polecat, any of several weasellike carnivores of the family Mustelidae (which includes the weasel, skunk, mink, otter, and others). The term polecat most commonly refers to the European polecat (Mustela putorius) or the domestic ferret (M. furo or M. putorius furo), which likely descends from the

skunk, (family Mephitidae), black-and-white mammal, found primarily in the Western Hemisphere, that uses extremely well-developed scent glands to release a noxious odour in defense. The term skunk, however, refers to more than just the well-known striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). The skunk family

ferret: Common ferret: The common ferret is a domesticated form of the European polecat, which it resembles in size and habits and with which it interbreeds, leading most taxonomists to classify the common ferret as a subspecies. The common ferret is found throughout the European polecat’s…

polis, ancient Greek city-state. The small state in Greece originated probably from the natural divisions of the country by mountains and the sea and from the original local tribal (ethnic) and cult divisions. There were several hundred poleis, the history and constitutions of most of which are

martial eagle, (Polemaetus bellicosus), large, long-winged eagle inhabiting dry grassland, scrubland, and scattered woodland habitats of sub-Saharan Africa. The martial eagle is one of the largest birds of prey in the world, and, with a length reaching up to 96 cm (37 inches) long and a weight up

archon: Next came the polemarch, commander in war and judge in litigation involving foreigners. Third, the kingship survived in the basileus, who, as chief religious officer, presided over the Areopagus (aristocratic council) when it sat as a homicide court. Lastly there were six thesmotetai (“determiners of custom”), who dealt…

archon: Next came the polemarch, commander in war and judge in litigation involving foreigners. Third, the kingship survived in the basileus, who, as chief religious officer, presided over the Areopagus (aristocratic council) when it sat as a homicide court. Lastly there were six thesmotetai (“determiners of custom”), who dealt…

Lysias: …Tyrants, he and his brother Polemarchus were seized as aliens. Polemarchus was killed, but Lysias escaped to Megara, where he helped the cause of exiled Athenian democrats. On the restoration of Athenian democracy in 403, he returned to Athens and began writing speeches for litigants.

Daphnephoria: …sent to the Theban general Polematas, in which the Thebans were promised victory in their war against the Aeolians and the Pelasgians if the Daphnephoria were instituted.

nonfictional prose: Reportage: Journalism often takes on a polemical cast in countries in which libel laws are not stringent. Polemical journalism flourished in continental Europe when a journalist’s insults could be avenged only in a duel; one of the great journalists of this heroic era of the press in France, Armand Carrel, died…

nonfictional prose: Reportage: Journalism often takes on a polemical cast in countries in which libel laws are not stringent. Polemical journalism flourished in continental Europe when a journalist’s insults could be avenged only in a duel; one of the great journalists of this heroic era of the press in France, Armand Carrel, died…

nonfictional prose: Reportage: Journalism often takes on a polemical cast in countries in which libel laws are not stringent. Polemical journalism flourished in continental Europe when a journalist’s insults could be avenged only in a duel; one of the great journalists of this heroic era of the press in France, Armand Carrel, died…

ancient Rome: Foreign policy: …its successive rulers Asander and Polemo, helped to contain southward and westward thrusts by the Scythians, an Iranian people related to the Parthians, and this provided protection in the north for Anatolia and its provinces (senatorial Asia and Bithynia-Pontus and imperial Cilicia and Galatia, the latter a large new province…

macaronic: …in this form is the Polemo-Middinia inter Vitarvam et Nebernam (published 1684), an account of a battle between two Scottish villages, in which William Drummond subjected Scots dialect to Latin grammatical rules. A modern English derivative of the macaronic pokes fun at the grammatical complexities of ancient languages taught at…

Procopius: The Wars consists of: (1) the Persian Wars (two books), on the long struggle of the emperors Justin I and Justinian I against the Persian kings Kavadh and Khosrow I down to 549, (2) the Vandal War (two books), describing the conquest of the Vandal kingdom…

Polemoniaceae, the phlox family of plants, comprising about 18 genera and some 385 species of flowering plants in the order Ericales. Members of the family are mostly in North America but also found in temperate parts of western South America and Eurasia. They include many popular garden

Jacob’s ladder, any of about 25 species of the genus Polemonium of the family Polemoniaceae, native to temperate areas in North and South America and Eurasia. Many are valued as garden flowers and wildflowers. They have loose, spikelike clusters of drooping blue, violet, or white, funnel-shaped,

Jacob’s ladder: Polemonium caeruleum is native to European woodlands and mountains and widely grown as a garden flower. It can grow to 90 cm (3 feet) tall and has large blue or white flowers.

