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personality disorder ... Peter Des Roches
personality disorder
mental disorder that is marked by deeply ingrained and lasting patterns of inflexible, maladaptive, or antisocial behaviour. A personality disorder is an accentuation of one or more personality traits to ...
personification
figure of speech in which human characteristics are attributed to an abstract quality, animal, or inanimate object. An example is "The Moon doth with delight / Look round her when ...
personnel administration
the management of the people in working organizations. It is also frequently called personnel management, industrial relations, employee relations, and manpower management. It represents a major subsystem in the general ...
perspective
method of graphically depicting three-dimensional objects and spatial relationships on a two-dimensional plane or on a plane that is shallower than the original (for example, in flat relief).
perspective scenery
in theatre, scenery and the scene design technique that represents three-dimensional space on a flat surface, creating an illusion of reality and an impression of distance. Developed during the Italian ...
perspiration
in most mammals, water given off by the intact skin, either as vapour by simple evaporation from the epidermis (insensible perspiration) or as sweat, a form of cooling in which ...
persuasion
the process by which a person's attitudes or behaviour are, without duress, influenced by communications from other people. One's attitudes and behaviour are also affected by other factors (for example, ...
Perth
city and royal burgh, Perth and Kinross council area, historic county of Perthshire, Scotland. Perth lies on the right bank of the River Tay. Its name is probably Celtic.
Perth
town, seat of Lanark county, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Tay River, 45 miles (70 km) southwest of Ottawa. Named after the town in Scotland, it was founded in 1816 ...
Perth
city and capital, Western Australia. Perth lies along the estuary of the Swan River, 12 miles (19 km) above that river's mouth, which forms the inner harbour of Fremantle. The ...
Perth Amboy
city and port of entry, Middlesex county, east-central New Jersey, U.S. It lies at the mouth of the Raritan River, on Raritan Bay, at the southern end of Arthur Kill ...
Perth and Kinross
council area, central Scotland. It encompasses the historic county of Kinross-shire (Kinross, which covers a small area in the southeast), a very small portion of the historic county of Angus ...
perthite
any member of a class of alkali feldspars in which tiny crystals of sodium-rich feldspar (albite; NaAlSi3O8) are intimately intergrown with, but distinct from, tiny crystals of potassium-rich feldspar (orthoclase ...
Perthshire
historic county of central Scotland, including a section of the Grampian Mountains in the southern Highlands and a portion of the northern Scottish Lowlands, centred on the city of Perth. ...
Pertinax, Publius Helvius
Roman emperor from January to March 193.
Pertini, Alessandro
politician and president of Italy (1978-85), distinguished by his statesmanship amid political and social upheaval.
perturbation
in mathematics, method for solving a problem by comparing it with a similar one for which the solution is known. Usually the solution found in this way is only approximate.
perturbation
in astronomy, deviation in the motion of a celestial object caused either by the gravitational force of a passing object or by a collision with it. For example, predicting the ...
Peru
country in South America. Except for the Lake Titicaca basin in the southeast, its borders lie in sparsely populated zones. The boundaries with Ecuador to the northwest, Bolivia to the ...
Peru
city, seat (1834) of Miami county, north-central Indiana, U.S. The city lies on the Wabash River near its juncture with the Mississinewa, midway between South Bend (70 miles [110 km] ...
Peru Current
cold-water current of the southeast Pacific Ocean, with a width of about 900 km (550 mi). Relatively slow and shallow, it transports only 350,000,000-700,000,000 cu ft (10,000,000-20,000,000 cu m) of ...
Peru, Viceroyalty of
the second of the four viceroyalties that Spain created to govern its domains in the Americas. Established in 1543, the viceroyalty initially included all of South America under Spanish control ...
Peru-Chile Trench
submarine trench in the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of Peru and Chile. It reaches a maximum depth of 26,460 feet (8,065 m) below ...
Perugia
city, seat of an archbishopric and capital of Perugia province and Umbria region, in central Italy, north of Rome; it lies on an irregular cluster of hills overlooking the Umbrian ...
Perugia, University of
coeducational state institution of higher learning at Perugia, Italy. The university was founded in 1200 by a group of students seceding from the University of Bologna. It was recognized by ...
