pith

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)The soft, spongy substance inside plant parts; specifically, the parenchyma in the centre of the roots and stems of many plants and trees.

   “This ſvveete ſmelling Reede is of a darke dun colour, full of ioints and knees eaſie to be broken into ſmall ſplinters, hollovv and full of a certaine vvhite pith, cobvveb vviſe, ſomevvhat gummie in eating, and hanging in the teeth, and of a ſharpe bitter taſte.”

   “Some make inciſion into the very Vine braunch, as farre as to the pith and marrovv vvithin (to divert the moiſture that feedeth the grape:) others lay the cluſters a drying upon tile-houſes: and all this is done vvith the grapes of the Vine Helvenaca.”

   “Atop the [Palmito] tree is a pith, in taſte better then Cabbage; and eating it takes avvay the future benefit of grovvth or fructifying, theſe and the Date-tree thriue not, except the male and female be vnited, and haue copulation: the ſhe is only fruitfull.”

   “VVhy are the Annual Grovvths of all both Herbs and Trees, vvith great Piths, the quickeſt and longeſt? But hovv are the Pores and Bladders of the Pith permeable? That they are ſo, both from their being capable of a repletion vvith Sap, and of being again vvholly emptied of it, and again, inſtead thereof fill'd vvith Aer, is as certain as that they are Pores.”

   “The food often grows in one country, and the sauce in another. The fruits of Portugal are corrected by the products of Barbadoes, and the infusion of a China plant is sweetened by the pith of an Indian cane.”

2. (uncountable, usually)The albedo (“whitish inner portion of the rind”) of a citrus fruit.
3. (broadly, uncountable, usually)Senses relating to humans and animals.
4. (broadly, uncountable, usually)Senses relating to humans and animals.

   “Becauſe many do hold this opinion that this diſeaſe doth conſume the marrovv of the backe: […] [s]ome againe, do tvvine out the pith of the backe vvith a long vvire thruſt vp into the horſſes head, and ſo into his necke and backe, vvith vvhat reaſon I knovv not.”

5. (broadly, obsolete, uncountable, usually)Senses relating to humans and animals.
6. (broadly, obsolete, rare, uncountable, usually)Senses relating to humans and animals.

   “Verily if vvee take a right vievv of this laxe pith or marrovv in Mans head, neither our ſenſe nor underſtanding can diſcover any thing more in this ſubſtance that can pretend to ſuch noble operations as free Imagination and ſagacious collections of Reaſon, then vve can diſcern in a Cake of Sevvet or a bovvle of Curds.”

7. (Ireland, Southern-England, West-Country, broadly, uncountable, usually)The soft inner portion of a loaf of bread.

   “The berrie Coccum Gnidium, in colour reſembleth the Scarlet graine; in quantitie a pepper corne, but that it is bigger: of an ardent and cauſticke qualitie it is, and therefore they uſe to lap it in the ſoft crum or pith of a loafe of bread, and ſo ſvvallovv it, for feare it ſhould burne the throat as it paſſeth dovvn.”

   “Buck Mulligan slit a steaming scone in two and plastered butter over its smoking pith. He bit off a soft piece hungrily.”

8. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)The central or innermost part of something; the core, the heart.

   “In these days folk still believed in witches and trembled at a curse; and this one, falling so pat, like a wayside omen, to arrest me ere I carried out my purpose, took the pith out of my legs.”

9. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)The essential or vital part of something; the essence.

   “The pith of my idea is that people should choose their own work hours.”

   “Of the thyngꝭ [thyngs] which we have ſpoken⸝ this is the pyth: […]”

   “Maſter, you look'd ſo longly on the maide, / Perhaps you mark'd not vvhat's the pith of all. […] Mark'd you not hovv hir ſiſter / Began to ſcold, and raiſe vp ſuch a ſtorme, / That mortal eares might hardly indure the din.”

   “Oh! [With slow, puzzled anger] I want time to get the pith o' this.”

   “The clothesline was old and dark gray. It had burst open and was giving up its white pith. […] The clothesline surrendered the pith of its soul, and Kathleen's stockings, hung at the wide end, now suggested lust.”

10. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)Physical power or strength; force, might.

    “Iron bovves, and ſtele bovves, have bene of longe time, and alſo novv are uſed among the Turkes, but yet they muſt nedes be unprofitable. For if braſſe, iron, or ſtele, have their ovvne ſtrengthe and pithe in them, they be farrre^([sic]) above mans ſtrengthe: if they be made meete for mans ſtrengthe, theyr pithe is nothinge vvorth to ſhoote any ſhoote vvithall.”

    “But thy auld tail thou vvad hae vvhiſkit, / An' ſpread abreed thy vveel-fill'd briſket, / VVi' pith an' povv'r, […]”

11. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)A quality of courage and endurance; backbone, mettle, spine.
12. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)The energy, force, or power of speech or writing; specifically, such force or power due to conciseness; punch, punchiness.

    “I founde in myne owneſelfe, that litle fruite there commeth of the goſpell, if a man reade it but ſluggiſhely, and ſuperficially renne it ouer. But in caſe a mã [man] do with diligent and exquiſite meditacion kepe hymſelf occupied therin, he ſhal fele a certaine vertue and pith ſuche as he ſhall not fele the lyke in any other bookes.”

13. (figuratively, uncountable, usually)Chiefly in of (great) pith and moment: gravity, importance, substance, weight.

    “For though my ryme be ragged, / Tattered and iagged, / Rudely rayne beaten, / Rusty and moughte eaten, / If ye take well therwith, / It hath in it some pyth.”

    “Thus Conſcience does make Covvards of vs all, / And thus the Natiue hevv of Reſolution / Is ſicklied o're, vvith the pale caſt of Thought, / And enterprizes of great pith and moment, / VVith this regard their Currants turne avvay, / And looſe the name of Action.”

14. (transitive)One divided by pi, that is, 1/π (approximately 0.31831…).

    “not only that, but your "radian" axis can be labelled as *being* in units of pis, as opposed to the redundancy of 0pi, pi/2, pi etc.; conversely, your circumferential measure can be rational (or units) and your radius can be transcendental (or piths .-)”

    “thought it was the two-sixths power of pi, and teh^([sic]) secondpower of six piths”

    “of course, although a pith is less than a third, hence pi is more than three, say, thirty-one tenths, but 22/7 is still less than pi, and that's a rather small gore”

verb

1. (transitive)To render insensate or kill (an animal, especially cattle or a laboratory animal) by cutting, piercing, or otherwise destroying the spinal cord.
2. (transitive)To extract the pith from (something or (figurative) someone).

   “And yet, instead of exclaiming "Send this inconceivable Satanist to the stake," the respectable newspapers pith me by announcing "another book by this brilliant and thoughtful writer."”

adj

1. (not-comparable, transitive)The ordinal form of the number pi (π; approximately 3.14159…).

   “The pith root of pi is approximately 1.439…”

   “(e^pi*i*i/2), or e^(-pi/2), which is the reciprocal of the square root of e to the pith power.”

   “That's nothing. I have an IMEI changer that will do all of the above and beat you off at the same time, while whistling the adaggio from Spartacus in Armenian and calculating pi to the pith power in swahili.”

   “already, we know what is minus one from Euler: it is the I*pith power of e, such that ln(-1) = i*pi”