August, Graf von Platen: …odes and sonnets and his Polenlieder (1831; “Songs of the Poles”), which expressed sympathy for the Poles in their rising against the tsar’s rule, are counted among the best classical poems of their time.

Abramtsevo: Its design was conceived by Vasily Polenov and Viktor Vasnetsov and drew inspiration from the medieval Russian cities Novgorod, Pskov, and Suzdal. Its interior was adorned with icons created by Repin and Mikhail Nesterov, a ceramic tile stove by Vrubel, and a mosaic floor by Viktor Vasnetsov. The church and…

polenta, a porridge or mush usually made of ground corn (maize) cooked in salted water. Cheese and butter or oil are often added. Polenta can be eaten hot or cold as a porridge, or it can be cooled until firm, cut into shapes, and then baked, toasted, panfried, or deep-fried. It is a traditional

Polenta Family, Italian noble family, named for its castle of Polenta (located in the Romagna, southwest of Cesena), which dominated the city-state of Ravenna from the end of the 13th century to the middle of the 15th. The family’s ascendancy began with Guido da Polenta (d. 1310), known as Guido

Polenta Family: The family’s ascendancy began with Guido da Polenta (d. 1310), known as Guido Minore, or Guido the Old, who led the Guelf, or pro-papal, faction in Ravenna against the Ghibelline, or pro-emperor, faction. Ravenna, traditionally Ghibelline, had fallen to the Guelfs in 1239. When the emperor Frederick II reconquered the…

Dante: The Divine Comedy: …of Italy, most notably by Guido Novello da Polenta, the nephew of the remarkable Francesca, in Ravenna. There at his death Dante was given an honorable burial attended by the leading men of letters of the time, and the funeral oration was delivered by Guido himself.

Pripet Marshes, vast waterlogged region of eastern Europe, among the largest wetlands of the European continent. The Pripet Marshes occupy southern Belarus and northern Ukraine. They lie in the thickly forested basin of the Pripet River (a major tributary of the Dnieper) and are bounded on the

Lubelskie: Geography: Poleski National Park in the western part of the Łęczna-Włodawa Plain was established in 1990 to protect the marsh and peat bog ecosystem typical of the region.

polestar, the brightest star that appears nearest to either celestial pole at any particular time. Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the position of each pole describes a small circle in the sky over a period of 25,772 years. Each of a succession of stars has thus passed near enough to the

Pripet Marshes, vast waterlogged region of eastern Europe, among the largest wetlands of the European continent. The Pripet Marshes occupy southern Belarus and northern Ukraine. They lie in the thickly forested basin of the Pripet River (a major tributary of the Dnieper) and are bounded on the

poludnitsa: …poludnitsa is related to the polevoy, the male field spirit, who is seldom seen and then only at noon in the fields. Some describe him as a man black as the earth, with grass instead of hair growing out of his head. Others say he dresses in white. In some…

Polevskoy, city, Sverdlovsk oblast (region), western Russia, located near the Chusovaya River in the mid-Urals. Founded in 1724 in connection with copper mining, it was called Polevskoy Zavod until 1928; it became a city in 1942. Copper is still mined and refined there; ferrous metallurgy, hoisting

Spain: The independent emirate: …his defeat in 891 at Poley, near Córdoba, forced him to retreat and hide in the mountains. ʿAbd Allāh, however, was unable to subdue the numerous rebels and thus left a weak state for his grandson, the great ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, who from 912 was able to restore order. He…

Les Paul was an American jazz and country guitarist and inventor who was perhaps best known for his design of a solid-body electric guitar, though he also made notable contributions to the recording process. Paul designed a solid-body electric guitar in 1941. However, by the time the Les Paul

Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess player, the youngest of three chess-playing sisters (see also Susan Polgar). She earned the (men’s) International Master (IM) chess title at the age of 12 and set a new record (since beaten) by becoming the youngest (men’s) International Grandmaster (GM) in history

Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-born American chess player who won the women’s world championship in 1996 from Xie Jun of China. In 1999, Polgar was stripped of her title by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE; the international chess organization) for failing to agree to match conditions.

chess: Women in chess: …the three Polgár sisters, Susan, Zsófia, and Judit. The Polgárs of Budapest were the most impressive women prodigies ever; each had achieved grandmaster-level performances by age 15. They also distinguished themselves by generally avoiding women-only competitions, until Susan Polgar defeated Xie for the women’s championship in 1996.

Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-born American chess player who won the women’s world championship in 1996 from Xie Jun of China. In 1999, Polgar was stripped of her title by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE; the international chess organization) for failing to agree to match conditions.

Susan Polgar is a Hungarian-born American chess player who won the women’s world championship in 1996 from Xie Jun of China. In 1999, Polgar was stripped of her title by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE; the international chess organization) for failing to agree to match conditions.

HuffPost: …as editor in chief by Lydia Polgreen.

Christopher Polhem was a Swedish mechanical and mining engineer. From 1693 to 1709 he devised water-powered machinery that mechanized operations at the great Falun copper mine. In 1704 he built a factory in Stjaernsund that used division of labour, hoists, and conveyor belts to minimize manual

Christopher Polhem was a Swedish mechanical and mining engineer. From 1693 to 1709 he devised water-powered machinery that mechanized operations at the great Falun copper mine. In 1704 he built a factory in Stjaernsund that used division of labour, hoists, and conveyor belts to minimize manual

Umberto Saba was an Italian poet noted for his simple, lyrical autobiographical poems. Saba was raised by his Jewish mother in the ghetto of Trieste after his Christian father deserted them when Saba was an infant. From age 17 Saba developed his interest in poetry while working as a clerk and a

Serge Poliakoff was a painter and lithographer, one of the most widely recognized of the abstract colourists who flourished after World War II. Educated in Moscow and London, he left Russia in 1918 and resided in Sofia, Belgrade, Vienna, and Berlin until 1923, when he made Paris his permanent home.

echinoderm: Water-vascular system: …holothurians has bulbous cavities called Polian vesicles, which apparently maintain pressure in the system and hold reserve supplies of fluid; ophiuroids have four or more vesicles, asteroids five, holothurians from one to 50. Crinoids lack Polian vesicles, and echinoids have five structures known as either Polian vesicles or spongy bodies.

tuberose, (Polianthes tuberosa), perennial garden plant of the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), cultivated for its fragrant flowers. The tuberose is native to Mexico, and the flowers are used in the manufacture of perfumes. The tuberose has long bright green leaves clustered at the base and smaller

police, body of officers representing the civil authority of government. Police typically are responsible for maintaining public order and safety, enforcing the law, and preventing, detecting, and investigating criminal activities. These functions are known as policing. Police are often also

police action, isolated military undertaking that does not require a declaration of war. Police action is intended to respond to a state that is in violation of international treaties or norms or that has engaged in or has imminently threatened an act of aggression. Under international law,

Haymarket Affair: To protest police brutality, anarchist labour leaders called a mass meeting the next day in Haymarket Square. That gathering was pronounced peaceful by Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison, who attended as an observer. After Harrison and most of the demonstrators departed, a contingent of police arrived and demanded…

police brutality in the United States, the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery (e.g., beatings) to mayhem, torture, and murder. Some broader definitions of police brutality

magistrates’ court, in England and Wales, any of the inferior courts with primarily criminal jurisdiction covering a wide range of offenses from minor traffic violations and public-health nuisances to somewhat more serious crimes, such as petty theft or assault. Magistrates’ courts with similar

crime, délit, and contravention: …of tribunals: police courts (tribunaux de police), which determine guilt in cases of minor penalties; courts of correction (tribunaux correctionnels), requiring judges but no jury, which try all other cases not involving serious bodily harm; and full courts with a jury in other crimes.

police: Police dogs: Dogs were first trained for police work at the turn of the 20th century in Ghent, Belg., and the practice was soon adopted elsewhere. Although certain breeds with especially keen senses have been used for special purposes—such as detecting caches of illegal drugs…

The Police Gazette, daily publication of the London Metropolitan Police that carries details of stolen property and of persons wanted for crime. It is distributed without charge to British and certain European police forces. The original Gazette, the Quarterly Pursuit, was founded in 1772 by John

Louisiana: Constitutional framework: …parish governing board, the “police jury,” is not found anywhere else in the country.

