Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Pepi II Neferkare ... Perec, Marie-Jose

Pepi II Neferkare: fifth king of the 6th dynasty (c. 2325-c. 2150 BC) of ancient Egypt, during whose extensive reign the government became weakened because of internal and external troubles. Late Egyptian tradition indicates that Pepi II acceded at the age of six ...
pepino hill: (from Spanish pepino, "cucumber"), also called Hum (Serbo-Croatian: "hill"), or Haystack Hill, conical hill of residual limestone in a deeply eroded karst region. Pepino hills generally form on relatively flat-lying limestones that are jointed in large rectangles. ...
peplos: garment worn by Greek women during the early Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods (i.e., up to about AD 300). It consisted of a large, rectangular piece of material folded vertically and hung from the shoulders, with a broad overfold. During ...
Pepoli Family: family that played an important role in the political and economic life of 13th- and 14th-century Bologna.
pepper: (Capsicum), any of a great number of plants of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, notably Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens, and C. boccatum, extensively cultivated throughout tropical Asia and equatorial America for their edible, pungent fruits. Peppers, which have been found in ...
pepper tree: (Schinus molle), small ornamental tree, of the cashew family (Anacardiaceae), native to tropical America and cultivated in warm subtropical regions. The long leaves have storage cells that contain a volatile oil. The small white flowers are borne in clusters at ...
Pepper, Art: American jazz musician noted for the beauty of his sound and his improvisations on alto saxophone, and a major figure in the 1950s in West Coast jazz (see cool jazz).
Pepper, Claude: American politician, known as a champion of the elderly, who served for more than 60 years in public office.
peppered moth: (Biston betularia), a European moth of the family Geometridae (order Lepidoptera), having speckled black-and-white wings. It is of significance in exemplifying natural selection through industrial melanism.
peppergrass: any of about 100 species of herbs constituting the genus Lepidium, of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), distributed throughout the world. Many, such as L. perfoliatum, are lawn and field weeds, but some are useful salad plants. Most species have long ...
peppermint: (Mentha piperita), strongly aromatic perennial herb, source of a widely used flavouring. It has stalked, smooth, dark-green leaves and blunt, oblong clusters of pinkish-lavender flowers, which are dried and used to flavour candy, desserts, beverages, salads, and other foods. Peppermint ...
Pepperrell, Sir William, Baronet: colonial American merchant, politician, and soldier who in 1745 commanded land forces that, with a British fleet, captured the French fortress of Louisbourg (in present-day Nova Scotia). For this exploit in King George's War, he was created a baronet (1746), ...
peppershrike: either of two species of stout-billed tropical American songbirds (order Passeriformes). (They are included by some authorities in the vireo family, Vireonidae.) Both peppershrikes are olive green above and yellow and white below; they are about 15 centimetres (6 inches) ...
PepsiCo, Inc.: American food and beverage company that took its name in 1965, when the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay, Inc. The company's headquarters are in Purchase, New York.
pepsin: the powerful enzyme in gastric juice that digests proteins such as those in meat, eggs, seeds, or dairy products.
peptic ulcer: lesion that occurs primarily in the mucous membrane of the stomach or duodenum (the upper segment of the small intestine); it is produced when external factors reduce the ability of the mucosal lining to resist the acidic effects of gastric ...
peptide: any organic substance of which the molecules are structurally like those of proteins, but smaller. The class of peptides includes many hormones, antibiotics, and other compounds that participate in the metabolic functions of living organisms. Peptide molecules are composed of ...
Pepusch, John Christopher: composer who was an important musical figure in England in the years before G.F. Handel.
Pepys, Samuel: English diarist and naval administrator, celebrated for his Diary (first published in 1825), which gives a fascinating picture of the official and upper-class life of Restoration London from Jan. 1, 1660, to May 31, 1669.
Pequot: any member of a group of Algonquian-speaking Indians who lived in the Thames valley in what is now Connecticut, U.S.; in the 1600s their population was estimated to be 2,200. Their subsistence was based on the cultivation of maize (corn), ...
Per Ramessu: ancient Egyptian capital in the 15th, 19th, and 20th dynasties. Situated in the northeastern delta about 62 miles (100 km) northeast of Cairo, the city lay in ancient times on the Bubastite branch of the Nile.
Peradeniya Botanic Gardens: botanical garden in Peradeniya, near Kandy, Sri Lanka, noted for its rich and varied collections of tropical woody plants. Occupying 59 hectares (146 acres), it has about 4,000 species of plants. The most important specimens of the garden include palms, ...
Perak: traditional region, northwestern West Malaysia (Malaya), bordering Thailand to the north and fronting the Strait of Malacca to the west. Its area includes a large portion of West Malaysia's west-coast plains and centres upon the Perak River, which flows north-to-south ...
