09).

=Petruccio= = _Pe.truch'.e.o_, governor of Bologna.--Beaumont and
Fletcher, _The Chances_ (1620).

=Petru'chio=, a gentleman of Vero'na who undertakes to tame the haughty
Katharina, called "the Shrew." He marries her, and, without the least
personal chastisement, reduces her to lamb-like submission. Being a fine
compound of bodily and mental vigor, with plenty of wit, spirit, and
good-nature, he rules his subordinates dictatorially, and shows he will
have his own way, whatever the consequences.--Shakespeare, _Taming of
the Shrew_ (1594).

Beaumont and Fletcher wrote a comedy called _The Tamer Tamed_, in which
Petruchio is supposed to marry a second wife, by whom he is hen-pecked
(1647).

=Pet'ulant=, an "odd sort of small wit," "without manners or breeding." In
controversy he would bluntly contradict, and he never spoke the truth.
When in his "club," in order to be thought a man of intrigue, he would
steal out quietly, and then in disguise return and call for himself, or
leave a letter for himself. He not unfrequently mistook impudence and
malice for wit, and looked upon a modest blush in woman as a mark of
"guilt or ill-breeding."--W. Congreve, _The Way of the World_ (1700).

=Peu-[`a]-Peu.= So George IV. called Prince Leopold. Stein, speaking of
the prince's vacillating conduct in reference to the throne of Greece,
says of him, "He has no color," _i.e._ no fixed plan of his own, but is
blown about by every wind.

=Peveril= (_William_), natural son of William the Conqueror, and ancestor
of Peveril of the Peak.

_Sir Geoffrey Peveril_, a cavalier, called "Peveril of the Peak."

_Lady Margaret Peveril_, wife of Sir Geoffrey.

_Julian Peveril_, son of Sir Geoffrey; in love with Alice Bridgenorth.
He was named by the author after Julian Young, son of the famous
actor.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

"Whom is he called after!" said Scott. "It is a fancy name," said
Young: "in memoriam of his mother, Julia Ann." "Well, it is a
capital name for a novel, I must say," he replied. In the very next
novel by the author of _Waverley_, the hero's name is "Julian." I
allude, of course, to _Peveril of the Peak_.--J. Young, _Memoirs_,
91.

=Peveril of the Peak=, the hero of Sir W. Scott's novel of that name
(1823).

=Peyton= (_Dunwoodie_), fine young fellow, major in the American army, and
in love with Frances Wharton. Yet, when forced to choose