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A DICTIONARY 
 
 OF 
 
 ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY. 
 
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A DICTIONARY 
 
 OF 
 
 ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY 
 
 BY 
 
 HENSLEIGH WEDGWOOD, 
 
 LATE FELLOW OF CHR. COLL. CAM. 
 
 THOROUGHLY REVISED AND ENLARGED ; 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION ON THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE. 
 
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<l^'^ 
 
 ^^f^^ 
 
 JOHN CHILDS ANU SON, PRINTERS. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 ON THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 It requires only a superficial acquaintance with the principal languages of 
 Europe to recognise their division into four or five main classes, each comprising 
 a number of subordinate dialects, which have so much in common in their stock 
 of words and in their grammatical structure, as irresistibly to impress us with the 
 conviction that the peoples by whom they are spoken, are the progeny, with 
 more or less mixture of foreign elements, of a common ancestry. If we compare 
 German and Dutch, for instance, or Danish and Swedish, it is impossible in either 
 case to doubt that the people speaking the pair of languages are a cognate race 3 
 that there was a time more or less remote when the ancestors of the Swabians 
 and the Hollanders, or of the Danes and Swedes, were comprised among a people 
 speaking a common language. The relation between Danish and Swedish is of 
 the closest kind, that between Dutch and German a more distant one, and we 
 cannot fail to recognise a similar relationship, though of more remote an origin, 
 between the Scandinavian dialects, on the one hand, and the Teutonic, on the 
 other, — the two together forming what is called the Germanic class of Languages. 
 A like gradation of resemblance is found in the other classes. The Welsh, 
 Cornish, and Breton, like the Danish and Swedish, have the appearance of descent 
 from a common parentage at no very distant period, and the same is true of 
 Gaelic and Manx. On the other hand, there is a greater difference between 
 Gaelic and Welsh than there is between any of the branches of the Germanic 
 class 3 while, at the same time, there are peculiarities of grammatical structure 
 common to both, and so much identity traceable in the roots of the language, as 
 to leave no hesitation in classing them as branches of a common Celtic stock. And 
 so in the Slavonic class, Polish and Czech or Bohemian, as Russian and Servian, 
 are sister languages, while the difference between Russian and Pohsh is so great 
 a? to argue a much longer separation of the national hfe. 
 
vi THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY. 
 
 In the case of the Romance languages we know historically that the countries 
 where Italian, Proven9al, French, Spanish, &c., are spoken, were thoroughly col- 
 onised by the Romans, and were for centuries under subjection to the empire. 
 We accordingly regard the foregoing class of languages as descended from Latin, 
 the language of the Imperial Government, and we account for their divergences, 
 not so much from the comparative length of their separate duration, as from 
 mixture with the speech of the subject nations who formed the body of the 
 people in the different provinces. 
 
 With Latin and the other ItaHc languages, Umbrian and Oscan, of which 
 slight remains have come down to us, must be reckoned Greek and Albanian, 
 as members of a family ranking with the Germanic, the Celtic, and Slavonic 
 stocks, although there has not been occasion to designate the group by a collect- 
 ive name. When we extend our survey to Sanscrit and Zend, the ancient 
 languages of India and Persia, we find the same evidences of relationship in the 
 fundamental part of the words, as well as the grammatical structure of the 
 language, which led us to regard the great families of European speech as de- 
 scendants of a common stock. 
 
 Throughout the whole of this vast circle the names of the numerals unmis. 
 takeably graduate into each other, however startling the dissimilarity may be in 
 particular cases, where the name of a number in one language is compared with 
 the corresponding form in another, as when we compare Jive and quinque, four 
 and tessera, seven and hepta. The names of the simplest blood relations, ^s father, 
 mother, brother, sister, are equally universal. Many of the pronouns, the prepo- 
 sitions and particles of abstract signification, as well as words designating the 
 most famihar objects and actions of ordinary life, are part of the common 
 property. 
 
 / Thus step by step has been attained the conviction that the principal races of 
 /Europe and of India are all descended from a single people, who had already 
 attained a considerable degree of civilisation, and spoke a language of grammatical 
 structure similar to that of their descendants. From this primeval tribe it is 
 supposed that colonies branched off in different directions, and becoming isolated 
 in their new settlements, grew up into separate peoples, speaking dialects assum- 
 ing more and more distinctly their own peculiar features, until they gradually 
 developed in the form of Zend and Sanscrit and the ditferent classes of European 
 speech. 
 
 The light which is thus thrown on the pedigree and relationship of races be- 
 yond the reach of history is however only an incidental result of linguistic study. 
 For language, the machinery and vehicle of thought, and indispensable con- 
 dition of all mental progress, holds out to the rational inquirer a subject of as 
 high an intrinsic interest as that which Geology finds in the structure of the 
 Globe, or Astronomy in the movements of the heavenly bodies. 
 
 Etymology embraces every question concerning the structure of words. It 
 resolves them into their constituent elements, traces their growth and relation- 
 ships, examines the changes they undergo in their use by successive generations of 
 
LIMIT OF ANALYSIS. vii 
 
 men, or in the mixture of speech brought about by the vicissitudes of war or of 
 peaceful intercourse, and seeks in every way to elucidate the course by which the 
 words of a language have come to signify the meaning which they suggest to a 
 native ear. 
 
 The first step that must be taken in the analysis of a word, is to distinguish the 
 part which contains the fundamental significance, from the grammatical ele- 
 ments used to modify that significance in a regular way, such as the infllections of 
 verbs and of nouns, the terminations which give an abstract or an adjectival or 
 diminutival sense to the word, or any similar contrivances in habitual use in the 
 language. It will be convenient to lay aside for separate consideration these 
 grammatical adjuncts, and to confine our attention, in the first place, to the radical 
 portion of the word. If we take the word Enmily, for example, we recognise 
 the termination ty as the sign of an abstract noun, and we understand the word 
 as signifying the state or condition of an enemy, which is felt as the immediate 
 parent of the English word. Now we know that enemy comes to us through the 
 French ennemi from Latin inimicus, which may itself be regularly resolved into 
 the prefix in (equivalent to our un), implying negation or opposition, and amicus, 
 a friend. In amicus, again, we distinguish the syllable -us as the sign of a noun in 
 the nominative case ; -ic- as an element equivalent to the German -ig or English -y 
 in windy, hairy, &c., as an adjective termination indicating possession or connec- 
 tion with J and finally the radical element am, signifying love, which is presented 
 in the simplest form in the verb amo, I love. 
 
 Here our power of analysis is brought to a close, nor would it advance our 
 knowledge of the structure of language by a single step, if it could be shown that 
 the syllable am was a Sanscrit root as well as a Latin one. It would merely be 
 one more proof of a primitive connection between the Latin and the Indian 
 races, but the same problem would remain in either case, how the syllable am 
 could be connected with the thought of love. Thus sooner or later the Etymol- 
 ogist is brought to the question of the origin of Language. The scientific ac- 
 count of any particular word will only be complete when it is understood how 
 the root to which the word has been traced could have acquired its proper signi- 
 ficance among the founders of Language. The speech of man in his mother ~( 
 tongue is not, among children of the present day, a spontaneous growth of nature. ' 
 The expression itself of mother- tojigue shows the immediate source from whence 
 the language of each of us is derived. The child learns to speak from the inter-"^ 
 course of those in whose care he is placed. If an English infant were removed 
 Irom its parents and committed to the charge of a Greek or a Turkish home, he 
 would be troubled by no instinctive smatterings of English, but would grow up in 
 the same command of Greek or of Turkish as his foster brothers. 
 
 Thus language, like writing, is an art handed down from one generation to 
 another, and when we wciuld trace upwards to its origin the pedigree of this grand 
 distinction between man and the brute creation, we must either suppose that the 
 line of tradition has been absolutely endless, that there never was a period at 
 which the family of man was not to be found on earth, speaking a language be- 
 
viii FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 queathed to him by his ancestors, or we must at last arrive at a generation which 
 was not taught their language by their parents. The question then arises, how 
 did the generation, in which language was originally developed, attain so valuable 
 an art ? Must we suppose that our lirst parents were supernaturally endowed 
 with the power of speaking and understanding a definite language, which was 
 transmitted in natural course to their descendants, and was variously modified in 
 different lines of descent through countless ages, during which the race of man 
 spread over the earth in separate families of people, until languages were pro- 
 duced between which, as at present, no cognisable relation can be traced ? 
 
 Or is it possible, among the principles recognised as having contributed ele- 
 ments more or less abundant in every known language, to indicate a sufficient 
 cause for the entire origination of language in a generation of men who had not 
 yet acquired the command of that great instrument of thought, though in 
 every natural capacity the same as ourselves ? 
 
 When the question is brought to this definite stage, the same step will be 
 gained in the science of language which was made in geology, when it was re- 
 cognised that the phenomena of the science must be explained by the action of 
 powers, such as are known to be active at the present day in working changes on 
 the structure of the earth. The investigator of speech must accept as his start- 
 ing-ground the existence of man as yet without knowledge of language, but en- 
 dowed with intellectual powers and command of his bodily frame, such as we 
 ourselves are conscious of possessing, in the same way that the geologist takes his 
 stand on the fact of a globe composed of lands and seas subjected, as at the pre- 
 sent day, to the influence of rains and tides, tempests, frosts, earthquakes, and sub- 
 terranean fires. 
 
 A preliminary objection to the supposition of any natural origin of language 
 has been raised by the modern German school of philosophers, whose theory 
 leads them to deny the possibihty of man having ever existed in a state of mutism. 
 * Man is only man by speech,' says W. v. Humboldt, ' but in order to discover 
 speech he must already be man.' And Professor Max Miiller, who cites the 
 epigram, adopts the opinion it expresses. * Philosophers,' he says (Lectures on 
 the Science of Language, p. 347), 'who imagine that the first man, though left 
 to himself, would gradually have emerged from a state of mutism, and have in- 
 vented words for every new conception that arose in his mind, forget that man 
 could not by his own power have acquired the faculty of speech, which is the 
 distinctive character of mankind, unattained and unattainable by the mute crea- 
 tion.' The supposed difficulty is altogether a fallacy arising from a confusion 
 between the faculty of speech and the actual knowledge of language. 
 
 The possession of the faculty of speech means only that man is rendered ca- 
 pable of speech by the original constitution of his mind and physical frame, as a 
 bird of flying by the possession of wings j but inasmuqh as man does not learn to 
 speak, as a bird to fly, by the instinctive exercise of the proper organ, it becomes 
 a legitimate object of inquiry how the skilled use of the tongue was originally 
 acquired. 
 
DOCTRINE OF MAX MULLER. ix 
 
 It is surprising that any one should have stuck at the German paradox, in the 
 face of the patent fact that we all are born in a state of mutism, and gradually 
 acquire the use of language from intercourse with those around us, while those 
 who are cut off by congenital deafness from all opportunity of hearing the speech 
 of others, remain permanently dumb, unless they have the good fortune to rneet 
 with instructors, by whom they may be taught not only to express their thoughts 
 by manual signs, but also to speak intelligibly notwithstanding the disadvantage 
 of not hearing their own voice. 
 
 Since then it is matter of fact that individuals are found by no means wantmg 
 in intelligence who only attain the use of speech in mature life, and others who 
 never attain it at all, it is plain that there can be no metaphysical objection to the 
 supposition that the family of man was in existence at a period when the use of 
 language was wholly unknown. How man in so imperfect a state could manage 
 to support himself, and maintain his ground against the wild beasts, is a question 
 which need not concern us. 
 
 The high reputation of Professor Max Miiller as a linguist, and the great 
 popularity of his Lectures on Language, have given to the doctrine which 
 he there expounds, an importance not deserved either by the clearness of 
 the doctrine itself, or by any light which it throws on the fundamental problems 
 of Language. He asserts (p. 369) that the 400 or 500 roots to which the; 
 languages of dilFerent families may be reduced, are neither interjections nor \ 
 imitations, but ' phonetic types produced by a power inherent in human ^ 
 nature. Man in his primitive and perfect state had instincts of which no traces 
 remain at the present day, the instinct being lost when the purpose for w hich it 
 was required was fulfilled, as the senses become weaker when, as in the case of 
 scent, they become useless.' By such an instinct the primitive Man was en- 
 dowed with the faculty of giving articulate expression to the rational conceptions 
 of his mind. He was * irresistibly impelled to accompany every conception of 
 his mind by an exertion of the voice, articulately modulated in correspondence 
 with the thought which called it forth, in a manner analogous to that in which a 
 body, struck by a hammer, answers with a different ring according as it is com- 
 posed of metal, stone, or wood.f 
 
 At the same time it must be supposed that the instinct w hich gave rise to the 
 expression of thought by articulate sound, w^ould enable those who heard such 
 sounds to understand what was passing in the mind of the person who uttered 
 them. At the beginning the number of these phonetic types must have been 
 almost infinite, and it would only be by a process of natural elimination that 
 clusters of roots, more or less synonymous, would gradually be reduced to one 
 definite type (p. 371). Thus a stock of significant sounds would be produced ' 
 from whence all the languages on earth were developed, and when ' the creative 
 faculty, which gave to each conception as it thrilled the first time through the 
 
 ♦ It was an instinct, an instinct of the mind as irresistible as any other instinct. — p. 370. 
 + The faculty peculiar to man in his primitive state by which every impression from without 
 received its vocal expression from within must be accepted as a fact. — p. 370, n. 
 
X NO FOUNDATION IN EXPERIENCE. 
 
 brain a phonetic expression/ had its object fulfilled in the establishment of lan- 
 guage, the instinct faded away, leaving the infants of subsequent-generations to learn 
 their language of their parents, and those who should be born deaf to do as well 
 as they could without any oral means of communicating their thoughts or 
 desires. 
 
 By other writers of the same philosophical school the instinct is retained in 
 permanence, in order to account for the vitality of words during the vast period 
 of time, from the first branching off of the pristine Arian stock into different 
 families, down to the present day. It is practically such an instinct which 
 Curtius demands as the basis of any theory of language, in the very valuable in- 
 troduction to his Grunziige der Griech. Etym., p. 91. 
 
 In all the languages of the Indo-European family, he says ' from the Ganges to 
 the Atlantic the same combination sta designates the phenomenon of standing, 
 while the conception of flowing is as widely associated with the utterance plu 
 or slightly modified forms. This cannot be accidental. The same conception 
 can only have been united with the same vocal utterance for so many thousand 
 years, because in the consciousness (gefiihl) of the people there was an inward 
 bond between the two, that is, because there was for them a persistent tendency 
 to express that conception by precisely those sounds. The Philosophy of Speech 
 must lay down the postulate of a physiologic potency of sounds (einer physiolo- 
 gischen geltung der laute), and it can no otherwise elucidate the origin of words, 
 than by the assumption of a relation of their sounds to the' impression which the 
 things signified by them produce on the soul of the speaker. The signification 
 thus dwells like a soul in the vocal utterance : the conception, says W. v. Hum- 
 boldt, is as little able to cast itself loose from the word as man can divest himself 
 of his personal aspect.' 
 
 It is a fatal objection to speculations like the foregoing that they appeal to 
 principles of which we have no distinct experience. If it were true that there is 
 in the constitution of man a physiologic connection between the sounds sta and 
 plu and the notion of standing and flowing respectively, it must be felt by all 
 mankind alike, and it should have led to the universal use of those roots for the 
 expression of the same ideas in other languages as well as those of the Indo- 
 European stock. But in my own case I have no consciousness of any such con- 
 nection. I do not find that the sound sta of itself calls up any idea in my mind, 
 and to an unlearned English ear it is as closely connected with the ideas of 
 stalling, of stamping, and of starting, as it is with that of standing. We know 
 that our children do not speak instinctively at the present day, and to say that 
 speech came in that way to primitive Man is simply to avow our inability to 
 give a rational account of its acquisition. A rational theory of language should 
 indicate a process supported at every step by the evidence of actual experience, 
 by which a being, in every other respect like ourselves, might have been led from 
 a state of mutism to the use of Speech. Nor are the elements of a rational answer 
 to the problem far to seek, if we are content to look for small beginnings, and do 
 not regard the invention of language as the work of some mute genius of tlie 
 
GESTURE NATURAL TO MAN. xi 
 
 ancient world, forecasting the benefits of oral communication and elaborating of 
 himself a system of vocal signs. 
 
 * If in the present state of the world,' says Charma, ' some philosopher were to 
 wonder how man ever began these houses, palaces, and vessels which we see 
 around us, we should answer that these were not the things that man began with. 
 The savage who first tied the branches of shrubs to make himself a shelter was 
 not an architect, and he who first floated on the trunk of a tree was not the 
 creator of navigation.' A like allowance must be made for the rudeness of the 
 first steps in the process when we are required to explain the origin of the com- 
 plicated languages of civilised life. 
 
 If language was the work of human intelligence we may be sure that it was 
 accomplished by exceedingly slow degrees, and when the true mode of procedure 
 Is finally pointed out, we must not be surprised if we meet with the same appa- 
 rent disproportion between the grandeur of the structure and the homeliness of 
 the mechanism by which it was reared, which was found so great a stumbling- 
 block in geology when the modern doctrines of that science began to prevail. 
 ' The first step is the great difficulty in the problem. If once we can imagine 
 a man like ourselves, only altogether ignorant of language, placed in circum- 
 stances under which he will be instinctively led to make use of his voice, for the 
 purpose of leading others to think of something beyond the reach of actual 
 apprehension, we shall have an adequate explanation of the first act of speech. 
 
 Now if man in his pristine condition had the same instincts with ourselves he 
 would doubtless, before he attained the command of language, have expressed 
 his needs by means of gestures or signs addressed to the eye, as a traveller at the 
 present day, thrown among people whose language was altogether strange to him, 
 would signify his hunger by pointing to his mouth and making semblance of eat- 
 ing. Nor is there, in all probability, a tribe of savages so stupid as not to under- 
 stand gestures of such a nature. 'Tell me,' says Socrates in the Cratylus, 'if 
 we had neither tongue nor voice and wished to call attention to something, 
 should we not imitate it as well as we could with gestures ? Thus if we wanted 
 to describe anything either lofty or light, we should indicate it by raising the 
 hands to heaven ; if we wished to describe a horse or other animal, we should 
 represent it by as near an approach as we could make to an imitation in our own 
 person.' 
 
 The instinctive tendency to make use of significant gestures was clearly shown 
 in the case of Laura Bridgman, who being born blind and deaf affbrded a singu- 
 lar opportunity for studying the spontaneous promptings of Nature. Now after 
 Laura had learned to speak on her fingers she would accompany this artificial 
 mode of communicating her thoughts with the imitative or symbolical gestures 
 which were taught her by Nature. * When Laura once spoke to me of her own 
 crying when a little child,' says Lieber (Smithsonian contributions to Knowledge, 
 vol. 2), 'she accompanied her words with a long face, drawing her fingers down 
 the face, indicating the copious flow of tears.' She would also accompany her 
 yes and no with the ordinary nod and shake of the head which are the natural 
 
XII MAN NATURALLY VOCAL. 
 
 expression of acceptance and aversion,* and which in her case were certainly not 
 learned from observation of others. 
 
 To suppose then that primitive Man would spontaneously make use of gestures 
 to signify whatever it was urgently needful for him to make known to others, is 
 merely to give him credit for the same instinctive tendencies of which we are 
 conscious in ourselves. But strong emotion naturally exhales itself in vocal 
 utterance as well as in muscular action. Man shouts as he jumps for joy. And 
 this tendency is felt equally by the deaf and dumb, whose utterances are com- 
 monly harsh and disagreeable in consequence of not hearing their own voice. It 
 was accordingly necessary to check poor Laura when inclined to indulge in this 
 mode of giving vent to her feelings. She pleaded that ' God had given her much 
 voice,' and would occasionally retire to enjoy the gift in her own way in private. 
 Man then is a vocal animal, and when an occasion arose on which the sign- 
 making instinct was called forth by the necessities of the case, he would as readily 
 be led to imitate sound by the voice as shape and action by bodily gestures. 
 When it happened in the infancy of communication, that some sound formed 
 a prominent feature of the matter which it was important to make known, the 
 same instinct which prompted the use of significant gestures, where the matter 
 admitted of beifig so represented, would give rise to the use of the voice in imi- 
 tation of the sound by which the subject of communication was now characterised. 
 
 A person terrified by a bull would find it convenient to make known the 
 object of his alarm by imitating at once the movements of the animal with his head, 
 and the bellowing with his voice. A cock would be represented by an attempt 
 at the sound of crowing, while the arms were beat against the sides in imitation 
 of the flapping of the bird's wings. It is by signs like these that Hood describes 
 his raw Englishman as making known his wants in France. 
 
 Moo ! I cried for milk — 
 
 If I wanted bread 
 
 My jaws I set agoing, 
 
 And asked for new-laid eggs 
 
 By clapping hands and crowing. 
 
 Hood's Own. 
 
 There would be neither sense nor fun in the caricature if it had not a basis of 
 truth in human nature, cognisable by the large and unspeculative class for whom 
 the author wrote. 
 
 A jest must be addressed to the most superficial capacities of apprehension, and 
 therefore may often afiford better evidence of a fact of consciousness than a train 
 of abstruse reasoning. It is on that account that so apt an illustration of the 
 only comprehensible origin of language has been found in the old story of the 
 Englishman at a Chinese banquet, who being curious as to the composition of a 
 dish he was eating, turned round to his native servant with an interrogative 
 Quack, quack ? The servant answered. Bowwow ! intimating as clearly as if he 
 
 * Me turneth thet neb blithelich touward to thinge lliet me lovelh, and frommard to thinge 
 thet me Iiateth. — Ancren Riwle, 254. 
 
NURSERY IMITATIONS. xiii 
 
 spoke in English that it was dog and not duck that his master was eating. The 
 communication that passed between them was essentially language, comprehen- 
 sible to every one who was acquainted with the animals in question, language 
 therefore which might have been used by the first family of man as well as by 
 persons o£ different tongues at the present day. 
 
 The imitations of sound made by primitive Man, in aid of his endeavours to 
 signify his needs by bodily gestures, would be very similar to those which are 
 heard in our nurseries at the present day, when we represent to our children 
 the lowing of the cow, the baaing of the sheep, or the crowing of the 
 cock. The pecuHar character of the imitation is given at first by the tone of 
 voice and more or less abrupt mode of utterance, without the aid of distinct con- 
 sonantal articulation, and in such a manner we have no difficulty in making imita- 
 tions that are_easilyj:ecognised by any child acquainted with the cry of the animal. 
 The lowing of the cow is imitated by the prolonged utterance of the vowel sound 
 oo-ooh ! or, with an initial m or b, which are naturally produced by the opening 
 lips, mooh! or look! In the same way the cry of the sheep is sounded in our nur- 
 series by a broken laa-aa-ah ! in Scotland lae ! or 7nae ! By degrees the imitative 
 colouring is dropped, and the syllables moo or baa pronounced in an ordinary 
 tone* of voice are understood by the child as signifying the cry of the cow or the 
 sheep, and, thus being associated with the animals in question in the mind of the 
 child, might be employed to lead his tlioughts to the animal itself instead of the 
 cry which it utters, or, in other words, might be used as the name of the animal. 
 It so happens that the English nurse adds the names cow and lamb, by which 
 she herself knows the animals, to the syllables which are significant to the child, 
 who thus learns to designate the animals as moo-cow and baa-lamb, but nothing 
 of this kind could take place at the commencement of language, when neither 
 party was as yet in possession of a name for the object to be designated, and in 
 some cases the same syllables by which the nurse imitates the cry are used with- 
 out addition as the name of the animal itself. The bark of a dog is represented 
 in our nurseries by the syllables bow-wow, and the child is first taught to know 
 the dog as a bowwow. The syllables moo (mu, muh) and mae {me, mah) in the 
 South of Germany represent the voice of the cow and the sheep or goat, and with 
 Swabian children muh and mdh are the names of the cow and sheep or goat 
 (Schmid). In parts of England the imitative moo is lengthened out into mully, 
 in the sense of lowing or suppressed bellowing j and mully or mully cow is the 
 children's name of the cow. The Northamptonshire dairymaid calls her cows to 
 milking, come Moolls, come Moolls ! (Mrs Baker). On the same principle among 
 Swabian children the name of Molle, Molli, or Mollein, is given to a cow or calf. 
 
 It is true that the names we have cited are appropriated to the use of children, 
 but it makes no difference in the essential nature of the contrivance, by whom the 
 sign is to be understood ; and where we are seeking, in language of the present 
 day, for analogies with the first instinctive endeavours to induce thought in others 
 by the exercise of the voice, the more undeveloped the understanding of the per- 
 son to whom the communication is addressed, the closer we shall approach to the 
 
xiv ACTUAL FORMATION OF A WORD. 
 
 conditions under which language must have sprung up in the infancy of Man. 
 Where then can the principle which first gave it significance be sought for with 
 so much reason, as in the forms of speech adapted to the dawning intellect of our 
 own children, and in the process by which it is made comprehensible to them ? 
 Dr Lieber, in his paper on the vocal sounds of Laura Bridgman above cited, gives 
 an instructive account of the birth of a word under his own eyes. 
 
 * A member of my own family,' he says, ' showed in early infancy a pecu- 
 liar tendency to form new words, partly from sounds which the child caught, 
 as to woh for to stop, from the interjection woh / used by wagoners when 
 they wish to stop their horses ; partly from symphenomenal emission of sounds. 
 Thus when the boy was a little above a year old he had made and established in 
 the nursery the word nim for everything fit to eat. I had watched the growth 
 of this word. First, he expressed his satisfaction at seeing his meal, when hungry, 
 by the natural humming sound, which all of us are apt to produce when approving 
 or pleased with things of a common character, and which we might express thus, 
 hm. Gradually, as his organs of speech became more skilful and repetition made 
 the sound more familiar and clearer, it changed to the more articulate um and 
 im. Finally an n was placed before it, nim being much easier to pronounce than 
 im when the mouth has been closed. But soon the growing mind began to 
 generalise, and nim came to signify everything edible; so that the boy would 
 add the words good or bad which he learned in the mean time. He would now 
 say good nim, lad nim, his nurse adopting the word with him. On one occasion 
 he said^e nim, for bad, repulsive to eat. There is no doubt that a verb to nim 
 for to eat would have developed itself, had not the ripening mind adopted the 
 vernacular language which was offered to it ready made. We have, then, here 
 the origin and history of a word which commenced in a symphenomenal sound, 
 and gradually became articulate in sound and general in its meaning, as the organs 
 of speech, as well as the mind of tlie utterer, became more perfect. And is not 
 the history of this word a representation of many thousands in every language 
 now settled and acknowledged as a legitimate tongue ? ' 
 
 Dr Lieber does not seem to have been aware how frequent a phenomenon it 
 is which he describes, nor how numerous the forms in actual speech connected 
 with the notion of eating which may be traced to this particular imitation. A 
 near relation of my own in early childhood habitually used mum or mummum for 
 food or eating, analogous to Magyar mammogni, Gr. ixafjjudv (Hesych.), in chil- 
 dren's language, to eat. Heinicke, an eminent teacher of the deaf-and-dumb 
 cited by Tylor (Early Hist., p. 72), says : ' All mutes discover words for them- 
 selves for different things. Among over fifty whom I have partially instructed 
 or been acquainted with, there was not one who had not uttered at least a few 
 spoken names which he had discovered for himself, and some were very clear and 
 distinct. I had under my instruction a born deaf-mute, nineteen years old, who 
 had previously invented many writeable words for things. For instance, he called 
 to eat, mumm, to drink, schipp, &c.* In ordinary speech we have the verb to 
 mump, to move the lips with the mouth closed, to work over with the mouth, 
 
ONOMATOPCEIA. xv 
 
 as to mump food (Webster) ; to mumlle, to chew with toothless gums ; Swedish 
 mummsa, to mump, mumble, chew with difficulty (Oehrlaiider) j Bavarian mem- 
 7nel/i, memmezen, mumpfen, mumpfeln, to move the lips in continued chewing j 
 mampfen, to eat with a full mouthy on. mumpa, to fill the mouth, to eat 
 greedily (Haldorsen). With a different development of the initial sound we have 
 Galla djam djeda, djamdjamgoda (to say djam, make djamdjam), to smack in eat- 
 ing ; South Jutland hiamsk, voracious, greedy j ai hiamske i sig, to eat in a greedy 
 swinish manner (Molbech) -, Swedish dialect gamsa, jam.sa (yamsa), jamm^la, 
 jumla, to chew laboriously, to mumble, leading to the Yorkshire yam, to eatj 
 yamming, eating, or more particularly the audibility of the masticating process 
 (Whitby GL). To yam is a slang term for eating among sailors. In the Negro 
 Dutch of Surinam nyam is to eat ; nyam nyam, food (Tylor, Primitive Culture, i. 
 1 86). The Chinese child uses nam for eat, agreeing with Fin. nama (in chil- 
 dren's language), Sw. namnam, Wolof nalenale, delicacies, tidbits ; Zooloo nam- 
 lita, to smack the lips after eating or tasting, and thence to be tasteful, to be plea- 
 sant to the mind j Soosoo (W. Africa) nimnim, to taste ; Vei (W. Africa) nimi, 
 palatable, savory, sweet (Koelle). And as picking forbidden food would afford 
 the earhest and most natural type of appropriating or stealing, it is probable that 
 we have here the origin of the slang word nim, to take or steal (indicated in the 
 name of Corporal Nym), as well as the Sw. dial, nimma, Gothic niman, to take. 
 Nlmm'd up, taken up hastily on the sly, stolen, snatched (Whitby Gl.). * Mother- 
 well, the Scotch poet,' says the author of Modern Slang, ' thought the old word 
 nim (to snatch or pick up) was derived from nam, nam, the tiny words or cries 
 of an infant when eating anything which pleases its little palate. A negro pro- 
 verb has the word : Buckra man nam crab, crab nam buckra man^ Or, in the 
 buckra man's language : White man eat [or steal] the crab, and the crab eats 
 the white man.' — p. i8o. 
 
 The traces of imitation as a living principle giving significance to words have 
 been recognised from the earliest period, and as it was the only principle on 
 which the possibility of coining words came home to the comprehension of every 
 one, it was called Onomatopoeia, or word-making, while the remaining stock of 
 language was vaguely regarded as having come by inheritance from the first 
 establishers of speech. ' 'OyofiaroTroUa quidem,' says Quintilian, ' id est, fictio no- 
 minis, Graecis inter maximas habita virtutes, nobis vix permittitur. Et sunt plurima 
 ita posita ab iis qui sermonem primi fecerunt, aptantes adfectibus vocem. Nam 
 mugitus et sihiLus et murmur inde venerunt.' And Diomedes, ' 'OvofiaToiroda est 
 dictio configurata ad imitandam vocis confusae significationem, ut tinnitus aeris, 
 clangorque tubarum. Item quum dicimus valvos stridere, oves lalare, aves tin- 
 nire.' — Lersch, Sprach-philosophie der Alten, iii. 130- 1. Quintilian instances the 
 words used by Homer for the twanging of the bow {XiyU (3i6q), and the fizzing 
 of the fiery stake (td/^t) in the eye of Polyphemus. 
 
 The principle is admitted in a grudging way by Max MuUer (2nd Series, p. 
 298) : ' There are in many languages words, if we can call them so, consisting of 
 mere imitations of the cries of animals or the sounds of nature, and some of them 
 
xvi OBJECTION OF MAX MULLER. 
 
 have been t:arried along by the stream of language into the current of nouns and 
 verbs.' And elsewhere (p. 89) with less hesitation, ' That sounds can be rendered 
 in language by sounds, and that each language possesses a large stock of words 
 imitating the sounds given out by certain things, who would deny ? ' 
 
 We could not have a clearer admission of the imitative principle as a vera 
 causa in the origination of language. Yet in general he revolts against so simple 
 a solution of the problem. 
 
 * I doubt,' he says, speaking of words formed on the bowwow principle, 
 * whether it deserves the name of language.' . ' If the principle of onomatopoeia 
 is applicable anywhere it would be in the formation of the names of animals. 
 Yet we listen in vain for any similarity between goose and cackling, ken and cluck- 
 ing, duck and quacking, sparrow and chirping, dove and cooing, hog and grunting, 
 cat and mewing, between dog and larking, yelping, snarling, and growling. We 
 do not speak of a bowwow, but of a dog. We speak of a cow, not of a moo ; of 
 a laml, not of a laa' — Lect. p. ^^6^. 
 
 We shall answer the objection by showing that the name of the animal in 
 the greater part of the instances specified by Miiller is a plain onomatopceia in 
 one language or another ; that we do speak of a Moo and of a Baa in some other 
 language if not in English, and that this plan of designation is widely spread over 
 every region of the world, and applied to every kind of animal which utters a 
 notable sound. As far as the cry itself is concerned it would hardly occur to 
 any one to doubt that the word used to designate the utterance of a particular 
 animal would be taken from imitation of the sound. When once it is admitted 
 that there is an instinctive tendency to imitation in Man, it seems self-evident 
 that he woi^Jd make use of that means of representing any particular sound that 
 he was desirous of bringing to the notice of his fellow. And it is only on this 
 principle that we can account for the great variety of the terms by which the 
 cries of different animals are expressed. Indeed, we still for the most part recog- 
 nise the imitative intent of such words as the clucking of hens, cackling or 
 gaggling of geese, gobbling of a turkey-cock, quacking of ducks or frogs, cawing 
 or quawking of rooks, croaking of frogs or ravens, cooing or crooing of doves, 
 hooting of owls, bumping of bitterns, chirping of sparrows or crickets, twittering 
 of swallows, chattering of pies or monkeys, neighing or whinnying of horses, 
 purring or mewing of cats, yelping, howling, barking, snarling of dogs, grunting 
 or squealing of hogs, bellowing of bulls, lowing of oxen, bleating of sheep, baaing 
 or maeing of lambs. 
 
 While ewes shall bleat and little lambkins mae. — Ramsay. 
 
 But tlie cry of an animal can hardly be brought to mind without drawing with it 
 the thoughts of the animal itself. Thus the imitative utterance, intended in the 
 first instance to represent the cry, might be used, when circumstances required, 
 for the purpose of bringing the animal, or anything connected with it, before the 
 thoughts of our hearer, or, in other words, might be used as the designation of 
 the animal or of anything associated with it. If I take refuge in an African 
 
IMITATIVE NAMES. xvii 
 
 village and imitate the roaring of a lion while I anxiously point to a neighbour- 
 ing thicket, I shall intimate pretty clearly to the natives that a lion is lurking in 
 that direction. Here the imitation of the roar will be practically used as the 
 name of a lion. The gestures with which I point will signify that an object of 
 terror is in the thicket, and the sound of my voice will specify that object as a 
 lion. 
 
 The signification is carried on from the cow to the milk which it produces, when 
 Hood makes his Englishman ask for milk by an imitative moo. In the same way 
 the representation of the clucking of a hen by the syllables cock ! cock ! gack / 
 gack ! (preserved in It. coccolare, Bav. gackern, to cluck) gives rise to the forms 
 coco, kuko, and gaggele or gagkelein, which are used as the designation of an Qgg 
 in the nursery language of France, Hungary, and Bavaria respectively. In 
 Basque, kokoratz represents the clucking of a hen, and koko (in children's speech) 
 the egg which it announces (Salaberry). It is among birds that the imitative 
 nature of the name is seen with the clearest evidence, and is most universally ad- 
 mitted. We all are familiar with the voice of the cuckoo, which we hail as the 
 harbinger of spring. We imitate the sound with a modulated hoo-hoo, harden- 
 ing into a more conventional cook-coo, and we call the bird cuckoo with a continued 
 consciousness of the intrinsic significance of the name. The voice of the bird is 
 so singularly distinct that there is hardly any variation in the syllables used to re- 
 present the sound in different languages. In Lat. it is cuculus (coo-coo-l-us) , in 
 Gr. KOKKv^, in g. kuckuck {cook-cook) or guckguck. In Sanscrit the cry is written 
 kuhu, and the bird is called kiiJmka, kuhil-rava (rava, sound), whose sound is 
 kuhii — (Pictet, Origines Indo-Europeennes) . We represent the cry of birds of 
 the crow kind by the syllable caw or quawk, which is unmistakeabiy the source 
 of the name in the most distant dialects, as Du. kauwe, kae, Picard cau, a daw, 
 Sanscr. kdka, Arabic kdk, glidk, Georgian qiiaki, Malay gdgak, Barabra koka', 
 Manchu kaha, a crow (Pictet). British Columbia kxhkah, a crow. Long- 
 fellow in his Hiawatha gives kahkahgee as the Algonquin name of the raven. 
 The imitative nature of such names as these have been recognised from the 
 earliest times, and a Sanscrit writer of at least the 4th century before Christ is 
 quoted by MuUer (Lect. i. 380, 4th ed.). 'Kdka, crow, is an imitation of the 
 sound {kdku kdka, according to Durga), and this is very common among birds.' 
 But already Philosophy was beginning to get the better of common sense, and 
 the author continues : ' Aupamanyava however maintains that imitation of the 
 sound does never take place. He therefore derives kdki, crow, from apakd- 
 layitavya; i. e. a bird that is" to be driven away.' Another Sanscrit name for 
 the crow is kdrava (whose voice is kd), obviously formed on the same plan with 
 kuhurava (whose voice is kuhiT) for the cuckoo. Yet the word is cited by Miil- 
 ler as an example of the fallacious derivations of the onomatopceists. Kdrava, he 
 says, is supposed to show some similarity to the cry of the raven. But as soon as 
 we analyse the word we find that it is of a dififerent structure from cuckoo or 
 cock. It is derived from a root ru or km, having a general predicative power, 
 and means a shouter, a caller, a crier (p. 349, ist ed.). Sometimes the hoarse 
 
xviii IMITATIVE NAMES. 
 
 sound of the cry of this kind of bird introduces an r into the imitative syllable, 
 and we use the verb to croak to designate their cry, while croiik, in the North of 
 England, is the name for a crow. So we have Polish krukac, to croak, kruk, a 
 crow J Lith. kraukti, to croak, krauklys, a crow ; Du. kracyen, to caw or croak, 
 kraeye, o. krdhe, a crow. The corresponding verbal forms in German and Eng- 
 lish krdhen, to crow, have been appropriated by arbitrary custom to the cry of the 
 cock, but the word is not less truly imitative because it is adapted to. represent 
 different cries of somewhat similar sound. In South America a crowlike bird is 
 called caracara. 
 
 The crowing of a cock is represented by the syllables kikeriki in g., coqueri- 
 cot in Fr., cacaracd in Languedoc, leaving no doubt of the imitative origin of 
 Illyrian kuhui-ekati, Malay kukuk, to crow, as well as of Sanscr. kukkuta. Fin. 
 kukko, Esthonian Hkkas, Yoruba koklo, Ibo akoka, Zulu kuka, and e. cock. 
 
 The cooing or crooing (as it was formerly called) of a dove is signified in g. 
 by the verbs gurren or girren. Da. kurre, girre, Du. korren, kirren, koeren. To a 
 Latin ear it must have sounded tiir, tur, giving turtur (and thence It. tdrtora, 
 tortbla, Sp. tbrtola, and e. turtle) as the Lat. name of the bird, the imitative 
 nature of which has been universally recognised from its reduplicate form. Alba- 
 nian tourre, Heb. tor, a dove. In Peru turtidi is one kind of dove 5 cuculi 
 another. Hindi, ghughii, Pers. kiiku, gugu, wood-pigeon. 
 
 The plaintive cry of the peewit is with no less certainty represented in the 
 names by which the bird is known in different European dialects, in which we 
 recognise a fundamental resemblance in sound, with a great variety in the par- 
 ticular consonants used in the construction of the word : English peewit, Scotch 
 peeweip, teewhoop, tuquheit, Dutch kievit, German kiehitz, Lettish kiekuts, Magy. 
 lilits, liluts, Swedish kowipa, French dishuit, Arabic tdtwit. The consonants t, 
 p, k, produce a nearly similar effect in the imitation of inarticulate sounds, and 
 when an interchange of these consonants is found in parallel forms (that is, 
 synonymous forms of similar structure), either in the same or in related dialects, 
 it may commonly be taken as evidence that the imitative force of the word has 
 been felt at no distant period. 
 
 The hooting of the owl is a note that peculiarly invites imitation, and accord- 
 ingly it has given rise to a great variety of names the imitative character of which 
 cannot be mistaken. Thus Latin ulula may be compared with ululare, or Gr. 
 oXoXvC^iy, to cry loudly. In French we have hulotte from huller, to howl or 
 yell, as Welsh hwan from hwa, to hoot. Lat. lulo, Fr. hilou, It. gufo, German 
 luhu, uhu, Mod.Gr. coucouva, coccovaec, Walachian coucouveike, Algonquin kos 
 kos-koo-o, are all direct imitations of the repeated cry. 
 
 *The cry of the owl,' says Stier in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, xi. p. 219, ' ku-ku- 
 ku-va-i is in the south (of Albania) the frequent origin of the name, in which 
 sometimes the first, sometimes the second part, and sometimes both together, 
 are represented.' 
 
 Mr Farrar in his Chapters on Language (p. 24) observes that if the vocabu- 
 lary of almost any savage nation is examined, the name of an animal will gen- 
 
IMITATIVE NAMES. xlx 
 
 erallj be found to be an onomatopoeia, and he cites from Threlkeld's Australian 
 Grammar kong-ko-rong, the emu -, pip-pi-ta, a small hawk ; kong-kojig, frogs j 
 all expressly mentioned by the author as taking their names from their cry. No 
 one will doubt that the name of the pelican karong-karong is formed in the same 
 manner. Mr Bates gives us several examples from the Amazons. ' Sometimes 
 one of these little bands [of Toucans] is seen perched for hours together among 
 the topmost branches of high trees giving vent to their remarkably loud, shrill, 
 and yelping cry. These cries have a vague resemblance to the syllables tocano, 
 tocano, and hence the Indian name of this genus of birds.' — Naturalist on the 
 Amazons, i. 337. Speaking of a cricket he says, 'The natives call it tanand, in 
 allusion to its music, which is a sharp resonant stridulation resembling the sylla- 
 bles ta-na-nd, ta-na-nd, succeeding each other with little intermission.' — i. 250. 
 We may compare the Parmesan tananai, loud noise, rumour ; Arabic tantanat, 
 sound, resounding of musical instruments. — Catafogo. 
 
 The name of the cricket indeed, of which there are infinite varieties, may 
 commonly be traced to representations of the sharp chirp of the insect. Thus 
 E. cricket is from crick, representing a short sharp sound, as g. schrecke, 
 {heuschrecke) , schrickel, from schrick, a sharp sound as of a glass cracking 
 (Schmeller). g. schirke. Fin. sirkka, may be compared with g. zirken, oE. chirk, 
 to chirp J hith. swirplys with G. schwirren, to ch'ir]) ; hat. gryllus, g. grille, with. 
 Fr. grillen, to creak j Bret, skril with n. skryle, Sc. skirl, to shrill or sound 
 sharp. The Arabic sarsor, Corean sirsor, Albanian tsentsir, Basque (juirquirra 
 carry their imitative character on their face. 
 
 The designation of insects from the humming, booming, buzzing, droning 
 noises which they make in their flight is very common. We may cite Gr. 
 (iofifivXwc, the humble- or humble-lee, or a gnat 5 Sanscr. hambhara, bee, bamba, 
 fly, * words imitative of humming ' — Pictet j Austrahan bumberoo, a fly (Tylor)j 
 Galla bombi, a beetle j German hummel, the drone or non-working bee; Sanscr. 
 druna, a bee, Lithuanian tranas, German drolme, a drone, to be compared with 
 Sanscr. dhran, to sound, German dronen, to hum, resound, Danish dron, din, 
 peal, hollow noise, Gaelic dranndan, humming, buzzing, growling. The drone 
 of a bagpipe is the open pipe which keeps up a monotonous humming while the 
 tune is playing. The cockchafer is known by the name of the buzzard in the 
 North of England. 
 
 'And I eer'd un a bumming ^.v^^cj 
 
 Like a buzzard-clock o'er my eead.' — Tennyson, Northern Farmer. 
 
 Basque lurrumba, a muttering noise as of distant thunder;- a cockchafer 
 (Salaberri). The Welsh chwyrnu, to buzz (corresponding to Swedish hurra and 
 E. whirr), gives rise to chwyrnores, a hornet, and probably indicates that g. 
 horniss and e. hornet are from the buzzing flight of the animal, and not from its 
 sting considered as a horn. The name of the gnat may be explained from 
 Norse gnetta, knetta, to rustle, give a faint sound, Danish gnaddre, to grumble. 
 
 Coming to the names of domestic animals we have seen that the lowing of 
 the ox is represented by the syllables boo and moo. In the N. of England it is 
 
 d 2 
 
Ttx NAMES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
 
 called looing, and a Spanish proverb cited by Tylor (Prim. Cult. i88) shows 
 that the same mode of representing the sound is familiar in Spain. 'Habld el 
 buey e dijd lu/' The ox spoke and said loo I From this mode of representing the 
 sound are formed Ljth. luhauti (to loo-loo), to bellow like a bull, Zulu luluta, 
 to low, and (as we apply the term lellowing to the loud shouting of men) Gr. 
 )3oaaf, to shout, Lat. loo, to shout, to make a loud deep sound. From the same 
 imitative syllable are Lith. lulenti, to grumble as distant thunder 3 lulnas, a 
 drum 'y lulleti, to bump as a bittern j Illyr. lulati, to beat hard, to make a noise j 
 Galla loa, to boohoo, to weep. 
 
 In barbarous languages the notion of action is frequently expressed, and a 
 verbal form given to the word by the addition of elements signifying make or 
 say. Thus from mamook, make, the traders' jargon of Columbia has 
 mamook-poo, to make poo, to shoot ; mamook-heehee, to make laugh, to 
 amuse. — Tylor. The Galla uses goda, to make, and djeda, to say, in the 
 same way, and from lillil, imitation of a ringing sound, it has lillllgoda, 
 to ring, to sound. The same office is performed in an advanced stage of language 
 in a more compendious way by the addition of an I, a k or ^, or a z to the im- 
 itative syllable. Thus from miau, representing the mew of a cat, the Fr. forms 
 iniau-l-er, as the Illyr. (with a subsidiary k), maukati, to mew. From laa, or 
 lae, are formed Lat. la-L-are, Fr. le-l-er, to baa or bleat 3 from lau, represent- 
 ing the bark of a dog, Piedmontese fi lau, or lau-l-k, to make low, to bow- 
 wow or bark. The Piedm. verb is evidently identical with our own lairl, to 
 shout, or with on. laiila, to low or bellow, whence laula, a cow, lauli, loli, 
 w. Iwla, a bull. In Swiss the verb takes the form of lullen, agreeing exactly 
 with Lith. lullus and e. lull. On the same principle, from the imitative moo 
 instead of loo, the Northampton dairymaid calls her cows moolls. 
 
 The formation of the verb by a subsidiary k or g gives Gr. fivKaonai, Illyr. 
 mukati, lukati, Lat. mugire, OFr. mugler, lugler. Da. loge, to low ; and thence 
 Lat. luculus, a bullock, lucula, a heifer, Fr. lugle, a buffalo, bullock, a name 
 preserved in our lugle-horn. With these analogies, and those which will presently 
 be found in the designations of the sheep or goat and their cries, it is truly sur- 
 prising to meet with linguistic scholars who deny that the imitative loo can be 
 the origin of forms like Gr. (^ovq, Lat. los, lovis, It. lue, ox, Norse lu, cattle, w. 
 lu, Gael, lo, Manx looa, Hottentot lou (Dapper), Cochin Chinese lo (Tylor), a 
 cow. Yet Geiger, in his Ursprung der menschhchen Sprache [1868], p. 167, 
 plainly asserts that the supposition of such an origin. is inadmissible. His analysis 
 leads him to the conclusion that the words (iovQ and cow may be traced to a 
 common origin in the root gvav, and therefore cannot be taken from the cry of 
 the animal. But when I find that the ox is widely called Boo among different 
 families of men from Connemara to Cochin China, it seems to me far more cer- 
 tain that the name is taken from the looing of the animal than any dogmas can 
 be that are laid down concerning such abstractions as the Sanscrit roots. 
 
 The cry of the sheep or goat is universally imitated by the syllables laa, lae, 
 mah, mae, as that of the cow by loo, or moo, and in Hottentot laa was the 
 
NAMES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. xxi 
 
 name of a sheep, as hou of an ox. In the Vei of W. Africa haa, in Wolof 
 lae, a goat. 
 
 With a subsidiary k or g the imitative syllable produces Swiss bdggen, Iddg. 
 gen, Magy. lek-eg-ni, heg-et-ni, Illyr. heknuti, to bleat, and thus explains the origin 
 of forms like Sw. Idgge (Rietz), a sheep or ewe, Gr. (Hikt], fifjKov (Hesych.), a 
 sheep or goat, Illyr. hekavica, a sheep. It. lecco, a goat. From the imitative mae, 
 we have Sanscr. mendda {ndda, sound, cry), a goatj and with the subsidiary k or 
 g, Gr. ixTjKaofxai, /xr^m^w, Illyr. meketati, mecad, G. meckern, Magy. mekegni, Gael. 
 meigeaU Vorarlberg mdggila (corresponding to Fr. meugler, for the voice of the 
 ox), to bleat j Gr. ixr]Kaleq, goats, lambs. 
 
 The same radical with a subsidiary I gives Gael, meil, Manx meilee, to bleat, 
 showing the origin of Scotch Mailie, as the proper name of a tame sheep, and of 
 Gr. iJifjXov (maelon), a sheep or a goat, and Circassian maylley, a sheep (Lowe). 
 
 The name of the hog is another instance where Miiller implicitly denies all 
 resemblance with the characteristic noises of the animal. And it is true there is 
 no similarity between hog and grunt, but the snorting sounds emitted by a pig 
 may be imitated at least as well by the syllables hoch, hoch (giving to ch the 
 guttural sound of Welsh and Breton), as by grunt. In evidence of the aptness of 
 this imitation, we may cite the cry used in Suffolk in driving pigs, remembering 
 that the cries addressed to animals are commonly taken from noises made by 
 themselves. * In driving, or in any way persuading, this obstinate race, we have 
 no other imperative than hooe ! hooe ! in a deep nasal, guttural tone, appropri- 
 ately compounded of a groan and a grunt.' — Moor's Suffolk words, in v. sus-sus. 
 Hence Breton hoc ha, to grunt, and hoch, houch, w. hwch, a hog, leaving little 
 doubt as to the imitative origin of the e. name. In like manner we find Lap- 
 pish snorkeset, to grunt, undoubtedly imitative, and snorke, a pig; Fin. naskia, to 
 smack like a pig in eating, and naski, a pig. If Curtius had been aware of the 
 Sc. grumpf, a grunt, and grumphie, a sow, he would hardly have connected 
 Hesychius' ypo/x^ae, a sow, with the root ypa^w, applied to the rooting of the ani- 
 mal with its snout. Moreover, although the imitation embodied in Lat. grun- 
 nire, Fr. grogner, and e. grunt, does not produce a name of the animal itself, 
 it gives rise to It. grugno, Fr. groin, e. grunny, the snout of a pig, and thence 
 groin, the snout-shaped projections running out into the sea, by which the shingle 
 of our southern coast is protected. And obviously it is equally damaging to 
 Miiller's line of argument whether the onomatopceia supplies a name of the ani- 
 mal or only of his snout. 
 
 Among the designations of a dog the term cur, signifying a snarling, ill-bred 
 dog, may with tolerable certainty be traced to an imitative source in on. kurra, 
 to snarl, growl, grumble, g. kurren, to rumble, grumble. Kurren und murren, 
 ill-natured jangling; Sc. curmurring, grumbling, rumbling. The g. kurre, oe. 
 curre-Jish (as Da. knurjisk, from knurr e, to growl, mutter, purr), is applied to 
 the gurnard on account of the grumbling sounds which that fish is said to utter. 
 It is probable also that e. hound, g. hund, a dog, may be identical with Esthon. 
 hunt (gen. hundi), a wolf, from hundama, to howl, corresponding to ohg. hunon. 
 
xxii MULLER ANSWERED. 
 
 to yelp, Sc. hune, to whine. So Sanscr. hiirava (whose cry is hu), a jackal 
 (Benfey). 
 
 The nursery names of a horse are commonly taken from the cries used in the 
 management of the animal, which serve the purpose as well as the cries of the 
 animal itself, since all that is wanted is the representation of a sound associated in 
 a lively manner with the thought of the creature to be named. 
 
 In England the cry to make a horse go on is gee, and the nurgery name for a 
 horse is geegee. In Germany hott is the cry to make a horse turn to the right 3 
 ho, to the left, and the horse is with children called hotte-pdrd (Danneil), hutt- 
 jenho-peerd (Holstein Idiot.). In Switzerland the nursery name is hottihuh, as 
 in Yorkshire highly (Craven Gloss.), from the cry halt, to turn a horse to the 
 right. In Finland, humma, the cry to stop or back a horse, is used in nursery 
 language as the name of the animal. The cry to back a horse in Westerwald is 
 huff whence houfe, to go backwards. The same cry in Devonshire takes the 
 form oihaap ! haap lack I Provincial Da. hoppe dig ! back ! From the cry thus 
 used in stopping a horse the animal in nursery language is called hoppe in Frisian 
 (Outzen), houpy in Craven, while hupp-peerdken in Holstein is a holly horse or 
 child's wooden horse. Thus we are led to the Fr. hohin, e. holly, a little am- 
 bling horse, g. hoppe, a mare, Esthonian hollo, hollen, a horse. 
 
 In the face of so many examples it is in vain for Muller to speak of onomato- 
 poeia as an exceptional principle giving rise to a few insignificant names, but ex- 
 ercising no appreciable influence in the formation of real language. * The ono- 
 matopoeic theory goes very smoothly as long as it deals with cackling hens and 
 quacking ducks, but round that poultry-yard there is a dead wall, and we soon 
 find that it is behind that wall that language really begins.' — 2nd Series, p. 91. 
 ' There are of course some names, such as cuckoo, which are clearly formed by an 
 imitation of sound. But words of this kind are, like artificial flowers, without a 
 root. They are sterile and unfit to express anything beyond the one object which 
 they imitate.' ' As the word cuckoo predicates nothing but the sound of a par- 
 ticular bird, it could never be applied for expressing any general quality in which 
 other animals might share, and the only derivations to which it might give rise 
 are words expressive of a metaphorical likeness with the bird.' — ist Series, p. ^6<^. 
 The author has been run away with by his own metaphorical language. An 
 onomatopoeia can only be said to have no root because it is itself a living root, as 
 well adapted to send forth a train of derivations as if it was an offshoot from 
 some anterior stock. If a certain character is strongly marked in an animal, the 
 name of the animal is equally likely to be used in the metaphorical designation 
 of the character in question, whether it was taken from the cry of the animal or 
 from some other peculiarity. The ground of the metaphor lies in the nature of 
 the animal, and can in no degree be aiFected by the principle on which the name of 
 the species is formed. Thus the comparison with artificial flowers becomes a 
 transparent fallacy which the author ought at once to have erased, when he found 
 himself in the same page indicating derivatives like cuckold, coquette, cockade, 
 coquelicot, as springing from his types of a lifeless stock. If onomatopoeias can 
 
IMITATIONS OFTEN UNLIKE EACH OTHER. xxiii 
 
 be used in giving names to things that bear a metaphorical likeness to the ori- 
 ginal object, what is there to limit their efficiency in the formation of language? 
 And how can the indication of such derivatives as the foregoing, be reconciled 
 with the assertion that there is a sharp line of demarcation between the region of 
 onomatopoeia and the ' real ' commencement of language ? The important ques- 
 tion is not what number of words can be traced to an imitative source, but 
 whether there is any difference in kind between them and other words. 
 
 The imitative principle will in no degree be impugned by bringing forwards 
 any number of names which cannot be shown to have sprung from direct imita- 
 tion, for no rational onomatopceist ever supposed that all names were formed on 
 that principle. It is only at the very beginning of language that the name would 
 necessarily be taken from representations of sounds connected with the animal. 
 As soon as a little command of language was attained, a more obvious means of 
 designation would frequently be found in something connected with the appear- 
 ance or habits of the animal, and it is a self-evident fact that many of the animals 
 with which we are familiar are named on this principle. The redbreast, white- 
 throat, redpole, lapwing, wagtail, goatsucker, woodpecker, swift, diver, creeper, 
 speak for themselves, and a little research enables us to explain the name in in- 
 numerable other cases on a similar plan. Nor will there be any presumption 
 against an imitative origin even in cases where the meaning of the name remains 
 wholly unknown. When once the name is fully conventionalised all conscious- 
 ness of resemblance with sound is easily lost, and it will depend upon accident 
 whether extrinsic evidence of such a connection is preserved. There is nothing 
 in the e. name of the turtle or turtle-dove to put us in mind of the cooing of the 
 animal, and if all knowledge of the Lat. turtur and its derivatives had been lost, 
 there would have been no grounds for suspicion of the imitative origin of the 
 word. It is not unlikely that the on. hross, e. horse, may have sprung from a 
 form corresponding to Sanscr. hresh, to neigh, but as we are ignorant of any 
 Indian name corresponding to horse, or any Western equivalent of the Sanscr. 
 hresh, it would be rash to regard the connection of the two as more than a pos- 
 sibility. Even in case of designations appropriated to the cries of particular 
 animals or certain kinds of sound, it is commonly more from the consciousness of 
 a natural tendency to represent sound in this manner, and indeed from the con- 
 viction that it is the only possible way of doing so, that we regard the words as 
 intentionally imitative, than from discerning in them any intrinsic resemblance 
 to the sounds represented. The neighing of a horse is signified by words strik- 
 ingly unlike even in closely related tongues j Fr. hennir. It, nitrire, Sp. rinchar, 
 relinchar, Sw. wrena, wrenska, g. frenscheii, wiehern, Du. runniken, ginniken, 
 hrieschen, Sanscr. hresh, Bohem. f-ehtati, Lettish sweegt. Yet we cannot doubt 
 that they all take their rise in vocal imitations of the sound of neighing or whin- 
 n-ing. 
 
 With the designations of animal cries may be classed those of various inar- 
 ticulate noises of our own, as sigh, sob, moan, groan, cough, laugh (originally pro- 
 nounced with a guttural), titter, giggle, hickup (Sanscr. hikkd, Pl.D. hukkup. 
 
IMITATIONS OF SOUND. 
 
 
 snukkup), snore, snort, wheeze, shriek, scream, the imitative nature of which w 
 be generally admitted. 
 
 The sound of a sneeze is peculiarly open to imitation. It is represented in 
 by the forms a-kishoo ! or a-atcha ! of which the first is nearly identical with the 
 Sanscr. root kshu, or the w. tis'io {tisho), to sneeze. From the other mode of 
 representing the sound a child of my acquaintance gave to his sister the name of 
 Atchoo, on account of her sneezing ; and among American tribes it gives rise to 
 several striking onomatopceias cited by Tylor 3 haitshu, atchini, atchian 
 aritischane, &cc. 
 
 It is certain that where in the infancy of Speech the need was felt of bringing 
 a sound of any kind to the thoughts of another, an attempt would be made to 
 imitate it by the voice. And even at the present day it is extremely conimon to 
 give hfe to a narration by the introduction of intentionally imitative words, whose 
 only office it is to bring before the mind of the hearer certain sounds which 
 accompany the action described, and bring it home to the imagination with the 
 nearest approach to actual experience. 
 
 ' Bang, bang, bang ! went the cannon, and the smoke rolled over the 
 trenches.' * Hoo, hoo, hoo ! ping ping, ping ! came the bullets about their ears.' 
 
 * Haw, haw, haw ! roared a soldier from the other side of the valley.' ' And at 
 it both sides went, ding, dong ! till the guns were too hot to be worked.' — Read, 
 White Lies, 1865. 
 
 To fall plump into the water is to fall so suddenly as to make the sound 
 
 * plump.' ' Plump ! da fiel he in das wasser.' So smack represents the sound of a 
 sharp blow, and to cut a thing smack off is to cut it off at a blow. Ding- 
 dong, for the sound of a large bell, ting-ting, for a small one ; tick-tack, 
 for the beat of a clock j pit-a-pat, for the beating of the heart or the 
 light step of a child j thwick-thwack, for the sound of blows, are familiar 
 to every one. The words used in such a manner in German are especially 
 numerous. Klapp, klatsch, for the sound of a blow. ' He kreeg enen an de 
 oren : klapp I segde dat ' : he caught it on the ear, clap ! it cried — Brem-. Wtb. 
 A smack on the chops is represented also by pratz, pUtsch-platsch. — Sanders. 
 Puff, pump, lumm, for the sound of a fall ; knack, for that of breaking • 
 knarry for the creaking of a wheel, fitsche-fatsche, for blows with a rod, stripp- 
 strapp-stroll, for the sound of milking. 
 
 When once a syllable is recognised as representing sound of a certain kind it 
 may be used to signify anything that produces such a sound, or that is accom 
 panied by it. Few words are more expressive than the e. hang, familiarly use 
 to represent the sound of a gun and other loud toneless noises. Of a like forma 
 tion are Lettish lunga, a drum ; dehles-lungotais {debbes, heaven), the God of 
 thunder j Zulu bongo, for the report of a musket (Colenso) 3 Australian /• ^ 
 hung ween, thunder (Tylor) -, Yei gbenghen, a kind of drum. To bang is t 
 do anything that makes a noise of the above description, to beat, to ^ 
 violently down, &c. Let. bangas, the dashing of the sea ; Vei gbangba, to 
 mer, to drive in a nail 3 on. banga, to hammer j Da. banke, to knock, beat, i 
 
FANCIFUL PRINCIPLES OF SIGNIFICANCE. xxv 
 
 The sharp cry of a chicken or a young child is represented by the syllables 
 pi, pu. 
 
 We sail gar chekinnis cheip and gaislingis pew. — Lyndsay. 
 
 In Austria pi/ pi! is used as a call to chickens (Tylor). Fr. pioUy piou, 
 peep, peep, the voice of chickens (Cot.) , piailler, piauler, e. pule, to cry like 
 a chick, a whelp, or a young child; Gr. ttitt/^w, Lat. pipilo, pipio, Mantuaa 
 -r pipi, to cry pi, pi, to cheep like a bird or a young child. It. pipiare, 
 pare, to pip like a chicken or pule like a hawk; pigolare, pigiolare, to squeak, 
 >ip as a chicken. — Florio. Magyar pip, cry of young birds; pipegni, pipelni, 
 to peep or cheep; pipe, a chicken or gosling; Lat. pipio, a young bird; 
 It. pippione, pigione, piccione, a (young) pigeon. The syllable representing a 
 sharp sound is then used to designate a pipe, as the simplest implement for pro- 
 ducing the sound. Fr. pipe, a fowler's bird call ; G. pfeife, a fife or musical pipe. 
 At last all reference to sound is lost, and the term is generahsed in the sense of any 
 hollow trunk or cylinder. 
 
 In cases such as these, where we have clear imitations of sound to rest on, it is 
 easy to follow out the secondary applications, but where without such a clue we 
 ike the problem up at the other end and seek to divine the imitative origin of a 
 ;ord, we must beware of fanciful speculations like those of De Brosses, who finds 
 i power of expressing fixity and firmness in an initial st; excavation and hollow 
 1 sc ; mobility and fluid in Jl, and so forth. It seems to him that the teeth 
 Smg the most fixed element of the organ of voice, the dental letter, t, has been un- 
 consciously (machinalement) employed to designate fixity, as k, the letter proceed- 
 ing from the hollow of the throat, to designate cavity and hollow. S, which he 
 calls the nasal articulation, is added to intensify the expression. Here he abandons 
 the vera causa of the imitation of sound, and assumes a wholly imaginary principle 
 of expression. What consciousness has the child, or the uneducated man, of the 
 part of the mouth by which the different consonants are formed ? 
 
 But even the question as to the adaptation of certain articulations to represent 
 particular sounds will be judged very differently by different ears. To one the 
 imitative intention of a word will appear self-evident, while another will be 
 wholly unable to discern in the word any resemblance to the sound which it is 
 supposed to represent. The writer of a critique on Wilson's Prehistoric Man 
 can find no adaptation to sound in the words laugh, scream, bleat, cry, and 
 whimper. He asks, 'What is there in whimper which is mimetic ? and \i simper 
 .-id been used instead, would there have been less onomatopoeia? Is rire like 
 :tgh ? Yet to a Frenchman, doubtless, rire seems the more expressive of the 
 ♦^wo.' 
 
 ^n language, as in other subjects of study, the judgment must be educated by a 
 
 •irvey of the phenomena, and their relations, and few who are so prepared 
 
 "' .ubt the imitative nature of the word in any of the instances above cited 
 
 Vilson. 
 
 ,,idence of an imitative origin may be found in various circumstances, not- 
 
xxvi EVIDENCES OF IMITATION. 
 
 ably in what is called a reduplicate form of the word, where the significant 
 syllable is repeated with or without some small variation, either in the vowel or 
 consonantal sound, as in Lat. murmur (by the side of g. murren, to grumble), 
 turtur, susurrus (for sur-sur-us) ; tintinno, tintino, along with tinnio, to ring ; 
 pipio, to cry pi, pi ; It. tontonare, tonare, to thunder, rattle, rumble (Fl.) j 
 gorgogliare (to make gorgor), to gurgle j Mod.Gr. yapyapi^to (to make ga7gar) , 
 to gargle; fiopfhpv^to^ It. borbogiiare (to make borbor), to rattle, rumble, bubble, 
 along with Du. borrelen, to bubble; Zulu raraza, to fizz like fat in frying; 
 Hindoo tomtom, a drum ; W. Indian chack-chack, a rattle made of hard seeds in 
 a tight-blown bladder (Kingsley), to be compared with Sc. chach, to clack, to 
 make a clinking noise, or with Manchu kiakseme {seme, sound), sound of dry 
 wood breaking. 
 
 If laugh were written as it is pronounced, laaff, there would be nothing in 
 the word itself to put us in mind of the thing signified. The imitation begins 
 to be felt in the guttural ach of g. lachen, and is clearly indicated in the redupli- 
 cate form of the Du. lachachen, to hawhaw or laugh loud, preserved by Kilian. 
 The same principle of expression is carried still further in the Dayak kakakkaka, 
 to go on laughing loud ; Manchu kaka-kiki, or kaka-faka, Pacific aka-aka, loud 
 laughter. Mr Tylor illustrates the Australian wiiti, to laugh, by quoting from 
 the 'Tournament of Tottenham,' 
 
 We te he I quoth Tyb, and lugh. 
 
 In other cases the imitative intention is witnessed by a variation of the vowel 
 corresponding to changes in the character of the sound represented. Thus crack 
 signifies a loud hard noise ; cric\, a sharp short one, like the noise of a glass 
 breaking ; creak, a prolonged sharp sound. Clack expresses such a sound as that 
 of two hard pieces of wood striking against each other; click, a short sharp 
 sound, as the click of a latch or a trigger; cluck, a closed or obscure sound. 
 Hindustani karak is rendered, crash, crack, thunder ; kuruk, the clucking of a 
 hen ; karkardnd, to crackle like oil in boiling ; kirkirand, to gnash the teeth ; 
 kurkurdnct, to cluck, to grumble. To craunch implies the exertion of greater 
 force than when we speak of cruncliivg such a substance as frozen snow or a 
 biscuit. The change through the three vowels, i, a, u, in German, is very com- 
 mon. The Bremisch Dictionary describes knaks, kniks, knuks, as representing 
 the sound made when something breaks; knaks, of a loud strong sound; kniks, 
 of something fine and thin, like a glass or the chain in a w^atch ; knuks, when it 
 gives a dull sound like a joint dislocated or springing back. In the same way 
 we have knarren, to creak; knirren, to grate the teeth; knurren, to growl, 
 grumble; garren, girren, gurren, to jar, coo, rumble, &c. Sometimes the ex- 
 pression is modified by a change of the consonant instead of the vowel. Thus 
 in Zulu the sonants b and g are exchanged for the lighter sound of the spirants 
 p and k in order to strengthen the force of a word. Pefuxela, to pant ; befu- 
 zela, to pant violently (Colenso). But perhaps the expressive power of a word 
 is brought home to us in the most striking manner when the same significa- 
 
SliMILAR FORMS IN REMOTE TONGUES. xxvii 
 
 tion is rendered by identical or closely similar forms in widely distant languages. 
 
 The noise of pieces of metal striking together, or of bells ringing, is represented 
 in Manchu by the syllables kiling-kiUngy klling-kalang, to be compared with g. 
 kling-kl'mg, the tingling sound of a httle bell (Ludwig) ; Uing-klang, the sound of 
 a stringed instrument, the clink of glasses j Lat. clango, e. clank, dink. Manchu 
 kalar-kitir, for the clinking of keys or tinkling of bells, is identical with g. klirren, 
 the gingling of glasses, chinking- of coin, clash of arms. Manchu tang-tang, 
 Chinese tsiang-tsiang, for the ringing of bells, correspond to e. ding-dong, and 
 illustrate the imitative nature oi tingle, jingle, jangle. Manchu quar-quar, for the 
 croaking of frogs, agrees with g. quarren, to croak 3 Manchu kak for the sound of 
 coughing or clearing the throat, with our expression of hawking or of a hacking 
 cough. Manchu pour-pour represents the sound of boiling water, or the bubbHng 
 up of a spring, corresponding in e. to the purling of a brook, or to Du. borrelen, 
 to bubble up. Manchu kaka, as Fr. caca and Finnish ddkkd, are applied to the 
 excrements of children, while cacd ! is used in e. nurseries as an exclamation of 
 disgust or reprobation, indicating the origin of Gr. KaKoq, bad. Manchu tchout- 
 chou-tchatcha, for the sound of privy whispering, brings us to Fr. chuchoter, for 
 chut-chut-er, to say chut, chut, to whisper. The whispering of the wind is repre- 
 sented in Chinese by the syllables siao-siao (Miiller, I. 368), answering to the 
 Scotch sough or sooch. The imitative syllable which represents the purling of a 
 spring of water in the name of the Arabian well Zemzem, expresses the sound of 
 water beginnmg to boil in e. simmer. The syllables lil-bil, which represent a 
 ringing sound in Galla lilhil-goda (to make hilhil), to ring or jingle, and lilbila, 
 a bell, are applied to the notes of a singing bird or a pipe in Albanian lilhil, a 
 nightingale, a boy's whistle, Turk, liilbul, a nightingale. The sound of champ- 
 ing with the jaws in eating is imitated by nearly the same syllables in Galla 
 djamdjamgoda (to make c^'awc^'aw), Magyar csamm-ogni, csam-csogni, and e. champ. 
 The Turcoman kalabdlac h, uproar, disturbance (F. Newman), has its analogues in 
 E. hullabaloo and Sanscr, hala-hald-fabda (fabda, sound), shout, tumult, noise. 
 The E. pitapat may be compared with Australian pitapitata, to knock, to pelt as 
 rain, Mantchu patapata, Hindustani bhadbhad for the sound of fruits pattering 
 down from trees, Fr. patatras for the clash of falling things, Maori pata, drops of 
 rain (Tylor, Prim. Calt. i. 192). The Galla gigiteka, to giggle, is based on the 
 same imitation as the e. word, and the same may be said of Zulu kala, cry, wail, 
 sing as a bird, sound, compared with Gr. koXiu), and e. call; as of Tamil muro- 
 muro and e. murmur. The Australian represents the thud of a spear or a bullet strik- 
 ing the object by the syllable toop, corresponding to which we have Galla tub- 
 djeda (to say tub), for a box on the ear 3 Sanscr. tup, tubh, and Gr. tvtt (in rvTrru), 
 trvirov), to strike. The imitation of the same kind of sound by a nasal intonation 
 gives the name of the Indian tomtom, and Gr. Tvinruvoy, a drum -, Galla tuma, to 
 beat, tumtu, a workman, especially one who beats, a smith. The Chinook jar- 
 gon uses the same imitative syllable in tumtum,* the heart ; tumwata, a water- 
 
 * * Mme P. bent her head, and her heart went thumps thump, at an accelerated rate.' 
 
 Member for Paris, 187 1. 
 
xxviii ADMITTED IMITATIONS. 
 
 fall, and it is also found in Lat. tum-ultus, w. tymmestl, disturbance, in e. thump, 
 AS. tumbian (to beat the ground), to dance, and Fr. tombery to fall. 
 
 The list of such agreements might be lengthened to any extent. But although 
 the resemblance of synonymous words in unrelated languages affords a strong pre- 
 sumption in favour of an imitative origin, it must not be supposed that the most 
 striking dissimilarity is any argument whatever to the contrary. The beating (jf 
 a drum is represented in e. hyrubadub, answering too. bramberum, Fr. rataplan 
 or rantanplan, It. tarapatan, parapatapan. We represent the sound of knocking 
 at a door by rat-tat-tat-tat, for which the Germans have poch-poch or puk-puk 
 (Sanders). We use bang, the Germans puff, and the French pouf, for the 
 report of a gun. Mr Tylor indeed denies that the syllable puff here imitates the 
 actual sound or bang of the gun, but he has perhaps overlooked the constant 
 tendency of language to signify the sound of a sudden puff of wind and of the 
 collision of solid bodies by the same syllables. The It. buffetto signifies as well a 
 butfet or cuff, as a puff with the mouth or a pair of bellows. So in Fr. we have 
 soujjier, to blow, and soufflet, a box on the ear or a pair of bellows, while e. 
 blow is applied as well to the force of the wind as to a stroke with a solid body. 
 The use of g. puff, to represent the sound of a blow or of an explosion is uni- 
 versally recognised by the dictionaries. ' Der puff, the sound of a blow or shock j 
 bang, blow, thump.' — Nohden. 
 
 No doubt the comparison of vocal utterances with natural sounds is slippery 
 ground, and too many cases may be adduced where an imitative origin has been 
 maintained on such fanciful grounds as to throw ridicule on the general theory, 
 or has been claimed for words which can historically be traced to antecedent ele- 
 ments. Nevertheless, it is easy in every language to make out numerous lists of 
 words to the imitative character of which there will in nine cases out of ten be 
 an all but universal agreement. Such are bump, thump, plump, thwack, whack, 
 smack, crack, clack, clap, flap, flop, pop, snap, rap, tap, pat, clash, crash, smash, 
 swash, splash, slash, lash, dash, craunch, crunch, douse, souse, whizz, fizz, hiss, 
 whirr, hum, boom, whine, din, ring, bang, twang, clang, clank, clink, chink, 
 jingle, tingle, tinkle, creak, squeak, squeal, squall, rattle, clatter, chatter, patter, 
 mutter, murmur, gargle, gurgle, guggle, sputter, splutter, paddle, dabble, bubble, 
 blubber, rumble. 
 
 Notwithstanding the evidence of forms like these, the derivation of words 
 from direct imitation, without the intervention of orthodox roots, is revolting to 
 the feelings of Professor Miiller, who denounces the lawlessness of doctrines that 
 'would undo all the work that has been done by Bopp, Humboldt, and Grimm, 
 and others during the last fifty years — and throw etymology back into a state of 
 chronic anarchy.' * If it is once admitted that all words must be traced back to 
 definite roots, according to the strictest phonetic rules, it matters little whether 
 those roots are called phonetic types, more or less preserved in the innumerable 
 impressions taken from them, or whether we call them onomatopceic and inter- 
 jectional. As long as we have definite forms between ourselves and chaos, we 
 may build our science like an arch of a bridge, that rests on the firm piles fixed 
 
INTERJECTIONS OF FEELING. xxix 
 
 in the rushing waters. If, on the contrary, the roots of language are mere ab- 
 stractions, and there is nothing to separate language from cries and interjections, 
 then we may play with language as children play with the sands of the sea, but 
 we must not complain if every fresh tide wipes out the little castles we had built 
 on the beach.' — 2nd Series, p. 94. 
 
 If Grimm and Bopp had established an immovable barrier between us and 
 chaos, it might save some trouble of thought, but the name of no master of the 
 Art will now guarantee the solidity of the ground on which we build ; we must 
 take it at our own risk though Aristotle himself had said it. The work of every 
 man has to stand the brunt of water and of fire, and if wood, hay, or stubble is 
 found in the building of Grimm or Bopp, or of any meaner name, it is well that 
 it be burnt up. 
 
 We come now to the personal interjections, exclamations intended to make 
 known affections of the mind, by imitation of the sounds naturally uttered under 
 the influence of the affection indicated by the interjection. Thus ah!, the interj. 
 of grief, is an imitation of a sigh ^ vgh !, the interj. of horror, of an utterance at 
 the moment of shuddering. 
 
 At the first beginning of hfe, every little pain, or any unsatisfied want, in the 
 infant, are made known by an instinctive cry. But the infant speedily finds that 
 his cry brings his mother to his side, that he has only to raise his voice in order 
 to get taken up and soothed or fed. He now cries no longer on the simple im- 
 pulsion of instinct, but with intelligence of the consolation which follows, and 
 it is practically found that the child of the unoccupied mother, who has time to 
 attend to every little want of her nurseling, cries more than that of the hard- 
 working woman whose needs compel her to leave her children a good deal to 
 themselves. In the former case the infant gives expression in the natural way to 
 all his wants and feelings of discomfort, and wilfully enforces the utterance as a 
 call for the consolation he desires. But when the infant petulantly cries as a 
 call for his mother, he makes no nearer approach to speech than the dog or the 
 cat which comes whining to its master to get the door opened for it. The pur- 
 pose of the cry, in the case of the animal or of the infant, is simply to call the 
 attention of the mother or the master, without a thought of symbolising to them, 
 by the nature of the cry, the kind of action that is desired of them. It is not 
 until the child becomes dimly conscious of the thoughts of his mother, and cries 
 for the purpose of making her suppose that he is in pain, that he has taken the 
 first step in rational speech. The utterance of a cry with such a purpose may 
 be taken as the earliest type of interjectional expression, the principle of which is 
 clearly enounced by Lieber in his account of Laura Bridgman, formerly cited. 
 
 ' Crying, wringing the hands, and uttering plaintive sounds, are the sponta- 
 neous symphenomena of despair. He in whom they appear does not intention- 
 ally produce them. He however who beholds them, knows them, because they 
 are spontaneous, and because he is endowed with the same nature and organisa- 
 tion 3 and thus they become signs of despair. Henceforth rational beings may 
 intentionally produce them when they desire to convey the idea of despair.' 
 
XXX PRINCIPLE OF INTERJECTIONS. 
 
 The principle which gives rise to interjections is precisely the same as that 
 which has been so largely illustrated in the naming of animals. If I wish to 
 make a person of an unknown language think of a cow, I imitate the lowing of 
 the animal j and in the same way when I wish him to know that I am in pain, or 
 to think of me as suffering pain, I imitate the cry which is the natural expression 
 of suftering. And as the utterance used in the designation of animals speedily 
 passes from the imitative to the conventional stage, so it is with the interjec- 
 tions used to express varieties of human passion, which are frequently so toned 
 down in assuming an articulate form as to make us wholly lose sight of the in- 
 stinctive action which they represent, and from whence they draw their signifi- 
 cance. 
 
 The nature of interjections has been greatly misunderstood by Miiller, who 
 treats them as spontaneous utterances, and accordingly misses their importance 
 in illustrating the origin of language. He says, ' Two theories have been started 
 to solve the problem [of the ultimate nature of roots], which for shortness' sake 
 I shall call the Bowwow theory and the Poohpooh theory. According to the 
 first, roots are imitations of sounds j according to the second, they are involuntary 
 interjections.' — ist Series, p. 344. And again, ' There are no doubt in every 
 language interjections, and some of them may become traditional, and enter into 
 the composition of words. But these interjections are only the outskirts of real 
 language. Language begins where interjections end. There is as much differ- 
 ence between a real word such as to laugh, and the interjection ha ! ha ! as there 
 is between the involuntary act and noise of sneezing and the verb to sneeze.' ' As 
 in the case of onomatopoeia, it cannot be denied that with interjections too some 
 kind of language might have been formed j but not a language like that which 
 we find in numerous varieties among all the races of men. One short interjec- 
 tion may be more powerful, more to the point, more eloquent than a long speech. 
 In fact, interjections, together with gestures, the movements of the muscles, of 
 the mouth, and the eye, would be quite sufficient for all purposes which language 
 answers with the majority of mankind. Yet we must not forget that hum ! 
 ugh ! tut. ! pooh ! are as little to be called words as the expressive gestures which 
 usually accompany these exclamations.'' — p. 369 — 371. And to the same effect 
 he cites from Home Tooke. *The dominion of speech is founded on the down- 
 fall of interjections. Without the artful intervention of language mankind would 
 have had nothing but interjections with which to communicate orally any of their 
 feelings. The neighing of a horse, the lowing of a cow, the barking of a dog, 
 the purring of a cat, sneezing, coughing, groaning, shrieking, and every other in- 
 voluntary convulsion with oral sound, have almost as good a title to be called 
 parts of speech as interjections have. Voluntary interjections are only employed 
 where the suddenness and vehemence of some affection or passion return men to 
 their natural state and make them forget the use of speech, or when from some 
 circumstance the shortness of time will not permit them, to exercise it.' — Diver- 
 sions of Purley, p. 32. When the words of Tooke are cited in opposition to the 
 claims of interjections to be considered as parts of speech, it should be remem- 
 
PRINCIPLE OF INTERJECTIONS. xxxi 
 
 bered, that to say that the cries of beasts have almost as good a title to the name 
 of language as interjections, is practically to recognise that some additional func- 
 tion is performed by interjections, and the diiference thus hazily recognised by 
 Tooke is, in truth, the fundamental distinction between instinctive utterance and 
 rational speech. 
 
 The essence of rational speech lies in the intention of the speaker to impress 
 something beyond the mere sound of the utterance on the mind of the hearer. 
 And it is precisely this which distinguishes interjections from instinctive cries. It 
 is not speaking when a groan of agony is wrung from me, but when I imitate a 
 groan by the interjection ah ! for the purpose of obtaining the sympathy of my 
 hearer, then speech begins. So, when I am humming and hawing, I am not 
 speaking, but when I cry hm ! to signify that I am at a loss what to say, it is not 
 the less language because my meaning is expressed by a single syllable. It is 
 purely accident that the syllables halia, by which we interjectionally represent the 
 sound of laughter, have not been retained in the sense of laugh in the grammatic- 
 al part of our language, as is actually the case in some of the North American 
 dialects, for example, in the name of Longfellow's heroine Minnehaha, explained 
 as signifying the laughing water. The same imitation may be clearly discerned 
 in Magy. hahota, loud laughter, in Fin. hahottaa, hohottaa, and somewhat veiled 
 in Arab, kahkahah, Gr. Ka^a'Cio, Kay)(a.^u), Lat. cachinno, to hawhaw or laugh 
 loud and unrestrainedly. 
 
 Miiller admits that some of our words sprang from imitation of the cries of 
 animals and other natural sounds, and others from interjections, and thus, he says, 
 some kind of language might have been formed, which would be quite sufficient 
 for all the purposes which language serves with the majority of men, yet not a 
 language like that actually spoken among men. But he does not explain in what 
 fundamental character a language so formed would differ from our own, nor can 
 he pretend to say that the words which originate in interjections are to be dis- 
 tinguished fi-om others. 
 
 To admit the mechanism as adequate for the production of language, and yet 
 to protest that it could not have given rise to such languages as our own, because 
 comparatively few of the words of our languages have been accounted for on this 
 principle, is to act as many of us may remember to have done when Scrope and 
 Lyell began to explain the modern doctrines of Geology. We could not deny 
 the reality of the agencies, which those authors pointed out as in constant opera- 
 tion at the present day on the frame-work of the earth, demolishing here, and 
 there re-arranging, over areas more or less limited j but we laughed at the suppo- 
 sition that these were the agencies by which the entire crust of the earth was 
 actually moulded into its present form. Yet these prejudices gradually gave way 
 under patient illustrations of the doctrine, and it came to be seen by every one that 
 if the powers indicated by Lyell and his fellows-workers could have produced the 
 effects attributed to them, by continued operation through unlimited periods of 
 time, it would be unreasonable to seek for the cause of the phenomena in 
 miracle or in convulsions of a kind of which we have no experience in the history 
 
xxxii LANGUAGE OF GESTURE. 
 
 of the world. And so in the case of language, when once a rational origin of 
 words has been established on the principle of imitation, the critical question 
 should be, whether the words explained on this principle are a fair specimen of 
 the entire stock, whether there is any cognisable difference between them and 
 the rest of language ; and not, what is the numerical proportion of the two 
 classes, whether the number of words traced to an imitative origin embraces a 
 tiftieth or a fifth of the roots of language. 
 
 There can be no better key to the condition of mind in which the use ot 
 speech would first have begun, than the language of gesture in use among the 
 deaf-and-dumb, which has been carefully studied by Mr Tylor, and admirably de- 
 scribed in his * Early History of Mankind.' ' The Gesture-language and Picture- 
 writing,' he says, ' insignificant as. they are in practice in comparison with speech 
 and phonetic writing, have this great claim to consideration, that we can really 
 understand them as thoroughly as perhaps we can understand anything, and by 
 studying them we can realise to ourselves in some measure a condition of the 
 human mind which underlies anything which has as yet been traced in even the 
 lowest dialect of language, if taken as a whole. Though, with the exception of 
 words which are evidently imitative, like peewit and cuckoo, we cannot at present 
 tell by what steps man came to express himself by words, we can at least see how 
 he still does come to express himself by signs and pictures, and so get some idea 
 of the nature of this great movement, which no lower animal is known to have 
 made or shown the least sign of making.' 'The Gesture-language is in great 
 part a system of representing objects and ideas by a rude outline-gesture, imitat- 
 ing their most striking features. It is, as has been well said by a deaf-and-dumb 
 man, a Picture-language. Here at once its essential difference fi-om speech be- 
 comes evident. Why the words stand and go mean what they do is a question to 
 which we cannot as yet give the shadow of an answer, and if we had been taught 
 to say stand where we now say go, and go where we now say sfand, it would be 
 practically all the same to us. No doubt there was a sufficient reason for these 
 words receiving the meanings they now bear, but so far as we are concerned there 
 might as well have been none, for we have quite lost sight of the connection be- 
 tween the word and idea. But in the Gesture-language the relation between idea 
 and sign not only always exists, but is scarcely lost sight of for a moment. When 
 a deaf-and-dumb child holds his two first fingers forked like a pair of legs, and 
 makes them stand and walk upon the table, we want no teaching to tell us what 
 this means nor why it is done. The mother-tongue (so to speak) of the deaf-and- 
 dumb is the language of signs. The evidence of the best observers tends to prove 
 that they are capable of developing the Gesture-language out of their own minds 
 without the aid of speaking men. The educated deaf-mutes can tell us from 
 their own experience how Gesture-signs originate. 
 
 The following account is given by Kruse, a deaf-mute himself, and a well- 
 known teacher of deaf-mutes, and author of several works of no small abihty : — 
 *Thus the deaf-and-dumb must have a language without which no thought can be 
 brought to pass. But here nature soon comes to his help. What strikes him 
 
GESTURE SIGNS. xxxiii 
 
 most, or what makes a distinction to him between one thing and another, such 
 distinctive signs of objects are at once signs hy which he knows these objects, and 
 knows them again 3 they become tokens of things. And whilst he silently 
 elaborates the signs he has found for single objects, that is, whilst he describes 
 their forms for iiimself in the air, or imitates them in thought with hands, 
 fingers, and gestures, he developes for himself suitable signs to represent ideas, 
 ' which serve him as a means of fixing ideas of different kinds in his mind, and 
 recalling them to his memory. And thus he makes himself a language, the so- 
 called Gesture-language, and with these few scanty and imperfect signs a way for 
 thought is already broken, and with his thought, as it now opens out, the lan- 
 guage cultivates itself, and forms further and further.' 
 
 Mr Tylor proceeds to describe some of the signs used in the Deaf-and-Dumb 
 Institution at Berlin : — 
 
 'To express the pronouns I, thou, he, I push my fore-finger against the pit 
 of my stomach for /, push it towards the person addressed for thou, point with 
 my thumb over my right shoulder for he. When I hold my right hand flat 
 with the palm down at the level of my waist, and raise it towards the level of 
 my shoulder, that signifies great ; but if I depress it instead, it means little. The 
 sign for man is taking oflf the hat ; for child, the right elbow is dandled upon the 
 left hand. The adverb hither and the verb to come have the same sign, beckon- 
 ing with the finger towards oneself To hold the first two fingers apart, like a 
 letter V, and dart the finger tips out from the eyes is to see. To touch the ear 
 and tongue with the forefinger is to hear, and to taste. To speak is to move 
 the lips as in speaking, and to move the lips thus while pointing with the fore- 
 finger out from the mouth is name, or to name, as though one should define it to 
 point out ly speaking. To pull up a pinch of flesh from the back of one's hand 
 hjlesh or meat. Make the steam curling up from it with the forefinger, and it 
 becomes roast meat. Make a bird's bill with two fingers in front of one's lips 
 and flap with the arms, and that means goose ; put the first sign and these to- 
 gether, and we have roast goose. To seize the most striking outline of an object, 
 the principal movement of an action, is the whole secret, and this is what the 
 rudest savage can do untaught, nay, what is more, can do better and more easily 
 than the educated man.' 
 
 In the Institutions, signs are taught for many abstract terms, such as when or 
 yet, or the verb to he, but these, it seems, are essentially foreign to the nature of 
 the Gesture-language, and are never used by the children among themselves. 
 The Gesture-language has no grammar, pro-perly so called. The same sign stands 
 for the agent, his action, and the act itself, for walk, walkest, walked, walker, the 
 particular sense in which the sign is to be understood having to be gathered 
 fi-om the circumstances of the case. ' A look of inquiry converts an assertion 
 into a question, and fally serves to make the dilference between The master is 
 come, and Is the master come ? The interrogative pronouns ivho ? what ? are 
 made by looking or pointing about in an inquiring manner 5 in fact, by a num- 
 ber of unsuccessful attempts to say, he, that. The deaf-and-dumb child's way of 
 
 c 
 
xxxiv VOCAL SIGNS ANTERIOR TO GRAMMAR. 
 
 asking. Who has beaten you ? would be. You beaten -, who was it ? ' Where 
 the inquiry is of a more general nature, a number of alternatives are suggested, 
 ' The deaf-and-dumb child does not ask. What did you have for dinner yester- 
 day ? but. Did you have soup ? did you have porridge ? and so forth. — What is 
 expressed by a genitive case or a corresponding preposition may have a distinct 
 sign of holding in the Gesture-language. The three signs to express the gar^ 
 deners knife, might be the knife, the garden, and the action of grasping the 
 knife, putting it into his pocket, or something of the kind. But the mere 
 putting together of the possessor and possessed may answer the purpose.' 
 
 The vocal signs used at the first commencement of speech would differ from 
 the gestures which they supplemented or replaced only in being addressed to the 
 ear instead of the eye. Each separate utterance would be designed to lead the 
 hearer to the thought of some scene of existence or sensible image associated with 
 the sound which the utterance is intended to represent, and it might be used to 
 signify a substantive object, or a quality, or action, according to the circumstances 
 of the case. The deaf-mute touches his lip to signify either the lip itself or the 
 colour red, and the word lip might equally have been used in both tliese senses, 
 as, in fact, the term pink is applied indiiferently to a particular flower and a mix- 
 ture of white and red, or orange to a certain fruit and its peculiar colour. An 
 imitation of the sound of champing with the jaws might with equal propriety 
 signify either something to eat or the act of eating, and on this principle we have 
 above explained the origin of words like mum or nim, which may occasionally be 
 heard in our nurseries expressing indifferently the senses of eat or of food. Nor is 
 this comprehensiveness of signification confined to the self-developed language of 
 children. In ordinary English the same word may often be used in such a con- 
 struction as to make it either verb or noun, substantive or adjective, or sometimes 
 interjection or adverb also. When I speak of going to hunt or to Jish, gram- 
 marians would call the word a verb. When I speak of joining the hunt or catching 
 a Jish, it is a substantive. In the expression of a hunt-ball or Jish-dinner the prior 
 element is used to qualify the meaning of the following noun, and thus performs 
 the part of an adjective. The syllable ba?ig represents a loud dull sound, and when 
 it is uttered simply for the purpose of giving rise to the thought of such a sound, 
 as when I say. Bang ! went the gun, it is called an interjection. But when it is 
 meant to indicate the action of a certain person, as when I say. Do not bang the 
 door, it is a verb. When it expresses the subject or the object of action, as in the 
 sentence. He gave the door a bang, it is a noun. When I say. He ran bang up 
 against the wall, bang qualifies the meaning of the verb ran, and so is an adverb. 
 But these grammatical distinctions depend entirely upon the use, in other instances 
 or in other languages, of appropriate modifications of the significant syllable, 
 whether by additions or otherwise, in expressing such relations as those indicated 
 above. The office of all words at the beginning of speech, like that of the Inter- 
 jections at the present day, would be simply to bring to mind a certain object of 
 thought, and it would make no diflference in the nature of the word whether that 
 object was an agent, or an act, or a passive scene of existence. The same word 
 
NATURE OF INTERJECTIONS. xxxv 
 
 moo would serve to designate the lowing of the cow or the cow itself. It is only 
 when a word, signifying an attribute of this person or of that, coalesces with the 
 personal pronouns, or with elements expressing relations of time, that the verb 
 will begin to emerge as a separate kind of word from the rest of speech. In the 
 same way the coalescence with elements indicating that the thing signified is the 
 subject or the object of action, or expressing the direction of motion to or from 
 the thing, or some relation between it and another object, will give rise to the 
 class of nouns. We have in Chinese an example of a language in which neither 
 verb nor noun has yet been developed, but every syllable presents an independent 
 image to the mind, the relations of which are only marked by the construction of 
 the sentence, so that the same word may signify under different circumstances 
 what would be expressed by a verb, a noun, or an adjective in an inflectional 
 language. The syllable ta conveys the idea of something great, and may be used 
 in the sense of great, greatness, and to be great. Thus tafu signifies a great manj 
 fu ta, the man is great. — Miiller I. 255. The sense of in a place is expressed in 
 Chinese by adding such words as cung, middle, or nei, inside, as kuo cung, in the 
 empire. The instrumental relation is indicated by the syllable y, which is an old 
 word meaning use ; as y ting (use stick), with a stick. It is universally supposed 
 that the case-endings of nouns in Greek, Latin, and Sanscrit have arisen from the 
 coalescence of some such elements as the above, as in the case of our own com- 
 pounds, whereto, whereof, wherefore, whereby, wherewith, the subsidiary element 
 being slurred over in pronunciation, and gradually worn down until all clue to its 
 original form and signification has been wholly lost. It is otherwise with the 
 personal inflections of the verbs, whose descent from the personal pronouns is in 
 many cases clear enough. 
 
 Interjections are of the same simple significance as the words in Chinese, or 
 as all words must have been at the first commencement of speech. Their mean- 
 ing is complete in itself, not implying a relation to any other conception. The 
 purpose of the interjection is simply to present a certain object to the imagina- 
 tion of the hearer, leaving him to connect it with the ideas suggested by any 
 preceding or following words, as if successive scenes of visible representation were 
 brought before his eyes. The term is chiefly applied to exclamations intended 
 to express a variety of mental or bodily affections, pain, grief, horror, contempt, 
 wonder, &c., by imitating some audible accompaniment of the affection in ques- 
 tion. Thus the notion of pain or grief is conveyed by an imitation of a sigh or 
 a groan ; the idea of dislike and rejection by an imitation of the sound of spit- 
 ting. The interjection will be completely accounted for in an etymological 
 point of view, when it is traced to a recognised symphenomenon (as Lieber calls 
 it) of the affection, that is, to some outward display of the affection, that admits 
 of audible representation. Why the affection should display itself in such a 
 manner is a question beyond the bounds of etymological inquiry, but is often 
 self-evident, as in the case of spitting as a sign of dislike. 
 
 The interjections which occupy the most prominent place in the class are 
 perhaps those which represent a cry of pain, a groan, a sigh of oppression and 
 
 c 2 
 
xxxvi DEVELOPMENT OF VERBS AND NOUNS. 
 
 grief. Such are g. ach, Gael, ach, och, ochan, w. och, e. ah, oh, It. ai, ahi, ohi, 
 Gr. oi, u), Lat. ah, oh,ol, hei, IWyr. jao, jaoh. A widespread form, representing 
 probably a deeper groan, is seen in Gr. oi/ai, Lat. vce, It. guai, w. gwae, Illyr. 
 vaj, Goth, wai, ohg. wi, wiwa, as. wd, wdwa, e. woe, on. vei. 
 
 The representation of a sigh or groan by the syllable ah ! ah ! assumes the 
 shape of a substantive or a verb in w. och, ochan, g. ach, a groan or lamentation j 
 w. ochi, ochain, g. achen, dchxen, to groan, Gr. uxofxat, to bewail oneself, ukq- 
 X'^w (to cry ach ! ach !) dxt'w, aj^vvixi, to grieve, to mourn. It passes on to 
 signify the cause of the groaning in as. ace, cece, e. ache, pain, suffering, and in 
 Gr. axoc, pain, grief. The form corresponding to Lat. vce, however, has more 
 generally been used in the construction of words signifying pain, grief, misery. 
 G. weh, pain, grief, affliction ; die wehen, the pangs of childbirth ; kopfweh, 
 xahiweh, headache, toothache j wehen (Schmeller), to ache, to hurtj Let. wai- 
 idt, to injure j Illyrian vaj, w. gwae. It. guajo, misfortune, woe. 
 
 It is very common in an early stage of speech to form verbs by the addition 
 of elements signifying j'ai/ or make to an imitative syllable. Thus in the lan- 
 guage of the Gallas the sound of a crack is represented by the syllables caccJi 
 (where c stands for a click with the tongue) ; the chirping of birds by the syllable 
 tirr or trrr; the champing of the jaws by djamdjam ; and cacak djeda (to say 
 cacak) is to crack j tirr-djeda, to chirpy djamdjam goda (goda, to make), to 
 smack or make a noise as swine in eating. A similar formation is frequent in 
 Sanscrit, and is found in g. weh schreien, weh klagen, to cry woe ! to lament j 
 wehthun, to do woe, to cause pain, to ache. A more artificial way of express- 
 ing action is to replace the elements signifying say or make by the sound of an 
 /, n, or r, in Gr. mostly a z, at the close of the radical syllable. Thus the Latin 
 has ho.-l-are, to cry laa ! the Piedmontese, Jai- lau-hau, and more artificially 
 hau-l-e, to make bow-wow, to bark ; Fr. viiau-l-er, to cry miau ! Albanian 
 miau-l-is, miau-n-is, I mewj Gr, atai^w, to cry al, at, to lament, oryuax^w, to cry 
 «i/iot, ah me ! yapyapi^w, to sound yapyap, to gargle. In this way from the 
 root guai, wai, representing a cry of pain, are formed e. wai-l. It. guaj-ire, guaj- 
 ol-ire, to yell or cry out pitifully, to lament, Bret, gwe-l-a, to weep, n. vei-a, on. 
 pei-n-a (to cry vei !), to yell, howl, lament, g. weinen, to weep. 
 
 We get a glimpse of the original formation of verbs in the way in which the 
 interjection sometimes coalesces with the personal pronoun. The utterance of 
 the interjection alone would naturally express the pain or grief of the speaker 
 himself, but when joined with the mention of another person, the exclamation 
 would refer with equal clearness to the suffering of the person designated. Vce 
 tihi ! Fee victis ! Woe unto thee ! Woe unto them ! Accordingly, when the 
 speaker wishes emphatically to indicate himself as the sufferer, he adds the pro- 
 noun of the first person. Hei mihi ! Ah me I Aye me / Sp. Ay di me 1 Gr. 
 m/xoi. It. ohime! oime ! Illyr. vajme ! Let. waiman / woe is me. And so com- 
 plete is the coalescence of the interjection and the pronoun in some of these 
 cases, as to give rise to the formation of verbs like a simple root. Thus from 
 oijioi springs ot/uw4'w, to wail^ lament 5 frvom oim^, oimare, to wail or cry alas 
 
EXPRESSION OF HORROR. xxxvii 
 
 (Florio) ; from Let. walman / waiwanaSy lamentation, waimandt, to lament, 
 showing the formation of the oe. waiment, of the same signification. Now if 
 we examine the purport of the utterance ohime / ah me ! we shall see that it is 
 intended to let the hearer know that the speaker is in pain or grief, and thus has 
 essentially the same meaning with the Gr. a\o\xai I bemoan myself, I cry ach ! 
 I am in pain. And no one doubts that the }xai of Q.xo\iai is the pronoun of the 
 first person joined on to an element signifying lamentation or pain, a notion 
 which is expressed in the clearest manner by a syllable like dx or ach, represent- 
 ing a cry of pain. 
 
 The interjection in Italian coalesces also with the pronoun of the second and 
 third person : ohitu I alas for thee, oh'isel alas for him (Florio), suffering to thee, 
 to him, corresponding to Gr. ay^^aai^ u^ETai, although in these last the identity 
 of the verbal terminations with the personal pronoun is not so clearly marked as 
 in the case of the first person of the verb. 
 
 UGH ! 
 
 The eiFects of cold and fear on the human frame closely resemble each other. 
 They check the action of the heart and depress the vital powers, producing a con- 
 vulsive shudder, under which the sufferer cowers together with his arms pressed 
 against his chest, and utters a deep guttural cry, the vocal representation of which 
 will afford a convenient designation of the attitude, mental or bodily, with which 
 it is associated. Hence, in the first place, the interjection ugh ! (in German uh! 
 hu ! in French ouf !) expressive of cold or horror, and commonly pronounced 
 with a conscious imitation of the sound which accompanies a shudder. Then 
 losing its imitative character the representative syllable appears under the form of 
 ug or hug, as the root of verbs and adjectives indicating shuddering and horror. 
 Kilian has huggheren, to shudder or shiver. The oe. ug or houge was used in the 
 sense of shudder at, feel abhorrence at. 
 
 The rattling drum and trumpet's tout 
 
 Delight young swankies that are stout ; 
 
 What his kind frighted mother ngs 
 
 Is musick to the sodger's lugs. — ^Jamieson, Sc. Diet. 
 
 In a passage of Hardyng cited by Jamieson it is related how the Abbess of Cold- 
 inghame, having cut off her own nose and lips for the purpose of striking the 
 Danish ravishers wdth horror, — 
 
 * Counseiled al her systers to do the same 
 To make their foes to houge so with the sight. 
 And so they did, afore the enemies came 
 Eche-on their nose and overlip full right 
 Cut off anon, which was an hougly sight.* 
 
 Here, as Jamieson observes, the passage clearly points out the origin of the word 
 uglij as signifying what causes dread or abhorrence, or (carrying the derivation to 
 its original source) what makes us shudder and cry ugh ! 
 
 Ugh I the odious ugly fellow. — Countess of St Albans. 
 
xxxviii ASTONISHMENT. 
 
 It may be observed that we familiarly use frightful, or dreadfully ugly, for the 
 extreme of ugliness. The radical syllable is compounded with a diiferent termin- 
 ation in Scotch ugsome, what causes horror. 
 
 The ugsomeness and silence of the nycht 
 
 In every place my sprete made sore aghast. — Douglas, Virgil. 
 
 From the same root are on. "ugga, to fear, to have apprehension of ^ uggr, fright, 
 apprehension j uggligr, frightful, threatening 3 uggsamr, timorous. Then as 
 things of extraordinary size have a tendency to strike us with awe and terror, to 
 make us houge at them (in the language of Hardy ng), the term huge is used to 
 signify excessive size, a fearful size. The connection of the cry with a certain 
 bodily attitude comes next into play, and the word hug is applied to the act of 
 pressing the arms against the breast, which forms a prominent feature in the 
 shudder of cold or horror, and is done in a voluntary way in a close embrace or 
 the like. 
 
 GR. /3a/3a/ ! LAT. BAB^ ! PAP^ '. 
 
 The manifestation of astonishment or absorption in intent observation, by the 
 instinctive opening of the mouth, is familiar to every one. 
 
 I saw a smith stand with his hammer — thus, 
 The whilst his iron did on his anvil cool, 
 With opeti mouth swallowing a tailor's news. — K. John. 
 
 The physical cause of the phenomenon appears to be, that the least exertion 
 in breathing interferes with the power of catching any very slight sounds for 
 which we are listening ; and as we breathe with greater ease with the mouth open, 
 when we are intently engaged in the observation of an object of apprehension or 
 wonder, listening for every sound that may proceed from it, the mouth instinct- 
 ively opens in order to calm down the function of breathing, and to give the fairest 
 play to the sense of hearing. Now the exertion of the voice at the moment of 
 opening the lips produces the syllable ha, which is found as the root of words in 
 the most distant languages signifying wonder, intently observe, watch, expect, 
 wait, remain, endure, or (passing from the mental to the bodily phenomenon) 
 gape or open the mouth, and thence open in general. The repetition of the syl- 
 lable la, ba, gives the interjection of wonder in Greek and Latin, (3a(3ai ! babae! 
 papae ! The exclamation da ! is used in the North of France in a similar manner, 
 according to Hecart (Diet. Rouchi), and the same author explains hahaie as one 
 who stares with open mouth, a gaping hoohy. Walloon hawi, to gaze with open 
 mouth (Grandgagnage) j eslawi. Old English ahaw, Fr. ehahir, ahauhir, to cause 
 to cry ha ! to set agape, to astonish. 
 
 In himself was all his state 
 More solemn than the tedious pomp which waits 
 On princes, when their rich retinue long 
 Of horses led and grooms besmeared with gold, 
 Dazzles the crowd, and sets them all agape, — Milton. 
 
 In the remote Zulu we find hahaza, to astonish. The significant syllable is 
 
ATTENTION, SILENCE. xxxix 
 
 strengthened by a final d in several of the Romance dialects (' the d being in an- 
 cient Latin the regular stopgap of the hiatus.' — Quart. Rev. No. 148), as in It. 
 ladare, to be intent upon, to watch, to loiter, tarry, stay ; stare a hada, to observe, 
 to watch, to wait 5 shadigliare, Proven9al ladalhar, to yawn ; hadar, to open the 
 mouth, gola ladada, with open mouth ; pouerto badiero, an open door ; Fr. bader, 
 to open (Vocab. de Berri), badault (badaud), a gaping hoyden, a fool (Cot.) -, 
 Catalan badia, Portuguese bahia, an opening where the sea runs up into the land, 
 a bay j Breton badalein, to yawn ; bada, badaoui, to be stupified, dazzled, aston- 
 ished. In France the simpler form of the root, without the addition of the final 
 d, gives Old Fr. baer, baier, beer, to be intent upon, to hanker after, to gape j 
 bouche beante, a gueule bee, with open mouth 3 bailler, to gape or yawn. Abater 
 is explained by Lacombe, * ecouter avec etonnement, bouche beante, inhiare lo- 
 quenti.' The adoption of Fr. abater gave rise to e. abeyance, expectation, sus- 
 pense, and OE. abie, to remain, abide, endure. 
 
 At sight of her they sudden all arose 
 
 In great amaze, ne wist which way to chuse, 
 
 But Jove all fearless forced them to abii.—Y. Queen. 
 
 The same transition from the sense of earnest observation to that of expecta- 
 tion or mere endurance until a certain end, is seen in Latin attendere, to observe, 
 to direct the mind to, and Fr. attendre, to expect, to wait ; and again in Italian 
 guatare, to look, to watch, compared with e. wait, which is radically identical 
 and was itself originally used in the sense of look. 
 
 Beryn clepyd a maryner, and bad hym sty on loft, 
 And weyte aftir our four shippis aftir us doith dryve. 
 
 As the vowel of the root is thinned down from a to z in the series baer, baier, 
 abaier, aby, or in Gr. (x"<«') x"^''^> xaaKu), compared with Lat. hio, to gape, we 
 learn to recognise a similar series in It. badare, Gothic beidan, to look out for, to 
 expect, await, and E. bide, abide, to wait. 
 
 HUSH ! HIST ! 
 
 A representation of a whispering or rustling sound by the utterance of a pro- 
 longed sh or ss, or of different combinations of s with h, p, or t, is widely used for 
 the purpose of demanding silence or cessation of noise, or of warning one to listen. 
 Hence the interjections of silence, hush/ hist f whist / pist I (Hal), Sc. whishl 
 whisht ! G. ps ! psch ! pst ! husch ! tusch ! Da. tys I Sw. tyst ! Lat. st ! It. %itto, 
 Piedm. cito 1 ciuto / Fr. chut I Turk, susd ! Ossetic ss / sos / silence! Fernandian 
 siaf listen! tush! Yoruba ^io ! pshaw! (Tylor, Prim. Cult. I. 178.) 
 
 The interjection seems in all cases to arise from a representation of a low 
 whispering sound, but the principle on which it acts as a demand of silence may 
 be explained in two ways. In the first place it may be understood as an exhort- 
 ation to lower the voice to a whisper, or more urgently, not to let even a whisper 
 or a rustle be heard ; but more generally perhaps it is to be understood as an in- 
 
xl LISTENING. 
 
 timation to be on the watch for the least whisper that can be heard, for which 
 purpose it is necessary that the hearer should keep perfectly still. Thus we have 
 Sc. ufhishy whush, a rushing or whizzing sound, a whisper. — Jam. 
 
 Lat her yelp on, be you as calm's a mouse, 
 Nor lat your wJiisht be heard into the house. 
 
 The It. %itto is used exactly in the same way j non fare zitto, not to make the 
 least sound 3 non sentirse un %itto, not a breath to be heard ; stare %itto, to be 
 silent. Pissipissi, pst, hsht, still -, also a low whispering j pissipissare, tp psh, to 
 hsht J also to buzz or whisper very low. — Fl. To pister or whister are provincially 
 used in the sense of whisper. — Hal. The w. hust (pronounced hist), a buzzing 
 noise, hush (Rhys), hasting, whisper, speak low, correspond to e. hist / silence ! 
 listen ! In the same way answering to g. tusch I Da. tys I hush ! the g. has tus- 
 chen, tuscheln, to whisper ; zischen, zischeln, zuscheln, to hiss, whizz, fizz, whisper. 
 G. huschf represents any slight rustling sound, the sound of moving quickly through 
 the air. ' Huschf sausen wir husch ! durch rusch und durchbusch.' * Huschf 
 was rauscht dort in den gebiischen.' In this last example it will be seen that the 
 interjection may be understood either as a representation of the rustling sound that 
 is heard in the bushes, or as an intimation to listen to it. The Gr. ai'Cw, to give 
 the sound ai, to hiss, signifies also, to cry hush ! to command silence, showing 
 that the syllable «n, like the Fernandian sia ! was used in the sense of hush. 
 Hence must be explained Lat. sileo, Goth, silan (formed on the plan of Lat, ha- 
 l-o, to cry laa), to be hushed or silent. In Gr. onyaw, to be silent, cnydi^u), to put 
 to silence, the root has the form of e. sigh, representing the sound of a deep-drawn 
 breath, or the whispering of the wind. In like manner the Sc. souch, sugh, 
 swouch, souf, OE. swough, Magy. sug-, suh-, representing the sound of the wind, or 
 of heavy breathing, lead to Sc. souch, silent, calm. To keep a calm souch ; to 
 keep souch, to keep silent. — Jam. Hence as. suwian, swugan, swigan, g. schwei- 
 gen, to be silent. The syllable representing a whispering sound is sometimes 
 varied by the introduction of an / after the initial w, f, or h. Thus from forms 
 like whisper (g. wispern, wispeln), whister, pister, whist f hist f we pass to as. 
 wlisp (speaking with a whispering sound), lisping, G.Jiispern,flustern, to whisper, 
 ON. hlusta, to listen, as. hlyst, gehlyst, the sense of hearing. The primitive mute 
 then falls away, leaving the initial / alone remaining, as in g. Uspeln, to whisper, 
 also to lisp ; Du. luysteren, to whisper, as well as to listen (Kil.) 3 e. list f synon- 
 ymous with hist f hark, and thence the verb to listen. 
 
 The notion of a suppressed utterance of the voice is very generally conveyed 
 by modifications of the syllable mu, representing the sound made with the closing 
 lips J mu, mum, mut, muk, mus, to which are often added a rhyming accompani- 
 ment on the plan of such expressions as hugger-mugger, hulhle-hulhle, helter-skelter. 
 Thus we have Gr. fxv^eiv [xrjre ypv'Cuv, to say neither mu nor gru, not to utter a 
 syllable; Lat. muttio or mutio, as e. mutter, to say mut, to utter low indistinct 
 sounds ; non muttire, non dicere muttum, to keep silence. Equivalent phrases are 
 Fr. ne sonner mot ; It. non fare ne motto ne totto (Altieri) -, Sp. no decir mus ne 
 chus, ni mistar ni chistar ; Du. noch mikhen noch kifiken; g. nicht miklien, nicht 
 
SILENCE, CONCEALMENT. xli 
 
 Swiss nicht mutz thun. The form mum may perhaps be from 
 a repetition of the imitative syllable mu mu, as in Vei mumu, dumb. It is used by 
 the author of Pierce Plowman in the sense of the least utterance, where, speaking 
 of the avarice of the monks, he says that you may sooner 
 
 mete the mist on Malvern hills 
 
 Than get a mum of their mouths ere money be them shewed. 
 
 Hence, by ellipse of the negative, 7num / silence ! Fr. Aloni / ne parlez plus 
 — Palsgr. In the same way the Fr. uses mot, as, ne sonnez viot ! not a syllable ! 
 — Trevoux. 
 
 With every step of the track leading up to the Lat. mutus, speechless, so clearly 
 marked out, it is impossible to hesitate between the formation of the word in the 
 manner indicated above, and the derivation from Sanscr. mii^ to bind, maintained 
 by Miiller, and from so glaring an example we may take courage not always to 
 regard the question as conclusively settled by the most confident production of 
 a Sanscrit root. As the Fr. uses both mom ! and mot ! as an injunction of 
 silence, so a person stands mum or mute when not a mum or a mut comes from 
 his mouth. Moreover, the sense of speechlessness is expressed on the same 
 principle in the most distant tongues. Thus from Magy. kuk^ a shght sound, 
 is formed hullianm (identical with the Da. kikken in the 'expression noch mikken 
 noch kikken), to mutter, and kuka, dumb. The Vei mumu, Mpongwe vnamu, 
 dumb, are essentially identical with our mum, silent, whence mummers, actors in 
 dumbshow. Mr Tylor quotes also Zulu momata, to move the mouth or lips ; 
 Tahitian omumo, to murmur j mamu, io be silent j Fiji nomonomo, Chilian noinn, 
 to be silent ^ Quiche mevi, mute ; Quichua amu, silent, dumb. — Prim. Cult. I. 
 
 185. 
 
 The ideas of silence and secresy or concealment are so closely connected, that 
 from ixv^io we readily pass to fxvaTrjpiov, the secret rites of Greek worship, wdience 
 E. mystery, something hidden from the comprehension. In the same way from 
 the representative mus (Sp. no decir mus ni chus) w^e have Lat. musso, to mutter, 
 to be silent, and thence Fr. musser, to hidcj musse, a private hoard. 'Clique 
 musce les furmens, est escommenge es gens : qui abscondit frumenta maledicetur 
 in populis.' Cotgrave calls hide-and-seek the game of musse. So also from the 
 parallel form ?nuk must probably be explained the familiar hugger mugger, applied 
 to what is done in secret, and mucker, to lay up a (secret) store. Exmoor mug- 
 gard (muttering), sullen, displeased. — Halliwell. Gr. fivyfios, a muttering. 
 
 HEM ! 
 
 The interj. hem/ ahem/ hm / hum/ represent the sound made in clearing 
 the throat in order to call the attention of the hearer to the speaker. In Latin it ' 
 has frequently the force of the interj. en / (which may be merely another mode 
 of representing the same utterance) when the speaker points to something, or 
 does something to which he wishes to call attention. Hem ! Davum tibi : Here! 
 (pointing) there is Davus for you. Oves scabrse sunt, tam glabrae, hem, quam 
 haec est manus : — as smooth, see here ! as this hand. When addressed to a person 
 
xlii THE PRONOUN ME. 
 
 going away it has the effect of stopping him or calling him back. Thus Du. hem 
 is explained by Weiland an exclamation to make a person stand still: hem ! hoor 
 hier, hallo ! hark there. Mr Tylor notices an analogous exclamation mma I * hallo, 
 stop,' in the language of Fernando Po. Then, as the notion of bringing to a stand 
 naturally leads to that of stopping a person in something that he is doing, the 
 interj. ham / is used in Hesse as a prohibition to children. Ham ! ham 1 Don't 
 touch that, leave that alone. Hum ! Hummel an interj. of prohibition. — Brem. 
 Wtb. Hence hamm holln, to keep one in check, to restrain. Du sast mi 
 woll hamm holln, you shall attend to my hamm ! shall stay where I chuse, do 
 as I direct (Danneil). The conversion of the interj. into a verb gives Du. hemmen, 
 hammen, to call back by crying hem / (Weiland), and g. hemmen, to restrain, keep 
 back, to stop or hinder a proceedings together with the e. hem, to confine. * They 
 hem me in on every side.* A hem>* is the doubling down which confines the threads 
 of a garment and hinders them from ravelling out. 
 
 The point of greatest interest about the interj. hem is that it oflfers a possible, 
 and as it seems to me a far from improbable, origin of the pronoun me, Gr. emo-, 
 as shown in the cases ifiov, efxai, ifxi. We have seen that the primary purpose 
 of the interj. is to call the attention of the hearer to the presence of the person 
 who utters the exclamation, and this, it must be observed, is precisely the office of 
 the pronoun me, which signifies the person of the speaker. Hem is often used 
 in Latin when the speaker turns his thoughts upon himself. Hem ! misera 
 occidi ! Ah wretched me ! I am lost. Hem ! scio jam quid vis dicere. Let me 
 see — I know what you would say. In the line 
 
 Me, Me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite tela, 
 
 we might read the passage without alteration of the meaning. 
 
 Hem ! Hem ! adsum qui feci. 
 
 The use of articulations consisting mainly of the sound of m or n to signify the 
 speaker himself, is so widely spread in every family of man, that this mode of 
 designation must be based on some very obvious principle of significance. 
 
 In an interesting paper on the pronouns of the first and second person by Dr 
 Lottner, in the Philological Trans, of 1859, ^^ shows that in upwards of seventy 
 Negro languages the pronoun of the first person is ma, me, mi, man, na, ne, nge, 
 ngi, ni, in, with m and n as personal prefixes. And the word is formed on the same 
 plan in almost all families of language. In the Finnic family we have Ostiac ma, 
 Vogul am. Lap. mon ; in Turkish -m as possessive affix, as in lala-m, my father. 
 Then again Burmese nga, Chinese ngo, Corean nai, Australian ngai, Kassia vga, 
 Kol ing, aing, Tamul nan, Basque ni, Georgian me, and among the languages of 
 N. and S. America, ni, ne, no, na, miye, in, ane, ani, &c. The Bushmen of the Cape, 
 
 * Mr Tylor cites the derivation of G. hemmen, * to stop, check, restrain,' from the interj. 
 hem ! signifying stop ! as an obvious extravagance. There is however so close a connection 
 in meaning betvi^een the interjection and the verb, that it is not easy to understand the grounds 
 of the censure from the mouth of one who fully admits the legitimacy of derivation from inter- 
 jections. 
 
THE PRONOUN ME. xliii 
 
 whose pronoun of the first person is written mm by Lichtenstein, probably retain 
 the purest type of the expression, the principle of which appears to be the confine- 
 ment of the voice within the person of the speaker, by the closure of the lips or 
 teeth in the utterance of the sounds m, n, ng. It is certain that something of this 
 kind is felt when we sound the voice through the nose in an inarticulate way 
 with closed lips, in order to intimate that we are keeping our thoughts to ourselves, 
 and are not prepared, or do not choose, to give them forth in speech. The sound 
 which we utter on such an occasion appears in writing in the shape of the interj. 
 hm / and as it marks the absorption of the speaker in his own thoughts, it might 
 naturally be used to designate himself in the early lispings of language before the 
 development of the personal pronouns : in other words, it might serve as the basis 
 of the pronoun me. Nor is the formation of the pronoun on such a plan by any 
 means a new suggestion. 
 
 The Grammarian Nigidius (as quoted by A. Gellius, 1. x. c. 4) asserts that in 
 pronouncing the pronoun of the first person {ego, mihi, nos), we hem in, as it 
 were, the breath within ourselves (spiritum quasi intra nosmetipsos coercemus), 
 and hence he conceives that the word is naturally adapted to the meaning it ex- 
 presses. He probably felt the truth of the principle in the case of me, and blun- 
 deringly extended it to ego, in the pronunciation of which there is certainly no 
 hemming in of the voice. It is of the nasals m,, n, ng only that this character 
 can properly be affirmed, and these, as we have seen, seem to be indifferently 
 employed as the basis of me and its correlatives all over the globe. Plato in the 
 Cratylus speaks of the letter n as keeping the sound within the speaker, and on 
 that principle implicitly explains the meaning of the preposition tV, in, which is 
 the mere articulation of the consonantal sound in question. 
 
 The application of an interj. signifying see here ! to the sense of me, would 
 be striqtly parallel to the use of It. ci and vi, properly signifying here and there, in 
 the sense of us and you. Other instances of a like nature are given by W. v. 
 Humboldt in his essay on the connection between the adverbs of place and the 
 personal pronouns. Thus in the language of Tonga, mei signifies hither, motion 
 towards the speaker 5 atu, motion from the speaker to the person spoken to, and 
 these particles are used in construction (like It. ci and vi) for me or us and you. 
 * Bea behe mei he tunga fafine ' =when spoke hither the several women, i. e. 
 when several women spoke to me or us. So tdla, to tell j tdla mei, to tell 
 hither, to tell me or us ; tdla tu, to tell thither, to tell you. Here we seem to 
 have the very forms of the Lat. pronouns me and tu, for which it is remarkable 
 that the Tonga has totally different words, au and coy. In Armenian there is a 
 suffix s, which originally means this or here, but takes the meaning of / and my. 
 Thus hair-s, this father, I a father, my father. In American slang a man speaks 
 of himself as this child. 
 
 Another consequence of the"* closing of the mouth in the utterance of the 
 sound of m or n may explain the use of those articulations in expressing rejec- 
 tion, refusal, negation. ; The earliest type of rejection is the closing of the 
 mouth, and the aversion of the head from the proffered breast, and the inherent 
 
xliv NEGATION. E^TJOYMENT. 
 
 propriety of the symbolism is obvious. De Brosses observes that the articulations 
 71 and s, both of which he considers as nasal sounds, are naturally adapted to sig- 
 nify negation or contrariety, giving as examples the words infinity and It. sfor- 
 tunato. He overlooks the fact, however, that this It. s is merely the remnant of 
 a Lat. disy and gives no other example of the supposed negative power of the 
 letter. Moreover, the reason he suggests for attributing such a significance to 
 the nasals is simply absurd. Of the two channels, he says (ch. xiv. § 29), by which 
 the voice is emitted, the nose is the least used, and it changes the sound of the 
 vowel, which adapts it for the interjection of doubt, and for the expression of 
 the privative idea. The expression of negation by means of nasals is exemplified 
 in Goth, ni, Lat. ncy in (in composition), Gr. jut/, Masai (E. Africa) emme, erne, m- ; 
 Vei ma ; Haussa n, n, representing a sound of which it is impossible to convey a 
 correct idea by visible signs. — Schon. Mr Tylor cites Botocudo yna (making 
 the loudness of the sound indicate the strength of the negation) j Tupi aan, aani ; 
 Guato mau ; Miranha nani ; Quichua ama, manan (whence manamni, to deny) j 
 Quiche ma, man] mana ; Galla hn, hin, km ; Coptic an, emmen, en, mmn ; 
 Fernandian 'nt, all signifying not. 
 
 ENJOYMENT AND DISGUST. 
 
 The most universal and direct source of pleasure in animal life is the appe- 
 tite for food, and it is accordingly from this source that are taken the types used 
 in expressing the ideas of gratification or dislike. The savage expresses his ad- 
 miration and pleasure by smacking his lips or rubbing his belly, as if relishing 
 food or rejoicing in a hearty meal ; he indicates distaste and rejection by signs of 
 spitting out a nauseous mouthful. Thus Petherick, speaking of a tribe of negroes 
 on the Upper Nile, says, ' The astonishment and delight of these people at our 
 display of beads was great, and was expressed by laughter and a general rubbing 
 of their bellies.' — Egypt and the Nile, p. 448. And similar evidence is adduced 
 by Leichardt from the remoter savages in Australia. * They very much admired 
 our horses and bullocks, and particularly our kangaroo-dog. They expressed 
 their admiration by a peculiar smacking or clacking with their mouth and lips.' 
 — Australia, p. '^'^6. 
 
 The syllable smack, by which we represent the sound made by the lips or 
 tongue in kissing or tasting, is used in English, Swedish, German, Polish, &c., in 
 the sense of taste. Du. smaeck, taste ; sniaecklic, sweet, palatable, agreeable to 
 the taste. In the Finnish languages, which do not admit of a double consonant 
 at the beginning of words, the loss of the initial s gives Esthonian maggo, makko, 
 taste J maggus, makke. Fin. makia, sweet, well-tasting ; maiskia, to smack the 
 lips ; maisto, taste ; maiskis, a smack, a kiss, also relishing food, delicacies. The 
 initial s is lost also in Fris. macke, to kiss. The initial consonant is somewhat 
 varied without impairing the imitative effect in Bohemian mlaskati, to smack in 
 eating ; mlaskanina, delicacies j and in Fin. naskia, g. knatschen, to smack with 
 the mouth in eating, showing the origin of Lettish naschkeht, g. naschen, to be 
 nice in eating, to love delicacies j ndscherei, dainties. 
 
ENJOYMENT. DISGUST. xlv 
 
 P^gam, we have seen that Leichardt employs the syllables smack and clack as 
 equally appropriate to represent the sound made by the tongue and palate in the 
 enjoyment of tasty food, and in French, claquer de la langue is employed for the 
 same purpose. We speak of a click with the tongue, though we do not happen 
 to apply it to the smack in tasting. The Welsh has gwefusglec {gwefus, lip), a 
 smack with the lips, a kiss. From this source then we may derive Gr. jXvkvq, 
 sweet, analogous to Du. smaecklic, Fin. makia, from the imitative smack. The 
 sound of an initial cl or gl is readily confounded with that of tl or dl, as some 
 people pronounce glove, dlove, and formerly tlick was used where we now say 
 click. Thus Cotgrave renders Fr. niquet, a tnicke, tlick, snap with the fingers. 
 The same combination is found in Boh. tlaskati, to smack in eating, tleskati, to 
 clap hands -, and Lat. stloppus, parallel with sclopus, a pop or click with the 
 mouth. From the sound of a smack represented by the form tlick or dlick I 
 would explain Lat. delicice, anything one takes pleasure in, delight, darling j to- 
 gether with the cognate delicatus, what one smacks one's chops at, dainty, nice, 
 agreeable, as corruptions of an earlier form, dlicice, dlicatus. And as we have 
 supposed Gr. yXvKvg (glykys) to be derived from the form click or glick, so from 
 tlick or dlick would be formed dlykis or dlukis (dlucis), and ultiniately dulcis, 
 sweet, the radical identity or rather parallelism of which with yXvKvg has been 
 recognised on the principle of such an inversion. When the sound of an initial 
 // or dl became distasteful to Latin ears, it would be slurred over in different 
 ways, and dlucis would pass into dulcis by inverting the places of the liquid and 
 vowel, while the insertion of an e in dlicice, dlicatus, as in the vulgar umberella 
 for umbrella, would produce delicice, delicatus. It is true that an intrusive 
 vowel in such cases as the foregoing is commonly (though not universally) short, 
 but the long e in these words may have arisen from their being erroneously re- 
 garded as compounds with the preposition de. 
 
 POOH ! 
 
 The attitude of dislike and rejection is typified by signs of spitting out an 
 unsavoury morsel, as clearly as the feelings of admiration and pleasure by signs 
 of the relishing of food. Thus Gawaine Douglas expresses his disgust at the way 
 in which the harmonious lines of Virgil were mangled by incompetent trans- 
 lators. 
 
 His ornate goldin verses mare than gilt, 
 
 I spittefor disspite to see thame spylte 
 
 By sic ane wicht. — 5. 44. , 
 
 'Would to God therefore that we were come to such a detestation and loathing 
 of lying that we would even spattle at it, and cry fy upon it and all that use it.' — • 
 Dent's Pathway in HalHwell. The Swedish 5/)o// signifies spittle, and also derision, 
 contempt, insult. The traveller Leichardt met with the same mode of expression 
 among the savages of Australia. ' The men commenced talking to them, but 
 occasionally interrupted their speeches by spitting and uttering a noise hke pooh I 
 pooh I apparently expressive of their disgust.' — p. 189. It is probable that this 
 
x!vi OFFENCE. 
 
 Australian interjection was, in flict, identical with our own pooli ! and like it, in- 
 tended to represent the sound of spitting, for which purpose Burton in his African 
 travels uses the native took / ' To-o-h ! Tuh ! exclaims the Muzunga, spitting 
 with disgust upon the ground.' — Lake Regions of Africa, 2. 246. 
 
 The sound of spitting is represented indifferently with an initial p, as in Maori 
 puhwa, to spit out j Lat. spuere, to spit j respuere (to spit back), to reject with dis- 
 dain ; despiiere, to express disgust or disdain j or with an initial t, as in Sanscr. 
 fhuHiil, the sound of spitting j Pers. thii kerdan, Chinook mamook took, Chilian 
 tuvcutun (to make thi, took, tuv), to spit 5 Arabic tiijl, spittle j Galla twu / re- 
 presenting the sound of spitting j tufa, to spit j tiifada, to spit, to despise, scorn, 
 disdain j with which may be joined English tuff, to spit like a cat. In Greek 
 TTTvio the imitation is rendered more vivid by the union of both the initial sounds. 
 
 BLURT ! PET ! TROTZ ! 
 
 The feelings of one dwelling on his own merits and angry at the short- 
 comings of another are marked by a frowning brow, a set jaw, and inflated cheeks, 
 while the breath is drawn in deep inspirations and sent out in puffs through the 
 nostril and passive lips. Hence the expressions of breathing vengeance, fuming with 
 anger, swelling with pride. 
 
 Sharp breaths of anger puffed 
 Her fairy nostrils out. — Tennyson. 
 
 The sound of hard breathing or blowing is represented by the syllables puff, ^uff, 
 whiff, whence a Jiuff^ is a fit of ill-temper 3 to huff, to swell with indignation or 
 pride, to bluster, to storm. — Johnson. The It. luffa is explained in Thomas' 
 Italian Dictionary 'the despising blast of the mouth which we call shirping.* 
 Brescian lofa, to breathe hard, to puff, especially with anger. — Melchiori. Then, 
 as ill-will vents itself in derision, luffa, heffa, a jest, a trick ; leffare, to trick or 
 cheat -J beffarsi, to laugh at 3 luffone, a jester, a buffoon. 
 
 When the puff of anger or disdain is uttered with exaggerated feeling it pro- 
 duces an explosive sound with the lips, represented by the syllable Hurt, which 
 was formerly used as an interjection of defiance. ' Blurt ! master constable,' a 
 fig for the constable. Florio speaks of ' a Hurt with one's mouth in scorn or de- 
 rision.' To Hurt a thing out is to bring it out with a sudden explosion as if spit- 
 ting something out of the mouth. A Hirt of greeting in Scotch is a burst of 
 crying. 
 
 A contemptuous whiff or blurt is otherwise represented by the sounds ft, pt, 
 prh, tt, trt. Thus w. wfft I is explained by Davis, vox abhorrentis et exprobrantis. 
 IVfft, a scorn or slight, a fie ; wfftio, to cry shame or fie, to push away with dis- 
 approbation. — Lewis. Sanscr. phut, phut, imitative sound of blowing 3 expression 
 of disregard, indignation, anger. — Benfey. The It. petto, a blurt, petteggiare, 
 pettacchiare, to blurt with the mouth or lips (Fl.), Fr. petarade, a noise made with 
 the mouth in contempt (Sadler), explain the interjections on. putt/ Da. pytt I Sw. 
 pyt 1 pshaw ! tut ! nonsense ! Norman pet I pour imposer un silence absolu. — 
 Decorde. 
 
OFFENCE. CONTEMPT. xlvii 
 
 From the latter form of the interjection we have e. pet, a fit of ill-humour or 
 of anger j to take pet, to take huff, to take offence j pettish, passionate, ill-hu- 
 moured. To pet a child is to indulge it in ill-humour, and thence a pet, a darling, 
 an indulged child or animal. Then as a child gives vent to his ill-humour by 
 thriLsting out his lips and making a snout, or making a lip, as it is called in nursery- 
 language, a hanging lip is called a pet lip in the N. of England. To pout, in De- 
 vonshire to poutch or poutle, Illyrian puciti se, Magyar pittyesxtni (pitty, a blurt 
 with the mouth), Genevese /aire la potte, signify to show ill-will by thrusting 
 out the lips. Hence Genevese pottu, pouting, sulky j Magy. pittyasz, having 
 projecting lips 3 Genevese pottes, Prov. pot%, lips 5 Languedoc pot, pout, a lipj 
 poutet, a kiss 3 poutouno, a darhng. Again, as in the case of It. Imffa, heffa, 
 above-mentioned, we pass from the expression of ill-will to the notion of a dis • 
 agreeable turn in Da. puds, Sw. puts (to be compared M'ith Devon, poutch^, g. 
 posse, a trick. 
 
 The 'E. tut / (an exclamation used for checking or rebuking — ^Webster) seems 
 to represent an explosion from the tongue instead of the lips, and gives rise to the 
 provincial tutty, ill-tempered, sullen (Hal.), and probably tut-mouthed, having a 
 projecting underjaw j on. tota, snout ; Sw. tut. Da. tud, a spout, compared to 
 the projecting lips of a sulky child. 
 
 A more forcible representation of the explosive sound is given by the intro- 
 duction of an r, as in on. prutta d hefta, to sound with the lips to a horse in 
 order to make him go on 3 Sw. prusta, to snort, to sneeze; Magy. prussz, 
 ptriissz, as well as tiissz, triissz, sneeze. The resemblance of a sneeze to a blurt 
 of contempt is witnessed by the expression of a thing not to he sneezed at, not to 
 be scorned. Thus the Magy. forms afford a good illustration of the oe. in- 
 terjections of scorn. Prut I Ptrot ! Tprot / e. Tut! Fr. Trut / and g. Trotz ! 
 
 The Manuel des Pecches, treating of the sin of Pride, takes as first example 
 the man 
 
 — that is unbuxome all 
 Ayens his fader spirital, 
 And seyth Pfut / for thy cursyng, prest. — I, 3016. 
 
 Hence are formed the oe. prute, prout, now written proud, and the Northern 
 E. prutten, to hold up the head with pride and disdain (Halliwell), which in the 
 West of E. (with inversion of the liquid and vowel) takes the form of purt, to 
 pout, to be sulky or sullen, g. protzen, Du. pratten, to sulk; protzig, prat, 
 surly, proud, arrogant. Then, as before, passing from the figure of a contemptu- 
 ous gesture to a piece of contemptuous treatment we have on. pretta, to play a 
 trick; prettr, a trick. And as from the form pet/ putt I was derived Swiss 
 Romance potte, a lip, so from prut ! may be explained ohg. prort, a lip, and 
 figuratively a margin or border. 
 
 The imitation of the explosive sound with an initial tr, as in Magy. triisszen- 
 ni, to sneeze, gives It. truscare, to blurt or pop with one's lip or mouth (Fl.) ; 
 truscio di lahbra, Fr. true, a blurting or popping with the lips or tongue to en- 
 
xlviii DEFIANCE. DISGUST. 
 
 courage a horse 5 on. trutta, to make a noise of such a description in driving 
 animals : vox est instigantis vel agentis cquos'aut armenta. — Gudmund. Hence 
 Fr. trut / (an interj. importing indignation), tush, tut, fy man (Cot.) 3 from 
 which we pass to Sw. dialect truta, to pout with the hps, make a snout ; trutas, 
 to be out of temper -, trut, a snout, muzzle, spout. From the same source is the 
 G. trutz, trotz, tratz, expressing ill-will, scorn, defiance. Trutz nit I do not sulk. 
 — Kladderadatsch. Trotz lieten, to bid defiance ; trotzen, to defy, to be forward 
 or obstinate, to pout or sulk, to be proud of 3 trotzig, haughty, insolent, perverse, 
 peevish, sulky. — Griebe. Du. trotsen, tortcn, to irritate, insult ; Valencian trotar, 
 to deride, to make a jest of. Sc. dort, pet, sullen humour j to take the darts, to 
 be in a pet j dorty, pettish, saucy, dainty. 
 
 A special apphcation of the exclamation of impatience and displeasure is to 
 send an inferior packing from one's presence. Thus from true, representing a 
 blurt with the mouth, is to be explained It. truccare, to send, to trudge or pack 
 away nimbly (Fl.) -, trucca via I be off with you. Venetian tro%are, to send 
 away. The exclamation in Gaelic takes the form oi truis f be off, said to a dog, 
 or a person in contempt (Macalpine) . In oe. truss I was used in the same 
 way. 
 
 Lyere — was nowher welcome, for his manye tales 
 
 Over al yhonted, and yhote, trusse. — Piers PI. Vis. v. 13 16. 
 
 To hete truss is an exact equivalent of g. tr.otz lieten. In Modern E. the expres- 
 sion survives in the shape of trudge. 
 
 This tale once told none other speech prevailed, 
 
 But pack and trudge I all leysare was to long. — Gascoigne. 
 
 FAUGH ! FIE ! 
 
 There is a strong analogy between the senses of taste and smell, as between 
 sight and hearing. When we are sensible of an odour which pleases us we snuff 
 up the air through the nostrils, as we eagerly swallow food that is agreeable 
 to the palate 3 and as we spit out a disagreeable morsel, so we reject an offens- 
 ive odour by stopping the nose and driving out the infected air through the 
 protruded lips, with a noise of which various representations are exhibited in the 
 interjections of disgust. *Piff! PhewIPhit!' exclaims a popular writer, — ' they 
 have all the significance of those exclamatory whiffs which we propel from our 
 lips when we are compelled to hold our noses.' — Punch, Sept. 2, 1863. 
 
 The sound of blowing is imitated all over the world by syllables like iu}iew,fu, 
 pu. The inteij. wJiew / represents a forcible expiration through the protruded 
 lips, ' a sound like that of a half-formed whistle, expressing astonishment, scorn, or 
 dislike' (Webster). Sc. quhew, ^Y..wliew, expresses the sound made by a body 
 passing rapidly through the air. To wJiew, Maori whio, to whistle 3 wldu, a stroke 
 with a whip ; kowMuwlim, to blow, to winnow. 
 
 The derivatives from the form pu or fu are extremely numerous, on. pna, g. 
 pusen, pfausen,pusten, Gr. (pvaaw, l^ith. pusu, puttu, pusti, Gael. putJi (pronounced 
 pull), Illyr. puJiati, Fin. puhliata, ptihkia, Hawaii puhi, Maori puhipuhi, ptipuhi. 
 
OFFENSIVE SMELL. xITx 
 
 Quichua puhuni (Tylor), Zulu pupuza, Mahj puput, to pufFor blow. The Sanscrit 
 put, pJiut, imitative sound of blowing (Benfey), with puphusa, the lungs, maybe 
 compared with Maori puka, to pant, and puka-puka, the lungs. Again, we have 
 ^^gy- funi* fuvni, Galla lufa, afiifa, Q.\xic\\e pul a (Tylor), Sc. fiiJJ'] It. huff are, 
 E. puff, to blow. 
 
 From forms like the foregoing we pass to the interjections expressing disgust 
 at a bad smell. Sanders in his excellent g. dictionary explains pu ! as an interj. 
 representing the sound made by blowing through the barely opened lips, and 
 thence expressing the rejection of anything nasty. ' Ha puh I wie stank der alte 
 mist.' The sense of disgust at a bad smell is expressed in hke manner by Lat, 
 phui ! phu I ful Jif (Forcell.), Venetian puh I ji ! (Patriarchi), Fr. pouah ! ji ! 
 '^xQt.foei/fech ! t^. faugh I foh / phew I Russ./tt / tfu / 
 
 It is obvious that the utterance of these interjections of disgust has the effect 
 of ann ouncing, in the most direct manner, the presence of a bad smell, and if the 
 utterance is accompanied by gestures pointing out a particular object it will be 
 equivalent to an assertion that the thing stinks or is rotten. It will then be 
 necessary only to clothe the significant syllable in grammatical forms in order to 
 get verbs or nouns expressing ideas connected with the notion of offensive smell. 
 Accordingly we have Sanscr. pu, putika, stinking ; puti, putrid, stinking matter, 
 civet ', puy, to stink, to putrefy j Gr. ttuOw, to rot -, Lat. puteo, putor, putidus, 
 puter, putresco, pus, Fr. puer, to stink; OFr. pulant, stinking. The Zulu says 
 that the 'meat says pu,' meaning that it stinks. Timorese poop, putrid; Quiche 
 pohir, to rot; puz, rottenness; Tupi puxi, nasty (Tylor). At the same time 
 from a form corresponding to Bret. foei/ and t^, faugh/ the Lat. h^^fceteo and 
 foetidus, fetid, alongside of p-uteo and putidus. From the form/«/ are Old Norse 
 fuinn, rotten ; fuki, stench or anything stinking ; full, stinking, rotten ; fyla, 
 stench. In the Gothic Testament the disciple speaking of the body of Lazarus 
 says Jahfuls ist : by this time he stinketh. Modern Norse yw/, disgusting, of bad 
 taste or smell, troublesome, vexatious, angry, bitter. Han va ful aat os, he was 
 enraged with us. The e. equivalent hfoul, properly ill smelling, then anything 
 opposed to our taste or requirements, loathsome, ugly in look, dirty, turbid (of 
 water), rainy and stormy (of the weather), unfair, underhand in the transactions of 
 life. ON. Fulyrdi, foul words ; fulmenni, a scoundrel. From the adjective again 
 are derived the verb to file or defle, to make foul ; andi filth, that which makes 
 foul. 
 
 The disagreeable impressions of smell produce a much more vivid repugnance 
 than those of taste, and being besides sensible to all around, they afford the most 
 convenient type of moral reprobation and displeasure. And probably the earliest 
 ^expression of these feelings would occur in teaching cleanHness to the infant. 
 
 • This representation of the sound of blowing or breathing may not improbably be the 
 origin of the root/w, Sanscrit b/m, of the verb to be. The negro who is without the verb to be 
 in his own language supplies its place by live. He says, Your hat no lib that place you put him 
 in. — Farrar, Chap. Lang. p. 54. Orig. Lang. p. 105. A child of my acquaintance would say, 
 Where it live ? where is it ? Now the breath is universally taken as the type of life. 
 
 d 
 
1 REPROBATION. HATE. 
 
 The interjection fy ! expresses in the first instance the speaker's sense of a bad 
 smell, but it is used to the child in such a rfianner as to signify. That is dirty j do 
 not touch that j do not do that j and then generally, You have done something 
 displeasing to me, something of which you ought to be ashamed. Laura Bridge- 
 man, who was born deaf and blind, used to utter the sound ^' or Ji when dis- 
 pleased at being touched by strangers. 
 
 "When used in a figurative sense to express moral reprobation the interj. often 
 assumes a slightly diiferent form from that which expresses disgust at a bad smell. 
 Thus in b. faugh ! ox f oh I express disgust, ^e/ reprobation. In g. perhaps pfu ! 
 or pfui ! are chiefly employed in a moral sense 5 fai ! ox ji I with respect to smell. 
 P/«i dich an I pfu die menschen an ! shame on them. But the line cannot be 
 very distinctly drawn, and in Piatt Deutsch the expression is fu dik an I as in 
 Grisons fudi I shame on you. Yx.ji! commonly expresses reprobation, but it is 
 also used with respect to smell. Fi ! qu'il sent mauvais. Faire fi d'une chose, to 
 turn up one's nose at it, to despise it. 
 
 When we consider that shame is the pain felt at the reprobation of those to 
 whom we look with reverence, including our own conscience, and when we 
 observe the equivalence of expressions like pfu dich f fe on you, and shame on 
 you, we shall easily believe that pu ! as an expression of reprehension, is the 
 source of Lat. pudet, it shames me, it cries pu ! on me j pudeo, I lie under pu ! 
 I am ashamed. In like manner repudio is to be explained as I pooh back, I 
 throw back with disdain ; and probably refuto, to reject, disdain, disapprove, is 
 derived in the same way from the other form of the interj. fu / being thus 
 analogous to g. pfuien, anpfuien, N.fyne, to cry fie! on, to express displeasure: 
 einfynte hund, a scolded dog. The iexpression then passes on to signify the feel- 
 ings which prompt the utterance of the interj. j disgust, abhorrence, hate. Thus 
 from Russ./m.'^ is ioxmedfukat (properly to cxyfu/), to abhor, to loathej from 
 w.jffi / fe / jffiaidd, loathsome ; jffieiddio, to loathe, to detest; and so doubtless 
 from the same form of the interj. is to be explained the Goth, fjan, oij.fjd, as. 
 fan, to hate, and thence Goth, fjand, G.feind, an enemy, and oN.fjandi, pro- 
 perly an enemy, then, as e. fend, the great enemy of the human race. From 
 the same source are E.foe (oN.fdi?) and feud, enmity or deadly quarrel. 
 
 The aptness of the figure by which the natural disgust at stench is made the 
 type of the feelings of hatred, is witnessed by the expression of ' stinking in the 
 nostrils ' said of anything that is peculiarly hateful to us. 
 
 Professor Miiller objects to the foregoing derivations that they confound to- 
 gether the Sanscrit roots pz/y, to decay, the source of puteo, and E.foul, and pty, 
 to hate, corresponding to ^'ara and fend (II. 93). But he does not explain, 
 where he supposes the confusion to take place, and there is in truth no inconsist- 
 ency between the doctrine in the text and the distinct recognition of the roots in 
 question. We are familiar in actual speech with two forms of the interjection 
 of disgust J the one comprising g. puh / Fr. pouah / e. faugh / f oh / addressed 
 especially to smells 3 the other answering to g. pfui ! Yx.fi I e. fie ! and express- 
 ing aversion in a more general way. From the first of these we derive puteo and 
 
NURSERY WORDS. li 
 
 foul ; from the second, yf/aw andyfewof. If we suppose the analogous forms pu ! 
 and pi/ to have been used in a similar way by the Sanscrit-speaking people, it 
 would give a rational account of the roots p% ^^'^ P^V' which Miiller is content 
 to leave untouched as ultimate elements, but we ought not to be charged with 
 confounding them together because we trace them both to a common principle. 
 
 PAPA, MAMMA. 
 
 A small class of words is found in all languages analogous to, and many of 
 them identical with, the e. forms, mamma, papa, mammy, daddy, laby, babe, pap 
 (in the sense of breast, as well as of soft food for children), expressing ideas most 
 needed for communication with children at the earliest period of their life, A 
 long list of the names of father and mother was published by Prof. I. C. E. Busch- 
 man in the Trans, of the Berlin Acad, der Wiss. for 1852, a translation of which 
 is given in the Proceedings of the Philolog. Soc. vol. vi. It appears that words of 
 the foregoing class are universally formed from the easiest articulations, ba, pa, ma, 
 da, ta, na, or ab, ap, am, at, an. We find ma, me, mi, mu, mam, mama, meme, 
 moma, mother, and less frequently nearly all the same forms in the sense of father j 
 pa, ba, pap, bap, bab, papa, baba, paba, fqfe, fabe, father ; ba, baba, bama, fa, 
 fafa, fawa, be, bi, bo, bibi, mother j ta,da, tat, tata, tad, dad, dada, dade, tati, titi, 
 father ; de, tai, dai, deda, tite, mother ; nna, nan, nanna, ninna, nang, nape, father j 
 na, 7nna, nan, nana, nene, ne?ii, nine, nama, mother. In the same way the changes 
 are rung on ab, aba, abba, avva, appa, epe, ipa, obo, abob, ubaba, abban, father j 
 amba, abai, aapu, ibii, ewa, mother 5 at, aat, ata, atta, otta, aita, atya, father j hada, 
 etta, ote, mother j anneh, ina, una, father ; ana, anna, enna, eenah, ina, onny, inan, 
 iinina, ananah, mother. Isa Condamine mentions abba or baba, or papa and maina, 
 as common to a great number of American languages differing widely from each 
 other, and he adverts to a rational explanation of the origin of these designations. 
 'If we regard these words as the first that children can articulate, and consequently 
 those which must in every country have been adopted by the parents who heard 
 them spoken, in order to make them serve as signs for the ideas of father and 
 mother.' — De Brosses, i. 215. 
 
 The speech of the mother may perhaps unconsciously give something of an 
 articulate form to the meaningless cooings and mutterings of the infant, as the song 
 of the mother-bird influences that of her young. At any rate these infantile 
 utterances are represented in speech by the syllables ba, fa, ma, ta, giving rise to 
 forms Hke e. babble, maffle,faffle,f amble, tattle, to speak imperfectly like a child, 
 to talk unmeaningly 3 oe. mamelen, babelen, to babble, mutter ; mammer, to mut- 
 ter 3 Gr. I3aj3a(u), to say ba, ba, to speak inarticulately (whence /3a i^w, to speak) j 
 Mod.Gr. fxafjiovXii^u}, to mumble, mutter, ike. Accordingly the joyful or eager 
 utterances of the child when taken up by the mother, or when offered the breast, 
 would sound to her as if the infant greeted her by the name of mama, &c., or as 
 if it called for the breast by that name, and she would adopt these names herself 
 and teach her child the intelligent use of them. Thus Lat. mamma, the infantile 
 term for mother, has remained, with the dim. ma?nilla, as the name of the breast, 
 
 d 2 
 
lii NURSERY WORDS. 
 
 and the same is the case with Fin. mamma, Du. mamme, mother, nurse, breast ; 
 inammen, to give suck. When one of the imitative syllables as ma had thus been 
 taken up to designate the mother, a different one, as la, pa, or ta, would be ap- 
 propriated by analogy as the designation of the flither. 
 
 Besides the forms corresponding to Lat. mamma, mamilla, papilla, e. pap, for 
 the breast, a class of names strongly resembling each other are found all over the 
 world, which seem to be taken from a direct imitation of the sound of sucking. 
 Thus we have Sanscr. chush, to suck j chuchi, the breast ; chiichuka, the nipple j 
 Tarahumara (Am.) tschitschi, to suck ; Japan, tschitschi, tsitsi, the breast, milk ; 
 Manchu tchetchen, Magy. tsets, Tung, tycen, tygen (Castren), Samoiede ssuso (to 
 be compared with Fr. sucer, to suck), ssudo, Kowrarega susu, Malay soosoo, Gudang 
 tyutyu, Chippeway totosh, Mandingo siso, Bambarra sing, Kurdish ciciek. It. (in 
 nursery language) cioccia, Albanian sissa, g. zitze, e. (nursery) didcly, titty, teat, 
 Malay dada, Hebrew dad, g. dialects didi, tiiti, the breast or nipple ; Goth, dadd- 
 jan, to suck (Pott. Dopp. 2>3)' 
 
 The name of the haly himself also is formed on the same imitative principle 
 which gives their designation to so many animals, viz. from the syllables la, la, 
 representing the utterance of the infant. The same principle applies to others of 
 these infantile words. The nurse imitates the wrangling or drowsy tones of the 
 infant, as she jogs it to sleep upon her knee, by the syllables na, na, la, la. To 
 the first of these forms belongs the Italian lullaby, ninna nanna; far la ninna 
 vanna, to lull a child ; ninnare, ninnellare, to rock, and in children's language 
 iianna, bed, sleep. Far la nanna, andare a nanna, to sleep, to go to bed, go to 
 sleep. In the Mpongwe of W. Africa nana, and in the Swahili of the Eastern 
 coast lala, has the sense of sleep. In Malabar, nin, sle^p (Pott). The imitation 
 gives a designation to the infant himself in It. ninna, a little girl 3 Milanese nan, 
 nanin, a caressing term for an infant. Ca.ro el mi nan, my darling baby. Sp. 
 niilo, a child. In Lat. Jianus, a dwarf, the designation is transferred to a person 
 of childish stature, as in Mod.Gr. viviov, a young child, a simpleton, and in e. 
 ninny it is transferred to a person of childish understanding. From the imi- 
 tative la, la, are g. lallen, to speak imperfectly like a child, from whence, as in 
 other cases, the sense is extended to speaking in general in Gr. XaXioj, to chatter, 
 babble, talk. From the same source are Lat. lallo, and e. /u/I, primarily to sing 
 a child to sleep, then to calm, to soothe. In Servian the nurses' song sounds /yu, 
 lifu, whence lyulyuti, to rock j lyulyashka, a cradle. 
 
 THE DEMONSTRATIVE PARTICLE. 
 
 Another important element of speech, of which a rational explanation may 
 perhaps be found in infantile life, is the demonstrative particle ta or da, the very 
 name of which shows that it corresponds to the act of pointing out the object to 
 which we wish to direct attention. In the language of the deaf-and-dumb, point- 
 ing to an object signifies that, and serves the purpose of verbal mention, as is 
 seen at every turn in an account of the making of the will of a dumb man 
 quoted by Tylor. The testator points to himself, then to the will, thjsn touches 
 
THE DEMONSTRATIVE PARTICLE. liii 
 
 his trowsers' pocket, ' the usual sign by which he referred to his money,' then 
 points to his wife, and so on. But, indeed, we do not need the experience of 
 the deaf-and-dumb to show that pointing to an object is the natural way of call- 
 ing attention to it. Now in our nurseries the child uses the syllable ta for vari- 
 ous purposes, as to express. Please, Thank you. Good-bye 3 mostly supplement- 
 ing the utterance by pointing or stretching out the hand towards the object to 
 which it has reference. A child of my acquaintance would ask in this way for 
 what it desired. * Ta ! cheese ' (pointing towards it), give me that cheese. 
 Ta ! in a different tone returns thanks for something the child has accepted, and 
 may be rendered, that is it, that gratifies me. When it says ta-ta ! on being 
 carried out of the room it accompanies the farewell by waving the hand towards 
 those whom it is quitting, implying the direction of its good will towards them, 
 as it might by blowing a kiss to them. Sanders (Germ. Diet.) describes dada as 
 a word of many applications in g. nurseries, as, for instance, with reference to 
 something pretty which the child desires to have. The Fr. child, according to 
 Menage, says da-da-da, when he wants something, or wants to name something. 
 ' The child,' says Lottner in the paper on the personal pronouns above quoted, 
 * sees an object, and says tal ' (and at the same time points to it with his finger, 
 I add) 3 * we may translate this by there (it is), or that it is, or carry me thither, 
 or give me it, and by a variety of expressions besides, but the truth is, that every 
 one of these interpretations is wrong, because it replaces the teeming fulness of 
 the infantile word by a clearer but less rich expression of our more abstract lan- 
 guage. Yet if a choice between the different translations must be made, I trust 
 that few of my readers will refuse me their consent, when saying : there the ad- 
 verb is by far the most adequate.' — Phil. Trans. 1859. We may carry the 
 matter further and say that the infantile ta or da simply represents the act of 
 pointing, all the incidental meanings being supplied by the circumstances of the 
 case. It is preserved in mature language in g. da, the fundamental signification 
 of which is to signify the presence of an object. ' Da / nehmen Sie ! ' * Da ! 
 Ihr prasent.' Dieser da (as Lat. is-te), this here. Bav. der da-ige, a specified 
 person, as it were by pointing him out. A doubling of the utterance gives Gr. 
 rode (or in Attic more emphatically rodi), this here; as well as Goth, thata (ta-ta), 
 E. that. The primitive import of the utterance is completely lost sight of in Lat. 
 da, give; properly (give) that, to be compared with the nursery da-da, by 
 which a g. child indicates or asks for an object of desire. In the expression Da, 
 nehmen Sie, with which something is handed over to another, the word da repre- 
 sents the holding out the object or the act of giving. In the language of Tonga, 
 as Dr Lottner observes,, the verb to give is almost invariably replaced by the ad- 
 verbs signifying hither or thither, * nay, seems to have been lost altogether.* 
 Mei ia giate au = hither this to me = give me this. Shall I thither this to thee = 
 shall I give you this. 
 
 When we seek for a natural connection of the utterance ta ! with the act of 
 pointing,* we shall find it, I believe, in the inarticulate stammerings of the infant 
 
 * Lottner's explanation is not satisfactory. He adopts in the main the view of Schwartze, 
 
liv ANALOGY. 
 
 when he sprawls with arms and legs in the mere enjoyment of life. The utter- 
 ance so associated with the muscular action of the child sounds in the ear of the 
 parent like the syllables da-da-da, which thus become symbolical of muscular 
 exertion, whether in the more energetic form of beating, or of simply stretching 
 out the hand, as in giving or pointing. 
 
 The syllable da is used to represent inarticulate utterance in Swiss dadern, 
 dodern, to chatter, stutter, tattle, and this also seems the primitive sense of Fr. 
 dadce, childish toying, speech, or dalliance. — Cot. Dada in German nurseries 
 has the sense of smacks or blows. Das kind hat dada bekommen. The same 
 sense is seen in Galla dadada-goda (to make dadada), to beat, to knock, and in 
 Yoruba da, strike, beat, pay. 
 
 ANALOGY. 
 
 The greater part of our thoughts seem at the first glance so void of any re- 
 ference to sound as to throw great difficulty in the way of a practical belief in 
 the imitative origin of language. ' That sounds can be rendered in language by 
 sounds,' says Miiller, * and that each language possesses a large stock of words 
 imitating the sounds given out by certain things, who would deny ? And who 
 would deny that some words originally expressive of sound only might be trans- 
 ferred to other things which have some analogy with sound? But how are 
 things which do not appeal to the sense of hearing — how are the ideas of going, 
 moving, standing, sinking, tasting, thinking, to be expressed ? ' — 2nd Series, p. 
 89. The answer to the query is already given in the former part of the passage : 
 by analogy, or metaphor, which is the transference of a word from one significa- 
 tion to another 3 the conveyance of a meaning by mention of something whicli 
 serves to put us in mind of the thing to be signified. But in several of the in- 
 stances specified by Miiller it is not difficult to show a direct connection with 
 sound. Thus we have seen that the conceptions of taste are expressed by re- 
 ference to the smacking of the hps and tongue in the enjoyment of food. The 
 idea of going is common to a hundred modes of progression that occur in actual 
 existence, of which any one may, and one in particular must, in every mode of 
 expressing the idea, have been the type from which the name was originally 
 taken. In the case of the word go itself, for which Johnson gives seventy 
 meanings, the original is that which he places first, to walk, to move step by step^ 
 a sense which lends itself in the most obvious manner to imitative expression, by 
 a representation of the sound of the footfall. The connection between thought 
 and speech is so obvious that we need be at no loss for the means of expressing 
 the idea of thinking. Thus Gr. (ppdl^io is to sayj (ppa^ojjcu, to say to oneself, to 
 
 speaking of the demonstrative in his Coptic Grammar : — 'Every object is to the child a living 
 palpable thing. When it cannot reach anywhere with its hand, then instinctively it utters a 
 cry, iu order to cause to app7-oach that which has awakened its interest.'' ' I add,' says Lottner : — 
 ' When the soul, becoming aware of the cry issuing forth from its own interior, takes it up as 
 a sign for the indefinite outward reality, which is the object of its desire, and shapes it into an 
 articulate sound, then we have a pronoun demonstrative. ' 
 
TRANSFER FROM SOUND TO SIGHT. Iv 
 
 think, while XoyoQ signifies both speech and thought. In some of the languages 
 of the Pacific thinking is said to be called speaking in the belly. Maori mea and 
 /ii both signify to speak as well as to think. 
 
 The connection between the senses of taste and smell is so close that expres- 
 sions originally taken from the exercise of the one faculty are constantly transferred 
 to the otlier. The g. schmecken, to smack or taste, is used in Bavaria in the sense 
 of smell, and schmecker, in popular language, signifies the nose. So from Lat. 
 sapere (which may probably spring from another representation of the sound of 
 smacking) comes sapor, taste, and thence e. savour, which is applied to impres- 
 ^. sions of smell as well as to those of the palate, while sapere itself, properly to dis- 
 tinguish by taste, is extended to the exercise of the understanding, to have dis- 
 cernment, to be wise. Sapiens, a man of nice taste, also wise, discreet, judicious. 
 In the same way the Goth, snutrs, as. snotor, wise, prudent, may be explained 
 from the Gael, snot, to snitF, snuff the air, smell, and figuratively, suspect ; Bav. 
 sniiten, tosnifi\, smell, search ^ on. snudra, to sniff out. Here it will be seen the 
 expression of the idea of wisdom is traced by no distant course to an undoubted 
 onomatopoeia. 
 
 The same sort of analogy as that which is felt between the senses of smell and 
 taste, unites in like manner the senses of sight and hearing, and thus terms ex- 
 pressing conceptions belonging to the sense of hearing are figuratively applied to 
 analogous phenomena of the visible world. In the case of sparkle, for example, 
 which is a modification of the same imitative root with Sw. spraka, Lith. sprageti, 
 to crackle, rattle, the rapid flashing of a small bright hght upon the eye is signi- 
 fied by the figure of a similar repetition of short sharp impressions on the ear. 
 Fr. petUler is an imitative form signifying in the first place to crackle, then to 
 sparkle, and, in the domain of movement, to quiver. Du. tintelen, to tinkle, then 
 to twinkle, to glitter. 
 
 Again, eclat (in Old Fr. esclat), properly a clap or explosion, is used in the 
 sense of brightness, splendour, brilliancy. The word bright had a similar origin. 
 It is the equivalent of g, pracht, splendour, magnificence, which in ohg. signified 
 a clear sound, outcry, tumult. Bavarian hracht, clang, noise. In as. we have 
 heorhtlan, to resound, and heorht, bright. In the old poem of the Owl and the 
 Nightingale Iright is applied to the clear notes of a bird. 
 Heo — song so schille and so brihte 
 That far and ner me hit iherde. — 1. 1654. 
 
 Du. scJiateren, scTieteren, to make a loud noise, to shriek with laughter ; schiteren, 
 to shine, to glisten j Dan. knistre, knittre, gnittre, to crackle j gnistre, to sparkle. 
 Many striking examples of the same transference of signification may be quoted 
 from the Finnish, as hdlina, a ringing sound, a brilliant light ; kilid, tinkling, glit- 
 tering ; wilistd, to ring as a glass ; willata, milella, wilahtaa, to flash, to glitter ; 
 kimistd, to sound clear (parallel with e. chime), kimmaltaa, kiimottaa, to shine, to 
 glitter, &c. In Galla, lilbila, a ringing noise as of a bell ; hilhilgoda (to make 
 bilhil), to ring, to glitter, beam, glisten, Sanscr. marmara, a rustling sound 3 Gr. 
 fjiapijiaioio, to glitter. 
 
Ivi VIEWS OF THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 The language of painters is full of musical metaphor. It speaks of harmoni- 
 ous or discordant colouring, discusses the tone of a picture. So in modern slang, 
 which mainly consists in the use of new and violent metaphors (though perhaps, 
 in truth, not more violent than those in which the terms of ordinary language 
 had their origin), we hear of screaming colours, of dressing loud. The specula- 
 tions of the Ancients respecting the analogies of sound and signification were 
 extremely loose, as may be seen in the Cratylus, where Socrates is made to explain 
 the expressive power of the letter-sounds. The letter r, he says, from the mo- 
 bility of the tongue in pronouncing it, seemed to him who settled names an ap- 
 propriate instrument for the imitation of movement. He accordingly used it for , 
 that purpose in ptiv and po)}, flow and flux, then in TpoyiOQ, rpa^vQ, Kpovsiy, 
 Bpaveiv, epeiKuv, Kspfjiarii^eiv, pviJLJ3e.lv, tremour, rough, strike, break, rend, shatter, 
 whirl. Observing that the tongue chiefly slides in pronouncing /, he used it in 
 forming the imitative words \eiog, smooth, Xiwapoc, oily, koWw^tjq, gluey, 
 oXiaOavtiv, to slide. And observing that n kept the voice within, he framed the 
 "words ey^oy, eyrog, within, inside, fitting the letters to the sense. 
 
 Much of the same kind is found in an interesting passage of Augustine, which 
 has been often quoted. 
 
 ' The Stoics,' he says, ' hold that there is no word of which a clear account 
 cannot be given. *And because in this way you might say that it would be an 
 infinite task if you had always to seek for the origin of the words in which you 
 explained the origin of the former one, it was easy to suggest the limitation : 
 Until you come to the point where there is direct resemblance between the 
 sound of the word and the thing signified, as when we speak of the tinkling (tin- 
 nitum) of brass, the neighing of horses, the bleating of sheep, the clang (clango- 
 rem) of trumpets, the clank (stridorem) of chains, for you perceive that these 
 words sound like the things which are signified by them. But because there are 
 things which do not sound, with these the similitude of touch comes into play, so 
 that if the things are soft or rough to the touch, they are fitted with names that 
 by the nature of the letters are felt as soft or rough to the ear. Thus the word 
 lene, soft, itself sounds soft to the ear ; and who does not feel also that the word 
 asperitds, roughness, is rough like the thing which it signifies ? Foluptas, pleasure, 
 is soft to the ear -, crux, the cross, rough. The things themselves affect our feel- 
 ings in accordance with the sound of the words. As honey is sweet to the taste, 
 so the name, mel, is felt as soft by the ear. Acre, sharp, is rough in both ways. 
 Lana, wool, and vepres, briars, afi'ect the ear in accordance with the way in which 
 the things signified are felt by touch. 
 
 It was believed that the first germs of language were to be found in the 
 words where there was actual resemblance between the sound of the word and 
 
 * Et quia hoc modo suggerere facile fuit, si diceres hoc infinitum esse quibus verbis alterius 
 verbi originem interpretaris, eorum rursus a te originem quserendam esse, donee perveniatur 
 eo ut res cum sono verbi aliqua similitudine concinnat, &c.— Principia Dialecticse, c. v. in 
 vol. i. of his works. 
 
ANALOGY OF SOUND AND MOVEMENT. Ivii 
 
 the thing which it signified : that from thence the invention of names proceeded 
 to take hold of the resemblance of things between themselves -, as when, for ex- 
 ample, the cross is called cruj: because the rough sound of the word agrees with 
 the roughness of the pain which is suffered on the cross; while the legs are called 
 crura, not on account of the roughness of pain, but because in length and 
 hardness they are like wood in comparison with the other members of the 
 body.' 
 
 It is obvious that analogies like the foregoing are far too general to afford any 
 satisfactory explanation of the words for which they are supposed to account. If 
 any word that sounded rough might signify anything that was either rough or 
 rigid or painful it would apply to such an infinite variety of objects, and the limits 
 of the signification would be so vague, that the utterance would not afford the 
 smallest guidance towards the meaning of the speaker. Still it is plain that there 
 must be some analogy between sound and movement, and consequently form, in 
 virtue of which we apply the terms rough and smooth to the three conceptions. 
 The connection seems to lie in the degree of effort or resistance of which we 
 are conscious in the utterance of a rough sound, or in the apprehension 
 of a rough surface. We regard the sound of r as rough compared with 
 that of /, because the tongue is driven into vibration in the utterance 
 of r, making us sensible of an effort which answers to the resistance felt 
 in the apprehension of a rough surface, while in / the sound issues without re- 
 action on the vocal organs, like the hand passing over a smooth surface. A greater 
 degree of roughness is when the inequalities of the surface are separately felt, or in 
 sound, when the vibratory whir passes into a rattle. In a still higher degree of 
 roughness the movement becomes a succession of jogs, corresponding to the ine- 
 qualities of a rugged surface or a jigged outline, or, in the case of the voice, to the 
 abrupt impulses of a harshly broken utterance. Again, we are conscious of mus- 
 cular effort when we raise the tone of the voice by an actual rise of the vocal ap- 
 paratus in the throat, and it is precisely this rise and fall of the bodily apparatus 
 in the utterance of a high or low note, that makes us consider the nstes as high 
 or low. There are thus analogies between sound and bodily movement which 
 enable us, by utterances of the voice without direct imitation of sound, to signify 
 varieties of movement, together with corresponding modifications of figured sur- 
 face and outline. The word twitter represents in the first instance a repetition of 
 a short sharp sound, but it is applied by analogy to a vibratory movement that is 
 wholly unaccompanied by sound. The feeling of abruptness in sound is given by 
 a syllable ending with one of the mutes, or checks as they are called by Muller, 
 consisting of the letters b, d, g, p, t, k, the peculiarity of which in pronunciation 
 is that ' for a time they stop the emission of breath altogether ' (Lect. ii. p. 138). 
 Hence in pronouncing a syllable ending in a mute or check we are conscious 
 of an abrupt termination of the vocal effort, and we employ a wide range of syl- 
 lables constructed on that principle to signify a movement abruptly checked, as 
 shag, shog, jag, jog, jig, dag, dig, stag (in stagger, to reel abruptly from side to 
 side), job, jib, stab, rug, tug; Fr. sag-oter, to jog 3 sac-cade, a rough and sudden 
 
Iviii FROM MOVEMENT TO SUBSTANCE. 
 
 jerk, motion, or check. The syllable suk is used in Bremen to represent a jog in 
 riding or going. 'Dat geitjummer suk! suk ! of a rough horse. Ene olde suhsuk, 
 an old worthless horse or carriage, a rattletrap. Sukkeln, g. schuckeln, schockeln, to 
 jog. On the same principle we have g. zack, used interjectionally to represent a 
 sharp sudden movement ; zacke^ a jag or sharp projection ; zickzack, e. zigzag, 
 applied to movement by impulses abruptly changing in direction, or the figure 
 traced out by such a movement -, the opposition in the direction of successive im- 
 pulses being marked by the change of vowel from i to a. The production of 
 sound, however, is so frequent a consequence of movement, that we never can be 
 sure, in cases like the foregoing, that the word does not originally spring from 
 direct imitation. Such seems certainly the case with the syllables tick, tack, tock, 
 representing sharp short sounds of different kinds, and analogous movements. 
 Thus we have E. tick-tack for the beat of a clock j Parmesan tic-toe for the beat 
 of the heart or the pulse, or the ticking of a watch ; Bolognese tec-tac, a cracker j 
 It. tech-tech, toch-toch, tecche-tocche, for the sound of knocking at a door. 
 Hence tick or tock for any light sharp movement. To tick a thing oiF, to mark 
 it with a touch of the pen ; to take a thing on tick, to have it ticked or marked 
 on the score ; to tickle, to incite by light touches. Bolognese tocc, Brescian toch, 
 the blow of the clapper on a bell or knocker on a door, lead to Spanish tocar, to 
 knock, to ring a bell, to beat or play on a musical instrument, and also (with the 
 meaning softened down) to Italian toccare, French toucher, to touch. The Mi- 
 lanese toch, like English tick, is a stroke with a pen or pencil, then, figuratively, a 
 certain space, so much as is traversed at a stroke j on bell tocch di strada, a good 
 piece of road ; then, as Italian tocco, a piece or bit of anything. 
 
 The same transference of the expression from phenomena of sound to those of 
 bodily substance takes place with the syllables muk, mik, mot, tot, kuk, kik, &c., 
 which were formerly mentioned as being used (generally with a negative) to ex- 
 press the least appreciable sound. The closeness of the connection between such 
 a meaning and the least appreciable movement is witnessed by the use of the same 
 word still to express alike the absence of sound or motion. Accordingly the g. 
 muck, representing in the first instance a sound barely audible, is made to signify 
 a slight movement. Mucken, to mutter, to say a word ; also to stir, to make the 
 least movement. 
 
 The representative syllable takes the form of mick or kick in the Dutch phrase 
 noch micken noch kicken, not to utter a syllable. Then, passing to the significa- 
 tion of motion, it produces Dutch micken, Illyrian migati, to wink; micati 
 (initsati), to stirj Lat. micare, to glitter, to move rapidly to and fi-o. The analogy 
 is then carried a step further, and the sense of a slight movement is made a step- 
 ping-stone to the signification of a material atom, a small bodily object. Hence 
 Lat. and It. mica, Spanish ^«/^^, Fr. mie, a crum, a little bit. The train of thought 
 runs through the same course in Dutch kicken, to utter a slight sound ; Fr. chicoter, 
 to sprawl like an infant ; Welsh cicio, and e. kick, to strike with the foot. Then 
 in the sense of any least portion of bodily substance. It. cica, Fr. chic, chiquet, a 
 little bit ; chique, a quid of tobacco, a playing-marble, properly a small lump of 
 
MODIFICATION BY CHANGE OF VOWEL. lix 
 
 clay; Sp. chico, little. In the same way from the representation of a slight sound 
 by the syllable mot, mut, as in e. mutter, or in the Italian phrase nonfare ne motto 
 ne tottn, not to utter a syllable, we pass to the Yorkshire phrase, neither moit nor 
 doit, not an atom ; e. mote, an atom, and mite, the least visible insect j Du. mot, 
 dust, fragments j It. motta, Fr. motte, a lump of earth. 
 
 The use of a syllable like tot to represent a short indistinct sound is shown in 
 the Italian phrase above quoted j in o.n. taut, n. tot, a whisper, murmur, mutter ; 
 E. totle, to whisper (Pr. Pm.) j titter, to laugh in a subdued manner. The ex- 
 pression passes on to the idea of movement in e. tot, to jot down or note with a 
 slight movement of the pen ; totter, tottle, to move slightly to and fro, to toddle 
 like a child j titter, to tremble, to seesaw (Halliwell) j Lat. titillo, to tickle (pro- 
 vincially tittle), to excite by slight touches or movements. Then, passing from the 
 sense of a slight movement to that of a small bodily object, we have e. tot, 
 anything small -, totty, little (Halliwell) -, Da. tot, Sc. fait, a bunch or flock of 
 flax, wool, or the like ; It. tozzo, a bit, a morsel j e. tit, a bit, a morsel, anything 
 small of its kind, a small horse, a little girl 3 titty, tiny, small -, titlark, a small 
 kind of lark j titmouse (Du. mossche, a sparrow), a small bird ; tittle, a jot or little 
 'bit. It. citto, zitto, a lad ; citta, zitella, a girl. The passage from the sense of a 
 light movement to that of a small portion is seen also in pat, a Hght quick blow, 
 and a small lump of something; to dot, to touch hghtly with a pen, to make a 
 slight mark J and dot, a small lump or pat. — Halliwell. To jot, to touch, to jog, 
 to note a thing hastily on paper j jot, a small quantity. 
 
 The change of the vowel from a or to i, or the converse, in such expressions 
 as zigzag, ticktack, seesaw, belongs to a principle which is extensively applied in 
 the development of language, when an expression having already been found for 
 a certain conception, it is wished to signify something of the same fundamental 
 kind, but differing in degree or in some subordinate character. This end is com- 
 monly attained by a change, often entirely arbitrary, either in the vowel or the 
 initial consonant of the significant syllable. The vowel changes from i to a in 
 tick-tack, for the beating of a clock, not because the pendulum makes a different 
 sound in swinging to the right or to the left, but simply in order to symbolise the 
 change of direction. A similar instance of distinction by arbitrary difference is 
 noticed by Mr Tylor in the language of gesture, where a wise man being symbol- 
 ised by touching the tip of the nose with the forefinger, the same organ is touched 
 with the little finger to signify a foolish man. In a similar way the relaticTis of 
 place, here, there, and out there, corresponding to the personal pronouns, I, you, 
 and he, are frequently distinguished by what appears to be an arbitrary change of 
 the vowel sound. Pott (Doppelung p. 48) cites from the African Tumale, gni, 
 gno, gnu, for the three personal pronouns, where the vowels follow in regular scale 
 (i, e, a, 0, u) according to the proximity of the object indicated. But the same 
 language has re this, ri that, where the order is inverted. The following table is 
 from Tylor (Prim. Cult. i. 199). 
 
 Javan. i>i'i, this; ika, that; i>^Y, that, further off; Malagasy io, here (close 
 at hand); eo, there (further offj ; ao, there (at a short distance). 
 
Ix INTERROGATIVE PARTICLE. 
 
 Japan koy here j ka^ there. 
 
 Canarese ivanu, this j ivanu, that (Intermediate) ; uvanu, that. 
 
 Tamul t, this 3 (^, that. 
 
 Dhimas isho, ita, here j usho, uta, there. 
 
 Abchasian ain, this j wZri, that. 
 
 Ossetic am, here j wm, there. 
 
 Magyar ez, this j. ax, that. 
 
 Zulu aptty here j apo, there; lesi, this j leso, that ; lesiya, that iia the distance. 
 
 Yoruba wa, this j wi, tJiat. 
 
 Fernandian olo, this j oZe, that. 
 
 Sahaptin (America) Una, here; ^wwa, there. 
 
 Mutsun ne, here j nu, there. 
 
 Tarahumara ibe, here ; ale, there. 
 
 Guarani nde, ne, thou ; ndi, ni, he. 
 
 Botocudo ati, I j otiy thou, you, to. 
 
 Carib ne, thou ; wi, he. 
 
 Chilian tva, this 3 /ye^/, that. 
 Here, as Mr Tylor remarks, no constant rule is observed, but sometimes i and 
 sometimes a is used to denote the nearer object. 
 
 Of a similar nature is the distinction of sex by a change of vowel, as in Italian 
 for the male, and a for the female. Fin. ukko, an old man ; ahha, an old woman j 
 Mangu chacha, mas ; cheche, femina ; ama, father ; erne, mother. Carib hala, 
 father ; hibi, mother. Ibu (Afr.) nna, father 3 nne, mother. It is probably 
 to a like principle of distinction that the k, k (tt), qu, w, which form the initial 
 element of the interrogative in Sanscr., Gr., Lat., and g. respectively, owe their 
 origin. The interrogative pronouns who ? or what ? are expressed in gesture 
 by looking or pointing about in an inquiring manner, in fact (says Tylor), by a 
 number of unsuccessful attempts to say he, that. Then, as the act of pointing was 
 represented in speech by the particle ta, it seems that the interrogative signification 
 was given by the arbitrary change from ta to ha, from whence may be explained the 
 various initials of the interrogative in the different members of the Indo-Germanic 
 family. 
 
 On the other hand, there is often an innate fitness in the change of vowel to 
 tlie modification of meaning which it is made to denote. The vowels a and 
 are pronounced with open throat and full sound of the voice, while we compress 
 the voice through a narrower opening and utter a less volume of sound in the 
 pronunciation of i or e. Hence we unconsciously pass to the use of the vowel i 
 in expressing diminution of action or of size. A young relation of mine adopted 
 the use of baby as a diminutival prefix.* Baby-Thomas was his designation for 
 the smaller of two servants of that name. But when he wishes to carry the di- 
 minution further, he narrows the sound of the word to lee-bee, and at last it be- 
 comes a beebee-beebee thing. In the same way seems to be formed Acra (Afr.) 
 bi, child, young one 3 bibio, littlef small (Pott. 100). It seems to me probable that 
 
 • Vei dm, child, also little. 
 
EXPRESSION OF VOWEL SOUNDS. ki 
 
 this sense of the thinness of the sound of i or ee is simply embodied in the 
 diminutival wee. 'A little wee face with a little yellow beard.' — Merry Wives. 
 A further development of the significant sound gives the nursery weeny * surviv- 
 ing in regular speech in g. wenig, little, iew j Sc. wean, a child. And perhaps 
 the E. tiny may be attained through the rhyming tiny-winy or teeny-weeny , 
 analogous to winy -piny, fretful, speaking in a pipy tone of voice. It will be ob- 
 served that we express extreme diminution by dwelling on the narrow vowel : 
 ' a little tee - - ny thing,' making the voice as small as possible. 
 
 The consciousness of forcing the voice through a narrow opening in the pro- 
 nunciation of the sound ee leads to the use of syllables like peep, keek, teet, to sig- 
 nify a thing making its way through a narrow opening, just beginning to appear, 
 looking through between obstacles. Da. at pippe frem is to spring forth, to make 
 its way through the biirsting envelope, whence'Fr. pepin, the pip or pippin, the 
 germ from whence the plant is to spring. The Sw. has tittafrem, to peep through, 
 to begin to appear -, titta, to peep, in old e. to teet. 
 
 The rois knoppis tetand furth thare hed 
 
 Gan chyp and kythe thare vemale lippis red. — Douglas Virgil, 401. 8. 
 
 The peep of dawn is when the curtain of darkness begins to lift and the first streaks 
 of light to push through the opening. 
 
 The sound of the footfall is represented in German by the syllables trapp-trapp- 
 trapp ; from whence Du. trap, a step, trappen, to tread, Sw. trappa, stairs. The 
 change to the short compressed i in trip adapts the syllable to signify a light quick 
 step : Du. trippen, trippelen, to leap, to dance (Kil.) ; Fr. trepigner, to beat the 
 ground with the feet. Clank represents the sound of something large, as chains 3 
 clink, or chink, of smaller things, as money. To sup up, is to take up liquids by 
 large spoonfuls ; to sip, to sup up by little and little, with lips barely open. Top, 
 nab, knob, signify an extremity of a broad round shape ; tip, nib, nipple, a similar 
 object of a smaller size and pointed shape. 
 
 Where a sound is kept up by the continued repetition of distinct impulses on 
 the ear, the simplest mode of representing the continued sound is by the repetition 
 of a syllable resembling the elementary impulse, as ding-dong, g. bim-bam. It. 
 din-din, don-don, for the sound of bells 3 murmur, for a continuance of low and 
 indistinct sounds ; pit-a-pat, for a succession of light blows ; bow-wow, for the 
 barking of a dog, &c. In barbarous languages the formation of words on this 
 principle is very common, and in the Pacific dialects, for instance, they form a con- 
 siderable proportion of the vocabulary. From cases like the foregoing, where an 
 imitative syllable is repeated for the purpose of signifying the continued repetition 
 of a certain phenomenon, the principle of reduplication, as it is called, is extended 
 to express simple continuance of action, or even, by a further advance in abstrac- 
 tion, the idea of action in general, while the special nature of the action intended 
 is indicated by the repeated syllable. In some African languages repetition is 
 habitually used to qualify the meaning of the verb. Thus we have Wolof sopa, 
 
 * ' A little weeny thing.' I have known Weeny kept as a pet-name by one who had been 
 puny in childhood. 
 
Ixii REPETITION. FREQUENTATIVE ELEMENTS. 
 
 to love, sopasopa, to love constantly; Mpongwe kamha, to speak, ^amba-gamla, 
 to talk at random j kenda, to walk, kendagenda, to walk about for amusement. 
 Again, from Maori muka, flax, muka-muka (to use a bunch of flax), to wipe 
 or rub J maivhiti, to skip, mawhitiwhiti, a grasshopper; puka, to pant, puka-^ 
 puka, the lungs, the agent in panting; Malay ayun, to rock, ayunayunan, a 
 cradle. That the principle is not wholly lifeless fn English is witnessed by the 
 verb pooh-pooh, to say pooh ! to, to treat with contempt. 
 
 It is obvious that the same device which expresses continuance in time may 
 be applied to continuance or extension in space. Thus in the Pacific loa, loloa, 
 signify long; lololoa, very long (Pott. 97). And generally, repetition or contin- 
 uance of the significant sound expresses excess in degree of the quality signified. 
 Mandingo ding, child ; if very young, ding-ding ; Susa di, child ; didi, little child 
 (p. 99). Madagascar ratsi or ratc'hi, bad ; ratsi-ratsi, or rdtchi, very bad. ' In the 
 Gaboon the strength with which such a word as mpolu is uttered, serves to show 
 whether it is great, very great, or very very great, and in this way, as Mr Wilson re- 
 marks in his Mpongwe grammar, the comparative degrees of greatness, smallness, 
 hardness, rapidity and strength, &c., may be conveyed with more accuracy than 
 could readily be conceived.' — Tylor, Prim. Cult. i. 196. The same principle of 
 expression is in familiar use with ourselves, although not recognised in written 
 language; as when we speak of an e-nf5--r;woM5 appetite, or ahttle tee--ny thing. 
 
 The use of reduplicate forms is condemned by the taste of more cultivated 
 languages, and the sense of continuance is expressed in a more artificial way by 
 X\\e frequentative form of the verb, as it is called, where the effect of repetition is 
 given by the addition of an intrinsically unmeaning element, such as the syllable 
 et, er, or el, acting as a sort of echo to the fundamental syllable of the word. 
 Thus in E. racket, a clattering noise, or in Fr. cliqu-et-is, clash of weapons, the 
 imitative syllables, rack and clique, are echoed by the rudimentary et, instead of 
 being actually repeated, and the words express a continued sound of rack, rack, or 
 click, click. 
 
 It is true that such a syllable as et or it could only, properly speaking, be used 
 as an echo to hard sounds, but many devices of expression are extended by analogy 
 far beyond their original aim, and thus et or it are employed in Lat. and Fr. to 
 express repetition or continuance in a general way, without reference to the par- 
 ticular nature of the repeated phenomenon. So from clamo, to call, clamito, to 
 keep calling, to call frequently ; from Fr. tache, a spot, tach-et-er, to cover with 
 spots. The elements usually employed in e. for the same purpose are composed of 
 an obscure vowel with the consonants / or r, on which the voic€ can dwell for a 
 length of time with a more or less sensible vibration, representing the effect on 
 the ear when a confused succession of beats has merged in a continuous murmur. 
 Thus in the pattering of rain or hail, expressing the fall of a rapid succession of 
 drops on a hard surface, the syllable pat imitates the sound of a single drop, while 
 the vibration of the r in the second syllable represents the murmuring sound of 
 the shower when the attention is not directed to the individual taps of which it is 
 composed. In like manner to clatter is to do anything accompanied by a sue- 
 
FREQUENTATIVE ELEMENTS. Ixiii 
 
 cession of noises that might be represented by the syllable clat ; to crackle, to 
 make a succession of cracks ; to rattle, dabble, bubble, guggle, to make a succes- 
 sion of noises that might be represented individually by the syllables rat, dab, bub, 
 gug. The contrivance is then extended to signify continued action unconnected 
 with any particular noise, as grapple, to make a succession of grabs ; shuffle, to 
 make a succession of shoves j draggle, waggle, joggle, to continue dragging, wag- 
 ging, jogging. The final el or er is frequently replaced by a simple /, which, as 
 Ihre remarks under gncella, has something ringing (aliquid tinnuli) in it. Thus 
 to mewl and pule, in Fr. miauler and plaukr, are to cry mew and ^ew ; to wail 
 is to cry wae ; Piedmontese bau-l-e, or fe bau, to make bau-bau, to bark like 
 a dog. 
 
 By a further extension the frequentative element is made to signify tlie simple 
 employment of an object in a way which has to be understood from the circum- 
 stances of the case. Thus to knee-l is to rest on the bent knee ; to hand-le, to em- 
 ploy the hand in dealing with an object. In cases like these, where the frequent- 
 ative element is added to a word already existing in the language, the effect of 
 the addition is simply to give a verbal signification to the compound, an end which 
 might equally be attained by the addition of verbal inflections of person and tense, 
 without the intervention of the frequentative element. 
 
 It seems accordingly to be a matter of chance whether the terminal / is added 
 or omitted. The Fr. miauler and beler correspond to E. mew and baa ; the g. 
 knie-en to E. kneel. In e. itself, to hand, in some applications, as to handle, in 
 others, is used for dealing with an object by the hand. 
 
 The application of the frequentative el or er to signify the agent or the in- 
 strument of action (as in as. rynel, a runner, or in e. rubber, he who rubs, or what 
 is used in rubbing) is analogous to the attainment of the same end by repetition 
 of the significant syllable, as shown above in the case of Malay ayunayunan, a 
 cradle or rocker from ayun, to rock, or Maori puka-puka, the lungs (the puffers of 
 the body), firom puka, to puff. 
 
 The same element is found in the construction of adjectives, as mAS.Jicol, fickle, 
 to be compared with g. Jickfacken, to move to and fro, and in as. wancol, o. 
 wankel, wavering, by the side of wan ken, wankeln, to rock or wag. 
 
 When we come to sum up the evidence of the imitative origin of language, 
 we find that words are to be found in every dialect that are used with a con- 
 scious intention of directly imitating sound, such asjlap, crack, smack, or the in- 
 terjections ah/ ugh ! But sometimes the signification is carried on, either by a 
 figurative mode of expression, or by association, to something quite distinct from 
 the sound originally represented, although the connection between the two may 
 be so close as to be rarely absent from the mind in the use of the word. Thus 
 the wovdjiap originally imitates the sound made by the blow of a flat surface, 
 as the wing of a bird or the corner of a sail. It then passes on to signify the 
 movement to and fro of a flat surface, and is thence applied to the moveable 
 leaf of a table, the part that moves on a hinge up and down, where all direct 
 connection with sound is lost. In like manner crack imitates the sound made 
 
Ixiv ORIGIN OF METAPHOR EASILY OBSCURED. 
 
 by a hard body breaking, and is applied in a secondary way to the effects of the 
 breach, to the separation between the broken parts, or to a narrow separation 
 between adjoining edges, such as might have arisen from a breach between them. 
 But when we speak of looking through the crack of a door we have no thought 
 of the sound made by a body breaking, although it is not difficult, on a moment's 
 reflection, to trace the connection between such a sound and the narrow open- 
 ing which is our real meaning. It is probable that smack is often used in the 
 sense of taste without a thought of the smacking sound of the tongue in the 
 enjoyment of food, which is the origin of the word. 
 
 When an imitative word is used in a secondary sense, it is obviously a mere 
 chance how long, or how generally, the connection with the sound it was 
 originally intended to represent, will continue to be felt in daily speech. Some- 
 times the connecting links are to be found only in a foreign language, or in 
 forms that have become obsolete in our own, when the unlettered man can only 
 regard the word he is using as an arbitrary symbol. A gull or a dupe is a person 
 easily deceived. The words are used in precisely the same sense, but what is 
 the proportion of educated Englishmen who use them with any consciousness of 
 the metaphors which give them their meaning ? Most of us probably would be 
 inclined to connect the first of the two with guile, deceit, and comparatively few 
 are aware that it is still provincially used in the sense of an unfledged bird. 
 When several other instances are pointed out in which a young bird is taken as 
 the type of helpless simplicity, it leaves no doubt that this is the way in which 
 the word gull has acquired its ordinary meaning. Dupe comes to us from the 
 French, in which language it signifies also a hoopoe, a bird with which we have 
 so little acquaintance at the present day, that we are apt at first to regard the 
 double signification as an accidental coincidence. But when we find that the 
 names by which the hoopoe is known in Italian, Polish, Breton, as well as in 
 French (all radically distinct), are also used in the sense of a simpleton or dupe, 
 we are sure that there must be something in the habits of the bird, which, at 
 a time when it was more familiarly known, made it an appropriate type of the 
 character its name in so many instances is used to designate. We should 
 hardly have connected ugly with the interjection ugh/ if we had not been 
 aware of the obsolete verb ug, to cry ugh ! or feel horror at, and it is only the 
 accidental preservation of occasional passages where the verb is written houge, 
 that gives us the clue by which huge and hug are traced to the same source. 
 
 Thus the imitative power of words is gradually obscured by figurative use 
 and the loss of intermediate forms, until all suspicion of the original principle of 
 their signification has faded away in the minds of all but the few who have made 
 the subject their special study. There is, moreover, no sort of difference either 
 in outward appearance, or in mode of use, or in aptness to combine with other 
 elements, between words which we are anyhow able to trace to an imitative 
 source, and others of whose significance the grounds are wholly unknown. It 
 would be impossible for a person who knew nothing of the origin of the words 
 huge and vast, to guess from the nature of the words which of the two was de- 
 
INSUFFICIENT OBJECTIONS. Ixv 
 
 rived from the imitation of sound ; and when he was informed that hii£^e had 
 been explained on this principle, it would be difficult to avoid the inference that 
 a similar origin might possibly be found for vast also. Nor can we doubt that a 
 wider acquaintance with the forms through which our language has past would 
 make manifest the imitative origin of numerous words whose signification now 
 appears to be wholly arbitrary. And why should it be assumed that any words 
 whatever are beyond the reach of such an explanation ? 
 
 If onomatopoeia is a vera causa as far as it goes ; if it affords an adequate 
 account of the origin of words signifying things not themselves apprehensible by 
 the ear, it behoves the objectors to the theory to explain what are the limits of 
 its reach, to specify the kind of thought for which it is inadequate to find ex- 
 pression, and the grounds of its shortcomings. And as the difficulty certainly 
 does not lie in the capacity of the voice to represent any kind of sound, it can 
 only be found in the Hmited powers of metaphor, that is, in the capacity of one 
 thing to put us in mind of another. It will be necessary then to show that 
 there are thoughts so essentiall)- differing in kind from any of those that have 
 been shown to be capable of expression on the principle of imitation, as to escape 
 the inference in favour of the general possibility of that mode of expression. 
 Hitherto, however, no one has ventured to bring the contest to such an issue. 
 The arguments of objectors have been taken almost exclusively from cases where 
 the explanations offered by the supporters of the theory are either ridiculous on 
 the face of them, or are founded in manifest blunder, or are too far-fetched to 
 afford satisfaction ; while the positive evidence of the validity of the principle, 
 arising from cases where it is impossible to resist the evidence of an imitative 
 origin, is slurred over, as if the number of such cases was too inconsiderable to 
 merit attention in a comprehensive survey of language. 
 
 That the words of imitative origin are neither inconsiderable in number, nor 
 restricted in signification to any limited class of ideas, is sufficiently shown by 
 the examples given in the foregoing pages. We cannot open a dictionary with- 
 out meeting with them, and in any piece of descriptive writing they are found 
 in abundance. 
 
 No doubt the number of words which remain unexplained on this principle 
 would constitute much the larger portion of the dictienary, but this is no more 
 than should be expected by any reasonable believer in the theory. As long as 
 the imitative power of a word is felt in speech it will be kept pretty close to the 
 original form. But when the signification is diverted from the object of imita- 
 tion, and the word is used in a secondary sense, it immediately becomes hable to 
 corruption from various causes, and the imitative character is rapidly obscured. 
 The imitative force of the interjections ah ! or ach ! and ugh / mainly depends 
 upon the aspiration, but when the vocable is no longer used directly to represent 
 the cry of pain or of shuddering, the sound of the aspirate is changed to that of 
 a hard guttural, as in ache (ake) and ugly, and the consciousness of imitation is 
 wholly lost. 
 
 In savage life, when the communities are small and ideas few, language is 
 
( 
 
 Ixvi CORRUPTION OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 liable to rapid change. To this effect we may cite the testimony of a thoughtful 
 traveller who had unusual opportunities of observation. 'There are certain 
 peculiarities in Indian habits which lead to a quick corruption of language and 
 segregation of dialects. When Indians are conversing among themselves they 
 seem to have pleasure in inventing new modes of pronunciation and in distort- 
 ing words. It is amusing to notice how the whole party will laugh when the 
 wit of the circle perpetrates a new slang term, and these words are very often 
 retained. I have noticed this during long voyages made with Indian crews. 
 When such alterations occur amongst a family or horde which often live many 
 years without communication with the rest of their tribe, the local corruption of 
 language becomes perpetuated. Single hordes belonging to the same tribe and 
 inhabiting the banks of the same river thus become, in the course of many years* 
 isolation, unintelligible to other hordes, as happens with the Collinas on the 
 Jurua. I think it very probable, therefore, that the djsposition to invent new 
 words and new modes of pronunciation, added to the small population and habits 
 of isolation of hordes and tribes, are the causes of the wonderful diversity of lan- 
 guages in South America.' — Bates, Naturalist on the Amazons, i. 330. 
 -- But even in civilised life, where the habitual use of writing has so strong a 
 tendency to fix the forms of language, words are continually changing in pro- 
 nunciation and in application from one generation to another ; and in no very 
 long period, compared with the duration of man, the speech of the ancestors be- 
 comes unintelligible to their descendants. In such cases it is only the art of 
 writing that preserves the pedigree of the altered forms. If English, French, and 
 Italian were barbarous unwritten languages no one would dream of any re- 
 lation between bishop, eveque, and vescovo, all immediate descendants of the Latin 
 episcopus. Who, without knowledge of the intermediate diurnus and giorno, 
 would suspect that such a word as jour could be derived from dies ? or without 
 written evidence would have thought of resolving Goodbye into God be with you 
 (God b' w' ye), or topsyturvy into topside the other way (top si' t' o'er way) ? 
 Suppose that in any of these cases the word had been mimetic in its earlier form, 
 how vain it would have been to look for any traces of imitation in the later ! If 
 we allow the influences which have produced such changes as the above to 
 operate through that vast lapse of time required to mould out of a common stock 
 such languages as English, Welsh, and 'Russian, we shall wonder rather at the 
 large than the small number of cases, in which traces of the original imitation. 
 are still to be made out. 
 
 The letters of the alphabet have a strong analogy with the case of language. 
 The letters are signs which represent articulate sounds through the sense of sight, 
 as words are signs which represent every subject of thought through the sense of 
 hearing. Now the significance of the names by which the letters are known in 
 Hebrew and Greek affbrds a strong presumption that they were originally pic- 
 torial imitations of material things, and the presumption is converted into moral 
 certainty by the accidental preservation in one or two cases of the original por- 
 traiture. The zigzag line which represents the wavy surface of water when used 
 
COMPARISON WITH LETTERS. Ixvii 
 
 as the symbol of Aquarius among the signs of the zodiac is found in Egyptian 
 hieroglyphics with the force of the letter w.* If we cut the symbol down to the 
 three last strokes of the zigzag we shall have the n of the early Greek in- 
 scriptions, which does not materially differ from the capital N of the present 
 day. 
 
 But no one from the mere form of the letter could have suspected an inten- 
 tion of representing water. "' Nor is there one of the letters, the actual form of 
 which would afford us the least assistance in guessing at the object it was meant 
 to represent. Why then should it be made a difficulty in admitting the imitat- 
 ive origin of the oral signs, that the aim at imitation can be detected in only a 
 third or a fifth, or whatever the proportion may be, of the radical elements of 
 our speech ? Nevertheless, a low estimate of the number of forms so traceable 
 to an intelhgible source often weighs unduly against the acceptance of a rational 
 theory of language. 
 
 Mr Tylor fully admits the principle of onomatopoeia, but thinks that the 
 evidence adduced does not justify ' the setting up of what is called the Inter- 
 jectional and Imitative theory as a complete solution of the problem of original 
 language. VaHd as this theory proves itself within limits, it would be incautious 
 to accept a hypothesis which can perhaps account for a twentieth of the crude 
 forms in any language, as a certain and absolute explanation of the nineteen 
 twentieths which remain. A key must unlock more doors than this, to be taken 
 as tlie master key ' (Prim. Cult. i. 208). The objection does not exactly meet 
 the position held by prudent supporters of the theory in question. We do not 
 assert that every device by which language has been modified and enlarged 
 
 * The evidence for the derivation of the letter N from the symbol representing water (in 
 Coptic noun) cannot be duly appreciated unless taken in conjunction with the case of the 
 letter M. The combination of the symbols I and 2, as shown in the subjoined illustration, 
 occurs very frequently in hieroglyphics with the force of MN. The lower symbol is used for 
 n, and thus in this combination the upper symbol undoubtedly has the force of w, although it 
 is said to be never used independently for that letter. 
 
 1 M-^-^^ ) ^:^ 
 2AAAA/\ j v\4 
 
 5LL/ eUJ y'y^i^ i^ 
 
 9 N 10 V\ ll|/| Ul2 
 
 Now if the two symbols be epitomised by cutting them down to their extremity, as a lion 
 is represented (fig. 13) by his head and fore-legs, it will leave figures 3 and 4, which are iden- 
 tical with the M and N of the early Phoenician and Greek. Figures 5, 6, 7, are forms of 
 Phoenician M from Gesenius ; 8, ancient Greek M ; 9, Greek N from Gesenius ; 10 and 1 1 
 from inscriptions in the British Museum. 
 
 e 2 
 
Ixviii INDUCTION OF RATIONAL ORIGIN SUFFICIENT. 
 
 as, for instance, the use of a change of vowel in many languages to express com- 
 parative nearness or distance of position) has had its origin in imitation of sound. 
 
 Our doctrine is not exclusive. If new 'modes of phonetic expression, un- 
 known to us as yet,' should be discovered, we shall be only in the position of the 
 fathers of modern Geology when the prodigious extent of glacial action in former 
 ages began to be discovered, and we shall be the first to recognise the efficiency of 
 the new machinery. ^Our fundamental tenet is that the same principle which 
 enables Man to make known his wants or to convey intelligence by means of 
 bodily gesture, would prompt him to the use of vocal signs for the same purpose, 
 leading him to utterances, which either by direct resemblance of sound, or by 
 analogies felt in the effort of utterance, might be associated with the notion to 
 be conveyed. iThe formation of words in this way in all languages has been 
 universally recognised, and it has been established in a wide range of examples, 
 differing so greatly in the nature of the signification and in the degree of 
 abstraction of the idea, or its remoteness from the direct perceptions of sense, as 
 to satisfy us that the principles employed are adequate to the expression of every 
 kind" of thought. And this is sufficient for the rational theorist of language. If 
 man can anyhow have stumbled into speech under the guidance of his ordinary 
 intelligence, it will be absurd to suppose that he was helped over the first steps 
 of his progress by some supernatural go-cart, in the shape either of direct in- 
 spiration, or, what comes to the same thing, of an instinct unknown to us at the 
 present day, but lent for a while to Primitive Man in order to enable him to 
 communicate with his fellows, and then withdrawn when its purpose was accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Perhaps after all it will be found that the principal obstacle to belief in the 
 rational origin of Language, is an excusable repugnance to think of Man as 
 having ever been in so brutish a condition of life as is implied in the want of speech. 
 Imagination has always delighted to place the cradle of our race in a golden age 
 of innocent enjoyment, and the more rational views of what the course of life 
 must have been before the race had acquired the use of significant speech, or 
 had elaborated for themselves the most necessary arts of subsistence, are felt by 
 unreflecting piety as derogatory to the dignity of Man and the character of a 
 beneficent Creator. But this is a dangerous line of thought, and the only safe 
 rule in speculating on the possible dispensations of Providence (as has been well 
 pointed out by Mr Farrar) is the observation of the various conditions in which 
 it is actually allotted to Man (without any choice of his own) to carry on his 
 life. What is actually allowed to happen to any family of Man cannot be in- 
 compatible either with the goodness of God or with His views of the dignity of 
 the human race. For God is no respecter of persons or of races. However 
 hard or degrading the life of the Fuegian or the Bushman may appear to us, it can 
 be no impeachment of the Divine love to suppose that our own progenitors were 
 exposed to a similar struggle. 
 
 We have only the choice of two alternatives. We must either suppose that 
 Man was created in a civilised state, ready instructed in the arts necessary for 
 
COMPLETION OF MAN. Ixix 
 
 the conduct of life, and was permitted to fall back into the degraded condition 
 which we witness among savage tribes ; or else, that he started from the lowest 
 grade, and rose towards a higher state of being, by the accumulated acquisitions 
 in arts and knowledge of generation after generation, and by the advantage 
 constantly given to superior capacity in the struggle for life. Of these alterna- 
 tives, that which embodies the notion of continued progress is most in accord- 
 ance with all our experience of the general course of events, notwithstanding 
 the apparent stagnation of particular races, and the barbarism and misery occa- 
 sionally caused by violence and warfare. We have witnessed a notable advance 
 in the conveniences of life in our own time, and when we look back as far as 
 history will reach, we find our ancestors in the condition of rude barbarians. 
 Beyond the reach of any written records we have evidence that the country was 
 inhabited by a race of hunters (whether our progenitors or not) who sheltered 
 in caves, and carried on their warfare with the wild beasts with the rudest wea- 
 pons of chipped flint. Whether the owners of these earliest relics of the human 
 race were speaking men or not, who shall say ? It is certain only that Language 
 is not the innate inheritance of our race j that it must have begun to be acquired 
 by some definite generation in the pedigree of Man ; and as many intelligent and 
 highly social kinds of animals, as elephants, for instance, or beavers, live in har- 
 mony without the aid of this great convenience of social life, there is no ap- 
 parent reason why our own race should not have led their hfe on earth for an in- 
 definite period before they acquired the use of speech 3 whether before that epoch 
 the progenitors of the race ought to be called by the name of Man, or not. 
 
 Geologists however universally look back to a period when the earth was peo- 
 pled only by animal races, without a trace of human existence 3 and the mere 
 absence of Man among an animal population of the world is felt by no one as 
 repugnant to a thorough belief in the providential rule of the Creator. Why 
 then should such a feehng be roused by the complementary theory which bridges 
 over the interval to the appearance of Man, and supposes that one of the races of 
 the purely animal period was gradually raised in the scale of intelligence, by the 
 laws of variation affecting all procreative kinds of being, until the progeny, in 
 the course of generations, attained to so enlarged an understanding as to become 
 capable ot appreciating each other's motives j of being moved to admiration and 
 love by the exhibition of loving courage, or to indignation and hate by malignant 
 conduct ; of finding enjoyment or pain in the applause or reprobation of their 
 fellows, or of their own reflected thoughts j and sooner or later, of using imitative 
 signs for the purpose of bringing absent things to the thoughts of another mind ? 
 
 Lihrary, 
 
 ■/y -"alifoini*- 
 
TABLE OF CONTRACTIONS. 
 
 AS. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon. 
 
 Fl. 
 
 Florio, Italian-Eng. diet. 
 
 ^Ifr. Gr. 
 
 Elfric's Grammar at the 
 
 
 1680. 
 
 
 end of Somner's Diet. 
 
 F.Q. 
 
 Faery Queen. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bailey's Engl. Diet., 1737. 
 
 Fr. 
 
 French. 
 
 Bav. 
 
 Bavarian. 
 
 Fris. 
 
 Frisian. 
 
 BigL 
 
 Biglotton seu Diet. 
 
 G. 
 
 German. 
 
 
 Teutonieo-Lat. 1654. 
 
 Gael. 
 
 Gaelic. 
 
 Boh. 
 
 Bohemian or Czeeh. 
 
 Grandg 
 
 Grandgagnage, Diet, de 
 
 Brem. Wtb. 
 
 Bremisch - Nieder - Sach- 
 
 
 la langue Wallonne, 
 
 
 siehes Worterbueh, 
 
 
 1845. 
 
 
 1768. 
 
 Gris. 
 
 Romansch, Rhasto-Ro- 
 
 Bret. 
 
 Bas-Breton or Celtie of 
 
 
 mance, or language of 
 
 
 Brittany. 
 
 
 the Grisons. 
 
 Carp. 
 
 Carpentier, Supplement to 
 
 Hal. 
 
 H alii well's Diet, of Ar- 
 
 
 Ducange, 1766. 
 
 
 chaic and Provincial 
 
 Castr. 
 
 Couzinid, Diet, de la 
 
 
 words, 1852. 
 
 
 langue Roftiano - Cas- 
 
 Idiot. 
 
 Idioticon or Vocabulary 
 
 
 traise, 1850. 
 
 
 of a dialect. 
 
 Cat. 
 
 Catalan, 
 
 Illyr. 
 
 Illyrian. 
 
 Cimbr. 
 
 Cimbriseh, dialeet of the 
 
 Jam. 
 
 Jamieson, Diet, of Scot- 
 
 
 Sette Commune. 
 
 
 tish Language. 
 
 Cot. 
 
 Cotgrave, Fr.-Eng. Diet. 
 
 K. or Kil. 
 
 Kilian, Diet. Teutonico- 
 
 Da. or Dan. 
 
 Danish. 
 
 
 Lat. 
 
 dial. 
 
 Provincial dialect. 
 
 Kiittn. 
 
 Kiittner's Germ. - Eng. 
 
 Dief. 
 
 Diefenbach, Vergleichen- 
 
 
 Diet., 1805. 
 
 
 des Worterbueh der 
 
 Lang. 
 
 Diet Languedocien- 
 
 
 Gothischen Sprache, 
 
 
 Frang. par Mr L. S. D,, 
 
 
 1851. 
 
 
 1-785. 
 
 Dief. Sup. 
 
 Diefenbach, Supplement 
 
 Lap. 
 
 Lapponic or language of 
 
 
 to Ducange, 1857. 
 
 
 Lapland. 
 
 Dn. 
 
 Dutch. 
 
 Lat. 
 
 Latin. 
 
 Due. 
 
 Ducange, Glossarium Me- 
 
 Let. 
 
 Lettish. 
 
 
 diae et Infimae Latini- 
 
 Lim. 
 
 Beronie, Diet, du patois 
 
 
 tatis. 
 
 
 du Bas-Limousin (Cor- 
 
 D.V. 
 
 Douglas' Virgili 
 
 
 reze). 
 
 E. 
 
 English. 
 
 Lith. 
 
 Lithuanian. 
 
 Esth. 
 
 Esthonian. 
 
 Magy. 
 
 Hungarian or Magyar. 
 
 Fin. 
 
 Finnish. 
 
 MHG. 
 
 Middle High German. 
 
TABLE OF CONTRACTIONS. 
 
 MId.Lat. 
 
 N. 
 
 O. 
 
 OHG. 
 
 ON. 
 
 Palsgr. 
 
 Pat. de Brai. 
 
 Piedm. 
 P1.D. 
 
 Pol. 
 P.P. 
 Prov. 
 Pr.Pm. 
 
 Ptg. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rayn. 
 
 Latin of the Middle Ages. 
 
 Norwegian or Norse. 
 
 Old. 
 
 Old High German. 
 
 Old Norse, Icelandic. 
 
 Palsgrave, I'Esclaircisse- 
 ment de la langue Fran- 
 9oise. 
 
 Diet, du patois du Pays 
 de Brai, 1852. 
 
 Piedmontese. 
 
 Piatt Deutsch, Low Ger- 
 man dialects. 
 
 Polish. 
 
 Piers Plowman. 
 
 Provencal. 
 
 Promptorium Parvulo- 
 rum. 
 
 Portuguese. 
 
 Richardson's Eng. Diet. 
 
 Raynouard, Diet. Proven- 
 cal, 1836. 
 
 Roquef, 
 Rouchi 
 
 R.R. 
 
 Russ. 
 
 Sc. 
 
 Schm. 
 
 Serv. 
 
 Sp. 
 
 Sw. 
 
 Swab. 
 
 Swiss Rom. 
 
 Venet. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walach. 
 
 I Wall. 
 
 Roquefort, Gloss, de la 
 
 Langue Romaine. 
 Patois of the Hainault. 
 
 Hecart, Diet. Rouchi- 
 
 Frang. 
 Chaucer's translation of 
 
 the Roman de la Rose 
 Russian. 
 Lowland Scotch. 
 Schmeller, Bayerisches 
 
 Worterbuch. 
 Servian. 
 Spanish. 
 Swedish. 
 Swabian. 
 Swiss Romance, the Fr. 
 
 patois of Switzerland. 
 Venetian. 
 Welsh. 
 Walach ian or Daco-Ro- 
 
 mance. 
 Walloon. 
 
DICTIONARY 
 
 OF 
 
 ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY. 
 
 An asterisk (*) is prefixed to words where the etymology of the first edition has been 
 materially altered. 
 
 A, as a prefix to nouns, is commonly 
 the remnant of the AS. on, in, on, among, 
 as aback, AS. on-ba^c ; away, AS. on- 
 w£eg ; alike, AS. on-Hc. 
 
 In the obsolete adown it represents the 
 AS. of, of or from ; AS. of-dune, literally, 
 from a height, downwards. 
 
 As a prefix to verbs it corresponds to 
 the Goth, us, out of ; ohg. ur, ar, er, ir; 
 G. er, implying a completion of the 
 action. 
 
 Thus G. erwacken, to awake, is to wake 
 up from a state of sleep ; to abide, is to 
 wait until the event looked for takes 
 place ; to arise, to get up from a recum- 
 bent posture. 
 
 Ab-, Abs-, A- In Lat. compounds, 
 away, away from, off. To abuse is to use 
 in a manner other than it should be ; ab- 
 lution, a washing off ; to abstain, to hold 
 away from. Lat. a, ab, abs, from. 
 
 Abaft. AS. ceftan, be-qftan, bee/tan, 
 after, behind. Hence on-bceftan, abaft. 
 The word seems very early to have ac- 
 quired the nautical use in which alone 
 it survives at the present day» 
 
 Every man shewid his connyng tofore the ship 
 and baft. — Chaucer, Beryn. 843. 
 
 Abandon. Immediately from Fr. 
 abandomter, and that from the noun 
 bandon (also adopted in English, but now 
 obsolete), command, orders, dominion. 
 The word Ban is common to all the lan- 
 guages of the Teutonic stock in the 
 sense of proclamation, announcement, 
 
 ABANDON 
 
 remaining with us in the restricted ap- 
 plication to Banns of Marriage. Passing 
 into the Romance tongues, this word be- 
 came bando in Italian and Spanish, an 
 edict or proclamation, bandon in French, 
 in the same sense, and secondarily in 
 that of command, orders, dominion, 
 power : 
 
 Than Wallace said, Thou spekis of mychty 
 
 thing, 
 Fra worthi Bruce had resavit his crown, 
 I thoucht have maid Ingland ai his bandown^ 
 So wttrely it suld beyn at his will. 
 What plesyt him, to saufif the king or spill. 
 
 Wallace. 
 
 Hence to embandon or abandon is to 
 bring under the absolute command or 
 entire control of any one, to subdue, rule, 
 have entire dominion over. 
 And he that thryll (thrall) is is nocht his, 
 All that he has embandownyt is 
 Unto his Lord, whatever he be. — Bruce, i. 244. 
 
 He that dredeth God wol do diligence to plese 
 God by his werkes and abandon himself with'all 
 his might well for to do. — Parson's Tale. 
 
 Thus we see that the elliptical expres- 
 sion of 'an abandoned character,' to 
 which the accident of language has at- 
 tached the notion of one enslaved to vice, 
 might in itself with equal propriety have 
 been used to signify devotion to good. 
 
 Again, as that which is placed at the 
 absolute command of one party must by 
 the same act be entirely given up by the 
 original possessor, it was an easy step 
 from the sense of conferring the com- 
 mand of a thing upon some particular 
 1 
 
2 ABASH 
 
 person, to that of renouncing all claim to 
 authority over the subject matter, without 
 particular reference to the party into 
 whose hands it might come ; and thus in 
 modern times the word has come to be 
 used almost exclusively in the sense of 
 renunciation or desertion. * Dedicio — 
 abaundunenient^ the surrender of a 
 castle. — Neccham. 
 
 The adverbial expressions at abandon, 
 bandoniy, abandonly, so common in the 
 *Bruce' and 'Wallace' like the OFr. d 
 son bandon, d bandon, may be explained, 
 at his own will and pleasure, at his own 
 impulse, uncontrolledly, impetuously, de- 
 terminedly. 'Ainsi s'avanc^rent de 
 grand volonti tous chevaliers et ecuyers 
 et prirent terre.' — Froiss. vol. iv. c. ii8. 
 
 To Abash. Originally, to put to con- 
 fusion from any strong emotion, whether 
 of fear, of wonder, shame, or admiration, 
 but restricted in modern times to the 
 effect of shame. Abash is an adoption 
 of the Fr. esbahir, as sounded in the 
 greater number of the inflections, esba- 
 hissons, esbahissais, esbahissant. In or- 
 der to convert the word thus inflected 
 into English it was natural to curtail 
 merely the terminations ons, ais, ant, by 
 which the inflections differed from each 
 other, and the verb was written in Eng- 
 lish to abaisse or abaish, as ravish, polish, 
 furnish, from ravir, polir,foicr7iir. 
 
 Many English verbs of a similar deriv- 
 ation were formerly written indifferently 
 with or without a final sh, where custom 
 has rendered one or other of the two 
 modes of spelling obsolete. Thus obey 
 was written obeisse or obey she j betray, 
 betrash. 
 
 Speaking of Narcissus stooping to 
 drink, Chaucer writes ; 
 
 In the water anon was sene 
 His nose, his mouth, his eyen shene, 
 And he thereof was all abashed. 
 His owne shadow had him betrashed : 
 For well he wened the forme to see 
 Of a childe of full grete beauti. — R. R. 1520. 
 
 In the original — 
 
 Et il maintenant s'ibahit 
 Car son umbre si le trahit 
 Car il cuida voir la figure 
 D'ung enfant bel a demesure. 
 
 On the other hand, burny was formerly 
 in use as well as burnish ; abay or abaw 
 as well as abaisse or abaish : 
 
 I saw the rose when I was nigh, 
 
 It was thereon a goodly sight— 
 
 For such another as I gesse 
 
 Afome ne was, ne more vermeille, 
 
 I was abawid for merveille. — R. R. 3645. 
 
 ABBOT 
 
 In the original — 
 
 Moult m'esbahis de la merveille. 
 Yield you madame en hicht can Schir Lust say, 
 A word scho could not speik scho was so abaid. 
 K. Hart in Jamieson. 
 
 Custom, which has rendered obsolete 
 betrash and obeish, has exercised her 
 authority in like manner over abay or 
 abaw, burny, astony. 
 
 The origin of esbahir itself is to be 
 found in the OFr. baer, bder, to gape, 
 an onomatopoeia from the sound Ba, 
 most naturally uttered in the opening of 
 the lips. Hence Lat. Babce ! Mod. 
 Vxow.Bahl the interjection of wonder ; 
 and the verb esbahir, in the active form, 
 to set agape, confound, astonish, to strike 
 with feelings the natural tendency of 
 which is to manifest itself by an involun- 
 tary opening of the mouth. Castrais,yh: 
 baba, to excite admiration. — Cousinid. 
 Zulu babaza, to astonish, to strike with 
 wonder or surprise. 
 
 In himself was all his state 
 More solemn than the tedious pomp which waits 
 On princes, when their rich retinue long 
 Of horses led, and grooms besmeared with gold, 
 Dazzles the crowd, and sets them all agape. 
 
 Milton. 
 
 Wall, bawi, to look at with open mouth ; 
 esbawi, to abaw or astonish. — Grandg. 
 See Abide. 
 
 To Abate. Fr. abbattre, to beat 
 down, to ruin, overthrow, cast to the 
 ground, Cotgr. Wall, abate, faire tomber, 
 (Grandg.) ; It. abbatere, to overthrow, to 
 pull down, to make lower, depress, 
 weaken, to diminish the force of any- 
 thing ; abbatere le vela, to strike sail ; 
 abbatere dal prezzo, to bate something 
 of the price ; abbatersi, to light upon, to 
 hit, to happen, to meet with ; abbatersi 
 in una terra, to take possession of an 
 estate. Hence the OE. law term abate- 
 ment, which is the act of one who in- 
 trudes into the possession of lands void 
 by the death of the former possessor, 
 and not yet taken up by the lawful heir i 
 and the party who thus pounces upon 
 the inheritance is called an abator. See 
 Beat, Bate. 
 
 Abbot, Abbey, Abbess. More cor- 
 rectly written abbat, from Lat. abbas, 
 abbatis, and that from Syrian abba, 
 father. The word was occasionally writ- 
 ten abba in Latin. It was a title of re- 
 spect formerly given to monks in general, 
 and it must have been during the time 
 that it had this extended signification 
 that it gave rise to the Lat. abbatia, an 
 abbey, or society of abbots or monks. 
 
ABELE 
 
 Epiphanius, speaking of the Holy places, 
 says, extt Se i) avTij d(3ddeg ;^tXtouj^ koi xtXtor 
 KsWia, it contains a thousand monks and 
 a thousand cells. — Ducange. In process 
 of time we meet with protestations from 
 St Jerome and others against the arro- 
 gance of assuming the title of Father, 
 and either from feelings of such a nature, 
 or possibly from the analogy between a 
 community of monks and a private 
 family, the name of Abbot or Father was 
 ultimately confined to the head of the 
 house, while the monks under his control 
 were called Brothers. 
 
 Abele. The white poplar. Pol. dia/o- 
 drzew, literally white tree, from dia/o, 
 white. 
 
 * To Abet. OFr. abetter, to de- 
 ceive, also to incite ; inciter, animer, 
 exciter. — Roquef. Prov. abet, deceit, trick ; 
 abetar, to deceive, beguile. 
 
 Lui ne peut-il mie guiler, 
 
 Ni engjgner ni abater. — Fabl. II. 366. 
 
 Both senses of the word may be ex- 
 plained from Norm, abet, Guernsey bette, 
 a bait for fish ; be'ter, Norm, abeter, to 
 bait the hook. — Hdricher, Gloss. Norm. 
 From the sense of baiting springs that 
 of alluring, tempting, inciting, on the one 
 hand, and alluring to his own destruc- 
 tion, deceiving, beguiling on the other. 
 See Bait. 
 
 Abeyance. OFr. abdiancej droit en 
 abeia?ice, a right in suspense ; abeyance, 
 expectation, desire. — Gloss, de Champ. 
 From abahier, abater, abayer, to be in- 
 tent upon, to desire earnestly, to expect, 
 wait, watch, listen. See Abide. 
 
 To Abide, Abie. Goth, beidan, us- 
 beidan, to expect ; gabeidan, to endure ; 
 usbeisns, expectation ; usbeisnei, endur- 
 ance, forbearance. AS. bidan, abidan, to 
 expect, wait, bide ; ON. bi'da, to wait, 
 endure, suffer ; b. bana, to suffer death ; 
 Dan. bie, Du. beijden, beijen, verbeijen 
 (Bos worth), to wait. We have seen 
 under Abash that the involuntary open- 
 ing of the mouth under the influence of 
 astonishment was represented by the 
 syllable ba, from whence in the Romance 
 dialects are formed two series of verbs, 
 one with and one without the addition of 
 a terminal d to the radical syllable. 
 Thus we have It. badare, badigliare, to 
 gape, to yawn. Cat. and Prov. badar, to 
 open the mouth, to open ; bader, ouvrir 
 (Vocab. de Berri) ; Prov. gola badada. 
 It. bocca badata, with open mouth ; Cat. 
 badia, a bay or opening in the coast. 
 Without the terminal d we have baer, 
 
 ABIDE 3 
 
 baier, beer, with the frequentative battler, 
 to open the mouth, to gape ; guetile b^e, 
 bouche beante, as gola badada^ bocca ba- 
 data above mentioned. 
 
 Quant voit le serpent, qui baaille, 
 Corant sens lui, geule ba^e. — Raynouard. 
 Both forms of the verb are then figur- 
 atively applied to signify affections cha- 
 racterized by involuntary opening of the 
 mouth, intent observation, or absorption 
 in an object, watching, listening, expect- 
 ation, waiting, endurance, delay, suffer- 
 ing. It. badare, to attend to, to mind, to 
 take notice, take care, to desire, covet, 
 aspire to, to stay, to tarry, to abide ; 
 abbadare, to stay, to attend on ; bada, 
 delay, lingering, tarrying ; tenere a bada, 
 to keep in suspense. Corresponding 
 forms with the d effaced are OFr. baer, 
 baier, bSer, to be intent upon, attendre 
 avec empressement, aspirer, regarder, 
 songer, desirer (Roquef.) ; abayer, ^couter 
 avec dtonnement, bouche beante, inhiare 
 loquenti (Lacombe). 
 
 I saw a smith stand with his hammer — thus — 
 The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool, 
 With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news. 
 
 K. John. 
 
 Here we have a good illustration of the 
 connection between the figure of opening 
 the mouth and the ideas of rapt attention, 
 waiting, suspense, delay. The verb at- 
 tend, which in E. signifies the direction of 
 the mind to an object, in Fr. attendre 
 signifies to suspend action, to wait. In 
 other cases the notion of passive waiting 
 is expressed by the figure of looking or 
 watching. Thus G. 'warten,\.o wait, is iden- 
 tical with It. guardare, to look, and E. wait 
 was formerly used in the sense of look. 
 The passage which in our translation is 
 ' Art thou he that should come, or do we 
 look for another,' is in AS. 'we sceolon 
 othres abidan.' The effacement of the d 
 in Du. beijen, in Dan. bie compared with 
 Sw. bida, and in E. abie, compared with 
 abide, is precisely analogous to that in 
 Fr. beer, baier compared with It. badare, 
 abadare, or in Fr. crier compared with 
 It. gridare. 
 
 Certes (quoth she) that is that these wicked 
 shrewes be more blissful that abien the torments 
 that they have deserved than if no pain of Justice 
 ne chastised them. — Chaucer, Boethius. 
 At sight of her they suddaine all arose 
 In great amaze, ne wist what way to chuse. 
 But Jove all feareless forced them to aby. — F. Q. 
 
 It is hardly possible to doubt the iden- 
 tity of E. abie, to remain or endure, with 
 the verb of abeyance, expectation or sus- 
 pense, which is certainly related to It. 
 1 * 
 
4 ABIE 
 
 badare^ as E. abie to Goth, beidan, AS. 
 bidan. Thus the derivation of badare 
 above explained is brought home to E. 
 bide^ abide, abie. 
 
 Abie, 2. Fundamentally distinct from 
 abie in the sense above explained, al- 
 though sometimes confounded with it, is 
 the verb abie, properly abiiy, and spelt 
 indifferently in the older authors abegge, 
 abeye, abigg, abidge, from AS. abicgan, 
 abycgatij to redeem, to pay the purchase- 
 money, to pay the penalty, suffer the 
 consequences of anything ; and the sim- 
 ple buy, or bie, was often used in the 
 same sense. 
 
 Sithe Richesse hath me failed here, 
 She shall abie that trespass dere. — R. R. 
 Algate this selie maidc is slaine alas ! 
 Alas ! to dere abought she her beaute. 
 
 Doctor's Tale. 
 Thou slough my brother Morgan 
 
 At the mete full right 
 As I am a doughti man 
 
 His death thou bist (buyest) tonight. 
 
 Sir Tristrem. 
 For whoso hardy hand on her doth lay 
 It derely shall abie, and death for handsel pay. 
 Spenser, F. Q. 
 
 And when he fond he was yhurt, the Pardoner 
 
 he gan to threte, 
 And swore by St Amyas that he should ahigg 
 With strokes hard and sore even upon the rigg. 
 
 Prol. Merch. 2nd Tale. 
 Ac for the lesynge that thou Lucifer lowe til Eve 
 Thou shalt abygge bitter quoth God, and bond 
 
 him with cheynes. — P. P. 
 
 To buy it dear, seems to have been 
 used as a sort of proverbial expression 
 for suffering loss, without special refer- 
 ence to the notion of retribution. 
 I'he thingis fellin as they done of werre 
 Betwixtin hem of Troie and Grekis ofte, 
 For some day boughtin they of Troie it dere 
 And efte the Grekis foundin nothing softe 
 The folke of Troie. Tr. and Cr. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing ex- 
 amples how naturally the sense of buying 
 or paying the purchase-money of a thing 
 passes into that of simply suffering, in 
 which the word is used in the following 
 passages. 
 
 O God, forbid for mother's fault 
 The children should abye. — Boucher. 
 If he come into the hands of the Holy Inquisi- 
 tion, he must abye for it. — Boucher. 
 i. e. must suffer for it. 
 
 The connection between the ideas of 
 remaining or continuance in time and 
 continuance under suffering or pain is 
 apparent from the use of the word en- 
 durance in both applications. In this 
 way both abide and its degraded form 
 abie come to signify suffer. 
 
 ABOLISH 
 
 Thus abie for abuy and abie from 
 abide are in certain cases confounded 
 together, and the confusion sometimes 
 extends to the use of abide in the sense 
 of abuying or paying the penalty. 
 
 If it be found so some will dear abide it. 
 
 Jul. Cassar. 
 
 How dearly I abide that boast so vain. 
 
 Milton, P. L. 
 
 Disparage not the faith thou dost not know, 
 
 Lest to thy peril thou abide it dear. 
 
 Mids. N. Dr. 
 
 Able. Lat. habilis (from habeo, to 
 have ; have-like, at hand), convenient, 
 fit, adapted ; Fr. habile, able, strong, 
 powerful, expert, sufficient, fit for any- 
 thing he undertakes or is put unto. — 
 Cotgr. It. abile ; Prov. abilh. 
 
 It will be remarked on looking at a 
 series of quotations that in the earlier 
 instances the sense of the Lat. habilis is 
 closely preserved, while in later examples 
 the meaning is confined to the case of 
 fitness by possession of sufficient active 
 power. 
 
 God tokeneth and assigneth the times, abling 
 hem to her proper offices. — Chaucer, Boeth. 
 
 In the original, 
 
 Signat tempora propriis 
 Aptans officiis Deus. 
 That if God willing to schewe his wrathe, and 
 to make his power knowne, hath sufferid in 
 grete pacience vessels of wrathe able unto death, 
 &c. — Wickliff in Richardson. 
 
 To enable a person to do a thing or to 
 disable him, is to render him fit or unfit 
 for doing it. 
 
 Divers persons in the House of Commons 
 were attainted, and therefore not legal nor 
 habilitate to serve in Parliament, being disabled 
 in the highest degree. — Bacon in R. 
 
 The Fr. habiller is to qualify for any 
 purpose, as habiller du chanvre, de la 
 volaille, to dress hemp, to draw fowls, to 
 render them fit for use ; whence habili- 
 ments are whatever is required to qualify 
 for any special purpose, as habiliments 
 of war ; and the most general of all 
 qualifications for occupation of any kind 
 being simply clothing, the Fr. habille- 
 ment has become appropriated to that 
 special signification. 
 
 Aboard. For on board, within the 
 walls of a ship. ON. bord, a board, the 
 side of a ship. Innan bards, within the 
 ship, on board ; at kasta fyri bard, to 
 throw overboard. 
 
 Abolish. Fr. abolir, from Lat. aboleo, 
 to erase or annul. The neuter form 
 abolesco, to wear away, to grow out of 
 use, to perish, when compared with 
 
ABOMINABLE 
 
 adoksco, to grow up, coalesce, to grow 
 together, shows that the force of the 
 radical syllable ol, al is growth, vital 
 progress. PL D. af-olen, af-oolden, to 
 become worthless through age. De inann 
 olet ganz af, the man dwindles away. 
 The primitive idea seems that of beget- 
 ting or giving birth to, kindling. OSw. 
 ala, to beget or give birth to children, 
 and also, as AS. celan, to light a fire ; the 
 analogy between life and the progress of 
 ignition being one of constant occur- 
 rence. So in Lat. alere capillos, to let 
 the hair grow, and alere Jlanifnam, to 
 feed the flame. In English we speak of 
 the vital spark, and the verb to kindle is 
 used both in the sense of lighting a fire, 
 and of giving birth to a litter of young. 
 The application of the root to the notion 
 of fire is exemplified in Lat. adolere, 
 adolescere, to burn up {adolescunt ignibus 
 arae. Virg.) ; while the sense of beget- 
 ting, giving birth to, explains soboles 
 (for sub-ol-es), progeny, and in-d-oles, 
 that which is born in a man, natural 
 disposition. Then, as the duty of nour- 
 ishing and supporting is inseparably con- 
 nected with the procreation of offspring, 
 the OSw. ala is made to signify to rear, 
 to bring up, to feed, to fatten, showing 
 that the Latin alere, to nourish, is a 
 shoot from the same root. In the same 
 way Sw./oda signifies to beget, and also 
 to rear, to bring up, to feed, to main- 
 tain. Gael, alaich, to produce, bring 
 forth, nourish, nurse ; dl, brood, or young 
 of any kind ; oil, Goth. ala?i, ol, to rear, 
 educate, nurse. The root el, signifying 
 life, is extant in all the languages of the 
 Finnish stock. 
 
 Abominable. — Abominate. Lat. 
 abominor (from ab and omen, a portent), 
 to deprecate the omen, to recognize a 
 disastrous portent in some passing oc- 
 currence, and to do something to avert 
 the threatened evil. Quod abojninor, 
 which may God avert. Thence to regard 
 with feelings of detestation and abhor- 
 rence. 
 
 To Abound. Abundant. See -und-. 
 
 About. AS. utan, outward, without, 
 be-utan, butati,yinbutan, onbutan, abutan, 
 about ; literally, around on the out- 
 side. 
 
 Sometimes the two parts of the word 
 are divided by the subject to which it 
 relates, or the particle be is separated 
 from the preposition and joined to the 
 preceding verb. 
 
 Ymb hancred utan, about cockcrow. 
 Thonne sec aeftre 
 
 ABROACH ^ 
 
 Ethiopia Land 
 
 Beligeth utan. — Caedmon. 
 
 for ligeth butan, it compasseth the whole 
 land of Ethiopia. 
 
 Above. AS. ufan, be-ufan, bufan, 
 abtifait, Du. boven, OE. abowen, Sc. 
 aboon, above, on high. In Barbour's 
 Bruce we find both abowyne and abo%u, 
 as withoiityn and without. 
 
 Abraid. — Abray. To abray or abraid, 
 now obsolete, is common in our older 
 writers in the sense of starting out of 
 sleep, awaking, breaking out in language. 
 AS. abrcegdan, abredan, to awake, snatch 
 away, draw out. The radical idea is to 
 do anything with a quick and sudden 
 motion, to start, to snatch, to turn, to 
 break out. See To Bray. 
 
 To Abridge, — Abbreviate, to short- 
 en, or cut short. Of these synonymous 
 terms the former, from Fr. abreger, seems 
 the older form, the identity of which with 
 Lat. abbreviare not being at once ap- 
 parent, abbreviate was subsequently form- 
 ed direct from the latter language. 
 
 Abrdger itself, notwithstanding the 
 plausible quotation from Chaucer given 
 below, is not from G. abbrechen, AS. 
 abrcecan, but from Lat. abbreviare, by the 
 change of the v and i into u and j respect- 
 ively. The Provencal has breu for 
 brevis ; breugetat for brevitas ; abbreujar, 
 to abridge, leading immediately to Fr. 
 abreger J and other cases may be pointed 
 out of similar change in passing from Lat. 
 to the Romance languages. Lat. levis 
 becomes leu in Prov., while the verb alle- 
 viare is preserved in the double form of 
 alleviar and alleujar, whence the Fr. 
 alliger, which passed into English under 
 the form allegge, common in Chaucer and 
 his contemporaries, so that here also we 
 had the double form allegge and alleviate, 
 precisely corresponding to abridge and 
 abbreviate. In like manner from Lat. 
 gravis, Prov. greu, heavy, hard, severe ; 
 greugetat, gravity, agreujar, Fr. aggrd- 
 ger, OE. agredge, to aggravate. ' Things 
 that greatly agredge their sin.' — Parson's 
 Tale. 
 
 No doubt if we had not so complete a 
 pedigree from brevis, the idea of breaking 
 off would suggest a very plausible deriva- 
 tion from G. abbrecheti, to break off; 
 kurz abbrechen, to cut short, — Kiittner. 
 ' And when this olde man wende to en- 
 force his tale by resons, all at once be- 
 gonne thei to rise for to breken his tale 
 and bidden him full ofte his words for to 
 abregge.' — Chaucer, Melibseus. 
 
 Abroacli. For on broach , from Fr. 
 
6 ABROAD 
 
 brocher, to pierce. To set a tun abroach 
 is to pierce it, and so to place it in con- 
 dition to draw off the contents. 
 
 Right as who set a tonne abroche 
 
 He perced the hard roche. 
 
 Gower in Richardson. 
 
 Wall, abrokij mettre in perce. — Grandg. 
 See Broach. 
 
 Abroad. On broad, spread over the 
 surface, far and wide, and hence arbitra- 
 rily applied in the expression of going 
 abroad to going beyond the limits of one's 
 own country. 
 
 But it (the rose) ne was so sprede on brede, 
 That men within might know the sede. — R. R. 
 
 Abscess. Lat. abscessus, Fr. abscez, 
 a course of ill humours running out of 
 their veins and natural places into the 
 empty spaces between the muscles. — 
 Cotgr. From abscedere, to retire, with- 
 draw, draw to a head. See -cess. 
 
 To Abscond. To withdraw for the 
 purpose of concealment ; Lat. abscondo, to 
 hide away ; condo, to put by. 
 
 To Absorb. Lat. ab and sorbeo, to 
 suck up. See Sherbet. 
 
 To Abstain. — Abstemious. Lat. ab- 
 stineo, to hold back from an object of de- 
 sire, whence abstemious, having a habit 
 of abstaining from. Viniabstemius, Pliny, 
 abstaining from wine. So Fr. etamer, to 
 tin, from ^taiit. 
 
 Absurd. Not agreeable to reason 
 or common sense. Lat. absurdus. The 
 figure of deafness is frequently used to 
 express the failure of something to serve 
 the purpose expected from things of its 
 kind. Thus ON. daufr, deaf ; daufr litr, 
 2l dull colour ; a deaf nut, one without a 
 kernel ; Fr. lanterne sourde, a dark lan- 
 tern. So Lat. surdus, deaf ; surdus locus, 
 a place ill adapted for hearing; surda 
 vota, unheard prayers. Absurdum, what 
 is not agreeable to the ears, and fig. to 
 the understanding. 
 
 Est hoc auribus, animisque hominum absurdum. 
 
 Cic. 
 
 To Abut. Fr. bout, end : aboutir, to 
 meet end to end, to abut. But bout itself 
 is from OFr. boter, botter, boutir, to 
 strike, corresponding to E. butt, to strike 
 with the head, as a goat or ram. It is 
 clear that the full force of the metaphor 
 is felt by Shakespeare when he speaks of 
 France and England as 
 
 two mighty monarchies, 
 Whose high upreared and abutting fronts 
 The narrow perilous ocean parts asunder. 
 
 Abuttals or boundaries are translated 
 capita in mid. Lat., and abut, capitare. 
 
 ACCOUTRE 
 
 In the same way the G. stossen, to 
 thrust, butt, push with the horns, &c., is 
 also applied to the abutting of lands. 
 J/ire lander stossen an einander, their 
 lands abut on each other. So in Swedish 
 st'dta, to strike, to thrust, to butt as a 
 goat ; st'dta tilsaminans, to meet together, 
 to abut. 
 
 Abyss. Gr. a(3vffffog, unfathomable, 
 from a and fivaabq or ^vQbq, depth. 
 
 Academy. Gr. aKadi]fxtia, a garden 
 in the suburbs of Athens where Plato 
 taught. 
 
 Accede. — Access. — ^Accessory. Lat. 
 accedere, accessum, to go or come to, to 
 arrive at, approach. To support, to be of 
 the party or side of any one, to assent to, 
 to approve of. Hence accessory, an aider 
 or abetter in a crime. See Cede. 
 
 Fr. acch from accessus, a fit or sudden 
 attack of a disorder, became in OE, axesse, 
 pi. axes, still preserved in the provincial 
 axes, the ague. — HaUiwell. 
 
 A charm — 
 
 The which can helin thee of thine axesse. 
 
 Tro. and Cress. 2, 1315. 
 
 Accent. Lat. accentus, modulation of 
 the voice, difference in tone, from accino, 
 accentum, to sing to an instrument, to ac- 
 cord. See Chant. 
 
 Accomplice. Fr, complice, Lat. co7n- 
 plex, bound up with, united with one in 
 a project, but always in a bad sense. 
 
 Accomplish. Fr. accomplir, \.2X. co7n- 
 plere, to fill up, fulfil, complete. 
 
 Accord. Fr. acco?'der, to agree. Form- 
 ed in analogy to the Lat. concordare, dis~ 
 cordare, from concors, discors, and con- 
 sequently from cor, the heart, and not 
 chorda, the string of a musical instrument. 
 — Diez. The Swiss Romance has cor- 
 dere, cordre, synonymous with G. gonnen, 
 to consent heartily with what falls to 
 another; Wall, keure, voir de bon grd 
 qu'un dvenement arrive a quelqu'un, 
 qu'une chose ait lieu ; meskeure, missgon- 
 nen. — Grandg. 
 
 To Accost. Lat. casta, a rib, a side ; 
 Fr. coste, a rib, coste, now cote, a side ; 
 coste-d-coste, side by side. Hence accoster, 
 to join side to side, approach, and thence 
 to greet. 
 
 Accoutre. From the Fr. accoutrer, 
 forrnerly accoustrer, to equip with the 
 habiliments of some special office or oc- 
 cupation, — an act of which in Catholic 
 countries the frequent change of vest- 
 ments at appointed periods of the church 
 service would afford a striking and fami- 
 liar example. 
 
 Now the person who had charge of the 
 
ACCRUE 
 
 vestments in a Catholic church, was the 
 sacristan ; in Lat. custos sacrarii or ec- 
 desicB (barbarously rendered custrix, 
 when the office was filled by woman), in 
 OFr. coiisteur or const re, coutrej Ger. 
 kiister, the sacristan, or vestry-keeper. — 
 Ludwig. 
 
 Ad custodem sacrarii pertinet cura vel custo- 
 dium templi — vela vestesque sacrcs, ac vasa sacro- 
 rum . — St Isidore in Ducange. 
 
 The original meaning of accoutrer 
 would thus be to perform the office of 
 sacristan to a priest, to invest him with 
 the habiliments of his office ; afterwards 
 to invest with the proper habiliments of 
 any other occupation. 
 
 Accrue. Fr. accroitre, accrtc, from 
 Lat. crescere, to grow. Thence accrue, a 
 growth, increase, Cotgr., and E. accrue, 
 to be in the condition of a growth, to be 
 added to something as what naturally 
 grows out of it. 
 
 Ace. Fr. as, It. asso, the face marked 
 with the number one on cards or dice, 
 from Lat. as, assis, which signifies a single 
 one. — Diez. 
 
 Achromatic. Producing an image 
 free from iridescent colours. Gr. d, priva- 
 tive, and xp<^^«> colour. 
 
 Ache. A bodily pain, from Ach I the 
 natural expression of pain. So from G. 
 ach ! alas ! the term is applied to woe, 
 grief. Mem ach ist deine freude, my woe 
 is your joy. — Kiittn. Achen, to utter 
 Cries of grief. The Gr. axoe? pain, grief, 
 is formed on the same principle. 
 
 To Achieve. Prov. cap, Fr. chef, head, 
 and thence the end of everything; de 
 chief en chief, from end to end ; venir d 
 chef, to gain one's end, to accomplish ; 
 Prov. acabar, Fr. achever, to bring to a 
 head, to accomplish, achieve. 
 
 Acid. — Acrid.— Acerbity. Lat. aceo, 
 
 to be sharp or sour ; acor, sourness ; 
 
 acidus, sour, tart ; acetu7n, vinegar, sour 
 
 wine. From the same root acer, acris, 
 
 sharp, biting, eager; acredo, acrimonia, 
 
 sharpness ; acerbus, sharp, bitter, sour 
 
 I like an unripe fruit. See Acute. 
 
 f Acme. Gr. aK\i,y], a point : the highest 
 
 I degree of any quality. See Acute. 
 
 j Acolyte. Gr. d*c6\ou0oc, an attendant, 
 
 [ uKoXovBku), to follow, attend. 
 
 ;, Acorn. AS. cecern, ceceren, accernj 
 
 I ON. akarnj Dan. agern; Du. akerj G. 
 
 : ecker, eichelj Goth, akran, fruit. The 
 
 \ last of the AS. spellings shows us an early 
 
 \ accommodation to the notion of oak-corn, 
 
 a derivation hardly compatible with the 
 
 other Teutonic and Scandinavian forms, 
 
 or with the more general signification of 
 
 AD 7 
 
 Goth, akran, notwithstanding Grimm's 
 quotation of Cajus, 
 
 Glandis appellatione omnis fructus continetur. 
 
 Grimm is himself inclined to explain 
 akran, fruit, as the produce of the akr, or 
 corn-field, but a more satisfactory deriva- 
 tion may probably be found in OHG. 
 wuocher, increase, whence G. wucher, ON. 
 okr, interest, usury, from the same root 
 with Lat. augere, Goth, aiikan, to in- 
 crease ; erde-wucher, the increase of the 
 field, fruits of the earth. — Notker. The 
 ON. okran,fcE7ieratio, is formally identical 
 with Goth, akran. 
 
 Acoustic. Gr. aKovatiKog, connected 
 with hearing ; ukovoj, to hear. 
 
 To Acquaint. OFr. accointer, Prov. 
 accoindar, to make known ; OFr. coint, 
 informed of a thing, having it known, 
 from Lat. cognitus, according to Diez ; 
 but this seems one of the cases in which 
 it must be doubtful whether the Romance 
 word comes from a Lat. original, or from 
 a corresponding Teutonic root. The G. 
 has kund (from kennen, to know), known, 
 manifest ; kund machen, to make known, 
 in precisely the same sense with the Prov. 
 coindar, the d of which seems better to 
 agree with the G. word than with the Lat. 
 cognitus; G. kundig, having knowledge 
 of a thing. 
 
 To Acquit. From Lat. quietus, at 
 rest, was formed Fr. quiite, whence ac- 
 qicitter, to set at rest with respect to some 
 impending claim or accusation. See 
 Quit, Quite. 
 
 Acre. Gr. a'^f^oQ', Lat. ager; Goth. 
 akrs, cultivated land, corn-land. G. acker, 
 a field of cultivated land ; thence a mea- 
 sure of land, so much as may be ploughed 
 in a day. 
 
 Acrostic. — A poem in which the first 
 letters of the verses compose one or more 
 words, from Gr. uKpov, tip, ffrixog, a verse. 
 
 Act. — Active. — Actor. See Agent. 
 
 Acute. The syllable ac is the founda- 
 tion of many words connected with the 
 idea of sharpness both in Lat. and Gr., 
 as ctKr}, Lat. acies, a point or edge, acig, 
 -iSog, a pointed instrument, a sting ; Lat. 
 acus, a needle, properly a prick, as shown 
 by the dim. aculeus, a prickle or sting; 
 acuo, to give a point or edge to, to sharp- 
 en; acutus, sharpened, sharp. Words 
 from the same source signifying sharp- 
 ness of a figurative kind are seen under 
 Acid. 
 
 Ad-, in composition. Lat. ad, to. In 
 combination with words beginning with 
 c^f gj /, n, p, V, the d of ad is assimilated 
 
•8 
 
 ADAGE 
 
 ;to the following consonant, as- in crff'ero 
 for ad/ero, apparo for adparo, &c. 
 
 Adage. Lat. adagium^ a proverb. 
 
 To Adaw. Two words of distinct 
 meaning and origin are here confounded : 
 
 I St, from AS. dagian^ dcugian, to become 
 day, to dawn, OE. to daw, to dawn, adaw, 
 or adawn, to wake out of sleep or out of 
 a swoon. * I adawe or adawne as the day 
 doth in the morning when the sonne 
 draweth towards his rising.' ' I adawe 
 one out of a swounde,' ' to dawe from 
 swouning,— to dawne or get life in one 
 that is fallen in a swoune.' — Palsgrave in 
 Hallivvell. 
 
 A man that waketh of his slepe 
 
 He may not sodenly wel taken kepe 
 
 Upon a thing, ne seen it parfitly 
 
 Til that he be adawed veraily. — Chaucer. 
 
 So Da. dial, inorgne sig, to rouse one- 
 self from sleep, from morgen, morning. 
 
 2nd, to reduce to silence, to still or 
 subdue, from Goth, thahan, MHG. dagen, 
 gedagen, to be silent, still ; ON. thagga, to 
 silence, lull, hush. 
 
 As the bright sun what time his fiery train 
 Towards the western brim begins to draw, 
 Gins to abate the brightness of his beame 
 And fervour of his flames somewhat adawe. 
 
 F. Q. V. ch. 9. 
 So spake the bold brere with great disdain, 
 Little him answered the oak again. 
 But yielded with shame and grief adawed. 
 That of a weed he was overcrawed. 
 
 Shep. Cal. 
 
 Hessian dachen, tdgen, to allay, to still 
 pain, a storm, &c. ' Der schmerz dacht 
 sich nach und nach.' Dachen, to quell 
 the luxuriance of over-forward wheat by 
 cutting the leaves. Gedaeg, cowed, sub- 
 missive. ' Der ist ganz gedaeg gewor- 
 den : ' he is quite cowed, adawed. Com- 
 pare Sp. callar to be silent, to abate, 
 become calm. 
 
 To Add. Lat. addere, to put to or 
 unite with, the signification of dare in 
 composition being in general to dispose 
 of an object. Thus reddere, to put back ; 
 subdere, to put under ; condere, to put by. 
 
 Adder. A poisonous snake. AS. CEttr, 
 cetternj PI. D. adder; Bav. atter, ader, 
 adern. ON, eitr-orm, literally poison 
 snake, from eitr, AS. atter, venom (see 
 Atter-cop). The foregoing explanation 
 would be perfectly satisfactory, were it 
 not that a name differing only by an 
 initial n (which is added or lost with equal 
 facility), with a derivation of its own, is 
 still more widely current, with which how-, 
 ever Diefenbach maintains the foregoing 
 to be wholly unconnected. Gael, nathairj 
 
 ADJUST 
 
 W. nei'dr J- Goth, nadrsy ON. nadraj 0110 
 natra, nadra; G, flatter; AS. ncedre, ncd- 
 der; OE. neddre. 
 
 Robert of Gloucester, speaking of Ire- 
 land, says, 
 
 Selde me schal in the lond any foule wormys se 
 For nedres he other wormes ne mow ther be 
 noght.— p. 43. 
 
 Instead of neddre Wickliff uses eddre, 
 as Mandeville ewte for what we now call 
 luwt, or the modern apron for OE. na~ 
 pron. In the same way Bret, aer, a ser- 
 pent, corresponds to Gael, nathair, pro- 
 nounced tiaer. It seems mere accident 
 which of the two forms is preserved. 
 
 The forms with an initial n are com- 
 monly referred to a root signifying to 
 pierce or cut, the origin of Goth, nethla, 
 OHG, nddal, Bret, nadoz, E. needle, and 
 are connected with w. naddu, and with 
 G. schneiden, to cut. Perhaps the ON. 
 nbtra, to shiver, to lacerate, whence 
 nbtru-gras, a nettle, may be a more pro- 
 bable origin. There is little doubt that 
 the ON. eitr, AS. atter, venom, matter, is 
 from OHG. eiten, to burn. 
 
 To Addle. To earn, to thrive. 
 With goodmen's hogs or com or hay 
 I addle my ninepence every day. — Hal. 
 
 Where ivy embraceth the tree very sore 
 Kill ivy, or tree will addle no more. 
 
 Tusser in Hal. 
 ON. odlask, to get, also, naturaliter pro- 
 cedere, to run its course, to grow, in- 
 crease. Hetini odladist sottin : the sick- 
 ness increased. Sw. odla, to till, to cul- 
 tivate the soil, the sciences, the memory. 
 To earn is to get by cultivation or labour. 
 ON. odli, edit, adal, nature, origin; AS. 
 ethel, native place, country. 
 
 Addle. Liquid filth, a swelling with 
 matter in it. — Hal. Rotten, as an addle 
 egg. An addle-pool, a pool that receives 
 the draining of a dunghill. Sw. dial.. 
 ko-adel, the urine of cows ; adla or ala, 
 mingere, of cows, as in E. to stale, of 
 horses. W. hadlu, to decay, to rot. 
 
 Adept. Lat. adipiscor, adeptus, to ob- 
 tain. Alchymists who have obtained the 
 grand elixir, or philosopher's stone, which 
 gave them the power of transmuting 
 metals to gold, were called adepti, of 
 whom there were said to be twelve always 
 in being. — Bailey. Hence an adept, a 
 proficient in any art. 
 
 To Adjourn. Fr. jour, a day; ad- 
 journer, to cite one to appear on a cer- 
 tain day, to appoint a day for continuing 
 a business, to put off to another day. 
 
 To Adjust. Fr. adjuster, to make to 
 meet, and thence to bring to agreement. 
 
ADJUTANT 
 
 D^s icel jor sont dessevrfes 
 Qu' unc puis ne furent adjosUes 
 Les osz. — Chron. Norm. 2, 10260. 
 The bones were severed, which were 
 never afterwards united. See Joust. 
 
 Adjutant. One of the officers who 
 assists the commander in keeping the ac- 
 counts of a regiment. Lat. adjutare, fre- 
 quentative from adjuvare, to assist ; It. 
 amtante, an assistant ; aiutatite de campo, 
 an aidecamp. 
 
 Admiral. Ultimately from Arab. a7mr, 
 a lord, but probably introduced into the 
 Western languages from the early Byzan- 
 tine forms afiijpag, afxrjpaioQ, the last of 
 which, as Mr Marsh observes, would 
 readily pass into Mid.Lat. amiraliiis 
 (with a euphonic /), admiraldus. The 
 initial al oi Sp. ahniraiite, OCat. ahni- 
 rall is probably the Arab, article, and the 
 title was often written alainir in the early 
 Spanish diplomacy. Thus, the address 
 of letters of credence given by K. James 
 II. of Aragon in 1301, quoted by Marsh 
 from Capmany, ran, — ' Al muy honorado 
 e muy noble alamir Don Mahomat Aben- 
 na9ar rey de Granada e de Malaga, y 
 Amiramu9lemin,' and in the same pass- 
 age the King calls himself Almirante and 
 Captain-general of the Holy Roman 
 Church. 
 
 In eo conflicto (i. e. the battle of Antioch in 
 the first crusade) occisus est Cassiani magni regis 
 Antiochise filius et duodecim Admiraldi regis 
 Babiloniae, quos cum suis exercitibus miserat ad 
 ferenda auxilia regi Antiochise ; et quos Admiral- 
 dos vocant, reges sunt qui provinciis regionum 
 prsesunt. — Ducange. 
 So that aslayne and adreynt twelve princes were 
 
 ded 
 That me clupeth amyrayh. — R. G. 402. 
 
 . Adroit, Fr. adroit, handsome, nimble, 
 ready, apt or fit for anything, favourable, 
 prosperous, — Cotgr. ; saison adroite, con- 
 venient season. — Diet. Rom. Yrovcvdrozi, 
 right, as opposed to left, as is shown by 
 the synonymous adextre, adestre, from 
 dexter, explained by Cotgr. in the same 
 terms. We also use dexterous and adroit 
 as equivalent terms. See Direct. 
 
 Adulation. Lat. adulari, to fawn, to 
 flatter. 
 
 Adult. Lat. adultus, from adolesco, to 
 grow, grow up. See AlDolish. 
 
 Adultery. Lat. adulter, a paramour, 
 originally probably only a young man, 
 from adultus, grown up, as Swiss bub, a 
 son, boy, paramour or fornicator. — 
 Deutsch. Mundart. 2, 370. 
 
 To Advance. — Advantage. Fr . avan- 
 cer, to push forwards, from Fr. avant. It. 
 avanti, before, forwards; Lat. ab ante. 
 
 ADVOCATE 9 
 
 Adva7itage, something that puts one 
 forwards, gain, profit. 
 
 Adventure.— Advent. Lat. advetiire, 
 to come up to, to arrive, to happen ; ad- 
 ventus, arrival ; E. advent, the coming of 
 our Lord upon earth. OFr. advenir, 
 to happen, and thence aventure, a hap- 
 pening, chance, accident, a sense pre- 
 served in E. per adventure, perhaps. The 
 word was specially applied to events as 
 made the subject of poetical or romantic 
 narration, and so passed into the Teu- 
 tonic and Scandinavian languages, giving 
 rise to G. abenteuer, ON. afintyr, Sw. 
 cefwentyr, OE. aunter, a daring feat, 
 hazardous enterprise, or the relation of 
 such, a romantic story. ' The Aunters of 
 Arthur at Tarnwathelan/ is the title of 
 an old E. romance. 
 
 To Advise. — Advice. The Lat. visuin, 
 from videri, gave rise to It. visa, OFr. 
 vis. Visum inihi fuit, it seemed to me, 
 would be rendered in Olt. fu viso a vie, 
 OFr. ce nicest vis. — Diez. In the Ro- 
 man de la Rose, advis is used in the 
 same sense, — advis nt'estoit, it seemed to 
 me; vous fust advis, it seemed to you. 
 Hence advis, It. avviso, OE. avise, view, 
 sentiment, opinion. Advisedly, avisedly, 
 with full consideration. 
 The erchbishope of Walys seide ys avyse, 
 ' Sire,' he seide, * gef ther is any mon so wys 
 That beste red can thereof rede, Merlin that 
 is.' — R. G. 144. 
 
 To be avised or advised of a thing 
 would thus be, to have notice of it, to be 
 informed of it. 
 
 Of werre and of bataile he was full avise. 
 
 R. Brunne. 
 
 Whence advice in the mercantile sense, 
 notice, news. 
 
 To advise, in the most usual accepta- 
 tion of the term at the present day, is to 
 communicate our views to another, to 
 give him our opinion for the purpose of 
 guiding his conduct, and advice is the 
 opinion so given. 
 
 In OFr. adviser, like It. avvisare, 
 was used in the sense of viewing, per- 
 ceiving, taking note. 
 
 Si vy ung songe en mon dormant 
 
 Qui moult fut bel k adviser. — R. R. 25. 
 
 Avise is frequently found in the same 
 sense in our elder authors. 
 
 He looked back and her avizing well 
 Weened as he said that by her outward grace 
 That fairest Florimel was present there in place. 
 
 F.Q. 
 
 Advocate. Lat. advocare, to call on 
 or summon one to a place, especially for 
 some definite object, as counsel, aid, &c., 
 
TO ADVOWSON 
 
 to call to one's aid, to call for help, to 
 avail oneself of the aid of some one in a 
 cause. Hence advocatus, one called on 
 to aid in a suit as witness, adviser, legal 
 assistant, but not originally the person 
 who pleaded the cause of another, who 
 was C2l\\c6. paironus. 
 
 Advowson. From the verb advocare 
 (corrupted to advoare)^ in the sense ex- 
 plained under Advocate^ was formed ad- 
 vocatio {advoatio), OFr. advoeson, the 
 patronage or right of presentation to an 
 ecclesiastical benefice. — Due. 
 
 As the clergy were prohibited from ap- 
 pearing before the lay tribunals, and even 
 from taking oaths, which were always re- 
 quired from the parties in a suit, it would 
 seem that ecclesiastical persons must 
 always have required the service of an 
 advocate in the conduct of their legal 
 business, and we find from the authorities 
 cited by Ducange, that positive enact- 
 ment was repeatedly made by councils 
 and princes, that bishops, abbots, and 
 churches should have good advocates or 
 defenders for the purpose of looking after 
 their temporal interests, defending their 
 property from rapine and imposition, and 
 representing them in courts of law. In 
 the decline of the empire, when defence 
 from violence was more necessary than 
 legal skill, these advocates were natur- 
 ally selected among the rich and power- 
 ful, who alone could give efficient pro- 
 tection, and Charlemagne himself is the 
 advocatus of the Roman Church. ' Quem 
 postea Romani elegerunt sibi advocatum 
 Sancti Petri contra leges Langobardo- 
 rum.' — Vita Car. Mag. 
 
 The protection of the Church naturally 
 drew with it certain rights and emolu- 
 ments on the part of the protector, in- 
 cluding the right of presentation to the 
 benefice itself; and the advocation or 
 office of advocate, instead of being an 
 elective trust, became a heritable pro- 
 perty. Advocatus became in OFr. ad- 
 iwu^n whence in the old Law language 
 of England, advowee, the person entitled 
 to the presentation of a benefice. As it 
 was part of the duty of the guardian or 
 protector to act as patronus, or to plead 
 the cause of the Church in suits at law, 
 the. advowee vf2iS also caXledi patron of the 
 living, the name which has finally pre- 
 vailed at the present day. 
 
 Adze. AS. adesa, ascia. AS. Vocab. 
 in Nat. Ant. 
 
 iEsthetics. The science of taste. Gr. 
 aUQrjaiQ, perception by sense, alaOtjTiKbg, 
 endued with sense or perception. 
 
 AFFRAY 
 
 Affkble.— Affability. Lat. affabilis, 
 that may be spoken to, easy of access or 
 approach. Fa7'i, to speak. 
 
 To Affeer, From Lat. y^r//w, a mar- 
 ket, Fr. fetir, market-price, fixed rate, 
 whence afferer, or affeurer, to value at 
 a certain rate, to set a price upon. From 
 the latter of these forms the OE. expres- 
 sion to affere an amerciament, — to fix the 
 amount of a fine left uncertain by the 
 court by which it was imposed, the 
 affeerers being the persons deputed to 
 determine the amount according to the 
 circumstances of the case. ' Et quod 
 amerciamenta praedictorum tenentium 
 afferentur et taxentur per sacramentum 
 parium suorum.' — Chart. A.D. 13 16, in 
 Due. 
 
 AflBlance. — ^Affidavit. Yrovc\. fides, was 
 formed M. Lat. affidare, to pledge one's 
 faith. Hence affidavit, a certificate of 
 some one having pledged his faith ; a 
 written oath subscribed by the party, 
 from the form of the document, 'Affidavit 
 A. B., &c.' The loss of the d, so common 
 in like cases, gave Fr. affier, to affie, to 
 pawn his faith and credit on. — Cotgr. In 
 like manner, from Lat. confidere, Fr. con- 
 fierj from It, disfidare, Fr. defier, to defy. 
 
 To Affile, OE. Fr. affiler, It. affilare, 
 to sharpen, to bring to an edge, from Fr. 
 fit, an edge, \j3X.filuTn, a thread. 
 
 Affinity. Lat. affinis, bordering on, 
 related to. Finis, end, bound. 
 
 To Afford. Formed from the adv. 
 forth, as to utter from out, signifying to 
 put forth, bring forwards, offer. ' \forde 
 as a man dothe his chaffer, je vends, and 
 j 'offers a vendre. I cdixv forde it no better 
 cheape. What do you forde it him for } 
 Pour combien le lui offrez vous a ven- 
 dre ? ' — Palsgr. 
 
 And thereof was Piers proud, 
 
 And putte hem to werke, 
 
 And yaf hem mete as he myghte aforthCt 
 
 And mesurable hyre. — P. P. 4193. 
 
 For thei hadden possessions wher of 
 thei myghten miche more avorthi into 
 almes than thei that hadden litil. — Pe- 
 cock. Repressor 377, in Marsh. 
 
 For thon moni mon hit walde him for- 
 3even half other thridde lot thenne he 
 ise^e that he ne mahte na mare yfor- 
 thian : when he sees that he cannot afford, 
 cannot produce more. — Morris, O.E. Ho- 
 milies, p. 31. Do thine elmesse of thon 
 thet thu maht iforthieji : do thy alms of 
 that thou can afford. — Ibid. p. 37. 
 
 AJBBray. — Afraid. — Fray. Yx.efifrayer, 
 to scare, appal, dismay, affright; effroi, 
 terror, astonishment, amazement ; fray- 
 
AFFRONT 
 
 eiir, fright, terror, scaring, horror.— 
 Cotgr. 
 
 The radical meaning of effrayer is to 
 startle or alarm by a sudden noise, from 
 OFr. effroiy noise, outcry; faire eff'roi, 
 to make an outcry. ' Toutefois ne fit 
 oncques effroi jusqu'a ce que tous les 
 siens eussent gagn^ la muraille, puis 
 s'dcrie horriblement.' — Rabelais. ' Sail- 
 lirent de leurs chambres sans faire effroi 
 ou bruit.' — Cent. Nouv. Nouv. Hence E. 
 fray or affray in the sense of a noisy dis- 
 turbance, a hurlyburly. 
 
 In the Flower and the Leaf, Chaucer 
 calls the sudden storm of wind, rain, and 
 hail, which drenched the partisans of the 
 Leaf to the skin, an affray : 
 And when the storm was clene away passed, 
 Tho in the white that stode under the tree 
 They felt nothing of all the great affray^ 
 That they in grene without had in ybe. 
 The radical meaning is well preserved 
 in Chaucer's use of afray to signify rous- 
 ing out of sleep, out of a swoon, which 
 could not be explained on Diez' theory of 
 a derivation from Lat. frigidus. 
 Me met thus in my bed all naked 
 And looked forthe, for I was waked 
 With small foules a grete hepe, 
 That had afraide me out of my sleepe, 
 Through noise and swetenese of her song. 
 Chaucer, Dreame. 
 I was out of my swowne affraide 
 Whereof I sigh my wittes straide 
 And gan to clepe them home again, 
 
 Gower in Rich. 
 
 The ultimate derivation is the imitative 
 root, frag, representing a crash, whence 
 Lat. fragor, and Fr, fracas, a crash of 
 things breaking, disturbance, affray, 
 Thence effrayer, to produce the effect of 
 a sudden crash upon one, to terrify, 
 alarm. Flagor i^ox fragor), ekiso (dread, 
 horror). — Gloss. Kero in Diez. 
 
 To Affront. Fr. affronter (from Lat. 
 frons,frontis, the forehead), to meet face 
 to face, to encounter, insult. See Front. 
 
 After. Goth. Afar, after, behind; 
 aftar, aftaro, behind; aftana, from be- 
 hind; aftiuna, aftmnist, last, hindmost. 
 AS. CBft, ceftan, cEfter, afterwards, again. 
 ON. aptan, aftan, behind; aptan dags, 
 the latter part of the day, evening ; aftar, 
 aftast, hinder, hindmost. According to 
 Grimm, the final tar is the comparative 
 termination, and the root is simply af 
 the equivalent of Gr. airo, of, from. Com- 
 pare after with Goth, afarj AS. ofer-non, 
 with after-noon. 
 
 Again, as. ongean, ongen, agen, op- 
 posite, towards, against, again ; gean, op- 
 posite, against ; gean-bceran, to oppose ; 
 
 AGHAST II 
 
 gean-cyme, an encounter; to-geanes, to- 
 wards, against. OSw. gen, igen, op- 
 posite, again; gena, to meet; genom, 
 through; Bret, gin, opposite; ann tu 
 gin, the other side, wrong side ; gin- 
 ouch-giti, directly opposite, showing the 
 origin of the G. reduplicative gegen, 
 against. 
 
 Agate. Lat. achates. According to 
 Pliny, from the river Achates in Sicily 
 where agates where found. 
 
 Age. From Lat. etat-e7n the Prov. has 
 etat, edatj OFr. eded, edage, cage, aage^ 
 dge. 
 
 Hdly esteit de grant eded. — Kings 2. 22. 
 
 Ki durerat a trestut ton edage. 
 
 Chanson de Roland in Diez. 
 
 Ae, life, age. 
 
 The form edage seems constructed by 
 the addition of the regular termination 
 age, to ed, erroneously taken as the radi- 
 cal syllable of eded, or it may be a subse- 
 quent corruption of cage, eaige (from 
 ae-tas by the addition of the termination 
 age to the true radical cb), by the inorganic 
 insertion o{ a. d, a. modification rendered 
 in this case the more easy by the resem- 
 blance of the parallel forms edat, eded. 
 
 *Agee. Awry, askew. Fromj?>^./an 
 exclamation to horses to make them move 
 on one side. Jee, to turn or move to one 
 side; crooked, awry. — Hal. To jee, to 
 move, to stir. ' He wad \\a.jee.^ To move 
 to one side. In this sense it is used with 
 respect to horses or cattle in draught. — 
 Jam. 
 
 Agent. — Agile . — Agitate. — Act. — 
 Actual. Lat. ago, actum (in comp. -igo), 
 to drive, to move or stir, to manage, to 
 do ; agito, to drive, to stir up, to move to 
 and fro. Actio, the doing of a thing; 
 actus,-us, an act, deed, doing. 
 
 * To Agg. To provoke, dispute.— Hal. 
 Apparently from nag in the sense of 
 gnaw, by the loss of the initial n. Nag- 
 ging-pain, a gnawing pain, a slight but 
 constant pain; naggy, knaggy, touchy, 
 irritable, ill-tempered. — Hal. Knaggingy 
 finding fault peevishly and irritably. — 
 Mrs B. Sw. dial, nagga, to gnaw, bite, 
 to irritate; agga, to irritate, disturb. 
 ON. nagga, to gnaw, to grumble, wrangle. 
 
 * Aghast. Formerly spelt agazed, in 
 consequence of an erroneous impression 
 that the fundamental meaning of the word 
 was set a-gazing on an object of astonish- 
 ment and horror. 
 
 The French exclaimed the devil was in arms, 
 All the whole army stood agazed on him. — H. vi. 
 
 Probably the word may be explained 
 
12 AGISTMENT 
 
 from Fris. guwysje, Dan. gyse, Sw. dial. 
 gysUy gasa sig^ to shudder at ; gase, g¥st^ 
 horror, fear, revulsion. From the last of 
 these forms we pass to Sc. gousty, gous- 
 trotis, applied to what impresses the mind 
 with feelings of indefinite horror ; waste, 
 desolate, awful, full of the preternatural, 
 frightful. 
 
 Cald, mirk, and eousUe is the night. 
 Loud roars the blast ayont the hight.— Jamieson. 
 He observed one of the black man's feet to be 
 cloven, and that the black man's voice was hough 
 and goustie, — Glanville in Jam . 
 
 The word now becomes confounded 
 with ghostly, the association with which 
 has probably led to the insertion of the h 
 in ghastly itself as well as aghast. 
 
 Agistment. From Lat. jacere the 
 Fr. had gdsir, to lie ; whence giste, a 
 lodging, place to lie down in ; giste d'mte 
 h^vre, the form of a hare. Hence agister, 
 to give lodging to, to take in cattle to 
 feed; and the law term agistment, the 
 profit of cattle pasturing on the land. 
 
 Aglet. The tag of a point, i. e. of the 
 lace or string by which different parts 
 of dress were formerly tied up or fastened 
 together. Hence any small object hang- 
 ing loose, as a spangle, the anthers of a 
 tulip or of grass, the catkins of a hazel, 
 &c. — Junius. Fr. aiguillette, diminutive 
 of aiguille, a needle, properly the point 
 fastened on the end of a lace for drawing 
 it through the eyelet holes ; then, like E. 
 point, applied to the lace itself. 
 
 * Agnail. — Angnail. A sore nail, 
 whitlow, corn on the toe. * Agassin, a 
 corne or agnele on the foot.' — Cot. AS. 
 ajigncBgle, a whitlow. From the same 
 root with Lat. ango, to pinch, trouble, vex. 
 In the sense of a swelled gland (as where 
 Fl. explains It. ghiandole as agnels, glan- 
 dules or kernels in the throat, groin, or 
 armpits) it is probably from It. angui- 
 naglia, the groin or a tumour there ; Fr. 
 angonailles, botches or sores. — Cot. 
 
 Ago. — Agone. as. agdn, agangen, 
 gone away, passed. He waes than on 
 agdn, gone from thence. — Mt. 26. 39. 
 Tha Sjeternes daeg waes agangen, was 
 past. — Mk. 16. I. 
 
 For in swiche cas wimmen have swiche sorrvve 
 Whan that hir husbonds ben from hem ago. 
 Knight's Tale. 
 
 Agog. Excited with expectation, jig- 
 ging with excitement, ready to start in 
 pursuit of an object of desire. Literally 
 on the jog, or on the start, from^^^, sy- 
 nonymous with jog or shogj gog-mire, a 
 quagmire. — Hal. ' He is all agog to go.' 
 
 AIM 
 
 — Baker. In the same way in Sc. one is 
 said to be fidging fain, nervously eager, 
 unable to keep still. See Goggle. 
 
 Agony. Gr. 'Aya>j/, as ayopa, an as- 
 sembly, place of assembly, esp. an as- 
 sembly met to see games; thence the 
 contest for a prize on such an occasion ; 
 a struggle, toil, hardship. ' hyi^via, a con- 
 test, gymnastic exercise, agony; aywvt- 
 X,o\iai, to contend with, whence antagonist, 
 one who contends against. 
 
 To Agree. From Lat. gratus, pleas- 
 ing, acceptable, are formed It. grado, 
 Prov. grat, OFr. gret, Fr. grd, will, 
 pleasure, favour ; and thence It. agt-adire, 
 to receive kindly, to please, Prov. agreiar, 
 Fr. agrder, to receive with favour, to give 
 one's consent to, to agree. Prov. agrad- 
 able, agreeable. See Grant. 
 
 Ague. A fever coming in periodical 
 fits or sharp attacks, from Fr. aigu, sharp, 
 fiivre aigue, acute fever. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the Lepchas, w^hen 
 suffering from protracted cold, take fever and 
 agiie in sharp attacks. — Hooker, Himalayan 
 Journal. 
 
 Se non febre aguda 
 Vos destrenha '1 costats. 
 Si non qu'une fi^vre aigue vous presse les cotds. 
 Ra)Tiouard. 
 
 The confinement to periodical fever is 
 a modern restriction, from the tendency 
 of language constantly to become more 
 specific in its application. 
 
 For Richard lay so sore seke, 
 On knees prayden the Crystene host — 
 Through hys grace and hys vertue 
 He turnyd out of his agu, 
 
 R. Coer de Lion, 3045. 
 
 Aid. Lat. adjuvare, adjutumj adju- 
 tare, to help. Prov. adjudar, ajudar, 
 aidar, Fr. aider, to help. 
 
 Aidecamp. Fr. aide du camp. It. aju- 
 tante di campo, an officer appointed to 
 assist the general in military service. 
 
 To Ail. AS. eglian, to pain, to grieve, 
 to trouble, perhaps from the notion of 
 pricking; egle, egla, festuca, arista, car- 
 duus — Lye, whence ails, the beard of 
 corn (Essex). AS. egle, troublesome, 
 Goth, agio, affliction, tribulation, aglus, 
 difficult, agls, shameful 
 
 To Aim. Lat. CEstimare, to consider, 
 to reckon, to fix at a certain point or 
 rate; Prov. estimar, to reckon; adesti- 
 maY, adesmar, azesfnar, aesmar, to calcu- 
 ate, to prepare ; ' A son colp azesmat^ he 
 has calculated or aimed his blow well — 
 Diez; esmar, OFr. esmer, to calculate, 
 to reckon—' Li chevaliers de s'ost a treis 
 mille esma,^ He reckons the knights of 
 
AIR 
 
 his host at 3000— Rom. de Rou ; esmer^ 
 to purpose, determine, to offer to strike, 
 to aim or level at. — Cotgr. 
 
 Air. Lat. aer, Gr. ai)p, doubtless con- 
 tracted from Lat. cether, the heavens, Gr. 
 alQnp, the sky, or sometimes air. Gael. 
 aethar, athar, pronounced ayar, aar, the 
 air, sky, w. awyr. 
 
 Aisle. The side divisions of a church, 
 like wings on either side of the higher 
 nave. Fr. aisle, aile, a wing, from Lat. 
 axilla, ala. 
 
 By a like analogy, Ics ailes die nez, the 
 nostrils ; les ailes d'uneforet, the skirts of 
 a forest. — Cotgr. 
 
 Ait. A small flat island in a river, for 
 eyot, from eye, an island. 
 
 Ajar. On char, on the turn, half open, 
 from AS. ceorraii, to turn. 
 Like as ane bull dois rammesing and rare 
 When he eschapis hurt one the altare, 
 And charris by the ax with his neck wycht 
 Gif one the forehede the dynt hittis not richt. 
 D. V. 46, 15. 
 
 Swiss achar, Du. aen karre, akerre, 
 ajar. 
 
 Ende vonden de dore akerre staende, 
 
 Wallewein, 9368. 
 
 See Char, Chare. 
 Akimbo. 
 
 The host — set his bond in kenebowe — 
 Wenist thow, seid he to Beiyn, for to skome me ? 
 Beryn, 1105. 
 
 It. schembare, sgheinbare, to go aside 
 from ; schimbiccio, a crankling or crooked 
 winding in and out ; sedere a schimbiccio, 
 to sit crooked upon one's legs, as tailors 
 do ; asghembo,aschembo,aschencio,3.s\o'^Q, 
 askance. — Fl. Du. schampen, to slip, to 
 graze, to glance aside. 
 
 Alacrity. Lat. alacer, -cris, eager, 
 brisk; It. allegro, sprightly, merry. 
 
 Alarm. — Alarum. It. alV arine, to 
 arms ! the call to defence on being sur- 
 prised by an enemy. 
 
 This said, he runs down with as great a noise 
 and shouting as he could, crying al'arme, help, 
 help, citizens, the castle is taken by the enemy, 
 come away to defence. — Holland's Pliny in 
 Richardson . 
 
 Hence, E. alarum, a rousing signal of 
 martial music, a surprise; Fr. allarmer, 
 to give an alarum unto; to rouse or 
 affright by an alarum — Cotgr. ; and gen- 
 erally, to alarm, to excite apprehension. 
 The alarum or larum of a clock is a loud 
 ringing suddenly let off for the purpose 
 of rousing one out of sleep. G. Idrm, up- 
 roar, alarm. 
 
 Alas. From Lat. lassus, Prov. las, 
 wearied, wretched. Hence the exclama- 
 
 ALERT 
 
 13 
 
 tions. Las / Ai las! He las / Ah wretched 
 me ! Alas ! 
 
 M'aviatz gran gaug donat 
 Ai lassaf can pauc m'a durat. — Raynouard. 
 You have given me great joy, ah wretched me ! 
 how little it has lasted. ^ 
 
 Las ! tant en ai puis soupir^, 
 Et doit estre lasse clam^e 
 Quant ele aime sans estre amde. — R. R. 
 
 Alchemy. The science of converting 
 base metals into gold. Mid, Gr. apxtjfila ; 
 Xjy/xfta. — Suidas. Arab. al-Mmtd, without 
 native root in that language. — Diez. 
 
 Alcohol. Arabic, al kohl, the impal- 
 pable powder of antimony with which 
 the Orientals adorn their eyelids, any- 
 thing reduced to an impalpable powder, 
 the pure substance of anything separated 
 from the more gross, a pure well-refined 
 spirit, spirits of wine. To alcoholise, to 
 reduce to an impalpable powder, or to 
 rectify volatile spirit. — B. 
 
 Alcove. Sp. alcoba, a place in a room 
 railed off to hold a bed of state ; hence a 
 hollow recess in a wall to hold a bed, 
 side-board, &c. ; Arab, cobba, a closet 
 (Lane) ; alcobba, a cabinet or small cham- 
 ber. — Engelberg. Cabrera thinks Sp. 
 alcoba a native word Arabized by the 
 Moors. AS. bed-cofa, vel bur, cubicu- 
 lum. — ^If. Gl. ON. kofi, Da. kove, a hut, 
 a small compartment. 
 
 Alder, as. air; E. dial, aller, ozvler; 
 G. eller, erlej Du. elsj Svv, alj Pol. 
 olsza, olszynaj Lat. ahms. 
 
 Alderman, as. eald, old ; ealdor, an 
 elder, a parent, hence a chief, a ruler. 
 Hujidredes ealdor, a ruler of a hundred, 
 a centurion ; ealdor-biscop, an archbishop ; 
 ealdor-man, a magistrate. 
 
 Ale. AS. eale, eala, ealu, aloth; on. 
 bl J Lith. ahis, from an equivalent of 
 Gael. 61, to drink ; as Bohem. piwo, beer, 
 from piti, to drink. 
 
 Alembic. — Lembic. A still. It. lam- 
 bicco, leinbicco, Sp. alambiqiie, Arab, al- 
 aubiq J it does not appear, however, that 
 the word admits of radical explanation in 
 the latter language. — Diez. 
 
 Alert. Lat. erigere, erect us. It. ergere, 
 to raise up; erta, the steep ascent of a 
 hill; erto, straight, erect; star erto, to 
 stand up ; star a Verta, allerta, to be 
 upon one's guard, literally, to stand upon 
 an eminence. Hence alert, on one's 
 guard, brisk, lively, nimble. 
 
 In this place the prince finding his rutters 
 [routiers] alert (as the Italians say), with the ad- 
 vice of his valiant brother, he sent his trumpets 
 to the Duke of Parma. — Sir Roger Williams, a^ 
 1618, in Rich. 
 
u 
 
 ALGATES 
 
 Algates. From the NE. gates, ways ; 
 ON. gata, a path, Sw. gata, way, street. 
 All ways, at all events, in one way or 
 another. 
 
 Algates by sleight or by violence 
 
 Fro' year to year I win all my dispence. 
 
 Friar" s Tale. 
 
 Always itself is used in the N. of Eng- 
 land in the sense of however, neverthe- 
 less.— Brocket. SwagateSj in such a 
 manner 
 
 Algebra. From Arab, eljabr, putting 
 together. The complete designation was 
 el j'abr wa el mogdbala, the putting to- 
 gether of parts and equation. From a 
 corruption of these words algebraic cal- 
 culation is called the game of Algebra 
 and Ahnucgrabala in a poem of the 13th 
 century cited by Demorgan in N. & Q. 
 Sed quia de ludis fiebat sermo, quid illo 
 Pulcrior esse potest exercitio numerorum, 
 Quo divinantur numeri plerique per unum 
 Ignoti notum, sicut ludunt apud Indos, 
 Ludum dicentes Algebrce ahnucgrabalcsque. 
 
 De Vetula. 
 
 Mogdbala, opposition, comparison, equal- 
 ity. — Catafogo. 
 
 Alien. Lat. alieims, belonging to 
 another, due to another source ; thence, 
 foreign. 
 
 To Alight. Dan. lette, Du. ligtett 
 (from let, ligt, light), signify to lift, to 
 make light or raise into the air. At lette 
 noget fra jorden, to lift something from 
 the ground. At lette een af sadelenj Du. 
 jemand uit den zadel ligten, to lift one 
 from the saddle. To alight indicates 
 the completion of the action thus de- 
 scribed ; to be brought by lifting down to 
 the ground ; to lift oneself down from the 
 saddle, from out of the air. 
 
 Aliment. — Alimony. Lat. alimen- 
 tum, alhnonium, nourishment, victuals, 
 from alo, I nourish, support. 
 
 Alkali. Arab. al-gall,th.e salt of ashes. 
 — Diez. In modern chemistry general- 
 ised to express all those salts that neutra- 
 lise acids. 
 
 All. Goth, alls/ ON. allrj as. eall. 
 Notwithstanding the double /, I have 
 long been inclined to suspect that it is a 
 derivative from the root d, ce, e, ei, aye, 
 ever. Certainly the significations of ever 
 and all are closely related, the one im- 
 plying continuance in time, the other 
 continuance throughout an extended 
 series, or the parts of a multifarious 
 object. The sense of the original ce, how- 
 ever, is not always confined to continu- 
 ance in time, as is distinctly pointed out 
 by Ihre. ' Urar-hornet war swa fagurt 
 
 ALLAY 
 
 som a gull saii.' The aurox horn was as 
 fair as if it were all gold. So a-lius, all- 
 bright; cE-tid, modern Sw. all-tid, all 
 time. AS. ceIc, each, is probably ce-lic, 
 ever-like, implying the application of a 
 predicate to all the members of a series. 
 In every, formerly evereche, everilk, for 
 (E/re-a'lc,i\\QYQ is a repetition of the element 
 signifying continuance. But every and 
 all express fundamentally the same idea. 
 Every one indicates all the individuals 
 of a series ; every man and all men are 
 the same thing. 
 
 To Allay, formerly written allegge, as 
 to say was formerly to segge. Two dis- 
 tinct words are confounded in the modern 
 allay, the first of which should properly 
 be written with a single /, from AS. alec- 
 gan, to lay down, to put down, suppress, 
 tranquillise. Speaking of Wm. Rufus, the 
 Sax. Chron. says, 
 
 Eallan folce behet eallan tha unrihte to aleg- 
 genne, the on his brothor timan wasran ; 
 translated in R. of Gloucester, 
 He behet God and that folc an beheste that was 
 
 this, 
 To alegge all luther lawes that yholde were be- 
 fore 
 And better make than were suththe he was ybore. 
 The joyous time now nigheth fast 
 That shall alegge this bitter blast, 
 And slake the winter sorrowe. 
 
 Shepherd's Calendar. 
 In the same way the Swed. has wddret 
 Idgger sig; wdrken Idgger sig, the wind 
 is laid ; the pain abates. So in Virgil, 
 venti posuere, the winds were laid. 
 
 If by your art, my dearest father, you have 
 
 Put the wild waters in this roar, alay them. 
 
 Tempest. 
 So to allay thirst, grief, &c. 
 
 The other form, confounded with alegge 
 from alecgan in the modern allay, is the 
 old allegge, from Fr. all^ger, It. alleg- 
 giare, Lat. alleviare, to lighten, mitigate, 
 tranquillise, thus coming round so exactly 
 to the sense of alay from alecgan, that it 
 is impossible sometimes to say to which 
 of the two origins the word should be re- 
 ferred. 
 
 Lat. levis, light, easy, gentle, becomes 
 in Prov. leu; whence leviar, leujar, to 
 assuage ; alleviar, alleiijar, O Fr. alleger, 
 to lighten, to assuage, precisely in the 
 same way that from brevis, abbreviare, 
 are formed Prov. breti, abreujar, Fr. ab' 
 bre'ger, OE. abregge, to abridge. 
 Que m'dones joi e m'leujes ma dolor. 
 Qu'elle me donn&t joie et mallege&t ma dou- 
 
 leur. — Rayn. 
 
 Per Dieu aleujatz m'aquest fays ! 
 
 For God's sake lighten me this burden. 
 
ALLEDGE 
 
 It would have brought my life again, 
 For certes evenly I dare w^ell saine 
 The sight only and the savour 
 Aleggid much of my languor. — R. R. 
 
 In the original, 
 
 I^e voir sans plus, et I'oudeur 
 Si maUgeoient ma douleur. 
 
 So in Italian, 
 
 Fate limosina et dir messi accio che salleggino i 
 nostri martiri. 
 
 that our torments may be assuaged, or al- 
 layed. 
 
 To Alledge. Fr, A l/eguer, to alledge, 
 to produce reasons, evidence, or author- 
 ity for the proof of. — Cotg. 
 
 Lat. legare, to intrust or assign unto ; 
 allegare, to depute or corn.mission one, 
 to send a message, to solicit by message. 
 * Petit a me Rabonius et amicos allegat.' 
 Rabonius asks of me and sends friends 
 (to support his petition). Hence it came 
 to signify, to adduce reasons or witnesses 
 in support of an argument. From the 
 language of lawyers probably the word 
 came into general use in England and 
 France. 
 Thei woll a leggen also and by the godspell pre- 
 
 oven it, 
 Nolite judicare quenquam. — P, P. 
 
 Here we find alledge, from Lat. allegare, 
 spelt and pronounced in the same man- 
 ner as allegge (the modern allay), from 
 AS. alecgan, and there is so little differ- 
 ence in meaning between laying down 
 and bringing forward reasons, that the 
 Latin and Saxon derivatives were some- 
 times confounded. 
 And eke this noble duke aleyde 
 Full many another skill, and seide 
 She had well deserved wrecke. — Gower in Rich. 
 Here aleyde is plainly to be understood 
 in the sense of the Lat. allegare. 
 
 Allegory. Gr. aXXrjyopia, a figure of 
 speech involving a sense different from 
 the apparent one ; aXXoc, other, and ayopti'u.;, 
 to speak. 
 
 Alley. Fr. all^e, a walk, path, passage, 
 from aller, to go. 
 
 Alligator. The American crocodile, 
 from the Sp. lagarlo, a lizard ; Lat. la- 
 certa. In Hawkins' voyage he speaks of 
 these under the name of alagartoes. La- 
 garto das Indias, the cayman or South 
 American alligator. — Neumann. 
 
 Allodial. Allodium, in Mid. Lat., 
 was an estate held in absolute possession 
 without a feudal superior. — Blackstone. 
 The derivation has been much disputed, 
 and little light has been thrown upon it 
 by the various guesses of antiquarians. 
 The word appears as early as the ninth 
 
 ALLOW 
 
 15 
 
 century under the forms alodis, alodus, 
 alodium, alaudum, and in Fr. aleu, aleii 
 franc, franc-aloiid, franc-aloi, franc- 
 aleuf. The general sense is that of an 
 estate held in absolute possession. ' Meae 
 prasdium possessionis hereditarias, hoc 
 est, alodum nostrum qui est in pago An- 
 degavensi.' — Charta an. 839, in Due. 
 ' Alaudum meum sive haereditatem quam 
 dedit mihi pater meus in die nuptiarum 
 mearum.' ' Paternse hsereditati, quam 
 nostrates alodiian vel patrimonium vo- 
 cant, sese contulit' It is often opposed 
 to a fief. ' Haec autem fuerunt ea — qua^ 
 de allodiis sive prasdiis in feudum com- 
 mutavit Adela.' It is taken for an 
 estate free of duties. ' Habemus vineae 
 agripenum unum allodialiter immunem, 
 hoc est ab omni census et vicarias red- 
 hibitione liberum.' ' Reddit ea terra 2 
 den. censiis cum ante semper alodium 
 fuisset.' A.D. 1708. 
 
 It can hardly be wholly distinct from 
 ON. odal, which is used in much the same 
 sense, allodium, praedium hereditarium ; 
 odals-jord, praedium hereditarium ; odal- 
 borinu, natus ad heredium avitum, scilicet 
 recti linea a primo occupante; odals- 
 madr, dominus allodialis, strict^ primus 
 occupans. — Haldorsen. 
 
 Dan. Sw. odel, a patrimonial estate. 
 The landed proprietors of the Shetland 
 Isles are still called udallers, according to 
 Sir Walter Scott. The ON. odal is also 
 used in the sense of abandoned goods, at 
 leggia fyrer 6dal, to abandon a thing, to 
 leave it to be taken by the first occupier. 
 If Mid. Lat. alodis, alodum, is identical 
 with the ON. word, it exhibits a singular 
 transposition of syllables. Ihre would 
 account for allodium from the compound 
 ' alldha odhol,' mentioned in the Gothic 
 laws, — an ancient inheritance, from alldr, 
 setas, antiquitas, and odal, inheritance, as 
 allda-vitir, an ancient friend, alder-hafd, 
 a possession of long standing. See Ihre 
 in V. Od. 
 
 To Allow. Two words seem here 
 confounded ; i. from Lat. laudare, to 
 praise, and 2. from locare, to place, to let. 
 
 From the Lat. laus, laudis, was formed 
 Prov. laJis, lau, praise, approval, advice. 
 Hence lauzar, alauzar, OFr. loer, louer, 
 alouer, to praise, to approve, to recom- 
 mend. In like manner the Lat. laudo 
 was used for approbation and advice. 
 
 ^ Laudo igitur ut ab eo suam filiam 
 primogenitam petatis duci nostro con- 
 jugem,' — I recommend. ' Et vos illuc 
 tendere penitus dislaudamtis^ — we dis- 
 suade you. — Ducange. 'Et leur de- 
 
l6 
 
 ALLOY 
 
 manda que il looicnt \ faire, et li lotrent 
 tons que il desccndist.' 'Et il li dirent 
 que je li avois loi bon conseil.' — Join- 
 ville in Raynouard. In the same way in 
 English : 
 
 This is the sum of what I would have ye weigh, 
 First whether ye allmo my whole devise, 
 And think it good for me, for them, for you, 
 And if ye like it and allow it well — 
 
 Ferrex and Porrex in Richardson. 
 
 Especially laus was applied to the ap- 
 probation given by a feudal lord to the 
 alienation of a fee depending upon him, 
 and to the fine he received for permission 
 to alienate. * Hoc donum laudavit AA^xa 
 Maringotus, de cujus feodo erat.' — Due. 
 
 From signifying consent to a grant, 
 the word came to be applied to the grant 
 itself. ' Comes concessit iis et laiidavit 
 terras et feuda eorum ad suam fidelitatem 
 et servitium.' ' Facta est hasc laus sive 
 concessio in claustro S. Marii.' — Due. 
 
 Here we come very near the applica- 
 tion of allowance to express an assign- 
 ment of a certain amount of money or 
 goods to a particular person or for a 
 special purpose. 
 
 * And his allowance was a continual 
 allowance given by the king, a daily rate 
 for every day all his life.' — 2 Kings. 
 
 In this sense, however, to allow is 
 from the Lat. locare, to place, allocare, 
 to appoint to a certain place or purpose ; 
 It. allogare, to place, to fix ; Prov. alogar, 
 Fr. louer, allouer, to assign, to put out to 
 hire. 
 
 • Le seigneur peut saisir pour sa rente les 
 bestes pasturantes sur son fonds encore qu'elles 
 n'appartiennent k son vassal, ains k ceux qui ont 
 allonges les distes bestes.'— Coutume de Norman- 
 die in Raynouard. 
 
 To allow in rekeninge — alloco. Al- 
 lowance — allocacio. — Pr. Pm. Wall. 
 alouwer, depenser. — Grandg. 
 
 Again, as the senses of Lat. laudare 
 and allocare coalesced in Fr. allouer and 
 E. allow, the confusion seems to have 
 been carried back into the contemporary 
 Latin, where allocare is used in the sense 
 of approve or admit ; essoniiim allocabile, 
 an admissible excuse. 
 
 Alloy. The proportion of base metal 
 mixed with gold or silver in coinage. 
 From Lat. lex, the law or rule by which 
 the composition of the money is go- 
 verned, It. lega, Fr. loi, aloL ' Unus- 
 quisque denarius cudatur et fiat ad legem 
 undecim denariorum.' — Due. In the 
 mining language of Spain the term is 
 applied to the proportion of silver found 
 in the ore. ' The extraction for the 
 
 ALMS 
 
 week was 750 cargos of clean ore, aver- 
 age ley from nine to ten marks per 
 monton, with an increased proportion of 
 gold.'— Times, Jan. 2, 1857. 
 
 From signifying the proportion of base 
 metal in the coin, the term alloy was 
 applied to the base metal itself. 
 
 Alluvial. Lat. alluo {ad and lavoj to 
 wash), to wash against ; alluvies, mud 
 brought down by the overflowing of a 
 river ; alhivius (of land), produced by 
 the mud of such overflowing. 
 
 To Ally. Fr. allier. Lat. ligare, to 
 tie ; alligare, to tie to, to unite. 
 
 Alm.anack. The word seems origin- 
 ally to have been applied to a plan of 
 the movements of the heavenly bodies. 
 ' Sed hae tabulae vocantur Almanack vel 
 Talhgnum, in quibus sunt omnes motus 
 ccelorum certificati k principio mundi 
 usque in finem — ut homo posset inspicere 
 omnia quas in coelo sunt omni die, sicut 
 nos in calendario inspicimus omnia festa 
 Sanctorum.' — Roger Bacon, Opus Ter- 
 tium, p. 36. 
 
 In the Arab, of Syria al manakh is 
 climate or temperature. 
 
 Almond. Gr. a\ivylakr], Lat. amyg- 
 dala, Wallach. migddle, mandulej Sp. 
 almendra, Prov. atnandola, Fr. amande^ 
 It. mandola, jnandorla, Langued. amen- 
 lou, amello. 
 
 Alms. — Almonry. — Aumry. Gr. 
 i\sr]/io(Tvvri, properly compassionateness, 
 then relief given to the poor. This, 
 being an ecclesiastical expression, passed 
 direct into the Teutonic languages under 
 the form of G. almosen, AS. cBlmesse, 
 CBlmes, OE. almesse, almose, Sc. awfnous, 
 alms J and into the Romance under the 
 form of Prov. almosna, Fr. aumosne, 
 aumone. Hence the Fr. aumonier, E. 
 almofter, awmnere, an officer whose duty 
 it is to dispense alms, and almonry, 
 aumry, the place where the alms are 
 given, from the last of which again it 
 seems that the old form awmbrere, an 
 almoner, must have been derived. — Pr. 
 Pm. When aimiry is used with refer- 
 ence to the distribution of alms, doubt- 
 less two distinct words are confounded, 
 almoniy and ammary or ambry, from 
 Fr. arjjioire, Lat. armaria, almaria, a 
 cupboard. This latter word in English 
 was specially applied to a cupboard for 
 keeping cold and broken victuals. — 
 Bailey, in v. Ambre, Ammery, Aumry. 
 Ambry, a pantry. — Hal. Then as an 
 aumry or receptacle for broken victuals 
 would occupy an important place in the 
 office where the daily dole of charity was 
 
ALOFT 
 
 dispensed, the association seems to have 
 led to the use of aiimry or ambry ^ as if it 
 were a contraction of almonry, from 
 which, as far as sound is concerned, it 
 might very well have arisen. And vice 
 versa, almonry was sometimes used in 
 the sense of armarium, almarmm, a 
 cupboard. Almonarium, almoiietiim, 
 almeriola, a cupboard or safe to set up 
 broken victuals to be distributed as alms 
 to the poor. — B. See Ambry. 
 
 Aloft. On loft, up in the air. G. 
 liift, ON. lopt, loft, OE. lift, the air, the 
 sky. N. aa loft, aloft, on high. 
 
 ♦ Along'. AS. andlang, G. entlang, 
 entlangs, laiigs, It. liingo, Fr. le long de, 
 through the length of. AS. and langnc 
 dozg, throughout the length of the day. 
 
 The term is also used figuratively to 
 express dependance, accordance. 
 1 cannot tell whereon it was alonge — 
 Some said it was long on the fire making, 
 Some said it was long on the blowing. 
 
 Canon Yeoman's Tale. 
 
 This mode of expression is very gen- 
 eral. 
 
 Trop fesoient mi^x cortoisie 
 A toute gent lone ce que erent. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, i, i6o. 
 They did better courtesy to each according to 
 what they were, according to their condition. 
 
 Hence selonc, selon, according to, the 
 initial element of which is the particle si, 
 se, ce, so, here, this. 
 
 In the same way Pol. wedliig, accord- 
 ing to, from w, we, indicating relation of 
 place, and dingo, long. 
 
 The AS. form was gelang. *■ NA the 
 is ure lyf gelang^ our life is along of 
 thee, is dependent on thee. ' Hii sohton 
 on hwom that gelang woere.' They in- 
 quired along of whom that happened — 
 Lye. Walach. lajiga, juxta, secundum, 
 penes, pone, propter. 
 
 Aloof. To loof or luff in nautical 
 language is to turn the vessel up into the 
 wind. Aloof, then, is to the windward 
 of one, and as a vessel" to the windward 
 has it in her choice either to sail away 
 or to bear down upon the leeward vessel, 
 aloof \i2iS come to signify out of danger, 
 in safety from, out of reach of. 
 Nor do we find him forward to be sounded ; 
 But with a crafty madness keeps aloof, 
 When we would bring him on to some confession 
 Of his true state. — Hamlet. 
 
 Alpine. Of the nature of things found 
 in lofty mountains ; from the Alps, the 
 highest mountains in Europe. Gael. 
 Aip, a height, an eminence, a mountain. 
 
 Altar. The fire-place on which sacri- 
 
 AMAY 
 
 17 
 
 fices were made to the gods. Lat. altare, 
 which Ihre would explain from on. eldr, 
 fire, and ar, or am, a hearth ; or perhaps 
 AS. ern, cern, a place ; as Lat. lucenia, 
 laterna, a lantern, from luc-ern, leohtern, 
 the place of a light. 
 
 To Alter. To make something other 
 than what it is ; Lat. alterare, from alter, 
 the other. So G. dndern, to change, from 
 ander, the other ; and the Lat. muto finds 
 an origin of like nature in Esthon. mu, 
 another, whence inuduma, viuudma, to 
 change. 
 
 Always, as. eallne ivcBg, ealle wcEga, 
 the whole way, altogether, throughout. 
 The Servians use put, way, for the num- 
 ber of times a thing happens ; jeden put, 
 once ; dva put, twice, &c. Dan. een- 
 gang, one going, once ; tre-gange, three 
 times. So from Du. reyse, a journey, 
 een, twee, dry, reysen, semel, ter, bis.^ 
 Kil. 
 
 Am-, Amb-. Gr. dutpi, about, around, 
 properly on both sides ; a/x^w, ambo, both. 
 
 Amalgam. A pasty mixture of mer- 
 cury and other metal, from Gr. fidXay/na, 
 an emollient, probably a poultice, and 
 that from fiaXdffffu), to soften. — Diez. 
 
 Amanuensis. Lat. from the habit of 
 the scribe or secretary signing the docu- 
 ments he wrote (as we see in St Paul's 
 
 Epistles) ' A manu ,' from the hand 
 
 of so and so. Hence a manu servus was 
 a slave employed as secretary. 
 
 To Amate. To confound, stupefy, 
 quell. 
 
 Upon the walls the Pagans old and young 
 
 Stood hushed and still, amated and amazed. 
 Fairfax in Boucher. 
 
 OFr. amater, mater, mattir, to abate, 
 mortify, make fade, from 7nat, G. matt, 
 dull, spiritless, faint. It. matto, mad, 
 foolish ; Sp. matar, to quench, to slay. 
 But when I came out of swooning 
 And had my wit and my feeling, 
 I was all mate and wende full wele 
 Of blode to have lost a full grete dele. 
 
 R. R. 1737. 
 In the original — Je fus moult vain. 
 
 Derived by Diez from the expression 
 check-mate, at chess. 
 
 Amative, Amity. From Lat. amo, to 
 love, are amor, Fr. amour, love ; amatus^ 
 loved ; a7nabilisj amicus, a loving one, a 
 friend ; and from each of these numerous 
 secondary derivatives ; amorous, amative, 
 amateur, amiable, amicable. Lat. amid- 
 tia, Fr. amitie, E. amity, &c 
 
 To Amay. It. S7nagare, to discourage, 
 dispirit ; Sp. desmayar, to discourage, 
 despond; desmayar se, to faint; OPort. 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 AMBASSADOR 
 
 AMERCEMENT 
 
 afnago, fright ; Prov. estnagar^ esmaiar, 
 to trouble, to frighten, to grieve ; Fr. 
 s'esmaier^ to be sad, pensive, astonied, 
 careful, to take thought. — Cotgr. Esmay, 
 thought, care, cark. Hence E. a?nay, 
 dismay, or simply may. 
 Beryn was at counsell, his heart was full woo, 
 And his menye (attendants) sory, distrakt, and 
 
 all amayidc. — Chaucer, Beryn, 2645. 
 So for ought that Beryn coud ethir speke or pray 
 He myght in no wyse pass, full sore he gan to 
 
 may. — Ibid. 1685. 
 
 The Romance forms are, according to 
 Diez, derived from the Goth, fnagan, to 
 have power, to be strong, with the ne- 
 gative particle dis. Compare Dan. af- 
 7nagt, a swoon. 
 
 Ambassador. Goth. Andbahts, a serv- 
 ant, anddahti, service, ministry ; OHG. 
 anibaht, a minister or ministry ; ampah- 
 tan, to minister; G. ainpt, employment, 
 office. 
 
 In Middle Lat. ambascia, ambaxia, or 
 ambactia, was used for business, and 
 particularly applied to the business of 
 another person, or message committed 
 to another, and hence the modern sense 
 of embassy, It. ambasciata, as the message 
 sent by a ruling power to the government 
 of another state ; ambassador, the person 
 who carries such a message. Castrais, 
 embessa, to employ. 
 
 * Quicunque asinum alienum extra do- 
 mini voluntatem praesumpserit, aut per 
 unum diem aut per duos in ambascia 
 sua ' — in his own business. — Lex Bur- 
 gund. in Due. 'Si in dominica ambascia 
 fuerit occupatus.' — Lex Sal. In another 
 edition, ' Si in jussione Regis fuerit oc- 
 cupatus.' 
 
 Ambasciari, to convey a message. 
 * Et ambasciari ex illorum parte quod 
 mihi jussum fuerat.' — Hincmar. in Due. 
 
 The word ambactus is said by Festus 
 to be Gallic : ' ambactus apud Ennium 
 lingua Gallica servus appellatur ; ' and 
 Caesar, speaking of the equites in Gaul, 
 says, 'circum se ambactos, clientesque 
 habent.' Hence Grimm explains the 
 word from bak, as backers, supporters, 
 persons standing at one's back, as hench- 
 7nan, a person standing at one's haunch 
 or side. 
 
 The notion of manual labour is pre- 
 served in Du. ambagt, a handicraft ; am- 
 bagts-mann, an artisan. ON. ambatt, a 
 female slave. It. ainbasciare (perhaps 
 originally to oppress with work), to 
 trouble, to grieve ; ambascia, anguish, 
 distress, shortness of breath. 
 
 Amber, Ambergris, mhg. amber, 
 
 1 
 
 dmer, Fr. ambre, Sp. Ptg. am bar, a lam- 
 bar, alambre. The Ar. anbar seems to 
 have signified in the first instance amber~ 
 gris or grey amber, an odoriferous ex- 
 cretion of certain fish, cast up by the 
 waves, like the yellow amber, on the 
 shore. Hence the name was transferred 
 to the latter substance. 
 
 Ambient. — Ambition. Lat. ambio, to 
 go round, to environ ; also to go about 
 hunting for favour or collecting votes, 
 whence ambitio, a soliciting of or eager 
 desire for posts of honour, &c. 
 
 Amble. Fr. ambler, Sp. amblar, It. 
 ambiare, from Lat. ambulo, to walk, go a 
 foot's pace. 
 
 Ambry, Aumbry, Aumber. A side- 
 board or cupboard-top on which plate 
 was displayed — Skinner ; in whose time 
 the word was becoming obsolete. 
 
 Fr. armoire, a cupboard. Sp. armaria, 
 ahnario, G, aimer, a cupboard. Mid. 
 Lat. annaria, almaria, a chest or cup- 
 board, especially for keeping books, 
 whence armariiis, the monk in charge of 
 the books of a monastery. ' Purpuram 
 optimam de almarid tollens ' ' thesaurum 
 et almai'iuni cum ejus pertinentiis, vide- 
 licet libris ecclesias.' — Due. * Biblio- 
 theca, sive armarium vel archivum, boc- 
 hord.'— Gloss. ^Ifr. 
 
 The word was very variously written 
 in English. 'Almoriolum — an almery,' 
 — Pictorial Vocab. in National Antiqui- 
 ties. And as the term was often applied 
 to a cupboard used for keeping broken 
 meat, of which alms would mainly con- 
 sist, it seems to have contracted a fal- 
 lacious reference to the word alms, and 
 thus to become confounded with almomy, 
 the office where alms were distributed. 
 
 The original meaning, according to 
 Diez, is a chest in which arms were kept, 
 ' armarium, repositorium armorum.'— 
 Gloss. Lindenbr. 
 
 Ambush. From It. bosco, Prov. bosc, 
 a bush, wood, thicket : It. imboscarsi, 
 Prov. emboscar, Fr. embuscher, to go into 
 a wood, get into a thicket for shelter, 
 then to lie in wait, set an ambush. 
 
 Amenable. Easy to be led or ruled, 
 from Fr. amener, to bring or lead unto, 
 mener, to lead, to conduct. See Demean. 
 
 Amercement. — Amerciament. A 
 pecuniary penalty imposed upon offend- 
 ers at the mercy of the court : it differs 
 from a fine, which is a punishment cer- 
 tain, and determined by some statute. — 
 B. In Law Latin, /^;/z in misericordid 
 was thus to be placed at the mercy of 
 the court ; etre mis a uierci, or itre amer- 
 
AMNESTY 
 
 cU, to be amerced, and misericordia was 
 used for any arbitrary exaction. 
 
 Concedimus etiam eisdem abbati et monachis 
 et eorum successoribus quod sint quieti de omni- 
 bus misericordiis in perpetuum. — Charter Edw. 
 I. in Due. Et inde coram eo placitabuntur, et 
 de omnibus misericordiis et emendationibus de- 
 bemus habere ii soHdos. — Due. 
 
 When a party was thus placed at the 
 mercy of the court, it was the business of 
 affeerors appointed for that purpose to 
 fix the amount of the amercement. See 
 Affeer. 
 
 Amnesty. Gr. afiviiffTtia (a priv. & 
 fivaofiat, I remember), a banishing from 
 remembrance of former misdeeds. 
 
 Amount. From mont, hill, and val, 
 valley, the French formed amont and 
 aval^ upwards and downwards respect- 
 ively, whence monter, to mount, to rise 
 up, and avaler, to send down, to swallow. 
 Hence amount is the sum total to which 
 a number of charges rise up when added 
 together. 
 
 Ample. Lat. ampius, large, spacious. 
 
 Amputate. Lat. amputo^ to cut off, 
 to prune ; piito, to cleanse, and thence to 
 cut off useless branches, to prune ; piitus, 
 pure, clean, bright. 
 
 Amulet. Lat. amuletum, a ball or 
 anything worn about the person as a 
 preservative or charm against evil. From 
 Arab, hamala^ to carry. 
 
 To Amuse. To give one something 
 to muse on, to occupy the thoughts, to 
 entertain, give cheerful occupation. For- 
 merly also used as the simple muse, to 
 contemplate, earnestly fix the thoughts on. 
 
 Here I put my pen into the inkhorn and fell 
 into a strong and deep amusemefii, revolving in 
 my mind with great perplexity the amazing 
 change of our affairs. — Fleetwood in Riehardson. 
 
 An. The indefinite article, the purport 
 of which is simply to indicate individ- 
 uality. It is the same word with the 
 numeral one, AS. an, and the difference 
 in pronunciation has arisen from a 
 lighter accent being laid upon the word 
 when used as an article than when as a 
 definite numeral. So in Breton, the in- 
 definite article has become eun, while the 
 numeral is unaft. Dan. een, one, en, a, an. 
 ^ An. — And. There is no radical dis- 
 tinction between an and and, which are 
 accidental modifications of spelling ulti- 
 mately appropriated to special applica- 
 tions of the particle. 
 
 In our older writers it was not unfre- 
 quent to make use of an in the sense in 
 which we now employ and, and vice 
 versi and in the sense of an or if. 
 
 AN 
 
 19 
 
 First, an for and. 
 
 He sone come bysyde hys fone eehon, 
 
 Aft bylevede hym there al nygt, and al hys ost 
 
 also, 
 An thogte anon amorwe strong batayle do. 
 
 R.G.319. 
 Secondly, afid for if or an. 
 
 Me reweth sore I am unto hire teyde, 
 For and I should rekene every vice 
 Which that she hath, ywis I were to nice. 
 Squire's Prologue. 
 And I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any 
 man should buy the fee simple of my Hfe for an 
 hour and a half. 
 
 We find an ?/and and if , or simply an 
 for if 
 
 — I pray thee, Launce, and if thou seest my 
 boy bid him make haste. 
 
 But and if that wicked servant say in his 
 heart, &e. 
 
 Nay, an thou dalliest, then I am thy foe. 
 
 Ben Jonson in R. 
 
 In the same sense the OS wed. an, 
 while om (sn corresponds exactly to our 
 an if, om, formerly of being the exact 
 representative of E. if The Sw. ceu is 
 also used in the sense of and, still, yet. — 
 Ihre. 
 
 It is extremely difficult to guess at the 
 sensible image which lies at the root of 
 the obscure significations expressed by 
 the particles and conjunctions, the most 
 time-worn relics of language ; but in the 
 present instance it seems that both sense 
 and form might well be taken from the E. 
 even,\n the sense of continuous, unbroken, 
 level. 
 
 The poetical contraction of even into 
 e'en shows how such a root might give 
 rise to such forms as ON. enn, OS wed. 
 ce7t, Dan. end. With respect to meaning, 
 we still use even as a conjunction in cases 
 closely corresponding to the Swed. CBn, 
 and Dan. end. Thus we have Swed. 
 CEn-nu translated by Ihre, etiamnum, 
 even now, i. e. without a sensible break 
 between the event in question and now ; 
 cendock, quamvis, even though, or al- 
 though ; CEn, yet, still, continuously ; 
 ' he is still there,' he continues there. 
 So in Danish, — om dette end skulde ske, 
 even if that should happen ; end ikke, ne 
 quidem, not even then ; end nu, even 
 now. When one proposition is made 
 conditional on another, the two are prac- 
 tically put upon the same level, and thus 
 the conditionality may fairly be expressed 
 by even contracted into cp.n or an. Ana- 
 lysing in this point of view the sentence 
 above quoted. 
 
 Nay, an thou dalliest, then I am thy foe, 
 it must be interpreted, Nay, understand 
 2 * 
 
30 
 
 ANA 
 
 these propositions as equally certain, 
 thou dalliest here, I am thy foe. — It de- 
 pends upon you whether the first is to 
 prove a fact or no, but the second pro- 
 position has the same value which you 
 choose to give to the former. 
 
 It will subsequently be shown probable 
 that the conjunction if is another relic of 
 the same word. On the other hand, 
 placing two things side by side, or on a 
 level with each other, may be used to 
 express that they are to be taken together, 
 to be treated in the same manner, to 
 form a single whole ; and thus it is that 
 the same word, which implies condition- 
 ality when circumstances show the un- 
 certainty of the first clause, may become 
 a copulative when the circumstances of 
 the sentence indicate such a signification. 
 
 Ana- Gr. ava, up, on, back. 
 
 Anatomy. Gr. dvarsuvb), to cut up. 
 See Atom. 
 
 Ancestor. Fr, ancestre, ancetre, from 
 Lat. antecessor, one that goes before. 
 See Cede. 
 
 Anchor. Lat. anchor a, Gr. ayjcwpa. 
 There can be no doubt that it is from the 
 root signifying hook, which gives rise to 
 the Gr. dyKvXoQ, curved, crooked ; dyKwv, 
 an elbow, recess, corner ; oyKij, oyKivog, a 
 hook ; Lat. angnlus, an angle, uncus, a 
 hook, crooked. 
 
 Unco alliget anchora morsu. — Virg. 
 
 Anchoret. A herm.it. Gr. avaxii^- 
 ijTtjg, one who has retired from the world ; 
 from dvaxb)p^b), to retire. 
 
 Anchovy. Fr. anchois, It. ancioe, 
 Gr. a0vi7, Lat. apna, aphya {apya), ; 
 whence might arise, It. {apj-ugd) acciuga, 
 Pied. Sicil. anciova, Genoes. anciua. — 
 Diez. 
 
 Ancient. Lat. ante, Pro v. antes, It. 
 anzi, before, whence anziano, Yx. ancien, 
 ancient, belonging to former times. 
 
 Ancle. AS. ancleow, G. enkel. Pro- 
 bably a parallel formation with Gr. 
 ayKvXri, a loop, the bend of the arm ; and 
 from the same root, dyKMv, the elbow, or 
 bending of the arm ; It. anca, the haunch, 
 or bending of the hip ; OHG. ancha, Bav. 
 anke (genick), the bending of the neck. 
 
 And. See An. 
 
 Ajidiron. Originally the iron bars 
 which supported the two ends of the logs 
 on a wood fire. AS. bra7td-isen, brand- 
 iron, could never have been corrupted 
 into andiron. The Mid. Lat. has andena, 
 andela, andeda, anderia. Fr. landier, 
 grand chenet de cuisine. — Diet. Wallon. 
 The Flemish wend-ijser probably ex- 
 hibits the true origin, from wefiden, to 
 
 ANGER 
 
 turn ; wend-ijser, brand-ijser, crateule- 
 rium, ferrum in quo veru vertitur, — KiL, 
 i. e. the rack in front of the kitchen-dogs 
 in which the spit turns. ' Lander y Gall, 
 landier, Lat. verutentum; item haec an- 
 dena.' — Catholicon Arm. in Due. Andena 
 seems a mere latinisation of oe. aundyre 
 for andiron, as brondyr for brondiron, 
 gredyre iox gridiron. ^Andena, aundyre.' 
 ' Trepos, brandyr.' ' Craticula, gredyre.' 
 — National Antiq. 178. In modern Eng- 
 lish the term has been transferred to 
 the moveable fire-irons. 
 
 To Aneal, Anele. To give the last 
 unction. I aneele a sick man, J'enhjiille. 
 — Palsgr. Fr. huille, oil. 
 
 Anecdote. Gr. av'tKloroq, not pub- 
 lished, from tKdiSujfii, to give out, to put 
 forth. 
 
 Anent.— Anenst. In face of, respect- 
 ing. AS. ongean, opposite ; foran on- 
 gean,foran gen (Thorpe's Dipl. p. 341), 
 over against, opposite, in front, before- 
 anent. The word anent, however, does 
 not seem to come directly from the AS. 
 ongean. It shows at least a northern 
 influence from the ON. giegnt, Sw. gent, 
 opposite, gent ofwer, over against. Hence 
 on gcJtt, anent, and with the s, so com- 
 monly added to prepositions (comp. ante, 
 before, Prov. antes, AS. togeanes, &c.), 
 anentis. ' Anentis men, it is impossible, 
 but not anentis God.' — Wicliff. Hence 
 Anenst, as alongst from along, whilst 
 from while, against from again. 
 
 Angel. Lat. angelus, from Gr.'AyyeXof, 
 a messenger, one sent ; dyysWio, to send 
 tidings. 
 
 Anger. Formerly used in the sense 
 of trouble, torment, grievance. 
 
 He that ay has levyt fre 
 May not know well the propyrtd, 
 The ai7gyr na the wrechyt dome 
 That is cowplyt to foule thyrldome. 
 
 Bruce, i. 235. 
 
 Shame 
 
 From whom fele angirs I have had. — R. R. 
 
 In the original, 
 
 Par qui je fus puis moult gr^vd. 
 
 From the sense of oppression, or injury, 
 the expression was transferred to the 
 feelings of resentment naturally aroused 
 in the mind of the person aggrieved. In 
 the same way, the word harm signifies 
 injury, damage, in English, and resent- 
 ment, anger, vexation, in Swedish. 
 
 The idea of injury is very often ex- 
 pressed by the image of pressure, as in 
 the word oppress, or the Fr. grever, to 
 bear heavy on one. Now the root ang 
 is very widely spread in the sense of 
 
ANGLE 
 
 compression, tightness. G. etig, com- 
 pressed, strait, narrow; Lat. angere, 
 to strain, strangle, vex, torment; angus- 
 tus, narrow; angina, oppression of the 
 breast ; angor, anguish, sorrow, vexation ; 
 Gr. ayxw, to compress, strain, strangle, 
 whence ayx* (as It.presso), near ; ayxe<^^«'j 
 to be grieved ; ayx^vri, what causes pain 
 or grief. 
 
 Both physical and metaphorical senses 
 are well developed in the ON. angr, 
 narrow, a nook or corner, grief, pain, 
 sorrow ; angra, to torment, to trouble ; 
 krabba-angar, crabs' pincers. 
 
 To Angle. To fish with a rod and 
 line, from AS. angel, a fish-hook. Du. 
 atighel-snoer, angJiel-roede, a fishing-line, 
 fishing-rod ; anghelen, to angle. Chaucer 
 has angle-hook, showing that the proper 
 meaning of the word angle was then lost, 
 and by a further confusion it was sub- 
 sequently applied to the rod. 
 A fisher next his trembling a7tgle bears. — Pope. 
 
 Anguish. Lat. angnslia, a strait, 
 whence It. angoscia (as poscia, from 
 postea), Fr. angoisse, E. anguish. See 
 Anger. 
 
 Anile. Lat. anilis^ from anus, an 
 aged woman. 
 
 Animal. — Animate. Lat. animus, 
 the spirit, living principle, mind, properly 
 the breath, as the ruhng function of life 
 in man, analogous to spirit, from spiro, 
 to breathe. Gr. avt\t.oQ, wind; aw, aj^/tt, 
 to blow. 
 
 To Anneal. To fire glass in order to 
 melt and fix the vitreous colours with 
 which it is painted. 
 
 And like a picture shone in glass annealed. 
 
 Dryden in Worcester. 
 
 I aneel a potte of erthe or suche like with 
 a coloure, Je plomme. — Palsgr. Also to 
 temper glass or metals in a gradually 
 decreasing heat. It.focare, to fire or set 
 on fire, also to neal raetaXs. — Fl. 
 
 From AS. celan, oncelan, to set on fire, 
 burn, bake. The expression cocti lateris 
 of the Vulgate, Is. xvi. 7, 11, is rendered 
 anelid tyil in the earlier Wickliffite 
 version, and bakun tijl in the later. — 
 Marsh. 
 
 * To Annoy. It. aimoiare, OFr. 
 anoier, anueir, anuier, Fr. ennuyer, to 
 annoy, vex, trouble, grieve, afflict, weary, 
 irke, importune overmuch, — Cot. The 
 origin of the word has been well explained 
 by Diez from the Lat. phrase esse in odio. 
 It. esserin odio, to be hateful or repugnant 
 to one. Esse alicui in odio ; apud aliquem 
 in odio esse.— Cic. Hence was formed 
 
 ANTHEM 
 
 21 
 
 Sp. enojo, offence, injury, anger ; enojar^ 
 to molest, trouble, vex; It. 7ioia, trouble, 
 weariness, vexation, disquiet; recarsi a 
 noj'a, to be tired of something; nojare^ 
 venire a noja, to weary, to be tedious to. 
 Diez cites OVenet. ///«; te sont a inodio 
 as exactly equivalent to It. piu ti sono a 
 noja. ' Recarsi a noia, e aversi a noia^ 
 saysVanzoni,'vagliono recarsi in fastidio, 
 in recrescimento, in odio, odiare, odium 
 in aliquem concipere.' So in Languedoc, 
 odi, hate, disgust ; aver en odi, to hate ; 
 la car me ven en odi, meat is distasteful 
 to me ; me venes en odi, vous m'ennuyez, 
 you are tedious to me. From in odio 
 arose OFr. emcy, ettvi (commonly re- 
 ferred to Lat. invitus), d envi or a envis, 
 unwillingly, with regret, as hui from 
 hodie. And from enuy was formed 
 ennuyer, to weary, to annoy. 
 
 From the same source must be ex- 
 plained Du. noode, noeye, unwilling, 
 with regret or displeasure ; noode iet doen^ 
 gravate aliquid facere; noode hebben^ 
 £egri ferre ; noeyen, noyen, officere, nocere, 
 molestum esse. — Kil. ' Noode, fiooyelick, 
 k ennuy, k regret, invitus, coactus, ingra- 
 tus, vel aegr^, molest^ ; Jet noode doen, 
 faire quelque chose enuy; noode jet 
 horen, ouyr etiuy quelque chose, graviter 
 audire.' — Thesaurus Theut. Ling. 1573. 
 
 Anodyne. Gr. avi^hwoQ (a priv. and 
 b^vvr\, pain), without sense of pain, 
 capable of dispelling pain. 
 
 Anomalous. Gr. dvwuaXoQ (a priv. 
 and ofiaXbg, level, fair), irregular, devi- 
 ating from an even surface. 
 
 Anon. AS. on an, in one, jugiter, con- 
 tinuo, sine intermissione — Lye; at one 
 time, in a moment ; ever ajid anon, con- 
 tinually. 
 
 Answer, as. andswarian, from and, 
 in opposition, and swerian, Goth, svaran, 
 to swear. ON. svara, to answer, to 
 engage for. It is remarkable that the 
 Latin expression for answer is formed in 
 exactly the same way from a verb spon- 
 dere, signifying to engage for, to assure. 
 The simpler idea of speaking in return is 
 directly expressed by Goth, anda-vaurd, 
 G. ant-wort, AS. andwyrd, current side 
 by side with the synonymous andswar. 
 
 Ant. The well-known insect, con- 
 tracted from emtnetj like aunt, a parent's 
 sister, from Lat. amita. 
 
 Ante- Lat. ante, before. 
 
 Ant- Anti- Gr. dvTi, against. What 
 is in face of one or before one is in one 
 point of view opposite or against one. 
 
 Anthem. A divine song sung by two 
 opposite choirs or choruses.— B. Lat. 
 
22 ANTICK 
 
 antiphona i Gr. avTi^^va^ from aVn^ajvlw, 
 to sound in answer. Prov. antifaia; 
 AS. antcfn., whence anthem^ as from AS. 
 stefn^ E. stem. The Fr. form antiennc 
 shows a similar corruption to that of 
 £stienne, from Stcphamis, 
 
 Antick. — Antique. Lat. antiais, 
 from ante, before, as posticus, from post, 
 behind. 
 
 At the revival of art in the 14th and 
 15th centuries the recognised models of 
 imitation were chiefly the remains of 
 ancient sculpture, left as the legacy of 
 Roman civilisation. Hence the applica- 
 tion of the term antique to work of sculp- 
 tured ornamentation, while individual 
 figures wrought in imitation or supposed 
 imitation of the ancient models, were 
 called antiques, as the originals are at the 
 present day. 
 
 - At the entering of the palays before the gate 
 was builded a fountain of embowed work en- 
 grayled with anticke workes, — the old God of 
 wine called Bacchus birling the wine, which by 
 the conduits in the earth ran to the people 
 plenteously with red, white, and claret wine. — 
 Hall's Chron. 
 
 Again from the same author : 
 
 At the nether end were two broad arches upon 
 three antike pillers, all of gold, burnished, 
 swaged, and graven full of gargills and serpen tes 
 — and above the arches were made sundry 
 dntikes and devices. 
 
 But as it is easier to produce a certain 
 effect by monstrous and caricature re- 
 presentations than by aiming at the 
 beautiful in art, the sculptures by which 
 our medieval buildings were adorned, 
 executed by such stone-masons as were 
 to be had, were chiefly of the former 
 class, and an antick came to signify a 
 grotesque figure such as we see on the 
 spouts or pinnacles of our cathedrals. 
 
 Some fetch the origin of this proverb (he looks 
 as the devil over Lincoln) from a stone picture 
 of the Devil which doth or lately did overlook 
 Lincoln College. Surely the architect intended 
 it no further than for an ordinary anticke. — Ful- 
 ler in R. 
 
 Now for the inside here grows another doubt, 
 whether grotesca, as the Italians, or antique 
 work, as we call it, should be received. — Re- 
 liquiae Wottonianse in R. 
 
 The term was next transferred to the 
 grotesque characters, such as savages, 
 fauns, and devils, which were favourite 
 subjects of imitation in masques and 
 revels. 
 
 That roome with pure gold it all was overlaid 
 Wrought with wild antickes which their follies 
 
 playde 
 In the riche metal as they living were. — Spencer. 
 
 APHORISM 
 
 To dance the anticks is explained by 
 Bailey to dance after an odd and ridicu- 
 lous manner, or in a ridiculous dress, like 
 a jack-pudding. To go antiquely, in 
 Shakespear, to go in strange disguises. 
 In modern language antic is applied to 
 extravagant gestures, such as those 
 adopted by persons representing the 
 characters called antics in ancient 
 masques. Mannequin, a puppet or an 
 antic. — Cot. 
 
 Antidote. Gr. avrworov, something 
 given against, a preventative ; borioQ, what 
 is to be given. 
 
 Antler. Fr. andotiillers, the branches 
 of a stag's horns ; but properly andouiller 
 is the first branch or brow-antler, sur- 
 andouilier the second. As the brow- 
 antler projects forward the word has been 
 derived from ajite, before, but the ex- 
 planation has not been satisfactorily 
 made out. 
 
 Anvil. Formerly written anvilt or 
 afivild; AS. afijiltj Pl.D. amboltj Du. 
 aenbeld, ambeld, a block to hammer on. 
 Percutere, villan — Gloss. Pezron ; fillist, 
 verberas. — Otfried. So Lat. incus, in- 
 cudis, from in and ctidere, to strike ; G. 
 ambossj OHG. anapoz, from an and 
 bossen, to strike. 
 
 Anxious. Lat. anxitis, from ango, 
 anxi, to strain, press, strangle, choke, 
 vex, trouble. 
 
 Any. AS. CBnig, from an, one, and ig, 
 a termination equivalent to Goth, eigs, 
 from eigan, to have. Thus from gabe, a 
 gift, wealth, gabeigs, one having wealth, 
 rich. In like manner, any is that which 
 partakes of the nature of one, a small 
 quantity, a few, some one, one at the 
 least. 
 
 Apanage. Lat. panis, bread, whence 
 Prov. panar, apanar, to nourish, to sup- 
 port ; Fr. apanage, a provision for a 
 younger child. 
 
 Apart. — Apartment. Fr. d, part, 
 aside, separate. Apartjnent, something 
 set aside, a suite of rooms set aside for a 
 separate purpose, finally applied to a 
 single chamber. 
 
 Ape. Originally a monkey in general ; 
 latterly applied to the tailless species. 
 To ape, to imitate gestures, from the imi- 
 tative habits of monkeys. But is it not 
 possible that the name of the ape may be 
 from imitating or taking off the actions 
 of another ? Goth,, ON. af, G. ab, of, from. 
 
 Aperient. — Aperture. Lat. aperio, 
 apertum, to open, to display ; ^^?r/<?, to 
 bring forth. See Cover. 
 
 Aphorism. Gr. dfopitrfibg, a definite- 
 
APO 
 
 sentence ; d<pop(Zo), to mark off, to define ; 
 bpog, a bound, landmark. 
 
 Apo- Gr. (XTro, corresp. to Lat. ad, of, 
 off, from, away. 
 
 Apoplexy. From Gr. aVo7rX?jff(Tw, 
 to strike down, to disable ; — oixai, to lose 
 one's senses, become dizzy ; ttX/jcto-w, |w, 
 to strike. 
 
 Apostle. — Epistle. Gr. dTroaroXog, 
 one sent out, from aVoo-rjWw, to send off, 
 despatch on some service. In the same 
 way from irrKTrkWcj, to send to, to an- 
 nounce, tTTKTToXrj, an epistle or letter. 
 
 Apothecary. Gr. diroQriKr], a store or 
 keeping-place ; diroTiOijm, to store or put 
 ivvay. 
 
 Appal. Wholly unconnected w'lthpa/e, 
 to which it is often referred. To cause to 
 Pa/^ (see Pall), to deaden, to take away 
 or lose the vital powers, whether through 
 age or sudden terror, horror, or the like. 
 An old appalled wight, in Chaucer, is a 
 man who has lost his vigour through age. 
 
 And among other of his famous deeds, he re- 
 vived and quickened again the faith of Christ, 
 that in some places of his kingdom was sore 
 appalled. — Fabian in R. 
 
 Apparel. From Lat. par, equal, like, 
 the MLat. diminutive pariculus, gave 
 rise to It.parecchio, S'^.parejo, Yr.pareil, 
 like. Hence It. apparecchiare, Sp. apar- 
 ejar, Prov. aparelhar, Fr. appaj^eiller, 
 properly to join like to like, to fit, to suit. 
 Appareil, outfit, preparation, habiliments. 
 — Diez. 
 
 And whanne sum men seiden of the Temple 
 that it was aparelid with good stones. — Wiclif 
 in R. Eke if he apparaille his mete more deli- 
 ciously than nede is. — Parson's Tale. 
 
 Then like Fr. habiller, or E. dress, the 
 word was specially applied to clothing, 
 as the necessary preparation for every 
 kind of action. 
 
 To Appeal. Lat. appellare, Fr. ap- 
 peler, to call, to call on one for a special 
 purpose, to call for judgment, to call on 
 one for his defence, i. e. to accuse him of 
 a crime. 
 
 To Appear. — Apparent. OFr. ap- 
 Paroirj Lat. pareo, to be open to view. 
 
 Appease. Fr. appaiser, from paix, 
 peace. 
 
 Apple. AS. apl, ON. apal, w. apal, 
 Jr. avail, Lith. obolys, Knss. Jabloko. 
 
 To Appoint. The Fr. point was used 
 in the sense of condition, manner, ar- 
 rangement — the order, trim, array, plight, 
 case, taking, one is in. — Cotgr. En 
 pileux poind, in piteous case ; habiller 
 en ce poind, to dress in this fashion. — 
 Cent Nouv. Nouv. A poind, aptly, in 
 
 APRICOT 
 
 ^3 
 
 good time, in good season ; prendre son 
 d, poind, to take his fittest opportunity 
 for ; quand it fiet d poind, when the 
 proper time came. Hence appoind, fit- 
 ness, opportunity, a thing for one's pur- 
 pose, after his mind ; and appoinder (to 
 find fitting, pronounce fitting), to deter- 
 mine, order, decree, to finish a contro- 
 versy, to accord, agree, make a composi- 
 tion between parties, to assign or grant 
 over unto. — Cotgr. 
 
 To Appraise. Lat. pretium, Fr. prir, 
 a price, value ; apprede^r, to rate, esteem, 
 prize, set a price on. — Cotgr. I prise 
 ware, I sette a pryce of a thynge what it 
 is worthe : je aptise. — Palsgr. The PI. 
 D. laven is used both as E. praise, to 
 commend, and also as appraise, to set a 
 price on. To praise, in fact, is only to 
 exalt the price or value of a thing, to 
 speak in commendation. 
 
 Apprehend.— Apprentice. — Apprise. 
 'LzX. prehendere, to catch hold of; appre- 
 hendere, to seize, and metaphorically to 
 take the meaning, to understand, to 
 learn. Fr. apprendi'e, appris, to learn, 
 whence the E. apprise, to make a thing 
 known. Fr. apprentis, a learner, one 
 taken for the purpose of learning a trade. 
 
 Approach. From Lat. prope (comp. 
 Propius), near, were formed appropiare 
 (cited by Diez from a late author). 
 Walach. apropid, Prov. apropchar. It. 
 approcciare, Fr. approcher, to come near, 
 to approach. 
 
 Approbation. — Approve. — Ap- 
 prover. Lat. Pf'obus, good, probare, ap- 
 Probare, to deem good, pronounce good. 
 Fr. approver, to approve, allow, find 
 good, consent unto. — Cotgr. 
 
 Hence an Approver in law is one who 
 has been privy and consenting to a crim.e, 
 but receives pardon in consideration of 
 his giving evidence against his principal. 
 
 This false thefe this sompnour, quoth the frere, 
 Had alway bandis redy to his hond. 
 That tellith him all the secre they knew, 
 For their acquaintance was not come of new ; 
 They werin his approvirs privily. — Friar's Tale. 
 
 Appurtenance. Fr. appartenir^ to 
 pertain or belong to. 
 
 * Apricot. Formerly apricock, agree- 
 ing with I.2X. prcecoqua ox prcscocia. Mod. 
 Gr. TrpatKOKKiov. They were considered 
 by the Romans a kind of peach, and 
 were supposed to take their name from 
 their ripening earher than the ordinary 
 peach. 
 
 Maturescunt asstate prcEcocia intra triginta 
 annos reperta at primo denariis singulis vpnun- 
 data. — Pliny, N. H. xv. 11. 
 
»4 
 
 APRON 
 
 It may be doubted, however, whether 
 the Lat. prcEcoqiia was not an adapt- 
 ation. It is certain that the apricot 
 was introduced from Armenia, and the 
 fruit is still called barkiik in Persian. It 
 is far more likely that the name should 
 have been imported with the fruit into 
 Italy than that the Persians should have 
 adopted the Latin name of a native 
 fruit. — Marsh. 
 
 Apron. A cloth worn in front for the 
 protection of the clothes, by corruption 
 for napron. 
 
 — And therewith to wep>e 
 She made, and with her napron feir and white 
 
 ywash 
 She wyped soft her eyen for teris that she outlash. 
 Chaucer, Beryn. Prol. 31. 
 
 Still called nappern [pronounced nap- 
 pron in Cleveland. J. C. A.] in the N. of 
 E. — Hall. Naprun, or barm-cloth. — Pr. 
 Pm. From OFr. naperjyn, properly the 
 intensitive of itape^ a cloth, as napkin is 
 ihe diminutive. A/aperon., grande nappe. 
 — Roquefort. Naperon is explained by 
 H^cart, a small cloth put upon the table- 
 cloth during dinner, to preserve it from 
 stains, and taken away before dessert, a 
 purpose precisely analogous to that for 
 which an apron is used. ' Un beau 
 service de damass(? de Sil^sie ; la nappe, 
 le naperon et 24 serviettes.' — About. Ma- 
 delon. The loss or addition of an initial 
 n to words is very common, and fre- 
 quently we are unable to say whether the 
 consonant has been lost or added. 
 
 Thus we have nauger and ajiger, newt 
 and ewte, or e/t, nawl and aivl^ nompire 
 and umpire, and the same phenomenon 
 is common in other European languages. 
 
 Apt. Lat. aptus, fastened close, con- 
 nected, and thence fit, suitable, proper. 
 
 Aqueous. — Aquatic. Lat. aqua, San- 
 scr. ap, Gr. aa, Alban. ttghe, water ; 
 Goth, ahva, OHG. aha, a river. 
 
 Arable. Lat. aro, OE. ear, to plough. 
 
 Arbiter. — Arbitrate. The primary 
 sense of Lat. arbiter is commonly given 
 as an eye-witness, from whence that of 
 an umpire or judge is supposed to be 
 derived, as a witness specially called in 
 for the purpose of determining the ques- 
 tion under trial. But there is no recog- 
 nised derivation in Latin which would 
 account for either of these significations. 
 A rational explanation may, however, be 
 found in Fin. 
 
 There is a common tendency in an un- 
 informed state of society to seek for the 
 resolution of doubtful questions of suffi- 
 cient interest by the casting of lots in 
 
 ARBOUR 
 
 some shape or other. Thus in Latin 
 sors, a lot, is taken in the sense of an 
 oracle, and sortilegus is a soothsayer, 
 one who gives oracles, or answers ques- 
 tions by the casting of lots ; and this 
 doubtless is the origin of E. soi'cerer, 
 sorcery. Albanian, sliort, a lot, short dr, 
 a soothsayer. Now one of the points 
 upon which the cunning man of the 
 present day is most frequently consulted 
 is the finding of lost property, and a 
 dispute upon such a subject among a 
 barbarous people would naturally be re- 
 ferred to one who was supposed to have 
 supernatural means of knowing the truth. 
 Thus the lots-man or soothsayer would 
 naturally be called in as arbiter or dooms- 
 man. Now we find in Fin. arpa, a lot, 
 symbol, divining rod, or any instrument 
 of divination ; aipa-mies, (7;«>j = man,) 
 sortium ductor, arbiter, hariolus ; arpelen, 
 arivella, to decide by lot, to divine ; ar- 
 wata, conjicio, auguror, eestimo, arbitror ; 
 arwaaja, arbiter in re censenda ; arivelo, 
 arbitrium, opinio, conjectura ; arivaus, 
 conjectura, aestimatio arbitraria. It will 
 be observed in how large a proportion of 
 these cases the Lat. arbiter and its de- 
 rivatives are used in explanation of the 
 Fin. words derived from arpa. 
 
 Arbour. From OE. herbere, originally 
 signifying a place for the cultivation of 
 herbs, a pleasure-ground, garden, sub- 
 sequently applied to the bower or rustic 
 shelter which commonly occupied the 
 most conspicuous situation in the garden ; 
 and thus the etymological reference to 
 herbs being no longer apparent, the spell- 
 ing was probably accommodated to the 
 notion of being sheltered by trees or 
 shrubs {arbor). 
 
 This path 
 
 I foUowid till it me brought 
 
 To a right plesaunt herbir wel ywrought, 
 
 Which that benchid was, and with turfis new 
 
 Freshly tumid 
 
 The hegge also that yedin in compas 
 
 And closid in all the grene herbere. 
 
 With Sycamor was set and Eglatere, — 
 
 And shapin was this herbir, rofe and all. 
 
 As is a pretty parlour. 
 
 Chaucer, Flowqr and Leaf. 
 
 It growyth in a gardyn, quod he. 
 
 That God made hymselve, 
 
 Amyddes mannes body, 
 
 The more (root) is of that stokke, 
 
 Herte highte the herber 
 
 That it inne groweth. — P. P. 2. 331. 
 
 The word is still used in its ancient 
 meaning at Shrewsbury, where the differ- 
 ent guilds have separate little pleasure- 
 gardens with their summer-houses each 
 within its own fence, in the midst of an 
 
ARCH 
 
 open field outside the town, and over the 
 gate of one of these gardens is written 
 * Shoemakers' Arbour.' 
 
 This lady walked outright till he might see her 
 enter into a fine close arbor : it was of trees whose 
 branches so interlaced each other that it could 
 resist the strongest violence of eye-sight. — Ar- 
 cadia in R. 
 
 Arch. A curved hne, part of a circle, 
 anything of a bowed form, as the arch of 
 a bridge. Lat. arais, a bow, which has 
 been referred to W. gwyrog^ curved, 
 from gwyro, to bend. 
 
 ♦ Arch, Arrant. i.^r<;/^. and its equiv- 
 alents in the other branches of Teutonic 
 are used with great latitude of meaning. 
 In E. it signifies roguish, mischievous, 
 sly, and must be identified with Dan. 
 arrig, ill-tempered, troublesome, G. arg, 
 bad of its kind, morally bad, mischievous, 
 wanton, Du. e7g, sly, malicious. G. ein 
 arger knabe, Du. een erg kind, an arch 
 boy, un malin enfant, un petit rusd. The 
 earliest meaning that we can trace is that 
 of ON. argr, AS. earg, earh, faint-hearted, 
 sluggish, timid, and in that sense among 
 the Lombards it was the most offensive 
 term of abuse that could be employed. 
 ' Memento Dux Ferdulfe quod me esse 
 inertem et inutilem dixeris, et vulgari 
 verbo, arga, vocaveris.' — Paul Warne- 
 frid. * Si quis alium argam per furorem 
 clamaverit.' -•- Lex. Langobard. in Due. 
 Then from the contempt felt for any- 
 thing like timidity in those rough and 
 warlike times the word acquired the 
 sense of worthless, bad, exaggerated in 
 degree when applied to a bad quality. 
 ON. argvitugr, taxed with cowardice, 
 contemptible, bad. Dan. det arrigste 
 snavs, the most arrant trash, wretched 
 stuff. OE. arwe, fainthearted. 
 
 Now thou seist he is the beste knygt, 
 And thou as ai'we coward. 
 
 Alisaunder, 3340. 
 
 , There can be no doubt that E. arrant 
 is essentially the same word, the termina- 
 tion of which is probably from the mas- 
 culine inflection en of the PI. D. adjective. 
 Een aigen drog, an arrant rogue. — Brem. 
 Wtb. 
 
 2. Arch in composition. Gr. dpxh, 
 beginning, apx^v, to be first. Apxi in 
 comp. signifies chief or principal, as in 
 apx^fpfvg, apxayyfXoQ, chief priest, arch- 
 angel. This particle takes the form of 
 arci in It., erz in G., arc/i in E. ; arci- 
 vescovo, erz-bischof, a7xh-bishop. In G. 
 as in E. it is also applied to pre-eminence 
 in evil ; erz-betriiger, an arch-deceiver ; 
 erz-wucherer, an arrant usurer. Perhaps 
 
 ARMS 
 
 25 
 
 we fall the more readily into this appli- 
 cation from the fact that our version of 
 the Gr. particle is identical with arch 
 applied on other grounds to pre-eminence 
 in evil. 
 
 Architect. Gr. apxtrsKriov {apxri, and 
 rUrwv, 2L builder, worker, from rty^w, to 
 construct, fabricate), a chief builder. 
 
 Archives. Gr. dpxtiov, the court of 
 a magistrate, receptacle where the public 
 acts were kept. The term would thus 
 appear to be connected with dpx<^v, a 
 ruler, apxri, government, rule (princi- 
 patus), and not with apx^'^f? ancient. 
 From apxtiov was formed Lat. archivnin 
 (as Argive from 'ApysToi), a repository for 
 records or public documents, and hence 
 in modern languages the term archives 
 is applied to the records themselves. 
 
 Ardent. — Ardour. — Arson. Lat. ar- 
 deo, arsiun, Fr. ardre, ars, to be on fire, 
 to burn ; ardor, burning heat. Fr. arson, 
 a burning or setting on fire. — Cot. 
 
 Arduous. Lat. arduiis, high, lofty, 
 difficult to reach. 
 
 Area. Lat. area, a threshing-floor, a 
 bare plot of ground, a court yard, an ex- 
 tent of flat surface. Applied in modern 
 E. to the narrow yard between the under- 
 ground part of a house and the ground in 
 front. 
 
 Argue. — Argument. Lat. arguo, to 
 demonstrate, make clear or prove. 
 Arid. Lat. aridiis, from areo, to dry. 
 Aristocracy. Gr. aptaTOKpart'ia (apiarogj 
 the best, bravest, a noble, and KpuT^oj, to 
 rule, exercise lordship), ruling by the 
 nobles, whence the body of the nobles 
 collectively. 
 
 Arm. Sax. earm, Lat. annus, the 
 shoulder-joint, especially of a brute, 
 though sometimes applied to man. Con- 
 nected with ramus, a branch, by Russ. 
 ramo (pi. ramena), shoulder ; Boh. rame, 
 forearm ; rameno, arm, shoulder, branch. 
 Arms. — Army. Lat. arma, W. arf, 
 Gael, arm, a weapon. As the arm itself 
 is the natural weapon of offence, it is pos- 
 sible that the word arm in the sense of 
 weapon may be simply an application of 
 the same word as the designation of the 
 bodily limb. 
 
 From the verb armare, to arm, are 
 formed the participial nouns. It. armata, 
 Sp. armada, Fr. armee, of which the two 
 former are confined by custom to a naval 
 expedition, while the Fr. armSe, and our 
 ai-my, which is derived from it, are ap- 
 plied only to an armed body of land 
 forces, though formerly also used in the 
 sense of a naval expedition. 
 
26 
 
 AROMATIC 
 
 At Leyes was he and at Satalie 
 
 Whanne they were wonne, and in the grete see 
 
 In many a noble armic had he be. 
 
 Prol. Knight's Tale. 
 
 Aromatic. Gr. dpufiariKog, from dp(i)fia, 
 sweetness of odours, a sweet smell. 
 
 Arquebuss. It. archibuso affords an 
 example of a foreign word altered in order 
 lo square with a supposed etymology. It 
 is commonly derived from arco, a bow, as 
 the only implement of analogous effect 
 before the invention of fire-arms, and 
 buso^ pierced, hollow. But Diez has well 
 observed how incongruous an expression 
 a hollow bow or pierced bow would be, 
 and the true derivation is the Du. haeck- 
 buyse, haeck-busse, properly a gun fired 
 from a rest, from haeck, the hook or 
 forked rest on which it is supported, and 
 biisse^ G. biichse, a fire-arm. From 
 'haecke-busse it became harqiiebuss, and 
 in It. archibuso or arcobtigia, as if from 
 arco^ a bow. In Scotch it was called a 
 hagbiit of a-ochej Fr. arquebus d croc. — 
 Jamieson. 
 
 Arrack. Ptg. araca, orraca, rak. 
 From Arab. a?'ac, sweat ; ^arac at-tamr, 
 sweat (juice) of the date. The name of 
 'arac or ^araqui was first applied to the 
 spirit distilled from the juice of the date- 
 tree, and extended by the Arabs to dis- 
 tilled spirit in general, being applied by 
 us to the rice spirit brought from the East 
 Indies. — Dozy 
 
 To Arraign. In the Latin of the 
 Middle Ages, rationes was the term for 
 the pleadings in a suit ; rationes exe7'cere, 
 or ad rationes stare, to plead ; mittere or 
 ponere ad rationes, or arrationare (whence 
 in OFr. arraisonner, aresner, aregnier, 
 arraigner), to arraign, i. e. to call one to 
 account, to require him to plead, to 
 place him under accusation. 
 Thos sal ilk man at his endyng 
 Be putted til an hard rekenyng, 
 And be aresoned, als right es 
 Of alle his mysdedys, mare and les. 
 
 Pricke of Conscience, 2460. 
 In like manner was formed derationare, 
 to clear one of the accusation, to deraign, 
 to justify, to refute. 
 
 Arrant. Pre-eminent in something 
 bad, as an arrant fool, thief, knave. ' An 
 erraunt usurer.'— Pr. Pm. See Arch. 
 
 To Array. It. arredare, to prepare 
 or dispose beforehand, to get ready. 
 Arredare una casa, to furnish a house ; 
 
 uno vascello,to equip a ship. Arredo, 
 
 household furniture, rigging of a ship, 
 and in the plural arredi, apparel, raiment, 
 as clothing is the equipment universally 
 necessary. OFr. array er, arre'er, to 
 
 ARSENAL 
 
 dispose, set in order, prepare, fit out. 
 The simple verb is not extant in Italian, 
 but is preserved to us in the ON. reida, 
 the fundamental meaning of which seems 
 to be to push forwards, to lay out. At 
 reida sverdit, to wield a sword; at r. 
 fram mat, to bring forth food ; at r. feity 
 to pay down money ; at r. til ru/nit, to 
 prepare the bed ; at r. hey a hestinom, to 
 carry hay on a horse. Sw. reda, to pre- 
 pare, to set in order, to arrange ; reda ett 
 skepp, to equip a vessel; reda til mid- 
 dagen, to prepare dinner. The same 
 word is preserved in the Scotch, to red, 
 to red 7(p, to put in order, to dress ; to 
 red the road, to clear the way. — Jam. 
 
 The meaning of the Lzt. paro,paratus, 
 seems to have been developed on an 
 analogous plan. The fundamental mean- 
 ing of the simple paro seems to be to 
 lay out, to push forwards. Thus separo 
 is to lay things by themselves ; conipa?'o 
 to place them side by side ; preparo, to 
 lay them out beforehand; and the It. 
 Parare, to ward off. 
 
 To Arrest. Lat. restare, to remain 
 behind, to stand still. It. arrestare, Fr. 
 arrester, to bring one to stand, to seize 
 his person. 
 
 To Arrive. Mid. Lat. adripare, to 
 come to shore, from 7^ipa, bank, shore ; 
 then generalised, It. arrivare, Sp. ar- 
 ribar, Fr. arriver, to arrive.-^Diez. 
 
 Arrogant. Lat. ad and rogo, to ask. 
 Sibi aliquid arrogare, to ascribe some- 
 thing to oneself; arrogans, claiming 
 more than one's due. 
 
 Arrow. ON. or, gen. brvar, an arrow ; 
 or-varnar, missiles, probably from their 
 whirring^ through the air; ^ orvarnar 
 flugo hvinandi yfir haufut theim,' the 
 arrows flew whizzing over their heads. — 
 Saga Sverris. p. 26. On the same prin- 
 ciple It. freccia, an arrow, may be com- 
 pared with Fr. frissement d'un trait, the 
 whizzing sound of an arrow. — Cot. Sw. 
 hurra, to whirl, hurl. 
 
 Arsenal. It. arzana, darsena, tarzana, 
 a dock-yard, place of naval stores and 
 outfit, dock. Sp. atarazana, ataraza7tal, 
 a dock, covered shed over a rope-walk. 
 From Arab, ddr cijid'a, ddr-a^-cind'a, 
 ddr-aq-qan^a or ddr-^ana, a place of con- 
 struction or work. It is applied by 
 Edrisi to a manufacture of Morocco 
 leather. Ibn-Khaldoun quotes an order 
 of the Caliph Abdalmelic to build at 
 Tunis ' a ddr-cind^a for the construction 
 of everything necessary for the equip- 
 ment and armament of vessels.' Pedro 
 de Alcala translates atarazana by the 
 
ARSON 
 
 Arab, ddr a cind'a. — Engelmann and 
 Dozy. 
 
 Oportet ad illius (navigii) conservationem in 
 locum pertrahi coopertum, qui locus, ubi dictum 
 conservatur navigium, Arsena vulgariter appel- 
 latur. — Sanutus in Due. 
 
 Arson. See Ardent. 
 
 Art. The exercise of skill or invention 
 in the production of some material object 
 or intellectual effect; the rules and 
 method of well doing a thing ; skill, con- 
 trivance, cunning. 
 
 Art and part, when a person is both 
 the contriver of a crime and takes part 
 in the execution, but commonly in the 
 negative, neither art nor part. From 
 the Lat. nee artifex nee particeps^ neither 
 contriver nor partaker. 
 
 Artery. Gr. dpnipia, an air-receptacle 
 (supposed from dtjp, and rripsio, to keep, 
 preserve), the windpipe, and thence any 
 pulsating blood-channel. 
 
 Artichoke. Venet. articiocoj Sp. al- 
 cachofaj Arab, al-eharschufaj It. car- 
 ciofa, — Diez. 
 
 Article. Lat. articidus, diminutive 
 of artiis, a joint, a separate element or 
 member of anything, an instant of time, 
 a single member of a sentence, formerly 
 applied to any part of speech, as tiwt, 
 est^ quisqne (Forcellini), but ultimately 
 confined to the particles the and an^ the 
 effect of which is to designate one par- 
 ticular individual of the species men- 
 tioned, or to show that the assertion 
 applies to some one individual, and not 
 to the kind at large. 
 
 Artillery. We find in Middle Latin 
 the term ars, and the derivative artifi- 
 cium, applied in general to the implement 
 with which anything is done, and specially 
 to the implements of war, on the same 
 principle that the Gr. fitixcivrj, the equi- 
 valent of the Lat. ars, gave rise to the 
 word maehi'na, a machine^ and on which 
 the word engine is derived from the Lat. 
 ingenium^ a contrivance. Thus a statute 
 of the year 1352 enacts : 
 
 Quod nulla persona — sit ansa venari in ne- 
 moribus consulum— sub poena perdendi — artes, 
 seu instrumenta cum quibus fieret venatio pras- 
 dicta. — Due. 
 
 Cum magnis bombardis at plurimis diversis 
 artificialibus. — Due. 
 
 From ars seems to have been foraied the 
 Fr. verb artiller, in the general sense of 
 exercising a handicraft, or performing 
 skilled work, subsequently applied to the 
 manufacturing or supplying with muni- 
 tions of war. In testimony of the more 
 general sense we find artiliaria^ and 
 
 AS 27 
 
 thence the modern Fr. atelier, a work- 
 shop : 
 
 Quod eligantur duo legales homines qui 
 vadant cum officiali ad visitandum onmes ar~ 
 tiliarias exercentes artem pannorum. — Stat. 
 A. D. 1360, in Due. 
 
 Artillement, artilierie, is given by 
 Roquefort in the sense of implement, 
 furniture, equipment, as well as instru- 
 ment of war, and the word is used by 
 Rymer in the more general sense : — 
 
 Deeem et octo discos argenti, unum calicem 
 argenteum, unum parvum tintinnabulum pro 
 missa, &c., et omnes alias artillarias sibi com- 
 petentes. 
 
 A statute of Edward II. shows what 
 was understood by artillery in that day : 
 
 Item ordinatum est quod sit unus artillator 
 qui faciat balistas, carellos, arcos, sagittas, 
 lanceas, spiculas, et alia arma necessaria pro 
 garnizionibus castrorum. 
 
 So, in the Book of Samuel, speaking 
 of bow and arrows, it is said, ' And 
 Jonathan gave his artillery to the lad, 
 and said, Go carry them to the city.' 
 
 As. The comparison of the G. dialects 
 shows that as is a contraction from «//- 
 so J AS. eallswa ; G. also, als, as (Schiilze, 
 Schmeller), OFris. alsa, alse, als, asa, 
 ase, as (Richthofen). ' als auch wir verge- 
 ben unsern schuldigern,' as we also for- 
 give our debtors. — Schmeller. Also, sic, 
 omnino, taliter, ita. — Kilian. Fris. ' alsa 
 grate bote alsa,^ G. ' eben so grosse busse 
 als^ as great a fine as ; Fris. ' alsoe graet 
 als^ ' alsoe graet ende alsoe lytich als^ as 
 great and as small as ; ' alsoe ofte als^ as 
 often as. 
 
 In OE. we often find als for also. 
 
 Schyr Edward that had sic valour 
 
 Was dede ; and J hone Stewart alsua. 
 
 And Jhone the SowUis als with tha 
 
 And othyr als of thar company. — Bruce, xii. 795. 
 
 Schir Edward that day wald nocht ta 
 
 His cot armour ; but Gib Harper, 
 
 That men held als withoutyn per 
 
 Off his estate, had on that day 
 
 All hale Schir Edvvardis array. — Bruce, xii. 782. 
 
 i. e. whom men held as without equal of 
 his station. 
 
 So in German, ' ein solcher, als er ist,* 
 — such a one as he is. — Schmeller. In 
 expressions like as great as, where two 
 as correspond to each other, the Germans 
 render the first by so, the second by als ; 
 in OE. the first was commonly written 
 als, the second as, 
 
 Thai wer 
 To Weris water cummyn als ner 
 ^.f on othyr halff their fay is wer. 
 
 Bruce, xiv. 102. 
 
ia 
 
 ASCETIC 
 
 ■ Of all that grete tresoure that ever he biwan 
 Als bare was his towere as]6b the powere man. 
 R. Bninne. 
 
 But this is probably only because the se- 
 cond as, having less emphasis upon it 
 than the first, bore more contraction, 
 just as we have seen in the corresponding 
 Frisian expressions that the first as is 
 rendered by alsoe, the second by als. In 
 other cases the Frisian expression is just 
 the converse of the G. Fris. alsa longe 
 sa = G. so lange als, as long as ; Fris. 
 asafirsa—G. so weit als, as far as ; Fris. 
 alsa fir sa, in so far as. 
 
 Ascetic. Gr. aaKririKOQ {dffKsw, to prac- 
 tise, exercise as an art), devoted to the 
 practice of sacred duties, meditation, &c. 
 Hence the idea of exercising rigorous 
 self-discipline. 
 
 Ash. I. The tree. AS. cfsc, on. as^r. 
 2. Dust. Goth, azgo, AS. asca, ON. aska, 
 Esthon. as^, refuse, dung. 
 
 Ashlar. Hewn stone. OFr. aiseler, 
 Sc. aislair. ' Entur le temple — fud un 
 murs de treiz estruiz de aiselers qui bien 
 furent polis : '— tribus ordinibus lapidum 
 politorum. — Livre des Rois. 'A mason 
 cannocht hew ain evin aislair without 
 directioun of his rewill.' — Jam. Fr. 
 '•bouttice, an ashlar or binding-stone in 
 building.' — Cot. 
 
 Fr. aiseler seems to be derived from 
 aisselle (Lat. axilla), the hollow beneath 
 the arm or between a branch and the 
 stem of a tree, applied to the angle 
 between a rafter and the wall on which 
 it rests, or between two members of a 
 compound beam in centering. Aisselier, 
 then, or esselier, in carpentry, is the 
 bracket which supports a beam, or the 
 quartering-piece which clamps a rafter to 
 the wall (piece de bois qu'on assemble 
 dans un chevron et dans la rainure, pour 
 cintrer des quartiers (Gattel) ; pour for- 
 mer les quartiers dans une charpente a 
 lambris ; qui sert k former les cintres, ou 
 qui soutient par les bouts les entrans ou 
 tirans. — Trevoux). From thus serving to 
 unite the segments of a compound beam 
 the name seems to have been transferred 
 to a binding-stone in masonry, and thence 
 to any hewn and squared stone mixed 
 with rubblestone in building. 
 
 To Ask. AS. acsian, ascian, ON. ceskia, 
 G. heischen. 
 
 * Askance, Askaunt. OFr. a scatiche, 
 de travers, en lorgnant. — Palsgr. 831. It. 
 schiancio, athwart, across, against the 
 grain ; aschianciare, to go awry ; scan- 
 zare, scansare, to turn aside, slip aside, 
 walk by. — FI. Both askant and the 
 
 ASSASSIN 
 
 synonymous rt-j/rtw/maybe traced through 
 Sc. asklent, askew, to ^ . ysgletitio, OFr. 
 esclincher, to slip or slide. E71 etclenk- 
 aunt (esclenchant), obliquando. — Nec- 
 cham in Nat. Antiq. Then by the loss of 
 the / on the one hand, askaunt j and of 
 the k on the other, Sw. slinta, to slide, 
 and E. aslant. The rudiment of the lost 
 / is seen in the / of It. schiancio, and 
 wholly obliterated in scanzare. The Du. 
 schuin, N. skjans (pron. shons), oblique, 
 wry, / skjons, awry, seem to belong to a 
 totally different root connected with E. 
 shun, shunt, to push aside, move aside. 
 
 Askew. ON. skeifr, Dan. skjcev, G. 
 schicf, schaf, schieb, schiebicht, oblique, 
 wry ; ON. d skd, askew. Gr. oKmoQ, 
 Lat. sccevus, properly oblique, then left, 
 on the left hand ; oKaiov (TTOfxa, a wry 
 mouth. 
 
 From G. schieben, to shove, as shown 
 by Du. schuin, obhque, compared with 
 E. shun, shunt, to push aside. G. vers- 
 chieben, to put out of its place, to set 
 awry. 
 
 Asperity. Lat. asper, rough. 
 
 To Aspire.— Aspirate. Lat. aspiro, 
 to pant after, to pretend to, from spij'o, 
 to breathe. The Lat. aspiro is also used 
 for the strong breathing employed in 
 pronouncing the letter //, thence called 
 the aspirate, a term etymologically un- 
 connected with the spiritus asper of the 
 Latin grammarians. 
 
 Ass. Lat. asinus, G. esel, Pol. osiol. 
 
 To Assail. — Assault. Lat. salij^e, to 
 leap, to spring ; Fr. saillir, to sally, to 
 leap ; assaillir, to assail, to set upon, 
 whence assault, assailing or setting upon. 
 
 Assart. A cleared place in a wood. 
 Fr. essart, Mid. Lat. exartujn, essartuniy 
 assartum, sartum. 
 
 Essarta vulgo dicuntur— quando forestae, ne- 
 mora, veldumeta quselibet — succiduntur, quibus 
 succ-.isis et radiciius evulsis terra subvertilur et 
 excolitur. — Lib. Scacch. in Due. 
 
 Et quicquid in toto territorio Laussiniaco di- 
 ruptum et exstirpatum est quod vulgo dicitur 
 exsurs. — Chart. A. D. 1196, in Due. 
 
 From ex-'saritum, grubbed up. — Diez. 
 Lat, sarrio, sario, to hoe, to weed. 
 
 Assassin. Hashish is the name of an 
 intoxicating drug prepared from hemp in 
 use among the natives of the East. Hence 
 Arab. ' Haschischin,' a name given to the 
 members of a sect in Syria who wound 
 themselves up by doses of hashish to 
 perform at all risk the orders of their 
 Lord, known as the Sheik, or Old Man 
 of the Mountain. As the murder of his 
 enemies would be the most dreaded of 
 
ASSAY 
 
 these behests, the name of Assassin was 
 given to one commissioned to perform a 
 murder ; assassinatiofi, a murder per- 
 formed by one lying in wait for that 
 special purpose.— Diez. De Sacy, Mem. 
 de rinstitut, 1818. 
 
 To Assay. Lat. exigere, to examine, 
 to prove by examination ; ' annulis ferreis 
 ad certum pondus exactis pro numrno 
 utuntur,' iron rings proved of a certain 
 weight. — Cassar. Hence, exagiiim, a 
 weighing, a trial, standard weight. 
 'E^a'ytov, pensitatio ; t^ayia^w, examino, 
 perpendo. — Gl. in Due. 
 
 De ponderibus quoque, ut fraus penitus ampu- 
 tetur, a nobis agantur exagia (proof specimens) 
 quae sine fraude debent custodiri. — Novell. The- 
 odosii in Due. 
 
