Pagan Moralist Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121–180 A.D.), Roman emperor and stoic philosopher.
Pan Greek god with legs, ears, and horns of a goat, noted for his lust.
pantheistic relating to pantheism, the doctrine that God is not a personality, but that all laws, forces, manifestations, etc. of the universe are God; the belief that God and the universe are one and the same.
parlous perilous; dangerous; risky.
Partie carree party of four, from French.
Pattens elevated, wooden soled shoes, often used for walking in mud and sometimes outfitted with an iron ring that can clink.
pellucid transparent or translucent; clear; easy to understand.
penitential expressing penitence for having sinned or done other wrong and willing to atone.
penury lack of money, property, or necessities; extreme poverty; destitution.
percipience a perceiving, esp. keenly or readily.
perdition the loss of the soul; damnation; hell.
pernicious causing great injury, destruction, or ruin; fatal; deadly; [Rare] wicked; evil.
Peter the Great Peter I (1672–1725); czar of Russia (1682–1725). Before becoming Emperor of Russia, Peter studied shipbuilding.
Petite mort shudder or chill; a premonition of death; a "little death" (French).
phlegmatic hard to rouse to action; sluggish; dull; apathetic; calm; cool; stolid.
phlegmatic hard to rouse to action; specif., sluggish; dull; apathetic; calm; cool; stolid.
Phryne Athenian courtesan who was the model and lover of Praxiteles, the sculptor.
pillar of a cloud from Exodus 13:21.
pinner (dialect) a pinafore or apron with a bib.
plim swell (dialect).
Plutonic master Pluto, or Hades, god of the underworld, had the power to condemn people to hell.
pollarded for bows had their boughs severed to make bows.
poppet [Obs.] a doll, or puppet.
Praxitlean creation like the work of Praxiteles, Greek sculptor of the fourth century B.C. known for his sensual statues.
premonitory giving previous warning or notice.
pricked or ducked references to ordeals used to identify witches, either by pricking them to see if they were insensitive or bled less than normal, or by ducking them to see if they sank (a sign of innocence) or floated (a sign of guilt).
Primum mobile the outermost sphere of the world in Ptolemaic cosmography, which caused the movement of the heavens (Latin).
proclivity a natural or habitual tendency or inclination, esp. toward something discreditable.
prophet on the top of Peor Balaam, who refused to curse the Israelites, Numbers 23–24.
prophet's gourd from Jonah 4:5–10, a gourd springs up overnight to give shade to Jonah.
propinquity nearness in time or place.
prudish like or characteristic of a prude; too modest or proper.
psalter a version of the Psalms for use in religious services; here, Tess is thinking of the psalm that is part of the "Invitatory and Psalter" of the Daily Morning Prayer in The Book of Common Prayer.
publican in Britain, any owner or proprietor of a pub.
Publicans and Sinners . . . Scribes and Pharisees they were biased in favor of those who had fallen.
pummy ground apples used in making cider.
quadrille a square dance of French origin, consisting of several figures, performed by four couples.
quagmire a difficult or inextricable position; here, referring to the difficulties caused by the loss of Prince, the Durbeyfield horse.
Queen of Sheba queen who visited King Solomon to investigate his reputed wisdom: 1 Kings 10:1–13; here, a reference to the Queen's dispirited feeling after she experiences the wisdom and wealth of Solomon (1 Kings 10:3–5).
rafted disturbed, unsettled (dialect).
reconnoitre to make a reconnaissance; alternate spelling of reconnoiter.
redemptive theolatry the worship of a god that promises redemption, as in Christianity.
reed-drawing preparing straw to be used as thatching material.
Revised Code reference to the Education Department's Revised Codes of 1862 and 1867, which linked the funding for schools to their size and to student performance on standardized assessment examinations.
Robert South English divine and minister (1634–1716).
