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Proscripʹtion

.

A sort of hue and cry; so called because among the Romans the names of the persons proscribed were written out, and the tablets bearing their names were fixed up in the public forum, sometimes with the offer of a reward for those who should aid in bringing them before the court. If the proscribed did not answer the summons, their goods were confiscated and their persons outlawed. In this case the name was engraved on brass or marble, the offence stated, and the tablet placed conspicuously in the market-place.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Proper Names used as Common Nouns
Property Plot (The)
Prophesy upon Velvet (To)
Prophet (The)
Prophetess (The)
Propositions
Props
Prorogue
Pro.’s
Proscenium
Proscription
Prose
Prose
Proselytes
Proserpina or Proserpine
Proserpine’s Divine Calidore
Prosperity Robinson
Prospero
Protagoras of Abdera
Protean
Protectionist