 Habetis aginam (a balance), exagium facite, 
 quemadmodun vultis ponderate. — Zeno, ibid. 
 
 From exagmm was formed the It. sag- 
 gio, a proof, trial, sample, taste of any- 
 thing ; assaggiare, to prove, try, taste, 
 whence Fr. essayer, to try, and E. assay, 
 essay. — Mur. Diss. 27, p. 585. 
 
 To Assemble. The origin of Lat. 
 simul, together, at once, is probably the 
 radical sam, very widely spread in the 
 sense of same, self The locative case 
 of Fin. sama, the same, is samalla, ad- 
 verbially used in the sense of at once, to- 
 gether, which seems to explain the forma- 
 tion of Lat siinul. From simul, insimtd., 
 were formed It. insieme, Fr. ensemble, 
 together ; assembler, to draw together, 
 ^assembler, to meet or flock together ; 
 whence E. assemble. In the Germanic 
 branch of language we have Goth, sama, 
 the same ; samana (corresponding to Fin. 
 samalla), Sw. ,saniman, G. zusammen, 
 AS. te somne, to the same place, together ; 
 sainnia7i, so7nnian, Sw. sammla, Dan. 
 samle, G. versammeln, to collect, to assem- 
 ble. The OE. assemble was often used 
 in the special sense of joining in battle. 
 
 By Carhame assemHyd thai ; 
 Thare was hard fychting as I harde say. 
 
 Wyntown in Jam. 
 
 And in old Italian we find sembiaglia in 
 the same sense. * La varatta era fornita. 
 Non poteo a sio patre dare succurso. Non 
 poteo essere a la sembiaglia.^ In the 
 Latin translation, ' conflictui interesse 
 nequibat.' — Hist. Rom. Fragm. in Mu- 
 ratori. 
 
 To Assess. Assidere, assessum, to sit 
 down, was used in Middle Lat. in an 
 active sense for to set, to impose a tax ; 
 assidere talliamj in Fr. asseoir la taille, 
 
 ASSOIL 
 
 29 
 
 to fix a certain amount upon each indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 Provisum est generaliter quod prasdicta quad- 
 ragesima hoc modo assideatur et colligatur. — 
 Math. Paris, A. D. 1232. 
 
 Et fuit quodlibet feodum militare assessum 
 tunc ad 40 sol. — Due. 
 
 Assets, in legal language, are funds 
 for the satisfaction of certain demands. 
 Commonly derived from Fr. assez, but in 
 OE. it was commonly written asseth. 
 And if it suffice not for asseth.—?. Plowman, 
 p. 94. 
 
 And Pilat willing to make aseeth to the people 
 left to hem Barabbas.— Wiclif, Mark 15. 
 And though on heapes that lie him by, 
 Yet never shall make his richesse 
 Asseth unto his greediness. — R. R. ; 
 
 yi^^fjtaceethe {makyn seelke — K.), satis- 
 facio. — Pr. Pm. ' Now then, rise and go 
 forthe and spekyng do aseetJie to thy 
 servauntis ' — Wicliffe ; satisfac servis tuis 
 — Vulgate. ' Therefore I swore to the 
 hows of Heli that the wickedness of his 
 hows shall not be doon aseeth before with 
 slain sacrificis and giftis.' — Wiclif In 
 the Vulgate, expietur. Assyth, sithe, to 
 make compensation, to satisfy. ' I have 
 gotten my heart's site on him.' — Lye in 
 Junius, v. sythe. Gael, sioth, sith, peace, 
 quietness, rest from war, reconciliation ; 
 sithich, calm, pacify, assuage, reconcile \ 
 W. hedd, tranquillity, heddu, to pacify ; 
 Pol. Bohem. syt, syty, satisfied, full ; 
 Bohem^ sytiti, to satisfy. 
 
 The Lat. satis, enough ; ON. scett, scetti, 
 reconciliatio, scEttr, reconciliatus, con- 
 tentus, consentiens ; sedia, saturare ; G. 
 salt, full, satisfied, — are doubtless all 
 fundamentally related. 
 
 Assiduous. Lat. assiduus, sitting 
 down, seated, constantly present, unre- 
 mitting. 
 
 Assize. — Assizes. From assidere was 
 formed OFr. assire, to set, whence assis, 
 set, seated, settled ; assise, a set rate, a 
 tax, as assize of bread, the settled rate for 
 the sale of bread ; also a set day, whence 
 cour d'assize, a court to be held on a set 
 day, E. assizes. 
 
 Ballivos nostros posuimus qui in baliviis suis 
 singulis mensibus ponent unum diem qui dicitur 
 Assisia in quo omnes illi qui clamorem facient 
 recipient jus suum. — Charta Philip August. A.D. 
 1 1 90, in Due. 
 
 Assisa in It. is used for a settled pattern 
 of dress, and is the origin of E. size, a 
 settled cut or make. 
 
 To AssoiL To acquit. Lat. absol- 
 vere,io loose from; OFr. absolver, ab- 
 soiller, assoiler. — Roquefort. 'To whom 
 spak Sampson, Y shal purpose to yow a 
 
30 ASSUAGE 
 
 dowtous word, the which if ye soylen to 
 me, &c. ; forsothe if ye mowen not assoyle, 
 &c. And they mighten not bi thre days 
 soylen the proposicioun.' — WycUf, Judges 
 xiv. 12, &c. 
 
 To Assuage. From Lat. suavis, sweet, 
 agreeable, Prov. suau, sweet, agreeable, 
 soft, tranquil, OFr. soef^souef, sweet, soft, 
 gentle, arise, Prov. assuauzar, assuavar, 
 assuaviar, to appease, to calm, to soften. 
 Hence, OFr. assona^er^ to soften, to allay, 
 answering to asstiaviar, as alUger to al- 
 leviare, abreger to abbreviare^ agriger to 
 aggraviare^ soulager to solleviare. 
 
 Mais moult m' assouagea Y oingture — R. R.; 
 translated by Chaucer, 
 
 Now softening with the ointment. 
 
 Asthma. Gr. daOfia, panting, difficult 
 breathing. 
 
 To Astonish. — Astound. — Stony. 
 
 Fr. esfouner, to astonish, amaze, daunt ; 
 also to stotmie^ benumme or dull the 
 senses of. — Cotgr. The form astonish 
 shows that estonnir must also have 
 been in use. According to Diez, from 
 Lat. attonare, attonitiun (strengthened 
 to extonare), to thunder at, to stun, 
 to stupefy. So in E. thunder-struck is 
 used for a high degree of astonishment. 
 But probably the root ton in attonitus is 
 used rather as the representative of a loud 
 overpowering sound in general, than 
 specially of thunder. Thus we have din, 
 a loud continued noise ; di^it, a blow ; to 
 dun, to make an importunate noise ; 
 dunt, a blow or stroke ; to dunt, to con- 
 fuse by noise, to stupefy. — Halliwell. AS. 
 sttiman, to strike, to stun, to make stupid 
 with noise ; stunt, stupefied, foolish ; G. 
 erstau7ien, to be in the condition of one 
 stunned. 
 
 Astute. Lat. astus, subtilty, craft. 
 
 Asylum. Lat. asylu7n, from Gr. 
 aavKov (a priv., and eruXaw, to plunder, in- 
 jure), a place inviolable, safe by the force 
 of consecration. 
 
 At. ON. at, Dan. ad, equivalent to 
 E. to before a verb, at segia, to say ; Lat. 
 ad, to ; Sanscr. adhi, upon. 
 
 Athletic. Gr. aQ\oQ, a contest for a 
 prize ; aeXi^rjJf, a proficient in muscular 
 exercises. 
 
 Atlas. Gr. 'krkaq, the name of one 
 who was fabled to support on his shoul- 
 ders the entire vault of heaven, the globe ; 
 thence, applied to a book of maps of the 
 countries of the globe : wliich had com- 
 monly a picture of Atlas supporting the 
 globe for a frontispiece. 
 
 ATTAINDER 
 
 Atmosphere. Gr. ar/x6c, smoke, va- 
 pour. 
 
 Atom. Gr. aronog (from a privative 
 and Tifivu), to cut), indivisible, that does 
 not admit of cutting or separation. 
 
 Atone. To bring at one, to reconcile, 
 and thence to suffer the pains of what- 
 ever sacrifice is necessary to bring about 
 a reconciliation. 
 
 If gentilmen or other of that contrei 
 
 Were wroth, she wolde bringen hem at on, 
 
 So wise and ripe wordes hadde she. 
 
 Chaucer in R. 
 
 One God, one Mediator (that is to say, advo- 
 cate, intercessor, or an aiotie-maker) between 
 God and man. — Tyndall in R. 
 
 Lod. Is there division 'twixt my Lord and 
 
 Cassio ? 
 Des. A most unhappy one ; I would do much 
 T attone them for the love I bear to Cassio. 
 
 Othello. 
 
 The idea of reconciliation was expressed 
 in the same way in Fr. 
 
 II ot amis et anemis ; 
 Or sont-il tot a un mis. 
 
 Fab. et Contes. i. i8i. 
 
 OE. to one, to unite, to join in one. 
 
 David saith the rich folk that embraceden and 
 oneden all hir herte to treasour of this world shall 
 slepe in the sloping of deth. — Chaucer in R. 
 
 Put together and onyd, continuus ; put 
 together but not onyd, contiguus. — Pr. 
 Pm. 
 
 Precisely the converse of this expres- 
 sion is seen in G. entzweyen, to disunite, 
 sew dissension, from enzwey, in two ; 
 sich entzweyen, to quarrel, fall into vari- 
 ance. — KiJttn. 
 
 Atrocious. Lat. at7'ox, fierce, barbar- 
 ous, cruel. 
 
 To Attach. — Attack. These words, 
 though now distinct, are both derived 
 from the It. attaccare, to fasten, to hang. 
 Venet. tacare; Piedm. taM, to fasten. 
 Hence in Fr. the double form, attacker, 
 to tie, to fasten, to stick, to attach, and 
 attaquer, properly to fasten on, to begin 
 a quarrel. S'attacher is also used in the 
 same sense ; s' attacker d,, to coape, scuffle, 
 grapple, fight with.— Cotgr. It. attacare 
 
 un chiodo, to fasten a nail; la guer- 
 
 ra, to commence war ; la battaglia, 
 
 to engage in battle ; il fuoco, to set 
 
 on fire ; attaccarsi il fuoco, to catch fire ; 
 di parole, to quarrel. 
 
 To attack one, in legal language, is to 
 lay hold of one, to apprehend him under 
 a charge of criminality. 
 
 Attainder. — Attaint. Fr. attaindre 
 (OFr. attainder — Roquef.), to reach or 
 attain unto, hit or strike in reaching, to 
 overtake, bring to pass, also to attaint or 
 
ATTIRE 
 
 convict, also to accuse or charge with. — 
 Cotgr. The institution of a judicial ac- 
 cusation is compared to the pursuit of an 
 enemy ; the proceedings are called a suit, 
 Fr. poitrsiiite en jugement^ and the 
 agency of the plaintiff is expressed by 
 the verh prosequi, to pursue. In follow- 
 ing out the metaphor the conduct of the 
 suit to a successful issue in the convic- 
 tion of the accused is expressed by the 
 verb attingere, Fr. attaindre, which sig- 
 nifies the apprehension of the object of a 
 chase. f 
 
 Quem fugientem dictus Raimundus atinxit. 
 Hence the Fr. attainte d'une cause, the 
 gain of a suit ; attaindre le meffait, to fix 
 the charge of a crime upon one, to prove 
 a crime. — Carp, A tains du fet, convicted 
 of the fact, caught by it, having it brought 
 home to one. — Roquef. 
 
 Attire. OFr. atour, attour, a French 
 hood, also any kind of tire or attire for a 
 woman's head. Damoiselle d'atour, the 
 waiting- woman that uses to dress or attire 
 her mistress — Cotgr., — a tirewoman. 
 Attoure, tired, attired, dressed, trimmed, 
 adorned. Attourner, to attire, deck, 
 dress. Attourneur, one that waits in the 
 chamber to dress his master or his mis- 
 tress. 
 
 The original sense of attiring was that 
 of preparing or getting ready for a certain 
 purpose, from the notion of turning to- 
 wards it, by a similar train of thought to 
 that by which the sense of dress, clothing, 
 is derived from directing to a certain end, 
 preparing for it, clothing being the most 
 universally necessary of all preparations. 
 He attired him to battle with folc that he had. 
 
 R. Brunne in R.. 
 What does the king of France ? atires him good 
 navie.— Ibid. 
 
 _ The change from atour to attire is 
 singular, but we find them used with ap- 
 parent indifference. 
 
 By her at ire so bright and shene 
 Men might perceve well and sene 
 She was not of Religioun, 
 Nor n' il I make mencioun 
 Nor of robe, nor of tresour, 
 Of broche, neither of her rich attour. — R. R. 
 Riche atyr, noble vesture, 
 Bele robe ou riche pelure. — Polit. Songs. 
 
 OFr. atirer, attirer, atirier, ajuster, 
 convenir, accorder, orner, decorer, parer, 
 preparer, disposer, regler.— Roquefort. 
 
 I tyer an &g<g : je accoustre : I iyer 
 with garments: je habille and je ac- 
 coustre. — Palsgr. 
 
 Attitude. Posture of body. It. atto, 
 from Lat. agere^ actutn, act, action, pos- 
 
 AUGER 
 
 31 
 
 ture; It. attitudine, promptness, dis- 
 position to act, and also simply posture, 
 attitude. 
 
 Attorney. Mid. Lat. attornatus, one 
 put in the turn or place of another, one 
 appointed to execute an office on behalf 
 of another. 
 
 Li atorni est oil qui pardevant justice est 
 atornd pour aucun en Eschequier ou en Assise 
 pour poursuivre et pour defendre sa droiture. — 
 Jus Municipale Normannorum, in Due. 
 
 Auburn. Now applied to a rich red- 
 brown colour of hair, but originally it 
 probably designated what we now call 
 flaxen hair. The meaning of the word 
 is simply whitish. It. alburno, the white 
 or sapwood of timber, ' also that whitish 
 colour of women's hair called an abtirn- 
 colourJ—Y\. '[Cometa] splendoris al- 
 burni radium producens.' — Due. In the 
 Walser dialect of the Grisons, alb is used 
 in the sense of yellowish brown like the 
 colour of a brown sheep. — Biihler. 
 
 Auction. — Augment. Lat. augeo, 
 auctwn, Gr. av^w, Goth, aukan, as. eacan, 
 to increase, to eke. 
 
 Audacious. Lat. audax,-acis; audeo, 
 I dare. 
 
 Audience.— Audit. In the law lan- 
 guage of the middle ages audif-e was 
 specially applied to the solemn hearing 
 of a court of justice, whence audientia 
 was frequently used as synonymous with 
 judgment, court of justice, &c., and even 
 in the sense of suit at law. The Judge 
 was termed auditor, and the term was in 
 particular applied to persons commis- 
 sioned to inquire into any special matter. 
 The term was then applied to the notaries 
 or officers appointed to authenticate all 
 legal acts, to hear the desires of the 
 parties, and to take them down in writing ; 
 also to the parties witnessing a deed. 
 'Testes sunt hujus rei visores et audir 
 tores, &c. Hoc viderunt et audierunt 
 isti, &c.' — Due. 
 
 At the present day the term is confined 
 to the investigation of accounts, the ex- 
 amination and allowance of which is 
 termed the audit, the parties examining, 
 the aiiditors. 
 
 Auf. Auff, a fool or silly fellow.— B. 
 See Oaf. 
 
 Auger. An implement for drilling 
 holes, by turning round a centre which is 
 steadied against the pit of the stomach. 
 Formerly written natiger, Du. evegher, 
 nevegher. In cases like these, which are 
 very numerous in language, it is impos- 
 sible prima facie to say whether an n has 
 
32 
 
 AUGHT 
 
 been added in the one case or lost in the 
 other. In the present case the form with 
 an initial n is undoubtedly the original. 
 AS. naf-car^naf-bor. Taradros [a gimlet], 
 napit gc'rd. — Gloss. Cassel . The force of 
 the former element of the word is ex- 
 plained from the Finnish napa, a navel, 
 and hence, the middle of anything, centre 
 of a circle, axis of a wheeL In com- 
 position it signifies revolution, as from 
 7neren, the sea, ineren-napa^ a whirlpool ; 
 from rauta^ iron, napa-rmita, the iron 
 stem on which the upper millstone rests 
 and turns ; fnaan-napa, the axis of the 
 earth. With kaira, a borer, the equiva- 
 lent of AS. gar, it forms napa-kaira, 
 exactly corresponding to the common E. 
 name of the tool, a centre-bit, a piercer 
 acting by the revolution of the tool round 
 a fixed axis or centre. Lap. nape, navel, 
 centre, axle. 
 
 The other element of the word cor- 
 responding to the Fin. kaira, AS. gar, is 
 identical with the E. gore, in the sense of 
 being gored by a bull, i. e. pierced by his 
 horns. AS. gar, a javelin, gara, an an- 
 gular point of land. 
 
 Aught or Ought. Something; as 
 naught or nought, nothing. AS. d-iviht, 
 OHG. eo-wiht; modern G. ichtj from d, G. 
 aiv, ever, and wiht, Goth, waihts, a 
 thing. See Whit. 
 
 Augur.— Augury. See Auspice. 
 
 Aunt. Lat. o.mita. OFr. ante. Icilz 
 oncles avoit la soie ante espousee. — 
 Chron. Du Guesclin. 264. A similar con- 
 traction takes place in emmet, ant. 
 
 Auspice. — Auspicious. Lat. auspex 
 for avispex (as auceps, a bird-catcher, for 
 aviceps), a diviner by the observation of 
 (Lat. avis) birds. As the augur dxo.wYiVS, 
 divinations from the same source, the 
 element gur is probably the equivalent 
 of spex in auspex, and reminds us of OE. 
 gaure, to observe, to stare. 
 
 Austere. Lat. austerus, from Gr. 
 auaTTjpoQ, harsh, severe, rough. 
 
 Authentic. Gr, avQkvmQ, one who 
 acts or owns in his own right (der; from 
 avrbg, and 'itaBai, mittere), avOevriKog, 
 backed by sufficient authority. 
 
 Author. Lat. auctor {augco, auctum, 
 to increase), a contriver, originator, 
 maker; auctoritas, the right of the 
 maker over the thing made, jurisdiction, 
 power. 
 
 Automaton. Gr. avrofxaTOQ, self- 
 moving, self-acting ; avTcg, self, and fxdu) 
 fidonat, I Stir myself, am stirred. 
 
 Autumn. Lat. autumnus. Some- 
 times written auctumnus^ as if from 
 
 AVER 
 
 auctum, increase; the time when the 
 increase of the earth is gathered in. 
 
 Auxiliary. Lat. auxilium, help. See 
 Auction. 
 
 To Avail. I. To be of service. Fr. 
 valoir, to be worth ; Lat. valere, to be 
 well in health, to be able, to be worth. 
 
 2. To Avail or Avale, to lower. To 
 vail his flag, to lower his flag. Fr. d 
 val, downwards ; d ?nont et d val, towards 
 the hill and towards the vale, upwards 
 and downwards. Hence avaler, properly 
 to let (^own, to lower, now used in the 
 sense of swallowing. 
 
 Avalanche. A fall of snow sliding 
 down from higher ground in the Alps. 
 Mid. Lat. avalantia, a slope, declivity, 
 descent, from Fr. avaler, to let down. — 
 Carp. 
 
 Avarice. Lat. avarus, covetous ; 
 aveo, to desire, to rejoice. 
 
 Avast. A nautical expression for hold, 
 stop, stay. Avast talking/ cease talk- 
 ing ! Old Cant, a waste, away ; bifig a 
 waste, go you hence. — Rogue's Diet, in 
 modern slang. Probably waste has here 
 the sense of empty ; go into empty space, 
 avoid thee. Ifi wast, in vain. — W. and 
 the Werewolf. 
 
 They left thair awin schip standand waist. 
 Squyer Meldrum, 1. 773. 
 
 Avaunt. Begone ! Fr. avant, before ; 
 en avant ! forwards ! 
 
 Avenue. Fr. advenue, avenue, an 
 access, passage, or entry unto a place. — 
 Cot. Applied in E, to the double row of 
 trees by which the approach to a house 
 of distinction was formerly marked. Lat. 
 venire, to come. 
 
 To Aver. Lat. veriis, true ; Fr. averer, 
 to maintain as true. 
 
 Aver. A beast of the plough. The Fr. 
 avoir (from habere, to have), as well as 
 Sp. haber, was used in the sense of goods, 
 possessions, money. This in Mid. Lat. 
 became avera, or averia. 
 
 Taxata pactione quod salvis corporibns suis 
 et averts et equis et armis cum pace recederent. 
 — Chart. A. D. 1166. In istum sanctum locum, 
 venimus cum Averos nostras. — Chart. Hisp. 
 A. D. 819. Et in toto quantum Rex Adelfonsus 
 tenet de rege Navarrse melioret cum suo proprio 
 avere, quantum voluerit et poterit. — Hoveden, 
 in Due. 
 
 Averii, or Averia, was then applied 
 to cattle in general, as the principal pos- 
 session in early times. 
 
 Hoc placitum dilationem non recipit propter 
 averia, i. e. animalia muta, ne diu detineantur 
 inclusa. — Regiam Majestatem. Si come jeo 
 bayle a un home mes berbits a campester, ou 
 
AVERAGE 
 
 mes boeufs k arer la terre et il occist mes avers. 
 — Littleton. 
 
 We then have averia carruccs, beasts 
 of the plough ; and the word avers finally 
 came to be confined to the signification 
 of cart-horses. 
 
 * Average, i. Average is Qx^X^meA a.?, 
 duty work done for the Lord of the manor 
 with the avers or draught cattle of the 
 tenants. Sciendum est quod ununiquod- 
 que averagium sestivale debet fieri inter 
 Hokday et gulam Augusti.— Spelman in 
 Due. But probably the reference to the 
 avers of the tenant may be a mistaken 
 accommodation. From Dan. hof., court, 
 are formed hovgaard, the manor to which 
 a tenant belongs ; hovarbeide or hoveri, 
 duty work to which the tenant was bound ; 
 hovdag, duty days on which he was 
 bound to service for the Lord, &c. Money 
 paid in lieu of this duty work is called 
 hoveri penge, corresponding to the aver- 
 penny of our old records. ' A ver-penny, hoc 
 est quietum esse de diversis denariis pro 
 averagio Domini Regis.' — Rastal in Due. 
 2. In the second place average is used 
 in the sense of ' a contribution made by 
 all the parties in a sea-adventure accord- 
 ing to the interest of each to make good 
 a specific loss incurred for the benefit of 
 all.' — Worcester. To average a loss 
 among shippers of merchandise is to 
 distribute it among them according to 
 their interest, and from this mercantile 
 sense of the term it has come in ordinary 
 language to signify a mean value. In 
 seeking the derivation of average^ with 
 its continental representatives, Fr. avaris, 
 avarie, It., Sp. avaria, Du. haverie, 
 averie, G. haferey, haverey, averey, the 
 first question will be whether we are to 
 look for its origin to the shores of the 
 Baltic or the Mediterranean. Now ac- 
 cording to Mr Marsh the word does not 
 occur in any of the old Scandinavian or 
 Teutonic sea-codes, even in the chapters 
 containing provisions for apportioning 
 the loss by throwing goods overboard. 
 On the other hand, it is of very old stand- 
 ing in the Mediterranean, occurring in 
 the Assises de Jerusalem, cxlv, Assises 
 de la Baisse Court. 'Et sachies que 
 celui aver qui est gete ne doit estre conte 
 fors tant com il cousta o toutes ses 
 averies:' and know that any goods that 
 are thrown overboard shall only be 
 reckoned at what it cost wtt/i all charges. 
 The old Venetian version gives as the 
 equivalent of avaries, dazii e spese. The 
 derivation from ON. haf, the sea, or from 
 haven^ must then be given up. 
 
 AVOID 
 
 33 
 
 The general meaning of the word is 
 damage by accident or incidental ex- 
 penses incurred by ship or cargo during 
 the voyage. Fr. grosses avaries, loss by 
 tempest, shipwreck, capture, or ransom ; 
 menues avaries, expenses incurred on 
 entering or leaving port, harbour duties, 
 tonnage, pilotage, &:c. In a secondary 
 sense avarie is applied to the waste or 
 leakage of goods in keeping, the wear and 
 tear of a machine, &c. — Gattel. S'ava- 
 rier, to suffer avarie, to become dam- 
 aged. In the Consulado del Mar of the 
 middle of the 13th century the notary is 
 authorized to take pledges from every 
 shipper for the value of ' lo nolit e les 
 avaries : ' the freight and charges. Marsh 
 gives other instances in Spanish and 
 Catalonian where the word is used in the 
 sense of government duties and charges. 
 ' Lo receptor de les haueries de les com- 
 positions que fa la Regia Cort, y lo re- 
 ceptor dels salaris dels Doctors de la 
 Real Audiencia,' &c. — Drets de Cata- 
 lunya,A. D. 1584. In the Genoese annals 
 of the year 141 3, quoted by Muratori, it 
 is said that the Guelphs enjoyed the 
 honours and benefices of the city, ' se- 
 cundum ipsorum numerum, et illud quod 
 in publicis solutionibus, quae Averice 
 dicuntur, expendunt.' 
 
 Marsh is inclined to agree with Santa 
 Rosa in deriving the word from the 
 Turkish avania, properly signifying aid, 
 help, but used in the sense of a govern- 
 ment exaction, a very frequent word in 
 the Levant. The real origin however is 
 Arab, "dwar, a defect or flaw, which is 
 the technical term corresponding to Fr. 
 avarie. Kazomirski renders it 'vice, 
 defaut,' and adds an example of its use 
 as applied to ' marchandise qui a des 
 defauts.' The primary meaning of the 
 word would thus be that which is under- 
 stood by grosses avaries, charges for ac- 
 cidental damage, from whence it might 
 easily pass to other charges. 
 
 To Avoid. Properly to make void or 
 empty, to make of none effect. To avoid 
 a contract, to make it void, and hence to 
 escape from the consequences of it. To 
 confess and avoid, in legal phrase, was to 
 admit some fact alleged by the adversary, 
 and then to make it of none effect by 
 showing that it does not bear upon the 
 case. 
 
 Tell me your fayth, doe you beleeve that there 
 is a living God that is mighty to punish his 
 enemies ? If you beleeve it, say unto me, can 
 you devise for to avoyde hys vengeance ? — Barnes 
 in R. 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 AVOIR-DU-POISE 
 
 Here the word may be interpreted 
 either way : Can you devise to make void 
 his vengeance, or to escape his vengeance, 
 showing clearly the transition to the 
 modern meaning. So in the following 
 passage from Milton : — 
 
 Not diffident of thee do I dissuade 
 Thy absence from my sight, but to avoid 
 The attempt itself intended by our foe. 
 To avoid was also used as Fr. vuider, 
 vider la maison, Piedm. voidd na cd, to 
 clear out from a house, to make it empty, 
 to quit, to keep away from a place. 
 
 Anno H. VII. it was enacted that all Scots 
 dwelling within England and Wales should avoid 
 the realm within 40 days of proclamation made. 
 •— Rastal, in R. 
 
 It is singular that we should thus wit- 
 ness the development within the E. lan- 
 guage of a word agreeing so closely in 
 sound and meaning with Lat. evitare, 
 Fr. dviter ; but in cases of this kind it 
 will, I believe, often be found that the 
 Latin word only exhibits a previous ex- 
 ample of the same line of development 
 from one original root. I cannot but 
 believe that the radical meaning of Lat. 
 vitare is to give a wide berth to, to leave 
 an empty space between oneself and the 
 object. Fr. vuide, vide, empty, waste, 
 vast, wide, free from, not cumbered or 
 troubled with. — Cotgr. To shoot wide of 
 the mark is to miss, to avoid the mark ; 
 OHG. wit, empty ; witi, vacuitas. — Graff. 
 
 Avoir-du-poise. The ordinary mea- 
 sure of weight. OFr. avoirs de pois, 
 goods that sell by weight and not by 
 measurement. ^ 
 
 To Avow. — Avouch. Under the 
 feudal system, when the right of a tenant 
 was impugned he had to call upon his 
 lord to come forwards and defend his 
 right. This in the Latin of the time was 
 called advocare, Fr. voucher d garantie, 
 to vouch or call to warrant. Then as 
 the calling on an individual as lord of 
 the fee to defend the right of the tenant 
 involved the admission of all the duties 
 implied in feudal tenancy, it was an act 
 jealously looked after by the lords, and 
 advocare, or the equivalent Fr. avouer, 
 to avow, came to signify the admission 
 by a tenant of a certain person as feudal 
 superior. 
 
 Nihil ab eo se tenere in feodo aut quoquo 
 modo alio advocabat. — Chron. A. D. 1296. Ita 
 tamen quod dictus Episcopus et successores sui 
 nos et successores nostros Comites Flandriae qui 
 pro tempore fuerint, si indiguerint auxilio, advo- 
 cabit, nee alium dominum secularem poterunt 
 advocare. — Charta A. D. 1250. Donee advocatus 
 fuerit ut burgensis noster. — Stat. Louis le Hutin. 
 
 AWARD 
 
 1315. — ^until he shall be acknowledged as our 
 burgess. Recognoscendo seu profitendo ab illis 
 ea tanquam a superioribus se tenere seu ab ipsis 
 eadem advocando, prout in quibusdam partibus 
 Gallicanis vulgariter dicitur advouer. — Concil. 
 Lugdun. A. D. 1274. A personis laicis tanquam 
 k superioribus ea quae ab Ecclesia tenent advou- 
 antesse tenere. — A. D. 1315, in Due. 
 
 Finally, with some grammatical con- 
 fusion, Lat. advocare, and E. avow or 
 avouch, came to be used in the sense of 
 performing the part of the vouchee or 
 person called on to defend the right im- 
 pugned. Et predicti Vice-comites advo- 
 cant (maintain) praedictum attachion- 
 amentum justum, eo quod, &c. — Lib. 
 Alb. 406. To avow, to justify a thing 
 already done, to maintain or justify, to 
 affirm resolutely or boldly, to assert. — 
 Bailey. 
 
 1 could 
 
 With barefaced power sweep him from my sight, 
 And bid my will avouch it. — Macbeth. 
 
 Avowtery, Avowterer. The very 
 common change of d into v converted 
 Lat. adulterium into It. avolterio, avol- 
 teria, avoltero. Hence avolteratore, 
 Prov. avoutrador, OE. avowterer, an 
 adulterer. A d was sometimes inserted ; 
 OFr. avoultre, advoultre, avotre, OE. 
 advoutry, adultery. 
 
 Award. The primitive sense of ward 
 is shown in the It. guardare, Fr. re- 
 garder, to look. Hence Rouchi es- 
 warder (answering in form to E. award) ^ 
 to inspect goods, and, incidentally, to 
 pronounce them good and marketable ; 
 eswardeur, an inspector. — Hecart, 
 
 An award is accordingly in the first 
 place the taking a matter into considera- 
 tion and pronouncing judgment upon it, 
 but in later times the designation has 
 been transferred exclusively to the con- 
 sequent judgment. 
 
 In like manner in OE. the verb to look 
 is very often found in the sense of con- 
 sideration, deliberation, determination, 
 award, decision. When William Rufus 
 was in difficulties with his brother Robert, 
 about the partition of the Conqueror's 
 inheritance, he determined to go to the 
 King of France to submit the matter to 
 his award. He says (in Peter Langtoft, 
 p. 86) : 
 
 Therfore am I comen to wite at yow our heued 
 The londes that we have nomen to whom they 
 
 shall be leued, 
 And at your jugement I will stand and do 
 With thi that it be ent (ended) the strif bituen us 
 
 tuo. 
 Philip said, blithely, and sent his messengers 
 Tille Inglond to the clergy, erles, barons, therpers, 
 And askid if thei wild stand to ther lokyng. 
 
AWE 
 
 — where looking is used exactly in the 
 sense of the modern award. 
 
 These senses of look are well exempli- 
 fied in a passage from R. G- p. 567. 
 
 To chese six wise men hii lokede there 
 
 Three bishops and three barons the wisest that 
 
 there were — 
 And bot hii might accordi, that hii the legate 
 
 took, 
 And Sir Henry of Almaine right and law to look — 
 Tho let tho king someni age the Tiwesday 
 Next before All Hallow tide as his council bisai, 
 Bishops and Abbots and Priors thereto, 
 Erles and Barons and Knightes also, 
 That hii were at Northampton to hear and at 
 
 stonde 
 To the loking of these twelve of the state of the 
 
 londe. 
 
 —to the award or determination of these 
 twelve. 
 
 There it was dispeopled the edict I wis 
 
 That was the ban of Keningworth, that was lo ! 
 
 this ; 
 That there ne should of high men desherited be 
 
 none 
 That had iholde age the King but the Erl of 
 
 Leicetre one ; 
 Ac that all the othere had agen all hor lond. 
 Other hor heirs that dede were, but that the King 
 
 in his hand 
 It hulde to an term that there iloked was, 
 Five year some and some four, ever up his 
 
 trespas. 
 
 Chatel forfait par agard des viscountes. — Lib. 
 Albus. I. 119. Si fut a^a:raf/qe Willame, &c. — 
 lb. no. 
 
 Conseillez mei, si esgardez 
 
 Qu' en serreit al regne honorable, 
 
 Benoit. Chron. Norm. 6135. 
 
 Awe. Fear, dread, reverence ; then 
 transferred to the cause of fear, assuming 
 the signification of anger, discipline, chas- 
 tisement. 
 
 But her fiers servant (Una's Lion) full of kingly aw 
 And high disdaine, whenas his soveraine dame 
 So rudely handled by her foe he saw, 
 With gaping jaws full gredy at him came. 
 
 AS. ege^ oga^ egisa, Goth, agls, fear, 
 dread, ogan, to fear, ogfan, to threaten, 
 terrify, ON. agi, discipline, cegzr, terrible ; 
 agta, to be an object of wonder or fear ; 
 Tner cegir, I am amazed, I am terrified ; 
 ogn, terror ; Sw. dial, aga, fear ; agasam, 
 frightful, awsome ; Dan. ave, chastise- 
 ment, correction, awe, fear, discipline. 
 At staae under eens ave, to stand in awe 
 of one ; at holde i straeng ave, to keep a 
 strict hand over. Gr. ayj/, wonder, ayao- 
 {tat, dyaZofiai, to wonder at, to be angry. 
 Awgrim. Decimal arithmetic. 
 
 Then satte sum me 
 
 As siphre doth in awgrym. 
 
 That notith a place 
 
 And no thing availith. 
 Political Poems, Cam. See. p. 414. 
 
 AWK 
 
 35 
 
 I reken, I counte by cyfers of agrym : je en- 
 chiffre. I shall reken it syxe tymes by aulgorisme, 
 or you can cast it ones by counters. — Palsgr. 
 Sp. alguarismo, from Al Khowdrezmt, 
 the surname of the Arabian algebrist, the 
 translation of whose work was the means 
 of introducing the decimal notation into 
 Europe in the 12th century. 
 
 Awhape. To dismay ; properly, to 
 take away the breath with astonishment, 
 to stand in breathless astonishment. 
 
 Ah my dear gossip, answered then the ape, 
 
 Deeply do your sad words my wits awhape. 
 Mother Hubbard's tale in Boucher. 
 
 W. chwaff, a gust ; Lith. kwapas, 
 breath ; Goth, afhvapjan, ON. kefia, to 
 choke, to suffocate ; Goth, afhvaptian, 
 ON. kafna, to be choked ; Sw. qicaf, 
 choking, oppressive. 
 
 Awk.— Awkward. Pei-verted, per- 
 verse, indirect, left-handed, unskilful. To 
 ring the bells awk is to ring them back- 
 wards. 
 
 They with awkward judgment put the chief 
 point of godliness in outward things, as in the 
 choice of meats, and neglect those things that 
 be of the soul.— Udal in R. 
 
 That which we in Greek call dpia-Tspov, that 
 is to say, on the awk or left hand, they say in 
 Latin sinistrum.— Holland, Pliny in R. 
 
 The word seems formed from ON. a/, 
 Lat. ad, E. q^, of, signifying deviation, 
 error, the final k being an adjectival 
 termination. Thus, ON. af-gata, iter de- 
 vium, divortium ; af-krokr, diverticulum, 
 a side way ; ofugr, inversus, sinister ; 
 ofug-fieiri, a flat-fish with eyes on the 
 left side ; ofug-nefni, a name given from 
 antiphrasis ; ofug-or-d, verbum obliciuum, 
 impertinens, offensum ; bfga, to change, 
 degenerate. Sw. afwig, inside out, averse, 
 disinclined, awkward, unskilful ; afwig- 
 hand, the back of the hand. Dan. avet, 
 crooked, preposterous, perverse. 
 
 G. ab in composition indicates the con- 
 trary or negation ; abgrund, abyss, bot- 
 tomless pit ; abgott, false god ; abhold, 
 unkind ; ablernen, to unlearn ; aber- 
 glaube, false belief; aber-papst, aber- 
 konig, false pope, false king. In aben, 
 inside out.— Schmeller. In Flemish we 
 see the passage towards the u or w of 
 awk ; aue saghe, absurda narratio, sermo 
 absonus ; aue gaen, aue hanghen, &c. ; 
 auer gheloove, perverted belief, supersti- 
 tion ; auer-hands, ouer-hands (as Sw. 
 afwig-hand), manu aversa, praepostera ; 
 aver-recht, over-recht, contrarius recto, 
 prjEposterus, sinister ; auwiis, auer-wiis, 
 foolish, mad. 
 
 The different G. forms are very numer- 
 ous ; OHG. abuh, «<5^/«,aversus.perversus, 
 3 * 
 
36 
 
 AWL 
 
 sinister ; G. dial, abich^ abech, dbicJit, 
 abechig^ cewech, aivechi {alles thut er 
 aivechi, he does ever)1:hing awkly), affig, 
 affik, aft^ aftik^ and again absch, dpisch^ 
 epsch^ verkchrt, linkisch, link, and in 
 Netherlandish, aves^ ae/s, obliquus ; 
 aafsch^ ae/sch, aafscJielyk^ aversus, pre- 
 posterus, contrarius. — Kil. 
 
 Awl. ON. air ; G. ahle, OHG. alansa, 
 alasudj Du. else, Fr. alesne, It. lesina. 
 
 Awn. A scale or husk of anything, 
 the beard of corn. ON. ogn^ agnir, chaff, 
 straw, mote ; Dan. avnej Gr. axva, 
 Esthon. aggan, chaff. 
 
 * Awning'. Awning (sea term), a sail 
 or tarpawlin hung over any part of a ship. 
 Traced by the Rev. J. Davies to the 
 PI. D. havemmg, from haven, a place 
 where one is sheltered from wind and 
 rain, shelter, as in the lee of a building 
 or bush. But it should be observed that 
 havenung is not used in the sense of 
 awning, and it is more probable that it 
 is identical with Fr. aiivent, Mid. Lat. 
 auvajina, a penthouse of cloth before a 
 shop-window, &c. — Cot. 
 
 Axe. AS. acase, ear, Goth, aquizi, 
 MHG. aches, G. dckes, ax, axt, ON. oxi, 
 Gr. a^ivi], Lat. ascia for acsia. 
 
 Axiom. Gr. d^iwfia, a proposition, 
 maxim, from a^iow, to consider worthy, 
 to postulate. 
 
 Axle. Lat. axis, Gr. dKu)v, the centre 
 on which a wheel turns or drives. Gr. 
 dyot, Lat. ago, to urge forwards. 
 
 Aye is used in two senses : 
 
 1. Ever, always, as in the expression 
 for ever and aye ; arid 
 
 2. As an affirmative particle, synon- 
 ymous with j/ea and yes. 
 
 BABE 
 
 The primitive image seems to consist 
 in the notion of continuance, duration, 
 expressed in Goth, by the root aiv. Aivs, 
 time, age, the world ; us-aivjan, to out- 
 last ; du aiva in aivin, for ever ; ni i7t 
 aiva, niaiv, never. Lat. cevum, ce-tas; 
 Gr. out, ate, always ; aiiiiv, an age. OHG. 
 io, io; G.j'e, ever, always ; AS. dva, a; 
 OS wed. ^, all, ever. 
 
 The passage from the notion of con- 
 tinuance, endurance, to that of assevera- 
 tion, may be exemplified by the use of 
 the G. Je, ja; je und je, for ever and 
 ever ; vonje her, from all time ; wer hat 
 es je gesehen, who has ever seen it. Das 
 istje wahr, that is certainly true ; es ist 
 je nicht recht, it is certainly not right ; 
 es kann ja einen irren, every one may 
 be mistaken ; thut es doch ja nicht, by 
 no means do it. In the same way the 
 Italian ^'^ry «<?;/ ^/<z, certainly not. From 
 this use of the word to imply the un- 
 broken and universal application of a 
 proposition, it became adopted to stand 
 by itself as an affirmative answer, equiv- 
 alent to, certainly, even so, just so. In 
 like manner the Lat. etiam had the force 
 of certainly, yes indeed, yes. 
 
 Iji Frisian, as in English, are two 
 forms, ae, like aye, coming nearer to the 
 original root aiv, and ea, corresponding 
 to Q,. je, ja, AS. gea, E. yea. In yes we 
 have the remains of an affix, se or si, 
 which in AS. was also added to the 
 negative, giving nese, no, as well as jese^ 
 yes. 
 
 Azure. It. azzurro, azzuolo ;_ Sp. 
 Port. azul. From Pers. lazur, whence 
 lapis lazuli, the sapphire of the ancients. 
 — Diez. 
 
 B 
 
 To Babble. Fr. babiller, Du. babelen, 
 bebelen, confundere verba, blaterare, gar- 
 rire ; Gr. (3a(3dZttv. — Kil. From the syl- 
 lables ba, ba, representing the movement 
 of the lips, with the element el or / repre- 
 senting continuation or action. Fris. 
 bdbeln or bobble is when children make a 
 noise with their lips by sounding the 
 voice and jerking down the underlip with 
 the finger. — Outzen. The Tower of Babel 
 was the tower of babblement^ of confused 
 speech. 
 
 On the same principle a verb of the 
 same meaning with babble was formed on 
 the syllable 7na. 
 
 And sat softly adown 
 
 And seid my byleve 
 
 And so I bablede on my bedes, 
 
 They broughte me aslepe — 
 
 On this matere I might 
 
 Mamelen full long. — P. P. 
 
 See Baboon. 
 
 Babe. The simplest articulations, and 
 those which are readiest caught by the 
 infant mouth, are the syllables formed by 
 the vowel a with the primary consonants 
 of the labial and dental classes, especially 
 the former ; ma, ba, pa, na, da, ta. Out 
 of these, therefore, is very generally 
 formed the limited vocabulary required 
 at the earliest period of infant life, com- 
 
BABOON 
 
 prising the names for father, mother, in- 
 fant, breast, food. Thus in the nursery- 
 language of the Norman Enghsh papa, 
 mamma, baba, are the father, mother, 
 and infant respectively, the two latter of 
 which pass into inai7tmy and babby, baby, 
 babe, while the last, with a nasal, forms 
 the It. bambino. 
 
 In Saxon English father is dada, daddy, 
 dad, answering to the Goth, atta, as papa 
 to Hebrew abba. 
 
 Lat. mamma is applied to the breast, 
 the name of which, in E. pap, Lat. pa- 
 pilla, agrees with the name for father. 
 Papa was in Latin the word with which 
 infants demanded food, whence Y.. pap. 
 
 Baboon. The syllables ba, pa, natur- 
 ally uttered in the opening of the lips, are 
 used to signify as well the motion of the 
 lips in talking or otherwise, as the lips 
 themselves, especially large or movable 
 lips, the lips of a beast. Thus we have 
 G. dial, babbeln, babbern, bappern (San- 
 ders), bdberlen (Schmidt), to babble, talk 
 much or imperfectly ; E. baberlipped, 
 having large lips ; G. dial, bappe, Fris. 
 bdbbe, Mantuan babbi, babbio, the chops, 
 mouth, snout, lips ; Fr. baboyer, babiner, 
 to move or play with the lips, babine, the 
 lip of a beast ; babion, baboin, It. bab~ 
 buino, a baboon, an animal with large 
 ugly lips when compared with those of a 
 man. 
 
 Bachelor. Apparently from a Celtic 
 root. w. bachgen, a boy, bachgettes, a 
 young girl, baches, a little darling, bach- 
 igyn, a very little thing, from bach, little. 
 From the foregoing we pass to the Fr. 
 bacelle, bacelote, bachele, bachelette, a. young 
 girl, servant, apprentice ; baceller, to 
 make love, to serve as apprentice, to 
 commence a study ; bacelerie, youth ; 
 bachelage, apprenticeship, art and study 
 of chivalry. Hence by a secondary form- 
 ation bacheler, bachelard, bachelier, young 
 man, aspirant to knighthood, apprentice 
 to arms or sciences. A bachelor of arts 
 is a young man admitted to the degree of 
 apprentice or student of arts, but not yet 
 a master. In ordinary E. it has come to 
 signify an unmarried man. Prov. bacalar, 
 bachallier, was used of the young student, 
 young soldier, young unmarried man. 
 Then, as in the case of many other words 
 signifying boy or youth, it is applied to a 
 servant or one in a subordinate condition. 
 Vos e mi'n fesetz per totz lauzar, 
 Vos com senher e mi com bacalar : 
 — you and I made ourselves praised among all, 
 you as Lord, and I as servant or squire. 
 
 The functions of a knight were com- 
 
 BACKET 
 
 37 
 
 plete when he rode at the head of his re- 
 tainers assembled under his banner, 
 which was expressed by the term ' lever 
 banni^re.' So long as he was unable to 
 take this step, either from insufficient age 
 or poverty, he would be considered only 
 as an apprentice in chivalry, and was 
 called a knight bachelor, just as the outer 
 barrister was only an apprentice at the 
 law, whatever his age might be. The 
 baccalarii of the south of France and north 
 of Spain seem quite unconnected. They 
 were the tenants of a larger kind of farm, 
 called baccalaria, were reckoned as rus- 
 tici, and were bound to certain duty work 
 for their lord. There is no appearance 
 in the passages cited of their having had 
 any military character whatever. One 
 would suspect that the word might be of 
 Basque origin. 
 
 Back, 1. ON. bakj Lith. pakoM. The 
 part of the body opposite to the face, 
 turned away from the face. The root 
 seems preserved in Bohem. paditi, to 
 twist ; Yo\. paczyd se, to warp (of wood), 
 to bend out of shape ; wspak, wrong, 
 backwards, inside outwards ; pakosd, 
 malice, spite, perversity ; opak,\}(\Q wrong 
 way, awry, cross ; opaczny, wr^ong, per- 
 verted ; Russ. opako, naopaki^, wrong ; 
 Paki in composition, equivalent to Lat. 
 re, again ; paki-buitie, regeneration. So 
 in E. to give a thing back is to give it 
 again, to give it in the opposite direction 
 to that in which it was formerly given, 
 and with us too the word is frequently 
 used in the moral sense of perverted, 
 bad. A back-friend i'i a perverted friend, 
 one who does injury under the cover of 
 friendship ; to back-slide, to slide out of 
 the right path, to fall into error; ON. 
 bak-radudur, ill-counselled ; Esthon. 
 pahha-pool, the back side, wrong side ; 
 pahha, bad, ill-disposed ; Fin. Lap. paha, 
 bad ; OHG. abah, abuh, apah, apuh, aver- 
 sus, perversus, sinister; ^^^/^^«, aversari, 
 abominari ; Goth, ibuks, backwards. 
 
 Back, 2. A second meaning of Back 
 is a brewer's vat, or large open tub for 
 containing beer. The word is widely 
 spread in the sense of a wide open vessel. 
 Bret, bac, a boat ; Pr. bac, a flat wide 
 ferry boat ; Du. back, a trough, bowl, 
 manger, cistern, basin of a fountain, flat- 
 bottomed boat, body of a wagon, pit at 
 the theatre ; Dan. bakke, a tray. Of this 
 the It. bacino is the diminutive, whence 
 E. basin, bason; It. bacinetto, a bacinet, 
 or bason-shaped helmet. 
 
 Backet. In the N. of E. a coal-hod, 
 from back, in the sense of a wide open 
 
38 
 
 BACKGAMMON 
 
 Vessel ; Rouchi, bac ct carbon.— Y{iQ.2iXi. 
 The Fr. baquet is a tub or pail. 
 
 Backgammon. From Dan. bakke 
 (also bakke-bord)^ a tray, and gammen^ a 
 game, may doubtless be explained the 
 game of Back-gammon^ which is con- 
 spicuously a tray-game^ a game played 
 on a tray-shaped board, although the 
 word does not actually appear in the Dan. 
 dictionaries. It is exceedingly likely to 
 have come down to us from our Northern 
 ancestors, who devoted much of their 
 long winter evenings to games of tables. 
 
 To make or leave a blot at Backgam- 
 mon is to uncover one of your men, to 
 leave it liable to be taken, an expression 
 not explicable by the E. sense of the word 
 blot. But the Sw. blott, Dan. blot, is 
 naked, exposed ; blotte sig, to expose 
 oneself ; Sw. gbra blott, at Backgammon, 
 to make an exposed point, to make a blot. 
 Bacon. OFr. bacon; bacquier,2L sty- 
 fed hog ; ODu. baecke, backe, a pig ; 
 baecken-vleesch, baeck-vleesch, pork, ba- 
 con. The term seems properly to have 
 been applied to a fatted hog and his flesh 
 cured for keeping, ' porcus saginatus, 
 ustulatus et salitus, et petaso aut perna.' 
 — Due. in V. Baco. The word may ac- 
 cordingly be derived from Bret, paska, 
 to feed, w. pasg, feeding or fattening, 
 pasg-dwrch, pasg-hwch, a fatted hog. 
 The s is lost in Fr. pacage, pasture or 
 feeding-ground, Mid.Lat. pacata, paga- 
 gium, pagnagmin (Carp.), pannage or 
 pawnage, duty paid for feeding animals, 
 especially hogs, in the Lord's forests. 
 
 On the other hand, there is a suspici- 
 ous resemblance to Du. baggele, bigge, 
 Ptg. bacoro, a young pig, Piedm. biga, a 
 sow. 
 
 Bad. G. b'dse, Du. boos, malus, pravus, 
 perversus, malignus. Pers. b2id, bad. 
 Unconnected, I believe, with Goth. 
 bauths, tasteless, insipid. 
 
 Badge. A distinctive mark of office 
 or service worn conspicuously on the 
 dress, often the coat of arms of the prin- 
 cipal under whom the person wearing the 
 badge is placed. Du. busse, stadt-wapen, 
 spinther, monile quod in humeris tabel- 
 larii et caduceatores ferunt. — Kil. Bage 
 or bagge of armys — banidium. — Pr. Pm. 
 Perhaps the earliest introduction of a 
 badge would be the red cross sewed on 
 their shoulders by the crusaders as a 
 token of their calling. 
 
 But on his breast a bloody cross he wore, 
 The dear resemblance of his absent Lord, 
 For whose sweet sake that glorious badge he 
 wore. — F. Q. 
 
 BADGER 
 
 Crucem assumere dicebantur (says Ducange) 
 qui ad sacra bella profecturi Crucis symbolum 
 palliis suis assuebant et affigebant in signum 
 votivae illius expeditionis. — Franci audientes talia 
 eloquia protinus in dextra fecere Cruces suere 
 scapula. 
 
 The sign of the cross, then, was in 
 the first instance, ' assumentum,' a patch, 
 botch, or bodge ; boetsen, interpolare, 
 ornare, ang. botche, bodge. — Kil. G. batz^ 
 batze, botzen, a dab or lump of something 
 soft, a coarse patch — Sanders; Bav. 
 patschen, to strike with something flat, as 
 the hand, to dabble or paddle in the wet. 
 G. batzen, to dabble, to patch. — Sanders. 
 The radical notion of patch, badge, will 
 thus be something fastened on, as a dab 
 of mud thrown against a wall and stick- 
 ing there. Hence we find badged used 
 by Shakespeare in the sense of dabbled. 
 
 Their hands and faces were all badged with 
 blood. — Macbeth. 
 
 The Sc. form baugie, however, does not 
 well agree with the foregoing deriva- 
 tion. 
 
 His schinyng scheild with his baugie (insigne) 
 tuke he. — D. V. 50. 13. 
 
 Badger. This word is used in two 
 senses, apparently distinct, viz. in that of 
 a corn-dealer, or carrier, one who bought 
 up com in the market for the purpose of 
 selling it in other places ; and secondly, 
 as the name of the quadruped so called. 
 Now we have Fr. bladier, a corn-dealer 
 (marchand de grain qui approvisionne 
 les marches k dos de mulets — Hdcart), 
 the diminutive of which (according to the 
 analogy of bledier, blaier, belonging to 
 corn, blairie, terre de blairie, corn coun- 
 try) would be blaireau, the actual desig- 
 nation of the quadruped badger in the 
 same language, which would thus signify 
 a little corn-dealer, in allusion doubtless 
 to some of the habits of that animal, with 
 which the spread of cultivation has made 
 us little familiar. 
 
 But further, there can be little doubt 
 that E. badger, whether in the sense of a 
 corn-dealer or of the quadruped, is di- 
 rectly descended from the Fr. bladier, 
 the corrupt pronunciation of which, in 
 analogy with soldier, solger, sodger, 
 would be bladger J and though the 
 omission of the / in such a case is a 
 somewhat unfamiliar change, yet many 
 instances may be given of synonyms 
 differing only in the preservation (or in- 
 sertion as the case may be) or omission 
 of an / after an initial b or p. Thus Du. 
 baffe7i and blaffen, to bark ; paveien and 
 plaveien, to pave ; pattijn and piattijn, a 
 
BAFFLE 
 
 skait or patten ; butse and blutse, a bruise, 
 boil ; E. botch^ or blotch; baber-Hpped, 
 and blabber-lipped, having large ungainly 
 lips ; fagged, tired, {romjlagged, Fr. bette 
 and blette, beets ; Berri, batte de pluie, a 
 pelting shower of rain, Sc. a bladd' weet ; 
 Rouchi, basser, Fr. blasser, to foment. 
 
 To Baffle, 1. To baffle, to foil or 
 render ineffectual the efforts of another, 
 must be distinguished from Fr. bafouer, 
 OE, bafful, to treat ignominiously. Baffle, 
 in the former sense, is one of a series of 
 similar forms, baffle, faffle, haffle, inaffle, 
 J'amble, signifying in the first instance 
 imperfect speaking, stammering, then 
 imperfect action of other kinds, trifling, 
 doing something without settled purpose 
 or decisive effect. We may qSx.q, faffle, 
 to stutter, stammer, to fumble, saunter, 
 trifle ; haffle, to stammer, falter ; maffle, 
 to stammer, to mumble ; the term seems 
 to be applied to any action suffering from 
 impediments. — Hal. To baffle, to speak 
 thick and inarticulately, to handle clum- 
 sily. — Forby. Swiss baffeln, niaffeln, to 
 chatter, talk idly ; Rouchi baflier, to 
 slobber, stammer, talk idly. 
 
 We pass from the notion of imperfect 
 speech to that of imperfect, ineffectual 
 action, when we speak of light baffling 
 winds, changeable winds not serving the 
 purpose of navigation. ' For hours pre- 
 viously the ill-fated ship was seen baffling 
 with a gale from the N.W. : ' i. e. strug- 
 gling ineffectually with it. — Times, Feb. 
 27, i860. ' To what purpose can it be to 
 juggle and baffle for a time : ' to trifle. — 
 Barrow. 
 
 Finally, in a factitive sense, it signifies 
 to cause another to act in an ineffectual 
 manner, to foil his efforts. To boffle, to 
 stammer, to change, to vary, to prevent 
 any one from doing a thing. — Hal. So 
 to habble, to stammer, to speak con- 
 fusedly, and, in a factitive sense, to reduce 
 to a state of perplexity. To be habbled, to 
 be perplexed or nonplussed, foiled in any 
 undertaking. — Jam. Sup. 
 
 2. OE. bafful, Fr. bafouer, to hood- 
 wink, deceive, baffle, disgrace, handle 
 basely in terms, give reproachful words 
 unto. — Cot. The Fr. verb may be actu- 
 ally borrowed from the E. bafful, which 
 seems to have been applied to a definite 
 mode of disgracing a man, indicated by 
 Hall as in use among the Scots. 
 
 And furthermore the erle bad the herauld to 
 say to his master, that if he for his part kept not 
 his appointment, then he was content that the 
 Scots should bafful him, which is a great re- 
 proach among the Scots, and is used when a 
 
 BAGGAGE 
 
 39 
 
 man is openly perjured, and then they make of 
 him an image painted reversed with the heels 
 upward, with his name, wondering, crying and 
 blowing out of [on ?] him with horns in the most 
 despiteful manner they can. In token that he is 
 to be exiled the company of all good creatures. 
 Again, in the F. Q. 
 First he his beard did shave and foully shent, 
 Then from him reft his shield, and it r'enverst 
 And blotted out his arms with falshood blent, 
 And himself haffuld, and his armes unherst, 
 And broke his sword in twayn and all his armour 
 
 sperst. 
 Now the Sc. has bauch, baugh, baach 
 {ch guttural), repulsive to the taste, bad, 
 sorry, ineffective. A bauch tradesman, a 
 sorry tradesman ; 
 
 Without estate 
 A youth, though sprung from kings, looks baugh 
 
 and blate. — Ramsay in Jam. 
 
 Beauty but bounty's but bauch. Beauty 
 without goodness is good for nothing. 
 
 To bauchle, bachle, bashle, is then, to 
 distort, to misuse ; to bauchle shoon, to 
 tread them awry ; a bauchle, an old shoe, 
 whatever is treated with contempt or 
 derision. 
 
 One who is set up as the butt of a 
 company or a laughing-stock is said to 
 be made a bauchle of; to bauchle, to treat 
 contemptuously, to vilify. 
 Wallace lay still quhill forty dayis was gayn 
 And fyve atour, bot perance saw he nayn 
 Battaill till haiff, as thair promyss was maid 
 He girt display again his baner braid ; 
 Rapreiffyt Edward rycht gretlye of this thing, 
 Bawchyllyt his seyll, blew out on that fals king 
 As a tyrand ; turnd bak and tuk his gait. 
 
 If this passage be compared with the 
 extract from Hall, it will be seen that the 
 affront put by Wallace on the king's seal 
 in token of his having broken his word, 
 was an example of the practice which 
 Hall tells us was used in Scotland under 
 the name of baffulling, the guttural ch 
 being represented in English by an f, as 
 in many other cases. The G. has bafel, 
 bofel, pofel, synonymous with Sc. bauchle, 
 spoiled goods, refuse, trash — Kiittn. ; 
 verbafeln, to make a bafel of, to bauchle. 
 — Sanders. 
 
 Bag". Gael, bolg, balg, bag, a leather 
 bag, wallet, scrip, the belly, a blister, 
 bellows ; Goth, balgs, a skin, a leather 
 case; G. balg, the skin of an animal 
 stripped off whole ; Brescian baga, entire 
 skin of an animal for holding oil or wine ; 
 the belly. See Belly, Bulge. 
 
 Baggage. Derived by Diez from 
 Sp., Cat. baga, a noose, tie, knot, rope by 
 which the load is fastened on a beast of 
 burden. From baga was formed OFr. 
 baguer, to truss or tuck up (Cot.), to tie 
 
40 
 
 BAIL 
 
 on, to bind. * lis firent trousser et baguer 
 leur tr^sor et richesses sur chevaulx et 
 mules, chameoulx et dromadaires.' * Apr^s 
 ce qu'ils eurent bagud leurs bagues,' — 
 Gilion de Trasignie in Marsh. * Pour 
 veoir amener le B^arnois prisonnier en 
 triomphe, li^ et bagud.^ — Satire Menippde 
 in Jaubert. 
 
 From baguer was " formed bagage, the 
 carriage of an army, as it was called, the 
 collective goods carried with an army, or 
 the beasts which carry them. The re- 
 semblance to bagiies, goods, valuables, is 
 merely accidental, and as baggage is 
 manifestly taken from the French it can- 
 not be explained as signifying the collec- 
 tion of bags belonging to an army. 
 
 Bail.— Bailiff. The Lat. bajulus, a 
 bearer, was applied in later times to a 
 nurse, viz. as carrying the child about. 
 Mid. Lat. baj'ula, It. bdlia. Next it was 
 applied to the tutor or governor of the 
 children, probably in the first instance to 
 the foster-father. 
 
 Alii bajuli, i. e. servuli, vel nutritores — quia 
 consueverint nutrire filios et familias dominorum. 
 — ^Vitalis de Reb. Aragon. in Ducange. 
 
 When the child under the care of the 
 Bajulus was of royal rank, the tutor 
 became a man of great consequence, and 
 the /ilyag (3aiov\og was one of the chief 
 officers of state at Constantinople. 
 
 The name was also applied to the 
 tutor of a woman or a minor. Thus the 
 husband became the Bajulus uxorzs, 
 and the name was 'gradually extended to 
 any one who took care of the rights or 
 person of another. In this sense is to be 
 understood the ordinary E. expression of 
 giving bail, the person who gives bail 
 being supposed to have the custody of 
 him whom he bails. From bajulus was 
 formed It. bailo, balivo {bajulivus); Fr. 
 bail, bailli, E. bail, bailiff. The bail are 
 persons who constitute themselves tutors 
 of the person charged, and engage to 
 produce him when required. 
 
 Tutores vel hajuli respondeant pro pupillis. — 
 Usatici Barcinonenses. Et le roi I'a re9ue en 
 son hommage et le due son baron comme bail 
 delle. — Chron. Flandr. Et mitto ilium (filium) 
 et omnem meam terram et meum honorem et 
 meos viros quae Deus mihi dedit in bajulia de 
 Deo et de suis Sanctis, &c. Ut sint in bayoliam 
 Dei et de Sanct^ Maria, &c. — Testament. Regis 
 Arragon. A. D. 1099, in Due. 
 
 Fr. bailler, to hand over, is from baju- 
 lare, in the sense of making one a bail 
 or keeper of the thing handed over, 
 giving it into his bail or control. 
 
 Finally, every one to whom power was 
 intrusted to execute not on his own be- 
 
 BAIT 
 
 half was called a bailiff, bajulius or bal- 
 livus, from the regent of the empire (as 
 we find in the case of Henry of Flanders : 
 * Principes, barones et milites exercitus 
 me imperii Ballivum elegerunt ') to the 
 humble bailiff" in husbandry who has the 
 care of a farm, or the officer who executes 
 the writs of a sheriff". 
 
 Bail, 2. Bail is also used in the sense 
 of post or bar. The bails were the ad- 
 vanced posts set up outside the solid de- 
 fences of a town. Fr. bailie, barrier, 
 advanced gate of a city, palisade, barri- 
 cade. — Roquefort. It is probably the 
 same word as paling or pale. Fr. balises, 
 finger-posts, posts stuck up in a river to 
 mark the passage. Balle, barri^re — 
 Hdcart. Bale, poste, retrachement ; 
 revejtir d ses bales, to return to one's 
 post, at the game of puss in the corner, 
 or cricket. Hence the bails at cricket, 
 properly the wickets themselves, but now 
 the cross sticks at the top. 
 
 Bailiwick. Properly the office of a 
 bailiff" or executive officer, then the dis- 
 trict over which he has jurisdiction. The 
 element -wick ia probably from Lat. 
 vicis, the turn which something serves, 
 function, office. 
 
 — 5ef me swa beluuede hit were sone ikudd to 
 the kinge, ant he me walde warpen ut of mine 
 wtke [would cast me out of my office] , ant demen 
 me to deathe. — St Juliana, p. 24. 
 
 Goth, wiko; in wikoti kunjis sinis, in 
 ordine vicis suae. — Luc i. 8. Levins has 
 baylywick, villicatura ; baylyj'ick, villica- 
 tus ; bishopwick, episcopatus, diocesis ; 
 bishoprick, episcopatus. 
 
 Bait. The senses may all be ex- 
 plained from the notion of biting. ON. 
 beita, Sw. bet, bete, AS. bat (Ettmi'dler), a 
 bait for fish, is what the fish bites at, or 
 what causes him to bite. ON. beita, AS. 
 batan, to bait a hook. Du. bete, a. bit, a 
 mouthful. 
 
 ON. bita, to bite, is specially applied to 
 the grazing of cattle, whence belt, Sw. 
 bet, bete, pasture, herbage ; ON. beita, Sw. 
 beta, to drive to pasture. In English the 
 word is not confined to the food of cattle. 
 Bait-poke, a bag to carry provisions in ; 
 bait, food, pasture. — Hal. 
 
 Sw. beta, to bait on a journey, is to feed 
 the horses, in accordance with Fr. re- 
 paitre, to feed, to bait. 
 
 ON. beita, Sw. beta, G. beitzen, to hunt 
 with hawk or hare, must be understood 
 as signifying to set on the hawk or hound 
 to bite the prey. ON. beita einn hundum, 
 
BAIZE 
 
 to cause one to be worried by dogs, to 
 
 set his dogs on one. To bait a bear or a 
 
 i bull is to set the dogs on to bite it. 
 
 j The ON. beita, Sw. beta^ to harness 
 
 ! oxen to a sledge, or horses to a carriage, 
 
 ' must probably be explained from AS. 
 
 ' bcEte, N. bit, the bit of a bridle taken as 
 
 , the type of harness in general. Ongan 
 
 tha his esolas bcetan : he then began to 
 
 saddle his asses. — Caedm. p. 173. 25. 
 
 Baize. Coarse woollen cloth. For- 
 merly bayes. Du. baey, baai, Fr. baye. 
 * Les bayes seront composdes de bonne 
 laine, non de flocon, laneton . . . ou autres 
 mauvaises ordures.' — Reglement de la 
 draperie in H^cart. According to this 
 author it took its name from its yellow 
 colour, given by ' graines d' Avignon ; ' 
 from baie, berry. 
 
 To Bake. To dress or cook by dry 
 heat ; to cook in an oven. Bohem. pek, 
 heat ; pekti, P^cy, to bake, roast, &c. ; 
 pekar, a baker ; Pol. piec, a stove ; pied, 
 to bake, to roast, to parch, to burn ; 
 pieczywo, a batch, an oven-full ; piekarz, 
 a baker. 
 
 ON. baka, to warm. Kongur bakade 
 sier vid elld, the King warmed himself at 
 the fire. — Heimskr. E. dial, to beak, beke, 
 to bask, to warm oneself; Du. zig baker- 
 en, Pl.D. bdckern, to warm oneself. G. 
 bdhen, to heat ; semmeln bdhejt, to toast 
 bread ; kranke glieder bdhen, to foment a 
 limb. Holz bdhen, to beath wood, to 
 heat wood for the purpose of making it 
 set in a certain form. Gr. j8w, calefacere. 
 Lat. bajcB, warm baths. See Bath. The 
 root is common to the Finnish class of 
 languages. Lap. pak, paka, heat ; paket, 
 to melt with heat ; pakestet, to be hot, to 
 bask; paketet, to heat, make hot. 
 
 Balance. Lat. Ia7ix, a dish, the scale 
 of a balance ; bilanx, the implement for 
 weighing, composed of two dishes or 
 scales hanging from a beam supported in 
 the middle. It. bilancia, Sp. balanza, 
 Prov. balans, balanza, Fr. balance. 
 
 The change from i to a may be through 
 the influence of the second a, or it may 
 be from a false reference to the OFr. 
 baler, baloier, Venet. balare, to move up 
 and down, to see-saw. 
 
 Balcony. It. balco, balcone, an out- 
 jutting corner of a house, by-window, 
 bulk or stall of a shop ; palco, palcone, 
 palcora, any stage or scaffold, roof, floor, 
 or ceiling ; palcare, to plank, stage, 
 scaffold. — Fl. The radical idea seems to 
 be what is supported on balks or beams. 
 Bald. Formerly written balled, ballid, 
 whence Richardson explains it as if it 
 
 BALDERDASH 
 
 41 
 
 signified made round and smooth like a 
 ball. The root, however, is too widely 
 spread for such an explanation. Finn. 
 Esthon. paljas, naked, bare, bald ; Lap. 
 piioljas, bare of trees ; Dan. bceldet, un- 
 fledged. 
 
 Besides signifying void of hair, bald is 
 used in the sense of having a white mark 
 on the face, as in the case of the common 
 sign of the bald-faced stag, to be com- 
 pared with Fr. cheval belle/ace, a horse 
 marked with white on its face. Bald- 
 faced, white-faced. — Hal. The bald-coot 
 is conspicuous by an excrescence of white 
 skin above its beak. 
 
 The real identity of the word bald in 
 the two senses is witnessed by a wide 
 range of analogy. Pol. Bohem. lysy, bald, 
 marked with a white streak ; Pol. lysijta, 
 Bohem. lysyna, a bald pate, and also a 
 white mark on the face. Du. blesse, a 
 blaze on the forehead, a bare forehead, 
 bles, bald. — Kil. Fin. paljas, bald, Gr. 
 /3aXioc, '^dkibq, bald-faced, having a white 
 streak on the face. Gael, ball, a spot or 
 mark ; Bret, bal, a white mark on an 
 animal's face, or the animal itself, whence 
 the common name Ball for a cart-horse 
 in England. The connection seems to 
 lie in the shining look of the bald skin. 
 
 His head was ballid and shone as any glass. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Lith. ballas, white ; balti, to become 
 white ; balsis, a white animal. Fin. 
 Pallaa, to burn ; palo, burning. ON. 
 bdl, a blaze, beacon-fire, funereal pile. 
 
 Balderdash. Idle, senseless talk ; to 
 balder, to use coarse language. — Halli- 
 weil. w. baldorddi, to babble, prate, 
 or talk idly. Du. balderen, to bawl, 
 make an outcry, to roar, said of the roar 
 of cannon, cry of an elephant, &c. ; bold- 
 eren, bulderen, blaterare, debacchari, 
 minari. — Kil. ON. buldra, blaterare ; 
 Dan. biddre, to make a loud noise, as 
 thunder, the rolling of a waggon, &c. ; 
 also to scold, to make a disturbance. N. 
 baldra is used of noises of the same kind 
 in a somewhat higher key. E. dial, to 
 galder, to talk coarsely and noisily ; to 
 gulder, to speak with loud and dissonant 
 voice. — Hal. Da. dial, bialder, foolish 
 talk, nonsense ; bialdre, to tattle. The 
 final syllable seems to express a continu- 
 ation of the phenomenon; Da. dial, dask, 
 chatter, talk ; dov-dask, chatter fit to 
 deave one. Bav. ddtsch, noise of a blow 
 with the open hand ; ddtschen, to clap, 
 smack, tattle ; Gael, ballart, noisy boast- 
 ing, clamour ; ballartaich, balardaich, a 
 
42 
 
 BALE 
 
 loud noise, shouting, hooting. The same 
 termination in hke manner expresses 
 continuance of noise in piabartaich^ a 
 continued noise of waves gently beating 
 on the shore, uninteUigible talk ; clapar- 
 taich^ a clapping or flapping of wings. 
 From the same analogy, which causes so 
 many words expressive of the plashing 
 or motion of water to be applied to rapid 
 or confused talking, balderdash is used 
 to signify washy drink, weak liquor. A 
 similar connection is seen in Sp. cha- 
 ptizar, to paddle in water ; chapurrar^ to 
 speak gibberish ; champurrar, to mix 
 one liquid with another, to speak an un- 
 connected medley of languages. 
 
 Bale. I. Grief, trouble, sorrow. AS. 
 bealo, gen. bealwes, torment, destruction, 
 wickedness ; Goth, balva-vesei, wicked- 
 ness ; balveins^ torment ; ON. bbl^ ca- 
 lamity, misery ; Du. bal-daed, malefac- 
 tum, maleficium. Pol. bol^ ache, pain ; 
 boled^ Bohem. boleti, to ail, to ache, to 
 grieve ; bolawy, sick, ill. w. ball, a 
 plague, a pestilence. Perhaps ON. bola, 
 a bubble, blister, a boil, may exhibit the 
 original development of the signification, 
 a boil or blain being taken as the type of 
 sickness, pain, and evil in general. Russ. 
 bolyat\ to be ill, to grieve ; bolyatchka^ a 
 pustule. See Gall, 3. 
 
 2. A package of goods. Sw. balj It. 
 balla; Fr. balle, bal, a ball or pack, i. e. 
 goods packed up into a round or compact 
 mass. ON. bollr, a ball ; balla, to pack 
 together in the form of a ball. 
 
 To Bale out water. Sw. balj'a, Dan. 
 balle, Du. baalie, Bret, bal, Gael, ballan, 
 a pail or tub ; G. balge, a .washing-tub, 
 perhaps from balg, a skin, a water-skin 
 being the earliest vessel for holding 
 water. Hence Dan. balle, Du. baalien, 
 to empty out water with a bowl or pail, 
 to bale out. In like manner Fr. bacqiieter, 
 in the same sense, from bacquet, a pail. 
 
 * Balk. The primary sense seems to be 
 as in G. balken, ON. bjdlki, OSw. balker, 
 bolker, Sw. bielke, Sw. dial, balk, a beam. 
 Fr. ban, the beam of a ship, the breadth 
 from side to side ; Rouchi bau, a beam. 
 We have then It. palcare, to plank, floor, 
 roof, stage or scaffold ; Sw. afbalka, to 
 separate by beams, to partition off ; Sw. 
 dial, balk, a cross beam dividing the 
 stalls in a cow-house, a wooden par- 
 tition ; ON. balkr, bolkr, a. partition, 
 whether of wood or stone, as in a barn 
 or cow-house, a separate portion, a di- 
 vision of the old laws, a clump of men ; 
 vedra bdlkr, N. uveirs bolk, as we say, a 
 balk of foul weather. Sw, dial, balka, 
 
 BALL 
 
 to heap ; balka hopar, balka bunge, to 
 heap up. 
 
 Twenty thousand men 
 Balked in their blood on Holmedon's plain. 
 
 In the sense of a separation G. balken^ 
 Da. dial, balk, E. balk, are applied to a 
 narrow slip of land left unturned in 
 ploughing. Baulke of land, separaison. — 
 Palsgr. A balk, says Ray, ' is a piece 
 of land which is either casually over- 
 slipped and not turned up in plowing, 
 or industriously left untouched by the 
 plough for a boundary between lands.' 
 
 Hence to balk is to pass over in plough- 
 ing, or figuratively in any other proceed- 
 ing. 
 
 For so well no man halt the plough 
 That it ne balketh other while, 
 Ne so well can no man afile 
 His tonge, that som time in jape 
 Him may some light word overscape. 
 
 Gower in R. 
 
 The mad steel about doth fiercely fly 
 Not sparing wight, ne leaving any balke, 
 But making way for death at large to walke. 
 
 F. Q. 
 
 Da. dial, at giore en balk, to omit a 
 patch of land in sowing. To baulke the 
 beaten road, to avoid it. — Sir H. Wotton. 
 In modern speech to balk is used in a 
 factitive sense, to cause another to miss 
 the object of his expectation. 
 
 Ball. — Balloon. — Ballot, on. bollr 
 (gen. ballar), a globe, ball, Sw. boll, ball. 
 Da. bold, OHG. pallo, G. ball. It. balla 
 (with the augm. ballone, a great ball, a 
 balloon, and the dim. ballotta, a ballot), 
 palla, Sp. bala, Fr. balle, Gr. iraXXa 
 (Hesych.), a ball. Fin. pallo, with the 
 dim. pallukka, pallikka, a ball, globule, 
 testicle ; maan pallikka, a clod of earth ; 
 palloilla, to roll. From the same root 
 probably Lat. pila, pilula, a ball, a pill, 
 which seem equally related to the fore- 
 going and to the series indicated under 
 Bowl, Boll. 
 
 Ball.— Ballad.— Ballet. It. ballare, 
 to dance, from the more general notion 
 of moving up and down. Mid. Lat. bal- 
 lare, hue et illuc inclinare, vacillare. — • 
 Ugutio in Due. Venet. balare, to rock, 
 to see-saw. OFr. baler, baloier, to wave, 
 to move, to stir. 
 
 Job ne fut cokes (a kex or reed) ne rosiau 
 Qui au vent se tourne et baloie. 
 
 It. ballare, to shake or jog, to dance. 
 Hence, ballo, a dance, a ball. Ballata, 
 a dance, also a song sung in dancing 
 (perhaps in the interval of dancing), a 
 ballad. Fr. ballet, a scene acted in 
 dancing, the ballet of the theatres. 
 
BALLAST 
 
 It is probably an old Celtic word. 
 Bret, balia^ to walk, bald, the act of 
 walking, or movement of one who walks. 
 
 Ballast. Dan. bag-lest, Du. ballast, 
 Fr. lest, lestage, It. lastra, Sp. lastre. 
 The first syllable of this word has given 
 a great deal of trouble. It is explained 
 back by Adelung, because, as he says, the 
 ballast is put in the hinder part of the 
 ship. But the hold is never called the 
 back of the ship. A more likely origin is 
 to be found in Dan. dial. bag-Ices, the back- 
 load, or comparatively worthless load 
 one brings back from a place with an 
 empty waggon. When a ship discharges, 
 if it fails to obtain a return cargo, it is 
 forced to take in stones or sand, to pre- 
 serve equilibrium. This is the back- 
 load, or ballast of a ship, and hence the 
 name has been extended to the addition 
 of heavy materials placed at the bottom 
 of an ordinary cargo to keep the balance. 
 The whole amount carried by the canal lines 
 in 1854 was less than 25,000 tons, and this was 
 chiefly carried as back-loading, for want of other 
 freight. — Report Pennsylv. R. 1854. 
 
 Mr Marsh objects to the foregoing 
 derivation, in the first place, that home- 
 ward-bound ships do not in general sail 
 without cargo or in ballast, more fre- 
 quently than outward-bound, and there- 
 fore that backloading is not an appro- 
 priate designation for the heavy ma- 
 terial which is employed to steady sea- 
 going vessels. But how appropriate 
 the designation would really be, may 
 be judged by the following illustration 
 from practical life. ' The object of the 
 company is to provide the excellent ore 
 of the southern counties as a return 
 cargo for the colliers of the North. By 
 this means the colliers will ensure an 
 additional profit by carrying a ballast 
 for which they will receive some freight- 
 age.' — Mining Journal, Sept. i, i860. 
 And Kil. explains ballast, inutilis sarcina, 
 inutile onus, a useless load. 
 
 A more serious objection is that the 
 word in earlier Danish is always barlast, 
 as it still is in Sweden and Norway. 
 But because baglast is not found in the 
 written documents, it by no means fol- 
 lows that it was not always locally cur- 
 rent. And it is certain that barlast 
 could never have passed into baglast by 
 mere corruption, while it would be an 
 easy transition from baglast through bal- 
 last to barlast. 
 
 Mr Marsh even calls in question 
 whether the last syllable is the Du. last, 
 a load. But Fr. tester is to load a ship 
 
 BAN 
 
 M> 
 
 as well as to ballast it. — Cot. Lest, like 
 Teutonic last, was used for a load or 
 definite weight of goods (Roquef.), and 
 Mid.Lat. lastagium signified not only 
 ballast, but loadage, a duty on goods 
 sold in the markets, paid for the right of 
 carriage. 
 
 Balluster. Fr. ballustres, ballisters 
 (corruptly bannisters when placed as guard 
 to a staircase;, little round and short/ 
 pillars, ranked on the outside of cloisters, 
 terraces, galleries, &c. — Cotgr. Said to 
 be from balausiia, the flower of the 
 pomegranate, the calyx of which has a 
 double curvature similar to that in which 
 balusters are commonly made. But such 
 rows of small pillars were doubtless in 
 use before that particular form was given 
 to them. The Sp. barauste, from bara or 
 vara, a rod, seems the original form of 
 the word, of which balaustre (and thence 
 the Fr. ballustre) is a corruption, anal- 
 ogous to what is seen in It. bertesca, bal- 
 tresca, a battlement ; Lat. urtica, Venet. 
 oltriga, a nettle. 
 
 Sp. baranda, railing around altars, 
 fonts, balconies, &c. ; barandado, series 
 of balusters, balustrade ; barandilla, a 
 small balustrade, small railing. 
 
 Balm, Balsam. Fr. bamne, from Lat. 
 balsajuuin, Gr. (idXcrafiov, a fragrant gum. 
 
 Baltic. The Baltic sea, mare Balticum. 
 In OSw. called BceU, as two of the en- 
 trances are still called the Great and 
 Little Belt. The authorities are not 
 agreed as to the grounds on which the 
 name is given. 
 
 To Bam. To make fun of a person. 
 A bam, a false tale or jeer. Bret, bamein, 
 to enchant, deceive, endormir par des 
 contes. Bamotir, enchanter, sorcerer, 
 deceiver. 
 
 To Bamboozle. — To deceive, make 
 fun of a person. 
 
 There are a set of fellows they call banterers 
 and bamboozlers that play such tricks. — Arbuth- 
 not in R. 
 
 It. bambolo, bamboccio, bambocciolo, a 
 young babe, by met. an old dotard or 
 babish gull ; imbainbolare, to blear or 
 dim one's sight, also with flatteries and 
 blandishments to enveagle and make a 
 child of one. — Fl. If bambocciolare were 
 ever used in the same sense it might have 
 given rise to bamboozle. 
 
 Sc. biimbazed, puzzled, astonished. 
 
 To Ban. To proclaim, command, 
 forbid, denounce, curse. 
 
 The primitive meaning of the word 
 seems to have been to summons to the 
 army. In the commencement of the 
 
4i 
 
 BAND 
 
 feudal times all male inhabitants were in 
 general required to give personal attend- 
 ance when the king planted his banner 
 in the field, and sent round a notice that 
 his subjects were summoned to join him 
 against the enemy. 
 
 He askyt of the Kyng 
 Til have the VHward of his batayl, 
 Quhatever thai ware wald it assayle, 
 That he and his suld have always 
 Qohen that the king suld Banare rays. 
 Wyntoun, v. 19. 15. 
 
 Now this calling out of the public force 
 was called bannire in hostem, bannire in 
 exercitum, populum in hostejn convocare, 
 bannire exercitum, in Fr. banir roust; 
 AS. theodscipe ut abannan. In Layamon 
 we constantly find the expression, he 
 bannede his ferde^ he assembled his host. 
 The expression seems to arise from bann 
 in the sense of standard, flag, ensign 
 (see Banner). The raising of the King's 
 banner marked the place of assembly, 
 and the primitive meaning of bannire 
 was to call the people to the bann or 
 standard. The term was then applied 
 to summoning on any other public oc- 
 casion, and thence to any proclamation, 
 whether by way of injunction or for- 
 biddal. 
 
 Si quis legibus in utilitatem Regis sive in hoste 
 (to the host or army) sive in reliquam utilitatem 
 bannitus fuerit, etc. — Leg. Ripuar. Exercitum 
 in auxilium Sisenardi de toto regno Burgundise 
 bannire prsecepit Fredegarius.— Si quis cum 
 armis bannitus fuerit et non venerit. — Capitul. 
 Car. Mag. A. D. 813. Se il avenist que le Roy 
 chevauchat a osi bani contre les ennemis de la 
 Croix. — Assises de Jerusalem. Fece bandire 
 hoste generale per tutto '1 regno.— John Villani 
 in Due. 
 
 In like manner we find bannire adpiacita, 
 ad molendinum, &c., summoning to serve 
 at the Lord's courts, to bring corn to be 
 ground at his mill, &c. Thus the word 
 acquired the sense of proclamation, ex- 
 tant in Sp. and It. bando, and in E. banns 
 of marriage. In a special sense the term 
 was applied to the public denunciation 
 by ecclesiastical authority ; Sw. bann, 
 excommunication ; bann-lysa, to excom- 
 municate {lysa, to publish) ; banna, to 
 reprove, to take one to task, to chide, to 
 curse, E. to ban. 
 
 In Fr. bandoti the signification was 
 somewhat further developed, passing on 
 from proclamation to command, permis- 
 sion, power, authority. ^A son bandon, 
 at his own discretion. OE. bandojt was 
 used in the same sense. See Abandon. 
 
 Oncques Pucelle de paraige 
 N'eut d'aimer tel bandon que j'ai, 
 
 Car j'ai de mon p6re congid 
 De faire ami et d"6tre aimee. 
 
 -R. R. 
 
 Never maiden of high birth had such 
 power or freedom of loving as I have. 
 
 Les saiges avait et les fols 
 Commun^ment d, son bandon. — R. R. 
 
 Translated by Chaucer, 
 
 Great loos hath Largesse and great prise, 
 For both the wise folk and unwise 
 Were wholly to her bandon brought, 
 
 i.e. were brought under her power or 
 command. 
 
 Band, 1. That with which anything 
 is bound. AS. baitd, Goth, baitdi, Fr. 
 bande, It. banda. From the verb to 
 bind, Goth, bindan, band, bundun. Spe- 
 cially applied to a narrow strip of cloth 
 or similar material for binding or swath- 
 ing ; hence a stripe or streak of different 
 colour or material. In It. ba7ida the 
 term is applied to the strip of anything 
 lying on the edge or shore, a coast, side, 
 region. G. bande, border, margin. 
 
 Band, 2. — To Bandy. In the next 
 place Band is applied to a troop of 
 soldiers, a number of persons associated 
 for some common purpose. It. Sp. banda, 
 Fr. ba7ide. There is some doubt how 
 this signification has arisen. It seems 
 however to have been developed in the 
 Romance languages, and cannot be ex- 
 plained simply as a body of persons 
 bound together for a certain end. It has 
 plausibly been deduced from Mid.Lat. 
 bannmn or banduin, the standard or 
 banner which forms the rallying point of 
 a company of soldiers. 
 
 Bandus, says Muratori, Diss. 26, tunc (in the 
 9th century) nuncupabatur legio a bando, hoc est 
 vexillo. 
 
 So in Swiss, fahne, a company, from 
 fahne, the ensign or banner. Sp. bandera 
 is also used in both senses. Fr. enseigne, 
 the colours under which a band or com- 
 pany of footmen serve, also the band or 
 company itself —Cot. But if this were 
 the true derivation it would be a singular 
 change to the feminine gender in banda. 
 The real course of development I believe 
 to be as seen in Sp. banda, side, then 
 party, faction, those who side together 
 (bande, parti, ligue — Taboada). Ba?id- 
 ear, to form parties, to unite with a band. 
 It. bandare, to side or to bandy (Florio), 
 to bandy being explained in the other 
 part of the dictionary, to follow a faction. 
 To bandy, tener da alcuno, sostener il 
 partito d'alcuno. — Torriano. 
 
 Unnumbered as the sands 
 
 Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil. 
 
BANDITTI 
 
 Levied to side with warring winds, and poise 
 Their lighter wings. — Milton in R. 
 Kings had need beware how they side them- 
 selves, and make themselves as of a faction or 
 party, for leagues within the state are ever perni- 
 cious to monarchy. — Bacon in R. 
 
 Fr. bander, to join in league with others 
 against — Cotgr., se reunir, s'associer, se 
 joindre. — Roquefort. It is in this sense 
 that the word is used by Romeo. 
 i Draw, Benvoglio, beat down their weapons ; 
 i Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage, 
 i Tibalt, Mercutio, the Prince expressly hath 
 i Forbidden bandying in Verona streets. 
 
 ! The prince had forbidden faction fight- 
 j ing. Sp. batidear, to cabal, to foment 
 I factions, follow a party. 
 
 The name of bandy is given in English 
 to a game in which the players are di- 
 vided into two sides, each of which tries 
 to drive a wooden ball with bent sticks 
 I in opposite directions. 
 
 The zodiac is the line : the shooting stars. 
 
 Which in an eyebright evening seem to fall. 
 
 Are nothing but the balls they lose at bandy. 
 Brewer, Lingua, in R. 
 
 Fr. bander, to drive the ball from side 
 to side at tennis. Hence the expression 
 of bandying words, retorting in language 
 like players sending the ball from side to 
 side at bandy or tennis. 
 
 Banditti. See Banish. 
 
 Bandog. A large dog kept for a 
 guard, and therefore tied up, a band-dog. 
 Du. band-hond, canis vinculis assuetus, 
 et canis pecuarius, pastoralis. — Kil. 
 
 To Bandy. See Band, 2. 
 
 Bandy. Bandy legs are crooked legs. 
 Fr. bander un arc, to bend a bow, &c. ; 
 bande, bent as a bow. 
 
 Bane. Goth, banja, a blow, a wound ; 
 OHG. bana, death-blow ; Mid.HG. bane, 
 destruction ; AS. bana, murderer. ON. 
 bana, to slay, bana-sott, death-sickness, 
 bana-sdr, death-wound, &c. 
 
 Bang. A syllable used to represent a 
 loud dull sound, as of an explosion or a 
 blow. The child cries bang I fire, when 
 he wishes to represent letting off a gun. 
 To bang the door is to shut it with a loud 
 noise. 
 
 With many a stiff thwack, many a bang, 
 
 Hard crabtree and old iron rang. — Hudibras. 
 ON. bang, hammering, beating, disturb- 
 ance ; banga, to beat, knock, to work in 
 wood. Sw. bang, stir, tumult ; bangas, 
 to make a stir ; banka, to knock, Dan. 
 banke, to knock, beat, rap ; banke et som 
 i, to hammer in a nail. The Susu, a 
 language of W. Africa, has bang-bang, to 
 drive in a nail. 
 
 BANNER 
 
 45 
 
 To Banish. — Bandit. From Mid. 
 Lat. bannire, bandire, to proclaim, de- 
 nounce, was formed the OFr. compound 
 for-ba7inir {bannire foras), to publicly 
 order one out of the realm, and the simple 
 bannir was used in the same sense, 
 whence E. banish. 
 
 From the same verb the It. participle 
 bandito signifies one denounced or pro- 
 claimed, put under the ban of the law, 
 and hence, in the same way that E. out- 
 law came to signify a robber. It. banditti 
 acquired the like signification. Forban- 
 nitus is used in the Leg. Ripuar. in the 
 sense of a pirate. — Diez. The word is in 
 E. so much associated with the notion of 
 a band of robbers, that we are inclined 
 to understand it as signifying persons 
 banded together. 
 
 Banister. See Balluster. 
 
 Bank.— Bench. The latter form has 
 come to us from AS. bcence, the former 
 from Fr. banc, a bench, bank, seat ; baftc 
 de sable, a sand-bank. G. bank, a bench, 
 stool, shoal, bank of river. Bantze, a desk. 
 — Vocab. de Vaud. It. banco, panca, a 
 bench, a table, a counter. 
 
 But natheless I took unto our dame 
 Your wife at home the same gold again 
 Upon your bench — she wot it well certain 
 By certain tokens that I can here tell. 
 
 Shipman's Tale. 
 
 From a desk or counter the significa- 
 tion was extended to a merchant's count- 
 ing-house or place of business, whence 
 the mod. E. Bank applied to the place of 
 business of a dealer in money. The 
 ON. distinguishes bekkr, N. benk, a. bench, 
 a long raised seat, and bakki, a bank, 
 eminence, bank of a river, bank of 
 clouds, back of a knife, Dan. bakke, 
 banke, bank, eminence. The back is a 
 natural type of an elevation or raised ob- 
 ject. Thus Lat. dorsum was applied to 
 a sand-bank ; dorsum jugi, the slope of 
 a hill, a rising bank. The ridge of a hill 
 is AS. hricg, the back. 
 
 Bankrupt. Fr. banqueroute, bank- 
 ruptcy, from banc, bench, counter, in the 
 sense of place of business, and OFr. roupt, 
 Lat. ruptus, broken. When a man fails 
 to meet his engagements his business is 
 broken up and his goods distributed 
 among his creditors. It. banca rotta, 
 banca fallita, a bankrupt merchant. — Fl. 
 
 Banner. The word Ban or Band was 
 used by the Lombards in the sense of 
 banner, standard. 
 
 Vexillum quod Bandum appellant. — Paulus 
 Diaconus in Due. 
 
46 
 
 BANNERET 
 
 In the same place is quoted from the 
 Scohast on Gregory Nazianzen : 
 
 Ta KaXovfitva nrapd 'Pw/iat'ous aiyva kux 
 fSuvSa TauTa 6 ATTiKi^oji/ a\ivQrtfJia.Ta koX ctj)- 
 fii'ta KaXit. 
 
 Hence It. bandiera, Fr. banntkre^ E. ban- 
 ner. 
 
 The origin is in all probability Goth. 
 bandvo, bandva, a sign, token, an intima- 
 tion made by bending the head or hand. 
 ON. benda^ to bend, to beckon ; banda, 
 to make signs ; banda hendi, manu an- 
 nuere. The original object of a standard 
 is to serve as a mark or sign for the 
 troop to rally round, and it was accord- 
 ingly very generally known by a name 
 having that signification. ON. merki, 
 Lat. signum, Gr. crjfitiov, OHO. heri-pau- 
 chan, a war-beacon or war-signal ; Fr. 
 enseigne, a. sign or token as well as an 
 ensign or banner ; Prov. sen/t, senkal, a 
 sign ; sen/ial, senAeira, banner. 
 
 According to Diez the It. bandiera is 
 derived from banda ^ a band or strip of 
 cloth, and he would seem to derive Goth. 
 bandva, a sign, from the same source, 
 the ensign of a troop being taken as type 
 of a sign in general, which is surely in 
 direct opposition to the natural order of 
 the signification. Besides it must be by 
 no means assumed that the earliest kind 
 of ensign would be a flag or streamer. 
 It is quite as likely that a sculptured 
 symbol, such as the Roman Eagle, would 
 first be taken for that purpose. 
 
 Banneret. Fr. banneret. A knight 
 bamieret was a higher class of knights, 
 inferior to a baron, privileged to raise 
 their own banner in the field, either in 
 virtue of the number of their retinue, or 
 from having distinguished themselves in 
 battle. 
 
 Qui tantse erant nobilitatis ut eorum quilibet 
 vexilli gauderet insignibus. — Life of Philip Au- 
 gust, in Due. 
 
 They were called in the Latin of the 
 period vexillarii, milites bannarii, banne- 
 rarii^ bannereti. 
 
 Banquet. It. banchetto, dim. oi banco, 
 a bench or table ; hence a repast, a ban- 
 quet. 
 
 To Banter. To mock or jeer one. 
 
 When wit hath any mixture of raillery, it is but 
 calHng it banter, and the work is done. This 
 pohte word of theirs was first borrowed from the 
 bullies in White Friars, then fell among the foot- 
 men, and at last retired to the pedants — but if 
 this bantering, as they call it, be so despicable a 
 thing, &c.— Swift in R. 
 
 Bantling. A child in swaddling 
 clothes, from the bands in which it is 
 
 BARBAROUS 
 
 wrapped. So on. reiflingr, a bantling, 
 from reifa, to wrap. In a similar manner 
 are formed yearling, an animal a year 
 old, nestling, a young bird still in the 
 nest, &c. 
 
 Baptise. Gr. (SdirTw, ^aizTil^ia, to dip, 
 to wash. 
 
 Bar. A rod of any rigid substance; 
 It. barra, Fr. bar re, and with an initial s. 
 It. sbarra, OHG. sparro, Sw. sparre, E. 
 spar, a beam or long pole of wood. The 
 meaning seems in the first instance a 
 branch; Celtic bar, summit, top, then 
 branches. Bret barrou-gwez, branches 
 of a tree {gwezen, a tree). Gael, barrack, 
 branches, brushwood. Hence Fr. barrer, 
 to bar or stop the way as with a bar, to 
 hinder; barriere, a barrier or stoppage; 
 barreau, the bar at which a criminal 
 appears in a court of justice, and from 
 which the barrister addresses the court. 
 
 Barb. i. The ba?-b of an arrow is the 
 beard-like jag on the head of an arrow 
 directed backwards for the purpose of 
 hindering the weapon from being drawn 
 out of a wound. Lat. barba, Fr. barbe, a 
 beard. Flesche barbelee, a bearded or 
 barbed arrow. — Cot. 
 
 2. Fr. Barbe, E. Barb, also signified a 
 Barbary horse. G. Bar bar, OFr. Bar- 
 bare. — Leduchat. 
 
 3. The term barb was also applied to 
 the trappings of a horse, probably cor- 
 rupted from Fr. barde, as no correspond- 
 ing term appears in other languages. 
 Bard^, barbed ox trapped as a great horse. 
 —Cot. 
 
 Barbarous. The original import of 
 the Gr. (SdpjSapog, Lat. barbarus, is to 
 designate one whose language we do not 
 understand. Thus Ovid, speaking of 
 himself in Pontus, says, 
 
 Barbaras hie ego sum quia non intelligor uUi. 
 
 Gr. Bapj3ap60wvoe, speaking a foreign 
 language. Then as the Greeks and 
 Romans attained a higher pitch of civil- 
 isation than the rest of the ancient world, 
 the word came to signify rude, uncivilised, 
 cruel. The origin of the word is an 
 imitation of the confused sound of voices 
 by a repetition of the syllable bar, bar, 
 in the same way in which the broken 
 sound of waves, of wind, and even of 
 voices is represented by a repetition of 
 the analogous syllable inur, mur. We 
 speak of the murmur of the waves, or of 
 a crowd of people talking. It may be 
 remarked, indeed, that the noise of voices 
 is constantly represented by the same 
 word as the sound made by the move- 
 
BARBEL 
 
 ment of water. Thus the ON. skola^ as 
 well as thwcEtta^ are each used in the 
 sense both of washing or splashing and 
 of talking. The E. twattle, which was 
 formerly used in the sense of tattle, as 
 well as the modern twaddle, to talk much 
 ! and foolishly, seem frequentative forms 
 I of Sw. twcstta, to wash. G. waschen, to 
 I tattle. It. guazzare, to plash or dabble, 
 guazzolare, to prattle.— Fl. In like 
 manner the syllable bar or bor is used in 
 - the formation of words intended to repre- 
 sent the sound made by the movement 
 of water or the indistinct noise of talk- 
 ing. Hindost. barbar, muttering, barbar- 
 karna, to gurgle. The verb borrelen 
 signifies in Du. to bubble or spring up, 
 and in Flanders to vociferate, to make 
 an outcry ; Sp. borbotar, borbollar, to boil 
 or bubble up ; barbulla, a tumultuous as- 
 sembly; Port, borbulhar, to bubble or 
 boil; It. borboglio, a rumbling, uproar, 
 quarrel ; barbugliare, to stammer, stutter, 
 speak confusedly. Fr. barbeter, to grunt, 
 mutter, murmur ; barboter, to mumble or 
 mutter words, also to wallow like a seeth- 
 ing pot. — Cot. The syllable bur seems 
 in the same way to be taken as the 
 representative of sound conveying no 
 meaning, in Fr. baragouin, gibberish, 
 jargon, ' any rude gibble-gabble or bar- 
 barous speech.' — Cot. Mod. Gr. ^tp- 
 PtpiK(^, to stammer; /3op/36pu^w, to rum- 
 ble, boil, grumble (Lowndes, Mod. Gr. 
 Lex.) ; Port, borborinha, a shouting of 
 men. 
 
 Barbel. A river fish having a beard 
 at the corners of the mouth. Fr. barbel, 
 barbeau. — Cot. 
 
 Barber. Fr. barbierjone who dresses 
 the beard. 
 
 Barberry. A shrub bearing acid 
 berries. Fr. dial, barbelin. — Diet. Etym. 
 Barbaryn-frute, barbeum, — tree, barbaris. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Barbican. An outwork for the de- 
 fence of a gate. It. barbacane, a jetty 
 or outnook in a building, loophole in a 
 wall to shoot out at, scouthouse. — Fl. 
 The Pers. bdla-khaneh, upper chamber, 
 is the name given to an open chamber 
 over the entrance to a caravanserai. — 
 Rich. Hence it is not unlikely that the 
 name may have been transferred by re- 
 turned crusaders to the barbacan or scout- 
 house over a castle gate from whence 
 arrivals might be inspected and the 
 entrance defended. 
 
 Bard. i. w. bardd, Bret, barz, the 
 name of the poets of the ancient Celts, 
 whose office it was to sing the praises of 
 
 BARGAIN 
 
 A7 
 
 the great and warlike, and hymns to the 
 gods. 
 
 Bardus Gallic^ cantator appellatur qui virorum 
 fortium laudes canit.— Festus in Diet. Etym. 
 Ba'pSoi fxiv vfxvi)Tal Kal •TTOirjTai. — Strabo, lb. 
 
 Et Bardi quidem fortia virorum illustrium 
 facta heroicis composita versibus cum dulcibus 
 lyras modulis cantitarunt. — Lucan, lb. 
 
 Hence in poetic language Bard is used 
 for poet. 
 
 2. Sp. barda, horse armour covering 
 the front, back, and flanks. Applied in 
 E. also to the ornamental trappings of 
 horses on occasions of state. 
 
 When immediately on the other part came in 
 the fore eight knights ready armed, their basses 
 and bards of their horses green satin embroidered 
 with fresh devices of bramble bushes of fine gold 
 curiously wrought, powdered all over. — Hall 
 in R. 
 
 Fr. bardes, barbes or trappings for 
 horses of service or of show. Barder, to 
 barbe or trap horses, also to bind or tie 
 across. Barde, a long saddle for an ass 
 or mule, made only of coarse canvas 
 stuffed with flocks. Bardeaii, a shingle 
 or small board, such as houses are covered 
 with. Bardelle, a bardelle, the quilted 
 or canvas saddle wherewith colts are 
 backed. — Cotgr. Sp. barda, coping of 
 straw or brushwood for the protection of 
 a mud wall; albarda, a pack-saddle, 
 broad slice of bacon with which fowls 
 are covered when they are roasted ; al- 
 bardilla, small pack-saddle, coping, 
 border of a garden bed. The general 
 notion seems that of a covering or pro- 
 tection, and if the word be from a Gothic 
 source we should refer it to ON. bard^, 
 brim, skirt, border, ala, axilla. Hatt-bard, 
 the flap of a hat; skialldar-bard, the 
 edge of a shield ; hval-bard, the layers of 
 whalebone that hang from the roof of a 
 whale's mouth. But Sp. albarda looks 
 like an Arabic derivation ; Arab, al- 
 barda^ ah, saddle-cloth. — Diez. 
 
 Bare. Exposed to view, open, un- 
 covered, unqualified. G. baar, bar, ON. 
 berj G. baares geld, ready money. Russ. 
 bos, Lith. bdsas, bdsus, bare ; baskojis, 
 barefooted ; Sanscr. bhasad, the naked- 
 ness of a woman. 
 
 Bargain. OFr. bargtdgner, to chaf- 
 fer, bargain,, or more properly (says 
 Cotgr.) to wrangle, haggle, brabble in the 
 making of a bargain. The radical idea 
 is the confused sound of wrangling, and 
 the word was used in OE. and Sc. in the 
 sense of fight, skirmish. 
 
 And mony tymys ische thai wald 
 And bargane at the barraiss hald, 
 
48 
 
 BARGE 
 
 And wound thair fayls oft and sla. 
 
 Barbour in Jam. 
 
 We have seen under Barbarous that 
 the syllable bar was used in the con- 
 struction of words expressing the con- 
 fused noise of voices sounding indistinct 
 either from the language not being un- 
 derstood, or from distance or simultane- 
 ous utterance. Hence it has acquired 
 the character of a root signifying con- 
 fusion, contest, dispute, giving rise to It. 
 baruffa, fray, altercation, dispute ; Prov. 
 baralha, trouble, dispute ; Port, baralhar, 
 Sp. barajar, to shuffle, entangle, put to 
 confusion, dispute, quarrel ; Port, bara- 
 funda, Sp. barahunda, tumult, confusion, 
 disorder; Port, barafustar, to strive, 
 struggle ; It. baratta, strife, squabble, 
 dispute ; baratta^'e, to rout, to cheat, also 
 to exchange, to chop ; E. barretor, one 
 who stirs up strife. Nor is the root con- 
 fined to the Romance tongues ; Lith. 
 barti, to scold; barnis, strife, quarrel; 
 ON. baratta, strife, contest; bardagi, 
 battle. 
 
 From Fr. baragouin, representing the 
 confused sound of people speaking a 
 language not understood by the hearer, 
 we pass to the verb barguigner, to 
 wrangle, chaffer, bargain. 
 
 Barge. — Bark, 1. These words seem 
 mere varieties of pronunciation of a term 
 common to all the Romance as well as 
 Teutonic and Scandinavian tongues. 
 Prov. barca, barja, OFr. barge, Du. 
 barsie, OSw. bars, a boat belonging to a 
 larger ship. 
 
 Barca est quas cuncta navis commercia ad 
 littus portat. — Isidore in Rayn. Nans en mar 
 quant a perdu sa barja. — Ibid. Sigurdr let taka 
 tua skip-bata er barker ero kalladir. — Ihre. 
 
 The origin may be ON. barki, the 
 throat, then the bows or prow of a ship, 
 pectus navis, and hence probably (by a 
 metaphor, as in the case of Lat. puppis) 
 barkr came to be applied to the entire 
 ship. So also ON. kani, a beak, promi- 
 nent part of a thing, also a boat ; skutr, 
 the fore or after end of a boat ; skuta, a 
 boat 
 
 Bark, 2. The outer rind of a tree ; 
 any hard crust growing over anything. 
 ON. bbrkr, bark ; at barka, to skin over ; 
 barkandi, astringent. 
 
 To Bark. as. beorcan, from an imita- 
 tion of the sound. 
 
 Barley. The Goth. adj. barizeins in- 
 dicates a noun baris, barley; AS. bere. 
 w. barlys {bara, bread, and llysiau, Bret. 
 louzou, Uzen, herbs, plants), bread-corn, 
 barley. The older form in E, was barlic, 
 
 BARON 
 
 barlig, barlich, the second syllable of 
 which is analogous to that of garlick, 
 hemlock, charlock, and is probably a true 
 equivalent of the lys in w. barlys. See 
 Garlick. 
 
 Barm. i. Yeast, the slimy substance 
 formed in the brewing of beer. AS. beorm, 
 G. berm, Sw. berma. Dan. beer me, the 
 dregs of oil, wine, beer. 
 
 2. As Goth, barms, a lap, bosom ; ON. 
 barmr, border, edge, lap, bosom. See 
 Brim. 
 
 Barn. AS. berern, bcern, commonly 
 explained from bere, barley, and em, a 
 place, a receptacle for barley or corn, 
 as bcsces-ern, a baking place or oven, 
 lihtes-ern, a lantern. (Ihre, v. arn.) 
 But probably berern is merely a misspell- 
 ing, and the word is simply the Bret. 
 <5<?r;/, aheap. Acervus, ^^rw. — Gl. Cornub. 
 Zeuss. So ON. hladi, a heap, a stack, 
 hlada, a barn. Du. baertn, bertn, a 
 heap ; ber7n hoys, meta foeni. — Kil. Swab. 
 baarn, barn, hay-loft, corn-shed, barn. 
 Dan. dial, baaring, baaren, baarm, a 
 load, so much as a man can bear or carry 
 at once. On the other hand, mhg. barn, 
 the rack or manger, praesepe ; houbarn, 
 fasnile. 
 
 Barnacle. A conical shell fixed to 
 the rocks within the wash of the tide. 
 Named from the cap-like shape of the 
 shell. Manx bayrn, a cap ; barnagh, a. 
 limpet, a shell of the same conical shape 
 with barnacles. Gael, bairneach, bar- 
 nacles, limpets ; W. b7'enig, limpets. 
 
 * Barnacles. Spectacles, also irons 
 put on the noses of horses to make them 
 stand quiet. — Bailey. Of these meanings 
 the second is probably the original, the 
 name being given to spectacles, which 
 were made to hold on the nose by a 
 spring, from comparison to a farrier's 
 barnacles. The name of barnacles is 
 given by Joinville to a species of torture 
 by compression practised by the Sara- 
 cens, and may therefore be an Eastern 
 word. Camus, bernac. — Vocab. in Nat. 
 Antiq. Berniques, spectacles. — Vocab. 
 de Berri. 
 
 Baron. It. barone, Sp. varon, Prov. 
 bar (ace. baro), OFr. ber (ace. baron), 
 Fr. baron. Originally man, husband, 
 then honoured man. 
 
 Lo bar non es creat per la femna mas la femna 
 per lo bard. The man was not created for the 
 woman, but the woman for the man. — Rayn. 
 Tam baronem quam feminam. — Leg. Ripuar. 
 Barum vel feminam. — Leg. Alam. 
 
 In the Salic Law it signifies free born ; 
 in the capitularies of Charles the Bald 
 
BARONET 
 
 harones are the nobles or vassals of the 
 crown. 
 
 Baro' gravis et authenticus vir.— John de Gar- 
 landia. 
 
 In our own law it was used for married 
 man, Baron and femme, man and wife. 
 
 We have not much light on the pre- 
 cise formation of the word, which would 
 seem to be radically the same wdth Lat. 
 w>, Goth, vair^ AS. iver^ w. gwr, Gael. 
 fear, a man. 
 
 Baronet. The feudal tenants next 
 below the degree of a baron were called 
 baronetti, baronuli, baroncult, baroncelli, 
 but as the same class of tenants were 
 also termed bannerets, the two names, 
 from their resemblance, were sometimes 
 confounded, and in several instances, 
 where baronetti is written in the printed 
 copies, Spelman found bannereti in the 
 MS. rolls of Parliament. Still he shows 
 conclusively, by early examples, that 
 baronettiis is not a mere corruption of 
 banneretus, but was used in the sense of 
 a lesser Baron. 
 
 Barunculus— a baronet. — Nominale of the 
 15th Cent, in Nat. Antiq. 
 
 It was not until the time of James I. that 
 the baronets were established as a formal 
 order in the state. 
 
 Barrack. Fr. baraque, It. baracca, 
 Sp. barraca, a hut, booth, shed. The 
 Sp. word is explained by Minshew *a 
 souldiers tent or booth or suchlike thing 
 made of the sail of a ship or suchlike 
 stuff. Dicitur proprie casa ilia piscatorum 
 juxta mare.' 
 
 The original signification was probably 
 a hut made of the branches of trees. 
 Gael, barrack, brushwood, branches; 
 barrachad, a hut or booth. Bargus or 
 barcus in the Salic laws is the branch of 
 a tree to which a man is hanged. 
 
 Before the gates of Bari he lodged in a miser- 
 able hut or barrack, composed of dry branches 
 and thatched with straw. — Gibbon. 
 
 It should be observed that, whenever 
 soldiers' barracks are mentioned, the 
 word is always used in the plural number, 
 pointing to a time when the soldiers' 
 lodgings were a collection of huts. 
 
 * Barragan. Sp. baragan, Fr. bara- 
 gant, bouracan, a kind of coarse camlet. 
 A passage cited by Marsh from the 
 Amante Liberal of Cervantes implies 
 that barragans were of Moorish manu- 
 facture, and Arabic barkan or barankan 
 is the name of a coarse, black woollen 
 garment still used in Morocco. 
 
 La mercancia del baxel era de harraganes y 
 
 BARTER 
 
 49 
 
 alquiceles y de otros cosas que de Berberia se 
 elevaban a Levante. 
 
 On the other hand, G. barchenf, bar- 
 chet (Schmeller), calico. Bombicinus, 
 Parchanus, parchanttiiech. — Vocab. A. D. 
 1445 in Schmeller. ' Ut nullus scarlatas 
 aut barracanos vel pretiosos burellos, qui 
 Ratisboni fiunt, habeant.' — Op. S. Bern, 
 ibid. MHG. barkan, barragan. 
 
 Barratry. — Barrator. See Barter. 
 
 Barrel. It. barile, Sp. barril, barrila, 
 Fr. barrique, a wooden vessel made of 
 bars or staves, but whether this be the 
 true derivation may be doubtful. 
 
 Barren. Bret, bredhanj OFr. bre- 
 haigne, baraigne j Picard, breine j Du. 
 braeck, sterilis, semen non accipiens ; 
 braeckland, uncultivated, fallow. — Kil. 
 
 Barricade. Formed from Fr. barre, 
 a bar ; as cavalcade, from cavallo, a 
 horse; and not from Fr. barrique, a 
 barrel, as if it signified an impromptu 
 barrier composed of barrels filled with 
 earth. It is hard to separate barricade 
 from Fr. barri, an obstruction, fortifi- 
 cation, barrier. 
 
 Barrier. See Bar. 
 
 Barrister. The advocate who pleads 
 at the Bar of a court of Justice. 
 
 Barrow, 1. An implement for carry- 
 ing. AS. berewe, from beran, to carry. 
 It. bara, a litter, a bier or implement for 
 carrying a dead body. G. bahre, a bar- 
 row, todtejibahre, or simply bahre, a bier. 
 This word introduced into Fr. became 
 biJre, perhaps through Pro v. bera, whence 
 E. bier, alongside of barrow. 
 
 Barrow, 2. A mound either of stones 
 or earth over the graves of warriors and 
 nobles, especially those killed in battle, 
 as the barrow at Dunmail-raise in West- 
 moreland. AS. beorg, beorh, a hill, mound, 
 rampart, heap, tomb, sepulchre, from 
 beorgan, OE. berwen, to shelter, cover. 
 
 Worhton mid stanum anne steapne beorh him 
 ofer. They made with stones a steep mound 
 over him.— Joshua vii. 26. 
 
 Barrow-hog. as. bearg ; Bohem. 
 braw, a castrated hog ; Russ. borov\ a 
 boar. 
 
 Barter. Barter or trafficking by ex- 
 change of goods seems, like bargain, to 
 have been named from the haggling and 
 wrangling with which the bargain is con- 
 ducted. It is shown under Bargain how 
 the syllable bar acquires the force of a 
 root signifying confused noise, squabble, 
 tumult. From this root were formed 
 words in all the Romance languages, 
 signifying, in the first instance, noisy 
 contention, strife, dispute, then traffick- 
 4 
 
50 
 
 BARTIZAN 
 
 ing for profit, then cheating, over-reach- 
 ing, unrighteous gain. 
 
 Al is dai, n' is ther no night 
 Ther n' is baret nother strif. 
 
 Hickes in Rich. 
 They run like Bedlem barretcrs into the street. 
 • — Hollinshed, ibid. 
 
 OFr. bareter, to deceive, he, cog, foist 
 in bargaining, to cheat, beguile, also to 
 bat'ter, truck, exchange. — Cotgr. MHG. 
 pdrdt, Pl.D. bamct (from Fr.), barter, 
 deceit, mhg. partieren, to cheat, pdrd- 
 tierer, a deceiver. Sp. baratar, to truck, 
 exchange ; baratear, to bargain ; bara- 
 teria, fraud, cheating, and especially 
 fraud committed by the master of a ship 
 with respect to the goods committed to 
 him. 
 
 Daratry is when the master of a ship cheats 
 the owners or insurers, byimbezzling their goods 
 or running away with the ship. — Bailey. 
 
 But according to Blackstone barratry 
 consists in the offence of stirring up 
 quarrels and suits between parties. 
 
 Bartizan. See Brattice. 
 
 Barton. A court-yard, also the de- 
 mesne lands of a manor, the manor- 
 house itself, the outhouses and yards, — 
 H alii well. AS. beretiin, beortiin, berewic, 
 a court -yard, corn-farm, from here, barley, 
 and tun, inclosure, or ivic, dwelling. — 
 Bosworth. 
 
 Base. It. basso, Fr. bas, low, mean ; 
 Sp. baxo; \v. and Bret, bds, shallow, low, 
 flat. The original meaning, according 
 to Diez, would be, pressed down, thick. 
 * Basstis, crassus, pinguis.' — Gl. Isidore. 
 ' Bassus, curtus, humilis.' — Papias. ' Ele 
 a basses hanches et basses jambes.' 
 
 Basilisk. Gr. iSamXiffKog, from (3a- 
 ciXivQ, a king. A fabulous serpent, said 
 to kill those that look upon it. 
 
 There is not one that looketh upon his eyes, 
 but he dieth presently. The like property hath 
 the basilisk. A white spot or star it carieth on 
 the head and settith it out like a coronet or 
 diadem. If he but hiss no other serpent dare 
 come near. — Holland's Pliny in Rich. 
 
 Late sibi submovet omne 
 
 Vulgus et in vacu^ regnat Basiliscus arena. 
 
 Lucan. 
 
 Probably from reports of the cobra capel, 
 which sets up its hood when angry, as 
 the diadem of the basilisk. 
 
 To Bask. To heat oneself in the sun 
 or before a fire. See Bath. 
 
 Basket, w. basg, netting, plaiting of 
 splinters ; basg'ed, basgod, a basket ; inasg, 
 a mesh, lattice-work. It is mentioned as 
 a British word by Martial. 
 
 Barbara de pictis veni bascauda Britannis, 
 Sed me jam mavult dicere Roma suam. 
 
 BASTE " 
 
 Bason. It. baa'no, Fr. bassiu, the 
 diminutive of the word corresponding to 
 E. back, signifying a wide open vessel. 
 
 Bass. It. basso, the low part of the 
 scale in music. 
 Lend me your hands, lift me above Parnassus, 
 With your loud trebles help my lowly bassus. 
 Sylvester's Dubartas. 
 
 Bassoon. It. bassone, an augment- 
 ation of basso; an instrument of a very 
 low note. 
 
 Bast.— Bass. Du. bast, bark, peel, 
 husk ; bast van koren, bran, the thin skin 
 which covers the grain ; Dan. Swed. 
 Ger. bast, the inner bark of the lime-tree 
 beaten out and made into a material for 
 mats and other coarse fabrics. Dan. 
 bast-vtaatte, bass-matting; bast-reb, a 
 bass rope. Du. bast, a halter, rope for 
 hanging, OE. baste. 
 
 Bot ye salle take a stalworthe baste 
 And binde my handes behind me faste. 
 
 MS. Halliwell. 
 
 Dan. baste, Sw. basta, to bind, commonly 
 joined with the word binda, of the same 
 sense. Sw. at basta og bifida, to bind 
 hand and foot. Dan. Icegge een i baand 
 og bast, to put one in fetters ; and it is 
 remarkable that the same expression is 
 found in Turkish ; besst, a tying, binding, 
 besst-7i-bendet, to bind. Lap. baste, the 
 hoops of a cask. 
 
 Bastard. Apparently of Celtic origin, 
 from Gael, baos, lust, fornication. O Fr. 
 ^Is de bast, fits de bas. 
 
 He was begetin o bast, God it wot. 
 
 Arthur and Merlin. 
 Sir Richard fiz le rei of wan we spake bevore 
 Gentilman was inow thei he were a bast ibore. 
 R. G. 516. 
 This man was son to John of Gaunt, descended 
 of an honorable lineage, but born in baste, 
 more noble in blood than notable in learning. — 
 Hall in Halliwell. 
 
 So Turk, chasa, fornication, chasa ogli 
 ipgli ■=■ son), a bastard. — F. Newman. 
 Malay anak-baiidrek (child of adultery), 
 a bastard. 
 
 To Baste, i. To stitch, to sew with 
 long stitches for the purpose of keeping 
 the pieces of a garment in shape while it 
 is permanently sewn. It. Sp. basta, a 
 long stitch, preparatory stitching, the 
 stitches of a quilt or mattrass. Sp. 
 bastear, embastir. It. imbastire, Fr. bdtir, 
 to baste, to stitch ; Fris. Sicamb. besten, 
 leviter consuere. — Kil. OHG. bestan, to 
 patch, as It. imbastire, to baste on a 
 piece of cloth. 
 
 Nay, mock not, mock not : the body of your 
 discourse is sometimes guarded with fragments, 
 
BASTINADO 
 
 and the g'uards are but slightly basted on neither. 
 — Much Ado about Nothing. 
 
 Derived by Diez from bast^ as if that 
 were the substance originally used in 
 stitching, but this is hardly satisfactory. 
 
 It seems to me that the sense of stitch- 
 ing, as a preparation for the final sewing 
 of a garment, may naturally have arisen 
 from the notion of preparing, contriving, 
 setting up, which seems to be the general 
 sense of the verb bastire, bastir, in the 
 Romance languages. 
 
 Thus we have Sp. bastir, disposer, pre- 
 parer (Taboada) ; It. vn bastire, to lay the 
 cloth for dinner, to devise or begin a 
 business (Altieri). Fr. bastir, to build, 
 make, frame, erect, raise, set up, also to 
 compose, contrive, devise. Bastir a 
 quelquhm son roulet, to teach one before- 
 hand what he shall say or do. — Cot. 
 Prov. guerra bastir, to set on foot a war ; 
 agait bastir, to lay an ambush. — Rayn. 
 Sp. bastimento, victuals, provisions, 
 things prepared for future use, also the 
 basting or preparatory stitching of a gar- 
 ment, stitching of a quilt or mattrass. To 
 baste a garment would be to set it up, to 
 put it together, and from this particular 
 kind of stitching the signification would 
 seem to have passed on to embrace 
 .stitching in general. 
 
 A silver nedil forth I drowe— 
 And gan this nedill threde anone, 
 For out of toune me list to gone^ 
 With a threde basting my slevis. 
 
 Chaucer, R. R. 
 — Sitze und beste mir den ermel wider in. 
 Minnesinger in Schmid. 
 
 It is probably from the sense of stitch- 
 ing that must be explained the It. basto, 
 imbasto, a packsaddle, pad for the head 
 to carry a weight on ; Fr. bast, <^a/ (whence 
 the E. military term of a bat-horse), bastine, 
 a pad or packsaddle, which was origin- 
 ally nothing but a quilted cushion on 
 which to rest the load. Thus Baretti 
 explains Sp. bastear, to pack a saddle 
 with Avool, i. e.. to quilt or stitch wool 
 into it; and Cot. has bastine, a pad, 
 packsaddle, the quilted saddle with which 
 colts are backed. 
 
 2. To beat or bang soundly. — Bailey. 
 This word probably preserves the form 
 from whence is derived the Fr. baston, 
 baton, a stick, an instrument for beating, 
 as well as beste an, the clapper of a bell. 
 ON. beysta, to beat, to thrash ; Dan. bbste, 
 to drub, to belabour; Sw. dial, basa, 
 baska, basta, to beat, to whip. Perhaps 
 in the use of the e. term there is usually 
 an erroneous feeling of its being a meta- 
 
 BAT 
 
 St 
 
 phor from the notion of basting meat. — 
 To baste one's hide ; to give him a sound 
 basting. 
 
 3. The sense of pouring dripping over 
 meat at roast or rubbing the meat with 
 fat to prevent its burning is derived from 
 the notion of beating in the same way 
 that the verb to stroke springs from the 
 act of striking. Sw. stryk, beating, 
 blows ; stryka, to rub gently, to stroke, 
 to spread bread and butter. Fr. frotter, 
 to rub, is explained by Cot. also to cudgel, 
 baste or knock soundly. 
 
 Bastinado. Sp. bastonada, a blow 
 with a stick, Sp. Fr. baston. Fr. baston- 
 nade, a cudgelling, bastonner, to cudgel. 
 In Enghsh the term is confined to the 
 beating on the soles of the feet with a 
 stick, a favourite punishment of the Turks 
 and Arabs. For the origin of baston see 
 Baste, 2. 
 
 Bastion. It. bastia, bastida, bastione, 
 a bastion, a sconce, a blockhouse, a bar- 
 ricado. — Florio. Fr. bastille, bastilde, a 
 fortress or castle furnished with towers, 
 donjon, and ditches ; bastion, the fortifi- 
 cation termed a bastion or cullion-head. 
 — Cot. All from bastir, to build, set up, 
 contrive. 
 
 * Bat. I. Sc. back, bak, bakie-birdj Sw. 
 nattbaka, Dan. aftonbakke, the winged 
 mammal. It. vipistrello, the night-bat. 
 — PI. Bakke, flyinge best, vespertilio. 
 — Pr. Pm. Mid.Lat. blatta, blacta, 
 batta lucifuga, vespertilio, vledermus. — 
 Dieft". Supp. to Due. Chaufe-soriz is 
 glossed a balke (for blake ?) in Bibeles- 
 worth (Nat. Antiq. p. 164), and blak 
 probably signifies a bat in the following 
 passage : 
 
 But at that yche breyde 
 
 That she furthe her synne seyde, 
 
 Come fleyng oute at her mouthe a blak; 
 
 That yche blak y dar wel telle, 
 
 That hyt was a fende of helle. 
 
 Manuel des Pecchds. 11864. 
 
 It is true the original has corneille, which 
 was probably changed in the E. trans- 
 lation to a bat, as a creature peculiarly 
 connected with devilry and witchcraft. 
 
 The name seems to be taken from ON. 
 blaka, blah'a, blakta, to flap, move to 
 and fro in the air with a light rapid 
 motion ; whence ledrblaka, the bat ; Sw. 
 dial, blakka, natt-blakka, the night-jar or 
 goat-sucker, a bird which, like the owl 
 and the bat, seeks its insect prey on the 
 wing in the evening. For the loss of the 
 / in back, bat, compared with blakka, 
 blatta, comp. E. badger, from Fr. bladier. 
 
 2. A staff, club, or implement for 
 4 * 
 
52 
 
 BATCH 
 
 striking. In some parts of England it is 
 the ordinary word for a stick at the 
 present day. A Sussex woman speaks 
 of putting a clung bat, or a dry stick, on 
 the fire. In Suffolk batlitis are loppings 
 of trees made up into faggots. Bret, bus, 
 a stick ; Gael, bat, a staff, cudgel, blud- 
 geon, and as a verb, to beat, to cudgel. 
 Mgy. bot, a stick. The origin of the 
 word is an imitation of the sound of a 
 blow by the syllable bat, the root of E. 
 imt, It. battere, Fr. battre, w. baeddtc. 
 Bat, a. blow. — Hal. The lighter sound 
 of the p in pat adapts the latter syllable 
 to represent a gentle blow, a blow with a 
 light instrument. The imitative nature 
 of the root bat is apparent in Sp. bata- 
 cazo, baquetazo, representing the noise 
 made by one in falling. 
 
 Batch. A batch of bread is so much 
 as is bakedzX. one time, G. gebdck,gebdcke. 
 
 Bate. Strife; makebate, a stirrer-up 
 of strife. Batyn, or make debate. Jurgor, 
 vel seminare discordias vel discordare. — 
 Pr. Pm. Fr. debat^ strife, altercation, 
 dispute. — Cot. 
 
 To Bate. i. Fr. abattre, to fell, beat, 
 or break down, quell, allay ; Sp. batir, to 
 beat, beat down, lessen, remit, abate. 
 
 2. A term in falconry; to flutter with 
 the wings. Fr. batt7'e les ailes. 
 
 Bath.— To Bathe.— To Bask. on. 
 bada, G. baden, to bathe. The primary 
 meaning of the word seems to be to 
 warm, then to warm by the application of 
 hot water, to foment, to refresh oneself in 
 water whether warm or cold. Sw. dial. 
 basa, bdda, badda, to heat ; solen baddar, 
 the sun burns ; solbase, the heat of the 
 sun ; badjish, fishes basking in the sun ; 
 basa, badda, bdda vidjor, as E. dial, to 
 death wood, to heat it before the fire or 
 in steam in order to make it take a 
 certain bend. 
 
 Faine in the sonde to bathe her merrily 
 Lieth Pertelotte, and all her sustirs by 
 Ayenst the sunne. — Chaucer. 
 
 Flem. betten, to foment with hot applica- 
 tions. G. bdheji, to foment, to warm, 
 seems related to badeti as Fr. trahirXo It. 
 tradire. Holz bdhen, to beath wood ; 
 brot bdhen, to toast bread. Hence pro- 
 bably may be explained the name of 
 Baiae, as signifying warm baths, to which 
 that place owed its celebrity. 
 
 It can hardly be doubted that hask is 
 the reflective form of the foregoing verbs, 
 from ON. badask, to bathe oneself, as E. 
 busk, to betake oneself, from ON. buask 
 for bua sik. ' I baske, I bathe in water 
 or in any licoure.' — Palsgr. Sw. dial, at 
 
 BATTLEMENT 
 
 basa sig i solen, to bask in the sun. Da. 
 dial, batte sig, to warm oneself at the 
 fire or in the sun. 
 
 Perhaps the a1)ove may be radically 
 identical with ON. baka, E. bake, to heat, 
 Slav, pak, heat. Baka sik vid elld, to 
 warm oneself at the fire. Pl.D. sich ba- 
 kern, E. dial, to beak, to warm oneself. 
 
 To Batten. To thrive, to feed, to 
 become fat. Goth. gabatna?t, to thrive, 
 to be profited, on. batna, to get better, to 
 become convalescent. Du. bat, bet, bet- 
 ter, more. See Better. 
 
 Batten. In carpenter's language a 
 scantling of wooden stuff from two to 
 four inches broad, and about an inch 
 thick. — Bailey. A batten fence is a fence 
 made by nailing rods of such a nature 
 across uprights. From bat in the sense 
 of rod ; perhaps first used adjectivally, 
 bat-en, made of bats, as wood-en, made of 
 wood. 
 
 Batter. Eggs, flour, and milk beaten 
 up together. 
 
 To Batter. — Battery. Battery, a 
 beating, an arrangement for giving blows, 
 is a simple adoption of Fr. batterie, from 
 battre, to beat. From battery was pro- 
 bably formed to batter under the con- 
 sciousness of the root bat in the sense of 
 blow, whence to batter would be a regular 
 frequentative, signifying to give repeated 
 blows, and would thus seem to be the 
 verb from which battery had been formed 
 in the internal development of the English 
 language. 
 
 Battle. — Battalion. It. batters, Fr. 
 battr-e, to beat ; se battre, to fight, whence 
 It. battaglia, Fr. bataille, a battle, also a 
 squadron, a band of armed men arranged 
 for fighting. In OE. also, battle was used 
 in the latter sense. 
 
 Scaffaldis, leddris and covering', 
 Pikkis, howis, and with staffslyng, 
 To ilk lord and his bataill, 
 Wes ordanyt, quhar he suld assaill. 
 
 Barbour in Jam. 
 
 Hence in the augmentative form It. bat- 
 taglione, a battalion, a main battle, a great 
 squadron. — Florio. 
 
 Battledoor. The bat with which a 
 shuttlecock is struck backwards and for- 
 wards. Sp. batador, a washing beetle, a 
 flat board with a handle for beating the 
 wet linen in washing. Batyldoure or 
 washynge betylle. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Battlement. From OFr. bastille, a 
 fortress or castle, was formed bastille, 
 made like a fortress, adapted for defence, 
 viz. in the case of a wall, by projections 
 which sheltered the defenders while they 
 
BAUBLE 
 
 shot through the indentures. Mur bas- 
 tille, an embattled wall, a wall with such 
 notches and indentures or battlements. 
 Batylment of a wall, propugnaculum. — 
 Pr. Pm. 
 
 Si vey ung vergier grant et M 
 Enclosd'unhault mux bastilld. — R. R. 
 
 Bauble, i. Originally an implement 
 consisting of lumps of lead hanging from 
 the end of a short stick, for the purpose 
 of inflicting a blow upon dogs or the like, 
 thxn ornamented burlesquely and used by 
 a Fool as his emblem of office. ' Ba- 
 buUe or bable — librilla, pegma/ ' Librilla 
 dicitur instrumentum librandi — a bable 
 or a dogge malyote.' ' Pegma, baculus 
 cum massa plumbi in summitate pen- 
 dente.' — Pr. Pm., and authorities in note. 
 
 The origin of the word is bab or bob, a 
 lump, and as a verb to move quickly up 
 ■And down or backwards and forwards. 
 ( kiel. bab, a tassel or hanging bunch ; E. 
 hablyn or waveryn, librillo, vacillo. — Pr. 
 Pm. 
 
 2. Bauble in the sense of a plaything 
 or trifle seems a different word, from Fr. 
 babiole, a trifle, whimwham, guigaw, or 
 small toy to play withal. — Cot. It. bab- 
 bolare, to play the babby, to trifle away 
 the time as children do ; babbole, child- 
 ish baubles, trifles, fooleries or fond 
 toys. — Fl. Swiss baben, to play with dolls 
 or toys. 
 
 Baudrick. — Baldrick. Prov. baudrat, 
 OFr. baiidrd; OHG. baldefich, a belt. — 
 Diez. Baudrick in OE. is used for a 
 sword-belt, scarf, collar. 
 
 Bavin. A brush faggot. OFr. baffe, 
 faisceau, fagot. — Lacombe. An analogous 
 form with an initial g instead of a <5 is 
 seen in Fr. javelle, a gavel, or sheaf of 
 corn, also a bavin or bundle of dry 
 sticks. — Cot. The Avord may perhaps be 
 derived from the above-mentioned bab or 
 bob, a lump or cluster ; Gael, baban, 
 babhaid, a tassel, cluster; Fr. bobme, a 
 bobbin or cluster of thread. 
 
 Bawdekin. Cloth of gold. It. bal- 
 dacchino, s. s., also the canopy carried 
 over the head of distinguished persons in 
 a procession, because made of cloth of 
 gold. The original meaning of the word 
 is Bagdad stuff, from Baldacca, Bagdad, 
 because cloth of gold was imported from 
 Bagdad. 
 
 Bawdy. Filthy, lewd ; in OE. dirty. 
 
 His overest slop it is not worth a mite — 
 It is all bawdy, and to-tore also. — Chaucer. 
 
 What doth clear perle in a bawdy boote. 
 
 Lydgate. 
 
 BAWSON 
 
 53 
 
 Swiss, bail, dung; baue, to manure the 
 fields, w. baw, dirt, filth, excrement. 
 To baw, to void the bowels. — Hal. Sc. 
 baiich, disgusting, sorry, bad. — Jam. 
 From Baw ! an interjection of disgust, 
 equivalent to Faugh ! being a represent- 
 ation of the exspiration naturally resorted 
 to as a defence against a bad smell. 
 
 Ye baw ! quoth a brewere 
 I woU noght be ruled 
 By Jhesu for all your janglynge 
 With Spiritus Justicise. — P. P. 
 
 for they beth as bokes tell us 
 
 Above Goddes workes. 
 
 ' Ye baw for bokes ' quod oon 
 
 Was broken out of Helle.— P. P. 
 
 The It. oibo / fie ! fie upon (Altieri), Fr. 
 bah I pooh ! nonsense ! and Sp. baf ! 
 expressive of disgust, must all be referred 
 to the same origin. ' There is a choler- 
 icke or disdainful interjection used in 
 the Irish language called Boagh ! which 
 is as much in Enghsh as Twish !' — Hol- 
 linshed, Descript. Irel. c. 8. To this 
 exactly corresponds Fr. pouac ! faugh ! 
 an interjection used when anything filthy 
 is shown or said, -whence poiiacre, rotten, 
 filthy. — Cot. In like manner Grisons 
 biiah ! buh / exclamation of astonish- 
 ment, leads to bua (in children's lan- 
 guage), nastiness, filth. 
 
 To Bawl. Formed from baw, the 
 representation of a loud shout, as Fr. 
 iniauler, E. to mewl, to make the noise 
 represented by the syllable miaii, mew. 
 The sound of a dog barking is repre- 
 sented by bail, bow (as in our nursery 
 bow-wow, a dog). Lat. banbare, Piedm. 
 fe bail, to bark ; battle, to bark, to talk 
 noisily, obstrepere. — Zalli. Swiss Rom. 
 bouala, bouaila, to vociferate, to cry. — 
 Bridel. ON. baiila, to low or bellow as 
 an ox. 
 
 Bawson. A name of the badger, from 
 the streaks of white on his face. It. bal~ 
 zano, a horse with white legs. Fr. bal- 
 zan, a horse that hath a white leg or foot, 
 the white of his leg or foot, also more 
 generally a white spot or mark in any 
 part of his body. — Cotgr. Prov. bausan, 
 OFr. baiigant, a horse marked with 
 white. Beauseent, the famous standard 
 of the Templars, was simply a field 
 divided between black and white. E. dial. 
 bawsoned, having a white streak down 
 the face. From Bret, bal, a white mark 
 on the face of animals, or the animal so 
 marked, whence the E. name of a cart- 
 horse. Ball. Gael, ball, a spot, a plot of 
 ground, an object. Ball-seirc, a beauty- 
 spot, ballach, spotted, speckled. E. pie- 
 
54 
 
 BAY 
 
 bald, marked like a pie. Probably con- 
 nected with Pol. bialo, Russ. biclo, 
 Bohem. bjly, white. Serv. bijel, white, 
 bilyes^a, a mark, bilyejiti, to mark. See 
 Bald. 
 
 Bay, 1. A hollow in the line of coast. 
 Fr. baie^ It. baja, Sp. bahia. Catalan 
 badia, from badar, to open, to gape, 
 dividere, dehiscere ; badarse, to open as 
 a blossom, to split. From Cat. badia to 
 Sp. bahia, the step is the same as from 
 It. tradire to Fr. trahir, to betray. See 
 At Bay. 
 
 Bay, 2. — Bay-window. The same 
 fundamental idea of an opening also 
 gives rise to the application of the term 
 Bay (in Architecture) to ' a space left in 
 a wall for a door, gate, or window ' — (in 
 Fortification), to ' holes in a parapet to 
 receive the mouth of a cannon.' — Bailey. 
 A barn of two bays, is one of two di- 
 visions or unbroken spaces for stowing 
 corn, &c., one on each side of the thresh- 
 ing-floor. 
 
 Earth 
 By Nature made to till, that by the yearly birth 
 The large-bayed bam doth fill.— Drayton in R. 
 
 In great public libraries cases may be erected 
 abutting into the apartment from the piers of the 
 windows, as they do not obstruct the light or air, 
 and afford pleasant bays in which to study in 
 quiet.— Journal Soc, Arts, Feb. 25, 1859. 
 
 A bay-window then is a window con- 
 taining in itself a bay, or recess in an 
 apartment ; in modern times, when the 
 architectural meaning of the word was 
 not generally understood, corrupted into 
 Bow-window, as if to signify a window of 
 curved outline. Fr. bee, a hole, overture, 
 or opening in the wall or other part of a 
 house, &c. — Cot. Swiss beie, baye, win- 
 dow ; bayen-stein, window-sill— Stalder. 
 Swab, bay, large window in a handsome 
 house. — Schmid. 
 
 Bay. Lat. badiiis, Sp. bayo. It. bajo, 
 Fr. bai. Gael, biiidhe, yellow; buidhe- 
 ruadJi, biiidhe-dhomi, bay. 
 
 To Bay. To bark as a dog. It. ab- 
 baiare, Fr. babayer, Lat. baubari, Gr. 
 Mai'lttv, Piedm.// bau, from an imitation 
 of the sound. See Bawl. 
 
 At Bay. It has been shown under 
 Abie, Abide, that from ba, representing 
 the sound made in opening the mouth, 
 arose two forms of the verb, one with and 
 one without the addition of a final d to 
 the root. ist, It. badare, having the 
 primary signification of opening the 
 mouth, then of doing whatever is marked 
 by involuntarily opening the mouth, as 
 gazing, watching intently, desiring, wait- 
 ing ; and 2ndly, Fr. bahcr^ baer, beer, 
 
 BE 
 
 baier, to open the mouth, to stare, to be 
 intent on anything. 
 
 From the former verb is the It. expres- 
 sion tenere a bada, to keep one waiting, 
 to keep at a bay, to amuse ; stare a bada 
 a'imo, to stand watching one. 
 
 Tal parve Anteo a me, che stava a bada di 
 vederlo chinare. Such Antceus seemed to me, 
 who stood watching him stoop. Non ti terro 
 con verso lungo et dubbii discorsi a bada. I will 
 not keep you waiting with a long story, &c. I 
 Pisani si mostrarono di volergli assalire di quella 
 parte e comniinciarono vi I'assalto per tenere i 
 nemici a bada. 
 
 i. e. in order to keep the enemy in check, 
 or at bay. 
 
 Ne was there man so strong but he down bore 
 Ne woman yet so faire but he her brought 
 Unto his bay and captived her thought. — F. Q. 
 
 he brought her to stand listening to him. 
 
 So well he wooed her and so well he wrought her 
 With faire entreaty and swete blandishment 
 That at the length unto a bay he brought her 
 So as she to his speeches was content 
 To lend on ear and softly to relent. — F. Q. 
 
 The stag is said to sta?id at bay, when, 
 weary of running, he turns and faces his 
 pursuers, and keeps them in check for a 
 while. As this crisis in the chase is ex- 
 pressed in Fr. by the term rendj-e les 
 abois, the term at bay has been supposed 
 to be derived from the Fr. aux dernier s 
 abois, at his last gasp, put to his last 
 shifts, which however, as may be seen 
 from the foregoing examples, would give 
 but a partial explanation of the expres- 
 sion. 
 
 Bayonet. Fr. baionette, a dagger. — • 
 Cot. Said to have been invented at Bay- 
 onne, or to have been first used at the 
 siege of Bayonne in 1665. — Diez. 
 
 Bay-tree. The laurus nobilis or true 
 laurel of the ancients, the laurel-bay, so 
 called from its bearing bays, or berries. 
 
 The royal laurel is a veiy tall and big tree — 
 and the bates or berries (baccae) which it bears 
 are nothing biting or unpleasant in taste. — Hol- 
 land's Pliny in R. 
 
 A garland of bays is commonly repre- 
 sented with berries between the leaves. 
 
 The word bay, Fr. bale, a berry, is per- 
 haps not directly from Lat. bacca, which 
 itself seems to be from a Celtic root. w. 
 bacon, berries. Gael, bagaid, a cluster of 
 grapes or nuts. Pro v. baca, baga, OSp. 
 baca. Mod. Sp. bay a, the cod of peas, 
 husk, berry. It. baccello, the cod or husk 
 of beans or the like, especially beans. 
 
 * To Be. AS. beonj Gael, beo, alive, 
 living ; beothach, a beast, living thing ; 
 Ir. bioth, life, the world ; Gr. /S/of, life. 
 
BEACH 
 
 It is not until a somewhat advanced 
 stage in the process of abstraction that 
 the idea of simple being is attained, and 
 a verb with that meaning is wholly want- 
 ing in the rudest languages. The negro 
 who speaks imperfect English uses in- 
 stead the more concrete notion of living. 
 He says, Your hat no lib that place you 
 put him in. — Farrar, Chapters on Lang. 
 p. 54. A two-year old nephew of mine 
 would say, Where it live ? where is it ? 
 Now the breath is universally taken as 
 the type of life, and the syllable pu ox fu 
 is widely used in the most distant lan- 
 guages to express the notion of blowing 
 or breathing, and thus may explain the 
 origin of the rooX-fic in l^zX.fui^finsse, or 
 of Sanscr. bhu, be. 
 
 Beach. The immediate shore of the 
 sea, the part overflowed by the tide. 
 Thence applied to the pebbles of which 
 the shore often consists. 
 
 We haled our bark over a bar of beach, or 
 pebble stones, into a small river. — Hackluyt in R. 
 
 Perhaps a modification of Dan. bakke, 
 N. bakkje, Sw. backe, a hill, bank, rising 
 ground. In Norfolk ba?tk is commonly 
 used instead of beach. — Miss Gurney in 
 Philolog. Trans, vol. vii. 
 
 Beacon. — Beck. — Beckon, ohg. bau- 
 han, OSax. bokan, AS. beaceji, a sign, a 
 nod ; OHG. fora-bauhan, a presage, pro- 
 digy ; bajihnjajt, ON. bdktia, AS. beaaiian, 
 nutu significare, to beckon. The term 
 beaco7i is confined in E. to a fire or some 
 conspicuous object used as a signal of 
 danger. 
 
 The origin seems preserved in E. beck^ 
 to bow or nod ; Catalan becar, to nod ; 
 Gael, beic, a curtsey, perhaps from the 
 image of a bird pecking ; Gael, beic, a 
 beak. 
 
 Than peine I me to stretchen forth my neck, 
 And East and West vipon the peple I becke. 
 As doth a dove sitting upon a bern. 
 
 Pardoner's Tale. 
 
 He (Hardicanute) made a law that every Inglis 
 man sal bek and discover his bed quiien he met 
 ane Dane. — Bellenden in Jam. 
 
 Esthon. nokkifna, to peck as a bird ; 
 nokkutama pead, to nod the head. 
 
 Bead. A ball of some ornamental 
 material, pierced for hanging on a string, 
 and originally used for the purpose of 
 helping the memory in reciting a certain 
 tale of prayers or doxologies. AS. bead, 
 gebed, a prayer. See To Bid. To bid 
 one's bedes or beads was to say one's 
 prayers. 
 
 Beadle, as. bydel, the messenger of a 
 
 BEAR 
 
 55 
 
 court, ofTicer in attendance on the digni- 
 taries of a university or church. Fr. 
 bedeau, It. bidello. Probably an equiv- 
 alent of the modern waiter, an attendant, 
 from AS. bidau, to wait. It will be ob- 
 served that the word attendant has also a 
 like origin in Fr. attendre, to wait. 
 Home is he brought and laid in sumptuous bed 
 Where many skilful leeches him abide 
 To salve his hurts. — F. Q 
 i. e. wait upon him. 
 
 * Beagle. A small kind of hound 
 tracking by scent. ' The Frenchmen 
 stil like good begeles following their 
 prey.' — Hall's Chron. Commonly re- 
 ferred to Fr. beugler, to bellow, which is, 
 however, not applied to the yelping of 
 dogs. Moreover the name, according to 
 Menage, was introduced from England 
 into France, and therefore was not likely 
 to have a French origin. 
 
 Beak. A form that has probably de- 
 scended to us from a Celtic origin. Gael. 
 beic. ' Cui Tolosae nato cognomen in 
 pueritia Becco fuerat : id valet gallinacei 
 rostrum.' — Suetonius in Diez. It. becco, 
 Fr. bee, Bret, bek, w. pig. It forms a 
 branch of a very numerous class of words 
 clustered round a root pik, signifying a 
 point, or any action done with a pointed 
 thing. 
 
 Beam. — Boom. Goth, bagnis, ON. 
 badnir, G. baiini, Du. boom, a tree. AS. 
 beam, a tree, stock, post, beam. The 
 boom of a vessel is the beam or pole by 
 which the sail is stretched, coming to 
 us, like most nautical terms, from_the 
 Netherlands or North Germany. 
 
 Bean. g. bohne; on. baujt. Gr. 
 TTvavoQ, Kvafiog, hat. /aba, Slavon. bob. 
 w. /^a, beans, ffaen, a single bean, the 
 addition of a final en being the usual 
 mark of individuality. Bret, fa or fav, 
 beans, or the plant which bears them ; 
 faen oxfaven, a single bean, "^Xwx.favejt- 
 nou or faetinon, as well as fa or fav. 
 Thus the final eii, signifying individuality, 
 adheres to the root, and Lat. faba is 
 connected through Oberdeutsch bobn 
 (Schwenck) with G. bohne, E. bean. 
 
 Bear. The wild beast. G. bar, ON, 
 Morn. 
 
 To Bear. 'L.2X.fero,fer-re; Gr. ^spar ; 
 Goth, bairan, to carry, support, and also 
 to bear children, to produce young. The 
 latter sense may have been developed 
 through the notion of a tree bearing fruit, 
 or from the pregnant mother carrying 
 her young. It is singular, however, that 
 the forms corresponding to the two sig- 
 nifications should be so distinct in Latin, 
 
S6 BEARD 
 
 fero^ to carry, ?ccApario, to bear children, 
 produce, bring forth. 
 
 From bear in the sense of carrying we 
 have Goth, baurthei^ ON. byrcti, E. bur- 
 den; from the same in the sense of bear- 
 ing children, Goth, gabaurths^ birth. The 
 ON. burdr is used in the sense of a car- 
 rying, bearing, and also in that of birth. 
 
 Beard, g. bart^ Russ. boroda, Bo- 
 hem, brada, the beard, chin. Lat. barba, 
 w. barf. Perhaps radically identical 
 with ON. bard, a lip, border, edge. See 
 Halbard. 
 
 Beast. Lat. bestia; Gael, blast, an 
 animal, perhaps a living thing, beo, 
 living ; W. byw, living, to live. 
 
 Beat. AS. beatan; It. battere, Fr. 
 battre ; from a root bat, imitative of the 
 sound of a sharp blow, as pat imitates 
 that of a more gentle one. See Bat. 
 
 Beauty. Fr. beautd, from beau, bel, 
 It. bello, Lat. bellus, pretty, handsome, 
 agreeable. 
 
 Beaver, i. The quadruped. G. biber, 
 Lat. fiber, Lith. bebrus, Slav, bobr, Fr. 
 bi^vre. Secondarily applied to a hat, 
 because made of the fur of the beaver. 
 Perhaps from Pol. babraJ, to dabble ; 
 bobrowat', to wade through the water 
 like a beaver. 
 
 2. The moveable part of a helmet, 
 which, when up, covered the face, and 
 when down occupied the place of a child's 
 bib or slobbering cloth. Fr. baviere, 
 from baver, to slobber. It. bava, Sp. 
 baba, Fr. bave, slobber. The OFr. bave 
 expressed as well the flow of the saUva 
 as the babble of the child, whence baveux, 
 bavard, Pro v. bavec, talkative. — Diez. 
 
 Beck, 1. — Beckon. A nod or sign. 
 See Beacon. 
 
 Beck, 2. ON. bekkr, Dan. bak, G. 
 bach, a brook. As rlvus, a brook, is 
 connected with rlpa, a bank, while from 
 the latter are derived It. rlvlera, a bank, 
 shore, or river, and Fr. rlvllre, formerly a 
 bank, but now a river only ; and ON. 
 bekkr, signifies both bench (= bank) and 
 brook ; it is probable that here also the 
 name applied originally to the bank then 
 to the brook itself. See Bank. 
 
 To Become, i. To attain to a certain 
 condition, to assume a certain form or 
 mode of being. AS. becuman, to attain 
 to, to arrive at. 
 
 Thaet thu maege becuman to tham gesaelthan 
 the ece thurhwimiath. That thou mayest attain 
 to those goods which endure for ever. — Boeth. 
 
 G. bekominen, to get, receive, obtain, 
 acquire. — Kiittner. It will be observed 
 that we often use indifferently become or 
 
 BEDIZEN 
 
 get ; ' He got very angry,' ' He became 
 very angry,' are equivalent expressions, 
 implying that he attained the condition 
 of being very angry. 
 
 2. In a second sense to become is to be 
 fitting or suitable. G. bequem, convenient, 
 fit, proper ; E. comely, pleasing, agreeable. 
 This meaning is to be explained from 
 AS. becuman, to come to or upon, to 
 befall, to happen. He becom on sceathan, 
 he fell among thieves. Tha;m godum 
 becymth anfeald yvel, to the good hap- 
 pens unmixed evil. — Bosworth. Now the 
 notion of being convenient, suitable, fit- 
 ting, rests on the supposition of a purpose 
 to be fulfilled, or a feeling to be gratified. 
 If the accidents or circumstances of the 
 case happen as we would have them, if 
 they fall in with what is required to satisfy 
 our taste, judgment, or special purpose, 
 we call the arrangement becoming, con- 
 venient, proper, and we shall find that 
 these and similar notions are commonly 
 expressed by derivatives from verbs sig- 
 nifying to happen. Thus OE. fall was 
 constantly used in the sense of falling or 
 happening rightly, happening as it ought. 
 
 Do no favour, I do thee pray, 
 lifallith nothing to thy name 
 I'o make fair semblant where thou mayest blame. 
 Chaucer, R. R. 
 In darkness of unknowynge they gonge 
 Without light of understandynge 
 Of that ihaifalleth to r\'ghte knowynge. 
 
 Prick of Conscience. 
 
 i. e. of that that belongeth to right know- 
 ing. So in ON. ' all-vel til Hofdingia 
 fcilllnn^ every way suited to a prince. G. 
 gefallen, to please, to fall in with our 
 taste, as fall itself was sometimes used 
 in E. 
 
 With shepherd sits not following flying fame, 
 But feed his flock in fields vihere falls him best. 
 Shep. Cal. 
 
 On the same principle, AS. Ihnpian, to 
 happen, to appertain, limplice, fitly ; ge- 
 limpan, to happen, gelimplic, opportune. 
 AS. timan,getiman, to happen, G. ziemen, 
 to become, befit, E. seemly, suitable, 
 proper ; OSw. tida, to happen, tidig, fit, 
 decent, decorous, E. tidy, now confined 
 to the sense of orderly. In like manner 
 Turk, dushmak, to fall, to happen, to fall 
 to the lot of any one, to be a part of his 
 duty, to be incumbent upon him. 
 
 Bed. A place to lie down, to sleep on. 
 Goth, badi, ON. bedr, G. bett. 
 
 Bedizen. To load with ornament, to 
 dress with unbecoming richness ; and to 
 dizeti out was used in the same sense. 
 Probably from OE. dize or dizen, to clothe 
 
BEDLAM 
 
 a distaff with flax, though the metaphor 
 does not appear a striking one to our ears. 
 I dysyn a dystaffe, I put the flax upon it 
 to spin. — Palsgr. But possibly bedizen 
 may be from Fr. badigeoimer, to rough- 
 cast, to colour with lime-wash, erroneously 
 modified in form, by the analogy of be- 
 dawb, as if it were derived from a simple 
 verb to disen, which latter would thus 
 be brought into use by false etymology. 
 The passage from a soft ^ to 5- is of fre- 
 quent occurrence, as in It. prigione, Fr. 
 prison; Venet. cogionare, E. cozen j It. 
 cugino, E. cousin. 
 
 To plaister or bedawb with ornament 
 is exactly the image represented by be- 
 dizen. The same metaphor is seen in 
 Fr. crespir, to parget or rough-cast ; 
 femme crespie de cotileurs, whose face is 
 all to bedawbed or plaistered over with 
 painting. — Cot. 
 
 Bedlam. A madhouse, from the hos- 
 pital of St Mary, Bethlehem, used for 
 that purpose in London. 
 
 Bedotiin. Arab, bedaivt, a wandering 
 Arab ; an inhabitant of the desert, from 
 dedou (in vulgar Arab.), desert. 
 
 Bed-ridden. Confined to bed. AS. 
 bedrida, Pi.D. bedde-redir ; OHG. bet- 
 tiriso, from risan, to fall. — Grimm. Fett- 
 ris, qui de lecto surgere non potest ; 
 pettiriso, paralyticus. — Gl. in Schmeller. 
 So Gr. KXlvoTTiTTjg, from irtr-, fall. 
 
 Bee. The honey-producing insect. AS. 
 beoy ON. by-Jiiiga; G. bietie, Bernese, 
 beji. Gael, beach^ a bee, a wasp, a stinging 
 fly ; beach-each^ a horse-fly ; speach, a 
 blow or thrust, also the bite or sting of a 
 venomous creature, a wasp. 
 
 Beech. A tree. G. buche, ON. beyki, 
 Slav, buk, btika, bukva, Lat. fagus, Gr. 
 
 Beef. Fr. basjif, an ox, the meat of 
 the ox. It. bove, from Lat. bos, bovis, an 
 ox. 
 
 Beer. i. Originally, doubtless, drink, 
 from the root pi, drink, extant in Bohem. 
 piti, to drink, imperative pi, whence 
 piwo, beer. The Lat. bibere is a re- 
 duplicated form of the root, which also 
 appears in Gr. ttiw, jcivm, to drink, and in 
 Lat. poculu7n, a cup or implement for 
 drink ; poius, drink. Gael, bior, water. 
 
 In OE. beer seems to have had the 
 sense of drink, comprehending both wine 
 and ale. 
 
 Rymenild ros of benche 
 The beer al for te shenche 
 After mete in sale, 
 Bothe wyn and ale. 
 An horn hue ber an hond, 
 For that was law of lond. 
 
 BEETLE 
 
 57 
 
 Hue drone of the beere 
 To knyght and skyere. — 1. T114. 
 Hue fulde the horn of wyne 
 And dronk to that pelryne. 
 
 K. Horn, 1156. 
 
 2. A pillow-beer, a pillow-case. Dan. 
 vaar, a cover, case, pude-vaar, a pil- 
 low case. G. kiissen-biere. PI.D. bin-en, 
 kiissen-biirett, a cushion-cover ; beds- 
 biiren, a bed-tick. Properly a cover that 
 may be slipped on and off. Fin. waarin, 
 I turn (a garment), Esthon. poord?na, to 
 turn, to twist ; poorma, to turn, to change ; 
 padja-poor, a pillow-case or pillow-beer 
 {paddi, a pad or cushion). 
 
 * Beestings. The first milk after a 
 cow has calved, which is thick and 
 clotty, and in Northampton called cherry- 
 curds. G. biest-milch, also bienst, briest, 
 briesch-milch; AS. beost, byst. The mean- 
 ing of the word is curdled. Fr. calle- 
 bojite, curded or beesty, as the milk of a 
 woman that is newly delivered. — Cot. 
 Prov. sang vermeilh betatz, red curdled 
 blood. — Rom. de Fierabras in Diez. The 
 earth was in the Middle Ages supposed 
 to be surrounded by a sea of so thick a 
 substance as to render navigation im- 
 possible. This was called iner bet^e in 
 Fr. and lebenner in G., the loppered sea, 
 from leberen, to curdle or lopper. ' La 
 mars betada, sela que environna la terra.' 
 In a passage of an Old Fr. translation 
 cited by Diez, 'ausi com ele (la mer) fust 
 bietee^ the last word corresponds to co- 
 agulatum in the original Latin. Let. 
 bees, thick, close together as teeth in a 
 comb, trees in a forest ; beest, to become 
 thick, to coagulate. 
 
 Beet. A garden-herb. Fr. bette or 
 blettej Lat. beta, bletumj Gr. (SXLtov, 
 spinach. 
 
 Beetle, i. The general name of in- 
 sects having a horny wing-cover. Pro- 
 bably named from the destructive quali- 
 ties of those with which w^e are most 
 familiar. AS. bilel, the biter. ' Mordi- 
 culus, hitela..' — Gl. ^Ifr. in Nat. Ant. 
 
 2. Beetle, boy tie, a wooden hammer for 
 driving piles, stakes, wedges, &c. — B. 
 AS. bytl, a mallet. PI. D. betel, bote I, a 
 
 clog for a dog ; boteln, to knock, to flatten 
 sods with a beater. G. beutel, a mal- 
 let for beating flax. Bav. bossen, to 
 knock, to beat ; bossel, a washing beetle 
 or bat for striking the wet linen. Fr. 
 bate, a paviour's beetle ; batail, It. bat- 
 taglio, a clapper, the knocker of a door. 
 
 But besides signifying the instrument 
 of beating, beetle also signified the im- 
 
38 
 
 BEG 
 
 plement driven by blows, a stone-cutter's 
 chisel, a wedge for cleaving wood. OHG. 
 steinbozil^ lapidicinus. — Schm. G. beis- 
 sely beutel, Du. beitel^ a chisel, a wedge. 
 
 — a grete oke, which he had begonne to cleve, 
 and as men be woned he had smeten two betels 
 therein, one after that other, in suclie wyse that 
 the oke was wide open. — Caxton's Reynard the 
 Fox, chap. viii. 
 
 In the original 
 
 So had he daer twee beitels ingheslagen. 
 
 N. & Q. Nov. 2, 1867. 
 When by the help of wedges and beetles an 
 image is cleft out of the trunk. — Stillingfleet. 
 
 The G. beissel, Du. beitd,2i chisel, is com- 
 monly, but probably erroneously, referred 
 to the notion of biting. 
 
 To Beg. Skinner's derivation from bag, 
 although it appears improbable at first, 
 carries conviction on further examination. 
 The Flem. beggaert (Delfortrie) probably 
 exhibits the original form of the word, 
 whence the E. begger, and subsequently 
 the verb to beg. Beghardus, vir mendi- 
 cans. — Vocab. 'ex quo.' A.D. 1430, in 
 Deutsch. Mundart. iv. Hence the name 
 of Begard given to the devotees of the 
 13th & 14th centuries, also called Bigots, 
 Lollards, &c. It must be borne in mind 
 that the bag was a universal character- 
 istic of the beggar, at a time when all his 
 alms were given in kind, and a beggar is 
 hardly ever introduced in our older writers 
 without mention being made of his bag. 
 
 Hit is beggares rihte vorte beren bagge on bac 
 and burgeises for to beren purses. — ^Ancren Riwle, 
 168. 
 
 Ac beggers with bagges — 
 Reccheth never the ryche 
 Thauh such lorelles sterven. — P. P. 
 Bidderes and beggeres 
 Faeste about yede 
 With hire belies & here bagges 
 Of brede full ycrammed. — P. P. 
 Bagges and beggitig he bad his folk leven. 
 
 P. P. Creed. 
 And yet these bilderes wol beggen a bag full of 
 
 whete 
 Of a pure poor man. — P. P. 
 
 And thus gate I begge 
 Without bagge other bote! 
 But my wombe one. — P. P. 
 That maketh beggers go with bordons and 
 bags. — Political Songs. 
 
 So from Gael, bag {baigea7t, a little 
 bag), baigeir, a beggar, which may per- 
 haps be an adoption of the E. word, but 
 in the same language from poc, a bag or 
 poke, is formed pocair, a beggar ; air a 
 phoc, on the tramp, begging, literally, on 
 the bag. Lith. krapszas, a scrip ; sti 
 krapszais aplink eiti, to go a begging. 
 From w. ysgrepan^ a scrip, ysgrepa^m, to 
 
 BEGONE 
 
 go a begging. It. bertola, a wallet, such 
 as poor begging friars use to beg withal ; 
 bcrtolate, to shift up and down for scraps 
 and victuals. — Florio. T>2LXi. pose, a bag ; 
 Pose-pUte, a beggar-boy. Mod. Gr. 
 GvXuKog, a bag, a scrip ; evXaKt^u), to beg. 
 Fr. Mettre quelq'un a la besace, to re- 
 duce him to beggary. 
 
 To Begin. AS. aginnan, onginnait, 
 beginnan Goth, duginnan. In Luc vi. 
 25, the latter is used as an auxiliary of 
 the future. ' Unte gaunon jah gretan 
 duginnid,' for ye shall lament and weep. 
 In a similar manner ^^^;^ or can was fre- 
 quently used in OE. 'Aboutin undern 
 gan this Erie alight.' — Clerk of Oxford's 
 tale. He did alight, not began to alight, 
 as alighting is a momentary operation. 
 
 The tother seand the dint cum, gan provyde 
 To eschew swiftlie, and sone lap on syde 
 That all his force Entellus can apply 
 Into the are — D. V. 142. 40. 
 
 Down duschit the beist, deid on the land can ly 
 Spreuland and fiycterand in the dede thrawes. 
 
 D.V. 
 To Scotland went he then in hy 
 And all the land gati occupy. 
 
 Barbour, Bruce. 
 
 The verb to gin or begin appears to be 
 one of that innumerable series derived 
 from a root gan, gen, ken, in all the lan- 
 guages of the Indo-Germanic stock, sig- 
 nifying to conceive, to bear young, to 
 know, to be able, giving in Gr. y/yvo^ai, 
 
 yivofiat, ysvog, yiyvojffKU), yivwoKU), in Lat. 
 
 gigno, genus, in E. can, ken, kind, &c. 
 
 The fundamental meaning seems to be 
 to attain to, to acquire. To produce 
 children is to acc^uire, to get children ; 
 bigitan in Ulphilas is always to find ; in 
 AS. it is both to acquire and to beget, to 
 get children. 
 
 To begin may be explained either from 
 the fundamental notion of attaining to, 
 seizing, taking up, after the analogy of 
 the G. anfangen, and Lat. incipere, from 
 G. fangen and Lat. capere, to take ; or 
 the meaning may have passed through a 
 similar stage to that of Gr. yiyvo\iai, 
 yivfTai, to be born, to arise, to begin; 
 ysvtaig, ytvsTr), origin, beginning. 
 
 It will be observed that get is used as 
 an auxiliary in a manner very similar to 
 the OE. gan, can, above quoted ; ' to get 
 beaten ; ' ON. ' at geta talad,' to be able 
 to talk ; ' abouten undern gan this earl 
 alight,' about undern he got down. 
 
 Begone. Gold-begone, ornamented 
 with gold, covered with gold — D. V. ; 
 woc-begorie, oppressed with woe. Du. 
 begaan, affected, touched with emotion ; 
 
BEHAVE 
 
 begaen zijn met eenighe saecke, premi 
 cura alicujus rei, laborare, solicitum esse. 
 — Kil. 
 
 To Behave. The notion of behaviour 
 is generally expressed by means of verbs 
 signifying to bear, to carry, to lead. 
 Ye shall dwell here at your will 
 But your bearing be full ill. 
 
 K. Robert in Warton. 
 
 It. ;porfarsi^ to behave ; portarsi da 
 Paladmo, for a man to behave or carry 
 himself stoutly. — Fl. G. betragen^ be- 
 haviour, from tragen, to carry. In ac- 
 cordance with these analogies we should 
 be inclined to give to the verb have in 
 behave the sense of the Sw. hcefwa, to 
 lift, to carry, the equivalent of E. heave^ 
 rather than the vaguer sense of the aux- 
 iliary to have, Sw. hafwa, habere. But, 
 in fact, the two verbs seem radically the 
 same, and their senses intermingle. Sw. 
 hcefwa in seed, to carry corn into the 
 barn ; ha:f tig bort, take yourself off; 
 ha/wa bort, to take away, to turn one 
 out ; ha/wa f ram, to bring forwards. AS. 
 habban, to have, hafjan, to heave; iif- 
 haban, us-hafjan, to raise. G. gehaben, 
 to behave, and (as Fr. se porter) to fare 
 well or ill. 
 
 Mid hym he had a stronge axe — So strong- and 
 so gret that an other hit scholde hebbe unethe. — 
 R. G. 17. 
 
 Behest. — Hest. Command, injunc- 
 tion. AS. hces, command; behces, vow; 
 behat, gehat, vow, promise ; behatan, ge- 
 hata7i, OE. behete, to vow, to promise ; 
 AS. hatan, to vow, promise, command ; 
 Du. heeten, to command, to name, to 
 call, to be named; heeten willekom, to 
 bid one welcome. ON. heita, to call, to 
 be named, to vow, exhort, invoke. Goth. 
 haitan, to call, to command. The 
 general meaning seems to be to speak 
 out, an act which may amount either to a 
 promise or a command, according as the 
 subject of the announcement fs what the 
 speaker undertakes to do himself, or 
 what he wishes another to do ; or the 
 object of the speaker may be simply to 
 indicate a particular individual as the 
 person addressed, when the verb will 
 have the sense of calling or naming. 
 
 Behind. At the back of. The re- 
 lations of place are most naturally ex- 
 pressed by means of the different mem- 
 bers of the body. Thus in Finnish the 
 name of the head is used to express what 
 is on the top of or opposite to, the name 
 of the ear to express what is on the side 
 of anything. And so from hanta, the 
 
 BEHOVE 59 
 
 tail, are formed hannassa, behind, han- 
 nittaa, to follow, hantyri, a follower, and 
 as the roots of many of our words are 
 preserved in the Finnish languages, it 
 is probable that we have in the Finnish 
 hanta the origin of our behind, at the 
 tail of. 
 
 To Behold. To look steadily upon. 
 The compound seems here to preserve 
 what was the original sense of the simple 
 verb to hold. AS. healdan, to regard, 
 observe, take heed of, to tend, to feed, to 
 keep, to hold. To hold a doctrine for 
 true is to regard it as true, to look upon 
 it as true ; to hold it a cruel act is to 
 regard it as such. The Lat, servare, to 
 keep, to hold, is also found in the sense 
 of looking, commonly expressed, as in 
 the case of E. behold, by the compound 
 observare. * Tuus servus servet Venerine 
 faciat an Cupidini.' Let your slave look 
 whether she sacrifices to Venus or to 
 Cupid. — Plautus. The verb to look itself 
 is frequently found in the sense of looking 
 after, seeing to, taking notice or care of 
 (Gloss, to R. G.). The It. guardare, to 
 look, exhibits the original meaning of 
 the Fr. garder, to keeo or hold, and the 
 E. ward, keeping. 
 
 The supposition then that the notion 
 of preserving, keeping, holding is origin- 
 ally derived from that of looking, is sup- 
 ported by many analogies, while it seems 
 an arbitrary ellipse to explain the sense 
 of behold as ' to keep or hold (sc. the eyes 
 fixed upon any object).' — Richardson. 
 
 Beholden in the sense of indebted is 
 the equivalent of Du. gehouden, G. ge- 
 halten, bound, obliged. Aan iemand 
 gehouden zijn, to be obliged to one, to be 
 beholden to him. G. zu etwas gehalten 
 seyn, to be obliged to do a thing. Wohl 
 2M.i^\VLQxv gehalten seyn, to be well pleased 
 with one's conduct. — Kiittn. 
 
 * To Behove. To be expedient, to be 
 required for the accomplishment of any 
 purpose; behoof, what is so required, 
 hence advantage, furtherance, use. AS. 
 behofiatt, to be fit, right, or necessary, to 
 stand in need of; behefe, advantage, be- 
 hoof. 
 
 The expression seems to be taken from 
 the figure of throwing at a mark. To 
 heave a stone is used in vulgar language 
 for throwing it. N. hevja, to lift, to 
 heave; hevja, hove, to cast or throw; 
 hbva, to hit the mark, to meet, adjust, 
 adapt, to be suitable or becoming ; hovast, 
 to meet, to fit. Sw. hofwa, the distance 
 within which one can strike an object or at- 
 
6o 
 
 BELAY 
 
 tain a certain end, and, met. measure, 
 
 bounds, moderation. Det er ofwer er hof- 
 wa, cela est audessus de votre portde, 
 that is above your capacity ; where it will 
 be observed that the Fr. employs the same 
 metaphor in the term porU'e, range, dis- 
 tance to which a piece will carry. 
 
 In the middle voice hofwas, to be re- 
 quired for a certain purpose, to befit, 
 behove. Det hofdes en annan til at 
 ntratta slikt, it behoved another kind of 
 man to do such things. ON. hi:efa, to hit 
 the mark ; hai/i, aim, reach, fitness, pro- 
 portion. See Gain. 3. 
 
 To Belay. Du. beleggen, to lay 
 around, overspread, beset, garnish ; bc- 
 iegsel, fringe, border, ornament. 
 
 All in a woodman's jacket he was clad 
 
 Of Lincoln green belayed with golden lace. — F. Q. 
 
 Du. De kabel aan de beeting beleggen, 
 to lay the cable round the bits, to make 
 it fast, in nautical language, to belay. 
 
 To Belch. AS. bealcan, bealcettan j 
 OE. to bolk, to boke, to throw up wind 
 from the stomach with a sudden noise. 
 Doubtless an imitation of the sound. 
 Another application of the same word is 
 in Pl.D. and Du. bolken, bulkoi, to bel- 
 low, to roar. 
 
 Beldam. Fair sir and Fair lady, Fr. 
 beau sire and bel dame, were civil terms 
 of address. Then, probably because a 
 respectful form of address would be more 
 frequent towards an elderly than a young 
 person, beldam became appropriated to 
 signify an old woman, and finally an ugly 
 and decrepit old woman. 
 
 Belfry. Fr. beffroi, OFr. berfj'oi, bef- 
 froit, a watch tower, from MHG. bercvrit, 
 bervrit, a tower for defence ; OHG. frid, 
 a tower, turris, locus securitatis — Schilter, 
 and bergan, to protect. The word be- 
 came singularly corrupted in foreign lan- 
 guages, appearing in Mid.Lat. under the 
 forms belfrediim, bertefredum, battefre- 
 dum. It. beta/redo, a little shed, stand, 
 or house, built upon a tower for soldiers 
 to stand centinel in ; also a blockhouse 
 or a sconce. — Fl. In England a false 
 etymology has confined the name of 
 belfry, properly belonging to the church 
 tower, to the chamber in the upper part 
 of the tower in which the bells are hung. 
 
 To Believe. It is not obvious how to 
 harmonise the senses of believing, prais- 
 ing, permitting or giving leave, promis- 
 ing, which are expressed in the different 
 Teutonic dialects by essentially the same 
 word or slight modifications of it; Pl.D. 
 
 BELL 
 
 loven, laven, to believe; Du. loven, to 
 praise, to promise, orloven, to give leave ; 
 Dan. lov, praise, reputation, leave ; ON. 
 lofa, ley/a, to praise, to give leave; AS. 
 leaf a, geleafa, belief ; gelyfan, to believe, 
 lyfan, alyfui, to give leave ; G. glaubefi, 
 to believe, loben, to praise, erlauben, to 
 permit, verloben, to promise or engage. 
 
 The fundamental notion seems to be 
 to approve, to sanction an arrangement, 
 to deem an object in accordance with a 
 certain standard of fitness. In this sense 
 we have Goth, galaubs, flu-galaubsy 
 precious, honoured, esteemed ; ungalaub 
 kas, iIq arifiiav (TKivog, a vessel made for 
 dishonour, for purposes of low estimation ; 
 Pl.D. laveu, Du. loven, to fix a price 
 upon one's wares, to estimate them at a 
 certain rate. To believe, then, Goth. 
 laubjan, galaiibjan, is to esteem an as- 
 sertion as good for as much as it lays 
 claim to ; if a narration, to esteem it true 
 or in accordance with the fact it professes 
 to describe ; if a promise, to esteem it as 
 in accordance with the intention of the 
 promiser. 
 
 The sense of praising may be easily 
 deduced from the same radical notion. 
 Ho praise is essentially to prize, to put a 
 high price or value on, to extol the worth 
 of anything, to express approval, or high 
 estimation. Hence to simple approbation, 
 satisfaction, consent, permission, is an 
 easy progress. Pl.D. to der sivaren lave, 
 to the approbation or satisfaction of the 
 sworn inspectors ; mit erven lave, with 
 the consent of the heirs. In Mid.Lat. 
 the consent given by a lord to the alien- 
 ation of a tenant's fief was expressed by 
 the term latis, and E. allow, which has 
 been shown to be derived from laudai'e^ 
 is used in the sense of approving, esteem- 
 ing good and valid, giving leave or per- 
 mission, and sometimes in a sense closely 
 analogous to that of believe. 
 
 The principles which all mankind allow for 
 true, are innate ; those that men of right reason 
 admit are the principles allowedhy all mankind. 
 — Locke. 
 
 Bell. From AS. bellan, ON. belja^ 
 boare, to resound, to sound loudly; Sw. 
 bola, to bellow; Northamptonshire, to 
 bell, to make a loud noise, to cry out 
 (Sternberg). A bell, then, ON. bialla, is 
 an implement for making a loud noise. 
 Templorum campana boant. — Ducange. 
 
 ON. bylja, resonare, and E. peal, are other 
 modifications of the same imitative root, 
 of which the latter is specially applied to 
 the sound of bells. The same imita- 
 
BELLOWS 
 
 tion is found in Galla, bilbila, bell; bil- 
 bil-goda, to make bilbil, to ring. — Tut- 
 schek. 
 
 Bellows.— Belly. The word ialg, 
 bolg, is used in several Celtic and Teu- 
 tonic languages to signify any inflated 
 skin or case. Gael, balg, bolg, a leather 
 bag, wallet, belly, blister ; balgan-snajnha, 
 the swimming bladder ; balgan-tnsge, a 
 water-bubble ; builge, bags or bellows, 
 seeds of plants. Bret, belch, bolch, polch, 
 the bolls or husks of flax ; AS. bcelg, a 
 bag, pouch, cod or husk of pulse, wallet ; 
 blcBst-bcElg, a bellows.; G. balg, skin, 
 husk, pod, the skin of those animals that 
 are stripped off whole ; blase-balg, a blow- 
 ing-skin, bellows. ON. belgr, an inflated 
 skin, leather sack, bellows, belly. Sw. 
 bcelg, a bellows, vulgarly the belly. 
 
 The original signification is probably 
 a water-bubble (still preserved by the 
 Gaelic diminutive balgan), which affords 
 the most obvious type of inflation. The 
 application of the term to the belly, the 
 sack-like case of the intestines, as well as 
 to a bellows or blowing -bag, needs no ex- 
 planation. It seems that bulga was used 
 for womb or belly by the Romans, as a 
 fragment of Lucilius has : 
 
 Ita ut quisque nostrum e bulgd est matris in 
 lucem editus. 
 
 It is probable that Gr. ^oX(3ri, Lat. 
 ruolva, vulva, the womb, is a kindred 
 form, from another modification of the 
 word for bubble, from which is also bul- 
 bus, a round or bubble-shaped root, or a 
 root consisting of concentric skins. 
 
 In E. bellows, the word, like trowsers 
 and other names of things consisting of a 
 pair of principal members, has assumed 
 a plural form. 
 
 To Belong-, Du. langen, to reach, to 
 attain ; belangen, to attain to, to concern, 
 to belong, attingere, attinere, pertinere, 
 pervenire. — Kil. G. gelangen, to arrive 
 at, to become one's property ; ziun Kd- 
 iiigreiche gelangen, to come to the crown ; 
 belajigen, to concern, to touch. Was das 
 belanget, as concerning that. 
 
 To belong is thus to reach up to, to 
 touch one, expressing the notion of pro- 
 perty by a similar metaphor to the Lat. 
 attinere, pertinei'e, to hold to one. 
 
 Belt. ON. belli; Lat. battens; Gael. 
 bait, border, belt, welt of a shoe ; w. 
 gwald, gwaldas, a border, hem, welt of a 
 shoe. 
 
 Bench. See Bank. 
 
 To Bend. on. bendaj as. bendan. 
 Fr. bander un arc, to bend a bow ; hence 
 
 BE RAY 
 
 6i 
 
 to exert force, se bander, to rise against 
 external force ; bandoir, a spring. 
 
 To bend sails is to stretch them on the 
 yards of the vessel ; to bend cloth, to 
 stretch it on a frame, G. Tuch an eine7t 
 Rahmen spannen. See Bind. 
 
 Beneath. See Nether. 
 
 Benediction. Lat. benedictio {bene, 
 well, and dico, I say), a speaking well of 
 one. Benedico, taken absolutely, means 
 to use words of good omen, and with an 
 accusative, to hallow, bless. 
 
 Benefice. — Benefactor. — Benefit. 
 Lat. benefacere, to do good to one ; bene- 
 factor, one who does good ; bene/actum, 
 Fr. bienfait, a good deed, a benefit. The 
 Lat, benejiciinn, a kindness, was in Mid. 
 Lat. applied to an estate granted by the 
 king or other lord to one for life, because 
 it was held by the kindness of the lord. 
 ' Villa quam Lupus quondam per bene- 
 ficinni nostrum tenere visus fuit.' ' Simil- 
 iter villa quam ex munificentia nostr^ 
 ipsi Caddono concessimus.' * Quam fide- 
 lis noster per nostrum beneficium habere 
 videtur.' The term had been previously 
 applied in the Roman law to estates con- 
 ferred by the prince upon soldiers and 
 others. — Ducange. The same name was 
 given to estates conferred upon clerical 
 persons for life, for the performance of 
 ecclesiastical services, and in modern 
 times the name of benefice is appropriated 
 to signify a piece of church preferment. 
 
 Benign.^- Benignant. Lat. benig- 
 nics (opposed to inalignus), kind, gener- 
 ous, disposed to oblige. 
 
 Eenison. OFr. beneison, benaigon, 
 a blessing, from benedictio. Lat, bene- 
 dicere, Fr. benir, to bless. 
 
 Bent, The flower-stalks of grass re- 
 maining uneaten in a pasture. Bav 
 bintaissen, bimpsen, binssen, G. binsen, 
 rushes. OHG. pinoz, pimcz. 
 
 To Benum. See Numb. 
 
 Benzoin. Gum benjamin, Ptg. bejt- 
 joirn, Fr. benjoin, from Arab. loubJn 
 djawi, incense of Java. By the Arabs it 
 is called bakhour djdwi, Javanese per- 
 fume, or sometimes loiibati, by itself, or 
 simply djawi . — Dozy, 
 
 To Bequeath. To direct the dispo- 
 sition of property after one's death. AS. 
 becwcethan, from cwcethan, to say. See 
 Ouoth. 
 
 ^To Beray, To dirty. ' I beraye, I 
 fyle with ashes. I araye, or fyle with 
 myre, J'emboue, I marre a thyng, I 
 soyle it or araye it.' — Palsgr, From OFr. 
 ray, dirt, ' Hic fimus, fens ; et hie limus, 
 ray.^ — Commentary on Neccham in Nat. 
 
62 
 
 BEREAYE 
 
 Antiq. p. 113. Wall, ariier, to dirty. 
 Esthon. roe, Y\n. roju, dirt, dung ; roju, 
 roisfo, rubbish, sweepings, dust ; rojahtaa, 
 to rattle down, fall with sound. So ro- 
 Pakka, mud, dirt ; ropahtaa, to fall with 
 noise. 
 
 To Bereave, as. reafian, bereafian, 
 to deprive of, to strip. See Reave, Rob. 
 
 Berry. A small eatable fruit. AS. 
 beriaj Goth, basja; Du. besje. Sanscr. 
 bhakshya, food, from bhaksh, to eat. Hence 
 on the one side Lat. bacca, a berry, and 
 on the other Goth, basya, G. Beere, E. 
 berry. — Kiihn, Zeitschr. vol. vi. p. 3. 
 
 * Berth. The proper meaning of the 
 word is shelter, but it is specially applied 
 to the place boarded off in a ship for a 
 person to lie in, or the space kept clear 
 for a ship to ride or moor in. It is the 
 same word with the provincial barth, a 
 shelter for cattle. — Hal. 
 
 Devon, barthless, houseless. Warm 
 barth under hedge is a succour to beast. 
 — Tusser. The origin is AS. beorgan, 
 E. dial, berwe, burwe, to defend, pro- 
 tect ; burrow, sheltered from the wind. 
 The final th in barth may be either the 
 termination significative of an abstract 
 noun, as in growth, from grow, lewth, 
 shelter, from lew, stealth from steal; or, as 
 I think more probable, barth may be for 
 barf, a form which the verb takes in 
 Yorkshire, barfham, compared with 
 bargham, berwham, a horse collar, what 
 protects the neck of the horse from the 
 hames. So too Yorkshire arf, fearful, 
 from AS. ea?g, earh, OE. arwe. 
 
 To Beseech. Formerly beseek. 
 His heart is hard that will not meke 
 When men of mekeness him beseke. 
 
 Chaucer, R. R. 
 
 To seek something from a person, to 
 entreat, solicit. So Lat. peto, to seek, 
 and also to entreat, beseech. 
 
 Besom, as. besein, besmj Pl.D. bes- 
 sett, G. besen. AS. besmas, rods. In 
 Devonshire the name bissam or bassain 
 is given to the heath plant, because used 
 for making besoms, as conversely a besom 
 is called broom, from being made of broom- 
 twigs. The proper meaning of the word 
 seems twigs or rods. Du. brem-bessen, 
 broom twigs, scopae spartiae. — Biglotton. 
 
 Best. See Better. 
 
 Bestead, as. stede, place, position. 
 Hence stead is applied to signify the 
 influences arising from relative position. 
 To stand in stead of another is to perform 
 the offices due from him ; to stand one 
 in good stead, or to bestead one, is to 
 perform a serviceable office to him. 
 
 BETE 
 
 The diy fish was so new and good as it did 
 very greatly bestead us in the whole course of our 
 voyage . — Drake . 
 
 On the other hand, to be hard bestead 
 is to be placed in a position which it is 
 hard to endure. 
 
 To Bestow. AS. stow, a place ; to 
 bestow, to be-place, to give a place to, to 
 lay out, to exercise on a definite object. 
 
 To Bet. From abet, in the sense of 
 backing, encouraging, supporting the side 
 on which the wager is laid. 
 
 * To Bete, Beit, Beet. To help, to 
 supply, to mend. — Jam. To bete his 
 bale, to remedy his misfortune ; to belt a 
 mister, to supply a want. To beet, to 
 make or feed a fire. — Gl. Grose. AS. 
 betan, to make better, improve, amend, 
 restore ; fyr betan, properly to mend the 
 fire, but in practice, to make it. Tha het 
 he micel fyr betati, then ordered \^^ a 
 great fire to be lighted. OSw. eld up- 
 bota, to light the fire ; bal oppbjta, to fire 
 a funeral pile ; botesward, the guardian 
 of a beacon-fire ; fyrbotare, one who 
 sets fire to, an incendiary. Du. boeten, 
 to amend, repair, make better ; hei vuur 
 boeten, to kindle the fire. The sense of 
 mending the fire or supplying it with fuel 
 might so easily pass into that of making 
 or lighting it, that we can hardly doubt 
 that the use of AS. betan, Sw. bota, Du. 
 boeten, in the latter sense is only a special 
 application of the same verbs in the 
 general sense of repairing or making 
 better, the origin of which is to be found 
 in ON. bot, reparation, making better, 
 Du. baete, advantage, profit, amendment, 
 baet, bat, bet, more, better, preferably.— 
 Kil. 
 
 On the other hand, it seems hard to 
 separate AS. betan, Du. boeten, to set 
 fire ; S\y. fyrbotare, from It. buttafuoco, 
 Fr. boutefeu, an incendiary, in the two 
 last of which the verbal element must 
 certainly be It. buttaj'e, to cast, to thrust, 
 Fr. bouter, to thrust, put, put forth. Bon- 
 ier fen would thus be to set fire to, as 
 bouter selle, to put on the saddle. Sw. 
 bota was also used in the sense of parry- 
 ing or pushing aside a thrust aimed at 
 one. — Ihre. The question then arises 
 whether both derivations may not be 
 reconciled by supposing that ON. bot, 
 reparation, and Du. baete, advantage, 
 amendment, may be derived from the 
 notion of pushing forwards. Goth, hva 
 boteith matman, what does it boot, what 
 does it better a man, might have beeo 
 
BETEEM 
 
 translated, what does it advance a man, 
 
 what does it forward him. 
 
 It is naught honest, it may not advance 
 For to have dealing with such base poraille. 
 Chaucer, Friar's Prol. 
 
 The word advimtage hterally signifies 
 furtherance, the being pushed to the 
 front, and the same idea is involved in 
 the word Profit^ from Lat. projicere, to 
 make forwards, advance, progress. To 
 boot in coursing (i. e. to give something 
 over and above in an exchange) is trans- 
 lated by Palsgrave, bouter davantaige. 
 Thus the radical meaning of better would 
 be more in advance, and to bete or repair 
 would be to push up to its former place 
 something that had fallen back. 
 
 To Beteem, to Teem. To vouchsafe, 
 deign, afford, deem suitable, find in one's 
 heart. ' 
 
 Yet could he not beteem (dignetur) 
 The shape of other bird than eagle for to seem. 
 Golding's Ovid in R. 
 
 • Ah, said he, thou hast confessed and be- 
 wrayed all, I could teem it to rend thee in pieces.' 
 — Dialogue on Witches, Percy Soc. x. 88. 
 
 In a like sense ON. tima, Pl.D. taemen, 
 tainen, Ober D. ze)ne7t. ON. Ti?na eigi 
 at lata eit, not to have the heart to give 
 up a thing. Pl.D. Ik tame mi dat nig; 
 I do not allow myself that. Ne tdmet 
 sik een good glas wien : he allows him- 
 self a good glass of wine. Bav. Mich 
 zimet, gezimet eines dinges, I approve of 
 a thing, find it good. Goth, gatinian, G. 
 ziemen, geziemen, Du. iaemen, betaemen, 
 to beseem, become, be fitting or suitable. 
 
 The sense of being fitting or suitable 
 springs from ON. tima, to happen, to fall 
 to one's lot, in the same way that schick- 
 lich, suitable, springs from schicken, to 
 appoint, order, dispose (whence schicksal, 
 fate, lot). On the same principle ON. 
 fallimi, fitting, suitable, as one would 
 have it fall, hovafalla, to fall, to happen. 
 
 To Betray. Lat. tradere, to deliver 
 up, then to deliver up what ought to be 
 kept, to deliver up in breach of trust, to 
 betray. Hence It. tradire, Fr. trahir, 
 as ettvahir, from invadere. The inflec- 
 tions of Fr. verbs in ir with a double ss, 
 as trahissons, trahissais, are commonly 
 rendered in E. by a final s/i. Thus from 
 3ahir, e'bahissais, E. abash; from polir, 
 polissais, E. polish, &c. In like manner 
 from trahir we formerly had trash and 
 betrash, as from obe'ir, obeissais, obeish. 
 
 In the water anon was seen 
 His nose, his mouth, his eyen sheen, 
 And he thereof was all abashed 
 His owne shadow had him betrashed. — R. R. 
 
 BEWRAY 
 
 63 
 
 In the original — 
 
 Et il maintenant s'ebahii 
 Car son umbre si le trahit. 
 Her acquaintance is perillous 
 First soft and after noious, 
 She hath The trashid [trahie] without wene. 
 
 R. R. 
 Probably the unusual addition of the 
 particle be to a verb imported from the 
 Fr. was caused by the accidental resem- 
 blance of the word to Du. bedriegen, G. 
 betriigen, to deceive, to cheat, which are 
 from a totally different root. From It. 
 tradire is traditor, Fr. traitre, a traitor; 
 and from Fr. trahir, trahison, treachery, 
 treason. 
 
 Better. — Best. Goth, batizo, batista; 
 AS. betera, betest, betst, better, best. Du. 
 bat, bet, baet, better, more, OE. bet, better. 
 See To Bete. 
 
 Between. — Betwixt. The AS. has 
 tweoh, a different form of twa, two, and 
 thence twegen, twain. From the former 
 of these are AS. betivuh, be tweoh, betweohs^ 
 betweox, betwuxt, by two, in the middle 
 of two, which may be compared as to 
 form with amid, as. amiddes, amidst, or 
 with again, against. In like manner 
 from twain is formed between, in the 
 middle of twain. 
 
 The He of Man that me clepeth 
 By twene us and Irlonde. — R. G. 
 
 Bevel. Slant, sloped off, awry. Fr. 
 beveau, an instrument opening like a 
 pair of compasses, for measuring angles. 
 Buveau, a square-like instrument having 
 moveable and compass branches, or one 
 branch compass and the other straight. 
 Some call it a bevel. — Cot. 
 
 Beverage. A drink. Lat. bibere, It. 
 bevere, to drink ; whence beveraggio ; 
 Fr. beuvrage; E. bevej'age. 
 
 Bevy. It. beva, a drinking ; a bevy, as 
 of pheasants. — Fl. Fr. bevee, a brood, 
 flock, of quails, larks, roebucks, thence 
 applied to a company of ladies especially. 
 
 To Bewray. Goth, vrohjan, Fris. 
 w7-ogia, ruogia, wreia, G. riigen, to ac- 
 cuse, i. e. to bring an offence to the notice 
 of the authorities. Sw. roja, to discover, 
 make manifest. Dit tungomal 7'ojer dig, 
 thy speech bewrayeth thee, i. e. makes it 
 manifest that thou art a Galilean. Det 
 rojer sig sjelft, it bewrays itself, gives 
 some sign of existence which attracts 
 notice. Now the stirring of an object is 
 the way in which it generally catches our 
 attention. Hence G. regen, to stir, is 
 used for the last evidence of life. Regt 
 kein leben mehrin dir, are there no signs 
 
64 
 
 BEZEL 
 
 of life in you ? Die liebe reget sich bei 
 ihm, love begins to stir in him, shows the 
 first signs of life in him. Pl.D. wrogen, 
 rogen (in Altmark rdjen)^ to stir. ' Hi- 
 ranne tho handelende nah wroginge ohrer 
 conscientien : ' herein to deal according 
 to the stirring of their conscience. — Brem. 
 Wtb. He rogt un b'dgt sik nig, he is 
 stock still. Uprogen^ to stir up ; beregen, 
 sik beregen, to move, to stir. — Schiitze. 
 
 The train of thought is then, to stir, to 
 give signs of life, make manifest his 
 presence, to make evident, bring under 
 notice, reveal, discover, accuse. ' Thy 
 tongue bewray eth thee :' thy tongue 
 makes thy Galilean birth to stir as it were 
 before the eyes, le fait sauter aux yeux 
 (according to the Fr. metaphor), makes 
 it evident to sense, convicts thee of being 
 a Galilean. 
 
 E. dial, rogge, roggle, Pl.D. ivraggeln, 
 to shake. See Wriggle. 
 
 Bezel. — Basil. Sp. bisel, the basil 
 edge of a plate of looking-glass, which 
 were formerly ornamented with a border 
 ground slanting from the general surface 
 of the glass. When the edge of a joiner's 
 tool is ground away to an angle it is called 
 a basil (Halliwell), in Fr. tailld eti biseau. 
 Biseatt, a bezle, bezling or skueing. — Cot. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word seems 
 to be a paring, then an edge pared or 
 sliced 01% a sloping edge. 
 
 Tayllet le payn ke est par^e, 
 Les biseaux (the paringes) k I'amoyne soyt dond. 
 Bibelsworth in Nat. Ant. 172. 
 
 Bezoar. A stony concretion in the 
 stomach of ruminants to which great 
 medical virtues were formerly attached. 
 Pers. pddzahr, from pdd-, expelling or 
 preserving against, and zahr, poison. In 
 Arab, the word became bddizahr, bdzahr. 
 — Dozy. 
 
 To Bezzle. To drink hard, to' tipple. 
 Probably, like guzzle, formed from an 
 imitation of the sound made in greedy 
 eating and drinking. 
 
 Yes, s'foot I wonder how the inside'of a taveme 
 looks now. Oh ! when shall I bizzle, bizzle f— 
 Dekkar in R. 
 
 Bi-. Lat. bis, twice, in two ways ; for 
 duis,{xQn\ duo, tv/o,2iS bellum for duellum. 
 In comp. it becomes bi-, as in Biped, two- 
 footed. Bisect, to cut in two. 
 
 Bias. Fr. biais, bihais, Cat. biax, 
 Sardin. biascia, It. sbiescio, Piedm. sbias, 
 sloped, slanting ; Fr. biaiser, Sard, sbia- 
 sciai, to do something aslant. The It. 
 bieco, sbieco, from obliquus, has a singular 
 resemblance to sbiescio^ used in precisely 
 
 BICKER 
 
 the same sense, though such a change of 
 form would be very unusual. 
 
 The true 6rigin is probably from the 
 notion of sliding or slipping. It. sbiagio, 
 sbiesso, bending, aslope ; sbisciare, bis- 
 ciare, sbrisciare, sbrissare, to creep or 
 crawl sideling, aslope, or in and out, as 
 an eel or a snake, to glide or slip as upon 
 ice ; sbriscio, sbrisso, sbiscio, oblique, 
 crooked, winding or crawling in and out, 
 slippery, sliding; biascio, bias-wise. 
 
 Bib. Fr. bavon, baviere, baverole, a 
 cloth to prevent a child drivelling over 
 its clothes. Baver, to slaver or drivel. 
 Du. kwijlen, to slaver ; kwijl-bab, kivijl- 
 lap, or kwijl-slab, a slabbering-bib. Fris. 
 babbi, the mouth; Mantuan, babbi^ bab- 
 bio, snout, lips. 
 
 To Bib.— To Bibble. Lat. bibo, to 
 drink, whence Du. biberen,\.o drink hiuch; 
 biberer, Fr. biberon, bibaculus, a bibber, 
 one who drinks in excess. OE. bibble^ 
 Sc. bebble, to sip, to tipple. ' An excellent 
 good bibbeler, specially in a bottle.' — 
 Gascoigne. 'He's aye bebbling and 
 drinking.' — Jam. Dan. dial, bible, to 
 trickle. 'Han er saa beskjenket at 
 brandevinet bibler oven ud av ham : ' he 
 is so drunk that the brandy runs out of 
 him. Dan. pible, to purl, to well up with 
 small bubbles and a soft sound. 
 
 Bible. Gr. ^i(iXog, a book ; originally, 
 an Egyptian plant, the papyrus, of the 
 bark of which paper was first made. 
 
 Bice. An inferior blue, OE. asure-bice 
 (Early E. Misc. Hal. 78); Fr. bes-azur, 
 the particle bes being often used in com- 
 position to signify perversion, inferiority. 
 Prov. beslei, perverted belief; barhmie 
 (for bis-lume) weak light; Piedm. bes- 
 anca, crooked; ber-laita (for bes-laita), 
 Yy. petit-lait, whey; Cat. bescompte, mis- 
 count ; Fr. bestemps, foul weather. Diet. 
 Wallon. 
 
 To Bicker.— Bickering-. To skirmish, 
 dispute, wrangle. It is especially applied 
 in Sc. to a fight with stones, and also sig- 
 nifies the constant motion of weapons 
 and the rapid succession of strokes in a 
 battle or broil, or the noise occasioned by 
 successive strokes, by throwing of stones, 
 or by any rapid motion. — Jamieson. The 
 origin is probably the representation of 
 the sound of a blow with a pointed in- 
 strument by the syllable /zV/^, whence the 
 frequentative picker or bicker would re- 
 present a succession of such blows. To 
 bicker in NE. is explained to clatter, Hal- 
 liwell. Du. bickeler, a stone-hewer or 
 stone-picker; bickelen, bicken, to hew 
 stone ; bickelj bickel-steenken, a fragment 
 
BID 
 
 of stone, a chip, explaining the Sc. bicker 
 in the sense of throwing stones. Bickelen, 
 to start out, as tears from the eyes, from 
 the way in which a chip flies from the 
 pick. Hence Sc. to bicker, to move 
 quickly. — Jam. 
 
 Ynglis archaris that hardy war and wycht 
 Amang the Scottis bykarit with all their mycht. 
 Wallace in Jam. 
 
 The arrows struck upon them like blows 
 from a stone-cutter's pick. 
 
 It must be observed that the word 
 pick (equivalent to the modern pitch) 
 was used for the cast of an arrow. 
 
 I hold you a grote I fycke as farre with an 
 arowe as you. — Palsgrave in Halliwell. 
 
 To Bid. Two verbs are here con- 
 founded, of distinct form in the other 
 Teutonic languages. 
 
 1. To Bid in the obsolete sense of to 
 pray. 
 
 For far lever he hadde wende 
 And bidde ys mete yf he shulde in a strange lond. 
 
 R. G. 
 
 Bidders and beggars are used as sy- 
 nonymous in P. P. 
 For he that beggeth other biddeth but if he have 
 
 need 
 He is false and faitour and defraudeth the neede. 
 
 In this sense the word is the correla- 
 tive of Goth, bidjan, bidan, bath, or bad, 
 bedunj AS. biddan, bcEd, gebeden j G. bit- 
 ten, bat ; ON. bidja, or, in a reflective 
 form, beidast. 
 
 2, To Bid in the sense of offering, 
 bringing forwards, pressing on one's 
 notice, and consequently ordering or re- 
 quiring something to be done. Goth. 
 bjudan in anabjudan, faurbjudan, to 
 command, forbid ; AS. beodan, bead, ge- 
 bodenj G. bieten, to offer, verbieten, to 
 forbid ; Du. bieden, porrigere, offerre, 
 praebere, praestare. — Kil. 
 
 To bid the banns, G. ein paar verlobte 
 au/bieteit, is to bring forwards the an- 
 nouncement of a marriage, to offer it to 
 public notice. Eifietn einen guten tag 
 bieten, to bid one good day, to offer one 
 the wish of a good day. To bid one to a 
 dinner is properly the same verb, to pro- 
 pose to one to come to dinner, although 
 it might well be understood in the sense 
 of the other form of the verb, to ask, to 
 pray one to dinner. Analogous expres- 
 sions are G. einen vor Gericht bieten, to 
 summon one before a court of justice; 
 einen vor sich bieten lassen, to have one 
 called before him. 
 
 With respect to logical pedigree, the 
 meaning of bid, in the sense of ask for, 
 pray, may plausibly be derived from Goth. 
 
 BIGOT 6i 
 
 beidan, AS. bidan, abidan, to look for. To 
 pray is merely to make known the fact 
 that we look for or desire the object of our 
 prayers. The La.t._peto, qiiczro, signifying 
 in the first instance to seek or look for, are 
 also used in the sense of asking for. The 
 ON. /(?//« is used in each sense (Ihre v. Leta), 
 and the Sw. has leta, to look for, anleta, 
 to solicit, just as the two ideas are ex- 
 pressed in E. by seek and beseech, for be- 
 seek. The ON. bidill, a suitor, from 
 bidj'a, to ask, seems essentially the same 
 word with AS. bidel, an attendant or 
 beadle, from bidan, to abide or wait on. 
 
 Big. Swollen, bulky. The original 
 spelling seems to be bug, which is still 
 used in the N. of England for swollen, 
 proud, swaggering. 
 
 But when her circling nearer down doth pull 
 Then gins she swell and waxen bugwxih horn. 
 More in Richardson. 
 
 * Bug as a Lord.' — Halliwell. ' Big-swol- 
 len heart.' — Addison. ' Big - uddered 
 ewes.' — Pope in R. 
 
 The original form of the root is pro- 
 bably seen in the ON. bolga, a swelling, 
 bolginn, swoln, from belgia, to inflate ; E. 
 bulge, to belly, to swell, bilge or bulge, the 
 belly of a ship, related to big or bug, as 
 G. and Gael, balg, an entire skin, to E. 
 bag. The loss of the / gives Dan. bug, 
 belly, bulge, bow ; bugne (answering to 
 ON. bolgna), to bulge, belly, bend. Com- 
 pare also Sp. btigue with E. bulk. w. bog^ 
 swelling, rising up. 
 
 To Big. AS. byggan, ON. byggia, to 
 build, to inhabit; OSw. bygga, to pre- 
 pare, repair, build, inhabit. A simpler 
 and probably a contracted form is seen 
 in ON. bua, OSw. boa, bo, to arrange, 
 prepare, cultivate, inhabit ; Du. bowmen, 
 to cultivate, to build ; G. bauen to culti- 
 vate, to dwell, to build. 
 
 Bigamy. From Gr.^tc, twice, becoming 
 in Lat. bis and in comp. bi-, and ya[j,sw, to 
 marry. 
 
 Bight or Bought. A bend of a shore 
 or of a rope. ON. bt(gt, a flexure, bz^ga, 
 to bend, to curve. AS. bzigan, biganj G. 
 biegen, to bend. 
 
 Bigot. The beginning of the 13th 
 century saw the sudden rise and maturity 
 of the mendicant orders of St Francis and 
 St Dominic. These admitted into the 
 ranks of their followers, besides the pro- 
 fessed monksand nuns, a third class, called 
 the tertiary order, or third order of peni- 
 tence, consisting both of men and women, 
 who, without necessarily quitting their 
 secular avocations, bound themselves to 
 a strict life and works of charity. The 
 
66 
 
 BIGOT 
 
 same outburst of religious feeling seems 
 to have led other persons, both men and 
 women, to adopt a similar course of life. 
 They wore a similar dress, and went 
 about reading the Scriptures and practis- 
 ing Christian life, but as they subjected 
 themselves to no regular orders or vows of 
 obedience, they became highly obnoxious 
 to the hierarchy, and underwent much 
 obloquy and persecution. They adopted 
 the grey habit of the Franciscans, and 
 were popularly confounded with the third 
 order of those friars under the names of 
 Beguint, BeguttcE^ Bizocchi^ Bizzocari 
 (in Italian Beghini, Bighini, Bighiotti), 
 all apparently derived from Ital. bigio, 
 Venet. biso, grey. ' Bizocco,' says an 
 author quoted in N. and Q. vol. ix. 560, 
 *sia quasi bigioco e bigiotto^ perchd i 
 Terziari di S. Francesco si veston di 
 bigio.' So in France they were called 
 les petits freres bis or bisets.— Ducange. 
 From bigio, grey, was formed bigello, the 
 dusky hue of a dark-coloured sheep, and 
 the coarse cloth made from its undyed 
 wool, and this was probably also the 
 meaning of bighino or beguino, as well as 
 bizocco. ' E che Fabito bi^io ovver beghino 
 era comune degli nommi di penitenza,' 
 where beghino evidently implies a de- 
 scription of dress of a similar nature to 
 that designated by the term bigio. Bi- 
 zocco also is mentioned in the fragment 
 of the history of Rome of the 14th century 
 in a way which shows that it must have 
 signified coarse, dark-coloured cloth, such 
 as is used for the dress of the inferior 
 orders, probably from biso, the other form 
 of bigio. ' Per te Tribuno,' says one of 
 the nobles to Rienzi, ' fora piu convene- 
 vole che portassi vestimenta honeste da 
 bizuoco che queste pompose,' translated 
 by Muratori, ' honesti plebeii amictus.' 
 It must be remarked that bizocco also 
 signifies rude, clownish, rustical, ap- 
 parently from the dress of rustics being 
 composed oi bizocco. In the same way Fr. 
 bureau is the colour of a brown sheep, 
 and the coarse cloth made from the un- 
 dyed wool. Hence the OE. borel, coarse 
 woollen cloth, and also unlearned com- 
 mon men. In a similar manner from 
 bigello, natural grey or sheep's russet, 
 homespun cloth, bighellone, a dunce, a 
 blockhead. — Flor. From bigio would 
 naturally be formed bigiotto, bighiotto;a.x\di 
 as soon as the radical meaning of the 
 word was obscured, corruption would 
 easily creep in, and hence the variations 
 bigutta, begutta, bigotta, beghino, which 
 must not be confounded with begardo, 
 
 bigardo, G. beghart, signifying bagmen or 
 beggars, a term of reproach applied to 
 the same class of people. We find Boni- 
 face VIII., in the quotations of Ducange 
 and his continuators, speaking of them 
 as ' Nonnulli viri pestiferi qui vulgariter 
 P>aticelli seu fratres de paupere vita, aut 
 Bizochi sive Bichini vel aliis fucatis no- 
 minibus nuncupantur.' Matthew Paris, 
 with reference to A.D. 1243, says, 'Eisdem 
 temporibus quidam in Alemannia prae- 
 cipue se asserentes religiosos in utroque 
 sexu, sed maximd in muliebri, habitum 
 religionis sed levem susceperunt, conti- 
 nentiam vitae privato voto profitentes, 
 sub nullius tamen regula coarctati, nee 
 adhuc ullo claustro contenti.' They were 
 however by no means confined to Italy. 
 ' Istis ultimis temporibus hypocritalibus 
 plurimi maxim^ in Italic et Alemannia et 
 Provinciae provincia, ubi tales Begardi 
 et Beguini vocantur, nolentes jugum. 
 subire verae obedientise — nee servare re- 
 gulam aliquam ab Ecclesia approbatam 
 sub manu praeceptoris et ducis legitimi, 
 vocati Fraticelli, alii de paupere vita, alii 
 Apostolici, aliqui Begardi, qui ortum in 
 Alemannia habuerunt.' — Alvarus Pela- 
 gius in Due. ' Secta quasdam pestifera 
 illorum qui Beguini vulgariter appellan- 
 tur qui se fratres pauperes de tertio ordine 
 S. Francisci communiter appellabant.' — 
 Bernardus Guidonis in vita J oh. xx. 
 ' Capellamque seu clusam hujusmodi 
 censibus et redditibus pro septem per- 
 sonis religiosis, Beguttis videlicet ordinis 
 S. Augustini dotarint.' — Chart. A. D. 15 18. 
 ' Beghardus et Beguina et Begutta sunt 
 viri et mulieres tertii ordinis.' — Brevilo- 
 quium in Due. 
 
 They are described more at large in 
 the Acts of the Council of Treves, A.D. 
 1 3 10. 'Item cum quidam sint laici in 
 civitate et provincia Trevirensi qui sub 
 pretextu cujusdam religionis fictas Beg- 
 hardos se appellant, cum tabardis et 
 tunicis longis et longis capuciis cum ocio 
 incedentes, ac labores manuum detest- 
 antes, conventicula inter se aliquibus 
 temporibus faciunt, seque fingunt coram 
 simplicibus personis expositores sa- 
 crarum scripturarum, nos vitam eorum 
 qui extra religion em approbatam validarn 
 mendicantes discurrunt, &c.' ' Nonnul- 
 lae mulieres sive sorores, Biguttce apud 
 vulgares nuncupatas, absque votorum re- 
 ligionis emissione.' — Chart. A.D. 1499. 
 
 From the foregoing extracts it will 
 readily be understood how easily the 
 name, by which these secular aspirants 
 to superior holiness of life were desig- 
 
BILBERRY 
 
 nated, might be taken to express a hypo- 
 crite, false pretender to religious feeling, 
 Tartuffe. Thus we find in It. bigotto, 
 bizocco^ a devotee, a hypocrite; Pied- 
 montese bigot^ bisoch, Fr. bigot, in the 
 same sense. Sp. bigardo, a name given 
 to a person of religion leading a loose 
 life, bigardia, deceit, dissimulation ; G. 
 beghart, gleischner (Frisch), a bigot or 
 hypocrite, a false pretender to honesty or 
 holiness. — Ludwig. ^ Bigin, bigot, su- 
 perstitious hypocrite.' — Speight in Rich- 
 ardson. 
 
 In English the meaning has received 
 a further development, and as persons 
 professing extraordinary zeal for religious 
 views are apt to attribute an overweening 
 importance to their particular tenets, a 
 bigot has come to signify a person un- 
 reasonably attached to particular opin- 
 ions, and not having his mind open to 
 any argument in opposition. 
 
 Bilberry. The fruit of the vaccinium 
 myrtillus, while that of vaccinium uligi- 
 nosum is called in the N. of E. bla-berry, 
 from the dark colour. Dan. blaa, blue ; 
 
 Sw. blamand, a. negro. In Danish the 
 names are reversed, as the fruit of the 
 myrtillus is called blaa-bcsr, that of the 
 uhginosum bdlle-b(Br. Perhaps the name 
 may be a corruption of bull- berry, in ac- 
 cordance with the general custom of 
 naming eatable berries after some animal, 
 as craneberry, crowberry, and the bil- 
 berry itself was called by the Saxons 
 hart-berry. Aurelles, whortle- berries, 
 bill-berries, bull-berries. — Cot. 
 
 Bilbo. A slang term for a sword, now 
 obsolete. A Bilboa blade. 
 
 Bilboes. Among mariners, a punish- 
 ment at sea when the offender is laid in 
 irons or set in a kind of stocks. Du. 
 boeye, a shackle. Lat. boja, Prov. boia, 
 OFr. buie, fetters. Bojce, genus vincu- 
 lorum tam ferreas quam ligne^. — Festus 
 in Diez. This leaves the first syllable 
 unaccounted for. The proper meaning 
 of boja, however, seems to be rather the 
 clog to which the fetters are fastened than 
 the fetter itself. N Fris. bid, buoy [i. e. 
 a floating log to mark the place of some- 
 thing sunk], clog to a fetter. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. Johansen, p. loi. 
 
 Bilge. The belly or swelling side of a 
 ship. See Bulk. 
 
 To Bilk. To defraud one of expected 
 remuneration ; a slang term most likely 
 from an affected pronunciation of balk. 
 
 Bill. I. An instrument for hewing. 
 G. beil, an axe ; AS. bil, a sword, axe, 
 weapon ; Sw. bila, an axe, plog-bill, a 
 
 BILLOW 
 
 (^1 
 
 plough-share ; Du. bille, a stonemason's 
 pick ; billen den inolen-steen, to pick a 
 millstone. — Kil. w. bwyell, an axe, a 
 hatchet. Gael, buail, to strike. 
 
 2. The bill of a bird may very likely 
 be radically identical with the foregoing. 
 The Du. bicken is used both of a bird 
 pecking and of hewing stone with a pick ; 
 bicken or billen den molensteen. AS. bile, 
 the bill of a bird, horn of an animal. In 
 the same way are related Pol. dziob, the 
 beak of a bird, dzioba^f, to peck, to job, 
 and dziobas, an adze ; Bohem. top, a 
 beak, tepati, to strike, topor, an axe. 
 
 Bill. 3. — Billet. A bill, in the sense 
 of a writing, used in legal proceedings, as 
 a bill of indictment, bill of exchange, bill 
 in parliament, is properly a sealed instru- 
 ment, from Mid. Lat. bulla, a seal. See 
 Bull. A billet is the diminutive of this, a 
 short note, the note which appoints a 
 soldier his quarters. Du. bullet, billet, 
 inscriptum, symbolum, syngraphum. — 
 Kil. 
 
 Billet. 2.— Billiard. Fr. billot, a stick 
 or log of wood cut for fuel, an ingot of 
 gold or silver. Bille, an ingot, a young 
 stock of a tree to graft on — Cotgrave ; a 
 stick to rest on — Roquefort. Langued. 
 bilio, a stick to tighten the cord of a 
 package. Fr. billard or billart, a short 
 and thick truncheon or cudgel, hence the 
 cudgel in the play at trap ; and a billard, 
 or the stick wherewith we touch the ball 
 at billyards. OFr. billard also signified 
 a man who rests on a stick in walking.— 
 Roquef. Billette, a billet of wood ; bil- 
 lettes d'un espieu, the cross bars near the 
 head of a boarspear to hinder it from 
 running too far into the animal. 
 
 The origin of the term is probably from 
 bole, the trunk of a tree, the o changing 
 to an i to express diminution. A like 
 change takes place in the other sense of 
 billet from bulla, a seal. 
 
 Billow. Sw. bolja, Dan. bblge, ON. 
 bylgia, Du. bolghe^ bulghe, fluctus maris, 
 unda, procella — Kil., from OSw. bulgja^ 
 to swell. Du. belghen, AS. belgan, abel- 
 gan, to be angry (i. e. to swell with rage). 
 
 The mariner ami'', ^he swelling seas 
 Who seeth his back with many a billow beaten. 
 Gascoigne in R. 
 
 ' Had much "ado to prevent one from 
 sinking, the billowe was so great ' (Hack- 
 luyt), where we see billow not used in 
 the sense of an individual wave, but in 
 that of swell. 
 
 So in Gr. oil\ia eaXa(T(Tr)c, the swelling 
 of the sea, and in Lat. ' tumidi fluctus,' 
 5 * 
 
68 
 
 BIN 
 
 'tumens scquor,' and the like, are com- 
 monplaces. See Belly. 
 
 Bin. — Bing. The proper meaning is 
 a heap. 
 
 Like ants when they do spoile the bing of corn. 
 Surrey in R. 
 
 Then as side boards or walls were 
 added to confine the heap to a smaller 
 space, the word was transferred to a 
 receptacle so constructed for storing 
 corn, wine, &c. Sw. binge, a heap, a 
 division in a granary, or bin. ON. bunga, 
 to swell, to bulge, bunki, a heap. Fr. 
 bigne, a bump or knob. 
 
 The grete bitig was upbeilded wele 
 
 Of aik trees and fyrren schydis dry. — D. V. 
 
 To Bind. — Bine. — Bindweed, as. 
 bindan, Goth, bindan, band, bundun. 
 This word is I believe derived from the 
 notion of a bunch or lump, expressed by 
 Sw. bunt, Dan. bundt, G. bmid, a bunch, 
 truss, bundle, the primary notion of 
 binding being thus to make a bunch of 
 a thing, to fasten it together. In like 
 manner from knot, Lat. nodus, a knob, I 
 would derive the verb to knit, to bind 
 together, as when we speak of one's limbs 
 being firmly knit together. The idea 
 which is expressed in E. by the verb knit 
 or net, i. e. to form a knotted structure, is 
 rendered in ON. by binda, to bind ; at 
 binda nat, to knot nets for fish, to net. 
 Lith. pinnu, pinti, to wreathe, to plait. 
 It seems more in accordance with the 
 development of the understanding that 
 the form with the thinner vowel and ab- 
 stract signification should be derived 
 from that with the broader vowel and 
 concrete signification, than vice versa. 
 Thus I suppose the Gr. Ikyna, to build, to 
 be derived from llmoi;, a house, Lat. pen- 
 dere, to hang, from pojidus, a weight, 
 the last of these forms being identical 
 with the word which we are treating as 
 the root of bind, viz. bund, bimdt, bunch. 
 Lith.pundas, a truss, bundle, also a stone 
 weight, a weight of 48 pounds. The 
 original meaning oi pondus would thus 
 be simply a lump of some heavy ma- 
 terial, doubtless a stone. 
 
 The term bi7te or bind is applied 'to 
 the twining stem of climbing plants. 
 Thus we speak of the hop-bine for the 
 shoots of hops. The ivood-bine desig- 
 nates the honeysuckle in England, while 
 bind-wood, bin-wood, or ben-wood, is in 
 Scotland applied to ivy. Here we see 
 the root in the precise form of the Lith. 
 pinnu, pin-ti, to twine. 
 
 Binnacl©. See Bittacle. 
 
 BITTACLE 
 
 Bio-. Gr. /3ioc, life. 
 
 Birch. AS. birce; Sw. bj'orkj Lith. 
 be r has (z = Fr. j), Sanscr. bhilrja. 
 
 Bird. AS. brid, the young of birds ; 
 earnes brid, an eagle's young ; G. brtit, a 
 brood or hatch of young. See Breed. 
 We find the use of the word in this 
 original sense as late as Shakespeare. 
 Being fed by us you used us so 
 As that ungentle gull the cuckoo's bird 
 Useth the sparrow. — H. IV., v. sc. i. 
 
 The proper designation of the feathered 
 creation is in E. fowl, which in course of 
 time was specially applied to the galli- 
 naceous tribe as the most important kind 
 of bird for domestic use, and it was 
 perhaps this appropriation of the word 
 which led to the adoption of the name of 
 the young animal as the general designa- 
 tion of the race. A similar transfer of 
 meaning has taken place in the case of 
 pigeon, from YX.'siS.. ptppione, piccione, pro- 
 perly a young pigeon, and of Fr. poule, 
 a gallinaceous bird, E. poultry, from Lat. 
 pullus, the young of an animal. 
 
 Birth. AS. beorth, Sw. bord, G. ge- 
 burt, from AS. beran, to bear, to bring 
 forth. See To Bear. 
 
 Biscuit. Fr. biscuit. It. biscotto, Lat. 
 bis-coctus {bis and coquo, to cook), twice 
 cooked, or baked. 
 
 Bishop. Lat. episcopus, from Gr. 
 £7ri«T/co7rog, an overseer, overlooker. When 
 compared with Fr. eveque, it affords a 
 remarkable proof how utterly unlike the 
 immediate descendants of the same word 
 in different languages may become. Epis- 
 copus; It. vescovo, Fr. evesque, eveque. 
 
 Bisson. — Bisom. — Bisen. — Bizened. 
 Blind, properly near-sighted. Du. bij 
 sien, propius videre ; bij siende, bij sien- 
 igh, lusciosus et myops, qui nisi propius 
 admota non videt. — Kil. 
 
 Bit. The part of the bridle which the 
 horse bites or holds in his mouth. AS. 
 bitol. ON. bitill, beitsl. Sw. betsel. 
 
 Bitch. AS. bicce; ON. bikkia, a little 
 dog, a bitch ; applied also to other 
 animals, and especially to a small poor 
 horse. G. beize, or petze, a bitch, in 
 Swabia, a pig ; petz, a bear. Fr. biche, a 
 hind or female stag. Something of the 
 same confusion is seen in G. hiindinn, a 
 female dog ; hindiuii, a female stag. 
 Lap. pittjo, a bitch. 
 
 To Bite. Goth, beitan, ON. bita, G. 
 beissen. 
 
 Bittacle or Binnacle. A frame of 
 timber in the steerage of a ship, where 
 the compass stands. — Bailey. Fr. habit- 
 acle, Sp. bitacora. Habitacle, a habit- 
 
BITTER 
 
 acle, dwelling or abiding place.— Cctgr. 
 In Legrand's Fr. and Flemish dictionary 
 habitude is explained a little lodge 
 (logement) near the mizenmast for the 
 pilot and steersman. ' Nagt huis, 't 
 huisje, 't kompas huis.' It would thus 
 seem to have signified, first, a shelter 
 for the steersman, then the mere case in 
 which the compass is placed. 
 
 Bitter. Goth, baitrs, ON. beitr^ bitr^ 
 apparently from its biting the tongue. 
 
 Peper aer bitter och bitar fast. 
 Pepper is bitter and bites hard. — Hist. 
 Alex. Mag., quoted by Ihre. Applied in 
 ON. to the sharpness of a weapon. ' Hin 
 bitrasta sverd' — the sharpest sword. 
 When an edge is blunt we say it will not 
 bite. 
 
 In a similar manner Gael, bemn^ bite, 
 cut, and beiim, bitter. 
 
 Bittern. A bird of the heron tribe. 
 It. bittore; Fr. but or j OE. bit tour. Sp. 
 bitor^ a rail. 
 
 Bitts. The bitts of the anchor, Fr. 
 bites^ Sp. bitas^ are two strong posts 
 standing up on the deck, round which 
 the cable is made fast. ON. biti, a beam 
 in a house or ship, a mast ; Sp. bitones, 
 pins of the capstern. 
 
 Bivouac. The lying out of an army 
 in the open field without shelter. G. bei- 
 wache, an additional watch, from •wachen, 
 to watch, corrupted in Fr. to bivouac^ 
 from whence we have adopted the term. 
 But we formerly had the word direct 
 from German in a sense nearer the 
 original. Biovac, bihovac, a night guard 
 performed by the whole army when there 
 is apprehension of danger. — Bailey. Sp. 
 vivac, town guard to keep order at night ; 
 bivouac^ night guard, small guard-house. 
 — Neumann. 
 
 ToBlab— Blabber.— Blabber-lip. To 
 blab, to talk much, indistinctly, to chatter ; 
 then to talk indiscreetly, to let out what 
 should have been concealed. I blaber^ as 
 a childe dothe or he can speake, Je 
 gasouille. — Palsgr. 
 Why presumest thou so proudly to profecie these 
 
 things 
 And wost no more what thou blaberest than Ba- 
 laam's asse. — Halliwell. 
 Dan. blabbre, to babble, gabble. Pl.D. 
 blabbern, G. plappern, to speak quick, 
 confusedly, thoughtlessly ; Bohem. blep- 
 tati, to babble, chatter ; Lith. blebberis, a 
 babbler ; Gael, blabaran, a stammerer, 
 stutterer, blabhdach, babbling, garrulous. 
 All founded on a representation of the 
 sound made by collision of the lips in 
 rapid talking. The Gdi^l.plab is used to 
 
 BLACK 69 
 
 signify 'a soft noise, as of a body falling 
 into water, or water beating gently on 
 the beach ; ' piabraich, a fluttering noise, 
 a flapping, as of wings ; plabartaich, a 
 continued soft sound, as of water gently 
 beating the shore, unintelligible talk ; 
 plabair, a babbler. — Armstrong. 
 
 The introduction or omission of an / 
 after the labial in these imitative forms 
 makes little difference, as is seen in 
 sputter and splutter. So Fr. baboyer, to 
 blabber with the lips. — Cot. To blabber 
 out the tongue, to loll it out. — Hal. Blab- 
 bej'-lip, synonymous with baber-lip, a 
 large coarse lip ; blob, parallel with Fris. 
 
 babbe, Mantuan babbi, a large lip, mouth, 
 chops. 
 
 Wit hung her blob, even humour seemed to 
 mourn. — Collins in Hal. 
 
 Gael, blob, blobach^ blubber-lipped. Bav. 
 bleff, chops, mouth, in contempt. — 
 Deutsch. Mund. v. 332. 
 
 Black, Bleak, The original meaning 
 of black seems to have been exactly the 
 reverse of the present sense, viz. shining, 
 white. It is in fact radically identical 
 with Fr. bla7ic, white, blank, from which 
 it differs only in the absence of the nasal. 
 ON. blakki, shine, whiteness (candor sine 
 macula. — Hald.). It. biacca, white lead. 
 
 Then as white is contrasted with any 
 special colour the word came to signify 
 pale, faded. AS. blac-hleor ides, the pale- 
 cheeked maid. Se mona mid his blacaii 
 leohte ; the moon with her pale light. 
 G. bleich, Du. bleek, Dan. bleg, pale. N. 
 blakk, pale, faded, discoloured ; gulblakk, 
 bi'unblakk, pale yellow, buff, pale brown ; 
 Sw. black, whitish, yellowish, fallow ; ON. 
 bleikr, light-coloured, whitish, pale, pale 
 yellow ; NE. blake, yellow ; ' as blake as a 
 paigle (cowslip).' 
 
 A fildefare ful eerly tok hir flihte, 
 To fore my study sang with his fetheris blake. 
 Lydgate, Percy Soc. x. 156. 
 
 Fieldfare, hS>. fealo-for, ixovafealo, fallow 
 fawn-coloured. 
 
 Again, as colours fade away the aspect 
 of the object becomes indistinct and ob- 
 scure, and thus the idea of discolouration 
 merges in that of dim, dusky, dark, on 
 the one side, as in that of pale and white 
 on the other. ON. blackr is translated 
 'glacus seu subalbus,' by Gudmund; 
 'fuscus, obscurus,' by Haldorsen. In like 
 manner E. bleak is used to signify pale 
 or light-coloured as well as livid or dark- 
 coloured. Fr. blestner, to wax pale or 
 bleaked. — Hollyband. Fr, //<^j-/<?r, to make 
 i bleak or siuart a. thing by displaying it in 
 
70 
 
 BLACKGUARD 
 
 the h ot sun. — Cot. Bleak of colour, pallido, 
 livido ; to bleak in the sun, imbrunire. — 
 Torriano. Sw. blacky whitish, also tanned 
 by the sun; mus-blackt,vs\o^^sQ.-^^xn. When 
 the idea of dimness or obscurity is pushed 
 to its limit it becomes absolute darkness 
 or blackness. There is nothing more 
 variable than the signification of words 
 designating colour. 
 
 Blackguard. A name originally given 
 in derision to the lowest class of menials 
 or hangers-on about a court or great 
 household, as scullions, linkboys, and 
 others engaged in dirty work. 
 
 A slave that within this twenty years rode 
 with the Black Guard in the Duke's carriage 
 (i. e. with the Duke's baggage) mongst spits and 
 dripping-pans. — Webster. 
 
 I am degraded from a cook, and I fear that 
 the Devil himself will entertain me but for one 
 of his blackguard, and he shall be sure to have 
 his meat burnt. — O. Play in Nares. 
 
 The word is well explained in a pro- 
 clamation of the Board of Green Cloth 
 in 1683, cited in N. and Q., Jan. 7, 1854. 
 
 Whereas of late a sort of vicious idle and 
 masterless boys and rogues, commonly called 
 the Black-guard, with divers other lewd and 
 loose fellows, vagabonds, vagrants, and wan- 
 dering men and women, do follow the Court to 
 the great dishonour of the same — We do strictly 
 charge all those so called the Blackguard as 
 aforesaid, with all other loose idle masterless men, 
 boys, rogues and wanderers, who have intruded 
 themselves into his Majesty's court and stables, 
 that within the space of 24 hours they depart. 
 
 bubble, blister, bladder ; Sw. bladdra, a 
 bubble, G. blatter, a pustule ; Bav. blatter, 
 bubble, blister, bladder. The radical 
 image is the formation of foam or bubbles 
 by the dashing of water, and the sense is 
 carried on from a bubble to any bubble- 
 shaped thing, a bladder or pustule. PI. 
 D. piaddern, to dabble in water, and 
 thence to babble, tattle. Dan. pluddre, 
 to puddle or mix up turf and water ; to 
 jabber ; pludder, mud, slush, mire, also 
 jabber, gabble. The primitive sense of 
 splashing in water is lost in ON. bladra, 
 to jabber, Sc. bladder, blather, blether, 
 chatter, foolish talk, but it may be supplied 
 from the constant connection between 
 words expressing excessive talk, and the 
 agitation of liquids. Besides the examples 
 of this connection given above, the ON. 
 skola and thwcEtta, and G. waschen, all 
 signify to wash as well as to tattle, chat- 
 ter. Pu. borrelen, to bubble, to purl, is 
 identical with Flanders borlen, to vocifer- 
 ate. — Kil. See Blubber. 
 
 Blade. ON. blaS, the leaf of a tree, 
 
 BLARE 
 
 blade of a sword, or of an oar ; G. blatty 
 leaf of a tree, sheet of paper, flap of a 
 coat, &c. ; Du. blad, a leaf, plate, board. 
 The term is generally applied to anything 
 thin and flat. It is commonly connected 
 withyfrt/, \\..piatto, Yx. plat, Dn.G.plat, 
 Gr. irXarvQ, broad. But perhaps a more 
 definite origin may be found in the notion 
 of foam, or a mass of bubbles, which we 
 have above endeavoured to indicate as 
 the original signification of Bladder. The 
 old Dutch form of the word is blader, a 
 leaf, bladeren, leaves, branches ; G. blat- 
 terig, leafy. And we have in foam a 
 most complete example of leafy structure. 
 
 Blain. as. blegen, Dan. blegne, Du. 
 blein, Sw. dial, blena, a boil, pimple, 
 blister. Perhaps from blegen, which 
 Schwenk and Adelung give as an old 
 Swabian form of the G. bldhen, to blow. 
 
 Blame. — Blaspheme. Gr. ^Xaaiprifitiv, 
 to speak impiously. Lat. blasphemare, to 
 revile, reproach, defame. Hence Ital. 
 biasimare, Fr. biasmer, and E. blame. 
 
 Et per consilium eorum ita convenienter tibi 
 respondebo quod cum tecum loquar non credo te 
 m&indie blasphematurum. — Eadmer, Hist. Novo- 
 rum, p. 86. 
 
 Que quand je parle avec vous je ne crois pas 
 que vous m'en blamiez. 
 
 Blank. — Blanch. Fr. blanc, white; 
 blanchir, to blanch, to make or become 
 white ; blanc, blatiqtie, a blank ticket, a 
 white or unwritten ticket, a ticket that 
 does not obtain the prize. Hence applied 
 to an occasion on which the result hoped 
 for has not happened. Blank verse, verse 
 void of the rhyme to which the ear is ac- 
 customed. To blank, or bla7ich, to dis- 
 appoint, to omit, pass over. 
 
 Now, Sir, concerning your travels — I suppose 
 you will not blanch Paris in your way.- — Reliqu. 
 Wott. in R. The judges of that time thought 
 it a dangerous thing to admit if's and an's to 
 qualify the words of treason, whereby every man 
 might express his malice and blanch his danger. 
 — Bacon in R. 
 
 The original root of the word is seen in 
 the G. blinken, to shine, to glitter, as Lat. 
 candidus, white, from candere, to shine, 
 to glow. Dan. blank, shining, polished. 
 
 Blanket. From being made of white 
 woollen cloth. Fr. blanchet, a blanket 
 for a bed, also white woollen cloth; blan- 
 chet, whitish. — Cot. 
 
 To Blare. — Blatter.— Blatant. To 
 roar, to bellow. Du. blaeren, probably 
 contracted from bladeren, as blader^ 
 blaere, a br.bble, blister, or as E. smother, 
 smore, Du. madder, moere, mud. The 
 present forms then should be classed with 
 blether, blather, bladder, the origm of 
 
BLAST 
 
 which has been explained under Blad- 
 der. 
 
 Gael, blaodhrachy blorach, bawling, 
 clamorous, noisy ; blor, a loud noise, a 
 voice ; Ir. blaodh^ a shout. 
 
 A parallel form sounds the radical syl- 
 lable with a / instead of d. Du. blaeteren, 
 blaeten^ blaterare, stultd loqui, proflare 
 fastum ; blaet^ blatero, ventosus, magnilo- 
 quus. — Kil. Hence Spenser's blatant 
 beast, the noisy, boasting, ill-speaking 
 beast. ' She roade at peace through his 
 only pains and excellent endurance, how- 
 ever envy list to blatter against him.' — 
 Spenser. With inversion of the liquid, 
 Sp. baladrar, to bellow, to talk much and 
 loud ; baladron, OE. blateroon, an empty 
 boaster. 
 
 Blast. A gust of wind. AS. blcEsan, 
 to blow ; blcBst, a blast. To blast, to de- 
 stroy, to cut off prematurely, as fruit or 
 vegetables struck by a cold or pestilential 
 blast of air. 
 
 Blatant. See Blare. 
 
 Blaze. I. A strong flame. AS. blase, 
 blcEse, blysa, a torch, a lamp ; blasere, an 
 incendiary ; ON. blossi, a flame ; blys, 
 Dan. bins, a torch ; Du. blose, redness ; 
 Sw. brasa, fire, and, as a verb, to blaze ; 
 Sp. brasa, Fr. braise, live coal ; embraser, 
 to set on fire. A blaze is so intimately 
 connected with a blast of wind, as to 
 render it extremely probable that the 
 word blaze, a flame, is radically identical 
 with AS. blcEsan, G. blceseti, to blow. If 
 the fire were named from the roaring 
 sound which it produces, it is obvious 
 that the designation would be equally ap- 
 propriate for the blast of wind by which 
 the conflagration is accompanied and 
 kept up, and which, indeed, is the imme- 
 diate cause of the roaring sound. 
 
 2. Sw. blcesa, Dan. Mis, G. bldsse, Du. 
 blesse, a blaze or white mark on the face 
 of an animal, a white mark on a tree made 
 by stripping off a portion of the bark. 
 As Kilian, besides blesse, has also blencke, 
 macula emicans, a shining spot, probably 
 the signification of a white spot on a dark 
 ground may arise from the notion of 
 shining like a blaze or flame, Sc. bleis, 
 bless, bles. — Jam. G. blass, pale, light-col- 
 oured. 
 
 To Blaze. — Blazen. i. To blow 
 abroad, to spread news, to publish. AS. 
 blcBsan, Du. blaesen, to blow. 
 
 And sain, that through thy medling is iblowe 
 Your bothe love, ther it was erst not knowe. 
 Troilus and Cressida. 
 
 But now, friend Cornelius, sith I have blasated 
 
 BLAZE 
 
 71 
 
 his vaunt hearken his vertue and worthiness.— 
 Golden Book in R. 
 
 Sw. oron-blasare, a whisperer, back- 
 biter. Perhaps the expression of blazing^ 
 or blazening, abroad, was partly derived 
 from the image of blowing a trumpet^ as 
 when we speak of trumpeting one's vir- 
 tues. Du. 'op een trompet blaazen^ to 
 sound a trumpet. 
 
 2. To portray armorial bearings in 
 their proper colours ; whence Blazonry, 
 heraldry. Fr. blason, a coat of arms, also 
 the scutcheon or shield wherein arms are 
 painted or figured ; also blazon or the blaz- 
 ing of arms. — Cot. The origin of this ex- 
 pressionhas given rise to much discussion, 
 and two theories are proposed, each of 
 much plausibility. First from the E. blaze, 
 blazen, to proclaim^ to trumpet forth, 
 whence the Fr. blason, used, among other 
 senses, in that of praise, commendation ; 
 blason funebre, a funeral oration ; blason- 
 ner, to extol, to publish the praises, pro- 
 claim the virtues of. — Cot. Du. blasoen, 
 thraso, gloriosus, magniloquus, also prte- 
 conium, laudes (Kil.), i. e. the matter 
 trumpeted forth or proclaimed by a herald, 
 which would ordinarily consist in the first 
 place of the titles and honours of the party 
 on whose behalf the herald appeared. 
 Then, as the purport of armorial bearings 
 was to typify and represent the honours 
 and titles of the bearer, and to make him 
 known when otherwise concealed by his 
 armour, the term was transferred to tlie 
 armorial bearings themselves, or to the 
 shield on which they were painted. 
 
 The other derivation, which Diez treats 
 as hardly doubtful, is from AS. blase, a 
 torch, a flame, splendour. The term 
 would then be applied to the armorial 
 bearings painted in bright colours on the 
 shield or surcoat, in the same way as we 
 speak of an illuminated MS. — a MS. 
 ornamented with coloured paintings ; Fr. 
 planches illnminees, coloured prints. 
 Prov. blezo, a shield, properly a shield 
 with armorial device : ' blezos cubertz de 
 teins e blancs e blaus,' shields covered 
 with tints of white and blue. Or the word 
 might spring from the same origin by a 
 somewhat different train of thought. The 
 AS. blcEse, blase, is used in the sense of 
 manifestatio, declaratio. — Lye. ON. blaser 
 vid, visui patet, it is manifest. — Gudmund. 
 Hence the derivative blason, like the 
 synonymous cognisance in English, might 
 be used to signify the armorial bearings 
 of an individual, as the device by which 
 he was known or made manifest when 
 completely cased in armour. 
 
72 
 
 BLEACH 
 
 To Bleach, on. bleikr^ light-coloured, 
 
 whitish, pale ; bleikja^ Du. blaken, N. 
 b/akua, to whiten by exposure to sun and 
 air ; AS. blcec^ pale ; blcscan^ to bleach. 
 See Black. 
 
 Bleak. In a secondary sense bleak is 
 used for cold, exposed, from the effect of 
 cold in making the complexion pale and 
 livid. See Black. 
 
 Blear, i. Blear-eyed ; having sore 
 inflamed eyes, like one that has long 
 been weeping. Pl.D. blarren, to blare 
 or roar, to cry or weep. * He blarrede 
 sinen langen tranen,' he cried till the tears 
 ran down. Hence blarr-oge or bleer-oge, 
 a crying eye, a red watery eye. 
 
 2. The term blear, in the expression 
 * to blear one's eye,' to deceive one, is 
 totally different from the foregoing, and 
 seems identical with bhtr, a blot or smear 
 concealing something that had originally 
 been distinct. 
 
 He that doeth wickedly, although he professe 
 God in his wordes, yet he doeth not for all that 
 see God truely : for he is seen with most purely 
 scowred eyes of faith, which are blurred with the 
 darkness of vices. — Udal in Richardson. 
 
 In this sense it agrees with Bav. jz5/^r;r«, 
 a blotch ; plerr, geplerr, a mist before the 
 eyes. ' Prsestigioe, pier vor den augen ; ' 
 ' Der Teufel macht ihnen ein eitles plerr 
 vor den augen,' the devil makes a vain 
 bltir before their eyes. — Schmel. So in 
 P.P. 
 
 He blessede them with his buUes and blered hure 
 eye. 
 
 By a similar metaphor Pol. twnan is a 
 cloud, as of dust or mist ; tumanic, to 
 cast a mist before the eyes, to humbug. 
 
 To Bleat, An imitative word intended 
 to represent the sound made by sheep or 
 goats. Gr. (iXtjxaofiai, G. bloken, to bleat 
 as sheep, or to low as oxen. 
 
 Bleb. A drop of water, blister. See 
 Blob. 
 
 Bleed. See Blood. 
 
 Blemish. A stain in a man's reputa- 
 tion, a spot, a fault, a disgrace. — Bailey. 
 From the OFr. blesmir, tacher, souiller, 
 salir, to spot, to soil. — Roquef. The 
 modern sense of the word bleme oxblesme 
 is pale, wan, bleak, dead-coloured — 
 Cotgr, ; blesmissure, blemisse7nent, pale- 
 ness, wanness, bleakness. As AS. blac 
 includes the notion of pale and dark, and 
 wan itself signifies not only pale but 
 livid or dark of hue, it is probable 
 that bleme was applied to the dark colour 
 of lifeless flesh, and thence to a bruise, a 
 spot, or blemish. The Promptorium has 
 
 BLENCH 
 
 blemysshen or blenscJiyn — obfusco. 1 
 blemysshe, I chaunge colour. 
 
 Saw you nat how he blemysshed at it whan 
 you asked him whose dagger that was. — Palsgr. 
 
 According to Diez the proper meaning 
 of blemir is to bruise or make livid with 
 blows, from ON. bldmi^ the livid colour of 
 a bruise, livor, sugillatio, color plumbeus ; 
 bldma, to become livid. Sw. blema^ a 
 boil, wheal, pimple ; Pol. piama, a stain, 
 spot, blot, a blot on one's name or re- 
 putation ; plajni^, splamtc, to spot ; spia- 
 mid sie, to stain one's honour or reputa- 
 tion, to disgrace one's name. So in Sw. 
 
 • CO 
 
 flack, a spot, blot, stain ; Jlack pa ens 
 goda natnn, a spot, a blemish in one's 
 reputation. 
 
 Blench. — Blencher. — Blancher. To 
 blench is sometimes used in the sense of 
 blanking one, to make him feel blank, to 
 discomfit, confound him. * Bejaune, a 
 novice, one that's easily blankt and hath 
 nought to say when he should speak.' — 
 Cot. 
 
 For now if ye so shuld have answered him as I 
 have shewed you, though ye shuld have some- 
 what blenched him therwith.— Sir J. More in 
 Richardson. nf> 
 
 At Other times it is synonymous with 
 blink, to wink the eye, shrink from a 
 dazzling light, boggle at something, start 
 back. 
 
 I>oketh that ye ne beon nout iliche the horse 
 that is scheoh (shy) and blencheth uor one 
 scheaduwe. — Ancren Riwle, 242. 
 
 And thus thinkande I stonde still 
 
 Without blenchinge of mine eie. 
 
 Right as me thought that I seie 
 
 Of Paradeis the moste joie. — Gower in R. 
 And now are these but mansbond (i. e. slaves) 
 
 raslcaile of refous — 
 For these ne shalle ye blenk.—R. B. 115. 
 
 To bhnk the question is to shrink 
 from it, to wink at it, avoid looking it in 
 the face. Fr. guettchir, the formal equi- 
 valent of English wink^ is used in a sense 
 exactly synonymous with blench, to start 
 away from. 
 And gif thou blenche from ony of tho, (faith or 
 
 creaunce) 
 Be war, from the than schal I go. 
 
 In the French version — 
 Et bien saches tu guenchir k creanche 
 ]e guenchirai a toi en tel maniere. 
 
 Manuel de Pecches, p. 419. 
 
 From the sense of rapid vibration 
 connected with the notion of blinking, 
 blench came to be used for a trick, a 
 movement executed for the purpose of 
 engaging attention, while the agent ac- 
 
BLEND 
 
 complishes a purpose he is desirous of 
 concealing. 
 
 Gif hundes urneth to him-ward (the fox) 
 He gength wel swithe awaiward 
 And hoketh pathes swithe narewe 
 And haveth mid him his blenches yarewe. 
 Owl and Nightingale, 375. 
 
 To Blend. A numerous class of words 
 may be cited, with or without the nasal, 
 representing the sound made by the 
 agitation of liquids. Swab, blotzen, to 
 churn, to dash cream up and down with 
 a plunger ; Du. ploizen, plo7isen, to fall 
 into water with a sudden noise, to plunge. 
 To blunge clay, in potters' language, is to 
 mix it up with water to a fluid consist- 
 ency. Du. blanssen, to dabble in water. 
 — Biglotton. Sc. to blulter, to make a 
 rumbling noise, to bluiter up with water, 
 to dilute too much ; bluiter^ liquid filth ; 
 to bluther, bludder, to make a noise with 
 the mouth in taking any liquid. — Jam. 
 To blunder water, to stir or puddle, to 
 make it thick and muddy. — H alii well. 
 Of this latter the E. blend, AS. blefidian, 
 ON. blanda, to mix, seems the simple 
 form, but by no means therefore a pre- 
 vious one in the order of formation, as 
 will be remarked in the observations on 
 the origin of the word Blink. Sw. blanda 
 vatn i vin, to dash wine with water. 
 Afterwards applied to the notion of 
 mixing in general, whether the subject 
 matter is wet or dry, although in the 
 latter case the consciousness of the imi- 
 tative source of the word is wholly lost. 
 
 To Bless.— Bliss. AS. blithe, joyful, 
 merry, blithe ; blis, joy, gladness, bliss ; 
 blithsian^ blissian, to rejoice, be glad ; 
 bletsian, to bless, to consecrate ; blet- 
 sung, a blessing. OHG. blide, glad, joy- 
 ful ; blidu, joy ; Paradises blidnissu, the 
 joys of Paradise ; bliden, to rejoice. A 
 similar development has taken place in 
 the Slavonic languages. Russ. blago, 
 well ; blagaya, goods, riches ; blajennii 
 (Fr. j), blessed, happy ; Serv. blag, good, 
 sweet ; blago, money, riches ; Pol. blogi, 
 blissful, sweet, graceful, lovely ; Bohem. 
 blaze, happily, fortunately, well ; blahy 
 ^obsolete), happy ; blaziti, blahoslaviti 
 (=bene dicere), to make happy, to pro- 
 nounce happy, to bless ; blazeny, blahos- 
 laveny^ blessed, happy; Blazena Bea- 
 trix. 
 
 From the action of the hand making 
 the sign of the cross while blessing one- 
 self or others, the verb to bless is some- 
 times found in the singular sense of to 
 brandish. 
 
 BLINK 
 
 73 
 
 Their burning blades about their heads do bless. 
 
 F.Q. 
 
 Tarry,, thou knave, I hold thee a grote I shall 
 make these hands bless thee. — Gamm. Gurt. 
 Needle. III. 3. 
 
 For the same reason a man is said to 
 bless the world with his heels when he is 
 hanged. — Nares. 
 
 Blight. A hurt done to corn or trees 
 that makes them look as if they were 
 blasted. — Bailey. Pl.D. verblekken, to 
 burn up. ' De Sonne het dat Koorn 
 verblekket^ or ' Dat Koorn is verblekket, 
 from blekken, to shine, to lighten. Per- 
 haps the notion originally was that it 
 was blasted with lightning. OHG. bleg^ 
 blich-Jiur, lightning. — Brem. Wtb. Or it 
 may be from the discoloured faded ap- 
 pearance of the blighted corn. AS. blceCj 
 pale, livid. 
 
 Blind. Deprived of sight. Goth. 
 blinds, ON. blindr, G. blind. Thence ap- 
 plied to anything which does not fulfil its 
 apparent purpose, as a blind entry, an 
 entry which leads to nothing ; AS. blind- 
 netel, a dead nettle, or nettle which does 
 not sting ; G. blinde fenster, — thiiren^ 
 — taschen, false windows, doors, pockets. 
 
 A blind is something employed to blind 
 one or prevent one from seeing, as a 
 window-blind, to prevent one looking 
 through the window. 
 
 The origin of the word must be treated 
 in the next article. 
 
 Blink. A wink, a look, a gleam, 
 glance, moment. AS. blican, to glitter, 
 dazzle ; G. blicken, to shine, to glance, to 
 look ; Du. blicken, to glitter ; blick, a 
 flash, a glance, a wink ; blick-ooghen, to 
 wink ; blicksem, lightning. With the 
 nasal, Du. blincken, to shine, to glitter ; 
 G. blinkejt, to twinkle, shine, glitter, and 
 also to ' 
 glitter. 
 
 The sound of k before an s, as in Du. 
 blicksem, readily passes into a t, giving 
 G. blitz, a flash, glitter, glimpse, lightning ; 
 blitzen, to flash, glitter, lighten. The in- 
 sertion of the nasal, as in the case of 
 blick and bliiik, gives blinzen, blinzeln, 
 to twinkle, wink, blink. — Kiittner. Swiss 
 blinze, to shut the eyes ; G. blinzler, a 
 blinkard ; blinzdt^gig, blink-eyed, weak- 
 eyed. Sc. blent, a glance ; Swiss blenden^ 
 a flash of light ; Dan. blende, to dazzle ; 
 Sw. blund, a wink, a wink of sleep ; 
 blunda, to shut the eyes. The term then 
 passes on to designate the complete 
 privation of sight. Du. blindselen, caecu- 
 tire, csecultare, to be blind, to act like a 
 
74 
 
 BLISSOM 
 
 blind person. — Kil. g. blinzel-maus^ or 
 blinde-kith, blindman's-buff. 
 
 The origin of blind would thus be the 
 figure of blinking under a strong light, 
 and blink itself is sometimes used to 
 express absence of vision. To blink the 
 question is to shut one's eyes to it, to 
 make oneself wilfully bUnd to it. A 
 horse's blinkers are the leather plates 
 put before his eyes to prevent his seeing. 
 Nor ought it to startle us to find the 
 simple form of the word derived from a 
 frequentative, as blinseln, blindselen. For 
 this, I believe, is a much more frequent 
 phenomenon than is commonly thought, 
 and an instance has lately been given in 
 the case of blend. Words aiming at the 
 direct representation of natural sounds 
 are apt to appear in the first instance in 
 the frequentative form. 
 
 To Blissom. Of sheep, to desire the 
 male. N. blesme, ON. blcesma,to blissom, 
 from bl(zr, a ram. — Egillson. 
 
 Blister. Du. bhiyster; Lat. piistula, 
 piisula, a bubble, blister, pimple. Both 
 the English and the Latin word are from 
 the notion of blowing, expressed by cog- 
 nate roots, which differ only in the in- 
 sertion or omission of an / after the 
 initial b. 
 
 The E. blister must be referred to AS. 
 blcEsan, to blow, whence blast, bluster, to 
 blow in gusts, to puff and be noisy, Bav. 
 blaustern, to breathe hard, while Lat. 
 pjistnla, pustila, must be classed with 
 forms like Gr. ^vacua, to blow, G. bausen, 
 biisten, pausteit, Sw. pusta^ to blow, puff, 
 swell. 
 
 The /, it must be observed, in imitative 
 roots is an exceedingly movable element, 
 and easily changes its place, or is in- 
 serted or omitted. Thus we have blab 
 and babble, bubble and blubber, Langued. 
 blouca and Fr. boucler, to bubble, buckle, 
 blouqiiette and bouclette, a little buckle, w. 
 blisg,piisg, shells, husks, and/zj^, pods, 
 blisters. 
 
 Blithe. Goth. bleitJis, mild, merciful ; 
 ON. blidr, mild, gentle ; OHG. blide, Du. 
 blijde, as in E. blithe, joyful. See Bless. 
 
 To Bloat.— Bloated.— Bloater. To 
 blote, to swell, also to set a smoking or 
 drying by the fire.— Bailey. ON. blautr, 
 soft, soaked. Sw. blot, Dan. bl'od, soft. 
 Sw. biota, lagga i blot, to soak, to steep. 
 Hence E. bloated, having an unsound 
 swollen look, as if soaked in water. In 
 like manner the Fin. kostua, signifying 
 in the first instance to soak, is also used 
 in the sense of swelling ; kostia, subhu- 
 
 BLOND 
 
 midus, inde humiditate tumidus. Sw. 
 blotfisk, fish which is set to soak in water 
 preparatory to cooking, cured fish. — 
 Ihre. When fish under this name was 
 imported into England, it was naturally 
 supposed that the signification of the 
 first element of the word had reference 
 to the process by which it was cured, 
 and hence to blote has been supposed to 
 mean to smoke, to cure by smoke. 
 
 I have more smoke in my mouth than would 
 blote a hundred herrings. — B, and F. in Nares. 
 
 You stink hke so many bloat-herrings newly 
 taken out of the chimney. — B. Jonson, Ibid. 
 
 Blob.— Bleb. Blob, a bubble, a blister ; 
 a small lump of anything thick, viscid, or 
 dirty ; bleb, a drop of water, a bubble, a 
 blister, a blain. — Hal. Blob, blab, a small 
 globe or bubble of any liquid, a blister, a 
 blot or spot, as a blab of ink. — ^Jam. 
 
 Though both his eyes should— drop out like 
 blobbes or droppes of water, — Z. Boyd in Jam. 
 
 From blabber, blobber, blubber, repre- 
 senting the dashing of water, the radical 
 syllable is taken to signify a separate 
 element of the complex image, a bubble 
 formed or a drop dashed off in the col- 
 lective agitation. So from sputter is 
 formed spot, a detached portion of the 
 agitated liquid, or the mark which it 
 makes. And so from sq^iatter, to dash 
 liquid, is formed squad, sloppy dirt, a 
 separate portion. See Blot. Gael, piub, 
 noise of liquor in a half-filled cask, sound 
 as of a stone falling suddenly in water, 
 any soft unwieldy lump ; plub-cheantt, a 
 lumpish head ; plubach, giving a sound of 
 the foregoing nature, speaking rapidly 
 and inarticulately. 
 
 Block. The stem or trunk of a tree. 
 — Bailey. A solid mass of wood, stone, 
 or the like. Hence, to block up the way, 
 to close it with a solid mass. Gael, bloc^ 
 round, orbicular. Fr. bloc, blot, a block 
 or log ; en bloc, in bulk, in the lump or 
 mass, taken altogether. It may be formed 
 like clot, clod, blot, Sc. blad, from the 
 sound of a small mass of something soft 
 thrown against the ground. See Blot. 
 The primary meaning would thus be a 
 small mass of anything, an unformed 
 mass, as distinguished from things fa- 
 bricated out of it, the unhewn bole of a 
 tree, any lump or mass of things. 
 
 Blond. Fr. blond, light yellow, straw- 
 coloured, flaxen ; also (in hawks or stags) 
 bright tawny or deer-coloured. — Cotgr. 
 Diez suggests that the word may be a 
 nasalised form of ON. blaud, Dan. blod, 
 soft, weak, in the sense of a soft tint, a 
 
BLOOD 
 
 I supposition which is apparently supported 
 by the use of the word Mode in Austria 
 for a weak, pale tint.— Schmid. It is 
 probably connected with Pol. blady, pale, 
 wan. It. biado (of which the evidence 
 exists in biadetto, bluish, sbiadare, to 
 grow pale), blue, pale ; biavo^ blue, straw- 
 coloured (Diez, Florio). OFr. blois, blot, 
 blue ; blot, blond, yellow, blue, white 
 (Roquefort). Prov. blot, blou, fair in 
 colour, as the skin or hair. It should be 
 remarked that the Du. blond is used in 
 the sense of the livid colour of a bruise 
 as well as in that of flaxen, yellowish ; 
 blond en blaauw slaan, to beat one black 
 and blue ; blondheid, couleur livide. — 
 Halma. 
 
 Blood. — Bleed. Du. bleed, G. blut. 
 Doubtless named for the same reason as 
 Du. bloedsel, E. dial, blooth, G. bliithe, a 
 flower, from the bright colour which 
 these objects exhibit, from G. bliihen, to 
 glow. Both blut and bliithe are written 
 bluat by Otfried, and bliihen is used in 
 the Swabian dialect in the sense of bleed. 
 — Schmid. Erploten, to be red with 
 rage. — Schilter. See Blow, 2. 
 
 Bloom. The bright-coloured part to 
 plants which prepares the seed, a deli- 
 cately-coloured down on fruits, the bright 
 colour of the cheeks. 
 
 The sun was brycht and sch)Tiand clere, 
 And armouris that burnyst were 
 Swa blomyt with the sunnys beme 
 That all the land was in a leme. — Barbour. 
 
 Du. bloemen, to bloom or flower, pro- 
 l^erly to shine with bright colours ; 
 bio erne, bio ems el, ON. blomi, b loins tr, a 
 flower. A parallel form with ON. liomr, 
 E. leme, gleam. 
 
 Blossom. AS. blosa, blosma, blostma, 
 Du. blosein, Lat. Jlos, a flower. Du. 
 blosen, to be red, to blush ; blose, redness, 
 the bright colour of the cheeks ; AS. 
 blase, blysa, ON. blys, Dan. blus, a torch ; 
 blusse, to glow, to blaze, to flame; Pl.D. 
 bliise, bleuster, a blaze, bleustern, bleistern, 
 to glisten ; Russ. blistaf, to shine ; Sw. 
 blust, a flower. 
 
 Parallel forms with an initial gl and / 
 are ON. glossi, a flame, glyssa, to sparkle ; 
 e;lys, shine ; glcesi, splendour ; E. gloss, 
 glister ; Sc. glose, to blaze ; Ir. gltis, ON. 
 lios, light, E. lustre, brilliancy. See 
 Blow. 
 
 Blot, Blotch. The G. platsch ! patsch I 
 plats ! klatsch ! represent the sound of 
 dashing liquid, of a blow with something 
 soft or flat. From similar representa- 
 tions of sound are formed G. pladdern, to 
 
 BLOW 
 
 75 
 
 gush, to fall (of liquids) in abundance, to 
 dabble in water ; platschern, to patter, to 
 fall with a plashing noise ; Sv^iss pladern, 
 plattern, to dabble in water, to splash, to 
 dirty, (of cattle) to dung, whence plader, 
 platter, kuh-plader, cow-dung. Dan. dial. 
 blatte, to dash down, fall down ; blat, 
 blatte, a small portion of anything wet ; 
 en blat vand, skam, a drop of water or 
 of filth ; blak-blatte, a drop of ink ; ko- 
 blatt, Sw. kobladde, a cow-dung. Sc. blad^ 
 a heavy fall of rain (to be compared with 
 G. plaiz-regen, a pelting shower). ' It's 
 bladding on o' weet,' the rain is driving 
 on. Blad, a dirty spot on the cheek, a 
 lump of anything soft ; to blad, to slap, 
 to strike with something soft or flat 
 Carinthian ploutschen, to dash down 
 water ; pioutsche, great leaf of cabbage. 
 Y'm. plattata, to slap, to strike with such 
 a sound as the Germans represent by the 
 syllable klatsch / Platti, a sound of such 
 a nature, a blot or spot. Dan. plet, a 
 blot, spot ; pletter i solen, spots in the 
 sun. E. P)lot of land is a spot or small 
 portion of land. Sw. plottra, to squander, 
 properly to scatter liquid ; to scribble, 
 to blot paper ; piotterwis, in scattered 
 morsels, bit by bit. Wen dish blodo^ 
 bloto, mud.— Stalder in v. pladern. Fr. 
 blotter, to blot ; blotte, bloutre, a lump, a 
 clod. — Cot. Then as a drop of liquid or 
 lump of something soft spreads itself out 
 on falling to the ground, j-^ blottir, to squat 
 or lie close. 
 
 The form blotch answers to Swiss 
 piatscheit, which represents the sound of 
 something broad falling into the water or 
 on the ground, of water dashing in a 
 vessel or splashing over. Ein platsch 
 milch, a gush of milk ; platsch-voll, 
 platt-voll, piatz-voll, splashing full, full 
 to overflowing. — Stalder. Plotz, a blow, 
 or the sound of it ; bldtz, a spot or blot. 
 — Schwenck. E. b latch, to spot or blot. 
 
 If no man can like to be smutted and blatched. 
 in his face, let us learn more to detest the spots 
 and blots of the soul. — Harmar in R. 
 
 Blotch-paper, blotting-paper. — Hal. 
 
 Blot at Backgam.mon. See Back- 
 gammon. 
 
 Blow. Apparently from the livid mark 
 produced by a blow on the body. Du. 
 blaeiiw, blue, livid ; blaetiwe ooghe, Fris. 
 en blau ach, a black eye ; Du. blaeuiven, 
 blowen, to strike ; blaiiwel, a beater. — 
 Kil. PI, D. ^/aV^^;/,blauschlagen; blawels, 
 livid marks. Fris. blodelsa and blawelsa^ 
 
76 
 
 BLOW 
 
 wound and bruise. * Si quis alium ad 
 sanguinis effusioncm vel livorem vulgo 
 blawe dictum licserit.' * Ad livorem et 
 sanguinem, quod bloot et blawe dicimus.' 
 — Hamburgh Archives, A.D. 1292, in 
 Brem. Wtb. *Nis hir nauder blaw ni 
 blodelsa/ there is here neither bruise nor 
 wound. — Wiarda. OFr. blau^ coup, tache, 
 meurtrissure — Roquefort, a blow, a bruise. 
 
 On the other hand, OHG. bliuwan, MHG. 
 bliuwen, G. blduen, to beat with a mallet, 
 can hardly be separated from Goth. 
 blig^tuan, to beat. 
 
 To Blow, 1, AS. blawan^ to blow, to 
 breathe ; G. bldhen, to puff up, to inflate, 
 a parallel form with blasen, to blow. In 
 like manner Lat. Jla-re, to blow, corre- 
 sponds with Sw.^asa, to puff, to breathe 
 hard. 
 
 To Blow, 2. To come into flower, to 
 show flower. The primary sense is to 
 shine, to exhibit bright colours, to glow. 
 Du. bloedeti, bloeyen, bloefnen, florere. — 
 Kil. G. blilhen, to shine with bright 
 colours, to blossom, to flourish. From 
 the same root which gives the designa- 
 tion of the bloody the red fluid of the 
 body ; and closely allied with Du. blosen, 
 to be red, and the forms mentioned under 
 Blossom. Swab, bliih, blut, blust^ a 
 flower ; OHG. bluod, blot; G. bliithe, 
 bloom, flower ; w. blodyn, a flower. 
 
 Parallel forms with an initial gl are 
 ON. glod, E. glede^ glowing coal ; Du. 
 gloeden, gloeyen, G. gliihen, to glow. 
 
 Blowzy. Tumbled, disordered in 
 head-dress. Blowze, a fat, red-faced 
 bloted wench, or one whose head is 
 dressed like a slattern. — B. PI. D. plusen, 
 to disorder, especially with respect to the 
 hair. Sik plusen is said of fowls when 
 they plume themselves with their beak. 
 Sik upplustern, when the feathers of a 
 bird are staring from anger or bad health ; 
 'dlusiig, plusig, toused, disordered; plus- 
 trig, (of birds) having the feathers star- 
 ing or disordered; (of men) having a 
 swollen bloated face or disordered hair. 
 — Danneil. 
 
 To Blubber. — Bludder. — Bluther. 
 These are closely allied forms, marking 
 some difference in application from that 
 of blabber, blebber, bladder, by the modi- 
 fied vowel. The radical image is the 
 sound made by the dashing of water, 
 whence the expression is extended to 
 noises made by the mouth in crying, in 
 rapid or indistinct utterance. The radi- 
 cal sense is shown in Gael, piubraich, 
 plubartaich, a paddling in water, a con- 
 tinued noise of agitated water, a gurgling 
 
 BLUE 
 
 or guggling, plitbair, one who speaks 
 indistinctly and rapidly; V\.T>. blubbern, 
 to make bubbles m drinking, to sputter 
 or speak in an explosive manner ; blub- 
 ber n, flubbern, to blurt out. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. v. 51. 
 
 To blubber, in E., is confined to the 
 broken sound made by the internal flow 
 of tears in crying. Blubbered cheeks are 
 cheeks bedabbled with tears. It is how- 
 ever provincially used in the original 
 sense. ' The water blubbers up' (Mrs Ba- 
 ker), where the word may be compared 
 with Bohem. blubonciti, to bubble up, to 
 boil. And, as bubbles are formed by the 
 agitation of water, blubber comes to sig- 
 nify bubble, foam. * Blober upon water, 
 bouteillis.' — Palsgr. 
 
 And at his mouth a blubber stode of fome. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 In modern speech the noun is chiefly 
 used for the coating of fat by which the 
 whale is enveloped, consisting of a net- 
 work or frothy structure of vessels filled 
 with oil. 
 
 It does not impair the representative 
 power of the word when the final b in the 
 radical syllable of blubber is exchanged 
 for 3. d in Sc. bludder, bluther, to make a 
 noise with the mouth in taking liquid ; to 
 disfigure the face with weeping. — Jam. 
 
 . Her sweet bloderit face. — Chaucer. 
 Bav. blodern, piodern, Pl.D. pludern, to 
 gabble, jabber, chatter. Piodern, to 
 sound like water, to gush. — Deutsch. 
 Mund. ii. 92. Pludent, to guggle, sound 
 like water gushing out of a narrow open- 
 ing; to flap like loose clothes. — Schmel- 
 ler. 
 
 Blue. OHG. blao, blaw j It. biavo, 
 Prov. blau, fem. blava. 
 
 Notwithstanding the little apparent 
 resemblance, I have little doubt in identi- 
 fying the foregoing with w. glas, blue, 
 green, grey, pale ; Gael, glas, pale, wan. 
 The interchange of an initial gl, bl, ox gr, 
 br, is very frequent. We may cite for 
 example G. gliihen, bliihen, E. glow, blow; 
 Gr. '{Kr])(Uiv , ^\i\ywv, a herb ; Gr. ^akavoq, 
 Lat. glans ; Ir. glaodh and blaodh, a 
 shout ; glagaireachd and blagaireachd, a 
 blast, boasting; Bret, bruk, w. grug, 
 heath. We thus identify the Celtic glas 
 with G. blass, pale ; O Fr. bloes, blois, bloi, 
 blue ; blazir, to make blue, and thence, 
 to fade, to spot, to bruise — Roquef. ; 
 Langued. blazi, faded, withered, bruised ; 
 Prov. blezir, to fade, grow pale, dirty. — 
 Raynouard. The usual interchange of a 
 final z and d connects these with Pol. 
 blady, pale, wan, bledniad, to fade; It. 
 
BLUFF 
 
 biado, blue, pale, the evidence of which 
 is seen in biadetto, bluish, and sbiadare, 
 to become pale or wan. — Flor. Hence 
 we pass to Prov. blahir, to become pale 
 or livid, in the same way as from It. 
 tradire to Fr. trahir. The change from 
 a medial d X.o v \% still more familiar. 
 We find accordingly It. sbiavare, as well 
 as sbiadare, to become pale, and biavo 
 (Diez), as well as biado, blue. The 
 Romance blave is moreover, like the 
 Celtic glas, applied to green as well as 
 blue. Blavoyer, vQr^oytr, dtvemr vert; 
 blavoie, verdure, herbe. — Roquefort. 
 
 Hence we may explain the origin of the 
 It. biada, biava, corn, originally growing 
 corn, from the brilliant green of the young 
 corn in the spring, contrasted with the 
 brown tint of the uncultivated country. 
 ' Biada, tutte le semente ancora in erba.' 
 — Altieri. Bladiim, blandimi, in plur. 
 se^etes virentes. — Dief. Supp. The 
 gradual change of colour in the growing 
 plant from a bright green to the yellow 
 tint of the reaped corn (still designated 
 by the term biada) may perhaps explain 
 the singular vacillation in the meaning of 
 the It. biavo, which is rendered by Florio, 
 pale straw-coloured. It is remarkable 
 however that the e. blake (identical with 
 AS. blac, G. bleich, pale) is provincially 
 used in the sense of yellow. 
 
 The Du. blond IS also applied to the 
 livid colour of a bruise, as well as the 
 yellowish colour of the hair. OFr. bloi, 
 blond, jaune, bleu et blanc. — Roquefort. 
 Thus it becomes difficult to separate Mid. 
 Lat. blavus, blue, from the Lat. Jlavus, 
 yellow, Bohem-^/^aiwy, yellowish red, Pol. 
 plowy, pale yellow, discoloured {plowiec, 
 to grow yellow, to lose colour, to fade), 
 G. falb, and E. fallow^ fawn-coloured, 
 reddish yellow, v 
 
 Bluff. Du. blaf, planus, aequus et 
 amplus, superficie plana, non rotunda; 
 blaf aensight facies plana et ampla, a 
 bluff countenance ; blaf van voorhooft, 
 fronto, having a bluff forehead, a fore- 
 head not sloping but rising straight up. — 
 Kil. So a bluff shore is opposed to a 
 sloping shore. Blaffart, a. plain coin 
 without image or superscription. — Kil. 
 A bli(^ manner, a plain unornamented 
 manner. 
 
 The word is probably derived in the 
 first instance from the sound of some- 
 thing falling flat upon the ground. Du. 
 ploffen, to fall suddenly on the ground, 
 to plump into the water. — Halma. It 
 then signifies something done at once, 
 and not introduced by degrees or cere- 
 
 BLUNDERBUSS 
 
 77 
 
 monious preparations ; a shore abruptly 
 rising, or an abrupt manner. 
 
 In like manner from an imitation of 
 the same sound by the syllable plomp, 
 Du. ploinp, abrupt, rustic, blunt. See 
 Blunt. 
 
 Blunder. The original meaning of 
 blunder seems to be to dabble in water, 
 from an imitation of the sound. It is a 
 nasal form of such words as blather^ 
 bluffer, bluifer, all representing the 
 agitation of liquids, and then generally 
 idle talk. Dan. pludder, earth and water 
 mixed together, puddle, idle talk ; piud" 
 dre, to dabble in the mud, to puddle, mix 
 up turf and water. Then with the nasal, 
 E. dial, to blunder water, to stir or pud- 
 dle, to make water thick and muddy ; 
 and metaphorically, blunder, confusion, 
 trouble. — Hal. I blonder, je perturbe. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 To shuffle and digress so as by any means 
 whatever to blunder an adversary. — Ditton in R. 
 ON. glujidr, sloppy drink; glundra, to 
 disturb, to confound. 
 
 Analogous forms are Du. blanssen, in 
 't water dobbelen, to dabble — Biglotton ; 
 E. to blunge clay, to mix it up with water. 
 —Hal. 
 
 To blunder is then, for the same rea- 
 son as the synonymous dabble, used for 
 the work of an unskilful performer. 
 Blunderer or blunt worker^ hebefactor. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 What blunderer is yonder that playeth diddil, 
 He findeth false measures out of his fond fiddil. 
 Skelton in R. 
 
 Hence a blunder^ an ill-done job, a 
 mistake. 
 Like drunken sots about the street we roam : 
 Well knows the sot he has a certain home, 
 Yet knows not how to find the uncertain place, 
 And blunders on and staggers every pace. 
 
 Dry den in R. 
 
 The word is here synonymous with 
 Jlounder, the original meaning of which 
 is, like Du. flodderen (Weiland), to work 
 in mud or water. To blunder out a 
 speech, to bring it out hastily with a 
 spluttering noise. G. herauspolterti or 
 herausplatzen, to blurt or blunder out 
 something. — Kiittner. 
 
 See Blurt, Blunt, Bodge. 
 
 Blunderbuss. Pl.D. buller-bak, bul- 
 ler-jaan, Sw. buller-bas, a blustering fel- 
 low ; G. polter-Jians, one who performs 
 his business with much noise, bawling, 
 and bustle ; polferer, a blunderbuss, 
 blunderhead, a boisterous violent man. — 
 Kiittner. From G. bullern, polfern, to 
 make a noise. The Du. has donder-bus^ 
 
78 
 
 BLUNKET 
 
 a blunderbuss, from the loud report ; bus^ 
 a fire-arm. — Halma. 
 
 Blunket. A light blue colour. Pol. 
 blekity azure, blue. Probably radically 
 identical with E. bleak^ pale, wan, as the 
 senses of paleness and blue colour very 
 generally run into each other. 
 
 Blunt. Before attempting to explain 
 the formation of the word, it will be well 
 to point out a sense, so different from 
 that in which it is ordinarily used, that it 
 is not easy to discover the connection. 
 Bare and blunt, naked, void. 
 It chaunst a sort of merchants which were wont 
 To skim those coasts for bondmen there to buy- 
 Arrived in this isle though bare and blunt 
 To inquire for slaves. — F. Q. 
 The large plains — 
 Stude blunt of beistis and of treis bare. — D. V. 
 
 A modification of the same root, without 
 the nasal, appears with the same mean- 
 ing in Swiss blutt, naked, bare, unfledged ; 
 Sw. blott, G. bloss, It. biotto, biosso, naked, 
 poor ; Sc. blout, blait. 
 Woddis, forestis, with naked bewis blout 
 Stude strippit of thare wede in every hout. — D.V. 
 
 The blait body, the naked body.— 
 Jamieson. The two senses are also 
 united in Gael, maol, bald, without horns, 
 blunt, edgeless, pointless, bare, without 
 foliage, foolish, silly. Maolaich, to make 
 bare or blunt. 
 
 Now the Swiss bluntsch, blunsch, is 
 used to represent the sound which is 
 imitated in English and other languages 
 by the syllable plump, viz. the sound of a 
 round heavy body falling into the water ; 
 bluntschen, to make a noise of such a 
 nature, to plump into the water. — Stalder. 
 A similar sound is represented by the 
 syllables plots, piutz — Kiittner ; whence 
 "Dm. piotsen, pionsen,plof7tpen,to fall into 
 the water; G. piatz-regen, a pelting 
 shower of rain. We have then the ex- 
 pressions, 77tit etwas heraMs-platze?i, or 
 heraus plu7npen, to blujtt a thing out, to 
 blurt, blunder, or blab out a thing — 
 Kiittner; to bring it suddenly out, like a 
 thing thrown down with a noise, such as 
 that represented by the syllables bluntsch, 
 plotz, plump J to plump out with it. 
 S-wdih.platzejz, to throw a thing violently 
 down. 
 
 Peradventure it were good rather to keep in 
 good silence thyself than blunt forth rudely. — 
 Sir T. More in Richardson. 
 
 The term bltmt is then applied to things 
 done suddenly, without preparation. 
 Fathers are 
 Won by degrees, not bluntly as our maslei*s 
 Or wronged friends are. — Ford in R. 
 
 BLUNT 
 
 A blunt manner is an unpolished, un- 
 ceremonious manner, exactly correspond- 
 ing to the G. plump. Plump mit etivas 
 umgehen, to handle a thing bluntly^ 
 awkwardly, rudely. — Kiittner. 
 
 It is from this notion of suddenness, 
 absence of preparation, that the sense of 
 bare, naked, seems to be derived. To 
 speak bluntly is to tell the naked truth, 
 Sw. blotta sanningen. The syllables blot, 
 bltmt, plump, and the like, represent the 
 sound not only of a thing falling into the 
 water, but of something soft thrown on 
 the ground, as Sw. plump, a blot, Dan. 
 pludse, to plump down, Dan. dial, blatte, 
 to fall down, fling down ; blat, a portion 
 of something wet, as cow-dung. — Mol- 
 bech. Then as a wet lump lies where it 
 is thrown, it is taken as the type of every- 
 thing inactive, dull, heavy, insensible, and 
 these qualities are expressed by both 
 modifications of the root, with or with- 
 out the nasal, as in E. blunty Sc. blait, 
 dull, sheepish. 
 
 Then cometh indevotion, through which a man 
 is so blont, and hath swiche languor in his soul, 
 that he may neither rede ne sing in holy chirche. 
 
 Chaucer, in Richardson. 
 We Phenicianis nane sa blait breistis has. — D. V. 
 Non obtusa adeo gestamus pectora Poeni. 
 
 Sc. Blaitie-bum, a simpleton, stupid 
 fellow, and in the same sense, a bluntie. 
 Du. blutten, homo stolidus, obtusus, ina- 
 nis. — Kil. 
 
 Thus we are brought to what is now 
 the most ordinary meaning of the word 
 blunt, viz. the absence of sharpness, the 
 natural connection of which with the 
 qualities above mentioned is shown by 
 the use of the Latin obtusus in the fore- 
 going passages- An active intelligent 
 lad is said to be sharp, and it is the con- 
 verse of this metaphor when we speak of 
 a knife which will not cut as a blunt 
 knife. The word dull, it will be observed, 
 is used in both senses, of a knife which 
 will not cut, and an unintelligent, inactive 
 person. Swiss bhmtschi, a thick and 
 plump person. — Stalder. 
 
 It will be seen that the G. phitnp, re- 
 specting the origin of which we cannot 
 doubt, is used in most of the senses for 
 which we have above been attempting 
 to account. Plump, rough, unwrought, 
 heavy, clumsy, massive, thick, and, 
 figuratively, clownish, raw, unpolished, 
 rude, heavy, dull, blockish, awkward. 
 — Kiittner. Plomp, hebes, obtusus, stu- 
 pidus, plumbeus, atig. blunt.— Kil. 
 
BLUR 
 
 In like manner from the sound of a 
 lump thrown on the ground, imitated by 
 ,the syllable bot^ is formed Du. bot, bo tie, 
 a blow ; bot-voet, a club foot ; bot, plump, 
 sudden, blunt, dull, stupid, rude, flat. 
 Bot zeggen, to say bluntly. — Halma. 
 
 To Blur. To blur, to render indis- 
 tinct, to smear; blur, a smear, a blot. 
 V>diV.plerr, geplerr, a mist before the eyes ; 
 plerreti, a blotch, discoloured spot on the 
 skin. 
 
 The word is probably a parallel form 
 with Sp. borrar,-X.o blur, blot, and E. bur, 
 a mistiness, representing in the first in- 
 stance an indistinct sound, then applied 
 to indistinct vision; but it may arise 
 from the notion of dabbling in the wet. 
 Sc. bludder, bluther, blubber, to make a 
 noise with the mouth, to disfigure with 
 crying. E. dial, bluter, to blubber, to 
 blot, to dirty; to blore, to roar. — Hal. 
 Swiss blodern, to sound like water boil- 
 ing, to rumble; l^^N.pJludern, to make a 
 noise in boiling; pludern, to guggle; 
 blodeni,plodern, to chatter, gabble. Dan. 
 pluddre, to dabble, to jabber, gabble ; 
 Sw. dial, bliirra, burra, to talk quick and 
 indistinctly ; bladdra, blarra, to blurt out, 
 to chatter. The elision of the d is very 
 common, as in Du. binder, blaere, a blad- 
 der ; ader, aere, an ear of corn, &c. For 
 the parallelism of blur and burrcovsx^. E. 
 blotch and botch, splurt and spirt, Du. 
 blaffen and baffen, to bark, G. blaseti and 
 bausen, to blow. See Burr, Slur. 
 
 To Blurt. To bring out suddenly with 
 an explosive sound of the mouth. Sc. a 
 blirt of greeting, a burst of tears. — Jam. 
 Related to blutter, bludder, as splurt to 
 sphctter. To splirt, to spurt out. — Hal. 
 It. boccheggiare, to make mouths, or 
 blurt with one's mouth ; chicchere, a 
 flurt with one's fingers, or blurt with one's 
 mouth. — Fl. 
 
 Blush. Du. blose, blosken, the red 
 colour of the cheeks ; Dan. blus, a torch ; 
 blusse, to blaze, to glow ; blusse i ansigtet, 
 to blush. Pl.D. bliise, bleuster, a blaze, 
 beacon fire. De bakke bleusterii, the 
 cheeks glow. — Brem. Wtb. See Blossom. 
 
 Bluster. To blow in puffs, blow vio- 
 lently, swagger. An augmentative from 
 blast. Bav. blasten, blaustern, to snuff, 
 to be out of temper. — Schmeller. 
 
 Boa. A large snake. It. boa, bora, 
 any filthy mud, mire, puddle, or bog ; also 
 a certain venomous serpent that lives in 
 the mud, and swimmeth very well, and 
 grows to a great bigness. — Fl. Boa, 
 stellio, lacerta, cocodrillus ; lindwurm. — 
 Dief. Supp. 
 
 BOB 
 
 79 
 
 Boar. AS. bar, Du. beer. As the as. 
 has also eafor, and Du. ever-swin, it is 
 probable that boarh^LS no radical identity 
 with G. eber, Lat. aper. 
 
 Board. Du. berd, G. brett, a board or 
 plank. AS. bord, an edge, table, margin. 
 Du. boord, a margin, edge, border. Fr. 
 bord, edge, margin. ON. bord, a border, 
 outward edge, board, table, whence bord- 
 vidr, literally edge-wood, i. e. planks or 
 boards. 
 
 Med endilongum baenum var umbuiz k hiisum 
 uppi, reistr upp bord-vidr a utanverdom thaukom 
 sva sem viggyrdlat vaeri. — Sverris Saga, c. 156. 
 — along the town preparations were made up on 
 the houses, planks raised up outside the roofs, 
 like the parapets [viggyrdil, war-girdle) raised 
 on board a ship in a naval engagement. 
 
 * Boast. Explained by Jam. to 
 threaten, to endeavour to terrify. 
 Scho wald nocht tell for bost nor yeit reward. 
 Wallace. 
 Turnus thare duke reulis the middil oist, 
 With glaive in hand maid awful fere and boisf. 
 D. V. 274. 29. 
 
 The radical meaning of the word seems 
 to be a crack or loud sound, and when 
 applied to vaunting language, it implies 
 that it is empty sound. To brag and 
 to crack, both used in the sense of boast- 
 ing, primarily signify loud noise. ' Heard 
 you the crack that that gave ? ' Sc. pro- 
 verb spoken when we hear an empty 
 boast. — Kelly. Boost is used for the 
 crack made by bursting open. 
 
 And whether be lighter to breke, 
 
 And lasse boost makith, 
 
 A beggeris bagge 
 
 Than an yren bounde cofre ? 
 
 P. P. 1. 9396, Wright's ed. 
 
 From this root are formed Sc. bustuous, 
 OE. boistous, violent, strong, large, coarse, 
 rude, and boisterous, properly noisy, vio- 
 lent ; G. pausten,pusten, pustern, to puff. 
 Comp. G. puffe7i, to give a, crack, to puff. 
 Du. pof, the sound of a blow ; poffen, to 
 puff, to bounce, to brag ; grande loqui, 
 voce intonare.-^Kil. See Boisterous. 
 
 Boat. AS. bdt, Du. boot. It. batello, 
 Fr. bateau, ON. bdtr, w. bad, Gael. bdta. 
 
 To Bob. — Bobbin. To move quickly 
 up and down, or backwards and forwards, 
 to dangle; whence bob, a dangling object, 
 a small lump, a short thick body, an end 
 or stump. Gael, babag, a tassel, fringe, 
 cluster; baban, a tassel, short pieces of 
 thread. From the last must be explained 
 Fr. bobine, E. bobbin, a ball of thread 
 wrapped round a little piece of wood, a 
 little knob hanging by a piece of thread. 
 ' Pull the bobbin, my dear, and the latch 
 will fly up.' — Red Riding-hood. 
 
8o 
 
 BOB 
 
 To Bob, 2. To mock. 
 
 So bourdfully takyng Goddls byddynge or 
 wordis or werkis is scorning of hym as dyden the 
 lewis that bobbiden Crist. — Sermon against 
 Miracle-plays, Reliq. Antiq. 2. 45. 
 
 In this sense from the syllables ba ba re- 
 presenting the movement of the lips, 
 whence Fr. baboyer, to blabber with the 
 lips ; /aire la baboit, to bob, to make a 
 mow at. — Cot. See Baber-lipped. 
 
 To Bode. To portend good or bad. 
 AS. bod, gebod, a command, precept, mes- 
 sage ; boda, a messenger ; bodian, to de- 
 liver a message, to make. an announce- 
 ment. See Bid. 
 
 To Bodge. To make bad work, to fail. 
 
 With this we charged again ; but out alas I 
 We bodged again, as I have seen a swan 
 With bootless labour swim against the tide, 
 And spend her strength with over-matching 
 waves. — H. VI. 
 
 The sound of a blow with a wet or flat 
 body is represented in G. by the syllable 
 Patschj- whence patschen, to smack, to 
 dabble or paddle; patsche, a puddle, 
 mire, mud. Now unskilful action is con- 
 stantly represented by the idea of dab- 
 bling; einen patsch thun, to commit a 
 blunder, to fail, to bodge. Hast scJid' 
 wide' patscht ? Have you failed again ? 
 Etwas auspatschen, to blurt a thing out. 
 • — Schmel. See To Botch. Shakespear 
 has badged with blood, daubed or dab- 
 bled with blood. 
 
 Bodice. A woman's stays; formerly 
 bodies, from fitting close to the body, as 
 Fr. corset from corps. * A woman's bo- 
 dies, or a pair of bodies, corset, corpset' 
 — Sherwood's Diet. 
 
 Thy bodies bolstred out with bumbast and with 
 bagges. — Gascoigne in R. 
 
 i. e. thy bodice stuffed out with cotton. 
 
 Bodkin. Gael, biodag, a dagger; 
 biodeachan, an awl. Lith. badyti, to 
 stick, thrust with something pointed, as 
 a horn, needle, bayonet ; ,Bohem. bod, a 
 prick, stitch; bodak, a prickle, point, 
 bayonet; bodnu, busti, to prick. Russ. 
 bodetz, a spur, bodilo, a sting ; bodat, to 
 butt, strike with the horns. French 
 bouter, to thrust, and E. butt, to push 
 with the horns, exhibit another modifi- 
 cation of the root. 
 
 Body. AS. bodig, Gael, bodhag. It 
 seems the same word with the G. bottich, 
 a cask, the two being spelt without ma- 
 terial difference in the authorities quoted 
 by Schmeller ; bottig, potig, potacha, a 
 cask ; bottich, bodi, the body of a shift ; 
 potahha, potacha, bodies, corpses ; pot- 
 tichy botich, a body. In like manner E, 
 
 BOGGLE 
 
 tntnk and G. r?/;;/^ signify a hollow case 
 as well as the body of an animal. We 
 speak of the barrel of a horse, meaning 
 the round part of his body. The Sp. 
 barriga, the belly, is identical with Fr. 
 barrique, a cask. 
 
 The signification of the root bot, of 
 which the E. body and G. bottich are de- 
 rivatives, is a lump, the thick part of any- 
 thing, anything protuberant, swelling, hol- 
 low, w. bot, a round body ; both, the boss 
 of a buckler, nave of a wheel, bothog, 
 round, rounded ; Wall. bodd,rabodd, thick- 
 set, stumpy ; bodene, belly, calf of the leg. 
 — Grandg. 
 
 The primary sense of body is then the 
 thick round part of the living frame, as 
 distinguished from the limbs or lesser di- 
 visions ; then the whole material frame, 
 as distinguished from the sentient prin- 
 ciple by which it is animated. In like 
 manner from bol, signifying anything 
 spherical or round, arise E. bole, the stem 
 of a tree ; ON. bolr, the trunk of the animal 
 body, or stem of a tree, body of a shirt ; 
 Lap. boll, Pall, palleg, the body. 
 
 Bog. The word has probably been 
 introduced from Ireland,where bogs form 
 so large a feature in the country. Gael. 
 bog (equivalent to E. gog in gog-inire, 
 quagmire), bob, move, agitate ; bogadaichy 
 waving, shaking ; then from the yielding, 
 unsteady nature of a soft substance, bog, 
 soft, moist ; bogan, anything soft, a quag-^ 
 mire. Ir. bogadh, to stir, shake, toss; 
 bogach, a bog or morass, 
 
 * To Boggle. Commonly explained 
 as if from Sc. bogle, a ghost ; to start 
 back as from a bugbear. ' We start and 
 boggle at every unusual appearance, and 
 cannot endure the sight of the bugbear.' 
 — Glanville in Todd. But the radical 
 idea in boggling is hesitation or waver- 
 ing, and the word is well explained by 
 Bailey, to be uncertain what to do, to 
 waver, to scruple. It is applied to bodily 
 vacillation in the Sc. expression hogglin 
 an bogglin, unsteady, moving backwards 
 and forwards, — Jam. Supp. * The grun 
 a' bogglt fin we geed on it.' Bogglie^ 
 quaking, unsteady. — Banff. Gl. 
 
 The radical image is probably a series 
 of broken efforts or broken movements, 
 as in stammering or staggering, repre- 
 sented by the abruptly sounding syl- 
 lables gag, gog, or bag, bog. Thus from 
 gog or ^^^ we have Bret, gag, Ptg. gago, 
 stuttering ; Bret, gagei, gagoula, Ptg. 
 gaguejar, to stammer, stutter; Y.. goginire^ 
 a quagmire, ^<^^p^^, to roll, to be unsteady ; 
 Gael, gogachy nodding, wavering, fickle ; 
 
BOIL 
 
 and in like manner from the parallel forms 
 bag or bog are derived Piedm. bagaje, 
 Fr. bdgayer, Wall, (of Mons) beguer, OG. 
 bochken (titubare, stameln vel bochken. 
 — Vocab. A.D. 1430 in Deutsch. Mund. 
 iv. 304). Mag}^ bakogni, to stammer, 
 bakazikni, to stumble; Gael, bog, wag, 
 bob, shake, E. bog, a quaking mire, and 
 boggle, to waver or hesitate. ' He could 
 not gefon with his speech, he made poor 
 boggling work.' — Mrs Baker. 
 
 In the same way Sc. tar tie, to boggle 
 as a horse, to hesitate from doubt, scruple, 
 or dislike, may be identified with It. tar- 
 tagliare, Sp. tartajear, to stammer, stut- 
 ter, tartalear, to stagger, to be at a loss 
 in speaking. 
 
 To Boil. — Boil. Lat. bullire, Fr. boiiil- 
 lir, ON. bulla, to boil, properly represent 
 the sound of water boiling, whence bulla, 
 Du. bollen (Kil.), to tattle, chatter. Sc. 
 buller, the gurgling sound of water rush- 
 ing into a cavity. Westerwald bollern, 
 to give a hollow sound. 
 
 Then as boilmg consists in the sending 
 up of bubbles, Lat. bulla, a bubble, boss, 
 stud, lump of lead on which a seal was 
 impressed ; It. bolla, a bubble, round 
 glass phial, also a blister, pustule, pimple ; 
 ON. bola, a bubble, blister, boil ; Sw. 
 bula, a bump, swelling, dint in a metal 
 vessel ; Du. btiile,pinle, G. beiile, a boil or 
 swelling ; Du. biiilen, piiilen, to be pro- 
 minent, to swell. 
 
 * Boisterous. — Boistous. — Bustiious. 
 Properly noisy, then violent, strong, huge, 
 coarse, rough. 
 
 In winter whan the weather was out of 
 measure boistous and the wyld wind Boreas 
 maketh the wawes of the ocean so to arise. — 
 Chaucer, Test. Love. 
 
 Drances tells Latinus that Turnus' boist 
 cows the people from speaking, but that 
 he will speak out. 
 
 All thocht with braik and boist or wappinnis he 
 Me doth awate, and manace for to de. 
 
 He then exhorts the king — 
 
 lat neuir demyt be 
 The bustuousness (violentia) of ony man dant 
 the.— D. V. 374. 45. 
 
 Boystous, styffe or rude ; boystousnesse, 
 roydeur, impetuosity. — Pr. Pm. notes. 
 
 For bost or boist in the sense of crack, 
 noise, see Boast. G. pausten, piisten, 
 pusteren, to puff, blow. 
 
 Bold. Daring, courageous. Goth. 
 baltha, OHG. bald, free, confident, bold. 
 G. bald, quick. ON. balldr, strong, brave, 
 handsome ; ballr, strong, courageous. 
 Dan. bold, intrepid, excellent, beautiful ; 
 
 BOLT 
 
 81 
 
 Sw. bald, proud, haughty, warlike, as. 
 balder, bealder, hero, prince. Fr. baud, 
 bold, insolent ; baude, merry, cheerful. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Bole. The round stem of a tree. This 
 is probably a modification of boll, a 
 globular body, treated under Bowl. The 
 throat-boll is the convexity of the throat. 
 From the notion of a thick round mass 
 the term is applied to the body of an 
 animal as distmguished from the limbs, 
 to the trunk of a tree as distinguished 
 from the branches, to the belly as the 
 rounded part of the body. ON. biilr, bolr, 
 
 Sw. b°al, Da. bul, the body of a man or of 
 a shirt, trunk of a tree ; Lap. boll, pall, 
 palleg, the body ; w. bol, bola, boly, the 
 belly. See Bulk. 
 
 Boll. The round heads or seed-ves- 
 sels of flax, poppy (Bailey), or the like. 
 Du. bol, bo lie, a head ; bolleken, capi- 
 tulum, capitellum. — Kil. Bret, bolc'h, 
 polcli, beldhj w. bid, flax-boll. See 
 Bowl. 
 
 * Bolster. OHG. bolstar, AS. bolster, 
 a cushion, pillow. The term applies in 
 the first instance to the materials with 
 which the cushion is stuffed. Du. bolster, 
 the husk of nuts, chaff of corn ; siliqua, 
 gluma, foUiculus grani, tomentum, fur- 
 fures, stramenta. — Kil. If the primary 
 meaning of the word is stuffing, from Du. 
 bol, swelling, hollow, we must suppose 
 that it was first used with respect to the 
 chaff of corn, the most obvious materials 
 for stuffing a cushion, and then applied 
 to other husks, as those of nuts, which 
 are not used for a similar purpose. ON. 
 bolstr, a cushion, a swelling in ice. Swab. 
 bolster (aufgeblasen — Schmidt), puffed 
 up. 
 
 Bolt. — To Bolter, i. g. bolz, bolzen, 
 E. bolt, is a blunt-headed arrow for a cross- 
 bow, a broad-headed peg to fasten one 
 object to another, a fastening for a door. 
 Du. bout is explained by Kil., obex, pessu- 
 lus, repagulum; bout, boutpijl, sagitta 
 capitata, pilum catapultarium ; bout van 
 het schouderblad, caput scapula. The 
 essential meaning of the word would thus 
 appear to be a knob or projection, the 
 bolt of a door being provided with a knob 
 by which it is moved to and fro. A 
 thunderbolt is considered as a fiery mis- 
 sile hurled in a clap of thunder. G. bolz- 
 gerade signifies straight to the mark, as 
 the bolt shot by a crossbow ; but it is also 
 used, as E. bolt upright, in the sense of 
 perpendicular. — Stalder. Chaucer seems 
 to use bolt upright in the Reve's tale in 
 
82 
 
 BOLT 
 
 the sense of right on end, one after the 
 other. 
 
 The radical sense of a knob or thick 
 ending is exemplified in E. polt-foot or 
 bolt-foot^ as Fr. pied bot, a club-foot. Sir 
 Walter Scott in his autobiography speaks 
 of his ancestor Willy with the bolt-foot. 
 A bolt head is a retort, a round glass 
 vessel with narrow opening. The ulti- 
 mate origin of the word may be best 
 ilhistrated by forms like G. holler poller^ 
 Pl.D. hulter de bulter, representing a rat- 
 tling or crashing noise. ' Holler poller / 
 ein fiirchterlicher getose ! ' ' Ging es 
 hotter und poller dass die wagenrader 
 achzten:' it went helter-skelter so that 
 the wheels groaned. — Sanders. Hence 
 G.poller7t, Pl.D. bullern, to do anything 
 accompanied by a rattling noise ; bidler- 
 •wagen, a rattling carriage; die treppe 
 hinunter/^//^r«, to come rattling down- 
 stairs; pollern, to make a knocking, 
 hammering, or the like, to throw things 
 about. Then from the analogy between 
 a rattling noise and a jolting motion, Pl.D. 
 bullrig, bulstrig, bultig, jolting, uneven, 
 rugged, lumpy. ' De weg is hullrig un 
 bulttig^ the way is rugged and jolting. 
 Dan. btillred, uneven, rugged. — Schiitze, 
 From the same source must be explained 
 Northampton boiler, properly to jog into 
 projections, to coagulate, to form lumps, 
 as snow balling on a horse's foot, or ill- 
 mixed flour and water. Blood-bollered 
 Banquo signifies clotted with blood. The 
 / is transposed in Fr. bloulre, a clod, and 
 in Svj . plotter, a small portion. 
 
 For the connection between jolting and 
 collecting in lumps compare Du. kloleren, 
 properly to rattle or clatter {kloterspaen 
 crepitaculum — Kil.), then to knock, to 
 hammer, also to curdle, to become lumpy. 
 ■ — Kil. So also we pass from Lat. cro- 
 talm7t, a rattle, Prov. crollar, OFr. crod- 
 ler, croler, to shake, to E. cruddle, curdle, 
 to collect in lumps. 
 
 When we analyse the notion of a rattling 
 or jolting movement or a rugged uneven 
 surface, we see that the one consists of a 
 series of jolts or abrupt impulses, and the 
 other of a series of projections or emi- 
 nences. Hence, on the one hand, we 
 have Lat. pullare, Sw. bulla, to knock, 
 E. poll, a thump or blow, mhg. bolzen, 
 piilzen, to start out; Bav. bolzaugen, 
 pollzet augen, projecting eyes ; pul- 
 zen, to spring forth ; E. bolt, to start with 
 a sudden movement, as a rabbit from its 
 hole, or a racer from the course. 
 
 Passing from the sense of movement 
 to that of form, we have 'Dxx.pult, a clod 
 
 or clump ; Pl.D. <^//'//,^/^//d7/, protuberance, 
 small heap, mole-hill, tuft, clump; gras- 
 bulten, a clump of turf, a sod (SchUtze), 
 * Daar ligt idt up enen bulten : ' it lies all 
 of a heap. — Brem. Wtb. Du. bitlt, a 
 bunch, hump, boss, knob, bulk or quantity ; 
 bultig, hump-backed (to be compared 
 with E. bolt-foot, G. bolzauget) ; Sp. bulla, 
 protuberance, swelling, hulch, bulk. 
 
 2. In the next place, to bolt or bolter is 
 to sift meal by shaking it to and fro 
 through a cloth of loose texture. Fr. 
 bulter, bluter, beluter. Mid. Lat. buletare, 
 to bolt ; buletellum, Fr. buletel, belutea.u, 
 bluteau, a bolter or implement for bolting. 
 I boulte meale in a boulter, je bulte. — 
 Palsgr. Du, buideln, to bolter. — Bomhoff. 
 
 Here the radical image is the violent 
 agitation of the meal in the bolter, ex- 
 pressed, as above explained, by the repre- 
 sentation of a racketing sound, by which 
 indeed the operation of bolting was com- 
 monly accompanied in a very marked 
 manner. On this account Mid, Lat. tara- 
 tantara, representing a loud broken noise 
 as of a trumpet, was applied to a bolter 
 or mill-clack. Bulte-pook or bulstar, 
 taratantarum. — Pr. Pm. Taratantari- 
 zare, budeln daz mele ; taratarrum, 
 stablein an der ka auff dem mulstein das 
 der lautet tarr ! tare ! : the mill-clack or 
 staff which sounds tar, tar. — Dief. Supp. 
 On the same principle, the name of bolter 
 seems to have been given to the imple- 
 ment and the operation, from G. pollern, 
 to crash, hammer, racket ; gepdlter, ge- 
 bblder, a crashing or racketing noise. 
 The name would probably first be given 
 to the implement which kept up such an 
 importunate racket, and when the radical 
 significance of the term was overlooked, 
 the syllable bolt ox poll would be regarded 
 as the essential element signifying the 
 nature of the operation. 
 
 From a different representation of a 
 rattling noise may be derived a series of 
 forms in which an r seems to take the 
 place of the / in bolt and the related 
 words. 
 
 Thus from Sc. brattle, crash, clattering 
 noise {brattle of thunner, a clap of thun- 
 der — Brocket), we pass to Du. bortelen, 
 bullire, aestuare, tumultuari, agitari (Kil.) ; 
 Lang, bai^utela, baruta, to clack, to talk 
 loud and fast, to bolt meal ; barutel, a mill- 
 clack, a bolter ; Prov. barutela, to agitate, 
 palpitate, to bolt meal ; barutel, Dauphiny 
 baritel, OFr. buretel, Champagne burteau, 
 a bolter. OFr. btiretter {Cot.), It, barutare, 
 burattare, to bolt flour ; burato, bolting 
 cloth. And as the agitation of cream in 
 
BOMB 
 
 a chum is closely analogous to that of 
 the meal in a bolter, It. barutola (Fl.), 
 Castrais barafo, Fr. barate, are applied to 
 a churn for butter. 
 
 It must be observed that Diez' deriva- 
 tion of Fr. bulter from It. burato, bolt- 
 ing-cloth, and that from Fr. bttre, bureau, 
 coarse, undyed cloth of the wool of brown 
 sheep, accounts only for the sense of bolt- 
 ing meal ; and we must suppose that the 
 name was extended by analogy to the act 
 of churning and the idea of agitation in 
 general. But it is extremely unlikely that a 
 designation having no reference to the re- 
 semblance between the operations of bolt- 
 ing and churning should have been trans- 
 ferred from the former operation to the 
 latter, while nothing would be more na- 
 tural than the application of a term sig- 
 nifying violent agitation to each of those 
 operations, of which it expresses so 
 marked a characteristic. Moreover, the 
 Fr. bureau, OE. borel, signifies the coarse 
 cloth in which peasants were dressed, a 
 material quite unfit for bolting meal, 
 which requires stuff of a thin open tex- 
 ture. 
 
 Our derivation, again, is supported by 
 the analogy of G. beuteln, Du. buidelen, 
 builen, to bolt meal, the radical sense of 
 which is shown in Bav. beuteln, beiVn, to 
 shake (as to shake the head, to shake 
 down fruit from a tree, &c.) ; butteln, 
 buttern, to shake, to cast to and fro. 
 Butterglas, a bottle for shaking up salad 
 sauce ; buttel trueb (of liquids), thick from 
 shaking. Pollitriduare, biitteln. — Schm. 
 
 From builen, the contracted form of 
 Du. buidelen, to boult meal, must be ex- 
 plained Fr. boulenger^ a baker, properly 
 a boulter of meal. 
 
 E de fine farine (mele) vent la flour, 
 Par la boleiige (bulting-clot) le pestour. 
 Per bolenger (bultingge) est cevdre 
 La flur, e le furfre (of bren) demord. 
 
 Bibelesworth in Nat. Antiq. 155. 
 
 Bomb. — Bombard. Fr. bombe, It. 
 bomba, an iron shell to be exploded with 
 gunpowder. From an imitation of the 
 noise of the explosion. It. rimbombare, 
 to resound. In E. we speak of a gun 
 booming over the water. Du. bojnmen, 
 to resound, to beat a drum, whence 
 bomme, a drum ; bombaminen, to ring 
 bells. Dan. bojnrner, a thundering noise ; 
 bomre, to thunder, to thump ; w. bwm- 
 btvr, a hollow sound, bwmbwr y nior, the 
 murmuring of the sea. It. bombdra, any 
 riot or hurly-burly with a clamorous 
 noise ; bombai'da, any kind of gun or 
 piece of ordnance. — Fl. 
 
 BONFIRE 
 
 83 
 
 Bombast. — Bombasine. Gr. \lo\x^vl, 
 the silk- worm, raw silk. It. bombice, a. 
 silk-worm, bombicina, stuff, tiffany, bom- 
 basine. — Altieri. The material called by 
 this name, however, has repeatedly varied, 
 and it is now applied to a worsted stuff. 
 
 When cotton was introduced it was 
 confounded with silk, and called in Mid. 
 and Mod. Greek ^afilidiciov, Mid.Lat. 
 bambacium, It. bambagio j whence It. 
 bambagifio, Fr. bombasin, basin, cotton 
 stuff. E. bombase, bombast, cotton. 
 Need you any ink and bombase. — Holly band in R. 
 
 As cotton was used for padding clothes, 
 bombast came to signify inflated lan- 
 guage. 
 
 Lette none outlandish tailor take disport 
 
 To stuffe thy doublet full of such bumbast. 
 Gascoigne in R. 
 
 When the name passed into the lan- 
 guages of Northern Europe, the tendency 
 to give meaning to the elements of a 
 word introduced from abroad, which has 
 given rise to so many false etymologies, 
 produced the Pl.D. bainn-bast, G. baum- 
 wolle, as if made from the bast or inner 
 bark of a tree ; and Kilian explains it 
 boom-basyn, gossipium, lana lignea, sive 
 de arbore ; vulgo bombasium, q. d. boom- 
 sye, i. e. sericum arboreum, from boo/n, 
 tree, and sijde, sije, silk. 
 
 Bond. AS. bindati, band, bunden, to 
 bind ; G. band, an implement of binding, 
 a string, tie, band ; pi. bande, bonds, ties. 
 ODu. botid, a ligature, tie, agreement. — 
 Kil. In legal language, a bond is an in- 
 strument by which a person binds himself 
 under a penalty to perform some act. 
 
 Bone. G. bein, the leg, bone of the 
 leg, the shank ; achsel bein, bi'icst-bein, 
 the shoulder-bone, breast-bone. Du. been, 
 a bone in general, and also the leg. Now 
 the office of a bone is to act as a support 
 to the human frame, and this is especially 
 the function of the leg bone, to which the 
 term is appropriated in G. and Du. 
 
 We may therefore fairly identify bone 
 with the w. bon, a stem or base, a stock, 
 stump, or trunk ; and in fact we find the 
 word in w. as in G. and Du. assuming the 
 special signification of leg : w. bonog, 
 having a stem or stalk, also thick-shank- 
 ed; bongam, crook-shanked ; bondew, 
 bonfras, thick-legged, irova tew, bras, thick. 
 
 Bonfire. A large fire lit in the open 
 air on occasion of pub]ic rejoicing. 
 Named from the beacon-fires formerly in 
 use to raise an alarm over a wide extent 
 of country. Dan. baun, a beacon, a word 
 of which we have traces in several Eng- 
 lish names, as Banbury, Banstead. Near 
 
84 
 
 BONNET 
 
 the last of these a field is still called the 
 Beacon field, and near Banbury is a lofty 
 hill called Crouch Hill, where a cross (or 
 crouch) probably served to mark the 
 place of the former beacon. The origin 
 of the word is probably the W. bdn, high, 
 lofty, tall, whence ban-ffagl^ a lofty blaze, 
 a bonfire. Many lofty hills are called 
 Beacons in E. and Ban in w. ; as the 
 Brecknockshire Banns ^ or Vamts, in w. 
 Bdnau Brychyniog, also called Breck- 
 nock Beacons. Perhaps, however, the 
 word may signify merely a fire of buns, 
 or dry stalks for making a roaring blaze. 
 Bonnefyre, feu de behourdis. — Palsgr. 
 Mrs Baker explains bun, the stubble of 
 beans, often cut for burning and lighting 
 fires. Bun, a dry stalk. — Hal. 
 
 Bonnet, Fr. bonnet, Gael, bonaid, a 
 head-dress. The word seems of Scan- 
 dinavian origin. From bo, boa, bua, to 
 dress, to set in order, bojtad, reparation, 
 dress. Hufwud-bonad, head-dress ; was^g- 
 bonad, wall hangings, tapestry. But 
 bottad does not appear to have been used 
 by itself for head-dress. 
 
 Booby. The character of folly is 
 generally represented by the image of 
 one gaping and staring about, wondering 
 at everything. Thus from the syllable ba, 
 representing the opening of the mouth, 
 are formed Fr. baier, bier, to gape, and 
 thence Rouchi baia, the mouth, and fig. 
 one who stands staring with open mouth ; 
 babaie, babin. Wall, bdber, bah an, boubair, 
 boubid. It. babbeo, a simpleton, booby, 
 blockhead. Ir. bobo ! interj. of wonder ; 
 Sp. bobo, foolish. On the same principle 
 from badare, to gape, Fr. badaud, a fool, 
 dolt, ass, gaping hoyden — Cot. ; from 
 gape, E. dial, gaby, a silly fellow, gaping 
 about with vacant stare — Mrs Baker, and 
 from AS. ganian, to yawn, E. gawney, a 
 simpleton. — Mrs Baker. 
 
 Book. AS. boc. Goth, boka, letter, 
 writing ; bokos, the scriptures ; bokareis, 
 a scribe ; G. buch-stab, a letter ; OSlav. 
 biikui, a letter ; Russ. bukva, bukvdry, 
 the alphabet. Diefenbach suggests that 
 the origin is buki, signifying beech, the 
 name of the letter b, the first consonant 
 of the alphabet, although in the OG. and 
 Gael, alphabet that letter is named from 
 the birch instead of the beech. 
 . Boom. In nautical language, which 
 is mostly derived from the Low German 
 and Scandinavian dialects, a boom is a 
 beam or pole used in keeping the sails in 
 position, or a large beam stretched across 
 the mouth of a harbour for defence. 
 
 Du. boom J a tree, pole, beam, bolt. — Kil. 
 
 BOOT 
 
 To Boom. To sound loud and dull 
 like a gun. Du. bommcn. See Bomb. 
 
 Boon. A favour, a good turn or re- 
 quest. — Bailey. The latter is the original 
 meaning. AS. ben, bene, petition, prayer. 
 Thin ben is gehyred, Luke i. 13. ON. 
 beidne, been, bon, desire, prayer, petition, 
 from beida (e. bid), to ask. 
 
 Boor. A peasant, countryman, clown. 
 Du. boer, G. bauer, from Du. bouwen, to 
 till, cultivate, build, G. bauen, to cultivate, 
 inhabit, build, ON. bua, to prepare, set 
 in order, dress, till, inhabit. 
 
 From the sense of inhabiting we have 
 neighbour, G. nachbar, one who dwells 
 nigh. 
 
 From the participle present, O'ii.buandi, 
 boandi, comes bondi, the cultivator, the 
 possessor of the farm, master of the 
 house, \\ViS-band. 
 
 See Bown, Busk, Build. 
 
 * Boose. A stall for cattle. — Hal. 
 Boos, bose, netis stall. — Pr. Pm, AS. bosig, 
 bosg, bosih, ON. bds, a stall. Perhaps 
 from ow. boutig, literally cow-house, ow. 
 boutig, stabulum. — Ox. Gl. in Phil. Trans. 
 i860, p. 232. w. ty^ Gael, tigh, house. 
 But more likely from Sw. dial, bas, which 
 signifies not only straw, litter, but stall, 
 
 as a lying-place for cattle. Basa, to strew 
 with straw, to litter ; bosti, busu, hund- 
 busa, swinbusa, a lying-place for dogs or 
 swine, dog-kennel, pig-sty. N. bos, rem- 
 nants of hay or straw, chaff. 
 
 Boot. Fr. botte. Du. bote, boten-shoen^ 
 pero, calceus rusticus e crudo corio. — 
 Kil. Swab, bossen, short boots. — Schm. 
 It would appear that in Kilian's time the 
 Du. bote was similar to the Irish brogue 
 and Indian mocassin, a bag of skin or 
 leather, enveloping the foot and laced on 
 the instep. It is commonly explained as 
 identical with It. botta, Sp. Pro v. bota, 
 Fr. botte, a hollow skin, a vessel for hold- 
 ing liquids. See Butt. 
 
 To Boot, — Bootless. To boot, to aid, 
 help, succour. — Bailey. Boot of bale, 
 remedy of evil, relief from sorrow. To 
 give a thing to boot is to give it into the 
 bargain, to give it to improve the condi- 
 tions already proposed or agreed on. 
 Clement the cobeler cast off hus cloke 
 And to the nywe fayre nempned it to selle ; 
 Hick the hakeneyeman hitte hus hod after- — 
 There were chapmen ychose the chafFare to preise 
 That he that hadde the hod sholde nat habbe the 
 
 cloke, 
 The betere thing by arbitours sholde bote the 
 werse. — P. P. 
 
 i. e. should contribute something to make 
 the bargain equal. Bootless, without ad- 
 
BOOTH 
 
 vantage, not contributing to further the 
 end we have in view. Du. boete, baete, 
 aid, remedy, amendment ; boeten, to 
 mend, and hence to fine, to expiate ; 
 boeten den dorst, to quench one's thirst ; 
 boeten het vier, AS. betan fyr, to bete the 
 fire, properly to mend the fire, but used 
 in the sense of laying or lighting it, 
 struere ignem, admovere titiones. — Kil. 
 ON. bot, pi. bcetr, amendment, reparation, 
 recovery ; yfirbot, making good again ; 
 bceta, to make better, to repair, to patch, 
 to cure ; Sw. bata^ to boot, to profit ; 
 Goth, botjan^ to profit, to be of advan- 
 tage ; aftragabotja7i^ to restore, repair. 
 See To Bete. 
 
 Booth. This word is widely spread 
 in the sense of a slight erection, a shelter 
 of branches, boards, &c. Gael, both, 
 bothag, bothan, a bothy, cottage, hut, 
 tent, bower. Bohem. bauda, budka, a 
 hut, a shop ; budowati, to build ; Pol. 
 buda, a. booth or shed, budowac, to build. 
 ON. bud, a hut or tent, a shed, a shop. 
 OSw. scedes-bod, a granary ; mat-bod, a 
 cupboard. Du. boede, boeye, a hut, cup- 
 board, barn, cellar. 
 
 Neither G. bauen, to build, nor E. abode, 
 afford a satisfactory explanation. , In the 
 Slavonic languages the word signifying 
 to build seems a derivative rather than a 
 root. See Bower. 
 
 Booty. It is admitted that Fr. butin. 
 It. bottino, are derived from G. beute. 
 The Sw. byte points to the verb byta, to 
 exchange or divide, as the origin of the 
 word, the primary signification of which-^ 
 would thus be the division of the spoil. 
 Halfva bytning af alt that rof. 
 A half share of all that spoil. 
 
 Hist. Alexand. Mag. in Ihre. 
 
 Fr. butin is explained by Palsgr. p. 266, 
 schare of a man of a prise in warre time. 
 And so in on. the booty taken in war is 
 called grip-deildi and hlui-skipti, from 
 deila and skipta, to divide. 
 
 Borachio. A wine-skin, and meta- 
 phorically a drunkard. Sp. borracha, a 
 leather bag or bottle for wine. Gael. 
 borracha, a bladder, from borra, to swell. 
 See Burgeon. 
 
 Border. Fr. bordure, a border, welt, 
 hem or gard of a garment, from bord, 
 edge, margin. ON. bord, limbus, ora, 
 extremitas ; bordi, fimbria, limbus. 
 
 Bore. The flow of the tide in a single 
 large wave up certain estuaries. 
 
 Tumbling from the Gallic coast the victorious 
 tenth wave shall ride like the bore over all the 
 rest.— Burke in R. 
 
 BORE 
 
 85 
 
 ON. bdra, a wave, N. baara, wave, swell ; 
 bcera, kvit-b(xra, to surge, to foam. 
 
 To Bore, 1. — Burin, g. bohren, ON. 
 bora, Lat. forare, Magy. furni, to bore, 
 furo, a borer ; Fin. puras, a chisel, tere- 
 bra sculptoria ; purastoa, scalpo, terebro, 
 sculpo ; Ostiak.^^r,/^r, a borer, piercer. 
 
 The Fin. purra, to bite, leaves little 
 doubt as to the primitive image from 
 whence the expression is taken, the 
 action of gnawing affording the most 
 obvious analogy from whence to name 
 the operation of a cutting instrument, or 
 the gradual working a hole in anything. 
 The ON. bit is used to signify the point 
 or edge of a knife ; bitr, sharp, pointed. 
 We speak in E. of an edge that will not 
 bite, and it is doubtless in the sense of 
 ON. bit that the term centre-bit is applied 
 to an instrument for boring. The cor- 
 responding forms in Lap. are parret, to 
 
 bite, and thence to eat ; and parrets, an 
 awl, a borer. 
 
 The analogy between the operation of 
 a cutting instrument and the act of gnaw- 
 ing or biting leads to the application of 
 Fin. puru, Esthon. purro, to anything 
 comminuted by either kind of action, as 
 Fin. puru, chewed food for infants, sahan 
 puru, Esthon. pu purro (saha =: saw ; 
 pu = wood), OHG. uzboro, urboro, saw- 
 dust, the gnawings as it were of the saw 
 or borer. 
 
 Another derivation from Fin. purra, to 
 bite, IS purin, dens mordens vel caninus, 
 the equivalent of the It. borino, bo lino, a 
 graver's small pounce, a sharp chisel for 
 cutting stone with — Flor. ; Fr. and E. 
 burin, an engraver's chisel, the tool with 
 which he bites into his copper plate. 
 Compare Manx birrag, a sharp-pointed 
 tooth, or anything pointed, Gael, biorag, 
 a tusk, which are probably from the same 
 root. Fin. puras, a chisel, differs only 
 in termination, 
 
 * To Bore, 2. To bore in the meta- 
 phorical sense may have acquired its 
 meaning in the same way as G. drillen, 
 to pierce, also -to harass with work or 
 perpetual requests, to importune. But 
 probably the E. use of the word would be 
 better explained on the supposition that 
 it was originally bur. It. lappolone, a 
 great bur, an importunate fellow that 
 will stick as close as a bur to one ; lappo- 
 lare, to stick unto as a bur. — Fl. 
 
 I could not tell how to rid myself better of the 
 troublesome bur, than by getting him into the 
 discourse of Hunting. — Return from Parnassus 
 inR. 
 
86 
 
 BOREAL 
 
 Waldemar knew the old diplomatists impor- 
 tunity and weariness by report, but he had not 
 yet learned the art of being blandly insolent, and 
 thus could not shake off the old burr. — Walde- 
 mar Krone (1867), i, 106. 
 
 Lang, pegou, one who sticks to you like 
 pitch, a bore, ixoTsxpego, pitch. 
 
 Boreal. Lat. Boreas^ the North Wind, 
 boreaits, northern. Rus?. boreij the N. 
 wind ; binya, tempest, storm. 
 
 Borough. A word spread over all the 
 Teutonic and Romance languages. AS. 
 burg, burh, byrig, a city ; whence the 
 frequent occurrence of the termination 
 bury in the names of English towns, 
 Canterbury, Newbury, &c. Goth, baurgs, 
 ON. borg, It. borgo, Fr. botirg. Gr. 
 -TTvpyoQ, a tower, is probably radically 
 connected. ' Cas*cllum parvum quem bur- 
 gum vocant.' — Vegetius in Diez. Hence 
 must have arisen burgensis, a citizen, 
 giving rise to It. borgese, Fr. bourgeois, 
 E. burgess, a citizen. 
 
 The origin seems to be the Goth. 
 bairgan, AS. beorgan, to protect, to keep, 
 preserve ; G. bei'gen, to save, to conceal, 
 withhold ; Dan. bierge, to save ; Sw. 
 berga, to save, to take in, to contain. 
 Solen bergas, the sun sets. The primi- 
 tive idea seems to bring under cover. 
 See Bury, Borrow. 
 
 BorreL A plain rude fellow, a boor. 
 — Bailey. Frequently applied to laymen 
 in contradistinction to the more polished 
 clergy. 
 
 But wele I wot as nice fresche and gay 
 Som of hem ben as borel folkis ben, 
 And that unsittynge is to here degre. 
 
 Occleve in Halliwell. 
 
 The origin of the term is the OFr. 
 borel, burel, coarse cloth made of the 
 undyed wool of brown sheep, the ordinary 
 dress of the lower orders, as it still is in 
 parts of Savoy and Switzerland. See 
 Bureau. In like manner It. bizocco (from 
 bizo, grey), primarily signifying coarse 
 brown cloth, is used in the sense of 
 coarse, clownish, unpolished, rustic, rude. 
 — Altieri. So Du. f graauw, the popu- 
 lace, from their grey clothing. 
 
 To Borrow. Properly to obtain money 
 on security, from AS. borg, borh, a surety, 
 pledge, loan. ' Gif thu feoh to borh 
 gesylle,' if thou give money on loan. G. 
 biirge, a surety, bail ; biirgen, to become 
 a surety, to give bail or answer for an- 
 other. AS. beorgan, to protect, secure. 
 
 Borsholder. — Borowholder. A head- 
 borough or chief constable. By the 
 Saxon laws there was a general system 
 of bail throughout the country, by which 
 
 BOTANY 
 
 each man was answerable for his neigh- 
 bour. 
 
 ' Ic wille that aelc man sy under horge ge bin- 
 nan burgum ge butan burgum.' I will that 
 every man be under bail, both within towns and 
 without. — Laws of Edgar in Bosworth. 
 
 Hence ' borhes ealdor,' the chief of the 
 ' borh,' or system of bail, corrupted, when 
 that system was forgotten, into bors- 
 holder, borough-holder, or head-borough, 
 as if from the verb to hold, and borough 
 in the sense of a town. 
 
 Bosh. A word lately introduced from 
 our intercourse with the East, signifying 
 nonsense. Turk, bosh, empty, vain, use- 
 less, agreeing in a singular manner with 
 Sc. boss, hollow, empty, poor. 
 
 Boss. I. Fr. bosse, a bunch or hump, 
 any round swelling, a wen, botch, knob, 
 knot, knur. — Cot, Du. bosse, busse, the 
 boss or knob of a buckler ; bos, bussel, a 
 bunch, tuft, bundle. 
 
 Words signifying a lump or 'protuber- 
 ance have commonly also the sense of 
 striking, knocking, whether from the fact 
 that a blow is apt to produce a swelling 
 in the body struck, or because a blow 
 can only be given by a body of a certain 
 mass, as we speak of a thumping potato, 
 a bouncing baby ; or perhaps it may be 
 that the protuberance is considered as a 
 projection, a pushing or striking out. The 
 Gael, cnoc, an eminence, agrees with E. 
 knock; while Gael, cnag signifies both a 
 knock and a knob ; cnap, a knob, a boss, 
 a little blow. E. cob, a blow, and also a 
 lump or piece. — Hal. A bump is used in 
 both senses of a blow and a protuberance. 
 Bunch, which now signifies a knob, was 
 formerly used in the sense of knocking. 
 Du. butsen, botsen, to strike ; butse, botse, 
 a swelling, bump, botch. 
 
 The origin of boss may accordingly be 
 found in Bav. buschen, to strike so as to 
 make a hollow sound, to give a hollow 
 sound ; boschen, bossen, Du. bossen, It. 
 bussare, Swiss Rom. boussi, bussi, bussa 
 (Bridel), to knock or strike. 
 
 Then from the peculiar resonance of a 
 blow on a hollow object, or perhaps also 
 from looking at the projection from with- 
 in instead of without, the Sc. boss, bos, 
 bois is used in the sense of hollow, empty, 
 poor, destitute. A boss sound, that which 
 is emitted by a hollow body. — Jam. Bos 
 bucklers, hollow bucklers. — D. V. The 
 boss of the side, the hollow between the 
 ribs and the side. — Jam. 
 
 Botany. Gr. jSorarjj, a herb, plant, 
 ^orav'iCia, to pick or cull plants, ^oraviKOQ, 
 of or belonging to plants, ^ (Soravtiaj 
 
BOTCH 
 
 (tsxvtj understood), the science or know- 
 ledge of plants. 
 
 Botch. It seems that dofc/i is a mere 
 dialectic variation of i>oss, as Fr. dosse be- 
 comes in the Northern dialects boche. — 
 Decorde, Hdcart. Bochu, bossu, a hump- 
 back. — Dec. Du. botsen, butsefi, to knock, 
 to strike ; botse, butse, a knock, contusion ; 
 butse, a bump or swelling, a plague-boil — 
 Kil. ; bots, buts, a boil or swelling — Hal- 
 ma. A boil, pimple, blister, was called a 
 push; what pushes outwards. — Hal. And 
 so we speak of an eruption^ of boils break- 
 ing 07lt. 
 
 On the other hand. It. boccia, a bubble, 
 by met. any round ball or bowl to play 
 withal, the bud of a flower ; any kind of 
 plain round vial or cupping glass — Fl. ; 
 bozza^ a pock, blain, botch, bile, or plague 
 sore ; any plain round viol glass ; bozzo, 
 empty or hollow, as a push or windgall. 
 — Fl. 
 
 Here the radical image seems a bubble, 
 from the dashing of water. Parmesan 
 poccia, a slop, mess, puddle. It. pozzo, 
 pozzaftghera, a plash or slough or pitful 
 of standing waters. — Fl. E. dial, io podge, 
 to stir and mix together ; podge, a pit, a 
 cesspool ; poss, to dash about ; a water- 
 fall.— Hal. 
 
 To Botcli. The origin of the word is 
 somewhat puzzling. On the one hand 
 we have Swiss batschen, batschen, to 
 smack, to give a sounding blow, to fall 
 with a sound : batsch, a lump of some- 
 thing soft ; batsch, a patch ; batschen, 
 patschen, to botch or patch, to put on a 
 patch. — Stalder. 
 
 On the other hand, corresponding to 
 ON. bceta, to make better, to mend, to 
 patch, we have OHG. biiazen, gipnozan, 
 to mend, scuohbiizere, a botcher of shoes, 
 a cobbler ; G. biissen, to mend (kettles, 
 shoes, nets, &c.) ; kessel-biisser, a tinker; 
 schuhbiisser, schichbosser, bosser, bdsser, a 
 cobbler. 
 
 Again, the notion of unskilful work is 
 commonly expressed by the figure of 
 dabbling in the wet, and thus to botch in 
 the sense of clumsy working seems con- 
 nected with Mantuan poccia, a slop, mess, 
 puddle ; pocciar, to dip in liquid (to 
 dabble), to work without order or know- 
 ledge ; It. bozza, an imperfect and bun- 
 gling piece of work, the first rough draught 
 of any work. — Fl. Podge, a pit, a cess- 
 pool ; to podge, to stir and mix together. 
 — Hal. See To Bodge. 
 
 Bote. Hdtise-bote, fire-bote, signify a 
 supply of wood to repair the house, to 
 mend the fire. Si quis burgbotam sive 
 
 BOTTOM 
 
 87 
 
 brigbotam, i. e. burgi vel pontis refectio- 
 nem, &c. — Leg. Canut. AS. bot, repara- 
 tion. See To Bete. 
 
 Both. Boa two. — Ancren Riwle, 212. 
 AS. Butu, btitwo, batwaj OSax. bethia, 
 bede; ON. bddtr, gen. beggia; Goth, ba, 
 baioths; Sanscr. ubhau; Lith. abbti, abbii- 
 dii ; Lett, abbi, abbi-diwij Slavon. oba, 
 oba-dwaj Lat. ambo. — Dief. YJAh.Micdu, 
 Wedu, we two, Jiidu, yudwi, you two, 
 Jidwi, they two. 
 
 * To Bother. To confuse with noise, 
 {rovci pttdder, pother, noise, disturbance. 
 
 With the din of which tube my head you so 
 
 bother 
 That I scarce can distinguish my right ear from 
 
 t' other.— Swift in R. 
 
 Du. bulderen, to rage, bluster, make a 
 disturbance ; G. poltern, to make a noise, 
 to do anything with noise and bustle; 
 Dan. bulder, noise, turmoil, hurly-burly. 
 N. potra, putra, to simmer, whisper, mut- 
 ter. 
 
 Bott. A belly-worm, especially in 
 horses. Gael, botiis, a bott; boiteag, a. 
 maggot. Bonds, maggots in barley. — 
 Bailey. 
 
 Bottle. I. It. bottiglia, Fr. bouteille, 
 dim. of botta, botte, boute, a vessel for 
 holding liquids. — Diez. Gael, bnideal, a 
 cask, a bottle. See Butt. Bouteille, 
 however, is also a bubble, and E. bottle is 
 provincially used in the same sense. PI. D. 
 buddeln, to froth as beer ; buddl, a bottle. 
 — Danneil. Prov. botola, a tumour. A 
 bubble is often taken as the type of any- 
 thing round and hollow. 
 
 2. From Fr. botte, a bunch, bundle, is 
 the dim. botel, bateau, a wisp, bunch. 
 Bret, botel foenn, a bottle of hay. Gael. 
 boiteal, boitean, a bundle of straw or hay. 
 Du. bot, botte, knock, stroke, blow. — Kil. 
 See Boss. 
 
 Bottom, AS. botm, the lowest part, 
 depth. ' Fyre to botme,' to the fiery 
 abyss. — Csedm. Du. bodeinj G. boden ; 
 ON. botn, Dan. bund, 'Ldit. fundus. The 
 Gr. jSvOoQ, (3'sv9og, a depth, and ajSvrraog, 
 an abyss or bottomless pit, seem develop- 
 ments of the same root, another modifi- 
 cation of which may be preserved in 
 Gael, bun, a root, stock, stump, bottom, 
 foundation ; w. bon, stem or base, stock, 
 butt end. See Bound. 
 
 2. A bottom is also used in the sense 
 of a ball of thread, whence the name of 
 the weaver in Midsummer Night's Dream. 
 The word bottom or bothum was also used 
 in OE. for a bud. Both applications are 
 from the root bot, both, in the sense of 
 projection, round lump, boss. A bottom 
 
88 BOUGH 
 
 of thread, like bobbin^ signifies a short 
 thick mass. The w. has bot, a round 
 body ; both., boss of a buckler, nave of a 
 wheel ; bot/iel, pothel, a blister, pimple — 
 Richards ; bothog, round, botwm, a boss, 
 a button ; Fr. bo n ton, a bud. For the 
 connection between the sense of a lump 
 or projection and that of striking or 
 thrusting, see Boss. 
 
 Bough. The branch of a tree. AS. 
 bog, boh, from biigan, to bow, bend. 
 
 Bough-pot, or Bow-pot, a jar to set 
 boughs in for ornament, as a nosegay. 
 
 ' Take care my house be handsome, 
 And the new stools set out, and boughs and 
 
 rushes 
 And flowers for the windows, and the Turkey 
 
 carpet.' — 
 •Why would you venture so fondly on the 
 
 strowings. 
 There's mighty matter in them, I assure you. 
 And in the spreading of a boiigk-pot.' 
 
 B. and F. Coxcomb, iv. 3. 
 
 Bought. — Bout. — Bight. The 
 boiights of a rope are the separate folds 
 when coiled in a circle, from AS. bugaii, 
 to bow or bend ; and as the coils come 
 round and round in similar circles, a boict, 
 with a slight difference of spelling, is ap- 
 plied to the turns of things that succeed 
 one another at certain intervals, as a boiU 
 of fair or foul weather. So It. volta, a 
 turn or time, an occasion, from volgere, 
 to turn. 
 
 A bight is merely another pronunciation 
 of the same word, signifying in nautical 
 language a coil of rope, the hollow of a 
 bay. The Bight of Bejiin, the bay of 
 Benin. Dan. bugt, bend, turn, winding, 
 gulf, bay. 
 
 * Boulder. — Boulderstone.' Bowlder, 
 a large stone rounded by the action of 
 water, a large pebble. — Webster. Sw. 
 dial, bidlersten, the larger kind of pebbles, 
 in contrast to klappersten, the smaller 
 ones. From Sw. bullra, E. dial, bolder, 
 to make a loud noise, to thunder. A 
 thundering big one is a common exag- 
 geration. But as klappersten for the 
 smaller pebbles is undoubtedly from the 
 rattle they make when thrown together, 
 probably buller or bolder may represent 
 the deeper sound made by the larger 
 stones when rolling in a stream. 
 
 It was an awful sight to see the Visp roaring 
 under one of the bridges that remained, and to 
 hear the groans and heavy thuds of the boulders 
 that were being hurried on and dashed against 
 each other by the torrent. — Bonny, Alpine Re- 
 gions, p. 136. 
 
 Even in the absence of actual experience 
 of such sounds as the foregoing, the 
 rounded shape of the stones would sug- 
 
 BOUND 
 
 gest the notion of the continual knock- 
 ing to which they must have been sub- 
 jected. 
 
 To Boult. See To Bolt, 2. 
 
 To Bounce. Primarily to strike, then 
 to do anything in a violent startling way, 
 to jump, to spring. ^w;/^/^<?, tundo, trudo: 
 — he bmicheth me and beateth me — he 
 came home with his face all to-bounced, 
 contusa. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 The sound of a blow is imitated in 
 Pl.D. by Bums ox Buns; whence buj?isen, 
 bamsen, bunsen, to strike against a thing 
 so as to give a dull sound; an de dor 
 bunsen, to knock at the door. 
 Yet still he bet and bounst upon the dore 
 And thundered strokes thereon so hideously 
 That all the pece he shaked from the flore 
 And filled all the house with fear and great up- 
 roar.— F. Q. 
 
 A71 de dor ankloppen dat idt bunset, 
 to knock till it sounds again. He fult 
 dat et bunsede, he fell so that it sounded. 
 Hence bunsk in the sense of the E. bounc- 
 ing, thumping, strapping, as the vulgar 
 whapper, bumper, for anything large of 
 its kind. ' Een bunsken appel, jungen,' 
 a bouncing apple, baby. — Brem. Wtb. 
 Du. bojis, a blow, bonzen, to knock. — 
 Halma. See Bunch. 
 
 To Bound. Fr. bondir, to spring, to 
 leap. The original meaning is probably 
 simply to strike, as that of E. bounce, 
 which is frequently used in the same 
 sense with bound. The origin seems an 
 imitation of the sounding blow of an 
 elastic body, the verb bondir in OFr. and 
 Prov., and the equivalent bonir in Cata- 
 lan, being used in the sense of resound- 
 ing. 
 
 No i ausiratz parlar, ni motz brugir, 
 
 Ni gacha frestelar, ni cor bo?tdir. 
 
 You will not hear talking nor a word murmur, 
 
 Nor a centinel whistle, nor horn sound, 
 
 Raynouard. 
 
 Langued. bounbounejha, to hum; boun- 
 dina, to hum, to resound. 
 
 Bound,— Boundary. Fr. borne, bone, 
 a bound, limit, mere, march. — Cot. Mid. 
 Lat. bodina, butina, hinda, bonna. 
 ' Multi ibi limites quos illi bonnas vocant, 
 suorum recognoverunt agrorum.' 'Alo- 
 dus sic est circumcinctus et divisus per 
 bodinas fixas et loca designata.' — Charter 
 of K. Robert to a monastery in Poitou, — • 
 Ducange. Bodinare, debodinare, to set 
 out by metes and bounds. Probably from 
 the Celtic root bon, bun, a stock, bottom, 
 root (see Bottom). Bret, men-bonn, a 
 boundary stone (men = stone) ; bonnein, 
 to set bounds, to fix limits. The entire 
 value of such bounds depends upon their 
 
BOUND 
 
 fixedness. Gael, bunaiteach, steady, firm, 
 fixed. It is remarkable that we find very 
 nearly the same variation in the mode of 
 spelling the word for boimd^ as was for- 
 merly shown in the case of bottom, which 
 was also referred to the same Celtic root. 
 Bound. — Bown. The meaning of 
 bound, when we speak of a ship bound 
 for New York, is, prepared for, ready to 
 go to, addressed to. 
 
 He of adventure happed hire to mete 
 Amid the toun right in the quikkest strete 
 As she was boun to go the way forth right 
 Toward the garden. — Chaucer in R. 
 It is the participle past buinn, pre- 
 pared, ready, of the ON. verb bua, to pre- 
 pare, set out, address. 
 
 Bounty. Fr. bo7tte, Lat. bonitas, from 
 bo mis, good. 
 
 Bourd. A jest, sport, game. Imme- 
 diately from Fr. bourde in the same sense, 
 and that probably from a Celtic root. 
 Bret, bourd, deceit, trick, joke ; Gael. 
 burd, burt, mockery, ridicule ; biiirte, a 
 jibe, taunt, repartee. As the Gael, has 
 also buirleadh, language of folly or ridi- 
 cule, it is probable that the It. burlare, 
 to banter or laugh at, must be referred to 
 the same root, according to the well- 
 known interchange of d and /. 
 
 The notion of deceiving or making a 
 fool of one is often expressed by reference 
 to some artifice employed for diverting 
 his attention, whether by sound or gesti- 
 culation. Thus we speak of humming 
 one for deceiving him, and in the same 
 way to bam is to make fun of one; a 
 ba7n, a false tale or jeer — Hal. ; from Du. 
 bormnen, to hum. Now we shall see in 
 the next article that the meaning of the 
 root bourd is to hum. Gael, burdan, a 
 humming noise — Macleod; a sing-song, 
 a jibe — Shaw; bururus, warbling, purl- 
 ing, gurgling. Bav. burren, brummen, 
 sausen, brausen, to hum, buzz, grumble ; 
 Sw. purra, to take one in, to trick, to 
 cheat. 
 
 Bourdon. — Burden. Bourdon, the 
 drone of a bagpipe, hence musical ac- 
 companiment, repetition of sounds with or 
 without sense at the end of stated divi- 
 sions of a song, analogous to Fr. tinton, 
 the ting of a bell, the burden of a song. 
 —Cot. 
 
 And there in mourning spend their time 
 
 With -wailful tunes, while wolves do howl and 
 
 barke 
 And seem to bear a bourdon to their plaint. 
 
 Spenser in R. 
 
 Fr. bourdon, a drone of a bagpipe, a 
 drone or dor-bee, also the humming or 
 
 BOW 89 
 
 buzzing of bees. — Cot. Sp. bordon, the 
 bass of a stringed instrument, or of an 
 organ, Gael, burdan, a humming noise, 
 the imitative character of which is sup- 
 ported by the use of durdan in the same 
 sense ; durd, to hum as a bee, to mutter. 
 
 Bourdon. — Borden. Fr. bourdon, a 
 pilgrim's staff, the big end of a club, a 
 pike or spear ; bourdon d'un moulin k 
 vent, a mill-post. — Cot. Prov. bordo, a 
 staff, crutch, cudgel, lance; It, bordone^ 
 a staff, a prop. 
 
 Bourn, i . A limit. Fr. borne, a cor- 
 ruption of bonne, identical with E. bound, 
 which see. 
 
 2. Sc. btirn, a brook ; Goth, brunna, a 
 spring, Du. borne, a well, spring, spring- 
 water; Gael, burn, fresh water. See 
 Burgeon. 
 
 * To Bouse. Du. buizen, Swiss 
 bausen, to take deep draughts, drink deep, 
 to tope. G. bausen, pausen, pausten, to 
 swell, puff out. S w. pusta, to take breath. 
 Perhaps the radical meaning of the word 
 may be, like quaff", to draw a deep breath. 
 So Sc. souch, sou/, to draw a deep breath, 
 G. saufen, to drink deep. 
 
 The foregoing derivation seems, on the 
 whole, more probable than the one for- 
 merly given from Du. buyse, a flagon, 
 whence buysen, to drink deep, to indulge 
 in his cups; buys, drunken. 
 
 We shule preye the hayward honi to our hous — 
 Drink to him dearly of full good bous. 
 
 Man in the Moon. 
 
 Comp. Du. kroes, a cup ; kroesen, to tope ; 
 w. pot, a pot, potto, to tipple. 
 
 Bow. G. bug, curvature, bending, 
 bending of a joint ; knie-bug, schenkel- 
 bug, schulter-bug. When used alone it 
 commonly signifies the shoulder-joint, 
 explaining Sw. bog, Dan. bov, shoulder 
 of a quadruped ; bovblad, shoulder-blade. 
 It is probably through this latter signifi- 
 cation, and not in the sense of curvature 
 in general, that ON. bogr, Sw. bog, Dan. 
 bov, are applied to the bow of a ship, in 
 Fr. epaule du vaisseau, the shoulder of 
 the vessel. 
 
 A different modification gives ON, bdgi, 
 Sw. bage, Dan. bue, G. bogen, an arch, 
 bending, bow to shoot with. w. biva, 
 Gael, bogha, a bow. 
 
 Corresponding verbal forms are Goth. 
 biugan, ON. buga, beygja, AS. bugan, 
 beogan, Du. buigen, G. biegen, to bow, 
 bend ; Sw. buga, to bow or incline the 
 head ; ON. bogna, bugna, Sw. bagna, 
 bugna, Dan. bovne, bugne, to bulge, bend, 
 belly out. 
 
go 
 
 BOWELS 
 
 It would seem that the notion of a 
 bent or rounded object must be attained 
 antecedent to the more abstract concep- 
 tion of the act of bending. The foregoing 
 forms may accordingly be derived with 
 much plausibility from the figure of a 
 bubble, signified by forms like Gael. 
 do/^, Pol. bulka^ or, with inversion of the 
 liquid, Fr. boucle, Sw. dial, bogla, w. bog- 
 (y;/, largely illustrated under Bulk, Buckle. 
 From the former modification we have 
 ON. bolgna, to puff up, swell, passing on 
 the one hand by the loss of the g into 
 Dan. bulne, OE. bolne, to swell, and on 
 the other by the loss of the / into ON. 
 bogna, bugna, to bulge, bow, give in to, 
 yield. From the other form are G. bucket, 
 a. protuberance, a hump on the back ; 
 sicA aufbiickeln (Schm.), to raise the back 
 like a cat ; then by the loss of the /, Bav. 
 bttcken, to bend down, to bow ; buck, a 
 bending, prominence, hill. G. biicken, 
 Sw. bucka, bocka, Dan. bukke, to stoop, 
 bow, make obeisance. Du. zich onder 
 jemand buigen, to yield to one, to buckte 
 under to him. G. bucketig gehen, to stoop 
 in walking ; biickting, a bow. The / 
 appears in a different position in ODu. 
 butcken, inclinare se (Kil.), as in E. bulk 
 compared with Sw. buk, Dan. bug, con- 
 vexity, belly, or in E. bulge, compared 
 with Fr. bo2ige, belly of a cask. w. bog, 
 a swelling or rising up. Sanscr. bhuj, 
 to bend, to make crooked ; (in pass .) to 
 incline oneself ; bhugna, bent, crooked. 
 
 The same line of derivation seems re- 
 peated in Magy. bugy, representing the 
 sound of bubbling or guggling ; bugyni, 
 bugyani, to bubble up, stream forth ; 
 bugyogni, to guggle, bubble, spring as 
 water ; bugy a, a boil, tumour, lump ; 
 buga, bugyola, a knot, a bundle. 
 
 * Bowels. It. budello, buello, OFr. 
 boel, gut, bowel ; Bret, bouzellou, bouellou, 
 bowels. Lat. botulus, a sausage. 
 
 Fr. boudi7t, a black pudding, the bowel 
 "of an animal stuffed with blood and 
 grits. 
 
 The word may probably be identical 
 with Fris. btidet, Du. buidel, G. beutel, a 
 sack, purse, pocket. See Boil. 
 
 Bower, ne. boor, a parlour. — Hal. 
 ON. bur, a separate apartment ; utibur, an 
 outhouse ; AS. bur, a chamber ; swefnbur, 
 a sleeping-room ; cumena-bur, guest- 
 chamber ; fata-bur, a wardrobe ; Sw. 
 honse-bur, a hen-coop ; W. bwr, an in- 
 closure, intrenchment, bwra, a croft by a 
 house. 
 
 Bowl.— Boll. Fr. (5^?//^, a bowl, in both 
 senses, of a wooden ball to play with and 
 
 BOX 
 
 a round vessel for drink. Sp. bola, a ball, 
 bowl. 
 
 The sense of a globular form is pro- 
 bably taken from the type of a bubble as 
 in other cases. Thus we have Esthon. 
 put, a bubble ; Fin. pullo, a drop of 
 water ; pullistaa, to puff up ; pullakka, 
 round, swollen ; pulli, a round glass or 
 flask ; Lat. bulla, a bubble, a thing of 
 similar shape, a stud, boss, knob ; It. 
 bolla, a bubble, blister, round glass phial, 
 stud, boss ; ON. ^^/rt, a bubble ; botlz,2iCW^ ; 
 Pl.D. bot, globular, spherical ; Du. bol, 
 swollen, puffy, hollow, convex, a ball, a 
 globe or spherical body, the head, the 
 crown of a hat, bulb of an onion ; bolle- 
 ken, the boll or round seed-vessel of flax ; 
 Bav. bo lien, globular body, round bead, 
 boll of flax ; rossbollen, horsedung ; 
 mausbbllelein, mousedung ; OHG. bolla, 
 polla, bulla in aqua, folliculus ; Jm'iii- 
 polla, MHG. hi7'nbolla, the skull or brain- 
 pan ; bolle, a bud, a wine-can ; AS. bolla, 
 a pot, bowl ; heafod bolla, the head. 
 
 A similar series of designations from 
 the image of a bubble may be seen in 
 Fin. kuppo, a bubble, boil, tumour ; kup- 
 ula, kuppelo, a ball ; kupu, the crop of a 
 bird, belly, head of a cabbage, wisp of 
 straw ; kupukka, anything globular. See 
 Bulk. 
 
 Box. A hollow wooden case, as well 
 as the name of a shrub whose wood is 
 peculiarly adapted for turning boxes and 
 similar objects. AS. box in both senses. 
 Gr. nvioQ, the box-tree, ttvI.iq, a box ; Lat. 
 buxus, the box-tree and articles made of 
 it ; G. biichse, a box, the barrel of a gun, 
 buchsbaum, the box-tree ; It. bosso, box- 
 tree, bossola, a box, hollow place ; Fr. 
 buis, Bret, beiiz, Bohem. pusspan, box- 
 tree ; pusska, a box. 
 
 Du. busse, a box, bussken, a little box ; 
 PLD. biisse, biiske. Hence, with an in- 
 version of the s and k, as in AS. acsian, e. 
 ask, we arrive at the E. box, without the 
 need of resorting to an immediate deriva- 
 tion from the Latin. 
 
 The box of a coach is commonly ex- 
 plained as if it had formerly been an ac- 
 tual box, containing the implements for 
 keeping the coach in order. It is more 
 probably from the G. bock, signifying in 
 the first instance a buck or he-goat, then 
 applied in general to a trestle or support 
 upon which anything rests, and to a coach- 
 box in particular. See Crab, Cable. In 
 like manner the Pol. koziel, a buck, is 
 applied to a coach-box, while the plural 
 kosly is used in the sense of a sawing- 
 block, trestle, painter's easel, &c. 
 
BOX 
 
 To Box, To fight with the fists. From 
 the Dan. bask^ a sounding blow, baske^ 
 to slap, thwack, flap, by the same in- 
 version of J and /&, as noticed under Box. 
 It is plainly an imitative word, parallel 
 with OE. pash, to strike. Swiss batschen, 
 to smack the hand ; bdlschen, to give a 
 loud smack, to fall with a noise. Heligo- 
 land batsken, to box the ears. Lett. 
 bauksch represents the sound of a blow ; 
 baukscheht^ to give a sounding blow ; 
 buksteht, to %\v^ a blow with the fists. 
 
 Boy. G. biibe, Swiss biib, biee, Swab, 
 bnah, a grown youth ; Cimbr. ptibe, boy, 
 youth, unmarried man ; Swiss Rom. 
 boubo, boue'bo, boy ; bouba, boiidba^ little 
 girl. Lat. pupus^ a boy ; pitpa^ a girl, a 
 doll. 
 
 To Brabble. A variation of babble^ 
 representing the confused sound of simul- 
 taneous talking. In like manner the It. 
 has bulicame and brulicame, a bulDbling 
 motion ; Fr. bojissole, Sp. briixula, a com- 
 pass ; Fr. boiste, Prov. brostia, a box. 
 
 Du. brabbelen, to stammer, jabber, con- 
 fuse, disturb, quarrel ; Bohem. breptati, 
 to stutter, murmur, babble. 
 
 Brace. The different meanings of the 
 word brace may all be reduced to the idea 
 of straining, compressing, confining, bind- 
 ing together, from a root brak, which has 
 many representatives in the other Europe- 
 an languages. See Brake. 
 
 To brace is to draw together, whence a 
 bracing air, one which draws up the 
 springs of life ; a pair of braces, the bands 
 which hold up the trowsers. A brace on 
 board a ship. It. braca, is a rope holding 
 up a weight or resisting a strain. A brace 
 is also a pair of things united together in 
 the first instance by a physical tie, and then 
 merely in our mode of considering them. 
 
 Bracelet. Bracelet, an ornamental 
 band round the wrist ; bracer, a guard to 
 protect the arm of an archer from the 
 string of his bow. Fr. brasselet, a brace- 
 let, wristband, or bracer — Cot. ; OFr. 
 brassard, Sp. bracil, armour for the arm, 
 from bras, the arm. 
 
 Brach. Prov. brae, bracon, braquet, Fr. 
 braque, bracket, Sp. Ptg. braco. It. bracco, 
 a setter, spaniel, beagle, dog that hunts by 
 scent. MHG. bracke, s. s., dog in general; 
 ON. rakki, dog ; Sw. rakka, bitch ; Du. 
 rakke, whelp ; AS. rcBce, OE. ratch, rack, 
 scenting dog, odorinsecus. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Brack. A breach, flaw, or defect, 
 from break. Fr. briche, a brack or breach 
 in a wall, &c. — Cot. 
 
 Floods drown no fields before they find a brack. 
 Mirror for Masr. in R . 
 
 BRACKET 
 
 91 
 
 You may find time in eternity, 
 
 Deceit and violence in heavenly justice — 
 
 Ere stain ox brack in her sweet reputation. 
 
 B. and F. 
 
 G. brechen, to break (sometimes also 
 used in the sense of failing, as die Augen 
 brechen ihin, his eyes are failing him), 
 gebrechen, to want, to be wanting; want, 
 need, fault, defect ; Du. braecke, gheb?'eckj 
 breach, want, defect. — Kil. AS. brec, 
 Pl.D. brek, want, need, fault ; ON. brek, 
 defect. On the same principle from the 
 ON. bresta, to crack, to break, to burst, 
 is derived brestr, a crack, flaw, defect, 
 moral or physical. 
 
 Brack. — Brackish. Water rendered 
 unpalatable by a mixture of salt. One 
 of the numerous cases in which we have 
 to halt between two derivations. 
 
 Gael. <5rrtr//(2, suppuration, putrefaction ; 
 brach shnileach, blear-eyed ; Prov. brae, 
 pus, matter, mud, filth ; el brae e la or- 
 dura del man, the filth and ordure of the 
 world — Rayn. ; It. braco, brago, a bog or 
 puddle ; O Fr. brae, braic, bray, mud ; 
 Rouchi breuque, mud, clay. — Hdcart. 
 Then as an adj., Prov. brae, bragos, OFr. 
 brageiix, foul, dirty. ' La ville ou y avait 
 eaues et sourses V!\o\At bragetises.' — Mon- 
 strelet in Rayn. Thus brack, which sig- 
 nifies in the first instance water contami- 
 nated by dirt, might easily be applied to 
 water spoilt for drinking by other means, 
 as by a mixture of sea water. 
 
 But upon the whole I am inclined to 
 think that the application to water con- 
 taminated with salt is derived from the 
 G. and Du. brack, wr^^:-^", refuse, damaged ; 
 dicitur de mercibus quibusdam minus 
 probis. — Kil. Brak-goed, merces sub- 
 mersas, salo sive aqua marina corruptae. 
 — Kil. Pl.D. brakke grtmd, land spoilt 
 by an overflow of sea water; Du. brakke 
 torf, turf made offensive by a mixture of 
 sulphur (where the meaning would well 
 agree with the sense of the Gael, and 
 Prov. root); wrack, brack, acidus, salsus. 
 — Kil. See Broker. 
 
 From the sense of water unfit for drink- 
 ing from a mixture of salt, the word 
 passed on to signify salt water in general, 
 and the diminutive brackish was appro- 
 priated to the original sense. 
 
 The entrellis eik far in the fludis brake 
 I sal slyng.— D. V. in R. 
 
 Bracket. A bracket is properly a 
 cramp-iron holding things together ; then 
 a stand cramped to a wall. Brackets in 
 printing are claws holding together an 
 isolated part of the text. Fr. brague, a 
 mortise for holding things together — 
 
92 BRAG 
 
 Cot. ; Piedm. braga, an iron for holding 
 or binding anything together. — ZalU. 
 From brake in the sense of constraining. 
 See Brace, Brake. 
 
 To Brag. — Brave. Primarily to crack, 
 to make a noise, to thrust oneself on 
 people's notice by noise, swagger, boast- 
 ing, or by gaudy dress and show. Fr. 
 bragiter, to flaunt, brave, brag or jet it ; 
 bra^uard, gay, gallant, flaunting, also 
 braggard, bragging. — Cot. ON. braka, 
 Dan. brag, crack, crash ; ON. braka, to 
 crash, to crack, also insolenter se gerere — 
 Haldorsen ; Gael. <^/-^^//, a burst, explosion; 
 bragaireachd, empty pride, vain glory, 
 boasting ; Bret, braga, se pavaner, 
 marcher d'une manidre fiere, se donner 
 trop de licence, se parer de beaux habits. 
 Langued. bragd, to strut, to make osten- 
 tation of his equipage, riches, &c. Swiss 
 Rom. braga, vanter une chose. — Vocab. 
 de Vaud. Lith. braszketi, to rattle, be 
 noisy ; Fris. braske, to shout, cry, make a 
 noise ; Dan. braske, to boast or brag. 
 
 In like manner to crack is used for 
 boasting, noisy ostentation. 
 
 But thereof set the miller not a tare 
 He cracked bost and swore it nas nat so. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Brag was then used in the sense of 
 brisk, proud, smart. 
 Seest thou thilk same hawthorn stud 
 How bragly it begins to bud. — Shepherd's Cal. 
 
 Equivalent forms are Gael, breagh, fine, 
 well-dressed, splendid, beautiful, Sc. bra\ 
 braiv, Bret, brao, brav, gayly dressed, 
 handsome, fine. 
 
 Thus we are brought to the OE. brave, 
 finely dressed, showy ; bravery, finery. 
 
 From royal court I lately came (said he) 
 Where all the braverie that eye may see — 
 Is to be found. — Spenser in R. 
 
 The sense of courageous comes imme- 
 diately from the notion of bragging and 
 boasting. Gael, brabhdair, a noisy talk- 
 ative fellow, blusterer, bully ; brabhdadh, 
 idle talk, bravado j Fr. brav ache, a roist- 
 erer, swaggerer, bravacherie, boasting, 
 vaunting, bragging of his own valour. — 
 Cot. It. bravare and Fr. braver, to swag- 
 ger, affront, flaunt in fine clothes ; Sp. 
 bravo, bullying, hectoring, brave, valiant ; 
 sumptuous, expensive, excellent, fine. Fr. 
 brave, brave, gay, fine, gorgeous, gallant 
 (in apparel) ; also proud, stately, brag- 
 gard ; also valiant, stout, courageous, 
 that will carry no coals. Faire le brave, 
 to stand upon terms, to boast of his own 
 worth. — Cot. 
 
 Bragget. Sweet wort. 
 
 BRAKE 
 
 Hire mouth was sweet as braket or the meth. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 From w. brag, malt, and that from 
 bragio, to sprout ; i. e. sprouted corn. 
 
 To Braid. See Bray. 
 
 Brail. — To Brail. From Fr. braies, 
 breeches, drawers, was formed brayele, 
 brayete, the bridge or part of the breeches 
 joining the two legs. A slight modifica- 
 tion of this was brayeul, the feathers 
 about the hawk's fundament, called by our 
 falconers the brayle in a short-winged, 
 and the pannel in a long-winged hawk. — 
 Cot. From bray el, or from braie itself, is 
 also derived Fr. desbrailler, to unbrace or 
 let down the breeches, the opposite of 
 which, brailler (though it does not appear 
 in the dictionaries), would be to brace, to 
 tie up. Rouchi breler, to cord a bale of 
 goods, to fasten the load of a waggon 
 with ropes. — Hecart. 
 
 Hence E. brails, the thongs of leather 
 by which the pen-feathers of a hawk's 
 wing were tied up ; to brail up a sail, to 
 tie it up like the wing of a hawk, in order 
 to prevent its catching the wind. 
 
 Brain. as. braegenj Du. breghe, 
 breghen, breyne. 
 
 Brake. — Bray. The meanings of 
 brake are very numerous, and the deriva- 
 tion entangled with influences from differ- 
 ent sources. A brake is, 
 
 1 . A bit for horses ; a wooden frame in 
 which the feet of vicious horses are con- 
 fined in shoeing ; an old instrument of 
 torture ; an inclosure for cattle ; a car- 
 riage for breaking in horses ; an instru- 
 ment for checking the motion of a wheel ; 
 a mortar ; a baker's kneading trpugh ; an 
 instrument for dressing flax or hemp ; a 
 harrow. — Hal. 
 
 2. A bushy spot, a bottom overgrown 
 with thick tangled brushwood. 
 
 3. The plant y^r«. 
 
 The meanings included under the first 
 head are all reducible to the notion of 
 constraining, confining, compressing, sub- 
 duing, and it is very likely that the root 
 brak, by which this idea is conveyed, is 
 identical with Gael, brae, w. braich, Lat. 
 brachium, the arm, as the type of exertion 
 and strength. It is certain that the word 
 for arm is, in numerous dialects, used in 
 the sense of force, power, strength. Thus 
 Bret, breach, Sp. brazo, Walloon bress, 
 Wallachian bratsou, Turk bazu are used 
 in both senses. 
 
 It will be found in the foregoing ex- 
 amples that brake is used almost exactly 
 in the sense of the Lat. subigere, express- 
 ing any kind of action by which some- 
 
BRAKE 
 
 93 
 
 thing is subjected to external force, 
 brought under control, reduced to a con- 
 dition in which it is serviceable to our 
 wants, or the instrument by which the 
 action is exerted. 
 
 ON. braka^ subigere, to subdue. In 
 this sense must be explained the expres- 
 sion of breaking in horses, properly brak- 
 ing or subduing them. To the same 
 head must be referred brake, a horse's 
 bit, It. (i^r^m, a horse's twitch. AS. bracan, 
 to pound, to knead or mix up in a mortar, 
 to rub, farinam in mortario subigere j Sp. 
 bregar, to exert force in different ways, 
 to bend a bow, to row, to stiffen against 
 difficulties (se raidir contre — Taboada), 
 to knead ; Prov. brega, Corr^ze bredgea, 
 bredza, to rub (as in washing linen — 
 Beronie), Fr. broyer, to bray in a mortar. 
 The Fr. broyer is also used for the dress- 
 ing of flax or hemp, passing it through a 
 brake or frame consisting of boards loosely 
 locking into each other, by means of 
 which the fibre is stripped from the stalk 
 or core, and brought into a serviceable 
 condition. As there is so much of actual 
 breaking in the operation, it is not sur- 
 prising that the word has here, as in the 
 case of horse-breaking, been confounded 
 with the verb break, to fracture. We 
 have thus Du. braecken het vlasch, fran- 
 gere linum. — Biglotton. Fr. briser, con- 
 casser \e lin. So in G. flachs brechen, 
 while in other dialects the words are kept 
 distinct. Pl.D. braken, Dan. brage, to 
 break flax ; Pl.D. braeken, Dan. brcckke, to 
 break or fracture. It is remarkable that 
 the term for braking flax in Lith. is 
 braukti, signifying to sweep, to brush, to 
 strip. The ON. brak is a frame in which 
 skins are worked backwards and forwards 
 I through a small opening, for the purpose 
 of incorporating them with the grease 
 employed as a dressing. Swiss Rom. 
 brego, a spinning-wheel. — Voc. de Vaud. 
 In like manner Lat. subigere is used for 
 any kind of dressing. 
 
 Sive rudem priraos lanam glomerabat in usus 
 Seu digitis subigebat opus. — Ovid. 
 
 In the case of the ne. brake, Gael. 
 braca, a harrow, Dan. brage, to harrow 
 (Lat. glebas subigere, segetes stibigere ara- 
 tris), the notion of breaking down the 
 clods again comes to perplex our deriva- 
 tion. 
 
 In other cases the idea of straining or 
 exerting force is more distinctly preserved. 
 Thus the term brake was applied to the 
 handle of a cross-bow, the lever by which 
 the string was drawn up, as in Sp. bregar 
 
 el arco, to bend a bow, Fr. braquer un 
 cafion, to bend or direct a cannon. The 
 same name is given to the handle of a 
 ship's pump, the member by which the 
 force of the machine is exerted. It. braca, 
 a brace on board a ship. 
 
 Brake. 2. In the sense of a thicket, 
 cluster of bushes, bush, there is consider- 
 able difficulty in the derivation. The 
 equivalent word in the other Teutonic 
 dialects is frequently made to signify a 
 marsh or swamp. Du. broeck, Pl.D. 
 brook, a fen, marsh, low wet land ; G. 
 bruch, a marsh, or a wood in a marshy 
 place ; brook, grassy place in a heath — 
 Overyssel Almanach ; NE. brog, a swampy 
 or bushy place — Hal. ; Mid. Lat. bro- 
 gilum, broiliuni, brolium, nemus, sylva 
 aut saltus in quo ferarum venatio exer- 
 cetur. — Due. OFr. brogille, bregille, 
 broil, broillet, breuil, copse-wood, cover 
 for game, brambles, brushwood. G. dial. 
 gebroge, gebriiche, a brake, thicket. 
 Inquirers have thus been led in two di- 
 rections, the notion of wetness leading 
 some to connect the vvlbrd with E. brook, 
 a stream, Gr. /3(;£x<«^> to moisten, and Lat. 
 riguus, watered, while others have con- 
 sidered the fundamental signification to 
 be broken ground, with the bushes and 
 tangled growth of such places. 
 
 The latter supposition has a remark- 
 able confirmation in the Finnish lan- 
 guages, where from Esthon. murdnia, to 
 break, is formed inurd, geblisch, gebroge, 
 a thicket, brake, bush, pasture, quarry ; 
 from Fin. murran, jmirtaa, to break, 
 murrokko, sylva ubi arbores sunt vento 
 diffractae et transversim coUapsae, multi- 
 tudo arborum vel nemorum dififractorum 
 et collapsorum. And this probably was 
 the original meaning of G. bruch, ge- 
 briiche, gebroge, E. brog or brake. A 
 break of such a kind, or overthrow of 
 trees by the wind, is most likely to take 
 place in low wet ground where their 
 roots have less hold, and when once 
 thrown down, in northern climates, they 
 stop the flow of water and cause the 
 growth of peat and moss. Thus the 
 word, which originally designated a 
 broken mass of wood, might come to 
 signify a swamp, as in Du. and G., as 
 well as in the case of the E. brog above 
 mentioned. A brake is explained in 
 Palmer's Devonshire Glossary as ' a bot- 
 tom overgrown with thick tangled brush- 
 wood.' It. /ratio, broken ; fratta, any 
 thicket of brakes, brambles, bushes, or 
 briers. — Fl. 
 
 Brake.— Bracken. 3. It may be sus- 
 
94 
 
 BRAMBLE 
 
 pected that brake, in the sense oi fern, is 
 a secondary apphcation of the word in 
 the sense last described, that is to say, 
 that it may be so named • as the natural 
 growth of brakes and bushy places. It 
 is certain that we find closely-resembling 
 forms applied to several kinds of plants 
 the natural growth of waste places and 
 such as are designated by the term 
 brake, bruch, &c. Thus we have w. 
 bruk, heath ; ON. brok, sedge ; burkni, 
 Dan. bregne, bracken or fern ; Port. 
 brejo, sweet broom, heath, or ling, also a 
 marshy low ground or fen ; Grisons 
 bruch, heath. 
 
 It may be however that the relationship 
 runs in the opposite direction, and E. 
 brake, brog, G. bruch, gebrbge, gebriiche, 
 &c., may be so called in analogy with 
 Bret, brugek, a heath, from brug, bruk, 
 heath, or with It. brughera, thick brakes 
 of high-grown ferns (Flor.), as places 
 overgrown with brakes or fern, heath 
 (Bret, bruk, brug), broom, or other plants 
 of a like nature. The relation of bj-ake 
 to bracken may originally have been that 
 of the Bret, brug, heath, to brugen, a 
 single plant of heath. See Brush. 
 
 Bramble. — Broom, as. bremel, Pl.D. 
 brummelj Du. braeme, breine ; Sw.G. 
 brom, bramble ; Du. brem, broni, broe7n, 
 Pl.D, braain, G. bram, also p/riemkraut, 
 pfriemen, broom, the leafless plant of 
 which besoms are made. 
 
 It will be found that shrubs, bushes, 
 brambles, and waste growths, are looked 
 on in the first instance as a collection of 
 twigs or shoots, and are commonly de- 
 signated from the word signifying a twig. 
 Thus in Lat. from virga, a rod or twig, 
 mrgultum, a shrub ; from Servian prut, 
 a Yodi,prufye, a shrub ; from Bret, brous, 
 a bud, and thence a shoot, brouskoad, 
 bruskoad, brushwood, wood composed of 
 twigs. Bav. bross, brosst, a shoot, Serv. 
 hrst, young sprouts, Bret, broust, hallier, 
 buisson fort epais, a thick bush, ground 
 full of briers, thicket of brambles— Cot. ; 
 Fr. broussaille, a briery plot. In like 
 manner the word bramble is from Swiss 
 brom, a bud, young twig {p?'oni-beisser, 
 the bull-finch, E. bud-biter or bud-bird— 
 Halliwell) ; Grisons brumbel, a bud ; It. 
 bromboli, broccoli, cabbage sprouts— Fl. ; 
 Piedm. bronbo, a vine twig ; Bav. pfropf, 
 a shoot or twig. 
 