Perugino
Italian early Renaissance painter of the Umbria school, the teacher of Raphael. His work (e.g., "Giving of the Keys to St. Peter," 1481-82, a fresco in the Sistine Chapel, Rome) ...
peruke
man's wig, especially the type popular from the 17th to the early 19th century. It was made of long hair, often with curls on the sides, and drawn back on ...
Perun
the thunder god of the ancient pagan Slavs, a fructifier, purifier, and overseer of right and order. His actions are perceived by the senses: seen in the thunderbolt, heard in ...
Perutz, Max Ferdinand
Austrian-born British biochemist, corecipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his X-ray diffraction analysis of the structure of hemoglobin, the protein that transports oxygen from the lungs to ...
Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation
transitory union of Peru and Bolivia (1836-39). Bolivia's dictator, Andres Santa Cruz, conquered Peru after helping to quell an army rebellion against Peruvian president Luis Jose de Orbegoso in 1835. ...
Peruzzi Family
leading family of medieval Italian financiers whose bankruptcy in the 14th century contributed to the economic depression of the late Middle Ages.
Peruzzi, Baldassarre
Sienese architect and painter, one of the earliest artists to attempt illusionist architectural painting (quadratura), the extension of real architecture into imaginary space.
Pervomaysk
mining town, Luhansk oblast (province), Ukraine, on the Donets Coal Basin. The town, the name of which means First of May, after the international (Communist) holiday, was incorporated in ...
Pervomaysk
city, Nikolayev oblast (province), Ukraine, at the confluence of the Sinyukha and Yuzhny Bug rivers. The city, formerly known as Olviopol, was incorporated in 1773 and renamed, literally, First of ...
Pervouralsk
city, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), western Russia, located on the upper Chusovaya River and on the railway from Yekaterinburg to Perm. Founded in 1732 as an ironworks, the modern city of ...
Pesaro
city, capital of Pesaro e Urbino provincia, Marche regione, northern Italy. Pesaro is a seaport lying along the Adriatic Sea at the mouth of the Foglia (Pisaurum) River. Destroyed by ...
Pescara
city, capital of Pescara provincia, Abruzzi regione, central Italy. Pescara lies along the Adriatic Sea at the mouth of the Pescara River, east-northeast of Rome. The Roman Aternum, the city ...
Pescara, Fernando Francesco de Avalos, marchese di
(marquess of) Italian leader of the forces of Holy Roman emperor Charles V against the French king Francis I.
Peschiera del Garda
port village, Verona provincia, Veneto regione, northern Italy. Situated on the southeast end of Garda Lake at the efflux of the Mincio River, Peschiera lies about 14 miles (23 km) ...
Pescia
town, Pistoia provincia, Toscana regione, central Italy, at the base of the Etruscan Apennines and at the western end of the Nievole River. Its cathedral is notable for an ancient ...
Pesellino
Italian artist of the early Renaissance who excelled in the execution of small-scale paintings.
peseta
former monetary unit of Spain. The peseta ceased to be legal tender in 2002, when the euro, the monetary unit of the European Union, was adopted as the country's sole ...
peshat
(Hebrew: "spread out"), in Jewish hermeneutics, the simple, obvious, literal meaning of a biblical text. In the interpretation of the Halakha (the "Proper Way"; i.e., the Oral Law that was ...
Peshawar
city, central North-West Frontier province, Pakistan. The city (capital of the province) lies just west of the Bara River, a tributary of the Kabul River, near the Khyber Pass. The ...
Peshitta
(Syriac: "simple," or "common"), Syriac version of the Bible, the accepted Bible of Syrian Christian churches from the end of the 3rd century AD. The name Peshitta was first employed ...
Peshtigo
city, Marinette county, northeastern Wisconsin, U.S. It is situated on the Peshtigo River, about 45 miles (70 km) northeast of Green Bay. The site was first settled about 1838. On ...
peshwa
the office of chief minister among the Maratha people of India. The peshwa, also known as the mukhya pradhan, originally headed the advisory council of the raja Sivaji (reigned c. ...
Pesne, Antoine
French-born Rococo painter of historical subjects and portraits who was the most important artist in Prussia in the first half of the 18th century.
peso
the monetary unit of several Latin American countries and the Philippines; it is divided into 100 centavos. The peso was introduced into Spain by the monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, who ...
