| peritoneum | n. | serous membrane surrounding the abdominal cavity | ||
| pernicity | n. | rapidity, celerity | ||
| perorally | adv. | by mouth | ||
| peroration | n. | concluding section of speech, in which orator sums up main points and attempts to inspire enthusiasm | rhetoric | |
| perruquier | n. | wigmaker | ||
| perscrutation | n. | penetrating and minute inquiry | ||
| perseverate | v. | to repeat endlessly or insistently | ||
| persiflage | n. | light banter; frivolous way of treating any subject | ||
| persnickety | adj. | fussy; snobby; difficult to work with | ||
| personalty | n. | personal goods, personal estate, personal belongings | ||
| perspicacious | adj. | insightful, having clear understanding | ||
| perspicuous | adj. | clearly expressed, lucid | ||
| pertinacious | adj. | stubbornly or persistently holding to a purpose, opinion, or plan | ||
| peruke | n. | periwig | ||
| pervious | adj. | allowing passage through; accessible to reason or influence | ||
| petard | n. | small explosive device formerly used in warfare for breaching gates, doors, or walls | ||
| petcock | n. | small hand valve used for drainage or testing | ||
| peterman | n. | safecracker | slang | |
| petiole | n. | footstalk joining leaf to a plant’s stem | botany | |
| petrary | n. | generic term for stone-heaving instruments of war | ||
| petrichor | n. | the smell of rain upon very dry earth | ||
| petrissage | n. | deep massage using kneading motions | ||
| pettifogger | n. | inferior legal practitioner, esp. one who cavils and engages in questionable acts; any petty practitioner | ||
| phaeton | n. | light four-wheeled carriage with forward-facing seats | ||
| phalera | n. | sculpted metal disk worn on the breast as military award | ||
| phallophoric | adj. | bearing or displaying a phallus | ||
| phantomesque | adj. | like a phantom, ghostly | ||
| pharyngitis | n. | inflammation of the back of the throat | ||
| phatic | adj. | of or related to language used primarily for social purposes, rather than the communication of ideas or information | ||
| phenakistiscope | n. | first device for viewing animated images, consisting of a revolving disc with distinct illustrations that appeared in motion when viewed in a mirror through slits also placed on the disc | ||
| phenotype | n. | observable trait (of form, behavior, development, or biological properties) characteristic of an organism | ||
| philomath | n. | scholar; astrologer | ||
| philoprogenitive | adj. | prolific, producing (many) offspring; of or relating to love of one’s offspring | ||
| phiz | n. | face | slang | |
| phlegm | n. | sticky mucus from throat and lungs; one of the four humors of medieval medical theory, causing sluggish temperament; composure, calmness, apathy | ||
| phobogenous | adj. | induced by fear | ||
| phocine | adj. | of or related to seals | ||
| Phoebus | n. | the sun; Apollo the sun god | ||
| photism | n. | luminous hallucination | ||
| photophobia | n. | pain or discomfort in eyes due to exposure to light | ||
| photosensitivity | n. | condition wherein the skin reacts to sunlight exposure, usu. producing a rash | ||
| phthisis | n. | wasting away; pulmonary tuberculosis, consumption | ||
| physic | n. | medicine, esp. a purgative, laxative | ||
| pi | v. | to jumble or spill printing type | ||
| pi-jaw | n. | sermonizing or patronizing talk, esp. of an adult to a child | slang | |
| piacular | adj. | making atonement, expiatory; requiring atonement, sinful | ||
| piano nobile | n. | main (usu. first) floor of large house | ||
| pibroch | n. | funereal or martial bagpipe music | ||
| picaresque | adj. | of or related to rogues and their adventures; of Spanish satire dating from 16th Century depicting such rogues and such adventure | ||
| picayune | adj. | trivial |
