Municipal law, under Law. -- Positive motion (Mach.), motion which is derived from a driver through unyielding intermediate pieces, or by direct contact, and not through elastic connections, nor by means of friction, gravity, etc.; definite motion. -- Positive philosophy. See Positivism. -- Positive pole. (a) (Elec.) The pole of a battery or pile which yields positive or vitreous electricity; -- opposed to negative pole. (b) (Magnetism) The north pole. [R.] -- Positive quantity (Alg.), an affirmative quantity, or one affected by the sign plus [+]. -- Positive rotation (Mech.), left-handed rotation. -- Positive sign (Math.), the sign [+] denoting plus, or more, or addition.
Pos"i*tive, n. 1. That which is capable of being affirmed; reality. South.
2. That which settles by absolute appointment.
3. (Gram.) The positive degree or form.
4. (Photog.) A picture in which the lights and shades correspond in position with those of the original, instead of being reversed, as in a negative. R. Hunt.
5. (Elec.) The positive plate of a voltaic or electrolytic cell.
Pos"i*tive*ly, adv. In a positive manner; absolutely; really; expressly; with certainty; indubitably; peremptorily; dogmatically; -- opposed to negatively.
Good and evil which is removed may be esteemed good or evil comparatively, and positively simply.
Bacon.
Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord, Before I positively speak herein.
Shak.
I would ask . . . whether . . . the divine law does not positively require humility and meekness.
Sprat.
Positively charged or electrified (Elec.), having a charge of positive electricity; -- opposed to negatively electrified.
Pos"i*tive*ness, n. The quality or state of being positive; reality; actualness; certainty; confidence; peremptoriness; dogmatism. See Positive, a.
Positiveness, pedantry, and ill manners.
Swift.
The positiveness of sins of commission lies both in the habitude of the will and in the executed act too; the positiveness of sins of omission is in the habitude of the will only.
Norris.
Pos"i*tiv*ism (?), n. A system of philosophy originated by M. Auguste Comte, which deals only with positives. It excludes from philosophy everything but the natural phenomena or properties of knowable things, together with their invariable relations of coexistence and succession, as occurring in time and space. Such relations are denominated laws, which are to be discovered by observation, experiment, and comparison. This philosophy holds all inquiry into causes, both efficient and final, to be useless and unprofitable.
Pos"i*tiv*ist, n. A believer in positivism. -- a. Relating to positivism.
Pos`i*tiv"i*ty (?), n. Positiveness. J. Morley.
Pos"i*ture (?; 135), n. See Posture. [Obs.]
Pos"net (?), n. [OF. poÁonet, dim. of poÁon a pot, a vessel.] A little basin; a porringer; a skillet.
{ Pos`o*log"ic (?), Pos`o*log"ic*al (?), } a. [Cf. F. posologique.] Pertaining to posology.
Po*sol"o*gy (?), n. [Gr. &?; how much + -logy: cf. F. posologie.] (Med.) The science or doctrine of doses; dosology.
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Pos"po*lite (?), n. [Pol. pospolite ruszenie a general summons to arms, an arriere-ban; pospolity general + ruszenie a stirring.] A kind of militia in Poland, consisting of the gentry, which, in case of invasion, was summoned to the defense of the country.
Poss (?), v. t. [See Push.] To push; to dash; to throw. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
A cat . . . possed them [the rats] about.
Piers Plowman.
Pos"se (?), n. See Posse comitatus.
In posse. See In posse in the Vocabulary.
||Pos"se com`i*ta"tus (?). [L. posse to be able, to have power + LL. ||comitatus a county, from comes, comitis, a count. See County, and ||Power.]
1. (Law) The power of the county, or the citizens who may be summoned by the sheriff to assist the authorities in suppressing a riot, or executing any legal precept which is forcibly opposed. Blackstone.
2. A collection of people; a throng; a rabble. [Colloq.]
The word comitatus is often omitted, and posse alone used. "A whole posse of enthusiasts." Carlyle.
As if the passion that rules were the sheriff of the place, and came off with all the posse.