Pessac
town, southwestern suburb of Bordeaux, Gironde departement, southwestern France. It was the site of a Gallo-Roman villa of the patrician Pesus. Located in the Graves vineyard district, it is noted ...
Pessanha, Camilo
Portuguese poet whose work is the representative in Portuguese poetry of Symbolism in its purest and most genuine form and the chief precursor of Modernist poetry.
Pessoa, Fernando Antonio Nogueira
poet whose part in Modernism gave Portuguese literature European significance.
Pest
megye (county), north-central Hungary, extending southward from the Budapest area to near the Tisza River and with an area of 2,469 square miles (6,394 square km). The megye is very ...
pest
any organism judged as a threat to human beings or to their interests. When early man hunted animals and foraged for food, he shared the natural resources with other organisms ...
Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich
Swiss educational reformer, who advocated education of the poor and emphasized teaching methods designed to strengthen the student's own abilities. Pestalozzi's method became widely accepted, and most of his principles ...
Pestalozzianism
pedagogical doctrines of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) stressing that instruction should proceed from the familiar to the new, incorporate the performance of concrete arts and the experience of ...
Pestel, Pavel Ivanovich
Russian military officer and a radical leader of the Decembrist revolutionaries.
pesticide
any toxic substance used to kill animals or plants that cause economic damage to crop or ornamental plants or are hazardous to the health of domestic animals or humans. All ...
pet
any animal kept by human beings as a source of companionship and pleasure.
Pet Shop Boys, the
British pop music duo that recorded a string of international hits, several of which topped the charts in the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. The band comprised Neil Tennant ...
Petah Tiqwa
city, west-central Israel, on the Plain of Sharon, east-northeast of Tel Aviv-Yafo and part of that city's metropolitan area. Situated in the valley of Achor near the Yarqon River, the ...
Petain, Philippe
French general who was a national hero for his victory at the Battle of Verdun in World War I but was discredited as chief of state of the French government ...
Petaling Jaya
city, Peninsular (West) Malaysia, about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Kuala Lumpur, the national capital. Established (1953) originally as a satellite settlement for squatters of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya ...
Petaluma
city, Sonoma county, western California, U.S. It lies at the head of navigation on the Petaluma River, 39 miles (63 km) north of San Francisco. The area was once part ...
Petare
city, northwestern Miranda estado ("state"), in the central highlands of northern Venezuela. Formerly a commercial centre in a fertile agricultural area producing coffee, cacao, and sugarcane, the city has become ...
petasos
wide-brimmed hat with a conical crown worn in ancient Greece. The petasos worn by men had a rather low crown, while that worn by women had a tall one.
Peten
region of northern Guatemala, bounded on the north and west by Mexico and on the east by Belize. It constitutes more than one-third of the nation's territory. Peten is a ...
Peten Itza, Lake
lake, northern Guatemala, 160 miles (260 km) northeast of Guatemala City. A depression in the low limestone plateau at an elevation of 262 feet (80 m) above sea level, it ...
Peter
briefly Latin emperor of Constantinople, from 1217 to 1219.
Peter
Russian Orthodox metropolitan of Kiev and Moscow (1308-26) and the first metropolitan to reside in Moscow.
Peter
celebrated king of Castile and Leon from 1350 to 1369, charged by his contemporary enemies with monstrous cruelty but viewed by later writers as a strong executor of justice.
Peter Chrysologus, Saint
archbishop of Ravenna, whose orthodox discourses earned him the status of doctor of the church. The title Chrysologus (Golden Orator) was added to his name at a later date, probably ...
Peter Claver, Saint
Jesuit missionary to South America who, in dedicating his life to the aid of Negro slaves, earned the title of apostle of the Negroes.
Peter Damian, Saint
cardinal and Doctor of the Church, an original leader and a forceful figure in the Gregorian Reform movement, whose personal example and many writings exercised great influence on religious life ...
Peter Des Rivaux
one of the Poitevin administrators who dominated the government of young King Henry III of England from 1232 to 1234; Peter failed in his efforts to create an all-powerful central ...
Peter Des Roches
Poitevin diplomat, soldier, and administrator, one of the ablest statesmen of his time, who enjoyed a brilliant but checkered career, largely in England in the service of kings John and ...