| palazzo |
(Italian) a grand or majestic building or house; palace. |
| pale |
lacking intensity of color. [5 definitions] |
| paleethnology |
the study of the earliest humans. |
| paleface |
(slang) a white person, as distinguished from an American Indian. |
| paleo- |
(sometimes cap.) old; prehistoric; ancient. |
| Paleocene |
of, relating to, or designating the geological epoch at the start of the Tertiary Period, from approximately 65 million to 54 million years ago, when birds and early mammals appeared. [2 definitions] |
| paleoclimate |
the earth's climate in a former geologic time period. |
| paleodataset |
an organized collection of data about former geologic time periods. |
| Paleogene |
see "tertiary." |
| paleography |
the study and dating of ancient writing and inscriptions. [2 definitions] |
| Paleolithic |
(sometimes l.c.) designating the earliest period of the Stone Age, from about 2 million B.C. to about 10,000 B.C., characterized by the use of primitive stone tools. |
| paleontology |
the scientific study of life in past geologic periods through examination of animal and plant fossils. |
| Paleozoic |
of, relating to, or designating the geological era between the Precambrian and Mesozoic, from approximately 600 million to 220 million years ago, when the first fishes, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and land plants appeared. [2 definitions] |
| Palestine |
a Middle Eastern region on the land of ancient Canaan and modern Israel, including disputed territories on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip that are now governed by Israel; Holy Land. |
| Palestinian |
a native of Palestine, esp. an Arab, or a descendant thereof. [3 definitions] |
| palestra |
in ancient Greece, a public place for the practice of athletics. |
| palette |
a thin, often oval board, usu. with a thumb hole, on which a painter holds and mixes colors. [2 definitions] |
| palette knife |
a thin, flexible steel blade set in a handle and used by artists to mix colors or clean the palette. |
| palfrey |
a saddle horse, esp. one for women to ride. |
| Pali |
the ancient Indic dialect that is the scriptural language of Buddhism. |
| palimony |
a form of alimony, granted or paid after the separation of an unmarried couple who have lived as though married for a substantial period. |