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POUNCE

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 221 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POUNCE . (t) To drop upon and seize: properly said of a See also:

bird of See also:prey seizing its victim in its claws. The substantive " pounce," from which the verb is formed, was the technical name in See also:falconry for the claws on the three front toes of a See also:hawk's claws, and so The See also:Book of St Albans (1486) " Fryst the grete Clees behynde . . . ye shall See also:call hom talons. . . . The Clees within the fote ye shall call of right her Pownces." (2) To decorate See also:metal by See also:driving or punching a See also:design into it from the under or back See also:part of the See also:surface; also to decorate See also:cloth or other fabrics by punching or " pinking " holes, scalloping the edges, &c. Both these words seem to be variants of " See also:punch " (q.v.), which comes ultimately from the Latin pungere, punctum, to prick, See also:pierce. From them must be distinguished (3) " pounce, " a preparation of powdered cuttle-See also:fish or See also:sandarach, the See also:resin of the sandarach-See also:tree, formerly used for drying See also:ink on the roughened surface of vellum, See also:parchment or See also:paper where an erasure had been made; later, the word was also given to the See also:black See also:sand used generally as a dusting-See also:powder for drying ink before the invention of blotting-paper. The " pounce-See also:box " or " pouncet-box " was a See also:familiar See also:object on all See also:writing-tables till that See also:time. A similar box with pierced lid for holding perfumes or aromatic See also:vinegar also See also:bore the name. This word is formed from the See also:Lat. pumex, See also:pumice-See also:stone, which was employed for securing a smooth surface on vellum, parchment, &c. The See also:term " pounce " is also applied to a finely powdered See also:gum of the See also:juniper or to See also:pipe-See also:clay darkened with See also:charcoal used in transferring designs to fabrics, See also:wall-surfaces, &c., through holes pricked in the See also:original See also:drawing.

End of Article: POUNCE

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