Precision. Exact limitation, scrupulous observance of certain given rules.
Predal, or Predatory War. A war carried on by plunder and rapine.
Prefect (Lat. præfectus). A Roman officer who was over, or who superintended, a particular command, charge, department, and the like. Of this class there were several, as the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guards, etc.
Prefect Pretorian. In Roman antiquity, was the commander of the pretorian guards.
Preferment. The state of being advanced to a higher post.
Prejudice. An opinion or decision of mind formed without due examination; prejudgment; a bias or leaning toward one side or the other of a question from other considerations than those belonging to it; an unreasonable predilection or prepossession for or against anything; especially, an opinion or leaning adverse to anything formed without proper grounds, or before suitable knowledge.
Prejudicial to Military Discipline, Conduct. See Appendix, [Articles of War], [62].
Prenzlow. A town of Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg, 71 miles north-northeast from Berlin. Here, in October, 1806, a body of Prussians, 10,000 strong, under the Prince of Hohenlohe, surrendered, after the defeat of Jena, to the French under Murat.
Prepare for Action. A word of command used in the artillery.
Preponderance. In gunnery, is the excess of weight of the part in rear of the trunnions over that in front; it is measured by the lifting force in pounds, which must be applied at the rear of the base-ring, at the base-line, or at the bottom of the ratchet, to balance the piece when suspended freely on the axis of the trunnions. Preponderance was given to prevent the sudden dipping of the muzzle, in firing, and violent concussion on the carriage at the breech. Most of the heavy pieces of the late models have no preponderance, the axis of the trunnions intersecting the axis of the piece, at the centre of gravity.