 The pointed shape of a young shoot 
 led to the use of the G. pfriein in the 
 sense of an awl, and the word bramble 
 itself was applied in a much wider sense i 
 than it is at present to any thorny | 
 
 BRAND 
 
 growth, as AS. brccmbel-ceppcl, the thorn 
 apple or stramonium, a plant bearing a 
 fruit covered with spiky thorns, and in 
 Chaucer it is used of the rose. 
 
 And swete as is the bramble flower 
 That beareth the red hepe, — Sir Topaz. 
 AS. Thomas and .bremelas, thorns and 
 briars. Gen. iii. i8. 
 
 Bran. Bret, brenn, w. braji. It. brenna^ 
 brenda, Fr. brati. The fundamental sig- 
 nification seems preserved in Fr. bren, 
 excrement, ordure ; Rouchi bren d^ordle, 
 ear-wax ; berneux, snotty ; Russ. bren, 
 mud, dirt ; Bret. b?-e7in hcsken, the refuse 
 or droppings of the saw, sawdust. Bran 
 is the draff or excrement of the corn, 
 what is cast out as worthless. 
 
 lis ressemblent le buretel 
 
 Selonc I'Ecriture Divine 
 
 Qui giete la blanche farine 
 
 Fors de lui et retient le bren. — Ducange. 
 
 So Swiss gaggi, chaff, from gaggi, 
 cack. Gael, brein, breun, stink ; breanan, 
 a dunghill, w. brwnt, nasty. 
 
 Branch. — Brank. We have seen 
 under Brace and Brake many instances 
 of the use of the root brak in the sense 
 of strain, constrain, compress. The na- 
 salisation of this root gives a form brank 
 in the same sense. Hence the Sc. brank, 
 a bridle or bit ; to brank, to bridle, to 
 restrain. The witches' branks was an 
 iron bit for torture ; Gael, brafig, brancas, 
 a halter. The same form becomes in It. 
 branca, branchia, the fang or claw of a 
 beast ; brancaglie, all manner of gripings 
 and clinchings ; among masons and car- 
 penters, all sorts of fastening together of 
 stonework or timber with braces of lead 
 or iron. — Florio. Brancare, to gripe, to 
 clutch. Then by comparison with claws 
 or arms, Bret, brank. It. branco, Fr. 
 branche, the branch of a tree. 
 
 Brand, i. A mark made by burning. 
 G. brajidmurk, brandmahl, from brand, 
 burning ; brennen, to burn. 2. As ON. 
 brandr, G. brand, a burning fragment of 
 wood. A sword is called a brand because 
 it glitters when waved about like a flam- 
 ing torch. The Cid's sword on the same 
 principle was named tizo, from Lat. 
 titio, a firebrand. — Diez. 
 
 The derivation from brennen, to burn, 
 would leave nothing to be desired if the 
 foregoing meanings stood alone. But we 
 find It. brano, brandello, a piece or bit ; 
 brandoiie, a large piece of anything, a 
 torch or firebrand ; Fr. brin, a small 
 piece of anything ; brin d brin (as It. 
 brano a brano), bit by bit, piecemeal ; 
 brindelles, the twigs of a besom ; ON. 
 
BRANDISH 
 
 ^randr, N. brandy a stick, stake, billet, as 
 well as the blade of a sword. Thus the 
 brand in ON. eldibrandr, E. firebrand, 
 might signify merely a piece of wood or 
 bihet, and in the sense of a sword-blade 
 might be explained from its likeness to a 
 stick. The corresponding form in Gael, is 
 brimn, a fragment, morsel, splinter, which 
 with an initial s becomes spntan, brush- 
 wood, fire- wood. Sc. brane-wood, fire- 
 wood, not, as Jamieson explains it, from 
 AS. bryne, incendium, but from the fore- 
 going brano, briii, bnian. 
 
 Quhyn thay had beirit lyk baitit bullis, 
 
 And brajie-wod brynt in bailis. 
 
 To Brandish.. — Brandle. To brand- 
 ish, to make shine with shaking, to shake 
 to and fro in the hand. — Bailey. Fr. 
 brandir, to hurl with great force, to make 
 a thing shake by the force it is cast with, 
 to shine or glister with a gentle shaking ; 
 brandiller, to brandle, shake, totter, also 
 to glisten or flash. — Cot. 
 
 Commonly explained from the notion 
 of waving a brand or sword. But this is 
 too confined an origin for so widely-spread 
 a word. Manx bransey, to dash, Rouchi 
 braner, Bret, brausella, Fr. brans ler, 
 branler, to shake. 
 
 Brandy. Formerly brandy-wine, Du. 
 brand-wijn, brandende wijn, aqua ardens, 
 vinum ardens. — Kil. The inflammable 
 spirit distilled from wine. Du. bratidigh, 
 flagrans, urens. — Kil. G. branntwein j 
 i, e. gebrannter wein, distilled wine, from 
 brennen, to burn, to distil ; weinbremier, 
 distiller. — Marsh. 
 
 Brangle. This word has two senses, 
 apparently very distinct from each other, 
 though it is not always easy to draw an 
 undoubted line between them, ist, to 
 scold, to quarrel, to bicker — Bailey, and 
 2nd, as Fr. brandiller, to brandle or 
 brandish. The It. brandolare is ex- 
 plained by Florio, to brangle, to shake, 
 to shog, to totter. 
 
 The tre branglllls, boisting to the fall, 
 With top trimbling, and branchis shakand all. 
 D. V. 59. so. 
 
 In this application the word seems 
 direct from the Fr. branler, the spelling 
 with 7ig (instead of the nd in brandle) 
 being an attempt to represent the nasal 
 sound of the Fr. n. In the same way the 
 Fr. bransle, a round dance, became 
 brangle or brawl in E. ; It. brattla, a 
 French brawl or brangle. — Fl. 
 
 From the sense of shaking probably 
 arose that of throwing into disorder, put- 
 ting to confusion. 
 
 ERASE 
 
 95 
 
 Thus was this usurper's faction brangled, then 
 bound up again, and afterward divided again by 
 want of worth in Baliol their head. — Hume in 
 Jam. 
 
 To embrangle, to confuse, perplex, con- 
 found. The sense of a quarrel may be 
 derived from the idea of confusion, or in 
 that sense brangle may be a direct imita- 
 tion of the noise of persons quarrelling, 
 as a nasalised form of the Piedm. bragale, 
 to vociferate, make an outcry. 
 
 Brase, — Braser. — Brasil. To brase 
 meat is to pass it over hot coals ; a 
 braser, a pan of hot coals. It. bracea, 
 bracia, bragia, Fr. braise, Port, braza, 
 live coals, glowing embers ; brazeiro, a. 
 pan of coals. 
 
 The word bresil, brasil, was in use 
 before the discovery of America in the 
 sense of a bright red dye, the colour of 
 braise or hot coals, and the name of 
 Brazil was given because a dyewood, 
 supplying a more convenient source of 
 the colour than hitherto known, was 
 found there. ' A qual — agora se chama 
 do Brasil por caso do pao vermilho que 
 della vem : ' which at present is called 
 Brasil on account of the red wood which 
 comes from thence. — De Goes, Chron. 
 de Don Emanuel in Marsh. The name 
 of Santa Cruz having been originally 
 given to the country, De Barros considers 
 it an eminent triumph of the devil that 
 the name of that holy wood should have 
 been superseded by the name of a wood 
 used in dyeing cloths. 
 
 In the Catalonian tarifs of the 13th 
 century the word is very common in the 
 forms brasil, brazil, bresil. 
 
 La ai-jou molt garance et waide 
 Et bresil et alun et graine 
 Dont jou gaaing mes dras et laine. 
 Michel. Chron. du Roi Guill. d'Angl. in Marsh. 
 
 Diez seems to put the cart before the 
 horse in deriving the word from ON. 
 brasa, to braze or lute, to solder iron. It 
 is more likely derived from the roaring 
 sound of flame. G. bratisen, prasseln, to 
 roar, to crackle ; AS. brastlian, to brustle, 
 crackle, burn. — Lye. Sw. brasca, faire 
 fracas, to make display ; Milan, brasca, 
 to kindle, set on fire. — Diez. Gris. brasca, 
 sparks. Sw. brasa, to blaze, also as a 
 noun, a roaring fire. Fr. embraser, to 
 set on fire ; Wallon. bruzi, braise, hot 
 ashes ; Pied, briisc, It. bruciare, Fr. 
 bj'usler, brtiler, to burn. E. brustle, to 
 crackle, to make a noise like straw or 
 small wood in burning, to rustle. — Halli- 
 well. Fr. bruire, to murmur, make a 
 noise, and bt'iiir, bronir, to burn. — 
 
96 
 
 BRASS 
 
 Roquefort. * E tut son corps arder et 
 bruirJ — Rayn. 
 
 Brass. — Bronze, as. bras, from being 
 used in the brazing or soldering of iron. 
 ON. bras, solder, especially that used in 
 the working of iron ; at brasa, ferrumi- 
 nare, to solder. The verb is probably 
 derived from the brase, or glowing coals 
 over which the soldering is done ; Fr. 
 braser Fargent, le repasser un pcu sur la 
 braise. — Cot. The same correspondence 
 is seen between It. bron2e,hurning coals, 
 bronzacchiare, to carbonado, as rashers 
 upon quick burning coals, bronzare, to 
 braze, to copper, and brofizo, brass, pan- 
 metal. — Florio. 
 
 Brat. A rag, a contemptuous name 
 for a young child. — Bailey. AS. brat, a 
 cloak, a clout, w. brat, a rag. Gael. 
 brat, a mantle, apron, cloth; bratach, a 
 banner. A brat is commonly used for a 
 child's pinafore in many parts of Eng- 
 land. P1.D. slakker-bortchen, a slabber- 
 ing-bib. For the application to a^child 
 compare Bret, trul, pil, a rag ; truten or 
 Pilen (in the feminine form), a contempt- 
 uous name for a woman, a slut. So also 
 Lap. slibro, a rag ; neita slibro {neita, 
 girl), a little girl. 
 
 Brattice.— Bartizan. A brattice is a 
 fence of boards in a mine or round dan- 
 gerous machinery, from Sc. b7'ed, G. brett, 
 Du. berd, a plank or board, as lattice, a 
 frame of laths, from Fr. latte, a lath. 
 
 A bretise or bretage is then a parapet, 
 in the first instance of boards, and in a 
 latinised shape it is applied to any boarded 
 structure of defence, a wooden tower, a 
 parapet, a testudo or temporary roof to 
 cover an attack, &c. Sc. brettys, a forti- 
 fication. — Jam. Betrax of a walle {bre- 
 tasce, bretays), propugnaculum. — Pr. Pm. 
 It. bertesca, baltresca, a kind of rampart 
 or fence of war made upon towers ; a 
 block-house. — Altieri. Fr. breteque, bre- 
 tesque, bretesche, a portal of defence in the 
 rampire of a town. — Cot. 
 
 Duae testudines quas Gallic^ brutesches appel- 
 lant. — Math. Paris. A.D. 1224. Circumeunt ci- 
 vitatem castellis et turribus ligneis et berteschiis. 
 Hist. Pisana in Mur. A.D. 1156. 
 
 A wooden defence of the foregoing de- 
 scription round the deck of a ship, or on 
 the top of a wall, was called by the 
 Norsemen vig-gyrdill, a battle-girdle. 
 * Med endilongum baenom var umbuiz a 
 husum uppi, reistr upp bord-vidr a utan- 
 verdom thaukom sva sem viggyrdlat 
 v£eri.' Along the town things were pre- 
 pared up on the houses, boarding being 
 raised up out on the roofs like the battle 
 
 BRAY 
 
 rampire on board a ship. — Sverris Saga, 
 
 275. 
 
 Then as parapets and battlements 
 naturally took the shape of projections on 
 the top of a building, the term bretesche 
 was applied to projecting turrets or the 
 like beyond the face of the wall. 
 
 Un possesseur d'un heritage — ne pent faire 
 brdesques, boutures, sailHes, ni autres choses sur 
 la rue au prejudice de ses voisins. — Due. 
 
 Now this is precisely the ordinary 
 sense of the E. bartisanj 'the small over- 
 hanging turrets which project from the 
 angles or the parapet on the top of a 
 tower.' — Hal. 
 
 That the town colours be put upon the ber- 
 tisene of the steeple. — Jam. 
 
 The word is also used in the sense of 
 a fence of stone or wood. Jam. Sup. It 
 may accordingly be explained as a cor- 
 ruption o{ bratticing,brettysing, bai'tising, 
 equivalent to the Du. borderinge, coas- 
 satio, contignatio. — Kil. 
 
 Brave. See Brag. 
 
 Brawl. I. A kind of dance. Fr. 
 bransle, branle, from branler, to shake. 
 See Brandish, Brangle. 
 
 2. A dispute or squabble. Certainly 
 from the confused noise, whether con- 
 tracted from brabble, as scrawl from 
 scrabble, or whether it be from Fr. brailler, 
 frequentative of braire, to cry, as criailler 
 of crier. Swiss bradle, deblaterare, brad- 
 lete, strepitus linguarum. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. 2. 368. Dan. bralle, to talk 
 much and high ; at bralle op, to scold 
 and make a disturbance ; vraale, to 
 bawl, squall, roar. Gael, braodhlach, 
 brawling, noise, discord; braoilich, a 
 loud noise. The term brawl is also ap- 
 plied to the noise of broken water, as a 
 brawling brook. See Bray. 
 
 Brawn. The muscular part of the 
 body. It. brano, brandillo, brandone, 
 any piece, cob, luncheon, or coUop of 
 flesh violently pulled away from the 
 whole. — Fl. OHG. brdto (ace. braton), Fris. 
 braede, braeye, a lump of flesh, flesh of a 
 leg of pork, calf of the leg. — Diez. Kil. 
 Prov. bradon, brazon, braon, OFr. braion, 
 Lorraine bravon, a lump of flesh, the 
 buttocks, muscular parts of the body; 
 Wall, breyon, a lump, breyon d^ckaur, 
 bribe de viande, bas morceau de viande 
 fraiche, breyon de gajubes, the calf of the 
 leg. — Remade. Westphal. bratt, Cologne 
 broden.^ calf of the leg, buttock; Sc. brand, 
 calf of the leg ; Sp. brahon for bradojt, a 
 patch of cloth. OFr. esbraoner. It. 
 sbranare, to tear piecemeal. See Brand. 
 
 To Bray.— Braid. Many kinds of 
 
BRAY 
 
 loud harsh noise are represented by the 
 syllable bra, bru, with or without a final 
 d,g,k,ch,y. 
 
 Fr. braire, to bray like an ass, bawl, 
 yell, or cry out loudly ; bruire, to rumble, 
 rustle, crash, to sound very loud and 
 very harshly; briigier, to bellow, yell, 
 roar, and make a hideous noise. — Cot. 
 Prov. bruzir, to roar or bellow. 
 
 Gr. ^Qctx^a, to crash, roar, rattle, re- 
 sound ; ^pi'x«, to roar. ON. brak, crash, 
 noise ; vapna-brak, the clash of arms ; 
 Dan. brage, to crash, crackle; E. bray, 
 applied to loud harsh noises of many 
 kinds, as the voice of the ass, the sound 
 of arms, &c. 
 
 Heard ye the din of battle hray f 
 
 With a terminal d we have Prov. 
 braidir, braidar, to cry ; Port, bradar, to 
 cry out, to bawl, to roar as the sea. OE. 
 to braid, abraid, upbraid, to cry out, 
 make a disturbance, to scold. 
 
 Quoth Beryn to the serjauntes, That ye me 
 
 hondith so 
 Or what have I offendit, or what have I seide ? 
 Trewlich quoth the serjauntis it vaylith not to 
 
 breide (there is no use crying out) 
 With us ye must awhile whether ye woll or no, 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Then as things done on a sudden or 
 with violence are accompanied by noise, 
 we find the verb to bray or braid used to 
 express any kind of sudden or violent 
 action, to rush, to start, to snatch. 
 
 Ane blusterand bub out fra the North braying 
 Gan oer the foreschip in the baksail ding. — D.V. 
 
 Syne stikkis dry to kyndill there about laid is, 
 Quhill all in flame the bleis of fyre upbradis. 
 
 D.V. 
 i. e. starts crackling up. 
 
 The cup was uncoverid, the sword was out 
 ybrayid. — Beryn. 
 
 A forgyt knyff but baid he bradis out.— Wal- 
 lace IX. 145. 
 
 But when as I did out of slepe abray. — F. Q. 
 The miller is a per'lous man he seide 
 And if that he out of his slepe abreide 
 He might don us both a villany. — Chaucer. 
 
 The ON. bragd is explained motus 
 I quilibet celerior j at bragdi, instantane- 
 ously, at once, as OE. at a braid. 
 
 BREAM 
 
 97 
 
 His bow he hadden taken right 
 And at a braid he gun it bende. 
 
 -R, R. 
 
 ON. augnabragd, a. wink, twinkling of 
 the eye. Then, as the notion of turning 
 is often connected with swiftness of mo- 
 tion, to braid acquires the sense of bend, 
 turn, twist, plait. 
 
 And with a braid I tumyt me about.— Dunbar 
 in Jam. 
 
 On syde he bradis for to eschew the dint. — • 
 D. V. in Jam. 
 
 ON. bregda, to braid the hair, weave 
 nets, &c. The ON. bragd vs, also applied 
 to the gestures by which an individual 
 is characterised, and hence also to the 
 lineaments of his countenance, explain- 
 ing a very obscure application of the E. 
 braid. Bi'ead, appearance — Bailey; to 
 braid, to pretend, to resemble. — Hal. 
 To pretend is to assume the appearance 
 and manners of another. ' Ye braid of 
 the miller's dog,' you have the manners 
 of the miller's dog. To braid of one's 
 father, to have the lineaments of one's 
 father, to resemble him. ON. bragr, 
 gestus, mos ; at braga eftir einum, to 
 imitate or resemble one. N. braa, kind, 
 soft ; braa, to resemble. 
 
 On the same principle may be explain- 
 ed a passage of Shakespeare, which has 
 given much trouble to commentators. 
 Since Frenchmen are so braid. 
 Marry who will, I'll live and die a maid. 
 
 The meaning is simply, ' since such are 
 the manners of Frenchmen, &c.' 
 
 To Bray. 2. To rub or grind down 
 in a mortar. Sp. bregar, to work up 
 paste or dough, to knead; Prov. Cat. 
 bregar, to rub ; Fr. broyer, Bret, braea, to 
 bray in a mortar, w. breuan, a mill, a 
 brake for hemp or flax. See Brake. 
 
 Breach, as. bi'ice, Fr. breche, a breach 
 or brack in a wall, &c. — Cot. From the 
 verb to break. 
 
 Bread. ON. braud. G. brot. 
 
 To Break. Goth, brikan, brak, G. 
 brechen, Lat. frangere, f r actus ; Gr. 
 pr]yvvni, to break, puKog, a rag; Fin, rik-' 
 koa, to break, to tear ; Bret, regi^ rogi, to 
 break, to tear ; rog, a rent. 
 
 The origin is doubtless a representation 
 of the noise made by a hard thing break- 
 ing. In like manner the word crack is 
 used both to represent the noise of a 
 fracture, and to signify the fracture itself, 
 or the permanent effects of it. The same 
 relation is seen between Lat. fragor, a 
 loud noise, and frangere, to break ; Fr. 
 fracas, a crash, disturbance, and fracas- 
 ser, to break. The Lat. crepo and E. 
 crash are used to signify both the noise 
 made in breaking and the fracture itself. 
 The Swiss has bratschen, to smack or 
 crack, bratsche, a brack, breach, or 
 wound. 
 
 Bream. A broad-shaped fresh-water 
 fish, cyprinus latus. Fr. brame, Du. 
 braessem. Swiss bratschig, ill-favouredly 
 broad. 
 
 7 
 
98 
 
 BREAST 
 
 Breast. AS. breost, Goth, trusts ^ Du. 
 horst. Perhaps the original meaning 
 may be a chest. Prov. brut, bruc, brusc, 
 the bust, body ; brostia, brustia, a box. 
 
 Breath, as. brcEth, an odour, scent, 
 breath. Originally probably the word 
 signified steam, vapour, as the G. brodein, 
 brodel, broden. 
 
 The caller wine in cave is sought 
 
 Mens brothing\yK:)s,X& to cule. — Hume in Jam. 
 
 See Broth. 
 
 Breeches. Lat. braces, bracecs ; Bret. 
 bragez; ON. brok, brcBkur ; It. brache ; 
 Prov. braga^braia; OFr. bragues,braies. 
 The origin is the root brak in the sense 
 of straining, binding, fastening; the ori- 
 ginal breeches being (as it must be sup- 
 posed) a bandage wrapped round the hips, 
 and brought beneath between the legs. 
 Hence the Lat. subligar, subligaculum, 
 from ligare, to bind. Piedm. braga, 
 braca, a cramp-iron for holding things 
 together, a horse's twitch; Fr. braie, 
 braies, a twitch for a horse, bandage or 
 truss for a rupture, clout for a child, 
 drawers. Bracha, a girdle. — Gl. Isidore 
 and Tatian. 
 
 The Breech (^rov." bragmer,' braid) 
 may be explained as the part covered by 
 the breeches, but more probably the E. 
 term designates the part on which a boy 
 is breeched or flogged, a word formed 
 from the sound of a loud smack. Swiss 
 brdtsch, a smack, the sound of a blow 
 with the flat hand, or the blow itself; 
 brdtschen, to smack; brdtscher, an in- 
 strument for smacking, a fly-flap, &c. 
 G. dial. QNtsieY\f2i[di)pritschen,britschen, 
 to lay one on a bench and strike him 
 with a flat board ; Du. bridsen, de bridse 
 geven, 7net de bridse slaan, xyligogio 
 castigare, — Biglotton. Pl.D. br'itze, an 
 instrument of laths for smacking on the 
 breech ; einem de britze geven, to strike 
 one on the breech so that it smacks 
 (klatschet). 
 
 In like manner it is not improbable 
 that Fr. fesses, the breech or buttocks, 
 instead of being derived from 'L?it.Jissus, 
 cloven, as commonly explained, may be 
 from the vexbfesser, to breech, to scourge 
 on the buttocks (Cot.), corresponding to 
 G. fitzen, peitschen, and E. to feize or 
 feaze, to whip, forms analogous to E. 
 switch, representing the sound of a blow. 
 
 Breeze. Fr. brise, a cool wind. It. 
 brezza, chillness or shivering, a cold and 
 windy mist or frost ; brezzare, to be 
 misty and cold, windy withal, also to 
 chill and shiver with cold. 
 
 BREW 
 
 The origin is the imitation of a rust- 
 ling noise, as by the Sc. brissle, properly 
 to crackle, then to broil, to fry; Swiss 
 Rom. brire, to rattle (as hail), simmer, 
 murmur — Vocab. de Vaud. ; brisoler, bre- 
 soler, to roast, to fry ; Vos qui bresole, the 
 singing bone. — Gl. Gdn^v. Then from a 
 simmering, twittering sound the term is 
 applied to shivering, trembling, as in the 
 case of twitter, which signifies in the 
 first instance a continuous broken sound, 
 and is then used in the sense of tremb- 
 ling. We have thus It. brisciare, brez- 
 zare, to shiver for cold. Compare OE. 
 grill, chilly, with It. grillare, to simmer, 
 Fr. griller, to crackle, broil, Du. grillen, 
 to shiver. — Halma. 
 
 Breeze. — Briss. — Brist. The ashes 
 and cinders sold by the London dustmen 
 for brickmaking are known by the name 
 of breeze. In other parts of England the 
 term briss or brist is in use for dust, rub- 
 bish. Briss and buttons, sheep's drop- 
 pings ; bruss, the dry spines of furze 
 broken off. — Dev. Gl. Piedm. brossi, orts, 
 the offal of hay and straw in feeding 
 cattle ; Sp. broza, remains of leaves, bark 
 of trees, and other rubbish ; Fr. bris, 
 debris, rubbish ; bris de charbon, coal- 
 dust ; bresilles, bretilles, little bits of wood 
 — Berri ; briser, to break, burst, crush, 
 bruise ; Bret, bruzun, a crum, morsel ; G. 
 brosa7ne, 2i crum; Du. brijsen, brijselen, 
 to bray, to crush ; Gael, bris, brisd, bfist, 
 to break; Dan. briste, to burst, break, 
 fail. See Brick, Bruise. 
 
 Breeze. — Brize. G. breme, bremse, 
 AS. brimsa, briosa, a gadfly, ifrom the 
 buzzing or bizzing (as it is pronounced in 
 the N. of E.) sound witli which the gadfly 
 heralds his attack. 
 A fierce loud buzzing breeze, their stings draw 
 
 blood, 
 And drive the cattle gadding through the w^ood. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 As AS. brhnsa, G. bremse, point to G. 
 brummen, Fris. brinime, to hum, so AS. 
 briosa, E. breeze, are related to Prov. 
 bruzir, to murmur, to resound, Swiss 
 Rom. brison, breson, noise, murmur, 
 Russ. briosaf, to buzz. 
 
 To Brew. The origin of the word is 
 shown by the Mid. Lat. forms, brasiare^ 
 braciare, braxare, Fr. brasser, to brew, 
 from brace, brasitim, OFr. bras, bratix, 
 breiz, Gael, braich, w. brag, sprouted corn, 
 malt. So ON. brugga, Sw. brygga, to 
 brew, from AS. brug, malt; '■ brug, po- 
 lenta.'— Gl. AS. in Schilter. 
 
 The Teutonic verbs, G. brauen, Du. 
 bi'ouzuen, E. bt'ew, are in like manner 
 
BREWIS 
 
 from a form similar to Wall, brd^ brau, 
 Walach. brah^, malt. 
 
 If the foregoing were not so clear, a 
 satisfactory origin might have been found 
 in w. berwi, to boil, the equivalent of 
 Lat. fervere^ whence beriv^ berwedd, a 
 boiling, and berweddic^ to brew. Gael. 
 bruit h, to boil., and ODu. brieden, to 
 brew. — Kil. 
 
 It is remarkable that the Gr. ^pdZu), 
 (Bpdaffcj, to boil, would correspond in like 
 manner to the Fr. brasser, which however 
 is undoubtedly from brace, malt. 
 
 Brewis. See Broth. 
 
 Bribe. Fr. bribe de pain, a lump of 
 bread ; briber, to beg one's bread, collect 
 bits of food. Hence OE. briboiir, a beg- 
 gar, a rogue; It. birbante, birbone, a 
 cheat, a rogue, with transposition of 
 the r. 
 
 A bribe is now only used in the meta- 
 phorical sense of a sop to stop the mouth 
 of some one, a gift for the purpose of ob- 
 taining an undue comphance. 
 
 The origin of the word is the w. briwo, 
 to break; briw, broken, a fragment; 
 bat'a briw, broken bread. Rouchi brife, 
 a lump of bread. — H^cart. 
 
 Brick. A piece of burnt clay. — Thom- 
 son. The radical meaning is simply a 
 bit, a fragment, being one of the numer- 
 ous words derived from break. Lang. 
 brico, or brizo, a crum; bricoii, a little 
 bit ; brico2i?ieJha, to break to pieces ; 
 bricalio, a crum, little bit, corresponding 
 to OE. brocaly, broken victuals. AS. brice, 
 fracture, fragment, hlafes brice, a bit of 
 bread. In some parts of France brique 
 is still used in this sense, brique de pain, 
 a lump of bread. — Diez. Brique, frag- 
 ment of anything broken. — Gl. G^ndv. 
 Brico teatc, a quoit of stone. — Cot. It. 
 briccia, any jot or crum, a collop or slice 
 of something. — Fl. 
 
 Bride. — ^Bridal. Goth, bruths, daugh- 
 ter-in-law; OHG. brut, sponsa, conjux, 
 nurus; G. braut, bride, w. priod, ap- 
 propriate, fit, appropriated, owned ; also 
 married, a married man or woman; 
 Priodas, a wedding ; priod-fab, a bride- 
 groom (mab = son) ; priod-ferch, a bride 
 (merch = maid) . Priodi, to appropriate ; 
 Priodor, a proprietor. Diefenbach com- 
 pares Lat. privus, one's o\vn, privatus, 
 appropriate, peculiar. 
 
 Bridegroom, AS. bryd-guma, the newly- 
 married man; guma, a man. Bridal, 
 for bride-ale, AS. bryd-eale, the marriage 
 feast, then the marriage itself. So in 
 OSw. fastningar-ol, graf-ol, arf-ol, the 
 feast of espousals, of burial, of succession 
 
 BRIGADE 
 
 99 
 
 to the dead; from the last of which, E. 
 dial, arval, funeral. 
 
 Bridge. — as. bricge j G. briicke; OSw. 
 bro, brygga, as so, sugga, a sow, bo, bygga, 
 to prepare, gno,gmigga, to rub. The Sw. 
 bro is applied not only to a bridge, but to a 
 paved road, beaten way ; Dan. bro, bridge, 
 pier, jetty, pavement ; brolegge, to pave. 
 ' Han laet broa twa rastin af Tiwede,' he 
 made two leagues of road through the 
 forest of Tiwede. — Ihre. At Hamburg a 
 paviour is called steen-brygger. Pol. bruk, 
 pavement ; Lith. brukkas, pavement, 
 stone-bridge ; brukkoti, to pave ; brukkti, 
 to press ; ibrukkti, to press in, imprint. 
 The original sense thus seems to be to 
 ram, to stamp. 
 
 Bridle, as. bridelj OHG. brittil,pritil ; 
 Fr. bride. Perhaps this may be one of 
 the cases in which the derivation of the 
 word has been obscured by the insertion 
 of an r. ON. bitill, Dan. bidsel, a bridle, 
 from bit, the part which the horse bites or 
 holds in his mouth. 
 
 So It. bretonica, betonica, betony ; bru~ 
 licame, bulicame, boiling up ; brocoliere, 
 E. buckler; ON. bruskr and buskr, a 
 bush ; Du. broosekens, E. buskins j E. 
 groojn, AS. guma. 
 
 Brief. From Lat. bre^/e or brevis, a 
 summary or any short writing. Applied 
 especially to a letter or command, to the 
 king's writs. In the G. brief \t has been 
 appropriated to the sense of an epistle 
 or letter. In E. it is applied to the letter 
 of the Archbishop or similar official 
 authorising a collection for any purpose ; 
 to the summary of instructions given to a 
 barrister for the defence of his client. 
 
 Dictante legationis suae brevem. — Ducange. 
 
 Brier, as. brcer, brere, but probably 
 from the Normans. In the patois of 
 Normandy the word briere is still pre- 
 served (Patois de Bray). Fr. bruyere, a 
 heath, from Bret, brug, bruk, w. grug, 
 QaeX.fraoch, Grisons bruch, brutg, heath. 
 It. brughiera, a heath ; brughera, thick 
 brakes of high-grown ferns. — Flor. Mid. 
 Lat. bruarium, a heath, barren land 
 rough with brambles and bushes. — Due. 
 
 Brig. A two-masted vessel. Pro- 
 bably contracted from brigantine. Sp. 
 bergantino, a brig or brigantine, two- 
 masted vessel. — Neumann. 
 
 Brigade. A division of an army, from 
 Fr. brigade, and that from It. brigata, a 
 company, troop, crew, brood. Trovar- 
 si in brigata, to meet together. 
 
 The Prov. has briguer, in the sense of 
 Fr. frayer, to circulate, consort with. 
 ' Mes se a servir als valens homes e a 
 7 * 
 
loo BRIGAND 
 
 briguar ab lor.' He set himself to serve 
 men of merit, and to associate with them. 
 The primary meaning of Sp. bregar^ It. 
 brigare, seems to be to exert force ; bre- 
 gar el arco, to bend a bow ; It. brigare, 
 to strive for, to shift for with care, labour, 
 and diligence, briga, necessary business. 
 — Florio. Brigata^ then, would be a set 
 of people engaged in a common occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 Brigand. — Brigantine. — Brigan- 
 dine. It. briga, strife, Mid.Lat. briga, 
 jurgia, rixa, pugna. — Due. It. brigare, 
 to strive, brawl, combat. Probably then 
 it was in the sense of skirmishers that 
 the name oi brigand w2iS given to certain 
 light-armed foot-soldiers, frequently men- 
 tioned by Froissart and his contempora- 
 ries. A Latin glossary quoted by Du- 
 cange has 'Veles, brigant, c'est une 
 mani^re de gens d'armes courant et apert 
 k pid.' ' Cum 4 millibus peditum arma- 
 torum, duobus millibus brigantuni et 
 ducentis equitibus.' — Chron. A.D. 135 1, 
 in Due. They were also called brigancii 
 or brigantini. ' Briganciis et balestra- 
 riis Anglicis custodiam castri muniendi 
 reservavit.' 
 
 The passage from the sense of a light- 
 armed soldier to that of a man pillaging 
 on his own account, is easily understood. 
 
 In the time of the bataile (of Agincourt) the 
 brigauntis of the Frensch took the kyngis car- 
 riage and led it away. — Capgrave, 312. 
 
 It. brigante, a pirate, rover either by sea 
 or land. — Flor. A similar change has 
 taken place in the meaning of the It. 
 malandrini, in later times a robber or 
 highway-man, but classed by Thomas of 
 Walsingham with the Brigands as a 
 species of horse-soldier. 
 
 Reductus est ergo et coram consilio demon- 
 stratus Brigantinorum more semivestitus gestans 
 sagittas breves qualiter utuntur equites illarum 
 partium qui Malandrini dicuntur. — Due. 
 
 From brigante, in the sense of a rob- 
 ber, It. brigandare, to rob, to rove, to 
 play the pirate or thief at sea, and hence 
 a brigantine, a small light pinnace pro- 
 per for giving chase or fighting — Bailey ; 
 a vessel employed for the purpose of 
 piracy. 
 
 A brigandine was a kind of scale 
 armour, also called briganders, from 
 being worn by the light troops called 
 Brigands. A Breton glossary quoted by 
 Ducange has ' Brigandinou, Gall, brigan- 
 dine, Lat. squamma ; inde squammatus, 
 ornd de brigandine.' 
 
 The sense of strife or combat express- 
 ed by briga is a particular case of the 
 
 BRIGHT 
 
 general notion of exertion of force. See 
 Brake. In the same way to strive is, in 
 the first instance, to exert one's force in 
 the attempt to do something, and, second- 
 arily, to contend with another. 
 
 Bright.— Brilliant. Goth, bairhfs, 
 clear, manifest ; ON. biarir, AS. beorht, 
 bright ; bearhtm, brcehtm, bryhtin, a glit- 
 tering, twinkling, moment. Bav. bi-acht, 
 clang, sound, noise. — Schmeller. ORG. 
 praht,pracht, clear sound, outcry, tumult, 
 and, at a later period, splendour. The E. 
 bright itself was formerly applied to 
 sounds. 
 
 Heo— song so schille and so brihte 
 That far and ner me hit iherde. — 
 
 Owl and Nightingale, 1654. 
 
 AS. beorhtian, strepere. — Beowulf, 
 
 2315- 
 
 Leod waes asungen 
 Gleomannes gyd, 
 Gamen aeft asstah 
 Beorhtode bene sweg. 
 
 The lay was sung, the gleeman's song, the 
 sport grew high, the bench-notes resounded. 
 
 In like manner the O.prahlen signifies 
 in the first instance to speak with a loud 
 voice, to cry, and secondly, to glitter, to 
 shine. — Adelung. The origin of both 
 these words is the imitative root brag, 
 brak, representing a sudden noise. Swab. 
 bragen, brdgen, briegen, to cry — Schmid ; 
 OE. bray, braid. 
 
 The phenomena from whence all repre- 
 sentative words are immediately taken 
 must of course belong to the class which 
 addresses itself to the ear, and we find 
 accordingly that the words expressing 
 attributes of light are commonly derived 
 from those of sound. So G. hell, clear, 
 transparent, from hall, a sound, clangour. 
 The Ir. glor, a noise, voice, speech, 
 glorajn, to sound, show the origin of Lat. 
 clarus, clear, with respect either to sound 
 or colour, and the E. tinkle, that of Fr. 
 etincelle, a spark. From ON. glamm, 
 glajnr, tinnitus, glamra, to resound, may 
 be explained glampi, glitter, splendour, 
 glampa, to shine, corresponding to the 
 Gr. Xd/iTTw, Xafiirpog. Du. schateren, 
 scheteren, to make a loud noise, to 
 shriek with laughter, schiteren, to shine, 
 to glisten. In Fin. there are many 
 examples of the same transfer of sig- 
 nification from the phenomena of the 
 one sense to those of the other; kilia, 
 clare tinniens, clare lucens, splendens ; 
 kilistaa, tinnitum clarum moveo, splen- 
 dorem clarum reflecto. Wilista, to ring, 
 as glass ; willata, wilclla^ wilahtaa, to 
 
BRIM 
 
 flash, to glitter ; kajata, to resound, re- 
 echo, also to reflect, shine, appear at a 
 distance ; kifuista, to sound clear (equiva- 
 lent to the E. chime), kimina,sonns acutus, 
 clangor tinniens, kijmnaltaa, kiimottaa, 
 to shine, to glitter ; kojjttnata, komista, 
 to sound deep or hollow j ko7nottaa, to 
 shine, to shimmer. 
 
 In like manner in Galla the sound of a 
 bell is imitated by the word bilbil, whence 
 bilbil-goda (literally, to make bilbil), to 
 ring, to glitter, beam, glisten. — Tutschek. 
 
 The meaning of the Fr. briller, to 
 shine, seems to have been attained on a 
 principle exactly similar. We must pre- 
 mise that an initial br and gr, as well as 
 bl and gl, frequently interchange, as in 
 Langued. brezil, Fr. grezil, small gravel. 
 It. bru/lo, grullo, parched, broiled. — 
 Flor. We have then in Fr. the verbs 
 grisser, to creak, crackle ; gresiller, gris- 
 ier, to make a crackling noise, as of meat 
 in broiling ; griller, to creak, crackle, 
 broil ; and corresponding to these, with 
 an initial br instead of gr, Sc. brissle, 
 Swiss Rom. brisoler, bresoler (Gloss. 
 Gdn^v.), to broil, to parch, identical with 
 the Fr. breziller, briller, to twinkle, glit- 
 ter, sparkle. Here it cannot be doubted 
 that the original meaning of the Sc. 
 brissle was derived from the crackling 
 noise made by meat in broiling, as in 
 AS. brastlian, to crackle, to burn. In Fr. 
 breziller, briller (related to each other as 
 gresiller, griller), the meaning is trans- 
 ferred from the domain of the ear to that 
 of the eye, from the analogous effect pro- 
 duced on the sensitive frame by a crack- 
 ling noise and a sparkling light. So Fr. 
 pe'iiller, to crackle, to sparkle, to shake, 
 to long for a thing. 
 
 The verb briller itself seems to have 
 the sense of shaking or trembling in the 
 expression briller apres, greedily to covet 
 — Cot. ; properly to tremble with impa- 
 tience. 
 
 Instead of briller in this application 
 the Swiss Rom. uses bresoler (il bresole 
 d'etre marie ; os qui bresole, the singing 
 bone), strongly confirming the contraction 
 of briller from breziller, and the cor- 
 respondence of the pair with griller, gre- 
 sillerj griller d'impatience. — Diet. Tre- 
 voux. 
 
 It. brillare, to quaver with the voice. 
 — Fl. 
 
 Brim. — Rim. g. brame, brame, Lith. 
 bremas, border, margin, edge ; Pol. bratn, 
 border, brim ; Magy. perem,prem, a bor- 
 der, fringe (Lat. fimbria) ; Du. breme, 
 
 BRINDLED lor 
 
 bremel, a border, lap, fringe ; ON. barmr, 
 the edge, border, lip of a vessel, lap of a 
 garment ; hence the bosom, originally 
 the lap folding over the breast. E. barm, 
 the lap or bosom; bartn-cloth or barm- 
 skin, an apron. 
 
 The E. ryme, which seems identical 
 with rim, is used for the surface of the 
 sea (Hawkins' Voyage). In the same 
 way Sw. bryn is used in the sense both 
 of border or edge and surface, vattu- 
 bryn, the ryme of the water ; ogne-bryn, 
 the eye-brow. Dan. b?yTi, brow of a hill, 
 surface of the ocean. 
 
 To Brim. Said of swine when in 
 heat. ' Subo, to brymme as a boore doth 
 whan he geteth pigges.' — Elyot in Way. 
 The expression is now confined to the 
 sow, as is the case also with Pl.D. brum- 
 me7i : de sdge brummet, the sow is brim- 
 ming. — Brem. Wtb. G. brumft, brunft, 
 the heat of animals. Closely connected 
 is OE. breme, brim, fierce, furious, vigor- 
 ous. — Hal. 
 
 Tancred went his way and Richard wex full brim. 
 Langtoft, 154. 
 
 The highest condition of ungratified 
 passion, whether of desire or anger, finds 
 its vent in cries and roaring. Thus Lat. 
 fremo, to roar, is used of raging, excited, 
 or violent action. It. bramire, to roar as 
 a lion, bray as an ass ; bramire, a long- 
 ing or earnest desire ; bramare, earnestly 
 to wish or covet. — Fl. Prov. bramar^ 
 OFr. bramer, to utter cries. 
 
 L' amour, que epoinponne 
 Toute creatuie a s'aimer, 
 Les fait de rut si fort bramer 
 Que le bois d'autour en resonne. — RajTi. 
 Sp. bramar, to roar, to storm, to fret ; 
 brama, rut, the heat of animals. Du. 
 breinmen, rugire, sonitum edere ; bremen, 
 ardere desiderio. — Kil. Rugere, rugire 
 (cervorum, leonum), brommen, brem7nen, 
 brimmen, brummen. — Dief. Supp. 
 
 Brimstone. on. brennistein, Sw. 
 dial, brdnnsten, burning stone. In Ge- 
 nesis and Exodus, 1. 754, we have brim- 
 fir, and 1. 1 164, brinfire, for the burning 
 of Sodom : ' the brinfire's stinken smoke.' 
 AS. bryne, burning. ON. (poet.) brimi, 
 fire. 
 
 Brindled. — Brinded. Streaked, co- 
 loured in stripes. ON. brondottr, s. s. ; 
 brand-krossottr, cross-barred in colour, 
 from brandr, a stick, post, bar. A 
 brindled cow is in Normandy called 
 vache brangee, from bringe, a rod. Hence 
 with an initial s, Sc. spraing, a streak, 
 sprainged, striped or streaked. 
 
 The identity of ON. brandr and Fr. 
 
102 BRINE 
 
 bringe is traced through the It. brano, 
 brandello^ a bit ; Fr. brhi^ a morsel, a 
 slip or sprig of an herb ; Berri, bringue, 
 a crum, a morsel ; bringe, a rod or twig, 
 brindelles de balai, the twigs of a besom. 
 See Brand. 
 
 Brine, as. bryne^ Du. brijn (KiL), Sc 
 brim, brime. Liquamen vel garum, /isc- 
 bryne. — Gl. Alfr. Brym, brim (poet.), the 
 sea ; brymflod, a. deluge. In Dorset sea 
 sand is called brimsand. — Hal. Salte 
 water, saulmeure, or bryme. — Palsgr. 
 The name seems to be taken from the 
 roaring of the waves ; ON. brim, the surf, 
 breaking of the waves ; bri77i sior, a stormy 
 sea ; brimhliod, roar of the sea ; brim- 
 saltr, very salt ; brivii, flame. Gr. (Spkfiu), 
 Fris. brimme, to roar. See To Brim. Da. 
 branding, the surf, from b7'CEnde, to burn, 
 can only come from comparison of the 
 noise of the breakers to the roar of 
 flames. 
 
 Brisk. Fr. brusque, lively, quick, rash, 
 fierce, rude, harsh ; vin brusque, wine of 
 a sharp, smart taste. It. brusco, eager, 
 sharp, brisk in taste, as unripe fruits, sour, 
 grim, crabbed. 
 
 Brisket. Fr. brichet, the brisket or 
 breast-piece of meat ; Norm. b?-tichet, 
 Adam's apple in a man's throat, breast- 
 bone of birds ; Bret, bruched (Fr. cli) the 
 breast, chest, craw of a bird. ' Pectus- 
 culum, brjiskett.^ — Nat. Antiq. p. 222. 
 Russ. briocho, Bohem. brich, bricho (with 
 the diminutives, Russ. brioshko, Boh. 
 brisskd), a belly. 
 
 Bristle, as. byrst; Sw. borst, Du. 
 borstel, Sc. birs, birse, NE. brust. A thick 
 elastic hair, strong enough to stand up of 
 itself. Corn, bros, aculeus. — Zeuss. 
 Walach. borzos (struppig), bristly; Swiss 
 borzen, to stand out ; Fr. a rebours, 
 against the grain ; rebrousser, to turn up 
 the point of anything. — Cot. Mid.Lat. 
 reburrus, rebursus, sticking up ; 'In sua 
 primaeva aetate habebat capillos crispos 
 et rigidos et ut ita dicam rebursos ad 
 modum pini ramorum qui semper ten- 
 dunt sursum.' — Vita abbatum S. Crispini 
 in Due. 
 
 The It. brisciare, brezzare, to shiver 
 for cold as in a fit of an ague, has under 
 Breeze been connected with the Sc. 
 brissle, birsle, birstle, to broil, to scorch, 
 originally merely to crackle or simmer. 
 Hence ribrezzare, to shiver for cold or 
 for fear, to astonish or affright with sud- 
 den fear ; ribrezzoso, startling, trembling, 
 full of astonishment, humorous, fantas- 
 tical, suddenly angry. 
 
 Then as the effect of shivering, or the 
 
 BROCADE 
 
 emotions which produce it, is to erect the 
 hair, to birstle, brissle might properly be 
 used in the sense of startling, ruffling, 
 setting the hair on end, whence may be 
 explained the Sc. expression, to set tip 
 one's birse, to put one in a rage ; birssy, 
 hot-tempered, to be compared with the 
 It. ribrezzoso, angry. A cold bleak day 
 is called a birssy day, because it makes 
 us shivery and goose-skinned, setting the 
 hair on end ; compare It. brezza, a cold 
 and windy mist or frost. 
 
 Brittle. — Brickie. Formerly written 
 brotil, apt to break, from AS. brytan, ON. 
 briota, Ptg. britar, to break. Dan. bryde, 
 to break, brodden, brittle. In the N. of 
 E. and Sc. brickie, brockle, bruckle, are 
 used in the sense of brittle, from break. 
 The Pl.D. h'os, brittle, is the equivalent 
 derivative from the Gael, form bris, Fr. 
 briser. Bret, bresk, brush, fragile. 
 
 Broach. — Abroach. — Brooch. To 
 broach a cask is to pierce it for the pur- 
 pose of drawing off the liquor, and hence, 
 metaphorically, to broach a iDusiness, to 
 begin upon it, to set it a going. W.procio, 
 to thrust, to stab ; Gael, brog, to goad, to 
 spur, and, as a noun, an awl. Prov. 
 broca, Fr. broche, a spit, a stitch ; brocher, 
 to spit, stitch, spur; Prov. brocar. It. 
 broccare, brocciare, to stick, to spur. Sp. 
 broca, a brad or tack, a button ; broche, 
 a clasp, a brooch, i. e. an ornamented pin 
 to hold the parts of dress together. 
 
 Lat. brocchus, bronchus, a projecting 
 tooth ; It. brocco, a stump or dry branch 
 of a tree so that it prick a bud, a peg ; 
 sbrocco, sprocco, a skewer, sprout, shoot. 
 
 It is probable that there is a funda- 
 mental connectionwith the verb to break, 
 the notion of a sharp point being obtain- 
 ed either from the image of a broken 
 stick {brocco, stecco rotto in modo che 
 punga — Altieri), or from that of a splinter 
 or small fragment, which in the case of 
 wood 01 similar material naturally takes 
 the form of a prick, or finally from the 
 pointed form of a bud or shoot, breaking 
 out into growth. It. brocco, a bud, bjvc- 
 coli, sprouts. Compare also E. prick 
 with Sw. spricka, to crack, to shoot, to 
 bud. 
 
 A similar relation may be observed 
 between Sp. brote, a bud, a fragment, 
 Prov. b7'ot, a shoot or sprig, and forms 
 like the ON. briota. Port, britar, to break. 
 
 Broad, as. brddj Goth, braids j ON. 
 breidrj G. breit. See Spread. 
 
 Brocade. It. broccata, a sort of cloth 
 wrought with gold and silver. Commonly 
 explained as from Fr. brocher, to stitch, 
 
BROCK 
 
 in the sense of embroidered. But Mura- 
 tori shows that, though from the same 
 fundamental origin, the line of develop- 
 ment has been something different. It. 
 brocco, a peg, stump, or snag, is also 
 applied to a knot or bunch in silk or 
 thread, whence broccare, to boss, to stud 
 — Fl. ; broccoso, broccuto, knotty, knobby ; 
 and broccato was used to signify stuff 
 ornamented with a raised pile, forming 
 knots or loops, or stuff embossed with 
 gold and silver. Ptg. froco, a flock or 
 little tuft of silk or wool, a flake of snow ; 
 frocadw^a, tufted ornaments, embroidery. 
 
 Brock. A badger, from the white- 
 streaked face of the animal. Gael, broke, 
 a mole, a freckle, brucach, spotted, frec- 
 kled ; breac, speckled, piebald ; broc, a 
 badger ; brocach, Sc. broukit, brooked, 
 streaked or speckled in the face. Dan. 
 broged, parti-coloured, broc, a badger. 
 W. brecJi, brych, brindled, freckled, bry- 
 ckaji, motes, spots, atoms ; Bret, bridh, 
 bri"^, speckled, parti-coloured, streaked, 
 brizen, a freckle. For the same reason 
 the badger is also called Bawsoii, q. v. 
 
 Brocket. A hart of two years old. 
 Fr. brocart, because the animal at that 
 age has a single sharp broche or snag to 
 his antler. The fallow-deer of the same 
 age was termed 3. pricket. — Cot. 
 
 ToBroider. Fr. broder, Sp. bordar, 
 to ornament with needle-work. Here 
 two distinct images seem to have coal- 
 esced in a common signification. The 
 Bret, brouda, to embroider, to prick, to 
 spur, and W. brodio, to embroider, to 
 darn, point to an origin in Bret, brotid, a 
 prick, sting, Gael, brod, E. brod, prod, to 
 prick. On the other hand the Sp. bor- 
 dar seems derived from borde, bordo, a 
 border, because a border of needle-work 
 was the earliest mode of ornamenting a 
 garment. Ihre has gull-bord, a border 
 ornamented with gold, silkes-borda, a 
 border ornamented with silk. So from 
 Pol. bram, a border, bramowanie, em- 
 broidering. 
 
 It may happen here, as will often be 
 found to be the case in other instances 
 where the derivation seems to halt be- 
 tween two roots, that these are them- 
 selves modifications of a common original. 
 Thus brod, a point, and bord or bred, an 
 edge, agree in being the extremity of a 
 thing. The ON. brydda is both to sharpen 
 or furnish with a point, and also to sew 
 on a border or fringe to a garment. Com- 
 pare also AS. brerd, breard, a brim, rim, 
 margin, with Sc. braird, the shoot of 
 corn, AS. onbryrdan, to instigate. 
 
 BROKER 
 
 ra3 
 
 Broil. Disturbance, trouble, a fallings 
 out, a quarrel.— B. The sense has been 
 somewhat modified in later times by a 
 confusion with brawl. 
 
 But that thou wilt in winter ships prepare 
 And trie the seas in broile of whirling windes. 
 Surrey in R. 
 
 The proper sense is that of Fr. brouil^ 
 ler (from whence it immediately comes), 
 to jumble, trouble, shuffle, confound, to 
 make a hurly-burly. — Cot. It. broglio, 
 Gael, broighlich, noise, bawling, confu- 
 sion, tumult; broighleach, bustling, noisy, 
 tumultuous. From a direct imitation of 
 a confused sound. Fr. brouhaha, brou- 
 houx, storms, blusters, hurly-burlies. 
 See Brawl. 
 
 To Broil. To roast upon hot coals. — 
 B. Contracted from Fr. brasiller, to 
 roast on the braise, or glowing coals ; or 
 perhaps we should rather say formed like 
 Fr. brasiller, brusler, brtiler, or It. bras- 
 ciare, brasciuolare, brasolare, bmsciare^ 
 brucilare, brusuolare (the last to be ar- 
 gued from brasciuole, brasuole, brusuole, 
 fried or boiled steaks), brullare, to burn, 
 parch, scorch, broil. — Florio. Sc. birsle, 
 brissle, to parch or broil. In all these 
 words the imitative character of the de- 
 signation from the crackling sound of 
 flame and burning grease is felt in a 
 lively manner. Compare G. prasseln, to 
 crackle, rustle, and AS. brastlian, to 
 crackle, to burn, Grisons brascla, sparks ; 
 E. brustle, to crackle, make a noise like 
 straw or small wood in burning. — Hal. 
 
 When he is falle in such a dreme — 
 
 He routeth with a slepie noyse 
 
 And broustleth as a monkes froyse (pancake) 
 
 When it is throwe into the panne. — Gower in R. 
 
 It. brustolare, to scorch, broil, carbonado. 
 
 With an initial gr instead of br the Fr. 
 has grisser, to crackle, creak, gresiller, 
 to crackle as a shell in the fire, or salted 
 fish on coals, grislement, a crackling 
 noise as of meat in broiling ; griller, to 
 broil, precisely analogous to the Sc. 
 brissle and E. broil. The Italian has 
 the double form brullo, grullo, parched, 
 broiled. — Fl. 
 
 Broker. The custom of employing a 
 broker in the purchase of goods arises 
 from the advantage of having a skilled 
 intermediary, capable from long practice 
 of forming a critical judgment of the 
 goods in question, of pointing out their 
 latent defects, and rejecting whatever 
 falls below the degree of excellence called 
 for by the circumstances of the case. To 
 find fault is accordingly recognised in 
 
I04 
 
 BRONZE 
 
 Piers Plowman as the specific duty of a 
 broker : — 
 
 Among burgeises have I be 
 Dwellyng at London, 
 And gart Backbiting be a brocour, 
 To blame mens ware. 
 
 On this principle the G. designation is 
 Mcikler, from makelj a blur, stain, fault ; 
 mdkcln, to criticise, censure, find fault 
 with, [and thence] to follow the business 
 of a broker, buy and sell by commission. 
 — Kiittner. For the same reason the 
 OFr. term was correctour^ couratier, Lat. 
 corrector, correciarius, whence the mo- 
 dern courtier, a broker. Per manus et 
 mediationem quorundam J. S. et A. G. 
 brocariorum et correctarioruin ejusdem 
 barganei. — Lib. Alb. 396. Vous jurrez 
 que vous ne marchandirez dez nullez 
 marchaundisez queux vous ferez correc- 
 tage. — Sacramentum Abrocariorum in 
 Lib. Alb. To correct an exercise is to 
 point out the faults. 
 
 Now in most of the Teutonic (espe- 
 cially the Pl.D.) and Slavonic dialects is 
 found the root brak or wrak in the sense 
 of rejection, refuse, vile, damaged, faulty, 
 giving rise to a verb signifying to inspect, 
 make selection, sort, try out, reject, cast 
 out. Lith. brokas, a fault, weak place, 
 matter of blame ; brokoti, to blame, to 
 criticise (makeln). Russ. brak, refuse ; 
 brakovat, to pick and choose, to sort ; 
 brakovanie, inspection, rejection ; Pol. 
 brak, want, lack, refuse ; brakowad, to 
 garble, to pick, to be wanting. In the 
 Teutonic class : Du. brack, rejected, 
 damaged; braeck goed, goods damaged 
 by sea-water. — Kil. Pl.D. braken, to 
 garble, inspect, try ; wraken, to pro- 
 nounce unsound, to reject ; Dan. vrage, 
 to reject, find fault with, to sort goods ; 
 slaae vrag paa, to throw blame upon, 
 find fault with. G. brack-gut (Sanders), 
 P1.D. wrack-good, refuse goods. Prov. 
 brae, refuse, filth, mud, ordure, and as an 
 adj. vile, dirty, abject. Fr. bric-a-brac, 
 trumpery, brokers' goods. See Brackish. 
 
 The name broker seems to have come 
 to us from the shores of the Baltic, with 
 which much of our early commerce was 
 carried on. In those countries the term 
 braker, br acker, or wracker is used to 
 signify pubhc ' inspectors, appointed to 
 classify goods according to their quality, 
 and to reject the damaged and unsound. 
 • — Adelung. In Petersburgh the price of 
 tallow is quoted with or without brack, 
 the term brack signifying the official in- 
 spection of sworn br ackers or sorters. — 
 Tooke's Catherine, i. 38. 
 
 BROOD 
 
 If we advance another step in the in- 
 quiry and seek the origin of the term 
 brack, wrak, in the sense of rejection, we 
 shall probably find the original image in 
 the act of spitting, as the liveliest expres- 
 sion of disgust and contempt for the re- 
 jected object. G. brechen, Du. bracken, 
 to vomit ; E. dial, whreake, tussis, 
 screatio — Junius ; wreak, a cough — 
 Hal. ; ON. hraki, spittle ; hrak, any re- 
 fuse matter. Fr. raquer, racher, cracker, 
 to spit ; racaille, refuse ; Prov. raca, an 
 old worthless horse, analogous to Bohem. 
 brakyne, an outcast or rejected sheep. 
 The Langued. brtiino, phlegm, spittle, 
 has exactly the force of G. brack in the 
 expression brumos de boutigo, merchan- 
 dises de rebut ; G. brack-gut, refuse 
 wares. See Wreak. 
 
 In the sense of blot or stain there is a 
 singular confusion with brack, a breach 
 or flaw, from break. 
 
 Bronze. It. bronzo, Sp. bronce, pan 
 metal. — Fl. This word shows the same 
 relation to It. bronze, glowing coals, 
 which E. brass does to Sp. brasa, embers. 
 Bronzare, to braze, to copper. ON. brasa, 
 to braze or solder iron with a lute of 
 brass. It would appear then that the use 
 of the metal in soldering, an operation 
 performed over hot coals, is the origin of 
 the designation both of bronze and brass. 
 It may be compared with It. bronze, Sc. 
 brunds, brands, embers ; to brund, to 
 emit sparks. — Jam. Grisons brinzla, 
 brascla, a spark, sbrinzlar, to sparkle. 
 
 The use of the word bronzed in the 
 sense of tanned, sunburnt, is probably 
 not originally derived from comparison 
 with the colour of the metal bronze, but 
 from the primary sense of the It. bronze, 
 embers. Abbronzare, abbronzanchiare, to 
 roast on the embers, to scorch, tan, or 
 sunburn. — Fl. 
 
 Brood.— Breed, as. brod, a brood ; 
 brid, the young of any animal ; bredan, 
 to nourish, cherish, keep warm. Du. 
 broeden, to sit on eggs, to hatch ; G. bnit, 
 the spawn of fishes, progeny of birds, in- 
 sects, and fishes ; briiten, to hatch, bring 
 eggs and spawn into active life. Pl.D. 
 brod, brot, fish-spawn ; brbden, brben, to 
 hatch, bridde, a chicken. Commonly re- 
 ferred to the notion of warming, in which 
 sense the OHG. bruoton is used by Not- 
 ker : ' also unsih diu uuolla bruotet unde 
 uuider froste skirmet,' as wool warms us 
 and protects us against frost. Bret. 
 broud, hot, burning, fermenting. W. brtvd, 
 hot, warm ; brydio, to be hot. ODu. 
 brieden, to brew. See Broth. 
 
BROOK 
 
 Brook. AS. broca^ a brook ; w. brychen, 
 the bubbling or springing up of water, a 
 spring, a source ; Gael, bruich, to boil, 
 seethe, simmer ; from the murmuring 
 noise. Gr. jSp^xw, to roar, /3pvw, to spring ; 
 Bohem. bruceti, to murmur. The mean- 
 ing of the word brook in the low G. dia- 
 lects is very different, signifying low wet 
 land (Brem. Wtb.) ; a grassy place in a 
 heath. — Overyssel Almanack. 
 
 It is possible that brook in the E. sense 
 may be connected with Russ. breg, Gael. 
 bruach, Manx broogh, brink, verge, bank, 
 as Fr. riviere, a river, It. riviera,a. shore, 
 from ripa, bank. 
 
 To Brook. To digest, to bear patiently. 
 AS. bnican, to use, eat, enjoy ; Goth. 
 brukjan, to use ; bricks, useful ; G. braii- 
 chen, to use. \j3l\.. frui, frucUcs. 
 
 Broom. A shrub with leafless pointed 
 branches. G. pfriemkraiit, awl-plant. 
 See Bramble. 
 
 Broth. It. brodo, Fr. bronet, broth ; 
 Du. broeye, brue; OHG. brod, G. briihe, 
 Pl.D. broi, properly boiling water ; briihen, 
 broien, to scald, pour boiling water over. 
 Ir. bruithim, to boil ; bi^uithe, sodden, 
 boiled ; bi'iiithean, heat, warmth ; brnth- 
 cJCan, broth ; brothaire, a caldron. Gael. 
 bruich, bruith, to boil, brothas, broth ; 
 Manx broie, to boil, broit, broth. Bret. 
 broud, W. brwd, hot. G. brodein, broden, 
 steam from heated bodies, in which 
 sense the Sc. broth is sometimes used ; a 
 person is said to be in a broth of sweat 
 who is steaming with sweat, Du. broein 
 (for brodetn), spuma, sordes seu strigmata 
 rerum decoctarum. The origin is a re- 
 presentation of the simmering of boiling 
 water. Limousin broiidi, bnidi, to make 
 a confused noise of winds, waves, &c. 
 Pl.D. bntddeln, to bubble up with noise. 
 
 The softening down of the consonant 
 (which is barely pronounced in Gael. 
 brothas) gives the OE. browys, brewis, 
 brewet, pottage, broth, and Sc. brose. 
 The AS. has briw, infusion, ceales briw, 
 kail brose, cabbage soup ; Sc. broo, bree, 
 pottage made by pouring boiling water on 
 meal, infusion ; the barley bree, juice of 
 malt, ale ; Gael, b^-lgh, juice of meat, sap, 
 pith, vigour, strength ; Ir. bruth, strength, 
 vigour, rage, heat ; explaining the Prov. 
 brill, and It. brio, mettle, spirit. 
 
 Brothel. Sp. borda, a hut or cottage ; 
 Fr. borde, a little house or cottage of 
 timber, hut, hovel. — Cot. Commonly 
 derived from the boards, of which the 
 fabric consists. But the Walach. bor- 
 deiou is an underground hut as well as a 
 house of ill fame. 
 
 BROWSE 105 
 
 The diminutive bordeau, bordel, was 
 originally used in the innocent sense of 
 a little cottage. 
 
 Ne laissent en Chartrain ne en Dive bordel, 
 Ne maison en estant qui soit fors du chastel. 
 
 Due. 
 Domunculum circumdedit cum familia. So- 
 rengus vero expergefactus de bordello exiit et 
 fugiens in vivariam exire voluit. — Due. 
 
 Brother. A term widely spread through 
 the branches of the Indo-Germanic stock. 
 Sanscr. bhratr; Zend, brdtaj Gael, bra- 
 thairj w. brawdj Slavon. bratrj Lat. 
 /rater. 
 
 Brow. The ridge surrounding and 
 protecting the eye. AS. braew, breghj 
 Pol. brew J Russ. brov, brow. Bohem. 
 braubiti, to border. Du. brauzue, eye-lid, 
 eye-brow, and also border, margin, fur 
 edging. — Kil. ON. bra, eye-lid, eye-lash ; 
 brim, eye-brow, edge, eminence ; Dan. 
 bryft, eye-brow, brow of a hill, surface of 
 the ocean ; Sw. bryji, edge, border, sur- 
 face, w. ^ryji, a hill. G. augen-bramie, 
 eye-brow. 
 
 The AS. forms appear related to the 
 Russ. bi'eg, Bohem. breh, Gael, bruach, a 
 brink, bank, shore ; Serv. breg, a hill, 
 bank, shore. 
 
 Brown. Ger. braun, on. brim, It. 
 bruno, Fr. brim, perhaps burnt colour, 
 the colour of things burnt, from Goth. 
 brinnan, G. brenneii, to burn. 
 
 Browse. Fr. brouter, brouser, brouster, 
 to knap or nibble off the sprigs, buds, 
 bark, &c. of plants ; broust, a sprig, 
 young branch, or shoot. — Cot. Bret. 
 brons, brous, a bud ; brous-koad, brush- 
 wood ; brotiskaol, broccoli, cabbage 
 sprouts ; brous-gwezen, a shrub ; broust, 
 briar, thick bush ; brousta, to browse, to 
 grow into a bush. Prov. brotar, to shoot, 
 bud, grow ; brossa, OFr. broces, brosses, 
 Catalan brossa, Sp. broza, thicket, brush- 
 wood ; brotar, to sprout, bud, break out 
 as small-pox, &c. ; Gris. braussa, low 
 shrubs, as rhododendrons, juniper, &c. 
 Prov. brus, heath. Fr. brogues, bt'osses, 
 brousses, br ouches, brouic, bruc, bushes, 
 briars, heath. — Roquef. Mid. Lat. brus- 
 cia, brozia, dumetum. ' Tam de terra 
 bruscosd quam de arabili.' — Due. Serv. 
 brst, sprouts ; brstiti, to browse. OHG. bros, 
 sprout. Bav. bross, brosst, a bud, a sprout. 
 It. brocco, sprocco, broccolo, shoot, sprout. 
 
 Here we find throughout the Romance, 
 Teutonic, Celtic, and Slavonic famihes, a 
 variety of forms, broc, bros, brost^ sproc, 
 spross, sprot, signifying twigs, shoots, 
 sprouts, or bushes and scrubby growths, 
 plants composed of twigs, or broken up 
 
io6 
 
 BRUISE • 
 
 into a multitude of points. There can be 
 little doubt that they are all derived from 
 the notion o{ breakvig owi^ which we find 
 expressed by similar modifications in the 
 termination of the root, brik, briSy brist, 
 brity to break or burst. See next article, 
 and also Brush, Broach. 
 
 Bruise, as. brysan, OE. brise, to crush. 
 
 And he that schal falle on this stone schall be 
 broken, but on whom it schall falle, it schall al 
 to brisen him. — WicUff. 
 
 Fr. briser, to break, crush, bruise ex- 
 tremely. — Cot. OFr. bruiser. — Diez. 
 Prov. brisar, desbrisar, to break to bits ; 
 Gael, brts, brisd^ bristj Port, briiar, to 
 break. 
 
 A modification of the same root which 
 gives the E. breaks the interchange of the 
 final consonants being clearly shown in 
 the derivatives, Prov. brico or brizo, a 
 crum ; briketo, brizetOy bricalio, a little 
 bit ; brizal, dust, fragments ; brizal de 
 carbon^ du bris de charbon de terre, coal 
 dust. See Breeze. 
 
 Bruit. Fr. bruit , It. bruiio, Pr. bruit, 
 a noise, a rumbling, Fr. and It. bruire. 
 Pr. brugir, bnizir, to make a rumbling. 
 
 * Brunt. Brunty insultus, impetus ; 
 styrtyn' or brunton\ or sodenly comyn' 
 a:?en an enmy, insilio, irruo. — Pr. Pm. 
 Brunt of a daunger, escousse, effort. — 
 Palsgr. The brunt of an engagement is 
 the shock of battle when the two armies 
 actually come in collision. 
 
 That in all haste he would join battayle even 
 with the dron^ or brest of the vangarde. — Hall in 
 R. The fore rydars put themselves in prese with 
 their longe lances to win the first brunte of the 
 field. — Fabyan. 
 
 OE. brunt, a blow. 
 Bot baysment gef myn herte a brunt. 
 
 Allit. Poems, E. E. Text Soc. A. 174. 
 All that was bitten of the beste was at a brunt 
 
 dede. — K. Alexander, p. 134. 
 
 OE. burt, to butt. — Pr. Pm. Prov. burs, 
 shock, blow ; bur car, abronca?, Fr. bron- 
 cher, to strike the foot against an obstacle, 
 to stumble. 
 
 Brushi. An implement made of bristles 
 or elastic twigs for whisking away small 
 extraneous matters from a surface. It is 
 singular that the word may be derived 
 with equal propriety from the dust or 
 rubbish it is used to remove, or from the 
 materials of which it is itself composed. 
 Cat. brossa, quisquiliae, sordes, fgex ; bros- 
 sar, detergere ; Gael, brusg, a crum, It. 
 brusco, bruscolo, a mote, fescue ; brusca, 
 a brush ; Swiss bruske, Piedm. brosse, 
 remnants of hay or fodder, orts, brossa, a 
 brush ; Sp. broza^ chips, dust,' rubbish, 
 
 BRUSH 
 
 brozar, to cleanse, broza, a brush ; Gael. 
 bruis (in the pi.), shivers, splinters, frag^ 
 vciQX\X.%,bruis (sing,), a brush ; E. bris, brist, 
 dust, rubbish. Piedm. bruscia, brustia, a 
 horse-brush, wool-card, brustid, to brush, 
 Lang, broustia, a flax comb, G. borste, 
 biirste, Sw. borste, a brush. 
 
 In E. also the word brush had formerly 
 the sense of dust or flue. 
 
 (Agea) said, Sir by your speche now right well I 
 
 here 
 That if ye list ye may do the thing that I most 
 
 desire, 
 And that is, this your heritage there you liked 
 
 best 
 That ye might give : and ever among, the brush 
 
 away she pikid 
 From her clothes here and there, and sighid 
 ...therewithal. — Chaucer, Beryn. 
 
 While cajoling her husband, she kept 
 picking the dust or bits of flue from her 
 clothes to hide her embarrassment. To 
 brush then would be to dust, to clear 
 away the brush or dust and rubbish. 
 
 On the other hand, the derivation is 
 equally satisfactory from the twigs or 
 bristles of which the brush is composed. 
 The Lat. scopcE signifies in the first in- 
 stance twigs, and in the second place a 
 besom, while the word besom itself pro- 
 perly signifies twigs, rods. The same re- 
 lation holds good between G. borste, Sw. 
 borst, a bristle, and G. borste, biirste, Sw. 
 borste, a brush ; NE. brust, a bristle, and 
 Piedm. brustia, a brush, wool-card. Bav. 
 bross, brosst, a bud or sprout ; Bret, brous, 
 a bud, shoot ; brouskoad, brushwood, 
 wood composed of twigs. ^ Prov. bru'c, 
 brus, brusc (Diet. Castr.), heath, quasi 
 twigs, a shrub composed of small twigs ; 
 Lang, brousso, a tuft of heath ; Fr. brosse, 
 a bush, bushy ground, also a head-brush, 
 wool-card, flax-comb ; brossettes, small 
 heath whereof head-brushes are made. — • 
 Cot. Brusshe, to make brusshes on, 
 bruyere. — Palsgr. 201. It. brusca, ling or 
 heath for brushes. — Fl. ON. bruskr, a 
 bush of hair, tuft of grass or hay, a brush. 
 
 Perhaps the explanation of the double 
 origin is to be found in the fact that the 
 words signifying mote, dust, rubbish, and 
 those signifying a sprig, twig, bush, are 
 both derived from modifications of the 
 multiform root signifying break, appear- 
 ing in Goth, brikan, Gael, bris, brist, Fr. 
 briser. Port, britar. The Bav. bross, 
 brosst, Bret, brous, OFr. brous t, a bud, 
 twig, or shoot, seems named from burst- 
 ing (ON. b?'ista) or breaking out ; or the 
 separate twigs or bristles may be con- 
 sidered as splinters, as It. brusco, bruscolo, 
 
BUBBLE 
 
 brusclietta^ a little piece of wood or straw, 
 fescue, mote. But see Bristle. 
 
 Bubble. It. bicbbola. From an imita- 
 tion of the sound made by the bubbling 
 liquid. Bohem. bublati, to murmur, bub- 
 Una, a bubble ; Pol. bfjhel, a bubble, a 
 tumour ; Lith. biibseti, to bubble, boil ;• 
 bubautij to bellow as a bull ; bubenti, to 
 thunder gently ; bubiti, to beat ; bubleti, 
 to bump as a bittern. Sc. bub, a blast 
 of wind. 
 
 A bubble and a lump or swelling are 
 very generally designated by the same 
 word, either because a bubble is taken as 
 the type of anything round and swelling, 
 or because the same articulation is used 
 to represent the pop of a bubble bursting, 
 and the sound of a blow, from which the 
 designation of a knob, hump, or projec- 
 tion is commonly taken. Fr. bube, a push, 
 wheal, blister, watery bud, hunch or 
 bump. — Cot. '■ Burble in the water — 
 bubette.' — Palsgr. Magy. bob, bub, pup, a 
 bunch, hump, tuft, to^,buborek,^ bubble. 
 
 To Bubble. See Dupe. 
 
 Buccanier. A set of pirates in the 
 17th century, who resorted to the islands 
 and uninhabited places in the West 
 Indies, and exercised their cruelties prin- 
 cipally on the Spaniards. The name, ac- 
 cording to Olivier Oexmelin, who wrote a 
 history of adventurers in the Indies, is 
 derived from the language of the Caribs. 
 It was the custom of those savages when 
 they took prisoners to cook their flesh on 
 a kind of grate, called barbacoa (whence 
 the term barbecue; a barbecued hog, a 
 hog dressed whole). The place of such a 
 feast was called boucan (or according to 
 Cotgrave the wooden gridiron itself), and 
 this mode of dressing, in which the flesh 
 was cooked and smoked at the same time, 
 was called in Fr, boucaner. 
 
 The natives of Florida, says Laudon- 
 ni^re (Hist, de la Floride, Pref. A.D. 1586, 
 in Marsh), 'mangent toutes leurs viandes 
 rosties sur les charbons et boucances, c'est 
 a dire quasi cuictes a la fum^e.' In Hack- 
 luyt's translation ' dressed in the smooke 
 which in their language they call bou- 
 caned! Hence those who established them- 
 selves in the islands for the purpose of 
 smoking meat were called buccaniers.— 
 Diet. Etym. The term bocan is still ap- 
 plied in the W. I. to a place used for the 
 drying of produce. 
 
 Our next illustration represents the Bocan, or 
 building used for drying and preparing cocoa 
 and coffee. The building is regularly constructed 
 with two floors, the upper for coffee, the lower 
 for cocoa. They are divided by partitions of 
 
 BUCK 
 
 107 
 
 open lath-work, which is also used in a great 
 portion of the ends and sides of the main building, 
 to allow a free current of air. — lUust, News, 
 March 28, 1857. 
 
 Buck, The male goat, also applied 
 to the male deer, and then to other wild 
 animals, as a buck rabbit, w. bwch, 
 Gael, boc, Fr. bouc. Probably named 
 from the tendency of the animal to butt 
 or strike with the forehead. Fin. pukkata, 
 to butt ; Esthon. pokkama, to butt, to 
 kick; Magy. <5^/^;m, to stick, to butt. Pol. 
 puk, knock, rap, tap ; Gael, boc, a knock 
 or blow ; Fr. buquer, bucquer, to knock 
 at a door, to butt or jurr ; Dan. bukke, to 
 ram down a gun. It. becco is a radically 
 different form, from bek / bek ! represent- 
 ing the bleating of a goat. 
 
 To Buck. Formerly, when soap was 
 not so plentiful a commodity, the first 
 operation in washing was to set the linen 
 to soak in a solution of wood ashes. This 
 was called bucking the linen, and the 
 ashes used for that purpose were called 
 buck-ashes. The word was very generally 
 spread. In G. it is beuchen, bduchen, 
 beichen, buchen, biichen, biiken ; Sw. byka^ 
 Dan. byge; Fr. buquer, buer; It. buca- 
 tare ; Bret. bugd. Sp. bugada, lye. The 
 derivation has been much discussed. The 
 more plausible are : — 
 
 1. Dan. bog-aske, the ashes of beech- 
 wood, chiefly employed in making potash ; 
 but the practice of bucking would have 
 arisen long before people resorted to any 
 particular kind of wood for the supply of 
 ashes. 
 
 2. It. bucata, buck-ashes, supposed to 
 be so called from buca, a hole, because 
 the ashes are strained through a pierced 
 dish, in the same way that the term is in 
 Sp. colada, lye, bucking, the linen at buck, 
 from colar, to strain, to filter, to buck, 
 lessiver, faire la lessive. But the analogy 
 does not hold, because bucare does not 
 appear ever to have been used in the 
 sense of straining or filtering. 
 
 The true derivation is seen in Gael. 
 bog, moist, soft, tender, and as a verb, to 
 steep or soak. Bret, bouk, soft, tender, 
 boukaat, to soften. The ideas of wet and 
 soft commonly coalesce, as G. erweichen, 
 to soak, from weich, soft ; It. mo lie, soft, 
 wet ; Lat. mollire, to soften, and Fr. 
 mouillir, to wet ; Pol. mokry,vftt ; miekki, 
 soft ; mieknad, to soak, to soften ; moczyd, 
 to soak foul linen before washing. Bohem. 
 mok, a steep for flax. To buck then 
 would originally be to set the linen to 
 soak in lye, and as ni and b so often in- 
 terchange (comp. w. maban and babatt^ 
 
io8 
 
 BUCK-BEAN 
 
 a baby), the word is probably identical 
 with inok^ the root of the Slavonic words 
 above mentioned, and of the Lat. macerOy 
 to soak. In Lat. imbuere, the guttural 
 termination is lost, as in Fr. bude for 
 buqude. In the dialect of the Setti Cem- 
 mani, where the G. w in the beginning of 
 words is converted into b, G. wcich^ soft, 
 becomes boch^ boachj and weichen, ein- 
 weichetty to soak, become bochen, boa- 
 chen., inboachen, arguing (as Marsh sug- 
 gests) an original connection between 
 Gael, bog and G. weich. 
 
 Buck-bean. A water-plant with leaves 
 like a bean. Dan. bukke-blad^ goat-leaf ; 
 N. gjeit-klauVy goat's hoof. 
 
 * Bucket. Hardly identical with Fr. 
 baqiiet (dim. of bac, a trough), a pail or 
 bucket, a small shallow and open tub. — 
 Cot. NE. bouk is a pail ; and with the dim. 
 bucket is probably an equivalent of It. 
 bolgia^ bolgetta^ a budget, also a leather 
 bucket — Fl. ; Fr. bouge, a wallet, male or 
 case of leather ; bottgette, a little coffer or 
 trunk of wood covered with leather. Mid, 
 Lat. bulga, pulga^ OHG. ptilga^ Bav. bul- 
 ghiy a leathern sack. See Bulk. 
 
 * Buckle. A buckle or fastening for 
 a leather strap probably takes its name 
 from the convex shape or from the boss 
 with which it was ornamented. Prov. 
 bocla^ bloca, OFr. bode, boss of a shield, 
 ornamental stud. Fr. bonder, to swell, 
 rise or bear out in the middle. — Cot. To 
 buckle up, of a surface, is to shrivel up, to 
 throw itself into prominences and hollows. 
 Fr. boude, a curl, a ring. The word is a 
 mere transposition of the elements found 
 in bulk, and as in the case of the latter 
 word, the radical image seems to be a 
 bubble taken as the type of a rounded 
 prominence. It. boccula, Fr. boude, Sw. 
 dial, bogla, Pol. bidka, a bubble ; It. 
 boglire, bollire, to boil. w. boglyn, bub- 
 ble, boss, knob ; dwfr yn boglynu, water 
 a bubbling ; bogel, a navel, nave of a 
 wheel ; bogeilio, to boss or swell out ; G. 
 buckel, protuberance, excrescence, hump, 
 boss, bullion, stud, clasp of a book. Dan. 
 bugle, a boss, bump, swelling, dint ; bug- 
 let, having a boss, dinted. 
 
 Buckler. The Fr. boude, Prov. bocla, 
 bloca, a buckle or protuberance, were 
 specially applied to the boss of a shield. 
 II I'a feru desor I'escu, 
 Dusqu'en la bode la fendu. 
 
 Partonopeus de Blois in Rayn. 
 Hence boudier, Prov. bloquier, Sp. bro- 
 queh It. brocchiere, d. buckler or shield 
 with a central boss. So ON. bugnir, a 
 shield, from bugr, convexity. 
 
 BUDGET 
 
 Buckram. It. bucheraine, Fr. bou- 
 gran, boucaran. Mid. Lat. boquerannus. 
 It is explained by Miiller (mho. Wtb.) as 
 if the stuff was made of goat's hair. It 
 is commonly mentioned as a precious 
 stuff, and the reference to It. buduraf-e, 
 to pierce holes, is doubtless fallacious. 
 ' Una coltre di budierame Cipriana bian- 
 chissima.' — Boccaccio. 
 
 Bucolic. Lat. bucolicus, from Gr. 
 (SovKoXiKog, belonging to the calling of the 
 herdsman ; (SovKoXog, agreeing with Gael. 
 buachaille, a cowherd, from bo, cattle, 
 and gille, a boy, a servant. W. call, a 
 fold ; ceilio, to pen cattle. 
 
 * Bud. The knob or projection form- 
 ed by the swelling germ of leaves or 
 flowers. The entire train of thought is 
 seen in Hesse botz, potz, crack, loud 
 noise ; butzen (Du. botzen,butzen — K.), to 
 knock, to butt; butzen, clump, bunch, 
 tuft ; Bav. botzen, butzen, lump, knob ; 
 botzen, bud ; * butzen, turgere ; buczendig, 
 turgidus.' — Schm. Swab, butz, stroke, 
 blow, prick in a target, rump of fowls ; 
 anything short of its kind, a dumpy 
 child. Du. butze, a bump, swelling, 
 botch, — K. Bret, bod, bodejt, a tuft, 
 clump, bunch ; explaining Fr. rabodd, 
 short and thick of stature. Fr. bouter, 
 to thrust, put, push forwards, to bud or 
 put forth as a tree in the spring (Cot.) ; 
 bouton, a bud, a pustule ; bout, the end or 
 thrusting part of a long body", a stump ; 
 un bout dhomme, a stumpy man. So 
 w. pwtio, to poke, thrust, butt ; pivt o 
 ddyn, a short thick man. Dw. pote,poot, 
 Tizxi. pode, a shoot, scion, set of a plant ; 
 Hesse potte?i, to graft or bud trees, to 
 set plants. 
 
 * Bud, Bus. Pronounced bood in Sc. 
 The two forms arise from further con- 
 traction of OSc. behiid, behuis, for be- 
 huived, behuives. ' It behud out : ' it be- 
 hoved to come out — Dunbar, Twa maryit 
 wemen, 1. 333. — 'quhilk ye behuis to do.' 
 — Jam. Supp. ' I bus goe tyll tjedde.' — 
 
 Budge. The dressed fur of lambs, a 
 material no doubt early supplied by the 
 pastoral nations of Slavonic race, with 
 whom it is still much in use. 'Rwss.push'y 
 fur, skins ; pushif, to line with fur. 
 
 To Budge. Bret, boulj, movement ; 
 boidjein, Fr. bouger, to move, stir, budge, 
 probably from the notion of bubbling, 
 boiling. Port. b2ilir, to budge. Nao vos 
 bulais daqui, don't stir from hence, don't 
 budge. Pied, sboge, to stir. ON. bulla^ 
 to boil ; built, motus creber. 
 
 Budget. Fr. bougette, dim. of bouge., 
 a budget, wallet, great pouch, or male of 
 
BUFF 
 
 j leather serving to carry things behind a 
 I man on horseback. — Cot. It. bolgia, 
 bolgetta, a budget, leathern bucket. From 
 ! biilga, a skin. 
 
 I Buff. A buff sound is a toneless sound 
 ' as of a blow. Magy. bufogni, to give a 
 I dull sound; PhD. duff^ dull, of colours, 
 i sounds, tastes, smells ; eeti duffeu toon, a 
 deadened tone ; eene diiffe couleur, a dull 
 colour. 
 
 Buflf.—Buffle.— Buffalo. Lat. buba- 
 lits, Russ. buivol, Fr. buffle, the buffe, 
 buffle, bugle, or wild ox, also the skin or 
 neck of a buffe. — Cot. The term was 
 then applied to the skin of the buffalo 
 dressed soft, buff leather, and then to the 
 yellowish colour of leather so dressed. 
 It. buffalo, a buffle or a bugle, by meta- 
 phor, a block-headed noddy. — Fl. Hence 
 the E. biiffle-headed, confused, stupid. 
 The name of the beast seems taken from 
 a representation of his voice. Lith. bu- 
 benti, to bellow ; Magy. bufogni, to give 
 a hollow sound. 
 
 Buff.— Buffet. A blow. Yrombuff/ 
 an imitation of the sound of a blow. 
 Pl.D. buffen, to strike ; E. rebuff, to re- 
 pulse; It. buffare, Fr. botiffer, to puff, to 
 blow ; It. biiffetto, a cuff or buffet, also a 
 blurt or puff with one's mouth. G. ptff, 
 a clap, buffet, cuff ; Lith. bubiti, to beat. 
 In other cases, as Diez remarks, the 
 word for a stroke is connected with a 
 verb signifying to blow ; Fr. souffet, a 
 buffet, from souffler, to blow ; soiiffletd, 
 often blown upon, boxed on the ear ; and 
 the word blow itself is used in both 
 senses. 
 
 Buffet. Fr. buffet, a side-board. Fr. 
 buffer, bouffer, to puff, to blow. The 
 primary sense of buffeter seems to have 
 been to take out the vent peg of a cask, 
 and let in the air necessary for drawing 
 out liquor, as from Lith. dausa, air, 
 breath, dausinti, to give air to a cask in 
 order to let the beer run. 
 
 Si vos chartiers — amenant pour la provision 
 de vos maisons certain nombre de tonneaux de 
 vin les avaient buffeth et beus k demi, le reste 
 emplissant d'eau, &c. — Rabelais. 
 
 Buffeter, to marre a vessel of wine by 
 often tasting it ; buffete, deadened, as 
 wine that hath taken wind, or hath been 
 mingled with water. — Cot. Mid. Lat. 
 bufetarius, Fr. buffeteur, tabernarius, 
 caupo. Bufetarium, the duty paid for 
 retailing wine in taverns. The verb 
 buffeter may thus be translated to tap, 
 buffetier, a tapster. Thus buffet would 
 signify the tap of a public-house or tavern, 
 the place whence the wine was drawn. 
 
 BUG 
 
 to9 
 
 From thence it has been transferred in 
 E. to the sideboard on which the drink- 
 ables are placed at meals, and in Fr. to 
 the office in a department where other 
 kind of business is carried on, while in 
 Sp. it has passed on to signify simply a 
 desk or writing-table. 
 
 Buffoon. Fr. bouffon, a jester, from 
 It. buffa, a puff, a blast or a blurt with 
 the mouth made at one in scorn ; buffare, 
 to jest or sport. — Fl. 
 
 A puff with the mouth is probably in- 
 dicative of contempt, as emblematically 
 making light of an object. 'And who 
 minds Dick? Dick 's nobody ! Whoo ! 
 He blew a slight contemptuous breath 
 as if he blew himself away.' — David Cop- 
 perfield. A Staffordshire artisan giving 
 an account of one who had been slighted 
 said, ' They rether puffed at him.' 
 
 Bug-. — Bug-bear. — Bog-gart. — Bogle, 
 
 God's boast seemed to him but bugges, things 
 made to feare children. — Z. Boyd in Jam. 
 
 The meaning of Bug is simply an object 
 of terror, from the cry Bo ! Boo ! Boh / 
 made by a person, often covering his 
 face to represent the unknown, to frighten 
 children. The use of the exclamation 
 for this purpose is very widely spread. 
 Gael, bo / an interj. to excite terror in 
 children. — Macleod. w. bw/ It. bau / 
 ' Far bau / bau ! — far paura a' bambini 
 coprendosi la volta.' — La Crusca. Alter- 
 nately covering the face in this manner 
 to form an object of sportive terror, and 
 then peeping over the covering to relieve 
 the infant from his terror, constitutes the 
 game of Bo-peep, Sc. Teet-bo. 
 
 The two children — were playing in an oppo- 
 site comer, Lillo covering his head with his skirt, 
 and roaring at Ninna to frighten her, then peep- 
 ing out again to see how she bore it. — Romola, 
 iii. 265. 
 
 The cry made to excite terror is then 
 used, either alone or with various termin- 
 ations, to signify an indefinite object of 
 terror, such as that conjured up by child- 
 ren in the dark. 
 
 L'apparer del giomo 
 
 Che scaccia 1' Ombre, \\ Bau e le Befane ! 
 — the peep of day which scatters spectres, bugs, 
 and hobgoblins. — La Crusca. 
 
 Swiss baui, bauwi, piumming, bugbear, 
 scarecrow ; G. baubau, wauwau, Esthon. 
 popo, Magy. bubus, Sc. boo, bukow {kow, 
 a goblin), buman, E. dial, bornan, Pl.D. 
 buniann, Limousin bobal, bobaoiv, w. bw, 
 bwg, bubach, a bugbear, a hobgoblin. 
 Far barabao is explained in Patriarchi's 
 Venetian 6\z\..far bau! bau ! to cry boh ! 
 and // brutto barabao is interpreted il 
 
MO BUG 
 
 Tentennino, il brutto Demonio^ the black 
 bug, the buggaboo ; w. bwgan, a bugbear 
 (Spurrell), E. dial, biigar^ the Devil. — Hal. 
 w. bw / is used as an interjection of 
 threatening, and signifies also terror as 
 ■well as the terrific object. Manx boa, boo, 
 fear, affright. 
 
 The repetition of the radical syllable 
 with more or less modification represents 
 the continuance of the terrific sound. 
 The final guttural of w. bwg and E. bug 
 is found in Illyrian bukati, Magy. b'dgni, 
 to bellow, biigni, to roar ; Swiss booggen, 
 to bellow like an angry bull when he 
 paws the ground ; boogg, bogk, bok, a 
 mask or disguise (from being originally 
 adopted with the intention of striking 
 terror), a misshapen person. The name 
 of bugabo was given, according to Coles, 
 to an 'ugly wide-mouthed picture' carried 
 about at May games. Lith. bauginti, to 
 terrify ; bugti, to take fright, to take bug, 
 as it is provincially expressed in England. 
 — Hal. To take buggart or boggart is 
 used in the same sense, and a boggarty 
 horse is one apt to start, to take fright. 
 
 With a different termination we have 
 W. bwgwl, threatening, terrifying ; Sc. 
 bogil, bogle, bogil bo (e. buggaboo), a 
 spectre, bugbear, scarecrow ; Lesachthal, 
 poggile, p'oggl, a bugbear for children, 
 and thence an owl from its nightly hoot- 
 ing. — Deutsch. Mundart. iv. 493. Lett. 
 baiglis, an object of terror. Russ. pugaf, 
 pujaf, to frighten ; pugalo, pujalo, a 
 scarecrow. 
 
 In bug-bear or bear-bug, the word is 
 joined with the name of the beast taken 
 as an object of dread. 
 
 The humour of melancholye 
 Causith many a man in slepe to cry, 
 For fere of beris or of bolis blake, 
 Or ellis that blake buggys wol him take. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 where we find imaginary bulls and bears 
 classed with bugs as objects of nightly 
 terror. 
 
 Bug. 2. The name of bug is given in 
 a secondary sense to insects considered 
 as an object of disgust and horror, and in 
 modern English is appropriated to the 
 noisome inhabitants of our beds, but in 
 America is used as the general appella- 
 tion of the beetle tribe. They speak of a 
 tumble-bug, rose-bug. A similar applica- 
 tion of the word signifying an object of 
 dread, to creeping things, is very common. 
 Russ. bukashka, a beetle, is the dim. of 
 buka, a bug-bear. The w. bwcai signifies 
 what produces dread or disgust, and also 
 
 BUGLE 
 
 a maggot. It. baco, a silk-worm, also a 
 boa-peep or vain iDug-bear ; baco-baco, 
 boa-peep. — Fl. Limousin bobaou, bobal, 
 a bug-bear, is also used as the generic 
 name of an insect. — Bdronie. So in Al- 
 banian boiibe, a bug-bear, and in child's 
 language any kind of insect. Magy. 
 bubus, bug-bear, Serv. buba, vermin. It. 
 bau, bug-bear, Grisons bau, insect, beetle ; 
 bail cVureiglia, earwig ; bau da grascha, 
 dung-beetle. Sw. troll, a goblin, monster, 
 provincially an insect. In Norse applied 
 especially to beetles or winged insects. 
 — Aasen. Illyr. gad, disgust, insect. Lap, 
 rabme, an insect, worm, any disgusting 
 animal, also a bug-bear, ghost. Sp. coco, 
 a worm, also a bug-bear. 
 
 Bug. 3. I. Swelling, protuberant. See 
 Big. 
 
 * 2. The word has a totally different 
 origin in the expression bugs words, fierce, 
 high-sounding words. ' Cheval de trom- 
 pette, one whom no big nor bugs words can 
 terrify.' — Cot. Parolone, high, big, roar- 
 ing, swollen, long, great or bug words. — 
 Fl. ''Bug as a lord.' In my time at 
 Rugby school bug was the regular term 
 for conceited, proud. Bogge, bold, for- 
 ward, saucy. — Grose. 
 
 In this sense of the word it seems to 
 rest on the notion of frightening with a 
 loud noise, blustering, threatening, and is 
 thus connected with bug, bug-bear. Swiss 
 booggen, to bellow like an angry bull ; 
 boogg, bogk, a proud overbearing man — 
 Stalder ; bog, larva (a bug-bear, hobgob- 
 lin) ; bogge, superbire. — Schmidt. Idioti- 
 con Bernense. 
 
 Bugle. I. Same as buffle, a. buffalo. 
 
 These are the beasts which ye shall eat of : 
 oxen, shepe and gootes, hert, roo, and bu^/e. — 
 Bible, 1551. Deut. xiv. 
 
 Hence bugle-horn, properly a buffalo 
 horn, then a horn for drinking, or on 
 which notes are played in hunting. 
 
 Janus sits by the fire with double berd 
 And drinketh of his bug/e horn the wine. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Lat. bucula,2.\i€\iQX. Mid.Lat. buculus, 
 OFr. bugle, buffle, boeuf sauvage. — Ro- 
 quef. 
 
 Probably, as Buffalo, from the cry of 
 the animal ; Serv. bukati, Magy. bogni, 
 Fr. bugler, beugler, to bellow. 
 
 2. An ornament of female dress con- 
 sisting of fragments of very fine glass 
 pipes sewn on. ' Et dictas dominae nunc 
 portant bugolos qui sic nominantur, quos 
 cooperiunt capillis capitis earum ligatis 
 
BUILD 
 
 supra dictos bugolos.'— De moribus civi- 
 um Placentise. — A.D. 1388. Muratori. 
 
 To Build. From ON. bua, OSw. boa, 
 bo, G. bauen, to till, cultivate, inhabit, were 
 formed bol, a farm, byli, a habitation, 
 OSw. bol, bole, byli, domicilium, sedes, 
 villa, habitaculum, whence bylja, to raise 
 a habitation, to build, or, as it was for- 
 merly written in English to bylle. 
 
 That city took Josue and destroyed it and 
 cursed it and alle hem that bylled it again.— Sir 
 Jno. Mandeville. 
 
 Bulb. Lat. bulbus, Gr. (3o>^p6g, a tuber- 
 ous or bulbous root ; Lith. biclbe, biilwis, 
 the potato ; G. bolle, bulle, bulbe, a bulb ; 
 Du. bo I, bo lie, a globe, ball, head ; bo I, 
 bolleken van loock, the head of an onion. 
 Gr. jSoXjSa, Lat. vulva, the womb. 
 
 From the image of a bubble taken as 
 the type of anything round, swollen, hol- 
 low. In the representation of natural 
 sounds, the position of liquids in the word 
 is very variable. In English, as well as 
 bubble, we have blob or bleb and blubber 
 in the same sense. The Walach. has 
 bulbiik, a bubble, and bulbukd, to bubble 
 up, to spring, swell, be protuberant. See 
 next article. 
 
 Bulch. A bunch or projection. NE. 
 bulse, a bunch. — Hal. * Bourser, to gather, 
 make bulch, or bear out as a full purse, 
 to bunt or leave a bunt in a sail.' — Cot. 
 rtg. bolso, pocket, also the bunt or hollow 
 of a sail. 
 
 Bulge. See Bulk. 
 
 Bulk. I. Bulk, in Sc. and N. of E. 
 bouk, the carcase, chest, trunk, body of 
 an animal, mass, principal portion. ' My 
 liver leapt within my bulk! — Turberville. 
 Bav. biilken, the body ; Du. bulcke, 
 thorax ; buick, beuck, trunk of the body, 
 belly ; — van de kerche, nave or body of 
 the church ; — van 't schip, hold or bilge 
 of a ship. — Kil. ON. bukr, trunk, body, 
 belly ; Sw. buk, Dan. bjcg, G, baicch, belly ; 
 Cat. buc, the belly, bed of a river, bulk 
 or capacity of anything, body of a ship ; 
 Sp. buque, the capacity or burden of a 
 ship, hull of a ship. 
 
 The comparison of the Celtic dialects 
 leads strongly to the conviction that the 
 radical image is the boiling or bubbling 
 up of water, whence we pass to the notion 
 of anything swelling or strouting out, of 
 an inflated skin, stuffed bag, or of what 
 is shaped like a bubble, a prominence, 
 knob, boss, lump. For the latter sense 
 compare Da. bulk, a projection, lump, 
 unevenness ; Sw. dial, bullka, a protu- 
 berance, knot in thread, a dint in a metal 
 
 BULK III 
 
 vessel. ' Boss^, knobby, bulked or bump- 
 ed out.' — Cot. 
 
 The radical sense is shown in Russ. 
 bulkaf, to bubble up ; Pol. bulka, a bub- 
 ble ; Gael, balg, bolg, bubble {balgan 
 uisge, a water-bubble), blister, bag, wal- 
 let, boss of shield, belly, womb, bellows ; 
 builgean, bubble, bladder, pimple, pouch ; 
 builgeadh, bubbling up, as water begin- 
 ning to boil ; bolg, bulg, belly, anything 
 prominent, a lump or mass, the hold of a 
 ship ; bolg (as verb), blow, swell, puff, 
 blister ; Manx bolg, bolgan, bubble, blis- 
 ter, belly, boss, knob, globule ; bolg-lhu~ 
 ingey, the bilge or hold of a ship ; bolgey, 
 to blow, swell, blister, w. bwlg, a round 
 bulky body ; bwlgari, a straw corn-vessel. 
 '' Bulgas Galli sacculos scorteos vocant.' 
 — Festus. 
 
 Passing to the Scandinavian and Teu- 
 tonic dialects we have Goth, balgs, skin 
 bag; G. balg, skin of an animal, husk, 
 pod ; ON. belgr, skin flayed whole, leather 
 sack, belly ; belgja, bolgna, Dan. bulne, 
 to swell, to puff up ; bolginn, swollen ; 
 OE. bolnyn, tumeo, turgeo ; bolnyd, tumi- 
 dus. — Pr. Pm. ' See how this tode bol- 
 neth.^ — Palsgr. MHG. bilge, bale, bulgen, 
 gebolgen, to swell. The addition of a dim. 
 or feminine termination gives Bav. bulgettj 
 It. bolgia, bolgetta,3. leather sack or bud- 
 get ; Fr. boulge, bouge, a leathern sack or 
 portmanteau, a strouting or standing out 
 in a flat piece of work, boss of a buckler, 
 belly, outleaning in the middle of a wall 
 (Cot.), bulge or convex part of a cask. 
 Hence E. bulge or bilge, the belly or con- 
 vex part of a ship ; to bulge, to belly out, 
 to throw out a convexity. With these 
 must probably be classed ON. bulki, the 
 contents of the hold, or cargo of a ship, 
 consisting of a heap of sacks bound down 
 and covered with skins. Bolke or hepe, 
 cumulus, acervus. — Pr. Pm. ON. at riufa 
 bulkann, to undo the cargo, to break 
 bulk. Lett, pulks, Lith. pulkas, a heap, 
 crowd, herd^ swarm ; pulk^, in bulk, in 
 mass. 
 
 2. A bulk is a partition of boards, the 
 stall or projecting framework for the dis- 
 play of goods before a shop. 
 Here stand behind this bulk, straight will he 
 
 come : 
 Wear thy good rapier bare, and put it home. 
 
 Othello. 
 
 ' He found a country fellow dead drunk, 
 snorting on a bulk.^ — Anat. Melancholy. 
 In this latter sense the word is identical 
 with It. balco,balcone, a projection before 
 a window ; ' also the bulk or stall of a 
 shop.' — Fl. PalcOj a stage or scaffold; 
 
112 
 
 BULL 
 
 palchetto^ a box or boarded inclosure at a 
 theatre. The original sense seems to be 
 a framework of balks^ beams or boards, 
 as It. assito, a beam or rafter, also a par- 
 tition of deals instead of a wall. — Fl. 
 Dan. dial, bulk, bulke, boarded partition 
 in a barn. A bulk-head is a boarded par- 
 tition in a ship. 
 
 Bull. I, The male of the ox kind. 
 W. bwla, Lith. bullus, ON. bo I It, bauli, a 
 bull, baula, a cow, from baula, N.Fris. 
 bolli, to bellow. G. bulle, bullocks, a bull ; 
 Swiss bulle7i, to bellow. 
 
 2. A papal rescript, from Lat. bulla, 
 the seal affixed to the document. The 
 primary signification of bulla is a bubble, 
 from the noise, whence bullire, to bubble, 
 to boil. Thence the term was applied to 
 many protuberant objects, as the orna- 
 mental heads of nails, the hollow orna- 
 ment of gold hung round the neck of the 
 young nobility of Rome ; in subsequent 
 times applied to the seal hanging by a 
 band to a legal instrument. It. bolla, a 
 seal, stamp, round glass phial, boss, stud, 
 bubble, blister, pimple. See Billet. 
 
 Bullace. The wild plum. Bret, bolos 
 ox polos, w. bwlas, Fr. bellocier, a bul- 
 lace tree. It. bulloi, bullos, sloes. — Fl. 
 
 BuUbeggar. Terriculamentum, a 
 scare-bug, a bul-begger, a sight that fray- 
 eth and frighteth. — Higins in Pr. Pm. 
 
 And they have so fraid us with bull-beggers, 
 spirits, witches, urchens, elves, &c., and such 
 other bugs that we are afraid of our own shadows. 
 — Scot's Desc. of Witchcr. in N. 
 
 The word is of a class with Pl.D. 
 bullerbak, bullerbrook, a noisy violent 
 fellow, w. bwbach, Du. bullebak, a hob- 
 goblin, bugbear, scarecrow, where the 
 former element signifies the roaring 
 noise made to terrify the child by the 
 person who represents the hobgoblin. 
 P1.D. bullern, Du. bulderen, G. poltern, 
 to make a loud noise ; Du. bulderghees- 
 ten, lemures nocturni nigri. — Kil. G. pol- 
 tergeist, a hobgoblin. The final element 
 in the forms above cited seems a corrupt 
 repetition of the syllable bug, signifying 
 roaring, and thence terror, as in E. bug- 
 gaboo, G. butzibau, Du. bietebau. The 
 connection between the ideas of loud 
 noise and terror is well illustrated by the 
 use of Pl.D. buller in addressing children 
 to signify something terrible : ' Gae du 
 nig bi dat buller-waler,' do not go by the 
 dangerous water, as a mill-dam or the 
 like. See Bug, Bully. 
 
 Bullet. Fr. boulet, dim. of boule, a 
 bowl. See Bowl. 
 
 BULLION 
 
 As an instance of the arbitrary way in 
 which words acquire their precise mean- 
 ing, it may be observed that a bullet in 
 E. is applied to the ball of a gun or 
 musket, while the projectile of a cannon 
 is called a ball. In Fr., on the contrary, 
 it is boulet de canon, balle de fusil. 
 
 Bullhead. — Bullrush. — Bullfrog. 
 Bullhead is the name of the miller's 
 thumb, a little fish nearly all head, also 
 of the tadpole or young frog. Bullrush 
 is a large kind of rush. The element bull 
 is probably not taken from the quadruped 
 of that name, but is more probably iden- 
 tical with Sw. ^^/, bole or trunk of a tree, 
 bulk of a thing, large, coarse, thick, blunt, 
 
 large of its kind, as geting, a wasp, bal- 
 geting, a hornet. \v. pwl, \A\xxiX.,penbwl, 
 a blockhead, a tadpole ; Gael, pollack, 
 lumpish, stupid ; poll-ckeannack, lump- 
 headed ; poll-cheaiinan, a tadpole. The 
 bullfrog, however, is said to make a loud 
 bellowing noise, which may probably be 
 the origin of the name. 
 
 Bullion. This word is used in several 
 senses, i. A boss or stud, any embossed 
 work. Sp. bollar, to em.boss ; bollon, 
 stud, brass-headed nail ; bollos de relieve, 
 embossed work. Fr. bouillon, a stud, 
 any great-headed or studded nail. — Cot. 
 Elyot translates bulla ' a btdlion set on 
 the cover of a book or other thynge.' 
 *■ Bullyon in a woman's girdle — clow.' — ■ 
 Palsgr. ' Bullions and ornaments of 
 plate engraven, a bullion of copper set on 
 bridles or poitrels for an ornament.' — 
 Baret's Alveary in Hal, Here the notion 
 of swelling or embossment is derived 
 from the bubbling of boiling water. 
 
 2. Btdlion is applied to a particular 
 kind of gold and silver lace, from Fr. 
 botdllon, explained by Chambaud as 
 being made of a very fine sheet of gold 
 or silver twisted. Doubtless from botdl- 
 lon in the sense of a puff or bunch, from 
 the puffy texture of this kind of lace. 
 
 3. Gold or silver uncoined. Consider- 
 able difficulty has been felt in accounting 
 for the word in this sense, from the use of 
 the equivalent terms, billon in Fr. and 
 vellon in Sp., in the sense of base metal, 
 silver mixed with a large alloy of cop- 
 per. 
 
 The original meaning of the word btd- 
 lioit, boillon, billon, was the mint or office 
 where the precious metals were reduced 
 to the proper alloy and converted into 
 stamped money, from the Lat. bulla, a 
 seal, whence Mod.Gr. jSouWovw, to seal, 
 to stamp ; (SovWimrripiov, the matrix or die 
 
BULLY 
 
 with which coins were stamped. — Diet. 
 Etym. 
 
 In this sense the word appears in our 
 early statutes. The Stat. 9 E. IIL st. 2, 
 c. 2, provides, that all persons ' puissent 
 sauvement porter k les eschanges ou 
 bullion et ne mie ailleurs argent en plate, 
 vessel d'argent et toutz maners d'argent 
 sauve faux monoie et I'esterling counter- 
 fait,' for the purpose of exchange. 
 
 In the English version these words are 
 erroneously translated 'that all people 
 may safely bring to the exchanges bullion 
 or silver in plate, &c.,' which has led to 
 the assertion that 'bullion' in the old 
 statutes is used in the modern application 
 of uncoined gold or silver. The 27 Ed. 
 III. St. 2, c. 14, provides, 'que toutz mar- 
 chauntz — puissent savement porter — 
 plate d'argent, billettes d'or et tut autre 
 maner d'or et toutz moneys d'or et d'ar- 
 gent a nostre bullioTie ou a nous es- 
 changes que nous ferons ordeiner a nous 
 dites estaples et ailleurs pernant illoeqs 
 money de notre coigne convenablement 
 k la value.' Again, 4 Hen. IV. c. 10, 
 * que la tierce partie de tout la monoie 
 d'argent que sera porte k la boillion sera 
 faite es mayles et ferlynges' — shall be 
 coined into halfpence and farthings. 
 
 In these and other statutes all traffick- 
 ing in coin was forbidden, except at the 
 bullion or exchanges of the king ; and 
 similar restrictions were enforced in 
 France, where the tampering with the 
 coin was carried to a much greater ex- 
 tent than in England, insomuch as to 
 earn for Philippe le Bel the title of le faux 
 7nonnoyeur. Hence among the French 
 the carrying to the billon their decried 
 money became a familiar operation of 
 daily life, and ' porter au billon,' ' mettre 
 au billon,' are metaphorically applied to 
 things that require remaking. 
 
 The decried coin brought to be melted 
 up was termed ' monnaie de billon,' and 
 hence billoti and the equivalent Spanish 
 vellon were very early used to signify the 
 base mixture of which such coin was 
 made, or generally a mixture of copper 
 and silver. ' Ne quis aurum, argentum 
 vel billionem extra regnum nostrum de- 
 ferre praesumat.' — Stat. Philip le Bel in 
 Due. A.D. 1305. 
 
 In England the fortunes of the word 
 
 have been different, and the Mint being 
 
 regarded chiefly as the authority which 
 
 determined the standard of the coin, the 
 
 j name of bullion has been given to the 
 
 i alloy or composition of the current coin 
 
 i permitted by the Bullion or mint. Thus 
 
 BUM-BAILIFF 
 
 113 
 
 bullion is translated in Torriano's diction- 
 ary (A.D. 1687), 'lega, legaggio di me- 
 tallo,' and traces of the same application 
 are preserved in the Spanish reckoning 
 in ' reals vellon,' reals of standard cur- 
 rency. From metal of standard fineness 
 the signification has naturally passed m 
 modern times to all gold and silver de- 
 signed for the purpose of coinage. 
 
 Bully. — Bully-rook. A violent over- 
 bearing person. Du. bulderen, bolderen^ 
 blaterare, debacchari, intonare, minari ; 
 verbulderen, perturbare saevis dictis. — 
 Kil. G. poltern, to make a noise ; Sw. 
 buller, noise, clamour, bustle, buller-bas, 
 a blusterer ; Pl.D. buller-jaan (bully- 
 John), buller-bak, buller-brook, a noisy 
 blustering fellow, from the last of which 
 is doubtless our bully-rock or bully-rook, 
 a. hectoring, boisterous fellow. — Bailey. 
 Bully-rock, un faux brave. — Miege in 
 Hal. The Sw. buller-bas, on the other 
 hand, agrees with E. blunder-buss, a 
 clumsy fellow who does things with noise 
 and violence. G. polterer, a blunder- 
 head, blunder-buss, a boisterous, violent, 
 furious man. — Kiittner. To bully is to 
 bluster, to terrify by noise and clamour, 
 to behave tyrannically or imperiously. 
 
 Bulwark. A defence originally made 
 of the boles or trunks of trees, then in 
 general a rampart, bastion, or work of 
 defence. Du. bol-werck, block-werck, 
 propugnaculum, agger, vallum. — Kil. ¥r. 
 by corruption boulevart, boulevard, pri- 
 marily the ramparts of a town, then ap- 
 plied to the walks and roads on the inside 
 of the ramparts, and now at Paris to a 
 broad street surrounding what was form- 
 erly the body, but now is the central part 
 of the town. It. baluarte. 
 
 Bum. For bottom. Yi'is. bom, groMnd, 
 bottom, from boden, bodem, ON. bottn, AS. 
 botm. Fris. ierd-boeyme, ierd-beaine, the 
 soil. Hence bom and bon, a floor. D. 
 hiene, boene, G. biihne, a stage, scaffold. 
 
 To Bum. — Boom. — Bump. — Bum- 
 ble. To bum, to hum, to make a droning 
 sound. — Hal. Du. bonwten, resonare, to 
 beat a drum ; bofnbamtnen, to ring the 
 bells. Lat. bombilare, to bumble or make 
 a humming noise ; bombilus, Du. bo7n- 
 mele, hommele, a btwible-, or a humble- 
 bee. The cry of the bittern, which he is 
 supposed to make by fixing his bill in a 
 reed or in the mud, is called btcmping or 
 bumbling, 
 
 Bum.-bailiff. From the notion of a 
 humming, droning, or dunning noise the 
 term bum is applied to dunning a person 
 for a debt. To bum, to dun. — Hal. Hence 
 
114 
 
 BUMBOAT 
 
 bum-bailij^, a person employed to dun 
 one for a debt, the bailiff employed to 
 arrest for debt. The ordinary explana- 
 tion of bound-bailiff is a mere guess. No 
 one ever saw the word in that shape. 
 Moreover the bum-bailiff is not the per- 
 son who gives security to the sheriff, nor 
 would it concern the public if he did. 
 But his special office is to dun or bum for 
 debts, and this is the point of view from 
 which he would be regarded by the class 
 who have most occasion to speak of him. 
 
 Bumboat. A boat in which provisions 
 are brought for sale alongside a ship. 
 Du. bu7n-boot^ a very wide boat used by 
 fishers in S. Holland and Flanders, also 
 for taking a pilot to a ship. — Roding, 
 Marine Diet. Probably for bun-boot^ a 
 boat fitted with a btm or receptacle for 
 keeping fish alive. 
 
 Bump. Pl.D. bums! an interjection 
 imitating the sound of a blow. Btims I 
 getroffen, Bang ! it's hit. Bumsen, bavi- 
 sen, to strike so as to give a dull sound. 
 To bajn, to pummel^ to beat. — Hal. w. 
 pwtnpio^ to thump, to bang. Lang. 
 poumpij to knock ; poumpido, noise, 
 knocking. Then, as in other cases, the 
 word representing the sound of the blow 
 is applied to the lump raised by the blow, 
 or to the mass by which it is given, and 
 signifies consequently a mass, protuber- 
 ance, lump. See Boss. Thus E. bump, 
 a swelling, w. pwjnp, a round mass ; 
 pwmpl, a knob, a boss ; Lith. pumpa, a 
 hwiton, ptmipurras, a bud. Fr. pompette, 
 a pumple or pimple on the skin — Cot. ; 
 pompon, a pumpion or gourd, a large 
 round fruit. 
 
 Bumpkin. A clumsy, awkward clown. 
 Probably from bump, signifying one who 
 does things in a thumping, abrupt man- 
 ner. Pl.D. buns-wise, inconsiderately, 
 from bunsen, to strike ; E. dial, bunger- 
 sojne, clumsy, lungeous, awkward. — Hal. 
 Suffolk bonnka, large, strapping, applied 
 to young persons, especially girls. — Moor. 
 Manx bo7ikan, a clown. 
 
 Bun, 1. — Bunnion. Fr. bigne, a bump, 
 knob rising after a knock ; bignet, bugfiet, 
 little round loaves or lumps made of fine 
 meal, &c., buns, lenten loaves.— Cot. It. 
 bugno, bugnone, any round knob or bunch, 
 a boil or blain. — Fl. Hence E. bunnion, 
 a lump on the foot ; bunny, a swelling 
 from a blow. — Forby. Bony, or grete 
 knobbe, gibbus, gibber, callus. — Pr. Pm, 
 Sc. bannock, bonnock, Gael, bonnach, Ir. 
 boineog, a cake, are dim. forms. Radi- 
 cally identical with Dan. bunke, a heap. 
 See Bunch. 
 
 BUNCH 
 
 Bun, 2. — Bunny. Bun, a dry stalk ; 
 bunnel, a dried hemp-stalk. — Hal. 'Kyx 
 or bujine, or dry weed {bitnne of dry weed, 
 H.S.P.), calamus.' — Pr. Pm. Biift, the 
 stubble of beans. — Mrs Baker. Sc. bime 
 or boo7t, the useless core of flax or hemp 
 from which the fibre is separated. Bune- 
 ivand, a hemp-stalk. 
 
 The word is probably to be explained 
 from Gael, bun, root, stock, stump, bot- 
 tom ; bu7i feoir, hay stubble ; bunati, 
 stubble ; Manx bun, stump, stalk, root, 
 foundation ; W. boTi, stem or base, stock, 
 trunk, butt end. The bu7is are the dried 
 stalks of various kinds of plants left after 
 the foliage has withered away. Gael. 
 bu7i eich, an old stump of a horse. Bim- 
 fea77tan (stump-tail), a tail (Macleod), 
 should probably be a short tail, explain- 
 ing E. bimny, a rabbit, whose short tail 
 in running is very conspicuous. Bun, a 
 rabbit, the tail of a hare. — Hal. Dan. 
 bu7id, bottom, seems to unite Gael, bun 
 with ON. bot7t, E, botto77i. 
 
 Bunch. — Bunk. — Bung-. Bunch, a 
 hump, cluster, round mass of anything. 
 To bu7ich was formerly and still is pro- 
 vincially used in the sense of striking. 
 Du7ichy7t or bunchy7i, tundo. — Pr. Pm. 
 ' He bimcheth me and beateth me, il me 
 pousse. Thou bimchest me so that I 
 cannot sit by thee.' — Palsgr. Related on 
 the one side to Pl.D. bimsen, bu77ise7i, to 
 knock. ' An de dor bimsen, oder anklop- 
 pen dat idt bu7iset^ — to knock at the 
 door till it sounds again. Daal bimsen, 
 to bang down, throw down with a bang. 
 ' He fult dat et bufisede^ he fell with a 
 bang. Du. bo7is, a knock. See Bounce. 
 On the other hand bunch is connected 
 with a series of words founded on forms 
 similar to the ON. ba7iga, Dan. banke, 
 OSw. bunga, to beat, to bang ; ON. bu7tki, 
 a heap ; OSw. bu7ike, a heap, a knob ; 
 and related with ON. bunga, to swell out ; 
 E. dial, btmg, a heap or cluster, a pocket ; 
 Sw. birige, a heap ; Wall. bo7ige, bo7igie, 
 a bunch ; Magy. bunka, a knob, a boil 
 {bimkos hot, a knotty stick) ; Sw. bunke, 
 a bowl ; Pl.D. bunken, the large promi- 
 nent bones of an animal (as G. k7ioche7t, 
 E. knjickles, from knock) ; It. bugno, bug- 
 7i07ie, any round knob or bunch, a boil or 
 blain.— Fl. 
 
 Again, as we have seen E. bulk passing 
 into Sp. bulto, and E. bull, a bag or sack, 
 while bi/lc/i was traced through Gris. 
 bulscha, a wallet, E. biilse, a bunch — Hal. ; 
 Sp. bolsa, a purse ; so the form btmk^ a 
 knob or heap, passes into Dan. bu7idt, 
 Sw. bimt, a bunch, bundle, truss ; E. 
 
BUNDLE 
 
 bunt of a sail, the middle part of it, 
 which is purposely formed into a kind of 
 bag to catch the wind. — B. 
 
 Bundle, as, byndel, Du. bojtd, don- 
 del, bundel, something bound together ; 
 ghebo7idte, ghebimdte, colligatio, fascis, 
 et contignatio, coassatio ; bondel-loos, 
 loosed from bonds. — Kil. ON. bindini, a 
 bundle. 
 
 Bung". The stopper for the hole in a 
 barrel. From the hollow sound made in 
 driving in the bimg. OG. bimge, a drum ; 
 OSw. bimgande, the noise of drums. — 
 Ihre. Magy. bongani, to hum. So Du. 
 botnmen, to hum, and bonime, or bonde 
 van t' vat, the bung of a barrel ; Lim. 
 bo7indica, to hum. Pro v. bondir, Cat. 
 bonir, to resound, and Du. bonde, Fr. 
 bonde, bondon, a bung. It is possible, 
 however, that the primitive meaning of 
 bung may be a bunch of something thrust 
 in to stop the hole. Bung of a tonne or 
 pype, bondelj bundell, bondeau. — Palsgr. 
 202. The Fr. bouchon, a cork, boiicher, 
 to stop, are from bousche, bouche, a bunch 
 or tuft, and the Sw, tapp (whence t(Eppa, 
 to stop, and E. tap, the stopper of a cask), 
 
 is originally a wisp or bunch ; ho-tapp, 
 halm-tapp, a wisp of hay or straw. 
 
 To Bungle. To do anything awk- 
 wardly, to cobble, to botch.— B. From 
 the superfluous banging and hammering 
 made by an unskilful worker. ON. bang, 
 knocking, racket, working in wood (especi- 
 ally with an axe), banga, to knock, to work 
 at carpentry ; bangan, bongun, knocking, 
 unskilful working, especially in wood- 
 work ; banghagr, a bungler. Sw. bang, 
 
 noise, racket ; battgla, to gingle. Sw. 
 dial, bangla, to work ineffectually. — Rietz. 
 Compare G. klempern, klimpern, to 
 gingle, tinkle, tinker ; to strum or play 
 unskilfully on an instrument ; stihnpeln, 
 stiimpern, to strum on an instrument, 
 to bungle, do a thing bunglingly. Banff. 
 biimmle, to strum on an instrument, to 
 sing or play in a blundering manner ; 
 bninmle, a botch, clumsy performance. 
 
 Bunny. See Bun. 
 
 Bunt. The belly or hollow of a sail, 
 the middle part of a sail formed into a 
 kind of bag to receive the wind.— Hal. 
 Dan. bimdt, a bunch, bundle. 
 
 To Bunt.— Bunting. To bunt in 
 Somerset is to sift, to bolt meal, whence 
 bunting, bolting-cloth, the loose open 
 cloth used for sifting flour, and now more 
 generally known as the material of which 
 flags are made. 
 
 The radical import is probably the 
 
 BURGEON 
 
 115 
 
 impulse by which the meal is driven 
 backwards and forwards. Bret, bojinta, 
 bunta, to push, knock, shove ; E. dial. 
 punt, to shove, to push with the head 
 (Mrs Baker), to kick. To bunt, to push 
 with the head. P1,D. bunsen, to knock. 
 
 * Buoy. Du. boei, Sw. boj, G. boie, 
 boye, Fr. bouee, Sp. boya, the float of an 
 anchor or of a net ; boyar, to float. Lat. 
 boia, Fr. buie, a clog or heavy fetters for 
 the neck or feet. It. bove, buove, fetters, 
 shackles, gyves, clogs, stocks or such 
 punishments for prisoners. — Fl. The 
 most usual form would be a heavy clog 
 fastened by a chain to the limb, and 
 hence the name would seem to have been 
 transferred to the wooden log which 
 would be the earliest float for an anchor. 
 N.Fris. bui, the heavy clog of a foot- 
 shackle ; an anchor buoy. — Johansen, p. 
 100. 
 
 Burble. A bubble. Sp. borbollar, to 
 boil or bubble up. Lith. burboloti, to 
 guggle as water, rumble as the bowels. 
 Burbulas, a water bubble made by rain. 
 See Barbarous. 
 
 Burden. A load. AS. byrthen, G. 
 biirde, from beran, to bear. 
 
 Burden, of a song. See Bourdon. 
 
 Bureau. The Italian bido, dark, was 
 formerly pronounced buro, as it still is in 
 Modena and Bologna. — Muratori. Russ. 
 buruii, brown ; burjat, to become brown 
 or russet. ' Burrhum antiqui quod nunc 
 dicimus rufum.' — Festus in Diez. OFr. 
 bure, buret, Sp. buriel, Prov. buret, 
 reddish brown, russet, specially applied 
 to the colour of a brown sheep, then to 
 the coarse woollen cloth made of the 
 fleeces of such sheep without dyeing. 
 So in Pol. bury, dark grey ; bur a, a rain- 
 cloak of felt. Then as the table in a 
 court of audience was covered with such 
 a cloth, the term bu7'eau was applied to 
 the table or the court itself, whence in 
 modern Fr. it is used to signify an office 
 where any business is transacted. In 
 English the designation has passed from 
 a writing-table to a cabinet containing a 
 writing-table, or used as a receptacle for 
 papers. See Borel. 
 
 Burganet. OFr. bourguignote, Sp. 
 borgonota, a sort of helmet, properly a 
 Burgundian helmet. A la Borgonota, in 
 Burgundian fashion. 
 
 Burgeon. — Burly. To burgeon, to 
 grow big about or gross, to bud forth. — 
 Bailey. Fr. bourgeon, bourjon, the young 
 bud, sprig, or putting forth of a vine, also 
 a pimple in the face. — Cot. The word is 
 variously written in OE. burion, bojirion^ 
 
ire 
 
 BURGESS 
 
 burjown. Sp. borujon^ protuberance, 
 knob. Lang, boure^bouron, a bud, boufa, 
 botironna^ to bud ; Fr. abourioner^ to 
 bud or sprout forth. — Cot. Burryn, to 
 bud.— Pr. Pm. 
 
 The primary origin of the word, as of 
 so many others signifying swelhng, is an 
 imitation of the sound of bubbhng water, 
 preserved in Gael, bururus, a purhng 
 sound, a gurghng ; Fin. purrata, cum 
 sonitu bulUo ut aqua ad proram navis, 
 strideo ut spuma vel aqua ex terra ex- 
 pressa ; puret, a bubble ; Du. borrele?t, 
 to spring as water; barrel, a bubble. 
 From the notion of a bubble we pass to 
 the Gael, borr, to swell, become big and 
 proud, explaining the E. bjirgen. ' Bouffer, 
 to puff, blow, swell up or strout out, to 
 biirgeii or wax big.' — Cot. The Gael, has 
 also borr, borra, a knob, bunch, swelling ; 
 borr-shuil, a prominent eye ; borracha, a 
 bladder, explaining Sp. borracha, a wine 
 skin. Sw. dial, piirra, to puff up ; borr' 
 
 tit sa, to swell oneself out as birds ; borras, 
 to swell with pride. From the same root 
 E. burly, big, occupying much space, 
 
 Elpes arn in Inderiche 
 On bodi borlic berges Hike. 
 
 Bestiary. Nat. Antiq. i. 122. 
 
 Burgess. — Burgher. OE. burgeise, 
 OFr. biirgcois, from Lat. burgensis. 
 
 Burgh. See Borough. 
 
 Burglar. A legal term from the Lat. 
 burgi latro, through the Burgundian 
 form Idre (Vocab. de Vaud.), OFr. lerre, 
 a robber. It. grancelli, roguing beggars, 
 bourglairs. — Fl. Bret, laer, robber. 
 
 Omnes burgatores domorum vel fractores 
 Ecclesiarum vel muromm vel portarum civitatis 
 regis vel burgorum intrantes malitios^ et felonic^ 
 condemnentur morti.— -Officium Coronatoris in 
 Due. 
 
 Burin. See under Bore. 
 
 To BurL— Burler. In the manu- 
 facturing of cloths the process of clearing 
 it of the knots, ends of thread, and the 
 like, with little iron nippers called burlmg 
 irons, is termed burling. — Todd. A burl- 
 er is a dresser of cloth. Lang, bouril, 
 Castrais bourril, the flocks, ends of thread, 
 &c., which disfigure cloth and have to be 
 plucked off. Bourril de neou, flock of 
 snow. OE. burle of cloth, tumentum. — Pr. 
 Pm. From Fr. bourre, flocks. See Burr. 
 
 Burlesque. It. biwlare, to make a 
 jest of, to ridicule. Probably a modifica- 
 tion of the root which gave the OE. bourd,, 
 a jest. Limousin bourdo, a lie, a jest, 
 bourda, to ridicule, to tell lies. The in- 
 terchange of d and / is clearly seen in the 
 
 BURNISH 
 
 Gael, burd, burl, mockery, ridicule, joking; 
 buirte, a jibe, taunt, repartee ; buirleadh^ 
 language of folly or ridicule. 
 
 Burly. See Burgeon. 
 
 To Bum. Probably, as Diefenbach 
 suggests, from the roaring sound of flame. 
 Thus G. brinnen or brewien was formerly 
 used in the sense of to roar. Also ein 
 luwe brennen. — Dief. Supp. Herumge- 
 hen wie ein brinnenden lew, sicut leo 
 rugiens. Pretinen,ixtvs\QXQ.. — Notk. Ps. 56. 
 5. in Schm. Swiss Rom. brinna, to roar 
 like the wind in trees. — Bridel. Hence 
 G. brandung, the roaring surge of the 
 sea. In the same way ON. brimi, fire, is 
 connected with bri?n, surge or dashing of 
 the sea ; bfima, to surge, and OG. bri7n- 
 nien, brenwien, to roar (as lions, bears, 
 &c.). So also Sw. brasa, a blaze, Fr. ein- 
 braser, to set on fire, compared with G. 
 brausen, to roar, and Dan. brase, to fry. 
 
 It is probable indeed that Fr. bruler, 
 which has given much trouble to etymol- 
 ogists, must be explained on the same 
 principle from G. briillen or briilen (Dief. 
 Supp.), to roar, the s in OFr. bnisler 
 being a faulty spelling, as in cousteau. 
 Compare also Piedm. brusd, to burn, 
 Prov. bruzir, to roar, with Dan. bruse, to 
 roar, to effervesce. JHaJt bruser op, he 
 fires up. E. brustle, to rustle, crackle 
 like straw or small wood in burning — 
 Hal. ; It. brustolare, to burn, toast, broil, 
 singe or scorch with fire. — Fl. 
 
 Burn. A brook. Goth, brunna, ON. 
 brunnr, G. born, brunnen, a well, a spring ; 
 Gael, burn, water, spring-water ; burnach, 
 watery. Swiss Rom, borni, a fountain. — • 
 Vocab. de Vaud, As we have seen the 
 noise of water bubbling up represented 
 by the syllable bor, pur (see Burgeon), 
 the final n in burn may be merely a sub- 
 sidiary' element, as the / in purl, and the 
 word would thus signify water springing 
 or bubbling up. Bav. burren, to hum, to 
 buzz ; Gael, bururus, warbling, purling, 
 gurgling. Walach. sbornoi, to murmur. 
 
 Burnish. Fr. brunir, to polish. Sw. 
 bryjia, to sharpen, to give an edge to, 
 brynsten, a whetstone, from bryn, the 
 brim or edge of anything, N. brun, an 
 edge or point. Then as sharpening a 
 weapon would be the most familiar ex- 
 ample of polishing metal, the word seems 
 to have acquired the sense of polishing. 
 So from Fin. tahko, an edge, a margin, 
 latus rei angulatae ; tahkoinen, angular ; 
 tahkoa, to sharpen on a whetstone, thence, 
 to rub, to polish. Bav. schleiffen, to 
 sharpen, to grind on a whetstone, hauben 
 schleiffen, to polish helmets. — Schm. 
 
BURR 
 
 The AS. brim seems to have been used 
 in the sense of an edge. 
 
 Geata dryhten 
 
 Gryre-fahne sloh 
 
 Incge lafe, 
 
 Thaet sio ecg gewdc, 
 
 Brun on bane. — Beowulf, 5150. 
 
 Translated by Kemble, — 
 
 'The Lord of the Geats struck the terribly 
 coloured with the legacy of Incg so_ that the 
 edge grew weak, brawn upon the bone ; ' 
 
 but it would both make better sense and 
 be more in accordance with AS. idiom if 
 brim were understood as a synonym of 
 ecg. 
 
 Burr. I. The whirring sound made by 
 some people in pronouncing the letter r, 
 as in Northumberland. This word seems 
 formed from the sound. — Jam. ' Hearing 
 the old hall clock — strike 12 with a dis- 
 mal, shuffling, brokenharpstringed-like 
 whirr and burr.^ — Matrimonial Vanity 
 Pair, iii. 225. Burr is related to buzz as 
 whirr to whizz. With a slightly different 
 spelling, birr signifies the whizzing sound 
 of a body hurled through the air, whence 
 birr^ force, impetus, any rapid whirling 
 motion. — Hal. The noise of partridges 
 when they spring is called birring. G. 
 burren, purren, to buzz, whirr, coo, purr, 
 Swiss burren, to mutter ; Sw. dial, borra, 
 to buzz like a beetle ; burr a., blurra^ to 
 chatter, talk fast and indistinctly. 
 
 2. Burr or Bur is used in several 
 senses, ultimately resting on the Gael, 
 root borr, signifying protrude, swell, men- 
 tioned under Burgeon, Hence Fr. bourre, 
 stuffing, whatever is used to make a tex- 
 ture swell or strout out, and thence flocks 
 'of wool, hair, &c., also ' any such trash 
 as chaff, shales, husks, &c.'— Cot. It. 
 borra, any kind of quilting or stuffing, 
 shearing of cloth, also all such stuff as 
 hay, moss, straw, chips or anything else 
 that birds make their nests with. — Fl. 
 Fr. bourrer, to stuff; bourrelet, bourlet, a 
 pad, a stuffed wreath used for different 
 purposes, as for the protection of a child's 
 head, or for supporting a pail of water 
 carried upon the head, a horse-collar 
 (whence bourrelier, a harness or collar 
 maker) ; and met. an annular swelling, 
 as the swelling above the grafted part of 
 the stem of a tree, the thickened rim at 
 the mouth of a cannon. Hence must be 
 explained E. bur, the rough annular ex- 
 crescence at the root of a deer's horn, the 
 ridge or excrescence made by a tool in 
 turning or cutting metal, the superfluous 
 metal left in the neck of the mould in 
 
 BURY 
 
 117 
 
 casting bullets. A burr-pump is one 
 used in a ship ' into which a staff seven 
 or eight feet long is put having a burr or 
 knob of wood at the end.' — Harris in 
 Todd. In a met. sense a burr round 
 the moon is the padding of hazy light by 
 which it seems to be encircled when it 
 shines through a light mist. 
 
 And burred moons foretell great storms at 
 night. — Clare. 
 
 3. When the hop begins to blossom it is 
 said to be in burr. See Burgeon. 
 
 4. Fris. borre, burre, Dan. bo7'7'e, Sw. 
 kardborre, karborre, a bur, the hooked 
 capitulum of the arctium lappa. Sw. dial. 
 borre is also a fircone. 
 
 Burrow. Shelter, a place of defence, 
 safety, shelter Provincially applied to 
 shelter from the wind : * the burrow side 
 of the hedge ; ' ' a very burrow place for 
 cattle.' The same word with burgh, 
 borough, borrow, from AS. beorgan, to 
 protect, shelter, fortify, save. Du. ber- 
 ghen, to hide, cover, keep, preserve, and 
 thence bergh, a port, a barn or cupboard. 
 — Kil. G. bergen, ve7'bergeii, to hide ; ON. 
 biarga, to save, preserve. A rabbit bur- 
 row is the hole which the animal digs for 
 its own protection. So in w. caer is a 
 castle or fortress, cwning-gaer, the fortress 
 of a coney or rabbit, a rabbit burrow. 
 
 Burse. — Burser. -burse. Burse, 
 Fr. bourse, Du, beurs, an exchange, from 
 Fr. bourse. It. borsa, a purse. Bursar, the 
 officer who bears the purse, makes the 
 disbursements of the college. 
 
 Borsa is derived by Diez from Gr. 
 jSi'po-a, Mid.Lat. byrsa, skin, leather, but 
 it is more probably a development of It. 
 bolgia, bolza, Grisons bulscha, buscha, a 
 wallet or scrip, from whence we pass 
 through Sp. bolsa to It. borsia, borza, 
 borsa, a purse, as from Sp. peluca to Fr. 
 perruque. See Bulge. 
 
 To Burst. In OE. brest, brast. G. 
 bersten, AS. berstan, byrstan, OHG. bres^ 
 tan, bristen, Sw. brista, ON. brjota, Fr. 
 briser. Port, britar, to break. Gael. 
 bris, brisd, break ; brisdeach, bristeach, 
 brittle. The root appears under the 
 forms brik, bris, brist, brit. Lang, brico, 
 briso, briketo, brizeto, a morsel, fragment ; 
 E. brist, small fragments. Compare also 
 OE, brokil and brotilj brittle, and, as it 
 is still pronounced in N. of England, 
 brickie. Serv. prsnuti, to burst. 
 
 To Bury. — Burial, as. byigan, bir- 
 gan, birigean, to bury ; byrgen, byrgels, 
 byrigels, a sepulchre, tomb, burial place. 
 OHG. burgisli, a sepulchre ; chrepburgium 
 
ifS 
 
 BUSH 
 
 {cJireo^ AS. hreaw^ a corpse), a monument 
 or erection over the dead. — Gloss. 
 Malberg. The radical idea is seen in 
 Goth, dairgan, AS. beorgati, to keep, 
 preserve, protect ; whence beorg, beorh, a 
 rampart, defence, mount, a heap of stones, 
 burial mound. ' Worhton mid stanum 
 anne steapne beorh him ofer : ' they 
 raised a steep mound of stones over him. 
 Thence byrigean, to bury, apparently a 
 secondary verb, signifying to entomb, to 
 sepulchre, and not directly (as Du. ber- 
 gheti, borghen, condere, abdere, occultare 
 — K.) to hide in the ground. 
 
 Bush. — Bushel. The bush of a wheel 
 is the metal lining of the nave or hollow 
 box in which the axle works. Du. busse, 
 a box, btisken, a little box ; Dan. basse, 
 a box, a gun ; G. biichse, a box, rad- 
 biichse, Sw. hjiil-bosse, the bush of a 
 wheel ; Sc. tush, box wood ; to bush, to 
 sheath, to enclose in a case or box. The 
 Gr. TTvliQ, -i^oQ, a box, gave Lat. pyxis as 
 well as buxis, -idis, and thence Mid. Lat. 
 buxida, bossida, buxta, boxta, bosta, Prov. 
 boistia, boissa, OFr. boiste, with the 
 diminutives. Mid. Lat. buxula, bustula, 
 bustellus, bussellus, O Fr. boistel, boisteau, 
 Fr. boisseau, a box for measuring corn, a 
 bushel. See Box. 
 
 Bush. — Busk. 
 
 Sibriht that I of told, that the lond had lorn 
 That a swineherd slouh under a busk of thorn. 
 R. Brunne. 
 
 The foregoing modes of spelling the 
 word indicate a double origin, from the 
 ON. buskr, a tuft of hair, bush, thicket 
 {buski, a bunch of twigs, besom), and 
 from the Fr. bousche, bouche, a wisp, 
 tuft, whence bojichon, a tavern bush, 
 boucher, to stop, to thrust in a bouche or 
 tuft of hemp, tow, or the like. Bouchet, 
 a bush, bramble. It has been shown 
 under Boss that words signifying clump, 
 tuft, cluster, are commonly derived from 
 the idea of knocking. So from Fr. bous- 
 ser, It. bussare, Du. bossen, buysschen, to 
 knock, we have Fr. bosse, bousse, a hump, 
 hunch ; Du. bos, a bunch, knot, bundle ; 
 bosch (a diminutive ?), a tuft, then a tuft 
 of trees, a grove ; bosch van haer, a tuft 
 of hair ; ■ — van wijnbesieti, a bunch of 
 grapes. Fris. bosc, a troop, lump, clus- 
 ter; qualster-boscken, a clot of phlegm 
 (Epkema). Du. bussel, a bundle ; It. 
 bussone, a bush, brake, thicket of thorns ; 
 Bret, bouch (Fr. cJi), a tuft, wisp. G. 
 bausch, projection, bulk, bunch, bundle, 
 wisp ; bauschen, bausen, to swell, bulge, 
 bunch out. 
 
 BUSKIN 
 
 Busk. The bone in a woman's stays. 
 See Bust. 
 
 To Busk. To prepare, make ready, 
 to dress, to direct one's course towards. 
 They busked and maked them boun. 
 
 Sir Tristram. 
 Jamieson thinks it probable that it may 
 be traced to the ON. bua, to prepare, to 
 dress, at bua sig, induere vestes ; and it 
 is singular that having come so near the 
 mark he fails to observe that busk is a 
 simple adoption of the deponent form of 
 the ON. verb, at buast, for at buasc, con- 
 tracted from the very expression quoted 
 by him, ^ at bua sik.' The primitive 
 meaning of bua is simply to bend, whence 
 at bua sik, to bend one's steps, to betake 
 oneself, to bow, in OE. ' Haralldur kon- 
 gur biost austur um Eydascog.' Harold 
 the king busks eastwards through the 
 forest of Eyda. ' Epter thetta byr sik 
 jarl sem skyndilegast ur landi.' After 
 that the earl busks with all haste out of 
 the land. Compare the meaning of busk 
 in the following passage : — 
 
 Many of the Danes privily were left 
 And busked westwards for to robbe eft. 
 
 R. Brunne. 
 It is certain that buast must once have 
 been written buasc, and we actually find 
 truasc,fiasc, in the For Skirnis ; barsc in 
 Heimskringla, which would later have 
 been written truast, fiast, barst. The 
 frequency with which to busk is used, as 
 synonymous with to make one boun, is 
 thus accounted for, as boun is simply 
 buinn, the past participle of the same verb 
 bua, the deponent form of which is re- 
 presented by the E. busk. 
 
 To bow was used in a similar manner 
 for to bend one's steps, to turn. ' Boweth 
 forth by a brook : ' proceed by a brook. 
 —P.P. 
 
 Forth heo gunnen bugen 
 
 In to Bruttaine 
 
 And her ful sone 
 
 To^rthure comen. — Layamon, 2. 4x0. 
 
 In the other copy — ' 
 
 Forth hii goime bouwe 
 In to Brutaine. 
 
 ♦ Buskin. Sp. borcegiii, Ptg. borze- 
 gtiivi, Fr. brodequin. The primary sense 
 seems to have been a kind of leather, 
 probably Morocco leather. Thus Frois- 
 sart, ' Le roy Richard mort, il fut couch^ 
 sur une litiere, dedans un char couvert de 
 brodequin tout noir.' The buskin is said 
 by Cobarruvias to have been a fashion of 
 the Moors and of Morocco, and he cites 
 from an old romance ' Borzeguies Mar- 
 roquies.' The word is explained by 
 
BUSS 
 
 Dozy from Arab. Xerqui, or Cherqui, a 
 precious kind of leather made from 
 sheepskins in the North of Africa. 
 Edrisi, speaking of the costume of the 
 King of Gana, says, ' he wears sandals of 
 cherqui.' It is true that from hence to 
 borzcgui is a long step, but Dozy cites 
 the OldPtg. forms ino7'sequill^ moseqiiin, 
 and supposes that the common Arab, 
 prefix mic or mo has been erroneously 
 added, as in moharra from harbe, the 
 point of a lance, mogangas from gonj, 
 love gestures, inoheda from gcidha^ forest. 
 Thus we should have mocherqui, and by 
 transposition inorchequi, morsequi, bor- 
 cegui. 
 
 Buss. I. A vessel employed in the 
 herring fishery. Du. buyse, a vessel with 
 a wide hull and blunt prow, also a flagon. 
 ON. bussa, a ship of some size. Prov. 
 btis, a boat or small vessel ; Cat. buc, 
 bulk, ship ; Sp. bucka, a large chest or 
 box, a fishing vessel. A particular appli- 
 cation of the many-formed word signifying 
 bulk, trunk, body, chest. See Boss, Box, 
 Bulch, Bust. 
 
 2. A kiss. Sp. buz, a kiss of reverence. 
 Sw. pussa, piitta, Bav. bussen, Swiss 
 ^utschen, to kiss (from the sound — 
 Stalder) ; butschen, putschen, to knock ; 
 ivindbutsch, a stroke of wind. Comp. 
 smack, a kiss, and also a sounding blow. 
 On the other hand, Gael, bus, a mouth, 
 lip, snout; V^sXdiCh.. buza, lip; Pol. bu- 
 zia, mouth, lips, also a kiss. So Wes- 
 terwald niunds, mons^ a kiss, from imind, 
 mouth. Lat. basium, It. bacio, Sp. beso^ 
 Fr. baiser, a kiss. The two derivations 
 would be reconciled if Gael, bus and Pol. 
 buzia were themselves taken from the 
 smacking sound of the lips. 
 
 Bust. — Busk. These seem to be mo- 
 difications of the same word, originally 
 signifying trunk of a tree, then trunk of 
 the body, body without arms and legs, 
 body of garment, especially of a woman's 
 dress, and finally (in the case of busJi) 
 the whalebone or steel support with 
 which the front of a woman's bodice is 
 made stiff. 
 
 I. With respect to busk we have ON. 
 bukr, trunk, body ; Fr. busche, a log, a 
 backstock, a great billet — Cot. ; Rouchi, 
 busch, a bust, statue of the upper part of 
 the body without arms ; Fr. buc, busq, 
 busque, a busk, plated body or other 
 quilted thing, worn to make the body 
 straight ; buc, busc, bust, the long, small, 
 or sharp-pointed and hard-quilted body 
 of a doublet. — Cot. Wall, buc, trunk of 
 a tree, of the human body (Grandg.). 
 
 BUSY 
 
 119 
 
 2. With respect to busij on. butr, a 
 log; Mid. Lat. busta, arbor ramis trun- 
 cata — Gloss. Lindenbr. in Diez ; Gris. 
 bilst, bist, trunk of a tree, body of a man, 
 body of a woman's dress ; It. busto, a 
 bulk or trunk without a head, a sleeveless 
 truss or doublet, also a busk. — Fl. 
 
 The Prov. inserts an r after the initial 
 b J bnic, brut, brusc, bust, body, as in 
 ON. b?'2iskr2iS well as buskr, a bush, tuft, 
 wisp, Prov. brostia as well as bostia, a 
 box. The form brust, corresponding to 
 brut as bi'usc to bruc, would explain the 
 G. brust, the breast, the trunk, box, or 
 chest in which the vitals are contained. 
 The ultimate origin may be found in the 
 parallel forms buk, but, representing a 
 blow. VoX.puk, knock, crack ; Fr. buquer, 
 Namur busquer (Sigart), Lang, buta, to 
 knock. Swab, busch, a blow, a bunch of 
 flowers ; butz, a blow, a projection, stump, 
 lump. From the figure of striking against 
 we pass to the notion of a projection, 
 stump, thick end, stem. 
 
 Bustard. A large bird of the gallin- 
 aceous order. Fr. outard. A great slug- 
 gish fowl. — B. Sp. abutarda, or avutarda; 
 Champagne bistarde j Prov. austarda^ 
 Fr. outarde. It. ot tarda. 
 
 Named from its slowness of flight. 
 ' Proximse iis sunt quas Hispania aves 
 tardas appellat.' — Plin. 10. 22. Hence 
 probably au-tarda, otarda, utarda, and 
 then with avis again prefixed, as in av- 
 estruz ( = avis struthio), an ostrich, avu^ 
 tarda, — Diez. Port, abo tarda, betarda. 
 
 To Bustle. To hurry or make a great 
 stir. — B. Also written buskle. 
 
 It is like the smouldering fire of Mount Chim- 
 asra, which boiling long time y^\V\\gxQ?iXbuskUng 
 in the bowels of the earth doth at length burst 
 forth with violent rage. — A.D. 1555. — Hal. 
 
 Here we see the word applied to the 
 bubbling up of a boiling liquid, from 
 which it is metaphorically applied in or- 
 dinary usage to action accompanied viith 
 'a great stir.' ON. bustla, to make a 
 splash in the water, to bustle. So in 
 Fin. kupata, kupista, to rustle (parum 
 strepo) ; kdyn kupajan crepans ito, I go 
 clattering about, inde discurro et operosus 
 sum, I bustle. 
 
 Busy. — Business. AS. biseg, bisg, 
 biseguug, bisgung, occupation, employ- 
 ment ; bisgan, bysgian, Fris. bysgje, to 
 occupy; 'Dn.bezig, beezig, busy, occupied ; 
 bezigen, to make use of. Business can 
 hardly be distinct from Fr. besoigne, be- 
 songne, work, business, an aflair. — Cot. 
 The proceedings of Parliament, A.D. 1372, 
 speak of lawyers ' pursuant busoignes en 
 
I20 BUT 
 
 la Court du Roi.' Perhaps besogne may 
 be from a G. equivalent of AS. bisgimg. 
 ■ But. As a conjunction but is in every 
 case the compound be-out, Tooke's dis- 
 tinction between but, be out, and bot, 
 moreover, to-boot, being wholly unten- 
 able. 
 
 AS. butan, biita, bute, without, except, 
 besides ; butan ce, without law, an outlaw ; 
 bittan wite, without punishment ; butan 
 uiifum and cildum, besides women and 
 children. Pl.D. bitten ; bilten door, out 
 of doors ; bute7i dat, besides that ; Du. 
 buiten, without ; buiten-man, a stranger ; 
 buiten-zorgh, without care. 
 
 The cases in which Tooke would ex- 
 plain the conjunction as signifying boot, 
 add, in addition, moreover, are those in 
 which the word corresponds to the Fr. 
 mais, and may all be reduced to the 
 original sense of without, beyond the 
 bounds of. Whatever is in addition to 
 something else is beyond the bounds of 
 the original object. 
 
 In Sc. we find beti, from AS. binnan, 
 within, the precise correlative of but, 
 without ; but and ben, without the house 
 and within ; then applied to the outer and 
 inner rooms of a house consisting of two 
 apartments. 
 
 The rent of a room and a kitchen, or what in 
 the language of the place is styled a but and a 
 beri, gives at least two pounds sterling. — Account 
 of Stirlingshire in Jamieson. 
 
 Ben-Jiouse, the principal apartment. 
 
 The elliptical expression of but {ox only 
 is well explained by Tooke. Where at 
 the present day we should say, ' There is 
 but one thing to be done,' there is really 
 a negation to be supplied, the full expres- 
 sion being, ' there is nothing to be done 
 but one thing,' or ' there is not but one 
 thing to be done.' Thus Chaucer says, 
 
 I nam btit a leude compilatour. — 
 
 If that ye vouchsafe that in this place — 
 That I may have not but my meat and drinke, 
 
 where now we should write, ' I am but a 
 compiler,' ' that I may have but my 
 meat and drink.' 
 
 As an instance of what is called the 
 adversative use of but, viz. that which 
 would be translated by Fr. mais, — sup- 
 pose a person in whom we have little 
 trust has been promising to pay a debt, 
 we say, 'But when will you pay it?' 
 Here the (^///implies the existence of an- 
 other point not included among those to 
 which the debtor has adverted, viz. the 
 time of payment. * Besides all that, when 
 will you pay ? ' 
 
 BUTT 
 
 *A11 the brethren are entertained 
 bountifully, but Benjamin has a five-fold 
 portion.' Here the /^///' indicates that Ben- 
 jamin, by the mode in which he is treated, 
 is put in a class by himself, outside that 
 in which his brethren are included. 
 
 Butcher. Fr. boucher. Pro v. bochier, 
 Lang, boquier, from boc, a goat (and not 
 from bouche, the mouth), properly a 
 slaughterer of goats ; ' que en carieras 
 publicas li boguiers el sane dels bocs no 
 jhidton, ni aveisson los bocs en las 
 plassas ' — that the butchers shall not cast 
 the blood of the goats into the public 
 ways, nor slaughter the goats in the 
 streets. — Coutume d'Alost in Diet. Lang. 
 So in Italian from becco, a goat, beccaro, 
 beccaio, a butcher ; beccaria, a butchery, 
 slaughter-house. But It. boccmo, young 
 beef or veal flesh ; bocciero, a butcher. 
 Piedm. (children) boc, bocin, ox, calf. 
 
 Butler. Fr. bouteillier, as if from bou- 
 teille, a bottle, the servant in charge of 
 the bottles, of the wine and drink. But 
 the name must have arisen before the 
 principal part of the drinkables would be 
 kept in bottles, and the real origin of the 
 word is probably from buttery. Butler, 
 the officer in charge of the buttery or 
 collection of casks, as Pantler, the officer 
 in charge of the pantry. Buttery, from 
 butt, a barrel ; Sp. boteria, the store of 
 barrels or wine skins in a ship. 
 
 Butt. A large barrel. It. Fr. botte, 
 a cask. OFr. bous, bouz, bout, Sp. bota, 
 a wine skin, a wooden cask. Sp. botija, 
 an earthen jar ; botilla, a small wine bag, 
 leathern bottle. 
 
 The immediate origin of the term is 
 probably butt in the sense of trunk or 
 round stem of a tree, then hollow trunk, 
 body of a man, belly, bag made of the 
 entire skin of an animal, wooden recept- 
 acle for liquors. A similar development 
 of meaning is seen in the case of E. trunk, 
 the body of a tree or of a man, also a 
 hollow vessel ; G. ruvipf, the body of an 
 animal, hollow case, hull of a ship. The 
 E. bulk was formerly applied to the trunk 
 or body, and it is essentially the same 
 word with Lat. biilga, belly, skin-bag, and 
 with It. bolgia, a leathern bag, a budget. 
 A similar train of thought is seen in ON. 
 bolr, the trunk or body of an animal, bole 
 of a tree, body of a shirt ; w. bol, bo la, 
 the belly, rotundity of the body, bag. 
 The Sp. barriga, the belly, is doubtless 
 connected with bartil, a barrel, earthen 
 jug ; and in E. we speak of the barrel of 
 a horse to signify the round part of the 
 body. Wall, bodine, belly, calf of the 
 
BUTT 
 
 leg ; bode^ rabod^, courtaud, trapu. — 
 Grandg. Bav. boding, a barrel. — 
 Schmell. From Grisons butt, a cask, 
 is formed the augmentative biittatsch, the 
 stomach of cattle, a large belly. The 
 word body itself seems identical with G. 
 bottich, a tub. The Bavarian potig, 
 potacha, bottig, signify a cask or tub, 
 while bottich, bodi\ are used in the sense 
 of body. 
 
 To Butt. To strike with the head 
 like a goat or a ram. From the noise of 
 a blow. To come full bictt against a 
 thing is to come upon it suddenly, so as 
 to make a sounding blow. Du. bot, tout 
 k coup ; bat blijven staan, s'arreter tout 
 k coup. — Halma. Du. botten, to thrust, 
 to push ; It. botto, a blow, a stroke ; di 
 botto, suddenly ; botta, a thrust ; It. but- 
 tare, to cast, to throw ; Lang, btita, to 
 strike, to thrust ; Fr. bouter, to thrust, to 
 push ; W. pwtiaw, to butt, poke, thrust. 
 
 The butt or butt end of a thing is the 
 striking end, the thick end. A butt, ON. 
 butr, the trunk, stump of a tree ; Fr. bout, 
 end ; w. pwt, any short thick thing, 
 stump. G. butt, blitz, a short thick thing 
 or person — Schmeller ; Fr. botte, a bun- 
 dle ; Du. Fr. bot, thick, clumsy ; pied- 
 bot, a stump or club foot.— Cot. Gris. 
 bott, a hill, hillock ; botta, a blow, a boil, 
 a clod. Fr. butte, a mound, a heap of 
 earth ; butter un arbre, to heap up earth 
 round the roots of a tree ; butterle celeris, 
 to earth up celery ; butter un mur, to 
 support a wall beginning to bulge ; butte, 
 E. butt, a mound of turf in a field to sup- 
 port a target for the purpose of shooting 
 at. 
 
 Fr. but, the prick in the middle of a 
 target, a scope, aim ; whence to make a 
 butt of a person, to make him a mark for 
 the jests of the com.pany. 
 
 Fr. buter, to touch at the end, to abut 
 or butt on, as in G. from stossen, to strike, 
 to thrust ; an etwas anstossen, to be con- 
 tiguous to, to abut on. 
 
 Hence the butts in a ploughed field 
 are the strips at the edges of the field, or 
 headlands upon which the furrows abut ; 
 but-lajids, waste ground, buttals, a corner 
 of ground. — Hal. 
 
 Butter. Lat. butyrum, Gr. jSovrvpov, 
 as if from I3ovq, an ox, but this is probably 
 a mere adaptation, and the true derivation 
 seems preserved in the provincial German 
 of the present day. Bav. buttern, butteln, 
 to shake backwards and forwards, to boult 
 flour. Butter-glass, a ribbed glass for 
 shaking up salad sauce. Buttel-triib, 
 thick from shaking. Butter- scJmials, 
 
 BUXOM 
 
 [21 
 
 grease produced by churning, i. e. butter, 
 as distinguished from gelassene schmalz, 
 dripping, grease that sets by merely 
 standing. — Schmell. 
 
 Butter-fly. So called from the excre- 
 ment being supposed to resemble butter. 
 Du. boter-schijte, boter-vliege, boter-vogel. 
 — Kil. 
 
 Buttery. Sp. boteria, the store of 
 wine in ships kept in bota's or leather 
 bags. So the buttery is the collection of 
 drinkables in a house, what is kept in 
 butts. See Butler. 
 
 Buttock. The large muscles of the 
 seat or breech. 
 
 From Du. bout, a bolt, or spike with a 
 large head, then the thigh or leg of an 
 animal, from the large knobbed head of 
 the thigh-bone. Botit van het schouder- 
 blad, caput scapulas : bout van f been, 
 femur, coxa, clunis. — Kil. Boutje, a little 
 gigot, the thigh of a goose, fowl, &c. 
 Ha7nele-bout, la?ns-bout, a leg of mutton, 
 leg of lamb. A buttock of beef is called 
 a but in the w. of E. — Hal. 
 
 Button. Fr. bouton, a button, bud, 
 pimple, any small projection, from bouter, 
 to push, thrust forwards, as rejeton, a 
 rejected thing, from rejeter, 7iourrisson, a 
 nursling, from nourrir, nourrissons, -ez, 
 &c. So in English pimples were for- 
 merly called pushes. Gael, put, to push 
 or thrust,////^;/, a button. It is remark- 
 able that Chaucer, who in general comes 
 so close to the Fr., always translates 
 bouton, the rosebud, in the R. R, by bo- 
 tliuni and not button, w. both, a boss, a 
 nave ; bothog, having a rotundity ; botwm, 
 a boss, a button. 
 
 Buttress. An erection built up as a 
 support to a wall. Fr. bouter, to thrust ; 
 arc-boutant, a flying buttress, an arch 
 built outside to support the side thrust of 
 a stone roof. Mur-buttant, a wall but- 
 tress, a short thick wall built to rest 
 against another which needs support ; 
 butter, to raise a mound of earth around 
 the roots of a tree. Boutant, a buttress 
 or shore post. — Cot. 
 
 Buttrice. A farrier's tool for paring 
 horses' hoofs, used by resting the head 
 against the farrier's chest and pushing 
 the edge forwards. Perhaps corrupted 
 from Fr. boutis, the rooting of a wild 
 boar, the tool working forwards like the 
 snout of a swine. Fr. bouter, to thrust, 
 boutoir, a buttrice. 
 
 * Buxom. AS. bocsam, buJiso7n, obe- 
 dient, from bugan, to bow, give way, 
 submit ; Fris. bocgsum, Du. geboogsaern, 
 flexible, obedient, humble. — Kil. 
 
122 BUY 
 
 For holy church hoteth all manere puple 
 Under obedience to be and buxum to the lawe. 
 
 P.P. 
 
 Buhsomenesse or bougJisomeness. Pli- 
 ableness or bowsomeness, to wit, humbly 
 stooping or bowing down in sign of obe- 
 dience. — Yerstegan in R. 
 
 The sense of buxom^ used in com- 
 mendation of women, depends upon a 
 train of thought which has become obso- 
 lete. To bow down the ear is to listen 
 favourably to a petition. Hence bowing 
 or bending was understood as symbolical 
 of good will, and a bowed or crooked 
 coin or other object was presented in 
 order to typify the good will of the sender, 
 or to conciliate that of the person to 
 whom it was addressed. 
 
 He sent to him his servant secretly the night 
 before his departure for Newbury with a bowed 
 
 f'-oat in token of his good heart towards him. — 
 oxes Martyrs, iii. 519. Also when she had 
 bowed a piece of silver to a saint for the health of 
 her child. — lb. ii. 21. in N. & Q. Many good 
 old people — of meere kindness gave me bowd 
 sixpences and groats, blessing me with their 
 harty prayers and God speedes. — Kempe's nine 
 days' wonder, p. 3. 
 
 Solvable or bowsome (buxom) thus 
 came to signify well inclined to, favour- 
 able, gracious. 
 
 Thow which barist the Lord make the pa- 
 troun — for to be to us inclineable or bowable or 
 redi to heere us. — Pecock Repressor, 200. 
 Mercy hight that mayde, a meke thynge with 
 
 alle, 
 A ful benygne buirde, and boxome ofspeche. 
 — gracious of speech. — P. P. xviii. 116. 
 
 A buxom dame or lass is then a 
 gracious, good-humoured one, and when 
 the derivation of the word was forgotten 
 it drew with it the sense of good health 
 and spirits so naturally connected with 
 good humour. 
 
 To Buy, AS. bycgan, bohte, OE. bygge, 
 to purchase for money. ' Sellers and 
 biggers' — Wicliff. The two pronuncia- 
 tions were both current in the time of 
 Chaucer, who makes abigg^ to abie, 
 rhyme with rigg. See Abie. 
 
 CABAL 
 
 Goth. bugjaUy bauhta, to buy ; frabug- 
 jan, to sell. 
 
 To Buzz. To make a humming noise 
 like bees. A direct imitation. Then 
 applied to speaking low, indistinctly, con- 
 fusedly. It. buzzicare, to whisper, to 
 buzz. 
 
 Buzzard. A kind of hawk of little 
 esteem in falconry. Lat. biiteo ; Fr. buso^ 
 biisard; Prov. bitzac, bnzafg, It. bozzago, 
 bozzagro, abozzago, a buzzard or puttock. 
 The name is also given to a beetle, from 
 the buzzing sound of its flight, and it is 
 to be thus understood in the expression 
 blifid buzzard. We also say, as blind as 
 a beetle, as Fr. dtourdi comme 7tn han- 
 neton, as heedless as a cock-chafer, from 
 the blind way in which they fly against 
 one. 
 
 By. Goth, bi, AS. bi, big, G. bei, Du. 
 bij, Sanscrit abhi (Dief.). Too used a 
 word to leave any expectation of an ety- 
 mological explanation, but the senses 
 may generally be reduced to the notion 
 of side. 
 
 To stand by is to stand aside ; to stand 
 by one, to stand at his side ; a by-path is 
 a side path ; to pass by, to pass at the 
 side of. To swear by God is to swear 
 in the sight of God, to swear with him 
 by ; to adjure one by any inducement is 
 to adjure him with that in view. When 
 it indicates the agent it is because the 
 agent is considered as standing by his 
 work. 
 
 By-law. Originally the law of a par- 
 ticular town. Sw. bylag, from by, a 
 borough, town having separate jurisdic- 
 tion. ON. byar-log, Dan. bylove, leges 
 urbanse ; ON. byar-i'ettr, jus municipii. 
 
 Subsequently applied to the separate 
 laws of any association. 
 
 Byre. A cow-house, stall. The ON. 
 byr, beer, a town, village, farm, does not 
 appear ever to have been used in the 
 sense of a stall. The final r moreover is 
 only the sign of the nominative, and 
 would have been lost in E. as in Da., Sw. 
 by. 
 
 Cabal. The Jews believed that Moses 
 received in Sinai not only the law, but 
 also certain unwritten principles of inter- 
 pretation, called Cabala or Tradition, 
 which were handed down from father to 
 
 son, and in which mysterious and magi- 
 cal powers were supposed to reside. — 
 Diet. Etym. 
 
 Hence the name of caballing was 
 applied to any secret machinations for 
 
CABBAGE 
 
 effecting a purpose ; and a cabal is a con- 
 clave of persons, secretly plotting together 
 for their own ends. 
 
 Cabbage, From It. capo, OS p. cabo, 
 head, come the Fr. caboche, a head 
 (whence cabochard, heady, wilful), cab its, 
 headed, round or great headed. Choux 
 cabus, a headed cole or cabbage ; laitue 
 cabiisse, lactuca capitata, headed or cab- 
 bage lettuce. — Cot. It. cabiiccio, capticcio, 
 a cabbage ; Du. cabiiyskoole, brassica 
 capitata. — Kil. 
 
 To Cabbage. To steal or pocket. 
 Fr. cabas, Du. kabas, Sp. cabacho, a frail, 
 or rush basket, whence Fr. cabasser, to 
 put or pack up in a frail, to keep or 
 hoard together. — Cot. Du. kabassen, 
 convasare, surripere, suffurari, manticu- 
 lari — Kil. ; precisely in the sense of the 
 E. cabbage. 
 
 Larron cabasseur de pecune. — Diet. Etym. 
 
 Cabin. — Cabinet, w. cab, caban, a 
 booth or hut. It. capanna, Fr. cabane, a 
 shed, hovel, hut. Tugurium, parva casa 
 est quam faciunt sibi custodes vinearum 
 ad tegimen sui. Hoc rustici capajinam 
 vocant. — Isidore in Diez. Item habeat 
 archimacherus capaiiain (parvam came- 
 ram) in coquina ubi species aromaticas, 
 &c., deponat : a store closet. — Neckam 
 in Nat. Antiq. Cappa in OSp. signifies 
 a mantle as well as a hut, and as we find 
 the same radical syllable in Bohem. kabat, 
 a tunic, kabane, a jacket ; Fr. gaban, It. 
 cabarino, E. gabardine, a cloak 'of felt or 
 shepherd's frock, it would seem funda- 
 mentally to signify shelter, covering. 
 Mod.Gr. KainraKi, a covering. 
 
 Cable. Ptg. calabre, cabrej Sp. cabre, 
 cable; Fr. cable, OFr. caable, chaable. 
 
 The double a in the OFr. forms indi- 
 cates the loss of the d extant in the Mid. 
 Lat. cadabulum, cadabola, originally an 
 engine of war for hurling large stones ; 
 and the Fr. chaable. Mid. Lat. cabulics, 
 had the same signification ; ' une grande 
 peri^re que I'on claime chaable: — Due. 
 
 Sed mox ingentia saxa 
 Emittit cabulus.—\h\A. 
 
 From the sense of a projectile engine 
 the designation was early transferred to 
 the strong rope by which the strain of 
 such an engine was exerted. 
 
 Concesserint— descarkagium sexaginta dolio- 
 rum suis instrumentis, scilicet caablis et windasio 
 tantum.— Due. Didot. 
 
 ^ Examples of the fuller form of cadable 
 in the sense of cable are not given in the 
 dictionaries, but it would seem to explain 
 
 CACKLE 
 
 23 
 
 the ON. form kadal, a rope or cable. It 
 is remarkable that the Esthon. has kabbel, 
 a rope, string, band, and the Arab, 'habl, 
 a rope, would correspond to cable, as 
 Turk, 'havyar to caviare. 
 
 The Sp. and Ptg. cabo, a rope, is pro- 
 bably unconnected, signifying properly a 
 rope's end, as the part by which the rope 
 is commonly handled. 
 
 The name of the engine, cadabula, or 
 cadable, as it must have stood in French, 
 seems a further corruption of calabre (and 
 not vice versa, as Diez supposes), the 
 Prov. name of the projectile engine, for 
 the origin of which see Carabine, Capstan. 
 We see an example of the opposite change 
 in Champagne calabre for cadavre, a car- 
 case. — Tarbe. 
 
 Cablish. Brushwood — B., properly 
 windfalls, w'ood broken and thrown down 
 by the wind, in which sense are explained 
 the OFr. enables, cables, cab lis. The 
 origin is the OFr. chaable, caable, an 
 engine for casting stones. Mid. Lat. cha- 
 dabiila, cadabulum, whence Lang, chabla, 
 to crush, overwhelm (Diet. Castr.), Fr. 
 accabler, to hurl down, overwhelm, OFr. 
 caable (in legal language), serious injury 
 from violence without blood. Mid. Lat. 
 cadabalum, prostratio ad terram. — Due. 
 In like manner It. traboccare, to hurl 
 down, from trabocco, an engine for casting 
 stones ; Mid. Lat. inanganare, It. maga- 
 gnare, OFr. m^haigner, E. jnaim, main^ 
 from inangatium. 
 
 Cack. Very generally used, especially 
 in children's language, for discharging 
 the bowels, or as an interjection of dis- 
 gust to hinder a child from touching any- 
 thing dirty. Lang, cacai ! fi ! c'est du 
 caca. Du. kack ! phi! respuendi par- 
 ticula. — Kil. Common to Lat. and Gr., 
 the Slavonian, Celtic, and Finnish lan- 
 guages. Gael, ceach ! exclamation of 
 disgust ; cac, dung, dirt ; caca, nasty, 
 dirty, vile. The origin is the exclamation 
 ach / ach ! made while straining at stool. 
 Finn, akista, to strain in such a manner ; 
 aah! like Fr. caca! vox puerilis detes- 
 tandi immundum; aakka, stercus, sordes ; 
 
 aakkata, cacare. Swiss aa, agga, agge^ 
 dirty, disgusting ; agge machen (in nurses' 
 language), cacare ; gaggi^ gaggele, aeggi, 
 stercus ; gatsch, filth. Gadge I is pro- 
 vincially used in E. as an expression of 
 disgust. Gr. KaKoq, bad. 
 
 To Cackle. — Gaggle. Imitative of 
 the cry of hens, geese, &:c. Sw. kakla^ 
 Fr. caqiieter, Lith. kakaloti, to chatter, 
 
124 
 
 CADAVEROUS 
 
 prattle ; Turk, kakulla, to cackle ; Du. 
 kaeckelen J Gr. KaKKO.X,ti.v. 
 
 Cadaverous. Lat. cadaver^ a corpse, 
 dead body. 
 
 Caddy. Tea-caddy, a tea-chest, from 
 the Chinese catty, the weight of the small 
 packets in which tea is made up. 
 
 • Cade. A pet lamb, one that is brought 
 up by hand ; a petted child, one unduly 
 indulged by, and troublesomely attached 
 to, its mother. — Mrs B. The designation 
 seems taken from the troublesome bold- 
 ness and want of respect for man of the 
 petted animal. ON. kdtr, joyous ; Sw, 
 dial, kat, frisky, unruly ; Dan. kaad, 
 wanton, frolicsome ; kaad mund, a flip- 
 pant tongue ; kaad dreng, a mischievous 
 boy. — Atkinson. 
 
 Cadence. It. cadenza, a falling, a ca- 
 dence, a low note. — Flo. Fr. cadence, a 
 just falling, a proportionable time or even 
 measure in any action or sound. — Cot. 
 A chacune cadence, ever and anon. It 
 seems to be used in the sense of a certain 
 mode of falling from one note to another, 
 hence musical rhythm. Lat. cadere, to 
 fall. 
 
 Cadet. Fr. cadet, Gascon capdet, the 
 younger son of a family ; said to be from 
 capitetum, little chief. Sp. cabdillo, lord, 
 master. — Due. 
 
 Cadger. See Kiddier. 
 
 Cage. Lat. cavea, a hollow place, 
 hence a den, coop, cage. Sp. gavia. It. 
 gabbia, gaggia, Fr. cage, Du. kauwe, 
 kevie,^ G. Mfich. 
 
 Caitiff. It. cattivo (from Lat. cap- 
 tiviis), captive, a wretch, bad ; Fr. chetif, 
 poor, wretched. 
 
 To Cajole. Fr. cageoler, caioler, to 
 prattle or jangle like a jay (in a cage), 
 to prate much to little purpose. Cajol- 
 lerie, jangling, babbling, chattering. — 
 Cot. The reference to the word cage 
 hinted at by Cot. is probably delusive. 
 It is more likely a word formed like 
 cackle, gaggle, gabble, directly represent- 
 ing the chattering cries of birds. As Du. 
 gabberen is identical wath E. jabber, so 
 gabble corresponds with Fr. javioler, to 
 gabble, prate, or prattle. — Cot. From 
 hence to cageoler is nearly the same step 
 as from It. gabbia, to cage. 
 
 Cake. Sw. kaka, a cake or loaf. Eti 
 kaka brod, a loaf of bread. Dan. kage, 
 Du. koeck, G. kuchen, N. kukje, cake. 
 
 Calamary. A cuttle-fish, from the 
 ink-bag which it contains. Lat. cala?nus, 
 Turk. Arab, kalejn, a reed, reed-pen, pen ; 
 Mod.Gr. KuXafidpt, an inkstand ; QaXaa- 
 
 CALIBRE 
 
 mvov Kn\anapi, a sea inkstand, cuttle-fish. 
 
 Calamity. Lat. calaniitas, loss, mis- 
 fortune. Perhaps from w. coll, loss, 
 whence Lat. incolumis, without loss, safe. 
 
 Calash. — Caloch. An open travelling 
 chariot. — B. A hooded carriage, whence 
 calash, a hood stiffened with whalebone 
 for protecting a head-dress. 
 
 Fr. caleche, It. calessa, Sp. calesa. 
 Originally from a Slavonic source. Serv. 
 kolo, a wheel, the pi. of which, kola, sig- 
 nifies a waggon. Pol. kolo, a circle, a 
 wheel ; kolasa, a common cart, an ugly 
 waggon ; kolaska, a calash ; Russ. kolo, 
 kolesd, a wheel ; kolesnitza, a waggon ; 
 kolyaska, kolyasochka, a calesh. In the 
 same way Fin. ratas, a wheel ; pi. rat- 
 taat (wheels), a car. 
 
 Calc-. Lat. calx, calcis, limestone, 
 lime ; whence calcareous, of the nature of 
 lime ; to calcine, to treat like lime, to 
 burn in a kiln. 
 
 Calculate. Lat. calculo, to compute, 
 from calculus, a small stone, a counter 
 used in casting accounts. 
 
 Caldron. — Cauldron. Lat. calidus, 
 hot ; caldarius, caldaria, Fr. chaudiere, 
 It. (in the augm. form) calderone, Fr. 
 chaudron, cauldron, a vessel for heating 
 water. 
 
 Calendar. Lat. calendarium, from 
 calendcB, the first day of the month in 
 Roman reckoning. 
 
 To Calender. — Fr. calendrer, to sleek 
 or smooth linen cloth, &c. — Cot. Calan- 
 dre, a roller, from Gr. KvXivlpaq, Lat. cy- 
 lindrus, a cylinder, roller. 
 
 Calenture. A disease of sailors from 
 desire of land, when they are said to 
 throw themselves into the sea, taking it 
 for green fields. Sp. calentura, a fever, 
 warmth ; calentar, to heat. Lat. calidus, 
 hot. 
 
 Calf. The young of oxen and similar 
 animals. G. kalb. 
 
 Calf of the Leg. on. kalji, Sw. ben- 
 kalf, Gael, calpa, calba, or colpa na coise^ 
 the calf of the leg. The primary mean- 
 ing of the word seems simply a lump. 
 Calp is riadh, principal and interest, the 
 lump and the increase. It is another 
 form of the E. collop, a lump or large 
 piece, especially of something soft. The 
 calf of the leg is the collop of flesh be- 
 longing to that member. The Lat. ana- 
 logue is pulpaj pulpa cruris, the fleshy 
 part of the leg ; pulpa ligni, Du. kalf van 
 hout, the pith or soft part of wood. Dan. 
 dial, kail, calf of leg, marrow, pith. 
 
 ♦ Calibre. — CalUper. Fr. calibre, It. 
 calibro, colibro, the bore of a cannon. 
 
CALICO 
 
 Calliper-compasses^ compasses contrived 
 to measure the diameter of the bore. Sp. 
 calibre, diameter of a ball, of a column, 
 of the bore of a firearm ; met. quality. 
 Ser de buen 6 mal calibre, to be of a good 
 or bad quality. 
 
 Derived by some from Arab, qdlab, 
 kdlib, a last, form, or mould, which does 
 not give a very satisfactory explanation 
 either of the form or meaning of the word. 
 Mahn derives it from Lat. qua librd, of 
 what weight ? a guess which should be 
 supported by some evidence of the use of 
 libra in the sense of weight. According 
 to Jal (Gl. nautique), the Fr. form in the 
 1 6th century was eqicalibre. 
 
 Calico. Fr. calicot, cotton cloth, from 
 Calicut in the E. Indies, whence it was 
 first brought. 
 
 Caliph. The successors of Mahomet 
 in the command of the empire, Turk. 
 khalifa a successor. 
 
 * Caliver. A harquebus or handgun. 
 The old etymologers supported their 
 theories by very bold assertions, in which 
 it is dangerous to place implicit faith. 
 Sir John Smith in Grose, Mil. Antiq. i. 
 156 (quoted by Marsh), thus accounts for 
 the origin of the word : ' It is supposed 
 by many that the weapon called a caliver 
 is another thing than a harquebuse, 
 whereas in troth it is not, but is only a 
 harquebuse, saving that it is of greater 
 circuite or bullet than the other is ; where- 
 fore the Frenchman doth call it ?i piece de 
 calibre, which is as much as to say, a 
 piece of bigger circuite.' But it is hard 
 to suppose that E. caliver, or caliever, can 
 be distinct from ODu. koluvre, klover, 
 colubrina bombarda, sclopus. — Kil. Ca- 
 tapulta, donderbuchs — donrebusse vel 
 clover. — Dief. Sup. Now these Du. 
 forms are undoubtedly from Lat. coluber, 
 Fr. couleuvre, an adder, whence couleuv- 
 rine, coulevrijie, and E. culverin, a kind 
 of cannon, and sometimes a handgun. 
 Slatige, serpens, coluber ; also, bombarda 
 longior, vulgo serpentina, colubrina, 
 colubrum. — Kil. Coluvrine, licht stuk 
 geschut, colubraria canna, fistula. — Bi- 
 glotton. The adder or poisonous serpent 
 was considered as a fire-spitting animal, 
 and therefore it lent its name to several 
 kinds of firearms. Among these were the 
 drake (Bailey), and dragon, the latter of 
 which has its memory preserved in Du. 
 dragonder, E. dragoon, a soldier who 
 originally carried that kind of arm. 
 
 To Calk. To drive tow or oakham, 
 &c., into the seams of vessels to make 
 them water-tight. Lat. calcare, to tread, 
 
 CALM 
 
 125 
 
 to press or stuff. Pro v. calca, calgua, Fr. 
 cauque, a tent or piece of lint placed in 
 the orifice of a wound, as the caulking in 
 the cracks of a ship. Gael, calc, to calk, 
 ram, drive, push violently ; calcaich, to 
 cram, calk, harden by pressure. 
 
 To Call. Gr. icaXsw. ON. kalla, to call, 
 to say, to affirm. Du. kal, prattle, chat- 
 ter ; kallen, to prattle, chatter. Lat. ca- 
 lare, to proclaim, to call. Probably from 
 the sound of one hallooing, hollaing. 
 Fin. kallottaa, alta voce ploro, ululo ; 
 Turk, kal, word of mouth ; kil-u-kal, 
 people's remarks, tittle-tattle. Heb. kol, 
 voice, sound. 
 
 * Callet. A depreciatory term for a 
 woman, a drab, trull, scold. ' A calat of 
 leude demeaning.' — Chaucer. 'A callet 
 of boundless tongue.' — Winter's Tale. Fr. 
 caillette, femme frivole et babillarde. — 
 Diet. Lang. Probably an unmeasured 
 use of the tongue is the leading idea. 
 NE. to callet, to rail or scold ; calleting, 
 pert, saucy, gossiping. ' They snap and 
 callit like a couple of cur dogs.' — Whitby 
 Gl. To call, to abuse ; a good calling, a 
 round of abuse. — Ibid. 
 
 Callous. Hard, brawny, having a thick 
 skin. — B. Lat. callus, callum, skin hard- 
 ened by labour, the hard surface of the 
 ground. Fin. kallo, the scalp or skull, 
 jaa-kallo, a crust of ice over the roads 
 
 (jaa= ice). 
 
 Callow. Unfledged, not covered with 
 feathers. Lat. calvus, AS. calo, cahiiu, 
 Du. kael, kaluwe, bald. 
 
 Calm. It. Sp. calma, Fr. cahne, ab- 
 sence of wind, quiet. The primitive 
 meaning of the word, however, seems to 
 be heat. Sp. dial, calma, the heat of 
 the day. — Diez. Ptg. calma, heat, cal- 
 moso, hot. The origin is Gr. Kavfia, heat, 
 from Kuioj, to burn. Mid. Lat. cauma, the 
 heat of the sun. ' Dum ex nimio cauma te 
 lassus ad quandam declinaret umbram.' 
 Cauma — incendium, calor, aestus. — Due. 
 The word was also written cawme in OE. 
 The change from a u to an / in such a 
 position is much less common than the 
 converse, but many examples may be 
 given. So It. oldire from audire, to hear, 
 palmento for paumento from pavimen- 
 turn, Sc. chalmer for chawjner from 
 chamber. 
 
 The reference to heat is preserved in. 
 the It. scalmato, faint, overheated, over- 
 done with heat — Alt. ; scalmaccio, a sul- 
 try, faint, moist, or languishing drought 
 and heat. — Fl. Thus the word came to 
 be used mainly with a reference to the 
 
126 
 
 CALOYER 
 
 oppressive effects of heat, and gave rise 
 to the Lang, cdouma, chaouma, to avoid 
 the heat, to take rest in the heat of the 
 day, whence the Fr. chofnmer, to abstain 
 from work. The Grisons cauma, a shady 
 spot for cattle, a spot in which they take 
 refuge from the heat of the day, would 
 lead us to suppose that in expressing ab- 
 sence of wind the notion of shelter may 
 have been transferred from the sun's rays 
 to the force of the wind. Or the word 
 may have acquired that signification from 
 the oppressiveness of the sun being 
 mainly felt in the absence of wind. 
 
 Caloyer. A Greek monk. Mod.Gr. 
 KaXoytpoQ, KaKoyrjpog, monk, properly good 
 old man, from KuXbg, good, and yspojv, 
 aged. 
 
 Calumny. Lat. caluimiia, a slander, 
 false imputation. 
 
 Calvered Salmon. Properly calver 
 sahnon, the fish dressed as soon as it is 
 caught, when its substance appears inter- 
 spersed with white flakes like curd. From 
 Sc. callour, callar, fresh. Calver of 
 samon, escume de saumon. — Palsgr. 
 ' Take calwar samon and seeth it in 
 lewe water.' — Forme of Cury in Way. 
 * Quhen the salmondis faillis thair loup, 
 thay fall callour in the said caldrounis 
 and are than maist delitious to the mouth.' 
 — Bellenden in Jam. 
 
 Calyx. Lat. calix, a cup, a goblet ; 
 calyx, the bud, cup, or hollow of a 
 flower. 
 
 Cambering.— Cambrel. A ship's deck 
 is said to lie cambering when it does not 
 lie level, but is higher in the middle than 
 at the ends. — B. Fr. cambrer, to bow, 
 crook, arch ; ca7nbre, cambrd, crooked, 
 arched. Sp. combar, to bend, to warp, 
 to jut. Bret, kaimn, arched, crooked, 
 lame. Gr. KafXTrrcj, to bend, kohtzvXoq, 
 crooked, hooked. E. camber-nosed, having 
 an aquiline nose. — Jam. Cambrel, cam- 
 brejt, w. cambren, crooked-stick, a crook- 
 ed stick with notches in it on which 
 butchers hang their meat. — B. 
 
 Cambric. A sort of fine linen cloth 
 brought from Cambrai in Flanders.— B. 
 Fr. Cambray, or toile de Ca77ibray — Cam- 
 bric. — Cot. 
 
 Camel. Gr. KufxTjXog, Lat. ca77ielus. 
 Cameo. It. ca7n7neo, Fr. ca7nde, ca- 
 mai'eu, Sp. Ptg. ca77iafeo, Mid. Lat. ca77ta- 
 hehis, ca77iahutus. 
 
 Camisade. Sp. camisa, It. ca77iiscia, 
 a shirt, whence Fr. camisade. It. ca77iis- 
 ciota,2L night attack upon the enemies' 
 camp, the shirt being worn over the 
 clothes to distinguish the attacking party. 
 
 CANN 
 
 or rather perhaps a surprise of the 
 enemy in their shirts. 
 
 Camlet. Fr. ca77ielot. A stuff made 
 of camel's or goat's hair. It was distin- 
 guished by a wavy or watered surface. 
 Ca7nelot a 07ides, water chamlet ; ca77telot 
 ple7iier, unwater chamelot ; se ca77teloter, 
 to grow rugged or full of wrinkles, to be- 
 come waved like chamlet. — Cot. 
 
 Camp. — Campaign. — Champaign. 
 Lat. ca77tp7is, It. ca77ipo, Fr. cha77ip, a 
 plain, field ; It. ca77tpo, Fr. ca7/ip, a camp 
 or temporary residence in the open field. 
 
 From ca77ipiis was formed Lat. ca7npa- 
 fiia, It. ca77ipag}ta, Fr. cha77tpagne, a field 
 country, open and level ground, E. cha77t- 
 paigTt. 
 
 In a different application It. ca77ipag7ia, 
 Fr. ca77ipag7ie, E. ca7npaig7i, the space of 
 time every year that an army continues 
 in the field during a war. — B. 
 
 Canal.— Channel. Lat. ca7ialis, a 
 conduit-pipe, the bed of a stream, the 
 fluting or furrow in a column ; catma, a 
 cane, the type of a hollow pipe. 
 
 Cancel. Lat. cancello, to make like a 
 lattice, cross out by scoring across and 
 across ; ca7icelli, a lattice. 
 
 Cancer. See Canker. 
 
 Candid.— Candidate. Lat. caTtdidus, 
 white, fair, plain-dealing, frank and sin- 
 cere : ca7ididatics, clothed in white, 
 whence the noun signifying an applicant, 
 aspirant, because those aspiring to any 
 principal office of State presented them- 
 selves in a white toga while soliciting the 
 votes of the citizens. 
 
 Candle.— Chandelier. Lat. ca7idela, 
 Fr. cha7idelle, from cafidere, to glow. 
 
 Candy. Sugar in a state of crystallis- 
 ation. Pers. Arab. Turk, katid, sugar. 
 Sanscr. khaTida, a piece, sugar in pieces or 
 lumps \ khand, to break. 
 
 Canibal. An eater of human flesh. 
 From the Cannibals, or Caribs, or Gali- 
 bis, the original inhabitants of the W. 
 India Islands, the name being differently 
 pronounced by different sections of the 
 nation, some of whom, like the Chinese, 
 had no r in their language. Peter Martyr, 
 who died in 1526, calls them Cannibals 
 or Caribees. 
 
 The Caribes I learned to be men-eaters or 
 cannibals, and great enemies to the inhabitants 
 of Trinidad. — Ilackluyt in R. 
 
 Canine. Lat. ca7iis, a dog. 
 
 Canister. Lat. ca7iistru77i, a basket. 
 
 Canker. Fr. cha7tcre, an eating, spread- 
 ing sore. Lat. ca7icer, a crab, also an 
 eating sore. 
 
 Cann. on. kan7ta, a large drinkii 
 
CANNEL 
 
 vessel. Perhaps from w. caitnu, to con- 
 tain, as rummer, a drinking glass, from 
 Dan. rumtne, to contain. But it may be 
 from a different source. Prov. cane, a 
 reed, cane, al&o a measure. Fr. cane, a 
 measure for cloth, being a yard or there- 
 abouts ; also a can or such-like measure 
 for wine.— Cot. A joint of a hollow stalk 
 would be one of the earliest vessels for 
 holding liquids, as a reed would afford 
 the readiest measure of length. 
 
 Cannel Coal. Coal burning with 
 much bright flame, like a torch or candle. 
 N. kyndel, kynnel, a torch. 
 
 Cannon. It. cannone, properly a large 
 pipe, from canna, a reed, a tube. Prov. 
 canon, a pipe. 
 
 Canoe. An Indian boat made of the 
 hollowed trunk of a tree. Sp, canoa, from 
 the native term. Yet it is remarkable 
 that the G. has kahn, a boat. OFr. cane, 
 a ship ; canot, a small boat. — Diez. 
 
 Canon. — To Canonise. From Gr. 
 KCLvt], KCLvva, a cane, was formed kovwv, a 
 straight rod, a ruler, and met. a rule or 
 standard of excellence. Hence Lat. canon 
 was used by the ecclesiastical writers for 
 a tried or authorised list or roll. The 
 canon of scriptures is the tried roll of 
 sacred writers. To canonise, to put upon 
 the tried list of saints. 
 
 Again we have Lat. canonicus, regular, 
 canonici, the canons or regular clergy of 
 a cathedral. 
 
 Canopy. Mod.Gr. KwvwTrtTov, a mos- 
 quito curtain, bed curtain, from kwvw-^, a 
 gnat. 
 
 Cant. Cant is properly the language 
 spoken by thieves and beggars among 
 themselves, when they do not wish to be 
 understood by bystanders. It therefore 
 cannot be derived from the sing-song or 
 whining tone in which they demand alms. 
 The word seems to be taken from Gael. 
 caimtt, speech, language, applied in the 
 first instance to the special language of 
 rogues and beggars, and subsequently to 
 the peculiar terms used by any other pro- 
 fession or community. 
 
 The Doctor here, 
 When he discourseth of dissection, 
 Of vena cava and of vena porta, 
 The meseroeum and the mesentericum, 
 "Vyhat does he else but ca?it ? or if he run 
 To his judicial astrology, 
 
 And trowl the trine, the quartile, and the sex- 
 tile, &c. 
 Does he not cant 9 who here can understand him? 
 B. Jonson. 
 
 Gael, can, to sing, say, name, call. 
 
 Canteen. It. ca?ttina, a wine-cellar or 
 vault. 
 
 CAPARISON 
 
 127 
 
 Canter. A slow gallop, formerly called 
 a Canterbury gallop. If the word had 
 been from cantherms, a gelding, it would 
 have been found in the continental lan- 
 guages, which is not the case. 
 
 Cantle. A piece of anything, as a 
 cantle of bread, cheese, &c. — B. Fr. 
 chantel, chanteaii, Picard. canteau, a 
 corner-piece or piece broken off the cor- 
 ner, and hence a gobbet, lump, or cantell 
 of bread, &c.~Cot. Du. kandt-broodts, 
 a hunch of bread. — Kil. on. kantr, a 
 side, border ; Dan. kant, edge, border, 
 region, quarter ; It. canto, side, part, 
 quarter, corner. A cantle then is a corner 
 of a thing, the part easiest broken off. 
 Fin. kanta, the heel, thence anything pro- 
 jecting or cornered ; kuun-ka7tta, a horn 
 of the moon ; leiwan kanta, margo panis 
 diffracta, a cantle of bread. Esthon. kan, 
 kand, the heel. 
 
 Canton. Fr. canton. It. cantone, a di- 
 vision of a country. Probably only the 
 augmentative of canto, a corner, although 
 it has been supposed to be the equivalent 
 of the E. territorial hundred, w. ca7it7-ef, 
 cantred, from cant, a hundred, and tref, 
 hamlet. 
 
 Canvas. From Lat. camiabis, hemp. 
 It. cannevo, canapa, hemp, cannevaccia, 
 ca?iapaccia, coarse hemp, coarse hempen 
 cloth ; Fr. canevas, canvas. To canvas 
 a matter is a metaphor taken from sifting 
 a substance through canvas, and the verb 
 sift itself is used in like manner for ex- 
 amining a matter thoroughly to the very 
 grounds. 
 
 * Cap. — Cape. — Cope. as. cceppe, a 
 cap, cape, cope, hood. Sp. capa, a cloak, 
 coat, cover ; It. cappa, Fr. chape. Words 
 beginning with// or ^/are frequently ac- 
 companied by synonymous forms in which 
 the / is omitted, and probably the origin 
 of the present words may be found in the 
 notion of a piece of something flat clapped 
 on another surface like the flap of a gar- 
 ment turned back upon itself. Flappe of 
 a gowne, cappe. — Palsgr. See Chape. 
 Swab, schlapp, hirnschlapple, a scull- 
 cap. Gugel, capello Italis, Germanis 
 happen, Alamannis, schlapp en. — Goldast 
 in Schmid. Schwab. Wtb. 
 
 The root cap, signifying cover, is found 
 in languages of very different stocks. 
 Mod.Gr. Ka-K-KctKi, a cover; Turk, kapa- 
 mak, to shut, close, cover ; kapi, a door ; 
 kaput, a cloak ; kapali, shut, covered. 
 
 Capable. — Capacious. It. capevole, 
 capace, Lat. capax, able to receive, con- 
 tain, or hold. See Capt-. 
 
 Caparison. Sp. capaj^azon, carcase 
 
12S 
 
 CAPE 
 
 of a fowl, cover of a saddle, of a coach, 
 or other things. 
 
 Cape. A headland. It. capo^ a head. 
 See Chief. 
 
 Caper. To caper or cut capers is to 
 make leaps like a kid or goat. It. capro, 
 a buck, from Lat. caper; caprio^ capriola, 
 a capriol, a chevret, a young kid ; met. a 
 capriol or caper in dancing, a leap that 
 cunning riders teach their horses. — Fl. 
 Fr. capriole, a caper in dancing, also the 
 capriole, sault, or goat's leap (done by a 
 horse). — Cot. 
 
 Capers. A shrub. Lat. capparis, Fr. 
 cdpre, Sp. alcaparra, Arab, algabr. 
 
 Capillary. Hair-like. Lat. capilhis, 
 a hair. 
 
 Capital. Lat. capitalis, belonging to 
 the head, principal, chief. From caput, 
 the head. Hence capital \s the sum lent, 
 the principal part of the debt, as distin- 
 guished from the interest accruing upon 
 it. Then funds or store of wealth viewed 
 as the means of earning profit. 
 
 To Capitulate. Lat. capittilare, to 
 treat upon terms ; from capitiilum, a little 
 head, a separate division of a matter. 
 
 Capon. A castrated cock. Sp. capar, 
 to castrate. Mod.Gr. aTroKOTrrw, to cut 
 off, abridge ; airoKOTroq, cut, castrated. 
 
 Caprice. It. cappriccio, explained by 
 Diez from capra, a goat, for which he 
 cites the Comask niicia, a kid, and mice, 
 caprice ; It. ticchio, caprice, and OHG. 
 ziki, kid. The true derivation lies in a 
 different direction. The connection be- 
 tween sound and the movement of the 
 sonorous medium is so apparent, that the 
 terms expressing modifications of the one 
 are frequently transferred to the other 
 subject. Thus we speak of sound vibrat- 
 ing in the ears ; of a tremulons sound, 
 for one in which there is a quick succes- 
 sion of varying impressions on the ear. 
 The words by which we represent a sound 
 of such a nature are then applied to signify 
 trembling or shivering action. To twitter 
 is used in the first instance of the chirping 
 of birds, and thert^f nervous tremulous- 
 ness of the bodily frame. To chitter is 
 both to chirp and to shiver. — Hal. It is 
 probable that Gr. ^piffaio originally signi- 
 fied to rus.tle, as Fr. frisser {frissenient 
 d'un trait, the whizzing of an arrow — 
 Cot.), then to be in a state of vibration, 
 to rfifflp the surface of water, or, as Fr. 
 Jrissoner, to shudder, the hair to stand on 
 v.- '^p'i^og, bristling, curling, because 
 le condition of the nerves which 
 js shivering also causes the hair 
 id"on endfe: The same imitation of 
 
 CAPRICE 
 
 a rustling, twittering, crackling sound 
 gives rise to Sc. brissle, birsle, to broil, to 
 parch, Lang, brezilia, to twitter as birds, 
 Genevese bresoler, brisoler, to broil, to 
 tingle {Vos qui bresole, the singing bone), 
 It. brisciare, to shiver for cold, and with 
 an initial gr instead of br, Fr. greziller, 
 to crackle, wriggle, frizzle, grisser, to 
 crackle. It. gricciare, to chill and chatter 
 with one's teeth, aggricciare, to astonish 
 and affright and make one's hair stand on 
 end. In Lat. ericius, a hedge-hog, It. 
 riccio, hedge-hog, prickly husk of chest- 
 nut, curl, Fr. rissoler, to fry, h^risser, It. 
 arricciar^i, the hair to stand on end, the 
 initial mute of forms like Gr. (ppt^og, It. 
 brisciare, gricciare, is either wholly lost, 
 or represented by the syllable e, hd, as in 
 Lat. erica, compared with Bret, brug, w. 
 grug, heath, or Lat. eruca compared with 
 It. bruco, a caterpillar. 
 
 We then find the symptoms of shiver- 
 ing, chattering of the teeth, roughening 
 of the skin, hair standing on end, em- 
 ployed to express a passionate longing for 
 a thing, as in Sophocles' i'^pi^ f'pwrt, I have 
 shivered with love. ' A tumult of delight 
 invaded his soul, and his body bristled 
 with joy' — Vikram, p. 75, where Burton 
 adds in a note, Unexpected pleasure, ac- 
 cording to the Hindoos, gives a bristly 
 elevation to the down of the body. 
 
 The effect of eager expectation in pro- 
 ducing such a bodily affection may fre- 
 quently be observed in a dog waiting for 
 a morsel of what his master is eating. 
 So we speak of thrilling with emotion or 
 desire, and this symptomatic shuddering 
 seems the primary meaning of earn or 
 yearn, to desire earnestly. To earne 
 within is translated by Sherwood by 
 frissonner ; to yearne, s'hdrisser, frisson- 
 ner ; a yearning through sudden fear, 
 herissonnement, horripilation. And simi- 
 larly to yearn, arricciarsi. — Torriano. 
 
 Many words signifying originally to 
 crackle or rustle, then to shiver or shud- 
 der, are in like manner used metaphori- 
 cally in the sense of eager desire, as Fr. 
 grisser, greziller, griller, brisolerj ' Elles 
 grissoient d'ardeur de le voir, they longed 
 extremely to see it.' — Cot. ' Griller d'im- 
 patience.' — Trev. * II bresole (Gl. Gd- 
 ndv.) — grezille (Supp. Acad.) d'etre 
 marid.' 
 
 The It. brisciare, to shiver, gives rise 
 to brezza, shivering, ribi'ezzo, a chillness, 
 shivering, horror, and also a skittish or 
 humorous toy, ribrezzoso, humorous, fan- 
 tastical, suddenly angry. — Fl. So from 
 Sw. k?'us, bristling, curly, krus-hu/wud 
 
CAPRIOLE 
 
 (bristly-head), one odd, fantastic, hard 
 to please. — Nordfoss. Du. knil^ a ca- 
 price, fancy. The exact counterpart 
 to this is It. arriccia-capo (Fl.), or the 
 synonymous capriccio (capo-riccio), a 
 shivering fit (Altieri), and tropically, a 
 sudden fear apprehended, a fantastical 
 humour, a humorous conceit making one's 
 hair to stand on end. — Fl. Fr, caprice, a 
 sudden will, desire, or purpose to do a 
 thing for which one has no apparent 
 .reason. — Cot. 
 
 Capriole. See Caper. 
 
 Capstan. — Capstem. — Crab. Sp. ca- 
 brestante, cabesirante j Yr. cabestan. The 
 name of the goat was given in many lan- 
 guages (probably for the reason explained 
 under Carabine) to an engine for throw- 
 ing stones, and was subsequently applied 
 to a machine for raising heavy weights or 
 exerting a heavy pull. OSp. cabra, ca- 
 breia, an engine for throwing stones. It. 
 capra, a skid or such engine to raise or 
 mount great ordnance withal ; also tres- 
 sels, also a kind of rack. — Fl. G. bock, a 
 trestle, a windlass, a crab or instrument 
 to wind up weights, a kind of torture. — 
 Kiittner. Fr. chevre, a machine for rais- 
 ing heavy weights. In the S. of France 
 the transposition of the r converts capra 
 into crabo, a she-goat, also a windlass for 
 raising heavy weights (explaining the 
 origin of E. crab s.s.), a sawing-block or 
 trestles." — Diet. Castr. 
 
 The meaning of the Sp. cabrestante 
 (whence E. capstem or capstan) now be- 
 comes apparent. It is a standing crab, a 
 windlass set upright for the purpose of 
 enabling a large number of men to work 
 at it, in opposition to the ordinary modi- 
 fication of the machine, where it is more 
 convenient to make the axis horizontal. 
 
 Capsule. Lat. capstUa, dim. oi capsa, 
 a coffer, box, case. 
 
 Capt-. -cept. -ceive. Lat. capio, 
 captus, to take, seize, hold, contain, 
 whence capture, captive, captivate, &c. 
 
 The a of capio changes to an i in com- 
 position, and of captus to an e, as in 
 accipio, acceptiis, to take to, to accept; 
 rectpio, receptus, to take back, to receive ; 
 receptio, a taking back, a reception. But 
 in passing into Spanish the radical sylla- 
 ble -cip- of these compound verbs, 7'e- 
 cipere, concipere, &c., was converted into 
 -ceb- or -cib-, and in French into -cev-j as 
 in Sp. recibir, concebir, Fr. recevoir, conce- 
 voir. Passing on into E., which has re- 
 ceived by far the greater part of its Latin 
 ! derivatives through the PVench, the -cev- 
 of the Fr. verbs gives rise to the element 
 
 CARABINE 
 
 129 
 
 -ceive in receive, conceive, perceive, de- 
 ceive. 
 
 The participial form of the root in com- 
 pound verbs, -cept, did not suffer the same 
 corruption in French, and has thus de- 
 scended unaltered to English, where it 
 forms a very large class of compounds, 
 accept, except, precept, intercept, deception, 
 co7iception, &c. In cases, however, where 
 the -cept was final or was only followed 
 by an e mute, the p was commonly not 
 pronounced in French, as in OFr. concept, 
 recepte, decepte, and has accordingly been 
 lost in E. conceit, deceit, while it still keeps 
 its ground in the writing oi receipt although 
 wholly unpronounced. 
 
 Captain. If. capitano, a head man, 
 commander, from Lat. caput, capitis, 
 head. 
 
 Capuchin. It. capuccio, cappnccio, a 
 hood (dim. oi cappa, a cloke) ; capuccino, 
 a hooded friar, a capuchin. 
 
 Car.— Cart.— Carry. Lat. carriis. It. 
 carro, Fr. char. In all probability from 
 the creaking of the wheels. ON. karra, 
 Du. karren, kerren, to creak, also to carry 
 on a car ; karrende waegen, a creaking 
 waggon. Fin. karista, strideo, crepo. Sp. 
 chirriar, to creak, chirrion, a tumbrel or 
 strong dung-cart which creaks very loudly. 
 — Neumann. Derivatives are Fr. char- 
 rier, to carry ; It. caricare, Fr. ekarger, to 
 load; It. carretta, Fr. charret, a caVt. 
 
 Carabine. — Carbine. The It. cala- 
 brino, Fr. calabrin, carabi?i, was a kind 
 of horse soldier, latterly, at least, a horse- 
 man armed with a carbine or arquebus. 
 Carabin, a carbine or curbeene; an arque- 
 buzier armed with a murrian and breast- 
 plate and serving on horseback. — Cot. 
 
 Les carahins sont des arquebusiers a cheval 
 qui vont devant les compagnies des gens de guerre 
 comma pour reconnaitre les ennemis at lesescar- 
 mouchar. — Caseneuve in Diet. Etym. 
 
 As the soldiers would naturally be 
 named from their peculiar armament, it 
 is inferred by Diez with great probability 
 that the term calabre, originally signifying 
 a catapult or machine for casting stones, 
 was transferred on the invention of gun- 
 powder to a firelock, and that the cala- 
 brins or carabins were named from 
 carrying a weapon of that designation, as 
 the dragoons (Du. dragonder) from carry- 
 ing the gun called a dragon. It was 
 natural that the names of the old siege 
 machines for casting stones should be 
 transferred to the more efficient kinds of 
 ordnance brought into use on the dis- 
 covery of gunpowder. Thus the mnsket. 
 It. moschetta, was originally a missile 
 8 
 
I30 
 
 CARACOL 
 
 discharged from some kind of spring ma- 
 chine. Ptg. espinc^arda, a firelock, is the 
 ancient springald^ a machine for casting 
 large darts, and catapulta, properly a 
 siege machine, is the word used in mo- 
 dern Lat. for a gun. 
 
 The term calabre as the name of a pro- 
 jectile engine is probably a corruption of 
 cabre from cabra, a goat, in the same way 
 that the Sp. calambre has been formed 
 from the same source with the synon- 
 ymous E. cramp. Ptg. cabre and calabre 
 are both used in the sense of a cable, an 
 instrument for exerting a heavy strain. 
 
 The reason why the name of the goat 
 is used to designate a machine for cast- 
 ing stones is probably that the term was 
 first applied to a battering-ram (G. bock., a 
 he-goat, a battering-ram), a machine 
 named by the most obvious analogy after 
 the goat and ram, whose mode of attack 
 is to rush violently with their heads 
 against their opponent. From the bat- 
 tering-ram, the earliest instrument of 
 mural attack, the name might naturally 
 be transferred to the more complicated 
 military engines made for hurling stones, 
 from whence it seems to have descended 
 to the harmless crabs and cranes of our 
 mercantile times, designated in the case 
 of G. bock and Fr. chevre by the name of 
 the goat. . Sp. cabra., cabreia, cabrita, an 
 engine for hurling stones, a crane. — Neu- 
 mann. 
 
 Caracol, The half turn which a horse- 
 man makes to the right or left ; also a 
 winding staircase. Sp. caracol, a snail, 
 a winding staircase, turn of a horse. 
 Gael, car., a twist, bend, winding ; carach, 
 winding, turning. AS. cerran, to turn. 
 
 Carat. Gr. Kipdrwv, Venet. carafe, 
 seed of carob. Arab, kirat, Sp. qitilato, 
 a small weight. Fr. siligiie, the husk or 
 cod of beans, &c., and particularly the 
 carob or carob bean-cod ; also a poise 
 among physicians, &c,, coming to four 
 grains. Carrob, the carob bean, also a 
 small weight, among mint-men and gold- 
 smiths making the 24th of an ounce. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Caravan. Pers. kerwan. 
 
 Caravel. It. caravela, a kind of ship. 
 Mod.Gr. Kapdl3i, Gael, carb/t, a ship. Fr. 
 carabe, a corracle or skiff of osier covered 
 with skin.— Cot. See Carpenter. 
 
 Carbonaceous. — Carbuncle. Lat. 
 carbo, a burning coal, charcoal ; carbun- 
 culus (dim. of carbo), a gem resembling a 
 live coal, also (as Gr. avQpa^, of the same 
 primary meaning) a malignant ulcer, the 
 suppuration of which seems to be re- 
 
 CARD 
 
 garded as internal burning. Comp. 
 OHG. eil, fire ; eitarj matter, poison ; 
 eiz, an ulcer. 
 
 Carboy. A large glass bottle cased in 
 wicker for holding vitriol. Derived in 
 the first edition from Mod.Gr. Kapapuroyia 
 (caraboyia), vitriol, copperas. But Mr 
 Marsh points out that the Gr. word is 
 only an adoption of the Turk, kard boyd, 
 black dye, and is applied exclusively to 
 copperas or green vitriol, a solid body 
 which could never have been packed in 
 bottles, and so could not have given its 
 name to the carboy. There is no doubt 
 that the name comes from the East. 
 Thus Kaempfer (Ama^n. Exot. p. 379) de- 
 scribes vessels for containing wine made 
 at Shiraz, ' Vasa vitrea, alia sunt majora, 
 ampullacea et circumdato scirpo tunicata, 
 quae vocant karabd.' From the same 
 source are Sicil. carabba, a bottle with 
 big belly and narrow neck ; It. caraffa, 
 Sp. garafa, Fr. caj'affe, decanter, wine- 
 bottle. 
 
 Carcase. Mod.Gr. KapKam, a quiver, 
 carcase ; — tov avBpo)7rivov aojfxaro^, the 
 skeleton i—rrjg xAwrae, the shell of a tor- 
 toise. It. carcasso, a quiver, the core of 
 fruit ; carcame, a dead carcase, skeleton, 
 carcanet. Fr. carquasse, the dead body 
 of any creature, a pelt or dead bird to 
 take down a hawk withal ; carquois, a 
 quiver ; carqican, a collar or chain for the 
 neck. — Cot. Sp, carcax, a quiver ; car- 
 casa, a skeleton. Cat. carcanada, the 
 carcase of a fowl. The radical meaning 
 seems to be something holding together, 
 confining, constraining ; shell, case, or 
 framework. \v. carch, restraint ; Gael. 
 carcair, a coffer, a prison. Bohem. krciti, 
 to draw in, contract. 
 
 The word is explained oy Diez from 
 carnis capsa, the case of the flesh. It, 
 cassa, a case or chest ; casso, the trunk or 
 chest of the body ; Parmesan cassiroii, 
 skeleton. 
 
 Card. I. An implement for dressing 
 wool. Lat. carcre, cari?itfiare, to comb 
 wool ; ca7'duiis, a thistle. It. cardo, a this- 
 tle, teasel for dressing woollen cloth. 
 Lith. karszti, to ripple flax, to strip off the 
 heads by drawing the flax through a 
 comb, to card wool, to curry horses ; 
 kai'szttiwas, a ripple for flax, wool card, 
 curry-comb. Gael, card, to card wool, 
 &c., cdrlag, a lock of wool ; carta, a wool 
 card. The fundamental idea is the no- 
 tion of scraping or scratching, and the 
 expression arises from an imitation of the 
 noise. ON. karra, to creak, to hiss (as 
 geese), to comb ; kajTt, a card or comb ; 
 
CARD 
 
 karr-kambar, wool cards. G. scharren, 
 to scrape ; kratsen, to scratch. 
 
 Card, 2.— Cartel.— Chart.— Charter. 
 Lat. charta (Gr. x^P^ni), paper, paper 
 written on or the writing itself, whence 
 the several meanings of the words above ; 
 Fr. carte, a card, charle, chartre, a deed, 
 record. 
 
 Cardinal. From. Lat. cardo, cardinis, 
 a hinge, that on which the matter hinges, 
 principal, fundamental. Gael, car, a turn, 
 winding. 
 
 Care. AS. cearian, cai'ian, to take 
 heed, care, be anxious. Goth, kara, 
 care ; luikccrja, careless ; gakaran, to 
 take care of. 
 
 Probably the origin of the word is the 
 act of moaning, murmuring, or grumbling 
 at what is felt as grievous. Fin. karista, 
 rauca voce loquor vel ravum sonum edo, 
 strideo, morosus sum, murren, zanken ; 
 karry, asper, morosus, rixosus. A like 
 connection may be seen between Fin. siir- 
 rata, stridere, to whirr (schnurren), and 
 siirii, sorrow, care ; ON. kumra, to growl, 
 mutter, and G. kwnmer, grief, sorrow, 
 distress ; Fin. miirista, miirahtaa, to 
 growl, and vmrhet, aegritudo animi, moe- 
 ror, cura intenta. The Lat. cjira may be 
 compared with Fin. kurista, voce strepo 
 stridente, inde murmuro vel asgre fero, 
 quirito ut infans. 
 
 To Careen. To refit a ship by bring- 
 ing her down on one side and supporting 
 her while she is repaired on the other. 
 Properly, to clean the bottom of the ship. 
 It. careiia, the keel, bottom, or whole 
 bulk of a ship ; dare la carena alle navi, 
 to tallow or calk the bottom of a ship. 
 Careiiare, Fr. carener, from Lat. carina, 
 the keel of a vessel. Venet. caretia, the 
 hull of a ship, from the keel to the water 
 line ; esso'e in carena, to lie on its side. 
 — Boerio. 
 
 Career. It. carriera, Fr. carriere, a 
 highway, road, or street, also a career on 
 horseback, place for exercise on horse- 
 back. — Cot. Properly a car-road, from 
 carrus. — Diez. 
 
 Caress. Fr. caresse, It. carezsa, an 
 endearment, w. cam, Bret, karout, to 
 love. Bret, karantez, love, affection, ca- 
 ress. Mid.Lat. caritia, from earns, dear. 
 
 Et quum Punzilupus intrasset domum ubi es- 
 sent hceretici, videntibus omnibus fecit magnas 
 caritias et ostendit magnam amicitiam et famili- 
 aritatem dictis heereticis. — Alur. in Carp. 
 
 Carfax. A place where four roads 
 meet. Mid.Lat. qiiadnfnrcnin{xovc\.qna- 
 tuorfurcce (Burguy), as qnadrivitim from 
 
 CARNAVAL 
 
 13J 
 
 quatuor vias. OFr. carrsfoiirg, quarre- 
 four, the part of a town where four streets 
 meet at a head. — Cot. 
 
 A I'entree de Luxembourg 
 Lieu n'y avoit ni carrefourg 
 Dont Ten n'eust veu venir les gens. 
 
 Rom. de Parthenay. 
 
 Translated in MS. Trin. Coll., 
 
 No place there had, neither carfoukes none 
 But peple shold se ther come many one. 
 
 W. W. Skeat, in N. & Q., Sept. 8, 1866. 
 ' Thei enbusshed hem agein a carfowgh of six 
 
 weyes.' — Merlin, p. 273. 
 
 Cargo. Sp. cargo, the load of a ship. 
 
 It. caricare, carcare, Sp. cargar, Ptg. car- 
 
 regar, Fr. charger, to load. From carrus, 
 
 whence carricare, to load, in St Jerome. 
 
 , —Due. 
 
 Caricature. It. caricatura, an over- 
 loaded representation of anything, from 
 caricare, to load. 
 
 Cark. AS. cearig, soUicitus ; OSax. 
 mod-carag, ma^stus. OHG. charag, charg, 
 carch, astutus. G. karg, Dan. karrig, 
 stingy, niggardly ; ON. kargr, tenax, piger, 
 ignarus. w. carcus, sohcitous. 
 
 Carl. A clown or churl. AS. ceorl, 
 ON. ka7-I, a man, male person. 
 
 Carlings. — Carled peas. Peas steep- 
 ed and fried, G. kroll-erbser. Fr. graller, 
 to parch, grolU, parched or carled, as 
 peas, beans, &c.— Cot. Groler, to fry or 
 broil. — Roquef. Champ, guerlir, to fry, 
 from the crackling sound ; Fr. croller, 
 to murmur — Roquef. ; crosier, to shake, 
 tremble, quaver ; Bois crolant d'un ladre, 
 a lazar's clack, E. crawl, croivl, to rumble. 
 Carminative. A medical term from 
 the old theory of humours. The object 
 of carminatives is to expel wind, but the 
 theory is that they dilute and relax the 
 gross humours from whence the wind 
 arises, combing them out like the knots 
 in wool. It. carminare, to card wool, 
 also by medicines to make gross humours 
 fine and thin. — Fl. 
 
 For the root of carminare, see Garble, 
 and compare Bret, kribina, to comb flax 
 or hemp, as carminare, to comb wool. 
 
 Carnage. — Carnal. — Charnel. Lat. 
 caro, carnis, the flesh of animals ; carna- 
 lis, appertaining to the flesh. Fr. charnel, 
 carnal, sensual, charneux, fleshy ; charn- 
 age, the time during which it is lawful 
 to Rom. Cath. to eat flesh. 
 
 CarnavaL The period of festivities 
 indulged in in Catholic countries, imme- 
 diately before the long fast of Lent. It. 
 carnavale, carnovale, carnasciale. Fare- 
 well flesh, that is to say, Shrove tide.— 
 Fl. This however is one of those ac- 
 
132 CAROL 
 
 commodations so frequently modifying the 
 form of words. The true derivation is 
 seen in Mid.Lat. carnelcvamen or carnis 
 levamen^ i. e. the solace of the flesh or of 
 the bodily appetite, permitted in anticipa- 
 tion of the long fast. In a MS. descrip- 
 tion of the Carnival of the beginning of 
 the 13th century, quoted by Carpentier, 
 it is spoken of as ' delectatio nostri cor- 
 poris.' The name then appears under 
 the corrupted forms of Canielevarunn, 
 Carnelevale^ Carnevale. * In Dominica 
 in caput Quadragesimas quae dicitur 
 Camelevale' — Ordo Eccles. Mediol. A.D. 
 1 1 30, in Carp. Other names of the sea- 
 son were Carnicapium^ Shrove Tuesday, 
 and Carnejn laxare (It. carnelascia), 
 whence the form carnasciale, differing 
 about as much from its parent cartielascia 
 as carnaval from carnelevame7t. 
 
 Carol. Properly a round dance, Fr. 
 Carole^ querole. Bret, koroll^ a dance, w. 
 coroli, to reel, to dance. 
 
 Tho mio;htist thou karollis sene 
 
 And folke daunce and merie ben, 
 
 And made many a faire tourning 
 
 Upon the grene grasse springing. — R. R. 760. 
 
 Chanson de carole, a song accompany- 
 ing a dance ; then, as Fr. balade from It. 
 dallare, to dance, applied to the song it- 
 self. Diez suggests choi'ulus from chorus 
 as the origin. But we have no occasion 
 to invent a diminutive, as the Lat. corolla 
 from corona gives the exact sense re- 
 quired. Robert of Brunne calls the cir- 
 cuit of Druidical stones a carol. 
 
 This Bretons renged about the felde 
 
 The karole of the stones behelde, 
 
 Many tyme yede tham about, 
 
 Biheld within, biheld without. — Prof, cxciv. 
 
 Carouse. The derivation from kroes, 
 a drinking cup, is erroneous, and there is 
 no doubt that the old explanation from 
 G. gar aus / all out ! is correct. ' The 
 custom,' says Motley (United Neth. 2. 
 94), ' was then prevalent at banquets for 
 the revellers to pledge each other in rota- 
 tion, each draining a great cup and ex- 
 acting the same feat from his neighbour, 
 who then emptied his goblet as a chal- 
 lenge to his next comrade.' When the 
 goblet was emptied it probably would be 
 turned upside down with the exclamation 
 gar aus/ This was what was called, 
 drinking carouse. 
 
 The tippling sots, at midnight which 
 To quaff carouse do use, 
 
 Will hate thee if at any time 
 
 To pledge them thou refuse. — Drant in R. 
 
 Sp. carduz, cardos, act of drinking a full 
 bumper to one's health. — Neum. * Ein 
 
 CARPET 
 
 narr schiittet sein herz gar aus :^ a fool 
 empties his heart completely out. ' Some 
 of our captaines^^r^z/jcrt'of his wine till 
 they were reasonably pliant— And are 
 themselves at their meetings and feasts 
 the greatest garousers and drunkards in 
 existence.'— Raleigh, Discov. of Guiana, 
 cited by Marsh. 
 
 The derivation is made completely 
 certain by the use of all out in the same 
 sense. I quaught, I drink all oul,]e bois 
 d'autant.— Palsgr. ylll?(z (G. all aus), all 
 out, or a carouse fully drunk up. — Cot. 
 Rabelais uses doire carro?(s et alluz. 
 Why give's some wine then, this will fit us all : 
 Here's to you still my captains friend. All out ! 
 B. and F. Beggars Bush. 
 
 To Carp, i. Carpyn or talkyn, fabulor, 
 confabulor, garrulo. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 So gone they forthe, carpende fast 
 On this, on that. — Gower in Way. 
 
 Boh em. krapati, garrire, to chatter ; 
 krapajij, tattle, chatter. ON. skraf, dis- 
 course, chatter ; skrafa, to rustle, to talk. 
 Analogous to E. chirp. 
 
 2. Lat. carpo, to gather, pluck, pluck 
 at, to find fault with. 
 
 Carpenter. Lat. carpentum, a car ; 
 carpentarius., a wheelwright, maker of 
 waggons ; It. ca?pentiere, a wheelwright, 
 worker in timber ; Fr. charpentier, as e: 
 carpenter only in the latter sense. Mid. 
 Lat. carpenta, zimmer, tymmer, zimmer- 
 span. — Dief. Sup. The word seems of 
 Celtic origin. Gael, carbh, a plank, ship, 
 chariot ; carbad, Olr. carpal (Stokes), 
 a chariot, litter, bier. 
 
 Carpet. From Lat. carpere, to pluck, 
 to pull asunder, was formed Mid.Lat. 
 caipia, carpita, linteum carptum quod 
 vulneribus inditur. Fr. charpie, lint. 
 Mid.Lat. carpetfix, a carder. — Nomin. in 
 Nat. Ant. 216. The term was with equal 
 propriety applied to flocks of wool, used 
 for stuffing mattresses, or loose as a couch 
 without further preparation. ' Carpitam 
 habeat in lecto, qui sacco, culcitra, vel 
 coopertorio carebit.' — Reg. Templariorum 
 in Due. 
 
 It seems then to have signified any 
 quilted fabric, a patchwork table-cover 
 with a lining of coarse cloth — La Crusca, 
 or the cloak of the Carmelites made of 
 like materials ; a woman's petticoat, pro- 
 perly doubtless a quilted petticoat. Ca7'- 
 peta, gonna, gonnella. — Patriarchi. ' Qui- 
 libet frater habeat saccum in quo dormit, 
 carpetam (a quilt ?), linteamen.' — Stat. 
 Eq. Teut. in Due. On the other hand 
 we find the signification transferred from 
 
CARRIAGE 
 
 the flocks with which the bed was stuffed 
 to the sacking which contained them. ■ 
 Rouchi carpete, coarse loose fabric of 
 wool and hemp, packing cloth. ' Eune 
 tapisserie ^carpete^ des rideaux 6!carpete.' 
 — Hecart. 
 
 Carriage. The carrying of anything, 
 also a conveyance with springs for con- 
 veying passengers. In the latter sense 
 the word is a corruption of the OE. ca- 
 roche, caroach, from It. carroccio^ carroc- 
 a'a, carrozza ; Rouchi caroche, Fr. car- 
 rosse, augmentatives of carro, a car. 
 
 It. carreaggio^ carriaggio, all manner 
 of carts or carriage by carts, also the car- 
 riage, luggage, bag and baggage of a 
 camp. — Fl. 
 
 Carrion. It. carogna, Fr. charogne, 
 Rouchi caroue, an augmentative from Lat. 
 caro. 
 
 Carrot. Lat. caj'ota. 
 
 To Carry. Fr. charrier, Rouchi carter, 
 properly to convey in a car. Walach. 
 card, to convey in a cart, to bear or carry. 
 
 Cart. AS. krat. It. carretto, carretta. 
 Fr. charrette, dim. of carro, a car. 
 
 Cartel. It. cai'tella, pasteboard, a 
 piece of pasteboard with some inscription 
 on it, hung up in some place and to be 
 removed, — Flor. Hence a challenge 
 openly hung up, afterwards any written 
 challenge. See Card. 
 
 Cartilage. Lat. cartilago, gristle, 
 tendon. Probably, like all the names of 
 gristle, from the sound it makes when 
 bitten. Alban. kertselig I cranch with 
 the teeth. See Gristle. 
 
 Cartoon. Preparatory drawing of a 
 subject for a picture. It. cartone, augm. 
 of carta, paper. 
 
 Cartouch. — Cartoose. — Cartridge. 
 Fr. cartouche. It. cartoccio, a paper case, 
 coffin of paper for groceries, paper cap for 
 criminals ignominiously exposed. — Fl. 
 The paper case containing the charge of 
 a gun. 
 
 To Carve. AS. ceorfan, Du. kerven, 
 to cut or carve ; G. kerben, to notch. 
 Lith. kerpii, kirpti, to shear, cut with 
 scissors. 
 
 Cascade. It. cascata, Fr. cascade, a 
 fall of water, from It. cascare, to fall. The 
 radical sense of the word seems to be to 
 come down with a squash. Sp. cascar, 
 to crack, crush, break to pieces. OE. 
 qicash, to dash. 
 
 Case. — Casual, — Casuist. Lat. casus, 
 a fall, an act of falling, a chance or acci- 
 dent, something that actuahy occurs, a 
 form into which a noun falls in the pro- 
 cess of declension ; casualis, fortuitous, 
 
 CASSOCK 
 
 133 
 
 Fr. casuel; Fr. casuiste, one who reasons 
 on cases put. 
 
 Case. It. cassa, Sp. caxa, Fr. caisse^ 
 a chest, coffer, case, from Lat. capsa 
 (Diez), and that apparently from capio, 
 to hold. 
 
 Case-mate. Fr. case-mate j Sp. casa- 
 inata; It. casa-matta. Originally a loop- 
 holed gallery excavated in a bastion, 
 from whence the garrison could do exe- 
 cution upon an enemy who had obtained 
 possession of the ditch, without risk of 
 loss to themselves. Hence the designa- 
 tion from Sp. casa, house, and matar, to 
 slay, corresponding to the G. mord-keller, 
 mord-grube, and the OE. slaughter-house. 
 ' Casa-matta, a canonry or slaughter- 
 house, which is a place built low under 
 the walls of a bulwark, not reaching to the 
 height of the ditch, and serveth to annoy 
 the enemy when he entereth the ditch to • 
 scale the wall.' — Fl. ' Casemate, a loop- 
 hole in a fortified wall.' — Cot. ' A vault 
 of mason's work in the flank of a bastion 
 next the curtain, to fire on the enemy.' 
 — Bailey. As defence from shells became 
 more important, the term was subse- 
 quently applied to a bomb-proof vault in 
 a fortress, for the security of the defend- 
 ers, without reference to the annoyance 
 of the enemy. 
 
 Cash. Ready money. A word intro- 
 duced from the language of book-keeping, 
 where Fr. caisse, the money chest, is the 
 head under which money actually paid in 
 is entered. It was formerly used in the 
 sense of a counter in a shop or place of 
 business. It. cassa, Fr. caisse, a mer- 
 chant's cash or counter. — Fl. Cot. 
 
 To Cashier. — To Q,uash. Du. kasse- 
 ren. — Kil. Fr. casser, quasser, to break, 
 also to casse, cassere, discharge, turn 
 out of service, annul, cancel, abrogate. 
 — Cot. To quash an indictment, to an- 
 nul the proceeding. Lat. cassus, empty, 
 hollow, void ; cassare,\.o annul, discharge ; 
 It. casso, made void, cancelled, cashiered, 
 blotted out. — Fl. 
 
 Cask. — Casket.— Casque. The Sp. 
 casco signifies a skull, crown of a hat, 
 helmet, cask or wooden vessel for holding 
 liquids, hull of a ship, shell or carcase of 
 a house. It seems generally to signify 
 case or hollow receptacle. See Case. 
 Hence casket, Fr. cassette, a coffer or 
 small case for jewels. 
 
 Cassock. Gael, casag, a long coat. 
 It. casacca, Fr. casaque, long man's gown 
 with a close body, from casa, a hut, the 
 notion of covering or sheltering being 
 common to a house and a garment, as we 
 
134 
 
 CAST 
 
 have before seen under Cape and Cabin. 
 So also from It. casipola^ casjipola^ a little 
 house or hut, Fr. chasuble^ a garment for 
 performing the mass in, Sp. casulla, OFr. 
 casule^ Mid.Lat. f^i-w/^;, quasi minor casa 
 eo quod totum hominem tegat. — Isidore 
 in Diez. 
 
 To Cast. ON. kasta. Essentially the 
 same word with Sp. cascar, to crack, 
 break, burst ; Fr. casser, to break, crush ; 
 It. cascare, to fall. The fundamental 
 image is the sound of a violent collision, 
 represented by the syllable quash, squash, 
 cash, cast. It. accasciare, accastiare, to 
 squash, dash, or bruise together. — Fl. 
 The E. dash with a like imitative origin 
 is used with a like variety of signification. 
 We speak of dashing a thing down, dash- 
 ing it to pieces, dashing it out of the 
 window. To cast accounts was properly 
 to reckon by counters which were bodily 
 transferred from one place to another. 
 See Awgrim. 
 
 Castanets. Snappers which dancers 
 of sarabands tie about their fingers. — B. 
 Sp. cas tafia, a chesnut ; castanetazo, a 
 sound or crack of a chesnut which bursts 
 in the fire, crack given by the joints. 
 Hence castaheta, the snapping of the 
 fingers in a Spanish dance ; castaneta, 
 castanuela, the castanets or implement 
 for making a louder snapping ; castahet- 
 ear, to crackle, to clack. 
 
 Caste. The artificial divisions of so- 
 ciety in India, first made known to us by 
 the Portuguese, and described by them 
 by the term casta, signifying breed, race, 
 kind, which has been retained in E. under 
 the supposition that it was the native 
 name. 
 
 Castle. It. castello, Lat. castellum, 
 dim. oi castrum (castra), a fortified place. 
 
 Castrate. Lat. castro, perhaps from 
 castus, to make clean or chaste. 
 
 Cat. G. katze, Gael, cat, ON. kbttr. 
 Fin. kasi, kissa, probably from an imita- 
 tion of the sound made by a cat spitting. 
 Cass / a word to drive away a cat. — Hal. 
 Lang, cassa / cry for the same purpose. 
 The Fin. kutis / is used to drive them 
 away, while kiss / Pol. kic I kici! are used 
 as E. puss / for calling them. 
 
 Cat o' nine tails. Pol. kat, execu- 
 tioner ; kalowac, to lash, rack, torture. 
 Lith. kotas, the stalk of plants, shaft of a 
 lance, handle of an axe, &c. ; bot-kotis, 
 the handle of a scourge ; kotas, the exe- 
 cutioner ; kotawoti, to scourge, to torture. 
 
 Russ. koshka, a cat ; koshki, a whip 
 with several pitched cords, cat-o'-nine- 
 tails. 
 
 CATCH 
 
 Catacomb. Grottoes orsul^terrancous 
 places for the burial of the dead. The 
 Diet. Etym. says that the name is given 
 in Italy to the tombs of the martyrs 
 which people go to visit by way of devo- 
 tion. This would tend to support Diez's 
 explanation from Sp. catar, to look at, 
 and tomba, a tomb (as the word is also 
 spelt catatomba and catatumba), or coDiba, 
 a vault, which, however, is not satisfac- 
 tory, as a shew is not the primary point 
 of view in which the tombs of the martyrs 
 were likely to have been considered in 
 early times. Moreover the name was 
 apparently confined to certain old quar- 
 ries used as burial-places near Rome. 
 Others explain it from Kara, down, and 
 Kvn^oQ, a cavity. 
 
 Catalogue. Gr. KaTcCKoyoq, an enumer- 
 ating, a hst. 
 
 Cataract. Gr. KaTapaKrrjg, KarappcLKTriQ, 
 from Karappaaab), to hurl down, to fall as 
 water does over a precipice. 'Vdaffw, 
 apdacru), to dash. 
 
 Catastrophe. Gr. errps^w, to turn ; 
 KOTciarpitpio, to overturn, to bring to an 
 end, to close. 
 
 To Catch.— Chase. The words catch 
 and chase are different versions of the 
 same word, coming to us through differ- 
 ent dialects of French. In the dialect of 
 Picardy, from which much of the French 
 in our language was introduced, a hard c 
 commonly corresponds to the soft ch of 
 ordinary Fr., and a final ch in Picard to 
 the hard j of ordinary Fr. Thus we have 
 Pic. or Rouchi cat, Fr. chat, a cat ; Rou- 
 chi caleur, Fr. chaleur, heat ; Rouchi 
 forche, Yx. force ; Rouchi equerviche, Fr. 
 ec7'evisse ; Rouchi e caches, Fr. ichasses, 
 stilts. In like manner Rouchi cacher, 
 Fr. chasser, to hunt, from the first of 
 which we have E. catch, and from the 
 second chase, the earlier sense of catch, 
 like that of It. cacciare, Fr. chasser, being 
 to drive out, drive away. 
 Maid thorgh theLundreisfro London is kaUhed. 
 R. Brunne, 120. 
 
 ' Catchyn away — abigo.' ' Catchyn or 
 drive forth bestis, mine' — Pr. Pm. Fr. 
 chasser, to drive away, follow after, pur- 
 sue. — Cot. It. cacciare fuora, to drive 
 out ; cacciare per terra, to cast or beat to 
 the ground ; cacciuolo, a thump, punch, 
 push. — Fl. 
 
 The origin is the imitation of the sound 
 of a smart blow by the syllable clatch / 
 passing on the one hand into catch and 
 on the other into latch, by the loss of 
 the I OYC respectively. N. klakka, kakka, 
 to strike a resounding object as a board 
 
CATCH 
 
 — Aasen. Fr. clagiier, Wal. caker, to 
 clap hands, to chatter with the teeth ; 
 cake, clap with the hand. — Grandg. G. 
 klatsch I thwick-thwack ! a word ,to imi- 
 tate the sound made by striking with the 
 hand against a partition wall ; klatsch, 
 such a sound or the stroke which pro- 
 duces it, a clap, flap ; klatsche, a whip or 
 lash. — Klittner. Du. kletsen, resono ictu 
 verberare ; klets, kletse, ictus resonans, 
 fragor ; kletsoore, ketsoore, a whip ; Rou- 
 chi cachoire, ecachoire, a whip, properly 
 the lash or knotted piece of whipcord 
 added for the purpose of giving sharpness 
 to the crack. — Hecart. Norm, cache, s. s. 
 —Pat. de Bray. Fr. chassoire, a carter's 
 whip. — Cot. Galla catchiza, to crack 
 with a whip, catchi, a whip. — Tutschek. 
 Du. kaetse, a smack, clap, blow, and spe- 
 cially the stroke of a ball at tennis. — Kil. 
 Fr. chasse, E. chase, the distance to which 
 the ball is struck. Arbalete de cotirte 
 chasse, a cross-bow that candies but a 
 little way. 
 
 In the sense of seizing an object the 
 term catch is to be explained as clapping 
 one's hand upon it, snatching it with a 
 smack, in the same way that we speak of 
 catching one a box on the ear. In the 
 sense of a sudden snatch the Sc. has both 
 forms, with and without an / after the c. 
 Claiicht, snatched, laid hold of eagerly 
 and suddenly ; a catch or seizure of any- 
 thing in a sudden and forcible way. 
 V/hen one lays hold of what is falling it 
 is said that he ' got a claiicht of it.' — Jam. 
 
 And claiicht anone the courser bv the rene. 
 
 D. V. 
 
 Gael, glac, to take, seize, catch. 
 
 In the s. s. caucht. 
 Turnus at this time waxis bauld and blythe 
 Wenyngto^r.xw^/^i'ane stound his strenth tokythe, 
 
 D.V. 
 
 i. e. to catch an opportunity to show his 
 strength. 
 
 Galla catchamza, to snap, to snatch 
 (said of dogs). For the equivalence of 
 similar forms with and without an / after 
 a c or ^, compare G. klatschen, to chat, 
 chatter, clatter. — Klittner. G. klatscherei, 
 Sp. chachara, chatter ; Du. klinke, E. 
 chink. — Kil. Gael. gUong, E. gingle. 
 Rouchi clincailleux, Fr. guificailler, a. 
 tinman. 
 
 On the other hand the loss of the initial 
 c gives rise to a form lash, latch, with 
 similar meanings to those belonging to 
 words of the form clatch, catch, above 
 explained. 
 
 Thus we have the lash of a whip cor- 
 responding to the G. klatsche and Norm. 
 
 GATES 
 
 135 
 
 cache. As Sc. chak expresses ' the sharp 
 sound made by any iron substance when 
 entering its socket, as of the latch of a 
 door when it is shut, to chck ; ' and to 
 chak is ' to shut with a sharp sound ' 
 (Jam.) ; the representation of a like sound 
 by the syllable latch gives its designation 
 to the latch of a door, formerly called 
 cliket, from shutting with a click. And 
 on the same principle on which we have 
 above explained the actual use of the 
 word catch, the OE. latch was commonly 
 used in the sense of seizing, snatching, 
 obtaining possession of. 
 
 And if ye latche Lucre let hym not ascapie. 
 
 P. P. 
 
 Catcli-poll. A bailiff, one employed 
 to apprehend a person. From poll, the 
 head. On the same principle he was 
 called in Fr. happe-chair, catch-flesh. 
 Fr. chacepol, an officer of taxes. 
 
 Catechism. Elementary instruction 
 in the principles of religion by question 
 and answer. Properly a system of oral 
 instruction, from Gr. /car^x'^'^? i^anixsto, to 
 sound, resound, to sound in the ears of 
 any one, to teach by oral instruction, 
 teach the elements of any science. Kar//- 
 xr](rie, the act of stunning by loud sound 
 or of charming by sound, instruction in 
 the elements of a science. 'Hxv, sound. 
 
 Category. Gr. Kanjyopia {KaTTjyopEio, 
 from Kara and dyopsw, to harangue, speak 
 in order), an accusing, but specially an 
 order of ideas, predicament. 
 
 * Caterpillar. In Guernsey the name 
 of catte pelaeure seems to be given to 
 caterpillars, weevils, woodlice, mille- 
 pedes. — Metivier. Chate pelense, a corn- 
 devouring mite or weevil. — Cot. As the 
 weevil is not hairy probably the element 
 peleuse is a corruption. Metivier explains 
 the word from the habit of all these in- 
 sects of rolling themselves up like a pill ; 
 Guernsey pilleure, OFr. pillouere (Ro- 
 quefort), a pill. Why a grub should be 
 called dog or cat is not apparent. 
 Guernsey catte, the larva of the cock- 
 chafer. Swiss teufelskatz, Lombard 
 gatta, gattola, Fr. chenille {canicula, a 
 little dog), a caterpillar ; Milanese can, 
 cagnon (a dog), silkworm. — Diez. Ptg. 
 bicho, bichano (pussy), children's name 
 for cat ; bicho, worm, insect, wild-beast. 
 
 * Cates. — Caterer. Gates, dainty vic- 
 tuals. — B. The word is rendered by 
 Sherwood by frigaleries, companaige, i. e. 
 dainties, or any kind of rehshing food 
 (including meat) eaten with bread. In 
 all probability the suggestion of Skinner 
 that it is curtailed from ddicates, which 
 
136 
 
 CATHARTIC 
 
 was used substantively in the same sense, 
 
 is correct. Delycates, deyntie meates. — 
 
 Palsgr. 
 
 Riclily she feeds, and at the rich man's cost — 
 
 By sea, by land, of delicatcs the most 
 
 Her cater, seeks, and spareth for no perell. 
 
 Wyatt in R. 
 All kind of daintyes and delicates sweete 
 Was brought for thebanquett. — Bessie of Bednall. 
 
 The eatery was the storeroom where 
 provisions were kept, and the caterer or 
 cater the person who provided them. On 
 the other hand, the officer whose business 
 it was to make purchases for a household 
 was called acatour or achatottr, from 
 Prov. acaptar, Fr. achepter, acheter (Lat. 
 adcaptare, Mid. Lat. accapitare — Uiez), 
 Rouchi acater, to buy, It. accattare, to ac- 
 quire. 
 
 A gentil manciple was ther of a temple, 
 ' Of which achatoiirs mighten take ensemple 
 
 For to ben wise in bying of vitaille. 
 
 For whether that he paide or toke by taille 
 
 Algate he waited so in his achate, 
 
 That he was ay before in his estate. 
 
 Prologue, Manciple's Tale. 
 
 Coempcyon is to sale comen achate or buying 
 together [joint buying]. — Chaucer, Boethius, B. 
 2. Pr. 4. 
 
 Hence achates or acates signified pur- 
 chases, and the nicer kind of food being 
 commonly purchased abroad the word 
 became confounded with cates. ' One that 
 never made a good meal in his sleep, but 
 sells the acates that are sent him.' — B. 
 Jonson in R. 
 
 Provider, acater, despencier. — Palsgr. 
 
 Cathartic. Gr. Ka^apriKoq, having the 
 property of cleansing, from Kn^aipw, to 
 purge, make clean. 
 
 Cathedral. Gr. Ka^fsSpa, a seat, chair, 
 specially the seat of office of a master or 
 professor in science, &x., a pulpit, whence 
 cat/tedrah's, applied to a church contain- 
 ing a bishop's seat. 
 
 Catkin. It is probably not so much 
 from the resemblance to a cat's tail as 
 from a cat being taken as the type of 
 what is furry or downy that the name of 
 catkin, Fr. catons, Du. /eatte, kattekeii, G. 
 kdtzchen, little cat, is given to the downy 
 or feathery flowers of the willow, hazel, 
 &c. Thus Bav. miidel, puss, is used in 
 the sense of cat-skin, fur in general, flock, 
 flue, catkin ; mitz, inutz, puss, fur, cat- 
 kin ; Magy. jnacska, cat ; maczoka, kitten, 
 lamb, catkin ; Pol. kocie, kitten ; kotki, 
 kocianki, catkins ; Fr. ?nmon, puss, cat- 
 kin. 
 
 Cattle. See Chattel. 
 
 Caudle. A warm comforting drink. 
 Fr. chandeau^ from chatid, hot. 
 
 CAVE 
 
 Caul, The omentum or fatty network 
 in which the bowels are wrapped. It. 
 rete, reticella; rete del f^gato, the caul of 
 the liver. A caul is also a small net to 
 confine the hair, and hence a skull-cap, 
 also the membrane covering the face of 
 some infants at their birth. The proper 
 meaning of the word seems to be a net, 
 whence it is provincially used in the 
 sense of a spider's web.— Hal. Rete, any 
 net or caul-work. — Fl. 
 
 Her head with ringlets of her hair is crowned, 
 
 And in a golden caul the curls are bound . 
 Dryden in R 
 
 Fr. cale, a kind of little cap ; calotte, a 
 skull-cap. 
 
 The primitive meaning is a shale or 
 peel, what is shaled or picked oft". Fr. 
 cale, challe de noix, the green husk of a 
 walnut ; caloii, walnut with the husk on ; 
 dialler, to shale or peel. — Jaubert. 
 
 The word is otherwise written kell. 
 
 Cauldron. Fr. chauderon, chaitdron, 
 chaudiere, a kettle for heating water. 
 Chaiid, It. caldo, Lat. calidus, hot. 
 
 Cauliflower. Fr. choitfleiir {choii, 
 cabbage), the cabbage whose eatable part 
 consists of the abnormally developed 
 flower-buds. Lat. caulis, a stalk, cab- 
 bage-stalk, cabbage. ■ 
 
 Cause. Lat. causa. 
 
 Causeway. Fr. chauss^e, a paved 
 road. Mid. Lat. calceata, calceta, a road ; 
 calceata, shod or protected from the tread- 
 ing of the horses by a coating of wood or 
 stone. Fr. chausser, to shoe ; Port, cal- 
 qar, to shoe, also to pave ; Canada, a 
 pavement, the stones of a street. Du. 
 kautsije, kaussijde, kassije, via strata. — 
 Kil. 
 
 Caustic. — Cauterise. .Gr. KavariKOQ, 
 apt to burn ; u-avtr/p, Kavrripiov, a branding 
 iron, from Kaio), to burn. 
 
 Caution. Lat. cauiis, from caveo (p.p.. 
 cautus), to beware. 
 
 Cavalier. — Cavalry. — Cavalcade. It. 
 cavaliere, Fr. chevalier, a horseman. It. 
 cavallo, Fr. cheval, a horse, Lat. caballus, 
 Gr. KojSaWT]*:, OE. caple. ' Caballus, a 
 horse ; yet in some parts of England 
 they do call an horse a cable. ^ — Elyot in 
 Way. w. ceffyl, a horse ; Gael, capull, 
 Pol. kobyla, Russ. kobuil', a mare. 
 
 Cave. — Cavern. — Cavity. Lat. cavus, 
 hollow. The origin of the word seems a 
 representation of the sound made by 
 knocking against a hollow body. Fin. 
 kopista, dumpf tonen, klopfend knallen, 
 to sound like a blow ; kopano, caudex 
 arboris cavus pulsu resonans ; koparo, 
 koparet, a receptacle for small things, 
 
CAVESON 
 
 coffer, pit ; kopera or kowei'a^ hollow, 
 curved, crooked ; kopio^ empty, sounding 
 as an empty vessel ; koppa, anything hol- 
 lowed or vaulted ; kanteleen koppa, the 
 box or sounding-board of the harp ; pii- 
 pim koppa, the bowl of a pipe ; koppa- 
 mato, a. beetle or crustaceous insect ; 
 koppa nokka, an aquiline nose, &c. ; kop- 
 peli, a hut, little house. 
 
 So from Fin. kommata, komista, to 
 sound deep or hollow as an empty vessel, 
 ko7}io, hollow, giving a hollow sound ; 
 komo jaa, hollow ice ; wuoreti kovio, a 
 cavern in a mountain {wuora, a moun- 
 tain). 
 
 Caveson. A kind of bridle put upon 
 the nose of a horse in order to break and 
 manage him. — B. Yr. caveqon, Sp. cabe- 
 qon, It. cavezzone, augm. of cavezza, a 
 halter, and that from Sp. cabeqa, a head. 
 A false accommodation produced G. 
 kapp-zaum, as if from kappen, to cut, 
 and zaum, bridle, a severe bridle. 
 
 Cavil. Lat. cavillor, to argue cap- 
 tiously, quibble. 
 
 Cease. — Cessation. Lat. cesso, to 
 cease. 
 
 -cease. — Decease. Lat. decessus, de- 
 parture, Fr. deces, departure from this 
 life, death. See -cede. 
 
 Cede, -cede, -ceed, -cess. Lat. cedo, 
 cessum, to go forth, step away, give place, 
 yield. Hence concede, exceed, proceed, 
 recede, succeed, &c., with their substan- 
 tives concession, excess, &c. 
 
 Ceiling. The It. cielo, Fr. del, heaven, 
 sky, were met. applied to a canopy, the 
 testern of a bed, the inner roof of a room 
 of state. — Cot. In the same way G. hini- 
 mel, heaven, is applied to a canopy, the 
 roof of a coach, or of a bed. The import- 
 ation of Fr. del into English without 
 translation gave cele, seele, a canopy. ' In 
 this wise the King shall ride opyn heded 
 undre a seele of cloth of gold baudekyn 
 with four staves gilt.' — Rutland papers, 
 Cam. Soc. pp. 5, 7, &c. ' The chammer 
 was hanged of red and of blew, and in it 
 was a cyll of state of cloth of gold, but 
 the Kyng was not under for that sam 
 day.' — Marriage of James IV. in Jam. 
 The name was extended to the seat of 
 dignity with its canopy over. ' And seik 
 to your soverane, semely on syli: — Gawan 
 and Gol. in Jam. From the noun was 
 formed the verb to cele or sile, to canopy ; 
 siled, canopied, hung, 'All the tente within 
 was syled wyth clothe of gold and blew 
 velvet '— Hall, H. VIII. p. 32; sylure, 
 selu7'e, selar, cellar, cyling (W. Wore, in 
 Hal.), a canopy, tester of a bed, ceiling. 
 
 CEILING 
 
 137 
 
 The kynge to souper is set, served in halle 
 Under a siller of silk, dayntily dight. 
 
 Sir Gawaine & Sir Gol. 
 
 Cellar for a bedde, ciel de lit. — Palsgr. 
 'A celler to hange in the chamber.' — 
 Ordinances and Reg. in Hal. 
 
 As the canopy or covering of a bed or 
 tent would not only be stretched overhead, 
 but hang around at the sides, it was natu- 
 ral that the same name should be given 
 both to the roof and the side hangings. 
 Thus silyng is found in the sense of ta- 
 pestry. 
 
 ' The French kyng caused the lorde of 
 Countay to stande secretly behynde a 
 silyng or a hangyng in his chamber.' — • 
 Hall, E. IV. p. 43. And as tapestry and 
 wainscoting served the same purpose of 
 hiding the bareness of the walls and shut- 
 ting out the draught, it was an easy step 
 to the sense of wainscoting, which is still 
 known by the name of ceiling in Craven. 
 To seele a room, lambrisser une chambre ; 
 seeling, lambris, menuiserie. — Sherwood. 
 The sense of roofing, and all conscious 
 reference to the notion of the heaven or 
 sky being now completely lost, and the 
 main object of the wainscoting being to 
 shut out draughts, it is probable that the 
 word was confounded with sealing in the 
 sense of closing, and it was even applied 
 to the planking of the floor. ' Plancher, 
 to plank or floor with planks, to seele or 
 close with boards ; plancher, a boarded 
 floor, also a seeling of boards.' — Cot. 
 The ceiling was called the tipper ceiling, 
 Fr. sus-la7nbris, to distinguish it from the 
 wainscot or seeling of the walls. 
 
 The line of descent from Fr. ciel is so 
 unbroken, that, unless we separate the 
 sense of canopy or hangings from that of 
 wainscoting, the ground is cut away from 
 Aufrecht's derivation from AS. thil, tJiel, 
 thelu, a log, beam, rafter, plank, board ; 
 thiling, a planking or boarding ; thilian, 
 to plank ; ON. /////, thili, thilja, a board, 
 plank, wainscot ; thiljar (in pL), the deck 
 of a ship ; at thilja, to panel or wainscot ; 
 MHG. dil, dille, a plank, wall, ceiling, 
 flooring ; E. deal, a fir-plank. In the 
 Walser dialect of the Grisons, obardili is 
 the boarded ceiling of a room. Aufrecht 
 identifies with the foregoing, as. syl, a 
 log, post, column ; E. sill in window-sill, 
 doo?'-sillj Sc. sill, a log, syle, a beam. 
 And it is certainly possible that syling in 
 the sense of planking or ceiling xmy have 
 come from this source. ' The o\dQ syli7?g 
 that was once faste joyned together with 
 nailes will begin to cling, and then to 
 gape.'— Z. Boyd in Jam. In the N. of E 
 
13S -CEIVE 
 
 //////, a shaft, is in some places called sill j 
 a ////'// Jiorse and a sill horse, a shaft horse. 
 To seel or close the eyes, Sc. sile, syll, 
 to blindfold, and thence to conceal, is 
 totally distinct from the foregoing, being 
 taken from Fr. cilia; cillier, siller les 
 yeux, to seele or sew up the eyelids ; (and 
 thence also) to hoodwink, blind, keep in 
 darkness.— Cot. It. cigliare, to twinkle 
 with the eyes, to seal a pigeon's eye, or 
 any bird's.— Fl. Fr. cil, It. ciglio, Lat. 
 ciliiwi, an eyelash, eyelid. The term 
 properly signifies the sewing up the eyelid 
 of a hawk for the purpose of taming it. 
 ' And he must take wyth hym nedyll and 
 threde, to ensilethe haukes that ben taken. 
 — Take the nedyll and threde, and put 
 it through the over eyelydde, and so of 
 that other, and make them faste und the 
 becke that she se not, and then she is 
 ensiled as she ought to be.' — Book of 
 St Albans, in Marsh. 
 
 -ceive, -cept, -ceit. Lat. capio, cap- 
 turn, in comp. -cipio, -ceptum, to take. 
 Prov. caber, to take, in comp. -cebre {con- 
 cebre, decebre) ; It. {co7i)cipe7'e^ -cepi?-e, 
 'Cepere, OFr. -ciper, -civer {conciver — 
 Roquef.), -goivre, Fr. -cevoir. 
 
 The p of the participle -ceptiis is seen 
 in OE. conceipt, deceipt, receipt, but was 
 gradually lost in conceit, deceit, &.C., as in 
 It. concetto. 
 
 Celebrate. — Celebrity. Lat. celcber 
 (of a place), much frequented, thronged ; 
 hence (of a day), festive, solemn ; (of per- 
 sons) renowned, as entering largely into 
 the talk of men, in accordance with the 
 expression of Ennius, ' volito vivus per 
 ora virum.' Celebritas, a numerous con- 
 course of people, abundance, renown ; 
 celebro, to visit in numbers, to attend on 
 a solemnity, to celebrate. 
 
 Celerity. — Accelerate. Lat. celer, 
 swift. 
 
 Celestial. Coelnin, heaven, the hollow 
 vault of heaven ; Gr. »coj\oc, hollow. 
 
 Celibacy. Lat. ccBlebs, unmarried. Fr. 
 cHibat, single or unwedded life. 
 
 Cell. — Cellar. Lat. cella, a storehouse 
 for wine, oil, provisions generally ; also 
 a hut, cot, quarters for slaves. 
 
 Cement. Lat. ccBinentum, stones 
 rough from the quarry, rubble, materials 
 for building, mortar. 
 
 Cemetery. Gr. Koiftr)rf)piov (from koi- 
 ^laofxai, to sleep), the place where the de- 
 parted sleep. 
 
 -cend, -cense, Censer. — To Incense. 
 Lat. candeo, to glow, to burn ; incendo, 
 -snm, to set on fire, and met. to incense, 
 make angry. Incensiwi, Fr. encens, what ' 
 
 CHAFE 
 
 is burnt m sacrifices, incense, and thence 
 censer, a vessel in which incense was 
 burnt. 
 
 Cenotaph.. Gr, KivoTa<pwv (Ktvbg, empty, 
 and Tacpoi:, a tomb, from Srcnrru), to bury), 
 a monument erected for one buried else- 
 where. 
 
 Census — Censor. — Censure. Lat. 
 census, a valuation of every man's estate, 
 a registration of one's self, age, family, 
 possessions, &c., from censeo, to think, 
 judge, estimate. Censor, the officer ap- 
 pointed to take such returns ; censiira, his 
 office, also grave opinion, criticism. 
 
 Centre. Gr. <c£vr£w, to prick, goad, 
 sting; KoVTfiov, a prick, point, the point 
 round which a circle is drawn. 
 
 Centurion.— Century. Lat. centum, 
 a hundred ; centuria, a hundred of what- 
 soever persons or objects ; centitrio, the 
 captain over a hundred foot-soldiers. 
 
 Cereal. Lat. cerealis, of or pertaining 
 to Ceres the goddess of corn and the 
 harvest, thence belonging to or connected 
 with corn. 
 
 Ceremony. Lat. cceremonia, ceremo- 
 nia, a religious observance, a solemnity, 
 sacred show. 
 
 -cern. — Certain. Gr. K-pt'j/w, to sepa- 
 rate, pick out, decide, judge ; Lat. cerno, 
 crevi, cretiivt, to separate, sift, distin- 
 guish, observe, see, judge, contend. In 
 certus, sure, we have a modified form of 
 the participle cretns, with transposition 
 of the r, a form which also gives rise to 
 the derivative certo, to contend. 
 
 Fr. concerncr, to concern, appertain, or 
 belong unto (Cot.), is the opposite of dis- 
 cern, to distinguish. Lat. concernor, to 
 be embodied with, to be regarded as one 
 object with. 
 
 -cess. See Cede. 
 
 Cess. A tax. For sess from assess, 
 but spelt with a c from the influence of 
 the Lat. census, the rating of Roman citi- 
 zens according to their property. See 
 Assize, Assess. Yx. cencer, to rate, assess, 
 tax, value. — Cot. 
 
 Chafe, 1.— Chafing-dish. To chafe is 
 to heat by rubbing, to rub for the purpose 
 of heating, then to rub without reference 
 to the production of heat. Lat. calefacere. 
 It. calefare, Fr. chauffer, echauffier, to heat, 
 to warm, to chafe. Fr. chaitfferette, a 
 chafing-dish or pan of hot coals for warm- 
 ing a room where there is not fire. 
 
 Chafe, 2. In the sense of ^/z^yf//^ with 
 anger two distinct words are probably 
 confounded; ist from It. riscaldarsi, to 
 become heated with anger, Fr. eschaiffr^ 
 to set in a chafe. — Sherwccd. 
 
CHAFER 
 
 For certes the herte of manne by eschavfing 
 and moving of his blode waxeth so troubled that 
 it is out of all nianere judgement of reson. — 
 Parson's tale. De Ira. 
 
 But to chafe has often a much more 
 precise sense than this, and signifies to 
 snort, fume, breathe hard. It. sborfare, 
 to huff, snuff, or puff with snorting, to 
 chafe and fret with rage and anger; 
 tronfo, tronfo, puffed or ruffled with 
 chafing.— Y\. Bouffard, often puffing, 
 much blowing, swelling with anger, in a 
 great chafe, in a monstrous fume. — Cot. 
 In this application it is the correlative 
 of the G. keuchen, to puff and blow, breathe 
 thick and short, to pant, Bav. kauchen, to 
 breathe, puff. 
 
 * Chafer. — ChefFern. Cock-chafer ; 
 fern-chafer. G. kdfer, AS. ceafer, Du. 
 kever, any insect of the beetle kind, hav- 
 ing a hard case to their wings. Perhaps 
 from Swiss kafeln, kdfelen, to gnaw. 
 
 Chaff. AS. ceaf G. kaff. Pers. khah. 
 — Adelung. Fin. kahista, leviter crepo 
 vel susurro, movendo parum strideo ut 
 gramen sub pedibus euntis vel arundo 
 vento agitata (to rustle) ; whence kahina, 
 a rustling ; kaJiu, kahtija, hordeum vel 
 avena vilior, taubes korn oder hafer, light 
 rustling corn, consisting chiefly of husks ; 
 kuhata, kuhista, to buzz, hiss,- rustle ; 
 kuhma, a rustling noise, rustling motion 
 as of ants, &c. ; ktihu-ohrat {oh?at, bar- 
 ley), refuse barley ; kuhtija, quisquiliae 
 vel palese quae motas leviter susurrant, 
 chaff". 
 
 To Chaff. In vulgar language, to 
 rally one, to chatter or talk lightly. From 
 a representation of the inarticulate sounds 
 made by different kinds of animals utter- 
 ing rapidly repeated cries. Du. kcffen, to 
 yap, to bark, also to prattle, chatter, tattle. 
 — Halma. "Wall, chawe, a chough, jack- 
 daw ; chaweter, to caw ; chawer, to 
 cheep, to cry ; chafeter, to babble, tattle ; 
 Fr. cauvette, a jackdaw, a prattling wo- 
 man. — Pat. de Brai. G. kaff, idle words, 
 impertinence. — Kiittn. 
 
 * To Chaffer. To buy and sell, to 
 bargain, haggle. OE. chapfai'e, chaffare^ 
 properly the subject of a chap or bargain, 
 
 Lenere corteys (courteous lender), that leneth 
 without chapfare raakiinde. — Ayenbite, p. 35. 
 There were chapmen ychose the chaffare to 
 preise. — P. P. vis. 11. 
 
 Chaft. The jaw ; chafty, talkative. — 
 Hal. ON. kiaftr, jaw, muzzle, chaps ; 
 kiafia, kiamta, to move the jaws, to 
 tattle. See Cheek. 
 
 Chagrin. Fr. chag?'m, care, grief. 
 According to Diez, from the shark-skin. 
 
 CHAMBER 
 
 139 
 
 or rough substance called shagreen, Fr. 
 peati de chagrin, which from being used 
 as a rasp for polishing wood was taken 
 as a type of the gnawing of care or grief. 
 Genoese sagrind, to gnaw, sagrindse, to 
 consume with anger. Piedm. sagri, sha- 
 green ; sagrin, care, grief. In like man- 
 ner It. limare, to file, metaphorically to 
 fret — Fl. ; far lima-lirna, to fret inward- 
 ly.— Altieri. 
 
 Chain. Lat. catena, Prov. cadena, 
 cana, OFr. chaene, Fr. chaine, ON. kedja, 
 a chain. 
 
 Chair. — Chaise. Gr. KaOkdpa, from 
 KaOiZofiai, to sit. Lat. cathedra, Fr. chaire, 
 a seat, a pulpit. As the loss of a d in 
 cadena gives chain, a double operation 
 of the same nature reduces cathedra 
 (ca'e'ra) to chair. Prov. cadieira, cadera, 
 OFr. chayere. Chayere, cathedra. — Pr. 
 Pm. 
 
 The conversion of the r into s gives 
 Fr. chaise, a pulpit — Cot., now a chair. 
 Then, as a carriage is a moveable seat, 
 the word has acquired in E. the sense of 
 a carriage, pleasure carriage. 
 
 Chalice. Fr. calice, Lat. calix, a gob- 
 let, cup. 
 
 Chalk. Fr. chaulx, lime ; Lat. calx, 
 limestone, lime. 
 
 Challenge. Fr. chalanger, to claim, 
 challenge, make title unto ; also to accuse 
 of, charge with, call in question for an 
 offence. — Cot. Hence to challenge one 
 to fight is to call on him to decide the 
 matter by combat. From the forensic 
 Latin cahamiiare, to institute an action, 
 to go to law. — Due. So from dominio^ 
 domnio, dongio, E. dnngeonj from som- 
 7iiuin, Fr. songe. Prov. calonja, dispute; 
 calumpnjamen, contestation, difficulty ; 
 calofijar, to dispute, refuse. 
 
 The sacramentuni de caluninid was an 
 oath on the part of the person bringing 
 an action of the justice of his ground of 
 action, and as this was the beginning of 
 the suit it is probably from thence that 
 calumniari in the sense of bringing an 
 action arose. ' Can hom ven al plaiz et 
 fa sagramen de calompnia.' ' Sagrament 
 de calompnia o de vertat per la una part 
 e per rautra.'— Rayn. Lat. caliwinia, 
 false accusation, chicane. 
 
 Chamade. A signal by drum or 
 trumpet given by an enemy when they 
 have a mind to parley. — B. From Port. 
 chajnar, Lat. clamare, to call. 
 
 Chamber. Fr. chambre. Lat. camera^ 
 Gr. jca/idpa, a vault or arched roof, place 
 with an arched roof. Probably from 
 cam, crooked. Ca?nera, gewolb. Came- 
 
I40 
 
 CHAMBERLAIN 
 
 rare, kriimmen ; camei-atus, gekriimmt, 
 gebogen, gcwolbt. — Dicf. Sup. 
 
 Chamberlain. Fr. chajnbcllan ; It. 
 camerlengo^ ciainberlano, ciavibellano. 
 
 To Chamfer. To hollow out in chan- 
 nels, to flute as a column, to bevel. Ptg. 
 c/ian/rar, to hollow out, to slope. Sp. 
 chajidti, Fr. chainfrain, chanfrein, the 
 slope of a bevelled angle, a hollow 
 groove ; chanfremer, chanfreindre, to 
 bevel off a right angle, to slope out the 
 top of a borehole. 
 
 Chamfr on. — Chamfrain. — Charfron . 
 Fr. chanfrein, the front piece of a horse's 
 head armour. 
 
 To Chamm. — Champ. E. dial, to 
 cliam, chavip, chavible, to chew. — Hal. 
 Properly to chew so as to make the 
 snapping of the jaws be heard. Magy. 
 tsamjnogni, tsamtsogni, to make a noise 
 with the teeth in chewing. Gall, djavi- 
 dja7ti-goda (to make djani-djani), to 
 smack the lips in eating, as swine, to 
 champ, move the jaws. — Tutschek. The 
 G. schmatzen s. s. differs only in the 
 transposition of the letter m. ON. kampa^ 
 to chew ; kiamini, a jaw ; kiamsa, to 
 champ, to move the jaws ; kiamt, champ- 
 ing. 
 
 The sound of striking the ground with 
 the foot is sometimes represented in the 
 same manner, as in It. zampettare, to 
 paw the ground ; E. dial, champ, to tread 
 heavily. — Hal. 
 
 Champaign. See Camp. 
 
 Champarty. Partnership. Fr. champ 
 parti, Lat. campus partitas j ^js, jeopardy, 
 from Fr. jeii parti, Lat. jocus partitus, 
 divided game. 
 
 Champion. Commonly derived from 
 ca7npiis, a field of battle, fighting place. 
 And no doubt the word might have early 
 been introduced from Latin into the Teu- 
 tonic and Scandinavian languages, giving 
 rise to the AS. camp, fight, ceinpa, ON. 
 kempa, a warrior, champion; Du. ka^np, 
 combat, contest ; kampen, kempen, to 
 fight in single combat; hamper ^ kempe, 
 an athlete, prize-fighter. • 
 
 It must be observed however that the 
 Scandinavian kapp appears a more an- 
 cient form than the nasalised camp. ON. 
 kapp, contention ; kappi, athlete, hero ; 
 Sw. dricka i kapp, to drink for a wager ; 
 kapp-ridafide, a horse-race. So in E. 
 boys speak of capping verses, i. e. con- 
 tending in the citation of verses ; to cap 
 one at leaping is to beat one at a contest 
 in leaping. Hence (with the nasal) w. 
 camp, a feat, game ; campio, to strive at 
 games ; campus^ excellent, surpassing. 
 
 CHANCEL 
 
 masterly ; Sp. campear, campar, to be 
 eminent, to excel. The word is preserved 
 in E. dial, camp, a game at football. 
 ' Cainpar, or player at football, pedilusor.* 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Get campers a ball 
 
 To camp therewithal. — ^Tusser. 
 
 E. dial, to cample, to talk, contend or 
 argue ; G. kampeln, to debate, dispute ; 
 E. dial, champ, a scuffle. — Hal. The 
 origin may perhaps be found in the notion 
 of fastening on one in the act of wrest- 
 ling. 
 
 Lith. kabinti, to hang; kabintis, to 
 fasten oneself on to another ; kabe, ka- 
 be'le, kablys, a hook ; kimbu, kibti, to 
 fasten on, to stick to, to hold ; siikibti, to 
 fasten oneself to another ; Fin. kimppu 
 (Lap. kippo, kappd), a bundle, and thence 
 the laying hold of each other by wrestlers ; 
 kimpjistella, to wrestle. Esthon. kimp, 
 bundle, pinch, difficulty ; kimplima, to 
 quarrel (comp. G. kampebi, E. cample). 
 Du. kimpen, to wrestle, luctare, certare. 
 — Kil. 
 
 To cope or contend with, which seems 
 another form of the root, is explained by 
 Torriano ' serrarsi, attaccarsi Tun con 
 Taltro ; ' ' se harper I'un a Fautre.' — Sher- 
 wood. 
 
 Chalice. The happening of things 
 governed by laws of which we are more 
 or less ignorant, Fr. chance; OFr. 
 cheance, act of falling, from cheoir, Lat. 
 cadere, Prov. cazer, Sp. caer, Ptg. cahir, 
 to fall. Prov. escazenza, accident, chance. 
 It will be observed that accident is the 
 same word direct from the Lat. accidere, 
 to happen {ad and cadei^e, to fall). 
 
 Chance-medley. Fr. chatide meslee, 
 from chatid, hot, and meslee, fray, bicker- 
 ing, fight; an accidental conflict in hot 
 blood. ' Mellde qui etait meue chaleu- 
 reusement et sans aguet.' M.Lat. calida 
 melleia, calidameya. Meleare, mesleiare, 
 to quarrel, broil. — Carpentier. When the 
 element chaud lost its meaning to ordi- 
 nary English ears, it was replaced by 
 chance in accordance with the meaning 
 of the compound. 
 
 Chancel. — Chancellor. — Chancery. 
 The part of the church in which the altar 
 is placed is called chancel, from being 
 railed off or separated from the rest of 
 the church by lattice-work, Lat. cancelli. 
 The cancellarii seem to have been the 
 officers of a court of justice, who stood ad 
 cancellos, at the railings, received the 
 petitions of the suitors, and acted as in- 
 termediaries between them and the judge. 
 To them naturally fell the office of keep- 
 
CHANDLER 
 
 ing the seal of the court, the distinctive 
 feature of the chancellors of modern 
 time. 
 
 From chancellor^zxz Fr. chancellerte,^. 
 chancery. 
 
 Chandler. Fr. chandelier, a dealer in 
 candles ; then, as if the essential mean- 
 ing of the word had been simply dealer, 
 extended to other trades, as corn-chand- 
 ler. Chandry, the place where candles 
 are kept, from chandler, as chancery 
 from chancellor. 
 
 To Change. Prov. canibiar, camjar, 
 It. cambiare, cangiare, Fr. changer. Bret. 
 kejnma, to truck, exchange. Cambiare 
 seems the nasalised form of E. chop, chap, 
 to swap, exchange, ON. kaiipa, to deal, as 
 Chaucer's champmen for chapmen. 
 In Surrey whilome dwelt a company 
 Of chavipmeji rich and therto sad and true, 
 That wide were sentin their spicery, 
 Their chaffare was so thrifty and so new. 
 Man of Law's Tale, 140. 
 
 In like manner Walach. schimbd, to 
 change, to put on fresh clothes, may be 
 compared with ON. skipta, E. shift. 
 Walach. schimbu, cambium, exchange ; 
 schimbatorin, a money-changer. See 
 Chop. 
 
 Channel. Lat. canatis, a pipe, water- 
 conduit, from canna, a reed. The word 
 appears in English under a triple form : 
 channel, any hollow for conveying water, 
 kennel, the gutter that runs along a street, 
 and the modern canal. 
 
 Chant. — Chantry. Lat. canlare, Fr. 
 chanter, to sing. Hence chantry, a chapel 
 endowed for a priest to sing mass for the 
 soul of the founders. 
 
 Chap. I. Chaps or chops, the loose 
 flesh of the cheeks, lips of an animal. 
 AS. ceaplas, ceaflas, the chaps ; Da. 
 gab, the mouth, throat of an animal. See 
 Cheek. 
 
 Chap. 2. A fellow. Probably from 
 chap, cheek, jaw. Da. kicsft, jaw, muz- 
 zle, chaps, is vulgarly used in the sense of 
 individual. — Molbech. And N. kiaft as 
 well as kjakje, a jaw, is used in the same 
 sense ; kvar kjcEften, every man Jack ; 
 inkje ein kjceft, — kjaakaa, not a soul. — 
 Aasen. In Lincoln cheek is used in the 
 same way for person or fellow. 
 
 Chap. — Chip. — Chop. Thpse are forms 
 having a common origin in the attempt to 
 represent the sound made by the knock- 
 ing of two hard bodies, or the cracking 
 of one, the thinner vowel i being used to 
 represent the high note of a crack, while 
 the broader vowels a and are used for 
 the flatter sound made by the collision of 
 
 CHAPEL 
 
 141 
 
 hard bodies. Sc. chap, to strike, as to 
 chap hands, to chap at a door. — Jam. 
 It is also used in the sense of the E. chop, 
 to strike with a sharp edge, to cut up into 
 small pieces, to cut off ; Du. happen, to 
 cut, prune, hack ; Lith. kapoti, to peck, 
 to hack, to cut, to paw like a horse ; W. 
 cobio, to strike, to peck. 
 
 Again as a hard body in breaking gives 
 a sharp sound like the knocking of hard 
 things together, a chap is a crack or fis- 
 sure, properly in a hard body, but ex- 
 tended to bodies which give no sound in 
 breaking, as skin ; chapped hands. Com- 
 pare chark, to creak, and also to chap or 
 crack. — Hal. The use of crack in the 
 sense of fissure is to be explained in the 
 same manner. Lang, esclapa, to split 
 wood, to break ; esclapa, a chip. 
 
 The thinner vowel in chip expresses 
 the sharper sound made by the separation 
 of a very small fragment of a hard body, 
 and the term is also applied to the small 
 piece separated from the block. 
 
 Chape. A plate of metal at the point 
 of a scabbard. Hence the white tip of a 
 fox's tail. — Hal. The fundamental mean- 
 ing is something clapt on, from clap, the 
 representation of the sound made by two 
 flat surfaces striking together. Hence It. 
 chiappa, a patch of lead clapt unto a 
 ship that is shot ; a piece of lead to cover 
 the touch-hole of a gun, also a clap, and 
 anything that may be taken hold of. — Fl. 
 Sp. chapa, a small plate of flat metal, 
 leather, or the like ; chapar, to plate, to 
 coat; chapeta, chapilla, a small metal 
 plate ; Port, chapear, to plate, to apply 
 one flat thing to another. Sp. chapelete 
 de una bomba, Fr. clapet, the clapper or 
 sucker of a ship's pump ; Sp. chapeletas 
 de imbornales, the clappers of the scupper 
 holes. Russ. klepan, a strip of metal 
 plate, as those on a trunk. 
 
 Chapel. Commonly derived from ca- 
 pella, the cape or little cloke of St Mar- 
 tin, which was preserved in the Palace of 
 the kings of the Franks, and used as the 
 most binding relic on which an oath 
 could be taken. 
 
 Tunc in Palatio nostro super Capellam domini 
 Martini, iibi reliqua sacramenta percurrunt, de- 
 beant conjurare. — Marculfus in Due. 
 
 Hence it is supposed the name of ca- 
 pella was given to the apartment of the 
 Palace in which the relics of the saints 
 were kept, and thence extended to similar 
 repositories where priests were commonly 
 appointed to celebrate divine services. 
 
 Rex sanctas sibi de capella sua reliquias deferri 
 praecepit. — Ordericus Vitalis. 
 
142 
 
 CHAPLET 
 
 But we have no occasion to resort to 
 so hypothetical a derivation. The canopy 
 or covering of an altar where mass was 
 celebrated was called capella, a hood. 
 Mid.Lat. capellare^ tegere, deckcn, be- 
 decken ; capella, ein himeltz, gehymels 
 (eucharistie, &c.), the canopy over the 
 sacred elements ; eine kleine Kirche. — 
 Dief. Sup. And it can hardly be doubted 
 that the name of the canopy was extended 
 to the recess in a church in which an 
 altar was placed, forming the capella or 
 chapel of the saint to whom the altar was 
 dedicated. 
 
 Chaplet. A wreath for the head. Fr. 
 chapelet, dim. of chapel^ from capa, a 
 cape or cope. The OFr. chapel^ from 
 signifying a hat or covering for the head, 
 came to be used in the sense of a wreath 
 or garland. ' Cappello, ghirlanda se- 
 condo il volgar francese.' — Boccaccio in 
 Diez. Hence applied to a circular string 
 of praying beads, called in Sp. for the 
 same reason rosario, a garland of roses, 
 and in It. corona. 
 
 Chapman. AS. ceap-man, a merchant. 
 See Cheap. 
 
 Chapter. Fr. chapitre, from capitu- 
 litJH, a head or division of a book. The 
 Chapter of a cathedral is the assembly 
 of the governing body. It. capitolo, Sp. 
 capitulo, cabildo, Prov. capitol, Fr. cha- 
 Pitre. 
 
 Character. Gr. \a^aKTr]p (xopdaaio, to 
 grave or make incised marks on an ob- 
 ject), a mark made on a thing, a mark of 
 distinction. 
 
 Charade. See Charlatan. 
 
 * Charcoal. — To Char. Charcoal was 
 rightly explained by Tooke from AS. 
 cerra/i, OE. char, to turn, as being wood 
 turned to coal. 
 
 Then Nestor broiled them on the cole-turti'd 
 wood . — Chapman . 
 
 To char is now only used in the special 
 application of turning to coal, burning 
 without consuming the substance. 
 
 His profession— did put him upon finding a 
 way of charring sea coal, wherein it is in about 
 three hours or less without pots or vessels brought 
 to charcoal. — Boyle in R. 
 
 It is extraordinary that so plausible an 
 explanation should have failed to produce 
 conviction, but the following quotation 
 from William and the Werewolf will pro- 
 bably be found conclusive. In that work 
 the verb is written caire, and occurs fre- 
 quently in the sense of turn one's steps, 
 return, go, and at line 2520 it runs — 
 
 CHARM 
 
 ChoUcrs that cayrcden col come there biside, 
 And other wi3es that were wont wode for to 
 fecche : 
 
 i. e. colliers that charred coal, that turned 
 wood to coal, charcoal burners. 
 
 The G. equivalent kehren is used in a 
 similar manner in the sense of changing 
 the nature of a thing. ' Als sich Lucifer 
 in eine schlange keh7't .•' as Lucifer turns 
 himself into a snake. 
 
 Chare. A chai'e is a turn of work ; 
 chare-woman, one who is engaged for an 
 occasional turn. Swiss, es ist mi cheer, 
 it is my turn; cher um chcr, in turns, 
 turn about.— Deutsch. Mundart. 2. 370. 
 AS. eyre, a turn ; cerran, Du. keeren, to 
 turn ; Gael, car, turn, twist. 
 
 Charge. It. caricare, Ptg. carregar, 
 Fr. charger, to load ; properly to p'lace 
 in a car. Lat. carricare, from cari'us. 
 To charge an enemy is to lay on. 
 
 Lay on, Macduff, 
 And damned be he who first cries Hold, enough. 
 
 Charity. Lat. caritas, charitas, dear- 
 ness (in both senses), affection. Lat. 
 earns, dear, beloved. W. caru, Bret. 
 karout, to love. 
 
 Chark.— Chirk, as. cearcian, to creak, 
 crash, gnash. Lith. kirkti, to cry as a 
 child, creak, cluck ; kirklys, a cricket ; 
 karkti (schnarrcn, schreien, krachzen),to 
 whirr as a beetle, cluck, gaggle ; kuj'kii, 
 to croak as a frog ; kurkelis, the turtle 
 dove ; cziirksti, to chirp as sparrows, 
 czirksti, to chirp, twitter. 
 
 Charlatan. — Charade. Fr. charlatan, 
 a mountebank, prattling quacksalver, bab- 
 bler, tattler. — Cot. It. ciarlato?'e, from 
 ciarlare, to tattle, chatter. Sp. charlar, 
 chirlar, to prattle, jabber, clack, chat. 
 An imitative word representing the in- 
 articulate chattering or chirping of birds. 
 Sp. chirriar, to chirp, chirk, creak, hiss • 
 Lith. czurliivoti, to sing or chirp as birds, 
 czirbti, to prattle, chatter. 
 
 From Norm, charer, Lang, chara, to 
 converse, seems to be derived charade, a 
 kind of riddle by way of social amuse- 
 ment, as Vo\. gadka, a riddle, from ^«^tz</, 
 to talk ; Boh. hadka, a dispute ; pohadka, 
 a riddle, charade, w. siarad (pronounced 
 sharad), babbling, talking. 
 
 Charlock. A weed among corn ; also 
 called kedloik. AS. cedeleac. 
 
 Charm. An enchantment. Fr. charmej 
 It. caf^jne, carmo, a charm, a spell, a 
 verse, a rhyme. — Fl. From Lat. carmen, 
 which was used in the sense of magic 
 incantation. ' Venefici qui magicis su- 
 surris seu carminibus homines occidunt. 
 — Justin. Inst. Hence carminare, to 
 
CHARNEL-HOUSE 
 
 enchant ; mcarminatrix^ an enchantress. 
 From carmen was formed It. carvie and 
 Fr. charmer^ as from iionien It. tiome and 
 Fr. noninier, to name. — Diez. 
 
 The root of the Lat. carmen is pre- 
 served in AS. cyrm^ noise, shout ; OE. 
 charm, a hum or low murmuring noise, 
 the noise of birds, whence a charm of 
 goldfijiches, a flock of those birds. 
 
 I cherme as byrdes do when they make a noise 
 z, great number together. — Palsgrave. 
 
 Charnel-house. Fr. charmer, a 
 churchyard or charnel-house, a place 
 where dead bodies are laid or their 
 bones kept. — Cot. Lat. caro, carnis ; 
 Fr. chair, flesh. 
 
 Chart.— Charter. See Card. 
 
 Chary, as. cearig (from cearian, to 
 care), careful, chary. Du. karigh, sor- 
 didus, parcus, tenax. — Kil. G. karg, 
 niggardly. 
 
 To Chase. i. To work or emboss 
 plate as silversmiths do. — B. Fr. chasse 
 (another form of caisse ; see Case), a 
 shrine for a relic, also that thing or part 
 of a thing wherein another is enchased ; 
 la chasse d'nn rasoir, the handle of a 
 razor ; la chasse d'une rose, the calix of a 
 rose.— Cot. It. cassa s. s. Fr. e?ichasser. 
 It. incassare, to set a jewel, to enchase 
 it ; and as the setting was commonly of 
 ornamental work the E. chasing has come 
 to signify embossed jeweller's work. 
 
 To Chase. 2. See Catch. 
 
 Chasm. Gr. x""")""? 3. yawning, a gap, 
 from x«"'j x^'^viii, to gape, be wide open. 
 
 Chaste. Lat. castus, pure. Pol. czysty, 
 clean, pure, chaste. Russ. chist\ clean, 
 pure, clear, limpid. The origin seems 
 preserved in the Fin. kastaa, to wet, to 
 baptize, whence the notion of cleanliness 
 as the consequence of washing. See 
 Cistern. 
 
 To Chasten.— Chastise. Fr. chdtier, 
 Lat castigare, from castus, clean, chaste, 
 pure, as pnrgare from picrus. 
 
 Chat.— Chatter. To talk, converse, 
 make a noise as birds do, prattle. An 
 imitative word. It. gazzolare, gazzo- 
 gliare, gazzerare, gazzettare, to chat or 
 chatter as a piot or a jay, to chirp, warble, 
 prate. — Fl. Fr. gazouiller, to chirp, 
 warble, whistle. Magy. csatora (Magy. 
 cs = E. ch), noise, racket ; csatordzni, to 
 make a noise, chatter, talk much ; csa- 
 csogni, to chatter or prattle ; csacsogany, 
 a chatter-box, magpie, jackdaw ; Pol. 
 gaddc, to talk, gadii-gadu, chit-chat, tit- 
 tle-tattle. Malay, kata, a word, speak ; 
 kata-kata, discourse, talk. 
 
 Chats.— Chit. Chat-wood, little sticks 
 
 CHATS 
 
 143 
 
 fit for fuel. — Bailey. Yorkshire chat, a 
 twig ; Suffolk chaits, fragments or leav- 
 ings of food, as tin'nip-chaits, scraps of 
 oft'al ; blackthorn-chats, the young shoots 
 or suckers on rough borders, occasionally 
 cut and faggoted. — Forby. To chit, to 
 germinate ; chits, the first sprouts of any- 
 thing.— Hal. 
 
 The primary import of the syllable 
 cJiat, chit, chick, chip, is to represent the 
 sharp sound of a crack, then the crack- 
 ing of the hard case or shell in which 
 something is contained, and the peeping 
 or shooting forth of the imprisoned life 
 within ; or on the other hand it may be 
 applied simply to designate the frag- 
 ments of the broken object. In the 
 latter sense chat may be compared with 
 the Fr. eclats, shivers, splinters, frag- 
 ments, from the sound of a body bursting 
 or cracking, to which it bears the same 
 relation as chape, a plate of metal, to 
 clap. 
 
 It must be observed that the letters p, 
 k, t, are used with great indifference at 
 the end of syllables imitative of natural 
 sounds, as in the E. clap, clack, clatter; 
 G. knappen, knacken, knattern, to crack, 
 crackle. We accordingly find the sylla- 
 bles chat or chit, chick, chip, or equivalent 
 forms, used to represent a sharp note, as 
 that made by the crack of a hard sub- 
 stance, or the cry of a bird or the like. 
 To chitter or chipper, to chirp as a bird ; 
 to cheep, to cry as a chicken ; chip, the 
 cry of the bat. — Hal. 
 
 To chip is then to crack, to separate in 
 morsels, to break open and burst forth as 
 a blossom out of the bud, or a bird out of 
 the egg. 
 
 The rois knoppis tetand furth thare hede 
 
 Gan chyp and kythe their vernal lippis red. 
 D. V. in Jam. 
 
 The Qgg is chipped, the bird is flown.— Jam. 
 
 Du. kipperi, cudere, ferire, also to 
 hatch. — Kil. It. schioppare, to crack, 
 snap, or pop, to burst open. — Fl. In like 
 manner Russ. chikaf, OE. chykkyn (Pr. 
 Pm.), to cheep or peep as a young bird ; 
 then chick (Hal.), a crack or a flaw ; also 
 to germinate or spring forth. And thus 
 probably has arisen the sense of germin- 
 ation-belonging to chat or chit. Chit in 
 the sense of a child is metaphorically 
 taken from the figure of a shoot, as we 
 speak of olive branches, or a sprig of 
 nobility for a young aristocrat. So in 
 Gael, gallan or ogan, a branch, also a 
 youth, a young man ; getig, a branch 
 and a young female. 
 
 Parallel with E. chit in the latter sense 
 
144 
 
 CHATTELS 
 
 the It. has cito, cita^ ciielio, ziiclla, a 
 young boy or girl. 
 
 Chattels.— Cattle. Fr. c/iatel, OFr. 
 chaptel, a piece of moveable property, 
 from Lat. capitale^ whence captale, catal- 
 lufn, the principal sum in a loan, as dis- 
 tinguished from the interest due upon it. 
 * Semper renovabantur cartas et usura 
 quae excrevit vertebatur in catallum.^ — 
 Cronica Jocelini. Cam. Soc. Then, in 
 the same way as we speak at the present 
 day of a man of large capital for a man 
 of large possessions, catallum came to 
 be used in the sense of goods in general, 
 with the exception of land, and was 
 specially applied to cattle as the principal 
 wealth of the country in an early stage of 
 society. 
 
 Juxta facultates suas et juxta catalla sua. — 
 Laws of Edward the Confessor. Cum decimis 
 omnium terrarum ac bonorum aliorum sive ca- 
 tallorum. — Ingulphus. Rustic! curtillum debet 
 esse clausum asstate simul et hieme. Si disclau- 
 sum sit et introeat alicujus vicini sui captale per 
 suum apertum. — Brompton in Due. 
 
 It should be observed that there is the 
 same double meaning in as. ceap^ goods, 
 cattle, which is the word in the laws of 
 Ina translated captale in the foregoing 
 passage ; and this may perhaps be the 
 reason why the Lat. equivalent captale 
 was applied to beasts of the farm with 
 us, while it never acquired that meaning 
 in Fr. Bret, chatal, cattle. 
 
 Chawl.— Chowl.— Chole. as. ceaji, 
 snout, ceajlas, jaws, cheeks, lead to OE. 
 chavylbone or chawlbone, mandibula. — 
 Pr. Pm. NE. choule, jaw. The strap of 
 the bridle under the jaw is called the 
 choulband. — Hal. See Cheek, Chew. 
 
 Cheap. The modern sense of low in 
 price is an ellipse iox good cheap, equiva- 
 lent to Fr. bo7i jnarche, from AS. ceap, 
 price, sale, goods, cattle. Goth, kaupon, 
 to deal ; ON. kaupa, to negotiate, buy ; 
 Du. koopen, G. kaiifen, to buy; kauf- 
 maiin, E. chapman, a dealer. Slav, ku- 
 piti, Bohem. kanpiti, to buy. Gr. <ca7ri?\oc, 
 Lat. caupo, a tavern-keeper, tradesman. 
 — Dief. 
 
 Ihre shows satisfactorily that the mo- 
 dern sense of buying is not the original 
 force of the word, which is used in the 
 sense of bargaining, agreeing upon, ex- 
 changing, giving or taking in exchange, 
 and hence either buying or selling. ' Ek 
 villdi kattpa skipinu vid yckur brasdur.' 
 I will exchange ships with you two bro- 
 thers. '' Kopa jord i jord,' to exchange 
 faiTn for farm. Thus we are brought to 
 the notion of changing expressed by the 
 
 CHEEK 
 
 colloquial E. chop ; to chop and change, 
 to swap goods ; to coff—W?A., Sc. to coup 
 s. s. ; horse-couper, a dealer in horses. 
 See Chop. 
 
 Chear. Prov. Sp. cara, OFr. chiere, 
 It. cera, the countenance ; Fr. chere, the 
 face, visage, countenance, favour, look, 
 aspect of a man. Fai?'e bonne chere, to 
 entertain kindly, welcome heartily, make 
 good chear unto ; /aire mauvaise chh'e, 
 to frown, lower, hold down the head ;' 
 belle chlre et ccenr arriere, a willing look 
 and unwilling heart. — Cot. Then as a 
 kind reception is naturally joined with 
 liberal entertainment, yJrzV^ bonne or mau- 
 vaise chere acquired the signification of 
 good living or the reverse, and hence the 
 E. chear in the sense of victuals, enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 Cheat. Cheat in the old canting lan- 
 guage of beggars and rogues was a thing 
 of any kind. Thus grunttng-chete was a 
 pig ; crashing-chetes, teeth ; prattling- 
 chete, the tongue, &c., and, from the fre- 
 quency probably with which the word 
 occurred, a cheater \\2iS equivalent to cant- 
 er, a rogue or person who used the cant- 
 ing language. Hence to cheat, to act as 
 a rogue. — Modern Slang. It. truffa, any 
 cheati7ig, canting or crossbiting trick ; 
 truffatore, a cheater, cozener, a canting 
 knave. — Fl. 
 
 Check. Fr. echec, a repulse, a meta- 
 phor taken from the game of chess, 
 where the action of a player is brought 
 to a sudden stop by receiving check ta 
 his king. 
 
 To check an account, in the sense of 
 ascertainmg its correctness, is an ex- 
 pression derived from the practice of the 
 King's Court of Exchequer, where ac- 
 counts were taken by means of counters 
 upon a checked cloth. See Chess. 
 
 Cheek.— Choke.— Chaps. The gut- 
 tural sounds made by impeded exertions 
 of the throat in coughing, retching, hawk- 
 ing, stuttering, laughing, are represented 
 in widely separated languages by the 
 syllables ^«^, gig, kak, ke/e, kik, kok, with 
 a frequent change of the initial k into ch. 
 We may cite Fin. kakaista, to vomit, 
 
 Lap.^«y^^/, to nauseate (to retch), kakkaset, 
 to stutter. Fin. kikottaa, Lat. cachinnari, 
 AS. ceahhetan,' to laugh, Bav. gagkern, 
 gagkezen, to cluck like a hen, to cough 
 dry and hard, to stutter ; gigken, gig- 
 kezen, to make inarticulate sounds in 
 retching, stuttering, giggling, Du. kichen, 
 to gasp, cough, sob ; E. keck, to fetch the 
 breath with difficulty, to clear the throat ; 
 cliuckle, to make inarticulate sounds in 
 
CHEEP 
 
 the throat from suppressed laughter or 
 the hke; Sw. kikna, to gasp, kikna af 
 skratt, to choke with laughter. The Sw. 
 kikna is identical with OE. cheken, to 
 choke. ' Chekenyd or querkenyd, suffo- 
 catus.' — Pr. Pm. Thus we are brought 
 to w. cegio, AS. ceocian, E. to choke; ON. 
 koka, gaoka, to swallow. 
 
 Again the root representing the sounds 
 made by impeded guttural action passes 
 on to signify the parts of the bodily 
 frame by which the exertion is made, the 
 throat, gullet, chops, jaws, cheeks. Sc. 
 chouks, the throat, jaws ; ON. kok, giwk, 
 the throat ; w. ceg, throat, mouth ; Sw. 
 kek, kdke, N. kjakje^ jaw ; Du. kaecke, 
 cheek, jaw, gill of fish ; AS. ceac, E. cheek. 
 The frequentative keckle, to make a noise 
 in the throat by reason of difficulty of 
 breathing (Bailey) leads on to Pl.D. 
 kdkel, the mouth, Fris. gaghel, the palate 
 (Kil.), Lith. kaklas, the neck, AS. geagl^ 
 geahl, geafl, Fr. giffle, jouffle^ jaw, jowl, 
 chops. 
 
 In these latter forms we see the trans- 
 ition from a guttural to a labial termin- 
 ation, which in the case of cough has 
 taken place in pronunciation although 
 the final guttural is retained in writing. 
 The imitative origin is witnessed by Galla 
 atfd^ to belch, cough, clear the throat, 
 rattle in the throat. — Tutschek. Analo- 
 gous forms are G. kopen,koppe7i^\.o belch, 
 to gasp — Schmeller ; E. to kep, to boken, 
 i. e. when the breath is stopped being 
 ready to vomit — B. ; Pl.D. gapen, kaperi^ 
 Da. gabe^ to gape ; gab^ the mouth or 
 throat of an animal ; Sw. gap., the throat ; 
 AS. ceaplas, ceajlas, E. chaps, the loose 
 flesh about the jaws ; Da. kjcebe, kjcEve, 
 the jaw ; Wall, chiffe, cheek. 
 
 To Cheep. To make a shrill noise 
 like a young chicken, squeak as a mouse, 
 creak as shoes. — Jam. An imitative word, 
 like peep m the same sense. Lith. czypti, 
 to cheep like a chicken or squeak like a 
 mouse, whence czypiUas., a chicken. Sc. 
 cheiper, a cricket. 
 
 Cheese, as. cese, cyse, OHG. chasi, G. 
 kdse, w. caws, Lat. caseus. The word 
 may perhaps be explained from a Fin- 
 nish source. Fin. kasa., a heap, whence 
 kasa-leipa, old bread, bread kept for a 
 year. The Lapps prepare much of their 
 food, as meat and butter, by laying it in 
 a heap till it becomes rancid or half de- 
 cayed, acquiring a flavour of old cheese. 
 This they call hdrsk. From them the 
 practice seems to have been communi- 
 cated to their Scandinavian neighbours, 
 who treat their fish and coarser flesh in 
 
 CHEVRON 
 
 H5 
 
 this manner. on. kcEs, kos subliqui- 
 dorum coacervatio, mollium congeries, 
 veluti piscium, carnium, &c. Hence 
 kasa, to heap up such things for the pur- 
 pose of acidifying them ; kasadr, kasull- 
 dm, subacidus, veteris casei sapore — An- 
 dersen ; kcEstr, incaseatus, made rancid 
 by laying up in a covered heap, used 
 especially of seals' flesh, which is not 
 otherwise considered eatable. — Haldor- 
 sen. 
 
 The use of the word kcestr, rennet, 
 shows that the Icelanders recognise the 
 identity of the process going on in viands 
 subjected to this process with that which 
 takes place in the formation of cheese, 
 though it is remarkable that they use a 
 different word, ost, for cheese itself, which 
 seems also derived from a Finnish source. 
 
 Chemistry. See Alchemy. 
 
 Chequer. See Chess. 
 
 Cherish. Fr. cherir, to hold dear, to 
 treat with affection. Cher^ Lat. carus, 
 dear. w. earn, to love. 
 
 Cherry, Lat. cerasns. It. cireggia, 
 cirieggia, Fr. cerise; G. kirsche. 
 
 Chesnut. Lat. castaneus; Fr. chas- 
 tagne, chdtaigne. Du. kastaiiie, G. kesten, 
 E. chest e7i. — Kil. Hence chesteti-mit, 
 chestnut. 
 
 Chess. It. scacco, Sp. xaque, Fr. echec, 
 G. schach, from the cry of check / (Pers. 
 schach, king), when the king is put in the 
 condition of being taken. As the board 
 in this game is divided into a number of 
 equal squares of opposite colours, things 
 so marked are called chequered. Pro- 
 bably at one time the game was called 
 the game of checks,^ subsequently cor- 
 rupted into chess. It is sometimes written 
 chests in OE. 
 
 Chest. AS. cist; G. kasten, kiste; Lat. 
 cista. See Case. 
 
 Chevaux de frise. The name of 
 Vriesse ruyters (Frisian horsemen) was 
 given in Dutch to long beams stuck 
 round with spikes and placed in the road 
 to prevent the attack of cavalry. It would 
 seem to have been a device of the Frisian 
 peasants to supply the want of cavalry in 
 their struggle for independence. 
 
 Chevisance. Achievement, acquisition, 
 gain or profit in trade. Fr. chevir, to 
 compass, prevail with, make an end, 
 come to an agreement with. Chef, pro- 
 perly head, then end, accomplishment ; 
 achever, to bring to an end, to accom- 
 plish. 
 
 Chevron. The representation of two 
 rafters in heraldry. Fr. chevron, Prov. 
 cabrion, cabiron, Sp. cabrio, a rafter \ ca- 
 10 
 
146 
 
 CHEW 
 
 brial, a beam, cahiones, wedges of wood 
 to support the breech of a cannon. Wal- 
 ach. caferii, capriorUy beam, rafter, w. 
 cebr, Bret, k^br, rafter ; Gael, cabar, deer's 
 horn, antler, stake, pole, rafter ; cabar 
 beinne, mountain top ; cabarach^ branchy. 
 It is remarkable that the rafters are also 
 called corni la casa, horns of the house, 
 in Walach., while the Magy. term is S2a?-u 
 fu, horn wood. 
 
 To Chew. — Chaw. It is shown under 
 Cheek that the names of the gullet, mouth, 
 jaw, chaps, are taken from the representa- 
 tion of the sounds made by guttural exer- 
 tions. Among these the G. kmicheti, 
 keichen, lead through the synonymous E. 
 kaw, to gasp for breath (Hal.), to Du. 
 kauwe, kouwe^ kiiwe^ the throat, cheek, 
 jaw, chin, gills of a fish. — Kil. E. chaw- 
 bone, machouere. — Palsgr. And hence, 
 and not vice versa, are formed Du. kaau- 
 we?t, G. kaiien, E. chew or chaw, to use 
 the jaws. E. chavel, choule, a jaw, chol, 
 the jole, head, jaws ; chavel, to chew. — 
 Hal. 
 
 * Chicane. Fr. chicaner, to pettifog, 
 to contest, captiously taking every possi- 
 ble advantage without regard to substan- 
 tial justice ; chicoter, to contest about 
 trifles. — Gattel. Probably from Fr. chic, 
 chiquet, a little bit. De chic en chic, 
 from little to little. — Cot. Payer chiquet 
 a chiquet, by driblets. — Gattel. Chique, 
 a lump, a quid of tobacco. It. cica cica, 
 the least imaginable jot. — Fl. For the 
 ultimate origin of the word see Doit, 
 Mite. 
 
 Chick. Du. kieken, a chicken. The 
 shrill cry of the young bird is represented 
 by the syllable cheip, peep, or chick, from 
 the first of which is Lith. czypulas, a 
 chicken, from the second Lat. pipio, a 
 young bird, and from the third E. chicken. 
 Chikkyn as hennys byrdys, pipio, pululo. 
 — Pr. Pm. Russ. chikaf, to cheep or 
 peep as a young bird ; chij (Fr. j), a 
 finch. Magy. pip, the cry of young 
 birds; pipe, a chicken, gosling. Fin. 
 tiukkata, tiukkua, to chirp or peep like a 
 chicken, tiiikka, the chirping of a spar- 
 row ; Magy. tyuk, a hen, doubtless ori- 
 ginally a chicken ; Lap. tiuk, the young 
 of animals in general. 
 
 To Chide, as. cidaii, to scold, fi-om 
 the notion of speaking loud and shrill. 
 Swiss kiden, to resound as a bell. Fin. 
 kidata, kitista, strideo, crepo, queror, 
 knarren, knirschen, klagend tonen. 
 
 Chief. Fr. chef. Pro v. cap, It. capo, 
 Walach. capu, pi. capete, Lat. caput, the 
 head. The loss of the syllable it in 
 
 CHIME 
 
 the radical form is unusual. It reappears 
 however in the derivatives capitano, chief- 
 tain, captain. The curtailed form agrees 
 in a singular way with G. kopf Du. kop, 
 a cup, a head. 
 
 Child. AS. did, G. kifid. A similar 
 interchange of n and / is seen in E. 
 kilderkin, Du. kindeken, a small cask ; 
 OFr. a?ier, Fr. alter, to go. It is remark- 
 able that the anomalous plural children 
 agrees with the Du. kindere7i. 
 
 Chill, The meaning is properly to 
 shiver or cause to shiver. 
 The ape that earst did nought but chill and 
 
 quake 
 Now gan some courage unto him to take. 
 
 Mother Hubbard. 
 
 Brezza, chillness or shivering. — Fl. 
 Chilly weather is what causes one to 
 shiver : to feel chilly is to feel shivery. 
 Now the notion of shivering or trembling 
 is most naturally expressed by a vibrating, 
 quivering sound which passes, when the 
 vibrations become very rapid, into a con- 
 tinuous shrill sound. The usual sense of 
 twitter is to warble like a bird, but it is 
 explained by Bailey to quake or shiver 
 with cold. To chatter represents the 
 rapid shaking of the teeth with cold, or 
 the broken noise of birds, or of people 
 talking rapidly. To chitter, to chirp or 
 twitter as birds — Hal., then as G. zittern, 
 Du. citteren, to tremble with cold. To 
 titter is a modification of the same word 
 applied to the broken sounds of repressed 
 laughter, while didder is to shiver or 
 tremble. 
 
 From the tingling sound of a little 
 bell {Yy. grelot), greloter \s to shiver for 
 cold. On the same principle I regard 
 the Ptg. chillrar, to twitter, Sp. chillar, 
 Wall, chiler, to crackle, creak, twitter, 
 hiss as meat on the gridiron, as pointing 
 out the origin of the E. chill, signifying 
 properly shivering, then cold. See Chim- 
 mer, Chitter. The Pl.D. killen, to smart, 
 has probably the same origin. * De finger 
 killet mi for kalte,' my finger tingles with 
 cold. Du. killen, tintelen van koude. — 
 Halm. 
 
 Chimb. Du. kimme, the rim or edge 
 of a vase, or as E. cJmnb, the projecting 
 ends of the staves above the head of a 
 cask. Pl.D. kirn VI s. s., also the horizon, 
 w. cib, a cup ; cibaw, to raise the rim, 
 knit the brow ; cib-led, of expanded rim ; 
 hyd-y-gib, to the brim. Fin. kippa, a cup. 
 
 Chime. Imitative of a loud clear 
 sound. Chymyn or chenkyn with bellys. 
 Tintillo. — Pr. Pm. Da. kiine, to chime. 
 Fin. ki?nia, acute, sonorous, ki?nistd, 
 
CHIMERA 
 
 acutd tinnio ; kimina, sonus acutus, 
 
 clangor tinniens ; kununata, kumista^ to 
 sound, as a large bell ; kiwtina, reson- 
 ance ; kojnia, sounding deep, as a bell ; 
 kommata^ komista, to sound deep or 
 hollow. 
 
 Chimera. Gr. x/^ort/oo, a goat, then 
 the name of a fabulous monster part 
 goat, part lion, killed by Bellerophon. 
 
 To Chimmer. Chymerynge, or chy- 
 verynge or dyderinge. Frigutus. — Pr. 
 Pm. This word affords a good illustra- 
 tion of the mode in which the ideas of 
 tremulous motion, sound, and light, are 
 connected together. We have the radical 
 application to a tremulous sound in Pol. 
 szemrad^ to murmur, rustle; E. simmer, 
 to boil gently, to make a tremulous 
 sound on beginning to boil. The desig- 
 nation passes on to phenomena of sight 
 and bodily movement in shimmer, a 
 twinkling light, and chimmer, to tremble, 
 which differ from each other only as 
 shiver and the chyver of Pr. Pm. Com- 
 pare also Walach. caperd, to simmer, 
 vibrate, sparkle. See Bright, Chitter. 
 
 Chimney. Fr. chetninee. It. cam- 
 tninata, a hall ; Mid.Lat. caminata, an 
 apartment with a fire-place, from Lat. 
 caminns, a fire-place. Caminatum, fyr- 
 hus.— ^If. Gloss. 
 
 Chin. AS. cinne, Du. kinne. Kinne- 
 backe, the jaw, cheek. Gr. -^ivvQ, the jaw, 
 chin ; ykvnov, the chin ; Lat. gena, the 
 cheek. Bret, gen, the cheek (jaw) ; genou 
 (pi.), the mouth (jaws) ; genawi, to open 
 the mouth. 
 
 Chin- cough. — Chink- cough. Sw. 
 kik hosta, G. keich husten, Du. kieck hoest, 
 kink hoest, the whooping cough, from the 
 sharp chiftking sound by which it is ac- 
 companied. To chink with laughter, to 
 Jose one's breath with laughter and make 
 a crowing sound in recovering breath. 
 
 Chine. Fr. es chine, the chitie, back- 
 bone ; eschinSe (de pore), a chine (of 
 pork) ; eschiner, to chine, to divide or 
 break the back of. — Cot. It. schiena, 
 schena, schina, Sp. esquena, Prov. esquina, 
 the backbone ; Lat. spina, a thorn, also 
 the spine or backbone from its pointed 
 processes. The change from the sound 
 of sp to sk is singular, as the/ is preserved 
 in It. spina, Fr. epine, a thorn. Diez de- 
 rives from OHG. skina, a needle ; but 
 skina applied to a bone signified the shin, 
 and it is most unlikely that it would also 
 have been used to designate the spine. 
 
 Chink. Primarily a shrill sound, as 
 the chink of money, to chink with laugh- 
 
 CHITTERLING 
 
 147 
 
 ter. Magy. tsenge?ii, tsongetii, tinnire. 
 Then, in the same way that the word 
 crack, originally representing the sound 
 made by the fracture of a hard body, is 
 applied to the separation of the broken 
 parts, so also we find chink applied to 
 the fissure arising from the fracture of a 
 hard body, then to any narrow crack or 
 fissure. AS. cinan, to gape, to chink. 
 The same sound is represented in E. in- 
 differently by the syllable clink or chink, 
 and the Du. klincken, to clink or sound 
 sharp, gives rise in like manner to the 
 substantive klincke, a chink or fissure. 
 
 In like manner E. chick, representing 
 in the first instance a sharp sound, is pro- 
 vincially used in the sense of a crack, a 
 flaw — Hal. ; and from a similar sound 
 represented by the syllable schrick, Bav. 
 schricken, to crack as glass or earthen- 
 ware ; schrick, a chap, cleft, chink.— 
 Kuttn. 
 
 Chintz. Hindost. chits, chhint. 
 
 Chip. See Chap, Chat. 
 
 Chirk. See Chark. 
 
 To Chirp. A parallel form with chirky 
 representing the shrill noise of birds or 
 insects, all these imitative terms being 
 liable to great variation in the final con- 
 sonants. Lith. czirszkti,to chirp, twitter ; 
 czirbti, to prattle ; czirpti, to creak, hiss ; 
 G. zirpen, zirken, tschifpeti, to chirp ; Sp. 
 chirriar, to creak, chirp, hiss ; chirlar, It. 
 ciarlare, to prattle ; Valentian charrar; 
 Norman charer, to tattle, chatter ; E. dial. 
 to chirre, to chirp. In the same sense, 
 to chirm J ' chirming tongues of birds.' — • 
 Phaer's Virg. Chyrme or chur, as birds 
 do. — Huloet. in Hal. 
 
 ChiseL Fr. ciseau (for cisel), a sur- 
 geon's lancet, also a chisel or graving 
 iron. — Cot. It. cisello, Sp. cincel, Ptg. 
 sizel. Fr. cisaille, clipping of coin. Sp. 
 chischas, clashing of weapons. 
 
 Chit. See Chats. 
 
 To Chitter. To chirp or twitter. 
 
 But she withal no worde may soune, 
 
 But chitre as a bird jargowne. — Gower in Hal. 
 
 Du. schette?'en, stridere, crepare, dis- 
 plodere, et garrire ; schetteringe, sonus 
 vibrans, quavering of the voice. — Kil. 
 From signifying a twittering sound chit- 
 ter is applied to tremulous motion. Chyt- 
 tering, quivering or shakyng for colde. — ■ 
 Huloet in Hal. It. sqiiittire, to squeak 
 or cry as a parrot, to hop or skip nimbly 
 up and down. 
 
 Chitterling. i. A frill to a shirt. 
 We make of a French ruff an English chitterling. 
 Gascoigne in Todd. 
 
 2. The small entrails of a hog, from- 
 10 * 
 
148 
 
 CHIVALRY 
 
 their wrinkled appearance. G. kros, 
 gekrose, a ruff or frill, also the mesentery 
 or membrane which covers the bowels, 
 from krausy curly; kalds gekrose, a calf's 
 pluck or chaldron ; gdnse gekrose, a 
 goose's giblets, called chitters in the N. 
 of E. Yr.frese, a ruff, a calf's chaldern ; 
 fresure, the inwards of an animal, pluck, 
 haslets, &c. 
 
 The origin of the word in the sense of 
 a frill or wrinkled structure is chitter, to 
 chirp or twitter, then to shiver, the ridges 
 of a wrinkled surface being represented 
 by the vibrations of sound or motion. 
 In the same way the synonym frill is re- 
 lated to Fr. friiler, to shiver, chatter, or 
 didder for cold, and '^.ffrill, a twittering, 
 chattering. Compare also Pol. kruszyd, 
 to shiver ; krttszki, ruffs, also calf s, 
 lamb's pluck or gather, chawdron, &c. 
 Walach. caperd^ to palpitate ; Lat. cape- 
 rare, to wrinkle. 
 
 Chivalry. The manners and senti- 
 ments of the knightly class. Fr. che- 
 valerie^ from chevalier, a knight. See 
 Cavalry. 
 
 Chives. The fine threads of flowers, 
 or the little knobs which grow on the tops 
 of those threads ; chivets, the small parts 
 of the roots of plants, by which they are 
 propagated. — B . Fr. chippe, chiffe, a rag, 
 jag ; E. chife, a fragment, chimp, a young 
 shoot ; chibble, to break off in small 
 pieces ; shive, a small slice or slip of 
 anything ; shiver, a scale or fragment ; 
 Pl.D. scheve, the shives or broken frag- 
 ments of stalk that fall off in dressing 
 flax or hemp ; schevel-steen, G. schiefer, 
 stone which splits off in shives or shivers, 
 slate ; ON. skifa, to cleave ; — all seem 
 developments of the same radical image. 
 See Chats. 
 
 * Chives are also a kind of small onion, 
 the eatable part of which consists of the 
 young fine leaves, and in this sense the 
 word is more likely to be from Lat. cepa, 
 an onion. Fr. cive, civette, a chive, seal- 
 lion or unset leek. — Cot. Verte comnie 
 chives, as green as leeks. — Body and Soul. 
 
 Chock-full. — Chuck-full. Swab. 
 schoch, a heap, g'schochet voll, full to 
 overflowing, heaped measure, chock full. 
 — Schmid. In the same dialect schop- 
 pen is to stuff, to stop ; geschoppt voll, 
 crammed full. 
 
 Choir. — Chorus, Gr. xopoq, a com- 
 pany of singers or dancers, specially with 
 an application to theatrical performances, 
 whence Lat. chorus, and It. coro, Fr. 
 chceur, the quire or part of the church 
 appropriated to the singers. 
 
 CHOP 
 
 To Choke.— See Cheek. 
 
 Choleric. — Cholera. Gr. xo^*,o"j ^ 
 malady the symptoms of which are con- 
 nected with the bile, from xoki], i. bile, 2. 
 anger, wrath, whence choleric, of an angry 
 disposition. 
 
 * To Choose.— Choice. M^.ceosan,Ti\x, 
 kiezen, ketiren, koren, Goth, kiusan, kaus- 
 jan, G. kiesen, kohren, Prov. causir, Fr. 
 choisir, to choose. The primary mean- 
 ing is doubtless to taste, then to try, 
 prove, approve, select. * Thaiize ni kaus- 
 jattd dauthaus,' who shall not taste death. 
 — Mark ix. i. ' Gagga kausjan thans ' 
 — 1 go to prove them. — Luc. xiv. 19. The 
 original meaning is preserved in G. wein 
 kieser, a wine taster, and in kosten, to 
 taste, to experience, to try. OHG. kiusan, 
 to prove, to try ; arkiusan, to choose ; 
 koron, to taste, try, prove. Swiss kust, 
 gust, taste, gusten, kustigen, to taste, to 
 try, lead us on to Lat. gustare, Gr. ytuw, 
 ysyffw, to taste. Equivalents in the Sla- 
 vonic languages are Pol. kusic, to tempt, 
 try. Boh. okusyti, to taste, try, experience ; 
 Russ. wkusit' , prikushaf , to taste ; Serv. 
 kushati, to taste, to try. As kushnuti, 
 kushevati, in the same language, signify 
 to kiss, in analogy with the use of smack 
 in the sense of kiss as well as taste, it is 
 probable that the root kus of the fore- 
 going terms represents the smack of the 
 lips in kissing or tasting. 
 
 Choice is probably direct from Fr. choix. 
 
 To Chop. The syllable chap or chop 
 represents the sound of a sudden blow ; 
 Sc. chap ha?ids, to strike hands ; to chap 
 at a door ; to chap, to hack, cut up into 
 small pieces. Chap, chaup, choppe, a 
 blow. — Jam. Hence to chop is to do any- 
 thing suddenly, as with a blow, to turn. 
 A greyhound chops up a hare when it 
 catches it unawares ; to chop up in prison, 
 to clap up — Hal. ; the wind chops rounc^ 
 when it makes a sudden turn to a differ- 
 ent quarter. 
 
 From the notion of turning round the 
 word chop passes to the sense of exchang- 
 ing, an exchange being the transfer of 
 something with the return of an equiva- 
 lent on the other side. Thus we speak 
 of chopping and changing ; to chop horses 
 with one, to exchange horses. The Sc. 
 and N. of E. coup, Warwickshire caff, ON. 
 kaup, keypa, are used in the same sense. 
 
 * Sidast bid hann at Holmi thviat hann 
 keipti vid Holmstarra baedi londom oc 
 konom oc lausa fe olio.' At last he dwelt 
 at Holm because he and Holmstarra had 
 chopped both lands and wives and all 
 their moveables. *Enn Sigridur sem 
 
CHOP 
 
 hann ^tti ddur hengdi sig i hofino thviat 
 hun villdi eigi ntafuia-kaupiii.^ But Sig- 
 rid whom he before had to wife hanged 
 herself in the temple, because she would 
 not endure this husband chopping. — 
 Landnamabok, p. 49. 
 
 Thus chop is connected with G. kaufen, 
 E. cheap, chapman, &c. In Sc. co2/p the 
 original sense of turning is combined with 
 that of trafficking, dealing. To cot^p, to 
 overturn, overset. — Jam. 
 
 ' The whirling stream will make our boat to 
 C02ip, i. e. to turn over.' ' They are forebuyers 
 of quheit, bear and aits, copers and turners there- 
 of in merchandise.' — Jam. 
 
 Horse-cotcper, cow-couper, one who 
 buys and sells horses or cows ; soul-coup- 
 er, a trafficker in souls. To turn a penny 
 is a common expression for making a 
 penny by traffic. 
 
 The nasalisation of chap or chop in the 
 sense of exchanging would give rise to 
 the It. cambiare, cangiare, and we act- 
 ually find champman for chapman, a 
 merchant, in Chaucer. See Change. 
 
 To Chop logick. Du. happen (to 
 chop) in thieves' language signified to 
 speak. Borgoens happen, to cant, to 
 speak thieves' slang. — P. Marin, 
 
 Chopino. Sp. chapin, high clog, slip- 
 per ; chapineria, shop where clogs and 
 pattens are sold. From the sound of a 
 blow represented by the syllable chap, 
 chop, as Du. klo7npe, klopper, clogs, from 
 kloppen, to knock, because in clogs or 
 wooden shoes one goes clumping along, 
 where it will be observed that the initial 
 kl of kloppen corresponds to ch of chopino, 
 as in the examples mentioned under 
 Chape. 
 
 Chord. Gr. xop^^> the string of a music- 
 al instrument ; originally, the intestine of 
 an animal, of which such strings are made. 
 
 Chough. A jackdaw ; AS. ceo j OE. 
 kowe, monedula. — Nominale in Nat. Ant. 
 Du. kauwe, kae j Lith. kowe; Sax. 
 kaycke j Picard. cauc, cauvette j Fr . 
 choucas, chouquette, chouette, whence E. 
 chuet. 
 
 Peace, chuet, peace. — Shakespeare. 
 
 This latter is the same word with the 
 It. civetta, applied to an owl in that 
 language. The origin of all these words 
 is an imitation of the cry of the bird, equi- 
 valent to the E. kaw. See Chaff. 
 
 To Chouse. From the Turkish Chiaus, 
 a messenger or envoy. In 1609 Sir 
 Robert Shirley, who was about to come 
 to England with a mission from the Grand 
 Seignor and the King of Persia, sent be- 
 fore him a Chiaus, who took in the Turk- 
 
 CHUCK 
 
 149 
 
 ey and Persia merchants in a way that 
 obtained much notoriety at the time. 
 Hence to chiaus became a slang word 
 for to defraud. — Gififord's Ben Jonson, 4. 
 27. In the Alchemist, which was written 
 in 1 610, we find the following passage : 
 Dap. And will I tell then? by this hand of flesh 
 Would it might never write good court-hand more 
 If I discover. What do you think of me, 
 That I am a chiaus f 
 Face. What 's that ? 
 Dap. The Turk was here 
 
 As one should say, Doe you think I am a Turk? — 
 Face. Come, noble Doctor, pray thee let's pre- 
 vail — 
 You deal now with a noble gentleman, 
 One that will thank you richly, and he is no 
 chiaus — 
 
 Slight, I bring you 
 No cheating Clim o' the Cloughs. — Alchemist. 
 
 We are in a fair way to be ridiculous. What 
 think you. Madam, chiaus dhy a. scholax} — Shir- 
 ley in Gifford. 
 
 Chrism. — Chrisom. Fr. chrisine, Gr. 
 XP'iTfxa, consecrated oil to be used in bap- 
 tism ; Fr. cresmeau, the crisome where- 
 with a child is anointed, or more properly 
 the cloth or christening cap that was put 
 on the head of the child as soon as it had 
 been anointed. — Cot. 
 
 -chron-. — Chronicle. , Gr. xpo**"?* 
 time ; to. -^^i^oviKa, Fr. chroniques, E. 
 chronicles, journals of events in refer- 
 ence to the times in which they hap- 
 pened. 
 
 Anachronism, an offence against the 
 fitness of times. 
 
 Chrysalis. Lat. chrysalis (Plin.), Gr. 
 XovfyaWq, doubtless from some connection 
 with xi^vrsoq, gold. 
 
 Chub.— Chevin. A fish with a thick 
 snout and head. Fr. chevane, cheviniau. 
 Confounded with the bullhead, a small fish 
 with a large head. Mid. Lat. capito, ca- 
 pitanus, caphatenus, cavena, whence the 
 Fr. chevane, E. chevin. G. forms are 
 kaulhaupt (club-head, whence E. gull ; 
 capitone, a bullhead, gull, or miller's 
 thumb — Fl.), kolbe (club), kobe, koppe, 
 whence apparently the E. chub. — Dief. 
 Sup. Quabbe, quappe, gobio capitatus, 
 capito. — Kil. 
 
 * Chubby, e. dial, cob, a lump or 
 piece ; chutnp, a thick piece. ON. kubbr, 
 Sw. dial, kubb, a stump, short piece ; 
 kubbug, fat, plump, thick-set. 
 
 Chuck. — ^Chuckstone. A sharp sound 
 like the knocking of two hard substances 
 together is imitated by the syllables 
 clack, chack, cak, clat, chat, as in Fr. 
 claquer, to clack, chatter ; Wall, caker, 
 to strike in the hand, the teeth to chat- 
 ter ; Fr. caqueter, to chatter, prattle ; E. 
 
I50 
 
 CHUCKLE 
 
 clatter^ &c. N. kakka^ klakka^ to strike 
 a resounding object, as a board. — Aasen. 
 In Sc. we have to chack^ to make a noise 
 like two stones knocking together. 
 
 Some 's teeth for cold did chack and chatter. 
 Cleland in Jam. 
 
 Hence the name of the wheatear or 
 stone-chat (a bird making a noise of that 
 description), in Sc. chack ox stane-chacker. 
 
 This imitation of the noise of pebbles 
 knocking together has very generally 
 given rise to the designation of a pebble 
 or small stone, as in E. chack-stone^ Sc. 
 chuckte-stane. The Turkish has chagh- 
 lamak, to make a rippling noise, as water 
 running over rocks or stones, chaktl, a 
 pebble ; Gr. KaxXaivu), to move with a 
 rattling noise like pebbles rolled on the 
 beach ; Ka^Xj^?, xaXt^, Lat. ca/x, calculus^ 
 a pebble. 
 
 To chuck one under the chin is to give 
 him a sudden blow, so as to make the 
 jaw chack or snap. To chuck in the 
 sense of throwing may be from the notion 
 of a sudden jerk. 
 
 To Chuckle. See Cheek. 
 
 Chuff.— Chuffy. Chuff, churlish, surly, 
 an old chuff, a miser. Probably from It. 
 ciuffo, ceffo, the snout of an animal, and 
 thence an ugly face ; far ceffo, to make a 
 wry face ; ceffata, ceffore, a douse on the 
 chops. Wall, chife, chofe (Grandgagnage), 
 OFr. gffe, giffle, cheek, blow on the 
 cheeks ; Wall, chofu, Fr. joffu, joufflu, 
 chuffy, fat-cheeked, swollen or puffed up 
 in the face. — Cot. AS. ceaplas, ceajlas, 
 geaflas, chaps, jaws. See Cheek. 
 
 Chump. — Chunk. A log of wood, 
 the thick end of anything, a lump. See 
 Cob. 
 
 Church. The derivation from KvpmKov, 
 the Lord's house, has been impugned 
 because it is not understood how a Greek 
 term should have made its way among 
 Gothic nations. It is certain, however, that 
 KvpiaKov was used in the sense of church. 
 The canon of the sixth Council prescribes, 
 ■ — 'ort oh dti tv ToXg KvpiuKolg, ri iv toiq IkkXt)- 
 aiaiQ rag Xeyofisvag dymrdg ttoisIv.' And 
 Zonaras in commenting on the passage 
 says that the name of KvpiaKov is fre- 
 quently found in the sense of a church, 
 although only this canon directly dis- 
 tinguishes tKK\r)(Tia and KvpiaKov, ^ but I 
 think,' he adds, " that the ^ is not there 
 used disjunctively, but by way of explan- 
 ation.' — Quoted by Max Miiller in Times 
 Newsp. As AS. cyrice is confessedly the 
 very form to which the Greek would 
 have given rise, it is carrying scruples to 
 an extravagant length to doubt the iden- 
 
 CINDER 
 
 tity of the two words, because we do not 
 know how the Greek name came to be 
 employed instead of the Latin equivalent 
 domiuicum, whence Ir. domhnach, a 
 church. 
 
 Churl. AS. ceorl, a man, countryman, 
 husbandman. ON. ka?'l, a man, male 
 person, an old man. Du. kaerle, a man, 
 a husband, a rustic ; G. kerl, a fellow. 
 
 Churn, on. kjarni, G. kern, the kernel, 
 pith, marrow, flower, or choice part of a 
 thing ; whence ON. kirna, Fris. kernjen, 
 to churn, i. e. to separate the kernel of 
 the milk, or, as Epkema explains it, to 
 cause the milk to grain, to form grains of 
 butter. Da. dial, kiorne, to separate the 
 grains of barley from the chaff. Somer- 
 set ker7i, to turn from blossom to fruit.— 
 Jennings. 
 
 -cid-, -cis-. Lat. cado, casum (in comp. 
 -cid-), to fall ; accido, to fall at or on, to 
 happen ; incido, to fall upon ; decido, to 
 fall from, whence deciduous (of trees), 
 whose leaves fall from them. 
 
 -cide-. -cise. Lat. ccedo, ccesujn (in 
 comp, -cldo, -cisuDi), to cut ; decido, to 
 cut off, to determine ; incision, a cutting 
 in ; circumcision, a cutting round, &:c. 
 
 Cider, Fr. cidre, from Lat. sicera, Gr. 
 (TiKipa, as Fr. iadre from Lazare. Sicera- 
 tores, i. e. qui cervisiam vel pomarium 
 sive piratiam facere sciant. — Charta A.D. 
 1106 in Mur. Diss. 24. 
 
 Cieling. See Ceiling. 
 
 Cincture. Lat. cinctura icingo, pp. 
 cinctus, to gird, tie about), a girding on, 
 thence a belt. 
 
 * Cinder. The spelling of cinder has 
 arisen from the erroneous supposition 
 that the word is an adoption of Fr. cendre, 
 from Lat. cinis, -eris, dust, ashes, with 
 which it has really no connection. It 
 should be written sinder, corresponding 
 to G. sinter, Du. siftdel, sintel, ON. sindr, 
 signifying in the first place the brilliant 
 sparks which are driven off when white- 
 hot iron is beaten on the anvil, then the 
 black scales to which they turn when 
 cold, and the slag or dross of iron of 
 which they are composed, and from 
 analogy is applied to the unconsumed 
 residue of burnt coals. Du. sindel is 
 rendered by Kil. scoria, spuma metalli, 
 but according to Weiland sintel (as it is 
 now pronounced) is used as E. cinders 
 for the residue of stone coal. The origin 
 of the word is seen in ON. sindra, to 
 sparkle, to throw out sparks, a parallel 
 form with tyndra, Sw. tindra, to sparkle. 
 In Germany ziinder is used as a synonym 
 with sinter for smiths' scales or cinder. 
 
CION 
 
 See Tinder. ON. sindri, a flint for 
 striking fire. 
 
 Cion.— Scion. Fr. scion, don, a young 
 and tender plant, a shoot, sprig, twig. — 
 Cot. The proper sense is a sucker, as 
 in Sp. chiipon, a sucker or young twig 
 shooting from the stock, from chitpar, to 
 suck. The radical identity of the Fr. 
 and Sp. forms is traced by Gr. fft'^wr, a 
 tube or hollow reed (from the root sup, 
 sip, suck), also a waterspout (sucking up 
 the water of the sea), compared with It. 
 sio7ie, a kind of pipe, gutter, or quill to 
 draw water through — Fl. ; a whirlwind. 
 • — Alt. In Fr. cion, Sp. chupon, and E. 
 scion or sucker, the young shoot is con- 
 ceived as sucking up the juices of the 
 parent plant. 
 
 * Cipher. Fr. chiffre. It. cifra, Arab. 
 sifr. Originally the name of the figure 
 marking a blank in decimal arithmetic. 
 Then transferred to the other numeral 
 figures. From Arab, sifr, empty (Dozy) ; 
 sajira, to be empty. — Golius. 
 
 Circle. — Circuit. Gr. k^'ikoq, Kipicog, a 
 ring, circle, clasp. Lat. circa, around, 
 circulus, a circle. The Gr. KpiKog differs 
 only in the absence of the nasal from ON. 
 kringr, hringr, a circle, a ring. In the 
 latter language kring is used in composi- 
 tion as Lat. circiim. ON. kringla, a circle. 
 See Crankle. 
 
 Circum-. Lat. ci7'ca, circum, about, 
 around. See Circle. 
 
 -cis-. See -cid-. 
 
 * Cistern. Lat. cisterna, a reservoir 
 for water. Probably from Lat. cista, a 
 chest, as caverna from cavus. Comp. 
 G. wasserkasten (water chest), a cistern. 
 On the other hand a more cbaractieristic 
 explanation might be found in Bohem. 
 ^ciste, clean (the equivalent of the Lat. 
 castiis), whence cistiti, to cleanse, and 
 
 cisterna, a cleansing place, a cistern. So 
 Lat. lucerna^ the place of a light. AS. 
 cBrn, em, a place ; domern, a judgment 
 place ; hiddern, a hiding-place, &c. See 
 Chaste. 
 
 Citadel. It. cittadella, dim. of citta, 
 cittade, a city. A fort built close to a 
 city, either for the purpose of defence or 
 of control. 
 
 Cite. -cite. Lat. cieo, citum, and, in 
 the frequentative form, cito, to make to 
 go, stimulate, excite, to set in motion by 
 means of the voice, to call by name, to 
 summon or call on, to appeal, to mention, 
 to cry out. Gr. kj'w, to go. 
 
 Hence Incite, Excite, Recite. 
 
 Citron. Lat. citrus, a lemon tree. 
 
 CLAM 
 
 151 
 
 City. — Civil. Lat. civis, a citizen ; 
 civilis, belonging to cities or social life ; 
 civitas, It. cittci, Fr. cite, a city. 
 
 To Clack. The syllables clap, clack^ 
 clat, are imitative of the noise made 
 by two hard things knocking together. 
 Hence they give rise to verbs expressing 
 action accompanied by such kinds of 
 noise. Fr. claqiier, to clack, clap, clat- 
 ter, crash, crack, creak — Cot. ; claquer 
 les dents, to gnash the teeth, to chatter ; 
 claquet de nioulin, the clapper or clack of 
 a mill hopper. E. clack-dish, or clap-dish^ 
 a kind of rattle, formerly used by beggars 
 to extort attention from the by-passers ; 
 clack, clack-box, clap, clapper, the tongue. 
 — Hal. ON. klak, clangor avium ; Du. 
 klacken, to strike, or split with noise, 
 smack, lash ; klack, a split, crack, sound- 
 ing blow, sound of blow, clapping of 
 hands ; klacke, a whip, a rattle ; Fr. cla- 
 quer, to clap at a theatre. Du. klap^ 
 crack, sound, chatter ; klappe, a rattle ; 
 klappen, to chatter, prattle. Bohem. 
 klekotati, to cluck, rattle, babble ; klcpati^ 
 klopati, to knock, to chatter,. prattle. Du. 
 klateren, to clatter, rattle ; klater-busse, 
 klacke-busse, a pop-gun. 
 
 To Claim. Yr. clamer, to call, cry, 
 claim. Lat. clamare, to call. From the 
 imitation of a loud outcry by the syllable 
 clam. To clam a peal of bells is to strike 
 them all at once. ON. glamm, tinnitus ; 
 Dan. klemte, to toll ; Gael. gld?n, to bawl, 
 cry out ; gla)?ibar, clambar, Dan. klam- 
 7ner, Gael, clamras, uproar, outcry, 
 vociferation. A parallel root is slam, 
 with an initial s instead of c, as in slash 
 compared with clash. Lap. slam, a loud 
 noise ; uksa slamketi, the door was 
 slamfnedj slamem, ruin, fall. 
 
 Clam. — Clamp. — Clump. The idea 
 of a lump or thick mass of anything is 
 often expressed by a syllable representing 
 the noise made by the fall of a heavy 
 body. We may cite \v. dob, a knob, a 
 boss ; clobyn, a lump ; Lat. globus, a ball, 
 sphere ; gleba, a clod ; Russ. klub', a 
 ball ; Pol. klqb, a ball, lump, mass ; G. 
 kloben, a lump, bunch ; Sw. klabb, klubb, 
 a block, log, trunk, lump of wood ; or 
 with the nasal, Sw. klamp, klufnp, klimp, 
 a block, lump, clot ; ON. klambr, kluntbr, 
 a lump ; Du. klompe, a clod, clog, lump ; 
 E. clump, w. clamp, a mass, bunch, lump. 
 
 The notion of a lump, mass, cluster, 
 naturally leads to that of a number of 
 things sticking together, and hence to the 
 principle of connection between the ele- 
 ments of which the mass is composed. 
 We accordingly find the roots dab, clamps 
 
152 
 
 CLAMBER 
 
 clam and their immediate modifications 
 applied to express the ideas of cohesion, 
 compression, contraction. Thus we have 
 G. kiobc'n, a vice or instrument for holding 
 fast, the staple of a door ; kleben^ to 
 cleave, stick, cling, take hold of; Du. 
 lilobber-saen^ coagulated cream, cream 
 run to lumps ; klebber, klibber, klubber, 
 birdlime, gum, substances of a sticky- 
 nature ; E. d\2L\.clibby, sticky — Hal. ; Sw. 
 klibb, viscosity ; klibba^ to glue, to stick 
 to. 
 
 The E. damp designates anything used 
 for the purpose of holding things together ; 
 Du. khunpen, to hook things together, 
 hold with a hook or buckle, hold, seize, 
 apprehend ; klampe, klamine^ hook, claw, 
 cramp, buckle ; klamp, klam, tenacious, 
 sticky, and hence moist, claminy. To 
 dame, to stick or glue. — B. E. dial, to 
 clam, dein, to pinch, and hence to pinch 
 with hunger, to starve, also to clog up, to 
 glue, to daub — Hal. ; Du. kle^njnen, to 
 pinch, compress, strain ; klem-vogel, or 
 klamp-vogcl, a bird of prey, a hawk. AS. 
 clam, bandage, bond, clasp, prison. G. 
 klamm, pinching, strait, narrow, pressed 
 close or hard together, solid, massy, 
 viscous, clammy ; kla7nme7', a cramp, 
 brace, cramp-iron, holdfast. 
 
 To Clamber. — Climb, These words 
 are closely connected with damp. To 
 clamber is properly to clutch oneself up, 
 to mount up by catching hold with the 
 hands or claws. G. klammern, to fasten 
 with cramp-irons, to hold fast with the 
 hands or claws ; Dan. klamre, to clamp, 
 to grasp. 
 
 In like manner Du. klemmen, to hold 
 tight, to pinch, kleinmeti, klimmen, to 
 climb. OE. diver, E. dial, claver, a claw ; 
 Dan. klavre, to claw oneself up, to climb. 
 G. kleben, to cleave or stick, Swiss kldbern, 
 klebern, to climb ; Bav. klaiteii, a claw, 
 G. klette, a burr, Swiss kletten, G. klettern, 
 to climb, clamber. Dan. klynge, to cling, 
 cluster, crowd ; klynge sig op, to clutch 
 or cling oneself up, to climb. The Fr, 
 grimper, to climb, is a nasalised form of 
 gripper, to seize, gripe, grasp. 
 
 Clamour. The equivalent of Lat. 
 clainor, but perhaps not directly from it, 
 as the word is common to the Celtic and 
 Gothic races, Sw. klammer, Gael, clam- 
 ras, clambar, glambar, uproar, brawl. 
 See Claim. 
 
 Clamp. See Clam. 
 
 Clan, A small tribe subject to a single 
 chief. From Gael, claim, children, de- 
 scendants, i. e. descendants of a common 
 ancestor, w. plant (the w. / correspond- 
 
 CLAPPER 
 
 ing regularly to Gael, c), oflfspring, chil- 
 dren. The same word is probably 
 exhibited in the Lat. dientes, who occu- 
 pied a position with respect to their 
 patronus, closely analogous to that of the 
 Scottish clansmen towards their chief. 
 Manx doan, children, descendants ; dkn- 
 ney, of the children. 
 
 Clandestine. Lat. dandcstimis, from. 
 clani, privately, and that from celo, to 
 conceal. The root which gives rise to 
 Lat. celo produces Fin. salata, to hide, 
 conceal, whence sala, anything hidden, 
 of which the locative case, salaan, is used 
 in the sense of secretly, in a hidden place, 
 as the Lat. clam. Salainen, clandestine. 
 
 Clang. — Clank.— Clink. These are 
 imitations of a loud, clear sound, adopted 
 in many languages, Lat. clangor, the 
 sound of the trumpet ; G. klang, a sound, 
 tone, resonance ; klingen, to gingle, clink, 
 tingle, tinkle, sound. E. dang, a loud 
 sound ; clank, a sound made by a lighter 
 object ; clink, a sound made by a still 
 smaller thing ; the daiik of irons, clink 
 of money ; Du. klank, sound, accent, 
 rumour, — Halma. Gael, gliong, tingle, 
 ring as metal, clang. 
 
 Clap, An imitation of the sound 
 made by the collision of hard or flat 
 things, as the clapping of hands. Dan. 
 klappre, to chatter (as the teeth with 
 cold) ; G. klappen, to do anything with a 
 claps klopfen, to knock, to beat. Du. 
 klappen, kleppen, to clap, rattle, chatter, 
 beat, sound ; kleppe, klippe, a rattle ; 
 kleppe, a whip, a trap, a noose ; klepel, 
 kluppel, a stick, club ; Bohem. klepati, 
 to knock, tattle, chatter, tremble ; Russ. 
 klepanie, beating, knocking. 
 
 To clap in E. is used in the sense of 
 doing anything suddenly, to clap on, 
 clap up. 
 
 Clapper. A clapper of conies, a place 
 underground where rabbits breed, — B. 
 Fr. clapier, a heap of stones, &c., where- 
 unto they retire themselves, or (as our 
 clapper) a court walled about and full of 
 nests of boards and stones, for tame 
 conies. — Cot. 
 
 Lang, clap, a stone ; dapas, clapi^, a 
 heap of stones or other things piled up 
 without order, ' Pourta las peiros as 
 clapas,' to take coals to Newcastle, 
 Hence the Fr, clapier, originally a heap 
 of large stones, the cavities of which 
 afforded rabbits a secure breeding place, 
 then applied to any artificial breeding 
 place for rabbits. 
 
 The proper meaning of the foregoing 
 clap is simply a lump, from the W. clap^ 
 
CLARET 
 
 clamp, a lump, mass, the primary origin 
 of which is preserved in Lang, clapa, 
 ciopa, to knock. Prov. clap, a heap, 
 mass. — Rayn. 
 
 Claret. Fr. vin clairet, vin claret, 
 claret wine. — Cot. Commonly made, he 
 tells us, of white and red grapes mingled 
 together. From clairet, somewhat clear, 
 i. e. with a reddish tint, but not the full 
 red of ordinary red wine. Eau clairette, 
 a water made of aquavitae, cinnamon, 
 and old red rose-water. Du. klaeret, 
 vinum helvolum, subrubidum, rubellum. 
 It. chiarello. — Kil. 
 
 Clarion. — Clarinet. Sp. r/^rm, trum- 
 pet, stop of an organ. It. chiarino, a 
 clairon of a trumpet — Fr. clairon, a cla- 
 rion, a kind of small, straight-mouthed, 
 and shrill-sounding trumpet. Fr. clair. 
 It. chiaro clear. Sp. clarinado, applied 
 to animals having bells in their harness. 
 
 Clash. Imitative of the sound of wea- 
 pons striking together. Du. kletse, ictus 
 resonans, fragor ; Lang, clas, the sound 
 of bells rung in a volley to give notice of 
 the passage of a corpse ; souna de classes, 
 to ring in such a manner for the dead. 
 In E. it is called clainmhig. Fr. glas, 
 noise, crying, bawling, also a knell for the 
 dead. G. klatscheii, an imitation of the 
 sound made by striking with the hand 
 against a partition, wall, &c. If such a 
 blow sound finer or clearer it is called 
 klitschj klitsch-klatsch ! pitsch-patsch I 
 — thwick-thwack. — Kiittner. Klatsch- 
 biichse, a pop-gun ; klatsche, a lash, flap, 
 clap ; klatschen, to do anything with a 
 sound of the foregoing description, to 
 patter, chatter, clatter, blab. Pol. Mask / 
 plask ! thwick, thwack ; klaskac, to clap ; 
 klask bicza, the cracking of a whip. It. cJii- 
 asso, fracas, uproar; Sp. chasquear, to crack 
 a whip, &c. Gr. K\aX,ia, to clash as arms. 
 
 Clasp. Related to clip as grasp to 
 grip or gripe. But clasp or elapse, as it 
 is written by Chaucer, is probably by 
 direct imitation from the sound of a 
 metal fastening, as we speak of the snap 
 of a bracelet for a fastening that shuts 
 with a snapping sound, or as G. schnalle, 
 a clasp, buckle, locket of a door, from 
 schftallen, to snap. Du. gaspe, ghespe, 
 fibula, ansa. 
 
 Class. Lat. classis, a distribution of 
 things into groups. Originally clasis. 
 Identical with ON. klasi, Sw. Dan. klase, 
 a bunch, assembly, cluster. Eya-klasi, 
 insularum nexus ; skeria-klasi, syrtiura 
 junctura. Du. klos, klot, globus, sphaera. 
 —Kil. 
 
 Clatter. From the imitation of the 
 
 CLAW 
 
 153 
 
 sound of a knock by the syllable clat^ 
 equivalent to clack or clap. Du. kla- 
 teren, to rattle ; klaterbusse, as G. klatsch- 
 biichse, a pop-gun. 
 
 Clause. Lat clausula,^ an ending, 
 thence a definite head of an edict or law, 
 a complete sentence. From claudo, clau- 
 siim, to shut, to end. 
 
 Clavicle. The collar-bone, from the 
 resemblance to a key, Lat. clavis, as 
 Mod.Gr. kXuSi, a key ; KXeiSia tov (TojfiaTog, 
 the collar-bone. 
 
 Claw. — Clew. The origin of both 
 these words seems to be a form of the 
 same class with w. dob, a lump ; Russ. 
 cliib', a ball, pellet ; Lat. globus, a sphere ; 
 gleba, a clod. The b readily passes into 
 an m on the one hand, and through 7/ 
 into a w or Zi! on the other. Thus from 
 Lat. globus we have glomus in the re- 
 stricted sense of a ball of thread, and the 
 same modification of meaning is expressed 
 by the Du. klatcw, klouwe (Kil.), E. clew. 
 
 We have explained under Clamp the 
 way in which the notion of a mass or 
 solid lump is connected with those of co- 
 hesion, compression, contraction. Thus 
 from claiTip, climp, clump, in the sense of 
 a mass or lump, we pass to the E. clamp, 
 to fasten together ; Du, klampe, klamme, 
 a buckle, hook, nail, claw (what fastens 
 together, pulls, seizes) ; klampvoghel, a 
 hawk, a bird with powerful talons. 
 
 In the same way must be explained the 
 use of the Du. klauwe, klouwe, in the 
 sense both of a ball and also of a claw. 
 The form clew, which signifies a ball in 
 E,, is used in Sc. in the sense of a claw. 
 To clew up a sail is to fasten it up, to 
 draw it up into a bunch. To clew, to 
 cleave, to fasten. — Jam. Analogous 
 forms are the Du. kleeven, klijven, kleueti, 
 whence kleuer, ivy, from clinging to the 
 tree which supports it. In the same way 
 is formed the OE. diver, a claw. 
 
 Ich habbe bile stif and stronge 
 And gode clivers shaqD and longe. 
 
 Owl and Nightingale, 269. 
 
 A diver or claw is that by which we 
 cleave to, clew or fasten upon a thing. 
 With mys he wes swa wmbesete — 
 He niycht na way get sawftd, 
 Na with stavis, na with stanis, 
 Than thai wald clew upon his banis. 
 
 Wyntoun in Jam. 
 
 The root appears in Lat. under three 
 modifications ; clava, a club or massy 
 stick, clavtis, a nail, from its use in fast- 
 ening things together, and clavis, a key, 
 originally a crooked nail. So Pol. klucz, 
 a key, kluczka, a little hook ; Serv 
 
154 
 
 CLAY 
 
 klutsch, a key, hook, bend in a stream, 
 identical in sound and nearly so in mean- 
 ing with the E. clutch, a claw or talon. 
 
 Clay. — Clag. — Claggy. as. clcpg, 
 sticky earth, clay ; E. dial, to clag ox clog, 
 to stick or adhere ; claggy, cloggy, c I edgy, 
 sticky ; dags, bogs ; Da. klcrg, kleg, vis- 
 cous, sticky ; klag, klcEg, kleg, mud, loam. 
 See Clog. 
 
 Clean. The proper meaning of the 
 word is shining, polished, as Lat. nitidus, 
 clean, from nitere, to shine. ON. glan, 
 shine, polish ; Gael, glan, radiant, bright, 
 clear, clean, pure ; w. glan, clean, pure. 
 The word is fundamentally connected 
 with forms like the ON. glitta, Sc. gleit, 
 to shine ; ON. glitnir, splendid ; G. glatt, 
 polished, sleek, smooth, pretty, neat. 
 The introduction of the nasal gives rise 
 to forms like Sc. glint, glent, a flash, 
 glance ; Da. glindse, glandse, to glitter, 
 shine ; whence it is an easy step to forms 
 ending in a simple nasal, as ON. and 
 Celtic glan. 
 
 Clear. Lat. clams, ON. klar, clear, 
 clean, pure. This is probably one of th5 
 words applicable to the phenomena of 
 sight, that are primarily derived from 
 those of hearing, as explained under 
 Brilliant. G. klirren, Dan. klirre, to 
 clink, gingle, clash, give a shrill sound ; 
 Ir. glbr, a noise, voice, speech ; glorarn, 
 to sound or make a noise ; glor-mhor, 
 glorious, famous, celebrated ; klor, clear, 
 neat, clean. 
 
 Cleat. A piece of wood fastened on 
 the yard-arm of a ship, to keep the ropes 
 from slipping off the yard ; also pieces of 
 wood to fasten anything to. — B. A piece 
 of iron worn on shoes by country people. 
 Probably a modification of the word 
 clout. Du. kluit, kluyte, a lump, pellet. 
 AS. cleot, clut, a plate, clout. A elate is 
 the thin plate of iron worn as a shoe by 
 racers. The cleats of the yard-arms are 
 probably so named from a similar piece 
 of iron at the extremity of an axletree, 
 provincially termed cloiit. The clout of 
 iron nailed on the end of an axletree. — 
 Torriano. Axletree clouts. — Wilbraham. 
 
 To Cleave. This word is used in two 
 opposite senses, viz. i. to adhere or cling 
 to, and, 2. to separate into parts. In the 
 former sense we have G. kleben, Du. 
 kleeven, klijven, to stick to, to fasten ; E. 
 dial, clibby, Du, kleevig, kleverig, sticky. 
 From dob, a lump, a mass. See Clam. 
 
 2. The double signification of the word 
 seems to arise from the two opposite 
 ways in which we may conceive a cluster 
 to be composed, either by the coherence 
 
 CLEPE 
 
 of a number of separate objects in one, 
 or by the division of a single lump or 
 block into a number of separate parts. 
 Thus from G. kloben, a mass, lump, or 
 bundle {cin kloben Jlachs, a bunch of 
 flax), kloben, klieben, to cleave. When 
 an object is simply cleft, the two parts of 
 it cleave together. Du. kloue, a cleft, 
 klouen, chaps in the skin, klouen, klieuen^ 
 to chink, cleave, split. — Kil. The Dan. 
 uses klcebe in the sense of adhering, kl'ove 
 in that of splitting. The Dan. klov, a. 
 to'ngs, bears nearly the same relation to 
 both senses. Sw. klafwa, G. kloboi, a 
 vice, a billet of wood cleft at one end. 
 The designation may either be derived 
 from the instrument being used in pinch- 
 ing, holding together, or from being di- 
 vided into two parts. Sc. doff, a fissure, 
 the fork of the body, or of a tree. 
 
 The same opposition of meanings is 
 found in other cases, as the Du. klincke, 
 a cleft or fissure, and Dan. klinke, to 
 rivet or fasten together the parts of a 
 cracked dish ; Du. klinken, to fasten 
 together ; E. clench. Compare also Fr. 
 river, to fasten, to clench, E. rivet, and 
 E. rive, to tear or cleave asunder, rift, a 
 cleft. 
 
 Cleft. Du. kluft, Sw. klyft, a fissure 
 or division ; G. kliiftholz, cloven wood. 
 See Cleave. 
 
 Clement. — Clemency. Lat. clemens^ 
 calm, gentle, merciful. 
 
 To Clench.— Clinch. Sw. klinka, G. 
 klinken, to clinch ; OUG. ga k Ian kj an, con- 
 serere ; antklankjan, to unloose (the strap 
 of one's shoe) ; Bav. klank, kldnkdein, 
 a noose, loop ; Du. klitiken, to fasten. 
 'Andromeda was aan rots geklonken^ 
 was nailed to a rock. Oniklinken, to 
 clinch a nail. — Halma. Da. klinke, a 
 rivet. 
 
 The word may be explained from the 
 original klinken, to clink or sound, in 
 two ways, viz. : as signifying something 
 done by the stroke of a hammer. Du. 
 klink, a blow ; dat was en bewys van 
 klijik, that was a striking proof, that was 
 a clincher. Die zaak is 2\ geklonken, the 
 business is finished off", is fast and sure. 
 Or the notion of fastening may be at- 
 tained indirectly through the figure of a 
 door-latch. G. klinke, Fr. clanche, dinquet 
 (Cot.), the latch of a door, seem formed 
 from the clinking of the latch, as Fr. 
 cliquet, a latch, from cliquer, diqueter, to 
 clack or rattle. And the latch of a door 
 affords a very natural type of the act of 
 fastening. 
 
 To Ciepe. To call. From clap, the 
 
CLERK 
 
 sound of a blow. Du. kleppen, crepare, 
 crepitare, pulsare, sonare. De klok klep- 
 pen, to sound an alarm ; klappen, to 
 clap, crack, crackle, to talk as a parrot, 
 to tattle, chat, chatter, to confess ; G. 
 klaffen^ to prate, chatter, babble, to tell 
 tales. AS. cleopian, clypia7i, to cry, call, 
 speak, say. Sc. clep, to tattle, chatter, 
 prattle, call, name. 
 
 Ne every appel that is faire at iye 
 Ne is not gode, what so men clappe or crie. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Clerk. — Clerical. — Clergy. Lat. 
 clerus, the clergy ; clericus, Sp. derigo, 
 one of the clergy, a clerk ; clerecia, the 
 clergy, which in Mid. Lat. would have 
 been dericia, whence Fr. derge\ as from 
 derido, one admitted to the tonsure, Fr. 
 derigon, derjon. The origin is the Gr. 
 (cX^poc, a lot, from the way in which Mat- 
 thias was elected by lot to the apostle- 
 ship. In I Peter v. 3, the elders are ex- 
 horted to feed the flock of God, * not as 
 being lords over God's heritage,' /ijj5' wf 
 KaraKVQiivvrtq nov K^^pojv, ' neither as 
 having lordship in the dergie.' — Wiclif 
 inR. 
 
 Clever. Commonly derived from de- 
 liver, which is used in Scotch and N. E. 
 in the sense of active, nimble. The 
 sound of an initial dl and gl or d are 
 easily confounded. But the Dan. dial, 
 has kldver, klever, in precisely the same 
 sense as the E. dever. Del er en kl'dver 
 kerl, that is a clever fellow. Klbver i 
 munden, ready of speech. The word is 
 probably derived from the notion of 
 seizing, as Lat. 7'apidus from rapio, or Sc. 
 gleg, quick of perception, clever, quick 
 in motion, expeditious, from Gael glac, 
 to seize, to catch. The Sc. has also 
 deik, dek, deuck, duke, dook (identical 
 with E. clutch), a hook, a hold, claw or 
 talon ; to dek or cleik, to catch, snatch, 
 and hence cldk, cleuch, lively, agile, 
 clever, dexterous, light-fingered. One is 
 said to be cleuch of his fingers who lifts 
 a thing so cleverly that bystanders do 
 not observe it.— Jam. Now the OE. had 
 a form, diver, a claw or clutch, exactly 
 corresponding to the Sc. cleik, cluik, 
 whence perhaps the adjective clever in 
 the sense of snatching, catching, in the 
 same way as the Sc. cleik, cleuch, above 
 mentioned. 
 
 The bissart (buzzard) bissy but rebuik 
 Scho was so clevertis of her cluik, 
 His legs he might not longer bruik, 
 Scho held them at ane hint. 
 
 Dunbar in Jam. 
 Clew.— Clue. A ball of thread; ori- 
 
 CLINCH 
 
 155 
 
 ginally from dob (extant in w. dob, a 
 hump, Lat. globus, a sphere, &c.), a lump. 
 Hence Lat. glomus, a ball of twine, Du. 
 klouwe, a ball of yarn, a clew. See 
 Claw, Clam. 
 
 Click.— Clicket. Click represents a 
 thinner sound than clack, as a click with 
 the tongue, the click of a latch or a 
 trigger. It is then applied to such a 
 short quick movement as produces a 
 click or a snap, or an object character- 
 ized by a movement of such a nature. 
 Du. klikklakken, to clack, click; klikker, 
 a mill-clack ; kliket, kli7iket, a M'icket or 
 little door easily moving to and fro ; Fr. 
 diquer, to clack, clap, clatter, click it, 
 diquette, a clicket or clapper, a child's 
 rattle, or clack ; cliquet, the knocker of a 
 door, a lazar's clicket or clapper.— Cot. 
 Rouchi cliche, a latch ; clichet, a tumbril, 
 cart that tilts over, and (with the nasal) 
 clincher, to move, to stir, corresponding 
 to Fr. cligner, to wink. Boh. klika, a 
 latch, a trigger, G. klinke, klinge, a latch. 
 
 We have the notion of a short quick 
 movement in e. dial, click, clink, a smart 
 blow (Mrs Baker) ; cleke, click, to snatch, 
 catch, seize (Hal.) ; Norm, dicker, frap- 
 per rudement une personne. — Vocab. de 
 Brai. 
 
 Client. See Clan. 
 
 Cliff. AS. clif, clyf, littus, ripa, rupes ; 
 scoren clif, abrupta rupes ; cliof, clif- 
 stanas, cautes, precipices, from clifian^ 
 cliof an, to cleave. ON, klif a cleft in a 
 rock ; hamraklif syn. with hamarskarS, 
 a cleft or rift in a {hamarr) high rock, 
 precipice, on. skard, it must be ob- 
 served, is NE. scar, a cli_f. Bav. stein- 
 kluppen, cleft in a rock. Du. kleppe, 
 klippe, rock, cliff, cave ; Da. klippe, rock. 
 Sw. dial, klaiv, klev, kliv, as Sc. cleugh, 
 a precipice, rugged ascent, narrow hollow 
 between precipitous banks ; OE. clojigh, a 
 kind of breach down the side of a hill 
 (Verstegan), rima quaedam vel fissura ad 
 montis clivum vel declivum. — Somner. 
 Du. kloof cleft, ravine, cleft of a hill. 
 
 Climate. Lat. clijna, climate, region ; 
 Gr. (cXi'/xa, -TOQ (from kXiVw, to bend, sink, 
 verge), an inclination, declivity, slope ; a 
 region or tract of country considered 
 with respect to its inclination towards 
 the pole, and hence climate, temperature. 
 
 Climax. Gr. K\'ma%, a ladder, a figure 
 m rhetoric, implying an advance or in- 
 crease in force or interest in each suc- 
 cessive member of a discourse until the 
 highest is attained. 
 
 Climb. See Clamber. • 
 
 To Clinch. See Clench. 
 
156 
 
 •CLINE 
 
 -cline. Gr. kXjVw, to slope or make 
 slant, incline, bend ; Lat. clino^ -afuni, to 
 incline, bow. AS. hlinian^ OHG. hlincn,, 
 to lean. Decline^ to bend downwards ; 
 recline, to lean backwards, &c. 
 
 To Cling. To stick to, to form one 
 mass with, also to form a compact mass, 
 and so to contract, to shrink up, to wither. 
 AS. clingan, to wither. A Sussex peasant 
 speaks of a * dung bat,' for a dry stick. 
 'Till famine cling thee.'— Shaks. Pl.D. 
 klingen, klutigeln, verklungeln, to shrink 
 up. 
 
 We have often observed that in verbs 
 like cling, clung, where the present has 
 a thin vowel, the participial form is the 
 nearer to the original root. In the pre- 
 sent case the origin must be sought in a 
 form like MHG. klunge, klungelin, Swiss 
 klungele, a ball of thread ; ^ glungelifi, 
 globulus' (Gl. in Schmeller) ; Sw. dial. 
 klunk, a lump ; G. klunker, a lump, tuft, 
 clot, whence E. clinker, a lump of half- 
 fused matter which clogs up the bars of 
 a furnace. Da, klynge, a cluster, knot ; 
 klynge, to cluster, to crowd together ; 
 klynge sig ved, to cling to a thing. E. 
 dial, to clunge, to crowd or squeeze ; 
 dungy, sticky. — Hal. 
 
 Clink. The noise of a blow that gives 
 a sound of a high note. G., Du. klinken, 
 Sw. klinka, to sound sharp, to ring. See 
 Clang. In imitative words the same idea 
 is frequently expressed by a syllable with 
 an initial d, and a similar syllable with- 
 out the /. Thus chink is also used for a 
 shrill sound. So we have clatter and 
 chatter in the same sense ; Gael. gUong, 
 and Y..gi?igle; Fr. guincailler,'^orm2inclin- 
 cailler, a tinman. The E. cliftk was for- 
 merly used like chifik in the sense of a 
 crack, because things in cracking utter a 
 sharp sound. Du. klincke, rima, parva 
 ruptura, fissura, Ang. clinke. — Kil. 
 
 To Clip. I . To cut with shears, from 
 the clapping or snapping sound made by 
 the collision of the blades, as to S7iip in 
 the same sense from snap. G. klippen, 
 to clink ; auf- und zuk-lippen, to open and 
 shut with a snap ; klippchen, knippchen, 
 a fillip or rap with the fingers ; knippen, 
 schnippen, to snap or fillip ; schnippen, to 
 snip. ON., Sw. klippa, to clip, Sw. klippa, 
 also to wink ; ON. klippur, E. dial, clips, 
 shears. * 
 
 2. The collision of two sharp edges 
 leads to the notion not always of complete 
 separation, but sometimes merely of pinch- 
 ^ ing or compression. Thus to nip is either 
 to separate a small portion or merely to 
 pinch. G. knippen, to snap ; kneipen, to 
 
 CLOD 
 
 pinch. In a similar way Swiss kluben^ 
 to snap ; kliiboi, klupeti, to pinch ; klupe^ 
 tongs, claw, clutch, pinch, difficulty ; G. 
 kluppe, a clip or split piece of wood for 
 pinching the testicles of a sheep or a 
 dog's tail, met. pinch, straits, difficulty. 
 Sw. dial, klipa, to pinch, nip, compress ; 
 kldpp, a clog or fetter for a beast ; Du. 
 kleppe, klippe, knippe, a snare, fetter. 
 
 Clique. Fr. clique, G. klicke, a faction, 
 party, gang. ' Das volk hat sich in split- 
 ten, klubben und klicken aufgeloset.' 
 From Pl.D. klak, klik, kliks, a separate 
 portion, especially of something soft or 
 clammy. Een kliks bolter, a lump of 
 butter. Bi klik un klak, by bits. 
 
 -cliv-. Lat. clivus, a rising ground, 
 hill ; dedivis, sloping downwards ; ac- 
 clivis, sloping upwards ; prodivis, sloping 
 forwards, disposed to a thing. 
 
 Cloak. Flem. klocke, toga, pallium, 
 toga muliebris. — Kil. Bohem. klok, a wo- 
 man's mantle ; kukla, a hood. Walach. 
 ^/7/^<z, a hood, hooded cloak. Vf. cochly 
 a mantle. See Cowl. 
 
 Clock. Fr. cloche, G. glocke, Du. 
 klocke, a bell. Before the use of clocks 
 it was the custom to make known the 
 hour by striking on a bell, whence the 
 hour of the day was designated as three, 
 four of the bell, as we now say three or 
 four o'clock. It is probable then that 
 clocks were introduced into England from 
 the Low Countries, where this species of 
 mechanism seems to have inherited the 
 name of the bell which previously per- 
 formed the same office. Sw, klocka, a 
 bell, a clock. 
 
 The word clock is a variation of clack, 
 being derived from a representation of 
 the sound made by a blow, at first proba- 
 bly on a wooden board, which is still used 
 for the purpose of calling to service in the 
 Greek church. Serv. klepalo, the board 
 used for the foregoing purpose in the 
 Servian churches, G. brett-glocke, from 
 klepati, to clap or clack, to beat on the 
 board. Esthon. kolktna (with transposi- 
 tion of the vowel, related to clock, as G. 
 kolbe to E. club), to strike, to beat, kol- 
 kima, to make a loud noise, kolki-laud, a 
 board on which one beats for the purpose 
 of calling the family to meals. Bohem. 
 
 hluk, noise, outcry, hhiceti, to resound. 
 ON. klaka, clangere. Gael, dag, Ir. cla- 
 gaiin, to make a noise, ring ; dag, clog, 
 a bell. Swiss klokken, kloggen, to knock. 
 * Clod. — Clot. The notion of a loose 
 moveable substance, as thick or curdled 
 liquids, or bagging clothes, is often ex- 
 pressed by forms representing the sounds 
 
CLOG 
 
 made in the agitation or dashing of such 
 bodies. Thus from Swab. Idppern^ to 
 paddle or dabble in the wet, or loppern, to 
 rattle or shake to and fro, we pass to Idp- 
 perig^ watery, lopperig^ loose, shaky, and 
 E. loppered (of milk), curdled, wabbling ; 
 from Du. lobberen, to flounder in the wet, 
 to lobberig, gelatinous, lobbig, hanging 
 loose and full, E. loblolly, thick spoon 
 meat ; from Du. slabberen, slobberen, to 
 sup up liquid food, to flap as loose clothes, 
 or E. slobber, slop, to spill liquids, we pass 
 to-E. dial, slab, slob, loose mud, and Du. 
 slobbe, loose trowsers, slops ; from Du. 
 slodderen, G. schlottern, to wabble, dangle, 
 hang loose, Bav. schlattern, to rattle, 
 schlettern, to slop or spill liquids, we pass 
 to schlotter, schlott, mud, dirt, schlotter, 
 thick sour milk, Swiss schlott, geschlotter 
 (as E. slops), wide bagging clothes. 
 
 Then as the parts of a loose substance 
 in a state of agitation are thrown in dif- 
 ferent directions, and thus seem endowed 
 with separate existence, the radical sylla- 
 ble of the word signifying agitation of 
 such a body is applied to a portion or 
 separate part, in the first instance of a 
 liquid or loose substance, but subsequently 
 of a body of any kind. 
 
 Thus from Bav. loppern above men- 
 tioned may be explained Fr. loppe, lopm, 
 a lump ; from Du. lobberen, E. /<?^, a large 
 lump. The origin of clod and clot is to 
 be found in forms like Du. klateren, to 
 rattle, to dash like heavy rain, kloterspaen, 
 a rattle, kloteren, tuditare, pulsare crebro 
 ictu (Kil.), and thence to clot or curdle as 
 milk. Klotter7iielck, clotted milk ; klotte, 
 a clod. ' I clodde, figer, congeler. I dod- 
 der like whey or blode whan it is colde. 
 I clodde, I go into heapes or peces as 
 the yerthe doth, je amoncele.' — Palsgr, 
 Again we have Swiss klotten, klotteni, to 
 rattle, kloteji, kloden, to dabble, tramp in 
 wet or vi\\XQ^,klot, klod, Du. kladde, a blot, 
 splash, spot of dirt, lump of mud on the 
 clothes ; Dan. klat, a spot, blot, clot, 
 lump, dab. 
 
 In the same way Dan. piudre, to paddle 
 in the wet, is connected with pludder, 
 mire, Fr. blotitre, and Gael, plod, a clod ; 
 Swab, motzen, to dabble, paddle, with 
 Fr. motte, a clod. 
 
 To Clog-. To hinder by the adhesion 
 of something clammy or heavy. Sc. 
 claggy, unctuous, bespotted with mire ; 
 claggock, a dirty wench ; E. dial, clag, to 
 stick or adhere ; claggy, sticky ; clag 
 locks, clotted locks ; clegger, to cling ; 
 Dan. klag, mud ; klceg, clammy loam. 
 
 The word is probably formed on an 
 
 CLOTH 
 
 157 
 
 analogous plan to clod or club, from the 
 dashing off of a separate portion of a 
 liquid or sloppy material. G. klack ! 
 kleck / represents the sound made by the 
 fall of something soft or liquid (Sanders), 
 whence klack, kleck, Pl.D. klakk, a blot, 
 a portion of something soft and adhesive, 
 a trowelful of mortar, lump of butter^ 
 &c. ; klakken, beklakken, to bedaub, be- 
 spatter. Klak also, like G. kleck or lack^ 
 or Sc. lag, is a blot on one's character, an 
 imputation, aspersion. 
 
 He was a man without a dag. 
 His heart was frank without a flaw. 
 M.Y{.Q. mdse noch klac, neither spot nor 
 stain. Manx claggerey, a babbler, indi- 
 cates the use of clag to represent the 
 dashing of water, the figure from which 
 the idea of tattling is commonly expressed. 
 Russ. klokotat, to bubble, boil. Then 
 with the loss of the initial c (as in lujnpy 
 lunch, compared with clump, clunch), Sc. 
 laggery, miry ; laggerit, bemired, en- 
 cumbered ; OE. Idggyn, or drablyn ; 
 laggyd or bedrabelyd, paludosus. — Pr. 
 Pm. A clog would thus in the first in- 
 stance be a lump of something soft, then 
 a lump or unformed mass in general. 
 Clog, truncus. — Pr. Pm. A Yule-clog, 
 a Christmas log. 
 
