dice: Cheating with dice: Loaded dice (called tappers, missouts, passers, floppers, cappers, or spot loaders, depending on how and where extra weight has been applied) may prove to be perfect cubes when measured with calipers, but extra weight just below the surface on some sides will make the opposite…

house sparrow, (Passer domesticus), one of the world’s best-known and most abundant small birds, sometimes classified in the family Passeridae (order Passeriformes). It lives in towns and on farms, worldwide, having accompanied Europeans from its original home—most of Eurasia and northern Africa.

Jean Passerat was a French poet who composed elegant and tender verse and was one of the contributors to the “Satire Ménippée,” the manifesto of the moderate Royalist party in support of Henry of Navarre’s claim to the throne. Passerat studied at the University of Paris, became a teacher at the

sparrow: …birds with reddish-brown caps; the savanna sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) and the vesper sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), finely streaked birds of grassy fields; the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and the fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca), heavily streaked skulkers in woodlands; and the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and

sparrow: …sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and the fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca), heavily streaked skulkers in woodlands; and the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and the white-throated sparrow (Z. albicollis), larger species with black-and-white crown stripes. The rufous-collared sparrow (Z. capensis) has an exceptionally wide breeding distribution: from Mexico and Caribbean

Passeri, bird suborder (order Passeriformes) that includes all songbirds. Birds belonging to the suborder Passeri are also referred to as oscines. See

songbird, any member of the suborder Passeri (or Oscines), of the order Passeriformes, including about 4,000 species—nearly half the world’s birds—in 35 to 55 families. Most cage birds belong to this group. Songbirds are alike in having the vocal organ highly developed, though not all use it to

Passeridae, sparrow weaver family of small gregarious birds, based on the genus Passer, the well-known sparrows. In this work these birds are classified as a subfamily (Passerinae) in the weaverfinch family (Ploceidae), order

passeriform, (order Passeriformes), any member of the largest order of birds and the dominant avian group on Earth today. The passeriform birds are true perching birds, with four toes, three directed forward and one backward. Considered the most highly evolved of all birds, passerines have

passeriform, (order Passeriformes), any member of the largest order of birds and the dominant avian group on Earth today. The passeriform birds are true perching birds, with four toes, three directed forward and one backward. Considered the most highly evolved of all birds, passerines have

bunting: …species in two other genera, Passerina and Plectrophenax. In some species, males are very brightly coloured.

bunting: The painted bunting (P. ciris), native to the American Southeast, is sometimes called the “nonpareil” because of the male’s unrivaled colouring—indigo head and neck, scarlet breast, and lemon back.

Passeridae: …classified as a subfamily (Passerinae) in the weaverfinch family (Ploceidae), order Passeriformes.

songbird, any member of the suborder Passeri (or Oscines), of the order Passeriformes, including about 4,000 species—nearly half the world’s birds—in 35 to 55 families. Most cage birds belong to this group. Songbirds are alike in having the vocal organ highly developed, though not all use it to

passeriform, (order Passeriformes), any member of the largest order of birds and the dominant avian group on Earth today. The passeriform birds are true perching birds, with four toes, three directed forward and one backward. Considered the most highly evolved of all birds, passerines have

Stephen Hawes: …is a long allegorical poem, The Passetyme of Pleasure, the chief theme of which is the education and pilgrimage through life of the knight Graunde Amoure. Completed in 1506, it was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1509. Another allegory by Hawes, The Example of Vertu, is simpler and shorter.…

Sidney and Beatrice Webb: Sidney Webb also helped reorganize the University of London into a federation of teaching institutions and served in the government as a Labour Party member. Pioneers in social and economic reforms as well as distinguished historians, the Webbs deeply affected social thought and institutions in…

