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Forgotten M eanings
OR
^.Oe AKG-ELKB, -.---UAL
An Hour with a Dictionary
BY
ALFRED WAITES
AuHwr of " TIi£ Student 's Historical Manual "
V/4^
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK
CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
1886
Copyright, 1S86,
By lee and SIIEPAllD.
FOKGOTTEN MEANINGS.
1 U'S:C)
C-ob. '^
PEEFAOE.
In collecting these Forgotten Meanings,
I have been upon my guard against the entice-
ments of conjectural etjnnology, and have
rejected much that was most alluring, bearing
in mind the warning afforded by Peter Le
Loyer, who though he had read more books,
perhaps, than any other man in the world,
went raving mad about etymons.
"When a skilful anatomist observes the
action of a pugilist's biceps, he can calculate
very nearly the extent of its impetus, and
knows why an argument from that source in-
variably carries conviction with it : in like
manner, the etymologist, the dissector of lan-
guage, knows to a nicety the degree of force
4 PREFACE.
with which a muscular word will impinge upon
an intellectual structure.
The anatomist, too, becomes acquainted
with peculiar formations in the human fabric,
for which he perceives no use, which seem to
him a detriment rather ; and the etj^mologist
occasionally finds in the genesis of words
meanings which seem useless, significations
which he cannot understand. Nevertheless,
in the one case as in the other, there are
underlying reasons, which, if only once got
at, might explain many a perplexing fact con-
nected with our common history.
A. W.
Febbuauy, 1886.
ABBREVIATIONS.
A. L. Andrews's Latin Lexicon.
A. R. A. Adams's Roman Antiquities.
B. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
C. Chambers's Etymological Dictionary.
F. A. Fosbroke's Encyclopaedia of Antiquities.
J. Johnson's Dictionary (first edition).
L. & S. Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon.
P. Pliny's Natural History (Bohn).
W. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS;
OB,
AN HOUR WITH A DICTIONARY.
ABANDON. To abandon, means to desert your
colors. (L. a, from; bandum, an ensign.) £.
ABJURATION. "Till Henry VIII., his time, if
a man having committed felony, could go into a
church, or churchyard, before he were appre-
hended, he might not be taken thence to the
usual trial of law, but confessing his fault to
the justices, or the coroner, give his oatli to foi'-
sake the realm forever, which was called abjura-
tion." Ayliffe's Par. Jur. Canonici. Dr. Johnson.
ABOMINATE. We should abominate a thing
when it is ominous or portentous of evil. (L.
abominaius ; ab, from; omen, ominis, a portent.)
ABOVE-BOARD. A figurative expression, bor-
rowed from gamesters, who, when they put
7
8 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
their hands under the table, are changing their
cards. Johnson.
ABSURD. A statement is absurd when it is so
unreasonable that it can be compared only
with the reply of one who has not distinctly
heard what was said to him. (L. ah, from ;
surdus, deaf.)
ADIEU means, I commend you to God; just as
Good-by means, May God be with you. (Fr.
A Dieu, to God.)
ADORE. To adore, is to raise the right hand to
the lips. (L. ad, to; os, oris, the mouth.)
A.Ii. A., p. 211.
AFFORD. When one cannot afford to do a thing,
it is because he prefers to wait for a better
opportunity, or until the market-price has in-
creased ; afford meaning to take to the forum,
or market-place. (L. ad, to ; forum, a market-
place.)
AGONY is derived from a(/on, agonis, a struggle,
contest, or cohibat in the public games ; a
combatant for a jirize being known by the
name agonista ; his opponent, anlagonista ;
whence our word antagonist.
\
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 9
AGHAST. A person is aghast -when he is as terri-
fied as if he had seen a ghost. (A. S. gast, a
ghost, or spirit.)
ALARM. To alarm your friends, means to call
them to arms. (It. aW anne.) C.
ALGEBRA. This word we owe to the Arabs, who
named the science el djaber el-mo (jabelah : that
is to say, the science of restorations or of re-
establishments, of proportions and of solutions,
by means of the rule by which they transfer or
re-establish a quantity which was negative and
which becomes positive, being transported or
re-established in the other member of the
equation. Thus it is that in the Middle Ages,
in surgery, ah/ehra was understood as meaning
the art of restoring or of re-establishing mem-
bers which were dislocated or fractured ; and
to this day, in Spanish and in Portuguese, alr/e-
brista signifies a surgeon, or bone-setter.
" Ce mot (Algebre) est du aussi aux Arabes
qui avaient nomme cette science e'l djaber el-
mogabelah ; c'est h dire, la science des restauralions
ou des re'tablissements, des proportions et des
solutions, en vertu de la regie par laquelle on
10 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
opere le passage ou le retahlissement d'une quan-
tite qui etait negative et qui devient positive,
etant transportde ou retahUe dans I'autre meni-
bre de I'equation. C'est pourquoi, au moyen
age, en chirurgie, ahjehre voulait dire I'art de
restaurer ou de retablir ]es membres deniis
ou fractures ; et aujourd'hui nieme en espagnol
et en portugais, ah/ebrisla signifie chinirgien."
Curiosites Philologiques, etc., p. 93. Paris, 1855.
ALLUDE is in danger of losing its peculiar signifi-
cation, which is delicate and serviceable, by
being used as a fine-sounding synonyme of say
or mention. The honorable gentleman from
the State of Kokeeko, speaking of the honor-
able gentleman from the same State, denounces
liim as a drunken vagabond and a traitor to
his party. The latter rises, and says that his
colleague has alluded to him in terms just fit
for such a scoundrelly son of a poorhouse drab
to use, but that he hurls back the honorable
gentleman's allusions, and so forth, and so
forth. The spectacle is a sad one to gods and
men, and also to all who have respect for the
English language. For, whatever may have
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 11
been the case with the other words, allude and
allusion were used in their Kokeekokian, cer-
tainly not in their English, sense. Allude (from
ludo, ludere, to plaj') means to indicate jocosely,
to hint at playfully, and so to hint at in a
slight, passing manner.
Wo)ih and Their Uxes, p. 90. N.Y., 1870.
AMBITIOUS ASPIRANT. The aspirant, or can-
didate, should be a clean man ; should wear a
white robe (candldus), emblem of purity, as did
the office-seekers of ancient Rome ; and, like
them, he is ambitious when he goes about seeking
votes for his own election. (L. ambi, about; eo,
{turn, to go.)
AMETHYST. So named because it was thought
to be a preventive of drunkenness. (Gr. a,
without; 7ne//i?/o, to be drunken.) C.
AMMONIA. So called because it was first obtained
near the temple of Jupiter Ammon.
ANTENN/E. Sail-yards. A. L.
ANTIMONY. Webster says that this word is most
probably a corruption of the Arabic al-itJimidun,
antimony ; but Dr. Johnson has the following :
" The stibium of the ancients. The reason for
12 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
its modern denomination is referred to Basil
Valentine, a German monk, who, as tradition
9
rel.ates, having thrown some of it to the hogs,
observed that, after it had purged them heartily,
they immediately fattened; and thereupon he
imagined his fellow-monks would be the better
for a like dose. The experiment, however, suc-
ceeded so ill that they all died of it ; and the
medicine was thenceforward called anti-moine,
— anti-monk."
APOTHECARY, from apotJiecce, by which name the
wine-lofts of the ancients were known. Piini/.
Etymology still indicates the principal busi-
ness of the apothecary, though the exigencies of
modern civilization have required the removal
of the wine-room from the top of the building
to the back of the store.
APPRECIATE. To estimate at a price. (L.
appretio.)
ARENA. (L. arena, a sandy place.) The place
where the gladiators fought was called arena
because it was covered with sand or sawdust
to prevent the gladiators from sliding, and to
absorb the blood. a. n. A., p. 2yi.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 13
ASSERTION. A judicial (or formal) declaration
that one is a freeman or a slave. (L. assertio.')
A. L.
ASTONISHED. Lit. thunder-struck. (L. aJ, at ;
toun, to thunder.)
ASTROLOGY. Some idea may perhaps be con-
ceived of the power which this pseudo-science
once possessed, if we will observe the tracks
which it has left in the language itself.
A disaster was the blast or stroke of some
unpropitious star. (L. (lis, negative, and as-
trum; Gr. astron, aster, a star.) Influenza was
occasioned by a malign stellar influence. Sat-
urday was sacred to Saturn, Sunday to the
sun, and INIonday to the moon. Human beings
were fortunate or lucky, rather than deserving.