 A clog in the sense of a wooden sole 
 may be considered as a block of wood, in 
 accordance with It. zocco, a log, zoccoli, 
 clogs, pattens ; G. klotz, a block, log, 
 klotzschuh, a clog or wooden shoe ; Mod. 
 Gr. rZoKov, a log, r^oicapov, a clog. Or 
 the name may be taken from the resem- 
 blance of a wooden clog to the lumps ot 
 earth which clog the feet of one walking 
 in soft ground, in accordance with Pl.D. 
 klunkern, lumps of butter, fat, dirt, kl'dn- 
 ken, clogs for the feet ; klakk, lump of 
 something soft ; Fr. claque, clog or over- 
 shoe. 
 
 Cloister, g. kloster, Fr. cloitre, a 
 monastery. Lat. claustrum, from claudo, 
 clausum, to shut. 
 
 Close, -close, -clus-. Lat. claudo, 
 clausum, in comp. -cludo, -clusum, to shut, 
 shut up, terminate, end. It. chiudere, 
 chiuso, Fr. clorre, clos, to shut up, close, 
 inclose, finish ; clos, a field inclosed ; 
 clos, closed, shut up. 
 
 Hence inclose, to shut in; foreclose, 
 from Fr. fors, without, to close against 
 one. 
 
 Closlie. The game called ninepins, 
 forbidden by 17 Ed. IV. Du. klos, a ball, 
 bowl ; klos -bane, a skittle-ground ; klos- 
 sen, to play at bowls. 
 
 Cloth.— Clothe, as. clath, cloth, da- 
 
158 CLOUD 
 
 thas^ clothes ; G. kleid, ON. klcedi, a gar- 
 ment. Properly that which covers and 
 keeps one warm. w. clyd, warm, shel- 
 tered ; lie clyd, a warm place ; dillad 
 (lydion^ warm clothes {dillad^ clothes). 
 Bret, klet^ sheltered ; Ir. cludaitn, to cover 
 up warm, to cherish, nourish ; cliidadh^ a 
 cover or coverture ; Gael, cluinhar, cluth 
 7nhor, warm, sheltered ; duthaich, cluth- 
 eudatch, clothe, make warm. 
 
 Cloud. Correctly explained by Som- 
 ner as clodded vapours, vapours drawn 
 into clods or separate masses. 
 
 Vapours which now themselves consort 
 In several parts, and closely do conspire, 
 Clumpered in balls of clouds. — More in R, 
 
 ODu. clot, a clod, dote, a cloud ; ' eene 
 vurige dote,' a fiery cloud. — Delfortrie. 
 .Tt. zolla, clod, lump of earth ; zolla deW 
 aria, the thick and scattered clouds in 
 the air. — Fl. 
 
 So also from Fr. matte, matte, a. clod 
 or clot, ciet mattoni, a curdled sky, a sky 
 full of small curdled clouds. — Cot. dow- 
 dy s, clods. — Coventry Mysteries in Hal. 
 
 Clout. As. dut, a patch. The pri- 
 mary sense is a blow, as when we speak 
 of a doiit on the head. Du. klotsen, to 
 strike. Then applied to a lump of mate- 
 rial clapped on or hastily applied to mend 
 a breach. In the same way E. botch, to 
 mend clumsily, from Du. botsen, to strike ; 
 E. cobble, in the same sense, from w. cobio, 
 E. cob, to strike. 
 
 Clove. I. A kind of spice resembling 
 little nails. Du. naegel, kruyd-naegel 
 (kruyd = spice) ; G. ndgelein, nelke (dim. 
 of nagel, a nail) ; It. chiodo di girofano, 
 Fr. clou de girojle, Sp. clavo di especias, 
 from Lat. clavus, a nail. 
 
 2. A division of a root of garlick. Du. 
 kluyve, kliiyfken loocksj Pl.D. klove, 
 klaven; een klaven kruflook, G. eine 
 spalte knoblauch, a clove of garlick, from 
 Du. klieven, Pl.D. kloven, to cleave or 
 split, Du. klove, a fissure. It. chiodo d^ 
 aglio. 
 
 Clover. A plant with trifid leaves. 
 AS. clcBfer J Du. klaverj Pl.D. klever, 
 from kloveii, to cleave. 
 
 Clown. The significations of a clod 
 or lump, of thumping clumsy action, and 
 of a rustic unpolished person, are often 
 connected. Du. kloete, a ball, a lump, 
 block, stock, also homo obtusus, hebes 
 (Kil.), whence the name of Spenser's 
 shepherd Colin Clout. G. klotz, a log, 
 klotzig, blockish, loggish, coarse, unpol- 
 ished, rustic. — Kiittner. E. clod is used 
 in both senses ; of a lump of earth and 
 
 CLUCK 
 
 an awkward rustic. Du. klonte, a clot or 
 clod ; kloen, a ball of twine ; Dan. klunds, 
 E. dial, clunch, N.Fris. kldrme, a clown, 
 bumkin. 
 
 As the initial c is easily lost from many 
 of these words beginning with d (com- 
 pare clog, log, dump, lump, clunchy 
 lunch), it can hardly be doubted that 
 clown is identical with town, and clout 
 with lout. 
 
 This loutish clown is such that you never saw 
 so ill-favored a vizor. — Sidney in R. 
 
 To Cloy. From clog, a thick mags. 
 Fr. endoyer (to stop with a clog or plug), 
 to cloy, choke or stop up. — Cot. A piece 
 of ordnance is said to be cloyed, when 
 something has got into the touch-hole. 
 The same consonantal change is seen in 
 dag, daggy, sticky, and clay, a sticky, 
 clammy earth. 
 
 The sense of stopping up is frequently 
 expressed by the word for a lump or 
 bunch, as Fr. boucher, to stop, from OFr. 
 bousche, a bunch, tuft. Sw. klump, a 
 lump, and tapp, a bunch, wisp, are also 
 used in the sense of a stopper. 
 
 Club. — Clump. ON. klubba, klumba, 
 a club or knobbed stick. Sw. dial, klubb, 
 a lump, knob, clump ; khanp, a lump, 
 clod, clot ; klumpfot, a clubfoot ; klabb, 
 a log. w. dob, dobyn, a boss, knob, 
 lump ; Pol. klq.b, a ball, lump, mass, 
 klebek, a bobbin, ball of thread ; Russ. 
 klub", a ball, clue. 
 
 The radical sense seems to be an un- 
 formed lump or thick mass, and the word 
 to be of analogous formation with clod, 
 clot, clog, signifying in the first instance a 
 separate portion thrown off in the dashing 
 of sloppy materials. Fr. dabosser, to be- 
 dash {Cot), esdaboter (Roquef.) , /clabous- 
 ser, to splash, diboter, to tramp in the 
 mud (Pat. de Champ.), Rouchi dapoter, 
 to slop. Gael, dabaire, a blabber, indi- 
 cates the application of the root dab to 
 the splashing of water, the terms express- 
 ive of tattling being mostly taken from 
 that figure. Clabar, mire, puddle, dirt. 
 Du. klobbersaen, clotted milk or cream, 
 milk run to lumps. So Fr. caillebottes, 
 lumps of curd, probably from daboter, 
 but confounded with cailler, to curdle. 
 
 G. klubbe, kluppe, a bunch, clump, clus- 
 ter, group of people ; Sw. dial, klubb, a 
 knot of people. ' Das volk hat sich in 
 splitten, klubben und klicken aufgeloset.' 
 — Sanders. A social club was originally 
 a group of people meeting at set times for 
 society. To club one's contributions is to 
 throw them into a common mass. 
 
 To Cluck. Imitative of the note of a 
 
'CLUDE 
 
 hen calling her chickens. Du. klocketi^ 
 Fr. glousser, Lat. glocire, Sp. doquear, 
 It. coccolare. 
 
 -elude, -clus-. Lat. dmido, clausum, 
 in comp. -cludo, -clusutn, to shut, close, 
 finish. 
 
 Hence conclude, conclusion, exclude, 
 include, inclusive, reclusion, Sec. See 
 -close. 
 
 * Clump. — To Clumper. Chimp, a 
 lump or compact mass, a nasalised form 
 of club, as clumper, to collect in lumps, to 
 curdle, of Du. klobber in klobbersaen, 
 clotted cream. 
 
 Vapours— clumpered in balls of clouds. — More. 
 
 In the same way Du. klonte, a clod 
 or lump, and kloiteren, to curdle, are 
 the nasalised forms of klotte, a clod or 
 clot, and klotteren, to curdle. The no- 
 tion of a detached mass may arise either 
 from the dashing off of a portion of the 
 wet material, or from the shaking into 
 protuberances of the liquid surface ; and 
 the idea of multifarious agitation may be 
 expressed, not so much by direct imita- 
 tion of the actual noise, as metaphorically 
 by the figure of a broken sound. MHG. 
 klumpeim, G. klimpern, to gingle, strum 
 on an instrument. When a frequentative 
 form is thus used to signify multifarious 
 agitation or broken movement the radical 
 syllable naturally expresses a single ele- 
 ment of the complex action. Hence a 
 frequent connection between words sig- 
 nifying a blow and the dashing of liquids. 
 Com.pare Pl.D. pladdern, to paddle or 
 dabble, with E. plad or plod, to tread 
 heavily. Fr. clabosser, esclaboter, to 
 splash ; Champ, cliboter, to tramp. Fr. 
 clopin-clopati represents the heavy tread of 
 one hobblmg along ; eloper, clopiner, to 
 limp, differing only in the absence of the 
 nasal form E. clump, to tramp. Hence 
 dumpers, Du. klotnpen, wooden shoes, 
 clogs, Sw. dial, klamp, a clog for an 
 animal, wooden sole, lump of soft mate- 
 rial, ball of snow on horse's foot ; klampa, 
 to clump or tramp with heavy shoes, to 
 ball as snow. Analogous forms with a 
 final ;// instead of 7np are Pl.D. klunt, 
 Du. klonte, a clod or lump, E. dial, clunt- 
 er, a clod ; chmter, clointer, Pl.D, klunt- 
 sen, klunsen, to tramp or tread heavily. 
 
 * Clumsy. The sense of awkward, 
 unhandy, might be reached from clump, 
 a lump, through the senses of lumpish, 
 blockish, unfashioned, ill-made ; as from 
 Da. klont, klods, a block, log, klontet, 
 klodset, unhandy, awkward, or from Sw. 
 klump, a lump, klu7npig, clumsy. N.E. 
 
 COAL 
 
 '59 
 
 dumpish, awkward, unwieldy ; e.e. 
 clunchy, thick and clumsy. — Hal. But 
 the word is more probably connected 
 with OE. clumpse, benumbed with cold. 
 — Cot. in v. havi. Clumsyd, eviratus, — 
 Cath. Ang. * Thou dotnsest for cold.' — 
 P.P. * Comfort ye clumsid, ether come lid 
 hondis, and make ye strong feeble knees.' 
 — Wycliff, Isaiah. Lincolns. clumps, idle, 
 lazy, unhandy. — Ray. Sw. dial, kbitnm- 
 sen, kluminshandt, klum^nerhdfidt, Che- 
 shire, clusso7ned (Wilbraham), having the 
 hands stiff with cold. Pl.D. klamen^ 
 klomen, Du. verklomen, verkomttielen^ 
 Fris. klojnje, forklojnme (Outzen), to be- 
 numb with cold. OE. acomelyd for could 
 or adommyde, eviratus, enervatus, — Pr. 
 Pm. ' Men bethe combered and clommed 
 with cold.' — Vegecius in Way. Bekhim- 
 men van kelde^ algidus, gelidus. — Teu- 
 tonista. 
 
 The signification would seem to bq 
 cramped or contracted with cold, from 
 ON. klemma, G. kle?nmen, to pinch, to 
 squeeze. OHG. kichlemmtt, obstructum. 
 — Graff in Klamjan. MHG. 'wen uns diu 
 wangen sin gerumpfen, riicke und arm 
 und bein geklu7npfe7i.' — Benecke. Pl.D. 
 bekltc77i77ie7i, G. beklo77i77ie7i, pinched, tight ; 
 eene beklu7n77ie7ie tied, a pinching time. 
 
 -clus-. See -elude. 
 
 Cluster. A group, bunch. From the 
 notion of sticking together. Du. klos, a. 
 ball ; klisse, klette, a ball, a clot ; klissen, 
 to stick together ; klister, kluster, paste, 
 viscous material, also a cluster, a clove 
 of garlick. Sw. klase, a bunch, cluster. 
 
 Clutch. Sc. cleik, clek, E. dial, cleche, 
 to snatch, seize, properly to do anything 
 with a quick, smart motion, producing a 
 noise such as that represented by the 
 syllable click. Hence cleik, clek, cleuk, 
 clink, duke, clook, an instrument for 
 snatching, a claw, clutch, hand ; to cleuk, 
 to grip, lay hold of, clutch. ' Uorte (for 
 to) huden hire vrom his kene clokes.^— 
 Ancr. Riwle, 130. Boh. klikaty, crooked 
 inwards ; kliko7tosy, hooknosed. Hesse, 
 klotz, claw. Comjiare Swiss klupe, claws, 
 tongs, fingers (familiar), from klupe7i, to 
 chp or pinch. 
 
 Clutter. Variation of clatter, a noise. 
 
 Clyster. Fr. dystere, Gr. KKvari]^, 
 from kXv^io, to wash, to rinse, as Fr. lave- 
 7nent, from laver, to wash. 
 
 Coacli. The Fr. coucher became in 
 Du. koetse7i, to lie, whence koetse, koet- 
 seke7i, a. couch, and koetse, koetsie, koets- 
 ivagefi, a litter, carriage in which you 
 may recline, a coach. 
 
 Coal. ON. kol^ G. kohle, Hindust. 
 
i6o 
 
 COALESCE 
 
 koeld. The primary sense is doubtless 
 glowing embers, from a root signifying 
 to glow or burn. Traces of such a de- 
 rivation are found in Sw. dial, kylla, 
 kolla, koina, to kindle or cause to burn ; 
 ON. koijani, a firesteel ; Lat. caleo, to be 
 hot, to glow ; culina or colijia, a kitchen, 
 the place where a fire is made. ' Colina^ 
 says Varro, * dicta ab eo quod ibi colebatit 
 ignem.' And colo, to worship, may per- 
 haps have originally signified to kindle a 
 fire for a burnt-offering, while the sense 
 of dwelling may be a figure from lighting 
 up the domestic hearth, universally taken 
 as the symbol of a dwelling-place. Sanscr. 
 jval, to burn, blaze, glow ; jvalaya, to 
 kindle ; jvdla, flame. Lett, qiielet, to 
 glow, to be inflamed ; qiielCj burning, in- 
 flammation. 
 
 Coalesce. — Coalition. Lat. coalesce, 
 to grow together, to form an union with 
 another ; coalitus, grown together, united. 
 
 Coarse. Formerly written course, or- 
 dinary ; as in the expression of course, 
 according to the ordinary run of events. 
 A woman is said to be "very ordinary, 
 meaning that she is plain and coarse. 
 
 Coast. Lat. costa, a rib, side ; Fr. 
 caste, s. s., also a coast. 
 
 Coat. Fr. cotte, a. coat or frock, It. 
 cottdy any kind of coat, frock, or upper 
 garment. See Cot. 3. 
 
 Coax. The OE. cokes was a simpleton, 
 gull, probably from the Fr. cocasse, one 
 who says or does laughable or ridiculous 
 things. — Trevoux. Cocasse, plaisant, ridi- 
 cule ; cocosse, niais, imbecille. — Hdcart. 
 To cokes or coax one then is to make a 
 cokes or fool of him, to wheedle or gull 
 him into doing something. 
 
 The original meaning of the word is 
 preserved in the provincial kakasch 
 (dialect of Aix — Grandg. v. cacd), a nest- 
 cock or nescock, unfledged bird, a crea- 
 ture commonly taken as the type of im- 
 becility and liability to imposition, as in 
 E. gull, Fr. niais, bejaune. 
 
 Nescock itself is used in a similar 
 sense ; ' a wanton fondling that has never 
 left his home.' — Nares. It. cucco (in 
 nursery lang.), an ^g^, a darling, and fig. 
 an imbecile ; vecchio cucco, an old idiot. 
 
 * Cob.— Cobble, w. cob, a knock, 
 thump, a tuft, top ; cobio, to knock, 
 thump, to peck as a hen ; cobyn, a bunch, 
 tuft, cluster. E. dial, to cob, to strike, to 
 throw ; cob, a blow, and thence a lump ; 
 cobnut, a large round nut ; cobstones, 
 large stones ; cobcoals, large coals. A 
 cob is a dumpy horse. Cob for walls is 
 clay mixed with straw, from being laid 
 
 COCHINEAL 
 
 on in lumps. Cobber, a thumper, a great 
 falsehood. 
 
 Cobbles in the N. of E, are round stones 
 or round coals of small size. In the E. of 
 E. the stone or kernel of fruit is called coo 
 or cobble. Cobyllstone or chery-stone, 
 petrilla. — Pr. Pm. To cobble, to pelt with 
 stones or dirt. — Cleveland Gl. 
 
 * To Cobble.— Cobbler. The senses 
 of stammering or imperfect speech, stag- 
 gering or halting, and imperfect or un- 
 skilful action, are often connected. We 
 may cite Fr. bredouiller, to stutter, and 
 Du. broddelen, to bungle ; Du. hakkeleii, 
 to stammer, and E. dial, haggle, to bungle ; 
 Sc. habble, to stutter, to speak or act 
 confusedly, and hobble, to cobble shoes. 
 
 — ' all graith that gains to hobbill schone." 
 
 Thus from E. dial, cobble, to hobble 
 (Hal.), or walk clumsily, the designation 
 may have been transferred to the unskilful 
 mending of shoes. 
 
 A plausible origin, however, may be 
 found in Sw. dial, klabba, properly to 
 daub, then to work unskilfully ; klabbare, 
 klabbsmed, a bungler. The / in these 
 imitative forms is very moveable, as 
 shown in dob and cob, tempered clay for 
 building, and a change very similar to 
 that from clobber to cobler may be seen 
 in Du. verklonien, verkomnielen, to be- 
 numb, OE. acomelyd or aclommyd. — 
 Pr. Pm. 
 
 Cobweb. A spider's web. E. aiter-kop, 
 a spider. Flem. kop, koppe, a sp'ider, 
 koppen-gespifi, spiniie-ivebbe, a cobweb, 
 w. pryf-copyn, a spider (/riy=grub, 
 vermin). The form attercop seems to 
 give the full meaning of the word, poison- 
 bag or poison-pock. The Fris. kop is 
 bubble, pustule, pock, that is, a pellicle 
 inflated with air or liquid. T^ waerkopet, 
 the water boils. — Outzen. Dan. kopper 
 (pi.), small pox (pocks) ; kop-ar, E. pock- 
 arr, a pock mark. Fin. kuppa, a bubble, 
 boil, pustule. 
 
 According to Ihre, the bee was known 
 by the name of kopp in OSw., probably 
 for the same reason as the spider, viz. 
 from bearing a bag, only of honey instead 
 of poison. The contrast between the bee 
 and the spider as collectors, the one of 
 sweets and the other of poisons, is one of 
 long standing. 
 
 Cocliineal. Sp. cochinilla, a wood- 
 louse, dim. of cochina, a sow, from some 
 fancied resemblance. The w^ood-louse is 
 still called sow in parts of England ; in 
 Essex sowbug. — Atkinson. When the 
 Spaniards came to America they trans- 
 
COCK 
 
 ferred the name to the animal producing 
 the scarlet dye, which somewhat resem- 
 bles a wood-louse in shape. 
 
 Cock. I. The male of the domestic 
 fowl. From the cry represented by the 
 Fr. CO quell cog, coquericot, Lang, cou- 
 couricoti. Bohem. kokrati, to crow, kokot, 
 a cock. Serv, kokot, the clucking of a 
 hen, kokosch, a hen. Lith. kukti, to cry, 
 to howl ; kukauti, to cry as the cuckoo 
 or the owl. Magy. kakas, Esth. kuk, a 
 cock. Gr. KOKKo^oaq o^viq (Soph, in Eus- 
 tath.), the bird which cries cock !, the 
 cock. 
 
 To Cock, applied to the eye, hat, tail, 
 &c., signifies to stick abruptly up. Gael. 
 coc-shron, a cocked nose. The origin is 
 the sound of a quick sudden motion 
 imitated by the syllable cock. It. coccare, 
 to clack, snap, click, crack ; coccarla a 
 qualcuiio, to play a trick, put a jest upon 
 one. — Fl. Hence cock of a gun (misun- 
 derstood when translated by G. hcihn), the 
 part which snaps or clicks. 
 
 To cock is then to start up with a sud- 
 den action, to cause suddenly to project, 
 to stick up. And as rapid snapping 
 action is almost necessarily of a recipro- 
 cating nature, the word is used to express 
 zigzag movement or shape, and hence 
 either prominent teeth or indentations. 
 The cock of a balance is the needle which 
 vibrates to and fro between the cheeks. 
 The cogoi a wheel is a projecting tooth, 
 while the It. cocca, Yr. coche, is the notch 
 or indentation of an arrow, 
 
 2. A cock of hay. Probably from the 
 notion of cocking or sticking up. Fin. 
 kokko, a coniform heap, a hut, beacon. 
 A small heap of reaped corn. Dan. kok, 
 a heap, a pile. 
 
 3. A boat ; cock-swain, the foreman of 
 a boat's crew. It. cocca, cucca, a cock- 
 boat. — Fl. Dan. kog, kogge, ON. kuggi, 
 s. s. The Fin. has kokka, the prow of a 
 vessel, perhaps the part which cocks or 
 sticks up, and hence the name may have 
 passed to the entire vessel, as in the case 
 of hdit. piippis, properly the poop or after- 
 part of the ship, or of bark, a ship, from 
 ON. barki, throat, then the prow or front 
 of a ship. 
 
 Cockade. Fr. coquarde, a Spanish 
 cap, also any cap worn proudly or peartly 
 on the one side (Cot.), i. e. a cocked-hat, 
 consisting originally of a hat with the 
 broad flap looped up on one side. Then 
 applied to the knot of ribbon with which 
 the loop was ornamented. In Walloon 
 the r is lost as in English ; cockdd, a 
 cockade. — Rcmacle. 
 
 COCKLE 
 
 i6r 
 
 Cockahoop. Elated in spirits. A 
 metaphor taken from the sport of cock- 
 throwing used on festive occasions, when 
 a cock was set on an eminence to be 
 thrown at by the guests. 
 
 Now I am a frisker, all men on me look, 
 
 What should I do but set cock on the hoop ? 
 Camden in Todd. 
 ' I have good cause to set the cocke on the 
 hope and make gaudye chere.' ' We may 
 make our tryumphe, i. e. kepe our gaudyes, 
 or let us sette the cocke on the hope and 
 make good chere within doores.' — Palsgr. 
 Acolastus in Hal. Du. hoop, heap. 
 
 Cockatoo. According to Crawfurd call- 
 ed in Malay kakatuwah, which in that 
 language signifies a vice, a gripe. But is 
 it not more likely that the implement was 
 so named from its resemblance to the 
 powerful beak of the bird ? 
 
 Cockatrice. A fabulous animal, sup- 
 posed to be hatched by a cock from the 
 eggs of a viper, represented heraldically 
 by a cock with a dragon's tail. Sp. coca- 
 triz, cocadriz, cocodrillo, a crocodile. 
 Cocatryse, basiliscus, cocodrillus. — Pr. 
 Pm. A manifest corruption of the name 
 of the crocodile. 
 
 To Cocker. See Cockney. 
 
 Cocket.— Cocksy. Fr. coquart, fool- 
 ishly proud, cocket, malapert. Yxcrcsx the 
 strutting pride of a cock. Coqiceter, to 
 chuck as a cock among hens ; to swagger 
 or strowt it as a cock on his own dung- 
 hill.— Cot. 
 
 Cockle. I. A weed among corn. Fr. 
 coquiole, Lith. kukalas, Pol. kq.kol, kq-kol- 
 nica, Gael, cogal. 
 
 2. A shell, shell-fish ; cocklesna<l, a 
 snail with a shell as distinguished from 
 a slug or snail without shell. Snail- 
 shells are called in Northamptons. cocks, 
 in Lincolns. gogs. Oxfords, guggles or 
 guggleshells, Herts conks, and E. of E. 
 co7ikers. Tirol. gagkele, an egg. — Deutsch. 
 Mund. 5. 341. Lat. cochlea, concha, 
 Gr. KoxXoc, snail, snailshell, shellfish. 
 
 The original sense is probably an egg- 
 shell, which to a people in possession of 
 poultry would offer a type of a shell pecu- 
 liarly easy of designation. Thus the 
 Swab, gacketi, to cluck as a hen, gives 
 rise in nursery language to gackele, an 
 egg — Schmidt, in Swiss gaggi, gaggi, to 
 which our own country affords a parallel 
 in the Craven goggy, an egg. In like 
 manner Basque kokoratz, clucking of a 
 hen ; koko (in nursery language), an egg ; 
 Magy. kukoritrii, to crow, kuko (nursery), 
 an egg ; It. coccolare, to cluck ; cocco, 
 cucco (nursery), an egg ; Fr. ccquete?; to 
 11 
 
l62 
 
 COCKLE 
 
 cackle, to chuck ; coque, an eggshell, 
 shell, cockle, with the dim. coguille, the 
 shell of an egg, nut, snail, fish. — Cot. 
 
 To Cockle. Properly, like coggle^ 
 goggle^ joggle, shoggle, to shake or jerk 
 up and down, then applied to a surface 
 thrown into hollows and projections by 
 partial shaking, by unequal contraction, 
 &c. Du. kokelen, to juggle, to deceive 
 the eye by rapid movements of the hands. 
 E. dial, coggle, to be shaky ; cocklety, un- 
 steady. — Hal. A cockling sea is one 
 jerked up into short waves by contrary 
 currents. 
 
 It made such a short cockling sea as if it had 
 been in a race where two tides meet, for it ran 
 every way — and the ship was tossed about hke an 
 eggshell, so that I never felt such uncertain jerks 
 in my life. — Dampier in R. 
 
 The ultimate origin, as in all these 
 cases, is the representation of a broken 
 sound, by forms like cackle, gaggle, &c., 
 then applied to signify a broken move- 
 ment, and finally a configuration of anal- 
 ogous character. 
 
 As in E. we represent a broken sound 
 by the forms cackle and crackle, so in Fr. 
 we find recoquiller and recroquiller, to 
 wriggle, writhe, turn inward on itself like 
 a worm or a gold or silver thread when it 
 is broken ; recoquiller un livre, to rumple 
 or turn up the leaves of a book. — Cot. If 
 recoquiller stood by itself the common ex- 
 planation from coquille, a shell, as if it 
 signified to throw into spirals, would be 
 quite satisfactory, but it cannot be adopt- 
 ed without throwing over the analogy 
 with the English forms above mentioned, 
 while it leaves the parallel form recro- 
 qinller unaccounted for. 
 
 Cockney. — Cocker. The original 
 meaning of cockney is a child too ten- 
 derly or delicately nurtured, one kept in 
 the house and not hardened by out-of- 
 doors life ; hence applied to citizens, as 
 opposed to the hardier inhabitants of the 
 country, and in modem times confined to 
 the citizens of London. 
 
 ' Coknay, carifotus, delicius, mammo- 
 trophus.' ' To bring up like a cocknaye 
 — mignoter.^ ' Delicias facere — to play 
 the cockney,^ ' Dodeliner — to bring up 
 wantonly as a cockney.' — Pr. Pm., and 
 authorities cited in notes. * Puer in de- 
 liciis matris nutritus, Anglice a cokenayJ 
 —Hal. Cockney, niais, mignot. — Sher- 
 wood. 
 
 The Du. kokelen, kenkelen, to pamper 
 (the equivalent of E. cocker), is explained 
 by Kilian, * nutrire sive fovere culina,' as 
 if from koken, to cook, but this is doubt- 
 
 CODDLE 
 
 less an accidental resemblance. The Fr- 
 coqucliner, to dandle, cocker, fedle, pam- 
 per, make a wanton of a child, leads us 
 in the right direction. This word is pre- 
 cisely of the same form and significance 
 with dodeliner, to dandle, loll, lull, fedle, 
 cocker, hug fondly, make a wanton of, 
 [but primarily] to rock or jog up and 
 down ; dodelineur, the rocker of a cradle ; 
 dondeliner de la tete, to wag the head ; 
 dodelineux (the same as coqnelineiix), 
 fantastical, giddy-headed. The primitive 
 meaning of cocker then is simply to rock 
 the cradle, and hence to cherish an infant. 
 See Cockle, Cock. 
 
 Cocoa-nut. Called coco by the Portu- 
 guese in India on account of the monkey- 
 like face at the base of the nut, from coco, 
 a bugbear, an ugly mask to frighten chil- 
 dren. — De Barros, Asia, Dec. III. Bk. 
 III. c. vii. 
 
 -coct. Lat. coquo, coctum, to prepare 
 by fire, to cook, bake, boil. 
 
 Hence co7icoquo, to boil together, to 
 digest, and fig. to contrive, to plan, E. to 
 concoct. Decoctio, a decod 
 boiled away from anything. 
 
 Cod. A husk or shell, cushion. ON. 
 koddi, a cushion, Sw. kudde, a sack, bag, 
 pod. Bret, kod, god, godel, a pocket, w. 
 cod, cwd, a bag or pouch. G. schote, pod, 
 husk. It seems the same word with Fr. 
 cosse, gousse, a husk, cod, or pod, whence 
 coussin. It. coscino, a cushion, a case 
 stuffed with somethmg to make it bulge 
 out. 
 
 Perhaps the original sense is simply 
 something bulging, a knob or bump, an 
 idea commonly derived from a word sig- 
 nifying to knock. Now v/e have Fr. 
 cosser. It. cozzare, to butt as a ram. Du. 
 kodde, kodse, a club. 
 
 As in words with an initial cl the / is 
 very movable, we may perhaps identify 
 the Fr. cosse, a husk, with Bret, klos, 
 klosen, a box or any envelope in general ; 
 klosen-giste7t, the husk of a chesnut. 
 Thus we are brought round to the Du. 
 kloss, a ball or sphere, and the E.^ clot, 
 clod, and as the latter appears in Gaelic 
 in the double form of clod or plod, we find 
 the same change of initial in the E. cod, 
 pod; Dan, pnde, a pillow. 
 
 To Coddle. 1. — Codling. To coddle, 
 (in Suffolk qnoddle,) to boil gently, whence 
 codlin, a young apple fit for boiling, green 
 peas. — Hal. Codlyng, frute, pomme 
 cuite. — Palsgr. A quodling, pomum 
 coctile.— Coles. The word in the first 
 instance represents the agitation of the 
 boiling water. ON. quotla, abluo vel 
 
CODDLE 
 
 lavito, aquas tractito (Gudm.), to dabble 
 or paddle ; Swab, gicatteln, to wabble ; 
 Bav. kudern, to guggle. 
 
 To Coddle, 2. To pamper or treat 
 delicately. Fr. cadel, a castling, starve- 
 ling, whence cadeler (to treat as a weakly 
 child), to cocker, pamper, fedle, make 
 much of. — Cot. Lat. cattUns, It. catello, 
 Prov. cadel, Bohem. koie, a whelp ; kotiti, 
 to whelp, bring forth young (of sheep, 
 dogs, cats, &c.). 
 
 Code. — Codicil. Lat. codex, log, trunk 
 of a tree, a book, book of accounts, 
 the Romans writing on wooden tablets 
 covered with wax. Codicillus, a small 
 trunk of a tree ; codicilli, writing tablets, 
 a letter, memorial, written composition. 
 
 Cod-fish. From its large club-shaped 
 head. Flem. kodde, a club. — Kil. In the 
 same way It. mazzo, a bunch, a codfish, 
 junzza, a club. One of the names of the 
 fish is It. testuto, Fr. testu, from teste, 
 head. — Cot. 
 
 Codger. A term of abuse for an in- 
 firm old man. G. kotzen, to spit, kotzer, 
 a spitting or spawling man or woman, 
 also an old caugher. — Kiittner. So from 
 Lith. kraickii, to croak, to breathe with 
 pain, siikraitkelis, a croaker, an old man. 
 Hind, kahba, a cough, an old woman. 
 
 Coemetery. Gr. Koiixrjrripiov, a place 
 for sleeping in, then applied to the place 
 of final rest, a burial-place, from Koiixauj, 
 to set to sleep. 
 
 Coerce. Lat. coerceo, to encompass, 
 keep in, restrain ; arceo, to inclose, con- 
 fine ; arctus, close, narrow, confined. 
 
 Coeval. Lat. co(Xvtis {con and cevmh, 
 duration of time, an age, era), of the same 
 age or era. 
 
 Coffee. Arab, cahwa or cahwe, coffee, 
 formerly one of the names for wine. 
 Texeira, who wrote in 1610, writes it 
 kaodh. — Dozy. 
 
 Coffer.— Coffin. Gr. K6<ptvog, Lat. copk- 
 inus, a basket. It. co/ano, co/aro, any 
 coffin, coffer, chest, hutch, or trunk. Fr. 
 coffre, a chest or coffer, the bulk or chest 
 of the body. Bret, kof, kov, the belly ; 
 AS. cof, a cave, cove, receptacle. Swab. 
 kober, a basket. It. coffa, a gabion or 
 wicker basket. Fr. cojin, a coffin, a great 
 candle case or any such close and great 
 basket of wicker. — Cot. Fin. kopp, a 
 hollow case. See Cave. 
 
 Cog. — Coggle. To coggle is to be 
 shaky, to rock ; cogly, unsteady, rock- 
 ing ; cockersome, unsteady in position, 
 threatening to tumble over. — Jam. E. 
 dial, coggle, keggle, kickle, tickle, easily 
 
 COGNISANCE 
 
 163 
 
 moved. — Wilbraham. Joggly, unsteady, 
 shaky ; ^o jogger, joggle, to shake, to jog. 
 A continued broken sound is represented 
 by forms like cackle, gaggle, and thence 
 cockle, goggle are made to signify inter- 
 rupted or alternating movement. Esthon. 
 kokkoltama, koggalema, to stammer. The 
 radical syllable cock, cog, gog, &c., is 
 itself used to signify the same kind of 
 action, or a single element of the kind 
 of which the action in question is com- 
 posed, that is to say, a short, abrupt move- 
 ment (often accompanied by a click or 
 snap), and hence a projection or indenta- 
 tion. We may cite Gael, gogach, nod- 
 ding, wavering, reeling ; E. gogmire, a 
 quagmire ; to jock, to jolt ; jocky, uneven, 
 rough ; Fr. choc, a shock, or movement 
 brought to a sudden stop ; It. coccare, to 
 snap, to move with a snap, and thence 
 cocca, an indentation or notch, as E. cog 
 (Sw. kiigge), a projection or individual 
 prominence on the circumference of a 
 toothed wheel. 
 
 With the addition of an initial s, E. 
 shog, to jolt, and shoggle, an icicle or pro- 
 jection of ice ; ON. skaga, to project ; 
 skagi, a promontory. 
 
 To cog in the sense of cheating is from 
 the image of deceiving by rapid sleight 
 of hand. Du. kokelen, to juggle ; It. coc- 
 carla ad uno, to put a trick upon one ; 
 coccare, to laugh at, mock, scoff. Sp. 
 cocar, to mock, make mocking or ridicul- 
 ous gestures, to cajole, wheedle, E. cog, 
 gabber, flatter — Sherwood ; lusingare, lis- 
 ciar il pelo. — Torriano. 
 
 Cogent. Lat. cogo (pcpl. cogens), to 
 impel, constrain, force. 
 
 Cogitation. Lat. cogito, to ponder, 
 turn over in the mind. 
 
 Cognisance. — Recognisance. — Re- 
 connoitre. From Lat. cognosce, cog- 
 nitiim, to know, arose Fr. cognoitre, 
 connaitre, to know, OFr. cognoisance, 
 cognisance, contiusance, knowledge, no- 
 tice, a badge or heraldic device by which 
 one might be known. 
 
 Cotinaissance in a legal sense is the 
 right of a tribunal to take notice or cog- 
 nisance of certain causes. 
 
 Again OFr. 7'ecognoitre, to take know- 
 ledge of, to acknowledge, gives our legal 
 recognisance, or acknowledgment that 
 one is bound in a certain penalty to the 
 crown if he fails to perform a certain act. 
 Reconnaitre, in the military sense, to re- 
 connoitre, is to take knowledge of the 
 conditions of an object, to observe it with 
 reference to the way in which it affects 
 the observer. 
 
 11 * 
 
f64 
 
 COIF 
 
 Coif. A cap for the head. Fr. coiffe^ 
 It. ciiffia, Mod.Gr. oKovipia. Apparently 
 from the East. Arab, kufiyah^ a head 
 kerchief. 
 
 Coil. To coil a cable, to wind it round 
 in the form of a ring, each fold of rope 
 being called a coil. Fr. cueillir un cord- 
 age, Ptg. colher hum cabo, to coil a cable ; 
 colher, Fr. cueillir, Sp. eager, Lat. colli- 
 gere, to gather. Sp. coger la ropa, to fold 
 linen. 
 
 Coil. Noise, disturbance. Gael, coil- 
 eid, a stir, movement, or noise ; perhaps 
 from goil, boiling, vapour, fume, battle, 
 rage, fury ; goileam, prating, vain tattle. 
 The words signifying noise and disturb- 
 ance are commonly taken from the agita- 
 tion of water. 
 
 Coin. To coin money is to stamp 
 money, from Lat. cuneus, Fr. coin, quin, 
 the steel die with which money is stamped, 
 originally doubtless from the stamping 
 having been effected by means of a 
 wedge (Lat. cuneus, Fr. coin). Coin in 
 OFr. was frequently used for the right of 
 coining money. Sp. cuna, a wedge ; 
 cuno, a die for coining, impression on 
 the coin. Muratori endeavours to show 
 that the word is really derived from the 
 Gr. I'lKMv, an image, whence the Lat. 
 iconiare, in the sense of coining money. 
 So from w. bath, a likeness, arian bath, 
 coined money, bathu, to make a likeness, 
 to coin. 
 
 Coit. — Q,uoit. To coif, to toss, to 
 throw. Of a conceited girl it is said. She 
 coits up her head above her betters, — 
 Forby. To coit a stone. — Hal. The 
 game of coits or quoits consists in tossing 
 a metal disc (originally doubtless a stone) 
 at a mark. The quoit according to Hal. 
 is sometimes called a coiling stone. Coyte, 
 petreluda ; coytyn, petriludo.— Pr. Pm. 
 Du. de kaeye schieten, certare disco, saxeo, 
 ferreo, aut plumbeo. — Kil. 
 
 Coke. The carbonaceous cinder of 
 coals left when the bituminous or gaseous 
 blazing portion has been driven off by 
 heat. Coaks, cinders ; a grindle-coke, a 
 remnant of an old worn-down grindstone. 
 Colke, the core of an apple. 
 
 All erthe may well likened be 
 
 To a rounde appul on a tre. 
 
 That even amydde hath a colke : 
 
 And so it may to an egges yolke, 
 
 For as a dalk (hollow) is amydward 
 
 The yolke of the ^^g^ when hit is hard, 
 
 So is helle put (pit) as clerkus telles 
 
 Aniidde the erthe and nowher elles. — Hal. v, 
 dalk. 
 
 Wall, chauke, germe de Toeuf. — Grandg. 
 Clevel. golk, yolk of ^'gg, core of an 
 
 COLLATION 
 
 apple or an ulcer. The coke is the hole 
 guarded by metal in the middle of a 
 sheave through which the pin goes. — 
 Webster. Du. kolk, a pit, hollow whirl- 
 pool. The term colk or coke then appears 
 to signify a hollow, then the empty rem- 
 nant of a thing when the virtue is taken 
 out of it. It may possibly be explained 
 from the Gael, caoch, empty, blind, hol- 
 low ; caochag, a deaf nut, nut without a 
 kernel, the coke of a nut. 
 
 Col-. See Con-. 
 
 Colander. — Cullender. Sp. colada, 
 lie of ashes for bucking clothes ; coladero, 
 a colander or sieve through which the lie 
 was strained, a strainer ; colar, Lat. colo, 
 to strain liquids. 
 
 Cold.— Cool. Goth, kalds, cold. ON. 
 kala, to blow cold, to suffer from cold ; 
 kallda, fever. Dan. kule (of the wind), 
 to freshen, to begin to blow. G. kalt, cold, 
 kiihl, cool. Lap. kalot, to freeze, kalorn, 
 cold, frost. 
 
 In Lith, szaltas, cold, sziltas, warm, 
 the opposite sensations are distinguished 
 by a modification of the vowel, while in 
 Lat. gelidus, cold, calidus, hot, a similar 
 relation in meaning is marked by a modi- 
 fication of the initial consonant. 
 
 The original image seems the disagree- 
 able effect produced on the nerves by a 
 harsh sound, whence the expression is 
 extended to a similar effect on the other 
 organs. Fin. kolia, sounding harshly as 
 a rattle, rough, uneven, cold ; kolia ilma, 
 a cold air ; kolian-laiften, roughish, cool ; 
 kolistua, to become cold as the air, or 
 rough as a road ; kolistus, making a 
 crash, shattering. Esthon. kollisema, to 
 rattle, make a harsh noise ; kollin, a rack- 
 et ; kolle, noisy, frightful^ghastly ; kollo- 
 mats, a bugbear. The effects of fear and 
 cold closely resemble each other in de- 
 pressing the spirits and producing trem- 
 bling. The Manuel des Pecch^s says of 
 Belshazzar when he saw the handwriting 
 on the wall : 
 
 As he thys hande began to holde (behold) 
 Hys herte bygan to tremle and colde. 
 
 Fin. kolkka, sounding loud as a bell, 
 then causing trembling or terror, ghastly ; 
 — ilma, a cold, raw day ; — tnies, a harsh, 
 severe man ; — korpi, a desolate wood. 
 Compare ON. kald-ly7idr, harsh, severe 
 in disposition ; kallda-gaman, bitter 
 sport ; kald-ambr, distressing labour. 
 
 Collar. Lat. collare (from collum, the 
 neck), a band for the neck. 
 
 Collation. An entertainment. Fr. 
 collation, a repast after supper. It. cola- 
 
COLLEAGUE 
 
 Hone, colettione^ coletfo, an intermeal, a 
 refection between regular meals ; break- 
 fast. 
 
 Colleague. — College. Lat. collega, 
 supposed to be from lego, to choose, one 
 chosen at the same time with one, a com- 
 rade. The radical part of the word however 
 would be more satisfactorily explained if 
 it could be regarded as the equivalent 
 of the ON. lag, society, companionship, 
 whence sam-lag, companionship, part- 
 nership ; felagi, a money companion or 
 partner, a fellow ; brod-lagi, fisk-lagi, a 
 partner at meals, in fishing, &c. Colle- 
 gium, a college, society, corporation, 
 guild, the relationship of one colleague to 
 another. 
 
 To Collect.— Collect. Lat. lego, lec- 
 tuni, to pick, to gather ; colligo, -ectu7n, 
 to bring together, to collect, assemble. 
 Collect, a prayer gathered out of Scripture. 
 
 Collision. Lat. collisio {collido, -is7im, 
 to dash or strike together), the act of 
 striking together. 
 
 Collop. A lump or slice of meat. 
 From clop or colp, representing the sound 
 of a lump of something soft thrown on a 
 flat surface. Du. klop, It. colpo, a blow. 
 Colp, a blow, also a bit of anything. — 
 Bailey. The two significations are very 
 commonly expressed by the same term. 
 Sp. golpe, a blow, also a flap, as the loose 
 piece of cloth covering a pocket. In like 
 manner we have dab, a blow, and a lump 
 of something soft ; 2. pat with the hand, 
 and a pat of butter ; G. klitsch, a clap, 
 rap, tap, and a lump of something soft ; 
 Sc. to blad, to slap, to strike, and blad, 
 bland, a lump or slice ; to dad, to dash, 
 to throw down, and dad, dawd, a lunch 
 or large piece, especially of something 
 eatable. See Calf. 
 
 CoUow. — Colly. Smut, soot. To 
 colowe, make black with a cole, char- 
 bonner. — Palsgr. in Way. Colled, be- 
 colled, smutted, blackened. — K. Horn. 
 N. kola, to black or smut with coal ; 
 kohit, smutted. — Aasen. Sw. dial, kolna, 
 to become black. 
 
 Colly. A shepherd's dog, from having 
 its tail cropped. Sw. kulliig, kollig, with- 
 out horns, wanting some member that 
 ought to be there. — Rietz. Sc. to coll, to 
 poll the hair, to snuff the candle. In 
 Hesse a shepherd's dog is often called 
 Mntz, from vmtz, a stump ; kiilbnutz, 
 kullarsch, a tailless hen. See Poll. 
 
 Colon. — Comma. Colon (Gr. kwXov, 
 a limb or member) and comma (Gr. 
 Kofxfxa, a piece or chop, from kotttio, I 
 cut) were applied respectively to the 
 
 COMBER 
 
 165 
 
 principal members of a sentence, and 
 the briefest divisions of which it was 
 composed. Jerome, in his preface to the 
 Prophets, says, ' Nemo cum prophetas 
 versibus viderit esse descriptos metro eos 
 existimet apud Hebraeos ligari — ; sed 
 quod in Demosthene et in Tullio solet 
 fieri, ut per cola scribantur et commata.' 
 — N. & Q. Deer. 19, 1868. The name 
 is now given not to the divisions of the 
 sentence, but to the marks by which 
 divisions of the kind in question are 
 separated in writing. 
 
 * Colonel. Fr. colonel, Sp. coroiiel. 
 Properly the captain of the leading com- 
 pany of a regiment, the company at the 
 head of the column. ' La compagnie 
 colonelle, ou la colonelle est la premiere 
 compagnie d'un regiment d'infanterie.' 
 — Trevoux. 
 
 Colossal. Lat. colossus, a statue of 
 enormous magnitude. Such was the 
 statue in honour of the sun erected at 
 Rhodes. 
 
 Colour. Lat. color, a hue, tint, ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 Colt. A young horse. Dan. dial, klod, 
 kloit, a. colt. Sw. kult, a young boar, a 
 stout boy. 
 
 Column. — Colonnade. Lat. columna, 
 Fr. coloiine, a pillar. 
 
 Comatose. Gr. KS}\>.a, heavy slumber, 
 oppressive drowsiness. 
 
 Com-. See Con-. 
 
 Comb. ON. kambr, G. kamm. 
 
 Combe. A narrow valley, w. civifi. 
 
 * Comber. — Cumber, g. kummer, 
 arrest, seizure, attachment of one's goods 
 or person, rubbish, ruins, dirt of streets, 
 trouble, distress ; Du. kommer, komber, 
 trouble, distress. Mid. Lat. combri, ob- 
 struction of the ways made by felling 
 trees in a forest; combri, combra, a weir 
 or dam for obstructing the current of a 
 river. — Due. Fr. encombrer, It. ingom- 
 brare, to hinder, trouble, encumber ; des- 
 combres, what has to be cleared away, 
 rubbish, ruins. The radical sense is im- ' 
 pediment, hindrance. / comber, I let or 
 hynder. — Palsgr. Gael, cumraig, cum- 
 raich, impede, incommode. Manx ctmir, 
 cumree, to hinder, deter, delay ; cumrail, 
 hindrance, stoppage. The question is 
 whether the sense of rubbish is derived 
 from rubbish being considered as a hin- 
 drance or whether the development of 
 thought does not lie in the opposite direc- 
 tion. It is derived by Diez from Lat. 
 cumulus, Prov. ^^7;?^?/, a heap, Ptg. comero, 
 combro, a mound, heap of earth, corre- 
 sponding to which we have ON. ktimbl^ 
 
[66 
 
 COMBINE 
 
 kitmb, a cairn, tumulus, barrow, Sw. 
 kummel^ a heap of stones set up for a 
 mark, ruins, rubbish. Again, a parallel 
 form with cumber may be found in ON. 
 kiimla, to disable. ' Var Aron sdrr ok 
 kumladr mjok,' Aaron was wounded and 
 much disabled. Hialmr kumladr^ a bat- 
 tered helmet. E. cumbled with cold, 
 cramped, stiffened ; comciyd, acomelyd, 
 aco7fiyrd, acojiibrd, for colde, eviratus, 
 enervatus. — Pr. Pm. Combered and 
 clommed with colde.— MS. cited by Way. 
 Du. verkotnmelen, to be stiff with cold. 
 See Clumsy. 
 
 Combine. Lat. bhii, two together ; 
 covibino, to join together or unite. 
 
 Combustion. — Combustible. Lat. 
 ttro, tistum, to burn ; C07nbu7'0 {con-ziro), 
 to burn up. 
 
 To Come. — Comely. Goth, cwiman, 
 AS. cwiman, cuman, G. komvien^ Du. 
 komen, to come. The Biglotton also 
 explains the Du. komen, cadere, conve- 
 nire, decere, quadrare. Dat co7nt wel, 
 bene cadit, convenit, decet, quadrat. In 
 the same way to fall was used in OE. 
 
 It nothing falls to thee 
 To make fair semblant where thou mayest blame. 
 Chaucer, R. R. 
 
 G. gef alien, to fall to a person's mind, 
 to please. In this sense the verb come 
 must be understood in the E. comely and 
 the Du. komelick, conveniens, congruens, 
 commodus, aptus. — Kil. See Become. 
 
 This application is marked by a slight 
 modification of form in the AS. civej)ia7i, 
 bcc'we77ia7t, to please, delight, satisfy, G. 
 beqiie77i, convenient, commodious, easy. 
 
 Comedy. — Comic. Gr. KwfK^dia, a 
 dramatic poem intended to take off or 
 caricature personal or popular peculiar- 
 ities ; KojfiiKOQ, relating to comedy. 
 
 Comfit. Fr. co7tJire, co7iJit (Lat. co7i- 
 Jicere, co7ifectu77i, to prepare), to preserve, 
 confect, soak or steep in ; co7ifitures, 
 comfits, iunkets, all kind of sweetmeats. 
 —Cot. 
 
 Comfort, Fr. co7iiforter (Lat. fortis, 
 strong), to solace, encourage, strengthen. 
 —Cot. 
 
 Comfrey. A plant formerly in repute 
 as a strengthener, whence it was called 
 kTiitback (Cot. in v. oreille d'ane), and in 
 Lat. co7isolida, C07i/ir77ta, or co7iserva. — 
 Dief. Sup. E. co77ifrey seems a corruption 
 of the second of these. 
 
 Comma. See Colon, 
 
 Commence. It. €077ii7tciare, Fr. co77i- 
 tneTtcer. From cofi and initiare, Milanese 
 inzdf to begin. OSp. co77ipe7izar, com- 
 
 COMPATIBLE 
 
 Pezar. Sardin. i7tcu7nbe7izai, frcm t7i- 
 C077i-i7iitiare ; Sp. e77ipezar^ from i7i47ii- 
 tiiwe. — Diez. Menage. 
 
 Comment. Lat, co77t772i7tiscor, 'me7ttus 
 S11771, co77i77ie7iior, to imagine, devise, to 
 meditate, consider, remark upon. 
 
 Commerce. See Merchant. 
 
 Commodious. — Commodity. Lat. 
 co77t77iodi(s, convenient, suitable, advan- 
 tageous. 
 
 Commodore, Fr. C077i772a7tdeur, a go- 
 vernor or commander ; Port. com77ie7ida- 
 dor, from whence the term seems to have 
 come to us. 
 
 Common. — Commonalty. — Com- 
 mune, — Communicate, Lat. co77i77m7iis^ 
 common, general, Fr. C077i7tiU7iitas, the 
 having of things in common, fellowship, 
 Fr. co77i77itmautd, the common people ; 
 Lat. co77i77iu7iico, to impart, give a share 
 of, hold intercourse with. 
 
 Compa'ct. Lat. co77ipactiis, thickset, 
 firm, from co77ipi7igo, -actu77i, to put or 
 join together ; pa7tgo,pactu77t, to drive in, 
 fasten. 
 
 Compact. An agreement; co77ipacis- 
 cor, co77ipactus, to agree with ; paciscor, to 
 stipulate, engage, make a bargain. 
 
 Company,— Companion. It, co77tpa- 
 g7W, co77ipag7iia. Mid, Lat, C077ipa7mi77i, 
 association, formed from co7i and pa7iis, 
 bread, in analogy with the OHG. gi-77tazo 
 ox gi-leip, board- fellow, from w^^"^, meat, 
 or leip, bread. Goth, gahlaiba, fellow- 
 disciple, J oh. xi. 1 6, from hlaibs, bread. 
 Co77ipai7t, one who eats the same bread 
 with one. — Jaubert. Gloss, du Milieu de 
 laFr. 
 
 Compare. Lat. co77iparare, to couple 
 things together for judgment, from co77i- 
 par, equal, and that from co7i and par, 
 like, equal, a pair. But the meaning 
 might equally be derived from the original 
 sense of the \erb parare, which seems to 
 be to push forwards. Thus the simple 
 parare is to push forwards, to get ready ; 
 se-parare, to push apart, to separate ; 
 co77iparare, to push together, to bring 
 into comparison, or to prepare, to accu- 
 mulate. 
 
 Compass. Fr. co77tpas, a compass, a 
 circle, a round ; co77ipasser, to compass, 
 encircle, begird, to turn round. — Cot. To 
 go about, from coti and passus, a step. 
 A pair of co77ipasses is an instrument for 
 describing circles. The mariner's co77i- 
 pass is so called because it goes through 
 the whole circle of possible variations of 
 direction. To co77ipass an object is to go 
 about it or to contrive it. 
 
 Compatible. It. co777patire, Fr, co77i' 
 
COMPENDIOUS 
 
 patir, to sympathise, suffer with. See 
 Passion. 
 
 Compendious. Lat. compendium, a 
 saving, sparing, shortening, short cut. 
 The word seems to be formed in opposi- 
 tion to dispe7iduan, a spending, by the 
 contrast between the particles coji, to- 
 gether, and dis, apart : an abstinence 
 from spending. Pendo, pensum, to weigh, 
 to pay. 
 
 Compensate. Lat. compensare, to 
 weigh together or one against the other. 
 Pendo, pensum, to weigh. 
 
 Compete. — Competent. Lat. peto, 
 to seek, to aim at, to go to a place ; com- 
 peto, to seek together for a thing, to com- 
 pete ; also to come or meet together, to 
 be suitable, to have requisite strength. 
 
 Compile. Lat. cotnpilo {con and pilo, 
 to pillage : See Pill, Pillage), to spoil, 
 plunder, to bring together from different 
 sources. 
 
 Complacent. — Complaisant, Lat. 
 complaceo, Fr. complaire, -plaisant, to 
 please, delight, be obsequious to. 
 
 Complexion. Lat. complexio, a com- 
 bination, connection, physical constitu- 
 tion, applied in modern E. to the colour 
 of the skin, as marking a healthy or un- 
 healthy constitution. Fr. co7nplexion, the 
 making, temper, constitution of the body, 
 also the disposition, affection, humours 
 of the mind. — Cot. 
 
 Complicity. — Accomplice. Lat. 
 complico, to fold or plait together ; co7n- 
 plex, Fr. complice, one bound up with, a 
 partner in crime. See -plic. 
 
 T o Comply. — Compliment. To com- 
 ply is properly to fulfil, to act in accord- 
 ance with the wishes of another, from 
 Lat. compiere, as supply, Fr. supplcer, 
 from suppler e. The It. has compiere, 
 compiire, compire, to accomplish, com- 
 plete, also to use compliments, ceremo- 
 nies, or kind offices and offers. — Fl. The 
 E. comply also was formerly used in the 
 latter sense, as by Hamlet speaking of 
 the ceremonious Osric. ' He did comply 
 with his dug before he sucked it.' The 
 addition of the preposition with is also 
 an It. idiom : conipire con uno, to per- 
 form one's duty by one ; — col suo dovere, 
 to do one's duty ; alia projnessa, to per- 
 form one's promise. Nott posso coiiipire 
 con tutti alia volta, I cannot serve all at 
 a time. — Altieri. Hence co?7ipimenti, 
 co7npli7nenti, obliging speeches, compli- 
 ments. 
 
 Comprehend. See -prehend. 
 
 Comrade. Fr. ca77terade, a chamber- 
 ful, a company that belongs to one cham- 
 
 CONCERT 
 
 167 
 
 ber, tent, cabin. — Cot. Then applied to 
 one of the company, a chamber-fellow. 
 From It. camera, a chamber. Sp. ca77ie- 
 rada in both senses. 
 
 Con-, C0I-, com-, cor-. The Lat. 
 prep. CU771, with, corresponding to Gr. 
 aw, %vv, takes in composition the fore- 
 going forms in accordance with the or- 
 ganic nature of the following consonant. 
 It signifies in general union or united 
 action, and may be illustrated by Fin. 
 koko, gen. kd'o7i, a heap, the locative 
 cases of which are used in the sense of 
 the Lat. con, or E. together. Pa7ie 
 kokoon or ko''olla, literally, put in a heap, 
 collect ; tulewat kokoon or ko'olle, they 
 come together. 
 
 To Con. To learn, to study, to take 
 notice of. Ale-co7mer, an inspector of 
 ales. To co7i one thanks, Fr. savoir gre, 
 to feel thankful and to make the feeling 
 known to the object of it. 
 
 AS. cu7i7ia7i, to know, cu7i7iian, to in- 
 quire, search into, try. Gecunnia7i hwylc 
 heora smiftost hors hafde, to \.xy which of 
 them had the swiftest horse. He cun7iode 
 tha 7nid his ha7ida, he felt them with his 
 hand. Goth. ku7i7ia7t, to know ; a7ia- 
 ku7i7ia7i, to read ; gaku7t7ia7i, to observe, 
 to read ; ka7i7ija7i, to make known. Sw. 
 ku7i7ia, to be able ; ku7inig, known, 
 knowing, skilful, cunning ; krnuia, to 
 know, to feel, to be sensible. 
 
 Conceal. Lat. celo, Goth, huljan, OE. 
 to hele, hill, to cover, hide. 
 
 Concert, Agreement. According to 
 Diez from C07icsrta7'e, to contend with, 
 but the explanation of Calvera, which he 
 mentions, is more satisfactory. The Lat. 
 has serere, to join together, interweave 
 (whence sertu7n, a wreath of flowers), and 
 tropically to combine, compose, contrive. 
 The compound cotiserere is used much in 
 the same sense, to unite together in ac- 
 tion ; C07iserere ser77io7ie77i, to join in 
 speech ; consertio, a joining together. 
 Hence It. co7iserto, duly wrought and 
 joined together, a harmonious consort, an 
 agreement ; co7isertare, to concert or in- 
 terlace with proportion, to agree and 
 accord together, to sing, to tune or play 
 in consort. — Fl. When the word co7iserto 
 was thus applied to the accord of musical 
 instruments, it agreed so closely both in 
 sense and sound with co7tcento, Lat. co7t- 
 ce7ttus {cantus, melody, song), harmony, 
 harmonious music, that the two seem to 
 have been confounded together, and C07i- 
 serto, borrowing the c of co7ice7ito, became 
 co7icerto, whence the Fr. and E. C07ice7t, 
 In English again the word . was con- 
 
i68 
 
 CONCILIATE 
 
 founded with consort^ from Lat. consors, 
 'Sor/is, partaking, sharing, a colleague, 
 partner, comrade. 
 
 Right hard it was for wight which did it hear 
 To read what manner musick that mote be ; 
 For all that pleasing was to living ear 
 Was there consorted in one harnionee, 
 Birds, voices, instruments, winds, waters, all 
 agree. — F. Q. in R. 
 
 Muta di violoni, a set or consort of viols. 
 — Fl. 
 
 Conciliate. — Reconcile. Lat. cofi- 
 cilio, to full or thicken woollen cloth, 
 thence to bring together, to conjoin, to 
 procure. It seems to be the equivalent 
 of Gr. (TviiTTikou), to felt, from ttWoq, wool, 
 felt, as in so many other instances where 
 p and c or k replace each other. 
 
 Conclave. Lat. clavis, key ; conclave, 
 an apartment under lock and key ; hence 
 a party or council meeting and deliberat- 
 ing m such an apartment, or in guarded 
 privacy. 
 
 Concord. Lat. cor, cordis, heart ; cojt- 
 cordia, union of hearts, agreement, and 
 fig. agreement of notes, harmony. 
 
 Concubine. Lat. conciibina, from 
 concumbo, to lie down together. Cf Gr. 
 TTopaKotT-tc, Clevel. laybestde. 
 
 Condign-. Lat. dignus, condigtius, 
 fitting, worthy. 
 
 Condiment. Lat. condio, -ire, to season 
 meat. 
 
 Condition. Lat. condo, conditum, to 
 set together, to lay up in store, to arrange, 
 dispose, establish ; cotiditio, the putting 
 together, the nature, condition or cir- 
 cumstances of a thing. 
 
 Conduit. Fr. conduire, -duii, to con- 
 duct, lead ; conduit, a watercourse, a 
 gutter or trench whereby water is led to 
 a place. See -duce. 
 
 Cone. Lat. conus. Gr. k^voq, a cone, 
 a spinning top, fir-cone, pine-tree, pitch. 
 
 Coney. Lat. ciiniciiljis. It. coniglio, 
 Fr. conil, connin, Du. konijji, G. ktingele, 
 kunele (Kil.), kunigel, kuniglin (Dief.), 
 ON. kunifigr, \v. owning. The name is 
 said by Pliny and other writers to be 
 originally Spanish, and through the Latin 
 it seems to have spread to the Germanic 
 and Celtic stocks. In several of the 
 forms above cited the name seems to 
 signify king or little king, and thus was 
 translated into Boh. kraljk, a prince or 
 little king, also a rabbit or coney. See 
 Dief Orig. Eur. 308. 
 
 Confection. Lat, conficio, -fectum, to 
 get together, compose, prepare, work ; 
 co7ifectio, a preparation. 
 
 Confess. \.2X.fateor,fassum, conjiteor, 
 
 CONSTABLE 
 
 -fesstwj, to acknowledge, avow, confess, 
 to manifest. 
 
 Congeal. Lat. gelu, frost, severe cold ; 
 cong(!lo, to become solidified by the action 
 of cold. 
 
 Conglomerate, Lat. globns (corre- 
 sponding to E. club), a ball, thick round 
 body ; glomus, a ball of thread ; gloniero, 
 conglomero, to roll or heap up into a 
 mass. 
 
 Congruity, — Incongruous. Lat, con- 
 griio, to come together, to happen at the 
 same time, to accord ; cofigrims, suitable, 
 agreeing, fit. 
 
 Conjugal. Lat, conjtix, -jngis, a con- 
 sort, husband or wife, properly perhaps 
 a yoke-fellow, from jtigum, a yoke ; but 
 ultimately irom.jtmgo, to join. 
 
 Conjure. Lat. jurare, to swear; cojt- 
 jurare, to combine together by an oath, 
 but in the E. application to bind by 
 an oath, to call upon some one by the 
 most binding sanctions, hence (with the 
 accent on the first syllable) to conjure, to 
 use enchantments, to exorcise the super- 
 natural powers, and ultimately to use 
 juggling tricks or sleight of hand. 
 
 Connive. Lat. conniveo, -?iixi, to 
 wink with the eyes, to take no notice of ; 
 7ticto, to wink ; nicere majiu, to beckon 
 with the hand. G. tiicken, Du. knicken, 
 to nod, to wink. For the relation between 
 nico or nicto and niveo comp. nix, nivis, 
 snow. The ultimate root is the repre- 
 sentation of the sound of a snap or crack 
 by the syllable knick, knip. G. knicken, 
 Du. knippen, to snap, crack. The term 
 is then applied to any short sharp move- 
 ment. Met de oogen knippen, knipoogen; 
 to wink or twinkle with the eyes. 
 
 Conqueror. Lat, qucerere, to seek, 
 conquirere, to seek for, to seek out, obtain 
 by seeking, Fr, conquerir, to get, pur- 
 chase, acquire, and hence to get the vic- 
 tory, to subdue, overcome. 
 
 Consider, Lat, considere, to observe, 
 consider, reflect ; a figure, according to 
 Festus, from the observation of (Lat. 
 siderd) the stars. 
 
 Constable. The Master of the Horse, 
 or great officer of the empire who had 
 charge of the horses, was called comes 
 stabuli, the count of the stable, comesta- 
 bilis, cojiestabilis, &;c. To this officer, in 
 the kingdoms which sprang up out of the 
 ruins of the empire, fell the command of 
 the army and the cognisance of military 
 matters. ' Regalium preepositus equo- 
 rum, quem vulgo Comistabilem vocant.' 
 — Armoin in l3uc. ' Comitem stabuli 
 sui quem corrupte constabuhim appella- 
 
CONSTANT 
 
 mus.' — Greg. Turon. in Due. ' Coram 
 comite Herefordiensi,qui secundum anti- 
 quum jus constabularius esse dignoscitur 
 regii exercitus.' — Math. Westm. in Due. 
 The term was then apphed to the com- 
 mander of a fortress or any detached 
 body of troops, and in this sense the title 
 still remains in the Constable of the 
 Tower, the Constable of Chester Castle. 
 The Constable then became the officer 
 who commanded in any district on behalf 
 of the king. ' In villis vero vel urbibus 
 vel castellis quse regis subsunt dominio, 
 in quibus constabularii ad tempus sta- 
 tuuntur.' — Concil. Turon. A. D. 1163 in 
 Due. 
 
 Thus in England the term finally set- 
 tled down as the designation of the petty 
 officer who had the charge of the king's 
 peace in a separate parish or hamlet. 
 
 Constant. Lat. consto, to stand to- 
 gether, stand firmly, to remain, endure. 
 
 Consternation. Lat. sterno, stratiun, 
 to scatter, strew, throw to the ground ; 
 consterno, to throw down, and fig. to 
 terrify. 
 
 Constipation. Lat. constipatio {con 
 and stipo, to cram, pack closely. Or. 
 cT(i(3(jj), a crowding or pressing together. 
 
 Construe, — Construct. See Structure. 
 
 Consult. Lat. consu/o, -siiltum^ to de- 
 liberate, take advice. 
 
 Contact, — Contagion, — Contiguous. 
 • — Contingent. See Tact, -tag. 
 
 Contaminate. Lat. contammOj to 
 make foul, pollute, stain. 
 
 Contemn. — Contempt. Lat. temtio, 
 contejufio, to despise. 
 
 ••Contemplate. Lat. contemplor (perf. 
 p. cofitejHplattis), to survey, behold or 
 gaze at steadily. 
 
 Contest. Lat. testis, a witness ; cofi- 
 testor, to call to witness ; contestari litem, 
 It. cofitestare una lite, to bring a cause 
 before the judge for his decision on the 
 evidence, to commence the pleading ; 
 thence It. contestare, to wrangle. Thus 
 the verb to contest is older than the noun. 
 
 Contra-. — Contrary. — Counter. Lat, 
 contra, Fr. contre, against, in opposition 
 to. Passing through Fr. into E, the word 
 became coimter, frequently used in com- 
 position. Hence Fr. encontrer, reticoti- 
 trer, to meet, to encounter. Rencontre, a 
 meeting, a rencounter. 
 
 Contrast, Fr. contraste, withstand- 
 ing, strife, contention. — Cot. It. co^i- 
 trastare, to stand opposite, to withstand, 
 contest, wrangle ; contrasto,co7itrastanza, 
 an opposing, contention. From conti'a, 
 against, and stare, to stand. 
 
 CONVEY 
 
 169 
 
 Contrive. Fr. trouver, to find, invent, 
 light on, meet with, get, devise ; con- 
 trouver, to forge, devise, invent out of 
 his own brain, — Cot. 
 
 Thre fals men togidere 
 Thise thre ageyn Edward made a compasse- 
 
 ment — 
 Of that fals controueyng gaf thei jugement. 
 
 R, Bruime 255. 
 
 It. trovare,- to find, invent, or seek 
 out. According to Diez from turbare, 
 to disturb, to turn . over in searching 
 through, supporting his theory by the 
 OPtg. /r^7/«r.? = turbare ; Neap, stru- 
 vare = disturbare ; controvare = contur- 
 bare. But the G, treffe7i, to hit, to reach, 
 to come to, comes very near the notion 
 of lighting on, Jemanden treffen, to 
 meet with or find one. Compare Sw. 
 hitta, to hit on, find, discover, contrive. 
 
 Ne 's eschacent ne 's emoevent 
 Mais od les branz nuz s entretrcwent. 
 
 Benoit. Chron. Norm. 2. 5335. 
 — they strike each other with naked blades. 
 
 Control. Fr. contrerolle, the copy of 
 a roll of accounts, &c. Contreroller, to 
 keep a copy of a roll of accounts, — Cot. 
 Hence to check the accounts of an 
 officer, to overlook, superintend, regulate. 
 
 Controversy. — Controvert, Lat. 
 verto, versuin, to turn ; verso, to turn, 
 about ; versor, to be occupied about a 
 thing ; controversor, to litigate, contend, 
 dispute. 
 
 Contumacy. Lat. contiimax, obstinate, 
 unyielding. 
 
 Contumely. Lat. contumelia, mis- 
 usage, insult, affront. Supposed to be 
 connected with temno, to despise. 
 
 Convent,. — Conventicle. Lat. con- 
 vejitus, a coming together, meeting, as- 
 sembly. See -vene. In M.Lat, the term 
 was applied to the church or meeting- 
 place of the faithful, while the contempt- 
 uous name of conventiculum was given 
 to the assemblies of heretics. Conventus 
 was also applied to the council-chamber 
 or meeting-place in a monastery, or to 
 the college or body of monks. 
 
 Ut greges dudm Coenobiorum permitterent 
 adunari Deique ad laudem sub uno Abbate 
 unum conventum effici. — Ord. Vital, in Due, 
 
 The term has finally come to signify a 
 house of nuns. 
 
 Convex. Lat. convexus, vaulted, 
 arched over, also hollow. From veJio, 
 vexum, to carry ; but how the sense is 
 attained is not well made out. 
 
 Convey. — Convoy. The tendency tp 
 a thin or a broad pronunciation of the 
 vowels prevailing in different dialects of 
 
I70 
 
 CONVIVIAL 
 
 Fr. converted Lat. via into veie (Chron. 
 Norm. ; L. des Rois), or voie^ way ; and 
 the same variation is found in enveier^ 
 envoy er. It. inviare, to set in the right 
 way, to send unto — Fl., and in conveier, 
 convoy er J It. conviare, to make way with, 
 to conduct. * Del ciel enveiad! * Tut li 
 poples de Juda out li rei conveied.^ — L. 
 des Rois. From the thin Norman pro- 
 nunciation was formed E. convey^ while 
 convoy has been borrowed from a more 
 recent state of the Fr. language. 
 
 No doubt a reference to Lat. convehere 
 has affected some applications of convey^ 
 as when a carriage is called a convey- 
 ance. 
 
 Convivial. Lat. vivo^ to live ; con- 
 vivOy to eat or live with ; conviva, a 
 guest, conviviuin^ a feast. 
 
 Coo. Imitative of the noise of doves, 
 formerly written c?'oo; Du. korren, kir- 
 ren, ON. kiiTTa^ Fr. roucouler, to croo 
 like a dove. — Cot. To croo, crook, or 
 viojtrti as a dove. — Fl. Mod.Gr. kovkov- 
 
 Cook. Lat. coqinis, a cook ; coqiiere, 
 to cook, to prepare by fire. The primi- 
 tive sense seems, however, to be to boil, 
 from an imitation of the noise of boil- 
 ing water. G. kochen, to boil ; das bhit 
 kocht in seinen adern, the blood boils in 
 his veins. Fin. knohiia, kuohata, to foam, 
 bubble, boil, swell ; kuohina, the boiling 
 as of a cataract or of the waves. Mod. 
 Gr. /coxXa^w, to boil, boil with a noise, 
 bubble. Esthon. kohhisema, rauschen, 
 brausen, to murmur, roar. Galla koka, 
 to boil, to cook. — Tutschek. The sound 
 of tattling is constantly represented by 
 the same syllables as the noise of agitated 
 water. Hence we may compare Pl.D. 
 kdkeln,\.o chatter or cackle, ox kikcl kakel ! 
 for the sound of chatter, with kaken, to 
 boil. 
 
 Cool. ON. kill, kula, a cold blast ; 
 kula, to blow, to be cold ; knlbord, the 
 windward side of the ship ; kulldi, cold ; 
 at kala, to blow cold, to suffer from cold ; 
 kaldi, cold. OHG. chuoli, G. kiihl. See 
 Cold. 
 
 Coomb. A half quarter, or measure 
 of four bushels. Fr. comble, heaped 
 measure. Or is it from the Du. kom, a 
 trough, a chest, deep dish .? 
 
 Coop.— Cooper.— Cub. Lat. cj^pa, Sp. 
 Cuba, Fr. cnve, Du. ktiype, a tub, cask. 
 Sp. ciibcro, a cooper. The Sp. cuba is 
 also a hen-coop. It. cuba, a couch, bed, 
 coop or pen for poultry. Du. kiiype der 
 stad, the circuit of the town, the space 
 confined within the walls ; knypen, to 
 
 COP 
 
 bind casks. To coop is to pen or confine 
 in a narrow space. The OE. cub, to con- 
 fine, seems a difierent form of the same 
 root 
 
 Art thou of Bethlehem's noble college free 
 Stark staring mad tljat thou wouldst tempt the 
 
 sea 
 Cubbed in a cabin, on a mattress laid. 
 
 Dryden in R. 
 
 Pl.D. beknbbelt is used in the same 
 sense, confined, pressed for room. Sp. 
 encnbar, to put a criminal into a tub by 
 way of punishment, w. cwb, a hut, pen 
 or cote ; cwb-iar, a hen-coop ; cwb-ci, a 
 dog-kennel ; cwb-colonien, a dove-cote. 
 Dan. kiibe, a hive ; kove, a hut, hovel ; 
 torve-kube, torve-kove, a turf-shed. AS. 
 cofa, Sw. kofwa, a chamber. Holstein 
 kimve, a bed of poor people, a cot ; Pl.D. 
 kave, kaven, a small enclosed place, a 
 pen, kalver-kaven, swiene-kaven, a calf 
 or swine-pen. G. koben, a hollow re- 
 pository, a chamber ; schweijis-koben, a 
 hog-stye ; kobel, a cote, cot ; tauben- 
 kobel, a dove-cote ; siech-kobel, a hovel 
 for lepers. Probably cabin must be 
 reckoned in the same class of words. 
 
 The radical idea seems that of bending 
 round. Gael, cub, crouch, stoop, shrink, 
 cubach, bent, hollowed ; cuba, a bed ; ciib, 
 a bending of the body, a pannier. As the 
 liquid is exceedingly movable in words 
 beginning with cr, cl, cr, &c., it is pro- 
 bable that the Gael, ciib must be con- 
 nected with criib, to squat, crouch, crilb, 
 a claw, criibach, a hook, a crooked 
 woman, crup, to contract, shrink, crouch, 
 &c. Thus ' cubbed in a cabin ' would 
 be radically identical with Shakespeare's 
 * cribbed, cabined, and confined.' 
 
 Coot. A water-fowl, called also a 
 moor-hen. — B. The two are often con- 
 founded, and in the moor-hen the short 
 white tail bobbing up and down, with a 
 motion like that of the tail of a rabbit, is 
 a very conspicuous object. Now as the 
 latter animal is from this cause called 
 bunny, from Gael, bun, a stump, it is 
 probable that the name of the coot is 
 also taken from the tail. 
 
 W. cwt, a little piece, a short tail ; 
 cwta, cwtog, bobtailed, cwt-iar (iar = 
 hen), bobtailed hen, a coot or water-hen. 
 
 Cop. w. cop, coppa, the top of any- 
 thing, crown of the head ; coppog, crested ; 
 coppyn, a small tuft or crest. Du. kop^ 
 the head. Wall, copett, top. 
 
 The expression for a knob, bunch, or 
 projection, is very often taken from the 
 designation of a blow (see Boss), and the 
 two senses are often united in the root 
 
COPE 
 
 kop. Magy. kop^ sonus pulsu editus ; 
 kopogni^ to stamp or clatter with the 
 feet ; kophal (hal = fish), gobio, the bull- 
 head, a fish with a large head ; Fin. kop- 
 pata, to tap ; kopsia, to knock, beat, 
 smack ; kopina, the noise of a blow ; w. 
 cobio, to thump ; cob, a thump, also a top 
 or tuft ; cobyn, a tuft, bunch, cluster ; 
 Cat. cop, a blow ; Sp. copa, the boss of a 
 bridle ; copo, bunch of flax on a distaff ; 
 copete, tuft, top, summit. 
 
 Cope. It. cappa, Sp. capa, Fr. cJidpe, 
 
 Sw. kapa, G. kappe, a cape, cloak, cope 
 or priest's vestment. In a met. sense, the 
 cope of heaven. It. la cappa del cielo, Fr. 
 la chappe du del, Du. Juille or kappe des 
 kernels {hulle, capitium, velamen mulie- 
 bre), is the arch or vault of heaven. Du. 
 kap, kappe, a cap, hood, summit of a 
 building. G. kappe also is specially ap- 
 plied to the vault of an oven, the roof of 
 a gallery in mining. Sp. copa, crown of 
 a hat, roof or vault of an oven. The 
 coping of a wall is a layer of tiles project- 
 ing over the top and sheltering the wall. 
 To cope, jut or lean out, forjecter. — Sher- 
 wood. 
 
 To Cope. To encounter, meet in bat- 
 tle, strive for the mastery. 
 
 So kene thei acuntred at the coiipyng togadre. 
 William & Werwolf, 3602. 
 
 Ageyn hym came Johan, sone of the Duke of 
 Brennes, and coped togyder so fyersly that they 
 brake theyr speres. — Paris and Vienna (Rox- 
 burgh Lib.), p. 18. 
 
 OFr. colp, cop, a blow ; chopper, to strike 
 or knock against. 
 
 Copesman. — Copesmate. To cope, 
 to barter or truck. — B. Copeman, a 
 customer ; copesmate, a partner in mer- 
 chandise, companion. Du. koop, chaffer, 
 exchange ; koop-7nan, a merchant. See 
 Chop. 
 
 Copious. Lat. copia, plenty. 
 
 Copper. Lat. cuprum. G. kitpfer. 
 
 Copperas. Fr. coiiperose. It. copparosa, 
 from Lat. cupri rosa, Gr. x^XKavQov, the 
 flower of copper ; rose for flower. 
 
 Coppice. — Copse. OFr. copeiz,copeau, 
 wood newly cut ; coppuis, right of cutting 
 the waste branches of trees. — Roquef 
 From coiiper, to cut. What we call cop- 
 pice or copse is in Fr. bois taillis. Gr. 
 KOTvaltq, arbores cseduae — Hesychius in 
 Junius, from ko-ktm, to cut. 
 
 Copy. Lat. copia, abundance, and 
 tropically, means, opportunity of doing 
 anything, Copiam exscribendi facere, to 
 give the means of writing out a docu- 
 ment, of taking a copy, whence copia 
 came to be used in the sense of copy. 
 
 CORK 
 
 171 
 
 Coquette. Fr. coqueter, a cock to call 
 his hens, or to cluck as a cock among 
 hens ; to swagger or strowt it as a cock 
 among hens ; coquette, one who lays her- 
 self out for the admiration of the male 
 sex, as the cock does for the female. 
 
 Cor-. See Con-. 
 
 Corbel. — Corbet. A shouldering piece 
 or jutting out in walls to bear up a post, 
 summer, &c. — B. From being made in 
 the shape of a basket. Fr. corbeau. It. 
 corva, corbella, a corbel, and also a 
 basket. 
 
 Cord. Lat. chorda, Gr. x^P^"?* gutj 
 then the string of a musical instrument, 
 because made of gut. In E. applied to 
 strings made of any other material. 
 
 -cord. — Cordial. Hearty, good for 
 the heart. Lat. cor, cordis, the heart. 
 
 From the heart taken as the seat of 
 the affections and the mind are Lat. co/i- 
 cordia, discordia, concord, discord ; M. 
 Lat. accordare, to accord or cause to be 
 of one mind. Fr. recorder, to call to mind, 
 to remember. 
 
 Cordovan. — Cordwainer. Fr. cordo- 
 van, originally leather from Cordova. 
 Cordouanier (a worker in Cordovan 
 leather), a shoemaker. — Cot. 
 
 Core. The core of an apple. Fr. 
 cceur, heart, also the core of fruit. — Cot. 
 Sp. corazon, the heart ; corazon de nna 
 pera, manzana, the core of a pear, apple. 
 So Esthon. sudda, the heart, the core of 
 an apple. Fin. sydan, the heart, what- 
 ever is in the middle, the wick of a can- 
 dle, pith of a tree, kernel of a nut, &c. 
 
 Cork. Sp. corcho, from Lat. cortex, 
 as Sp. pancho, paunch, from pantex. It 
 is possible however that the word may 
 be connected with Lat. cortex, and yet 
 not be direct from a Lat. source. The 
 root cor is widely spread in the Slavonic 
 and Fin. class of languages in the sense 
 of rind, skin, shell, uniting the Lat. 
 corium, skin, with cortex, bark. Fin. 
 kuori, bark, shell, crust, cream ; Lap. 
 karr, bark, shell, karra, hard, rough ; 
 Esthon. koor, rind, shell, bark, cream ; 
 korik, crust. Magy. kereg, rind, crust, 
 bark ; kereg-dtigo {dugo = stopper), a 
 stopper of bark, a cork ; kereg-fa, a cork 
 tree, ke'rges, barky, hard. Bohem. kura, 
 km'ka, bark, crust ; Pol. kora, bark of a 
 tree ; korek, koreczek, cork, korek-z-kory 
 (a stopper of bark), a cork ; — drewniany^ 
 a stopper of wood, — szklatiny, of glass; 
 Russ. korka, the rind of fruits, crust of 
 bread, cork. 
 
72 
 
 CORMORANT 
 
 Cormorant. Fr. cormorant^ corbeau 
 de mer, It. corvo marino^ agreeing with 
 Bret, morvran, from mor^ sea, and brati^ 
 a crow. 
 
 Corn. Goth, kaurn, com ; kaurno^ a 
 grain. OHG. kerno; MG. kernej ON. 
 kianii; Du. keerne, a grain, kernel. 
 Bohem. zrno, Pol. ziarno, a grain. 
 
 Cornelian. Fr. cornaline, It. coma- 
 lino. A flesh-coloured stone easy to be 
 engraved upon. — Cot. From cormi, horn, 
 because of the colour of the finger-nail. 
 For the same reason it is in Gr. called 
 ovvK, the nail. — Diez. Others derive it 
 from carnens, because flesh-coloured. 
 But the true derivation is probably from 
 the semi-transparency of the stone resem- 
 bling horn. G. kornstei7t, cornelian, 
 chalcedony, agate. 
 
 Comer. Lat. cornu, Fr. come, a horn, 
 whence corniere, a corner. Comp. ON. 
 horn, signifying both horn and corner. 
 
 L'une des cornbres leva 
 Et I'autre k sa fille bailla. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, 2, 85. 
 
 Comet. A musical instrument. Fr. 
 cornet, from corne, horn. Also the stand- 
 ard of a troop of horse, or the officer who 
 bore it, corresponding to an ensign of 
 foot. It. cornetta, that ensign which is 
 carried by lancers on horseback. — Fl. 
 Fr. cornette, a cornet of horse, and the 
 ensign of a horse company. — Cot. 
 
 Cornice. It. cornice, Fr. cor niche, 
 Wal. coronise. Gr. KopMvrj, Kopwvlg, a 
 summit, finish, or completion of any- 
 thing ; KopujviSa tiriTiOtvai, to put the 
 finishing stroke to a thing. The Gr. 
 Kopwvig and Lat. corona (and in all proba- 
 bility also coronis) were also used in the 
 sense of a cornice, or projection at the 
 top of the wall of a building, to reXevralop 
 TTjg oiKo^op.7]Q tTciQtfia. — Hesych. As the 
 Gr. KopojvT] also signified a crown, the 
 sense of a summit or completion may 
 arise from the notion of crowning, as we 
 say ' a crowning grace,' or as in the ex- 
 pression Finis coronat opus. 
 
 Coroner. — Coronet. Lat. corona, a 
 crown. Coronator, the Coroner, was the 
 official whose special duty was to look 
 after the rights of the crown in a district. 
 ' Judex corona, qui vulgo dicitur Coroner.^ 
 — Will. Thorn in Due. A.D. 1367. 
 
 Corporal. It. capo, head ; caporale, 
 caporano, a corporal of a band of men, a 
 chief man or commander — Fl. ; Fr. capo- 
 ral, Rouchi coporal, corporal, a corporal. 
 
 Corporal. — Corporation. — Corpu- 
 lent. Lat. corpus, -poris, body ; corpo- 
 
 CORSNED 
 
 ratio, an assumption of body ; corpulentuSy 
 gross or bulky of body. 
 
 Corps. — Corpse. — Corse. — Corset. — 
 Corselet. Lat. corpus. It. corpo, Fr. 
 corps, OFr. cors, body. Hence corps, a 
 body of troops ; corpse, corse, a dead 
 body ; It. corpicello, corparello (Fl.), Fr. 
 corset, a little body, also a pair of bodies 
 for a woman ; It. corsaletio, corse tto, a 
 corselet, or armour for the body. So G. 
 leib, body ; leibchen, little body, a woman's 
 bodice. 
 
 Corridor. Fr. corridor, a passage. It. 
 corridore, a runner, a long gallery, ter- 
 race, walk, upper deck of a ship. — Fl. 
 See Courier. 
 
 Corrody. Money or provisions due to 
 the king as founder from a religious 
 house, for the maintenance of one that he 
 appoints for that purpose. Mid.Lat. con- 
 redium, correduni, conradium, corrodium, 
 &c. ' Quicquid ad alimentum ad men- 
 sam datur ; prasbenda monachi vel ca- 
 nonic!.' — Due. It. corredare, to fit out, 
 furnish, set forth. See Array. 
 
 Corsair. It. corsaro, corsale, a pirate. 
 From Sp. corsa, cor so, a cruise or course 
 at sea ; Lat. cursus. — Diez. But the 
 Mod.Gr. has Kovp^ov, currency, to Kovpaov 
 Ta)v t^OpCov, prey ; Kovpaivu), to plunder, 
 rob, act the pirate ; KovpaapriQ, KovpatvTtjg, 
 a robber, pirate. 
 
 Corselet. See Corps. 
 
 Corsned. A piece of ordeal bread, by 
 eating which a person accused of crime 
 was allowed to clear himself in certain 
 cases. A prayer was uttered over the 
 morsel to be eaten that it might choke 
 the person accused if guilty, and the 
 curse was solemnised by marking the 
 corsned with the sign of the cross. Thus 
 the word may be explained from AS. snced, 
 bit, morsel, ON. snad, food, as signifying 
 either the morsel of the curse or execra- 
 tion, or as the crossed morsel. Da. korse, 
 to mark with the sign of the cross. A 
 curse is an imprecation sanctioned by the 
 sign of the cross. When Earl Godwin 
 was suspected of the murder of the king's 
 brother he proposed to clear himself by 
 the corsned, and is represented by Phi- 
 lippe Mouskes as saying to the king — 
 
 Bien sai que vous me mescr^es 
 De vo frere ki fu tuds, 
 Mais trestout aussi voirement 
 Puisse jou manger sainement 
 Cest morsel de pain que je tieng, 
 Que par efort, ne par engien 
 N'eue coupe en la mort vo frere — 
 Lors saina li rois le morsiel. 
 
 After Godwin's imprecation the king 
 
CORVETTE 
 
 signed the cross on the morsel, and the 
 guilty Godwin was accordingly choked. 
 In the account of the same transaction in 
 the Roman de Rou the signing of the 
 cross on the corsned is also specially 
 mentioned. 
 
 je sai bien qu'il s'estrangla 
 
 D'un morsel que le Kol seigna, 
 A Odihan ou il manja. 
 
 In a Gl. of the time of Edw. III. co7'sned\s 
 rendered panis conjuratus, the bread of 
 exorcism or execration. 
 
 The word is explained by Grimm as 
 the morsel of trial or of judgment, from 
 OHG. khisan^ to try, discern, judge, 
 •whence koron, koren, to try, kiiri, MHG. 
 kiir, AS. eyre, trial, judgment, choice. 
 Fris. korbita, corsned. 
 
 Corvette. Lat. corbtta, a large ship 
 for traffic, Sp. corbeta, Pg. corveta, Fr. 
 corvette. 
 
 Cosmetic. — Cosmogony. — Cosmo- 
 politan. Gr. K0(Tfi7)riKbQ, skilled in the 
 art of adornment, from KOff/xsu), to array, 
 decorate, adorn. Koafiog, order, arrange- 
 ment, the universe ; Kodfioyovia, the world's 
 origin ; KOfffxoTroXlTijg, a citizen, of the 
 world. 
 
 Cosset. A lamb brought up by hand, 
 a pet. It. casiccio, a tame lamb bred by 
 hand — Fl.,from casa, house, as in Suffolk, 
 cot-lamb. Wal. cosset, a sucking pig, is 
 probably unconnected. 
 
 Cost. Lat. constare, Fr. couster, cottier, 
 to stand one in, to cost. 
 
 Costive. Fr. constipd, constipated, 
 bound in the belly ; Lat. coiistipare, from 
 stipare, to cram, to stuff. It. costipativo, 
 having a tendency to constipate, whence 
 by contraction costive. 
 Costume. See Custom. 
 Cosy. — To Cose. Cosie, snug, warm, 
 comfortable ; cosh, quiet, snug, intimate. 
 They are sitting very cosh: i.e. close to 
 each other. — Jam. To cose, to converse 
 with familiarity.— Hal. A cose in fami- 
 liar speech is a private and sociable 
 conversation. G. kosen, to chat, talk con- 
 fidentially. ' So kosten sie die nacht 
 entlang.' Gekose, koserei, chat, tattle. 
 
 The primary signification of the word 
 seems to be the sound of whispering, and 
 it is applied in MHG. to the murmuring 
 of water. Horte man da kosen diu waz- 
 zer unde runen. — Benecke. Sc. cushle- 
 micshle, low whispering conversation, 
 muttering.— Jam. Couster, which is 
 sometimes used in the sense of chat or 
 cose, may be compared with whister, 
 whisper. See Cuddle. 
 
 COT 
 
 173 
 
 Cot. — Cottage. Fin. koti, a dwelling- 
 place, house ; kota, a poor house, cottage, 
 kitchen ; koti-ma {ma =■ land), country. 
 Esthon. koddo, house. 
 
 Cot, 2.— Cote. Probably cote, a pen 
 or shelter for animals, may be identical 
 with cot in the last sense. We have 
 sheep-cote, dove-cote; Du. duive-kot, hoen- 
 kot, honde-kot, a dove-, hen-, dog-cote. In 
 this language kot is widely used in the 
 sense of hollow receptacle ; kot, tugu- 
 rium, cavum, latibulum, caverna, locula- 
 mentum, locus excavatus. ' De leden wt 
 di^kote doen,' to put limbs out of joint. — 
 Kil. w. cwt, a cot, hovel, sty. Cwtt, a 
 cottage, cwtt 7noch, a hog-sty. — Richards. 
 Cot, 3. The primary sense of the 
 nearly obsolete cot is a matted lock. G. 
 zote, a cot, a lock of hair or wool clung 
 together.— Ludwig. Cot-gare, refuse wool 
 so clotted together that it cannot well be 
 pulled asunder ; cottum, cat or dog-wool 
 (properly cot or dag-wool) of which cotts 
 or coarse blankets were formerly made. — 
 Bailey. Cotted, cottered, cotty, matted, 
 entangled. — Hal. Lang, coutou, flock 
 (bourre), wool, cotton; coittis, matted; 
 coulisses, dag-locks, the tail- wool of sheep. 
 — Cousinid 
 
 The term is then applied to a fleece, 
 mat, rug of shaggy materials, to a cover- 
 ing or loose garment made of such mate- 
 rials, to an inartificial sleeping-place, 
 where a rug or mat may be laid down for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Wall, cote, sheepskin, fleece ; E. dial. 
 cot, a fleece of wool matted together in 
 its growth, a door-mat made of a cotted 
 fleece. — Baker. G. kotze, a rough, shaggy 
 covering, a shaggy overcoat worn by pea- 
 sants ; kotzet, cotted, shaggy. — Adelung. 
 Fin. kaatu, a rough coverlet of sheep- 
 skins. The Mid. Lat. coitus, cot la, cottum 
 were used in both senses, of a rug or 
 coarse woollen mat used by the monks as 
 bedding, and of the single garment, made 
 of similar material, covering the whole 
 body. 'Accipit incola cellas ad lectum 
 paleam, filtrum, si possit haberi, sin au- 
 tem (but if not), pro eo pannum grossum 
 simplicem non duplicatum, pulvinar, 
 colutti vel coopertorium de grossis ovium 
 pellibus et panno grosso coopertum.' — 
 Stat. Cartus. in Due. Rugs of the fore- 
 going description were either to lie on or 
 to serve as coverings. * Nee jaceant 
 super cotos.^ ' Super colos in lecto quies- 
 cere.' 'Tunc, ait, ille es qui sub cotlo 
 quotidie completorium insusurras ? ' — 
 Due. 
 A cot, a sleeping-place in a ship, is 
 
174 
 
 COTERIE 
 
 properly a mat, then the place where a 
 mat is laid for sleeping. 
 
 The Mid.Lat. cotta, coitus^ explained 
 by Ducange, tunica clericis propria, cor- 
 responds to G. kutte^ the cowl or hood, the 
 distinctive part of a friar's dress. It is 
 probable that the derivation of the word 
 coat^ in which all reference to the nature 
 of the material is lost, must be traced to 
 the same origin. We have above seen 
 the same word {kotze) applied to a rough 
 overcoat. And it is probable that the 
 Mid.'L2L\..JIocus,Jlocc7is,/roccus, the frock 
 of the monk, is in like manner derived 
 iromjloccus, a flock of wool, referring to 
 the shaggy material of which the frock 
 was made. So also from Fin. .iakku, 
 villus animalium defluus, maxime impli- 
 catus vel concretus, a cot or dag (whence 
 takkuinen, cotted, matted, takku-willa, 
 dag-wool), comes takki, an overcoat, per- 
 haps explaining the origin of the Roman 
 toga. 
 
 In the original signification of a matted 
 lock cot is related on the one side to clot, 
 and on the other to the Sc. tot, tait, G. 
 zote, Fin. tiitti, Sw. totte, a bunch of 
 flax, wool, or fibrous material. We have 
 seen under Catch examples of the equiva- 
 lence of forms beginning with cl and a 
 simple c respectively. And the Fr. niotte, 
 matte, a clot or clod, is identical with E. 
 mat, an entangled mass of fibre, the 
 primitive idea being simply a lump. The 
 Lap. tuogge, a tangled mat of hair, is 
 also applied to the lumps of paste in soup 
 or gruel. 
 
 It should be observed that the Sc. 
 to-ttis is used, like G. kotse, for a coarse 
 shaggy material. 
 
 Na dentie geir the Doctor seiks 
 
 Of toltis russet his riding breiks. — Jam. 
 
 Coterie. From Lat. qtiotus, what in 
 number, how many, are formed, It. quota, 
 Pr. cota, Fr. cote, a quota or contribu- 
 tion ; cotiser, to assess the contribution of 
 one ; coterie, an assembly, properly a club 
 where each pays his part. 
 
 Cotquean. — duotquean. An effemi- 
 nate man, man interfering in women's 
 concerns. Du. kutte. Fin. kutta, kttttu, 
 the distinctive feature of a woman, thence 
 as a term of abuse for a feeble, womanly 
 man. In like manner Bav. fud, of the 
 same original sense, is used in vulgar lan- 
 guage for a woman, and contemptuously, 
 as Gr. ywvvtc, for a womanish man. E. 
 cot, cote, a man that busies himself in the 
 affairs of the kitchen, — Bailey. Cut was 
 also a term of abuse for a woman. 
 
 COUNTERPANE 
 
 That lying cut is lost. — Gammer Gurton, v. 2. 
 In cotquean the element signifying wo- 
 man is repeated, as so often happens 
 when the original form of the word has 
 lost its significance. 
 
 Cotton. Sp. algodon, Arab, qo'ton, 
 alqd'ton. The meaning would exactly 
 agree with that of E. cot, a lock or flock. 
 Lang, coutou, wool, flock, cotton. Noppe 
 of wool or cloth, colon de tapis. — Palsgr. 
 
 Couch. Fr. concher, OFr. culcher, to 
 lay down ; It. colcare, from Lat. colloca?-e, 
 con and locare, to lay. Sole collocato, au 
 soleil couch^. — Lex Salica. Menage. 
 C owelty n, or leyne things together, col- 
 loco. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Cough. Imitative of the noise. 
 Du. kiich, a cough ; kuchen, to pant, to 
 cough. — Kil. Fin. kohkia, kohhia, to 
 hawk, to cough, rauce tussio, screo. 
 Esthon. kohhima, to cough ; kohhatania, 
 koggisema, to hawk up phlegm. 
 
 Coulter. Lat. culler, a ploughshare, 
 a knife. Fr. coullre, a coulter. Lat. ctil- 
 tellns, a knife. This would look as if to 
 cut were the primary meaning of colere, 
 to till. 
 
 CounciL Lat. concilium, an assembly 
 or meeting of persons, explained as origin- 
 ally signifying a pressing together, from 
 the source indicated under Conciliate. 
 
 Corpora sunt porropartim primordia rerum, 
 
 Partim concilio quae constant principiorum. 
 
 Lucret. 
 
 — by the pressing together of elements. 
 
 Counsel. Lat. consilium, Fr. conseil 
 (probably from consulo, to deliberate, take 
 advice), advice, deliberation. 
 
 Count. Fr. comte, from comes, comitis, 
 a companion ; the name given to the 
 great officers of state under the Frankish 
 kings. 
 
 To Count. Fr. compter, to reckon, 
 calculate. Lat. computarej con zxiA p it- 
 tare, to think. 
 
 Countenance. Fr. contenance, the 
 behaviour, carriage, presence, or composi- 
 tion of the whole body. — Cot. Lat. con- 
 tin ere, to hold together. 
 
 Counter-. See Contra-. 
 
 Counter. Fr. compioir, a counter, or 
 table to cast accounts. — Cot. 
 
 Counterpane. — Q,uilt. w. cylch, a 
 hoop, circle ; cylched, a bound, circum- 
 ference, rampart, what goes round about 
 or enwraps, bed-clothes, curtains. Gwely 
 a' i gylchedau, a bed and its furniture. 
 Gael, coilce, a bed, bed-clothes ; coilce- 
 adha, bed materials, as feathers, straw, 
 heath. Bret, golched, a feather-bed, 
 
COUNTRY 
 
 chaff-bed. Hence the Lat. culcita, ori- 
 ginally probably a wadded wrapper, but 
 applied in Lat. to a mattress, and avow- 
 edly borrowed from the Gauls. 
 
 Sicut in culcitris prascipuam gloriam Cadurci 
 obtinent, Galliarum hoc et tomenta pariter in- 
 ventum. — Pliny. 
 
 The Du. kulckf, Sp. cokedra, cokha, 
 It. coltre, Fr. coultre, coulte, mark the 
 passage to the E. guilt. 
 
 When the stitches of the quilt came to 
 be arranged in patterns for ornament it 
 was called cukita pimcta. 
 
 Estque toral lecto quod supra ponitur alto 
 Ornatus causa, quod dicunt culcita puficta. 
 
 Due. 
 
 NuUus ferat secum m via. punciaftt culcitram 
 ad jacendum nisi is cui in capitulo concessum 
 fuerit. — Ibid. 
 
 This in Fr. became coulte-pointe, coute- 
 pointe., courte-pointe, and with that in- 
 stinctive striving after meaning, which is 
 so often the source of corruption in lan- 
 guage, conlre-poink, as if from the op- 
 posite pits made by the stitches on either 
 side of the quilt or mattress. Vetu d'une 
 robe contrepointee comme un malade. — 
 Rev. des Deux Mondes, Feb. 15, i860. 
 Hence finally the E. counterpane. 
 
 Country. Fr. con tree, It. contrada 
 {contra-atd) , the district which lies oppo- 
 site you, as G. ^^^^//(/, a situation, Mid.G. 
 gegenote, from gegen, opposite.— Diez. 
 Muratori suggests the Lat. conterraneus, 
 a person of the same country, for which 
 in Mid. Lat. was used conterratus. Occi- 
 sus est Michael sub castello Mutulse ab 
 ipsis conterratis. — Chron. A.D. 1040, Et 
 omnes conten^ati dispersi sunt ; id est 
 (says Muratori) cives ejusdem terras. 
 
 Couple. Lat. copula, a tie, a rope ; 
 copulo, to tie or join together. It. cappio, 
 a noose, snare, halter. 
 
 Courage. Fr. courage; It. coraggio, 
 from Lat. cor, the heart. 
 
 Courier. — Course. course. Lat. 
 
 curro, cursum. It. correre, Fr. courir, to 
 nm ; It. corriere, Fr. courier, a runner, 
 one sent on messages. Lat. curstts, a 
 running, journey, course. Discurro, to 
 run to and fro, to speak of a thing ; dis- 
 cursus, conversation, discourse ; concur- 
 sus, a running together, concourse. In 
 other cases the Lat. vowel remains un- 
 altered, as in Incursion, Excursion. 
 
 Court. Fr. cour. It. corte, Lat. coJiors, 
 chors, cors, cortis, a cattle-yard, enclosed 
 place. Cortes sunt villarum intra mace- 
 riem spatia. — Nonius. Portant secum 
 crates et retia quibus coJiortes in solitu- 
 
 COVE 
 
 17? 
 
 dine faciant. — Varro in Ihre, v. gard. 
 Allied with a numerous class of words 
 signifying enclosure. Russ. gorod , a 
 town, gorodnya, a palisade, gorodba, an 
 enclosure. Pol. grod, a town, grodz, en- 
 closure, grodzki, belonging to a court ; 
 Bohem. hrad, a fortress, castle ; hradba, 
 enclosure; hraditi, to enclose, fortify. 
 Lat. hortus; Sw. gard, a yard, court, 
 estate, house ; E. yard. Magy. kert, a 
 garden, kertelni, keritni, to enclose ; ke- 
 ritek, kertelet, a hedge. Fin. kartano, a 
 court, yard, farm. 
 
 Cousin. Fr. cousin; It. cuglfio ; 
 Lat. consobrinus, whence Orisons cusdrin, 
 cusrin; Sp. sobrifio. — Diez. 
 
 Cove. A nook, a sheltered harbour. 
 In secretis recessibus is translated by 
 Holland, in secret coves or nooks. — Rich. 
 The relations of this word lead us in such 
 a variety of directions that it is exceed- 
 ingly difficult to make up our minds as to 
 the original source of the signification. 
 Lat. cav7is, hollow, Sp. cueva, a cave or 
 grot, cellar, den of wild beasts, &c. Ptg. 
 cova, a hole, ditch, pit ; — dos olJios, eye- 
 hole ; — 7ia barba, a dimple ; covil, a den 
 of wild beasts, a lurking-hole, covo, a coop 
 for chickens. It. covare, to squat, brood, 
 sit upon eggs, cova, covo, a den, covale, 
 covaccio, a hatching nest, squatting form, 
 lurking-hole ; covile, coviglio, a kennel, 
 sty, lurking-place, covigliai'e, to lurk or 
 get into some secret place for shelter. 
 Looking at the latter forms we should be 
 inclined to refer the word to the Lat. 
 cubare, to lie, Gael, ctib, to crouch, stoop, 
 bend, lie down, whence ciiba, a bed, ciiba- 
 chuil, Lat. citbiculuni, a bed-chamber, 
 cubile, a resting-place, a lair of animals, 
 identical with the It. covile, coviglia. 
 
 The idea of cooping or confining may 
 be united with that of lying down, if we 
 suppose that the primitive image expressed 
 by the Lat. cubai'e, to lie down, is the act 
 of curling oneself up for warmth in going 
 to sleep. Compare Lap. krukahet, to lie 
 down on the ground without a bed, with 
 E. crook. Gael, ciib, a bending of the 
 body, cilbach, bent, hollowed. Lat. C2ibi- 
 tum, the elbow or bending of the arm. 
 
 In the Finnish and Slavonic languages 
 we have Lap. kappe, kape, hollow, a ca- 
 vern, ditch ; kappet, to hollow out ; Russ. 
 kopaf, to dig, to hollow ; Fin. kopio, 
 sounding as an empty vessel, empty, 
 hollow ; koppa, anything hollow or vault- 
 ed ; kopano, a hollow trunk of a tree ; 
 kopero, koparet, a receptacle for small 
 things, trench for keeping turnips ; ko- 
 
176 
 
 COVENANT 
 
 Pera^ koiaeni, hollowed, concave, curved, 
 crooked. 
 
 If the whole of these words arc radi- 
 cally connected, the train of thought 
 must begin with the sound characteristic 
 of a hollow object, whence the idea of 
 empty, hollow, concave, crooked, making 
 crooked, curling oneself up, lying down. 
 
 Covenant. Lat. conventus, conventio 
 (from coHvenire, to come together, to" 
 agree), an assembly, compact, covenant. 
 Fr. conveniry to assemble, befit, accord 
 with ; convenant, fit, comely, agreeing 
 with, and as a subst. an agreement, con- 
 tract. The n has been lost in E. cove- 
 nant, as in OE. covent for convent; Co- 
 vent-garden. 
 
 Cover. Fr. couvrir, It. coprire, Lat. 
 cooperire; con and operire, to cover. 
 
 Coverlet. Fr. couvre-iit, a bed-cover. 
 
 Covet. Fr. convoiter, by a false ety- 
 mology, as if compounded with the pre- 
 position con. The real derivation is the 
 Lat. cupidus, whence Prov. cobeitos, cubi- 
 tos, cobes, covetous ; cupiditat, cobeitat, 
 covetousness ; cobeifar, cubitar, to covet. 
 — Diez. 
 
 Covey. A brood of partridges. Fr. 
 couve'e, from cotwer, It. covare, to hatch, 
 brood, covey, squat or sit upon ; covata, 
 2l brood or covey. — Fl. Lat. cubo, to lie, 
 incnbo, to hatch. 
 
 Covin. A deceitful agreement between 
 two to the prejudice of a third. — B. Lat. 
 convenire, to agree. Lang, couvinejt, 
 covinen, convention, agreement, plot ; 
 far covinens, to concert, to plot. See 
 Covenant. 
 
 Cow. Sanscr. go, gii, G. hih. The 
 bellowing of an ox may be imitated as 
 well with an initial _^ as a <^. Thus the 
 ON. has gaiila as well as baiila, to bellow 
 (to cry gau / ban I as Fr. miaitler, to cry 
 miati ! to mew) ; gaiili as well as baiili, 
 a bull. The Sanscr. go preserves the 
 first of these forms, as the Gr. ^ovq and w. 
 du, It. bue, the second. 
 
 * To Cow. ON. kuga, Sw. kitfva, Dan. 
 ktie, to coerce, subdue, keep under. A 
 parallel form with Dan. kmtge, to squeeze, 
 press down. Compare N. knippe and 
 kippe, a bundle ; kmibb and kubb, a 
 block ; knart and kart, a lump, unripe 
 fruit ; knoll and koll, a round top, crown 
 of the head. 
 
 Coward, There is no doubt that the 
 word comes from It. coda, OFr. cone, 
 Wall, cow, a tail, but the precise course 
 of the metaphor has been much disputed. 
 It appears to me certain that the sense of 
 timidity is taken from the figure of a hare, 
 
 COWL 
 
 which was familiarly termed couard, the 
 bobtailed. ' If eny [of your hounds] 
 fynde of hym [the hare], where he hath 
 ben, Rycher or Bemond, ye shall say, 
 oiez k Bemond le vayllaunt, que quide 
 trovere le coward, on le court cow' — Le 
 Venery de Twety in Reliquiae Antiquic, p. 
 153. Kicwaerd, lepus, vulgo cuardus ; 
 ignavus, imbellis, timidus. — Kil. The 
 timidity of the hare is proverbial : 
 
 Myd word he threteneth muche, and lute dethe 
 
 in dede, 
 Hys mouth ys as a leon, hys herte arne as an 
 hare. — R.G. 457. 
 If some such desperate hackster shall devise 
 To rouse thy hare's heart from her cowardice. 
 Bp. Hall in R. 
 
 Some have thought that the name is 
 taken from the figure of a terrified dog 
 with his tail between his legs, as in 
 Heraldry a lion so depicted was termed a 
 lio)i coiiard. But it does not appear that 
 putting his tail between his legs is a sign 
 of fear in the case of a lion. 
 
 In the original text I was led to explain 
 the word as signifying a taller, one who 
 draws to the rear, shrinks backward : 
 
 Quand de Narcissus me souvint 
 
 A qui mallement mesadvint, 
 
 Ly comnien9ay k couarder. — R. R. 1525. 
 
 In Chaucer's translation, 
 
 I gan anon withdrawe me. 
 
 Lap. nmrlet, to go backwards, to be 
 timid, to fear. 
 
 To Cower, g. kauern, kauren, to 
 squat, sit close to the ground ; ON. kiira, 
 to roost, to sit like a roosting bird ; N. 
 kura, to droop the head, to rest, lie still, 
 sleep in a bent posture, w. cwr, corner, 
 nook ; cwriaft, to cower. The funda- 
 mental image seems, making a hunch of 
 oneself, crooking oneself together. The 
 N. has kus, a crook or hump in the back, 
 kusa seg, synonymous with kura seg, to 
 crook oneself, bow down. Fin. kaare, 
 bow, curvature ; kaarittaa, to bow, to 
 
 curve, to go round ; Lap. karjot, to lie 
 curled up like a dog. 
 
 Cowl. Lat. ciiciillus,S-p. cognlla, OFr. 
 ciionle — Chr. Norm. ; AS. cugle, ctifle, 
 ciiJde, w. cwfl, Gael, ciibhal, a monk's 
 hood, cowl. Originally from the figure of 
 a cock's comb. Illyr. kukmaii, kiikinitza, 
 kukljitza, a cock's comb, tuft on a bird's 
 head, a hood ; kukulj, a cowl ; Bohem. 
 chochol. crest on a bird's head, kukla, a 
 hood ; Bav. gogkel, a cock, thence the 
 cock's comb : — Es steigt einem der gog- 
 kel, giickel, his crest rises, he is enraged ; 
 gugel, kiigel, a cape, cowl. 
 
COWL-STAFF 
 
 Cowl-staff. A staff for carrying a tub 
 that has two ears. Essex coivl, a tub. — 
 Ray. Soo, or cowl^ vessel : tina ; cowle 
 tre, or soo tre : vectatorium. — Pr. Pm. 
 Cowl itself is from Fr. cuveaic {cuvef), 
 cuve, Lat. ai^a^ Mid.Lat. cupella, G. 
 kiibel, a tub. 
 
 Coxcomb. A fop, from the hood worn 
 by a fool or jester which was made in the 
 shape of a cock's comb. 
 
 Coy. Fr. coi, It. cheio, Sp. g^iedo, 
 quiet, noiseless, easy, gentle ; Lat. qtiietiis. 
 Cozen. It. coglione, a cullion, a fool, a 
 scoundrel, properly a dupe. See Cully. 
 It. coglionare, to deceive, make a dupe of. 
 Rouchi co7ilionner, railler, plaisanter, to 
 banter. Coule ! interjection imputing a 
 lie ; a lie. Couleter, to tell lies. 
 
 In the Venet. dialect cogliojtare be- 
 comes cogiojiare, as vogia for voglia, 
 fogia iox foglia. Cogionnare, ingannare, 
 corbellare. — Patriarchi. Hence E. to 
 cozen, diS It. /reg to, frieze ; C2^g in o, cousin; 
 ^rigione, prison. 
 
 Crab. ON. krabbi, G. krebs, Bret. krab. 
 There is little doubt that the animal is 
 named from its great claws, w. crafangc, 
 a claw, talon, a crab-fish. OE. craple, 
 Bret, kraban, a claw. 
 
 The ultimate origin is a representation 
 of the sound of scraping or scratching, 
 the primary office of claws, although those 
 of the crab are not used for that purpose, 
 w. crafu, Bret, krabisa, to scratch ; Du. 
 krabben, to scratch or scrape ; Sp. carpir 
 (with inversion of the liquid), to tear, 
 scrape, scratch. 
 
 Crab. 2. A windlass for raising 
 weights. 
 
 The G. bock, a buck or he-goat, is used 
 for a frame of wood to support weights or 
 similar purposes. It signifies a battering- 
 ram, coach-box, starlings or posts to 
 break the ice above a bridge, the dogs in 
 a fire grate, trestles to saw wood on, a 
 painter's easel or ass. In a similar man- 
 ner the Sp. cabra, a goat, was used as the 
 designation of a machine for throwing 
 stones ; cabria, a crane. Fr. chevre, a 
 goat, and also a machine for raising 
 weights. In the Romance of the depart- 
 ment of the Tarn the place of the r is 
 transposed, and the word for a goat is 
 crabo; crabit, a kid ; and both these terms 
 are used to designate the machine for 
 raising weights, which we term in E. a 
 crab, as well as trestles, or, like the G. 
 bock, a bagpipe. — Diet. Romano-Cas- 
 trais. For the reason why the name of 
 the goat was applied to a machine for 
 raising weights, see Cable. 
 
 CRAM BE 
 
 177 
 
 Crabbed. Crabbed writing is scratchy 
 writing, difficult to read, and met. a 
 crabbed style is a style hard to under- 
 stand. Du. krabbelen, to scratch, to scrib- 
 ble or scrawl ; krabbelschrift, a scrawl, 
 ill-written piece ; krabbelig, badly writ- 
 ten, scrawled, crabbed. 
 
 Crack. Imitative of the sound made 
 by a hard substance in splitting, the col- 
 lision of hard bodies, &c. In Gaelic ex- 
 pressed by the syllable cnac, identical 
 with E. knock or knack. Gael, cnac, 
 crack, break, crash, the crack of a whip, 
 &c. ; cnag, crack, snap, knock, rap, 
 thump. 
 
 Cradle. See Crate. 
 Craft. G. kraft, strength, power ; AS. 
 crceft, strength, faculty, art, skill, know- 
 ledge. The origin is seen in the notion 
 of seizing, expressed by the It. graffiare. 
 w. cra^, a hook, brace, holdfast, creffyn, 
 a brace, Bret, krafa, to seize. The term 
 is then applied to seizing with the mind, 
 as in the Lat. terms apprehend, compj'e- 
 hend, ixovci prehendere, to seize in a ma- 
 terial way. w. craffu, to seize with the 
 understanding, to perceive ; dyn craff, a. 
 man of quick comprehension ; cre^^, a 
 trade. 
 
 Crag. I. The neck, throat. — Jam. Du. 
 kraeghe, the throat. Pol. kark, the nape, 
 crag, neck. Bohem. krk, the neck; ON. 
 krage, Dan. krave, the collar of a coat. 
 The origin is an imitation of the noise 
 made by clearing the throat. Bohem. 
 krkati, to belch, krcati, to vomit ; Pol. 
 krzc^ad, to hem, to hawk. The same 
 root gives rise to the Fr. cracker, to spit, 
 and It. recere, to vomit ; E. reach, to 
 strain in vomiting ; ON. hraki, spittle ; 
 AS. hraca, cough, phlegm, the throat, 
 jaws ; G. rachen, the jaws. 
 
 At other times the guttural sound is 
 imitated without the r, as in E. hawk 
 and keck, and hence are formed W. ceg, 
 the throat, mouth, E, choke and ON. kok, 
 qiiok, the throat. 
 
 2. A rock. Gael, creag, a rock ; w. 
 careg, a stone ; craig, a rock. 
 
 Cram., as. cramman, to stuff, to cram. 
 Da. krainme, to squeeze, press, strain ; 
 ON. kremja, Sw. kraina, to press, crush, 
 squeeze. Du. kram77ie, a cramp-iron, 
 kra7ttmen, to clamp or cramp together. 
 MHG. kriimnen, kram, krunimen, to press, 
 seize with the claws. See Cramp. 
 
 Crambe. — Crambo. A repetition of 
 
 words, or saying the same thing over 
 
 again. From the Gr. proverb I'lq Kpani3ij 
 
 Qdvarov, cabbage twice boiled is death ; 
 
 1 Lat. crambe repetita, a tedious repetition. 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 CRAMP 
 
 Hence probably crambo^ a play in rhym- 
 ing, in which he that repeats a word 
 that was said before forfeits something. 
 — B. 
 
 Then call me curtal, change my name of Miles 
 To Guiles, Wiles, Piles, Biles, or the foulest 
 
 name you can devise 
 To crambo with for ale. 
 
 B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, A. 4, sc. i. 
 
 Cramp. — Crimp. — Crump. Fr. crampe, 
 Du. krampe^ G. krampf^ spasm, cramp ; 
 Fr. crampon^ Du. krainpe, krarrmte, kram- 
 meken, a cramp-iron, hook, clasp. Krim- 
 pen, to contract, draw in, shrink ; krimp- 
 neusen, to draw up the nose ; krimpinge^ 
 krimpsel^ krimpe, contraction, spasrn, 
 cramp ; krimpsel in den buyck, G. grpn- 
 men, krimmen, the gripes, M HG. kriyp^nen, 
 krain^krummen, to clutch with the talons, 
 to tear, to climb, showing the origin of 
 Fr. grimper, properly to clutch oneself 
 up. Krirnmende voghel^ a hawk. — Kil. 
 Sw. dial, kramm^ Da. dial, kram, tight, 
 scanty, close. ON. krappr, tight, narrow, 
 crooked ; kreppa, to press together, to 
 contract, crook ; kryppa, a hump on the 
 back ; krepphendr, having a crooked 
 hand. E. dial, crump, crooked ; crump- 
 shouldered, crumpfooted, humped or 
 crooked in those members ; crump, the 
 cramp ; crum, to stuff or cram ; Sw. 
 dial, krumpen, stiffened with cold ; 
 kramp, crooked, saddle-bow; G. krump- 
 en, krimpen, to shrink ; kricmm, Gael. 
 crom, Bret, kroum, crooked. 
 
 The foregoing can hardly be separated 
 from each other, but the stock branches 
 out in a perplexing variety of directions, 
 leading us to forms whose meaning seems 
 radically to spring from totally distinct 
 images. We may observe, however, that 
 the foregoing forms beginning with gr 
 or kr and others related to them exactly 
 correspond to a parallel series in which 
 the r is replaced by /. Thus we have 
 grasp and clasp, gripe or grip and clip, 
 cramp-iroti and clamp-iron. Crufnp- 
 footed corresponds to ON. klumbufotrj 
 Gael, crub, a lame foot, to E. clubfoot; 
 Fr. grimper to E. climb ; scramble to 
 claniberj ON. kramr, to the synonymous 
 E. clammy J Du. krauwen to E. to claw. 
 And as in the / series it was argued 
 (under Clamp) that the radical image 
 was a lump or round mass, from which 
 the notion of sticking together, contract- 
 ing, compressing, were derived, we may 
 trace the origin of the r series to a form 
 like w. crob, crwb, a round hunch, Gael. 
 crub, the nave of a wheel, Fr. croupe, 
 c?-ope, the top or knap of a hill, It. groppo, 
 
 CRANKY 
 
 ^ruppo, grappo, a bunch, knot. Then 
 m the sense of drawing into a lump, 
 Gael, crub, to crouch, cringe, squat ; Fr. 
 croupir, to crouch, bow, stoop, go double ; 
 ON. kropna, to draw together, to crook. 
 E. dial, croopback, a humpback or crook- 
 back. Sw. dial, kropp, crooked. The 
 final p is first nasalised (as in crump) 
 and then lost, being only represented by 
 the nasalising liquid as in G. krumm or 
 E. cram. The passage from crump to 
 crimp is shown in G. kriimpen, krimpen, 
 to shrink. 
 
 Crane. G. kranich. w. garan, a crane, 
 and also a shank, from gar, a leg ; ga- 
 ratiaivg, longshanked. The name how- 
 ever is very widely spread, and is found 
 in some of the languages in the extremity 
 of Siberia. 
 
 Crank. — Crankle. — Crinkle. To 
 crankle or crinkle, to go in and out, to 
 run in folds or wrinkles — -B. Du. kron- 
 kelen, to curl, twist, bend ; E. crank, an 
 arm bent at right angles for turning a 
 
 windlass ; Lap. kranket, to crook, to bend ; 
 
 krankejit, the bending of the knee ; Wall. 
 cranki, to twist, to fork ; Rouchi crangue, 
 the cramp ; Bret, krank. It. granchio, a 
 crab, as the pinching animal ; E. dial. 
 cringle-crangle,i\gz2ig — Hal. ; o^.kringr, 
 a ring or circle, kringlottr, round ; Dan. 
 kringel, crooked, kring (in composition), 
 round. 
 
 As the notion of a crumpled surface is 
 often expressed by reference to a crackling 
 noise (whether from the sound actually 
 given in the crumpling up of textures of 
 different kinds, especially under the in- 
 fluence of heat, or on the principle ex- 
 plained under Crisp, Cockle, &c.), pro- 
 bably crankle may be regarded as a 
 nasalised form of crackle. Lith. krankti, 
 to make harsh noises of different kinds, 
 to snort, croak, hawk ; E. crunkle, to cry 
 like a crane ; grank, to groan, or mur- 
 mur. — Hal. 
 
 Crank. 2. Crank in nautical language 
 is applied to vessels inclined to heel over. 
 ON. kranga, Da. dial, krangle, to stagger, 
 to go zigzagging. Comp. Dan. sWigre, 
 to reel or stagger, also to roll as a ship. 
 Sw. kranga, Du. krengen, to press down 
 a vessel on its side, to heel over. 
 
 * Cranky. Poorly. E. dial, cranks, 
 pains, aches. When a man begins to 
 feel the infirmities of age it is said in 
 Rouchi ' qu'il a ses cranguesj Cra7i- 
 quieux, cranqtiHieux, maladif. — Hdcart. 
 Crankle, weak, shattered. — Hal. G. 
 krank, sick. From the complaining tone 
 
CRANNY 
 
 of a poorly person. Pl.D. kronken, to 
 whimper. E. dial, grank, to groan, to 
 murmur, granky, complaining. — Hal. 
 
 Cranny. Cranie, craine or cleft. — 
 Minsheu. Rouchi crin (pronounced 
 crain), a cleft or notch, s'cretter, to chap. 
 Fr. cren, a-enne, cran, a breach or snip 
 in a knife, &c., a notch, nib of a pen, jag 
 about the edge of a leaf — Cot. Bav. 
 krinnen, Bret. cra?t, a notch, G. krinne, 
 a rent, cleft, channel. From Ir. crmijn, 
 crainhn, creinim^ to bite, to gnaw, Bret. 
 krifta, to gnaw. The metaphor may be 
 illustrated by Cotgrave's explanation of 
 Fr. cale, ' a bay or creek of the sea enter- 
 ing or eating into the land.' 
 
 On the other hand, it would be more in 
 analogy with the other words signifying a 
 crack or fissure, if it could be derived 
 from a syllable crin, imitative of a sharp 
 sound, while the Fr. crinon, a cricket, 
 looks as if the chirp of that animal had 
 been so represented. I should be in- 
 clined to refer the W. crin, dry, to the 
 same root, signifying in the first instance 
 shrunk, as in Sussex a clung bat is a dry 
 stick. To crine, to shrink, to pine. — 
 Hal. A piece of wood in drying shrinks 
 and cracks. G. schrund, a chink. 
 
 Crape. Fr. crepe, a tissue of fine silk 
 twisted so as to form a series of minute 
 wrinkles. Crespe, curled, frizzled, crisp. 
 ■ — Cot. See Crisp. 
 
 Crash. An imitation of the noise made 
 by a number of things breaking. A 
 variety of clash, which is used in nearly 
 the same sense. To crash or dash in 
 pieces, sfracassare, spezzare. — Torriano. 
 A word of the same class with craze, 
 crush, &c. 
 
 Cratch. Fr. creiche, cresche, a cratch, 
 rack, ox-stall, or crib. La sainte crhhe, 
 the manger in which our Lord was laid. 
 Diez would derive it from the It. greppia, 
 Prov. crepia, crepcha (as Mid.Lat. appro- 
 piare, Prov. apropjar, apropcharj Fr. 
 approcher), OFr. crebe, greche, a crib. 
 ' En la crepia lo pauseron.' ' L'enfant 
 envolupat en draps e pausat en la crupia.^ 
 — Rayn. * And she baar her firste borun 
 sone and wlappide him in clothes and 
 leyde him in a craccheJ — Wicliff. See 
 Crib. But the It. craticia (from Lat. 
 crates, cratitius), a hurdle, lattice, sheep 
 pen or fold, offers a simpler derivation. 
 Hence the elision of the t would imme- 
 diately give rise to the Fr. creiche, in the 
 same, way as it produces the Fr, creil, a 
 hurdle (Roquefort), from the It. graticola, 
 craticola, a grating. 
 
 Crate. — Cradle. A crate is an open 
 
 CRAVEN 
 
 179 
 
 case made of rods of wood wattled to- 
 gether. Lat. crates, wicker or hurdle 
 work ; craticius, wattled, composed of 
 lattice work. It. crate, a harrow, hurdle, 
 grate ; graticcia, a hurdle, lattice. Dan. 
 krat, copse ; krat-skov, copse-wood. Gael. 
 creathach, underwood, brushwood ; crea- 
 thall, AS. cradol, a cradle (from being 
 made of wicker). Gael, creathall is also 
 a grate. Ir. creatach, a hurdle of wat- 
 tled rods. Walach. cratariuj clathri, 
 cancelli, lattice. 
 
 Parallel with the foregoing are found 
 a series of forms with similar meaning, 
 with an initial cl instead of cr. Lat. 
 clathri, lattice ; Ir. cliath, a harrow, 
 wattled hurdle, the darning of a stocking 
 mended crosswise like lattice work. Gael. 
 death, wattled work, a harrow, hurdle, 
 gate ; Fr. claye, a hurdle or lattice of 
 twigs, a wattled gate ; Gael, cleathach, 
 ribbed, cliathag, the chine or spine (G. 
 riickgrat). 
 
 The origin of both series seems to be 
 the word which appears under the forms 
 of Gr. K\d6oQ, Manx clat, Gael, slat, W. 
 Hath, E. lath, properly a shoot, twig, 
 rod. The Dan. krat-skov would then be 
 a wood of shoots or. rods, as opposed to 
 timber of large growth. 
 
 Crater. Gr. Kparrip, a goblet, the basin 
 or hollow whence the smoke and lava 
 issue on Mount Etna. 
 
 Cravat. Formerly written crabat, and 
 spoken of by Skinner (who died in 1667) 
 as a fashion lately introduced by travel- 
 lers and soldiers. The fashion is said by 
 Menage to have been brought in 1636 
 from the war, and to have been named 
 from the Crabats or Cravats, as the Croa- 
 tians (and after them a kind of light 
 cavalry) were then called. The French 
 had a regiment * de Royal-CravateJ Pl.D. 
 Krabaten, Kravaten, Croatians. 
 
 Crave, as. crafian, to ask. ON. krefa, 
 to demand, require ; krafi, need, necessity, 
 w. cref, a cry, a scream ; crefii, to cry, to 
 desire, to beg earnestly. — Spurrell. 
 
 Craven. Craven, cravant, a coward. 
 Also anciently a term of disgrace, when 
 the party that was overcome in a single 
 combat yielded and cried cravatit. — B. 
 If the term had originally been craven, 
 signifying one who had begged his life, it 
 could hardly have passed into the more 
 definite form cravant. The E. dial, cra- 
 dant, Sc. crawdon, a coward, seem the 
 same word. To set cradants is to propose 
 feats for the purpose of seeing who will 
 first give in. — Wilbr. Craddantly, cow- 
 ardly.— Hal. 
 
 12 * 
 
i8o 
 
 CRAW 
 
 The essence of the cry was an admis- 
 sion that the party begging his life was 
 overcome. In the combat between Ga- 
 wain and Ywain, when they become 
 known to each other, each tries to give 
 the other the honour of victory. 
 
 Sir King, he said, withowten fail 
 
 / am ovcrcumen in this batayl. 
 
 Nay sertes, said Gawain, hot am I. 
 
 Thus nowther wald have the maistri ; 
 
 Before the king gan aither grant 
 
 That himself was recreant. — v. 3710. 
 
 In another combat, when the defeated 
 champion has begged his hfe : 
 Sir Ywain said I grant it the 
 If that thou wil thi selven say 
 That thou art overcomen this day. 
 He said, I grant witbouten fail 
 / am overcumen in batail, 
 For pur ataynt and recreant. — ^v, 3280. 
 
 This acknowledgment of being over- 
 come was expressed by It. ricredere, and 
 the beaten party was termed ricredente^ 
 Fr. recreant, a term of opprobrium ex- 
 actly equivalent to the E. craven. An- 
 other word by which a combatant gave 
 up his cause was Fr. crdanter, also a de- 
 rivation from Lat. credo, which was itself 
 in Mid. Lat. used in the sense of grant or 
 confess. See Grant. 
 
 Sire, dist il, tenez m'espde, 
 
 La bataille avez affin^e, 
 
 Bien vos crdant et reconnois 
 
 Que clerc sent vaillant et cortois (the ques- 
 tion in dispute) — 
 
 Et ainsi m'espee vos rent. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, iv. 364. 
 
 Hence E. creant in the sense of recreant 
 or craven. 
 
 Thai said, Syr knight, thou most nede 
 
 Do the lioun out of this place — 
 
 Or yelde the to us als creant. 
 
 Ywaine and Gawaine, 3170. 
 
 See also P. P. xii. 193. 
 
 The d of E. cradant (changing to v in 
 cravant, craveii) and in Sc. crawdoun, a 
 craven, seems to be the original d in Lat. 
 credo, It. ricredente, which is elided in 
 Fr. creanter (credentiare), recreant. It 
 must be confessed that this want of agree- 
 ment between the Fr. and E. forms throws 
 considerable difficulty in the way of the 
 proposed derivation, which I nevertheless 
 believe to be the true one. In outward 
 form cravant comes much nearer Prov. 
 cravantar, OFr. craven ter, to oppress, 
 beat down, overthrow. Je sus tout cra- 
 ventd, accabld de fatigue. — Hdcart. The 
 cry of cravantd ! then, would be an ad- 
 mission of being thoroughly beaten, but 
 we find no traces of the expression having 
 ever been so used in a judicial combat. 
 
 CRAYON 
 
 Craw. G. kragen, the neck, throat, 
 and in vulgar language the belly, guts. 
 Du. kraeye, jugulus, ingluvies, Ang. 
 
 craeye. — Kil. Sw. krafwa, Dan. kro, a 
 craw. See Crag. 
 
 Crawfish. Disguised by a false ety- 
 mology, as if it were the designation of a 
 certain kind of fish. The corruption how- 
 ever is comparatively modern. ' Creveys, 
 fysshe— polypus.' — Pr. Pm. Written also 
 crevish. — Trench. From the Fr. dcre- 
 visse, Du. krevisse, krevitse — Kil, OHG. 
 krebiz, G. krebs, a crab, from the grab- 
 bing or clutching action of the animal. Sp. 
 escarbar, to scrabble ; escarabajo, Lang. 
 escarabat, a beetle (an animal in which 
 the claw is nearly as conspicuous a fea- 
 ture as in the crab), escarabisse, a craw- 
 fish. 
 
 * To Crawl. To stir, to move feebly 
 and irregularly, to be in confused and 
 multifarious movement like ants or mag- 
 gots. ' / crawle, I styrre with my lymmes 
 as a yonge chylde, or any beest that styr- 
 reth and can not move the body : je 
 crosle. It is a strange sight to se a 
 chycken how it cralleth first out of the 
 shell : — comment il crosle premi^rement 
 hors de I'escale.' — Palsgr. To crawly to 
 abound. — Hal. 
 
 The radical image is a multitudinous, 
 confused sound, the expression of which 
 is applied to movement of similar charac- 
 ter, to indistinct multifarious motion, to a 
 mass of moving things. The It. gorgogli- 
 are signifies in the first instance Xo gurgle 
 or sound like water in violent agitation, 
 to rattle in the throat or quaver in sing- 
 ing, and then (explaining the origin of 
 Lat. curculid) *to breed or become ver- 
 mine, wormlets or such creepers, mites or 
 weevils as breed in pulse or corn.' — Fl. 
 Fr. grougouler, to rumble or croak like 
 the guts ; grouller, grouiller, to rumble, 
 to move, stir, scrall, to swarm, abound, 
 break forth confusedly in great numbers. 
 — Cot. Illyrian kruleti, to rumble in the 
 bowels. Fr. ^r^//*?/-, to murmur. — Roquef. 
 E. crawl, croll, crool, to rumble, mutter. 
 
 My guts they yawl, crawl, and all my belly 
 rumbleth. — Gammer Gurton, ii. i. 
 
 Then, as in previous instances, to crawl, 
 to stir. In the same way we pass from 
 Du. schrollen, to mutter, grumble, to E. 
 scrall, to swarm or abound ; from Pl.D. 
 graal, a confused noise, grblen, to vocife- 
 rate, J^. g?yla, to grumble, to 1)3.11. gryle, 
 Du. grielen, krielen, to crall or swarm, to 
 stir about. 
 
 Crayon. Fr. crayon, a piece of draw- 
 
CRAZE 
 
 ing chalk, from crater, to chalk ; craie, 
 Lat. creta, chalk, Gael, creadh, clay. 
 
 To Craze . — Crazy. To craze, to 
 crack, to render inefficient. 
 
 And some said the pot was crazed. 
 
 Can. Yeoman's Tale. 
 
 Earthenware at the present day is said to 
 be crazed when the glaze is disfigured 
 with a network of small cracks. Fr. ac- 
 crazer, to break, burst, craze, bruise, 
 crush ; escrase, squasht down, crushed in 
 pieces. — Cot. From a representation of 
 the noise of crashing a hard substance. 
 Dan. krase, knase, to crackle ; slaae i 
 kras, to break to pieces. Sw. kraslig, 
 Swiss chracheligy crazy, feeble, decrepit, 
 poorly. The E. crazy, applied to the 
 mind, is equivalent to cracked, cracky, 
 crack-brained. 
 
 Creak. Imitative of a more acute 
 sound than that represented by crack. 
 Fr. criquer, to creak, rattle, crackle ; cri- 
 caille, chinks, coin. — Cot. It. criccare, 
 cricchiare, to crick, creak, or squeak, as 
 a door or a cartwheel, also to rattle. 
 Cricco, cricchio, that creaking noise of ice 
 or glass when it breaks. Du. krick, krack, 
 strepitus, fragor. — Kil. Then, as things 
 in splitting make a sharp sound, we have 
 creak of day for the narrow crack of light 
 on the horizon, which is the first appear- 
 ance of dawn. Du. kriecke, krieckelinge, 
 Aurora rutilans, primum diluculum. — Kil. 
 
 Cream. In Fr. crei7ie two words seem 
 confounded, the one signifying cream, 
 which ought to be written without the 
 circumflex, and the other signifying 
 chrism, OFr. cresjne, Gr. xP'*^/*") ^^e con- 
 secrated oil used in baptism. In Italian 
 the two are kept distinct, crema, cream, 
 and cresima, chrism. The primary mean- 
 ing of the word is, I believe, simmering, 
 and thence foam, froth. 
 
 Crime — spuma lactis pinguior. — Diet. 
 Trev. Champagne cremant, sparkling or 
 mantling champagne. ON. at krauma, 
 lente coqui, to simmer ; kraumr, krumr, 
 kraum, the lowest stage of boiling, sim- 
 mering, also the juice or cream of a thing, 
 cremor, flos rei. It. crejuore, the creem- 
 ing or simpering of milk when it begin- 
 nith to seethe ; also yeast, barm ; used 
 also for a shivering fever. — Fl. It must be 
 remembered that one of the readiest ways 
 of raising cream is by scalding the milk 
 till it just begins to simmer. The forms 
 cremore and crema in Italian correspond 
 to the ON. kraumr, kraum. Grisons 
 gromma, gramma, cream, sgarmar, 
 sgarmer, sgramer, to skim the milk. As 
 is often the case with words beginning 
 
 CREEK i8i 
 
 with cr, the equivalents of the E. cream 
 are accompanied by a parallel series be- 
 ginning with a simple r. AS. and Sc. 
 ream, ON. riomi, Du. room, G. rahm, 
 cream. 
 
 — Or quaff pure element, ah me ! 
 Without ream., sugar, or bohea. — Ramsay in Jam . 
 
 Reajning liquor, frothing liquor. 
 
 -crease. — Increase. — Decrease. Lat. 
 cresco, cretum, Fr. croistre, croitre (crois- 
 sons, croissois, croissant), to grow. 
 
 Crease. Bret, kriz, a wrinkle, pleat, 
 tuck in a garment. The designation of a 
 wrinkle seems often taken from a repre- 
 sentation of the sound of snarling, as a 
 dog in snarling wrinkles up the face. 
 Du. grijsen, grijnsen, ringere, os distor- 
 quere, depravare, nares crispare, fremere, 
 frendere, flere puerorum more — Kil.; 
 grijnzen, montrer son chagrin en se 
 ridant le front, en frongant le sourcil, en 
 grinQant les dents, ou par d'autres gri- 
 maces. — Halma. Fr. grisser, to crackle, 
 crisser, grincer les dents, to grind, grate, 
 or gnash the teeth together for anger. — 
 Cot. It. gricciare, to chill or chatter 
 with the teeth ; grinciare, grinzare, to 
 grin or gnash with the teeth, to wrinkle ; 
 grincia, grinza, a wrinkle. From It. 
 grinza we readily pass to G. runzel, a 
 wrinkle, analogous to E. crumple and 
 rujnple. 
 
 We see the same relation between grin- 
 ning or snarling and wrinkling in Du. 
 grimmen, furere, fremere, frendere, hir- 
 rire, ringere, ducere vultus, contrahere 
 rugas — Kil. ; It. grimaccie, grimazze, 
 crabbed looks, wry mouths ; grimare, 
 grimmare, to wrinkle through age ; grimo, 
 grimmo, wrinkled, withered. Grignare, 
 to grin or snarl as a dog. — Fl. Fr. gri" 
 gner, to grin ; grigne, wrinkled. — Cot. 
 
 Create. — Creature. Lat. creo, to be- 
 get, give birth to, give rise to, produce. 
 
 Creed. — Credit. — Credential. — Cre- 
 dulous. Lat. credo, to believe, trust. 
 Mid.Lat. credentia. It. credenza, trust, 
 confidence, also a pledge of trust and 
 credence, thence the essay or taste of a 
 prince's meat and drink which was taken 
 by the proper officer before it was set on 
 the table. The term was then applied to 
 the sideboard on which the dishes were 
 placed before they were set on the table, 
 whence the credence-table of our churches 
 on which the elements were placed pre- 
 paratory to being used in the sacrament. 
 
 Creek. i. Fr. crique, Du. kreek, a 
 little bay, a nook in a harbour ; Sw. dial. 
 k7'ik, a bending, nook, corner, little inlet 
 of the sea ; armkrik, bending of the arm, 
 
J 82 
 
 CREEP 
 
 elbow ; ON. kryki, crook, nook. Crick^ 
 like click or knick, probably represents in 
 the first instance a sharp sudden sound, 
 and is then transferred to a sudden turn 
 or movement. Comp. nicky a notch, a 
 slight indenture. 
 
 2. Creek in America is the common 
 word for a brook. Cryke of water, scatera. 
 — Pr. Pm. Du. kreke (Kil.), AS. crecca, 
 crepido, a bank. 
 
 To Creep. AS. creopan^ Du. kruipen^ 
 G. kriechen. The radical sense is to 
 crouch or draw oneself together, to cringe, 
 to move in a crouching attitude or, like a 
 serpent, by contractions of the body. ON. 
 krjtipa {kryp, kropit), to creep, to bend 
 the knees, to crouch ; k. undir skriptina, 
 to bow under reproof; bdthir fastr vdru 
 upp kropnir, both feet were crooked up. 
 Kropna, to contract ; kryppa, a hump. 
 Gael, cnip^ crouch, bend, contract, shrink ; 
 crub, sit, squat, crouch ; criiban^^LOxowokv- 
 ing attitude ; crubain^ creep, crouch, 
 cringe, shrug. See Cramp. 
 
 Creole. A native of the Spanish 
 American colonies, or of the W. Indies, of 
 European descent. Sp. criar^ to create, 
 to breed ; criollo, a Creole ; Ptg. crioulo, 
 a slave born in his master's house, a 
 European born in America. 
 
 Creosote. Gr.' Kp'sag, flesh, and atorij- 
 piog, preservative. 
 
 Crescent. The figure of the growing 
 moon, of the moon in an early stage of 
 growth. Fr. croissant, Lat. crescens, 
 growing. 
 
 Cress. An herb eaten raw. AS. ccsrse, 
 Du. kersse, Sw. krasse. Fr. cresson, the 
 herb termed kars or cresses ; cresson 
 d^eau, water karres. — Cot. It. crescione, 
 cressone, Mid. Lat. crissonium. Perhaps 
 from the crunching sound of eating the 
 crisp green herb. Fr. crisser, to grind 
 the teeth. 
 
 Cresset. See Crock. 
 
 Crest. Lat. crista, Fr. creste, crete. 
 
 -Crete. Lat. cresco, cretum, to grow ; 
 concresco, to grow together, to grow into 
 a whole, whence concrete in logic applied 
 to the union of an attribute with its sub- 
 ject. Thence by the opposition of words 
 compounded with con and dis, discrete, 
 separate, distinct, disjunctive. 
 
 Crevice. Fr. crevasse^ crevure, a chink, 
 rift, from crever, to burst, chink, rive, or 
 chawne. — Cot. Lat. crepare, to creak, 
 crack, break. 
 
 Crew. AS. cread, a company, crew ; 
 cread-cnearr, a ship with its crew. Lith. 
 kriiwa, a heap, as of stones or of people. 
 
 CreweL Two-twisted worsted. — B. 
 
 CRIMINI 
 
 Properly a ball of worsted. G. knduel, 
 Pl.D. klevel, a ball of thread. The in- 
 terchange of liquids in this class of words 
 is very common. Compare w. dob, crob, 
 E. knob, a round lump or hunch. 
 
 Crib. A cratch or manger for cattle. 
 Du. kribbe, G. krippe, Pl.D. krubbe, It. 
 greppia, gruppia, Prov. crepia^ crepcha, 
 Fr. creiche. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word seems 
 to be a grating, a receptacle made of rods 
 or parallel bars like the teeth of a comb 
 or rake, from w. crib, a comb, cribin, a 
 rake. G. krippe signifies also a hurdle or 
 wattle, wattlework of stakes and rods to 
 strengthen the bank of a river. 
 
 On the same principle G. raufe is a rip- 
 ple or large comb for plucking off the 
 seeds of flax, as well as a crib or rack for 
 hay. Bret, rastel, a hay-rack, is Lat. 
 rastellum, a rake, and the word rack 
 itself is radically identical with rake. 
 
 Crick. Crykke, sekeness, crampe, 
 spasmus, tetanus. — Pr. Pm. From repre- 
 senting a short sharp sound the term 
 seems transferred to a sharp sudden pain, 
 as a crick in the neck. 
 
 Cricket, i. An insect making a sharp 
 creaking sound. Du. krieken, to chirp, 
 h'iek, a. cricket. — Halma. Compare also 
 Bohem. cwrcek, a cricket, cwrkati, to 
 chirp; Yx.grillon,grezillon, a cricket, and 
 griller, to creak, greziller, to crackle. — 
 Cot. 
 
 2. A stool. N. kitakk, krakk, Pl.D. 
 krukstool, a three-legged stool. 
 
 * 3. Fr. jeii de crosse, the game of 
 cricket. Croce or crosse is explained by 
 Cot. the crooked staff wherewith boys 
 play at cricket. It was doubtless origin- 
 ally a stick with a crook at the end for 
 striking the ball, like that used in the 
 game of hockey. Fr. croce is the equiva- 
 lent of E. crook, of which probably cricket 
 is a derivative. Du. krick, a staff or 
 crutch. — Kil. 
 
 Crime. Gr. Kpivu), to judge, Kplfia, 
 judgment, condemnation, Lat. crimen, a 
 fault, offence. 
 
 Crimini. O Crimini ! interjection of 
 surprise, seems to have come to us from 
 an Italian source. Mod.Gr. Kp'ip.a, a 
 crime, fault, sin, pity, misfortune. 'Q ri 
 Kpifia I "Q t'i neyaXov Kpifxa/ O what a pity ! 
 what a sin or fault ! Adopted into Italian 
 the expression would be O che crimine ! 
 
 It seems probable indeed that the E. 
 pity, in the exclamation what a pity, is a 
 direct adoption of the OFr. pechie, sin, 
 used exactly as It. crimine. 
 
CRIMP 
 
 Dex quel pechld, quand od s'espee 
 A la meschine decoUee. — Rom.deRou. i. 288. 
 Crimp, — Crimple. Cramp, crimp, 
 crump are all used in the sense of con- 
 traction. To crimp frills is to lay them 
 in pleats ; crimped cod is cod in which 
 the fibre has been allowed to contract by 
 means of parallel cuts through the mus- 
 cle of the fish. To crimple is to wrinkle ; 
 crympylle or rympylle, ruga. — Pr. Pm. 
 See Cramp. 
 
 The addition of an initial s gives E. 
 scrimp, to contract, cut short, AS. scrim- 
 man, to dry up, wither, G. schrumpfeji, to 
 crumple, shrivel, wrinkle. On the other 
 hand, the reduction of the initial cr to a 
 simple r gives E. rimple as well as 
 rumple, a wrinkle, crease, pucker ; Du. 
 rimpe, rimpel, rotnpel, a wrinkle. — Kil. 
 G. riwipfen, to screw up the mouth and 
 nose, make wry faces. In the latter sense 
 Kil. has krimpneusen, wrimpen, 'wre7tipeji, 
 OS distorquere, corrugare nares. The 
 analogous E. term is fruuip, to frizzle up 
 the nose as in derision — B., whence 
 frujuple, a wrinkle. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Crimp. 2. A kidnapper of sailors, 
 one who entraps sailors and keeps them 
 like fish in a stew till he can dispose of 
 them to skippers. Du. krimpe, a stew 
 or confined place where fish are kept till 
 they are wanted ; from kriinpen, to con- 
 tract. 
 
 CrimLSon. Fr. cramoisi, It. cremasi, 
 cremesino, Turk, kirmizij Sp. cai'7nesi, 
 from kermes, the name of the insect with 
 which it is dyed. Sanscr. krimi, a worm. 
 Comp. vermilion from vennis. 
 
 To Cringe. To go bowing, behave in 
 a submissive manner. From AS. crumb, 
 crymbig, crooked, a verb crymbigean, 
 crymbian (not in the dictionaries) would 
 be to crook or bend, corresponding to E. 
 cri^tge, as It. cambiare to e. change. G. 
 krumm, crooked ; sick krimimen und 
 biicken, to stoop and cringe. — Kiittn. 
 Dan. krybe, to creep, grovel, krybe for 
 een, to cringe to one. 
 Crinkle. See Crank. 
 Cripple. Properly a crookback or 
 humpback, one who goes crooked. ON. 
 kryppa, a hump, curvature, coil ; kf'vp- 
 pill, a humpbacked or a lame man. Du. 
 krepel, kreupel, kropel, a cripple. Dan. 
 krybe, krob, to creep, krbbbel, krobling, a 
 cripple, a stunted object ; Gael, crub, 
 crup, to crouch, shrink, creep (go in a 
 crooked or crouching manner); crubach, 
 crupach, a cripple, lame person. 
 
 Crisis.— Criterion.— Critic. Gr./fptVtc, 
 judgment or the decision in a legal trial, 
 
 CRISP 
 
 183 
 
 from KptVw, to judge, decide ; /cpir/jpiov, a 
 means or medium of judging ; k^itikoq, 
 qualified or expert in judging, Lat. cri- 
 ticus. See Crime. 
 
 Crisp. Lat. crispus, Fr. crespe, OE. 
 crips, curled. 
 
 Her hair that owndie (wavy) was and crips. 
 Chaucer in R. 
 The latter form might lead us to connect 
 the word with Gael, crup, contract, cru- 
 pag, a wrinkle. On the other hand, the AS. 
 cirpsian, to crisp or curl, compared with 
 E. cJmp, reminds us that Fr. cresper is 
 both to frizzle or curl, and to crackle or 
 creak, as new shoes or dry sticks laid on 
 the fire. — Cot. And the sense of a curly 
 or wrinkled structure is in other cases 
 expressed by words representing in the 
 first instance a crackling or creaking 
 sound. It. grillare (and sometimes Fr. 
 griller— Cot.) signifies to creak or chirp 
 as a cricket, while griller is explained to 
 sit rumpled or in plaits, to snarl as over- 
 twisted thread ; greziller, to crackle, also 
 to curl, twirl, frizzle hair. I0 frizzle is 
 used both of the crackling sound of fat in 
 the fire, and in the sense of curling up. 
 The train of thought proceeds from a 
 quivering sound to a vibratory motion, and 
 thence to a surface thrown into a succession 
 of ridges or involutions. Thus the Latin 
 has sonus luscinice vibrans for the ring- 
 ing notes of the nightingale, while the 
 passage from the idea of vibration to that 
 of a wrinkled or curly structure may be 
 illustrated by the designation of a chiller- 
 ling and the synonymous shirt-frill, 
 from E. chiller, and Yr.friller, to shiver. 
 Vibrali crines are curly locks, and con- 
 versely crispus is applied to the rapid 
 vibration of a serpent's tongue. Linguse 
 bisulcae jactu crispo fulgere. — Pacuv. in 
 Forcell. 
 
 The sense of rigid and brittle might 
 well be a special application of the former 
 one, because the unevennesses of a rigid 
 surface obtrude themselves on our notice. 
 But on the other hand it seems to arise 
 from direct imitation of the sound of 
 crushing something crisp. Fr. cresper, 
 to crashe as a thynge dothe that is cryspe 
 or britell betweene one's teeth. — Palsgr. 
 Pl.D. kraspeln, to rustle. — Danneil. In 
 like manner crump is used for the sound 
 of crunching, and also for crisp or the 
 quality of things that crunch between the 
 teeth. 
 
 Tib's teeth the sugar-plums did crump. — 
 
 Paris baked wi' butter 
 
 Fu" crump that day.— Burns in Jam. 
 
1 84 
 
 CROCK 
 
 Crumpy^ short, brittle. — Hal. It is re- 
 markable that here also is the same con- 
 nection with the sense of a crumpled or 
 curly and wrinkled structure, as in the 
 case of crisp. 
 
 Crock. — Cruise. — Cniet. — Cresset. 
 — Crucible. Lith. kragis, Gael- krog, 
 G. krug^ W. crcgen^ E. crock, Dan. kruk/ce, 
 Du. kruycke,, an earthen vessel, pitcher, 
 jar. The Lith. kruzas (i = Fr. j), Fr. 
 cruche, unite the foregoing with forms 
 having a finals/ ON. & G. krus, Du. kroes, 
 kruyse, a cup, E. cruse, a jar. Diminu- 
 tives of the latter class are Fr. creuset, 
 croiset, a crucible, cruzet or cruet, a little 
 earthen pot wherein Goldsmiths melt 
 their silver, &c. — Cot.; Rouchi crachS, 
 crassly E. cresset, a hanging lamp. Mid. 
 Lat. crassetic7n, Picard cracet, a crucible. 
 — Dief. Supp. The loss of the z in cru- 
 zet gives cruet, corrupted to crewet, crevet, 
 a narrow-mouthed glass to hold oil or 
 vinegar, a melting-pot. — B. 
 
 Other forms of diminutive are Fr. 
 creuseul, croissel, Du. kruysel, krosel, a 
 hanging lamp; Ir. cruisgiii, a small pot 
 or pitcher icruisgin oli, Lith. alywkragis, 
 
 G. olkrug, a cruse of oil) ; Gael, cruisgin, 
 an oil-lamp, a cruse ; Fr. creusequin, a 
 drinking-vessel ; E. cruskin, cruske, cup 
 of earth.— Pr. Pm. The Gr. dim. termin- 
 ation TTowXo gives crucibolum, a night- 
 lamp, melting-.pot. ' Creuseul, croissol, 
 lumiere de nuit.' — Gloss, in Due. ' De 
 noctu proferenti saepius extinguebat can- 
 delam, crucibolum, et oleum effundebat.' 
 — Ibid. ' Crucibolus, kruse, kruselin, 
 krug, becher.' — Dief. Supp. 
 
 The common idea is an earthen vessel, 
 and the origin is seen in Bret, krag, hard 
 granular stone, earthenware; Eur pod 
 krag, an earthen pot. The Bret, krag 
 corresponds to Fr. grais, grez, gres. Un 
 pot de gres, an earthen pot. Hence OFr. 
 grasal, Lang, grazal, grezal. Cat. gresal, 
 an earthen bowl or dish, gresol, an 
 earthen lamp, a crucible. N. grjot, stone; 
 gryte, a pot. 
 
 In favour of the correspondence of 
 krag zxv6. gres {graz), it must be observed 
 that a final z in one dialect of Breton 
 corresponds to a guttural c^h in the other, 
 as in kraz or krac'h, dry. And compare 
 Bret, gragala, to chatter as a jay, and 
 Prov grazillar, to crackle, twitter. If 
 krag zxi^Lgris are fundamentally distinct 
 there must be the same separation be- 
 tween the series crog, krug, 8cc., and 
 cruse. Sec. See Grail. 
 
 Crocodile. Gr. KpoKoSuXoq, Lat, croco- 
 dilus. 
 
 CROP 
 
 Crocus. The yellow flower from 
 whence saffron is made. Lat. crocus^ 
 Gr. KpoKoq, Gael, crock, w. coch, red. 
 Hence the surname Croker, a cultivator 
 of saffron. * The crokers or saffron men 
 do use an observation a little before the 
 coming up of the flower.' — HoUinshed in 
 R. 
 
 Croft. An inclosure adjoining a house. 
 AS. croft, praediolum. — Somner. Gael. 
 croit, a hump, hunch, a croft or small 
 piece of arable land ; croiteir, a crofter, 
 one holding a croft of land. 
 
 Crone, i. An old woman. 2. An old 
 sheep, beginning to lose its teeth. 
 
 * In the former application it may per- 
 haps signify one shrunk from age. Sc. 
 crine, to shrink, shrivel ; one who is 
 shrivelled by age is said to be crynit in. 
 — Jam. Comp. NE. scranny, thin ; scran- 
 nel, a lean person. 
 
 In the second application it is the It 
 carogna, Fr. charogne, Du. karo7iie, 
 kronie, a carcase, carrion, then applied 
 to an old sheep, ovis vetula rejicula — 
 Kil.,ein faul Thier — Dief Supp., m cada- 
 ver. Perhaps indeed the application to 
 an old woman has the same origin. ' An 
 old carrion.* 
 
 * Crook. — Crooked, on. krokr, Du. 
 krog, a crook, bending, corner, hook ; Du. 
 kroke, a bending, fold, curl, crumple, 
 wrinkle (Kil.) ; Gael, crocan, a hook, 
 crook ; w. crwca, croca, crooked ; Fr. 
 croc, crochet, a hook ; crochti, hooked, 
 bent upon itself; Pol. kruk, a hook, 
 crook. We have seen under Crisp sever- 
 al instances where a broken, crumpled, 
 wrinkled, curly form is expressed by the 
 figure of a broken sound. And in this 
 way I believe it is that we pass from 
 forms like Bret, gragala, to chatter like a 
 jay, or E. crackle, to Fr. recroquiller, to 
 crook, wriggle, pucker, cockle, and Du. 
 ki'eukelen, kreuken, kroken, to rumple, 
 crumple, wrinkle, of which the radical 
 syllable kreuk or crok conveys the notion 
 of something bent or hooked. See Crank. 
 
 Crop, AS. crop, top, bunch, craw of a 
 bird. OE. croppe of an erbe or tree, cima, 
 coma, capillamentum. — Pr, Pm. The 
 fundamental meaning is probably exhibit- 
 ed in the Gael, crap, cnap, a knob, knot, 
 boss, a little hill ; w. crob, crwb, a round 
 hunch ; crub, d swelling out ; It. groppo, 
 a knot, knob, bunch. — Fl. The word is 
 then applied to different things of a 
 rounded or protuberant form, the top of 
 a hill or of a plant, the crop or projecting 
 stomach of a bird, &c. 
 
 Fr. crope, croupe, the top or knap of a 
 
CROSIER 
 
 hill ; la croupe du dos, the ridge of the 
 back, and thence croiipe^ It. groppa, the 
 rump or rounded haunches of an animal ; 
 E. croup, the craw, the belly, also the 
 buttock or haunch — Hal. ; Sw, kropp, the 
 top of anything, the solid mass of the 
 animal frame or body; ,^r^///<t^, gibbous, 
 humped. Du. crop, the knob of the 
 throat, the throat itself, * dat steeckt my 
 in den crop^ that sticks in my throat ; 
 crop, a swelling in the throat, goitre, the 
 craw of a bird, stomach ; croppen, to 
 cram, to thrust food into the throat (Bi- 
 glotton), whence the E. crop-full, cram- 
 full. G. kropf, the craw of a bird, goitre, 
 wen ; the head of vegetables, as kohl- 
 kropf, salat-kropfj h^opfsallat, Du. krop 
 van salaet, cabbage-lettuce. 
 
 The crop of a vegetable is the top, and 
 thence the whole part above ground. The 
 crop and root, or crop and more, are fre- 
 quently contrasted with each other in OE. 
 Hence to crop is to bite or gather the 
 foliage or fruit. A crop of corn is the 
 whole annual growth, and the sense being 
 thus generalised the term is equally ap- 
 plied to the growth of roots, when that is 
 the important part of the vegetables; a 
 crop of turnips or of carrots as well as of 
 grass or fruit. • 
 
 It is remarkable that parallel with 
 many of the foregoing forms, with an 
 initial kr, are a series of similar meaning 
 with a simple k. Thus we have in E. 
 the crop or cop of a hill ; Bav. kop- 
 pen, the crop or bushy part of a tree, kop- 
 pen, to crop or cut off the crop or cop of 
 a tree ; G. kohl-kopf, kopf-sallat as kropf- 
 sallat above cited. 
 
 Crosier. It. croccia, a crutch ; Fr. 
 croce, crosse, a bishop's staff (the repre- 
 sentative of a shepherd's crook), the 
 crooked staff with which boys play at 
 cricket. Hence OE. crocer or crosier was 
 properly the bearer of the bishop's staff, but 
 the term was subsequently applied to the 
 staff itself. See Crook, Crutch. Hol- 
 linshed speaks of the canon law as ad- 
 mitting the c?'osier to bear the crosse be- 
 fore his archbishop in another province. 
 — Descr. Ireland, an. 131 1. 
 
 Cross. Fr. croix, It. croce, Sp. krus, 
 ON. kross, G. kreuz., Du. kruys. All from 
 the Lat. crux, a cross for the punishment 
 of malefactors ; and that not directly 
 from crook, to curve, but through the in- 
 termediation of the notion of hanging; 
 Gael, crocan, a hook, crock, hang ; Ir. 
 crochaim, to hang, and crock, as Lat. 
 crux, a gallows, an erection for hanging 
 a man on. 
 
 CROTTLES 
 
 :85 
 
 From crux are many derivatives : cru- 
 ciare, to torture ; crusade, Mid. Lat. cric- 
 ciata, Du. kruys-vaert, an expedition 
 from religious motives, in which the 
 soldiers took the badge of the cross ; 
 crucify, &c. 
 
 Crotchet. — Crocket. Fr. crocket^ 
 dim. of croc, a little hook, and hence a 
 note in music, from the hook-like symbol 
 by which they were marked. Fr. crochet, 
 crockue, a quaver in music. Then as a 
 person playing music appears to carry in 
 his brain the type of what he is playing, 
 a crotchet is a fixed imagination. ' // a 
 des crockues dans la tete, his head is full 
 of crotches.' — Cot. 
 
 As a good harper stricken far in years 
 Into whose cunning hands the gout does fall, 
 All his old CTotchets in his brain he bears, 
 But on his harp plays ill or not at all. 
 
 Davies in R. 
 
 A crotcket or crocket is also an orna- 
 mental excrescence in Gothic architecture 
 like a twisted tress of hair, from Du. 
 kroke, a curl. 
 
 And bellyche ycorven 
 
 With crotchets on corners. — P. P. crede. 
 
 Crottles. Crottles, cruttles, crumbs, 
 broken pieces — Brocket ; crottling, fri- 
 able ; crottles, Fr. ci'ottes, crottins, the 
 dung of sheep, goats, hares, &c., that falls 
 in pellets or little lumps ; crottes, dirt, 
 mire, daghng stuff (Cot.) ; Flanders 
 krotte, mud sticking to one's clothes. — 
 Kil. E. krote, a clod of earth. — Hal. 
 
 The analogy between sound and move- 
 ment frequently leads to the application 
 of a rattling sound to express jolting or 
 shaking movement, and thence an uneven 
 rugged surface, the prominences into 
 which it is thrown, or the lumps which 
 are dashed off when the substance is of a 
 liquid or semi-liquid nature. 
 
 We have Gr. Kporew, to clap, rattle, 
 clatter, knock, hammer ; KpoToXov, a rat- 
 tle ; KpoTOQ, clapping, rattling ; Prov. 
 crotlar, OFr. crodler, croler, to shake ; 
 escrouler, to shake, totter, shog (Cot.) ; 
 crouler, s'hcrouler, to fall in ruins, E. 
 crudle, to shudder, shake, shiver ; crudly, 
 crtittling, crumbling, friable ; cruttle, to 
 fall. — Hal. The form cruddle, to co- 
 agulate or form lumps, and crud, curd, 
 the lumpy part of milk, belong to the 
 same class. Cruttle, to curdle. — Hal. 
 Sometimes perhaps the sense of lumps 
 or bits may arise directly from the patter- 
 ing sound of the fragments falling to the 
 ground, and this may be the case with 
 crottles, the pellet-shaped dung of sheep, 
 &c., which are also called trattles or 
 
i86 
 
 CROUCH 
 
 treadles^ to be compared with Banff. 
 treetle, to trickle or drip ; E. trattle (pro- 
 perly to rattle), to prattle. — Hal. But 
 sometimes the sense of fragments seems 
 to arise from the idea of shaking or dash- 
 ing to pieces, as when we use shivers or 
 shiders in that sense. When the sub- 
 stance is of a loose or liquid nature it is 
 the more liable to have portions dashed 
 off by shaking or jogging. Thus Swiss 
 hottern, to shake, to jog, explains Du. 
 hot, hotte, curds ; Sc. hattit cream, clot- 
 ted cream. In like manner Swab, lop- 
 pern, Westerwald lappern, to be loose, to 
 wabble, are connected with E. hppered 
 or coagulated milk, and Fr. loppe, lopin, 
 a lump, morsel, piece. The elementary 
 sounds of crottle are merely transposed 
 in E. clatter, to coagulate ; Du. kloter- 
 melck, curdled milk, from the verb klot- 
 eren (properly to clatter ; kloterspaen, 
 a rattle), tuditare, pultare, pulsare crebro 
 ictu. — Kil. Here the connection between 
 kloteren and klot, klotte, gleba, massa 
 (Kil.), E. clod, clot, is the same as between 
 Gr. KpoTsut and E. crote, a clod, Fr. crotte, 
 a lump of dirt. The semi-liquid ma- 
 terial seems conceived as dashed about 
 in separate portions, explaining Du. 
 klotergheld, small expenses. — Kil. In 
 the same way with a labial initial in- 
 stead of a guttural, G. poltern, to rattle, 
 racket, knock ; E. bolter, to clotter, to 
 collect in lumps ; Sw. plottra (properly 
 to dash about liquids), to scatter in small 
 portions, to squander ; plotterwis, in 
 small portions ; plotter-penningar, small 
 expenses ; Fr. bloiitre, Gael, plod, a clod. 
 
 Crouch.. A cross, as in crutched friars, 
 the crossed friars, or friars who wore a 
 cross ; crouch mass, a festival in honour 
 of the holy cross. To crouch, to mark 
 with the sign of the cross. 
 
 And said his orisons as is usage, 
 
 And crouchid hem and bade God shuld hem 
 bless. 
 
 Walach. crouche, a cross. 
 
 To Crouch. To stoop, to bow the 
 body together. ON. krokinti, crooked, 
 bowed down, krokiia, to be contracted 
 or stiffened with cold ; at sitia i eirne 
 kruku, to crouch down on one's heels, 
 w. crwcdu, to bow, to curve ; crwcwd, a 
 round squat, a person crouched together. 
 E. dial, cruckle, to bend, to stoop. — Hal. 
 See Crook. 
 
 Croup. A disease in the throat of 
 young children, in which the throat is 
 contracted and a harsh screaming cough 
 produced. Gael, crup, contract, shrink ; 
 crupadh, contraction, shrinking, shrivel- 
 
 CROWD 
 
 ling ; the croup. But perhaps the idea 
 of contraction, expressed by the syllable 
 crup, is derived from the harsh sound of 
 struggling for breath through a contracted 
 windpipe, and not vice versi, so that the 
 name of the disease would be direct from 
 an imitation of the sound produced. 
 
 Sc. roup, hoarseness, the croup; to 
 roup (Goth, hropjan, ON. hropd), to cry ; 
 E. dial, to croup, to croak. — Hal. Bohem. 
 chrapati, chrupati, to snort ; chrapawy, 
 hoarse, chropot, snorting, hoarseness, 
 chroptiti (rocheln), to struggle for breath, 
 to sob. 
 
 Croup. — Crupper. Croup, belly, craw, 
 haunch, ridge of the back. — Hal. Fr. 
 crope, croupe, the top of a hill, rump of 
 an animal. La croupe du dos, the ridge 
 of the back ; porter en croupe, to carry 
 behind one on horseback. Hence croup- 
 iere, the crupper or strap passing over 
 the rump of the horse. See Crop. 
 
 Crow. — Crouk. A direct imitation of 
 the cry of different birds. G. krdhen, to 
 crow like a cock ; krdchzeji, to croak ; 
 Du, kraeyen, to crow or to croak or caw ; 
 Lat. crocire, It. crocciolare, Fr. croasser, 
 Gr. K^iiiZ,io, Bohem. krokati, to croak. 
 Piedm. quaqua, Ital. cracra, imitation of 
 the cawing of rooks or. crows. — Zalli. 
 From Du. kraeyen is formed kraeye, a 
 crow. In like manner the ON. has krakr, 
 a raven, kraki, a crow, corresponding to E. 
 croak; Lith. kraukti, to croak, krauklys, 
 NE. crouk, a crow. 
 
 Crowd. — Crowder. The crowd or 
 fiddle was recognised by the Romans as 
 a British instrument. 
 
 Romanusque lyri plaudat tibi, Barbarus harp^, 
 Grsecus Achilliac^ ; crotta Britanna placet. 
 
 Fortunatus in Due. 
 Named from the hollow sounding-board, 
 w. crwth, a hollow protuberance, bulge, 
 belly, fiddle ; croth, a. bulge, a womb, 
 crothi, to bulge. Gael, crott, a hump, 
 crtiit, a harp, fiddle ; Ir. emit, a hunch, 
 also a crowd or fiddle. 
 
 Crowd. 2. AS. cruth, a crowd or press 
 of people. Du. kruyde?i, kruyen, trudere, 
 protrudere, propellere. — Kil. Crowdyn 
 or showyn (shove) impello. — Pr. Pm. To 
 crowd is still used in Suffolk in the sense 
 of driving in a crowd-barrow or wheel- 
 barrow (Du. kruy-wagen). — Forby. In 
 Amis and Amilown a crowd-wain. 
 
 Then Amoraunt crud Sir Amiloun 
 
 Through many a cuntre up and down. — Way. 
 
 Perhaps the radical image may be a 
 ball or lump, from whence the notion of 
 pressing may be derived. Pol. gruda, 
 Boh. hruda, a clod, snowball ; hruden, 
 
CROWN 
 
 the intercalary month, the month that is 
 thrust in. 
 
 Crown. Lat. corona, w. crwn, round, 
 circular ; crynfaen, a pebble, a round 
 stone ; crynoi, to collect together, to draw 
 to a mass, crynyn, a globule ; Ir. cruin, 
 round, cruinne, the globe of the earth ; 
 crumnighim^ to collect ; Gael, criin^ the 
 boss of a shield, a crown, garland ; cridnn^ 
 round, globular ; crtiimie, the globe, 
 cruinneachan, any round heap. 
 
 Crucial. Applied to a trial of the 
 utmost rigour ; a met. from the torture of 
 the cross. 
 
 Crucible. See Crock. 
 
 Crucify. Lat. crticijigere, to fix to the 
 cross. 
 
 Crude. — Cruel. Lat. crudus, bloody, 
 raw, unripe, unfeeling ; crudelis, hard, 
 cruel, severe ; cruenius, bloody, cruel ; 
 cruor, blood. Russ. krov\ Bohem. krew, 
 w. crau, Ir. crti, Lith. kraujas^ blood. 
 Bret, kriz^ raw, cruel. 
 
 Cruet. See Crock. 
 
 Cruise. To sail to and fro. Du. 
 kriiissen, from kruis j Fr. croiser, from 
 croixj Dan. krydse, from kryds, a cross. 
 
 Crum. — Crumble, g. krume^ Du. 
 kruime, crum ; kruimelen, Pl.D. kromen, 
 kromelen, to crumble. Central Fr. gre- 
 tniller, to crumble ; gremille, gremillon, 
 groumillon, crum, little lump ; grume, 
 grime, single grain of a bunch. Fr. gru- 
 ineau, a clot, lump. 
 
 It is probable that the notion of a crimi 
 or small bit arises from that of crumb- 
 ling away, and not vice versa, although 
 the former word is the more simple in 
 form. The idea of falling to pieces is 
 easily expressed by a representation of 
 the rattling sound of the falling fragments. 
 Thus Sw. ramla, to rattle, signifies also, 
 as E. rainmel, to fall in ruins, to moulder 
 in pieces ; while Sw. rajn?nel, rattle, clat- 
 ter, is identical with E. rammel, rubble, 
 rubbish. In the same way it is pro- 
 bable that Fr. gremiller and E. crumble 
 are essentially the same with grommeler, 
 to mutter or grumble. So also we pass 
 through Yx.greziller, to crackle, ^r<?j-///^r, 
 to hail, to dr.izzle, G. grieseln, to fall into 
 small bits and pieces, to break into small 
 pieces, to gries, chips of stone, gravel, 
 grains, Lesachthal griesel, a morsel, a 
 grain of sand. — D. M. ii. 348. See 
 Dredge. 
 
 Crump. Crump-back, hump-back ; 
 crump or crumple-footed, club-footed ; 
 Sw. krumpen, shrunk, contracted, numbed. 
 AS. cru7nb, crump, crymbig, bowed, bent ; 
 G. kru7n7n, w. ci'om, crwm, crooked, 
 
 CRUST 
 
 187 
 
 crymu, to bend, crook, stoop ; Sc. 
 cruimny, a cow with a crumpled horn. 
 The fundamental image, in accordance 
 with the views explained under Cramp, 
 should be a lump, round mass, or projec- 
 tion, from whence the ideas of contraction, 
 bending, crookedness, readily follow. 
 Now in the former sense we have w. crwb, 
 a hump, E. croop-back, a hump-back, and 
 with the nasal, crump, the projection of 
 the haunches, rump. — Hal. 
 
 Crumpet. Bret, krampoez (2 syll.), w. 
 crammwyth, a pancake. 
 
 Crumple. It is shown under Rumple 
 that the representation of a rumbling 
 sound is used to express, first a jolting or 
 irregular movement, then a disturbed, 
 disordered surface, thrown into irregu- 
 larities and projections. It is probable 
 that the same development of signifi- 
 cation has taken place in the case of 
 crumple, proceeding from a form like that 
 assumed as the origin of crumble, which 
 would not essentially differ from G. gram- 
 mebi, grommeln, grummeln, or E. grum- 
 ble. To rumble and gnimble are used 
 indifferently in many cases, as for the 
 sound of thunder or of wind in the bowels, 
 while the two corresponding forms, rum- 
 ple and crumple, arising from the use of 
 spirants instead of sonants, are applied 
 to the disturbance of a surface or texture. 
 Analogous to crumple, as compared with 
 rumple, or grumble with rumble, stands 
 Let. grubbali, broken fragments of walls, 
 as compared with E. rubble, rubbish. 
 Let. grtuiibt, to wrinkle, crumple. 
 
 To Crunk or Crunkle. To cry like a 
 crane or heron. Lith. kratikti, to make 
 a harsh noise, to snort, croak ; krunkinti^ 
 krankinti, to croak. 
 
 Crupper. See Croup. 
 
 To Crush. From a representation of 
 the noise of crushing a hard or brittle 
 body. Fr. croissir, to crack or crash or 
 crackle as wood that is ready to break. — 
 Cot. It. crosciare, croscere, to squash, 
 crash, crush, squeeze, but properly to fall 
 violently as a sadden storm of rain or hail 
 upon the tiles, and therewithal to make a 
 clattering loud noise ; to crick as green 
 wood ; croscio d^acque, a sudden shower. 
 — Fl. Lith. kruszti, to crush, to grind ; 
 krtisza, hail, sleet ; krusztinne (graupe), 
 meal, grots ; nukruszti, to grind off the 
 husks of corn, especially barley (It. crtisca, 
 bran T). Hanover, krosseln, to crush, 
 break to bits. 
 
 Crust. Lat. crusta, the hard outward 
 coat of anything. In all probability 
 from the sound of crunching a crust of 
 
1 88 
 
 CRUTCH 
 
 bread. Bohcm. chransfafi, to crunch ; 
 chrasta^ the crust of a wound ; chrastcl, 
 the corncrake ; chratist^ a beetle, insect 
 Avith a crusty covering ; chnistacka, 
 gristle. See Gristle. Bret., with an in- 
 version of the consonants, trousken, crust 
 of a wound, scab ; rusk, bark ; Gael. 
 nisg, rind, skin, husk, bark ; E. rusk, a 
 hard crust, crust baked crisp. 
 
 Crutch. G. kriicke, Du, kruck, Lith. 
 kruke, It. croccia, gruccia, a crutch, i. e. 
 a staff with a crook or cross-bar at the 
 top to rest the arm on. 
 
 To Cry. Imitative of a shrill sudden 
 exertion of the voice. It. gridare, Fr. 
 crier, G. schreien. Du. schrey, clamor et 
 fletus, ejulatus. As a shrill cry is the 
 natural expression of a high degree of 
 pain, the word passes on to signify the 
 shedding of tears, the most general ex- 
 pression of pain of any kind. In like 
 manner the verb to weep comes from AS. 
 wop, the primary meaning of which is 
 simply outcry. 
 
 Crjrpt. It. crip t a, a hollow vault, a 
 church under-ground, a lurking den or 
 secret sink under-ground. — Fl. Doubt- 
 less from KpvTTTU), to hide, being primarily 
 used for performing in safety the religious 
 services of the early Christians. ' Ac per 
 cryptas et latibula cum paucis Christianis 
 per eum conversis mysterium solennitatis 
 diei dominici clanculo celebrabat.' — Greg, 
 of Tours in Due. ' In qua Basilica est 
 crypta abditissima.' — Ibid. 
 
 Crystal. Gr. Kpvog, cold, frost ; Kpva- 
 raXXov, ice, and thence crystal. 
 
 Cub. The young of animals of certain 
 kinds, as of dogs, bears, foxes. Du. 
 kabbe, kebbe, kebbekejt, a little pig ; kabbe- 
 len, to produce young. 
 
 Cube. Gr. kv^oq, Lat. cubus. 
 
 Cubit. Lat. cubitus, cubitum, the 
 elbow or bending of the arm. From a 
 root cub, signifying crook or bend, seen 
 in Gael, cub, crouch, stoop, shrink, cubach, 
 bent, hollowed, in Gr. kvtttw, to stoop, Lat. 
 cubare, to lie down, properly, to bow down. 
 Lith. kumpas, crooked. 
 
 Cucking-stool. A chair on which 
 females for certain offences were fastened 
 and ducked in a pond. ' The chair was 
 sometimes in the form of a close-stool 
 [which] contributed to increase the degra- 
 dation.' — Hal. Manx cugk, excrement in 
 children's language. ON. kuka, cacare. 
 ' Similiter malam cervisiam faciens, aut 
 in cathedra ponebatur stercoris, aut iiij. 
 sol. dabat prepositis.' — Domesday B. in 
 Way. 
 
 The name is probably taken from the 
 
 CUDDLE 
 
 crouching attitude of a person at stool, 
 and ultimately from the clucking of a 
 brooding hen. The term for squatting or 
 crouching is connected with the clucking 
 of a hen in languages widely separated 
 from each other. It. chiocco, a brood or 
 cluck-hen, by met. squatting or cowering 
 down ; cocco, cucco (in nursery language), 
 an ^'g'g ; coccolare, to cluck ; accoccolare, 
 to cower ; coccolotie, squattingly on the 
 ground, as women on their heels. — Fl. 
 Magy. gugg, an ^<g'g (Dankovsky), also 
 crouching or cowering down ; Basque ku- 
 koratz, crowing of a cock ; kukorika, to 
 cower, crouch. Magy. kukordk, the 
 crowing of a cock ; kukoritni, to crow ; 
 kukorogni, to cower down. And proba- 
 bly w. cwrc, squatting, may belong to the 
 same class of words. 
 
 Cuckold. CuckoUed, treated in the 
 way that the cuckow (Lat. cuculus) serves 
 other birds, viz. by laying an ^g% in their 
 nest. 
 
 Cuckow. G. kuckuck, Lat. cuculus, 
 Sc. gowk, Du. kuyckkuck, kock-kock. — 
 Kil. From the cry. 
 
 Cucumber. Fr. concoinbre, coucombre. 
 — Cot. Lat. cucumis, -meris, a cucum- 
 ber ; It. coco77tero. 
 
 Cud. — Q,uid. AS. C7id, rumen (the 
 stomach). — Somner. To chew the cud is 
 to chew the contents of the stomach, 
 which in ruminating animals are thrown 
 up into the mouth again for that purpose. 
 It is called quid in Surrey, whence a quid 
 of tobacco is a small piece of tobacco 
 kept in the mouth like the cud of a rumi- 
 nating cow. Goth, quithei, the womb; 
 ON. quidr, the womb, paunch, maw ; at 
 missa quidinn, Dan. miste niaven, in 
 Surrey to lose the quid, a disease in cattle 
 equivalent to Bailey's cudlost. In like 
 manner in Lat. ruini?to, to chew cud, from 
 rumen, the paunch. ' Ego rumorem par- 
 vifacio dum sit rumen qui impleam,' so 
 long as I am able to fill my belly. ON. at 
 quida, to fill one's belly, qtiidadr, satis- 
 fied, full. Fin. kohtu, the womb, maw, 
 especially of ruminating animals ; Esthon. 
 koht, the belly. Sc. kyte, the stomach, 
 belly. 
 
 * To Cuddle. To fondle, to lie close 
 together. The G. kosen, signifying origin- 
 ally to chat or talk familiarly with each 
 other, is applied in a secondary sense to 
 caresses or gestures expressive of affec- 
 tion ; liebkosen, to caress. In the same 
 way the radical signification of cuddle 
 seems to be whisper, chat, confidential 
 communication, then embracing, lying 
 close. Cuddle is a parallel form with 
 
CUDGEL 
 
 ciishle in Sc. cushle-mushle, low whisper- 
 ing conversation, which in Banffshire be- 
 comes cuddle-muddle, speaking in a low 
 muttering voice. 'A got thim ciiddle- 
 muddlift' wi ane anither at the back o' a 
 dyke/ To aiddle, to speak in a low tone 
 of voice, mostly of lovers, to coax, to en- 
 tice ; cuddle, conversation in a low tone ; 
 a very close intimacy. * They hive an 
 unco cuddle thegeethir,' 
 
 In the same way NE. cutter, to whisper, 
 to speak low, to coo ; also to fondle. — 
 Hal. Swiss kuderu, kiiderlen, to talk 
 together like lovers, to fondle. Sw. 
 quittra, to chirp, to whisper. Du. kout, 
 chat, familiar conversation. 
 
 Cudgel. Du. kodse, kudse, a club, 
 knobbed stick ; knodse, kmidse, a knotted 
 stick, knodsen, knudsen, tundere, contun- 
 dere, batuere.— Kil. The origin is pro- 
 bably a form like It. cozzare, to knock. 
 
 Cue. The last words of the preceding 
 speech, prefixed to the speech of an 
 actor in order to let him know when he is 
 to come on the stage. 
 
 From the letter Q by which it was 
 marked. ' Q, a note of entrance for act- 
 ors, because it is the first letter of quando, 
 when, showing when to enter and speak.' 
 — C. Butler, Eng. Gram., 1634, in N. and 
 Q., Aug. 5, 1865. Minsheu explains it 
 somewhat differently. *A qu, a term 
 used among stage-players, k Lat. quails, 
 i. e. at what manner of word the actors 
 are to begin to speak, one after another 
 hath done his speech.' 
 
 Buckingham. Had you not come upon your Q, 
 
 my lord, 
 William Lord Hastings had pronounced your 
 
 part.— Rich. HI. 
 
 The Fr. term is replique. 
 
 Cuff. Hamburg kujen, to box the 
 ears ; Sw. dial, kuffa, to strike ; skuffa, 
 to push, to jog ; It. schiaffo, a cuff, slap 
 or clap on the cheek. The cuff of a sleeve 
 is the part that is doubled back and flaps 
 against the sleeve. Sw. klaff, a flap, as 
 of a hat or glove, the cuff of a coat. Sp. 
 golpe,^ a blow, also the flap of a pocket. 
 
 Cuirass. Fr. cuirasse j It. corazza, 
 quasi coriacea, made of leather, from Lat. 
 corium, a skin.— Diez. So Lat. lorica, a 
 cuirass, from lorum, a strap. OFr. cuirie, 
 Port, coura, a. leather jerkin ; couraqa, a 
 cuirass ; couro, a hide, skin. 
 
 To CuU. To pick out. Cullers are 
 the worst of a flock culled out for dis- 
 posal. Fr. cueillir, Lat. colligere, to 
 gather. To cullwa.s also, like It. cogliere, 
 used in the sense of to strike. The 
 
 CULVERT 
 
 189 
 
 Ancren Riwle speaks of the cull of an 
 axe for the blow of an axe. 
 
 Cullender.— CuUis. A cullender or 
 colander is a strainer, from Lat. colare, 
 to strain ; Fr. couler, to run (of liquids), 
 to flow. Sp. colar, to strain or filter ; 
 colada, lye, strained ashes for washing ; 
 coladera, a colander or strainer. So from 
 scavage, scavenger^ from passage, pas- 
 senger, &c. 
 
 Cullis. Fr. coulis, strained juice of 
 meat, &c. 
 
 Cully. Properly the entertainer or 
 companion of a courtesan. A leacher 
 whom a courtesan or jilt calls her cully. 
 — B. From Fr. couille. Thence a fool, 
 a soft-headed fellow, one who may be 
 easily led by the nose or put upon. — B. 
 To cully one, to make a tool of, impose 
 upon, or jilt him. — B. 
 
 Tricks to cully fools. — Pomfret in R. 
 
 See Cozen. 
 
 Culm. This term is now applied to 
 the kind of coal found not in solid lumps 
 but in a loose powdery condition. The 
 proper meaning is sinut, and the latter 
 name is given in Pembrokeshire to a 
 superficial layer of coal in a still more 
 imperfect condition than culm. ^Cuhne 
 of smeke — fuligo.' — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Thanne Pacience perceyved of pointes of this 
 
 cote, 
 That were colomy thorugh coveitise and unkynde 
 
 desiryng. — P. P. 
 
 Colmie, black, foul, dirty ; becolmed, 
 blackened. — King Horn. Probably con- 
 nected with collow or colly, smut, soot. 
 
 Culminate. Lat. culmen, a top, a peak. 
 
 Culpable. Lat . culpa, a fault, culpa, 
 to find fault with, blame. 
 
 Culprit. The name by which a 
 prisoner on his trial is addressed when 
 he has pleaded not guilty. Probably a 
 corruption of culpat for culpatics, the 
 term for a person accused in the old 
 Law Latin. 
 
 Cultivate. — Culture. Lat. colo (p.p. 
 cultus), to till or dress the ground, to 
 bestow labour or pains upon. 
 
 Culverin. Fr. couleuvrine (from cou- 
 leuvre, Lat. coluber, a snake), a cannon, 
 or sometimes a handgun. See Caliver. 
 
 Culvert. A covered passage for water 
 under a road. The Fr. couvert is not 
 used in this sense, nor is it easy to see 
 how the / could have been introduced on 
 the supposition of a derivation from that 
 source. The E. counties' name is oolve, 
 hoolve, hulve, or wjilve, doubtless from 
 htilve (Hal.) or whelve, to cover over. 
 
I50 
 
 CUMBER 
 
 and possibly culvert may be a corruption 
 from this source. — Atkinson. 
 
 Cumber. — Encumber. See Comber. 
 
 -cum.ula-. — Cumulative. Lat. cumu- 
 lus, a heap, cumulo, to pile or heap up. 
 Accumulate, to heap together. 
 
 Cunning. See Con. 
 
 Cup. Fr. coupe, It. coppa, Du. kop, 
 Bret, gdb, kop, skSp. The notion of a 
 round projection and of something hol- 
 low are often expressed by the same word, 
 which is often taken from the sound of a 
 blow, and especially a blow on a hollow 
 body. Thus we have seen boss, a lump 
 or projection, and boss, hollow. The G. 
 nap/, Lang, nap, a bowl or porrenger, is 
 a slight variation of knopf, a knob or 
 knop, and both meanings are united in 
 W. cnapen, a knob, a bowl, while the 
 origin of the word seems a representation 
 of the sound of a blow or a thing break- 
 ing ; E. knap, to snap, to strike. — Hal. 
 
 Now the G. y^^;^ signifies both cup and 
 cop, or top, knob, head ; kbpfchen, a tea- 
 cup, kopf, a cupping-glass. The develop- 
 ment of the meaning is well illustrated in 
 the Fin. kopista, to resound from a blow ; 
 kopi7ia, the sound of a blow ; kopio, 
 empty, sounding as an empty vessel ; 
 koppa, anything concave or hollow, as 
 the box of a harp, the cup of a pipe. On 
 the other hand, as in the case of boll and 
 buckle, we are led to the image of a bub- 
 ble, as the type of anything round and 
 prominent, swollen, hollow. Fin. kuppo, 
 —a, — u, a bubble, boil, tumour ; kupia, 
 swelling, puffed ; kupu, the crop of birds, 
 head of a cabbage ; kupukka, anything 
 globular ; kuppi, a cup, kuppata, to bleed 
 by cupping. 
 
 Cupboard. Originally a board or shelf 
 for cups, as Du. glasenberd {herd, board), 
 a receptacle for glasses. — Kil. 
 
 Cupel. Fr. coupelle, a coppell, the 
 little ashen pot or vessel wherein gold- 
 smiths melt or fine their metals. — Cot. 
 From coupe, a cup. 
 
 ' Cupidity. — Concupiscence. Lat. cu- 
 piditas, desire, avidity, covetousness, 
 from cupio, I wish, desire, long for. See 
 Covet. 
 
 * Cupola. It. cupola, a round vaulted 
 chapel behind the chancel ; some use it 
 for any round arch or vault of a church 
 or copped steeple. — Fl. Plausibly con- 
 nected with Fr. coupeau, the top or head 
 of a thing, coupeau de la tete, the crown 
 of the head ; or with It. cupo, deep, hol- 
 low, high. But probably the word may 
 be an importation from the East, where 
 
 CURFEW 
 
 the dome was a favourite form of archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 An open cvpola had been erected by former 
 generations over the source. Order was given 
 in consequence to destroy the cupola and the 
 baths. The imperial decree was executed, and 
 the remains of the Kubbah or dome, &c. — Pals- 
 grave, Central Arabia, ii. 140. 
 
 Ar. kubbat, kubbd, a dome or cupola. — 
 Catafogo. 
 
 * Cur. A snarling dog ; currish, snarl- 
 ing, malignant. Du. korre, a housedog. 
 — K. From ON. kurra, G. kurren,gurren, 
 to grumble, mutter. Gurrige ehehiilfte, a 
 jangling wife. — Musaus. Compare G. kur- 
 re, OE. ctirrefish (Cot. in v. cocii). Da. knur-, 
 fisk, a gurnard, from its muttering sounds. 
 
 -cur. — Current. — Curricle. Lat. 
 curro, cursum, to nm ; cu?'rens, running, 
 passing along ; curriculum, a light car ; 
 concurro, to run along with, to coincide in 
 thought or feeling. To Incur, Recur. 
 
 Curate. — Curator. — Curious. Lat. 
 curator, one who takes care, from euro, 
 to care fOr, look to, curiosus, inquiring, 
 employing care in inquiry. 
 
 Curb. — Curve, — Curvet. Fr. courber, 
 to crook, bow, arch ; courbette, a small 
 crooked rafter, the curvetting of a horse. 
 Lat. curvus, crooked. Gael, crup, con- 
 tract, crouch, shrink ; crub, crouch, sit, 
 squat ; crubadh, bending ; Manx crib, 
 curb, contract, shrink ; w. crwb, a round 
 hunch ; crivbach, a hook, crook ; crybwch, 
 shrunk, crinkled. The insertion of the 
 nasal gives AS. crumb, crump, crymbig, 
 crooked ; G. krumtn, crooked ; Gael. 
 crom, bend, bow, stoop. 
 
 Curd. — Curdle. To curdle, to become 
 lumpy ; ctcrds, the lumpy part of milk. 
 Formerly more correctly written cruddle, 
 C7'ud. w. crwd, a round lump (Spurrell) ; 
 crwt, a dumpy person ; Vol. gruda, grud- 
 ka. Boh. hruda, hrudka, a clod, lump, 
 ball, clot. For the origin of the word 
 see Crottles. 
 
 Cure. Lat. cura, care ; originally pro- 
 bably sorrow, lamentation, as we see that 
 the E. sorrow is the equivalent of G. sorge, 
 diligence, care, sorrow ; sorgen, to take 
 care of. The origin is preserved in Fin. 
 kurista, voce strepo stridente, inde mur- 
 muro vel asgr^ fero, quirito ut infans. It 
 must thus be considered a relation of Lat. 
 qtceror, to complain. Fin. kurina,^ stridor, 
 murmur, kti7'ja, wretched, sad, miserable. 
 ON. kurr, murmur, complaint, grating ; 
 kurra, to coo as a dove, to murmur. 
 
 Curfew. Fr. couvrefeu, coto-efeu, Lat. 
 ignitegium, the notice for covering or 
 putting out lights at a certain hour in the 
 evening. 
 
CURL 
 
 Item quod nuUus tabernarius seu braciator tene- 
 at tabernam suam apertam post horam ignitegii. 
 —Lib. Alb. I. 251. 
 
 Curl. Formerly written crull, crotile-, 
 croll, in accordance with Du. krol, krolle, 
 N. krull. The sense of a vibratory or 
 rolling movement, and thence of a spiral 
 or twisted form, is commonly expressed 
 by forms representing in the first instance 
 a rattling or rumbling sound. Thus It. 
 rotolare, to roll along, is essentially the 
 same with E. rattle. G. kollern, to rumble, 
 is also used in the sense of rolling along, 
 and the word roll itself is equally familiar 
 in both senses. We speak of the roll of 
 a drum, the rolling of thunder, as well as 
 the rolling of a carriage or a roll of 
 paper. It seems certain that when the 
 form rol appears in the Romance lan- 
 guages it is a contraction from a fuller 
 form, like It. rotolare, equivalent to our 
 rattle J but in other cases the syllable 
 may have been framed as it stands to re- 
 present a rumbling or murmuring sound, 
 as in Illyrian ruliti^ to bellow, Swiss 
 rollen, for the rushing sound of a brook. 
 
 In like manner the form crol or croul, 
 expressing vibratory sound, and thence 
 vibratory movement, may be a contraction 
 from forms like Gr. K(j6ra\oi', a rattle, as 
 in Prov. crotlar, crollar^ Fr. crodler, cros- 
 ier, croler, to shake, E. dial, crudle, crule, 
 to shudder, shiver ; or in other cases the 
 root may have been framed as it stands 
 as a direct representation of the sound it 
 is intended to express, as in Illyr. kritliti, 
 to growl, to rumble (like the bowels) ; G. 
 grollvn, to rumble like thunder ; Fr. 
 grougouler, grojnller,X.o rumble ; E. dial. 
 crool, to mutter, murmur ; crawl, crowl, 
 croll, to grumble, rumble like the bowels. 
 For the connection between quivering 
 and curling compare Lat. vibrati crines, 
 curled hair. Again, from the crackling 
 sound of things frying we have Fr. graller, 
 griller, grosler, groller, G. krollen (in 
 kroll-erbsen, carlings or parched peas), to 
 parch or fry ; from whence we pass to 
 the sense of curling, on the same prin- 
 ciple on which '^.frizzle signifies both to 
 I fry in grease and also to curl. Fr. gi^ezil- 
 ler, to crackle as salted flesh on coals, 
 also to curl, twirl, frizzle hair. — Cot. Each 
 separate element of the crackling sound 
 represents to the mind an abrupt move- 
 ment of some element of the crackling 
 body, which is brought into a contorted 
 shape by the aggregate action of its 
 separate parts. 
 
 The radical connection between the 
 ideas of shivering and curling which is 
 
 CURRY 
 
 191 
 
 seen in E. dial, criile, Ditmarsh krule 
 (Outzen), to shiver, shudder, is also ex- 
 emplified in G. grans, shuddering, horror, 
 compared with kraus, Sw. krns, curly, 
 from whence again we are brought to G. 
 kraiiseln, to curl. 
 
 Curlew. Fr. coiirlis j OFr. cor lieu. — 
 Cot. Berri. querlu. Probably from the 
 shrill cry of the bird. Russ. kurluikat\ 
 to cry like a crane. 
 
 Curmudgeon. A corn-mudgin was a 
 dealer in corn, a most unpopular class of 
 persons in times of scarcity, as they were 
 always supposed to be keeping up the 
 price of corn by their avarice. 
 
 The sediles curale hung up 12 brazen shields 
 made of the fines that certain corn-mudgins paid 
 for hourding up their grain. — Holland's Livy 
 in R. 
 
 The origin of the element mudgin 
 would seem to be G. mausche, inauschel, 
 a contemptuous name for a Jew, and 
 thence a huckster, from a jeering imita- 
 tion of their way of pronouncing the name 
 Moses. Korn-Jude, korn-mausche, a 
 corn-mudgin. Swab, mauschen, to huck 
 or deal in small matters. 
 
 Currant. In Liber Cure Cocorum 
 called raysyns of corouns, Fr. raisins de 
 Corinthe; the dried small grapes of the 
 Greek islands. Then applied to our own 
 sour fruit of somewhat similar appear- 
 ance. 
 
 * To Curry. — Currier. The etymology 
 of these words has been much confused 
 by the coalescence of two forms of wholly 
 different origin. From Lat. coritwi, a 
 hide, coriarius was used in Mid. Lat. for 
 a maker of or worker in leather, a tanner, 
 shoemaker, beltmaker. Coriarius, coi'- 
 rariits, coreator, leder-maker, — zouwer, 
 — gerber, lederer, schuochmacher. — Dief. 
 Supp. ' Coriarius, seu calciamentorum 
 sutor.' — Vita S. Emmer. in Carp. At 
 the same time from Lat. con'igia, Fr. 
 courroie, a strap, was iorvatd corrigiaritis, 
 Fr. courroier, a maker of straps or girdles, 
 which seems to have been confounded 
 with corier from coriariiis. We find at 
 least in the Statuta Coriariorum of the 
 city of Abbeville a provision, ' Que nulz 
 Coriers faice coroies estoffees de plonc 
 d'estain sur I'amende de la ville.' In a 
 record of A. D. 1365 mention is made 
 ' comme Willemet Cotenchi corier eust 
 plusieurs chozes et hostiz (outils) de son 
 mestier de correrie, qui par justice avoient 
 €\.€ mises en garde k Hesdin.' 'Jehan 
 le Doys sainturier et courroier? — Rec. 
 A. D. 1456 in Carp. From corier was 
 formed E. coriotir, a tanner, the term by 
 
192 
 
 CURSE 
 
 which Wickhff describes the trade of 
 Simon in Acts, ix. x., answering to cori- 
 ariiis in the Vulgate. Coryowre, coriarius, 
 cerdo. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 On the other hand, we hardly doubt 
 that the verb to curry or dress leather is 
 from Fr. corroyer, conroyer, or with the 
 close vowel of the Norman dialect con- 
 rier^ signifying generally to dress or pre- 
 pare materials, to set in order for some 
 particular application, and specially to 
 dress leather, corium subigere, polire ; 
 conroyetir, corroyeur, a currier or leather- 
 dresser, artisan qui donne aux cuirs la 
 derni^re preparation, — Trev. Piaus de 
 moutons que Ton appele piaus de Damas, 
 conrees en alun : dressed with alum. — 
 Joinville cited by Marsh. I curry leather : 
 je coiirroie. — Palsgr. 
 
 Other applications mentioned in Tre- 
 voux are to puddling clay for holding water, 
 dressing of timber, forging of iron. OFr. 
 corroi, dressing of leather, order of battle. 
 Sp. conrear, to dress wool. It. corredare, 
 to rig or furnish a ship, to trim a bride. 
 The ultimate origin is the figure of setting 
 in order from the root rad, row, line, 
 whence Du. root, and E. row, order, rank. 
 See Ready, Array. 
 
 It is a strong proof that the verb to 
 curry is from Fr. corroyer and not from 
 the OE. coriour, in that it is not confined 
 to the sense of dressing leather, but like 
 the Fr. verb is used for dressing the coat 
 of a horse. 
 
 Li vilains son roncin atorne, 
 Et frote et conroie et estrille. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, 3. 198. 
 Receurent les destrers e les forz mulz amblanz 
 A les osteus les meinent conreer gentement. 
 Travels of Charlemagne cited by Marsh. 
 
 In the latter example the verb is used in 
 the general sense of taking care of. 
 
 A currycoinb is a comb for dressing 
 the coats of horses. 
 
 To curry favour is a proverbial ex- 
 pression corrupted from 'curry Favel/ 
 Fr. etriller Fauveau, to curry the chest- 
 nut horse. Tel dtrille Fauveau que puis 
 le mord, the ungrateful jade bites him 
 that does him good. — Cot. G. den Falben 
 streichen, den falben HeJigst streichen 
 (literally to rub down the chestnut), to 
 flatter, cajole. — Kiittn. Curry-favell, a 
 flatterer : estrille-fauveau. — Palsgr. It 
 was usual to make a proper name of the 
 colour of a horse, and to speak of the 
 animal as Bayard, Dun, Lyard (Fr. liari, 
 grey). Ball (whitefaced), Favel (Fr. Fau- 
 veau, from fauve, fallow), and any of 
 these was taken proverbially for horse in 
 
 CURTSY 
 
 general. 'Dun is in the mire.' 'Who so 
 bold as blind Bayard ? ' 
 The knyght or squier on that other side 
 Or the man that hath in pees or in werre 
 Dispent w'th his lorde his bloode, but he hide 
 The trouthe, and cory favelle, he not the ner is 
 His lordes grace. — Occleve, De regimine princi- 
 pum, p. 189. 
 
 When the meaning of Favel in the 
 proverb was no longer understood, the 
 sense was made up by the substitution of 
 favour. 
 
 Curse. Sw. kors (cross) ! interjection, 
 as Fr. mon dieu ! bon dieii ! AS. corsian, 
 to execrate by the sign of the cross. E. 
 Fris. kruiis, the cross ; kriiiisken, kriiii- 
 zigen, to curse. — StUrenberg. In Fr. we 
 find sacrer used both in the senses of 
 consecrating or execrating. An appeal 
 to the Deity is made in both cases, but 
 in the one case he is called on to execute 
 vengeance on the devoted object, in the 
 other it is offered to his gracious accept- 
 ance. So ON. blota^Xo consecrate and to 
 curse. 
 
 Curst. Ill-tempered, cross-grained. 
 ' Kate the curst' OE. crus, wrathful. — 
 Havelok, 1966. The familiar crusty, ill- 
 tempered, may perhaps be a metaphor 
 from the rugged surface of crust, but it 
 is by no means certain that it is not an 
 offshoot from the stem to which belong 
 OE. crus, curst, Fr. courroux. It. corruc- 
 cio, cruccio, wrath. In a passage of the 
 treatise called ' Deadly Sins,' cited by 
 Dr R. Morris, the earlier version, the 
 Cursor Mundi, has crustful, which is 
 replaced by ireful in the later version. 
 
 * Curt. Lat. cu7'tus, short, stumpy. 
 
 Curtain. Mid. Lat. cortina, a small 
 inclosed court or yard, ' Domuncula mi- 
 nor cum cortina, vinea, &c.' Hence the 
 name seems to have been given to the 
 curtains or hangings by which a small in- 
 closure was made round an altar or 
 chapel in a church or a bed in a cham- 
 ber. ' Cortina est ornamentum Ecclesia- 
 rum vel tabernaculorum, sicut vela depic- 
 ta,quce in lateribus altarium suspenduntur 
 ne sacerdos aspectu circumstantium con- 
 fundatur.' — Breviloquium in Due. 
 
 Curtal. — Curtail. From Fr. court, 
 short, with a modification of the termina- 
 tion ard (seen in Bayard, dastard, drunk- 
 ard), is formed cotirtault, courtaut. Mid. 
 Lat. curtaldus, E. curtal, having a docked 
 tail. ~ 
 court tailler, to cut short . 
 
 Curtsy. Fr. courtiser, to court, enter- 
 tain with all compliments or offices of 
 respect and observance ; courtoisie, cour- 
 tesy, civihty. — Cot. But I am inclined to 
 
CURVE 
 
 believe that the word fundamentally sig- 
 nifies to cross oneself, put oneself into the 
 reverent position of those who make the 
 sign of the cross. It is commonly pro- 
 nounced curchy, and in Pembrokeshire a 
 girl is told to make her crutch or curch. 
 I croutche, I make humble reverence. — 
 Palsgr. It. far croce, star colle braccia 
 in croce, to cross the arms on the breast 
 (often joined with bowing or kneeling), as 
 an attitude of reverence — La Crusca ; 
 riverenza, a curtsy or bending to another 
 with the knee. — Fl. Faire reverence a, 
 to arise, give place, make courtesie, vaile 
 bonnet unto ; to solicit with cap and 
 knee. — Cot. 
 
 Curve. See Curb. 
 
 Curvet. Fr. courbette, the prancings 
 of a managed horse, in which he bends 
 his body together and springs out. 
 
 -cuse. Lat. causa, matter in question, 
 suit at law, something laid to the charge 
 of one. Hence accuso, to bring a charge 
 against one ; excuso, to relieve one from 
 a charge ; recuso, to refuse, to say no to 
 the matter in question. 
 
 Cushion. Fr. coussin. It. coscino, 
 cuscino. G. kiissen, ON. koddi, a cushion. 
 See Cod. 
 
 -cuss-. Lat. quatio, quassum, in comp. 
 -cutiOj -cussum, to shake, strike, shatter. 
 Hence concussion, percussion. 
 
 Custard. A corruption of the obsolete 
 crustade, a dish which appears in the bills 
 of fare of the 14th century, and was com- 
 posed of some kind of stew served up in 
 a raised crust. In a bill of fare of a cen- 
 tury later mention is made of a blaunche 
 custade. — Wright, Hist, of Domestic 
 Manners, 355. ''Custade costable when 
 eggs and crayme be geason.' — Babees 
 Book, 170. 
 
 Custody. Lat. custodiaj custos^ a 
 guard, keeper. 
 
 Custom. It. costume, Fr. coustume, 
 coutume, Sp. costumbre, from consuetudo, 
 consuetudinis, through the medium, as 
 Diez supposeSjOf a softened form ^^^i'z^^/w- 
 men. So from mansuetudo^ Sp. mansed- 
 umbrCj Port, manseduine. 
 
 Cut. I . Sw. dial, kata, to cut small, 
 
 to work in wood, to whittle, kata ur, to 
 hollow out ; ON. kuta, to cut ; N. kutte, 
 to cut off ; Sw. dial, kuta, kytti, a knife ; 
 kutts^ a bit \ w. cwty caty a little piece, a 
 
 CYNIC 
 
 193 
 
 cut, a gobbet ; cwt, a short tail ; cwtto^s^i, 
 to curtail, abridge. Turk, kaf, a. cutting, 
 kat'et, to cut ; kit'a, a piece, a segment. 
 
 2. A term of abuse for a woman. See 
 Cotquean. 
 
 Cuticle. Lat. cutis, the skin. 
 
 Cutlas. — Curtal-axe. It. co/te/lo and 
 the augmentative coltellaccio become in 
 the Venetian dialect cortelo, a knife, and 
 cortelazo, a pruning-knife or bill. Hence 
 the OE. courtelas, and with that striving 
 after meaning, which is so frequent a 
 cause of corruption, curtal-axe. Fr. 
 coutelas, a cuttelas or courtelas, or short 
 sword. — Cot. 
 
 Cutler. Fr. coutelier, a maker of 
 knives, from couteau, formerly written 
 cousteau, coulteau, It. coltello, Venet. cor- 
 telo, a knife, the r of which last has per- 
 haps passed into the s of cousteau. But 
 this is not necessary, as an example of 
 the same change in the opposite direction 
 is seen in the OFr. coultre, for coustre, a 
 sexton, from custos. 
 
 Lat. cjilter, cultellus, w. cyllell, a knife. 
 
 Cutlet. Fr. cotelette, dim. from cote, 
 rib, side, coast, from Lat. costa, a rib. 
 
 Cuttle-fish. Fr. cornet, a sea-cut or 
 cuttle-fish. — Cqt. Du. see-katte, w. nior~ 
 gyllell, the sea-knife, from the knife or 
 feather-shaped bone contained in its body. 
 In some parts of France it is called cous- 
 teau de Tner. Cousteau, the principal 
 feather in a hawk's wing, termed by our 
 falconers cut or cuttie. — Cot. 
 
 Cycle. Aperiodic space of time. Gr. 
 kvkXoq, 2l circle. 
 
 Cyclopaedia. Gr. KvicXoTraiSda (ku/cXoc, 
 a circle, iraiBeia, instruction), a complete 
 round of information. 
 
 Cygnet. Lat. cygnus, cycnus, Fr. 
 cygne, a swan. 
 
 Cylinder. Lat, cylindrus, Gr. KvKivlpoq, 
 from KvXivdb), to roll. 
 
 Cymbal. Gr. KVfi(5aXov, a cymbal ; 
 KVfifioQ, a cavity, hollow vessel, goblet. 
 From an imitation of the sound of strik- 
 ing a hollow object. Compare Gr. KOfnrsb), 
 to clank; Fin. kopina, the sound of a 
 blow, kopano, a hollow tree, sounding hol- 
 low when struck. Lat. campana, a bell ; 
 Alb. kembone, a cattle-bell. 
 
 Cynic. Lat. cynicus, from Gr. (cvwic, 
 Kvvoq, a dog ; rvvikoq, like a dog, belong- 
 ing to a dog. 
 
 13 
 
f9f 
 
 DABBLE 
 
 DADE 
 
 D 
 
 To Dabble. — Dab. Dabble, daddle, 
 daggle, and wabble, waddle, waggle, are 
 parallel series formed on a similar plan, 
 and all apparently representing in the 
 first instance the agitation or dashing of 
 liquid matters. The sense is then extend- 
 ed to the dashing of wet or even solid 
 things, and thence to a separate portion 
 of a substance more or less coherent, so 
 much as is thrown down at once. ODu. 
 dabbelen. Norm, dauber (H^richer), to 
 tramp in the mire ; dabbelen, dabben, to 
 bemire. — Bigl. Sc. dub, a puddle. In 
 the sense of dashing or giving a smart 
 push — 
 
 He gart the loon's hehd cry dab amo' the yird. 
 He dabbit the loon's nose amo' the dubs. Dab 
 your hehd doon. — Banff. Gl. 
 
 Norm, dauber, to bang. ' Lsi-porte daube.' 
 A dab of dirt is a lump of dirt thrown 
 and sticking where it falls. The word is 
 specially applied to a lump of something 
 moist or soft, and hence A? dab, to touch 
 with something moist. See Daddle, Dad, 2. 
 The notion of a smart push is some- 
 times specialised to a prick or thrust with 
 a pointed instrument. 
 
 He keepit a dabban o't doon intil a hole. 
 
 Banff. Gl. 
 
 To dab or daub, to prick, to peck as birds. 
 ■ — Jam. To dab in some parts of England 
 is used, as dibble in others, for making 
 holes in a furrow with a pointed instru- 
 ment for the planting of seed. The notion 
 of striking is more general in Fr. dauber, 
 to beat, drub, thresh, and in E. dab-hand, 
 one who does a thing off hand, at a single 
 blow. So Lang, tap a, to strike, to do a 
 thing skilfully and quickly. — Diet. Castr. 
 Dabchick.— Dobchick. Fr. plongeon. 
 Norm. daubei^€x\Q\i^x), the lesser grebe, 
 takes the foregoing names from its habit 
 of constantly dabbing or bobbing under 
 water. 
 
 •The diving dobchick here among the rest you see, 
 Now up, now down again, that hard it is to prove 
 Whether under water most it liveth or above. 
 
 Drayton. 
 
 Norm, dauber, to dive. Dan. dobbe, Du. 
 dobber, a float ; dobberen, to rise and fall 
 with the wave. — Halma. 
 
 Dad. w. tad. Lap. dadda (in child- 
 ren's language), father. Almost as uni- 
 versally spread as Baba or Papa. 
 
 Dad, 2. — Dawd. This is a word pre- 
 cisely analogous to dab. It is used in the 
 first instance to represent the sound of a 
 blow. Dad, a blow, a thump — Hal. ; 
 dad, daud, to thrash, dash, drive forcibly. 
 — Jam. ' He dadded to the door,' slam- 
 med it to. ' He fell with a dad.' Also, 
 to throw mire so as to bespatter, to dawb. 
 Hence dad, dawd (as dab,dabbet, above), 
 a large piece, a lump, lunch. Swiss ddtsch, 
 smack, sound of a blow ; datsch, dotsch, 
 smack, blow with something broad, broad 
 lump of something soft. See Daddle. 
 
 Daddock, dadick, rotten wood, is the 
 dim. of the above. It signifies wood in 
 a state in which you can pick it bit from 
 bit. Hence dadacky, decayed, tasteless. 
 
 Daddle. In low language, the hand. 
 Tip us your daddies, shake hands. Hesse, 
 datsche, a paw or hand, in a contemptuous 
 sense ; Westerwald, tatschgen, patschgen, 
 a hand (in children's lang.), from dats- 
 chebi, tatschen, tdtscheln, to paddle with 
 the hands, to handle improperly. Tatsch 
 hand (Sanders), Pl.D. patsche, patsch 
 hand, the hand, to children. The radical 
 meaning of daddle, of G. datscheln, tats- 
 cheln, as well as the synonymous paddle, 
 patscheln, is to dabble in the wet. Sc. 
 daddle, daidle, to draggle, bedabble one's 
 clothes, do work in a slovenly v/ay. To 
 daddle and drink, to be continually tip- 
 pling, as to paddle in Devon to take too 
 much drink. — Hal. Then, perhaps from 
 the wavering of an agitated liquid, to 
 daddle is to walk unsteadily like a child, 
 to waddle. — Grose. In the same way to 
 daddle, to walk with difficulty, like a 
 child or an old person. — Atkinson. Hess. 
 datteln, daddeln, dotteln, doddeln, to tod- 
 dle, to walk unsteadily, to stagger. 
 
 To Dade. — Dading-string-s. To dade 
 is applied to the first vacillating steps of 
 a child. To dade a child, to teach him 
 to walk ; dading-strings, NE. paddling- 
 strings, strings by which he is held up 
 while beginning to dade or paddle ; lead- 
 ing-strings. 
 Which nourished and brought up at her most 
 
 plenteous pap, 
 No sooner brought to dade, but from her mo- 
 ther trips — 
 But eas'ly from her source as Isis gently dades. 
 
 Drayton. 
 
 We have seen that the primary sense 
 
DAFFODIL 
 
 of daddle is to dabble or paddle in the 
 wet, then to waddle or walk imperfectly- 
 like a child.. And as wade is related to 
 waddle, so is dade to daddle. 
 
 Daffodil. Corrupted from Lat. aspJio- 
 delus. Fr. asphodile^ aphrodille, the 
 daftbdill, affodill, or asphodill flower. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Dag. — Dagger. The syllable dag or 
 dig, like dab or dib, represents a sudden 
 thrust, then the instrument with which 
 the thrust is given, or anything of simi- 
 lar form. Bret, dagi^ to stab ; OE. dag, 
 to pierce. 
 Derfe dyntys they dalte with daggnnde sperys. 
 Morte Arthure in Hal. 
 
 Fr. dagtie, It. daga, E. dagger, a short 
 stabbing weapon. OE, dag, a small pro- 
 jecting stump of a tree, a sharp sudden 
 pain. — Hal. Dag is then a projecting 
 point, a jag, and specially the jags or 
 slashing with which garments were orna- 
 mented. 
 
 So much dagging of sheres with the super- 
 fluity in lengthe of the foresaide gounes. — 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Dagge of cloth, fractillus. — Pr.'Pm. Da- 
 gon, a slice. ' A dagon of your blanket, 
 leve dame.' — Ch. Daglets, icicles, or 
 jags of ice. Dag-locks, clotted locks 
 hanging in dags or jags at a sheep's tail. 
 Fin, takku, a shaggy fleece, takku-willa, 
 dag-wool, takkiiinen, matted, shaggy, 
 dagged. OE. dag-swain, a bed-covering 
 of shaggy material. 
 
 Some dagswaynes have long thrumys (fractil- 
 los) and jags on bothe sydys, some but on one. — 
 Horman in Way, 
 
 To Daggle. To trail in the dirt, to 
 run like a child ; daggly, wet, showery. 
 — Hal. To dagg, to sprinkle with water ; 
 dagged, wet, bedaggled, — Atkinson. Sw. 
 dial, dagg, a sup or small portion of liquid; 
 Da. diigge, bediigge, to bedew ; Devon. 
 dugged, dugged tea led, daggletailed. 
 
 Formed on a plan analogous to dabble 
 or daddle, and signifying in the first in- 
 stance working in something wet. The 
 place of the liquid is transposed in Bav. 
 dalken, to work in wet or pasty mate- 
 rials, to work unskilfully ; verdalken, to 
 besmear, bedaggle ; dalket, doughy, 
 clammy, awkward ; Hesse dalgen, to 
 handle improperly, to paw. A like trans- 
 position is seen in dabble and dallop, 
 wabble and wallop, in G. schwappeln, to 
 splash, and Swiss schwalpen, to sway to 
 and fro, and many other cases. 
 
 Dail, — Dale, A trough in which the 
 water runs from the pump over the decks 
 of a ship, — B. The course of develop- 
 
 DAIRY 
 
 195 
 
 ment seems as follows, w. twll, Bret. 
 toiill, a hole, cavity; Pol. ^<9/, apit. Then 
 a hollow where water collects, a sink, 
 gully, drain, gutter, spout. 
 
 Swiss dole, a pit, hollow, sink, drain ; 
 OHG. dola, cloaca, fistula ; Fr. dalle, a 
 sewer or pit whereinto the washings and 
 other such ordure of houses are conveyed 
 — Cot. ; in Normandy a spout or channel 
 to void water by, — Roquefort. Sp. dala, 
 the pump-dale of a ship. ON, dcel, a de- 
 pression, dcEla, a bucket for drawing 
 water from a well, a sea-pump. 
 
 Dainty, w. dant, a tooth ; dantaidd 
 (as E. toothsome), dainty, delicate. Bav. 
 ddntsch, a delicacy, ddntschig, dainty, 
 nice in eating ; NE. danch, s, s. OE. 
 daunch, dotich, fastidious, over-nice. — 
 Hal. 
 
 Dairy. — Dey. The dey was a servant 
 in husbandry, mostly a female, whose 
 duty was to make cheese and butter, 
 attend to the calves and poultry and other 
 odds and ends of the farm. The dery, 
 deyry, or dairy, was the department as- 
 signed to her. 'A ^deye, androchius, 
 androchea (for androgynus, either man or 
 woman), genatarius, genetharia ; a derye, 
 androchiarium, bestiarium, genetheum 
 ijor gyjiecczum, the woman's apartment, 
 place where the weaving was done).' — 
 Cath. Ang. in Way. ' Caseale, a dey- 
 house where cheese is made.' — Elyot in 
 Hal. In Gloucestershire a dairy is still 
 so called. In the 37 Edw. III., A.D. 
 1363, are classed together 'hovers, vach- 
 ers, porchers, deyes et touz autres gar- 
 deirez des bestes,' the word deyes being 
 translated in the English version deyars 
 or dairy-men, and in 12 Rich. II. deye 
 and deyrie-woman. 
 
 The duties of the dey are mentioned by 
 Neccham. 
 
 Assit et androgia que gallinis ova supponat et 
 anseribus acera substernat ; que agnellos morbi- 
 dos in sua teneritate lactefoveat alieno. Vitulos 
 autem et subrumos ablactatos inclusos teneat in 
 pargulo juxta fenile, &c. 
 
 The milking of the cows and feeding 
 the weanlings by hand would naturally 
 fall to the same attendant, and hence the 
 origin of the name as rightly pointed out 
 by Jamieson. Dan. dczgge, to feed with 
 foreign milk ; daggebarn, a nurse child ; 
 daggehorn, a feeding-bottle. 
 
 Sw. daggja, dia, to give suck ; deja, a 
 dairy-maid. N. deia, deigja, generally sig- 
 nifies a maidservant ; btideia {bu, cattle), 
 one who looks after the cattle, milkmaid ; 
 rakstadeie, woman engaged to rake hay, 
 haymaker; reiddeia, housemaid, woman 
 13 * 
 
196 
 
 DAIS 
 
 whose business is to look after and set 
 the house to rights. ON. deigja, a maid 
 servant, female slave, a concubine. Pol. 
 doic', to milk cows, &c., dojka, a dairy- 
 maid, dojarnicay a dairy ; Bohem. doiti^ 
 to milk or give milk; dogka^ a wet-nurse, 
 nurse-maid. 
 
 Dais. Fr. Dais or daiz, a cloth of 
 estate, canopy or heaven that stands over 
 the heads of Princes' thrones ; also the 
 whole state or seat of estate. — Cot. OFr. 
 dais^ dels, a table, from discus. * A curt 
 esterras, e k mun deis tuz jurs mangeras.' 
 — L. des Rois. ' Un jor seeit al maistre 
 deis:' one day he (the king) sat at the 
 principal table or high dease. — Chron. 
 Norm. The name was then transferred 
 to the raised step on which the high table 
 was placed, or the canopy over it. 
 
 Daisy. Day's eye. AS. d(2ges edge. 
 That well by reason men it call may 
 The deisie or els the eye of the day. 
 
 Chaucer in R . 
 
 Dale. — Dell. w. tivll, a hole, pit, 
 dimple, — mwn, a. mine-shaft ; Bret, iouii, 
 a hole or cavity ; Pol. doi, bottom, pit ; 
 do/ek, a little pit or hole, socket of the 
 eye, dimple ; do Una, valley ; Bohem. 
 d7^i, a pit, shaft in a mine, duiek, a de- 
 pression, pock-mark, dolina, a valley. 
 Goth, dal^ a valley, gulf, pit ; G. thai, a 
 valley. Dan. dal, a valley, dcsl, a de- 
 pression ; E. dale, a valley, dell, a depres- 
 sion in a hill-side. The E. had also a 
 diminutive corresponding to the Slavonic 
 dolek; ^ dalke, vaUis.' — Pr. Pm. Delk,2. 
 small cavity in the body or in the soil. — 
 Forby. ' Le fosset oue col, dalke in the 
 neck.' — Bibelsvvorth in Way. 
 
 Dallop. To dallop, to paw, toss or 
 tumble about carelessly ; dallop, a slat- 
 tern, a trollop (Forby), a clumsy and 
 shapeless mass. — Hal. N. dolp, a lump, 
 a hanging bob. W. talp, a lump. 
 
 The sense of a shapeless lump is often 
 connected with that of paddling or dab- 
 bling, as in dab and dabble, dad or dawd 
 and daddle. And the sense of over-hand- 
 ling follows close on that of dabbling 
 with wet things. ON. ddipa or damla, to 
 paddle or row softly ; Hesse dalgen, del- 
 pen, dahnen, to paw or handle overmuch ; 
 to dallop, to over-nurse. — Whitby. Gl. 
 Dallop is in fact related to dabble as 
 wallop to wabble, or Hess, dalgen to E. 
 daggle. 
 
 To Dally. The radical sense seems 
 to be to talk imperfectly like a child, then 
 to act like a child, trifle, loiter. G. dah- 
 len, dallen, to stammer, tattle, trifle. 
 * Wer lehrt den Psittacum unser wort 
 
 DAM 
 
 dallen?' — Sanders. ' Die tunge lallt und 
 A////.'— Deutsch. Mund. 4- iB8- ' Alte 
 leute muss m2ir\dalen lassen.' — Schmeller. 
 G. dial, dalen, to speak or act childishly, 
 to trifle, toy, dawdle — D. M. 3. 418 ; dol- 
 len, tdlen, to play, work without earnest- 
 ness. — 4. 1 88. To dwallee or dwaule, to 
 talk incoherently. — Exmoor Scolding. 
 Dalyyn or talkyn, fabulor, colloquor ; 
 dalyatmce, confabulacio. — Pr. Pm. Pl.D. 
 dwalen, to jest, sport, act irrationally ; 
 dwalse, a simpleton. 
 
 The word seems to arise from a mock- 
 ing imitation of senseless chatter by syl- 
 lables without meaning, like fal-lal-la ! 
 ta-la-la ! tilly vally ! or tilly fally ! dilly- 
 dally ! G. lari fari ! Fr. tarare ! Lang, 
 ta-ta-ta ! interjections intimating one's 
 contempt for what is said. In parts of 
 Germany childish behaviour in a grown 
 person is jeered by a rigmarole beginning 
 with tillicm talluin, tille talle, or tall-tall. 
 — D. M. 3. 414. Bav. dilledelle, delle- 
 melle, a simpleton. 
 
 Dam. — Dame. Lat. domina. It. dama, 
 Fr. dame, a lady. From being used as a 
 respectful address to women it was ap- 
 plied, KaT iloxnv, to signify a mother, as 
 sire to a father. 
 
 Enfant qui craint ni pere ni mere 
 
 Ne peut que bien ne le comperre. 
 
 For who that dredith sire ne dame 
 
 Shall it able in bodie or name. — R. R. 5887. 
 
 — And fykel tonge hure syre 
 Amendeswas hure dame. — P. P. in R. 
 Faithlesse, forsworn, ne goddesse was thy dam, 
 Nor Dardanus beginner of thy race. — Surry in R. 
 
 Subsequently these terms were confined 
 to the male and female parents of ani- 
 mals, especially of horses. 
 
 Dam. A word of far-spread connec- 
 tions with much modification of form and 
 sense. The fundamental signification is 
 the notion of stopping up, preventing the 
 flow of a liquid. Goih. fatir-damj?tjan, 
 to shut up, obstruct, hinder ; Pol. tajuo- 
 wac, to stop, staunch, obstruct, dam ; 
 tania, a dam, dike, causeway. ON. dam- 
 nir, Dan. da7n, a fish pond. OSw. 
 dantfn, a dam. '^2LV.dauin,daumb, taum, 
 Fr. tampon, tapon, the wad of a gun ; 
 Bav. daufnen, verdaumben, Fr. taper, to 
 ram down, to stop the loading from fall- 
 ing out. Here we are brought to a root 
 tap instead of tarn, and it will be seen 
 that the change might as easily take place 
 from tap through tamp to tarn, as in the 
 opposite direction from tam to tap. The 
 evidence preponderates in favour of the 
 originality of the latter form. The idea 
 of stopping up an orifice is naturally ex- 
 
DAMAGE 
 
 pressed by a word signifying a tuft or 
 bunch, as Fr. boiicher, to stop, bouchoft, a 
 cork, from OFr. boiische, a handful or 
 bunch ; etoiiffer, to stop the breath, from 
 totiffe^ a tuft, lock of hair, clump of trees. 
 Now the Sw. tapp, a bunch, has precisely 
 the signification required. Hotapp, halm- 
 iapp, a wisp of hay or straw ; tapp-wis, 
 by handfuls. Then, from a bunch of 
 I fibrous matter being used in stopping an 
 j orifice, tapp, a bung, tap, plug. Hence 
 i tceppa, to stop a hole, to staunch, and in 
 I a wider sense to shut, shut up ; t(^ppa et 
 aker, to inclose a field. 
 
 Lap. tappet, to shut, to stop ; tappa 
 ukseb, shut the door ; tappalet, to have 
 the breath stopped, to be suffocated, 
 tappaltak, the asthma ; Sw. afid-tceppa, 
 shortness of breath, asthma {ande, breath). 
 Lang, tap, a cork, tapa, tampa, to stop, 
 shut, shut up, inclose, surround ; se tampa 
 las aourelios, to stop one's ears ; tampa. 
 uno po7'to, to shut a door ; ta7npos, shut- 
 ters. — Diet. Castr. Tampo, 2l tank or 
 reservoir.— Diet. Lang. C^i. tap, a cork, 
 bung ; tapa, the sluice of a mill ; tapar, 
 to stop, cover, conceal ; taparse el eel, to 
 become covered (of the sky) ; tapat (of 
 the sky or atmosphere), close. 
 
 Ptg. tapar, to stop a hole, to cover; 
 tapado, stopped up, fenced in, thick, 
 close-wrought, tapada, a park, taparse, 
 to darken, grow dark, tapiilho, a stopper, 
 tampam, a cover, lid of a box ; Sp. tapar, 
 to stop up, choke, cover, conceal ; tapon, 
 cork, plug, bung. Fr. tapon, tampon, E. 
 tampion, tatnkin, tomkin, a stopple for a 
 cannon. 
 
 It will be seen that the Lang, form 
 tampo, a. tank, cistern, or reservoir (un- 
 doubtedly from the root tap), agrees ex- 
 actly with the OSw. da?7ipn, a dam or 
 pond ; kropp-da77ipn, a cistern at the top 
 of a building. — Ihre. 
 
 Damage. Lat. da7nnatio, Prov. da77ip- 
 natge, Fr. do77i7nage. 
 
 Ut ei nemo contrarietatem vel damnationem 
 ad versus eum facere prassumat. — Ep. Car. Mar- 
 tel. in Due. 
 
 Damask. Fr. da77tasqui7i j because 
 figured silks, linen, &c., were imported 
 from Damascus. 
 
 Damn, -demn. Lat. da7nmi7n, loss, 
 injury ; da77i7io (in comp. -de77tno), to con- 
 demn. 
 
 To Damp. It is impossible to sepa- 
 rate to da77ip, signifying to check the 
 vital energies, suppress, subdue, from 
 da7}t, to stop the flow of water by a phy- 
 sical obstacle. The fundamental idea in 
 
 DAMP 
 
 197 
 
 both cases is the notion of stopping an 
 orifice, and the two senses are not always 
 distinguished by different modes of spell- 
 ing. The Pol. ta77io'wad signifies to dam, 
 to stop, to stop the breath, to check, to 
 restrain. Lang. tapofa7n, literally, stop- 
 hunger, a dai7iper or hunch of meat to 
 da77ip the appetite at the beginning of a 
 meal. — Diet. Castr. It is probably from 
 the notion of stopping the breath that the 
 figurative senses of the verb to da7np are 
 chiefly derived. Sw. a7td-tcBppa, short- 
 ness of breath ; Lap. tappalet, to be suf- 
 focated, from Sw. ta;ppa. Lap. tappet, to 
 stop. OHG. te77iphen, bede77iphe7i, G. ddi7ip- 
 fe7i, to suffocate, choke, smother ; dd)7ipf- 
 lei7ichen, a cord to hang one, halter— 
 Adelung ; da77ipf, shortness of breath, 
 da7npfig, Du. de77tpig, da77ipig, short- 
 winded. 
 
 Then as the breath is the common 
 symbol of life, to stop the breath is the 
 most natural expression for putting an 
 end to life, extinguishing, depressing, 
 quelling. G. dd77ipfe7i, Du. de?7tpen, Sw. 
 da77ipa, to extinguish a light, and also in 
 a figurative sense to repress, to da77ip. 
 G. anfruhr dd77ipfe7i, to suppress a tu- 
 mult ; die dd77ipfung der liiste, the 
 mortification of lusts. — Kiittn. Sw. 
 da77tpa sina begarelsen, to stifle one's 
 passions. 
 
 In the south of Germany ddnwten is 
 used in the same way ; das feuer, pein 
 dd77imen, to damp the fire, to still pain ; 
 Bav. de7n77ien, dd77ten, to restrain, quell, 
 
 extinguish, tame. ^ Da77ien, domare,' 
 *Alle irrung nieder zu driicken und zu 
 dd77i7ne7i,' ' Glut de77t7ne7i und loschen.' 
 — Schmeller. 
 
 Here we are brought to a point at 
 which Gr. dafidoj, Lat. do777a7-e, Dan. 
 tce77i77ie^ to tame, would seem to break 
 in, as parallel modifications of the same 
 root. Compare Dan. t(X7nme si7ie lede7i' 
 skaber, to curb one's passions (Repp.), 
 with Sw. da77ipa si7ia begarelser, above 
 cited ; Lat. do77iare iractmdias. 
 
 Damp. I. The sense of vapour, steam, 
 smoke, expressed by the G. da77ipf, Du. 
 damp, de77ip, do7np, may have arisen in 
 two ways. The G. da77ipf sxgxix^ts short 
 wind, dampjig, breathing with difficulty, 
 and, as the designation of a phenomenon 
 is commonly taken from the most exag- 
 gerated manifestation of it, the term may 
 have been applied in the first instance to 
 the breath, and thence to exhalation, 
 steam, smoke. Bav. da77tpf, contemptu- 
 
198 
 
 DAMSEL 
 
 ously, the breath. — Schm. Or the de- 
 signation may have been taken from 
 regarding smoke, dust, vapour, steam, as 
 suffocating, stifling, choking agents. Sw. 
 damb, dust. The G. dampf is explained 
 by Adelung * any thick smoke, mist, or 
 vapour, especially when it is of sulphure- 
 ous nature,' where the reference to the 
 idea of suffocation is obvious. Compare 
 Dan. quale, to suffocate, choke, with G. 
 qualm y vapour, smoke. In the choke- 
 datnp of our mines there is a repetition 
 of the element signifying suffocation 
 added to supply the loss of that meaning 
 in the E. damp. 
 
 2. The sense of moisture expressed by 
 the Du. and E. daf^p is probably to be 
 explained from the connection of close- 
 ness and suffocation with dampness or 
 moisture. Cat. tapat, of the sky or 
 air, covered, close ; Sw. et tapt rum, a 
 close room, room with no vent for the 
 air ; Du. bedompt, stifling, close, con- 
 fined ; bedompt huts, maison mal perc^e, 
 obscure, humide ; bedompt, dompig, or 
 dajnpig weer, dark and damp weather. — 
 Halma. G. dumpfig, musty, damp. The 
 idea of what is light, airy, and open on 
 the one hand, is opposed to what is dark, 
 close, and damp on the other, and hence 
 damp, signifying in the first place close 
 and confined, has passed on to designate 
 the humidity associated with closeness. 
 
 Damsel. Fr. demoiselle ; It. dami- 
 gclla, dim. of dama, a lady, from Lat. 
 domina. 
 
 Dam.son. — Damascene. A kind of 
 plum. Mod.Gr. dafxdoKtjvov, a plum. 
 
 Dance. Fr. daiiser, G. tanzen, Dan. 
 dandse. The original meaning was doubt- 
 less to stamp, in which sense danse, 
 dandse is still used in South Denmark. — 
 Outzen. So in Lat. ' pedibus plaudere 
 choreas,' ' alterno terram pede quatere.' 
 Glosses of 141 8, quoted by Schmeller, 
 render applaudebaiit by tanzieji mil den 
 hentiden. Dan. dundse, to thump ; Sw. 
 dunsa, to fall heavily ; Du. donsen, pugno 
 sive typhae clava in dorso percutere. — Kil. 
 
 A like connection is seen between AS. 
 Uwibia7i, to dance, and Pl.D. dumpen, to 
 stamp ; Devonsh. diimp, to knock heavily, 
 to stump ; also a kind of dance. — Hal. 
 
 Dandelion. Fr. dejit de lion, lion's 
 tooth, from the leaves with tooth-like 
 jags directed backwards compared to a 
 lion's jaw. 
 
 To Dandle. — Dandy. Dandle is a 
 nasalised form of daddle, which with 
 many allies signifies movement to and fro. 
 E. didder^ dodder^ to shake ; Sc. diddle, 
 
 DANGER 
 
 to shake or jog; diddle-daddle, trifling 
 activity, great activity with little result 
 (moving to and fro). — Banff. Gl. Fr. 
 dodiner, to rock, shake, shog, wag up and 
 down ; dandiner, to sway the body to and 
 fro ; dodeliner, to rock or jog up and 
 down, to dandle ; dondeliner, to wag the 
 head ; It. dondolare, to dandle a child, to 
 rock or dangle in the air, to loiter or 
 idle ; dondola, a toy, a child's playing 
 baby. — Fl. To dandle signifies in the 
 first instance to toss or rock an infant, 
 thence to toy, play, trifle. 
 
 King Henry's ambassadors into France having 
 been dandled by the French during these dehisive 
 practices, returned without other fruit of their 
 labours. — Speed in R. 
 
 G. td)ideln, to trifle, toy, loiter, tdndel- 
 schiirze, a short apron more for show 
 than for use ; kleider-tand, ostentation in 
 dress. 
 
 In like manner may be explained the 
 Sc. dandilly and e. dandy, applied to 
 what is made a toy of, used for play and 
 not for working-day life, finely dressed, 
 ornamental, showy. 
 
 And he has married a dandilly wife, 
 She wadna shape nor yet wad she sew, 
 But sit wi' her cummers and fill hersel fu'. 
 
 Jam. 
 
 A dandy is probably first a doll, then 
 a finely-dressed person. Dandy-cock 
 (quasi toy-cock), a bantam. — Hal. 
 
 Dandruff. Bret, tan, tin, Fr. teigne, 
 scurf, w. ton, skin, crust ; marwdoti, 
 dead skin, dandruff. Perhaps the W. 
 drwg, bad, evil, may form the conclusion 
 of the E. word dandruff, as if dondrwg, 
 the bad crust or scab. 
 
 Danger. Mid. Lat. damnum Avas used 
 to signify a fine imposed by legal author- 
 ity. The term was then elliptically ap- 
 plied to the limits over which the right 
 of a Lord to the fines for territorial of- 
 fences extended, and then to the inclosed 
 field of a proprietor, by the connection 
 which one sees so often exemplified in 
 Switzerland at the present day, — ' En- 
 trance forbidden under penalty of 10 fr.' 
 ' Si quis caballum in dammim suum in- 
 venerit.' — Leges Luitprand in Due. 'Ex- 
 ceptis averiis in alieno damno inventis.' 
 — Mag. Chart. 'Dici poterit quod averia 
 capta fuerant in loco certo in daiJino suo, 
 vel in prato vel alibi in suo separali.' — ■ 
 Fleta. In this sense the word was often 
 rendered dommage in Fr. ' Animalia 
 in damnis dictorum fratrum inventa' — 
 ' bestes trouvdes prinses en damage.^ — 
 Monast. Ang. in Due. 'Ou'en dommaige 
 et en sa garenne le poulain au charreton 
 
DANGLE 
 
 trouva.' — Cent nouv. nouv. Damage 
 then acquired the sense of trespass, in- 
 trusion into the close of another, as in the 
 legal phrase damage feasant, whence Fr. 
 damager, to distrain or seize cattle found 
 in trespass. ' Comme Estienne Lucat 
 sergent de Macies eust prinst et dom- 
 niage une jument.' — Carpent. 
 
 From this verb was apparently formed 
 the abstract doitiigermm, signifying the 
 power of exacting a damnn7n or fine for 
 trespass. ' Sub domigerio alicujus aut 
 manu esse.' — Bracton. Then as damage 
 is written damge in the laws of W. the 
 Conqueror, the foregoing domigerium 
 and the corresponding Fr. domager or 
 damager would pass into damger, danger, 
 the last of which is frequently found in 
 the peculiar sense of damnum and dom- 
 mage above explained. ' En ladite terre 
 et ou dangler dudit sire trouva certaines 
 bestes desdis habitans. Icelles bestes se 
 bouterent en un dangler, ou paturage 
 defendu.' — Carp. A. D. 1373. 
 
 Narcissus was a bach^lere 
 
 That Love had caught in his datingere 
 (had caught trespassing in his close) 
 
 And in his nette gan him so straine. — R. R. 
 
 The term danger was equally applied 
 to the right of exacting a fine for breach 
 of territorial rights, or to the fine or the 
 rights themselves, and the officer whose 
 duty it was to look after rights of such 
 a nature was called sergent dangereux. 
 * Esquels bois nous avons droits de dan- 
 ger, c'est assavoir que toutes et quante- 
 foiz que aucunes bestes seront trouvdes 
 esdis bois, elles seront confisqudes a nous 
 — Robert le fort notre sergent danget'eux 
 advisa de loing icelles brebis.' — A.D. 1403, 
 in Carp. To be in the danger of any 
 one, estre en son danger, came to signify 
 to be subjected to any one, to be in his 
 power or liable to a penalty to be inflicted 
 by him or at his suit, and hence the ordi- 
 nary acceptation of the word at the pre- 
 sent day. *■ In danger of the judgment — 
 in danger of Hell-fire.' 
 
 As the penalty might frequently be 
 avoided by obtaining the licence of the 
 person possessed of the right infringed, 
 the word was applied to such licence, or 
 to exactions made as the price of per- 
 mission. * Dangerla (sunt) quando bosci 
 non possunt vendi sine licentia regis, et 
 tunc ibi habet decimum denarium,' 'Ju- 
 dicatum est quod Johannes de Nevilla 
 miles non potest vendere boscos suos de 
 Nevilla sine licentia et dangerlo regis.' 
 —Judgment A.D. 1269. ' Concede tum 
 ipsis quam aliis personis collegii liberum 
 
 DANK 
 
 199 
 
 molere — et id facere absque dangerlo vel 
 exactione qualibet tenebitur in futurum 
 molendinarius molendini.' — Chart. a,d. 
 1 3 10, in Carp. The word then passed on 
 both in Fr. and E. to signify difficulties 
 about giving permission or complying 
 with a request, or to absolute refusal. 
 ' Et leur commanderent que si la roine 
 fesait dafigler que ils la sachassent (chas- 
 sassent) k force hors de I'eglise.' ' Comme 
 le tavernier faisoit dangler ou difficult^ 
 de ce faire.' — Carpentier. 
 
 With danger uttren we all our chaffare, 
 Gret prees at market maketh dere ware, 
 And to gret chepe is holden at litel prise ; 
 This knoweth every woman that is wise. 
 W. of Bath. 
 
 i. e. we make difficulties about uttering 
 our ware. 
 
 I trow T love him bet for he 
 
 Was of his love so dangerous to me. — lb. 
 
 And thus the martial Erie of Mar 
 
 Marcht with his men in richt array — 
 
 Without all danger or delay 
 
 Came haistily to the Harlaw. 
 
 Battle of Harlaw. 
 
 To Dangle. The syllables ding dofig 
 represent loud penetrating sounds as 
 those of bells or of repeated blows. — Fl. 
 Thence E. dial, dang, to throw down or 
 strike with violence j Sw. danga, to bang, 
 thump, knock at a door ; Sc. dmg, to 
 beat, strike, drive, throw ; to ding on, to 
 attack with violence. Ding dong is used 
 adverbially to represent repeated blows ; 
 dingle-dangle, for the motion of a thing 
 swaying to and fro. ON. ddngla, to 
 beat, to dangle or sway to and fro. Sw. 
 dial, dangla, to swing, to totter, saunter ; 
 
 dangla, dlngla, to dangle. Comp. daske, 
 to slap, also to dangle, bob, flap. 
 
 Dank. Synonymous with damp, as 
 syllables ending in 7np or mb frequently 
 interchange with nk or ng. Thus we 
 have It. camblare and canglare, E. dlmble 
 and dingle. Probably the two forms 
 have come down together from a high anti- 
 quity. We have seen that damp, moist, 
 is derived from the notion of closeness, 
 stopping up, covering, expressed by the 
 root tap, tamp, dam, while parallel with 
 tap, tamp, are a series of equivalent 
 forms, in which the/ is exchanged for a 
 c, k. Sp. taco, a tap, stopple, ram-rod ; 
 Cat. tancar, parallel with Lang, tampa, 
 to shut, stop, enclose, fence ; tancar la 
 porta, Lang, tampa uno porta, to shut or 
 fasten the door; Port, tanque, Sp. es- 
 tanco, a tank, basin, cistern, or pond ; 
 Lang, tampo, estampo, in the same sense. 
 It is probable then that dank has come 
 
200 DAPPER 
 
 from the guttural form of the root in the 
 same way as davip from the labial. In 
 both cases the notion of darkness is united 
 with that of dampness, as shutting up or 
 covering is equally adapted to keep out 
 air and light. Thus we have Du. be- 
 dampen^ to darken, bedoinpt, dark, ob- 
 scure, damp ; dompig^ dark. In connec- 
 tion with dank we have Du. donker, OHG. 
 OSax. duukar, dunkal, G. dunkel, dark, 
 NE. danker, a dark cloud. — Hal. OHG. 
 ditunkalat, nimbosa, pefunchlit, obducta, 
 as Du. bedo7ttpt iveer, close, covered, 
 cloudy weather. 
 
 Dapper seems in E. first to have been 
 used in the sense of pretty, neat. Dapyr 
 or praty, elegant. — Pr. Pm. Dapper, 
 proper, mignon, godin. — Palsgr. in Way. 
 Godinet, pretty, dapper, feat, indifferently 
 handsome. — Cot. 
 
 Applied to a man it signifies small and 
 neat. Du. dapper, strenuus, animosus, 
 fortis, acer, masculus, agilis. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 dapper, active, smart ; dobber, dobbers, 
 sound, good, De kase is nig dobbers, the 
 cheese is not good. Bohem. dobry, good. 
 Wendish debora deefka, a pretty girl. — 
 Ihre in v. daeka. See Deft. 
 
 Dapple. From dab, to touch with 
 something soft, is ON. depill, a spot ; leir 
 depill, a dab or spot of clay ; deplottr, 
 spotted, dappled. So from G. dupfen, to 
 dab or touch lightly with something soft, 
 bediipfelt, dappled. We may compare 
 also Fr. matte, a clot, mattele', clotted, ciel 
 mattomi^, a curdled or mottled sky. 
 
 The resemblance of dapple grey to ON. 
 apalgrar or apple grey, Fr. grisp07nnield, 
 is accidental. 
 
 To Dare. i. Goth, gadaiirsan, dars, 
 daiirsun, daiirstaj AS. dear ran, dyrran, 
 dear, durroitj E. dare, durst; MHG. tiir- 
 ren, torste. The ODu. preterite t?'oste 
 shows the passage to E. trtist. AS. dyrstig, 
 dristig, bold, Sw. drista, to dare. ON. 
 thora, to dare, thor, boldness ; Gr. Oappecj, 
 to dare ; Odpaog, trust, Gpaavg, bold. Lith. 
 drg-sus, drq.stus, bold, spirited ; dristi, to 
 dare ; drasinti, to encourage, drasintis, 
 to dare. So ON. diarfr, bold, dirfa, to en- 
 courage, dirfaz (in the middle voice, as 
 Lith. drasintis), to dare. 
 
 It is not easy to arrive at a consistent 
 theory of the connection of the various 
 forms, or of the development of the sig- 
 nification. Sometimes the root seems to 
 be a form similar to the Lat. diirus, hard, 
 Gael, dilr, stubborn, persevering, eager, 
 Sc. dour, bold, hardy, obstinate, hard, 
 whence Gael, diiraig, to adventure, dare, 
 
 DARE 
 
 wish (to make bold), durachd, desire, 
 earnestness, daring. To endure, to hard- 
 en oneself under suffering, comes very 
 near the sense of dare ; ' I cannot endure 
 to give pain.' In like manner Fin. tar- 
 kenen, tarjeta, prae frigore (vel rarius, 
 timore) valeo vel audeo, non algeo ; to 
 endure to do, in spite of cold or of fear ; 
 eji tarkene, I cannot for cold ; tarkenetko 
 menna, can you endure (for cold) to go. 
 Lap. tarjet, to be able to do. 
 
 The w. dewr, strong, bold, forms a con- 
 necting link between durus, and ON. 
 diarfr, OE. derf, hard, strong, fierce, G. 
 derb, hard, strong, rough, severe, from 
 whence the ON. dirfaz, to dare, is cer- 
 tainly derived. It is difficult to avoid the 
 conclusion that the G. diirfen, darf to 
 dare, to be so bold as to — Kiittner, Du. 
 derven, dorven, durven, to dare, are 
 formed in like manner. The confusion 
 with forms like the Du. derven, bederven, 
 dorven, to want, be without, have need, 
 G. bediirfen, to be in need, as. deorfan, to 
 \2i^o\xr,gedeorf, tribulation, labour, calam- 
 ity, would be accounted for if we suppose 
 that the fundamental idea in the latter 
 cases was to be in hard or difficult cir- 
 cumstances. The ideas of labour and 
 want are closely connected. The sense 
 of needing expressed by G. diirfen is 
 sometimes found in the OE. dare. 
 So evene hot that lond ys that men durre selde 
 Here orf in howse awynter brynge out of the 
 felde.— R. G. 112. 
 
 i. e. that men seldom need to house their 
 
 cattle in the winter. 
 
 The heye men of the lond schulle come *bi fore 
 
 the kyng 
 And alle the yonge men of the lond lete bi fore 
 
 hym brynge — 
 And heo schulle be such that no prince dorre 
 
 hem forsake, 
 Ac for heore prowesse gladliche in to here ser- 
 
 vise take. — R. G. 112. 
 
 He that wyll there axsy Justus — 
 In turnement other fyght, 
 Dar he never forther gon ; 
 Ther he may fynde justes anoon 
 Wyth syr Launfal the knyght. 
 
 Launfal. 1030. 
 He wax so mylde and so meke, 
 A mylder man thurt no man seke. 
 
 Manuel des Pecches, 5826. 
 
 The passage from the sense of making 
 bold to that of having power, cause, or 
 permission, exemplified in G. diirfen, is 
 illustrated by Fin. tarjeta, to endure. Lap. 
 tarjet, to be able ; Sw. toras (in the mid. 
 voice), to dare, tora (as G. diirfen), to be 
 possible. Det tor handa, that may hap- 
 pen. 
 
DARE 
 
 Strength is gode unto travaile, 
 Ther no strength may, sleght wille vaile. 
 Sleght and conyng dos many a char, 
 Begynnes thing that strength ne dar. 
 
 R. Brunne, cxci. 
 
 Lith. turreti, to get offspring, to have, 
 possess, to be bound to do a thing ; turru 
 eiii, I must go. Comp. Malay bratii, to 
 be able, can, also to dare, to venture. 
 
 * To Dare. 2. To sink down, lie 
 close, lurk. Daryn or drowpyn or privily 
 to be hydde, latito, lateo. — Pr. Pm. Fr. 
 blotir, to squat, to lie close to the ground 
 like a daring lark or affrighted fowl. — 
 Cot. 'With wodecokkys lerne for to 
 dare^ — Lydgate in Way. To dare birds, 
 to cause them to dare or lie close by 
 frightening them with a hawk, mirror, or 
 other means, for the purpose of netting 
 them. 
 
 Pl.D. bedaren, to be still and quiet ; 
 dat weer bedaart, the weather settles ; een 
 bedaart maun, a man who has lost the 
 heat and violence of youth. Du. bedaard, 
 stilled, calm, moderate. 
 
 An old appalled wight, 
 
 As ben thise wedded men that lie and dare, 
 
 As in a fourme sitteth a wery hare.— Chaucer. 
 
 Then as a lurking terrified creature 
 looks anxiously around, to dare is found 
 in the latter sense. 'To dare, pore or 
 loke about me, je advise alentour. What 
 darest thou on this facyon, me thynketh 
 thou woldest catch larkes.' — Palsgr. in 
 Way. Comp. Bav. diisen, to be still, 
 either for the sake of listening, or in 
 slumber. 
 
 Perhaps a more original form of the 
 word may be found in Sw. dial, dala, 
 dalla, to fall, to sink down ; soleit dalar, 
 the sun is sinking ; dala a, to be weary, 
 drowsy ; Dan. dale, to sink, to wane, to 
 abate, become calm. Du. daalen, to go 
 down. Pl.D. daal, Fris. dalewerte, Pol. 
 na dol, down, downwards ; from Pl.D. 
 daal, G. thai, low ground, valley. 
 
 Dark. as. deorc. The particles so 
 and do in Gael, are equivalent to tv and 
 ivQ in Gr., as in son, good, and don, bad. 
 In similar relation to each other stand 
 sorcha, light, and dorch^ dorcha, dark. 
 The element common to the two would 
 appear to be the notion of seeing, which, 
 however, we are unable to trace in the 
 form of the words. See Dear, Dole. 
 
 Darling-, as. deorling, dyrling, a 
 dim. from deor, dear. 
 
 To Darn. Now understood of mend- 
 ing clothes in a particular manner by 
 interlacing stitches, but it must originally 
 have signified to patch in general. OFr. 
 
 DARRAIGN 
 
 201 
 
 dame, a slice, a broad and thin piece of. 
 — Cot. Bret. dar7i, a piece, fragment. 
 The primary meaning may probably be 
 a handful, w. dwrn, a fist, dyrnaid, a 
 handful ; Gael, dbrn, a fist, handle, short 
 cut, or piece of anything; dbrlach, a 
 handful ; dornan, a small bundle, hand- 
 ful of anything. 
 
 Darnel. A weed in corn, supposed to 
 induce intoxication, and thence called 
 loliu7n teniiilentum in botanical Lat., and 
 ivrate in Fr., from ivre, drunk. Rouchi 
 dartielle. The meaning of the word is 
 explained by the Lith. diirnas, foolish, 
 crazy, mad, whence durnes, durnei, darn- 
 zole (as Du. mulkruyd from inal, foolish, 
 mad), hyoscyamus, herba insaniam et 
 soporem inducens. — Kil. The names of 
 plants in early times were very unsettled. 
 Wall, darnise, daurnise, tipsy, stunned, 
 
 giddy. — Grandg. Sw. dare, a madman, 
 
 fool ; dar-reta, darnel. 
 
 Darnock. — Dannock. Hedgers' 
 gloves. — Forby. ON. dornikur, dornin- 
 gar, stiff boots for wading in the water. 
 I cite this word from the singularity of a 
 Gael, derivation, as we should so little 
 expect a convenience of this kind to have 
 been adopted from a people in the con- 
 dition of the Celts. 
 
 Gael, dornag, a glove, gauntlet ; from 
 dbrn, fist ; Manx dornaig, a covering for 
 the hand or fist, used to guard the hand 
 against thorns. — Cregeen. 
 
 Darraign. It has been shown under 
 ar7'aign that ratio nes was used in the 
 Lat. of the middle ages for a legal account 
 of one's actions, whence derationare, Fr. 
 desrener, to darraign, was to clear the 
 legal account, to answer an accusation, 
 to settle a controversy. From the arena 
 of the forum the term was transferred to 
 that of arms, as was natural when the 
 ordeal by battle was considered a rea- 
 sonable method of ascertaining a question 
 of fact. 
 
 Two hameis had he dight 
 
 Both suffisant and mete to darreine 
 The bataile in the felde betwixt hem tweine. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Here the meaning is not to array the 
 battle, to set it in order, but to fight it 
 out, to let the battle decide the question 
 between them. 
 
 As for my sustir Emelie — 
 
 Ye wote yourself she may not weddin two 
 
 At onys 
 
 And therefore I you put in this degrd 
 
 That cache of you shall have his destin^ 
 
 As him is shape. 
 
 And this day fifty wekis far ne nere 
 
802 
 
 DART 
 
 Everich of you shall briiig a hundrid knyghts 
 Armd for the listis upon alle rights 
 All redy to darrein here by bataile. 
 
 Knight's Tale, 1855. 
 
 That is to say, all ready to debate or set- 
 tle the question as to her possession by 
 battle. Afterwards undoubtedly the 
 sense was transferred from the debate or 
 actual settlement of a combat to the pre- 
 paration for it, arraying, setting the 
 troops in order for battle. 
 
 And in the towns as they do march along 
 Proclaims him king, and many fly to him ; 
 Darraign your battle, for they are at hand. 
 
 H. VI. in Q. 
 
 Dart. Fr. dard, a dart. Bret, tarz, 
 a crack, clap, violent blow with noise ; 
 tars kunm, a clap of thunder ; tarza, 
 sortir avec effort et fracture, to break, 
 crack, burst forth, dart, to appear as the 
 dawn. w. iarddu, to spring forth or ap- 
 pear as the dawn. To dart would thus 
 be to hurl as a thunderbolt, to drive forth 
 as by an explosion. 
 
 To Dash. An imitation of the sound 
 of a blow, the beating of waves upon the 
 shore, &c. 
 
 Hark, hark, the waters fall. 
 And with a murmuring sound 
 Dash / Dash ! upon the ground, 
 To gentle slumbers call. — Dryden in Todd, 
 
 Bav. dossen^ to sound as thick hail, 
 rain, rushing brooks. Mit lautem knall 
 und doss. — H. Sachs. Fone manigero 
 wazzero dozze, from the sound of many 
 waters. — Notker in Schm. Sc. diische, 
 to fall with a noise, a fall, stroke, blow ; 
 Dan. daske, to slap. Sw. daska, to drub ; 
 Hanov. dasken, to thrash. — Brem. Wtb. 
 
 To dash is figuratively applied to feel- 
 ings analogous to those produced by a 
 sudden blow, or loud crash, to over- 
 whelm, confound, put out of countenance. 
 
 Dastard. The termination ard is the 
 Du. aerd, indoles, natura, ingenium, G. 
 art, nature, kind, quality. The meaning 
 of the radical part of the word seems that 
 which is seen in the figurative applica- 
 tion of dash or daze, to stun, confound, 
 frighten. — Hunter. Dastard, etourdi — 
 Palsgr. in Way ; a simpleton — Hal. ; a 
 person of a tame, submissive nature. 
 Bav. dasig, dausig, dastig, quelled, sub- 
 missive, tame. AS. adastrigaji, to dis- 
 courage, dismay. Compare the G. nie- 
 derschlagen, to knock down, and figura- 
 tively to deject, dishearten, discourage, 
 cast down ; niedergeschlageji, sorrowful, 
 afflicted, dispirited.. — Kiittn. 
 
 ON. dust, a blow. Fris. diist-slek, 
 dusslek, a. stunning blow. Sc. doyst, a 
 
 DAY 
 
 sudden fall attended with noise.— Jam 
 A dowse on the chops belongs to the 
 same imitative root. 
 
 Date. Lat. datum, that which is given, 
 assigned, fixed. * Datum written at the 
 foot of a letter declares the place and 
 time at which the letter was written or 
 given {data)J — Facciolati. 
 
 Daughter, g. tochterj Gr. Qv-^arrio ; 
 Sanscr. duhitri j Lith. duktere; Armen. 
 dustr J Vio\\QX^. dcera J Gael, dear; Finn. 
 tut tar J Lap. dak tar. 
 
 To Daunt. Fr. dompter, donter, to 
 tame, reclaim, break, daunt, subdue. 
 Dompte-vetiin, Celandine, from being 
 considered an antidote. Sc. datit, dan- 
 ton, to subdue ; a horse-da?tter, a horse- 
 breaker. From a Lat. domito, frequent- 
 ative of domo, to subdue. 
 
 Daw. Abirdof the crow kind. Swiss 
 ddhi, ddfij Bav. dahel ; It. taccola, from 
 taccolare, to prate, where the syllable tac 
 represents a single element of the chat- 
 tering sound, as chat in chit-chat, chatter, 
 kat in Malay kata-kata, discourse, tat in 
 tattle, kak in Fr. caqueter. Birds of this 
 kind are commonly named from their 
 chattering cry. See Chaff, Chough, 
 Chat. 
 
 To Dawb. From dabble, to work in 
 wet materials. Hence daub, clay ; daitber, 
 a builder of walls with clay or mud mixed 
 with straw, a plaisterer. — Hal. Dawber, 
 or cleyman ; dawbyn, lino, muro. — Pr. 
 Pm. In this sense the term is used in 
 the Bible where it speaks of ' daubing 
 with untempered mortar,' ' The wall is 
 gone, and the daubers are away.' — Bible 
 1 55 1, in R, Lang, tapis, torchis, clay 
 for building ; Sp, tapia, mud wall ; ta- 
 piador, a builder of such, dawber, Lang, 
 tap, tapo, plastic clay. 
 
 To Dav/dle. We have seen that Sc. 
 daddle or daidle is used in the sense of 
 dabbling and of walking unsteadily like 
 a child, and thence perhaps it is applied 
 to doing anything ill in a slovenly way. 
 Meat is said to be daidled when impro- 
 perly cooked ; clothes, when ill washed. 
 From doing a thing awkwardly or imper- 
 fectly to doing it slowly is an easy step. 
 Sc. daddle, daidle, to be slow in motion 
 or action ; to daddle, dadle, dattdle, to 
 trifle, move lazily, be listless. — Atkinson. 
 Hesse daidebi, to loiter ; Pl.D. dbdeln, 
 to be slow, not to get on with a thing. — 
 Schiitze. 
 
 Dawn. ON. dagan, dogtm, dawn ; 
 dagur, day, AS. dagian, to dawn, or be- 
 come day ; dagung, dawning. 
 
 Day. — Daysman. — Diet, Lat. dies, 
 
DAZE 
 
 G. tag^ day. In the judicial language of 
 the middle ages the word day was spe- 
 cially applied to the day appointed for 
 hearing a cause, or for the meeting of an 
 assembly. Du. daghen, to appoint a day 
 for a certain purpose ; daghen veur recht, 
 to call one before a court of justice ; dag- 
 hinge, daeghsel, dagh-brief, libellus, dica, 
 citatio ; dagh-vaerd, an appointment of 
 a certain day, and thence dagh-vaerd, 
 laitds-dagh, Mid.Lat. dieta (from dies), 
 the diet, or assembly of the people. Diet 
 was also used in E. for an appointed day. 
 * But it were much better that those who 
 have not taken the benefit of our indem- 
 nity within the diet prefixed should be 
 obliged to render upon mercy.' — Letter 
 of K. William, 1692. 
 
 OSw. dag, the time appointed for a 
 convention, and hence the assembly it- 
 self. — Ihre. Sc. days of law, law-days, 
 the sessions of a court of justice. ' I send 
 this by Betoun quha gais to ane day of 
 law of the Laird of Balfouris.' — Jam. 
 OE. daysman, an arbiter, the judge ap- 
 pointed to decide between parties at a 
 judicial hearing. 
 
 To Daze. — Dazzle. — Dizzy. — Doze. 
 To daze is to stun, stupify with a blow, 
 excess of light, fear, cold, &c. The fre- 
 quentative dazzle is used only of the 
 sense of sight. To dawsel, to stupify; 
 dazzled, stupid, heavy — Hal. ; dawzy, 
 dawzy-headed, dizzy, as if confused, be- 
 wildered, thoughtless. — Forby. To dosett, 
 dozen, to stupify, benumb, loecome tor- 
 pid. — Jam. 
 
 He saw be led fra the fechting 
 Schir Philip the Mowbray, the wicht, 
 
 That had been dosnyt into the fycht 
 
 Quhen in myd causey war thai 
 
 Schir Philip of his desines 
 
 Ourcome. Barbour. 
 
 Dizzy, stunned, giddy. The origin is 
 the sound of a heavy blow represented 
 by the syllable doss, doyce, douss, doz. 
 Doz, fragor, doza, mngitus.—Q\. in 
 
 Schmel. G. getose, noise. See Dash, 
 Dastard. 
 
 Du. daesen, to lose one's wits in mad- 
 ness or fright ; daes, dwaes, foolish, mad ; 
 d^iysigh, deusigh, stunned, fainting, stu- 
 pified, dizzy, astonished. — Kil. ON. das, 
 dos, a faint, exhaustion ; hanii liggr i 
 dosi, he lies in a faint ; dcEsa, to fatigue. 
 Bav. dos-oret, hard of hearing ; doseu, to 
 keep still, either in listening, reflecting, or 
 slumbering ; dusen, to be still, to slum- 
 ber, be dizzy. — Schm. Pl.D. dosig, diisig, 
 dizzy, tired, stupid ; dusscn, bedussen, to 
 
 DEAF 
 
 203 
 
 faint, to be stunned ; dussen, to slumber, 
 to doze. — Brem. Wtb. 
 
 De-. Lat. de, from, out of. In comp. 
 it strengthens the signification, implies 
 motion downwards. 
 
 Deacon. Lat. diacomis. Gr. ^tajcoroc, 
 a servant. 
 
 Dead. — Death. — Die. Goth, dajiths, 
 ON. dajid?:, Fris. dad, Sw. dod, Pl.D. dood, 
 G. todt, dead. Goth, dauthus, ON. daudi, 
 Fris. duss, dad, death. Lap. taiid, ill- 
 ness ; Esthon. taiid, illness, death. 
 
 Pl.D. doe for dode, a dead body ; doe7t- 
 wake, a corpse-wake. Wall, touwe, Fr. 
 tiier, Sw. doda, Pl.D. d'den, to kill ; ON. 
 
 deya, OSw. doja, Sw. do, Dan. doe, OHG. 
 doHwen, douen, touwen, to die. We 
 must thus consider die a derivative from 
 dead, and not vice versa. 
 
 The primitive meaning of the active 
 verb seems, to oppress, subdue. Bav. 
 toten, to crack a flea, a nut, smother a 
 fire ; Sardin. studai, Lang, tuda, atuda, 
 to extinguish ; Prov. tudar, to extinguish, 
 suffocate, choke ; Fr. titer la chandelle, 
 to put out the candle ; Pl.D. doen, to 
 overwhelm ; he wall me doen mit good 
 daden, he will overwhelm me with bene- 
 fits. Sw. doda sina lustar, to subdue 
 one's passions ; — vdrken, to allay the 
 pain ; also to obliterate, annul. Du. 
 doodet in u de boosheit — mortifiez en vous 
 la malice. — Halma. It. tiitare, attutarCy 
 to appease, assuage, to whist ; stiitare^ 
 to quench, put out ; attutare, to smother. 
 — Fl. ON. dodi, languor. 
 
 I find it so impossible to draw a dis- 
 tinct line of separation either in form or 
 meaning between dead and deaf, that it 
 will be convenient to treat of the primary 
 origin of both in the next article. 
 
 Deaf. The meaning of the Goth. 
 daubs, danfs, G. tat(b, E. deaf, seems 
 founded in the notion of stopping an ori- 
 fice. In John xvi. 6, gadaubida is found 
 as the translation of implevit. ' Sorrow 
 hath filled your heart.' From the notion 
 of stopping up we readily pass to those 
 of confining, preventing action, dulling, 
 stupifying. Goth, gadanbjan, to harden, 
 make insensible. The E. stop is applied 
 to eyes, ears, and mouth, and in like 
 manner the Goth, daubs, daufs, ON. daufrj 
 Du. doof G. taub, are said of different 
 kinds of dulled or vitiated action. Goth. 
 afdobnan, to have the mouth stopped, to 
 be dumb ; ON. daufr, deaf, dull of hear- 
 ing, dull of colour, dull in spirit ; Sc. 
 dowf dull, flat, gloomy, inactive, lethar- 
 gic, hollow (in sound), silly ; doof dow- 
 
204 
 
 DEAL 
 
 fart^ a dull, inactive fellow — Jam. ; ON. 
 doji^ torpor, ignavia, doftia, to fade, lose 
 strength or life ; Dan. doven^ sluggish, 
 flat, stale, vapid ; Sc. daw, a sluggard, 
 E. to daff, to daw, to daunt ; daff, a das- 
 tard, a fool, daft, stupid, foolish, daffled, 
 in one's dotage, to daver, to stun, stupify, 
 droop, fade — Hal. ; to dover, to slumber ; 
 dowerit, drowsy. — J am. Du. doof, doove, 
 what has lost its proper life and vigour ; 
 doof van siujiett, mad ; doove verwe, a 
 dull colour, doove netel, a dead nettle, 
 without the power of stinging, as E. deaf 
 nut, an empty nut ; Du. doofhout, rotten 
 wood. 
 
 Here we are brought to the equiva- 
 lence of dead and deaf above alluded to, 
 and we are tempted to regard them as 
 modifications of each other, as It. codar- 
 do, Ptg. cobarde, covarde, a coward. The 
 Du. has doode or doove netel ; doode or 
 doove kole, an extinct coal ; doode or 
 doove verwe, a dull colour ; ON. dodimi, 
 Dan. doven, languid ; ON. dodaskapr, 
 Dan. dovenskab, languor. ON. daiifjord, 
 Norweg. dodlende, boggy, barren land. 
 Du. dooden (Kil,), E. dial, dove, to thaw. 
 — Hal. We may compare the Sw. doda, 
 to subdue, allay, annul, It. tut are, to allay, 
 Lang, tuda, to extinguish, with S-w.dofwa, 
 to deafen, dull, assuage, stupify, Dan. 
 dove, to deafen, deaden, blunt ; E, deave, 
 to stupify, dave, to assuage. — Hal. Bav. 
 dauben, to subdue, allay ; Pl.D. doven, 
 d'dven, to damp, subdue, suffocate ; Du. 
 dooven, uitdooven, to put out, extinguish. 
 
 The notion of stopping up, thrusting a 
 stopper into an orifice, leads in the most 
 natural manner to that of stopping the 
 breath, choking, strangling, killing. 
 
 Du. douwen, diiwen, to thrust, to stuff ; 
 iets in een hoek douwen, to stick some- 
 thing into a corner — Halma ; Pl.D. du- 
 wen, douen, to press, depress ; Bohem. 
 dawiti, to strangle, choke, kill ; daw, 
 pressure, crowd ; Russ. dawit , dawowaf, 
 to press, crowd, suffocate, strangle, op- 
 press ; Serv. dawiti (wiirgen), to slaugh- 
 ter. Thus we come round to the Wall. 
 touwd, which is used in like manner for 
 the slaughtering a beast. Goth, divans, 
 mortal ; OHG. douueft, touuen, to die. 
 In order to trace dead and deaf to a com- 
 mon origin we must suppose that the 
 former also is derived from the notion of 
 stopping up, and we should find a satis- 
 factory root in the Fris. dodd, dadde, a 
 lump, bunch. — Outzen. Eett dod, a plug 
 of cotton in one's ear. — Overyssel Alma- 
 nach. Pl.D. dutte, a plug, a tap ; ON. 
 ditta, E. dial, dit, to stop. See Dam. 
 
 DEBAUCH 
 
 Deal. I. A portion. Goth, dails, G. 
 tJieil, Lith, dalis, Pol. dola, Bohcm. dil, 
 Gael, ddla, Sanscr. data, a part, lot, por- 
 tion. Sanscr. dal, to split. 
 
 To deal is to give to each his lot, hence 
 to traffic or have intercourse with others. 
 
 2. The wood of the fir-tree, in some 
 parts of England called deal-tree. Swiss 
 ddhle, fir. ON. th'6ll,_ fir-tree, Scotch fir. 
 Sw. tall, pine-tree ; tall-ved, fir-wood, 
 deal. Possibly from being easily cut and 
 worked. ON. tdlga, to hew, talgu-knifr, 
 a knife for cutting wood ; Dan. tcelge, 
 tcelle, to cut, whittle ; G. teller, a trencher, 
 plate on which meat is cut, It. tagliare, 
 Fr. tailler, to cut ; Lith. dalgis, Fr. dalle, 
 a scythe ; Lat. dolare, to hew, dolabra, an 
 axe ; ON. telgia, an axe. G. diele, a board. 
 
 Dean. Fr. doyen, Du. deken, the head 
 of a collegiate body, from Lat. decanus; 
 ten being used in Lat. as an indefinite 
 number, as seven in Hebrew. 
 
 Dear. Formed in the same way as 
 dark by composition with the Gael, nega- 
 tive particle do = Gr. tvq, opposed to so 
 = Gr. iv. Gael, daor, bound, enslaved, 
 precious, dear in price ; saor, free, ran- 
 somed, cheap ; gu daor, dearly ; gu saor, 
 freely, cheaply. Ir. daor, guilty, con- 
 demned, captive, saor, free, saoradh, ran- 
 soming, acquittal, cheapness. Manx deyr, 
 deyree, condemn, deyrey, condemning, 
 dear ; seyr, free, clear, at liberty, seyree^ 
 to free, to justify. 
 
 Death. See Dead. 
 
 To Deave. To stupify with noise. N. 
 dyvja, to hum, buzz, sound hollow. Dee 
 dyvefyj'e byraa, it sings in my ears. 
 
 Debate. Fr. debattre, to contend, to 
 fight a thing out. See Beat. 
 
 Debauch. OFr. desbauche, disorder, 
 riot, dissoluteness ; desbaucher, to seduce, 
 mislead, bring to disorder, draw from 
 goodness. 11 se desbauche, he digresses, 
 flies out, goes from the purpose. — Cot. 
 The radical sense of the verb seems to be 
 to throw out of course, from bauche, a 
 row, rank, or course of stones or bricks in 
 building. — Cot. It is probable that 
 bauche itself is a derivative from bauc, 
 bauch, bail (Cot.), a balk or beam, through 
 the intervention of the verb baucher, to 
 hew or square timber (to make into a 
 balk), also to rank, order, array, lay evenly. 
 — Cot. Esbaucher, to rough-hew (to cut 
 into a balk), grossly to form, square, or 
 cut out of the whole piece, to begin rudely 
 any piece of work, also to prune a tree. — 
 Cot. Bail, in the Walloon of Namur, is ap- 
 plied to the bole of a tree felled and strip- 
 ped of its branches.— Sigart. See Balk. 
 
debenture; 
 
 Debenture. See Debt. 
 Debility. Lat. debilis, weak. 
 * Debonnair. Fr. debonnaire, court- 
 eous, affable, of a friendly conversation, 
 
 — Cot. It. bonario^ debonaire, upright, 
 honest. — Fl. ' La donna ridendo e di 
 buo7ta aria.' — Boccac. ' II di bon aire 
 buon signore nostro.' — Rayn. 
 
 The word was early explained as a 
 metaphor from hawking ; de bon aire., 
 from a good stock ; aire., an eyry or nest 
 of hawks. 'Oiseau deboJinaire de luy- 
 mesme se fait : the gentle hawk mans 
 herself,' — Cot. ' Haukes of nobulle eire.' 
 — Sir Degrevant. But in truth the sense 
 of a nest of hawks was only a special 
 application of aire., signifying in the first 
 instance air, then country, birthplace, 
 family, race, character, disposition, as 
 clearly appears in the quotations of Ray- 
 nouard. 
 
 Ab I'alen tir vas me I' aire 
 Qu' ieu sen venir de Proensa : 
 
 — with my breath I draw towards me the 
 air which I feel comes from Provence. 
 
 L'amors, don ieu sui mostraire 
 
 Nasquet en un gentil aire : 
 
 — the love of which I am the messenger 
 was born in a gentle home. 
 
 Tout mon linh e mon aire 
 Vei revenir e retraire 
 Al vesoig et a Taraire : 
 
 — all my lineage and my family I see 
 return to the spade and the plough. 
 Qu'el mon non es Crestias de nul aire 
 Que sieus liges o dels parens no fos : 
 
 — that there is not in the world a Chris- 
 tian of any family who is not his liege or 
 of his parents. 
 
 Li baron de mal aire 
 
 Que tot jorn fan 
 
 Lo mal : 
 
 ' — the barons of bad nature who always 
 do evil. 
 
 Li sant viron lo luoc 
 Que es asaz de bon ayre 
 A servir Jesus Christ : 
 — the saints saw the place, which is suf- 
 ficiently well fitted for the service of J. C. 
 
 Kar estes fel e de put aire : 
 — for you are wicked and of foul disposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Debt. — Debit. Lat. debeo, debitum, to 
 owe. See Deft. 
 
 Deca-. — Decade. — DecimaL Gr. 
 SUa, Lat. decern, ten. 
 
 To Decant. To cani a, vessel is to 
 tilt it up on one side so as to rest on the 
 other edge, and to decant is to pour off 
 the liquid from a vessel by thus tilting it 
 on the edge, so as not to disturb the 
 
 DEEP 
 
 205 
 
 grounds. Sp, canto, edge ; decantar, to 
 turn anything from a right line, to give it 
 an oblique direction ; to draw off liquors 
 gently by inclination, — Neum. 
 
 To Decay. Prov. descazer, descaier, 
 Fr. dechoir, to fall away, go to ruin, from 
 Lat, cadere, to fall. OFr. dechaiable, 
 perishable. 
 
 Decease. Lat. decessics, departure. See 
 Cede. 
 
 December. Lat, decern, ten ; Decem- 
 ber, the name of the tenth month from 
 March, with which Romulus made the 
 year to begin. 
 
 Decent. Lat. decens, fitting, becom- 
 ing. 
 
 To Decide. Lat. dectdo, -sum, to cut 
 off, cut down, and fig. to bring to an end, 
 come to a settlement, to determine. See 
 -cide. 
 
 To Deck. To cover, spread over, or- 
 nament. Lat. tegere, tectum, OHG. dak- 
 Jan, dekja7i, ON. thekja, AS. theccan, to 
 cover, to roof. From the last of these is 
 E. thatch, properly, like G. dach, signify- 
 ing simply roof, but with us applied to 
 straw for roofing, showing the universal 
 practice of the country in that respect. 
 The Lat. has tegula, a tile, from the same 
 root, showing the use of these as roofing 
 materials in Italy at a very early period. 
 
 Lith, dengti, to cover ; stala dengti, to 
 spread the table ; stoga dengti, to cover 
 a roof. 
 
 Declare. Lat, declarare, to make clear, 
 proclaim. See Clear. 
 
 Decoy. Properly duck-coy, as pro- 
 nounced by those who are familiar with 
 the thing itself. * Decoys, vulgarly duck^ 
 coys' — Sketch of the Fens in Gardeners' 
 Chron. 1849. Piscinas hasce cum allec- 
 tatricibus et reliquo suo apparatu decoys 
 seu duck-coys vocant ; allectatrices coy- 
 ducks. — Rail et Will. Ornith. Du. koye, 
 cavea, septum, locus in quo greges stabu- 
 lantur. — Kil. Kooi, kouw, kevi, a cage ; 
 vogel-kooi, a bird-cage, decoy, apparatus 
 for entrapping water-fowl. E. dial, coy, 
 a decoy for ducks, a coop for lobsters. — 
 Forby. The name was probably im- 
 ported with the thing itself from Holland 
 to the fens. 
 
 Decree. Fr. decret, from Lat. decerno, 
 decretum, to judge, decide, decree. See 
 -cern. 
 
 Decrepit. Lat. decrepitus, very old, 
 worn out, infirm. Der. uncertain,. 
 
 Deed. Goth, ded, gaded, AS. dad, G. 
 that, a thing done. See Do. 
 
 Deem. See Doom. 
 
 Deep. See Dip. 
 
206 
 
 DEER 
 
 Deer. Goth, dmrs^ OHG. tior^ ON. dyr, 
 G. iliier^ a beast, animal. In E, deer cow- 
 fined to animals of the cervine tribe. 
 Diefenbach considers it quite uncon- 
 nected with Gr. 0r/p, \j2i\..fera. 
 
 Defeat. Fr. defaite^ from defaire^ to 
 undo, destroy, discomfit. 
 
 Defile. Lat. Jiluvi, Fr. fil, thread ; 
 whence dejiler^ to go in a string one after 
 another, and dejile^ a narrow gorge which 
 can only be passed in such a manner. 
 
 To Defile, as. fyla^t, Du. viiylen, to 
 make foul or filthy. See Foul. 
 
 To Defray. Fr. defrayer, to discharge 
 \^\Q.frais or expenses of anything. Formed 
 in a manner analogous to the \X.. pagare, 
 to pay, from Lat. pacare, to appease. So 
 from G.friede, ^qslCQ, friede-brief, a letter 
 of acquittance, and Mid.Lat. fredum, 
 freda, fridus, mulcta, compositio qua 
 fisco exsoluta reus pacem k principe ex- 
 sequitur. — Due. ' Affirmavit compositi- 
 onem sibi debitam quam illi frediwt vo- 
 cant a se fuisse reis indultam.' The 
 term was then applied to any exaction, 
 and so to expenses in general, whence 
 Yr.f7'ais, the costs of a suit. — Carpentier. 
 
 Quod pro solvendis et aquitandis debitis et 
 fredis villas sute possent talliare, &c. — Due. 
 
 Deft.— DefF. Neat, skilful, trim.— 
 Hal. AS. dcEfe, dcefte, gedefe, fit, conve- 
 nient ; gedafan, gedafnian, to become, 
 behove, befit ; gedcEftati, to do a thing in 
 time, take the opportunity, to be fit, 
 ready. 
 
 The notion of what is fit or suitable, as 
 shown under Beseem, Beteem, is com- 
 monly expressed by the verb to fall or 
 happen — what happens or falls in with 
 one's wishes or requirements. So from 
 Goth, gatiman, to happen, G. zievieii, to 
 befit ; from fallen, to fall, gef alien, to 
 please, and to fall itself was formerly 
 used in the sense of becoming, being 
 suitable. In like manner from Goth, ga- 
 dabafi, to happen, gadobs, gadofs, be- 
 coming. 
 
 From the same root Bohem. doba, 
 time (as time itself from gatiman, to 
 happen) ; Pol. podobad, to please one ; 
 Bohem. dobVy, good (primarily oppor- 
 tune), dobreliky, agreeable ; Lap. taibet, 
 debere, opportere ; taibek, just, due ; tai- 
 betet, to appropriate, to assign to one. 
 The Lat. debeo is probably the same 
 word, and is fundamentally to be ex- 
 plained as signifying ' it falls to me to do 
 so and so.' 
 
 To Defy. Fr. defier, It. disfidare, to 
 renounce a state of confidence or peace, 
 
 DELICIOUS 
 
 and let your enemy know that he is to ex- 
 pect the worst from you. Hence to chal- 
 lenge, to offer combat. 
 
 Deg-ree. Fr. dcgri, OFr. degrat, from 
 Lat. gradus, a step. 
 
 Deign. — Dignity. — Disdain. Lat. 
 dignus, becoming, fit, worth, worthy ; 
 digno, to deem worthy ; dignor, It. deg- 
 narsi, Fr. deigner^ to deign, to deem 
 worthy of oneself. 
 
 Deity.— Deist. Lat. Dens, God. 
 
 Delay. Fr. delai, from Lat. differre, 
 dilatinn, to defer, put off, protract ; dilatio^ 
 delay ; It. dilaiione, delay ; dilaiare, OFr. 
 delayer, to delay. 
 
 Delectable. Lat. delecto, to allure, 
 delight. See Delicious. 
 
 Delegate. Lat. delegare, to give in 
 charge to. See Alledge. 
 
 Delete. — Deleterious. — Deleble. Gr. 
 6T]\t6ij.ai, to destroy, to waste, to do mis- 
 chief; BijXrjTrip, a destroyer; Mod.Gr. 
 di]\t]Trjpiov, injury, hurt ; dr]\7]T.r]piog, hurt- 
 ful. Lat. deleo, delelum, to wipe out, 
 erase, bring to nought. 
 
 To Deliberate. Lat. deliberare, to 
 weigh in the mind, from lib?-are, to swing, 
 to weigh. 
 
 * Delicate. Lat. delicatiis, over-nice, 
 dainty, effeminate, tender, soft, gentle, 
 agreeable, delightful. Perhaps a figure 
 from the nicety of those who could not 
 drink their wine without straining it. 
 Deliquare, to decant, strain, clarify ; liquo, 
 to strain, purify. But more likely from the 
 source indicated under Delicious. 
 
 Delicious. — Delight. Lat. delicto'., de- 
 light, pleasure, enjoyment. The gratifi- 
 cation of the appetite for food is the most 
 direct and universal of all pleasures, and 
 therefore the one most likely to be taken 
 as the type of delight in general. Thus 
 the negro expresses his admiration of 
 beads by rubbing his belly. 
 
 The astonishment and delight of these people 
 at the display of our beads was great, and was 
 expressed by laughter and a general rubbing of 
 their bellies. — Petherick, Egypt and Central 
 Africa, p. 448. 
 
 It is probable then that delicicE may 
 originally have had the sense of G. lecker- 
 bissen, appetising morsels, something to 
 lick one's chops at ; and it will be observed 
 that a reference to the enjoyment of 
 the palate is still the prevailing sense in 
 E. delicious and delicacy. 
 
 The idea of pleasure in eating, of ap- 
 preciating the taste of food, is constantly 
 expressed by a representation of the 
 sound made in smacking the tongue. 
 The E. S7nack is used to signify a sound- 
 
DELINQUENT 
 
 ing blow with the open hand, a loud kiss, 
 and the taste of food. G. geschmack, 
 taste ; scJunecken, to taste well ; schmeck- 
 er (in huntsman's language), the tongue. 
 In the Finnish languages which reject the 
 initial s we have Fin. makii^ Esthonian 
 maggo, taste ; Fin. makia, Esthon. maggus, 
 agreeable to the taste, sweet ; Fin. viaskia^ 
 maiskia, to smack the lips ; maiskis, a 
 smack with the lips, a kiss, delicacies, 
 tid-bits. Bohem. mlask, a smack, a kiss ; 
 mlaskati^ to smack or make a noise with 
 the lips in eating, to be nice in eating ; 
 ful-askanina^ delicacies. In the same 
 language the sound of a smack is repre- 
 sented with an initial // as well as ;;//, in 
 tleskati, to clap the hands ; tlaskati^ to 
 smack in eating. With these last must 
 be compared E. tlick, used by Cotgrave in 
 rendering Yr. nig net, 'aknicke,///^/v,snap 
 with the fingers.' Thence we pass to E, 
 click, a snap or slight smack ; w. dec, a 
 smack ; gwefusglec, a smack with the 
 lips, a loud kiss ; Fr. claqiter de la la^igiie^ 
 to smack the tongue with relish. 
 
 From the form click may be explained 
 Gr. yXvfcyf, sweet, pleasing to the taste, 
 and probably yXixofxai, to desire eagerly, 
 originally, like Lat. ligurio, signifying 
 to lick one's chops at. In the same 
 way from Hick or dlick would spring Lat. 
 diilcis, for dlucis (the identity of which 
 with -{kvKvq has long been recognized), as 
 well as delicice, delicatiis, delectare, for 
 dlicice, dlicatus, dlectare. The same 
 root would have given dlingere for ling- 
 ere, to lick, and dliiigiia for lingua, the 
 tongue, explaining the double form of 
 the old Lat. dingua and ordinary lingua 
 by the falling away in the one case of 
 the liquid and in the other of the mute 
 of the original root. 
 
 When the combination //, dl became 
 unpleasing to the Latin ear (although 
 preserved in stloppus, a smack), the ob- 
 noxious sound was avoided by transposi- 
 tion of the vowel in the case of dulcis, and 
 by the insertion of an e in delicicF, delecto. 
 The intrusive vowel must doubtless in 
 the first instance have been short, and 
 may have been lengthened by a feeling 
 as if the words were compounds of the 
 preposition de. 
 
 Delinquent. Lat. linquo, to leave, let 
 alone, omit ; delijiquo, to omit something 
 one ought to do, to do wrong. 
 
 Delirious. Lat. lii-a, a ridge, furrow. 
 Hence delirare (originally to go out of the 
 furrow), to deviate from a straight line, to 
 be crazy, deranged, to rave. 
 
 To Deliver. Lat. liber, free, whence 
 
 DEMESNE 
 
 207 
 
 libcrare, to free, and E. deliver, to free 
 from. Then as abandon, from signifying 
 to put under the complete command of 
 another, comes to signify giving up one's 
 own claim, conversely the Fr. livrer and 
 E. deliver, from the sense of freeing from 
 one's own claims, passes on to that of 
 giving up to the control of another. 
 
 The sense of OFr. delivre, E. deliver, 
 active, nimble, is probably from the no- 
 tion of free, unencumbered action. 
 
 Dell. See Dale. 
 
 Deluge. — Diluvial. Lat. lavo, lotum, 
 to wash ; diluo, to wash away ; diluvium, 
 Prov. diluvi, OFr. deluve, Fr. deluge, an 
 inundation. 
 
 To Delve, as. del/an, to dig. Du. 
 delven, dolven, to dig, to bury. Du. delle, 
 a valley, hollow, lake — Kil. ; Fris. dollen^ 
 dolljen, to dig, to make a pit or hollow. 
 
 To Demean. To wield, to manage ; 
 de7neanour, behaviour. 
 
 So is it not a great mischance 
 
 To let a foole have govemaunce 
 
 Of things that he can not demaine. — Chaucer 
 in R. 
 His herte was nothing in his own dema'm. — Ibid. 
 
 OFr. se demainer, demener, se compor- 
 ter, se gouverner, se remuer, se conduire. 
 — Roquef. Mener, to conduct, lead, 
 manage, handle ; — les mains, to lay about 
 one ; — la loi, to proceed in a suit — Cot. ; 
 It. menare, to guide, conduct, direct, or 
 bring by the hand, to bestir. — Fl. 
 
 The later Lat. had minare, to drive 
 cattle, derived by Diez from minari, to 
 threaten ; ' asinos et equum sarcinis one- 
 rant et minantes baculis exigunt.' — Apu- 
 leius. ' Agasones equos agentes, i. e. 
 ifiinantesJ — Paulus ex Festo. Walach. 
 mind, to drive cattle, to conduct a busi- 
 ness. But the notion of threatening seems 
 a point of view from which the act ot 
 driving beasts would not be likely to be 
 named. On the other hand, the OFr. 
 spelling mainer suggests an obvious de- 
 rivation from Lat. manus, Fr. main, the 
 hand, as we speak of handing one down- 
 stairs ; and tnener is often synonymous 
 with manage, which is undoubtedly from 
 that source. Observe the frequent refer- 
 ences to the hand in the explanations 
 from Cotgrave and Florio above given. 
 The same change of vowel is seen in Fr. 
 menottes, handcuff's. 
 
 Demesne. — Domain. Mid. Lat. do- 
 jninium {do7ni7ius, lord), OFr. domaine^ 
 dejnaine, demaigne, demes)ie, lordship, 
 dominion. Dejnesne or demain in E. law 
 language was appropriated to the manor- 
 house and the lands held therewith in 
 
!08 
 
 DEMIJOHN 
 
 the immediate possession of the lord. 
 
 Demijohn. In Egypt and the Levant 
 a carboy or large glass bottle is called 
 damagan (Marsn), damasjan (Niebuhr). 
 Imported into the West the name was 
 strangely corrupted into Fr. dame-jeanne, 
 Lang, damo-xano (a large glass bottle 
 covered with matting — Diet. Castr.), and 
 E. demijohn. 
 
 Demise. Fr. desjnettre^ -jnis, to lay 
 down, let go ; se desjnettre d'une office, to 
 give over an office. — Cot. The defnise of 
 the crown is when it passes to a new pos- 
 sessor. See -mit. 
 
 Dem.ocracy. Gr. SrifiOKpareia ; cfjuo^, 
 the people collectively, and Kparsu), to 
 bear rule. 
 
 Demolish. Lat. moli'or, to labour at, 
 build up ; demo/ior, Fr. demolir, to pull 
 down, destroy. 
 
 Demon. Gr. ^a«>wv, the divinity, the 
 tutelary genius of a city or man. The 
 Lat. dcEinon was used in the latter sense, 
 and by ecclesiastical writers was applied 
 to the fallen angels. 
 
 To Demur. Lat. demorari, to delay, re- 
 strain ; Fr. demeurer, to stay ; in Law 
 language applied to the stoppage of a suit 
 by the preliminary objection that the 
 plaintiff on his own showing is not en- 
 titled to the relief which he claims. 
 Hence to demur to a proposition, to make 
 objections. 
 
 Demure. Demure or sober of counte- 
 nance, rassis. — Palsgr. Perhaps from 
 Fr. meure (Lat. matiirus), ripe, also dis- 
 creet, considerate, advised, settled, staid 
 (Cot.), through such an expression as de 
 meure conduite, or the like. On the other 
 hand, it may be de mceurs elliptically for 
 de boHs mceurs. 
 
 Li quens de Flandres Baudoin, 
 Bon chevalers e genz meschins, 
 E sage e proz, de bone murs. 
 Benoit. Chron. des D, de Norm. 2, p. 471. 
 
 Den. The hollow lair of a wild beast ; 
 a narrow valley. AS. de7ie, a valley. See 
 Dimble. 
 
 Denizen. Commonly explained as a 
 foreigner enfranchised by the king's char- 
 ter, one who receives the privilege of a 
 native ex donatione regis, from the OFr. 
 donaiso7i, donison, a gift. But the general 
 meaning of the word is simply one domi- 
 ciled in a place. A denizen of the skies 
 is an inhabitant of the skies. In the 
 Liber Albus of the City of London the 
 Fr. deinzein, the original of the E. word, 
 is constantly opposed to forein, applied 
 
 DERY 
 
 to traders within and without the privi- 
 leges of the city franchise respectively. 
 * Et fait assavoire qe ceste ordinance se 
 estent auxibien as foreyns come as den- 
 zeiiis de touz maneres de tieulx bargayns 
 faitz dcdcinz la dite fraunchisc,' p. 370. 
 'Item qe nulle puUetier dcinzein — ne 
 veignent pur achatier nulle manere de 
 pulletrie de x^viW-O. forein pulletere,' p. 465. 
 'Qe chescun qavera louwe ascuns terres 
 ou tenementz de denszein ou de forein 
 deinz la fraunchise de la citee,' p. 448. 
 
 The correlatives are rendered in Lat. 
 by the terms intrinsecus and forinsecusj 
 ' mercatoris forinseci seu intrinseci,' p. 
 252; and 7X.S forinsecus and forein are 
 from Lat. foras, Fr. fors, without, while 
 the meaning of intrinsecus is simply one 
 who is within, so deittzein is from the old 
 form deinz, in which the modern dans, in, 
 within, always appears in the Liber Albus. 
 Deins n^, nd dans le pays. — Roquef. In 
 the same way from hors, without, the 
 Norman patois makes horzain, a fo- 
 reigner, one from a different commune. — 
 Pat. de Bray. 
 
 Dense, -dense. Lat. densus, thick, 
 close-set. 
 
 Dental. — Dentition. — Dentifrice. 
 Lat. dens, dentis, a tooth ; dentitio, the 
 act of teething ; dentifricium (dens, and 
 frico, to rub), anything to rub the teeth 
 with. Sanscr. dantas, w. dant, tooth. 
 
 Deny. Lat. denego, Fr. denier, to say 
 no to. See Negation. 
 
 Deplore. Lat. ploro, I wail, cry aloud. 
 
 Deploy. Fr. desployer, desplier, to un- 
 fold, lay open. — Cot. See Ply. 
 
 Depot.— Deposit. Fr. depot, formerly 
 depost, a deposit or place of deposit. Lat. 
 depo7io, deposituni, to lay down. See 
 -pon-. 
 
 Deprave. Lat. pravus, bad, vicious. 
 
 Depredation. Lat. deprcedatio, a 
 plundering, pillaging. See Prey. 
 
 Derive. Lat. rivus, a stream ; derivo, 
 to drain or convey water from its regular 
 course, thence to turn aside, divert, de- 
 duce. 
 
 Dery.— Dere. To hurt. Gael, deire^ 
 end, rear, hindmost part ; deireannach 
 (Fr. dernier), last, hindmost ; deireas, in- 
 jury, loss, defect. The connection of the 
 two ideas is seen in Bav. laz, slow, late, 
 G. letzt, last, Bav. letzen, to delay, hin- 
 der, throw back, and G. verletzen, to in- 
 jure. Compare also G. 7iachtheil (after- 
 part), detriment, injury. To be behind- 
 hand in a business is to be wanting in 
 it ; w. ol, rear, hinderpart, bod yn ol, to 
 be wanting. 
 
DESCANT 
 
 To Descant. A metaphor taken from 
 musick, where a simple air is made the 
 subject of a composition, and a number 
 of ornamented variations composed upon 
 it. ' Insomuch that twenty doctors ex- 
 pound one text twenty different ways, as 
 children make descant upon playne song.' 
 — Tindal in R. Sp. discantar, to quaver 
 on a note ; to chant, sing, recite verses, 
 to discourse copiously. 
 
 To Descry. To make an outcry on 
 discovering something for which one is 
 on the watch, then simply to discover. 
 
 Desert. Lat. desero, desei'tum, to 
 abandon, leave alone. 
 
 Design, Lat. designare, to mark out ; 
 whence to design, to frame in the mind, 
 purpose, project. 
 
 Desire. Lat. desideriutn, regret, de- 
 sire. 
 
 Desolate. Lat. desolo, to leave alone, 
 forsake, desert, to lay waste. See Sole. 
 
 Despair. — Desperate. Lat. spes, Fr. 
 espoir, hope ; desespoir, absence of hope, 
 despair. Lat. spero, to hope ; despero, to 
 be without hope. 
 
 Despatch. See Dispatch. 
 
 Despise, — Despite. O Fr. despire, 
 despisant, from Lat. despicere, to despise, 
 as conjire, from conficere. 
 Mult les despisettt 
 E poi valent, e poi les prisent 
 Qui od Rou volent faire paix. 
 
 Chron. Norm. ii. 4978. 
 
 From Lat. despectus, we have Prov. 
 despieg, despieytj Fr. despit, contempt, 
 despite. 
 
 Despond. Lat. spondeo, to promise 
 solemnly, pledge, engage, and fig. to give 
 good promise of the future ; despondeo, to 
 give up hopes, to despair. 
 
 Despot. — Despotic. Gr. hairoTtiQ, an 
 absolute master, or owner ; deff-jroriKog, be- 
 longing to such a master, arbitrary. 
 
 Dessert. Fr. servi'r, to serve the 
 table, to set on the dishes ; desservt'r, to 
 take them away at the conclusion of the 
 meal, whence dessert, G. nachtisch, the 
 fruits and sweetmeats laid on when the 
 dinner has been cleared away. 
 
 Destine. — Destiny. Lat. destino, to 
 bind, make fast, and fig. to determine, 
 design, purpose, appoint, fix, doom. 
 
 Destroy. Lat. struo, to put together, 
 to build ; destruo, to pull down what was 
 built. 
 
 Desultory. Lat. salio, to leap; de- 
 silio, desiilto, to leap down ; desultor, in 
 the games of the circus, one who leaps 
 from one horse to another; fig. an in- 
 constant person. 
 
 DEVISE 
 
 209 
 
 Detail. Fr. detailler, to piecemeal — 
 Cot. ; from tailler, to cut. See Deal. 
 
 Deter. Lat. deterreo, to frighten from. 
 See Terror. 
 
 Detergent. Gr. rlpffw, to dry, Lat. 
 tergeo, tersiim, as Fr. essuyer, properly to 
 make dry, then to wipe ; detergeo, to wipe 
 off, make clean. From the same root 
 with Dry. 
 Deteriorate. Lat. deterior, worse. 
 Determine. Lat. terminus, a bound, 
 limit ; determino, to fix limits, to appoint, 
 to finish. 
 
 Detriment, — Detritus. Lat. detero, 
 -tritum, to rub off, lessen ; detriinetitiun, 
 a rubbing off, loss, damage. 
 
 * Deuce. — Dickens. A euphemism 
 for the devil. The Pl.D. uses diiker, 
 duks, or dmis, in the same sense ; de 
 dnks un de dood ! De duns I as in Eng- 
 lish, the deuce ! or the dicke?is f G. Et 
 der Daus ! was der Daus ! what the 
 deuce ! wie ein Daus, deuced, in an 
 extreme degree. Swab, taus j dass dich 
 der Taus ! — Schmid. 
 
 The Dus was still known as a kind of 
 gobhn among the Frisians until late 
 times, according to Outzen, identical with 
 the AS. Thyrs, on. Thuss, a goblin sup- 
 posed to dwell in fens and desert places, 
 but Deuce is probably from a wholly 
 different quarter. The inclination to 
 avoid the sin of profane swearing with- 
 out wholly giving up the gratification has 
 very generally led to a mangling of the 
 terms employed so as to deprive them of 
 any apparent reference to sacred or aw- 
 ful things. Thus the French say sap- 
 perment / for sacrament !, morbleu ! cor- 
 bieu/ forMort de Dieu! Corps de Dieu ! 
 Diantre for Diablej and in the same way 
 the Germans seem to have taken the 
 first syllable of the name of the devil 
 and lengthened it arbitrarily in different 
 ways : Taiisig, Dusigh, Dausi, Deixel, 
 Dixel, Deichert, Deihenker, Teuhenker. — • 
 Deutsch. Mundart. iii. 505. Sw. dial. 
 Didse, the Devil. 
 
 Develop. Fr. de'velopper. See En- 
 velope. 
 
 Deviate. — Devious. Lat . via, way ; 
 deviare, to go out of the track, devius, 
 out of the way. See Way. 
 
 Devil. Lat. diabolus, Gr. 8ia(3o\og, the 
 accuser, from Sia(5d\\b), to calumniate, 
 traduce. 
 
 To Devise.— Device. Lat. dividere, 
 divisutn, to divide or distribute, gave rise 
 in the Romance languages to verbs sig- 
 nifying to divide, distinguish, distribute, 
 arrange, appoint ; and that, either by a 
 14 
 
2IO 
 
 DEVOTE 
 
 purely mental operation, when the mean- 
 ing will be to devise, invent, or imagine ; 
 or with the addition of oral enunciation, 
 when the word will signify to discourse, 
 describe, make known our views and ar- 
 rangements to another. 
 
 I couth haue told you 
 Such peinis as yoiu* hertis might agrise, 
 Albeit so no toiige may it devise. 
 Though that I might a thousand winter tell 
 The peynis of that cursid house of Hell. 
 
 Frere's Tale. 
 
 From dividere itself we have Prov. de- 
 vtre, to divide, distinguish, explain ; and 
 from the participle divisum, Prov. OFr. 
 devis^ discourse, as well as a secondary 
 form of the verb, Prov. devizir^ Fr. de- 
 viser^ It. divisare, in the senses above ex- 
 plained, which are well illustrated in the 
 Diz. de la Cfusca. 
 
 In reference to the sense of distinguish- 
 ing, a passage is quoted from Villani 
 where it is said that the arms worn by a 
 noble were the lilies of France, and in 
 addition a vermillion port-cullis above — 
 * e tanto si divisava da quella di re de 
 Francia;' and so the arms were distin- 
 guished from those of the King of France. 
 The French arms were worn with a differ- 
 ence. Hence It. divisa, and E. device, in 
 the sense of a distinctive mark. This 
 application is somewhat perplexed by a 
 fashion prevalent in the 13th and 14th 
 centuries, when dresses were worn with 
 the two halves of the body of different 
 colours, dresses so divided being called 
 vesti alia divisa, or divisati, the colours 
 of which served to distinguish the adher- 
 ents of a particular party, house, or noble, 
 and constituted the partita, divisa, or de- 
 vice of the uniform. ' I Hi de Auria et 
 Grimaldi pro ipsorum majori colligatione 
 insimul se induerant simile vestimentum, 
 duorum scilicet pannorum coloris diversi, 
 ex quibus quilibet vestimentis unum 
 habens gerebat pro dimidio colorem, et 
 pro reliqua colorem alterum.' — Chron. 
 Genuense. a.d. 131 i in Mur. Diss. 33. 
 ' Calze, una (i. e. one leg) rosso di panno 
 e I'altra alia divisa, secondo i colori dell' 
 arme del senatore.' — Diss. 29. Divisato, 
 particoloured. — Fl. 
 
 Thus we are sometimes in doubt 
 whether the word has reference to the 
 actual diversity of colour or is used in 
 the sense of a distinctive mark. ' Pul- 
 cherrima divisa est color albus et rubeus.' 
 — Mur. 
 
 And er alone but when he did servise 
 
 All black he wore and no devise but plain. 
 
 Chaucer, Belle Dame sans merci. 
 
 A similar wavering between the shades 
 of meaning is seen in the legal phrase of 
 devising by will. It may be explained in 
 the sense of dividing the property, as 
 Ducange gives y^j- dividendi iox the right 
 of disposal by will. But it is better un- 
 derstood in the sense of arranging, ex- 
 pressing the will of the testator as to the 
 disposition of his property. ' Fai ta de- 
 vise e ton plaisir de 50 que est en ta 
 maisun kar tu murras : ' set thy house in 
 order. — Livre des Rois. ' Aura chascun 
 — I'argent dessus devisd'' — Shall have 
 the money above appointed. — Registre 
 des Metiers. Docum. Inedits. 
 Ainz que departe ne devis 
 A mes homes n' i mes amis 
 Ceste terre e k ma gent. 
 
 Chron. des Dues de Norm . 6960. 
 
 Point Device. This phrase, which has 
 been much misunderstood, may be ex- 
 plained from It. divisare, Fr. deviser, to 
 plan or imagine, whence d. devise used as 
 a superlative of praise. 
 
 Un noble chateau^ devise. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, iii. 155. 
 Li vergiers fut biau/i devise. — lb. iii. 115. 
 
 The garden was fair as could be ima- 
 gined, or, as we say with greater exagger- 
 ation, fair beyond imagination. ' 
 
 went down in their barges to Greenwich, 
 and every barge as goodly drest as they 
 could device.^ — Chron. Hen. VI 1 1, in Cam. 
 Miscell. iv. 
 
 Ele fut portraite i devis ; 
 
 N'est cuens ni rois ni amirds 
 Qui seust deviser tant bele 
 
 En nule terre come cele. 
 
 Bien fu fete par grant maitrise 
 Nature la fist d, devise. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, iii. 424. 
 
 She was a specimen of the beau ideal ; 
 no count, or king, or admiral, could 
 imagine one so fair. 
 
 On the other hand, point is used in the 
 sense of condition ; en bon point, in good 
 condition ; mettre a point, to put into 
 condition, to dress. 
 
 A point devise then would signify, in 
 the condition of ideal excellence, pre- 
 cisely the sense in which point device is 
 always used. 
 
 So noble was he of his stature, 
 So faire, so jolie and so fetise, 
 With limmis wrought at poind device. 
 R. R. 830. 
 
 Devote. — Devout. Lat. voveo, vottim, 
 to vow or promise to the gods ; devoveo, 
 devoto, to dedicate to the Deity, to ap- 
 point to a sacred purpose. Fr. devot, 
 religious, godly, devout. 
 
DEVOUR 
 
 Devour. Lat. voro^ to gulp down, eat 
 greedily. 
 
 Dew. Du. dauw, G. t/iatt, ON. dijgg, 
 Dan. dug, Svv. dagg, dew ; ON. delgr, 
 moist, soft ; Sc. dew, moist. For the 
 probable origin see Daggle. The senses 
 of dew and thaw are confounded in G. 
 thmien, Pl.D. daueii, to thaw, to dew. 
 See Thaw. 
 
 Dew-berry, g. thau-beere. — Adelung. 
 A kind of blackberry covered with bloom. 
 Probably a corruption of dove-berry, from 
 the dove-coloured bloom for which it is 
 remarkable, as the same name is in Ger- 
 many given to the bilberry, which is 
 covered with a similar bloom. Bav. 
 tatib-ber, tauben-ber (die blaue heidel- 
 beere), vaccinium myrtillus. Dubbere, 
 mora. — Schmeller. 
 
 Dewlap. Dan. dog-lap ; Du. douw- 
 swengel; from sweeping the dew. Sw. 
 dial, dogg, Du. douw (Kil.), dew ; Da. 
 Icep, a flap. 
 
 Dexterous. — Dexterity. Sanscr. 
 daksha, Gr. h^ia, ^t^trtpd, Lat. dextera, 
 the right hand. 
 
 Dey. See Dairy. 
 
 Dia-. Gr. Sia, through ; in comp. 
 through, thorough, and also between, 
 apart, asunder. 
 
 Diabolic. See Devil. 
 
 Diadem. Gr. didStjua, the white fillet 
 with which kings used to bind their 
 heads ; SiaSecj, to bind round, fasten ; 
 Ssu), to bind. 
 
 Diagonal. Gr. ycjvia, an angle ; ^«- 
 aydJvioQ, Lat. diagonalis, of a line dra\^ 
 through the angles. 
 
 Dial. A device for showing the time 
 of day. Lat. dialis, belonging to the day. 
 
 Dialect.— Dialogue. Gr. dtaXeyu), to 
 converse. See Logic. 
 
 Diameter. Gr. Sidfurpog, the measure 
 through (a circle). 
 
 Diam.ond. g. demant, corrupted from 
 adamant. 
 
 Diaper. It. diaspro, a Jasper or Dias- 
 per stone. — Flor. Gr. "laa-niq, Lat. Jaspis. 
 Then as jasper was much used in orna- 
 menting jewellery, M.Lat. diasprus, an 
 ornamented texture, panni pretiosioris 
 species. — Due. * Pluviale diaspruju cum 
 listis auro textis.' ' Duas cruces de ar- 
 gento, unam de dlaspro, et unam de crys- 
 tallo — duo pluvialia de diaspro et panno 
 Barbarico.' Diasperatus, adorned with 
 inlaid work, embroidery, or the like. San- 
 dalia cum caligis de rubeo sameto dias- 
 perato, breudata cum imaginibus regum.' 
 
 A stede bay, trapped in stele, 
 
 DIDDER 
 
 211 
 
 Covered with cloth of gold diaprcd -wcW. 
 
 Knight's Tale. 
 Fr. diaspre, variegated, ' versicolor in- 
 star jaspidis.' — Due. In OE. poetry a 
 meadow is frequently spoken of as dia- 
 pered with flowers. At a later period the 
 reference to different colours was lost, 
 and the sense was confined to the figures 
 with which a stuff was ornamented. Fr. 
 diapre, diapered, diversified with flourishes 
 on sundry figures. — Cot. As now under- 
 stood it is applied to linen cloth, woven 
 with a pattern of diamond-shaped figures. 
 Diaphanous. Gr. dia<paivuj, to shine 
 through. See Phantom. 
 
 Diaphragm. Gr. hafpayfia, from Siaj, 
 inter, and ^pay/xa, a partition. 
 
 Diarrhoea. Gr. ^lappota, from ^ta, 
 through, and pk(o, to flow, run. 
 Diary. — Diurnal. Lat. dies, day. 
 Diatribe. Gr. rpt'jSo*, to rub, wear ; 
 SiaTpil3(t), to wear away, pass time ; hiarpi^ij, 
 pastime, amusement, occupation, study, 
 an argument. 
 
 Dibber. — Dibble. A setting-stick, 
 usually made of the handle of a spade, cut 
 to a point and shod with iron. — Baker. 
 
 I'll not put 
 The dibble in the earth to. set one slip of them. 
 Winter's Tale. 
 The syllable dib, expressing the act of 
 striking with a pointed instrument, is a 
 modification of Sc. dab, to prick, Bohem. 
 diibati, to peck, E. job, to thrust, or peck, 
 parallel with dag or dig, to strike with a 
 pointed instrument. Norm, diguer, to 
 prick ; digiiet, a pointed stick used in 
 reaping. — Pat. de Brai. 
 
 Dibble - dabble. Rubbish. — Hal. 
 Comp. Magy. dib-ddb, useless, insignifi- 
 cant ; dib-ddbsdg, useless stuff, rubbish. 
 
 -dicate. Lat. dico, -attim, to proclaim, 
 publish, devote, appropriate ; abdtco, to 
 renounce, abdicate ; dedico, to inscribe, 
 dedicate. - • . , 
 
 -diet.— Diction. — Dictate. Lat. dico, 
 dictum, to say ; dictio, a saying, word ; 
 dictum, a word, an order ; dicto, -atum, 
 to enounce, dictate, prescribe. 
 
 Didactic. Gr. SiSaKTiKog, apt to teach, 
 from SiddffKU), to teach. 
 
 Didapper. A water-bird constantly 
 diving under water. Du. doppen^ to dip. 
 See Dabchick. 
 
 To Didder. To didder, dither, dodder, 
 to trenible ; diddering and dadderingj 
 doddering-dickies, the quivering heads of 
 quaking grass.— Hal. ON. dadra, to wag 
 the tail ; Magy. dideregni, dederegni, 
 dodorgni, to tremble; Sc. diddle, to 
 shake, to jog. 
 
 14 * 
 
213 
 
 DIDDLE 
 
 Hale be your heart, hale be your fiddle, 
 Long may your elbuck jink and diddle. 
 Burns in Jam. 
 
 To doddle, to totter ; Bav. tattern, to 
 tremble. The origin is a representation 
 of the repeated beats of a vibrating body 
 by the syllables da, da, ta, ta, or when the 
 beats are rapid and small, di, di, ti, ti. 
 Compare Galla dada-goda, to make dada, 
 to beat. — Tutschek. Mod.Gr. r$tr5ipi^;a>, 
 to shiver, simmer ; G. zittern, to tremble. 
 
 To Diddle. Properly, as shown in the 
 last article, to move rapidly backwards 
 and forwards, then to use action of such 
 a nature for the purpose of engaging the 
 attention of an observer while a trick is 
 played upon him, to deceive by juggling 
 tricks. 
 
 Die. — Dice. It. dado, Prov. dat, 
 Fr. det, dd, a die or small cube used in 
 gaming. Arab, daddon, dadda, game of 
 dice. 
 
 To Die. See Dead. 
 
 To Die or Dye. as. deah, deag, co- 
 lour, dye ; deagan, to dye. Gael, dath 
 (pronounced da), colour, dye ; Manx 
 daah, colour, dye, blush ; daahghey, to 
 colour, stain, blush. 
 
 Probably the radical meaning may be 
 to soak, wet, or steep. 
 
 Then if thine eye bedye this sacred urn, 
 
 Each drop a pearl shall turn, 
 
 To adorn his tomb. — Epitaph, 1633. 
 
 E. dial, to deg, to moisten. — Hal. ON. 
 deigr, wet ; digna, to become wet ; Dan. 
 dygge, to sprinkle with water, dyg-vaad, 
 dyng-vaad, thoroughly wet. In the latter 
 of these forms we see a close agreement 
 with Lat. ti?tgere, which unites the senses 
 of wetting or moistening, plunging in 
 liquid, dyeing with colour. Gr. rlyyw, to 
 moisten, stain, colour. See Daggle. 
 
 Diet. I. A deliberative assembly. 
 See Day. 
 
 2. Gr. ^'latra, mode or place of life, 
 means of life, subsistence. 
 
 But sith I know my wordis doith thee so sore 
 
 smert, 
 Shall no more hereafter ; and eche day our diete 
 
 (intercourse) 
 Shall be mery and solase, and this shall be for- 
 
 gete. — Chaucer, Beryn. 700. 
 
 Difificult. Lat. difficilis, hard to be 
 done ; difficultas, difficulty. See Facile. 
 
 To Dig. To drive a pointed instru- 
 ment into ; to spur a horse, stab a man 
 through his armour. — Hal. A modifica- 
 tion of ^«^. See Dagger. Norm, diguer, 
 to prick ; endig'uer, to pierce with an awl 
 or needle ; diguet, a pointed stick, a dib- 
 ble. Lith. dygus, sharp, pointed ; degtij 
 
 DIKE 
 
 daigyti, to stick ; dygulis, a prickle ; 
 dyge, dygle, a stickle-back. Turk, di/e- 
 mek, to sew, stitch, plant, set ; diken, a 
 prickle. 
 
 Digest. Lat. digero, -geshim, to carry 
 in different directions, disperse, dissolve, 
 digest. 
 
 To Dight. To dress, adorn, prepare. 
 AS. dihtan, to set in order, arrange, com- 
 pose. G. dichten, to meditate, contrive, 
 invent, compose. From Lat. dictare, to 
 dictate, to speak what is to be taken 
 down in writing. Dictare, dichen, tich- 
 ten, vorsagen oder lesen das man schreibt. 
 — Dief. Sup. Sw. dickta, to invent, to 
 feign, to devise ; dickta up en historia, to 
 trump up a story. See Ditty. 
 
 Dignity. — Condign. See Deign. 
 
 Dike.— Ditch. As the earth dug out 
 of the ground in making a trench is 
 heaped up on the side, the ditch and the 
 bank are constructed by the same act, 
 and it is not surprising that the two 
 should have been confounded under a 
 common name. Du. dijck, agger, et 
 fovea, alveus, fossa. — Kil. In like man- 
 ner the It. mota, the mound on which a 
 castle was built, is identical with E. moat, 
 the surrounding ditch out of which the 
 earth was dug. In the N. of England a 
 dike is a dry hedge, dike sto7ir, a hedge- 
 stake, while dike-holl or dike-hollow is 
 the ditch. — Hal. In Dan. the term dige 
 is applied both to a ditch and bank, but 
 dige-groft is specifically the ditch. 
 
 The primary signification is doubtless 
 tKat of the Fr. digue, a bank, jetty, or 
 dam for stopping the flow of water, 
 whence the term is appHed, hke the Scan- 
 dinavian da77t or the Romance tampo, 
 tanco, to a pond of water held up by a 
 dike or dam. Du. dijck, piscina, stag- 
 num. — Kil. The two applications are in 
 G. distinguished by a modification of 
 spelling, and deich is used in the sense of 
 a dike or dam, teich in that of a pond. 
 In a similar manner in England the 
 northern pronunciation dike hag been 
 appropriated to a bank, the southern, 
 ditch, to a trench. 
 
 The ultimate origin of the term must 
 be looked for, not in the idea of digging 
 with a spade, but in that of stopping up, 
 thrusting in a peg to stop an orifice, in 
 accordance with the fundamental signifi- 
 cation of the root dag or dig, whence Sp. 
 taco, a stopper, ramrod, billiard cue, 
 wadding ; w. tagu, to choke, to stifle. 
 
 Magy. dugni, to stick in, to stop, dugcr, 
 a plug, stopper, stuffing ; Illyrian tukani, 
 Pol. tkac^ to thrust, stick, cram, stuff; 
 
DILAPIDATION 
 
 iiiyka(f, to stop chinks ; Bohem. satka, a 
 stopper, bung, obstruction. Fin. ttikkia, 
 to stop a hole, stuff something into a hole ; 
 ttikei, a stopper ; ttikkuta, to be stopped, 
 to stagnate ; Esthon. tiikma, to thrust, 
 press in, to stop ; tiikkis^ a stopper. Sc. 
 dook^ a peg driven into a wall. 
 
 Dilapidation. Lat. lapis, -idts, a 
 stone ; dilapido, to destroy, perhaps by 
 battering with stones, or perhaps to throw 
 about like stones, to dissipate, squander, 
 waste. 
 
 Saepe ferus duros jaculatur Jupiter imbres 
 Grandine dilapidans hominumque boumque la- 
 bores. — Columella. 
 
 Dilemma. Gr. SiXtjufia, an argument 
 equally conclusive in two opposite ways, 
 from Sig, twice, and Xijfina, a proposition 
 or thesis. 
 
 Diligent. Lat. diligo (properly to 
 pick out), to love ; diligens, loving, at- 
 tentive, industrious. See -lect. 
 
 Dilling. — Dill. Dilling, a. darling or 
 favourite, the youngest child or the young- 
 est of a brood. — Hal. ON. di7/, the nurse's 
 lullaby ; diV/a, to lull a child to sleep. 
 To dill, to soothe, to still, to calm — Hal., 
 to dill dow7iy to subside, become still. 
 
 The noise of the Queen's journey to France 
 has dilled down. — Jam. 
 
 Hence the name of the herb dill (Sw. 
 dill, Dan. dild, anethum), used as a car- 
 minative or soothing medicine for child- 
 ren. Dan. dial, dull, still, quiet, as pain 
 when the attack goes off ; dubjie, to sub- 
 side, assuage, soothe. Lith. tylus, quiet, 
 still, tildyti., to quiet, tyla, silence ; Pol. 
 tulic, to seek to calm, soothe, or appease 
 one, utulid, to quiet a crying child. See 
 Dull. 
 
 Dilly. A public carriage, contracted 
 from Fr, diligence. — Hal. 
 
 Diluvial. See Deluge. 
 
 Dim. One of the numerous class of 
 words branching out from the root tap, 
 dab, dam in the sense of stop, obstruct, 
 mentioned under Deaf and Dam. Lang. 
 tapa lou jhour, to stop one's light ; Ptg. 
 tapa los olhos, to cast a mist before one's 
 eyes, taparse, to darken, become dark ; 
 tapar os ouvidos, Lang, se tainpa las 
 aourelios, to stop one's ears. 
 
 Bav. daunib, daum, taum, stopper, wad- 
 ding ; daumen, verdaumben, to ram down, 
 to stop ; dufnper, dimper, dull in sound 
 or in colour ; ' tirnper, fusca vox, caecus 
 sonus,' timberriu u/uolchett, the dark 
 clouds ; ein tumperer nebel, a dark mist. 
 Timberi, caligo — Notker, identical with 
 Lat. tenebrce J vertiimperte attge?i, oculi 
 contenebrati. — Schmeller. Swab, dicmer. 
 
 DIMITY 
 
 213 
 
 dumper, gloomy, of the weather ; vertum- 
 plen, vertuinlen, to make thick (trlibe). 
 Du. bedampen, to darken, to make dim— 
 Halma; een dojnpig huis, a close, dark 
 house. ON. dimmr, dark, thick ; dimma^ 
 dumba, darkness ; dimnileitr, dzimbitiii, 
 dark-coloured ; dumbungr, thickness of 
 air, covered weather ; dimmraddadr, voce 
 obscura et gravi ; dimma, to grow dark. 
 Sw. dimba, a fog, haze ; Dan. dum, dumb, 
 dim, obscure, dull, low (of sound), stupid. 
 
 The same relation between the ideas of 
 shutting up and darkening is seen in 
 Manx doon, to close or shut up, and also 
 to darken ; doofi, a field or close; dooncy, 
 shutting, closing, darkening; E. dun, of a 
 dark colour. The same development of 
 the root is found in the Finnish languages. 
 Fin. tumma, dull, dim, tummeta, to be 
 dimmed, to be put out as a fire, tummen- 
 taa, to damp the fire, to extinguish ; Es- 
 thon. tumme, dull, dim, dark ; Lap. tuom, 
 dull in action, slow. 
 
 Dimble. — Dimple. — Dingle. Dimble 
 or diiigle is a narrow glen, deep valley. 
 
 Within a gloomy dimble she doth dwell. 
 
 Sad Shepherd. 
 
 Lith. dubus, hollow, deep (of vessels) ; 
 dubus 7?tedis, a hollow tree ; dumbu, dubti, 
 to be hollow ; dube, dobe, a ditch, hole in 
 the earth, den ; dubele, a little pit, dimple 
 in the cheek or chin ; dauba, a glen, cleft, 
 valley. Fris. dobbe, a ditch, hole, pit, 
 hollow ; dobbetjens, a dimple. — Epkema. 
 E. dib, a valley ; dub, a deep place in a 
 river — Hal., a puddle or gutter — Jam, ; 
 dump, a deep hole of water ; Bav. diimpf, 
 dUtnpfel, a deep hole in a river ; OHG. 
 tujnphilo, gurges — Schmeller ; E. dumble, 
 a. wooded dingle. — Hal. 
 
 Closely connected with deep, dip. The 
 radical image may be the hollow made 
 by a blow with a pointed instrument, re- 
 presented by the syllable dib, whence 
 dibber, dibble, a setting-stick. Compare 
 Bohem. dupati, to stamp, dupa, a hollow ; 
 Pol. dupnied, to become hollow. On the 
 same principle we have dent, the hollow 
 made by a blow (and perhaps deti, a cave 
 or hollow), from dint, a blow. So also 
 from dig or ding in the sense of stabbing 
 or thrusting or striking with a hammer or 
 the like, we pass to dinge, the hollow 
 made by the blow, and dingle, synonym- 
 ous with dimble, a narrow glen. 
 
 Dimension. Lat. dimetior, -mensus, 
 to measure out. See Measure. 
 
 Dimity. Originally a stuff woven with 
 two threads, from Gr. I'lq, twice, and \inoq, 
 a thread. ' Offtcinas ubi in lila variis 
 
214 
 
 DIN 
 
 distincta coloribus Serum vellera tenuan- 
 tur, et sibi invicem multiplici texendi 
 genere coaptantur. Hinc enim videas 
 amita, dimitaqiie et trimita minori peri- 
 tia sumptuque perfici,' i. e. (says Mura- 
 tori) ' vulgares telse sericiae uno filo seu 
 licio, duobus, aut tribus contextae/ — Fal- 
 candus, Hist. Sicil. in Mur. Diss. 25. In 
 the same way the G. name for velvet, sam- 
 vii't, is contracted from exhamita^ from 
 having been woven of six threads. In 
 like manner G. drillich, E. drill^ a web of 
 a threefold thread ; G. zwillich^ E. twill^ 
 a web of a double thread. 
 
 Din. Imitative of continued sound. 
 ON. dynia, dufida, to resound ; diina, to 
 thunder. Lat. tinnire, to sound as a bell, 
 tonare, to thunder. See Dun. 
 
 ♦ To Dine. It. desinarej OFr. dis- 
 pier^ disner, dignerj Prov. disnar, dir- 
 nary dinar. ' Disnavi me ibi.' — Gl. Vatic. 
 quoted by Diez. Diez suggests a deriva- 
 tion from a Lat. deccBiiare (analogous to 
 devorare, depascere), whence in Fr. might 
 have arisen decetter, desner, diiier^ as 
 from deciina — desme, dhne. The OFr. 
 had reciner, to lunch, from reccenare. 
 
 The more probable derivation however 
 seems to me to be that from Lat. desinere, 
 to cease, the dinner being the meal taken 
 at the noontide cessation from labour. 
 The application of It. desinat'e to the 
 sense of dining may have driven it out of 
 use in the sense of ceasing. 
 
 To Ding. To strike, knock, cast. To 
 ding through^ to pierce. ' He dang him 
 throw the body with ane swerd.' — Bellen- 
 den in Jam. To ding at the door, to 
 knock. — P.P. ON. dengia, to hammer; 
 dengia eimim nidr, to ding one down. 
 
 The syllables ding, dong, or the like, are 
 used in the first instance to represent a 
 strong impression on the ear, and thence 
 are transferred to a violent action, a heavy 
 blow. 
 
 Dingle. A narrow valley, a glen. A 
 variety of dimble, and, as the latter was 
 derived from dib, expressing a blow with 
 a pointed instrument, dingle stands in 
 the same relation to dig, ding. The 
 primary meaning then would be a dint, 
 pit, hollow. 
 
 Dingy. Related to forms like the G. 
 dumpjig, dead in sound, musty, damp, 
 -Du. dompig, dark, close, as cringe to AS. 
 crymbig, crooked. It. cangiare to ca77t- 
 biare, to change. The ON. dumb a, dark- 
 ness, would give an AS. dymbig, darkish, 
 dingy. It may be considered as the 
 analogue of the Du. dotiker, G. dtmkel, 
 dark. See Damp, Dim. 
 
 DIPLOMA 
 
 Dint. — Dent. — Dunt. All imitative 
 of the sound of a blow. To dunt, to 
 strike so as to make a hollow sound, to 
 beat, to palpitate. — Jam. 
 
 ON. dunkr, dynkr, Sw. dunk, a hollow 
 sound, as the boom of a gun ; dunka, to 
 beat, to throb, to knock at a door ; dunsa, 
 to strike with a dull sound, to fall heavily ; 
 dunta, to strike, to shake — Rietz ; Da. 
 dial, dunte, to sound hollow under the 
 feet ; dundse, to thump. 
 
 Diocese. Gr. SiotKtjmg, the manage- 
 ment of a household, administration, 
 function of a steward, a province or juris- 
 diction ; in ecclesiastical matters the juris- 
 diction of a bishop. Aioikscj, to manage 
 household affairs, from oikoq, a house. 
 
 To Dip. — Deep. Goth, danpjan, as. 
 dippan, Sw. doppa, to dip, to soak. Du. 
 doppen, doopeft, to dip, baptise ; Sc. donp, 
 Du. diiypen, to duck the head. G. taufen, 
 to baptise ; It. tnffare, to dive or duck, to 
 plunge under water. 
 
 Goth, diups, ON. diupr, Du. duyp, diep, 
 G. tief, deep. Lith. dubiis, hollow, deep 
 (of a vessel) ; dtibe, dobe, a ditch, hole in 
 the ground, dubele, a little hole, a dimple ; 
 diimbu, dtibti, to be hollow. E. diib, a 
 pool in a river, dump, a deep hole of 
 water. Du. dompen, dompelen, to plunge 
 under water — Halma ; Bav. diimpf, 
 diimpfel, a deep hole in- a river. 
 
 Bohem. dnpa, a. hole or cavern, dupati, 
 to stamp, dubati, to peck, strike with the 
 beak. 
 
 The original root seems to be the syl- 
 lable ^2^, ^//<5, representing the sound of a 
 blow with a pointed instrument, and 
 thence being applied to the hollow made 
 in the object struck, or on the other hand 
 to the sudden motion downwards with 
 which the blow is given. To dip then is 
 to go suddenly downwards, and deep de- 
 signates the quality of things which admit 
 of going suddenly downwards, the depth 
 being greater as they admit of a more 
 extended or more sudden descent. 
 
 It is remarkable that as we have a root 
 dig in the same sense with dib, the same 
 parallelism of the labial and guttural final 
 is found throughout the series. We have 
 Du. duypen and duycken, to duck the 
 head, to duck under water, dive ; Sc. 
 doup in the same sense as the E. duck; 
 G. taufen, to baptise, tauchen, to dip or 
 dive ; E. dimble and dingle, a glen ; Du. 
 dompeji, G. tufiken, to dip. 
 
 Diphthong, Gr. SicpOoyyog, having a 
 twofold sound ; (pQoyyog, articulate sound. 
 
 Diploma. — Diplomatic. Gr. ^iTrXwjua, 
 Lat. diploma, an authoritative document, 
 
DIRE 
 
 licence, charter,' from ^tTrXow, to double, 
 because in the form of folded tablets. 
 
 Dire. Lat. dims, cruel, dreadful. 
 
 Dirge. A funeral service ; from Ps. 
 5, V. 8. ' Dirige Domine Deus mens in 
 conspectu tuo vitam meam,' repeated in 
 the anthem used on such occasions. — 
 Jam. 
 
 The frere wol to the direge if the cors is fat. 
 Political Songs, 332, Cam, Soc. 
 
 In old Sc. dt'egy, dirgy. 
 
 Dirk. — Durk. A dagger. Sc. durk, 
 G. dolch, Sw. dolk, a dagger. Bohem. 
 tiileg, a spear (spiculum), tulich, a dagger. 
 Magy. tol^ii, to thrust ; Russ. tolkat\ 
 tolknut\ to give a blow, strike, knock ; 
 Bohem. tlatik, a pestle. Fris. dulg, dolge, 
 dolch, a wound. — Epkema. The inter- 
 change of an / and r before a final gut- 
 tural is very common. Comp. Dan. dial. 
 sinilke and ktlche, corresponding to E. 
 smirk and ki?'k — Junge ; Outzen. OFr. 
 ponrpe for ponipe. — Roquef 
 
 * Dirt. Dryte or doonge, merda, 
 stercus. — Pr. Pm. To drite, cacare, 
 egerere. — Cath. Ang. in Way. ON. drit, 
 excrement. G., Du. dreck, excrement, 
 filth, mud, dirt. 
 
 The radical sense of the word is simply 
 a lump, what falls in separate portions. 
 Banff, treetle, to fall in drops, to trickle. 
 E. trattles, troitles, treadles, the dung of 
 sheep, goats, hares, &c. Du. drotel, 
 dreutel pilula stercoraria. Banff, ttird, a 
 clot of excrement, is radically identical 
 with inversion of the r. In the same 
 way E. crottles, lumpy dung, may be com- 
 pared with crote, a clod, and Du. krotte, 
 dirt sticking to the bottom of clothes, Fr. 
 crotte, dirt. 
 
 Dis-, Di-, before an f, Dif-. From Gr. 
 I'lQ (Sanscr. dvis, Lat. bis), twice, in two 
 parts, separately. In composition it im- 
 plies separation from the thing signified 
 by the word with which it is compounded, 
 and hence negation, opposition. 
 
 Disaster. Fr. desastre, It. dis astro, 
 an evil chance, something brought about 
 by an evil influence of the stars, Prov, 
 astrar, to cause by the influence of the 
 stars ; as true, Lat. astrosiis, fortunate ; 
 benastre, good fortune ; desastre, misfor- 
 tune. — Diez. 
 
 To Discard. Sp. descartar, to throw 
 cards out of one's hand at certain games ; 
 hence to put aside, reject. 
 
 Disciple. — Discipline. Lat. discipu- 
 his, discipliiia, from disco, I learn. 
 
 Discomfit. Fr. disconjire, -Jit, to over- 
 throw, defeat. Lat. conjicio, to bring to- 
 gether, to make up. See -feet. 
 
 DISPENSE 215 
 
 Discreet. — Discretion. Fr. discrete 
 discerning, prudent ; Lat. discerno, -cre- 
 tum, to discern ; discretio, separation, se- 
 lection. 
 
 Discrepancy. Lat. crepo, to creak, 
 make a noise ; dtscrepo, to be out of 
 tune, sound inharmoniously, thence, to 
 disagree. 
 
 Discriminate. Lat. discrimen, se- 
 paration, distinction. See -cern. 
 
 Disgust. Fr. desgoust, dugout, from 
 Lat, gusiiis, taste. 
 
 Dish. — Disk. Lat. discus, a quoit or 
 flat circle of stone, wood, or metal ; 
 hence, a dish ; Gr. diaKog, a quoit, a tray. 
 G. tisc/i, a table. 
 
 Disheveled, Fr. descheveler, to put 
 the hair out of order. Fr. cheveux, Lat. 
 capilla, the hair. 
 
 Dismal. Swiss dusetJt, dark, thick, 
 misty, downhearted. Bav, dus, dusam, 
 dtisig, cbisniig, dull (not shining), still, 
 cloudy. Dan, dial, dusm, dussetn, slum- 
 ber. Dasyn, or in Pynson's edition, 
 dasmyn, or missyn as eyne, caligo. — Pr. 
 Pm. Swab, disseln, disemen, dusetiten, 
 dismen, dusmen, to speak low, dosen, 
 dosmen, to slumber. 
 
 The primary image is a low sound, 
 then dull in colour, dark, overcast, un- 
 cheerful. 
 
 Dismay. Sp. desmayo, a swoon, faint- 
 ing-fit, decay of strength, dismay; des- 
 mayar, to faint, to be faint-hearted, to 
 discourage, frighten. See Amaze. 
 
 To Disparage. From Lat. par, equal, 
 arises Yx. parage, equality of birth or in 
 blood, (and hence) kindred, parentage, 
 lineage. — Cot. Hence to disparage, to 
 match a person with one of inferior birth 
 and condition, and in modern usage to 
 speak slightingly of one, to put him lower 
 in estimation. 
 
 Dispatch. It. impacciare, to impeach, 
 encumber, hinder ; dispacciare, to dis- 
 patch, rid or free. — Fl. Fr. empescher, 
 to hinder, impeach, pester ; despescher, to 
 rid, send away quickly, discharge. — Cot. 
 Diez would derive the words from Lat. 
 ijupingere, in the sense of fastening 
 something troublesome upon one, through 
 the supposed frequentative forms impac- 
 tare, irnpactiare. More probably from 
 the Gael, bac, stop, hindrance, restraint ; 
 bacail, obstruction. Lat. repagula, bars, 
 restraints, fastenings. Prov. empaig, ei7i~ 
 pacha, efnpaita, obstacle, hindrance ; em- 
 Paichar, empaitar, empazar, empechar, 
 to embarrass ; the converse of which, to 
 dispatch, is to remove a hindrance. 
 Dispense. — Dispensation. Lat. dis- 
 
2l6 
 
 DISPERSE 
 
 ^ensOf to pay out money, to manage an 
 income ; to dispense withj to manage 
 without. See Spend. 
 
 Disperse. See -sperse. 
 
 To Display. OFr. desphyery It. dis- 
 piegare, spiegarCy to unfold, from Lat. 
 piicare^ to fold. 
 
 To Dispute. Lat. disputare^ to cast 
 up a sum, compute, to examine and dis- 
 cuss a subject. In modern language the 
 term is applied to hostile discussion of a 
 subject with another person. 
 
 Disseminate. To sow here and there. 
 Lat. semen, seed. 
 
 Dissertation. Lat. dissero, -sertum, 
 to set asunder, to discuss ; dissertOy to 
 explain, debate, discuss. See -sert. 
 
 Dissident. Lat. dissideo, to sit apart, 
 to disagree. 
 
 Dissipate. Lat. dissipare, to scatter. 
 The obs. sipo or sttpo signified to cast. — 
 Festus. 
 
 Distaff. The staff on which the flax 
 was fastened in spinning. Pl.D. diesse, 
 Ditmarsh dies, the bunch of flax on the 
 distaff ; E. dial, dise, to supply the staff 
 with flax. I dysyn a dystaffe. — Palsgr. 
 
 The term may be a modification of the 
 root appearing in Gael, dos, a bush, clus- 
 ter, tuft, lock of hair, E. tussock, a tuft 
 of grass, Bav. doschen, duschen, dosten, 
 a bush, tuft, tassel. On the other hand, 
 the thread drawn down from the stock of 
 flax on the distaff may be compared to 
 the stream of milk drawn from an ani- 
 mal's udder, and thus the term may be 
 identical with the Sw. diss, a teat, dissa, 
 to suck. We speak of blood spinning 
 from a vein. 
 
 Distich. Gr. Siffnxog {Slg, and (ttIxos, 
 a row, verse), in two rows or lines. 
 
 Distinguish. — Distinction. Lat. dis- 
 tinguo, -ficttmt, properly to mark with 
 points ; Gr. arilu), to prick; oriyfia, a 
 prick or spot ; Lat. instigo, instiiiguOy to 
 prick one on, to stimulate. 
 
 Distrain. — Distress. — District. From 
 Lat. stringere, to strain, to draw tight, 
 Mid.Lat. distringere (whence Fr. dis- 
 iraindre and E, distrain) was used in the 
 ^ense of exercising severity upon, cor- 
 recting, and especially in that of compel- 
 ling or constraining a person to do some- 
 thing by the exaction of a pledge or by 
 fine or imprisonment. ' Et liceat illi eos 
 distringere ad justitias faciendas.' — Hist. 
 Fr. in Due. ' Et ce qui est dessus devis^ 
 fut fait et establi pour destraindre les 
 gens k venir faire droit en la cour.' — 
 Assis. Hierosol. In this sense we still 
 speak of distraining for rent, when we 
 
 DIVAN 
 
 seize the goods of a tenant, in order to 
 compel him to pay the rent. 
 
 The pledge or the fine exacted was 
 termed districtio, distress, and the same 
 name was sometimes given to the right 
 of exercising judicial authority. ' Dis- 
 trictio quoque villas ad ecclesiam pertine- 
 bit, ita ut Godescalcus — qui advocatus 
 est ejusdem allodii, medietatem ipsius 
 districtionis de Ecclesii teneat.' — Charta 
 ann. 1124. But the right of exercising 
 such authority, as well as the territory 
 over which it was exercised, were more 
 commonly termed district us, It. distrettOy 
 OFr. destroict, E. district. 'Maneantque 
 sub judicio et districtu vestro.' — Bulla 
 Bonifacii ann. 1033. 'Qui allodium ven- 
 diderit, districtutn et jurisdictionem Im- 
 peratoris vendere non prassumat.' — Lib. 
 Feod. ' Et totum districtuin ejusdem 
 insulas cum tota justitia dedi eis.' — Charta 
 ann. 983. ' Praedictum furnum et dis- 
 trictuin ejusdem furni,' i. e. the soke of 
 the oven, or right of compelling the te- 
 nants to resort to it for the purpose of 
 baking. — Due. 
 
 To Dit.— Ditch. To dit is to stop 
 an orifice. * Dit your mouth with your 
 meat.' — Sc. proverb. AS. dittan, to stop. 
 ON. ditta, to stop chinks. From dot, a 
 lump, as the notion of stopping an orifice 
 is commonly expressed by reference to 
 the bunch of materials thrust into the 
 opening. See Dam. Du. dodde, a tap, 
 stopper, plug. — Kil. Dan. dial, dot, a 
 stopper. N. dott, a bunch, a lump ; 
 dytta, to stop a hole. 
 
 Another modification of the word is 
 ditch, or diche, to stuff or fill up, A table 
 is diched when the dirt has insinuated 
 itself into the grain of the wood. — Baker, 
 Northampt. Gl. Bav. datschen, detscheny 
 dotschen, to press down something soft ; 
 datsch, &c., a mess of something soft, 
 kue-datsch, cow-dung. — Schm. 
 
 Ditch. See Dike. 
 
 Ditto. A term from the language of 
 book-keeping. It. detto (Lat. dictum) y 
 said, aforesaid. 
 
 Ditty. OFr. diet, dict^, dittd, recita- 
 tion of an adventure, story, poem, work 
 of imagination. — Roquef. Lat. dicere, 
 dictum, to say. 
 
 Then said I, thus it falleth me to cesse 
 Eithir to rime or ditees for to make. 
 
 Chaucer, Belle Dame sans merci. 
 
 Diuretic. See Urine. 
 
 Divan. Pers. diwdny a collection of 
 writings, register, account-book ; board 
 of accounts, custom-house (It. dogana^ 
 
DIVE 
 
 Fr. douane), council, senate ; council- 
 chamber, raised seat. 
 
 To Dive. AS. deofan, dufan {dyfde^ 
 do/en), to plunge in water, duck, dive ; 
 ON. dyfa, deyfa, to dip, stick down into. 
 Du. du/pen, to duck the head. — Kil. 
 Dan. djive, to pitch, as a ship meeting 
 the waves ; duve sig, to duck, bow the 
 head. It. tuffare, to duck or plunge 
 under water. 
 
 A parallel series with a final guttural 
 is seen in Du. duiken^ Bav. ducken, to 
 duck, bow, dive; Sw. dyka, G. tauchen, to 
 dive. See Dip. 
 
 Divide. — Division. Lat. divido, -sum, 
 separate, cut in parts; dividuus, what 
 may be divided. 
 
 Divine, Lat. divmus, belonging to 
 God ; divi, Gods. Gr. 5iof, godlike. The 
 Lat. divitius was applied to a prophet or 
 soothsayer, one conversant with divine 
 matters, as in modern times the term is 
 applied to a clergyman. Hence divinare, 
 to divine, foretell, prophesy, foresee, then 
 to guess. 
 
 Dizzy. AS. dystg, dyslic, foolish ; Pl.D. 
 diisig, dosig, giddy, dizzy, diisig weder, 
 hazy weather ; Dan. dlsig, hazy ; Du. 
 diiysig, deiisig, stupid, giddy, stunned ; 
 E. dizze, to stun. ' Etourdir, to astonish, 
 dizze, amaze.' — Cotgr. Bav. dusen, du- 
 seln, dusseln, to be still, to slumber, to be 
 giddy ; dasig, submissive, tame ; dausig, 
 djisig, dull, foolish. E, to daze, to stupefy, 
 benum ; dasyd ox bedasyd, vertiginosus. 
 — Pr. Pm. To dozen, dosen, to stupefy 
 with a blow or otherwise, to lose power 
 and life, benum, become torpid. — Jam. 
 ON. dos, das, languor, lassitude. Hann 
 liggr i dosi, he lies in a faint. Dan. dos, 
 drowsiness, dose, to doze, to mope. 
 
 To Do. OHG. duati, tuan, G. thun, 
 Du. doett, to do. 
 
 It is often said that do in the inquiry 
 after a person's health is properly the Sc. 
 dow, Du. doogen, deugen, G. taugen, to 
 be able or good for, to avail, to thrive ; 
 but there is no need of such a supposi- 
 tion. We ask how a thing does, mean- 
 ing, how does it perform the office ex- 
 pected of it, and the word is used in a 
 very similar sense in the inquiry. How 
 do you do ? — How do you get on ? How 
 do you perform the offices of life ? It is 
 a simple translation of the OFr. Com- 
 ment le faites-vous 1 
 
 Puis li a dit par grant doufor, 
 Sire, comment le faites-vos ? 
 Dame, bien, dit le Segretains. 
 
 Fab. et Contes. i. 245. 
 * David demanded of him how Joab 
 
 DOCK 
 
 217 
 
 did, and how the people did, and how 
 the war prospered.' In the Livre des 
 Rois : E David — enquist cume Joab le 
 fist, e li poples, e coment // lefeisse7it del 
 siege — and how they got on with the 
 siege. 
 
 Docile. — Doctor. — Doctrine. — Docu- 
 ment. Lat. doceo, doctiim, to teach, do- 
 cilis, easy to be taught ; doctor, a teacher, 
 doctrina, what is taught, documentwn, 
 that by which one is taught. 
 
 Dock. I. G. docke, a bundle, bunch 
 of thread, knot of cords, baluster, plug, 
 stopple, a short thick piece of anything. 
 Fris. dok, a small bundle, ball of twine, 
 bunch of straw. It. tocco, a scrap, cob, 
 collop, cut or shive, viz. of bread and 
 cheese. — Fl. w. toe, that is short or 
 abrupt ; tocytt, a short piece ; tocio, to 
 reduce to a short bit, to curtail, explain- 
 ing the E. dock, to reduce to a stump, to 
 cut short. ON. dockr, a short stumpy 
 tail. The term dock is applied to several 
 plants having leaves broad in proportion 
 to their length, as sour-dock, sorrel, bur- 
 dock, butter-dock (Du. docke-blaederen, 
 petasites), AS. ea-dock. Swab, wasser- 
 docklein, the water-lily. Another appli- 
 cation of the term is to the rump of an 
 animal, butt end of a tree, the thick end. 
 —Hal. 
 
 Dock, like other words signifying a 
 lump, is probably derived from the no- 
 tion of knocking. Du. docken, dare 
 pugnos, ingerere verbera. — Kil. It. toc- 
 care, to knock. Compare dump, to beat 
 Qam.), with dutnpy j dunch, to beat, with 
 dunch, one who is short and thick — Jam. ; 
 to punch, to strike, with punchy, short 
 and thick, &c. 
 
 Dock. 2. The cage in a court of jus- 
 tice in which a criminal is placed at his 
 trial. Flemish docke, a bird-cage. — Kil. 
 
 Dock. 3. An inclosed basin for re- 
 pairing ships. A pond where the water 
 is kept out by great flood-gates till the 
 ship is built or repaired^ but are opened 
 to let in the water to float or launch her. 
 — B. 
 
 Both in this sense and in that of a cage 
 the meaning is probably to be explained 
 through the notion of stopping up, hem- 
 ming in, confining. The G. docke, signi- 
 fying primarily a bunch, is applied to the 
 tap by which the water of a fish-pond is 
 kept in or let off. — Adelung. Hence the 
 name seems to have been transferred to 
 a naval dock, the essential provision of 
 which is the power of keeping in or shut- 
 ting out the water by an analogous con- 
 trivance, though on a greatly magnified 
 
 / 
 
2l8 
 
 DOCKET 
 
 scale. Clausa, eyn cluse (a sluice or 
 flood-gate), tock ; i. q. docke^ obturamen- 
 tum piscinae. — Dief. Sup. See Dam. 
 
 From signifying the plug or sluice by 
 which the flow of water is regulated, the 
 word is applied to the dam of which the 
 sluice forms part, and generally to the 
 dam or bank of a ditch or artificial piece 
 of water, to the conduit through which 
 the water flows away, to a spout, gutter, 
 watercourse. In the former sense we 
 have Prov. doga^ douva, Fr. douve, douhe, 
 a bank. ^ Douvam sive aggerem dicti 
 fossati.' * Qui a douhe, il a foss^,' who- 
 ever possesses the bank, he has the ditch. 
 In the sense of a conduit ; 'fossas in cir- 
 cuitu basilicas fieri jussit ne forte dogis 
 occultis lymphae deducerentur in fontem.' 
 — Gregory of Tours in Diez. 
 
 In It. we have doccia, a mill-dam, a 
 spout, gutter ; Sp. aguaducho, a rush of 
 water, watercourse ; It. docciare, to spout, 
 to let water run with some force upon 
 one's head for to cleanse and wash it, as 
 they use in Italy. — Fl. Whence the 
 modern E. douche, a bath taken by pour- 
 ing water from a height on the patient. 
 
 In the sense of a water-conduit we find 
 dozza {doccia, dozza, 2iS faccioletto^fazzo- 
 lettd) in a passage misunderstood by 
 Carpentier. ' Statutum est quod canalis 
 de S. Catharina — ducatur tantum per doz- 
 zam, quce est — sub fundo circas (by the 
 culvert which is under the bottom of the 
 ditch), et quod terralium et ripa dictae 
 circae claudatur in totum usque ad dic- 
 tam dozzam ita quod nulla ruptura sit in 
 dicto terralio, et a latere foras dictae 
 circse in capite dozzce possit fieri una 
 clusa alta (a deep sluice, or flood-gate, at 
 the head of the culvert) super dictam 
 dozzam^ &c. 
 
 The sense of stopping up is expressed 
 by the same root in the Finnish lan- 
 guages. Fin. tukko, a lump, bunch, 
 tuft ; tjikkia, to stop an orifice ; tuket, a 
 stopper, the condition of being shut up ; 
 tukkuta, to be stopped up, to stagnate, 
 as water. Magy. dugni, to stufl" ; dugasz, 
 a stopper, bung. 
 
 Docket. A small piece of paper or 
 parchment, containing the heads of a 
 large writing. — B. A shred, or piece. — 
 Hal. A diminutive of dock, in the ori- 
 ginal sense, w. tocyn, a small piece, or 
 slip, a ticket. 
 
 Dod. Synonymous in several of its 
 senses with Dock. Fris. dodd, dadde, a 
 lump, clump, bunch. — Outzen. Sc. dawd, 
 a lunch, lump. Du. dot, a bunch of 
 twisted thread. — Halma. 
 
 DOILEY 
 
 To dod is to reduce to a lump, to cut 
 off excrescences, to curtail. Doddyn trees 
 or herbs, or other like, decomo, capulo. 
 Doddyd, without horns. Doddyd, as trees, 
 decomatus, mutilus. — Pr. Pm. Doddy, 
 low in stature, like a lump. Fr. dodu, fat, 
 plump, full-bodied.— Cot. Doddy-pate, 
 or doddy-poll, is equivalent to block-head, 
 or nuinskjill, jobber-itoll, lump-headed. 
 Fris. dodd, a simpleton. Du. dots-kop, a 
 blockhead. — Halma. 
 
 Dod.— Dodder. Sc. dad, a slam ; to 
 fall, or clap down forcibly, and with noise. 
 He fell with a dad. — ^Jam. Hence dad, 
 a lump, large piece, synonymous with 
 dod. Sc. dod, to jog. To dad, to shake, 
 to strike. — Hal. To dodder, didder, 
 dither, to shake, to tremble; doddered, 
 shaken, shattered. A doddered oak, a 
 shattered oak. A dodderel, or pollard, is 
 from dod in the other sense of the term, 
 to poll, or cut short. 
 
 Dodge. To dodge, to jog, to move 
 quickly to and fro, to deceive by a rapid 
 turn. Sc. datch, to jog, to shake ; dodd, 
 to jog ; to dad down, to fall or clap down 
 with a noise ; to dad, to dash, to bang ; 
 dad, dawd, a lump, large piece of any- 
 thing. Swiss datsch, dotsch, a blow with 
 the open hand ; something broad and 
 flat like a soft substance thrown on the 
 ground ; datschnase, a squabnose ; datsch, 
 the noise of a blow or the blow itself, 
 clap, smack. 
 
 Doe. Lat. dama, G. da?n, AS. da, Dan. 
 daa, fallow-deer ; It. daino as E. doe, the 
 female of the same kind. Gael, damh, 
 an ox, a stag. 
 
 Dog". ON. doggr, Du. dogghe, a. large 
 dog. The uprights in front of the iron 
 bars on which the logs in a fireplace 
 rest, are called dogs, in Swiss feuer-hmid, 
 probably from the resemblance to a dog 
 sitting on its haunches ; in Pol. and Lith. 
 wilki, a wolf. ON. sitia vid dogg, to sit 
 up in bed. 
 
 Doggrel. Pitiful poetry. 
 
 Now swiche a rime the devil I beteche, 
 
 This may wel be clepe rime dogerel quod he. 
 Chaucer, Prol. MeHbeus. 
 
 Dogma. — Dogmatic. Gr. ^oy/xa, an 
 authoritative sentence, a decree, from 
 loKiui, to think, judge, IokH, it seems 
 good, dtdoKTai, it has been resolved, de- 
 creed. 
 
 Doiley. A small napkin used at des- 
 sert, said to be derived from the name of 
 a dealer by whom they were introduced. 
 
 The stores are very low^, Sir, some Doiley pet- 
 ticoats and manteaus we have, and half a dozen 
 pairs of laced shoes. — Dryden, Kind Keeper. 
 
DOIT 
 
 There is, however, a singular resem- 
 blance to Du. dwaele^ dwele, a towel; 
 Swiss dwaheliy a napkin. 
 
 ♦ Doit. Du. duit^ the smallest coin, 
 the T^Tjth part of a guilder. It is also used 
 in the more general sense of a particle or 
 least bit. Hij gelijkt hem op een' ^7«/ .• 
 he resembles him to a hair. — Bomhoff. 
 It is used in Yorkshire synonymous with 
 moit, a mote or atom. ' There was now- 
 ther head nor hair on't, moit nor doit^ 
 every fraction had disappeared. — Whitby 
 Gloss. Analogous forms are seen in dot, 
 jot, tot, representing probably in the first 
 instance a slight utterance, then a slight 
 movement, a particle or small portion of 
 bodily substance. So Gr. yp£), a slight 
 sound, a least bit ; ohlk ypv, not a syllable, 
 not a bit. It is remarkable also that ypv, 
 according to Suidas, like doit and mz'te, 
 was used as the name of a small coin. It. 
 nan fare ne tnotto ne totto, not to let one's 
 breath be heard, not to stir. As motto 
 corresponds to jnoit, so totto to doit. 
 See Mote, Mite. 
 
 -dole.— Dole. — Doleful. Sc. dute, 
 dool, grief; to sing dool, to lament. — 
 Jam. Lat. dole re, to grieve ; It. diiolo, 
 doglia, pain, grief ; Fr. deiiil, mourning. 
 Ir. doilbh, doilfe, dark, gloomy, sorrowful, 
 mournful ; doilbheas, doilgheas, affliction, 
 sorrow ; Gael, doilleir, dim, dark ; duil- 
 bhearra (Ir. duilbhir), sad, anxious, me- 
 lancholy. The opposites to these last 
 are soilleir, bright, clear, and suilbhir, 
 cheerful, joyful, constructed with the 
 particle so equivalent to the Gr. tv, as the 
 former series with the particle do equiv- 
 alent to the Gr. hvq. See Dear, Dark. 
 In like manner Gael. dolas,woe, grief; 
 solas, solace, comfort. The idea of dark- 
 ness is always connected with that of 
 grief and melancholy. E. dial, dowly, 
 dingy, colourless, doleful. — Hal. 
 
 Dole. 2. A portion, or lot. See Deal. 
 
 Dole. 3, Doles, dools, slips of pasture 
 left between furrows of ploughed lands. 
 — B. ' Cursed be he that translateth the 
 bounds and doles of his neighbour.' — 
 Injunction 19 Eliz. in Brand's Pop. Ant. 
 A dole-meadow is a meadow in which the 
 shares of different proprietors are marked 
 by doles or landmarks. Now the simplest 
 division of property would be a strip of 
 turf left unploughed. Pl.D. dole, a small 
 ditch with the sod turned up beside it for 
 a landmark ; tiutdolen, so to mark the 
 division of properties with a ridge and 
 furrow. — Brem. Wtb. The word is pro- 
 bably at bottom identical with w. twll, a 
 pit, Bohem. di'd, a pit, ditch ; then (as 
 
 DOME 
 
 219 
 
 the ditch and bank are made by flinging 
 on the one side the earth taken up from 
 the other) applied both to ridge and fur- 
 row, and subsequently appropriated to 
 either as accidental circumstances might 
 determine. We find the same duplicity 
 of meaning in dike; and 7note, the term 
 by which we designate the ditch of a 
 castle, signifies in It. the mound on which 
 the castle is built. 
 
 Dole, a boundary mark, either a post 
 or a mound of earth, a lump of anything. 
 — Hal. Doel, a butt, or mound of turf 
 for archers to shoot at. — Kil. Dool, dole, 
 the goal in a game of football, &c. — Jam, 
 
 Doll. Properly a bunch of rags. Fris. 
 dok, G. docke, a little bundle, as of thread, 
 a wisp of straw, also a doll ; Swab. 
 dockle, a doll ; dokkelen, to play with a 
 doll. Banff, doll, a .large lump of any- 
 thing. 
 
 So in Fin. nukka, a flock, rag, patch ; 
 nukki, nuket, a doll, pupa lusoria puella- 
 rum ex panniculis. 
 
 If I were mad I should forget my son, 
 Or madly think a babe of clouts were he. 
 K.John. 
 
 Dollar. Du. daler ; G. thaler. Said 
 to be so named from having been struck 
 at Joachimsthal in Bohemia. 
 
 Dolorous. See Dole. Lat. doleo, to 
 grieve ; dolor, grief, pain. 
 
 Dolt. Swab, dalde, dalter, dodle, 
 dalle, dohle, dallebatsch, dallewatsch, 
 dalpe, dalper, a foolish, awkward, clumsy 
 person ; dalpicht, talkicht, clumsy, clown- 
 ish ; dalpen, talketi, to handle awkwardly ; 
 G. t'olpel, a dolt, blockhead. Bav. dalken, 
 to work in sticky, doughy materials ; 
 verdalken, to blot, dawb, do a thing un- 
 skilfully, spoil by awkwardness ; dalketid, 
 dalket, sticky, awkward ; der dalk, the 
 awkward person. — Schmel. 
 
 Dome..— Domestic. — Domicile. Lat. 
 domiis, a house. Gr. Ibiioq, duifia. It is 
 doubtful how the term dome came to be 
 applied to a cupola or vaulted roof. A 
 cathedral is in It. duomo, in G. dom, and 
 a do7ne may be so called because it was 
 the ornament of a cathedral church. A 
 church in general was called domus Dei, 
 the house of God, and probably the name 
 was given to a cathedral church par ex- 
 cellence. On the other hand we find that 
 the Gr. loma was used for a roof. ' Do7na 
 in Orientalibus provinciis ipsum dicitur 
 quod apud Latinos tectum, in Palaestina 
 enim et ^gypto — non habente in tectis 
 culmina sed doniata, quae Romse vel So- 
 laria, vel Mccniana vocant, id est, plana 
 tecta quce transversis trabibus sustentan- 
 
220 DOMINION 
 
 tur.' — St Jerome in Due. Aui/na, tectum. 
 — Gloss. Gr. Lat. Ibid. 
 
 The word domus is commonly derived 
 from the Gr. ^e/xw, to build, but this I be- 
 lieve is putting the cart before the horse. 
 The form with the narrow vowel is com- 
 monly the derivative, and irtvofiat is de- 
 rived from irovog, labour, di'/m from doom, 
 and not vice versa. We have then the 
 most natural derivation for the word sig- 
 nifying a dwelling, in the notion of a 
 hearth or fire-place. 
 
 The Fin. sawu, signifying smoke, is 
 applied in the second place to a house, 
 household, family living in a house, and 
 in like manner the w. ww^, smoke, is 
 identical with Bret, moiig- or mo£^, a fire, 
 hearth, household, house, while a deriva- 
 tive nioged is in the latter dialect used for 
 smoke. In like manner Pol. dym (radic- 
 ally identical with Qv^oq and fuimis) is 
 rendered smoke, cottage, house, while the 
 form doin is also used in the latter sense. 
 Bohem. dy7n, smoke ; dum, a house ; Lith. 
 dumas, smoke. In a rude state of society 
 the hearth is almost universally taken as 
 a type of the family shelter or house. 
 
 The census includes those provinces beyond 
 the frontiers dependant on the empire, which are 
 numbered by fire-places or houses. — Population of 
 China, Amer. Orient. Soc. 
 
 Feu, famille, habitation, domicile. — Ro- 
 quef. 
 
 The G. ranch, smoke, is tropically used 
 for a dwelling-house. Rauch und Brot 
 haben, to have his own dwelling and food. 
 — Adelung. It. fiwiante, house, family. 
 ' Et facere dare in perpetuum promise- 
 runt sex Lucences pro Fianante, qui 
 parium boum habuerint.' — Carp, in v. 
 Fumans. 
 
 In 1680 so many families perished for want 
 that for six miles in a well-inhabited extent, 
 within the year there was not a smokejemaming. 
 — Jam.-' 
 
 Sw. roek, smoke, also domicilium, focus. 
 — Ihre. 
 
 Dominion. — Domain. Lat. dommus, 
 a lord, must probably be explained from 
 domus, the man of the house, master of 
 the house. 
 
 Domino. Sp. domind, Fr. domino, a 
 kind of hood, worn by canons, and hence 
 a fashion of veil worn by women that 
 mourn. — Cot. Now applied to a masque- 
 rade dress. 
 
 Donation, -done. Lat. dare, to give ; 
 donum, a gift ; do7io, to make a gift ; 
 condono, to present, remit, forgive. 
 
 Doom. — To Deem. Goth, doms, judg- 
 ment ; do7nJan, AS. dejnan, to distinguish, 
 
 DOSE 
 
 think, judge, deem. Lith. dumd, mind, 
 thought, opinion ; dutndti, to be of 
 opinion, to have in the mind ; apsidu- 
 7n6ti, to remember. 
 
 Let. dohmaht, Russ. dumat\ to think, 
 to be of opinion. Gr. Qviioq, breath, life, 
 soul, mind, thought, resolve. The ulti- 
 mate meaning is doubtless the breath, 
 from Russ. duf, Illyr. duti, duhati, du- 
 vati, to blow, to breathe ; Gr. flyw, pro- 
 perly to blow or breathe, then to storm, 
 to rage, to rush, to breathe out odours, 
 to sacrifice ; Magy. funi, to blow, to 
 snort. 
 
 Door. Gr. Bbpa, Goth, daur, G. thor, 
 thiire, Sanscr. dvdr, Lith. durris, Slav. 
 dvyry, &c. 
 
 Dor. A drone bee, a beetle. Perhaps 
 from the humming sound made by ani- 
 mals of this class in flying. Gael, dur- 
 dan, humming noise ; ditrdail, murmur- 
 ing, grumbling, cooing like a dove. Ir. 
 dordam, to hum like a bee ; dord, hum- 
 ming or muttering. But the Du. form, 
 tor, torre, a beetle, is against this deriva- 
 tion. 
 
 To Dor. To befool one, put a trick 
 upon him. ON. ddr, irrisio ; ddra, to 
 deride, befool ; ddri, Dan. daare, a fool ; 
 bedaare, to delude, befool ; Du. door, G. 
 thor, a fool. 
 
 Doree, Fr. dor^e, the doree or St 
 Peter's fish — Cot., from the yellow colour 
 of the skin. 
 
 Dormant. — Dormer. Fr. dormant., 
 quiescent, sleeping, from dormir, to sleep. 
 Eau dormante, standing water. A dor- 
 mant claim, a claim in abeyance. A 
 dorjner was a sleeping apartment, whence 
 a dormer window, a window in the roof, 
 usually appropriated to sleeping apart- 
 ments. 
 
 * Dormouse. Probably for dortn- 
 mouse, from the winter sleep of the ani- 
 mal, on which account it is in Suffolk 
 called sleeper; in Bret, hunegati, from 
 htm, sleep. Lang, dourmeire, a slum- 
 berer ; radour77ieire, a dormouse. In 
 Cotswold the name of dor77iouse is applied 
 to the bat, which also has a winter sleep. 
 N.E. to dor77i, to doze ; Hereford dor77ie- 
 do7y, a sleepy, inactive person. — Hal. 
 Sw. dial. dor77ieter, dor77iig, sleepy, slow ; 
 dor77ia, to doze, to faint ; Swab. dur77te7i^ 
 dur77ieln, to slumber ; Lat. dor77iire, to 
 sleep. 
 
 Dorsal, -dorse. Lat. dorstwi, the 
 back. 
 
 E7ido7-se, Fr. e7idosser, to write on the 
 back of a document. 
 
 Dose. The quantity of medicine given 
 
DOSIL 
 
 at once. Gr. domg, from SiSiofii, to give. 
 Dosil. Fr. doiisil, dusil, a spigot, 
 faucet, peg or tap to draw off liquor from 
 a cask, derived by Diez from ducere, to 
 lead. The fundamental idea is a bunch 
 of something thrust in to stop an orifice. 
 G. docke, a bunch, also the tap of a fish- 
 pond. — Adelung. In It. doccia the sig- 
 nification is extended to a mill dam, and 
 as it is the office of a tap to let the water 
 flow, doga (Gregory of T.), a water con- 
 duit. It. doccia^ dozza, a spout, gutter, 
 water conduit. Pro v. dotz j OFr. doiz, 
 dots, source of water, conduit. 
 