Locke.
Pos*sess" (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Possessed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Possessing.] [L. possessus, p. p. of possidere to have, possess, from an inseparable prep. (cf. Position) + sedere to sit. See Sit.] 1. To occupy in person; to hold or actually have in one's own keeping; to have and to hold.
Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
Jer. xxxii. 15.
Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power, After offense returning, to regain Love once possessed.
Milton.
2. To have the legal title to; to have a just right to; to be master of; to own; to have; as, to possess property, an estate, a book.
I am yours, and all that I possess.
Shak.
3. To obtain occupation or possession of; to accomplish; to gain; to seize.
How . . . to possess the purpose they desired.
Spenser.
4. To enter into and influence; to control the will of; to fill; to affect; -- said especially of evil spirits, passions, etc. "Weakness possesseth me." Shak.
Those which were possessed with devils.
Matt. iv. 24.
For ten inspired, ten thousand are possessed.
Roscommon.
5. To put in possession; to make the owner or holder of property, power, knowledge, etc.; to acquaint; to inform; -- followed by of or with before the thing possessed, and now commonly used reflexively.
I have possessed your grace of what I purpose.
Shak.
Record a gift . . . of all he dies possessed Unto his son.
Shak.
We possessed our selves of the kingdom of Naples.
Addison.
To possess our minds with an habitual good intention.
Addison.
Syn. -- To have; hold; occupy; control; own. -- Possess, Have. Have is the more general word. To possess denotes to have as a property. It usually implies more permanence or definiteness of control or ownership than is involved in having. A man does not possess his wife and children: they are (so to speak) part of himself. For the same reason, we have the faculties of reason, understanding, will, sound judgment, etc.: they are exercises of the mind, not possessions.
Pos*ses"sion (?), n. [F. possession, L. possessio.] 1. The act or state of possessing, or holding as one's own.
2. (Law) The having, holding, or detention of property in one's power or command; actual seizin or occupancy; ownership, whether rightful or wrongful.
Possession may be either actual or constructive; actual, when a party has the immediate occupancy; constructive, when he has only the right to such occupancy.
3. The thing possessed; that which any one occupies, owns, or controls; in the plural, property in the aggregate; wealth; dominion; as, foreign possessions.
When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Matt. xix. 22.
Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.
Acts v. 1.
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
Ob. 17.
4. The state of being possessed or controlled, as by an evil spirit, or violent passions; madness; frenzy; as, demoniacal possession.
How long hath this possession held the man?
Shak.
To give possession, to put in another's power or occupancy. -- To put in possession. (a) To invest with ownership or occupancy; to provide or furnish with; as, to put one in possession of facts or information. (b) (Law) To place one in charge of property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry. -- To take possession, to enter upon, or to bring within one's power or occupancy. -- Writ of possession (Law), a precept directing a sheriff to put a person in peaceable possession of property recovered in ejectment or writ of entry.
Pos*ses"sion, v. t. To invest with property. [Obs.]
Pos*ses"sion*a*ry (?), a. Of or pertaining to possession; arising from possession.
Pos*ses"sion*er (?), n. 1. A possessor; a property holder. [Obs.] "Possessioners of riches." E. Hall.
Having been of old freemen and possessioners.
Sir P. Sidney.
2. An invidious name for a member of any religious community endowed with property in lands, buildings, etc., as contrasted with mendicant friars. [Obs.] Wyclif.
Pos`ses*si"val (?), a. Of or pertaining to the possessive case; as, a possessival termination. Earle.
Pos*sess"ive (?), a. [L. possessivus: cf. F. possessif.] Of or pertaining to possession; having or indicating possession.
Possessive case (Eng. Gram.), the genitive case; the case of nouns and pronouns which expresses ownership, origin, or some possessive relation of one thing to another; as, Homer's admirers; the pear's flavor; the dog's faithfulness. -- Possessive pronoun, a pronoun denoting ownership; as, his name; her home; my book.
Pos*sess"ive (?), n. 1. (Gram.) The possessive case.
