Pyrus, pī′rus, n. a genus of trees and shrubs of the natural order Rosaceæ, sub-order Pomeæ. [L. pyrus, for pirus, a pear-tree.]
Pythagorean, pi-thag-ō-rē′an, adj. pertaining to Pythagoras (c. 532 B.C.), a celebrated Greek philosopher, or to his philosophy.—n. a follower of Pythagoras.—ns. Pythag′orism, Pythagorē′anism, his doctrines.—Pythagorean proposition, the 47th proposition of Euclid, Book I., said to have been discovered by Pythagoras; Pythagorean system, the astronomical system of Copernicus, erroneously attributed to Pythagoras; Pythagorean triangle, a triad of whole numbers proportional to the sides of a right-angled triangle—e.g. 3, 4, 5.
Pythian, pith′i-an, adj. pertaining to the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered the oracles of the god there: noting one of the four national festivals of ancient Greece, in honour of Apollo, held every four years at Delphi.—Pythian verse, the dactylic hexameter.
Pythogenic, pī-thō-jen′ik, adj. produced by filth.—n. Pythogen′esis. [Gr. pythein, to rot, root of gignesthai, to become.]
Pythometric, pī-thō-met′rik, adj. pertaining to the gauging of casks. [Gr. pithos, a wine-jar, metron, a measure.]
Python, pī′thon, n. a genus of serpents of the boa family, all natives of the Old World, and differing from the true boas by having the plates on the under surface of the tail double: a demon, spirit.—n. Py′thoness, the priestess of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, in Greece: a witch.—adj. Python′ic, pretending to foretell future events, like the Pythoness: prophetic: like a python.—ns. Py′thonism, the art of predicting events by divination; Py′thonist. [Gr. Pythōn, the serpent slain near Delphi by Apollo.]
Pyx, piks, n. (R.C.) the sacred box in which the host is kept after consecration: the box at the British Mint containing sample coins.—v.t. to test the weight and fineness of, as the coin deposited in the pyx.—Trial of the pyx, final trial by weight and assay of the gold and silver coins of the United Kingdom, prior to their issue from the Mint. [L. pyxis, a box—Gr. pyxis—pyxos (L. buxus), the box-tree.]
Pyxidium, pik-sid′i-um, n. (bot.) a pod or seed-vessel which opens in two halves, the upper one resembling a lid. [Gr. pyxidion, dim. of pyxis.]