n. [ Gr. ko`pros dung + -lite. ] (Paleon.) A piece of petrified dung; a fossil excrement. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing, pertaining to, or of the nature of, coprolites. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A crystalline amino acid (C5H9NO3), a hydroxylated proline, obtained by hydrolysis of gelatin or collagen. Chemically it is 4-hydroxy-L-proline. It is classified as nonessential for growth in rats. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ Gr. 'ichqy`s, -y`os, a fish + E. coprolite. ] (Geol.) Fossil dung of fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. im- not + prolific: cf. F. improlifique. ] Not prolific. [ Obs. ] E. Waterhouse. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. im- in + prolificate. ] To impregnate. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Politics) the lowest level of the proletariat, comprising unskilled workers, the unemployed, and the dispossessed, alienated from the class with with they would normally identify and having little or no class solidarity; -- an important element in Marxist theory. [ PJC ]

n. [ L. prolapsus, fr. prolapsus, p. p. of prolabi to fall forward; pro forward + labi to glide, fall. ] (Med.) The falling down of a part through the orifice with which it is naturally connected, especially of the uterus or the rectum. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To fall down or out; to protrude. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. prolapsio. ] (Med.) Prolapse. [ Written also prolaption. ] [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] (Med.) Prolapse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. prolatus, used as p. p. of proferre to bring forth, to extend; pro + latus, p. p. See Pro-, and Tolerate. ] Stretched out; extended; especially, elongated in the direction of a line joining the poles; as, a prolate spheroid; -- opposed to oblate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prolate cycloid. See the Note under Cycloid. --
Prolate ellipsoid or
Prolate spheroid (Geom.), a figure generated by the revolution of an ellipse about its major axis. Contrasted with oblate spheroid. See Ellipsoid of revolution, under Ellipsoid. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To utter; to pronounce. [ Obs. ] “Foun-der-ed; prolate it right.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. prolatio: cf. F. prolation. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of prolating or pronouncing; utterance; pronunciation. [ Obs. ] Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of deferring; delay. [ Obs. ] Ainsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mus.) A mediæval method of determining of the proportionate duration of semibreves and minims. Busby. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Prolata [ NL. See Prolate. ] (Geom.) A prolate spheroid. See Ellipsoid of revolution, under Ellipsoid. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. pro- for, in place of + leg. ] (Zool.) One of the fleshy legs found on the abdominal segments of the larvæ of Lepidoptera, sawflies, and some other insects. Those of Lepidoptera have a circle of hooks. Called also proped, propleg, and falseleg. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. prolegatus; pro for + legatus legate. ] (Rom. Hist.) The deputy or substitute for a legate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of the nature of a prolegomenon; preliminary; introductory; prefatory. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Prolegomena [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;, properly neut. pass. p. pr. of &unr_; to say beforehand; &unr_; before + &unr_; to say. ] A preliminary remark or observation; an introductory discourse prefixed to a book or treatise. D. Stokes (1659). Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;, from &unr_; to take beforehand; &unr_; before + &unr_; to take. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Rhet.) (a) A figure by which objections are anticipated or prevented. Abp. Bramhall. (b) A necessary truth or assumption; a first or assumed principle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chron.) An error in chronology, consisting in an event being dated before the actual time. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Gram.) The application of an adjective to a noun in anticipation, or to denote the result, of the action of the verb; as, to strike one dumb. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. proleptique. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of or pertaining to prolepsis; anticipative. “A far-seeing or proleptic wisdom.” De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Previous; antecedent. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Med.) Anticipating the usual time; -- applied to a periodical disease whose paroxysms return at an earlier hour at every repetition. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a proleptical manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Med.) The art and science of predicting in medicine. Laycock. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. See Proletary. ] One of the common people; a low person; also, the common people as a class or estate in a country. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. proletaneus. ] Having a numerous offspring. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. proletarius. See Proletary. ] Of or pertaining to the proletaries; belonging to the commonalty; hence, mean; vile; vulgar. “Every citizen, if he were not a proletarian animal kept at the public cost.” De Quincey. -- n. A proletary. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. ] The indigent class in the State; the body of proletarians. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The lower classes; beggars. “The Italian proletariate.” J. A. Symonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Proletaries [ L. proletarius, fr. proles offspring. Cf. Prolétaire. ] (Rom. Antiq.) A citizen of the lowest class, who served the state, not with property, but only by having children; hence, a common person. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. proles offspring + caedere to kill. ] The crime of destroying one's offspring, either in the womb or after birth. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. proles offspring + ferre to bear. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Biol.) To produce or form cells; especially, to produce cells rapidly. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) To produce zooids by budding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Biol.) The continuous development of cells in tissue formation; cell formation. Virchow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The production of numerous zooids by budding, especially when buds arise from other buds in succession. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. proles offspring + -ferous. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Bot.) Bearing offspring; -- applied to a flower from within which another is produced, or to a branch or frond from which another rises, or to a plant which is reproduced by buds or gemmæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) Producing young by budding. (b) Producing sexual zooids by budding; -- said of the blastostyle of a hydroid. (c) Producing a cluster of branchlets from a larger branch; -- said of corals. [ 1913 Webster ]