 C'est la fontaine, c'est la doiz 
 
 Dont sortent tuit li let pechie — 
 
 Rome est la doiz de la malice. — Raynouard. 
 
 Prov. adozilhar^ Fr. doisiller, to pierce. 
 At the same time a parallel line of de- 
 velopment seems to have taken place in 
 the Teutonic languages from a root doss 
 of the same signification with dock. 
 Gael, dos, bush, tuft, cluster ; E. dial. 
 doss, a hassock ; dosset, a small quantity ; 
 dossel, a wisp of hay or straw, to stop 
 up a hole in a barn, a plug. Swiss diis- 
 sel, a wooden tap. E. dosil, a tent for a 
 wound, probably comes from the French. 
 
 Compare Fr. bonsche, a bush or bunch ; 
 boiicher, to stop ; bouchon, a stopper, 
 cork. And see Dot, Dit. 
 
 Dot. — To Dit. Dot, the mark of a mere 
 touch with the pen, a spot, also a small 
 lump. Cot. speaks of 'a dot, clot or 
 congealed lump of phlegm, blood, &c.' 
 Du. dot, a knot of silk or thread. N. dott, 
 Da. tot, a tuft, wisp, bunch. Then, like 
 other words signifying a bunch or lump, 
 applied to something used for stopping a 
 hole. Du. dodde (Kil.), Pl.D. dutte, a plug 
 or stopper. Sc. dottle, a small particle ; 
 E. dottle, a. stopper ; to dutten or dit, to 
 stop, shut, fasten. — Hal. 
 
 Dot or tot represents in the first in- 
 stance a slight utterance, as shown under 
 Doit, then a slight movement, a small 
 portion. To tot something down in the 
 margin is to put down a hasty note ; to 
 tot up an account, to touch each item as 
 you cast them up ; to tot one's fs, to give 
 the short cross stroke. The dim. tittle 
 signifies the dot over an /, and also a 
 small particle. ON. datta, to beat gently, 
 as the heart ; Sw. dial, dutta, ddtta, dotta, 
 N. dutte, dytta, to touch, to knock ; Sc. 
 dad, to jog ; Sw. dial, dett, ditt, a dot or 
 spot, a little lump. See Jot, Tit. 
 
 -dote. Gr. horkoq, to be given, from 
 SiSwfii, to give. Hence ccvtiSotov, a remedy 
 against poison ; dvsKdoros, not given out, 
 unpublished. 
 
 DOUGH 
 
 221 
 
 * To Dote. Fr. dotter, radoter, to 
 dote, rave. — Cot. Dotard, an old doting 
 man, and fig. a decayed tree. 
 
 The radical sense seems to be to nod 
 the head, thence to become sleepy, to 
 doze, to become confused in the under- 
 standing. ON. datta, to beat as the heart, 
 Sw. dial, datta, to shake ; ON. dotta, to 
 nod with sleep, to slumber ; Devon. 
 doattee, to nod the head while sitting up 
 when sleep comes on. Sc. diite, dut, to 
 doze, slumber, be in a sleepy state. Attld 
 dut, an old dotard. Du. dut, slumber, 
 sleep, doting. He zit in den dut, he 
 slumbers, he dotes. Dutten, to doze, 
 slumber, to dote, rave, be out of one's 
 mind. — Halma. 
 
 Dotterel. A bird proverbial for stu- 
 pidity, from dote. 
 
 Double. — Duplicate. — Duplicity. 
 Lat. plico, to fold ; duplex, twofold, 
 double. 
 
 Doublet. Originaily a wadded gar- 
 ment for defence. Fr. doubld. Dobbelet, 
 bigera, diplois (duplex vestis et'est vestis 
 militaris). — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Doubt. Fr. doubter; Lat. dubi- 
 tare, from dubius, doubtful, what may 
 turn out in two ways. 
 
 Dough. AS. dah, ON. deig, G. teig, a 
 soft wet material moulded by the hands. 
 The ultimate origin is shown in E. daggle, 
 Salzburg taggln, Bav. tegelen, to dabble, 
 dawb, smear ; or with the nasal, Siles. 
 tengeln, betengeln, to bedaggle, Swiss 
 tanggen, tanggeln, tanscheln (as well as 
 teiggen, teiggelen), to knead, to work in 
 paste ; tajtg, tanggig, soft, clammy. 
 From daggle or tegeln we pass to Bav. 
 tegel, tahel, taken, tah, clay, loam, and 
 thence earthen vessel ; ohg. daha, taha, 
 clay, loam ; ON. deigr, Swiss teig (Schmidt, 
 Id. Bern.), wet, soft ; Goth, deigan, to 
 mould in plastic materials ; gadikis (OHG. 
 teget), the thing moulded, an earthen 
 vessel. ' M?7 £p£i TO TrXdfTfia t^^j ttXcktuvti^ 
 in Goth. ' ibai quithith gadikis du tham- 
 ma digandin : ' shall the thing moulded 
 say to him who moulded it. A like con- 
 nection between expressions for dabbling 
 in the wet and working in plastic material 
 may be observed in E. plash compared 
 with Gr. TrXdaau), to form. See Plaster. 
 
 Professor Aufrecht points out that the 
 ordinary rule of consonantal change 
 shown in Lat, fores, Gr. Bvpa, door ; in 
 rufus, Gr. tgvBpoQ, red ; uber (for ttfer), Gr. 
 ovdap, udder, would render the Lat. Jin- 
 gere, to form, and figulus, a potter, the 
 exact equivalents of Goth, deigait^digands. 
 
222 
 
 DOUGHTY 
 
 For other examples of the same con- 
 sonantal change see Fool. 
 
 Doughty. AS. dohtig^ valiant ; dugan^ 
 Du. deugen^ doghen, doogen, valere, pro- 
 bum esse, in pretio esse ; deughd, virtus, 
 valor, probitas ; deughdeltck, sound, good ; 
 G. taugen, to be good for, to be of value ; 
 tugend^ virtue ; tiichiig, Lap. doktok, suf- 
 ficient for its purpose, sound, strong. 
 
 To Douse. Du. doesen, pulsare cum 
 impetu et fragore. — Kil. 
 
 * To Dout. To extinguish a candle, 
 to do out, as don, to do on ; dqff^, to do off. 
 
 Dove. Du. duyve, ON. dufa, perhaps 
 from its habit of ducking the head, from 
 Du. duypen, to duck the head ; N. duva, 
 to ducic the head, to dip ; Sanscr. dubh, 
 dive ; as we find Lat. coliimba, in a similar 
 connection with Gr. Ko\vfji(3dv, to dive. 
 
 Than peine I me to stretchen forth my neck 
 And East and West upon the people I beck, 
 As doth a dove sitting upon a beam. 
 
 , Pardoner's Tale. 
 
 Dowdy* Shabby in dress.— Hal. The 
 fundamental idea is however torpor, sloth, 
 while that of carelessness of dress or ap- 
 pearance is an incidental application. Sc. 
 dawdle, a dirty, slovenly woman ; to 
 dawdle, to be indolent or slovenly ; Pl.D. 
 d'ddeln, to be slow, not to get on with a 
 thing. — Schiitze. ON. dodi, languor ; 
 dodaskapr, Dan. dovejiskab, sloth, lan- 
 guor. For the ultimate origin see Deaf. 
 
 Dowel. A projection in a stone to fit 
 into a socket and fasten it into the adja- 
 cent one ; a wooden peg fastening two 
 boards together. Fr. doiielle, douille, a 
 tap or socket ; G. dobel, a peg, plug, stop- 
 per. — Kiittn. Bav. dilpel s. s., especially 
 the dowel or wooden peg entering into 
 each of two adjacent boards to fasten 
 them together, a damper of clay to stop 
 the chimney of the oven, a clump of flax, 
 of people, &;c. — Schmeller. 
 
 Du. douwen, to press into ; jemandjets 
 in de hand douwen, or sleeken, to put 
 something secretly into one's hand. — 
 Halma. Pl.D. duwejt, to press, press 
 down. 
 
 Dower. - — Dowager. — Endow. Lat. 
 dos, dolls, a marriage gift ; dolare, Fr. 
 doner, E. endow, to furnish with a mar- 
 riage portion. Mid. Lat. dotarium, Frov. 
 dolaire, Fr. douaire, a dowry or mar- 
 riage provision ; dotiairiere, a widow in 
 possession of her portion, a dowager. 
 
 Dowle. A portion of down, feather. 
 * Young dowl of the beard.' — Howel in 
 Hal. Fr. douille, douillel, soft, delicate. 
 Lith. duja, a mote, pi. dtijos, dust ; du- 
 
 DOWN 
 
 joli, to float in the air ; dnje and the 
 dim. dujele, a dowl or down-feather. 
 
 Down. I. Applied to things light 
 enough to float in the air, as thistle-down. 
 G. daune, ON. dtht, the lightest and softest 
 kind of feather ; Du. donse, donst, down 
 of feathers or of the typha, sawdust, meal, 
 flour. — Kil. G. diaist, exhalation, vapour, 
 mist, fume. The primary signification is 
 probably mist or vapour, the down being 
 compared for lightness to vapour floating 
 in the air. Thus the Esthon. has uddo 
 or udsu, mist ; uddo karwda down-hair, 
 uddo-sulled or udso-sulle, down-feathers 
 (karwad = hair ; sulled = feathers). 
 Traces of this sense are seen in the ON. 
 daun, odour, smell. But most likely the 
 final consonant was originally an in in- 
 stead of an n, as preserved in Esthon. 
 tuum sidle, down-feathers, and in the E. 
 dial, dum, down, fur. A duck or a goose 
 is said to dum her nest when she lines it 
 with some of her own feathers plucked off 
 for that purpose. — Hal. 
 
 The same form was extant in OFr. 
 (Diez V. duvet), and is preserved by the 
 Emperor Frederick II. in Due. 'Innas- 
 citur vero avibus plumagium multiplex — 
 Secundo innascuntur alise [plumae] quse 
 dicuntur lanulae, a quibusdam dumcB, hag 
 sunt exiles et moUes, densiores et longi- 
 ores primis, &c.' Hence the Fr. dial. 
 dumet, which has become duvet in ordin- 
 ary Fr. — Menage. Dumette, downie. — 
 Cot. The origin is seen in the ODu. doin, 
 vapour ; Bohem. dym, smoke ; Du. do77ip, 
 vapour, exhalation, breath, whence Pl.D. 
 dunipslig, dumstig, dunslig, vaporous, 
 bringing us round to the G. dunst. 
 
 The same consonantal change which 
 is seen in the Fr. dmitet, duvet, dubet, is 
 also found in the modifications of the 
 same root having the sense of vapour, 
 exhalation, odour. Thus we unite the 
 Du. do7n, vapour, with Sp. Info, a vapour, 
 exhalation, stink, Dan. duft, fragrance, 
 odour, ON. dupt, Sw. doft, dust, dofta, to 
 evaporate. With an initial s, Sc. stove, 
 steev, a vapour, smoke, dust ; Du. stof, 
 stuyf, stuyve, dust, whatever floats in 
 the air ; stuyf-sand, — meel, arena, farina 
 volatica ; stof, flocks of wool ; stof-hayr, 
 down-hair ; stuyf ken, the down of flow- 
 ers ■=■ Fr. duvet. 
 
 2. Du. duyne, Fr. dunes, sand-hills by 
 the sea-side. Fris. dohne, a hillock of 
 sand or snow driven by the wind. AS. 
 dun, a hill. Gael, dim, a heap, hill, 
 mount, fortified place. 
 
 The adverb down is from AS. of dune, 
 as the OFr. a inont and a val, to the hill 
 
DOXY 
 
 and to the valley, for upwards and down- 
 wards respectively. Of dune, deorsum. 
 — Lye. 
 
 Doxy. — Gixy. Probably from the 
 rogues' cant. Yx.gueuse, a woman beggar, 
 a she rogue, a doxy or niort. Goguenelle, 
 a feigned title for a wench, like oux gixie, 
 callet, minx, &c.— Cot. Doxy, a sweet- 
 heart. — Hunter. 
 
 To Doze. Bav. dosen, to keep still, to 
 listen, to slumber ; dtisen, dussen, to 
 slumber ; Dan. dose, to doze, to mope ; 
 dysse, to lull ; taus, silent, hushed. And 
 see the forms cited under Dismal. The 
 fundamental image is probably the deep 
 breathing in sleep represented by the syl- 
 lable dus, tus. Lith. diisas, a deep breath, 
 dwasas, the breath ; dusti, dwlsti, to 
 breathe ; Bohem. diisati, to snort. In 
 like manner a representation of the same 
 sound by the syllable sough, swough, 
 gave rise to the OE. swough, sleep, swoon, 
 Sc. souch, swouch, sou/, the deep breath- 
 ing of sleep, silent, quiet ; ON. siJeJla (as 
 Dan. dysse), to quiet, svefn, sleep ; AS. 
 suwian, swiigan, to be silent. 
 
 Dozen. Fr. dousaine, from doiize, 
 twelve. 
 
 Drab. i. Du. drabbe, Dan. drav, 
 Gael, drabh, draff, dregs ; Du. drabbig, 
 feculentus ; Gael, drabach, nasty, dirty, 
 slovenly ; drabag, a dirty female, a drab ; 
 drabaire, a. dirty, slovenly man. Banff. 
 drabble, a person of dirty habits. A dirty 
 woman is called in Dan. dial, drav-so, 
 drav-trug, a drafif-pail. — Molbech. The 
 radical image is dabbling in the wet and 
 dirt. See Drabble. 
 
 2. The grey colour of undyed cloth. 
 Fr. drap. It. drappo, cloth. See Drape. 
 
 Drabble. — Draggle. Drabble and 
 draggle in the first instance probably, like 
 dabble and daggle, signify to paddle in 
 the wet. Du. drabben, ire per loca lutosa. 
 — Bigl. Drabelyn, drakelyn, paludo ; 
 drapled, drablyd, paludosus, lutulentus. — 
 Pr. Pm. One is said to drable his claise 
 who slabbers his clothes when eating. — 
 Jam. Pl.D. drabbeht, to slobber, let 
 liquids fall over one in eating ; drabbelbart, 
 one who dirties himself in such a manner. 
 Banff, draggle, to moisten meal slightly ; 
 Sc. draglit, bedirtied, bespattered — Gl. 
 
 Dougl. ; Sw. dragla, dregla, to slobber, 
 drivel, let the spittle fall from the mouth. 
 AS. drefliende, rheumaticus. — Lye. See 
 Draff. Sc. draked or drawked, mingled 
 with water or mire — Gl. Dougl., reduced 
 to a dreggy condition ; Gael, druaip, 
 
 DRAG 
 
 223 
 
 lees, dregs, sediment; druablas, muddy 
 liquor. 
 
 In modern usage all sense of a deriva- 
 tion from a word signifying dregs or dirt 
 has been lost, and draggle is understood 
 as if it were a frequentative from drag, 
 signifying what has been dragged in the 
 mire. 
 
 Draff. AS., Du. drabbe, Dan. drav, ON. 
 draf, dregs, husks, hogswash, refuse food 
 for hogs. Draffe, or drosse, or matter 
 stamped, pilumen. — Pr. Pm. G. trdbern, 
 brewers' grains ; Gael, druaip, Lett, drab- 
 bitii, Illyr. drop, dropina, Russ. drobina, 
 dregs, lees ; Du. drabbig, E. dial, dravy, 
 drovy, thick, muddy, dirty. Drubby, 
 muddy. — Hal. Drobly, of drestys, fecu- 
 lentus', turbulentus. — Pr. Pm. Draff, 
 chaff. 
 
 Why shuld I sowen draf out of my fist 
 
 Whan I may sowen whete, if that me list. 
 Chaucer in Way. 
 
 The change of the final labial for a gut- 
 tural gives rise to a series of forms that 
 cannot be separated from the foregoing. 
 ON. dregg, E. dregs, sediment ; Prov. 
 draco, dregs of the vintage ; Rouchi 
 draque, OFr. drague, drache, drasche, 
 dreche, dresche, draff, brewers' grains, 
 dregs of brewing. The form drasche was 
 Latinised as drascus, drasqua, and from 
 the facility with which the sound of sc 
 passes into that of st, gave the Latinised 
 drastus, as well as drascus. — Way. Hence 
 the OE. forms drast, drest, traistj AS. 
 dresten, faeces ; G. trestern, dregs. For 
 the change of the final consonant com- 
 pare Fr. buc, busche, busc, bust, a bust, 
 trunk. 
 
 Again, the sound of the Fr. ch in some 
 dialects of France regularly corresponds 
 to that of ss in others, as the Picard or 
 Norman cacher to the Fr, chasser. In 
 like manner the form drache leads to the 
 AS. dros, fsex, sordes, Du. droessem, dregs, 
 dras, mud. — Halma. OE. drass, dross, 
 refuse, cleansings of corn, metal, &c. 
 Drosse, or fylthe whereof it be, ruscum ; 
 drosse or drasse of corn, acus, criballum. 
 — Pr. Pm. Pol. dro'zd'ze (i = Fr. j), 
 Walach. droschdii, dregs, lees. 
 
 The Gael, leads us to the same forms 
 through a different route ; drabh, draff, 
 grains of malt ; drabhag, dregs, sediment, 
 refuse ; drabhas, filth, foul weather, ob- 
 scenity ; draos, trash, filth. 
 
 The origin is probably exhibited in 
 drabble, draggle, to dabble, paddle in the 
 wet and mud. Goth, drobjan, to stir up, 
 to trouble. 
 
 To Drag.— Draw. AS. dragan, on. 
 
224 
 
 DRAGGLE 
 
 draga, to drag or draw ; Du. draghcn^ G. 
 tragen, to carry. Du. trcckcn, to draw 
 as " a sword, to trace outlines ; trcck- 
 bruggJte, a draw-bridge ; treck-net, a 
 drag-net. Lat. trahere, to draw. 
 
 To Draggle. See Drabble. 
 
 Dragon. Lat. draco, Gr. ^paicwv, a 
 sort of large serpent, Fr. dragon. 
 
 Dragoon. Described by Skinner as 
 cavalry carrying fire-arms, and therefore 
 capable of service either on horseback or 
 on foot. As the French carabins, a simi- 
 lar kind of troops {carabijn, equester 
 sclopetarius — Bigl.), were named from 
 the carbine which they carried, it is pro- 
 bable that the dragoons, or dragooners 
 (Du. dragonder), as they were also called, 
 had a similar origin. Dragon, a species 
 of carbine — Hal., so named, no doubt, 
 after the analogy of culverin, Fr. couletc- 
 vrine, from coulenvre, a snake. Drake, 
 a kind of gun. — Bailey. 
 
 * Drain, i. w.e. r^/«^, r^^;^, a water- 
 course, an open drain — Jennings ; Lane. 
 reean, rindle, a gutter. — Hal. E.E. drean, 
 a cut, drain ; drindle, a channel, water- 
 course, furrow. — Moor. 
 
 ' Here also it receiveth the Baston 
 dreane, Longtoft dreane, Deeping dreane, 
 and thence goeth by Wickham into the 
 sea.' — Hollinshed. For the identity of 
 reen or rhine and drain, comp. rill, a 
 watercourse, and drill, a furrow ; Sc. 
 dredour and reddour, fear, G. rieseln and 
 E. drizzle. 
 
 The form drindle points to the origin 
 of the word in the notion of falHng bit by 
 bit, dribbling, trickling down. * He is 
 the drindlest man I ever did business 
 with :' the slowest. — Moor. Drindle is 
 the nasalised form of Sc. driddle, to spill 
 anything, to let fall from carelessness, to 
 be constantly in action but making little 
 progress [i. e. to keep dribbling on], to 
 move slowly. — ^Jam. Sw. dial, dradda. 
 Da. dratte, to spill, drop ; drat, a scrap, 
 slop, little bit ; Sw. dial, dratta, dretta, 
 drettla, to spill, drop, let fall, dribble ; E. 
 dial, tridlins, the dung of sheep (which 
 falls dribbling down in separate pellets) ; 
 Banff, trintle, trinkle, trinnle, the sound 
 made by a liquid falling in drops, or by 
 any hard comminuted substance falling 
 in small quantities ; to fall in drops, in a 
 small gentle stream, in small quantities. 
 * The corn cam trinnlin^ oot o' a wee 
 holie in the saick.' * It winna lat oot the 
 wort bit in a mere trinnlej' The primary 
 notion of drindle and the derivative drain 
 would thus be a dribbling stream. 
 
 2. The spent refuse of malt in brewing 
 
 DRAM 
 
 arc still called brewers' drains in Suffolk, 
 probably the truer form, which has in 
 general given way to bi'ewers' grains. 
 ' Drascus — nos de la drague dicimus, 
 Angli draines et draff.' — Due. Probably 
 from the same root with dregs and con- 
 nected with forms like Lith. drlgti, to 
 become wet, to thaw ; drlgnas, wet, 
 sloppy ; dranka, hogswash ; Sw. dragg, 
 drank, distillers' wash or grains, dregs, 
 lees ; Russ. drdn^ drdntza, dirt, rubbish, 
 refuse. 
 
 Drake. The male of birds is in one 
 or two instances designated by the sylla- 
 ble rick, drick, drake. Dan. due, a dove ; 
 duerik, a male dove ; and, a duck ; andrik, 
 Sw. and-drake, a drake ; G. ente, a duck ; 
 enterick, a drake. The same variation 
 between an initial r and dr is found in 
 the original sense of the word. OHG. 
 recke, a warrior, hero ; ON. reckr, vir, 
 miles ; OE. renk, rink j ON. drengr, a 
 warrior. 
 
 In like manner the Fin. w^os (identical 
 with the Gr. r/pw^ and Lat. herus, G. herr, 
 master) signifies a grown man, brave 
 man, and the male of animals ; uros- 
 puoli, the male sex ; uros-lintu, a male 
 bird ; tiro-teko, a heroic deed. Anser 
 (vir aucarum) eyn herr unter den gensen. 
 — Dief. Sup. 
 
 To Drake. — Drack, — Drawk. To 
 saturate with water — Hunter ; to mix 
 with mire or water. — Gloss. Dougl. 
 Draplyd, drablyd, paludosus. Drablyn, 
 drakelyn, paludo. — Pr. Pm. Drakes, a 
 slop, a mess. — Hal. Pl.D. drekmetje, a 
 woman who dirties her clothes, a draggle- 
 tail ; dreksoom, the border of wet at the 
 bottom of a bedraggled gown. — Schiitze. 
 ON. dreckia, and (as the root takes a 
 nasal form in Sw. drank, dregs, grains, 
 
 wash) Sw. dranka, to plunge in water. 
 Lith. drlgnas, wet, sloppy, drlginti, drl- 
 kinti, to make wet. See Drabble. 
 
 Drake. 2. — Drawk. Drake, drawk, 
 drank, drunk, darnel, a mischievous weed 
 among corn. ' Le yveraye (darnel) i 
 crest, et le betel (drauke).' — Bibelsworth 
 in Way. Du. dravick, asgilops, vitium 
 secalis. — Kil. w. drewg, Bret, draok, 
 dreok, Wal. drauwe, darnel. 
 
 Dram. — Drachm. Gr. Spaxfiv, a 
 drachm or dram, a weight of 60 grains. 
 It. drani7na, a very small quantity of 
 anything. Bret, drafnmour, an apothe- 
 cary, one who retails medicaments in 
 drams. In Normandy the term drame is 
 applied to a pinch of snuff. — Patois de 
 Bray. In Denmark, as in England, it is 
 
DRAMA 
 
 used for a small glass of spirits, a dose 
 of spirits. — Molb. Dial. Lex. 
 
 Drama.— Dramatic. Gr. dpafia, an 
 act, a performance, from Spdio, to do, 
 enact. 
 
 Drape.— Draper. Fr. drop, cloth. 
 Sp. ^rapo, rag, tatter (which seems the 
 original signification), cloth. A todo 
 trapo, with every rag of canvas set. Per- 
 haps from the sound of a flapping piece 
 of cloth represented by the syllable trap. 
 Sp. gualdrape, the housings or trappings 
 of a horse, the long hangings with which 
 they were covered on occasions of state ; 
 also a tatter, rag hanging down from 
 clothes ; giialdrapazo, slap of the sails 
 against the mast. 
 
 Draught. What is dragged or drawn. 
 A draught of water, so much as is drawn 
 down the throat at once. A draught of 
 fishes, what is taken at one drag of the 
 net. A move at chess or similar game 
 was formerly known by this name, whence 
 the game of draughts, of moves with se- 
 parate pieces. 
 The burgeise took avisement long on every 
 
 draught — 
 Draw on, said the burgeise, Beryn, ye have the 
 
 wers — 
 The next draught thereafter he took a rook for 
 nought. — Beryn. 
 
 In the same way It. tiro, a move at 
 chess, from tirare, to draw. 
 
 To Drawl. Sc. drawl, to be slow in 
 action ; Du. draelen, Fris. dratden 
 (Wiarda), Dan. drcBve (also drcebe, drcege 
 — Moth), to delay, loiter, be slow. ' Han 
 drcever sine ord saa langt ud,' he drawls 
 out his words so slow. Drcsvs, a slow 
 inactive person ; droole, to be slow at 
 one's work, — Molb. Dial. Lex. Sw. dial. 
 dribba, drebba, drula, drola, to be slow 
 and inactive, to loiter ; komma driilandes, 
 to drag one leg after another. Du. drui- 
 len, to loiter, slumber ; W.E. driling, waste 
 of time, drawling ; dreul, to fritter away 
 one's time ; a lazy fellow. — Hal. 
 
 I am inclined to believe that the word 
 is derived from drabble or dribble, drivel, 
 to let fall drop by drop, to do by little 
 and little. We have E. drool, to drivel — 
 Jennings, Baker ; bedrauled, bedrabbled, 
 slavered over. — P. P. Sw. dial, drdlla, 
 drdllta, to spill, to let fall in driblets here 
 and there, to go to work in a slow and 
 unskilful manner, to be slow and negli- 
 gent ; dribba, drebba, to be lazy, slow. 
 
 A like train of thought is seen in Sw. 
 dial, dratta, to spill, to let fall, to fall by 
 little and little ; dretta^ drettla, to spill, 
 to scatter ; drad, a drib, what falls drop- 
 
 DREAM 
 
 225 
 
 wise or spills over ; drodd, druddele^ 
 droddekar, a slug, lazy person ; drodda, 
 to dawdle ; Da. drat, scrap, slop, little 
 bit; Du. dreutelen, Pl.D. drdtele?t, to loiter, 
 idle, delay ; N.E. drate, drite, to drawl. 
 Compare also Suffolk drindle, a small 
 slow run of water ; drindle, slow. 
 
 He is the drindlest man I ever did business 
 with. — Moor. 
 
 Again, Swiss drbseln, trbseln, to patter 
 down, E. drizzle, to fall in small morsels ; 
 Pl.D. drieseln, to loiter, dawdle; Du. 
 treiizelen, to loiter, linger. 
 
 Dray. Sw. drog, a sledge, a carriage 
 without wheels, what is dragged along, 
 as Lat. traha s. s., from trahere, to draw. 
 It. treggia, a hurdle, sled, harrow, truck. 
 
 Dread. E. dial, dredre, Sc. dredour, 
 dridder, as well as raddour, reddottr, 
 fear, dread ; rad, red, Sw. ra;dd, afraid. 
 The radical meaning is probably to trem- 
 ble, from OFr. dredre, onomatopoeia for 
 the chattering of the teeth ; dridriller, to 
 jingle as mules' bells. — Roquef. Walach. 
 derdeescu, derde, Magy. dideregjii, the 
 teeth to chatter, to shiver with cold. 
 Bret, drida, trida, to thrill or shiver for 
 joy. 
 
 With dredfull dredour trymbling for affray 
 
 The Troianis fled richt fast.— D. V. 315-16. 
 
 A similar derivation for the forms red- 
 dour, red, may be found in AS. hridrian, 
 G. riltteln, to shake ; hrith-adl, an ague 
 or shaking sickness ; hrithian (to shiver), 
 to be ill of a fever. 
 
 Dream, on. draumr, G. iraum. Russ. 
 dremaf, to slumber, be slow ; Serv. dretn, 
 drijem, slumber, sleepiness ; Pol. d?'zy~ 
 7nac, to doze, slumber, nap. Lang, droumi, 
 dourmi, Swiss Romance droumi, dremi, 
 to sleep. 
 
 Perhaps the confused state of mind in 
 drowsiness and dreams may lie at the 
 root of the word, as trouble of mind is 
 commonly expressed by the metaphor of 
 thickness or muddiness of liquids. 
 
 My mind is troubled like a fountain stirred, 
 
 And I myself see not to the bottom of it. 
 
 Thus we pass from AS. drof, Du. droef, 
 E. dial, drevy, dravy, thick, muddy, 
 dirty, to Du. droef, droevig, troubled in 
 mind, sad, droeven, AS. drefan, gedrefan, 
 to disturb, trouble, and may thence ex- 
 plain Sc. drevilling, unsound sleep, slum- 
 ber, E. dial, draveled. slumbered fitfully. 
 —Hal. 
 
 Quhen langsum dreuillyng or the unsound sleep 
 Our ene ouersettis in the nychtis rest. — D. V. 
 
 The train of thought is more complete 
 in AS. drabbe, dregs ; E. drabble^ to dabble 
 15 
 
,126 
 
 DREARY 
 
 in the wet {drabclyn, paludo — Pr. Pm.), 
 drobly^ drubly (Pr. Pm.), So. drubly^ 
 dntmbly, drnmly^ E. drotimy (Hal.), 
 muddy, thick, dark, troubled. * Drubblyn 
 or torblyn watur or other lycoure, turbo.' 
 : — Pr. Pm. The ale is drumbled, i. e. 
 disturbed, muddy. — Jam. To driunble^ 
 to be confused in doing anything ; he 
 dreatns drutnbles, he is half asleep or 
 stupid. — Hal. ' Look how you xiriimble.^ 
 — Shakes. Pl.D. drmmnebi^ drormneln, 
 to be half asleep.— D. M. v. 54. Lith. 
 dnifnsti, to make thick, to trouble ; 
 drumstas, dregs ; Pl.D. dram, trouble ; 
 Sc. dram, drum, dull, melancholy. 
 
 There is a like correspondence between 
 Du. dreck, dirt, mud, and AS. dreccan, to 
 trouble, whence OE. drecche, dretche, to 
 disturb or trouble, especially by dreams, 
 and thence simply to dream. 
 
 This Chanteclere gan gronen in his throte 
 As man that in his dreme is dretchyd sore. 
 Chaucer. 
 Dremyn or dretchyn yn slepe, sompnio. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 * Dreary, as. dreorig, OHG. trurag, 
 G. traurig, sorrowful ; OHG. getruregot, 
 conturbata ; truren, druren, contristari, 
 to be troubled or grieved in mind. 
 
 It seems impossible to explain the 
 sense of the word from AS. dreore, ON. 
 dreyri, blood, whence dreyrigr, bloody. 
 Grimm understands it as equivalent to 
 chopfallen, downcast ; from ohg. driusan, 
 AS. dreosan {hi di'uron, they fell), to fall, 
 which is not quite satisfactory. 
 
 To Dredge. — Drizzle. To dredge, to 
 scatter flour on meat while roasting ; to 
 dridge, to sprinkle. — Hal. Dan. drysse, 
 to dredge, sprinkle, powder, to fall in 
 small particles as sand. From the pat- 
 tering sound of such a fall. Dan. dial. 
 draase, drase, to fall with a pattering or 
 rustling noise. ' Det regner saa det 
 draaser,' G. ' Es regnet dass es drduscht^ 
 of a heavy shower. It. trosciare, to rain 
 or shower down most furiously ; strosci- 
 are, to fall furiously and clatter withal, as 
 rain or hail falling upon tiles or against 
 glass windows.— Fl. Grain is said in 
 Dan. to draase through the cracks of an 
 old loft, or from the ears of corn when 
 they are setting up the sheaves. This is 
 the E. dial, durze. Durzed or dorzed out, 
 said of corn that by wind, turning of it, 
 ■&c., is beaten out of the straw. — Ray. 
 Dras, what falls out of the corn in thresh- 
 ing. — Molbech. Sc. drush, atoms, frag- 
 ments. — Jam. G. riesebi, to purl as a 
 brook, to fall in grains as frozen snow or 
 small rain, to ^/r/>^/^.— Kiittn. Swiss 
 
 DRETCH 
 
 droseln, troscln, to make a rattling or 
 rustling noise in falling, as fruit from a 
 tree, to fall with such a noise, the fuller 
 vowel in droseln being used of larger 
 fruit, as apples, the thinner in droseln of 
 nuts. Dan. drasle, to fall with a rustling 
 noise, to patter. 
 
 In Fr. the same idea is expressed with 
 an initial gr instead of drj gresiller, to 
 hail, drizzle, sleet, reem to fall. — Cot. 
 
 Dredge. 2. — Dradge. Oats and bar- 
 ley mixed together. — B. Dragge, men- 
 gled corne {drage or mestlyon, P.) mixtio. 
 — Pr. Pm. Fr. dragee aux chevaux, pro- 
 vender of divers sort of pulse mingled 
 together ; dravee, all kind of pulse, as 
 beans, peas, &c. — Cot. See Drug. 
 
 Dredge. 3. Du. dregghe, harpago, et 
 verriculum ; a kind of anchor with three 
 or four flukes, an instrument for drag- 
 ging. Dregh-net, verriculum, everricu- 
 lum, a dredge or kind of net for dragging 
 along the bottom. 
 
 Dregs. See Draff. 
 
 Drench. ON. dreckia, to plunge in 
 water ; Sw. dranka, s. s,, also to drown ; 
 Du. drencken, to water beasts, to lead 
 them to drink. Probably the idea of 
 drinking is not the original import of the 
 root, which seems preserved in E. dial. 
 drakes, a mess, a slop, Lith. dregnas, wet. 
 Drakelyn, paludo. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Dress, -dress. To prepare for any 
 purpose. Fr. dresser, to straighten, set 
 up, direct, fashion ; — nn lit, to make a 
 bed ; se /aire dresser quelque chose a 
 guelqu'un, to get him to set it straight, 
 or to give order for it. — Cot. It. driz- 
 zare, to address or turn tovv^ard any place. 
 Lat. dirigere, directum, to direct. 
 
 Dresser. Fr. dressoir, buffet ou Ton 
 range les plats en les dressant, a kitchen 
 dresser. — Vocab. de Berri. Dressure or 
 dressynge boorde, dressorium, directo- 
 rium. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Dretch. To vex, harass, trouble, 
 especially to trouble with dreams, to 
 dream, also to trouble the sight, to de- 
 ceive. 
 
 The radical image is probably pre- 
 served in OE. '■drakelyn, paludo' (Pr. 
 Pm.), to trouble water, whence may be 
 explained E. dial, drakes, a mess, Du. 
 dreck, mud, dirt, and as. dreccan, to trou- 
 ble. Then fig. to trouble the sight, to 
 cast a mist before the eyes. 
 And ever his [the hypccrite's] chere is sobre and 
 
 softe, 
 And where he goeth he blesseth ofte, 
 Whereof the blynde world he dretcheth. 
 
 Gower in R. 
 
DRIBBLE 
 
 — he bleres their eyes. 
 
 Ye schall see a wonder drcche, 
 Whan my sone wole me fecche. 
 Not a sorrowful sight, probably, as ex- 
 plained by Hal., but a vision. 
 
 Dribble. A true dribble is a servant 
 that is truly laborious and diligent. — B. 
 ON. thrift diligentia domestica, careful- 
 ness, husbandry ; tkri/il, a careful man. 
 
 To Dribble. — Dribblet. To dribble, 
 to drivel from the mouth, to give out in 
 small portions ; drib, driblet, a. small 
 portion. Da. dial, drczvel, drivel that 
 falls from the mouth, or liquid that spills 
 from a vessel ; drible, dreble, to drivel ; 
 Da. draabe, a drop. The radical image 
 may be preserved in E. drabble, to paddle 
 in the wet, Lith. drapstyti, to splash, 
 sprinkle, dirty. Russ. droblio, drobit\ to 
 crumble, droblenie, pulling to pieces ; 
 drob\ fragments; Boh. drobiti, to crum- 
 ble ; drobet, a little of anything, a crum, 
 a drop of water; Pol. drob, every dimi- 
 nutive thing ; droby, drobki, odds and 
 ends of animal food, giblets, &c. Lett. 
 drupt, to fall to pieces ; druppis, frag- 
 ments. 
 
 DriU. I.— Trill.— Thrill. Ttu.drillen, 
 trilleft, tremere, motitari, vacillare, ultro 
 citroque cursitare, gyrosque agere, gyrare, 
 rotare, volvere, tornare, terebrare. — Kil. 
 The primary signification is to shake, to 
 move to and fro ; then, as vibration and 
 revolution are characterised by the same 
 rapid change of direction, to move round 
 and round, and thence to bore a hole. 
 The Du. drillen was specially applied to 
 the brandishing of weapons ; met den 
 pick drillen, to shake a pike — Sewel ; 
 drilkonst, the art of handling or man- 
 aging a gun. Hence drillen, as a fac- 
 titive verb, to drill soldiers, or make 
 them go through their exercise. 
 
 The place of the r is transposed in Sc. 
 dirl, to pierce, to tingle, to thrill as with 
 the pain of a smart blow, or from cold, to 
 vibrate. — Jam. 
 
 He screwed the pipes and gart them skirl 
 Till roof and rafters a' did dirl. — Burns. 
 
 The origin is seen in Fr. dredrd, the 
 chattering of the teeth ; dridriller, drid- 
 iller, to gingle, as hawks' or mules' bells ; 
 »Gael. drithlich, Fr. driller, to twinkle, 
 glitter; the notion of chattering, trem- 
 bling, quavering, shaking, glittering, being 
 commonly expressed by modifications of 
 the same root. Thus the Fr. has bresoler, 
 to crackle in frying or roasting, to shiver, 
 or thrill — Gloss. G^nev. ; bresiller, bril- 
 ler, to twinkle or glitter ; It. brillare, to 
 twinkle, sparkle, quaver with the voice. 
 
 DRIP 
 
 227 
 
 So Fr. tresoler, irisoler, to ring a peal of 
 bells — Roquef. ; It. trillare, trigliare, Sw. 
 drilla, E. /;-///, to shake or quaver with 
 the voice in singing ; to trill upo7i the 
 pin, to rattle the latch of a door in order 
 to give notice that some one is without. 
 
 To trill, like drill, is then used in the 
 sense of turning round, rolling. 
 — the sodaine smartes 
 Which daily chaunce as Fortune trills the ball. 
 
 Gascoigne in R. 
 The senses of shivering, turning round, 
 piercing, are also found united in thrill,^ 
 thirl, which must be classed with drills 
 as mere differences of spelling. A thrill 
 of emotion is a shiver or shudder of 
 nervous excitement. ON. thirla, circum- 
 agere ; AS. thirlian, to pierce. 
 
 The notion of shaking is one of those 
 most appropriately expressed by the fre- 
 quentative form of verb. I therefore re- 
 gard the Fr. dridriller, dridiller, as the 
 original form, Bret, drida, trida, to quiver 
 with joy, as a derivative. Hence we 
 pass to ON. trita, to whirl ; tritill, Dan. 
 tiHlde, a child's top ; ON, tritla, to whirl ; 
 Dan. trilde, trille, to roll ; trilde-bor, a 
 wheel-barrow. 
 
 Drill. 2. Drill, a small stream of 
 water ; to drill, to trickle or flow down 
 in drops, or in a small stream. 
 
 There was no water on this island, but at 
 one place close by the sea ; there it drills down 
 slowly from the rocks, where it may be received 
 in vessels. — Dampier in R. 
 
 Drylle, or lytylle drafte of drynke, hau- 
 stillus. — Pr. Pm. Pl.D. uut drullen, to 
 ooze out. Probably from dribble or drid- 
 dle. See Drawl. Dan. dial, drille, drilre^ 
 to spill, as water out of a full vessel ; 
 Gael, drill, a drop, and as a verb, to 
 drop, to drizzle ; drilseach, dropping, 
 drizzling ; Bret, dral, w. dryll, a frag- 
 ment ; drylliachj driblets, snips ; Bav. 
 trielen, to spill in eating ; Sw. dralla, to 
 spill, to let fall here and there. To drill 
 corn is to let it dribble out of a recep- 
 tacle, like a trickling rill of water. • 
 
 Drill. 3. A kind of linen cloth ; G. 
 drillich, Mid.Lat. trilix, drilex, drylich 
 von dreyen faden — Dief. Sup. ; Lat. 
 licinni, a thread of the warp. So twill, 
 G. zwillich, cloth made with two divisions 
 in the warp. 
 
 Drink. — Drench. — Drown. Goth . 
 drigkan, ON. drecka, Dan. drikke, to 
 drink ; ON. dreckia, to sink under water, 
 to drown ; Dan. drukken, drunk ; drukne, 
 to drown. E. dial, to drake or drack.^ to 
 wet thoroughly, to soak in water. 
 
 To Drip. See Drop. 
 15 * 
 
228 
 
 DRIVE 
 
 To Drive, as. dri/an, Goth, drciban, 
 G. treiben, to urge forwards, to move 
 under the influence of an overpowering 
 force. ON. drif, a tempest ; drift-hvitt\ 
 white as the driven snow. Drei/a, to 
 scatter. 
 
 To Drivel. To let the spittle fall like 
 an infant. See Drabble. The connec- 
 tion between the slavering mouth and 
 imperfect speech of infancy hag in many 
 cases extended the same designation to 
 both conceptions. Thus we have Fr. 
 baver, to slaver, to fumble or falter in 
 speaking, to dally, trifle ; bavarder, to 
 slaver, to babble ; Sw. dial, slabbra (the 
 equivalent of E. slobber), to tattle. In 
 the same way the sense of E. drivel is 
 extended to imbecile talk or action. Sw. 
 drafwel, nonsense, idle talk ; Sw. dial. 
 dravla, drovla, to talk confusedly and 
 unintelligibly, to talk nonsense. 
 " To Drizzle. As G. rieseln, grieseln, 
 Da. drasle, to fall with a rustling or pat- 
 tering sound. See Dredge. 
 
 Droll. Fr. draule, drole, a wag or 
 merry grig. — Cot. Pl.D. draiieln, to 
 speak or behave in a childish or foolish 
 manner, to trifle. He drauelt wat, he is 
 joking.— Brem. Wtb. . See Drivel. 
 
 Dromedary. Gr. ^pt/iw, to run ; Sqo- 
 fidg, -adoQ, running ; Lat. dromedariits, 
 a running camel, a swift camel for riding. 
 
 Drone, as. draen, the non-working 
 bee, from the droning or buzzing sound 
 it utters, as G. hinnmel from hum. ON. 
 driinr, a bellowing, loud hollow noise ; 
 Dan. drcBne, to hum, buzz ; dron, din, 
 peal, rumbling noise ; Pl.D. dronen, to 
 sound ; Gael, dranndan, humming, buz- 
 zing, growling ; drannd-eun, a humming- 
 bird. 
 
 The dt'o?ie of a bagpipe is the pipe that 
 keeps constantly making a droning noise. 
 
 To Droop. ON. dryp, driupa, to drip ; 
 driiipi, driiipa, to droop, hang the head, 
 hence to be sad or troubled ; driitpr, 
 suppliant, sad ; to droiip or dj'ouk, to 
 dare, or privily be hid.— Pr. Pm. See 
 Drop. 
 
 Drop.— Droop.— Drip. Du. drop, 
 drup, G. tropfen, ON. dropi, a drop ; 
 driupa, Du. dmppen, druypen, druppe- 
 len, G. triefeln, to' drip, or fall in drops. 
 
 In Lith. the root drib has the sense of 
 hanging. Dryboti, to hang to something, 
 hang down ; dribti, to hang, to drip (of 
 viscous fluids), to fall as snow, to dribble ; 
 nudribti, to hang down, to droop (of a 
 sick person who cannot hold himself up) ; 
 nudribbiisos ausys, drooping ears ; pa- 
 dribbusos akys^- dripping eyes. 
 
 DRUG 
 
 Dropsy. Fr. hydropisie, Lat. hydrops, 
 from v^wp, water. 
 
 Dross. In general the dregs or refuse 
 of anything ; drosse or fylthe whereof it 
 be, ruscum ; coralle or drasse of cornc, 
 acus — Pr. Pm. ; dross-wheat, refuse 
 wheat for the swine. — Way. as. dros, 
 Du. droes, droessent, dregs, filth. Sw. 
 dial, drosan, awns, chaff" ; ON. tros, offal, 
 refuse ; Sc. driish, atoms, fragments. 
 
 The radical sense is probably offal, 
 what falls off", from Goth, drinsan, as. 
 dreosan, to fall, as Da. affald af metal, 
 the dross or scum of metals. 
 
 Drought. AS. drugiith, Du. drooghte, 
 Sc. dro7Uh, from AS. dryg, Du. droogh, 
 dry. 
 
 To Drown. See Drink. 
 
 * Drowsy. Du. droosen, Pl.D. driis- 
 seln (Danneil), to doze, slumber. 
 
 It has been shown under Drawl that 
 slowness of action is expressed by the 
 figure of dribbling, letting fall bit by bit. 
 In the present case we find Sw. dial. 
 dros a, drasa, dros a, drbsla, to dribble, 
 trickle, and drdsa, drasa, drosla, Dan. 
 drose, Pl.D. di'ieseln, Du. treiizelen, to 
 linger, loiter, be slow in action ; Sw. dial. 
 drasi, drasiig, di'bsog, slow, inactive, from 
 whence to the notion of drowsiness is a 
 small step. Sw. dial, drduld, to be sloth- 
 ful, to sleep with sloth ; Du. druilen, to 
 loiter, to slumber. 
 
 To Drub. E. dial, drab, to beat ; Bohem. 
 drbati, to rub, to give a sound beating ; 
 drbnaiiti, to give a blow. G. derb, hard, 
 rough ; derbe schldge, hard blows. 
 
 Drudge. To drug, to drag, to do 
 laborious work. 
 
 At the gate he proffered his servise 
 To drugge and draw, what so men wold devise. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Richt emestly they wirk, 
 And for to drug and draw wald never irk. — D. V. 
 
 Ir. drugaire, a slave, or drudge. Manx 
 drug, a. dray ; N. drog, a place where, or 
 a short sledge on which timber is dragged ; 
 droga, a load of wood or hay dragged by 
 hand. — Aasen. E. dial, drug, a timber 
 waggon ; drugeous,)x\igt. — Hal. Drugeon, 
 strong laborious worker (femme ou fille). 
 'Notre Josette est un vrai drugeon.^ — 
 Gloss. G^n^v. We may compare Dan. 
 slcBbe, to drag, to trail, and also to toil 
 or drudge. 
 
 Drug. I. Fr. drogue. Du. drooghe 
 waere, droogh kruyd, pharmaca, aromata, 
 from their hot, dry nature, drying up the 
 body. — Kil. A more likely origin is the 
 It. treggea. So. dragea, Mod.Gr. rpayaXcr, 
 
DRUM 
 
 Tpiiyrifia, sweetmeats. Fr. dragee^ a kind 
 of digestive powder prescribed unto weak 
 stomachs after meat, and hence any jon- 
 kets, comfits, or sweetmeats, served in 
 the last course for stomach closers. — 
 Cot. Articles of such a nature seem to 
 have been the principal store of the 
 druggist or apothecary. 
 
 Boxis he bare with fine electuares, 
 And sugrid siropes for digestion, 
 Spicis belonging to the potiquares. 
 With many wholesome swete confection. 
 Test. Creseide, 250. 
 Full redy hadde he his apothecaries, 
 To send him dmgges, and his lettuaries. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 2. Drug is also used in the sense of 
 refuse, trash, dregs. Sw. wTak, drug, 
 refuse, trash. — ^Widegren. In this sense 
 it is a modification of dreg. Comp. Du. 
 drabbe, dregs, with E. drubby, muddy. — 
 Hal. ON. grubb, grugg, dregs. 
 
 Drum. I. From an imitation pi the 
 sound. G. trommel. 
 
 The whistling pipe and drumbling tabor. 
 
 Drayton in R. 
 
 ON. thruma, thunder ; thrumketil, ass 
 tinniens. Dan. druui, 3. booming sound. 
 Ptg. trom, sound of cannon. 
 
 2. An evening party, from the figure 
 of a recruiting sergeant enlisting by 
 sound of drum. ' Lady Cowper is to 
 have a magnificent lighting up of her fine 
 room on thejpth. S/ie has beat the drum, 
 and volunteers will flock in, though she 
 seemed distressed for want of Maca- 
 ronies.' — Mrs Delany, 2nd Series, II. p. 
 156, A.D. 1775. 
 
 Dry. AS. drig, Du. droog, G. trocken, 
 ON. thurr, Dan. tor. 
 
 Dryad. Gr. tpvahg, Sylvan nymphs, 
 from SgvQ, a tree, an oak. 
 
 Dual. Lat. dualis {duo, two , of or 
 relating to two. 
 
 Dub. A small pool of rain-water, 
 puddle, gutter. — Jam. Fris. dobbe, a pud- 
 dle, swamp. See Dip. 
 
 To Dub. The origin of the expression 
 of dubbing a knight has been much can- 
 vassed, and it has been plausibly ex- 
 plained from the accolade or blow on the 
 neck with the sword which marked the 
 conclusion of the ceremony. ON. dubba, 
 to strike ; Fr. dauber, dober, to beat, 
 swinge, canvass thoroughly. — Cot. But 
 the accolade was never anything but a 
 slight tap, and it is very unlikely that it 
 should have been designated by a term 
 signifying a sound beating. Nor have 
 we far to seek for the real origin. The 
 principal part of the ceremony of dubbing 
 
 DUD 
 
 229 
 
 a knight consisted in investing him with 
 the habiliments of his order, putting on 
 his arms, buckling on his sword and his 
 spurs. Now in all the Romance lan- 
 guages is found a verb corresponding to 
 the E. dub, signifying to arrange, dress, 
 prepare, fit for some special purpose. 
 Prov. adobar, to arrange, prepare, dress 
 victuals. ^ Fr. douber, to rig or trim a 
 ship ; addouber, to dress, set fitly to- 
 gether, arm at all points. — Cot. 
 
 La dame s'est moult tot arm^e 
 
 Et com chevalier adoubde. 
 
 P\T.b. et Contes, vi. 291. 
 
 Cat. adobar, to repair, dress leather, dress 
 or manure land ; Sp. adobar, to dress or 
 make anything up, cook meat, pickle 
 pork, tan hides ; adobo, dressing of any 
 kind, as paint for the face, pickle, or 
 sauce, ingredients for dressing leather ; 
 E. to dub cloth, to dress it with teasels ; 
 to dub a cock, to prepare it for fighting 
 by cutting off its comb and wattles ; dub- 
 bing, a dressing of flour and water used 
 by weavers, a mixture of tallow for dress- 
 ing leather. 
 
 The origin is preserved in Sclavonic. 
 Bohem. dub, an oak, oakbark, tan ; du- 
 biti, to tan ; Lith. dubas, tan ; dobai, 
 dobbai, tanners' lie. From the image of 
 tanning leather the term seems to have 
 been extended to any kind of dressing. 
 
 Dubious. See Doubt. 
 
 -duce, -duct. — Ductile. Lat. duco, 
 ducticm, to lead, draw. Hence Induce, 
 Conduce, Deduce, Reduce, Conduct, &c. 
 Ductile, what may be drawn out. 
 
 Duck. Du. duycken, to bow the head, 
 and especially to sink it under water, to 
 dive. G. tauchen, Sw. dyka, to dive ; 
 Bav. duckefi, to press down ; duck ma- 
 chen, to let the head sink ; duckehi, to go 
 about with the head sunk. 
 
 The change of the final guttural for a 
 labial gives a series of parallel forms, Du. 
 duypen, to stoop the head, go submiss- 
 ively ; G. taufen, to baptise ; E. dip, dive. 
 
 Duck, the bird, is so called from the 
 habit of diving, as Lat. mergus, from 
 mergere. Du. duyckcr, G. tauch-ente, 
 Bav. duck-antl, the dob-chick. 
 
 Dud. A rag ; duds, clothing ; dod, a 
 rag of cloth. — Hal. 
 
 It is shown under Hater that the term 
 for a rag is commonly taken from the 
 image of something hanging or shaking, 
 in the wind. So from Bav. tateren, to 
 shiver, we have taterman, a scarecrow, a 
 figure dressed in shaking rags, E. tatter, 
 a rag ; from Swiss lodelen, to .shake, to 
 be loose, loden, a rag ; from hudeln, to 
 
230 
 
 DUDGEON 
 
 waver, dangle, hndel, a rag ; from Fr. dril- 
 ler, to twinkle, drilles, tatters. I n like man- 
 ner we pass from E. dodder, dudder, to 
 tremble, shiver (Hal.), to dod or dud, a 
 rag. And as an initial rt^andy frequently 
 interchange, we have v^.'E. Jouder, to chat- 
 ter with cold, jouds, rags. G. zote (pro- 
 vincially zode), a lock, rag, tatter. ' Hans 
 in sener zode.^ Hans in his rags. — 
 Deutsch. Mund. II. 408. PID. ladder . 
 taddel, zadder, rags. — Danneil. 
 
 Dudg'eon. i. The root of box-wood. 
 
 2. Ill-will. 
 
 Due.— Duty. Lat. debere, It. dovere, 
 OFr. deuvre, of which last the participle 
 at one time was probably deuti, corre- 
 sponding to It. doviito, duty, right, equity 
 ■ — FL, aftei'wards contracted to deti, and 
 mod. du, due. 
 
 Dug. A teat. Sw. dcegga, to give 
 suck. See Dairy. 
 
 Duke. — Duchess. Fr. due, duchesse, 
 from Lat. dux, duels, a leader ; dueo, to 
 lead. 
 
 Dull. Ineffective for the purpose aimed 
 at, wanting in life. A dull edge is one 
 that will not cut ; a dull understanding, 
 does not readily apprehend ; a dull day is 
 wanting in light, the element which con- 
 stitutes its life ; dull of sight or of hear- 
 ing is ineffective in respect of those facul- 
 ties. 
 
 The sense may be explained from the 
 figure of wandering or straying from the 
 mark. Du. dolen, dzvaelen, AS. dwoliaii, 
 to stray, to wander ; Pl.D. dwalen, dwee- 
 leii, twalen, to wander either physically 
 or figuratively, to err in judgment, act or 
 talk foolishly; E. dial, dwaule, dwallee, 
 to wander in mind, to talk incoherently 
 as one in delirium ; Du. dol, dul, G, toll, 
 mad, out of one's mind ; Goth, dvals, 
 foolish ; Dan. dval, spiritless, torpid. ON. 
 dvali, N. and Dan. dvale, stupor, trance, 
 fainting, doze, sleep. 
 
 The word seems a parallel form with 
 Fr. fol, fool, which is connected in a 
 similar manner with OFr. folier, to err, 
 and, like dull, is often applied to what 
 fails to perform its apparent purpose. 
 Thus avoine folle is wild or barren oats. 
 Fr. feu-follet, A.s.fon-fyr {/on, fool), the 
 ignis fatuus, ineffectual fire or fire with- 
 out heat, corresponds to Du. dwaal licht, 
 the false light or wandering light. Fr. 
 fol-persil, fool's parsley (properly fool- 
 parsley), corresponds to Du. dolle-kervel 
 (dull chervil), false chervil. On the same 
 principle the name of dolle-besien is given 
 to the poisonous berries of deadly night- 
 shade. 
 
 DUMP 
 
 Perhaps the sense of error may be 
 traced at an earlier period to the notion 
 of twisting or turning. Du. diuaelinge 
 in't wacter, a whirlpool. —Kil. A mad- 
 man is one of perverted or twisted un- 
 derstanding. And so from Pl.D. dwars, 
 dwas, athwart, oblique, we pass to Du. 
 divaes, foolish, mad, and Da. dvas (of 
 liquors), lifeless, flat. Du. dwaes-lieht, 
 synonymous with dwaal-lieht, ignis fa- 
 tuus. Now as the r of divars is lost in 
 divaes, dvas, may not dwaeleii or diualeit, 
 to turn, be from Du. dwarlen (in divarl- 
 wind, a whirlwind), to twirl or whirl ? It 
 would however render this derivation un- 
 likely if dull was to be identified with 
 Gael, dall, blind, dark in colour, Bret. 
 dall, blind, blunt. 
 
 Dumb. Goth, daubs, deaf, hardened, 
 dull ; afdaubnan, to become obtuse, to 
 grow dull ; afdobnan, afdumbnaji, to 
 hold one's peace ; dumbs, dumb ; ON. 
 dumbi, dumb, dark of colour ; dum- 
 buiigr, thickness of the air, covered 
 weather ; duuwia, to be still. G. dumni 
 was formerly applied in general to 
 whatever was wanting in its proper life 
 or activity, as to food that has lost its 
 savour, to a limb that has lost its feeling, 
 to the loss of hearing (Sanders), but now 
 it is used in the sense of stupid, dull of 
 understanding, while stumin is dumb ; 
 dumpf, what has its energy compressed, 
 kept down, confined ; dul>, actively or 
 passively ; unsavoury. Du. dom, deaf, 
 blunt, dull, stupid ; dom eti blend, deaf 
 and blind ; domsinnigh, mad. — Kil. Da. 
 dum, dumb, dim, obscure, dull, low in 
 sound, stupid, foolish. Sw. dum, stupid ; 
 dumb, dumb. Esthon. ttim, dumb, dark ; 
 tumme, dull, dark, thick ; tuim, without 
 feeling, benumbed, unsavoury. See Dim, 
 Dump, Deaf, Dam. 
 
 Dump. — Dumpy. — Dumpling'. Da. 
 dial, dubbet, E. dial, dubby, dumpy, short 
 and thick ; dumphead (Whitby Gl.), a 
 tadpole ; Du. dompneus, snubnose, a 
 short stumpy nose ; E. hu7npty-dumpty, 
 a short thick person ; dumpling, a round 
 ball of paste. The radical image (as in 
 Stub, Stump) is probably an impulse 
 abruptly stopped, whence the notion of a 
 short blunt projection. E. dial, dub, a 
 blow ; Sw. dubb, a plug, peg ; E. dial. 
 dump, to knock heavily, to stump ; Sw. 
 dial, dompa, to knock, to fall heavily, to 
 stump or tread heavily ; ON. du7npa. Da. 
 dompe, to plump, fall suddenly to the 
 ground or into water. Da. dial, dubbe, 
 to stop, to wait. ' Dub e lidt,' step a bit. 
 The idea of something suddenly stopped 
 
DUMP 
 
 in its course, checked in its development 
 or powers, confined, restrained, is figura- 
 tively carried out in numerous forms in- 
 dicated under Dumb. 
 
 Bump. 2. The application of this 
 term to an affection of the mind is a 
 part of the medical theory which attri- 
 buted all disorders of the frame to a hu- 
 mour falling on the part affected, and 
 regarded mental disorders especially as 
 produced by a vapour rising from the 
 stomach into the brain. Du. damp, 
 domp, a vapour ; dojup int de mage, 
 vapidus fumus ex ventriculo in cerebrum 
 erumpens. — Bigl. Hence E. dumps, me- 
 lancholy, fixed sadness.— B. In the 
 same sense was formerly used the equiva- 
 lent vapours, from the Fr. vapeiirs, une 
 certaine maladie dont I'effet est de rendre 
 melancholique.— Trevoux. 
 
 Dump was used in a general sense 
 synonymous with humour for the condi- 
 tion of the mind : — 
 
 By "r ladie 'ch am not very glad to see her in 
 this dumpe. — Gammer Gurton I. x. 3 ; 
 
 in this humour. 
 
 Also for an air or strain of music, re- 
 garded as an inspiration into the brain of 
 the composer. In this sense we meet 
 with the expression of ' a merry dump.' 
 
 Dun. Dark in colour. 
 
 And white things woxen dimme and donne. 
 Ch. in R. 
 
 From the notion of shutting up, covering, 
 obscuring. AS. steorran dunniath, stellae 
 obscurantur. Gael, duin, to shut, close ; 
 do7in, brown ; Manx doon, to shut up, 
 close, darken ; doon, a field, a close, the 
 equivalent of E. town and of G. zaim, a 
 hedge. The connection between the 
 ideas of covering and darkness is a very 
 natural one. Sp. tapar, to stop up, hood- 
 wink, cover ; tapetado, of a dark brown 
 or blackish colour ; Ptg. tapar, to stop 
 up, cover, inclose ; taparse, to darken, 
 grow dark. — Vieira. 
 
 To Dun. To make a droning sound. 
 Dimnyti in sownd, bundo. Dunnynge 
 of sownde, bunda, bombus. — Pr. Pm. 
 Hence to dun, to demand a debt clamor- 
 ously. In like manner from bum, a 
 humming sound, bum-bailiff, a baihff 
 employed to dun for a debt, and incident- 
 ally to arrest the debtor. Sw. dotia, duna, 
 to resound ; W. dwti, a murmur, the bass 
 in music. 
 
 Dunce. The Scotists, or divines of the 
 school of Duns Scotus, were called Dttns- 
 7nen or Duticemen, and their teaching 
 djmcery. 
 
 DUNGEON- 231 
 
 Now would Aristotle deny such speaking, and 
 a Duns man would make twenty distinctions. — • 
 Tyndall in R. Here you come with your fine 
 and logical distinctions, and bring in the causes 
 essential and accidental of marriage, as though 
 we were in a school of duncery, and not in a 
 discourse of pleasure. — Milton in Todd. 
 
 Hence to dunce upoji, to puzzle upon, 
 or too much to beat the brains upon. — 
 Cot. in V. metagraboliser. When the • 
 progress of the Reformation brought the 
 schoolmen into disrepute, the name of 
 Duns, by which their learning was dis- 
 tinguished, became a term of opprobrium, 
 and at last was used as synonymous with 
 blockhead. 
 
 They hate even to death all them that preach 
 the pure word of God, void of all the dregges of 
 Dunsse learning and mans traditions. — Confuta- 
 tion of N. Shaxton, 1546, in Todd. Remember 
 ye not within this twenty yeares and far less, and 
 yet dureth unto this day, the old barking curres 
 Dunces disciples, and like draffe called Scotists, • 
 the children of darkness raved against Greek, 
 Latin, and Hebrew. — Tyndall in R. 
 
 Dunch. Dunche or lunche, sonitus, 
 strepitus, bundum, bombus. Ditnchyn or 
 bunchy n, tundo ; dutichinge or lunchinge, 
 tuncio, percussio. — Pr. Pm. Dan. dundse, 
 to thump. Lat. tundere. Let. dunksch 
 represents the sound of a blow with the 
 fist ; dunkschkis, a blow with the fist. 
 
 Dung. G. dutig, diiiiger, Sw. dynga^ 
 dung, muck, manure. The original mean- 
 ing, like that of muck, seems to be simply 
 wet. Dan. dygge, dugge, to sprinkle with 
 water ; dyg-vaad, dyng-vaad, wringing 
 wet, as wet as muck ; duftg, thoroughly 
 wet. — Moth. But it may be from Dan. 
 dynge, a heap. Coipp. ON. hruga, a heap, 
 N. ruga, a lump, especially a lump of 
 dung. Jr^rz/^^, a cowdung. In Swabian 
 hoppen, a heap, and in children's language 
 hoppe macJun, to do his business. — 
 Schmid. Bohem. kopec, heap ; kopciti^ 
 to heap up ; kopcina, filth, dirt, sweepings. 
 
 Dungeon. — Donjon. Originally the 
 principal building of a district, or fortress, 
 which from its position or structure had 
 the command of the rest, from the Lat. 
 dominio, domtiio {djs, domnus iox dominus) , 
 domgio, dongco (as Fr. songer from so7n- 
 niare), donjon. In a charter A.D. 1179, 
 given by Muratori, is an agreement 'quod 
 de summitate Castri Veteris quae Dojt- 
 gionem appellatur praedictus episcopus 
 ejusque successores debeant habere duas 
 partes ipsius summitatis, scilicet ab uno 
 latere usque ad vineam episcopi et ab al- 
 tero usque ad flumen,' showing that in 
 this case the dominio was mere open 
 ground. In general however it was ap- 
 plied to a tower or other work of defence. 
 
232 
 
 DUODECIMAL 
 
 * Milites ocyus conscenso Domnioftc, 
 domo scilicet principali et defensivi.' — 
 Due. 
 
 Desus le plus maistre dunjon 
 Drescent le reial gonfanon. 
 
 Chron. Norm. 2. 820. 
 
 Donjon in fortification is generally 
 taken for a large tower or redoubt of a 
 fortress, where the garrison may retreat 
 in case of necessity. — Bailey. • The name 
 of Dungeon has finally been bequeathed 
 to such an underground prison as was 
 formerly placed in the strongest part of a 
 fortress. 
 
 Duodecimal. Lat. diiodeci^n, twelve. 
 
 To Dup. To do up, as doj^ and don, 
 to do ofY and do on. Swiss tuffen, to 
 open, as a door or a letter. 
 
 Dupe. Fr. dupe, one who lets himself 
 be deceived. From dupe, duppe, a. hoopoe, 
 from some tradition of the habits of that 
 bird of which we are ignorant. Thus 
 from It. bubbola, a hoopoe, bubbolare 
 (portar via con inganno), to cheat — Al- 
 tieri, whence E. to bubble one. Pol. dudek, 
 a hoopoe, also a simpleton, a fool. Wys- 
 trychnac na dudka, to make a fool of one. 
 Bret, houpdrik, a hoopoe, also a dupe ; 
 houperiga, to deceive, to dupe. — Legon. 
 
 Duplicate. See Double. 
 
 Duration. Lat. durare, to last, durus, 
 hard. Gr. ^jjpo'c, lasting, enduring. Turk. 
 durmak, to continue, stay, endure. 
 
 Dusky. Lifeless, without animation, 
 dim in colour, obscure. 
 The pennons and the pomels and the poyntes of 
 
 shields 
 Withdrawen his devocion and dusken his hert. 
 
 • P.P. 
 
 — they dull or blunt his religious feelings. 
 The ground stude barrane, widderit, dosk and 
 V*' gray, 
 Herbis, flowris and gerssis wallowit away. — D. V. 
 
 Perhaps from dull through the forms 
 dulsk, or dolsk, dorsk, dosk. Dan. dial. 
 dulsk, dolsk, dull, lifeless, loitering ; Sw. 
 dial, dalsk, lazy, slow ; Dan. dorsk, indo- 
 lent, sluggish, dull, torpid ; ON. doska, to 
 dawdle, delay. 
 
 Dust. ON. dust, Gael, dtis, duslach, 
 dust. Du. donst, vapour, down, flour, 
 dust ; G. du7ist, vapour, exhalation, dust- 
 shot. See Down. 
 
 Dwale. Deadly nightshade, a plant 
 whose berries produce stupefaction and 
 death. Dan. dvale, stupefaction ; dvale- 
 drik, soporific ; dvale-bcer, stupefaction- 
 berries, dwale. — See Dull. 
 
 DYSPEPTIC 
 
 Dwalm. — Dwaum. A fainting-fit ; 
 OHG. duahn, torpor, insensibility ; Du. 
 bedwebnen, to become dizzy, to faint. 
 
 From Goth, dvals, foolish, ON. dvali, 
 stupor, fainting, doze, as Da. dial, dulme, 
 to grow dull, subside, slumber, doze, 
 from the same root. Solett dulmer, the 
 sun is obscured ; ilden dulmer, the fire 
 burns dull. See Dull. 
 
 Dwarf. AS. dweorg, dweorh, ON. 
 dvergr, Sw. dwerg, ^dwerf, G. zwerg, 
 zwergel. 
 
 To Dwell. Dan. dvale, torpor, sus- 
 pended life ; dvcele, to dwell, linger, 
 loiter. ON. dvelja, to detain, delay, to 
 stay ; OSw. dvala, torpor, delay ; dvalia, 
 to stay, wait, tarry ; Sw. dvczljas, to 
 dwell ; UUGj'twalen, to be torpid ; tzt/elen, 
 to stop, to abide, dwell. 
 
 To Dwindle, as. dwinan, Pl.D, dwa- 
 nen (Bos worth in v. waniati), to fade, 
 waste away, vanish ; E. dial, dwain, 
 dwainy, faint, sickly. — Forby. Du. ver- 
 swiinen, verdwiinen, to fade, perish ; Bav. 
 schweinen, G. schwinden, to shrink, waste 
 away, wane. ' Der mane wahsit unde 
 swinit,' the moon waxes and wanes. — 
 Diutiska in Schmeller. ON. dvitia, to 
 diminish, to leave off ; Sw. twina, to pine 
 away, languish, dwindle ; Dan. tvine, to 
 pine away, also to whine or whimper. In 
 the last of these we probably touch the 
 origin of the word. A languishing or 
 weakly condition of body is naturally ex- 
 pressed by reference to the whining, pipy 
 tone of voice induced by illness. Thus 
 a person says he is rather pipy, meaning 
 poorly. The Pl.D. has quakken, to groan 
 or complain like a sick person, whence 
 Dan. dial, quak, poorly. Du. qiieksen, to 
 complain, to groan, to be poorly. — Kil. 
 In like manner Goth, cwainoji, w. cwyno, 
 to bewail, complain, grieve ; Pl.D. quinen, 
 to complain, to be poorly, languish, waste 
 away ; ON. queina, veina, to bemoan one- 
 self; AS. cwatiian, wanian, to mourn, 
 faint, languish. 
 
 To Dye. See To Die. 2. 
 
 Dynamic. — Dynasty. Gr. Ivvafiiq^ 
 the condition of being able, power ; dwa- 
 fxiKOQ, mighty ; dwaoTijg, one possessing 
 might or power ; dwaarda, power, the 
 power of the chief magistrate. 
 
 Dysentery. Gr. dvcTtvrepia, from Svg, 
 ill, and ivrtpa, the entrails. 
 
 Dyspeptic. Gr. dv^Tn^pia, difficulty of 
 digestion, dvg, ill, and TreTrrw, to dress 
 food, or digest it. 
 
EASE 
 
 233 
 
 . E-. See Ex-. 
 
 Each. AS. ale, Pl.D. elk, Du. jeg- 
 helijck, OHG. eocowelih (Kero), each, 
 every, from CB,je, ever, and lie, ghelijek, 
 like. For the cofitraction of the final 
 element compare ivhieh and siieh with 
 Goth, hvileiks, svaleiks. 
 
 The AS. (2g, Sw. ce or e, in composition, 
 OHG. CO, G. je, express universality or 
 continuity of existence, and may com- 
 monly be translated ever. AS. ceghwa, 
 whoever, every one ; CEghwaiion, every 
 whence, from all sides ; ceghivcether, 
 agther, every of two, either, each. Sw. 
 ndr, when ; enar, whenever ; eho, who- 
 ever. jE so lange han lifer, so long as 
 he lives ; som ce gull scsi, as if it were all 
 gold. — Ihre. OHG. eo so wanne, when- 
 soever. 
 
 Eager, i. Fr. aigre, eager, sharp, 
 biting ; Lat. aeer, sharp, severe, vehe- 
 ment, ardent. See Acid. 
 
 2. Egre. The bore in certain rivers. 
 See Higre. 
 
 Eag-le. Fr. aigle, Lat. aqiiila. 
 
 Ear. I. The organ of hearing. Lat. 
 aiiris, Lith. ausis, Goth, aicso, ON. eyra, 
 G. ohr. 
 
 2. A head of corn. Goth, ahs, OHG. 
 ahir, AS. ceehir, ear, G. ahre, Du. adere, 
 aere. 
 
 To Ear. To plough. Eryyn londe, 
 aro. — Pr. Pm. AS. earian, Du. eren, er- 
 rien, Gr. a^^na, Lat. arare, to plough. 
 
 Earl. ON. iarl, princeps, prorex, comes. 
 — Gudm. Gael, iarfhlath (pronounced 
 iarla, Xki^fh and th being silent), a de- 
 pendant chief, from iar, after, second in 
 order, and Jlath, lord, prince. W. ar- 
 Iwydd, Corn, arluth, lord. 
 
 Early, as. cer, before ; eera, ancient, 
 early ; arliee, arliee, early. Fris. ader, 
 aderlek, aarle, early. AS. cedre, quick, 
 immediately. ON. adr, before. 
 
 To Earn. i. To get by labour. As 
 gai7i, from OFr. gaagner, to cultivate or 
 till, so to earn seems to be to reap the 
 fruits of one's labour, from Du. arm, 
 erne, harvest, amen, ernen, to reap, — 
 Kil. Bav. am, amet, G. er7ite, harvest ; 
 arnari, messor. — Tatian. Bav. amen, 
 eramen, g'arnen, to earn, to receive as 
 reward of one's labour. Goth, asans, 
 harvest ; asneis, hired labourer, earner. 
 
 2 To thrill or tremble. Frissoner, to 
 
 tremble, shiver, earn through cold or 
 fear. — Cot. See Yearn. 
 
 Earnest, i . What is done with a will, 
 with hearty endeavour to attain the end 
 aimed at. G., Du. ernst. Du. ernsten, to 
 endeavour. — Kil. AS. georn, desirous, 
 eager, intent ; georne, earnestly. Herodes 
 befran hi georne, Herod asked them dili- 
 gently. He geornor wolde sibbe, he more 
 earnestly desired peace. Swa mon georn- 
 est mcEg, as man with his best endeavour 
 may. Geomlie, geornful, diligent, intent. 
 G. gem, Du. gheern, willingly. N. girng, 
 desirous, also diligent at work. See 
 Yearn. 
 
 * 2. Money given in hand to assure a 
 bargain. Lat. arrha, OFr. arres, ernes, 
 w. em, ernes. Gael, earlas, Sc. arles, 
 arlis-penny, airle-penny. The word seems 
 to admit of explanation as caution-money, 
 from Gael, earal, provision, caution ; 
 earalas, precaution, foresight, provision. 
 
 Earth. Goth. airtha,0'^. jdrd,G. erde. 
 The Promptorium has ^ erye, or earth,' 
 agreeing with OHG. ero, Gr. tpa in tpa?e, 
 to the ground. 
 
 Earwig-. An insect named in most 
 European languages from being supposed 
 to lodge itself in the ear. Fr. perceoreille, 
 Sw. or-matk {inatk, worm, insect), G. 
 ohren-hohler, ohr-wurtn, &c. 
 
 The second part of the word is the AS. 
 wigga, a parallel form with wibba, a 
 creeping thing. AS. seeamwibba, a dung- 
 beetle ; E. dial, oak-web, a cockchafer. 
 The two forms are seen in Lith. wabalas 
 (identical with E. weevit), a beetle, and 
 Esthon. waggel, a worm, grub, the last 
 of which may be compared with erri- 
 wiggle, a provincial name of the earwig, 
 and Poll-wiggle, a tadpole, a creature 
 consisting of a large poll or head, with- 
 out other body, and a tail. As wabalas, 
 wibba, are from the form shown in E. 
 wabble, G. waben, weben, wibbebi, so 
 waggel, wiggle, wigga, belong to the 
 parallel form waggle, wiggle, indicating 
 in like manner multifarious movement. 
 See Weevil, Worm. 
 
 Ease. — Easy. Fr. aise. It. asio, agio, 
 Ptg. azo, convenience, opportunity, lei- 
 sure. The Romance languages probably 
 received it from a Celtic source ; Gael. 
 adh, prosperity, adhais, athais, leisure, 
 ease, prosperity ; Bret, ^az^ ez, conveni- 
 
234 
 
 EASEL 
 
 ence, ease ; dies, difficult, dieza^ to in- 
 commode ; w. haws, ease, hawdd, easy. 
 
 The same root may be recognized in 
 Lat. otiufft, leisure, as. eath, easy, gentle 
 (whence OE. uneth, hardly), ead, prosper- 
 ity, possession, and eadig, happy (Gael. 
 ad/iach, prosperous, happy), ON. audr, 
 wealth, audugr, wealthy, while aud in 
 composition signifies easily done ; aud- 
 brotmn, -beygdr, &c., easily broken, bent, 
 &c. The transition to the notion of 
 wealth is also found in It. agiato, at ease, 
 also wealthy, able to live in good plight, 
 also (= Lat. otiosus) lazy. — Fl. 
 
 The fundamental idea seems to be 
 empty, vacant, what affords room or 
 facility for anything to take place, then 
 riches as affording the most general of 
 all facilities. ON. audr, empty, void ; 
 undir audum himni, under the open sky ; 
 aiid-synn, open to view, easily seen. 
 Compare also AS. CEmetta, leisure, cemtig, 
 empty, vacant ; Lat. vacuus, empty, Fr. 
 vacaiit, empty, at leisure. — Cot. 
 
 EaseL G. esel, an ass ; maleresel, a 
 painter's easel or support for the painting 
 at which he works. On the same prin- 
 ciple it is called in Fr. chevalet, a little 
 horse. See Pulley. 
 
 ♦ East. G. ost, ON. aust. The origin 
 of the name seems preserved in Esthon., 
 which has ea, ice, forming in the ablative 
 east, from the ice, while the same word 
 signifies the East wind ; pointing to the 
 N. of Europe for the origin of the term, 
 where the East is the icy wind. Idda, or 
 Ea, North-east ; Idda-tuul, or Iddast, 
 the E. or N.E. wind. In the same lan- 
 guage ivessi, water ; wessi-kaa?- {kaar = 
 quarter), the west or wet quarter ; wessi- 
 tuul (the wet wind), the N.W. wind. 
 
 On the other hand East is explained 
 from Lith. auszra, the dawn ; auszti, to 
 dawn ; Sanscr. uschdschd (in comp.), 
 dawn, from the root tisch, Lat. tirere, 
 Mstum, to burn. Lith. auszrinne, the 
 morning star ; auszrinnis, the N.N.E. 
 wind. 
 
 Easter. According to Bede the name 
 is derived from as. Eostra, OSw. Astar- 
 gydia, the goddess of love (ON. ast, love), 
 whose festival was held in the month of 
 April, thence called Eoster-monath. 
 
 The reasons for doubting the authority 
 of Bede upon such a point are very slight, 
 the main objection instanced by Adelung 
 being the unlikelihood that the name of 
 a Pagan deity should be transferred to a 
 Christian feast. But the same thing 
 seems to have taken place with the term 
 Yule, which from designating the mid- 
 
 EDGE 
 
 winter feast of the Pagans was transferred 
 to the Christian feast of the Nativity. 
 
 Eat. Goth, itan, G. essen, Lat. edere. 
 
 Eath.— Easy. See Ease. 
 
 Eaves, as. efese, margin, edge ; efe- 
 sian, to shave, to trim. 
 Orcheyarde and erberes efesyd-wei dene. — P. P* 
 Goth, nbizva, OHG. obisa, oJ)asa, Bav. 
 obse, a portico, hall ; ODu. ovese, Fris. 
 ose, eaves, as N. of England easings for 
 evesings. ON. ups, ^aves, tipsar-dropi, 
 Du. oos-druip, eaves-dropping. 
 
 Ebb. G., Du. ebbe, the falling back of 
 the tide. G. aben, to fall off, to sink. 
 See Evening. 
 
 Ecclesiastic. Gr. tKKXrjma, an assem- 
 bly of the people summoned by the crier, 
 convocation, church. From IkkuXeu), to 
 call forth. 
 
 Echo. 'Bx<^j' ^x^C) 3, sound, noise. 
 
 Eclipse. Gr. tKXiixptg, a defect or fail- 
 ing in the light of the sun or moon ; 
 UXtirru), to leave off, to faint, to fail. 
 
 Economy. Gr. oiKovofiia, domestic 
 management, administration, from oIkoq, 
 a house, family, goods, and rtjuw, to dis- 
 pense, manage. 
 
 Ecstasy. Gr. (jTaaiq, a setting, plac- 
 ing ; tKcrramg, removal from its wonted 
 position, of a thing ; supersedure of the 
 mental functions. 
 
 Eddish. — Eddige. Commonly ex- 
 plained in the sense of aftermath, which 
 gives too confined a signification. The 
 meaning is the pasturage, eatage, or eat- 
 able growth of either grass or corn-field. 
 
 Keep for stock is tolerably plentiful, and the 
 fine spring weather will soon create a good eddish 
 in the pastures. — 'Times,' Apr. 20, 1857. 
 
 That after the flax is pulled you get more feed 
 that autumn than from the aftermath of seeds 
 sown with wheat the second year ; that the im- 
 mense eatage obtained from seeds the same year 
 they are sown, and after the flax is pulled, should 
 be added to the value of the flax. — ' Economist,' 
 Feb. I, 1852. 
 
 Fris. etten, beetten, to pasture. 
 
 Eddy. Commonly referred to an AS. 
 ed-ea, back-water (not preserved in the 
 extant remains of the language), from ed, 
 equivalent to the Lat. re in composition, 
 and ea, water. But this plausible deriva- 
 tion is opposed by numerous Norse forms 
 given by Aasen, ia, ida, odo, udu, evj'Uj 
 bak-ida, bak-wudii, kring-wudu, an eddy, 
 back-water, which leave little doubt that 
 the word is simply the ON. yda, a whirl- 
 pool, from yda, to boil, to rush ; AS. yth^ 
 wave, flood, rush of water ; ythian, to 
 fluctuate, to overflow. 
 
 Edge. as. ecge, ON. egg^ Lat. acies^ 
 
EDIBLE 
 
 edge, Gr. aKfj, a point, edge. Du. 
 
 an angle, edge, corner ; G. ecke, a corner. 
 
 Edible. Lat. edo, to eat. 
 
 Edify. — Edifice. Lat. cedijico^ to build 
 a house {ades, a house, facto, to make), 
 Fr. edijier. 
 
 Edit. — Edition. Lat. edo, edittim, to 
 give forth or out. 
 
 * EeL Du. aal, ON. all. Explained 
 from Sanscr. ahi, a snake, analogous to 
 Lat. ajtguilla, an ^el, from aitguis, snake, 
 or Gr. tyx«^»^e> ^^\ from t-xiQ, viper. 
 
 To Efface. Fr. effacer, Prov. esfassar, 
 to remove the face, to remove an impres- 
 sion. 
 
 Effigy. Lat. effigies, an image ; fingo, 
 Jictujn, to form, properly to mould in clay. 
 
 Effort. Fr. e^ffbrt, formerly efforz, 
 effors ; s^efforcer, to put his force or 
 strength to a thing. 
 
 Eft.— Evet.—Ewt.— Newt. A water- 
 lizard. 
 
 In that abbaye ne entereth not no flye ne todes 
 ne ewtes ne suche fowle venymouse bestes. — 
 Mandeville. 
 
 Egg. AS. CEg, pi. dgru, OE. eyren, 
 eggs. The sound of the final g was some- 
 times softened also in the singular, giving 
 OE. eye, as G. ei, an ^"gg, Gr. wov, Lat. 
 ovum, are radically the same word. 
 
 To Egg. ON. egg, an edge ; eggia, to 
 sharpen, or give an edge to, and fig. to 
 instigate or set one on to do anything. 
 
 * Eglantine. Written by Chaucer 
 eglatere and eglentere, E. Fris. egeltiere, 
 Du. eghelentier, eglentere (Kil), Fr. aig- 
 lantier, Pr. aguilancier, aiglentijia, a 
 wild rose, thorn-bush. Diez' Romance de- 
 rivation from aiguilla, agiiilhe, a needle, 
 seems much less probable than that from 
 OFr. egle, AS. egla, egle, a prick, thorn, 
 splinter. The final element of the word 
 is Du. tere, taere, a tree, as in appeltere, 
 mispeltere, holentere, notelterej giving 
 the signification of thorn-tree or thorn- 
 bush. From the same source is Du. 
 egel, the prickly animal, a hedgehog. 
 
 Egregious. Lat. egregius, chosen out 
 of the herd, excellent ', grex, gregis, the 
 flock or herd. 
 
 Egret. See Heron. 
 
 Eight. Sanscr. astan, Lith. asztuni, 
 Russ. osm, Lat. octo, Goth, ahtau, G. 
 acht,^ w. wyth, Fr. huit. 
 
 Either. The as. element CEg in com- 
 position signifies ever, all, as ceghwa, 
 every who, whoever ; CEghwcer, every 
 where ; CBghwanon, every whence, from 
 all sides. In like manner from hwcether, 
 w^hich of two, CBghwcBther, cegther, every 
 one of two, each, either. The particle 
 
 ELEVEN 23 § 
 
 was also united with nouns. Yif ei mon 
 other ei wummon misseith ou, if any 
 man or woman missaith you. — ^Ancren 
 Riwle, 124. 
 
 The particle CBg corresponds exactly to 
 Esthon. igga. Lap. ikke j ikke ka, who- 
 ever ; ikke kus, wherever ; ikke mi, what- 
 ever ; Esthon. igga uks, every one ; igga 
 pdaw, every day, daily ; igga, Fin. ika, 
 lifetime, age, time. Lap. hagga, life. 
 
 The k of ika is softened to a j (i. e. j)/) 
 in the genitive ijan, leading us to Sanscr. 
 ay as, Gr. atwr, Lat. CEVtim, Goth, aivs, 
 lifetime, age. Fin. ikawa, Esthon. iggaw, 
 perpetual, enduring ; AS. ece, everlasting. 
 
 Eke.— To Eke. Goth, ank, on. og, 
 G. auch, also. Goth, aukan, Lat. auge7-e, 
 Gr. ab^dvb), to increase, show the same 
 root. 
 
 Elastic. Fr. ilastique. The corre- 
 sponding forms are not extant in classical 
 Lat. and Gr., but there is no doubt the 
 word is from Gr. Vkavvw, tXdacj, to drive, 
 whence IXdaTrjg, a driver. — Etym. Mag. 
 Mod.Gr. tXaarbg, flexible J tXarjjpiov, a 
 spring as of a lock, &c. 
 
 Elbow, as. elnboga, elboga, the bow 
 or bending of the arm, from an obsolete 
 ell, eln (preserved in AS. ellen, strength, 
 and in E. ell), Gr. wXkvr], Lat. tilfta, the 
 forearm. So Pl.D. knebog, the bending 
 of the knee, the knee. 
 
 Eld, Elder. See Old. 
 
 Elder, as. ellarn, Pl.D. el loom, G. 
 hohmder, hollder, OHG. holuntar, holder, 
 the elder-tree, from its hollow wood, the 
 final der, tar, signifying tree, as in AS. 
 appalder, an apple-tree. 
 
 Electric. Gr. "HXtcr/oov, amber, the 
 power of amber, when rubbed, to attract 
 light bodies being the fact which first 
 called attention to the electric force. 
 
 Electuary. Mjd.Lat. electuaritim, bar- 
 barously formed from Gr. IkXuktov, a. me- 
 dicine which has to be licked ; kXti'^w, 
 to hck up. 
 
 Eleemosynary. Gr. IXerifioawn, alms. 
 
 Elegant. Lat. elegans, neat, hand- 
 some, delicate. 
 
 Elegy. Gr. tXtyoc, a song of mourn- 
 ing, supposed to be derived from i I Xeytiv, 
 to cry woe ! 
 
 Element. Lat. elemejitiim, a first 
 principle. 
 
 Elevate. Lat. elevare, to lift up ; 
 levare, to lighten, to lift up ; levis, light. 
 See Lift. 
 
 Eleven, as. endleofan, Goth, ainlif 
 eleven ; tvalif, tvalib, twelve. Lith. 
 wenolika, eleven, dwilika, twelve, from 
 wbiasj one, dwij two. The radical iden- 
 
836 ELF 
 
 tity of the second element in the Goth, 
 and Lith. forms has been generally ad- 
 mitted, in accordance with the analogy 
 of the parallel roots lip and lik^ in Gr. 
 XtiTro), X</X7rav(ii, to leave, Goth, laibos, 
 relics, ajli/nan, to remain ; and in Lat. 
 linguere, lictum, to leave, Lith. likti, to 
 remain over. The sense required for 
 this element is indicated in the Lap. ex- 
 pressions for the same numerals, akta 
 lokke naln, one upon ten, one in excess 
 of ten, two in excess of ten, and so on. 
 But the word for ten might easily be 
 left unexpressed, as it actually is in Fin. 
 yxi toista, eleven, literally, one in the 
 second [ten]. The ellipse is supplied in 
 the expression for twelfth, toineti toista 
 kymjnentd, the second in the second ten. 
 The Esthon. uses indifferently the elliptic 
 or the complete expression, ilks teist, or 
 iiks teist kitmmen, one in the second, or 
 one in the second ten. 
 
 Now Lith. lykus signifies surplus, re- 
 mainder ; lekas, what remains over, odd, 
 and, in combination with the ordinals 
 first, second, &c., it designates the num- 
 bers immediately following ten ; pirinas, 
 antrasy Sec, lekas^ the first, second, &c., 
 excess above ten, i. e. eleven, twelve, and 
 so on. The radical identity of forms 
 like these with the cardinal series, weiio- 
 lika, dwilika, &c., on the one hand, and 
 on the other with the verbal forms lekmi, 
 likti, to remain over, palikti, to leave 
 behind, cannot be doubted ; and having 
 thus traced the meaning of the Lith, 
 termination lika to the idea of surplus 
 expressed by the root of linquere, we 
 have strong analogy for a similar ex- 
 planation of the termination in Goth. 
 ai7ilib, ainlif, and E. eleven, from the 
 root of Gr. Xhtthv, and E. leave. Philolog. 
 Trans. 1857, p. 29. 
 
 Elf. AS. (zlf, elf, ON. alfr, alji, G. alp, 
 supernatural beings of the Northern 
 mythology. 
 
 Eliminate. Lat. eli7ninare, to turn 
 out of doors ijiinen, a threshold), to cast 
 forth. 
 
 Elixir. Arab, el-icsir, the philoso- 
 pher's stone. From Gr. ^ijpSv, ^rjpiov, 
 properly a dry medicament. — Dozy. 
 
 Ell. The length of a forearm ; the 
 forearm taken as a measure of length. 
 Gr. wXsvt], Lat. tdna, the forearm ; Du. 
 el, eln, Fr. aulne, an ell-measure, as ctibit, 
 a measure of the same kind, from Lat. 
 cubitus, the forearm. 
 
 Ellipsis. — Elliptical. Gr. tXXii\pig, a 
 leaving out. 
 
 EMBARRASS 
 
 Elm. Lat. ulmus, Du. olm, Fr. orme, 
 Bohem. gilm (yilm). 
 
 Elope. From ON. hlaupa, Du. loopen, 
 to run, verloopen, to run away from, N. 
 laupast, to run away, escape from home. 
 
 Else. AS. elles, otherwise ; el (in com- 
 position), other, as el-theodig, of another 
 people, foreign ; ellend, a foreign land ; 
 OFr. el, Gr. aXkoq, Lat. alius, other. 
 
 Emaciate. Lat. emaciare {inacies, 
 leanness), to make lean. 
 
 Emanate. Lat. emanare, to issue or 
 flow from I manare, to drop, trickle, flow. 
 
 Emancipate. Lat. manceps (manu 
 capio), one who takes in hand, a pur- 
 chaser, owner ; niaticipium, ownership, 
 property, a slave ; maticipare, to give into 
 possession ; etnaiicipare, to set free. 
 
 Embargo. Sp. e?nbargar, to impede, 
 restrain, to seize by process of law, se- 
 quester ; embargo, embarrassment, im- 
 pediment, indigestion, sequestration ; 
 Prov. einbargar, to embarrass, trouble, 
 hinder ; embarc, obstacle, trouble. 
 
 Diez' explanation through a supposed 
 imbarricare, from barra, a bolt or bar, is 
 unsatisfactory. The Lang, embragar, to 
 hinder, Prov. cjnbregar, to clog or en- 
 tangle, point to the probable origin in 
 Prov. bj-ac, mud. It. brago, a bog, puddle, 
 quagmire. A person sticking in the mud 
 before the days of road-making would 
 afford a most familiar image of helpless 
 embarrassment. 
 
 Be us tenon embregats, 
 
 they hold you well entangled (emp^trds). 
 — Raynouard. 
 
 Precisely the same metaphor is seen in 
 Sc. laggery, miry ; laggerit, bemired, 
 also encumbered, impeded. Also in E. 
 clog, to impede the action of a system by 
 stopping up the acting parts with adhe- 
 sive matter ; Sc. claggit, clogged, loaded 
 with clay (AS. cl(Xg) ; clag, encumbrance, 
 burden upon property, impediment in 
 the way of the possessor arising from the 
 legal claim of another. G. kuinmer sig- 
 nifies as well the mud of the streets as 
 judicial seizure, arrest, sequestration. — • 
 Kiittn. 
 
 * Embarrass. The most obvious 
 type of hindrance is a (^^r which stops the 
 way to anything. Fr, barre, a. bar ; 
 barres, exceptions in pleading, hampering 
 the course of one's opponent ; donner 
 barres \ to stay the current of. — Cot. 
 Barra, stopped, hindered. — Vocab. de 
 Vaud. Prov. b arras, Sc. b arras, barrace^ 
 a bar, barrier. Ptg. baraqo, a cord, 
 halter for hanging ; Sp. etJibarazar, Ptg. 
 
EMBASSADOR 
 
 enibara^ar, Fr. eTnbarrasser, to impede, 
 clog, embarrass. 
 
 Embassador. See Ambassador. 
 
 Embellish. Fr. e7ndellir, from bel, 
 bcaii, pleasing to sight. 
 
 Ember-days. Days set apart for 
 fasting at the four seasons of the year, 
 viz. on the first Friday in every quarter. 
 • — Adelung. From Lat. quatuor teinpora^ 
 the four seasons, whence G. quate?nber, a 
 quarter of a year, or a quarterly day, or 
 payment. Hence by further corruption 
 kotteinber^ kottemer, Pl.D. tajnper, Sw. 
 tamper-dagar, ymbe7'-dagar, ember or 
 imber days. Quatuor tenipora, dye fron- 
 fast, vier fronfasten. — Dief. Sup. Em- 
 byrday, fastyng day. — Palsgr. 
 
 Embers, as. cetnyrian^ N. eldmyrja 
 {eld, fire), eiviyrja. Dan. euimer, Svv. 
 
 inorja, N. myrja, glowing ashes. 
 
 To Embezzle. Properly to conceal, 
 then to make away with property en- 
 trusted to a servant by his master. 
 
 ' I concele, I e?nbesyll a thynge, I kepe 
 a thynge secret. — I embesell, I hyde or 
 consoyle, Je cele. I embesyll a thynge, 
 or put it out of the way, Je substrays. 
 He that embesylleth a thyng intendeth to 
 steale it if he can convoye it clenly.' — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 It cannot have anything to do with OFr. 
 besiller, to overturn, destroy, Prov. becilh, 
 destruction, trouble. 
 
 Emblem. Gr. tfi^Xrifia (from t/ijSaXXw, 
 to put in), Lat. smblema, something let 
 in to another, an ornament, and fig. an 
 ornament of discourse. The word is 
 curiously appropriated in Fr. and E. to a 
 symbohc figure tacked on to some thought 
 or saying which it is meant to illustrate 
 and perfect. Embleme, a picture and 
 short posie expressing some particular 
 conceit. — Cot. 
 
 To Emboss. Fr. embosser, to swell 
 or rise in bunches, knobs ; bosse, a bunch 
 or knob ; bossel 
 vessel of metal. 
 
 To Embrace. Fr. embrasser, It. im- 
 bracciare, to infold in one's arms, from 
 Fr. bras, It. braccia, the arms. 
 
 Embrasure. Fr. braser, to slope the 
 edge of a stone, as masons do in windows, 
 &c., for the gaining of light ; 3raser, em- 
 braser, the splaying or skuing of the 
 opening of a door or window for such a 
 purpose ; embrasure, the splayed opening 
 of a window or door, and hence the 
 splayed opening in a parapet for a can- 
 non to fire through. 
 
 The word is unknown in Sp., or it 
 might be explained from abrazar, to em- 
 
 EMPEACH 
 
 237. 
 
 brace, the opening in the wall being con- 
 sidered as if spreading its arms to embrace 
 those in the inside. 
 
 Embrocation. From It. broca^ Fr. 
 broc, a jug or pipkin. It. embrocatione, a 
 fomenting or bucketing of the head with 
 waters or other liquor faUing upon it in 
 the manner of rain. — Fl. 
 
 To Embrue. See Imbme. 
 
 Emendation. Lat. emendare, to cor- 
 rect, or remove blemishes ; menda, a de- 
 fect, blemish. 
 
 Emerald. Fr. Suieraude, It. snieraldo, 
 Sp., Port. es?neralda, from Lat. smarag- 
 dus, Gr. (JudgaySoQ. — Scheler. 
 
 Emery. Fr. esmeril, emeril, the black 
 hard mineral wherewith iron-works are 
 furbished, an emrod, or emerill stone. — • 
 Cot. Gr. afiupig, -idog, Mod.Gr. (TfivpiTijg, 
 emery ; anvpi^u), to polish with emery. 
 In the Romance languages perhaps the 
 word was understood as if derived from 
 merits, pure, whence Prov. mer, mier 
 esmers, pure, fine ; esmerar, to purify, re- 
 fine. Aissi coma la lima esmera e pura 
 lo fer. — Rayn. As the file cleanses and 
 purifies iron. Limousin emdra, to scour 
 with sand ; Sp. esmerar, to polish, 
 cleanse. 
 
 Emetic. Gr. i^lw, to vomit. 
 
 Emmet. — Ant. as. cemet, G. afneise, 
 Henneberg emetze, Pl.D. eempte, eemke. 
 — Adelung. From the proverbial indus- 
 try of the animal ; G. emsig, assiduous, 
 diligent. The as. cEinetta, csmta, leisure, • 
 rest, and cemtig, vacant, empty, idle, 
 seem to furnish exactly the contrary 
 meaning of what is required for our de- 
 rivation, but it will be found that leisure 
 and occupation are very constantly ex- 
 pressed by the same word. Thus Lat. 
 opera, work, pains, is sometimes trans- 
 lated time, leisure. Deest mihi opera, I 
 have no leisure. The possession of lei- 
 sure is an obvious condition for the be- 
 stowal of our attention on any given ob- 
 ject. We see the connection of the two 
 ideas in Fr. vaguer, to be at leisure, to 
 cease from working, also to attend, apply, 
 bestow time on, bend his study unto. — 
 Cot. Du. moete is rendered by Kilian 
 opera, labor, and also otium, tempus va- 
 cuum. 
 
 Emolument. Lat. emolumentum, 
 profit acquired through labour ; moliri, 
 to exert oneself. 
 
 Empair. Fr. empirer, to make worse ; 
 pis, f. pire, Lat. pejor, worse. 
 
 Empeach. To attach or fasten upon 
 one the charge of a criminal accusation. 
 Fr. empescher, empecher, to hinder, im- 
 
238 
 
 EMPHASIS 
 
 peach, pester, incumber. Empescher le 
 Jief, to seize on a fief, the lord take it into 
 his own possession. — Cot. Prov. evipaig, 
 hindrance ; evipachar^ empaytar^ to hin- 
 der. Probably direct from the Celtic. 
 Gael, bac^ hinder, restrain ; bacail, an 
 obstacle (whence Fr. bacler^ to bolt the 
 door) ; ON. bdgi^ difficulty ; baga^ to 
 hinder. N. bagja^ to stop, to hinder. 
 Lat. repagula, bolts, is probably from the 
 same source. Bret, bac^ha^ to confine, 
 imprison ; badhein, to disconcert, put out 
 of countenance, to be compared with Sp. 
 empachar^ to embarrass, confuse, make 
 ashamed. 
 
 Emphasis. — Emphatic. Gr. ifi<paiv(o, 
 to let a thing be seen in ; efifaivti, tfi<pai- 
 viTat, it is manifest. Hence iii<pamc, ap- 
 pearance in, significance, the force of 
 an expression. To say a thing with em- 
 phasis is to say it with special signifi- 
 cance ; emphatic, what is spoken so as 
 to have special significance. 
 
 Empire. — Emperor. Fr. empire, em- 
 pereiir, from Lat. itnpetdum^ imperator ; 
 imperare, to command. 
 
 Empiric. Gr. tuTTdpiKog, of one who 
 acts on the results of experience, as op- 
 posed to the leadings of science, Ifiirtipla, 
 experience. 
 
 To Employ. Fr. employer, It. impie- 
 gare, from Lat. plicare, to fold or bend, 
 , as G. anivenden, to employ, make use of, 
 from wenden, to turn. To turn to a cer- 
 •tain purpose. See Ply. 
 
 Emporium. Gr. tfiiropiov, a mart, 
 place of trade ; in-n-opog, a traveller, a 
 merchant ; IfiTropevofxai, to be on a journey, 
 to traffic, trade. 
 
 Empty. See Emmet. 
 
 Emulate. — Emulous. Lat. cemulus, 
 one who seeks to equal or outdo a rival. 
 
 En-, before a labial, Em-. Gr. iv, 
 Lat. in, Fr. en, in. 
 
 Enamel. Fr. es7nail, hnail, amel or 
 enamel. — Cot. Atnmel for goldsmiths, 
 esmail. — Palsgr. It. smalto, G. schmelz, 
 schmelz-glas, smalt, colours produced by 
 the melting of glass with a metallic oxide. 
 G. schmelzen, to melt. It. smaltare, Sp. 
 esmaltar, to enamel. Perhaps the loss 
 of the final / in Fr. esmailler has arisen 
 from the influence of Du. maelen, to 
 paint ; maeler van glas, encaustes ; mael- 
 erie, maelie, encaustum, enamel j mael- 
 dren, to enamel.— Kil. 
 
 Enchant. Fr. enchanter, from Lat. 
 incantare, to sing magic songs. 
 
 Encomium. — Encomiast. Gr. kw^oc, 
 a festivity, festive procession, ode sung 
 on such an occasion \ to tyKwpof {(ttoq), 
 
 ENGROSS 
 
 the chant sung on convoying a victor, a 
 laudatory ode. 
 
 To Encroach. Fr. accrocher, to hook 
 on to, from croc, a hook. 
 
 To Encumber. See Comber. 
 
 End. Goth, andeis, Sanscr. anta, end, 
 death. 
 
 Endeavour. To endeavour is to make 
 it our duty to do a thing. Fr. se mettre 
 eti devoir de, se disposer a faire quelque 
 chose. — Gattel. 
 
 We put him in devoir at all times when he 
 might have a leyser, which was but startemele, 
 to translate diverse books out of French into 
 English.— Ames of Printing, cited by Holloway. 
 
 To Endorse. Fr. dousser (Cot.), en- 
 dosser, to back a bill, to give it the sup- 
 port of our credit by writing our name on 
 the t " " ' - - - 
 
 back. 
 
 To Endow. From Lat. dos, dotis, Fr. 
 dot, a marriage gift ; dot^., doiii, indued 
 or endowed with ; doner, to give a dowry 
 unto. — Cot. An internal d ox t \s fre- 
 quently converted into a u in Fr., as It. 
 vedova, OFr. vedve, Fr. veuve, a widow. 
 
 Endue. Often treated as a corruption 
 of endow J but it is sometimes clearly 
 from Lat. induere, to clothe. 
 
 Thou losel base, 
 That hast with borrowed plumes thyself endewed. 
 F.Q.inR. 
 
 Sometimes there may be a confusion with 
 i?nbue. 
 
 Enemy. Fr. ennemi, Lat. inimicus, 
 from in, negative, and amare, to love. 
 
 Energy. Gr. ivipyda, from iv and 
 tpyov, an action. 
 
 Engine. Lat. ingenium, innate, or 
 natural quality, mental capacity, inven- 
 tion, clever thought ; It. ingegno, Prov. 
 engeinh, Fr. engin, contrivance, craft. 
 Mieux vaut engin que force, better be 
 wise than strong. — Cot. The term was 
 then applied, like Gr. nnx^vi], to any me- 
 chanical contrivance for executing a pur- 
 pose, and specially to machines of war. 
 See Artillery. 
 
 To Engross. i. Fr. grossoyer, to 
 write fair, or in great (Fr. gros) and fair 
 letters. — Cot. Opposed to the tninute or 
 small characters of the original draught, 
 hence called minutes of a proceeding. 
 Fr. groSse, Du. gros, a notarial copy. 
 Le notaire garde la minute et en delivre 
 la grosse, keeps the minutes and delivers 
 the engrossed copy. — P. Marin. 
 
 2. In the earlier period of our history 
 the engrossing of commodities was re- 
 garded as an odious social offence, and 
 was jealously guarded against by the 
 
ENHANCE 
 
 municipal law. The meaning of the 
 word is explained by Blackstone as ' the 
 getting into our possession, or buying up, 
 large quantities of corn, or other dead 
 victuals.' ' I grosse, I take or hepe up 
 thynges a great, Je engrosse. This man 
 grosseth up all the market.' — Palsgr. 
 Perhaps also the offence was what was 
 considered an unfair engrossing or en- 
 hancing of the price by buying up what 
 would otherwise have been brought to 
 market by the producers themselves. Fr. 
 engrossir, to greaten, increase, enlarge. 
 —Cot. 
 
 To Enhance. From Lat. ante^ be- 
 fore, in antea, en avant, forwards, were 
 formed Prov. a7iz, ans, before, enant, 
 enans, forwards, and thence enansar, to 
 put forwards, to advance, exalt, enhance. 
 
 Enigma, Gr. aiviyfia, a dark saying, 
 riddle ; aivicraofiai, to hint at, to speak in 
 riddles. 
 
 Ennui. See Annoy. 
 
 Enormous. Lat. enormis {e and 
 norma, a rule), irregular, exceeding pro- 
 portion. 
 
 Enough. Goth, binauhan, to be 
 bound, to have it incumbent upon one, 
 to be lawful ; ganauhan, to suffice, 
 ganohs, enough, sufficient ; ganohjan, to 
 satisfy. ON. nogr, gnogr, abundant ; 
 ncEgia, to suffice ; G. genug, Du. noeg, 
 genoeg, enough ; genoegen^ to please, to 
 satisfy. — Kil. 
 
 Ensample. Sp. enxiemplo (Ticknor), 
 OFr. ensample, from exempiiim, as Ptg. 
 enxame, from examen, Sp. ensayo, an 
 essay, from exagitim. 
 
 Trestut le mond enlumina 
 Par le sample qu'il nus donna 
 Pur nus garir. 
 Benoit, Vie de St Thomas, 1199. 
 
 In the Harl. MS. ensample. 
 
 Ensign. It. insegjia, Fr. enseigne, a 
 distinctive mark, from Lat. insignia, pi. 
 of insigne. — Diez. It also signified the 
 distinctive cry which was used in battle 
 to encourage the troops on different 
 sides. Thus Deus aie / God help ! was 
 the cry of Normandy, while those of 
 several adjacent provinces are mentioned 
 by Bdnoit in his account of a battle be- 
 tween the confederate princes and Duke 
 Richard. 
 
 Munjoie ! escrient si Franceis, 
 E Passavant ! Tiebaut de Bleis, 
 . Valie ! orient tuit enfin 
 Quens Geofrei e si Angevin, 
 Baudoin e Flamenc, Arraz ! 
 
 Chron. Norm. vol. 2. 215. 
 
 Among chiefs of inferior consequence 
 
 ENTICE 
 
 239 
 
 the name of each feudal lord was shouted 
 out to rally his own band of retainers. 
 Quant ces unt ja crid l'enseis;ne de Vedsci, 
 E, Glanville chevaliers ! e, Baillol ! autresi, 
 Odinel de Umfravile relevad le suen cri. 
 
 Chron. Fantosme. 
 Than mycht men her enseynyeis cry. 
 And Scottis men cry hardely. 
 On thaim ! On thaim ! On thaim ! they faile. 
 Bruce, ix. 385. 
 
 To Ensue. OFr. ensuir from Lat. 
 insequi, to follow upon. 
 
 Entail. A fee-simple is the entire 
 estate in land, when a man holds the 
 estate to him and his heirs without any 
 contingent rights in any one else not 
 claiming through him. An estate-tail is 
 a partial interest, cut (Fr. taille) out of 
 the entire fee, when land is given to a 
 man and the heirs male of his body, 
 leaving a right of re-entry in the original 
 owner on failure of male descendants of 
 the tenant in tail, as he was called, or 
 person to whom the estate-tail was given. 
 The entail of an estate is dividing the 
 fee into successive estates for life, or in 
 tail, under such conditions as required 
 by law. 
 
 Enter. — Entrance. Fr. efitrer, Lat. 
 intrare, to go in. 
 
 Enterprise. Fr. entreprise, from en- 
 treprendre, to undertake, an old form of 
 which, emprendre, gave our poetical em- 
 prise. 
 
 To Entertain. Fr. entretenir (from 
 Lat. tenere, to hold), mutually to hold, to 
 hold in talk, to hold together. — Cot. 
 
 Enthusiasm. Gr. tvBeog, tvQovq, full 
 of the (Qioq) god, inspired, possessed; 
 ivQovaiulo), to be so inspired. 
 
 To Entice. OFr. entiser, eniicher, 
 atiser, Norman entincher (Decorde), 
 Bret, atiza, to instigate, incite. Satanas 
 entichad Ddiv'id qu'il feist anumbrer ces 
 de Israel. — L. des Rois 
 
 Mult Ventice, mult I'aguillone. 
 
 Benoit, Chron, Norm. 2. 194. 
 Ses gens r'amoneste e atise 
 Li dux. — lb. 2. 205. 
 
 Fr, attiser, to kindle, to stir the fire ; 
 attise-qiierelle, a stirrer-up of quarrels. 
 
 The origin is the hissing sound by 
 which dogs are incited in setting them 
 on to fight with each other or to attack 
 another animal. These sounds are re- 
 presented in E. by the letters ss ! st ! ts / 
 being doubtless imitations of the angry 
 sounds of a quarrelling dog. In other 
 languages they are more distinctly arti- 
 culated. Fin. has/ has! cry used in 
 settmg on dogs ; hasittaa, Esthon. assa- 
 tama. to set them on. Lap. has ! as / 
 
!40 
 
 ENTIRE 
 
 Serv. osh / cry to drive out dogs ; Lap. 
 hasketet, hoskotet, hotsalet, to set dogs 
 on to attack ; hastet, /losiet, to provoke, 
 challenge, incite. Pl.D. hiss, cry used 
 in setting on dogs ; hissen, to set them 
 on, to drive by the aid of dogs ; de 
 schaop hissen, to drive sheep. — Danneil. 
 Du. hissen, hisschen, hitsen, hiissen, to 
 hiss, to set on dogs, to instigate, kindle, 
 inflame. —Kil. G. hetzen, anhetzen, to 
 set on dogs, to irritate, incite ; hitze, 
 rage, heat. At other times a / is taken 
 as the initial of the imitative syllable, 
 giving G. zischen, Pl.D. tissen, E. dial. 
 tiss, to hiss. To tice is used in Pem- 
 brokeshire, as Pl.D. hissen, for the em- 
 ployment of a dog in driving another 
 animal ; to tice a dog at a pig ; to tice 
 the pig out of the garden, to set a dog at 
 it to drive it out, as Pl.D. de swine uut 
 dem have hissen. Hence probably the 
 simple form to tice, in the sense of in- 
 citing, alluring, w^as already current in 
 the language before the importation of 
 the Fr. entiser. Compare Sw. tussa, to 
 set on dogs, to set people by the ears. 
 
 The It. has forms corresponding both 
 to hiss and tiss. The cry used in setting 
 on dogs is izz / at Florence, and uzz ! 
 at Modena, whence izzare and iizzare il 
 cane (corresponding to G. hetzeti), to set 
 on a dog (Muratori, Diss. 33) ; izza (cor- 
 responding to G. hitze), anger, contest ; 
 adizzare, aissare, to hiss, set on dogs, 
 provoke to anger ; tizzare, to ^gg on, 
 provoke, to stir the fire ; tizzo, tizzone^ a 
 fire-brand ; stizzare, -ire, to provoke, 
 enrage, stir the fire ; stizza, anger ; stizzo, 
 a fire-brand. Walach. atzitzd, to set 
 on, incite, fall into a passion, kindle fire. 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing anal- 
 ogies it is impossible either to separate 
 It. izzare, nzzare, from tizzare, attizzare, 
 or to doubt that the common origin of 
 all is the hissing on of a dog against 
 another animal. The idea of provoking 
 to anger then must be taken as the 
 original image, and that of stirring the 
 fire as a figurative application, directly 
 contrary to what we should have ex- 
 pected ; and we find the explanation of 
 Lat. titio, to which we have no clue in 
 the ancient language, in the It. tizzare, 
 Fr. attiser, commonly regarded as de- 
 rivatives from the Latin noun. 
 
 Entire. It. intero, Fr. entier^ from 
 Lat. integer, whole, untouched. 
 
 Entity. Fr. entiti, from Lat. etis, pr. 
 pcpl. of esse, to be. 
 
 Entomology. Gr. lvTo\ia, insects ; 
 
 ENVY 
 
 from being divided into several sections ; 
 TSfivut, TtrSfia, to cut. 
 
 Entrails. Fr. entraii/es, Prov. intralias, 
 OFr. entraigne, from Lat. inter anea, the 
 inwards or intestines, the inward parts of 
 the body. 
 
 Entreat. From Lat. tractare, to 
 handle, Fr. traicter, to meddle with, to 
 discourse, debate, or make mention of. — 
 Cot. 
 
 To Enure. From Fr. heur, hap, for- 
 tune, chance, was formed E. ure, fortune, 
 destiny, the experience of good or evil. 
 
 Now late hire come, and liche as God your ure 
 For you disposeth, taketh your aventure. 
 
 Lidgate, corrected from Hal. 
 And nana suld duell with him bot thai 
 That wald stand with him to the end, 
 And take the ure that God wald send. 
 
 Bruce, viii. 405. 
 
 Hence to have in ure, to put in ure, or to 
 enure, is to experience, to practise, to take 
 effect. 
 
 Salomon 
 Tellith a tale — whether in dede done 
 Or mekely feined to our instruccion 
 Let clerkes determine, but this I am sure 
 Moche like what I myself have had in ure. 
 
 Chaucer, Rem. Love, 158. 
 He gan that lady strongly to appeal 
 Of many heinous crimes by her inured. 
 
 F. Q. inR. 
 
 Inured to arms, practised in arms. To 
 enure to the advantage of some one, in 
 legal language, is to take effect to his ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 The Fr. heur is not to be confounded 
 with heure, hour, moment, being derived 
 (as conclusively established by Diez) from 
 Lat. auguriuni, Ptg. agouro, Prov. augur, 
 agur. Cat. ahuir, augury, omen ; whence 
 Prov. bondtir, maldur, good, evil fortune ; 
 It. sciagurato, sciatirato (exauguratus), 
 ill-omened, unlucky ; sciagura, sciaura, 
 ill fortune, disaster ; OFr. hienaureiz, for- 
 tunate. 
 
 To Envelop. It. inviluppare, Fr. en- 
 velopper, the equivalent of E. wrap, wlap, 
 lap. 
 
 L'enfant cnvolupat en draps e pausat en la cru- 
 pia. — Rayn. 
 
 And sche bare her firste borun sone and wlap- 
 pide him in clothes and leyde him in a cracche,— 
 Wiclifif 
 
 See Lap. 
 
 Environ. Fr. environ, around, from 
 virer, to veer, turn round, whirl about. 
 
 Envoy. Fr. eiivoyer, to send. See 
 Convoy. 
 
 Envy. Lat. invidia. It. invidia, in- 
 veggia. Cat. enveja, Prov. enveia, Fr. 
 
EP- 
 
 envie. Ifividere, to envy, should signify- 
 to look askance at. 
 
 Ep-, Eph-, Epi-. In compounds of 
 Gr. extraction, the prep, iiri, upon. 
 
 Epaulet. Dim. from Fr. espaule, 
 epaule, Prov. espatla^ Sp. espalda^ It. 
 spalla, the shoulder, from Lat. spathiila, 
 dim. of Lat. spatha, Gr. aird^ri, a blade, 
 broad flat instrument. 
 
 Ephemeral. Gr. r'l/ispa, a day, ify'ifispog, 
 daily, lasting only a day. 
 
 Epic. Gr. tirog, a word, saying, a 
 verse or line of poetry ; to. iwr], heroic 
 poetry, as opposed to fi'eXri, lyric poetry. 
 
 Epicure. — Epicurean. From the 
 name of the Greek philosopher Epicurus. 
 
 Epilepsy. Gr. 67r<Xjjipja, a seizure, 
 from Xanf3dvi>), to seize, take. 
 
 Epiphany. Gr. lTTi(paviia, manifesta- 
 tion ; (paivu), to make to appear ; ra lin- 
 ^dvia, the festival of the Epiphany or 
 manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. 
 
 Episcopacy. — Episcopal. See Bi- 
 shop. 
 
 Episode. Gr. iTreKToSiov, something 
 coming in upon ; tiaodog, an incoming or 
 arrival. 
 
 Epistle. See Apostle. 
 
 Epitaph. Gr. eTrtra^iov, sometl^ing 
 written on (ra^og) a tomb. 
 
 Epithet. Gr, tTriSnTog, composed, added 
 over and above, from riSrijfii, to put. 
 
 Epitome. Gr. tniTofirj, a cutting short ; 
 
 TEfivu), to cut. 
 
 Epoch. Gr. t7rox»7, a cessation, pause, 
 stop in the reckoning of time, point where 
 one period ends and another begins ; 
 t7rBx(d, to hold back, stop, check. 
 
 Equal. — Equable. — Equator. — 
 Equity. — Equi-. Lat. cequus, even, level, 
 thence alike in every part, not raised one 
 above another, just, right, ^quitas^ 
 equality, symmetry, equity, justice. 
 j£guare, to make even, to make equal. 
 
 * Equerry. From Fr. ecurie^ stables. 
 Esaiyer d'escurie, a querry in a prince's 
 stables, the gentleman of a lord's horse. 
 — Cot. From ohg. scur, scura, sciiira, a 
 pent-house, out-house, barn, hut, must be 
 explained Mid. Lat. scura, sacria, Prov. 
 escura, escuria^ Fr. ecurie, barn, stables ; 
 G. scheuer, scheure, pent-house, loft, barn ; 
 Walach. schurd, a bam. The form 
 ^^?^^rry corresponds with Mid. Lat. sciira- 
 rius, Walach. schtirarm, the officer in 
 charge of the barn or stables. 
 
 Equestrian. Lat. eqtiester, eguestris, 
 pertaining to a horseman. 
 
 Equ.ilibrium. Lat. (Equilibrium, from 
 libra, a balance. 
 
 To Equip. . Fr. equiper, to attire, pro- 
 
 ERR 
 
 24] 
 
 vide with necessary furniture, set in array 
 by full provision for a service. — Cot. 
 From ON. skipa, to arrange, AS. sceapan^ 
 scyppan, to form, G. schaffen, to create, 
 provide, furnish. 
 
 Era. Lat. cera, pi. of as, brass, was 
 used in the sense of money, and thence 
 applied to the separate headings or items 
 of an account. Quid tu, inquam, soles, 
 cum rationem e dispensatore accipis, si 
 CBra singula probasti, summam, quae ex 
 his confecta sit, non probare ? — Cic. in 
 Face. In later Lat. the casting of ac- 
 counts seems to have been taken as the 
 type of computation or numbering in 
 general, and cera (converted into a fem. 
 singular) was transferred from the items 
 of an account to the separate headings of 
 any enumeration or the numerical refer- 
 ence by which they were marked, and 
 was elliptically used in the sense of num- 
 bering or computation. The Visigothic 
 laws are cited by liber, titulus, and asra. 
 Faustus Reiensis (ob. A.D. 480) says, 
 Sacer numerus dicitur quia trecenti in 
 (zrd sive supputatiotie signum crucis, &c. 
 And again. Per crucis enim signum et 
 per sacrum Jesu nomen apud Graecos 
 hera utriusque supputationis imprimitur. 
 — Due. Per singulos Evangelistas nu- 
 merus quidem capitulis afifixus adjacet, 
 quibus numeris subdita est cera qucedam 
 mi?iio notata (a numerical reference in 
 red ink) quae indicat in quoto canone 
 positus sit numerus cui subjecta est aera : 
 V. g. si est aera prima, in primo canone. — 
 Isidor. in Due. Hilderic has (^rcz dieruin 
 for nutneri dieruin, where it is to be re- 
 gretted that Due. has not cited the pas- 
 sage at large. The word is now under- 
 stood in the sense of a numbering or 
 reckoning of years from a date to be 
 gathered from the context. Thus the 
 Christian era is the reckoning of years 
 from the birth of Christ ; the era of Au- 
 gustus (according to Isidore) from his 
 first laying of the tribute, ^ra singu- 
 lorum annorum constituta est a Caesare 
 Augusto quando primum censum exegit. 
 — Orig. V. 36. 
 
 Ere. — Erst. Goth, air, early ; AS. 
 C2r, cerost, early, before, first, heretofore ; 
 Du. eer, before, sooner ; G. ehe, eher, 
 eheste, before, soonest ; erste, first. 
 
 To Err. — Error. Lat. errare, G. irren, 
 to wander, go astray ; irre, astray. Fin. 
 eri, separate, apart ; eri-lainen, of a dif- 
 ferent nature ; ero, departure, separation ; 
 ero-kirja, a writing of divorce ; erhetys, 
 error, sin ; erhettya, erheilla, to err, to 
 wander ; erheys, wrong way, wandering ; 
 16 
 
242 
 
 ERYSIPELAS 
 
 erh-maa {inaa^ land), a remote or desert 
 place, wilderness, Gr. ipijfioi. Esthon. 
 drrd, separate, away. Lap. enV, away, 
 to another place. Lith. trii) to separate, 
 go asunder. 
 
 Erysipelas. Gr. IpvairrtXac, St An- 
 thony's fire, commonly derived from 
 ipvOpoQ, red, and 7r«\\n, skin. — Lidd. 
 
 Escape. Immediately from Yx.eschap- 
 per {V\z2ixA. escapet)^\.Q shift away, scape, 
 to slip out of.— Cot. Diez resolves the 
 It. scappare into excappare, to slip out of 
 one's cloke (cappa) in the hurry of flight ; 
 and the synonymous scampare into ex- 
 canipare^ to quit the field {campus). The 
 separation of the two forms is wholly 
 unnecessary. The radical idea is simply 
 that of slipping away. 
 
 Myght he haf slypped to be unslayn. 
 
 Sir Gawaine, 1858. 
 might he have escaped being slain. The 
 two senses are united in Walach. scapd^ 
 to let slip, to slip, to fall, fall into error, 
 also to slip away, escape ; and in Du. 
 schampen^ identical with It. scampare, to 
 glance aside, slip, graze, escape, fall ; 
 schampig, slippery, schampelen, to slip, 
 to stumble. — Kil. The train of thought 
 seems to be a quick unimpeded move- 
 ment, a glance along the surface, avoid- 
 ance of resistance or restraint, y^.ysgip, 
 Gael, sgiab, snatch, start ; E. skip, light 
 rapid movement, to pass over, avoid ; 
 Sc. skiff, skift, to move lightly and 
 smoothly along, to skim ; to scheyff, to 
 escape. — ^Jam. It. schippire^ to escape. 
 — Altieri. Du. schuyffen, schuyffelen, 
 schuyven, to slip, to shove, to fly ; schuif- 
 knoop, a slip-knot ; he ging schuiveity he 
 escaped. 
 
 Escheat. From Lat. cadere, to fall, 
 arose Pro v. caer, OFr. chaeir, cheoir, 
 cheir, escheir, to fall, to happen ; chaeit, 
 chaet, fallen (Chron. Norm.) ; cheite, 
 fall ; eschdete, escheoite, escheate, succes- 
 sion, heritage, the falling in of a property, 
 especially that to the lord of the fee, for 
 want of heirs or for misfeasance of the 
 tenant. 
 
 Eschew. Fr. eschever, to avoid, bend 
 from ; esquiver, to shun, avoid, shift 
 away, slip aside. — Cot. It. schifare, 
 schivare, to avoid, to parry a blow. Sw. 
 skef, Dan. skieve, oblique ; skieve, to 
 slant, slope, swerve. The primitive 
 image, as in escape, is slipping aside, 
 sliding over a surface instead of striking 
 it direct. G. schieben, to shove or push 
 along a surface, sich schieben, to slip side- 
 ways, to become awry ; Du. schuyffen, 
 schuyven^ to slip, push forwards, to 
 
 ESPLANADE 
 
 escape ; schuif, a sliding shutter, drawer, 
 &c. See Escape. 
 
 Escort. Fr. escorte, from It. scoria, 
 a guide, convoy, direction.; scorgere, 
 scorto or scorgiuto, to discern, perceive, 
 also to lead or direct unto. — Fl. Ex- 
 plained by Diez from Lat. ex-corrigere, 
 as accorgere, to perceive, from ad-corri- 
 gere, but until it is shown how the mean- 
 ing of scorgere is evolved out of that of 
 corrigere there is little gained by such a 
 derivation. 
 
 Escroll. — Escrow. — Scroll. Fr. es^ 
 croice, 2l scrowl, register-roll of expenses, 
 written warrant, &c. — Cot. ON. skrd, 
 Sw. skr&^ a short writing ; gildeskrd, the 
 rules of a corporation. Pl.D. schrae, 
 schraa, by-laws ; schrage, a written ordi- 
 nance, formula of an oath, placard. — 
 Brem. Wtb. The original meaning is 
 doubtless a slip or shred of parchment. 
 Pl.D. schraden, schraen, to shred ; Du. 
 schroode, schroye, segmen, pars abscissa, 
 pagella, segmen chartaceum, sceda ; 
 Ang. schrowe. — Kil. 
 
 Esculent. Lat. esculentiis ; esca, what 
 is to be eaten, food, from edo, I eat. 
 
 Escutcheon. OFr. escusson, a small 
 shield, a coat of arms ; escu, It. scudo, 
 Lat. scutum, a shield. 
 
 Esophagus. Gr. ohotpayog, from an 
 obsolete olau), preserved in olvu), future of 
 0£pw, to bear, and ^aytlv, to eat. But 
 this is the only instance in which oicro- 
 appears in comp. 
 
 Esoteric. Lat. esotericus, from Gr. 
 4(Tw, within, the comparative of which 
 would be tauiTtpov. 
 
 Espalier. Originally applied to trees 
 or plants trained with their backs to a 
 wall or trellis, from It. spalla, Sp. espalda, 
 shoulder. In English gardening confined 
 to trees trained against stakes or paling, 
 perhaps from the influence of an acci- 
 dental resemblance in the name to E. 
 paling. Sp. espaldar, place where one 
 puts his back to rest against, piece of 
 tapestry against which the back of the 
 chair rests, espalier in gardens ; espal- 
 dera, wall-trees. It. spalliera, any place 
 or thing to lean against with one's 
 shoulders, any hedgerow of trees, privet, 
 ivy, vines, or any verdure growing up 
 against any wall. — Fl. Fr. espalier, 
 fruit-trees trained against a wall, either 
 by nailing, or by a framework of laths 
 or stakes. — Trevoux. 
 
 Esplanade. Fr. esplanade, a planing 
 of ways, by grubbing up trees and re- 
 moving all other encumbrances. Es- 
 
ESQUIRE 
 
 planer^ to level or lay even with the 
 ground. — Cot. 
 
 Esquire. It. scudiero, Fr. escuyer 
 (properly a shield-bearer, Lat. scutum^ a 
 shield), an esquire or squire, who at- 
 tended on a knight and bore his lance 
 and shield. 
 
 Essart. See Assart 
 
 Essay. See Assay. 
 
 Essence. Lat. essentia, the being of 
 a thing, from esse, to be. 
 
 * Essoin. Fr. ensoigne, essoin, a law- 
 ful excuse for an absent, or good cause 
 of discharge for an impotent, person. — 
 Cot. 
 
 The original meaning of Fr. ensoign, 
 essoign, Mid. Lat. exonitiin, is occupation, 
 business, need, then such need as excuses 
 a man from other avocations, analogous 
 to G. nothsache, a necessary thing, also a 
 good and lawful excuse before a tribunal. 
 — Kiittn. OSax. sunnea, need, business; 
 Prov. sotih, Fr. soin, care, industry, la- 
 bour, pains, — Cot. Wall, sogri, occupa- 
 tion, business ; Fr. besogne, business ; 
 besoin, need, want. 
 
 Esteem. — Estimate. Lat. csstimare, 
 to value, assess. 
 
 Estoppel. A legal impediment. Iden- 
 tical with stopple, stopper ; OFr. estouper, 
 to stop. 
 
 Estovers. Supply of needful wood 
 for repairs, fuel, &c. OFr. estoveir, 
 estovoir, to be needful. Grisons stuver, 
 stovair (=G. milssen), to have need. 
 Diez suggests an origin from Lat. studere, 
 which is not satisfactory. 
 
 Estre. Estre, state, condition, place. 
 Fr. estre, s. s. from estre, to be. 
 
 What shall I tell unto Silvestre, 
 Or of your name or of your estre. 
 
 Gower in Hal. 
 Seid the tothir to Jak, for thou knowist better 
 
 than I 
 All the estris of this house, go up thyself and spy. 
 Chaucer, Pardoner and Tapster, 555. 
 
 Li vilains cui li estres fu, to whom the 
 place belonged. — Fab. et Contes, 3, 118. 
 
 Estreat. Lat. extractnm, the copy of 
 any original writing, but especially of 
 fines set down in the rolls of a court, to 
 be levied of any man for his offence. — B. 
 The recognisances are said to be estreated 
 when the officer is directed to take out 
 such a copy for the purpose of levying 
 the amount. 
 
 To Etch. To engrave by corrosion ; 
 G. dtzen, to cause to eat, to feed, corrode, 
 etch. 
 
 Eternal. Lat. cetermcs, from cevum, 
 
 EVER 
 
 H3 
 
 lifetime, life, age, indefinite duration. 
 See Ever. 
 
 Ether.— Ethereal. Gr. alBriQ, the air, 
 the sky or heavens; oldHv, to light up, 
 burn, blaze. 
 
 Ethic. Gr. riOiKOQ, having to do with 
 morals ; fiOoq, an accustomed seat, the 
 haunts of animals, abodes of men, cus- 
 tom, usage, habits and manners of men. 
 Considered by Liddell as a modification 
 of iQoq, custom, usage, manners, from 
 tQu), to be wont. 
 
 Etiquette. Fr. etiquette, originally a 
 ticket indicating a certain reference to 
 the object to which it is affixed, then ap- 
 plied to certain regulations as to be- 
 haviour, dress, &c., to be observed by 
 particular persons on particular occasions. 
 See Ticket. 
 
 Etymology. — Etymon. Gr. Itv^ioi;, 
 true ; to Irvyiov, the true origin of a word. 
 
 Eu-. In words derived from Gr. is 
 the adv. tv, well, much used in comp., 
 when it implies goodness, abundance, 
 easiness. 
 
 Eucharist. Gr. ivxapiffria, thankful- 
 ness, giving of thanks ; x^V*f> good-will, 
 thanks. 
 
 Eunuch. Gr. tuvovxog, a castrated 
 man, on account of their employment as 
 guardians of the women in an Eastern 
 household, from tvvtj, the bed, and ix^, 
 to keep, have the care of. 
 
 Euphemism. Gr. evfTjuifffibg, from li 
 and ^j?/ii, to speak. 
 
 Evangelist. — Evangelic. Lat. evan- 
 gelium, Gr. tuayyiXwv, happy tidings, 
 from ev and dyytXog, a messenger, mes- 
 sage. 
 
 Even. G. eben, Du. even, effen, ON. 
 jafn, equal, plain, level ; jafnan, jam- 
 nan, continually, always. Lat. CEquus, 
 even ; ceqtior, the level surface of the sea. 
 
 Evening. Du. avend, g. abend, the 
 sinking of the day. Swiss aben, to fall 
 off, decrease, fail ; from g. ab, off, away. 
 Derweiti imfdsschen abet, the wine sinks 
 in the cask; er abet, he declines, falls 
 away ; es abet, it draws towards evening, 
 the day falls. 
 
 Ever. Goth, aivs, time, long time ; 
 niaiv, never ; aiveins, everlasting ; usaiv- 
 jan, to endure. OHG. ewa, ewe, e, Du. 
 eeuw, ON. cBfi, Lat. avum, Gr. aii^v, an 
 age, life ; Sw. e (in composition), all, 
 ever ; Lat. cetas, ceternus, &c. Gr. aiu^ 
 aikv, aug, ever. AS. dva, d, afre, cefer, 
 (Pg^ (in composition), E. aye, ever. Fin. 
 ika, Esthon. igga, age, life-time, time. 
 Fin. ijdinen, perpetual ; ijdti, ika (in 
 composition), for ever; iki, altogether. 
 16 * 
 
244 
 
 EVERY 
 
 Esthon. igfi^a (in composition), each, 
 every ; iggaivenne^ perpetual. 
 
 Every, as. (pfre, ever ; (zlc, each, all 
 of a series one by one. Hence OE. ever- 
 aic, everilk, evereche^ every. 
 
 Evil. G. iibel^ Goth, ubils, Du. ovel^ 
 evel. 
 
 Ewe. Gr. oi'c, Lat. ovis^ a sheep. AS. 
 eoisju^ Du. oiiwe^ oye, a female sheep. 
 
 Ewer. Fr. aigui^re, a water vessel, 
 from Lat. agua, OFr. aigue, aive, eve, 
 aive, eau, water. Ewer, aiguier. — Palsgr. 
 Fr. eauier, corresponding exactly in form, 
 has a somewhat different application from 
 the E. word, signifying a gutter, sewer. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Ex-, — Ef-. — E-. Lat, e, ex, Gr. Ik, t?, 
 out of, from. The radical form of the 
 prep, is Gr. Ik, the k of which in com- 
 position is in Lat. assimilated to a fol- 
 lowing f. Thus Gr. tK^tvyu) becomes 
 Lat. effugio. 
 
 Exact. Lat. exactus, perfectly done, 
 carried out, complete, accurate ; from 
 exigere {ex and ago), to perfect, accom- 
 plish, to bring up to the standard of com- 
 parison. 
 
 Exaggerate. Lat. exaggerare, to heap 
 up, augment greatly, from ex and agger, 
 a heap. 
 
 Exalt. Lat. exaltare ; alius, high. 
 
 Examine. Lat. examen, for exagmen 
 (from exigere, exactuni, to bring a thing 
 to a certain standard of comparison, to 
 compare, weigh, examine), the tongue of 
 a balance, examination, weighing. See 
 Exact. 
 
 Example. — Exemplify. Lat. exem- 
 plum, a copy, a specimen, an individual 
 or portion taken from a number or quan- 
 tity to show the nature of the mass. Ex- 
 plained from exi?ner£, exemjttum, to take 
 away. 
 
 Exasperate. Lat. asper, rough. 
 
 Excel. — Excellent. Lat. excello, pro- 
 perly to be lifted up, to stand out above 
 others, from the obs. cello, Gr. (ceXXw, to 
 drive, to urge^onwards. 
 
 Excise. ~ 
 excidere, excisum, to cut off. Sp. sisa. 
 clippings, pilferings, cabbage, also (per- 
 haps from being considered as a clipping 
 taken by the Lord on the article going 
 into consumption) a tax on eatables. 
 
 Excoriate. Lat. corium, skin, hide. 
 
 Excrescence. — Excretion. Lat. ex- 
 cresco, excretum, to grow out, or up. 
 
 Execrate. Lat. execrari, exsecrari 
 (from sacer, sacri, devoted or set apart for 
 the purposes of the deities whether good 
 or evil, sacred, accursed), to devote to the 
 
 EXPEDITE 
 
 malign deities, to wish evil to, to curse. 
 
 Execute. Lat. exsequor, exeguor, ex~ 
 ecutus, to follow out, or to the end. See 
 -secute. 
 
 Exempt. Lat. eximere, exemptus, to 
 take away, to free from ; emere, to take, 
 to buy. 
 
 Exequies. Lat. exeguia, the funeral 
 train or pomp, from ex and segiior, to 
 follow. 
 
 Exercise. Lat. exercere, to keep in 
 work ; exercitium, a keeping in work, 
 exercise. Gr. tpyov, work, deed ; Ipyto 
 (the radical meaning of which seems to 
 be to exert force, to use strength), to drive 
 by force ; also, as the obs. root of ip\i», 
 topya, to do work. 
 
 Exert. Lat. exsero, exsertum, to stretch 
 out, put forth. See -sert. 
 
 Exhaust. Lat. haurio, haustum, to 
 draw. 
 
 Exhort. Lat. hortor, -art, to urge on, 
 encourage, instigate. 
 
 Exile. Lat. exul, exstil, one driven 
 from his native soil {solum), as the word 
 is explained by Festus. Exsilium, exili- 
 um, banishment, exile. 
 
 Exist, Lat. existo {ex and sisto, to 
 stand), to be, have a being. 
 
 Exodus. Gr. t^o^og, a going forth, 
 from Vc, and bldq, a route, going. 
 
 Exonerate, Lat, onus, -eris, a burthen. 
 
 Exorbitant. From Lat. orbita, the 
 track of a wheel, exorbito, to go out of 
 the track, to deviate, whence exorbitant, 
 out of the usual course, excessive. 
 
 To Exorcise. Gr, opKoq, an oath ; 
 opKiX,ia, ilopict^w, to bind by an oath, to 
 adjure, to drive away an evil spirit by the 
 power of adjuration. 
 
 Exordium. Lat. ordior, orsus sum, 
 exordior, properly to fix the weft or woof, 
 to make a beginning in weaving, then to 
 begin in general, to begin to speak ; ex- 
 ordium, the warp of a web, a beginning. 
 
 Exotic. Gr. f|wr«Koc» belonging to fo- 
 reign parts, from f^w, without, abroad. 
 
 Expand. — Expansion. Lat. pando, 
 pansum or passum, to spread out, lay 
 open. 
 
 Expatiate. Lat. spatiari, to walk 
 abroad. 
 
 Expect. See -spect. 
 
 Expedite, — Expedient. — Expedi- 
 tion. Lat, expedio, to despatch. From 
 the figure of catching by the (Lat. pes, 
 pedis) foot, are developed the opposite sig- 
 nifications of impedio, to catch or entangle 
 by the foot, to embarrass, impede, hinder, 
 and expedio, to set free one caught by the 
 foot, to extricate, disengage, despatch, 
 
EXPEND 
 
 prepare, make ready, provide ; to do the 
 opposite of hindering, to be serviceable, 
 to help on. 
 
 Expend. — Expense. Lat. pendo^ pen- 
 sum, to weigh, thence to pay money. 
 
 Experience. — Expert. — Experiment. 
 Lat. experior, expertus sum, to undergo, 
 know by actual apprehension or actual 
 suffering, prove, try. Comperio, to have 
 certain intelligence, to ascertain. Reperio, 
 to find. Pario, to get, to acquire. 
 
 Expiate. Lat. pio, -atum, to make 
 the deity favourable. See Pious. 
 
 Expire. Lat. expiro, exspiro. See 
 -spire. 
 
 Explode. — Explosion. Lat. explodo, 
 explosum {ex and plaudo, to clap hands), 
 to drive off the stage with clapping of 
 hands. 
 
 Exploit. — Esplees. OFr. exploit," ex- 
 pleit, deed, execution, despatch, matter 
 performed ; (hence) an execution of a 
 judgment and a seisin by virtue thereof, 
 also the possession or holding of a thing. 
 — Cot. Lat. explicitum, in the sense of 
 accomphshed. His expiicitis rebus. — 
 Caesar. Versibus explicitum est omne 
 duobus opus. — Martial. 
 
 Explore. Lat. exploro, to search out, 
 a sense which it seems impossible to con- 
 nect with that of the simple pioro, to be- 
 wail. 
 
 Expostulate. Lat. postiilo, to ask 
 after, also to complain. 
 
 Expunge. Lat. expungo, to prick out, 
 erase, as a word written on a waxen 
 tablet. 
 
 Extant. Lat. extans, standing out so 
 as to appear above others ; ex and sto, to 
 stand. 
 
 Extenuate. Lat. extenuare; ex and 
 teniio, to make small or thin ; tenuis, thin, 
 fine. 
 
 Exterior. — External. Lat. exterior, 
 externus, from ex, out of. 
 
 Exterminate. Lat. exterminare, to 
 drive or cast out, from ex and tennimts, 
 a. boundary, limit. 
 
 Extinguish. — Extinct. Lat. sting7io, 
 stiiicttim, to put out. From the root stig, 
 sting, signifying prick, the passage from 
 which to the idea of putting out is not 
 clear. 
 
 EYRY 
 
 245 
 
 Extirpate. To root out. Lat. stirps, 
 stock, trunk, root. 
 
 Extol. Lat. tollo, to raise or lift up. 
 
 Extra. — Extraneous. Lat. extra, 
 without, beyond. 
 
 Exuberant. Lat. tibero, to be fruitful, 
 fertile, abundant ; from uber, udder, 
 breast, and as an adj. fertile, abounding. 
 
 Exude. Lat. exsudoj sudo, to sweat. 
 
 Exult, Lat. exsulto, exultoj sal to, to 
 leap, jump for joy. 
 
 Eye. Goth, augo, G. auge, AS. eage, 
 Lat. oc-ulus. 
 
 Eylet-hole. — Oilet-hole. A hole in 
 a garment wherein a point is put. — B. 
 Fr. oeillet, a little eye, an oylet or eyelet- 
 hole. — Cot. 
 
 Eyre. From Lat. iter, itineris, OFr. 
 eirre, a journey, the Justices in Eyre (in 
 itinere) were a court deputed every few 
 years to make a tour of the royal forests 
 and hear complaints. Champ, oirre, 
 way, road ; oirrer, to journey. 
 
 Eyry. An eagle's nest, erroneously 
 explained in the first edition as if from 
 eggery, a collection of eggs. Really from 
 Fr. aire, an airie or nest of haukes — 
 Cot., which, it must be observed, is mas- 
 culine, and so distinguished from aii-e, 
 Lat. area, a flat place, floor, plot of 
 ground, &c., which is feminine. The two 
 were confounded when aire was latinized 
 in the form of area. 'Aves rapaces — 
 exspectant se invicem aliquando prope 
 nidum suum consuetum, qui a quibusdam 
 rtrm dicitur.' — Fredericus II., de Venatu 
 in Due. 
 
 It is probable that aire in the foregoing 
 sense is a special application of Prov. 
 aire (a masc. noun), signifying first air, 
 then probably climate, and thence coun- 
 try, residence, family. 
 
 L'amors, don ieu sui mostraire, 
 Nasquet en un gentil aire. 
 
 Love, of whom I am the expositor, was born in 
 a gentle birthplace. — Rayn. 
 
 Qu'el mon non es crestias de nul aire 
 Que siens liges, o dels parens non fos : 
 
 That in the world there is not a Christian of any 
 family that was not the liegeman of him or his 
 parents. — lb. 
 
 See Debonnair. 
 
246 
 
 FABLE 
 
 FAIN 
 
 Fable. Lat. fabula, a tale, from for, 
 fatus sum, fart J Gr. 0)j;«', to say. 
 
 Fabric. Lat./rt^^rr, a wright or worker 
 in wood, metal, &c. ; fabrica, a working, 
 the work of an artificer, a building. 
 
 Face. hdiX.. fades, the make or visible 
 form of a thing, from facto, to make, as 
 Du. gedaente, external appearance, form, 
 shape, from doen, to make, do. 
 
 Facetious. Lat. facetus, clever, hu- 
 morous. 
 
 Facility. — ^Faculty. From \jaX..facio, 
 to do, are facilis (do-like), to be readily- 
 done, easy, and the contrary of this, 
 difficilis (dis-facilis), difficult. Facilitas 
 and facultas are parallel forms of the 
 abstract noun with slightly differing ap- 
 plications fundamentally signifying readi- 
 ness or ability to do. 
 
 Fact. — Factor. — Factitious. Lat. 
 fado,factu7n, to make, do. 
 
 Fad. A temporary fancy. To fad, to 
 be busy about trifles ; faddy, frivolous. 
 — Hal. Formed from the term fiddle- 
 faddle, representing rapid movements to 
 and fro, idle, purposeless action or talk. 
 See Fangle, Figary, Fidget. 
 
 To Fade. Du. vadden, to wither, or 
 fade ; vaddigh, flaccid, faded, flagging, 
 lazy.— Kil. As the G. has fittich, as well 
 2isflittich, a wing, and as we have ftigle- 
 inan from G. fliigelmann j ferret from Fr. 
 fleuretj to fag, and faggy, foggy, from 
 flag 2in6. flaggy ; so I believe Du. vad- 
 den and E. fade are from forms like Du. 
 fladderen, Sw. fladra, to flap, flutter. A 
 pancake, or flap-jack, G. fade, is in Du. 
 vadde, libi admodum tenuis et flaccidi 
 genus.— Kil. Comp. OYx. fiappi, faded, 
 withered. — C. nouv. nouv. ii. -? 
 
 To Fadge. To agree, be adapted to, 
 be made fit. — B . AS. fegan, gefegan, to 
 join ; G.fiigen, Du. voegen, Sw.foga, to 
 join, to become, suit with, be proper, to 
 accommodate. 
 
 And al yet thaet the feageth hire ; and all be- 
 sides that belongs to her. — Ancren Riwle, 58. 
 
 Ifeiget, ifeied, compared, likened. — lb. 
 90, 128. 
 
 To Fag. Probably from flag by the 
 loss of the /, signifying in the first place 
 to flap or fall back upon itself, to be 
 flaccid, then to be faint or exhausted, 
 and actively, to cause to faint, to tire 
 out. It is used in the Devon, dial, in the 
 
 sense of flapping or fluttering. * With 
 their skittering flimsy gowns vagging in 
 the wind or reeping in the mud.' A 
 slight change of vowel gives/*?^^, having 
 han-ging flesh. — Hal. * Flosche, foggy, 
 weak, soft.' — Cot. With these may be 
 compared It. jiacco, tired, drooping, 
 withered ; fiaccare, to weary, droop in 
 body or mind, fade or wither. — Fl. S' 
 avachir, to slacken, grow flaggy, quail, 
 fade, wax feeble. — Cot. I was much 
 flagged and exhausted by the heat of 
 the weather. — Rich, Babylon. 
 
 Fag-end. The latter end of cloth — 
 B. ; the lag-end, the end which flags, or 
 hangs loose ; the original flag passing 
 \nio fag on the one hand, and lag on the 
 other, in the same way that we formerly 
 saw clatch passing into catch and latch, 
 asklent into ascant and aslant, by the 
 loss of the liquid or mute respectively. 
 
 I could be well content 
 To entertain the lag-end of my life 
 With quiet hours. — H. IV. in Nares. 
 The senators of Athens together with the 
 common /^^ of people. — ^Timon of Athens. 
 
 Fagot. Yx. fagot, It. fagotto, V7.ffagod. 
 Perhaps connected with ffasgu, to bind, 
 tie ; ffasgell, a wisp, bundle. 
 
 To Fail. Fr. faillir, to fail, slip, err, 
 omit, want, miss, fade, cease, w. ffaelii, 
 Bret, fallout, to fail, to be wanting; G. 
 fehlen, to miss, go wrong, fail, be want- 
 ing ; Du. faelen, to slip, want, be want- 
 ing ; faelie-kant, an oblique angle. Pro- 
 bably the fundamental idea is that of 
 slipping. Gr. a<paXK(», to cause to slip or 
 fall, to lead into fault or error, deceive, 
 mislead ; afdWofiai (as Lat. fallor), to 
 be mistaken, to fail ; iafaXri Tijg tXTriSog, 
 he was deceived, or failed in his hopes ; 
 acpaXepog, slippery, dangerous ; (T<pdXfia, a 
 slip, error, failure, fault. The notion of 
 slipping away, slipping from under, will 
 commonly explain the senses of haX.fal- 
 lere. Fallere datam fidem, to break his 
 word ; — mandata, to fail to perform them ; 
 — visum, to escape notice. Gael, feall^ 
 deceive, betray, fail. 
 
 Fain.— To Fawn. Fain, glad. ' Fair 
 words make ioolsfainJ — Ray. AS.fagen, 
 joyful, glad ; fcegnian, fahnian, Goth. 
 faginon, QHG. gefean, ON. fagna, to re- 
 joice •,fagnadr, joy, civility ; fagna einum 
 wel, to give one a courteous reception. 
 
FAINT 
 
 Hence to fawn on one, to affect pleasure 
 in his company. Faynare, or flaterere, 
 adulator. — Pr. Pm. To be fain to do a 
 thing is to be glad to do it. But there is 
 a curious resemblance in the expression 
 to the OFr. avoir fain (for/<2m, hunger), 
 to be desirous of something. * I lyste, I 
 have a great wyll or desyre to do a thynge, 
 yaifain.' ' I lysted nat so well to slepe 
 this twelve monethes : je n'avoye pas si 
 grand fayn de dormir de cest an.' — 
 Palsgr. Swiss Rom. fan, hunger ; efan, 
 j'ai envie, j'ai dessein. 
 
 Faint. One of the numerous cases in 
 which words from different origins have 
 coalesced in a common form. To faint, 
 in the sense of losing the powers of life, 
 can hardly be separated from Lat. vanus, 
 empty ; Fr. vain, empty, faint, feeble 
 (whence s'evanouir, to faint) ; w. and 
 Bret, gwan, Gsiel. fann, weak, faint, vain ; 
 fannaich, to become weak, to faint ; Fr, 
 sefaner, to fade, wither, wax dead. 
 
 But in other applications the word 
 seems certainly to be taken from Fr. se 
 feindre, to make show of one thing and 
 do another, to disable himself more than 
 he needs, to do less than he can do. 
 Sans se feindre, diligently, in good earn- 
 est ; feintement,faintement, falsely, feign- 
 edly, faintly — Cot. ; faintise, idleness ; 
 foindre, to grow weak, to play ill. — Pat. 
 de Champ. Synge out man, vAxyfayne 
 yow? Pourquoy chantez vous a basse 
 voix ? — Palsgr. 
 
 Fair. i. Beautiful. ON. /^^r, bright ; 
 fagur-blar, light blue ; fagur-mceli, fair 
 speech, flattery. 
 
 2. Lat. feria, holidays ; then, like It. 
 feria, Fr. foire, applied to the market 
 held on certain holidays. '' Feriani quoque 
 quam nomine alio mercatorum nundinas 
 appellant.' — Due. 
 
 Fairy. A supernatural being sup- 
 posed to influence the fate of men. It. 
 fatare, to charm as witches do, to be- 
 witch ; fata, a fairy, witch. — Fl. Sp. 
 hado, fate, destiny ; hada, one of the 
 fates, witch, fortune-teller ; hadar, to 
 divine. Yx.fde, fatal, appointed, destined, 
 enchanted ; fee, a fairy [f eerie, witchery) ; 
 parfderie, fatally, by destiny. — Cot, Hence 
 ^. fairy ^ 
 
 Probably also there may be some con- 
 fusion with another designation, Sc. fare- 
 folks, fairies, 
 Thir woddis and thir schawis all, quod he, 
 Sum tyme inhabit war and occupyit 
 With Nymphis and Faunis apoun every syde, 
 Quhilk /are/olkis or than elfis clepin we. — D. V. 
 
 Du, vaerende wiif hamadryas, syl- 
 
 FALLOW 
 
 247 
 
 varum dea ; also, a witch, a whirlwind. 
 Probably from going away, vanishing. 
 See Fern. 
 
 Faith. 'Lz.t. fides, It.fede, Yr.foi. 
 
 Faitour. The OFr. faiteor, faiteur 
 (from faire, to make), OE. fait our , pro- 
 perly only a maker or constructor (like 
 Lat. fingere, and E. forge, which origin- 
 ally signified simply to make or form), 
 acquired a bad sense, and was applied to 
 one who makes for an ill purpose, who 
 makes his appearance or conduct other 
 than it naturally would be. See To 
 Feign. Faytowre, fictor, simulator ; 
 faytowre that feynyth sekeness for tro- 
 wandise, vagius. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Falchion. Written as if from Lat. 
 falx, It. falce, a sithe, sickle, weeding- 
 hook ; falcione, any kind of great Welsh- 
 hook, brown bill, or chopping knife. — Fl. 
 But it is very doubtful whether Fr. fau- 
 chon, the immediate origin of our word, 
 is to be explained on this principle, as 
 swords of scimitar-shape were not used 
 at an early period in Western Europe. 
 It seems to be only another way of spell- 
 ing _/Jz?/j-j-^«, Mid.Lat.yh:/j^, apparently a 
 short heavy sword used like the miseri- 
 cordia, for piercing the joints of the ar- 
 mour of a fallen enemy, from fausser, to 
 pierce. See Faucet. * Matthieu de 
 Mommorenci tenoit un faussart en sa 
 main et en derompoit les presses.' ' Enses 
 non deferant nee cultellos acutos nee lan- 
 ceas seu falsones.' * Arma offensibilia, 
 spata, faucia, misericordia, ranchonum 
 [runcones] et his similia.'^^Carp. 'Aux 
 fauchons, aux coutiaus a pointe.' — Due. 
 
 Falcon. Lat. falco, from the hooked 
 beak ; falx, a curved knife, a hook. 
 
 To Fall.— Fell, o^.falla, Du. vallen, 
 to fall ; ON. fella, Du. vellen, velden, to 
 fell, or cause to fall, to throw down, lay 
 prostrate. 
 
 The Gr. cr^aWw and its derivatives (see 
 Fail) look as if the radical meaning of 
 the word were, to slip. 
 
 Fallacy. Lat. fallaciaj fallo to de- 
 ceive. 
 
 Fallow. I. The original meaning of 
 the word is simply pale, in which sense it 
 is used by Chaucer of the pale horse in 
 the Revelations. 
 
 His eyen holwe and grisly to behold, 
 His hQ\^e/alewe and pale as ashen cold. 
 
 G. falb, pale, faded {f aides roth, —grUnj 
 pale red, — green) ; then appropriated by 
 custom to a pale reddish colour, like that 
 of deer ; der falbe, the chesnut or dun 
 horse, as. fealo, fealwe, pale reddish. or 
 
248 
 
 FALSE 
 
 yellowish. Fr. faitve, deep yellow, lion- 
 tawny, light dun. — Cot. w. gwelw, a 
 pale hue, gwelwi, to make pale. Du. 
 vael kleed, a faded garment. AS. wealo- 
 ivian, to wither, fade. The apparent 
 equivalent in the Finnish languages has 
 the sense of white, shining ; Fin. walkia, 
 Lap. Tvelkes, white ; welkotet, to grow 
 white or pale ; Esthon. ivalge^ white, 
 clear, light ; ivalge .iverrew, pale red ; 
 walkjaSy whitish. 
 
 2. To fallow is to .plough land for the 
 purpose of leaving it open to the air be- 
 fore it is cultivated for sowing, and we 
 should not be without analogy in explain- 
 ing the expression from the red colour of 
 ploughed land. So Gael, 'dearg, red, and 
 also land recently ploughed ; as a verb, 
 to redden, to plough ; Sc. faugh, fallow 
 in colour and fallow land. On the other 
 hand it seems doubtful \vhet\\Q.T fallow in 
 the sense of breaking up the sod or sur- 
 face of the land may not be from Sc. fall, 
 a sod or turf, Sw. vail, sward ; valla sig, 
 to gather a sward. In the W. of England 
 veiling signifies ploughing up the turf or 
 upper surface of the ground to lay in 
 heaps for burning. — Ray. in Jam. Da. 
 dial. fcBlde, fcelle, fcelge, to break up the 
 sward, give a first shallow ploughing ; 
 fald, falle (Pl.D. fallig-land — Schiitze), 
 stubble or grass land once ploughed ; at 
 saae i falle?t, to sow on land so treated. 
 — Molbech. 
 
 False, hdl.falsus, ixom.fallo,falsmn, 
 to deceive. 
 
 To Falter. To speak in broken tones, 
 to vacillate, totter. The formation of this 
 word may be illustrated by the analogy 
 of one or two others closely resembling it 
 in construction and signification. To 
 patter is to make a light rattling sound, 
 or, as the equivalent Pl.D. paotern (pro- 
 nounced pawtern), to repeat in a mono- 
 tonous, unintelligible manner. — Danneil. 
 The sound of the broad vowel introduces 
 an / (similar to that in Sc. nolt, from 
 nowt, cattle) in E. palter, to stammer, 
 shuffle, trifle. Again, Sc. hatter is to 
 speak thick and confusedly ; to hotter, to 
 simmer, rattle, to shake, jolt, walk un- 
 steadily. The insertion of an /, as in 
 patter, palter, brings us to N, haltra, to 
 limp, to walk by uneven jerks. Now a 
 form with an initial/, analogous to patter, 
 hatter, is seen in N. fatra, Fr. fatrer, to 
 bungle up a piece of work (a sense con- 
 stantly expressed by the figure of stam- 
 mering) -yfatras, a confused heap of trash, 
 trifles (to be compared with Sc. hatter, a 
 confused \\Q2i^),fatraille, trash, trumpery; 
 
 FANATIC 
 
 fatrouiller, to botch, to trifle.— Cot. I 
 botche or bungyll a garment, 7^ fat7-e, or 
 fatroiiille. — Palsgr. The insertion of 
 the /, as in previous cases, gives E. fal- 
 ter y to speak or move unsteadily. 
 
 In the case oi hatter, haltra, as well as 
 falter, the frequentative is accompanied 
 by simple though probably less ancient 
 forms, Sc. hat, haul, to hop, limp, N. 
 halta, to halt, and Dan. dial, faute, to 
 fail, to falter. At faute i sin tale, to 
 falter in speech, to stammer. It. Sp. 
 falta, Fr. faute, fault, defect ; Sp. f altar, 
 to fail, falter, be deficient. For the deriv- 
 ation of a fault from the notion of stum- 
 bling, compare G. stolpern, to stagger, 
 blunder. Das war gewaltig gestolpert,\\Q 
 has committed a great fault.- — Kuttner. 
 
 To Famble.— Fumble. Synonymous 
 in the first instance with faffle, inaffle, to 
 speak imperfectly like an infant, Stam- 
 eren other famelen. — MS. in Hal. To 
 fiimble, balbutire. — Levins, Manipulus. 
 The signification is then transferred to 
 other kinds of bungling, imperfect action. 
 'DsiVi. famle, to stammer, stutter, and also 
 to fumble, to handle in an inefficient 
 manner, to handle repeatedly, feel for. 
 Sw. fantla, to grope, to feel for, to fum- 
 ble ; Pl.D. in der tasken fummeln, to 
 fumble in one's pocket ; Sw. dial, fabbla, 
 febbla, to stammer, to stumble, to be 
 clumsy in handling •,feppelhdndt, clumsy; 
 fubbla pa malet, to stutter like a drunken 
 man ; fubbla, to be awkward, handle 
 awkwardly ; fuinnila, to totter, stumble, 
 to handle awkwardly, be slippery fingered . 
 The same train of thought is seen in Sp. 
 farfullar, ^o\xc\i\ farfoulier, to stammer; 
 Yr.farfouiller, to famble in the dirt, to 
 search disorderly — Cot.; and in Manx 
 fnoandagh, stammering, faltering ; fer 
 moandagh, a fumbler. — Cregeen. 
 
 Fame. Lat- fama, Gr. ^r]i>.r\, from 
 (^r\\ii, I say, speak. 
 
 Family. Lat, faniilia; famulus, a 
 servant. 
 
 Famine. Yx. famine, from LaX. fames, 
 hunger, starvation. 
 
 Fan. Lat. vannus, G. wanne, a win- 
 nowing fan, wannen, to winnow, from 
 the same root with ventus, wind. Bret. 
 gwent, wind ; gwenta, venter ou vanner 
 le bled, to winnow corn. — Legonidec. 
 Q?i€i. fanjian, a gentle breeze. 
 
 Fanatic. Lat. fanaticus, inspired, be- 
 side oneself ; a word applied to the 
 priest or other official, whose business 
 it was to give responses from the sanctu- 
 ary {fanum) to such as consulted the 
 deity or oracle. 
 
FANCY 
 
 Fancy. — Fantastic. — Fantom. Gr. 
 
 faivb), to appear, (pavog, apparent, (pavra^ui, 
 to rnake appear ; whence tpavraaia, Fr. 
 fantasie, imagination, fancy. Another 
 formation from the same root is «pdvTaafia, 
 It. fantasma^ Fr. fantosjne, fantome^ an 
 appearance, apparition, spectre, fantom. 
 
 Fang. Whatever seizes or clutches, 
 especially the tooth of a ravenous beast ; 
 also the roots or projections by which 
 the teeth themselves are fastened in the 
 jaw. G. fangen, to catch, seize, take ; 
 Goth, fahan, AS. foan, fon, pret. feng, 
 ON./d, pret. feck, pi. /engum, whence the 
 derivative fanga., to get. Similar rela- 
 tions are seen in Dan. gaa., G. gehen^ to 
 go ; NE. gang, ON. ganga, pret. geek, pi. 
 gengumj Goth, hahan, AS. hon, and E. 
 hang. 
 
 Fangle. — New-fangled. Fangies, 
 whimsies. — B. 
 
 A hatred to fangies, and the French fooleries 
 of his time, — Wood in Nares. 
 Fingle-f angle, a trifle. — Hal. A nasalised 
 form of G. Jick-facken, to fidget, move to 
 and fro without apparent purpose ; fick- 
 f acker, a trifler, inconstant person ; Sw. 
 Jick-fack, juggling tricks. 
 
 The radical image is light, rapid move- 
 ment to and fro, as with a switch. G. 
 ficken,fickele7t, to switch, move lightly to 
 and fro ; E. fickle, inconstant. Another 
 form of the verb is S^^'issfiegge?!, in some 
 cantons fienggen, to fig, fidge, or fidget. 
 — Stalder. Hessian neufdngsch, desirous 
 of novelty. 
 
 Hence new-f angle or neiu-fajtgled, in- 
 constant, changeable, given to novelty. 
 New-fangled^ not constant and stedy of 
 purpose, muable. — Palsgr. 
 The flesh is so new-fangell with mischaunce, 
 That we ne con in nothing have pleasaunce, 
 That souneth unto vertue any while. 
 
 Manciples Tale. 
 
 Far. Goth, fairra, as. feor, feorran, 
 OUG./er, Q.fer7i, O^.fiarri, T>2si. fier?i. 
 
 Farce. A comedy stuffed with ex- 
 travagant passages of wit. — B. Yx. farce, 
 a pudding-haggis, the stuffing in meat ; 
 also a fond and dissolute play, interlude. 
 II fait ses farces, he plays his pranks.-^ 
 Cot. 'L^X. farcire, farsujn, to stuff. 
 
 Fardel. Sp. fardo, fardillo, a bale, 
 bundle ; fardage, baggage ; Fr. hardes, 
 baggage, furniture ; hardde, a bundle,' 
 burden. — Roquef. Fardo, clothes, fur- 
 niture. — Diet. Corr^ze. Fr. fardel, far- 
 deaii, a bundle. 
 
 To Fare.— Ferry. Q,ot\\. faran, on. 
 far a, G. fahren, E. to fare, fundamentally 
 to go, then to get on, to do, with refer- 
 
 FARM 249 
 
 ence to the luck which we meet with in 
 our progress through life ; to fare well 
 or ill, to be prosperous, or the contrary, 
 to meet with good or bad entertainment, 
 and hence yh:r^, entertainment, food. 
 
 From ON. fara is formedfcer, pervious, 
 passable ; din er fcer, the river is pass- 
 able ; feria, to transport, set over ; feria, 
 a passage-boat. The G. fahren, is not 
 only to go, but to carry, convey in a 
 cart ; fdhr, a ferry, or place where people 
 are carried over a stream. Du. vaer- 
 schip, a ship of burden ; vaer-water, a 
 navigable water ; vaer, veer, vaerd, a 
 ferry, a port, or landing-place of vessels. 
 — Kil. 
 
 Farinaceous. Lat./«r/;m, meal, from 
 far, a general name for grain. 
 
 Farm. as. feorm, what goes to the 
 support of life, food, board, entertain- 
 ment (explained from feorh, ON. fjor, 
 life, as Lat. victus, food, from vivo, vic- 
 tuiti, to live) ; feormian, to supply with 
 food, to support, entertain. Gewiton 
 him tha eastan* sehta laedan' feoh and 
 feorme : these then departed from the 
 east, leading their possessions, cattle and 
 stores. — Caedm. 99, 22. Thu sweltan 
 scealf mid feoh and mid feorme : thou 
 shalt perish with thy goods and sub- 
 stance. — Ibid. 161, 2. 
 
 The Latinised form of the word is 
 firma. 
 
 Verum postquam tuta sunt opinati, conviviis 
 provincialium, quae vulgoyfr/«a?« appellant, illecti, 
 ad terram egrediuntur, ambo comites ex impro- 
 viso eos invadunt, epulos cruore confundunt, — 
 Orderic. Vital, in Due. 
 
 The modern sense oi fann arose by 
 degrees. In the first place lands were 
 let on condition of supplying the lord 
 with so many nights' entertainment for 
 his household. Thus the Sax. Chron. 
 A.D. 775, mentions land let by the abbot 
 of Peterborough, on condition that the 
 tenant should annually pay ^50, and 
 anes nihtes feorme, one night's entertain- 
 ment. This mode of reckoning con- 
 stantly appears in Doomsday-Book. 
 
 Reddet frmam trium noctium : 1. e. 100 libr. 
 The inconvenience of payment in kind 
 early made universal the substitution of 
 a money payment, which was calledfirma 
 alba, or blanche ferme, from being paid 
 in silver or white money instead of 
 victuals. Sometimes the rent was called 
 simply fir ?na, and the same name was 
 given to the farm, or land from whence 
 the rent accrued. Dare, or ponere ad 
 firmam, to farm out, to let the usufruct 
 for a certain rent. 
 
'^50 
 
 FARRIER 
 
 From AS. the word seems to have been 
 adopted in Yv.ferrne, a farm, or anything 
 held in farni, a lease, which is explained 
 by Diez from OYr./ermer, to engage. 
 
 Farrier. Originally a blacksmith, one 
 who shoes horses. It. /erraro, ferratore, 
 a farrier, horse-smith — Fl. ; Fr. fer de 
 cheval, a horse-shoe ; ferrer, to shoe a 
 horse. 
 
 To Farrow. Sw.farre^ a boar ; faer- 
 ria, Dan. fare^ to farrow, or bring forth 
 a litter of pigs. AS. fearh, Du. varken, 
 a little pig. Lat. verres^ a boar ; Sp. 
 guarroj -a, -illo, a boar, sow, pig. On 
 the other hand, the Sw. far-gall t, a boar, 
 G. farre, AS, fear, a bull, lead Ihre to 
 derive the word from OT>i.fara, safnfarast, 
 to procreate, have intercourse with. 
 
 Farthing. — Ferling". AS. feorthling, 
 the fourth part of a coin, originally by no 
 means confined to the case of a penny. 
 
 This yere the kynge — made a newe quyne as 
 the nobylle, half nobylle, axid/erdyng-nobylle. — 
 Grey Friars' Chron. Cam. Soc. 
 
 Farthingale. Fr. vertugade, verdu- 
 galle, a fardingale. — Cot. Sp. verdugado, 
 Ptg. verdngada, averdugada, a hooped 
 petticoat, or stiffened support for spread- 
 ing out the petticoats over the hips. The 
 fashion seems to have come from, the 
 peninsula, and the name finds a satis- 
 factory explanation in Sp., Ptg. verdugo, 
 a rod or shoot of a tree, in Ptg. applied 
 to a long plait or fold in a garment. — 
 Roquete. Hence averdugada would sig- 
 nify a plaited petticoat in the same way 
 in which from It. falda, a fold, we have 
 faldiglia, any plaiting or puckering, also 
 a saveguard that gentlewomen use to 
 ride withal — Fl., a hoop-petticoat. — Al- 
 tieri. The plaited structure of the gar- 
 ment explains the name of wheel-far- 
 thingale, the plaits by which it was 
 stiffened standing out from the waist like 
 the spokes of a wheel. 
 
 Fascinate. 'LzX.fasdno, Gr. ^aaKaivoi, 
 to bewitch. See Mask. 
 
 Fashion. Yr.fagon (from "LdA.facere, 
 to make), the form or make of a thing. 
 
 Fast. I. — To Fasten, oug^ fasti, ON. 
 fastr, firm, secured, unbroken, solid, 
 strong ; fastaland, the continent ; sakja 
 at fast, to attack vigorously. Drekka fast, 
 to drink hard, may be compared with the 
 equivalent Da. drikke tcet : tcet, tight, 
 close, compact. Wx^.'L^X. faste, immedi- 
 ately, without interval. It rains _/^j-/, the 
 drops fall close on each other. Thus the 
 idea of closeness passes into that of 
 rapidity. 
 
 A fastness^ o.festungy a strong hold or 
 
 FAUCET 
 
 place of security. The transition from 
 the idea of holding is so direct it can 
 hardly be doubted that the word is radi- 
 cally connected with G.fassen, Du. vatten, 
 to seize, to hold. 
 
 Fast. 2.— To Fast. Fast, abstinence 
 from food. Here, as in the Latin absti- 
 nence, the idea may be, holding back from 
 food. But if the word be of ecclesiastical 
 origin it may be better explained from 
 Goth, fastan, to keep or observe, viz. the 
 ordinance of the church. Vitoda-fasteis, 
 a keeper of the law. Wachter remarks 
 that observare z.ndi jejmiare are frequently 
 used as synonymous by ecclesiastical 
 writers. Abstinet, observat. — Isidore. 
 Either way we come back to the element 
 fast, signifying what is held close, firm, 
 unbroken. AS. cewfest, observant of the 
 law, bound in wedlock, is opposed to 
 cBwbrica, a breaker of the law, an adult- 
 erer. 
 
 Fastidious. Lat. fastidium, loathing 
 for food, disgust, disdain. 
 
 Fat. G. fett, ON. feitr. 
 
 Fate.— Fatal. Lat.//a;/«w, that which 
 is spoken, decreed, from fari, to speak ; 
 v/hencefatalis, ordered by fate, deadly. 
 
 Father. Sanscr. pitri, Gr. Trarijp, Lat. 
 pater, G. vater, O^.fadir. 
 
 Fathom. AS. fathm, a bosom, em- 
 brace, whatever embraces or incloses, an 
 expanse. Ofer ealne foldan fcethm, over 
 all the expanse of the earth, (y^.fadma, 
 Dan. fadme, to embrace ; ON. fadmr, 
 bosom, embrace, the length one can reach 
 with the two arms expanded. Sw. en 
 famn ho, as much hay as can be held in 
 the two arms. Du. vadem, the length of 
 thread held out between the two arms, a 
 fathom. — Kil. 
 
 The root seems to be G. fassen, Du. 
 vatten, to hold. 
 
 Fatigue. YjdX.fatigare, Fr. fatigtcer, 
 to weary. 
 
 Fatuity, -fatuate. Lat. fatuus, a 
 silly person, a fool. 
 
 Faucet. Fr. faulset, fausset, properly 
 the short wooden pipe or mouthpiece that 
 is inserted in a barrel for the purpose of 
 drawing wine or beer, and is itself stopped 
 with a plug or spiggot. The origin is Fr. 
 faulser,fausser, to make a failing, fault, 
 or breach in anything, to transpierce. 
 Faussde, a breach in a wall, a transpierc- 
 ing ; faulser un ecu, une troupe, Gr'c., to 
 pierce or strike through a shield, to 
 charge through a troop, &c. A fausset, 
 then, is radically a piercer, and accord- 
 ingly the term clepsidra, given as the 
 Latin (or fausset in the Promptorium, is 
 
FAUGH 
 
 explained in the Ortus as the same with 
 docillus, Anglic^ a percer or a spygote. 
 The expression oi forcing z. lock is per- 
 haps a corruption of the Yx.faulser. 
 
 Faugh ! Foh ! Pah ! Interjections 
 expressing disgust at a bad smell. 
 Faugh! I have known a charnel-house smell 
 
 sweeter.— B. & F. 
 Foh ! one may smell in such a will most rank. 
 
 Shakesp. 
 
 Fie ! fie! fie! pah ! pah ! give me an ounce of 
 civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagina- 
 tion. — Shakesp. 
 
 The interjection is found in similar 
 forms in most languages. Fr. pouahl 
 faugh ! an interj. used when anything 
 filthy is shown or said. — Cot. G. puhj 
 ''Viz.puh ! wie stank der alte mist.'— San- 
 ders. Sp. pu / expressing disgust at a 
 bad smell ; fu ! int. of disgust. — Neum. 
 T>\x. foei! Bro^t./oei/ fech ! expressing 
 disgust, horror, contempt. Gael, fich f 
 nasty ! expressing disgust or contempt. 
 — Macleod. w. J^ach ! pw ! 
 
 The interj. I believe represents the 
 lengthened emission of the breath, with 
 screwed-up mouth and lifted nostrils, 
 which ai-ms at the rejection of an of- 
 fensive smell. It will be observed that 
 the syllable pu or fu is used in many 
 languages as the root of words signifying 
 to blow, as in Gr. <pv(Td(o, e. p/i^, ^z.fuff, 
 to blow ; Sw. pjista, Fin. puhtia^ puhkia^ 
 pithaltaa^ Let. puhst, to breathe, to blow ; 
 Magy. fi^ni, ftivni, Galla afufa^ to blow, 
 Sanscr. phut^ imitative sound of blowing ; 
 phut-kdra (phiat-making), blowing ; Magy. 
 pihegni^ pihenni to breathe, pant ; piha! 
 fie! 
 
 Again, the disgust felt at a bad taste 
 closely resembles that arising from an 
 ofifensive smell, and the exspiration by 
 which we drive out the smell has only to 
 be made a little stronger in order to spit 
 out the disgusting morsel. Hence it is 
 often hard to say whether the interj. of 
 disgust represents the rejection of an 
 offensive smell or the act of spitting. 
 The G. interj. is variously written, Pfti, 
 Pfy, Pfui, Pfahj pfttch, and Bav. pfugezen, 
 to make the sound Pfug, is applied to 
 the spitting of a cat or the panting of a 
 fat man. The O.pfui! is explained by 
 Sanders as "Bifi! intensified to the pitch 
 of actual or symbolical spitting. The 
 act of spitting is probably represented 
 also in Sw. twi ! Russ. ifu ! fie ! The 
 Galla twu represents the sound of spit- 
 ting.— Tutschek. See Pooh ! 
 Faulchion. See Falchion. 
 Fault. It. falta^ a defect, want j Sp. 
 
 FEASE 
 
 251 
 
 falta, Fr. faulte, faute, defect, failing, 
 omission, offence. According to Diez, 
 from "Liii.fallere, through a supposititious 
 fallitare, S^^. /altar, It.faitare, to fail, to 
 be wanting. But see Falter. 
 
 Favour. Lat. faveo, fatituin, to be 
 well-disposed to, to show good-will. 
 
 Fawn. The OYr.faon,feon, was ap- 
 phed to the young of animals in general, 
 as of a lion, bear, dragon ; faoner,feonery 
 to bring forth young, to lay eggs. Poi- 
 tevin fedon, the foal of a horse or ass, 
 from Lat. fcetus, as from feta (used by 
 Virgil in the sense of sheep, properly 
 breeding ewes), were formed Prov. feda, 
 Piedm. fea, sheep. So from fetus, pro- 
 geny, Walach. fet, child, fate, daughter ; 
 feta, to bear young ; Sard. >^?^, progeny; 
 Swiss /^, son, fede\ daughters. — Vocab. de 
 Vaud. 
 
 FeaL— Fealty. It. fedele, Fr. f^el, 
 from Lat. f delis, faithful ; Fr. //<?///, 
 fealty, fidelity. 
 
 * Fear. — Ferly. AS.yfer, fear ; yfen?;?, 
 afceran, to frighten. OSvf.fara, to fear; 
 Sw. fara, danger. Det han ingen fara, 
 there is no danger, which is the same 
 thing as, there is no fear. Befara, to 
 fear, to apprehend, to risk ; forfczra, to 
 frighten. Du. vaar, fear ; gevaar, G. 
 gefahr, danger. 
 
 The radical idea is probably shown in 
 Svf.fasa, to shudder at, to be amazed at, 
 fasa, horror ; the final s changing into r, 
 as in Lat. honos, honor, G. hase, E. hare; 
 Du. verliezen, G. verlieren, &c. O'iH.fer- 
 ligr, horrible, frightful, hideous. 
 
 And on the next when we were far from home, 
 A /early chance (whereon alone to think 
 My hand now quakes and all my senses fail) 
 Gan us befall. — Gascoigne, Voyage to Holland. 
 
 Sw.farlig, dangerous, pernicious. From 
 the tendency of what is sudden to startle 
 and alarm, AS. fcerlic acquired the sense 
 of sudden. It was also used (as fearful, 
 awful, in familiar speech) to express an 
 exaggerated degree of anything : fcer- 
 cyle, intense cold. 
 He felt him hevy 2caA ferly sick. — R. Brunne. 
 
 The impressions of astonishment, amaze- 
 ment, and terror, border close upon each 
 other. Thus Fr. effarer is translated by 
 Cot. to amaze, as well as to scare, terrify, 
 appal ; effard, scared, amazed, astonied. 
 Then, with the signification softened 
 down, Sc. and QE. ferly ^ wonder, a strange 
 event. 
 
 To Fease. — Feize. — Pheese. i. To 
 whip, to chastise. To fease or feag, virgis 
 caedere. — Sk. Swiss ftzen, fausen, Du. 
 
252 
 
 FEASIBLE 
 
 veselen, Fr. fesser, to whip, to switch ; 
 Swiss Jiizer, rods for children. 
 
 2. To fuzz or ravel out, to break up 
 into filaments. G.faseH,faseln, to ravel, 
 fuzz, feaze. — Kiittn. Faser,/ascheM, Pl.D. 
 fassel, ^sSf Jissel (Danneil), Du. vese^ 
 veselj fibre, filament ; Swiss fdtzeti^ to 
 ravel out ; fatzele, hanging threads or 
 tatters ; E. d\2i\.fassmgs, hangings, fibres ; 
 fattersy tatters. * I fasyll out as silke or 
 velvet cloth ; je raule.' — Palsgr. Fasylle 
 of a cloth ; fractillus, villus.— Pr. Pm. 
 Sc. fass^ a hair : ' not worth a fass.^ 
 * Nich 'njiss?' not an atom. — Danneil. 
 BsL^./esetif husk, chaff; keinfesel^ not an 
 atom. 
 
 The sense of whipping is probably 
 direct from the sound of a switch cutting 
 through the air. The train of thought 
 under the second head is not so clear. 
 The radical image may be \}i\& fizzing of 
 water from a hot surface, where the syl- 
 lable y?^'^' represents the sound made by 
 a series of small explosions in which 
 minute drops of water are scattered 
 abroad. Thus to fizz or fuzz comes to 
 signify to scatter or to fly off in small 
 particles. But generally the notion of a 
 whispering sound is connected with the 
 motion of fine or small bodies, and thence 
 with the notion of something fine and 
 . small. G. fispeln^ fispern, to whisper, 
 rustle, to move lightly to and fro, Du. 
 vezeleti, to whisper, to ravel out. — Bom- 
 hoff. Swiss faiiserle?!, to float or fall in 
 fine particles as mist or snow, to drizzle ; 
 fisele7i^ fise^-fiy fiserlen, to move to and 
 fro with a light thin implement, to scrawl 
 or write too fine and thin, to drizzle, to 
 ravel out in threads, to fiddle, to work 
 minutely ; fisel, a thin, poor creature, 
 loose hanging threads ; gfiesel, scrawly 
 writing ; ^^w.fisebi, to fiddle or twiddle 
 with the fingers, to do light minute work. 
 Pl.D. fisseln, to rain fine and thin, to 
 ravel out. — Danneil. 
 
 Feasible. Yx. faisible, that may be 
 done, ixovcvfaire, to do. 
 
 Feast.— Festival. Lat. festus, holi- 
 day, devoted to enjoyment ; festum (tem- 
 pus). It. festa, a holiday, festival, feast ; 
 festivo^festivale^ festive. 
 
 Feat. -feat. -feit. i. 'L2d.fado,fac- 
 ttim, Fr. /aire, to do ; faict, fait, a deed, 
 whence ^.feat, a (notable) deed. Fr. de- 
 faire, to undo ; defaite, an undoing, de- 
 feat. 
 
 2. Feat, fete, fetise, well-made, neat, 
 dextrous, elegant ; Fr. faict, done, 
 achieved, accomplished ; faictis, made 
 after the fashion of another, also well 
 
 FEEBLE 
 
 featured, well made, neat, feat, handsome. 
 — Cot. See Fit. 
 
 Feather, Q-a.fibdr, Swf.fjdder, Dan. 
 fjer, Du. veder, veer, Pol. pioro, Bohem. 
 perj, feathers. Gr. irrtpov, a wing. Per- 
 haps from a form like flader in G. fleder- 
 wisch, a goose's wing, a feather broom, 
 Bav.y7<?^(?r«, Du. vlederen, to flap, flutter, 
 after the analogy of 'QdiV.jflitschen, to flap 
 or flutter, flitschen, flitschelein, pinion, 
 wing. The loss of the / would be justi- 
 fied by G.flittich,fittich, a wing, AS.fiicgol, 
 ftigol, fowl ; by E. badger corresponding 
 to Fr. bladier', by E. splutter, sputter, &c. 
 
 Feature. OYx. faict, made ; faictui'e, 
 the workmanship, framing, making of a 
 thing. — Cot. See Feat. 
 
 Febrile. See Fever. 
 
 -feet-. Lat, facio, factum, to make or 
 do; in comp. -ficio, -fectum, as in Con- 
 fection, Defect, Infect, Perfect, &c. 
 
 Federal. — Federate. Lat. fcedus, 
 -eris, a league, a treaty. 
 
 Fee, — Fief. — FeudaL The importance 
 of cattle in a simple state of society early 
 caused an intimate connection between 
 the notion of cattle and of money or 
 wealth. Thus we have \j3X.pecus, cattle ; 
 pecunia, money ; and Goth, faihu, pos- 
 sessions, is identical with OHG,y?/z?^,y^^«, 
 G. vieh, cattle, O^.fe, cattle, money, AS,.feoh, 
 cattle, riches, money, price, reward. 
 Adopted into the Romance tongues the 
 word became It, fio, Prov, feu, fieu, Fr. 
 fief When it received a Latin dress the 
 introduction of a d, as in many other 
 cases, to avoid the hiatus, produced the 
 Mid-La-tfeudum, signifying the property 
 in land distributed by the conqueror to 
 his companions in arms, as a reward for 
 their past services, and pledge for their 
 rendering the like for the future. Hence 
 the term fee, in E, law, for the entire 
 estate in land ; feqfiment, from Fx.fiefi~er, 
 to convey the fief ox fee, to a new owner. 
 Fee has also been appropriated by cus- 
 tom to certain money-payments. 
 
 Feeble. OYx.floibe,fiebe,fleble, Gris. 
 fieivel. It, fievole, Fr, foible. The com- 
 mon derivation from \jdX.flebilis, lament- 
 able, is unsatisfactory. 
 
 In words not far removed from a re- 
 presentative origin the preservation of 
 parallel forms with a radical p and k, or 
 b and g, is very common. Now we have 
 ^ flag, to grow limber, decay, wither — 
 B, ; and, corresponding to it, \j&Xi%. flaca, 
 to bend, sink, give way, Mas cambos 
 flacon, my legs bend under me. Hence 
 fiac, fla, Fr, flaque, weak, feeble, faint, 
 flaggy. — Cot. In the same way we pass 
 
FEED 
 
 from the image of a flapping sheet to the 
 sense of want of stiffness in Fr. flappi 
 (in a flapping condition), faded — c. nouv. 
 nouv. ; flappe^ soft, faded, over-ripe — 
 Gloss. Genevois ; E. flabby^ flaccid, in- 
 elastic, soft ; Yx.flebe^ Jieve, flewe — Pat. 
 de Champ., Pl.D. flop, flep,Jiau — Brem. 
 Wtb., Du. Jiaauw, weak, feeble, faint. 
 Corresponding verbal forms are Lang. 
 Jiepi, fepit, fipla, Jibla, exactly synonym- 
 ous with flaca above mentioned. Fibla 
 uno amarino, to bend a switch. — Diet. 
 Lang. M' a C2i\g\\tjipla, I was forced to 
 yield. — Diet. Castr. Feple, Jible, Pro v. 
 feble, fible^ weak, faint. La luna es Jiblo, 
 the moon is on the wane. 
 
 To Feed. See Food. 
 
 * To FeeL as. /elan, G. fiihien, Du. 
 voelen, to feel. The o^.fjalla, to touch, 
 finger, feel, approaches very closely. And 
 this last seems to be from fjatl, a fiddling 
 movement of the fingers, actus levis, 
 frivolus (Haldorsen); fjatla, to fumble; 
 fitla, leviter digitos admovere ; Jitla viS, 
 leviter attingere ; Jidra vid, leviter tan- 
 gere ; N. Jiila, fj'atla, to fumble, as one 
 trying to untie a knot. 
 
 To Feign.— Feint. Lat. Jingere, to 
 form, frame, make, contrive, pretend. 
 Fr. feindre, to feign, and from the past 
 ptcp. feint, E. feint, a pretence. In like 
 manner Mod.Gr. Kdfivio, to do, to make ; 
 KaixSvofiai, to feign, pretend ; KafiwTijg, a 
 maker, a dissembler. 
 
 Felicity. \jaX. felix, -/«>,' happy. 
 
 Fell. I. Go\h.fill,OT^.fell,felldr,T>n. 
 vel, \jdX.pellis, skin. 
 
 2. O^.fjall, mountain. 
 
 To Fell. See Fall. To fell a seam, 
 to turn it down, is Gdiel. fill, fold, wrap, 
 plait ; Sw. fall, a fold, a hem, falla^ to 
 hem. 
 
 Fell. — Felon. It. fello, cruel, moody, 
 murderous — Fl. ; Fr. felle, cruel, fierce, 
 untractable ; felon, cruel, rough, untract- 
 able ; felonie, anger, cruelty, treason, any 
 such heinous offence committed by a 
 vassal against his lord whereby he is 
 worthy to lose his estate. — Cot. Diez 
 rejects the derivation from Lat. fel, gall, 
 but his suggestion from OHG. fllo, a 
 skinner, scourger, executioner, is not more 
 satisfactory. The true ofigin is probably 
 to be found in the Celtic branch, w. 
 gwall, defect ; Bret, gwall, bad, wicked, 
 defect, fault, crime, damage ; gwall-ober, 
 to do ill ; gwalla, to injure. In the same 
 language J^//, poor, sick, bad ; fallaat, to 
 weaken, to decay ; fallakr, wicked, 
 villain ; fallaen, weakness, fainting ; fal- 
 lentez, wickedness, malice, malignity; 
 
 FEMALE 
 
 253 
 
 falloni, perfidy, treachery ; fallout, or 
 fellout, to fail, be wanting. Gael, feall, 
 deceive, betray, fail, treason, treachery ; 
 feallan, a felon, traitor ; feall-duine, a. 
 worthless man ; feall-leigh, a quack doc- 
 tor ; fealltair, a traitor, villain. 
 
 Fellow. 0%.felaw, O^.felagi, a part- 
 ner in goods ; samfie-lag-skap, partner- 
 ship, a laying together of goods, from fe, 
 money, goods, and lag, order, society, 
 community. At leggia lag vid einn, to 
 enter into partnership with him. Honum 
 fylgdi kona at lagi, a woman accompa- 
 nied him as concubine. So fisk-lagi, a 
 partner in fishing, brod-lagi, a partner at 
 meals, a companion ; Sw. seng-laga, a 
 bed-fellow. Pl.D. gelag, a company of 
 drinkers ; lages-broer, gelages-broer, a 
 boon companion. 
 
 Here now make y the 
 
 Myn owne felow in al Wise, 
 
 Of worldly good and merchandise. 
 
 Child of Bristowe, Lydgate. 
 
 Felly. — Felloe, o. felge, Du. velghe, 
 rad-velghe, the crooked pieces which 
 compose the circumference of a wheel. 
 
 Felon. I. See Fell. 
 
 2. Guernsey _/f(9/i5, a whitlaw, from Fr. 
 furoncle, froncle, a felon, uncome, whit- 
 law. — Cot. Herbe au flon, E. mate-felon, 
 centaurea nigra. Lat. fiiruticulus (dim. 
 Qtifiir, thief), a boil or abscess. 
 
 Felt.— Filter. G. filz, Du. vilt. It. 
 felze, felt cloth made by working wet wool 
 together. Felzata, the stuff of which a 
 barge's tilt is made ; feltro, a felt, felt hat, 
 felt cloak. — Fl. Fr. feutre, felt, also a 
 filter, a piece of felt, or thick woollen 
 cloth to strain things through. — Cot. 
 
 Pol. pits' c, felt ; Bohem, pist, plstenice, 
 a felt hat. Gr. ifCKoq, felt, or anything 
 made of felt ; ttIXIw, ttiXow, to make into 
 felt, compress, thicken ; Lat. pileus, a 
 felt hat or cap ; Russ. voilok, felt ; It. 
 follare, to felt or thicken ; folto, thick, 
 close ; foltrello, as feltro, a little felt — 
 Fl. ; Lat. fullo, a thickener of cloth. 
 Manx poll, to mat or stick together, pol- 
 ley, felting, pollan, a saddle cloth. The 
 invention of felt would probably be made 
 among pastoral nations at an exceedingly 
 early period, and the name would most 
 likely be transmitted with the invention. 
 The resemblance to several words of 
 similar meaning may be accidental. Lat. 
 pilus, hair ; vilhis, a lock, shaggy hair ; 
 Fin. willa, wool ; w. gwall t, Gael, fait, 
 hair of the head. 
 
 Female. — Feminine. Fr. femelle, 
 from Lat. fcemina. The form of the word 
 
254 
 
 FEN 
 
 has been unconsciously altered in E. to 
 bring it in relationship to male, with 
 which it has no real connection. Male 
 and female were formerly written matile 
 and femelle. Yns.faem, faamen, faamel, 
 AS. fcempie, a maid, woman. The desig- 
 nation of a woman is most likely to be 
 taken from the characteristic of child- 
 bearing, typified by the womb or belly, 
 which are often confounded under a single 
 name. The Lap. waimo signifies the 
 heart or intestines, while in Fin. it signi- 
 fies a woman ; waimoinen, womanly, 
 feminine. Sc. wame, waim, weam, the 
 womb, belly ; wamyt, pregnant. — Jam. 
 
 Fen. ON. ferty a. morass ; fen-volr, 
 thoroughly wet. Goth, /am, mud. The 
 OE. /en was also used in the sense of mud, 
 filth. 
 
 -fence, -fend. As in offetid, de/end. 
 The radical sense of 0\.2X./endo,/e7isum, 
 only found in comp, must be gathered from 
 offendo, to dash or strike against, thence 
 to displease, offend. De/endo, to ward 
 off, is probably formed as the opposite of 
 offendo rather than direct from the simple 
 verb. 
 
 Fend. — Fender. — Fence. From Fr. 
 de/endre, to forbid, defend, protect ; de- 
 fense, prohibition, protection, fence. A 
 similar omission of the particle de in the 
 adoption of a Fr. word is seen in the rout 
 of an army, from Fr. deroute. 
 
 The art oi/encingox sword-playing was 
 termed the science of de/ence, as Fr. s'es- 
 crmier, to fence, from G. schir77i, protec- 
 tion, shelter. 
 
 The /ence-months were those in M'hich 
 it was unlawful to chase in the forests, 
 from de/etise in the sense of prohibition. 
 
 Fenowed. — Vinewed. Mouldy, mus- 
 ty. AS. /inie, ge/inegod, decayed ; Du. 
 •vinnig, rancid, mouldy. Gael, fineag, 
 fionag, a cheese mite. The primary 
 meaning of /enowed would thus be moth 
 or mite-eaten, then mouldy, corrupt, w. 
 gwiddon, mites, small particles of what is 
 dried, or rotted ; gwiddonog, mity, rotten, 
 
 -fer-. IjaX./ero, to bear, whence con- 
 fer, defer, infer, circumference, &c. 
 
 Fere. AS. ge/era, a companion, one 
 \i\io /ares or goes with one. 
 
 Ferly. Wonder. See Fear. 
 
 Ferment. \jaX. /ermentuin {ior /ervi- 
 me7itum, from /erveo, to boil), what causes 
 bread to swell up like water boiling ; 
 leaven. 
 
 Fern. OHG. /aram, /aran,/ar77t^ /am, 
 Du. vaeren, vaere7i-kruyd. Probably 
 named from the reputed use of the seed 
 in magical incantations, being supposed 
 
 FERRET 
 
 to confer the power of going invisible. 
 
 Fougtre (fern), plante dont se servent les pre- 
 tendus sorciers. — Vocab. de Vaud. 
 
 The Sw. verb /ara, to go, as Ihre re- 
 marks, is specially applied to events pro- 
 duced by diabolic art. /7zr-j<7/, a sickness 
 produced by incantation, thence an epi- 
 demic. K%. /cer-death, /ar-cweahne, sud- 
 den death. Du. vaere7tde-'wit/, a witch, 
 enchantress ; Sc./arefolkis, fairies. 
 
 Ferocious. "L2iX./erox,/e7-ocis, fierce. 
 
 Ferrel. — Ferule, i. K/erreloxverril, 
 Fr. virole, an iron ring put about the end 
 of a staff, &c., to keep it from riving. — 
 Cot. Virer, to veer or turn round. 
 
 2. It./erula, Yr./erttle, a. rod or palmer 
 used for correction in schools. Lat. 
 /erula, a bamboo, cane, rod, switch. 
 
 Ferret, i. Spun silk and riband woven 
 from it. It. fioretto, Fr. /leuret, coarse 
 ferret-silk — Fl. ; floret-silk. — Cot. G. 
 forett, the outer envelop of the silk-cod, 
 flirt or flurt-silk, ferret-silk, ferret. Flo- 
 rett-band, a ferret riband. — Kiittn. 
 
 2. G. /re lie, /7'ell-wiesel, It. /urelto, 
 /eretto, Yr./u7-et, a ferret, an animal used 
 in hunting rabbits or rats in holes other- 
 wise inaccessible. 
 
 It is commonly supposed that the name 
 of the animal has given rise to the verb 
 signifying to poke in holes and corners, 
 to search out. \i./erettare, /urettare, to 
 ferret or hunt in holes, to grope or 
 fumble — Fl. ; Yr. /ureter, to search, hunt, 
 boult out, spy narrowly into every hole 
 and corner. — Cot. It is more likely that 
 the ferret (exclusively a tame animal) is 
 named from the purpose for which it is 
 kept, viz. for rooting or poking in holes 
 for rabbits or vermin. Tht G. /rettwiesel 
 would signify a weasel kept for the pur- 
 pose designated by the \erh/retten. Dan. 
 affritte, ud/ritte, to ferret out, worm out. 
 Now we have Pro v. /retar, Fr. /rotter, 
 ^2iY. /rette7t, to rub, to move to and fro 
 over a surface. Moreover, /rette7i is 
 identified with E. dial, f'oat, Du. wi'oe- 
 te7i, by the common use of the three in 
 the peculiar sense of to drudge, to earn 
 with pains and difficulty. Wroete7i is 
 also to poke the fire, to poke or root in 
 the ground as a pig with his snout. The 
 same train of thought is found in Prov. 
 /regar, It. /regare, to rub, f-ugare, to 
 rub, to pinch and spare miserably, to 
 grope, to iMmfoiQ, /uregare {ior /er7igare) , 
 to fumble or grope for, to sweep an 
 oven. And as /regare, /rug are give rise 
 io/uregare by the insertion of an e (as 
 in U77iberella for U77ibrelld) , so /rette7i, 
 /rotter, wroeten, are converted by a 
 
FERRY 
 
 s'milar change into It. feretiare, (feru- 
 tare)furetare. 
 
 The strongest objection to the fore- 
 going explanation is Fr. furon (Pat. de 
 Champ,), Sp. ^z^r^;^, a ferret. V>\!X fure- 
 gare,furettare, to poke, grope, or search 
 out, have so much the appearance of 
 diminutives from a simple furare^ that 
 ftiron may well have been formed from 
 that hypothetical form in the same way 
 as It. furegone from furegare^ and with 
 the same sense of poker, searcher-out. 
 
 Ferry. See Fare. 
 
 Fers. The Queen at Chess. — Chaucer. 
 OYx. fierce,fierche,fierge^ from Pers-^^r^", 
 a general. The confusion oi fierge with 
 vierge may perhaps have led to the alter- 
 ation of the Fr. designation to Dame, or 
 Reine, E. Queen. 
 
 Fertile. Lat. fertilis, from fero, to 
 bear, produce. 
 
 Fervent, -fervesce. Lat. ferveo, to 
 be hot ; fervesco, to begin to boil. 
 
 Fescue. A small straw used as a 
 pointer in spelling. Yx.festu, li./estuca, 
 a straw. 
 
 -fess. — Confess. — Profess. Lat. fa- 
 ieor, fassus sum, in comp. -fiteor, -fessiis, 
 to own, avow. Hence conjiteor, to con- 
 fess ; profiteor, to profess. Fateor itself 
 seems a secondary form from fari, fatus 
 sum, to speak. 
 
 To Fester. To putrefy, corrupt. — B. 
 Wall. sVJister, se corrompre, s'empuanter ; 
 dialect of Aix Jiesen, to begin to smell 
 disagreeably — Grandg. ; Pl.D. fistrig, 
 fusty, ill-smelling, as a close chamber. — 
 Danneil. 
 
 Festoon. Fr. feston, It. festone, any 
 kind of great wreath, garland, or chaplet 
 made of boughs, leaves, or flowers, much 
 used in Italy on their church-doors at 
 the celebration of their feasts; also 
 branch works. — Fl. We have the testi- 
 mony of Virgil that the temples were 
 adorned in the same way on festive occa- 
 sions among the Romans. Templum 
 festdfronde revinctum. — ^n. v. 459. 
 
 To Fetch. I. Fetchyn, or fettyn, af- 
 fero. — Pr. Pm. AS. feccan, fettan, feti- 
 gean. Fris. fetje, fetgje, to seize. — Out- 
 zen. Sw./at/a, G./asseu, to seize ; Bav. 
 fesseti, to bring home ; korn, weinfessen, 
 to get in the harvest, vintage. ' He's 
 married a wife, and \i.€sfessen her hame.' 
 ON. at fa {egfce^fecky hefifengid)^ to get. 
 
 2. Fetch, a trick. 
 
 'Twas Justice Bramble'sy^/<ri4 to get the wench. 
 
 Bav. fdtzen, to jest, play tricks, jeer one 
 with words or tricks. — Schmeller. G. 
 
 FETLOCK 
 
 255 
 
 fat2en,faxen, tricks. The radical image 
 consists of rapid action to and fro, repre- 
 sented by forms like fck-fack, fitsch- 
 fatsch, &c. See Fidget. 
 
 Fetch.— Fetch-candle. The appari- 
 tion of one who is alive. — Hal. Fetch- 
 lights, fetch-candles, corpse-candles, or 
 dead-men's candles, are appearances seen 
 at night, as of candles in motion, sup- 
 posed to be in attendance on a ghostly 
 funeral, and to portend the death of 
 some one in the neighbourhood. — Brand's 
 Popular Superstitions. The superstition 
 obviously agrees with the notion of the 
 Will o' the wisp or ignis fatuus, which is 
 known in Holland by the name oi Dood- 
 keerse, death-candle, or dead-man's candle. 
 
 The name might plausibly be explained 
 as if the apparition were something sent 
 to fetch the fated person to the other 
 world, but probably it has a more ancient 
 origin than would be indicated by such 
 a derivation. The Vcett in Scandinavian 
 mythology is a kind of goblin supposed 
 to dwell in mounds and desert places, 
 and the ignis fatuus is called in Norway 
 Vcette-lys, the Vaett's candle, the identity 
 of which with the Pembrokeshire Fetch- 
 light, or Fetch-candle, can hardly be 
 doubted. 
 
 Fetijche. Yr.fitiche, a material thing, 
 made the object of worship in W. Africa. 
 Vtg.feitigo, sorcery, charm. 'LzX.factitius. 
 
 Fetid. Lat. fcetidus, from fceteo, to 
 stink. There can be little doubt that it 
 springs from a form of the interjection of 
 disgust corresponding to E. faugh ! foh / 
 Bret, foei ! fech I in the same way that 
 piitidus, stinking, axiAputeo, to stink, are 
 from another form of the same interjec- 
 tion seen in Sp. pu / G. puh I expressive 
 of disgust at a bad smell. 
 
 From the first-mentioned form of the 
 interj. is also Lat. fcedus, foul, repugnant 
 to the physical or moral senses, Sp. feo, 
 hideous, ugly. Comp. Dm. foei / faugh ! 
 and, as an adj., foul. — Kil. 
 
 Fetlock. The hair that grows behind 
 on a horse's feet. — B. Now generally 
 applied to the joint on which the hair in 
 question grows. We should naturally 
 resolve the word into foot-lock, in accord- 
 ance with Sw. hufskcEgg, hoof-beard ; but 
 Swiss fiesloch,fisloch, Du. vitlok, vitslok 
 (Halma in v. fanon), the pastern of a 
 horse, lead in another direction. Pl.D. 
 fss, fine thread, fibres — Danneil ; Swiss 
 fsel, gefisel, loose, unravelled threads 
 hanging from a garment, also the fetlock 
 or long hair growing on the pastern. — 
 Stalder. G. fitze, fisse, Da. fid, fed, a 
 
156 
 
 FETTER 
 
 skein or bundle of threads ; Sw. dial. 
 fittja^ a bundle of hemp or flax, bunch of 
 thread. See to Feaze, Fitters. 
 
 The resemblance to G. fessel, the pas- 
 tern, seems accidental. 
 
 Fetter, as. feotur^ fc^ter^ Du. veter, 
 ON. Jidt^ fjoir, shackles, bonds. ON. 
 fjotra, impedire,/ hest, to hobble a horse ; 
 N. fjetra, applied to the act of hunters, 
 who are supposed to stay by charms the 
 flight of the beast they are pursuing ; 
 literally, to fix to his footsteps, to set fast, 
 to render immovable ; fjetra, set fast, 
 immovable from wonder or surprise. 
 From ON. fet, Dan. fjedy Sw. fjdt, foot- 
 step. Lat. impedire, to hinder ; pedica, Gr. 
 ttI^i;, a shackle ; intdw, to hinder, to stop. 
 
 To Fettle. To set in order, to repair 
 anything that is broken or defective, to 
 set about anything ; fettle, good condi- 
 tion, proper repair. I am inclined to be- 
 lieve that the primary meaning of the 
 word is to do light fiddling work, to give 
 the last touches required for the prepara- 
 tions of a thing. Thus Swift recommends 
 the footman when he knows his master 
 to be most busy ' to come in and pretend 
 \o fettle about the room.' o^.fitla, leviter 
 digitos admovere ; fill a vid, leviter attin- 
 gere (Hald.), palpito, modicum tango vel 
 apparo. — Gudm. Sw. dial, fittla, to 
 fumble with the fingers ; fessla, to tickle, 
 to touch lightly. Bav. fiseln, to make 
 light movements with the fingers ; fis'l- 
 arwet (Jisl-arbeit), light fiddling work ; 
 fuseln, to be occupied with trifles ; Pl.D, 
 fiseln, to pass the fingers gently over, to 
 tickle ; fisseln, to be occupied in cleaning, 
 to set the house in order ; fisselmdken 
 (fettle-maid), an under-housemaid. Fr. 
 vetiller, to tickle, to trifle. — Cot. See 
 Feaze, Fiddle. 
 
 Feud. OHG. gifihida, Goth, fiathva, 
 enmity, from QiO\\i.fian, h&.fian, fean, to 
 hate. G.fehd,fehde, AS.fcehth, Mid.Lat. 
 faida, the revenge pursued by the rela- 
 tions of a murdered man, and the legiti- 
 mate state of warfare ensuing thereon. 
 * Vindicta parentum, quod faidain dici- 
 mus.' — Due. AS. fcehth-bote, the sum 
 paid to the relations of the murdered man 
 to make up a feud. Du. veede, vied, 
 veete, vee, hatred, quarrel. — Kil. 
 
 Feudal. See Fee. 
 
 Fever. Yx.fi^vre, Lat. febris. From 
 the notion of shivering. ^3.y . fberft, fp- 
 pern vor zorfi, vor begierde, to tremble 
 with anger or desire. — Schm. Du. beven, 
 G. bebern, beben, to tremble ; Devon. 
 bivering, shaking. Lat. vibro, E. quiver, 
 are closely related. 
 
 FIDDLE 
 
 Feverfew. An herb good against 
 fevers. — B. Lat. febrifuga, from fugare, 
 to put to flight. 
 
 Few. Goth, favs, pi. favai, little, few ; 
 ON. fdr, fii, fdtt, OHG. foho, AS. feawa^ 
 Lat. patictis. 
 
 FeweL Mid.Lat. focale (from focus, 
 hearth, fire), OFr. fouaille, supply of 
 wood for the fire, or right of cutting it. 
 ' Et sunt spinae crescentes in Lonedon 
 ^xofocaW — Mon. Angl. in Due. In like 
 manner fouage, foude, from focagiuin, 
 focata. 
 
 Fewterer. One who had charge of 
 the dogs of chase. It. veltro, a grey- 
 hound ; Fr. vaultre, a boar-hound ; vaul- 
 trey, a kennel of vautres. 
 
 To Fey. To cleanse meadows, ponds, 
 &c. — B. G. fegen, to cleanse, scour, 
 sweep. 
 
 Fib. An euphemism for a lie. It. 
 fiabbare, to sing merry tunes and idle 
 songs, as nurses do in rocking their chil- 
 dren, also to tell flim-flam tales. — Fl. 
 Fabbiii, flattering. — Craven Gloss. Fible- 
 fable, nonsense. — Hal. Compare Pol. 
 bajka, a nursery tale, a lie. 
 
 Fibre. Lat. fibra, a jag or pointed 
 extremity ; related to fimbria, fringe. 
 
 Fickle. AS. ficol, vacillating ; G.ficken, 
 to move quickly to and fro. See Fidget. 
 
 Fictile. — Fiction. Lat. fi7igo,fictum, 
 to fashion, form, properly to mould in 
 clay or plastic material ; to devise, con- 
 trive, feign ; fetor, one who makes or 
 forms ; fictilis, made of clay, earthen- 
 ware ; fetus, feigned, fictitious; 
 
 * Fiddle, g. fiedel, Du. vedele, vele 
 — Kil., OYLG.fdula, Mid. Lat. vitula. Pro v. 
 viula, It. viola. 
 
 Commonly derived from Lat. fides, fi- 
 dictda, a musical string, stringed instru- 
 ment. But the fiddle, as Ihre remarks, 
 was unknown to the Romans, and the 
 name may well be traced to a native source 
 in forms like those indicated under Fidge 
 and Fease, expressive of the light rapid 
 movements by which the instrument is 
 played. OYi.fidra,fitla, to touch lightly, 
 to palpitate. — Gudm. Q.fitscheln,fitzeln, 
 to move to and fro. — Sanders. Swab. 
 fidlen, fitschen, fitschleti, fitschefatschlen, 
 to whittle with a blunt knife, to work 
 lightly and ineffectually, ^.fiddle-faddle, 
 trifling occupation, idle talk. ''Fiddling 
 work, where abundance of time is spent 
 and little done.' — Swift. 
 
 The passage from the jigging move- 
 ment of the arm to the designation of the 
 fiddle is clearly shown in Bav. figken, 
 ficken, to switch with arod, to make quick 
 
FIDELITY 
 
 movements to and fro ; figkeln (in a de- 
 preciatory way), to play on the fiddle ; 
 figkelbogen, a fiddlebow. ' Figela, fidel ; 
 Jigelator^ fidelar.' — Gl. in Schm. 
 
 So also Swiss fiselen^Jieseln^ to switch 
 to and fro, to fiddle about a thing, work 
 in a trifling manner ; fiseler, one who 
 strums upon an instrument ; fiselbogen^ 
 a fiddlebow. 
 
 Fidelity. Lat. fides, faith, fidelis, 
 faithful. 
 
 To ridge.— Fidget. To make light 
 involuntary movements, to be unable to 
 keep still. To fidge about, to be continu- 
 ally moving up and down. — B. Swiss 
 fitscheUj to flutter to and fro, jump up and 
 down ; whence children are called Jitsch, 
 fitschli. Fitzen^ to switch with a rod. — 
 Stalder. E. dial. X.ofig, to fidget about. — 
 Hal. Swiss figgen, to rub, shove, or 
 move to and fro, to fidget. Sc.fike, to be 
 restless, to be in a constant state of trivial 
 motion ; fick-facks, minute, troublesome 
 pieces of work ; OE. fykyn, or fiskyn 
 about in idleness, vagor. — Pr. Pm. Du. 
 ficketi, fickelen^ to whip, to switch, fick- 
 facken, factitare, agitare. — Kil. G. fick- 
 fackeUj to fidget, move about without 
 apparent end, to play tricks. — Kiittn. 
 Ficken, to make short quick movements, 
 to rub to and fro. — Sanders. 
 
 The motion of a light object through 
 the air is represented in G. by the imita- 
 tive syllables futsch I (Sand.), pfutsch ! 
 (Schm.), witsch! wutschl watsch! ritschi 
 wisch ! (Sand.). 
 
 Fie ! VJ. ffil Gael, fich / Bret, feck / 
 Yx.fi! G.fil pfui! Uih.pui/ Illyrian^zV 
 Sw. iwi/ Interjections of reprobation, 
 originally expressing disgust at a bad 
 smell or offensive mouthful. See Faugh ! 
 
 Fief. See Fee. 
 
 Field. G. field, Du. veld, the open 
 country, soil, plain, level country. ON. 
 vollr, field, meadow ; Sw. wall, .grassy 
 soil, meadow, plain ; walla sig (of the 
 soil), to cover itself with a sward of turf 
 Dan. dial, fialle, the green sward, land 
 lying in grass that has to be ploughed ; 
 fiald, an inclosed portion of cultivated 
 soil, field of rye or potatoes. Sc. fale, 
 fieal, any grassy part of the surface of the 
 ground ; fiail-dyke, a turf wall. Gael.y2^/, 
 a sod. W. gwellt, grass. 
 
 Field-fare. A kind of thrush. AS. 
 fealo-for, from fiealo, yellowish, fallow- 
 coloured. 
 
 Fiend. Go\h. fijands,fiands, G. fietnd, 
 enemy ; ON. fijandi, enemy, fiend, devil. 
 From the pple. pr. of the verb fijariyfian, 
 ON. fid, to hate, which itself is formed 
 
 FILIGREF 
 
 257 
 
 from the inier]. fie / expressive of disgust, 
 reprobation, displeasure. Speaking of 
 interjections. Palsgrave says, ' Some be- 
 token abhorring, as_^ ox fuyJ From w.. 
 fit ! fie J are formed ffiaid, loathsome ; 
 fieiddio, to loathe, detest. In the same 
 way from Russ. fu I, fukati, to cry fu /, 
 to abhor, detest ; from Du. fioei /, verfo- 
 eien, to abhor. So also Gael, fuath {th 
 silent), hatred, aversion, fuathaich, to 
 hate, loathe, detest, from the primal y 
 form of the interj. fiu ! See Faugh, 
 Foul. 
 
 * Fierce. Yx.feroce,\j3X.fierox,\{\\\Q\v 
 may perhaps be explained from Boh. 
 firkati, frciti, fremere, ferocire, to snort 
 with rage. 
 
 Fife. G. pfeifie, It. pififaro, Fr. fifire. 
 Like IjdX. pipio, Gr. ttittttj^^w, y.. peep, pipe y. 
 from the representation of a shrill note. 
 
 Fight. AS. feoht, fiyht, G. fecht, fight. 
 S^'iss fiechten,fichten, to work in a hurried 
 manner, with the notion of much move- 
 ment ; erfechten, to get a thing done by 
 diligent work ; Sw. fika, to pursue with 
 eagerness, ardently desire, strive for ; 
 fikt, earnest endeavour. ' Han stod emot 
 then Lithurgium med sdla. fi^l :' he op- 
 posed the Liturgy with all his might. E. 
 d\a.\. fick, to struggle or fight with the legs, 
 as a child in a cradle. — Grose, ^.fikta. 
 mcE haandom, to throw the hands about 
 as if striking. — Aasen. The radical idea 
 thus seems the throwing about the hands 
 and arms. See Fidget. 
 
 Figure. Lat. figura, from fingo, to 
 make, form. See Fiction. 
 
 Filament. See File, 2. 
 
 Filberd. Qyazsi fill-beard, a kind of 
 nut which just fills the cup made by the 
 beards of the calyx. In an ordinary hasel 
 the nut projects to a considerable distance 
 beyond the beard. 
 
 To Filch. To steal small matters. 
 Swiss Floke, subducere, clam auferre. — 
 Idioticon Bernense in Deutsch. Mundart. 
 N. pilka, Sc. pilk, to pick. ' She has 
 pilkit his pouch.' — Jam. N. plikka, to 
 pluck. 
 
 File. I. OHG. vihila, figila, from 
 figen, to rub. — Schwenck. But Bohem. 
 pila, a saw ; pilnjk, a file ; piliti, to saw, 
 to file. 
 
 File. 2. -file. File, in the sense of 
 rank, order, is from 'L^X.filum, a thread, 
 Tx.fil,2L thread, line, streak, rank, course, 
 row. — Cot. 
 
 Fr. defiler, to defile or march in a line 
 one after the other. 
 
 Filial. 'Ldit. filius, a son. 
 
 Filigree. F oxmexly filigram. Evelyn 
 17 
 
258 
 
 FILL 
 
 in the Fop's Dictionary describes fili- 
 grained work as 'whatever is made of 
 silver wire-work.' — R. Sp. filigrana^ a 
 kind of work in which the entire texture 
 or grain of the material is made up of 
 twisted gold or silver wire, ixorajilo, wire, 
 and grano, the grain or direction of the 
 fibres of wood or other fibrous matters. — 
 Neumann. 
 
 To Fill. — Full. The primary meaning 
 oi Jill seems to be to pour liquids, in 
 which sense the G. fallen is still used. 
 £in /ass wein auf fldsschen fiillen, to 
 bottle wine. The connection with the 
 notion of fullness is obvious. Liih.pillu, 
 Jfilli, to pour, pour into, fill full ; pilnas, 
 full ; showing that the radical meaning 
 of Lat. implere must be to pour into, 
 whence^/^w/^j, identical with IJi'dx.pilnas, 
 full. 
 
 Fillet. I. Fr.yf/^/ (dim. of yf/, thread), 
 a little thread, string, or twist ; whence a 
 fillet^ a hair-lace, or ribbon to tie up the 
 hair. 
 
 2. The Fr. filet is also the band of 
 flesh which lies along under the backbone 
 of animals,_/f/^/ de bceuf, de veatc. When 
 served at table, however, t\iQ filet de boeuf 
 appears as a solid lump without bone, 
 whence perhaps the fillet of veal may 
 have been so named, as being a similar 
 boneless lump, although taken from a 
 different part of the animal. It may how- 
 ever be from being bound together by a 
 fillet or bandage. 
 
 Fillip. A phip, flip, or flirt with the 
 fingers, from an imitation of the sound, 
 or rather perhaps from the analogy be- 
 tween the nature of the act and the short 
 quick action of the vocal organs by which 
 the word is pronounced. 
 
 Filly. See Foal. 
 
 Film. AS. film, a s\im.,fylmen, a mem- 
 brane. Y..Yy\s. fiiem, fiee, a thin skin. 
 OFris. fimel, filfuene, the skin of the 
 body. — Richthofen. w. pilen, cuticle, 
 rind ; pilioj to peet ; pilionen, a thin peel, 
 a film. 
 
 Filter. See Felt. 
 
 Filth. See Foul. 
 
 Fimble. g . feme I, femel-hanf fimmel, 
 the male plants of hemp which are soonest 
 ripe, and have to be picked out by hand 
 from among the female, left to ripen their 
 seed. The larger and stronger growth of 
 the seed-bearing plants probably led to 
 their being called in England carl, or 
 ■male-hemp, and this perhaps has led to 
 the supposition \.]i2X fimble is a corruption 
 oi fejiiale, as the word is commonly ex- 
 plained. The real signification is the act 
 
 FINE 
 
 of picking out the early ripe plants, which 
 is termed fimmeln in G., and fdmeler m 
 the North of France, while the plants so 
 picked out are called ft!meles. — Hecart. 
 The T>\\.fitnelen, or fetnelen, is applied to 
 any light action with the fingers, to tease 
 wool, flax, or hemp, to trifle, gesticulari 
 digitis, frustra factitare rem frivolam. 
 Femel, cannabis brevior, discerpta, con- 
 vulsa, linum carptum, vulsum. — Kil. 
 The verb is a dim. of Fris. fampie, to 
 grasp at anything with the hands — Out- 
 zen ; Sw. famla, to grope. See Famble. 
 To fimble, to touch lightly and frequently 
 with the ends of the fingers. — Forby. 
 O^.fipla, Dan. 6.\di\. fiple, to touch with 
 the fingers, to handle. 
 
 Fin. A?>.finna, Ddin.fifine, Lat. pinna, 
 a feather, or fin. Probably from the 
 sharp spines in such fins as those of a 
 perch. Du. vimme, vinne, vlimme, pinna, 
 squama et arista. — Kil. G. finne, top of 
 a mountain, point of a hammer, fin of a 
 fish. 
 Finance. See Fine. 
 Finch. — Spink, g. finke, Lat. frin- 
 gilla^frigilla, a small bird, from a repre- 
 sentation of the chirp ; fringutire,frigu- 
 tire, to chirp or twitter. It. frinco,frin- 
 sone,frusone, Yr. frinson, pitison,^ spink 
 or chaffinch. The loss or insertion of the 
 r in a like situation in imitative words is 
 very common. Compare Lat. fricare, to 
 rub, with Q,.ficken, to move to and fro. 
 
 To Find. G. finden, fand, gefunden. 
 ON. finfia. 
 
 Fine. — Finance. In the forensic lan- 
 guage of the middle ages the Lat. finis 
 was specially applied to the termination 
 of a suit, 2jnd.finalis dies, finale judicium, 
 finalis concordia,^ were respectively the 
 day of trial, the judicial decision, or the 
 agreement by which the suit was termin- 
 ated. Finis by itself is frequently used 
 for the settlement of a claim by com- 
 position or agreement, as by Matthew 
 Paris in the Life of Hen. III. ' Clanculo 
 captus fuit, et tacito idicXofine, interpositis 
 fide et juramentis et chartis, caute dimis- 
 sus.' — Diet. Etym. ' Quod illi cognos- 
 centes et malum timentes acceperunt 
 consilium inter se ut si quo modo possent 
 faedus cum Imperatore componerent, di- 
 centes, Nullum ulterius ab Qofinem habe- 
 bimus (we shall get no further terms from 
 him), sed junctus Romanis omnes nos de 
 partibus illis expellet.' — Due. The clergy 
 and females who held in capite, having 
 been summoned to London to pass over 
 with the king on military duty into 
 France, it was announced, ' quod archie- 
 
FINE 
 
 piscopi, &c., servitium domino regi de- 
 bentes possent facere fi7iem. pro eodem 
 (might compound for it) si vellent.' — Bart. 
 Cotton, p. 324. It was then transferred 
 to the money paid as the price of settle- 
 ment, and Lat. Jinare, jftnire, Fr. Jiner, 
 were used in the sense of paying an ex- 
 action or composition. ' Omnes vero 
 plagae aut feritse — quae evenerint — sicut 
 supra decretum est finiantur^ shall be 
 compounded for. — Due. ' Lui dit qu'il 
 ne le laisserait point aller jusqu'k ce qu'il 
 eust fini a luy, et force luy fut finer au 
 chevalier k cinq cens livres.' — Joinville. 
 Soixante mile doubles vous ferai amener 
 Se parmi cestey?« vous me volez quiter. 
 
 Chron, Duguesclin, 13627. 
 
 Henceyf;^^ in E. and the ^ox'wz.'iwQ. finance 
 in Fr. were used in the sense of an ex- 
 action or compulsory payment. Mon- 
 strelet informs us that Jacques Coeur was 
 made prisoner, ' pource qu'il a extorqud 
 indeuement plusieurs ^x2cr\diS finances sur 
 le pays du Roi, tant en Languedoc, Lan- 
 guedouy, comme ailleurs.' The name of 
 finance was subsequently extended to all 
 monies levied on the people for the be- 
 hoof of the royal treasure or revenue. 
 
 Fine. G. fein, It. fino, Yr.fin. Diez 
 adheres to the derivation from 'L2X. fijii- 
 tus, finished, perfect, and in confirmation 
 cites Prov. cHn from clinatus, Sp. cuerdo 
 from cordatuSy manso from mansicetus. 
 ' Quod excellentem vel optimum gradum 
 bonitatis obtinet finum vel finissimum, 
 vulgariter appellatur.' — Johan. k S. Ge- 
 miniano in Due. 
 
 A more probable origin may be found 
 in w. gwyn, white, fair, pleasant ; Gael. 
 fionn, white, fair, fine, pleasant, sincere, 
 true; ON. fina, to polish, to cleanse, 
 finfi, bright, polished. The idea of 
 white passes readily to that of pure, 
 unsullied, unmixed, as m fine gold, on the 
 one hand, or to that of brilliancy, or 
 showiness, as mfine clothes, on the other. 
 The sense of small, delicate, may arise 
 from the application of the term to fabrics 
 where smallness of parts is an excellence, 
 or it may be a separate word, from w. 
 main, slender, fine, thin, small (Lat. 
 7ninor, Fr. menu, mince); lliain main, fine 
 linen ; diodfain, small beer. 
 
 Finger. Goth, figgrs, Fris. fenger, 
 f anger. From the equivalent oiG.fangen, 
 to seize, the change of vowel from a toi 
 perhaps indicating the light action of a 
 finger. 
 
 Finical.— Finikin. T)\x.fijtikens, per- 
 fectd, concinn^, bell^. — Kil. Hence ^«z- 
 kin, particular in dress, trifling. — Craven 
 
 FISH 
 
 259 
 
 Gloss. Finical, over-refined, effeminate. 
 
 Fir. — Furze. G. fohre, on. fura, e. 
 fir is the general name of trees with 
 needle-shaped leaves. Then from the 
 sharp spines, which are the only ap- 
 parent representatives of leaves in a 
 plant of wholly different nature, the name 
 of firres or firs was given to the bush 
 now z-aW.^A furze or gorse. 
 
 Fire. G.feuer, o^.fyr,fur, Gr. Trwp. 
 
 Firk. Any smart movement with a 
 light object, as a blow with a switch, a 
 jerk. 
 
 — As tumblers do, when betwixt every feat 
 They gather wind hyjirking up their breeches. 
 A firk of law, a trick of law ; a firk of 
 piety, a sudden fit of piety. To firk, to 
 beat, to whip. — B. 
 
 The origin is a representation of the 
 sound made by a blow with a switch. 
 Yr. fric-frac, mot dont le peuple se sert 
 pour exprimer un bruit qu'on fait en 
 frappant k droit et h. gauche. — Trevoux. 
 AS. frician, to dance. As Jerk varies 
 with jert, so firk may be considered as 
 the representative of It. ferza, sferza, a 
 whip, and may also explain Lat. virga, a 
 rod. Other representations of the same 
 original image are fick, flick, flirk (Du. 
 vlercken, to flirt), flirt, all signifying 
 short rapid movements to and fro, from 
 the sound of a blow with a switch or 
 light implement. 
 
 Firkin. A diminutive from four; a 
 vessel holding nine gallons, the fourth 
 part of a barrel of thirty-six gallons. 
 Compare Sc.flrlot, a measure containing 
 a fourth part of a boll of meal. 
 
 Firm. -firm. — Firmament. Lat. 
 flri7ius, strong. The firmament was the 
 fixed framework of the sky, about which 
 the heavenly bodies were carried round. \_ 
 
 First. What is most to the fore, most 
 in front. ON. fyri, fyrir, for, before ; 
 fyrri (comparative), first of two ; fyrstr 
 (super!,), in front of all, first. Lith. 
 pirm, before, pirmas, first ; Lat. prce, 
 before, pri77tus, first. 
 
 Firth. See Frith. 
 
 FiscaL Lat. flscus, a money-bag, 
 thence the money-store, or treasury of 
 the empire. 
 
 Fish. I. Goth, flsks, Lat. piscis, w. 
 Pysg, Gael, iasg, Gr. Ix^vq. 
 
 2. Counters at cards. From Fr. ficJier, 
 to fix, the svhsX.. flche is used for a gar- 
 dener's dibble, for the iron pegs used to 
 mark distances in surveying, for branches 
 stuck in the ground to mark positions in 
 setting out a camp ; fiche or fichet, the 
 peg used in marking at cribbage or the 
 17 * 
 
26o 
 
 FISK 
 
 like. Hence, in defiance of etymology, 
 the term was transferred to the loose 
 counters which serve to mark the state 
 of the game at cards, and was adopted 
 in E. under the form oijish. 
 
 To Fisk. To run about hastily and 
 heedlessly. — B. A word of similar form- 
 ation to Jig^ fidg^') fi^kj whisk. Sw. 
 fjaska^ to fidget. 
 
 Fissile. — Fissure. \:2X.findo^ fissum, 
 to cleave, split. 
 
 Fist. OE. fusty G. faust, the hand 
 used as an instrument of striking. 3wiss 
 fausten,fuusten, to beat with fist or stick ; 
 w. ffustOy to beat ; ffust-fa^ a beating, a 
 boxing match ; ffust, a flail ; \j3X.fustiSy 
 a stick; Bret, fusta, to give a sound 
 thrashing. 
 
 Fit. I. A portion of music or of song, 
 a canto. AS.Jittian, to sing. Feond on 
 Jitte, exulting in song. — Caedm. Nu ic 
 Jitte gen yntb fisca cynn, now I will sing 
 again concerning the races of fish. 
 
 * 2. A sudden attack of pain or illness, 
 an intermittent period. Sw. dial, futt, a 
 moment, very short interval of time. 
 From the representation of a short rapid 
 movement as by G.ftf fft! interj . express- 
 ing sudden disappearance. — Sand. Bav. 
 pfutsch ! expressing a quick momentary 
 movement ; pfitzen, pfitschen^ pfutschen, 
 to make a noise represented by the syl- 
 lable in question, to move with such a 
 noise. ^Z/^^/^", every moment. Swab. 
 pfitzen^ to move with a sudden start, to 
 disappear. 
 
 To Fit. — ^Refit. Yr.faict^fait, wrought, 
 fashioned [for a purpose] ; faictis, made 
 after the likeness of another, neat, feat, 
 comely ; faicHssement, neatly, featly, 
 trimly, fitly. — Cot. Reficio, to again- 
 stable, or to refete; refecyd, or refetyd, 
 refectus. — Pr. Pm. Afaited a mes mains 
 k bataille, he fitted my hands to war. — 
 Livre des Rois. Du. vitten, convenire, 
 quadrare, accommodare. — Kil. 
 
 Fitchet. — Fitchew. Yr.fissau, a pole- 
 cat. Du. visse, fisse, vitsche, putorius, 
 mustelae genus valde putidum. — Kil. Wal. 
 s*efister, s'dmpuanter. — Grandg. Fr. ves- 
 seur, a fyster, a stinking fellow. — Cot. 
 
 Fitters. Fragments, splinters. 
 
 Cast them upon the rocks and splitted them 
 all to Jitters. — North's Plutarch. Only their 
 bones and ragged Jitters of their clothes re- 
 mained. — Coryat in Nares. 
 
 Fitters, fatters, tatters. — Craven Gloss. 
 The idea of breaking to bits is commonly 
 expressed by words signifying violent 
 shaking, which are themselves taken in 
 the first instance from the representation 
 
 FLABBY 
 
 of a broken, quivering sound. Thus, 
 from shiver, to shake, we have shivers^ 
 fragments ; and Dickens in the ' Haunted 
 House ' uses dither (primarily signifying 
 tremble) in the same sense, * all shaken 
 to dithersJ The Du. schetteren, to laugh 
 loud, to make a rattling noise {schetter- 
 inghe, sonus vibrans, fragor, sonus fra- 
 gosus, modulatio — Kil), is identical with 
 E. shatter, scatter. The Sp. quebrar, to 
 break (Port, quebro, a shake or quaver of 
 the voice), corresponds to E. quiver, Lat. 
 vibrare, Bav. fibern, fippern, to shake, 
 tremble. The E. titter, representing the 
 broken sound of suppressed laughter, 
 leads through the G. zittern, to tremble, 
 to E. tatter, a fragment. In like manner 
 the Syf'iss fitzern, to titter, seems related 
 to E. fitter, fatter, Swiss fdtzete, gefdtz, 
 tatters, verfdtzen, to tear to bits, wear to 
 tatters. See Flinders. 
 
 To Fix. \. 'L'3X.figere,fixuin,X.os\A<:ik. 
 in, fasten, make firm. 
 
 To Fix. 2. In the American sense, to 
 arrange. * To fix the hair, the table, the 
 fire, means to dress the hair, lay the table, 
 and make the fire.' — Lyell. Probably a 
 remnant of the old Dutch colonisation. 
 Du. fiks, fix, regl^, comme il faut. — 
 Halma. Fen fix snaphaan, a gun which 
 carries true ; zyn tuigje fix houden, to 
 keep oneself in good order. VXXi.fix, 
 quick, ready, smart ; fix un fardig, quite 
 ready ; een fixen junge, a smart youth. 
 Perhaps iromfiuks, ready, by the loss of 
 the /, 2isfittich iorfiittich, a wing. 
 
 Five. — Fifteen. — Fifty. Sanscr. pan- 
 chan, Pol. piec, Boh. pet, Gr. irk.vTi, Trt/iirf, 
 w. pump, Goth, fimf ON. fimm, G. fUnf 
 Du. vyf, Lith. penki, Lat. quinque, Gael. 
 coig, five. 
 
 To Fizz. See Fuzz. 
 
 Flabby. — Flap. The sound produced 
 by the flapping of a loose broad surface 
 is represented by the syllable fiab,fiap, 
 fiag,fiack,flad,fiat, varying, as usual in 
 like cases, with the vowels m and i. Du. 
 fiabberen,fiadderen, to flap, flutter — Wei- 
 land ; V\.D. fiaddrig, flaggy, fluttering; 
 Du. fiaggeren, to flag, or hang loose — ■ 
 Kil. ; G. fiaddern, flattern, flackern, to 
 flap, flutter, flicker. 
 
 From the first of the foregoing forms is 
 "E.fiabby, of such a nature as to give the 
 sound flab, soft and limber, hanging 
 loose ; Du. flabbe, a slap, a fly-flap, the 
 flap of a wound ; Pl.D. flabbe^ a hanging 
 
 lip. . 
 
 In like manner from the second form, a 
 fiap is any broad thin body hanging by 
 one side so as to be able to give a blow 
 
FLACK 
 
 with the flat surface, or a blow of such a 
 nature. Then, as a loose, flapping con- 
 dition is a sign of a want of elasticity, or 
 of a faded condition in vegetable or 
 animal structures, Fr. dial, flappe, faded, 
 soft, rotten ; une poire fiappe. — Gl. G^ndv. 
 Flappi et terni, faded and tarnished. — c. 
 nouv. nouv. It. fiappo^ flippy, withered. 
 — Fl. 
 
 Flack, — Flaccid. — Flicker. The 
 third and fourth of the forms mentioned 
 in the preceding article give rise to a wide 
 range of derivatives. Yr.Jlac, onomatopde 
 d'un coup qu'on donne sur un corps re- 
 tentissant— Hdcart ; a slat, flap, slamp, 
 or clap, given by a thing that is thrown 
 against a wall or unto the ground, and 
 the report made by hands struck one 
 against the other ; flacquer^ to make a 
 thing to flap or clap by casting it violently 
 against the ground. — Cot. Flack, a blow, 
 especially with something loose and 
 pliant. — Forby. "^lo flack, to hang loose, 
 to palpitate. 
 
 Her cold breste began to heat, 
 Her herte also io flacke and beat. — Gower. 
 G.flacken, to move to and fro, to flicker. 
 To flacker, to flutter, quiver ; to flacket, 
 to flap about, to flicker, fligger, to flutter. 
 — Hal. 
 
 Then signifying the quality of things 
 which flap, Fr. flaque,flache, Bret, flak, 
 It.flacco, weak, flaggy, drooping, faint ; 
 'LdX.flaccere, to be flaggy, flaccid, limber. 
 From other modifications of the same 
 radical image we have E. slack, Lat. 
 laxus (= lak-s-us), loose, and with the 
 nasal, languere, to flag, to be faint. 
 
 Flag^. I. It has been shown under 
 Flabby thaty?^^ is one of the forms by 
 which we represent the sound of a cloth 
 flapping. Hence a flag is a portion of 
 cloth fastened by one edge to a staff in 
 order that it may be conspicuous as an 
 ensign floating in the wind. Then, as 
 Lat. flaccere, to flag, to fall together, to 
 droop, to become faint. 
 
 Flag. 2. The name oiflag, Dan.y?^^, 
 is given to several sorts of marsh and 
 water plants with simple sword-shaped 
 leaves. As the leaves are strong enough 
 to stand upright of themselves it cannot 
 be from the notion of drooping. In most 
 European languages the name is taken 
 from a sword, G. schwertel, Sp. espadana, 
 \^2iX. gladiolus, whence Fr. glaieid (also 
 called couteau des moissons), corn-flag, 
 sword-grass.— Cot. There can be little 
 doubt that the name of flag also is in- 
 tended to mark the sword or flame-shaped 
 figure of the leaves, probably from the - 
 
 FLAGON 
 
 261 
 
 wavy motion of flame or of a brandished 
 sword. Dan. j'f^^r*?, to wave to and fro 
 as flame ; S-p.flamear (of sails), to shiver 
 in the wind ; Yx.flambe, iris, water-flags ; 
 flamberge, a sword. The name oi flam- 
 mula is given to a ranunculus with spear 
 or sword-shaped leaves. Fr. flanwiule, 
 spear-wort, or spear crowfoot. — Cot. on. 
 flag-bnosk {briosk, gristle), cartilage en- 
 siformis. In the dialect of Carinthia 
 flegge is a lath. — Deutsch. Mundart. 2. 
 339. 
 
 Flag. 3.— Flaw.— Flake. The sylla- 
 hX^flag is used to represent other sudden 
 noises, as a squall, blast of wind, or wind 
 and rain, a flash of lightning ; flaw, a 
 blast of wind, sudden flash of fire, storm 
 of snow. — Jam. Sw.flaga, vindflaga, a 
 flaw of wind. — Wideg. Du. vlaege, a 
 squall. — Kil. n.flaga, to come inflaws 
 or by fits ; flaga, a blast of wind, a pa- 
 roxysm, a fit or sudden attack. Comp. 
 Guernsey y?/<^^, gust of wind, noise of a 
 tree or wall falling. 
 
 Again, applied to the sound of cracking 
 or splitting, we have Sw. flaga, a crack, 
 breach, flaw ; flaga sig, to scale off", fly 
 off" in scales ; flaga (as Fr. ^clat, a splint- 
 er, from eclater, to crack), what separates 
 in such a manner, the dross ofiron driven 
 off" under the hammer, z. flake, of snow 
 (provincially also called.y?a^— Hal.), the 
 crust of a wound ; flagna, of, tQc separate 
 in scales, to flake off. Hence( must be 
 explained Dan. dial. flag,flav, E. flag, a 
 turf or sod peeled off from the surface of 
 the ground ; ON. flaga, to cut turfs, and 
 as a noun, a sod, chips, splinters. A 
 flagstone is one that separates in layers or 
 flakes. So Dan. flise, to splinter, and as 
 a noun, a flaw, a flagstone, ON. flis, a 
 flake, a splinter, Sw. sno-flisa^ a snow- 
 flake. 
 
 Flageolet. — Flute. OFr. flagoler^ 
 flageoler, to pipe. 
 
 J'oi Ko\Ax\.flagoler 
 Anjlagol d'argent. — Rayn. 
 
 Prov. Flagel, flageol, flagos, a pipe, 
 and from the same verb Fr. flagorner, 
 fluter aux oreilles, to pipe into one's ears, 
 to blab, tell tales, flatter, hang.flaguta, 
 to pipe, and ^^^?^/^ (Diet. Castr.), OFr. 
 flahute,flaute, Yr. flute, a flute. Fluber, 
 to whistle, flnbet, flute, whistle. — "Vocab. , 
 de Berri. Ptg. fraguta, a shepherd's 
 pipe. 
 
 Flagitious. "LsX. flagitiu7n, a vile ac- 
 tion. 
 
 Flagon.— Flask. Fr. flacon, flascon^ 
 flasque, a great leathern bottle. — Cot. 
 Perhaps {xom flagoter, to sound like liquid 
 
262 
 
 FLAGRANT 
 
 in a partly empty bottle.^ Vocab. de 
 Berri. Flacket, flaget, a bottle, flask, 
 flagon. — Hal. Comp. Swiss gungeln^ to 
 guggle, giinke, a flask. 
 
 Flagrant. Burning, blazing, and 
 thence conspicuous, signal. 'LaX.Jlagrare, 
 to blaze, flame, originally doubtless as 
 Dan. flagre^ to flicker, flutter, flare^ to 
 flag, or wave to and fro. V>?csr.flajigeze7t, 
 to flicker, to blaze ; Du. 'vlaecken, to vi- 
 brate as flame, to blaze, to glitter. — Kil. 
 Gr. 0Xo$, (pXoyoQ, flame, 0\eya>, to burn. 
 See Flame. 
 
 Flail. G. Jlegel, dresch-flegel ; Fr. 
 Jlayaji^fl^au {iorjiayel), a flail, a scourge. 
 See Flog. 
 
 Flake. See Flag 3. 
 
 Flam. See Flim-flam. 
 
 Flame.— The Yr./lamber, to blaze, is 
 to be looked on as showing the origin of 
 'L2i\.. flamma, rather than as a derivative 
 from that word. The most obvious 
 source whence the designation of flame 
 could be taken is the fluttering sound by 
 which it is accompanied, and on this 
 principle we have accounted under Fla- 
 grant for 'Ldii. Jlagrare, and Gr. <p\kym'. 
 In like manner we have Sy^\ssjladern, to 
 h\z.ze, Jlddern, to flutter ; Bohem. plapo- 
 lati, to flutter, blaze, burn, plapol, flame ; 
 plati, to flicker, flare, plamen, flame. 
 The Fr. flamber is a nasalised form of 
 the root flab in Du. flabberen, to flutter, 
 and the original sense is preserved in Sp. 
 flamear (of sails), to shiver, flutter, and in 
 the corresponding OE. form as used by 
 Barbour. 
 
 Baneris rycht isXxXy fla-wmand 
 And penselys to the wind wawand. 
 
 The Yr.flamme is a streamer as well as a 
 flame. 
 
 Flanch.— Flange. Kflanch ox flange 
 is a turned-up border of a plate of iron or 
 the like. The fundamental sense is pro- 
 bably a flap. G. flatsche^ flantscJie, a 
 piece, slice. — Sanders. Sc. flatch, to lay 
 over, to turn down. — ^Jam. 
 
 Flank. It. fla?tco, Fr. flanc, the part 
 of the body from the ribs to the hips, a 
 part usually named from the absence of 
 bone, by which it is characterised ; G. die 
 iveiche, from weich, soft ; Bohem. slabina, 
 from slaby, soft, weak ; E. dial, lesk, from 
 Fr. lasche, Bret, laosk, soft, flaggy. 
 Flank or iesk, ilium, inguen. — Pr. Pm. 
 On the same principle it would seem that 
 flank is a nasahsed form of BrQt.flak, It 
 flacco, flaggy. 
 
 Flannel. Formerly y!r\X.X.enflannen, as 
 it still is provincially. TQl^im, flannen. 
 —Cot. It is originally a Welsh manu- 
 
 FLATTER 
 
 facture, and is in all probability from W. 
 called gwla7ien from gwldn, wool. 
 
 Flap. A representation of the sound 
 of a blow with a limber, flat surface. 
 Then applied to actions or objects adapted 
 to make such a sound. See Flabby. 
 
 To Flare. To blaze with a flickering 
 flame. Dsin.flagre, G.flackern, to flicker, 
 flutter, flack, flare. See Flagrant. 
 
 Flash. A representation of the sound 
 made by a dash of water or sudden burst 
 of^ flame. Swiss fldtschen, to splash, 
 fldtzgen, to blaze. A flash is a rush of 
 water from the locks on the- Thames to 
 assist the barges in their descent.— Grose. 
 A shallow temporary pool of water is 
 called a flash or a plash. So from Yx. 
 flaquer^ to dash down vf2iiQY, flague, a 
 small shallow pool. — Gattel. 
 
 Flat. The train of thought to which 
 this word owes its origin is the dashing 
 down of something soft, the sound of 
 which is represented by the syllables yf^r, 
 flat. Yr.flac, a slat, flap, slamp, or clap 
 given by a thing thrown violently on to 
 the ground. // vous la flacca Id, he 
 squasht, slat, or squat her down there.— 
 Cot. The term is then applied to the 
 object thrown down ; Du. vlecke, piacke, 
 plecke, a blot or drop of ink, or the like. 
 Thence, as moist things flung down on 
 the ground tend to spread out in width 
 and lie close, we pass to the sense of flat- 
 ness ; Du. vlack, G. flach, flat, plane, 
 close to the ground. So from Vol.plask./ 
 representing the sound of dashing on the 
 grovir\di,p laski, flat. 
 
 The same train of thought is repeated 
 with the root flat, plat, vlat. To flatten, 
 to slap. — Hal. OE. to flat, to dash down 
 water, &c. 
 
 And right with that he swowned, 
 
 Till Vigilate the veille 
 
 Fette water at his eighen 
 
 And Jlaite it on his face. — P. P. 
 
 Yr.flatir, f aire flat, to spill water. — Pat. 
 de Champ. Dan. dial, blatte, to fall 
 down ; blat, a small portion of fluid, a 
 blot. Fr. se blottir, to squat, or lie close 
 to the ground ; Dan. plet, a blot or spot ; 
 plat. It. piatto, Fr. plat, flat. 
 
 To tell a thing flatly is to blurt it out 
 at once with a flop, like a wet lump 
 thrown down on the ground before one, 
 Dan. plat, flatly, bluntly, entirely. 
 
 To Flatter. The wagging of a dog's 
 tail is a natural image of the act of flat- 
 tering or fawning on one. Thus we have 
 Dan. logre, to wag the tail ; logrefor een, 
 to fawn on one ; G. wedeln, to wag the 
 tail; and E. wheedle^ to gain one's end by 
 
FLAUNT 
 
 flattery. ON. fladra signifies both to 
 wag the tail and to flatter. G. fladdern, 
 
 Jlatiern, to flutter, Swiss flddelen^ to 
 flatter ; Du. vledderen, Jledderen, to 
 flutter, flap the wings ; flettereti, flet- 
 sen, to flatter ; vleyd-steerten, to wag 
 the tail, vleyden, to flatter. The Fr. 
 
 flatter seems to come from a different 
 source, having originally signified to lick, 
 whence we readily pass to the idea of 
 stroking an animal on the one hand or of 
 flattery on the other. 
 Ore donez le chael kflater [to lapyn] 
 Qy leche la ros^e [licket the deu] de le herber, 
 
 give the puppy (water) to lap. — Bibels- 
 worth, in Nat. Antiq. 153. S'^.flotar, to 
 stroke or rub gently, Fr. flatter, to pat, 
 stroke, caress, flatter. Flatter un cheval, 
 tin chien avec la muin, to pat a horse or 
 dog. Bret.floda, to caress, cajole. Com- 
 pare Sicilian liccdri, to lick, to flatter — 
 Biundi ; Prov. lepar, to lap, lick, flatter. 
 
 Flaunt. Properly to wave to and fro 
 in the wind, then to move about in fine 
 clothes, to let them be seen like a banner 
 flaunting in the wind. Bav. flattdern, 
 fldndern, to move about, wave to and fro. 
 Swab, flandern, to flutter, fldntern, to 
 sparkle, glitter. Swiss flanter-tuch, a. 
 flag. Henneberg flemiern, to glitter, 
 shimmer ; flinnerle, spangles ; fldnderle, 
 a showy flimsy garment. A nasalised 
 form of fladdern,flattern, to flutter. 
 
 Flavour. From Fr. flairer, to smell, 
 vent, wind, also to breathe out a scent, 
 yield a savour (Cot.), we had formerly 
 flet/r, fleoure, flaware, a strong smell, 
 especially a disagreeable one. 
 With sa covrupit _^eure nana mycht byde nere. 
 D. V. 75. 18. 
 — tetrum inter odorem. 
 
 Ane Strang _^eware thrawis up in the are. 
 
 207. 38. 
 
 — saevamque exhalat opaca mephitim. 
 
 The word is by some derived from Lat. 
 fragrare, but the word can hardly be 
 radically distinct from '^.ffleirio, to feist, 
 to make a stink (Lewis) ; BxQt.fleria, to 
 stink. QdX.flayre, odour. See Fleer. 
 
 Flaw. See Flag. 3. 
 
 Flawn. G. fladen, any cake that is 
 thin and broad. — Kuttn. Yr.flan, a cus- 
 tard, or egg-pie. Du. vlaede, vlaeye, a 
 custard, pancake. The origin of the 
 word seems to be the sound made by the 
 fall of something soft, represented by the 
 syllable flad, or blad. Sc. Mad, to slap, 
 strike with something soft ; a blad of 
 weet, a heavy fall of rain ; Sw. ko-bladde, 
 Dan. dial, ko-blat, G. kuhfladen, a cow- 
 dung. See Flat. 
 
 FLEE 
 
 263 
 
 Flax. AS. fleax, Du. vlas, vlasch, 
 Bohem. wlakno, unspun flax or hemp, 
 fibres, flock ; wlas, Russ. 'wolos\ Lith. 
 plaukas, hair. Compare Dan. hor, Aus- 
 trian haar, flax, with E. hair. As parallel 
 forms with an initial / and fl are very 
 common, it is probable that AS,.feax, the 
 hair, is radically identical. The fur of a 
 hare is called _/?z!r. 
 
 Flay. The origin oi flag in the sense 
 of a thin layer separating from the surface 
 of the ground or other body has been 
 above explained. Sw^.flagna af, to separ- 
 ate in scales or flakes ; ON. flaga, to cut 
 thin turfs. The ON,fld,flegid, Du. viae- 
 gen, vlaen, to flay, is a modification of 
 the same root applied to stripping off the 
 skin of an animal. 
 
 Flea. G.floh. 
 
 Fleak.— Flaik, Fleyke or hyrdylle, 
 plecta, flecta, cratis.— Pr. Pm. Du. vlaek, 
 a hurdle ; G. flechte, a tress, braid, hur- 
 dle, basket ; flechten, V>z.n.flette, to braid, 
 plait, wattle ; Lat. plectere, plexus, to 
 braid ; Gr. ttKokoq, a lock, and thence 
 irXsKU), to knit, plait, twine ; irXoKavov, 
 wicker or plaited work. ON. floki, a 
 knot ; flcEkia, to entangle ; N. flokje, a 
 knot, entangled lock of hair, twine, or 
 the like. 
 
 * Fleam. M'lA.'Lz.t. flebotomufn, fleo- 
 toinum, flebiim, fletum, MHG. vHedenie, 
 G. fliede, fliete, Du. vlieme, Fr. flainfne, 
 flammette, a lancet. Gr. 0\£i//, ^\ej36g, a 
 vein, and TOfxoq, cutting. 
 
 Du. vlieme is applied to sharp-pointed 
 things, as the spine of a fish, the beard of 
 corn. Bret, flemin is the sting of a bee, 
 or tooth of a serpent ; flefnma, to prick, 
 to incite, stimulate. 
 
 Fleck. ON.fleckr, Du. vlecke,placke, 
 0,. fleck, flecker, a spot, blot, stain. All 
 from the sound made by throwing on 
 the ground a portion of something wet, 
 represented by the syllables flak, flat, 
 blat, plat. Fin. pldtti, a blot, also the 
 dull sound of a blow, sclopus surdus, 
 ictus levior. See Flat. 
 
 -fleet, -flex. Lat. flecto, flexuin, to 
 bend or crook. A parallel form with 
 plico, piecto, Gr. ttXIicw, to fold, twine. 
 The radical image is probably a short 
 quick movement, as shown under Flinch. 
 
 Fledge. Sw. flygfdrdig, on. fleygr, 
 G. fliick, flUgge, feathered, ready to fly, 
 from fliegen, to fly. Flygge as bryddys, 
 maturus, volatilis. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Flee. Supplanted in modern E. 
 "^y fly in the present, though the preterite 
 fled has held its ground. Goth, thliuhan, 
 AS. fleon, flion, G. fliehen. The Lat. 
 
264 
 
 FLEECE 
 
 fugere^ to flee, seems to point to a stage 
 at which the senses oi flee and yfy, G. 
 fliehen and fliegen, were expressed by a 
 single verb formed from the root flug, 
 from whence fugere was derived by the 
 very common loss of the I; compare AS. 
 flugolj fitgol, fowl ; G.flittich zxi^fittich^ 
 wing. 
 
 From the present verb are formed AS. 
 flea?n^ flight, exile, flyma^ an exile, E. 
 Jleyne^ to drive out. 
 
 ♦ Fleece, as. fleos, flys, P1.D. fliis, 
 Du. vlies, the coat of wool off a sheep's 
 back. Pl.D. fluse7t, to pluck or shear 
 the wool. Flokken und fliisen, to take 
 the profits of a property. The radical 
 sense seems to be what is splintered or 
 stripped off from the surface. ON. flis, 
 flosa, a splinter, thin slice ; flysja^ to split 
 off; n.flis, splinter, shaving, scale ; flus, 
 flos,flys, scale, thin fragment, scurf, peel ; 
 flysja, to peel, pick. Sw. dial, flisa, to 
 scale, shell, splinter ; flas, peeling of 
 potatoes or turnips, scurf, scab, ironslag ; 
 flasa, to peel potatoes. Du. vlies is not 
 only the pelt of sheep or skin with the 
 wool, or the woolly coat itself, but a 
 membrane or pellicle, the skin of milk ; 
 vliesen de schaepen^ to shear sheep. — Kil, 
 See Flizz. 
 
 To Fleech. To supplicate in a flat- 
 tering manner, to wheedle. — Hal. Pl.D. 
 flook, an oath, a cmvsq, floken, to adjure 
 by an oath. G.fluch, a curse, flehen, to 
 beseech. 
 
 To Fleer. To cast a disdainful or 
 saucy look. — B. Sc. to fleyr, to distort 
 the countenance, make wry faces, to 
 whimper. — Jam. Dan. 6\d\.flire, to laugh 
 at one, to sneer ; Norse flira, to titter, 
 laugh out of season, Jlir^ suppressed 
 laughter. 
 
 The two false ones with grete gre 
 Stode and bihelde her riche atyr 
 And beganne to lagh djoAJlerye. 
 
 Florence of Rome, Ritson, 2. 75. 
 
 We should have no hesitation in con- 
 sidering it as a contraction oi fligger or 
 flicker, to laugh scornfully or wantonly — 
 B., were it not for parallel forms with an 
 n instead of an r. Sw. flina, to show 
 the teeth, sneer ; Dan. d^aX.fline, to wry 
 the mouth, smile, sneer; Swah. flannen, 
 flennen, as well -asfldrren, to cry. Norse 
 flina, as well as flira, to titter ; Bav. 
 flenschen, to wry the mouth, either in 
 crying or derisive laughter. 
 
 But probably as we have snigger as 
 well as sneer, fligger as well as fleer, all 
 these forms are imitations of the inarti- 
 
 FLEET 
 
 culate sounds made in tittering, sneering, 
 or whimpering. 
 
 That they mwsi^fligger, scoff, deride, and jeer. 
 
 Nares. 
 
 Prov. flairar, to smell, properly to 
 draw up air through the nose, to snift. 
 
 La mesquina_/fa/ra e grina, 
 the unhappy snifts and groans. — Rayn. 
 Dan. ftiiese, to titter, giggle ; fnyse, to 
 snort. Sw. dial. flisa,flissa, to smile. 
 
 Fleet. The meanings oi fleet are very 
 numerous, but they may probably all be 
 derived from the notion of flowing water. 
 OUG.fliozan, G.fliessen, ON. egflyt,flaut, 
 hefi flotid, at fliota, to flow ; S w. flyta, 
 Dan. flyde, to flow, and also to float ; 
 flyta med strStninen, to swim with the 
 stream ; gulvet flyder med vand, the 
 floor swims with water. AS. fleotan, 
 fluctuare ; Sc. to fleit, flete, to flow, to 
 float, and figuratively to abound. — Jam. 
 Naviger, to sail, iofleete. — Hollyband. 
 
 The same form appears as a noun in 
 ON. fliot, a river ; E. fleet, a creek up 
 which the tide flows. 
 
 In a figurative sense to fleet is to flow 
 away, to escape, move rapidly away, 
 whence the notion of transitory, swift, 
 rapid. 
 
 Now at the last iYidXjleit us evermore 
 
 The forthir coist of Italia have we caucht. 
 D. V. 164. 30. 
 
 The ^ariicx^ial fleeting in the sense of 
 what passes quickly away is very com- 
 mon. It.flusso, transitory, fleeting— Fl. ; 
 O^.fliotr,fliotlegr, ^. fleet, swift. 
 
 The original image is the flapping 
 movement of a resonant body, the re- 
 presentation of which is made to express 
 also the wavering of a fluid surface. 
 Pl.D. fluttern, fluddern, to flap, flutter, 
 flicker ; Bav. flodern, to flutter, flicker ; 
 fludern, to flap, flutter, to make to flow, 
 to float wood ; 'Dn.fledderen, to flap the 
 wings ; flodderen, to flap as loose clothes ; 
 ^aS\3.z\\..fltitura, to flutter as a butterfly 
 or flake of snow. '^. flutter was formerly 
 applied to the wavering movement of a 
 floating body. 
 
 Thus in the Schippe alone left he 
 Floteringe amyddes the hye sea. 
 
 St Graal, c. 24. 174, Roxburghe Club. 
 
 From the frequentative form in which 
 the word seems earliest to have appeared 
 was formed a root flot,flod, plud, signify- 
 ing undulating movement. G. pluder- 
 hosen, wide flapping breeches ; Lith. 
 pludurauti, to swim here and there, to 
 drift ; pludas, what swims on the surface, 
 flowing ; pludis, a raft ; pluditi^ plusti, 
 
FLEET 
 
 to float. Fr. d, flot, floating, borne up 
 and down by the waves ; flot, a wave, 
 the flow of the tide ; flotter, to float ; 
 O^.flot, the act of floating or swimming, 
 and thence the grease swimming on the 
 surface of broth or the hke ; V\.V>.flot, 
 cream, bringing us to E. fleet^ to skim 
 the cream from the surface of milk. 
 
 The AS.Jlota, a ship, V\.T>.flote, a raft, 
 is essentially the same word with ON. 
 
 Jlott, 'DdiVi.Jlaade, Yr.flotte^ a fleet. 
 
 From the form of the root ending in a 
 d instead of / we have Goth, flodus, ON, 
 
 Jidd, Sw. Jlod, E. floods a flowing water, 
 river, inundation, tide, and thence ON. 
 
 Jiceda^ Svf. Jidda, to inundate. 
 
 The change of d into w gives AS. 
 
 flowan^fleowan, and E._/?(?w. Du. vloe- 
 den, vloeyen, V\.T>.flojen, to flow. With 
 these latter forms may be classed Bohem. 
 
 plowiti, to swim, Pol. plawid, to float, 
 convey by water, to hover in the air ; 
 Russ. plawaf, to swim, sail, navigate ; 
 spiavit\ to float ; plavok, the float of a 
 net ; Serv. plaviti, to overflow, to skim 
 milk ; plavitise, to swim, to float with 
 the stream. Again, we have Russ. pluit\ 
 
 popluit\ to swim, float, sail, flow ; piuitie, 
 swimming. Thus we are brought to Lat. 
 
 fiuere, to flow, Jluvius, a river, and Gr. 
 TrXew, to fluctuate, sail, swim, navigate, 
 TrXoTov, a ship. 
 
 Some of the derivatives of \j3X.fluo, as 
 the participle fluxus, and fiuctus, wave, 
 would indicate that the original root of 
 the verb had a final k, instead of a / or ^ 
 as \x\. float, flood, but this is only another 
 instance of that equivalence of labials, 
 dentals, and gutturals in representing 
 many kinds of natural sounds, already 
 exemplified under Flabby, where it was 
 shown that the roots flab, flag, flad, or 
 
 flap, flack, flat, are used with apparent 
 indifference in expressing a flapping, 
 flickering, fluttering action. 
 
 Fleet. The sense of shallow is pro- 
 bably derived from the notion of swim- 
 ming on the surface, skimming the sur- 
 face. Shallow is what keeps near the 
 surface. So we have Bohem. plauti, to 
 swim, flow, float ; piuti, swimming, navi- 
 gation ; Pol. plyt, a float or raft ; Bohem. 
 Pol. plytkU shallow. Pl.D. flot, shal- 
 low. 
 
 On this supposition we must regard 
 the resemblance to flat as accidental, 
 though it must be confessed the words 
 resemble each other both in sound and 
 sense in a remarkable manner. Fr. plat 
 and Fris. flaak signify both flat and 
 shallow ; Du. vlack, flat, vlacke, a shal- 
 
 FLEW 
 
 265 
 
 low estuary ; Sw. flata i sjon, a shallow 
 in the sea. — Serenius. 
 
 Flesh. Du. vleesch, G. fleisch, as. 
 flcBsc,fl<xc. In the Scandinavian tongues 
 flesk is used for bacon, though sometimes 
 for flesh in general. Ihre regardsyZ^c as 
 the primary form, signifying a piece or 
 part separated. ON. flicki, a large piece 
 of meat. A piece of bacon is sometimes 
 Z2iX}it6iflyckis-sneid, and at o'&i^rsfleskys- 
 sneid. The ^vf. flask is used in the spe- 
 cial sense of a flitch of bacon, i. e. the 
 half-side of a hog. ON. flask a, to split. 
 See Flitch. 
 
 Fletcher. A maker of arrows. Fr. 
 fleche, Piedm. fleccia. It. freccia, frizza, 
 V\.V>.flitz, an arrow. All from the whiz- 
 zing sound of an arrow through the air, 
 as arrow itself was shown to be derived 
 from a similar representation. 
 
 The S-w\ss flitscheft expresses the noise 
 which a switch or an arrow makes in 
 cutting through the air ; G. flitzen, to 
 move rapidly, to fly. — Sanders. See Flit. 
 Fr. frissement d'un trait, the whizzing 
 sound of a flying arrow. — Cot. 
 
 Flew. I. Washy, tender, weak. — Hal. 
 Du. flaauw, languid, spiritless ; G. flau, 
 faint, flat, slack. From flab or flag, in 
 the sense of hanging loose, failing in elas- 
 ticity and vigour. The degradation of 
 the radical sound is well exemplified in 
 Fr. flebe, fleve, fleuve, flewe, weak. — Pa- 
 tois de Champagne. 
 
 2. Shallow. i^/^7£/ or scholde, as vessel 
 or other hke, bassus. — Pr. Pm. * This is 
 only a secondary application of the no- 
 tion of slackness. Slack water is when 
 the water begins to sink, instead of flow- 
 ing upwards, and of course becomes shal- 
 lower. G. flau, shallow, flat, stale ; flau 
 werden, to sink in estimation, abate, be- 
 come flat. ON. fldr, N. flaa, shallow, as 
 a dish, wide and open, flat, as a valley 
 with gently sloping sides. 
 
 Flew.— Flue. Down or nap; little 
 feathers or flocks which stick to clothes. 
 — B. w. lluwch, motes, flying dust, 
 spray, sand ; lluwchio, to blow about as 
 dust, to drift. 
 
 The radical image is of something that 
 floats or flies in the air. AS. fleogan, 
 Pl.D. flegeii, to fly ', flog, flok, whatever 
 is light and flies yi the air, down ; flog- 
 aske, light ashes ; flock-federn, down. — 
 Br. Wtb. Lancash. flook, waste cotton. 
 Sw. divaS-.flaga, to wave in the air ; Bav. 
 flden,fldhen, fldwen, to move to and fro 
 in water ; fldeln,fldheln, to move to and 
 fro in the air ; flden,fldwen,flage' ,fldi'wm, 
 fldm, chaff, flue ; G. flaum, down. Thq 
 
266 
 
 FLEW-NET 
 
 / changes to an n or is altogether lost in 
 Dan. fnug^ fug^ the finest particles of 
 wool, silk, down, which when separated 
 float like dust in the air (Molbech) ; Sw. 
 fnug, motes, down. Norse fok, drift, 
 what is blown about by the air ; snS-fok, 
 sand-/ok, driving snow, sand ; fjuka, to 
 drive about with the wind ; fjukr^ flue, 
 dust. 
 
 Flew-net. Du. flouw^ vlouw, a net 
 hung to poles to catch woodcocks, or the 
 like. 
 
 Flews. The chops of a dog. Pl.D. 
 flabbe^ the chops, thick lips. De flabbe 
 hangen laoten, to be chap-fallen. — Dan- 
 neil. The same change from a final b to 
 iv will be observed as above with respect 
 Xoflew in the sense of weak. See Flabby. 
 
 Flick. — Flip, Forms representing the 
 sound made by a jerk with a whip, the 
 corner of a towel, or the like. Flick^ a 
 smart, stinging slap — Forby ; a slight 
 blow, especially with a whip ; flip, a 
 slight, sudden blow.— Hal. Hence Dan. 
 flig, flip, the implement with which a 
 blow of the foregoing description is given, 
 the corner of a handkerchief, apron, &c. 
 
 To Flicker. To flutter, as a bird or 
 flame ; to fleer, or laugh wantonly or 
 scornfully. — B. From a representation 
 of the flapping or tittering sound. G. 
 flackern, to flare, blaze, flutter. Dn.flig- 
 geren, to flutter ; flikkeren, to twinkle, 
 glitter. 
 
 -flict. See Fling. 
 
 Flight. See Fly. 
 
 Flimfl.ani. — Flam. The radical no- 
 tion is of something made to catch the 
 eye with no substance beneath, mere 
 show and glitter without solidity. G. 
 flimmen, to gleam ; flammern,fldmmern, 
 flimmern, to glitter, sparkle, shine with 
 trembling light ; goldflimmer, tinsel. A 
 flam is a story without foundation cooked 
 up to deceive or amuse, a falsehood. 'A 
 parcel of groundlessy?^;;^^.' — Warburton. 
 Flimflams, trifles. ' Rewards too great 
 for your flimflams'— ^v^'iii. G. flimmer 
 is in like manner applied to something 
 worthless. ' Was soil ich mit einem hoh- 
 \Qnflim7ner thun?' — Sanders. 
 
 * Flimsy. A flimflam is something 
 showy and unsubstantial, but more pro- 
 bably the word may be formed by trans- 
 position of the s and m from E. 6.\2i\.fliz- 
 zom, properly signifying a peeling or thin 
 skin, equivalent to Sw. dial, flasma, a 
 scale or splinter, and, as a verb, to scale 
 off. In Da. dial, flitns, flems, skin of 
 boiled milk, flimse, small bits of skin in 
 
 FLINT 
 
 milk, we have the same transposition as 
 in Y.. flimsy. See Flizz. 
 
 To Flinch. To shrink from pain with 
 a quick, convulsive movement. A nasal- 
 ised form of flick, corresponding to G. 
 
 flifiken, to glitter, _^/«/&, smart, brisk; Du. 
 
 flikkeren,flinkeren, to glitter, twinkle. — P. 
 Marin. In the same manner Du. wicken, 
 wincken, to vibrate, to wink ; essentially 
 the same word with wince or winch, to 
 shrink from pain. Compare also twitch^ 
 a convulsive movement, with twinkle, to 
 glitter, or wink the eyes. The frequenta- 
 \\yQ^flikkerett,flinkeren, represents in the 
 first instance a crackling noise, then a 
 glittering light, or vibratory movement. 
 The fundamental syWBblQ flick, flitik, then 
 becomes a root, with the sense of a sharp, 
 rapid movement. 
 
 We find in o^.flecche, without the na- 
 sal, probably direct from Fr. flMiir, to 
 bend, turn, or go awry, or on the one side. 
 —Cot. 
 
 He ihurde sigge wher cristene men in tourment 
 
 were ibroht, 
 To confortie hem he wende thider, that hi ne 
 
 '\.Jlecchede noht, 
 Beoth hardi he seide and stedefast. 
 
 St Christopher, Roxburghe Club. 
 
 Flinders. — Flitters. These differ 
 only in the nasal pronunciation of the 
 former. Flinders, pieces, fragments. 
 Flitters, pieces, rags, also to scatter in 
 pieces. — Hal. * Itflytteryt al abrode.' — 
 Morte d'Arthure. Dn.flenters, tatters; 
 Norse flind?'a, a shiver of stone, or the 
 like ; flindrast, to shiver, split to pieces. 
 — Aasen. G. flitter, flinder, a spangle, 
 glittering little plate of metal ; flittern, 
 to glitter, properly to quiver ; whence (as 
 we speak of shivering a thing to pieces, 
 breaking it to shivers) the sense of 
 fragments. Compare Du. schitteren, to 
 glitter, with E. scatter; Fr. Mater, to 
 glitter, with eclats, fragments. And see 
 Fitters. 
 
 To Fling. From the root flag or flog, 
 representing the sound of a blow, then 
 applied to other kinds of sudden violent 
 action, ON. fleygia, to cast, to fling ; Sw. 
 fletiga med risom, to beat with rods; 
 fldng, any violent action ; fl&nga af, to 
 snatch away, to make off, fling out of the 
 house; rida i fldng, to ride full speed ; 
 fldnga barken aftrdden, to strip bark off 
 a tree ; ^.flengja, to tear to pieces, whence 
 Sw. flinga, a fragment, bit, flake. Lat. 
 infligere, to strike on, confligere, to strike 
 together, belong to the same root. 
 
 Flint. G. flins, flintenstein, flmt ; 
 
rLip 
 
 fliese^ fiinse, a flagstone ; OberD. vlitis, 
 flint, pebble. — Adelung. 
 
 Flints may be considered as splinters 
 or shivers of stones, from ON. flis, E. 
 flitter, Jlinder, a fragment. Da. flise, to 
 split ; Sw. dial. _/?/>, a splinter, fragment, 
 little bit ; flis, flissten, a pebble. Or 
 possibly the 'name may be taken from 
 their having formerly been used as spear 
 or arrow-heads. Fris. flen-stien, flan- 
 stien, flint, from ON. fleinn, AS. fldn, an 
 arrow, dart. 
 
 Flip.— Flippant. Flip, like flick, re- 
 presents a smart blow with something 
 thin and flexible. Hence flippant, nim- 
 ble-tongued, jocund, brisk, airy. — B. It 
 now implies over-smartness, sauciness, 
 as Pl.D. flilgg, lively, spirited beyond 
 what is becoming. — Danneil. Flip, 
 nimble, flippant. — Hal. ON. fleipr, tat- 
 tle ; fleipinn, flippant, pert, petulant ; 
 fleipni, precipitantia linguae, readiness of 
 tongue ; flapra, to speak inconsiderately ; 
 fleppimi, precipitate, thoughtless. 
 
 Flirt.— Flurt. i. Used in the same 
 sense as bbirt to represent a pop with 
 the mouth, and thence a gesture of con- 
 tempt or mockery. It. strombettare, to 
 blurt with one's mouth ; strombezzare, to 
 hiss, or flurt at in scorn and reproach. 
 — Fl. 
 
 I am ashamed, I am scorned, I 2im/lurted. 
 B. & F. in R. 
 
 2. It also represents the noise made 
 by a jerk with a light implement. To 
 flirt a fan, to open and shut it with a 
 jerk. Fr. nasarde, a fillip, rap, ox flirt 
 on the nose. — Cot. The same meanings 
 are also combined in It. chicchera, a 
 flurt with one's finger, or a blurt with 
 one's mouth in scorn. — Fl. 
 
 To flirt is figuratively applied to lively 
 conversation between the sexes, and the 
 term is used as a disparaging appellation 
 of a young girl. In like manner Bav. 
 flitschen, to flap, flutter; flitschen, a 
 young girl ; w. ffrit, a sudden start or 
 jerk ; ffritten, a flighty female, a little 
 girl. In Du. vlerken, to flutter, flap the 
 wings, the final / is exchanged for a k, 
 and the same change is found pro- 
 vincially in e. To flirk, to jerk or flip 
 about.— Hal. We have fick (G. ficken) 
 BXid flick, flrk SiVid flirk, flsk zx\d.flisk, all 
 used very much in the same sense. So 
 Swiss fitschen, Bav. flitschen, to move to 
 and fro ; Q.flttich, zvl^ flit tick, a wing. 
 
 To Flisk. To flick with a whip, to 
 skip or bounce.— Hal. Fick, fisk, flick, 
 flisk, all represent the sound of a cut 
 
 FLOCK 
 
 267 
 
 with a switch or the like, then 'rapid 
 movement to and fro. 
 
 To Flit. To remove from place to 
 place. — B. Dan. y?j/^^^, to remove. Swiss 
 flitschen, to switch, representing the sound 
 made by a rod cutting through the air. 
 VXXi. flitzen, flitschen, to move rapidly. 
 Dao flitzt he hen, there he flies by. — 
 Danneil. Bav. fletzen, to change one's 
 abode. 
 
 In the same way without the /, Swiss 
 fitzen, to ?r^\X.z\i, fitschen, to move about, 
 to fidge. 
 
 Flitch. Sufl"olk/zV/&, the outer fat of 
 the hog cured for bacon, while the rest 
 of the carcase is called the bones. — 
 Forby. Yr.fliche,fliqiie de lard, a flitch 
 of bacon. ON. flicki, a large lump of 
 flesh. V\.Ti. flick, flicken, a piece, as of 
 cloth or land. — Danneil. A flick or 
 fleach is also in the East of England a 
 portion of sawn plank or timber. Sw. 
 fldcka, to split, to open ; fldckt dm, the 
 imperial double-headed eagle ; Dan. 
 flcEkke, to split ; flcsk-sild, Pl.D. flak- 
 hering, or flik-hering, a split herring ; 
 gosefldk, ox flik-gos, half a dried goose. 
 So a flitch of bacon is half of the split 
 carcase with the limbs removed. See 
 Flag. 
 
 * To Flite. AS. flit an, to scold, to 
 quarrel. OHG. flizan, contendere, cer- 
 tare, intendere, operam dare, festinare, 
 conari ; fliz (G. fleisz, Du. vliet, dili- 
 gence), opera, nisus, studium, contentio, 
 dissensio. Fleiz si thar des rehtes, stu- 
 duit ibi justitiae. Fleiz in gegini, con- 
 tendebant in concursum. — Otfr. Der 
 Uuiderfliez, the adversary, the devil. 
 
 The word originates (as pointed out 
 by Adelung) in the notion oi fleetness or 
 rapidity. ON. flj6tr, fleet, quick, ready, 
 willing ; fljotvirkr, quick or diligent in 
 action ; flyta, to hurry on, to hasten. 
 
 To Flizz. To fly off; flizzi7ig, a 
 splinter. — B. Flizzoms, flying particles, 
 or very small flakes in bottled liquors.—^ 
 Forby. "i^.flus, small fragments of very 
 thin things, as of dry leaves or skin, 
 chaff of corn, dust of tobacco ; flysja, to 
 peel. — Aasen. Sw. flisa, a shiver, scale, 
 fragment ; sno flisa, a snow-flake ; flisig, 
 scaly ; flisa, D2in.flise, to splinter. Sw. 
 didX.flas, thin skin, peeling, scurf; flasa, 
 to peel, to scale ; flasma, a splinter ; Da. 
 dA2\.fle77is,flims, skin of milk. O^. flasa 
 (^X.flbsjir), notch. 
 
 Float.— Flood. See Fleet. 
 
 Flock. — Flocculent. \j3X.fl0ccns, It. 
 fiocco, Yx. floe, a lock or flock of wool, 
 flake of snow, &c. The word is also 
 
268 
 
 FLOG 
 
 common to all the Teutonic stock. Norse 
 Jlokk^ a heap, collection, family ; flokje, 
 knot, bunch. — Aasen. The primitive 
 meaning of the word seems to be a co- 
 herent mass. Gael, ploc, strike, beat, 
 and as a substantive, any round mass, a 
 clod, club, head of a pin ; piuc^ beat, 
 thump, and substantively a knot, lump, 
 bunch. Russ. puk^^ a bunch, or tuft. 
 Bohem. piuk, Pol. pulk^ Russ. polk^ a 
 regiment of soldiers. Lith. pulkas, a 
 flock, crowd, herd, usually of men or 
 animals. Russ. klok\ a bunch, tuft, flock. 
 ¥r.foIc,fulc,foulc,fouc, a flock or herd. 
 
 When applied to a number of birds 
 the word is confounded with AS. Jloc, a 
 flight. Perhaps, too, in a Jlock of snow 
 it may be difficult to say whether the 
 idea is taken from its light, flying nature, 
 or from cohering in a mass. vCo.Jiog- 
 aske, light ashes ; flock-federn^ down. 
 
 To Flog. From the sound of a blow, 
 represented by the syllable flag^ Jlak, 
 Lat. flagrum^ flagellum^ a scourge ; in- 
 Jiigere, conjligere, to strike one thing 
 against another. ^ohQm.Jlakati, to flog. 
 V\.T> . Jlogger, a flail. ' See Flack, Flag. 
 
 Flood. See Fleet. 
 
 Flook. G. fluhen^ anker -Jiiegeji, — 
 fiunken^ the flooks of an anchor ; from 
 MHG. vluc^ Bav. flilg, Pl.D. Jltmke, a 
 wing. So Sw.yiik, Da.n. ^ig, a flap, lap- 
 pet ; anker-flig, the flook of an anchor. 
 The ultimate origin is the same in both 
 cases, as the designation of the wing, as 
 •well as lappet, is taken from the idea of 
 fluttering or flipping. Pl.D. Jiukkern, 
 fiunkern^ to flicker, sparkle. 
 
 Floor. AS. Jlor, Du. vloere, floor; G. 
 Jlur, a tract of flat country, floor. W. 
 llawr, the ground, the floor of a house 
 or barn. Nefa llawr, heaven and earth. 
 / lawr, down, downwards. Gael, lar, 
 the ground, earth-floor, ground-floor ; 
 Idrac/t, site, habitation, farm. Lat. lar, a 
 hearth, dwelling, home ; Lares, the tutelar 
 deities of a dwelling. 
 
 Floral.— Florid.— Florist. Lat. Jlos, 
 Jloris, a flower. 
 
 Floss-silk. It. floscio, Venet. flosso, 
 Piedm. flos, faint, drooping, flaccid ; 
 "Jloscia-seta, floss-silk, sleeve or ravel silk. 
 Walach. fleciu, soft ; Jlesceritu, flaggy, 
 faded. Fr._;?<?j^/^^, flaggy, weak, soft, as 
 a boneless lump of flesh. Bav. floss, 
 loose, not fast ; floss-strickert, to knit 
 loose. 
 
 The origin of a root flak, signifying 
 weak, limber, has been explained under 
 Flag. This is softened down in the Fr. 
 flacJie, flasche, It. floscio, flossoj while 
 
 FLUE 
 
 from the original form we have Rouchi 
 flaque, weak, and G. flock-seide. Tlie 
 two forms appear in close proximity in 
 the south of France. Limousiny?«, fem. 
 flaquo, weak ; Languedoc^^, km.flossOy 
 soft, untwisted silk. 
 
 .Flounce. The plaited hanging border 
 with which a gown is ornamented, origin- 
 ally a pleat or tuck, from Fr. fronds, 
 a plait, gather, wrinkle, Du. fronsse, a 
 wrinkle, by the very common change 
 between fl and fr. So It. fro7tda, Lan- 
 gued. flonda, a sling ; G. flecken, E. 
 freckles frock, and flock, &c. See 
 Frounce. 
 
 To Flounce. To jump in, or roll 
 about in the water, to be in a toss, or 
 fume, with anger. — B. The essential 
 meaning is the same with that of the N. 
 flunsa, to do anything with noise and 
 bluster, like one dashing about in water. 
 Sw. dial, flunsa, to plunge in water, to 
 splash, to tramp through wet. Du. 
 pionssen, to plunge, plansen, blansen, to 
 dash down water ; neer flansen, to dash 
 down ; flansen, to do a thing in a hasty, 
 careless way. — Weiland. 
 
 Flounder. A flat fish. ON. flyctra, 
 Sw.flundra. 
 
 To Flounder. A nasalised form of 
 Du. floddereft, to make a flapping or 
 fluttering motion, as loose garments ; 
 flodder-kousse, one with loose trowsers ; 
 then from the splashing sound applied to 
 motion in water. Door f water, door de 
 slik flodderen, to struggle through wet 
 and dirt. "La-ngnQdi. floundijha, to fling 
 about the legs like an infant. 
 
 Flour.— Flower. The finest part of 
 meal. Y r. fleur defarme, Y\iQr3i\\y flower 
 or blossom of meal. The name of flowers 
 was given in chemistry to the fine mealy 
 matter which in sublimation is carried to 
 the head of the still, and adheres in the 
 form of a fine powder. — B. In this sense 
 we speak of flowers of sulphur. 
 
 To Flout. To jeer, properly to blurt, 
 or make an offensive noise with the 
 mouth. Du. fluyte, popysmus ; fluyten, 
 popysmo et vocis blandimento demulcere 
 equum. — Kil. To flurt or blurt with the 
 mouth are also used in the sense of jeer- 
 ing. Da. 6\3\.flous, gibe, sarcasm. 
 To Flow. See Fleet. 
 Flower. — Flourish. Fr. fleur, Lat. 
 flos,floris, a ?iO-^er, floreo, to bear flowers. 
 Fluctuate, Lat. fluctus, a wave or 
 h\\\ov/,fluo,fluctum, to flow as water does, 
 -flu-.— Fluent.— Fluid. \j3X.fluo^ to 
 flow. 
 Flue. See Flew. 
 
FLUE 
 
 Flue of a chimney. A small winding 
 chimney of a furnace carried up into the 
 main chimney. — B. Now applied to the 
 chimney-shaft in general. Used by Phaer 
 for the winding hollow of a shell. 
 
 Him Tryton cumbrous bare, that galeon blew 
 
 with whelked shell, 
 Whose wrinkly wreathed _/f«^ did fearful shrill in 
 
 seasoutyell. 
 
 Fluff.— Fliifty. Fbiff, Da. fnug.fug, 
 down, flue, light dust, feathery particles 
 that are borne about in the air. The 
 radical sense seems to be to blow, ex- 
 pressed by a slight modification of l£..fuff, 
 to puff or blow, the addition or omission 
 of a liquid in these imitative forms being 
 very common, as in 'D3i.fnug,/ug above 
 mentioned, or in AS. Jitigol, a fugitive, a 
 bird, compared with fugol^fugel^ a bird. 
 T^of^ff or f^fffi to blow in puffs. — Atkin- 
 son. Faffle, to flap gently as a sail or 
 garment stirred by a momentary breath 
 of air ; a wavering blowing of a light 
 wind. — Whitby Gloss. Sylvester uses 
 flaff in the same sense : ' a thousand 
 flaffing flags.' See Flew. 
 
 Flum.e. A stream of water, now ap- 
 propriated to a stream carried in an arti- 
 ficial channel, a boarded aqueduct. 'The 
 fium J ordan.' — Wicliff. O Yx.finm, flume ^ 
 fluns. — Roquef. * Le fliini Jurdan.' — 
 Livre des Rois. Vrov.fltmtj \j3X. fluinen^ 
 river, from fluere, to flow. 
 
 Norse flom,flaum, a flood, overflow of 
 water from the melting of snows ; flauma, 
 to flow in abundance, overflow. Flom- 
 sav, a. water saw-mill ; Da.n. flom, a mo- 
 rass, overflowed land. 
 
 Flummery, w. Lfymry, an acid pre- 
 paration from the husks and fragments of 
 oats, from l/ym, sharp. It is the same as 
 the Sc, sour sowefts. 
 
 Flunkey. An opprobrious name for 
 a livery-servant. Pl.D. flunkern, to be 
 gaudily dressed; 'D\i.flonkeren,flinkeren, 
 to glitter ; G.flunke, a spark. 
 
 Flush. I. To flush a water-course is 
 to send a sudden flow of water down it, 
 from the sound of the rush of water, as 
 flash, above cited in the same sense. E. 
 6\z\.flosh-hole, the hole that receives the 
 waste water from a mill ; to floss, to spill, 
 to splash, ^c.flusch, a run of water, the 
 overflowing of a stream, abundance ; 
 flouss, a flood, a stream. — Jam. Du. 
 fluysen, Dan. ^idX.fltise, to flow with vio- 
 lence, to rush ; adfluse ud sem vandet af 
 enflddgyde, to gush out as water from a 
 flood-gate. N. flust, abundantly ; flus, 
 liberal, open-handed, as we speak of being 
 flush of money. 
 
 FLY 269 
 
 A person looks flushed when he has a 
 flow of blood to the face, and figuratively 
 flushed with victory is animated by it, 
 excited, as if by an increased flow of vital 
 fluids. K flush at cards, It. flusso, Fr. 
 flux, Du.fluys, is a run or flow of cards 
 of the same suit. 
 
 2. A number, as a flush of wild ducks. 
 Fl.D.flusch, a bunch of hair, wool, or the 
 like. — Danneil. 
 
 3. Immediate, instant. 
 
 Now the time \s, flush. — Timon of Athens. 
 S>vf.fluks,flux, quickly, anon ; T>\x.flus, 
 presently, in a short time ; fluks, G.flugs, 
 quickly, immediately, in an instant ; from 
 flug, flight. 
 
 4. Flush in the sense of level, on a line 
 with, may probably be explained by Da. 
 
 flugt, flight, which is used to express an 
 unbroken line. ' At opfore en bygning / 
 lige flugt med andre huse:' to raise a 
 building in the same line with or flush 
 with the other houses. ' Planke i flugt 
 med den overste kant af vasggen :' planks 
 on a level with the upper edge of the wall. 
 A vessel is flush fore and aft when the 
 deck is level from stem to stern. 
 
 Fluster. Closely allied with bluster ; 
 hurried, bustling, or swaggering conduct. 
 ' ThQ fluster of the bottle,' ' ihe. flustering 
 vain-glorious Greeks.' ON. flaustr, pre- 
 cipitancy, over-haste. Walach. flusturd, 
 to raise a wind, to do anything in a tur- 
 bulent manner, tumultuor, ventose ago ; 
 
 flusttiratu, ventosus, vanus, levis ; windy, 
 turbulent, boisterous. 
 
 Flute. See Flageolet. A fluted co- 
 lumn is one channelled, as if with pipes. 
 Mod.Gr. avkoQ, a flute, av\aKi, a channel, 
 canal, fluting of a column. 
 
 To Flutter. V\.T>. flutterft,fluddern, 
 G.flattern, to make a flapping, to flutter, 
 flicker ; T>\x. fledderen, to flap the wings, 
 
 flodderen, to flap, as loose clothes ; 
 Walach. fluturd, to flutter, fly about ; 
 
 fluturu, a butterfly, a flake of snow. 
 
 A direct representation of a flapping 
 noise. 
 
 Flux. — Fluxion. Lat. fluo, fluxuin^ 
 and fluctum, to flow. 
 
 Fly. AS.fleoga, oi^.fluga, Du. vlieghe, 
 a flying insect. »' 
 
 * To Fly. G.fliegen, Du. vliegen, on. 
 
 fliuga, AS. fleogan, Dan. flyve, to fly. 
 The immediate origin seems Qi^.flug, as. 
 
 floe, Du. vleuge, vloge, flight, the act of 
 flying, the most natural expression of 
 which might be taken from regarding the 
 flying object as blown along through the 
 air. We should thus connect the root 
 
 flug and the parallel form fug (shown in 
 
270 
 
 FOAL 
 
 AS. fuf^ei, G. vogei, a fowl, and in Lat. 
 
 fugio, to fly) with forms like Lat. Jlo, to 
 
 ^ibw, Bav. flaen^flawcn^ to move to and 
 Tro in waX^r, /laeln,Jiaheln, to float in air, 
 
 ' to blow, '£.. fluffs down, light dust floating 
 in the zSx^fuff^ to blow, to puff. 
 
 Foal.— Filly. Goth, fula, G. fohlen, 
 
 fallen, It. piiled7'0, Gr. TrwXoc, w. ebol, a 
 young horse. The diminutive form in 
 "QsLV.fulchen, Da. dial._^///<?, "E. filly, dis- 
 tinguishes the female. VmIq^xti, fulihha. 
 — Gloss, in Schmeller. 
 
 Foam. AS. /dm, G. fanm. Perhaps a 
 parallel form with G. fiaum, signifying 
 what is light enough to float on wind or 
 water ; flaum-feder, down ; Bav. pfiauni, 
 down, loose foam, as of beer; Pl.D._/7<??;z, 
 fat that rises to the surface in boiling 
 meat. Comp. AS.Jlugol ^.ndfugol, fowl ; 
 0,. flit tick ^xvdiflttich, wing ; ^.fluffy and 
 
 'fuffy, light, downy. V\[\\\i\iy flumpy, Da. 
 dial, foinpet, fat and short. See Flew. 
 
 On the other hand foam is regarded 
 as the equivalent of ^2in.scv. phena, Pol. 
 
 plana, Boh. pena, foam. 
 
 Fob. Pruss. fuppe, a pocket. 
 To Fob. To fob of, to delude with a 
 trick. To bob or pop were used in the 
 same sense. 
 
 And do yon pop me off with this slight answer? 
 
 Noble Gentleman, i. i. 
 Disgrace me on the open stage, and bob me off 
 with ne'er a penny? — O. Play in Nares. 
 
 The fundamental sense is a smart, rapid 
 movement. N. fubba, to move to and 
 fro. G. foppen, to banter, jeer, or play 
 upon one. In the same way bob was 
 used in the sense of a taunt or scoff. 
 
 He, that a fool doth very wisely hit, 
 Doth very foolishly (although he smart) 
 Not to seem senseless of the bob. 
 
 As You Like It. 
 
 Vou should not make a laughing-stock, good 
 brother, 
 
 Of one that wrongs you not ; I do profess I 
 won't hefubbed. — The Ordinary, iv. 4. 
 
 See Fop. 
 Fodder. — Forage. — Forray. as. 
 
 foder, Du. voeder, voeyer, o. flutter, Swiss 
 flur,fuhr, victuals, food. The Mid.Lat. 
 foderum, flodrmn, was especially applied 
 to the demand of provisions for man and 
 horse made under cover of prerogative 
 or seignorial rights, or by an army in an 
 enemy's country. Hence floderare, flor- 
 rare, OFr. flourrer, alter en fluerre, or 
 enflourrage, to QxdiCt floder-age, to florage, 
 or florray. ' Nee mansiones eorum hos- 
 pitari vel invadere v^ floderare prassumat.' 
 — Bulla A.D. 1036. * Campaniam ap- 
 plicavit et eam totam floderavit^ laid it 
 
 FOIL 
 
 under exactioN. — Chron. a.d. 1194. 'Qui- 
 dam de Francis discurrebant emolumen- 
 tis victualium intendentes quod vulgariter 
 florrare dicitur.' — Matth. Paris, A.D. 1242, 
 in Due. Yx.flourrager, to fodder, also to 
 forrage, prey, forray, ransack, ravage. — 
 Cot. 'Nobis,' says Frederic I., A.D. 
 1 1 83, 'intrantibus in Lombardiam flo- 
 drum consuetum et regale — praestabunt.' 
 — Muratori, Diss. 19. 
 
 Foe. AS. flak, fld, QXiQmy. ON. f/d, to 
 hate. See Fiend. 
 
 Fog. I. Dan. snefog, a snow-storm ; 
 flyge, to drive with the wind ; Dan. dial. 
 fluge, to rain fine and blow. on. flo^, 
 snow-storm, flight of things driven by the 
 wind ; flok-sattdr, drift sand ; at fiuka, 
 fyk,flokid, to drive with the wind. Pro- 
 bably an / has been lost ; V\.T>.flok,flog, 
 light things that rise and fly in the air ; 
 flog-aske, light flying ashes ; flockfedern, 
 down. Sw. dial, flnyka, to fly about as 
 dust, to smoke, snow fine ; flnyk, dust. 
 Dan. flnug,flug, flock, flue ; Lith. pukas, 
 a flock as of ashes, or snow; pukai (pi.), 
 down-hair, down. 
 
 Fog. 2. — Feg. Grass not eaten down 
 in the summer, that grows in tufts over 
 the winter. Fogagium, winter pasture in 
 the forests. In Cleveland a distinction is 
 made between flog, aftermath, and fleg, a 
 dead grass stem, anything without worth 
 or value. — Atkinson. 
 The thick and well grown fog doth mat my 
 
 smoother shades. — Drayton. 
 Sy^issfldsch, thick, tangled grass, such as 
 is found here and there in the mountains 
 and higher pastures ; fldtsch, a mountain 
 pasture mowed only every second year, 
 reedy grass remaining uneaten by the 
 cattle and then gathered. 
 
 To Fog. To make shift ; to resort to 
 mean expedients. 
 
 Wer't not for us thou swad, quoth he, 
 Where wouldst thou/f^ to get a fee. 
 
 Dryden in Nares. 
 
 To fludge, to contrive to do. — Hal. G. 
 flug, convenience, opportunity. But see 
 Pettifogger. 
 
 Foible. Fr. floible,flaible, weak. See 
 Feeble. 
 
 Foil. I. The blunted weapon used in 
 fencing, or learning the sword exercise. 
 The Fr. equivalent _/?<9r^/ is explained by 
 Cot. a sword with the edge rebated, where 
 the term rebated answers to Fr. refloule, 
 dulled, blunted, the origin of 'E.floil. 
 
 2. A piece of gold or silver leaf set be- 
 hind a transparent gem .in jewelry to give 
 it colour or lustre, then, figuratively some- 
 thing used for the purpose of showing 
 
FOIL 
 
 advantageously another object. Yr./ett- 
 iile, 'Ldit. folia, leaf. 
 
 To Foil. Fr. fouler, to trample on, 
 weigh down, oppress, foil, overcharge. — 
 Cot. Fouler un cheval, to overtoil a 
 horse, to knock him up. Refouler, to 
 dull, blunt, foil, tire with overlabouring ; 
 affoler, to foil, bruise or hurt sore with 
 wounds, to spoil, ruin, undo.— Cot. It. 
 follata, Yx.foulde, the foiling or slot of a 
 deer, the mark of his footsteps. To tread 
 underfoot is taken as a type of the most 
 complete overthrow and defeat. 
 
 To Fein. To make a pass or thrust at 
 one in fencing. — B. The terms of fencing 
 being taken mainly from the Fr., to foin 
 is probably from OFr. foindre, foigner, 
 to feign, or make 2i feint, i. e. a movement 
 with the sword intended to deceive the 
 opponent's eye in preparation for a thrust ; 
 whence the expression would easily be 
 diverted to the thrust itself. 
 
 Foison. The natural juice or moisture 
 of the grass or herbs, the heart and 
 strength of it. — B. ' There is no foison 
 in this hay.' — Forby. Fissen-less, without 
 strength or virtue. The proper meaning 
 is abundance, Fr. foison, OFr. fuson, 
 from h2iX..fusio, pouring out. Senes sane 
 fusion, without effusion of blood. ' Estoit 
 deja si foible pour la foison du sang qu'il 
 avoit perdu.' — Roman de Garin in Rayn. 
 Pain e char e bon peisson 
 Leur mit el nef a graxii fuson. — Haveloc, ib. 
 
 To Foist. ^ To intrude, or put in fal- 
 laciously, to introduce surreptitiously. — 
 R. To foist, feist, fizzle, are all originally 
 to break wind in a noiseless manner, and 
 thus to foist is to introduce something 
 the obnoxious effects of which are only 
 learned by disagreeable experience. 
 
 Come 
 
 Put not your foists upon me, I shall scent them. 
 
 B. Jonson in R. 
 G. fst, a foist, fist, fizzle. — Kiittn. Du. 
 veest, vijst, flatus ventris. — Kil. Fr. 
 vesse, a fyste. — Cot. The origin is plainly 
 an imitation of the noise. ON. fysa, to 
 blow, to breathe, also to break wind. 
 Gr. <pv(Td(t), to blow. 
 
 Foisty, fusty ^ frousty, frowzy, having 
 a close, disagreeable smell. V\.T>.fistrig, 
 ill-smelling, as a peasant's room.— Dan- 
 neil. Wall, s'efister, s'empuanter. See 
 Fusty. 
 
 Fold. I. A plait in a garment. Goth. 
 falthan, G. fallen. A?,, fealdan, Du. vouden, 
 to lay together, to fold. In composition, 
 Goth, ain-falths, managfalths, one-fold, 
 manifold. Gael, fill, fold ; filleadh, a 
 folding, wrapping, plaiting ;fillt,fillte, a 
 
 FOOD 
 
 71 
 
 fold, a ply ; filltich, multiply, w. ffill^ a 
 twist, a \.\xxr\,ffilliad, a writhing, wreath- 
 ing, or turning about. 
 
 2. A place to confine sheep, or other 
 animals. AS. fald, Gael, fdl, a penfold, 
 circle, wall, hedge, w. ffald, a sheep- 
 cote, fold, pound for cattle. 
 
 Foliage. Fr. feuillage, from Lat. 
 folium, Gr. tpvXKov, a leaf. 
 
 Folio. A book is said to be in folio, 
 in the sheet, when a sheet makes but 
 two leaves without further folding ; in 
 quarto, with an additional folding, which 
 divides the sheet into four. 
 
 Folk. AS. folc, Lat. vulgus, people ; 
 ON. fylki, or fulki, a troop, a district ; 
 fylkir, king. At fylkia lidi, to arrange 
 one's men in troops. Pol. pulk, a regi- 
 ment of soldiers. Helido folc, turba vi- 
 rorum. — Heliand. See Flock. 
 
 To Follow. G.folgen, o^.fylgia, AS. 
 fyligea7i, folgian. 
 
 Folly. See Fool. 
 
 To Foment. To cherish by warm ap- 
 plications, metaphorically, to abet. Lat. 
 fomentum, iox fovimentu7n, a warm ap- 
 plication, ixovcifoveo, to warm, to cherish. 
 
 Fond.— Fon. Foolish, then foolishly 
 attached to one ; a very common se- 
 quence of ideas. So we speak of doting 
 on one. 
 
 When age approchethon. 
 And lust is laid, and all the fire is queint, 
 As freshly then thou shalt begin io/onne 
 And dote in love. — Chaucer in R. 
 
 Fr. sot,fol, foolish ; ^tre as sold, affold de, 
 aimer passionnement, jusqu'a la folie 
 (Patois de Flandre Frang.), to be passion- 
 ately fond of. Bohem. blazen, a fool, 
 madman, blazinti sie, to become mad, to 
 be violently in love with. Malay gili^ 
 foolish, mad, foolishly fond. — Marsden. 
 Yorkshire fond, simple, foolish, doting ; 
 fondy, Sw. disX.fante, a simpleton. ON. 
 fdni, Svf.fdne, a fool. G2.€i.faoin, vain, 
 foolish, idle, empty ; faoin-cheami, an 
 empty head ; Lat. vanus, empty. 
 
 Font. 1.2X.fons,fontis, a well, spring 
 of water, applied in English to the well 
 of baptism, the vessel which contains the 
 water of baptism. 
 
 Food. — Feed. — Foster, as. foda, 
 fode, food, nourishment. Du. voeden, to 
 feed, to bring up ; Goth, fodjan, to nour- 
 ish, to bring up ; 0^a.x.fodja7t, ON., Sw. 
 f(Fda, T>2LXi.fdde, to feed, and also to bear, 
 or give birth to. Dan. fodsel, birth, de- 
 livery. Du. voedsel, food, nutriment. 
 
 The ideas of giving birth to, and feed- 
 ing, or bringing up, are connected 'in 
 other cases, as Gal. dlaich bring forth, 
 
272 
 
 FOOL 
 
 nourish ; Sw. ala^ to give birth to, to 
 educate, to feed, and Lat. alere^ to 
 nourish. 
 
 The Du. voedster^ a nurse, voedsteren, 
 to bring up, voedsterkind^ a child in- 
 trusted to one to bring up, show the 
 formation of AS. foster^ food, Sw. foster^ 
 birth, progeny, ybj/rd!, to bring \x^,/ostri, 
 a foster-child. In the same way Sw. 
 aister, progeny, from aia, to beget. 
 
 Fool. Fr. foiy foolish, idle, vain. w. 
 jffbi, foolish. Bret., OCat. foil, mad. 
 The fundamental meaning seems to be a 
 failure to attain the end proposed, a wan- 
 dering from the straight path. It would 
 thus be connected with the root of E./rt//, 
 and 'Lzi. faliere, to deceive. 
 
 The Old Psalter of Corbie quoted by 
 Raynouard has 
 
 Foleai si com oeille que perit. 
 
 Erravi sicut ovis quae perit. — Ps. ii8. 
 
 De tes commandemens nefoUai 
 
 De mandatis tuis non erravu — Ibid. 
 
 Folier en droits en fait, to err in law, or 
 in fact. — Roquef. It is probably the true 
 equivalent of the Goth, dvals, out of his 
 senses, where we see the same connection 
 with the notion of straying or wandering, 
 and also that of deceiving or causing to 
 miss. AS. dwala, dwola, error ; dwelian, 
 dwolian, Du. dolen, Pl.D. dwalen, to 
 stray (identical with folier of the Fr. 
 psalter above quoted), to wander, either 
 in a literal or metaphorical sense, to err 
 in judgment, to be out of his senses ; 
 Du. dul, dot, out of his mind, mad ; E. 
 dial, dull, foolish. Du. dwaalen, doolen, 
 to stray, wander ; dwaalende, or doolende 
 ridder, a knight -errant ; dwaal-licht, 
 ignis fatuus, ignis erraticus, Yr.feti-follet, 
 a wandering light, or perhaps an inef- 
 fectual light. Du. dolle-bezien, a name 
 given to different kinds of berries danger- 
 ous or unfit for eating. — Marin. Dolle- 
 kervelj hemlock, fools-parsley, properly 
 fool-parsley, parsley which errs from its 
 proper destination, which does not fulfil 
 its apparent purpose, looking like a whole- 
 some herb but really poisonous. So Fr. 
 avoine folle, wild or barren oats. 
 
 The same equivalence of an initial dw 
 andy is seen in Du. dwell or fell, a mop 
 or clout, and possibly in Du. dwaep, 
 and E. fop, fool, and Sc. dweble, limber, 
 weak, and ^.feeble. 
 
 Foot. Du. voet, G.fiiss, Gr. ttovq, ttoSoc, 
 Lat. pes, pedis. 
 
 Fop. A fantastical fellow, one over- 
 nice and affected in dress, speech, and 
 behaviour. — B. ^fop, or fool ', foppery, 
 foolery (Minsheu), trickery. ' The gross- 
 
 FOR 
 
 ness of the foppery [of the pretended 
 fairies].' — Merry Wives, v. 5. Du. Jemand 
 voor AQ.fop houden, to make a fool of one ; 
 foppen, to deride, to mock. It. fiappe, 
 fiapparie, a flap with a foxtail, flappings, 
 fopperies, an idle babbling, vain dis- 
 course ; fiappatore, a flapper, fopper. — Fl. 
 
 For. — Fore. — Former. — Foremost. 
 Go\h. faur,faura, O'^.fyrir, before, fore, 
 for ; G. vor, fore ; fUr, for. The radical 
 meaning in both cases is in front of 
 When we speak of one event as before 
 or after another, our own progress in time 
 is transferred to the events of the world, 
 which are typified as a succession of ani- 
 mated beings moving on in the opposite 
 direction, and taking place in time at the 
 moment when they are brought face to 
 face with the witness. Thus the event of 
 the present moment is before or in front 
 of the train of futurity, and those which 
 have already passed by the instant of 
 actual experience, are in front of the pre- 
 sent event, by which they are succeeded. 
 The events then which have passed into 
 the region of memory, although in refer- 
 ence to our own progress in life con- 
 sidered as left behind us, yet in the order 
 of their own succession are more to the 
 front than the present, and are therefore 
 spoken of as belonging Xofor-mer or more 
 fore times. 
 
 In expressing the relation of cause or 
 rational inducement, the cause or reason 
 is considered as standing in front of the 
 effect, or the consequence for which it 
 is made to account, Lat. prce, before, 
 also in comparison with, by reason of, on 
 account of. 
 
 For in composition answers to G. ver, 
 Qoih.fair, Yr.for, and has the meaning 
 of G. fort, Dan. bort, forth, away, Lat. 
 foris, without, Fr. fors, out, without. 
 Thus to forbid is to bid a thing away ; to 
 forget, to away-get, to lose from memory ; 
 to forgo, to go without ; to forfend, to 
 ward off. In Fr. we hz-ve forbannir, io 
 drive forth, forchasser, to shoot away, 
 forclorre, to shut out, to iorclose, forjeter, 
 to jut out, and in a figurative sense for- 
 conte, a misreckoning,j^?3/^//, a misdeed, 
 forjuger, to judge wrongfully, or amiss, 
 as well as to deprive by judgment ; for- 
 jurer, to renounce, abjure, while in E. 
 forswear, to swear wrongfully, the particle 
 has the same force as in Fr. forjuger, 
 forparler, to speak ill. 
 
 In other instances the prefix/<7r in the 
 sense of out or utterly implies that the 
 action has been carried to its utmost 
 limits, that it is completely expended, and 
 
FORAGE 
 
 has finished its work. Forwearied is 
 wearied out ; forswu7ik and forswat is 
 worn out with labour and sweat. 
 
 Forage. See Fodder. 
 
 Force. It. /orza, Mid.La.t. /orda, for 
 fortia, from fortis, strong. — Diez. Fr. 
 force, strength, virtue, efficacy, also store, 
 plenty, abundance. — Cot. Hence may be 
 understood an expression formerly com- 
 mon both in Fr. and E. Je ne fais point 
 force de cela, I force not of that thing, 
 I care not of it, I set no store by it, do 
 not regard it as of consequence. 
 
 To Force. To clip or shear. Forcyn, 
 or clyppyn, tondeo. — Pr. Pm. To force 
 wool, to cut off the upper or most hairy 
 part of it. — B. Yr. forcer de la laine, to 
 pick or tease wool. Forces, a pair of 
 shears ; forcette, a cizar, or small pair of 
 shears. — Cot. The Fr. fourches,forches, 
 forces, were applied to different kinds of 
 forked structures, as a gallows, a pair of 
 shears. 
 
 As forces fit pendre le cors 
 Pr6s de la ville par defors. 
 Iforche, ciseaux, tenailles, pincettes. — Roquefort. 
 
 For the same reason we call shears the 
 tall gallows used for masting ships. There 
 can be no doubt that the first syllable in 
 Lat. forfex, forceps, cizars, pincers, has 
 the same origin. 
 
 * Forcemeat. As forcemeat is com- 
 monly used as synonymous with stuffing, 
 it was natural to explain it from Yr.far- 
 cir, Lim. forci, to stuff. The two, how- 
 ever, are clearly distinguished in the 
 Liber Cure Cocorum, where the equivalent 
 of Fr. farcir is constantly written farse, 
 while fors is often used in the sense of 
 spice or season. 
 
 Take mylke of almondes 
 
 Fors it with cloves or good gyngere. — p. 8. 
 But tho white [pese] with powder of pepper the 
 Moun heforsyd, with ale thereto. — p. 46. 
 Powder thou take 
 Of gynger, of kanel, that gode is, tho 
 Enfors it wele. — p. 38. 
 
 Forcemeat, then, is spiced, highly-sea- 
 soned meat. 
 
 Forcer. — Forcet. OFr. f order. It. 
 f order e, Mid.Ldit. forsarius, a strong box, 
 safe, coffer. 
 Fortune by strengthe the forcer hath unshete, 
 Wherein was sperde all my worldly richesse. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Forcelet, strong place, fortalicium. — Pr. 
 Pm. 
 
 Ford. A shallow place in a river. 
 Quite distinct from ^.ffordd, a. way, and 
 from the root fare, to go. G. furf, ON. 
 dnd, Pol. drodj a ford ; brnaCy to wade, 
 
 FORGE 
 
 273 
 
 to ford. Bohem. bredu, brjsti, to be wet, 
 to ford ; brod, a swim, a ford ; broditi, to 
 swim or water horses, sheep, &c. ; bro- 
 ditse, to paddle in the water. Lith. bry- 
 dis, a wading in the water ; bradd, water 
 or mud through which one must wade in 
 the road ; brasta, a ford. Russ. bruizgaf, 
 bruiznuf, to splash. 
 
 Foreign. It. forense, forene, forese, 
 foresano, Fr. foraiti, outlandish, belong- 
 ing to what is without ; \j3X.f0ras, forts, 
 without, out of doors, abroad ; li.fuora, 
 fuore,fuori, forth, without, out of, except ; 
 Fr. hors, OYv. fors, out, without, except. 
 Walach. fara, fbra, without, besides, ex- 
 cept. See For (in composition). 
 
 Forensic. Lat. forensis, from forum, 
 a civil court. 
 
 Forest. It.foresta, Yx.foret, properly 
 a wilderness, or uncultivated tract of 
 country, but as such were commonly 
 overgrown with trees the word took the 
 meaning of a large wood. We have many 
 forests in England without a stick of tim- 
 ber upon them. Probably identical with 
 w. gores, gorest, waste ground, waste, 
 open ; goresta, to lie open, lie waste, 
 whence E. gorse, gorst, furze, the growth 
 of waste land. 
 
 To Forestall. To monopoUse, to buy 
 goods before they are brought to stall, or 
 the place where they are to be sold at 
 market. 
 
 Forfeit. Fr. forfait, a crime, mis- 
 deed, ir ova forf aire, to misdo, transgress. 
 
 My heart nor I have doen you wo forfeit, 
 By which you should complain in any kind. 
 Chaucer in R. 
 
 Oro omnes quibus aliquid forefeet ut 
 mihi per suam gratiam indulgeant. — 
 Pontanus in Due. The expression for a 
 crime or misdeed was then transferred 
 to the consequences or punishment of 
 the crime. Forisfactus servus, in the 
 laws of Athelstan, is one who has mis- 
 done himself a slave, one who for his 
 misdeeds is made a slave. Forfaire ses 
 heritages ; forfaire corps et avoir, to 
 misdo away his heritage, his body, and 
 goods, i. e. to lose them by his misdeed. 
 — Due. Forfaictiire, a transgression, 
 also a forfeiture or confiscation. — Cot. 
 
 To Forfend. To fend off, ward off. 
 See For. 
 
 Forge. The Lat. faber, a smith, by 
 the change of b through v into n, gave 
 rise to OFr. faur, Walach. fauru, a 
 smith. In the latter language we have 
 also fatirie, a smith's shop, fatiri, to 
 forge, the / of which seems in the West- 
 18 
 
^74 
 
 FORGE 
 
 em dialects to have passed into ay, pro- 
 ducing \\..foj-gia, Fy. forge. Swiss Rom. 
 favro, favre, a smith, blacksmith, car- 
 penter ; faverdge^ foiierdge^ fordze^ a 
 forge. 
 
 To Forge on. In nautical language 
 is for a ship to make its way slowly and 
 laboriously on, as it were by successive 
 shoves. Swiss, Bav. futschen, to slide, 
 to shove on, as children on their rumps. 
 — Schmeller. See Fidget. To fudge, to 
 poke with a stick, to walk slowly, though 
 with considerable exertion (to move by 
 successive slips). — Crav. Gl. 
 
 Fork. 'LaX.ftirca, w. fforch, AS. fore, 
 O^.forkr, Yx, fourche. ^. fforch-droed, 
 a cloven foot. The original meaning of 
 fork seems a pointed instrument for 
 thrusting with. It. frugare, to poke. 
 See Fruggin. 
 
 Forlorn. G. verloren, lost, from ver- 
 lieren, Du. verliesen, to lose. AS. for- 
 leosan 2in^ forleoran. 
 
 Form. I. Fr.y^r;;^^, a form, or fashion, 
 also a long bench or form to sit on, also 
 a hare's form. — Cot. The latter is pro- 
 bably so called from the hare leaving a 
 form or mould of herself in the long grass 
 where she lies. 
 
 2. The name of forma was also given 
 to the seat of the choristers in a cathedral 
 and the desk in front of them. Formula, 
 a stool to kneel on. — Due. There can be 
 no doubt that this is essentially the same 
 application with the name of the classes 
 at our public schools, first form, sixth 
 form, &c., but whether the class is called 
 form from sitting on the same bench, or 
 whether the bench is so designated from 
 being occupied by a single class, may be 
 a question. It seems certain that forma 
 was used for class or order in the lower 
 Latin. ' Supernumerarii sacri ministerii 
 primae vel secnndi^ss: formce,' of the first or 
 second order. — Cod. Theodos.de Castren- 
 sianis in Due. 
 
 Formidable. "L^X.formido, dread. 
 
 Fornication. Lat. foniicatio, from 
 fornix, a vault, a word accommodated to 
 the sense of brothel or stews. 
 
 To Forsake. Properly to put away 
 the subject of dispute, to renounce or 
 deny, then simply to desert. OE. sake, 
 dispute, strife. — Layamon. AS. sacaft, 
 sacian, to contend, strive ; withersaca, an 
 opponent. 
 
 And if a man me it axe, 
 
 Six sithes or seven, 
 
 \ forsake it with othes. — P. P. 
 
 Forse. In the N. of England, a water- 
 fall ; Stockgill-forse^ Airey -forse. Norse 
 
 FOUL 
 
 fors,foss, a waterfall, the spray or dash- 
 ing of broken water. Dae sto fossen fyre 
 baat'a, the waves broke over the boat ; 
 fossa, forsa, to break as water, dash in 
 spray ; frosa, Sw.frusa, to gush.— Aasen. 
 w. ffrwd, a torrent ; ffrydio, to flow, to 
 gush. See Froth. 
 
 Fort. — Fortalice. — Fortress. A 
 strong place ; Yr.fort, 'Ldii.fortis, strong. 
 
 Forth. — Further. AS. forth, Du. 
 voord, MHG. vort, G. fort, forth, onward, 
 forward. Forth nihtes, far on in the 
 night. The comparative is Du. voorder, 
 G. vorder, further, more onward. No 
 doubt a development of Du. voor, 'E.fore, 
 for, hsit. pro. 
 
 Fortune. Lat. fortuna, from fors, 
 chance, luck. 
 
 Fosse. — Fossil. Lat. fodio, fossjun, 
 to dig, dig out. 
 
 Fosset. See Faucet. 
 
 Foster. See Fodder. 
 
 Fother. Properly a carriage load, but 
 now only used for a certain weight of lead. 
 
 With him there was a plowman was his brother, 
 That had ylaid of dong full many 2, fother. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Pl.D. foder, foor, Du. voeder, voeyer, 
 voer, G. fiider, fuhr, a waggon-load ; 
 whence respectively yi^r^/z, voeren,fuhren, 
 to drive, convey, carry. 
 
 The root is largely developed in the 
 Slavonic languages. Lith. wedii, westi, 
 to lead ; wadas, a guide ; wesu, iveszti, 
 to carry in a waggon, szenu wezimas, a 
 load of hay.- Esthon. weddama, to lead, 
 to draw ; weddo-hdrg, a draught-ox. 
 Fin. wedan, wetdd, to draw. Bohem. 
 wedu, westi, to lead, to bring ; wod, a 
 guide ; wezu, wezti, to carry. Serv. 
 woditi, to lead, wozati, to carry, wojenye^ 
 wozanye, carriage. 
 
 Foul.— Filth. — Defile. Goth, fuls, 
 O'^.full, stinking, corrupt. This is the 
 primary meaning of the word, which is 
 then applied to what is dirty, turbid, phy- 
 sically or morally disgusting, ugly, unfair. 
 We speak oi foul, as opposed to clear 
 weather ; of a ship running foul of an- 
 other, as opposed to keeping clear of it. 
 Dan. at rage uklar (unclear) med et Skib, 
 to run foul of a ship. The ON. full was 
 applied to one who had not come clear 
 from the ordeal by fire. The Du. vuil, 
 and G. faul, have acquired the sense of 
 lazy, slothful. 
 
 It is seen, under Faugh, that the interj. 
 representing rejection of an offensive 
 smell takes the form oipu I ox fu I From 
 the former of these arise Sanscr. puy, to 
 stink, to rot ; Lat. pideo, to be foul, to 
 
FOUMART 
 
 stink ; piiter, rotten, stinking, and so 
 from the form fu / are Gael, fuath (pro- 
 nounced //m), Manx^^/^, disgust, abhor- 
 rence, hatred ; fuathail, fuathachail, 
 loathsome, hateful, yidiVix feohoil, filthy, 
 foul ; ON. fiii, putridity ; fuimt, ftUl, 
 stinking ; fyla, stink, and, as a verb, to 
 putrefy ; AS. fulan^ befulan, befylan, to 
 rot ; Du. vuilen, to dirty, to putrefy. 
 
 * Foumart. Variously s'^^itfouhnart^ 
 folmert,fulmarde,fulmer. — Hal. G. stink- 
 marder, a polecat, from the foul smell of 
 the animal. Fr. niarte^ martin, an ani- 
 mal of the weasel kind. See Polecat. 
 
 To Found, -found. — Fund. Lat. 
 fundus^ ground, bottom ; fimdare, to lay 
 the groundwork, to found. Profundus, 
 having the bottom far onwards, deep, 
 profound. From land being the ultimate 
 source of all wealth, /?^;/^ is used to sig- 
 nify a permanent source of income. 
 
 -found. — Confound. See -fuse. 
 
 Founder. — Founderous. The mean- 
 ings of E. foicnder are derived from two 
 sources which it is sometimes impossible 
 to distinguish, although for the most part 
 the senses can be referred with confidence 
 to their proper origin. 
 
 I. From Lat. fundus, Fr. fond, the 
 ground or bottom, afondrer, to sink as a 
 ship, to founder, or go to the bottom. 
 Moult vdissiez harnas floter 
 Hommes noier et afondrer. — R. R. 
 
 From It. fondo, the bottom of a cask, 
 are sfondare, sfondolare, to break out the 
 bottom of a cask, and met. to ruin or 
 render useless ; sfondolaj-e, sfondrare, to 
 founder as a horse. — Fl. When applied 
 to a road sfondato is what is called in 
 English indictments a founderous road, 
 a hollow, broken way wherein a man 
 sinks, a bottom-broken way. Enfondrer 
 un chemin, to wear or make great holes 
 in a way, to make a deep way ; cheinin 
 effondri, a way full of holes or miry 
 sloughs ; enfondrer un harnois, to make 
 a great dint in an armour. — Cot. It. 
 sfondare una porta, to break open a door ; 
 — utio squadrone, to rout or break through 
 a squadron. — Altieri. Hence we may 
 explain a passage misunderstood by 
 Ellice and Jamieson. 
 
 YiQ foundered the Saracens o' twaine 
 And fought as a dragon. — R. Brunne. 
 
 The other Fr. verb which we have bor- 
 rowed, under the shape of founder, is 
 fondre, to melt, (and hence) to sink, fall, 
 or go down ; se fondre, to sink down on a 
 sudden. — Cot. La terre fondit sous lui, 
 gave way under him. — Trevoux. 'In 
 Cheshire a quantity of tdiXih foundered 
 
 FRAME 
 
 275 
 
 and fell down a vast depth.' — Aubrey's 
 Wilts in Hal. Se fondre d'enhaut, to fall 
 down plump. — Cot. From this source 
 we must probably, with Jamieson, explain 
 \i\s founder, to fell, strike down, give such 
 a blow as to stupefy one, and also the 
 sense of stumbling, falling, or sinking 
 down. To fotmderdiS a horse, trebucher. 
 — Palsgr. in Way. The horse of Arcite, 
 being frightened by a prodigy — 
 
 began to turn 
 And lepe aside BXid fomtderid as he lepe, 
 And ere that Arcite may takin kepe 
 He pight him on the pomell of his hede 
 That in the place he lay as he were dede. 
 
 In Douglas' Virgil, Priam is said to 
 founder, or slip down, in the new-spilt 
 blood of his son. 
 
 Founder. — Foundry. A brass-found- 
 er is one who melts and casts brass, from 
 1^21. f under e, to pour, Yx. fondre, to melt, 
 or cast in moulds. 
 
 Foundling. An infant y??^^;^*/ deserted. 
 So bantling irom band, darling from dear. 
 
 Fountain. Fr. fontaine, Lat. fottSy 
 fontis, a spring of water. 
 
 Four. AS. feother, feower, Goth, fid- 
 vor, W, pedwar, Gr. irsTTopeg, Tciavpiq, rka- 
 aaptQ, Walach. patru, Lat. quatuor, Lith. 
 keturi, Sanscr. chatwar, Ir. ceathair. 
 
 Fowl. Q,o\}ci.fugls, G. vogel, AS.fugol, 
 flugol, a bird, ixovcCflug, flight, by the loss 
 of the I J as in modern times, fugleman 
 from G.fliigel-mann, ixom. fliigel, a wing. 
 The same degradation seems to have 
 taken place in L.^X. fugere, to fly. Com- 
 pare AS>. flugol, a fugitive. 
 
 Fox. Qxoth.fauho, G.fuchs. 
 
 Fracas. Fr. fracas, wracks, destruc- 
 tion, havoc, hurlyburly, — Cot. It. fra- 
 casso, tracasso, any manner of rumbling 
 or ruinous noise, as the falling of houses, 
 trees, walls, or thunderclaps, wrack, 
 havoc ; hurlyburly, breaking in pieces, 
 trampling underfoot. — Fl. An onoma- 
 topoeia analogous to Fr. patatra, or pa- 
 tatras, representing the clatter of falling 
 things. — Trevoux. 
 
 Fraction. — Fragile. — Fragment. 
 \j3X. frango, fractuni, to break. From a 
 representation of the noise of breaking 
 by the syllable frac as in It. fracasso. 
 See Fracas. 
 
 Frail. Fr. frile, from fragile, Lat. 
 fragilis, easily broken. 
 
 Frail. OFr. fray el, frdau, a mat- 
 basket. * Fyggys, raysins in frayel.^-^ 
 Coeur de Lion in Way. 
 
 * Frame. — To Frame. To frame is 
 to dispose, adapt, construct, compose, 
 contrive. 
 
 18 * 
 
.276 
 
 FRANCHISE 
 
 I have been a truant to the law ; 
 I never yet co\x\6. frame my will to it, 
 And therefore /ruwtf the law unto my will . 
 Hen VI. 
 
 To frame a story is to arrange it for a 
 certain purpose. Hence frame, disposi- 
 tion, structure, construction, fabric. The 
 frame of mind is the disposition of the 
 mind ; oui of frame, out of ajustment, 
 out of joints; a frame of timber, a con- 
 struction of timber (for an ulterior pur- 
 pose). We are, I believe, led on a wrong 
 scent by the ON. frajna, fremja (from 
 fram, forth, forwards), to promote, ad- 
 vance, execute, fulfil, accomplish ; AS. 
 fremman, gefremynan, OHG. gafretnjan, 
 to perform. Hcela gefremman, to do 
 cures. — Luc. xiii. 32. Helpe gefrem?nan, 
 to give help ; man gefremmian, to work 
 wickedness. The true relations of our 
 word lie in a different quarter. It can 
 hardly be doubted that G. rahme, rah- 
 men, Du. raetn, raam, Da. ramme, frame, 
 as of a picture, window, looking-glass, 
 the solid structure by which these ob- 
 jects are held together, are the true cor- 
 relatives of the E. word, as well as of 
 Bret, framm, timber framework of a 
 house, joint, joining. Framma, to ad- 
 just, unite, solder, join. 
 
 The origin may be traced to ON. 
 hra7nmr, the paw or clutch of a beast, 
 the initial h of which corresponds to the 
 /of frame and is wholly lost in Sw. ram, 
 paw, clutch, frame, as in ON. hrim, Da. 
 riim, compared with Fr. frimas, or in 
 OHG. riban, ripan, compared with Fr. 
 friper, to wear. Hence ON. hremma, 
 Sw. rama, to clutch, to seize ; ram, 
 seizure (Rietz), opportunity. Se sittram, 
 to see his opportunity ; passa rain, to 
 watch his opportunity [of seizure] ; rania, 
 to scheme, to devise (Ihre) ; berama dag, 
 Du. dag raamen, to appoint a day (Hol- 
 trop) ; ramen, to aim, hit, plan ; beramen, 
 to concert, contrive, dispose. — Bomhoff. 
 Raemen (passen), to adjust, to fit, con- 
 venire, quadrare. — Kil. Raemen nae 
 jemands dood, machinari mortem, to 
 frame his death. G. rahmen, Du. raam, 
 ^. frame is a structure adapted for a par- 
 ticular purpose, as for stretching cloth, 
 for holding embroidery, a picture, &c. 
 
 Franchise. — Frank. Fr. franc, free, 
 liberal, courteous, valiant, sincere. — Cot. 
 Supposed to be taken from the name of 
 the Franks, the conquerors of Gaul, the 
 only free men remaining when the former 
 inhabitants were reduced to a servile 
 condition. ON. Frackr, a Frank, French- 
 man, also free, freeborn. In charters of 
 
 FRECKLE 
 
 the year 799 ingenuus, nobilis, and francus 
 are synonymous. — Due. 
 
 It seems however more probable that 
 the name of the Franks should have 
 been taken from the idea of freedom 
 rather than vice versa, and the original 
 sense of the word is probably shown in 
 ^x^i. frank, spacious, wide. A person in 
 freedom is said in Fr. to be au large. 
 Bret, frankaat, to enlarge, make or be- 
 come wider, free from, deliver. 
 
 Frantic— Frenzy. Fr. fr^netique, 
 frdnesie, 'LdX. phretieticus, from Gr. ^privl- 
 ng, disorder of the (<ppvv) mind. 
 
 Fr anzy . — Frangy . — Frany. Com- 
 monly applied to children, peevish, fret- 
 ful. Fris. wrante, to complain as young 
 children, to be peevish ; wrannig, ill- 
 tempered, peevish. — Outzen. 
 
 Fraternal. Lat. frater, a brother. 
 
 Fraud. \^7iX.fraus,fratcdis, 
 
 Fray. See Affray. 
 
 To Fray. Fr. frayer, to rub, or fret 
 by often rubbing, to wear, make smooth 
 by much using. — Cot. The deer frays 
 its head, rubs its horns against a tree. 
 It.fregare, IjaX.fricare, to rub. 
 
 Freak. A sudden wanton whim or 
 caprice, a flighty humour, or fancy. — R. 
 
 O but I fear the fickle freaks, quoth she, 
 Of Fortune false.— F. Q. 
 
 Freak, like caprice, expresses an act with- 
 out apparent motive, and is therefore re- 
 ferred to a violent internal desire. It. 
 frega, a longing desire, or itching lust — 
 Fl. ; fregola, longing, fancy, humour, 
 itching desire. ' Gli venne la fregola 
 d'andare alia campagna : ' the freak took 
 him to go to the country. — Altieri. 
 
 The origin is the verb fregare, to rub, 
 to move lightly to and fro, expressing the 
 restless condition of one under the in- 
 fluence of strong desire, as in Yx.fretiller, 
 to wag, stir often, to wriggle, tickle, itch 
 to be at it. — Cot. 
 
 2. Another sense of freak is seen in 
 Milton's ' Pansy freaked with jet,' i. e. 
 streaked. This also is from It. fregare, 
 to streak, frego, a dash, stroke, touch, 
 line. — Alt. Fr. fricfrac expresses the 
 sound made by strokes to and fro with a 
 switch. See Firk. 
 
 3. A third sense o{ freak was a man. 
 
 By Chryst quod Favell Drede is soleyne freke. 
 Skelton in R. 
 
 In this sense the word is a modification 
 of ON. reckr, OHG. recke, OE. renk, rink, 
 ON. drengr, a warrior. See Drake. 
 
 Freckle. Provincially freckens or 
 frackens. ON. frekna, N. fritkne, frokle, 
 
FREE 
 
 flukr, freckles. — Aasen. Q.fieck, fiecken, 
 a blot, spot, stain ; flecken von der sonne, 
 freckles. Gael, breac, speckled ; broice, 
 bfoicean, a mole, a freckle. w. brith, 
 brych, Bret, briz or bric'h, speckled, parti- 
 coloured. 
 
 Free. AS. freo, ON./r/, Goth., frija. 
 
 Freebooter.— Fillibuster. Freeboot- 
 er is one who without the authority of 
 national warfare makes free to appropri- 
 ate as booty whatever falls under his 
 hand. The name was especially given 
 to the buccaneers who infested the coast 
 of America in the i6th and 17th centu- 
 ries, and was pronounced by the Fr. 
 Jiibustiers, by the Spaniards Jilibuster. 
 From the latter has arisen in the present 
 age the tQwaJillibtister, a name given in 
 America to adventurers making piratical 
 expeditions against states of ^.Spanish 
 race. 
 
 ToFreeze.— Frigid.— Frost. — Frieze. 
 It has been shown under Caprice and 
 Chitterling that the representation of a 
 vibrating sound is used to express a 
 quivering, vibratory motion, and thence 
 an undulating, wrinkled, or curly surface. 
 A further development of the train of 
 thought applies the forms signifying 
 shivering to the affections of cold, or fear, 
 as most distinctly characterized by the 
 symptom of shivering. On this principle 
 may be connected a numerous series of 
 words founded on the representation of a 
 rustling, simmering, twittering noise, by 
 the syllables friss, frit, frik, frig. 
 
 In the original sense we may cite Sw. 
 frasa, to rustle ; frdsa, to whizz, roar, 
 hiss ; Sc. frais, to make a crackling or 
 crashing noise — Jam. ; Fr. frissement 
 d'un trait, the whizzing of an arrow ; Sp. 
 frez, the rustling of silk-worms on mul- 
 berry leaves, fresar, to growl ; Piedm. 
 friciole, the noise made by things frying ; 
 frige, frise, the noise of things beginning 
 to boil, simmering ; It. friggere, fresso, 
 fretto, to whimper as a child, to fry ; Lat. 
 frigere (originally to twitter or fizz, as 
 shown by the derivatives/?-?^///*?, a finch, 
 frigutire, to chatter), to fry ; Gr. ippiaacj, 
 fpiTTU), to rustle, <p^vy(i), <ppiiaou), fpvTTb), to 
 parch, or fry. 
 
 In the sense of shivering ; Fr. /a voile 
 frise, the sail shivers in the wind ; fris- 
 son, a shudder ; G. tpplaau), ^pirTb), to 
 shiver from cold or fear ; ^ptV/y, shudder- 
 ing, chill, fear ; Du. vriesen, to tremble 
 with cold — Overyssel Almanac ; Pl.D. 
 vresen, vreren, to tremble for cold, to be 
 cold ; E. freeze, applied to the effect of 
 cold in sohdifying liquids. It is probable 
 
 FREEZE 
 
 277 
 
 that the Lat. frigere, frigutire, to be 
 cold, have the same origin, and thus 
 oddly enough are radically identical with 
 frigere, to fry. 
 
 Frieze, i. The transition from the 
 idea of shivering to that of a rough, un- 
 even surface is exemplified in Lat. hor- 
 rere^ to shudder, horridus, rough ; e. 
 shag, or shog, to shake or jog, and 
 shaggy, rough, tufted ; and (in the case 
 of the root we are now considering) in 
 Gr. <l)piKoQ, bristled, rough, with curled 
 hair ; Fr. f riser, to frizzle, crisp, curl (as 
 water blown on by a gentle wind), to 
 wriggle — Cot. ; E. frizzle, to curl, or 
 wrinkle up. On the same principle the 
 name oi frieze is given to coarse, shaggy 
 cloth, by false etymology supposed to 
 have come from Friesland, in the same 
 way that a frizzled hen is called a Fries- 
 land hen, or a kind of duck with musky 
 odour, a Muscovy duck. Fr. frise, esp^ce 
 de toile de laine frisd ; toile forte de la 
 province de Frise. — Gattel. 
 
 2. The application of the root to a 
 surface plaited or roughened with orna- 
 mented work gives Fr. fraise, freze, 
 Vi^dm. fresa, a ruff, or frill ; Yx. frizons, 
 frizzled, or raised work of gold or silver 
 wire, &c.— Cot. ; Sp. fres, gold or silver 
 lace ; Mid. Lat. aurifrasium, aurifrisia, 
 aurifregia, OFr. orfrais, E. orfray, a 
 border or fringe of gold, band of gold 
 lace ; \\..fregio, Yx.frize, 'E. frieze, frize, 
 the ornamented border running beneath 
 the cornice in architecture. Pied, fris, 
 frieze ; also a band or border for the 
 ornament of garments or furniture ; fris 
 d' floret, a ferret band, fris d' lana, a 
 worsted border. Mid. Lat. frisare, to 
 ornament with borders or embroidery, 
 ' Item quod pannos earum non possint 
 2X\X.QX frisare vel ornare nisi cum duplonis 
 aureis vel argenteis seu seta.' — Carp. 
 ' Pallium unum cum friso et margaritis.' 
 — Due. 
 
 It is remarkable that the conversion of 
 frieze into Frisian cloth is only a repeti- 
 tion of the same etymological blunder 
 which in ancient times seems to have 
 given the name of Phrygian work to 
 wriggled or frizzled work, embroidery or 
 tissue ornamented or roughened with 
 needlework, showing that the It. fregio 
 is of ancient standing in the Latin lan- 
 guage. Pictas vestes acu facere Phryges 
 invenerunt ideoque Phrygionias appellatas 
 sunt. — Plin. Fhrygio, an embroiderer. 
 In Mid. Lat. phrygiuin, and ph?ysiim, 
 were used for a border of embroidery. 
 * Planetam purpuream aureis phrygiis 
 
278 
 
 FREIGHT 
 
 mensium duodecim signa in se haben- 
 tibus ornatam.' ' Planetam purpuream 
 cum phryso et cum aquild ex margaritis 
 contextri.' — Due. 
 
 Freight. — Fraught. G. fracht, Fr. 
 frety the loading of a waggon or ship, 
 and secondly the money paid for the 
 conveyance. G. ferchen, to despatch, to 
 expedite ; Swiss ferken, ferggen^ to for- 
 ward goods, to convey them in a wag- 
 gon ; /ergg,g/ergg, conveyance, waggon ; 
 ferggete, transport of wares. 
 Frenzy. See Frantic. 
 Frequent. Lat. frequens, that often 
 comes or is done. 
 
 Fresh, as. fersc^ Du. versch, frisch, 
 ON. friskr. It. fresco^ Fr. fraische, frais, 
 recent, new, and sweet, cool, in full 
 vigour. 
 
 The original sense is probably to be 
 sought in "E./risk, indicating lively move- 
 ment, exertion for the mere pleasure of 
 the thing ; Fr. frisgtce, lively, brisk, 
 spruce, gay. — Cot. N. frisk, lively, 
 healthy, sound. — Aasen. Then as brisk- 
 ness or friskiness is worn out by con- 
 tinued exertion or fatigue, by heat, or by 
 lapse of time, the term is applied to what 
 is unworn, untired, unheated, unkept, 
 recent. Meat is adapted for keeping by 
 salting, whence fresh or unkept meat is 
 opposed to salt meat, and by extension 
 water fit for drinking, as opposed to salt 
 water, is called yr^j/^. See Frisk. 
 
 Fret. We traced under Freeze the 
 development of a number of forms having 
 a wide range of signification, from the 
 representation of a rustling, quivering 
 sound by the radical syllable fris, f^it, 
 frig, and a series separated from the 
 above by no definite line, but solely by 
 the convenience of practical illustration, 
 may be deduced from the same original 
 image represented by the syllables frit, 
 fric, friss. 
 
 I . Fret, the stop or key of a musical 
 instrument. The direct representation 
 of sound gives Lat. frititiire, to twitter as 
 a swallow ; fritilliis, the box in which 
 the dice are rattled previous to being 
 thrown on the board ; It. frizz are, to 
 quaver with the voice, or run nimbly on 
 an instrument — Fl. ; Fr. fredoimer, to 
 shake, divide, quaver in singing or play- 
 ing ; fredon, a semiquaver in music, and 
 hence division, and a warbling or quaver- 
 ing. — Cot. Hence E. fret, properly a 
 note in music, then the stops on a 
 stringed instrument by which the note 
 was sounded. The monkish poet, in a 
 Life of Bishop Amandus, who as a boy 1 
 
 FRET 
 
 had a wonderful gift of singing, uses 
 
 fritillos in the sense of notes. 
 
 Quis docuit puerum, qui sensus quaeso suasit, 
 Hebraico sonitu ignotos ^xoienG. fritillos. 
 Ducange. Henschel. 
 
 2. To fret, to work, as liquor in a 
 slight state of fermentation. From direct 
 imitation of the simmering sound made 
 by the small bubbles rising and breaking. 
 It. frizzare, to spirt or startle, as good 
 wine doth being poured into a flat glass. 
 — Fl. Pied, friciol^, the noise made in 
 frying. — Zalli. 
 
 3. To fret, to rub, wear, consume, eat 
 up. Fretted, worn by rubbing ; vexed, 
 discomposed, ruffled in mind. — B. From 
 the sense of a quivering sound, as in the 
 series mentioned under Freeze, the root 
 passes on to signify a quivering motion. 
 Fr. fretiller, to move, wag, stir often^ 
 wriggle, tickle— Cot. ; E. fritters, shivers, 
 fragments ; to frit, to rub or move up 
 and down ; ^.ffrid,ffrit, a sudden start 
 or jerk ; It. frizzare, to frisk or skip 
 nimbly. — Fl. Du. writselen, vritselen, 
 motitari, subsilire — Kil. ; wrikken, Dan. 
 vrikke, to wriggle or joggle; 'L2X.fricare, 
 to rub ; It. fregare, to rub, frig, frit, 
 friggle ; fregagione, rubbing, or fritting 
 up and down gently, as is the custom to 
 sick people. — Fl. Prov. fregar, fretai", 
 to rub ; Fr. froter, to rub, chafe, fret, or 
 grate against. — Cot. BdiV. frettejt, to 
 rub (as a key wearing a hole in one's 
 pocket), and figuratively, to plague, to 
 worry. Sv^'iss, fretten, fratten, to become 
 sore by rubbing; ^diY.fratt, Du. vraet, a 
 place galled by rubbing, whence probably 
 a wart, AS. vrat, originally the callus 
 produced by rubbing. 
 
 The sense of wearing away, consuming 
 by rubbing, passes into that of gnawing, 
 eating away, eating up, so that it is often 
 impossible in the figurative use of the 
 word to say whether it has reference 
 simply to the annoyance and soreness- 
 produced by rubbing, or to the more 
 exaggerated figure of eating up. 
 
 Hans Sachs uses fretten for drilling a 
 hole in a coin. — Schmeller. To fret, as 
 cloth, is to wear by rubbing, but when 
 we speak oi fretting by moths we pass to 
 the notion of eating, as in G. von niotten 
 gefressen, moth-eaten. 
 These wormes ne these mothes ne these mites 
 Upon my paraille/rt^/ hero never a del ; 
 And wost thou why ? for they were used well. 
 Wife of Bath. 
 
 Go'Cci.fuglos fretun, the fowls consumed 
 them. Sw. frata, to corrode, to prey 
 upon ; frdta sig af sorg, to fret with grief, 
 
FRIBBLE 
 
 as G. voti gram ge/resse?i, consumed with 
 grief. ^ 
 
 We have the same connection between 
 the senses of consuming insensibly and 
 eating in G. zehren (the equivalent of E. 
 tear), to wear away, waste, eat and drink ; 
 Sw. tdra, to consume, corrode, wear 
 away, eat ; tdra sig sjelf, to fret oneself ; 
 tdra sig afsorg, to fret with sorrow. In 
 both cases the fundamental meaning is 
 the notion of wearing away ; consump- 
 tion by eating, a secondary application. 
 The possibihty of resolving the word into 
 a compound of the particle ver or fra 
 {ver-eten, ver-essen, GoXh. f rait an, to eat 
 up), exhibits a source of confusion which 
 not unfrequently perplexes the etymology 
 of words with an initial /?: So Kilian 
 explains vriezen, to freeze, as ver-ijsen, 
 to become ice, and the Brem. Worter- 
 buch, vresen, to fear, as ' without doubt,' 
 from ver and aise?t, eisen, to shudder. 
 And see Fright. 
 
 4. F?'et, ornamented work in embroid- 
 ery, or carving, synonymous with Sp. 
 fres, gold lace ; It.fregio, Pied./r/j-, Mid. 
 \j3X.frisiim,frisium, list, lace, ornamented 
 border. 
 
 About the sides shall run 2ifret 
 Qi primroses. — Drayton in R; 
 Iclothid was this mighty God of Love 
 In silk embroidered full of grene greves, 
 In which there was a. fret of red rose-leaves. 
 Chaucer. Legend Good Women, 228. 
 
 In the same poem the Queen of Love is 
 said to wear on her hair a fret of gold 
 surrounded with a crown of pearls, the 
 comparison of which to the yellow centre 
 of a daisy set off by the white petals of 
 the ray shows that the term is by no 
 means constantly applied either to a bor- 
 der or a circlet. 
 
 The origin, as above explained in the 
 case oi frieze, is to be found in the notion 
 of quivering or shaking, conceived as 
 curling the surface of a liquid and throw- 
 ing it into vibrations, offering a type of 
 embroidered or sculptured ornamentation. 
 So Fr. fringoter, to quaver, or divide in 
 singing, also to fret or vfork frets in gold, 
 silver, 8LC.;fringoteries, frets, cranklings, 
 wriggled flourishes in carving, &.c. — Cot. 
 In like manner It. frizz are, Yr. fredonner, 
 to quaver in singing, ^.fritter, to shiver, 
 lead to Fr. frizons, frizzled or raised work 
 of gold or silver wire, &c., and ^.fret, in 
 the sense of carved or embroidered work. 
 
 5. Fret in Heraldry and Architecture 
 is from a totally different root, signifying 
 the interlacing of bars or fillets. OFr. 
 fre'ter, croiser, entrelacer. — Roquefort. 
 
 FRIEZE 
 
 279 
 
 Frets in heraldry are bars crossing each 
 other in lozenge-shape, and interlacing, 
 fretted, interlaced. K fretted roof is one 
 ornamented by bands or fillets crossing 
 each other in different patterns. 
 
 In the expression fretised roof, f-etise 
 is a collection of frets, as lattice a collect- 
 ion of laths, brattice, of brets, or boards. 
 
 The sense of interlacing is taken from 
 the notion of an iron grating. The It. 
 ferrata, the grating of a window, or the 
 like, becomes yra in Piedm., while y^^/ in 
 the latter dialect corresponds to It. fer- 
 retto, any little implement of iron. Hence 
 Fr. frete, the verril or iron ring that keeps 
 a tool from riving, iron hoop round the 
 nave of a wheel ; Sp. fretes, the bands 
 forming the body of a shield. — Neumann ; 
 and Fr. frettes (pL), according to Diez, 
 an iron grating. 
 
 Fribble. To fribble, to trifle, to totter 
 like a weak person. — Todd. ' How the 
 poor cxQaXwre fribbles in his gait.' — Tatler 
 49. To be explained from Central Fr. 
 friboler, to flutter, flit to and fro without 
 fixed purppse like a butterfly ; barivoler^ 
 to flutter in the wind, — Jaubert. Fa?-i- 
 boles, fond tattling, trifles, flimflams. — 
 Cot. A similar metaphor is seen in 
 V^a\2ic\\.. farfald {G.flattergeist), a trifler, 
 compared with It. farfalla, a butterfly. 
 Probably Lat. frivolus may be from the 
 same ultimate root. 
 
 Fricassee. Yx.fricasser,\.oixy. Lat. 
 frigere, frixum, from the hissing sound. 
 
 Friction. Lat. frico, frictimi, to chafe, 
 rub. See Fridge. 
 
 Friday, as. Frige-doeg, G*. Frey-tag, 
 the day sacred to Frigga, or Freya, the 
 Saxon Venus, as Lat. Dies Vejteris, Fr. 
 Vendredi. 
 
 Fridge. — Frig. — Friggle. — ^Frit. To 
 fridge or frig about. — Skinner. Rapid 
 vibratory movement is expressed by a 
 numerous series of s^Viz}o\<ts,fick,fig,fip 
 (fhip), fidge, fitsch (Swiss ftschen), fit 
 {fitter), flick, flig, flip, fitsch (Bav. fit- 
 scheii),flit, and (with an r instead of an /) 
 frick (Lat. fricare), frig, fritsch (It. fric- 
 ciare), frit {w.f^rit, Fr. fretiller), imitat- 
 ing the sound of switching to and fro with 
 a light implement, or the crackling sound 
 of frying, or rustling of flames, or the like. 
 It.frizzare, to quaver with the voice, to 
 fry or parch, to frisk or skip nimbly ; fric- 
 ciare, to rub, claw, wriggle up and down 
 — Fl.,are precise equivalents of Y.. fridge. 
 ^.ffrid,ffrit, a quick start or jerk. 
 
 Friend. From Goth, frijon, to love, 
 2lS fiend, an enemy, horn, fj an, to hate. 
 
 Frieze. See Freeze. 
 
2 So 
 
 FRIGATE 
 
 Frigate. Fr. frigate, Sp. fragata, 
 originally a light row-boat Diez sup- 
 poses it may be from fabricaia, a con- 
 struction, as Fr. bdiifnent, applied to boat, 
 ship, or vessel in general, from bdlir, to 
 build. 
 
 Fright. Goih. faurhts, timid ; faurh- 
 ieiy fear, fattrhtjan, to fear. OSax. fo- 
 rohtian,/orahtian,/orhtian, to fear. AS. 
 forhty G. furcht, Sw. frukta, fear. The 
 O.Saxon forms might lead us to suppose 
 the word to be a compound of Goth, ogatty 
 pret. ohte, to fear ; ON. dga^ to shudder at, 
 otta, to terrify ; but this is probably a 
 false scent of the class mentioned under 
 Fret, 3. The more likely origin is the 
 notion of shuddering, expressed by the 
 root fric. Gr. 0ptic»/, a shuddering from 
 cold or terror ; Mod.Gr. <pptKTbg, fright- 
 ful ; 0pirrw, to be frightened ; Walach. 
 ,/rica, fright ; /ricosu, timorous. 
 
 Frill. A plaited band to a garment. 
 For the logical connection between a 
 twittering sound, a shivering vibratory 
 motion, and a curly or wrinkled surface, 
 see Chitterling, Crisp, Caprice ^, So from 
 y^.ffrilly twitter, chatter, we pass to Fr. 
 friller, to shiver for cold, and thence (as 
 from chitter, to shiver, to chitterling, a 
 frill) to E. frill. The same relation is 
 shown under Freeze between Sw. frasa, 
 to rustle, Yr. /riser, to shiver, 3Xidi /raise, 
 a frill or ruff. And Sw./rasa, Fr. /riser, 
 lead through E./rizzle to Fr. /riller, in 
 the same way in which Sw. brasa, Fr. 
 bresiller, representing the crackling sound 
 of fire, lead, to briller, to twinkle ; or in 
 yMhich. grisser, gresiller, grisler, to crackle, 
 lead to griller, to wriggle, curl, frizzle. 
 Central Fr. /rediller, to shiver. 
 
 Fringe. Fr. /range, Rouchi, /rincJie, 
 \\.. /rangia, Sic'il. /rinza, G./ranse, an or- 
 namented border of hanging threads or 
 plaited work, originally probably of the 
 latter construction. The word may be 
 accounted for in several ways, all leading 
 back to the fundamental notion of a 
 wrinkled structure, expressed by the 
 figure of a vibratory sound, as explained 
 under Freeze. 
 
 Thus we may consider the word as a 
 nasalised form of It. /regio, Fr. /raise, a 
 ruff, Pied, /ris, a list or border, or, what 
 comes to nearly the same thing, we may 
 derive it from Du. /ronssen, Fr. /r oncer, 
 to plait or wrinkle. Compare Du. grij- 
 sen, grijnsen, to grin ; E. crease, and It. 
 grinza, a wrinkle. 
 
 On the other hand the Walach. forms 
 fimbrie and /rimbie show that /rimbia 
 may have been the original form of Lat. 
 
 FRITH 
 
 fimbria, whence /rangia would follow, as 
 cangiare, from cambiare, Fr. songer from 
 sotnniare. And /rimbia might be ex- 
 plained from a form like Du. wrempen, 
 wrimpen, E. /nimpie. ' Frang^, fringed, 
 also wrimpled, snipt or jagged on the 
 edges.' — Cot. 
 
 Fripery. Worn-out clothes, then the 
 place where old clothes are sold, or such 
 faded finery as is sold by dealers in old 
 clothes. 
 
 Yr. /riper, to rub, to wear to rags ; Du. 
 wrijven, vrijven, to wear, to rub ; OHG. 
 ripan, G. reiben, to rub, wipe, grate ; Sw. 
 rt/va, to scratch, tear, grate. The origin 
 seems a form /rip, related to the /ric in 
 Lat. /ricare, to rub, or AS. /rician, to 
 dance, as clap to clack, or flip \o flick. 
 Light, rapid, reciprocating movement is 
 represented by a number of similar sylla- 
 bles pointed out under Fridge. 
 
 Frisk. The use of the roots /ric,/rit, 
 flic, flit, in the expressions of smart, rapid, 
 repeated movement, has been mentioned 
 under Fridge, Fret, Firk, and in other 
 places. The addition of an s either be- 
 fore or after the final consonant improves 
 the effect in representing the broken rust- 
 ling sound of multifarious or continued 
 movement. Hence It, /rizzare {=■ frit-s- 
 are), to quaver with the voice, to fry or 
 parch, to spirt as effervescing wine, to 
 frisk or skip nimbly. The same idea is 
 conveyed by E. /risk. ' Put water in a 
 glass and wet your finger and draw it 
 round about the rim, — it will make the 
 water /risk and sprinkle up in a fine dew.' 
 — Bacon in Todd. Yin.prilskua, to spirt, 
 start out as a spark, exsilio ut scintilla. 
 The same connection between the senses 
 of spirting, starting, and a crackling 
 sound, is seen in Russ. pruiskaf, to spirt ; 
 pruigaf, to leap or spring ; Serv. prigati, 
 to fry. Compare also Bret, /ringoli, to 
 quaver with the voice ; /ringa, Yr./rin- 
 guer, to frisk or frolick ; Serv. vrtziti, to 
 spirt, gush ; vrtzitise, to move quickly to 
 and fro. 
 
 PiS flick andi /rick are of like effect in 
 expressing movements, we have flisk, to 
 skip or bounce, synonymous vf lih. /risk. 
 —Hal. 
 
 Frith.— Firth. An arm of the sea, 
 mouth of a great river. ON. /jordr, 
 /jorctr, Dan. /jord, an arm of the sea. 
 Probably identical with Lat. /return, a 
 narrow sea, from GaeL/rith, small, little, 
 subordinate. Frith-bhaile, a suburb ; 
 /rith-cheum, a by-path ; /rith-ministeir, 
 a curate ; /rith-7nhuir (a little sea), an 
 arm of the sea, loch, frith. 
 
FRITH 
 
 The origin of the Gael, term may be 
 traced further back in w. brith, Bret, briz, 
 speckled, particoloured, mixed, having 
 the character indicated by the term with 
 which it is joined in a partial degree, w. 
 brith adnabod dyn, partly to know a 
 person ; brith-ddiod, table-beer, small- 
 beer. Bret, briz-tiek, a poor cultivator ; 
 briz-kleuved, a light illness. 
 
 Frith. Kfreeih in N. Wales is a tract 
 of rough land inclosed on the skirts of 
 the mountain and held as common by 
 the proprietors of the district. Frith, 
 unused pasture-land ; a field taken from 
 a wood, young underwood, brushwood. — 
 Hal. 
 
 EUes foweles fedden hem in frythes ther thei 
 woneden. — P. P. in R. 
 
 * By frith and fell.' * Out of forests 
 2LXi^ frythes and all faire wodes.' — ^William 
 and the Werewolf. Gael, frith, a heath, 
 deer-park, forest ; frithne, an uninhab- 
 ited place ; Ir. frith, a wild mountainous 
 place. 
 
 It seems the same word with Fr. 
 friche, uncultivated condition. Bois en 
 friche, wood newly lopped and let stand 
 till it be grown again. Terre en friche, 
 land untilled or neglected, whereby it 
 becomes overgrown with shrubs and 
 weeds. — Cot. Fresche — Roquef. ; frestizj 
 Mid.Lat. fresceium, freschiiim, friscicm, 
 f7'ostiuin — Carp. -, fra7isttiin,frausta terra, 
 frusca terra — Due, waste land. Fraitis, 
 uncultivated land, pasturage. — Roquef. 
 Frocs, fros, froiix, common or void 
 grounds. — Cot. Fraux et pasturages. — 
 Due. Gael, fraoch, heath, the growth 
 of waste places. Bret, fraost, unculti- 
 vated. It. frasche, boughs, bushes, un- 
 derwood ; fratta, any thicket of brakes, 
 brambles, bushes, or briers. — Fl. 
 
 Fritter, i. A fried cake. Yx.friture, 
 a frying ; frire {pple. frit), Bret, frita, to 
 fry. It. frittare, to fry in a pan, make 
 fritter-wise. — Fl. See Fry. 
 
 2. Fritters, fragments, shivers. To 
 fritter a thing away is to dissipate it by 
 bits. A parallel form -w'lthflitter, finder, 
 of the same meaning. The primary 
 origin is the use of frit, in expressing a 
 crackling sound, as in Lat. fritinnire, to 
 twitter, then a rattling or vibrating mo- 
 tion, as in \j3X.fritillus, a dice box ; Fr. 
 fretiller, to fidget ; Gr. ^ptVrw, to tremble 
 from cold or fear. To fritter, then, would 
 signify to shiver, and thence to break to 
 shivers. Compare Du. schateren, to re- 
 sound, to rattle, with E. shatter. 
 
 Frivolous. hdX.frivohis. See Frib- 
 ble. 
 
 FROTH 
 
 281 
 
 To Frizz. — Frizzle. Fr. frizer, to 
 curl, frizzle, ruffle, wriggle. Sw. frdsa, 
 to rustle, crackle, fizz, to spit like a cat. 
 For the connection between the idea of 
 curling and a rusthng or crackling sound, 
 see Freeze. Gr. (ppi^ originally repre- 
 sents a rustling sound, such as that of 
 the wind among trees ; it is then applied 
 to the ruffling or curling of the surface of 
 water by the breeze, whence <pgiKog, rough, 
 curled. 
 
 Frock. Froc de moine, a monk's cowl 
 or hood. W\A.\j3X. focus, floccum, frocus, 
 
 fro ecus, hroccus, roccus, originally a shaggy 
 cloak, from Lat. floccus, Ptg. frocco, a 
 flock, lock, or tuft of wool. G. rock, an 
 overcoat. The derivation of coat is pro- 
 bably similar. 
 Frog'. I, G.frosche, Du. vorsch. 
 2. The ornament of an embroidered 
 coat. Ptg. froco, a flock of wool or of 
 silk, chenille de broderie ; frocadura, 
 ornaments of embroidery. 
 
 Froise. A pancake ; w. ffroes, an 
 omelet. From the noise of frying. Sw. 
 
 frdsa, to fizz, hiss, crackle. Sw. dial. 
 
 fres, noise of frying ; frdssa, to fry. 
 
 Whanne he is full in suche a dreme — 
 
 He routeth with a slepie noyse 
 
 And broustleth as a vciov^€%froyse 
 
 When it is thrown into the pan. — Gower in R. 
 
 See Fizz. 
 
 Frolick. Gr. f'oh, frohlich, in good 
 humour ; frohlockeji, to sport, to frolick. 
 The syllable lick, lock, is probably the 
 AS. termination lac, ON. leik, signifying 
 state or condition, and preserved in a 
 corrupted form in knowledge, wedlock. 
 
 OHG. fraw, frawa, joyful, G, fre^iett, 
 Vl.D.frauen, to rejoice ; G. freude, joy. 
 * Got frouue sela sina.' God bless his 
 soul. — Brem. Wtb. KS.frofer, comfort. 
 
 From. The primitive sense seems 
 that of ON. framin, Dan. fre^n, forth, 
 forwards ; whence the secondary use of 
 the E. term in indicating the commence- 
 ment of motion. Goth. Iddja frain, he 
 went on, went further ; fram frtima, 
 from the beginning, i. e. as to the begin- 
 ning, onwards. 
 
 Front. Lat. frons, frontis. Pol. 
 przod, forepart ; przod glowy, the fore- 
 head. Na przodzie, in front. Przed, 
 before. 
 
 Frontispiece. YjdX. frontispicium, the 
 forefront of a house. Now applied to 
 the front page of a book, and by corrup- 
 tion to the picture in front of a book. 
 
 Frost. See Freeze. 
 
 Froth. Q)^. fraud, froda, scum, froth. 
 Pl.D. frathen, fraodn, fradem, fraunij 
 
282 
 
 FROUNCE 
 
 steam, vapour ; framen, to steam. The 
 analogy of the G. broden, brodem, steam, 
 Du. broem, foam, scum, leaves little doubt 
 that the origin oi froth is a representa- 
 tion of the sound of boiling or rushing 
 water. The same train of ideas is re- 
 peated with little variation of sound in 
 W. broch, din, tumult, froth ; brochi, to 
 fume, to chafe, to bluster ; Gael, bruich, 
 dntith, to boil, E. broth^ boiling water, 
 and sometimes steam, as when we speak 
 of being in a broth of sweat. Du. bruy- 
 sen^ to murmur, give a confused sound, 
 and also to foam ; bruySy foam, scum. — 
 Kil. 
 
 With an initial y>- we have OU.//ysa, 
 Jjyssa, frussa, to snort as a horse ; N. 
 frosa^ to snort, also as Sw. frusa, to 
 gush ; w.ffrwd, 'BrQt. froud, a stream, a 
 torrent ; w. ffrydio, to stream, to gush, 
 bringing us to froth, as the result of the 
 gushing or dashing of water. 
 
 Frounce. Fr. froncer, fronser, to 
 plait, wrinkle ; fronser le front, to knit 
 the brow ; fronser la bouche, to twinge 
 the mouth. It.fronza di corda, a coil of 
 cordage, knot of strings. Du. fronssen, 
 fronsselejiyfronckelen, to plait, to wrinkle ; 
 wronck, a twisting, contortion ; wronck- 
 elen, to twist, to wrinkle. — Kil. The 
 series of expressions for the idea of 
 wrinkling is very numerous, but they 
 may usually be traced to the image of a 
 crackling, frizzling noise, or to the snarl- 
 ing sounds expressive of ill temper ; 
 while it must be remembered that the 
 latter are only a particular instance of 
 the broken sounds which offer the most 
 general type of a broken or rugged sur- 
 face. Evidence of the imitative origin of 
 frounce is shown in Vr.froncher, to snort 
 like an angry horse. 
 
 Le destrier 
 Fronche et henist, et regibe des pieds. 
 
 Roman de Garin. 
 
 On a similar plan are formed Lat. 
 frendere, fresujn {iox frensu7n), to make 
 angry noises, snarl, grind the teeth ; Fr. 
 frinson, a finch or twittering bird. And, 
 with an initial gr instead of fr, Du. 
 grinden, to snarl ; Fr. groncer, to roar 
 as the sea ; grincer, to grind the teeth ; 
 Du. grijnzen, to snarl, grumble, frown, 
 knit the brow ; It. grinza, a wrinkle. 
 
 Froward. on. frd, Dan. fra, from. 
 Fra top til taa, from top to toe. Ft'oward 
 then is from-ward, turned away from, 
 unfavourable, as to-ward, turned in the 
 direction of an object, favourably dis- 
 posed to it. ' Me turneth thet neb bhthe- 
 lich toiiward to thinge thet me luveth 
 
 FRUMENTY 
 
 z.ndfrommard to thinge thet me hateth.' 
 — Ancren Riwle, 254. One turns the" 
 face willingly toward to things that one 
 loveth, and froward to things that one 
 hateth. 
 
 Frowu. Immediately from Fr. fro- 
 gner (preserved in refrogner, to frown, 
 look sourly on — Cot.), which must origin- 
 ally have had the same signification as 
 It. grigttare, to snarl, Fr. grogner, to 
 grunt or grumble. Compare grognard, 
 grunting, also pouting or frowning. — Cot. 
 .E. dial, frine, to whimper ; Sw. dial. 
 frunna, to buzz ; frytia, to grin ; frtmten, 
 wrinkled ; frutt, angry, cross. 
 
 Frowsy. Probably a corruption of 
 foisty ox ftisty. Pl.D. fistrig, close, ill- 
 smelling, like a peasant's room. — Dan- 
 neil. 
 
 To Frub.— Fruggan. As frip and 
 frick are .found in the sense of light 
 movement to and fro, frub and frng 
 seem to represent movement of a heavier 
 nature. 
 
 Like many words beginning with/r, 
 or wr, frub passes into rub on the one 
 side, and fub on the other, w. rhwbio, 
 to rub ; N. fubba, to wriggle to and fro. 
 The root frug, in the same sense, has 
 many relatives in E. {friggle, wriggle, 
 &.C.), but appears most distinctly in It. 
 frugare, to wriggle up and down, rub, 
 burnish — Fl. ; to poke with a stick, to 
 sound, to fumble — Altieri ; and with in- 
 version of the r, in furegare, to fumble, 
 grope for, to sweep an oven ; furegone, a 
 groper, also a malkin or oven-sweeper. 
 Yr.fourgon, Y..fruggan,fruggin, an oven- 
 fork, by which fuel is put into an oven 
 and stirred when it is in it. — Cot. 
 
 From the same root we must derive 
 the Lat. firca, primarily an implement 
 for poking, and only incidentally one 
 with divided prongs. See Furbish. 
 
 Frugal. Lat. frux, pi. fruges, the 
 fruits of the earth, corn, &c., was applied 
 met. to what constitutes the worth of a 
 thing, to the fruits of a good life. Emer- 
 sisse aliquando, et se ad frugem bonam, 
 ut dicitur, recepisse. — Cic. Multa ad 
 bonam frugem ducentia in eo libro con- 
 tinentur. — Cell. Hence homo bonce frugis 
 or ho7no frugi, a man of worth, diligent, 
 serviceable, temperate, sober ; coena frugi, 
 a modest repast. Thtn frugalis, opposed 
 to waste, thrifty. 
 
 Fruit. — Fruition. Fr. fruit, Lat. 
 fructus; Ixonxfruor, fructus axydf-ttitus, 
 to enjoy. 
 
 Frumenty. — Furmenty. Fr. fru- 
 ment^e, furmenty (a kind of wheat gruel) . 
 
FRUMP 
 
 — Cot, Froment, \.^\.. frnmentum, wheat. 
 
 Frump. To flout, jeer or mock, taunt 
 or snub. — B. A contemptuous speech or 
 piece of conduct. — Nares. It also ex- 
 presses the ill temper of the person who 
 gives the frump. Frutnpy, fruinpish^ 
 peevish, froward ; frumpy a cross old 
 woman. — Hal. 
 
 The origin is the same as that of the 
 synonymous _;7t?//t/, viz. an imitation of the 
 pop or blurt with the mouth, expressive 
 of contempt or ill humour. The same 
 imitative syllable with a somewhat differ- 
 ent application is seen in Bret, fromma, 
 It. frojnbare, to whizz, while the radical 
 connection between the two ideas is shown 
 by It. frullare, to make a rumbling or 
 whizzing noise ; frulla, a flurt, lirp, phip 
 with one's fingers, a trifle, toy. — Fl. 
 
 Then as the mouth is screwed up in 
 thus giving vent to ill temper, the radical 
 imitation of the sound produced gives 
 rise to forms expressing screwing up the 
 mouth, wrinkling the nose, which are 
 afterwards extended to the idea of wrink- 
 ling, twisting, or contraction in general. 
 Du. wrempen^ wrhnpen, G. riimpfen, to 
 distort the mouth or make a wry face in 
 contempt ; Bav. rhnpfen, to shrink or 
 crumple, to twist as a worm, to wrinkle as 
 the skin of an old woman ; E. wrijnpicd, 
 crumpled ; frujnpie, to wrinkle, crumple, 
 ruffle — Hal. ; AS. hrympelle, a rumple, 
 fold ; E. rifnple, rumple, to wrinkle, 
 tumble, or throw into irregular folds. 
 
 As G. ru7npeln is to rumble or make a 
 rattling noise, E. rtimble, to make a low 
 broken noise, it is quite possible that 
 the sense of wrinkling may come direct 
 from that connection between the idea 
 of a broken surface and the image of a 
 broken sound, of which we have had so 
 many instances. See Frounce. 
 
 To Frush. From a direct representa- 
 tion of the noise of things breaking. Fr. 
 froisser, to crash, crush, knock, or clatter 
 together. — Cot. It.frusciare, to frush or 
 crush together. — Fl. 
 
 Frustrate. 'L2X. frustra, in vain. 
 
 Fry. Properly the spawn of fish, but 
 now applied to the young brood lately 
 spawned. Fr. fray, spawn of fish or 
 frogs. Goth. y^-rtzV, seed ; o^.friof,frid, 
 seed, Qg^ ; friofsa, to fecundate. 
 
 To Fry. From the sputtering noise 
 of things cooking in boiling grease, Lat. 
 frigere, Yx.frire, brire (Vocab. de Vaud.), 
 to fry. 
 
 Fub.— Fubsy. Fub, a plump child. — 
 B. A word of analogous formation to 
 bob J dab, dod, signifying a lump, anything 
 
 FULSOME 
 
 283 
 
 thick and short, from the noise of a lump 
 of something thrown on the ground. 
 Fiifnp, a slap, a blow — Hal. ; Da. dial. 
 fompe, a blow, a fat fleshy person ; fompei, 
 fat, fubsy ; fuddet, thick, and full in the 
 face. 
 
