Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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pansy ... Paphos

pansy: any of several popular cultivated violets (genus Viola), of the family Violaceae. Pansies have been grown for so long a period under such diverse conditions and in such a variety of forms that their origin is uncertain. The numerous forms, ...
Pantaloon: stock character of the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte-a cunning and rapacious yet often deceived Venetian merchant.
Pantanal: floodplain in southwestern Brazil that extends into northeast Paraguay and southeast Brazil and is the world's largest wetland. Most of the Pantanal's 39,000-square-mile (101,00-square kilometre) area lies within northwestern Mato Grosso do Sul and southern Mato Grosso states in Brazil. ...
Pantar Island: island in the Alor group, Nusa Tenggara Timur provinsi ("province"), Indonesia. Pantar lies about 45 miles (72 km) north of Timor, across the Ombai Strait. It is 30 miles (50 km) long north-south and 7 to 18 miles (11 to ...
Pantelleria Island: Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia; it forms part of Trapani provincia, Sicily. Of volcanic origin, it rises to 2,743 feet (836 m) at the extinct crater of Magna Grande and has an area of 32 ...
pantheism: the doctrine that the universe conceived of as a whole is God and, conversely, that there is no God but the combined substance, forces, and laws that are manifested in the existing universe. The cognate doctrine of panentheism asserts that ...
Pantheon: building in Paris that was begun about 1757 by the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot as the Church of Sainte-Genevieve to replace a much older church of that name on the same site. It was secularized during the French Revolution and dedicated ...
Pantheon: building in Rome that was begun in 27 BC by the statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, probably as a building of the ordinary classical temple type-rectangular with a gabled roof supported by a colonnade on all sides. It was completely rebuilt ...
panther: either of two mammals of the cat family (Felidae), the leopard or the puma (qq.v.).
panting: a method of cooling, used by many mammals, most birds, and some reptiles, accomplished by means of the evaporation of water from internal body surfaces. As the animal's body temperature rises, its respiration rate increases sharply; cooling results from the ...
pantograph: instrument for duplicating a motion or copying a geometric shape to a reduced or enlarged scale. It consists of an assemblage of rigid bars adjustably joined by pin joints; as the point of one bar is moved over the outline ...
pantothenic acid: water-soluble vitamin essential in animal metabolism. Pantothenic acid, a growth-promoting substance for yeast and certain bacteria, appears to be synthesized by bacteria in the intestines of the higher animals. It was first isolated from liver cells in 1938 and was ...
pantoum: a Malaysian poetic form in French and English. The pantoum consists of a series of quatrains rhyming abab in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain; each ...
Panuco River: river in Veracruz estado ("state"), east-central Mexico. Formed by the junction of the Moctezuma and Tamuin rivers on the San Luis Potosi-Veracruz state line, the Panuco meanders generally east-northeastward past the town of Panuco to the Gulf of Mexico about ...
Panufnik, Sir Andrzej: Polish-born British composer and conductor, who created compositions in a distinctive contemporary Polish style though he worked in a wide variety of genres.
Panuridae: family of songbirds, order Passeriformes, consisting of the parrotbills (see ) and bearded tits, about 19 species of small titmouselike birds found in the thickets of temperate Eurasia.
Panyassis: epic poet from Halicarnassus, on the coast of Asia Minor. The Roman rhetorician Quintilian stated that some later critics regarded Panyassis' work as being second only to Homer. His chief poems, extant only in fragments, were the Heracleia, describing the ...
Panza, Sancho: Don Quixote's squire in the novel Don Quixote by Cervantes, a short, pot-bellied peasant whose gross appetite, common sense, and vulgar wit serve as a foil to the mad idealism of his master. He is famous for his many pertinent ...
panzer: series of battle tanks fielded by the German army in the 1930s and '40s. The six tanks in the series constituted virtually all of Germany's tank production from 1934 until the end of World War II in 1945. Panzers provided ...
panzer division: ("armoured division"), a self-contained, combined-arms military unit of the German army, built around and deriving its mission largely from the capabilities of armoured fighting vehicles. A panzer division in World War II consisted of a tank brigade with four battalions; ...
Pao-chi: city in western Shensi sheng (province), China. Situated on the north bank of the Wei River, it has been a strategic and transportation centre since early times, controlling the northern end of a pass across the Tsinling Mountains, the only ...
pao-chia: traditional Chinese system of collective neighbourhood organization, by means of which the government was able to maintain order and control through all levels of society, while employing relatively few officials.
Paola: town, eastern Malta, just south of Valletta and adjacent to Tarxien to the southeast. Founded in 1626 by the grand master of the Hospitallers (Knights of Malta), Antoine de Paule, it remained a small village until the late 19th century, ...
Paoli, Pasquale: Corsican statesman and patriot who was responsible for ending Genoese rule of Corsica and for establishing enlightened rule and reforms.
Paolo, Veneziano: a principal Venetian painter of the Byzantine style in 14th-century Venice. Paolo and his son Giovanni signed a "Coronation of the Virgin" (Frick Collection, New York City) in 1358 that is the last known work by him. A second "Coronation ...