2. (Gram.) A possessive pronoun, or a word in the possessive case.
Pos*sess"ive*ly, adv. In a possessive manner.
Pos*sess"or (?), n. [L.: cf. F. possesseur.] One who possesses; one who occupies, holds, owns, or controls; one who has actual participation or enjoyment, generally of that which is desirable; a proprietor. "Possessors of eternal glory." Law.
As if he had been possessor of the whole world.
Sharp.
Syn. -- Owner; proprietor; master; holder; occupant.
Pos*sess"o*ry (?), a. [L. possessorius: cf. F. possessoire.] Of or pertaining to possession, either as a fact or a right; of the nature of possession; as, a possessory interest; a possessory lord.
Possessory action or suit (Law), an action to regain or obtain possession of something. See under Petitory.
Pos"set (?), n. [W. posel curdled milk, posset.] A beverage composed of hot milk curdled by some strong infusion, as by wine, etc., -- much in favor formerly. "I have drugged their posset." Shak.
Pos"set, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posseted; p. pr. & vb. n. Posseting.] 1. To curdle; to turn, as milk; to coagulate; as, to posset the blood. [Obs.] Shak.
2. To treat with possets; to pamper. [R.] "She was cosseted and posseted." O. W. Holmes.
Pos`si*bil"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Possibilities (#). [F. possibilitÈ, L. possibilitas.] 1. The quality or state of being possible; the power of happening, being, or existing. "All possibility of error." Hooker. "Latent possibilities of excellence." Johnson.
2. That which is possible; a contingency; a thing or event that may not happen; a contingent interest, as in real or personal estate. South. Burrill.
Pos"si*ble (?), a. [F., fr. L. possibilis, fr. posse to be able, to have power; potis able, capable + esse to be. See Potent, Am, and cf. Host a landlord.] Capable of existing or occurring, or of being conceived or thought of; able to happen; capable of being done; not contrary to the nature of things; -- sometimes used to express extreme improbability; barely able to be, or to come to pass; as, possibly he is honest, as it is possible that Judas meant no wrong.
With God all things are possible.
Matt. xix. 26.
Syn. -- Practicable; likely. See Practicable.
Pos"si*bly, adv. In a possible manner; by possible means; especially, by extreme, remote, or improbable intervention, change, or exercise of power; by a chance; perhaps; as, possibly he may recover.
Can we . . . possibly his love desert?
Milton.
When possibly I can, I will return.
Shak.
Pos"sum (?), n. [Shortened from opossum.] (Zoˆl.) An opossum. [Colloq. U. S.]
To play possum, To act possum, to feign ignorance, indifference or inattention, with the intent to deceive; to dissemble; -- in allusion to the habit of the opossum, which feigns death when attacked or alarmed.
Post- (pst). [L. post behind, after; cf. Skr. paÁcbehind, afterwards.] A prefix signifying behind, back, after; as, postcommissure, postdot, postscript.
Post, a. [F. aposter to place in a post or position, generally for a bad purpose.] Hired to do what is wrong; suborned. [Obs.] Sir E. Sandys.
Post, n. [AS., fr. L. postis, akin to ponere, positum, to place. See Position, and cf. 4th Post.] 1. A piece of timber, metal, or other solid substance, fixed, or to be fixed, firmly in an upright position, especially when intended as a stay or support to something else; a pillar; as, a hitching post; a fence post; the posts of a house.
They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses.
Ex. xii. 7.
Then by main force pulled up, and on his shoulders bore, The gates of Azza, post and massy bar.
Milton.
Unto his order he was a noble post.
Chaucer.
Post, in the sense of an upright timber or strut, is used in composition, in such words as king-post, queen- post, crown-post, gatepost, etc.
2. The doorpost of a victualer's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt. [Obs.]
When God sends coin I will discharge your post.