Palestine: The British mandate: …formed the basis of the Passfield White Paper, issued in October 1930, which accorded some priority to Britain’s obligations to the Arabs. Not only did it call for a halt to Jewish immigration, but it also recommended that land be sold only to landless Arabs and that the determination of…

passion flower, (genus Passiflora), genus of more than 500 species of mostly tendril-bearing vines in the family Passifloraceae and their characteristic flowers. Most species are found throughout neotropical regions of the Americas. Some are cultivated as ornamentals, while others are grown for

purple passion fruit, (Passiflora edulis), species of passion flower (family Passifloraceae) and its edible fruit. The plant is native to Paraguay, southern Brazil, and northern Argentina and is grown in tropical regions throughout the world. The fruit’s intensely sharp flavour has notes of

passion flower: Major species: The wild passion flower, passion vine, or maypop (Passiflora incarnata) climbs about 3 to 9 metres (10 to 30 feet) high and has pink and white flowers about 4 to 7.5 cm (1.5 to 3 inches) across and a yellow berrylike edible fruit about 5 cm…

passion flower: Major species: edulis), and the yellow granadilla, or water lemon (P. laurifolia), as well as the wild passion flower, are widely grown in tropical America for their fruit. P. maliformis is the sweet calabash of the West Indies. The size of these fruits usually does not exceed that of a…

passion flower: Major species: The yellow passion flower (P. lutea) is a smaller plant with greenish yellow flowers and purple fruits.

passion flower: Major species: maliformis is the sweet calabash of the West Indies. The size of these fruits usually does not exceed that of a hen’s egg, but the fruit of the giant granadilla is like a gourd and may weigh up to 3.5 kg (about 8 pounds).

passion flower: Major species: …delicate dessert fruits, as the giant granadilla (P. quadrangularis). The purple passion fruit, also called purple granadilla or maracuyá (P. edulis), and the yellow granadilla, or water lemon (P. laurifolia), as well as the wild passion flower, are widely grown in tropical America for their fruit. P. maliformis is the…

Passifloraceae, the passion-flower family, in the order Malpighiales, containing 16 genera and 705 species of herbaceous or woody vines, shrubs, and trees, mostly of warm regions. Passifloraceae is most highly developed in the Neotropics and in Africa. The largest genus in the family is Passiflora,

Passing, novel by Nella Larsen, published in 1929. Larsen’s novel, which closely followed her prizewinning Quicksand (1928), explores the complexities of racial identity in early 20th-century New York. Its central character, Irene Redfield, is a member of the African American bourgeoisie that

Passing: A film version of the novel was released in 2021.

Australian literature: Nationalism and expansion: …her experiences the standard phrase The Passing of the Aborigine (1938). Aboriginal people had become the subject of anthropological interest in the work of Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer and Francis James Gillen in Central Australia, and Aboriginal legends had been collected and rewritten by K. Langloh Parker, although there was…

Penelope Lively: …on her recollections of Egypt; Passing On (1989); City of the Mind (1991); and Cleopatra’s Sister (1993). Heat Wave (1996) is the story of the disintegration of a marriage, and a retired anthropologist reflects on her past in Spiderweb (1998). In The Photograph (2003) a man finds and investigates posthumous…

tennis: Strategy and technique: …is always vulnerable to a passing shot—one angled cross-court or played down-the-line, beyond reach—but if the serve or approach shot puts the opponent under enough pressure, the server, now at the net, has the upper hand, since a volley is generally easier to put away (play for a point) than…

Stanley Kunitz: The poetry collection Passing Through (1995) won a National Book Award. The Collected Poems (2000) presents Kunitz’s lifework and contains one of his best-known pieces, “The Layers.”

novel: Antinovel: … (1959), and Michel Butor in Passing Time (1957) and Degrees (1960) wish mainly to remove the pathetic fallacy from fiction, in which the universe, which is indifferent to man, is made to throw back radar reflections of man’s own emotions. Individual character is not important, and consciousness dissolves into sheer…

Cornish literature: …and the promise of salvation; Passio Domini (“Passion of the Lord”) describes Christ’s temptation and his Crucifixion; Resurrexio Domini (“Resurrection of the Lord”) covers the Resurrection and Ascension. The Ordinalia cannot be dated with certainty but may be from the late 14th or early 15th century. Unlike contemporary works in…