The weak-minded were under the influence of
the moon (Luna, lunatics). He who was born
under INIars was devoted to the army. They
who were born under Saturn were consequently
saturnine. The sprightly man was born under
Mercury, and was therefore mercurial ; while
the fortunate possessed jovial temperaments,
because, behig born under the planet Jupiter,
14 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
they were favored witli the immediate protec-
tion of Jove himself. The dog-days, too, were
a time of peculiar discomfort ; because Sirius
was in the ascendant, whose mischief-working
powers are thus graphically described by one of
the early writers : —
" Who is there that does not know that the
vapor of the sun is kindled by the rising of the
dog-star? The most powerful effects are felt
from this stai-. When it rises, the seas are
troubled, the wines in our cellars ferment, and
stagnant waters are set in motion. There is a
wild beast, named by the Egyptians Oryx,
which, when the star rises, is said to stand
opposite to it, to look steadfastly at it, and then
to sneeze, as if it were worshipping it. There
is no doubt that dogs, during the whole of
this period, are peculiarly disposed to become
rabid." Pliny, ii., c. xl.
AUSPICIOUS. Favorable augury from the flight
of birds. (L. avis, a bird; specio, to observe.)
AUSTERE, to be, is to make the tongue dry and
rough. Thus, the notorious Judge Jeffreys was
austere when he reviled the unfortunates who
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 15
were brought before him, giving them, as he
said, " a lick with the rough side of his tongue."
AWKWARD. Left-handed. (Old Eng. ad-A, left;
icard, indicating direction.)
BALLAD. . A song sung while dancing. (It. hal-
lata, hallare, to dance.) Du Cange deduces it
from the " Balisterou " of Yopiscus, a song ac-
companied with dancing. An old chronicle of
Milan says the players used to sing of Roland
and Oliver, and turned themselves about with
a becoming motion of the body. F. A., w. 594.
BALLOT. A little ball, such as is used for voting
in lodges, etc. ; a white ball being favorable to
the admission of a candidate, a black ball
unfavorable ; hence hlaclballed, meaning re-
jected.
BAN. A proclamation or interdiction. (Fr.
ban.)
BANDIT. One ianished, or proclaimed beyond the
laws' protection ; an outlaw. (Fr. han-dlt.)
BANK. A bench. (Fr. banc ; It. banco.)
BANKER. One who displays goods on a bench
for sale.
16 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
BANKRUPT. One whose bench or bu.siness is
broken up. (Bank, and L. ruptus, broken.)
BARBARIAN. Sopliocles, in "The Maidens of
Trachis," refers (v. 1000) to a foreign country
as "the land of men that speak not," because
the ancient Greeks thought that the non-Hellenic
peoples had no intelligible language, and hence
denominated them barbarians, from bar-bar, the
imitation of an unintelligible utterance.
BEAD, in A. S., means a jsrayer : the word was
afterwards transferred to the little balls, pierced
and strung, which are used by Roman Catholics
to assist the memory in retaining the number
of prayei'S recited. As connected with prayers,
rosaries of them are found among the Lares of
the ancient Egyptians in the catacombs, and are
common in India, China, etc. F. A., i. 225.
BEADROLL. The list of those prayed for. The
king's enemies were thus cursed by name in the
bead-roll at Paul's. Bacon's nint. Ilenry Vll.tp.l^.
BEADSMAN. One who prays for the welfare of
another.
" Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers,
For I will be thy beadsman, Valentine."
Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act i., Sc. 1.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 17
BEEF-EATER. Some of the ofRcei-s in the Tower
of London are so called, whose duty it was,
originally, to stand by the buffet, or sideboard,
to attend to the wants of those requiring refresh-
ment. (A corr. of Fr. buffeiier.) i^. .1., i. 360.
BELDAM. A hag; originally the reverse of its
present meaning, i.e., Fr. belle dame, fair lady.
BIB. From the Latin 6/fto, to drink ; because the
bib dn'r.ks up the liquid spilled by the child.
BIBLE. They write also in the leaves of certain
reeds, which Isaiah called papyr reeds (Isa. ix.
7), growing in the marshes of Egypt, which
reed, or sedge, is called Biblus or By bios ; so
Lucan, —
"Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere bibles,
Never at," —
which the translator doth English, paper.
From which term or name of Biblos, books
are by the Greeks called Biblio and Biblia, and
that Book of books, the Bible ; because books
were usually made of this kind of reed, or
sedge. Philobiblion, i. 151.
In the same way, a strip of papyrus-bark was
termed scheda, dim. schedula ; whence our word
schedule. A. L.
18 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS-
BISCUITi Bread twice baked. (L. bis, twice;
Fr. cuit, from coquo, cocius, to bake.) C.
BLACKMAIL. Money paid to robbers, or those
allied to robbers, for protection. Its modern
synonyme is retainer.
BLOOD-STONE. "There is a stone which they
call the blood-stone, which, worn, is thought to
be good for them that bleed at the nose ; which,
no doubt, is by astriction and cooling of the
spirits." Bacon, quoted by Dr. Johnson.
BOAi A large serpent, which was supposed to
suck milk from cows ; hence its name boa, from
L. hos, boms. Pliny, viii., c. 4.
BOCUS. From Borghese, a rascal who swindled
many persons in the United States by means of
counterfeit bills. B.
BOOK. From Ger. buch, a book. The runes
were cut in soft wood, particularly in that o£
the beech (Ger. buch) tree, whence came the
name. Menzel, Gesck. d. Deutschen,\.h6.
BRIBE, "in French, originally signified a piece
of bread, and so applied to any piece taken
from the rest : it is therefore likely that a bribe
formerly meant a share of any thing unjustly
got.'' «/"•
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 19
BUB. A name by which boys are familiarly
addressed, and which is probably derived from
the Ger. bube, a boy.
BUCCANEER. One who smokes meat. The
French settlers in the West Indies cooked their
meat on a boucan, or gridiron, after the manner
of the natives, and were hence called bouca-
niers. c.
BUCKr The butting animal; from- A. S. buc, a
knock.
CALAMITY. A storm or any thing that breaks
or beats down the reeds or stalks of grain ; from
L. calamus, a reed. a. l.
CALCULATE. To count by the aid of small
stones; from L. calculus, dim. of calx, a little
stone. A. L.
CANTER. "Probably derived from the monks rid-
ing- to Canterhm-y on easy-ambling horses." J.
CAPRICIOUS. Jumping about like a goat; from
L. caper, a goat ; hence, " to cut a caper."
CAROTID. Gr. karotides, karos, sleep; deep sleep
being occasioned by a compression of these
arteries. c.
20 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
CAUSEWAY. A way raised and paved, or shod,
witli stone. (Fr. chausse'e, from chausser, to
shoe.) C.
CAUCUS. "It is stated on the authority of the
celebrated Dr. Gordon, the historian, that in
1724 Samuel Adams the elder, and about twenty
others, and one or two from the north end of
the town [Boston], where all the shipping busi-
ness was carried on, used to meet and lay their
plans for introducing certain persons to places
of power and trust. From this club of ship-
building mechanics (or calkers) comes the word
caucus." McMasters'' Hist., i. 178 (uote).
CEMETERY. A sleeping-chamber. This name
was given to their burial-places by the early
Christians, who were fond of comparing death
to a sleep. (Gr. kouneterion, koimao, to lull to
sleep.) Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., Bohn ed., p. 266 (uote).
CHANCE-MEDLEY. A hot affray; the killing of
a person by chance, or in self-defence. (Fr.
chaude, hot; melee, affray.)
CHANCELLOR. A door-keeper. (L. cancellarius.)
The Roman emperor Carinus intrusted the
government of the city to one of his door-keep-
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 21
ers (cancellai-ius). This word, so humble in its
origin, has by a singular fortune risen into the
title of the first great oflSce of state in the mon-
archies of Europe.
Gibbon, Decline and FalU i. 415 and note
The Lord Chancellor of England has, from
time immemorial, been charged with the im-
portant function of "Keeper of the King's Con-
science : " the reason is thus given by Lord
Cami^bell (in his " Lives of the Lord Chancel-
lors," i. p. 4) : —
*'From the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons
to Christianity by tlie preaching of St. Augus-
tine, the king had always near his person a
priest, to whom was intrusted the care of liis
chapel, and who was his confessor. This per-
son, selected from the most learned and able of
his order, and greatly superior in accomplish-
ments to the unlettered laymen attending the
court, soon acted as private secretary to thei
king, and gained his confidence in affairs of
state. The present demarcation between civil
and ecclesiastical employments was then little
regarded, and to this same person was assigned
22 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
the business of superintending writs and grants,
with the custody of tlie Great Seal."
CHARACTER. (L. character.) An instrument
for branding'or marking. A. L.
CHEAP. Derived from chepe, cheping, which is
an old word for market, whence Eastcheap and
Cheapside. J.
CHECKMATE. Pers. Shah mat, the king is dead.
CLIMACTERIC. This term means, literally, "in-
creasing by a regular scale," or, " according to a
proportional series of numbers." The multiples
of seven have been generally supposed to be the
critical periods of human life, and more espe-
cially sixty-three, or nine times seven, which
was accordingly termed "the grand climac-
teric." Pliny, b. vii. c. 50, note.
COBALT. Ger. kohold, a devil. The demon of
the mines, so called because the German miners
thought that its presence indicated the absence
of more valuable metals.
COCAGNE. The land of cookery and good living.
COCKNEY. The land of cockneys. (From L.
coquo, to cook.)
