<word meaning & root formation>
Pachycephalic: thick-sculled; stupid [from Gk. pakhús (“thick”) + –cephalic (“head”)]
Paleomnesia: good memory for events of the far past [Gk. paleo (“old”; “ancient”) + –mnesia (“memory”)]
Palimony: the division of financial assets and real property on the termination of a personal live-in relationship wherein the parties are not legally married (ie, de facto) [formed from “pal” + “alimony” (coined by celebrity lawyer Marvin Mitchelson)]
Palinoia: the compulsive repetition of an act over and over until perfection is achieved [? + Gk. –noia (“mind”)]
Palladian: pertaining to learning and wisdom [from Gk. Pallás an epithet of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom) + -ian]
Palpebrate: having eyelids; to wink. [L. palpebra, eyelid]
Paltripolitan: an insular city dweller [blending of “paltry” + -“metropolitan”]
Pancratic: (Hist.) an athletic contest called the pankration; athletic; pertaining to or having ability in all matters [Gk. pankratḗs, [“all-powerful”)]
Pandaculation: involuntary stretching and yawning [L. pandiculatus, from pandiculari (“to stretch oneself”)] 🥱
Pangrammatist: a person who composes verses or sentences using all letters of the alphabet [Gk. pan (“all”) + -grammar + -ist]
Pantophagy: a diet that consists of a large variety of foods; ideally, of all possible foods [from Gk. pant (“all”) + –phagein (“to eat”)]
Paracme: (Medic.) a point beyond the greatest or highest (eg, of a fever); the stage after one’s peak [from Gk. para, (“beyond”) + -akmē, (“highest point”; “prime”)]
Paradiastole: (Rhetoric) a form of euphemism in which a positive synonym is substituted for a negative word; to reframe a vice as a virtue [para + -diastolḗ, (“separation”; “distinction”)]
Paronomasia: word-play of the punning kind; playing upon words which sound alike for comic or clever effect [from para + –onomasía, (“naming”)]
Parorexia: a craving or appetite for unusual foods [from Gk. para + -orexia (“desire”; “appetite”)]
Passepartout: a master key; a safe conduct or passport (from Fr. lit. (“passes everywhere”)] 🔑
Peculate: to pilfer or embezzle (money, esp public funds) [L. from peculatus]
Pilgarlic: a pitiful bald-headed man [from “pilled”/“peeled” + “-garlic”]
Pleionosis: the exaggeration of one’s own importance [? + Gk. –osis (“disease”; “process”); “condition”)]
Preterist: (Theo.) a Christian eschatological view or belief that interprets prophecies of the Bible as events which have already been fulfilled in history; a person interested in the past [ from L. praeteritus, (“gone by”) + -ist]
Prevenient: anticipating; preceding in time or order; having foresight; preventing [from L. praeveniens (“precedes”)]
Procerity: tallness; height [from L. pro– (“forward”) + –cerus, from –crescere (“to grow”) + –itas (“-ity”)]
Proctalgia: a severe, episodic pain in the region of the rectum and anus; pain in the arse [Gk. prōktos (“anus”) + –algos (“pain”)] (cf. Rectalgia)
Procumbent: lying or kneeling with face down; prostrate [L. pro + -cumbere (“to lie down”)]
Protogenal: pertaining to primitive creatures [NewLat. protogenes, from L. prot (“first”) + –gen (“birth”)]
Psephologist: someone who studies elections and voting patterns [Gk. psēphos, (“pebble”)]
Psychagogic: attractive; persuasive; interesting [from Gk. psychagōgia (“persuasion”; “winning of souls”) + -ikos -ic]
Pyknic: relating to a stocky physique; rounded body and head, thickset trunk and tendency towards fat [from Gk. pyknos (“dense”; “stocky”)]