Hiri Motu, pidgin variety of vernacular Motu, an Austronesian language originally spoken in the area surrounding Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. The name Hiri Motu may have been adopted because of a now-disputed association with hiris, precolonial trade voyages on the Gulf of Papua

Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité: …was made part of the Police Nationale, under the direction of the minister of the interior. The Police Nationale has responsibility for policing cities with a population of 10,000 or more; the CRS, which makes up about 20 percent of the force, is a reserve force concerned with maintaining public…

police power, in U.S. constitutional law, the permissible scope of federal or state legislation so far as it may affect the rights of an individual when those rights conflict with the promotion and maintenance of the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the public. When the U.S. Supreme

Paris: Île de la Cité: …boulevard du Palais is the Police Prefecture, another 19th-century structure. On the far side of the prefecture is the Place du Parvis-Notre-Dame, an open space enlarged six times by Haussmann, who also moved the Hôtel-Dieu, the first hospital in Paris, from the riverside to the inland side of the square.…

Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), state police force in Northern Ireland, established in 1922. The RUC had a paramilitary character until 1970, when the force was remodeled along the lines of police forces in Great Britain. In 1970 the security of Northern Ireland became the responsibility of the

radio: Police and detective dramas:

charity fraud: Misrepresentation: …is the case of the Police Survivors Fund. It was established in 1999 and disbanded by 2003 when its founder pleaded guilty to various fraud charges.

police: Police technology: Police technology refers to the wide range of scientific and technological methods, techniques, and equipment used in policing. As science has advanced, so too have the technologies that police rely upon to prevent crime and apprehend criminals. Police technology was recognized as a…

Police Zone, southern two-thirds of South West Africa (now Namibia) in which the German and later South African colonial administrations were able to establish effective European-style police control beginning in the early 20th century. The name of the area and its original boundary were adopted in

the Police, British-American new-wave band that blended reggae, jazz, funk, punk, and world music influences into hook-laden pop-rock. Five best-selling albums, a bevy of hits, and aggressive touring—including stops in countries usually overlooked by Western pop musicians—combined to make the

Joan Miró: Paris and early work: …set down randomly, as in The Policeman (1925). In paintings such as Dog Barking at the Moon (1926), he rendered figures of animals and humans as indeterminate forms. Miró signed the manifesto of the Surrealist movement in 1924, and the members of the group respected him for the way he…

Punch, hooknosed, humpbacked character, the most popular of marionettes and glove puppets and the chief figure in the Punch-and-Judy puppet show. Brutal, vindictive, and deceitful, he is usually at odds with authority. His character had roots in the Roman clown and the comic country bumpkin. More

Portugal: Security: The Public Security Police (Polícia de Segurança Pública; PSP) and the Republican National Guard (Guarda Nacional Republicana; GNR) are under the control of the Ministry of Internal Administration. The GNR includes the road police and has jurisdiction over rural areas. The PSP patrols urban areas and…

El Salvador: The postconflict era: …new civilian police force (Policía Nacional Civil; PNC), and the establishment of a commission to investigate human rights abuses of the Salvadoran Armed Forces and the FMLN during the war. The FMLN subsequently became a political party. Also in 1992, a century-old territorial dispute between El Salvador and Honduras…

bobby: …a theory known as “policing by consent.” In addition, police officers were required to constantly walk throughout their assigned areas. The success of the new bobbies in decreasing crime resulted in the expansion of the service into London’s outer boroughs and the emulation of the force elsewhere.

