Pindaric ode Ceremonious poem in the manner of Pindar, who employed a triadic, or three-part, structure consisting of a strophe (two or more lines repeated as a unit) followed by a metrically harmonious antistrophe and an epode (summary line) in a different metre. The three parts correspond to movements onstage by the chorus in Greek drama. After the 16th-century publication of Pindar’s choral odes in the epinicion (celebratory) form, poets writing in various vernaculars created irregular rhymed odes that suggest his style. Such odes in English are among the greatest poems in the language, including John Dryden’s “Alexander’s Feast,” William Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” and John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
pine Any of 10 genera of coniferous trees (rarely shrubs) of the family Pinaceae (see conifer), native to northern temperate regions, espe¬ cially about 90 species of ornamen¬ tal and timber evergreen conifers of the genus Pinus. Needlelike leaves and cones are solitary or in bunches.
Shallow root systems make pines susceptible to wind and surface dis¬ turbance. The family includes fir,
Douglas fir, hemlock, spruce, larch, and cedar. Many species are sources of softwood timber, paper pulp, oils, and resins. Some are cultivated as ornamentals.
pineal Vpl-ne-ol, pI-'ne-oL gland or pineal body Endocrine gland in the brain that produces melatonin.
It is large in children and begins to shrink at puberty. The gland may play a significant role in sexual maturation, circadian rhythm and sleep induc¬ tion, and SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER and depression. In animals it is known to play a major role in sexual devel¬ opment, hibernation, and seasonal breeding.
pineapple Fruit-bearing plant (Ananas comosus) of the family Bro- meliaceae, native to the New World tropics and subtropics but introduced elsewhere. Pineapple is served fresh where available and in canned form worldwide. It is a key ingredient in
Cluster of pollen-bearing male cones of Austrian (black) pine (Pinus nigra).
GRANT HEILMAN/EB INC.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1502 I Pinero ► pinworm
Polynesian cuisine. Like agave and some yuccas, the plant has a rosette of 30-40 stiff, succulent leaves on a thick, fleshy stem. A determinate inflorescence forms 15-20 months after planting. After fertilization, the many lavender flowers fuse and become fleshy to form the 2^1 lb (1-2 kg) fruit. Ripening takes 5-6 months.
Pinero \pi-'nir-6\, Sir Arthur Wing (b. May 24, 1855, London, Eng.—d. Nov. 23, 1934, London) British playwright. He entered the the¬ atrical world as an actor with Henry Irving’s theatre company. His first play, £200 a Year, was produced in 1877. He wrote a series of successful farces such as The Magistrate (1885) before turning to dramas of social issues. The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1893), the first of his plays depict¬ ing women confronting their situation in society, established his reputa¬ tion, and he followed it with works such as The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith (1895) and Trelawny of the “ Wells ” (1898), becoming the most success¬ ful playwright of his time.
Ping Pong See table tennis
Pinilla, Gustavo Rojas See Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
pinion See gear, rack and pinion
Pinios River \,pe-ne-'6s\ or Peneus River \pi-'ne-os\ River, Thessaly, north-central Greece. It rises in the Pindus Mountains and flows about 125 mi (200 km) southeast and northeast through the plain of Thessaly and the Vale of Tempe into the Gulf of Salonika (see Thessaloniki). In pre¬ historic times it formed a great lake before it broke through the Vale of Tempe. It is navigable in its lower course.
pink family Family Caryophyllaceae, composed of 2,070 species of flowering plants in 89 genera found mainly in northern temperate regions. The approximately 300 species of true pinks belong to the genus Dianthus\ relatively easy to grow, these are popular in rock gardens for their fragrant, showy flowers. Though members of the pink family are diverse in appear¬ ance and habitat, most have swollen leaf and stem joints. The family includes carnations, baby's breath, sweet William, campion, and chickweed.
pink salmon Food fish (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, family Salmonidae) of the North Pacific that constitutes half of the commercial fishery of Pacific salmon. It weighs about 4.5 lbs (2 kg) and is marked with large, irregular spots. Pink salmon often spawn on tidal flats. The young enter the sea immediately after hatching.
Pinkerton National Detective Agency U.S. independent police force. The agency was founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton (1819-84), former deputy sheriff of Cook county, Ill. It originally specialized in rail¬ way theft cases, protecting trains and apprehending train robbers. It solved the $700,000 Adams Express Co. theft in 1856, and in 1861 it thwarted an assassination plot against president-elect Abraham Lincoln. It later par¬ ticipated in anti-labour union activities (see Homestead Strike). It was instrumental in breaking up the Molly Maguires.
Pinkham Vpiqk-omX, Lydia E(stes) (b. Feb. 9, 1819, Lynn, Mass., U.S.—d. May 17, 1883, Lynn) U.S. patent-medicine proprietor. Pinkham began making Vegetable Compound as a home remedy, sharing it with her neighbours. Her compound, a blend of ground herbs, was 18% alco¬ hol by content. In 1875 the Pinkham family decided to go into business selling the medicine, which Pinkham claimed could cure any “female complaint” from nervous prostration to a prolapsed uterus. It quickly gained acceptance, and the business was soon grossing close to $300,000 a year. Not until the 1920s, when federal regulation of drugs and adver¬ tising increased, did the Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co. reduce both the alcohol content of the medicine and the claims for its efficacy.
pinniped Vpi-no-.pedX Any member of the three existing families of aquatic, fin-footed mammals that constitute the suborder Pinnipedia (order Carnivora; see carnivore). They include the Odobenidae (see walrus) and the Phocidae and Otariidae (see seal).
Pinochet (Ugarte) \,pe-n9-'sha,\ Spanish V.pe-no-'cheV Augusto (b. Nov. 25, 1915, Valparaiso, Chile) Head of Chile’s military government (1974-90). A career military officer, he planned and led the coup d’etat in which Pres. Salvador Allende died. He immediately moved to crush liberal opposition and in the next three years arrested about 130,000 Chileans and foreigners, many of whom were tortured and some of whom were killed. He led a rapid transition to a free-market economy, which slowed inflation but led to acute hardship for the lower classes. A new constitution in 1981 granted him eight more years as president. Rejected in a plebiscite in 1989,
he stepped down after free elections installed Patricio Aylwin in 1990. In 1998 he was arrested in England at the request of Spain and held for trial for crimes against Spanish citizens in Chile during his tenure; he was released 16 months later. He was then indicted in Chile for the murder of dissidents but was declared mentally unfit for trial.
pinochle Vpe-.no-kolX Card game. In one popular version of pinochle three players use two packs of 24 cards ranking ace, 10, king, queen, jack, and 9 of each suit. Each player is dealt 15 cards, 3 at a time. Bidding is based on certain combinations of cards within the player’s hand and an estimation of tricks, or hands, the player can win. The name derives from Binokel, a German game resembling bezique.
Pinsky, Robert (b. Oct. 20, 1940, Long Branch, N.J., U.S.) American poet and critic. Pinsky was poetry editor of The New Republic from 1979 to 1986. His own poems, many of which are to be found in The Figured Wheeclass="underline" New and Collected Poems (1996), often explore the meaning of ordinary acts. He also did a notable verse translation of Dante’s Inferno (1994). Pinsky was poet laureate consultant from 1997 to 2000.