S. Rowlands.
From pillar to post. See under Pillar. -- Knight of the post. See under Knight. -- Post hanger (Mach.), a bearing for a revolving shaft, adapted to be fastened to a post. -- Post hole, a hole in the ground to set the foot of a post in. -- Post mill, a form of windmill so constructed that the whole fabric rests on a vertical axis firmly fastened to the ground, and capable of being turned as the direction of the wind varies. -- Post and stall (Coal Mining), a mode of working in which pillars of coal are left to support the roof of the mine.
Post, n. [F. poste, LL. posta station, post (where horses were kept), properly, a fixed or set place, fem. fr. L. positus placed, p. p. of ponere. See Position, and cf. Post a pillar.] 1. The place at which anything is stopped, placed, or fixed; a station. Specifically: (a) A station, or one of a series of stations, established for the refreshment and accommodation of travelers on some recognized route; as, a stage or railway post. (b) A military station; the place at which a soldier or a body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such a station. (c) The piece of ground to which a sentinel's walk is limited.
2. A messenger who goes from station; an express; especially, one who is employed by the government to carry letters and parcels regularly from one place to another; a letter carrier; a postman.
In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other.
Abp. Abbot.
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines, Receiving them from such a worthless post.
Shak.
3. An established conveyance for letters from one place or station to another; especially, the governmental system in any country for carrying and distributing letters and parcels; the post office; the mail; hence, the carriage by which the mail is transported.
I send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post.
Pope.
4. Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier. [Obs.] "In post he came." Shak.
5. One who has charge of a station, especially of a postal station. [Obs.]
He held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years.
Palfrey.
6. A station, office, or position of service, trust, or emolument; as, the post of duty; the post of danger.
The post of honor is a private station.
Addison.
7. A size of printing and writing paper. See the Table under Paper.
Post and pair, an old game at cards, in which each player a hand of three cards. B. Jonson. -- Post bag, a mail bag. -- Post bill, a bill of letters mailed by a postmaster. -- Post chaise, or Post coach, a carriage usually with four wheels, for the conveyance of travelers who travel post. -- Post day, a day on which the mall arrives or departs. -- Post hackney, a hired post horse. Sir H. Wotton. -- Post horn, a horn, or trumpet, carried and blown by a carrier of the public mail, or by a coachman. -- Post horse, a horse stationed, intended, or used for the post. -- Post hour, hour for posting letters. Dickens. -- Post office. (a) An office under governmental superintendence, where letters, papers, and other mailable matter, are received and distributed; a place appointed for attending to all business connected with the mail. (b) The governmental system for forwarding mail matter. -- Postoffice order. See Money order, under Money. -- Post road, or Post route, a road or way over which the mail is carried. -- Post town. (a) A town in which post horses are kept. (b) A town in which a post office is established by law. -- To ride post, to ride, as a carrier of dispatches, from place to place; hence, to ride rapidly, with as little delay as possible. -- To travel post, to travel, as a post does, by relays of horses, or by keeping one carriage to which fresh horses are attached at each stopping place.
Post (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posted; p. pr. & vb. n. Posting.] 1. To attach to a post, a wall, or other usual place of affixing public notices; to placard; as, to post a notice; to post playbills.
Formerly, a large post was erected before the sheriff's office, or in some public place, upon which legal notices were displayed. This way of advertisement has not entirely gone of use.
2. To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation; as, to post one for cowardice.
On pain of being posted to your sorrow Fail not, at four, to meet me.
Granville.
3. To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, or the like.
4. To assign to a station; to set; to place; as, to post a sentinel. "It might be to obtain a ship for a lieutenant, . . . or to get him posted." De Quincey.
5. (Bookkeeping) To carry, as an account, from the journal to the ledger; as, to post an account; to transfer, as accounts, to the ledger.
You have not posted your books these ten years.
Arbuthnot.
6. To place in the care of the post; to mail; as, to post a letter.
7. To inform; to give the news to; to make (one) acquainted with the details of a subject; -- often with up.
Thoroughly posted up in the politics and literature of the day.
Lond. Sat. Rev.
To post off, to put off; to delay. [Obs.] "Why did I, venturously, post off so great a business?" Baxter. -- To post over, to hurry over. [Obs.] Fuller.
