8-letter words starting with p
- panofsky — Erwin, 1892–1968, U.S. art historian, born in Germany.
- panoptic — permitting the viewing of all parts or elements: a panoptic stain used in microscopy; a panoptic aerial photograph of an enemy missile base.
- panorama — an unobstructed and wide view of an extensive area in all directions.
- panpipes — a primitive wind instrument consisting of a series of hollow pipes of graduated length, the tones being produced by blowing across the upper ends.
- pansophy — universal wisdom or knowledge.
- panstick — a cosmetic in stick form
- pant leg — a leg of a pair of pants.
- pantable — a soft, slipper-like shoe
- pantheon — a national monument in Paris, France, used as a sepulcher for eminent French persons, begun in 1764 by Soufflot as the church of Ste. Geneviève and secularized in 1885.
- panthera — a genus of chiefly large cats that includes the snow leopard, tiger, leopard, jaguar, and lion, most having the ability to roar.
- pantofle — a slipper.
- pantonal — marked by or using pantonality.
- pantsuit — a woman's suit consisting of slacks and a matching jacket.
- panufnik — Sir Andrzej (ændreɪ). 1914–91, British composer and conductor, born in Poland. His works include nine symphonies, the cantata Winter Solstice (1972), Polish folk-song settings, and ballet music
- panurgic — (in Rabelais' Pantagruel) a rascal, the companion of Pantagruel.
- paolozzi — Sir Eduardo (Luigi). 1924–2005, British sculptor and designer, noted esp for his semiabstract metal figures
- pap test — a test for cancer of the cervix, consisting of the staining of cervical cells taken in a cervical or vaginal smear (Pap smear or pap smear) for examination of exfoliated cells.
- papagayo — Gulf of, an inlet of the Pacific, on the NW coast of Costa Rica. 15 miles (25 km) long; 25 miles (40 km) wide.
- papalism — the papal system.
- papalist — a follower of the Pope or papacy
- papalize — to make papal or render Roman Catholic
- papelera — a small Renaissance cabinet for papers and writing materials, mounted on a small stand.
- paperboy — a youth or man who sells newspapers on the street or delivers them to homes; newsboy.
- papillae — any small, nipplelike process or projection.
- papillon — one of a breed of toy spaniels having a long, silky coat and large, erect ears held so that they resemble the wings of a butterfly.
- papinian — (Aemilius Papinianus) died a.d. 212, Roman jurist and writer.
- papisher — a Roman Catholic
- papistry — the Roman Catholic Church.
- papooses — a North American Indian baby or young child.
- pappadam — an Indian flatbread made of lentil flour, often topped with chutney or various dips or salsas.
- papulose — having papules
- papyrine — paper-like; papyral
- parabema — an architectural feature of an Orthodox church
- parables — a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.
- parabola — a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone with a plane parallel to a generator of the cone; the set of points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point in the same plane or in a parallel plane. Equation: y 2 = 2 px or x 2 = 2 py.
- parabole — a simile
- parachor — a scientific quantity defined by a formula involving surface tension, mass, and density
- paradigm — Grammar. a set of forms all of which contain a particular element, especially the set of all inflected forms based on a single stem or theme. a display in fixed arrangement of such a set, as boy, boy's, boys, boys'.
- parading — a large public procession, usually including a marching band and often of a festive nature, held in honor of an anniversary, person, event, etc.
- paradise — a town in N California.
- paradiso — heaven, as the final abode of the righteous.
- paradrop — airdrop.
- paraffin — a white or colorless, tasteless, odorless, water-insoluble, solid substance not easily acted upon by reagents, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons chiefly of the alkane series, obtained from crude petroleum: used in candles, for forming preservative coatings and seals, for waterproofing paper, etc.
- paraffle — an extravagant display
- parafoil — a structure, usually made of a strong yet light fabric, having a shape similar to that of an airplane wing, and used as a kite or a parachute.
- paraform — a white, crystalline polymer of formaldehyde, (HCOH) n , from which it is obtained by evaporation of the aqueous solution: used chiefly as an antiseptic.
- paragoge — the addition of a sound or group of sounds at the end of a word, as in the nonstandard pronunciation of height as height-th or once as once-t.
- paragram — a play on words; a pun
- paraguay — a republic in central South America between Bolivia, Brazil, and Argentina. 157,047 sq. mi. (406,750 sq. km). Capital: Asunción.
- paraison — parison.