" And whau this jape is told another day,
I shall be haldeu a dal'fe or a cokcnay."
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 23
That this is a teiuii of contempt borrowed
origiually from the kitchen, is very probable.
A cook, in the base Latinity, was called coquina-
tor aud coquinarius, from either of which cokenay
might easily be derived. In pp. fol xxxv 6, —
" Aud yet I say by my soule I have no salt bacon,
Ne no cokency, by Christe, coloppes to make," —
it seems to signify a cook. In these rhymes
ascribed to Hugh Bigot, which Camden lias
published, Brit. Col., 451 (upon what authority
I know not), —
" Were I in my castle of Bungey,
Upon the river of Waveney,
I would ne care for King of Cockeney," —
the author, in calling London Cockeney, might
possibly allude to that imaginary kingdom of
Idleness and Luxury which was anciently
known by the name of "Cokaigne," or Cocagne,
a name which Hicks has shown to be derived
from coquina.
TyrwhiWs Note, C/iaucer, The Reve's Tale, lines 4204-6.
COCOA. A bugbear; applied to the nut from
the three marks at the end, which form a
monkey-like face. (Sp. coco, a bugbeai-.)
24 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
CODEX. The trunk of a tree ; later, wooden tab-
lets, bound together and covered with wax, for
writing on.
CODICIL. From L. cocUcillus, the dim. of codex.
COKE. Cooked coal. .
COLPORTEUR. One who carries on his neck. (L.
col, coJlum, the neck, siwd porter, poriare, to cany.)
COMPLAIN. To beat the head and breast in
token of grief. (L. complanrjere.') A. L.
CONCISE. Cut down. (L. concisus.)
CONCUR. To run together. (L. con, curro.)
CONSTABLE. Count of the stable. (L. comes,
stahuli.)
CONTEMPLATE. To gaze at attentively, as if
marking put a templum, or place for observa-
tion. C. A. R. A.
CONVERSE. To turn round frequently. (L.
con, verso.)
COPPER. So named from the Island of Cyprus,
once celebrated for its copper-mines. (L. cu-
prum ; Gr. kupros.)
CORIANDER. An aimual plant, the seeds of
which, when fresh, have a bug-like smell. (L.
coriandrum, from Gr. koris, a bug.) C.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 25
COUCH. A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by
some sharp serosity. J
COUSINS. All gentlemen are cousins, and all
villains chums. " Tous gentilhommes sont
cousins, et tous vilains comperes."
Dict'onnaire Portatif des Proverbes Franqois, p. "4.
CRANBERRY. Crane-berry, from its growing on
a stalk resembling the legs and neck of a
crane. C.
CRJISE. Fr croise, from the original cruisers, who
bore the cross, and plundered only infidels. J.
CURMUDGEON. A corn-mud cjin, a corruption of
corn-merchant, because they were supposed to
keep up the price of corn by their avarice.
When Dr. Samuel Johnson was working
upon his celebrated dictionary of the English
language, he requested any of the readers of
" The Gentleman's INIagaziue " to send him, if
they knew, the etymology of the word cur-
mudgeon. The response was not long delayed,
and he placed in his dictionary the information
■which he had received: " Cunmidgeon. n.s. [It
is a vitious manner of pronouncing cusur
mediant. Fr. an unknown correspondent.] "
26 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
Tliat phrase was thus copied in anotlier English
dictionary : " Curmudgeon, from the French
words, occur (unknown) and mtchant (corre-
spondent)."
Ciirio-iUes LUtcraircs, \>. 'Idii, par I.udovic I.alanne.
CURRANT. Corinth raisin.
CURTAIL. (L. curio.') It was anciently written
curtaU which, perhaps, is more proper ; but dogs
that had their tails cut being called curtal dogs,
the word was vulgarly conceived to mean oi-igi-
nally to cut the tail, and was in time written
according to that notion. J-
DAINTY. Toothsome. From L. dens, dentls, a
tooth. C.
DAISY. So called from its likeness to the sun, —
day's eye.
DANDELION. The lion's tooth; so called from
the tooth-like edges of its leaf. (Fr. dent-de-
lion . ) c.
DECUSSATE. To cross in the form of X; from
L decus.^iti, decern asses, ten units, making the
Roman numeral X.
FORGOTTKN MEANINGS. 27
DERRICK. A temporary crane to remove goods
from the hold of a vessel. So called from Der-
rick, the Tyburn liangman, early in the seven-
teenth century, -wlio for more than a hundred
years gave his name to gibbets. B.
DESPOT. j\Iaster of the house. (Gr. desjjolcs.)
" II (Scanderbeg) etait fils d'un despote, ou
d'lui i^etit hospodar, de cette contree ; c'est-a-
dire, d'un prince vassal, car c'est ce qui signifiait
despote ; ce mot vent dire h. la lettre, maitre de
ma-son ; et il est etrange que Ton ait depuis
aifecte le mot de despotlque aux grands souve-
rains que se sont rendus absolus."
Voltaire, Essai sur leu Jfoeurs, ch. xc.
He (Scanderbeg) was the son of a despot, or
little hospodar, of that country ; that is to say,
of a subordinate prince, for that is the mean-
ing of despot ; it literally signifies, master of the
house ; and it is singular that the word despotic
should now be applied to great sovereigns who
have made themselves absolute.
DEXTERITY. Right-handedness; ivoval^. dexter,
Gr. dexios, right. The peculiar significance of
this word is better appreciated if we contrast it
28 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
with .minister (left), to the meaning of which still
clings the idea of malevolent fatality ; which
may be accounted for by the fact that the
ancient Greeks, when offering sacrifice, believed
tliat an onicMi upon the right or dexter liand was
indicative of success, while an omen upon the
left or sinister hand betokened misfortune.
DIPHTHERIA. From Gr. diphthera, a piece of
leather. A disease of the air-passages, espe-
cially the throat, by which they are covered
with a leathery-like membrane. C.
DIPLOMA, A letter of recommendation, so called
because it consisted of two leaves. (Gr. diploma,
a letter folded double.) C.
DISAPPOINT. Properly, the word disappoint pre-
supposes an appointment, and the failure on
the part of one or more to keep that appoint-
ment disappoints those who have been punctual.
DISMAL. An evil day. (L. dies malus.)
DISTRICT. A territory within which a superior
had a riuht to distrain, or otherwise exercise
authoiity. (L. dislrictits, dislrinr/o.) C.
DOG-ROSE, or Wild-Brier. Down to our times,
the bite of a mad dog, the symptoms of which
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 29
are a dread of water and an aversion to every
kind of beverage, was incurable ; and it was
only recently that the mother of a soldier who
was serving in the praetorian guard received a
warning in a dream, to send her son a root of
the wild-rose, a plant the beauty of which had
attracted her attention in the shrubbery the
day before, and to request him to drink the
extract of it. The army was then serving in
Lacetania, a part of Spain which lies north-west
of Italy; and it so happened that the soldier,
having been bitten by a dog, was just beginning
to manifest a horror of water, when his mother's
letter reached him, in which she entreated him
to obey the words of this divine warning. He
accordingly complied with her request; and,
against all hope or expectation, his life was
saved, — a result which has been experienced by
all who have since availed themselves of the
same resource. PUny, xxv. 6.
DUNCE. Duns Scotus was the leader of those
schoolmen who opposed the study of the class-
ics, at the time of the revival of learning;
heuce his followers were called duuses. C. B.
30 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
ELIMINATE. To turn out of doors. (L. e, out
of ; limen, limiiiis, a threshold.)
EMOLUMENT. An allowance of meal (L. 7nola)
as a salary.
ENCROACH. (Fr. accrocher, from croc, a hook.)
To put a hook into a man's possessions, to
draw them away. J-
ENTHUSIAST. One who believes that he himself
is in God, or that God is in him. (Gr. en
theos.) B.
ESTIMATE. To reckon the money- value of. A. L.
ETIQUETTE. A ticket on which the forms to be
observed at court on particular occasions were
inscribed. (Old Fr. esticquette, a labal.) C.
EVICT. To conquer completely. (L.evinco,evicius.)
EXACT. Pressed out to a standard or measure.
(L. exactus, p.p. exif/o, to drive out, to measure.)
EXAMINE. To test by a balance. (L. exiunen,
the tongue of a balance.) C.
EXCISE. (Accij'is, Dutch; excisum, Latin.) A
hateful tax levied upon commodities, adjudged,
not by tlie common judges of property, but
wretches hired by those to whom the excise is
paid. •/.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 31
EXCRUCIATING pain, resembling that suffered
by a person crucified. (L. crux, crucis, a cross.)
EXECRATE. To exclude from all that is sacred.
(L. exsecror, execratus, to curse ; ex, from, and
sacer, sacred.) C".
EXORDIUM. The ^Yarp of the web; the begin-
ning. (L. exordior, to begin a web.) A. L.
EXPEDITE. To free the feet from a snare or ini-
pedhnent. (L. exjieditus ; ex, out, and^e*', pedis,
a foot.) ^- ^•
EXPECT is very widely misused on both sides of
the water, in the sense of suppose, think, guess.
