præterition

See preterition. prætext a (pre-teks'ta), n.; pl. prætextæ (-tē). [L., fem. of prætext us, pp. of prætexere, weave in front, edge, border: see pretex, pretext.] In ancient Rome: ( a ) A white toga or wrap with a broad purple border, worn by children of both sexes. It was laid aside by young men upon becoming entitled to a ume sume the toga virilis, not before completion of their fourteenth year. Girls wore it till their marriage. ( b ) A white toga with a broad border of purple, worn as their official dre by higher magistrates and priests, and upon certain ceremonial occasions, ns, as the discharge of vows or the celebration of religious rites, by those citizens who were chiefly concerned. Compare clavus. The prætext a , on the other hand, with its purple border, could only be worn along with a white tunic under it with a purple stripe (clavus). Encyc . Brit ., VI. 456. prætor, prætympanic, etc. See pretor, etc. pragmatic (prag-mat'ik), a. and n. [ F.prag matique = Sp. pragmático = Pg. pragmatico = It. pram matico, pragmatico (ef. D. G. pragma tisch = Sw. Dan. pragmatisk ), adj., pragmatic (as a noun, masc., in def. 1; fem. F. pragmatique = Sp. pragmátic a, n., = Pg. pragmatic a, n., = It. prammatica, pragmatic a, in def. 3); a state. A pragmatic was i ued, September 18th, 1495, prescribing the weapons and the seasons for a regular training of the militia. Pre scott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 26, note. pragmatic a (prag-mat'i-kä), n . [ML.:see prag matic .] Same as pragmatic , n ., 3. Royal pragmatic as began to take the place of constitutional laws. Encyc. Brit ., IX. 811. pragmatical (prag-mat'i-kal), a.andn. [ prag matic+ -al .] I. a. 1. Versed in affairs; skilled in busine ; engaged in busine pursuits. Pragmatical men may not go away with an opinion that learning is like a lark, that can mount, and sing, and please herself, and nothing else. Bacon , Advancement of Learning, ii. 323. 2. Active; diligent; busy. I received instructions how to behave in town, with directions to masters and books to take in search of the antiquities, churches, collections, etc. Accordingly, the next day, Nov. 6th, I began to be very pragmatical . IMG:content-0787.png:[blocks in formation] "In One Town," though a little pragmatical and matter of fact, is not uninteresting. Athenæum , No. 3068, p. 203. 4t. Practical; authoritative. Can a man thus imployd find himselfe discontented or dishonour'd for want of admittance to have a pragmatic all voyce at Se ions and Jayle deliveries? Milton , On Def. of Humb. Remonst. 5. Unduly busy over the affairs of others; meddlesome; interfering; officious. The fellow grew so pragmatical that he took on him the management of my whole family. Arbuthnot. 6. Characterized by officiousne ; performed or delivered by an officious person; intrusive. It is like you to give a pragmatical opinion without being acquainted with any of the circumstances of the case. Charlotte Brontë , The Profe or. Suddenly an unknown individual, in plain clothes and with a pragmatical demeanor, interrupted the discourse by giving a flat contradiction to some of the doctrines advanced. Motley, Dutch Republic, I. 544. 7. Busy over trifles; self-important; busy. You cannot imagine what airs all the little pragmatical fellows about us have given themselves since the reading Add is on, The Tall Club. of those papers. II. n. A profe ional opinion or decision. The eloquent persuasions and pragmatic als of Mr. Secretary Wind wood. Bacon , To the King, 1617, July 25, Works, XIII. 232. ca sanctio or ju io or annotatio or constitutio, a pragmatic sanction, i. e. an imperial decree relating to the affairs of a community, ML. simply pragmatic a, a decree); in L., as a noun, a person versed in the law who furnished arguments and points to advocates and orators, a kind of attorney; LL. pragma ), a thing done, a fact, pl. πράγματα, affairs, state affairs, public busine , etc., Nor can your Palace be a dwelling-place For Safety, whilst pragmatic Logos or Sly Charis revel in your princely Grace. J. Beaumont, Psyche, v. 153. IMG:content-0788.png:[blocks in formation] pragmatism (prag'ma-tizm), n. [ Mrs. Dollop, the spirited landlady of the Tankard in Slaughter Lane, had often to resist the shallow prag matism of customers disposed to think that their reports from the outer world were of equal force with what had "come up" in her mind. George Eliot, Middle march, Ixxi. 2. In hist., same as pragmatic method. See pragmatic, a. pragmatist (prag'ma-tist), п. [ We may say of pragmatists that their eyes look all ways but inward. Bp. Reynolds, The Pa ions, xvi. pragmatize (prag'ma-tiz), v. t.; pret. and pp. pragmatized, ppr. pragmatizing. [ pragmatize +-ize.] To make real or material; attribute a practical objective existence to (some product of imagination or fancy). The merest shadowy fancy or broken-down metaphor, when once it gains a sense of reality, may begin to be spoken of as an actual event. One of the miraculous pa ages in the life of Mohammed himself is traced plausibly by Sprenger to such a pragmatized metaphor. E. B. Tylor, Prim. Culture, I. 407.