 To Fuddle. To make tipsy, to stupefy 
 with drink. A corruption oi fuzzle, to 
 TS\-2i^Q fitzzy , or indistinct with drink. 
 
 The first night having liberally taken his drink, 
 my fine scholar was so pisled that, &c. — ^Anat. 
 Melanch. 
 
 To fossle, vossle, to entangle, to con- 
 fuse business. — Cotswold Gl. 
 
 Pl.D. ficssig, fiiddig, raveled, fuzzy — 
 Brem. Wtb. ; fisslig, fiisslig, just tipsy 
 enough to speak indistinctly — Danneil ; 
 G. fasehi, to feaze, fuzz, ravel, to rave or 
 dote. — Kuttner. 
 
 Fudge. Fr. dial, fuche I feucJie ! like 
 E. pish I an interjection of contempt ; 
 who cares ! ' Picard, ta maison brijle. 
 Feiiche ! j'ai Tele dans m'poque ' — ■ 
 fudge ! I've the key in my pocket.— 
 Hdcart. From this interjection is the 
 vulgar Fr, se ficher d'lme chose, to disre- 
 gard it. Je m^enfiche, I pish at it, pooh- 
 pooh it, treat it with contempt. Fichez 
 le d la porte, bid him truss or trudge, 
 turn him out. Fichu, awkward, unac- 
 ceptable, absurd. // est fichu, he is gone 
 to pot. — Gattel. Precisely similar ex- 
 pressions are V\.T> . futsch ! begone ; datt 
 is futsch gao7i, gone to pot — Danneil ; 
 Swiss futsch werden, to fail, to come to 
 nothing. Bav. pfutsch ! expresses a rapid 
 instantaneous movement ; Swab, pfitzetty 
 to disappear. 
 
 Fuel. — Fewel. OYx. fouaille, M.Lat. 
 focale, firing, from focus, hearth, fireplace, 
 and thence It. fuoco, Sp. fuego, Fr. feu, 
 fire. Fouailler, the woodyard. — Roquef. 
 
 -fuge. — Fugitive. Lat. fiigio, Gr. 
 0£wyw, to fly, escape, avoid. Refuge, a 
 place to fly to. 
 
 Full. See Fill. 
 
 To Full.— Fuller. Lat. fullo, a fuller, 
 a dresser of cloth. It. follare, to full or 
 tuck woollen cloths, also to press or 
 crowd ; folia, a throng or crowd. Fr. 
 fouler, to tread or trample on ; fouller, to 
 full, or thicken cloth in a mill. Du. vollen, 
 to work and thicken cloth by stamping 
 on it in a trough (called voll-kont), with 
 water. — Kil. VoX.folowad, to full ; folusz, 
 a fuller. Serv. valyati (volutare), to roll 
 about, to full cloth. Russ, vaV, a roller, 
 cylinder ; valek'', a washing beetle ; val- 
 yat\ to roll, to throw down, to full cloth. 
 
 * Fulsome. Distasteful, loathsome, 
 luscious. — B. The derivation from ON. 
 
2S4 
 
 FUMADOES 
 
 fuiha, to show disgust, must be given up, 
 the earlier sense of the word being simply 
 fulfilling, satisfying, then satiating, cloy- 
 ing, sickening. 
 Thann were spacli spices spended al aboute 
 Fulsomeli at theful to eche freke thereinne, 
 And the wines therwith wich hem best liked. 
 William and the Werew. 1. 4324. 
 
 Fumadoes. Our pilchards salted and 
 dried in the smoke are so called in Spain 
 and Italy. — B. Transformed by the salt- 
 fish dealers into Fairmaids. 
 
 To Fumble. To handle a thing awk- 
 wardly. — B. See Famble. 
 
 Fume. A smoke or steam. Lat. 
 fianus, smoke. Hence to fume, to chafe 
 with anger, from the strong breathing of 
 anger. Wall, foumi sain pip, to smoke 
 without pipe, to be out of temper. 
 
 * Fun. Sport, game ; to fun, to cheat, 
 deceive. — Hal. OE. foti, Sw. fane, Da. 
 ^vA\..fjun, a fool. To fon, to make a fool 
 of, to make game of. * Soyn shalle we 
 fon hym.' — Towneley Myst., p. 94. ON. 
 fdna, to behave foolishly ; Sw. 6x3X.fanta, 
 fjatita, to play, sport, joke. The same 
 connection of ideas is seen in Fr. fol, 
 foolish ; folatre, sportive. The court fool 
 and jester was the same person. 
 
 -funct. — Function. 'L2X.fungor,fimc- 
 tus, to discharge, fulfil an office, commis- 
 sion, &c. Defimctus vita, having done 
 with life, dead. 
 
 Fundamental. — Fund. See To 
 Found. 
 
 Funeral. 'LdX. ftmus,funeris, a dead 
 body, the rites of burial. 
 
 Funk. I. A strong rank smell as that 
 of tobacco. — B. Properly an exhalation. 
 Lang.yz/^2, smoke. — Diet. Castr. Rouchi, 
 fimquer. Wall, funki, funker, to smoke, 
 funqueron (fumeron), imperfectly burnt 
 charcoal. Hence the metaphorical sense 
 of perturbation, fright. In de fonk ziin 
 (to be in a funk), in perturbatione esse. — 
 Kil. ' Si commen^a a soi fumer (began 
 to be disturbed), et couleur changier, et 
 se douta de,' &c. — c. nouv. nouv. xli. 
 
 2. Touchwood. — Hal. Properly a 
 spark, in the same way that spunk is used 
 both for spark and touchwood. Funke, 
 or lytylle fyre, igniculus. — Pr. Pm. Du. 
 voncke, a spark ; voncke, vonck-hout, 
 touchwood, tinder. 
 
 G.fmke, '^■diW.fiunken, a s,T^2Lrk,funkeln, 
 to sparkle, ixoia.flunkern,flinkern,flinken, 
 to glitter. 
 
 Funnel, i. An implement for pouring 
 liquids into a narrow orifice. Lat. infm- 
 dibulum, himous'm enfounii, Bret, founil, 
 from funde7'e, to pour. 
 
 FURL 
 
 * 2. A chimney-pipe, from the resem- 
 blance to a funnel for pouring. It is re- 
 markable that tunnel also is used in the 
 two senses. Toiinell, to fill wine with, 
 antonnoir. Tonnell of a chymney, tuyau. 
 — Palsgr. 
 
 Fur. The proper meaning of the word 
 is lining, and then the woolly skins of 
 animals used for lining clothes, the coat- 
 ing of planks with which the side of a 
 ship is lined, &c. It is a contracted form 
 from fodder, which in all the languages 
 of the Gothic stock is used in the double 
 sense of food, and case or lining. To 
 fodder a garment, to line it with cloth or 
 skins. — Junius. Goth, fodr, a sheath, 
 OHG. fuotar, a sheath, and fodder for 
 cattle ; O^.fodr, sheath, lining ; Du. voe- 
 der, fodder, sheath, lining, fur; voeyer, 
 fodder, lining. — Kil. So in the Romance 
 languages, It. fodero, fodder, sheath, lin- 
 ing ; Sp.forro, lining, sheathing. 
 
 The difficulty is to connect the two 
 meanings by a natural transition. Florio 
 regards the sense of victuals as the figur- 
 ative one. * Fodere, by metaphor used 
 among soldiers for victuals or provant, 
 serving as it were for a lining for their 
 bodies.' The same figure occurs in the 
 old song : 
 
 ' Then line your worn doublet with ale, Gaffer 
 Gray.' 
 
 But fodder in the sense of victuals is un- 
 doubtedly connected v^ith food, while phi- 
 lologists are quite at a loss for any de- 
 rivation of the word in the sense of a 
 sheath ; and the act of putting food into 
 the stomach might be taken as the type 
 of stowing away, placing within a recep- 
 tacle. Yr.fourrer, to put, thrust, or throw 
 into, to lodge in, or hide within a hollow 
 thing, hence to case, to sheath, to fur. — ■ 
 Cot. 
 
 * Furbelow. Yr.falbalas, Sp.farfald, 
 a flounce. Lyonnese farbela, fringe, 
 flounce, rag ; farbelousa, woman in rags, 
 beggar. The meaning seems to be some- 
 thing flapping to and fro. Central Fr. 
 friboler, barivoler, to flutter ; des rubans 
 barivolants ; une robe qui barivole. It. 
 farfalla, a butterfly, from its fluttering 
 flight. 
 
 To Furbish. Fr. foiirbir. It. forbire, 
 to frub, furbish, burnish. — Fl. See Frub. 
 
 To Furl. Also \.ofarthel—V>. ; farthel- 
 ling lines, the lines used in furling. From 
 tying up the sails in a faj-del, or truss. 
 Yx.fardeler, to truss, or pack up. The 
 Fr. fresler, to furl, may be taken back 
 again from ^.furl. 
 
FURLONG 
 
 Furlong'. A furrow-long, the length 
 of a furrow. 
 
 Furlough. Leave of absence given 
 to a soldier. Du. verlof, leave, permis- 
 sion. 
 
 Furnace. Fr. fournatse, It. fornace, 
 \jdX. ftirnus^ an oven. 
 
 To Furnish, li.fornire, to store with, 
 provide unto, finish. — Fl. Fr. enfourner, 
 to set in an oven, to begin, set in hand, 
 set on work ; parfournir, to perform, ac- 
 complish, fulfil, also to supply, furnish, 
 make up. — Cot. The thorough baking 
 of the loaf would thus seem to afford the 
 type from whence fornire acquires the 
 sense of finishing or completing. Lat. 
 furtiMs, an oven. Ordine est qe les tur- 
 ters ne diissent nul payn blaunk fayre 
 ne furnire. — Complaint of bakers of white 
 bread, 15 Ed. II. Lib. Alb. 2, 413. 
 
 Furrow. As. furh, G. ficrche, Lat. 
 porca. 
 
 Furze. Properly ^/frj, from the prickly 
 leaves common to the two kinds of plant. 
 Fyrrys, or quice-tree, or gorstys-tree, rus- 
 cus. Fyre, sharp brush {firre, whyn), sali- 
 unca. — Pr. Pm. Brosse, browzings for 
 deer, dlsoficr-bushes. — Fl. 
 
 To Fuse. -fuse. Lat. ftindo, fusu7n, 
 to pour, and thence to cast metal. E. 
 fuse, to melt metal for casting, to melt 
 or render liquid ; infusion, a solution in 
 liquid ; projuse, lavish, pouring out ; con- 
 fusion, a pouring together, making indis- 
 tinct. 
 
 * Fusee. — Fuse. From \.2i\..fusus, a 
 spindle. It. fuso,fusolo, a. spindle or spool 
 to spin with, also the shank or shaft of 
 anything, as of a dart or candlestick, the 
 shank of the leg, middle beam or post of 
 a crane or a tent, axle of a millstone or 
 of a wheel ; Yx.fuseau, a spindle, spool, 
 bobbin, axle of a grindstone ; fusee, a 
 spindlefull of thread, and from the re- 
 semblance of form, the fusee or conical 
 wheel round which the chain winds ; the 
 barrel or axletree of a crane (Cot.). Fusde 
 is also applied to certain pipe-shaped 
 hollows, as the fistula of an abscess, the 
 burrow of a fox, and it is under this 
 aspect that the term is applied to a squib 
 or rocket, a cylindrical case filled with 
 wildfire. Hence the fuse or fusee of a 
 bombshell, a pipe of slow burning powder 
 used to ignite the charge. It. fusolare, 
 to twirl or spin, to bore ordnance or 
 wooden pipes, to make rockets or squibs. 
 — Fl. Mod.Gr. ^vakjj, ^ucrgyytov, a squib, 
 cartridge, rocket. 
 
 Fusel oil. A fetid oil arising from 
 potato spirit. G. dial, (Fallersleben) 
 
 FUTTOCKS 
 
 2S5 
 
 fusseln,fisseln, to touch lightly with the 
 fingers ; Bav. fuseln, to trifle, dawdle, 
 piddle, work hastily and ill ; Tyrol fus- 
 lerei, fuselwerk, bad, useless work ; fusel- 
 obst, poor, small fruit. — Deutsch. Mund- 
 art. vol. V. Bav. fusel, bad brandy, bad 
 tobacco. 
 
 FusiL Yr. fusil, It. foci le, a fire steel 
 for a tinder-box, then the hammer of a 
 fire-lock, the fire-lock or gun itself. From 
 Mid. Lat. focus. It. fuoco, Fr. feu, fire. 
 ' E fu de kayloun itxX. fusil (a fire-hiren) :' 
 the steel strikes fire from flint. — Bibels- 
 worth. 
 
 Fuss. Swiss pfusen, to make a fizzing 
 noise like wind and water in violent mo- 
 tion ; aufpfuseit, of the working of fer- 
 mented liquors, metaphorically of one 
 breaking out in a passion. Sw.yfij, stir ; 
 gora mycket fias, to make a great stir ; 
 fidska, to fuss, to bustle, faire Faffaird, 
 I'empress^, etre inutilement actif. Dan. 
 di\2\. fioesseri, occupation with trifles. 
 
 Fustian. It. fustagno, Fr. fustaine. 
 Fusco-tincti, fustanie. — Neccham. Ac- 
 cording to Diez, from being brought from 
 Fostat or Fossat (Cairo) in Egypt. 
 
 * Fusty. Fr. fuste, a cask, fuste, 
 fusty, tasting of the cask, smelling of the 
 vessel wherein it has been kept. — Cot. 
 * I mowlde or fust as corne or brede 
 doth, je moisis.' — Palsgr. Then as it is 
 only a mouldy, unclean cask which gives 
 a taste to the liquor contained, fusty, 
 mouldy ; to fust, to grow mouldy — * the 
 fustiest that ever corrupted in such an 
 unswilled hogshead.' — Milton. *I mowlde 
 ox fust as corne or brede doth, je moisis.' 
 — Palsgr. From the similarity of sound 
 the word has been confounded v^'i^foisty 
 from a totally different origin. 
 
 -fute. Lat. confuto, to put to silence, 
 confute, repress ; refuto, to reject, refuse, 
 defeat. The old explanation from the 
 figure of pouring in a little cold water to 
 suppress the boiling of a pot is not satis- 
 factory. A rational foundation may be 
 found in the interj. phui, phu, or fu, ex- 
 pressive of contempt and rejection. Phu ! 
 in malam crucem. — Plaut. From corre- 
 sponding forms of the interj. are G. anp- 
 fuien, to cry fie on, to hoot — Kiittn. ; 
 Du. verfoeyen, despuere, vilipendere, con- 
 temnere, respuere — Kil. ; N. twia, tivitta, 
 to express reprobation by the interj. twi ! 
 
 Futile. Lat. fu tills (from fundo, to 
 pour), radically, apt to spill, leaky, what 
 is easily spilt, fragile, and met. ineffectual, 
 light, vain. 
 
 Futtocks. Not, as commonly ex- 
 plained, foot-hooks, but foot-stocks^ as 
 
286 
 
 FUZZ 
 
 shown in Florio's explanation of the 
 Italian term : stamifie, the upright ribs 
 of the inside of a ship, called foot-stocks 
 ox foot-sticks. 
 
 Fuzz. — Fuzzy. G. pfuschen^ Swiss 
 pfusen, pfsen, 'E.fizz, represent the sound 
 of water flying off from a hot surface, of 
 air and water in intimate mixture and 
 commotion. Hence fuzz^ having the 
 nature of things which fizz, a frothy, 
 spongy mass, a confused mixture of air 
 and water, as champagne foaming out of 
 
 GAD 
 
 a bottle. Prussian fosscn, fossern, to 
 fuzz or break up into a fuzz or spongy 
 mass of filaments. Fuzzy oxfozy turnips 
 {voose raepen — Kil.) are soft and spongy. 
 A fuzzy outline is woolly and indistinct. 
 Metaphorically to fuzz or fuzzle is to 
 confuse the head with drink, to muddle 
 with drink. * The University troop dined 
 with the Earl of Abingdon, and came 
 back 'wQ[\fuzzed.'—W 006. in Todd. See 
 
 Library. 
 
 Gab. — Gabble. Gabble represents a 
 loud importunate chattering, as the cry of 
 geese, rapid inarticulate talking. 
 
 Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud 
 
 Among the builders ; each to other calls, 
 
 Not understood, till hoarse, and all in rage, 
 
 As mocked they storm. — Milton. 
 
 In the same sense are used gabber 
 {]2ixti), jabber, gibber. Then passing from 
 the frequentative form (which in imitative 
 words is often the original) we have gab, 
 prating, fluent talking ; the gift of the gab, 
 the gift of talking. Gab is also in Sc. 
 and Dan. the mouth, the organ of speech. 
 Pol. geba, the mouth. 
 
 The' quotation from Milton shows the 
 natural transition from the notion of talk- 
 ing without meaning to that of mockery, 
 with which the idea of delusion and lying 
 is closely connected. Du. gabber en, to 
 joke, to trifle. — Kil. ON. gabba. It. gab- 
 bare, Fr. gaber, OE. gab, to mock, cheat, 
 lie. 
 
 Gabel. — Gavel. — Gale. Gabel, a rent, 
 custom, or duty. — B. It. gabella, a cus- 
 tom or imposition on goods ; Fr. gabelle, 
 any kind of impost, but especially applied 
 to the duty on salt. AS. gafol, gafel, tax, 
 tribute, rent. Mid. Lat. gabulu7n, gabluni, 
 gaulum,xent,\.diK. 'Oxford. Haicurbsred- 
 debat pro theolonio et gablo regi, &c.' — 
 Doomsday in Due. 'Villam — et totum 
 gaulum ejusdem villae.' — Charta Philippi 
 Com. Flandr., A.D. 11 76. The gavellerixx 
 the forest of Dean is the officer whose 
 business is to collect the mining dues. The 
 primary sense is doubtless rent paid for 
 the tenure of land. Gael, gabh, take, re- 
 ceive, seize, hold, whence gabhail, seizing, 
 taking, a lease, a tenure. — Armstrong. 
 VJ. gafael, a hold, gripe, grasp. As the 
 Gael, bh is often silent, gabhail becomes 
 
 gale, still used fortlie ta^mgof a mine in 
 the West of England. To gale a mine, 
 to acquire the right of working it — Hal. ; 
 and^<^/^ is the common word in Ireland 
 for a payment of rent, or for the rent due 
 at a certain term. 
 
 Gaberdine. A shepherd's coarse frock 
 or coat. — B. Yx.galvardine, galleverdine 
 (Pat. de Champ.), It. gavardina, Sp. 
 gabardina. 
 
 Gabion. A large basket used in forti- 
 fication. It. gabbia, a cage ; gabbione, a 
 great cage or gabion. See Gaol. 
 
 Gable. Goth, gibla, a pinnacle ; OHG. 
 gibili, gipili, front, head, top ; G. giebel, 
 the ridge or pointed end of a house ; ON. 
 gafl, the sharp end of a thing, as the prow 
 and poop of a boat, gable of a house. — 
 Gudm. Da. gavl, gable. 
 
 The origin is probably preserved in 
 Gael, gob, a beak, whence Manx gibbagh, 
 sharp-pointed ; Pol. dziob^ a beak, dziob- 
 ad, to peck. 
 
 Gaby. A simpleton, one who gapes 
 and stares with wonder. Da. gabe, to 
 gape, gabe paa, to stare at. N. gapa, to 
 gape, to stare, gap, a simpleton- So Fr. 
 badault, a fool, dolt, ass, from the old 
 form badare, to gape, to stare. Bret. 
 genou, the mouth ; genaoid, to open the 
 mouth like an idiot, to behave like a fool. 
 E. dial, to gauve, to stare ; gauvy, a 
 dunce ; gauvison, a young simpleton ; 
 gaiip, to gape or stare, gaups, a simple- 
 ton.— Hal. '■ 
 
 Gad. — Goad. — Gadfly. — To Gad. 
 Gad, 2l rod for fishing or measuring, pole, 
 tall slender person.— Hal. 'A gadde or 
 whip.' — Baret's Alv. Goad, an ell English. 
 — B. Goth, gazd, OHG. gart, stimulus ; 
 gardea, a rod, sceptre ; gertun, virgis, 
 flagellis. — Graff. 
 
GAFF 
 
 The loss of the r in gad and goad 
 (which differ only in the more or less 
 broad pronunciation of the vowel) con- 
 ceals the fundamental identity of the 
 word with G. gerte and E. yard. The 
 primitive meaning is a rod or switch, 
 probably from the sound of a blow with 
 such an implement. See Gird. Then, 
 as a cut with a flexible rod, or prick with 
 a pointed one, are equally efficient in 
 urging an animal forwards, the name is 
 extended to the implement used for either 
 purpose, and a goad is the pointed rod 
 used in driving bullocks. A further step 
 in abstraction gives N. gadd^ a prick, or 
 sharp point, Da. dial, gadd^ a prickle, 
 thorn of a tree, sting of an insect. Hence 
 '^.gad-fly, the fly \h2X goads or stings the 
 cattle, and thence again the verb to gad, 
 to go restlessly about, as cattle flying 
 from the attack of the gadfly. 
 
 A fierce loud buzzing breeze, their stings draw 
 
 blood, 
 And drive the cattle gadding through the wood. 
 
 Dryden , 
 
 So from It. asilo, assillo, a gadfly, a goad, 
 assilare, to be bitten with a horsefly, to 
 leap and skip as an ox or a horse bitten 
 by flies, to be wild or raging. — Fl. 
 
 Gaff. — Gaflie. These terms and their 
 equivalents in the related languages are 
 applied to different kinds of hooked or 
 forked instruments, which are classed 
 under a common name from their apti- 
 tude in seizing or holding fast. The 
 origin is preserved in Gael, gabh, take, 
 seize, whence gabhlach, forked ; gobhar, 
 a fork, a prop ; Jr. gobhlog, a hay fork, 
 a forked support for a house. W. gafael, 
 a hold, gripe, grasp ; gajl, a fork ; gajlach, 
 a fork, a lance. Lang, gafa, to take, to 
 seize ; gaf, gain, profit, also a hook. Sp. 
 gafar, to hook ; gafa, the gaffle or hooked 
 lever by which a crossbow was drawn up, 
 hooks for lowering casks. Dan. gaffel, 
 a fork, and nautically the gaff or prop 
 used in extending the upper corner of a 
 fore-and-aft sail, originally doubtless pro- 
 vided with a fork at the lower end, with 
 which it embraced and slid on the mast. 
 Gaffle, a dung-fork. — Hal. G. gabel, a 
 fork ; fleisch-gabel, a flesh-fork, flesh- 
 hook ; gabeln der weinreben, the ten- 
 drils of vines by which they lay hold of 
 the support ; gabel-anker, a cramp-iron 
 in architecture. Lith. kabe, kabele, a 
 hook ; kablys, a hook, snag, crooked 
 fork. 
 
 * Gaffer. — Gammer. A designation of 
 elderly people in humble life. From 
 grandfather^ grandmother, cut down in 
 
 GAIN 
 
 2S7 
 
 the w. of E. \.o gramfer, grammer . — Jen- 
 nings. The Fris. \y3js, faer for father.— 
 Outzen. Fin. fari (from the Norse), 
 father, grandfather, venerable old man. 
 N . moir, inor, 7noi, mother ; gummor, 
 gummer, gumma, grandmother . 
 
 Gag. The inarticulate noises made by 
 one endeavouring to speak, while suf- 
 fering impediments either from the im- 
 perfection of his own organs or from 
 external violence, are represented by the 
 syllables gag, gag. Swiss gaggen, gagseii, 
 to stutter, speak in an incoherent man- 
 ner ; Bret, gagii, gagoula, to stutter, gab- 
 ble ; Gael, gagach, stuttering. E. gag is 
 to cause one to make inarticulate guttural 
 noises, either by stopping the mouth or 
 external pressure. Gaggyn, to streyne 
 by the throte, suffoco. — Pr. Pm. Banff. 
 S^^S") S^^SS^^') to make a noise in the 
 throat as if choking. 
 
 Gage. Gr. gage, a pledge. See Wage. 
 
 Gag-tooth. A projecting tooth. — Hal. 
 ON. gagr, prominent. See Goggle. 
 
 Gail-clear. — Gyle-tub. Gail-clear, 
 gail-fat, a wort-tub ; guile (of ale or beer), 
 a brewing. — B. Gail-dish, a vessel used 
 in brewing ; gyle-tub, the vessel in which 
 the ale is worked. N. gil, ale in a state 
 of fermentation ; gil-kar, gil-saa, the tub 
 in which the wort ferments. Dn.ghijlen, 
 to boil, to effervesce ; gyl, gyl-bier, beer 
 in which the fermentation is going on. 
 T' bier staat in't gijl, the beer ferments. 
 — Halma. 
 
 Gain. i. It. giiadagnare, to gain ; 
 Prov. guaza7ih, gazanh, gaanh, gain, pro- 
 fit ; OFr. gaag?ier, Fr. gagJier, to gain. 
 
 The primary meaning of the word 
 seems to be labour, from whence to the 
 idea of gain the transition is obvious, in 
 accordance with the primeval warning, 
 In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt gain 
 thy bread. OFr. gaagner, to till the 
 ground, labour in one's caUing. — Roque- 
 fort. Gaigneur, a husbandman, labourer. 
 — Cot. In the same way N. vinna, to 
 labour, and also to win or gain. Walach. 
 loucrd, to work, do, complete ; loucrou, 
 labour, work, thing ; Lat. lucrum, gain. 
 
 The ultimate origin of the word is to 
 be found in the biblical metaphor by 
 which children are compared to branches. 
 Gael, gas, a bough, a young boy ; gasan, 
 a little branch, young man. Then, as in 
 the case of Lat. puer, we pass from the 
 sense of boy to that of servant. W. gwasy 
 gwasan, a youth, a servant, gwasan- 
 aeth, service ; Bret, gwaz, a man, vassal, 
 servant ; Prov. guazan, a vassal, guasan^ 
 dor, a cultivator. 
 
2S8 
 
 GAIN 
 
 A singular agreement is seen between 
 the Prov. forms and Turk. gazanj\ kasanj, 
 gain, profit, earnings ; gazanmek, kazan- 
 jiu'k, to gain, to earn. The puzzle is aug- 
 mented by the ON. gagn, gain, profit, 
 victory ; at gagna^ gag?iaz, to profit, to 
 avail, which must be traced to a totally 
 different origin from Fr. gagner^ notwith- 
 standing the striking identity both in 
 form and meaning. 
 
 Gain. 2. Gain (in composition) is G. 
 gegai, against, ON. gegtt, gc^g^^^ against, 
 through ; in composition, thoroughly, as 
 well as opposite, opposed to ; Dan. gien^ 
 Sw. gen^ gain, in return ; Bret, gin^ oppo- 
 site ; anil tii gin, the opposite side ; gin- 
 ouch-gin, directly opposite, explaining the 
 reduplicate form of G. gegen, N. gegn, E. 
 gain. 
 
 The sense of opposite readily melts into 
 that of direct, immediate, as the object 
 opposite is that with which we are in im- 
 mediate contact. Hence Sw. gen, gin, 
 direct, short ; genaste wdgen, the shortest 
 way, E. dial, the gainest way. Sw. genast, 
 directly, immediately ; gettt emot, gent 
 ofwerj over against, directly opposite ; 
 genwdg, Dan. gienvei, a short cut, way 
 leading directly through any intervening 
 obstacle, whence may be explained the 
 sense of through, belonging to ON. gagn, 
 igegnom, gegnt, Sw. geno?n, &c. 
 
 it is difficult to separate the fore- 
 going from Du. ghene, yon ; ghender, 
 ghinder, yonder ; ginds, out there, by 
 which the attention of the hearer is di- 
 rected to a certain object. The speaker 
 pronounces a word signifying ' opposite,' 
 ' before your eyes,' while he indicates the 
 object intended by a bodily gesture. AS. 
 gean, geon, gain (in composition), again ; 
 geond, through, over, as far as, beyond. 
 Geond to tham stane, up to the stone. 
 Hider and geond, hither and thither. 
 Geond feowertig daga, after forty days. 
 Fram geondan see, from beyond sea. 
 The effect of the syllable geott is to indi- 
 cate a position in time or space, separated 
 from the speaker by an interval of forty 
 days, an expanse of sea, &c. 
 
 Gain. 3. Gainly. Sc. to gane, or 
 gain, to belong to, to last, to suffice ; to 
 be fit or suitable. 
 
 For I brought as much white monie 
 
 As gane my men and me. — Border Minstrelsy. 
 
 The coat does na gane him, does not fit 
 him. A ganand price, a fit or becoming 
 price. Gain, gane, fit, useful, direct. — 
 Jam. Gain applied to things, is conve- 
 nient ; to persons, active, expert ; to a 
 way, short. — Ray. Gainly in like senses 
 
 GALE 
 
 is out of use, but we still have ungainly, 
 awkward, unhandy. 
 
 The immediate origin is ON. gegn, con- 
 venient, suitable, gegna, properly to meet, 
 then to answer, to fit, to suit. N. gjegna, 
 to meet, to set oneself against, turn one 
 back, also to be fitting or suitable. Datta 
 kann ikje gjegtia, that will not do, will 
 not answer. — Aasen. 
 
 Gait. See Gate. 
 
 Gaiter. Fr. guestre, gicetre j Bret. 
 gweltren, geltren. 
 
 Gala.— Regale. It. far gala, to be 
 merry, to eat and drink well ; regalare, to 
 feast, or entertain ; vestirse di gala, to 
 dress fine and gay ; gala, ornament, 
 finery, dress. Sp. dia di gala, a court 
 day, holiday. OFr. gale, good cheer, 
 jollity ; galer, to lead a joyous life. — 
 Roquef. 
 
 The origin is the metaphor by which a 
 person in a state of enjoyment is com- 
 pared to one swimming in an abundance 
 of good things, of which he can take at 
 pleasure. 
 
 I bathed still in bliss, I led a lordly life. ^ 
 Gascoigne. 
 Long thus he lived, slumbering in sweet delight 
 Bathing in Uquid joys his melted sprite. 
 
 Spenser, Britain's Ida. 
 
 Copenhagen is represented in the Danish 
 papers as swimming in a flood of delight. — 
 Times, Sept. 9, 1865. 
 
 It. guazzare, to wade, dabble, plash ; by 
 met. to lavish in good cheer ; guazzettare, 
 to wallow in good chear, to love to fare 
 daintily. — Fl. 
 
 Now It. gala signifies a bubble (see 
 Gall) ; andare a gala, galare, galleggiare, 
 to float ; galleggiare nel giubilo, as Fr. 
 nager dans lajoie, to give oneself up to 
 pleasure. So also dim. galluzza, gal- 
 lozzo, a water bubble, galluzzare, to float 
 as a bubble, to be in a high state of en- 
 joyment. By this not very obvious train 
 of thought, gala, a bubble, is taken as the 
 type of festivity and enjoyment. 
 
 Galaxy. Gr. -^cCKa ydXajcrog, milk, ya- 
 Xa^t'ae kvkXoq, Lat. galaxias, the milky 
 way. 
 
 Gale. Sc. gale-wind, gall-iJ^ind, a 
 gale, strong wind. — Jam. From N. galen, 
 angry, mad, raging. Ein galen storm, 
 eit gale ver, a furious storm. 
 
 The original figure may perhaps be be- 
 witched, foul weather got up by witch- 
 craft, from Ot^.gala, to sing, at gala gal- 
 dra, to recite charms ; galinn, bewitched, 
 beside oneself, mad. Galdr, charms, 
 witchcraft, is a derivative from the same 
 root, properly signifying song, as shown 
 
GALE 
 
 in hanagaldr, cockcrow. Hence galdra- 
 hrid^ storm brought on by witchcraft. 
 
 To Gale. To cry, make an outcry. 
 
 Now tellith forth and let the sompnour gale. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 ON. gala, to sing, to crow, exhibits the 
 origin of Lat. galhts, a cock, as well as of 
 nightingale, the bird that sings by night. 
 Dan. hanegal, cock-crow. 
 
 Gall. I. AS. gealla, from the yellow 
 colour. G. galle, gall ; gelb, yellow ; Pol. 
 zoic, gall ; zolty, yellow ; zolcic, to make 
 yellow ; Bohem. zhid, gall ; iluty, yellow. 
 Perhaps however the derivation may run 
 in the opposite direction, as 'LdX. fulvus, 
 yellow, seems derived from. /el, gall. 
 
 Gall. 2.— Wind-gall.— Gall-nut. g. 
 gall-apfel, an oak-apple, the light, round, 
 nut-like excrescence produced by insects 
 on different kinds of oak, and used for 
 ink, or in dyeing. 
 
 It. gala J galla, gallozza, galluzza, an 
 oak-gall. The original meaning is a 
 bubble, from the guggling sound of boil- 
 ing or bubbhng. water. This sound is re- 
 presented in Piedmontese by gogala, as 
 in E. ^y guggle; gogala, the bubbling up 
 of boiling water, or simply a water-bubble. 
 — Zalli. Valencian, bull d galls, it boils 
 in bubbles. — Dozy. Arab, gala, to boil. 
 Gael, goil, to boil ; Sc. giiller, or buller, 
 for the gurgling sound of water rushing 
 through a confined opening, belong to the 
 same imitative class. The It. diminu- 
 tives galluzza, gallozza, are commonly 
 used in the sense of a water-bubble, but 
 the simple form of the noun is used in the 
 same sense in the expression andare a 
 gala, stare a gala, to float on the water. 
 
 Then, as in other cases, where a bubble 
 is taken as the type of globular form, the 
 designation is transferred to a ball, round 
 lump, and especially to an oak-gall, from 
 its singular lightness, floating on the 
 water like a bubble. Pol. gala, galeczka, 
 galka, a ball ; galka muszkatalowa, a 
 nutmeg ; galas, a gall-nut ; Bohem. 
 halka, a knob, dubowa halka, an oak-gall 
 {dubowa, oak) ; Lith. galwa, head, boll 
 of flax, &:c., the dim. of which,, galwuze, 
 is nearly identical with It. galluzza. 
 Russ. galushka, a dumpling, lump of 
 meal ; Walach. galka, a gland, kernel in 
 the throat. Sp. galla, agalla, oak-gall, 
 gland in the throat, wind-gall, or elastic 
 tumour in a horse's leg. 
 
 Gall. 3. To gall, to make a sore 
 place, to rub off the skin. Fr. galler, to 
 gall, fret, itch, also to rub, scratch where 
 
 GALLANT 
 
 289 
 
 scab. In w. gwall, on. galli, the word 
 has the more general sense of a fault or 
 imperfection ; galladr, having some fault ; 
 Sw. gal en, faulty, bad, wrong. Rdtt eller 
 galet, right or wrong. Dan. gal, wrong, 
 ill, and provincially sore. Min fod ergal, 
 my foot is galled or sore. E. dial, gall, a 
 fault or imperfection, spring, or wet place 
 in a field, bare place in a crop, a sore 
 place. — Hal. 
 
 As under Bale we ventured the sug- 
 gestion that a boil or botch (on. bola, a 
 bubble, blister, boil) was taken as the 
 type of bodily illness, and thence of suf- 
 fering and evil in general, so the possi- 
 bility of a like origin for gall in the sense 
 of evil may be supported by the Piedm. 
 gogala, a bubble, gogala, gola, a bump 
 raised by a blow, often confounded with 
 a boil or blain. 
 
 Gallant. This word is used mainly in 
 two senses, ist, with the accent on the 
 first syllable, showy in dress, spirited, 
 brave in action, and 2nd, with the accent 
 on the second syllable, attentive to wo- 
 men. They may perhaps have different 
 origins. 
 
 The first of these senses is undoubtedly 
 from It. galano, quaint and gay in clothes, 
 brave and gallant in new fashions and 
 bravery ; galante, brave, handsome, 
 quaint, comely, gallant to the sight.— Fl. 
 Gallaunt,2, man fresh in apparel.— Palsgr. 
 in Way. The origin is gala, a state of 
 festivity or enjoyment, of which the deriv- 
 ative galano would naturally be applied 
 as well to the gayness of apparel as to the 
 high spirits characteristic of festivity. 
 It will be observed that brave was for- 
 merly used in the sense of handsomeness 
 of dress, though now^ like gallant, applied 
 to spirited action. 
 
 As a person courting a woman is natur- 
 ally attentive to dress, the second of the 
 senses above mentioned may be an inci- 
 dental application of the first. Sp.galdn, 
 gay, neat, well-dressed, lively, courtly, 
 especially with respect to ladies, a gen- 
 tleman in full dress, courtier, lover, wooer. 
 It is possible however that the double 
 fonn of the It. galano and galante may 
 arise from confusion of a different word, 
 the equivalent of Sc. callan, callant, a 
 youth. 
 
 And eik ane hundreth followis redy boun 
 Of young gallandis with purpure crestis rede, 
 Thare giltin gere made glittering every stede. 
 
 D.V. 
 
 Gael, gallan, a branch, a youth, tall or 
 
 it itcheth ; galle, an itching of the skin, handsome young man. Pol. galqz, Ptg. 
 dry scab or scurf.— Cot. \\..galla,m2CSi%Q,\ galho^ Sp. gajo, a branch, shoot. The 
 
 19 
 
290 
 
 GALLERY 
 
 designation of a youth on the same prin- 
 ciple from comparison to a branch is also 
 seen in Gael, ogaft^ a branch or twig, a 
 young man • oas, a stalk, bough, boy. 
 See Gain. 
 
 Gallery. The ordinary E. sense of a 
 balcony or upper stage within an apart- 
 ment, a place where the occupier is de- 
 fended by rails from falling, seems the 
 original one. Lang, gaiari^, the rails of 
 a staircase, balustrade or parapet, terrace 
 before a house. As access to the differ- 
 ent apartments of a house was commonly 
 given by a passage thus constructed, the 
 term was transferred to any passage or 
 long apartment. 
 
 Sw. galler, lattice, balustrade ; galler- 
 fonstr, a lattice window, jalousie, blind. 
 Possibly from an equivalent of Gael. 
 gallan, Ptg. galho, a branch, rod, shoot. 
 
 Galley, on. galley Sa, OSw. galeida, 
 galeja, Mid.Lat. galeida, galea, It. gal- 
 lera, a galley ; galleone, a galleon or 
 great galley ; galleotta, sl handsome big 
 galley — FL, a galliot. 
 
 Galleys are explained by William of 
 Tyre naves rostratce, and Dan. gallion 
 is the beak of a ship. Lith. gala^ end, 
 point, tip. 
 
 Galliard. — Goliard. Fr. gaillard, 
 lusty, frolick, jocund, gamesome, also 
 rash, or somewhat indiscreet by too much 
 jollity. — Cot. The primary type of jollity 
 is eating and drinking, an idea expressed 
 in caricature by a representation of the 
 sound of liquor pouring down the throat. 
 Swiss gudeln, guddeln, godeln, to shake 
 liquids in a vessel ; gudeln, gudern, gut- 
 teln, gutzeln, to guggle or pour out of a 
 narrow-necked vessel with a gurgling 
 noise. Hence Fr. godailler, It. gozzavi- 
 gliare, to guzzle, tipple, to make good 
 cheer. In the same way from the same 
 sound, as represented by Piedm. gogala, 
 bubble, boiling of water, E. guggle, is pro- 
 duced Swiss guggeln, to tipple ; frolich 
 und g'dgel — Hans Sachs ; Fr. gogaille, 
 merrymaking, frolic ; faire gogaille, to 
 make merry, to drink merrily. From the 
 former half of this word is formed gogtces, 
 jollity ; itre en ses gogues, to be frolick, 
 lusty, in a merry mood ; goguer, gogayer, 
 to make good cheer, take his pleasure ; 
 while the latter half seems to give rise to 
 the term gaillard, one making merry, en- 
 joying himself, a good fellow. 
 
 The word is closely allied in form and 
 meaning with the OE. goliard, a loose 
 companion, from Fr. goulard, goliard, a 
 gully-gut, greedy feeder — Cot. ; bouffon, 
 glouton, mauvais sujet ; goulardise, rail- 
 
 GALLON 
 
 lerie, plaisanterie — Roquef. ; gottlu, glut- 
 tonous ; goulde, a mouthful ; Lat. gula, 
 the throat, gluttony ; gulo, a glutton ; all 
 originally from the sound of liquid pour- 
 ing down the throat. See Gala, where 
 the idea of merrymaking is deduced from 
 the same radical image by a different 
 figure. 
 
 Galligaskins. Fr. Greguesque, Greek ; 
 chausses d la Garguesgue, gregs or gallo- 
 gaskins ; greguesques, slops, gregs, gallo- 
 gascoines, venitians ; gregues, wide slops, 
 gallogascoins, great Gascon or Spanish 
 hose. — Cot. The reference to Gascon is 
 a piece of mistaken etymology. The 
 word is simply a corruption of Gregues- 
 ques, Grecians, Greguesque, garguesque, 
 galguesque, galligaskes. 
 
 Gallimawfry. Fr. gallimafrie, a 
 hodge-podge, dish made of remnants 
 chopped up. Probably lengthened out 
 from a form like glamafrde, or glamfre'e, 
 representing a confused sound, analo- 
 gous to Sc. clamjanifry, nonsensical talk, 
 trumpery, tag-rag-and-bobtail. Gael. 
 glam, bawl, cry out ; glamaireachd, con- 
 tinued bablDling, making a noise ; clam- 
 ras, clamhras, brawling. 
 
 Gallinaceous. Lat. gallina, a hen. 
 
 Gallipot. — Galley-tile. Du. gley, 
 clay ; gley-pot, earthen pot, vessel of 
 earthenware, galli-pot. ^o galley-tile, -an 
 earthenware tile. 
 
 About the year 1570, I. Andries and I. Jan- 
 son, potters, came from Antwerp and settled in 
 Norwich, where they followed their trade, making 
 galley-tiles and apothecaries vessels [gallipots] 
 — Stow. 
 
 Gallon. Fr. jalle, jaille, jale, jalie, an 
 earthen jar, bowl, tub. This must have 
 been pronounced in some dialects gale, 
 the hard and soft g frequently inter- 
 changing, as vsxgalet zx^dijalet, a pebble, 
 gambe and jambe, a leg, E. garden, and 
 Fr. jardin, &:c. The evidence of such a 
 change in the present instance is left in 
 galot, a pitcher— H^cart ; OFr. galon, a 
 gallon ; galoie, identical with jalaie, a 
 measure of wine, a soe, a tub. — Cot, 
 Gallon is also written jalon in Fleta, 
 'Pondus octo librarum frumenti facit 
 m&ns\xx2cccijalonis, et 8 jalonaice frumenti 
 faciunt bussellum.'— Due. The original 
 sense of the simple word seems to have 
 been a bowl ; jale de cervoise, a bowl of 
 ale ; and we learn from Carpentier that 
 it was also applied to a solid bowl or ball. 
 ' Le jeu de boules que Ton nomme (en 
 Boulenois) le jeu de jales' — a.d. 1453. 
 If then we were formerly right in tracing 
 bowl or boll to bulla, a bubble, it is pro- 
 
GALLOON 
 
 bable that jale or gale^ a bowl, must be 
 identified with Pol. gala, galka, a ball, 
 It. gala, a bubble, an oak-gall. See Gall, 
 Gala. The Fr. gal, gale t, ox jalet, a peb- 
 ble, a little round stone, galet, a cake (a 
 round lump of dough), are other applica- 
 tions of the same root. 
 
 Galloon. We have, under Gala, traced 
 the process by which that word came to 
 signify festivity. Hence it was in It. 
 transferred to the ornaments of a festive 
 occasion, such puffs, knots, or roses of 
 lawn or tiffany, or ribbons, as women 
 wear on their heads and breasts — 
 Florio ; ' now-a-days used,' he adds, 
 * for all manner of gallantness or garish- 
 ness in ornaments and apparel that is 
 fair to look on and yet not costly.' In 
 French the derivatives galon, galant are 
 used in the same sense. Galonner les 
 cheveux, to deck the hair, to ornament it 
 with lace or ribbons ; galender, orner, 
 couronner. — Pat. de Champ. Ribbons 
 used to ornament the hair or dress were 
 called galon, or galant^ — Trevoux . At a 
 later period the term was appropriated to 
 gold or silver lace, the most showy mate- 
 rial of which such ornaments were made, 
 and hence E. galloon . 
 
 Gallop. Fr. gallopper; Fland. wa- 
 hppe, vliegh-waloppe, a gallop. — Kil. E. 
 dial, wallop, gallop. The name is taken 
 from the sound made by a horse gallop- 
 ing compared to the walloping or boiling 
 of a pot. So natural is the comparison 
 that it is taken in the converse order to 
 express a complete state of ebullition, 
 when the bubbles are thrown up in rapid 
 succession and the pot is said to boil a 
 gallop. ' Rien que de I'entendre galoper 
 dans le poele on comprenait qu'il gelait 
 a pierre.' — Le Blocus 
 
 To Gallow.— Gaily. To terrify. AS. 
 agCBlwan, agcellan. Tha wearth ic agel- 
 wed and swithe afaered. Then was I 
 terrified and sore afeared. — Boethius. 
 
 Gallows. Goth, galga, on. galgi, 
 OHG. galgo, cross, execution-tree, gallows. 
 As the earliest gallows would be the 
 I branch of a tree the word has been con- 
 i nected with Pol. galq,2, Boh. haluz, Magy. 
 gaily, Gael, gallan, a branch. So in the 
 Salic law, ad ramum incrocare, to hang ; 
 ramatus, hanged. Pol. Na galezi zlod- 
 zieja ! to the (bough) gallows with the 
 thief ! We have the same expression in 
 the Kentish proverb, The father to the 
 bough, the son to the plough. 
 
 Another origin of the word may be 
 suggested in the Russ. glagol, the letter 
 r (so called from being the first letter of 
 
 GAMBISON 
 
 291 
 
 glagol, a word), and from the form of the 
 letter, a gibbet or crane. 
 
 Braces are in some parts of England 
 called gallows, as in G. (Fallersleben) 
 hdngels, as the implement by which the 
 trowsers hang. 
 
 Galosh. — Galage. Originally a wooden 
 sole fastened by a strap to the foot. Solea, 
 a shoe called a galage or paten, which 
 hath nothing on the fete but only la- 
 chettes. — Elyot in Way. Galache, ga- 
 legge, galoche, undersolynge of mannys 
 fote, crepita. — Pr. Pm. A corruption of 
 E. clog {gloc, a log — Pat. de Champ.), or 
 the equivalent Fr. claque, a kind of clog 
 or patten worn in wet and dirt (Gattel), 
 the pronunciation being softened by the 
 insertion of an a between the g and /, as 
 in galley-pot, from gley-pot, and in other 
 cases. In the same way from G. klots, a 
 log, ' cloczen, calotzchen, vel fuss-solchen 
 qui induuntur in hyeme (Mod.G. klotz- 
 schuh), crepida.' — Dief Supp. The Mid. 
 Lat. calopodium seems formed in the 
 same way from Du. klopper, a clog, with 
 a blundering introduction of the Gr. pod, 
 foot. Calopodium, holz-schuoch, klompe. 
 Calopijiex, holz-schumacher. — Dief. Supp. 
 
 Gamashes. — Gambadoes. From w^. 
 gar, the shank, is Lang, garamacho, a 
 legging, and thence (rather than from It. 
 ganiba, the leg). It. gamascie {iox grainas- 
 cie, as Sc. gramashes — Jam.), Fr. ga- 
 maches, E. gamashes, spatterdashes. The 
 corruption to gambages probably took 
 effect under the supposition of a deriva- 
 tion from Yr.jambe, It. gambe. A further 
 corruption converted gambages into gam- 
 badoes. 
 
 Gambison. OFr. gamboison, gambe- 
 son, wambais, a wadded coat or frock 
 worn under a coat of mail or sometimes 
 alone, as armour of defence. Armati re- 
 putabantur qui galeas ferreas in capitibus 
 habebant et qui wambasia, id est tunicam 
 spissam ex lino et stuppa et veteribus 
 pannis consutam, &c. — Chron. de Colmar 
 in Diet. Etym. G. wamms, a doublet. 
 Commonly derived from OHG. wamba, 
 the wame or belly, as signifying a defence 
 for the belly ; but this explanation is 
 founded on too narrow a meaning of the 
 word, which was applied to other wadded 
 structures as well as a body-coat. Ray- 
 mond des Agiles in his history of the 
 siege of Jerusalem mentions that the walls 
 were protected against the machines of 
 the besiegers by mattresses, ' culcitra de 
 gambasio.^ In a bull of Innocent IV. the 
 name is given to a wadded rug. * Abbates 
 quoque in dormitorio cum aliis super 
 19 » 
 
292 
 
 GAMBLE 
 
 wajnbitios jaceant.' — 'Tunicas ga7nbesa- 
 tas sive gambesones' * Une seWc—gam- 
 fioisi^e.'— Carp. * Cotes, houppelandes 
 gamboisUcs. ' — Due. 
 
 The word is in fact a simple adoption 
 of the Gr. ^afifiuKiov or ^a^L^aKivov, a 
 fabric stuffed with cotton, the Gr. /3, pro- 
 nounced like a ?/, being rendered in the 
 Western languages sometimes by b and 
 sometimes by w, passing into g. The 
 latter mode of writing gave rise to wam- 
 dasia, gatnbeso, and similar forms, while 
 the former produced It. bambasina, bani- 
 bacina^ any bumbaste in stuff or cloth 
 (i. e. any stuff wadded with bumbaste or 
 cotton). — Fl. Now bortibicinium, like 
 gamboisofi, was specially applied to a 
 wadded jacket. * Bombicinium, pourpoin 
 vel aqueton, — pourpoinz fait de coton.' — 
 Gloss, in Carp, 'Ab hoc nomine quod 
 est bumbace dicitur bwnbacijmm, quod est 
 gallice pourpoinz.'— John de Garlandii. 
 It should be observed that the synon- 
 ymous hacqueton^ Fr. aiiqiieton^ hoqueton^ 
 Prov. alcoto, is named in the same way 
 from the cotton with which it is stuffed. 
 
 Even without reference to the ambigu- 
 ous nature of the Gr. /3, an initial b and 
 g often interchange, as Fr. busart, Prov. 
 gusart, a buzzard ; G. belfern and gelfern, 
 to bellow ; Sp. bazofia and gazqfia, offal ; 
 Sc. builer and guller, to make a bub- 
 bling sound. 
 
 Gamble. —Gambol. — Game. It is 
 impossible to separate these words, al- 
 though ^^w<^<7/ has probably come through 
 a French channel, and gamble from a 
 Saxon ancestry. 
 
 The radical image is that of a sudden 
 and rapid movement to and fro, jumping, 
 springing; then the state of excited 
 spirits which spends itself in muscular 
 exertion, and is witnessed by such expres- 
 sions as G. vor freuden hiipfen, E. to jump 
 for joy. Thus the expression for jumping 
 is applied to joy, sport, merrymaking, 
 amusement, and as the two main resources 
 of amusement in an uncultivated state of 
 society are the pursuit of wild animals, 
 and the indulgence of the passion for 
 gain, afforded by the staking of valuables 
 on concerted issues of skill or hazard, the 
 name of sport or game is emphatically 
 given to these two kinds of pastime, the 
 term game, in the case of the chase, being 
 accidentally confined to the object of 
 pursuit. 
 
 The root kip, gip, gib, in the sense of a 
 sudden movement, is widely spread, w. 
 ciP-,ysgip, a sudden snatch, pull, or effort ; 
 Gael, sgiab^ a quick or sudden movement, 
 
 snatch, or pull ; E. skip, a sudden jump, 
 a word intimately connected with the idea 
 of sportfulness and play. 
 
 Then all their gladness doth begin, 
 
 And then their skips and then their play ; 
 
 So falls their sadness all away. • 
 
 Uncertain Authors in R. 
 
 Again we have E. gib, or jib, to start 
 suddenly backwards ; OFr. regiber, to 
 wince or kick ; giber, se debattre des 
 pieds et des mains, s'agiter, lutter — 
 Roquef , to play— Pat. de Champ. ; degi- 
 bier, agitare se festive, oblectare se ; 
 gibder, giboyer, to play or sport. * Et 
 quant le enf^s fu venuz de gibeier et de 
 jouer.' — Due. Then as hawking was for- 
 merly the sport par excellence of gentle- 
 men, the term was chiefly applied to that 
 exercise, and the modern gibier, while it 
 has ceased to signify the actual pursuit, 
 is used, as E. game, to designate the pro- 
 duce of the chase. 
 
 The nasalisation of the vowel in the 
 modern regimber,to kick, brings us nearer 
 our principal mark. Lang, ghimba, to 
 jump ; jhimbela, to tumble ; Da. dial. 
 gimpe, to rock, to swing. Sw. guppa, to 
 rock or pitch, to tilt or strike up, and with 
 the nasal, Dan. gumpa, skumpe, to jog, to 
 jolt. Swiss gampen, to rock, to see-saw ; 
 gampiross, a rocking-horse ; gamp-brun- 
 nen, a draw-well ; gdmpfeii, to shake or 
 joggle ; gumpen, to jump. Bav. gampen, 
 gumpen, to jump, hop, sport. ' Mit e' 
 lar'n wampm is net gued gampen.^ It is 
 hard to be merry with an empty belly. 
 Game I, mirth, sport, enjoyment ; gdm- 
 liche leute, gumpeliite, persons diverting 
 themselves or others, gamblers, players. 
 *■ T>\e gumpeliite, gyger und tamburer:' — 
 players, fiddlers, and tabourers. ' Loter 
 und gumpelliite : ' — idlepaeks and merry- 
 makers. — Sehm. Swiss gammel, merry- 
 making, noisy enjoyment ; gammeht, to 
 make merry, sport, romp ; gammler, 
 merrymakers. The Swiss and Bav. forms 
 are obviously identical with E. gamblers, 
 properly merrymakers, but used in a bad 
 sense. 
 
 The simple form game is found in 
 OFris. in the sense of joy. 'Alsa dede 
 God use hera ena grata gama:' — thus 
 God our Lord did us a great joy. — Rieht- 
 hofen. AS. gaman, merrymaking, sport. 
 Sw. ganiman, joy. 
 
 The Fr. gambiller, to leap, dance, limp 
 — Roquef., is essentially the same word 
 with E. gamble, but used in the original 
 instead of the figurative sense. It is 
 always supposed, very naturally, to be 
 derived from It. gamba, Fr. jambe, the 
 
GAMMON 
 
 leg, and there can be no doubt of the di- 
 rect relation between the two, but the 
 connection through the Lang, jhimbela, 
 to tumble, ghimba, to jump, with Fr. re- 
 gitnber, regiber, to kick, and E. gib, shows 
 that the derivation must lie in the oppo- 
 site direction. In the same way from Fr. 
 giguer, to run, jump, skip, ^-jig (a closely- 
 alUed root with the foregoing jib), is 
 formed gigue, gige, the thigh ; from gigo^ 
 ter, to shake one's legs, jump about— 
 Boyer, gigot, a leg of mutton. 
 
 Even It. gambata (Fr. gavtbade, OE- 
 gambaud, gajnbauld, gambold, ganibot) is 
 probably direct from an equivalent of the 
 Bav. gampen, to jump, and not from 
 gajnba. Gambade, a gambol, yew-game, 
 tumbling trick. — Cot. 
 
 Gammon, i. A vulgar exclamation 
 signifying nonsense ! you are joking ! 
 Obviously identical with Dan. ganwten, 
 sport ; and singularly enough the word is 
 used interjectionally in Fris. precisely as 
 in E., although not preserved in the for- 
 mer language in the sense of sport. 
 Gammen / interjection of contempt. — 
 Epkema. See Gamble. It. gamba! is 
 also used for tush ! pish ! in mockery, to 
 signify that one is very far from the mark 
 in what he is saying. — Fl. 
 
 2. It. gamba, a leg ; gambone, any great 
 leg, thigh, giget, gammon or pestle, viz, 
 of a beast. — Fl. Fr. jambon, a gammon 
 — Cot. ; a ham or thigh of cured pork. 
 
 The It. gamba is commonly derived 
 from W., Gael, cam. It. ghe7nbo, crooked, 
 Fr. gainbir, to crook ; but crookedness 
 does not seem a likely characteristic 
 from whence to take the designation of a 
 limb like the leg. It would rather be 
 named from its most energetic action, 
 jumping or springing ; Bav. gampen, 
 gu7npe7t, to jump or spring. — Schm. See 
 Gambol. 
 
 Gamut. — Gamma. Fr. gamme, the 
 musical scale. Said to be derived from 
 gamma, the Greek name of the letter P, 
 used in denoting the notes of the scale, 
 but the accounts of the reason why this 
 letter was adopted for the purpose are 
 confused and contradictory, and why the 
 Greek name should have been used at all 
 is not explained. 
 
 The real origin is in all probability the 
 Fr. game or gamme, a chime of bells, 
 which would supply the most familiar 
 example of the musical scale. ' I chyme 
 as a chyme doth at a certayne houre. Je 
 Sonne la gamme.^ — Palsgr. The addition 
 of the final ut in gamut arose from the 
 
 GAOL 
 
 293 
 
 use of that syllable to mark the first note 
 of the scale. 
 
 The ultimate origin is the representa- 
 tion of a clanging sound by the syllable 
 glam, gain, or the like. N. glam, clang ; 
 glamhul, window in a belfry to allow the 
 sound to spread ; It. gdume, the shrill- 
 sounding note of a huntsman — Fl. ; 
 Esthon. kummama. Fin. kommata, Gr. 
 KOfiTTeiv, to clang ; It. camp ana, a bell. 
 
 To Ganch. A way of executing male- 
 factors by throwing them from a height 
 on a sharp stake or hook. Turk, kanja. 
 It. gancio, a hook ; inganzare, to torture 
 in the Turkish fashion. — Fl. 
 
 Gander. — Goose, g. gans,ganserich; 
 P1,D. goos, gante J Du. ganse, ganser, or 
 gaiiserick J Pol. g^s, g^sior, goose and 
 gander respectively. Lat. anser, Gr. xhv, 
 goose. Lith. giiz / guz / cry to call 
 geese. 
 
 Gang. See Go. 
 
 Gangrene. Gr. ydyypaiva, whence Lat. 
 gangrcena. 
 
 Gannet. The Solan goose. AS. ganoia, 
 the wild-goose ; ganotes bceth, the sea. 
 The application to a particular species, 
 as the Solan goose, is a modern refine- 
 ment. ' Habuit etiam beatus Leudomirus 
 culturam saepe ab avibus, qui Ganitce 
 vocantur, depastam.' — Carp. It is cer- 
 tain that no damage was ever done to 
 corn by Solan geese. 
 
 Gantlet. — Gauntlet. Fr. gantelet, an 
 iron glove ; gant, \\..^uanto^ ON. vottr, a 
 glove. 
 
 In the phrase to run the gauntlet the 
 word is a corruption of gantelope, arising 
 from the possibility of thus giving mean- 
 ing to the term in E. ears, under the sup- 
 position that the punishment consisted in 
 a blow from the gauntleted hand of each 
 of a lane of soldiers through which the 
 criminal was made to pass. But the blow 
 was always given with a rod, as appears 
 in the G. durch die spiess-ruthen laufett 
 {spitz- or spiess-ruthe, a switch) ; Fr. 
 passer par les verges. To run the gajtt- 
 let or gantelope, to run through a com- 
 pany of soldiers standing on each side, 
 jnaking a lane, with each a switch in his 
 hand to scourge the criminal. — B. ON. 
 gata, a lane ; gatagei'a, skapa einum gbtUy 
 to make one run the gantlet. — Fritzner. 
 
 The punishment was probably made 
 known to us from the wars of Gustavus 
 Adolphus, as the expression is pure 
 Swedish ; ISpa gatlopp, from gata, a 
 street, or, in military language, a line of 
 soldiers, and lopp, course. 
 
 Gaol. It. gabbia, gaiola (for gabbiold) , 
 
294 
 
 GAPE 
 
 a cage ; Sp. gavia, a cell for mad per- 
 sons ; gayoia, jaula, a cage, a cell for 
 mad persons ; Fr. g^ole, a cage for birds, 
 a gaol or prison. Lat. cavea, a cage. 
 The origin seems Gael, gabh, to take, 
 seize, make prisoner, hold or contain ; 
 gabhar^ a gaol. — Armstrong. Ir. gab- 
 /la'il, to take, make prisoner, bind in 
 fetters ; gabha?in, a gaol, a pound for 
 cattle. 
 
 To Gape. — Gap. It may be doubtful 
 whether the more complete form of the 
 word be not glape, in accordance with 
 G. glaffen, compared with gqffen, to gape, 
 to stare ; ON. glapa, to stare ; gapa, to 
 gape ; N. glap, gap, a gap or passage. 
 E. dial, ghp, to stare. — Hal. Evidence 
 of the fuller form remains in Chaucer's 
 gaip, corresponding to glap as E. yelp to 
 Fr. glapir, or as N. pilka to the synon- 
 ymous ///>^/^«, to pluck. See Gare. 
 
 Pol. gapid si^, to gape. 
 
 To Gar. To make one do a thing. 
 ON. gera, gora, to make or do. Bret, gra, 
 do, affair, business. 
 
 Garb. Formerly applied to the mode 
 of doing anything, but latterly confined to 
 the fashion of dress. 
 
 * The garb and fashion of his conversa- 
 tion' — Scott in R. Sp., Cat. ^^r*^^, grace, 
 air with which a thing is done ; It. garbo, 
 comeliness, behaviour, carriage — Altieri ; 
 Fr. garbe, gracefulness, good fashion. — 
 Cot. The primary meaning is simply 
 fashion, the make or shape of a thing, 
 then the right shape, agreeable fashion. 
 The primary sense is preserved in It. 
 garbo, gaf-batura, the curvature or make 
 of a thing ; garbato di nave, the model of 
 a ship. OHG. Garawiy ornament, pre- 
 paration, dress, habitus, cultus ; wib- 
 garawi, mundus muliebris, feminine 
 habiliments ; wig-garawi, habiliments of 
 war ; garawjan, to prepare ; AS. gearwa, 
 preparation, clothing, gear. 
 
 Garbage. Refuse, waste. ' *Tara, the 
 tare, waste, or garbish of any ware or 
 merchandise.' — Fl. The guts of an ani- 
 mal killed for food. 
 
 To Garble. To cleanse from dross 
 and dust. Sp. garbillo, a coarse sieve ; 
 garbillare, to garble, to sift, to separate 
 the bad from the good. — Neum. Garbled 
 evidence is when we select what suits our 
 purpose and suppress the rest. Venet. 
 garbelo, Sp. garbillo, Arab, alghirbdl, 
 algarbdl, Ptg. alvarral (Dozy), a sieve. 
 On the other hand the word may be from 
 It. crivello, crivo, Lat. cribrum, a sieve. 
 
 There is so much analogy between the 
 processes of sifting and combing that we 
 
 GARE 
 
 may confidently connect the foregoing 
 fomis with w. crib, a comb, a wool-card ; 
 cribin, a hay-rake ; Bret, cribin, a heckle 
 or toothed instrument for dressing flax ; 
 cribel, a. cock's-comb ; scrivel, a curry- 
 comb ; Bohem. hreb, a nail ; h^ebeji, Pol. 
 grzebien, a comb. The radical image is 
 shown in Pol. grzebad, to scratch ; Gael. 
 sgriob, to scrape, scratch, curry, agreeing 
 with the foregoing forms with a thin 
 vowel ; while w. crafu, to scrape or 
 scratch (giving rise to crafell, ysgj-afell, a 
 curry-comb), more exactly accounts for 
 those with a broad vowel, like It. garbel- 
 lare, to sift, or Lat. carminare^ to card 
 wool. 
 
 Garboil. It. garbuglio, embroilment, 
 confusion ; Fr. garbouil, hurliburly, great 
 stir, horrible rumbling. — Cot. The word 
 is originally framed to represent the dash- 
 ing of water, lying midway between Fr. 
 gargouille, a water-bubble, and barbouil- 
 ler, to blot, bedash all over, to jumble, 
 confound, mingle ill-favouredly ; It. bar- 
 boglio, a tumultuous hurlyburly, any con- 
 fused or clattering noise. In imitative 
 words of this nature an initial b and g in- 
 terchange with great facility. Lang, gar- 
 gala as well as barbala, to boil. Grisons, 
 garhigliar, inbarbiigliar, to confuse, en- 
 tangle ; garbiiigl, barbiigl, confusion. 
 
 Garden. It. giardino, Fr. jardin, G. 
 garteii, Du. gaerde, a garden. Bav. der 
 garten, OHG. garto, a garden, yard, in- 
 closed place. Holzgarlen, wood-yard ; 
 scefgartun (navalibus), ship-yard ; hop- 
 fengarten, hop-garden, hop-yard. See 
 Yard. 
 
 To Gare. — Gaure. — Garish. — Gaze. 
 OE. gare ox gaure, to stare ; whence gar- 
 ish, staring, glaring, showy. 
 
 With fifty garing heads a monstrous dragon 
 
 stands upright. — Phaer in R. 
 Doun fro the castel cometh ther many a wight 
 Togatirin on this ship, and on Custance. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Fr. garer, to ware, beware, take heed of ; 
 Gure / Look out ! Out of the way ! 
 
 To gaze and gare are modified forms, 
 differing only as Du. vriesen and vriet-en^ 
 to freeze, verliesen and verlieren, to lose, 
 kiesen and kieren, to choose — Kil. ; or 
 as Dan. glas and glar, glass. And here 
 indeed we have a clue to the relations of 
 the E. terms. The characteristic feature 
 of glass is its transparency, and the ra- 
 dical meaning of the word is doubtless to 
 shine, of which we have evidence in the 
 provincial glaze-worm, synonymous with 
 glare-wo7'm, glow-worm — Hal. ; glasyn, 
 or make a thing to shine, polio. — Pr. Pm. 
 
GARGLE 
 
 Thus glass would originally be that which 
 allows the light to shine through, a sense 
 actually preserved in N. glas, a window ; 
 glisa, glira, to shine through, to be open 
 so as to let one see through. The point 
 of view is then changed from the object 
 which emits the light to the organ which 
 receives it, and the expression for shining 
 is transferred to the act of gazing or 
 staring. Thus we have N. glosa, to gaze, 
 or stare ; glora (as E, glare), to glitter 
 (explaining Lat. gloria), and also to stare; 
 Russ. glaz\ eye ; glazy af, to stare. Swiss 
 glds-auge, a staring eye. E. dial, glowre, 
 glore, to stare. Swiss glare, to stare ; 
 glarig, conspicuous, garish, glaring. — 
 Idioticon Bernense in Deutsch. Mundart. 
 
 Now the instances are very numerous 
 where words beginning with gl or cl are 
 accompanied by parallel forms without 
 the liquid, whether we suppose the / to 
 be lost in the one case, or to be inserted 
 in the other, or whether they have arisen 
 independently from direct imitation. Thus 
 we have clatter and chatter; clack and 
 chack; clink and chink; Sc. clatch and 
 catch; Sc. glaum, NE. goam, to snatch at 
 a thing ; Dan. glamse, as well as gamse, 
 to snap at — Haldorsen in v. glepsa ; N. 
 glana, to stare, E. gane, to gape or yawn ; 
 '^. glam, clang {glajn-hicl, the window in 
 a belfry to let the sound out), and Fr. 
 gamme, a chime of bells ; N. glingra and 
 E. gingle; N. glapa and gapa, to gape or 
 stare, and in immediate connection with 
 the very root we are now treating, N. 
 glisen and gisen, what allows the light to 
 shine through. — Aasen. In the same way 
 we find glaze and glare, or glowre, paral- 
 lel with gaze and gare, or gaure. Sw. 
 dial, gasa, to stare. For the ultimate 
 origin see Glass. 
 
 Gargle. — Gargoil. To gargle is to 
 make liquor bubble in the throat without 
 swallowing it, from a direct imitation of 
 the sound produced. Lat. gargarizare, 
 Turk, ghargharaet, gargle. Fr. gargou- 
 illir, a gargling or gurgling noise ; gar- 
 gouiller, to gargle, to rattle in the throat. 
 'H.QncQgargoiiille, the throat, also a spout 
 or gutter voiding the rain-water of a 
 house ; and E. gargoil, the name given 
 to the antic figures into which the spouts 
 were worked in Gothic architecture. 
 
 Garland. Cat. garlanda, Sp. guir- 
 nalda, Fr. guirlande. From It. gala, 
 festivity, festive apparel, were formed Fr. 
 galon, galant, galland, ornament of the 
 head or dress. Galonner ses cheveux, 
 to deck the hair with lace or ribbons. — 
 Roquef. Calender^ orner, couronner. — 
 
 GARNET 
 
 295 
 
 Pat. de Champ. Gallande, guirlande, cou- 
 ronne. — Roquef. Hence by the conver- 
 sion of the first / into an r, garlatide. 
 Sometimes the two modes of spelling 
 are found in the same document. ' Le 
 suppliant trouva un petit coffre ouvert 
 ouquel il trouva deux garlandes, I'une 
 boutonnde et I'autre plaine. — Dans I'un 
 des petits coffres avoit trois gallendes ou 
 chapeaux d'argent.' — Chart, a. D. 1409 in 
 Carp. A silver wreath due by custom to 
 the wife on the death of her husband was 
 in some provinces of France called chapel, 
 and in others garlande d^argent. — Due. 
 
 An intrusive r of similar nature may be 
 observed in It. gazza, garza, a pie, and in 
 Fr. guenienter, giiermenter, to lament. 
 
 * Garlick. on. geir-laukr, from the 
 spear-shaped leaves ; geirr, a spear. 
 Sva var minn Sigurdr hjd sonum Gjuka, 
 Sera vari geirlaukr or grasi vaxinn : 
 So was my Sigurd among the sons of 
 Giuki, as garlick sprung up from among 
 the grass. Lick or lock is a frequent 
 termination in the name of herbs, as 
 hemlock, charlock, garlick, Swiss korn- 
 liige, galeopsis ladanum, wegliige, cicho- 
 rium intybus, from ON. laiikr, E. leek, a 
 pot-herb, Gael, luibh, formerly luigh, a 
 plant. The w. llys, a plant, was no doubt 
 also llych, the correspondence between 
 ch guttural and z in two of the Breton 
 dialects being of frequent occurrence. 
 
 ' Geder puliol real with the rotes als 
 mykel als the lekes :^ gather pennyroyal 
 with the roots as large as the leaves. — 
 Medical receipts 14th cent., in Reliquiae 
 Antiq. i. 54. 
 
 Garment. See Garnish. 
 
 Garner. Yr.grenier, a garner or cornr- 
 loft ; grene, grain. — Cot. 
 
 Garnet. The Gr. kokkoq, a grain or 
 kernel, was applied to the kermes, or in- 
 sect used in dyeing a red colour, thence 
 called KOKKivoQ, Lat. coccineus. In the 
 same way from Lat. graimm is S'p.grana, 
 the insect used in dyeing, and thence 
 scarlet cloth, the crimson of the cheeks 
 and lips. It. granatofino, fine scarlet ; 
 granata, a garnet or precious stone of a 
 fine crimson, formerly called granate 
 stone. 
 
 It is extremely probable that the Sp. 
 name of the insect descends from Latin 
 times, and that even then granatus was 
 used in the sense of crimson, whence 
 malu7n granatum, It. granata, Sp. gra- 
 nada, the pomegranate, although, as that 
 fruit is equally distinguished by the num- 
 ber of grains with which it is filled and 
 the fine crimson of the juice, it must re- 
 
296 
 
 GARNISH 
 
 main uncertain which of these features is 
 the one intended. 
 
 Garnish. — Garment. — Garrison. It. 
 guarnire^ Fr. garnir^ to provide, supply, 
 deck, adorn, set forth with. — Cot. Hence 
 It. guarnimenio, guarnigione^ Fr. ganic- 
 vient^ garnison, any garnishing, decking, 
 or trimming, any habihment, munition, 
 or provision of war. — Fl. The « is lost 
 in the corresponding E. terms, garment, 
 garrison, the meaning of which is re- 
 stricted by custom in the former case to 
 the sense of clothes or bodily habiliments, 
 in the latter to a provision of soldiers for 
 guarding a fortress. Carsone, strong 
 place. — Pr. Pm. * 
 
 The root oi garnir is seen in a simpler 
 form in Fr. garer, to ware, beware, look 
 out — Cot., whence garnir (as the E. 
 equivalent warn) would properly signify 
 to make another ware or aware of some- 
 thing, to make him look out, and so pro- 
 vide against danger. The original sense 
 is preserved in the legal garnishee, a 
 name given in the Lord Mayor's court to 
 a party, who having money in his hand 
 belonging to some one else, receives no- 
 tice, or is warned, not to part with it 
 until the claims of a third party are satis- 
 fied. See Gare. 
 
 Garret. Fr. garite, a place of refuge, 
 and of safe retiral in a house ; hence the 
 dungeon of a fortress whither the belea- 
 guered soldiers make their last retire ; 
 also a sentry or little lodge for a sentinel 
 built on high. — Cot. In E. garret, trans- 
 ferred to an apartment in the roof of a 
 house. Garytte, high soller : specula. — 
 Pr. Pm. 
 
 The origin is Fr. garir, to take refuge, 
 to put oneself in safety, from the connec- 
 tion between looking out and defence, 
 safety. See Gare. And compare Lat. 
 tueri, to look, to defend ; tutus, safe. 
 Mais ne saveit queu part aller ; 
 N'osout des grantz foresz eissir, 
 Kar 11 ne saveit ou garir : 
 
 Benoit. Chron. Norm. v. 2. 399. 
 
 —he dared not leave the forests, for he 
 did not know where to take refuge. 
 
 Se garer dessotis, to take shelter under. 
 —Cot. 
 
 Garrison. See Garnish. 
 
 Garrulous. Lat. garrulus, from gar- 
 rio, to prate, babble. 
 
 Garter. Fr. jarretilre, jartier, or in 
 the dialects of the North of France gar tier 
 — H^cart, from j arret, garet, the ham, or 
 back of the leg. W., Bret, gar, ham, 
 shank, leg. 
 
 Gas. A word coined by Van Helmont 
 
 GATE 
 
 to signify a spirit not capable of being 
 coagulated, or the most subtile and vola- 
 tile parts of anything. — B. ' This I will 
 call gas^ he says, as he gives the name of 
 bias to body of another kind. ' Cum 
 chymici prorsus ad libitum sine ullo sig- 
 nificatus aut proprietatum rerum respectu 
 nomina imponant ; ut in Euestrum, Ca- 
 gastricum. Gas, Bias, Duelech et sexcen- 
 tis aliis portentosis vocabulis apparet.' — • 
 Skinner in Kelp. 
 
 Gash. I. Pl.D. gatsken, to cut a large 
 hole, to cut deep into the flesh, from gat, 
 a hole. Said of a bold decisive incision, 
 as one made by a surgeon, or a tailor. — 
 Brem. Wtb. See Gate. 
 
 2. Prattle, pert language. — Jam. This 
 is another instance, in addition to those 
 mentioned under Barbarous, of the tend- 
 ency to designate by the same word the 
 splashing of water and the confused 
 sound of idle talk. Fr. gascher, to dash, 
 plash, flash, as water in rowing ; gascheux, 
 plashy, washy, bespatling. — Cot. 
 
 To Gasp. ON. geispa, to yawn ; Dan. 
 gispe, to gasp. Probably not from a 
 modification of gape, but a direct repre- 
 sentation of the sound made in snapping 
 for breath. Compare Flanders gaspe, 
 Du. ghespe, a snap, or clasp. Parallel 
 forms with an / inserted after the initial 
 g are ON. glepsa, N. glefsa, to gape, to 
 snap at with the mouth. See Gare. 
 
 Gastric. Gr. -^aarrip, the belly, sto- 
 mach. 
 
 Gate. — Gait. Goth, gatvo, G. gasse, 
 Dan. gade, a street ; ON. gata, street, 
 path ; Sw. gata, a street, way. Hangick 
 sin egen gata ; Sc. he went his ain gate. 
 Hence metaphorically the way, means, or 
 manner of doing a thing. OE. algates^ 
 always, by all means ; Sc. swagates, in 
 such wise ; nionygates, in many ways. — 
 Jam. Applied to the carriage, procedure, 
 or gait of a man, it has acquired a dis- 
 tinctive spelling. 
 
 Peter the Apostel parceyvede hus gate, 
 And as he wente upon the water well hym knewe. 
 P. P. in R. 
 
 The original meaning seems a narrow 
 opening. ON. gat, a hole, gata, to per- 
 forate ; Du. gat, a hole ; int gat zijn, in 
 arcto versari, to be in a pinch, in difficul- 
 ties ; Pl.D. gat, a hole, the mouth of a 
 river. From a narrow hole the sense is 
 transferred to a narrow passage or way. 
 In ODu. gat, E. gate, an opening in an 
 enclosure, or the door which commands 
 it, the word approaches nearer the original 
 
GAT-TOOTHED 
 
 meaning. Compare Lat. forts, a gate, 
 'w'xth.forare, to pierce. 
 
 For the derivation oi gai see next arti- 
 cle. 
 
 Gat-toothed. 
 
 Gal-toothed I was, and that became me well- 
 Wife of Bath. 
 
 This word has given much trouble to 
 commentators. I believe it to be the 
 equivalent of Sw. gles-tdnd, N. glestent, 
 gistent, having teeth separated from one 
 another, from Sw. gles, N. glisen, gisen, 
 open in texture, thinly scattered so as to 
 allow the light to shine through. Sw. 
 dial, gdstandt, gaping like the nibs of a 
 dry pen, having separate teeth. A simi- 
 lar loss of an / is seen in Cat. glassa, Fr. 
 gaze, gauze, a texture with open inter- 
 stices, from the same original root with 
 the Scandinavian forms above mentioned, 
 viz. glas, or glis, in the sense of shine, as 
 shown under Gare. N. glisa, to shine 
 through. The change of the final s ox 2 
 into a ^ is found in many ramifications of 
 the root, as ON. glita, to shine ; N. glett, 
 an opening among clouds ; gletta, glytta, 
 to peep, to make an opening ; glytt, glott, 
 an opening, hole, clear place among 
 clouds ; G. glatt, shining, polished, 
 smoothed. The loss of the / as in the 
 foregoing examples would give a root gat, 
 git, signifying what admits the light to 
 shine through, open, separated, exempli- 
 fied in E. gat-toothed, in G. gatter, gitter, 
 a lattice, partition with open interstices, 
 and in ON., Pl.D., and Du. gat, a hole. 
 See Glade. 
 
 Gather. — Gadroon. g. gattern, Du. 
 gaderen, gaeren, to draw to a heap, to 
 gather. 
 
 An article of dress is said to be gather- 
 ed when it is drawn up in pleats, whence 
 must be explained Fr. gauderon, goderon, 
 the set or pleating of a ruff, also a fashion 
 of imbossement used by goldsmiths, and 
 termed knurling. — Cot. A gadroojted 
 edge is one worked with imbossments 
 like the pleats of a ruff. 
 
 A calfs gather is the chitterlings or 
 intestines of a calf, named in many 
 languages from their pleated structure. 
 Gaddre, as a calfs gadre or a shepes ; 
 froissure. — Palsgr. in Hal. See Chitter- 
 ling. 
 
 Gaud. — Gaudy. From "Ldit. gaudium, 
 joy, OFr. gaudir, to be frolick, jolly, 
 merry, to play the good fellow, make 
 ■ood cheer, to jibe, jest. Se gaudir de, 
 to flout, scoff, be pleasant with. — Cot. 
 Hence E. gaudy, showy, bright-coloured, 
 like clothes worn on festive occasions ; 
 
 GAVEL-KIND 
 
 597 
 
 gaudy-day, a festival ; and from the latter 
 applications, to gaud, to sport, to jest — 
 Hal,, 2irvdi gaud, a toy or trifle, a scoff. — 
 B. Prov. joias d'enfanz, playthings. 
 
 To Gauge. To measure the liquid 
 contents of a cask, subsequently applied 
 to the measurement of other kinds of 
 quantity. From Fr. Jale, a bowl, j auger, 
 gaulger, to estimate the number of bowls 
 in a vessel. Jalagium, the right of sell- 
 ing wine by retail or the duty paid on 
 that account. See Gallon. 
 
 Gaunt. Gawnt or lene : macer ; — or 
 slender : gracilis. — Pr. Pm. Gant, scanty. 
 — Moor. 
 
 Gauntree. A frame to set casks on in 
 a cellar. Fr. chantier, a support for vines, 
 gauntry or stilling for hogsheads, trestle 
 to saw timber on — Cot. ; also the stocks 
 on which a ship is built. From Lat. 
 caiitherius, a horse of burden, then ap- 
 plied (as in modern languages a horse, 
 ass, or goat) to a wooden support for 
 various purposes. Cantherius, a prop 
 for a vine, rafter of a roof, trestle or horse 
 to saw timber on. — Littleton. The Ger- 
 mans use bock, a goat, in the last of these 
 senses. In like manner we speak of a 
 clothes-horse, and Fr. chevalet, a. little 
 horse, is a painter's easel (G. eset, an ass), 
 the frame which supports his work. 
 
 Gauze. A name given to a woven 
 fabric of transparent texture. Fr. gaze, 
 cushion canvas, the thin canvas that 
 serves women for a ground for their 
 cushions or purse work. — Cot. 
 
 Among the numerous examples given 
 under Gare of parallel forms beginning 
 with g/ and g respectively, are included 
 glaze and gaze, with the sense originally 
 of shining. To the first of these classes 
 belong N. glisa, to shine through ; glisen, 
 glesen, Sw. gles, what admits of the light 
 shining through, open in texture, thinly 
 scattered {et glest sail, an open or coarse 
 sieve), explaining the Cat. glassa, gauze ; 
 and to the second, E. gaze, to look, N. 
 gisen, open in texture, leaky, standing in 
 the same relation to Fr. gaze and E. gauze, 
 as N. glesen to Cat. glassa. 
 
 Gavel. I. Anything paid or done by 
 way of rent. See Gabel. 
 
 2. Fr . javelle, a gavel or sheaf of corn, 
 also a bavin or bundle of dry sticks. — 
 Cot. Sp. gavilla, sheaf of corn, bundle 
 of vineshoots, gang of suspicious persons. 
 
 Probably a diminutive of gob or Job, a 
 lump or portion, as bavin of bob, Gael. 
 bab, a lump. e. 6.\o\. jobbel, a small load. 
 — Hal. 
 
 Gavel-kind. The custom of Kent by 
 
298 
 
 GAWK 
 
 which all the sons of a family divided the 
 inheritance equally. Apparently from a 
 British source, although the word is of 
 Gaelic rather than w. form. Gael, gabh^ 
 take ; gabhail^ taking, tenure, a taking of 
 land, lease, farm ; cine^ kin, family, clan. 
 Thus gavel-kind would mean family- 
 tenure, as opposed to the ordinary tenure 
 under which the whole of the land de- 
 scends to the eldest son. w. gafael^ a 
 hold or grasp ; gafael o dir, a tenure of 
 land ; gafael cenedl, tenure of a family. 
 — Jones. 
 
 Gawk. I. E. dial, gaivk-handed, left- 
 handed ; ganvkshaw, a left-handed man ; 
 gallock hand,gaulic hand, left hand. Fr. 
 gauche, left hand, awkward, wrong, awry; 
 gauchir, to turn aside, to shun. ON. 
 skjdlgr, skew, oblique, squinting ; skjdlga, 
 to make oblique. See Shelve. 
 
 Gawk. 2. — Gawky. It is probable 
 that gawk, clownish, awkward, gawky, a 
 simpleton, a clown, must be separated 
 from the above, and (like the synonymous 
 gaby) explained from the notion of staring. 
 NE. gatik, to stare vacantly ; Devon 
 gawk-a-inouth, a gaping fool. — Hal. 
 
 Gay. It. gajo, Fr. gai, merry, jolly, 
 quick, ready, prompt in action, light or 
 bright of colour. — Cot. Sp. gayar, to 
 freak, variegate, chequer ; gay a, stripe 
 of different colour on silks, ribbons, &c. ; 
 Ptg. verde-gaio, bright green ; Rouchi 
 gayold, variegated. 
 
 Perhaps the true origin may be found 
 in the analogy by which the expressions 
 of conceptions dependent on the faculty 
 of hearing are extended to those of similar 
 character dependent on sight. Thus the 
 designation of broken conspicuous colour 
 would naturally be taken from a broken 
 chattering sound. So from Pl.D, kikel- 
 kakel, idle chatter, we have kakel-bunt, 
 or kikel-kakel-bunt, many-coloured, dis- 
 agreeably chequered ; Bav. gikkel-vech, 
 'gegkericht, particoloured ; Swab, gakken, 
 to cackle ; gakkelig, particoloured. In 
 the same way Fr, cageoler, to chatter, ex- 
 plains Wal. cajole, variegated, cajoler, 
 enjoliver, to embellish (with bright co- 
 lours ?). The It. gracchiare, to chatter as 
 a daw, stands in the same relation to 
 Wal. cragole (Remsicle), craj'ole' (Grandg.), 
 mottled, speckled ; and on the same prin- 
 ciple may be compared Fr. garioler, to 
 warble as birds, Sp. garlar, to chatter, 
 with E. dial, garled, variegated, streaked, 
 spotted, and with, the change oib and^, 
 so common in imitative forms (G. belfern, 
 Pl.D. gelfern, to yelp ; Lang, brezilia, to 
 warble, Fr. gresiller, to crackle ; Lang. 
 
 GEASON 
 
 gargata and barbata, to boil), with Fr. 
 barioU, variegated, speckled. So also 
 Yr. pioler, to pule, cheep or chirp like a 
 sparrow or young bird, piold, speckled; 
 piold-riol^, gaudy or pied, diversified with 
 sundry colours. — Cot. And again Dan. 
 spragle, Sw. sprackla, to crackle, Dan. 
 spraglet, Sw. spracklig, particoloured, 
 speckled. 
 
 By a further transition the word sig- 
 nifying liveliness of colour seems to have 
 been transferred to liveliness of disposi- 
 tion. 
 
 To Gaze. See Gare. 
 
 Gazette. Commonly derived from 
 gazzetta, a small Venetian coin supposed , 
 to have been the price of the original 1 
 newspaper. But the value of the gazetta 
 was so small (' not worth a farthing of 
 ours ' — Fl.) that it never could have been 
 the price either of a written or printed 
 sheet. The radical meaning of the word 
 is shown in It. gazetta, gazette, all man- 
 ner of idle chattings or vain prattlings, 
 but now generally used for running re- 
 ports, daily news, intelligences, and ad- 
 vertisements as are daily invented and 
 written unto foreign nations, viz. from 
 Venice, Rome, and Amsterdam. — Fl. 
 The object of the gazette was to com- 
 mtmicate the political chit-chat of the 
 day. The origin of the word is a repre- 
 sentation of the chattering sound of birds 
 or voice, constituting a wide-spread root 
 in very different classes of language. 
 Prov. gasar, gazalhar, Yx.jaser, to tattle. 
 It. gazza, a magpie or chatter-pie (as it 
 is provincially called from its chattering 
 voice) ; gazzerare, gazzolare, gazzettare, 
 to chatter as a pie or a jay, to prate — Fl. ; 
 Fr. gazouiller, to twitter, to murmur ; 
 Pol. gadad, to talk, gadu-gadu, chit-chat ; 
 Malay kata-kata, discourse ; Hung, csa- 
 tora, noise, racket ; csacsogni, to chatter 
 or prattle, csacsogdny, a chatter-box, mag- 
 pie, jack-daw. 
 
 Gazetteer. A geographical dictionary 
 was published by Echard, 1703, under 
 the name of The Gazetteer's or News- 
 man's Interpreter, being a Geographical 
 index, &c.— Sir P. S. Carey in N. & Q. 
 
 Gear. on. gerfi, AS. gearwa, habili- 
 ments, whatever is required to set a thing 
 in action. See Garb. 
 
 Geason. — Gizen. Geason, rare, scarce. 
 Gizen, to open like the seams of a cask, 
 to stare intently. — Hal. Gizzen, to sneer, 
 laugh, or smile in a contemptuous man- 
 ner. — Craven Gloss. The connection be- 
 tween the meanings is furnished by N. 
 glisa, to shine through, to show inter- 
 
GEE 
 
 stices, as between boards that do not 
 meet close ; glisen and (with loss of the t) 
 gtsen, opening, leaky. 
 
 Then since the individuals of a col- 
 lection become rare as the interstices in- 
 crease, the word implying interstices 
 comes to signify rare. Sw. gles, open in 
 texture, thinly scattered ; ON. gisinn, 
 hiulcus, rarus (gaping, rire, geason).—^ 
 Haldorsen. 
 
 The sense of sneering or contemptuous 
 laughter is from the parting of the lips 
 and letting the teeth be seen through. N. 
 glisa, to sneer, laugh at, show the teeth. 
 Compare N. glaii, a bright opening be- 
 tween clouds ; glana, to open so as to let 
 one see through, also to stare ; glanen, 
 open, separated. In the same way from ON. 
 glima, to shine, shine through, gima, a 
 crack transmitting light ; gima, to gape, 
 or open. 
 
 Gee. To agree, to fit, to suit with. — 
 Hal, From gee ! the exclamation to make 
 a horse go on. In Germany hott ! is the 
 word to make a horse go on, and hotte- 
 pdrd, in children's language, a horse, as 
 gee-gee with us. — Danneil. Hence hot- 
 ten, to make to go, to get on, to go — 
 Stalder, to go forward, to succeed, to gee. 
 Es will nicht recht hotten, it will not go, 
 or advance rightly, it won't do, won't gee. 
 — Kiittner. 
 
 To Geld. OSw. gall, Gael., w. caill, 
 G. geile, the parts on which the capacity 
 of offspring depends, the testes, ovaries. 
 OSw. galla, ON. gelda, G. geilen, to re- 
 move the parts in question, to castrate. 
 Gael, cailleadh, castration ; caillteanach, 
 a eunuch. 
 
 Gelid. Lat. gelidus, from gelu, frost, 
 cold. 
 
 Gem. This seems one of the words 
 whose derivation is obscured by the loss 
 of an /. See Gare. ON. gimlir, splen- 
 dour ; gim-steinn, a shining stone, from 
 gima, for glima, to shine. It would seem 
 that Lat. gemma, a gem, was a borrowed 
 word, only accidentally agreeing with 
 geuima, a bud. 
 
 Gemini ! — By Gis. The wish to avoid 
 the sin of profane swearing without giving 
 up the gratification of the practice has 
 led to the mangling of the terms used in 
 exclamation, so as to deprive them of 
 all apparent reference to sacred things. 
 Hence Fr. mort bleu, corbleu, for inort, 
 corps de Dieu; sappermetit for sacrament j 
 Swab, mein echel, for mein eidj Alsace 
 bi Gobb! bi Golle! bi Gosch! Gotz! Botz! 
 Potzl O yeses / O Je / Jerum, J ere, Je- 
 mer, Jeigger, Jegesle, Jemine. — Deutsch. 
 
 GESSES 
 
 299 
 
 Mundart. iii. 503. PID. Je / Jes J Herr 
 Jes I ye7nine I — Danneil. 
 
 Gender. — General. — Generation. 
 Lat. genus, Fr. genre, a race, family, 
 breed; genero, to beget, Fr. engendrer ; 
 generalis, pertaining to kind, also com- 
 mon or universal. 
 
 Genealogy. Gr, yivta, race, pedigree. 
 
 General. — Generate, -gener-. Lat. 
 ge7ius, generis, kind. To degenerate, to 
 fall off from its proper kind. 
 
 Genesis. Gr. yhicng, procreation, ori- 
 gin, beginning. 
 
 Genet. A small-sized Spanish horse. 
 Sp. gineto, a light horseman, named from 
 the Berber tribe of Zeneta, who supplied 
 the Moorish sultans of Grenada with a 
 body of horse on which they placed great 
 reliance. Their short lance was called in 
 Sp. gineta, in It. giannetta, and in the 
 testament of Peter the Cruel mention is 
 made of espada gineta, and siella gifieta. 
 To ride alia gineta was to ride with short 
 stirrups like the Moors. The Spanish, 
 Italian, and French have also given the 
 name oi gineto, ginnetto, giannetto, genet, 
 to a kind of entire Spanish horse. — Dozy. 
 
 Genial. Lat. genialis, from gefiius, 
 the spirit or nature of a man. Cotigenial^ 
 of like taste or disposition. 
 
 Genital. — Genitive. Lat. gigno, ge- 
 nittun, to beget. 
 
 Genteel. — Gentle, Yx.gentil, gentle, 
 tractable, courteous, comely, pretty. — Cot. 
 Lat. gentilis, of a nation or family, and 
 KUT ic,oxhv, of good family, as we say a 
 person of family for a well-bred person. 
 
 Gentoo. The pagan natives, as well 
 of India as of America, were called by 
 the Portuguese Gentio, gentile, pagan, 
 idolatrous, savage. Hence the Brahmins, 
 who were first made known to us by the 
 Portuguese, were called Gentoos, as if it 
 had been the proper name of the people 
 themselves. * The Indians of the interior 
 still remaining in the savage state are 
 called by the Brazilians Indios or Gen- 
 ti(5s (Heathens).' — Bates, Naturalist on 
 the Amazons, i. 7^. 
 
 Geo-. Gr. yew-, from yka, y»7, the earth ; 
 as in Geography, description of the earth ; 
 Geometry, measuring of the earth ; Geor- 
 gics, the science of cultivation of the 
 earth (fpyaw, to cultivate, till), &c. 
 
 Geranium. Cranesbill, from Gr. ye- 
 pavoc, a crane ; on account of the long 
 projecting spike of the seed-capsule. 
 
 Germ. — Germinate. Lat. germen, a 
 bud, origin of growth ; ger7ninare, to put 
 forth buds. 
 
 Gesses. The short straps with a ring 
 
300 
 
 GEST 
 
 attached, round the feet of a hawk, which 
 were cast loose when he was let fly, were 
 called gessesj It. getiij Fr. gects j from 
 gect^ a cast or throw, Lat. jacere^ to cast. 
 
 Gest. I. From Fr. giste, a lying or 
 lodging, the appointed rest for the court 
 on a royal progress ; thence used in 
 * Winter's Tale ' for the appointed time of 
 departure. Strype says that Cranmer 
 entreated Cecil ' to let him have the new- 
 resolved-upon gests^ that he might from 
 time to time know where the king was.' 
 
 Gest. 2. — Jest. From Lat. gerere^ 
 gestum, to do, a feat or deed done, and 
 thence a relation, story. The Gesta 
 Roman orum was a celebrated collection 
 of stories in vogue in the middle ages. 
 The Roman gestes makin remembrance 
 Of many a veray trewe wif also. 
 
 Merchant's Tale. 
 
 A gestoiir was a person whose profession 
 was to entertain a company with the nar- 
 ration of stories. 
 
 Do come, he saied, my ministralis 
 And jestors to tell us tales 
 
 Anon in mine arming, 
 Of Romancis that ben roials 
 Of Popis and of Cardinals, 
 
 And eke of love longing. — Sir Thopas. 
 
 Geeste, or romaunce : gestio, gestus. — 
 Pr. Pm. When the telling of stories be- 
 came a professional occupation the sub- 
 ject of the gestor would embrace every- 
 thing adapted to excite interest or to 
 raise a laugh, and as the latter in those 
 coarse times was the easier and more 
 popular line of endeavour, it seems gradu- 
 ally to have narrowed the meaning of 
 jest to a subject of laughter. * Gest^ a 
 tale ; gestyng, bourde.' — Palsgr. in Way. 
 
 At the same time it is very possible 
 i\\-3it gest in the sense of joke had an in- 
 dependent footing in the language. Sp. 
 chistar, to mutter, to utter a slight sound ; 
 Hi-^/ chistar ni mistar, to be perfectly si- 
 leitt ; chiste, a jest, on the same principle 
 probably that we have Ptg. zumbir, to 
 hum, zombar, to jeer or jest. ON. gis, 
 jeering, bantering, teasing. 
 
 -gest. -gestion. — Gesture. — Gesta- 
 tion. Lat. gero, gestum, to bear, carry 
 on. As in Congest, Digestion, &c. 
 
 To Get. The fundamental sense seems 
 to be to seize, to become possessed of, to 
 acquire offspring. To forget, to away- 
 get, to lose one's mental acquisitions. 
 Goth, bigitan, to find. AS. andgitan, to 
 understand j bigitan, to get, acquire, ob- 
 tain. ON. geta, to conceive, beget, ac- 
 quire, to be able, also to make mention of 
 a thing. 
 
 GIB-CAT 
 
 Get. — Jet. Get, or manner or custome, 
 modus, consuetudo. — Pr. Pm. Gette, a 
 custom ; iiewe iette, guise nouvelle. — 
 Palsgr. Perhaps from gait or gate, a 
 way. Ill gaited, having bad habits, per- 
 verse, froward. — Jam. But it is more 
 probably an application of the verb get in 
 the sense of devise, contrive. So it is 
 used by Chaucer with respect to the con- 
 trivance of the alchemist who, having 
 filled a hollow stick with silver filings, 
 
 With his stikke above the crosselet 
 That was ordained with that false get. 
 He stirreth the coles. 
 
 ♦ Gewgaw. A plaything, a showy 
 trifle. ' Babiole, a trifle, whimwham, 
 giiigaw or small toy for a child to play 
 withal.' — Cot. ' Fariboles, fond tattling, 
 idle discourses, trifles, flimflams, why- 
 whaws^ — Cot. Here the synonymous 
 fiiinflain, ivhtmwham, why'whaw,gtiiga'w, 
 gewgaw, although they cannot be sup- 
 posed to spring from a common root, yet 
 are manifestly formed on a similar plan, 
 the principle of which seems to be to repre- 
 sent light movement to and fro as opposed 
 to steady continuance in a fixed direction. 
 Hence the signification of something done 
 without settled purpose, trifling, child's 
 play, in opposition to work done with a 
 settled purpose. Pl.D. wigelwageln, to 
 go wigglewaggle, is to waver to and fro. 
 Hence wigwag, whywhaw, guigaw. In 
 Suffolk one ploughing unskilfully would 
 be said ' to woowhaw about.' — Moor. To 
 SO S^SS^J'^SS^^i to move to and fro. — - 
 Florio. In G. nursery language ^2V/^^<7^/^, 
 a clock, represents the vibration of the 
 pendulum. Gygampfen (Sanders), Swab. 
 gugen, to' move to and fro. Gugen und 
 gagen wie ein wagend rohr : shilly shally 
 like a waving reed. — Schmeller. Pl.D, 
 gigehi, to fiddle, is from the movement of 
 the bow to and fro over the strings. On 
 the same principle the name of gewgaw 
 is given in the N. of E. to a jew's-harp, 
 from the jigging movement of the hand 
 continually striking the projecting tongue 
 of the instrument. We pass to the idea 
 of trifling in Swiss gdggelen, to trifle ; 
 gaggelizeug, playthings, toys, trifles ; E. 
 gig, a silly flighty person ; giggish, tri- 
 fling, silly, flighty.— Hal. 
 
 Ghastly. See Aghast. 
 
 Gherkin. G. gu7'ke, Pol. ogorek, pi. 
 ogorki. Boh. okurka, a cucumber. 
 
 Ghost. AS. gast, G. geist, a spirit. 
 
 Giant. Yx.gdant, \jaX.. gigas, gigantis. 
 
 Gib-cat. A male cat, as we now say 
 Tom-cat. ' Thibert le cas ' in R. R. is 
 translated by Chaucer, * Gibbe our cat/ 
 
GIBE 
 
 Gib being short for Gilbert, the equiva- 
 lent of Fr. Thibert. 
 
 Gibe.— Gib. As gabble, gabber, vary 
 with gibber in representing the sound 
 made by rapid, senseless talking ; so we 
 had formerly gib as well as gab in the 
 sense of the mouth or muzzle. 'We'll 
 call him Cacodaemon with his black gib 
 there.'— B. and F. in R, 
 
 Hence to gibe, properly to wry the 
 mouth, to make faces, as from the equi- 
 valent w. gwep, beak, face, gwepio, to 
 make a wry face, grin, mock. N. gjeipa, 
 gleipa, Sw. gipa, to wry the mouth, make 
 faces. — Aasen. As the N. gj is pro- 
 nounced nearly as E. j, the foregoing 
 gjeipa is probably the immediate origin 
 of OE. jape, mockery, joke. 
 
 To Gibber. — Gibberish. Gibber, like 
 gabber, jabber, ?ivA gabble, represents the 
 sound of rapid talking without reference 
 to meaning, whence gibberish, gibbering, 
 an utterance of articulate sounds without 
 sense. ON. gifra, to jabber. 
 
 Gibbet. The gibbet seems originally 
 to have been not a mere projecting arm 
 of gallows to which a man must be raised 
 in order to hang him, but a contrivance 
 like the wipe of a well, by which the suf- 
 ferer could at once be swung up into the 
 air. We find it spoken of as actually 
 raising the sufferer from the ground. 
 Vultibus erectis sursum tollente gibeto 
 Digna Jovi fiunt oblatio, jure levati 
 A tellure procul. — Willelm. Brito in Due. 
 And Matthew Paris designates it as 
 * machinam illain pmialem qu^ gibet 
 appellatur,' language implying some me- 
 chanical contrivance beyond what would 
 be applicable to a simple support. The 
 •root (somewhat disguised by an initial w, 
 which is so commonly found interchang- 
 ing with a ^) is seen in Du. wip, indicat- 
 ing any sudden reciprocating movement, 
 as a wink of the eye ; wippefi, to toss, 
 jerk up into the air — P. Marin ; wippe, 
 tolleno, a wipe, or lever for lifting water 
 out of a well, patibulum tollenonis instar 
 constructum, a gallows made like a wipe, 
 i. e. a gibbet. — Kil. Sw. wippa, to whip 
 or trice up ; wippkdrra, a tumbril ; wipp- 
 galge, a gibbet. The exact root is pre- 
 served in E. gib, to start suddenly back, 
 or from side to side ; Du. gijpen (des 
 voiles), se tourner subitement — P. Marin; 
 Sw. gippa, to whip up into the air, as we 
 speak of gibbeting a toad — Rietz ; guppa 
 upp, to strike up, tilt up ; guppa, to move 
 up and down, to rock as a boat ; Dan. 
 dial, gimpe, to rock, to swing ; Fr. regijn- 
 ber^ OFr. regiber, to wince. 
 
 GIGGLE 
 
 lo\ 
 
 Gibbous. Lat. gibbus, a bunch, hump, 
 swelling on the back or other part of the 
 body. 
 
 Giblets. The odds and ends cut off 
 in trimming a goose for roasting. Pro- 
 bably the meaning is simply bits, scraps, 
 a further dim. of Fr. gobeau, a bit, gob- 
 bet, morsel. — Cot. It. gobbo, gibbo, a 
 hump. In the same way E. dial, gubbins 
 (gubbings), fragments, parings of codfish, 
 &c.— B. 
 
 Giddy. Unsteady, on the verge of 
 falling. Gael, godach, giddy, coquettish. 
 N, gidda, to shake, to tremble. From 
 the notion of rapid reciprocating action 
 represented by the parallel forms gib, gid, 
 gig. See Gibbet, and next article. 
 
 Gig. — Giglet. A series of abrupt 
 sounds was represented by syllables like 
 gick-gack, gig-gag. In G. nursery lan- 
 guage gigk-gagk is a clock, from the tick- 
 ing of the pendulum — D. M. v. 434; and 
 provincially ^z^y^^.s'^w, gagkezen, to stut- 
 ter. — lb. V. 341. Swab, gigacken (Du. 
 gugagen), to heehaw or bray like an ass, 
 to cackle like geese. And see Giggle. 
 
 The syllables representing broken sound 
 are then applied to broken movements 
 or the subject of such movements as in 
 the case of gigk-gagk above mentioned, 
 where the change of vowel in the two 
 syllables represents the reciprocating 
 movement of the pendulum. Bav. gigelen, 
 to palpitate, to quiver ; gaugken, gaug- 
 keln, gaggln, to totter, stagger, sway to 
 and fro ; Swiss gageln, to joggle ; gagli, 
 a girl that cannot sit still ; gaggelen, to 
 toy, to trifle ; gdggeli-werk, trifles, toys ; 
 Pl.D. gigeln (MHG. gigen, G. geigen), to 
 play on the fiddle — Danneil ; gigeln, be- 
 gigeht, to diddle, to deceive, properly to 
 deceive the eye by rapid movements to 
 and fro. Bav. gigl, the feet. 
 
 Gig in English is applied to various 
 objects characterised by a short quick 
 movement, or by gigging, reciprocating 
 or whirling motion. Banff, gig, giggtim, 
 Bav. geek, a trick ; E. dial.^z^, a machine 
 for dressing cloth, for winnowing corn 
 (also as MHG. gige, G. geige, It. ghiga, 
 giga^ a fiddle. — Hal. A gig is a carriage 
 consisting of a seat balanced on a pair of 
 shafts by which the jogging of the horse's 
 trot is communicated to the persons in 
 the gig. Gig, a toy, a top, a silly flighty 
 person ; giggish, trifling, flighty, wanton ; 
 gigg^^j gigl^t^ gigsy^ a flighty person, a 
 giddy girl. — Hal. Fr. gigiies, a light 
 versatile girl. See Jig. 
 
 Giggle. Bav. gigken, gigkezen, to 
 utter inarticulate sounds either in stutter- 
 
302 
 
 GILL 
 
 ing, retching, or giggling with restrained 
 laughter ; gagkern^ gagkezen^ to cackle 
 like a hen, to stutter. Du. gicken, gic- 
 kelen, cachinnari.— Kil. Swiss gtgelen, 
 gigeren, to giggle, G. dial, gibdeln, to 
 laugh.— D. M. iii. 552. 
 
 Gill. I. A small measure of liquids. 
 Gyile, lytylle pot.— Pr. Pm. Gillo, vas 
 fictile.— Gloss, in Due. Vascula vinaria 
 quae mutato nomine guillones aut flas- 
 cones appellant.— Paulus Diaconus in 
 Due. 
 
 2. Svf.Jisk-gel, the gills of a fish. AS. 
 geqflas, geaglas, geahlas, Fr. gijle, the 
 chaps, jaws, jowl. Gael, gial, jaw, cheek, 
 gill of a fish. OHG . chela^ guttur, brancia 
 — Gl. in Graff; G. kehle, Lsit. gu^a, throat; 
 AS. ceo/e, faucis. 
 
 Gilly-flower. Formerly written gt'lo- 
 fer, gillover, gillow-flower^ immediately 
 from Fr. giroflde^ and that from It. garo- 
 falo, Lat. caryophyllus, a clove, from the 
 clove-like smell of the flower. 
 
 Gimcrack. See Gimmal. 
 
 Gimlet. Lang, jhimbelet {jh pro- 
 nounced as E. soft g)^ Fr. gimbelet^ gibe- 
 let, a gimlet, from Lang, jhimbla, to twist, 
 E. gib, to turn suddenly, as wimble, an 
 auger, from Du. wemelen^ Sc. wammle, 
 to turn round. 
 
 Gimmals. — Gimmers. Gimmal, an- 
 nulus gemellus — Coles, a twin or double 
 ring. The term was generally applied to 
 rings, or corresponding members of a 
 joint working into each other, as the rings 
 of a hawberk or coat of mail, the arms of 
 a tongs, two portions of a hinge, and 
 thence the hinge itself. Gimewes (or 
 joints) of a spur, membres or membrets 
 d'eperon. — Sherwood. Gitmnow of a 
 door, cardo. — Huloet in Way. Trevisa 
 speaks of an iron ' made as it were a 
 peire tonges i-iemewde (ygemewed) as 
 tonges in themyddes.' y/m^/z^rj, jointed 
 hinges. — Ray. 
 
 From Lat. gemelli, Fr. jiimeaux, ju- 
 melles, twins. In the same way the Bret. 
 gevel, a twin, is applied to each of the 
 parts in a double instrument, as a pair of 
 tongs. The term was then applied to the 
 separate members of the works in a com- 
 plicated piece of machinery, or to any 
 mechanical device for producing motion. 
 
 My acts are like the motional gimbals 
 Fixed in a watch. — Vow-breaker in Nares. 
 
 * The famous Kentish idol moved her 
 hands and eyes by those secret gimmers 
 which now every puppet play can imitate.' 
 — Hall in Todd. ' But whether it were 
 that the rebel his powder failed him, or 
 
 GIRD 
 
 some gimbol or other were out of frame.' 
 — Hollinshed in N. YL^ncc gimcrack. 
 
 Gimp. A kind of lace made of threads 
 whipped or twisted round with silk. The 
 corresponding Fr. is guipure, ixovaguiper, 
 to whip. — Boyer. The same correspond- 
 ence between a nasalised form and one 
 without the nasal is seen in Fr. gibelet, 
 E. gimblet, from a different application of 
 the same root with the fundamental mean- 
 ing of turning or twisting. G. gimf, a 
 loop, lace, or edging of silk, gold, or silver. 
 Gin. A mechanical contrivance, a 
 trap, or snare. 
 And whan ye come ther as ye list abide, 
 Bid him descend, and trill another pin 
 (For therein lieth the effect of all \\\Qgin), 
 And he wol down descend and don your will. 
 Squier's Tale in R. 
 So, so, the woodcock 's ^/'w/zV, — B. & F. in R. 
 
 From Lat. ingenium, natural disposition, 
 talents, invention, Fr. engift, an engine, 
 instrument, also understanding, policy, 
 reach of wit, also [when the contrivance 
 is applied to a bad purpose] fraud, craft, 
 deceit. — Cot. Prov. genh, geinh, ginh, 
 Cat. enginy, giny, skill, machine. 
 
 In the sense of a trap or snare we might 
 be tempted to look to the ON. ginna, to 
 allure, deceive, the agreement with which 
 is probably accidental. 
 
 Ginger. Lat. gingiber, zingiber. 
 
 To Gingle. See Jingle. 
 
 Gipsire. A purse, from Fr. gibbeciere, 
 a pouch, and that from gibbe, a bunch, 
 anything that stands poking out ; gib- 
 basse, a great bunch, or hulch-like swell- 
 ing, a pouch, or budget, — Cot. 
 
 To Gird. i. — Girth. — Girdle, on. 
 gibrd, a belt, girth, band ; tunna-giorS, 
 the hoop of a cask. Goth, gairda, G. 
 gurt, giirtel, a girdle. 
 
 ON. gardr, gerdi, a fence, hedge ; gerda, 
 girda, to inclose or surround with a fence 
 (Jonsson) ; also to gird (Haldors.), girda 
 sig sverdi. Girdi, a hoop, band ; girdis- 
 vidr, hoopwood ; girding, hedge, fence, 
 inclosure, girdle, belt ; girtr, girded, 
 hooped. 
 
 To Gird, 2. — Gride. Ho gird or gride 
 was formerly used in the sense of striking, 
 piercing, cutting ; and thence metaphori- 
 cally, gird, a sharp retort, a sarcasm. 
 
 Andgirdeth of Gyle's heed.— P, P. 
 
 As one through-gyrt with many a wound, 
 
 Surry in Nares. 
 Last with his goad amongst them he doth go, 
 And some of them he grideth in the haunches, 
 Some in the flanks, that pricked their very 
 paunches, — Drayton. 
 
 The primary image is the sound of a 
 
GIRL 
 
 smart blow with a rod, or the hke, giving 
 rise to a root which under numerous 
 modifications is apphed to the act of 
 striking or cutting, or any sharp sudden 
 action, as kicking, starting forwards. 
 
 Gamelyn — 
 
 —gert him full upon the nek 
 
 That he the bone to brak.— Gamelyn, 598. 
 
 OU.G. gartotun, perfodiebant [iha]. — Graff. 
 G. gerte, Du. gardj gaerde, E. yard, a 
 rod. Bav. gdrt, gdrten, switches ; birketie 
 gartn^ a birch rod. E. jert, synonymous 
 with gird, a sharp touch by word of 
 mouth. ' Attamte, a reach, hit, home- 
 stroke, also a gentle nip, quip, or jert, a 
 slight gtrd'—Qot. Then, with a change 
 of the final / into k, jirk,yirk,yark, to 
 strike, kick, fling. Tojerke, fouetter avec 
 des verges. — Sherwood. Girk, a rod, 
 to chastise, or beat. 
 
 You must be jerking at the times forsooth. 
 
 The Ordinary, iv. 4. 
 
 To yerk, to kick like a horse ; yark, to 
 strike, to beat, a stroke, jerk, snatch, pull. 
 — Hal. A _yar^ with a whip. — Fl. Comp. 
 Fr. ruer, to hurl ; rtier coups sur, to pour 
 blows on ; ruer des pieds, to kick, wince, 
 jerk, fling. — Cot. 
 
 G-irl. Formerly applied to children of 
 both sexes. 
 
 Here knave gerlys I shall steke. — Slaughter of 
 the Innocents, Coventry Myst, 181. 
 
 Grammar for girles I garte firste to write 
 And bette them with a balys but if they wolde 
 leme.— P. P. 
 
 In milke and in mele 
 To maken with papelottes (pap, gruel) to aglotye 
 with her gurles (to satisfy their children). — 
 P. P. 
 
 Pl.D. gbr, gore, a child ; goren-kraam 
 (kinderey), childish tricks ; goren-snak, 
 childish talk. — Brem. Wtb. In Ham- 
 burgh gorr is now used for a girl. Swiss 
 gurre, gurrli, a depreciatory term for a 
 girl. 
 
 Gist. The ground on which an action 
 is brought against one, the ground on 
 which it lies. OFr. ^ste, lying place, 
 lodging, from ghir, Lat. jacere, to lie. 
 
 To Give. Goth, giban, to give ; Gael. 
 gabh, take, lay hold of, seize. Of this 
 perhaps give is the causative, to cause 
 another to take. In the same way to 
 take was formerly used in the sense of 
 deliver up to, or give, 
 
 — to Progne he goth 
 
 And prively taketh her the cloth. — Gower. 
 
 Gizzard. Fr. gesier, Lang, grezid, 
 from Lang, gres, Fr. gresil, gravel, the 
 gizzard being filled with little stones. 
 
 GLADE 
 
 303- 
 
 For the same reason it is also called peri^^ 
 or peirie'vsx Lang., ir ora peiro, stone. 
 
 To Glabber. To speak indistinctly as 
 children that have not learned to articu- 
 late properly. — Jam. CzX. parlar a glops, 
 to gabble, praspropere festinanterque 
 loqui ; glop, the sound of a gulp of liquid. 
 
 Glacial. Lat. glacies, ice. 
 
 Glacis. The slope outside a fortifica- 
 tion, from the parapet of the covered way 
 to the general level of the field. Yy. gla- 
 cis, a gentle sloping downwards. From 
 O Fr. glacer, glacier, to slide, in which is 
 apparently preserved the root of Lat. gla- 
 des, ice. Glacier, to slip, slide. — Pat. de 
 Champagne. Glacynge, or wrong glydynge 
 of boltys or arrowis. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Glad. Dm. glad, glat, smooth, polished, 
 slippery, formerly burning, bright (gloe- 
 dende). — Kil. Then metaphorically ap- 
 plied to a bright and cheerful countenance. 
 Sw.glad, joyful, cheerful. Glada rume i et 
 hus, lightsome rooms in a house ; glattig, 
 cheerful. Da. glat, smooth, slippery ; 
 glad, joyous. ON gladr, bright, shining, 
 cheerful, glad. In the same way Gr. 
 0ai^p6c, brilliant, shining, cheerful, joyful. 
 Oculi hilaritate nitescunt et tristitia quod- 
 dam nubilum ducunt. — Quint. Con- 
 nected with a numerous class of words 
 founded on the notion of shining ; ON. 
 glita, to shine, E. glisten, glitter, &c. See 
 Glass. 
 
 Glade. A light passage made through 
 a wood, also a beam or breaking in of 
 the light. — B. Glauds, hot gleams be- 
 tween showers. — Baker. The fundament- 
 al meaning is a passage for the light, 
 either through trees or through clouds. 
 N. glette, a clear spot among clouds, a 
 little taking up in the weather ; gletta, to 
 peep ; glott, an opening, a clear spot 
 among clouds. ON. glita, Sc, gleit, to 
 shine. 
 
 In the same way E. lawn, synonymous 
 with glade, may be compared with N. 
 glenna, a clear space in a wood, glan, an 
 opening among clouds ; glanen (of clouds 
 or trees in a wood), open, allowing one 
 to look through ; glana, to separate as 
 clouds, to clear up, to look, to peep. 
 
 The loss of the / obscures the funda- 
 mental identity of glade with Da, gade, 
 a street, ON. gata, a street, a footpath. 
 A similar equivalence of forms with an 
 initial gl and g respectively is seen in Sc. 
 glabber and gabber, to gabble ; G. glaffen 
 and gaffen, N. glapa and gapa, to gape 
 or stare; O^.glingra, 'E.giftglej 'Da-glam, 
 clangour of bells, Fr. gamjne, peal of 
 bells ; N. glantri, Da. ganteri, foolery, 
 
304 
 
 GLAIR 
 
 and in numerous other cases mentioned 
 under Gaze, Geason, Gat-toothed. 
 
 Glair. Gleyre of eyryne or other lyke, 
 glarea.— Pr. Pm. Fr. glaire^ Prov. glara^ 
 tiara, Sp. clara, It. chiara, white of ^^z- 
 Chiare, d'uovo, the white or clear of an 
 egg. — Fl. As far as the foregoing sense 
 is concerned the word might well be de- 
 rived from Lat. clarus, and from the white 
 of an egg the term might perhaps be 
 transferred to other viscous substances. 
 But this overlooks the connection with 
 Sc. glarj glare, glaur, mud, mire, slime ; 
 glorg, a nasty mess ; glorgie, bedawbed 
 (Jam.); glorgyn, or wyth onclene thynge 
 defoylyn, macule, deturpo. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Geordie spat out 
 The glaur that adown his beard ran. 
 
 Nichols' Poems. 
 
 Cambr. glair e, a miry puddle. — Hal. 
 
 The radical image is perhaps that of 
 something shppery, with which the idea 
 of shining is closely connected. Swiss 
 glaren, gloren, to shine ; glarig, glorig, 
 shining, smooth ; Fris.^/rt;/-, slippery. 'E 
 iis is gldr,^ the ice is slippery. — Outzen. 
 Banff glaur, slippery ice. E. dial, glire, 
 gleer, to slide; Pl.D. glirrig, slippery. — 
 Schiitze. It is however very difficult to 
 know when we have come to the bottom 
 of one of these complicated trains of 
 thought. The Bret, giaour, slaver, w. 
 glafoerio, E. glaver, to slaver, seem to 
 point in a different direction to the fore- 
 going. 
 
 Glaive. A long sword or bill. — B. A 
 halbert-like weapon, consisting of a blade 
 mounted on a long handle, w. cleddyf, 
 Gael. claidheai7th (pronounced kllTyhev 
 — Macalpine), a sword ; claidheainh-7nor 
 (claymour), a broadsword, w. glaif, a 
 bill-hook. Sw. glafven, Du. glavie, a 
 lance, spear. E. dial, gleeve, an eel-spear. 
 —Baker. 
 
 Probably direct from the Celtic, although 
 Diez supposes Fr. glaive to be formed 
 through the medium of Lat. gladius, 
 whence Prov. gladi, glazi, glavi, as from 
 adulterum, azulteri, avulteri. 
 
 Glamour. Properly false shine, de- 
 ception of sight. To cast glamour o'er 
 one, to cause magical deception. 
 
 It had much oi glamour might, 
 Could make a lady seem a knight. 
 
 Lay of Last Minstrel. 
 
 ON. gldinsyni, when things appear other 
 than what they really are. — Fritzn. Dan. 
 glimmer, glitter, false lustre. In like 
 manner G. gleisen^ to cast a faint lustre, 
 
 GLARE 
 
 to play the hypocrite, to make a false 
 show. 
 
 Originally, like all words expressing 
 visual ideas (as explained under Bright) 
 derived from the faculty of hearing. Gael. 
 glam, outcry ; ON. glam, clash, clangour ; 
 glamra, to rattle ; Sc. glamer, noise, clat- 
 ter. For the passage to the idea of glit- 
 ter, compare ON. glingra, to rattle, jingle, 
 also to glitter, give a false shine. 
 
 Glance. The fundamental idea is the 
 shining of a polished surface, then the 
 slipping aside, as of an arrow striking 
 against a polished surface, or of a ray 
 of light reflected from it, then a sidelong 
 or momentary look. 
 
 Du. giants, G. glanz, lustre, splendour ; 
 O'N.glis, glitter ; Sc. gleis, splendour ; G., 
 Du. gleissen, to shine ; glissen, glisten, 
 G. glitichen, Fr. glisser, glinser, esclincer, 
 glasser, glacer, glacier, to slip, slide ; OE. 
 glace, to polish, to glance as an arrow 
 turned aside. — Pr. Pm. Lat. glacies, ice, 
 from its slipperiness, and E. glass, from 
 its transparency, belong to the same root. 
 Du. glisteren, glinsteren, to glisten, glis- 
 ter. Other forms are Du. glad, G. glatt, 
 shining, polished, smooth ; N. glita, Sc. 
 gleit, to shine ; to glent or glint, to glance 
 or gleam, to pass suddenly as a gleam of 
 light, to glide, to peep, to squint. — Jam. 
 * The stroke glented down to his belly.' — 
 Berners' Froissart. w, ysglentio, to slide. 
 
 Da. glindse, to glisten, gives an inter- 
 mediate form between glint and glance, 
 while Da. glimt, a gleam, glimpse, flash, 
 would unite glint with gleam instead of 
 glitter. The truth seems to be that the 
 words signifying shining are derived from 
 a number of representations of the same 
 kind of sound, having commonly more or 
 less resemblance to each other, and this 
 general resemblance in the roots causes 
 a network of relationship in the words de- 
 rived from them. 
 
 Gland. Lat. glans, glandis, an acorn, 
 a kernel in the flesh. 
 
 Glanders. OFr. glandre, a swelling 
 of the glands, a so^e. 
 
 El col nues glandres out, 
 K'em escrovele numer seout. 
 In her neck she had naked sores, which 
 men are used to call scrofula. — Life K. 
 Edward in Benoit, 2612. 
 
 Glare. A dazzling light ; to glare, to 
 shine with excess of brightness, to stare 
 intently upon. Glare, to glaze earthen- 
 ware. — Hal. N. glora, to shine, to stare ; 
 Swiss glare, to stare. Applied in the first 
 instance to phenomena of hearing. Gael. 
 ^/<)r, noise, speech,^/^r«<r^, noisy, clamor- 
 
GLASS 
 
 ous ; Lat. gloria^ renown, claritas nomi- 
 nis, splendor, amplitudo. — Facciolati. 
 Compare Bohem. hlas, the voice, fame ; 
 Pol. glos, the voice ; glosny, loud, famous, 
 notorious. Lat. clarus, which is applied 
 as well to visual as to audible phenomena, 
 is another modification of the same root. 
 See next article. 
 
 Glass. — Glaze, on. gler, Da. glar, 
 glas, glass. From the notion of trans- 
 parency ; what allows the light to shine 
 through. N. Glas, a window ; glisa, to 
 shine through ; glira, to be open so that 
 one can see through ; glosa, glora^ to 
 gaze, to shine ; Sc. glose, gloze, to blaze, 
 Du. gleysen, G. gleyssen, to shine. To 
 glaze, in the sense of making a thing to 
 shine, is now confined to the surface of 
 earthenware, but was formerly used in a 
 much more general application. Glacyn, 
 or make a thynge to shine, pernitido, 
 polio ; glacynge or scowrynge of barneys, 
 pernitidacio. — Pr. Pm. Fr.^/«r^', polished, 
 shining, is familiar in the expression ^/«^/ 
 silks. Glaze-worm, glass-'morm, a glow- 
 worm. — Hal. Looking here to like origin 
 with that of the twin form glare, we find 
 Fr. glas, noise, crying, bawling ; Russ. 
 glas\ the voice, Serv. glas, voice, news, 
 fame ; Bohem. hlas, voice, fame, hlasyty, 
 sonorous, clear ; Pol. glos, sound, voice, 
 speech ; glosny, loud, famous, notorious ; 
 , Russ. glaz*, the eye, gledanie, sight, see- 
 ing ; Serv. glati, gledati, to see, to seek. 
 Swab, glascht, the voice, ^/^j-/, brilliancy, 
 splendour, glasten, to shine, to glance. — 
 Schmid. 
 
 To Glaver. To soothe or flatter.— B. 
 Toglaffer, to flatter. — Hal. To glaver, to 
 slaver — Hal.; to talk foolishly. — Brocket. 
 w. glafoerion, slaver ; Bret, glaouren, 
 giaour, slaver, glaourek, slavering, talk- 
 ative ; Sc. glabber, to speak indistinctly, 
 as children ; Jr. glafaire, glagaire, a bab- 
 bler ; glifrim, to prate. The connection 
 between the ideas of slavering and prat- 
 tling is seen in Fr. baver, to slaver, drivel, 
 also to famble or flatter in speaking ; 
 bavard, a slaverer, babbler. — Cot. 
 
 Glead. A kite. The names of hawks 
 are often from their gliding or hovering 
 motion. So w. cM, a kite, from cudio, to 
 hover ; cudyll y gmynt, the kestril or 
 wind-hover. Lith. linge, the kite, from 
 lingoti, to hover. Dan. glente, kite, OE. 
 glent w. ysglentio, to slide ; and in like 
 manner E. glead from glide. 
 
 Gieam. — Glim.mer. Du. glinunen, 
 gli7npen,\gXiQScere, candere. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 glimmen, glhnmern, to shine ; G. glim- 
 men, glummen, to glow, shine in a covert 
 
 GLEE 
 
 305 
 
 way ; Sw. glimma, to glitter ; N. glima, 
 to shine bright, dazzle ; glima, a beam of 
 light ; ON. liomi, splendour, as. leoman, 
 to shine, OE. leem, Horn, a gleam. 
 
 ON. glainpa, to ghtter, shine. The 
 original image, as in all these expressions 
 for the action of light, is a loud sound. 
 ON. Glamm, a ringing, rattle ; glyrnia, to 
 resound ; glymr, glu7nr, resonance, noise ; 
 glumra, glamra, to jingle, rattle, rumble. 
 Gr. Xa^TTw, to ring loud and clear, as well 
 as to shine ; \afiirpbg, brilliant, sonorous, 
 clear. 
 
 To Glean. Fr. glaner, from glane, 
 galeyne, a handful ; glenon, a bunch of 
 hay, straw, vegetables. — Roquef. 
 
 Deus meyns ensemble, vodes ou pleyns, 
 Sount apel^s \es galeyns. — Bibelsworth. 
 Ainsi que le suppliant batoit un pou de 
 glaines, ou gerbes de bled. — Carp. Glean 
 (in Kent), a handful of corn tied together 
 by a gleaner. — Hal. Glane d^oignons, a 
 bunch of onions. — Diez. Glana, gleba 
 alliorum ; gelina, gelima, gelida, geliba, 
 eyn schouff off garve (a sheaf or bundle), 
 eyn Ideyn garbe. — Dief. Sup. Du. gluye^ 
 a bunch of straw or sedge, vulgo glema, 
 gelima. — Kil. The form gelima leads to 
 AS. gelm, gilm, E. dial, yelm, a sheaf, 
 handful of corn or straw. To yelm straw, 
 to lay it in order for a thatcher (i. e. in 
 handfuls). — Hal. To gleame corne, spici- 
 legere. — Levins. For the change of m 
 and n compare gerner for germer, to bud. 
 — Hdcart. 
 
 Possibly the formation of the word 
 may be explained from Lith. glebys, an 
 armful ; globti, glomoti, to embrace, to 
 hold in the arms. 
 
 Glebe. Lat. gleba, a clod, lump of 
 earth. 
 
 Glede. A hot ember, live coal. — B. 
 ON. gloa, to glow, burn, shine ; glod, live 
 coal. G. gliihen, to glow, be red-hot ; 
 gluth, the glowing of fire, hot coals, great 
 heat. Du. gloed, hot coals, gloeden^ 
 gloeyen, to glow. See Glow. 
 
 Glee. AS. Glig, gliw, music, sport, 
 joke ; glig7nan, a minstrel, buffoon ; glio' 
 wian, gliwian, to sing, jest, play. ON. 
 gly, laughter (Rietz), mirth, joy (Fritzner); 
 glyja, to divert, delight, rejoice ; glyjariy 
 a juggler, buffoon ; glotta, to laugh, to 
 sneer. Sw. dial, gly, glyt, glut, sport, 
 derision ; gora gly, to make sport of, to 
 deride. ON. hlcBJa, to laugh, hlcegja, to 
 divert, to cause to laugh ; Jilcei, laughter, 
 sport, Gr. ytXdw, I laugh. 
 
 To Glee.— Gley. — Gly. To squint. 
 Glyare,gloyere or gogyl-eye,limus, strabo* 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 20 
 
3o6 GLEEK 
 
 The elder sister [Leah] he forsoke, 
 For she gliyed seith the boke. 
 
 Cursor Mundi in Hal. 
 
 She had sore eyes. Sc. to gley, gly, to 
 look obliquely, squint. The primary 
 sense of the verb is to shine, then to 
 glance, to look. 
 
 In the founce thg- stonden stone? stepe 
 As glente thurgh glas that glowed and glyht. 
 Allit. Poems, A. IX4. 
 The gome glyht on the grene gracious© levej, 
 lb. C. 453- 
 
 ON. gljdj glcea^ Sw. dial, glia, to glance, 
 shine; ne. Glea,aglea,cro6k.Q6.; to gled^e, 
 to look asquint. — Jam. Gr. yXowq, slip- 
 pery ; yXotaJw, to cast a side glance. Pl.D. 
 gliden, glien, to slip or slide. 
 
 To Gleek. To jeer, joke, jibe, or ban- 
 ter. — B. Du. glicken (parallel with blick- 
 en), to shine ; Sc. glaiks, reflection of the 
 rays of light from a lucid body in motion ; 
 to cast the glaiks on one, to dazzle, con- 
 found ; glaik, a deception, trick ; to play 
 the glaiks^ get the glaiks, to cheat, be 
 cheated. To glaik, to trifle, glaiking, 
 folly, wantonness. ON. leika, to play ; 
 OE, to lake, to play ; lakin, plaything. 
 
 Glender. To stare, to look earnestly. 
 — Hal. Also to look aside, to squint. 
 Sw. glindra {glengrd — Rietz), to shine, 
 to glimmer ; ON. glingra, to gingle, rat- 
 tle, to shine delusively. MHG. glander, 
 glitter, shining. 
 
 Gleyme. Slime, glue. Gleytne or 
 rewme, reuma ; gleyme of knyttynge or 
 byndynge togedders, limus, gluten ; gley- 
 myn or yngleymyn, visco, invisco. — Pr. 
 Pm. Viscus, gleme or lyme. — Ortus in 
 Way. NE. gliMe, the mucus from the 
 nostrils of cattle. — Hal. Related to slime, 
 as Du. glibberig to slibberig, slippery ; 
 glippen, to escape, to E. slipj glide to 
 slide; Sc. glent to Sw. slinta, to slide. 
 Probably the radical image is the slip- 
 periness of a viscous liquid. 
 
 Glib. Slippery, smooth.— B. Pl.D. 
 glippen, N. gleppa, to slip ; Du. glibberig, 
 E. dial, glaber, glibbery, slippery ; glafe, 
 smooth, polite. — Hal. 'D^.glippe, to slip, 
 to miss, to wink ; Sc. glij^, a glimpse, a 
 glance. Lat. glaber, smooth, without hair, 
 seems from the same source ; and with- 
 out the initial g, labi, to slide, lubricus, 
 slippery. Lith. glebti, to be slippery. 
 
 Glidder. Slippery. — HaL B. Jonson 
 speaks of a galley-pot being well glid- 
 der ed, i.e. glazed, ^-w. glindra, to glim- 
 mer, shine. Da. dial, glidder, sHppery ; 
 gluddre, to smooth a wall plastered with 
 -clay. Sc. gluddry, gloittry, unctuous, 
 slippery ; to gloit^ to work with the hands 
 
 GLISTEN 
 
 in something liquid, miry, and viscous. 
 E. dial, gltit, the slimy substance in a 
 hawk's pannel ; Fr. glette, the froth of an 
 €g&) phlegm or filth which a hawk throws 
 out at her beak after her casting, glet- 
 teiix, slimy, flegmy, filthy. — Cot, Pl.D. 
 glett, slippery, E. gleet, a slimy discharge. 
 To Glide. Yixx. glijden,glijen, glissen^ 
 Pl.D. gliden, glien, G. gleiten, glitscken, 
 gleissen, Fr. glisser, to slide, slip. There 
 is obviously a close connection between 
 the notions of a glittering, shining surface 
 and of a smooth and slippery one. Thus 
 we have ON. gladr, shining, clear, bright ; 
 Du. glad, bright, shining, sleek, smooth, 
 slippery. — Bomhoff. Tityon glidder, slip- 
 pery. So ON. glita, to shine, leads to Sw. 
 glida, to glide, while both senses are pre- 
 served in the dialectic ^//^, to glow, to 
 shine, and also to glide, slide, flow. So 
 E. gloss, glossy, and Sw. dial, glisa, to 
 shine, gleam, correspond to G. gleissen, 
 Fr. glisser, to slide. E. glance, to shine, 
 is also used in the sense of slipping aside; 
 and here indeed we are distinctly con- 
 scious that the latter sense is taken from 
 the oblique reflection of light from a 
 smooth surface. The same is the case 
 with Sc. glent, glint, to flash, gleam, 
 glance, also to start aside. ' T' shot corns 
 glinted aff his wings lahk rain aff a duck's 
 back.' — Atkinson. Sw. dial, giant, slip- 
 pery ; gldnta, glinta, W. ysglentio, to slip, 
 slide. In the same way N.^/zr^z, to peep, 
 properly to shine ; E. dial, glire, gleer, to 
 slide.— Hal. 
 
 To Glie. To squint, to look askew. 
 The elder sister he forsoke, 
 For she ^/z3^^, seith the boke. 
 
 Cursor Mundi. 
 
 Sw. dial, glia, to gleam, also to glide, 
 slide. See Glide. Compare also gleam 
 with NE. glim, to look askance. — Hal. 
 Glender, a slight squint, is the equivalent 
 of Sw. glindra, to glitter. When a sur- 
 face is imperfectly polished it only reflects 
 slanting light. 
 
 Glimmer. See Gleam. 
 
 Glimpse. A flash of light, transient 
 glance. Swiss glumsen, a spark, glim- 
 men, glumsen, to glow under the ashes ; 
 Du. glimpen, glinsen, to glow, to sparkle. 
 
 And little glowworms glimpsing in the dark. 
 
 Nares. 
 Da. gli?nte, to gleam, flash. See Gleam. 
 
 To Glisten.— Glister. — Glitter. Du. 
 glisteren, glinsteren, to sparkle, AS. gli- 
 Stan, glisnian, glistenan, to glisten, ON. 
 glyssa, glytta, glitra, to sparkle, glitter. 
 A number of related forms are seen under 
 Glass. 
 
GLOAMING 
 
 It would doubtless be an error to sup- 
 pose all these forms to be successively 
 developed from any one root such as glas 
 ox glat. We should rather suppose that 
 the noises, which constitute the original 
 image in the expression of visual con- 
 ceptions, were represented independently 
 by forms bearing a certain resemblance to 
 each other, which was preserved through 
 subsequent modifications when the terms 
 were applied to visual phenomena, giving 
 them the false appearance of descent 
 from a common root. Thus we have Fr. 
 glas, noise, bawling ; Pro v. glat, yelp, 
 cry, chatter of birds, E. clash, clatter, 
 which when appropriated by the faculty 
 of sight produce forms like glass, gloss, 
 glat (polished), glitter, glister. A form 
 closely allied with glisten and glister is 
 applied to phenomena of hearing or the 
 sense which apprehends them in Du. 
 luysteren, to whisper, or to listen, Pl.D. 
 lustern, glustern, AS. hlystan, to listen, 
 i. e. to attend to low whispering or rust- 
 ling sounds. In the same way Da. knit- 
 tre, to rattle, crackle, knistre, to crackle, 
 titter, may be compared with gnistre, 
 ON. gneista, to sparkle. The Fr. ^clater 
 is used with reference to both senses. 
 Esclat, a clap, crack ; esclat de lumih'e, 
 a glimpse or flash of light ; esclatant, 
 crashing, cracking, ringing, glittering, 
 flashing. — Cot. 
 
 Gloaming, as. glomung, glommung, 
 twilight, the time of day when the light 
 shines obscurely beneath the advancing 
 shade of night like fire under ashes. Da. 
 dial, glomme, to glow, to begin to burn 
 or shine ; Swiss gbunsen, G. glimmen, 
 glummen, to burn in a covert way, to 
 glow under ashes. Da. glimte, to gleam j 
 Pl.D. gliemken, to peep, to dawn. 
 
 Scarcely had Phoebus in the gloaming East 
 Yet harnessed his fiery-footed team. — F. Q. 
 
 Ultimately from the figure of sound, sig- 
 nified by forms like Swiss glumsen, to 
 rumble, ON. glunira, glymja, to clank. 
 
 To Gloat — Glout. To look fixedly, 
 from desire or absorption in thought. G. 
 glotzen, formerly to shine, then to look 
 fixedly, to stare ; Sw. dial, glotta, glutta, 
 to peep. 
 
 -glomerate. Lat. glomus, a ball of 
 thread ; glomero, to wind into a ball, to 
 collect into a mass. 
 
 * Gloom. — Glum. — Glumpy. To 
 glombe, to look gloomy, to frown. — B. 
 * Whereas ye sat all heavy and glom- 
 inyng' — Chaloner. Gltimping, surly, 
 sulky ; glum, a sour cross look ; sullen, 
 
 GLOP 
 
 307 
 
 gloomy, overcast. — Hal. Da. dial, glum- 
 mende, scowling ; Sw. dial, glomma, 
 gldma, to stare fixedly. The sense of 
 silence is often expressed (with ellipse 
 of the negative) by words signifying 
 muttering, uttering a low sound. Thus 
 Lat. musso, primarily to mutter, signi- 
 fies to be silent, not to speak out ; G. 
 mucken, to utter a slight sound, is ex- 
 plained to show one's ill-will by a surly 
 silence, to scowl. The words at the head 
 of the article seem to have a similar ori- 
 gin. AS, clumian, to murmur, mutter, 
 and thence to keep silence. ' Gif bisceo- 
 pas clumiath mid ceaflum thasr he sceol- 
 dan clipian ' : if bishops mutter with their 
 jaws (i. e. keep silence) where they ought 
 to speak out. — Bede. Clumiend, murmur- 
 ans. — Lye. Chaucer uses chwi, as we do 
 mum, by way of an interjection exhorting 
 to silence. 
 
 They sittin still well nigh a furlong way, 
 Now Paternoster, clum, seide Nicholay, 
 And clum quoth John, and clum seid Alison. 
 Miller's Tale. 
 
 N. klumme, klumsa, to strike dumb, to 
 take away the power of speech by fear or 
 magic. 
 
 From simple silence to the scowl of ill- 
 will is an easy step. 
 
 She looked hautely, and gave on me a glum, 
 There was among them then no word but mum. 
 
 Skelton. 
 
 Thus from N. klumsa, speechless, we pass 
 to Lincoln clumpse, reserved, forbidding ; 
 NE. glumpse, sulkiness. ' He did not tell 
 me, and he's a clumpse man, I should ha' 
 been skarred to ax him.' — Ralf Skirlaugh, 
 ii. 86. ^ 5 » 
 
 The trouble of mind which hinders 
 speech is then, contrary to the usual 
 course of metaphor, transferred to the 
 material world, and the word gloom or 
 glum applied to the thickness which dis- 
 turbs the transparency of air or water. 
 P1.D. glum (of liquids), thick, turbid. 
 
 In the same way louring, properly sig- 
 nifying frowning or scowling, and Sw. 
 mulen (from mule, the chaps, snout), 
 chapfallen, sad, gloomy, are applied to 
 gloomy, overcast weather. 
 
 To Glop. — Gloppen. To glop, to 
 stare ; to gloppen, to frighten, to feel 
 astonished. 
 
 Thou wenys to glopyne me with thy grete wordez. 
 Morte Arture in Hal. 
 
 ON. gldpa, N. glaapa, to stare, gaze, gape. 
 Hence ON. gldpr, glappi, fatuus, E. gloup- 
 ing, silent or stupid, to be compared 
 with glout, to stare at, to pout, look sulky, 
 20* 
 
3oS 
 
 GLORY 
 
 as gloppen with glotten, startled, sur- 
 prised. — B. See Gloat, Glout. 
 
 Glory. Lat. gloria signifies fame, but 
 the E. glory has quite as much reference 
 to visible splendour as to spoken renown. 
 ON. glora, to glitter. See Glare. 
 
 Gloss. Lustre. ON. glossi, blossi, 
 flame, brightness ; glossa, blossd, to blaze, 
 sparkle, glow. Sc. to gliss, to cast a 
 glance with the eyes. See Glass. 
 
 Gloss.— Glossary. Gr. yXCjatra, the 
 tongue, a language, a special word, 
 whence glossarium, a. dictionary. 
 
 Glove. ON. gloj^. 
 
 To Glow. See Glede. 
 
 Glue. Fr. gl?/, birdlime ; w. glud, 
 tenacious paste, glue. Lat. gluten, glue. 
 The fundamental idea is shining, then 
 slippery, slimy, tenacious, gluey. Sc. 
 gleit, glett, to shine, glid, glad, glaid, 
 Pl.D. glett, slippery. ON. glcEta, wet. 
 Fr. glette, E. dial, glut, phlegm, slime ; 
 Sc. glidder, slippery, gludder, to do dirty 
 work ; to gloit, to work in something 
 liquid, miry, or viscous. Lith. glittus, 
 smooth, slippery, slimy, sticky. Compare 
 also Gr. yXioxpoq, slipf)ery, tough, glutin- 
 ous ; yXoiof, slippery, nasty, clammy. 
 - Glum. See Gloom. 
 
 To Glut.— Glutton. The sound of 
 swallowing is represented by the syllables 
 glut, glop, glup, gluk, gulp, gulk, giving 
 Lat. glut-glut, for the noise of liquid 
 escaping from a narrow-necked opening ; 
 glutire, to swallow ; Fr, glout, ravenous, 
 greedy ; w. gloth, glwth, gluttonous ; 
 Cat. glop, a mouthful ; N. glup a, gldypa, 
 to swallow, eat greedily ; Sw. glupsk, 
 ravenous ; E. glubbe, to swallow up, glub- 
 ber, a glutton ; gulp, gulk, gulch, glutch, 
 to swallow. — Hal. Fr. glouglouter, to 
 guggle, sound like a narrow-mouthed pot 
 when it is emptied. 
 
 Glutinous. Lat. glutinosus, from glu- 
 ten, glue, paste. 
 
 To Gnarr. — Gnarled. To gnarr or 
 gnerr, to growl, snarl, grumble. * Better 
 is a morsel of bread with joy than a house 
 full of delices with chiding and gnerring.' 
 —Chaucer. Du. gnorren, knarren, knor- 
 ren, grunnire, fremere, frendere, to growl, 
 snarl ; Sw. knarra, to creak ; knorra, to 
 murmur, growl, Dan. knurre, to growl, to 
 purr as a cat. Then, because a body 
 spinning rapidly round makes a whirring 
 sound while the string to which it is sus- 
 pended knots and twists, Sw. knorla, to 
 twist, to curl ; E, gnarr, a hard knot in a 
 tree — B. ; gnarled, knotted. I gnarre in 
 a halter or corde, I stoppe one's breath 
 or snarle one : je etrangle. — Palsgr. In 
 
 GNAW 
 
 the same way Pl.D. snarren, snirren, 
 snurren, to whirr ; snarre, a spinning- 
 wheel ; Sw. snorra, to hum like a top, 
 purr, sound the r strongly, also to whirl, 
 to turn ; E. snarl, to make a grumbling 
 sound, to make knots like an overtwisted 
 cord. Dan. kurre, to coo ; kurre, a knot 
 or tangle in thread. Sw. dial, korra, to 
 grumble, purr, whirr, to roll up, to twist, 
 snarl (of thread). 
 
 To Gnash. — Gnast. From a repre- 
 sentation of the sound made by the clap- 
 ping of the teeth. Fin. naskata, to clap 
 or knap the teeth ; naskia, to smack the 
 jaws, as a pig in eating ; Da. gnaske, 
 knaske, gnidske, Sw. gnissla, to crunch, 
 gnash, grind the teeth ; Du. knasschen, 
 knaspen, knarsen, knarren, to gnash ; Gr 
 knastern, knattern, to crackle, rattle. OE. 
 gnaste; to gnaste, or gnasshe with the 
 teeth, grincer. — Palsgr. in Way. ON. 
 gnista tdtinum, to gnash the teeth. 
 
 Gnast or Knast. The wick or snufif 
 of a candle. Lichinus, gnast of the can- 
 dell, candell weyke ; gnast, knast, emunc- 
 tura. — Pr. Pm. Your strengthe shall ben 
 as a gnast of a flax top (favilla stupse — 
 Vulg.) — Wicliff. In the latter version 
 gnast is replaced by deed sparke, or deed 
 sparcle. — Way. I should without doubt 
 refer it, with Way, to O'^.gnetsti, a spark, 
 were it not for the Pol. knota, the wick or 
 snuff of a candle, Lith. knatas, wick. 
 Thus the OE. gnast, or knast, may proba- 
 bly be identified with Pl.D., Da. knast, a 
 knot, knag, gnarl in wood, originally sig- 
 nifying (like wick) a knot or tuft of 
 fibrous materials dipped in grease. See 
 Knot. 
 
 Gnat. Sw. knott, gnadd, a midge. 
 From the humming sound with which it 
 signals its attack. Sw. knota, to murmur, 
 grumble. N. gnette, knetta, to crackle, 
 rustle, give a faint sound. Das gnatt 
 ikje 'ti'naa, there was not the least sound 
 from him. G. miicke, a midge, stands in 
 the same relation to mucken, synonymous 
 with N. gnette. Nicht einen muck von 
 sich geben, not to give the least sound. 
 
 To Gnaw. on. gnaga. Da. gnave, G. 
 nagen, Du. knagen, knauwen, to gnaw. 
 To 7iaggle, to gnaw. — Hal. From the 
 sound of the teeth against a hard sub- 
 stance. Fin. nakkia, G. knacken, to rap. 
 
 The same sound is also represented 
 with a final/ or b, t or d. G. knappen, 
 to crackle, gnaw, eat ; knaupeln, to gnaw 
 a bone, Du. knabbelen, to gnaw, gnash, 
 "^^ nibble; Fin. napista,\^\\Xex crepo, inde 
 murmuro (knarren, murren) ; natista, to 
 sound like gnawing mice ; natustaa, to 
 
GNOSTIC 
 
 gnaw ; G. knattern, to crackle ; Da, gnad- 
 dre, to grumble. 
 
 Gnostic. Gr. yvuKJTiKoq, possessing the 
 faculty of intimate knowledge, from 
 
 ■yiyvdjffKU), to know. 
 
 To Go. — Gang", on. gattga, perf geek, 
 heji geiigid; .N. ganga, gaa, to go on 
 foot, walk. G.geheUjgegaugen, D\i. gaen, 
 to go. 
 
 Goad. Properly a rod. Goad, an ell 
 English.— B. See Gad. 
 
 Goal. Gael, gea/, white, anything 
 white, a mark to shoot at. The Gael, 
 however seems an unlikely source for a 
 ■word of this nature, nor does it appear 
 that the mark in shooting was ever known 
 by the name of goa/ in E. A more plausi- 
 ble origin may be suggested in It.galla 
 or gala, a. bubble ; s^are a galla, to float, 
 and metaphorically to prevail, to get the 
 upper hand, to carry the day. The Fr. 
 avoir le gal is used in precisely the same 
 meaning (Trevoux), and the expression 
 was introduced into E. as to get the goal. 
 * There was no person that could have 
 won the ring or got the gole before me.' — 
 Hall. Rich. III. 
 
 It is obvious from the form of the ex- 
 pression that neither in E. nor in Fr. was 
 retained any consciousness of the origin- 
 al image, but the expression being spe- 
 cially applied to success in an athletic 
 contest, such as racing or football, the 
 term gal or goal seems by a literal inter- 
 pretation to have been affixed to the 
 boundary or standard the attainment of 
 which was the test of victory. Fr. gal, 
 the goal at football. — Trevoux. 
 
 On the other hand comp. Lith. gdlas, 
 end, extremity, aim ; ende, zweck, ziel ; 
 Let. gals, end, point, extremity. 
 
 Goat. ON. gelt, a female goat ; geit- 
 hafr, a male goat. 
 
 Gob.— Gobbet. See Gobble. 
 
 To Gobble, i. To make the guttural 
 cry of the turkey-cock ; to gabble, chat- 
 ter. Cat. parlar a glops, to hurry out 
 one's words. 
 
 2. To swallow hastily, from the noise 
 of swallowing, as guttle, guzzle, guggle, 
 Fr. godailler, from other representations 
 of the same sound. In Fr. degobiller, 
 Du. gobelen, ON. gubba, to vomit, the term 
 is applied to tTie upward instead of down- 
 ward gush. In these imitative forms the 
 position of the liquid is very variable, and 
 it is easily lost or inserted, as we have 
 often had occasion to see. Thus gobble 
 is related to gulp, as G. schwappeln to 
 Du. swalpen (Kil.), to dash or splash, E. 
 ivamble to walm, spatter to spurt, &c. 
 
 COBLET 
 
 309 
 
 Another arrangement gives E. dial, glubbe, 
 to suck in, to gobble up (Hal.) ; QaX.glop, 
 a gulp, draught, sup, mouthful of liquid. 
 The same idea is conveyed by Yx.gob ; 
 avaler tout de gob, to swallow at a gulp. 
 ' The little land he had — the lawyer swal- 
 lowed at one^<?^.' — Barry in R. Fr. gober, 
 to gobble, gulp down, eat greedily. From 
 the image of gobbing or gulping is taken 
 a designation for the throat, mouth, chops. 
 Fr. Prendre un homme au gobet, to take 
 him unawares, properly, to seize him by 
 the throat. E. gob, an open or wide 
 mouth.— B. Gael, gob (contemptuously), 
 the mouth ; Pol. g^ba. Boh. huba^ the 
 mouth, chops ; Illyr. guba, snout. 
 
 Again, we have Fr. gobet, a mouthful, 
 E. gob, gobbet, a lump, bit, morsel. 
 He gaping wide his threefold jawes 
 Al hungry caught ihsA. gubbe. — Phaer. 
 Gubs of gold. — Bale. To work by the 
 gob, by the piece or job. — Hal. 
 
 It must be observed however that in 
 the Walloon of Mons gob is a stroke or 
 blow (a notion often connected with that 
 of a lump), and also a bit or lump. Baye 
 ni^ein eingob, give me a bit. Gob d^ homme, 
 a stump of a man. Chaucer speaks of a 
 gobbet of St Peter's sail. 'Gobbets of 
 wood.' — Burnet. It. gobbo, a hump or 
 hunch. 
 
 Goblet. — Gotch. Fr. gobeau, a vial, 
 or strait-mouthed vessel of glass, a great 
 goblet ; gobelet, a goblet, or wide-mouthed 
 bowl to drink in. — Cot. 
 
 The names of vessels for containing 
 liquids are often taken from the image of 
 pouring out water, expressed by forms re- 
 presenting the sound of water guggling 
 out of the mouth of a narrow-necked ves- 
 sel. Thus It. gozzare, to revel, properly 
 to guzzle, Swiss ^tf'/j'(;>^^/«, to plash, sound 
 as water shaking in a vessel, are con- 
 nected with It. gozzo, a cruse, any glass 
 with a round body and long narrow neck 
 (Fl.), and E. gotch, a large pitcher — Hal. ; 
 Fr. godailler, to guzzle, or make good 
 cheer, Swiss gudeln, gutteln, to guggle, 
 sound as water in a vessel, with Yx.godet, 
 a jug, It. gotto, a pot, or drinking-glass ; 
 and perhaps Swiss guggeln, to guzzle, E. 
 guggle, with E. jug. So also Hesse klun- 
 ker, a narrow-mouthed flask, from the 
 clunking sound. ' Bauculum, ein ghud- 
 dorf, quod effundendo sonitum facit, dass 
 gliinckeW ' Giittrof, ein geschirr das 
 unten weit und oben eng ist — die da kut- 
 tern, klunckern, oder wie ein storch 
 schnattern wenn man drauss trincket.* 
 — Kurhess. Idiot. In the same way Fr. 
 gobeloter, to guzzle or tipple, gobelet^ 
 
3IO 
 
 GOBLIN 
 
 gobeaUy a drinking-glass, and possibly 
 Bret, gdby cop, a cup, seem connected 
 with E. gobble, representing the sound of 
 liquids in the throat. The OE. jub, a 
 jug, shows the change of the initial g to 
 J, as in Jug, compared with guggle. 
 
 Goblin. Fr. gobelin, a Hobgoblin, 
 Robin goodfellow, Bug. — Cot. The Gob- 
 lin was generally conceived as a super- 
 natural being of small size but of great 
 strength, dwelling underground in mounds 
 or desert places, not generally ill-disposed 
 towards man, and in some cases domes- 
 ticated with him and rendering him serv- 
 ice. Hence the frequent addition of a 
 familiar appellation, as in Hob-goblin, 
 Hob-thrush. — Cot. in v. Lutin. It was 
 known in Germany by the name of Ko- 
 bold, and was supposed particularly to 
 frequent mines, being thence called Berg- 
 geist, Berg-mannchen, or Mine-spirit, 
 Mine-dwarf. Another German name is 
 Matthew Kobalein, equivalent to E. Hob- 
 goblin. The Goblin is mentioned by 
 Ordericus Vitalis, ' Daemon enim quern 
 de Dianae fano expulit adhuc in eadem 
 urbe degit, et in variis frequenter formis 
 apparens neminem laedit. Hunc vulgus 
 gobelitiujn appellat.' He is known in 
 Brittany by the name of gobilin, and is 
 there also supposed to engage in house- 
 hold drudgery like Milton's Lubber-fiend, 
 to curry the horses of a night, for instance. 
 It is among the Celts probably that the 
 origin of the name is to be looked for. 
 The Welsh appellation is coblyn, pro- 
 perly a knocker, from cobio, to knock, to 
 peck ; coblyn y coed, a woodpecker. 
 
 An explanation of the name is given in 
 a passage which is the more satisfactory 
 from the fact that the writer seems to 
 have no idea of any connection between 
 the word goblin and the superstition he 
 is describing. ' People will laugh at us 
 Cardiganshire miners,' says a correspon- 
 dent quoted in ' Bridges' Guide to Llan- 
 dudno,' ' who maintain the existence of 
 knockers in mines, a kind of good-natured 
 impalpable people, not to be seen, but 
 heard, and who seem to us to work in 
 the mines. The miners have a notion 
 that these knockers or little people, as we 
 call them ' (compare G. berg-mdnnchen — 
 Adelung), 'are of their own tribe and pro- 
 fession, and are a harmless people, who 
 mean well.' * He said that the lad had a 
 great faculty — he could hear the knockers. 
 The what ? asked Anna. The knockers, 
 repeated he, for the Welsh fancy that 
 they hear the spirits of the ore at work in 
 the yet unopened mine.' — Mrs Howitt, 
 
 GOOL 
 
 Cost of Caergwyn. It will be observed 
 that the Kobold in Germany is peculiarly 
 a miner's superstition, while Cardigan- 
 shire has been a mining district from the 
 times of the Romans. From his knock- 
 ing propensity the Kobold is sometimes 
 called Meister Hammerling. 
 
 God. G. gott; Pers. khoda. 
 
 Gog.— Goggle. To gog, cog, jock, 
 jog, shag, shog, are parallel forms express- 
 ing motion brought to a sudden stop. 
 See Cog. Gog-mire, a quagmire, or 
 shaking bog. Gael, gog, nod ; gogach, 
 nodding, wavering ; gog-cheannach, nod- 
 ding, tossing the head in walking ; gog- 
 s/mil, a goggle-eye, a full rolling eye. — B. 
 To goggle is thus like coggle ox joggle, to 
 be unsteady, to roll to and fro. ' Then 
 passid they forth boystly goglyng with 
 their hedis.'— Chaucer, Prol. Merch. 2nd 
 Tale. Swiss gagen, to rock, gagebi, to 
 joggle. As such expressions as twitter, 
 chitter, signifying a broken, tremulous 
 sound, are applied to a tremulous mo- 
 tion, so it seems the representation of a 
 broken sound, the separate elements of 
 which are of a jarring nature, are applied 
 to a rougher and more disjointed move- 
 ment. Bav. gagkern, to cluck hke a hen, 
 to stutter, stammer ; S-w.gaggi, the cluck- 
 ing of a hen, gigagen, to hihaw, bray like 
 an ass. In the same way are related 
 Bav. gigken, to make inarticulate noises, 
 giggle, stutter, and gigke^i, to palpitate, 
 shiver, tremble. 
 
 Goit. — Gote. — Gowt. A ditch or 
 sluice. — Hal. A mill-stream or drain. 
 Du. gote, G. gosse, a kennel, conduit, 
 spout, sink. One of the numerous cases 
 in which there has been an interchange 
 of an initial d and g. Prov. dotz, Fr. 
 doit, doiz, Mid.Lat. doitus. ' Concessi 
 dictis fratribus stagnum de Placeio et 
 nemus, cum terra quae est per duos doitos 
 usque ad molendinum de Placeio, sicut 
 doittis exit de valle de Tesneres.' — Carp. 
 Lang, goussa and doussa, to give a 
 douche. 
 
 Gold. ON. gull, gold, gulr, yellow. 
 
 Golf. A Scotch game in which a ball 
 is driven by blows of a club. Du. kolf, 
 a club ; speelkolf, a bat to drive a ball ; 
 kolf ball, a ball used in such a game. 
 
 Gondola. It. gondola, dim. homgonda, 
 a small boat, which in its turn is from 
 Gr. KovSv, a drinking-cup. 
 
 Good. G. gut, Gr. dyaOog. 
 
 Gool. — Gully. A ditch, trench, pud- 
 dle. — B. Gully-hole, a. sink. Swiss giille, 
 mist-giille, a puddle, the drain ings of a 
 dung-heap. Du. Guile, palus, vorago. 
 
GOOSE 
 
 gurges. — Kil. Limousin gooullia, gaoul- 
 lio, a puddle. From the sound of water 
 guggling or splashing. Fr. dial, gouiller^ 
 to splash, dirty ; gouillat, a puddle ; goule, 
 a throat (Jaubert) ; goulot, the pipe of a 
 sink or gutter. See Gullet. 
 
 Goose. See Gander. 
 
 Gooseberry, Corrupted from G. kraus- 
 beere, krduselbeere (otherwise stachel-beere) , 
 Du. kroes-^ kruys-, kroesel-besie, Lat. uva 
 crispa, from the upright hairs with which 
 the fruit is covered. G. kraus, crisp, Du. 
 kroeseji, kruysen, to curl, the notion of 
 curly and of bristly hair being commonly 
 expressed by the same term. Compare 
 It. riccio, a curl, also the bristly husk of 
 a chesnut ; arricciarsi^ to stand on end. 
 The form kroesel-besie gives rise to Mid. 
 Lat. grossula, crosella, Fr. groiselle, gro- 
 selle. 
 
 The idea of an undulating, curly sur- 
 face is commonly expressed by the figure 
 of a broken, quivering sound. Fr. gre- 
 ziller, to crackle, shrivel ; Prov. grazillar, 
 to twitter ; G. krauseln, to trill, quaver, 
 warble, also to curl. See Curl, Frizzle. 
 
 Gorbelly. A glutton, or greedy fel- 
 low. — B. AS. and N. gor, filth ; in N. 
 also applied to the half-digested food in 
 the stomach of a ruminating animal, or 
 generally the contents of the intestines ; 
 gorvaamb^ the first stomach of a rumin- 
 ating animal ; gorkaggje, gorpose (a gore- 
 tub, or gore-sack), a gluttonous, lazy fel- 
 low ; gora, to stuff oneself. E. Gorcrow 
 (a consumer oi gore, or filth), ON. gorbor, 
 a raven. 
 
 Gore. I, Clotted blood.— B, AS. gor, 
 wet filth, mud, dung, blood ; N. gor, wet 
 mud ; gorbotn, a muddy bottom ; gormyr, 
 a soft swamp of mere mud. OHG. horo, 
 mud, oose ; horawig, muddy, dirty. 
 
 Gore. 2. To Gore. Gore, the lap or 
 skirt of a garment ; a pointed piece let in- 
 to a garment to widen it. 
 
 The Du. gheere was used in both these 
 senses ; gheere, gheerene, lacinia, sinus 
 vestis, limbus, et pars qua largior fit ves- 
 tis. — Kil, It. gherone, the gusset, gores 
 of a shirt or smock, side-pieces of a cloak ; 
 also the skirts of a coat. — Fl, Fr. giroit, 
 the lap or bosom. 
 
 The original meaning seems to be a 
 point or corner, then the corner of a gar- 
 ment, lap, corner-shaped piece let in to a 
 garment. Compare Lap. skaut, a point ; 
 aksjo-skaut, the point of an axe ; skautek, 
 pointed, angular ; ON. skaut, lap, lappet, 
 skirt, identical with G. ' schoos, bosom. 
 The sense of point is preserved in AS. 
 gar^ ON. geir, a spear, or javelin ; N. 
 
 GORSE 
 
 311 
 
 gare, garre, a. point, peak, sharp stalk of 
 grass or heath. Hence e, gore, to pierce, 
 transfix with a pointed instrument as a 
 spear or the horn of an animal, now 
 almost confined to the latter application. 
 Fin. kairz, a borer, also a gore or angular 
 piece in a garment. AS. navegar, an in- 
 strument for boring, where the sense of 
 piercing is expressed by the syllable gar, 
 the former part of the word being ex- 
 plained under Auger. 
 
 Gorge. Fr. gorge, a throat ; It. gorgo, 
 a gurgle, a bubbling or swallow of waters, 
 a gulph, whirlpool, a roaring noise, or 
 vehement boiling of waters, a spout or 
 gutter — Fl. ; gorgoglio, a gargling or rat- 
 tling in the throat ; gorgare, gorgheg- 
 glare, to gurgle with violent boiling, to 
 purl and bubble. Obviously from a re- 
 presentation of the gurgling or guggling 
 sound made by the motion of air and 
 water intermixed. Lat. gurges, a whirl- 
 pool. Arab, gharghara^ a gargle, rattle 
 in the throat. Esthon. kurk, G. gurgel, 
 the gullet, throat. 
 
 Closely allied to a series of forms in 
 which the r is replaced by an /, gulch, 
 gulp, gulf, gully, &c. 
 
 Gorgeous. Fr, gorgias, gourgias, 
 gawdy, flaunting, sumptuously clothed ; 
 glorying or delighting in bravery, also 
 proud, lofty, stately, standing on his pan- 
 tofles. — Cot. Se gorg laser, to flaunt, to 
 be proud of the bravery of his apparel. 
 Probably a metaphor from the strutting self- 
 importance of a peacock or turkey-cock. 
 So from jabot, the craw, falre jabot, se 
 glorifier, faire I'orgueilleux. — Diet, du bas 
 Langage. In the same way se rengorger, 
 to bridle, to hold back the head and 
 thrust forwards the throat and chest 
 (gorge) ; to play the important, affect an 
 air of pride. So G. briisten, properly to 
 hold up one's breast, figuratively to be 
 proud, to be pompous, to bridle up one- 
 self. Slch auf etivas briisten, to be proud 
 of a thing. Bohem. hrdlo, the neck, 
 throat ; hrdlti se, hrdnautl, to be proud, 
 to be puffed up, to strut. 
 
 Gorgon. Gr. ropy6»/ff, Lat. gorgoneSy 
 the three daughters of Phorcys. 
 
 Gormandise. Fr. gounnand, a glut- 
 ton. Like guzzle, guttle, gobble, the 
 word seems to represent the sound of 
 greedy swallowing of liquids. Compare 
 Castrais gotcrniouylha, gourmoulra, to 
 make a noise with water in rincing the 
 mouth, to bathe the face in a basin ; Sp. 
 gormar, Du. gobelen, Fr. degobiller, to 
 vomit. 
 
 Gorse.— Gorst. A prickly shrub, the 
 
312 
 
 GOSHAWK 
 
 growth of waste places. From w. gores^ 
 gorest^ waste, open. A gorsty bit, in the 
 Midland counties, is a piece of ground 
 overgrown with furze. Limousin gorsso, 
 place covered with stones and brambles ; 
 degourssa, to clear land for cultivation. 
 Bret, lann, gorse ; lannoit (in the pi.), 
 waste places. In the Fr. parts of Brit- 
 tany the plant gorse is called lande, the 
 name given to the barren, shrubby plains 
 about Bordeaux. 
 
 Goshawk. A hawk used in the chase 
 of geese. G. ganseadler^ goose-eagle. 
 *Auca, gosj aucarius, gos-hafucJ — GL 
 ^Ifr. 
 
 Gospel. AS. Godspell, ON. guds-spiall, 
 -the word of God. Goth, spillon^ to tell ; 
 AS. spell, ON. spiall, discourse, tidings. 
 
 Gossip. Godfather or godmother, re- 
 lated in the service of God. AS. sib, peace, 
 alliance, relationship ; sidscipe, Du. sibbe, 
 gesibbe, G. sippschaft, relationship ; ON. 
 gudsifiar, spiritual relationship. 
 
 At the present day the word is hardly 
 used except in the sense of familiar chat, 
 tattle, the most familiar intercourse. So 
 •Fr. commlre, godmother of one's child, 
 or fellow-godmother, also a tattler, gos- 
 sip ; commerage, tattling, gossip. Die 
 alberne weibertratcherei dieser gevat- 
 terinnen : the silly tattle of these gossips. 
 — Sanders. Pol. kum, godfather ; kumad 
 sie, to live on the most familiar terms. 
 
 Gossomer. Properly God -summer. 
 Prestis crowne that flyeth about in som- 
 ■mer, barbedieu. — Palsgr. G. der sommer, 
 fliegende sommer, sojnmer-fdden (sum- 
 mer-threads), Marien fdden, Unsrer lie- 
 ben frauen fdden, from the legend that 
 the gossomer is the remnant of our 
 Lady's winding-sheet, which fell away in 
 fragments when she was taken up to 
 heaven. It is this divine origin which 
 is indicated by the first syllable of the E. 
 term. In like manner the Lady-cow is 
 in Brittany la petite vache du bon Dieu, 
 in G. Marien-kdfer, or Gottes kiihlein. 
 
 Gotch. An earthenware drinking ves- 
 sel with a belly like a jug. \X.. gozzo, a 
 glass with round body and narrow neck ; 
 gotto, a drinking-glass. See Goblet. 
 
 Gouge. Sp. gubia, Fr. gouge, a hol- 
 low chisel. Pol. kopad, to dig, hollow, 
 scoop out. 
 
 Gourd. Lat. cucurbita, Fr. cougourde, 
 gourde. 
 
 Gout. From gutta, a drop. A rem- 
 nant of the medical theory which attri- 
 buted all kinds of disorders to the settling 
 ■X)f a drop of morbid humour upon the 
 
 GRAB 
 
 part affected ; of which we preserve an- 
 other instance in thQ gutta serena, or loss 
 of sight without visible affection of the 
 eye. The Sp. has gota arterica, or gout, 
 disease of the joints ; gota caduca, the 
 falling sickness, or epilepsy ; Du. goete^ 
 the palsy. 
 
 Govern. — Governor. Fr. gouvertiery 
 Lat. gubernare. 
 
 Gown. It. gonna, w. gwn, a gown ; 
 gwnio, to sew, to stitch. 
 
 To Grab.— Grabble. A large number 
 of words are found in English and the 
 related languages, apparently springing 
 from the root grab, grap,graf, with senses 
 having reference to the act of seizing or 
 clutching. To grab, to seize ; to grabble^ 
 to handle untowardly, to feel in muddy 
 places— B. ; ' Grabling in the dark with- 
 out moonlight through wild olive-trees 
 and rocks.'— North's Plutarch in R. To 
 the same class belong grapple, gripe, 
 grasp, grope. 
 
 Sw, grabba, to grasp, Du. grabbelen, 
 to seize greedily, to scramble for ; Lith. 
 grebti, to seize or grasp at anything ; 
 graibyti, to feel, handle, feel for ; greblys^ 
 a rake ; Illyr. grabiti, to rake, to rob ; 
 grebsti, to scratch, scrape, comb wool. 
 Pol. grabid, to seize, to rake, grabki, a 
 rake, or fork ; Bohem. hrabaii, to rake or 
 scrape ; Russ. grablif, to pillage, steal ; 
 G. grappeln, grapsen, to grope ; It. grap- 
 pare, to seize greedily upon, grapple, or 
 catch with a hook; graffiare, to hook, 
 scratch, scrape, gripe. Goth, greipan, 
 ON. greipa, Dan. gribe, G. greifen, to 
 seize ; Dan. greb, a dung-fork ; Yr.griffe, 
 claw. 
 
 The radical image seems the sound of 
 scraping or scratching, suggesting the 
 idea of scraping together, obtaining pos- 
 session by violent means, seizing. Hence 
 a designation is found for the instru- 
 ments of scratching or clutching, claws, 
 hooks, forks, rakes, and thence again are 
 formed verbs expressing the actions of 
 such implements. Lat. crepare, to creak ; 
 Ptg. carpir, to cry, to scrape ; ON. skrapa, 
 to creak, grate, jar, skrafa, to sound as 
 dry things rubbed together; N. skrapa, 
 Dan. skrabe, to creak, make a harsh 
 grating noise ; Pol. skrobad, to scrape, to 
 scrub. Bret, skraba, to steal ; skrapa, to 
 clutch, to seize, to rob ; krafa, krava, to 
 scratch, to seize ; krapa, to hook, to seize 
 by violence ; w. krafu, to scrape ; Lang. 
 grapa, lightly to scratch the earth ; Gr. 
 ypu<piiv, to write (properly to scratch) ; 
 Ga.eL grdb/i, sgriob/t,wr\te ; sgriob, scrape, 
 scratch, comb ; N. grava, to scrape, to 
 
GRACE 
 
 rake together ; G. graben^ to grave (i. e. 
 to scratch) in stone or metal, to dig. 
 
 Grace. Lat. gratia, from gratus, 
 pleasing; It. aggradire, to please. Lith. 
 grazus, fair, agreeable ; grazilas, orna- 
 ment. Gael, gradh, love, fondness ; gradh- 
 ach, lovely, dear ; A graidh, my dear. 
 
 Grade. — Gradient. —Gradual. Lat . 
 gradiis, a step, gradior, to advance by 
 steps. 
 
 Graff.— Graft. Fr. greje, a slip or 
 shoot of a tree for grafting ; Du. greffie, 
 a cutting either for grafting or setting in 
 the ground, also a style for writing. From 
 Lat. graphiiim, a style, or pointed instru- 
 ment for writing on waxen tablets. ' Gra- 
 phium vel scriptorium, grcef' — Gl. ^Ifr. 
 In like manner Sp. mugron, a sprig or 
 shoot of a vine, from Lat. mucroj Mod. 
 Gr. KEVTpKTua, a graft, KtvTp6vu>, to graft, 
 from KsvTpov, anything pointed. Grafting 
 was often called t\\.Q penning of trees. 
 
 Grail. — Greal, The San-greal {saint- 
 greal, the holy dish) was the dish out of 
 which our Lord ate at the Last Supper, 
 and in which Joseph of Arimathea caught 
 his blood at the crucifixion. 
 Yet true it is that long before that day 
 Hither came Joseph of Arimathey, 
 Who brought with him the holy grayle they say. 
 And preacht the truth.— F, Q. in R. 
 Lang, grazal, grezal, a large earthen 
 dish or bowl, bassin de terre de gres. 
 Grais, gres, potter's earth, freestone. 
 Prov. grasal, grazalj 'un grasal ou jatte 
 pleine de prunes.' — Raynouard. Grais 
 ox grh seems the Latinised form of the 
 Breton krdg, hard stone ; eur pod krdg, 
 un pot de gr^s. So N. gryta, a pot, from 
 grioty stone. 
 
 Grain. Scarlet grain or kermes is an 
 insect found on certain kinds of oak, from 
 which the finest reds were formerly dyed. 
 The term grain is a translation of Gr. 
 KOKKOQ, given to the insect from its re- 
 semblance to a seed or kernel, whence 
 the colour dyed with it was called kokkivoq, 
 or in Lat. coccineus, as from ker?nes, the 
 oriental name of the insect. It. carmesino, 
 crimson. 
 
 The term grana is applied in Sp. as 
 well to the dye itself as to the cloth dyed 
 with it, and also metaphorically to the 
 fresh red colour of the lips and cheeks. 
 Hence probably the grain of wood or of 
 leather, the ornamental appearance of the 
 surface dependent on the course of the 
 fibres. The grain of leather is the shining 
 side, in Fr. grain, or fleur de cuirj fleiir 
 in the sense of brilliancy, lustre. The 
 Sp. tez is explained by Neumann grain, 
 
 GRANGE 
 
 313 
 
 shining surface, bloom of the human face. 
 No doubt the term may have its origin in 
 the finer or coarser grains of which stone 
 is composed, and the expression may 
 have been transferred from stone to wood 
 and leather, but the former explanation 
 appears to me most probable. 
 
 Grains. Brewers' Grains. See Drain. 
 The Grains. A harpoon, fork for 
 striking fish. Dan. green, branch, bough, 
 prong of a fork. Sc. grain, grane, branch 
 of a tree, or of a river, prong of a fork. 
 Illyr. graria^ a branch, an arm of a river. 
 See Groin. 
 
 -gram. Gr. ypa^w, originally only to 
 grave or scratch, then to write or draw ; 
 ypcLfiixa, what is written or drawn, a letter, 
 a writing or drawing. 
 
 Hence Anagram, a writing whose let- 
 ters are to be made up again (in a differ- 
 ent order) ; Epigram, a short writing on 
 a subject ; Diagram^ a figure, plan, what 
 is marked out by lines ; Telegram, what 
 is written from afar. 
 
 ♦ Gramary. Magic. — Jam. Fr. gri- 
 moirej mots de la grimoire, conjuration, 
 exorcisms. — Cot. 
 
 Perhaps from Fris. grijmme, nacht- 
 grijmme, ghost, bugbear ; grijmmerye 
 (spookerij, bang-makerij), ghost-walking, 
 terrifying. — Epkema. And probably the 
 appellation arose from the roaring noise 
 made by the person representing a ghost 
 for the purpose of striking terror. AS. 
 grifnetajt, to roar ; Fr. gribouillis, the 
 rumbling of the bowels, gribonri (as G. 
 polter-geist) , a rumbling goblin ; Sw. dial. 
 grimi, noise, disturbance, bluster. 
 
 Yns.grijmgruwle, terror. 'Qu.t grimoire 
 may merely signify gibberish, the unin- 
 telligible mutterings of the conjuror, as E. 
 grimgribber, the technical jargon of a 
 lawyer. — Hal. 
 
 Grammar. Fr. grammaire, Prov. 
 gramaira for grammadaria, from Lat. 
 grammaticus, Gr. ypa\i\iaTiRoq. — Sch. 
 
 Grampus. From Lat. grandis pisciSy 
 or perhaps crassus piscis, Fr. gras pois- 
 son, 2iS porpesse iromporcns piscis. * There 
 we saw many grandpisces or herringhogs 
 hunting the scholes of herrings.' — ^Josselin, 
 1675, in Webster. 'Le flet et le pourpeis 
 et I'estourgeon et le poisson qui est nommd 
 crassus piscis.' — Metivier, translation of 
 the Tablier de Fecamp, 12 16. 
 
 Granary. — Granulate. Lat. grana- 
 rium, granum. 
 
 Grand. Lat. grandis, large, plentiful. 
 Grange. A barn, receptacle for grain 
 or corn, then the entire farm. Mid. Lat. 
 granea, granica, a barn, from granutn. 
 
14 
 
 GRANGE 
 
 com. * Si enim domum infra curtem in- 
 cenderit,aut scuriam (dcurie) scaigraneam 
 vel cellaria.' — Leg. Alam. in Diez. *Ad 
 casas dominicas stabulare, fenile, grant- 
 cam.' — Leg. Baiuw. ibid. From the first 
 of these forms It. grangia (a barn for 
 corn, a country farm — Fl.), Fr. grange; 
 from the second the OFr. granche, in the 
 same sense. Fr. granger, grangier, a 
 farmer. Da. lade, a barn, is applied, as 
 E. grange, to the farm belonging to a 
 monastery. 
 
 To Grange. To truck or deal for 
 profit. ' The ruffianry (brokerage) of 
 causes I am daily more and more ac- 
 quainted with, and see the manner of 
 dealing which cometh of the Queen's 
 straitness to give these women, whereby 
 they presume thus to grange and truck 
 causes.' — Birch. Mem. of Q. Eliz. in R. 
 
 From grange, a farm, Sp. grangear, to 
 farm, till, and thence to gain or acquire ; 
 grangeo, gain, profit. 
 
 Granite. A kind of stone formed of 
 grains of different minerals compacted 
 together. It. granito, kernelly or corny, 
 as honey, figs, soap, or oil in winter ; also 
 a kind of speckled stone. — Fl. 
 
 Grant. Much difficulty is thrown on 
 the etymology of this word by the con- 
 currence of forms which can hardly be 
 traced to a common origin. 
 
 From Lat. grains is formed It. grado, 
 Prov. grat, Fr. grS, will, liking, consent, 
 and thence It. gradire,aggradare, aggra- 
 dire, Fr. grder, agreer, E. agree, to ap- 
 prove, allow, give consent to. In Mid. 
 Lat. grains, or gratum, was used as 
 a substantive ; * sine gratu meo,' without 
 my consent. ' Idem feodum a manu mo- 
 nachorum alienare non possumus nisi 
 graio et voluntate Ducis Burgundiae,' 
 * Nos dedimus in alio loco praedicto Bal- 
 duino excambium illius terrae ad gratiwi 
 suum^ to his satisfaction. The insertion 
 of the nasal converted gralum into gran- 
 tum, in the same sense. * Et si non pos- 
 sim warantizare dabo ei escambium alibi 
 ad suum granium et valitudinem illius 
 terras,' to his satisfaction according to the 
 value of the land. ' Ad granium et vo- 
 luntatem Archiepiscopi Remensis.' Fa- 
 cere grainm zxid. facere granium, or gra- 
 tificare, are found indifferently in the 
 sense of making satisfaction. * Et si de- 
 bitor inventus fuerit in civitate antequam 
 graium suumfecerii, tamdiu tenebitur in 
 carcere donee redimatur de centum solidis 
 — turn jurabit se non reversurum in dic- 
 tam civitatem donee fecerii graium ma- 
 joris et creditoris/ until he shall have 
 
 GRANT 
 
 made satisfaction to the mayor of the 
 town and the creditor. * Solvat dominis 
 decem libras vel alias graiificei cum eis,' 
 or otherwise come to agreement with 
 them, make satisfaction to them. ' Icel- 
 lui Guillame compta ^X. fii grd k I'oste de 
 I'dcot de lui et ses compagnons,' satisfied 
 the host for the scot of him and his com- 
 panions. * Faciemus vobis graniiun nos- 
 trum de dictis mille et quingcntis marchis 
 et tenebimus ostagia apud Leydunum 
 donee integre de dictis 1 500 marchis fuerit 
 satisfactum :' where facere granium is 
 obviously to make satisfaction by actual 
 payment of the money. 
 
 We have next the verbs graiare, gran- 
 tare, graiificare, Yr. grder, in the sense of 
 doing an agreeable thing, bestowing a 
 gift, making over an interest, assenting to 
 an arrangement. ' Quia illud dictis ab- 
 bati et conventui graiavi et in verbo veri- 
 tatis concessi.' ' Ego in bono proposito 
 et sano concessi et graiaius sum praecep- 
 tori et fratribus militias Templi unum 
 sestarium mestillii/ ' Item nos episcopus 
 supradictus graniamus, laudamus, com- 
 mittimus et concedimus domino comiti 
 in feudum.' The corresponding terms in 
 French are ' loons, grdons, approuvons.' 
 
 If the foregoing forms had stood by 
 themselves, the derivation from grains 
 would not have been doubtful, but paral- 
 lel with these are found graanium {ad 
 suum graanium, to his satisfaction — 
 Carp.), graaniagium (Fr. granieis, pay- 
 ment, satisfaction — ibid.), Fr. craanier, 
 creanier, creancer, to promise, engage for, 
 to bind oneself, creancie, crdanche, creant, 
 crani, assurance, contract, engagement, 
 obligation. Now it is hardly possible 
 that grani could be converted by mere 
 corruption into graani, creani, the double 
 a in the OFr. being an almost certain 
 sign of the loss of a d, as in aage from 
 edage, caable from cadable, baer, bier^ 
 from badare. On this principle Fr. crd- 
 ance would be the equivalent of a Lat. 
 credeniia, trust, confidence, assurance 
 ' Ego B. archiepiscopus accipio te Ray- 
 mundum in fide et credeniia mea loco 
 sacramenti.' — Chart. A.D. 11 57, in Carp. 
 OFr. craant, believing. ' Sire si com 
 c'est voirs et s'^en somes craant.' — Roquef. 
 The Bret, cred, the root of credi, Lat. cre- 
 dere, to believe, is used in the sense of 
 assurance, obligation, security, crdance, 
 caution, garant. — Legonidec. The pro- 
 nunciation of the N. of France, which 
 regularly changes an initial gr into cr 
 (converting gras, grappe, grand-dieu, into 
 eras, crappe, crand-dieu — H^cart), would 
 
GRAPE 
 
 leave so little difference between cranter^ 
 to confer an advantage, from grains, and 
 craanter, to assure, from credere (both 
 used with equal frequency in legal instru- 
 ments in the act of transferring a right), 
 that it is not surprising if the two were 
 confounded. We find accordingly the ^ 
 oi grains united with the aa of craanter, 
 and gratare, graniare, used in the sense 
 of creantare. ' Super istas pactiones 
 omnes saepe nominati Domino de Leg- 
 niaso graantaverant (engage, pledge 
 themselves) quod tenebunt, &c/ ' Pras- 
 missa omnia et singula immobilia tenere 
 et fideliter adimplere promiserunt et gra- 
 tavertmt.' 
 
 Grape. Fr. grappe de raisins, a bunch 
 of grapes ; It. grappo, a seizing ; dar di 
 grappo, to seize ; grappa, the stalk of 
 fruit, the part by which it is held ; grap- 
 pare, graspare, to seize, grappola, a hand- 
 ful, as much as one's hand can grasp at 
 once, grappo, graspo, grappolo, graspolo, 
 a bunch of grapes. See Grab. 
 
 Graphic, -graph. Gr. ypd(pu), I write, 
 inscribe ; ypcKpv, a drawing, writing ; 
 ypacpiKOQ, suited for writing. 
 
 Grapnel. A small anchor composed 
 of hooks turned in opposite directions. 
 Fr. grappa, grappin, the graph of a ship, 
 — Cot. See Grab. 
 
 To Grapple. It. grappare, aggrap- 
 pare, to clutch, to grapple ; dar di grappo, 
 to seize. See Grab. 
 
 To Grasp. It. graspare, to grasp, to 
 grapple. 
 
 Bav. raspeln, raspen, to scrape. * Im- 
 merzu auf einer saiten raspeti^ to be 
 always scraping on one string. Also to 
 scrape together, to grasp. ' Sie raspen 
 das nie ihr ist in ihren sack,' they scrape 
 into their sack that which is not theirs. 
 Swab, raspen, to pluck, to gather. Hres- 
 pa7i, colligere, vellere ; gahresp, prasdia 
 (for prasda). — Schm. Sp. raspar, to rake, 
 scrape, to steal. See Grab. 
 
 Grass. AS. gcers, grcBs, Du. gars,gras, 
 grass ; grase, groense, groese, the green 
 sod, cespes gramineus. — Kil. The N. 
 gras applies to every green herb ; gras- 
 bruni, a nettle ; gras-gardr, a. kitchen- 
 garden. There can be little doubt that 
 the word is from the same root with grow, 
 of which also Lat. gramen is a participial 
 form. Du, groese, vigour, growth, in- 
 crease ; Dan. grode, vegetation, growth. 
 
 Grate. A frame composed of bars 
 with interstices. Lat. crates. It. grata, 
 grate, a grate, hurdle, lattice. Lith. kra- 
 tas, krotas, a grate, grated window ; Pol, 
 krata, grate, lattice. See Crate. 
 
 GRAVEL 
 
 315 
 
 * To Grate. It is probable that grate, 
 as applied to scraping nutmeg or ginger, 
 is directly taken from Fr. gratter, to 
 scratch, scrape, rub, the equivalent of G. 
 kratzen, ON. krassa, to scrape or tear. 
 On the other hand^r^^/^, expressing harsh 
 sound, would seem to be a development 
 of the root gar, kar, representing sharp 
 sound, as shown in Lat, queror, to lament, 
 G. quarren, to cry, MHG. kerren, querren, 
 to give a sound, to cry, to creak like a 
 wheel ; Swab, gurett, garren (knarren), 
 to creak ; Sp, chirriar, to creak or chirp ; 
 E. jar, to sound harshly ; Lat, garrire, to 
 chirp, to chatter. The addition of a fre- 
 quentative termination is shown in Bav. 
 garrezen, Lesachthal gerrazen, guerra- 
 zen (D. M. ii. 346), to creak ; MHG. 
 grdzen, to cry harshly, ' Man horte diu 
 ors da lute grdzen.'' ON. grata, to cry. 
 Walach. carti, to creak as a wheel. 
 
 Grateful.— Gratitude. — Gratify. Lat. 
 gratiis, pleasant, acceptable, gratitudo, 
 the emotion of a thankful spirit ; grati- 
 Jicor, to do what is agreeable or olaliging. 
 Grateful presents an instance of an E. 
 suffix attached to a purely L. word. See 
 Grace. 
 
 Grave. — Gravitation. Lat. gravis, 
 heavy, weighty, severe. 
 
 Grave. A burying-place, G. grab, 
 Du. graf, grave, Pol. grdb, grave, tomb. 
 Lith. grabas, a coffin, grabe, growa, a 
 ditch. Du. grave, a ditch, furrow, any- 
 thing dug, a spade ; graven, to dig. See 
 Grab. 
 
 To Grave. Fr. graver, to carve ; G. 
 grabe n, Du. graven, to carve, to dig. 
 Compare Bret, kraf, krav, scratch, and 
 (with inversion of the vowel) AS. ceorfan, 
 to carve. 
 
 * Gravel. It. gravella, gravel, sand, 
 grittiness, also the gravel in a man's 
 bladder or kidneys. — Fl. Fr. grave, 
 greve, sand or gravel, a sandy shore ; 
 gravelle, gravois, gravier, small gravel, 
 sand ; gravelee, tartar, the stony sedi- 
 ment that forms in wine. 
 
 The analogy of G. graus, rubbish, frag- 
 ments ; gries, gravel, chips of stone (from 
 grieseln, to fall in small particles), leads 
 to the suspicion that Fr. grave, gravier, 
 gravel, corresponds to G. gratipen, graii- 
 pel, Holstein griiben, gruven, crushed 
 corn, pearl barley, anything in small 
 lumps as hail, &c,, from graupeln, to fall 
 in particles, corresponding to Pol. kropic, 
 to fall in drops, kropla, kropka, a drop, a 
 dot, Russ, kroplio, I sprinkle, Serv. krop- 
 lenje, sprinkling. Krupa, grots, pearl 
 barley, Kriipy padaja, it falls in grains, 
 
3i6 
 
 GRAVES 
 
 It is a hoar frost. It. grebare^ to rammel, 
 rubble [i. e. to fall in ruins] ; grebdno, 
 rubble, stones of ruinous walls. — Fl. Let. 
 graiity to fall in dust and rubbish ; griib- 
 buli^ gruhbulis, rubble, broken ruins of 
 walls. Lith. gruwu, grusti or gruti^ to 
 fall in ruins ; gruwus, ruinous. 
 
 Graves. — Graving-dock. Graves, the 
 dregs at the bottom of the pot in melting 
 tallow. To grave a ship is to smear the 
 hull with graves (for which pitch is now 
 substituted), and a graving-dock is a 
 dock from which the water can be let off 
 in order to perform that operation. Sw. 
 Ijus-grefwar, tallow graves ; Pl.D. grebe, 
 greve, G. gruben, grieben, griefen, OHG. 
 griebo, griubo, ' quod remanet in patella 
 de carnibus frixis.' Apparently from 
 OHG. grieben, greuben, graupjan, to fry, 
 to melt in a pan. ' Frixare, grieben, 
 rosten ; frixus, geschmelzt, gegreubi;' 
 * cacraupta frixam.' — Gl. in Schm. Gi- 
 roupit, groubit, iriget—gigro libit, olio 
 frigatur — kacraupit, frixum. — Graff. Gri- 
 upo, G. grapen, a pan. 
 
 On the other hand the radical signifi- 
 cation may be lump, separate bit, from 
 the same root with G. graupen, small 
 lump, hail, grain, Russ. krnpci, grits, 
 ktupitzni, crums, Serv. krupitza, bit, frag- 
 ment, Illyr. krupa, krupitsa, hail, grits, 
 grain. See Gravel. OG. grdbelein, small 
 bits of bread fried in grease (Schm.), would 
 square with either derivation. In the 
 glossaries cited by Dief. cadula is ren- 
 dered S77ialz-grieffe, -grib, -croppe; bring- 
 ing us to Yorkshire rr«^^ or tallow-craps. 
 Cracoke {crawke or crappe, H. P.), relefe 
 of molte talowe or grese. — Pr. Pm. Bav. 
 griegken, graves. The hard skin of roast 
 pork scored in lines is called crackling, 
 and the same term is given in Scotch 
 Acts to the refuse of melted tallow. — 
 Jam. 
 
 * Gray. on. grdr, AS. grcBg, Pl.D. 
 graag, grau, Du. grauiv, grouw, gray. 
 Gr. ypaie, ypaug, ypaia, an old woman. The 
 Graiai, according to Hesiod, were so 
 called from being born with gray hair. 
 OHG. grdw, grd, canus, griseus, anilis. 
 
 Fris. gravelgraa, gray ; graveling, twi- 
 light, the gray of the evening ; Dan. 
 grcBvling, Du. grevel, grevinck, Sw. 
 grdfsvin, a gray or badger, as Yr.grisard, 
 irom. gris, gray. 
 
 The original meaning is probably parti- 
 coloured, as seen in Fr. grivele, speckled, 
 black and white, or dun and white (Cot.) ; 
 whence grive, E, dial, gray-bird, a thrush, 
 from its speckled breast. So also, in the 
 same way that we speak of taking some- 
 
 GREET 
 
 thing down in black and white for com^ 
 mitting it to writing, Yx.grivelde, a scroll 
 or schedule. — Cot. Doubtless also it is 
 from its particoloured face that the badger 
 is called gray, as the general colour of 
 the fur is not more gray than that of the 
 rabbit or hare. 
 
 It is remarkable that there seems to be 
 a connection between T>u. graauw, grouw, 
 gray, and grouwen, to shudder (Kil.), 
 graauwen, to snarl or growl (Bomhoftj, 
 as between grijs, gray, and grijsen, to 
 snarl, grijzjen, grijzelen (Epkema), G. 
 grausen, to shudder ; and this widespread 
 relation leads to the supposition iha.tgray 
 and gnjs, Fr. gris, are radically con- 
 nected. It is shown under Grisly that 
 the radical sense of grizzled or gray is 
 dusted or powdered over, and as grizzled 
 and Fr. gris are from gresiller, to fall in 
 powder or small particles, so perhaps 
 gray may be explained from Let. grant 
 (where the t is only the sign of the in- 
 finitive), to fall in dust or ruins, whence 
 gruhbulis, griibbuli, rubbish, fragments. 
 Lith. gruwu, grusti or gruti, to fall in 
 ruins ; gruwus, ruinous. See Gravel. 
 
 To Graze. To scratch, to rub, to pass 
 along the surface; Lang, grata la tere, 
 to scratch the ground, to skim over the 
 surface (effleurer). 
 
 Grease. It. grascia, grassa, grease ; 
 Fr. gras, fat ; graisse, grease ; Gael. 
 creis, grease, tallow. Lat. crassus, thick, 
 fleshy, fat. 
 
 Great. G. gross, Du. groot. 
 
 Greaves. Armour for the leg. Fr. 
 greve, the shin, shin-bone ; greviere, 
 wound on the leg. — Pat. de Champ. Sp. 
 grevas, greaves. 
 
 Greedy. Goth. ^r^^<r?^j, hungry ; pro- 
 perly crying for food. 
 
 Papelotes [pap, gruel], 
 ■ — to aglotye with here gurles, 
 That greden after fode.— P. P. 
 
 — to satisfy their children that cry after 
 food. In like manner G. begierig, de- 
 sirous, greedy, may be explained from 
 gieren, which, according to Japix, is used 
 in Friesland in the sense of crying. 
 
 Green. The colour of growing herbs. 
 ON, grcE, at groa, to grow, to flourish ; 
 grcBun, green. Du. groeyen, to grow; 
 groen, green. In like manner Lat. virere^ 
 to flourish, viridis, green. Lith. zdlas, 
 green, zelti, to become green, to sprout, 
 grow. 
 
 To Greet. Du. groeten, grueteft, to 
 salute, also to irritate or provoke, to ac- 
 cuse. — Kil. OHG. grozjan^ gruozjan, ir- 
 
-GREG- 
 
 ritare, provocare, salutare. W. gresaw, 
 a welcome. 
 
 -greg"-. Lat. grex, gregis, a flock, herd ; 
 as in Egregious (taken out of the com- 
 mon herd, select, excellent), Congregate^ 
 &c. 
 
 Grenade. — Grenadier, Fr. grenade, 
 a pomegranate, also a ball of wild-fire 
 made like a pomegranate. — Cot. An iron 
 case filled with powder and bits of iron, 
 like the seeds in a pomegranate. 
 
 -gress. Lat. gradus, a step ; gradior, 
 gressum, to step, to go. Aggression, 
 Congress, Progress, &c. 
 
 Greyliound. on. grey, grey-hundr, a 
 bitch. 
 
 Grid-iron. — Griddle, w. greidio, to 
 scorch or singe ; greidylU a griddle, an 
 iron plate to bake cakes on, gridiron, 
 bakestone ; Gael, gread, bum, scorch ; 
 Sw. grddda, to roast, bake ; grddd-patma, 
 a frying-pan. 
 
 The terms for roasting, broiling, frying 
 are commonly taken from the crackling 
 sound of the grease dropping in the fire. 
 Fr. greziller, to crackle as flesh on coals, 
 to frizzle, grediller, to frizzle, crumple, or 
 pucker with heat. — Cot. 
 
 Grief. Fr. grief, aggrievance, oppres- 
 sion, trouble; grever, to oppress, over- 
 charge, disquiet. — Cot. It. gravare, to 
 aggrieve, oppress. From Lat. gravis, 
 heavy. We speak of heavy-hearted, heavy 
 in spirit. ' And he took with him Peter 
 and the two sons of Zebedee, and began 
 to be sorrowful and very heavy.' 
 
 * Grig. A word only known in ordi- 
 nary speech in the proverb. As merry as 
 a grig. It is used provincially in the 
 sense of a grasshopper or cricket. Ten- 
 nyson in ' The Brook ' speaks of ' high- 
 elbowed grigs that leap in summer grass.' 
 And this is undoubtedly the sense which 
 the word bears in the proverb, the cricket 
 or grasshopper from their lively chirp 
 having always been taken by the writers 
 of fable as the type of a careless, joyous 
 life. ' Up bounded the long line of Otando 
 men to the rescue, laden with provisions 
 and as merry as crickets.' — Du Chaillu, 
 Ashango, p. 154. AS. grcEghaina (the 
 gray-coated), a cricket, grasshopper. 
 
 ' Fugelas singeth, gylleth grceghama ' — 
 birds sing, the cricket chirps. 
 
 Grill. Cold, shivery. 
 While they han suffred cold full strong, 
 In -weih&cs grille and derke to sight. — R, R. 
 In the original, par le froid et divers 
 temps. Du. grillen, to shiver ; grillig, 
 frilleux, shivery, grillig weer, cold, raw 
 weather. 
 
 GRIN 
 
 317 
 
 The origin is the representation of a 
 crackling or chirping sound by Fr. gre~ 
 siller , grisler, griller, to make a noise like 
 broiling meat, or the note of a cricket. 
 From the notion of a broken or quaver- 
 ing sound we pass to that of a quivering 
 movement in Fr. griller, Du. grillen, to 
 shiver, or tremble ; griller dHinpatience, 
 to tremble with eagerness. 
 
 To Grill, Fr. griller, to broil. From 
 the noise of frying or broiling. See last 
 article and BriUiant. 
 
 Grimace. Fr. grimace, a crabbed 
 look, wry mouth. The noises made by 
 an angry animal are represented by the 
 syllables gram, grim, grom, which are 
 thence applied to the various expressions 
 of anger, vexation, ill-temper ; Du. grim- 
 men, to snarl, grin, cry, make faces, 
 pucker up the face, wrinkle. — Kil. It. 
 grima, wrinkled. 
 
 ♦ To Grime. — Begrime. Sw. dial., n. 
 grima. Da, grime, a spot or streak of dirt 
 on the face, ON,, AS, grima. Da, grime, a. 
 mask (a blackened face) ; grim, griiniy 
 soot ; grime (Moth), T>Vi. griemen, gremen, 
 begremen, begrefnelen (Kil,), begro^nmelen, 
 to blacken, begrime, spot ; gremel, Fr,. 
 ^m/z«27//Qaubert), spotted, particoloured; 
 Sc.grnmjnel, ^•w.grums,grujnmel, dregs, 
 grounds, mud ; grumla, to make thick, 
 to trouble ; ON. groma, filth, dirt ; It. 
 groma, gromma, scurf or dirt that 
 sticks to anything, slime of fish, crust 
 that forms in wine vessels, roughcast on 
 a wall, dregs or mother. The radical 
 image may be the sprinkling or powder- 
 ing over, letting fall in small particles, as 
 shown in the case of Grisly. A griming 
 of snow or of ashes is a sprinkling. Fr. 
 gretniller, to crumble ; gremille, grou- 
 millon, groumignon, a crum, clot, single 
 berry ; grtime, grime, one of a bunch of 
 berries — Jaubert ; grtime, a grain; gru- 
 mel, a pellet, — Roquef. Lat. grumus, a 
 little heap. E. cru7n, crim, a small bit. 
 
 To Grin. The representation of the 
 sounds expressive of ill-temper gives rise 
 to a series of forms of much general re- 
 semblance. Du, grimmen, griisen, griin- 
 sen, to grin, snarl, grind the teeth, wry 
 the mouth, cry; grinnen, grinden, to grin, 
 or smxl', grijnen, to grumble, ^^rz/'^z^, ill- 
 humoured ; N. grina, to wry the mouth, 
 curl the nose, grinall, sour-looking, 
 harsh, raw (of the weather) . Fr. gronder, 
 grogner, to snarl, scold, grumble, groncer^ 
 to roar as the sea, grincer, to grind the 
 teeth ; It. grignare, to snarl as a dog, to 
 grin. Lat. ringi, to snarl, to be angry, to 
 
3i8 
 
 GRIND 
 
 grin, or open the lips, whence rictus^ the 
 open mouth, gaping jaws. 
 
 To Grind. The primary sense of the 
 word is in all probability the grinding of 
 the teeth, regarded as a symptom of ill- 
 temper, and designated by representa- 
 tions of the snarling sounds of an angry 
 animal. Du. grimmen, grinnen, grinden, 
 ringere, hirrire. — Kil. But perhaps the 
 long / of grind brings it nearer Du. grij- 
 sen, grijnsen, ringere, fremere, frendere 
 (Kil.), with the corresponding Fr. gf'incer, 
 to grind the teeth. G. griesgram, grum- 
 bling, out of temper. From grinding the 
 teeth the term is transferred to the break- 
 ing small by a mill. In these imitative 
 words the interchange of an initial /rand 
 gr is very common. So Lat. fremere, to 
 murmur, grumble, rage at, corresponds to 
 Du. grimmen, as Lat. frendere, to gnash 
 the teeth, also to grind or break small, to 
 E. grind. See Grist, Grum. 
 
 Grip. — Groove. Du. gruppe, grippe, 
 groeve, a furrow, ditch, groove, gruppel, 
 'greppel, a little ditch, kennel. G. gmbe, 
 a pit, ditch, hollow dug in the ground, 
 from graben, to dig. See Grab, Grub. 
 
 Gripe. Du. grijpen, G. greiffen, to 
 seize ; Fr. griffe, claw, talon, griffer, 
 gripper, to clutch or seize ; It. graffiare, 
 to scratch, scrape, hook, gripe ; grifo, a 
 gripe, claw, or iAon, grif are, to clutch. 
 See Grab. 
 
 Grisly, i. Frightful, horrible, what 
 causes one to shudder. G. dial, grauen, 
 grausen,grdsen,griesen,grieseln,gruseln, 
 grisseln, grasseln, Fris. grese, Sc. grise, 
 'growe, groose, to shudder ; E. dial, grow, 
 growze, to be chill before an ague fit. — 
 Hal. Grysyl, horridus, terribilis. — Pr. Pm. 
 G. grdsslich, Fris. grislik, terrible. 
 
 The radical image is the rustling sound 
 made by the continued fall of a number 
 of small particles, whence the significa- 
 tion passes to the idea of drizzling, trick- 
 ling, shivering. Sc.grassil,grissel,girs- 
 sil, to make a rustling or crackling noise ; 
 Fr. greziller, to crackle ; gresiller, to 
 hail, drizzle, sleet, reem to fall. — Cot. 
 * There was a girstlin of frost this morn- 
 ing ' Qam.), i. e. a sprinkling. Q.grieseln, 
 to fall in small particles, to trickle, and 
 thence to shudder, which is felt like a 
 trickling or creeping over the skin. 
 Gruselen, formicar cutis. — Stalder. ' Eine 
 geschichte die uns eine gansehaut iiber 
 den riicken grieseln lasst.' * Dass mir's 
 durch die haut grdsseltJ — Sanders. In 
 the same way AS. hristlan, to rustle, is 
 connected with G. rieseln, to make a rust- 
 ling sound, to trickle, to fall in small | 
 
 GRIT 
 
 particles as snow, hail, sand, to shudder. 
 ' Das seinem alten zuhorer ein schauder 
 iiber die haut rieselte,' — which made a 
 shudder creep or trickle over his skin. 
 Sw. r_ysa, to shudder ; ryslig, horrible. 
 
 Grisly, 2, or Grizzly. — Grizzled. 
 Speckled, of mixed colour, of mingled 
 black and white. G. greis, an old man, 
 gray ; Du. grijs, Fr. gris. It, griso, grigio, 
 gray. We have explained in the last 
 article the origin of G. grieseln, gruseln, 
 to fall in morsels or small particles, Fr. 
 gresiller, to drizzle, reem to fall ; gresilU, 
 drizzled on, covered or hoar with reem. — 
 Cot. To this last exactly corresponds E. 
 grizzled, applied to what has the appear- 
 ance of being powdered or covered with 
 small particles. So Fr. cendrd, gray, as if 
 powdered with ashes. Swiss grieselet, 
 griesselig, grainy, lumpy ; griset,grisselet, 
 grieselet, speckled. 
 
 Grist. Grain brought to a mill to be 
 ground. Fr. gru, grus, griit, grust, grain 
 either for grinding or for making beer. 
 Le suppliant conduisit une charretde de 
 grain on gru pour mouldre au moulin. — 
 MS., A.D. 1477, in Due. Hensch. In the 
 same sense ^;^z^j'^, A. D. 1383. Sometimes 
 the word has the sense of bran. The 
 grinding of corn is taken from the grind- 
 ing or gnashing of the teeth, and in the 
 same way grist, com to be ground, seems 
 properly to signify grinding. Grist, to 
 gnash the teeth— Hal. ; grist-bat, gnash- 
 ing of the teeth. — Layamon. Pol. grysd, 
 to gnaw, nibble ; Du. krijsselen, krijssel- 
 tanden, to grind the teeth. 
 
 Gristle. Universally named from the 
 crunching sound it makes when bitten. 
 AS. grystlan, Du. krijsselen, krijssel-tan- 
 den, E. dial, grist, to gnash or grind the 
 teeth ; Pol. grysd, to gnaw. Swiss kros- 
 pelen, to crunch ; krospele, gristle. Du. 
 knospeti, gnarsefi, to gnash ; knospelbeen, 
 gnarsbeen, gristle. So we have Boh. 
 chraustati and chraustdcka, lUyrian hets- 
 kati or herstati and herskav, herstav j 
 M:xgy. porczogjti, to crackle, /^r^^-, gristle; 
 Alban, kertselig, I crunch, kertse, gristle. 
 
 Grit. Sand, or gravel, rough hard par- 
 ticles. — Webster, as. greot, sand, dust. 
 Thii scealt greot etan, thou shalt eat dust. 
 ON. grjot, stones ; N. grjot, stone, peb- 
 ble ; Sw. dial, grtit^ grud, gravel, par- 
 ticle, small bit ; Da. dial, gryt, a small 
 bit, trifle ; Sc. grete, sand, gravel ; MHG. 
 griez, gruz, grain of sand, gravel, least 
 bit ; Lang, grut, a single berry, a grain. 
 ' N'a un grut :^ he has a grain of it (of 
 folly). — Diet. Castr. AS. ^ mxi grot and- 
 gytes: ' not a particle of understanding.—^ 
 
GRITS 
 
 Boethius. P1.D. grut, gruus, rubbish, 
 fragments ; grut un niurt, what is broken 
 to pieces. Du.^n^/, trash, refuse. Lith. 
 grudas, a grain of corn, pip of fruit, drop 
 of dew, morsel of something to eat ; Let. 
 grauds, a grain. Gr. ypyri/, Lat. gruta^ 
 scruta, trash, frippery, seem to come from 
 the same source. 
 
 It is shown under Grisly that from the 
 representation of a rusthng sound are 
 formed Fr. gresiller, to drizzle, to fall in 
 reem or hail, G. grusebi, grieseln, to fall 
 in small particles, to trickle down, and 
 from the same source are doubtless Let. 
 gf'aut, Lith. gruti, gnisti, to fall in dust 
 and ruins. From these verbs must be 
 explained G. graus, Let. graiisliy rubble, 
 fragments, Swiss griesel, drift of fallen 
 stones, G. gries, griess, coarse sand, 
 gravel, Du. gruis, gries, dust, sand, 
 gravel, Sw. grut, gravel, coarse sand, 
 rubble, rubbish, Pol gruz, rubbish, rub- 
 ble, gruzla, clod, clot, Fr. grus, skinned 
 grain, gruel. — Cot. It is a slight modifi- 
 cation from the final s of grus, gries, to 
 the t of grit, grot, grut; and the same 
 variation is found in the representative 
 forms at the root of the entire series. 
 Cot. gives gretiller, as well as greziller, 
 to crackle. E. dial, crottles, crumbs, also 
 the pellety dung of the rabbit, hare, goat, 
 seems to be named from its pattering 
 down in separate particles. Northamp- 
 ton ^r////^, to crumble off, pairs off with 
 G. grieseln. ' The dirt grittles from your 
 shoes.' In the same way we have Sc. 
 driddle, Sw. dial, drettla, to spill or to 
 let fall in small portions, alongside of E. 
 drizzle. 
 
 Grits. — Grots or Groats. Du. grut, 
 gort, G. griitze, Pol. gruca, Lith. grucze, 
 Lang, gruda, grain husked and more or 
 less broken, or sometimes the food pre- 
 pared from it. The formation of the 
 word may be illustrated by Lang, grid, a 
 single berry, a grain of anything, whence 
 gruta, gruda, to pick the grapes from the 
 stalks ; gruda also, as Da. dial, grotte, 
 grutte, to grain corn, i. e. to grind off the 
 skin, leaving the eatable grain alone. 
 Lang. grutSy grains of maize so treated. 
 See Grit. 
 
 The same connection between the de- 
 signation of a grain or of grits or ground 
 corn, and of gravel or small stones, is 
 seen in N. grjon, food prepared of corn or 
 meal, gruel, Sw. gryn., grits, groats, Swiss 
 grien^ pebbles, gravel. 
 
 Groan. Directly imitative. Du. groo- 
 nen, gemere. w. grwn, a broken or 
 trembling noise, a groan, the cooing of 
 
 GROOM 
 
 319 
 
 doves ; grwnan, to make a droning noise, 
 to hum, murmur. Fr. grander, to snarl, 
 grunt, groan, grumble. Prov. gronhir^ 
 gronir, Fr. grogner, to mutter, murmur. 
 
 Groat. Pl.D. grote, originally grote- 
 schware, the great schware, in contradis- 
 tinction to the common or little schware of 
 which there were five in the^^^^. — Brem. 
 Wtb. 
 
 Grocer. Fr. grosserie, wares uttered, 
 or the uttermg of wares, by wholesale ; 
 marchant grassier, one that sells only by 
 the great, or utters his commodities by 
 wholesale. — Cot. 
 
 Grogram. Fr. grasgrain (coarse- 
 grain), a kind of stuff. 
 
 Groin, i. The snout of a swine. From 
 the grunting of the animal. It. grugnire, 
 griignare, to grunt ; grugno, grugnolo, 
 snout of a pig ; Prov. gronhir, Fr. gro- 
 gner, grongner, OE. to grain, to grunt ; 
 Fr. graing, groin, snout ; E. dial, grunny, 
 snout of a hog ; gruntle, muzzle. 
 The gallows gapes after thy graceless gruntle. 
 
 Dunbar. 
 Metaphorically OFr. groing, cape, pro- 
 montory, tongue of land jutting into the 
 sea. — Roquef. Hence E. groin, a wooden 
 jetty built into the sea for the purpose of 
 letting the gravel accumulate against it 
 for the defence of the coast. 
 
 From the same source is the old name 
 of ' The Groin,' erroneously supposed to 
 be a corruption of Corunna. 
 
 Portum Verrinum sic intravere marinum . 
 
 [Vocatur la Groyne, et est in mare ut rostrum 
 porci ubi intraverunt terram.] — Polit. Poems, 
 Cam. Soc. 112. 
 
 Betwix Cornwall and Breta)me 
 
 He sayllyt ; and left the grunyie of Spainye 
 [i. e. Corunna] 
 
 On northalff him ; and held thair way 
 
 Quhill to Savill the Graunt cum thai. 
 
 Barbour. 
 
 2. G^r*?/;?, formerly more correctly ^r/«<?, 
 the fork of the body, as Yr. fourchure, a 
 fork-like division, the part of his body 
 whence his thighs part. — Cot. Dan. 
 green, branch of a tree, prong of a fork ; 
 Sw. gren, branch, arm of a stream, the fork 
 of a pair of trowsers ; grena sig, to fork, or 
 separate in branches ; rida grensle, en- 
 fourcher un cheval, to ride astride. Sc. 
 grain, grane, branch of a tree or a river. 
 In the same way Lap. suerre, the branch 
 of a tree or of a river, also the groin. 
 
 Groom.. Du. gram, a youth. — Kil. 
 Grojne, grume, a lover, a warrior, and 
 like ptier in Lat. and garqon in Fr. it is 
 also used for servant. — Jam. 
 
 Every man shall take his dome 
 
 As well the mayster as the grome. — Gower. 
 
320 
 
 GROOVE 
 
 Yx, gromvtc, serviteur, voiturier ; grovict, 
 grometel^ serviteur, gar<jon de marchand 
 ou d'artisan. — Roquef. In modern E. it 
 is appropriated to a servant attending on 
 horses. In our old Parish Registers it is 
 sometimes used for bachelor or unmarried 
 man. on. gromr, homuncio. — Egills. A 
 parallel form with Goth, guma, OHG. 
 gomo,o^. gome, man. OSax. brudigumo, 
 E. bridegroom. 
 
 Groove. Du. groeve, a furrow, ditch, 
 pit ; G. grube, a pit, hole, grave, from 
 graben, pret. grub, to dig. See Grab. 
 Du. groeven, to engrave, hollow out. 
 
 Grope. To feel with the hands. Lith. 
 grebti, to grab (greifen nach etwas), to 
 seize, gratbyti, to grab, handle, grope. 
 Cat. grapas, claws, hands ; a quatre gra- 
 pas, on all fours. See Grab. 
 
 Gross. Thick, coarse. Lat. crassus, 
 Fr. gros. 
 
 A Gross. The great hundred of twelve 
 dozen. 
 
 Grotto. — Grotesque. It. grotta, a 
 cave, den, cellar. — Fl. Fr. dial, crotter, 
 to dig, encrotter, to bury — Vocab. de 
 Berri ; crottot, pit, little hole — Pat. de 
 Champ. ; crotton, a dungeon. — Roquef. 
 From the sense of scratching, expressed 
 by grat (Fr. gratter, to scratch), as G. 
 grab, grube, E. grave, from the same 
 sense expressed by grab. 
 
 Grotesque is the style in which grottoes 
 were ornamented. 
 
 Ground. Goth, grundus {grundu- 
 •vaddjus, ground-wall, foundations) ; ON. 
 gruimr ; Lith. gruntas j Pol. grunt; 
 Gael, grunnd. 
 
 Group. It. gruppo, a knot or lump of 
 anything. W. crwb, crob, a hunch. 
 
 Grouse. Otherwise called the grey- 
 hen . From Fr. griais, griesche, speckled, 
 grey. Poule griesche, a moor-hen, the 
 hen of the grice or moor-game. — Cot. 
 
 Grout. ON. grautr. Da. grbd, Du. 
 gruyte, gorte, E. grout, gruel, properly 
 consisting of grots boiled with water, but 
 often of meal and water. The word is 
 then applied to other matters of similar 
 consistency, especially to thin mortar 
 poured in between the joints of stones for 
 the purpose of solidifying a structure. 
 See Grits. 
 
 Grouts. Now commonly Z2iS!i&dLgrounds, 
 the dregs of tea or coffee. 'S>i.grut, dregs ; 
 ^r7//'^«, grouty, muddy ; T)\x.grute, gruyte, 
 dregs — Kil. ; grut, refuse, trash, what is 
 cast out as small and useless ; Gael. 
 gruid, dregs. A parallel form with Du. 
 gruis, rubble, fragments, chips, bran ; 
 Pl.D. gruus, rubbish, coarse sand, broken 
 
 GROW 
 
 stone ; sfeen gruus, rubble of old walls ; 
 ieegruus, the grouts or spent leaves of 
 tea. — Schiitze. Grout-ale, poor ale run 
 from the grouts or grains of the first 
 brewing. — Hal. See Grit. 
 
 Grove. — Greve. Greaves, trees, 
 boughs, groves. — Hal. 
 
 So gladly they gon in greves so green. 
 
 Sir Gawaine and Sir Gal. in Jam. 
 AS. graef, a grove. 
 
 Grovelling. — Grouf. Sc. on groufe^ 
 agruif, flat, with the face downwards. 
 Agrui/\a.y some, others with eyes to skyes. 
 
 Jam. 
 Sterte in thy bed about full wide 
 And turn full oft on every side, 
 Now downward groufe and now upright 
 [i. e. with face upwards]. — R. R. 
 
 The addition of the adverbial termina- 
 tion ling or lings, as in darklings, blind- 
 lings, &c., gave grojiings, face down- 
 ward. 
 
 Therfor groflynges thow shalle be layde 
 Then when I stryke thow shalle not see. 
 
 Towneley Mysteries. 
 
 Grovelyngeox grovelyngys, adv. resupine 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Horman translates w//>^ skpynge groue- 
 lynge hy prond in facie m dormitione. 
 
 The ON. has d grufu corresponding 
 exactly to on groufe, agruif, above men- 
 tioned. At f alia, liggja, &c., d grufu, to 
 fall, lie, &c., face downwards. It has 
 besides the verbs grufa, grufla, to bend 
 down the head, lie face downwards, to 
 scramble on all fours. — Fritzner. 
 
 The radical image is shown in It. gruf- 
 fare, grufolare, to grunt, [and thence] to 
 grub or root up the ground with the snout 
 as a hog doth. — Fl. Hence grifo, the 
 snout, and E. grovel, grubble, to work 
 with the snout in the ground. 
 Okemast and beech and Cornell mast they eate 
 Grovelling like swine on earth in foulest wise. 
 Chapman. 
 Whoever tasted lost his upright form 
 And downward fell into a grovelling swine. 
 
 Comus. 
 
 To grub is to root in the ground like a 
 pig, and in Suffolk to lay a child grub- 
 bling'xs to lay it face 'down wards. — Moore. 
 Again, the image of a pig rooting with 
 the snout gives Dan. dial, grue (of a 
 ploughshare), to dig its nose into the 
 ground. ' Skaret gruer ikke nok : ' the 
 point of the share is not enough bent 
 downwards. At ligge paa gru or nase- 
 gruus, to lie groveling. 
 
 To Grow. I. ON. groa, Du. groeyen^ 
 to grow, flourish, heal. 
 
 2. To grow, to be troubled. — B. To 
 grow or gry, to be aguish ; grousome, 
 
GROWL 
 
 fearful, loathsome. — Hal. Dan. gru^ 
 horror, terror, grue, to shudder at ; G. 
 grauen, to have a fear united with shiver- 
 ing or shuddering ; Du. grouwen, gru- 
 weleUj gruwen^ to shudder at. Perhaps 
 from the connection between vibration 
 and sound. Fris. grotiwen, grouweljen, 
 to thunder — Epkema ; Lith. gratiju, 
 grauti, to thunder ; Illyr. griihati, gru- 
 vati, to boom like cannon, to resound. 
 The Yris.grouweljejt leads to Yr. grouier, 
 grouiller, to rumble, also to move, stir, 
 scrall. VlXi.grulen, to shudder at, to have 
 horror of. Fr. (Jura.) grouier, to shiver. — 
 H^cart. A shuddering is like a creeping 
 over the flesh. The growing or grauling 
 of an ague is the shuddering or creeping 
 feel which marks the approach of the fit. 
 Another synonymous form is growze, to 
 be chill before the beginning of an ague 
 fit (Hal.), corresponding to G. grausen, as 
 grow to G. grauen, to shudder. The 
 growing or grouling of an ague is the 
 shivering which marks the first approach 
 of the fit. 
 
 Growl. A muttering, snarling sound. 
 Rouchi grouier, to grumble, mutter, rum- 
 ble ; N. gryla, to grunt, growl, bellow ; 
 Gr. ypuXXt'^w, to grunt ; Fr. grouller, 
 grouiller, to rumble. 
 
 Grub. The origin of this word may 
 perhaps be illustrated by It, gorgogliare, 
 to rumble or growl in the bowels, to bub- 
 ble, boil, purl, or spring up as water, also 
 to breed vermin or wormlets ; whence 
 gorgoglio, gorgoglione (Lat. curculio), a 
 weevil breeding in corn. The root, re- 
 presenting a broken confused sound, is 
 applied to an object in multifarious move- 
 ment, as boiling water, then to the gener- 
 al movement of swarming insects and to 
 an individual insect itself Lang, gour- 
 goulia, Fr. grougouler, grouiller, groul- 
 ler, to rumble or croak as the bowels, the 
 two latter also to move, stir, swarm, 
 abound, break out in great numbers ; 
 grouillis, a stirring heap of worms ; It. 
 garbuglio, Fr. grabuge, a great stir, coil, 
 garboil, hurly-burly, gribouiller, to rum- 
 ble ; Pl.D. kribbeln, to simmer, to bubble 
 up, to stir, crawl, be in general motion ; 
 G. kriebeln, to swarm, crawl ; grilbeln und 
 grabbeln, to be stirring and swarming in 
 great multitudes, as maggots or ants. — 
 Kiittn. Hence E. grub, a maggot, as It. 
 gorgoglio, from gorgogliare. 
 
 * To Grub. To dig up something 
 
 buried in the ground, as the stumps or 
 
 roots of trees. Yorks. g7'ob, to probe, to 
 
 examine, as the hand dives into the corner 
 
 \ of the pocket — Whitby Gl, ; to grabble 
 
 GRUEL 
 
 321 
 
 (often pronounced as groffle or gruffle), to 
 poke about as with a stick in a hole, to 
 feel about among a number of things for 
 one in particular. — Cleveland Gl. Grub- 
 bare in the erthe or other thynggys 
 {grovblare, H. growblar. P.), fossor, con- 
 fossor ; grubynge {grublyng, H. grow^ 
 blinge, P.), confossio. — Pr. Pm. ' He 
 looked at the fish, then at the fiddle, still 
 grubbling in his pockets.' — Spectator. 
 Pl.D. grubbebi, grabbeln, grawweln, to 
 feel over with the hand, to grope about, to 
 grub in the dirt. There may perhaps 
 here be some confusion of forms from 
 different roots, and grub may be from the 
 same source with grovel, to root as swine, 
 an act which affords a most familiar 
 image of grubbing up. The final b ap- 
 pears in Suffolk grubblins, for groveli7igs, 
 or face downwards, and in Sw. dial, grub- 
 bla, to mutter, compared with It. grufo- 
 lare, to grunt or root as swine. 
 
 Grudge. Grutchyn, gruchyn, mur- 
 muro. — Pr. Pm. Fr. gruger, gruser, to 
 grieve, repine, mutter — Cot. ; groucer, 
 grouchier, groucher, to murmur, reproach, 
 complain. ' No man was hardi to grucche 
 (either to make pryvy noise, mutire-^ 
 Vulg.) agenus the sones of Israel.' — 
 Wicliff in Way. Gr. ypvl^tiv, to say 
 ypv, grumble, mutter ; fivKtiv iitjts ypv- 
 tiiv, not to let a syllable be heard. 
 Then, as grumbling is the sign of ill- 
 temper, to grudge, to feel discontent ; 
 grudge, ill-will. The It. cruccio, coruccio, 
 Fr. cotirroux, wrath, has the same origin, 
 although much obscured by the insertion 
 of the long vowel between the c and r. 
 Fr. courechier is found exactly in the 
 sense of E. grudge. 
 
 That never with his mowthe he seide amys 
 Ne groched agens his Creatour iwis, 
 [sa bouche n'en parla un seul vilain mot encuntre 
 son Creatour.] 
 And hke in the same manere tho 
 Suffrede Nasciens bothe angwische and wo — 
 And nevere to his God made he grochchetige, 
 Nethir for tormentis ne none other thinge. 
 [tout autresi souffri Nasciens ses grans peines — 
 assez en boin gre sans courechier ne k Dieu 
 ne a autre.] — St Greal, c. 27, 63. 
 
 On the same principle, G. groll, ill-will, 
 spite, may be compared with E. growl. 
 
 The grudging of an ague is a modifi- 
 cation of the synonymous grouse, men- 
 tioned under Grow, 2 ; as Fr. gruger, of 
 Pl.D. grusen, to crumble or break into 
 small bits. I groudge as one dothe that 
 hath a groudging of the axes, je frilonne 
 2xv^ je fremis.^ — Palsgr. in Way. See 
 Grisly. 
 
 Gruel. Fr. grtiau, gruant, oatmeal, 
 
322 
 
 GRUFF 
 
 groats— Cot. ; gruel, gniez, meal.— 
 Roquef. Bret, groel, gourd, groats ; w. 
 grual, gruel. N. grant, Dan. grbd, por- 
 ridge ; Lang, gruda, husked oats or 
 grain, more or less broken in husking ; 
 gruda, to husk or pill grain, to pick 
 grapes, skin beans, from gru, grut, a 
 single berry, a grain. — Diet. Castr. Lith. 
 grudas, a grain of corn, pip of a fruit, 
 drop of dew. See Grits. 
 
 Gruff. Churlish, dogged,— B. Pro- 
 perly hoarse in tone. To gruffle, to growl. 
 — Hal. Grisons ^«^^r, to snore. 
 
 To gruff, to express discontent or vex- 
 ation — Atkinson ; to grunt, to snore. — 
 Whitby Gl. It. gruffare, grufolare, gro- 
 folare, to grunt. — Fl. See Grim. 
 
 Grum. — Grumpy. e. dial, griim, 
 grumPy,2C!\gry, surly, sulky — Hal. -, grum, 
 sour-looked — B. ; AS. grom, grum, fierce. 
 Da. grum, ferocious, atrocious. G. gram, 
 trouble, sorrow ; gri7nm, wrath, rage ; 
 grimmig, raging, stern, crabbed ; Gael. 
 gruaim, a surly look ; gruama, sullen, 
 gloomy ; Manx groam, a sad or sullen 
 look. All from the expression of angry 
 feelings by muttering or snarling sounds. 
 Bav. gramen, to grind the teeth ; gries- 
 gramen, to murmur ; W. grem, murmur- 
 ing, grinding the teeth ; grwm, a mur- 
 mur, a growl (Spurrel). Du. griimnett, 
 to snarl, growl, grin, grind the teeth, rage, 
 cry ; grommen, Fr. grotujneler, E. dial. 
 grumph, to grumble, growl. Prov. gri- 
 viar, to groan, sigh ; grim, morose, sad. 
 
 To Grumble. Fr. grommeler, Du. 
 grommen, grommelen, to murmur, mut- 
 ter ; Sw. dial, grubbla, gru7nmsa, to 
 mutter discontentedly ; w. grwm, a mur- 
 mur, growl ; grymial, to grumble, scold. 
 G. brummen, to growl or mutter, is a 
 parallel form. 
 
 To Grunt. Lat. grunnire, Fr. grog- 
 ner, grongner, G. grunzen, to grunt, growl, 
 mutter ; Fr. groncer, to roar as the sea 
 in a. storm, grander, to snarl, grunt, grum- 
 ble. 
 
 Guard. Defence, protection. It. 
 guardare, to look, guard, ward, keep, 
 save, to beware ; Fr. garder, to keep, 
 guard, watch, heed, or look unto ; garer, 
 to ware, beware, take heed of. — Cot. The 
 senses of looking after and taking care of 
 or guarding against are closely united. 
 * Now look thee Our Lord.'— P. P. To 
 look seems to have been the original 
 sense of Lat. servare. ' Tuus servus 
 servet Venerine faciat an Cupidini,' let 
 your slave look. — Plautus. Serva ! as 
 Fr. gare ! look out ! take care I 
 
 For the origin of the word see Gare. 
 
 GUILD 
 
 Gudgeon. Lat. gobio, Fr. gouvion, 
 goujon, a small slimy fish. Rouchi, Cha 
 passe come un gou"Jio?t, that is easily 
 swallowed. Faire avaler des gouvions, 
 to make one believe a lie.— Hdcart. 
 Hence \o gudgeon, to deceive, befool. 
 
 Gudgil-hdle. A place containing 
 dung, water, and any kind of filth. — Hal. 
 Swiss Rom. giiadzouilli, to dabble in 
 wet. — Bridel. 
 
 Guerdon. Fr. guerredon, guerdon, It. 
 guiderdotie, recompense, reward. From 
 OHG. ividarlon, AS. witherlean, with a 
 change from / to d, perhaps through the 
 influence of Lat. donum. . as. wither, 
 against, in return for, and lean, reward. 
 — Diez. 
 
 Guess. Du. ghissen, to estimate, reck- 
 on, guess ; ON. giska (for gitska), N. 
 gissa, Dan. gisse, gjette, Walach. gid 
 (Ital. c), to guess, gicitoriu, a diviner, 
 guesser. 
 
 A frequentative from ON. geta, to get, 
 conceive, think, make mention of (i. e. to 
 pronounce one's opinion). At geta minni, 
 in my opinion. Geta gods til, to augur 
 well of. 
 
 Guest. Goth, gasts, stranger ; gasti- 
 gods, Gr. ^iKalivoQ, hospitable ; G. gast, 
 ON. gestr, Russ. gosty, Bohem, host, Pol. 
 goid, guest. Lap. guosse, guest, gtios- 
 sotet, to entertain, quossot, to act as 
 guest ; w. gwest, visit, entertainment, 
 inn, lodging, gwestai, a visitor, guest ; 
 Bret, hostiz, guest, host. The Lat. hostis, 
 enemy, supposed to be connected through 
 the sense of stranger, is probably from a 
 different source. 
 
 To Guggle. Fr. glouglou, Mod.Gr. 
 y\ovK\ov, guggling, the sound of water 
 mixed with air issuing from the mouth of 
 a vessel ; kovkXcvki^io, Swiss gungeln, gun- 
 schebi, to guggle, guggeln, to tipple ; Pol. 
 glukad, to rumble in the belly. 
 
 Guide.— Guy. W. guidare, Yx. guider, 
 guier, exhibit the Romance form corre- 
 sponding to G. weisen, Du. wijsen, Sw. 
 visa, to show, direct, guide. G. jemanden 
 zurecht weisen, to show one the right 
 way. Sw. visa honom in, show him in. 
 From G, weise, Du. wijse, ghijse, Bret. 
 giz, kiz, Fr. guise, the wise, mode, way 
 of a thing. — See Guise. 
 
 Guild. Dan. gilde, feast, banquet, 
 guild, or corporation ; Pl.D. gilde, a com- 
 pany, corporation, society of burghers 
 meeting on stated occasions for the pur- 
 pose of feasting and merrymaking. The 
 primary meaning is a feast, then the 
 company assembled, and the same trans- 
 ference of signification will be observed 
 
GUILE 
 
 in the word company itself, which signi- 
 fying in the first instance a number of 
 persons eating together, has come to be 
 applied to an association for any purpose, 
 and in the case of the City Companies to 
 the very associations which were formerly 
 denominated Guilds. 
 
 It is a mistake to connect the word 
 with the G. geld, payment. The real de- 
 rivation is to be found in w. gwyl, Bret. 
 goel, goiiil, a feast, or holiday, goudlia, 
 to keep holiday ; Gael, (with the usual 
 change from the w. gw to f initial), j^///, 
 a feast, holiday, fair, or market ; Manx 
 fealley, festival, sacred, hallowed. The 
 Irish y^//, or feighil, is explained the vigil 
 of a feast, sometimes the feast itself, 
 leading to the supposition that the word 
 is a mere corruption of Lat. vigilics. 
 But the w. and Bret, forms could hardly 
 have been derived from that origin, and 
 we find a satisfactory explanation in a 
 native root, w. gwylio, to watch, be 
 vigilant, to look for ; gwyled, to behold, 
 to see, gwylad, keeping a festival, the 
 notion of keeping or observing being 
 commonly expressed by the figure of 
 looking. Bret, gwel, look, sight, action 
 of seeing. In a similar manner from 
 wake, to be vigilant, to watch, we have 
 the wakes, the festival of the patron 
 saint, \v. gwyl-mabsant, G. kirchweihe 
 {weihen, to consecrate), where the ideas 
 of waking or keeping and consecration 
 or holiness are connected together in the 
 same way as in Manxy^^://^. 
 
 The Du. form guide, a feast (populare 
 convivium), also a guild or corporation, 
 closely resembles Goth, diilths, Bav. duld, 
 a feast. Osterduld, Easter. In modern 
 times duld is applied to a fair or market, 
 commonly kept on the saint's day of the 
 place. Dulden, like Bret, goelia, to so- 
 lemnize. Tuldan, celebrare ; tultlih, so- 
 lennis. — Kero in Schmeller. 
 
 Guile. OYx.guille, deceit, fraud ; Du. 
 ghijlen, ludificare, fallere. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 'gigeln, begigeln, to beguile, properly to 
 deceive by juggling tricks, from gig, ex- 
 pressing rapid movement to and fro. See 
 Gig, Dodge, Juggle. The same contrac- 
 tion is seen in the parallel form wile, AS. 
 wigele, from the notion of wiggling or 
 vacillating. 'And wigeleth3.s fordruncen 
 mon that haveth imunt to vallen.' — An- 
 cren Riwle. as. gewiglian, to juggle, 
 conjure. 
 
 Guillotine. The well-known imple- 
 ment said to be invented by Dr Guillotin 
 in the French Revolution. It was however 
 but the revival of a mode of execution 
 
 GULF 
 
 323 
 
 formerly in use in Germany. Crusius, 
 in his Swabian Chron. translated by 
 Moser. 1733, says: 'Formerly behead- 
 ing was not done in Germany with a 
 sword, but with an oaken plank on which 
 was a sharp iron. This plank was like a 
 flogging-bench, had on both sides upright 
 slides (grund-leisten), on which the plank 
 was ; under that a sharp cutting iron. 
 When the poor man was bound on the 
 bench, as if for flogging, the executioner 
 (truckenscherer) let fall the plank which 
 hung by a cord, which with the iron struck 
 off his head.' — Deutsch. Mundart. iv. 225. 
 
 Guilt. Properly conduct which has to 
 be atoned for, which has to be paid for. 
 Swiss giilt, Dan. gjeld, debt. ON. gialld, 
 debt, return of equivalent. In the same 
 way Dan. skyld, debt, guilt, offence, G. 
 schuld, a fault, guilt, crime, also a debt. 
 AS. gildan, Dan. gielde, G. gelten, to re- 
 quite, pay, atone, to return an equivalent. 
 ' He ne meahte mine gife gyldanJ He 
 could not requite my gift. — Casdm. Vor- 
 let ous oure yeldinges, ase and we vorle- 
 teth oure yelderes and ne ous led naght 
 into vondinge ac vri ous uram queade — 
 Paternoster in Dialect of Kent, 1340, in 
 Reliq. Ant. p. 42. 
 
 Guise. Fr, guise, Bret, giz, kiz, 
 equivalents of the G. weise, E. wise, 
 mode, way, fashion. The word is very 
 widely spread, being found with little 
 alteration in form in the same sense in 
 some of the Siberian languages. Wotiak 
 kyzi, manner'; nokyzi, in no- wise. Other- 
 wise we might find an explanation in the 
 Bret, giz, kiz, the fundamental meaning 
 of which seems to be footsteps, whence 
 the sense of a track or way, mode or 
 fashion, might easily be developed. Bret. 
 mondwarhegiz, to go back (literally to 
 go upon his giz), can only be explained 
 by giving to giz the sense of footsteps. 
 
 Guitar. Fr. guiterre, guiterne, a git- 
 tern. — Cot. Lat. cithara, a harp. 
 
 Gules. Fr. gueules, red or sanguine 
 in blazon. — Cot. From the red colour of 
 the mouth. Gueule, the mouth, throat, 
 gullet. 
 
 Gulf. It. golfo, a gulf or arm of the 
 sea, a pit, deep hole, whirlpool.— Fl. Fr. 
 golfe, a whirlpool or bottomless pit, also 
 a bosom or gulf of the sea between two 
 capes. — Cot. The G. meer-busen, Lat. 
 simis, bosom, gulf, would point to a de- 
 rivation from Gr. koXitoq, of exactly the 
 same meaning with Lat. simis. But the 
 sense of whirlpool, abyss, must be from 
 Du. gulpen, golpeti, E. gulp, to swallow ; 
 ODu. golpe, gurges, vorago. — Kil. The 
 21 « 
 
324 
 
 GULL 
 
 truth appears to be that here, as in so 
 many other cases where we are puzzled 
 between two derivations, they may both 
 be traced to a common origin. We have 
 only to suppose that the meaning of koXttoc 
 was originally the throat or swallow, then 
 the neck, and was finally applied to the 
 bosom in the same way that the neck is 
 frequently made to include the bosom in 
 common speech. 
 
 Gull. I. A sea-mew. It. gulone, w. 
 gwylan, Bret, gwelan, from the peculiar 
 wailing cry of the bird. Bret, gwela^ N. 
 Fris. gallen, to weep. E. dial, to gowle, 
 to cry. 
 
 For unnethes is a chylde borne fully 
 That it ne begynnes io gowle and cry. 
 
 Hampole in Hal. 
 
 G2ic[. faoiieann,faoiileag, a sea-gull. 
 
 2. A dupe. To gull, to deceive, de- 
 fraud. A metaphor from the helplessness 
 of a young unfledged bird, on the same 
 principle that the Fr. niais, a nestling, is 
 applied to a simpleton ; a novice, ninny, 
 witless and inexperienced gull. — Cot. The 
 meaning oi gull is simply unfledged bird, 
 in which sense it is still used in Cheshire. 
 As that ungentle ^2^// the cuckoo's bird. — H. iv. 
 It is especially applied to a gosling in the 
 South of England. 
 
 'And verily 't would vex one to see them, who 
 design to draw disciples after them, to lead a crew 
 oi gulls into no small puddles by having obtained 
 the repute of being no meanly understanding 
 ganders.' — Trenchfield, Cap of grey hairs, p. 8, 
 1671. 
 
 Probably from Dan. guul, Sw. gul, yellow, 
 from the yellow colour of the down, or 
 perhaps of the beak, as in Fr. bdjaune, 
 properly yellow beak, a young bird with 
 yellow skin at the base of the beak, me- 
 taphorically *a novice, a simple inex- 
 perienced ass, a ninny.' — Cot. \\.. pippi- 
 one, a pigeon (properly a young bird, 
 from pippiare, to peep or pip), metaphor- 
 ically a silly gull, one that is soon caught 
 and trepanned. — Fl. Hence a pigeon, 
 a dupe at cards. 
 
 Gullet. — Gully. Fr. goulet, a gullet, 
 the end of a pipe where it dischargeth 
 itself, the mouth of a vial or bottle ; goulot, 
 a pipe, gutter. E. gully-hole, the mouth 
 of a drain where the water pours with a 
 guggling noise into the sink ; BdiV.gullen, 
 Swiss guile, a sink ; Champagne goillis, 
 ordure ; Du. gullen, to swallow greedily, 
 suck down ; E. gull, to guzzle or drink 
 rapidly. — Hal. I guile in drink as great 
 drinkers do [swallow with a noise]. Je 
 engoule. — Palsgr. 576. Swiss Rom. 
 gollhi, gaula, to bedabble, bedrabble 
 
 GUN 
 
 oneself, to wet oneself up to the knees, 
 dirty the bottom of one's clothes, gollha, 
 a puddle ; gotholli, gollotzi, guallotsi, to 
 sound like fluid in a cask. Fr. goule, 
 mouth, throat — Jaubert ; gouler, to flow 
 — Pat. de Champ. ; gouUe, goulette, a 
 gulp or mouthful of wine ; goulueine7it, 
 greedily, like a gully-gut ; Lat. gula, the 
 throat. All from the sound of water 
 mixed with air in a confined space. Sc. 
 guller, duller, to make a noise like water 
 forcibly issuing through a narrow open- 
 ing, or as when one gargles ; to guggle. 
 — Jam. 
 
 Gulp.— Gulch. Du. golpen, ingurgi- 
 tare, avidd haurire. — Kil. Lang, gloup, 
 a gulp or mouthful of liquid ; gloupel, a 
 drop ; E. dial, gulk, to gulp or swallow. 
 Da. dial, gvulpe, to make a noise in the 
 throat in swallowing liquids. ' Han 
 drikker saa det gvulper i ham.' N. gulka, 
 Da. gtilpe, to gulp up, disgorge, vomit, 
 kulke, to gulp ; kulk. Fin. kulkkic or 
 kurkku, the gullet ; E. gulch, a gully or 
 swallow in a river. All from a represent- 
 ation of the sound made in swallowing 
 liquid. 
 
 Gum. Lat. guinmi, Gr. ico/i/xt, gum, 
 the congealed juice of trees. 
 
 Gumption. Understanding, intelli- 
 gence. From gaum, to observe, attend 
 to, understand. — Atkinson. 
 
 * Gums. Du. gujnme, G. gaumen, the 
 palate ; Lang, goumd, a goitre or swelled 
 throat. From Da. g2imle, to mumble, 
 Sw. dial, guuimsa, gainsa, geinsa, ghnsa, 
 Jammla, jumla, to chew slow and with 
 difficulty, probably, like the synonymous 
 mumsa, mumla, E. mump, mumble, imi- 
 tation of the sounds made in chewing 
 like a toothless person with the lips closed. 
 
 Gun, The signification of the word at 
 the earliest period to which it can be 
 traced is clearly shown in the Practica of 
 John Arderne, a surgeon of the time of E. 
 IIL, cited by Way in Pr. Pm., who, after 
 giving a recipe for a kind of 'fewe volant' 
 consisting of charcoal, sulphur, and salt- 
 petre, proceeds — 'cest poudre vault k 
 gettere pelottes de fer ou de plom ou d' 
 areyne oue un instrument qe I'em appelle 
 gonne.' The sense is marked with equal 
 clearness where the word is used by 
 Chaucer in the House of Fame, — 
 Swift as a pellet out of a.gunne 
 When fire is in the pouder runne. 
 
 The ordinances of the household of E. 
 III. which commence 1344, printed by 
 the Ant. Soc, enumerate ' Ingyners 57, 
 Artellers 6, Gonners 6.' It must be ob- 
 served that the name is exclusively English, 
 
GUNWALE 
 
 and it may well be that it appeared first in 
 the designation of the gimner^ from Fr. 
 guigneiir, an aimer with one eye, as a 
 gunner taking his level ; guigner, to wink 
 or aim with one eye, to level at a thing 
 winking. — Cot. Introduced into English, 
 where it suggested no reference to the 
 idea of aiming, the word would seem to 
 be taken from the new-fangled implement 
 which the gunner worked, and to which 
 the name o^ gun would naturally be given. 
 
 Gunwale. Wales are outward timbers 
 in a ship's sides on which men set their 
 feet when they clamber up, and the gun- 
 wale is the wale which goes about the 
 uttermost strake or seam of the upper- 
 most deck in the ship's waist. — Bailey. 
 
 Gurgeons. The siftings of meal. Fr. 
 gruger, to granulate, crunch, crumble. 
 Du. gruizen, to reduce to gruis, or small 
 bits. Yy. g7'us, grits. See Grits, Grist. 
 
 Gurnard. —Gurnet. Fr. gournauld, 
 : grougnaut (Cot.), now grenaict, from 
 grogner, to grunt, grumble. ' The Gur- 
 net is known to emit a peculiar grunting 
 sound on being removed from the water, 
 to which disagreeable habit it owes its 
 designation.'— N. & Q. Mar. 9, 1861. An- 
 other Fr. name is grondin. In Norway 
 it is called knurfisk, from Dan. knjirre, 
 to grumble, mutter ; also hurr^ equivalent 
 to OE. wkur, to snarl. Gronder, to whurre, 
 yarre, grunt, grumble. — Cot. 
 
 To Gush.. G. giessen, Du. gosselen, to 
 pour ; Swiss gusseln, to dabble in wet, to 
 sleet ; gusslig, muddy, thick (of liquids) ; 
 gusslete, slosh, dirty mixture. E. dial. 
 gushil, a gutter ; gudgil-hole, a sink. 
 From the sound of dashing water. I 
 gowsshe, I make a noise as water doth 
 that Cometh hastily out : je bruis. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 Gusset. Fr. gousset, a fob or pocket, 
 and thence the arm-pit, the piece of cloth 
 or of chain mail which covers the arm-pit 
 in a shirt or a suit of plate armour. 
 
 From Fr. gousse, It. gtiscio, the pod or 
 husk of pease, beans, &c. 
 
 Gust. — Gusto. Lat, gustus, taste, or 
 the sense of it. 
 
 Gust. ON. gustr, giostr, a cold blast 
 of wind, It. guscio di vento, agreeing with 
 E. dial, gush, gussock, a gust. 
 
 Guts. Perhaps so named from the 
 rumbling sound, as ON. bumbr, the belly, 
 
 GYVES 
 
 325 
 
 ON. 
 
 compared with bui7tba, to resound. 
 
 gutla, to sound as liquids in a cask. 
 His guts began to gotheten 
 As two greedy sows. — P. P. 
 
 Swiss gudeln, gudern, to guggle, pad- 
 dle, rumble in the bowels ; giidel, the 
 paunch, G. kutteln, guts, tripes, garbage ; 
 entkutteln, to gut. Pl.D. kiit, guts, bowels ; 
 kiifn, to gut. — Danneil. Du. kuit, spawn 
 or roe of fishes. Sc. kyte, the belly. 
 
 Gutta-percha. Malay gdtah, gum. — 
 Crawford. 
 
 Gutter. Fr. gouttiere, a channel or 
 gutter ; esgout, a dropping of water as 
 from a house-eaves, also a little sink, 
 channel, or gutter. 
 
 From the noise of water dripping, Pl.D. 
 guddern, to gush out, to fall in abund- 
 ance. Dat water guddert vam dake, the 
 water pours from the roof. De appel 
 guddert vam boom, the apples shower 
 down from the tree. From some such 
 form has arisen Lat. gutta, a drop. 
 
 Guttle.— Guzzle. To eat and drink 
 with haste and greediness. From the 
 sound of hquids passing down the throat. 
 ON. gutla, to sound as liquids in a cask. 
 Swiss gudeln, giidern, gutteln, gutzeln, 
 to shake liquids in a flask, to dabble in 
 liquids ; gudlig, thick, muddy from shak- 
 ing. I^at. glutglut, for the sound of liquid 
 escaping from the mouth of a narrow- 
 necked vessel ; glutio, to swallow ; Swiss 
 gieseln, to gormandise. Fr. desgouziller, 
 to gulp or swill up, to swallow down. 
 Fr. godailler. It. gozzare, gozzavigliare, 
 to make good cheer, to guzzle, guttle. It. 
 gozzo, a throat. 
 
 Guttural. Lat. gutttir, the throat. 
 Probably from some such form as those 
 mentioned in the last article. 
 
 Gymnastic. Gr. yu;ui/d^w, to train in 
 muscular exercises, which were practised 
 naked. Vvyivbq, naked. 
 
 Gyves, w. gefyn, fetters. Bret, kef, 
 trunk of a tree, stock or stump, log of 
 fire-wood, fetter, manacle. It is the same 
 word with Lat. cippiis, a stake, Fr. cep, 
 the stock of a tree, a log, or clog of wood, 
 such a one as is hung about the neck of 
 a ranging cur; [hence] ceps, a pair of 
 stocks for malefactors, also (less properly) 
 shackles, bolts, fetters, &c. It. ceppo in 
 all the same senses. 
 
Library. 
 
 -fl^feERDASHER 
 
 HAG 
 
 H 
 
 Haberdasher. Haberdashers were of 
 two kinds, haberdashers of small wares, 
 sellers of needles, tapes, buttons, &c ., and 
 haberdashers of hats. The first of these 
 would be well explained from ON. hapur- 
 task, trumpery, things of trifling value, 
 scruta frivola, ripsraps. — Gudm. A poor 
 petty haberdasher (of small wares), mer- 
 cerot. — Sherwood. 
 
 The haberdasher of hats seems named 
 from some kind of stuff called hapertas, 
 of which probably hats were made. ' La 
 charge de hapertas^ xii^.' — Liber Albus, 
 225. ' Les feez de leyne d'Espagne, wad- 
 mal, mercerie, canevas,— feutre, lormerie, 
 peil, haberdashrie^ esquireux, et les autres 
 choses ge I'em acustument par fee, vi^.' — 
 Ibid. 231. 
 
 Haberdine. Poor-john. A kind of 
 cod-fish cured. Du. abberdaan, Fr. habor- 
 dean^ from the last of which, docked of 
 the first syllable, seems to be formed E. 
 poor-john^ a kind of cheap salt-fish. 
 
 Habit. — Habitable. Lat. habitus, 
 from habeo, to have ; a freq. from which 
 is habitare, to dwell in, inhabit. 
 
 Habnab. Hit or miss, from AS. hab- 
 ban, to have, and nabban {ne habbafi), not 
 to have. It. Fatto guasto, hab or nab, 
 done or undone, made or marred. — Fl. 
 I put it 
 
 Ev'n to your worship's bitterment, habnab ; 
 
 I shall have a chance of the dice for it. 
 
 B. Johnson, Tale of a Tub, iv. I. 
 
 Hack. A cratch for hay. See Hatch. 
 Hack. — Hackney. Sp. haca, OFr. 
 Jiaque, haqtiet, a pony ; Sp. hacanea, a 
 nag, small horse somewhat bigger than a 
 pony. It. achinea, Fr. haqueriJe, an am- 
 bling horse. 
 
 The primary meaning seems a small 
 horse as distinguished from the powerful 
 animal required for warlike service ; then 
 as only inferior horses would be let for 
 hire it was specially applied to horses 
 used for that purpose. 
 
 And loved well to have hors of price. 
 He wend to have reproved be 
 Of theft or murder if that he 
 Had in his stable an hackney. — R. R, 
 
 It has much the appearance of being de- 
 rived from E. nag. 
 
 To Hack.— Hash.— Hatch. The syl- 
 lable hack, in which the voice is sharply 
 checked, is used in all the Gothic dialects 
 
 to signify a stroke with a sharp instru- 
 ment or an effort abruptly checked. Sw. 
 hacka, to chop, hack, hoe, to peck, pick, 
 chatter with the teeth, stammer, stutter, 
 cough constantly but slightly (Rietz), as 
 we speak of a hacking cough ; hakkla, to 
 stammer, to cough. 
 
 The Fr. hacher, to mince, produces E. 
 hdsh (a word of modern introduction), 
 properly to mince, then to dress meat a 
 second time, because meat so dressed is 
 commonly cut into small pieces. Hachis, 
 a hackey or hachee, a sliced gallimawfrey 
 or minced meat. — Cot. 
 
 Another application of Fr. hacher is to 
 the hatchings of the hilt of a sword by 
 which it is made rough for the hand. To 
 hatch, to make cross cuts in an engraving. 
 N. hak, a score or incision. 
 
 The hatching of eggs is the chipping 
 or breaking open of the egg-shell by the 
 pecking of the bird. G. hacken, to peck, 
 hecken, to peck, to hatch young. In the 
 same way Pol, klud, to peck, to chip the 
 ^ZZ 3-S young birds do when hatched. 
 Wyklud, to peck out, as the eyes ; ivy kind 
 sie, to creep from the ^g^, to be hatched. 
 'Hackbut. See Arquebuss. 
 Hacqueton. See Gambison. 
 Haft. AS. hceft, a handle, holding, 
 captive ; hceftas, bonds ; h(^fting, a hold- 
 ing ; haftene, captivity. ON. hefta, to 
 fetter ; heftr, fettered, hindered. Dan. 
 hefte, to bind, fasten, to arrest. G. haft, 
 fastening, clasp ; hold or firmness, at- 
 tachment, imprisonment ; in haft sitzett, 
 to be in durance ; haften, to hold fast, 
 stick. Du. hecht, heft, handle ; hechten, 
 heften, to fix, fasten, bind ; hegt, hecht, 
 heft, handle ;■ hecht, fast, firm, tight. 
 
 From the notion of having or holding, 
 as G. handhabe, a handle, from haben, to 
 have. 
 
 Hag. AS. hcEges, hcegtesse, ODu. hage- 
 tisse, MHG. hacke, hdckel, hecse, Swiss 
 hagsche, a witch ; hdggele, the night hag, 
 a female demon that walks on certain 
 nights, a witch. Hagged is emaciated, 
 scraggy like a witch, with sunken eyes. 
 
 A hagged carion of a wolf and a jolly sort of 
 dog with good flesh upon 's back fell into com- 
 pany. — L' Estrange. 
 
 Im abgemagerten angesichte, im entziindeten 
 auge der greisin die brandmale des hexenthums 
 zu erkennen. — Sanders. 
 
HAGARD 
 
 Hagard. Fr. hagard, hagard, wild, 
 strange, froward, unsociable. Faucon 
 hagard^ a wild hawk, one that preyed for 
 herself before she was caught. The word 
 seems synonymous with It. ramingo, Fr. 
 ramage, E. brancher, signifying a hawk 
 which has lived among the branches, and 
 is therefore not tamable like one that is 
 taken from the nest. Fr. ramage, of or 
 belonging to branches, also ramage, hag- 
 ard, wild, rude. Espervier ramage, a 
 brancher, ramage hawk. — Cot. From G. 
 hag, a wood, forest, thicket, grove. — 
 Kiittner. 
 
 Haggis. A sheep's maw filled with 
 minced meat. Fr. hachis, a hash. Nor- 
 man Patois, haguer, E. dial, hag, to chop 
 or hack ; hag-clog, a chopping-block. 
 
 To Haggle, e. dial, hag, to hew, chop 
 or hack, to haggle or dispute ; to haggle, 
 to chop unhandsomely. — Hal. To keep 
 agging at one is to tease or provoke him ; 
 not to be confounded with egging one on. 
 The radical meaning of the word is to 
 keep pecking at one, as Yx.picoter, or E. 
 bicker. lis sont toujours a picoter, they 
 are ever pecking at one another, bicker- 
 ing. — Tarver. Sw. dial, hagga, to hew, 
 hakka, to hack, to peck, to scold, keep 
 finding fault with, tease. Pl.D. hick- 
 hacken, to wrangle. — Danneil. Swiss 
 hdggeln, to wrangle. Fris. hagghen, 
 rixari. — Kil. Du. hakkelen, to stammer, 
 stutter, haggle. The same metaphor is 
 seen in Fr. chapoter, to hack or whittle, 
 also to haggle, palter, dodge about the 
 price of.— Cot. 
 
 Hail. AS. hagol, hcegle, G. hagel, N. 
 hagl, hail ; hagla, to hail, to fall in drops, 
 trickle ; higla, to fall in fine drops ; higl, 
 drizzling rain or snow. NE. haggle, to 
 hail ; Sc. hagger, to rain gently. From 
 the pattering sound of hail or rain. Sw. 
 hacka, to chatter with the teeth ; E. dial. 
 hacker or hagger, to tremble with cold. — 
 Hal. 
 
 To Hail. I. To wish one health. 
 Goth. Hails ! AS. Hal wces thu / Hail ! 
 equivalent to Lat. salve/ be of good 
 health. See Hale. 
 
 2. To hail a ship is from a different 
 source, and the word should here be 
 written hale, Pl.D. anhalen, to call to 
 one, to address one passing by. Du. 
 halen, haelen, to send for, call. See To 
 Hale. 
 
 Hair. Du. haer, G. haar, hair. 
 
 Hake. A kind of cod. Doubtless 
 from having a hook-shaped jaw. N. hake- 
 fisk, fish with hooked under-jaw, especi- 
 ally of salmon and trout ; Swiss haggen, 
 
 HALE 
 
 327 
 
 the male of the salmon ; AS. hacod, a 
 pike, a fish with projecting under-jaw. 
 
 Halberd. A long-handled axe, from 
 Swiss halm, the helve or handle of an 
 axe, and OHG. parten, G. barte, a broad 
 axe. Helm-ackes, bipennis. — Gl. 12th cen- 
 tury in Schm. 
 
 Now has Arthure his axe and the halme grypes. 
 Sir Gawayne and the Gr. Kn. 
 
 The word was however early misunder- 
 stood as if it signified an axe for crashing 
 a helmet. Helm-parten, cassidolabrum. 
 — Gl. 15th century in Schm. 
 
 The origin of the latter half of the word 
 seems from Bohem. brada, a beard, chin, 
 whence bradaty, having a large beard or 
 chin ; bradatice, a wide-bearded or broad 
 axe. Gr. ygvuff, the under-jaw, is used 
 for the edge of an axe. Comp. also Lap. 
 skaut, the point of an axe, skaiitja, beard. 
 
 To Hale.— Haul. To pull or drag.— 
 B. G. holen, to fetch, drag, tow. Athem 
 holen, to draw breath. Du. haelen, to 
 call, send for, fetch, draw. Fr. haler, to 
 hale, haul, tow. 
 
 It will doubtless seem a far-fetched 
 origin to derive the expression from the 
 notion of setting on a dog, but it is one 
 that is supported by many analogies. 
 The most obvious mode of driving an 
 animal is by setting a dog at it, and from 
 driving an animal to the impulsion of an 
 inanimate object is an easy step. Pl.D. 
 hissen, to set on a dog ; de schaop hissen, 
 to drive sheep ; Bret, hissa, issa, to incite, 
 to push on, to draw up the sail. — Diet. 
 Langued. in v. isso. From Fr. hare ! cry 
 to encourage or set on a dog, are formed 
 harer, to incite, set on, attack, harier, to 
 harass, urge, molest, provoke, and thence 
 OE. harr, or harry, properly to drive as a 
 beast by means of a dog, then to drag by 
 force. ' He haryeth hym about as if he 
 were a traytour. I harye, or mysseentreat 
 or hale one, Je harie. I harry, or carry 
 by force, je traine and je hercelle.' — 
 Palsgr. in Way. ' The corps of the sayde 
 byshope with his two servauntes were 
 haryed to Thamys side.' — Fabian, ibid. 
 And develles salle harre hym up evene 
 In the ayre als he suld stegh to hevene. 
 
 Hampole, Ibid. 
 
 Then with a derivative el, Fr. harele, out- 
 cry ; haraler, to tease, to vex ; harele, a 
 flock or herd (from the notion of driving, 
 as Gr. dyeXjj, a herd, from ayw, to drive) ; 
 hasler (for harier), haller, haler, to halloo 
 or hound on dogs — Cot. ; OE. harl, to 
 harass, drive, cast. 
 
 King Richard this noble knight Acres nom so, 
 And harlede so the Sarrazins in eche side about. 
 
328 HALE 
 
 That the ssrewen ne dorste in none ende at route. 
 
 R. G. 487. 
 
 Sc. harky to pull or drag. 
 
 About the wallis of Troy he saw quhat wyse 
 Achilles harlit Hectoris body thrys. — D. V. 
 
 To hattri, to drag or pull. — Hal. 
 
 On the same principle It. tirare, to 
 draw, hale, allure unto — Fl., may be con- 
 nected with the tarring^ tirring^ or set- 
 ting on of dogs. 
 
 Hale. Sound, in good health. Goth. 
 hails, sound, healthy ; gahails, entire ; 
 AS. hal^ healthy, sound, whole, safe ; hal 
 gedon, to heal ; Du. heel^ whole, entire, 
 unbroken, sound, healthy ; heylen, heelen, 
 to heal. ON. heill, whole, sound, pros- 
 perous. Gr. cikoQy entire, whole, sound ; 
 vyir}Q Kat oXog, safe and sound ; W. holl, 
 all ; hollol, whole. The root appears in 
 Lat. with an initial s instead of the aspir- 
 ate. Salvus, unbroken, uninjured, sound, 
 in good health ; salve ! hail ] ' salus, 
 health ; solidus, sound, entire, whole ; 
 solus (undivided), alone. Sanscr. sarva, 
 all. Manx slane, whole, total, hale ; 
 slaney, whole, healed ; slaynt, health. 
 
 The radical identity of hale and whole 
 is shown in wholesoine, healthy. 
 
 Half. Goth, halbs, half; ON. half a, 
 alfa, region, part, side. Swiss halb, the 
 side of a body ; sun?tet-halb, southwards ; 
 schatten-halb, northwards. It is probable 
 that side is the original meaning of the 
 word. OHG. in halbo, in latere (montis) ; 
 halputi, latere (dominus erit in latere tuo) ; 
 alahalba, on all sides. — Graff. Lap. pele, 
 side, half. Mo pelen, at my side ; mubben 
 pelen, on the other side. 
 
 Halibut. A large kind of flat fish. 
 Du. heil-bot, from heil, holy, and bol, bot- 
 visch, a flat fish. ON. heilag-fiski. 
 
 Halidom. ON. heilagr dojnr, things 
 of especial holiness, the rehcs of the saints, 
 on which oaths were formerly taken. 
 
 Hall. AS. heal, Lat. aula, It. sala, Fr. 
 salle. OHG. sal, house, residence ; Bret. 
 sal (as hall in E.), a gentleman's house in 
 the country. 
 
 Halloo. Sp. Jalear, to encourage 
 hounds to follow the chase. Fr. halle I 
 an interjection of cheering or setting on of 
 a dog ; haller, to hallow or encourage 
 dogs. — Cot. The Pl.D. exclamation hallo! 
 is used as a subst. in the sense of outcry'; 
 hallon, to halloo. — Danneil. 
 
 To Hallow. AS. halgian, to keep holy, 
 to consecrate. ' Mi cume thauh hit 
 thunche attre, hit is thauh healuwinde.^ 
 Though my coming seems bitter, yet it is 
 healing. — Ancren Riwle, 190. See Holy. 
 
 HALT 
 
 Hallucination. Lat. hallucinari, to 
 be in error, to blunder. 
 
 Halm.— Haulm. The stalk of corn. 
 G. haltn^ Gr. Koka^ioq, Lat. calamus, cul- 
 mus, Fr. chaubne, straw. 
 
 Halo. Lat. halo, Gr. aXwf, the disk of 
 the sun or moon. 
 
 Halse.— Hawse. OE. halse, g. Du. 
 hals, the neck. 
 
 And if so be that thou find me false 
 Another day, hang me up by the halse. 
 Chaucer in R. 
 To Halse. — Three distinct words are 
 here confounded. 
 
 1. To halse, or hawse, Du. halsen, hel- 
 sen, omhelsen, to embrace, take one by the 
 neck, from hals, the neck, as Fr. accoler, 
 to coll or clip about the neck, from Fr. 
 col, cou, neck. Halsyn, amplector. — Pr. 
 Pm. 
 
 2. To halse, or hailse, ON. heilsa, Sw. 
 halsa, Dan. hilse, to salute, to wish one 
 health, from ON. heilsa, health. 
 
 And the eleven sterres halsed him all. — P. P. 
 
 3. To halse, or hawse, to raise, heave, or 
 drag up, from It. alzare, Fr. haulser, haus- 
 ser, to raise. * Everything was hawsed 
 above measure; amerciaments were turned 
 into fines, fines into ransomes.' — Sir T. 
 More in R. The word was especially used 
 in nautical matters. It. alzare le vela, to 
 hawse (now exchanged for hoist, a radi- 
 cally different word) sail. ' He wayed 
 up his anchors and halsed up his sails.' — 
 Grafton in R. The hawse-holes, the holes 
 in the bow of a ship through which the 
 cable runs in halsing or raising the an- 
 chor. Fr. haulseree, the drawing or 
 haling of barges up a river by the force 
 of men ashore. — Cot. Hence E. halse, 
 to tow, halser, or hawser, a thick cord 
 for towing vessels. It. alzana, a halse, a 
 rope or cable for to halse, hale, or draw 
 barges against the stream ; also a crane 
 to hoise up great weights ; alzaniere, a 
 halsier, or he that haleth a barge. — Fl. 
 
 Halt. I. To stop. G., Sw. halt! hold ! 
 stop ! Yr.faire halte, to stop, stay, make 
 a stand. — Cot. 
 
 2. Goth, halts, ON. halltr, lame ; hall- 
 tra, N. haltra, halta, to halt, limp, or go 
 lame ; Wall, haleter, chaleter, to limp. 
 ON. mdlhaltr {nidi, speech), stammering. 
 
 The notion of impeded speech or gait, 
 as in stammering or limping, where in- 
 stead of flowing in a uniform course the 
 action seems to consist of a succession 
 of jogs or uneven impulses, may be ex- 
 pressed by forms representing in the first 
 place broken sounds, then abrupt move- 
 
HALTER 
 
 ments or efforts. Thus we have Sc. 
 hotter, to rattle as thunder; NE. hotter, 
 to shake, jolt, move limpingly or lamely. 
 * Hottering on nae better an a lamiter.' 
 — Atkinson. Sc. hatter, to rattle, batter, 
 speak thick and confusedly. 
 
 Helmys of hard steill thai hatterit and heuch. 
 Gaw. and Gol, 
 
 Hottle, anything unsteady, as a young 
 child beginning to walk ; to hatch, hotch, 
 to move by jerks. Bav. hott I hott ! re- 
 presents the jog of a trotting horse. Swiss 
 hottern, hotzeln, hotzern, to jolt, jog, 
 shake, stumble ; hotzen, to move up and 
 down ; hotz, hutz, a spring or start ; Sc. 
 hat, haut, to hop, to limp. Haut stap 
 an loup, hop step and jump. The Sc. 
 haiit would correspond to an E. halt, and 
 thus by the introduction of an / from the 
 broad sound of the vowel, as in falter, 
 palter, in jolt compared with jot, in G. 
 hoiper, a jolt, compared with Bav. hoppern, 
 to jog, in Pl.D. taltern compared with E. 
 tatters, we arrive at N. haltra and E. halt, 
 to limp. 
 
 Halter. OHG. halaftra, halftra, Du. 
 halfter, halgtre, halchter, halster, halter, 
 a halter ; Bav. halfter, halster, a pair of 
 braces ; ON. hogld, a buckle, noose, han- 
 dle ; N. hogd, hovd, hovel, holdr, a noose, 
 buckle. Conpeditus, gehalffter, cum qui- 
 bus ligant pedes equorum. — Vocab. A.D. 
 1430, in Deutsch. Mund. iv. 
 
 Ham. I. The back part of the thighs, 
 not of the knees, as often explained. The 
 ham-strings are the strong sinews passing 
 from the hams to the lower leg. Du. 
 harn, haimne, poples. ON. horn, the rump; 
 ham-ledr, leather from the back of horses 
 or oxen. * Thvi setur thu homina vid 
 honum.' Why do you turn your back to 
 him? Hama (of horses), to turn their 
 rumps to the weather. N. homa, to back, 
 to move backwards, shift the rump to one 
 side ; Dan. humme, to back a carriage. 
 Fin. huinma ! cry to make a horse back ; 
 hummastaa, to make a horse back or stop. 
 According to Outzen the cry homrne ! or 
 hiimine / is in general use over Friesland 
 and Denmark, in order to keep a horse 
 quiet when one approaches him or wants 
 to do something to him. The essential 
 meaning then is, still ! be quiet ! in ac- 
 cordance with the G. use of the Pl.D. 
 hitm / humme / to stop a person from 
 doing anything, or to make a horse back 
 into the shafts of a carriage. G. hamni ! 
 cry of prohibition to children; hamm I 
 hamm ! let it alone. From the sense of 
 stopping to that of backing or moving in 
 
 HAMES 
 
 329 
 
 the opposite direction is an easy step. 
 If the explanation of the cry offered under 
 Hem be correct it will follow that the N. 
 homa, Dan. hu7n7ne, to back (and thence 
 ON. hojn, E. ham, the rump or back parts 
 of the thighs), are from the cry hoimne I 
 hamm I back ! and not vice versa. 
 
 2. Bav. hammen, Du. hatnme, E. ham, 
 a salted thigh of pork, can hardly be dis- 
 tinct from ha7n, the back part of the 
 thigh. If there be a radical connection 
 with Sp. jamon, Fr. jambojt, ham, It. 
 giambone, any great leg, thigh, gammon 
 or pestle of a beast (Fl.), it must be be- 
 cause It, gamba, Fr. jamba, a leg, are 
 from the same source with E. ham. 
 
 To Hamble. — Hamel. OHG. hamal, 
 mutilated, hamaloit, to mutilate ; beha- 
 i7ielt werdent, truncantur membris. — ■ 
 Graff. Probably the translation of AS. 
 hamel-an by to hamstring is a piece of 
 false etymology, as that is certainly not 
 the meaning of the hainbling of dogs, and 
 does not agree with the sense of the word 
 in the cognate dialects. G. hafnmel, a. 
 castrated sheep ; Bav. hdmmel, a wether, 
 also a sheep without horns ; hiiminel- 
 bock, a goat without horns ; NE. hum- 
 meld, without horns ; to htimmel, humble, 
 to break off the beards of barley ; Sw. 
 dial, hammla, to lop or pollard trees. 
 
 Perhaps the course of derivation may 
 run from Du. hotnpelen, to stumble, to 
 limp ; Sw. dial, hambloter, hamloter {pi 
 an old man), stumbling, tottering; E. dial. 
 hamel, to limp, to walk lame, and thence 
 in a factitive sense to cause to go lame, to 
 disable from going, to restrain, to disable 
 in any way, to mutilate. ON. hamla, to hin- 
 der one from doing anything, to disable 
 him ; hamla einn at hondum ok fdtum, to 
 cut off his hands and feet ; hamlaSr, dis- 
 abled by wounds or bonds from appear- 
 ing to prosecute his right ; hamla, hom- 
 luband, the withy that binds the oar to 
 the pin ; Du. haj^ime, kuhamme, a shackle 
 for a cow. — Kil. See To Hamper. 
 
 Hames. — Haums. — Heams. The 
 two crooked pieces of wood which en- 
 compass a horse-collar and to which the 
 traces are fastened. The stuffing of hay 
 or straw by which these were prevented 
 from galling the shoulders of the horse 
 was called hamberwe, or hanaborough, a 
 coarse horse-collar, made of reed or straw 
 — Hal., from berwe, or borough, shelter, 
 protection against the hames. The same 
 elements in the opposite order may be 
 recognised in E. dial. baurgJiwan, bran- 
 chin (a collar for a horse made of old 
 stockings stuffed with straw, — Grose), 
 
330 
 
 HAMLET 
 
 and Sc. brechame. * The straw brechaine 
 is now supplanted by the leather collar.' 
 — Jam. 
 
 The origin of the word hame is seen in 
 the Wall. ht!ne^ a splint or thin piece of 
 wood, corresponding to G. schiene, a 
 splint, band to keep things close {arm- 
 schiene, bci/i-schiene, armour for the arm 
 or leg). The old writing of the Walloon 
 word was xhme, and the change from 
 the hissing sound of sch to that of the 
 simple aspirate is in accordance with the 
 usual course of the dialect. Hhie di 
 gorai, attelle de collier de cheval. — 
 Grandgr. It will be observed that the 
 Fr. attelles (the haumes of a draught- 
 horse's collar — Cot.) also signifies a splint. 
 OFr. eschames, chames, laths, shingles. — 
 Roquef. 
 
 Flem. haem, a horse-collar. The word 
 is sometimes used in the singular in that 
 sense in E. ' The deponent remembers 
 to have seen her father carry a horse and 
 hem to Muirtown.' — ^Jam. A.D. 1806. 
 
 Hamlet, as. ham^ a village, town, 
 farm, property, dwelling ; Goth, haims, 
 Fr. hameau, a village. 
 
 Probably the fundamental meaning is 
 simply a portion, in accordance with the 
 radical sense of the word ham (pars ab- 
 scissa cujusque rei, frustum — Wachter.) ; 
 hamme, hompe, a piece or lunch of some- 
 thing eatable ; boterhajn, a piece of bread 
 and butter ; ha7n, hajnme^ a piece of 
 pasture ; wilghehatn, an osier-bed. Dor- 
 setsh. ham, an inclosed mead. — Barnes. 
 In the same way certain open pieces of 
 pasture at Cambridge were called Christ's 
 Pieces, Parker's Pieces. In Friesland 
 the term hajn is used to designate a piece 
 of marshland, or the piece of land in 
 which a village is situated. — Brem. Wtb. 
 Hence the name would naturally be 
 transferred to the village itself. Swiss 
 ham, heim, the inclosed plot of land in 
 which a house is placed, house, dwelling- 
 place. In the same way we have G. 
 Jieck, a flap, piece, patch, a small piece 
 of land, a spot, place, v^\vS.q. flecken is the 
 common name for a village or small 
 town. 
 
 To Hammel. See Hamble. 
 
 Hammer. GD. hammer, ON. hajnar. 
 A representation of the sound of blows. 
 
 Hammock. An American word de- 
 signating the long suspended nets in 
 which the natives slept. 'A great many 
 Indians in canoes came to the ship to- 
 day for the purpose of bartering their 
 cotton and hamacas or nets in which they 
 sleep.' — Columbus' ist Voyage in Web- 
 
 HANK 
 
 ster. In Du. transformed by a false 
 etymology to hangmak, hangmat. 
 
 Hamper. Mid'.Lat. hanaperium. Pro- 
 perly a receptacle for cups. Fr. hanap, 
 a drinking vessel ; G. napf, a porringer, 
 bowl, platter. 
 
 To Hamper. — Hobble. — Hopple. 
 The idea of inefficient impeded action is 
 commonly expressed by the figure of im- 
 perfect or impeded speech, an image im- 
 mediately admitting of oral representa- 
 tion. The signification is then carried 
 on to the cause or instrument of impedi- 
 ment, to the act of hindrance, bringing 
 to a stand, confinement. Swiss staggeln, 
 to stammer, is identical with E. stagger, 
 to walk unsteadily, and figuratively we 
 speak of being staggered by a statement, 
 being brought to a stand by it, stopped 
 in the course we were proceeding. 
 
 On the same principle Du. haperen, to 
 stammer, hesitate, falter, stick fast ; ha- 
 perwerk, bungling, bad work ; haperifig, 
 stammering, boggling, hindrance, ob- 
 stacle. — Halma, The nasal pronuncia- 
 tion gives Sc. hamp, to stammer, also to 
 halt in walking, to read with difficulty, 
 and E. hamper (in a factitive sense), to 
 cause to stick, to impede, entangle. 
 
 Again we have Sc. habble, habber, to 
 stutter, to speak or act confusedly, to 
 habble a lesson, to say it imperfectly ; 
 Du. hobbelen, to jolt, to rock, to stammer, 
 and (with the nasal) hoinpelen, as E. hob- 
 ble, to totter, to limp or walk lame ; Sc. 
 hobble, to cobble shoes, to mend them in 
 a bungling manner ; Pl.D. hiunpeln, to 
 limp, to bungle. Sw. happla, to stam- 
 mer, hesitate, stop short ; E. hopple, to 
 move weakly and unsteadily. — Hal. Then 
 in a factitive sense to hobble or hopple a 
 horse, to hamper its movements by tying 
 its legs together. 
 
 Hand. Common to all the languages 
 of the Gothic stock, and probably named 
 as the instrument of seizing. ON. henda, 
 \j3X. prehe7idere, to seize. 
 
 Handsome. — Handy. What falls 
 readily to hand. G. handsam, conveni- 
 ent ; Du. handsaem, dextrous, conveni- 
 ent, mild, tractable ; OE. hende, court- 
 eous ; N. hendt, adapted ; hendug, Dan. 
 hcBndig, behcendig, handy, dextrous. 
 
 To Hang. on. hanga, pret. hSckj AS. 
 hon, pret. hoh, to hang. In the same 
 way o^.fajiga andy^, pret._/%->^, AS. fon, 
 pret. foh, to fang or get hold of ; ON. 
 gaftga, pret. geek, AS. gan, to go or gang. 
 
 The primitive meaning seems, to fasten 
 on a hook, ON. hack. 
 
 Hank. Hank, a rope or latch for 
 
HANKER 
 
 fastening a gate, a handle. To have a 
 hank on another, to have him entangled. 
 To keep a good hank upon your horse, to 
 have a good hold upon the reins. — Hal. 
 Hank, an inclination or propensity of 
 mind. 
 
 The fundamental sense of hank is to 
 cause to hang, to fasten. 'He hanky d 
 not the picture of his body upon the 
 cross.' — Hooper in R. G. henken, hang- 
 en, to hang or fasten something upon 
 another ; gehenk, henkel, what serves to 
 hang something, a belt, girdle, the ear of 
 a pot ; Pl.D. henk^ a handle ; N. haank, 
 a bunch, cluster of things hanging toge- 
 ther. Hank in the sense of a settled 
 tendency or propensity of mind may be 
 explained by the G. expression, sein herz 
 an etwas hangen, to set his heart upon a 
 thing, to fix his affections upon it. 
 
 ON. haunk, E. hank, a wreath of thread 
 wound round a reel, is from the notion 
 of fastening, in the same way that the 
 synonymous hasp is from the same ra- 
 dical notion. 
 
 To Hanker. To be very desirous of 
 something. — B. Du. hungkeren, to seek 
 eagerly, applied in the first instance to 
 children seeking the breast. — Kil. From 
 the whinnying cry by which they make 
 known their want. Flem. hungkeren, 
 hinnire ; E. hummer, to whinny, as when 
 the horse hears the corn shaken in the 
 sieve. The same figure is used in Du. 
 janken, to yelp as a dog for a piece of 
 meat ; hy jankt am dat atnpt, he hankers 
 (aspire avidement) after that office. — 
 Halma. 
 
 Hansel. — Hanse-Town. Hansel, or 
 more fully good-hansel, is an earnest, 
 something given or done to make good a 
 contract. 
 
 Sendeth ows to gode hans 
 
 An c. thousand besans. — Alisaunder, 2930. 
 
 In the way of good-hansel, de bon erre. — 
 Palsgr. Then applied to the first use of 
 a thing, as that which confirms the pos- 
 session. 
 
 The formation of the word {hand, and 
 AS. syllan, sellan, ON. sella, to give, be- 
 stow, deliver) has been commonly mis- 
 understood as if it signified delivery of 
 possession, giving a thing into the hand 
 of another. The real import is a striking 
 of hands, a giving of the hand in token 
 of conclusion, making the expression 
 synonymous with handfast. as. hand- 
 fcestan, to pledge one's hand ; Sc. hand- 
 fast, to betroth by joining hands. — ^Jamie- 
 son. ON. Handsal, stipulatio manu facta, 
 an agreement upon which hands have 
 
 HARANGUE 331 
 
 been joined, a settled contract ; hand- 
 sala, fidem dextra stipulari, to join hands 
 on it. 
 
 From handsal, a contract, were named 
 the Hansals-stadir, the Hanse Towns, a 
 confederation of towns on the Baltic and 
 North Sea united by mutual agreement 
 for the security of trade. From this 
 original the term hanse was applied in a 
 more general sense to a mercantile cor- 
 poration. Fr. Hanse, a company, society, 
 or corporation of merchants (for so it 
 signifies in the book of the ordonnances 
 of Paris) ; also an association with, or 
 the freedom of, the Hanse, also the fee 
 or fine which is paid for that freedom ; 
 hanser, to make free of a civil company 
 or corporation. G. hdnseln, to hansel, to 
 initiate a novice. — Kiittner. Here it will 
 be observed we apparently get back to 
 the original form of the word, although 
 the second syllable of the G. verb is the 
 usual frequentative termination, and not 
 the element sell, signifying to deliver, in 
 the original expression. 
 
 * Hantle. A considerable number. — 
 Jam. From handful, as Northampton 
 spunful or spicntle, a spoonful. — Mrs 
 Baker. Staff, boutle, a boukful or pail- 
 ful. Hesse hainpel, a handful. 
 
 Hap. — Happy. — Happen. Hap, luck, 
 is what we catch, what falls to our lot. 
 Happy ^ fortunate, having good hap. To 
 happen, to befall. So N Fris. hijnnen, to 
 seize with the hand, and reflectively to 
 happen ; ON. henda, to seize, also to 
 happen. 
 
 Fr. happer, to hap or catch, to snatch 
 or grasp at. — Cot. Du. habben en snab- 
 ben, captare ; happen, to snap like a dog, 
 seize, catch, take. — Kil. Pl.D. Happ, 
 Hap)ps, imitation of the sound made by 
 the jaws ; happen, to take with the mouth 
 so as to let the sound happ be heard ; 
 happig, eager, greedy. — Danneil. 
 
 To Hap. To wrap up. Probably a 
 corruption of whap, from wlap. Lappyn\ 
 or whappyn' in clothes — involvo. — Pr. 
 Pm. See Lap. 
 
 Harangue. The old derivation from 
 the ring or audience addressed in a 
 solemn discourse is probably correct. 
 Consedere duces, et vulgi stante corona — . 
 The MHG. ring was applied to the lists or 
 inclosure for a combat, or to the space 
 cleared for a combat, just as with us the 
 ring is the technical term for the inclosure 
 in a fight with fists. The term was also 
 applied to the audience in a court of jus- 
 tice, to the circle of witnesses in a solemn 
 betrothal. — Zarncke, ii. 707. From the 
 
332 
 
 HARASS 
 
 first of these senses must be explained It. 
 aringo, arringo, a list or tilt yard ; from 
 the second, arnngare, to arrange or set 
 in array [properly to make a ring, to 
 place the audience for hearing], also to 
 make an oration or set speech in public, 
 to address a ring, [and thence] aringa^ 
 arenga, arrittga, a public set speech or 
 declaration, an harangue; arringo, arrtng- 
 ghiera, a pulpit or chair wherein orations 
 are made, a balcony. — Fl. The deriva- 
 tion from ring explains the double sense 
 of It. aringo, which would remain un- 
 accounted for if arringare, to harangue, 
 were identical with E. arraign, OFr. 
 aregnier, araisner. Mid. Lat. adrationare. 
 The syllable ha in Fr. harangue repre- 
 sents the h in OHG. hring, as the ha in 
 haiiap, the h in OHG. hnapf; or the ca in 
 canif, the k in k7iife. 
 
 Harass. Fr. harasser, to tire or toil 
 out, to vex, disquiet, harry, hurry, turmoil. 
 — Cot. From the figure of setting on a 
 dog to attack another animal. Fr. harer 
 nn chien, to set a dog on a beast ; harier, 
 to harry, hurry, vex, molest. — Cot. The 
 angry snarling of a dog is represented by 
 the sound of the letters rr, ss, st, ts, tr, 
 and as the sounds of the angry animal 
 are imitated in order to excite his anger 
 and set him on an opponent, a variety of 
 words are formed from the foregoing radi- 
 cal letters with the sense of setting on, 
 inciting, provoking, irritating, teasing, 
 annoying. We may cite Lat. hirrire, to 
 snarl ; w. hyr, the gnar or snarl of a dog, 
 a word used by one who puts a dog for- 
 ward to fight, a pushing or egging on ; 
 hys, a snarl ; hysian, hysio, to cause to 
 snarl, to urge, to set on ; hys / used in 
 setting on a dog. Walach. hirli, to snarl, 
 to set on, incite, irritate, se hirli, to quar- 
 rel. E. dial, to harr, to snarl ; to hare, 
 to hurry, harass, scare. — Hal. N. hirra, 
 hissa, to set on a dog. Dan. irre, to 
 tease, opirre, to irritate, provoke. In the 
 same way E. to tar or ter, to set on a dog, 
 to provoke ; Dan. tirre, to tease, to 
 worry. 
 
 Harbinger. One sent on to prepare 
 harbourage or lodgment for his employer, 
 thence one who announces the arrival of 
 another. 
 
 AS. heribyrigan, OE. harborow, Sc. her- 
 bery, herbry, to harbour or give lodgment 
 or quarters to. Hence herbry age, har- 
 bourage, lodging, from which would be 
 formed harb'rager, harbrenger, as from 
 message, messenger, from scavage, scaven- 
 ger. Barbour uses herbryour in the same 
 signification direct from herbry. 
 
 HARICOT 
 
 Harbour. In the Frankish kingdoms 
 of the middle ages, when the whole 
 scheme of government was military, the 
 army was taken as the type of the public 
 service . in general, and so heri (G. heer^ 
 army) in composition must be understood 
 in a more general sense than its etymo- 
 logy would import. Thus heribanfium^ 
 properly the duty of military service, or a 
 money composition for non-performance, 
 was applied to any exaction for the public 
 service ; heribergum (g. bergen, AS. beor- 
 gan, to shelter) was the duty of lodging 
 the officers of the crown on public service, 
 or a contribution for that purpose. ' Ut 
 nee pro waita, &c., nee pro heribergare 
 nee pro alio banno heribannum comes 
 exactare prsesumat, nisi, &c.' — Leg. Car. 
 Mag. in Muratori, Diss. 19, p. 53. In 
 later times the word was applied to shel- 
 ter, lodgment, hospitality in general, as in 
 G. herberge, It. albergo, Fr. aubetge, an 
 inn, or house for the harbouring of travel- 
 lers ; OE. harborough, to harbour, or give 
 shelter to. 
 
 I was herbarweles and ye herhoriden me. 
 
 Wicliff in R. 
 Then went forth our pinnaces to seek harbo' 
 row, and found many good harbozirs, of the 
 which we entered into one with our shippes. — • 
 Hackluyt in R. 
 
 Bret, herberc'hia, to give shelter, lodging, 
 hospitality. 
 
 Hard. Close, compacted, difficult. — • 
 B. G. hart, N. hardr, Goth, hardus. Gr. 
 KiipTog, KpcLTog, strength. 
 
 Hardy. Fr. hardi, Bret, her, hardizy 
 It. ardito, daring ; ardire, to dare. Fr. 
 harier, hardier, OE. hardy, hardish, to 
 excite, set on, encourage. From the figure 
 of setting on a dog, Fr. harer un chien. 
 w. hyrrio, hyrddio, to set on, irritate, push, 
 thrust, drive, make an onset ; hwrdd, an 
 assault, onset ; ^oxichi hazirder les chiois, 
 to set them on. 
 
 ' Hyrte hine hord-weard,' the treasure- 
 keeper animated himself — Beowulf 5183. 
 See Harass. 
 
 Hare. G. hase. 
 
 To Hare. To scare or terrify. 'To 
 hare and rate them at every turn is not 
 to teach them, but to vex and torment 
 them to no purpose.' — Locke on Educa- 
 tion. Fr. harer un chien, to set on a dog. 
 See Harass. 
 
 Haricot. A dish described by Cot. as 
 made of small pieces of mutton a little 
 boiled, then fried. Hotchepot of many 
 meates, haricot. — Palsg. The meaning 
 of the word seems to be, hacked or chop- 
 ped, cut up into small bits, the name' of 
 
HARK 
 
 haricot being also given to a kind of beans 
 the pods of which are sHced for dressing, 
 in Du, s7iijboo7ien, from snijden, to cut. 
 Wall, halcoter^ to joggle, to haggle ; dial, 
 of Bayonne haricoter, to haggle (Grand- 
 gagnage), Rouchi haricotier, a huckster. 
 Harigoter^ to jog ; hargoter, to haggle, 
 wrangle. — Roquef. The word seems 
 formed from hack or hag; hacoter, hal- 
 coter^ harcoter. 
 
 Hark. — Hearken. — Hist. To hark, 
 to whisper. —Jam. ON. hark, Bohem. 
 hrk, noise, hrciti, to murmur, rustle. 
 The effort of listening is directed to catch 
 low sounds ; accordingly we intimate our 
 wish that a person should hsten by a re- 
 presentation of the low sound to which 
 his attention is to be directed. Thus the 
 Latins represented the low rustling sound 
 made by a person moving by the letters 
 st ! which were also taken as a command 
 to listen or to keep still. The correspond- 
 ing E. term is hist ! which may be ren- 
 dered either hark ! or be silent ! 
 Hist ! hold awhile [hem ! st ! mane], 
 I hear the creaking of Glycerium's door. 
 • Colman's Terence in R. 
 
 w. hust, a low or buzzing noise ; hustings 
 a whisper. 
 
 In the same way hark ! is originally 
 the representation of a rustling sound, 
 then an intimation to listen. G. horchen, 
 to listen. 
 
 Harlot. Not originally appropriated 
 to a female, nor even to a person of bad 
 character. 
 
 He was a gentil harlot and a kind, 
 A better felaw sholde a man not find. 
 
 Chaucer. Prol. 
 A sturdy harlot went hem ay behind 
 That was hir hostes man, and bare a sack, 
 And what men yave him, laid it on his back. 
 Sompnours Tale. 
 
 It seems to have simply signified a young 
 man, from w. herlawd, herlod, a youth, a 
 stripling, herlodes, a damsel ; then to 
 have acquired the sense of a loose com- 
 panion. ' These harlottes that haunt 
 bordels of these foule women.' — Parson's 
 Tale. Harlotry, scurrilitas. — Wiclif. 
 Ephes. c. 5. A similar development of 
 meaning is seen in Fr. hardel, hardeati, 
 a youth, a ribald, vaurien, mauvais sujet. 
 — Roquef. Hardelle, a young girl. The 
 Lat. adulter would seem originally to 
 have signified no more than a young man. 
 Gerro, a tryfelour or a harlott. — Medulla. 
 An harlott, balator, rusticus, mima, jocu- 
 lator, nugator, scurrulus. To do harlotry, 
 scurrari. — Cath. Ang. in Pr. Pm. 
 ^arm. as. heartn, evil, harm ; ON. 
 
 HARRIDAN 
 
 333 
 
 hannr, grief, sorrow, injury; harma, to 
 grieve ; Sw. harm, anger, vexation ; 
 harmlig, provoking. G. harm, affliction, 
 trouble ; gram, grief, sorrow, vexation ; 
 grdmlich, peevish, morose. 
 
 Harmony. Gr. apuovia, from apfjiSg, a 
 suiting or fitting together. 
 
 Harness, g. harnisch, armour. Fr. 
 harnois, It. arnese, all manner of harness, 
 equipage, munition, furniture, or tackling, 
 for sea or land ; wearing clothes, also an 
 engine or device. — Fl. Harnois degueule, 
 belly-furniture, meat and drink. — Cot. The 
 meaning of the word is thus habiliment, 
 furniture, probably from Sp. guarnear, 
 giiarnescer,\.o garnish, trim, adorn, to har- 
 ness mules ; guarnds, parts of a tackle-fall ; 
 guarnicion, garniture, trimming, (in pi.) 
 armour of defence ; harness of horses. 
 Ptg. guarnecer, to provide, furnish, equip. 
 
 Harp. G. harfe, Fr. harpe. The in- 
 strument was probably named from the 
 way of sounding it by plucking the strings 
 with a hook or with the fingers. See 
 Harpoon. 
 
 To Harp or Hark back. To return 
 to an old subject. 
 
 The waggoners' cry to make horses 
 back is in Devonshire haap! or haap 
 back! To ha-ape, to stop or keep back. 
 — Hal. The cry in Da. dial, is hop dig! 
 At hoppe en vogn, to back a waggon. 
 In Holstein happen or huppen, to riigge 
 hiippen. In Westerwald the cry is hUf ! 
 and thence houfe, to turn back ; gehouf, 
 going backwards. When to haap back 
 was used in a metaphorical sense among 
 people who were ignorant of the waggon- 
 ers' cry, a meaning was given to it as if it 
 was a metaphor from harping on an old 
 string, or listening to the hounds that 
 have struck the scent behind us. ' What 
 is the use of tormenting yourself by con- 
 stantly harping back to old days .? — 
 Dumbleton Common, 1867; I. p. 156. 
 
 Harpoon. Fr. harpon, a barbed iron 
 for spearing fish, also a Cramp-iron ; har- 
 pin, a boat-hook. From harper, to seize, 
 to gripe ; se harper Vun a V autre, to grap- 
 ple ; harpi, greedy, snatching or grasping 
 at ; harpe, claws, talons ; Lang, arpo, a 
 claw ; aj'Pi, to clutch or scratch. Gr. 
 apiralu}, Lat. rapio, to seize, snatch, carry 
 away. 
 
 Harpy. Gr. "Ap-Kvia, Lat. Harpya, a 
 fabled ravening fowl with a woman's face. 
 
 Harridan. This word is one of those 
 that are to be explained by the Walloon 
 corruption of an initial sch to h, several 
 examples of which are given under 
 Hoaming. On this principle the Du. 
 
334 
 
 HARROW 
 
 schaerde, scJieure, a breach or nick, be- 
 comes Wall, hard (d silent — Grandg.), 
 /lar, /laur, breach, nick, gap. — Remade. 
 Hence hardd, haurd^^ gap-toothed. Veie 
 hardate, vieille brechedent, old gap- 
 toothed woman ; hdrdd-dain^ brechedent, 
 corresponding exactly to Du. schaerdtan- 
 digy serrae modo dentatus. The simple 
 union of the elements har, breach, and 
 dain, tooth, would construct still more 
 exactly the E. harridan. In the same 
 way Westerwald raff, reff, a heckle or 
 iron comb for plucking off the heads of 
 flax, is in Swabia applied to a broken row 
 of teeth. Westerw. zahnrdhf, a gap in 
 the teeth; Swab, raffel, zahnraffel, a 
 broken-toothed person, abusive term for 
 an old woman. — Schmid. 
 
 Harrow! A cry of distress, OFr. 
 hare / harau / Crier hat'o sur, to make 
 hue and cry after. Marauder, haroder, 
 to cry harrow ! to cry out upon, exclaim 
 against, revile. Bret, harao ! cry when 
 one is hooted. Bohem. hr ! hrr ! inter- 
 jection of excitement (frementis), hurrah! 
 OHG. haren, to cry out. Sc. harm I an 
 outcry for help, also often used as a cheer 
 or encouragement to pursuit. 
 
 A harrowing sight is one which leads 
 to the exclamation harrow ! 
 
 Harrow. Harowe, erpica, et traha, 
 Anglice a slede. — Pr. Pm. Dan. harv, a 
 harrow. Sw. dial, harv, a hay-rake. Fin. 
 //rt'r^, a brush-harrow made of the branches 
 of pine-trees ; //«r^^/<2, to harrow ; haraiva, 
 a hay-rake ; Esthon. harrima, harjama, 
 to brush, to comb; harjas, a brush; 
 harri, a brush, heckle, comb. G. harke, 
 a rake, Fr. herce, a harrow, are probably 
 other modifications of the same radical 
 form. 
 
 To Harry. — Herry. To daunt, to 
 fright, to scold at, handle roughly. — B, 
 Sc. herry, hirry, harry, to rob, spoil, pil- 
 lage, ruin by extortion. AS. hergia?t, her- 
 ian, to plunder, afflict, vex. Fr. harrier, 
 hardier, to molest, provoke, vex, toil, tur- 
 moil. ON. heria, to make an inroad on. 
 N. heria, to plague, oppress, ruin. Dan. 
 hcBrge, hcErje, to ravage. The origin 
 seems shown in Fr. harer, to set on a dog 
 to attack. See Harass. 
 
 The word was also written harow. 
 The harrowing of hell was the triumphant 
 expedition of Christ after his crucifixion, 
 when he brought away the souls of the 
 righteous, who had died and had been 
 held captive in hell since the beginning 
 of the world. 
 
 Harsh. G. harsch, hard, rough, aus- 
 tere ; Dan. harsky rancid ; Sc. harsk, 
 
 HASEL 
 
 hars, harsh, rough, pointed, bitter ; OE. 
 harske, or haske, as sundry frutys, stypti- 
 cus. — Pr. Pm. Harsh or astringent in 
 taste is what makes the throat rough and 
 the voice hoarse, and it will be observed 
 that hoarse is written with and without 
 the r {hoos, hoorse, raucus — Pr. Pm.), in 
 the same way that we have hask and 
 harsk. * He hath a great haskness, gravi 
 asthmate implicatur.' — Horman in Way. 
 * Dates are good for the harrishness, 
 or roughness of the throte.' — Turner's 
 Herbal, ibid. * Sorbum, an harry she 
 pear.' — Elyot, ibid. 
 
 * Hart. AS. heart, heorut, ON. hjartr, 
 OHG. hiruz, G. hirsch, a stag. As Lat. 
 cervus shows a connection with Gr. icepae, 
 Lat. cornu, a horn, the word is supposed 
 to mean the horned one, the n of horn, as 
 the nu of cornu, not being radical. So 
 from Magy. szarv, a horn, szarvas, 
 horned, a stag. 
 
 Harvest. G. herbst, harvest, autumn ; 
 ON. haust, autumn, hausta, to harvest ; 
 Bret. Eost, August, harvest ; east a, to 
 harvest. 
 
 The Du. has oogst, hanfest ; opgsten, 
 to harvest, whence Ihre conjectures that 
 all these forms, oogst, aust, hatcst, are 
 from Lat. Augustus, and G. herbst, E. har- 
 vest, are a further corruption by the creep- 
 ing in of an r. 
 
 To Hase. To urge, drive, harass, 
 especially with labour. — Webster. Others 
 explain it, to amaze, to scare. To fright 
 with a sudden noise. — B. 
 
 Perhaps from taking away the breath. 
 To hase, to breathe short. — Hal. N. 
 hcBsa, to pant with fatigue and exhaustion. 
 But the more probable origin is perhaps 
 the notion of urging, driving, from the cry 
 (Finnish) has/ has / used in setting on a 
 dog ; hasittaa, to set on, incite, Fr. haser, 
 to irritate, vex, stimulate. — Roquef. 'Le 
 suppliant dit a icellui Bordier, Tu as 
 affold mon fils ; lequel luy repondi que si 
 le haseroit (if he provoked him) que si 
 feroit a lui mesme.' — Record, A.D. 1450, 
 in Due. Henschel. Lap. hasketet, to set 
 on dogs ; Sw. haska pa ndgon, to hurry 
 one on, urge one on ; haska bort, to drive 
 away. 
 
 HaseL N. hasl, Du. haze-noot, hazel- 
 noot, the common nut. From the con- 
 spicuous husk or beard in which it is 
 enveloped. Dan. hase, the beard of nuts. 
 Da. dial, haas, haser, the beard of corn ; 
 fas, Sw. fnas, the beard of nuts. Bav. 
 hosen, fesen, the husk of corn. E. hose 
 was formerly used in the same sense. 
 Follicoli, the hull, hose, peel or thin sltin 
 
HASH 
 
 that encloseth any wheat or rye when it 
 is green. — Fl. 
 
 Hash., Cooked meat cut into small 
 pieces for the purpose of being dressed a 
 second time. Fr. hachis, a hachey or 
 hackee^ a sliced gallimawfrey or minced 
 meat. — Cot. From hacher, to hack or 
 mince. 
 
 Haslet. — Hastener. A hog's haslet, 
 or harslet, the liver, heart, and lights of a 
 pig. Corrupted from hasteleis. Fr. has- 
 tille, hasterel, hastemenue, the pluck or 
 gather of an animal. The sense is little 
 roastings, from Fr. haste, a spit, also a 
 piece of roast meat. Hastelle, hastellet, 
 hastille, a skewer, splinter, whence E. 
 hastier, or corruptly hastener, a skreen to 
 reverberate the fire on roasting meat. 
 Hastlere, that rostythe mete, assator, as- 
 sarius. — Pr. Pm. OFr. hastier, the rack 
 on which the spit turns ; to haste, to 
 roast. — Hal. 
 
 First to you I will schawe, 
 The poyntes of cure al by rawe ; 
 Of potage, hastery and bakun mete. 
 
 Liber Cure Cocorum in Way. 
 
 All from Lat. hasta, a spear, transferred 
 to the signification of a spit. It is singu- 
 lar that the Du. should have arrived by a 
 totally different track at so similar a 
 form as harst, a roast, herdsten, harstett, 
 to roast, apparently from heerde, hearth. 
 — Kil. AS. hyrstan, to fry. 
 
 Hasp.— Hapse. as. hceps, a lock, 
 latch, or bolt of a door ; G. haspe, hdspe, 
 the hinge of a door, catch into which the 
 latch falls ; ON. hespa, a clasp, buckle, 
 also a hasp or hank of thread ; thread 
 wound round a wheel so as to make a 
 closed link. Sw. haspa, a latch, Du. 
 haspe, haspel, It. aspo, aspolo, E. hasp, a 
 reel to wind yarn on, — B. 
 
 From the snapping sound made by a 
 clasp in closing. For the same reason a 
 clasp is also called a snap, and clapps ! 
 (whence elapse, clasp) is an imitation of 
 the same sound. Pl.D. happen, happsen, 
 to snap with the jaws so as to let the 
 sound happ, or happs, be heard. — Dan- 
 neil. Fr. happe, a clasp ; happer, to 
 snap or snatch. 
 
 On the same principle Du. gaspe, 
 ghespe, a clasp, may be compared with E. 
 gasp, to snap after breath. 
 
 Hassock. A tuft of sedge or rushes, a 
 mat ; hassock-head, a matted head, bushy 
 entangled head of hair, — Hal. Sc. has- 
 sock, a besom, anything bushy, a large 
 round turf of peat used as a seat. — Jam, 
 Yvs\.hassa,2, shaggy entangled condition; 
 hassapdd {pad, head), tangled hair ; 
 
 HATCH 
 
 335 
 
 karwa-hassa (karwa,hah-), having shaggy 
 hair as a dog or bear. See Housings. 
 
 Haste, — Hate. These words proba- 
 bly both have their origin in the cry has/ 
 has! (Fin.), used in setting on a dog to 
 attack or pursue, an act which in one 
 point of view affords the image of urging 
 or hurrying on, and in another of hostility, 
 contest, and hate. See Hfeat. Fin. has- 
 ittaa, Esthon. assitama. Lap. hasetet, 
 hasketet, to set on dogs ; Sw. haska or 
 hasta pd ndgon, to hurry one on, to urge 
 one on ; haska efter odjur, to pursue wild 
 beasts ; haska ut, to drive out ; ON, hasta 
 a, to threaten, scold ; hasta, to haste ; 
 hastr, hostugr, severe, ohg. hazon, to 
 hate, to pursue ; hazj'an, G. hetzen, to set 
 on, to incite ; Swiss hatz, anger, rancour, 
 hatred (Stalder), in Austria, wrangling, 
 quarrel ; E. hasty, easily roused to anger, 
 excitable ; Mid. Lat. asto animo, with hos- 
 tile intention ; adastiare, to provoke to 
 war ; It. aschio, rancour, malice ; aschi- 
 are, to bear malice. Fr. haster, hater, 
 aastir, ahastir, aatir, to irritate, provoke, 
 excite ; haster, hater, to hasten. Hesser, 
 to incite, animate, also to hate. — Roquef. 
 'Aucuns desdits de Mons aastirent de 
 paroles ceux de Villers.' — Record, a,d. 
 1401. ' Raoulin plain de mauvais esprit 
 respondit au suppliant, Se tu me hastes, 
 je te battrai tres bien.' — A.D. 1375. * Be- 
 rart dit k Chauvet que s'il le hatoit que il 
 luy donroit un bouffeau ou buffe.' — A.D. 
 1404, in Due. Henschel. Lap. hastet, to 
 challenge to fight, may explain Lat. hostis, 
 an enemy. 
 
 ON. etia, to irritate, set on, to contend. 
 At etia odduin, to fight with spears. 
 Etiaz d, eitiH, maligno affectu concitari in 
 aliquem. At, instigation to fight, contest. 
 Mid. Lat. atia, rancour. With the initial 
 h, OSax. huoti, irritatus, infensus ; AS. 
 hettan, to persecute, pursue. ON. hata, 
 G. hassen, to hate. Goth, hatis, anger, 
 hatyan, to hate. The same equivalence 
 of forms with and without an initial h is 
 seen in OSax. hatol, AS. atol^ hateful, 
 cruel. 
 
 The connection between the ideas of 
 setting on of animals to fight, and the 
 angry passions, is also seen in Gael, stuig, 
 .incite, spur on, set dogs to fight (Lat. in- 
 stigar.e), and Gr. arvyog, hatred. 
 
 Hat. ON, hottry Fris. hatte. 
 
 Hatch.— Hack. Two words of differ- 
 ent derivations are probably confounded. 
 
 I. To hatch, to fasten, from Du. haeck, 
 a hook, Pl.D. haken, to hook, hold fast. 
 Idt haket, it sticks fast, hasret res ; to- 
 haken, to button.— Brem. Wtb. ' If in 
 
336 
 
 HATCH 
 
 our youth we could pick up some pretty 
 estate 'twere not amis to keep the door 
 hatched^ — Pericles. To this form must 
 be referred the hatches of a ship, the 
 valves which shut down the hold ; also 
 hatches, floodgates to stop the course of 
 water. — B. 
 
 2. Du. heck, a barrier of lath or trellice- 
 work, a grating, gate, portcullis ; E. hatch, 
 a half-door, frequently grated — B. ; hack, 
 a rack for hay (a grating of rods through 
 which the hay is pulled down) ; Sw. hdck, 
 a hedge of branches, a palisade, coop for 
 fowls, rack for horses ; Fin. hdkki, a cage 
 or hurdle made of wattles. 
 
 The root of this second division seems 
 preserved in Esthon. haggo, bushes, 
 twigs, rods ; Fin. hako, g. hawon, fir 
 branches, whence hakeri, a hut of poles, 
 hakuli, a palisade. Walach. hacu, twigs, 
 branches, rods, hatsishu,ha.tshin.ga, brush- 
 wood. 
 
 To Hatch. To break the eggshell and 
 allow the young to come out. See Hack. 
 
 Hatchel. — Hassel. — Hackle. — 
 Heckle. The toothed instrument for 
 combing flax is widely known by this 
 name throughout Europe. Du. hekel, G. 
 hechel, Fin. hakyla, Walach. hehela, het- 
 sela, Magy. hdhel, a heckle. Bohem. 
 hachlowati, wochlowati, to heckle. 
 
 Probably from the hooks or teeth of 
 which the instrument is composed. ' And 
 yet the same must be better kembed with 
 hetchel-teeth of iron (pectitur ferreis 
 haniis) until it be clensed from all the 
 gross bark and rind.' — Holland, Pliny in 
 R. 
 
 Hatchet. Fr. hacher, to hack ; hach- 
 ereau, hachette, a hatchet or small axe. 
 Rouchi hape, an axe, hapiete, apiete, a 
 hatchet. 
 
 Hate. See Haste. 
 
 Hater. Properly a rag, then in a de- 
 preciatory sense a garment. 
 
 I have but oon hool hater, quod Haukyn, 
 
 I am the lasse to blame, 
 
 Though it be soiled and selde clean. — P. P. 
 AS. hcBtertc, clothing ; G. hader, a rag, 
 tatter, worn-out clothes ; Bav. hand- 
 hadern, handkerchief ; prang hadern, 
 frills ; hudel, huder, rag, tatter. Pl.D. 
 hadder, tatter, verhaddern, verhiddern, to 
 entangle, ravel. The designation of a rag 
 is commonly taken from the figure of 
 shaking, fluttering in the wind. Thus in 
 E. tatter, to chatter — Hal., Du. tateren, 
 to stammer — Halma, Bav. tattern, to 
 prattle, to shiver, tatterman, a scarecrow 
 (an image of rags fluttering in the wind), 
 we see the advance from the image of a 
 
 HAW 
 
 broken" sound, a quivering movement, to 
 E. tatter, a rag. In the same way we 
 have Du. hateren, to falter — Kil., hiitteren, 
 to stammer — Halma, Sc. hotter, to rattle, 
 shudder, shiver, totter, Swiss hottern, to 
 shake, leading to E. hater, and Bav. hut- 
 ten, a rag. So also Swiss hudeln, to 
 wabble, dangle, compared with hudel, a 
 rag. See Dud. 
 
 Hauberk. — Habergeon. OFr. hau- 
 berc, It. tisbergo. Pro v. ausberc, from OHG. 
 halsberc, AS. healsbeorg, a coat of mail, 
 from heals, the neck, and beorgan, to 
 cover or defend. 
 
 The diminutive Fr. haubergeon, a 
 habergeon, is explained by Cotgr. a little 
 coat of mail, or only sleeves and gorget 
 of mail. 
 
 Haughty. Formerly hatit, hatitain, 
 from Fr. haul, high, hauty, lofty ; haul ct 
 la main, hautain, proud, surly, stately. — 
 Cot. 
 
 The fader hem louede alle ynog, ac the geongost 
 
 mest, 
 For heo was best and fairest, and to haufenesse 
 
 drow lest.— R. G. 
 
 Such minds as are haute, puffed up with pride. 
 Udal in R. 
 
 Lat. alius. It. alto, high ; altiero, Sp. 
 altivo, haughty. 
 
 Haunch. OHG. hlancha, and by the 
 loss of the h, laticha, G. lanke, the flank. 
 On the other hand, by the loss of the /, 
 It. atica, Fr. hanche, the haunch or hip. 
 In the same way the OE. clatch is con- 
 nected with catch on the one side and 
 latch on the other. See Flank. 
 
 Haunt. From Bret, hent (correspond- 
 ing to Goth, sinth, AS. sitJi), a way, henti, 
 Fr. hanter, to frequent, to haunt. 
 
 To Have. Lat. habere, Goth, haban. 
 
 Haven, on. hofn, OFr. havene, havle, 
 mod. havre, a haven ; ON. hafna, to re- 
 fuse, abstain, desert ; at hafna bodi, to 
 refuse an invitation ; vinirnar hafna 
 hbnum, his friends desert him ; at hafna 
 sig (to withdraw from the perils of the 
 sea), to betake oneself to port. 
 
 Havock. w. hafog, destruction, waste. 
 Hai hafog ! a cry when cows are com- 
 mitting waste in a neighbour's land. 
 Perhaps originally a cry of encourage- 
 ment to a hawk (AS. hafoc) when loosed 
 upon his prey. 
 
 Cry havock ! and let loose the dogs of w^ar. 
 
 Haw. — Hawthorn. AS. haga, a hedge, 
 piece of enclosed land, dwelling-house. 
 Hence haga-thorn, hedge-thorn, haw- 
 thorn, the fruit of which are haws. G. 
 hag, a hedge, enclosure, shrub, thicket ; 
 
HAW 
 
 hag-ap/t'l, a crab ; hage-dorn, hawthorn, 
 dog-rose. 
 
 To Haw. To make sounds like haw, 
 haw, between one's words in speaking. 
 
 Hawbuck. A Johnny-raw, a silly 
 clown. Swiss holzbock, homo stupidus, 
 incogitans. — Idioticon Bern, in Deutsch. 
 Mundart. 
 
 Hawk. AS. hafoc, ON. haukr, G. hab- 
 icht, OHG. hapuh, w. hebog, Lap. hapak, 
 haukka, Fin. hawikka, haukka. The im- 
 mediate origin seems preserved in Fin. 
 hawia, voracious, while the ultimate de- 
 rivation is probably to be found in the 
 root hap, exemplified in Fr. happer, to 
 seize. Lap. hapadet, to grasp at. From 
 the same root hauki, a pike, known for 
 its voracity among fish, as the hawk 
 among birds. 
 
 To Hawk. I. w. hochi, to hawk, to 
 clear the throat. Magy. hdk, clearing the 
 throat, phlegm. An imitation of the 
 sound produced. Dan. harke, to hawk, 
 harkla, to spit. 
 
 To Hawk. 2. Hawker. A hawker 
 is one who cries his goods for sale about 
 the streets or ways ; to hawk, to cry goods 
 for sale. N. hauka, hua, hiiga, to cry, to 
 shout. Pol. huk, roar, din, clangour ; 
 hukad, to whoop, hoot, hallow, w. hw, a 
 hoot, hwa, to hallow, to shout ; hwchw / 
 aery of hollo, a shout, scream ; Bret, ioiia, 
 iouc'ha, to cry, to shout ; Fr. hucher. Pic. 
 huqtier, to call or cry. Hence Mid.Lat. 
 hicccus, ttccus, cry ; hucagium, or crida- 
 giiim, criagium, the duty payable on cry- 
 ing the sale of wine. * Chacun tavernier 
 de St Nicolas est tenu de nous rendre et 
 poier chacun an, pour chacun tonneau 
 que il vend en I'an, maille pour criage, et 
 nous sommes tenus de crier leur vin k 
 leur requeste.' — Record, a.d. 1289, in 
 Due. Hensch. * Videlicet quod huca- 
 gium sen clamor tabernarum et collatio 
 hucagii seu clamoris in Majoria — et omne 
 jus quod habet in celleria, et in collatione 
 ejusdem, nobis — libera manebunt.' — a.d. 
 1269 in Carp. 
 
 We might be tempted to explain from 
 this source the designation of the huck- 
 ster, who went about the town selling and 
 doubtless crying their goods. ' Qe nul 
 hukster estoise en certain lieu mais voi- 
 sent parmi la vile.' — Liber Albus, 690. 
 But a wider comparison compels us to 
 refer huckster to another source. 
 
 Hawser. See Halse. 
 
 Hay. Goth, havi, grass ; AS. hedg, 
 heg, ON. hey, Du. houwe, hauw, hoy (Kil.), 
 grass cut and dried for fodder. Esthon. 
 
 HEARSE 
 
 337 
 
 hain, hay, grass ; Fin. heina, Lap. stioine, 
 Lith. szetias, Magy. szeiia, hay. 
 
 Hazard. Sp. azar, unlucky throw on 
 the dice, disaster. It. zara, a die, the 
 game of hazard, an unlucky cast ; zara 
 a chi tocca, bad luck to him to whom it 
 falls. Mod.Gr. ^api, a die ; Alb. zar, a 
 die, luck. Arab, az zahr, a die. 
 
 Haze. — Hazy. Haze, a thick fog ; it 
 hazes, it misles small rain. — B. Possibly 
 from ON. and AS. has, hoarse, the signifi- 
 cation passing on from thickness of voice 
 to thickness of atmosphere. 
 
 To Haze.— Hazle. To dry linen. — 
 Hal. ' Those that by that happy wind of 
 thine didst hazle and dry up the forlorn 
 dregs and slime of Noah's deluge.' — 
 Roger's Naaman the Syrian in Trench, 
 Fr. hasler, hdler, to dry in the air, to 
 wither from drought. Rouchi hasi, dried 
 by the heat, burnt. N. hasa, to dry in 
 the wind, to breathe hard ; hces, a frame- 
 work for drying hay and corn in the field ; 
 Sw. hcBS, cocks of hay. 
 
 To Heal.— Health.— Holy. g. heil, 
 whole, sound, entire, in good health ; 
 heilig, inviolable, inviolate, secure from 
 injury, sacred, holy. Or. o\oq, whole, 
 entire. With an initial s instead of h (as 
 in Lat. sal, compared with Or. u\q, w. hat) 
 we have Lat. solus, alone (undivided), pa- 
 rallel with Gr. 'oKoq ; salvus, sound, and 
 salus {saluf), corresponding to hallow, 
 health. As the healing of a wound is the 
 joining of the skin and covering up of the 
 wound, the word seems connected with 
 AS. hela?t, to hill or cover, though it is by 
 no means clear that the latter signification 
 is the earliest in the order of develop- 
 ment. 
 
 Heam. See Hame. 
 
 Heap. P1.D. hoop, G. haufe, ON. hopr, 
 AS. heap, a heap, crowd. 
 
 To Hear. Hark/ hist/ list/ are all 
 representatives of a low whispering or 
 rustling sound ; then used interjectionally 
 to direct attention to sounds of that na- 
 ture, and consequently used in the sense 
 of listening, striving to catch sound, using 
 the ears. It is probable that hear may 
 have a like origin. Swiss Hor / an in- 
 terjection used to still an unquiet ox ; Be 
 still ! Hence /tore ft, G. aufhoren, to cease, 
 be still. 
 
 Goth, hausjati, to hear. 
 
 To Hearken. From hark/ with the 
 insertion of an e under the influence of a 
 reference to hear. 
 
 Hearse. We find this word applied 
 to the solemn obsequy at funerals, or to a 
 funeral monument. In modern times it 
 22 
 
538 
 
 HEART 
 
 is confined to the carriage in which the 
 coffin is conveyed. 'A cenotaph is an 
 empty funeral monument — in imitation of 
 which our hearses here in England are 
 set up in churches during the continuance 
 of a year, or for the space of certain 
 months.'— Weever in Todd. 
 
 The gawdy girlonds deck her grave, 
 The faded flowers her corse embrave, 
 O hevie herse .' — Shepherd's Cal. 
 The origin is the Fr. herce, a harrow, an 
 implement which in that country is made 
 in a triangular form, not square as with 
 us. Hence the name of herce or hei'che 
 was given to a triangular framework of 
 iron used for holding a number of can- 
 dles at funerals and church ceremonies. 
 Hee7'ce on a dede corce, piramis. — Pr. 
 Pm. * In reliquis vero festivitatibus qui- 
 bus accendi solet machina ilia ferrea quae 
 vulgo Erza vocatur, pro ilia lampadibus 
 vitreis illustretur.'— Statut. Abbat. Ciu- 
 niac. in Due. ' Feria quinta, &c. et sab- 
 bato herchia debet esse ad dextrum cornu 
 magni altaris et ibi debent esse 26 cerei 
 illuminati ad matutinas.' — ' Volo quod 24 
 torches et 5 tapers, quolibet taper pondere 
 10 librarum praeparentur pro sepultura 
 mea absque ullo alio hercio' — Testam, 
 Johan. de Nevil, a.d. 1386, in Due. 
 Hensch. 'Cujus quidem sepulturae seu 
 funeris nostri exequias more regio volu- 
 mus celebrari, ita quod pro praedictis ex- 
 equiis iv hercice excellentias convenientes 
 regali — in locis sabscriptis per executores 
 nostros prasparentur.' — Test. Ric. II. 
 Rymei, vol. 8. 75, in Due. Hensch. The 
 quantity of candles being the great dis- 
 tinction of the funeral, the name of the 
 frame which bore them came to be used 
 for the whole funeral obsequies, or for 
 the cenotaph at whose head the candles 
 were placed, and finally for the funeral 
 carriage. 
 
 At Poules his masse was done, and diryge 
 
 In hers royall, semely to royalte. 
 
 Hardy ng. Rich. II. in Way. 
 Herce, a dede body, corps. — Palsgr. 
 
 Heart. Goth, hairio, Gr. Kapdia, Kpadia, 
 Ksap, Lat. cor {cord'), It. cuore, Fr. cceur, 
 Gael, cridne, Lith. szirdis, Russ. serdce, 
 Sanscr. hrid, hardi. 
 
 Heart of Grace. To take heart of 
 grace or pluck up heart of grace, to be of 
 good heart. I take herte a gresse as one 
 dothe that taketh a sodayne corage upon 
 him. They lyved a grete whyle as cow- 
 ards, but at the last they took herte a 
 gresse to them. — Palsgr. 
 
 Apparently from a punning version of 
 the expression to take a good heart. 
 
 HEAT 
 
 ' Ficca facca, faint not, hold out, pull itp 
 a good heart.' — Fl. I plucke up my 
 herte, or I take good herte to me. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 If thou beest true and honest, 
 And if thou findest thy conscience clear from it. 
 Pluck vp a good heart. — B. Jonson. Tale of a 
 Tub, act 3, sc. 2. 
 Kyng Alisaunder though hym weore wo, 
 He tok \\\m god heorte to.— Alisaunder, 6928. 
 When the knight perceived that he could 
 escape no way— //e took a good heart and ran 
 among the thickest. — Dr Faustus, c. 52. 
 
 As a stag in good condition (a good 
 hart) was in hunting language called a 
 hart of grease (Grisons vacca da grass, a 
 fat cow), to pluck up a good heart seems 
 to have been punningly converted into 
 plucking up or taking a hart of grease, 
 corrupted, when the joke was no longer 
 understood, into heart of grace. 
 
 Hearth, as. heorth, G. herd, area, 
 floor, hearth. Generally the floor or 
 ground on which any operation is carried 
 on. OG. Herth, the soil. Tacitus (De 
 moribus Germanorum) says, ' In com- 
 mune Hef^thii?n, id est Terram colunt.' 
 Swiss herd, soil, ground, earth ; herdap- 
 fel, potato ; herdig, earthen ; herdelen, 
 to have an earthy taste. 
 
 Heat.— Hot. on. hita, hiti, heat, boil- 
 ing ; heitr, hot, angry ; G. hitze, heat, 
 passion, anger ; heiss, hot, vehement, ar- 
 dent. 
 
 We have seen under Entice that the 
 figure of setting on a dog to fight gives a 
 designation to the act of lighting a fire, 
 and even to the materials of combustion, 
 in Lat. titio, Fr. tison, a fire-brand. And 
 if the same line of inquiry is pushed a 
 little further it will be hard to avoid the 
 conclusion that the G. hitze and E. heat 
 have their origin in the same figure. If 
 the G. hetzen, anhetzen, to set on dogs to 
 fight or attack, to incite, inflame, provoke, 
 Sw. hetsa, to set on, to heat, and the like, 
 stood by themselves, no one would doubt 
 that the idea of heating the passions of 
 the animal was the foundation of the 
 expression. But when we compare the 
 hissing or snarling sounds used in setting 
 on dogs. Fin. has I as ! Lap. hos ! Serv. 
 ash! Pl.D. hiss! \w. hyr / E. ss / st I ts / 
 It. izzf uzzf we find it impossible either 
 to suppose that these are derived from a 
 word signifying heat, or to separate the 
 G. and Sw. forms above mentioned from 
 the other verbs manifestly founded on 
 the cry of instigation, Lap. hasetet, haske- 
 tet, hotsalet, Serv. oshkati, N. hirra, Dan. 
 tirre, Pl.D. hisseti (e. tiss, to hiss), Sw. 
 
HEATH 
 
 tussa, Du. hisschen, hitschejt, hitsen^ hus- 
 sen (Kil), It. izzare, uzzare, tizzare, 
 stizzare, to incite, set on, provoke. From 
 izzare, to provoke, we have izza, anger — 
 FL, and in like manner from G. hetzen, 
 hiize, passion, fury, ardour, heat. Sw. 
 hetsa, to set on, to heat ; hetsig, hot, 
 burning ; hetta, heat,- passion. 
 
 Heath. Goth, haithi, aypof, the open 
 country ; haithivisks, ayptoc, wild ; ON. 
 heidi, a waste, heidi Jord', waste, barren 
 land, heath ; haudr, uncultivated land ; 
 G. heide, a heath, waste, barren extent of 
 country ; heide-kraut^ heath and other 
 plants that grow on barren wastes. The 
 plant heath is no doubt so named from 
 growing on barren heaths. 
 
 Heathen. Goth, haithno^ 'EWrtv'iQ, 
 Marc 7. 26. G. hezde, a heathen. The 
 word bears a singular resemblance to Gr. 
 iOvri, the Gentiles, but if it were derived 
 from that source it must have passed 
 through the form of Lat. Ethnici, which 
 could hardly have produced G. heide. 
 We must then suppose that it is the 
 equivalent of Lat. paganus, meaning ori- 
 ginally country people, from Goth, haithi^ 
 the open country. Du. heyde, heydeft, 
 homo agrestis et incultus, a clown, a 
 pagan, heathen. — Kil. 
 
 To Heave. Goth, hafjan, ON. he/ia, 
 AS. hebban, G. heben, to lift. 
 
 Heaven, as. heofon, Goth, hiniins^ 
 OHG. hiinil^ heaven, G. him7nel^ a. canopy, 
 an arched or vaulted covering, the sky, 
 heaven. 
 
 The sound of v and m immediately be- 
 fore an u frequently interchange. Dan. 
 hevne, N. hemna, to revenge ; OSw.y^ 
 nan^ jamnan, always ; AS. e/ne, in com- 
 position ejnne, even, equal ; ON. so/na, 
 Sw. so7mia, to fall asleep ; ON. safna, AS. 
 somnian, to collect. There can then be little 
 doubt that Goth, hifnins and OSax. heb- 
 an, AS. heofon, are from the same root, 
 probably a verb signifying to cover. The 
 word was understood by the Saxons them- 
 selves in this sense. ' Sage me for hvil- 
 cum thingum heofon sy gehaten heofon ? 
 Ic the sage for thon he beheleth'-eall thset 
 hym beufon byth.' Tell me why heaven 
 is called heaven .? I tell you because it 
 covereth all that is beneath it. — Dialogue 
 of Saturn and Solomon. A consciousness 
 of the same meaning is indicated in a 
 passage of Otfrid quoted by Ihre. So 
 himil the kit thaz land. As wide as 
 heaven covers earth. From the same 
 root OSw. himin^ the membrane which 
 covers the brain ; himmels korn (for him- 
 Idst korn)y skinless barley ; henilig, secret, 
 
 HELE 
 
 339 
 
 covered. Swiss himmel, skin which forms 
 on the surface of liquids after standing. 
 
 Heavy.— Heft. as. hefig, on. hofugr, 
 heavy ; hofgi^ weight, the object of the 
 act of heaving. Heft, weight, pressure. 
 —Hal. 
 
 Hecatomb. Gr. eKaTOfi^t] (tKurbv, a 
 hundred, and /3owg, an ox), a sacrifice of a 
 hundred victims. 
 
 Hectic. Lat. heetica, a fever, from Gr. 
 tKTiKog, habitual, from tx^, to have, hold. 
 
 Hedge, as. hegge, G. hag, a bush, 
 shrub, thicket, enclosure, hedge ; hecke, a 
 thicket, a quickset hedge. Du. haag, 
 hegghe, a thorn-bush, thicket, hedge, also 
 a hurdle. — Kil. Haag-doorn, hawthorn. 
 Suffolk hetch, a thicket, a hedge. Fin. 
 ^^/&^, fir-branches, Esthon. /m^^^,Walach. 
 hacu, bushes, twigs, rods. See Hatch. 
 
 To Heed. as. hedan, Du. hoeden, G.* 
 hiiten, to keep, guard, observe. Hoeden 
 de beesten, to watch cattle. 
 
 Heel. AS. hel, ON. hcell, Du. hiel. 
 
 To HeeL as. hyldan, to incline. * Hyra 
 andwlitan on eorthen hyldun.' They bent 
 their looks on the earth. — Luc 24. 5. ON. 
 halla, to incline, to lean towards ; hallr, 
 inclined towards, inclination ; hella, to 
 pour — Egilsson ; Dan. helde, to slope, 
 decline, lean, to tilt a vessel, to pour. 
 Perhaps this last may be the original 
 sense of the word. To hele, or hell, to 
 pour out. — Hal. 
 
 ' And bely ve he garte helle down the 
 water on the erthe before alle his men.' — • 
 MS. Hal. ' Hwon me asaileth buruhwes 
 other castles theo thet beoth withinnen 
 heldeth schaldinde water ut ' — -pour scald- 
 ing water out. — Ancren Riwle, 246. In 
 the same way Fr. verser, to pour, seems 
 to preserve the original meaning of Lat. 
 vergere, to decline, incline. ' Spuman- 
 tesque mero paterae verguntur.' — Statins. 
 
 Heifer, as. heafore, E. dial, heckfor, 
 heifker. Hekfere, juvenca — Pr. Pm. ; 
 hecforde, a yong cowe, genisse. — Palsgr. 
 Du. hokkeling, a heifer, from hok, a pen 
 or cote. The second syllable of heifer 
 may be a modification oi G.ferse, a heifer. 
 
 Height. See High. 
 
 Heinous. Fr. haineux, from haine, 
 malice, hate, rancour; hair, OFr. hadir, 
 to hate. — Diez. 
 
 Heir. OFr. hoir, Lat. hcsres. 
 
 To Hele.— HiU.— Hile. To cover. 
 Hillier, a tiler. 
 
 Thei hiled them I telle thee 
 With leves of a fige tree. 
 
 A poor person says, * It takes a great 
 deal to hill and fill so many children.' 
 Goth, huljan, G. hiillen, to veil or cover, 
 22* 
 
340 
 
 HELL 
 
 to wrap ; hiille^ clothing, mantle, cover. 
 ON. hylia^ to hide ; G. hiilse^ the covering 
 of a thing, hull, husk, pod. AS. helan, to 
 conceal, cover. 
 
 HelL The place of the dead, or place 
 where the dead are punished. ON. Hel, 
 death ; Hel, Helta, the Goddess of death. 
 Ai sld i hel, to strike dead ; hel-bldr, 
 death-pale, livid ; hel-blinda, fatal blind- 
 ness ; hel-sot, death sickness ; hel-viti, 
 the punishment of the dead, whence Dan. 
 Jielvede, Hell. Magy. halni, to die, haloit, 
 a corpse. Gr. dXtTdai, to die. 
 
 Helm. I. Helmet. Goth. h7ms, ON. 
 /lia/mr, G. hehn, It. Sp. elmo, Fr. heaume, 
 helmet, ne. /i^/w, a covering. — B. OPtg. 
 elmo, a covering, ' unum elmiun labora- 
 tum pro super ipsum altare.' — Record, 
 A.D. 1087, in Diez. Perhaps the same 
 notion of protecting may be the root of 
 Du. hehn, the creeping grass which pro- 
 tects the sandy shores of Holland. 
 
 From AS. helan, ON. hylla, to cover, 
 protect ; hylma, hilma, to cover, hide ; 
 hilming, concealment ; i hihningu, under 
 pretext ; hihttir, protector, (poet.) king. 
 Lith. szaltnas, Russ. schlem, schelom, a 
 helmet. 
 
 2. Helme or the rothere of a ship, temo, 
 plectrum. — Pr. Pm. ON. hjdlm, hjdlmu7t, 
 rudder ; hidlmimvolr, Du. helm-slock, the 
 tiller. In all probability the helm may 
 be the helve or handle by which the ship 
 is managed. OE. halme, handle. Helme 
 of a rothere of a shyppe, la manche du 
 gouvernail. — Palsgr. See Helve. 
 
 * Help. Goth, hilpan, ON. hialpa, G. 
 helfeti, Lith. szelpti, to help, to take care 
 of ; gelblli, to help, to save ; gilbti, to 
 receive help ; pagalba, help, assistance. 
 
 The sense might well be explained from 
 OHG. halpa, halba, side, half. To side 
 with one is to take his part, to help him. 
 So from Fin. puoli, half, side, is formed 
 Piioltaa, to side with one, to defend him. 
 Helter-skelter. Sw. huller om b id- 
 ler, hull om bull, hummel urn drummel, 
 P1.D. huller de buller (Danneil), G. holler 
 di poller, halder de gu alder, are interjec- 
 tional expressions representing racket, 
 rattling noise, and thence applied to a 
 noisy, hurried, disorderly mode of action. 
 Sw. buller, noise, rattle, bustle ; G. pol- 
 tern, to make a hammering noise, to do 
 something with noise and racket. ' Hol- 
 ter-polter ! ein fiirchterliches getose.' — 
 Sanders. For the element skelter com- 
 pare Sw. skdlla, to yell ; Sc. skelloch, 
 Gael, sgal, shriek, yell, howl. ''Haider 
 de qualder aus dem Spanischen iiber- 
 setzen reicht nicht hin :' hand over head, 
 
 HEMORRHOIDS 
 
 without arrangement. — Sanders. See 
 Hurly-burly. 
 
 Helve. AS. helf, Bav. helb, helben, halb, 
 Swiss halm, handle of an axe or hammer ; 
 G. helm, handle of a tool, stock of an 
 anchor. OG. helm-parten, axe with a long 
 handle, halberd. 
 
 Hem. The hefwoi a garment, from 
 the verb to hem, is that which binds round 
 the edges and prevents them, from ravel- 
 ling. It was formerly used in the sense 
 of a border of any kind, and not merely 
 a sewing down of the edge as at present ; 
 fimbria, limbus, ora. — Pr. Pm. It is re- 
 markable that Sw. sldmma, to stop, to 
 staunch, also signifies to hem or border. 
 — Rietz. See to Hem. 
 
 On the other hand it is possible that 
 hem may be a parallel form correspond- 
 ing to seafn, as w. hal, to Lat. sal, salt ; 
 but the evidence upon the whole points 
 the other way. w. he^n, a hem, seam, bor- 
 der. N. Fris. heafn, hem ; suicm, seam. 
 — Johansen. 
 
 To Hem. To confine, surround, en- 
 close. — R. G. hemmen, to stop the mo- 
 tion of a body, to skid the wheel of a 
 waggon, to stop the course of water, to 
 thwart or hinder a proceeding. Sw. 
 hdtnma, Pol. hamowad, to restrain, check, 
 put a stop to ; hamulec, restraint, curb. 
 
 The immediate origin is probably the 
 G. interjection of prohibition Hamm / 
 (Kiittn.) or Humm I (Brem. Wtb.) Stop ! 
 Let it alone ! Hamm holln (in zaum hal- 
 ten), to keep under control. — Danneil. 
 The sound of clearing the throat is re- 
 presented by the syllable hem ! ex- 
 plained by Worcester, an exclamation of 
 which the utterance is a sort of half- 
 voluntary cough, and which, being the 
 preparation for speaking, is used for the 
 purpose of calling to a person at a dis- 
 tance. 
 
 He hemmed audibly twice or thrice, which was 
 known in the family as a sign that he wished the 
 attention of the crowd to be directed to him.— 
 D)'ce, Bella Donna, i. 29, 1864. 
 
 To hem a person (Du. hemmen, hummen), 
 to call him by crying hem ! — B. From 
 thence to the notion of stopping one is 
 a natural transition ; Du. hemmen, sis- 
 tere, retinere. — Biglotton. We then pass 
 on to the notion of checking, controlling, 
 confining. See Ho. 
 
 Hemi-. Gr. ^/w, signifying half ; rjniavQ, 
 half. 
 
 Hemorrhage. Gr. a'tfioppayla, a burst- 
 ing forth of blood, al^a, and pr/yw/it, to 
 break, burst. 
 
 Hemorrhoids. Gr. aiiioppots, aifioppotdoQf 
 
HEMP 
 
 a gushing of blood (alfia, blood, and psu), 
 to flow, poog, a flowing). 
 
 Hemp. Lat. cannabis^ Du. hennip, 
 G. hanf^ ON. hanpr, Lith. kanape. 
 
 Hen. A female fowl. ON. hann, he, 
 Imn, she ; hani, G. y^<3;/w/, a cock ; huhn, 
 henne, a hen. Sw. hannar och honor, 
 cocks and hens, males and females. Dan. 
 han, he, male ; han-kat, male cat ; /!^;z- 
 spurv, cock-sparrow ; hatte, a cock, male 
 of domestic fowl ; hun, she, female of 
 animals, hen of birds. It should be ob- 
 served hun becomes hen in the oblique 
 cases. Pl.D. heeken and seeken, male and 
 female of animals, cock and hen of birds. 
 
 Henchman. A supporter, one who 
 stands at one's haunch. So It. fiancaiv, 
 to flank, by met. to urge or set on ; (in 
 heraldry), to support arms. A sidesman 
 is a parish officer who assists the church- 
 wardens. 
 
 Hend. — Hent. — To seize. Goth, fra-, 
 us-hinthan, to take captive ; OHG. heri- 
 himi'a, AS. huih, capture, prey ; OFris. 
 handa, henda, to seize, ON. henda, to 
 seize, to happen, the connection between 
 these ideas being shown under Happen. 
 * I hente, I take by violence, or I catch, 
 Je happe.^ — Palsgr. Sw. hdnda, to hap- 
 pen. It is perhaps from this sense of 
 the verb rather than from the noun hand 
 that was formed the OE. hende, courteous, 
 agreeable, in accordance with G. gefal- 
 lig, falling in with the feelings of another, 
 complaisant, agreeable. 
 
 The original image is snapping with 
 the jaws at something; Sc.hansh,ha7insh, 
 to snap or snatch at, violently to lay hold 
 of — Jam.; OFr. hancher, to grasp or 
 snatch at with the teeth. — Cot. ' Men — 
 havyng on her shuldres and on her helmes 
 sharp pikes that if the olifaunt wold 
 oughte henche or catch hem (posset ap- 
 prehendere), the pricks shulde let hem.' 
 — Trevisa in Way. 
 
 Hepatic. Gr. ^Trap, rj-n-aTog, the liver. 
 
 Heptarchy. Gr. tTrrd, seven, and 
 opx»?, principality. 
 
 Her. Adjective of OE. heo, she. 
 
 Herald. Fr. hdrau/d, heraut j It. 
 araldo. OHG. haren, to shout. See 
 Harrow. 
 
 Herb. Fr. herbe, Lat. herba. 
 
 Herd. Goth, hah'da, ON. hjord, G. 
 herde, 2. herd or flock of cattle ; ON. htrda, 
 to keep, preserve, watch, take care of; 
 ht'rda, hirdingi, Du. herder, Dan. hyrde, 
 G. hirt, a herd, shepherd ; hirten, to tend 
 cattle. Fr. harde, hourde, the village 
 herd, a herd of deer. — Roquef Cot. 
 
 The collection of cattle driven or tended 
 
 HERON 
 
 341 
 
 by a keeper, or the keeper himself, some- 
 times take their designation from the act 
 of driving, as Gr. aykXr), a herd, from ayw, 
 to drive, and in E. a drove of cattle. So 
 from Magyar haitani, to drive, to pas- 
 ture cattle; haitsdr, a shepherd. Now 
 the driving of cattle is vividly repre- 
 sented by the setting on of dogs and 
 the cries used in exciting them. So 
 from hiss! the cry to a dog, we have 
 Pl.D. hissen, to set on ; de schaop hissen, 
 to collect the sheep by the aid of a dog. — 
 Danneil. In Welsh the cries herri hyrr / 
 representing the snarl of a dog, are used 
 in hounding him on to fight, whence 
 hyrrio (n. hirra), to set on a dog, and ap- 
 parently hyrddio, to irritate, to impel, to 
 push, to drive. — Lewis. Roquefort gives 
 houre / as a cry to animate a dog, ex- 
 plaining Rouchi hoicrder ten chien, Fr. 
 harer un chien (Cot.), to set on a dog ; 
 and as the last of these forms seems to 
 give rise to Fr. harelle, a herd, so from 
 harer, hourder, W. hyrrio, hyrddio may 
 perhaps be explained harde, hourde, herd. 
 
 Here. See He. 
 
 -here. -hes. Lat. hcereo, hcesi, to stick. 
 Adhere, to stick to ; Adhesive, having a 
 tendency to stick to ; Cohere, to stick 
 together. *' 
 
 Hereditary. — Heritage. Lat. hceres^ 
 hcEredis, an heir, Fr. heritage. 
 
 Heresy, — Heretic. Gr. d'l^naiq {a'tpsUf 
 to choose, take), a choosing, an opinion, 
 a sect. 
 
 Heriot. AS. here-geata, wig-geat, wig- 
 geatwe, warlike habiliments, from here 
 or wig, war, and geatwe, apparatus. 
 Hi in wig-geatawum 
 Aldrum nethdon. 
 
 They in warlike habiliments ventured 
 their lives. — Beowulf. 
 
 The latter part of the word is identical 
 with Lith. gdtawos, ready ; Walach. gafa^ 
 ready, complete ; gati, to prepare ; gatire^ 
 apparatus. 
 
 Hermit. Gr. Iptiftirrig, a dweller in the 
 wilderness, a solitary, from tpijfiog, waste, 
 lonely. Fin. erd, journey, fishing or hunt- 
 ing expedition ; erdmaa {tnaa, land, 
 region), distant station, desert, unculti- 
 vated place. 
 
 Hero. The Gr. ripiag may probably be 
 the equivalent of Lat. vir. The primitive 
 sense seems preserved in Fin. uros, adult 
 male, male of animals, brave man, man 
 exhibiting the manly character in an 
 eminent degree ; uro-teko (teko = act), 
 factum heroicum. 
 
 Heron. — Egret. The AS. hragra ex- 
 hibits the most comprehensive form €)f 
 
342 
 
 HERRING 
 
 the name, whence, on the one hand, G. 
 reiger, Pl.D. rekr, and on the other Sw. 
 hcigr, Dan. haire. The augmentative 
 termination produces It. aghirone, airone, 
 Fr. egron ( — Vocab. de Berri), hairon, 
 heron, in contradistinction to aigrette, 
 egrette (with the dim. termination), the 
 small heron or egret. Fr. heronceau, a 
 young heron, gives E. heronshaiv. 
 
 The origin of the name is probably 
 the harsh cry of the bird. w. cregyr, a 
 screamer, a heron ; creg, hoarse. 
 
 Herring. Fr. hareng, G. hdring. 
 
 Hesitate. Lat. hcssitare, freq. from 
 hcrreo, to stick, stick fast. 
 
 Hetero-. Gr. 'irtpoQ, other, as in hete- 
 rodox, of another {UKa) opinion ; hetero- 
 geneous, of another (y^voc) kind. 
 
 To Hew. ON. hoggva, to strike, to 
 cut ; AS. heawian, Du. hauwen, G. hauen, 
 to hew. E. dial, hag^ to hack. See 
 Haggle. 
 
 Hex-. Gr. «|, six ; hexagon, having 
 six (ywvta) angles ; hexameter, having six 
 (^firpor) measures. 
 
 Hey-day. — Hoity-toity, g. Hey da ! 
 Heysa / exclamations of high spirits, 
 active enjoyment. Hence E. hey-day, the 
 vigour and high spirits of youth, where 
 the spelling is probably modified under 
 an erroneous impression that there is 
 something in the meaning of the word 
 which indicates a certain period of life. 
 At your age 
 The heyday of the blood is tame, it's humble, 
 And waits upon the judgment. 
 
 In the same way Sw. hojta, to shout, 
 explains E. hott, to indulge in riotous and 
 noisy mirth — Webster ; to hite up and 
 down, to run idle about the country — 
 Hal. ; highty-tighty, frolicsome, thought- 
 less. — Thomson. ' He lives at home, 
 and sings and hoits and revels among his 
 drunken companions.' — B. and F. Cot- 
 grave explains estre en ses gogues, to be 
 frolic, lusty, all a-hoit, in a merry mood. 
 II est k cheval, he is set on cock-horse, 
 he is all a-hoight^ he now begins to flaunt 
 it.— Cot. 
 
 Hence hoity-hoity, and in a somewhat 
 weaker sense hey-day, are frequently used 
 as exclamations implying that the person 
 addressed is all a-hoit, in an excited state, 
 or is assuming airs unsuitable to his posi- 
 tion. Hoity-toity ! Well to be sure ! 
 
 We have in this exclamation the origin 
 of Fr. halt, liveliness, gladness ; hatter, 
 to cheer up, to like well of, de hatter, to 
 discourage, to be ill at ease, souhaiter, to 
 wish for, which has given much trouble 
 to etymologists. In Pembrokeshire to 
 
 HIE 
 
 hite is commonly used in the sense of 
 cheer or encourage. 
 
 Hibernate. Lat. hye^ns, winter ; htber- 
 nus, wintry ; hibertio, to pass the winter. 
 
 Hicket — Hiccup. — Hiccough. Du. 
 hik, hickse, huckup, Bret, hik, Fr. hoquety 
 OE. snickup, hiccup. Du. hikken, snik- 
 ken, hicksen, OE. yex, to sob. All direct 
 representations of the sound. 
 
 Hide. G. haul, Du. huyd, ON. hud^ 
 Lat. ctitis, Gr. okvtoq, skin of a beast. ON. 
 hyda, to skin a beast, to give a hiding or 
 flogging. 
 
 To Hide. To conceal, to cover. Du. 
 hoeden, hueden, to keep, protect, cover, 
 w. huddo, to cover, shade, darken. N. 
 hide, the lair of a beast, hide seg (of a 
 bear), to seek covert ; ON. hyd-bjorn, a 
 bear in hybernation. 
 
 Hide of Land. As much as could be 
 tilled by a single plough. The word is 
 still used as a measure of land in Nor- 
 way. 
 
 Hideous. Frightful. OFr. hide, hisde^ 
 hidour, hisdour, dread, 
 
 Tel hide en a et telle frdour 
 Caoir se laisse de paour. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, i, 354. 
 Kant ele vit le cors sans vie 
 Hidor otde ce qu'ele vit. — lb. 4, 324. 
 
 La forh estoit hisdouse et face, the 
 forest was grisly and enchanted. — Diez. 
 La char par hidour en homme fremist, 
 flesh in man quakes for dread.— Bibles- 
 worth. 
 
 Two derivations are suggested ; first, 
 from Lat. hispidosus, bristly, rough, his- 
 P'dos, hisdos, as male-sapidus, -sap'duSy 
 Fr. tnau-sadej vapidus, Fr. fade. This 
 derivation is supported by OFr. hispide, 
 which is explained by Roquefort, sale, 
 vilain, degoutant, hideux, afireux. On 
 the other hand it would be more satisfac- 
 tory if an origin could be found in a word 
 signifying dread or horror. In this point 
 of view we have Goth, agis, ohg. agi, ege, 
 AS. ege, fear, dread ; ohg. egidi, egisOy 
 AS. egisa, MHG. egese, else, horror; OHG. 
 egelih, akislih, MHG. egelich, egeslich, 
 eislich, Du. heyselich, heisig, eyselick, 
 eysig, horrible ; eysen, ijsen, to shudder ; 
 Da. hcEslig, horrible, hideous ; Sw. hisna, 
 to shudder. The adoption of an initial h 
 in the Du. and Scandinavian forms and 
 in Fr. hisdeux, hideux, would be anal- 
 ogous to the course in G. heischen, MHG. 
 heischen, eischen, from OHG. eiscSn, to 
 demand, where the initial h appears in 
 the course of the 13th century. 
 
 To Hie. AS. higan, higian, to en- 
 deavour, to hasten j higen, diligent. To 
 
HIERO- 
 
 pant is explained by Richardson, to blow 
 quickly and shortly, and consequently, to 
 pursue eagerly, to desire with strong emo- 
 tion ; and our present word afifords an- 
 other example of the same train of thought. 
 Du, hughen, to pant ; Dan. hige, hive, 
 hie efter veiret, to pant, to gasp for 
 breath ; hige, to pant for, to covet. In 
 the same way the Lat. aveo, to desire 
 earnestly, to strive for, seems connected 
 with Gr. aw, to breathe. Higan, like E. 
 sigh, is a direct imitation ; w. igian, to 
 sigh, to sob. 
 
 Hiero-. Gr. up6q, sacred. Hieroglyph- 
 ics (yXixpco, to engrave), sacred sculptures. 
 Hierarchy, sacred governance. 
 
 High. — Height. AS. heah, Goth. 
 hauhs, ON. ha, G. hoch, w. uchel, high. 
 
 Higler.— To Higgle. Higler, one 
 who carries about provisions for sale. — 
 Webster. Hegler, one who buys provi- 
 sions brought up out of the country in 
 order to sell them again by retail. — B. 
 To higgle, to chaffer, to be nice and 
 tedious in making a bargain. — Webster. 
 To higgle is to haggle about petty mat- 
 ters, and if higler and higgle stood by 
 themselves we should without hesitation 
 regard higgle as the original and explain 
 it as a diminutive of haggle. But the 
 comparison of the G. correlatives seems 
 to show that higgle is derived from higler 
 rather than the converse. 
 
 Bav. hugkler, hugkner, Swab, hiikler, 
 huker, Du, hoecker, hucker, Pl.D. hdker, 
 G. hoke, hdker, an engrosser, huckster, 
 provision-dealer ; Westervvald hiitschler, 
 Nassau hitzler, one who carries about 
 meal or corn in sacks on a horse for sale. 
 Swiss hodelii, hiuieln, to traffic in corn ; 
 korn-Jnidler, an engrosser, regrater of 
 corn, corn-broker. Bav. h'ddeln, to drive 
 a petty trade ; hodl-pauern, peasants 
 going to load salt, who bought up corn 
 on their route and carried it to dispose of 
 at their market. Alsace hutzeln (West- 
 erwald. Idiot.), Swab, hocklen, to carry 
 on the back ; Pl.D. huck-bak, htikke-bak^ 
 pickaback. See Huckster. 
 
 Higre.— Eager.— Aker. The commo- 
 tion occasionally made in certain rivers 
 by the meeting of the tide and current is 
 known by the foregoing names. Akyr of 
 the sea flowynge, impetus maris.— Pr. 
 Pm. Taylor the water poet describes 
 the phenomenon on the coast of Lincoln- 
 shire, 
 
 —the flood runs there with such great force, 
 That I imagine it outruns a horse ; 
 And with a head some four foot high that rores, 
 It on the sodaine sv\ ells and beats the shores ;— 
 
 HIND 
 
 343 
 
 It hath lesse mercy than beare, wolfe, or tyger, 
 And in those countries is called the hyger. 
 
 Taylor in Nares. 
 
 Any sudden inundation of the sea is 
 called an egor, at Howden in Yorkshire. 
 -•— Kennet in Hal. From ON. ALgir, the 
 god of the sea, then used for the sea 
 itself, ^gja, to frighten ; cegir, terrifier ; 
 (Egiligr, terrible. 
 
 Hilarity. The root of Lat. hilaris, 
 cheerful, seems preserved in Fin. hilaan, 
 hillata, ludibundus strepo, Itetus tumul- 
 tuo ; hilastaa, strepens ludo ut pueri ; 
 hilaus, strepitus lusorius.* 
 
 Hill, Du. heiivel, hovel, G. hugel, hill. 
 Pl.D. hull, gras-hull, a mound, tuft of 
 grass growing more luxuriant than the 
 rest. — Brem. Wtb. Du. hobbel, a rising, 
 unevenness in the ground. — Danneil. It 
 would seem that the radical notion is 
 what is heaved up. Fris. Hovel, hoevelf 
 a tumour, hunch in the back. — Kil. 
 
 Hilt. ON. hjalt, the guard of a sword 
 at each end of the handle ; frenira hjah 
 tit, the guard or cross-bar which pro- 
 tected the hand, and efra hjaltit, the 
 knob or pummel which prevented the 
 sword from being dragged out of the 
 hand ; hj'olt (plur.), the two together or 
 entire handle. /////, garde de I'^p^e. — 
 Sherwood. Du. Mile, hilte, holte, holds 
 (Kil.), OG. helza, hiltze, hiiltz, holcz (Dief. 
 Sup. in v. capulBs), Boh. gjlce, hilt ; It. 
 elza, elso, guard of a sword. 
 
 Hind. I . ON. hind, a female deer. G. 
 hinde, hindinn. 
 
 Hind. 2. — Behind. — Hinder, g. hin- 
 ten, hinter, behind. The structure of his 
 own body constitutes the ultimate stand- 
 ard of position to every individual, and 
 thus the different members of our bodily 
 frame might be expected to supply the ' 
 figures by which the relations of place 
 are expressed. In E. accordingly we 
 make use of the head, foot, face, hand, 
 side, back, in expressing those relations. 
 The oblique cases of Fin. korwa, the 
 ear, ox pad, the head, are u sed adverb'ally 
 to express the relations of beside or above. • 
 In like manner from hdnta, Esthon. hand, 
 the tail, are formed expressions connected 
 with the idea of what is behind ; Fin. 
 hdmiittdd, to follow ; hdntyri, a follower ; 
 hdmidssd, behind ; Esthon. hdnndliste, 
 from behind, reversed. Hence we may 
 explain behind as signifying at the tail or 
 back of. The hinder end is the end at 
 the tail of. To hinder is to put one back- 
 wards. So from Galla dubo, tail, duba^ 
 behind, after, in time or space. 
 
 Hind. 3. — Hine. A servant, husband- 
 
314 
 
 HIND-BERRY 
 
 man, peasant. AS. hina^ Jtine (for higna^ 
 higne), a domestic ; hine-ealdor^ the good- 
 man of the house ; hine-man, a farmer, 
 higna-fceder^ paterfamilias. The word 
 properly signifies member of a family, in 
 which sense the Svv. hjiin is used at the 
 present day, De dro fyra hjon i husJial- 
 let, they are four persons in household. 
 Tjenstehjon^ man or maid servant ; ar- 
 beds-hjon, labourer. Hence elliptically E. 
 htne, a domestic labourer. ON. hion, 
 family ; N. hjon, married pair. Compare 
 Lat. famulus with fafnilia. 
 
 From AS, hige, hiwa, family ; hiwen, 
 servants. See Hive, 
 
 Hind-berry, G. hijn-beere, the rasp- 
 berry. As the name of hart-berry^ AS. 
 heort-berg, now corrupted to whortle- 
 berry, wlwrts or hurts, was given to what 
 is otherwise called the bilberry, the rasp- 
 berry was named after the female of the 
 same animal, or hind. 
 
 Hinge, The hooks on which the door 
 is hung. OE, hing, to hang, Du, hejighen, 
 to hang ; henghe, henghene, hook, handle, 
 hinge, — Kil. 
 
 Hint. — Inkling, The meaning of 
 both these words is a rumour or a whisper 
 of some intelligence. Parallel with E. 
 hum, representing a murmuring sound, 
 the ON, has tnna (without the initial h), 
 to resound ; ymia {iimdi), to whizz, whis- 
 tle ; ymta, to whisper or»rumour. Hamt 
 ymti d thvi, suspicionem dedit, he gave 
 a hint, an inkling of it. Ymtr, rumour 
 evulgatus, a hint. Dan, ymte, to whisper, 
 talk softly, secretly of. Sw. hafva hum 
 om nagot, to have an inkling or a hint of 
 something. For the change from ymte to 
 hint compare emmet, ant. 
 
 Inkling is from a frequentative form of 
 • the same root, ON. uml, Dan, ymmel, 
 murmur, ymple, to whisper, to rumour — 
 Molbech, whence E. inkling, by a change 
 analogous to that which holds between G. 
 stunpfdind. E. sinkj G. schrumpfen and E. 
 shrink. 
 
 Hip. G. hiifte, Du. heupe, the hip, 
 4 flank, thigh. N, hupp, the flank, Sc. 
 hips, the buttocks. 
 
 Hip, — Hep. The fruit of the rose. N. 
 hjupa, kjupa, Sw. hjiipon, Dan. hybe, AS. 
 hiop. 
 
 Hippopotamus. Gr. tTTTron-ora/iog ; 
 tTTTToc, a horse, and Trora/xoc, river. 
 
 Hire. AS. hyre, Du. himr, G. heuer, 
 W. hiir, wages, payment for service. 
 
 To Hiss, Hiss, whizz, Jizs, are imita- 
 tions of the sound represented. E. dial, 
 to tiss, to hiss. Piedm. isse, sissc, to hiss 
 on a dog. 
 
 HIVE 
 
 Hist !— Whist !— Hush ! An inter- 
 jection demanding silence and attention. 
 A person in a savage state of society ap- 
 prehending nocturnal danger would have 
 his attention on the stretch to catch the . 
 faint rustling sounds made by the most 
 cautious approach of an enemy. Hence 
 in order to intimate to his own friends his 
 desire for silence and attention he would 
 imitate the sounds for which he is on the 
 watch, by such forms as st I hist ! whist I 
 representing the sounds made by move- 
 ment of any kind, whisper, mutter ; W. 
 tist, hist, or hust, silence. 
 
 Lat her yelp on, be you as calm 's a mouse, 
 
 Nor lat your whisht be heard into the house. 
 
 P'erguson in Jam. 
 
 w. hust, a low buzzing noise ; husting, a 
 whisper, mutter ; ust, a hist or hush, a 
 silence. ' After janglinge wordes cometh 
 huiste, peace and be stille.' — Chaucer. 
 It, zitto, a slight sound ; 7ton fare un 
 zitto, not to let a whist be heard ; zitto ! 
 hush ! Piedm. siss^, E. dial, tiss, to hiss ; 
 Du. sus / tus ! hush ! sus, silence. Dan. 
 tys ! hush ! tysse, to hush, to silence. 
 
 History. Gr. laropia ; i<rrwp, one know- 
 ing, fully acquainted, from tffj/jut, I know. 
 
 Histrionic. Lat. his trio, a stage- 
 player. 
 
 To Hit. ON. hitta, to light on, to find. 
 Their hittuz d vegift07n, they met in the 
 way. Compare Fr. trouver, to find, with 
 G. treffen, to hit. Bav. hutzen, to strike. 
 Die bock hutzen an einander, butt against 
 each other. Illyr. hitati, to cast, throw. 
 
 Hitch, — Hotch. Hitch, motion by a 
 jerk ; also a loop. To hotch, to move the 
 body by sudden jerks. — Jam. Hotchin 
 and lauchin, Swiss gehotzelt seyn, laugh- 
 ing till one shakes. Bav. hutschen, to 
 rock, to hitch oneself along like children 
 on their rumps. Du. hutsen, hutselen, to 
 shake, to jumble. Fr. hocher, to shake. 
 Swiss hotschen, to hiccup ; hoschen, to 
 knock ; hotteren, hotzen, hotzeln, hotzern, 
 to shake, to jog, jolt. Bav. Hott ! hott ! 
 syllables by which is expressed the trot of 
 a horse or the jogging movement of his 
 rider, Hotteln, to jolt, 
 
 Hithe, AS, hyth, a port, haven. 
 
 Hither. See He. 
 
 Hive. Goth, heiv, ON. hiu, family, 
 household ; hion (pi.), family, husband 
 and wife. AS. hige, higo, hiwa, a house- 
 hold, family ; honer-hive, a hen's-nest. 
 Hence a hive of bees, the swarm which 
 constitutes one family or household. Du. 
 houwen, houden, houwelickett, hijlicken, 
 to marry. AS. hiwj'ceden, a family, G. 
 heurath, marriage. 
 
HO 
 
 Ho.— Hoa. — "Whoa. A cry to stop 
 horses. Hence to ho, to stop, to cease. 
 Fr. ho, interjection to impose silence or 
 stop an action. — Roquef. 
 
 my dere moder, of thy wepyng ho, 
 
 1 you beseik do not, do not so — D. V. 
 And at a stert he was betwixt hem two, 
 And pulled out a sword and cried, Ho I 
 No more, up peine of lesing of your hed. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Old of all ho, beyond all restraint. 
 Hoaming sea. A foaming sea. 
 Vent. What a sea comes in ! 
 Mast. It is a hoaming sea. We shall have 
 foul weather. — Dryden, Tempest in R. 
 
 Much of the French that has passed into 
 English belongs to the Walloon or Bur- 
 gundian dialect, where an initial s or sch 
 is generally replaced by an h. Thus 
 Wal. hajider is the Fr. echaicder, E. scald; 
 Wal. houte, Fr. escouter, E. scout; Wal. 
 howi'ion, Fr. escouvillon, a clout. In the 
 same way the G. schaum, Fr. escuine, cor- 
 responds to Wal. houmd, to scum the pot ; 
 hojunress, a scummer — Remade, leaving 
 no doubt that a hoaming sea is a foaming 
 sea, although we do not apply the term 
 scu7n to that element. G. sec-schaum, the 
 foam of the sea. 
 
 Hoard, i, Goth. ^?^5'^, treasure, OHG. 
 hort, AS. hord, treasure ; breost-hord, the 
 soul, the treasure of the breast ; Swiss 
 hord-reich, very rich. 
 
 2. A hoarding is a fence of boards. 
 Probably from Fris. schardinge, separa- 
 tion, by the same change which is seen 
 in Wall, hard, from ON. skai^d, Du. 
 schaerde, a breach, separation, fragment. 
 ' Alle schardinge, dat is schedinge tus- 
 chen den huisern und tuinen sail men 
 maeken van plancken.' All divisions be- 
 tween houses and gardens shall be made 
 of planks. — Ost Fris. Landrecht. in Brem. 
 Wtb. in V. scherung. See Hoaming. 
 
 Hoarse, as. and on. has, G. heiser, 
 Du. heesch, O Flanders heersch, hoarse. 
 Hoos, hoorse, raucus. — Pr. Pm. E. dial. 
 hooze, a difficult breathing in cattle ; 
 hoazed, hoarse. — Hal. N. h(zsa, to pant, 
 breathe hard, to wheeze. 
 
 Hoary, as. har, hoary. ON. hcEra, a 
 mattress, gray hair ; Fr. haire, a hair 
 shirt ; ON. hcerdr, comatus, haired, also 
 gray-haired, hoary ; at hcerast, to become 
 hoary ; hcerulangr, having long hair ; 
 hceru-kall {kail, old man), a gray-haired 
 man. 
 
 The sense of hoary then would seem to 
 arise from a singular ellipse. 
 
 * Hoax. AS. husc, hasc, OS. hosk, OE. 
 hux, sarcasm, taunt, jeer. When the 
 
 HOBBY 
 
 345 
 
 Romans demanded tribute of Arthur he 
 sent them instead the body of their king 
 on a rich bier, 'and grette Rom-weres 
 alle mid graeten huxe,' and said that he 
 had sent them the trit)ute of the land.— 
 Layamon iii. 
 
 Hob. — Hobble, The image originally 
 represented is action by a succession of 
 efforts, as Sc. habble, to stammer or stut- 
 ter ; E. hobble, to hmp, to move unevenly 
 by broken efforts ; hob, a false step, an 
 error. — Hal. Du. hobbelen, to stammer, 
 to jolt, to rock as a boat ; Bav. hoppelen, 
 hoppern, happen, to jog up and down, as 
 a bad rider on a trotting horse. The ex- 
 pression is then transferred to what pro- 
 duces a hobbling motion, Du. hobbeligy 
 E. dial, hobbly, rough, uneven ; hobbles, 
 rough stones ; hob or hub, a projection. 
 The hob of a fire-place is the raised stone 
 on either side of the hearth between 
 which the embers were confined. Hub, 
 the projecting nave of a wheel, a thick 
 square sod, an obstruction of anything, 
 the mark to be thrown at at quoits, the 
 hilt of a weapon. — Hal. 
 
 In another direction the sense of a jolt- 
 ing, clumsy gait suggests the idea of 
 clumping shoes, or of the clown who 
 walks with such a gait. Thus hobnails 
 are the nails set in the thick soles of a 
 country shoe, thence transferred to the 
 nails of a horseshoe ; hob-prick, a wooden 
 peg driven into the heels of shoes. — Hal. 
 Hob, hob-clunch, a country clown. — Hal. 
 A hob or clown, piedgris. — Sherwood. 
 Hob~goblin, a clownish goblin, a goblin 
 who does laborious work, where the first 
 syllable is commonly taken as the short 
 for Halbert or Robert. 
 
 Hobbedehoy. A youth not yet come 
 to man's estate, otherwise written hob- 
 bityhoy^ hobbledehoy. Perhaps considered 
 as a young cock. GcekerdihtE, the cry of 
 the cock.— Dialect of Henneberg in Fran- 
 conia. Deutsch. Mundart. iii. 407. 
 
 To Hobble or Hopple horses. See 
 Hamper, 
 
 Hobby, — Hobby-horse. The horse 
 is commonly named in children's lan- 
 guage from the cries used in the manage- 
 ment of the animal. Thus in E. the cry 
 with which we are most familiar is gee / 
 to make a horse go, and the nursery 
 name for a horse is geegee. In Germany 
 hott is the cry to make a horse turn to 
 the right (or generally to urge it to exer- 
 tion), ho to the left, and the horse is called 
 hotte-pard (Danneil), hutfjen-ho-peerd 
 (Holstein. Idiot.), hottihuh (Stalder), as in 
 Craven highly, from the cry halt! In 
 
346 
 
 HOCK 
 
 Finland humma^ the cry to stop or back 
 a horse, is used in nursery language for 
 the horse itself. The cry to back a horse 
 is in Westenvald hiifJ whence houfe, to 
 go backwards. Devonshire haap I or 
 lump back! Dan. dial, hoppe dig ! back ! 
 From the cry thus used in stopping a 
 horse are formed Craven hotipy^ Fris. 
 hoppcy a horse in nursery language — 
 Outzen ; Holstein hiippe-peerdken^ and E. 
 hobby-horse, a child's wooden horse. It 
 is apparently from this source that we 
 must explain Esthon. hobbo, hobbeji, Lap. 
 hdpos, Gr. 'iiriroQ, a horse,' G. hoppe, a 
 mare, Fr. hobin, E. hobby, a little ambling 
 horse, and hobelers, hobiners, the light 
 horsemen mounted on such horses. 
 
