Pity
(Pit"y) n.; pl. Pities [OE. pite, OF. pité, pitié, F. pitié, L. pietas piety, kindness, pity. See Pious,
and cf. Piety.]
1. Piety. [Obs.] Wyclif.
2. A feeling for the sufferings or distresses of another or others; sympathy with the grief or misery of
another; compassion; fellow-feeling; commiseration.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.
Prov. xix. 17.
He . . . has no more pity in him than a dog.
Shak. 3. A reason or cause of pity, grief, or regret; a thing to be regretted. "The more the pity." Shak.
What pity is it
That we can die but once to serve our country!
Addison. In this sense, sometimes used in the plural, especially in the colloquialism: "It is a thousand pities."
Syn. — Compassion; mercy; commiseration; condolence; sympathy, fellow-suffering; fellow-feeling. — Pity,
Sympathy, Compassion. Sympathy is literally fellow-feeling, and therefore requiers a certain degree
of equality in situation, circumstances, etc., to its fullest exercise. Compassion is deep tenderness for
another under severe or inevitable misfortune. Pity regards its object not only as suffering, but weak,
and hence as inferior.
Pity
(Pit"y) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pitied ; p. pr. & vb. n. Pitying.]
1. To feel pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender
feelings toward awakened by a knowledge of suffering.
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Ps. ciii. 13. 2. To move to pity; — used impersonally. [Obs.]
It pitieth them to see her in the dust.
Bk. of Com. Prayer. Pity
(Pit"y), v. i. To be compassionate; to show pity.
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy.
Jer. xiii. 14. Pitying
(Pit"y*ing), a. Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word. — Pit"y*ing*ly, adv.
Pityriasis
(||Pit`y*ri"a*sis) n. [NL., fr. Gr. fr. lit., bran.] (Med.) A superficial affection of the skin, characterized
by irregular patches of thin scales which are shed in branlike particles.
||Pityriasis versicolor [NL.] (Med.), a parasitic disease of the skin, characterized by the development
of reddish or brownish patches.
Pityroid
(Pit"y*roid) a. [Gr. bran + - oid.] Having the form of, or resembling, bran. Smart.
Più
(||Pi"ù) adv. [It., fr. L. plus. See Plus.] (Mus.) A little more; as, più allegro, a little more briskly.
Pivot
(Piv"ot) n. [F.; prob. akin to It. piva pipe, F. pipe. See Pipe.]
1. A fixed pin or short axis, on the end of which a wheel or other body turns.