Post, v. i. [Cf. OF. poster. See 4th Post.] 1. To travel with post horses; figuratively, to travel in haste. "Post seedily to my lord your husband." Shak.
And post o'er land and ocean without rest.
Milton.
2. (Man.) To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, esp. in trotting. [Eng.]
Post, adv. With post horses; hence, in haste; as, to travel post.
Post`-ab*do"men (?), n. [Pref. post- + abdomen.] (Zoˆl.) That part of a crustacean behind the cephalothorax; -- more commonly called abdomen.
Post"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being carried by, or as by, post. [Obs.] W. Montagu.
Post"act` (?), n. An act done afterward.
Post"age (?), n. The price established by law to be paid for the conveyance of a letter or other mailable matter by a public post.
Postage stamp, a government stamp required to be put upon articles sent by mail in payment of the postage, esp. an adhesive stamp issued and sold for that purpose.
Post"al (?), a. [Cf. F. postal.] Belonging to the post office or mail service; as, postal arrangements; postal authorities.
Postal card, or Post card, a card sold by the government for transmission through the mails, at a lower rate of postage than a sealed letter. The message is written on one side of the card, and the direction on the other. -- Postal money order. See Money order, under Money. -- Postal note, an order payable to bearer, for a sum of money (in the United States less than five dollars under existing law), issued from one post office and payable at another specified office. -- Postal Union, a union for postal purposes entered into by the most important powers, or governments, which have agreed to transport mail matter through their several territories at a stipulated rate.
Post*a"nal (?), a. [Pref. post- + anal.] (Anat.) Situated behind, or posterior to, the anus.
Post*ax"i*al (?), a. [Pref. post- + axial.] (Anat.) Situated behind any transverse axis in the body of an animal; caudal; posterior; especially, behind, or on the caudal or posterior (that is, ulnar or fibular) side of, the axis of a vertebrate limb.
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Post"boy` (?), n. 1. One who rides post horses; a position; a courier.
2. A boy who carries letters from the post.
Post"-cap`tain (?), n. A captain of a war vessel whose name appeared, or was "posted," in the seniority list of the British navy, as distinguished from a commander whose name was not so posted. The term was also used in the United States navy; but no such commission as post-captain was ever recognized in either service, and the term has fallen into disuse.
||Post"ca`va (?), n.; pl. PostcavÊ . [NL. See Post-, and Cave, n.] ||(Anat.) The inferior vena cava. -- Post"ca`val (#), a. B. G. Wilder.
Post*clav"i*cle (?), n. [Pref. post- + clavicle.] (Anat.) A bone in the pectoral girdle of many fishes projecting backward from the clavicle. -- Post`*cla*vic"u*lar (#), a.
Post*com"mis*sure (?), n. [Pref. post- + commisure.] (Anat.) A transverse commisure in the posterior part of the roof of the third ventricle of the brain; the posterior cerebral commisure. B. G. Wilder.
Post`com*mun"ion (?), n. [Pref. post- + communion.] 1. (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.) The concluding portion of the communion service.
2. (R. C. Ch.) A prayer or prayers which the priest says at Mass, after the ablutions.
||Post*cor"nu (?), n.; pl. Postcornua (#). [NL. See Post-, and Cornu.] ||(Anat.) The posterior horn of each lateral ventricle of the brain. B. ||G. Wilder.
Post"date` (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Postdated; p. pr. & vb. n. Postdating.] [Pref. post- + date.] 1. To date after the real time; as, to postdate a contract, that is, to date it later than the time when it was in fact made.
2. To affix a date to after the event.
Post"date`, a. Made or done after the date assigned.
Of these [predictions] some were postdate; cunningly made after the thing came to pass.
Fuller.
Post"date`, n. A date put to a bill of exchange or other paper, later than that when it was actually made.
{ Post`di*lu"vi*al (?), Post`di*lu"vi*an (?), } a. [Pref. post- + diluvial, diluvian.] Being or happening after the flood in Noah's days.
Post`di*lu"vi*an, n. One who lived after the flood.