Bohuslav Martinů: His orchestral works Half-Time (1924) and La Bagarre (1927) were inspired by contemporary events, respectively a Czech-French football (soccer) game and the crowds that met Charles Lindbergh’s plane as it ended its transatlantic flight. Of his later works, the Concerto grosso for chamber orchestra (1941) uses the alternation…

political philosophy: John of Salisbury: …in the West until the Policraticus (1159), by John of Salisbury. Based on John’s wide Classical reading, it centres on the ideal ruler, who represents a “public power.” John admired the Roman emperors Augustus and Trajan, and, in a still predominantly feudal world, his book carried on the Roman tradition…

policy, form of lottery in which pellets usually numbered 1 to 78 are deposited in a drum-shaped wheel and players wager that certain numbers will appear among the pellets—usually 12 pellets—that are selected at the drawing. Policy, a true lottery initiated in the United States by

bioethics: Policy making: The importance of the social and legal issues addressed in bioethics is reflected in the large number of national and international bodies established to advise governments on appropriate public policy. At the national level, several countries have set up bioethics councils or commissions,…

policy analysis, evaluation and study of the formulation, adoption, and implementation of a principle or course of action intended to ameliorate economic, social, or other public issues. Policy analysis is concerned primarily with policy alternatives that are expected to produce novel solutions.

Australian literature: The century after settlement: …late 1800s were Rosa Praed—her Policy and Passion (1881) is an interesting account of the personal life of a Queensland politician—and the prolific Ada Cambridge.

Labour Party: Policy and structure: …of structural reform is the National Policy Forum, a body that effectively decreases the influence of the annual conference and reduces the voice of grassroots activists. The forum is divided into a number of smaller policy commissions, which are made up of appointed members and coordinated by a Cabinet minister…

Robert E. Lucas, Jr.: …to something called the “policy ineffectiveness proposition,” the idea that if people have rational expectations, policies that try to manipulate the economy by creating false expectations may introduce more “noise” into the economy but will not improve the economy’s performance. Lucas is also known for his contributions to investment…

insurance: Very often contracts can be drawn in such a way that an “uninsurable risk” can be turned into an “insurable” one through restrictions on losses, redefinitions of perils, or other methods.

vampire: History: …English is believed to be John Polidori’s “The Vampyre” (1819), about a mysterious aristocrat named Lord Ruthven who seduces young women only to drain their blood and disappear. Those works and others inspired subsequent material for the stage. Later important vampire stories include the serial Varney, the Vampire; or, The…

Polydore Vergil was an Italian-born Humanist who wrote an English history that became required reading in schools and influenced the 16th-century English chroniclers Edward Hall and Raphael Holinshed and, through them, Shakespeare. Vergil was educated in Padua and perhaps in Bologna. After he was

Maria Polidoúri was a Greek poet known for her impassioned, eloquent farewell to life. Polidoúri was orphaned as a small child, and in 1921 she went to Athens to study law. There she began a friendship with another poet, Kóstas Kariotákis. In 1926 she went to Paris, returning two years later,

India: The south: Travancore and Mysore: …by local chiefs, the so-called poligars. More crucial was the fact that by the 1770s Mysore faced a formidable military adversary in the form of the English East India Company, which did not allow it any breathing room. It was the English who denied Mysore access to the relatively rich…

Polignac family, French noble house important in European history. From the 1050s and perhaps even from 860, the first viscounts of Polignac (in the modern département of Haute-Loire) were practically independent rulers of Velay, where the Loire River rises. Their ultimate heiress, Valpurge, was

twin prime conjecture, in number theory, assertion that there are infinitely many twin primes, or pairs of primes that differ by 2. For example, 3 and 5, 5 and 7, 11 and 13, and 17 and 19 are twin primes. As numbers get larger, primes become less frequent and twin primes rarer still. The first

twin prime conjecture: …in 1846 by French mathematician Alphonse de Polignac, who wrote that any even number can be expressed in infinite ways as the difference between two consecutive primes. When the even number is 2, this is the twin prime conjecture; that is, 2 = 5 − 3 = 7 − 5…