E.g., "I expect you had a pretty hard time of
it yesterday." Expect refers only to that which
is to come, and which, therefore, is looked for
{ex, out, and spectare, to look). We cannot
expect backward. Words and Their Uxes, p. 112.
EXPIATE. To annul guilt by subsequent acts of
piety. (L. expio, expiatus ; ex. intens. amd pio,
to appease, atone for: pins, pious.) C.
EXPLODE. (L. explodo.) To drive out disgrace-
fully, with some noise of contempt.
" Him old and young
Exploded, and liad seized with violent liands,
Had not a clund descending snatcli'd liini tlience
Unseen amid the throng." Paradise Lout, b. xi. J.
32 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
EXQUISITE. Sought out with great care. (L.
ex, out; qucero, quesitus, to seek diligently.) C.
FANATIC. One inspired by a divinity. From L.
fai)us, a fane or temple. a. l.
FELONY. ]\Iany may not be aware that felony is
derived from an idea that felons are prompted
by an excess of gall. Felonies were crimes
conunitted/e//eo anhno, with a mind affected by
the gall; and Hale was of opinion that the reason
why a lunatic cannot be guilty of a crime, is a
want of gall. AlUbone, Quo., Sec. Law, p. 403.
FOOLSCAP. Size of paper, 17| x 13| inches; so
called from having originally borne the water-
mark of a fool's cap and bells. c.
FORECASTLE of a ship. So called from a small
castle near the prow in ancient vessels. C.
FOREIGN. Out of doors. (L. foraneus, foras,
out of doors.) A. L.
FROG of a horse ; from its likeness to the leg of
a frog. c.
GARBLE properly means, to sift out refuse. Thus
by the statute of James I., 19, a penalty is
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 33
Imposed on the sale of drugs not garbled. We
now use the word to mean a mutilated extract,
in whicli the sense of the author is perverted
by what is omitted. (Fr. yarber, to make
clean.) B.
GAZETTE. It. gazzetia, a Venetian coin worth
about ^(/., the sum charged for a reading of
the first Venetian newspaper, a written sheet
which appeared about the middle of the six-
teenth century, during the war with Soli-
man II. c.
GENTLEMAN. In the beginning of Christian-
ity, the Fathers writ contra gentes, and contra
Gentiles: they were all one. But, after all were
Christians, the better sort of people still retained
the name of Gentiles throughout the four Prov-
inces of the Roman Empire ; as Geniil-homme in
French, Gentil-huomo in Italian, Gentil-hombre in
Spanish, and Gentil-man in English.
SelJen'» Table Talk, p. 159. London, 1S60.
GROTESQUE means in " Grotto style." Classical
ornaments, so called, were found in the thir-
teenth century in grottos, that is, excavations
Diade in the baths of Titus, and in other Koman
34 FORGOTTEN ^mANINGS.
buildings. These ornaments abound in fan-
ciful combinations; hence any thing ouire is
termed grotesque. £.
GYMNASTICS. Athletic games. The word is
from gjpiuuisium, a public place set apart in
Greece for athletic sports, which were done
naked. (Gr. gumnos, naked.) £.
HERETIC means one who chooses; and herestj
simply a choice. (Gr. hairlses, choice.)
HUMANITARIAN is very strangely perverted by
a certain class of speakers and writers. It is a
theological word ; and its original meaning is,
one who denies the Godhead of Jesus Christ,
and insists upon his human nature.
Words and Their Uses, p. 127.
HUSSAR. Originally a soldier of the national
cavalry of Hungary. Hmi. hiiszar, husz, twenty,
because at one time in Hungary x)ne cavalry
soldier used to be levied from every twenty
families. C.
HYACINTH. Ilyacinthus, a son of Amyclas and
Diomede, greatly beloved by Apollo and
Zephyrus. He was accidentally killed by
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 35
Apollo, who changed his blood into the flower
which bears his name.
HALCYON is the Greek for a kingfisher, com-
pounded of hnls (the sea) and kuo (to brood on).
The ancient Sicilians believed that the king-
fislier laid its eggs and incubated for fourteen
days, before the winter solstice, on the surface
of the sea, during which time the waves of the
sea were always unruffled. B.
HENCHMAN. Ilaunch-man ; one who stands at
his master's haunch. c.
IMBECILE. Leaning on a staff. (L. in, upon;
bacilhtm, dim. of bacuhim, a staff ) C.
IMMOLATE. To put meal on one. Reference
being made to the ancient custom of sprinkling
meal and salt on the head of the victim to be
offered in saci'ifice. (L. in mola.) li.
INAUGURATE means to be led in by augurs. The
lioraan augurs met at their college-doors the
high officials about to be invested, and led
them up to the altar. B.
INCANTATION. A singing against; that is, sing-
ing a set form of words to bring Divine wrath
upon persons or nations. B.
36 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
INCULCATE. To stamp into with the heel. (L.
inculco, inculcatus ; in, into; calco, to tread;
calx, the heel.) B.
INEXORABLE. Not to be moved by any thing
said. (L. in, not ; ex, out of ; os, oris, the
month.)
INFAMOUS means not allowed to speak or give
witness in a court of justice. (L. in, negative;
fari, to speak.) B.
INFANT. Not able to speak. (L. in, not; fans,
from for, fari, to speak.)
INGENUOUS. Free born, of good birth. (L.
ingenuus.) A. L.
INNUENDO. An implied or covert hint of blame.
It is a law-term, meaning a person nodded to
(L. innuo). The defendant or his pleadei",
speaking to the plaintiff, would say, " He, mnu-
endo, did so and so;" i.e , "He, the person I
nodded to or referred to (viz., the plaintiff), did
so and so." B.
INOCULATE is to put in an eye (L. in oculis).
The allusion is to a plan adopted by gardeners,
who insert the " eye," or small bud, of a supe-
rior plant into the stock of an inferior one, in
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 37
order to produce flowers or fruit of a better
quality. £.
INSULT. To leap on the prostrate body of a foe.
(L. in.<!ullo ; in, upon ; salio, to leap.) £.
INTELLECT. The power to read mentally. (L.
indis, lego, I read within me.) £.
INTERPOLATE. To furbish up here and there.
(L. interpolo.) C.
INTOXICATED. Stricken by a poisoned arrow.
From Gr. toxicon, a poison in wliich arrows were
dipped ; toxon, an arrow.
ITALICS. A kind of types, so called because
dedicated by their inventor to the Italian
States. C.
KICKSHAW. Something uncommon. (Corr. of
Fr. quelque-chose.)
LADY. One who serves bread to the family. (A.
S. hloef, dige i hlcef, a loaf, and dur/an, diyan, to
serve.) F. a.
LAUNDRY. From Fr. lavandiere.
LAVENDER. An odoriferous plant, so called from
its being laid with newly washed clothes. (Fr.
lavande.) C.
38 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
LEAF. Before the invention of paper, one of the
substances employed for writing was tlie leaves
of certain plants. In the British Museum are
some writings on leaves from the Malabar
coast, and several copies of the Bible written
on palm-leaves. The reverse and obverse pages
of a book are still called leaves ; and the double
page of a ledger is called folio, from fuliuin, a
leaf. ^■
LENS. So called from its likeness to a lentil-seed.
(L. lens, lent is.) C.
LET formerly signified <o /u"n(/er; thus Hamlet: —
" Unhand me, gentlemen; —
By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me ! "
IlamLt, Act i., Sc. 4.
LEWD. Belonging to the people as opposed to
the clergy. (A. S. Icewede, leocl, the people )
LIBEL means a little book (L. libellus). Original-
ly, it meant a plaintiff's statement of his case ;
but as these statements " defame '' the defend-
ant, the word lapsed to its present usage. B.
LIBRARY. The ancients used to write upon the
rinds (of trees) growing under the upper bark,
to which they gave the name of liber : —
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 39
" Udoyiie decent inolescere libro."
Virg. (rcorg., li. 77.
Whence books were called libri, and a collection
of them a library. PhUoblbiion, i. 150.
LOBBY. A place shaded with leaves or foliage
(Lubbia, low Latin; Ger. laube.) C
LOOM. So called from Sir Thomas Loom, who
erected the first machine for weavin"; raw silk
at Derby in 1725. B.
LORD. The word is a contraction, and means the
bi'ead-earner. See Lady. (A. S. Jdof, a loaf ;
o?"(/, origin.) c. B.
LURCH. A game at tables; also used when one
party gains every point before the other makes
one ; hence to leave in the lurch. C.
LYCEUM. Gr. fi/heion, from the temple of Ajiollo
Lykeios, the wolf-slayer, w here Aristotle taught.
(^Lykos, a wolf.) C.
MACIC. The science of the magi, or Persian
priests. Pliny, XXX. i.
MAGNESIA. So named because thought to pos-
sess, like the magnet, the power of attracting
40 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
any principle from the atmosphere when ex-
posed to it. c.