Perpetua: …a Christian martyr who wrote The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, a journal recounting her trial and imprisonment that was continued by a contemporary who described Perpetua’s death in the arena. Both her martyrdom and its account have been highly revered by ancient and modern Christians. Her text is…

ethics: The Stoics: …above, Plato held that human passions and physical desires are in need of regulation by reason. The Stoics went farther: they rejected passions altogether as a basis for deciding what is good or bad. Although physical desires cannot simply be abolished, the wise person will appreciate the difference between wanting…

Jean-Luc Godard: Later work and awards of Jean-Luc Godard: …which consisted of three films—Passion (1982), Prénom Carmen (1983; First Name: Carmen), and the highly controversial Je vous salue, Marie (1985; Hail Mary)—that served as personal statements on femininity, nature, and Christianity.

Brian De Palma: Later work: …soldiers, and the revenge thrillers Passion (2012), starring Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace, and Domino (2019).

oratorio: The golden age of oratorio: 1600–c. 1750: …two great Passion oratorios, the Passion According to St. John (first performed 1724) and the Passion According to St. Matthew (1729), restored the balance attained by Schütz, though they are written on a greater scale and are enriched by the introduction of the later Italian aria. Bach, besides increasing the…

St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, Passion music by Johann Sebastian Bach. Its earliest verified performance was April 11, 1727—Good Friday—at Thomaskirche in Leipzig. It is the longest and most elaborate of all works by this Baroque master and represents the culmination of his sacred music and, indeed,

John Hawkes: The Passion Artist (1979) and Virginie: Her Two Lives (1982) are tales of sexual obsession. Hawkes’s later works include Adventures in the Alaskan Skin Trade (1985), whose narrator is a middle-aged woman; Whistlejacket (1988); Sweet William: A Memoir of Old Horse (1993), written in the…

La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, French silent film, released in 1928, that was an acclaimed and historically accurate account of the trial and execution of Saint Joan of Arc in 1431. (Read Lillian Gish’s 1929 Britannica essay on silent film.) The inventive film is a sober, intelligent drama detailing

French language: History: Two 10th-century texts (the Passion du Christ and the Vie de St. Léger) seem to mingle northern and southern dialect features, while another (the “Jonas fragment”) is obviously from the far north. In the 12th century the “gem” of the epic poems known as chansons de geste, La Chanson…

French literature: Religious drama: …early 14th century in the Passion du Palatinus (“Passion of Palatinus”). Of relatively modest proportions, this contains diversified dialogue with excellent dramatic potential and probably drew on earlier plays now lost.

John Sayles: …discrimination; City of Hope (1991); Passion Fish (1992), which earned Sayles an Academy Award nomination for a best original screenplay, as did the intricately crafted cross-cultural murder mystery Lone Star (1996); The Secret of Roan Inish (1994); Men with Guns (1997); Limbo (1999); Sunshine State (2002);

passion flower, (genus Passiflora), genus of more than 500 species of mostly tendril-bearing vines in the family Passifloraceae and their characteristic flowers. Most species are found throughout neotropical regions of the Americas. Some are cultivated as ornamentals, while others are grown for

Jón Thorkelsson Vídalín: …worthy companion to Hallgrímur Pétursson’s Passion Hymns as well as the most popular devotional work in Iceland down to the 19th century.

Passion music, musical setting of the suffering and Crucifixion of Christ, based either on biblical texts or poetic elaborations. Dating from the 4th century onward, they range from unaccompanied plainsong to compositions for soloists, chorus, and orchestra. In the medieval Passion the deacon sang

Ingmar Bergman: Life: …passion (1969; A Passion, or The Passion of Anna), all dramas of inner conflicts involving a small, closely knit group of characters. With The Touch (1971; Beröringen), his first English-language film, Bergman returned to an urban setting and more romantic subject matter, though fundamentally the characters in the film’s marital…

