palate the roof of the mouth.
pall a cover for a coffin.
pallid ashen, or pale.
panegyric a formal expression of praise, sometimes for the dead.
panegyrics praise.
panis caelistis Latin, "bread of Heaven."
paradox an apparently contradictory statement that yet may be true.
Paris in Greek mythology, the son of King Priam of Troy and his wife, Hecuba; his choice of Helen as the winner of a beauty contest, and his refusal to return her, caused the Trojan War; later, he shot the arrow that caused the death of Achilles.
Parma violet a variety cultivated for its fragrance; after Parma, a city in northern Italy.
parody a mocking imitation of a literary or an artistic work.
Parthian pertaining to a shot fired by one in actual or feigned retreat; after the tactics of the archers from Parthia in Western Asia.
pastille French, meaning "drop"; a tablet containing aromatic substances.
Patti Adelina Patti (1843–1919), world-renowned Italian coloratura soprano.
peerage a book listing noblemen and their families; peers as a class; rank or title of nobility.
penitent feeling or expressing remorse for one's misdeeds or sins.
Perdita and Florizel lovers in William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.
Persian saddle-bags enormous leather bags laid across the backs of camels, behind the saddle; here, a number of them are stuffed and arranged together so that a person can lounge or recline on them.
petulant unreasonably irritable.
philanthropist one who attempts to benefit mankind through charitable aid.
Piccadilly a thoroughfare in London running from the Haymarket to Hyde Park Corner.
placid calm, peaceful.
Plato (d. 347 B.C.), Greek philosopher.
Portia a leading character in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
précis French, meaning "brief summary."
presentiment premonition; a sense that something is about to occur.
prig a person who is overly precise, arrogant, or smug.
Prim D. Juan Prim (1814–70) was a military leader and statesman in Spain who played a major role in deposing Queen Isabella in 1868.
profligate a person given over to excessive devotion to pleasure.
proletariat the poorest class of working people.
protégé French, a person whose training and welfare are under the influence of a mentor.
prussic acid hydrocyanic acid; a colorless, extremely poisonous solution of hydrogen cyanide (HCN).
quay a wharf where ships are loaded and unloaded.
querulous expressing complaint.
riposte French, "retort" or reply in a direct manner.
Rosalind a leading role in William Shakespeare's As You Like It.
rouge French, meaning "red," "lipstick," or "rouge"; artificial blush for facial cheeks.
Rubinstein Anton Rubinstein (1829–94), Russian concert pianist, composer, and educator.