MAGNOLIA. The flower was so named after M.
Magnol (1638-1715), Professor of Botany at
]\Iontpellier, France. w.
• MASTODON. An extinct animal resembling the
elephant, with nipple-like projections on its
teeth. (Gr. mastos, the breast of a woman ;
odons, odontos; a tooth . ) w.
MAUDLIN. Shedding tears of penitence, like Mary
Magdalen. c.
MAIDENHAIR. The CapUlus Veneris of Linnaius.
A delicate fern, said to have obtained its name
from the use by maidens of a mucilage made
from it for stiffening the hair. For this pur-
pose, says Pliny, xxii. 30, a decoction of it is
made in wine with parsley-seed, large quanti-
ties of oil being added, if it is desired to make
the hair thick and curly as well.
MAIM. Maiming is not any kind of woundhig,
but such wounding as lessens a man's power of
battling in his own defence. Thus it was ruled,
that to knock out a man's front teeth is to
maim him, but that he is not maimed by a
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 41
knocking out of a grinder ; because with a front
tooth he can bite and tear an enemy, but with
a orinder he can onlv masticate his food.
AUibone, Quo., Sec. Laic, p. 403.
MAN. The being that tliinks. (Sans, manu, man,
to think). C.
MANCZUVRE. Hand-work; dexterous manage-
ment. (L. mantis; Fr. oeitvre.)
MANUMIT. To send away from one's hand,
or power. (L. manus, the hand; mitlo, to
send.) A. L.
MARIGOLD. So called in honor of the Virgin
Mary, and hence the introduction of marigold
windows in lady-chapels. B.
MARTELLO. A circular fort ei'ected to protect
the coast, so called because the approach of a
pirate ship was annouuced by striking on a gong
with a hammer. (It. martello, a hammer.) w.
MARTINET. From Mai'tinet, a strict disciplina-
rian in the army of . Louis XIV.
" By means of a still more rigid discipline, the
army had been entirely remodelled. At this
time there were no inspectors of cavalry and
infantry such as have since been appointed for
42 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
that especial work ; biit two men, each remark-
ably qualified for liis particular duty, undertook
those peculiar functions.
" INIartinet placed the infantry in a condition
of discipline not inferior to that of the present
day. The Chevalier de Fourilles did the same
for the cavalry."
" Une discipline, devenue encore plus exacte,
avait mis dans I'armee un nouvel ordre. II n'y
avait point encore d'iuspecteurs de cavalerie et
d'infanterie, comme nous en avons vu depuis,
mais deux hommes uniques chacun dans leur
genre en faisaient les fonctions.
" Martinet mettait alors I'infanterie sur le
pied de discipline oil elle est aujoui-d'hui. Le
Chevalier de Fourilles faisait le niCMne charge
dans la cavalerie."
Voltaire, Steele de Louis XIV., i. 135. Paris, 1819.
MAXIM. A sentence of the greatest importance.
(L. i7iaxi»ius.)
MEANDER. From a winding river in Asia
Minor.
MIDWIFE. A woman who acts for a meed or
reward. (A. S. mad, reward ; u-if, woman.)
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 43.
MILLINER. One who makes head-dresses, etc.;
fioni Milaner, a native of Milan, which was
famous for its inaiiufactures of silks and
ribbons.
MINIATURE. Paintings by tlie Miniatori, a set of
monks noted for painting with minium, or red
lead. The first miniatures were the initial let-
ters of rubrics ; and, as the head of the Virgin
or some other saint was usually introduced into
these illuminated letters, the word came to
express a small likeness. ^•
MINUTE. A law-term ; a rough draught of a pro-
ceeding taken down in minute or small writing,
which is afterwards engrossed, or written out
in large writing. -S-
MIRROR. Something wonderful. (L. miror, to
wonder at.)
MISCREANT. A man who believes otherwise.
The word acquired its moral significance from
the hatred of the Saracens which accompanied
the Crusades.
Mohamr.ied and Mohammedanism, p. 59.
MOB is from the Latin mobilis, signifying mov-
ableness, which is the characteristic of tlie
44 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
multitude : hence Virgil's mobile vulgus. This
term, therefore, designates not only what is
lovA-, but what is tumultuous.
Crubh's Eng. Synon., p. 662.
MONKEY. An old woman. (Old It. monnic-
cliio ) c.
MOON. That which measures time. (A. S.
mona.)
MONTH. (A.S. monath.) The period of one rev-
olution of the moon.
MUSCLE. A little mouse. (L. musculus, dim. of
mus, a mouse ; hence a muscle of the body, re-
ferring to its appearance beneath the skin.)
A. L. c.
MUSIC. The art over which the Muses presided.
MUMMERY. This word is derived from the pop-
ular misconception of Mohammed, concerning
whom the most ridiculous statements were
solemnly made and devoutly believed by the
Christians of the Middle Ages. He was a
demon, a false god, an idol. Human sacrifices
were offered to him. The most absurd cere-
monies were attributed to his worshippers ;
hence the words " mahomerie " in French, and
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 45
" mummery " in English, are now used to sig-
nify absurd or superstitious rites.
Mohammed and Mohammedanism, p. 58 and note.
NAME. That by which we know. (Sans, naman,
to know.) C.
NASTURTIUM. (L. nasus-torqueo, nasi-tortium.)
That which causes the nose to twist. It has
rpcsived that name from the smarting sensation
which its pungency causes to the nostrils ; and
hence it is that a certain notion of smartness
has attached itself to tlie word, it having be-
come quite a proverbial saying, that a sluggish
man should eat nasturtium to ai'ouse him from
his torpidity. /'//«?/, six. 44.
NAUSEA. Sea-sickness; from Gr. naus, a ship.
NEFARIOUS. Not according to divine law. (L.
nefas, nefarius.) A. L.
NETWORK. Any thing reticulated or decussated
at equal distances, with interstices between the
intersections. J.
NICE. Ignorant, foolish. (Old Fr. nice, foolish,
simple ; L. nescius, ignorant ; ne, not ; sclo, to
know ; Sp. necio, foolish.)
4G FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
NICKNAME. A name to tease with. (Ger. from
«ec'^-iiaine ; necken, to tease ; name, a name.
The peculiar significance of this compound is
shown by the relationship of necken with
Necken, or Nixen, the mischievous and mali-
cious water-sprites. See Name, Neck, Nixen.)
Sancler's Worterbuch der DeuUvhen Spracke.
NINCOMPOOP. Kot of sound mind. (Corr. of
L. non compos mentis.)
OATS. A grain which in England is generally
given to horses, but which in Scotland supports
the people. j.
OGRE. The Hungarian nation belongs to the
Ouigour branch of the great Finnish family.
They have always been very bellicose. In the
ninth and tenth centuries they were ferocious.
For fifty successive years they bore death,
pillage, and devastation throughout Europe.
During a space of forty-five years, France alone
was invaded eleven times. It is not to be won-
dei'ed at, then, that, however much we may
sympathize with them to-day, they then inspired
hatred and affright ; that they passed into tra-
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 47
dition as beings of a fabulous type, and that
from the ancient name of the Hungarian?,
ouif/our, or ogour, may be obtained the etymology
of those ogres which have occasioned us such
fear in our infancy.
"La nation hongroise appartient a labranche
Ouif/our de la grande famille des Finnois. lis
ont toujours ete tres-belliqueux ; aux ix" et x°
siecle ils etaient feroces. Cinquante annees de
suite, ils porterent la mort, le pillage, et la de-
vastation dans toute I'Europe. En quarante-
ciriq ans, la France, pour sa parte, fut envahie
onze fois. Ce n'est done pas merveille, si autant
elle a de sympathies pour eux aujourd'hui,
autant ils lui inspiraient alors de iiaine et
d'effroi. Ce fut au point qu'ils passerent dans
les recits populaires i I'etat de type fabuleux, et
si Ton veiit se reporter a I'ancien nom des
Ilongrois ouhjour, ou ogour, on aura I'etymologie
de ces ogres qui nous ont fait si grand-peur h.
tous dans notre enfance."
Curiofiites Philologiqiies, pp. 83, 84.
ONYX. So called from its likeness to a finger-nail
iu color. (Gr. onyx, a finger-nail.)
48 ' FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
OPHICLEIDE. A serpent with keys. (Gr. ophis,
a serpent; kieis, Lieidos, akey.) C.
OPPORTUNE. At the harbor. (L. oh, partus,
before the port or harbor.) A. L.
ORDER. Regular arrangement. The word is
derived from the Greek, and signifies a row of
trees, which is the symbol of order.
Crabb's Eng. Synon., p. 89.
OVATION. Among the Romans, an inferior kind
of triumph granted to a general who had
obtained an easy victory ; and instead of bul-
locks, a sheep {ocis) was sacrificed, whence its
name. A. n. A., p. 267.