Ayn Rand: Legacy and influence: …Barbara Branden published a memoir, The Passion of Ayn Rand, that disclosed Rand’s affair with Nathan and revealed unflattering details of her relations with members of the Collective and others. Despite the resulting damage to her reputation, her novels continued to enjoy large sales, and she retained a loyal following…

La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, French silent film, released in 1928, that was an acclaimed and historically accurate account of the trial and execution of Saint Joan of Arc in 1431. (Read Lillian Gish’s 1929 Britannica essay on silent film.) The inventive film is a sober, intelligent drama detailing

Paddy Chayefsky: …pictures: The Bachelor Party (1953; film 1957) and The Catered Affair (1955; film 1956).

Social Realism: Shahn’s painting The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (1931–32) is a bitter comment on the outcome of the famous case in which two Italian anarchists were condemned to death in a politically motivated trial. A good example of Gropper’s powerfully simplified caricatures of American public life is…

Perpetua: …a Christian martyr who wrote The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, a journal recounting her trial and imprisonment that was continued by a contemporary who described Perpetua’s death in the arena. Both her martyrdom and its account have been highly revered by ancient and modern Christians. Her text is…

Christology: Film: Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004) avoids some of the problems attending a film on Jesus by concentrating on the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life, from his arrest to his Crucifixion. The film was criticized, however, for alleged anti-Semitism, excessive gore and violence, and…

oratorio: The golden age of oratorio: 1600–c. 1750: Passion oratorio texts (dealing with the death of Jesus) of this period often abandon biblical words for a mixture of rhymed paraphrase and lyrical commentary of a more or less sentimental nature.

Jerzy Kosinski: … (1973; revised 1981), Cockpit (1975), Passion Play (1979), Pinball (1982), and The Hermit of 69th Street (1988).

Bill Murray: …a mobster in the thriller Passion Play (2010). In 2012 he starred as U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson, which focused on the president’s private life during a weekend in 1939 when he entertained British royalty. Murray later played a member of the Monuments, Fine Arts,…

Passion play, religious drama of medieval origin dealing with the suffering, death, and Resurrection of Christ. Early Passion plays (in Latin) consisted of readings from the Gospel with interpolated poetical sections on the events of Christ’s Passion and related subjects, such as Mary Magdalene’s

James O’Neill: …a San Francisco production of The Passion Play by Salmi Morse. The role, which caused local authorities to arrest him under ordinances forbidding impersonation of the Deity, drew nationwide attention. In 1882 O’Neill opened as Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo in a stage version by Charles Fechter.…

René Kalisky: …complex in ideas and staging: La Passion selon Pier Paolo Pasolini (1977; “The Passion According to Pier Paolo Pasolini”) is a reconstitution of the Italian writer and film director’s murder, incorporating the reenactment of scenes from Pasolini’s films; Dave au bord de la mer (1978; “Dave on the Beach”) is…

Annie Ernaux: A Simple Passion and The Use of Photography: …works as Passion simple (1991; A Simple Passion), a bestseller in France that describes the obsessive affair she had with a married diplomat, years after her own marriage had ended. It was lauded for its finesse in skirting the usual clichés of illicit love affairs and for uncovering the tensions…

Palm Sunday, in the Christian tradition, the first day of Holy Week and the Sunday before Easter, commemorating Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is associated in many churches with the blessing and procession of palms (leaves of the date palm or twigs from locally available trees).

Hans Memling: …a Crucifixion panel from the Passion triptych (1491).

passion flower: Major species: The wild passion flower, passion vine, or maypop (Passiflora incarnata) climbs about 3 to 9 metres (10 to 30 feet) high and has pink and white flowers about 4 to 7.5 cm (1.5 to 3 inches) across and a yellow berrylike edible fruit about 5 cm…

Passionist, a religious order of men in the Roman Catholic church, founded by Paolo Francesco Danei (now known as St. Paul of the Cross) in Italy in 1720 to spread devotion to the sufferings and death on the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Passionists fulfill their mission by preaching about Jesus

Ingmar Bergman: Life: …passion (1969; A Passion, or The Passion of Anna), all dramas of inner conflicts involving a small, closely knit group of characters. With The Touch (1971; Beröringen), his first English-language film, Bergman returned to an urban setting and more romantic subject matter, though fundamentally the characters in the film’s marital…

chronology: Christian: The Era of the Passion, commencing 33 years after that of the Incarnation, enjoyed a short vogue, mainly in 11th-century France.

