See Also: promethean(medicine)
Promethean(dictionary)

pinnace (iou) and Promethean (iou)


pinnace (iou)



pinnace noun. M16.
[French pinace, pinasse (cf. medieval Latin (Gascon) pinacia, pinassa) = Italian pinaccia, Spanish pinaza, prob. ult. from Proto-Romance from Latin pinus PINE noun2.]
a. A small light vessel, usu. two-masted and schooner-rigged, often used for communicating between a senior officer's ship and Other vessels under his command. Now Hist. & poet. M16.
b. A small boat (orig. eight-oared, now usu. motor-driven) forming part of the equipment of a warship or Other larger vessel. L17.
fig. A woman; spec. a mistress; a prostitute. M16-L17.

Promethean (iou)



Promethean adjective & noun. L16.
[from Prometheus (see below): see -AN.]
A. adjective.
Of, pertaining to, or resembling (esp. in skill or daring) Prometheus, in Greek mythology a demigod worshipped by craftsmen, who stole fire from the gods and gave it to the human race, and was punished for this by Zeus by being chained to a rock where an eagle fed each day on his liver. L16.
Designating a kind of match (see sense B.1 below). Only in M19.
b. noun.
A match made from a flammable mixture of sugar and potassium chlorate wrapped in a paper roll around a small glass bulb of sulphuric acid, and igniting when fractured (superseded by the friction match). M-L19.
A Promethean person. M19.
Prometheanism noun conduct or policy resembling that of Prometheus M20.