OYES. Corruption of Otjez (Fr.), hear ye. It
is the introduction to any proclamation or ad-
vertisement given by the public criers, both
in England and Scotland. It is thrice re-
peated. 'I-
This word is a relic of the conquest of Eng-
land by the Normans. For more than three
hundred years after that event all the pleadings
and judgments in the courts of Westminster
were in French, or Norman French : that lan-
guage, indeed, had so firm a hold upon legal
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 49
practitioners, that it continued to be voluntarily
used by them down to the middle of the eigh-
teenth century. Their reports, treatises, and
abridgments are in French ; and if we would
find any thing in Chief Baron Comyn's Digest,
conqwsed in the reign of George II., about
" Ilighwajs," " Tithes," or « Husband and
Wife," we must look to the titles "Chemin,"
" Dismes," and " Baron and Feme."
More remarkable, however, is the fact that
French is still emploj-ed by the different
branches of tlie English Legislature in their
intercourse with each other. Kot only is the
royal assent given to the bills by the words
" La reyne le veult," but, when either House
passes a bill, there is an indorsement written
upon it, " Soit baile aux seigneurs," or, " aux
communes;" and at the beginning of eveiy
parliament the Lords make an entry in their
journals, in French, of the apix)intment of
Receivers and Triei-s of Petitions, not only for
England, but for Gascony.
CamphelVH Livci 0/ tli^ Cluinc£llors, i. 241, and note.
50 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
PAGE. Originally the leaf of a book, so called
because the leaves were fastened together to
form a book. (L. prif/hia, the thing fastened.)
PARLOR. The talking-room. (Fr. parloir.) f. A.
PATRON. Commonly, a wretch who supports
with insolence, and is paid with flattery. j.
If you are in retail trade, don't call yonr
customers your patrons, and send them circulars
asking for a continuance of their patronage;
unless you mean to say that they buy of you,
not because they need what you have to sell,
but mt-rely to give you money, and that you
are a dependant upon their favor.
Words and Their Uies, p. 144.
PEASANT. A countryman, a rustic. (Fr. paysan^
pai/s, the country ; L. pogus, a district ; lience,
pagan.)
PARACHUTE. An apparatus devised for descend-
ing safely from a balloon. (Fr. parer, to ward
off; clmte, a fall.) C.
PARAFFINE. Little allied. So named from its
resistance to combine with an alkali. (L.prtn<»«,
little ; offinis, allied.) C.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 51
PALACE, PALATIAL. From Palatium, one of the
Seidell hills on which Rome was built, and where
Augustus had liis residence. A. R. A., p. 396.
PAMPHLET. Stitched by a thread. {Y\\ par un
Jilet.)
PANSY. The flower of thought. (Fr. penst'e.)
PECUNIARY! The worst crime against mankind
was committed by him who was the first to put
a ring upon his fingers; and yet we are not
informed by tradition who it was that first did
so. Plinij, xxxiii. 4.
Tlie next crime committed against the wel-
fare of mankind was on tlie part of him who
was the first to coin a denarius of gold, — a
crime the author of which is equally unknown.
The Roman people made no use of impressed
silver even before the period of the defeat of
King Pyrrhus (A.U.C. 478). The "as" of
cojiper weighed exactly one libra, and hence it
is we still use the terms " libella " (meaning the
little i"»ound) and "dupondius" (two pounds).
Hence it is, too, that fines and penalties are
inflicted under the name of "ats grave," and
that the woid.s still used iu keeping accounts
52 FORGOTTKN MEANINGS.
are "expensa " (expenses), "impendia " (money
weighed out for the payment of interest), and
"dependere" (to weigh out money for payment).
Hence, too, the word "stipendium" (stipend),
meaning the pay of the soldiers, which is noth-
ing more than " stipis pondera " (a weight of
money) ; and from the same source these other
words, " dispensatores " (weighers out) and
" libripendes " (paymasters). It is also from
this circum'stance, that, in the sale of slaves, at
the present day even, the formality of using the
balance is introduced.
King Servius (578 B.C.) was the first to
make an impress upon copper. Before his
time, according ,to Timgeus, at Rome the raw
metal only was used. The form of a sheep (in
Latin, pecus) was the first figure impressed
upon money, and to this fact it owes its name,
" pecunia." Pliny, xxxiii. 13.
PENSION. In England, it is generally understood
to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason
to his country. J.
PEONY. From Gr. Pa'idn, Apollo, who used this
plant to heal the wounds of the gods.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 53
" The plant known as pceonia is tlie most
ancient of them all. It still retains the name
of him who was the first to discover it."
Pliny, XXV. 10.
" Where P?eon, sprinkling heavenly balm around,
Assuag'd the glowing pangs, and clos'd the
wound." Fope, Iliad, v. 489, 490.
PERFUME. Odorous smoke. (L. per, through;
fumus, smoke.) C.
PETREL. A little sea-bird, w^hich in flying, often
touches the water w^ith its feet; so called in
allusion to St. Peter's w%alking on the sea. C.
PHAETON, A kind of open carriage on four
wheels ; a low buggy ; named after Phaeton,
the fabled son of Helios, whose chariot he
attempted to drive.
PHOSPHORUS. The light-bearer. The morn-
ing star. (Gr. pkos, light; phew, to bear.)
PREDICATE. To any one who knows what predi-
cate means, it is difficult to apprehend the con-
dition of mind of a man who talks about predi-
cating an action upon any thing. To predicate
means, in simple w^ords, merely to say ; or, to
use larger words, to utter, to declare. A verb
54 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
and the words which acconiiKuiy and modify it
are the predicate of a sentence, because they
say sometliing, declare something, of tlie sub-
ject and about the object. It will thus be seen
that there is not the remotest connection, meta-
phorical or otherwise, between the real meaning
of predicnte and that which is so commonly
given to it in this country.
Erery-Day English, p. 392.
PREPOSTEROUS. (L. pro:, before ; posterus,
after.) Having that first which ought to be
last ; therefore, unreasonable, foolish. A. L.
PRESTIGE. This word has a strangely metamor-
phosed meaning. The Latin prcestigice means
juggling-tricks, hence the French for a juggler
is prcatUlirjilateur. We use the word for that
favorable impression which results from good
antecedents. The history of the change is
this: Juggling-tricks were once considered a
sort of enchantment ; to enchant is to charm,
and to charm is to win the heart. B.
PREVENT was formerly used in the sense of to go
before; thus : —
' Prevent us, O Lord I in all our doings," etc.
Eng. Common Prayer Book.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 00
POPINJAY. A babbling cock. (Ger. papuyei, a
parrot.)
PORTE. So called from the gate of the Sultan's
palace, wliere ju.stice was administered.
PREVARICATE. To walk with the legs wide
apart. A. R. A., p. 179.
" The ploughman, unless he stoops to his
work, is sure to prevaricate, a word which has
been transferred to the Forum, as a censure
nY>on tliose who transgress " p/iwy, xviii. 49.
PROVIDE means to foresee. (L. provideo, to see
forward, in the distance.) A. L.
PSALM. Tlie twanging of a stringed instrument.
(Gr. psuUo, to twang.) C.
PUG. A puck or goblin, from the root of bug;
puce (Fr.). a flea, from the same root.
PULPIT. The stage for the actors in the Roman
tlipiitre. {\j. pulpilum.) A. R. A.,v-'2^-
PUNCH. A beverage of five ingredients, — spirit,
water, sugar, lemon-juice, and spice. (Sans.
panchahi, four or five ) C.
PUPA. A baby; an insect enclosed in its ca.se
before its full development ; hence pupil, a little
boy or girl ; and pupil of the eye, from the
baby-like figures seen therein. C.
56 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
PYGMY. The fist, the distance from the elbow
to the knuckles, thirteen and a half inches.
(Gr. pugme.) L. it S.
QUARANTINE. The time, originally forty days,
during which an infected ship is obliged to for-
bear intercourse with the shore.
QUIBBLE. Lit., what you please. (L. quidUhet.)
QUINSY. A dog throttling. (Gr. kyon, a dog,
and ancJio, to press tight.) C.
RABBLE. A biawling mob. From L. rabula, a
wrangling advocate, a pettifogger. A. L.
RECIPE (L ) means lake. In prescriptions, the
first letter only is written, B. This character
was originally the same as %, the symbol of
Jupiter, and was placed at the top of a formula
to projiitiate the king of the gods, that the com-
pound might act favorably. Tr.
RECREANT. One who changes his belief. (L.
re-credo, to retract.)
REMIT. From the Latin remittere, to send back.
" AYhy one man should say to another, I will
remit you the money, instead of, I will send you
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 57
the money, it would be difficult to say, did we
not so frequently see the propensity of people
for a big word of wliich they do not know the
meaning exactly, in preference to a small one
that they have understood from childhood.
This leads people, in the present instance, to
speak even of sending remittances, than which
it would be hard to find an absurder phrase."
Words and Their Uses, pp. 151, 152.
REMORSE. To bite again. (L. remordeo, remor-
sum, to bite again ) So also morsel, a bite or
mouthful (L. morsits). A. L.