Ingmar Bergman: Life: …passion (1969; A Passion, or The Passion of Anna), all dramas of inner conflicts involving a small, closely knit group of characters. With The Touch (1971; Beröringen), his first English-language film, Bergman returned to an urban setting and more romantic subject matter, though fundamentally the characters in the film’s marital…

Jeanette Winterson: The Passion (1987), her second work, is a picaresque historical novel that chronicles the adventures of Villanelle, an enslaved Venetian woman who is rescued by Henri, a cook from Napoleon’s army. Attempting to reach Venice, the two travel through Russia in winter.

Passifloraceae, the passion-flower family, in the order Malpighiales, containing 16 genera and 705 species of herbaceous or woody vines, shrubs, and trees, mostly of warm regions. Passifloraceae is most highly developed in the Neotropics and in Africa. The largest genus in the family is Passiflora,

Lucinda Williams: …Chapin Carpenter covered Williams’s “Passionate Kisses,” a single from her self-titled album. Carpenter’s version earned Williams a Grammy Award for country song of the year.

Marion Cotillard: …Môme (2007; also released as La Vie en rose) propelled her to international fame.

Jules Feiffer: Cartoon collections: …Sick (1958), was followed by Passionella, and Other Stories (1959). Passionella contains the character Munro, a four-year-old boy who was drafted into the army by mistake. Munro became the basis of an animated cartoon that received an Academy Award in 1961. Later cartoon collections included Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl (1961);…

Thomas Thorild: …held in Stockholm, he entered Passionerna (1781; “The Passions”), his first poem. Although it won only honourable mention, Passionerna, a philosophic expression of pantheistic feeling for nature, greatly startled literary Stockholm. Thorild became increasingly involved in writing on social reform and philosophy during his later years, but he continued to…

Passionist, a religious order of men in the Roman Catholic church, founded by Paolo Francesco Danei (now known as St. Paul of the Cross) in Italy in 1720 to spread devotion to the sufferings and death on the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Passionists fulfill their mission by preaching about Jesus

Passionist: Paul also founded the Passionist Nuns (Nuns of the Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ), approved by Pope Clement XIV in 1771. Passionist Sisters were established in 1852 in England.

A.S. Byatt: …was also the author of Passions of the Mind (1991), a collection of essays, and Angels & Insects (1991; film 1995), a pair of novellas. Among her nonfiction works is Peacock & Vine (2016), about William Morris and Mariano Fortuny. Byatt was made Dame Commander of the Order of the…

Irving Stone: …of the Renaissance artist Michelangelo; The Passions of the Mind (1971), about Sigmund Freud; and The Origin (1980), a life of Charles Darwin centred on the voyage of the Beagle and its aftermath.

René Descartes: Physics, physiology, and morals: Despite such arguments, in his Passions of the Soul (1649), which he dedicated to Queen Christina of Sweden (reigned 1644–54), Descartes holds that most bodily actions are determined by external material causes.

pageant: The Passionsspiel (a presentation of Christ’s last hours on earth) of the village of Oberammergau in Bavaria is perhaps the best-known religious pageant drama in the West.