Perak War: (c. 1874-76), rebellion against the British by a group of dissident Malay chiefs that culminated in the assassination in 1875 of James Birch, the first British resident (adviser) in Perak. Although they succeeded in eliminating Birch, the Malay leaders failed ...
Perak, Tun: bendahara (chief minister) of the port city of Malacca (now Melaka in Malaysia), who was kingmaker and the effective ruler of that important East Indies trade centre from 1456 until his death in 1498.
Peralta, Pedro de: Spanish colonial official who established Santa Fe as the capital of New Mexico.
Peranakan: in Indonesia, a native-born person of mixed Indonesian and foreign ancestry. There are several kinds of Peranakans in Indonesia, namely Peranakan Chinese, Peranakan Arabs, Peranakan Dutch, and Peranakan Indians. The Peranakan Chinese form the largest and the most important group, ...
Perce: city, Gaspesie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. It lies along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at the east end of the Gaspe Peninsula. First visited in 1534 by Jacques Cartier, it has been the site of a Roman Catholic mission ...
perception: in humans, the process whereby sensory stimulation is translated into organized experience. That experience, or percept, is the joint product of the stimulation and of the process itself. Relations found between various types of stimulation (e.g., light waves and sound ...
perceptual constancy: the tendency of animals and humans to see familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour, or location regardless of changes in the angle of perspective, distance, or lighting. The impression tends to conform to the object as it is ...
perceptual learning: the effects of past experience on sensory perceptions.
Perceval: hero of Arthurian romance, distinguished by his quality of childlike (often uncouth) innocence, which protected him from worldly temptation and set him apart from other knights in Arthur's fellowship. This quality also links his story with the primitive folktale theme ...
Perceval, Spencer: lawyer, politician, and British prime minister from 1809 until his assassination in 1812.
perch: either of two species of fish, the common and the yellow perch (Perca fluviatilis and P. flavescens, sometimes considered as single species, P. fluviatilis) of the family Percidae (order Perciformes). The name also is widely, and sometimes confusingly, applied to ...
Perche: region of northern France on the border of Normandie, mainly in the east of the Orne departement, with extensions into neighbouring departements. Formerly a county, it was united to the French crown in 1525. It is largely hilly country, the ...
perched rock: boulder balanced on a pinnacle rock, another boulder, or in some other precarious position. Some perched rocks form in place, as where rainwash (and in some cases wind) has removed fine material from around the boulder. Others may be transported ...
Percheron: heavy draft-horse breed that originated in the Perche region of France. The breed probably stems from the Flemish "great horse" of the Middle Ages; modified by Oriental blood to develop a coach-horse type, it was changed again in the 19th ...
perching duck: any of the species of the tribe Cairinini, family Anatidae (order Anseriformes), waterfowl that typically inhabit wet woodlands, nest in holes in trees, and perch on branches by means of their long-clawed toes. The tribe is widely represented, especially in ...
Percier, Charles; and Fontaine, Pierre: pair of French architects and interior designers who carried out many building and decorative projects during the reign of Napoleon I and helped create the influential Empire style (q.v.) of interior decoration.
perciform: any member of the order Perciformes, a group of bony fishes with more than 6,000 species placed in about 150 families. The order is the largest group of fishes in the world today. Perciform fishes occur in abundance in both ...
percussion: in medicine, diagnostic procedure that entails striking the body directly or indirectly with short, sharp taps of a finger or, rarely, a hammer. The procedure was first described in 1761 by the Austrian physician Leopold Auenbrugger von Auenbrugg. Although generally ...
percussion instrument: any musical instrument belonging to either of two groups, idiophones or membranophones. Idiophones are instruments whose own substance vibrates to produce sound (as opposed to the strings of a guitar or the air column of a flute); examples include bells, ...
Percy Family: English family renowned in history and ballad for its role in medieval, Tudor, and Stuart times.
Percy, Sir Henry: English rebel who led the most serious of the uprisings against King Henry IV (reigned 1399-1413). His fame rests to a large extent on his inclusion as a major character in William Shakespeare's Henry IV.
Percy, Thomas: English antiquarian and bishop whose collection of ballads, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), awakened widespread interest in English and Scottish traditional songs.
Percy, Walker: American novelist who wrote of the New South transformed by industry and technology.
Perdiccas: general under Alexander the Great who became regent of the Macedonian empire after Alexander's death (323).
Pere David's deer: (Elaphurus davidianus), large, rare Asian deer, family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla). The only member of its genus, it is unknown in nature within historic times. Presumably native to northern China, it is now found only in zoos, private animal collections, and ...
Pere Ubu: American avant-garde art rock band generally considered to be a major force and influence in postpunk music. The original members were David Thomas (b. June 14, 1953), Peter Laughner (b. c. 1953-d. June 22, 1977), Tom Herman (b. April 19, ...
Perec, Georges: French writer, often called the greatest innovator of form of his generation.
Perec, Marie-Jose: French athlete who was the first sprinter to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 400-metre dash.