REVE or REEVE. A steward, governor, or over-
seer. Thus rei'e, a steward, and chirch-reeve, a
church-warden, are found in Chaucer ; and tlius,
to-day, hog-reeves, deer-reeves, and shire-reeves,
or sheriffs.
ROSTRUM. An ei-ection for public speakers in
the Forum, adorned with the figure-heads or
beaks of ships taken in war. From L. rosira.
A. R. A., p. 55.
RUBRIC. The titles and heads of laws, as the
titles and beginnings of books, used to be
written ^\ ith vermilion ; hence Ruhricu (red
58 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
ochre) is ]nit for the civil law, and hence the
use of it in tlie ]\Iiddle Ages, a reminiscence of
wliieli .still exists in our word rubric.
A. R. A., p. 101. A. L. p., xxxiii., 40 mid note.
F. A., i. 235, note.
RUM MAGE. To search the rooniage, or space, in
which things are stored.
SALARY. Of or belonging to salt. INIoney given
to the soldiers for salt. (L. solarium.) A. L.
Salt was held in great veneration by the
ancients. It was always used in sacrifices;
thus also Moses ordained, —
" \Yitli all tliine offerings thou shalt offer salt."
Lev. ii. 13.
Thus, to set salt before a stranger was, and still
is, by some Eastern nations reckoned a symbol
of friendship ; and to spill the salt at table
was esteemed ominous. The desire to obtain
means for the purchase of salt gave rise to the
word snlariu7n, salary. A. R. A., p. 312.
SAMPHIRE. Lit. the herb of St. Peter. (Fr.
Saint Pierre.)
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 59
SARCASM. From Gr. sarcasmos and sarkizo and
sarx, flesh ; signifying biting or nipping satire,
so, as it were, to tear the flesh. C. £. S., p. 720.
SARCOPHAGUS. (Jr. lilhos, saveo-j)hagos, a lime-
stone, whicli, like slacked lime, consumed animal
substances ; wherefore coffins were often made
of it. X. d: S.
SAUNTER. From Fr. sainte terre, in the phrase
allcra la sainte terie, to go to the holy land;
from idle people who roved about the country,
and a,sked charity under pretence of going a la
sainte terre, to the holy land. Tr.
SAXIFRAGE. It is of singular efficacy in expel-
ling and breaking calculi of the bladder, and
has therefore received the name of saxi/raf/um
(stone-breaking). P/iny, xxii. a).
SCAMPER. To run out of a field. Escamper.
(1.. ex, out of ; campus, a field.) c.
SCHOOL. Leisure for learning. (L. sclwla, spare
time ) A. L.
SCHOLIUM. One of the notes written by the
old critics on the margins of ancient clas-
sics, so called because done iu tlieir leisure
time.
GO FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
SECURE. "Without care. (L. se for sine, without ;
cunt, care.) A. L.
SCORN is to dishorn, through tlie Italian acornare,
to break off the horns.
In tlie East, the horn was worn as an orna-
ment on tiie forehead; and to lower the horn
was emblematical of sorrow, but to take it away
was a disgrace and dishonor. B. J. <£• G.
SCRUPULOUS means literally having a stone in
one's shoe. (L. scrupulus, a small, sharp, or
pointed stone.) Those who have a stone in
their shoe halt, and those who doubt "halt
between two opinions." £. A. L.
SILHOUETTE. Shadow outline of the human
figure, so named from Silhouette, a minister in
the French Government, after whom every thing
cheap was named, from his excessive economy
in official matters. C. W.
Thus we have silhouette portraits : the word is
permanent, though it is not to be foimd in the
Dictionary of the Academy.
Biogriiphie UnieerfieUe, art. " Silhouette," and note,
tome xlii. 349.
StLLY is the German seluj (blessed), whence the
infant Jesus is termed "the harmless, silly
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. Gl
babe;" and sheep are called "silly," meaning
harmless or innocent. As the "holy" are easily
taken in by worldly cunning, the word came to
signify "gullible," "foolish." B.
Tyrwhitt, in his Glossary of the "Canterbui-y
Tales," gives " harmless " as the signification
of ".«(■%."
SINCERE. From the Latin nine cera, without
wax: which Webster says perhajis means pure
honey. Tlie meaning given by Brewer, how-
ever, is more probable: he says, "The allusion
is to the Roman practice of concealing flaws in
pottery with wax. A sound and perfect speci-
men was sine cera (sincere)."
SIRLOIN. A title given to the loin of beef, which
one of our kings knighted in a fit of good
humor. J.
SPECULATE means to look out of the window.
(L. specula, a look-out, a watch-tower.) A. L.
Under the first emperors, windows were con-
trived of a certain transparent stone, called
lapis specularis, which might be split into thin
leaves, like slate, but not above five feet long
each. A- H- A., p. 375.
G2 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
STALWART. A stalwart yeoman means one worth
stealing or taking. (Saxon stoil weoiih.) Of
course, the reference is to war, and means a tine
fellow worth making captive. £.
STATIONERS. It is believed by our antiquaries,
that stationers derived their denomination from
their fixed locality or station in a street, either
by a shop or slied. This denomination of sta-
tioners, indicating their stationary residence,
would also distinguish them from the itinerant
vendors, who, in a more subordinate capacity at
a later period, appear to have hawked about the
town and the country, pamphlets and other
portable books.
B'/iiirteli's Amenities of Literature, ii. 378, 379.
STENTORIAN. Like the voice of the herald
Stentor, mentioned by Homer.
STOIC. A disciple of Zeno, who taught under a
porch at Athens. (Gr. stoikos, stoa, a porch.)
STUPID. In a stupor. (L. stupulus.) A. L.
SUBJUGATE. To bring under the yoke. (L. suh,
under ; Jugum, a yoke.)
SUFFOCATE. To put something under the throat.
(L. snff'oco; sub, under; faux, faucis, fauces, the
throat.)
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 63
SUPERCILIOUS. A lifting up of the eyebrows.
(L. super, above ; cilium, eyelid.)
SUPPLICATION, among the Romans, meant a
religious solemnity, either by way of thanks-
giving or humiliation-.
.1. li. A., 212, 263, n. A. L. (supplicatio).
SWINDLE. From the Ger. schwindeln, to cheat.
It originally meant those ai-tifices employed by
a tradesman to prop up his credit when it began
to totter, in order to prevent bankruptcy. B.
SYCOPHANT. The Athenians passed a law for-
bidding the exportation of figs from Attica;
and those persons who informed against vio-
lators of this law were known as s3'cophants,
from Cr sykophantes ; sijkon, a fig, and phaino,
to bring to light. B.
TALLY. The tally used in the Exchequer was a
rod of wood, marked on one face with notches
corresponding to the sum for which it was an
acknowledgment. Two other sides contained
the date, the name of the payer, and so on.
The i()(l was then cleft in sudi a manner that
each half contained one written side and half
64 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
of every notch. One part was kept in the Ex-
chequer, and the other was circulated. Wlien
payment was required, the two parts were com-
pared, and if tliey "tallied," or made a tally,
all was right : if not, there was some fraud, and
payment was refused.
Tallies were not abandoned in the English
Exchequer till 1834. b.
Tlie Roman symholum was identical with tlie
tally. "Individuals used anciently to have a
tally (Tessera hospitalitatis), or piece of wood
cut into two parts, of which each party kept
one." ^. 7?. .1., 313.
Olaus Wormius has given a representation of
the tallies used by the ancient Danes, of which
each party kept one. f. a., i. 336.
TANTALIZE. Tantalus was a king of Lydia, and
father of Niobe and Pelops. He is represented
by the poets as being in the infernal regions,
placed in a pool of water which flowed from
him whenever he attempted to drink, thus
causing him perpetual thirst; hence the origin
of the term "tantalizing."
JIaii. Class. Die, \>. 110.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 65
TARIFF. The word is derived from Tarifa, a sea-
port of Spain, about twenty miles from Gibral-
tar, where the Moors, during their supremacy
in Spain, levied contributions according to a
certain scale on vessels entering the Mediter-
ranean Sea. B.
TATTOO, or " Taps." A beat of drum and a
bugle-call to warn soldiers to repair to their
quarters. Originally to shut the taps, or drink-
ing-houses, against the soldiers. (Dutch, (aptoe ;
tap, a tap; toe, to shut.) o.
TAWDRY. At the annual fair of St. Audrey, in
the Isle of Ely, showy lace, called St. Audrey's
lace, was sold, and gave foundation to our word
" tawdry." B. F. A., i. 336.
TELLER. The official who receives and pays
money in a bank. The name is derived from
tallier, the designation which was applied to the
functionary who compared the tallies, and paid
the amounts due upon them in the English Ex-
chequer. (See Tall;/.) F.A^i.^SG.
TERGIVERSATION. A turning of the back.
(L. Icrgum, the back ; versor, versatum, verlo, to
turn.) A. L.
G6 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
TERMAGANT. A supposed Mahometan deity,
reprcsonted in the old moralities as of a most
violent character.
3/0/1 a mmed and 3fohammedanism, p. 59, note.