Jón Thorkelsson Vídalín: …worthy companion to Hallgrímur Pétursson’s Passion Hymns as well as the most popular devotional work in Iceland down to the 19th century.

radiation measurement: Applications of radiation interactions in detectors: These so-called passive detectors are widely applied in the routine monitoring of occupational exposures to ionizing radiation. In contrast, in active detectors a signal is produced in real time to indicate the presence of radiation. This distinction is indicated for the examples in the table. The normal…

migration: Navigation and orientation: Passive drifting is an important factor in the movements of larvae and young fishes, such as those of the eel, cod, herring, and plaice, and even in adult fishes that are passive after spawning, such as herring and cod. As a result of drifting with…

muscle: Length-tension relationship: …of the muscle, however, a passive force begins to assert itself. The exact length at which this passive force occurs depends on the particular muscle. This force is characterized as passive because it is developed in noncontracting or inactive muscles by the elastic elements of the muscle.

solar heating: Passive heating relies on architectural design to heat buildings. The building’s site, structure, and materials can all be utilized to maximize the heating (and lighting) effect of the sunlight falling on it, thereby lowering or even eliminating its fuel requirement. A well-insulated building with a…

immunization: Characteristics: In passive immunization a person receives antibodies or lymphocytes that have been produced by another individual’s immune system; in active immunization the individual’s own immune system is stimulated to produce antibodies and lymphocytes. One of the most important features of active immunization is the development of…

immunization: Characteristics: In passive immunization a person receives antibodies or lymphocytes that have been produced by another individual’s immune system; in active immunization the individual’s own immune system is stimulated to produce antibodies and lymphocytes. One of the most important features of active immunization is the development of…

epistemology: Aristotle: The first is the passive intellect, the second the active intellect, of which Aristotle speaks tersely. “Intellect in this sense is separable, impassible, unmixed, since it is in its essential nature activity.…When intellect is set free from its present conditions, it appears as just what it is and nothing…

George Berkeley: Period of his major works: …in three sermons, published as Passive Obedience (1712). Thus, with four major books in five years, the foundations of his fame were laid. When he first left Ireland in 1713 on a leave of absence, he was already a man of mark in the learned world; his books were reviewed…

international law: Jurisdiction: The passive personality principle allows states, in limited cases, to claim jurisdiction to try a foreign national for offenses committed abroad that affect its own citizens. This principle has been used by the United States to prosecute terrorists and even to arrest (in 1989–90) the de…

civil disobedience, the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government or occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition; its usual purpose is to force concessions from the government or occupying power. Civil disobedience has been a major tactic and

ecological restoration: Implementation: This process is called passive restoration because restoration specialists do not need to take much action. For example, halting agricultural tillage or stemming the overuse of riverbanks by livestock may be enough to bring a site back to a pre-disturbed state.

nuclear power: Safety: …and rely more on so-called passive safety designs (i.e., directing cooling water by gravity rather than moving it by pumps) in order to keep the plants safe in the event of a severe accident or station blackout. For instance, in the Westinghouse AP1000 design, residual heat would be removed from…

lung cancer: Causes and symptoms: Passive inhalation of cigarette smoke (sometimes called secondhand smoke) is linked to lung cancer in nonsmokers. According to the American Cancer Society, about 3,400 deaths from lung cancer occur each year in nonsmokers in the United States. Other risk factors include exposure to radon gas…

construction: Heating and cooling: …use in residential buildings is passive solar radiation. On sunny winter days, south-facing windows let in substantial amounts of energy, often enough to heat the entire building. Wood-burning fireplaces with chimneys are still widely provided in residential buildings, but their use is mostly for aesthetic effect.

sonar: Passive systems consist simply of receiving sensors that pick up the noise produced by the target (such as a ship, submarine, or torpedo). Waveforms thus detected may be analyzed for identifying characteristics as well as direction and distance. The third category of sonar devices is…

nervous system: Localized potential: …potential, through a process called passive spread, diffuses along the nerve fibre and back out through the membrane.

transducer: The passive transducer produces a change in some passive electrical quantity, such as capacitance, resistance, or inductance, as a result of stimulation. Passive transducers usually require additional electrical energy. A simple example of a passive transducer is a device containing a length of wire and a…

cell: Transport across the membrane: …them through the membrane by passive transport; that is, the changes that the proteins undergo in order to facilitate diffusion are powered by the diffusing solutes themselves. For the healthy functioning of the cell, certain solutes must remain at different concentrations on each side of the membrane; if through diffusion…