Ap´ricot (Prunus Armeniăca), a fruit of the plum genus which was introduced into Europe from Asia more than three centuries before Christ, and into England from Italy in 1524. It is a native of Armenia and other parts of Asia and also of Africa. The apricot is a low tree, of rather crooked growth, with somewhat heart-shaped leaves and sessile flowers. The fruit is sweet, more or less juicy, of a yellowish colour, about the size of a peach, and resembling it in delicacy of flavour. Some of the best varieties are 'Frogmore Early', 'Moorpark', 'Royal', &c. The wood is coarsely grained and soft. Apricot trees are chiefly raised against walls, and are propagated by budding and grafting.
Apries (ā´pri-ēz), Pharaoh-Hophra of Scripture, the eighth king of the twenty-sixth Egyptian dynasty. He succeeded his father Psammetichus in 590 or 589 B.C. The Jews under Zedekiah revolted against their Babylonian oppressors and allied themselves with Apries, who was, however, unable to raise the siege of Jerusalem, which was taken by Nebuchadnezzar. A still more unfortunate expedition against Cyrene brought about revolt in his army, in endeavouring to suppress which Apries was defeated and slain about 570 B.C.
A´pril (Lat. Aprīlis, from aperire, to open, because the buds open at this time), the fourth month of the year. The strange custom of making fools on 1st April by sending people upon errands which end in disappointment, and raise a laugh at the expense of the person sent, prevails throughout Europe. It has been connected with the miracle plays of the Middle Ages, in which the Saviour was represented as having been sent, at this period of the year, from Annas to Caiaphas and from Pilate to Herod. This explanation, however, is perhaps itself a piece of April fooling. In France the party fooled is called un poisson d'avril, 'an April fish'; in Scotland, a 'gowk', or cuckoo.
A prio´ri ('from what goes before'), a phrase applied to a mode of reasoning by which we proceed from general principles or notions to particular cases, as opposed to a posteriori ('from what comes after') reasoning, by which we proceed from knowledge previously acquired. Mathematical proofs are of the a priori kind; the conclusions of experimental science are a posteriori. It is also a term applied to knowledge independent of all experience.
Apse, a portion of any building forming a termination or projection semicircular or polygonal in plan, and having a roof forming externally a semi-dome or semi-cone, or having ridges corresponding to the angles of the polygon;
especially such a semicircular or polygonal recess projecting from the east end of the choir or chancel of a church, in which the altar is placed. The apse was developed from the somewhat similar part of the Roman basilicæ, in which the magistrate (prætor) sat.
Ap´sheron, a peninsula on the western shore of the Caspian Sea formed by the eastern extremity of the Caucasus Mountains. It extends for about 40 miles, and terminates in Cape Apsheron. It yields immense quantities of petroleum. See Baku.
Apsis, pl. Ap´sides or Apsi´des, in astronomy, one of the two points of the orbit of a heavenly body situated at the extremities of the major axis of the ellipse formed by the orbit, one of the points being that at which the body is at its greatest and the other that at which it is at its least distance from its primary. In regard to the earth and the other planets, these two points are called the aphelion and perihelion; and in regard to the moon they are called the apogee and perigee. The line of the apsides has a slow forward angular motion in the plane of the planet's orbit, being retrograde only in the case of Venus. This in the earth's orbit produces the anomalistic year. See Anomaly.