 Hock. — Hough. Hock, the joint of a 
 horse's leg from the knee to the fetlock ; 
 hough, the back of the knee. AS. hoh, 
 the heel, ham (calx, poples, suffrago), 
 hoh-fot, hoh-spor, heel, hoh-scanc, the leg, 
 hoh-sin, the ham-string, sinew of the 
 knee. G. hakse, haxe, the knuckle or 
 foot-joint of the hind leg in horses, &c, 
 — Kuttn. To hock, hough, hockle, hox, 
 to cut the hamstring. To hox is also to 
 scrape the heels and knock the ancles in 
 walking. — Hal. 
 
 The radical signification is probably 
 the member used in kicking ; hoh-sin, the 
 sinew exerted in kicking. 'To hock, to 
 kick (Lincolnshire). — Latham. G. hacken, 
 to dig, break with a pick, peck like a 
 bird ; hacke, the heel. 
 
 Hocus-pocus. Hocus-pocus (Du. ho- 
 kiis-bokus — Halma ; Fr. hoccus-bocus) is 
 the gibberish repeated by the juggler all 
 over Europe when he performs his tricks. 
 It has been supposed that they are a jeer 
 at the sacramental words hoc est corpus, 
 but it is most improbable that the juggler 
 (whose interest it is to please everybody) 
 should have made his performances the 
 vehicle of a flagrant outrage on Catholic 
 feeling. 
 
 Perhaps the rigmarole may have arisen 
 from Pol. huk, puk, noise, bustle, clatter. 
 Narobid huka-puka, to raise a bustle. 
 
 Hod. A tray for carrying mortar ; a 
 coal-scuttle. Fr. hotte, a scuttle, dosser, 
 basket to carry on the back — Cot., G. 
 hotte, a dorser in which grapes are 
 gathered. 
 
 Perhaps the radical idea may be shown 
 in Sc. hot, a small heap of any kind ; a 
 hot of muck, as much dung as is hodded 
 or jogged down in one place. Huddel, a 
 heap ; to hud, to collect into heaps. — 
 Hal. The hod is then the basket in 
 which a hot of dung or of mortar is car- 
 
 HODGEPODGE 
 
 ried. Sc. hut, a square basket used in 
 carrying out dung to the field, of which 
 the bottom is opened to let the contents 
 fall out. — Jam. 
 To Hod. To jog. 
 Here farmers, gash in riding graith, 
 Gaed hoddhi by their fellows. — Burns. 
 
 To hoddle, to waddle. — Jam. To hodget 
 to ride gently. — Hal. Bdiv. hott / hott / 
 sound by which they express the jogging 
 of a trotting horse or of his rider. See 
 Halt. 
 
 Hoddipeak. 
 
 What ye brain-sick fools, ye hoddy-peaks, ye 
 doddy-poules. — Latimer in Nares. 
 
 They count peace to be the cause of idleness, 
 and that it maketh men hodipekes and cowards. 
 — Christopherson, 1554. Ibid. 
 
 Du. hoddebek, hobbelbek, stam7nelbek 
 {bee pour bouche — Diet, du bas Lang.), a 
 stammerer. As hobbelen is to stammer, 
 as well as to jolt or jog, and the senses of 
 broken speech and broken impulsive 
 movement are commonly united, it is 
 only in accordance with the general 
 analogy that the element hod, which has 
 just been seen in the sense oi jog, should 
 signify stammer in the compound hodde- 
 bek. 
 
 * Hodgepodge. — Hotchpot. Hodge- 
 podge or hotch potch has the appearance 
 of a native term significant of a mash, the 
 materials of which have lost their original 
 form in the pasty consistency of the mass. 
 
 He thrusteth them in together, making of them 
 an hoche-poche, all contrarye to the wholesome 
 doctryne of Saynt Paule. — Bale in R. 
 
 In these rhyming forms we should look 
 for the root of the expression to the 
 second element. We find accordingly E. 
 dial. /?/fl^^, /^^^^, a puddle ; G.patschen, 
 paritschen. Swab, batschen, Hesse biitschen, 
 to dabble in the wet, to splash, to tramp 
 in mud and melting snow ; bdtsch-wetter, 
 or hdtsche-bdtsch, sloshy weather of rain 
 and melting snow ; G. patsch, puddle, 
 mud ; pantsch, a mixture of liquors, a 
 mash ; Banff, potch, a puddle, a disor- 
 dered condition of affairs ; to potch, to 
 trample into mud, to walk through water 
 or mud in a dirty manner, to work in a 
 liquid or semiliquid in a dirty manner. 
 The reduplicative hotchpotch conveys 
 the idea of continued potching, of a 
 thorough/^/^-^. Bav. hetsche petsch, haws 
 boiled with sugar to a pap. 
 
 The reduplicative form of the word is 
 lost in Fr. hochepot, a gallimaufrey, a 
 confused mass of many things jumbled 
 together. — Cot: Here then, as in Du. 
 hutsepot, a haricot or stew of chopped 
 
HOE 
 
 meat and vegetables, the word seems to 
 be borrowed, and from Fr. again to have 
 come back to us in the shape of hotchpot. 
 Ilotchepotte, tripotaige ; hotchepotte of 
 many meates, haricot. — Palsgr. 
 Ye han cast alle hir wordes in an hotchepot. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Tn legal phrase a child is said to bring 
 his special property into hotchpot when 
 he mixes it up with the common inherit- 
 ance and takes share and share with the 
 other children. 
 
 Hoe. Fr. hojie^ hoe, or, as it was spelt 
 by Evelyn, haugh. Fr. houer, to dig up, 
 break up ground with a hoe. Du. hoii- 
 wer, a pick or hoe, from houwen, to hew, 
 to hack. 
 
 Hog". Bret, hoc^h, houc^h, swine, from 
 hoiic'ha, to grunt. So Lap. snorkeset, to 
 grunt ; snorke, a pig ; Fin. naskia, to 
 make a noise like pigs in eating (G. 
 schmatzen) ; Jiaski, a call for pigs, a pig. 
 ' In driving or any way persuading this 
 obstinate race, we have no other impera- 
 tive than hooe, hooe, in a deep nasal, gut- 
 tural tone appropriately compounded of 
 a groan and a grunt.^ — Moor, Suffolk 
 Words, in v. sus. sus. It is remarkable 
 that these latter syllables are used in call- 
 ing pigs to their swill, agreeing with Lat. 
 sus, while the old cry, mentioned by 
 Latimer, oi pur, pur, puts us in mind of 
 porcus ; ON. purka, a sow. 
 
 Hog. — Hoggel. — Hoggrel. — Hog- 
 get. — Hoggaster. A young sheep of 
 the second year. Devonshire, Hog-colt, 
 a yearling colt. Du. hokkeling, a heifer, 
 beast of one year old. From being fed in 
 the hok or pen. Honde-hok, a dog ken- 
 nel ; schaapen-hok, a sheep cote. 
 
 Hoggins. Sand sifted from the gravel 
 to be laid on roads. From the jogging 
 motion of the sieve. ON. hagga, to move, 
 to jog. 
 
 Hogshead. A measure for liquids. 
 Du. ochshood, oghshood, Sw. oxhufwud. 
 
 Hoiden. A rampant, ill-bred, clown- 
 ish wench. — B. But it was not confined 
 to the female sex. Another form of 
 heathen, Du. heyden, homo agrestis et 
 incultus ; heydensch^ agrestis, incultus, 
 paganus. — Kil. 
 
 To Hoise. — Hoist. Fr. hisser, Sw. 
 hissa, Dan. heise, to hoist, distinct from 
 Fr. hausser, It. alzare, E. halse or hawse, 
 to raise, from Lat, altus. 
 
 The origin of hisser may be a repre- 
 sentation of the heavy breath accompany- 
 ing a violent tug at a rope. Lang, isso ! 
 cry of men pushing or pulling at a heavy 
 load. Anen toutes ! isso ! All at once ! 
 
 HOLM 
 
 347 
 
 Pull ! — Diet. Castr. But as the cry is 
 used for the purpose of animating each 
 other to the work, it may be one of the 
 numerous derivatives from the figure of 
 setting on a dog. Bret, issa, or hissa, to 
 set on, to push, and, in nautical language, 
 to hoist. — Diet. Lang 
 
 Hold.— Hull. The hold of a ship, the 
 hollow part, from Du. holte, abstract of 
 hoi, hollow, as t^'uth of true. Het hoi, 
 de holte van't schip, the hollow space, the 
 whole curvature of the ship. — Pere Marin. 
 Accident has in E. appropriated hold to 
 the inside, hull to the outside aspect of 
 the body. Sc. how, hollow, the hold of a 
 ship. 
 The hate fyre consumes fast the how, 
 Ouer all the schip discendis the perellus low; 
 
 D. V. 
 
 To Hold. AS. healdan, Sw. halla, to 
 keep, observe, hold. ON. halla, guard, 
 custody, support, opinion. Du. houden, 
 G. halten, to keep, preserve, observe. See 
 Behold. 
 
 Hole. — Hollow. Du. hoi, G. hohl, 
 hollow; hohle, Du. hoi, a cave, den, hole ; 
 holle stemme, a hollow voice, vox fusca, 
 non clara — Kil. 
 
 From the dull sound of hollow things. 
 Fin. hollata, holista, cavum sonum edo, 
 to give a hollow sound ; wesi holaa, aqua 
 cum sono et copiose fluit ; wdki holaa, 
 the crowd murmurs. Hollastaa, to mur- 
 mur ; hollottaa, to speak confusedly ; 
 holina, a hollow sound, confused mur- 
 mur, noise of waves or of people talking ; 
 holo., anything hollow ; holo-puu, a hol- 
 low tree. 
 
 Holiday. See Holy. 
 
 Holly. AS. holegn, OE. hollen, w. celyn. 
 
 Hollyhock. Rose d'outremer, the 
 garden mallows, called hocks and holly- 
 hocks. — Cot. w. hocys, as. hoc, mallows. 
 The hollyhock was doubtless so called 
 from being brought from the Holy Land, 
 where it is indigenous. 
 
 He leaped across the dry bed of the winter 
 torrent, and soon returned in triumph with a 
 large bright trophy of pink hollyhocks. — Domestic 
 Life in Palestine, 323. 
 
 Holm. An island ; a hill or fenny 
 ground encompassed with brooks — B. ; 
 deposit of soil at the confluence of rivers. 
 — Hal. N. holm, a small island ; a spot 
 distinguished from the surrounding land, 
 bit of grass among corn ; separate bit of 
 pasture. Du. holm, 3. mount, sand-bank, 
 river island. AS. holm, water, sea ; holm- 
 CErn, an ocean-house, ship. Holmas dcelde 
 Waldend tire, Our Lord divided the 
 waters. 
 
348 
 
 HOLOCAUST 
 
 Holocaust. Gr. oXoKovarov ; oXog, the 
 whole, and Kaio, to burn (in sacrifice). 
 
 Holograph. 6r. oXoypafkut, to write 
 all in one hand ; oXos, entire, whole. 
 
 Holster. Now confined to a case for 
 pistols. Du. holster^ a case for pistols, 
 soldier's knapsack. AS. heolster, a den, 
 cave, hiding-place, from helan, to cover, 
 as ON. blomstr^ a flower, from bioma, to 
 bloom. He sette theostra heolsturj posuit 
 tenebras latibulum suum. 
 
 I wol herborowe me 
 
 There I hope to hulstered be, 
 
 And certainly sickerest hyding 
 
 Is under humblest clothing. — R. R. 6145. 
 
 Holy. ON. heilagr; G. heilig^ Du. 
 heylig. From G. heil, Du. heyl^ health. 
 See Hail. 
 
 Holiday^ Du. heyligh-dagh^ a day to 
 be kept sacred, unpolluted by work. 
 
 Homage. The acknowledgment of 
 the tenant under the feudal law that he 
 was his Lord's man^ in the terms, ' Deve- 
 nio vester homo.^ Thence applied to any 
 tribute of respect to a superior. 
 
 Home. See Hamlet. 
 
 Homicide. Lat. homicidaj homo^ and 
 ccedo^ to slay. 
 
 Homily. Gr. 6/izt\(a, the act of inter- 
 course with one, conversation, discourse ; 
 from oiiCXoQ, an assembly. 
 
 Hom.o-. Homoeo-. Gr. o\>.6q, common, 
 joint, agreed ; o/iotoc, like, resembling. 
 Homogeneous, Hojiiologoiis, &c. 
 
 Hone. A fine kind of whetstone, N. 
 hein, hein-biyfii, Sw. dial, hjoji, a hone, 
 w. hogi, to incite, set on, to sharpen ; 
 hogalen, hogfaen, a whetstone. Fin. hioa, 
 hiowa, to sharpen ; hiwiia, to be rubbed, 
 worn, polished. 
 
 Honest. Lat. honestus, from hottos, 
 honour, respect. 
 
 Honey. Du. G. honig, ON. himang. 
 
 Honour. — Honourable. Lat. honor, 
 honorabilis. 
 
 Hood. A covering for the head. Pl.D. 
 hoden, hoen, g. huthe?i, to keep, guard ; 
 Pl.D. hode, G. httth, guard, keeping ; 
 Pl.D. hood, G. hut, a covering for the 
 upper part of a thing, a hat. Finger-hut, 
 a thimble ; licht-hut, an extinguisher. 
 Pl.D. hodjen, h'dtjen, a hood. Du. hoeden, 
 to keep, cover, protect ; hoed, hat, hood. 
 
 -hood. ON. hattr, manner, custom ; 
 hdtta, to use, to be wont. Bav. halt, the 
 condition of a thing ; von jiinger hait 
 auf, from youth or youth-head up. Le- 
 diger hait, unmarried state. OHG. heit, 
 person, manner. Alio thrio heiti, all 
 three persons. 7A niheineru heiti, in no 
 wise. AS. had, person, sex, habit, state, 
 
 HOPE 
 
 orders. Thu ne besceawast nanes mannes 
 had, regardest no man's person or condi- 
 tion. Had oferhogedon halgan lifes, de- 
 spised a state of holy life. — Caedmon. 
 Butan halgu7n hadum, out of holy orders. 
 
 Hoof. Du, hoef, Dan. hov. 
 
 Hook. Du. hoeck, haeck, Pl.D. hake, 
 Pol. and Boh. hak, a hook. Related to 
 
 Gr. ayKdQ, dyKvXoe, ayKvpa, ayKUtv, bend, 
 
 hook, oyicoc, bend, hook, and Lat. tmcus, 
 crooked, angulus, a hook, corner. 
 
 Hoop. Du. hoep, hoepel, ring, hoop. 
 Hoepeelken, a bunch of flowers. Hoop, a 
 heap, crowd, globe. Swiss hup, huuppj 
 convex ; hupi, a knob ; Fr. houpe, a tuft. 
 
 To Hoop.— Whoop. YxJwuper, Swiss 
 hopen, hicpen, huuppen, to call out ; Bret. 
 hopa, to call to a distance. AS. wop, out- 
 cry, lamentation ; Fris. wop, cry, wopa, 
 to call ; Goth, wopjan, to crow as a cock ; 
 ON. op, clamour, cry. Gr. o-^, o-noi, voice. 
 
 To Hoot. To cry like an owl ; to 
 make a cry of derision or contempt. Fin. 
 hutaa, to shout, to call ; huuto, clamour, 
 vociferation. N. hut, cry to silence a dog. 
 W. hwt ! off with it, away ! hwtio, to hiss 
 out. Gael, ut ! ut I interjection of disap- 
 probation or dislike. N. hussa, to frighten 
 or drive out with noise and outcry. Bav. 
 huss / huss / cry to set on a dog, also to 
 drive away dogs, pigs, or birds ; Swiss 
 huss / cry of setting on a dog or hissing 
 a man ; huss use/ out ! off with you! pro- 
 perly to dogs, then to men. 
 
 To Hop. G. hiipfen, N. hoppa, Du. 
 hoppen, hoppelen, huppelen, hobben. — Kil. 
 From the figure of broken speech, or 
 speech by a succession of distinct efforts, 
 we express the idea of motion by a 
 succession of muscular efforts, or of 
 hopping, as distinguished from equable 
 motion. Sc. hobble, habber, Swed. 
 happla, to stammer, stutter ; E. hobble, to 
 limp ; Bav. hoppelen, hoppern, hoppeti, to 
 jog up and down. Here, as in so many 
 other cases, the frequentative is the ori- 
 ginal form of the word, from whence we 
 arrive at the apparent radical hop, ex- 
 pressing a single muscular effort. * It is 
 usual to cry to a stumbling man or beast 
 Hop! Hop!* — Kuttner. It is also used 
 to represent the successive beats of con- 
 tinued action. 
 
 Hurre ! Hurre ! Hop ! Hop ! 
 Ging's fort in sausendem galopp ! 
 
 Hop. G. hopfen, Du. hoppen, Fr. hou- 
 blon, OFlem. ho?mnel j ON. hu7nall, hops. 
 
 Hope. G. hoffen, Du. hopen. In OE. 
 the word was used in the sense of simple 
 expectation without reference to any plea- 
 sure to be derived from the event. Sa 
 
HOPPLE 
 
 OG. Jioffen. Das thier hofft, verhojit, i. e. 
 stands waiting, — Schwenck. 
 
 To Hopple. See Hamper. 
 
 Horde. A Turkish word signifying 
 tribe. 
 
 Horizon. Gr. bp'i'Cu), bound or limit, 
 from oooQ, a boundary. 
 
 Horn. Goth, hatirn, Lat. cornu, Bret. 
 corn, Gr. Kipaq, Heb. keren. 
 
 Hornet, g. horniss. From the buzz- 
 ing noise, w. chwynm, to hum, whizz, 
 snore ; chwy mores, a hornet. Du. horit- 
 sel, horsel, hornet, gadfly ; horselen, to 
 gad, to buzz ; hor, a plaything, consisting 
 of a toothed disk that is made to spin 
 with a humming noise. 
 
 Horrid. — Horrible. Lat. horreo, to 
 shudder. Dan. dial, hurre, to shiver. 
 
 Horse, on. hross, G. ross, horse ; N. 
 hors, a mare. Sanscr. hresh, to neigh. 
 Horse-radish, Pl.D. tnar-reddik, from the 
 ancient mar, a horse, from some notion 
 of the plant being wholesome for horses. 
 
 Horse-courser. Also written Jtorse- 
 scourser, a horse-dealer, from O Fr. coura- 
 tier, couracier, a broker. As one of these 
 forms was contracted in modern Fr. into 
 courtier, the other passed in E. into 
 courser. Couratier, mediateur ; — de 
 chevaux, maquignon, courtier, marchand. 
 Roquef. Maquignon, a hucster, broker, 
 horse-courser. — Cot. Courser of horses ; 
 courtier de chevaux. — Palsgr. 
 
 From the Fr. noun we had formerly to 
 course, to deal as a broker. 
 
 This catel gat he mit okering (usury), 
 And led all his lif in corsing. 
 
 Metrical Homilies of 14th century. 
 
 The word was then corrupted to scourse, 
 or scoss, explained, to change — B. ; to 
 change, truck, barter. Horse-scourser, 
 maquignon. — Sherwood. For the origin 
 of Fr. courtier, see Broker. 
 
 Horticulture. Lat. hortus, a. garden, 
 and coio, cultum, to till, dress. 
 
 Hose. A stocking, covering for the 
 legs. Fr. house, houseau ; It. uosa, Bret. 
 heuz, eu2, G. hosen, ON. hosa. Du. hose, 
 boots, leathern casings. If a covering 
 for the leg be the original meaning of the 
 word, it would find a satisfactory explana- 
 tion in Gael, cas, cos, the foot or leg ; 
 cois-eideadh (literally leg-clothing), shoes 
 and stockings. The Gael, initial c often 
 corresponds to E. h, as cuip, a whip ; 
 cuileann, hoUin or holly. But it is more 
 likely that the original meaning is the 
 sheath, husk, pod of pulse, grain, &c. 
 Bav. hose7t, pod, husk ; Dan. hase, the 
 beard or husk of nuts. * Follicoli, the 
 
 HOST 
 
 349 
 
 hull, husk, hose, peel or thin skin that en- 
 closeth any wheat or rye when it is green.' 
 — Fl. Dan. dial, haas, haser, the beard 
 of corn ; fas, Sw.y/mjjthe beard of nuts; 
 OYLG.fesa, ptisana, siliqua. w. hos, hosan, 
 hose, stocking ; j>^ yn ei hosan, corn in 
 its cover, before the ears burst out. 
 
 Hospice. — Hospital. Lat. hospitium, 
 a lodging for strangers ; hospitalis, con- 
 nected with guests, from hospes, -pitis, 
 landlord, entertainer, host, and conversely 
 the person entertained, guest. Russ. 
 Gospody, the Lord God ; gospodin, the 
 master of the house, lord, gentleman ; 
 Boh. hospod, lord ; hospodar, host, master 
 of the house, landlord ; hospoda, inn, 
 hospice. 
 
 Host. I. Fr. hosiie, the consecrated 
 wafer in the sacrament ; Lat. hostta, a 
 sacrificial victim. 
 
 2. A landlord. It ospite, Fr. hospte, 
 hoste, hote from Lat. hospes, hospif. See 
 Hospice. 
 
 3. An army. In the troubled times 
 following the breaking up of the Roman 
 Empire the first duty of the subject was 
 to follow his lord into the field when re- 
 quired. The summons to the perform- 
 ance of this duty was expressed by the 
 terms bannire in hostem, to order out 
 against the enemy, or to order out on 
 military service. ' Quicunque liber homo 
 in hostem bannitus fuerit et venire con- 
 tempserit plenum heribannum componat,' 
 i. e, as it is expUined, let him pay a fine 
 of sixty shillings. — Edict of Charlemagne 
 in Muratori, Diss. 26, The term hostis 
 then, which primarily signified the enemy 
 against whom the expedition was to be 
 made, was compendiously used for the 
 military service itself, and is frequently 
 taken as synonymous with hostilis ex- 
 peditio, or exercitalis expeditio, being then 
 used as a feminine noun. A supplication 
 is addressed to Charlemagne, ' ne epis- 
 copi deinceps sicut hactenus- vexentui 
 hostibus' (i. e, with demands of military 
 service), ' sed quando nos in hostem per- 
 gimus' (which may be translated either, 
 when we march against the enemy, or 
 when we proceed on military duty or join 
 the ranks), *ipsi propriis resideant in 
 parochiis.' The same immunity is ex- 
 pressed in a charter of A. D. 965, ' nee ab 
 hominibus ipsius ecclesias hostilis ex- 
 peditio requiratur.' In a law of Lothaire 
 a certain fine is imposed on those who, 
 having the means, neglect ' hostem bene 
 facere,' while those are excused who 
 ' propter paupertatem neque per se hos- 
 tem facere, neque adjutorium prsestare 
 
350 
 
 HOSTAGE 
 
 possunt.' It. bandire hoste^ to proclaim 
 war. — Fl. 
 
 The expression would easily pass from 
 military service to the army on duty, and 
 thence to any numerous assemblage. 
 
 Hostage. No doubt Vossius' deriva- 
 tion is correct, from obses^ obsid\ a surety, 
 pledge, hostage ; obsidatus, hostage-ship, 
 whence obsidaiiais, ostaticus^ as shown 
 by It. statico, stadico, hostage. Mid.Lat. 
 Obstagia, ein leystunge, birgschafft ; ob- 
 stagium^ gisselunge, giselschafft ; obsta- 
 gius, vel obses, gissel {G.geisel, a hostage), 
 eyn frides pfant. — Dief. Sup. 
 
 Hostel.— Hotel. Fr. hostel, hStel, a 
 lodging, inn, house, residence. Hostler, 
 properly the keeper of an inn, but now 
 applied to the servant at an inn who 
 looks after the horses. From Lat. hos- 
 pit\ guest, hospitimn, hospitaculu7)i, a 
 lodging-house, inn, place where strangers 
 are entertained. In Mid.Lat. hospitale 
 was used in the same sense, whence hos- 
 pital, hostel, hotel. See Hospice. 
 
 Hostile. Lat. hostilisj hostis, an 
 enemy, foe. 
 
 Hot. See Heat. 
 
 Hottentot. Schouten, who visited the 
 Cape in 1653, a year after the settlement 
 of that colony by the Dutch, says that 
 * the natives were called by us and other 
 Europeans Hottetitots, by reason of their 
 clucking speech.' ' Some words,' says 
 Dapper, ' they cannot utter except with 
 great trouble, and seem to draw them up 
 from the bottom of the throat like a tur- 
 key-cock. Wherefore our countrymen 
 in respect of this defect and extraordi- 
 nary stammering in language have given 
 them the name of Hottentots, as that 
 word is ordinarily used in this sense as a 
 term of derision to one who stutters and 
 stammers in the use of his words.' This 
 passage may perhaps only show the very 
 early period at which the term Hottentot 
 was applied by the Dutch to a man of 
 uncouth speech, un homme d'un langage 
 extremement obscur ou desagr^able. — 
 Halma. 
 
 In all discourse they cluck like a broody hen, 
 seeming to cackle at every other word, so that 
 their mouths are almost like a rattle or a clapper, 
 smacking and making a great noise with their 
 tongues. — Dapper's Africa by Ogilvy, p. 595. 
 
 It was this clicking or stuttering which 
 seems to have been represented by the 
 syllables hot-en-tot, hot and tot, when the 
 name in question was given to the natives 
 whose uncouth speech excited so much 
 attention. That such syllables are well 
 adapted to represent the sounds is ap- 
 
 HOVE 
 
 parent from Dohne's description of the 
 dental click of the Caffres, in which * the 
 tip of the tongue is drawn in a pressing 
 or sucking manner against the upper 
 front teeth and gums, and quickly struck 
 away, so as to make a slight noise or 
 smack.' The same representative forms 
 give rise to Yorksh. hutter (Whitby Gl.), 
 Du. hateren (Hexham, 1647), tateren 
 (Bomhoff), G. tottern (Ludwig), to stam- 
 mer, stutter; Ptg. totaro, stammering. 
 See Philolog. Trans. 1866. 
 
 Hough. See Hock. 
 
 Hound. G. hund, Gr. icuwv, Kwrof, a 
 dog. Perhaps from his howling voice. 
 OHG. hunon, gannire ut vulpes. — Dief. 
 Sup. Esthon. hmit, hundi, a wolf, from 
 hundama, to howl, Sc. hune, to whine 
 as children. 
 
 Hour. Lat. hora. 
 
 House. Goth, hus, G. hajis, Magy. 
 hdz, Lat. casa. 
 
 Housel. ON. hunsl, husl, the sacra- 
 ment, properly the sacrifice, as Fr. hostie, 
 Lat. hostia, the host or consecrated wafer, 
 properly the victim sacrificed. Goth. 
 hunsl, sacrifice, htmsljan, to offer sacri- 
 fice ; unhwtslags, unpropitiable, doTrovSos, 
 2 Tim. iii. 3. 
 
 * Housings. Fr. housse, a short man- 
 tle of coarse cloth worn in ill weather by 
 countrywomen about their head and 
 shoulders ; a footcloth for a horse, a 
 coverlet for a bed (in which sense it is 
 mostly used in spitles for lepers). — Cot. 
 A horsecloth, saddle-cloth, cover of chairs, 
 of carriages, hammer-cloth. — Spiers. The 
 housse of a draught-horse is explained by 
 Halma as a sheep or goatskin hung to 
 the neckstrap (collar.?). The original 
 meaning of the word seems to be a tuft 
 or bunch of fibrous matter, a rug or 
 shaggy covering. It may be the original 
 of which E. hassock, a tuft of coarse grass, 
 is the dim. Fr. houssu, rugged with hair ; 
 crins houssus, thick locks or tufts of hair ; 
 mouto7t houssu, a sheep well woolled ; 
 houssure de laiiie, a fleece or great lock 
 of wool ; housser, to sweep or dust with 
 a besom or brush. The word in Lang. 
 is ourzo, in Prov. houssa. 
 
 To Hove. Sc. hove, how, hufe, huff, 
 is explained by Jam. to swell, to halt, to 
 tarry, stay, lodge, remain. The proper 
 meaning of the word is to huff or blow, 
 and thence, on the one hand, to puff up or 
 swell, and on the other to take breath, to 
 rest, repose. ' Mr J. Hay says that the 
 whole body is hoved and swelled like a 
 loaf.' 
 
HOVEL 
 
 Morcar erl of Gloucestre myd ys ost by side 
 In ane valleye hovede the endyne vor to abyde. 
 R. G.218. 
 
 To pant and take breath is a natural 
 figure from which to express the idea of 
 resting from labour, then resting, ceasing, 
 waiting. So N. piista, to breathe, to rest 
 a little ; pust, a short rest. 
 
 Hovel. A shed open at the sides sup- 
 ported on posts. It is used by W. of 
 Worcester for a canopy over the head of a 
 statue, according to Hal., in which sense 
 it would exactly correspond to Mid.Lat. 
 capella (see Chapel), and may be ex- 
 plained from Du. Imif, huive, a hood, the 
 tilt of a waggon. In like manner E. hjit 
 is related to OG. hot, w. hotan, hotyn, a 
 cap, a hood. On the other hand, the 
 word may be related with OFr. hobe, a 
 coop or hutch, Fr. Fland. hobette, Champ. 
 hobe, hobette, huge, hugette, a cabin, hut. 
 w. hogl, hogldy, a hovel, may be bor- 
 rowed. 
 
 To Hover. Properly, of a hawk, to 
 keep itself stationary in the air by a quiv- 
 ering movement of the wings. Du. hugg- 
 heren, huyveren, kiiyveren, to quiver, 
 shiver. — Kil. Bailey has to hover, to 
 shiver for cold. It is probably from the 
 figure of shivering that the word is used 
 in the sense of standing in expectation. 
 * The landlord will no longer covenant 
 with him, for that he daily looketh after 
 change, and hovereth in expectation of 
 new worlds.' — Spenser in Todd. Du. 
 huiverigheid, shivering ; fig. irresolution, 
 hesitation. — Bomhoff. 
 
 How. AS. hu, hwa, G. wie, Du. hoe, 
 Dan. hvor. It seems the particle which 
 forms an element of the relative pronoun 
 who, what, and should mean mode, form, 
 specific appearance. 
 
 To Howl. Lat. ululare, Fr. huller, 
 hurler, G. heulen, Du. hjiylertj Gr. okoKv- 
 ttiv, to cry out. 
 
 Howlet. An Owl. 
 
 Hoy. Du. huy, Fr. hen, a kind of 
 vessel used in Brabant either for tracking 
 or sailing. 
 
 Hubbub. Outcry, disturbance. A re- 
 petition of hoop ! representing a cry. 
 
 Huckle-backed. — Huck-shouldered. 
 See Hug. 
 
 Huckle-bone. Htig-bone, htibbon, hug- 
 gan, the hip, hip-bone. 
 
 ♦Huckster. — To Huck. TiM.hoecker, 
 hucker, Fl.D. hdher, G.hbker, Bav. hugker, 
 hugkler, hugkner. Swab, huker, hukler, 
 a petty dealer, higler, huckster. As we 
 argued that to higgle was from higler, so 
 it appears that to huck or haggle in bar- 
 
 HUE 
 
 351 
 
 gaining is from thp element common to 
 the foregoing appellations of a petty 
 dealer. / hucke as one doth that would 
 bye a thynge gode cheape, je harcele. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 The name may probably have been 
 applied in the first instance to a pedlar 
 or one who carried his pack upon his 
 back. G. hocken (PI. D . in de hucke sit ten) , 
 to sit in a cowering attitude, G. hocken, 
 aufhocken, Pl.D. op de hucke nenien {up 
 den htikbak nemen. — Brem. Wtb.) to take 
 one on his back. — D. M. v. 248. See 
 Hug. In the same way, from the paral- 
 lel form Swab, hutschen, to shrug or sit 
 cowering, we pass to Alsace hutzlen, to 
 carry on the back, Westerwald hutschler, 
 Nassau hitzler, one who carries about 
 meal or corn for sale in sacks upon a 
 horse. — Westerw. Id. 
 
 In Mid.Lat. huckster was rendered 
 auxiotiarius, auxiatrix, from a supposi- 
 tion probably that the verb to huck was 
 connected with Lat. augeo, auctuni, to 
 increase, viz. to raise the price. 
 
 Huddle. The radical image seems to 
 be a swarm of creatures in broken move- 
 ment, thence a confused mass. To huddle 
 is thus to make a confused mass ; to 
 huddle on one's clothes, to throw them 
 on in a disorderly heap ; to huddle 
 together, to press together in a crowd, 
 Sc. to hod, to jog, to houd, hoddle, to 
 wriggle, waddle, rock ; Banff, to howd, 
 howdle, to move up and down with a 
 slight motion as a thing floating, to rock 
 a child in the arms, to carry about in a 
 clumsy manner ; Sc. howder, to swarm. 
 Menyies o' moths an' flaes are shook, 
 An' in the floor they howder. 
 
 Banff, huthir, to walk in a clumsy hob- 
 bling manner, to do work in a hasty un- 
 skilful manner. Swiss hottern, to shake; 
 hoderlen, hotterlen, to waddle, totter ; 
 hoodschen, to crawl ; htcdehi, to flutter, 
 wabble ; hudern, to entangle. Bav. 
 hudeln, hudern, to do in a hasty and 
 careless manner. Swab, hudlen, huttlcn, 
 to hurry over, do in an imperfect man- 
 ner ; G. hudeln, Du. hoetelen, to bungle. 
 
 Hue. I. AS. heaiv, hiw, form, fashion, 
 appearance, colour ; hiwian, to fashion, 
 shape, transform, pretend ; hiwung, crea- 
 tion, pretence. Often explained from 
 heawan, to cut, as the cut or shape of a 
 thing. But perhaps heawan, ywan, to 
 show, is a more likely origin, making 
 appearance the radical meaning of the 
 word. Bav. hau I look. 
 
 2. Fr. huer, to hoot, shout, make hue 
 and cry. Bret, hua, huda, to cry to 
 
352 
 
 HUFF 
 
 frighten wolves, to Tioot or cry in de- 
 rision ; w. hwa^ to halloo, to loo, to hoot. 
 To Huff.— Hoove. To puff or blow, 
 analogous to E. whiffy or G. hauchen, to 
 breathe or blow, from a representation of 
 the sound. 
 And blowen here bellewys that al here brayn 
 
 brestes, ♦ 
 Hu//pu//sQ\i\\ that on, ha// pa/! seMh. thatother. 
 Satire on the Blacksmiths. Rel. Antiq. 1.240. 
 To huff tip, to puff up, swell with wind. ' In 
 many birds the diaphragm may be easily 
 huffed up with air.' — Grew in Todd. * Ex- 
 crescences, called emphysemata, like unto 
 bladders puffed up and /^(J'^'Z/^^ with wind.' 
 —Holland's Pliny in R. 
 
 Then, as an angry person puffs and 
 blows, a hiff, a fit of passion ; to take 
 huff, to take offence ; to give 07ie a huff, 
 to speak like an angry man to one, to 
 give him a rebuke. ' Fort joyeux de ce 
 que le conte avait ainsi espouffd le dit 
 procureur,' had given the procureur a 
 good huff.— Motley 2. 20. 
 
 To huff one at draughts is so called be- 
 cause the move is accompanied by blow- 
 ing on the piece. Dan. blase en brikke, 
 to blow on a piece, to huff at draughts ; 
 Pol. chuch ! I huff you ; chuchad, to 
 blow. 
 
 Hug. The utterance induced by the 
 shudder of cold is represented in differ- 
 ent dialects by the interjections ugh! ti I 
 uk ! hu! schu ! shuch! — Grimm 3. 298 ; 
 Wall, chouk ! interjection expressive of 
 cold. — Remade. From this interjection is 
 formed Du. huggeren, frigutire, to shiver. 
 — KiL 
 
 From the same source the E. hug sig- 
 nifies the bodily attitude produced by the 
 sensation of cold when we shrug together 
 into a heap with the back rounded and 
 the arms pressed upon the breast. ' I 
 hugge, I shrink in my bed. It is good 
 sporte to see this little boy hugge in his 
 bed for cold.' — Palsgr. The reference to 
 cold is afterwards lost, and the word is 
 applied to the mere pressure of anything 
 between the arms against the breast. 
 
 Parallel forms are G. hocken, Dn-hucke, 
 Sw. htika sig, Da. sidde paa hug, to crouch, 
 sit cowering ; Du. huckschouderen, to 
 shrug the shoulders, explaining E. huck- 
 shouldered, crump-shouldered, huckle- 
 backed, hump-backed. 
 
 The introduction of an r (always useful 
 in the expression of shivering) gives Fris. 
 horcken, to shrug with cold — Kil. ; E. 
 hurch, to cuddle, hu7'kle, to shrug up 
 the back. — Hal. To hurkle, to crouch, 
 draw the body together ; hurkle-backit, 
 
 HUGGER-MUGGER 
 
 as E. huckle-backed, crump-backed. — Jam. 
 Du. hurken, as well as huckett, to crouch 
 — Kil.; ON. (with transposition of the r), 
 hruka, crouching, shrugging ; at sitla i 
 eirne hruku, as NE. to ruck, to squat on 
 the hams. 
 
 On the same principle that the fore- 
 going are derived from the interjectional 
 forms ugh / uk / the Bav. hutsch ! interj. 
 of cold, gives rise to Swab, hutscheln, 
 hautscheln, to shiver with cold ; hutsch, 
 shivery, and hutschen, E. dial, to hutch, 
 to shrug. 
 
 Huge. The effect of cold and fear or 
 horror on the human frame being nearly 
 the same, the interjection ugh I is used 
 as an exclamation as well of cold as ot 
 horror and disgust. Hence ug (the root 
 of ugly, ugsome, &c.), in the sense of 
 shudder, feel horror at ; ON. ugga, to fear ; 
 Sc. to ug, OE. to houge, to feel horror at ; 
 Bret, heuge, aversion, disgust. See Ugly. 
 The meaning of huge then is, so great as 
 to cause terror. 
 
 The knight himself even trembled at his fall, 
 So huge and horrible a mass it seemed. — F. Q. 
 
 In the same way Bohem. hruza, hor- 
 ror, shudder, also a great number, a fear- 
 ful number. 
 
 * Hug-ger-mugger. — Hodermoder. — - 
 Hudgemudge. Adverbial expressions 
 applied to what is done in a concealed or 
 clandestine manner. 
 
 And yet I pray thee leve brother 
 Rede thys ofte, and so lete other, 
 Huyde it not in hodymoke. 
 
 Myrc. Instr. Parish Priest, p. 62. 
 
 The radical image, as in the case of 
 cuddle, is a whispering together. Banff. 
 hudgemudge, a side talk in a low tone, a 
 suppressed talking : ' The two began to 
 hudgemudge wi' ane anither in a corner.' 
 To hudge, to rumour, to speak in secret. 
 
 G. mucken, to mutter, Swiss muckeln, 
 muggeln, to murmur, to speak secretly 
 of a thing ; geinuggel, murmur, rumour. G. 
 muck represents a suppressed utterance, 
 the least sound a person makes when endea- 
 vouring to keep still, and thence mucken, 
 to suppress an utterance, to keep still. N. 
 mugg, secrecy; m^igge, to do anything 
 in secret. Sw. le i mjugg, to laugh in 
 one's sleeve. A similar train of thought 
 may be observed in Lat. mutire, 
 mussare, mussitare (to say mut), to 
 mutter, say anything in a low voice, to 
 be silent, to make no noise, to keep a 
 thing secret ; Fr. musser, mucer, to hide, 
 conceal, keep close, lurk in a corner — Cot. 
 I — ' Cil que musce les furmens : qui ab- 
 
HUGUENOT 
 
 scondit frumenta.' — Proverbes ii. 36. 
 ' Don muscee esteint ire : munus abscon- 
 ditum extinguit iras.' — lb. 21. 14. Banff. 
 hus/unush, a secret talking, a rumour. 
 
 In modern use hugger-mugger is rather 
 applied to what is done in a muddling 
 or mean and disorderly manner than to 
 what is done in secret, a sense which 
 may be illustrated by Banff, huschler 
 muschle, a state of great confusion, very 
 often employed to indicate the confusion 
 that may arise in money matters, or when 
 anything is done in which many people 
 are concerned, a muddle. Huschle, the 
 noise made by any material (generally 
 soft) thrown down or falling of itself. 
 In a huschle, in a confused mass. ' The 
 aul' fehl dyke cam doon in a huschle aboot 
 ther lugs.' Here huschle or huschle- 
 muschle represents a confused sound, as 
 of a number of people or of things fall- 
 ing. 
 
 Huguenot. Swiss Rom. emguenot, 
 higueno, protestant (Bridel in v. tsassi), 
 seem to support the most plausible of 
 the many derivations offered, from G. 
 eidgenossen^ confederates. 
 
 * Hulk. Formerly a large merchant 
 ship. 
 
 Having collected together about fourscore 
 hulkes (navibus onerariis) . — Golding, Cassar in R. 
 
 Two hulkes wherein certain goods appertain- 
 ing to Englishmen were taken by Frenchmen. — 
 Cardinal Wolsey in R. 
 
 It. olca, orca, a great ship or hulk. Fr. 
 hourque, oulque, a hulk or huge flie-boat. 
 — Cot. The original meaning of the 
 word is probably shown in OE. horrock, 
 the hold, or place where the cargo was 
 stored. 
 
 O boy that fled to one of the Flemysh shippis 
 and hid him in the horrok. — Capgrave, 234. 
 
 The hold may have been so called from 
 NE. hurrock, a. heap or quantity, from the 
 heap of sacks which formed the cargo, 
 and was in ON. called dulki, bulk. on. 
 hruga, a heap. 
 
 On the other hand the horrock or hold 
 may have been viewed as the place where 
 the water collects. Lat. orca, tirceus, 
 Lang, dourc, dourco, a jar ; Flem. durk, 
 urk, the bilge of a ship. N. hoik, a pail, 
 tub. 
 
 To Hull. I. To float, ride to and fro 
 on the water. — B. Fr. houle, the waves 
 or rolling of the sea. Du. holle or hol- 
 gaande zee, a hollow or agitated sea. 
 
 2. To coax or fondle. 
 
 She hullid him and mollid him and took him 
 about the neck.— Chaucer. Beryn. 
 
 HUMDRUM 
 
 353 
 
 N. hulla, sulla, tralla, to lull, quiet by 
 singing in a monotonous voice ; inulla, 
 to mutter, speak soft and unmeaningly. 
 
 Hull. I. The chaff of corn, cod of 
 pease. — B. G. hiille, a clothing, veil, 
 cloke. See To Hill. 
 
 2. The body of a ship. See Hold. 
 
 Hullabaloo. — Hurly-burly. Words 
 formed to represent a confused noise, 
 hence signifying uproar, confusion. As 
 a singular instance of nearly identical 
 words devised in widely different coun- 
 tries to represent the same image, we 
 may cite Turkoman qualabdladh, clam- 
 our, row, mob, crowd.— F. Newm. Kara- 
 balik s. s. — Hunting Grounds of Old 
 World. Illyr. halabuka, uproar, noise. 
 Boh. halabala, helter-skelter ; Sanscr. 
 halahald, shout, tumult, noise. — Benfey. 
 
 To Hum. — Humble-bee. g. hum- 
 men, summen, Du. hommelen, Lat. bom- 
 bire, bombitare, all from direct imitation, 
 to hum or buzz as a bee. G. hummel, a 
 drone, humble-bee ; Lat. bombus, Gr. 
 ft6fil3o(:, a humming ; ISoftfivXiog, a humble- 
 bee, bumble-bee. 
 
 To Hum. To delude. To hum and 
 haw is to stammer and be at a loss what 
 to say. Hence to hum one in a factitive 
 sense is to cause him to hum and haw, 
 to perplex him. ON. hvums, repressae 
 vocis sibilus, astonishment ; at hvumsa, 
 to confound. Hann hvujnsadiz vid, he 
 was so confounded he could hardly stam- 
 mer out a word. On the other hand con- 
 sider Ptg. zumbiry to hum, zombar, to 
 jeer or jest. 
 
 Human. — Humane. Fr. htimain, 
 Lat. humanus, belonging or appropriate 
 to a man, from homo. 
 
 Humble.— Humility. Lat. humilis, 
 low, from humus, the ground. 
 
 Humbug. A modern term. Perhaps 
 for humbuz, from a union of hum and 
 buzz, which seem to be taken as signify- 
 ing sound without sense. 
 
 Sir, against one o'clock prepare yourself, 
 Till when you must be fasting ; only take 
 Three drops of vinegar in at your nose, 
 Two at your mouth, and one at either ear. 
 To sharpen your five senses, and cry hum 
 Thrice, and then buz as often.— Alchemist. 
 
 Preserved or reserved 'tis all one to us. 
 Sing you Te Deum, we'll sing Hum and Buz. 
 Heraclitus Ridens, ii. 56, in N. & Q. 
 
 Buz, quoth the blue fly, 
 
 Hum, quoth the bee. 
 Buz and hum they cry, 
 
 And so do we. 
 Catch, set by Dr Arne in N. & Q., June 18, 1864 
 
 Humdrum. What goes on in a hum- 
 23 
 
354 
 
 HUiMID 
 
 HURLYBURLY 
 
 long hundred still occasionally used in 
 trade reckoning. In Saxon reckoning 
 the term hnnd forms an element in the 
 designation of the decads after three- 
 score ; htaid-seofontig^ seventy ; huiid- 
 teontig, a hundred ; htind-twelftig, a hun- 
 dred and twenty. The union of the AS. 
 elements htmd, tig, may pretty clearly be 
 recognised in the Gr. Kovra, Lat. ginti, 
 the termination of the decads below a 
 hundred, while the same element appear- 
 ing in quadrmgettti, quingenti, 400 and 
 500, connects /ttmd with Lat. centum, w. 
 cant. From the Goth, taihun-tehimd, a 
 hundred, it would seem that hu7id is a 
 docked form of taihun, ten, which would 
 agree with its appearance in the decads 
 below 100. Hund-seofon-tig, ten seven 
 times. The termination red is explained 
 by Ihrefrom the practice of reckoning on 
 an abacus composed of several wires, 
 where each bead has a different value 
 according to the wire or line on which it 
 is placed. OSw. rad, a line. 
 
 Hunger. Goth, huhriis, hunger ; hugr^ 
 Jan, hnggrj'an, to hunger. 
 
 To Hunt. To pursue with hounds. 
 See Hound. 
 
 Hurdle. Du. horde, a hurdle, fence of 
 branches or osiers ; horden-wandt, a 
 wicker wall. G. hiirde, a frame of rods, 
 hurdle, grate ; hiirdimg, a fence made 
 with hurdles, which is probably not to be 
 confounded with E. hoarding, a fencing 
 of boards. Fr. hourdis, wattle-work for 
 walls, gave rise to Mid. Lat. hiirdicitim, a 
 wicker defence in sieges. 
 
 Et quae reddebant tutos hurdicia muros. 
 
 ON. hurd, a door, properly a wicker gate. 
 
 The origin is Swiss hurd, a pole. 
 Hence Rouchi hour, hourde, a framework 
 of poles to keep hay from the ground in 
 a barn ; hourdache, a mason's scaffold. 
 Perhaps the word may be identical with 
 E. rod, by transposition of the r. 
 
 To HurL To make a noise — B. ; to 
 rumble as the wind — Hal. ; but now only 
 to drive through the air with a whirring 
 noise. Sw. hurra omkring, to whirl 
 round ; Bohem. chrleti, to throw or hurl. 
 Du. hor, E. dial, hurr, a toy composed of 
 a toothed disk made to spin round with a 
 humming sound ; Dan. hurre, to hum 
 or buzz ; Swiss hurrli, a humming-top. 
 
 Hurlyburly. The whirring noise 
 made by a body moving rapidly through 
 the air is represented in G. by hrr I 
 hurr! brr I burr ! *■ Hrr I weg ist's :' 
 
 niing and drumming or droning way ; 
 monotonous, common-place. 
 
 Humid. — Humour. Lat. humidus, 
 
 moist, hufHor, moisture. 
 
 Hump. — Hummock. Du. hamme, a 
 lump of something eatable, a piece of 
 land ; hompe, a hunch, piece cut off 
 something ; hotnpe broods, a hunch of 
 bread. OSw. hap, hump, a piece of land. 
 The immediate origin seems the notion 
 of a projection, a modification of form 
 which may either be regarded as traced 
 out by a jogging motion, or as giving a 
 jolt to those who pass over it. It must 
 also be borne in mind that a jolting 
 movement is represented by the figure of 
 a rattling sound or broken utterance. 
 Thus we have N. glamra, skrangla, to 
 rumble, rattle ; glamren, skranglen, rough., 
 uneven ; Du. hobbelen, to stammer, also 
 to jog, jolt, rock; hobbelig, rough, un- 
 even ; E. hobble, to move with an uneven 
 gait ; hob, hub, a projection. Then with 
 the nasal intonation Pl.D. humpeln, 
 humpumpen (Schutze), to limp ; Bav. 
 humpen, Du. hompelen, to limp or stum- 
 ble ; hompelig, rough, uneven ; E. hump, 
 a. projection ; N. hump, a knolL The 
 same relation holds between E. limp, to 
 go unevenly, walk lame, and lump, a 
 projection, excrescence, piece cut off. 
 And see next Article. 
 
 Hunch. To hunch, to give a thrust 
 "with the elbow — B. ; to shove, to gore 
 with the horns, — Hal. The meaning of 
 the word is thus a jog with something 
 pointed, and thence a projection (Lat. 
 projicere, to strike outwards) ; then, as 
 the prominent part of a loaf or the like is 
 the readiest cut off, a hunch of bread, a 
 piece separated for the purpose of eating. 
 In the same way we have lunch, a. 
 thump, and lunch, a lump or hunch of 
 bread, or the like ; bunch, to thrust or 
 ■strike, and bunch, a knob ; while each of 
 these synonyms ending in ch have a 
 parallel form in 7np j hump and hunch, 
 lump and lunch, bump and bunch; dui7ip 
 or thump {dumpling, a knob of dough or 
 paste) and dunch. 
 
 Hundred, on. hundrad, from hund 
 and rad,Y3.tio, reckoning, number. Himd- 
 margr {i7iargr, many), to the number of 
 a hundred. The term raed, a reckoning 
 (a counting up to ten), corresponds in Sw. 
 to the G. zig or E. ty in the formation of 
 cardinal numbers ; attraed,G\g\\\.Y,nyraed, 
 ninety, and sometimes the hund-raed 
 comprised twelve raeds instead of ten. 
 
 This was called the hundraed tolfraed, of I whizz ! it 's gone. The representative 
 twelve tens or 120, corresponding to our I syllables are then variously combined to 
 
HURRA 
 
 signify bustle, noise, disturbance. G. 
 hurliburli, hurltirliburli, with rapidity 
 and violence (Sanders) ; Fr. hurluberlu, 
 hurlubrelu, hustuberlu (Jaubert), in a 
 bouncing way, abruptly. Pl.D. huller- 
 de-biiller, Sw. htiller-om-buller, Du. 
 holder-de-bolder, head over heels, con- 
 fusedly, in a hurry. 
 
 Hurra ! Exclamation of excitement. 
 Bav. hr ! hrr I interjectio frementis. 
 
 Hurricane. Fr. ouragan^ Sp. huracan, 
 from a native American word probably 
 imitating the rushing of the wind. Comp. 
 E. hurl, to rumble as the wind ; hurlwind, 
 a whirlwind ; hurleblast, a hurricane. — 
 Hal. 
 
 To Hurry. This word had formerly 
 a stronger meaning than that in which it 
 is now commonly used. It is explained 
 by Junius violenter dejicere, raptim pro- 
 pellere. The origin is a representation of 
 the sound made by something rapidly 
 whirled through the air. Thus G. husch 
 is explained by KiJttner, a term express- 
 ing quick motion accompanied by a hiss- 
 ing sound, and it as well as hiirr ! are 
 used interjectionally in the sense of quick! 
 make haste ! Swiss hurrsch, a sound in- 
 tended to express a rapid action accom- 
 panied by a whizzing sound, whence in- 
 terjectionally, hurrsch ! out with you ! 
 OHG. hiirsc, quick ; hurscjan, arhurscjan, 
 to hasten. Kehursche dina chumfi, hasten 
 thy coming. — Notker. G. hiirtig, quick, 
 brisk. The Teutonista gives hurt / as a 
 cry to urge on horses. * Hurt est inter- 
 jectio festinantis quod loquitur auriga 
 equis quando pellit currum vel redum vel 
 hujusmodi.' — Jun. The equivalent cry in 
 France and Italy is arri / harri I (a cart- 
 erly voice of exciting — Cot.), whence Sp. 
 arriero, a driver of mules. Arri J arri / 
 9a, ca, debout, debout, cry to excite to 
 work. — Diet. Castr. Harrer I quicker ! 
 an exclamation to a horse in Townley 
 Mysteries. — Hal. 
 
 Hurst. Du. horst, a brake, bushy 
 place ; Swiss hurst, a shrub, thicket ; G. 
 harst, a tuft or cluster, as of grass, corn, 
 reeds, a clump of trees, heap of sand, 
 crowd of people. 
 
 To Hurt.— Hurtle. Du. horten, Fr. 
 heurter, It. urtare, to dash against, w. 
 hwrdd, a stroke, blow, brush, onset, 
 hyrddio, to drive, thrust, butt, irritate. To 
 hurtle, to clash or dash together, is the 
 frequentative form of the same root. 
 
 And whenever he taketh him he hurtlith him 
 down. — Wiclif, Mark 9. 
 The noise of battle hurtleth in the air. 
 
 Julius Caesar. 
 
 HYDR- 
 
 355 
 
 Belongs to the same imitative class as 
 hurl, hurly-burly, &c. N. hurra, to 
 rattle. 
 
 Husband. From on. bua (the equiva- 
 lent of G. bauen, Du. bouweti), to till, cul- 
 tivate, prepare, are bu, a household', farm, 
 cattle ; buandi, bondi, N. bonde, the pos- 
 sessor of a farm, husbandman ; husband 
 or husband, the master of the house. 
 Probably Lap. banda, master, kdte-batida 
 {kdte, house), master of the house, with 
 the derivative bandas, rich, may be bor- 
 rowed from the Scandinavian. 
 
 Hush. See Hist. 
 
 Husk. Du. hulse, hulsche, husk, chaff, 
 covering of seeds, huysken, case in which 
 anything is kept, also as hulse, the pod, 
 chaff, or seied-vessel. — Kil. The Walach., 
 which changes k for p, has hosph, husk, 
 chaff, pod. 
 
 Hussar. Magy. huszar, a light horse- 
 man, skirmisher, soldier adapted to harass 
 the enemy. From Swiss huss! Magy. 
 usz ! uszu! cries used in setting on a 
 dog, are formed Du. hussen, huschen, 
 Magy. uszitani, huszitani, to incite, set 
 on to attack ; N. hussa, to chase with 
 noise and outcry. See Harass, To Hurry. 
 
 Hussy. Corrupted from huswife. 
 
 Hustings. The municipal court of 
 the city of London, where probably the 
 elections were first conducted, and hence 
 the name may have been transferred to 
 the polling-booths at an election. ON. 
 thing, Dan. ting, court of justice, assem- 
 bly. The husting was the house or do- 
 mestic court. 
 
 To Hustle. To shake or push about. 
 Hustle-cap, a game in which halfpence 
 are shaken about in a cap and then 
 thrown into the air. Du. hutsen, hutselen, 
 to shake to and fro ; N. huska, huste, to 
 rock, swing. Fr. houspiller, to pull about, 
 tug each other like fighting dogs ; Champ. 
 hou7debiller,X.o sh2ikQ.,hou7'baller,\.o ill use. 
 
 Hut. w. hotan, hotyn, a cap, hood, 
 OG. hot, a cap. ' Digitabulum, finger- 
 huot, -hot, -hut. — Dief. Sup. OSax. hutte, 
 care, protection. — Kil. Du. hut, hutte, 
 hut, cabin. 
 
 Hutch. Fr. huche, a chest or bin,- 
 Champ, huge, hugette, a coffer, shop, hut, 
 cabin. Du. hok, a pen, cote for animals ; 
 konijnen-hok, a rabbit-hutch ; N. hokk, a 
 small apartment, bedchamber. 
 
 Hybrid. Lat. hybrida, a mongrel, 
 animal born of heterogeneous parents, 
 explained from Gr. v^piq, outrage, viz. an 
 outrage on the laws of nature. 
 
 Hydr-. Gr. i5^wp, -aToq (in comp. 
 vojoo-), water. Hence hydr aula {avXon, a 
 23* 
 
356 HYDRA 
 
 pipe), an organ sounded by water, then 
 transferred to a machine driven by water ; 
 hydraulics, the science of fluids in action. 
 Hydrogen, what generates water ; hydro- 
 phobia {(})6(3og, fear), the disease charac- 
 terised by dread of water, &c. 
 
 Hydra. Gr. vdpa, a water-serpent ; a 
 fabulous monster so named. 
 
 Hyena. Gr. vrivia (from vg, a sow, 
 swine), literally, a swine-like creature ; 
 from the rigid hair along the back. 
 
 Hygrometer. Gr. vypog, damp, humid, 
 and n'trpov, a measure. 
 
 Hymen, Gr. 'Y/i>)v, a name of the 
 deity of marriage, a nuptial song. 
 
 Hymn. Gr. vnvog, a song, a poem to 
 the honour of God. 
 
 Hyper-.— Hyperbole. Gr. virip, above 
 or beyond ; vxtpfidWu) (/3a\Xa>, to cast or 
 throw), to overshoot, exceed ; whence 
 
 IF 
 
 v7ripl3o\Tj, excess, going beyond the mark, 
 excessive praise. 
 
 Hyphen. Lat hyphen, from Gr. ix^iv 
 {v<f sv, under one), together. 
 
 Hypo-. Gr. viro, Lat. sud, under. 
 
 Hypochondriac. Gr. ^oj^^pof, a car- 
 tilage ; rd vTToxot'Spia, the soft part of the 
 body under the cartilage of the breast, 
 the supposed seat of the disorder. 
 
 Hypocrisy. Gr. vTroicpivofiai, to answer, 
 to speak in dialogue, play a part upon 
 the stage, met. to play a part, dissemble, 
 pretend ; viroKpimg, -a'la, playing a part, 
 hypocrisy, outward show. 
 
 Hypothesis. Gr. v-rro^eaig (utto, under, 
 and ri^tjfii, to set, place), a placing or 
 setting under, something set under, a 
 foundation, a supposition or assumption. 
 
 Hysteric. Gr. ixTrtpiKog, pertainmg to 
 affections of the (vartpa) uterus. 
 
 I. G. ich, ON. eg, Lat. ego, G. lyw, 
 Sanscr. aham. 
 
 Ice. ON. is, G. eis, Du. ijs. The Pl.D. 
 aisen, Du. ijsen, to shudder, which have 
 been indicated as the origin of our word, 
 are probably themselves derivatives, in 
 accordance with Fr. se glacer d'horreur, 
 d'^pouvante. Magy. jeg. Lap. jdgna, 
 Fin. jdd, Gael, eigh, eidhre, eighre, w. ia, 
 ice ; Bret, ien, cold. 
 
 Icicle. AS. ises gicel, Pl.D. ishekel, 
 Du. ijskekel, iskegel, N. isjiikel, isjokul, 
 Da. dial, isegel, icicle. ON. jokiill, piece 
 of ice, field of ice, jaki, piece or mass of 
 ice. Hann er stodugr eins og jaki, he 
 stands as steady as a block of ice. Sup- 
 posed byAufrecht to be of the same stock 
 with Olr. aig, Gael, eigh, w. id (for iag), 
 ice. 
 
 Idea.— Ideal. Gr. il'ta, look, appear- 
 ance, of a thing, its fancied form. 
 
 Identical. From Lat. idetn, the same, 
 whence Fr. idetitite, identifier, identiqiie. 
 
 Idiom. Gr. i6iu>fia, a peculiarity of, or 
 mode of expression peculiar to, any given 
 language, from ISiog, private, personal, 
 peculiar to one in particular. 
 
 Idiot. From Gr. Idiog, one's own, pri- 
 vate, lhu)TT}g, a private person, one who 
 has no professional knowledge, unprac- 
 tised, unskilled in anything. Mod.Gr. 
 
 iSiMTfiQ rovTov Tov Ipyov, unacquainted with 
 this work ; i^twrai Kara, tov ttovov, persons 
 unaccustomed to labour ; ibn^Ttig ry Xoyr^, 
 rude in speech. 
 
 Inscius et brutus, simplex, idiotaque, follus, 
 Indoctus vel insipidus conjungitur istis. 
 
 John de Garlandik de synonymis. 
 
 The word was used in the i6th century in 
 a weaker meaning than at present. Idiot, 
 neither fool ne right wise ; half innocent. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Idle. Empty, vain, unemployed. G. 
 eitel, Du. ijdel. lidel van hoofde, mad ; 
 ijdelen haerinck, a shotten or empty her- 
 ring. — Kil. Jedel (of texture), loose, not 
 tight, pierced with many small holes ; 
 jedele piaats, an empty place. — Halma. 
 ON. audr, empty, vacant ; G. dde, waste, 
 void, desert ; Fr. vuide, voide, empty, 
 waste, wide, hollow. — Cot. 
 
 Idol. — Idolatrous. Gr. tiliokov, a 
 likeness, representation, of a god, namely, 
 an image. 
 
 Idyll. Lat. idyllium, from Gr. t.lU\- 
 \iov, a brief poem. 
 
 If. Goth, iba, num, whether? jabai, 
 if ; OHG. ibu, ubaoba, ob, if, whether ; 
 hence condition, doubt ; ano ibu, without 
 doubt, without condition, as OFr. sans 
 nul si. Du. of, oft, if, whether, or ; G. ob, 
 
IGNEOUS 
 
 whether. ON. ef, if ; efa, ifa^ to doubt ; 
 OSv^.Jefwa, to doubt, suspect. 
 
 Igneous. — Ignite. Lat. ignis, fire. 
 
 Ignoble. — Ignominy. — Ignorant. 
 From the root of Lat. gnosco, to know, 
 are formed gnarus, knowing, skilful, no- 
 bilis (for gnobilis), illustrious, widely 
 known, nomen (Jox gnomen), name, fame. 
 Hence with the privative in-, ignarus, 
 unknowing or unknown ; ignoro, not to 
 know ; ignobilis, of no reputation ; igno- 
 minia, discredit, ill-fame. 
 
 Ilk. The same. See Such. 
 
 111. Goth, ubils, G. ilbel^ evil. ON. 
 illr, evil, bad. 
 
 Image. — Imagine. Lat. imago, -inis, 
 a resemblance or representation of a thing. 
 According to Festus from imitor, to imi- 
 tate. 
 
 Imbecile. Lat. itnbecillis, feeble ; ex- 
 plained as if it signified one without a 
 {bacillus) staff. But the sense is rather 
 one who leans upon a staff. 
 
 To Imbrue. It. bevere, to ^xmk,beve- 
 rare, to give or to cause to drink. On the 
 same principle Fr. beiivre (Pat. de Berri), 
 to drink, would form beuvrer, to cause to 
 drink, whence (by the same inversion as 
 found in Fr. breuvage, bricvage, from 
 beverage) einbreuver, to moisten, soak in, 
 soften with liquor ; s'ejnbruer, to imbrue 
 or bedabble himself with. — Cot. 
 
 To Imbue. Lat. vnbuo, to moisten or 
 soak. Btta was a nursery word for drink. 
 
 Imitate. Lat. imitor, imitatus. 
 
 Immaculate. Unstained. Lat. ma- 
 cula, a spot or stain. 
 
 Immense. Lat. metior, mensus, to 
 measure ; i7nmensus, unmeasured, beyond 
 measure. See Measure. 
 
 To Immolate. Lat. inola, meal with 
 salt sprinkled upon the sacrifice ; imniolo, 
 -as (so to dress the victim), to offer, to 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Imp. A scion, shoot, graft, figuratively 
 offspring, a child, but now only applied 
 in a bad sense, a child of Hell. 
 
 The origin is Du. pote, Dan. pode, 
 Pl.D. paot, a shoot, slip ; whence Pl.D. 
 paten, inpaten, Du. pooten, inpooten, to 
 plant, to set ; Dan. pode, Limousin em- 
 peouta, Bret, embouda, OHG. i?npiton, 
 impten, AS. itnpan, G. impfen, to graft ; 
 in the Salic laws impotus, Limousin em- 
 peou, a graft. The total squeezing out 
 of the long vowel is remarkable. The 
 'Dm. pole is related to "E. put, as Du. botte, 
 Fr. bouton, a bud, to Du. botten, Fr. 
 bouter, to put forth as a tree in the 
 spring. — Cot. 
 
 To Impair. Lat. pejor^ Yr.pis, pire, 
 
 IMPREST 
 
 357 
 
 worse ; e7npirer, to make worse, impair. 
 To Impeach. Prov. etnpachar, em- 
 paitar, to embarrass, hinder; empaig, 
 hindrance. It. impacciare, OFr. em- 
 pescher-, to encumber, trouble, hinder. 
 Poitrine empeschee, obstructed chest; 
 empescher lejief, to take legal possession 
 of the fief. To impeach one of treason 
 is to fasten a charge of treason upon him. 
 Now the notion of encumbering, clogging, 
 or impeding is very generally taken from 
 the figure of entangling with a sticky 
 material. Sc. claggy, unctuous, miry ; to 
 dag, to daub with clay, to clog ; and 
 dag is used in a forensic sense for en- 
 cumbrance, burden on property, or for 
 impeachment on character. In the same 
 way G. kujnmer (the equivalent of E. 
 aimber, encumber), sometimes used for 
 the dirt in the streets, signifies arrest, 
 seizure, attachment of goods. To pester, 
 to embarrass, trouble, encumber, is the 
 Fr. empaistrir, to entangle in paste or 
 glutinous material. 
 
 In like manner the root of It. impac- 
 ciare may be G. patsche, puddle, mud, 
 from patschen, to paddle. Einen in der 
 patsche stecken lassen, to leave one stick- 
 ing in the mud, leave him in the lurch. 
 It. impacciuccare, to bedaub. — Fl. It 
 may however be from Gael, bac, stop, 
 hindrance, as indicated under Dispatch. 
 
 Imperial. — Imperative. Lat. impe- 
 rium, command, dominion, empire. 
 
 Implement. What is employed or 
 applied in the exercise of a trade. Fr. 
 employer, emptier, to employ. 
 
 To Imply. Lat. i7nplicare, Fr. im- 
 pliquer, to enfold, enwrap, involve. 
 
 Import. Sense or meaning. — B. See 
 Purport. 
 
 To Importune.— Importunate. Lat. 
 importunus, unseasonable, inconvenient, 
 troublesome, seems to be formed as the 
 opposite to opportunus. Hence to i7n- 
 portu7ie, to be troublesome to. See Op- 
 portune, 
 
 Imposthume. A corruption of Fr. 
 apostu77ie, aposteme, from Gr. air6<jrt]yLa 
 (literally, what separates or stands apart), 
 an abscess. 
 
 Impregnable. What cannot be taken. 
 OYx. preg7ier, YjaX. prehe7idere, to take. 
 
 Imprest. Money given out for a cer- 
 tain purpose to be afterwards accounted 
 for. ' There remaineth in sundrie pro- 
 vicions — as well with certein money de- 
 livered imprest for the provision of the 
 household, who have not yet accounted 
 for the same.' ' In provicion £ — . In 
 pfrst £ — viz. in the hands of, &c.'— 
 
35^ 
 
 IMPUDENT 
 
 Household account of Princess Elizabeth, 
 Camden Miscell. vol. ii. In prest^ in 
 ready money. 
 
 Impudent. Lat. impudens, shame- 
 less ; pudeo, to be ashamed ; pudor, 
 shame. As shame is the painful emotion 
 produced by the reprobation of those to 
 whom we look with respect, or of our 
 own better self, it is probable that the 
 word is derived from the interjection of 
 reprobation, Pu / Phu / Fu / Ft / ori- 
 ginally expressing disgust at a bad smell ; 
 Phu ! in malam crucem. — Plant. Pudet 
 me, it shames me, they cry pu / upon 
 me. See Putrid. 
 
 In-. Ig-. I1-. Im-. Ir-. Lat. in, Gr. 
 tj/, in, on. In comp. it usually corre- 
 sponds to Gr. av-, E. un-, as in incon- 
 stant, inacmrate. Before words begin- 
 ning with a labial the n is changed to m, 
 as in impenitent, imbrue, immense. Before 
 g, I, and r, the n is assimilated with the 
 following consonant, although, as in the 
 first of these cases the g is not doubled, 
 the n seems to be simply lost. Thus we 
 have Lat. ignarus for in-gnarus, ignobilis 
 for in-gnobilis. Illegal, what is contrary 
 to law ; irrepressible, what cannot be 
 repressed. 
 
 Incendiary. Lat. incendium, a burn- 
 ing, from incendo, to kindle ; candeo, to 
 glow, to be on fire. 
 
 Incense. From Lat. incendo, incensum, 
 to kindle, to set on fire, we have to incense 
 in a met. sense, to kindle wrath. 
 
 From the same source Fr. encens, E. 
 incense, a composition of sweet gums for 
 burning in churches. 
 
 Incentive. Lat. incino, to sing or 
 make music to ; incentivus, that sings or 
 sounds to, and thence (from the incite- 
 ment of martial or dance music), that 
 stirs up or incites to. Non tubas solum, 
 sed etiam Spartanae tibiae incentivum 
 aliquod feruntur habuisse. — Paneg. ad 
 Constantin. * 
 
 Inch.. Lat. uncia, the 12th part of a 
 pound, as an inch is the 12th part of a 
 foot. ' 
 
 Indigenous. Lat. indigena, a native, 
 born in the country (in question). Indu, 
 indo, and endo are given as old forms of 
 in, corresponding to Gr. IvZov and Ivroq, 
 within. 'Er5oy£v>7c, bom in the house. 
 
 Indite. OFr. endicter, from Lat. in- 
 dico, indictus. 
 
 Infant. — Infantry. Lat. infans, a. 
 child before the age of speech, from in, 
 jiegative, a.nd /or, fari, Gr. tprjfii, to speak. 
 Fr. enfant, child, son. Then as Lat. 
 puer, a boy, or E, knave, with the same 
 
 INSTIGATE 
 
 fundamental signification, were used for 
 servant. It. /ante was used for an attend- 
 ant, a man or woman servant, a knave or 
 varlet upon the cards, a footman or sol- 
 dier serving on foot ; /anteria, infantry, 
 foot-soldiers. — Fl. 
 
 Inferior.— Infernal. Lat. i7t/ra, be- 
 neath, below ; in/erior, nether, lower ; 
 in/emus, nethermost, lowest. 
 
 Ingle. Fire. Gael, aingeal, fire, light, 
 sunshine. 
 
 Ingot. Originally the mould in which 
 the metal was cast, and not the bar itself. 
 The alchemist in the canon yeoman's tale 
 gets a piece of chalk and cuts it into the 
 shape of an itigot which will hold an 
 ounce of metal. 
 
 He put this once of copper in the crosslet, 
 And on the fire aswithe he hath it set — 
 And afterward in the ingot he it cast. 
 
 G. einguss, the pouring in, that which is 
 infused, a melting vessel, ingot mould, 
 crucible. — Kiittn. From eingiessen, Du. 
 ingieten, to pour in, cast in. 
 
 Inguinal. Lat. inguen, the groin. 
 
 Ink. Gr. iyKavtTTov, Lat. encaustum, 
 the vermilion used in the signature of the 
 emperor. Hence It. itichiostro, incostro, 
 Fr. ejicre, enque, Wall, eng, enche, Du. 
 inkt. 
 
 Inkle. Tape, linen thread. Fr. li- 
 gneul, liptol, strong thread used by shoe- 
 makers and saddlers ; lignivol (corre- 
 sponding apparently to It. ligniuolo), 
 shoemaker's thread. — Roquef. From the 
 first of these forms are E. lingel, lingle, 
 linga7i. 
 
 Nor hinds wi' elson and hemp lingle, 
 Sit soling shoon out o"er the ingle. 
 
 Ramsay in Jam. 
 
 The second form Ug7iivol may probably 
 explain OE. liniolf. Lynyolf or inniol/ 
 threde to sow with schone or botys, in- 
 dula, licinium. — Pr. Pm. The loss of the 
 initial /, of which we have here an ex- 
 ample, would convert lifigle into ingle or 
 inkle. From Lat. Iinu7n, flax, Fr. ligne, 
 Sc. ling, a line ; Fr. Ii7tge, linen, cloth of 
 flax ; Sc. U7iget-seed, flax-seed. 
 
 Inkling. See Hint. 
 
 Inn. ON. i7i7ii, within ; inni, a house, 
 the lair of a wild-beast ; inni-bod, a feast 
 at home. Sc. in, inn, lodging, dwelling. 
 
 The Bruys went till his innys swyth (to his 
 lodgings) . — Barbour. 
 
 To Inn. To bring in, carry home. * I 
 i7ine, I put into the berne.' — Palsgr. 
 
 Inquest. Lat. i7iquirere, Fr. enquerre, 
 to inquire ; e7iqueste, an inquiry. 
 
 Instigate. Lat. instigo, to incite, prick 
 
INSULAR 
 
 forward ; Gr. (rn'^w, to prick ; (xriy/uj/, a 
 prick, point ; crnynSg, a pricking. 
 
 Insular. Lat, msu/a, an island. 
 
 Integer.— Integral. — Integrity. Lat. 
 iiiteger, entire, properly untouched, from 
 in and tago, tango, to touch. 
 
 Inter-. Lat. inter, between, among ; 
 as in Intercede, Interject, Interlude. 
 
 Interior. — Internal. Lat. intra, with- 
 in ; interior, further in ; internus, inner- 
 most. 
 
 Interloper. Du. enterlopcr, a contra- 
 band trader, one who runs in between 
 those legitimately employed. Du. loopen, 
 to run. 
 
 Intoxicate. Lat. toxicnm, Gr. rolwov, 
 poison, said to be from Tbl.ov, a bow with 
 the arrows belonging to it, from the latter 
 being smeared with poison. 
 
 Intrigue. — Intricate. It. intrico, in- 
 trigo, intrinco, any intricateness, en- 
 tangling trouble, or incumbrance. — Fl. 
 Lat. intrico, to entangle ; extrico, to dis- 
 entangle, extricate. Trices, impediment, 
 trifles. 
 
 To Inveigle. To allure, entice or 
 deceive by fair words. — B. From It. 
 invogliare, to make one willing, longing, 
 or desirous. — Fl. * She gave them gifts 
 and great rewards to inveigle them to 
 her will' — Indictment of Ann Boleyn in 
 Froude. It is probably from a false no- 
 tion of the etymology that we find it spelt 
 aveugle. ' The marquis of Dorset was— 
 so seduced and aveugled by the Lord 
 Admiral that, &c.' — Sharington's con- 
 fession, A.D. 1547, in Froude, v. 132. 
 
 Invidious. Lat. invidia^ envy. 
 
 Invite. Lat. invito. 
 
 Invoice. A bill of particulars sent 
 with goods. The word could never have 
 been formed from Fr. efivoi, the envoy or 
 concluding address with which a publica- 
 tion was formerly sent into the world. 
 As most of our mercantile terms are 
 from It., we may with confidence trace 
 the derivation to It. av'Uiso, notice, in- 
 formation, by the insertion of an n, as in 
 Fr. attiser, E. entice. The invoice is in 
 fact a letter of advice (It. lettera d'av- 
 viso), giving notice of the despatch of 
 goods with particulars of their price and 
 quantity. 
 
 Iodine. Gr. mStiq, of a violet tinge or 
 colour. 
 
 Ire. Lat. ira, OFr. ire, iror, anger; 
 ire, irii, irieus, irous, angry ; AS. irre, 
 anger, yrsian, to be angry. ,. 
 
 The origin is in all probability a repre- 
 sentation of the snarling sounds of quar- 
 relling dogs, which exhibit a lively ex- 
 
 IRRITATE 
 
 359 
 
 pression of angry passion, and "are also 
 imitated by man in the cries used to 
 rouse the passions of the animal and 
 excite him to attack. Thus from the 
 same root are developed forms signifying 
 snarl, anger, incite, set on. From the 
 continued sound of the letter r, the littera 
 hirriens, are formed Lat. hirrire, w. hyr- 
 rio, E. harr, to snarl ; Fin. dri, snarling 
 like a dog, angry ; arista, to snarl, to 
 rage, ira fremere ; drryttdd, to set on, 
 irritate, make angry. The cry used to 
 incite a dog is represented in w. by 
 the interjection herr! hyrr! — Richards, 
 agreeing with N. hirra, to incite, and 
 (without the initial h as in Lat. ira) Dan. 
 irre, opirt'e, to tease, to provoke, incite ; 
 G. veriren, verirren, exasperare. — Dief. 
 Supp. See Irritate. 
 
 Iris. — Iridescent. Gr. tjoif, the rain- 
 bow. 
 
 To Irk. — Irksome. AS. earg, slothful, 
 dull, timid ; ON. argr, recusans, reformi- 
 dans. — Andersen. AS. eargian, torpes- 
 cere prae timore, Sc. ergh, to feel reluctant, 
 to refrain from for timidity. 
 
 Dear Jenny, I wad speak t'ye wad ye let, 
 
 And yet I ergh, ye' re ay sae scornfu' set. 
 
 Ramsay in Jam. 
 
 To irk is to make one ergh, to dull one's 
 inclination to action, to tire or become 
 weary. 
 My spouse Creusa remanit or we came bidder. 
 Or by some fate of God's was reft away, 
 Or gif sche errit or irkit by the way. — D. V. 
 — Erravitne vi&,, sen lassa resedit. 
 
 Iron. Goth, eisarn, Du. iser, isern, G. 
 eisen, W. haiarn, Gael, iarun. 
 
 Irony. Lat. ironia, from Gr. elpujvtla, 
 an assumed appearance, pretence ; tipojv, 
 one who speaks with a sense other than 
 the words convey, a dissembler. 
 
 To Irritate. Lat. irritare, to incite, 
 stir up, provoke. A compound of in and 
 a simple ritare, and not a frequentative 
 of the root irr seen in Dan. opirre, G. 
 verirren, N, hirra^ P'in. drryttdd^ to pro- 
 voke, mentioned under Ire. 
 
 The snarling sounds of fighting dogs 
 are imitated by different combinations of 
 the letters r, s, t; rr I ss ! st I ts I tr / 
 rt ! giving rise to so many forms of the 
 verb signifying to set on, to attack, or 
 quarrel, on the principle explained under 
 the head above-mentioned. Thus, from 
 the imitation by a simple r, are formed 
 Lat. hirrire, to snarl, N. hirra, to incite, 
 Lat. ira, wrath ; from the sound of s, 
 Pl.D. hissa, Du. hissen, hisschen, hus- 
 schen, to set on ; from st, Bohem. stwati, ■ 
 Gael, stuig, to set on, and perhaps Gr. 
 
360 
 
 ISINGLASS 
 
 orvyoQ, hatred ; from is, It. t'zz / uzz ! 
 cries to set on a dog— Muratori, izzare, 
 adizsare^ S\v. hi'tsa, G. hetzcn, to set on, 
 It. izza, anger ; and, with the vowel in- 
 serted between the consonants, Fr. User, 
 E. tice, entice, Sw. tussa, to incite, pro- 
 voke ; from /;-, E. to ter or far, G. zerren, 
 to provoke to anger ; and from rt, G. 
 reitzcn, Du. ritsen, Sw. reta, Lat. irritare, 
 to provoke, incense. To the same root 
 may be referred Gr. epic, -iloq, Lat. rixa 
 (for ritsa), strife, Gr. IptBi^ta, to provoke. 
 
 Isinglass. G. hausenblas, the bladder 
 of the {hausen) sturgeon, as well as the 
 preparation made from it, by us corruptly 
 called isinglass, probably from connect- 
 ing the name with the employment of the 
 substance in iciftg or making jelHes. 
 
 Island. — Isle. — Isolate. The spelling 
 of island has been corrupted, and the 
 etymology obscured, by the influence of 
 isle, a word from a totally different root, 
 viz. Lat. insula. It. isola, Fr. isle ; while 
 island, AS. igland, is properly eye-lafzd, a 
 spot of land in the midst of water, as the 
 eye in the midst of the face. Fris. ooge, 
 eye, and also island, as in Schiermonni- 
 kooge, the white monk's isle, Spikeroge^ 
 Wangeroge, islands on the coast of Fries- 
 land. AS. ig has the same sense in Scea- 
 J)ige, Sheppey or Sheep's Island. Dan. 
 die, eye, o or oe, isle. The true etymology 
 is preserved in eyot, ail, a small island in 
 
 JACK 
 
 Iso-. Gr. 'laoQ, equal, as in isothermal, 
 of equal heat ; isochronous, of equal time, 
 &c. 
 
 Issue. Fr. issu, sprung, proceeded 
 from, born of, from issir, to go out, to flow 
 forth, and that from Lat. exire, to go out. 
 
 -it. Lat. eo, itum, to go ; whence 
 exitus, an exit or going out, tra?isitus, a 
 transit or going through. 
 
 It. Du. het, it ; ON. hinft, hin, hitt, 
 ille, ilia, illud. 
 
 Itch. Ich yn or ykyn ox gykyn,'^r\3iX\o. 
 — Pr. Pm. G. jilcken,\.o itch. The de- 
 signation is taken from the twitching 
 movements to which itching irresistibly 
 impels us. Swab, jucken, to hop or 
 spring ; Bav. gigkeln, to shiver, or twitch 
 under the influence of tickling, desire, 
 anger. Das herz gieglet ihmj cor ei sub- 
 sultat. Einige gigeln so gewaltig nach 
 dem heuratenj — itch so for marriage. 
 Ergigkern, to cause to tremble, to frighten. 
 Gigken, gigkezen, to utter broken sounds, 
 to stutter, giggle. — Schmeller. Then from 
 broken sounds the signification passed on 
 to abrupt movements. 
 
 Iterate. Lat. iterum, again, a second 
 time. 
 
 Itinerant. Lat. itinerari, to take a 
 journey, from iter, itineris, a journey, 
 route. 
 
 Ivory. Fr. ivoire, Lat. ebur. 
 
 Ivy. AS. ijig, G. epheu, OHG. ebeheue^ 
 w. eiddew, Gael, eidhean. 
 
 To Jabber. — Javer. The sound of 
 noisy, indistinct, unmeaning utterance is 
 represented by the simplest combinations 
 of gutturals and labials, babble, gaggle, 
 gabble, Sc. gabber ; and with the initial g 
 softened toy, E. jabber, gibber, javer, Fr. 
 jaboter, to mutter, chatter, tattle. Jan- 
 gelyn ox javeryn, garrulo, blatero, garrio 
 — Pr. Pm. ; javver, idle silly talk ; 
 javvle, to contend, wrangle — Hal. ; Fr. 
 javioler, to gabble, prate, or prattle. — 
 Cot. 
 
 -jacent. "Lditjaceo, to lie. 
 
 Jack. I. The Jewish Jacobtis was 
 corrupted through Jaquemes, to y agues 
 in France, and James in England ; and 
 Jaques, being the commonest Christian 
 name in the former country, was used as 
 a contemptuous expression for a com- 
 
 mon man. Jaques, niais, sot, grossier. — 
 Roquef. Jaquerie, an insurrection of the 
 peasants. The introduction of the word 
 in the same sense into England seems to 
 have led to the use of Jack as the familiar 
 synonym of John, which happened to be 
 here the commonest name, as Jaques in 
 France. 
 Since every Jack became a gentleman, 
 There's many a gentle person made a Jack. 
 Rich. III. 
 
 The term was then applied to any me- 
 chanical contrivance for replacing the 
 personal service of an attendant, or to an 
 implement subjected to rough and fami- 
 liar usage. Jack of the clock, Yx.jacquelet, 
 a mechanical figure which struck the 
 hours on a clock. A roasting-jack is a 
 contrivance for turning a spit by means 
 
JACK 
 
 of a heavy weight, and so superseding the 
 service of the old turnspit. A jack^ a 
 screw for raising heavy weights. A boot- 
 jack (g. stiefel-knecht, Hterally boot-boy), 
 an implement for taking off boots. Rou- 
 chi gros-Jacgite, a large sou. — H^cart. A 
 Jack-towel^ a coarse towel hanging on a 
 roller for the use of the household ; Jack- 
 boots, heavy boots for rough service ; 
 black-jack, a leathern jug for household 
 service ; Jack-plane, a large plane for 
 heavy work. 
 
 Jack. 2. Jacket. The e. Jack, Fr. 
 Jaqiie, It. giacco (whence the d^m.. Jacket j 
 Fr. Jaquette, a short and sleeveless coun- 
 try coat — Cot,), is another example of 
 the depreciatory application of the term 
 in the sense of substitute or servant. A 
 Jack was properly a homely substitute for 
 a coat of mail, consisting of a padded or 
 leather jerkin for defence, with rings or 
 plates of iron sewed on it. Fr. Jaque- 
 mard, a wooden image against which to 
 practise tilting, a jack of the clock, also a 
 coat or shirt of mail. — Cot. Rouchi Jaco- 
 tin, a jacket, iromjacot, dim. of Jaqnes. 
 
 Jackanapes. A coxcomb j Jack the 
 ape, a monkey. 
 
 Jack of Dover. 
 
 Full many a pastie hast thou lettin blode, 
 And many a Jack of Dovyrh^st thou sold 
 That hath been twyis hot and twyis cold. 
 Chaucer, Prol. to Cook's Tale. 
 
 In accordance with the E. use oi Jack, to 
 signify anything used as a substitute or 
 put to homely service, Fr. Jaqiies is a 
 name given by pastry-cooks, implying 
 that a piece of meat or pastry is old and 
 hard. — Roquefort in v. Jaquet. The re- 
 maining part of the expression is proba- 
 bly a punning repetition of the same idea. 
 I am informed that a heated-up dish is 
 still among the waiters called a dover or 
 doover, doubtless do over. 
 
 Jack-pudding. A buffoon or jug- 
 gler's servant set to entertain the crowd 
 by coarse tricks, among which eating in 
 a ridiculous manner pudding, soup, &c., 
 occupied a conspicuous place. 
 
 I had as lief stand among the rabble to see a 
 jack-pudding eat a custard as trouble myself to 
 see a play.— Shad well in Nares. 
 
 G. hans-wurst {Hans, Jack ; wurst, pud- 
 ding) ; Fr. Jean-potage, Jean-farine, a 
 showman's buffoon. 
 
 Jade. To Jade, to wear out with ex- 
 ertion ; Jade, a worn-out horse. Sp. ijada, 
 the flank, from Lat. iliumj ijadear,jadear, 
 the flanks to play, to pant, palpitate; 
 jad^o, palpitation. Hence to Jade would 
 
 JAM 361 
 
 signify to cause to pant, or show signs of 
 exhaustion. 
 
 Jag.— Jig^.— Jog. We have had oc- 
 casion, under Gog and elsewhere, to re- 
 mark the way in which the roots repre- 
 senting in the first instance tremulous or 
 broken sound are applied to signify quiv- 
 ering or reciprocrating movement, or the 
 kind of figure traced out by bodies in 
 motion of such a nature. Now the sylla- 
 bles gig, gag are often used in the repre- 
 sentation of harsh broken sounds ; Gael. 
 gagaich, Bret, gagdi, to stutter ; E. gag- 
 gle, to cry as geese ; Swab, gigacken, to 
 gaggle as geese, bray as an ass ; Swiss 
 gigagen, to bray ; Bav. gagkern, gagke- 
 zen, to cluck as a hen, cough harshly and 
 abruptly, to stutter ; gigkezen, gigken, to 
 utter broken sounds, stutter, giggle ; gick- 
 gack, in nursery language, a clock, from 
 the ticking of the pendulum (D. M. v.) ; 
 Gael, gog, the cackling of a hen, also the 
 nodding or tossing of the head ; E. gog- 
 inire, a quagmire, shaking mire ; Swab. 
 gagen, gagelen, to jog, jiggle, move to and 
 fro ; Swiss gageln, to shake, be unsteady 
 as a table ; gagli, a giglot, a girl that 
 can't sit still. Then, with the initial g 
 softened to a J, E. Jag or Jog, an abrupt 
 movement, a thrust brought to a sudden 
 stop, a projection, indentation. 
 Some j'a^i^ uthers to the heft 
 With knives that sheip could scheir. 
 
 The Dance. Evergreen. 
 The North and South Joggins are in- 
 dented cliffs on opposite sides of a river 
 in Nova Scotia, which seem to Jog in and 
 Jog out in correspondence with each other. 
 — -Lyell. K joggle in masonry is a pro- 
 jection in a stone fitting into a hollow in 
 the adjoining one for the purpose of bolt- 
 ing them together 
 
 The prefix of an s in w. ysgogi, to 
 shake, unites the forms having an initial 
 g or J, with E. shag or shog, to shake or 
 jog— Hal. ; shaggy, jagged, rugged ; ice- 
 shoggle, a projecting point of ice ; ON. 
 skaga, to project ; skagi, a promontory. 
 
 The thin vowel '^"i^ Jig, Jiggle, implies a 
 lighter movement of a similar kind to that 
 signified hy jag or Jog. 
 
 Jail. See Gaol. 
 
 * Jakes. A privy ; in Devonshire any 
 kind of filth.— Hal. G. gauche, Jauche, 
 filthy stinking liquid; mistgauche, the 
 drainings of the dunghill ; schiffgauche, 
 bilge water. Probably the word signifies 
 only slops, splashing. See Jaw, 2. 
 
 Jam. The thickened juice of fruit. Mod. 
 Gr. ^ovitX, broth, juice, ^ov^l twv irwpiKuJv, 
 juice of fruit. 
 
362 
 
 JAM 
 
 To Jam. — To press in between some- 
 thing that confines the space on either 
 side Hke the jambs of a door ; to fix be- 
 tween jambs. 
 
 Jn a stage-coach with lumber cramm'd, 
 Between two bulky bodies /aww'^/. — Lloyd in R. 
 
 Jamb. Fr. jambe, a leg; also the 
 jaumb or side-post of a door. — Cot. See 
 Game. 
 
 To Jangle. Formerly to chatter as a 
 bird, then to chatter, talk idly, tattle, 
 wrangle, quarrel. 
 
 Thy mind is lome, ihovi janglest as a jay. 
 
 Man of Law's Tale in R. 
 
 Lang, jhangia, to cry, to yelp. OFr. 
 jangler, to prattle, tattle, jest, flatter, lie. 
 — Roquef. Like jingle, the representa- 
 tion of a clattering sound. G. za7ik, chid- 
 ing, jangling. Du. jatigelen, janken, to 
 yelp. 
 
 Janty. Fr. gentil, pretty, agreeable. 
 
 To Japan. To varnish, because the 
 best kind of varnished goods came to us 
 from the country of Japan. 
 
 To Jape. The same softening of the 
 g which is seen in jabber compared with 
 gabble connects the oe. gab, to lie, mock, 
 deceive, withy^/<?. The radical meaning 
 is chattering, idle talk. Fr. japper, to 
 yelp, in low language is used in the sense 
 of chatter. — Gattel. Avoir bone jape, ben 
 del jape, to have the gift of the gab. — 
 Hdcart. N, gjeipa, to make a wry face, 
 twist the mouth. 
 
 Jar. Fr. ja7'e, Sp. jarra, It. giara, 
 from Arab, garrah, a water-pot. — Diez. 
 But It. giara has also the same sense as 
 Fr. gres, sand, gravel, sandstone. Giara 
 then, like Prov. grasal, may originally be 
 a pot-de-gi'h, an earthen pot. See Grail. 
 
 To Jar. To creak, make a harsh 
 noise, as things that do not move 
 smoothly on each other. Hence/^r, dis- 
 agreement, variance, quarrel. ' Christians 
 being at jarre among themselves.' — Bale 
 in R. Swab, garren, Bav. garrezen, to 
 creak like a wheel or shoe, or the hinge 
 of a door ; Sp. chirriar, to creak or chirp ; 
 Lat. garrire, to chirp, to chatter. 
 
 Jargon. Properly the chattering of 
 birds, analogous to forms like AS. cear- 
 kian, OE. chark, chirk, to creak or chirp ; 
 Lith. kirkti, to creak or cluck ; karkfi, to 
 whirr, cluck, gaggle ; czirksti, to chirp, 
 twitter ; Magy. csergeni, to rattle, rustle. 
 Tr. jargonner, to gaggle as a goose ; jar- 
 gouiller, to warble, chirp, or chatter. 
 
 But she withal no word may sowne 
 
 But chitre, and as a hxxdjargmune. — Gower in R. 
 
 Hence figuratively for an utterance of 
 
 JAW 
 
 sounds not understood. It. g^rgo, ger- 
 gone, Fr. jargon, gibberish, fustian lan- 
 guage, a barbarous jangling, — Cot. In 
 the same way Wall, gazouy, to warble, is 
 also used in the sense of speaking jargon. 
 Fr. patois, explained by Palsgrave (p. 261) 
 as the recording of birds, is now used to 
 signify a provincial dialect. 
 
 Javmdice. Fr. jaimisse, the yellow 
 disease ; jatme, yellow. 
 
 Jaunt. — Jaunce. Two ways of writing 
 the same word, as Fr. tancer becomes E, 
 taiitit. The fundamental meaning is to 
 jolt or jog. To jounce, to bounce, thump, 
 and jolt, as rough riders are wont to do. 
 — Forby. 
 
 Spurgalled and ixcQ^hy jauncing Bolingbroke. 
 
 Rich. IL 
 
 Fr. jancer tm cheval, to stir a horse in 
 the stable till it be swart withal ; also as 
 E. jaunt. — Cot. Manx jonse, a jolt or 
 wince ; jonseragh, wincing, acting in a 
 wild, untamely manner. — Cregeen. Sw. 
 dunsa, Dan. dundse, to thump, to fall 
 heavily. 
 
 A jaunt or jafice is then used in the 
 sense of an outing for pleasure or exer- 
 cise, as Fr. alter se faire cahoter un peu j 
 S'^.fara ut at skakapd sig, to take a jog, 
 to take exercise. 
 
 Faith would I had a few moxo. jeances on't, 
 An you say the word send me to Jericho. 
 
 B. Jons., Tale of a Tub, ii. 4. 
 
 * Javelin. Fr. javelin, a weapon of 
 a size between the pike and the partizan ; 
 javelot, a gleave, dart, or small javelin. — 
 Cot. It. giavellotto, giaverina, a javelin 
 that may be hurled as a dart. — Fl, Bret. 
 gavlod, gavlin, MHG. gabilot, OE. gave- 
 lock, a javelin or dart. Neumann ex- 
 plains S^. jabalifia, as a boarspear, from 
 jabali, a wild boar, but the double form 
 of the word is against that derivation. 
 
 Jaw. yawe or cheek-bone, mandibula. 
 — Pr. Pm. Fr. jotie, the cheek, was for- 
 merly used in the sense of throat, jaws. 
 ' Garde la ley et le conseil et vie ert a ta 
 alme et grace k tes jowes : ' — et erit vita 
 animae tuae et grsitia. /aucibus iuis. — Pro- 
 verbes. 
 
 The cries of different animals, yelping 
 of dogs, chattering of birds, give rise to 
 numerous depreciatory expressions for 
 talking, and thence furnish designations 
 of the mouth, throat, jaws, as the instru- 
 ment of talk. Thus from Pl.D. kiffen, 
 keffen, to yelp, is kijfe, the jaw ; from 
 Du, kaeckelen, Fr, caqueter, to cackle, is 
 Pl.D. kdkel, in the same sense as kiffe, 
 the instrument of talk. Holt dog eenmal 
 
JAW 
 
 de kakel, hold your jaw one moment. 
 Hence, throwing off the frequentative 
 termination, Du. kaecke, the jaw, cheek. 
 So from gaghelen, to gaggle, Fris. gaghel, 
 the throat, palate — Kil. ; from Wall. 
 chawer, to cheep, cry, chaweter, to chatter 
 as daws, E. chaff, to chirp, chatter ichaf- 
 Jinch, a chirping bird ; chough, a chatter- 
 ing daw), we pass to chaff-bone (Hal.), 
 chaw-bone (Palsgr.), jaw-bone ; chavel, 
 chawl, chowl, the jaw. Dan. kicevle, to 
 wrangle, kicsve, the jaw. To kaw, to cry 
 as rooks or daws, to gasp for breath, leads 
 to Du. kauwe, a. daw ; kauwe, kouwe, a 
 jaw, throat, cheek. Again, from gabble, 
 confused talk, passing mio javvle, to con- 
 tend, wrangle (Fr. javioler, to gabble — 
 CoU), jaul, to scold or grumble (parallel 
 with Dan. kicevle), — Hal, to jaw, to 
 wrangle, we have gab, the mouth, the 
 faculty of s^QQch., jowl, joll, the jaw, and 
 (with the same relation to jowl as was 
 seen in kaecke, the cheek, compared with 
 kdkeV), Fr. jowe, E. jaw. It will be ob- 
 served that an initial k or ch frequently 
 interchanges with j, even in the same 
 language ; Fr. joffu, E. chuffy ; E. jowl, 
 chowl, jaw, chaw, Du. kauwe, Dan. 
 ki(sve. 
 
 Z2i7^. 2. Jawhole. Sc./^w, the dash 
 of the sea ; jaw-hole, a gully-hole, sink 
 where slops are thrown. Fr. gachis, 
 splashing ; G.gattche, slops ; mist-gauche, 
 the draining of the dunghill ; schiff- 
 gauche, bilge-water. 
 
 Jay. A bird noted for its chattering 
 cry. Fr. geai, gai, a jay, chough, daw ; 
 Sp. gaio, graio, a jay ; Du. kauwe, kae, 
 a daw. — Kil. Russ. gai, croaking, E. 
 caw, cry of rooks. Compare It. gazza, a 
 pie, with gazzerare, Fr. gazouiller, to 
 chirp, warble. 
 
 Jealous. Fr. jaloux, from Lat. zelus, 
 zeal, emulation, jealousy. 
 
 -ject. Lat. jacio, j actum, in comp. 
 •Jicio, -jectum, to cast, throw, whence 
 QYx. jecter, Fr. jeter, to cast, to put or 
 push forth, and the compounds inject, 
 eject, ^project, &c. 
 
 Jeer. Written geare, geere by Spencer 
 and Gascoigne. Junius \vas jeer, yeer, to 
 deride, for which he cites Du. gieren. 
 Cum stridore et strepitu alicui illudere. 
 Gieren, to cry loudly, to holloa. — Halma. 
 The form yeer tells against ON. ddra, to 
 make sport of, from ddri, a fool. Florio 
 has giara, giarra, a cheating trick or 
 Cozening deceit ; giarrare, giarare, to 
 sand, to gravel, by met. to cheat or coney- 
 catch. Giarda^ mockerie, jest, trick. — 
 
 JIB 363 
 
 Altieri. Rouchi, girie, tromperie, mau- 
 vaise plaisanterie. — Hdcart. 
 
 Jelly. Fr. geMe, the juice of meat or 
 fruit which congeals on cooling ; gelery 
 to freeze. 
 
 Jeopardy. From Fr. jeu parti, Mid. 
 Lat. jocus ^partitics, an even chance, a 
 choice of two alternatives. 
 
 Dan moineyV vos partirai 
 Deus geus, li malves lesserez, 
 Et a meillour vos en tanrez. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, 4. 24. 
 
 Or regardez que vous ferez 
 
 Que je vous vueil un geu partir.-^-lhid. 4. 293. 
 
 Jerk. — Jert. A lash of a whip, a hasty 
 pull or twitch.— B. *A shake, j^Vr/, or 
 blow with the cord of a caveson.' — Cot. 
 w. terc, a jerk or jolt. 
 
 Jerkin. Lang, jhergaoti, an over-coat ; 
 Fr. jargot, a kind of coarse garment worn 
 by country people. — Cot. Du. jurk, a 
 child's slop or pinafore. OFr. jasque, a 
 quilted jacket worn under the cuirassj 
 jazeque?t, a coat of mail. — Roquef. 
 
 Jest. See Gest. 
 
 Jet. Yx. jaiet, Lat. gagates. *The 
 geat which otherwise we ca^ gagates car- 
 rieth the name of a town and river both 
 in Lycia called Gages.' — Holland, Pliny 
 inR. 
 
 To Jet. To strut, to carry the body 
 stately or proudly. * I iette with facyon 
 and countenance to set forthe myselfe, je 
 me braggue.' — Palsgr. in Way. 
 
 From Lat. jactare. It. giattare, OFr. 
 jacter, jatter, to brag or vaunt, also to 
 swing, toss, shake up and down ; jac- 
 tance, bragging, proud ostentation. — Cot. 
 In the same way Lith. mesti, to cast ; 
 ?netyti, to cast to and fro, to brag, to strut. 
 
 Jetty. Fr. jettSe, a cast, also a jetty 
 ox jutty, a bearing out in buildings, also 
 the bank of a ditch, or the earth cast out 
 of it when it is made. — Cot. Jetteis, earth 
 cast out of a ditch. — Roquef. Hence E. 
 jetty, a bank carried out into the water. 
 
 Jewel. Fr. joyau, jouel. It. gioia, 
 joy, delight, a gem, jewel, a precious 
 thing ; gioie,gioielle, all manner of jewels. 
 — Fl. See Joy. In Mid. Lat. by errone- 
 ous etymology y.:?^^/.?. 
 
 Jewise. — Juise. Fr. juise, judgment, 
 ixovci judicium, as beneiqon, from benedic- 
 tio. ' Si proeves varient eient juyse de 
 pylorie et la partie perde sa demande.' — 
 Lib. Alb. 665. 
 
 To Jib. To start backwards. The 
 jib-sail is a sail which shifts of itself from 
 side to side as required by the wind. Du. 
 gijpen (of sails), to turn suddenly, — 
 Halma. OFr. regiber, regimber^ to kick 
 
364 
 
 JIFFLE 
 
 or wince. ' Uor al so sone so thet flesch 
 haveth al his wil, hit regibbeth anon ase 
 fet kalf.' — Ancren Riwle 130. Jibby, a 
 gay frisky girl. — Hal. 
 
 To Jiffle.— Jiffy. To jiffie, to be rest- 
 less. — Hal. A Jijjy is an instant, a turn 
 of the hand. To jib, to turn rapidly 
 back ; Fr. gibelet, a gimlet, an instrument 
 that pierces by turning round ; W. ctJ>io, 
 ysgipio, to snatch. 
 
 Jig. To move to and fro or up and 
 down, a merry dance ; jiggetting, jolting, 
 shaking, going about idly ; a jigger, any 
 piece of machinery that moves with re- 
 ciprocating action. Fr. jiguer, to throw 
 the legs about. — Pat. de Champ. Hence 
 vulgarly gigues, the legs, and gigot, a leg 
 of mutton. Bav. gigl (contemptuously), 
 the feet. — D. M. v. See Jag. 
 
 Jilt. Sc. gillet, a giddy girl, probably 
 for giglet or gigloi, a flighty girl ; '' giglet 
 Fortune.' — Shakcsp. To jilt one is to 
 behave to him like a jillet, to be incon- 
 stant to him. 
 
 Kjillet broke his heart at last.— Bums. 
 
 To Jingle. An imitative form like 
 tingle or G. klingeln, to which last it is 
 related as chink to clink. Comp. also Fr. 
 clinguaille, quinquaille, chinks, coin. — 
 Cot. Da. giingre, to resound, ON. glingra, 
 to jingle. 'LQt. jivingsch ! (Fr.y) repre- 
 sents the sound of a mowing scythe or a 
 glass window breaking ; jivingschkeht, to 
 jingle {klingcni), as when a window is 
 beaten in. 
 
 To Job. I. To peck, to strike with a 
 pointed mstrument. Byllen or jobbyn as 
 bryddys, jobbyn with the byl, rostro. — 
 Pr. Pm. The nut-jobber is a synonym of 
 the nut-hatch, a bird which breaks open 
 nuts with blows of the bill. Bohem. 
 dubati, Pol. dziobad, to peck ; dziob, Gael. 
 gob, the beak of a bird. 
 
 Job. 2. An undivided piece of work. 
 Jobbel, jobbet, a small load. — Hal. To 
 work by the job, to undertake a definite 
 piece of work. In the same sense, to 
 work by the gob (Hal.), 2ind gob, gobbet, a 
 lump or portion. Wall, gob, a blow, a 
 piece ; gob d' homnte, a dump of a man. 
 Baye m'ein ein gob, give me a bit of it. 
 — Sigart. Pl.D. stoot, a blow, a job or 
 piece of work done at one time. Brescian 
 bbt, a stroke, blow ; laurct, a bbt, to work 
 by the job. 
 
 Jobation. Tojobe (at the university), 
 to reprimand.— B. Jobation is still in 
 use for a taking to task, such as Job re- 
 ceived at the hand of his friends. 
 
 Jockey. From Jack (or, with the 
 
 JORDAN 
 
 Northern pronunciation, 7ock), in the 
 sense of a person if in infcrior position. 
 Jocky was specially applied to the servant 
 who looks after horses, now almost con- 
 fined to the rider of a race-horse. 
 
 To Jog. Sec Jag. 
 
 Join. — Juncture. Fr. joindre, from 
 Lat. jungere, the nasalised form of the 
 same root which gives Gr. X,tvyvv\ii, to 
 join, tvyov, a yoke. Sanscr. yuj, join. 
 
 Joist. The joists are the sleepers on 
 which the floor of a room is laid, the bed 
 of the floor. Gyst, that gothe over the 
 flore, solive, giste. — Palsgr. in Way. Fr. 
 giste, a bed, place to lie on, from gesir^ 
 Lat. jacere, to lie. The term sleeper, with 
 which railways have made us so familiar, 
 is a repetition of the same figure. 
 
 Joke. Lat. jocus, jest, sport ; jocari, 
 It. giocare, Pro v. jogar, Fr. jouer, to 
 sport, to play. The root of the word 
 seems preserved in Lith. jugstu (Eng. 
 j) or jungu, jiigti, to be merry ; jaugtis\ 
 pajiigti, to rejoice ; jiigulis (exactly cor- 
 responding to Y.. juggler), one who makes 
 sport for the company, a jovial person. 
 
 Jolly. It. giulivo, Fr. joli for jolify 
 gay, fine, also merry, jocund ; jolietd, 
 jolivetS, prettiness, mirth. — Cot. Not 
 from Jovialis, but from ON. jol, E. yule, 
 Christmas, the great season of festivities 
 in rude times. — Diez. N. jula seg, Du. 
 joelen, to live a joyous life, to make 
 merry. 
 
 Jolly-boat. Ban. jolle, a. yawl, jolly- 
 boat. The original meaning is probably 
 as in Fr. jalle,jalaye, a bowl ; Du. jol- 
 leken, a trough. Dan. jolle afsted, to 
 bowl along. See Gallon. 
 
 To Jolt. The representation of the 
 sound of a blow admits of infinite varia- 
 tion. To jot, jotter, to jolt roughly — 
 Forby ; to jock, to jolt. — Hal. To julk, 
 to sound as liquor shaken in a cask — • 
 Forby, to shake, splash, jolt. — Hal. To 
 jolle, to knock. He jowPd their heads 
 together. — Mrs Baker. A joult-head, or 
 jolter-head, like logger-head, seems to be 
 from the notion of wagging the head to 
 and fro, and not from the idea of thick- 
 ness. 
 
 Jonquil. Yx.jonquille, S^^. junguilla, 
 the sweet yellow Narcissus with rush-like 
 leaves. 'Lai. juncus, rush. 
 
 Jordan. Properly an earthen pot, 
 synonymous with gally-pot, Du. glei-pot, 
 a clay or earthen pot. Like gally-pot, in 
 modern times the term was specially ap- 
 plied to the vessels in medical use. Our 
 host in the Canterbury Tales, addressing 
 
JOSTLE 
 
 the Doctor of physick, invokes blessings 
 upon 
 
 — thy urinalles and ihy jordanls. 
 
 Hollinshed speaks of a pretended ' phy- 
 sicus et astrologus ' being exposed with 
 two ^jorden pots ' hung round his neck, 
 for having deceived the people by a false 
 . prediction ; ' du^ ollae quas jordanes vo- 
 camus.' — Walsingham in Jam. Dan., Sw. 
 jord^ earth. In like manner Northampton 
 ■jurnut, a pig-nut, for earth-nut. 
 
 To Jostle. To thrust or push with 
 the elbows. — B. A frequentative from 
 O Fr. joiister. See J oust. 
 
 Jot. To jot ^ to touch, to jog, to nudge. 
 — Hal. I jotte, I touch one thynge against 
 another, je heurte. What needes thou to 
 jotte me with thine elbowe ?— Palsgr. Du. 
 Jotien, Fris. joltjen, jotskjen, to jolt. — 
 Epkema. To fall jot on one's rump, to 
 plump down. — Forby. To jot a thing 
 down, to note it in a book at the moment 
 it occurs. 
 
 Then from the connection so frequently 
 observed between the ideas of a short 
 movement and a lump or piece of some- 
 thing, jot is used for a small portion, 
 what is jotted or 'thrown down at once. 
 The resemblance to Gr. iwra is acci- 
 dental. Comp. Sw. dial, datta, a touch, 
 a blow ; detta, to fall ; dutta, to touch or 
 nudge one ; dett, a dot or speck, a lump, 
 bit ; dott, a wisp or tuft of hay, wool, 
 &c. E. dot, a small portion ; a dot of 
 phlegm. The interchange or equivalence 
 of an initial d and _;' is of frequent occur- 
 rence, as in jag, dag; job, dab, a lump ; 
 -£. jounce, and Sw. dtmsa, to thump. 
 
 Joiimal. — Journey. From Lat. dies, 
 a day, came diurnus, daily, and thence 
 It. giorno, Yx. jour, a day, with their de- 
 rivatives ;journal,2i notice of daily events ; 
 journde, a day's work, a day's travel or 
 journey. The original sense of the word 
 is preserved in journeyman^ a workman 
 at daily wages. 
 
 Joust. It. giostrare, Fr. jouster, to 
 tilt. Derived by Muratori from It. chios- 
 tro, chiostra, Lombard ciostra, the en- 
 closed yard in which a tournament was 
 held. But the word has a more extended 
 meaning than this derivation would ac- 
 count for, and the radical signification 
 seems to have reference to the shock of 
 the combatants. Limousin dzusta {dz = 
 Eng.y), to knock at a door ; Yx. jouster, 
 jouter (whence E. jostle), properly to 
 knock, then, with softened significance, 
 to meet together, to join, to abut. See 
 Jot. 
 
 JUBILANT 
 
 365 
 
 Ce m'est avis qu'en Loiineis, 
 Justerent li dux e li reis. 
 
 Chron. Norm. 2. 10260. 
 — the Duke and the King met together. 
 
 Mon champ joute au sien, my field 
 abuts upon his, as G. stosst daran, liter- 
 ally, strikes against it. 
 
 The origin may be traced to ON. thys, 
 OHG. thuz, doz, OSw. dyst, dust, noise, 
 uproar, tumult. Dero wellono doz^ fragor 
 undarum. — Notker. 
 Med dyst swa at stanga gingo sunder. 
 With a crash, so that their spears flew in sunder. 
 Chron. Rhythm, in Ihre. 
 
 Dan. dyst, combat, shock, set-to . Vove 
 en dyst med en, to try a fall with one. 
 Hence rdnna diost, or rida diust, to joust. 
 
 Jovial. Cheerful, merry ; qualities 
 supposed to belong to one born under the 
 influence of the planet Jupiter or Jove, 
 as melancholy was promoted by the in- 
 fluence of Saturn. 
 
 JowL — Jole. Properly the jaws, throat, 
 gullet, often specially applied to the head 
 of a fish. Ajoll of sturgeon. — B. and F. 
 Geoules of sturgeon. — Howell. Brancus, 
 2l gole, or a chawle, — Vocab. in Pr. Pm. 
 V. Chavylbone. Jolle, or heed, caput. 
 Jolle of a fysshe-teste. Jawle-bone of a 
 wildebore. — Pr. Pm. and notes. ' The 
 chowle or crop adhering to the lower side 
 of the bill.' — Brown. Vulg. Err. in R. 
 
 The E. forms seem to have equal claims 
 to a Fr. and AS. ancestry ; OFr. gole, 
 golle, geule, Fr. gueule, the mouth, throat, 
 gullet, also the stomach itself ; gueullard 
 (the equivalent of E. Jowler, Chowler), the 
 muzzle of a beast, also a wide-mouthed 
 fellow. — Cot. On the other hand, as. 
 geagl, jaw, throat, geajlas, geahlas, the 
 jaws. Viewed in connection with the 
 latter forms, jowl or jole would differ from 
 jazf only in the addition of a final el or /, 
 and the same relation is seen between 
 chowl or chawle, and Du. kauwe, kouwe, 
 kuwe, throat, gullet, cheek, jaw, chin, 
 gills.— Kil. 
 
 Joy. Lat. gaudere, gavisus sumj It. 
 godere, giotre,0'2ig. gouvir, Yrov. gauzir, 
 jatizir, Fr. jouir, to enjoy ; Ptg. goivo, 
 Prov. gaug, jot, It. gioia, Fr. joie^ joy. — 
 Diez. 
 
 Jub. A jug. 
 With brede and cheese and good ale in ^juhbe. 
 Miller's Tale. 
 
 It. gobbio, gozzo, a bunch in the throat, 
 goitre, craw, or crop of a bird, by met. 
 any glass with a round big body. — Fl. 
 See Goblet. 
 
 Jubilant. Lat. jubilare, to shout for 
 joy. 
 
366 
 
 JUDGE 
 
 Judge. — Judicious. Lat. judex (Jus 
 dico)y \i.giudicey Yx.juge. 
 
 Jug. A vessel for drink. Jug or 
 Judge was formerly a familiar equivalent 
 of Joan or Jenny. Jannette, Judge, 
 Jennie (a woman's name) ; Jehannette, 
 Jug or Jinny. — Cot. Now the vessel 
 which holds drink is peculiarly liable to 
 familiar personification. We have black- 
 jack (a jack of leather to drink in — Min- 
 sheu), a leathern jug ; Susan, in the dis- 
 trict of Gower, a brown earthenware 
 pitcher.— Philol. Proceed. 4. 223. But 
 see Goblet. 
 
 * Juggler. — To Juggle. The jug- 
 gler was a person whose business was to 
 find amusement for the company on fes- 
 tive occasions by music, recitation, story- 
 telling, conjuring, &c. The word is com- 
 mon to all the Romance dialects, from 
 •whence it has passed with more or less 
 corruption into the other European lan- 
 guages. It takes its rise in Lat. jocus, 
 sport, jest, jocor, to sport, to play, jocu- 
 lator, a jester, joculatio, festivity, sport. 
 * Joculationes cantusque exercebunt.' — 
 Firmicus in Fore. From joculator were 
 formed It. giocolatore, OFr. jugleor, Yr. 
 
 jongleur, and E. juggler, while It. gioco- 
 laro, giullaro, Sp. Prov. joglar, point to 
 jociilaris as their immediate origin. — 
 D iez. G. gaukeler, D u . guycheler, kokeler 
 (ludius, gesticulator, mimus, joculator — 
 Kil.), with Boh. kuglar, keykljr, Pol. 
 kuglar, are probably borrowed. In a 
 passage cited by Roquefort, where 3ijo7ig- 
 leur recites his different arts of entertain- 
 ment, he begins, ' Ge suis juglerres de 
 vielle ' — I am a player on the vielle. He 
 soon comes to tricks of sleight of hand. 
 
 Bien sai joer de 1' escanbot (exchange) — 
 
 Et si sai meint beau geu de table, 
 
 Et d' entregiet (sleight of hand) et d" artumaire 
 
 (magic) 
 Bien sai un enchantement faire. 
 
 It is from this latter part of the juggler's 
 art that the verb to juggle has acquired 
 the sense of conjure, trick, delude. 
 Jugular. Lat. jugulum, the throat. 
 
 * Juice. Jows of frutys or herbys or 
 other lyke. Jus, succus — Pr. Pm. Fr. 
 jus, juice, sap, moisture, broth — Cot. Lat. 
 jus, jusculu?n, liquor of things boiled, 
 
 broth, pottage. The meaning of juice 
 corresponds more exactly with Lat. suc- 
 cus, which in Lang, becomes jhuc, Sp. 
 jugo. Lang, jhuca, to suck. 
 
 Julep. It. giulebbe, Fr. juhp, a drink 
 made of distilled waters and syrops, or of 
 a decoction sweetened with honey or 
 
 JUNKET 
 
 sugar. — Cot. From Arab juleb, juldb, 
 Ytvs. gul-db, rosewater. — Diez. 
 
 To Jumble. — Jumbre. To rumble, 
 then to shake together. I jumbylle, I 
 make a noyse by removyng of heavy 
 thynges. I jumble as one dothe that 
 can [not ?] play upon an instrument, je 
 brouille. — Palsgr. 
 
 'i^QJombre no discordant thing ifere. 
 
 Chaucer. Fr. and Cr. 2. 1037. 
 Da. skumpe, skumple, to shake, jolt. N. 
 Fris. shumpeln, to jolt ; N. skiunpla, to 
 shake liquid in a vessel. 
 
 To Jump, Sw. guppa, to rock, to tilt 
 up ; Bav. guvipen, to jolt, spring, jump ; 
 gumper, the plunger of a pump. Con- 
 nected forms are OFr. regiber, regimber, 
 to kick, giber, to throw about the arms or 
 legs ; Lang, ghimba, to jump, to kick. 
 Sw, dial, skumpa, to jog, jolt, jump, run 
 to and fro ; N, skumpa, to shove, to nudge ; 
 Da, skumpe, skumple, to shake, jolt. It. 
 inciampare, to stumble or trip upon. 
 
 Jump. 2. A throw, cast, hazard. 
 
 Our fortune lies 
 Upon this y«w/.— Antony and Cle. 
 
 Plump, without qualification or condition, 
 
 exact. 
 
 I'll set her on ; 
 Myself the while to draw the Moor apart, 
 And bring him jump where he may Cassio find 
 Soliciting his wife. 
 
 Ye shall find it make J7imp six hundred 
 sixty six. — Bale in R. In this sense the 
 word, like the synonymous plump, re- 
 presents the sound of a lump thrown down 
 in the midst. Juni, a sudden jolt or con- 
 cussion from encountering an object un- 
 awares. 
 
 Junior. \j3X. jwiior, compar, oijuve^ 
 nis, young. See Young. 
 
 Junk. — Junt. Junk, a lump or piece. 
 — Hal. Old jtmk is cable or thick rope 
 cut up into short lengths for the purpose 
 of unravelling. * A good junt of beef.'—- 
 Allan Ramsay. Swiss jante brod, a hunch 
 of bread. — Idioticon Bernense. Parallel 
 forms are chunk, a log of wood ; chump, 
 a log or thick piece. The chump-end 
 of the sirloin is the thick end. Cob, a 
 lump or piece ; cobbin, a piece of an eel 
 — Hal. ; ON. kubbr, a short thick piece ; 
 N. kubba sund' ein stock, to cut a stick to 
 bits ; kubb, kumb, knubb, a short thick 
 piece. 
 
 Junk. 2. Malay y««^, a vessel of con- 
 siderable size. — Crawford. 
 
 Junket. It. giuncata, any junkets, 
 viz. dainty fresh cheese, so called because 
 brought to market upon fresh rushes. 
 
JURIS 
 
 — Fl. Thus we may see on Yorkshire 
 cheese the marks of the straws upon 
 which it has been set to drain. Yx.jon- 
 cade, a certain spoon-meat made of cream, 
 rosewater, and sugar. — Cot. The name 
 oi junket is still given in Devonshire to a 
 similar preparation. Sc. sunkets, pro- 
 visions, food. 
 
 From delicacies of the foregoing de- 
 scription, to junket has come to signify to 
 feast, to frequent entertainments. 
 
 Juris. — Jurist. — Jury. Lat. jusjuris^ 
 
 KEEL 
 
 367 
 
 right, law, equity; whence jurare, to 
 affirm with legal rites, to swear ; jurata, 
 Fr. jure'e, a jury or selection of men 
 sworn to administer the law j jurist, one 
 skilled in the law, &c. 
 
 Just. — Justice. Lat, Justus, what is 
 in accordance with (Jus) the rights of 
 men. 
 
 To Jut. Fr. jecter, jetter, to cast, 
 throw, put or push forth ; forjetter, to 
 jut, lean out, hang over. — Cot. haX.jac- 
 tare, to throw. 
 
 K 
 
 To Kaw.— To Keck. To kaw, to 
 fetch one's breath with difficulty. To 
 keck, to make a noise in the throat by 
 reason of difficulty of breathing — B. ; to 
 retch, hawk, clear the throat. — Hal. 
 Hence keeker, squeamish. G. kauchen, 
 keichen, to gasp for breath ; Du. kichen, 
 to pant, cough, sob ; Lap. kdkot, kaklot, 
 to nauseate, properly doubtless to retch. 
 
 Kebbers. Refuse sheep taken out of 
 the flock. — B. ''Kebbers or cullers drawn 
 out of a flock of sheep.' — Nomenclator 
 in Hal. From Du. kippen, to pick out, 
 to cull. 
 
 Kecks. — Kecky.— Kex. The dry hol- 
 low stalks of last year's growth, especially 
 of umbelliferous plants. Kex, an elder 
 pipe. — Sherwood, w. cecys, reeds, canes ; 
 cecysen, cegid. Corn, cegas, Bret, cegit, 
 Lat. cicuta, hemlock. 
 
 Kedge. i. A small anchor. ON. kaggi, 
 a cask fastened as a float to the anchor 
 to show where it lies. From the float 
 the name seems to have been transferred 
 to the anchor itself. 
 
 2. Brisk, lively. Kygge {kydge, H.), or 
 joly, jocundus, hilaris. — Pr. Pm. Sc. cady, 
 keady, caidgy, caigie, wanton, lascivious, 
 then cheerful, sportive, osw. kat, lasci- 
 vious, also cheerful ; Da. kaad, wanton, 
 frolicsome. Sw. kdttjas, to be on heat. 
 Sc. caige, to wax wanton. Sw. dial. 
 kdgas, to be eager ; kdgg, libidinous, on 
 heat. Lat. catulio, to caterwaul, to be on 
 heat. 
 
 Kedge-belly. A glutton ; kedgy, pot- 
 bellied ; to kedge one's belly, to stuff one's 
 belly. N. kaggie, a keg, small cask, jar, 
 a heap or close-packed mass ; figura- 
 tively, a round belly, thickset person. 
 
 To Keek. N. kika, Du. kijcken, to 
 peep. Keek, peep, and teet are all used 
 in the sense of looking narrowly, and all 
 
 seem originally derived from the repre- 
 sentation of a sharp sound. The sylla- 
 ble kik, in Sw. kik-hosta, represents the 
 shrill sound of the throat in whooping- 
 cough. OE. chykkyn as hennys byrdys 
 (to peep as a young chick) pipio — Pr. Pm. 
 Chick is also used to represent the sound 
 made by a hard body breaking, and 
 thence a crack or chip, and it is perhaps 
 from the image of the light shining 
 through a crack that the notion of peep- 
 ing is derived. Thus we speak indiffer 
 ently of the peep of day, or crack of day. 
 But It may be simply from the notion of 
 shining, so often expressed by a root 
 originally representing a sharp sound. 
 Lap. kiket, to shine. 
 
 Keel. ON. kjolr, kjbll, keel of ship, 
 and poet, a ship ; AS. ceol, OHG. kiol, a 
 ship, G. kiel, Fr. quille. It. chiglia, the 
 keel of a ship. The word seems to have 
 passed from the Gothic to the Romance lan- 
 guages, and perhaps the G. kiel, the quill 
 or stem of a feather, may exhibit the figure 
 from whence the keel of a vessel takes its 
 name, the ribs of the vessel parting off on 
 each side like the web of a feather from 
 the midrib or stalk. 
 
 KeeL 2. — Kayle. — Skayle. G. kegel, 
 Fr. quille, nine-pins. Du. keghel, kekel, 
 icicle. OHG. chegil, kegil, a pin or peg ; 
 zelt-kegil, a tent-pin. G. keil, a wedge. 
 If the element -icle in icicle signify ice, as 
 we have supposed, and has no reference 
 to form, it would seem that kegel in the 
 sense of cone or peg radically signifies 
 something in the shape of an icicle. 
 
 To KeeL 
 
 While greasy Sue doth keel the pot. 
 
 Commonly explained to cool, or by- 
 others, to scum. The meaning however 
 which would best suit the context is te 
 
368 
 
 KEELSON 
 
 scour, a sense warranted by the patois of 
 central France, where we have quillaud^ 
 shppery, pohshed, shining ; acquiller, to 
 scour. 
 
 y'acquillais p6eles et p6elons, 
 Les marmites et les chaudrons. 
 
 Equiller la valsselie, to scour. Quiller, 
 as colder^ to sHp or slide. — Jaubert. 
 
 Keelson. — Kelson. The piece of tim- 
 ber lying upon the keel in which the mast 
 is stepped. 
 
 The topmast to the keelsine then with halyards 
 down they drew. — Chapman, Homer. 
 
 Dan. kiol-svin, N. kiole-svill, from svill, 
 G. schwelle, a sill or beam on which some- 
 thing rests in building. 
 
 Keen. G. kilhn, daring, bold ; auf 
 etwas kiihn seyn, to be keen after some- 
 thing ; kauf -kiihn, eager to buy. OSw. 
 kSn, kyn, quick, prompt, daring. 
 
 To Keep. AS. cepan, to observe, be 
 intent upon ; cepan his hearmes, to seek 
 his injury ; fleames cepan, fugam capes- 
 sere, to be intent upon flight. To take 
 keep of a thing, to take notice of it. To 
 keep a day holy is to observe it as holy ; 
 to keep your word, to observe it. Fris. 
 kijpen, to look. — Epkema. A similar 
 train of thought is seen in the case of 
 hold, the primitive sense of which seems 
 to be that which is now expressed by the 
 compound behold. 
 
 Keg. N. kaggje, a small cask, a jar ; 
 w. cawg, a bowl ; Sc. cogue, cog, a hooped 
 wooden vessel, a pail; Gael, cogan^ a 
 small drinking-dish. 
 
 Kell. A child's caul, any thin skin or 
 membrane ; any covering like network ; 
 the net in which a woman's hair was con- 
 fined. — Hal. ' Rim or kell wherein the 
 bowels are lapt.' — Fl. See Caul. 
 
 Kelter. Readiness for work. He is 
 not yet in kelter. — Skinner. Sw. dial. 
 kiltra sig, to kilt oneseif, or tuck up one's 
 clothes, as one preparing for work, operi 
 se accingere. 
 
 * Kemlin. — Kim'nel. A flat tub used 
 in brewing, for scalding pigs, or the like. 
 Kemplin, kemlings (B,), keinbing (Hal.), a 
 brewer's vessel. Du. kain, kajtime, a 
 brewery.— Kil. OFr. cambe, a brewing. 
 * Nus ne puet faire cambe, ne brasser 
 chervoise ne goudale sans son congid.' 
 
 It may be doubted however whether 
 the word is not rather connected with Sw. 
 dial, kimb. Fin. kimpi, a cask stave, corre- 
 sponding to Pl.D. kimni, E. chitnb, the 
 projecting ledge of a cask. Sw. dial. 
 kimma, a tub, cask ; birkinima, a beer 
 cask. Mr Atkinson cites from a record 
 
 KEVEL 
 
 of 1385-96, 'pro ij kympe allec ' for two 
 barrels of herrings. Da. dial, kiiner, a 
 cooper. In Bremen kiniker is a cooper 
 who makes tubs, not casks. 
 
 To Ken. on. kenna, N. kjenna, to per- 
 ceive by sense, recognise, observe. 
 
 Kennel, i. Fr. chenal, a gutter or 
 kennel ; Lat. canale, pipe, channel, water 
 conduit. 
 
 2. Fr. chenil, It. canile, a place where 
 dogs are kept. Lat. catiis, dog. 
 
 Kenspeckle. Northampton skench- 
 back, easy to recognise, conspicuously 
 marked. Sw. kdnspak, N. kjennespak, 
 ready at observing, quick at recognising 
 what has once been seen, from kjenjia^ 
 to recognise, and ON. spakr, wise, prudent. 
 So Sw. dial, miittiespak, good at remem- 
 bering. In E. kenspeckle the sense is 
 inverted, so as to indicate a quality of 
 the object instead of the observer, the 
 latter part of the word being modified as 
 if to signify the marking by which the 
 object is distinguished. 
 
 * Kerb, A stone laid round the brim 
 of a well, &c. — B. Any edging of strong 
 solid stuff which serves as a guard to 
 something else. — Todd. ' Elm scarce has 
 any superior for kerbs for coppers.' — 
 Evelyn. 
 
 Perhaps for crib, which is technically 
 used in the sense of a strong wooden 
 framework. It may, however, be simply 
 curb, as it is often spelt. 
 
 Kerchief. Fr. couvrechief, a covering 
 for the head ; OFr. chef, chief, head. 
 
 Kernel, i. on. kjami, pith, heart, 
 kernel ; Fr. cerneau, kernel of a nut, &c. 
 G. kern, pip of fruit, core, inmost or best 
 part of a thing, pith of a tree. Probably 
 from korn, grain ; kbrnen, kernen, to 
 reduce to grain. 
 
 2. Fr. car7ieau, creneau, the battlement 
 of a wall ; creneld, imbattled ; cren, a 
 notch, nick, jag. See Cranny. 
 
 Kersey. Fr. carisde, creseau, Sw. ker- 
 sing. 
 
 Kestrel. Burgundian cristel, Fr. cres- 
 serelle, quercelle, a hawk of a reddish 
 colour. The G. synonym rothel-weihe, 
 from rbthel, raddle or red chalk, points 
 to an origin in G. rod-crite, creta rubea. 
 — Dief Supp. 
 
 Kettle. G. kessel, Goth, katil, Bohem. 
 Russ. kotel. 
 
 Kevel. A bit for a horse, gag for the 
 mouth. Kevel, mordale, camus. — Pr. 
 Pm. N. kjevla, to gag a kid to prevent 
 it sucking. ON. kefii, Dan. kievle, a short 
 staff, peg, rolling-pin. w. cyff, Lat. cippus, 
 a stock. See Gyve. 
 
KEY 
 
 Key. I. AS. ccEg, Fris. kay^ Lat. davis, 
 Gr. (cXci'c, KXj;ig, a key of a lock. The 
 Lat, and Gr. forms are from claudere, 
 claicsum, KXtioj, to inclose or shut, as G. 
 schliissel^ a key, from schliesse7i, to shut. 
 Thus analogy would lead us to derive 
 key from w. caic, to shut, making it 
 identical with w. cae, an inclosure, hedge, 
 , garland, Bret. kae\ a hedge, or dyke. 
 
 It is remarkable that Walach. kyae or 
 kye\ a key, an undoubted descendant of 
 Lat. clavis^ is almost identical with the 
 E. word, and perhaps this identity in the 
 derivatives may proceed from a radical 
 unity of the parent forms, teaching us to 
 regard w. can, the origin of cae, an in- 
 closure, and of E. key, as the analogue of 
 Lat. claiido, the origin of clavis. The 
 / of claudo might easily fall away, as the 
 / of G. schliessen, or Sw. slufa, in E. shjit, 
 while the final d disappears as com- 
 pletely in Gr. k\hu/ as in w. cau. Evi- 
 dence moreover that cae had once a final 
 d may be found in Du. kade, kaai, kae, a 
 dyke or causey ; zonier-kade or — kaai, a 
 dyke which confines the waters in sum- 
 mer only ; winter-kaai, one which with- 
 stands the winter floods. 
 
 Key. 2.— Quay. Fr. qjiai, Ptg. caes, 
 Bret. kae. The Bret, kae, inclosure, 
 hedge, dyke, as well as quay, and Du. 
 kade, kae, dyke, causey, would look as if 
 a quay was regarded in the first instance 
 simply as a dyke or embankment along 
 a river's side. But the true explanation 
 seems to be that given by Spelman, 
 ' Caia, a space on the shore compacted 
 by beams and planks as it were by keys.^ 
 The name of key is given in construction 
 to any bond used for firmly uniting se- 
 parate parts. Thus key-stone is the stone 
 which binds together the two sides of an 
 arch. '•Key, to knitte walls togedyr, 
 clef.' — Palsgr. ' Key, or knyttynge of 
 two wallys in unstabylle grounde, lora- 
 mentum (concatenatio lignorum, as the 
 word is elsewhere explained — Dief. Supp.) 
 vel caya. Keyage, or botys stonding, 
 ripatum.'-T— Pr. Pm. 
 
 Kibe. A sore on the heel. Devonsh. 
 kibby, sore, chapped. — Hal. 
 
 To Kick. Words signifying vibratory 
 or abrupt movement are commonly taken 
 from sounds of a similar character. Now 
 Bav. gagkern, gagkezen, kackezen, kick- 
 em, kickezen, are used to represent abrupt 
 sounds, such as the clucking of a hen, 
 dry short coughing, stammering, tittering, 
 giggling. Gigkgagk, in nursery language 
 a clock, a ticker. Hence gig, gag, kik, 
 appear as roots from whence spring forms 
 
 KIDDIER 
 
 369. 
 
 signifying abrupt impulsive action. Tyrol 
 gagen, goglen, to gesticulate, to toddle as 
 a child ; gickeji, to stick ; gigl, a con- 
 temptuous expression for the feet. Fr. 
 dial, giguer, gigasser, to leap, throw about 
 the legs ; gigailler, s'^battre, s'agiter, — ■ 
 Jaubert Gl. du Centre de la Fr. Gigne, 
 gigot, a leg. — Diet, du bas lang. Hence 
 may be explained w. cicio, to kick ; cic, a 
 foot ; cicwr, footman— Jones ; cicwyr, in- 
 fantry. — Richards. 
 
 The same correspondence between the 
 expression of abrupt utterance and mus- 
 cular action of a similar kind is seen in 
 stammer and stainp j stutter and G. stos- 
 sen, to hit or kick ; Pl.D. staggeln, to 
 stammer, and E. stagger j Sc. habble, to 
 stammer, and E. hobble. 
 
 Kickle. — Kittle. Ticklish, unsteady, 
 easily moved. Kickish, irritable ; kiddle 
 (of the weather), unsettled. — Hal. N. kita, 
 to tickle, to touch a sensitive place ; kitl, 
 tickling, irritation, shrug ; kitla, to tickle, 
 touch a sore place, to rub one's shoulders 
 or arms ; ON. kida ser, to scratch oneself. 
 Sw. dial, kikklot^ rickety, unsteady. 
 
 Kickshaw. From Fr. qiielqnechose, 
 something, applied to an unsubstantial 
 nicety in cookery, and thence extended to 
 unsubstantial gratifications of other kinds. 
 
 * There cannot be no more certain argument of 
 a decayed stomach than the loathing of whole- 
 some and solid food, and longing after fine qnel- 
 queschoses of new and artificial composition.' — 
 Bp. Hall in N. and Q. ' Fricandeaux, short, 
 skinless, and dainty puddings, or qiielkchoses 
 made of good flesh and herbs chopped together.' 
 — Cot. ' (Brainsick.) Yet would I quit my pre- 
 tensions to all these rather than not be the author 
 of this sonnet, which your rudeness hath irre- 
 coverably lost. (Limberham.) Some foolish 
 French quclqucchose, I warrant you. (Br.) 
 Quelquechose ! O ignorance in supreme perfec- 
 tion ! He means a kekshose. (Lim.) Why 
 then a kekshoes let it be, and a kckshoes for your 
 song." — Dryden, Kind Keeper. 
 
 Kid. I. ON. kid, a young goat ; G. 
 kitze, a female cat, a goat ; kitzlein, a kid. 
 See Kindle. 
 
 Kid. 2.— Kidnap. In rogues' slang 
 kid is a child, agreeing with Lith. hidikis, 
 a child. Hence kidnap, to nab or steal 
 children. 
 
 3. A brush-faggot, w. cidys, faggots ; 
 cidysen, a. single faggot. 
 
 4. A pannier or basket. — Hal. Possi- 
 bly connected with the last sense as being 
 made of twigs. Bav. kbtz, kotzen, kiitzen, 
 a hod or basket for carrying on the back. 
 Boh. koss, a basket, anything made of 
 wicker. 
 
 Kiddier. — Cadger. A packman or 
 travelling huxter. Kiddier, kidger, one 
 24 
 
370 
 
 KIDDLE 
 
 who buys up fowls, &c., at farm-houses, 
 and carries them to market.— P'orby. 
 Persons who bring fish from the sea to 
 Newcastle market are still called cadgers. 
 — Brocket. As pcdler^ pedder, from the 
 ped or basket in which he carries his 
 wares, so it is probable that kiddicr, cad- 
 ger, are from kid. See Kid, 4. 
 
 Kiddle, A basket set in the opening 
 of a weir to catch fish, an implement fre- 
 quently denounced in our old municipal 
 laws, probably on account of its dcstruc- 
 tivencss. Fr. quideau, a wicker engine 
 whereby fish is caught. — Cot. Bret, kidel, 
 a net fastened to two stakes at the mouth 
 of a stream. — Legonidec. From kid in 
 the 3rd and 4th senses. Boh. ^'(^jj, basket, 
 anything made of wicker ; kossatka, a 
 wicker cage for fishing. 
 
 * Kidney. 
 Take tho hert and tho mydrav and tho kidnere. 
 Liber cure cocorum, p. 10. 
 In the receipt for hagese, p. 52, the kid- 
 ney is called nei'e simply. G. niere was 
 used for the testicles as well as the kid- 
 neys, being both glandular bodies of 
 similar shape ; entnieren, to castrate. 
 Hence kidnere maybe guidnere, the nere 
 of the quid, ON. kvidr, Sc. kyte, kite, the 
 belly. 
 
 Kilderkin. Du. kindekeji, kimieken, 
 a small barrel. Comp. Du. ki7id, E. child. 
 
 To Kill. AS. cwellan, to kill ; cwelan, 
 to die. 
 
 And preyid him that he wolde to him sell 
 
 Some poison, that he might his rattis q7ielL 
 Pardoner's Tale. 
 
 The primitive meaning seems as in 
 Dan. qucele, to strangle, choke, smother. 
 G. qtialm, a suffocating fume, thick va- 
 pour ; Fin. kiiolla, to die, to lose strength 
 and vigour ; kuolen weteen, aqui suffo- 
 cor ; kitolettaa, to kill. If choking be the 
 primitive meaning, we may observe a like 
 relation between Fin. kiiolla and Lat. 
 colliun, neck, as between ftecare, to kill 
 (properly to choke), and E. neck. 
 
 Kiln. An oven for burning bricks or 
 lime, drying malt, &c. W. cylyn, OSw. 
 kolna, kiln ; N. kylna, a drying-house for 
 corn. Sw. dial, kyila, kolla, kohia, to 
 kindle fire. Lat. colina, culina, the 
 kitchen or fire apartment. See Coal. 
 
 Kilt. The radical meaning of the word 
 is preserved in Sw. kylsa, a bunch or 
 cluster, Du. kildt brods, a hunch of bread. 
 Kldderna sitta i en kylsa, her clothes 
 hang all in a bunch. Hence OSw. op- 
 kilta, Dan. kilte, to kilt one's clothes, to 
 truss or gather them up into a bunch. 
 The kilt or short petticoat of the High- 
 
 KING 
 
 lander is so called from resembling an 
 ordinary petticoat kilted up for conveni- 
 ence of walking. Sw. kilta barn, to 
 swathe an infant, to make a bundle of it. 
 
 Kin.— Kind. AS. cyn, Goth, kuni, 
 kind, family, race ; kuns, kunds, related, 
 of the same family ; aljaku7is, of another 
 family, foreign. AS. naddrena cyn, gener- 
 ation of vipers ; moncyn, mankind. ON. 
 kyn, race, family, sex ; kynd, offspring ; 
 Du. G. kind, child. E. kind, kindly, ex- 
 press the loving disposition towards each 
 other proper to the members of a family. 
 When Hamlet accuses his uncle of being 
 ' a little more than kin and less than kind ' 
 he is simply contrasting the closeness of 
 the connection with the absence of cor- 
 responding affection. 
 
 The origin is AS. cennan, to beget, the 
 loot of which, cen or gen, is somewhat 
 masked in the reduplicate forms, Lat. 
 gigno (gigeno), Gr. yivofiai (yiysvofiai, yiy- 
 vofiai), but is manifest in the derivatives 
 genitus, gemis, gens, yevog, offspring, race, 
 kind, sex, yevtd, ysviOXov. Bret, gana, 
 genel, to beget ; w. cenedl ( = Gr. ysvtO- 
 \ov), a race ; Gael, gin, beget ; gineal, 
 offspring ; cine, cineadh, race, family. 
 
 To Kindle. i. To produce young, 
 appHed to cats and rabbits. Probably a 
 nasalised form of kittle, notwithstanding 
 w. cenedlu, to beget. It may be observed 
 that T>2in. killing (^ox killing) is applied 
 to the young of both the hare and the cat. 
 See Kitten. 
 
 2. To produce fire. ON. kynda, to set 
 fire to ; kyndill, a light, torch, candle ; N. 
 kvende, chips and shavings for kindling 
 fire ; kyndel, kynnel, a torch, whence E. 
 cannel coal, coal that burns like a torch. 
 Lat. ca7idere, to shine, to glow ; iricen- 
 dere, to kindle, inflame, incite. 
 
 Probably a metaphorical application of 
 the idea of giving birth to, expressed by 
 the root gan, gen, ken, in accordance with 
 the analogy which leads us to speak of 
 the extinction of life or extinction of flame, 
 although in this case the metaphor runs 
 in the opposite direction. 
 
 Kindred. The latter part of the word 
 is AS. rceden, condition, equivalent as a 
 termination to E. ship. On tha rcedenne, 
 on the condition. — Leg. Inas. 63. Gefer- 
 rcpden, companionship ; mcEgrcsden, re- 
 lationship ; teon-rceden \teonan, to accuse, 
 reproach), quarrel, dispute ; E. hatred, the 
 condition of hate. 
 
 King-. G. konig, ON. ko7iungr, kongr, 
 king. Lith. ktmigas, knningas, Lett. 
 kungs, lord, noble, an address commonly 
 given to the pastor ; Lit. kufiifigette, the 
 
KINK 
 
 pastor's wife ; Lett, kundziba, dominion ; 
 keninsch, king. Said to be from Goth. 
 kunt, race, signifying head of the race, as 
 Goth, thmdans, a king, from thiuda^ a 
 people. But suspicion is raised by forms 
 like Tartar chait, Wotiak kim, king, empe- 
 ror, kunlen, queen, ktmoka, lord, chief. 
 
 * Kink. Du. Sw. kink, a twist in a 
 cable, &c. Also a rheumatic stiffness of 
 any part, as a stiff neck (Atkinson), a 
 crick in the neck. NE. kench, a twist or 
 sprain. — Hal. Kneck, among sailors, is 
 explained by Bailey in exactly the same 
 sense as kink, viz. the twisting of a rope 
 or cable as it is veering out. It seems to 
 me probable that ktteck or knick is the 
 original form of the word (analogous to 
 crick above mentioned), representing in 
 the first instance a short quick move- 
 ment, a turn or twist. ON. knickja, hnyk- 
 kja, to snatch, to clench or turn back the 
 end of a nail, &c. ; hnickr, hiykkr, a 
 snatch, a trick, a twist in wrestling. 
 
 To Kink. i. Said of children when 
 their breath is long stopped through 
 eager crying or coughing. — B. An imita- 
 tion of the shrill sound of drawing the 
 breath under such circumstances. Chin- 
 cough, king-cough, Du. kick-hoest, kink- 
 hoest, whooping-cough. Sw. kikna, to 
 have the respiration stopped ; kikna of 
 skratt, to chink with laughter. 
 
 Kirtle. AS. cyrtelj Sw. Dan. kjortel, 
 a garment either for man or woman. 
 
 Kiss. Goth, kukjan, G. kiissen, w. 
 cusaw, ciisannu, Gr. Kvvkm (fut. Kvcm, 
 Kvo-ffw), to kiss ; Sanscr. k2tch, kits, ON. 
 koss, kiss. 
 
 Analogy would lead us to seek the de- 
 rivation in a word signifying mouth. N. 
 w«//, mouth, mutte (in nursery lang.), to 
 kiss ; Lat. os, mouth, oscuhim, kiss ; Boh. 
 huba (=Gael. gob, E. gab), the mouth, 
 hiibicka, kiss; Prov. cais, mouth, jaws, 
 acaissar, to kiss. In the same way Goth. 
 kukjan may be compared with N. kok, 
 throat, swallow. 
 
 Kit. I. A pail, bucket. T)\i. kit, kitte, 
 a hooped beer-can. 
 
 2. Brood, collection. Du. kudde, a 
 flock ; Bav. kiitt, a covey of partridges ; 
 Swiss kiitt, an ' assemblage or crew of 
 people ; Sette Commune kutt, kutta, an 
 assemblage ; kutte va bei, a swarm of 
 bees ; kiitten sich, to assemble. 
 
 Kitchen. Lat. coquina, It. cucina, G. 
 kiiche, Du. kokene, keukenej from Lat. 
 coquere, to boil. See Cook. 
 
 Kite. I. A bird of prey. w. cM, 
 kite ; cudyll y g-wynt, the kestrell or 
 wind-hover. Bret, kidel, a havvk. From 
 
 KNACKER 
 
 371 
 
 cudio, to hover — Pugh ; cud, velocity, 
 flight. — Spurrell. So Lith. lingoti, to 
 hover ; linge, kite. 
 
 2. A belly. See Cud. 
 
 Kith. Acquaintance. AS. cuth, G. 
 kund, known. From AS. cennaft, G. ken- 
 nen, to know. Kith and kin, acquaint- 
 ance and relations. 
 
 Kitten.— Kitling. — To Kittle. N. 
 kjetla (of cats), to bring forth young ; 
 kjetling, a kitten ; Fr. caller, to kittle as 
 a cat. — Cot. ' Gossype, whan your catte 
 kytelleth I pray you let me have a kyt- 
 lynge.' — Palsgr. in Way. 
 
 At first sight we have no hesitation in 
 regarding kittle and kitting, as well as 
 kitten, as derivatives from the parent cat, 
 but it may be doubted whether the name 
 of the animal be not derived from the 
 verb signifying to bring forth young, 
 rather than vice versa. Bohem. kotiti se 
 (of sheep, cats, dogs, &c.), to produce 
 young ; Lat. catulus, a whelp ; Dan. 
 killing (for kitting), the young of hares 
 or cats. To the same root apparently 
 belong G. kitzlein, E. kid, a young goat ; 
 G. kitze, a she-goat, she-cat, and possibly 
 the word cat itself may have the same 
 origin, as the names of animals are ori- 
 ginally very ill defined, and the designa- 
 tions of general relations of age or sex 
 are apt to be appropriated to particular 
 species. Thus the word stag, which 
 seems properly to signify a male, is in E. 
 appropriated to the male deer, while N. 
 stegg is a gander or male fowl ; e. bitch, 
 a female dog ; Fr. biche, a female deer. 
 
 Knack. A snap with the fingers, a 
 trick or way of doing as it were at a 
 snap. 
 
 Knacks we have that will delight you, 
 Sleight of hand that will invite you. 
 
 B. Jonson in R. 
 
 Ir. cjwg, a knock, crack, &c. In the 
 same way, from Du. knappen, to snap, 
 kfiap, alacer, celer ; knap-handig, dexter, 
 manu expeditus. — Kil. Avoir le chic, to 
 have the knack of doing something. — 
 Jaubert. 
 
 Kftick-knacks, trickery, gesticulation, 
 articles of small value for show and not 
 for use. 
 
 But if ye use these knick-knacks. 
 
 This fast and loose with faithful men and true, 
 
 You'll be the first will find it.— B. & F. in R. 
 
 Knacker. A saddler and harness- 
 maker — Forby; one that makes collars 
 and other furniture for cart-horses. — 
 Grose S. & E. country words. Doubtless 
 from ON. hnackr, a saddle. 
 24 * 
 
372 
 
 KNAG 
 
 At the present day the name oi knacker 
 is chiefly known as signifying one whose 
 business it is to slaughter old worn-out 
 horses, an office analogous to that of the 
 German Schindcrox Abdccker, the flayer, 
 who had to dispose of the bodies of dead 
 animals, and of course first stripped off 
 their skin, the only part of any value. 
 It would seem that in England this office 
 fell to the Knacker or coarse harness- 
 maker, as the person who would have the 
 best opportunity of making the skins 
 available. In Flemish patois loroin is 
 the skinner of dead beasts, from lorum, a 
 strap. — Vermesse. 
 
 Knag. A projection, a knot in wood. 
 'The great horns of beetles, especially 
 such as be hiagged as it were with small 
 teeth.'— Holland, Pliny in R. A word 
 formed On the same plan yN\\ks.jag or cog, 
 signifying in the first instance a sudden 
 jog, then the corresponding projection in 
 the path of the jogging object, a projec- 
 tion from a solid surface. Ir. cnag, a 
 knock, crack ; cnagach (properly jolting), 
 rough or uneven ; Sw. hiaglig\ rugged ; 
 Dan. knag, a crack, crash, a wooden peg, 
 cog of a wheel. It. nocco, nocchio, any 
 bunch, knob, snag, or ruggedness in tree 
 or wood. — Fl. 
 
 Knap. To snap, to break with a 
 snapping noise. G. knappen, to crackle, 
 crack, to gnaw, bite, nibble, to nip, twitch 
 or break off ; also as E. ktiap (among 
 hunters), to feed upon the tops of leaves, 
 shrubs, &c.; to knapple, to gnaw off, — B. 
 Fin. nappata, to snap at, pluck, snatch, 
 nappia, to pluck as berries ; Du. knappen, 
 to snatch, to nab. 
 
 Knapsack. From the notion of chew- 
 ing or gnawing, G. and Du. knappen ac- 
 quires the sense of eating. Wir haben 
 nichts zn ktiappen, we have nothing to 
 eat. Hence knap-sack, a provision-sack. 
 
 Knave, as. cnapa, G. knabe, knappe, 
 a boy, youth, servant, a depreciatory 
 term of address to an inferior. 
 
 But he that nought hath ne conveiteth to have 
 Is rich, although ye hold him but a knave. 
 
 W. of Bath. 
 
 Du. kfiegt (the equivalent of E. knight), 
 a boy or servant, as well as knape, have 
 acquired a depreciatory sense analogous 
 to E. knave. Hy is eeji knegt, een knape, 
 he is a rogue. 
 
 The original meaning is probably a 
 lump (of a boy), from knap or knop, a 
 knob or bunch, as the word boy itself 
 has formerly been explained on the same 
 principle. Gael, cnap, a knob, knot, lump. 
 
 KNOB 
 
 a stout boy. So also on. hnaus, a clod ; 
 Sw. knos, a knoll; Dan. ktios, a lad. 
 Lang, esclapo, a slab of wood, chip, lump 
 of stone ; uno beP esclapo de fdio, a fine- 
 grown girl. 
 
 To Knead, on. hnoda, gnyda, Du. 
 knecden, G. kneten, to knead ; Ddin. gnide, 
 to rub ; Pl.D. gnideln, to smooth by rub- 
 bing with a flat implement. W. cnittio, 
 to strike, twitch, rub gently ; Bohem. 
 Jmetu^ hnjsti, Pol. gnies'c', to press or 
 pinch (as a tight shoe), to knead. 
 
 ON. gnyr, tumultus, strepitus ; gnya, 
 gnuddi, to rush violently, to rub, to knead. 
 Sto7'mnrinn gnyr d husiini, or gncedir d 
 husuin, the storm beats upon the house j 
 gnydr, the rushing of waters. 
 
 Knee.— Kneel, g. k^iie, Gr. yovw, Lat. 
 gemi. 
 
 Knell. S w. knall, explosion, loud noise, 
 '^. gnell, gnoll, noil, shrill cry ; Mid. Lat. 
 nola, a bell ; Dan. knald, crack of a whip, 
 explosion. 
 
 Knick-knack. See Knack. 
 
 Knife. Dn.knijf, G.kneif, C2I. ganivef, 
 knife ; Fr. ca7iif, penknife. An instru- 
 ment for nipping or snipping ; G. kneifen, 
 kneipen, to nip or pinch ; kneip-schere, 
 snippers ; Du. knippen, snippen, to clip, 
 shear ; knip-mes, a razor ; W. cneijio, to 
 clip, shear, poll. 
 
 Knight. Properly a young man, then 
 a man at arms, fighting man ; KaT lloxi'iv, 
 the soldier who fought on horseback with 
 armour of defence. AS. cni/il, a boy, youth, 
 servant ; cniht-cild, man-child. Swiss 
 knecht, strong active youth ; knechten, to 
 put forth strength, show activity. 
 
 The word is so exactly synonymous 
 with G. knabe, knappe, E. knave, that we 
 are disposed to attribute to it a like origin 
 in Du. k7iocht, a knot. — Kil. 
 
 To Knit. To form knots, to make a 
 texture, like that of stockings, formed of 
 a succession of knots ; also to bind toge- 
 ther. Pl.D. hiutte, a knot ; knutten, to 
 make into a knot, to knit. See Knot. 
 
 Knob. — Knop. — Knock. The sound 
 of a crack or blow is imitated by the syl- 
 lables knap and knack, with such varia- 
 tions in the vowel and in the character of 
 the final consonant as may seem to suit 
 the nature of the particular sound in ques- 
 tion. Hence are developed two series of 
 forms, ending in a labial and a guttural 
 respectively, and expressing ideas con- 
 nected with the notion of striking, as the 
 blow itself, the implement with which it 
 is given, the track of the blow, a pro- 
 jection, jutting out, prominence, lump. 
 
 Thus, with a labial termination, we 
 
KNOCK 
 
 have Gael, cnap, to strike, to beat ; a 
 button, lump, boss, hillock; w. cnwpa, a 
 knob, a club ; E. knap, the top of a hill, 
 or anything that sticks out — B. ; knop, a 
 bud ; Du. knoppe, knoop, a knot, a bud ; 
 G. kiiopf, a knob, button, ball, head ; Pl.D. 
 knobbe, knubbe, anything thick and round, 
 a knotty stick, a flower-bud ; knobken, a 
 small loaf ; Dan. knub, a log, block ; 
 knubbet, knotty ; kf-mbbe, to bang, to 
 thrash. 
 
 With a guttural termination, G. knack, 
 a crack or snap ; fiiisse knacken, to crack 
 nuts ; Gael, cnac, crack ; E. knock, to 
 strike ; Gael, cnoc, a hillock, eminence ; 
 w. ctiwc, a knob, lump, bunch ; Ir. cna- 
 gaim, to knock, to rap ; cnagach, rough, 
 uneven ; cnagaid, hump-backed ; Gael. 
 cnag, a knob ; E. knag, a projection. 
 
 Knock. See Knob. 
 
 Knoll. A round hillock ; a turnip. — 
 B. An expression of the class of those 
 explained under Knob. ON. hnalla, to 
 beat with a stick ; knallr, a cudgel ; G. 
 knollen, a knob, bunch, lump, figuratively 
 a clown. Pl.D. knulle, a hunch, a 
 crumple. 
 
 Knot. Another of the forms signify- 
 ing a knob or projection, derived from 
 the image of knocking or striking. Du. 
 knodse, knudse, a club ; knodsen, ktuidsen, 
 to beat ; knodde, a knuckle, a knot ; kmit- 
 tel, a cudgel; Pl.D. kniitte, G. knote, a 
 knot ; Lat. nodits, a knot, knob. Dan. 
 kmide, knot, bump, protuberance. See 
 Knob. 
 
 Know. AS. cnawan, OHG. cnahen, 
 Sanscr. jnd, Pol. znac, Lith. zinoti (i = 
 Yx.j), Gr. yiyv&KTKw, Lat. {genoo, genoscd) 
 
 LACHES 
 
 373 
 
 gnosco, to know. The original root seems 
 to be gen or ken, with the sense probably 
 of seize, get, apprehend. 
 
 It is singular that the Lat. cognoscere 
 should be reduced in the course of degra- 
 dation to a form nearly identical with e. 
 know. Cognosce7'e, Namur conoche, and 
 thence by the change usual in Walloon 
 of the sound of sch into h, Wall, kino he, 
 to know. 
 
 Knowledge. Formerly knowleche, the 
 last syllable of which is the ON. leik, N. 
 leikje, usually employed in the composi- 
 tion of abstract nouns. In AS. and OE, 
 it took the form of lac or leicj AS. reaf- 
 lac, robbery ; OE. schend-lac, derision ; 
 woiihlac, seduction ; fear-lac, fear ; god- 
 leic, goodness — Ancren Riwle ; Pl.D. 
 bruut-lag, E. wedlock. It is remarkable 
 that the termination lik has exactly the 
 same force in Turkish ; Jichigi-lik, the 
 trade of a cooper ; kalem-lik, the function 
 of a pen ; adeni-lik, the quality of man ; 
 dagh-lik, mountainous country ; beyaz- 
 lik, whiteness ; {bakviak, to look) bak- 
 mak-lik, the act of looking. Turk, lika, 
 face, countenance ; OE. leeches, looks, ges- 
 tures. — Layamon. 
 
 Knuckle. Du. knokel, the knotty or 
 projecting part of the joints ; knokels van 
 den rug-graet, the vertebra of the back ; 
 knoke, knock-been, the ankle ; knoke, a 
 knot in a tree, a bone, because the bones 
 in the living body become conspicuous at 
 their projecting end ; G. knochen, bone ; 
 knochel, a knuckle, knot, or joint, the 
 joints of the fingers,, ankle, toes. See 
 Knob. 
 
 Label. OFr. hvnbel, a shred or rag 
 holding but little to the whole, a label ; 
 latnbeanx, rags, tatters. Lambeaiix or 
 labeaux was also the name given to the 
 fringe (laciniis) hanging from the military- 
 cloak — Due. ; OE. lamboys, the drapery 
 which came from below the tasses over the 
 thighs. — Hal. G. lappen, a rag, lap, lobe ; 
 lumpen, a rag, tatter ; It. lenibo, the skirt 
 or lap of a garment, anything that flaps 
 or hangs loose ; Milan, latnp, a lap, skirt, 
 rag, slice. See Lap, 
 
 Labial. Lat. labium, a lip. 
 
 Labour. — Laboratory. Lat. labor. 
 
 Lace. Lat. laqueus, Prov. lac, laz. 
 
 latz. It. laccio, Fr. lacqs, a lace, tie, snare, 
 noose ; Prov. lassar, lachar, Fr. lacer, to 
 lace, bind, fasten. The lacing is thus 
 the binding of a garment, and the name 
 has been appropriated to the border of 
 gold or silver tissue, of silk or open thread- 
 work used as an ornamental edging to 
 garments of different kinds. See Latch. 
 
 Lacerate. Lat. lacer, torn, ragged ; 
 lacinia, a jag, snip, piece, rag, lappet of a 
 gown. Gr. Xaniq, a rent, tatter ; XaKiX^w, 
 to tear. From the sound of tearing, Gr. 
 \a(yR{ji, iXuKov, to crack, creak, sound, 
 scream. 
 
 Laches. Negligence. 
 
374 
 
 LACK 
 
 Then Cometh lachesse, that is, he that whan he 
 beginneth any good work, anon he wol forlete 
 and stint it. — Parson's Tale; 
 
 OFr. lascke, slack, remiss, faint ; Lat. 
 laxus^ loose. See Loose. 
 
 Lack. I. — Lake. — Lacker. Lack, an 
 East Indian resin of a red colour, the pig- 
 ment extracted from which is Lake. Fr. 
 lacque, sanguine, rose or ruby Colour. — 
 Cot. Lacquered ware is ware covered 
 with a varnish of lack. ' The /ack of 
 Tonquin is a sort of gummy juice that 
 drains out of trees. The cabinets to be 
 lackered are made of fir or pine tree.' — 
 Dampier in R. Du. lak-werk, lackered 
 ware. The name is then extended to 
 other kinds of varnish. Fr. lacre, a ce- 
 ment of rosin, brimstone, and wax. — Cot. 
 It. lacca, white lead, also a kind of white 
 varnish ; laccare, to paint or daub over 
 with lacca, to paint as women do their 
 faces. — Fl. 
 
 2. Lack had formerly two senses, iden- 
 tical with those of Du. lack, laecke, want, 
 defect, fault, blame ; laecken, to decrease, 
 become deficient, also to accuse, to blame. 
 Of these senses the notion of fault or 
 blame might be incidental to that of de- 
 ficiency or want, but it is probable that 
 the two uses of the word are from totally 
 different sources. 
 
 The origin of lack, want, is seen in 
 Swab, lack (properly slack), slow, faint. 
 To lack then is to become slack, to cease, 
 to be wanting. In like manner G./Iau, 
 faint, feeble ; diese waare wird fiati, this 
 article lacks or is no more sought for — 
 Kiittner, the demand becomes slack. Du. 
 laecketide wrt:(?r^merxdecrescens ; laecken, 
 minuere, decrescere, deficere paulatim, 
 deesse.— Kil. Namur latik, slack ; Wall. 
 laker, to slacken, cease, give over. / «' 
 lake nin d^ pioure, it does not cease to 
 rain.— Grandg. Again, from E. dial, lash, 
 lask^ slack, loose, watery ; to lask, to 
 shorten, lessen.— Hal. 
 
 On the other hand lack, in the sense of 
 blame, seems to be for clack, dag, Pl.D. 
 klak, klaks,G. kleck, a spot, blot, stain, 
 disgrace ; einem enen klak anhangen, to 
 fix a blot upon him. Sc. clag, an encum- 
 brance, charge, impeachment. ' He has 
 nae clag till his tail/ no stain on his cha- 
 racter. 
 
 He was a man without a clag. 
 His heart was frank without a flaw. 
 
 Pl.D. een lak, (or more frequently) enen 
 klak 171 de ware smiten, to find fault with 
 wares ; Sw. lak, vice, fault. 
 Lackey. — Lacket. 
 
 LAD 
 
 Than they of Haynault bought little nagges to 
 ride at their ease, and they sent back their lac-' 
 kettes and pages. — Berners, Froissart in R. 
 
 Fr. laquais, a footman ; OFr. naqiiet, na- 
 quais, an attendant at a tennis-court ; 
 naqueter, to stop a ball at tennis, also to 
 wait at a great man's door, to observe 
 dutifully, attend obsequiously. — Cot. 
 
 The name seems to be taken from the 
 nacket's office of catching the ball. Fr. 
 naque-mouche, a fly-catcher. A sharp 
 sound is represented by the syllable k7iack, 
 as in G. knacken, to crack, Fr. naquer, to 
 gnaw with a snapping sound like a dog ; 
 naqueter des dens, to chatter with the 
 teeth. Thence the term is applied to any 
 quick abrupt movement, as in the sense 
 of catching, or in Bav. knacken, a stroke ; 
 Fr. naqueter de la queue, to wag the tail. 
 
 The interchange of an initial / and n is 
 not infrequent, as in It. livello and nivello, 
 Lat. lymp/ia and nymphaj N. lykjel and 
 nykjel, a key ; Sp. lutria and nutria, an 
 otter. 
 
 Laconic. Gr. KaKwviKoq, after the man- 
 ner of the Lacones or Spartans. 
 
 Lacteal. Lat. lac, lactis, milk. 
 
 Lad. — Lass. Lad was formerly used 
 in the sense of a man of inferior station. 
 
 Sixti and ten 
 Starke laddes, stalworthe men. — Havelok. 
 To make lordes of laddes 
 Of land that he winneth, 
 And fremen foule thralles 
 That foUwen noght his lawes. — P. P. 1325. 
 When laddes weddeth leuedies. 
 
 Prophesy of Thomas of Ercildoune in 
 Havelok. Gloss. 
 
 It would seem to be the same word with 
 OHG. laz, libertinus (G. freigelassner) ; 
 frilaz, manumissus ; hantlaz, libertus.— 
 Graff. * Sunt etiam apud illos (Saxones) qui 
 edhilingi, sunt qui frilingi, sunt qui lazzi 
 illorum lingua dicuntur, Latina vero lin- 
 gua hoc sunt ; nobiles, ingenui, atque 
 serviles.' — Nithardus in Graff. G. lasse, 
 Du. laete, a peasant bound to certain rents 
 and duties, corresponding to our copy- 
 hold tenures. The word is Latinised in 
 various ways, litus, lidus, ledus, adscrip- 
 titius, servus gleb^. - Due. ' Et Saxones 
 omnes tradiderunt se illi et omnium ac- 
 cepit obsides tam ingenuos quam et lidos? 
 — Annales Franc, ibid. In the Frisian 
 laws the composition of a litus was double 
 that of a slave and half that of a freeman. 
 Mid. Lat. leudus, leudis, a vassal, subject, 
 AS. leod, a people, G. leute, people, Goth. 
 jugga-lauds, a young man, may probably 
 be distinct. 
 
 The difficulty in identifying E. lad with 
 
LADDER 
 
 OHG. las arises from the fern, lass (for 
 laddess), which is not in accordance with 
 the Sax. idiom, and would look like a 
 derivation from w. llodes, a lass ; llawd, 
 a lad. 
 
 * Ladder. AS. hlcsdre, OHG. hleitar, 
 G. letter (fem.), Pol. letra, a ladder. 
 
 Possibly the word may signify a pair of 
 poles or spars. G. latte (in some cases), a 
 bar or pole, a young, slender, and straight 
 tree in a forest. — Kuttn. Pl.D. lade, the 
 shoot of a tree. — Brem. Wtb. Laede (ger. 
 sax. sicamb.), tabula, asser. — Kil. AS. 
 latta, asseres. — Lye. Sw. dial. Iddda, Da. 
 dial. IcBtter, vognlcEtter, or hirer, E. dial. 
 ladders, lades or ladeshrides, the frame- 
 work of bars fixed on the side of a wag- 
 gon to carry corn. Sw. dial, Idder, two 
 spars fastened to each other at a certain 
 interval, and used as the framework of a 
 waggon to carry casks or large stones. G. 
 lade, a framework of different kinds. Du. 
 laede, wevers-laede, the comb or reed, 
 composed of two rods fastened to each 
 other by a number of teeth (like a ladder) 
 between which every thread of the warp 
 passes singly. See Lathe. 
 
 Lade. i. Lade, a ditch or drain. — 
 Hal. A lade, mill-lade, or mill-leat, is 
 the cut which leads water to a mill. AS. 
 lad, a canal, conduit ; Du. leyde, water- 
 leyde, acquaeductus, aquagium. — K, AS. 
 Icedan, Du. leyden, to lead. 
 
 * To Lade. — Load. — Ladle. — Last. 
 ON. hlada, to lay in regular order, to pile 
 up, to build a wall, to pack herrings, to 
 piave a floor ; hlad, anything piled up or 
 lai'd in regular order ; Da. lade, to load, 
 OHG. hlada7i, G. laden, to load. AS. 
 hladan. Mod, gehladen, to pile up, to 
 load, also to draw water, to bring bucket 
 after bucket to the receptacle, analogous 
 to piling up objects on a heap. Hlcedle, a 
 ladle or implement for lading liquids. 
 Nicest, ON. hlass, G. last, the loading or 
 burden of a ship, E. last, a certain quan- 
 tity of corn, fish, wool, &c. 
 
 In a secondary sense to lade (of ships) 
 is to let in water, to leak. 
 
 — the ship 
 Whiche was so staunche it myghte no w&ter lade. 
 
 Hal. 
 
 Lady. as. hlcefdig. 
 
 Lady-cow.— Lady-bird. The name 
 of a well-known, small, spotted, hemi- 
 spherical beetle, dedicated to Our Lady, 
 as appears by the German name Marien- 
 kdfer or Gottes-kiihlein, in Carinthia 
 Franenkiiele. In Brittany it. is called la 
 petite vache du bon Dieu, and Bohem. 
 
 LAKE 
 
 375 
 
 BozJ krawicka, God's little cow, has the 
 same meaning. The comparison of a 
 beetle to a cow seems strange, but in 
 other cases the name of cats, dogs, sheep, 
 are given to insects of different kinds, 
 and Pol. krowka, little cow, is the name 
 given to the dung-beetle. The large 
 black beetle, popularly called Devil's 
 coach-horse, is in ON. J'6tun-oxi, the 
 Giant's ox, the Jotun in Northern mytho- 
 logy filling the place of the Devils in 
 Jewish, while the ox or beast of the 
 plough is exchanged in modern times for 
 the more conspicuous coach-horse. 
 
 The other name. Lady-bird (by which 
 Lady-cow is being rapidly supplanted), 
 was probably given as seeming more ap- 
 propriate to a flying creature ; but bird 
 may here be a corruption of bode or bud, 
 a name given to insects of different kinds, 
 as sham-bode, dung-beetle, wool-bode, 
 hairy caterpillar. — E. Adams on names 
 of insects in Philolog. Trans. 
 
 To Lag. To trail behind, to flag. As 
 in muscular exertion the limbs are made 
 rigid, the idea of the opposite condition, 
 faintness, laziness, slowness, is expressed, 
 by the figure of what is loose or slack. 
 W. Hag, loose, slack, sluggish ; Gael, lag^ 
 feeble, faint ; Esthon. king, lank, loose, 
 slack ; Gr. \a-^apoQ, slack, pliant ; Xayyajw, 
 Xayylw, to slacken ; Bav. lugk, loose, not 
 tight. 
 
 The origin of all these terms is a repre- 
 sentation of the sound of a loose body 
 flapping or rattling. E. dial, log, logger^ 
 to oscillate, shake as a loose wheel ; G. 
 locker, loose, &c. See To Log. 
 
 Lagoon. Lat. lacuna, a ditch, pud- 
 dle, drain, a little hole or hollow place, a 
 gap ; It. lacuna, laguna, a moor, wash, 
 fen, ditch where water stands, a drain. 
 — Fl. Sp. laguna, stagnant waters, 
 marshes. 
 
 Lair. A lying place, now confined to 
 a lying place for beasts. 
 
 The mynster church, this day of great repayre, 
 Of Glastenbury where now he has his leyre. 
 
 Hardyng in R. 
 
 Du. leger, bed, sleeping place, lair of a 
 beast, camp or place occupied by an 
 army ; Dan. leir, camp ; from Du. leg- 
 gen, to lie ; te be.dden, te velde leggen, to 
 lie in bed, to camp. as. leger, a lying, 
 whether in the grave or in bed ; legeres 
 wyrthe, worthy of burial ; also the cause 
 of lying or disease ; place of lying or 
 bed ; lying with or adultery ; leger-gyld, 
 OE, lair-wite, a fine for adultery. — B. 
 Lake. i. A pigment. See Lack. 
 
376 
 
 LAM 
 
 2. Fr. lac^ Lat. Incus . 
 
 To Lam. To give a beating to. ON. 
 Icmja, to give a sound drubbing, N. Icrmja., 
 to beat. Du. lam-slaen, enervare verbe- 
 ribus ; lani, flaccid, languid, weak ; lamuie 
 ledcii^ membra dissoluta ; Piedm. lam^ 
 loose, slack. To lam then would be to 
 beat faint, to exhaust with blows, anal- 
 ogous to Dan. mor-banke^ to give a sound 
 drubbing, 'literally to beat tender. 
 
 Lamb. Esthon. lam?nas, lamba, Fin. 
 iammas, lampaaii^ a sheep ; lampuri^ a 
 shepherd. Lap. libbe^ a lamb. 
 
 Lambent. Lat. lambo^ to lick with 
 the tongue. A nasalised form of lap. 
 
 Lame. Broken or enfeebled in some 
 of the members. Serv. loiniti^ to break ; 
 loman, broken, tired ; Pol. lamad, to 
 break ; lainanie w fiogach, gout in the 
 feet ; Dan. lam, palsied, paralytic ; Du. 
 leme, lemte, mutilatio, vitium — Kil. ; ON. 
 lami, broken, enfeebled, impaired ; lami, 
 a break, fracture ; lama, to weaken, im- 
 pair ; lam, a fracture, enfeebling ; lama, 
 membris fractus vel viribus ; fot-la7iia, 
 far-lama, incapacitated in the feet, in the 
 power of walking. 
 
 It must be admitted that the meaning 
 oilame sometimes approaches very closely 
 that of Du. laf, lam, flaccid, languid, 
 weak ; Pied, lam, loose, slack ; N. lama, 
 lamen, fatigued, exhausted, unstrung. 
 Comp. Du. lammelick, languide, remisse, 
 segniter, with E. lamely j lamme sanck, in- 
 conditum et ineptum carmen, a lame 
 production ; lajmne leden, membra dis- 
 soluta ; lam-slaen, enervare verberibus, 
 to disable or make lame by blows . 
 
 Lam.ent. Lat. la?nentarL 
 
 Lamina. — Laminate. Lat. lamina, 
 a thin flake or slice. 
 
 Lammas. On the first of August, the 
 feast of St Peter ad Vincula, it was cus- 
 tomary in AS. times to make a votive 
 offering of the first-fruits of the harvest, 
 and thence the feast was termed Hlaf- 
 ntcEsse, Lammas, from hlaf, loaf. In the 
 Sarum Manual it is called Benedictio 
 novorum fructuum. — Way in Pr. Pm. 
 
 Lam'i). Gr. Xafnrag, whence Lat. lam- 
 pas. Gr. XufiTTU), to ring, sound loud and 
 clear, then to give light, to shine. ON. 
 glam, glami; clang, rattle, noise ; glampa, 
 to gleam, glitter, shine. 
 
 Lampoon. The syllables idterletat, 
 tanterlantant, representing sound with- 
 out sense, are used in Pl.D. as interjec- 
 tions, like fiddlededee ! expressing con- 
 tempt for what a person says. Tdterletdt, 
 a toy trumpet, or the noise which it 
 makes ; ene olde tdterletdt, an old tattle- 
 
 LANE 
 
 basket ; tanterlantant, trifles ; tantem, to 
 tattle, to trifle. Equivalent expressions 
 are Lang, ta-ta-ta ! Fr. tarare ! a fiddle 
 stick ! pshaw ! (Boileau) ; and also lan- 
 turelu! lanturlu! fudge! stuff! (Spiers), 
 nonsense ! (Tarver), of which the promi- 
 nent syllable, hint (as tant in g), has 
 been made the basis of verbs signifying 
 to talk nonsense, to trifle ; lantiberner, to 
 weary with idle stories (Diet, bas lang.) ; 
 lanterner, to talk nonsense, trifle with, to 
 fool (Spiers) ; la^itiponner, to talk non- 
 sense, to trifle, harceler quelqu'un en le 
 tiraillant. — Trevoux. Then as lantiberner 
 seems contracted to lanterher, so lanti- 
 ponner would produce lamponner, ex- 
 plained by Cot. as synonymous with 
 lanterner, to dally or play the fool with, 
 to cog, foist, fib. The primary meaning 
 of lampoon then would be a piece of 
 foolery or nonsense, making fun of a 
 person, and incidentally a satirical attack. 
 
 * Lamprey. Fr. lamproie. It. Ia7n- 
 preda, Lat. lampetra, 'a lambendis petris^ 
 from licking stones. — Voss. In support 
 of this etymology Trench cites the OE. 
 names sitckstone and lickstone. ' A little 
 fish called a siickstone, that stayeth a 
 ship under sail, remora.' — Withal. 
 
 Lance. — Lanceolate. — Lancet. Lat. 
 lancea, Gr. Xoyx'?; a lance, spear, spear- 
 head. 
 
 Land. Goth., ON. land. 
 
 Landscape. A delineation of the land, 
 from AS. sceapan, to shape or form. So 
 '^.fiellskap, the outline of a range of hills. 
 Eg kienne Iqnd V paa fiellskap, I know 
 the land by the line of hills. 
 
 Lane. — Lawn. Du. laen, an alley, 
 opening between houses or fields. Sc. 
 loan, loaning, an opening between fields 
 of corn left uncultivated for the sake of 
 driving the cattle homewards. — Jam. 
 Fris. lona, lana, a narrow way between 
 gardens and houses. Dan. dial, laane, 
 lane, a bare place in a field where the 
 corn has failed ; latie, an open or bare 
 place ; E. lawn, lawnd, an open space be- 
 tween woods ; w. llan, a clear place, area, 
 or spot of ground to deposit anything in. 
 
 The fundamental idea is probably the 
 opportunity to see through gi^en by an 
 opening between trees or the like ; N. 
 glana, gleine, to stare, to look steadily, to 
 open (as clouds) and leave a clear space ; 
 glan, an opening among clouds ; glanen 
 (of a wood or of clouds), open, separate, 
 so that one may see through ; glenna, a. 
 clear open space among woods, grassplot 
 between cliffs and wood ; gleine, an open 
 space. 
 
LANGUAGE 
 
 Language. Lat. 'lingua, a tongue, 
 language, whence Fr. Imigiie, langage. 
 
 Languid. — Languish.. Lat. langueo, 
 to be faint, without hfe and spirit. Gr. 
 Xayyiw, Xayya^w, to slacken, give up ; \a.-^- 
 ywv, a loiterer. See To Lag. 
 
 Laniard. — LanyeL — Langet. It is 
 probable that langet, langel, lanyel, a 
 strap or thong, tether, strip of ground, 
 must be separated from Fr. laniere^ E. 
 laniard, a narrow band, a thong ; lanier, 
 the lash of a whip. — Forby. The former 
 are certainly from Lat. lingula, a little 
 tongue, narrow pointed object, It. litigiia, 
 a langet or spattle, ling7iella, linguetta, 
 the point or langet of a pair of scales, a 
 tenon. — Fl. Langot of the shoe, latchet. 
 ■ — Kennett in Hal. Langelyn or bynd 
 together, colligo, compedio.— Pr. Pm. 
 Laniere ori the other hand seems from 
 loiigiere (a long narrow towel — Cot.), sig- 
 nifying a strip. Limousin loirndieiro, Fr. 
 allonge, piece that one adds to lengthen 
 anything. Allonge or longe was also 
 used in the sense of It. langolo for the 
 limes or lewins of a hawk, the leather 
 thongs by which his legs were attached 
 to the wrist in carrying him. Fr. longe, 
 Wal. long, signifies also a long strap fast- 
 ened to the halter of a horse, whence the 
 expression to lunge a colt, in breaking 
 him in, to hold him with a long rope and 
 drive him round in a circle. 
 
 The ^of long disappears occasionally 
 in the Fr. dialects, as Wal. Ion, slow, 
 long, far. — Remade. Lim. loitng, loun, 
 slow, tedious, long. It. lungi, Fr. loin, far ; 
 eslongier, eloigjier, to put to a distance. 
 
 Bret, louan, a thong or strap, especially 
 that by which the yoke is fastened to the 
 ox's head. 
 
 Lank. Du. slank, G. schlank, slender, 
 pliant. A nasalised form of the root 
 which appears in E. slack, Gael, lag, weak, 
 faint, with the fundamental signification 
 of absence of rigidity. Du. lank, the 
 flank or soft boneless part of the side ; 
 Devonsh. lank, the groin. 
 
 Lansquenet, g. lanzknecht, a soldier 
 serving with lance. 
 
 Lantern. Fr. lanterne, Lat. laterna, 
 as if from AS. leoht, light, and -er^i, place, 
 an element seen in domern, judgment- 
 place, heddern, hiding-place, bceces-et'n, 
 oven, and lihtes-ern, a lantern. In bc- 
 cerna the same element is joined with hix^ 
 lucis, light. 
 
 The spelling of lanthorn, which so long 
 prevailed, was doubtless influenced by 
 the use of transparent sheets of horn for 
 the sides of the lantern. 
 
 LASH 
 
 377 
 
 Lap.- Lappet. The flap or loose skirt 
 of a garment. Like _/?«/, clap, slap, a re- 
 presentation of the noise made by a loose 
 sheet striking against itself or any surface. 
 ON. lapa, slapa, to hang loose ; Du. lab- 
 beren (of sails), to shiver in the wind ; G. 
 lapp, slack ; lappen, anything hanging 
 loose, rag, tatter, clout ; bart-lappen, the 
 wattles of a cock ; bhr-ldppchen, lobe of 
 the ear ; AS. Iceppa, a lap or lobe of the 
 liver. 
 
 A lapwing is a bird \}i\2X flaps its wings 
 in a peculiar manner as it flies. 
 
 To Lap, I. Fr. tapper, to lap or lick 
 up ; Gr. XcLTTTio, to lap, then to drink 
 greedily ; Lat. lainbere, to lick ; Fr. tam- 
 per, to drink, to swill. In E. cant the 
 term lap is used for liquid food, wine, 
 pottage, drink. From the sound of lap- 
 ping up liquids with the tongue. 
 
 2. To lap or wlap, to wrap. ' Lappyn 
 or whappyn yn clothes, involvo.' ' Plico, 
 to folde or lappe^ —Vx. Pm. 'He was 
 wlappid in a sack (obvolutus est sacco).' 
 — Wiclifif. YxoTcs. the. root wlap spring 
 It. invittippare, Fr. envelopper. 
 
 To lap in the present sense is to bring 
 the lap or flap of the garment round one ; 
 the forms wlap and flap corresponding 
 together, as Du. wrenipen and ^. frianp. 
 
 Lapse. Lat. labor, lapsus, to fall, sink 
 down. 
 
 Larboard. The left side of the ship 
 looking forwards. Du. laager, OE. leer, 
 left. ' Clay with his hat turned up o' the 
 leer side too.' — B. Jonson in Nares. Du. 
 laager-hand, the left hand, from laager, 
 lower, as hooger-hand, the right hand, 
 from hoog, high. It is, however, against 
 this derivation that the word is written 
 laddebord in the Story of Jonah, Allit. 
 Poems of xiv. Cent., E. E. Text Soc. 
 
 Larceny. Fr. larcin, robbery, from 
 Lat. latrocinittfn, robbery ; latro, a rob- 
 ber. 
 
 Lard. Lat. lardum, bacon, bacon fat. 
 Bret, lard, fat, grease ; tarda, to grease, 
 to fatten. 
 
 Large. — Largess. Lat. targus, of 
 great size, copious, liberal, whence Fr. 
 lafgesse, liberality, gifts. 
 
 Lark. AS. laferc, Sc. laverock, Du. 
 leeuwercke, lewerck, lercke. 
 
 Larrup. To beat. Du. larp, a lash ; 
 tarpeii, to thresh in a peculiar manner, 
 bringing all the flails to the ground at 
 once.— Bomhofif. 
 
 To Lash. I. To strike with a sound- 
 ing blow, as when a whale lashes the sea 
 or a lion his flanks with his tail. To lash 
 out, to throw out the heels with violence \ 
 
378 
 
 LASS 
 
 lasher^ a weir, from the dashing of the 
 water. Like clash or slash^ a represent- 
 ation of the sound. Esthon. laksuma, 
 to smack, to sound like waves when they 
 lash the shore. G. klafschen, to yield that 
 sound which is represented by the word 
 klatschj lashing with a whip, clapping of 
 the hands, clashing of arms. — Kuttn. Du. 
 kletsen, to clash, clack, crack, to fling; 
 klets, lash, slap. 
 
 2. To bind or fasten anything to the 
 ship's sides. — B. Du. lasch, a piece set on 
 or let into a garment, also the place where 
 the joining is made, the welding of two 
 pieces of iron together, splicing of rope- 
 ends ; lasschen or lasseii^ to join two 
 pieces together ; Dan. laske, to baste, 
 stitch, mortise ; N. laskje^ a gore or patch ; 
 aarelaskje^ the patch of hard wood let 
 into an oar to protect it from the rul- 
 locks ; Bav. lassen, einlassen bretter in- 
 einander, to scarf boards together, to let 
 one into the other ; die gelass or gelassen, 
 the joining. 
 
 Lass. See Lad. 
 
 Lassitude. Lat. lassus, v/eary. 
 
 Last. I. Contracted from latest, as 
 best from betsf. G. letzt, Bav. lesst, Pl.D. 
 lest. Zi lezzist, zu lazzost^ demum ; zic 
 dem lesten, extremo. — Gl. in Schmeller. 
 
 2. A burden. ON. Mass, AS. hlcsst, Du. 
 G, last, a load ; ON. hlada, to load, to 
 pile up, G. laden, to load. 
 
 3. The form of a shoemaker. Du. leest, 
 make, form, shape ; G. leisten, model, 
 mould, form, size. ' Ein Spanischer ross, 
 ob es gleich klein von leist, ist es doch 
 adelich von gestalt,' though small of size 
 is noble in form. ' Ein pfarrer soil ein 
 bildner und leist sin zu leben sinen un- 
 terthanen,' a pastor should be a model to 
 his parishioners. 
 
 The origin is probably AS. last, Goth. 
 laist, trace, footstep ; wagen-gelaist, the 
 trace of the wheel ; the impression of a 
 thing showing the size and fonn without 
 the substance of the original. 
 
 To Last. Properly, to perform, but 
 now confined to the special sense of per- 
 forming the duty for which a thing is 
 made, enduring. When we say that a 
 coat will last for so many months, we 
 mean that it will serve the purpose of a 
 coat for so long. G. leisten, to fulfil, per- 
 form, carry out. ' And thei ben false and 
 traiterous and lasten noght that thei 
 bihoten.' — Sir Jno. Mandeville. 
 
 As Lat. sequi, to follow, gives exsequi, 
 to follow out, perform, accomplish ; or 
 G. folgen, to follow, befolgen, to perform 
 {befehl be/olgen, to perform one's com- 
 
 LATHE 
 
 mand), so to last,- from Goth, laist, AS. 
 last, a trace, footstep, is to tread in one's 
 footsteps, to follow, to fulfil : 
 
 Span thu hine georne 
 Thaet he thine Tare Icesic : 
 urge thou him zealously that he may fol- 
 low thy instruction. — Csedm. x. 1. 58. 
 Goth, laistjan, afarlaistjan, to follow 
 after ; fair laistjan, to attain. The legal 
 expression in pursuance of is used in the 
 sense of in fulfilment or execution of. 
 
 To Latch. To catch. AS. Icpccan^ 
 gelceccan, to catch, to seize ; Gael, glac, 
 catch. The word seems to represent the 
 sound of clapping or smacking the hand 
 down upon a thing, or perhaps the snap 
 of a fastening falling into its place. 
 
 Latch. — Latchet. From Lat. laqueiis, 
 are formed Fr. laqs, It. laccio, any latch 
 or lachet, binding-lace or fillet, halter, 
 snare to catch birds or beasts — Fl. ; 
 Rouchi lache, a noose, leash, lace ; lachet, 
 as Fr. lacet, a tie or fastening. Pol. lapac, 
 to catch, corresponds to E. latch, as snap 
 to snatch, clap to clack j Lat. capere, to 
 E. catch. 
 
 Late. ON. latr, OHG. laz, slow ; G. 
 lass, faint, negligent, lazy; Bav. lass, 
 slack, loose, slow. The radical meaning 
 is, doubtless, slack, unstrung, then inact- 
 ive, slow, behindhand. See Loiter. 
 
 -late, -lation. Lat. fero, latum, to 
 bear, bring ; confero, to bring together ; 
 collatio, a comparison, whence to collate, 
 to compare ; to translate, to carry over ; 
 prcelatiis, advanced before the rest, a pre- 
 late j oblation, an offering ; legislate, to 
 carry laws. 
 
 Latent. Lat. lateo, to lie, or be con- 
 cealed, or unnoticed. 
 
 Lateral. Lat. latus, lateris, a side. 
 
 Lath.— Lattice. Fr. Du. G. latte, a 
 thin piece of cleft wood ; G. latte is also 
 used for a pole or rod, a young slender 
 tree in a forest. The primary meaning 
 is doubtless the shoot of a tree. Russ. 
 loza, a rod, branch, twig ; G. lode, a 
 sprig or shoot ; Bret, laz, a pole, fishing- 
 rod ; w. Hath, a yard, or measure of three 
 feet ; Gael, slat, a switch, wand, yard. 
 Fr. lattis, E. lattice, lath-work. 
 
 Lathe. A turner's frame, called by 
 Cot. a lathe or lare. G. lade, a. frame, 
 what holds or incloses something else ; 
 the framework of a plough or harrow, a 
 chest, coffer, receptacle. Kinnladen, the 
 jawbones in which the teeth are held ; 
 bettlade, a bedstead ; katnmlade, the 
 basis which holds the teeth of a wool- 
 card ; tischlade, a drawer. Du. laede, 
 laeye, a receptacle, case, chest ; laede van 
 
LATHER 
 
 de waege, the receptacle for the tongue 
 of a balance. Commonly connected with 
 E. lade^ to lay up, lay in order. Line. 
 lath^ to place or set down. — Hal. ON. 
 hlada, Sw. lada, OE. lathe, a barn, a re- 
 ceptacle for hay, corn, &c. See To Lade. 
 It is possible, however, that the radical 
 meaning may be a construction of bars 
 or rods. Laede, tabula, asser. — Kil. See 
 Ladder. 
 
 Lather, ne. lother, to splash in water. 
 -:— Hal. ON. lodra, to foam ; lodr, foam 
 of the sea ; Sw. sdp-loder, soap-suds ; 
 Bav. loder, suds, dirty water from wash- 
 ing ; Swiss ladern, Idttern, plddern, pidt- 
 tern (from an imitation of the sound), to 
 dabble in water, make wet and dirty, let 
 fall liquid dung (of cows) ; knhpldder, 
 cow-dung ; vef'ldtteren, to dawb with 
 cow-dung ; G. pldtschern, to paddle or 
 dabble in water ; Dan. pladder, mud, 
 mire. 
 
 Latiner. Fr. latinier, one who speaks 
 Latin, an interpreter. 
 
 Iiatitude. Lat. lattis, broad. 
 
 Latten. Brass, tinned iron, Fr. laiton, 
 It. latone, ottone, brass ; latta, tin plate. 
 From being used in the shape of plates. 
 — Diez. Piedm. lata, thin narrow piece 
 of iron or other metal, plate, blade. Way 
 cites a document of the 15th century 
 which speaks of ''latten, or Cullen (Co- 
 logne) plate.' 
 
 Laudable. — Laudatory. Lat. laus, 
 ~dis^ praise. 
 
 Laugh. G. lachen, Du. lachachen^ 
 lachen — Kil. ; from the sound. 
 
 To Launch. Fr. lancer, It. lanciare, 
 violently to throw, hurl, dart ; lanciare 
 un cervo, to rouse a stag. Probably 
 lancia, a lance, is from the verb, and not 
 vice versa ; a weapon to be hurled. A 
 nasalised form of E. lash, to throw out. 
 
 Laundry. — Laundress. It. lavare, 
 to wash ; lavatida, suds, anything to 
 wash with ; Fr. lavage, washing ; lavaii- 
 diere, a washerwoman ; Sp. lavadero, a 
 washing-place ; lavandero, a washer ; la- 
 vanderia, the wash, linen for washing. 
 To the last of these forms corresponds E. 
 laundry, the washing department, and 
 from laundiy is formed laundress. 
 
 Laurel. — Laureate. Lat. latirus, the 
 laurel, laureatus, one crowned with laurel. 
 
 Lave. — Lavatory. Lat. lavare, to 
 wash, bathe, lavator, one that washes. 
 Radically connected with ON. logr (g. 
 lagar), AS. lagu, water, liquid. ON, laug, 
 bath, water to wash in ; lauga, Da. love, 
 to bathe, to wash. 
 
 Lavender. Fr. lavende, from being 
 
 LAY 
 
 379 
 
 laid with fresh-washed linen, to perfume 
 and preserve it from mildew. It. lavanda, 
 a washing. 
 
 Laver, A sea weed, otherwise called 
 sea liver-wort, looking as if the word 
 were a corruption of liver. 
 
 Lavish. Prodigal. Fr. lavasse, or 
 lav ace d'eatix, an inundation. The idea 
 of unthrifty dealing is often expressed by 
 the dashing abroad of water. It. guaz- 
 zare, sguazzare, to dabble or plash in 
 water ; guazzare, to lavish in good cheer ; 
 sguazzare, to lavish his estate — Fl. ; Sw. 
 pluttra, properly to dabble, correspond- 
 ing to Sc. bluiter, in a similar sense, and 
 to Dan. pludder, slush, mire ; Sw. plut- 
 tra bort pemiingas^ to squander money. 
 And squander itself is a repetition of the 
 same metaphor. 
 
 Law. ON. lag, order, method, custom, 
 law. From leggia {Jieji lagt), to lay. So 
 Lat, statutum, statute, from statuere, to 
 lay down ; G, gesetz, law, from setzen, to 
 set ; Gr. 0eff/*o(;, law, from riOrjutj to lay. 
 
 Lawn, I, See Lane. 
 
 2, A kind of fine linen, Fr, linon, from 
 which however the E, word can hardly 
 have been derived. Sp, lona, canvas, a 
 texture agreeing with lawn in being open 
 and transparent. It is remarkable that 
 lawn, an open space between woods, 
 seems to be so called from the oppor- 
 tunity it affords of seeing through. 
 
 Lax, -lax, Lat. laxus, loose, slack; 
 laxare, to make loose, relax. 
 
 Lay, — Laity, i. Lat. laicus, OHG. 
 leigo, laih, leih, Du. leek, from Gr. XaiKoq^ 
 of the \abq or people, as opposed to the 
 clergy. 
 
 2. A song, metrical tale. Prov. lais^ 
 song, piece of poetry, song of birds, clang, 
 cry ; lais dels sonails, the sound of bells. 
 Tuit s'escridon a un lais, all cried out 
 with one voice. — Rayn. As the old Fr. 
 poets (as Diez observes) regard the lay 
 as specially belonging to the Bretons, it 
 is natural to look to the Celtic for the 
 origin of the word. 
 
 Les cuntes ke jo sai verais, 
 Dunt li Breton unt fait lor lais, 
 Vus cunterai assez briefment, 
 
 Marie de Prance. 
 
 w. llais, a sound, note, tone, voice ; Gael. 
 laoidh, laoi, a verse, hymn, sacred poem ; 
 ON. hliod. Hod, voice, sound, also as AS. 
 leoth, a lay or short poem ; G. lied, song ; 
 Goth, liuthon, psallere, to sing hymns. 
 
 Lay. 3. — Lea. — Laystall. Lay-land 
 or fallow-land might plausibly be ex- 
 plained land laid up from immediate use, 
 m accordance with Sw. Idgga igen. ett 
 
38o 
 
 LAY 
 
 ^/fv/-, to lay up a field or leave it fallow. 
 But the word is undoubtedly the analogue 
 of Du. ledig^ leeg^ empty, vacant, fallow ; 
 ledig-land, G. leede, iehde, an unculti- 
 vated piece of ground ; der ledige stand^ 
 unmarried life, celibacy. 
 
 Let wife and land lie lay till I return. 
 
 B. and Fletcher. 
 Another form of the word is E. ley, lea, 
 AS. leag, leak, the untilled field, pasture. 
 
 Plenty shall cultivate each scaup and moor, 
 Now lea and bare because thy landlord's poor. 
 
 Ramsay. 
 Though many a load of marl and manure laid 
 Revived his barren leas which erst lav dead. 
 Bp Hall in R. 
 A clover-ley is a field in which clover has 
 been sown with the former crop, and 
 which is left without further cultivation 
 after the crop is carried. Dan. dial, lei, 
 fallow ; leid ager, novalis ; leid jord, 
 cessata terra. — Molbech. 
 
 Laystall. Properly lay-stow, where 
 lay has the same sense of vacant, unoc- 
 cupied, as in lay-land, an empty place in 
 which rubbish may be thrown. 'The 
 place of Smithfield was at that daye a 
 laye-stowe of all order of fylth.' — Fabyan 
 in R. 
 
 Lay. 4. — Layer. A lay, a bed of mor- 
 tar. — B. In the same way Fr. couche, a 
 layer, from coucher, to lay. Du. laag, 
 lay, layer, bed, stratum ; leger, a lying 
 place. Pl.D. lage, a row of things laid in 
 order, tier of guns ; afleger, a layer or 
 offset of a plant laid in the ground to 
 strike root. 
 
 To Lay. ON. leggia, G. legen, to lay ; 
 ON. liggia, G. liegeti, to lie, to lay oneself 
 down. The first of the two seems the 
 original form, with the sense of thrusting, 
 casting, striking. Sw. Icegge pa en, to 
 lay on, to strike ; ON. hbggva och leggia, 
 to strike and thrust ; lag af kesio, a 
 thrust with a javelin ; Sw. Icegga til 
 lands, to reach the shore ; Icegga sig, to 
 lie down. 
 
 In the same way Lat. jacet^e, to cast ; 
 jacere, to lie. 
 
 Lazar. — Lazaretto. Lazar, a leper, 
 from Lazarus in the parable. Du. La- 
 zarus-hatis, a lazaretto, hospital for lepers, 
 pest-house. 
 
 Lazy. Bav. laz, slow, late ; Du. losig, 
 leusig, flaccid, languid, slack, lazy — Kil. ; 
 Pl.D. losig, lesig, loose in texture, slow, 
 weary ; G. lass, slack, slow, dull. 
 
 Lea. See Lay. 
 
 To Leach. In carving, to cut up. Fr. 
 lesche, a long slice or shive of bread. — 
 Cot. Lechette, lisquette, a tongue of land, 
 
 LEAK 
 
 morsel to eat.— Roquef. Leclie, liche, 
 liqnette, lisquette, a morsel. — Pat. de 
 Champ. Properly a tongue, from lescher, 
 to lick, as G. lecker, the tongue of cattle, 
 from lecken. 
 Lead. Du. lood, loot. 
 To Lead. on. leida, to lead ; leid, 
 track, way ; at sniia d leid, to turn on his 
 traces, to turn back. The Goth, laithan, 
 ON. lida, to move on, go, pass, would 
 seem to be a derivative, related to leida, 
 Tis, jacere, to lie, to j'ac^re, to cast, or as G. 
 liegen, E. to lie, to G. legen, E. to lay. 
 
 Leaf. G. laub, Du. loo/, loove, the 
 leaves of trees. The radical meaning 
 seems something flat. Magy. lap, the 
 leaf of a book ; Lith. Idpas, a leaf ; la- 
 Palka, the shoulder-blade. 
 
 League, i. Mid. Lat. letica, Fr. liene, 
 a rneasure of distances, properly the stone 
 which marked such a distance on the 
 public roads. ' Mensuras viarum, nos 
 miliaria, Grasci stadia, Galli leucas.' — Isi- 
 dore in Dief Celtica. Gael, leug, leag, a 
 stone ; liagan, an obelisk ; w. llech, a stone . 
 2. Fr. ligjte. It. legua, an alliance, from 
 Lat. ligare, to bind. 
 
 Leaguer, i. Du. leger, a lying, lying- 
 place ; the lair of cattle, lying-place of an 
 army in the field ; belegeren, to beleaguer 
 or pitch one's camp for the attack of a 
 fortress ; whence leaguer, a siege, having 
 essentially the same meaning with the 
 word siege itself, which signifies the seat 
 taken by an army before a town for the 
 same purpose. 
 
 2. A small cask. G. legger, wasser- 
 legger, Sw. tuatten-leggare, water-cask in 
 a ship. Probably from ON. I'ogg, n. logg, 
 pi. legger, Sw. lagg, the rim of the staves 
 of which a cask is made ; lagga, to set 
 staves together ; logger, laggbindare, a 
 cooper; ON. lagg-wid, wood for cask- 
 making. 
 
 Leak, Du. lekken, water to penetrate, 
 to drip ; lekwijn, wine that leaks from a 
 cask ; lekzak, a bag for straining. The 
 radical meaning seems, to drip. Lith. 
 laszas, a drop ; lasz'Sti, to drip, to leak. 
 E. latch-pati, a dripping-pan ; latch, leech, 
 a vessel pierced with holes for making 
 lye ; leach-troughs, troughs in which salt 
 is set to drain ; leeks, drainings ; to leek 
 off, to drain, and hence to leek on or latch 
 on, to add fresh water after the first wort 
 has been drawn off in brewing. — Hal. 
 Sw. bjdrk-laka, the juice of birch-trees ; 
 sal-laka, brine ; laka pa, as E, to leek, or 
 latch on in brewing. The same root is 
 seen in Lat. liqiio, to strain, filter, melt ; 
 liquatu7n vinum, strained wine ; liquari, 
 
LEAM 
 
 to melt away ; liquor (as Sw. lakd)^ juice, 
 liquid. 
 
 Learn. A parallel form with gleam. 
 ON. Ijomi^ splendour ; IjoJTia, to shine. 
 Gle??iyn or le?nyu as fyr, flammo ; — as 
 light, radio. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Here, as in so many other cases, we are 
 able to trace the designation of phenomena 
 of sight after those of hearing. ON. 
 hljo7n7^, resonantia, clamor ; N. IJom, re- 
 sonance, echo ; AS. hlemman^ to crackle 
 as flame ; hlein^ a sound. 
 
 Lean. as. hlcE7ie, lcB?ie, Pl.D. leen, 
 slender, frail, lean ; It. leno, lean, meagre, 
 faint, feeble, also leaning towards, easily 
 credulous, and yielding to fair words. — 
 Fl. The radical signification seems to be 
 what leans from the want of sufficient 
 substance to keep it upright, hence feeble, 
 thin, spare in flesh. 
 
 To Lean. as. hlynian, Du. letmen, G. 
 lelmen, Dan. Icene, It. lenare, to lean, to 
 bend towards. Russ. klonit\ to bow 
 down ; klonishsya, to slope, incline, tend 
 to ; Gael, claon, incline, go aside, squint ; 
 claointe, bent, sloping ; Gr. kX'ivw, to make 
 to bend, turn towards, turn aside ; Lat. 
 clino (in composition), to bend towards. 
 
 To Leap. on. hlaupa, to run, spring ; 
 hleypa, to make to spring, to shoot for- 
 wards ; hlaiipast^ to escape, elope ; G. 
 laufen., to run. 
 
 Leap-year. on. hlaup-ar, the inter- 
 calary year which leaps forwards one day 
 in the month of February. The Du. 
 schrikkel-jaer has a similar meaning, 
 from schi'ikkeii, to spring or stride ; 
 schrik-schoen, skaits. 
 
 To Learn. Goth, leisan, to know ; 
 laisyajt, AS. Im-aii, Sw. Icera^ G. lehren, to 
 teach ; Du. leeren, to teach, to learn; AS. 
 leornjan, G. lernen, to learn. OHG. lera, 
 AS. Idri, E. lore, learning. Goth, laisa- 
 reis, a teacher. 
 
 Lease. Fr. lais, laissement, the lease 
 or instrument by which a holding of any 
 kind is let to a tenant, or given into his 
 hands to turn to profit. The lessor and 
 lessee are the persons who give and accept 
 the lease respectively. Fr. laisser, G. las- 
 sen, to let ; lass-gut, lass-hain, a farm or 
 wood let for a period at a certain rent. 
 Bav. verlassen einein etwas, to let some- 
 thing to one on lease. 
 
 To Lease. To glean. Goth. Iisa7i, 
 las, lesiin, to gather ; Lith. lesti, to peck 
 as a bird, to pick up. 
 
 * Leash. Mid. Lat. laxa, Fr. laisse, 
 lesse, a leasli to hold a dog, a bridle or false 
 rein to hold a horse by, any such long 
 string. Mid. Lat. laxamitia, habenae — 
 
 LECHERY 
 
 381 
 
 Gl. Isidor. From laxo, Fr. laisser, to let 
 go. Bav. geldss, a noose for catching 
 birds. 
 
 Not to be confounded with Fr. lacqs, 
 It. laccio, Sp. lazo, a slip-knot, snare, 
 tie. 
 
 Leasing. OE. lies. Goth, laus, emp- 
 ty, vain ; lausavaurds, an idle talker ; 
 n. Ids, loose, lascivious, shameful ; AS. 
 leas, empty, false ; leasian, to lie, lease7'e, 
 a liar ; Du. loos, pretence, false sham ; 
 looze waperikriet, a false alarm ; looze 
 dejir, a false door. 
 
 Least. See Less. 
 
 Leat of a Mill. From G. leiten, to 
 lead. Das wasser in einen garten leiten, 
 to convey water into a garden. Einen 
 fluss anders wohin leite7i, to turn the 
 course of a river ; wasser-leitiing, aque- 
 duct, conduit, canal. See Lade. 
 
 Leather. g. leder, w. llethr, Du. 
 leder, leer, Bret. ler. 
 
 To Leather. In familiar language, to 
 thrash or beat one ; and Swab. Ieder7i is 
 used in the same sense. So we speak of 
 giving one a good hidi7ig, as if it were 
 meant as a dressing of his hide or skin, 
 and similar expressions were current in 
 Latin. Coriiwi perdere, — redi77iere, to 
 suffer blows, —forisface7'e, to deserve 
 them. 
 
 Leave. Permission. AS. leaf, geleaf, 
 Pl.D. lof, love., ON. lof, permission ; lofa, 
 ley/a, G. erlaube7i, AS. Iyfa7i, alyfa7i, to 
 permit. The radical meaning, as shown 
 under Believe, is applaud, approve, and 
 in a weaker degree, allow, permit. 
 
 To Leave. Goth, laiba, AS. laf, ON. 
 leifar (pi.), Gr. Xoittoc, leavings, overplus, 
 remainder ; ON. leifa, Gr. Xtivtiv, Xiinrd- 
 vHv, to leave ; Goth. ajlif7ia7i, Sw. blifwa, 
 G. bleibei7i, to remain. Carinthian ldpe7i, 
 to leave remaining ; lapach, remnants. 
 
 Leaven. Fr. levain, the sour-dough 
 or ferment which makes the mass pre- 
 pared for bread rise in a spongy form; 
 from lever, Lat, levare, to rise. 
 
 Lechery. — Lickorous. From Fr. les- 
 cher, lecher, to lick, were formed lesche7cr, 
 lechereau, a lapper up of, a lickdish, slap- 
 sauce, lickorous companion. — Cot. Z/- 
 cherie, gourmandise. — Diet, de Berri. 
 From G. lecken, to lick, lecker, dainty, 
 lickerish, nice in food ; in familiar lan- 
 guage, a lively degree of a sensual desire. 
 Der lecker steht i/un dar7iach, his chaps • 
 water at it, he has a letch or latch for it, 
 as it would be expressed in vulgar E. 
 Latch, a fancy or wish. — Hal. E. lickerish, 
 lickorous, dainty. Lat. Iigiiri7'e, to lick, 
 to be dainty in eating, eagerly to long for. 
 
-.Si 
 
 -LECT 
 
 The gratification of the palate was then 
 taken as the type of other sensual plea- 
 sures, and G. leckcrer is not only a dainty- 
 mouthed man, but in a wider sense one 
 who makes the gratifying of his appetites 
 his chief business. — Kiittn. OFr. Ucheor, 
 lecherres, lescheur^ glutton, epicure, one 
 given to the pleasures of the table or the 
 flesh, adulterer, loose companion. The 
 E. lechery has become exclusively appro- 
 priated to the applied sense, while in 
 France l^cherie, as we have seen, pro- 
 vincially retains the original meaning. 
 
 The same train of thought which pro- 
 duced the change of meaning in lechery 
 led in the middle ages to the use of Lat. 
 luxtts, luxuria (classically signifying ex- 
 cess in eating and drinking), in the sense 
 of fleshly indulgence ; luxus^ bose lust ; 
 luxiiriostis, horentriber. — Dief. Supp. 
 ' Oncques n'orent compagnie ne atouche- 
 ment de carnelle luxiire? — St Graal, c. 
 xxix. 152. In the E. translation — 'nether 
 in weye of lecherie lay hire by.' And pro- 
 bably this use of luxuria in the sense of 
 lechery may justify the conjecture that 
 luxus in the primary meaning of excess 
 in the pleasures of taste has the same 
 origin with G. lecker, E, lickorous, and Fr. 
 lecherie, in a representation of the sound 
 made by smacking the tongue and lips in 
 the enjo}Tiient of food. The Gr. yXviciq, 
 and Lat. dulcis (for dlucis), sweet, seem 
 to show that the sound of a smack was 
 represented by the syllable gluck or dluck, 
 which when softened down to heck would 
 supply the root of luxus. See Luck. 
 
 -lect. — Lecture. Lat. lego^ lectu7n, to 
 pick, gather, thence to read. Hence Elect, 
 to choose from ; Collect, to gather to- 
 gether ; Select, to pick out and lay apart. 
 
 liede. A kettle. 
 
 And Ananias fell down dede 
 
 As black as any lede. — Manuel der PSchds. 
 
 Ir. luchd, a pot or kettle. 
 
 Drutn-slede^ a kettle-drum. — Fl. in v. 
 nacchere. 
 
 Leden. Speech, language. 
 
 The queinte ring 
 Thurgh which she understood wel everything 
 That any fowle may in his leden sing. — Chaucer. 
 
 From AS. lyden, leden, Latin, the Latin 
 speech, then language in general. Of 
 J^edene on Englisc, from Latin into E. 
 ' He cuthe be dcele Lyden iitiderstandett, he 
 could partly understand Latin. — Pref. 
 Hept. Mara is on tire lyden, biter nes, 
 Mara in our language is bitterness. The 
 same application has taken place in It, 
 where latino is used for language. 
 
 LEE 
 E cantin gli augelli ogni in suo /t/^///^.— Dante. 
 Fr. latinier, an interpreter. 
 
 The foregoing explanation would never 
 have been questioned if it were not for 
 the use of teid or lede in the same sense 
 as leden. Ilk land has its ain leid. — Sc. 
 prov. 
 Translait of new thay may be red and song 
 Ouer Albion ile into your vulgare Itde. 
 
 D. V. in Jam. 
 
 ON. JiHod, a sound, the sound of the voice ; 
 hlioda til, to address one ; hlioda, Sw. 
 lyda, to signify. Huru lydde brefvet? 
 what did the letter import ? Lagen lyder 
 sd, so the law says. Late, cry, voice. 
 Foglar hafva olika Idten, fowls have dif- 
 ferent notes. 
 
 Ledge. A narrow strip standing out 
 from a flat surface, as a ledge of rock, the 
 ledge of a table. ON. I'ogg, Sw. lagg, Sc. 
 laggen, the projecting rim at the bottom 
 of a cask. Ledgins, the parapets of a 
 bridge. — Jam. 
 
 Ledger. A leiger or ledger ambassa- 
 dor was a resident appointed to guard the 
 interests of his master at a foreign court. 
 
 Now gentlemen imagine that young Cromwell's 
 in Antwerp, leiger ior the English merchants. — 
 Lord Cromwell in Nares. 
 
 Return not thou, but legeir stay behind 
 And move the Greekish prince to send us aid. 
 Fairfax Tasso, ibid. 
 
 The term was also applied to other cases 
 in which an object lies permanently in a 
 place. A ledger-bait in fishing is one 
 ' fixed or made to rest in one certain place 
 when you shall be absent from it.' — Wal- 
 ton. 
 
 It happened that a stage-player borrowed a 
 rusty musket which had hen long leger in his 
 shop. — Fuller in R. 
 
 Hence leiger-books are books that lie 
 permanently in a certain place to which 
 they relate. ' Many leiger-books of the 
 monasteries are still remaining, wherein 
 they registered all their leases.' — H. War- 
 ton in R. 
 
 In modern book-keeping the term 
 ledger is applied to what the Fr. call the 
 grand livre, the principal book of account. 
 
 The origin is Du. legger, he who lies 
 or remains permanently in a certain place, 
 the supercargo, or person appointed to 
 look after the interest of the owners of 
 the cargo in a ship, their leigei'-ambassa- 
 dor in that respect ; also an old shop- 
 keeper, a book that does not get sold. 
 
 Lee. Shelter. Lee-side, hliebord, the 
 sheltered side of the ship. Lee-shore, the 
 shore opposite the lee-side of the ship, 
 
LEECH 
 
 and consequently the shore exposed to 
 the wind. AS- hleo, hleow, shade, shelter. 
 ON. hlifa, hlja, N. liva, to protect, shelter ; 
 ON. hlif, a shield (Lat. clypeiis), defen- 
 sive armour. Du. luzu, shelter from 
 the wind. Het begint te luwen, the 
 wind abates. Dat Iwwt wat, that gives 
 some relief. Lwwie, AS. hleowth, place 
 sheltered from the wind, apricitas. Hence 
 Sc. lytJie, shelter, and met. encourage- 
 ment, favour. The lythe side of the 
 hill. Possibly the radical image may 
 be shown in ON. hlid, side, slope of a 
 hill. 
 
 lieech. A physician, healer, then the 
 blood-sucking mollusk used for medicinal 
 purposes. ON. laknir, Goth, leikeis^ 
 lekeis, a leech, leikinojt, to heal ; Boh. 
 lek, medicine ; leciiif Fin. Iddketa, Gael. 
 leighis, to heal. 
 
 We are inclined in the first instance to 
 suppose that the notion of curative efforts 
 may be taken from the type of an animal 
 licking his wounds ; Gr. Xtixnv, Goth, 
 laigon, Gael, ligh, to lick. But it is more 
 likely that the radical idea is the applica- 
 tion of medicinal herbs. Esthon. rohhi, 
 grass, herb, potherb, medicine ; rohhi- 
 tsema, to apply medicaments. Lettish 
 sahle, grass, herb ; sahles (pi.), medicine, 
 sahligs, medicinal. Bret, louzou, lezeti, 
 pot or medicinal herbs ; loiizaoui^ to use 
 medicaments, dress a wound ; lousaouer, 
 lezeuoicr, a herborist, mediciner. w. 
 llysiau, herbs ; llysena, to collect herbs, 
 Manx Ihuss, leeks, lentils, herbs ; lus-thie, 
 houseleek. The final s exchanges for a k 
 (which is probably the older form) in 
 Russ. Bohem. hik, G. lauch, ON. laiikr, 
 E. leek, potherb, onion, whence in all 
 probability the lock or lick, G, luege, 
 which forms the termination of many of 
 our names for plants ; he^nlock, charlock, 
 garlick, houseleek, Swiss wegluege, wild 
 endive ; kornluege, galeopsis ladanum. 
 It is to be remarked that houseleek was 
 cultivated as a vulnerary. Gael, luibh, 
 luigh, herb, plant. 
 
 Leek, See last article. 
 
 To Leer. See To Lour. 
 
 Lees. Fr. lie, sediment of wine ; Lang. 
 ligo, sediment, dregs, mud. Wall, lize, 
 Namur lige, yeast. Bret, led hid, sedi- 
 ment, from ledhia, to lay, to set down. 
 W. llaid, mire. 
 
 Leet. G. lasse, lass-hauer, the name 
 given in many parts of G. to tenants sub- 
 ject to certain rents and duties. Lass- 
 bank, the court of the lassi, court leet ; 
 Lass-schopfen, leet-jury. Du. laet, a pea- 
 sant tenant, subject of a certain jurisdic- 
 
 LEPIDOPTERA 
 
 383 
 
 tion ; laet-banke, the court of the tenants, 
 court-leet. In England court-leet is the 
 court of the copyhold tenants, opposed to 
 court-baron, that of the freeholders of a 
 manor, copyhold being a servile tenure. 
 See Lad. 
 
 Left. Du. lucJtf, luff, Lat. Icbvus, Pol., 
 Boh. lewy. Perhaps the light hand, in 
 opposition to the stronger, heavier right ; 
 AS. swithre, the stronger, the right hand. 
 In Transylvania licht is used iox schlecht, 
 poor, slight. Fris. lichte lioeden, the 
 common people. Boh. lewiti, to slacken ; 
 lewny, light, moderate. 
 
 Leg, ON, leggr, a stalk or stem ; arm- 
 leggr, the upper joint of the arm ; hand- 
 leggr, the forearm ; gras-leggr, a stalk of 
 grass. 
 
 Leg-acy. — Legate. Lat, legare, to de- 
 pute, to assign, to bequeath by will. 
 
 Legal. — Legislate. — Legitimate. 
 Lat, lex, legis, law. 
 
 Legend. — Legible. Lat. legendus, 
 p.pcpl. fut. oi lego, I read. See -leet. 
 
 Leguminous. Lat. legumen, pulse, as 
 pease and beans. Explained from lego, 
 to gather, as being gathered by hand. 
 
 Leisure. Fr. loisir, from Lat. licere, 
 as plaisir from placere. — Diez. Pro v. 
 lezer, lezor, leisure, permission, oppor- 
 tunity. OFr. leist, loist, licet, it is per- 
 mitted, it is lawful. 
 
 Leman. A mistress, for lef?nan, from 
 AS, leof, loved, dear, as woman for wif- 
 man. 
 
 Thys mayde hym payde suythe wel, myd god 
 
 wille he hire notn 
 And huld. hyre as a lefmon. — R, G. 344. 
 
 To Lend, — Loan, ON, Ijd, Goth._ 
 leihvan, G. lehen to lend money at interest ; 
 leheti, a fee, or estate given in respect of 
 military service; ON. Idn, Dan. laan, a loan, 
 thing lent ; OHG. lehanon, G. lehnen, Sw. 
 Idna, to loan or lend. 
 
 Length. See Long. 
 
 Lenient. — Lenitive. Lat, lenis, mild, 
 soft, gentle. ON. linr, Sw. len, lin, Da. 
 lind, G. linde, gelinde, soft, gentle, pliable. 
 
 Lent. AS. lengten, lencten, Icenten, Du. 
 lente, OHG. langez, lenzo, lejtzen, G, lenz, 
 Swab, glentz, Sw. ladig, lading, lading, 
 laing, laig, spring. 
 
 Leopard. Lat, Leopardus j supposed 
 by Pliny to be the issue of a she lion 
 (Jecena) by a male panther {pardus). 
 
 Leper. Gr. \e7rpbg, scaly ; the skin 
 becoming scaly on those afflicted with the 
 leprosy ; Xevig, a scale, husk, peel, 
 
 Lepidoptera. Gr. Xeirig, XtTriSog, a 
 scale, and TrTepbv, a wing. 
 
384 
 
 LESION 
 
 Iiesion. Lat. Iccdo, lasuvi^ to hurt, 
 injure. 
 
 Less. — Least. In all kinds of action 
 the idea of relaxation is identical with 
 that of diminution. We say indifferently, 
 his zeal never for a moment relaxed, or 
 never grew less ; Lat. remittere is ex- 
 plained by Andrews to loosen, slacken, 
 relax, and also to abate, decrease ; as 
 slack by Richardson, relaxed, weakened, 
 diminished. The sinking of the waters 
 is expressed in Genesis by decrease, in 
 Chaucer by aslake, or slacken 
 
 The water shall aslake and gone away 
 Aboutin prime on the nexte day. 
 
 Now the root lass is widely spread in the 
 sense of loose, slack. It. lasso, weary, 
 faint ; Fr. lasche, slack, flagging, faint ; 
 W. llaes, Bav. lass, OE. lash, slack, loose. 
 And in OE. less was written lassj the 
 lasse Bretaine. — R. G. 96. To lass, less, 
 or liss are constantly used in such a man- 
 ner that they may be explained with equal 
 propriety to slacken or to diminish, to 
 grow or make less. 
 
 The day is gone, the moneth passid, 
 Hire love encreaseth and his lasseth. 
 
 His love slackens, grows weak, or becomes 
 less. * For their strength dayly lassed.^ — 
 Froissart in R. In the following passage 
 the abstract idea of diminution is more 
 distinct. 
 
 So that his owen pris'he lasseth 
 When he such measure overpasseth. 
 In the application to pain it is commonly 
 written less or liss. 
 
 But love consent another tide 
 
 That onis I may touch and kiss, 
 
 I trow my pain shall never liss. — R, R. 
 
 — shall never slacken or abate. 
 
 And thus with joy and hope well for to fare 
 Arcite goth home lessid of his care : 
 
 — i. e. with his care abated or diminished. 
 G. leschen, to slake, to abate the strength 
 of, and thence to extinguish fire. 
 
 Like a man that hurt is sore 
 And is somdele of aking of his wound 
 Ylessid well, but heled no dele more. 
 
 Chaucer in R. 
 
 When less had thus acquired the sense 
 of feebler, smaller, in weaker degree, a 
 superlative was formed in analogy with 
 most, best. Lest in the sense of Lat. quo 
 minus, to the end that not, was originally 
 less. 
 
 But yet lesse thou do worse, take a wife, 
 Chaucer. 
 ■ — i. e. in abating or slackening the tend- 
 ency to do worse. 
 
 2. The termination less in hopeless, 
 
 LETTUCE 
 
 restless, and the like, is G. los, loose, free-; 
 los-binden ein pferd, to untie a horse, to 
 set him loose. Nun bin ich von ihm los, 
 now I am free of him ; namenlos, t'astlos, 
 without a name, without rest. 
 
 Lessee. See Lease. 
 
 Lesson. Lat. lectio, the act of read- 
 ing {Ic^o, I read), whence Fr. legon, Prov. 
 leisso, lesso. 
 
 To Let. To let is used in two senses 
 apparently the reverse of each other, viz. 
 1st, to allow, permit, or even take mea- 
 sures for the execution of a purpose, as 
 when we say let me alone, let me go, let 
 me hear to-morrow ; and, 2nd, to hinder, 
 as in the phrase without let or hindrance. 
 
 The idea of slackening lies at the root 
 of both applications of the term. When 
 we speak of letting one go, letting him do 
 something, we conceive him as previously 
 restrained by a band, the loosening or 
 slackening of which will permit the ex- 
 ecution of the act in question. Thus Lat. 
 laxare, to slacken, was used in later 
 times in the sense of its modern deriva- 
 tives, It. lasciare, Fr. laisser, to let. Laxas 
 desiccare, let it dry ; modicum laxa stare, 
 let it stand a little while. — Muratori, Diss. 
 24, p. 365. So from Bav. lass, loose, 
 slack, slow, G. lassen, to permit, to let. 
 The analogue of Bav. lass is ON. latr, 
 lazy, torpid, slow, the original meaning 
 of which (as observed under Late) was 
 doubtless slack, whence E. let, to slacken 
 (some restraining agency), to permit. 
 
 At other times the slackness is attribut- 
 ed to the agent himself, when let acquires 
 the sense of being slack in action, delaying 
 or omitting to do. 
 And down he goth, no lenger would he let. 
 And with that word his counter door he shet. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 The Duke of Parma is ill and will not let to 
 send daily to the Duke of Medina Sidonia. — 
 Drake to Walsingham in Motley. 
 
 Da. lade, to let, to permit or suffer some- 
 thing to be done ; also to omit ; lade af, 
 to leave off. Goth, latjaii, galatjan, to 
 delay. 
 
 Then in a causative sense, to let one 
 from doing a thing, is to make him let 
 or omit to do it, to hinder his doing it. 
 Bav. laz, late ; letzen, to retard, impede, 
 hinder. 
 
 Lethargic. — Lethe. Gr. \r\Qt], ob- 
 livion, whence XTjSapyoc (apydg, inactive), 
 Xr]9apyiic6g, drowsy, forgetful. 
 
 Letter. — Literal, — Literature. Lat. 
 littera, whence Fr. lettre, letter. 
 
 Lettuce. Lat. lactuca, Fr. laitue, doubt- 
 less from the milky juice. 
 
LEVANT 
 
 To Levant. To run away from debt. 
 Sp. levantar, to raise ; levantar el campo, 
 as Fr. lever le piquet, to decamp. 
 
 Levee. See Levy. 
 
 Level. Lat. libella (dim. of libra, a 
 balance, also used in the sense of a 
 plummet), It. /zz/^//^, a plummet. 'Locus 
 qui est ad libellam sequus.' — Varro. The 
 OFr. had livcl, liveau, while in modern 
 niveati, as well as in It. nivello, the in- 
 itial / has been exchanged for an n. Level, 
 rewle, perpendiculum. — Pr. Pm. Levell, 
 a ruler, niveau. — Palsgr. 
 
 Lever. Fr. levier, an instrument for 
 raising weights, from lever, to raise. 
 
 Leveret. Lat. lepus, It. lepore, Fr. 
 lievre, a hare ; It. lepretto, a leveret or 
 young hare ; Fr. levreter, a hare to have 
 young ; levreteau, levraiilt, a leveret. 
 
 Levesell. — Lessel. A shed, gallery, 
 portico. 
 
 He looketh up and doun till he hath found 
 The clerkes hors, there as he stood ybound 
 Behind the mille, under a levesell. — Reve's tale. 
 
 The gay levesell at the taverne is signe 
 of the wine that is in cellar. — Parson's 
 talc. 
 
 The original sense is a shade of green 
 branches ; G. laube, Pl.D. love (from 
 laiib, foliage), an arbour, hut, gallery, 
 portico. Dan. lovsal, Sw. lofsal, a hut 
 of green branches ; Dan. lovsals-fest, the 
 feast of tabernacles. The termination 
 sal is frequently used in G. to form sub- 
 stantives from verbs; triibsal, tribula- 
 tion ; schicksal, lot ; scheusal, an object 
 of aversion, &c. 
 
 Levigate. Lat. levigare or IcBvigare, 
 to make smooth, from IcBvis, smooth, 
 polished. 
 
 Levin. Lightning. ' Fulgur, leuen- 
 ynge that brenneth.' — Ortus. ' To levyne 
 or to smyte with lewenynge.^ — Cath. 
 Ang. ' Fulgur, fulmen, lewenynges j ful- 
 gurat, (it) lewnes.^^-W$). Vocab. in Way. 
 It is evidently identical with N. IjoTi, Ijun, 
 Dan. lyn, lynild, Sw. dial, lygna, lyvna, 
 lightning, a flash of lightning. The 
 proper meaning of the word seems flash ; 
 lynende dine, flashing eyes. Fabian in 
 describing a comet says that ' out of the 
 East part appeared a great leviji or beam 
 of brightness, which stretched toward the 
 said star.' — Way in v. So many words 
 connected with the idea of shining are 
 found with initial gl as well as a simple /, 
 that we may probably connect lewen or 
 levifi with Sc. gleuin, to glow. 
 So that the cave did gleuin of the hete. — D. V. 
 But N. lygne, to lighten, seems the older 
 
 LIBERAL 385 
 
 form ; OSw. lygn-eld, ly gnu-eld, ODan. 
 lugn-eld, lightning. 
 
 Levity, -levi-. Lat. //z/zV, light, trifling, 
 vain ; allevio, to make light. 
 
 Levy. — Levee, -lev-. — Levant. Fr. 
 lever, to lift, raise, set up, also to levy, 
 collect, gather. — Cot. The E. levy is from 
 the form levee, the act of raising or ga- 
 thering. Levee de soldats, a levy of sol' 
 diers ; — des impots, a levy of taxes. The 
 Scotch say to lift a debt, to obtain pay- 
 ment, to get it in. Se lever, to rise or get 
 up ; le lever du roi, the attendance of 
 the French courtiers on the getting up of 
 the King. Hence E. levee, a compli- 
 mentary attendance of guests on a person 
 in authority. From the ppl. pr. levant, 
 the rising of the sun, we have the Levant, 
 the region of the East, specially applied to 
 the countries under the dominion of the 
 Turk. 
 
 Lat. levo, to raise, is undoubtedly con- 
 nected with levis, light. See To Lift, 
 Elevo, to raise up, to elevate. 
 
 Lewd. Originally illiterate, untaught, 
 as opposed to the educated clergy; then 
 inferior, bad, wicked, lustful. AS. Icewd, 
 lcs7£/de,l2Licus. — Bede 5. 6. 13. 14. Loiwede 
 matt, laicus homo. — ^Ifric. Gram. 'CEg- 
 ther ge preosthades,ge munuchades rnenn 
 and that IcEwede folc : ' as well the men 
 of the priesthood and monkhood as the. 
 lay people. — Lye. From leod, people ; 
 OFris. Hoed, lined, men, people, common 
 people ; lichte lioeden, the laity. Liuda- 
 inon, liodamon, man of the people. Russ., 
 liodi, the people.; Hod in, liodyanin, a 
 secular person. 
 
 Lewde, not letteryd, illiteratus ; — un- 
 knowynge in what so hyt be, inscius, 
 ignarus. — Pr. Pm. Leude of condycions, 
 maluays, villayn, maugraneux. — Palsgr. 
 Leude or naughty wine, illaudatum vel 
 spurcum. — Horman in Way. 
 
 Lexicon. Gr. Xt^tKov, from X't^ig, a 
 word ; A«yw, I speak. 
 
 Liable. Commonly explained from 
 Lat. ligo, Fr. Her, to bind ; under obliga- 
 tion to. But no Lat. ligabilis or Fr. 
 liable is brought forwards. The word 
 seems purely English, and it looks as if 
 it were barbarously formed from the verb 
 to lie as inclinable from incline, with the 
 sense of lying open to. 
 
 Libel. — Library. Lat. liber, a. book, 
 whence libellus, a little book, famosus 
 libellus, a scandalous publication ; libra- 
 rium, a chest or place to keep books in. 
 
 Liberal.— Liberate.— Liberty. Lat. 
 liber, free. 
 
 25 
 
386 
 
 LIBERTINE 
 
 Libertine. Lat. Ubcrtinus, a freed 
 man, Fr. Hbertin^ a dissolute person, one 
 freed from moral restraint. 
 
 License, -licit. Lat. liceo^ licitum, 
 to be lawful, whence licentia, permission 
 to do a thing, unrestrained action. Illicit^ 
 unlawful. 
 
 Lich. Lich-gate^ the gate where the 
 corpse is set down on entering a church- 
 yard to await the arrival of the minister. 
 Lich-wake, the watch held over a dead 
 body. Goth, lelk, G. ieichey AS. //V, lice, 
 corpse. 
 
 To Lick. I. G. lecken, Goth, laigon, 
 Gr. Xft'xw, It. leccare^ Lith. lakti, Fin. 
 lakkia, Russ. lokat\ to lick or lap, to sup 
 up liquids with the tongue. Pers. lag- 
 kerden, literally to make lag, to do what 
 is characterised by the sound lag, shows 
 the imitative character of the word in the 
 clearest light. 
 
 2. To beat. W. llach, a slap ; llachio, 
 to slap, to thresh ; llachbren, a cudgel. 
 
 Licorous. See Lechery. 
 
 * Lid. AS. hlid, gehlid, a covering, 
 door. In the AS. Gospel, Matt, xxvii. 60, 
 it is said that Joseph rolled a great stone 
 for a hlid to the sepulchre. OHG. hlit, 
 lid, covering ; uparlid, covering, the 
 mercy-seat (which covered the ark). 
 Pl.D. lid, cover ; ogenlid, G. augenlied, 
 eyelid. OYns. hlid, lith, covering, roof; 
 *mit ene plonckene hlide :' [a well] with a 
 covering of planks. The foregoing would 
 be satisfactorily accounted for from AS. 
 hlidan, behlidan, to cover, close, OFris. 
 hlidia (Stiirenberg), to cover, but the ON. 
 seems to indicate that the primary sense 
 is an opening, then what closes it up, in 
 the same way that the primary sense both 
 of door and of gate seems to be an open- 
 ing or passage. ON. hlid, a vacant space, 
 an opening, gap in a hedge, dyke or wall 
 closed with a hatch or gate. It is ap- 
 plied to the vacant space on a wall where 
 one of a row of shields has been taken 
 down, to a pause in a battle. Gardshlid, 
 opening in ati inclosure, gate, wicket. 
 Da., Sw. led, wicket, gate, barrier. 
 
 To Lie. I. Goth, ligan, lag, legum, 
 to lie ; lagjan, to lay ; Fris. liga, lidsa, 
 lidisa, lizze, to lie ; Russ. lojit (Fr.J), to 
 lay ; lojitsya, to lie down. Lat. legere, to 
 lay, as appears from colligere, to lay to- 
 gether, to collect. Gr. Xeytti^, originally 
 to lay, then, to lay to sleep ; XsytaOai, to 
 lie, X«xoc, a couch, bed. Serv. lojati, to 
 lay ; legati, to lie. ON. leggia, to lay ; 
 liggia, to lie. See Lay. 
 
 2. Goth, liugan, G. liigen, Slavon. lii- 
 gati, Pol. Iga^, Boh. hlati, to lie. OHG. 
 
 LIFT 
 
 loiigen, lougnen, negation, falsehood ; 
 OS. lognian, AS. lygnian, to deny, Lett. 
 leegt, to deny, refuse. So in Gael, bi-eug, 
 a lie ; breiigaich, give the lie, gainsay. 
 The fundamental meaning of a lie is vain 
 idle talk, and to deny or refuse is to make 
 the speaker talk in vain. Gael, leog, idle 
 talk ; leogair, trifler ; Ir. liogam (as Gael. 
 breug), to flatter. In a Vocab. A.D. 1470, 
 cited by Adelung, loggen is translated 
 nuga, derisio. 
 
 The origin seems preserved in the Fin- 
 nish languages, where Fin. liika, Esthon. 
 liig signify by, beside, beyond what is 
 natural or right. Esthon. jominne, drink ; 
 liig-jominne, drunkenness ; juiis, hair, 
 liig-juus, false-hair, a wig ; ninitni, a 
 name, liig-nimmi, a nick-name, surname ; 
 te, a way, liig-te, wrong way, by-path ; 
 and pajatus, speech, liig-pajatus, false- 
 hood, trifling. Bret, gaou, awry, wrong, 
 false, gaolavarout, to lie. 
 
 Lief. — Liever. As lief, as soon ; 
 liefer or liever, rather. Du. lief, dear, 
 pleasing, acceptable ; dat is mij lief, I 
 am glad of it ; lief hebben, to love. See 
 Love. 
 
 Liege. — Allegiance. The Mid. Lat. 
 litgius, ligius, Prov. litge, lige, Fr. lige, 
 was a term of the feudal law, signifying 
 the absolute nature of the duty of a tenant 
 to his lord. Liegeman, a tenant who 
 owes absolute fidelity ; liege-lord, the lord 
 entitled to claim such from his tenant. 
 Mid. Lat. litgancia, ligiantia, ligeitas, 
 &c., allegiance, the duty of a subject to 
 his lord. 
 
 The notion that the word was derived 
 from Lat. ligare, signifying the tie by 
 which the subject was bound to his lord, 
 appears very early, but is not entitled to 
 more respect on that account. The deri- 
 vation adopted by Due. is far more satis- 
 factory ; from litus, lidus, ledus, a man 
 of a condition between a free man and a 
 serf, bound to the soil, and owing certain 
 work and services to his lord. Litimo- 
 niuni, lidimonium, litidium, the duty of a 
 littis to his lord. See Lad. 
 
 Lien. An arrangement by which a 
 certain property is bound to make good 
 a pecuniary claim. Fr. lien, from Lat. 
 ligamen, tie. See Limehound. 
 
 Lieutenant. One holding the place 
 of another. Fr. lieii, place, and tenir, to 
 hold. 
 
 Life.— Live. Goth, liban, G. leben, to 
 live j leib, body. Du. liif body, life. 
 
 Lift. OE. lift, luft, the sky, air. 
 
 Tho hurde he thulke tyme angles synge ywis, 
 Up in the luftc a murye song. — R. G. 280. 
 
LIFT 
 
 Goth, luftus, the air ; Pl.D, lucht, lugt, 
 Du. luchi, locht, air, sky, breath ; N. lukt, 
 ON. lopt, air, sky. 
 
 Pl.D. lucht signifies light as well as air, 
 and the enjoyment of the two are so inti- 
 mately connected that we can hardly 
 doubt the identity of luchi, light, with 
 luchi, lugi, lufi, air ; and must suppose 
 that lufi has arisen from luchi by the 
 same tendency to soften aspirates which 
 is seen in the pronunciation of cough, as 
 compared with the spelling, or in E. sofi, 
 compared with G. sachi. The absence of 
 light and air is expressed in Du. by the 
 same word bedompi, signifying dark, ob- 
 scure, and also close, stifling. — Bomhoff. 
 Gr. aiQis), to light up, blaze ; cnQi\^, the 
 lift, sky. 
 
 To Lift. Pl.D. liifien, lichien, to raise 
 into the lift (Pl.D. hichi, OE. lufi) or air. 
 Liifien is also used in the sense of giving 
 air. ON. lopi, air, sky ; d lopi, up in the 
 air, aloft ; lopia, Dan. lofie, to raise or 
 lift. Swab, lupf, a breathing, moment of 
 breath-taking (comp. Pl.D. Itichi halen, 
 to draw breath) ; lupf en, to lift ; AS. hli- 
 fian, to rise up, to raise or lift. 
 
 It must be admitted that the idea of 
 lifting may also be explained as making 
 a thing light, making it rise upwards, and 
 the verb seems often to be formed in this 
 manner. Thus from Lat. levis, light, 
 lev are, to lift ; from Bohem. lehky, light, 
 lehciii, to lift. The Pl.D. lichien may be 
 formed either from luchi, the air, or from 
 lichi, light, and it is used as well in the 
 sense of lifi as of that of lighienj die 
 anker lichien, to weigh or raise the an- 
 chor ; ein schiff lichien, to lighten a ship, 
 to take out the cargo ; die casse lichien, 
 to take money out of the chest, an appli- 
 cation which may be compared with E. 
 shop-lifiing, removing goods clandes- 
 tinely from a shop, or Sc. io lifi a debi, 
 perhaps to empty or make void the debt, 
 to receive the money. Lower Rhine lofie, 
 to steal, Goth, hlifius, a thief, hlifan, to 
 steal, may be connected with AS. hlifan, 
 to raise, by Fr. enlever, to take away. 
 Dan. lei, light, not heavy, leiie, to lighten, 
 to lift, to weigh anchor. 
 
 The vacillation in the apparent deriva- 
 tion of all these words may be explained 
 by the ultimate identity of the parent 
 stocks. Lightness is a tendency upwards, 
 towards the light and air. To make a 
 thing light (in the sense of not heavy) is 
 to bring it towards the light, or, what is 
 radically the same word, towards the lift 
 or air. It must be remembered that the 
 final /, which is lost in AS. hlifan, Bav. 
 
 LIGHT 387 
 
 lupfen, Lat. levare, as compared with lift, 
 is no essential part of the root of lighi. 
 
 Ligament.— Ligature. Lat. ligare^ 
 to bind, tie. 
 
 Light. I. Goth, liuhaih, light ; lauh- 
 moni, lightning ; G. lichi, light ; ON. lios, 
 Gael, let^s, Lat. lux, light ; lucere, Bret. 
 ludha, luia, Fr. luire, to shine ; w. lltcg, 
 light ; lygad, the eye ; llugorn, Lat. lu- 
 cerna, Gr. \vxvoq, a light, lamp, &c. ; Bret. 
 lugern, shine, brilliancy ; Gr. XtvKoq, 
 white ; Xuk//, the dawn ; Sanscr. luj, lok, 
 loch, shine, see. 
 
 2. G. leichi, Du. lichi, leychi, ON. leiir, 
 Pol. lekki, Boh. lehky, Serv. lak, Russ. 
 legok, Sanscr. laghu, Lat. levis, of small 
 weight, easy. The Gr. Wa^vq, small, 
 mean, is generally recognised as identical 
 with levis, which it unites with the Slavo- 
 nian forms. 
 
 As lightness is a tendency upwards to- 
 wards the light and air, it may take its 
 designation either from light {lux), or 
 from Pl.D. luchi, the lift or air, words 
 which have been shown to be radically 
 identical. The air is the most common 
 type of lightness, and it is besides the 
 only thing which interposes no impedi- 
 ment to the passage of light. Thus light- 
 ness and light are naturally associated 
 together ; heaviness and darkness. N. 
 lei, light (levis) ; leiia (of the weather), 
 to clear up, to become bright and un- 
 covered. See Lift. 
 
 To Light.— Alight. The different 
 senses of the verb io lighi afford a good 
 instance of the intimate association in our 
 mind between light and air. To lighi on 
 a thing, to fall in with it, is to have light 
 on it. 
 
 I hope by this time the Lord may have blessed 
 you to have light upon some of their ships.— ^ 
 Carlyle's Cromwell, 2. 384. 
 
 In the same way the native of New Hol- 
 land to signify meeting with a thing says 
 that it makes a light. 'Well me and 
 Hougong go look out for duck ; aye, aye. 
 Bel make a light duck.' Which rendered 
 into English would be, ' We don't see any 
 duck ' [don't meet with or light on any], 
 — Mrs Meredith, Australia. In Pl.D. a 
 similar idea is expressed by reference to 
 the air. Hei was as wen he uut der luchi 
 full, it was as if he fell out of the lift or 
 air; of -one who unexpectedly comes to 
 light. 
 
 To alight from horseback, to lighi upon 
 the ground, are probably to be understood 
 from the notion of lightening the convey- 
 ance on which the agent was previously 
 borne. Dan. lei, light, not heavy i leiiCf 
 26 * 
 
388 
 
 LIGHTEN 
 
 to lift up, to raise ; at lette anker, to 
 weigh anchor ; at Ictte een af sadden, to 
 raise one from the saddle, to help him to 
 alight. 
 
 Lighten. — Lightning. Goth, liii- 
 hath, light ; iiuhtjan, lauhatjan^ to light- 
 en ; lauhmoni, lightening ; G. iicht, light, 
 leuchten, to lighten ; W. lltig., light, lluch- 
 ed, AS. liget, flash, lightning. So far 
 lightning seems simply to be regarded as 
 a flash of light, the type of brilliancy, but 
 in other cases we meet again with that 
 singular confusion of the ideas of light 
 and sky or air, which has been observed 
 under Lift and Light, and the phenome- 
 non is regarded as sky-fire. N. lukt, air, 
 sky, heavens ; lukting^ lightning ; ON. 
 lopt, air, sky ; lopt-eldr, sky-fire, light- 
 ning. 
 
 Lighten. Pl.D. Hchten, to lift, to 
 lighten. Ein schiff Hchten or leichten, to 
 lighten or unload a ship ; die kasse Hch- 
 ten^ to take money out of the chest ; eine 
 tonne /., to empty a cask ; die anker /., to 
 weigh anchor. 
 
 Lights. G. die leichte leber (the light 
 liver), the lungs, from their light spongy 
 texture. Russ. legkij, light ; legkoe, the 
 lungs. 
 
 Like. -ly. The Goth, termination 
 leiks, equivalent to Gr. -XiKog, Lat. -lis, G. 
 -lich, and E. -ly, is used to indicate the 
 nature, form, or appearance of a thing. 
 Goth, galeiks, of common form, alike ; 
 samaleiks (Lat. similis), of the same 
 nature, like ; sildaleiks, wonderful ; sva- 
 leiks, so-formed, Gr. rqXiKof, Lat. talis, 
 such ; hvileiks, TrqXtjcof, qualis, how- 
 formed, which. 
 
 The same element is preserved as a 
 substantive word in Lap. lake, mode, 
 manner. Kutte lakai, kutte laka, in 
 what manner ? how } Paha-laka, in bad 
 manner, badly ; mainetes laka, blame- 
 lessly. The addition of an adjectival 
 termination produces a form, lakats 
 (sometimes standing by itself), equivalent 
 to Goth, -leiks or Lat. -lis. Tjdskes lakats, 
 of cold nature, chilly ; kdlkoslakats, of 
 slow nature, slowish ; aktalakats {akta, 
 one), OHG. analih, AS. anlic, G. dhnlich, 
 of one nature, equal, like ; Lap. tolakats, 
 like thee, thine equal ; tannlakats, Lat. 
 talis, like this ; manttlakats, qualis, like 
 which. A remarkable approach to the 
 Lap. form is preserved in the OE. lok, 
 used in forming the comparative and 
 superlative of adjectives in liche. Thus 
 from grisliche, grisly, Robert of Glouces- 
 ter forms grisloke}', and in the same way 
 we find hastilokest — R. G., lightloker, 
 
 LIKE 
 
 wikked-lokest. — P. P. In Finn, where 
 the sound of k is frequently softened to 
 that of y, the Lap. lake becomes lai, 
 genus vel indoles rei, explaining Lat. 
 -lis, G. -lei, and E. -ly. Fin. silld Idilld, in 
 that manner. Niin on laini {-ni = meus), 
 that is my habit. Mitdlaija, of what 
 kind ; kahtalaija, G. zweierlei, of two 
 kinds. Esthon. luggo, lukko. condition, 
 manner, thing. 
 
 The same element may be recognised 
 in OE. leche, Iceche, looks, countenance, 
 likeness. 
 
 Lathlece leeches 
 
 Heo leiteden mid egan. — Layamon Brut i. 80. 
 
 — loathly looks they flashed with their 
 eyes. 
 
 He — thas worde seide, 
 
 Mid seorhfulle laichen. — Ibid. i. 145. 
 
 — with sorrowful looks. 
 He gealp that he wolde fleon 
 Onfugeles IcBche. — Ibid. i. 122. 
 
 — he boasted that he would fly in the 
 image of a fowl. 
 
 Goth. 7nanlicha, OHG. manalihho, AS. 
 mattlica, an image, representation of a 
 man. 
 
 The course of development is probably 
 look, countenance, appearance, form, 
 mode of being. Pers. lika, facies, vultus, 
 forma — Diefenbach ; Serv. lik, counte- 
 nance, Russ. lichiko, little face, litze, the 
 face, mien, person, agent. 
 
 In like manner from Lap. inuoto, face, 
 appearance, form, image, is formed imw- 
 tok, like ; iniiotolas, likeness. Attje 
 muotok, like his father, having the form 
 of his father. In Fin. the same word con- 
 veys the sense of Lat. modus, of which 
 indeed it probably explains the origin ; 
 niin itiodoin, in that manner ; monella 
 modolla, in many manners. It then forms 
 an adjectival termination, muotoinen 
 (contracted to moinen), alicujus formas, 
 gestaltet,ahnlich, equivalent to Lap. lakats 
 above-mentioned ; sen iniiotoinett or seni- 
 moinen, of that nature (as from lai, sen- 
 lainen, in the same sense) ; isansd muo- 
 toinen {isd, father), like his father. So 
 also from kuwa, form, figure, image, ku- 
 wainen, resembling ; from hahmo, form, 
 appearance, hahmoinen, resembling. The 
 Lap. has also ivuoke, form, figure, appear- 
 ance, manner (perhaps from the same 
 root with Gr. ti/cai, I seem, dKhiv, an image ; 
 with the digamma r«Kw, Fukoip) ; tan 
 ivuokai, in this manner, as tati lakai 
 above-mentioned. Hence wuokak, like, 
 equal, and wuokok or wuokasats, as an 
 adjectival termination equivalent to E. lyj 
 
- LIKE 
 
 piddnak-wuokasats, or piddnak-lakats^ 
 dog-like ; akta-wuokok or akta-lakats, 
 uniformis, aequalis. 
 
 To Like. n. lika, Lap. likot, to be to 
 one's taste, to find to one's taste. N. 
 Kor lika die dcB f how do you like it ? 
 Lap. Tat miinji liko, that likes me well, 
 it gratifies my taste. As the gratification 
 of taste is the primary type of all enjoy- 
 ment, it may be suspected that the root 
 of our present word is the same repre- 
 sentation of the smacking of the tongue 
 which gives rise to E. licorous^ licorish^ 
 dainty, given to the pleasures of taste. 
 See Lechery. To like then, or // likes 
 me, would be exactly equivalent to the G. 
 schmecke7i, Wie schineckt ihneti dieser 
 weinf How do you like this wine? 
 Diese antwort schmeckte ihm gar nicht, 
 the answer was not to his liking. Swiss 
 gschmoke, placere. — Idiot. Bernense. So 
 in Du. monden, to please, from mond, the 
 mouth. Dit antwoord mondde den koning 
 niet ; did not please the king. — Epkema 
 in V. muwlckjen. 
 
 Lily. Lat. liliumy Gr. Xtipiov, OHG. 
 lilj'a. The original sense of the word 
 may probably be preserved in Esthon. 
 ///, lillik, li'lli, Alb. Ijoiilj^ a flower ; 
 Basque lili^ a flower, also to blossom. 
 Mod.Gr. XovXouSi, a blossom ; XovXov- 
 SiciZoi, to flourish, iDloom, blossom. 
 
 Limb. AS. lim, Da. lem, a joint of 
 the body ; ON. limr, branch, bough, 
 limb. The word might plausibly be de- 
 rived from the notion of joining. ' Loketh 
 that ye beon euer mid onnesse of one 
 herte ilimed together.' — Ancren Riwle, 
 256. Limimge, joining ; unlijned, se- 
 parated. — Ibid. The i however of ON. 
 lim, glue, lime, is long ; of limr, limb, 
 short. See Lime. 
 
 The limb of the moon, in astronomy, 
 is a different word, from It. lembo, skirt, 
 border. See Limbo. 
 
 Limber, i. we. liinbers, shafts. The 
 limber of a gun is the shafts with their 
 pair of wheels. In nautical language 
 limbers are the rollers laid under a boat 
 when it is drawn up on the beach. Fr. 
 limon, shafts. See Linchpin. 
 
 Limber. 2. — Limp. The radical sig- 
 nificance is the same as that of flabby, 
 flaggy, or flaccid ; not having strength to 
 stand stiff, and so tending to flap upon 
 itself, supple, pliant, w. llabio, to slap ; 
 llibin, lleipr, flaccid, drooping ; ON. limp- 
 iaz, to faint, become slack. Swiss lamp- 
 en, to hang loose, to fade, to move in 
 a spirit, ss manner ; lampig, lampelig, 
 faded, loose, flabby, hanging ; gelainp^ a 
 
 LIMEHOUND 389 
 
 loose trailing garment ; Idmmelen, to 
 swag, hang loose as stockings ill-gar- 
 tered ; lampohr, langohr, a hanging ear ; 
 Idmpen (g. lappen), a flap, piece hanging 
 loose, rag, dewlap of an ox ; Swab. 
 lumm, fagged ; lumnielig, lummerigy 
 hanging down, having lost its stiffness ; 
 liimpf, spongy, soft ; lummelen, lilmpelfi, 
 limpebt, to act carelessly and indiffer- 
 ently. 
 
 Limbo. A place in the outskirts of 
 Hell in which the souls of the pious, who 
 died before the time of Christ, were sup- 
 posed to await his coming, and where 
 the souls of unbaptised infants remain. 
 '' Liinbus ponitur pro quadam parte in- 
 ferni, quatuor enim sunt loca inferni, 
 scilicet infernus damnatorum, liinbus 
 puerorum,purgatorium, et limbus pa.trum.' 
 — ^Joh. de Janua in Due. 
 
 Then applied to a place of confine- 
 ment, Fr. limbes, the purgatory of un- 
 baptised children ; also a low and un- 
 savoury room in prisons. — Cot. lu limbo, 
 in prison. The origin is It. lembo, a lap 
 or skirt of a garment, hem, border. See 
 Limber 2. 
 
 Lime. i. Anything used for sticking 
 things together ; hence applied to two 
 very different substances, glue or bird- 
 lime, and the calcareous earth used as 
 cement in building. G. leim, Du. lijin, 
 glue, any viscous substance which joins 
 bodies together. — Kiittn. ON. Um, glue ; 
 veggia-lim, wall-lime, lime, mortar. It 
 is the same word with Lat. limus, slime, 
 mud, E. loatn, Du. leetn, clay, terra ar- 
 gillacea, lenta, tenax, glutinosa — Kil, and 
 with slime, any viscous, semi-liquid, gluey 
 material. ' Slime had they for mortar.' 
 — Genesis. Esthon. libbe, smooth, slip- 
 pery. Lith. limpii, lipti, to stick ; lippus, 
 sticky ; Pol. lep, bird-lime, hpid, to glue, 
 paste, mould, lipki, gluey ; Boh. lipati, to 
 stick, mould in clay ; lepiti, to paste, 
 glue, daub. 
 
 2, A lime-tree is so called from the 
 glutinous juice of the young shoots. A 
 bud or twig held in the mouth speedily 
 becomes enveloped in jelly, and it pro- 
 bably was used for boiling down to bird- 
 lime. Pol. lep, bird-lime, lipa, lime-tree. 
 
 Limehound. A dog held in a leash, 
 a greyhound. Fr. limier, a bloodhound 
 or limehound. — Cot. From Lat. ligamen, 
 a tie, OFr. liamen, a tie, a packet; Lang. 
 liama, to tie up in a bundle ; Piedm. 
 liamet, a tape, little tie of riband ; Milan. 
 ligamm, Bret, liamm, band, tie ; Grisons 
 ligiar, liar, to bind ; ligiom, Horn, liairiy 
 a band. 
 
390 
 
 LIMIT 
 
 Limit. Lat. Umes^ limit is, a bound, 
 terminating point or line. 
 
 To Limn. Fr. enhnnitm', to illumin- 
 ate, to sleek or burnish, also to limn ; 
 enliiminair de livres, one that coloureth 
 or painteth upon paper, an alluminer.— 
 Cot. * Excellent — for the neatness of the 
 handwriting, adorned with iilumination, 
 which we now call limning, in the mar- 
 gin.' — Wood, Fasti in R. 
 
 Limp. See Limber. 
 
 To Limp. Pl.D. lumpen, lulken, lun- 
 schen, to limp. Dan. liimpe, to limp, go 
 lame. Fr. eloper, cloqicer, clocher, to 
 limp — Cot. ; clampin, qui marche diffi- 
 cilement. — Vocab. de Bray. Lith. kliim- 
 bas, lame of one leg, limping ; klumbis, 
 lame of one leg, a bungler ; khimboti, to 
 limp ; klumbenti, G. klopfen, to knock at 
 a door ; klumpu, khipti, to stumble ; 
 klumpas, a wooden shoe ; E. dial, dump- 
 ers, thick heavy shoes ; to clicinp, to 
 tramp, to clunter, to walk clumsily, — 
 Hal. 
 
 The fundamental image is the clump- 
 ing gait of a lame man, consisting of a 
 succession of knocks, represented by the 
 Fr. clop, clok, in eloper, cloquer (softened 
 to clocher) ; aller elopin-clopati, to go 
 clop-clop, to limp. G. klopfen, to knock. 
 The same relation is seen between E. 
 clunch, a thump or blow (Hal.), and Sc. 
 clinch. Lap. linkot, to limp ; linkes, lame ; 
 Sw. limk, jog-trot ; lunkapa, to jog on. 
 
 Limpid. Lat. limpidus, transparent, 
 clear. 
 
 To Lin. — Blin. To cease ; properly 
 to slacken. G. linde, Lat. lenis, soft. 
 
 Linchpin. Bav. Ion-, lunnagel, loner, 
 N. lunnstikke, Pol. Ion, Bohem. launek, 
 ODu. lunisa (Schm.), AS. lynis, Pl.D. 
 lonse, liinse, liinsch, the peg that holds 
 the wheel on the axle. 
 
 ON. hlunnr, limbers, in nautical lan- 
 guage, the bars of wood on which a boat 
 is dragged ashore or supported when so 
 dragged up ; hlummr, the handle of an 
 oar. Gael, lunn, a spoke or lever, the 
 shaft of an oar. OHG. lun, obex, paxil- 
 lus ; Ian, clavus in axe. — Gl. in Schm. 
 Swab, lanne, land, shafts ; lander, a lath ; 
 G. geldnder, bannisters. Mid. Lat. lonu7n, 
 spoke of a wheel ; limo (Fr. limon, shafts), 
 a hnch-pin. — Dief Supp. 
 
 Line. — Lineage. — Lineament. Lat. 
 linea, originally a linen thread or string, 
 a fishing-line, then a line, track or trace, 
 the line of descent from father to son, 
 whence lineage, a line of ancestry ; linea- 
 ments, the lines of the features ; to de- 
 lineate, to trace out. 
 
 LINGUIST 
 
 To Line. Sw. dial. Una, to double a 
 garment on the inside with litten, then 
 with any other texture. 
 
 Linen. Lat. limim, G. lein, ON. lin, flax. 
 
 Ling. I. N. laanga, Dan. lange, Du. 
 linge, lenge, a kind of codfish. 
 
 2. A kind of heath. ON. ling, any 
 small shrub, especially heath. N. blaabcer- 
 lyng, the bilberry plant. 
 
 Lingel. Two words seem'confounded, 
 of which the first signifies a little tongue 
 or thong of leather (1?.), from Lat. ligula, 
 lingula, any tongue-shaped object, pro- 
 montory, spatula, tenon. Fr. ligule, a 
 little tongue, lingell, tenon. — Cot. Sc. 
 I angel, lange t, linge t, a tether ; NE. Ia7i- 
 got, the latch of a shoe. — Grose. 
 
 In the second sense lingel is used for 
 shoemaker's thread, from Fr. ligneul, 
 shoemaker's thread, or a tatchingend. — ■ 
 Cot. ''Lingell that souters sew with, 
 chefgros, lignier. Lynger, to sew with, 
 poulcier.' — Palsgr. in Way. Liniel is 
 still used in this sense in the north of 
 England, and lingan in Scotland. See 
 Laniard, Inkle. 
 
 Linger. G. verldngern, Du. lingen, 
 verlangen, verlengen (Kil.), to lengthen 
 out, to be long about a thing. 
 
 Lingey. Limber. — B. Bav. lunzig, 
 soft, limber. See Loiter. 
 
 -lings. -long. -linges or loriges, 
 ling, long, were frequently used as an 
 adverbial termination in the older stages 
 of our language. AS. on bcecling, back- 
 ward ; neadunga, -inga, OE. nedelingis, 
 fiedelonges, of necessity ; darklings, in 
 the dark ; grovelyngys or grovelynge 
 (Pr. Pm.), face downwards. G. blindlings, 
 blindly ; rUcklings, backwards, rittlings, 
 sitzlings, &c. The element has much re- 
 semblance to Sw. lunda^ lonnom. Da. lun- 
 des, Goth, laud, in the expressions salunda, 
 Goth, svalatid, in such wise ; samnia- 
 lunda, Goth, samalaiid, in the same way, 
 Sw. dial, skakker lonnom, in shaking wise, 
 as if one had a fever. 
 
 The origin of these last is referred 
 by Ihre to Goth, ludja, face, laudja, 
 form. 
 
 ON. lund, mind, disposition, will, mode, 
 wise. A allar htndir, by all means ; 
 7ned eng07n lu7ido77i, in nowise. Fin. 
 luo7ito, form, disposition, nature ; w. 
 Ilu7i, form, likeness, shape ; yn llyn, in 
 this manner. 
 
 Linguist. Lat. lingua, the tongue, a 
 language. 
 
 There can be little doubt that li7igua 
 is from the same source with li7tgo, lie- 
 tum, to lick, viz. from the smacking or 
 
LINIMENT 
 
 clacking of the tongue in the enjoyment 
 of food. See Delight. 
 
 Liniment. Lat. Ihiimentum^ixomUnio, 
 to rub softly, to besmear. 
 
 liink. I. ON. hlekkr, Da. Icenke^ a 
 chain, fetter ; hlekkjahund^ Da. l<xnke- 
 hund, a banddog ; IcBukeled {led, limb, 
 joint), link of a chain. N. lekk, a ring, 
 link, tether, especially one made of withy ; 
 lekkj'a, a chain. The radical image seems 
 to be a crook or bending. Sw. dial, lynka, 
 ON. lykkja, crook, bending, twist. G. 
 lenken, to bend in a certain direction, to 
 turn, to steer ; lenksam, pliable, supple ; 
 gelenk, a joint. Lith. linkti, to bow, to 
 turn ; lenkti, to bend in a certain direc- 
 tion ; linkes, bent ; linktis, pliable. Fin. 
 lenko, a bending, anything bent ; lenkki, 
 a hoop, withy band. 
 
 2. A torch of pitched rope or paper. 
 Probably from Du. lonte or lompe, a gun- 
 ner's match of twisted tow, by a change 
 similar to that which we see in G. 
 schriiinpfen^ E. shrink; G. sunipf, E. 
 sump, sink. See Linstock. 
 
 Linnet. Fr. linotte, G. lein-finke,flacJis- 
 finke, from feeding on linseed, the seed of 
 flax. It. linosa, flax-seed, a linnet. 
 
 Linstock. A short staff of wood split, 
 which holds the match used by gunners 
 in firing cannon. — B. Sw. limtstake, Du. 
 lompe, lonte, a gunner's match, made like 
 a loose rope of twisted flax or tow.— Kil. 
 As lompe signifies also a rag, the name, 
 as Ihre and Adelung suggest, is in all 
 probability taken from the match having 
 been made in the first instance of twisted 
 rags. The form lonte may be a corrup- 
 tion of lo7npe, but it is by no means 
 necessary to make that supposition. The 
 term lompe, G. lumpe, lumpen, a rag, is 
 from a root signifying fluttering or flap- 
 ping, hanging loose, of which many mo- 
 difications are given under Limber. Now 
 this image is often represented by forms 
 with a final d, nd, 71, as well as by those 
 with a final b, inb, m. Thus we have Du. 
 slodderen, as well as slobberen, to flag or 
 bag; slons, sluns, loose; Pl.D. slutiten, 
 slunnen, rags ; sluntje, Du. slodde, slomp, 
 a slut. Da. dial, limte is used for a 
 twisted band of straw, hay, or sedge, to 
 bind sheaves or the like. 
 
 Lintel. Fr. linteau, Sp. lintel, dintel, 
 the head-piece of a door or window. — B. 
 Probably from the form Ion, lunn, or 
 lund, signifying a timber, pole, or bar, 
 mentioned under Linchpin. 
 
 Lion. Lat. leo, -nis j Gr. Xewr. 
 
 Lip. Lat. labium, Gael. Hob, Hop, lib. 
 Wall, lepe, Sw. Idppe, lip ; Vulg. G. labbe, 
 
 LIST 
 
 391 
 
 /labbe, lip, mouth ; Lith. lupa, lip ; lupos 
 (pi.), mouth ; Zulu lebe, under-lip of 
 animals ; Amakosa iimlebe, lip. 
 
 From the sound made by the tongue 
 and lips in lapping. Lat. latnbere, w. 
 lleipio, Bret, lipa, to lick ; Sw. Idppja, 
 to lap ; Idppja pa allt, to taste of every- 
 thing. Fr. lippie, a mouthful ; lippu^ 
 thick-lipped. 
 
 Liquid.— Liquor. Lat. liqueo,io melt, 
 to flow. 
 
 Liquorice. It. lecurizia, Fr. reglisse, 
 Gr. yXvKvppiZa {yXvKvg, sweet, and pi^a, 
 root). 
 
 -lision. -lide. Lat. Icedo, Icesum, in 
 comp. -lido, to hurt, properly, as shown 
 by the compounds, to strike. Hence 
 Elision, from elido, to strike out ; Colli- 
 sion, from collido, to strike together. 
 
 To Lisp. Du. lispeit, lispelen, Sw. 
 Idspa, to lisp, speak imperfectly ; G. flis- 
 pern,fiistern, to rustle, whisper. 
 
 To List.— Listless. AS. lystan, to 
 have pleasure in, to raise desire, or give 
 pleasure to. Me lyste, it pleaseth me. 
 The lyst nu liotha, thou art now desirous 
 of songs. Dan. lyste, to desire, take plea- 
 sure in. De kanfaae hvad de lyster, you 
 can take what you list. ON. lyst, plea- 
 sure, desire. Pl.D. lusten, geliisten, to 
 desire. Mi lustet nig meer, I have no 
 more appetite. Dat luste ik nig, I do 
 not like it, have no taste for it. G. lust, 
 pleasure. 
 
 Listless is the condition of one who has 
 no pleasure in his work, and therefore 
 acts without energy. 
 
 Ainsi s'avancerent de grand volontd tous che- 
 valiers et ecuyers et prirent terre. — Froissart, 4. 
 c. 18. 
 
 I haue nothing so good lust to my work as I 
 had yesterday. — Palsgr. 
 
 List. It. lista, listra, any kind of list 
 or selvedge, a guarding or border about 
 any garment, [hence] the lists of tilting 
 or tournaments, also a row, file, or rank 
 of anything set in order. — Fl. G. leiste, 
 a stripe or strip ; Du. lijst, edge, border, 
 margin, strip, catalogue. The It. liccia, 
 lizza, list or selvedge of cloth (Fl.), lists 
 of a tiltyard, Sp. liza, Fr. lices, lisse, the 
 fence of a tiltyard, lisiere, list of cloth, 
 hem of a garment, outskirt of a wood, 
 can hardly be distinct, though they seem 
 to have come through a diff'erent channel 
 from the forms with a final /, and may 
 probably spring direct from a Celtic 
 source, while the final ^ is a Teutonic 
 modification of the same ultimate root. 
 Bret, lez^ haunch, border, skirt ; lezen^ 
 
392 
 
 LISTEN 
 
 selvedge, list, border ; lez^ OFr. delez^ 
 beside, near ; w. ysilys, side, flank. 
 
 Dehors les murs a unes lices (a rampart) 
 De bon mur fort a carneaux bas. — R. R. 
 
 Without the diche were listis made 
 With wall batailed large and drade. 
 
 Ibid. Chaucer, 4200. 
 
 Listen. We might readily derive AS. 
 hlystan, to listen, from ON. hlust, an ear ; 
 at hlusta til^ or at leggia hlustir vid, to 
 give ear to, to listen. But probably /////j^, 
 the ear, is so called as the organ of listen- 
 ing, w. clust^ ear, Gr. kXi/w, to hear. The 
 probability is that the sense of listen is 
 developed in a manner similar to that of 
 hist / or hark / signifying in the first in- 
 stance a low rustling sound, then the 
 direction of the attention to catch or 
 watch for such a sound. The Du. luys- 
 teren signifies to whisper, and also to 
 listen ; P1.D. lustern, glieste?'n, to listen. 
 OHG. hlosen, AS. hlosnian, Bav. iosen, 
 lusen, hisnen, lustern, to listen. Swiss 
 lisele, to speak in a low voice ; Carinth- 
 ian lisen, to be still, to listen. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. AS. hlysa, hliosa, fame, glory, 
 must originally have signified rumour, a 
 buzzing sound. 
 
 In like manner ON. hlj'od, IjoS, Da. lyd, 
 sound, voice ; also silence, a hearing ; 
 ON. klyda, OE. lithe, to listen ; Da. lyde 
 (to listen to), to obey. See To Lithe. 
 
 liitany. Gr. Xiravt'ia, a supplicating ; 
 Xiri7, prayer ; Xitraofiai, XiTOfiai, to pray. 
 
 liith.— Lithe. Goth, lithus, as. lith, 
 Du. lid, G. glied, a joint, limb, bodily 
 member, on. lidr, a joint, knot ; N. lide, 
 to bend the limbs ; lidig, what bends or 
 moves with ease, pliable, convenient. E. 
 lit/iy, lithe, lithesome, lissome, active, 
 supple, pliant, gentle. 
 
 To Lithe. To relate, to listen. 
 Lystenith now to my talkynge 
 Of whom I wylle you lythe. — MS. Hal. 
 And under lynde in alaunde lenede I a stounde 
 To lithen here laies and here loveliche notes. 
 
 P.P. 
 ON. hljod, sound, voice. / einu hljodi, 
 with one voice. Hljoda or Ijoda, to re- 
 cite. The word was then elliptically 
 used for an opportunity of speaking, si- 
 lence, attention. At beidaz hliods, to re- 
 quest a hearing. Hence hlyda d, to listen. 
 
 Lither. — Luther. Loose in a moral 
 sense, without energy, bad. G. liederlich, 
 loose, disorderly in business or conduct. 
 Ein liederlicher, schlottei'iger mensch, a 
 man negligent in dress, whose clothes 
 hang loose and dangling. Liederlich ar- 
 beiten, to work slightly, carelessly, slubber 
 a thing over. 
 
 LIVELIHOOD 
 
 A clerk had Ulherly beset his while. 
 
 But if he could a carpenter beguile. — Chaucer. 
 Luther laws, bad laws ; hither dede, 
 wicked action. — R.G. Du. lodderen int 
 bedde, in de sonne, to lie lazily in bed, to 
 lounge in the sun. Lodder, a loose, lux- 
 urious man ; lodderigh, lodderlick, scur- 
 rilis, luxuriosus, meretricius. — Kil. Swab. 
 lottern, umlottern, to lounge about. The 
 idea of looseness is conveyed by a repre- 
 sentation of the flapping sound of loose 
 clothes, or the splashing of liquids. Du. 
 lobberen, to trample in water or mire ; 
 slobberen, to slap up liquids, slubber up a 
 business— Bomhoff ; slobberen, slodderen, 
 to flag, hang loosely— Kil. ; slodder, slod- 
 derer, a slattern, sloven ; Gael, luidir, to 
 paddle in mud or water ; hidraig, to be- 
 spatter with foul water ; ludragan, an 
 untidy person, hidair, a slovenly person. 
 Esthon. loddisema, to hang loose ; lodda- 
 ladda, loose and slack. Swiss lodelen, 
 lodelen, not to be properly tight ; lodel, 
 lodeli, a lazy, litherly man. 
 
 Lithe-. — Lithograph. Gr. \[Qoq, a 
 stone \ lithograph, a drawing on stone. 
 
 Litigate.— Litigious. Lat. lis, litis, 
 strife, a law-suit, whence litigare, to go 
 to law. As stlis was an ancient form of 
 lis, it may be conjectured that the word 
 originally signified a taking of sides, from 
 W. ystlys, a side. To bandy words (from 
 It. banda, a side) is to conflict in words. 
 
 All side in parties and begin the attack.— Pope. 
 
 See Plead. 
 
 Litmus. Du. lakmoes, an infusion of 
 a lake or purple colour ; moes, pottage, 
 broth. 
 
 Litter. Fr. litiere (from lit, bed), the 
 bedding of cattle, or straw on which they 
 lie, whence E. litter, things strewed about 
 in confusion. 
 
 Fr. litiere signifies also, as Lat. lectica, 
 It. lettiga, Sp. lechiga, a covered couch 
 in which one is borne by men or horses ; 
 lechigada, Fr. ventrde, portee d'une truie, 
 &c., a litter of pigs, puppies, &c., the col- 
 lection of young which the mother has 
 carried in her belly at one time as in a 
 litter. 
 
 Little. Goth, leitils, ON. litill, OHG. 
 hizil, Du. luttilr, OE. lite, lute. 
 
 Littoral. Lat. littus, littoris, the sea- 
 shore. 
 
 Liturgy, Gr. XtiTovpyia, a public ser- 
 vice or ministration, from Xiirog {Xaog, Xfwf, 
 people), public, and tpyw, to work. 
 
 To Live. See Life. 
 
 Livelihood. Properly lifelode, way of 
 life, from ON. leid, AS. lad, way. Lyvely- 
 
LIVER 
 
 hede or quickness, vivacitas ; lyvelode, or 
 lyfehode, victus. — Pr. Pm. OHG. libleit^ 
 mensura victus. — Regula Sti. Ben. in 
 Schilter. 
 
 I — bidde mi paternoster and mi crede 
 That God hem helpe at hore nede 
 That helpen me mi lif to lede. 
 
 Wright, Anecdota Litt. Dame Siriz, p. 7. 
 
 Mod.Gr. TTopog, way, road ; iropog TrJQ 
 Zi^fji;, way of life, livelihood. See Load- 
 stone. 
 
 Liver, as . Iz/ere, G. leber^ liver. Russ. 
 liver', the pluck, or liver, lungs, and wind- 
 pipe. Perhaps the liver, from colour and 
 consistency, may be regarded as a mass 
 of clotted blood, on. lifraz, G. leberett, 
 to clot, congeal ; gelebert bint, clotted 
 blood. Da. dial, lubber, anything coagu- 
 lated ; E. loppered milk, curdled milk. 
 
 liivery. Fr. livree, from livrer, to 
 deliver ; something given out at stated 
 times and in stated quantities, as clothes 
 of a certain pattern to distinguish the 
 servants or adherents of the donor, or the 
 supply of victuals or horse-provender to 
 which certain members of the household 
 were entitled. Lyvery of cloth or other 
 gyftis, liberata, liberatura. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Livid. Lat. liveo, to grow pale, wan, 
 discoloured. 
 
 Lizard. Fr. le'zard, It. lueerta, lusar- 
 do, Lat. lacerta. Bret, glazard, a green 
 lizard, from glaz, green. 
 
 Lizard-Point. From having been a 
 place of retirement for lazars. Several 
 places in a like situation are known by 
 this name in Brittany, where there is now 
 commonly a ropewalk, ropemakers being 
 a proscribed race, supposed to be leprous. 
 
 Loach. Fr. loche, a small freshwater 
 fish, which possibly is named from being 
 taken under stones. Bret, lodha, to stir, 
 take up, remove from its place ; lodheta, 
 to take up the stones of the shore in look- 
 ing for small fish. Speaking of the loach, 
 Yarrell says, ' Its habit of lurking under 
 stones often prevents its being observed.' 
 — Brit. Fishes, i. 376. 
 
 The miller's-thumb, the hiding loach. 
 
 The perch, the ever-rubbing roach. — Browne. 
 
 Load. AS. hlad, load ; hladan, to 
 load ; ON. hladi, a heap ; hlada, a barn ; 
 hlad, a street, road, paved place ; hladinn, 
 piled up, laden; Mass, a load, waggon- 
 load. N. lad, a pile, heap of things laid 
 in order. »* 
 
 Loadstone. — Loadstar, as. lad, ON. 
 leid, a way, journey. AS. lad-man, a 
 leader, director ; Iddscipe, a conducting. 
 ON. leidar-bref, a safe-conduct; leidar- 
 stein, a loadstone, stone of the way or of 
 
 LOB 
 
 393 
 
 conduct ; leidarstianta, loadstar, star of 
 conduct ; leida, AS. l<xdan, to lead, con- 
 duct. 
 
 Loaf. AS. hlaf, Goth, hlaibs, hlaifs, 
 Russ. chljeb, Pol. chleb, Fin. laipe, bread, 
 loaf ; Lat. libum, a cake. 
 
 To Loaf. — Loafer. A loafer, in mo- 
 dern slang imported from America, is an 
 idle lounger, perhaps from Sp. gallofear, 
 to saunter about and live upon alms ; 
 gallofero, idle, lazy vagabond. Orisons 
 gaglioffa, a scrip (the badge of a beggar) 
 or pocket. But more probably perhaps 
 from G. laufen, to run, to go to and fro, 
 to haunt ; whence gassenlaufer, an idler 
 of the streets ; ifrlaiifer, landlaiifer, a 
 landlouper or vagabond. — Sanders. 
 
 Loam. AS. lain, Uu. leevi, G. leim, 
 lehm, clay, tenacious earth. Lat. limns, 
 mud, clay. See Lime, 
 
 Loan. ON, Idn, a loan, to be distin- 
 guished from latin, G. lohn, AS. lean, a 
 reward, wages. See Lend. 
 
 To Loathe.— Loth. AS. lath, hateful, 
 evil, injury. Me lath wees, I was loth ; 
 Gode tha lathustati, the most hateful to 
 God. G. leid, what is offensive to the 
 feelings. IVeder zti Hebe noch zu leide, 
 neither from love nor hatred. Es thut 
 mir leid, I am sorry for it. Du. leed, 
 grief, sorrow, evil, injury ; leeden, tasdere, 
 fastidire. Fr. laid, loathly, ugly. 
 
 The original image is probably the 
 disgust felt at a bad smell. Bret, lotiz, 
 stinking, dirty, impure, obscene, ugly. 
 Lathand IS used in the Flyting of Ken- 
 nedy and Dunbar in the sense of stinking. 
 Laithly and lowsy, lathafid as a leek. 
 
 Lob, — Looby. The radical image is 
 of something not having strength to sup- 
 port itself, but hanging slack, dangling,, 
 drooping. To lob, to hang down, to 
 droop ; to lob along, to walk lazily, as 
 one fatigued ; lob, looby, a clown, a dull, 
 lumpish, lazy, or awkward person. 
 Grete lobies and long, and loth were to swynke. 
 
 P, P. 
 
 But as the drone the honey hive doth rob, 
 With worthy books so deals this idle lob. 
 
 Gascoigne. 
 
 Du . loboor, a pig or dog with hanging 
 ears, a raw, silly youth ; lobbes, a booby ; 
 labberlot, one who loiters about the streets ; 
 Wall, loubreie, idleness, vagabondage ; 
 ON. lubbaz, to loiter about, segniter volu- 
 tari ; lubbi, a dog with shaggy coat and 
 hanging ears, a lazy servant ; Fin, luop- 
 pata, to do anything slowly ; hwppio, a 
 sluggard ; W. llabi, llabwst, a long lub- 
 ber, big clouterly fellow. 
 
394 
 
 LOBBY 
 
 The origin of all these terms seems to 
 be a representation of the sound of things 
 of a flabby or loose structure flapping 
 upon themselves, dangling, or dashing. 
 Vi\x. fiabberen^ to flag, flap as sails ; lab- 
 bereny to shiver in the wind ; slobberen, to 
 hang loose and slack, to slap up liquids, 
 eat awkwardly ; lobberen, to trample in 
 wet and mire ; Esthon. lobbisema, to 
 tattle (the idea of much talking being 
 commonly expressed by terms taken from 
 the dashing of liquids) ; lobbi, sleet, a 
 mixture of snow and rain ; w. llabio, to 
 slap. 
 
 liObby. — Lodge. Lobby, antechamber, 
 porch, gallery. G. laube (from laub, 
 foliage, as OYx.foillie, a hut, ixomfeuille, 
 a leaf), an arbour, bower formed of the 
 branches of trees ; lauberhiitfe, a booth 
 or hut of green branches. Mid.Lat. lobia, 
 laubia, lajibhim, an open portico, clois- 
 ters. ' Deambulatorium quod propria di- 
 citur labium, quod fit juxta domos ad 
 spatiandum.' — Joh. de Janud. Grisons 
 laupia, laupchia, lauchia, labgia, lob^ia, 
 gallery in a church, open gallery in front 
 of a house. It. loggia, an open gallery, 
 banqueting-house, fair porch in the street 
 side. — Fl. Fr. loge, a lodge, shed, cote 
 or small house, booth in a market. 
 
 liObster. as. loptist, lopystre, Lat. lo- 
 custa marina. A similar interchange of 
 P and k is seen in Dan. visk, E. wisp ; 
 N. lopp, a lock of wool, hay, &c., E. lock. 
 Local. — Locate. Lat. hcus, a place. 
 Lock. I. ON. lokkr, Da. lok, G. locke, 
 AS. loc, a curl or ringlet of hair ; locge- 
 wind, curled hair ; Du. locke, vlocke, a 
 lock or flock of wool or the hke ; ON. 
 lockr, a lock of hair, curl. 
 
 Lock. 2. — Locker. Goth, lukan, Du. 
 ■ loken, luycken (Kil.), ON. loka, Da. lukke, 
 to shut, close, fasten ; /. een inde, to lock 
 one up ; /. op, to open, unlock, on. lok, 
 a cover, anything that serves for fasten- 
 ing, shutter, latch, and fig. conclusion, 
 end. Du. luik, shutter, as, loc, a place 
 shut in, cloister, prison, fold ; also what 
 fastens, a lock. 
 
 A locker is a receptacle made by a seat 
 with a moveable top. Sw. lock, Da. laage, 
 cover ; laagebcenk, a locker. Du. loker, 
 loculamentum, theca. — Kil. 
 
 Lodge. Fr. loge, a hut or small apart- 
 ment. See Lobby. Hence loger, to so- 
 journ, abide for a time ; which however 
 agrees in a singular manner with Russ. 
 lojiV {¥y.j), to place, to lay ; lojitsya, to 
 lay oneself down, lie down ; Serv. loja, 
 lying place. Illyr. lojiti, to lay ; loj- 
 nitza, a sleeping apartment. 
 
 LOIN 
 
 Loft.— Lofty. ON. lopt, the sky or 
 air, also the open space in the roof at the 
 top of a house ; d lopt, on high, aloft. 
 Dan. loft, ceiling, loft. See Lift. 
 
 * Log. An unshapcd lump of timber, 
 a piece of firewood, in which sense clog 
 is also used ; a Yule-log or a Yule-clog. 
 So we have lump and clump ; E. lob, a 
 large lump, a clown (Hal), and Sw. dial. 
 klabb, a log or block. It is probable that 
 dob, clod, clog, as well as the weaker 
 forms lob and log, are formed on a com- 
 mon principle. See Clod. 
 
 The log of a vessel is a contrivance for 
 retaining the distant end of a line un- 
 moved in the water while the vessel runs 
 on, for the purpose of ascertaining the 
 rate of sailing. Originally perhaps a 
 simple log thrown out behind. To lie 
 like a log is to lie perfectly unmoved. 
 
 To Log. — Logger. To log, to oscil- 
 late.— -Hal. To logger, to shake as a 
 wheel that has been loosened and does 
 not move correctly. — Forby. Dan. logre, 
 to wag the tail ; Sw. dial, loka, to work a 
 thing to and fro in orcftr to get it loose ; 
 Fr. locher, to rattle, to shake from loose- 
 ness ; Bav, lugk, lugker, Swiss lug, luck, 
 G. locker, loose. Esthon. I'oggisema, to 
 rattle, wabble. 
 
 A parallel series with a dental instead 
 of guttural termination is found in Bav. 
 lotter, loose, slack, and lottern, to shake ; 
 die bank lode't (lottert), the bench jog- 
 gles, is unsteady. Swiss lodelen, to be 
 loose, not properly fast ; lodern, to dangle, 
 to hang loose and slack ; Du. lodderen 
 hit bedde, to lie loose in bed ; lodderbank, 
 a couch. Corresponding forms in the 
 guttural class are Pl.D. luggern, to lie 
 lazily in bed ; luggerbank, a couch. 
 
 Logic, -logy. Gr. Xoyog, a word 
 spoken, XoyiKog, of or belonging to reason, 
 and to words as exponents of reason ; 
 whence 17 (Tsxvr}) XoytK?), the art of reason- 
 ing in words. 
 
 Logwood. 'Whereas of late years 
 there hath been brought into this realm 
 of England a certain kind of ware or stuff 
 called Logwood, alias Blockwood.' — Stat. 
 23 Eliz. c. ix. 
 
 Loin. Fr. lombe, the loin. Longe, the 
 loin or flank, the fleshy part of the neck, 
 back, and reins cut along the back. — 
 Cot. Du. longie, loenie, lumbus vitel- 
 linus.— Kil. Wal, OFr. logne, Sc. lunyie, 
 loin. 
 
 Usually derived from Lat. lumbus, by 
 the common change of ifib into ng. Mid. 
 Lat. lumbj^s, lungus^ lende, lem, schleg- 
 
LOITER 
 
 brat— Dief. Supp. Fr. iongue, the loin, 
 — Cot. See Lumbago. 
 
 To Loiter. — Lounge. The Teutonic 
 dialects abound in verbs of a frequenta- 
 tive form, which are used in the first in- 
 stance to signify the flapping or shaking 
 of loose things (frequently also the dash- 
 ing of liquids), then to express a slack 
 and unstrung way of doing anything, or 
 simply a total absence of activity and 
 exertion. Hence are formed nouns (to 
 which the loss of the frequentative element 
 often gives the appearance of radicals in- 
 stead of derivatives), signifying the flutter- 
 ing object, a slothful, negligent person, or 
 adjectives of corresponding meaning. Du. 
 slobbern (see l.oh), sloddern,G. schlottem, 
 to flap, wabble, dangle ; Swiss lottern, to 
 joggle ; Bav. lottern, lotteht, to waggle, 
 tremble, go lazily (schlapp einhergehen) ; 
 Fin. lotto, anything dangling ; Bav. latter, 
 lottel, loitel, a lazy or loose-living man ; 
 lotterbank, a couch for repose ; Du. lod- 
 deren int bedde, m de sonne, to lie lazily 
 in bed, to idle in the sun ; Pl.D. luddern, 
 to be lazy ; Du. lunderen, to dawdle (cunc- 
 tanter agere) — Kil. ; Swiss lodeleti, lode- 
 len, to be loose, not properly fast ; lodeli 
 arbeit, loose, imperfect work ; umetodebi, 
 to loiter about ; lodel, lodeli, careless, 
 negligent person ; lodern, to dangle, hang 
 loose and slack, laden, a rag ; Du. loteren, 
 leiiteren, to vacillate, loiter, delay — Kil. ; 
 ON. I'dtra^ to loiter, go slow and lazily. 
 
 With a change to the guttural class of 
 consonants may be cited E. logger, to 
 shake ; G. locker, Swiss lugg, luck, loose ; 
 Pl.D. luggern, lungern, to lie abed, in- 
 dulge in sloth, luggerbank (as Du. lodder- 
 dank), a couch. 
 
 Then with the passage from the sound 
 of k to that of ch, which is so usual in 
 Fr. and E. dialects, Fr. looker, to shake, 
 joggle ; Swiss lotschen, to wabble, be 
 negligent, slack ; umelotschen, to move 
 about as if all the joints were loose ; lot- 
 schi, a person of loose character ; Bav. 
 verlatscht, latschet (of things that ought 
 to be fast or stiff), loose, clammy ; E. 
 dial, louch-eared, having hanging ears. — 
 Mrs Baker. The addition of the nasal, 
 as in luddern, lundern, higgern, lungern, 
 above-mentioned, converts Swiss lotschen 
 into luntschen (of clothes), to hang flap- 
 ping and dangling, to move lazily ; ume- 
 luntschen, to lounge about, lie idly about 
 without sleeping ; Westerwald lo7izen, 
 lunzen, to lie in bed out of season ; Bav. 
 lunzen, lunzeln, to slumber, lunzig, soft, 
 limber, E. dial, lingey. 
 
 To LolL— LilL The fact that the 
 
 LOLLARD 
 
 395 
 
 letter/ is the consonant naturally sounded 
 with the protruded tongue produces Swiss 
 lallen, E. loll or lill ; to lill out the tongue 
 as a dog that is weary. — Fl. Bav. lallen, 
 to speak thick, as one with too large a 
 tongue, and (speaking contemptuously) to 
 talk, reminding us of Gr. \a\iiv, to talk. 
 Bav. lallen, lullen, to suck as an infant ; 
 Du. lellen, to suck, to tattle, chatter ; 
 lelle, lelleken, the tip of the tongue, or 
 any similar object, nipple, uvula, lap of 
 the ear ; Swiss lalli, Bav. leller, the 
 tongue ; Dan. lalle, to prattle ; Fin. Idl- 
 lattad, to speak thick, mutter, tattle. 
 
 Then from the imperfect speech of in- 
 fancy, Bav. gelall, childish play, sport, 
 lovers' toying ; Pol.^ lala, a baby ; lalka^ 
 a doll ; E. loll, to dandle, fondle. 
 
 He lolled her in his arms, 
 
 He lulled her on his breast. — Hal. 
 Du. lallen, to coddle oneself, warm one- 
 self over the coals. 
 
 The same transfer from imperfect 
 speech to imperfect action, which we have 
 seen \nfa7nble 2ir\d fumble, gives ON. lall, 
 the first imperfect walk of a child ; lalla, 
 to toddle ; lalli, a toddling infant ; lolla, 
 to move or act slowly ; loll, lolla, sloth ; 
 E. loll, to lounge, give way to sloth ; Du. 
 lollebancke, a couch, lounging bench ; 
 Swiss IShli (maulaffe), a booby, soft per- 
 son ; I'dlen, umelohlen, to lounge about ; 
 Mod.Gr. \uikoQ, silly, foolish ; Fin. lolli, 
 lelli, a lazybones, slothful, effeminate 
 person ; lallatella, lolli tie I la, to lead a 
 loose or slothful life ; ON. loll, lolh, sloth. 
 Lollard, The meaning of the word, as 
 appears from the last article, is simply a 
 sluggard. But in OE. to loll was specially 
 applied to the idle life of persons wander- 
 ing about and living at other men's cost. 
 
 For an hydel man thou semest — 
 
 Other a spille tyme, 
 
 Other beggest thy lyve 
 
 Aboute ate menne hatches, 
 
 Other faitest upon Fridays 
 
 Other feste days in churches ; 
 
 The whiche is lollerene hfe. 
 
 P. P. p. S14, Wright's ed. 
 
 For all that han here hele 
 
 And here eyen syghte, 
 
 And lymes to laborye with, 
 
 And lolleres lyf usen, 
 
 Lyven ayens Godes lawe 
 
 And love of holy churche. — p. 527. 
 
 In this sense the term was applied to 
 the devotees mentioned under Bigot, who 
 in the 13th and 14th centuries went about 
 preaching reformation of life, and excited 
 the indignation of the church by not join- 
 ing the regular orders. ' Eodem anno 
 (1309) quidam hypocritas gyrovagi, qui 
 Lollardi sive Deum-laudantes vocabantur, 
 
396 
 
 LOLLIPOPS 
 
 per Hannoniam et Brabantiam quasdani 
 mulieres nobiles deccperunt.' — Hocsemius 
 in Due. Afterwards the term was appro- 
 priated to the followers of Wicliff in Eng- 
 land. Lollaerdy Lollebroeder^ Alexianus 
 monachus, Waldensis. — Kil. 
 
 Among other opprobrious names given 
 to the same class of devotees, they were 
 also called Beghards, Mid.Lat. Begardi, 
 Bigardi, a term signifying one who car- 
 ries a bag, identical with E. beggar. 
 For they bereth no bagges 
 Ne non botels under clokes, 
 Whiche is LoUerene lyfe.— P. P. 
 Lollipops. It has been shown under 
 Loll that the sound made by speaking 
 ■with the protruded tongue is represented 
 by the syllables lal, lei, lol, whence Bav. 
 lallen, to suck, lullen, to suck the tongue, 
 thumb, &:c. ; leller, the tongue. To lull, 
 to suck. 
 
 My lytylle childe lyth alle lame 
 That lullyd on my pappys. 
 Slaughter of the Innocents, Coventry Myst. 182. 
 
 The latter part of the word is ixovapapa, 
 the infantine expression for eating, as 
 7nama for drink. Papa is used by chil- 
 dren in the Tirol to signify a desire for 
 eating, and hence they apply the term 
 pappe, pappele, to anything nice to eat ; 
 zucker-pappele, Pl.D. zucker-popp, sweet- 
 ies, lollipops. — D. M,, iv. De paperndt 
 un de appel; de saben seinmelpoppen un 
 de ein ztickerpopp : the gingerbread and 
 the appel, the seven cakes and one sugar- 
 plum. — Olle Kamellen, p. 4. Sp. repapi- 
 larse, to overload one's stomach with 
 dainties. Pol. papinki, dainties, tidbits. 
 Lollipops would thus signify sucking 
 dainties. 
 
 Lombar-house. A pawnbroker's shop. 
 — B. 
 
 They had put all the little plate they had in 
 the Lumber, which is pawning it. — Life of Lady 
 G. Baillie in Trench. 
 
 Du. Lombaerd, faenerator, usurarius ; 
 Lombaerde, tabema seu mensa usuraria. 
 — Kil. Lo7nbaerd, lopibert, lo7nmert, 
 place where they lend money on pledge. 
 — Halma. From the trade of dealing in 
 money commonly followed by Lombards 
 in the middle ages, whence in London, 
 Lombard Street, the street occupied by 
 bankers. 
 
 Lone. — Lonely. From alone, G. al- 
 lein, all one, simply one. See Alone. 
 
 Long. — To Linger. Goth, laggs, on. 
 langr, Lat. longus, Pol. dlugi, long. 
 Probably from the notion of slackness, 
 which is coincident with that of length 
 in many cases. Swiss htgg, hick, loose, 
 
 LOOK 
 
 slack ; das sell lugget, the rope slackens, 
 i. e. when it is longer than is necessary to 
 reach to the point required. Si lengent 
 iro ti7iriht also sell, they stretch out their 
 wickedness a$ a rope. — Notker. Sint 
 kelengit, relaxantur — Kero ; Gilengit wer- 
 detit, prolongabuntur. — Graff. A shig is 
 one who drags on without exertion, is 
 slack or slow in action, is long about his 
 work. To lag behind (w. llag, slack, 
 sluggish, Gael, lag, faint) is to linger, to 
 be long in coming up. 
 
 The representatives of Lat. languere 
 (from the root lag, slack, faint) are occa- 
 sionally synonymous, or are perhaps con- 
 founded with verbs formed from the adj. 
 long. Fr. Ia7igicir, to droop, faint, hang 
 the head, also to hnger, idle it, be lither. 
 — Cot. Languir da7is tme prison, to 
 linger in prison. Donnez lui cela, ne le 
 faites pas languir. Languedoc la7ighi, 
 to be ennuied, to find it long, also, as G. 
 verlange7i, to long for. La7ighisse de 
 vous veire, I long to see you. 
 
 Loof. The windward side of a ship. 
 To loof ox luff, to turn the ship towards 
 the wind, and, as a ship to windward of 
 another has the power of escaping it, if an 
 equally good sailor, aloof, on loof, is out 
 of reach. 
 
 It is not easy to make out exactly what 
 part of the ship the loof originally was. 
 Du. loef IS a rullock or oar-pin, scalmus, 
 but the loof was a timber of considerable 
 size, by which the course of the ship was 
 directed ; it would seem to be the large 
 oar used by way of a rudder, or perhaps 
 the tiller. 
 
 Weder stod on wille, 
 Wind mid than beste, 
 Heo rihten heore hues, 
 And up drogen seiles, 
 Lithen over sasstrem. 
 
 The weather stood at will, 
 The wind at the best, 
 They righted their loops 
 And up drew the sails, 
 Voyaged over sea stream. 
 
 Layamon 3, 242. 
 
 ' Paid a A. pur un mast de rouge sapin de cent 
 pees longe, un loffe, une verge et une bowespret 
 apertenant k dit mast, £6 ijs. jd.' 'Ascendentes 
 vero naves et velificantes perrexerunt itaque au- 
 dacter obliquando dracenam, quae vulgariter 
 dicitur lof, ac si vellent adire Calesiam, sed Angli 
 maris periti — subito cum se scivissent venlum 
 exhausisse (had got to windward), versa dracena 
 ex transversa vento sibi jam secundo insecuti 
 sunt hostes alacriter.' — Matth. Paris in Bart. 
 Cotton, p. 108. 
 
 Du. loeuen, deflectere sive declinare navi- 
 gio, cedere. — Kil. 
 
 To Look. Bav. luegen, Swiss lugett^ 
 
LOOM 
 
 to look ; lugi, a spy-glass, telescope ; 
 lugen, eyes ; ON. glugga^ to spy, look 
 narrowly after ; gluggr-, window, hole ; 
 Dan. glughul, peep-hole ; Wall, loiiki, to 
 look, to spy ; OFr. louquer, Fr. toucher, 
 to look askance, to squint ; It. allucciare, 
 to fix the eyes on a thing ; Lang, lucado, 
 Wall, loukete, a gleam of light ; loiikerote, 
 a glance, a small opening, peep-hole. 
 liOom. An utensil, tool. 
 
 LOP 
 
 397 
 
 The lomes that I labour with 
 
 And lyflode deserve 
 
 Is Paternostre and my primere. 
 
 -P. P. 
 
 Lo7ne or instrument, utensile ; loome of 
 webbares craft, telarium. — Pr. Pm. Uten- 
 silia, andluman. — AS. Vocab. in Nat. 
 Ant. Du. alem, alaem, utensilia ; werck- 
 alaevi, tools.— Kil. Gael, lamp, hand, 
 handle. 
 
 To Loom. To show a faint light, to 
 be seen dimly, as a ship at a distance or 
 in a mist. It. lume^ light, and fig. know- 
 ledge, notice, hint. — Alt. Aver Inme, to 
 have knowledge of a thing. Piedm. lume\ 
 Venet. lujnare, to observe attentively. 
 
 The word may, however, have come to 
 us from a Northern source. ON. hljoma, 
 Sw. dial, hljimtma, lununa, lomjna, liana, 
 to resound ; Ijiimm, lomm, resonance, 
 sound, rumour ; lymt, lomt, hint, rumour. 
 Fa en lymt om, to get wind of. Thence 
 a glimpse or imperfect sight of an object. 
 Se en lymt, to get a glimpse. ON. hljoinar, 
 it is rumoured. 
 
 Loon.— liown. A lazy, good-for-no- 
 thing fellow. Du. loen, homo stupidus, 
 insulsus. — Kil. Probably from the notion 
 of inactivity and slowness, as most of 
 these contemptuous appellations ; lungis, 
 looby, Fr. lambin, G. lummel, &c. Lim. 
 loung, loim, Rouchi Ion, slow, tedious. 
 ODu. lome, slow, lazy. 
 
 Loop. Gael, lub, bend, bow, noose, 
 loop ; lubach, crooked ; lublin, a curved 
 line ; liibshnith, a winding stream. 
 
 Loop-hole. A peep-hole in the wall 
 of a castle, from whence to shoot in safety 
 at the enemy. Lang- loiip, a. small win- 
 dow in a roof. 
 
 Lat no Ught leopen yn at lover ne at loupe. — P. P. 
 
 Du. luipen, to peep, to lurk ; op zijne 
 Itiipen liggen, to lie in wait ; gluipen, to 
 peep ; gluiper, one that wears his hat 
 deep in his face, so as to hide his eyes, 
 one that acts secretly. De deur staat op 
 eene gluip, the door is ajar. N. glupa, to 
 gape ; glaapa, to stare ; glop, a hole, an 
 opening ; gloypa, to gape, not to shut 
 fast ; Dan. glippe, to wink ; Du. glippen, 
 
 to slip away. Sw. dial, gllpa, to gape, 
 stand open ; glip, a crack. 
 
 Loop-hole is frequently used in the 
 sense of a secret means of escape, as G. 
 schbipf-loch, a hiding-place, hole into or 
 through which one may slip, a loop-hole, 
 evasion, or shift. Du. ter gbiip, ter sluip, 
 secretly ; slnipdeur, a secret door, figura- 
 tively loop-hole, evasion ; shdp-hoek, a 
 lurking-place. 
 
 Loose. Slack. Du. los, loose, slack, 
 free ; Goth, laus, loose, empty, void, of 
 none effect ; laics vairthan, to come to 
 nothing ; laus as a termination, — less ; 
 akranalaus, fruitless ; andelaus, endless ; 
 /t??^j^?^////rj", empty-bellied, fasting ; laiisa- 
 vaurds, an idle talker ; lausjan, to loose, 
 separate, make void. 
 
 Loover. A loouer or tunnell in the 
 roof or top of a great hall to avoid smoke, 
 fumarium, spiramentum — Baret ; louer of 
 a hall, escl^re. — Palsgr. Vedetta, a lour 
 or high lantern on the top of a house. — 
 Fl. Yorkshire love, lover, a chimney. — 
 Craven Gl. ON. liori, the opening in the 
 roof of a house to let out smoke, a win- 
 dow ; N. Ijore, air-hole in the roof to let 
 out the smoke ; Ijora, to clear up ; Ijor, 
 opening among clouds ; glira, to peep, to 
 show light through ; glira, a streak of 
 light, crack in a wall. Pl.D. gluren, 
 luren, to peep, to lour. See To Lour. 
 The accented d and u of the ON. are in 
 other cases represented in E. by the aid 
 of a V ; ON. frd, Yorkshire frav, from ; 
 ON. dura, E. dover, to slumber ; ON. liun^ 
 E. levin, lightning. 
 
 Lop. Lop-eared, lap-, lopper-, lave-, 
 louch-, slouch-eared — Baker, having hang- 
 ing ears ; lop-sided, having one side hang- 
 ing down. Fin. loppa, lotto, anything 
 hanging or dangling ; loppa-korwa, a 
 hanging ear ; loppa-huuli, a hanging lip ; 
 ON. lapa, slapa, to flag, hang loose ; 
 slapeyrdr, N. lap-oyrt, lav-oyrt, lop-eared. 
 
 The origin is the sound made by soft 
 or loose thmgs flapping or falling. Du. 
 slobberen, slodderen, G. schlottern, Esthon. 
 loddisema, to hang loose and slack ; Du. 
 lodderen. Swab, lottern, to lie loosely 
 stretched, to lounge ; loppern, Swiss lot- 
 tern, to shake about, not to hold fast. 
 See Lob. 
 
 The form louch-eared may be com- 
 pared with Bav. latschen, lotscheji, to go 
 about or do anything slackly and lazily ; 
 verlatscht, latschet (of things that ought 
 to be fast or stiff), slack, soft, clammy. 
 Melting snow becomes latschet, to be 
 compared with E. slush, sludge. Dan. 
 slaske, to dabble, paddle, also (of clothes) 
 
393 
 
 LOP 
 
 to flap about one ; Bav. latschy a wide 
 mouth, a mouth with loiich or hanging 
 lips ; ON. loka^ to trail, hang loose ; lokr^ 
 anything hanging. 
 
 ♦ To Lop. Lap or lop^ the faggot- 
 wood of a tree. — Mrs B. It. lappare^ to 
 lap or lop trees. — Fl. Perhaps to be 
 explained from Cotgrave's * estagner, to 
 gueldixQcs, to lop or cutoff their branches,' 
 reminding us of Pl.D. lubben, E. lib, to 
 geld. 
 
 Loppered. Coagulated, of milk or 
 blood. OHG. leberen, gelebern, to co- 
 agulate ; lebermere, congealed sea ; ON. 
 lifraz, to clot ; Dan. dial, lubber, any- 
 thing coagulated or gelatinous ; Du. 
 klobber-saen, clotted or curdled cream. 
 
 The radical image is the flapping of 
 soft and wet or loose things, which are 
 commonly expressed by the same term, 
 as in Dan. slaske, to dabble, paddle, to 
 flap as loose clothes ; Du. lobberen, to 
 wade and trample in the mire ; lobberig, 
 gelatinous ; Mag. lobogni, to waver, flut- 
 ter ; lobozni, to splash ; Swab, loppern, 
 to be shaky ; lopperig, loose ; Wester- 
 wald lappern, to shake to and fro, wabble 
 as an unsound chair, flap as loose clothes ; 
 Swiss labbig, lappig, watery, labberete, 
 watery food ; Banffsh. labber, to make a 
 noise with a liquid, sup a liquid hastily ; 
 E. slobbeyy, wet, sloppy; Du. slobber en, 
 to flap as loose clothes, related to E. slab, 
 thick, as Du. lobberen to lobberig, gela- 
 tinous. 
 
 Make the gruel thick and slab. — Macbeth. 
 
 Ir. slaib, mud, ooze. 'The slob embank- 
 ment.' — Times, Oct. lo, 1861. 
 
 The same relation holds good between 
 Bav. schlottern, to dabble in wet, to flap 
 as loose clothes, and schlotter, coagulated 
 milk, mud, dirt ; schlott, mud, dirt, thaw- 
 ing weather ; Swab, schludern, to slob- 
 ber, spill, slop ; geschluder, slops, dirty 
 liquid. 
 
 It must be observed that when a body 
 is of a mixed consistency between solid 
 and liquid, it will be considered as thick 
 or thin according to the extreme with 
 which it is compared. A substance must 
 be of a watery consistence in which we 
 can splash and dabble, and on the other 
 hand it is only when a liquid is thickened 
 and becomes gelatinous that it is capable 
 of retaining a tremulous or wabbling mo- 
 tion. Thus words of the same immediate 
 derivation come to have directly opposite 
 meanings, as Swiss labbig, and E. slab, 
 above-mentioned. 
 
 Loquacious, -loqu-. -locu-, Lat. 
 
 LOUT 
 
 loquor, locutus to speak, whence Elo- 
 quent, Obloquy, Colloquy, &c. 
 
 Lord. AS. hlaford, on. lavardr. 
 
 Lore. AS. Idre, teaching. See Learn. 
 
 Lorimer. Fr. lorain, is formed from 
 loramen, a derivative of Lat. lorum, a 
 strap, in the same way as Fr. airain, 
 brass, from csramen, a similar derivative 
 of cEs, certs. Hence Fr. loremier, lormier, 
 corresponding to Lat. loraminarius, a 
 maker of straps. * Quiconque veut estre 
 lonniers k Paris, cest k savoir faiseurs 
 de frains et de lorains, estre le peut 
 franchement.' — Livre des Mestiers, p. 
 222. Champ, lorain, lorein, a bridle, 
 strap ; loire, a strap ; lorimier, lormier, 
 a saddler, worker in harness of leather. 
 Bret, ler, skin, leather ; lereti, strap ; Du. 
 leder, leer, leather. 
 
 To Lose. AS. lesan, Goth.., fraliusan, 
 G. verlieren. 
 
 Lot. ^ Goth, hlauts, G. loss, on. hlutr, 
 lot ; hluti, portion ; hluta, to cast lots, 
 obtain by lot. 
 
 Lotion. Lat. lavo, lautum or lotian, 
 to wash. 
 
 Loud. on. hljod, sound ; G. laut, 
 sound ; and as an adj. loud. 
 
 To Lounge. See Loiter. 
 
 * To Lour. — To Leer. To lour and 
 leer are cognate forms descended at no 
 distant period from a common ancestor. 
 The radical image is shown in ON. hlora, 
 hlera, to listen, whence we pass to the 
 notion of privily observing, peeping, look- 
 ing in a covert way. G. lauern. Da. lure, 
 to listen, eavesdrop, watch ; Pl.D. luren, 
 to watch in a covert manner, to wait his 
 opportunity, to keep back in a sly way ; 
 luurhaftig, of a sly and covert nature ; 
 /. weer, doubtful or suspicious weather, 
 weather which seems to harbour ill in- 
 tentions. Luren, gluren (of the weather), 
 to lour, to look with covert aspect, to 
 threaten rain. To lour, to look sour or 
 grim, to begin to be overcast with clouds. 
 — B. 
 
 The Du. equivalent loeren shows the 
 passage to E. leer, to cast a cunning or a 
 wistful look. — B. Loeren, to peer, peep, 
 leer ; specially with desire to possess one- 
 self of something. — Bomhoff. N. glira, 
 to peep, wink, half close the eyes, to be 
 open so that one can see through. It is 
 mere accident that lour signifies to spy, 
 with covert feelings of ill-will, and leer 
 with those of desire. 
 
 Louse, w. Lau, G. laus. 
 
 Lout. A clownish, unmannerly fellow. 
 — B. Du. loete, kloete, homo agrestis, 
 insulsus, stolidus.— Kil. Perhaps from 
 
LOUT 
 
 the notion of a lump or clod, a rude, un- 
 shaped, inactive thing. Milan, lotta^ a 
 clod ; Prov. lot^ heavy, indolent, slow. 
 ' Non es lotz ni coartz,' he is not sluggish 
 nor cowardly. Lot, mud, dirt. 
 
 To Lout. ON. luta, to stoop ; Sw. luta, 
 to stoop, lean, incline, go downwards, 
 slope, to tilt a cask. The primary mean- 
 ing is probably like that oi glout, to look 
 covertly, look from beneath the brows, 
 and so to hold the head down, 'i^.glyita, 
 to peep ; Dan. dial, lutte (of the weather), 
 to lour, look threatening. 
 
 Love. G. lieben, to love ; Lat. libet, 
 hibet, it pleases j libens edere, to eat with 
 a good appetite j libido, bibido, pleasure, 
 desire, lust ; Boh. hibiti, libiti, libowati, 
 to love, to have pleasure in ; libitise, to 
 be pleased ; libost, will, pleasure ; liby, 
 sweet, agreeable, pleasant; libati, to kiss, 
 to taste ; Pol. lubid, licbowad, to have an 
 inclination for, to relish, to like ; liiby, 
 lovely, sweet, delicious ; Serv. lyubav, 
 love ; lyubiti, to kiss ; Russ. liobit\ to 
 love ; naliobovatsya, to have pleasure in ; 
 iobzaf, to kiss. So Fris. miiwlckjeii, to 
 kiss, also to have pleasure in, ixovsxniuwlle, 
 the mouth. Sicilian liccari, to lick, to 
 flatter, to make love ; liccatiiri, a lover ; 
 licchettu, the flavour of wine ; licchiteddu, 
 taste, savour. 
 
 As kissing is the most obvious mani- 
 festation of love, we might naturally sup- 
 pose that the word was derived from 
 these Slavonic words signifying kiss. 
 But it is more probable that they have 
 both a common origin in a representa- 
 tion of the sound of smacking the tongue 
 and lips, which gives rise to the Lat. 
 latnbere, labium, E. lap, lip, Walach. 
 limba, the tongue ; Esthon. libbama, to 
 lick ; Fr. lipp^e, a good morsel, a snack ; 
 Bret, lipa^ to lick ; lipouz, delicate, tasty. 
 
 It will be observed that the Bohem. 
 libati is both to kiss and to taste, exactly 
 as E. smack is used in both senses, or as 
 NFris. macke, to kiss, compared with 
 Fin. makia, sweet, well tasted. Now the 
 pleasure of taste is commonly taken as 
 the type of all gratification. The rude 
 tribes met with in a late expedition to- 
 wards the sources of the Nile expressed 
 their admiration of the beads shown them 
 by rubbing their bellies. — Petherick, 
 Egypt and the Nile, 448. And Burton 
 shows that joy and affection is expressed 
 in the same way on the W. of Africa. 
 * At the peroration he expressed the glad- 
 ness of the Alake to see us at his capital ; 
 as for himself, he rubbed his bony hands 
 on his lean stomach to show the yearning 
 
 LUBBER 
 
 399 
 
 of his own proper bowels towards us.' — 
 Abeokutah and Camaroens, i, 148. 
 
 In the Tyrolese dialect schldk (g. 
 schlecken, to lick), is used for pleasure, 
 enjoyment. Es ist mir kei schldk, it is 
 no pleasure to me ; er ist ztim rdchte 
 schldk cho, he is come at the right mo- 
 ment for enjoyment, at a show, for in- 
 stance. — D. M. iii. 458. The Lat. delicice, 
 meaning originally appetising food, is 
 figuratively used in the sense of darling. 
 To look sweet upon one is to look with 
 loving eyes. Indeed, it is probable that 
 the act of kissing is a symbol expressive 
 of the feelings entertained towards the 
 object of affection by the figure of smack- 
 ing the lips over a delicate morsel. Thus 
 the expression of devouring with kisses 
 would be but a return to the original 
 image. 
 
 On the foregoing theory Lat. voluptas 
 would imply the representation of the 
 smacking of the palate, by a root vlitp 
 alongside of lub, analogous to E. flip, or 
 fillip, for a smack with the fingers, or to 
 the old wlap, for lap, It. viluppare^ vo- 
 luppare, to wrap. 
 
 Low. I . ON. lagr, short, low ; Sw. 
 lag, Du. laag, low. 
 
 Low. 2. ON. logi, Sw. Idge, Dan. lue^ 
 love, AS. la;g, lig, flame ; Gr. <fKb^ (^^oyc), 
 0\oyog, flame ; (pX'tyto, Lat. flagrare, to 
 flame, to burn. The origin is seen in 
 V>\x. flaggeren, to flap, to flutter, from the 
 wavering action so characteristic of flame. 
 In the same way, from Du. flodderen,Xo 
 be in a wavering state, lodderen (properly 
 to hang loose), to lounge, Swiss lodern, 
 to flap as loose clothes, we pass to G. 
 lodern, to waver, to blaze. So also from 
 E. logger, Magy. logiii, to oscillate, shake 
 to and fro, Dan. logre, to wag, we are 
 led to ON. logi, flame. The same train 
 of thought is seen in Magy. lobogni, to 
 waver, flutter, and lob, flame, lobbaitni, to 
 blaze, flame. 
 
 To Low. AS. hlowan, Du. loeien, G. 
 luien, to low. Lith. loti, to bark. 
 
 LoyaL Fr. loyal, OFr. Idal, from Lat. 
 legalis. Lex, legis, Fr. loi, law. 
 
 Lozenge. Fr. lozange, a little square 
 cake of preserved herbs, &c ., also a quar- 
 rel of a glass window, anything of that 
 form. — Cot. From Piedm. Sp. losa, 
 Lang, laouzo, a slate, flag, flat stone for 
 paving, commonly set cornerwise, in 
 which the idea of a lozenge mainly differs 
 from that of a square. Boh. dlazice, a 
 tile ; dlaziti, to pave. 
 
 Lubber. — Lubbard, A lumpish, slug- 
 gish, clumsy fellow. — Worcester. Da. 
 
400 
 
 LUBRICATE 
 
 lubbet, N. iubben, thick, fat, obese ; lubb, 
 lubba, one who is thick and fat ; Sw. dial. 
 lubbtgy thick and clumsy ; lubber, a thick, 
 clumsy, lazy man ; lubba, the same of a 
 woman. Du. lompsch, lumpish, dull, 
 lazy ; lo}npert, a coarse fellow. See Lob. 
 
 Lubricate. Lat. lubricus, slippery. 
 
 Lucid. — Lucifer. Lat. lux, lucis, light ; 
 luceo, to shine. Russ. lutsch, lutschoi, a 
 ray ; lutschina, a match ; Serv. lutsch, a 
 torch ; lutscha, a ray of the sun. 
 
 Luck. G. gliick, Du. luk, geluk, hap- 
 piness, enjoyment, prosperity, fortune. 
 The appearance of composition with the 
 particle ge in Du. geluk is probably falla- 
 cious, as it is very common to find parallel 
 forms with an initial /, and gl, or cl re- 
 spectively, as Du. gluypen and luypen, to 
 spy, E. gloom and loo7n, glowre and lour, 
 glout and lout, clump and lump, clog and 
 log &c. 
 
 The origin may perhaps be found in 
 the enjoyment of food taken as the pri- 
 mary type of all pleasure, and expressed 
 by the syllables gluk, glick, lick, repre- 
 senting the sound of smacking the tongue 
 in the enjoyment of taste. ' Comment 
 trouves-tu le liquide du Pere L. Parfait ; 
 oui parfait, repondit elle en faisant claguer 
 sa langue contre son palais.' — Montepin. 
 W. givefus-glec, a smack with the lips ; 
 Gr. yXixofiai, to desire earnestly, properly, 
 as Lat. ligurio, to lick the chops at ; 
 yXvKvg, sweet ; G. leckerbissen, delicacies. 
 See Like. 
 
 Lucre. — Lucrative. Lat. lucrum, 
 gain, profit. 
 
 Lucubration. Lat. lucubj'are, to study 
 or work by lamplight ; from lux, lucis, 
 light. 
 
 -lude. -lus-. Lat. hcdo, lusum, to 
 play, sport, mock ; allude, to jest at, to 
 allude in discourse ; deludo, to deceive. 
 
 Ludicrous. Lat. ludicer, ludicris, 
 connected with sport, laughable, from 
 Indus, play, sport. 
 
 Luff. See Loof. 
 
 * Lug. — To Lug. Ltig, the ear of an 
 animal, the ear or handle of a pitcher, 
 iron pot, or the like. In stave-made ves- 
 sels the end of the stave which projects 
 beyond the rest and serves as a handle is 
 the lug, whence probably Sc. leglen, a 
 milking pail with such a handle. The 
 pot lugs are the perforated ears of metal 
 rising above the brim of the pot and re- 
 ceiving the ends of the moveable bow. 
 The meaning of Sw. lugg is somewhat 
 different, the forelock or hanging hair of 
 the forehead ; Da. dial, lugget, shaggy. 
 Sw. lugga, like E. to lug, is to pull by the 
 
 LUKEWARM 
 
 hair or ears. Lugga nagon i skagget, to 
 pull one by the beard ; i orat, to lug one 
 by the ear ; luggas, to pull each other 
 about. 
 
 His ears were laving like a nnv-luggd sow. 
 Bp Hall. 
 
 It is not easy to say whether the verb is 
 derived from the noun or the converse. 
 Certainly the meaning of the E. verb is 
 exactly such as would arise from the me- 
 taphor of pulling by the ear. On the 
 other hand it is not obvious what there is 
 in common between the ear and the fore- 
 lock except as affording means of laying 
 hold of an animal and leading him along. 
 In the latter point of view to lug may be 
 to drag along like a rope trailing on the 
 ground. Swiss lugg, loose, slack ; lug- 
 gen, to be slack ; das sell lugget, E. Ijig, 
 anything slow in movement ; luggard, a 
 sluggard; lugsome, heavy, cumbrous. — 
 Hal. 
 A kind of weight hangs heavy at my heart, 
 My flagging soul flies under her own pitch 
 Like fowl in air too damp, and lugs along. 
 Dryden in R. 
 
 — drags or trails along. 
 
 Perhaps lug was originally, as Nares 
 explains it, the hanging portion of the 
 ear, then the ear in general. Coles ren- 
 ders it in Lat. auris lobus, auricula in- 
 fima. 
 
 Lukewarm. Pl.D. slukwarm, luk- 
 warm, might be plausibly explained from 
 sluken, to swallow, swallowing hot. But 
 w. Ibig, partly, half, llug-dwym (Spurrell), 
 llug-oer (Jones), lukewarm {twym, hot ; 
 oer, cold), must be explained from another 
 quarter. The corresponding forms in the 
 other Celtic dialects are Manx lieh, half, 
 party, side {lieh-doal, half-blind ; lieh-oor, 
 half an hour) ; Gael, leas, leath, leth, half, 
 partly, by {leth-shicill, one eye; leth- 
 ruadh, reddish ; leth-ainm, leas-ainm, 
 nickname ; leas-athair, step-father), Bret. 
 lez, haunch, extremity, border, and as a 
 preposition, near, by the side of ; lestad, 
 step-father, by-father. 
 
 The sensible image is preserved in 
 Bret, lez, Manx Ihesh, the haunch, hip, 
 whence OFr. dclez, hard by, by the side 
 of. N. lid, side, edge ; paa den eiiie le^a, 
 on the one side. The signification of 
 half comes from our bodies being alike 
 on the two sides, and the Gael, leth is ap- 
 plied to a single one of any of the mem- 
 bers of which we have a pair. The Ir. 
 leath is used with the points of the com- 
 pass as E. side; leath- theas, on the south 
 side, southwards. From the notion of 
 what is on the side of, we pass to that of 
 
• LULL 
 
 addition, excess, superfluity. The E, be- 
 sides has the sense of moreover, in addi- 
 tion to, and on this principle must doubt- 
 less be explained Ir. leatha, Gael, leas, 
 gain, profit ; Ir, leatha-daighim {daighim, 
 to give), to increase, enlarge. The G. 
 beiname, a byname, is identical with Fr. 
 siirno?n, a name over and above, or sur- 
 name. The same connection of ideas is 
 seen in Esthon. liggt, near, hard by, liig, 
 Lap. like, additional, excessive, superflu- 
 ous, which we can hardly avoid identifying 
 with the Celtic elements above mentioned. 
 Compare Lap. like namm, Esthon. liig- 
 niinmi, a nickname or surname, with the 
 Celtic forms, and Esthon. liggi-te {te, 
 way), with Gael, leth-rod, a by-path. In 
 Lap. likai, besides, the E. translation dis- 
 tinctly shows the way in which the idea 
 of excess has arisen. 
 
 To LulL N. lulla, to sing to sleep ; 
 E. lullaby, the song used for that purpose ; 
 lull, repose, quiet. The origin is the re- 
 petition of the syllables la la la in mo- 
 notonous song. G. lallen, to sing without 
 words, only repeating the syllable la. — 
 Kiittn. Serv. lyti, lyu, cry to a child 
 while rocking it ; lyii-lyati, to rock ; 
 Russ. ulioliokaf , to set a child asleep by 
 rocking and singing ; liolka, a cradle, 
 Esthon. laiilma, to sing, laid, a song. 
 
 From the repetition of na instead of la, 
 arise Mod.Gr. vava, lullaby, and in Fr. 
 nursery language, fai7'e nono, to sleep. 
 It. nanna, a word that nurses use to still 
 their children, as lullaby ; nannare, to 
 lullaby, sing, rock or dandle children 
 asleep ; ninnare, ninnellare, to rock, sing, 
 lull. 
 
 liumbago. — Lumbar. Lat. lumbtis, 
 loin. The radical meaning of the word 
 is probably the soft boneless part, as G. 
 iveiche, the flank, from weich, soft. Swab. 
 lumpf, soft, spongy ; Hesse, lujnm, slack, 
 loose, flabby ; lumbe, the flank or loins. 
 
 To Lumber. To rumble, to move 
 heavily with noise and disturbance. Sw. 
 dial. Ijumma, himma, lomnia, luinra, 
 lomra, to resound. * I lumber, I make a 
 noise above one's head : Je fais bruit. 
 You hwtbred so above my head I could 
 not slepe for you.' — Palsgr. Hence lum- 
 ber, old furniture, thrown with noise and 
 disregard. So from G. polte7'n, to racket, 
 make a noise, polter-kammer, a lumber- 
 room; Pl.D.^^//<?r/, racket, lumber. Du. 
 rommelen, to rumble (I romble, I make 
 noise in a house with remevyng of heavy 
 thynges — Palsgr.) ; alles door elkander 
 rommelen, to turn things topsyturvy ; 
 rommelpot, rommelzo, higgledy-piggledy ; 
 
 LUNCH 
 
 401; 
 
 ro77iitieling, G. geriimpel, old furniture, 
 lumber. Dan. skrajiile, to rumble ; 
 skramleri, lumber, trumpery. 
 
 The foregoing analogies speak so deci- 
 sively in favour of the derivation from the 
 noise made by throwing things together 
 in a disorderly way, that there is no occa- 
 sion to argue against the fanciful deriva- 
 tion from the obsolete lumbar, a pawn- 
 broker's (Lombard's) shop, where the 
 goods are never exposed to the public eye, 
 and are moreover necessarily kept in the 
 most perfect order. 
 
 2. To lumber, in the sense of encum- 
 bering the decks of a ship, seems to be 
 distinct from the foregoing. ODu. lum- 
 mer, lemmer, impedimentum, molestia — 
 Kil. ; Dan. belemre, Du. belemmern, to 
 encumber, impede, lumber ; beleifwterung 
 der spraak, impediment of speech. — Hal- 
 ma. This sense seems to arise in arlalo- 
 gy with Sc. lagger, to bemire, and thence 
 to encumber. Du. lobberen, to wade or 
 trample in the wet ; Da. dial, lummer, 
 anything semifluid, as gruel or mud. 
 Veien staaer i et lum7ner, the road is all 
 mud. Ltimre en vcEg, to daub a wall 
 with clay and water. 
 
 3. Lumber, sawn or split timber. See 
 Limber. 
 
 Luminary. — Luminous. Lat. lumen, 
 a clear light, commonly explained as if 
 for lucjnen, from the root luc of lux, luds, 
 &c. 
 
 Lump. Corresponding to clump, as 
 log to clog. N. himp, a block, thick 
 piece} ON. klujnbr, klumpr, Dan. klump, 
 a lump ; Du. lompe, a rag, tatter, piece, 
 lump ,• lompen, to strike, to use one 
 roughly. E. hemp also represents the 
 sound of a blow. 
 
 And the flail might lump away. — Clare. 
 
 In Du. lompe, G. lumpen, a tatter, it 
 seems to represent the dangling, flapping 
 movement of a tatter, and thence to be 
 extended to a separate portion of any- 
 thing. Bav. lampen, to dangle ; lamp- 
 ende ohren, lop-ears, flapping ears ; lamp- 
 et, torn, broken, loose. So N. lape, to 
 dangle; lappe, a little piece; lopp, a flock 
 of wool, hay, &c., or of sheep ; Fr. loppe, 
 lopin, a gobbet, lump, morsel, a lock of 
 wool. 
 
 Lunar. — Lunatic. Lat. lima, the 
 moon ; lunaris, lunaticus, one affected 
 by the changes of the moon, mad. 
 
 Lunch. — Luncheon. A lump of some- 
 thing eatable. Closely related to lump, 
 being formed from the flapping sound of 
 a dangling thing represented by a final k 
 
 26 
 
402 
 
 LUNE 
 
 instead of p. Bav. lugk^ I nek, loose ; 
 Picard. iogue, a rag ; Fr. ioguef, the latch 
 of a door (from rattling up and down), 
 locher, to joggle, make a noise as a thing 
 that is loose ; Champ, lochon, a hunch of 
 bread, of which luncheon is the nasalised 
 form, as Ittmp of Fr. loppe, above men- 
 tioned. Lunch also, as lump, was form- 
 erly used for the sound of a blow. Dunche 
 or lunche, sonitus, strepitus ; dunchitige 
 or lunchinge, tuncio, percussio. — Pr. Pm. 
 It is in this sense that it is the source of 
 the nearly obsolete lungeous^ rough in 
 play, violent. 
 
 Iiune. — To Lunge. See Laniard. 
 
 liung. ON. lutiga, G. lunge, Du. lo?ighe, 
 loose, lichte. As the two last of these 
 names are from the light spongy texture 
 of the organ (Du. loos, empty), the origin 
 of lung is seen in Bav. luck, lugk, lung, 
 loose. Aichenholz ist gedigen und hart, 
 tannenholz lung ufid welch, oak wood is 
 solid and hard, fir wood loose and soft. 
 Sint kelengit, relaxantur. — Kero. Lith. 
 lengwas, light. 
 
 liUngis. A lazy dreaming fellow, a 
 slow-back. — B. Fr. longis, a dreaming 
 lusk, tall and dull slangam. — Cot. Rouchi 
 longiner, to do everything slowly. Piedm. 
 longh (of persons), slow, lazy, irresolute. 
 Not so much from long in the sense of 
 taking much time as from the original 
 notion of slack, inactive. 
 
 Lupine. Lat. luphius, It. lupine, a 
 kind of pulse, as if from lupus, translated 
 in Venet. fava lovina, G. wolfs bohne, 
 ■wolfs beans. But possibly the word may 
 really have come from a Slavonic source. 
 Pol. lupina, shell, cod, husk ; lupic, to 
 flay or strip. Mod-Gr. Xoy/3J, the pod or 
 husk of a bean. 
 
 Lurch. I. To be left in the lurch. A 
 metaphor from the gaming-table. It. 
 lurcio, Fr. lourche, ourche, G. lurz, birtsch, 
 a game at tables ; also a term used when 
 one party gains every point before the 
 other makes one. It. marcio, a lurch or 
 slam, a maiden set at any game. — Fl. 
 *A person who is lurlz at tables pays 
 double.' — Hans Sachs in Schmeller. Fr. 
 lourche, a lurch in game ; il de7neura 
 lourche, he was left in the lurch. — Cot. 
 
 * To Lurch. — To Lurk. These are 
 originally variations in pronunciation 
 only, diftering from each other as church 
 and kirk. 
 
 The train of thought may be traced 
 through two parallel series of forms 
 having a terminal s and r respectively, 
 and signifying listen, watch, observe se- 
 cretly, lie in wait, lie hid, seek to entrap. 
 
 LURE 
 
 take privily. With a terminal s, OHG. 
 hlosen, losen, Swiss losen, to listen. Then 
 with a terminal k (as in E. smirk com- 
 pared with Bav. smieren, to smile), OHG. 
 losgen, losken, to listen (zu ze imo los- 
 kende, attentos. — Grafif.), to lie hid ; 
 OFlem. luyschen observare, insidiari, la- 
 tere, latitare. — Kil. G. lauschen, to listen, 
 lie listening, lie in wait, look out secretly, 
 peep ; Sw. dial, luska, to eavesdrop, 
 privily listen ; N. luska. Da. luske, to 
 watch an opportunity, lurk, skulk. With 
 a final t instead of k, ON. hlusta, to listen, 
 corresponding with MHG. luzen, to lie in 
 wait for, to lie hid ; Inzer, luzener, a 
 listener, eavesdropper, watcher ; haseff- 
 Inzer, hasenluster, one who snares hares ; 
 erluzen, to entrap, get by lying in wait for. 
 
 In the series with a final r, ON. hlora, 
 hlera, to listen ; standa d hleri, as Da. 
 slaa paa lur, G. auf der lauer sein, to 
 hearken privily, to lie upon the lurch. — 
 Kiittn. Da. lure, to listen, eavesdrop, 
 lurk, lie in wait ; G. lauern, to lie in wait, 
 lurk, watch, lie upon the lurch or upon 
 the catch. An der thiir lauern, to listen 
 at the door. Die katze lauert auf die 
 maus, lies upon the catch for the mouse. 
 Then with the addition of a formative k, 
 as in E. sculk from Du. schuilen, to seek 
 shelter, in Fris. smillen, S7nilleke7i (Out- 
 zen), sinilke (Junge), to smile, or in G. 
 lauer, lurke, lorke, weak wine, swipes, we 
 pass to NFris. lorkin, to listen, and E. 
 lurk, properly to listen, watch, then to 
 lie watching, lie hid. Compare Da. dial. 
 der er lurk i veiret, when the weather 
 although fine shows signs of change, it 
 lours, looks suspicious, with Pl.D. luur- 
 haftig weer, suspicious weather. 
 
 Bailey explains lurch, to steal or pilfer, 
 to lie hid ; lurcher, one who lies upon 
 the lurch or upon the catch, as G. auf der 
 lauer, auf der lausche sein. In the sense 
 of filch it corresponds to G. erlauschen, to 
 obtain by lurking. Pl.D. licksen, privily 
 to wait for, also to possess oneself of the 
 property of another in a secret way. — 
 Danneil. Lurch is to be understood in the 
 sense of taking privily away, in the pas- 
 sage of Bacon, where it is often explained, 
 to devour. ' Too near [to great cities] 
 lurcheth all provisions and maketh every- 
 thing dear,' — filches them away. 
 
 The lu7'chline is the line which the 
 fowler lying on the lurch for birds holds 
 in his hand, and by which he pulls over 
 the net upon the birds ; to be compared 
 with G. Iauschgar7t, a net used in catch- 
 ing hares or foxes. 
 
 Lure. G. luder, a carcass, carrion, 
 
LURID 
 
 bait for wild animals. It. ludro^ Fr. 
 leurre, a falconer's lure, a bait. Hence 
 G. ludern, lildern, E. allure^ to entice. 
 
 As the stink of carrion is its chief cha- 
 racteristic, the origin may be Bret, loiiz, 
 loudour, dirty, disgusting, properly stink- 
 ing, whence louz, a badger. 
 
 Lurid. Lat. hiridus, of a livid colour. 
 
 * Luscious. Fresh or liissyoiise as 
 meate is that is not well seasoned or that 
 hath an unpleasant swetnesse in it, fade. 
 — Palsgr. The suggestion of Hickes 
 that the word is a corruption of delicious 
 has been treated as absurd, but the ab- 
 sence of any foreign analogue makes us 
 look to an English origin, and it is cer- 
 tain that the first step in the corruption 
 of delicious was taken in the curtailment 
 of the de. 
 
 Mete and drink ynughe they hade 
 With licious drinke and clere. 
 
 Sir Araadas, xxvii. p. 38. 
 
 Moreover luscious was used in the sense 
 of delicious. Frigalleries, dainties, lick- 
 orish morsels, luscious acates. — Cot. 
 The same change of meaning from sweet- 
 ness to excess of sweetness is seen in Du. 
 sinets (from sjnetsen, to smack the chops), 
 which is rendered by Bomhoff delicious, 
 delicate, and by Kil. prasdulcis, mulseus, 
 insulsus, et nauseam provocans nimia 
 dulcedine. 
 
 Lusk. A slug, or slothful fellow. — B. 
 The idea of listening, watching, waiting 
 on, leads to the sense of suspension of 
 action, sluggishness or torpor. Thus we 
 have Sw. lura, to lurk or lie in wait, also 
 to take a nap, to doze ; ON. lura, to be 
 sluggish, to doze (Haldorsen) ; Pl.D. 
 luren, to be slow and listless. Again, G. 
 lauschen, OHG. losgen, loskejt, to listen, 
 lie in wait ; i7n bette la2ischen, to slug it 
 abed. — Kiittn. Bav. lauschen, to act 
 lazily, to loiter. Dan. luske, to skulk 
 about ; Fin. luoska, a sloven, slut. See 
 Lurk. 
 
 Lust. — Lusty. Goth, lustus, will, de- 
 sire. See List. Lusty, Dan. lystig, G. 
 
 LYRE 
 
 403 
 
 lustig, merry, jovial ; Wall, lustih, quick, 
 lively ; It. lesto, agile. 
 
 Lustre. — Illustrate. It. lustro, lust- 
 rore, Fr. lustre, Du. luister, luster, gloss, 
 glister, splendour. It. lustrare, Fr. lust- 
 rer, to give a lustre or gloss to ; Du. 
 Iuiste7'en, lusteren, to glitter, glister, shine. 
 Lat. illustris, clear, bright, conspicuous. 
 The word seems radically identical with 
 E. glister, glisteji, to sparkle, shine, Bav. 
 glast, splendour ; Pl.D. glustern, to look 
 at with sparkling eyes, from t];ie last of 
 which we pass to Lat. lustro, Fr. lustrer, 
 to survey. Sol cuncta sua luce lustrat, 
 surveys, brightens and irradiates. 
 
 Lute. I. The stringed instrument, 
 Arab, el nd. 
 
 2. A paste of clay to stop the necks of 
 retorts. Lat. lutiun, mud. 
 
 -lute. -luv-. -lu-. Lat. luo, lutu7n, 
 lavo, lautum and lotum, Gr. \ovm, to 
 wash ; diluo, to wash off. Hence lotion, 
 a washing ; to dilute, to pour in water ; 
 diluent, washy ; diluvium, a washing 
 away, an abundance of water, deluge. 
 
 Lute-string. A kind of shining silk, 
 corrupted from Piedm. lustrifio, a name 
 given on account of its lustre. 
 
 Luxury. Lat. luxus, loose, slack, out 
 of joint, whence luxus, luxuria, a giving 
 loose to enjoyment, dissoluteness, excess, 
 profuseness. 
 
 Lyceum. Gr. AvKewv, the name of a 
 public Institute at Athens. 
 
 Lye. Lat. lix, lixivium, G. lauge, an 
 infusion of the salts of ashes to soak linen 
 in. Esthon. liggo, a soaking ; liggoma, 
 to set to soak ; ligge, wet, boggy ; Fin. 
 likoan, lijota, to soak (as flax) in water ; 
 liko, place where soaking is done ; Lap. 
 ligge, mud ; Boh. lauh, luh, lye ; luky 
 (plur.), boggy places ; Russ. luja (Fr. 7), 
 a pit, bog, marsh ; Serv. lujati, to soak 
 in lye ; Bav. liihen, to rinse linen. Ltih- 
 hen, lucre, hihit, lotus, lavatus. — Gl. in 
 Schm. 
 
 Lyre. — Lyrical. Gr. \vpa, a species 
 of stringed musical instrument, XvpiKOQ, 
 connected with the same, or with the 
 poetry sung to it. 
 
 26 
 
404 
 
 MACARONI 
 
 MAGGOT 
 
 M 
 
 Macaroni. It. maccheroni, macaroni, 
 originally lumps of paste and cheese 
 squeezed up into balls, but now ribbons 
 of fine paste squeezed through orifices of 
 different shapes. 
 
 From maccare, to bruise or crush, 
 whence also maccatelle, balls of mince- 
 meat ; jnacca, beans boiled to a mash. 
 From macaroni being considered the pe- 
 culiar dish of the Italians, the name seems 
 to have been given to the dandies or fine 
 gentlemen of the last century, when the 
 accomplishment of the Italian tour was 
 the distinction of the youngman of fashion. 
 
 The meaning of Macaronic poetry is 
 thus explained by Merlinus Coccaius, who 
 was apparently the inventor of the name. 
 Ars ilia poetica nuncupatur Ars maca- 
 ronica, a macaronibus derivata, qui ma- 
 carones sunt quoddam pulmentum, farina, 
 caseo, butyro compaginatum, grossum, 
 rude, et rusticanum. Ideo macaronica 
 nil nisi grassedinem, ruditatem et voca- 
 bulazzos debet in se continere. — Preface to 
 the Macaronics. Fr. macaronique, a 
 macaronick, a confused heap or huddle 
 of many separate things. — Cot. 
 
 Mace. It. mazza, any kind of beetle, 
 mallet, or club, with a knob or head at 
 the end, a Serjeant's mace ; jnazzo, a 
 bunch, cluster, packet ; Fr. masse, a 
 lump, round piece of anything, a club ; 
 masse d'eau, herbe d masses, reed-mace, 
 typha. 
 
 Macerate. Lat. macerare, to make to 
 ■waste away, to soften by soaking ; macer, 
 lean, wasted. 
 
 Machine. Lat. machina. See Me- 
 chanic. 
 
 Mackarel. Fr. maguereau, It. macca- 
 rello, from the dark blotches with which 
 the fish is marked ; It. macco, a mark as 
 of a bruise ; maccola, inacchia, a spot, 
 stain ; Sp. maca, bruise in fruit, spot, 
 stain ; Venet. macar. It. ammaccare, to 
 bruise. In the application of the term to 
 a pander there is a confusion with Du. 
 fnaeckelaer, a broker, matchmaker, pro- 
 perly one skilled in pointing out the blem- 
 ishes of the goods in which he deals, 
 from, maeckel, a spot or blemish. See 
 Broker. 
 
 Mad. To mad, to rave, wander, be 
 beside oneself. 
 
 Sufficeth thee, but if thy wittes mad. 
 To have as gret a grace as Noe had, — Chaucer. 
 Maddyn or dotyn, desipere. — Pr. Pm. 
 The origin is the confused incoherent 
 talk of mad people. Swiss madeln, to 
 mutter, mdddelen, Bav. maden, sc/und- 
 dern, to tattle, chatter ; E. to maddle, to 
 rave, be delirious, confused in intellect, to 
 lose one's way. ' As soon as I gat to t' 
 moor I began to maddle.' Maddlin, a 
 blockhead, confused, foolish person. — 
 Craven. Gl. Du. mallen, to toy, to rave ; 
 malett, to muse, to dote ; mal, foolish, 
 silly, mad. A similar train of thought is 
 found in Swiss mausen, to mutter, speak 
 unintelligibly ; N. masa, to tattle, also (as 
 Du. maleri) to tease or deave some one 
 with importunity ; inasast, to doze, to 
 begin to dream ; E. mazle, to wander as 
 if stupefied — Hal. ; mazzle, to trifle, to do 
 a thing unskilfully ; mazzlin, trifling. — 
 Craven. Gl. See Maze. 
 
 It. matto, foolish, mad, stands alone in 
 the Romance languages. 
 
 Madrigal. It. madrigale, madriale, 
 mandriale, Sp. mandrial, mandrigal, a 
 kind of irregular lyric poem, properly a 
 pastoral, from Lat. mandra, It. mandria, 
 a fold, herd. — Diez. 
 
 To Mafle. To stammer, speak im- 
 perfectly, or move the jaws like a young 
 child. The action of the toothless jaws 
 of infancy or age is represented by vari- 
 ous combinations of the labial articula- 
 tions, ba,fa, ma. Du. fnaffelen, moffele7i, 
 to stammer, to move the jaws — Kil. ; 
 Rouchi motif eter, to move the lips ; Bav. 
 niuffeln, to mumble, chew with toothless 
 jaws ; Rouchi baflier, to slobber ; bajiiou, 
 one who slobbers, stammers, talks idly ; 
 Swiss baffeln, maffehi, to chatter on in a 
 tedious way ; E. faffle, to stammer, to 
 trifle; \.o fainble {(dY..fameleri),\o stutter, 
 murmur inarticulately ; OE. babelen, ma- 
 melen, to babble, mutter. 
 
 Magazine. Sp. magaceit, ahiiagacen, 
 abnaceii. It. magazzino, Fr. ?nagasm, 
 from Arab, al-makhzen, a. storehouse, 
 from the root khazana, to store, to keep. 
 — Dozy. 
 
 Maggot, w. magu, to breed ; magad, 
 a brood, a multitude ; magiad, a breed- 
 ing ; magiaid, magiod, worms, grubs. 
 By a like train of thought It. gorgogliare^ 
 
MAGIC 
 
 to purl, spring, or bubble' as water, and 
 figuratively to breed wormlets or weevils 
 in pulse or corn ; whence gorgoglio (Lat. 
 airculio), a weevil or corn-maggot. 
 
 Magic. Gr. fiayiKOQ ; fiayog, a magi- 
 cian. 
 
 Magisterial. — Magistrate. Lat. ma- 
 gister, a master. 
 
 Magn-. — Magnitude. — Magnify. 
 Lat. magmis, Gr. fisyag, Sanscr. ma/ia, 
 great. Hence Magnanimous {animus, 
 mind), great-minded ; Magnijicent great 
 doing, &c. 
 
 Magnet. Gr. Mayi/j;g, Mayvr]Tr}c^ a 
 dweller in Magnesia ; \idoQ MayvrjrrjQ or 
 Mayvrjaiag, Lat. magnes, the Magnesian 
 stone or magnet, from having first been 
 brought from that country. 
 
 Maid. — Maiden. Goth, magus, a boy ; 
 magaths, a maid, young girl ; AS. magu, 
 ON. mogr, son, OFris. mack, child ; OHG. 
 magad, G. magd, maid, maid ; OHG. mag, 
 mack, ON. niagr, relation ; Swiss mags- 
 chaft, relationship, affinity ; Gael, mac, 
 w., Bret, mab, map, son ; W. magu, Bret. 
 maga, to breed. 
 
 MaiL I. Chain armour. Fr. maille, 
 It. maglia, macchia, the mesh of a net, 
 loop, ring, from Lat. macula, spot, hole, 
 mesh of a net. E. mail, speck on the 
 feathers of a bird. — B. Perdrix maillee, 
 a mailed, menild, or spotted partridge. — 
 Cot. w. magi, a knot, stitch in knitting, 
 mesh, snare. 
 
 2. A portmanteau or trunk to travel 
 with, for carrying letters and other things. 
 — B. Fr. male, a male or great budget. 
 — Cot. Hence mail, in the modern ac- 
 ceptation, the conveyance of the public 
 letters. OHG. malaha. It. mala, Bret. 
 7nal, coffer, trunk, case ; Gael, mala, bag, 
 purse, husk, shell ; maileid, a bag, wallet, 
 budget, the belly. 
 
 To Maim. See Mayhem. 
 
 Main. Chief, principal. Goth, magan, 
 ON. mega, to be able ; megin, strength, the 
 principal part of a thing ; megin-herinn, 
 the main army ; megin-land, the main 
 land, continent. Magn, strength, size. 
 
 Mainour. — Manner. Mid. Lat. manu- 
 opus, the rendering of Fr. manceuvre, was 
 used as well in the sense of actual occu- 
 pation as of an object in the occupation 
 or possession of any one. In the former 
 sense it is said by R. de Hengham that it 
 is a disseisin * cum manuopus alicujus 
 impeditur,' when the occupation of any 
 one is hindered. In the latter sense the 
 term was specially applied to goods found 
 in the possession of any one and made 
 the subject of judicial investigation. 'Et 
 
 MALKIN 
 
 405 
 
 quod pr^edictus Dux haberet queecunque 
 bona et catalla vocata manuopera capta 
 et capienda cum quacunque person^ 
 infra terram et feodum prsedicta, ac per 
 eandem personam coram quocunque ju- 
 dice deadvocata.' — ChartaRic. II. in Due. 
 ' Probatores cum manuopere capti,' ap- 
 provers taken with the goods in their 
 possession. — Fleta. This gave rise to 
 the E. expression of being taken with the 
 mainour, afterwards corrupted to taken 
 in the manner, in flagranti delictu. 
 
 ' Mainour, alias manour, in a legal sense de- 
 notes the thing that a thief taketh or stealeth. 
 As to be taken with the mainour (PI. Cor. fol. 
 179) is to be taken with the thing stolen about 
 him : and again (fol. 194) it is said that a thief 
 was delivered to the sheriff together with the 
 mainour.' — Cowel in Nares. ' Even as a thiefe 
 that is taken with the maner that he stealeth.' — 
 Latimer, ibid. 
 
 See Manure. 
 
 Mainpernor. — Mainprise. Mainper- 
 jiors were sureties, into whose hands a 
 person charged with an offence was given, 
 to answer for his appearance when re- 
 quired. Mainprise, a committal to the 
 care of such sureties. From Fr. main, 
 hand, and perner, prener, prendre, Lat. 
 Prehendere, to take. 
 
 Mainsworn. See Mean. 
 
 To Maintain. Fr. inaintenir, Lat. 
 jnanu tenere, to hold by the hand. 
 
 Majesty. — Major. Lat. major, comp. 
 of magnus, as Gr. fniZujv, of /usyac, great. 
 Hence majestas, greatness, grandeur. 
 
 Make. See Match. 
 
 To Make. G. machen, Du. viaecken, 
 ntaken. 
 
 Mai-. Lat. malus, bad, ill. 
 
 Malapert. Over-bold in speech or 
 action, saucy. 
 
 Ne malapert, ne renning with your tong. 
 Chaucer, Court of Love. 
 Locke uses malpertness. In modern lan- 
 guage cut down to pert. ' Pert, saucy or 
 homly, malapert.' — Palsgr. 
 
 From Fr, appert, ready, nimble in that 
 he does — Cot. ; mal-appert, ready to a 
 fault, over-ready. It. aperto, open, con- 
 fident, or bold. — Fl. 
 
 He sayde, Come I to the, appert {o\& (saucy fool), 
 I salle caste the in the pole. — Sir Percival, 680. 
 
 Male. Fr. masle, male, from Lat. mas- 
 culus. 
 
 Malice. — Malign. — Malignant. Lat. 
 malitia, malignus, from malus evil, 
 wicked. 
 
 Malkin. A clout to clean an oven. 
 From Mall, Moll, the kitchen wench, on 
 a principle similar to that which gives 
 the name of Jack to an implement used 
 
4o6 
 
 MALLARD 
 
 for any familiar office ; boot-jack, roast- 
 ing-jack. 
 
 The kitchen malkin pins 
 Her richest lockram 'bout her reechy neck, 
 Clambering walls to eye him. — Coriolanus. 
 
 Mallard. Bret, mallard^ Fr. malar d, 
 a drake, or male duck. — Pat. de Berri. 
 
 Malleable.— Mallet. Lat. malleus, a 
 hammer. It. maglio, a mallet, beetle, 
 sledge ; magliare, to pound, to beat ; Fr. 
 maillet, a hammer ; mailloter, to pound. 
 Pol. ?;//<?/, Russ. molot, a mallet, beetle ; 
 ffiolotity, to thresh ; moloty, to grind. 
 Illyr. ;;//<?/, a flail, a hammer; tnlatlH, to 
 thresh, to beat. 
 
 Mallow. Lat. malva, Gr. yinkaxn, from 
 fia\d(T(Tu)j to soften, fiaXuKOi;, soft, the 
 herb being still in the East supposed to 
 possess softening virtues. 
 
 The mallow — is very much used by the Arabs 
 medicinally; they make poultices of the leaves to 
 allay irritation and inflammation. — Domestic Life 
 in Palestine, p. 323. 
 
 Malmsey. Wine, of Malvasia, in the 
 Morea. Malvasia, malvatica, Malrhsie 
 wine. Candy wine. — Fl. Pl.D. malmasier, 
 malmesien. Du. fnalvaseye, vinum Arvi- 
 sium, Creticum, Chium, Monembasites. — 
 Kil. Sp. malvasia, marvasia. 
 
 Upon that hylle is a cite called Malvasia, where 
 first grewe Malmasye, and yet dothe ; howbeit it 
 grovveth now (A. D. 1506) more plenteously in 
 Candia and Modena, and no where ellys. — Pil- 
 grimage of Sir R. Guildford. Cam. Soc. p. 12. 
 
 Malt. G. malz, ON. malt. The de- 
 rivation from malen, to grind, indicates 
 no characteristic feature of the thing sig- 
 nified. Tooke's derivation, from It. mol- 
 lire, Fr. mouiller, to soak, would have 
 more probability if the name of 77ialt were 
 not unknown to the Latin dialects. But 
 the true explanation is pointed out by 
 Tacitus when he says that the Germans 
 made wine of hordeum corniptum, the 
 process of malting being confounded by 
 them with that of rotting. ON. melta, to 
 dissolve, digest, rot ; maltr, rotten ; iiielta 
 bygg til dlgerda, to digest barley for 
 brewing, to malt. 
 
 Mamma. — Mammal. A word com- 
 posed of a repetition of the easiest arti- 
 culation of the human voice, 7na, ma, and 
 thence applied to the objects of earliest 
 interest to the infant, the mother and the 
 mother's breast. Lat. 7na7Jtma, the breast, 
 Du. 77ia77ir7te, the breast, mother, nurse. — 
 Kil. Fin. 77ia77i77ia, breast, mother. The 
 designation is common in all regions of 
 the globe. 
 
 ToMammer. Properly to stammer, 
 thence to hesitate. ' What way were it 
 
 -MAND 
 
 best for mc to go } I stand in a mammer- 
 ing' — Terence in E. in Nares. Pol. i7io- 
 motad, to stammer, stutter, 
 
 Mammet. A doll, a puppet. 
 This is no world 
 
 To play with matnmets and to tilt with lips. 
 
 H. IV. 
 Swiss mdm7ni, as E. baby, babby, a new- 
 born child, a doll ; 77id77t77tele7t, to play 
 with dolls. The E. 77ia77i77iet, a doll, was 
 ultimately confounded with man77iet, an 
 idol, from which it has erroneously been 
 derived. Mau77tet,z.z\\\\(S.'s babe. — Gould- 
 man. Mau7ne7it, marmoset, poup^e. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 O God, that ever any man should look 
 Upon this maumet, and not laugh at him. 
 O. Play in Nares. 
 See Mawmet. 
 
 Mamm.ock. A piece or scrap. Pro- 
 perly the remnants of eating, what has 
 been 77ia77ibled or 77iH77ibled. ' He did so 
 set his teeth and tear it. Oh, I warrant 
 how he 77ia77i77iocked it.' — Coriolanus. Sp. 
 77ia77iar, to suck, to devour victuals. Magy. 
 77ia77i77iog7ii, to mumblc, in nursery lan- 
 guage to eat. 
 ■ Man. Goth. 77ian. 
 
 Manacle. Fr. 77ia7iicles, ma7tettes (now 
 me7iottes), hand-fetters — Cot.; from 7'}iai7i^ 
 hand. 
 
 To Manage. From Fr. 7nai7t, the 
 hand, are 7Jianier, to handle, wield ; ma7i- 
 ege, the manage of a horse ; It. 77ia7ieg- 
 giare, to manage, handle, exercise, trade 
 — Fl. ; Mid. Lat. 77iaifiagiu77i, occupation, 
 actual possession. ' De quibus erant in 
 possessione et 77iainagio.^ — Aresta Pari, 
 A.D. 1257. Thence the term was trans- 
 ferred to the furniture requisite for the 
 occupation of a house, and (in the shape 
 of the modern me7iage) to the household 
 of the occupier. ' Domos, castra et alia 
 maneria quae sine 77iai7iagio competent! 
 repererat, decentibus utensilibus instrux- 
 erat.' — Regest. Pari. a.d. 1408, in Due. 
 Mei7iage is still used in Languedoc in 
 the sense of kitchen furniture. Lava loti 
 77iai7tajM, to wash up the dishes. The 
 erroneous insertion of an s in the old way 
 of writing the word, mesfiage, gave rise 
 to the supposition that it was derived 
 from 77ta7isio7iata {7na7isio7taticu77i) , 77ie- 
 sonata-. The identity with E. 77ia7iage is 
 seen in the expression bo7i 77ies7iagier, 
 one who understands the conduct of a 
 household, a good manager. 
 
 -mand. — Mandate. Lat. ma7idare, 
 77ia7idatu77i {77ia7iii-dare, to hand-give), to 
 command, commit. Hence Co77t77ia7id, 
 
MANDARIN 
 
 Mandarin. A Chinese officer, a name 
 first made known to us by the Portuguese, 
 and Hke the Indian caste erroneously sup- 
 posed to be a native term. From Ptg. 
 mandar, to hold authority, command, 
 govern. Mid.Lat. mandarm, junsdiction, 
 dominion. — Carp. 
 
 Mandible. Lat. mandibiilmnj mando, 
 to chew, eat. 
 
 Mandrake. Lat. mandragora, a plant 
 supposed to be used in magical incant- 
 ations. In Fr. still more strangely cor- 
 rupted, through maiideglaire (Palsgr.), 
 into main de gloire. 
 
 Mane. on. in'on^ w. inwng. 
 
 Mange. An itching affection of the 
 skin in dogs. Fr. demanger^ to itch, from 
 jnajtger, to gnaw, to eat, as Sp. comer, to 
 itch, from cotnedere, to eat. — Diez. 
 
 Manger. Fr. jnangeoire, an eating 
 place, from manger, Lat. niandiicare, to 
 eat, originally to chew. — See Munch. 
 
 Mangle. It. 77iangano, a tent-post, 
 mill-post, upright of a crane, press for 
 linen ; manganella, a machine for casting 
 great weights, a crane, lever; Fr. ma7i- 
 gonneau, an engine whereout stones, old 
 iron, and great arrows, were violently 
 darted. — Cot. Mod.Gr. nayyavov, a ma- 
 chine to calender linen, a mangle, press ; 
 fiayyavoTrfjyaSov, a well winch or wheel, 
 instrument to draw water from a well. 
 G. mange, mangel, mandel, machine for 
 giving a gloss to linen, calender, mangle. 
 
 The word is commonly explained as a 
 corruption of Lat. machina, a machine, 
 or mechanical device. 
 
 Machinas jaculatorias quas mangana et pe- 
 trarias vocant. — Will. Tyrius in Due. Quomodo 
 id faciant, qua arte, quibus manganis, quibusve 
 instrumentis aut medicamentis. — Due. Henschel. 
 
 Mod.Gr. nayycivi'ia, machination, plot, de- 
 vice, imposture. 
 
 To Mangle. To disfigure. In Sc, 
 without the nasal, to magil, jnaigil. 
 Thare he beheld ane eruell maglU face. 
 
 D. V. i8i. 21. 
 Bot rede lele, and tak gud tent in tyme 
 Ye nouther magil nor mismeter my ryme. 
 Ibid. 484. 30. 
 Compare magil in the last quotation with 
 mangle in the following : 
 
 Tyndal shall have no cause to say that I deface 
 his gay goodly tale by mangling of his matter 
 and rehearsing him by patches and pieces. — Sir 
 T. More in R. 
 
 The origin is G. 7nackel, Du. maeckel, 
 Lat. macula, Sp. mancha, a stain, spot, 
 blemish ; Wall, macule, manctde, fault, 
 want ; It. macola, spot, blemish ; inacolo, 
 infection, loss, or prejudice ; whence ma~ 
 
 MANURE 
 
 407 
 
 colare, to dirty, infect, also to abuse, beat, 
 bang. — Altieri (percuotere altrui foite- 
 mente — Vanzoni), properly to maul or 
 disfigure him by blows. Mid.Lat. macu- 
 lare, vulnerando deformare. ' Si labium 
 superius alicujus ita maculaverit ut dentes 
 appareant.' — Leg. Alam. in Due. 
 
 Cat. magular, Sp. magullar, to bruise, 
 mangle, contuse. — Neum. Again, with 
 the nasal intonation, Bav. mangel, a fault, 
 defect, bodily injury, complaint, blame j 
 einen mengeln, eijien matigel bringen, 
 Mid.Lat. maiigulare, to do one an injury. 
 
 Johannes B. praedictum Bernardum — de prae- 
 dicto eultello percussit, quod videns prasdictus 
 Bernardus qui per prsedictum Johannem man- 
 gulatus erat.— Litt. remiss. A.D. 1361 in Carp. 
 
 Piedm. mangojS, to mangle, spoil by 
 rough usage. 
 
 E. 7naul, to disfigure by ill-treatment, 
 is an expression of precisely the same 
 meaning, from G. mahl, Sc. mail, E. mole, 
 a spot ; Sc. mail, to discolour, stain. 
 Indeed, it is probable that mahl and 
 mackel may spring from different modifi- 
 cations of the same root. 
 
 Maniac. Gr. yiavia, madness ; it.aivo-' 
 l^ai, to be mad. 
 
 Manifest. Lat. manifestus, evident, 
 open to observation, that may be laid 
 hold of by hand. Scelus manifestum ac 
 deprehensum. — Cic. The signification of 
 -festus in the word is clear enough, al- 
 though its origin is not explained satis- 
 factorily. 
 
 Manipulate. Lat. tnanipulus, a hand- 
 ful, bundle, company. 
 
 Manner. It. ma7tiero,irom.ntanarius, 
 for manuarius, manageable, that may be 
 handled ; maniera, Fr. maniere, the 
 handling of a thing, way of dealing with 
 it, course of proceeding. — Diez. 
 
 Manor. Mid.Lat. mansus, mansum,2u 
 residence, from manere, to remain, to 
 dwell; 'in cujus pago nianetJ — Leg. 
 Salic. Prov. maner, OFr. manoir, dwell- 
 ing-place, mansion, the dwelling-place of 
 the lord of a feudal estate, hence the 
 estate itself. — Diez. 
 
 Manse. — Mansion. Lat. maneo^ 
 mansum, to abide, wait, remain or con- 
 tinue. 
 
 Mantle. It. manto, ammanto, a cloak; 
 Fr. mante, a covering ; manteau, Lat. 
 manteliwi, mantellum, a cloak. 
 
 Manu-. — Manual. Lat. manus, the 
 hand, manualis, of or belonging to the 
 hand. 
 
 Manure. — Manoeuvre. Fr. manou- 
 vrer (manu operare), to hold, occupy, 
 
4o8 
 
 MANY 
 
 possess. — Cot. Hence OE. manure^ to 
 occupy or cultivate land, in modern times 
 confined to the single operation of laying 
 on dung or substances adapted to give 
 fertility. 
 
 The first manured ^M astern ile 
 
 By Cham and Japhet's race. 
 
 Warner, Albion's Engl. 
 
 * The commonwealth or policie of England 
 —is governed, administered, and manured 
 by three sorts of persons.' — Smith, Com- 
 monwealth in R. 
 
 Fr. fnanouvrier, an artificer, handi- 
 craftsman. — Cot. * Ut illi coloni — non 
 denegent cat-ropera et matiopera ex anti- 
 qua consuetudine,' car work and hand 
 work. — Edict. Car. Calv. 
 
 Many. Goth, manags, much, jnanagei, 
 a multitude ; G. mancher^ Fr. maint, 
 many ; Russ. innogii, Boh. ?miohy, lUyr. 
 mlogi, much, numerous ; in the last of 
 which we have perhaps the explanations 
 of Lat. multus. Fin. moniy Esthon. 
 7non?n, Lap. inddde, many. 
 
 Map. Lat. mappa, a table-cloth ; 
 fjiappa-mnndi, a delineation of the earth 
 on a cloth. ' Map a, togilla (a towel) ; 
 7napa etiam dicitur pictura vel forma 
 ludorum, unde dicitur Mapa mundi.' — 
 Papias. ' Considerantes quod ipsa pic- 
 torum varietas mendaces efficit de loco- 
 rum varietate picturas, quas Mappam 
 mundi vulgus nominat.' — Gervase of Til- 
 bury in Due. 
 
 To Mar. The usual sense of defacing 
 or spoiling may probably be derived from 
 the figure of a person wrying his mouth, 
 making ugly faces, os distorquens, de- 
 pravans, deturpans. 
 The knave cronimeth his croppe er the cock 
 
 crowe, 
 He momeleth ant moccheth ant marreth his 
 7110 uth. — Political Songs, Cam. Soc. 
 
 Now it is shown under Mock and Mould 
 that the terms signifying wilful distortion 
 of the face are commonly taken from the 
 muttering or grumbling sounds of a per- 
 son or animal in a bad temper. We may 
 accordingly derive the marring of the 
 mouth from Swab, inarren, to growl 
 angrily, as dogs or cats, to quarrel in 
 loud and angry tones. Hence also may 
 be explained Prov. and Fr. marrir^ to 
 complain. ' Laquelle servante trouva que 
 il lui defailloit une dariole — et pour ce que 
 elle en faisoit noise et grant marison (she 
 made outcry and great lamentation), lediz 
 M. son frere oyant ces paroles et grans 
 marremens, &c.' — Litt Remiss., a.d. 1385, 
 in Carp. Marri, angry, fretting, discon- 
 tented, vexed at, aggrieved, afflicted, 
 
 MARAUDER 
 
 sorry, sad. — Cot. The term is then ap- 
 plied to what produces lamentation, viz. 
 ill-usage, affliction, trouble. ' Guillaume 
 H. dist k I'exposant moult arrogamment, 
 Garson, t'en faut-il parler ? et se plus en 
 parloit quHl le marriroit^ that if he said 
 any more of it he would give him some- 
 thing to complain of. — Litt. Remiss., A.D. 
 1390, in Carp. 
 
 The E. mar is often used in the same 
 sense. 
 
 For if thou knew him, out of doute 
 Lightly thou shouldest scapen out 
 Of thy prison that marreth thee. 
 
 Chaucer, R. R. 
 
 The signification then passes on to the 
 idea of disturbance, hindrance, delay, de- 
 feat of a purpose, misleading, bringing to 
 nothing. ' Et ipse pacifico animo donat 
 jlli commeatum, tantum ut ipsi et in suo 
 regno vel suis fidelibus aliquod damnum 
 aut aliquam ma?'ritionem non faciat,' pro- 
 vided that he should do no damage or 
 mischief, should give no cause of com- 
 plaint to him or his subjects. — Cap. Car. 
 Calv. in Due. ' Post obitum meum 
 absque ulla marritione ad dictum monas- 
 terium firmiter pertineant,' without any 
 disturbance. — Goldast. ibid. ' Absque 
 ulla marritioite vel dilatione reddere fa- 
 ciant,' should pay without dispute or de- 
 lay. — Cap. Car. Mag. in Due. ' Et nemo 
 per ingenium suum vel astutiam praescrip- 
 tam legem — marrire audeat vel praeva- 
 leat,' should obstruct or make the law of 
 none effect. — Ibid. ' Ut nullus bannum 
 vel prasceptum Domni Imperatoris — in 
 nullo marrire prassumat, neque opus ejus 
 stricare vel minuere vel impedire — et ut 
 nemo debitum suum vel censum suum 
 inarrire ausus sit,' make difficulties about. 
 — Ibid. OHG. marrj'an, gamarrjan, to 
 hinder, make void. Bz7Hartez, irritum 
 fecistis (mandatum) ; farmarrit^ irritum, 
 sine effectu ; marrisal, laesio, impedimen- 
 tum ; mer7'iseli dera zimgon, impediment 
 of speech. — Graff. Du. merren, to ob- 
 struct, delay, entangle ; merren-lacken, 
 lime twigs for entangling birds. 
 