Pap smear: laboratory method of obtaining secretions from the cervix for the examination of cast-off epithelial cells to detect the presence of cancer. The Pap smear, named for Greek-born American physician George Papanicolaou, is notably reliable in detecting the early stages of ...
papacy: the office and jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome, the pope (Latin: papa, from Greek pappas, "father"), who presides over the central government of the Roman Catholic church, the ...
Papago: (Papago: "Desert People"), North American Indians who traditionally inhabited the desert regions of Arizona and northern Sonora, south of the Pima Indians (see Pima).
Papagos, Alexandros: soldier and statesman who late in life organized a political party and became premier (1952-55) of Greece.
papain: enzyme present in the milky juice of the papaya that catalyzes the breakdown of proteins by hydrolysis (addition of a water molecule). Papain is used in biochemical research involving the analysis of proteins, in preparations of various remedies for indigestion, ...
papal infallibility: in Roman Catholic theology, the doctrine that the pope, acting as supreme teacher and under certain conditions, cannot err when he teaches in matters of faith or morals. As an element of the broader understanding of the infallibility of the ...
Papal States: territories of central Italy over which the pope had sovereignty from 756 to 1870. Included were the modern Italian regions of Lazio (Latium), Umbria, and Marche and part of Emilia-Romagna, though the extent of the territory, along with the degree ...
Papaloapan River: river in Veracruz estado ("state"), southeastern Mexico. It is formed by the junction of several rivers in Oaxaca estado, near the Veracruz-Oaxaca border, and meanders generally northeastward for 76 miles (122 km) to Alvarado Lagoon, just south of Alvarado. Its ...
Papandreou, Andreas: politician and educator who was prime minister of Greece from 1981 to 1989 and from 1993 to 1996.
Papandreou, Georgios: Greek liberal politician who was three times prime minister of his country.
Papantla: city, north-central Veracruz estado ("state"), east-central Mexico. Formerly known as Papantla de Hidalgo, the city lies in the hills dividing the Cazones and Tecolutla river basins. Corn (maize), beans, tobacco, and fruits flourish in the hot, humid climate. The city ...
Papaveraceae: poppy family of the order Papaverales, with about 200 species; most of these are herbaceous plants, but the family includes some woody, small trees and shrubs. The family is outstanding for its many garden ornamentals and pharmaceutically important plants. Most ...
Papaverales: the poppy order of flowering plants, belonging to the class known as Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons; characterized by the presence of two seed leaves). The order is composed of about 600 species in two families, Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae. Its most familiar flowers ...
papaya: succulent fruit of a large plant (Carica papaya) of the family Caricaceae that is considered a tree, though its palmlike trunk, up to 8 m (26 feet) tall, is not as woody as the designation generally implies. The plant ...
Papeete: commune, capital of French Polynesia, lying on the northwest coast of Tahiti. A gracious tropical city with tall palms and abundant flowers, Papeete is one of the largest urban centres in the South Pacific. Its excellent harbour made it, by ...
Papen, Franz von: German statesman and diplomat who played a leading role in dissolving the Weimar Republic and in helping Adolf Hitler to become German chancellor in 1933.
paper: matted or felted sheet, usually made of cellulose fibres, formed on a wire screen from water suspension.
paper birch: ornamental, shade, and timber tree of the family Betulaceae, native to northern and central North America.
paper chromatography: in analytical chemistry, technique for separating dissolved chemical substances by taking advantage of their different rates of migration across sheets of paper. It is an inexpensive but powerful analytical tool that requires very small quantities of material.
paper folding: art of folding objects out of paper without cutting, pasting, or decorating. Its early history is not known, though it seems to have developed from the older art of folding cloth.
paper pulp: raw material for paper manufacture that contains vegetable, mineral, or man-made fibres. It forms a matted or felted sheet on a screen when moisture is removed.
paper wasp: (Polistes), any of a worldwide genus of insects of the family Vespidae (order Hymenoptera). A striking-looking wasp, about 16 millimetres long, it has orange antennae, wings, and tarsi; the body is jet black with narrow yellow bands and paired segmental ...
paperbark tree: any of several small trees belonging to the genus Melaleuca, in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), characterized by their whitish papery bark. They are native to Australia and nearby islands.
papermaking: formation of a matted or felted sheet, usually of cellulose fibres, from water suspension on a wire screen. Paper is the basic material used for written communication and the dissemination of information. In addition, paper and paperboard provide materials for ...
Paphlagonia: ancient district of Anatolia adjoining the Black Sea, bounded by Bithynia in the west, Pontus in the east, and Galatia in the south. The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient peoples of Anatolia. Passing under the rule of Lydia ...
Paphos: town, southwestern Republic of Cyprus. Paphos was also the name of two ancient cities that were the precursors of the modern town. The older ancient city (Greek: Palaipaphos) was located at modern Pirgos (Kouklia); New Paphos, which had superseded Old ...