pellucid (en)

translucently clear

penumbra (en)

the partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque object

penury (en)

(noun) a cramping and oppressive lack of resources (as money) / (noun) severe poverty / (noun) extreme and often niggardly frugality

percipience (en)

(noun) perception

Percy Lubbock (en)

an English writer whose 1921 volume The Craft of Fiction was one of the first major works of literary criticism to focus on the novel as a form

peregrinations (en)

(verb) to travel especially on foot; walk / (verb) to walk or travel over; traverse

peremptory (en)

(adjective) putting an end to or precluding a right of action, debate, or delay / (adjective) not providing an opportunity to show cause why one should not comply / (adjective) admitting of no contradiction / (adjective) expressive of urgency or command / (adjective) characterized by often imperious or arrogant self-assurance / (adjective) indicative of a peremptory attitude or nature; haughty / (noun) a challenge (as of a juror) made as of right without assigning any cause

perestroika (en)

a political movement for reformation within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during the 1980s, associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost ("openness") policy reform

perfidy (en)

(noun) deceitfulness; untrustworthiness

perforce (en)

(adverb) by physical coercion / (adverb) by force of circumstances

Periclean (en)

of or relating to Pericles or to the period (Periclean Age) when Athens was intellectually, artistically, and materially preeminent

peripatetic (en)

traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various places for relatively short periods

peripety (en)

(noun) a reversal of circumstances, or turning point; Anglicised form of the Greek "peripeteia"

periphrasis (en)

(noun) use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter form of expression / (noun) an instance of periphrasis

periplus (en)

a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore

peroration (en)

(noun) the concluding part of a discourse and especially an oration / (noun) a highly rhetorical speech

petite bourgeoisie (en)

(noun) the lower middle class including especially small shopkeepers and artisans

petitio principii (en)

"assuming the initial point"; a fallacy of circular reasoning

Petrashevsky Circle (en)

group of progressive-minded commoner-intellectuals in St. Petersburg in the 1840s; in 1849, members of the Circle were arrested and imprisoned, including Dostoyevsky

petroleumly (en)

relating to petroleum

petrous (en)

(adjective) of, relating to, or constituting the exceptionally hard and dense portion of the human temporal bone that contains the internal auditory organs

pettifogging (en)

(adj) placing undue emphasis on petty details; petty or trivial

phantasm (en)

an apparition or specter

phantasmagoric (en)

(noun) an exhibition of optical effects and illusions / (noun) a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined / (noun) a scene that constantly changes / (noun) a bizarre or fantastic combination, collection, or assemblage

pharisaism (en)

(noun) the doctrines or practices of the Pharisees / (noun) pharisaical character, spirit, or attitude; hypocrisy