TERRIER. A dog that pursues animals to their
earth, or burrow. (L. ierra, the earth.) C.
TORY. "The bogs of Ireland at the same time
(1670-1680) alTorded a refuge for popish out-
laws, much resembling those who were after-
wards known as Whilehoys, and these men were
then called Tories. The name of Tory was
thei'efore given to Englishmen who refused to
concur in excluding a Roman-Catholic prince
from the throne." Macaulay, Hist. Eng., i. 192.
TRAGEDY. It had its name, according to Horace,
from Gr. tragos, a goat ; ode, a song ; because a
goat was the prize of the person who produced
the best poem, or was the best actor; to which
Virgil alludes. Eel. iii. 22. According to
others, because such a poem was acted at the
festival of Bacchus after vintage, to whom a
goat was then sacrificed, as being the destroyer
of the vines ; and therefore it was called trago-
dia, the goat's song.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 67
Thespis, a native of Attica, is said to have been
the inventor of tragedy, about five hundred and
thirty-six years before Christ. He went about
•with his actors from village to village in a cart,
on which a temporai'y stage was erected, where
they played and sung, having their faces be-
smeared with tlie lees of wine ; whence, accord-
ing to some, the name of tragedy (from triix,
ugos, new wine not refined, or the lees of wine ;
odus, a singer). This, hovvevei', was done by
the actors as a ludicrous disguise, and after-
wards, when their performance assumed a more
regular character, was known by the name of
komodia, whence Comedy. A. R. A., 237. z. & S.
TRANSPIRE. Of all misused words, this verb is
probably the most perverted. It is now very
commonly used for the expression of a mode of
action with which it has no relations whatever.
Its common abuse is due solely to the blunder
of persons who used it although they were
ignorant of its meaning, at which they gues&ed.
Transpire means to breathe through, and so to
pass off insensibly. The identical v.ord exists
in French, in which language it is the equiva-
68 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
lent of our perspire, which also means to breathe
through, and so to pass oft" insensibly. The
Frenchman s.ays, Tai heaucoup transpire, — "I
have much perspired." In fact, transpire and
perspire are etymologically as nearly perfect
synonymes as the nature of language permits :
the latter, however, has, by connnon consent,
been set apart in English to express the passage
of a watery secretion through the skin ; while
the former is properly used only in a figurative
sense, to express the passage of knowledge
from a limited circle to publicity.
Words and Their Uses, pp. 163-165.
TRUMP. The card that triumphs or wins. C.
UMBRELLA. A little shade. (Dim. of L. iimhra,
shade.)
UNDULATE. To move like the waves. (L. nnda,
a wave.) The compounds of unda express in
various ways the movement of waves. Abun-
dant, a wave rising above the plane surface of
the water. Redundant, to flow over with great
abundance of water, or to inundate. A. L.
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 69
URCHIN is a little ore {ore-kin; Dutch urk, nrkjen).
The ore is a sea-monster that devours men and
women : the oix-kin, or little ork, is the hedge-
hog, supposed to be a sprite, or mischievous
little imp. £.
USHER. There are several kinds of ushers: 1st,
a schoolmaster's assistant ; 2d, a doorkeeper ;
and 3d, a gentleman usher, or modern footman.
(Fr. huissier.) A whole-length picture of the
last is given in " Lenton's Leasures," 1631 : —
" A Gentleman Usher is a spruce fellow be-
longing to a gay lady, whose footsteps, in times
of yore, his lady followed, for he went before.
But now he has grown so familiar with her,
that they go arm in arm. His great vexation
is going upon sleevelesse errands, to know
whether some lady slept well last night, or how
her physick worked in the morning, things that
savour not well with him. The reason that
oftimes he goes but to the next tavern, and
then very discreetly brings her home a tale of
a tubbe. He is forced to stand bare ; which
would urge him to impatience but for the hope
of being covered, or rather the delight he takes
70 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
in showing his new crispt haire, which his
barbel- hath caused to stand like a print hedge
in equal proportion. He hath one commenda-
tion among the rest (a neat carvef-), and will
quaintly administer a trencher, in due season.
His wages is not much, unless his quality
exceeds. But his vailes are great; insomuch
that he totally possesseth the gentlewoman, and
commands the chamber-maide to starch him
into the bargaine. The smallness of his legs
bewrays his profession, and feeds much upon
veale to increase his calfe. His great ease is
that he may lie long in bed, and when hee's
up may call for his breakfast, and goe without
it. A twelvemonth hath almost worn out his
habit, which his annual pension will scarcely
supply." F.A.,\.m,m.
VARLET. Varlet old French, now valet. J.
VANDALISM. As applied to the Vandals, Menzel
(Gesch. d. Deutsch., i. 110, 111) thinks the word
a misnomer.
VOLUME. When the ancients had much to write,
leaves or skius were sewed together, wound
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 71
round a stick, and termed volumina; whence
volume and voluminous. F. A., i. 234.
VERNACULAR. The slaves who were born in the
houses of their masters were called vernaculi ;
hence lingua vernacula, v. aris, one's mother
tongue. A. R. A., p. 24.
VILLAIN. A serf attached to a farm or villa. B.
VINDICATE, to justify, has a remarkable etymon.
Vindicius was a slave of the Vitelli who in-
formed the Senate of the conspiracy of the
sons of Junius Brutus to restore Tarquin, for
which service he was rewarded with liberty ;
hence the rod with which a slave was struck in
raanumissiou was called Vindicta, a Vindicius
rod ; and to set at liberty was called by the
Romans vindicare in lihertatem.
B. A. B. A., 27, and note.
WHIC. "In Scotland, some of the persecuted
Covenanters, driven mad by oppression, had
lately murdered the primate, had taken arms
against the government, had obtained some
advantages against the king's forces, and had
not been put down until Monmouth, at the
72 FORGOTTEN MEANINGS.
head of some troops from England, had routed
them at Bothwell bridge.
" These zealots were most numerous among
tli(! rustics of the westei-n lowlands, who were
vulgarly called Whigs. Thus the appellation
of Whi(j was fastened on the Presbyterian zeal-
ots of Scotland, and was transferred to those
English politicians who showed a disposition to
oppose the Court, and to treat Protestant non-
conformity with indulgence."
3[ucaitlay, Hist. Eng., i. 192.
WOOLSACK, 'i'he cushions upon which the Lord
Chancellor and Judges sit in the House of
Lords.
It is claimed, on the one hand, that as wool
was the staple commodity of England, wool-
sacks were jilaced in the seats of the Lord
Chancellor and the judges that they might con-
stantly bear that fact in mind. On the other
hand, there are not wanting those who perceive
a deeper allusion, an evident connection indeed
with the pulvinaria of the ancient Romans,
those splendid cushioned couches which wei'e
prepared by Iheui for the gods, or for th« per-
FORGOTTEN MEANINGS. 73
sons who received divine honors. " But I be-
lieve," says Lord Campbell, to the disgust of
all antiquaries, " that in the rude simplicity of
early times a sack of wool was frequently used
as a sofa, — when the judges sat on a hard
wooden Bench, and the advocates stood behind
a rough wooden rail, called the Bar."
Lives of the Lord Chancellors, i. p. 16.
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Handbook of Blunders. Designed to prevent 1,000 common blunders
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of Lenox Academy, Lenox, Mass.
Broken English A Frenchman's Struggle in the English Language.
Instructive as a handbook of French conversation. By Professor E. C
Di'i'.ois.
Beginnings with the Microscope. A working handbook containing
siiii])le instructions in the ;u"t and method of using ihe microscope, .and
preparing articles for examination By Walter P. Manton.
Field Botany. A Handbook for the Collector. Containing instructions
for gathering and preserving Plants, and the formation of an Herbarium.
Also complete instructions in Leaf Photography, Plant Printing, and
the Skeletonizing of Leaves. By Walter P. ^IANTON.
Taxidermy without a Teacher. Comprising a complete manual of
instructions for Preparing and Preserving Birds, Animals, and Fishes,
with a chapter on Hunting and Hygiene; together with instructions for
Preserving Eges, and Making Skeletons, and a number of valuable
recipes. By Walter P. Manton.
Insects. How to Catch and how to Prepare them for the Cabinet. A
Manual of Instruction for the Field-Naturalist. By W. P. Manton.
What is to be Done ? A Handbook for the Nur.sery, with Useful
Hints for Children and .'Adults. By Robert B. Dixon, M.D.
..-andbook of Wood Engraving. With practical instructions in the
art, for persons wishing to learn without an instructor. By William
A. Emerson Illustrated. Price $1.00.
Five-Minute Recitations. Prepared by Walter K. Fobes.
Five-ivlinute Declamations. Prepared by Walter K. Fobes.
Warrington's Manual Handbook of Legislative Practice for the Guid-
ance ol t'ublic Meetings, etc. By Wm. S. RoBlNSON (" Warrington").
Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid,
on receipt of price.
LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston, Mass.
,.--..11 FORMAL SCiIOui_,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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