Jules-Armand, prince de Polignac was a French ultraroyalist. Son of the ultraroyalist duc de Polignac, he was forced by the French Revolution into exile in England. On his return, he was arrested for conspiring against Napoleon and imprisoned. Upon the Bourbon Restoration, he was made a peer but

Jules-Armand, prince de Polignac was a French ultraroyalist. Son of the ultraroyalist duc de Polignac, he was forced by the French Revolution into exile in England. On his return, he was arrested for conspiring against Napoleon and imprisoned. Upon the Bourbon Restoration, he was made a peer but

Charles-Irénée Castel, abbé de Saint-Pierre: …he acted as secretary to Melchior de Polignac, the French plenipotentiary at the Congress of Utrecht, which ended the wars of Louis XIV. Because of the political offense given by his Discours sur la polysynodie (1719; A Discourse of the Danger of Governing by One Minister), in which, among other…

medicine: Russia: …in varying specialties work from polyclinics or outpatient units, where many types of diseases are treated. Small towns usually have one polyclinic to serve all purposes. Large cities commonly have separate polyclinics for children and adults, as well as clinics with specializations such as women’s health care, mental illnesses, and…

capacitor dielectric and piezoelectric ceramics: Piezoelectric ceramics: …that they are subjected to poling, a technique of cooling the fired ceramic piece through the Curie point under the influence of an applied electric field in order to align the magnetic dipoles along a desired axis.

polio, acute viral infectious disease of the nervous system that usually begins with general symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, and muscle pains and spasms and is sometimes followed by a more serious and permanent paralysis of muscles in one or more limbs, the throat, or the chest.

polio vaccine, preparation of poliovirus given to prevent polio, an infectious disease of the nervous system. The first polio vaccine to be widely used in humans, known as inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or Salk vaccine, was developed in the early 1950s by American physician Jonas Salk. This

polio, acute viral infectious disease of the nervous system that usually begins with general symptoms such as fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, and muscle pains and spasms and is sometimes followed by a more serious and permanent paralysis of muscles in one or more limbs, the throat, or the chest.

gnatcatcher, (genus Polioptila), any of about 15 species of small insect-eating New World birds in the family Polioptilidae (order Passeriformes). (Many authorities treat the genus as a subfamily of the Old World warbler family Sylviidae.) The blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), 11 cm (4.5

10 Organisms Named for David Attenborough: Inambari gnatcatcher: • What: species of gray-colored gnatcatcher. Little is known about this novel species, but it likely eats insects and other small invertebrates.

gnatcatcher: ) The blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea), 11 cm (4.5 inches) long, with its long white-edged tail, looks like a tiny mockingbird. With short, quick flights, it is able to catch insects in midair, but it usually gleans them from tree branches. It breeds locally from eastern Canada…

passeriform: Annotated classification: Family Polioptilidae (gnatcatchers and gnatwrens) Dainty, slender, tiny, 10 to 14 cm (4 to 5.5 inches), with long, thin, pointed bills, operculate nostrils partly exposed, and rictal bristles. Rounded wing with 10th primary much less than half as long as 9th; long, rounded tail constantly moving. Blue-gray…

virus: …viruses that cause polio (poliovirus) and other diseases. (Until this time, the poliovirus could be grown only in the brains of chimpanzees or the spinal cords of monkeys.) Culturing cells on glass surfaces opened the way for diseases caused by viruses to be identified by their effects on cells…

Canadian literature: The Quiet Revolution of French Canadian minorities: Novelist and short-story writer Daniel Poliquin has taken a more playful, satiric tone, most notably in his novel L’Ecureuil noir (1994; Black Squirrel) as well as his polemical essay Le Roman colonial (2000; In the Name of the Father: An Essay on Quebec Nationalism). Contemporary writers of western Canada…

polis, ancient Greek city-state. The small state in Greece originated probably from the natural divisions of the country by mountains and the sea and from the original local tribal (ethnic) and cult divisions. There were several hundred poleis, the history and constitutions of most of which are

Polisario Front, politico-military organization striving to end Moroccan control of the former Spanish territory of Western Sahara, in northwestern Africa, and win independence for that region. The Polisario Front is composed largely of the indigenous nomadic inhabitants of the Western Sahara