Por"tu*guese (?), a. [Cf. F. portugais, Sp. portugues, Pg. portuguez.]
Of or pertaining to Portugal, or its inhabitants. -- n. sing. & pl. A
native or inhabitant of Portugal; people of Portugal.
Portuguese man-of-war. (Zoˆl.) See Physalia.
||Por`tu*la"ca (?), n. [L., purslane.] (Bot.) A genus of polypetalous
||plants; also, any plant of the genus.
Portulaca oleracea is the common purslane. P. grandiflora is a South
American herb, widely cultivated for its showy crimson, scarlet,
yellow, or white, ephemeral blossoms.
Por`tu*la*ca"ceous (?), a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a natural order
of plants (PortulacaceÊ), of which Portulaca is the type, and which
includes also the spring beauty (Claytonia) and other genera.
Por"wi`gle (?), n. See Polliwig.
Por"y (?), a. Porous; as, pory stone. [R.] Dryden.
||Po`sÈ" (?), a. [F., placed, posed.] (Her.) Standing still, with all
||the feet on the ground; -- said of the attitude of a lion, horse, or
||other beast.
Pose (?), n. [AS. gepose; of uncertain origin; cf. W. pas a cough, Skr.
ks to cough, and E. wheeze.] A cold in the head; catarrh. [Obs.]
Chaucer.
Pose (?), n. [F. pose, fr. poser. See Pose, v. t.] The attitude or
position of a person; the position of the body or of any member of the
body; especially, a position formally assumed for the sake of effect;
an artificial position; as, the pose of an actor; the pose of an
artist's model or of a statue.
Pose, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Posing.] [F. poser
to place, to put, L. pausare to pause, in LL. also, to place, put, fr.
L. pausa a pause, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to make to cease, prob. akin to E.
few. In compounds, this word appears corresponding to L. ponere to put,
place, the substitution in French having been probably due to confusion
of this word with L. positio position, fr. ponere. See Few, and cf.
Appose, Dispose, Oppose, Pause, Repose, Position.] To place in an
attitude or fixed position, for the sake of effect; to arrange the
posture and drapery of (a person) in a studied manner; as, to pose a
model for a picture; to pose a sitter for a portrait.
Pose, v. i. To assume and maintain a studied attitude, with studied
arrangement of drapery; to strike an attitude; to attitudinize;
figuratively, to assume or affect a certain character; as, she poses as
a prude.
He . . . posed before her as a hero.
Thackeray.
Pose, v. t. [Shortened from appose, for oppose. See 2d Appose, Oppose.]
1. To interrogate; to question. [Obs.] "She . . . posed him and sifted
him." Bacon.
2. To question with a view to puzzling; to embarrass by questioning or
scrutiny; to bring to a stand.
A question wherewith a learned Pharisee thought to pose and puzzle
him.
Barrow.
Posed (?), a. Firm; determined; fixed. "A most posed . . . and grave
behavior." [Obs.] Urquhart.
Pos"er (?), n. One who, or that which, puzzles; a difficult or
inexplicable question or fact. Bacon.
Po"sied (?), a. Inscribed with a posy.
In poised lockets bribe the fair.
Gay.
Pos"ing*ly (?), adv. So as to pose or puzzle.
Pos"it (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posited; p. pr. & vb. n. Positing.] [L.
ponere, positum, to place. See Position.] 1. To dispose or set firmly
or fixedly; to place or dispose in relation to other objects. Sir M.
Hale.
2. (Logic) To assume as real or conceded; as, to posit a principle. Sir
W. Hamilton.
Po*si"tion (?), n. [F. position, L. positio, fr. ponere, positum, to
put, place; prob. for posino, fr. an old preposition used only in comp.
(akin to Gr. &?;) + sinere to leave, let, permit, place. See Site, and
cf. Composite, Compound, v., Depone, Deposit, Expound, Impostor,
Opposite, Propound, Pose, v., Posit, Post, n.]
1. The state of being posited, or placed; the manner in which anything
is placed; attitude; condition; as, a firm, an inclined, or an upright
position.
We have different prospects of the same thing, according to our
different positions to it.
Locke.
2. The spot where a person or thing is placed or takes a place; site;
place; station; situation; as, the position of man in creation; the
fleet changed its position.
3. Hence: The ground which any one takes in an argument or controversy;
the point of view from which any one proceeds to a discussion; also, a
principle laid down as the basis of reasoning; a proposition; a thesis;
as, to define one's position; to appear in a false position.
Let not the proof of any position depend on the positions that
follow, but always on those which go before.