Proliferous cyst (Med.), a cyst that produces highly-organized or even vascular structures. Paget. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Pro*lif"er*ous*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

a. [ F. prolifique, fr. L. proles offspring (from pro for, forward + the root of alere to nourish) + facere to make. See Adult, Old, and Fact. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Having the quality of generating; producing young or fruit; generative; fruitful; productive; -- applied to plants producing fruit, animals producing young, etc.; -- usually with the implied idea of frequent or numerous production; as, a prolific tree, female, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Serving to produce; fruitful of results; active; as, a prolific brain; a controversy prolific of evil. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) Proliferous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Prolificness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Producing young or fruit abundantly; fruitful; prolific. -- Pro*lif"ic*al*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

v. t. [ See Prolific. ] To make prolific; to fertilize; to impregnate. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. prolification, LL. prolificatio. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The generation of young. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Reproduction by the growth of a plant, or part of a plant, directly from an older one, or by gemmæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being prolific; fruitfulness; prolificacy. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. prolixus extended, long, prolix, probably fr. pro before, forward + liqui to flow, akin to liquidus liquid; cf. OL. lixa water: cf. F. prolixe. See Liquid. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Extending to a great length; unnecessarily long; minute in narration or argument; excessively particular in detail; -- rarely used except with reference to discourse written or spoken; as, a prolix oration; a prolix poem; a prolix sermon. [ 1913 Webster ]

With wig prolix, down flowing to his waist. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Indulging in protracted discourse; tedious; wearisome; -- applied to a speaker or writer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Long; diffuse; prolonged; protracted; tedious; tiresome; wearisome. -- Prolix, Diffuse. A prolix writer delights in circumlocution, extended detail, and trifling particulars. A diffuse writer is fond of amplifying, and abounds in epithets, figures, and illustrations. Diffuseness often arises from an exuberance of imagination; prolixity is generally connected with a want of it. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Dilatory; tedious; superfluous. [ Obs. ] “Lay by all nicety, and prolixious blushes.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. prolixitas: cf. F. prolixité. ] The quality or state of being prolix; great length; minute detail; as, prolixity in discourses and writings. “For fulsomeness of his prolixitee.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Idly running on with vain prolixity. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a prolix manner. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Prolixity. Adam Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Prowl. ] [ imp. & p. p. Prolled p. pr. & vb. n. Prolling. ] To search or prowl after; to rob; to plunder. [ Obs. ] Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To prowl about; to rob. [ Obs. ] South. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though ye prolle aye, ye shall it never find. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Prowler; thief. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., from proloqui, p. p. prolocutus, to speak out; pro for + loqui to speak. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who speaks for another. Jeffrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The presiding officer of a convocation. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of a prolocutor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Computers) A declarative higher-level programming language in which instructions are written not as explicit procedural data-manipulation commands, but as logical statements. The language has built-in resolution procedures for logical inference. [ PJC ]