it, possum, I am able, volo, I am willing, or debeo, I ought. It is sometimes called the permissive mood, because it implies a permission to do a thing. In English, may and can are signs of the potential mood.

PRE, PRO, as well as PER, (see PER,) have a common origin. See page 240.

"PRO and PRÆ, (or PRE,) are equivalent to for or fore, and differ from PER, as fore from through. Both express an entry or passage; but

in the one we attend to the circumstance of entering or passing, and in the other the entry is supposed to have been made.

“PRO and PRÆ were the for and fore of the Romans. To proceed, (cedere, to go,) is to go forward; to procure, (curare, to take care of,) is to manage or transact for another. Pre-engagement is a fore engagement; to pre-judge is to judge before hand; and to preside, (sedere, to sit,) to sit before or have authority over others. To pronounce, (nuncio, I tell,) is to speak out; to provoke, (vocare, to call,) is to call forth or forward." Booth.

PRETER, OF PRÆTER, is for præ tra, and has the conjoined meanings of præ and trans. It is therefore used to signify before, but separate from, beside or over and above that to which

it is near. It also denotes opposed to, arising from the idea that it is far before or beyond another.

The prefix PUR, is the same as the French word pour, and Latin pro: it is synonymous with for. To purpose, (see PoNo, p. 29,) is to place for or on account of, that is, intend; pursuit, from the French suivre, (from sequor, I follow,) is following for, or in chase of; purlieus, from lieu, (Latin, loco,) a place, is the fore places, environs, or outskirts of any inclosure or other specified situation.

Pre-cede, precedo, (see CEDO, p. 6,) I go before. Both precedent and example apply to that which may be followed or made a rule; but the example is commonly present or before our eyes, the precedent is properly some thing past.

Antecedent and preceding both denote priority of time, or the order of events; but the former in a more vague and indeterminate manner than the latter: a preceding event is that which happens immediately before the one of which we are speaking; whereas, antecedent may have events or circumstances intervening. Antecedent is opposed to posterior; preceding to succeeding.

Pre-cept, from præcipio, (see CAPIO, p. 5,) I take before ;signifies the thing laid before the mind in order to be known and obeyed. A sovereign issues commands, a master gives orders, a moralist lays down precepts.We are said to believe in doctrines, to obey precepts, ` to imbibe or hold principles.

Maxim is a moral truth that carries its own weight with itself; precept, rule, and law, borrow their weight

from some external circumstance: the precept derives its authority from the individual delivering it, the rule acquires a worth from its fitness for guiding us in our proceeding, the law derives its weight from the sanction of power.

Pre-cipitancy, from præcipito, (caput, the head,) I throw headlong. Rashness expresses hurried and excessive motion, temerity denotes the quality of acting by the impulse of the moment: we speak of hastiness in regard to our movements, and precipitancy in regard to

our measures.

Pre-cise, from præcido, I cut by rule; is applied to that which has determinate limitations. "A definition is the only way whereby the precise meaning of moral words can be known." We never can be too accurate or exact, but we may be too precise when we dwell on unimportant particulars; hence the epithet precise is sometimes taken in the unfavourable sense of affectedly exact.

Accuracy concerns the operations of our senses and our understanding; exactness regards our dealings with others, as our engagement or our payments; precision is applied to our habits and manners in society-we speak of precise behaviour, of persons being precise in their mode of dress, and in the hours they keep. "The precise difference between a compound and a collective idea is this, that a compound idea unites things of different kinds; but a collective, things of the same kind." Watts. Pre-clude, præcludo, (see CLAUDO, p. 7,) I shut out or hinder by some anticipation. Prevent and obviate are the acts of either conscious or unconscious agents; preclude is the act of unconscious agents only: we say a person prevents another from coming, or illness prevents him from coming; a person obviates a difficulty by a contrivance, or a certain arrangement obviates every difficulty. We speak of circumstances precluding a man from enjoying certain privileges; but we cannot say a person precludes another.

Pre-cursor, from præcurro, (see CURRO, p. 9,) I run before, and forerunner signify, literally, the same thing; but forerunner is properly applied only to one who runs before to any spot to communicate intelligence; and it is, figuratively, applied to things which, in their nature, or from a natural connection, precede others; precursor is only employed in this figurative

sense.

Pre-dict, from prædico, (see Dico, p. 9,) I declare beforehand. Predict, foretel, and prophesy all signify to declare what is to happen, and convey the idea of a verbal communication of futurity to others: prognosticate denotes knowing, rather than speaking, of things to come. One foretels by a simple calculation or guess; one predicts by a supernatural power, real or supposed; one prophesies by means of inspiration.

Predicament is that which may be asserted of any thing, when applied to circumstances it expresses a temporary embarrassed situation: thus we speak of being in, or of bringing ourselves into, a predicament.

Predicate, that part of a proposition which affirms or denies something of the subject. Thus, in the phrase, "God made the world," the phrase, made the world, is the predicate, and God is the subject. In "Peter is a man," Peter is the subject, man the predicate, and is the copula. See COPULA.-Predicament, is the collection of several common predicates disposed in a certain order. The philosophers distribute all beings, all the objects of our thoughts or ideas, into certain genera or classes, in order to gain a more distinct and precise notion thereof; which classes the Latins call predicaments, and the Greeks categories.-Prediction is a declaration beforehand of what is to come. Pre-face, præfari, to speak before. An advertisement in the beginning of a book, to inform the reader of the design, order, method, &c. observed in it.

Pre-fer, from præfero, (see FERO, p. 13,) I take before; signifies to take one thing rather than another. To

choose is to take one thing instead of another, to prefer is to take one thing before, or rather than, another : we sometimes choose from the bare necessity of choosing, but we never prefer without making a positive and voluntary choice.

Pre-fix, præfigo, (see FIGO, p. 13,) I fix before. Prefix is the opposite to affix.

Pre-judge, præjudico, (see Dico, p. 9,) I judge beforehand, that is, before examination. Prepossession applies to the feelings, prejudice refers only to opinions : we may be biassed for or against, we are always prepossessed in favour, and mostly prejudiced against. Pre-late, prelatus, (see FERO, p. 13,) carried or advanced before the rest. An ecclesiastic raised to some eminent and superior dignity of the church.

Pre-liminary, formed from pra, before, and limen, threshold. Something to be examined or determined before an affair can be treated of thoroughly, and to the purpose.

Pre-lude, from praludo, (see LUDO, p. 22,) I play before; is used principally in an extended sense. The idea of a preparatory introduction is included in the terms prelude and preface; but the former consists of actions, the latter of words. Prelude was first adopted in music, and meant a short flight of music which was placed first in order to prepare the voice or hand for the performance of the regular composition. It now denotes any thing which shows what is to follow. "The last Georgic was a good prelude to the Æneid.” Addison.

Pre-mature, from præmaturus, (maturus, ripe,) ripe before others, or before its usual time; is applied to that which is done with too much haste. Pre-meditate, præmeditor, I meditate before-hand. Foresight denotes the simple act of the mind in seeing a thing before it happens; premeditation signifies coming at the knowledge of a thing by force of meditating or reflecting deeply.

Pre-mise, from premitto, (see MITTO, p. 23,) I send be