Pa

Multiple Entries:
  Pa    PA    pa    p.a.    pascal    protactinium  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
Pa

▶abbreviation pascal(s). ▶symbol the chemical element protactinium.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
PA/piːˈeɪ/

▶abbreviation

• 1 Panama (international vehicle registration).

• 2 Pennsylvania (in official postal use).

• 3 Press Association.

▶noun

• 1 Brit. a personal assistant.

• 2 a public address system.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pa/pɑː/

▶noun informal father.

– origin C19: abbrev. of papa.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
p.a.

▶abbreviation per annum.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pascal /ˈpask(ə)l/

▶noun

• 1 (abbrev.: Pa) the SI unit of pressure, equal to one newton per square metre.

• 2 (Pascal) a high-level structured computer programming language.

– origin 1950s: named after the 17th-cent. French scientist Blaise Pascal.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
protactinium /ˌprəʊtakˈtɪnɪəm/

▶noun the chemical element of atomic number 91, a radioactive metal of the actinide series, occurring in small amounts as a product of the natural decay of uranium. (Symbol: Pa)

– origin early 20th cent.: from proto- + actinium, so named because one of its isotopes decays to form actinium.