Price, (Mary Violet) Leontyne (b. Feb. 10, 1927, Laurel, Miss., U.S.) U.S. soprano. She was trained at the Juilliard School. After her debut in a revival of Four Saints in Three Acts in 1952, she made her name in the international tour of Porgy and Bess (1953-55). She sang in Aida at Milan’s La Scala in 1960 and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961. Price was one of the Met’s most popular stars for more than two decades and was the first African American singer to achieve an international reputation in opera. She gave her farewell performance of A'ida at the Met in 1985 but continued to give recitals.
Price, Vincent (Leonard) (b. May 27, 1911, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.—d. Oct. 25, 1993, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. actor. He first appeared onstage in a London production of the play Chicago and then played the leading role as Prince Albert in Victoria Regina (1935), which he reprised on Broadway. In 1938 he went to Hollywood, where he became known for his cultivated manner and silken voice. He played historical roles in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), Hudson’s Bay (1941), and The Three Musketeers (1948). He was the menacing villain in horror movies such as House of Wax (1953) and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) as well as a series of Roger Corman movies adapted from Edgar Allan Poe stories, including The Masque of the Red Death (1964). He accepted occasional film and television roles throughout his later years; his performances in The Whales of August (1987) and Edward Scis- sorhands (1990) were particularly memorable.
price discrimination Practice of selling goods or services at differ¬ ent prices to different buyers, even though sales costs are the same for all the transactions. Buyers may be discriminated against on the basis of income, ethnicity, age, or geographic location. For price discrimination to succeed, other entrepreneurs must be unable to purchase goods at the lower price and resell them at a higher one.
price index Measure of change in a set of prices, consisting of a series of numbers arranged so that a comparison of the values for any two peri¬ ods or places will show the change in prices between periods or the dif¬ ference in prices between places. Price indexes were first developed to measure changes in the cost of living in order to determine the wage increases necessary to maintain a constant standard of living. There are two basic types. Laspeyres-type indexes define a market basket of goods in a base period, then use the prices for those goods to examine change over space and time. In its simplest form, this is simply the ratio of what those goods cost today to what they cost in the base period. The two most familiar indexes of this type are the consumer price index (CPI) and the producer price index (PPI). The CPI measures changes in retail prices in such component parts as food, clothing, and shelter. The PPI (formerly called the wholesale price index) measures changes in the prices charged by manufacturers and wholesalers. Paasche-type indexes define a market basket of goods in the current period, then use the prices of those goods from past periods. The most familiar index of this type is the GDP defla¬ tor, used in the U.S. in the national income accounting to differentiate amounts in constant dollars from those in current dollars.
prickly pear Any of a group of flat-stemmed, spiny opuntia cacti (see cactus), native to the Western Hemisphere, or the edible fruit of certain species. Engelmann prickly pear ( Opuntia engelmannii) and beaver tail cactus ( O . basilaris ) commonly occur in the southwestern U.S. The Indian fig ( O. ficus-indica) is an important food in tropical and subtropical coun¬ tries. Because their stems have a high water content, prickly pears can be
used as forage crops and emergency stock feed during drought. Some species are cultivated as ornamentals and valued for their large flowers.
Pride, Sir Thomas (b. Somer¬ set?, Eng.—d. Oct. 23, 1658,
Worcester House, Surrey) English soldier. Joining the Parliamentary army in the English Civil Wars, he commanded a regiment in the Battle of Naseby (1645), then served with Oliver Cromwell and helped rout the invading Scots at Preston (1648).
When the army, dominated by the Independents, occupied London later that year, Pride arrested or expelled about 140 Presbyterian members from the House of Commons (“Pride’s Purge”). He was a member of the commission that tried King Charles I.
Pridi Phanomyong Vpre-de-'pa-nom-.yoqV or Luang Pradist Manudharm Uu-'aq-pra-'dist-.ma-nu-'darnA (b. May 11, 1900, Ayut- thaya, Siam—d. May 2, 1983, Paris, France) Thai political leader and prime minister. He earned a doctorate in law in France, where he was influenced by socialism and where, with Luang Phibunsongkhram and oth¬ ers, he plotted to overthrow the absolute monarchy in Siam (Thailand). Pridi participated in the Promoters Revolution and helped write the con¬ stitution of December 1932. He engineered the downfall of Phibun- songkhram’s pro-Japanese government (1944) and in 1946 became Thailand’s first popularly elected prime minister. Unjustly held respon¬ sible for the assassination of King Ananda that year, he was forced to resign and flee the country in 1947. He lived in China until 1970, when he moved to France.
Priene \pri-'e-ne\ Ancient city of Ionia, north of the Menderes (Maean- der) River, southwestern Anatolia. According to Strabo, it was founded by Ionians and Thebans. It was sacked in the 7th century bc but regained its position in the 6th century bc. It prospered under the Romans and Byz¬ antines but gradually declined. After passing into Turkish hands in the 13th century ad, it was abandoned. Archaeological excavations revealed a Greek town built on terraces; atop a nearby hill is a temple of Athena Polias that was dedicated by Alexander the Great in 334 bc.
priesthood Office of a spiritual leader expert in the ceremonies of wor¬ ship and the performance of religious rituals. Though chieftains, kings, and heads of households have sometimes performed priestly functions, in most civilizations the priesthood is a specialized office. The priest’s duties are concerned less with magic than with the right performance of ritual acts required by the divine powers. Many African societies, for example, differentiated between shamans and the priests responsible for the wor¬ ship of tribal ancestors. Sacrifice is often one of the most important duties of the priesthood. Not every highly developed religion possesses a priest¬ hood, the most notable exception being Islam. The idea of the “priesthood of all believers” was also a cardinal doctrine of the Reformation, and the Protestant belief that priests are not needed as intermediaries between church members and the Holy Spirit is seen most clearly in sects such as the Society of Friends.
Priestley, Joseph (b. March 13, 1733, Birstall Fieldhead, near Leeds, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Feb. 6, 1804, Northumberland, Pa., U.S.) English theologian, political theorist, and physical scientist. He worked as a teacher and lecturer in various subjects before joining the ministry in 1767. His early scientific studies resulted in his History and Present State of Electricity (1767), which became a fundamental text in the field. His Essay on Government (1768) influenced later utilitarianism. He did impor¬ tant work in the field of chemical reactions and change. He is considered the discoverer of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and several other gases, and in 1774 he became the first to identify oxygen; his report led Antoine Lavoisier to repeat the experiment, deduce oxygen’s nature and role, and name it. His theological works include History of the Corrup¬ tions of the Christian Church (1782), burned as sacrilegious in 1785, and A General History of the Christian Church, 6 vol. (1790-1802). His non¬ conformist religious views and his political activities, particularly in sup-