 The sense of going astray, losing the 
 way, is derived from the troubled state of 
 one confounded with affliction. OFr. 
 esjjiarri, afflicted, overwhelmed, troubled, 
 astonished. — Roquef. It. marrire, to go 
 out of one's wits through fear or amaze- 
 ment, to miscarry as letters do, to stray. 
 — Fl. OFr. marrir chefnin, to lose the 
 way ; Lang, mari, strayed, lost. AS. 
 7nearrian, to go astray. 
 
 Marauder. Fr. maraud, a rogue, 
 beggar, vagabond, knave •, marauder to 
 
MARBLE 
 
 beg, play the rogue — Cot. ; marauder^ 
 marauder^ chercher k escroquer, chercher 
 de quoi vivre ; marandaille, troop of 
 beggars. — Roquef. 
 
 Perhaps the latter mode of spelling 
 may indicate the true origin, from It. tne- 
 renda, OFr. marande, a luncheon ; one 
 who goes about looking for prog. Wa- 
 lach. merende, provisions for the way ; 
 merendare, a knapsack. 
 
 Marble. Lat. marinor, Fr. marbre, 
 Du. inarmer^ marble ; marmelen^ to mar- 
 ble or colour so as to resemble m. ; inar- 
 inel (Wall, inarbeut)^ a marble, or little 
 ball of marbled clay. — Halma. 
 
 March. Fr. marcher, to tread, step, 
 pace, walk, to proceed. It. marciare, to 
 march. When the important part of an 
 army consisted of horsemen the most 
 obvious way of expressing the movement 
 of troops would be by a term equivalent 
 to OFr. chevaucher (from cheval), to ride 
 on horseback. Thus we should identify 
 marcher with Manx viarkee, to ride, from 
 Bret, mardh, a horse. But Diez asserts 
 that the word is not an old one (a point 
 on which it is mostly difficult to speak 
 with confidence), and therefore cannot 
 come from a Celtic source, and he quotes 
 from Rutebauf the expression 'aller de 
 inarche en niarche^ to wander from bound- 
 ary to boundary, as suggesting a probable 
 origin of the word. 
 
 Marches. The borders of a country. 
 Fr. inarche, boundary. AS. mearc, a 
 mark, sign, boundary, limit. Goth. 
 marka, border ; gamarko, confines. • 
 
 Mare. i. w. march, OHG. marah, 
 marh, AS. mearh, ON. inarr, a horse ; 
 OHG. meriha, merha, AS. mcere, 7ityre, Du. 
 merrie, Pl.D. mare, a mare. 
 
 2. Nightmare. ON. mara. Da. mare, 
 marerid, G. mahr, Pl.D. maar, moor, Du. 
 nagt-mei'rie, Fr. godemare, cauchemar, 
 the nightmare. ON, Jitara trad haim, the 
 nightmare oppressed him. Moru-eldr 
 (ghost fire), Will-o'-the-wisp. Pol. mara, 
 vision, dream, nightmare. Wyglq.da jak 
 mara, he looks like a ghost. Albanian 
 morea. Boh. mura, incubus ; itmry, 
 ghosts, lemtires nocturni. 
 
 Margin. Lat. inargo, -inis, a brink or 
 brim. 
 
 Marigold. Du. goud, gold ; goud- 
 bloeine, yellow marigold ; goud-wortel, 
 chelidonium majus, a plant with deep 
 yellow juice. Fr. goude, w. gold, gold- 
 mair, Gael, lus Mairi (Mary's plant), 
 marigold. 
 
 Marine. — Maritime. Lat. mare, Goth. 
 marei, ON. marr, w. mor, the sea. 
 
 MARMELADE 
 
 409 
 
 Mark. i. as. mearc, a mark, sign, 
 boundary ; ON. merkia, to mark, perceive, 
 signify. 
 
 The radical image is perhaps shown in 
 Lith. merkti, to wink, to give a sign ; 
 merkimas, a wink ; akis mirksnis^ the 
 twinkling of an eye. 
 
 2. Half a pound, or eight oz. of silver. 
 The word in this sense is equivalent to a 
 measure or a certain amount marked off. 
 ON. fnork, a measure of different kinds ; 
 eight oz. of silver, 48 ells of cloth ; half a 
 pot of liquids. The same connection 
 holds between Sw. 7ndl, a mark, and mdl, 
 a measure. So also a nail, an eighth of 
 a yard, from the nails by which they are 
 marked in a yard measure. 
 
 Market. — Merchant. Lat. mercari^ 
 to traffic ; mercatns, trade, market ; ON. 
 markadr, market. 
 
 To Marl.— Marline.— To Moor. To 
 marl, to ravel as silk. — Hal. Marlyd .or 
 snarlyd, illaqueatus, innodatus.— Pr. Pm. 
 The use of inar in the sense of trouble, 
 disturb, hinder, has been already explain- 
 ed. The signification then passes on to 
 the idea of delaying, entangling, binding. 
 Du. marren-vlichte, entangled locks, ca- 
 pilli pedibus pullorum gallinaceorum 
 involuti, quibus pullorum gressus impe- 
 diri solet. — Kil. Marren-tacken, mistle- 
 toe, from whence lime is made to entangle 
 birds. AlafTcn, meeren, to delay ; mar- 
 ren, maren, to bind. — Kil. OSax. mer- 
 rian, Fris. meria, to hinder, to delay ; 
 mere, bands, fetters. — Richthofen. Du. 
 marren, or meeren, is especially used in 
 nautical language in the sense of Fr. 
 amarrer, or E. moor, to bind the ship to 
 the shore ; meertouiv, a cable. In a 
 somewhat different application Du. mar- 
 len (for marreleii), to marl, or fasten the 
 sail to the bolt-rope, whence meerling, 
 maj'lyn, Fr. inerlin, E. marline, line of 
 untwisted hemp tarred used in that oper- 
 ation. Fr. amarrer also is used not only 
 in the sense of mooring, but of marling ; 
 amarrer, renforcer les manoeuvres d'un 
 vaisseau ; tnarl-reep, cordes de merlin 
 pour amarrer les voiles aux vergues. — 
 Diet, du P. Marin. 
 
 Marl. From Du. tnargh, marrow, is 
 formed marghelen, to fatten land, to make 
 it more productive, to which effect it was 
 formerly common to spread over it a cal- 
 careous earth, thence called marghel^ 
 marl, terra adeps sive medulla. — Kil. 
 
 Marmelade. A confection, originally 
 of quinces ; Ptg. marmelada, from mar- 
 melo, a quince, and that from Mid. Lat. 
 malomellum, melimelum, Gr. neXifitjXov 
 
4IO 
 
 MARMOSET 
 
 (/isXi, honey, fiijXov, apple), a sweet apple. 
 
 Marmoset, A monkey, from his chat- 
 tering cry. Bret, viarmouz^ Fr. mannot, 
 marmoset, a monkey ; marmotter, to 
 mutter. Sp. marmotear, to jabber. 
 
 Marmot. It. viarmotta^ jnarmontana, 
 OHG. viuremimti, murmenti, Swiss tnur- 
 inet, murmentU. Diez approves of the 
 derivation from 7mis inontanus, but the 
 G. murmel-thier doubtless points out the 
 true derivation in Fr. marmotter, to mut- 
 ter. — Adelung. Another Swiss name of 
 the marmot is mungg, munk, from rnung- 
 gen, munkeii, to mutter. 
 
 Maroon, i. A negro escaped to the 
 woods. Sp. sintaron, Ptg. cimar?'ao (in 
 America and the W. Indies), of men or 
 animals that have taken to the woods and 
 run wild. Perhaps from sima, a cave, as 
 taking refuge in caves. The fugitive ne- 
 groes are mentioned under the name of 
 Symarons in Hawkins' Voyage, § 68, 
 where they are said to be settled near 
 Panama. 
 
 I was in the Spanish service some twenty years 
 ago in the interior of Cuba, and tiegro chiiarrdn, 
 or briefly cirnarrdn, was then an every-day plirase 
 for fugitive or outlawed negroes hidden in the 
 woods and mountains. — N. & Q. Jan. 27. 1866. 
 
 2. The colour of a chestnut, Fr. mar- 
 ron. 
 
 Marque — Letters of. Mid.Lat. mar- 
 cha, Fr. marque, is commonly explained 
 as an authority given by a prince to any 
 of his subjects, who have been wronged 
 by those of a neighbouring sovereign, and 
 have not been able to obtain justice at 
 his hands, to pass the marches or bound- 
 aries of his states and do themselves right 
 upon any of his subjects or their property. 
 But probably this is not the exact mode 
 in which the expression is connected with 
 the notion of marches or borders. Marca 
 or marchatio seems to have been an ellip- 
 tical expression for a borderer's quarrel, 
 in which sense the latter term is used in 
 a letter of James of Aragon to Philip le 
 Bel, A.D. 1 3 10. 'Cupientes attamen, ut 
 semper fecimus, evitare pro posse, ne 
 inter nostros et vestros subditos, marcha- 
 tiones quae scandali ac dissentionis pos- 
 sent materiam suscitare, aliquatenus ori- 
 rentur.' — Carp. By a similar ellipse mar- 
 care seems to be taken for the right of 
 pasturing in a conterminous forest. ' Scien- 
 dum quod in nemore de Lantagio non 
 poterunt dicti fratres marcare.' — Carp. 
 Marchagium or droit de marchage in 
 Auvergne was the right of pasturage in 
 the opposite marches. Marcare or mar- 
 chiare then may easily have come to sig- 
 
 MARSHAL 
 
 nify to exercise border right, to do oneself 
 right in a border-quarrel by seizing the 
 property or the persons of countrymen 
 of the wrong-doer- * Lesquels habitans 
 n'ayant voulu tenir et payer ledit accord, 
 le prestre s'en retourna aux Anglois et fit 
 par iceulx Anglois marqiier, piller et 
 prendre prisonniers les bonnes gens de 
 laditte paroisse.' — Litt. Remiss. A.D. 1389 
 in Carp. ' Bernardus nobis supplicavit 
 ut nos sibi licentiam marcandi homines 
 et subditos de regno Portugalliae et bona 
 eorum per terram et marem ubicunque 
 eos et bona eorum invenire possit con- 
 cederemus, quousque de sibi ablatis in- 
 tegram habuisset restitutionem.' — Lit. Ed. 
 iii. A.D. 1295, in Rymer ii. 69. 
 
 The authority for exercising this right 
 of reprisal was called letters of Marque, 
 sometimes corruptly written Mart, as if 
 giving a market for the disposal of prizes 
 taken from the enemy. 
 
 There was a fish taken, 
 A monstrous fish with a sword by his side — 
 And letters of mart in's mouth from the Duke of 
 Florence. — B. and F., Wife for a Month. 
 
 Marquess. — Marchioness. Fr. mar- 
 quis, It. marchese, G. ma^^kgraf, origin- 
 ally, count of the marches or border terri- 
 tories. 
 
 Marram. The bents and grass that 
 grow in the sea-sand and bind it together. 
 N. maralm, for mar-halm, ON. mar-halmr, 
 sea-grass, zostera, &c. Halmr, straw, 
 haulm. 
 
 Marrow, i. ON. mergr, Dan. marg, 
 mam, Du. margh, mergh, G. mark. Per- 
 haps from its tender friable structure. E. 
 dial, merowe, delicate ; AS. meant, merwe, 
 Pl.D. moer, Du. murw, Fr. mur, tender, 
 soft, delicate ; ON. m'or, fat, lard, tallow ; 
 fueria, mardi, to bruise, pound ; N. maren, 
 decayed ; tnarna, to decay. 
 
 2. A mate, companion, fellow ; a rogue. 
 — B. 
 
 Marry. Properly of women, to join to 
 a husband, Fr. mart, Lat. marittts. 
 
 Marry I ' Marfy [oath], per Mariam.' 
 Coles. 
 
 Marsh. Fr. mare, a pool, pond, stand- 
 ing water ; marais, OE. mareis, a marsh ; 
 Du. maerasch, moerasch, marsh ; It. ma- 
 rese, ma?-esco, any moorish or fenny place ; 
 maroso, fenny, full of bogs, puddles, 
 plashes, or rotten waters. Omnis con- 
 gregatio aquarum, sive salsae sint, sive 
 dulces, abusive maria nuncupantur. — 
 Isidore in Diez. E. i7iere, a piece of 
 water. See Moor, 2. 
 
 Marshal. Mid.Lat. marescalcus, the 
 master of the horse, from OG. indhre, a 
 
MARSUPIAL 
 
 horse, and schalk, a servant, a word 
 which in later times has, hke its synonym 
 knave, come to be used in an opprobrious 
 sense. Remains of the ancient significa- 
 tion are preserved in Fr. marechal, a 
 blacksmith, shoer of horses. 
 
 The marshal was the officer under 
 whose cognizance fell everything pertain- 
 ing to the use of arms, the regulation of 
 tournaments, &c. Hence to marshal, to 
 place in order. See Constable. 
 
 Marsupial. Gr. [lapainriov, a small 
 bag. 
 
 Mart. Contracted frorn market. Swiss 
 marcht, mart, market ; marten, to traffic. 
 
 Martial. Lat. Mars, the god of war, 
 war itself. 
 
 Martin. — Martlet. Several kinds of 
 bird are named after St Martin. Fr. 
 viartin-pecheur, a kingfisher ; oiseau de 
 St Martin, the ringtail, a kind of hawk ; 
 martinet, Piedm. martlet, a swift (Lat. 
 apus), a bird with very small feet, whence 
 martlet, in heraldry, a bird represented 
 without feet. E. martin is applied to the 
 swallowkind in general. The same con- 
 version of n to /, as in martlet, is seen in 
 Martlemas for Martinmas, the feast of 
 St Martin. 
 
 Martyr. Gr. [xdprvp, a witness. 
 
 Marvel. Fr. merveille. It. maraviglia, 
 from Lat. mirabilia, wonderful things. — 
 Diez. 
 
 Masculine. Lat. masculinus j mas, 
 a male. 
 
 To Mash. Lat. masticare, Sp., Ptg. 
 masticar, mascar, Prov. mastegar, masch- 
 ar, machar, Fr. mascher, mdcher, to chew ; 
 Lim. ?«^/j«, to pound, crush, bruise, mince ; 
 Wall, machi, mahi, to mix ; Walach. 7nes- 
 tecd, to chew, to mix; Lang, maca, 
 macJmga, to bruise, to chew ; Swab. 7not- 
 zen, to dabble in water; Bav. mdrtschen, 
 mdtschen, to quash, mash (potatoes, fruit, 
 &c.) ; maischen, G. meischeu, to stir the 
 malt in hot water; Bav. maisch-botig, 
 mash-tub ; Sw. mdska, to mash for beer ; 
 Gael, measg, to mix, stir; masg, to mix, 
 infuse, steep, as malt or tea; Sc. to mask 
 the tea. Lat. miscere. It. mesciare, mes- 
 cere, to mix, mesh. — Fl. Fr. macquer, to 
 bruise hemp, break up the stalk ; It. mac- 
 care, smaccare, to bruise, squeeze, mash ; 
 Prov. maca?', machar, to bruise, batter, 
 shatter. 
 
 Mask. The origin of a mask seems to 
 be the nurse covering her face, as in the 
 game of bo-peep, to frighten the infant. 
 The hidden object of terror behind the 
 mask or screen gives rise to the notion of 
 a ghost or bugbear, and hence it is that 
 
 MASK 
 
 411 
 
 mask and ghost are so frequently desig- 
 nated by the same word. Lat. larva, a 
 mask, also a ghost or noxious spirit ; G. 
 miimme, a mask, mtmunel, a bugbear; 
 Bav. butz, a mask, a bugbear ; ON. grima, 
 a mask, AS, grima, a witch, or female 
 exercising supernatural powers of evil 
 analogous to those attributed to ghosts. 
 In the same way the word mask was used 
 to signify a hideous covering for the face, 
 and also a ghost or witch. Ugutio in the 
 1 2th century explains mascha, simula- 
 crum quod terret, quod vulgo dicitur 
 mascarel, quod opponitur faciei ad ter- 
 rendos parvos. Gervase of Tilbury gives 
 the name to a bugbear or object of nightly 
 terror. ' Lamias, quas vulgo mascas, aut 
 in Gallici lingua strias, physici dicunt 
 nocturnas esse imagines quae ex grossitie 
 humorum animas dormientium perturbant 
 et pondus faciunt' — Due. In the Lom- 
 bard laws Lat. striga, a witch, is ex- 
 plained by the word masca, and at the 
 present day we have Lang, masc, a sor- 
 cerer ; masco, a witch, a hag ; Piedm. 
 masche, ghosts ; masca, a witch j mas- 
 caria, incantations, magic. With the 
 latter term must be classed OHG. mas- 
 criinc, fascinatio. — Schm. Piedm. mas- 
 cra, Sp. mascara. It. maschera, a mask. 
 
 The syllable masc in the foregoing 
 forms is probably identical with the root 
 of Gr. iSaTKaivb), Lat. fascino, to bewitch, 
 and possibly with Arab, maskh, changing 
 into a deformed shape, especially men 
 into animals (Catafogo), a most dreaded 
 exercise of the sorcerer's power as well in 
 the East as in Greece and Rome. If 
 we look for the origin of so deeply-rooted 
 a form we may suspect that it took its 
 rise in the simplest way of making an 
 object of terror, by daubmg the face with 
 soot. Du. maeschen, maschelen, masch' 
 eren, to smut, stain, daub ; Lang. 7nas- 
 cara, Fr. machnrer, Swiss Rom. matzura^ 
 matschera, to smut or daub with soot. 
 Walach. maskara, disgrace (blot), igno- 
 miny. Pol. mazgac, to daub, soil ; mas- 
 zkara, hideous face, monster, scarecrow. 
 
 The same connection is seen between 
 E. grifne, to blacken or dirty, Sw. dial. 
 grima, a spot of soot on the face, and 
 ON. grima, a mask, Cleveland grim, a 
 death's-head on a gravestone, church- 
 grijn, Sw. kirkjugrim, a church ghost. 
 AS. grima, a witch. 
 
 The use of masks in festive entertain- 
 ments seems to have led to some inter- 
 change on the shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean between the foregoing maschera, 
 mascara, and Arab, maskhara (from sak- 
 
412 
 
 MA5LIN 
 
 hira^ to deride, make a jest of), jest, 
 sport, also a jester, buffoon, story-teller ; 
 tamaskhara^ to laugh at, to jest, also to 
 mask oneself, whence motamaskhir, a 
 mask or masked person ; maskhara^ a 
 mask. — Dozy, Mahn. Mod.Gr. /uatrifapac, 
 Slovak fnasskara, a jester. Bosniac mask- 
 ara^ a jest, laughable matter. 
 
 Maslin. — Mastlin. A mixture of differ- 
 ent kinds, as wheat and rye ; brass, as 
 composed of copper and zinc. The im- 
 mediate origin is OFr. mestillon (still in 
 use in Champagne), other forms of 
 which are mesteil, and the modern mdteil, 
 messling or masslin, wheat and rye 
 mingled.— Cot. From It. mescolare^ to 
 mix, with the change (very common in 
 It.) oi sc into st. 
 
 Mason. Fr. niaqon^ Prov. masso, OHG, 
 ineiso, tnezo, steinmeso, G. steininetz^ Mid. 
 Lat. matio^ ?nachio, mason. From OHG. 
 vieizati, Goth, maitan^ to cut, whence 
 mezaras^ mezzisahs (g. messer), a knife ; 
 meizil (G. meissel, a chisel), steinmezil, a 
 stone-cutter. 
 
 Mass. I. Fr. messe, It. messa, Sp. 
 misa, the sacrifice of the mass, or Catho- 
 lic celebration of the Lord's Supper. The 
 derivation from It. messa, Fr. mes, a 
 course or service of dishes at table, Sp. 
 7ftgsa, table, fare, entertainment, would 
 correspond more to the Protestant than 
 the Catholic feeling of the service. 
 
 The origin of the word seems certainly 
 Lat. inissa for jnissio, dismission, as re- 
 missa for remlssio, confessa for co7tfessio, 
 and other similar instances cited by Du- 
 cange. * Is qui — priusquam psalmus 
 cseptus finiatur ad orationem non occur- 
 reritjUlterius oratorium introire non audet, 
 nee semetipsum admiscere psallentibus, 
 sed congregation is missam stans pro fori- 
 bus praestolatur, &c.' — Cassianus in Due. 
 Hence the words at the end of the service, 
 lie 7nissa est, you are discharged. ' In 
 ecclesiis, palatiisque sive prastoriis, missa 
 fieri pronuntiatur cum populus ab observ- 
 atione dimittitur.' — Avitus Viennensis, 
 ibid. The reason why this name was 
 specially given to the sacrifice of the mass 
 was that that service commenced with 
 the dismission of the catechumens after 
 so much of the service as they were al- 
 lowed to attend. ' Missa tempore sacri- 
 ficii est quando catecumini foras mittun- 
 tur, clamante Levita (the deacon), Si quis 
 catecuminus remansit exeat foras ; et 
 inde Missa, quia sacramentis altaris in- 
 teresse non possunt quia nondum regene- 
 rati sunt.' — Papias. The part of the 
 service at which the catechumens were 
 
 MASSACRE 
 
 allowed to remain was called the viissa 
 catecume7iorutn, while the 7ms sa Jideliu77t 
 included the main part of the service in 
 which the sacrifice of the Mass was cele- 
 brated. 
 
 2. Lat. 77iassa (properly dough), a lump, 
 mass ; Gr. /iao-o-o;, to knead ; Mod.Gr. 
 fidaaii), naoiKttt, fiaaovXi^u), to chew, eat, 
 mumble ; Lith. 77iaiszyti, to mix, stir, 
 work dough. See Mash. 
 
 Massacre. Commonly derived from 
 OFr. 77iacelier, Tnaceclier, t7iacec7'ier, a 
 butcher (Lat. 77tacellus, meat-market, 77ia- 
 cellariics, meat-seller) ; to slaughter with 
 as little compunction as a butcher his 
 sheep, and this supposition would seem 
 to be corroborated by the form 77iassacler, 
 used by Monstrelet when speaking of the 
 massacre of the Duke of Orleans in 1407. 
 ' En outre Ik le retourn^rent et si tr^s ter- 
 riblement le 77iaschaclere7it qu'il fut pre- 
 sentement mort tr^s piteusement.' 
 
 And if Fr. 77iassac7'er were only used in 
 the sense of the E. word there would be 
 little doubt in the case. But 77iassacrer 
 is also applied in the sense of bungle, 
 make bad work, and it seems pretty cer- 
 tain that this signification is taken from 
 the figure of mumbling, inefficient chew- 
 ing. Thus we have Venet. i7tastegare, to 
 chew ; 77iastegare le pa7'ole, to mumble in 
 speaking ; 77tastegare, also, to hack, hag- 
 gle, cut with a blunt instrument ; 77taste- 
 gare U7i lavoro, as Fr. 77iassacrer une be- 
 sogne, to bungle or spoil a piece of work. 
 So It. biasciare, to mumble, biasciare uti 
 lavoro, to bungle. 
 
 Again, with more or less corruption, 
 Lang. 77tastriga, to chew ; Piedm. 77ias- 
 troje, to mumble, chew with toothless 
 gums, also (like the equivalent Lang. 
 77tast7'oulia, as well as Castrais 77iastega, 
 77iasti7iga, Milan. 77iasti7ia, Prov. 77iast7'i- 
 7tar, 77iastrig7iar, Milan. 77tastrug7tar) to 
 fumble, spoil by handling, crumple. In 
 another series of forms the / of the root 
 Tnasticare is exchanged for a c. Lat. 77iax- 
 ilia, It. 77iascilla, the jaw ; Cat. 77iaxi7ia, 
 the tooth of an animal, Sp. 77iascar, OFr. 
 77iascher, Castr. 77iaxa (which must not be 
 supposed to be contracted from 77iasti- 
 care), to chew ; Castr. 77iaxega, Fr. nia- 
 cho7i7ier, to mumble, Milan. 77ia7ischiug7id^ 
 to fumble, Lang. 77tascag7ia, to hack or 
 disfigure meat in carving, whence It. 
 scaTiTiare, to massacre, murder. Now 
 the same insertion of the r which we have 
 seen in Venet. 77iastega7; Lang. 772astriga, 
 to chew ; Milan. 77iastviar, Prov. 77iastri- 
 7iar, to mumble, fumble, would convert 
 Castr. 7)iaxega (pronounced 7/iaschega) 
 
MAST 
 
 into maxegra, Fr. maschacrer, maschacler, 
 the primitive meaning of which when 
 used in the sense of slaughter would thus, 
 like that of Lang, mascagna, be to hack 
 or disfigure with wounds, a sense which 
 it plainly bears in the quotation from 
 Monstrelet. 
 
 Mast. I. ON. mastr, G. mast^ It. 
 masto^ mastrOj Fr. tndij the mast of a 
 ship. 
 
 2. The fruit of oaks or beeches used for 
 fattening hogs. Du. mesten, to feed, 
 fatten, stuff ; mest-dier, a fed beast ; 
 77test-voeder, fattening food ; G. fnast, the 
 fattening of animals, the season or food 
 for fattening ; mdsten, to fatten. 
 
 Possibly ?nast may be a modification 
 of the root pasc in Lat. pascor, to feed, 
 pastus, food ; vescor, to eat. w. pasg, 
 feeding, fattening ; Pasg dwrch^ a mast- 
 hog or fatted hog ; bod y ft mhasg, to be 
 in feeding, to be fed in a stall. 
 
 Master. Lat. magister^ It. ??taestro, 
 mastro, Fr. inaistre, maitre. 
 
 Mastic. Sp. almastiga, Arab, mas- 
 taka, Gr. ftaarixii, mastic, from naanxcn^, 
 to chew, from the habit of chewing mas- 
 tic— F. Newman. 
 
 Masticate. Lat. masticare. See 
 Massacre. 
 
 Mastiff. The Fr. must once have had 
 the form inastif, from whence the E. name 
 is taken, as well as the old ?nasty, which 
 is our usual way of rendering the Fr. ad- 
 jectival termination if, as va jolly from the 
 old Jo lif; resty from restif. ' If a mas tie 
 had bit me or an asse given me a blow.' 
 • — Primaudaye, Fr. Acad, by T. B. C. 
 1589. A viasty dog — Hobson's Jests; 
 masty cur — Du. Bartas in Hal, Fr. 
 matin, It. mastino, are formed with a dif- 
 ferent termination. The meaning seems 
 to be a large dog. Venet. juastino, large- 
 limbed, solid, strong ; E. dial, masty, very 
 large and big, doubtless from G. masten 
 {to masty n beestys — Pr. Pm,), to fatten. 
 Swiss mastig, fat, obese. — Schmidt. Idiot. 
 Bern, in D. Mundart. Mestyf, hogge or 
 swyne (mast-hog), majalis. Mestyf, 
 hownde, Spartanus. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Mat. Lat. matta (in plaustro scirpea 
 matta fuit — Ov.), Pol. mata, Fr. tiatte, G. 
 matte. Properly, a bunch or tuft of rushes 
 or the like. Sp. mata, a bush, thicket, 
 lock of matted hair ; Pol. mot, motek, a 
 skein ; motac', to embroil, entangle ; It. 
 matassa, a skein of yarn, a lock of hair or 
 wool ; Fr. uiotte, g. lump, clod ; mattes, 
 curds ; mattele, clotted, curdled, knotty ; 
 del mQ-tton^, a curdled sky, covered with 
 fleecy clouds ; Wall, tnaton, clot of milk, 
 
 MATE 
 
 413 
 
 flower of the snowball tree, knot in wool 
 or cotton, tow. 
 
 Match. I. — Make. as. maca,gemaca, 
 gemcEcca, a companion, mate, match ; 
 macalic, fit, meet ; ON. maki, a spouse, 
 an equal ; N. makje, a mate, especially of 
 birds, one of a pair, as shoes, &c., the like 
 of anything. Probably one of the same 
 make or mould, n.e. make, or mack, 
 kind, sort ; vianmak, mankind. The 
 same corruption of the sound of the k as 
 in make, ?natch, is found in Fris. meitsen^ 
 meitsjefi, to make. 
 
 * 2. Fr. meiche, the wick or snuff of a 
 candle, match of a lamp, harquebuss, 
 &c. ; tent for a wound. — Cot. Also 
 meche de cheveux, a lock of hair. Ptg. 
 media, gunner's match, match to light a 
 candle, wick, tent. It. miccio, micco, 
 match, wick. From Gr. \iv^a, the snuff 
 or snivel of the nose, which in Mid. Lat. 
 myxa, tfiyxus, mixiis, acquired the sense 
 of the wick of a lamp or candle. ' Myxiim 
 ex stuppa amianthi.' — Due. Lang, mecha 
 (Grandg.), Castrais meco, mucus of the 
 nose, wick of a lamp or candle ; Lang. 
 mecheiro, beak of a lamp, part that sup- 
 ports the wick. The analogy between 
 the snuff of a candle and of the nose has 
 been widely felt. Comp. It. mocco, moc- 
 cio, snivel, snuff or end of a candle, tip of 
 the nose. Fr. moucher, to snuff a candle, 
 to blow one's nose. Piedm. modi, snuff 
 of candle, wick. In classic Gr. \iv%a was 
 applied to the nozzle of a lamp. From 
 the wick of a lamp the designation was 
 transferred to similar bundles of fibrous 
 matter, as a lock of hair, tent of a wound. 
 
 Mate. I. ON. mdti, asqualis, sodalis, 
 Du. maet, medmaet, maetken, comrade, 
 fellow, mate. We have at first little hesi- 
 tation in identifying the word with OHG. 
 gamazi, gimazzi, conviva, one who takes 
 food with one, from niaz, ON. matr, food, 
 as companion from panis, bread ; a deri- 
 vation which seems corroborated by N. 
 matlag, a company at table, convivial 
 party ; ON. mottmaictr, companion at 
 table. But the short a in ON. matr, meat, 
 compared with the accented d in mdti, 
 mate, leads us to connect the latter with 
 mdti, Du. maetr, OHG. mdza, measure ; 
 whence ^rt:;;zrt^/, asqualis, G. gerndss, con- 
 formable, suitable, meet. Thus maie and 
 7neet would be essentially identical, and 
 in effect E. help-mate and help-meet are 
 often confounded. In the sense of one of 
 a pair, however, mate is probably a cor- 
 ruption of the obsolete make. See Match. 
 
 The term mate, in the sense of com- 
 panion, fellow, is much used among sail- 
 
414 
 
 MATERIAL 
 
 ors in addressing each other, whence 
 probably the appHcation of Du. tnaete, 
 tnaetken (remex — Kil.), to a common 
 sailor, one of the crew, the origin of Fr. 
 viatelot (for viaterot)^ G. matrose, a sailor. 
 In our service fnafe is used in the sense of 
 assistant ; cook's mate, boatswain' s-mate. 
 
 2. Check-mate, at chess, from Pers. 
 schach mat, the king is dead. — Diez. 
 
 3. Downcast, subdued, faint 
 
 Him thoughte that his herte wolde all to breke 
 When he saw him so pitous and so mate, 
 That whilom weren of so gret estate. 
 
 Knight's Tale. 
 Which sory words her mighty hart did mate. 
 
 F.Q. 
 
 Fr. mat, faded, quelled, subdued ; Sp. 
 ■mate, unpolished, faded ; matar, to 
 quench, extinguish, kill, to slack lime ; 
 Du. mat, exhausted, broken with labour, 
 overcome ; G. matt, feeble, faint, insipid, 
 dull, flat. Ein mattes licht, a faint light. 
 Das bier schmeckt matt, tastes flat. Gael. 
 meat, feeble, soft, faint-hearted. Pol. 
 mat, pale in colour, dim. See Amate. 
 
 Material. — Matter. Lat. materies, 
 materia, stufl" of which anything is made. 
 
 Maternal. — Matrimony. — Matron. 
 Lat. mater, -tris, a mother ; matrona (re- 
 spectfully), a married woman, a wife. 
 Hence maternal, belonging to a mother ; 
 matrimony, motherhood, the marriage 
 state. 
 
 Mathematics. Gr. fiaQrjfxaTiKog; /tta- 
 Brifia, a study, system of teaching, from 
 fiavOavia, to learn. 
 
 Matins. Lat. matutinus, in the morn- 
 ing, early ; Fr. maiin, morning. 
 
 To Matriculate. To register a student 
 at the university. Lat. matrix, matriciila, 
 a list or catalogue ; matricula pauperum, 
 the list of poor receiving relief, whence 
 matricularius, Fr. marreglier, marguil- 
 lier, the person keeping such a list, over- 
 seer of the poor, or churchwarden. 
 
 Matter. In the sense of pus from a 
 sore it would seem to be an ellipse for 
 m'atiere purulente, an expression of the 
 same kind with matiere fecale, ordure, 
 excrement. ' On dit qu'une plaie jette de 
 la matiere quand elle suppure.' — Trevoux. 
 The ellipse is widely spread, Gr. vKt], 
 matter, substance, being used in Mod. 
 Gr. in the same sense of matter or pus ; 
 Sp. materia, Du. materie, pus. 
 
 A singular coincidence of sound is seen 
 in Fr. inaturer, to ripen, mature, also to 
 matter, to suppure ; maturation, sup- 
 puring, growing to a head^ resolving into 
 matter. — Cot. 
 
 Mattock. Lith. matikkas, inatikka, a 
 
 MAUNDY 
 
 grubbing-axe ; Serv. motika, a hoe ; Gael. 
 jnadog, a pick-axe. 
 
 Mattress. It. materazzo, Fr. mat eras, 
 matclas, Sp. almadraqiie, Arab, almd- 
 trah, a quilted cushion, mattress. — Diez. 
 But perhaps we need not seek a foreign 
 origin, and the meaning of the word may 
 be a collection of flocks ; Sp. mata, a 
 lock of matted hair ; It. fnatassa, a flock 
 of hair or wool ; W. mat, a mat, mattress. 
 
 Mature. Lat. inaturus, ripe, ready. 
 
 Maudlin. Given to crying, as the Mag- 
 dalene is commonly represented. Hence 
 crying or sentimentally drunk, half drunk. 
 
 Maugre. Fr. malgr^, in spite of, 
 against the will of ; mat, ill, and gre, will, 
 pleasure. See Agree. 
 
 To Maul. To disfigure by ill usage, 
 from ON. 7ndl, G. mciJtl, a mark, stain, 
 blot, in the same way that mangle is from 
 Lat. 7nacula, Wall, macule, mancule, a 
 spot, defect. To mawl in Lincolnsh. is 
 to dirty, to cover with dirt. Somersetsh. 
 maules, the measles. — Hal. See Mole. 
 
 Maulstick. A painter's stick. G. 
 ?nahle?i, to paint. 
 
 Maund. Fr. mande, manne, a maund, 
 open basket, pannier having handles ; 
 banfte, a hamper or great basket ; benne, 
 a basket, great sack for corn or coals, 
 bin. N Fris. mdujnn, a turf or wood chest. 
 Perhaps from. w. mawn, turf. 
 
 To Maunder. To mutter, grumble, 
 to wander in talking, to wander about 
 thoughtfully. — Hal. Bav. maudern, to 
 •murmur, mutter, be out of temper ; E. 
 dial, maundring, grumbling. Sc. manf, 
 maunt, to mutter, stutter ; Gael. ma?tn- 
 dach, 7nanntach, lisping, stuttering. 
 
 Maundy. The ceremony of washing 
 the feet of poor persons, performed in 
 imitation of our Lord at the institution of 
 the Last Supper, when after supper he 
 washed his disciples' feet, saying, ' Man- 
 datum novum do vobis, &c.' Hence the 
 office appointed to be read during the 
 ceremony was called mandatum, or in Fr. 
 majide'. Et post capitulum ab omni con- 
 ventu mandatutn p-auperum sicut in 
 Casna Domini peragitur. — Orderic. Vit. 
 in Due. Et per totius anni spatium 
 unaquaque die tribus peregrinis hospiti- 
 bus manus et pedes abluimus, panem 
 cum vino oflerimus. — Petrus Cluniacus. 
 ibid. This was what was understood by 
 the phrase mandatum triutn pauperum. 
 The mode of keeping the maundye is 
 succinctly described in the Life of St 
 Louis. En chascun juesdi assolu li rois 
 lavoit les piez k treize poures — et donoit 
 a chascun d'eus quarante deniers,etapres 
 
MAUSOLEUM 
 
 il les servoit en sa personne k table ; — et 
 auscuns de ses chapelains disoient Voffice 
 du mande endementieres que il lavoit les 
 piez as poures. — Roquef. 
 
 Here the monks their maundie make with sundrie 
 
 solemne rights 
 And signs of great humilitie — 
 Each one the other's feet doth wash. 
 
 Naogergus Popish Kingdom in Todd, 
 
 In England the memory of the Maundy 
 is kept up by the distribution of small 
 silver coins called maundy money by the 
 royal almoner on Holy or Maundy Thurs- 
 day. The writers of the time of the Re- 
 formation frequently gave the name of 
 maundye to the sacrament of the Last 
 Supper itself 
 
 Mausoleum. Gr. MawaoXaov, the fa- 
 mous tomb of King Mausolus. 
 
 Mauther. — Modder. A girl. 'You 
 talk like a foolish mauther.^ — B. Jonson. 
 Commonly contracted to mati'r. — Forby. 
 Aloder, servaunte or wenche. — Pr. Pm. 
 Probably one of those cases in which the 
 name of woman is taken from the womb, 
 or distinctive feature of a woman. G. 
 bdrtnutter, OHG. muater, Du. moeder, the 
 womb. The mother or womb, matrice. — 
 Sherwood. Chaucer uses moder for the 
 matrix of an astrolabe. Lith. jnotere, a 
 woman, a wife. 
 
 Compare Bav. fud, feminal, also a wo- 
 man ; fddel, a girl, a daughter. — Schm. 
 It. mozza, a girl, is also used in the other 
 sense. 
 
 Maw. Du. maag, G. magen, OHG. 
 mago, stomach ; Esthon. maggo, sto- 
 mach, also taste ; Fin. inako, stomach, 
 maku, taste. The stomach is the organ 
 to which the faculty of taste is subservient. 
 G. mogen, to stomach, to relish. Du. 
 moghe, appetite ; 7noghen eenighe spij'se, 
 to relish any food ; moghe lick eten, to eat 
 with appetite ; moghelicke spijse, appe- 
 tising food. — Kil. Esthon. maggus, Fin. 
 vtakia, sweet, well-tasting. 
 
 The origin may be the smacking of the 
 tongue and palate in the enjoyment of 
 food. Du. S7nakken, to make a noise in 
 eating. In Fris. macke, to kiss, the sound 
 of a smack is represented without an 
 initial s, as in the Finnish forms ynaiskia, 
 to smack the lips, maiskis, a smack with 
 the lips, kiss ; appetising morsel ; maisto, 
 taste. 
 
 Mawk.— Mawkish, on. madkr, Sw. 
 matk, mask, N. makk, a worm, grub ; 
 Yorksh. mawk, a maggot, a whim or 
 fancy. As white as a mawk. — Whitby 
 Gl. Hence mawkish, insipid, with the 
 
 MAYHEM 
 
 415 
 
 faint taste of things beginning to decay 
 and breed worms. 
 
 Mawmet. The hatred of Mahometan- 
 ism produced by the crusades made the 
 religion of the Saracens be regarded as 
 the type of idolatry, whence Fr. mahom- 
 met, an idol. — Roquef. ; mahumerie, idol- 
 atry, idolatrous temple. ' Ont parld en- 
 cuntre le autel de Bethel e encuntre les 
 mahtuneries de la contrde de Bethel.' — 
 Livre des Rois. The name of Mahomet 
 was better preserved in e. maiimetry , 
 idolatry ; mawmed, 7namet, mawment, an 
 idol, Mawment, ydolum, simulacrum. — 
 Pr, Pm. 
 
 A temple heo fonde faire y now, and a mawmed 
 
 amidde 
 That ofte tolde wonder gret, and what thing 
 
 men betidde. — R. Gloucester. 
 
 ' The sinne of maumetrie is the first that 
 God defended in the ten commandments.' 
 — Parson's Tale. In process of time the 
 word was confounded v 
 puppet, originally a doll. 
 
 Maxim. — Maximum. Lat. maximus, 
 greatest ; rnaxima sententia, the weightiest 
 sentiment. A tnaxim is a principle of 
 the highest authority. 
 
 May, — Might. Goth, magan, ON. 
 mega, Sw. md, to be able ; Goth, mahts, 
 G. macht, Swiss mucht, Boh, moc, might, 
 power ; mohu, mocy, to be able ; Russ. 
 mogii, moch\ as Lat. valeo, to be able, to 
 be of health ; mogiicK, strong, jnogutcL, 
 bodily strength ; Lith, inoketi, to be able, 
 to understand. Some of the G, uses of 
 the word look as if the, primitive mean- 
 ing were a capacity to stomach or use as 
 food. IVein magich nicht, I cannot take 
 wine, it does not agree with me. Graben 
 7nag ich 7ticht, I cannot dig. Du. 7nog- 
 hen eenighe spijse, to relish any food, to 
 like it, to be willing, to be permitted ; 
 7noghe, appetite, also power. A similar 
 train of thought is seen in Esthon, koht, 
 belly, maw, and k'6ht77ta, to be able. 
 
 Mayhem, — To Maim, To 7nai77i (cor- 
 ruptly for 77iaiii), to disable by wounds. 
 May77i or hurte, mutilacio. Ma7tky7i or 
 77tay7iyn, mutilo. Ma7ikyd or 77tay7nyd 
 mutilatus. — Pr. Pm. Sc. 77ia7igyie, 7na7i- 
 yie, 7ne7iyie, defect, fault, maim, hurt. 
 Wal, 7nehai7n, defect, blemish, inconve- 
 nience. ' Li mehai7i d' I'afaire, c'est ki — 
 the mischief of the thing is — .' It, ma- 
 gag7ia, blemish, vice, defect, putrefaction 
 in fruit, 7nagag7iare, to spoil, taint, vitiate, 
 rot (Altieri) ; Prov, 77iagag7tar, 77iagan- 
 har, 7nagay7iar, OFr. 7nahaigner, Tne- 
 haigner, Mid. Lat. maha7i7iare, to wound, 
 
4i6 
 
 MAYOR 
 
 disable. Bret, mac'han^ mutilated, mu- 
 tilation ; mac'hana, to maim. 
 
 The foregoing can hardly be distinct 
 from ON. fncin, injury, hurt, trouble, fault, 
 hindrance. Da. fneen, defect, blemish, 
 hurt ; meenlos, innocent, unblemished ; 
 meensiaae, to cripple, disable by blows ; 
 viecnlydt^ disabled, crippled ; OHG. inord 
 nnd main, slaughter and destruction. — 
 Schmeller. 
 
 The radical image seems to be indi- 
 cated by w. mati^ menyn, spot, speck. 
 Compare w. Mair wyryf heb fann, Mary 
 maid without spot (Richards), with OHG. 
 dhiu unmeina magad, the unspotted maid. 
 The original root, however, must have 
 ended in the guttural which closes the 
 first syllable of It. jnagagna and its equiv- 
 alents, and may perhaps be traced in Sp. 
 Prov. macar, It. maccare^ to bruise, to 
 batter ; Sp. maca^ a bruise in fruit, spot, 
 stain ; It. macca, a print, freckle, or mark 
 as of some bruise, also spoil or havoc. — 
 Fl. The nasalisation of the root gives 
 Sp. maficha, stain, blot, defect ; It., Sp. 
 manco, defective, maimed, imperfect ; Fr. 
 manchot, one-handed, wanting a limb ; 
 inanquer^ to want ; Du. manck, maimed, 
 lame ; mancken, to limp, fail, want ; OE. 
 manked, maimed. From the same root, 
 with the addition of a different termina- 
 tion, Lat. fnacula, G. mackel, a spot, stain ; 
 Sc. to magil, to disfigure, and with the 
 nasal, G. mangel, want, defect, E. mangle, 
 to disfigure. 
 
 Mayor, OFr. maieur, maeur, maier, 
 the chief magistrate of a town, from Lat. 
 major, greater. Mid. Lat. major damns, 
 the officer in charge of the household ; 
 major eqiiorian, the master of the horse, 
 officer in charge of the royal stable ; 
 iftajor monasterii, chief of a monastery, 
 abbot. The majores villce were persons 
 placed over the other inhabitants to ad- 
 minister the concerns of the township in 
 the name of the lord, analogous to the 
 Starost of a Russian village. ' Ut Pres- 
 byter! curas seculares nullatenus exer- 
 ceant ; id est, ut neque Judices neque 
 Majores villarum fiant.' ' Nequaquam 
 de potentioribus hominibus Majores fiant, 
 sed de mediocribus qui fi deles sunt.' — 
 Capit. Car. Mag. in Due. The mayors 
 of the communes in France fill a similar 
 place at the present day. 
 
 Maze. Incoherent, senseless chatter 
 is taken as the most obvious symptom of 
 a confused or unsettled mind. Swiss 
 mausen, to speak unintelligibly; ON. masa, 
 to jabber, chatter ; N. masast, to drop 
 asleep, to begin to dream j e. dial, to 
 
 MAZER 
 
 masle, to wander as if stupefied. — Hal. ; 
 to mazzle, to trifle, loiter, do anything 
 unskilfully. — Craven. Gl. 
 Some neither walks nor sleeps, but mazin^si^nds. 
 Hudson's DuBartas. 
 
 To amaze, to make one maze, to stupefy. 
 A maze is a network of paths contrived 
 to perplex those who enter it, and hinder 
 their finding the way out. 
 
 The interchange of zzl and ddl, as in 
 fuzzle, fuddle, identifies jnazle or mazzle 
 with Swiss madeln, to mutter ; maddelen, 
 to tattle, and E. maddle, to rave, talk con- 
 fusedly, wander in thought, miss one's 
 way. Ye masen, says May to January 
 when she wishes to persuade him that 
 his eyesight deceived him, that his wits 
 were madding. 
 
 Mazer. A broad standing cup or 
 drinking-bowl. — B. The proper mean- 
 ing of the word is wood of a spotted or 
 speckled grain, from OHG. mdsen, a spot, 
 scar } masa, cicatrix; blatter-masen, pock- 
 marks. — Schmeller. Du. maese, spot, 
 stain, mark j maeser, maser, Bav. maser, 
 bruscus, a knotted excrescence on the 
 boles of different kinds of trees which 
 furnishes wood of an ornamental grain 
 for turners, cabinet-makers, and others. 
 G. maserle, maserbirke, alder or birch 
 furnishing wood of such a nature. Du. 
 maes-hoiit, maeser en-hont, OHG. mazaltra, 
 mazeldera (G. massholder), maple, from 
 the speckled grain of the wood. Fr. 
 madre, a thick-streaked grain in wood ; 
 7nadrer, the grain of wood to be full of 
 crooked and speckled streaks. — Cot. 
 ' Venderres de hanas de fust et de niadre, 
 de auges — et de toute autre fustaille.' — 
 Registre de Metiers, 112, Docum. Inedits. 
 Here we see cups of ordinary wood (fust) 
 distinguished from those of niaser (madre) 
 or wood of speckled grain, but both in- 
 cluded under the name of fustaille or 
 wood-work. In a deed of the Count of 
 Autun, ' Et anapo corneo magno cum 
 illo de mazaro.'' — Due. In an account of 
 the royal sideboard, A.D. 1350, we find 
 , mazer and cedar-wood used for the han- 
 dles of knives. 'Deux paires de couteaux 
 a tranchier — I'une paire a manches de 
 cedre garnis de virolles et de tinglettes 
 d'argent dories— et I'autre paire a man- 
 ches de madre semblables.' But the chief 
 use of the material being for drinking 
 vessels, the Fr. maze?'in, mazelin, as E. 
 mazer, is found in the sense of a cup. 
 Gerbert appelle, Baillez moi cy le vin, 
 Dessus ma table mettez mon mazelin. 
 
 Rom. de Garin in Due. 
 
 See Measles. 
 
MAZZARD 
 
 Mazzard. A burlesque word for the 
 head, whence to mazzard, to knock on 
 the head, to brain one. Sometimes writ- 
 ten mazer, ' Break but his pate, or so ; 
 only his tnazer, because I'll have his 
 head in a cloth as well as mine.' — O. 
 Play in Nares. 
 
 There is little doubt that Nares' con- 
 jecture is right, that it comes from mazer, 
 a bowl. In a similar way It. zucca, pro- 
 perly a gourd, and thence a drinking- 
 cup, is used to signify a skull. 
 
 Mead. i. w, medd, G. tneth, Du. 7nede, 
 drink made of honey and water ; Gr, 
 /^E0q, strong drink, drunkenness ; //sQv, 
 wine ; Lat., w. mel. Gr. [ntki, Bohem. 
 med, Pol. miod, Fin. mesi, gen. ineden, 
 honey ; Fin. mesi also, honeyed beer ; 
 Lith. medus, honey, middtis, mead, meszti, 
 to sweeten with honey, to brew mead. 
 
 Mead. 2. Meadow. Properly land 
 affording hay ; Du. maeyla7id, from maed- 
 €71, maeyen, Lat. metere, to mow. Bret. 
 7nedi, to cut, to mow ; Bav. 77iad, the 
 mowing, hay-harvest, place where grass 
 is mowed ; berg-77idd, mountain-mowing, 
 piece of steep mountain sward ; a7nad, 
 second mowing, aftermath. 
 
 Meagre. Fr. 7naigre, Lat. macer,, lean. 
 Meal. I. Uu. 77tael, 7neel, flour, from 
 77iaele7i, Goth. 77ialati, G. 77tale7i, Boh. 
 77tlyti, w. 7}tahi, Lat. 7no.lere, to grind, 
 w. 77idl, what is ground or bruised ; ^d 
 maledig, ground corn. 
 
 2. The food taken at one time ; a 
 77ieaVs 77iilk, what is taken from the cow 
 at a milking. Sc. 77iail, rent, tribute, an 
 amount of money to be paid at a fixed 
 time. The radical idea is seen in G. 
 77iahl, a stain, spot, mark, sign, hence a 
 bound, limit, the time of a thing's hap- 
 pening ; ei7t-77ial, once ; aber77ial, again^ 
 &c. J zu77t letzte7i 77iahle, for the last 
 time J ON. 77idl, the time of doing any- 
 thing, and specially for taking food. Mdl 
 er at tala, there is a time for speaking. ' 
 Morgim77idl, 77iiddagS77idl, breakfast, din- 
 ner time ; d i7tdhi7/t, at meal times. Af 
 7nissa 77idl (of cattle), to miss a milking. 
 AS. 77tael, what is marked out, separate 
 part. Tha thces 77iceles wees 77iearc ago7i- 
 geTi, then of the time was the mark past. 
 — Caedm. Mcehitn, in separate parts ; 
 bit-77icElu77i, dcBl-77ia;lu77i, by separate bits 
 or deals. Hence piece-77teal, by separate 
 pieces. See Mole. 
 
 To Mean.— Mind. Goth. 77iutia7t, to 
 think, intend, will ; 77iU7is, meaning, 
 thought, intention ; ON. muTta, to remem- 
 ber; G. 77iei7ie7i, Du. 77ieene7t, to think, 
 believe, intend j Lat. 77ie7iiinisse^ to re- 
 
 MEASLES 
 
 417 
 
 member ; Lith. 77tanyti, to think ; mi7itis^ 
 to be informed of; 77ie7tas, understand- 
 ing, skill ; 7iii7na7iyti, to perceive, recog- 
 nise, observe, be of opinion ; Bohem. 
 77i7teti, to think, to be of opinion ; 77ii7titi^ 
 to think, believe, understand ; Russ, 
 77i7iitsya, to seem ; Sanscr. i7ta7t, to think, 
 to deem. 
 
 The 77ii7id, Lat. i7ie7is, is the seat of the 
 thinking or meaning faculty. 
 
 Mean. i. Low, common, poor, pitiful. 
 
 AH manere of men, the mene and the ryche. 
 
 P. P. 
 
 The origin seems OHG. mai7t, properly a 
 spot, stain. Diu U7i7}iei7ta magad, the 
 unspotted maid. — Isidore in Schmeller. 
 MaiTi, 77iei7i, are then used for injury, im- 
 pure, unholy. Das der aid rai7i und 
 7iicht 77iai7i sey ; that the oath should be 
 pure and not false. Mai7iaid, 77ieins'we- 
 ridi, perjury (e. 7nai7is'wear, 77ia7is'w 07-71) ; 
 77iei7i rat, evil counsel ; 77iei7t spraka, 
 blasphemy ; 77tei7i tdt, maleficium. Lap. 
 77tai7ie, bodily failing, sickness, fault ; 
 stiiora 77iai7ie {stuora, great), the small- 
 pox ; ON. 77iei7t, sore, injury, crime ; 77iei7t- 
 laus, innocent, without injury, w. 77ian, 
 a spot, mark, place ; man getii, a mark 
 from birth, as a mole. 
 
 The transition to the idea of common, 
 expressed by as. ge77icBne, G. gemei7t, may 
 be illustrated by the words addressed to 
 Peter in his vision, 'What God has 
 cleansed that call not thou common.' So 
 in Mark vii. 15, Goth. ga77iai7ija7i, Gr. 
 Koivhtviiv, is rendered defile in the English 
 version, while in the Latin it is rendered 
 coi7iqiii7iare, to stain, in the first part of 
 the verse, and co77i77tu7iicare, to make 
 common, in the second. 
 
 2. Intermediate. Lat. 7nedius, It. 77iezzo, 
 mid, middle ; 77iezzano, a mediator, any 
 middle thing, between both, indifferent. 
 Prov. meja7i, 77teia7t, middling. Alsgra7ts, 
 ah meia7ts, als 77ie7tors, to the great, the 
 middling, and the small. Fr. 77ioye7i, in- 
 different, moderate, a mediator, a mean, 
 course, way. — Cot. The 77iea7is of doing 
 a thing is the course which has to be trod 
 in order to accomplish it, the intermediate 
 path between the agent and the object to 
 be accomplished. The 77iea7i time is the 
 time between the present and that when 
 the thing spoken of is to be done. 
 
 Meander. Gr. '^aiavZ^oq, the name of 
 a winding river in Asia Minor. 
 
 Measles. A disease in which the body 
 
 is much marked with red spots. Du. 
 
 Tnaese, spot, stain, mark ; 77taesele7t, 77iae~ 
 
 sere/t. maesereTt. 77iaesel-suchte. measles. — 
 
 27 
 
4i8 
 
 MEASURE 
 
 Kil. Bav. masen, spot, mark ; blatter- 
 masen, pock-marks ; straich-niasen^ wheal, 
 mark of a blow; wioid-tnasen, sc2ir. The 
 name of a spot might well be taken from 
 the act of dabbling in the wet, dawbing, 
 dirtying. Pl.D. jmisseln, Swiss schmus- 
 seln, sc/unauseln, Du. bemeuzelejt^ to dab- 
 ble, dawb ; Pol. mazad, tnazgad, to dawb, 
 blot, soil, smear. 
 
 Perhaps measly bacon, together with 
 OHG. viaselsucht, miselsuchf, leprosy , OFr. 
 viesel, a. leper, are to be referred to a dif- 
 ferent source. Valencian tnesell is ap- 
 plied to one who has an internal or con- 
 tagious disorder, and especially to pigs 
 which when slaughtered produce 7neasly 
 meat. From the Arab, mosel, consump- 
 tive, pple past of the verb salla (to waste 
 away?), applied to animals as well as men. 
 — Dozy. 
 
 Measure.— Dimension, -mense. Lat. 
 metior, mensiis sum, to measure ; whence 
 mensura, Fr. mesure, E. measure ; dijnen- 
 sioy a measuring between two points, di- 
 mension ; immetisus, unmeasured, im- 
 mense. See Mete. 
 
 Meat. Goth, mats, food, matjan, to 
 take food, to eat ; ON. mata, OHG. maz, 
 food, dish. Bohem. maso, Pol. mieso, 
 flesh, meat. The nasalised vowel of the 
 latter would seem to bring in Lat. mensa, 
 table, as an equivalent form ; Walach. 
 masa, table, food, entertainment. 
 
 Mechanic. Gr. ixrjxaviKog, from ju)jx«»")' 
 a contrivance, machine. 
 
 Medal. It. medaglia, Fr. medaille, in 
 later times any ancient coin, but origin- 
 ally it seems to signify a coin of half a 
 certain value. Obolus dicitur medalia, id 
 est medietas nummi. — Willelmus Brito in 
 Due. Medalia, en half pennynck. — Dief. 
 Supp. Usavansi all' hora le medaglie in 
 Firenze, che le due valevano un danaio 
 picciolo. — Novelle Antiche in La Crusca. 
 La buona femmina che non avea che due 
 ' medaglie (two mites) le quali ella offerse 
 al tempio. — Ibid. Sometimes it is used 
 . for half a livre, and indicates a coin of 
 silver, or even of gold. Chi e, chi vago 
 tanto d'una cosa, — che cosa che valesse 
 una medaglia, comperasse una livra. — La 
 Crusca. Medaglie bianche d' argento. — 
 Ibid. Viginti quinque medalias auri. — 
 Carp. With the loss of the d it became 
 Prov. mealha, OFr. maaille, maille, the 
 half of a penny in money or weight. 
 Bret, mdzel, fnell. * Bonne est la maille 
 qui sauve le denier.'— Cot. With so de- 
 cided a signification of one half in value 
 it is a bold assertion of Diez that the word 
 
 MEET 
 
 cannot be derived from Lat. medius. ON. 
 midla, to divide. 
 
 To Meddle. — Mell.— Medley. It. 
 
 mischiare, mescolare, Sp. dial, mezclar, 
 mesclar, Fr. mesler, medler, me!ller{Qh.rov).. 
 des Dues de Norm.), to meddle, mingle, 
 mell. 
 
 Heraut e Guert tant estrivferent 
 Ke par parole se medlerent. — Rom de Rou. 
 — they quarrelled. 
 
 The same change of consonants is seen 
 in Lat. masculus, OFr. mascle, madle, 
 male, and in Fr. meslier, E. jnedlar-tXQe. ; 
 Prov. mesclada, Fr. vtelde. Mid. Lat. mel- 
 leia, medley, confusion, quarrel ; calida 
 melleia, Fr. chaude melee, corrupted to E. 
 chaficemedley. 
 
 Medial. — Mediate. — Mediocre. — 
 Medium. Lat. medius, middle, medio- 
 cris, middling, mediator, medialis. 
 
 Medical. — Medicine. — Renaedy. Lat. 
 medicus, a physician, from medeor, to heal, 
 cure, apply remedies. Hence remedium, 
 a cure or remedy. Gr. ^r\Zo^ai, to coun- 
 sel, advise. 
 
 Meditate. Lat. meditari, to study, 
 design, 
 
 Mediterranean. Lat. mediterratieus j 
 medius, in the middle, and terra, land. 
 
 Medlar. By Chaucer written medle- 
 tree. From Lat. jnespilus came OFr. 
 jnesle {mesple), the fruit ; meslier, the 
 tree, and from the latter, E. medlar. See 
 Meddle. 
 
 Meed. Gr. \iitjB6q, Goth, mizdo. Boh. 
 mzda, reward, recompence ; G. miethe, 
 hire. 
 
 Meek. Goth, muks, ON. mjukr, Du. 
 muyck, soft, mild ; muyck oeft, ripe fruit ; 
 muycken, N. mykja, to soften ; Boh. mok, 
 liquid ; mokry, wet ; tnokwati, to be wet ; 
 Pol. moknac, namakae, to steep, or soak ; 
 mieknad, to soak, to soften ; miekki, soft, 
 tender. In other forms the k of the root 
 is softened to a palatal chy Boh. mociti, 
 Pol. moczyd, to steep, showing perhaps the 
 root of Lat. -macerare. 
 
 Meet. Fit, suitable, according to mea- 
 sure. 
 
 There's no room at my side Margret 
 
 My coffin's made so vteet. 
 
 ■ — so exact. — Sweet William's Ghost. 
 
 AS. 7nete, ON. mdti, G. maass. Lap. muddo, 
 measure ; AS. gemet, ON. mdtulegr. Lap. 
 muddak, fit, meet ; G. gemdss, conform- 
 able. See Mete. 
 
 To Meet.— To Moot. on. mot, d 
 mdti, against, opposite ; fnot-byr, a con- 
 trary wind ; 7tia;ta, Goth, gamotjan, to 
 meet ; ON. mot, AS. mot, gejnot, a meet- 
 ing, assembly. Hence E. moot-hall, a 
 
MEGRIM 
 
 court hall, place of assembly ; to moot a 
 question, to discuss it as in an assembly. 
 
 As the ultimate meaning of opposite is 
 face to face, and to meet is to come face 
 to face, the origin may be indicated in 
 Lap. muoto, countenance, face, a root 
 Avhich will again be found doing import- 
 ant duty under Mode. In like manner 
 Fin. 7ie}id^ nose ; nendita, to meet. 
 
 Megrim. A pain in the head, sup- 
 posed to arise from the biting of a worm. 
 Emigraneus, vermis capitis, Angl. the 
 mygryne, or the head worm. — Ortus in 
 Pr. Pm. Hence, as caprices were also 
 supposed to arise from the biting of a 
 maggot, the name of megrim was also 
 given to any capricious fancy. 
 
 The origin of the word is Gr. tuxiKpavia, 
 pain affecting one half of the head ; Kpa- 
 viov, skull. 
 
 Meiny. — Menial, Fr. 7;?esm'e,a.meyny, 
 family, household, company, or servants. 
 — Cot. It. masnada, a troop of soldiers, 
 a company, a family. — Altieri. 
 
 The word is very variously written in 
 OFr. maisgnee, niaignee^ maisgnie, mais- 
 nie, mainie, 7nes7iie, menie, &c. It is de- 
 rived by Diez from Lat. mansio, It. magi- 
 one, Fr. maison, as if through a form ma- 
 gionata, Fr. maisomi^e, in the sense of 
 houseful or household. And this deriva- 
 tion would seem corroborated by forms 
 like Prov. maizonier, OFr. tnasonier, 
 masnier, mesnier, the tenant of a hired 
 house ; jnesnage, fjtenage, housekeeping, 
 household. 
 
 On the other hand Lat. minus natus 
 (for minor natii) gives rise to O Fr. mains- 
 ni, maisn^, younger child, Piedm. masnd, 
 Lang. 7neina, a boy, child. For the loss 
 of the 71 in 77ii7ius compare Ptg. 77te7toscabo, 
 mascabo, diminution, Sp. 77te7iospreciar, 
 Fr. mhpriser, to depreciate. From the 
 forms 77tas7id, 7neina, we are led to 
 Cat. 7nas7iada, 7nainada, Lang. 7ndinada, 
 Prov. 77iai7iada, family^ properly assem- 
 blage of children, then household serv- 
 ants. ' Oquelo fenno o bien souen de 
 so mei7iado:^ that woman takes good 
 care of her children. ' Oquel home o de 
 bravo 77tHnado :' that man has pretty 
 children. — Beronie. ' C6o sunt les mesnes 
 Noe solun les poeples et lour nacions. — 
 H^ fa77tilicB Noejuxtapopulos et nationes 
 suas :' these are the generations of Noah. 
 From the children of a family to the de- 
 pendants and servants is an easy step in 
 signification. ' Avint issi que Absalon 
 encuntrad la 77iaig7iie David : ' accidit 
 autem ut occurreret Absalom se7'vis 
 David. — Livre des Rois. Tal senhor, 
 
 MEMORY 
 
 419 
 
 tal 7nay7iada (Rayn.) ; tel seigneur, tcl 
 7nes7iie (Cot.) : like master, like man. 
 
 Melancholy. Gr. ^itXayxoXia, from 
 HsXaQ, black, and x^^'?? bile. 
 
 Melasses. Sp. tnelaza, the dregs of 
 honey, also treacle, or the drainings of 
 sugar ; 7)ielote, conserve made with honey, 
 molasses, or treacle. 
 
 Meliorate. Lat. 77telior, better. 
 
 Mellow. Thoroughly ripe, and hence 
 freed from all harshness orasperity, grati- 
 fying to the senses of taste, sight, or hear- 
 ing. G. (Westerwald) 77toll, soft, ripe ; 
 (Fallersleben) molich, mellow, on the 
 point of rotting.— D. M. V. The radical 
 meaning is a degree of ripeness approach- 
 ing to dissolution. Mellow, or almost 
 rotten ripe.— Fl. in v. Mezzo. Du. 77iolen, 
 77ieluwe7i, to decay — Kil. ; 77iolamiente7i, 
 tabescentibus (membris) — Schmeller. To 
 decay is to fall away to bits. Bav. 77iel'w, 
 77telo, 77ielb, meal, powder ; 77tilbe7t, 7}iil- 
 wen, to reduce to powder ; gemilbet salz, 
 powdered salt ; Goth. 7nalwjan, ON. 
 7710 Iv a, to break small. With the final b 
 or w exchanged for ;;/, G. 77ial7n, dust, 
 powder ; Du. W(?/;«, dust of wood or turf; 
 77iol77ien, to moulder away, to decay ; 
 E. dial. 7naii77i (for 77tal77i), soft, mellow, 
 a soft, friable stone ; Manx mhol77i, to 
 moulder, make friable ; 7nholli77i, tnhol- 
 77iey, friable, ready to fall to pieces, (of 
 fruit) mellow ; Pl.D. 77iiill, anything re- 
 duced to powder ; 77tiillig, powdery (of 
 earth), mellow. Dat la 7 id is to 77iiillig, 
 too loose. — Danneil. Du. 77iollig, soft, 
 mellow in taste ; G. 77iolsch^ Fr. 7noii, 
 77iolle, mellow, over-ripe ; "W. mallu, to 
 rot. 
 
 Melody. Gr. ixeXwSia, from <^Sr), song, 
 and fjikXog, sweet sound, music ; the latter 
 doubtless from fxtXi, honey. Gael. 77iilis, 
 sweet, musical ; 772il, honey. 
 
 To Melt. Gr. fiiXSoj, to melt, make 
 liquid ; ON. melta, to digest, make rotten ; 
 S77telta, Du. smelten, to melt ; Du. i7iehi- 
 iven, 77iolen, AS. mols7iian, to rot. The 
 ideas of melting and rotting coincide in 
 the fact that the object falls insensibly 
 away from a solid state. See Mellow. 
 
 Member. Lat. me77tbrn77t. 
 
 Membrane. Lat. 77te7nbrana, the thin 
 skin of anything, parchment. 
 
 Memory. — Memoir. — Remember. 
 Lat. 77temi7ii, me77tinisse, to remember ; 
 77ie77ior (for 77me77tor), mindful, remember- 
 ing. Gr. fivaofiai, to think on, of which 
 the perfect fxsfivijfiai is used like memini 
 in the sense of I remember ; fivrjfxuv (cor- 
 responding to 77te77zor), mindful. From 
 27* 
 
420 
 
 MENACE 
 
 the same source with mens^ mentis, 2iT\6. 
 E. ftiind. 
 
 Menace. Fr. tncnace^ It. mmaccia, 
 Lat. ffiifur, niinacia, threats. 
 
 To Mend. Lat. emendare, to take 
 away a fault, vienda. Milanese vienda, 
 It. rivicndare, to mend or darn clothes. 
 
 Mendacious. Lat. mendax, mendacis, 
 false, lying ; j/ientior, -iri, to lie. 
 
 Mendicant. Lat. inendicans. 
 
 Menial. Belonging to the meiny. 
 O Fr. viaisnier, one of the mesnde, meiny, 
 or household. — Carp. See Meiny. 
 
 Menild or Meanelled. Mermeld, 
 speckled, as a horse or thrush ; ineanels, 
 small black or red spots in a horse of a 
 lightish colour, w. 7nan, a spot ; vienyn, 
 a small spot. — ^Jones. See Mean, i., 
 Maim. 
 
 -mense. — Mensuration, See Mea- 
 sure. 
 
 Menstruum. A chemical solvent. 
 Lat. menstruus, of or belonging to a 
 month ; from the notion that chemical 
 solvents could only be duly prepared in 
 dependence on the changes of the moon. 
 
 Mental. Lat. mens, tnentis, the mind. 
 See To Mean. 
 
 Mention. Lat. jnentio, connected with 
 mens, the mind. 
 
 Mephitic. Lat. mephitis, an ill, sul- 
 phureous smell emitted by putrid water or 
 the like. 
 
 Mercenary. Lat. 7nercenarius, hired, 
 retained for pay ; merces, pay, money 
 made by service. 
 
 Mercer. Fr. mercier, a tradesman 
 that retails all manner of small ware ; 
 mer eerie, small ware. — Cot. Lat. merces, 
 wares. 
 
 Merchant. — Mercantile. OFr. mar- 
 chaiit, It. mercatante, mercante, a traf- 
 ficker ; niercatare, to cheapen in the mar- 
 ket, to buy and sell ; itiercato, market ; 
 mercare, Lat. 7nercari, to bargain, to buy. 
 
 Mercy. Fr, inerci, a benefit or favour, 
 pardon, forgiveness, thanks for a benefit ; 
 It. mercede, ?nercd, reward, munificence, 
 mercy, pity, thanks. Lat. merces, merce- 
 dis, earnings, desert, reward, A similar 
 train of thought is seen in Du, ?nild, libe- 
 ral, munificent, mild, gentle. — Kil. 
 
 Mere. i. Fr. mare, Du. maer, mer, a 
 pool, fish-pond, standing water. See 
 Marsh. 
 
 2. Lat. merus, It, mero, unmixed, plain, 
 of itself. It may be doubted whether the 
 E, use of the word may not have been in- 
 fluenced by the Du. maar, but, only, no 
 more than. '7" is maar spot, it is but 
 sp )rt, or it is a mere joke. Dat gevegt 
 
 MESS 
 
 ivns maar kinderspel, the fight was but 
 child's play, or was mere child's play. 
 Daar is maar zoo viel, there is but so 
 much, merely so much. 
 
 3, Du, meere, ON. mceri, a boundary ; 
 Fin. maari, Lap. mere, a definite point, 
 mark, bound ; jneritet, Fin, mddratd, to 
 define, appoint, determine ; madrd-pdiwa, 
 appointed day ; Lith, m^ra, measure, 
 right measure, moderation ; meris, the 
 mark at which one aims. 
 
 Meretricious, Lat. meretrix, a harlot, 
 one who prostitutes her body for gain ; 
 mereo, to earn. 
 
 Merge, -merse. -mersion, Lat. 
 mergo, mersurn, to dip in, plunge over 
 head. As in Emerge, Immerse, Submer- 
 sion. 
 
 Meridian. Lat. meridianusj meridies 
 {medius dies), mid-day. 
 
 Merit. Lat. mereo, meritum, to de- 
 serve. 
 
 Mermaid, on, mar is often used in 
 composition in the sense of sea. Mar- 
 metiJiill, a sea-dwarf ; mar-Jiatr, level as 
 the surface of the sea ; mar-flo, sea-flea, 
 &c. G. 7neer, w. 7nor, the sea. 
 
 Merry. — Mirth, Lap. murre, de- 
 light ; 7nurres, pleasant ; murritet, to 
 take pleasure in ; Gael. 7nir, to" sport, 
 play ; 7}iire, 77iireadh, playing, mirth ; Sc. 
 merry-begotten, a bastard, a child begot- 
 ten in sport or play. 
 
 Mesentery. Gr. fisasvTepiov ; fxkaog, 
 middle, in the middle, and ivrepov, an in- 
 testine. 
 
 Mesh. The knot of a net. Lith, 
 77iazgas, a knot, bunch, bundle, bud of a 
 tree ; 77iegsti, to knit, make knots, weave 
 nets ; 7nagztas, netting needle ; G, 7nasche, 
 a noose, a mesh ; AS. 7naesce, a mesh, 
 7nax, net ; ON. 77ibskvi, Dan, 77iaske, a 
 mesh ; Du, 77iasche, a blot, stain, mesh. 
 It is observable that Lat. macula is also 
 used in the same two senses. 
 
 Mess. I. A service for the meal of 
 one or of several. A 7ness of pottage, a 
 dish of pottage, Fr, 7nes, 7nets, a service 
 of meat, a course of dishes at table, — Cot, 
 It. 7nessa, 77iesso, a mess of meat, a course 
 or service of so many dishes ; among 
 merchants the stock or principal put into 
 a venture. From Lat, 7)iissus, sent, in 
 the sense of served up, dished, as it was 
 sometimes translated in E. ' Caius Fa- 
 britius was found by the Samnite Embas- 
 sadors that came unto him eating of rad- 
 dish rosted in the ashes, which was all 
 the dished he had to his supper.' — Prim- 
 audaye Fr, Academic, translated by T. 
 B. C. (1589), p. 195. It is a curious 
 
MESSAGE 
 
 coincidence that OHG. maz (Goth, mats, 
 Bav. mass), meat, food was used in the 
 same way, ' Do der Cheizer an dem tische 
 saz, und man vor in truoc daz erste ?Ha2,' 
 brought in before him the first course. — 
 Schm. 
 
 2. Properly mesk, a mixture disagree- 
 able to the sight or taste, hence untidy- 
 ness, disorder. ' Mescolanza, a ?nes/i, 
 mingling, mish-mash of things confusedly 
 and without order put together ; mescolare, 
 mescere, mesciare, to mesk, mix, mingle.' 
 — Fl. See Mash. 
 
 Message. — Messenger. From Lat. 
 missus, sent, arose Pro v., OFr. mes, a 
 messenger. Mid. Lat. ?nissaticui7i, OFr. 
 messatge, a message. ' Missaticum per 
 patrias deportare non nobis videtur — 
 idoneus.' — Epist. Leon. III. in Due. 
 ' DcEmones nostra missatica deferentes.' 
 Willelmus Brito. ibid. The insertion of 
 the n in messenger is analogous to that 
 in scavenger from scavage, porringer 
 from porridge, hai'binger from harfrage. 
 
 Messuage. A dwelling-house with 
 some land adjoining. — B. OFr. mesiiage, 
 messuage. Manoirs, masures logdes aux 
 champs que la coustume appeloit ancien- 
 nement Mesuage. — Consuetude Norm, in 
 Due. 
 
 From Lat. manere, to dwell, were de- 
 rived a variety of forms signifying resid- 
 ence ; Fr. manoir, a manor ; Mid. Lat. 
 mansura, Fr. masure, a poor house ; 
 mansio, Fr. maisoti, a house ; mansus, 
 mansa, Prov. mas, OFr. mes, mase, a 
 small farm, house and land sufficient for 
 a pair of oxen. From mansits came 7nan- 
 sualis {terra manstialis, the land belong- 
 ing to a mansus), mansuagiiitn, masiia- 
 gium, and masagium, a dwelling-house, 
 small farm, or the buildings upon it. 
 Masiicagium, masata, and other modifi- 
 cations, were used in the same sense. 
 
 Metal. — Metallurgy. Gr. fisraWov, 
 fieTaXXovpyeo) (tpyd(o, kpyd^Ofiai, to WOrk, 
 labour at). 
 
 Metamorpliose. Gr. pteTafiopfwaig ; 
 /iSTci, implying change, and noptpi), form, 
 figure. 
 
 Metaphor. Gr. fiiTa(popd, a transfer- 
 ring to one word the sense of another ; 
 fxeratpspu), to carry over, transfer. 
 
 Metaphysics. Gr. jutra ra (pvaiKO., 
 after physics. ' From this part of Aris- 
 totle's logic there is an easy transition to 
 what has been called his metaphysics ; 
 a name unknown to the author himself, 
 and given to his most abstract philoso- 
 phic works by his editors, from an opinion 
 that those books ought to be studied im- 
 
 MEW 
 
 421 
 
 mediately after his physics, or treatises 
 on natural philosophy.' — Gillies. 
 
 To Mete. Goth, mitan, G. messen, 
 Lat. metiri, Lith. matoti, to measure ; 
 7nestas, Gr. nsrpov, a measure. 
 
 Mete. — Mett. A boundary mark, OFr. 
 mette. ' Comme la ville de Muande soit 
 situee pres des fins et mettes de notre 
 royaume.' — Chron. A.D. 1389, in Carp. v. 
 Danger. Lat. meta, a boundary stone, 
 especially that marking the extremity of 
 a race ; Serv. metya, a bound ; metyiti, 
 to abut upon ; Russ. meja (Fr.j), Bohem. 
 7ne2, boundary ; meznik, boundary stone ; 
 mezowati, to abut on. 
 
 Meteor. Gr. iitrmpoq, lofty, on high ; 
 fisTswpa, things seen or happening in the 
 region of the stars. 
 
 Method. Gr. n'lQoSoq, a way, mode of 
 speech or action ; fitrd, and bdoQ, a way. 
 
 Metre, -metry, Gr. fikvpov, a measure, 
 a measured line, a verse, metre ; tig 
 ixkrpa TiQkvai, to put into verse. 
 
 From the same root with Lat. metior, 
 to mete or measure. 
 
 Metropolis. Gr. fujTpoiroXig ; nv^Tjp, 
 mother, and TroXig, city. 
 
 Mettle. Vigour, life, sprightliness. — ■ 
 B. A metaphor taken from the metat of 
 a blade, upon the temper of which the 
 power of the weapon depends. 
 
 To Mew. Fr. miauler, G. miauen, 
 maicen. It. miagolare, Magy. midkolni, to 
 cry as a cat. 
 
 Mew. I. A gull, or sea swallow ; Du. 
 tneeuw, G. mowe, meive, Dan. maage, ON. 
 mdfr, mar, N. maase, Fr, mauce, mouette. 
 
 Mew. 2. It. mitta, muda, any change 
 or shift, the moulting or change of 
 feathers, horns, skin, coat, colour, or 
 place of any creature, as of hawks, deer, 
 snakes, also a hawk's mew. — Fl. Fr. 
 f7mer, to change, shift, to mue, to cast 
 the head, coat, or skin ; 77iue, a change, 
 any casting of the coat or skin, as the 
 mewing of a hawk ; also a hawk's mue, 
 and a mue or coop wherein fowl is fat- 
 tened. — Cot. The 77te'w of a hawk (Mid. 
 Lat. 77tutatoriu77i, mnta), a. place to con- 
 fine a hawk in while moulting, and thence 
 to 77tew, to confine, to keep close, 'Domus 
 autem 77iutcB apta et ampla sibi quasratur 
 et de 7mttd quando perfectus est, trahatur.' 
 — Albertus Magn. in Due. MHG. 77iuzen, 
 to moult, 77iuzkorp, a coop for a hawk 
 when moulting. See Moult. 
 
 In London the royal stables were called 
 the King's Mews doubtless from having 
 been the place where the hawks were 
 kept, and from this accident the name of 
 77ien>s has been appropriated in London 
 
422 
 
 MIASMA 
 
 to any range of buildings occupied as 
 stables. 
 
 Miasma. Gr. fxiafffia, something foul 
 and polluting, from utaipu, to be foul, in- 
 fect. ^ 
 
 Mica. A mineral found in glittering 
 scales. Lat. mico, to glitter. 
 
 To Mich. To mic/ie in a corner, de- 
 li teo — Gouldm. ; niychyUy or pryvely 
 stelyn smale thyngis. — Pr. Pm. From 
 the same origin with s7nouch, to keep a 
 thing secret, to steal privily. Swiss 7nati- 
 chen, schmauchen^ to do in secret, conceal, 
 make away with. Fr. musser, Rouchi 
 viucher^ to hide, to skulk. It. 7mccciare, 
 -ire, to slink away privily ; smticciare, 
 -ire, to slip or slide. Orisons iniitschar, 
 mitschar, to slip away. 
 
 Micro-. Gr. fiiKpbg, small, minute, as 
 in Microcosm {Kocrixog, the world). Micro- 
 scope, &c. 
 
 Midden. — Middil. Midding, a dung- 
 hill. — B. A myddynge, sterquilinium ; 
 inyddyl, or dongyl, forica. — Pr.Pm. 
 Dan. in'ogdyiige, modding, Sw. dial, inod- 
 di)ig, 7niddi?tg, N. inokdnnge, 7notting, 
 i7ietti7tg, a dunghill, from Sw. 77i'6k, Dan. 
 iJi'dg, muck, and dy7ige, heap. 
 
 Middle. — Mid. Goth. 77iidja, Gr. /ue- 
 coq, Sanscr. 77iadhya, Lat. 7Jiedius, OHG. 
 77titti, 77iitter, ON. 77tidr, G. 77iittel, middle ; 
 ON. 77iidill, means ; 77iidla, to divide. 
 
 Midge. G. 7niicke, a small fly. Pro- 
 bably from 77tucke7t, to hum, murmur, as 
 Fin. 77iytiai7ie7i, a midge, from 77mtina, 
 7nyti7id, murmuring, whispering. See 
 Gnat. Pol. 77tucha, dim. i7iuszka, Bohem. 
 maiicha, a fly. Du. 7nosie, 77teusie, a gnat. 
 ■ — Kil. Lat. 77tusca, Fr. 7noiiche, a fly. 
 
 Midriff. The diaphragm, or mem- 
 brane dividing the heart and lungs from 
 the lower bowels. AS. hiHf, entrails ; 
 2iferre a7td 7iitherre hrife, the upper and 
 lower belly. Du. 77iiddelrift, diaphrag- 
 ma, septum transversum. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 rif, rift, a carcase, skeleton. OHG. /weve, 
 7'eve, belly ; fori reva si7iero 7iinoter, from 
 his mother's womb. — Tatian. 
 
 Mien. Fr. i7zi7te, countenance, look, 
 gesture ; Bret. 771171, beak of a bird, snout 
 of a beast, point of land, promontory ; w. 
 I7ii7i, the lip or mouth, margin, brink ; 
 mi7i-vin, lip to lip, kissing ; 77ii7i-coca, to 
 pop with the lips. In the same way AS. 
 7ieb, the beak of a bird, is used to signify 
 the face, and Lat. rostru77i, a beak, be- 
 comes Sp. rostro, face. 
 
 MifT. Ill-humour, displeasure, but 
 usually in a slight degree. G. 77uiffe7i, of 
 dogs, to growl, to bark, thence to look 
 surly or gruff, to mop and mow. — Kiatt- 
 
 MILK 
 
 ncr. Swab. 77iuff, with wry mouth ; Swiss 
 77iiipfeti, to wrinkle the nose, to deride ; 
 Castrais 77iiffa, to sniff. Snuffing the air 
 through the nose is a sign of anger and 
 ill-temper. G. sclmupfen, sch7iuppe7i, to 
 be offended with a thing, to take it ill, to 
 snuff at it. 
 
 Might. See May. 
 
 Migrate. Lat. JTtigrare, to remove 
 from one place to another to dwell in it. 
 
 Milch. — Milk. To TTiilch was used as 
 the verb, 77tilk, the substantive. S77iolgi- 
 uto, sucked or 77iilched dry. — Fl. A 
 77iilch-co'W is a cow kept for 77iilchi7ig. A 
 like distinction is found in the use of work 
 and worche. ' Alle goode ive7'kys to 
 wirche.' — St. Graal, c. 31, 1. 284. Con- 
 versely, G. 77iilch, milk ; 77ielke7i, to milch. 
 
 The primary sense of the word seems 
 to be to stroke, thence the act of milking, 
 and the substance so procured. Gr. 
 ankXyu), to milk, to squeeze out ; Lith. 
 77iilzu, 77iilzsti, to stroke, soften by strok- 
 ing, to milk a cow, gain a person by blan- 
 dishments, tame down an animal. Ap- 
 77ialzyti, to soothe, to tame ; 77tilzikkas, a 
 milker ; 7nelza77ia, a milch cow. Lat. 
 77mlcere, to stroke, to soothe. 'Audaci 
 77iulcet palearia dextri.' — Ovid. Mulgere, 
 to milk. Bohem. 77ileko, milk. 
 
 Mild. G. 77iild, soft, gentle ; ON. 77tildr, 
 lenient, gracious, munificent ; 77iilda, to 
 soothe, appease ; AS. 7iiild, merciful, 
 kind ; iTiildse, 77itltse, mercy, pity ; Goth. 
 U7i77iilds, without natural affection ; 77iild- 
 itha, pity ; Lith. 77iyleti, to love ; 77iyhis, 
 friendly, mild, gentle ; 77ieile, love ; 77ieil- 
 iti, to be inclined to, to have appetite for ; 
 77ieili7iti, to caress ; susi77iilsti, to have 
 pity on ; Bohem. 77iilowati, to love ; 77ti- 
 lost, love, grace, favour, clemency ; Pol. 
 77iily, lovely, amiable ; 77iilosierdzie, com- 
 passion, mercy, pity. Serv. 77iilye, deli- 
 cise, darling. 
 
 Perhaps the fundamental image may 
 be the sweetness of honey. Gael. 77tilis^ 
 sweet, 77tillse, sweetness. 
 
 Mildew, c. 77iehlthatc, OHG. 77tilitoi(, 
 mildew, rust on corn. AS. 7neledeaw, It. 
 7nelu77te, 77ieUgi7ie, Mod.Gr. aspo/itsXi, 
 honey dew. Goth. 77tilith, honey. It is 
 probably owing to the whitish appearance 
 of some kinds of mildew, as if meal had 
 been scattered over the leaf, that the 
 name of so different a phenomenon as 
 honeydew has been transferred to it. 
 
 Mile. Fr. 77iille, Lat. 77iillia passuimi, 
 a thousand paces or double steps. 
 
 Militant. — Military. Lat. 77iiles, -itis, 
 a soldier. 
 
 Milk. See Milch. 
 
MILL- 
 
 Mill-. Lat. mille, a thousand ; in 
 Milleimium^ a space of a thousand years ; 
 Millepede, an insect with a thousand feet, 
 &c. 
 
 Mill. AS. myleri, w. melyii, Du. molen, 
 Bohem. mlyn, G. miihle, Gr. /iuXq, Lat. 
 mo I a, molendinum, Lith. niahmas, a mill. 
 Lith. malti, Lat. molere^ G. 7nahlen, Goth. 
 ?nalan, Russ. inoloty^ Boh. w////, w. ?;m//^, 
 to grind ; ;«<^/, what is ground, a grind- 
 ing. 
 
 Milliner. Supposed to be originally 
 a dealer in Milan wares, but no positive 
 evidence has been produced in favour of 
 the derivation. 
 
 Milt, The spleen, also the soft roe in 
 fishes. It. inilza, ON. milti, the spleen. 
 There can be little doubt that the name 
 is derived from milk, and is given for a 
 similar reason in both applications. The 
 same change of the final >^ to ^ is seen in 
 ON. mjaltir, N. mjelte, a milking ; and a 
 name slightly altered from that which 
 signifies milk is given in many languages 
 to the soft roe of fishes, and to other parts 
 of the bodily frame of a soft, nonfibrous 
 texture. Pol. mleko, milk ; inelcz, milt 
 of fish, spinal marrow ; melczko, sweet- 
 bread, pancreas of calf ; Bret, leaz, milk, 
 lezen, milt. Du. melcker, inilte, Fr. laite, 
 Lat. lades, are used in the same sense, 
 while in G. and Sw. the name is simply 
 fish-milk. 
 
 Mimic. Lat. mitmis, Gr. \k\.\ioq, a far- 
 cical entertainment, or the actor in it, 
 hence an imitator ; ni\i6i, an ape. It is 
 not unlikely that the mimes were origin- 
 ally identical with our mummers, maskers 
 who go about performing a rude enter- 
 tainment, and take their name from the 
 representation of a bugbear by masking 
 the face. Basque mama, to mask one- 
 self in a hideous manner ; Pol. mamid, 
 Boh. mamiti, to dazzle, delude, beguile ; 
 Fris. mommeschein, deceitful appearance. 
 Epkema. NFris. maa77i, a mask. — D. 
 M. See Mummer. 
 
 -min-. Eminent. — Prominent. Lat. 
 emineo, to stand out beyond the rest ; 
 promineo, to project, stand out. Unsatis- 
 factorily explained from maneo, to remain. 
 The root seems preserved in Bret, min, 
 snout, nose, beak, mouth, point of land, 
 promontory ; w. 7ntn, lip or mouth, mar- 
 gin, edge ; miniog, sharp-pointed, edged. 
 
 To Mince. Fr. mincer, to cut into 
 small pieces ; mince, thin, slender, small ; 
 It. minuzzare, Fr. menuiser, to crumble, 
 break or cut small ; It. mifiuzzame, mi- 
 nuzzoli, minutelli, shreds, mincings ; 
 minuti, pottage made of herbs minced 
 
 MINISTER 
 
 423 
 
 very small. From Lat. miniitus, small, 
 although Diez would derive Fr. mince 
 from OHG. minnisto, G. mindesto, least. 
 But a derivation from the superlative 
 seems very improbable. It seems more 
 likely that mince is from the verb mincer, 
 and that that is the equivalent of It. tnin- 
 niizzare. 
 
 Gael, mhi, soft, tender, smooth, small 
 pulverized ; mhiich, make small, pulver- 
 ize ; w. man, small, slender, fine. 
 
 Mind. Lat. ifiens, me7itis, the faculty 
 of memory and thought ; 77ie77ti7iisse, ON. 
 mi7i7iaz, to remember ; 77tinna, to put in 
 mind ; G. I7tei7ien, to think ; 77iahne7i, Lat. 
 77io}iere, to put in mind ; Gr. fivhur], 
 memory ; Gael. 7neinn, mind, disposition. 
 
 Mine. — Mineral. Gael. 77iei7in, w. 
 7nwji, 7nwyfi, ore, a mine, vein of metal, 
 77taen, a stone ; It. 7nina, Fr. 77iine, mi- 
 7ii£re, a. mine ; It. 77ti7iare, Fr. 77ii7ier, 
 to dig under-ground ; Bret. me7igleuz, 
 quarry, mine. Mi7ieral, what is brought 
 out of mines, or obtained by mining. 
 
 To Mingle. G. 77ie7ige7i, Du. me7igeny 
 meugele7i, Gr. fiiyvutiv, to mix. 
 
 Miniature. Mid. Lat. miniare, to 
 write with 77ti7iiu77i or red lead ; 7ninia- 
 tiira, a painting, such as those used to 
 ornament manuscripts. 
 
 Minion. Fr. 7nig7to7t, a darling, a fa- 
 vourite, dainty, elegant, pleasing ; daim 
 7nig7ion, a tame deer ; 77iig7iot, a wanton, 
 favourite, darling. From OHG. 77ii7t7ii^ 
 77ii7i7iia, love ; 7ni7t7ion, Du. 77iinnen, to 
 love ; 7ni7i7ie7i-dra7ick, a love potion ; 
 minnaer, a lover ; Bret. 77tinon, friend ; 
 mino7iach, friendship ; 7niri07iiach, love. 
 
 The G. 7nin7ien very early took a bad 
 sense, insomuch that a printer at Augs- 
 burg in the year 1512, printing a work of 
 Father Amandi, explains that on account 
 of the unseemly senses in which the word 
 77iynn had come to be used, he had 
 throughout substituted for it the word 
 //<?(5.— Schmid. Schwab. Wtb. 
 
 The origin may perhaps be found in 
 ON. 77tin7iast, Sw. mun7ta, 77iinna, Nassau 
 mu7idsen, to kiss (Rietz),from ON. munnr, 
 the mouth, as Lat. oscuhwi, from os. 
 
 To Minish, Fr. inenuiser, to make 
 small ; 77ie7iu, Gael. mea7ibh, Lat. 77tinu- 
 tus, small ; AS. minsian, to grow small ; 
 Sw. 7ninska, to lessen, abate, make small ; 
 Lat. 77iinor, Goth. 77ii7inizo, less ; w. mdn, 
 77iain, small, fine, thin ; Gael. 7nln, soft, 
 smooth, gentle, pulverized, small. 
 
 Minister. One who serves, one in in- 
 ferior place, from 7ni7ius, less, as opposed 
 to 77iagister, the person in superior place, 
 
MINNOW 
 
 from fnagis, more. — R. Martineau in 
 Athenaeum, No. 1417. 
 
 Minnow. Provincially mengy^ men- 
 nous, mennatn, a small kind of fish. The 
 form minnow is identical with Gael. 
 meanbh, little, small. Meanbh-bhith, 
 animalcule ; mitiiasg, small fish, minnow. 
 Mennous or mennys is Fr. menuisc, fry of 
 fish, small fish of divers sorts. — Cot. 
 Mennsa, a menys. — Nominale in Hal. 
 Mennam is from Fr. 7ninime, least, ap- 
 plied to the smallest in several kinds, as 
 a minim in music, a minim or drop in 
 medicine. 
 
 Minor. Lat. minor^ less. 
 
 Minstet". Lat. tnonasteritim^ AS. myn- 
 stre, OFr. monstier, a monastery, then 
 the church attached to it, large cathedral 
 church. 
 
 Minstrel. Lat. ministerittm, Fr. min- 
 ist^re, mestier, occupation, art. OFr. 
 menestrel, a. workman . ' Yram enveiad 
 al rei Salomon un ?;z^;/^j-/r^/merveillus ki 
 bien sout uvrer de or et de argent — e de 
 quanque mestiers en fud.' — Livre des 
 Rois. Confined in process of time to 
 those who ministered to the amusement 
 of the rich by music or jesting, just as in 
 modern times the name of art is special- 
 ly applied to music, sculpture, painting, 
 occupations adapted to gratify the fancy, 
 not the serious necessities of life. 
 
 Li cuens manda les menestrelsy 
 
 Et si a fet crier entr'els. 
 
 Qui la meillor trufe (jest) sauroit 
 
 Dire ne fere, qu'il auroit 
 
 Sa robe d'escarlate neuve. — Roquef. 
 
 Faire mestier, to divert, amuse. 
 
 With ladies, knights, and squiers, 
 
 And a great host of ministers. 
 
 With instruments and sounes diverse. 
 
 Chaucer's Dream, 
 
 Mint. The place where money is 
 struck ; Du. ?riunte, G. miinze, Lat. 
 moneta, money, the stamp with which, or 
 the place where, it was struck. Du. 7nu?i- 
 ten, to mint, or strike money. 
 
 Minute. — Minutiee. Lat. minutus, 
 little, small, from 7nimw, minuium, to 
 make less. A minute is a small division 
 of an hour, and a second (minuta secunda) 
 is a sixtieth of a minute, as that of an 
 hour, or a second sixtieth of an hour. 
 
 Minutes. The rough draft of a pro- 
 ceeding written down at once in minute 
 or small handwriting, to be afterwards 
 engrossed or copied out fair in large 
 writing. See Engross. 
 
 Minx, A proud girl— B. 
 
 Miracle. — Admire. Lat. 77iiror^ aris, 
 to wonder. 
 
 MISCHIEF 
 
 Mire. on. 77iyri, marsh, boggy ground; 
 Du. madder, 77ioeyer, 77ioer, mire, mud ; 
 7noc.r, bog, peat ; moere7i, to trouble, make 
 thick and muddy. See Moor. 
 
 * Mirk,— Murky, on. 77iyrkr, dark- 
 ness ; 77iyrka, to darken, grow dark ; Boh. 
 77irak, darkness, twilight ; 77tracek, a little 
 cloud ; 7nrac7ty, cloudy ; Lap. 77iu7'ko, 
 mist, fog. Illyr. 7nerk, dark ; merkuutij 
 to grow dark. Lith. 77ierkti, to wink ; 
 uz77terkti, to shut the eyes. To wink at a 
 thing is to shut the eyes to it, to make it 
 dark. Boh. 77irkati, to wink ; and, im- 
 personally, it becomes dark ; 77trkdse, it 
 becomes dark, vesperascit, noctescit. A 
 like relation may be observed between 
 Walach. 7nurgu, gray ; 77iurgesce, it be- 
 comes dark, advesperascit, and Pol. 
 7nruga(f, to wink. 
 
 Mirror. Fr. mi7-oir, from 7nirer, to 
 contemplate, admire, Lat. 77iirari. 
 
 Mirth. See Merry. 
 
 Mis. A particle in composition im- 
 plying separation, divergence, error. 
 Goth, missaleiks, sundry, various ; 77iis- 
 sadedi7is, misdeeds, sins ; 7mssatauja7ids, 
 a misdoer, on. 7nis, d 77iis, amiss, other- 
 wise than as it ought to be, unequally ; 
 gera 77iis, hoggva 77iis ; 77iisbori7i7i j 77iis~ 
 radinn, &c., mishdr, 77iisdiupr, unequally 
 high or deep ; 77tisleggia, to lay unequally. 
 Thessi vetr 77tisleggst, this winter is un- 
 steady in temperature, Misscrl, lucky 
 and unlucky by fits ; 77iisgd, to make an 
 oversight ; 77tisgau7tgr, a wrong road ; 
 77iissa, to lose ; N. i 77tysse7i, amiss, wrong ; 
 77iisfa7'a, to go astray. See Miss. w. 
 77iethu, to fail, to miss ; 77iethe7iw, a mis- 
 nomer. 
 
 It is remarkable that 77tes or 77iis, from 
 77ti7ius, less, is used in composition in the 
 Romance languages exactly in the same 
 way as 77iis in the Gothic, Sp, 7nenoscabo, 
 Fr. 77ieschef, mischief ; Sp. 7ne7iosprectar, 
 Fr. 77iespriser, 77tepriser, to put slight 
 value on, to misprise, to make light of ; 
 77iespre7idre, to mistake ; vtesallia7ice, 
 unequal alliance ; It. 77iisfa7'e, to misdo ; 
 77iisleale, disloyal, &c. But probably the 
 use of the particle in the Romance dialects 
 may really have been derived from the 
 influence of the Gothic /nis. The Gael, 
 uses 77ii in the same way ; as from adh, 
 prosperity (AS. eadig, blessed), 77tiddh, 
 misfortune. 
 
 Misanthrope.. — Mis-. Gr. ixiauvOpw- 
 iroQ ; fJiaeo), I hate, and dvOptoirog, a man. 
 
 Miscellaneous. Lat. 7nisceo, to mingle. 
 
 Mischief. Sp. 7ne7ioscabo, Ptg. 7ne7ios- 
 cabo, Cat. menyscap, Pro v. ?;^^j^^/," detri- 
 ment, loss ; Fr. 77teschief, meschef, misfor- 
 
MISCREANT 
 
 tune, from cabo, chef, head, end, and 
 mt?iHS, less ; what turns out ill. 
 
 Miscreant. Fr. mescr^attt, misbeliev- 
 ing ; mescroire (minus credere), to believe 
 amiss. 
 
 -mise. — Demise. — Promise. Lat . 
 mittere, missitm, to send, becomes Fr. 
 viettre, to put, lay, set, whence demettre, 
 to put out of, let go, lay down ; de?nis, 
 let go, given over, and thence E. demise, 
 the laying down of the crown on the death 
 of the king ; a demise of lands, a making 
 over to another person. So from pro- 
 mettre, promis, is E. promise. 
 
 Miser, — Miserable. — Misery. Lat. 
 miser, wretched, in sad plight, pitiful, 
 miserably covetous. 
 
 Misletoe. on. 7nistelteinn, AS. mistel- 
 tari, mistelta, Du. G. mistel. The latter 
 part of our word is ON. teinii, a prong or 
 tine of metal, N. tein, a small stick, shoot 
 of a tree. See Toe. 
 
 Misnomer. A misnaming. Fr. nom- 
 mer, to name. 
 
 Misprision. Fr. tnesprison, error, 
 offence, a thing done or taken amiss, 
 from mespreiidre^ to mistake, transgress, 
 offend. — Cot. 
 
 Miss. A contraction from mistress, 
 or mistris, as it was formerly written, not 
 however by curtailing the word of its last 
 syllable, but more likely by a contracted 
 way of writing M'* or Mis. for Mistriss. 
 
 Jan. 2. Mr Cornelius Bee bookseller in Little 
 Britain died Novr. xi. His two eldest daughters 
 M's Norwood and M's Fletcher, widows, execu- 
 trixes. — Obituary of R. Smith, 1674. Cam. Soc. 
 
 To Mis. Pavis on her excellent dancing. 
 
 Dear Mis. delight of all the nobler sort, 
 Pride of the stage and darling of the court. 
 Flecknoe. A.D. 1669, in N. and Q. 1851. 
 
 So Lang. Mas. for Mademoiselle. 
 
 To Miss. To deviate or err from. — B. 
 ON. missa, to lose ; Du. missen, to fail, to 
 miss. Dan. miste, to miss, to lose. 
 
 The original meaning may perhaps be 
 preserved in Dan. niisse, to wink or blink ; 
 missende binen, blinking eyes ; at misse 
 med bitten, to blink. Then (by a train of 
 thought similar to that which leads us to 
 speak of blinking a question, for slipping 
 on one side, failing to meet it directly) to 
 miss, to fail to hit, to go astray. Blench 
 (from blink), a start, a deviation. — Nares. 
 Compare Dan. glippe, to wink, to slip, to 
 miss, to fail. Myssyn, as eyen for dym- 
 ness, caligo. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 MissaL Mid. Lat. missal e, a book 
 containing the service of the (Lat. jiiissa) 
 mass. 
 
 MITE 
 
 425 
 
 -miss. -mit. — Mission. Lat. tnitto, 
 missum, to send, cast, throw, whence 
 Commit, Emit, Remit, Remiss, Sec, 
 
 Mist. — Misle. — Mizzle, on. mistr, G. 
 mist, Du. miest, thickness of the air, 
 mist ; missen, miesten, mieselen, nebulam 
 exhalare, rorare tenuem pluviam ; miese- 
 linge, nebula. — Kil. AS. mistian, mis- 
 trian, to grow dim. His eagan ne mis- 
 tredon, his eyes were not dimmed. — 
 Deut. 34. 7. The fundamental idea 
 is probably the effect of the mist in 
 obscuring the view, expressed by the 
 figure of muddling water, and the word 
 appears closely related to E. muzzy, in- 
 distinct in outhne, confused with drink. 
 Pl.D. musseln (sudeln), to work in wet 
 and dirt ; bemusseln, to bedaub (Schiitze) ; 
 musseln {itiuuschen — Schiitze), to drizzle, 
 mizzle ; musslig wilder, drizzly weather, 
 Danneil. When the seaman speaks of 
 dirty weather he is not thinking of the 
 dirt under foot, but of the thickness of 
 the air and dirtiness of the view. So 
 from on. mbr, clay, peat, moa, to dawb 
 with mud ; fiu mbar i fjallit, the hills 
 are obscured by mist or snow. Pl.D. 
 smudden, smuddeln, smullen, smuddern, 
 properly to dabble in the wet, to dawb, 
 smear, dirty ; dat weder smullet, idt 
 stnuddert, it drizzles, it is moist, dirty 
 weather ; smudderregn, smuttregn, G. 
 schmutzregen {schmutz, dirt) mizzling 
 rain. Gael, sjnod, dirt, filth, dust, driz- 
 zling rain, moist haziness. 
 
 Fin. muta, Esth. mutta, mud, soil, Fin. 
 musta, Esth. must, black, seem to be 
 related forms. ' Der wolken dunst und 
 schivarze mist.^ — Opitz. 
 
 Mistress. Fr. maistresse, maitresse, 
 fem. of maitre, master. 
 
 * Mite. A minute portion of a thing, 
 anything very small. 
 
 The ants thrust in their stings and instil into 
 them a small mite of their stinging liquor. — Ray. 
 
 Craven smite, a small quantity. Sw. 
 dial, smit, Gael, smiot, a particle. It is 
 probable that mite is a modification of 
 mote, expressing diminution by the thin- 
 ning of the vowel. An intermediate form 
 is seen in Cleveland moit, a small particle. 
 
 ' The meat was eaten up, every moit! ' There 
 was nowther head nor hair on't, f/ioit or doit,' 
 every fragment had disappeared. — Whitby Gl. 
 
 It is most probable that mite in the 
 sense of the smallest possible coin is 
 merely a special application of the gen- 
 eral sense of something very small, in the 
 same way that doit was also used for a 
 small coin. Du. mijte, minutia, minutum, 
 obeli vilissimi genus, vulgo mita. — Kil. 
 
426 
 
 MITIGATE 
 
 Fr. w//^,'the smallest of coins. — Cot. The 
 derivation from minute is unlikely, al- 
 though Wiclifif speaks of the poor widow 
 casting in * two mynutis^ that is, a far- 
 thing.' 
 
 Another application is to the mites in 
 cheese or the like, the smallest of insects, 
 hardly individually distinguishable. OHG. 
 wiza^ Du. viijte^ inijdte^ Sp. niita, Fr. 
 mite^ ntitofiy acarus. See Mote. 
 
 Mitigate. Lat. mitigare, from mitis, 
 meek, gentle, mild. 
 
 Mitre. Gr. /uiVpa, a girdle, a fillet 
 round the head, chaplet, the turban of 
 the Asiatics. 
 
 * Mitten. Fr. mitaine^ miton, a winter 
 glove ; Gael, mutan, a muff, thick glove, 
 cover for a gun ; miotag, tnutag, a mitten 
 or worsted glove. The name seems to 
 have come from Lap. inudda, N. inudd^ 
 modd, Sw. lapmudd, a cloak of reindeer 
 skin ; Fin. rmiti^ a garment of reindeer 
 skin, a hairy shoe or glove ; Sw. imidd^ a 
 furred glove. It may be however that 
 the notion of a furred glove is expressed 
 by the type of catskin. Fr. miton^ a cat ; 
 mitoufle, furred like a cat or with cat- 
 skins ; wrapped about with furs or cat- 
 furred garments. — Cot. Bav. nmdel^ 
 77iaui2, imitz, the cat, then catskin, fur in 
 general. 
 
 To Mix. G. fnischen, Bohem. inisyti, 
 Lat. iniscere, Gr. fiiayeiv, fiiyvvtiv, to mix ; 
 Pol. mieszaif, to agitate, stir, mix, con- 
 fuse ; Lith. maiszyti^ to mix, to stir, to 
 work dough, knead, to make a disturb- 
 ance ; maiszytis, to be confused, to mix 
 oneself in a matter ; maisztas, confusion, 
 uproar ; Gael, inasg, infuse, steep, com- 
 pound, mix ; measg, mix, mingle ; w. 
 vjysgu, to mix ; mysgi, confusion, tumult. 
 
 Mixen. A dung-heap ; AS. tneox, 
 dung, filth ; Du. mest, mist, mesch, dung, 
 litter, manure ; Goth, maihstus, G. mist, 
 dung ; OHG. mistunnea, mistina, E.. dial. 
 niisken, a dung-heap. Let. mezu, mest, 
 to sweep, to cleanse, and specially {aus- 
 misteii) to carry out dung, mesls, sweep- 
 ings ; Lith. mezu, meszti, to carry dung ; 
 mezinys, meszlynas, a dung-heap. Boh. 
 metu, mesti, smesti, to sweep ; metla, a 
 besom ; smeti, rubbish, sweepings, sme- 
 tisko, a laystall, dunghill. In like manner 
 E. shard, Swiss schorete, dung, from schar- 
 ren, schoren, to scrape, to sweep out dung ; 
 W. ysgarth, offscouring, dung, from Bret. 
 skarza, to sweep, to cleanse. And see 
 Muck. 
 
 Mizzen. Fr. misaine, the foresail of a 
 ship — Cot. ; It. mezzana, a. latteen, a tri- 
 angular sail with a long sloping yard un- 
 
 MOB 
 
 equally divided, so that a small part at 
 the lower end is before the mast. The 
 poop or mizzen sail in a ship was formerly 
 a sail of this description, but afterwards 
 the part of the sail before the mast was 
 cut off for convenience of management, 
 and it was converted into a fore and aft 
 sail. — Roding, Marine Diet. The signi- 
 fication of mezzana is mean, what lies 
 between both ; perhaps as lying along 
 the middle of the ship, in opposition to a 
 square sail, which lies across it. 
 
 To Mizzle. See Mist. 
 
 To Moan. as. mce>iaft, OE. to mean., 
 mene, Swab, mannett, to speak with the 
 mouth nearly shut ; maunzen, to speak in 
 a whining tone. 
 
 Moat. Fr. mothe, a little earthen for- 
 tress, or strong house built on a hill ; 
 motte, a clod, lump of earth ; also a little 
 hill, a fit seat for a fort or strong house, 
 also such a fort. — Cot. Mote, a dyke, 
 embankment, causey. — Roquef. ' Le 
 motte de mon manoir de Caieux et les 
 fossez entour.' — Chart. A.D. 1329, in 
 Carp. * Sans raparelier motte ne fos- 
 sez.' — Chart. .A.D. 1292, ibid. It. 7nota^ 
 a moat about a house. — Fl. As in 
 ditch and dike the same name is given 
 to a bank of earth and the hollow 
 out of which it is dug, so it seems that 
 moat signified first the mound of earth 
 on which a fort was raised, and then the 
 surrounding ditch from whence the earth 
 had been taken. Mid. Lat. iiiota, a hill 
 or mound on which a fort was built, or 
 the fort itself. ' Motam altissimam sive 
 dunjonem eminentem in munitionis sig- 
 num firmavit, et in aggerem coacervavit.' 
 — Lambertus Ardensis in Due. ' Mos 
 est ditioribus quibusque hujus regionis — 
 eo quod maxime inimicitiis vacare soleant 
 exercendis — terrse aggerem quantae prae- 
 valent celsitudinis congerere,eiquefossam 
 quam lat^ patentem — circumfodere, et 
 supremam aggeris crepidinem, vallo ex 
 lignis tabulatis — vice muri circummunire, 
 turribusque — per gyrum depositis — do- 
 mum, vel quas omnia despiciat arcem in 
 medio asdificare.'— Due. 
 
 Mob. Contracted from mobile vulgus, 
 the giddy multitude. 
 
 Fall from their sovereign's side to court the mo-' 
 
 bile, 
 O London, London, where's thy loyalty ? 
 
 D'Urfey in Nares. 
 
 Dryden sometimes uses mobile, and men- 
 tions the contracted mob as a novelty. 
 
 Yet to gratify the barbarous part of my audi- 
 ence I gave them a short rabble scene, because 
 the mob (as they call them) are represented by 
 
MOB-CAP 
 
 Plutarch and Polybius with the same cnaracter 
 of baseness and cowardice as are here described. 
 — Pref. to Cleomenes, 1692. 
 
 Mob-cap. Mob, a woman's nightcap. 
 — B. To mab, mob, moble, mobble, to 
 muffle up. 
 
 The moon doth mobble up herself. 
 
 Shirley in Nares, 
 
 Their heads and faces are mabbed in fine linen 
 that no more is seen of them than their eyes. — 
 Sandys' Travels, ibid. 
 
 ODu. moppen, to wrap up . ' Om te gaan 
 bemopt om 't hooft,' to go muffled up about 
 the head. — Weiland. To mop, to muffle 
 up. — Hal. Du. 7nop-muts, a muffling 
 cap ; Pl.D. mopp, a woman's cap. 
 
 To moble, inobble, is probably a mere 
 variation of imiffle, formed from Du. mop- 
 pen, to mutter, as muffle from the analo- 
 gous G. muffeji, muffeln,X.o mutter, to speak 
 indistinctly. Gael, moibleadh, mumbling. 
 But see Mop. 
 
 To Mock. Fr. se moquer, to deride. 
 The radical image is the muttering sounds 
 made by a person out of temper, repre- 
 sented by the syllable mok or muk, which 
 thus becomes a root in the formation of 
 words signifying displeasure and the ges- 
 tures which express it, making mouths, 
 deriding, mocking. G. muckeii, to make 
 a sound as if one was beginning to speak 
 but breaks off again immediately, the 
 lowest articulate sound, which sound is 
 called muck or mucks. Hence mucke?t, 
 to make mouths at one, look surly or gruff, 
 show one's ill-will by a surly silence, 
 pouting out one's hps, &:c. — Kuttn. Pl.D. 
 mukken, to make faces, look sour — 
 Schiitze ; Milan, ntoccold, to -.mutter, 
 grumble; moccd, to make faces ;v Du. 
 mocken, buccam ducere sive movere. — 
 Kil. Sp. mucca, a grimace ; It, mocca, a 
 mocking or apish mouth. — Fl. Esthon. 
 mok, lips, snout, mouth. Making mouths 
 is the first expression of displeasure and 
 defiance to which the child has resort. 
 Gr. fiwKog, mockery ; /^wkj^w, to mock. 
 
 Mode. Lat . modus, Fr. mode, manner, 
 fashion, way, means. The ultimate ex- 
 planation may perhaps be found in the 
 Finnish dialects. Lap. rnuoto, face, coun- 
 tenance, likeness, image ; Fin. muoto, 
 appearance, form, mode, or manner ; 
 mo7iella muodolla, in many modes ; mo- 
 nen-muotaineft, multiform ; Magy. mod, 
 method, manner. ON. mdt, image, model, 
 appearance, likeness, condition, manner, 
 mode ; 7ndta, to form. Sw. itidtt, mea- 
 sure ; jndtta, measure, moderation, man- 
 ner, wise ; sd mdtta, in this wise. Da. 
 
 MOLE 
 
 427 
 
 ifiaade, measure, mode, manner, way, 
 moderation. 
 
 Model. Fr. 7nodele, It. modello, a 
 mould or pattern, the measure or bigness 
 of a thing ; OHG. modiil, Lat. moduhis, 
 dim. of modus, a measure. 
 
 Moderate. — Modest. — Modify. — Mo- 
 dulate. Lat. moderare, modes tus, modi- 
 ficare, modulare, from modus, measure, 
 mean, proportion. 
 
 Modern. Fr. modente. It. moderno, of 
 late times, from Lat. modo, now, but lately, 
 as hodiernus from Jiodie. — Diez. 
 
 Mohair. Fr, inoire, mouaire, G, mohr, 
 sort of camlet. 
 
 Moiety. Lat, medietas, Prov. meitad, 
 Fr, moitie, half. 
 
 To Moil. I. To daub with dirt.— B. 
 Properly to wet, the senses of wetting 
 and dirtying being closely connected. 
 A monk that took the spryngill with a manly 
 
 chere, 
 And, as the manere is, moilid all their patis 
 Everich after othir, — Pardoner and Tapster. 
 
 It. molle, soft, wet ; mollare, to soak, 
 moisten, soften ; Cat. mulyar, Fr. mouil- 
 ler, to wet. 
 
 2. To drudge ; perhaps only a second- 
 ary application from the laborious efforts 
 of one struggling through wet and mud. 
 
 A simple soul much like myself did once a ser- 
 pent find, 
 
 Which (almost dead with cold) lay moiling in 
 the mire. — Gascoigne in R. 
 
 But it may be from Castrais mal, a forge- 
 hammer ; 7nalha, to forge, to form by 
 hammering, and figuratively, to work la- 
 boriously. Compare to ha77wter, to work 
 or labour. — Hal, 
 
 Moist, Fr. 77ioiste, 77toite, Limousin 
 77tousti, Grisons 77iuost, Milan. 77ioisc, 
 Bret. 77iouez, w, 77twyd, wet, damp. 
 
 To Moither. — ^"Mither, — Moider. 
 Moithered, confused, oppressed with 
 work. Perhaps to be explained from the 
 figure of water made thick by stirring up. 
 •Da. 77tuddre, to work in the mud ; 77iud- 
 d7'et, muddled, troubled, thick. But it 
 may belong to G. 77iude, tired ; Walser, 
 77iuadi, weariness ; 77iuadar, tired out 
 with importunities. 
 
 Molar, Lat, 7)wla7'is, a grinding tooth, 
 from 7iiola, a hand-mill. 
 
 Mole, I. AS. 77taal, 771CbI, a blot, spot, 
 blemish ; G. 7ttahl, a spot or mark ; 77iut~ 
 termahl, a mole or natural mark on the 
 skin ; eiseTimahl, an ironmold, as it is 
 written with an erroneous d, an iron-spot ; 
 obst77iahl, wein77tahl, &c., a spot or stain 
 from fruit, wine, &c. Mahle7i, to paint. 
 Lat. 7nacula, a spot. 
 
42? 
 
 MOLE 
 
 2. Fr. violc^ It. 7nolo^ a pier or bank 
 built out into the sea, from Lat. moles, a 
 mass, bulk, and specially a mole in the 
 foregoing sense. 
 
 Mole, 3. — Mould-warp. Du. nwl, 
 molworp, G. jnaidwerf, from his habit of 
 casting up little hillocks of jnould or 
 earth ; AS. wcorpan, G. werfen, to cast. 
 
 Molecule. Fr. molecule, dim. of Lat. 
 vzo/es, a mass. 
 
 Molest. Lat. molesfus, troublesome, 
 grievous. 
 
 To Moll. See To Hull, 2. 
 
 Mollify. From Lat. mollis, soft. 
 
 Mollusc. Lat. molluscus, der. from 
 mollis, soft ; mollusca, a nut with a soft 
 shell. 
 
 Moment. — Momentous. Lat. mo- 
 vieiittim (for movimeiituni), what causes 
 a thing to move ; met. the weight or im- 
 portance of a thing ; also the passing 
 instant, the least portion of time. 
 
 Monarch. — Mono-. Gr. ^dvoc, only ; 
 ^ovapi^tjc, a sole ruler. 
 
 Monastery. Gr. fiovaaTrjpiov, a place 
 in which the life of a solitary may be led, 
 from fi'jvog, alone ; /uoi/d^w, to lead a soli- 
 tary life. 
 
 Monday. Moon-day, dies Lunas. 
 
 Money. Fr. mojinaie, Lat. moneta. 
 
 Monger. as. mangian, to traffic, 
 trade. Hu my eel gehwilc gemangode, 
 how much each had made by trade. — 
 Luke xix. 15. Ma7tgere,z. trader; man- 
 gimghus, a house of merchandise. ON. 
 manga, to chaffer, to trade ; kanpmanga, 
 to bargain ; rndnga7'i, a dealer, a money- 
 changer; Du. manghelen, mangheren, to 
 exchange merchandise, to trade; mangher, 
 maggher, an exchanger of wares ; Swiss 
 mangeln, mankeln, to swap, exchange ; 
 ina7igeler, mankeler, G. makler, a broker. 
 Often derived from Lat. mango, a slave- 
 dealer, horse-dealer, but it is very un- 
 likely that this term, which has left no 
 representative in the Romance languages, 
 should so widely have taken root in the 
 Teutonic and Scandinavian. 
 
 Mongrel, It. mongrellino, of mixed 
 breed. Du. me?ighen, to mingle, with 
 the termination rel, as in pickerel, a small 
 pike. 
 
 Monition. — Monitor, -monish. Lat. 
 7no7ieo, monitujn, to advise, warn. 
 
 Monk. G. monch, Lat. monachus, Gr. 
 \iovaypQ, solitary, a monk ; fiovovxia, soli- 
 tary life, from /udvot;, alone, and i%w, to 
 keep. 
 
 * Monkey. Bret, monna, moiinika, 
 female ape. — Legon. in v. marmouz. It. 
 fno7ia, 7/t07i7ta, a nickname for a monkey, 
 
 MOOR 
 
 an ape, or a cat, as we say. Jack, Pug, or 
 Puss ; 7ii07iina, 77ionicc/iio, monkey. — Fl. 
 Sp. 7710710, 77i07ia, moukey. Probably at 
 first a fondling name for a cat. Fr. 77iino7i, 
 i7ii7iet, Castrais 7/ii7wu, 77ion7iou, puss, kit- 
 ten, little cat. 
 
 Monsoon. Ptg. j7ton^ao, 7nougao, It. 
 t7insso7te, Fr. 77ioiisso7i, mo7iso7t. From 
 Arab. 77iansi7n, fixed epoch, appropriate 
 season, feast held at a certain season. 
 In Yemen, says Niebuhr, they give the 
 name of 77iansi77i to the four months of 
 April, May, June, and July, in which the 
 vessels sail from India. From the sense 
 of fixed season it easily passed to that of 
 wind blowing from a certain quarter at 
 the season in question. Thus the Arabs 
 of the Archipelago speak of the 77ionsi77i 
 be7'at, or 77tousi77i ti77wr, the western or 
 eastern monsoon. Barros explains the 
 word 77iou^ao in one place as signifying 
 season for sailing to certain quarters, and 
 in another as a regular wind. — Engelberg. 
 
 Monster, -monstrate. Lat. 771071- 
 stru77i; 77i07istrare, to point out, make a 
 show of. Hence De77io7istrate, to point 
 out; Rc77io7istrate, to show reasons against. 
 
 Month. See Moon. 
 
 Monument. Lat. 77io7iU77ie7itu77i, some- 
 thing to warn or remind, from 77io7ieo, to 
 advise, admonish. 
 
 Mood. I. Du. 7/ioed, G. 77mth, on. 
 77i6dr, spirit, courage, disposition of mind. 
 
 2. Lat. 77todiis, in grammar, a certain 
 form of inflection indicating the mode or 
 manner in which the meaning of the verb 
 is presented to the hearer. 
 
 Moon. — Month. Goth. 77te7ia, ON. 
 77ia7ia, G. 77i07id, Gr. \ir\vr], Lith. 7/ie7m, 
 gen. 77ienesis, the moon ; 77ie7iesis, Lat. 
 77ie7isis, Gr. ^jjr, G. 77i07iat, a month, the 
 period of the moon's revolution. 
 
 Moor. I . Lat. Manrns, an inhabitant 
 of the eastern part of Africa. From Gr. 
 fiavpog, black. ' Nigri manus ossea Maicri.^ 
 ' Et Mauri celeres et Mauro obscurior 
 Indus.' — Juvenal. Mavpdw,to darken, blind, 
 make dim or obscure. Mod.Gr. [xavpog, 
 black, brown ; fiavpovb), to blacken, to 
 stain ; Boh. 77iaitr, N. 77iur, coal-dust ; 
 Boh. 77iaurek, a grey cat ; 77iaurowy, grey ; 
 Du. 77ioor, a black or bay horse — Kil. ; 
 Serv. 77ior, dark blue. Probably 77io7'ii7n, 
 a mulberry, has its name from its dark 
 colour. 
 
 Moor, 2. — Morass. — Mire. ON. 77idr, 
 heath, moor, peat ; 77iyri, 77iyrr, marsh, 
 bog, fen ; ohg. 77iuor, palus ; G. 7noor, 
 77id7'e, OlDcrD. i7iur, Du. 77ioer, moor, 
 marshy, turfy ground. Sw. 77i07'as, Du. 
 77ioe7'as, G. 77io7'asl, morass. 
 
MOOR. 
 
 The Du. moder, modder^ moyer, nioer^ 
 mud, modder^ moeder, inoyer, dregs, mother 
 or thick grounds of a Hquid, and G, mode?', 
 mud, mire, mother or dregs of wine or 
 oil, seem to show that the words at the 
 head of the article are contracted forms 
 analogous to E. smoor, from smother, Sw. 
 far, mor, ior father, mother, E. sltir, from 
 sludder. The ultimate origin is probably 
 to be found in forms like madder, modder, 
 signifying to dabble or paddle, to stir up 
 and trouble the water, to make it thick 
 with mud. In this sense we have Pl.D. 
 maddern, moddern, to paddle in wet 
 (Danneil), Du. modden, moddelen, to grub 
 in the dirt, E. ^middle, to dabble as ducks 
 with their bills in the wet, to disturb beer 
 or water. — Moor. Serv. miitlyati, mutiti, 
 to stir up, trouble, or make thick. Boh. 
 matlati, to daub, matlanina, confusion, 
 G. schmaddern, Du. s7nodderen, to daub, 
 to dirty. 
 
 The foregoing forms must, I think, be 
 entirely separated from Fr. mare, a pud- 
 dle, marais, Du. maerasch, E. marsh, Lat. 
 mare, Goth. marei,\v. mor, sea, &c. 
 
 To Moor. Du. niarren, maren, to tie, 
 to moor ; Fr. aiiiarrer, marer, to moor. 
 See Marl. 
 
 Moot. AS. mot, gemot, an assembly ; 
 mot-em, mot-hus, a meeting-place, moot- 
 hall ; motan, to cite before the moot or 
 court of justice ; E. to moot, to discuss a 
 question as in a court of justice ; moot- 
 point, a doubtful point, a point which 
 admits of being mooted or argued on 
 opposite sides. AS. gemot, meeting, assem- 
 bly, council, deliberation. Witenagemot, 
 the assembly of wise men, or great council 
 of the Saxon Kings. See Meet. 
 
 Mop. Properly a bunch of clouts. It. 
 paiinatore, a maulkin, a map of rags or 
 clouts to rub withal. — Fl. Lat. mappa, 
 a napkin, was doubtless the same word, 
 and in thew. of England mop is a napkin, 
 also a tuft of grass. Gael, mab, mob, a 
 tuft, tassel, mop ; mobach, tufty, shaggy ; 
 niaibean, moibean, moibeal, a bunch, clus- 
 ter, tuft, mop, besom. It is essentially 
 the same word with E. bob, a tassel, or 
 dangling bunch ; Gael, babag, baban, a 
 tassel, or cluster. 
 
 Mop is also used for a doll, a bunch of 
 clouts, whence moppet, a term of endear- 
 ment for a child. 
 
 To Mop and Mow. To gibber and 
 make faces. To mop is a parallel form 
 of precisely the same origin and significa- 
 tion as mock. Du. moppen, Pl.D. mnpsen, 
 to mutter, grumble, be out of temper ; 
 Swiss mupfen, to wry the face, to deride ; 
 
 MORGANATIC 
 
 429 
 
 Gael, moibleadh, mumbling ; Bav. mnffen^ 
 to mutter, grumble, hang the mouth ; 
 Rouchi, moufeter, to move the lips ; Du. 
 jnaffelen, moffeleti, buccas movere. — Kil. 
 
 Swiss mauen, mauwen, to chew ; mafiel, 
 muhel, a sour face ; miihelen, to make a 
 sour face ; Fr. faire la moue, to make a 
 moe or mow, to show ill-temper by thrust- 
 ing out the lips. Faire la moue ajix 
 harengi^res, to stand on the pillory ; 
 Milan, y^ la mocca al so, Fr. morgiier le 
 ciel, to make faces at the sun or sky, to 
 be hanged. 
 
 To Mope. To be silent, inactive, and 
 dispirited. From E. mop, Du. moppen, 
 to make wry faces, hang the lip, pout, 
 sulk. Ill the mops, sulky. — Hal. The 
 senses of being out of temper and out of 
 spirits closely border on each other, and 
 are manifested by similar behaviour. 
 Mopsical, low-spirited. — Hal. Swiss viu- 
 dern (originally, like moppen, signifying 
 to mutter), is used in the senses of look- 
 ing sour, out of temper, of moping like 
 moulting fowls ; miiderlen, to go about 
 in a half sleepy, troubled way. 
 
 * Nor shalt thou not thereof be reck- 
 oned the more moope and fool, but the 
 more wise.' — Vives in R. E. dial, inop, a 
 fool, maups, a silly fellow ; Du. maf, 
 fatigued, dull, lazy. Jemaiid voor het 
 mafje houden, to make a laughing-stock 
 of one. 
 
 Moral. — Moralist. Lat. 7nos, maris, 
 custom, manner, rite. 
 
 Morass. See Moor, 2. 
 
 Morbid. Lat. morbus, disease. 
 
 Mordant. Fr. mordre, Lat. mordere, 
 to bite. 
 
 More. — Most. as. ma, more ; thcEs 
 the ma, so much the more ; 771a tho7i7ie, 
 rather than ; 7icBf7'e 77ia, never more, never 
 again. Mara, greater, more. Du. 77ieer, 
 77ieest, more, most. Gael. 7710, 77idr, 77tbid, 
 great, many, much ; 77ib7'aich, to enlarge ; 
 7770, greater, greatest ; w. 77iawr, much ; 
 771'wy, greater, more ; 77twyaf, greatest, 
 most ; Sp. 77iuy, much, very ; Bret. 77iui, 
 77iuioc''h, more, most. 
 
 More. Root of a tree or herb. To 
 77tore, to grub up by the root. Layamon, 
 speaking of people driven to the woods, 
 says : 
 
 Hii leoueden bi wortes 
 And bi many wedes, 
 Bi mores and bi rotes. 
 
 Devonshire 7nore, a turnip. G. 77idhre, 
 carrot. 
 
 Morganatic. It was the privilege of 
 the feudatory, among the Lombards and 
 other branches of Teutonic race, to endow 
 
430 
 
 MORION 
 
 MORTAR 
 
 ^ 
 
 his wife on the morrow of the wedding 
 with a hmited portion of his fortune, 
 without the assent of his heir, under the 
 name of 7norgengabe or morning gift : — 
 * quod unusquisque mihtaris ordinis suee 
 uxori, sine hasredum assensu, nomine 
 dotis erogare valet, antequam cum ei ad 
 prandium discubuerit.' — Sachsenspiegel 
 in Due. 
 
 The word was variously Latinized 
 under the forms jnorganaticum, imirgan- 
 ale^ miirgitatio. The first of these forms 
 is used in the contract of Leopold of Aus- 
 tria with Catherine of Savoy, A.D. 1310, 
 where he engages ' seepe dictte Catherinae 
 morganaticutn assignare ad nostianii arbi- 
 trium : de quo inorganatico ordinare et 
 disponere poterit.' — Cited from Heinec- 
 cius, Elementa Juris Germ, in N. & Q., 
 July 16, 1864. Carp, also gives an in- 
 stance of the use of the word in the same 
 sense. 
 
 At a subsequent period the name of 
 matrimoniuin ad morganaticam, or mor- 
 ganatic tnarriage, was given to a second 
 marriage between a man of rank and a 
 woman of inferior position, in which it 
 was stipulated that she should only have 
 claim to the fortune bestowed on her by 
 morgengabe, without partaking in the 
 rank, or transmitting to her children any 
 further right to the inheritance of her 
 husband. The word is thus clearly ex- 
 plained in the section, ' De filiis natis ex 
 matrimonio ad morganaticam contracto,' 
 cited in Due. Henschel. ' Quidam habens 
 filium ex nobili conjuge, post mortem ejus 
 non valens continere, aliam minus nobi- 
 lem duxit : qui nolens existere in peccato, 
 eam desponsavit ea lege ut nee ipsa nee 
 filii ejus amplius habeant de bonis pater- 
 nis quam dixerit tempore sponsaliorum : 
 verbi gratia, decern libras, vel quantum 
 voluerit dare quando eam desponsavit, 
 quod Mediolanenses dicunt accipere ux- 
 orem ad morganaticam.^ 
 
 Morion. Fr., Sp. morrioti, It. mo7'i- 
 one, a kind of helmet, perhaps a Moorish 
 helmet, as burganet, a Burgundian one. 
 Du. Mooriaan^ a Moor. 
 
 Morkin. A wild beast found dead, 
 carrion ; 
 
 Could he not sacrifice 
 Some sorry 7norkin that unbidden dies, 
 Or meagre heifer, or some rotten ewe. 
 
 Bp. Hall in R. 
 
 The resemblance to ON. 7norkinn, Sw. 
 murken, rotten, is, I believe, accidental, 
 as rottenness is not the essential notion 
 of the thing, but accidental death. It 
 agrees exactly with Lat. morticinus, cat- 
 
 tle dead of itself; Boh. mrcJia, mrssina, 
 carcase, carrion, hence an old worn-out 
 horse ; Serv, mrtzina, carrion ; fnrtza, 
 mrtatz, corpse ; imiyeti, vireti, to die. 
 Fr. moritte, carcase of a dead beast. 
 
 Morning'. — Morrow. Goth, maur- 
 gins, G. 7norgen, ON. 77torgu7t, morn. 
 Written 7iioro'W7ii7ig in Capgr. Chron. 45. 
 The radical meaning is probably the time 
 at which the sky becomes grey. The 
 grey of the morning is a frequent ex- 
 pression for early dawn. Walach. 77tiirgu, 
 grey ; 77iurgitu^ twilight ; 77iurgesce, it be- 
 comes dark, advesperascit, incipit cre- 
 pusculum. Lang, mouighe, black, dressed 
 in black. On this principle Galla bora^ 
 to be grey, signifies also to dawn ; bora, 
 grey, thick, dirty ; born, the morning, to- 
 morrow, agreeing in a remarkable man- 
 ner with w. boreu, morning ; bo7'euo, to 
 dawn. Perhaps the ultimate root of the 
 expression may lie in the notion of wink- 
 ing, as in the case of Mirk above explain- 
 ed. Pol. 77t7'ugac, to wink ; Lith. 77iirgeti 
 (flimmern, blinken), to glimmer, where it 
 will be observed that bli7ike7i, by which 
 Nesselmann explains the word, has the 
 senses both of winking and gleaming. 
 
 Morphew. It. 77iorfea, inorfia, Fr. 
 77to7-fee. 
 
 Morse. The walrus or sea-horse. Russ. 
 77101'j \Fr.j). 
 
 Morsel. A mouthful. Fr. 7ttorqeait, 
 It. 7}torso, 77io)^sello, irom 7iiordere, to bite, 
 as the equivalent E. bit from bite. See 
 Mortar. 
 
 Mort. A great quantity ; murth, an 
 abundance. — B. on. 77iargt, neuter of 
 77iargr, much ; 77iart (adv.), much ; 7nergd, 
 copia, multitude. — Gudm. 
 
 Mortal. — Mortify. Lat. morior, 71107-- 
 tutis, to die ; mors, 77wrtis, death. Russ. 
 77terety, Sanscr. mri, to die ; Gr. pporog, 
 mortal. 
 
 Mortar, i. A vessel to pound in. 
 Lat. morta7'iu77i, Fr. 7nortier, It. mortaro, 
 G. 7ndrser. Pl.D. 7nnrt, what is crushed 
 or ground ; murte7i, to crush, to mash ; 
 Bav. der7niirse7i, der7Hurschen, to pound, 
 grind ; gemiirsel, crushed stone. Mtir- 
 sell, minutal, est quidam cibus. — Gl. in 
 Schmeller. Fin. 77iurtaa, to break ; 77ittr- 
 to, things broken ; mttrska, crushed, 
 broken to pieces ; 77iurskata, to crush ; 
 Esthon. 77iiird77ia, to break. Lat. 77tor- 
 dere, to break with the teeth, to bite. 
 
 2. Morter, the cement made of lime 
 and sand. Lat. 77iortariu77t, Fr. mortier, 
 G. 77tdrtel, is probably to be explained 
 from the materials being pounded up to- 
 gether. ' In Greece they have a cast by 
 
MORTGAGE 
 
 themselves, to temper and beat in mor- 
 ters the mortar made of hme and sand, 
 wherewith they mean to parget and cover 
 their walls, with a great wooden pestilL' 
 — Holland's Pliny in R. Du. mortel, 
 gravel, brick-dust ; te inortel slaan, to 
 beat to pieces ; mortelen^ to fall to pieces. 
 
 Mortgage. Fr. inort, dead, and gage, 
 pledge. A pledge of lands to be the pro- 
 perty of the creditor for ever if the money 
 is not paid on a certain day. See Mort- 
 main. 
 
 Mortise. Fr. 7nortaise, a notch cut in 
 one piece of wood to receive the tenon, or 
 projection by which another piece is 
 made to hold it. Probably from Lat. 
 mordere, to bite, as inorsus is applied to 
 the thing or place in which a buckle, 
 javelin, knife, &c., sticks. Morsus robo- 
 ris — Virg., the cleft of the tree in which 
 the javelin of ^neas had lodged. 
 
 Mortmain, Fr. mort, dead, and main, 
 hand. The transfer of property to a cor- 
 poration, a hand which can never part 
 with it again. 
 
 Mosaick. Mid.Lat. muscEum, musi- 
 vmn, mosivimi, musaicum, or mosaiciuti 
 opus, inlaid work of figures formed by 
 small coloured pieces of glass. The 
 origin of the name unknown. 
 
 Mosque. Fr. mosquee, It. meschita, 
 Sp. mesquita, Arab, mesdjid, signifying a 
 place where one prostrates oneself, from 
 sadjada, to prostrate. — Engelberg. 
 
 Moss. Fr. mousse. It. musco, muscio, 
 Lat. muscus, G. moos, moss ; Du. mos, 
 mosch, Sp. moho, moss, mould ; mohoso, 
 mouldy, mossy; PoL mech, Magy. moh, 
 moss. 
 
 ON. most, G. moos, are also used, as E. 
 moss, for moss-grown, swampy, or moory 
 places. Donau-moos, Erdinger-moos, 
 tracts of such land in Bavaria. 
 
 Most. See More. 
 
 Mote. A meeting. See Moot. 
 
 ♦ Mote. AS. jnot, atomus. — Matt. vii. 
 3. Cleveland moit, a small particle ; moits 
 and shivs, the particles of wood and other 
 foreign substances from which the wool 
 has to be cleansed after scouring. Sp. 
 mota, a mote or small particle, a bit of 
 thread or the like sticking to cloth, a 
 slight defect. 
 
 Probably distinct from Du. mot,AviS\., 
 sweepings, where the radical idea seems 
 essentially different. Moit in Yorkshire 
 (the equivalent of mote, mite) is used with 
 doit (corresponding to dot or Jot) in order 
 to strengthen the expression. Neither 
 moit nor doit, not an atom. — Whitby Gl. 
 The formation of these words may be un- 
 
 MOTHER 
 
 431 
 
 derstood from such expressions as those 
 quoted under Motto. 
 
 The syllables mot, tot, gru, mik, kik, 
 used in the first place to represent the 
 slightest sound, are transferred to a slight 
 movement, an atom or particle of bodily 
 substance. Thus Gr. ypu is used in both 
 senses. Ohhk ypv, not a sound, not an 
 atom. Sc. gru, a grain, a small particle. 
 And so jnot, which in Fr. signifies a word 
 or single element of speech, corresponds 
 to E. fnote, moit, mite, an atom. The Du. 
 use mikken and kikken as the G. miicken, 
 for the utterance of a slight sound. Nie- 
 mand dorst mikken nog kikken (Halma), 
 no one durst open his mouth. Hence 
 may be explained It. mica and cica, a jot. 
 Precisely analogous is the train of thought 
 in Gael, diirdail, murmuring ; diird, a 
 hum, buzz (Macalpine), a syllable (Mac- 
 leod) ; diirdan, duradari, a mote, an atom. 
 
 Moth. Two series of forms are com- 
 monly confounded. On the one hand we 
 have Goth, matha, AS. matha, mathu, a 
 worm, Du. made, OHG. mado, a maggot, 
 ON. madkr, Sw. jnatk, mask, mark, makk 
 (Rietz), Da. t7iaddik, E. mawk, maggot, 
 worm, Lap. mato, matok, caterpillar, 
 worm. Fin. 7nato, matikka, worm, grub, 
 serpent, creeping thing, which are plau- 
 sibly explained from Fin. madan, mataa, 
 to creep, crawl. On the other hand AS. 
 moththe, OE. mought (that eats clothes — 
 Palsgr.) Sc. mough, Du. mot, niotte, Sw. 
 ifiatt, mott. The radical idea seems here 
 to be the worm that reduces to dust ; from 
 Du. niot, dust, sweepings. So from Du. 
 molm, dust of rotten wood, we have 
 melm-worm, teredo, tinea, cossus, the 
 insect by which the wood is consumed ; 
 from Bav. mel (in inflection, melb, 7nelw), 
 meal, powder, 77iilbe7i, 77iil'we7i, to reduce 
 to powder {ge77tilbet salz, powdered salt), 
 we have 7nilbe, Du. 7neluwe, 77iilwe, a 
 mite or moth ; 77teluwe7i, to be worm- 
 eaten. The same connection holds good 
 between Du. 77tul, 77ioise77t, dust of rotten 
 wood, 7nole7i, to decay (Kil), and N. mol, 
 ON. 77idlr, Pol. 7nol, a moth or mite. So 
 also Illyr. griz, a bit, sawdust {^rom g7'izti, 
 to bite or chew), grizlitza, moth, mite. 
 Florio uses moth in the sense of mote, 
 atom. 
 
 Mother. Sanscr. 77idtar, Gr. /iriTrjp, 
 Lat. mater, Gael. 77iathair, Russ. 77iat, 
 77iater, ON. 7nodir. 
 
 The name of 77iother is given by analogy 
 to certain prepax-ations or solutions from 
 which other substances are obtained. 
 Sanders quotes a description of vinegar- 
 making where directions are given for 
 
432 
 
 MOTTLED 
 
 filling a new cask one-third with best 
 vinegar, ' which is only to serve as mother 
 (matter) for further formation of vinegar 
 in the cask.' Muttcr-fass^ cask in which 
 the materials in vinegar-making are set 
 to ferment ; mutter laitge, Fr. eaiix mhre, 
 lesshie mere, E. mother-water, mother-lie, 
 the spent waters from which the salts they 
 contained have been crystallised. Mutter- 
 erde, the mixture from whence saltpetre 
 is extracted. Wine is called in Turkish 
 dukhteri-rez, the daughter of the grape. 
 
 The name of mother is then given to 
 the turbid sediment or lees which are 
 formed in the course of fermentation, oil- 
 pressing, or the like, and seem to be the 
 matrix from whence the pure product is 
 sprung. ' If the body be liquid and not 
 apt to putrefy totally it will cast up a 
 mother, as the mothers of distilled waters.' 
 — Bacon. G. wein mutter, essig mutter, 
 lees of wine or vinegar. Boh. matka, 
 mother of a child, also dregs or lees ; 
 Esthon. einma, mother ; emmakas, dregs. 
 
 The word now becomes often con- 
 founded with forms signifying turbidity, 
 thickness, derived from a totally different 
 source. G. moder, mud, mire, also the 
 lees of wine or oil ; moderig, muddy, 
 mothery, thick and turbid. Pl.D. mq^er, 
 lees ; mudder, mud. Du. moeder, mo- 
 ther ; 7nodder, moeder, dregs, lees ; mod- 
 der, moder, mud. — Kil. See Mud. 
 
 Mottled. — Motley. Dappled, covered 
 with spots of a different colour. Fr. 
 mattes, curds ; matteld, clotted, knotty or 
 curdlike ; ciel mattone, a curdled [mot- 
 tled] sky, full of small curdled clouds. — 
 Cot. 
 
 The notion of a spotted surface 'may 
 naturally be expressed by the figure of 
 spattering or splashing, dabbling in the 
 wet. So we have dappled, sprinkled with 
 dabs, from dabble, and in like manner 
 mottled \s related to Swab, motzen, Pl.D. 
 matschen, E. 7iiuddle, to dabble, paddle. 
 Hesse 7Jiusseln, to dirty ; Boh. 7natlati, 
 to daub, smear, blot. With a sibilant 
 initial OE. smottered, splashed, dirtied ; 
 Du. smodderen, to daub, dirty ; ^.ysmot, 
 a spot, patch ; ysmotio, to mottle. 
 
 Motto. It. 7notto, a word, but com- 
 monly used for a motto, a brief, a posy, 
 or any short saying on a shield, in a ring, 
 &c. — Fl. The slight indistinct sounds 
 involuntarily made by opening the mouth 
 are represented in different dialects by 
 the syllables 77iut, 7)iuck, 77iu77t, fiv, ypv, 
 gny, kuk, tot. Hence Lat. 7iiutire, to 
 utter a slight sound ; Tie 7)tutire quide7n, 
 Gr. fivi^tiv firjTt ypu^ttv, not to open one's 
 
 MOULDY 
 
 mouth, to be perfectly silent ; G. 77iuckeit, 
 to make a slight sound ; iiicht 7)iuck sagett, 
 not to say a single word. — Ki'ittn. The 
 equivalent phrase in Sp. is 7to decir chus 
 7ii vius. in It. 710U di7-e 7notto 7ie tot to. 
 Hence 7iwtto, Fr. 7;tot, a word, a single 
 element of speech. 
 
 Mould. I. Fr. 7nonle, Sp. 77tolde, a 
 mould. The latter also, as It. 7nodolo, a 
 model. From Lat. 77iodulus, dim. of 7fio- 
 dus, form. 
 
 2. Moulder. Properly, friable earth, 
 garden soil, then earth in general. Fle- 
 mish 7)iul,ge7nul, dust — Kil. ; Du. 7nulle7t, 
 to crumble (moulder) away, fall to pieces 
 — Bomhoff ; Pl.D. 7?iull, loose earth, rub- 
 bish, and dust of other things ; Goth. 
 7nulda, dust ; ON. 7Jiold, earth ; 7itolda, to 
 commit to earth, to bury ; 77wlfia, to 
 moulder away, to fall away by bits ; 7fielia, 
 7710 la, to crush, to break small ; 77toli, a 
 crumb. 
 
 With an s prefixed, Dan. smul, dust ; 
 S77iule, a small particle ; S77tule, S77tuld7'e, 
 to crumble, moulder, smoulder. 
 
 3, Mouldy. From the connection be- 
 tween mouldiness and decay we are at 
 first inclined to look for the derivation in 
 the idea of mouldering away. Sw. 77iull^ 
 mould, earth ; 77iult7ia, to moulder, crum-r 
 ble to dust, to rot, putrefy ; Bav. 77iilbe7i^ 
 7)iilwe7i, to reduce to dust ; Du. 77ieluwe7t^ 
 to rot. — Kil. But in truth the name 
 seems to be taken, as in many similar 
 cases, from the figure of a sour face ex- 
 pressing an ill condition of the mind, ap- 
 plied to the signs of incipient corruption 
 given by the musty smell of decaying 
 things. Thus we have G. 77iucke7i (pro- 
 perly to mutter), to look surly or gruff, 
 pout out one's lips, scowl or frown, show 
 ill-will or displeasure by a surly silence. 
 And figuratively es muckt 77iit der sache 
 or die sache 77iicckt, the thing has a secret 
 fault or defect, comes to nought. — Kiittn. ; 
 Bav. 7)iauckel7i, to smell close and musty. 
 Du. 7H07icken, 77ionckele7i, to mutter, to 
 look gloomy or sour ; Bav. 77tau7ike7ij 
 7nu7iken, 77iU7ikschen, to look sour, sulk, 
 (of the weather) to lour, (of flesh) to smell 
 ill, to be musty ; Henneberg 77iii7iker7i, to 
 be musty. Sw. 77iugga, to mumble ; 
 Swiss 77iuggel7i, to mutter ; E. 77iug, an 
 ugly (properly a sour) face ; Dan. 77iug- 
 gen, sulky, also musty, mouldy. Bav. 
 77iuffc7i, to mutter, grumble, to make a 
 §our face, also to smell mouldy or musty ; 
 Pl.D. 77iuffeu, to sulk, to smell or taste 
 mouldy; It. w//^, mouldiness, mustiness. 
 Bav. maudern, to mutter, to sulk, or be 
 out of humour, to lour, as gloomy wea- 
 
MOULT 
 
 ther ; Swiss mudern, to growl, to loolc 
 troubled, to lour, mope ; G. modern, to 
 mould, to rot. The same train of thought 
 is continued in Gr. niWio, to mutter, fxvX- 
 XaiVfir, to distort the mouth, to mock, or 
 make mouths ; N. niidla, to mumble, 
 speak low and unintelligibly ; Swiss 
 mauen, maiiele.n, to work the jaws ; maiiel, 
 7nukel, a sour face ; mauelen, G. maulen, 
 Pl.D. mtiulen, to make a sour face, hang 
 the mouth ; Sw. inideti, sour-looking, 
 gloomy, louring, overcast ; mitlna, to 
 cloud over ; Dan. mulne, to become 
 mouldy ; tnul, mould, mouldiness. See 
 Musty. 
 
 To Moult. For inotit, the / being in- 
 troduced by the influence of the u. 
 
 When fathers of charyte beginnen to moute. 
 
 Hal. 
 Du. muifen, G. mmisen, 7naussen, MHG. 
 muzen, ohg. mtlzdn, ODu. viuton (Graff), 
 muiten (Kil.), to change. There is no 
 reason to suppose the word borrowed 
 from Lat. nmto, as the root is found also 
 in the Finnish languages, which indeed 
 afford an adequate explanation of its ul- 
 timate origin. Finn, imm, other, an- 
 other ; miiua, another place ; muuttaa, 
 to move to another place, to change to 
 another form ; Esthon. mu, other ; mu- 
 dunia, muudma, to change or alter. 
 Comp. G. aiider, another, dudern, verdn- 
 derfi, to change, transform. 
 
 Mound. A hedge or bank, a rampart 
 or fence. — B. Mounding is used in 
 Warwickshire for paling, or any kind of 
 fencing. In ordinary E. the application 
 has been restricted to the sense of a 
 raised bank of earth. The origin is AS., 
 ON. nmnd, hand, figuratively applied to 
 signify protection. AS. inundian, to pro- 
 tect ; immdbora, G. vornmnd, protector, 
 guardian ; miindel, a ward. Perhaps 
 Lat. inunire, to fortify, protect ; mcBnia, 
 walls, considered as a means of safety 
 and protection, may be from the same root. 
 
 To Mount. From Fr. 7no7it, a hill, 
 and valy a valley, a mont and ^ val, up 
 and down respectively ; itionter, to rise 
 up ; avaler, to let or send down, to vail 
 or make lower. 
 
 Mountebank. A quack who mounted 
 on a bench to vaunt his pretensions iri the 
 hearing of the crowd. So It. saltimbanco, 
 a mountebank, from salire, saltare, to 
 mount, and ba^tco, bench. 
 
 To Mourn. Originally, to groan or 
 murmur to oneself like a person in grief 
 * Gemere, to sob, to whoor or mourn as 
 a dove or turtle.' — Pr. Pm. Gael, mairg- 
 nich, to groan, sob, bewail; Fr. morne, 
 
 MUCK 
 
 433 
 
 dull, louring, sad ; vtairgne^ woe ; Goth. 
 maurnan, lAtpifxvav, to be troubled about ; 
 OHG. morneti, to grieve ; Boh. mrneti, to 
 whimper ; Walach. mormai, mornai, 
 Magy. morogni, Russ. inurnuikaty, to 
 mutter, grumble. 
 
 Mouse. Gr. /i^c, Lat. mus, ON. mus, G. 
 7naus. It is singular that the name of so 
 familiar an animal should not have been 
 retained in the Romance languages. 
 
 Mouth. Goth. 77iu7iths, ON. 77tun7ir, G. 
 7nu7td, Sc. 7nu7tds, the mouth ; N. of E. 
 77tuns, the face. — B. As most of the 
 words signifying mouth and jaws are 
 taken from the action of the jaws in mut- 
 tering, jabbering, chewing, it is probable 
 that the origin oimu7iths, 77iouth, is shown 
 in forms like Swiss 77iU7ize7i, to chew ; E. 
 77tU7ich, to make a noise in chewing ; Lat. 
 7nandere, 7na7tducare, to chew ; Gael. 
 7nan7itach, lisping, stammering ; ON. 
 77tud/a, to mumble ; Swiss 77ianschen^ 
 77ta7tgsche/i, Fr. 77ia7iger, to eat ; to 77ianche^ 
 to eat greedily — Palsgr. in Way ; to 
 77iu7ige, to eat greedily. — Bp. Kennet in 
 Hal. 
 
 Move. — Motion. Lat. f7ioveo, motu77t, 
 to move. 
 
 Mow. AS. 77tucg, 7nuga, a heap, stack, 
 mow ; ON. 77iugr, a mow of hay, a multi- 
 tude of people ; N. 7>mga, 77iua, 7nue, a 
 heap of hay ; 7nuga, to gather into heaps ; 
 7mikka, a large heap ; It. 77iucchia, Piedm. 
 77tugia, a heap. 
 
 To Mow. AS. 7nawan, Du. maeden^ 
 7naeye7t, G. 77idhe7t, Lat. 77ietere, to mow. 
 See Meadow. 
 
 Much. — Mickle. on. 77iidk, 7nidg, N. 
 77tykjen, Dan. 77tege7t; ON. 77nkill (neuter, 
 7nikit), Goth. 7nikils, Swiss 77tichel, Gr. 
 fieyag, fitydXrj, Lat. 77iagnus^ Sanscr. 77taha, 
 much, great. Sp. 77iucho is from 77iultus, 
 2iS puches, pap, puchada, a poultice, from 
 pultis. 
 
 Muck. I. The cleansings of cattle 
 stalls. N. mokdungje, 77iokkok, a muck- 
 heap ; 77tok-slede, a. muck- sledge. From 
 77ioka, to shovel, to cast aside with a 
 shovel ; 7noka i 77iolda, shovelled into 
 the earth, buried ; 77ioka ihop, to shovel 
 together ; 77toka jfios^e, to clean out the 
 cow-house ; ON. moka flor, to clean out 
 the floor of the stable. Dan. muge, to 
 clear away the dung in stables. 
 
 In the same way G. 7nist, dung, seems 
 to be from Boh. 77iesti, to sweep. 
 
 2. Moist, wet.— B. ' All in a 77t7ick of 
 sweat.' N. 77tauk, 7710k, liquid used in 
 cooking, whether water, milk, or whey ; 
 77idykja, to make thinner, add liquid to 
 food. Boh. mok, moisture, liquid ; 7nok~ 
 28 
 
434 
 
 MUCKER 
 
 naitti, to be wet ; moc, urine ; mociti, to 
 wet, soak, steep, to make water ; Lat. 
 viacerare^ to soak. See To Buck. 
 
 3. To run a muck — Malay aviuk^ a 
 furious charge or assault. — Craufurd. 
 
 To Mucker. To hoard up. Com- 
 monly derived from AS. mucg. It. inucchio, 
 a heap ; imtcchiare, ammucchiare, to heap 
 up ; amtnuchio, a heaping or hoarding 
 up. Grisons fnuschna, a heap ; muschnar 
 daners, to heap up money. Bav. moger, 
 goods scraped together. 
 
 Mucketer. — Muckender. Sp. moca- 
 dero, a handkerchief ; It. moccare, Fr. 
 moucher, to wipe the nose, to snuff the 
 candle, from It. mocco, Lat. mucus, the 
 snuff of a candle, the secretion of the 
 nose. See Mucous. 
 
 Mucous. — Mucilage. Lat. mucosi^s, 
 from mucus, jnuccus, snivel, the secretion 
 of the nose. The origin is the represent- 
 ation by the syllable iftuk, mug of the 
 sound made by sniffling or drawing up the 
 moisture into the nose. Gael, mug, a 
 snuffle ; smuc, a nasal sound, a snivel ; 
 smug, snivel, phlegm, spittle ; smtiig, a 
 snout. Gr. \ivK.oq^ mucus ; nvKtjg, snuff 
 of a wick ; nvS,a, snivel ; /iuKn/p, a nostril. 
 
 Mud. Pl.D. mudde, mudder, Du. mad- 
 der, G. nioder, Bav. mott, matter. It. 7nota, 
 Fin. muta, Esthon. mudda, juutta. The 
 origin has been derived under Moor from 
 forms signifying to dabble, to stir up 
 liquids, to trouble and make thick. Russ. 
 mutity. Boh. mautiti, mutiti, to stir, 
 make thick; mut, muddy liquid, distil- 
 lery wash ; mutny, thick, turbid. Pol. 
 m(^i6, to make thick or turbid, to em- 
 broil, confound ; mqt, met, mud, dregs ; 
 G. mantschen, to stir in wet or moist 
 things, to soil one's hands with stirring 
 in dirt, mud, &c. — K. Pl.D. matschen, to 
 paddle in slush ; matsch, patsch, quatsch, 
 slush, mud. — Danneil. G. muddern, to 
 stir up the mud as a ship when it touches 
 ground. Swab, motzen, to dabble and 
 wet oneself, to daub with colours. 
 
 Analogous to mud, from muddle, is Fr. 
 bourbe, mud, from borboter, barboter, bar- 
 bouiller, to dabble, muddle. 
 
 To Muddle.— Muzzy. The radical 
 image, as shown under Mud, is the dab- 
 bling in the wet. To muddle, to root out 
 with the bill, as geese and ducks do. — B. 
 Thence to trouble, to make water turbid, 
 and metaphorically to confuse the head 
 like a person in drink. Muddled or 
 m.uzzy with drink. Comp. Pol. 7n(fic, to 
 make thick or muddy, to embroil, con- 
 found ; P1.D. ?nusseln, to daub, dirty, 
 
 MUFF 
 
 tv^ork in a dirty manner ; Dan. dial, mos- 
 sel, confusion ; maasle, to work in a 
 slovenly manner, to deal with a thing in 
 a disorderly way ; at maasle hornet, to 
 tread down corn like beasts trespassing ; 
 at fnaasle penge sammen, to scrape money 
 together. By the same metaphor in a 
 converse application we speak of mud- 
 dling money away, wasting it in disor- 
 derly, unprofitable expense. Dabbling 
 in the wet is often taken as the type of 
 inefficient, unskilful action. 
 
 To Muffle.—Mufir. To wrap up the 
 mouth or face. — B. The more radical 
 sense is to deaden sound, as when we 
 speak of muffled oars or drum ; then 
 (transferring the signification, as is so 
 constantly the case, from the region of 
 the ear to that of the eye), to curtail the 
 sight, to shroud from view, * The leper 
 shall have his hed and his mouth mof- 
 feld^ — Bible 1531 in R. * When the male- 
 factor comes once to be muffled, and the 
 fatal cloth drawn over his eyes.' — South. 
 Then simply to cover up with clothes for 
 the sake of warmth. From this latter 
 sense are formed G. muffel, muff, Du. 
 7noffel, moff, a muff or furred receptacle 
 for the hands ; moffel (Kil.), Fr. moufle, a 
 winter mitten. 
 
 The sense of damping sound itself rests 
 on the figure of muttering, uttering indis- 
 tinct sounds, whence (by using the verb 
 in a factitive sense), to cause to mutter, 
 to give sound a muttering character, to 
 make it indistinct. To muffle a drum, to 
 damp its sound. The original sense is 
 found in E. maffle, to utter indistinct 
 sounds like an infant ; to muff, to muffle, 
 to speak indistinctly. — Hal. G. muffen, 
 to express displeasure by muttering 
 sounds ; muffeln, to mumble or mutter, 
 to speak unintelligibly. Both muffen and 
 muffeln are then used in the sense of 
 muffling up. — Sanders. The same con- 
 nection between the senses of indistinct 
 utterance and wrapping up in clothes has 
 been pointed out by Sanders in the case 
 of mummeln, to mumble, mutter (Kiittn,), 
 also (as well as mujnmen), to muffle up. 
 ' Ich mummle euch ein von fuss zu kopf 
 ' Die rothe wang' halb eingemummt in 
 ranch werk.' ' Die nordische winterver- 
 mmmnung, mantel and leib pelz.' Mum- 
 mel in Swabia is a muffler of linen cover- 
 ing the face up to the eyes, which was 
 worn by women in mourning. See Mum- 
 mer. 
 
 MufF. 2. A fool (Nares), a stupid fel- 
 low. — Hall. Properly a stammerer, from 
 muff, to speak indistinctly (Hall.), as 
 
MUG 
 
 mafflingy a simpleton, from maffle, to 
 stammer. See Hoddipeak. 
 
 Mug. I. Svv. mugg, an earthen cup. 
 OG. migil, fiala ; magele, magellel, ma- 
 gdlla, makhollem, Swiss mayel, Milan 
 tniolo, 9. cup ; Grisons majola, jnigiola, 
 earthenware ; It. maiolica, ornamental 
 earthenware, supposed to be so named 
 from having originally been made in 
 Majorca ; but a theory of this kind is so 
 frequent a resource in etymology that it 
 is always necessary to sift the historical 
 evidence of the article having been actu- 
 ally produced at the place from whence 
 it is supposed to be named. It seems to 
 me more probable that majolica was de- 
 rived from the OG. inagele, a mug, than 
 the converse. 
 
 2. An ugly face. It. mocca, a mocking 
 or apish mouth ; Esthon. mok, snout, 
 mouth, lips ; Gael, smuig, a snout, a face 
 in ridicule. Like many depreciatory 
 terms for mouth and face derived from 
 the muttering sounds of a person out of 
 temper. Swiss nmggeln, to mutter; mug- 
 gete, a mouthful ; Sw. mitgga, to mumble ; 
 Dan. inuggett, sulky. See Mock, Muzzle. 
 
 Mug-gy. Close and damp ; to miig- 
 gle, to drizzle with rain ; mug, a fog or 
 mist. — Hal. on. mugga, dark, thick 
 weather; Bret, moiiga, to stifle, to extin- 
 guish ; mouguz, stifling ;. W. mwg^ smoke; 
 Gael, muig^ smother, quench, become 
 gloomy, misty, or dark, and as a noun, a 
 frown, surliness, gloom, cloudiness, dark- 
 ness. The radical idea is probably shown 
 in Gael, niugach^ snuffling, speaking 
 through the nose, and thence, as speak- 
 ing in such a tone is (in children espe- 
 cially) a sign of discontent and anger, 
 sullen, gloomy, cloudy. Dan. vmkke, to 
 mutter, grumble ; muggen, sulky ; Ex- 
 moor muggard, sullen, displeased. — Hal. 
 The application of terms signifying frown- 
 ing or sullen of countenance to dark and 
 cloudy weather is very common. 
 
 Thus gloom is used to signify either a 
 frown or the darkness of the air ; to loiir, 
 properly to frown, expresses the threaten- 
 ing aspect of a cloudy sky. Du. mojtcken, 
 to mutter, to frown, to lour; monckende 
 Gpsicht, a louring look ; monckende weder, 
 covered or cloudy weather ; monckende 
 koleUy ashes burning covertly. In the 
 last example is seen the passage to the 
 sense of quenching or stifling. 
 
 Mulatto. Sp. mnlato, the issue of 
 black and white parents. From mule, 
 the produce of a horse and ass. 
 
 Mulberry, g. maulbeer, Patois de 
 Berri molle, Sw. ?nulbaer, Du. moerbesie, 
 
 MULLION 
 
 435 
 
 the berry ; OHG. murbotima, maurpaum, 
 the tree ; from Lat. tnorus, Gr. fjtopov, 
 probably so called from the dark purple 
 of the fruit. See Moor. It is remark- 
 able however that closely resembling 
 forms (Lap. miwrj'e, Esthon., Wotiak 
 7nuli) are found in many of the Finnic 
 languages in the sense of berry, fruit. 
 
 Mulch. Straw half rotten ; Pl.D. 
 molsc/t, Bav. molsc/iel, objectionably soft, 
 soft through decay ; niolzet, soft, clammy, 
 sloppy, as thawing snow or ill-dressed 
 food ; AS. molsnad, diQC^.yQdi; Manx molk, 
 macerate, rot ; Bav. mulfern, to wear 
 down to molm or dust. Das alte stro ini 
 strosack ist alles dermitlfert, ist ein laute- 
 res gemidfer, is mere mulch. See Mel- 
 low. 
 
 Mulct. Lat. Jtiulcta, a fine of money 
 imposed. 
 
 Mule. Lat. mulus. 
 
 MuUar. Fr. tnollette, a stone used by 
 painters and apothecaries for grinding 
 colours ; moulleur, a grinder. — Cot. Pl.D. 
 miillen, on. molva, to rub down, to re- 
 duce to powder. 
 
 Mulled Ale or Wine. Ale sweetened 
 and spiced, derived by Way from imill, 
 powder, dust, the spice being grated into 
 it. But the true meaning seems to be a 
 beverage such as was given at funerals ; 
 Sc. 7nulde-jnete, a funeral banquet ; OE. 
 moldale, molde ale, potatio funerosa — Pr. 
 Pm., from ON. molda, to commit to mould, 
 or to bury. At ausa lik moldu, to 
 sprinkle the corpse with mould; Fris. 
 brenghe?t ter mouden, to bring to mould, 
 i. e. to bury ; Sc. under the mools, in the 
 grave. 
 
 Mullein. Fr. mouleine, molaine, G. 
 motten-kraut, motten-same, a plant of 
 which the seeds were considered good 
 against moths in clothes. Moth-mullen 
 (verbascum blattarid) herbe aux mites. — 
 Sherwood. Dan. tn'ol, Boh. 7nol, a moth ; 
 G. milbe, a mite. 
 
 Mullet. A five-pointed star in heraldry. 
 Fr. mollette, molette, the rowel of a spur, 
 also a name technically given to a little 
 pulley or wheel used for certain purposes. 
 Milan, moletta, a grindstone. From Lat. 
 7nola, a handmill. 
 
 MuUion. — Munnion. The short up- 
 right bars which divide the several lights 
 in a window-frame. — B. It. mugnone, a 
 carpenter's munnion or trunnion. — Fl. 
 Sp. mufion, Fr. moignon, the stump of an 
 arm or leg ; jnoignon des ailes, the pinion 
 of a wing. The munnion or mullion of a 
 window is the stump of the division be- 
 fore it breaks off into the tracery of the 
 28 * 
 
436 
 
 MULLOCK 
 
 •window. It. moncone^ a stump ; viotico, 
 Bret, inonk^ mons, viouJl, stumped, having 
 lost hand or foot. For the ultimate de- 
 rivation, see Mutilate. 
 
 Mullock. Rubbish. 
 The mullok on an hepe ysweped was 
 And on the flora yeast a canevas, 
 And all this mullok in a sive ythrowe. — Chaucer. 
 
 Pl.D. mullcn, to rub to mull or dust ; 
 Bay. mullen, to rub to pieces ; gemiill, 
 rubbish. See Mulch. Peat-mull, the 
 dust and fragments of peat ; mulled- 
 bread, oaten bread broken into crumbs.— 
 Brocket. See Mould, 2. 
 
 Mult. — Multitude. Lat. multus, 
 much. 
 
 Mum. I. G. mufnme, a thick, strong 
 beer brewed at Brunswick. ' Cerevisia 
 quam mamam aut mocum ridicule appel- 
 lant pro potu homines hujus loci utuntur.' 
 — Leibnitz Script. Brunsvic. in Adelung. 
 
 Possibly the name may have arisen 
 from the Sw. \xsX.qx]qz\\ox\, mum ! inum ! 
 expressive of satisfaction with drink. — 
 Rietz. 
 
 2. The sound made with the lips closed ; 
 the least articulate sound that a person 
 can make. 
 
 Thou mygt bet mete the mist on Malverne hulles 
 Than gete a mom of hure mouth til moneye be 
 hem shewid. — P. P. 
 
 Hence jnufn, like hist or whist, was used 
 as enjoining silence ; not a mum ! 
 
 When men cry mum, and keep such silence. 
 Gascoigne in R. 
 — ^And gave on me a glum, 
 There was among them no word than but w7/w. 
 
 Skelton. 
 
 Mum7nyn as they that noght speke, 
 mutio. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Mumble. Pl.D. mummeln, to 
 make the sound mttm, mum, in eating or 
 speaking, to chew like toothless people, to 
 speak indistinctly. — Danneil. Du. inom- 
 melen, mompelen, ON. inumla, Mod.Gr. 
 |ia/xoi;\t^w, to mutter ; Bav. memmehi, 
 memmezen, mummeln, mumpfen, to 
 move the lips rapidly in chewing like a 
 rabbit, to mutter, mumble. Mu?np/el, 
 the mouth ; einen i7iumpfeln, to hit one 
 on the mouth. 
 
 Mum-chance. Originally a game of 
 dice by mummers or maskers, from Fr, 
 chance, a chance or hazard, a game of 
 chance ; Swab, schanz, a venture, a cast 
 at dice. Mom7nkatitse, alea larvatorum. 
 — Kil. Mummschanz schlagen, persona- 
 tum aleatorios nummos ponere, iis positis 
 lacessere collusorem, a masker to lay 
 down stakes at dice and then chal- 
 lenge an opponent. — Vocab. a.d. 161 8 in 
 
 MUMMERS 
 
 Schmeller. Fr. inommon, a troop of 
 mummers, a visard or mask, also a set at 
 dice by a mummer. — Cot. Momoti, a chal- 
 lenge to a throw at dice made by a masker, 
 aleatorium et silens certamen. — Trevoux. 
 l^he requisition of silence gave the word 
 the appearance, in English, of being de- 
 rived from 7man, silent. 
 And for mumchance howe'er the chance do fall 
 You must be mum for fear of spoiling all. 
 
 Machiavel's Dogg. in Nares. 
 To play mumchance then became a pro- 
 verbial expression for keeping silence. 
 
 Mummers. Maskers, performers of a 
 rude kind of masque or scenic represent- 
 ation ; 7nu7n77iery, ill-managed acting, 
 masquerading, buffoonery; Fr. 77i077i77ieur^ 
 It. mo7n77ieo, one that goes a-mumming ; 
 7no77t7neare, to mum — Fl. ; Du. 7no77ime, 
 G. 77iu77i77ie, a masker, a mask. Du. 77io7n- 
 7ne, G. 77iu77i7nel, are also a ghost, a bug- 
 bear ; Basque ma77iu, a. hobgoblin, bug- 
 bear, and as a verb, to mask oneself in a 
 hideous manner. — Salaberry. The same 
 connection of ideas is seen in Lat. Ia7'va, 
 a mask, a ghost or goblin. 
 
 The foundation of this connection is 
 laid in infancy, when the nurse terrifies 
 the infant by covering her face and dis- 
 guising her voice in inarticulate utter- 
 ances, represented by the syllables Bo, 
 Bau, Wau, Mum. It. far baji bau, to 
 terrify children, covering the face. — La 
 Crusca. Sometimes the nurse turns this 
 means of producing terror to sport, cover- 
 ing her face with a handkerchief when 
 she cries Bo ! or Mum ! and then remov- 
 ing the terror of the infant by displaying 
 her face, when she cries Peep ! or some 
 equivalent word. Such is the game of 
 Bo-peep, Peep-po, Sc. Keek-bo, Pl.D. 
 Kiekebu, Mu77i77i-kiek, Mu77i77i-77iu7n7n 
 spiele7i, Blinde-77iu77tm spiele7t. The ob- 
 ject of terror presented to the mind of the 
 infant by the masked nurse is the primi- 
 tive type of a bugbear, and is named from 
 the terrifying cry. It. bau, bau-bau, w. 
 bw, G. wau-wati, 7nu7n7nel, 77iu77i7ne. Gr. 
 /uopjuci ! a cry to frighten children with ; 
 Mop/iw ! ^aKvii 'iTTTrog, Bo ! the horse bites ; 
 fiopixog, fxopfidJTOi:, frightful. Mo/i/iw, 6 r'lfitig 
 ixopfiu) (pafisv, TO (pojStpov toiq TTaiSioig. — 
 Hesych. It. baucco, a bugbear, a wo- 
 man's mask or muffler ; bauccare, to play 
 bo-peep, to scare children, to mask or 
 muffle. — Fl. Hence the application of 
 the name of 7nu7n77iing to a masked en- 
 tertainment. 
 
 In illustration of the universality of the 
 principles on which language is formed, 
 Adelung mentions that among the Man- 
 
MUMMY 
 
 dingoes in Africa the wives are kept in 
 order by a device similar to that by which 
 children are terrified in Europe. A fear- 
 fully disguised man with a loud noise 
 threatens to devour the disobedient wife, 
 and from the sounds which he utters is 
 called Miimbo-jiimbo, substantially iden- 
 tical with the G. JunmmeL 
 
 Mummy. Arab, moimiiya, from 
 mourn, wax. — Engelberg. 
 
 To Mump. To bite the lip like a rab- 
 bit, to beg ; inumper, a genteel beggar. — 
 B. Sc mump, to speak indistinctly, and 
 figuratively to hint at. The word funda- 
 mentally represents an audible action of 
 the jaws, and hence either chewing, mut- 
 tering, or making faces. ON. jmanpa, to 
 eat voraciously ; Swiss mumpfeln, to eat 
 with full mouth ; Bav. mumpfett, mu7np- 
 feln, to mumble, chew ; die mumpfel, the 
 mouth. From making faces we pass to 
 the notion of tricks, gestures, assumed for 
 the purpose of exciting pity or the like. 
 Mumps or mowes, monnoie de singe — 
 Sherwood. * Morgue, a saddened look, 
 the mumping aspect of one who would 
 seem graver than he is.' — Cot. Du. 
 mompen, to cheat, to trick. — Bomhofif. 
 
 Mumps. Pl.D. mtmitns, swelling of 
 the glands of the neck. Probably from 
 the uneasy action of the jaws which it 
 produces. 
 
 Munch. Fr. manger, It. mangiare, 
 from Lat. manducare, to chew. 
 
 Mundane. Lat. mundus, the world. 
 
 Municipal. The Roman municipia 
 were towns whose citizens received the 
 rights of Roman citizenship but retained 
 their own laws. The proper meaning of 
 municeps is one who takes the offices of 
 a state, from inumis, an office or public 
 function, and capio, to take. It was used 
 in the sense of citizen or fellow-citizen. 
 
 Munificent. Lat. munifex (from mu- 
 nus^ an office or public charge, also a 
 gift), one who performed a public duty ; 
 munificentia, liberality in the expenditure 
 expected from a public officer, liberality 
 in general. 
 
 Muniment. — Munition. — Ammuni- 
 tion. Lat. munio, Fr. munir, to fortify, 
 strengthen, furnish or store with all man- 
 ner of necessaries ; muniment, a strength- 
 ening or fortifying ; munimens, justifica- 
 tions of allegations in law. — Cot. Muni- 
 ments is now only heard in the sense of 
 records or evidences of title to property 
 and such family papers as are preserved 
 with them. 
 
 Mur. A cold in the head. Fr. moure, 
 snout, muzzle ; mourues, the mumps ; 
 
 MUSE 
 
 437 
 
 morfondre {jnoure-fondre) , to take cold, 
 from the running at the nose ; fondre, to 
 melt away. 
 
 MuraL Lat. jnurus, a wall. 
 
 To Murder. Goth, mauthrjan, G. 
 morden, to slay ; Fr, tneurtre, a. homi- 
 cide; ON, mord, a privy slaying, conceal- 
 ment ; i mordi, secretly ; mord-Jarn, a 
 dagger. Bohem, mord, slaughter, mor- 
 dowati, to slay, may be borrowed. 
 
 It is difficult to speak positively as to 
 the radical signification, whether the word 
 be connected with forms like Lat. mort-^ 
 death, Bohem. mrtwy, dead, mrtwiti, to 
 kill, mriti, Lat. mori, to die, and thus 
 signify simply putting to death ; or whe- 
 ther it may not signify knocking on the 
 head, and thus be connected with Swiss 
 morden, Pl.D. murten, to crush. Fin. 
 murtaa, to break, Esthon. 7nurdma, to 
 break, to crush. In the latter language 
 murdma kal, to break the neck, is used 
 in the sense of killing. The Fr. meurtre, 
 a murder, agrees in a similar way with 
 fneurtrir, to bruise. 
 
 To Murle. To crumble, w. mwrl^ 
 a crumbling stone ; Fin. mu7'taa, mur- 
 rella, to break ; muru, a fragment, bit ; 
 muria, loose, friable ; Sw. mor, tender, 
 soft, friable ; Fin. murska, broken to 
 bits; G. morsch, friable, brittle, mellow, 
 soft. 
 
 Murmur. A representation of a sound 
 like that of running waters, the wind 
 among branches, &c. Lat. murmurare, 
 Gr, fiopuvpuv. A similar element is seen 
 in Fr. marmotter, to mutter, or with an 
 initial b instead of ?«, Mod. Gr. ^opjBopv- 
 Itiv, to rumble. 
 
 Murrain. OFr. morine, carcass of a 
 dead beast, mortality among cattle; It. 
 moria, a pestilence among cattle. From 
 mou7'rir, 7norire, to die. See Morkin. 
 
 Murrey. Fr. 77ioree, Sp. 7norado, violet, 
 mulberry-coloured ; Lat. moru7n, a mul- 
 berry. 
 
 Muscle. Lat. 7}iusculus, a little mouse, 
 a muscle of the body, the shell-fish. In 
 the same way Gr, \i,vq, a mouse, is used 
 in both the other senses, Mod,Gr. itov- 
 TiKt, a mouse or rat ; ttovtikuki, a small 
 rat, a muscle of the body. Cornish iogo- 
 den fer (literally, mouse of leg), calf of 
 the leg ; Serv. tnisli, a mouse ; mishitza, 
 female mouse, also, as weU as mishka^ 
 the arm. Fr. souris, bothe for a mouse 
 and the brawne of a mannes arme. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 Muse. Lat. musa. See Music. 
 
 To Muse. Fr. muser, to muse, dream, 
 study, to regard fixedly like a fool. // 
 
438 
 
 MUSHROOM 
 
 pitise quelque part, he stays somewhere ; 
 musard, dreaming, gazing or pausing on, 
 lingering ; It. viusorone, lumpish, heavy, 
 pouting, musing. — Fl. 
 
 The absorption of one brooding over 
 angry thoughts is commonly expressed 
 by the figure of the muttering sounds in 
 which he unconsciously gives vent to his 
 feelings. Thus Bret, bouda, to murmur or 
 buzz, gives rise to Fr. bonder, to sulk. 
 The muttering sounds are however more 
 frequently represented by syllables with 
 an initial w, mop, muff, viiik, mut, muss, 
 giving rise to a great variety of forms sig- 
 nifying sulking, keeping an angry silence, 
 and ultimately (with the usual softening 
 down of the original figure), the simple 
 fact of bemg immersed in thought. Du. 
 vioppen, to sulk ; Bav. tnuffen, to mutter, 
 grumble, hang the mouth ; Swiss muffen, 
 to sulk, be surly ; G. mucken, mucksen, to 
 mutter, look surly or gruff, scowl, show 
 one's ill-will by a surly silence — Kiittn.; 
 Du. moncken, to mutter, to scowl ; E. 
 mutting, muttering, sulking, glumping — 
 Hal. ; Swiss miidern, to snarl, grumble, 
 scowl, mope, sulk ; N. mussa, to whisper, 
 mutter, sulk ; Lat. mussare, to buzz, mur- 
 mur, mutter, to brood over, to consider in 
 silence. ' Y\Qnt.\n<:Qsti,fmcssantque^zXres.' 
 * Mussat rex ipse Latinus quos generos 
 vocet :' — the king muses on the choice of 
 a son-in-law. — Virg. Musat, dubitat in 
 loquendo, timet, murmurat. — Papias in 
 Due. Gr. \kvX,i>}, to murmur, moan, mut- 
 ter, to express displeasure ; Bret, moiiza, 
 to sulk, be out of temper, express dis- 
 pleasure ; Swiss jnusen, to mope, to be 
 sunk in melancholy ; Rouchi mouser, to 
 sulk ; Du. muizen, to ponder, muse. The 
 appearance of a derivation from muis, a 
 mouse, leads Kilian to explain the word 
 as a metaphor from the silent absorption 
 with which a cat watches for a mouse ; 
 ^ muysen, mures venari, tacite quaerere.' 
 In popular thought the reference to a 
 mouse presented itself under a different 
 aspect. A dreaming, self-absorbed con- 
 dition of mind is very generally attributed 
 to the biting of a maggot or worm, the 
 stirring of crickets, bees, flies, and even 
 mice, in the head. In the year 1183 the 
 principality of Ravenna was conferred on 
 Conrad, 'quem I tali Musca iti cerebro 
 nominabant, eo quod plerumque quasi 
 demens videretur.' — Due. In the pro- 
 logue to the eighth book of Douglas' 
 Virgil, the author, in his sleep, speculat- 
 ing on all the wrong things that are going 
 on in the world, is addressed by a man 
 whom he sees in his sleep, ' What berne 
 
 MUSKET 
 
 be thou in bed with thy hede full of beis.' 
 So Pol. roj, a swarm ; rojanie, musing, 
 reverie, dreaming; It. grillo, a cricket, 
 by metaphor, a fantastic conceit or whim, 
 as we say, crickets or bees-nests in one's 
 head. — Fl. Gabbia di grilli, sorgii, a 
 cage for crickets or for mice, a self-con- 
 ceited gull. — Ibid. Fr. avoir des rats, to 
 be maggoty, to be a humorist. — Boyer. 
 The analogy of such expressions led to 
 the erroneous supposition that muizen, to 
 muse, was to be explained in the same 
 manner, and muizenis, musing, was con- 
 verted into muizetiest, mouse-nest. Pl.D. 
 mUsenester in koppe hebben, to have 
 mouse-nests in the head, to be absorbed 
 in thought. Of a person so occupied 
 they say ''He sut uut as eeti pot vull 
 7niise^ he looks like a pot full of mice. 
 
 Mushroom. Mussheron, a toadstole, 
 champignon. — Palsgr. Fr. mousseron, 
 a name given at the present day to a 
 dark yellowish brown mushroom, eatable 
 though coarse, and growing in forests, in 
 England common among heath. From 
 the mossy nature of the ground on which it 
 grows, as champignon, the common Eng- 
 lish mushroom, from champs, the fields in 
 which it is found. Fr. mousse, moss. — 
 N. & Q. Feb. 5, 1859. 
 
 Music. Lat. musica, Gr. ixovmicr). MoT- 
 (rav ^spttv, to sing — Pindar ; tiq ijSrj fiovaa? 
 what strain is this ? — Eurip. As song 
 was undoubtedly the origin of poetry, it 
 may be conjectured that the word is 
 ultimately derived from a root signifying 
 the modulation of the voice in singing, a 
 sense preserved in Wal. muzer, to hum a 
 tune, fredonner, chantonner, to make 
 music ; Prov. musar, to play on the bag- 
 pipes ; Lat. mussare, to buzz, hum, mutter. 
 
 Musket. Mid. Lat. muschetta, a bolt 
 shot from a springald or balista. ' Potest 
 praeterea fieri quod hasc eadem balistag 
 tela possent trahere quae muschetta vul- 
 gariter appellantur.' — Sanutus in Due. 
 
 Ne nuls tels dars ni puet meffaire, 
 Combien que on i sache tire, 
 Malvoisine des sajettes, 
 Ne espringalle ses mouchettes. 
 
 Guigneville, ibid. 
 
 The implements of shooting were com- 
 monly named after different kinds of 
 hawks, as It, terzeruolo, a pistol, from 
 terzuolo, a merlin ; falconetto, a falconet, 
 sagro, a saker, names formerly given to 
 pieces of ordnance, while falcone and 
 sagro were also the names of hawks. In 
 the same way the old muschetta was from 
 Prov. mosquet, Fr. mouchet, AS. musha- 
 foc, a sparrow-hawk, a name probably 
 
MUSLIN 
 
 taken, not, as Diez supposes, from its 
 speckled breast {inouchetd, specked), but 
 from Du. mossche^ mitssche, a sparrow, a 
 word preserved in E. tltjnouse. 
 
 Muslin. Fr, moiisseline, Venet. miiso- 
 lin, Mod. Gr. yLovaovW. Said to be from 
 Moussul in Mesopotamia. ' In Mesopo- 
 tamia texuntur telae quae apud Syros et 
 yEgyptos et apud mercatores Venetos ap- 
 pellantur Mussoli ex hoc regionis nomine.' 
 — Nomenclature Arabe at the end of 
 Works of Avicenna in Diet. Etym. This 
 derivation is confirmed by Arabic mojis- 
 bliyy, muslin, properly, belonging to 
 Mousdl, as the name of the town is 
 written in Arabic, 
 
 Mussulman. Turk, miisslim, a fol- 
 lower of islam, a true believer ; pi. niuss- 
 limin, niussliman, moslems. 
 
 Must. G. 7nussen, Du. inoeten, to be 
 forced ; Sw. indste, must ; Du. j^toete, 
 leisure ; moet, necessity, pressure. Moete, 
 opera, labor.^Kil. Pol. musi<f, zmuszac, 
 to force, to constrain ; m.nsiec\ to be 
 obliged, to be necessary ; imisisz si^ bic , 
 you must fight ; Bohem. iniisyti, to be 
 bound, forced to do ; musyl, one com- 
 pelled ; mussenj, compulsion, necessity. 
 
 Must. Lat. mustum, Fr. nioust, motet, 
 the juice of grapes ; Russ. msto, mest, G. 
 most, juice of fruits ; Sw. mtist,]\x\z^, sap, 
 moisture, pith, substance ; must i jorden, 
 moisture in the earth ; rotmtist, radical 
 moisture. Illyrian mastiti, to crush grapes, 
 to make must, to colour, daub with grease ; 
 mast, must, colour for the face, salve, 
 grease. 
 
 Mustaches. Mod.Gr, }iv<jTa\, mus- 
 taches, fivrTTocKi, whiskers ; Gr. ixvara^, 
 upper lip, moustache ; naara^, the mouth, 
 jaws, upper lip ; Venet. mustazzo, snout, 
 face (in a depreciatory sense) ; mustazzada, 
 a blow on the mouth ; tnustachiare, to 
 wry the mouth ; It. mostazzo, mustachio, 
 snout, muzzle, face. Derived from a form 
 like Lat. masticare, to chew, Pl.D. mus- 
 seln, mustern, to mutter, on the principle 
 illustrated under Muzzle. 
 
 Mustard. Venet. mostarda, a sauce 
 composed of boiled must with mustard- 
 seed boiled in vinegar ; Sp. mostaza, 
 thickened must ; mostazo, mustard ; mos- 
 tillo, sauce composed of mustard and 
 sweet wine. 
 
 Muster. An inspection of troops. Fr. 
 monstrer, to show ; monstre, monstr^e, a 
 view, show, sight, muster of. — Cot. 
 
 Musty. From Pl.D. mulen, to make 
 a sour face, may be explained Sw. mulen, 
 gloomy ; se mulen tit, to look sad or 
 gloomy, and thence (on the principle ex- 
 
 MUTILATE 
 
 439 
 
 plained under Mould) Dan. mulne, to be- 
 come mouldy. From the same verb is 
 formed PI. D. mimlsk, muulsch ( — Schiitze), 
 sour-looking ; inuulsk uut seen, to look 
 sour, to sulk. — Brem. Wtb. Hence per- 
 haps Pl.D. 7nulstrig, in Lippe mustrig 
 (Deutsch. Mundart, VI.),and the synony- 
 mous E. tnusty. The / of muulsk is lost in 
 the same way in S w . 7nusk; se imder musk, 
 to look sour, leading to Prov. Dan. musk, 
 mustiness ; musken, musty. Hessian, 
 mutzen, to pout, to hang the mouth, to 
 look surly or gruff, and met. to begin to 
 decay ; niutzig, surly, illtempered-look- 
 ing ; of the weather, threatening ; smell- 
 ing of decay, musty ; inutzig riechen, to 
 smell musty. Fris. miit, mutsch, mucksch^ 
 sour-looking, sulky, still. — Outzen. 
 
 Mutable. -mute. Lat. muto., to 
 change. See Mew. 
 
 Mute. The syllables mut,inuk, mum, 
 kuk, are taken to represent the slight 
 sounds made by a person who is absorbed 
 in his own ill-temper, or kept silent by his 
 fear of another. Hence Lat. mutire, 
 muttire, to murmur, mutter. Nihil mu- 
 tire audeo, 1 do not dare to utter a sylla- 
 ble. G. fiicht einen muck von sich geben, 
 not to give the least sound. Du. kikken^ 
 mikken, to utter a slight sound. Magy. 
 kuk, kiikk, a mutter ; kukkanni, to mutter. 
 Then by the same train of thought as in 
 the case of E. mum, Lat. mutus, silent, 
 dumb ; Serv. 7nuk, silent ; 7nuchati, to be 
 silent ; Magy. kuka, dumb. 
 
 Mute. Dung of birds. — B. Yx.mutir^ 
 to mute as a hawk ; es7neut, the drop- 
 pings of a bird. — Cot. It. S77taltire, to 
 digest one's meat ; S77taltare, to mute as a 
 hawk. From the liquid nature of the ex- 
 crements of birds. ON. smelta, to liquefy. 
 
 To Mutilate. Lat. 77iutilo, to cut 
 short, reduce to a stump ; 77iutilus (of 
 animals that should have horns), hornless. 
 Manx 7nut, any short thing ; fnuttagh, 
 short, thick and blunt ; S7nuttan, a stump ; 
 S77iuttagh, stumpy, short-snouted. Gael. 
 S77iut, a stump, beak, snout ; G. mutz^ 
 anything stumped or cut short j 7nutzohr, 
 a cropear ; 7nutzschwa7iz, a bobtail ; 
 Swiss 77iutschig, ge77iutschet, 7nutt, g'77iut- 
 tig, cropped, short and thick ; 77iutsch^ 
 7nutti, 77tuttli, a beast without horns. It. 
 7nozzo, stumped, cut short ; mozzo, 7noz- 
 zicone, a stump ; 77iozzare, to cut off. 
 Gris. 77iuotsch, 7nuott, mott, cropped, cut 
 short. 
 
 The most familiar type of the act of 
 cutting off the extremity of a thing is 
 blowing the nose in the way it is done by 
 those who have not a handkerchief, or 
 
440 
 
 MUTINY 
 
 the snuffing of a lamp or candle, to which 
 the word signifying jn the first instance 
 the wiping of the nose is commonly trans- 
 ferred. And this I believe is the origin 
 of the foregoing forms. Thus It. inocco^ 
 vioccio, inozso {mozzi — Fl.), is the snuff 
 or snivel of the nose ; viocco, vioccolo, 
 also the snuff of a candle, tip of the nose, 
 also like G. miitz, applied to the penis 
 (Fl.) ; tnoccare, mocciare, to blow the nose, 
 to snuff a candle ; viozza7-e, to cut off. 
 Brescian viocar, to snuff a candle, to blow 
 one's nose, to take off the point of a 
 thing, to cut off a member or a part of 
 anything. — Peschieri. 
 
 The forms inoccare, mocciare, become 
 in Piedm- inocM, to snuff the candle or 
 lamp, to pinch off the shoots of the vines, 
 to crop trees or plants, and mocd (as It. 
 inozzare)^ to take off the point of any- 
 thing to make it blunt ; mocd la coa, le 
 orie d'un cati, to crop the tail or ears of a 
 dog. Moc, utot, blunt, stumped. The 
 nasalisation of the root, as in Lat. eiminc- 
 tjis, gives It. monco, monchino, tno?tche- 
 rino (synonymous with mocherin — FL), 
 stump of the arm. 
 
 Mutiny. Fr. muHtt, turbulent, un- 
 quiet, seditious ; Du. fnuyten, to mutter, 
 murmur, excite sedition by privy whis- 
 perings ; vttdfery, sedition, revolt ; Bav. 
 muterii^ to grumble. Mutiloti, mussitare. 
 — Gl. in Schm. Lat. mutio^ muttio, to 
 utter suppressed sounds, to mutter. Fin. 
 mutista, to whisper, mutter ; mutina, 
 muttering. 
 
 TolT 
 sounds, 
 
 Mutton. It. montone, Venet. moltone, 
 Prov. Cat. molfo, Mid. Lat. 7nulto, Fr. 
 7nouton, a wether or castrated sheep, then 
 sheep in general. OFr. 7nolt, w. inollt, 
 ynollwyn, Bret, maout, wether. 
 
 Mutual. Lat. jmtftms, interchange- 
 able, reciprocal, from each to the other. 
 Probably from 77mto, to change, as anoi- 
 ftaloQ, reciprocal, from dneifSw, to change. 
 
 Muzzle. It. 77tuso, Fr. 77iiiseau (for 
 musel), the snout or muzzle of a beast; 
 It. 77msolare, to muzzle or bind up the 
 
 MYTH 
 
 muzzle ; Fr. 7nuseith-e, a muzzle or pro- 
 vender bag ; 77iuserolle, a musroll or 
 noseband. 
 
 A depreciatory term for the jaws and 
 mouth, and so for the mouth of a beast, 
 is often taken from a representation of 
 the sounds made by the jaws in mumbling, 
 muttering, or chewing. So from Swiss 
 77tauen, 77tauele7t, to chew, 7iiulle7i, to 
 chew, to eat, we have 77tauel, 7!iuhel, Fr. 
 77toue, a sour face, G. 77iatil, chops, mouth, 
 ON. 7nuli, a snout ; from G. 7Jiii7'7-e7t^ to 
 mutter, grumble, Lang. 77toi}re, a sour 
 face, mine refrogn^c, also as Fr. 77iou7r, 
 77tou7're, the snout or muzzle — Cot. ; from 
 Bav. 7}iocke7i, 77tucke7t, to mutter discon- 
 tentedly, Du. 77wcke7i, buccam ducere sive 
 movere, to pout, grumble, fret (Bomhofif), 
 It. mocca, an ugly mouth, Esthon. 7}tok, 
 the snout, mouth, lips ; from Du. 7fio/- 
 fele7i, i7iaffele7t, to maffle, lisp as an infant, 
 move the jaws, Rouchi 77ionffeter, to move 
 the lips, Bav. 77itiffeti, to mutter, grumble, 
 hang the mouth, 77itiffele7i^ to mumble, 
 chew with difficulty, Fr. 77wffle, 77iouffle, 
 the snout or muzzle ; from Bav. 7iiu77ip- 
 fe7i, 77iuj7tpfel7t, to mump or mumble, to 
 chew, 77W77ipfel, the mouth. In the same 
 way It. 77niso seems to be derived from 
 forms like Gr. ^v^w, Lat. 77iusso, or E. 
 77iuse^ of which we have shown that the 
 original sense is to mutter. 
 
 Muzzy. See To Muddle. 
 
 Myriad. Gr. firjpiag, 10,000; nvpiog, 
 countless, numberless ; fivpiog, 10,000. 
 The radical signification is probably a 
 swarm of ants, as we use fo swar77i, or 
 Fr. four7niller, in the sense of to be in 
 countless numbers. AS. 77iy7'a, Pl.D. 
 7nie7'e, E. pis77iire, an ant ; ON. 7/taurr, an 
 ant; 7;iyr, a countless multitude. Gr. 
 fjivpixi]^, Fin. 77i7inriaiiie7t^ an ant. 
 
 Mystery. — Mystic. Gr. nvtrTrjptov, 
 fivariKOQ, from fivio, to hold secret, 7/iii and 
 77iut being used to represent the least 
 sound, the sound made with nearly 
 closed lips. See Mum. 
 
 Myth.— Mythic. Gr. nvOog, a saying, 
 a fable. 
 
NAB 
 
 NAKED 
 
 441 
 
 N 
 
 To Nab. To catch or seize, properly 
 to clap the hand down upon a thing ; in 
 Scotland, to strike. Dan. nappe, to snatch, 
 snatch at, pluck ; nap-tang, nippers ; Fin. 
 nappata, suddenly to seize, to snap, to 
 pluck ; Du. knappen, to crack, to seize ; 
 Fr. naqne-nioiiche, a fly-catcher. 
 
 The sound of a crack is represented by 
 the syllables knap or knack, which are 
 thence used as roots in the signification 
 of any kind of action that is accompanied 
 by a cracking sound. G. knappen, to 
 crackle as fire ; niasse knappen or knack- 
 en, to crack nuts ; knappern, to chew 
 hard dry food into pieces with a certain 
 noise ; Fin. napsaa, to crackle as the 
 teeth in chewing ; Fr. naqueter des dens, 
 to chatter with the teeth ; Du. knabbelen, 
 to gnaw, nibble. 
 
 The sense is then extended to any 
 quick, short movement, although not ac- 
 companied by audible noise. G. hiap- 
 pen, to nod, jog, totter, move to and fro — 
 Kiittn. ; ein brett knappt atif, springs up 
 — Schmeller ; Fin. napsahtaa, to vibrate 
 as a pendulum, to wink ; Fr. naqueter de 
 la queue, to wag the tail. 
 1 From the notion of a short, abrupt 
 movement we pass to that of a projection 
 or excrescence, a part of a surface which 
 starts out beyond the rest, and thence to 
 the idea of a lump or rounded mass ; 
 Gael, cnap, strike, beat, a stud, knob, 
 lump, a little hill ; N. nabb^ a peg or pro- 
 jection to hang things on ; E. dial, to mib, 
 to push ; knop, a bud ; knoppet, a small 
 ' lump ; k?tob, a rounded projection ; N. 
 nobb, knabb, NE. nab, the rounded summit 
 of a hill, as Nab-scar, above Grasmere ; 
 nob, the head ; nobble, a lump ; knoblocks, 
 niibblings, small round coals; Du. knob- 
 bel, a knot, lump, hump. 
 
 Nabob. Ptg. nababo, governor of a 
 province in the E. Indies, from Arab. 
 nonivdb, pi. of ndib, lieutenant, viceroy, 
 prince. 
 
 Nadir. Arab, nddhir as-semt, the 
 point opposed to the zenith. — Engelberg. 
 
 Nag. Nagge or lytille best, bestula, 
 equillus. — Pr. Pm. Du., Fris. negghe, 
 equus pumilus. — Kil. Swiss noggeli, a 
 dumpy woman. — Id. Bernensein Deutsch. 
 Mundart. The radical meaning is simply a 
 lump, a figure often taken to designate 
 
 anything small of its kind. ON. nabbi, 
 O Fr. nabe, nabot, a dwarf, from nab, knob, 
 a lump ; E. dial, knor, kmirl, a dwarf, 
 from knur, a knot. — Hal. 
 
 In the last article has been traced the 
 line of thought from the root knack, kttapp 
 (passing into ?iag, jiab), signifying an 
 abrupt movement, to the notion of a pro- 
 jection, prominence, lump. In the original 
 sense may be mentioned E. dial, nag, to 
 jog, whence nogs, the projecting handles 
 of a scythe ; Dan, knag, a wooden peg, 
 cog of wheel, handle of a scythe ; Gael. 
 cnag, to crack, snap the fingers, rap, 
 knock ; a knock, knob, peg ; E. dial, nug, 
 a protuberance or knob, a block ; nug- 
 head, a blockhead, and migget, a small 
 lump, a name with which the gold work- 
 ings of late years has made us so familiar. 
 
 Nagging.— Naggy. A nagging pain 
 is a slight but constant pain, as the tooth- 
 ache, an irritating pain. Naggy, touchy, 
 irritable. — Hal. N. nagga, to gnaw, to 
 irritate, plague, disturb ; Sw. nagga, to 
 gnaw, to prick. 
 
 Nail. G. nagel, both a nail of the hand 
 and a nail to fasten with ; ON. nagl, nogl, 
 unguis, nagli, clavus ; Goth, ganagljan, 
 to fasten with nails ; Lith. ndgas, nail of 
 the finger, hoof, claw ; ndginti, to scratch ; 
 Serv. nokat, Bohem. nehet, Gr. ovu^, 
 Sanscr. nakha, unguis ; Fin. nakla, naula, 
 clavus. Fin. naula is specially applied 
 to the nails by which the different weights 
 are marked on a steelyard, and hence (as 
 Esthon. naggel) signifies a pound weight, 
 explaining the E. nail, a measure of cloth, 
 viz. the length marked off by the first 
 nail on the yard measure. 
 
 It is to be supposed that the artificial 
 nail is named from the natural implement 
 of scratching, as Lat. clavus, a nail, from 
 an equivalent of E. claw; and as scratch- 
 ing and biting are like in effect, the word 
 is derived by Grimm from nagen, to gnaw 
 or bite. ON. nagga, N. nagga, nugga, 
 nygja, to rub, to scrape ; Sw. nagga, to 
 prick. 
 
 For the identity of ovv% and Lat. un- 
 guis, see Nave. 
 
 Naked, Goth, naquaths, OHG. nakot, 
 G. nackt, ON. nacquidr, nakinn, naktr, 
 Lith. nogas, Pol. nagi, Gael, nochd, w. 
 noeth, Lat. ?iudus^ Sanscr. nagna. 
 
442 
 
 NAME 
 
 As the essence of nakedness is having 
 the skin displayed, Adekmg suggests Fin. 
 fia/icd, Lap. nakke, the skin, as the origin 
 of the word. 
 
 Name. If we confine our attention to 
 the Latin fonns, Fr. fiom^ It. no?ne, Lat. 
 nomen, name, agpiomen, cognomen, igno- 
 tus, we have no hesitation in explaining 
 the word from {gnoo) gnosco, to know, as 
 that by which a thing is known. But Gr. 
 ovona, uvvna, ill accords with such a 
 theory, and the form nam, with more or 
 less modification, is common to the whole 
 series of Indo-European and Finnic lan- 
 guages to the extremity of Siberia. Goth. 
 namo, ON. na/n, namn, Fin. nimi, Lap. 
 namm {ntmmet, to mark, observe), Wo- 
 tiak nim, na^n, Ostiak nem, nimta, nipta, 
 Magy. nev, Mordvinian lam, Tschere- 
 miss lem, Samoiede nim, nhtide, Gael. 
 atntn, w, enw, Bret, hano, Pruss. emnes, 
 Boh. jmeno, Pol. imi^, Sanscr. ndman, 
 Pers. ndm, Turk, ndm, name. Turk. 
 ndm is used also in the sense of reputa- 
 tion, to be compared with Lat. igfiominia. 
 
 Nap. I. A short sleep, properly a nod. 
 G. knappen, to move to and fro, nod, jog, 
 totter — Kuttn ; Tirol, gnappen, to nod, 
 especially in slumber — D. M. v. 437. 
 See Nab. So Fin. nuokkata, to nod ; 
 nukktta, to fall asleep. 
 
 2. AS. hnoppa, Du. noppe, flock or nap 
 of cloth ; noppig, shaggy ; N. napp, shag, 
 pile, the raised pile on a counterpane ; 
 nappa, shaggy ; Pl.D. nobben, flocks or 
 knots of wool upon cloth ; Du. noppen, 
 Sw. noppa, Fr. noper, to nip off the knots 
 on the surface of cloth. The women by 
 whom this was done were formerly called 
 nopsters. 
 
 It seems that the origin of the word is 
 the act of plucking at the surface of the 
 cloth, whether in raising the nap or in 
 nipping off the irregular flocks. Pl.D. 
 nobben, gnobben (of horses), to nibble each 
 other, as if picking the knots from each 
 other's coat. N. nappa, mippa, to pluck, 
 as hair or feathers, to pluck a fowl, to 
 twitch ; nappa, to raise the nap upon 
 cloth ; Sw. tioppra sik, to prune oneself 
 as birds ; Fin. nappata, nappia, to pluck, 
 as berries ; Esthon. nappima, G. kneipen, 
 to nip, to twitch ; Lap. nappet, to cut off 
 the extremities, to crop ; Gr. KvaTrrw, 
 •yvoTrrw, to card or comb wool, to dress 
 cloth ; yvufaWov, flock, wool scratched off 
 in dressing ; Kva<ptvQ, a fuller, carder ; 
 Kvd^QQ, a teasel or wool card. 
 
 Nape. Properly the projecting part at 
 the back of the head, then applied to the 
 back of the neck. as. cnap the top of 
 
 NASTY 
 
 anything, brow of a hill ; w. cnap, a knob, 
 boss. See Nab. The w. gwegil is 
 translated by Richards the noddle or 
 hinder part of the head, and by Spurrell 
 the nape of the neck. In the same way 
 Fr. nnque, the nape of the neck, is identi- 
 cal with Gael, cnoc, cmiic, ON. hnnk, a 
 knoll, hillock, w. cnwc, a knob, bunch, 
 lump ; cnwc y gwegil, the back part of 
 the scull. Compare also ON. hnacki, N. 
 nakkje, the back of the head ; G. nackeny 
 the nape of the neck, the back. 
 
 Napery. — Napkin. It. nappa, a table- 
 cloth, napkin ; the tuft or tassel that is 
 carried at a lance's end ; nappe, the jesses 
 of a hawk, labels of a mitre, ribands or 
 tassels of a garland. 
 
 A parallel form with Lat. 7nappa, a. 
 clout, as Fr. nalle with E. mal, and like 
 mappa originally signifying a tuft. E. 
 knap or knop, a bud, button, knob. 
 
 Narrate. Lat. narro, narratujn, to 
 tell of, relate. 
 
 Narrow. AS. nearwe, narrow. See 
 Near. 
 
 Narwhal. The sea unicorn, ON. 
 ndhvalr, so called on account of the pal- 
 lid colour of the skin ; nd, ndr, a corpse. 
 Nasal. Lat. nasus, the nose- 
 Nascent. — Natal. — Native. — Na- 
 ture. Lat. nascor, natus, to be born, to 
 have sprung from ; natalis, belonging to 
 one's birth ; nativiis, natura. 
 
 Nasty. Formerly written nasky. 
 ' Maulavd, ill-washed, nasky.' — Cot. PI. 
 D. nask, and with the negative particle, 
 which is sometimes added to increase the 
 force of disagreeable things,t^nnask, dirty, 
 piggish, especially applied to eating or 
 filthy talk. — Brem. Wtb. In the same 
 way, with and without the negative parti- 
 cle, Sw. snaskig, osnaskig, immundus, 
 spurcus ; naskug, nasket, dirty, nasty 
 (Rietz,), Lap. naske, sordidus — Ihre ; 
 Syrianian njasti, dirt ; njasties, dirty. 
 The pig is so generally taken as a type of 
 dirtiness that the word may well be taken 
 from Fin. naski, a pig, as Lat. spurcus 
 apparently from po7'cus. Or possibly it 
 may be taken from a representation of 
 the smacking noise which accompanies a 
 piggish way of eating, and from which the 
 Fin. naski, a pig, seems to be taken. Fin. 
 naskia, to make a noise with the lips in 
 chewing, like a pig eating ; Dan. snaske, 
 to champ one's food with a smacking 
 noise ; Sw. snaska, to eat with a smack- 
 ing noise like a pig, to be slovenly, dirty 
 — Rietz. ; Swiss ndtschen, to make a 
 smacking noise in eating; Carinthian 
 natsche, a pig. 
 
NATION 
 
 Nation. Lat. natio^ from nascor, na- 
 tus, to be born. 
 
 Naught. — Naughty. as. na-wiht^ 
 naht, neaht, no- whit, naught, nothing. 
 Naughty, good for nothing. 
 
 Nausea. Lat. nausea, Gr. vavnia, the 
 being sea-sick, from vavq, a ship. 
 
 Nautical. — Naval. — Navigation. 
 Lat. navis, Gr. vavg, a ship, vessel to sail ; 
 navita, nauta, vairtjg, a sailor ; navigo, 
 to sail. 
 
 Nave. I. — Navel. G. nabe, nabel, 
 Pl.D. nave, navel, nave of a wheel. — 
 Adelung. G. nabel, Du. navel, ON. nabli, 
 najii, Sanscr. nabhi,t]\e navel ; Fin. na^a. 
 Lap. nape, navel, centre, axis ; Esthon. 
 imbba, navel. 
 
 The radical meaning of the word seems 
 to be ktiob, the nave of a wheel being 
 originally merely the end of the axle pro- 
 jecting through the solid circle which 
 formed the wheel. ON. nabbi, a knoll, 
 hillock ; w. cnap, a knob, boss, button. 
 The navel is the remnant of the cord by 
 which the foetus is attached to the mo- 
 ther's womb, and appears at the first 
 period of life as a button or small projec- 
 tion. It is thus appropriately expressed 
 by a diminutive of nave, navel. In like 
 manner Gr. on^aXoQ, Lat. umbilicus, a 
 navel, are diminutives of umbo, a knob or 
 boss. So Boh. pup, an excrescence ; 
 pupek, navel. The radical identity of 
 6fi(pa\6g and na7/elh.a.s been very generally 
 recognised, although the passage from 
 one to the other has not been very clearly 
 made out. It seems to be one of those 
 numerous cases where an initial n has 
 been either lost or added, as in E. umpire 
 from nompair, apron from napron, auger 
 from 7iauger. The loss of the initial n in 
 nob, and the nasalisation of the final b (as 
 in Fr. nabot, nanibct, a. dwarf), produce 
 the radical syllable in umbo and oficpaXSg. 
 It is remarkable that the n of nave is lost 
 in other cases, as in Du. aa/, ave, for 
 naaf, nave, the nave of a wheel, and in 
 auger, Du. evigher for nevigher. Fin. 
 napa-kairi, literally centre-bit. More- 
 over, the n which is lost in twibo and 
 6fi(pa\6g is again replaced in Fr. nombril. 
 
 The relation of Lat. unguis, ungula, to 
 ovv^, nail, may be explained on the same 
 principle, regarding wx as the radical 
 syllable ; and here too the same loss of 
 the initial n is found in the probable root, 
 Sw. agga and nagga, to prick. 
 
 2, Mid. Lat. navis, Fr. nef, the part of 
 the church in which the laity were placed. 
 * Navem quoquebasilicse auxit.' — Orderic. 
 Vital. Supposed to be from the vaulted 
 
 NEB 
 
 443 
 
 roof, the curved roofs of African huts being 
 compared by Sallust to the hull of a ship. 
 ' Oblonga incurvis lateribus tecta quasi 
 navium carinae sunt.' Ducange gives 
 several instances in which navis is used 
 for the vaulted roof over part of a church. 
 ' Simulque et in nave quae est super altare 
 sarta tecta omnia noviter restauravit.' 
 1 1 is remarkable that Sp. cubo is the nave 
 of a wheel ; It. cub a, the nave or middle 
 aisle of a church. 
 
 Nay. For ne aye, Goth, niaiv, never. 
 A peerless firelock peece — 
 That to my wits was nay the like in Turkey nor 
 in Greece. — Gascoigne. 
 
 Neap. Scanty, deficient.— B. Neap- 
 tide, the low tides, as opposed to the 
 spring or high tides at new and full moon. 
 ON. neppr, narrow, contracted ; feorneppr, 
 short-lived ; Dan. neppe, scarcely, hardly ; 
 knap, scanty ; knappe of, to stint, curtail. 
 
 Near. — Nigh. Goth, nehv (compar. 
 nehvis), AS. «<?a/z,nigh, near ; near, nearer ; 
 nehst, nyhst, next. Ga hider near, come 
 nearer. — Gen. 27. 21. on. nd, ncsrri, 
 ncBrstr, OHG. nah, naher, nahist, Dan. (as 
 E. former) ncer, ncsrmere, ncermest, w. 
 nes, nesach, nesaf, near, nearer, nearest. 
 
 Neat. I. Fr. net^ Lat. nitidusy from 
 niteo, to shine. 
 
 2. ON. naut, an ox. AS. nyten is how- 
 ever applied to animals in general, al- 
 though mostly to cattle. * Seo naeddre 
 was geappre thonne ealle tha othre ny- 
 tenu,^ the serpent was more cunning than 
 all other beasts. The meaning of the 
 word is unintelligent, from AS. nitan for 
 ne witan, not to know. * Tham neatum 
 is gecynde that hi nyton hwaet hi send,' 
 it is the nature of beasts that they do not 
 know what they are. * Tha unsceadwisan 
 neotena,^ the unintelligent beasts. — Boeth 
 xiv. 3. 2. In the same way the term beast 
 is appropriated in the language of graziers 
 and butchers to an ox. Mod.Gr. dXoyovj 
 signifying irrational {akoyov $wor, brute 
 beast), is appropriated by custom to a 
 horse (of which it is the regular name), 
 as E. neat to oxen. 
 
 Neb. — Nib. AS. neby beak, then nose, 
 face, countenance. Neb with neb, face to 
 face ; neb-wlite, beauty of countenance ; 
 ON. nebbi, Du. nebbe, snebbe, G. schnabel, 
 beak of a bird. Sc. neb, like E. nib, is 
 used for any sharp point, as the neb of a 
 pen, of a knife. N. nibba, nibbestein, 
 sharp projecting rock. ON. nibba, also a 
 promontory ; nibbaz (of oxen), to butt 
 each other. 
 
 As 7tab represents the sound of a blow 
 with a large or rounded implement, nib 
 
444 
 
 NEBULA 
 
 or neb seems to represent that of a small 
 or pointed one. l)u. knip^ a flip, crack ; 
 knippcn^ snippen, to clip, snip. G. schna- 
 bel, Du. snabely beak, is that with which 
 the bird snaps; snabben, to peck, bite, 
 snatch, — Kil. 
 
 Nebula. Lat. nebula^ Gr. vii^iKi\, a 
 thin cloud, mist j nubes, vefoc, cloud, 
 Sanscr. tiab/ias, heaven; Bvocpog, dark- 
 ness; KVB<pag, darkness, twilight. 
 
 Necessary. — Necessity. Lat. neces- 
 se, of need, that cannot be avoided. 
 
 Neck. AS. hnecca, the back of the 
 head, neck ; Dan. nakke, nape of the 
 neck and back part of the head. At bote 
 nakken for, to bend the neck to. ON. 
 hnacki, N. nakkje, the back of the head ; 
 nakke hola, the hollow at the back of the 
 neck ; Du. nak, nek, nik, the nape, neck. 
 Jemand den nek keeren, to turn one's 
 back to a person ; stief van nekke, stiff- 
 necked. Fr. fiuque, the nape. 
 
 The primary meaning, as shown under 
 Nape, is the prominent part at the back 
 of the head. N. nakk, a knoll, prominence 
 on the side of a hill. 
 
 Necromaiioy. Gr. vsKpofiavrtia ; veK- 
 pbg, dead, fiavrtiay divination, soothsay- 
 ing. 
 
 -nect. -nex. Lat. necto, nexu7n, to 
 knit, join ; as in Connect, Annex. 
 
 Need. as. nead, neadhad, necessity ; 
 nead-nyman, to take by force ; Du. nood, 
 G. noth, need, want, distress, affliction ; 
 Russ. midit\ Boh. nutiti, to constrain; 
 Russ. nuzhd, need, indigence, want. 
 
 The explanation of the word is to be 
 found in ON. g?tatid, naicd, fremitus, the 
 noise made by violent action of any kind, 
 the dashing of ships together, clashing of 
 swords, roaring of flame. Skipa gnaiid, 
 fremitus navium; hrcEdilig hjorva gnaud, 
 the dreadful clash of swords. Gnauda, 
 nanda, fremere, strepere, vel assidue pre- 
 mere, affligere, vexare. The expression 
 representing the audible accompaniment 
 of violent action is first transferred to the 
 effect produced on the object upon which 
 the action is exerted, and then to the 
 abstract idea of violence, force, com- 
 pulsion. Elld gnaiidadi vida mn eyjar, 
 the fire roared wide among the islands. 
 Rcsfr thola naud, igne violantur teeta, 
 the roofs suffer the violence [of fire]. 
 Vtdr thola naicd, the ship endures the 
 battering [of the waves], vexatur fluctibus. 
 Nauda, to press hard upon ; naudga, to 
 offer violence to, to compel. 
 
 Needfire. Fire produced by friction 
 of two pieces of wood Qam.), G. notfeurj 
 Sw. gnida, to rub. Like need (according 
 
 NEIVE 
 
 to our explanation), from the sound ac- 
 companying all effective exertion of force. 
 ON. gnydfj aquarum strepitus. * lllos 
 sacrilegos ignes quos nedjir vocant, sive 
 omnes— paganorum observationes dili- 
 genter prohibeant.' — Capit. Car. Mag. in 
 Due. The peasants in many parts of 
 Germany were accustomed on St John's 
 eve to kindle a fire by rubbing a rope 
 rapidly to and fro round a stake, and 
 applying the ashes to superstitious pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Needle. Goth, nethla, OHG. nddata, 
 ndlda, Du. naelde, ON. ndl, Bret, nadoz, 
 w: nodwydd, Gael, s/iathad, Manx snaid, 
 a needle. Du. naeden, naeyen, on^. 
 nagan, nawan, ndan, G. ndhen, to sew j 
 w. noden, Gael, sfiath, Manx snaie, thread. 
 Fin. negla, neiila^ a needle ; kntippi-neula 
 (a headed needle), a pin ; nei/liainen (a 
 stinger), a wasp. Esthon. noggel, nodi, 
 a needle, sting of an insect; nbggene, 
 nogges, a stinging-nettle. 
 
 In the foregoing forms we may perhaps 
 detect a root nad, nag, signifying prick or 
 sting, which may explain Goth, nadr, w. 
 neidr, AS. naddre, an adder. 
 
 Nefarious. Lat. fas, right, justice \ 
 ftefas, wickedness. 
 
 Negation. — Negative. Lat. nego, 
 Sw. neka, ON. neikvceda, to say ne, no, 
 to ; OE. to nick with nay. 
 
 On her knees they kneleden adoun 
 And prayden hym off hys benisoun ; 
 He nykkyt hem with nay. 
 
 Rom. of Athelstone in Hal. 
 
 To the above are opposed Lat. aio, Sw. 
 jaka, MHG. jehen, G. bejahen, to say aye 
 or ja to, to affirm. 
 
 Neglect. — Negligent. Lat. negligo, 
 neglectum, to have little regard for. Per- 
 haps formed as a negation oi eligo, to 
 pick out, to choose. 
 
 Negotiate. Lat. negotium, business. 
 
 Negro. Sp. negro, Lat. niger, black. 
 
 Neif. A female serf. Lat. nativa. 
 
 To Neigh, as. hncEgan, ON. hneggia, 
 Sw. gncEgga, N.Fris. nogern, Sussex, to 
 kmtcker, Pl.D. nichen, Yx. hennir, It. 
 nitrire, all representing the sound. Sc. 
 nicher, nicker, to neigh, to laugh coarsely. 
 
 Neighbour. AS. neah-bur, neah-man, 
 G. nachbar, Du. buur, Dan. nabo, fern. 
 naboerske, neighbour. From AS. neah, 
 nigh, near, and Dan. boe, G. bauen, to 
 till, cultivate, dwell. G. batcer, a boor, 
 cultivator, peasant. Dan. bo, a dwelling. 
 AS. neah-gehuse, neighbours. 
 
 Neither, as. ndther, nawther, from 
 the negative ne and either. 
 
 Neive. on. hnefi, knefi, a fist, hand- 
 
NEOPHYTE 
 
 ful. Hence Sc. nevel, navel, to strike 
 with the fist ; niffer, to exchange, to pass 
 from one fieive to another. 
 
 Neophyte, Gr. vso^vtoq, recently- 
 planted, applied to newly-made Chris- 
 tians ; vibg, new, and (pv<a, to beget, give 
 birth to. 
 
 Nepe. See Turnip. 
 
 Nephew. — Nepotism. From Lat. 
 ne/>os, -Otis, descendant, Venet. nevodo, 
 neodo, and thence by the common con- 
 version of an internal d to ti, or y, Fr. 
 neveu, Sc. nevoy, E. nephew. One of the 
 instances in which the Lap. agrees in so 
 singularly close a manner with Lat. is 
 seen in Lap. ndpai, sister's son. 
 
 Nerve. Lat. nervus, a sinew ; Gr. 
 vivpov. 
 
 Nescock, One that was never from 
 home, a fondling. — B. Bav. nestquack, 
 nestkack, Pl.D. nestkiken, the youngest 
 bird of a brood, youngest child in a family. 
 G. quack, quackel, qjiackelchen, nestqiidck, 
 a young unfledged bird, fig. a child of old 
 age. Das quakelchen seines alters. From 
 quaken, to cry. Der kinder gequdk j 
 ein jammervoll gequeck. 
 
 Nesh. AS. hnesc, tender, soft, weak. 
 Properly moist. Goth, natjan, G. be7iet- 
 zen, to wet ; G. nass, Du. nat, wet ; Fin. 
 neste, moisture ; 7iuoska, Esthon. 7iusk, 
 wet ; Lat. Nottis, the (moist) South wind. 
 
 Nest. Pol. gniasdo, nest, breed ; Bret. 
 neiz, w. nyth, Gael, nead, Lat. nidus. 
 
 Net. I. Goth, nati, Fin. ttuotta, ON. 
 not, G. netz, Bret. neud. 
 
 2. See Neat. 
 
 Nether, on. nedan, under ; fiedri, 
 lower, nedstr, lowest (adj.) ; G. nieder, 
 lower ; AS. 7ieothan, beneath ; neothe- 
 weard, downwards. 
 
 Nettle. G. 7tessel, Pl.D. nettel, Sw. 
 7iessla, N. net la, Dan. ncelde, ON. notr, 
 7i'6tru-gras, from nbtra, to shiver, pro- 
 bably in the sense of tingling with pain. 
 Cleveland nodder, to tremble, shake ; Bav. 
 notteln, to shake, to rock. In a similar 
 way G. zitter-aal, the electric eel, from 
 zittern, to shiver. 
 
 Neuter. Lat. neuter, neither. 
 
 New. Goth, niujo, ON. fiyr, Bret. 
 nevez, Gael, nuadh, Lat. novus, Gr. viog, 
 Sanscr. 7iawa. 
 
 News. In the sense of intelligence 
 there is probably a confusion of two words 
 — I. news, Fr. 7iouvelles, new things, and 
 2. Dan. nys, properly scent, wind, hint, 
 inkling, intimation. AS. faae 7iys, to get 
 wind of a thing, to get news of it. ON. 
 Jinysa, to search for, spy out ; h7iysi7i7i, 
 curious. Du. neuselen, to sniff after, to 
 
 NICE 
 
 445 
 
 scent out ; neuswijs, sagacious, having 
 good scent, curious. i 
 
 Newt. A water-lizard. Otherwise ewt, 
 evet, eft. 
 
 -nex. See -nect. 
 *' Next. AS. fieah, near, nigh ; nehst, 
 7iyhst, nighest, next, last. yEt nyhstan, 
 at last. Seoththen ich was ischriwen 
 7iexst, since I was last shriven. — Ancr. 
 Riwle 320. 
 
 Nias. It. 7iido, nidio, nest ; 7iidare, 
 nidiare, to nestle ; nidace, nidaso falcone, 
 an eyas hawk, a young hawk taken out of 
 her nest. — Fl. Fr. 7iiais, a nestling, 
 novice, simple and inexperienced gull. — ■ 
 Cot. 
 
 To Nibble. Du. knabbelen, knibbelen, 
 to nibble, also (as Fin. napistd) to 
 grumble, wrangle, bargain ; knabbeler, 
 Fin. 7iapisia, a quarrelsome person ; G. 
 k7iaupeln, to gnaw, pick a bone, nibble ; 
 Swiss k7iiibeln, to pick, work with a 
 pointed implement ; Pl.D. knappern, 
 kiiuppem, kmcbbern, to munch dry hard 
 food with a crunching noise, to nibble as 
 mice or rats — Danneil ; G. knappe7t, to 
 gnaw, bite, pick, or nibble — Kiittn. ; Pl.D. 
 knabbeln, gnabbeln, gnawweln, to gnaw 
 audibly. Dao gnabbelt '7t mus. When 
 the noise is somewhat finer it is replaced 
 by g7iibbeln, k7iibbeln, tiibbeln, to nibble, 
 eat by little bits, like a goat.— Danneil. 
 Fin. napsaa, to sound as the teeth in 
 gnawing, to strike lightly. 
 
 Nice. I. From Fr. nice, foolish, sim- 
 ple ; Prov. 7iesci, Ptg. tiescio, Sp. 7iecio, 
 foolish, '. imprudent, ignorant ; Lat. 7ie- 
 scius, ignorant. 
 
 Ain9ois s'en joue h. la pelotte 
 
 Comme pucelle nice et sotte. — R. R. 6920. 
 
 Nicette fut et ne pensoit 
 
 A nul nial engin quel qu'il soit, — 
 
 Mais moult estoit joyeuse et gaye. — Ibid. 1230. 
 
 In Chaucer's translation : 
 
 Nice [simple] she ywas but she ne mente 
 None'^harme ne sleight in her entente. 
 
 For he wes nyce and knowth no wisdome. 
 
 R. G. 
 
 * 2. Probably nice in the modern sense 
 may be wholly distinct from the foregoing, 
 and may be explained from Pl.D. nussehi,^ 
 nustern, Hessian nusseln, 7iiissel7i, nissebt, 
 7iaUseln, n'oseln, to sniff at one's food, to 
 turn one's meat over like a dog with his 
 snout, to eat without appetite, be nice in 
 eating, to pick and choose; 7iesset, nice in 
 eating. The term then would apply in 
 the first instance to hesitations or scru- 
 ples in eating, and subsequently in dealing 
 with other things. ' Marcus Cato— never 
 
446 
 
 NICHE 
 
 made ceremony or niceness to praise him- 
 self openly.' — Holland, Plutarch. 
 
 Niche. Fr. niche ^ It. nicchio^ nicchia^ 
 a recess for a statue in a wall, also a nick 
 or nock.— Fl. A tiick in the wall. 
 
 Nick. — Notch. It. nicchio^ a nick or 
 nock ; nocchiiiy nocca, a nock, notch, or 
 knuckle, as of a bow, or of one's fingers. 
 G. knick, the clear sound of a weak or 
 sl6nder body when it gets suddenly a 
 chink, crack, or burst. Das glas that 
 eincn knick, the glass gave a crack. Also 
 the crack or chink that takes its rise with 
 such a sound. — Kiittn. Einen knick in 
 einen zweig machen, to crack or break a 
 twig. Ein reis knicken, to half break and 
 half bend a young branch. 
 
 The notion of a flick or notch may be 
 taken from a crack in a hard body, but 
 more frequently probably from the image 
 of a sharp, sudden movement, represented 
 by the sound knick or knock. G. ?ncken, 
 to nod, to wink ; N. nokka, to rock ; 
 nykkje, to pluck or twitch. Then, as in 
 similar cases, the term is applied to an 
 indentation or projection. So from Fr. 
 hocher^ to nod, jog, shake, hoche, oche, a 
 nick or notch. See Cog. It should be 
 observed that It. nocchio is not only a 
 notch but a projection, a knot or knob. 
 
 Nick. 2.— Old Nick. Pl.D. Nikker, 
 the hangman, also the Devil as the exe- 
 cutioner prepared for the condemned of 
 the human race at the great day of judg- 
 ment. The same office is ascribed to 
 him in the ordinary G. exclamation der 
 HenkerJ hole mich der Henker / the 
 Devil take me : not the ordinary hang- 
 man. 
 
 AS. hncecan, Du. nekken^ to kill. Den 
 nek breken^ to break one's neck, to kill 
 one. So in E. slang, to scrags to hang, 
 from scrags the neck ; nubbing^ hanging, 
 nub, the neck. Magy. 7iyak, the neck, 
 nyakazni, decollare, to behead. 
 
 Nickname. Ekename or nekename, 
 agnomen. — Pr. Pm. ON. aiiknefni, Sw. 
 'oknainn, G. eich-, ekel-, okel-, neck-, oker- 
 naine, a surname, nickname. Taken se- 
 parately we should explain auknefni, eke- 
 name, from ON. auk, Y..eke, in addition, 
 besides ; nickname, as a name given in 
 derision, from Fr. /aire la nique, to jeer, 
 or G. necken, to tease or plague. 
 
 Susurro, a privy whisperer that slaundereth, 
 backbiteth, and nicketh one's name. — Junius 
 Nomenclator in Pr. Pm. 
 
 But the great variety of forms looks more 
 like a series of corruptions of a common 
 original, which being no longer under- 
 stood has been accidentally modified or 
 
 NIGGARD 
 
 twisted in different directions in order to 
 suit the meaning. And such an original 
 may perhaps be found in Lap. like 
 namtn, Fin. liika ninii, Esthon. liig nim- 
 mi, a by-name, surname, the first element 
 of which in the three languages signifies 
 in excess of, beside. Esthon. liig-te {te, 
 way), a by-way, wrong road ; liig-juus, 
 false hair, a wig. The original meaning 
 of the word is probably side, whence Es- 
 thon. liggi, Fin. liki, near. The same 
 element may be recognised in w. llyscnw, 
 Bret, leshano, a surname, nickname, the 
 first element of which is used exactly as 
 the Finnish particle. Bret, les-tad, a 
 step-father J w. llysblant, step-childreii ; 
 Bret. Ic^z, a haunch, border, and as a 
 prep, near ; w. llysu, to set aside ; ystlys, 
 a side, a flank. 
 
 The change from an initial / to « is 
 seen in It. livello, nivello, level ; Lat. 
 lympha and nympha; It. lan/a and natifa, 
 orange-flower water ; Fr. lentille and 
 nentille, a lentil, &c. 
 
 Nidget. See Niggle. 
 
 Niece. OFr. ni^pce, nihe. — Cot. The 
 dialect of Champagne has nieps, nies, ne- 
 phew ; niepce, niece, from Lat. 7tepos. 
 
 Nifle. A trifle. Norman niveloter, to 
 amuse oneself with trifles. Niffnaffs, 
 trifles, knicknacks. — Hal. The radical 
 image is a snap with the fingers, used as 
 a type of something worthless, as when 
 we snap our fingers, and say I don't care 
 that for you. Fr. niquet, a knicke, tlicke, 
 snap with the fingers, a trifle, nifle, bauble, 
 matter of small value. G. knipp, a snap 
 or fillip with the fingers ; Fr. nipes, trash, 
 nifles, trifles. — Cot. See Knicknack. 
 
 Niggard. The habit of attention to 
 minute gains in earning money is closely 
 connected with a careful unwillingness to 
 spend, and the primary meaning of nig- 
 gard is one who scrapes up money by 
 little and little. N. nyggja, to gnaw, rub, 
 scrape ; Sw. njugga ihop peniiingar, to 
 scrape up money ; njugga med eti i pen- 
 nifigar, to keep one short of money ; 
 ^Jt^gg, niggardly, sparing ; Lap. ndgget, 
 to scrape together ; N. gnika, to rub, to 
 drudge, to seek pertinaciously for small 
 advantages ; gnikjen, nikjett, nuggjen, 
 stingy, scraping, explaining OE. niggont 
 while Pl.D. gnegeln, to be miserly, N. 
 nikker, stingy, correspond to NE. nagre, 
 a miserly person. 
 
 The same ultimate reference to the 
 idea of rubbing is found in X^axi. gnide, 
 to rub ; gnidsk, niggardly ; Bav. fretten, 
 to rub, to earn a scanty living with pains 
 and difficulty; It. frugare, to rub, to 
 
NIGGLE 
 
 pinch and spare miserably, to spend or 
 feed sparingly, to use frugality. — Fl. 
 
 To Niggle. To trifle, nibble, eat or 
 do anything mincingly. — Hal. To work 
 in a niggling way is to do a thing by re- 
 peated small efforts, like a person nibbling 
 at a bone. Swiss niggele, operam suam 
 in re parvi manuaria collocare. — Idiot. 
 Bernense in Deutsch. Mundart. To Hag- 
 gle, to gnaw. — Hal. Sw. nagga^ to gnaw, 
 to nibble ; N. gnaga, to gnaw, to toil as- 
 siduously with little effect ; gnika, to rub, 
 to work slow and in a petty way. To 
 nig, to clip money ; nigged ashlar, stone 
 worked with a pointed hammer. — Hal. 
 
 Nigh. See Near. 
 
 Night. Goth, nahts, Lat. nox (noct'), 
 w. nos, Slav, noc (nots), Lith. naktis. We 
 might fancy that the ultimate signification 
 was a negation of light, ne-light, ne-lux, 
 as Ir. sorcha^ light, bright ; dorcha^ darkj 
 Lat. nolle for ne-velle. 
 
 Nightingale, g. nachtigall, the bird 
 that sings by night. ON. gala, to sing, 
 to crow like a cock, the origin of Lat. 
 gallus. 
 
 Nightmare. See Mare. 
 
 Nightshade. Sw. dial, skata, a. mag- 
 pie ; nattskata, a nightjar ; nattskategrds, 
 G. nachtschade, nightshade. 
 
 To Nim. To take by stealth. Goth. 
 niman, Lith. imti, to take ; ON. ne?na, to 
 take, take away. See Introduction. 
 
 Nimble, as. numol, capax, tenax, ra- 
 pax. — Lye. ON. nema, nam, tnanit, to 
 take, and hence, as Dan. nemme, to learn, 
 to apprehend ; nein, quick of apprehen- 
 sion, handy, adroit. Den neinmeste maade, 
 the readiest way. 
 
 Nincompoop. A corruption of non 
 cotnpos mentis, the legal phrase for a 
 person not in possession of his mind. 
 
 Nine. Lat. novem, Gr. iwka, ON. ttitc, 
 W. naw, Sanscr. navan. 
 
 Ninny. Sp. ^liflo, an infant, a childish 
 person ; Jiinear, to behave in a childish 
 manner. Mod.Gr. viviov, a child, doll, 
 simpleton ; fityaXov viviov, a great ninny. 
 The origin of the word is doubtless the 
 sing-song humming used to set a child 
 to sleep. Sp. nini-nana, words without 
 meaning for the humming of a tune ; 
 Mod.Gr. vava, lullaby ; It. ninna ninna, 
 words used to still children ; ninnare, 
 nifinellare, to lull children a-?leep. 
 
 To Nip. — Nippers, g. knipp, a snap 
 or fillip with the fingers. Einem ein 
 knippchen, klippchen geben, to give one a 
 fillip. Knippen, schnippen, to snap ; 
 knip-kaiilchen, Pl.D. knippel, knicker, a 
 marble impelled by filliping with the 
 
 NODDLE 
 
 447 
 
 fingers. To nip is to pinch by an imple- 
 ment that shuts with a snap. Dan. 
 nappe, to snap, twitch, pluck ; nappe- 
 tang, nippers, pincers ; Lap. nappet, to 
 lop, crop, cut off the extremities ; nappa- 
 pelji,^ crop-eared. 
 
 Nipple. A dim. of neb or nib. Neble 
 of a woman's pap, bout de la mamelle. — 
 Palsgr. Fin. 7idppy, nyppy, nyppyld, a 
 pimple, wart, bud. The nipple is in G. 
 termed bntstwarze, brcast-wart. Esthon. 
 nip, point, end. 
 
 Nithing. An abject, vile fellow, a 
 coward. — B. ON. nida, to abuse, dis- 
 grace, befoul. Nidaz d tru sinni, to 
 desert his faith. Nidingr, an infamous 
 person, coward, niggard, traitor. Nid, 
 a lampoon, contumely, abuse. Perhaps 
 the word originally signified nothing 
 worse than a miser ; fenidingr, mat- 
 nidingr, a niggard of money or of food ; 
 nidskr, Dan. gnidsk, sordid^ tenax, from 
 gnide, to rub or scrape. In the N. of E. 
 nithing is used for sparing ; ' nithing of 
 his pains.' — B. 
 
 No. See Na,y. 
 
 Noble. — Nobility. Lat. nobilis, no- 
 bilitas ; from nosco, novi, to know. 
 
 Nock. — Notch. Norm, noque, notch ; 
 It, nocchio, nocco, a bunch, knob, knur, 
 snag or ruggedness in any tree or wood, 
 the knuckle-bones, hard stone of a fruit, 
 also the nock of a bow or notch in any- 
 thing. — Fl. 
 
 The fundamental image is an abrupt 
 movement suddenly checked, represented 
 by a sharp report, and thence an indent- 
 ation or projection. Gael, cnag, to crack, 
 snap the fingers, knock, rap ; E. dial. 
 nog, to jog. So from Fr. hocher, to jog, 
 hoche, oche, a notch. See Nick. 
 
 Nocturnal. Lat. nox, noctis, night. 
 
 Nod. Bav. notteln, to move to and 
 fro ; an der thiir notteln, to shake at the 
 door; OHG. hnutten, vibrare. — Schm. 
 ON. Jmioda (Jinyd, hnatid, hnodit), to 
 hammer; V>m. knodse, 2l zw^g^. To nod 
 is to make a movement as if striking 
 with the head. The E. word has no im- 
 mediate connection with Lat. nutus, the 
 / of which belongs to the frequentative 
 form of the verb. 
 
 Noddle. The noddle, noddock, or 7iid- 
 dock is properly the projecting part at the 
 back of the head, the nape of the neck, 
 then ludicrously used for the head itself. 
 Occiput, a nodyle. — Hal. 
 
 After that fasten cupping glasses to the noddle 
 of the necke. — Burroughes in Nares. 
 ON. htiod, the round head of a nail ; Du. 
 knodj knodde, a knob ; Dan. knude, a 
 
448 
 
 NODDY 
 
 knot, bump, protuberance ; Lat. nodus, 
 It. nodo, a knot ; nodo del co//(?,ihe nape 
 of the neck ; nodello (identical in form 
 with E. noddle), the ankle-bone. 
 
 Noddy. A silly fellow. — B. Nodcock, 
 noddypoll, noddypate, a simpleton. Nod- 
 dy-headedy tipsy. — Hal. The meaning is 
 probably one whose head is in a whirl. 
 In the same way noggy, tipsy, from nog, 
 to jog. Compare Mty, dizzy, with totter, 
 to stagger. It. noddo, a silly-pate. — Fl. 
 Norman naudin, s. s. — Cot. 
 
 Node. — Nodose. Lat. nodus, a knot, 
 nodosNS. 
 
 Nog-g-in. A mug. Gael. ^«^^, knock, 
 rap, thump, a knob, peg, pin ; cnagaidh, 
 bunchy ; cnagaire, a knocker, a gill, nog- 
 gin, quart-measure ; cnagare, a little knob, 
 an earthen pipkin. 
 
 * Noise. Fr. noise, rumbling, stir, 
 wrangle, brawl ; Prov. nausa, nosa, 
 noysa, noise, dispute. Applied in R. R. 
 to the murmur of water. 
 
 S'en aloit I'iaue aval, fesant 
 Une noise douce et plesant. 
 
 The original sense, however (in which, in 
 E. it is still chiefly used), is that of dis- 
 agreeable, importunate sound, and the 
 most probable origin is Lat. noxa, noxia 
 (from noceo, to hurt), something hurtful, 
 injury, brawl, disturbance. In mediam 
 7ioxain perfertur. — Petron, Saspe in con- 
 jugiis fit noxia si nimia est dos. — Auson. 
 Flem. noose, noxa, malum, damnum, et 
 lis, dissidia. — Kil. 
 
 * Noisome. Having power to noy or 
 injure. 
 
 Thei had tailis like scorpiouns — and the might 
 of them was to noye men fyve monethis. — Wiclif . 
 
 It. noiare, to annoy, molest, trouble ; 
 noia, noianza, annoyance, molestation. 
 ODu. noeyen, noyen, vernoeyen, obesse, 
 nocere, molestum esse ; noeylick, noyelick, 
 noisome, — Kil. It is impossible to se- 
 parate the foregoing from It. a7inoiare, 
 Fr. enniiyer, E. annoy, which have satis- 
 factorily been traced to Lat. in odio esse, 
 and the Du. noode, unwillingly, against 
 the grain, probably comes from the same 
 source. Entirely distinct are Lat. nocere, 
 Prov. nozer, OFr. nuisir, Fr. fiuire, to 
 hurt, whence It. nocevole, Fr. nnisible, 
 injurious ; nuisaftce, injury, hurt. 
 
 Noll.— Nowl. The head. as. aioll, 
 a knoll, hill, top, summit ; G. knollen, a 
 knob, lump, tumour, protuberance. Ver- 
 tex, hnoll. — AS. Vocab. 
 
 Nomad. Gr. vSfiag, from j/s/uw, to pas- 
 ture flocks. 
 
 Nominal. — Nominee. Lat. nomen, a 
 name. ■ 
 
 NOON 
 
 -nomy. Gr. vofiog, a law, order. 
 Nonce. F'or the 7ionce, for the special 
 occasion. 
 
 Tha that word him com to 
 
 That Brutes wolden ther don, 
 
 And comen to than anes 
 
 To faschen tha stanes. 
 — When news came to him what the Britons 
 were about to do, and that they were coming for 
 that only, to fetch the stones. — Layamon, Brut. 
 II. 301. 
 
 To than ane icoren, chosen for the special 
 purpose. — Ibid. 2. 279, 
 
 Nonpareil. Fr. pareil, from L.Lat. 
 pariculus, dim. from Lat. par, equal. — 
 Scheler. 
 
 Nook. A corner. Fou7--nokede it is, 
 it (a piece of water) is four-cornered. — 
 Layamon 2. 500. Gael, nine, a corner, 
 nook. Fin. tiokka, the beak of a bird, 
 nose, point ; maan nokka, lingula terrae, 
 a nook of land ; nokkia, to peck ; Esthon. 
 nnk, a knuckle, pummel, button ; nukka, 
 a tip, corner, nook ; Wal. nouk, knot, ex- 
 crescence. 
 
 The radical meaning is a projection 
 either outwards or inwards, and it is 
 essentially the same with nock, notch. So 
 It. cocca, a notch, is the same with E. cog. 
 
 Noon. The Roman day was divided 
 into 12 hours, from sunrise to sunset, so 
 that the ninth hour, hora nona, would be 
 about three o'clock in the afternoon. In 
 Norway non or nun is still used in this 
 sense, signifying the third meal or resting- 
 time of the day, held at two, three, or four 
 o'clock, according to custom, Nona, to 
 lunch, to take the intermediate meal or 
 repose ; nonsbil, the hour of noti, about 
 three or four in the afternoon. 
 
 The transference of the signification 
 from mid-afternoon to mid-day seems to 
 have taken place through an alteration in 
 the time of the canonical services, of 
 which seven were performed in the day, 
 matutina, prima, tertia, sexta, nona, ves- 
 pera, completorium. It is plain that four 
 of these must be named from the hours at 
 which they were originally celebrated, 
 but we find that nona, the fifth service, 
 was held in Italy about mid-day at an 
 early period. 
 
 Montando lo sole prima la prima parte, fa terza ; 
 la seconda, sesta ; la terza, nona, e siamo a mez- 
 zodi (the sun having climbed the third part of the 
 heavens performs nones, and we are at mid-day) ; 
 poi comincia a discendere, e scesa la prima parte 
 fa mezzo vespro, &c. — La Crusca. 
 
 Nona, mittag-zyt, myddach. — Dief. Sup. 
 Tho bygonne tenebres that into al the eorthe 
 
 were ydon 
 In the sixte tyd of the day that me clupeth noon. 
 
NOOSE 
 
 Hit bygan at non and for to the nynthe tyde ylaste 
 That y^oldehe midovernon. — Festival Metri in R. 
 
 It is probably in memory of the time at 
 which the service of nones was originally 
 performed that it is still announced by 
 nine strokes of the bell. ' L'Angelus de 
 midi venait de sonner, mais bien des gens 
 n'avaient pas entendu les neuf coups, et 
 partant avaient oublie de reciter I'oraison 
 accoutumde.' — Madame Claude, p. i, 1862. 
 
 Noose. Lang, nons-coureii^ a running 
 knot or noose ; nouzelut, knotty. Noiis^ 
 nns, fiouzel, a knot. — Diet. Castrais. 
 From Lat. nodus. 
 
 Nor. Nor, Tie or. 
 
 Normal. — Enormous. Lat. norjna, a 
 square for trying right angles, thence 
 pattern, rule ; normalis, according to 
 rule, a right angle, perpendicular line ; 
 enormts, out of rule, irregular, huge. Gr. 
 yv&iitov, a rule. 
 
 North. ON. norSr, Fr. nord. 
 
 Nose. AS. ncBse, G. nase, Lat. ftasus, 
 Lith. nosis, Pol. nos, Russ. nos\ 
 
 The name of the nose is probably taken 
 from an imitation of noises made through 
 the nose, as G. niesen, to sneeze, Dan. 
 snuse, to snuff or sniff. So Gael, sron, 
 the nose, compared with E. snore; Gr. 
 p^yX"^} snout, muzzle, beak, face (pro- 
 perly nose), compared with poyxoc, a 
 snoring, p«yx<^5 to snore, snort. See 
 Nozzle. • 
 
 Nostril. AS. nas-tJiyrla^ ncBsthyrel j 
 from thyrel^ a hole, aperture ; G. thiirle, 
 dim. of thiire, a door. On tham wage 
 thyrl geworht, made an aperture in the 
 wall. — Bede. Thurhcrypth aelc thyrel, 
 creeps through every hole. — Boeth. Needle 
 thyrel, the eye of a needle. See Thirl. 
 
 Nostrum. Lat. nostrum, ours, pecu- 
 liar to ourselves. 
 
 Not. — Nought. AS. naht, nauhl, noht, 
 nought, not ; OHG. niowiht, nieht, G. nicht, 
 not, from the negative particle ni, and 
 Goth, vaihts, AS. wiht, G. wicht, a whit, 
 thing. So in Romance, from ne and 
 ens, a being. It. niente, nothing, OFr. 
 nient, not. ' Detenus en garde et nient 
 allantz k large,' not going at large. — Liber 
 Albus, p. 215. Nient countreesteaunt, 
 notwithstanding. — Ibid. p. 216. 
 
 Note. — Notable. — Notary. — Notice. 
 — Notion, Lat. nota, a mark, sign ; 
 nosco, notttjn, to know. 
 
 Noun. Fr. Jiojn, Lat. nomen, a name. 
 
 -nounce. -nunc-. Lat. nunchcs, a 
 messenger ; nnncio, to bear tidings, bring 
 word of, tell. Hence Annotmce, Pro- 
 nounce, Renounce, &c. 
 
 To Nourish. — Nurse. — Nurture. 
 
 NUISANCE 
 
 4^9 
 
 From Lat. nutrio, to suckle or feed young, 
 we pass to Fr. nourrir, and thence to E. 
 nourish. In the same way. Lat. nutrix 
 gives rise to Fr. nourrice and E. nurse. 
 From nourrir was formed nourriture, 
 which was converted into E. nurture, as 
 nourrice into nurse. For the origin of 
 nutrio see Nuzzle. 
 
 Novel. Lat. novellus {novus, new), 
 Fr. no7Lvel 
 
 November. Lat. November. 
 
 Now. AS. nu, Gr. vvv, Lat. nunc. 
 
 Noxious. Lat. noxius ; noxa, that 
 which is hurtful ; fioceo, to hurt. 
 
 * Nozzle. The nose, snout, project- 
 ing part of anything, as of a bellows. — ' 
 Worcester. Pl.D. niissel, the nose. — 
 Deutsch. Mundart. v. 73. 
 
 From Pl.D. nusseln, E. nuzzle, to sniff 
 after, to seek with the nose like a dog 
 (Brem. Wtb.) ; Bav. nuseln, to snuffle or 
 speak through the nose, to poke the nose 
 into (in etwas herumsuchen) ; nueschen, 
 to sniff about, to root in like a swine. In 
 the same way Pl.D. snuss, the snout, is 
 related to snusseln, synonymous with 
 nusseln, above-mentioned ; Dan. snude, 
 Bav. schnud, snout, to schnauden, schno^ 
 deln, to snuff, pant, draw breath, and Sw. 
 dial, snok, Lith. snukkis, snout, muzzle, to 
 Sw. snoka, to snoke or snook, to smell, to 
 search out, pry into. 
 
 -nude. — Nudity. Lat. nudus, naked. 
 
 Nudge. Austrian nussen, to thrust or 
 strike, especially with the fist. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. ii. Pl.D. nutsche gien, io cuff. 
 — Ibid. v. 173. Swiss motschen, to ihrwst 
 or press, to make another give way ; 
 mutschen, to strike with the fist. 
 
 Nuel. — Newel. As Fr. noyau, the 
 spindle of a winding staircase. Noyau. 
 is also the kernel of a nut, stone of a 
 peach, plum, &c., mould in the hollow of 
 a piece of ordnance when it is cast, any- 
 thing contained in a hollow envelope. 
 From Lat. nux, nucis, a nut, Lang, nou- 
 galh, naualh, kernel of nut. — Diet. Castr. 
 w. cnewyll, kernel. 
 
 Nugatory. Lat. nugee, trifles. 
 
 Nugget. A lump of native gold, a 
 dim. of W.E. nug, a block, a knob or pro- 
 tuberance ; Essex nigg, a small piece. — 
 Hal. In North's Plutarch, p. 499, it is 
 written niggot. * After the fire was 
 quenched they found in niggots (lumps) 
 of gold and silver mingled together about 
 a thousand talents.' Hence Trench in- 
 clines to the supposition that migget is 
 only ingot disguised. 
 
 Nuisance. Fr. nuire, nuisant, from 
 Lat. nocere, to hurt, as luire, luisanty 
 29 
 
450 
 
 NUKE 
 
 from liicere, to shine ; nuisance, hurt, 
 damage, wrong, trespass. — Cot. 
 
 N\ike. Fr. nucque, the hinder part of 
 the head. Sec Nape. 
 
 Numb.— Benumb. Goth., AS. niman, 
 ON. fiema, to take, take away ; AS. beni- 
 vtan, benam^ benumcn, to take away, de- 
 prive, to stupefy; ON. niiminn, taken 
 away ; nitminn viti, as Lat. mente cactus, 
 deprived of sense, out of his mind. 
 He may neither go ne come, 
 But altogether he is benome 
 The power both of hande and fete. 
 
 Gower in R. 
 
 Number. — Numeral. — Numerate. 
 Lat. nmncrusy Fr. noinbi'e. 
 
 Numbles. — Unjbles. The old deri- 
 vation from umbilicus appears on the 
 whole to be the true one. The numbles 
 of a deer comprised various parts of the 
 inwards of the animal from the ' avant- 
 ers ' of the neck to the bight of the thighs. 
 Noiunbles of a dere or beest, entraiiles. — 
 Palsgr. Praecordia, the numbles, as the 
 hart, the spleene, the lunges and liver.— 
 Elyot. In Sir Gawaine and the Green 
 Knight however, v. 1340, where the cut- 
 ting out the numbles is elaborately but 
 not very comprehensibly described, they 
 do not include the liver and lungs. It is 
 natural that a portion consisting of the 
 soft parts about the belly should take its 
 name from the navel. And accordingly 
 we find the word in various forms, ftuji- 
 blicus (evidently from tunbilictts), man- 
 bile, numbulus, numblus. ' De bove mor- 
 tuo, pectus ; de porco mortuo, nunblicum.^ 
 — Due. ' In quolibet porco a carnifice 
 occiso ad vendendum, les numbles, et de 
 quolibet bove — pectus solvere tenebun- 
 tur.'— Charta, A.D. 1239, in Due. A strong 
 confirmation of this derivation appears 
 in the double form of the word, numbles 
 and umbles, with and without a prosthe- 
 tic n, precisely corresponding to Fr. ttom- 
 bril and Prov. ombrilh from umbilicus. 
 It is true that the word seems sometimes 
 to be confounded with lumbulus or lum- 
 bellus, which is claimed in some charters 
 on the same occasion as the numbles in 
 others. ' Quicunque de eodem castro 
 occidit porcum ad tallam [to be sold by 
 retail] praestat lumbelhim qui communi- 
 ter et vulgariter dicitur filectum (^^ filet), 
 curiae dicti castri.' — Charta, a.d. 1270, in 
 Carp. 
 
 But it by no means follows that it is 
 the same part of the animal that is claim- 
 ed in both cases, and here what is meant 
 by lu7nbellus is clearly explained as the 
 ^ filet ' or inside meat along the back of 
 the animal, quite a different piece of 
 
 NYMPH 
 
 meat from the numbles. Lumbulus, Icn- 
 tipratin. — Dief Supp. 
 
 Nun. P'rom It. nofina, grandmother, 
 as Gr. Tta-na^, a priest, from papa, father ; 
 abbot from abba, father. The first nuns 
 would naturally be elderly women. 
 
 Nuptial. Lat. nubo, 7iuptum, to 
 marry ; nupticE, a marriage. 
 
 Nurse. See Nourish. 
 
 Nut. AS. hnut, G. 71USS, Gael, cnudh, 
 W. cnau, Lat. nux. 
 
 Nutmeg. Fr. muguette, noix mu- 
 guette, G. muscat nuss, mcx moschata, 
 from the drug musk taken as the type of 
 anything highly-scented, whence also the 
 names of several highly-scented flowers. 
 Languedoc mugue, Sp. muscari, the hya- 
 cinth ; Fr. muguet (formerly musguet — 
 Diez), woodrufi", lily of the valley. 
 
 Nutriment, — Nutrition. Lat. nutrio, 
 nutritum, to nourish. See Nuzzle. 
 
 To Nuzzle. — Nuddle. To 7iuzzle, 
 7iuddle, to creep closely or snugly as an 
 infant in the bosom of its mother. — Mrs 
 Baker. Properly to sniff after the breast, 
 to seek it out with the mouth and nose, 
 as Bav. 7iuseln, 7iuesche7i, nueste7t, to snift 
 after, pry into, search about as a swine 
 with his snout. So, with the addition of 
 an initial s, Pl.D. snusseln, to sniff, search 
 about, especially for food. ' Dat kind 
 S7tusselt au den titte ' — the child nuzzles 
 up to the bVeast. — Brem. Wtb. E. dial. 
 snoozli7ig, nestling. — Hal. Da. snuse, N. 
 snusla, to snuff, sniff. In the same Way 
 7itiddle corresponds to forms like ON. 
 S7tudda, to snift after, Bav. scJmauden, 
 sclmodebi, to snuff, pant, snift. 
 
 To the latter class also belong G. dial . 
 sch7tuder7i, to snuffle or speak through 
 the nose, to snift, ON. S7iudra, S7iodra, N. 
 sfiutra, to sniff or seek after food, like a 
 hound with the snout. The transition 
 from the last of these forms to Lat. 7iutrio 
 is exactly similar to that which takes 
 place in the meaning of E. nuzzle, when 
 transferred from the action of the infant 
 to that of the nurse. To nuzzle, applied 
 to the infant, is to seek after the breast ; 
 and conversely, of the mother, it signifies 
 to press the babe to the breast, to caress, 
 nourish, bring up. 
 
 Mothers who to tiousle up their babes 
 Thought nought too curious. — Pericles. 
 
 Old men long nozzled [nursed] in corruption. 
 Sidney in Todd. 
 
 Surely I take almost every one to be of that 
 quality wherein he is nusled, and afterwards 
 taught by another's example. — Passenger of Be- 
 nevento in Nares. 
 
 Nymph. Gr. vv/x^jy, Lat. 7iyT}ipha, a 
 water-spirit. 
 
OAF 
 
 o 
 
 Vi^ 
 
 oi5T5*^ 
 
 i^55^ 
 
 Library. 
 
 Callfbrni*: 
 
 Oaf. A simpleton, blockhead. Form- 
 erly more correctly written auf, ouph, 
 from ON. alfr, an elf or fairy. When an 
 infant was found to be an idiot it was 
 supposed to be an imp left by the fairies, 
 in the room of the proper child carried 
 away to their own country, whence an 
 idiot is sometimes called a changeling, a 
 term explained by Bailey, a child changed, 
 also a fool, a silly fellow or wench. 
 
 These when a child haps to be got 
 Which after proves an idiot, 
 "When folks perceive it thriveth not, 
 
 The fault therein to smother, 
 Some silly doating brainless calf — 
 Say that the fairy left this aulf 
 
 And took away the other. 
 
 Drayton, Nymphidia in R. 
 
 Shakespear uses oiiphe for elf or fairy. 
 
 — my little son 
 And three or four more of their growth we'll dress 
 As urchins, ouphes, and fairies. — Merry Wives. 
 
 Oak. AS. ac, ON. eyk, G. eiche. 
 
 Oakum. — Ockam. Old ropes un- 
 twisted or reduced to fibre for calking 
 ships. AS. dcumbi, dcembi, OHG. dcanibi, 
 stoppa, tow ; MHG. hanef-dcamb, the 
 combings or hards of hemp, tow, what is 
 combed out in dressing it ; as dswinc, 
 the refuse swingled out in dressing flax. 
 Stuppa pectitur ferreis hamis, donee 
 omnis membrana decorticatur. — Pliny 
 xxix. I. 3, cited by Aufrecht in Phil. 
 Trans. 
 
 Oar. ON. ar, Fin., Lap, airo, Esthon. 
 aer, air. 
 
 Oast. Hop-oast, a kiln for drying hops, a 
 word probably imported from the Nether- 
 lands, together with the cultivation of 
 hops. Du. asf, est, a kiln. 
 
 Oath. AS. ath, Goth, aith, G. eid. 
 
 Oats. AS. ata, Fris. oat, oat ; AS. at, 
 ON. ata, food, ceti, eatables. 
 
 Ob-. Oc-. Of-. Op-. Lat. ob, against, 
 over against. In comp. with words begin- 
 ning with c,f,p, the b is assimilated with 
 the following consonant. 
 
 Obdurate. Lat. duriis, hard ; obdiiro, 
 to harden oneself against. 
 
 Obedience. — Obeisance.— Obey. Lat. 
 andio, to hearj obedio, Fr. obeir, obdis- 
 sant, to listen to a command, to obey, as 
 Gr. aKovo), to hear, vTraKovu), to listen to, 
 to obey. 
 
 Obelisk. Gr. 6(3eX6g, a spit, a pointed 
 
 object, 6^t\6sy d(3e\i(TKog, a pointed pillar. 
 
 Obese. Lat. obesus, gross, fat. 
 
 Obit. — Obituary. Lat. obeo, -itum, to 
 go through with ; obire diem ultimum, to 
 pass one's last day, to die ; obitus, death. 
 
 Oblige. Lat. ligo, to bind or tie ; 
 obligo, to tie up, to engage or bind in a 
 metaphorical sense. 
 
 Oblique. Lat. obliqiuis. 
 
 Obliterate. Lat. oblittero, to blot out, 
 cancel, from ob and littera, properly to 
 draw something over the letters, perhaps 
 to cancel the writing on a waxen tablet 
 by passing over it with the broad end of 
 the style. Not from litura, a blot or 
 blur, a streak or dash through writing, 
 the i of which is short, or the compound 
 oblino, oblitum, to dawb or smear over. 
 
 Oblivion. Lat. obliviscor, oblitiis, to 
 forget. Perhaps from liveo, livesco, to 
 become dark. To forget is to have a 
 thing become dark to one. 
 
 Obscene. Lat. obscoetms, of bad augury, 
 ominous, abominable, filthy. 
 
 Obscure. Lat. obscurus. 
 
 Obstacle. Lat. obstaciiliun j obstare, 
 to stand in the way of. 
 
 Oc-. For ob- before words beginning 
 with a c, as in occludo, to shut against ; 
 occiirro, to run up, to occur, &c. 
 
 Occult. Lat. occulo, -ctdtiun, to cover 
 over, to hide, from celo, to hide. 
 
 Occupy. Lat. occupo, to lay hold of 
 before, to take first, from capio. 
 
 Ocean. Gr. ojKeavog, Lat. oceamis. 
 
 Ochre. A yellow or brown coloured 
 earth used as a pigment. Gr. wxpof, 
 pale, yellow ; ^x9°^i ochre. 
 
 Oct-. Octave. — Octagon. Gr. oKrw, 
 Lat. octo, eight. 
 
 Ocular. Lat. octilus, an eye. See 
 Eye. 
 
 Odd. When a number is conceived as 
 odd or even the units of which it is com- 
 posed are regarded as piled up one by 
 one in two parallel columns. If the num- 
 ber be divisible by two the columns will 
 reach to the same height, or the highest 
 units will be even with each other, and 
 the number is called even; but if there 
 be a remaining unit it will project like a 
 point above the top of the parallel column, 
 and the number is called odd, N. odde, 
 from oddr, a point. The term is then 
 extended to any object left sticking up, 
 29 * 
 
452 
 
 ODIOUS 
 
 as it were, by itself, for want of another 
 to match it. 
 
 Odious. Lat. odium, hatred, ill-will. 
 
 Odour. — Odoriferous, Lat. odor, a 
 smell ; Gr. w^w, perf. odta^a, Lat. oleo, to 
 smell. 
 
 Of-. See Ob-. 
 
 Of— OfE Lat. aby ON. af, Gr. otto. 
 
 Ofikl. G. dial, affall, abgefall, refuse or 
 dross, what falls from ; Dan. affald, fall, 
 falling away, offal, the fall of the leaf, 
 windfalls in an orchard, broken sticks in 
 a wood, &c. 
 
 Office. — Official. Lat. officium, one's 
 business, moral duty ; officialis, a servant 
 or attendant on a magistrate. 
 
 Oft.— Often. ON. opt, Goth. ufta. 
 
 Ogee. — Og-ive. It. augivo, Fr. augive, 
 ogive, the union of concave and convex 
 in an arch or fillet. 
 
 To Ogle. G. aiigeln, to inoculate, also 
 to eye one slyly, from auge, an eye. Fr. 
 ceuillade, It. occhiata, a glance. 
 
 Ogre. Sp. ogro, Fr, ogre, OSp. huergo, 
 uerco, the man-eating giant of fairy-tales 
 — Diez ; It. orco, a surname of Pluto, by 
 met. any chimera or imagined monster. 
 — Fl. Cimbr. orco, (boses gespenst) bug- 
 gaboo. — Bergmann. From Lat. orcus, 
 hell. 
 
 Her marble-minded breast, impregnable, rejects 
 The ugly orks that for their lord the Ocean woo. 
 Polyolbion in Nares. 
 
 Oil. — Olive, Lat, oleum, G. oel, Gr, 
 tXoiov, oil ; tXaj'a, Lat. oliva, the olive or 
 oil tree. 
 
 Ointment. Lat. utigere, and thence 
 Fr. oindre, to anoint ; It. Miito, salve, 
 grease ; untare, ontare, to salve or smear. 
 
 Old. AS, eald, G. alt, Goth, altheis, old. 
 The radical meaning is probably ^r<?w;/ 
 np, from Goth, alan, to nourish, bring up ; 
 ON. ala, to beget, give birth to, nourish ; 
 elna, to grow, to ripen. Lat. alere, to 
 nourish ; adolesco, to grow up ; coalesce, 
 to grow together, &c. See Abolish. 
 Diefenbach compares Lat. alttts, as sig- 
 nifying grown up in space, as old in time. 
 
 Omelet. Fr. auinelette, omelette, of 
 unknown origin. 
 
 Omen. — Ominous. Lat. omen, a sign 
 of luck, good or bad. 
 
 Omni-. Lat. omnis, all, every. 
 
 On. G. an, Gr. ava, up, on, upon. 
 
 One. Gr. fig, /^ta, eV, Lat. wius, Goth. 
 ains, G. ein. 
 
 Onerous. Lat. onus, -eris, a burden. 
 
 Onion. Lat. unio, an onion, then, 
 from the concentric scales of which it is 
 formed, applied to a pearl. 
 
 Onomatopoeia. Gr. ovofiaToiroda, from 
 
 OPAQUE 
 
 dvofiaTOTToitio, to coin words, especially to 
 form words in imitation of sound. "Ovo/xa, 
 name, and iroifbj, to make. In later t'mes 
 the word has been confined to the special 
 signification above mentioned. It was 
 early observed that such words as Xt'yyw, 
 to twang like a bow, oi^ut, to hiss, balare, 
 to bleat, hinnire, to neigh, were exactly 
 such as we should frame if we attempted 
 to represent the sounds in question iDy a 
 vocal imitation. It was accordingly sup- 
 posed that a certain class of >yords had 
 been formed by the imitation of natural 
 sounds, and as these were the only class 
 of simple words in which evidence re- 
 mained of their having been formed by 
 the device of man, the name of ^vo^aro- 
 rroiijatg or word-making was given to the 
 process to which they owe their origin, a 
 name which obviously becomes improper 
 as soon as we regard all language as 
 formed by man. 
 
 Onyx. Lat. onyx, from Gr. owS,, the 
 nail of the finger. 
 
 Ooze. AS. wos, juice ; ofetes w^i-, juice 
 of fruit ; ivosig, juicy, moist. To ooze 
 out is to show moisture at the cracks, 
 moisture to find its way out by small 
 apertures. ON. vos, moisture ; vos-klcedi, 
 rain-proof clothes ; vasla, to splash 
 through the marshes {kvaske). E. ooze, 
 the wet mud left by the tide, Fr. vase, 
 owse, mud, soft dirt in the bottom of 
 waters, — Cot. N. vaasa, to work in the 
 wet and exposure, especially out at sea. 
 Da, dial, qvas, mud, puddle. Veien staaer 
 i eet' qvas, the way is all in a puddle. 
 Quasse, to plash, representing the sound 
 of mud or water under-foot, Det quasser 
 i stbvler, of the sound of water in the 
 shoes. Qvaske, to plash, tramp through 
 wet. N, vaspa, vassa, to wade, go in the 
 wet ; vass blom, water-lily -, vass d^'ukk- 
 y^;z, water-logged ; vasse7i,\^-2XQxy. EFris. 
 ose7i, to dabble in wet. 
 
 Op-. See Ob-. 
 
 Opal. A gem ' of divers colours, where- 
 in appeareth the fiery brightness of the 
 carbuncle, the shining purple of the ame- 
 thyst, the green lustre of the emerald, and 
 all intershining.' — Fl, Known to the 
 Romans under the name of opalus, show- 
 ing that a Slavonic language was then 
 spoken in Bohemia, whence the gem is 
 still brought. The origin is Pol. pala^, to 
 glow, to blaze, opalac, to burn on all sides; 
 Serv. opaliti, to shoot, to give fire ; from 
 the gleams of iridescent reflection by 
 which the stone is distinguished. 
 
 Opaque. Lat, opacus, shadowy, dusky, 
 Fr. opaque. 
 
OPEN 
 
 Open. G. offen^ ON. opinn^ AS. yppe, 
 open ; yppan^ G. offnen, ON. opna, to 
 open, to do up. ON. liika, to snut ; 
 uppliuka, to open ; upplokinn^ open. 
 Opinn is not only open, but mouth up- 
 wards, sorn ligger opad. We open a 
 vessel by lifting up the cover. 
 
 Opera. A name introduced with the 
 thing itself from Italy. Opera, any work, 
 labour, action ; now-a-days taken for a 
 comedy or tragedy sung to music. — Fl. 
 Lat. opus, pi. opera, work. 
 
 Operate. Lat. operari, to work, opus, 
 -eris, work. Bret, ober, to do, to make. 
 
 Ophthalmia. Gr. op^aXfxbg, an eye. 
 
 Opinion. Lat. opinio; opinari, to 
 think, believe. 
 
 Opportune.— Importunate. Lat. op- 
 ^ortunus, serviceable, convenient, season- 
 able, as a haven at hand to a ship ; from 
 ob, in front, and portus. In order to ex- 
 press the opposite ideas the ob of oppor- 
 tunus was changed to the negative particle 
 in, thus giving rise to iinportiinus, incon- 
 venient, troublesome, out of season. 
 
 -opt-.— Optative. — Option. Lat. op- 
 tare, to wish, to chuse ; optio, a choice or 
 election. Hence adopt, to chuse for one's 
 own. 
 
 Optic. — Optician. Gr. otttikoq, having 
 to do with vision, from the obsolete ottto- 
 Hdi, to see. 
 
 Opulent. Lat. opulentus, from opes, 
 wealth, abundance. 
 
 Or. Contracted from AS. dhwcether, 
 dwther, dther, OE. outher. Goth, aith- 
 than, OHG. edo, ON. eda, AS. eththa, Du. 
 edder, eer, OHG. odo, AS. oththe, OHG. 
 odar, Fris. auder, uder, Du. odder, oer, 
 OSax. eftha, OFris. ef titer, OHG. alda, 
 Swiss aid, ON. elia, Swiss alder, Sw. 
 Dan. eller, or. — Dief. 
 
 Oracle.— Oral. — Orator. -or«*. From 
 Lat. OS oris, the mouth, are Fr., E. oral, 
 given by word of mouth ; Lat. oro, -as, 
 to pray, to address words, whence oracu- 
 lum, an oracle or declaration of the gods 
 when consulted on human affairs ; oratio, 
 words, speaking, speech ; adoro, to pray 
 to, to adore. 
 
 Orange. It. arancio, Venet. naranza, 
 Sp. naranja, Mod.Gr. vepavrZiov. The 
 name must have been introduced with 
 the fruit itself from the East ; Pers. nd- 
 renj, -Arab, ndraitj. The loss of the n 
 gave Mid. Lat. arangia, which passed into 
 Fr. orange under the influence of the 
 golden colour of the fruit. — Diez. 
 
 Orb. — Orbicular. — Orbit. Lat. orbis, 
 a circular object, whence orbita, the track 
 
 ORDURE 
 
 453 
 
 of a chariot-wheel ; orbita solis, the way 
 of the sun. 
 
 Orchard. Goth, aurtigards, o^.jurta- 
 gardr, MHG. wiirzgarte, AS. vyrtgeard, 
 ortgeard, a yard or enclosure for worts, 
 i. e. vegetables, a garden. See Wort. 
 
 Orchestra. Gr. h^x^arpa, the part of 
 the stage on which the chorus danced, 
 from opx^ofiai, to dance. 
 
 Ordeal, as. ordcel, Du. oordeel, ordael, 
 a mode of judgment by fire or water, sup- 
 posed to be decided by the hand of God ; 
 the judgment xrar' i^oxyv. Du. oordeel, G. 
 urtheil, judgment, from ON. ur, out of, 
 and Iheil, part ; a laying out of parts, dis- 
 posing of the matter in proper order. In 
 the same way Lat. discrimejt, a parting, 
 separation, signifies an examination, de- 
 cision, proof. 
 
 Order. — Ordain, — Ordinary. Fr. or- 
 dre. It. ordine, Lat. ordo, -inis, a rank or 
 row, arrangement, order. Hence ordino^ 
 to set in rows, to arrange, to ordain or 
 settle the order of things by a decree. 
 Ordinary, according to order, regular. 
 
 An vrdinary or public dinner at cer- 
 tain hours may be explained as an open- 
 ing to the public of the ordinary fare of 
 the house. Common dyet in a mannes 
 house : ordinaire. — Palsgr. 
 
 Ordnance. Formerly ordinance or 
 ordonance, all sorts of artillery of great 
 guns. — B. An incidental application of 
 ordinance in the sense of arrangement, 
 preparation. Fr. ordonner, to ordain, 
 appoint, dispose, array, equip. — Cot. 
 
 Furthermore the king and his council ordeyned 
 blank chartres : — had them prepared. — English 
 Chron. p. 13. Cam. Soc. 
 
 In the same work we see the passage 
 to the modern sense. 
 
 The ordenaunce of the kinges guns avayled 
 not, for that day was so grete rayne that the 
 gonnes lay depe in the water, and so were queynt 
 and myght not be schott. — p. 97. 
 
 The Duke of Burgoyn had layd there all his 
 apparament to take Caleys, amongis which was 
 a horrible ordinauns, smale barelis filt full of 
 serpentis and venymous bestes, which he thouhte 
 to thro we into Caleys be engynes. — Capgrave 
 Chron. p. 298. 
 
 It. ordigno, a machine, mechanical con- 
 trivance, applied by Ariosto to a gun. 
 
 Ordure. Fr. ordure, It. ordiira, lor- 
 diira, filth ; lordo, ordo, OFr. ord, filthy, 
 dirty, from Lat. luridus, dark-coloured. 
 In luridi denies, discoloured teeth, the 
 sense comes very near that of dirty, filthy. 
 Mid. Lat. luridus, zwart, bleec^ onreyn ; 
 fuul. — Dief. Sup. The equivalence of 
 forms with an initial I ox n and a simple 
 vowel is not uncommon. Fr. loutre, e. 
 
454 
 
 ORE 
 
 otter; Fr. lierre^ OFr. Jiierre, ivy ; Fr. 
 lingo ty E. ingot; Fr. laiton, It. ottone, 
 brass ; It. lonza, Sp. t^^^r^, an ounce ; It. 
 luscignolo^ uscignolOf a nightingale. The 
 derivation from Jiotridus supported by 
 Diez is unsatisfactory. 
 
 Ore. Properly the vein of metal, from 
 the ore being found in a thin band ap- 
 pearing in the section like a vein running 
 through the rock. Calamina est quaedam 
 vena terras, is a certain ore. — Roger Ba- 
 con, Opus minus, 385. G. ader^ Sw. 
 dder^ dr, N. aader, aar, Dan. aare, a vein. 
 Vena, odder, odir. — Dief. Supp. 
 
 The ordinary explanation identifies the 
 word with AS. dr, cBr, ON. eir, Goth, aiz, 
 Lat. as, cpris, brass. 
 
 Organ. — Organic. Gr. opyavov (from 
 fpyw, to work), Lat. organum, an instru- 
 ment, tool, or machine, a musical instru- 
 ment. Ultimately the great instrument 
 of church music of pipes blown by a 
 bellows. 
 
 Organa dicuntur omnia instrumenta musico- 
 rum. Non solum illud organum dicitur quod 
 grande est et inflatur foUibus, sed quicquid apta- 
 tur ad cantilenam et corporeum est. — St Augus- 
 tine in Due. 
 
 Orgies. Gr. opyia, sacred rites ; ori- 
 ginally those in honour of Bacchus. 
 
 Oriel. This word formerly signified a 
 chamber or apartment. Adjacet atrium 
 nobilissimum in introitu quod porticus 
 vel oriolum appellatur. — Ut non in in- 
 firmaria sed seorsim in oriolo monachi 
 infirmi carnem comederent. — Matth. 
 Paris in Due. Oriolum, a little entrance, 
 from OS, oris f It is glossed chamber in 
 Bibelsworth. — Nat. Antiq. p. 166. 
 Plus est delit en le oriol [chamber] 
 Escoter la note de 1' oriol [wodewale]. 
 
 For the queen's closet in a chapel : — 
 Ye schall hur brynge to the chapelle, 
 Be the oryall syde stande thou stylle. 
 
 Erl of Tholouse, 1. 308 . 
 That lady herde his mournyng all 
 Ryght under the chambre wall 
 In her oryall there she was. — 
 Then said that lady mylde of mood, 
 Ryght in her closet there she stood. 
 
 Squire of low Degree, 1. 180. 
 An oriel window is one that juts out so 
 as to make a small apartment in a hall. 
 
 Orifice. Lat. orijicium, what makes 
 an opening ; os, oris, mouth. 
 
 Oj-igin. Lat. origo, -inis; orior, to 
 arise, take a beginning. 
 
 Orison. Fr. oraisouy Lat. oratio, a 
 prayer. 
 
 Orlope. The uppermost deck in a 
 great ship, from the mainmast to the miz- 
 zen.— B. It. tetto^ the deck or overloope 
 
 OSIER 
 
 of a ship. — Fl. G. iiberlatif, the deck of 
 a ship, from iiberlatifen, to run over the 
 whole surface. Du. over loop, a covering, 
 the deck of a ship. — Kil. 
 
 -orn-. Ornament. Lat. ornare, to 
 adorn, equip. 
 
 Ornithology. Gr. opr<c, opvi^oc, a bird. 
 
 Orphan. Gr. h^avh^, having lost father 
 or mother. 
 
 Orpiment. A yellow arsenical colour, 
 Lat. aitripigmentutn. 
 
 Ortho-. Gr. bp^bg, upright, right, true. 
 As in Orthodox {poka, opinion, way of 
 thinking or teaching), Orthography, &c. 
 
 Orts. Orts, or in Scotland woj'ts, are 
 the fragments and rejected parts that are 
 left by an animal in feeding, and generally 
 the odds and ends that fall to the ground 
 in doing any work. A cow is said to ort 
 her provender when she tosses it aside ; 
 a child orts his bread when he crumbles 
 it down ; hence metaphorically to ort, to 
 reject. — Jam. The word is very widely 
 spread. Da. dial, ovred, orred, orret, 
 ort, orts ; Du. oor-aete, oorete, reliquiae 
 fastiditi pabuli ; ooraetigh, fastidiens ni- 
 mia saturitate — Kil.; NFris. orten, to 
 leave remnants in eating ; Pl.D. ort, ori- 
 els, orts ; orten, verorten, brden, to be 
 nice in eating, to pick out the best and 
 leave much remnants — Brem. Wtb. ; 
 Westerwald urzen, Swiss hurschen, m^schiy 
 orts ; urschen, to ort ; Bav. urdssen, 
 urezen mit etwas, to deal wastefully ; die 
 urdss, rejection, orts. 
 
 The Du. and Bav. forms naturally lead 
 to the derivation suggested by Kiliaan, 
 ooraete, quasi oueraete, esca superflua, 
 what is left over in eating ; and perhaps 
 the form of the word has been modified 
 in accordance with this notion, but Lap. 
 urates, which is used in exactly the same 
 sense, can hardly have had such an origin. 
 The corresponding forms in the kindred 
 dialects are Esthon. warrid (was herunter 
 fallt), droppings, crumbs, from warri- 
 seina, to rustle, to fall out, as ripe oats ; 
 Fin. waret, chaff driven off in thrashing, 
 from warista, to drip or fall gradually, as 
 grain from the ears of corn, or leaves in 
 the autumn. It is remarkable that an 
 initial w is added in Sc. worts, as in Fin. 
 waret, compared with Lap. urates. 'E'en- 
 ings worts are gude mornings fodderings.' 
 — Jam. 
 
 Oscillate. Lat. oscillujn, something 
 swung by a rope fastened to the top of a 
 pole. 
 
 Osier. Fr. osier, a. willow, willow twig, 
 wicker basket. Probably from being used 
 in making utensils of different kinds, for 
 
OSPREY 
 
 which wicker was much employed by the 
 Gauls. Bret, aoza, oza, to form, fashion, 
 arrange ; aozil, ozil, willow, made of 
 willow. 
 
 Osprey. Lat. <7j'j//>'rt^/rt!, a bone-breaker. 
 
 To Oss. To offer to do, to aim at, to 
 intend to do. — B. Fr. oser, to dare, ad- 
 venture, be so bold as to do a thing ; 
 Prov. ausar, It. ausare, osare, Venet. 
 ossare, from Lat. audere, ansuin, to dare. 
 The difficulty in this derivation is that 
 OSS belongs so completely to the popular 
 part of the language that it is very un- 
 likely to have had a Fr. derivation. W. 
 osio, to offer to do, is undoubtedly the 
 same word, but we are unable to say 
 whether it is borrowed from E. oss, or 
 vice versa. We find the idea in an earlier 
 stage of development in Fin. osata, to 
 aim right, to strike the mark, to be able 
 to do, to know the way ; osaella, to try to 
 do, to imitate. Esthon. ots, end, point ; 
 otsima, to seek ; otsama, to end. 
 
 Osseous. Lat. osseits ; os, ossis, a bone. 
 
 Ostensible. — Ostentation. Lat. os- 
 tendo, ostensum (for ob-s-iendo, to stretch 
 out opposite), to show ; whence the fre- 
 quentative osiento, -as, to make a show. 
 
 Ostler. Properly the master of an inn, 
 but now appropriated to the servant at 
 an inn who has charge of the stables and 
 horses. Fr. hosteller, a host, innkeeper, 
 from hostel, a house, hostel, hall, palace. 
 — Cot. The application to the sense of a 
 groom seems to have taken place at a 
 very early period in England. In the 
 reign of Rich. II., W. Brewer, 'hostil- 
 larius W. Larke pistoris,' was condemned 
 to the hurdle for making short weight in 
 horsebread, having to stand ' uno de dictis 
 panibus circa collum suum, et uno botello 
 fe?tl ad dorsum siiuni in signum hostil- 
 larli pendentibus,' with a bottle of hay at 
 his back as a sign of an hostler. — Lib. 
 Alb. 2. 425. Jack 'the hosteler of the 
 house,' the companion of the tapster and 
 her paramour, in Chaucer's story of the 
 Pardoner and the Tapster, is plainly the 
 ostler in the modern sense, and not the 
 master of the inn. 
 
 Ostrich. Fr. austruche, an austridge 
 or ostridge — Cot, ; Sp. avest7'uz, from 
 avis struthloj Lat. struthio, Mid.Lat. 
 stmcio, an ostrich. — Diez. 
 
 Other. Goth, anthar, OFris. ander, 
 other, or, ON. annar, Sanscr. anya, an- 
 tara, other ; Lat. alms, other, alter 
 (whence It. altro, Fr. autre), the other, 
 one of the two ; Lith. antras, Lett, ohtrs, 
 other, second. 
 
 Otter. It. lont?-a, Sp. Iut7ia, nutria, 
 
 OUTRAGE 
 
 455 
 
 Fr. lout re, Lat. lutra, G. otter, ON. ottrj 
 Pol. ivydra, Russ. vuidra. 
 
 Ottoman. The Ottoman empire, the 
 Turkish empire. From Othman the 
 founder of the dynasty. 
 
 Ought. Anything. See Aught. 
 
 Ought. The pret. of the verb to owe. 
 
 Our, Goth., G. U7ts, (ace. pi.) us ; tm- 
 sar, wiser, AS. use, U7'e, our. 
 
 Ounce. Fr. once, Lat. imcia, the 12th 
 part of a pound, and an inch, the 12th 
 of a foot. 
 
 Ousel. OHG. a77tisala, G. a77isel, AS. 
 osle. 
 
 To Oust. — Out. Fr. oster, to remove, 
 take away, lay aside, drive or expel from. 
 Ostez vous de la, get you hence. — Cot. 
 ProV. ostar, to take away; forostar, to 
 drive out. It is probable that this last is 
 the original meaning of the word, and 
 that oust and the preposition oict, ON. ut, 
 'G. aus, have their origin in the cry hiiss / 
 hut I used to drive out dogs. Swiss huss ! 
 a cry to set on a dog or to hiss a man, 
 an exclamation of contempt or abhor- 
 rence ; htiss use! fort, hinaus ! properly 
 to a dog, then to a man. \v. hwt ! off, 
 off with it, away ! and as a noun, a taking 
 off, a taking away ; h%utiv, to hiss out, to 
 hoot; Gael, ut / ut ! interj. of disappro- 
 bation or dislike ; Patois de Champ, hus, 
 hootings, cries, out (hors), door. ' Quibus 
 id agentibus conversa facie in sinistram 
 partem indignando quodammodo, virtute 
 quanta potuit, Hutz ! Hutz ! quod signifi- 
 cat Foras ! Foras ! Unde patet quia ma- 
 lignum spiritum videt.' — Vita Ludovici 
 Pii in Due. Sw. hut! is used as a cry to 
 drive out dogs or to stop them and make 
 them quiet, get out, for shame ! huta ut, 
 to drive out. In the same way Serv. osh ! 
 cry to drive out ; oshkati, to cry osh ! to 
 drive out. The Lap. cry is has I as ! 
 agreeing remarkably with the Gael, form 
 of the preposition, as, out, out of ; Lap. 
 hasetet, to drive out. Fr. dial, oussi! 
 toussi ! cry to drive out a dog; usse ! 
 houste ! houste d la faille! ut! hors 
 d'ici, va t'en. — Jaubert. 
 
 The cries addressed to animals being 
 commonly taken from sounds made by 
 themselves, the exclamation hoot! used 
 in driving out dogs, may be compared 
 with Lap. huttet, to bark. Swiss huss, 
 hauss, a dog. 
 
 Outrage. It. oltraggio, Fr. oultrage, 
 outrage, excess, unreasonableness, vio- 
 lence, from Lat. ultra, Fr. outre, beyond, 
 with the termination age. Elle est belle 
 voire77te7it, 7nais il 7i'y a rie>i doultrage, 
 
456 OVAL 
 
 should be. ye tie vous demande rien 
 doiiltrage^ I demand nothing unreason- 
 able. — Cot. 
 
 Oval. — Ovary. Gr. wov, Lat. ovum, 
 an egg ; whence oval^ eggshaped ; ovary, 
 the eggbearing organ. 
 
 Ovation. Lat. ovare, ovatum; said to 
 be from oves, tfie sheep sacrificed in the 
 ovation or lesser triumph. 
 
 Oven. G. ofen, Goth, auhns, OSw. 
 0(^n, omn, ON. ofn, Gr. iirvoq, oven ; 
 Sanscr. agni, Lith. u^nis, Lat. ignis, fire. 
 
 Over. AS. ufan, above, upwards, from 
 above, up ; ufe-weard, Mfan-weard, up- 
 wards ; ufera, higher, farther ; ufemest, 
 highest ; upmost. G. mif, on, upon, up ; 
 oben, above, on high ; ober, upper, over ; 
 iiber, over ; Gr. wtto, under ; i^n-lp, over ; 
 Lat. sub, under ; super, over. 
 
 Overt. — Overture. Fr. ouvrir. Pro v. 
 ob7'ir, nbrir, OFr. aovrir, a-tivrir, adub- 
 rir, Castrais du7'bi, dourbi. Wall, drovi, 
 to open, from Lat. deoperire, to uncover. 
 — Diez. 
 
 Owche. — Nouche. Ouche (a jewel), 
 bague. — Palsgr. The original form is 
 that with an initial //. 
 Whan thou hast taken any thynge, 
 Of lovis gifte, or nouche or pin. — Gower in Hal. 
 OHG. nusca, niiscja, nuskil, MHG. nusche, 
 niischel. Mid. Lat. nusca, a buckle, clasp, 
 brooch. 
 
 To Owe.— Ought. — Own. Goth..aigan, 
 aihan, to possess, to have ; aihts, posses- 
 
 PAD 
 
 sions ; AS. {agati), pres. v?//, ^goti, ^rtdhte; 
 ON. eiga, a, ei^um, dttc, to possess ; G. 
 eigen, AS. dgen, Sc. awin, what is pos- 
 sessed by one, own. To own a thing is 
 to claim it as possessed by oneself. To 
 owe money is an elliptical expression for 
 having it to pay to another, possessing it 
 for another. ON. Eg d hestinn, that is 
 my horse ; eg d Idnga leid, I have a long 
 way to perform \ eg d at giallda, I have 
 to pay, I owe ; Gud d hl/dni at the'r, you 
 owe obedience to God, God possesses, is 
 rightfully entitled to, obedience at your 
 hands. In the same way we say, I have 
 to pay you money, I have to go to Lon- 
 don, Je dois aller k Londres. ' The plow- 
 man sayde, Gyve me my moneye. The 
 preeste sayde, I owe none to thee to paye : ' 
 i. e. I have none to pay thee, or I owe 
 thee none. — From Wynkyn de Worde in 
 Reliquiae Ant. p. 46. A Yorkshiremen 
 says, Who owes this ? who is the possess- 
 or of this, to whom does it belong } 
 
 Owl. ON. iiola, Da. t^gle, AS. eowle, 
 OHG. iuwila, MHG. iiile, G. eule. Doubt- 
 less from its cry. G. 7iJiu, the screech owl. 
 Lat. ulula, owl ; ululo, to howl. 
 
 Ox. A name extending to the Finnic 
 branch of languages ; Lap. wuoksa, 
 Syrianian bs, Votiak oj (Fr. j), Ostiak 
 uges, Turk. ogys. 
 
 Oyster. OFr. oistre, Lat. ostrea, Gr. 
 o(TTptov, ON. ostra, AS. ostre. 
 
 Pace. Fr. pas. It. pas so, Lat. passus. 
 
 Vacify. Lat. pacificarej pax, pads, 
 peace. 
 
 Pack. — Packet. G., Du. pack, a 
 bundle. Fr. paqnet, a small bundle. 
 A pack of cards, and figuratively, a pack 
 of hounds ; G. diebenpack, a gang of 
 thieves ; das pack, himpetipack, the dregs 
 of the people, a pack of rogues. — Kiittn. 
 A naughty pack was formerly used as a 
 term of abuse for a loose woman, as a 
 person is now sometimes called ' a bad 
 lot.' 
 
 To pack, to make into a bundle ; G. 
 sich packen, Sw. packa sig bort, to be 
 gone, be packing, pack away. A jury is 
 packed when it is selected and put to- 
 gether for a particular purpose, and so in 
 G. die karten packen, to pack cards in a 
 fraudulent manner, so that one may 
 know how they lie. 
 
 The original meaning is shown in Es- 
 thon. pakima. Fin. pakkata, to stuff, to 
 cram ; pakko, compulsion, force, neces- 
 sity, pain ; Lat. panger-e, pactimi, to drive 
 in, to fasten ; Gr. irr^yvvu) (root Tray), to 
 stick or fix in as a nail, to fasten together, 
 put together, to make solid, stiff, or hard ; 
 irriyoQ, firm, solid. 
 
 Pact. Lat. paciscor, pactus sum, to 
 agree upon, to engage for, from pango, 
 pactum, to drive in, fix, make firm ; pan- 
 gere inducias, societatem, pacem. See 
 Pack. 
 
 * Pad. I. In the most general sense, 
 a separate mass, a pack, bundle, bunch. 
 A pad of yarn, a certain quantity of skeins 
 made up in a bundle ; a pad of wool, a 
 small pack such as clothiers carry to a 
 spinning house. — Devon. Gl, in Hal. 
 
 He was kept in ihe bands, having under him 
 but only a pad [bundle] of straw. — Fox, Martyrs. 
 
PADDLE 
 
 Glad here to kennel in a. pad of straw. — Drayton. 
 A pad is t-hen a bunch of some sort of 
 stuffing confined in a case, a small cushion, 
 quilted saddle or the like. 
 
 The word is prohably an equivalent of 
 Bav. batzeti^ botzefi, a lump of soft mate- 
 rial, and is connected with the notion of 
 paddling in something soft and wet in tha 
 same way that dab^ a lump of something 
 soft, is connected with dabble. G. patsch ! 
 (Sanders), Swab, batsch ! interjection ex- 
 pressing the sound of a sudden fall or 
 blow ; batschen^ to paddle in water, tramp 
 in soft mud. Swiss bdtschen, to fall to- 
 gether, to clot. Die matrazze bdtscht sich, 
 the matrass becomes lumpy. Comp. the 
 proverbial expression a pad in the straw, 
 something wrong, a screw loose. ' Here 
 lyes indede the padde within the straw.' — 
 Hal. Swiss batsch, a lump, clump ; batsch 
 haar, a bunch of clotted hair ; batsch, a 
 pad of clouts sewed one upon the other ; 
 bdtschet, what lies one upon the other, be- 
 comes a lump, is padded out. G. pats 
 lehm, a lump of clay to stop a hole in a 
 furnace. 
 
 The same train of thought gives rise to 
 the parallel series, G. watsch ! represent- 
 ing the sound made by a blow with some- 
 thing soft, a fall in the mud, &c. ; E. wad, 
 a lump or piece of something soft ; wad- 
 ding, padding or stuffing out. 
 
 In the sense of a cushion there is a re- 
 markable coincidence with Fin. padja, a 
 pad of hay to prevent galling by the 
 saddle or horse collar, a mattress ; Esthon. 
 paddi, a pillow, cushion. 
 
 2. Pad, a path ; to pad, to pace,, go on 
 foot. — Hal. Pad, in cant, the highway ; 
 p adder, footpad, one who robs on foot. 
 Pad (in sporting language), the foot of a 
 hare or fox. Pl.D. pad, the sole of the 
 foot ; pad-weg, G, pfad. Fin. padet, patet, 
 a foot-path ; Pl.D. pedden, to tread ; pad- 
 jen, to trip. Door dik tm dtmn padjen, 
 to tramp through thick and thin. Gr. 
 irar'nti, to tread ; Traroc, a path ; S^.patear, 
 to kick, to stamp ; pata, foot and leg of 
 beasts ; Fr. patte, paw. See To Paddle. 
 
 To Paddle. To move in the water 
 with the hands or feet. — B. Yx.patoniller, 
 to paddle or dabble in with the feet, to 
 stir up and down and trouble. — Cot. 
 Yi^ViC^ paddle, an implement for paddling, 
 an oar with a broad flat blade, as Fr. 
 gasche, an oar or skull, from gascher, to 
 splash. The idea of splashing or pad- 
 dling in the wet frequently occurs in the 
 special form of tramping through the mud, 
 explaining the root pad or pat in the 
 formation of words signifying tramp, 
 
 PAGEANT 
 
 457 
 
 tread, the way trodden, or the foot as the 
 implement of tramping, g. patsch ! like 
 klatsch I quatsch I watsch I represents the 
 sound made by a blow with something 
 soft and flat. Patsch ! da lag es. Patsch! 
 da hatte er eins auf s maul. Bav. patsch- 
 en, to tramp ; patschen, the foot or shoe ; 
 lackenpatscher, a step i' the gutter. Pl.D. 
 patsch, mud ; patsch, patsch-hand, the 
 hand in s.peaking to a child, from the 
 sound of a pat with the soft flat hand of a 
 child. Bav. pfotschen (contemptuously), 
 paw, hand ; G. pfote, Fr. patte, paw ; Gr. 
 7ro5', Lat. ped\ foot. 
 
 In the same way with an initial pi in- 
 stead oi p, Pl.D. pladeni, to paddle ; E. 
 plod, to move with heavy footfall ; Swab. 
 Pfatschen, pflatschen, pfatscheln, pjlat- 
 scheln, to paddle ; p^aute,pJlautsch,pJlote, 
 a coarse, thick hand. 
 
 * Paddock, i. o^.padda, V>Vi.padde^ 
 a toad. 
 
 Probably from the notion of paddling 
 in water. G. patschen, to splash, paddle ; 
 wasser-patsch, a frog. Dreck-patz (dirt 
 paddler), a name given in the story to the 
 frog king. 
 
 2. A small enclosed piece of pasture 
 near home. Commonly regarded as a 
 corruption of AS. pearroc, a park or en- 
 closure, but this would be contrary to the 
 usual course, as dd more readily changes 
 to rr than the converse. Swab, pfatt, an 
 enclosure. 
 
 It may signify merely a small patch or 
 piece of land. See Pad. 
 
 * Padlock. A hanging lock ; from 
 pad, in the sense of a lump or detached 
 mass, as distinguished from the common 
 lock let into the substance of the mem- 
 ber which it fastens. 
 
 Pag-an. \.2X. paganiis j pagus, a coun- 
 try village. 
 
 Page. I. It. paggio, Fr. page, pro- 
 perly a boy, then a serving boy, attendant. 
 Chaucer, speaking of an infant, says, 
 
 In cradle it lay and was a proper /(T^^. 
 
 Gr. Tracg, TToiSog, child ; Gael, paisde, a 
 young boy or girl; Manx paitchey, a 
 child. 
 
 2. Page of a book, from Lat. pagina, a 
 sheet of paper, as Fr. lame, from lamina, a 
 \i\2.^Q,femme, ixom. foemina. See Pageant. 
 
 Pageant. A triumphal chariot or 
 arch, or other pompous device, usually 
 carried about in public shows. — B. 
 Pagent, pagina. — Pr. Pm. The authori- 
 ties cited by Way in the notes on this 
 passage show that the original meaning 
 of the wx)rd was a scaffold for the pur*- 
 
4S8 
 
 PAGOD 
 
 pose of scenic exhibition, equivalent to 
 Lat. and It. pegma^ which is explained 
 by Florio, a frame, a fabric, a machine, 
 or pageant^ to move, to rise, or to go 
 itself with wheels, with vices, or with 
 other help. In a contemporary account 
 of the performances, cited in ' Sharp's 
 Coventry Mysteries,' certain pageants are 
 spoken of, ' which pagiants were a high 
 scafold with two rovvmes, a higher and a 
 lower, on four wheeles.' The compiler of 
 the Liber Albus, describing the ceremo- 
 nial at the entry of Henry VI. into Lon- 
 don, A.D. 1432, uses pagina and machina 
 as synonymous. He tells us that at the 
 entry of the bridge, * parabatur machina 
 satis pulcra in cujus medio gigas mirce 
 magnitudinis. — Ex utroque latere ipsius 
 gigantis in eddetn pagind erigebantur 
 duo animalia vocata antelops.' — Munim. 
 Gildh. III. 459. The name was after- 
 wards transferred to • the subject of exhi- 
 bition, whether a mere image or a dra- 
 matic performance. In the Chester 
 Mysteries each drama is introduced in the 
 form, ' Incipit pagina prima de celi, an- 
 gelorum, &c., creacione.' The word was 
 sometimes written ^rt^«, or pagen, truer 
 than the modern form to the Lat. pagina, 
 from whence it is derived. Nor is there 
 reason to doubt that pagina itself is an 
 equivalent of coinpago, -inis, or compages, 
 from the vtxh pango, to fasten, signifying 
 a framework of materials fastened to- 
 gether, just as the equivalent pegma is 
 Gr. "jrrjyfia, a construction, from Trrjyvvfii, 
 to fasten. 'Afia^av Trrj^aaOai, to build a 
 waggon. Lat. pagino, compagino, to 
 construct. ' Solidoque na.\em.paginaiam 
 robore.' — Paulin in Face. Pagina, a 
 sheet of paper, is supposed to be so called 
 from the skins of papyrus compacted to- 
 gether of which it is composed. 
 
 Pagod, An image worshipped by the 
 Indians and Chinese, or the temple be- 
 longing to such an idol. — B. From Ptg. 
 pagao, a pagan, and thence pagode, an 
 assembly of idolaters, temple of the In- 
 dians, porcelain image. 
 
 Pail. It. padella, Venet. pdela, a pan ; 
 Sp. paila, a bason, a pan ; Lat. patera, a 
 bowl ; patella, a dish, a plate ; Ym.padda, 
 Bret, pod, E. pot. 
 
 * Pain. Fr. peine, pain, penalty, pun- 
 ishment, also pains, labour, endeavour, 
 also pain, trouble, anguish. — Cot. Du. 
 pijne, G. pein, pain, trouble, punishment ; 
 kopfpein, za/mpein,hea.d-a.che, tooth-ache. 
 W. poeft, Bret, poan, pain, punishment, 
 pains ; Gael, plan, pain, pang, torment ; 
 Q^.pina^ to torment, to punish. 
 
 PALE 
 
 All from Lat. poena, retribution, punish- 
 ment, a word which from the prominence 
 of the idea in religious teaching would 
 readily be carried into all European lan- 
 guages. See Punish. 
 
 Painim. A heathen, properly heathen- 
 ism. Fr. paien, a pagan ; paiennisme, 
 paienisme, paienime, paganismus, hea- 
 thendom, heathenland. 
 
 Paint. Lat. pingere, pictum, Fr. pein- 
 dre,peint, to paint. 
 
 Pair.— Par. Lat. par, alike, even. 
 Fr. pair. 
 
 Palace. Lat. palatimn. 
 
 Paladin. It. paladino, palatitio, be- 
 longing to an emperor's court or chief 
 palace, a count palatine ; also a paladi^i, 
 a knight, or famous man-at-arms of an 
 emperor's palace. — Fl. The knights of 
 the round table were the paladins of 
 Arthur or of Charlemagne, from whose 
 exploits the heroic character implied in 
 the name is derived. 
 
 Palaeo-. Palin-, Palim-. Palceo- (in 
 Geol.), Gr. TraXaioQ, ancient ; irdXai, long 
 ago, of old. Palin-, Palim-, Gr. ttclKiv^ 
 back, again. Palimpsest, a MS. written 
 on a former MS. rubbed out. Gr. TraXifi- 
 xprjaroQ, from ■ipaUo, ^pdu), to rub off. 
 
 It is curious that a plausible explana- 
 tion of both rraXiv and TrdXai may be 
 found in the Finnish languages ; of the 
 first in Fin. palaan, pallata (to be com- 
 pared with Gr. TToXeui, to turn), to roll, to 
 return ; palatns, return. From the same 
 root seems to spring Lap. pale, a turn, 
 time ; tajin palen, at that time ; tai palai 
 (plur.)., in those times, formerly. In Lat. 
 olim (from olle for ille, in those times), 
 the word signifying times is understood, 
 while in Gr. 7rd\ai there would be an 
 ellipse of the demonstrative. 
 
 Palanquin. Ptg. palanquitn, a chair 
 or couch carried between poles on men's 
 shoulders, from Sp. palanca, a lever, a 
 cowl-staff, or pole on which a weight is 
 supported between two men. 
 
 Palate. Lat. palatum. 
 
 Palaver. Mid. Lat. parabola, Sp. pa- 
 labra, Ptg. palavra, word, discourse. 
 The word seems to have come to us from 
 the intercourse with the negroes of the 
 African coast, where Portuguese was the 
 European language principally known. 
 To hold a palaver was there used for a 
 conference, and thence the word was in- 
 troduced as a slang term. See Parley. 
 
 Pale. — Paling-. — Palissade. Lat. 
 pains. It. palo, a pole or stake ; Sp. Palo, 
 a stick ; G. pfahl, a pile, pole, stake ; Fr. 
 pedis, a pale or thick lath, a stake, pole, 
 
PALETTE 
 
 pile. — Cot. w. palis^ a thin partition of 
 boards, wattle, lath. 
 
 In a secondary sense pale signifies an 
 enclosure, a place paled in. 
 
 Pale, 2. — Pallid. Lat./rt'//^(7,tobepale. 
 
 Palette. The flat plate on which a 
 painter rubs his colours. w./«/, a spade ; 
 Bret, pal, a spade, quoit, float of a mill ; 
 It. pala, any kind of flat and broad thing 
 or plate, a spade, float of a water-wheel, 
 blade of an oar, shoulder-blade ; paletta, 
 any little flat thing with a handle, a shovel, 
 trowel, spattle, slice, racket. Yx. pale, a 
 shovel ; palet^ a quoit ; palette, a sur- 
 geon's slice. 
 
 Palfrey. Fr. pale/rot, It. pale/reno, 
 Mid.Lat. paraveredus, parafi'edus, pala- 
 fridus, an easy-going horse for riding ; 
 veredus, a post-horse. The term is ex- 
 plained by Due. an extra post-horse, a 
 horse used in the military and by-roads 
 as veredus on the main roads, but it is 
 probable that this distinction was not 
 observed. ' De querela Hildebrandi co- 
 mitis quod pagenses q]\xs pa?'avi'eda dare 
 recusant.' — Capit. Car. Mag. The first 
 half of the word is supposed to be the Gr. 
 Trojoa, by, a by-horse ; but it is not easy 
 to understand how such a compound 
 could arise. From parafredus were 
 formed G. pferd, Du. paard, a horse. 
 
 Pall. A cloth that covers a coffin at 
 a funeral, a cloak. Lat. pallium was 
 especially applied to the cloak sent by 
 the Pope for the inauguration of a bishop, 
 w. pall, a mantle, a pavilion ; Bret, pall- 
 en, a coverture ; pallen-wdle, bed-cover, 
 coverlet ; pallenvarc'h, horse-cloth, hous- 
 ings ; Gael, peall, a skin or hide, cover- 
 ing, veil. 
 
 To Pall. To grow flat as liquors do, 
 to make dull, to take off the appetite. — B. 
 To pall, to rot. — Squire of Low Degree. 
 W. pallu, to fail ; pall, loss of energy, 
 miss, failure. To appall is to cause to 
 pall, to stupefy with horror or similar 
 emotion. 
 
 * Pallet. Palyet, lytylle bed, lectica. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 And on dLpaillet all that glad night 
 By Troilus he lay. — Chaucer. 
 
 Langued. pallet, a straw, or rush mat. 
 Prov. paillola, a couch. It. pagliaccio, 
 a pallet or straw bed. — Fl. From Lat. 
 Palea,z\i2&; \\.. paglia^ Yx. paille, straw, 
 chafT. 
 
 Palletoque. — Pallecote. A cassock 
 or short coat with sleeves, — B. Fr. pal- 
 letoc, a garment like a short cloak with 
 sleeves. — Cot. Bret, paltok, a cloak of 
 coarse cloth worn by peasants at their 
 
 PALTER 4^9 
 
 work. Gael, peall, a skin or hide, a 
 bunch of matted hair, a mat, coverlet ; 
 peallaid, a sheepskin; peallach, shaggy, 
 matted ; pealtag, a patched cloak. 
 
 To Palliate! Lat. palliare, to cloke. 
 See Pall. 
 
 Palm. I. Gr. Tta\a\ii\,'L,2X. palma,^. 
 Palf, AS. folm, OYLO.fohna, the flat of the 
 hand ; \jdX. palpare, o^.fdlma, to grope, 
 feel for with the hands ; w. palfalu, to 
 grope, creep on the hands and feet. 
 
 2. Lat. palma, the palm, a tree with 
 broad spreading leaves like the palm of 
 one's hand. Hence palmer, a pilgrim, 
 carrying a palm-branch in sign of having 
 been to the Holy Land. 
 
 3. The yellow catkin of the willow, the 
 branches of which, on account of the 
 name, are carried on Easter Sunday to 
 represent the palm-branches of Judea. 
 V\.Y>. palme, bud, catkin of willow, hazel, 
 alder, &c. The buds or eyes of the vine 
 are also called palmen in Germany, 
 whence may be explained E. palmer'- 
 worm, a grub or worm destroying the 
 buds of plants. 
 
 The name seems to have been given to 
 a catkin, from the woolly or feathery tex- 
 ture. Palm of wull or loke. — Pr. Pm. 
 Yxxi. palmti, catkin of willow ; palmikko, 
 lock of hair ; palmikoita, to plait hair or 
 wicker. 
 
 Palpable. Lat. palpor, to stroke 
 gently, to feel with the hand. 
 
 Palpitate. Lat. palpito, to pant or 
 beat. 
 
 Palsy. A loss of the bodily powers, 
 corrupted from Fr. paralysie, Lat. para- 
 lysis. 
 
 There our Lord heled a man of the falasye. 
 Sir John Mandeville, p. 107. 
 See Paralyse. 
 
 To Palter.— Paltry. To palter is 
 properly to babble, chatter, then to trifle. 
 Paltry, trifling. 
 
 One whyle his tonge it ran and faltered of a cat, 
 Another whyle he stammered styll upon a rat. 
 
 Gammer Gurton, ii. 3, 
 
 In like manner we find babbling for tri- 
 fling. 
 
 K. John. Why dost thou call them bablytig 
 matters, tell me? Sedition. For they are not 
 worth the shaking of a pear-tree. — King Johann, 
 Cam. Misc. 
 
 Sp. chisme, tattle, tale, thence lumber of 
 little value. 
 
 Depreciatory terms for the exercise of 
 the voice are commonly taken from the 
 continuous sound of water or the like. 
 Pl.D. pladdej'n, to paddle, dabble ; Du. 
 pladeren, G. plaudern^ to tattle, or talk in 
 
46p 
 
 PAM 
 
 excess ; N. puira, to simmer, bubble, 
 whisper, mutter; Pl.D. paotcrn (pron. 
 pawtern)^ to patter, repeat in a monoton- 
 ous manner. From the broad sound of 
 the a in this pronunciation is introduced 
 the / of palter, in the same way as was 
 formerly seen in the case oi falter, halt. 
 Patter and palter are related together, as 
 E. chatter and It. cialtrare, to prattle, 
 chat. 
 
 From the notion of what is trifling, 
 worthless, seems to be developed N. pal- 
 tray rags. 
 
 Pam. The knave of Clubs. Pol. 
 Pamjil, the knave of any suit. The 
 Swedes call the knave of Spades dkta 
 Pampen, the true Pam ; the knave of 
 Clubs the false Pam. Bav. Pampjili, the 
 queen of Spades (der Eichel-Ober) ; 
 pampfili, Sp. panfilo, a greedy, lazy per- 
 son. See Pamper. 
 
 To Pamper. To feed high, to indulge. 
 — B. Bav. pampfen, to stuff; sich voll 
 pampfen, to stuff oneself full, especially of 
 puddings ; painpf, thick gruel. Pampf 
 is a nasalised form of the nursery pap, 
 food. Tyrol, pappele, milk porridge ; 
 pappelen, to feed with dainties, to pamper. 
 
 Thus the devil fareth with men and wommen. 
 First he stirith hem to pappe and pampe her 
 fleisch desyrynge delicous metis and drynkis. — 
 OE. prayers in Reliq. Ant, i. 41. 
 
 On the other hand Fl. has pambere 
 (quasi pane e bdre), bread and drink, also 
 a nunchions of an afternoon ; pamberdto, 
 pampered, full-fed. 
 
 Pam.phlet. From Sp. papelefe, a 
 written slip of paper, a written newsletter, 
 by the insertion of the nasal, as in Du. 
 pampier, paper. Sp. papelon, a large 
 piece of paper, a pamphlet. 
 
 Gloster offers to put up a bill : Win- 
 chester snatches it, tears it. 
 Winch. Com'st thou with deep premeditated 
 
 lines, 
 With written pamphlets studiously devised ? 
 
 H. VI. 
 
 Pan-. Gr. irav, everything. As in 
 Panegyric {iravnyvptg, a general assem- 
 bly), Panorama (opaw, to see, opafia, a 
 sight seen). 
 
 Pan. o^.panna, Du. panne, G. p/an- 
 ne, Boh. pdnew, Lith. pana. From Lat. 
 patina ? 
 
 Pander. From Pandarus, the uncle 
 of Troilus, who performs the part of a 
 pander in the story of Troilus and Cres- 
 sida, popular in the middle ages. 
 
 Pane. i. The derivation from Lat. 
 pagina, a leaf, page, any flat expanse, as 
 a sheet of marble, or piece of land, seems 
 
 PANNEL 
 
 supported by the form paine, a piece of 
 wall. — Roquef. Valvarum paginal, the 
 panels of doors. — Pallad. Pane or part 
 of a thing, pagina. Pannel, pagella, 
 panellus. — Pr. Pm. The preponderating 
 evidence however is in favour of the de- 
 rivation from haX.. panntis, cloth, through 
 Yr.pan, a pane, piece or pannel of a wall, 
 of wainscot, of a glass window, &c., the 
 skirt of a gown, the pane of a hose or 
 cloak. — Cot. l!\iQ. pane oi a hose was a 
 sheet of different colour or material let 
 into the garment. 
 
 Than the knyght shewed me a pane of the 
 wall, and said, Sir, see you yonder parte of the 
 wall which is newer than all the remnant. — Ber- 
 ners, Froissart in R. 
 
 Cat. pany, a piece of wall, pannel of 
 wainscot, lap of a shirt ; — de oro, gold 
 leaf. Panyo, cloth. Prov. pan, rag, 
 clout, lap, piece ; Ptg. pdno, pdnno, piece 
 of cloth ; — de miiro, piece of wall ; — 
 de chajnine', mantel-piece of a chimney. 
 
 Pang. AS. pyftgan, Lat. pmigere, to 
 prick. Poignant or pricking grief is that 
 which gives a severe pang. Fr. poind, a 
 stitch, or sharp pain in the side. 
 
 Panic. Gr. iraviKoq, from Yiav, the 
 deity to whose influence panic fear was 
 attributed. 
 
 Panicle. Lat. panicula, the woof 
 round the quill, in the shuttle, the down 
 upon reeds. 
 
 Pannage. The feeding of swine upon 
 mast in the woods, or the duty accruing 
 from it. Mid.Lat./<3:j//^, pastionaticum, 
 pasnaticum, pasnagiuin, pannagitim, 
 from Lat. pascere, pastian, to feed. * In 
 omnibus etiam suis nemoribus ipsorum 
 porcis recursum, et omnimodos fructus 
 ad eorum pabulum, absque eo pretio quod 
 vnlgo pasnaticum dicitur.' — A.D. 11 30 in 
 Due. ' Plains pennaiges de chevaux, de 
 jumens, poutrains, vaches, veaux et pour- 
 ceaux allans k la dite forest de Cressi.' — 
 A. D. 1478. 
 
 Fr. pasnage, pawnage, mastage, the 
 money received by the lord of a forest 
 for the feeding of swine with the mast, or 
 of cattle with the herbage thereof. — Cot. 
 
 PanneL Fr. paneau or panneau (from 
 patmet), like Prov. panne t (petit pan — 
 Rayn.), is a dim. oi pan, pane. The Fr. 
 term like the E. is applied to the flat 
 pieces of board enclosed in the frame- 
 work of a door, &c., the rug or thick 
 cloth put under the load of a pack-horse. 
 Du. panned, rug-decksel, dorsuale, et 
 sella aurigas. — Kil. The pannel of a jury 
 is the slip of parchment on which the 
 
PANNIER 
 
 names of the jurors are written. See 
 Pane. 
 
 Pannier. Fr. panier, a basket, pro- 
 perly, as Milan, panera, a bread-basket, 
 from Lat. panis, bread. It. pandra, 
 pandris, any place to keep bread in, a 
 pantry, a bread-basket. 
 
 To Panse. Fr. penser^ to think, ex- 
 amine, consider of, also, as panser^ to tend, 
 look unto, have a care of, also to dress, 
 physic, apply medicines unto. — Cot. Pan- 
 ser un cheval, to dress a horse. 
 
 Pansy. The flower heartsease, in Fr. 
 called /^/zj-/^, thought. 
 
 To Pant. Fr. panfeier, to pant or 
 throb, to beat, also to breathe short and 
 thick, or often together ; pantiser, pantoi- 
 ser, to breathe often, to be short-winded. 
 — Cot. The quick beating of the heart is 
 represented by the syllables pit-a-pat or 
 the n2iS2\\sedi pint ledy-pantledy, originally 
 imitating the sound of a succession of 
 light blows. 'And the rattling pit-pat 
 noise.' — B. Jonson in R. ' My heart went 
 pintledy-pantledy.'' — Skinner. Then from 
 the sympathy between the action of the 
 heart and lungs, to pant, to breathe quick 
 and hard. 
 
 Pantaloon. — Pantaloons. Yx. pan- 
 talon, a pair of trousers, seems a modern 
 word. It. pant alone is the pantaloon of 
 Italian comedy, a covetous and amorous 
 old dotard who is made the butt of the 
 piece. The word seems to signify a 
 slovenly-dressed person, from Sp. paHal, 
 clout, skirt or tail of shirt ; pafialon, a 
 slovenly fellow whose shirt hangs out of 
 his breeches. — Baretti. 'Ldii. p annus, rag, 
 cloth. 
 
 Pantomime. Gr, TravTofiinog ; one 
 who acts in dumbshow ; Travro-, all, and 
 ixifikofiai, to imitate. See Mimic. 
 
 Pantry. — Pantler. Fr.- paneterie, 
 place where the bread is kept ; whence 
 pantler, the officer who had charge of 
 that department, as butler, the officer who 
 had charge of the buttery. 
 
 Pap. — Papa. Words formed of the 
 simplest articulations, ma and pa, are 
 used to designate the objects in which the 
 infant takes the earliest interest, the 
 mother and father, the mother's breast, 
 the act of sucking or taking food. Papa 
 and niaimna are widely used in the sense 
 of father and mother. Lith. pdpas, Lat. 
 Papilla, It. poppa, E. pap, the nipple or 
 breast ; It. pojbpare, to suck ; pappa, soft 
 food prepared for infants ; pappa7-e, to 
 suck, to feed with pap ; Sp. papar, to eat ; 
 M2igy. papa, in nursery language, eating; 
 mama, drinking ; Walach. papd, to eat ; 
 
 PARAPET 
 
 461 
 
 Russ. papa, bread ; Lat. mamma, mam- 
 milla, Fin. mamma, the breast. 
 
 Papacy.— Papist. See Pope. 
 
 Paper. Lat. papyrus, Gr. -Ka-Kvpoq, the 
 Egyptian rush of which paper was made. 
 The occurrence of forms like w, pabyr, 
 rushes, rush candles, Walach. papiird, 
 rush, is opposed to the common belief 
 that the name is originally Egyptian. 
 
 Papillary. Lat. papilla, dim. from 
 papula, a pimple. 
 
 Para-. Gr. Trapa, beside, beyond. 
 
 Parable. — Parabola. Gr. Tropa/SoX;), 
 a comparison, illustration, from irapa- 
 (3a'\\(t}, to set side by side. 
 
 Paraclete. Gr. TrapdKXjjroc, from -n-apa- 
 KaXeuj, to exhort ; in New Test. Gr., to 
 comfort. 
 
 Parade. Great show, state ; the place 
 where troops assemble for inspection. 
 Fr. parer, to dress, adorn, hang richly, 
 as with arras. — Cot. It. parare, to pre- 
 pare, make ready, for a priest to put on 
 his vestment before he goes to celebrate ; 
 parata, any preparation, trimming, set- 
 ting forth. — Fl. 
 
 Paradise. Gr. irapaStKrog, from a Per- 
 sian word signifying a park or hunting 
 enclosure. 
 
 Paradox. Gr. dS^a, expectation, opinion, 
 ■irapddoEog, contrary to opinion, strange. 
 
 Paraffine. A material having little 
 affinity with other substances. Lat. pa- 
 rum affitiis, little allied. 
 
 Paragon. Fr. paragon, a pattern or 
 touchstone, whereby the goodness of 
 things is tried ; the perfection or flow-er 
 of, a paragon or peerless one. — Cot. Sp. 
 paragon, model, example, from the com- 
 pound preposition /«r<;z con, in compari- 
 son with. — Diez. Para con migo, in com- 
 parison with me ; para con el, according 
 to him. 
 
 To Paralyse.— Paralytic. Gr. Xiu), to 
 dissolve, loosen ; TrapaXvio, to loosen or 
 disable at the side, to paralyse ; TrapaXvaig, 
 paralysis, palsy ; irapaXvTiKog, one so af- 
 fected. 
 
 Paramount. Above all, sovereign, or 
 absolute. — B. Fr. paramo nt, at the top, 
 up. ' Car meus est dit soit a toi, vien cea 
 parafnont,' melius est enim ut dicatur 
 tibi, ascende hue. — Proverbs xxv. 7. 
 
 Paramour. A love companion ; Fr. 
 par amour, by way of love. Para7nour 
 (a woman), dame peramour. — Palsgr. 
 
 Parapet. It. parapet to, a ward-breast, 
 breastplate, wall breast high, irom. parare, 
 Fr. parer, to cover, or shield from, to 
 ward or defend a blow — Fl., and It. petto, 
 \j3X. pectus, breast. 
 
462 
 
 PARAPHERNALIA 
 
 Paraphernalia. Gr. iptpv)) (^epw), the 
 dowry brought by the wife, gain, booty ; 
 irupci(pepva, Lat. paraphernalia^ goods be- 
 longing to the bride ircapa) besides the 
 stipulated portion. 
 
 Parasite. Gr. mroc, vvheaten bread, 
 food ; 7ra|oa(T(Tof, beside the food, eating 
 at the table of another, a flatterer. 
 
 Parasol. It. parasoh\ a sun-shade, 
 from par are, to ward off, and sole, the 
 sun. 
 
 To Parboil. Lang, perbonli, to give a 
 slight boil, to part-boil. Mod.Gr. \kiao- 
 (Spd^oj, to parboil ; fitaojSpsxo, to half wet, 
 to wet in part. 
 
 Parcel. It. parlt'cella, any little parti- 
 cle, parcel, part, portion. — Fl. Fr. par- 
 celle, a piece, little part. — Cot. 
 
 Parcener. See Partner. 
 
 To Parch. Bav. pfdrzen, to fry ; fdr- 
 zen, to toast bread. Probably direct 
 from the crackling sound of things frying. 
 \^ 2i\2ich. parjoli {Fr.f), to burn, to singe. 
 
 Parchment. Fr. parcke/m'n, G. per- 
 gament, Lat. pergainena, from Pergamus 
 in Asia Minor, where it was invented. 
 
 Pardon. Fr. pardon, It. perdono, the 
 exact equivalent of E. forgive. 
 
 -pare. -pair. Lat. parare, to pre- 
 pare ; as in Prepare, Repair, &c. 
 
 To Pare. Fr. parer, to deck, trim, 
 garnish, order decently.— Cot. Le mare- 
 chal pare le pied d'un cheval avec un 
 boutoir ; parer les legumes d'un potager 
 pour les mettre en vente. — Diet. Lang. 
 Parer, to peel an apple. — Patois de Norm. 
 The radical meaning is to set forth, to 
 prepare. 
 
 Parent. Lat. pareo, to beget. 
 
 Parenthesis. Gr. Qkaiq, a setting {r'lBri- 
 /Ltt, to put) ; irapEvOsaic, something put in 
 by the side of. 
 
 Parget. The plaister of a Avail. — B. 
 To parget, quasi parietare, parietes c<2- 
 7Jtento incrustare.- — Skinner. Pariette 
 for walles, blanchissure. — Palsgr. in Way. 
 
 If ye have bestowed but a little sum in tlie 
 glazing, paving, parieting of God's house. — Bp 
 Hall in R. 
 
 Parish. Fr. paroisse, Lat. paroecia, 
 Gr. TrapoiKta, an ecclesiastical district or 
 neighbourhood ; TrapoiKog, dwelling beside 
 another, from irapa, by, and oIkoq, house. 
 
 Park. Fr. pare, an enclosure, sheep- 
 fold, fish-pond ; Dan. Jisk-park, a fish- 
 pond ; It. parco, AS. pearroc, OHG. pfer- 
 rich, G. pferch, park, enclosure ; Bret. 
 park, an enclosed field ; Lang, parghe, a 
 fold for cattle ; parga, parghejha, to fold 
 cattle on the ground. 
 
 Parley.— Parliament.— Parole. It. 
 
 PARRICIDE 
 
 parlare, Yx.parler, to speak. Commonly 
 derived from Lat. parabola, a comparison, 
 likeness, allegory, passing into paraula, 
 parola, a word, vj\\Qncc paiolare, parlare, 
 to speak. Mid. Lat. parabolaj-e was con- 
 stantly used in this sense. ' Nostri seni- 
 ovQs parabolavernnt simul et considerave- 
 runt.' — Cap. Car. Calv. ' Caspit eum bis 
 terque appellare ; sed ille nihil homini 
 valuit parabolare, sed digito gulam ei 
 monstrabat.' — Due. 
 
 It is however hard to understand how 
 the word for speaking could have had so 
 forced an origin, and perhaps it may be 
 explained in closer analogy with other 
 words of like signification. We have 
 often had occasion to remark the fre- 
 quency with which the sound of water, 
 and of babbling, or much talking, are re- 
 presented by the same or similar forms. 
 Now brabble and brawl are used as well 
 to signify the noise of broken water as of 
 chiding and loud or noisy talking. Shake- 
 speare makes Sir Hugh Evans \\s,q prib- 
 bles and prabbles in the sense of idle 
 chatter. The insertion of a vowel be- 
 tween the mute and liquid would give W. 
 parabl, speech, utterance, discourse ; 
 parablan, to talk continually, to chatter ; 
 parablns, eloquent, fluent. If these 
 spring from a native Gallic root it might 
 naturally have been retained in the speech 
 of the Romanised Gauls, and adopted in 
 written Latin under the form of parabo- 
 lare. On the other hand, the sense of 
 speaking is one where it is very unlikely 
 that the British language should have 
 borrowed from the Latin, and it is hardly 
 possible that parabolare could have been 
 generally used in the sense of speaking at 
 a period sufficiently early to give rise to 
 the w. word, without leaving evidence of 
 such a use in classical Latin. 
 
 A similar explanation may be given of 
 S^. palabra, Ptg. palavra (the origin of 
 our vulgar palaver)^ word, from G. plap- 
 pern, to babble, tattle ; Sc. blabber, bleb- 
 ber, to babble, speak indistinctly. 
 
 Parlour. Fr. parloir, the room in a 
 nunnery where the nuns were allowed to 
 speak to visitors through a grating. 
 
 Parody. Gr. i^li], a song ; ttapt^'ia 
 {■n-apd, beside), a song diverted to another 
 subject, a burlesque, parody. 
 
 Paroxysm. Gr. dkvg, sharp ; o^vvu), to 
 sharpen ; irapo^vvu), to prick on, stir up, 
 exasperate, to grow violent ; Trapo^vafiog, 
 exaspenition, the violent fit of a disease- 
 Parricide. Lat. parricida, for patri- 
 cida, the slayer {ccedo, to strike) of one's 
 father. 
 
PARROT 
 
 Parrot. — Parakeet. Yr. perroquet is 
 derived by Menage from Perrot^ the dim. 
 of Pierre^ Peter, from the habit of giving 
 men's names to animals with which we 
 are specially familiar, as Magpie (for 
 Margery-pie, Fr. Margot), Jackdaw, Jack- 
 ass, Robin-redbreast, Cuddy (for Cuth- 
 bert) for the donkey and hedgesparrow. 
 When parrot passed into E. it was not 
 recognised as a proper name, and was 
 again humanised by the addition of the 
 familiar Poll ; Poll-parrot. 
 
 Probably Menage was wrong in deriv- 
 ing perroqicet from Perrot, though right 
 in the general principle. Sp. Perico, the 
 short for Peter, also, as well as the dim. 
 periquito, signifies a parrot, and it is from 
 this latter form that Fr. peri'oquet and E. 
 parakeet have been derived. 
 
 To Parry. It. par are ^ Fr. purer, to 
 ward off. The \j3i\..parare is known only 
 in the sense of making ready, but if we 
 examine the compounds we shall find that 
 the radical meaning must be to push. 
 Separare, to separate, is to push apart ; 
 reparare, to repair, to push a thing back 
 to its original place ; coj?tparare, to bring 
 things together, to place them side by 
 side. To ward off a blow is to push it 
 aside. 
 
 To Parse. To distinguish the parts of 
 speech and grammatical relations in a 
 sentence. From pars orationis. 
 
 Parsimony. Lat. parsimoniaj pro- 
 bably from parcere, to spare. 
 
 Parsley. Fr. persil, Lat. petroseli- 
 num. 
 
 Parsnep. Lat. pastinaca, Du. pasti- 
 nak, pasternak, Fr. pasquettade, paste- 
 naille. — Sherwood. The latter half of the 
 E. name is the 7iep of turnep, signifying a 
 tap-root. See Tumep. 
 
 Parson. Mid. Lat. persona ecclesice, 
 the person who represents the church in 
 a parish. — Blackstone. Perso7ia signified 
 dignity or office. Laicus quidam magncB 
 persoTicB ad nos veniens dicebat. — A. D. 
 741. Proconsulares et 2X\\ personati v\x\. 
 Viri nobiles et persoftati. Nul clerc s'il 
 n'est Prelaz ou establis en personnage ou 
 dignitd, &c. — Stat. Phil. Pulch. A. D. 1294 
 in Due. 
 
 Part. — Partial. — Participle. — Par- 
 ticle. Lat. pars, partis, part. 
 
 * Partisan. A halberd. — B. A par- 
 tisan or javelin to skirmish with, parti- 
 giana. — Torriano. Fr. pertuisane, a par- 
 tisan, or leading staff ; pertuiser, to make 
 holes. — Cot. Lat. pertimdere, pertusum^ 
 to pierce. 
 
 Partlet. A woman's ruff, and hence 
 
 PASS 
 
 463 
 
 a name for a hen, from the long feathers 
 about her neck. 
 
 Partition. — Party. l^zX.. partior, Fr. 
 Partir, to devise, share ; parti, the part 
 one takes or the side one embraces. 
 
 Partner. — Parcener. Fr. parcener, 
 Prov. partener, parsonner, to partake, 
 take part with ; Fr. parcener, parsonnier, 
 a partaker, partner, coheir. — Cot. 
 
 Partridge. Yr. perdrix, l^zX.. perdix. 
 
 Parturient. — Parturition. \.2X.pareo, 
 particm, to bring forth ; pai'tiis, birth ; 
 parturio, to be engaged in birth. 
 
 To Pash. To dash, to bruise. 
 
 If I go to him with my armed fist 
 I'Wpash him o'er the face. 
 
 Troilus and Cress. 
 The poor men half dead were beaten down 
 with clubs and their heads pashed in pieces. — 
 North. Plut. in R. 
 
 Formed on the same plan with dash, re- 
 presenting the noise of the blow. Swiss 
 batschen, to strike the hand ; batsch, a 
 blow of the hand ; batschen, to give a 
 smacking sound ; to fall with a noise. 
 Die thiire znbdtschen, to bang to the 
 door. Dan. baske, to slap, thwack ; — 7ned 
 vingerne, to flap the wings. 
 
 Comp. Swiss ddtsch, a smart blow with 
 the open hand ; datsch, a clear sound, or 
 the blow which produces it. 
 
 To Pass. From Lat. passiis is formed 
 Walach. /aVzz/, a step, and thence /aj///, 
 to step, to go ; pashescii biainte, I ad- 
 vance, go forwards. The E. pace, from 
 the same root, is used both as a sub- 
 stantive and as a verb. So also the 
 original meaning of ^^ ox gang is to step, 
 and the generalisation from the idea of 
 stepping to that of progress in general is 
 so natural that there is no occasion to 
 seek for any other derivation of It. pas- 
 sare, Fr. passer, to go on, go by, go 
 through. 
 
 The difficulty is to account for the Du. 
 passeji, to accommodate, adjust, to fit, a 
 sense which may also be traced in Fr. se 
 passer, to accommodate oneself, to shift. 
 // se passe a peic de chose, he is contented, 
 he maketh shift with a little. Se passer 
 d'une chose, to do without it. // a des 
 bienspour se passer, he hath goods enough 
 to serve his turn. So in E. he is well to 
 pass, or well to do. In a somewhat dif- 
 ferent sense Du. wel te pas zijn, to be 
 well in health. 
 
 The point of agreement is to be found 
 in the sense of happening. The events 
 of the world are regarded as moving on- 
 wards to meet us, and they happen at 
 the moment when they , pass . by us. 
 
464 
 
 PASSION 
 
 Hence the expression, // came to pass, it 
 happened. Fr. se passer, to happen. Cc 
 qui s'est passt' avant nous, what hap- 
 pened before us. — Gattel. Du. op dit 
 pas, hoc loco, hoc tempore ; te pas, k 
 propos, k point, k saison. — Halma. Recht 
 te pas kofiten, opportune, commodd, suo 
 tempore, tempestivd venire. — Kil. Fr. 
 passable, suitable, not in excess. 
 
 Passion. — Passive. — Patient. Lat. 
 patior, passus, to suffer, endure, be af- 
 fected. 
 
 Paste. — Pasty. It. pasta, Fr. paste, 
 pdte, paste, dough. Sp. plasta, paste, 
 soft clay, anything soft ; plaste, size, a 
 fine paste made of glue and hme. — Neum. 
 Diez inclines to the derivation from Lat. 
 pastus, food, though with some hesita- 
 tion, arising from the relation between 
 Sp. plasta and Gr. TrXdana, anything 
 moulded. And here doubtless he touches 
 on a truer scent. As long as bread is in 
 a state of paste it is not food. • The es- 
 sential characteristic of paste is its sticky, 
 plastic condition, like that of moist clay 
 or mud. Now the idea of paddhng or 
 dabbling in the wet and mud is expressed 
 by a variety of imitative forms beginning 
 indifferently with a ^ or pi, from whence 
 the designation of a plastic condition, or 
 plastic material, would naturally follow. 
 Swab, pfatsch, pflatsch, the sound of a 
 blow in water ; Dan. pladske, Sw. plaska, 
 paska, G. platschen, patschen, to plash, 
 dabble ; Dan. pladdre, E. paddle, Fr. pa- 
 toidller, patroiiiller, piatrouiller (Pat. de 
 Champ.), to dabble. I paddyl in the 
 myre as duckes do or yonge chyldren ; je 
 pastille. — Palsgr. 
 
 In a sense somewhat further developed 
 we have Gael, plasd, plaister, daub with 
 lime or clay ; Gr. TrXaaau), originally, to 
 mould in clay ; TrXaaTiKOQ, of a pasty or 
 clayey texture ; Du. peisteren and pleis- 
 teren, to plaister ; Cat. empastt-e, Sp. em- 
 plastre, a plaister ; Cat. empastissar, Sp. 
 e7nplastecer (in a confined sense), to daub, 
 plaister J OFr. efnpaistros, muddy, sticky; 
 Lang, pastissa, to handle awkwardly, as 
 we speak of dabbling in a business of 
 which we know but little. 
 
 Pastern. The part of a horse's foot 
 from the fetlock to the heel, also a shackle 
 for a horse. — B. Mid. Lat. pastorium was 
 a shackle with which horses were tethered 
 out at pasture, and hence the joint on 
 which the shackle was fastened. — Mura- 
 tori. Diss. 33. The pastern is in E. some- 
 times called the shackle-joint. Mid. Lat. 
 pasturale, Fr. pasticreau, pasturon, pa- 
 turofij pastern. It. pastora, pastoia^ the 
 
 PATE 
 
 pasterns of a horse, also fetters, clogs, or 
 stocks ; pastoiare, to pastern, fetter, clog, 
 shackle, or gyve the feet. — Fl. 
 
 Pastoral. — Pasture. Lat. pasco, pas- 
 tmn, to feed flock or herd ; whence /<7J- 
 tor, a shepherd, w. pasg, a feeding, fat- 
 tening. 
 
 Pat. I. A light blow, a tap or rap. 
 An imitation of the sound. The fre- 
 quentative patter represents the sound of 
 a number of light blows given simul- 
 taneously or in succession. 
 
 2. A small lump, as a pat of butter ; 
 such a portion as is thrown down on a 
 plate at once, from the sound of the fall. 
 So G. klitsch, a tap, pat, or slap, a flap 
 with the hand, or the noise which this 
 blow causes ; also a piece of a viscous, 
 clammy body ; ein klitsch butter, a piece 
 of butter of undetermined size. — Kiittn. 
 So also to dab, to strike with something 
 soft ; a dab, so much of a soft body as is 
 thrown down at once. 
 
 3. At the precise moment, in exact 
 accordance with what is wanted. Fr. d, 
 propos, fitly, seasonably, to the purpose, 
 or just pat. — Cot. Now I might do it 
 pat, now he is praying.— Hamlet. The 
 word here, as in the first sense, seems 
 fundamentally to represent the sound of 
 something thrown down upon the ground, 
 as marking the exact moment of a thing 
 being done, on the principle on which 
 the sense of jump, exact, has been ex- 
 plained. To cut a thing smack off is a 
 similar expression. Lith. pat, exactly, 
 precise. Isz pat kemo, out of the village 
 itself (not the neighbourhood). Presz pat 
 weja, due against the wind. Cze pat, in 
 this very place. 
 
 Patch. I. It. pezza, a clout, patch, 
 tatter. — Fl. Swiss batsch, the sound of a 
 blow, a smack 5 batschen, to strike the 
 hand, to clap, thence batschen, patschen, 
 to clap on a piece, to botch, to patch j 
 batsch, a patch ; batsch, a lump, a knot ; 
 silberbdtsch, haarbdtsch. 
 
 2. Patch is also a contemptuous term 
 for a person ; not specially for a fool, as 
 explained by Nares. 
 
 A crew oi patches, base mechanicals, 
 
 Mids. N. Dream. 
 
 A cross-patch is still used by children for 
 a cross person. It seems to signify an 
 uncultivated person. Bav. patschen, to 
 dabble, to blunder or fail. Patscherey, 
 awkwardness. Der patsch, patscher^ an 
 awkward fellow ; e guede patsche, as Fr. 
 un bon homme, a simple fellow. 
 
 Pate. The radical meaning of the 
 word seems to be the brain-pan, analo- 
 
PATENT 
 
 gous to Svj.panna^ the forehead. From 
 the same root are Lat. patina., a dish or 
 pan, It. padella, a pan, Fr. pate, a plate, 
 or band of iron. — Cot. Parallel forms, 
 with initial pi instead of /, are Piedm. 
 plata (ludicrously), the bald head ; G. 
 platte, a plate of metal, flat surface, bald 
 pate, shaven crown of a priest. Ir. plait in, 
 a little plate, skull ; piaitin al chiim, the 
 crown of the head. 
 
 Patent. Lat. pateo, to lie open. The 
 King's letters pateiit are those addressed 
 to all the world. 
 
 Paternal. Lat. patermis, from pater, 
 father. 
 
 Path. Du. pad, G.p/ad. See Pad, 2. 
 Pathetic. — Pathos. Gr. Traff^w, tira- 
 9ov, to suffer ; iraQog, suffering, passion. 
 Patient. See Passive. 
 Patriarch. Gr. Trarpia, lineage, race ; 
 TaTpiapxvG, the chief or father of a race. 
 
 Patrician. Lat. patriciiis, originally 
 a descendant of the patres, or senators, 
 the fathers of the state. 
 
 Patrimony. Lat. patrifnonium, a 
 paternal estate. 
 
 Patriot. Gr. irarpia, lineage, descent, 
 people ; patria, country ; irarpidjTijQ, a fel- 
 low-countryman. 
 
 Patrol. Fr. patrouille, formerly pa- 
 touille, \\.. pattuglia, a night watch. The 
 fundamental image is dabbling in the wet, 
 tramping through the dirt. Fr. patrou- 
 iller, to paddle or pudder in the water, to 
 begrime, besmear — Cot. ; Sp. patullar (as 
 G. patschebi), to dash through muddy 
 places, run through thick and thin. — 
 Neum. Rouchi patoquer, patrouquer, 
 Champ, patoiller, platrouiller, to tramp 
 through the mud. The G. cavalry con- 
 temptuously call the foot-soldier lacken- 
 patscher, puddle-stepper. Diez puts the 
 cart before the horse, and derives the 
 foregoing forms from Fr. patte, the foot. 
 
 Patron. Lat. patronus ^ugm. of 
 pater, -tris), a protector. 
 
 Patten. Fr. patin, a patten or clog, 
 also a skate. It. pattini, wooden pattens 
 or chopinos. — Fl. Fin. patina, a shoe of 
 birch bark. Du. piattijn, clog, wooden 
 shoe. 
 
 One of the numerous series arising 
 from the root pat, plat, representing the 
 sound of the foot-fall. Sp. patear, to 
 stamp, kick, foot, to strike with the foot. 
 Probably Du. pattoffeln, pantoffeht, Fr. 
 pantoujles, slippers, but formerly high- 
 soled shoes, are from the same root. 
 Rouchi patoitf, gros lourdaut, one who 
 goes stumping about. 
 To Patter, i. To make a multiplicity 
 
 PAVILION 
 
 465 
 
 of sounds, each of which would separately 
 be represented by the syllables pat, tap. 
 To patter as rain or hail, to fall with a 
 rattling noise. Fr. patatral interj. re- 
 presenting the noise of something falling. 
 2. To repeat in a monotonous manner, 
 like the pattering of a shower, and not 
 from the repetition of paternosters. Sw. 
 dial, paddra, to patter as hail, to crackle, 
 chatter, prate ; padra, a talking woman. 
 Yr.pati-pata, l.z.r)g.patin-patourlo, words 
 framed to represent talking with too great 
 rapidity. — Diet. Lang. Pl.D. piterpater, 
 unintelligible chatter, talk in a foreign 
 language ; paotern, to repeat in a mono- 
 tonous manner, like a boy learning his 
 lesson. — Danneil. N. putra, to mutter. 
 Lett, putroht, to gabble ; putroht pah- 
 tarus, to gabble [paternosters] prayers. 
 
 Pattern. Fr. patron, patron, master 
 of a ship or a workshop, hence a pattern, 
 the inanimate master by which the work- 
 man is guided in the construction of any- 
 thing. Patrone, form to work by, exem- 
 plar. — Pr. Pm. *■ I drawe as a workeman 
 dothe a patrone with his penne. Je pour- 
 trais.' — ^Palsgr. 
 Paucity. Lat. paucus, few. 
 Patinch. It. paftcia, Fr. pa?ise, com- 
 monly derived from Lat. pantex, Walach. 
 phntece, the belly. But perhaps the word 
 may be nearer a living origin. Tyrol. 
 patscheti, pantschen, to smack in eating, 
 eat greedily ; pantsch,\.\\Q belly. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. Bav. pamss, painssen, belly, 
 thick belly, short fat child. See Punch. 
 Pause. The act of taking breath after 
 labour affords the most natural image of 
 repose, cessation. Thus we have Sw. 
 pusta, to blow, to take breath ; N. pusta, 
 to rest awhile ; G. bausen, pausen, paiisten, 
 to puff, to swell ; Lat, pausare, to repose, 
 pause, stop. Pausatiun juvencimi, a 
 bullock that has rested. Gr. Traww, to 
 bring to a stop, iravofxai, to cease, may in 
 like manner be classed with Sc. pec'/i, to 
 pant, w. peiw, to pant, to puff, to pause, 
 pez^es, a place of rest. Fin. puhhata, to 
 breathe, to pant, to take breath, to rest. 
 
 To Pave. Lat. pavire, to strike, beat, 
 make dense by beating ; pavimentnm, a 
 path or floor made dense, in the first in- 
 stance by beating, then by being laid with 
 stones. Probably from the same root 
 with path, with the common interchange 
 of d and v. Pavyngestone or pathynge- 
 stone, petalum. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Pavilion. Fr. pavilion, Sp. pabellon, 
 a tent, colours, flag; It. padiglione, a 
 pavilion, canopy ; ^zxd^.papaglione, Prov. 
 pabalho, Mid. Lat. papilio, a tent, appar- 
 
466 
 
 PAW 
 
 ently from the flapping of the canvas, 
 like a butterfly. Cum essent cubicula aut 
 tentoria, quos etiam papiliones vocant. — 
 Augustine in Due. 
 
 Paw. The foot of a beast. Bret, pav^ 
 pao^ OYy. poue. 'En sa goule bouta sa 
 /^//^.'— Fab. et Contes. 3. 55. w. paif, 
 
 {)alm of the hand, paw ; Pcilf y Hew, the 
 ion's paw. See Palm. 
 
 Pawn. I. ON. pantr, Du. pand, G. 
 i>fand, Fr. pan, a pledge. According to 
 Diez it signifies something taken from 
 the possessor against his will, from Prov. 
 Panar, to take away, rob, steal, withdraw 
 from ; Fr. patter, panner, to seize, distrain 
 upon, rob ; Sp. apanar, seize, carry away, 
 filch ; Ptg. apatihar, to seize, pluck, take 
 possession, take by force or fraud, words 
 admittedly connected with Lat. pannus, 
 cloth. It seems to me that the train of 
 thought runs in a somewhat different 
 course. From Lat. pannus we have Prov. 
 pan, skirt, cloth, rag, portion of cloth, 
 portion ; Fr. pati, skirt, face or extent of 
 surface ; Sp. paTw, cloth, piece of cloth in 
 a garment, panos, clothes ; Pl.D. pand, 
 skirt, portion of a garment ; diekpand, 
 portion of a dike which a man has to keep 
 up ; Du. pand, skirt of garment, a piece 
 of property, a possession, a pledge. Dat 
 huis is een waardig patid, that house 
 is a valuable property. Now a pawn 
 is a piece of property used for a speci- 
 fic purpose, viz. for enforcing payment 
 of a debt or the like. In the rudest state 
 of society clothes are almost the only pro- 
 perty a man has, and are certainly the 
 first matters that would be taken in pledge. 
 Thus Vol. fant, a piece of cloth, is also a 
 pawn or security ; fantowad si§, to pawn 
 clothes. From Fr. patt, Du. pand, a pawn, 
 we pass to OFr. paner, pander, panir, 
 panneir (Roquef.), Du. panden, to seize 
 as a pawn, to distrain. ' Saisir et panner 
 sour les hommes de fief.'— Carp. ' De 
 boeren worden stuk voor stuk gepand : ' 
 the property of the boors was seized piece 
 by piece. — Halma. 
 
 2. A common man at chess. It. pedone, 
 a footman, pedona, a pawn at chess ; Sp. 
 peone, a foot-soldier, day-labourer, pawn. 
 To Pay. I. W\d..\u2i\..pacare,\\..pagare, 
 Fr. payer, to satisfy, to pay ; Lat. pacare, 
 to appease. Chaucer uses pay in the 
 sense of satisfaction, gratification. 
 But now to the Pardonere as he wolde sterte away, 
 The hosteler met with him, but nothing to Mx^pay. 
 Prol. Merch. Second Tale, 575. 
 
 2. To daub with pitch. T>\x. paaien,Xo 
 careen a vessel. — Bomhoff. OFr. ein- 
 poier, from poix, pitch. ' Et ne sont pas 
 
 PEARL 
 
 empoides, car ils n'ont pas de poisJ — 
 Marco Polo, Pautier's edition, p. 535. G. 
 peek, pitch ; pech-loffel, a paying ladle. 
 
 Pea. — Pease, Lat. pisum, w. pys, 
 pease. Pea, in the singular, is a modern 
 corruption on the supposition that the se 
 oi pease belonged to the plural form. The 
 old pi. wTus peasoti. 
 
 Peace. Yr.paix, Lat. pax. 
 
 Peach. Fr. piche, It. pesca, contr. 
 from YjaX. persica, the Persian fruit. 
 
 Peacock. Fr. paon, Lat. pavo, Gr. 
 Tflwc, from the cry of the bird. 
 
 Pea-jacket. Du. pije, pije-laecken^ 
 coarse, thick cloth ; pije, a felt cloak, 
 nautical cloak ; pije-wanten, winter gloves. 
 — Kil. Goth, paida, coat ; gapaidon, to 
 clothe ; Ober D. pfait, coat, shirt ; Fin. 
 paita, shirt ; Gael, plaide, blanket, plaid. 
 
 Peak. Sp. pico, Fr. pic, a sharp point. 
 See Pick. 
 
 To Peak.— Peaking. Peaking, puling, 
 sickly, from the pipy tone of voice of a 
 sick person. It. pigolare, to peep as a 
 chicken, to whine or pule ; Russ. pikat\ 
 ¥.sihor\. pikama, piiksutna, to peep as a 
 chicken ; Sw. pjdka, pjunka, to pule ; 
 pjakig, pjunkig, puling, delicate, sickly. 
 
 The same connection between the 
 utterance of a thin high note and the idea 
 of looking narrowly, which is noticed 
 under Peep, is exemplified in the present 
 word, which was formerly used in the 
 sense of peeping. 
 
 That one eye winks as though it were but blind, 
 That other pries and peekes in every place. 
 
 Gascoigne in R, 
 
 Peal, A loud noise, as of bells or of 
 thunder. N. bylia, to resound, to bellow ; 
 ON. bylr, a tempest ; bialla, a bell. 
 
 Pear. Yx. poire, It. pera, L.a.t.pirnm. 
 
 PearL It. per/a, OHG. berala, perala, 
 Vtg. perola. Diez suggests a derivation 
 from pirula, a dim, of pirtis. It. pera, a 
 pear, the name of perilla, being given in 
 Sp. to a pear-shaped pearl. But it is not 
 likely that the name would be taken from 
 so exceptional a form. Wachter's ex- 
 planation of the word as a dim. of G. beere, 
 a berry, has this in its favour, that it was 
 undoubtedly latinized by the term bacca^ 
 a berry. Bacas, gemmas rotundas, qui et 
 uniones vocantur — quos et perulos vocant. 
 — Gl, in Due. Baccatus, mit laurbeer oder 
 kostlichen stein geziert. — Dief. Sup. 
 P eerie, bacca, bacca conchea.— Kil. The 
 evidence in favour of the derivation is 
 thus very strong, otherwise a difierent 
 origin might plausibly be suggested in the 
 resemblance to a drop of dew, which is 
 constantly turning up in poetry, and 
 
PEART 
 
 which gave rise to the legend that the 
 pearl is a drop of congealed dew swallow- 
 ed by the oyster. Dan. perle, to bubble, 
 sparkle as wine ; vand-pcrleti, water- 
 drops ; G. perlen, Du. borrelen, to bubble 
 up ; E. purl, to run with murmuring 
 noise, to bubble up. 
 Peart. See Perk. 
 
 Peasant. Fr. pay sail, Mid.Lat. pagen- 
 sis, OS^. pages, countryman. Yr. pays, It. 
 paese, country, through a ioxTs\,pagense, 
 ivova pagiis, a village. — Diez. 
 
 Peat. Properly the sward or sods of 
 turf pared off the surface of land and dried 
 for burning, then extended to the vegeta- 
 ble soil which accumulates in boggy places 
 and is dug for fuel. The origin is the 
 OE. bete, to mend or kindle a fire. The 
 process of paring and burning the surface 
 of poor land, and then taking two or 
 three crops of corn from it, was formerly 
 in use in Devonshire and Cornwall, as it 
 still is in the heaths of N. Germany. The 
 process is thus described by Carew (Bou- 
 cher v. Beate-burning). 
 
 I About May they cut up the grass of that 
 
 I ground, which is to be broken up, in turfes which 
 
 \ they call beating [i. e. fuel]. — After they have 
 
 ; been thoroughly dried the husbandman pileth 
 
 I them in little heaps called beat-burrowes, and so 
 
 I burneth them to ashes. — The charges of this 
 
 ! beating, burning, scoding [scattering], and sand- 
 
 j ing amount to, &c. 
 
 This process was called beat-butming, 
 giving rise to the name of beats or peats 
 for the turfs consumed. In Herefordshire 
 it is called betting. * To bett, to pare the 
 sward with a breast plough or betting- 
 iron, with a view to burning. The sod 
 when so pared is called the betting; set- 
 ting up the betting, putting fire to the bet- 
 ting^ — Lewis, Hereford. Gl. 
 
 Pebble. A rolled stone from the bed 
 of a river or the sea beach. From the 
 sound of broken water. Dan. pible, to 
 flow with small bubbles and a gentle 
 sound, to purl. In like manner Mod.Gr. 
 Kox^ciZoi, to boil, bubble, Kox^aKtov, a peb- 
 ble ; Gr. x^«^w, to rush, or gurgle, Kax^a- 
 Kot), to sound like rushing w^ater, Kax^ai- 
 vto, to move with a rustling noise, or a 
 noise like that of pebbles rolled on the 
 shore, KaxX//^, a pebble, shingle. Turk. 
 chaghlainak, to make a murmuring or 
 rippling noise in running over rocks or 
 stones, chakil, a pebble. 
 
 Peck. A measure for dry things. Fr. 
 pic, a measure of flour containing about 
 nine of our pecks ; picotin, the fourth 
 part of a boisseau (Cot.), a feed of oats. — 
 Scheler. 
 
 PEEL 
 
 467 
 
 To Peck. Fr. bee, the beak of a bird ; 
 becquer, to peck or bob with the beak. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Pectoral. Lat. pectus, pectoris, the 
 breast. 
 
 Peculate. — Peculiar. Lat. peculium^ 
 private possession, what a son or a slave 
 has of his own ; peculiaris, of private pos- 
 session, appropriated to a particular per- 
 son or thing. Pecidor, -atiis, to appro- 
 priate the property of the state. 
 
 Pecuniary. Lat. pecunia, money, 
 from pecns, cattle, the earliest kind of 
 riches. 
 
 Pedagogue.— Pedant. It. pedante, 
 pedagogo, a schoolmaster, a teacher of 
 children. — Fl. Gr. Trat^aywyof, from Tratf, 
 child, and ayw, to lead, guide. Probably 
 pedante was formed from pedagogo under 
 an impression that the first half of the 
 word must signify teaching. Gr. Traidtvuj, 
 to teach. 
 
 Pedal. — Pedestrian . Lat. pes, pedis, 
 a foot. 
 
 Pedestal. It. piedestallo, G. fuss ges- 
 tell, from piede, a foot, and stallo, a stand- 
 ing ; G. gestell, a stand, frame, support. 
 
 * Pedigree. Petygrewe. — Palsgr. 
 
 Pedegrii or petygru, lyne of kynrede, and 
 awncetrye — Pr. Pm. 
 
 In expensis Stephani Austinwell equitantis ad 
 Thomam Ayleward ad loquenduni cum eo ipso 
 apud Havant et inde ad Hertinge ad loquendum 
 cum Domina ibidem de evidenciis scrutandis de 
 Pe de Gre progenitorum hoeredum de Husey, 
 xxd. ob.— Rolls Winchester Coll. temp. H, IV. 
 Proceed. Archasol. Inst. 1848, p. 64. 
 
 Pedlar.— Pedder. Aped'm Norfolk 
 is a pannier or wicker basket ; a pedder 
 or pedlar, a packman, one who carries on 
 his back goods in a ped for sale. Pedde^ 
 idem quod panere, calathus ; pedda7'e, 
 calatharius. — Pr. Pm. Pedder, revolus, 
 negociator. — Cath. Ang. 
 
 Peel. I. A shovel for putting bread 
 into the oven. It. padella, any flat pan ; 
 Fr. paelle, pelle, a shovel, fire-shovel, peel 
 for an oven, pan. See Pate. 
 
 2. The rind of fruit, thin bark of a stick. 
 Lat. pellis, skin ; Fr. pel, peau, skin, also 
 the pill, rind, or paring of fruit. — Cot. 
 Du. pelle, skin, husk ; pelle van V ey, the 
 shell of an ^g^. Fr. peler, to pill, pare, 
 bark, unskin. — Cot. Du. pellen, Sp. pe- 
 lar, to skin, peel. The radical sense of 
 the word is shown in Dan. pille, to pick 
 or strip ; the peel, skin, or shell of a thing 
 being fundamentally regarded as that 
 which is picked or stripped off. See To 
 Pill. 
 
 3. A small fortress, w. pill, a stake, a 
 castle, or fortress, secure place. 
 
 30* 
 
468 PEEP 
 
 To Peep. I . The shrill cry of a young 
 animal is widely imitated by the syllable 
 peep. Gr. TrtTTTri^tiv, 'L2l\.. p/ppire, Yx. pe- 
 pier, to peep, cheep, or pule as a young 
 bird. 
 
 2. To begin to appear, to show a 
 glimpse through a narrow opening or 
 from behind an obstacle, then to lookout 
 from a position of such a nature. An ex- 
 planation of the connection between this 
 signification and the utterance of a sharp 
 sound was offered under Keek, but pro- 
 bably the connection may spring from a 
 more subjective principle than was there 
 supposed. When we endeavour to sound 
 the highest notes in our voice we strain 
 for a moment without effect, until after a 
 little effort a thin, sharp sound makes its 
 way through the constricted passages, 
 affording a familiar image of a hidden 
 force struggling through obstructions into 
 life ; as the sprouting of a bud through 
 the bursting envelopes, or the light of day 
 piercing through the shades of night. 
 Hence may be explained Dan. at pippe 
 frein (of a bud or seed), to shoot, or peep 
 forth, and the OE. day pipe, rendered by 
 Palsgrave la pipe du jour. We now call 
 it the peep of day, with total unconscious- 
 ness of the original image. In the same 
 way Du. kriecke, krieckeling, the day- 
 spring or creak of day, from kricken, Fr. 
 cricguer, to creak. I peke or prie, je/z^^ 
 hors.— Palsgr. 
 
 Peer. Fr. pair (Lat. par, equal), a 
 peer, match, companion ; pairs, vassals 
 or tenants holding of a manor by one kind 
 of tenure, fellow-vassals. Hence cour des 
 pairs, a court-baron, the lord's court, at- 
 tended by all the tenants of a manor. — 
 "^ Cot. What the court baron was to the 
 lord of an individual manor, the Parlia- 
 ment or assemblage of Peers of the realm 
 was to the sovereign. 
 
 To Peer. Two words are here con- 
 founded, onefrom Yx.paroir {hz.\.. parere) , 
 to peep out, as the sun over a mountain, 
 -to appear or be seen. — Cot. 
 
 There was I bid in pain of death to pere 
 
 By Mercury the winged messengere. 
 
 Chaucer in R. 
 The other form is peer or pire, to look 
 closely or narrowly, corresponding to Sw. 
 plira, VX.T) . pliren, piiiren, piren, to wink, 
 look with half-shut eyes, look closely.— 
 Brem. Wtb. 
 
 Peevish. The modern sense of fret- 
 ful would be well explained by Da. dial. 
 piave, to whimper or cry like a child ; 
 at picEve over noget, to whine over it. 
 But the meanings of the word are very 
 
 PELF 
 
 difficult to reconcile. Torriano renders 
 it by It. bisbetico, ritroso, capriccioso 
 brusco, acerbo ; capricious, self-willed 
 shy, harsh, intractable. Schifo, quaint 
 nice, coy, peevish. — Fl. Peevish, revesche 
 pervers, hargneux, malaise a contenter.— 
 Sherwood. 
 
 This it is to be a peevish girl 
 
 That flies her fortune when it follows her. 
 
 In Craven, a peevish wind is piercing, 
 very cold. Minsheu gives doating, Yr, 
 revant, Lat. delirus,as the principal mean- 
 ing, although, as he refers to overthwart^ 
 he seems also to have understood the 
 word in the sense of cross or ill-tempered. 
 In Scotland it signifies niggard, and is 
 used by Douglas in the sense of Lat. im- 
 probus. 
 
 For thou shalt never leis, shortlie I thee say 
 Be my wappin, nor this rycht hand of mine, 
 Sic axiQ peuische and catiue saul as thine. 
 
 D. V. 377, 20. 
 His smottrit habit ouer his schulderis Udder 
 Using pev age ly knit with ane knot togidder. 
 — uncouthly. — D. V. 173, 48, 
 
 Peewit. A name taken from the plain- 
 tive cry of the lapwing or common plover 
 of our heaths. The imitative nature of 
 the name is shown by the variation of 
 the consonants in the related languages, 
 combined with a preservation of the 
 general likeness. Sc. peeweip, teewhoap, 
 tuquheit, Du. kievit, G.kiebitz, Fr. dixhuit. 
 E. dial, pew-itt, tew-itt, tyrwhit, peiveet, 
 piwipe. The Tyrwhitts bear three plovers 
 in their arms.— N. & O. July 21, 1866. 
 
 Peg". The radical meaning seems what 
 is driven in by force of blows. To peg into 
 a person, to pummel him ; to peg away, 
 to move the legs briskly. To pug, to 
 strike ; to ptiggle, to poke the fire ; pJig- 
 top, a spinning-top. — Hal. To the same 
 root belong Dan. pukke, to stamp, to 
 pound ; Lat. pugil, a fighter with fists, 
 pugtms, a fist ; pungo, pupiigi, to prick. 
 
 -pel. -pulse.— Pulse. \jaX.pello,p7d- 
 simi, to beat, strike, thrust, drive out ; 
 pulsus, a beating, ih.Q pulse j pulso, — as, 
 to knock or beat. Hence the compounds 
 Impel, to drive on ; Repel, to drive back ; 
 Compel, to drive together, to constrain ; 
 and Impulse, Repulse, Compulsion, &c. 
 
 Pelf. — Pilfer. O Fr. pelf re, goods, espe- 
 cially such as are taken by force, plunder ; 
 pelfrer, to plunder. ' T. V. clamat quod 
 si aliquis — infra manerium de K. feloniam 
 fecerit — et convictus fuerit, habere pel- 
 fratn, viz. omnia bona et catalla seisire.' 
 — Chart. H. 7 in Lye. 'Pur tute la preie 
 e la pelfre que pris aveient de terre de 
 
PELLET 
 
 Philistim.' — Livre des Rois, where the 
 marginal note runs ' come David des- 
 cumfist les Amalechites qui ourent pel- 
 f7'ee e arse Siohch.' ' La curt arcevesque 
 pelfh-ent come robeur/ they plundered 
 the court of the archbishop like robbers. 
 — Vie de St Thomas de Cant, in Benoit. 
 Pelfer {pelfj'ey), spolium.— Pr. Pm. The 
 verb petfrer would seem in the first place, 
 like piller, to have signified to peel or 
 skin ; and thence Fr. pelf re, E. pelf, the 
 plunder or booty. Lang, peloitfre, peloufo, 
 the husks of chesnuts or of peas ; Piedm. 
 plofra (contemptuously), the skin. 
 
 Pellet. It. palla, a ball ; palletta, Fr. 
 pelotte, a little ball. w. pel, a ball ; peled, 
 a ball, a bullet. 
 
 Pell-mell. Yr.pesle-mesle, confusedly, 
 all on a heap.^ — Cot. Written mesle-pesle 
 in Chron. des Dues de Norm. 2. 4432. 
 Formed by a rhyming supplement to mes- 
 ler, to mix, like helter-skelter,' hubble- 
 bubble, &c. 
 
 Pellicle. Lat. pellicula, dim. from 
 pellis, a skin. 
 
 Pellucid. Lat. pelbicidiis {per-luci- 
 dus), thoroughly bright. 
 
 To Pelt. To use a pellet, to throw. 
 Sp. pelotear, to play at ball, throw snow- 
 balls at each other, to dispute, quarrel. 
 Fr. peloter, to play at ball, to toss like a 
 ball } It. pelottare, to bang, thump ; pe- 
 lotto, a thump, bang, cuff. G. pelzen, to 
 beat or cudgel, seems to be from pelz, a 
 skin or pelt, to dust one's jacket, give one 
 a hiding. 
 
 Pelt.— Peltry.— Pelice.— Pilch. Pelt, 
 the skin of a beast ; peltry, furs, skins. 
 G. pelz, fur, skin ; Fr. pelletier, a fell- 
 monger, furrier ; pelleterie, the shop or 
 trade of a pelt-monger. Lat. pellis, skin. 
 
 It. pellicia, pellizza, any kind of fur, 
 also, as Fr, pelisse, a furred garment. — 
 Fl. AS. pylca, Pylece, toga pellicea, a 
 furred garment \ in modern ^z7r^ confined 
 to the flannel swathe of an infant. 
 
 Pen. I. Lat. ^^;z«rt, a feather. 
 
 ♦ Pen, 2.— Pound. — Pond. Pen, a 
 fold for sheep, coop for fowl ; also a pond- 
 head to keep in water to drive the wheels 
 of a mill. — B. To pound up water is to 
 stop it back, and thus to collect a head 
 of water or mill-pond, so called from be- 
 ing pounded up. In the same way Sw. 
 damtn, a pond, from being dammed up. 
 The parish pound is the inclosure in 
 which straying beasts are confined until 
 redeemed by their owners. AS. pyndan, 
 gepyndan, to shut in, restrain ; pund, 
 septum, clausura ; pundbreche, infractura 
 pare'. — Leg. H. I. 40. OE. to pund,pt.n, 
 
 PENNON 
 
 469 
 
 to pen, to confine. * Swin ipund ine 
 sti.' — Ancren Riwle, 128. ' Hwon me 
 punt hire : ' when they pound her (a cow) — 
 p. 416. ' Moni ptmt hire worde vorte 
 letten mo ut :' many pound up their words 
 for to let more out — p. 72. 
 
 The origin of this expression for re- 
 straining or confining seems to lie in the 
 notion of bunging up a hole, or perhaps, 
 to take the derivation still further back, 
 of stopping it up with a btmch of some- 
 thing ; Da. bundt, bunch, bundle. At 
 any rate, we may rest on Swiss punt,pon- 
 ten, bonten, G. spund, Esthon. pun, a 
 bung, Fr. bonde, a bung or floodgate, 
 bondon, a bung, the connection of which 
 with the forms in question may be illus- 
 trated by Lap. puodo, a stopper or cover- 
 ing ; puodot, to stop or shut up, to stop 
 one's mouth, to put to silence (to be 
 compared with *■ pundeth ower wordes :' 
 pound up your words — Anc. R.), to 
 dam up water, dam a brook ; quele 
 puodo, a fish-pond, qiiai'ue puodo, a mill- 
 pond. 
 
 Penal. — Penalty. Lat. poena, pun- 
 ishment. Gr. TToivT], properly blood-money 
 ((povog, bloodshed, slaughter), the fine paid 
 to the kinsman of the slain, thence satis- 
 faction, ransom, requital, penalty. 
 
 Penance. — Penitent. — Repent. — 
 From Lat. pa?na csune pcenitet, it grieves 
 me, makes me sorry; po'nitentia, re- 
 pentance or after-sorrow. Corresponding 
 forms are Frov. penedir, penedensa, OFr. 
 peneer, phieance, whence the modern 
 petiance, penance, the punishment en- 
 joined by the priest as a pledge of repent- 
 ance. 
 
 Pencil. Fr. pinceau, Lat. penicillus 
 (dim. o{ penis, a tail), a little tail, a paint- 
 er's brush. To be distinguished from 
 pencell ox pens ell, a little flag. 
 
 Pendant. — Pendent. — Pending*. — 
 Pendulum. Lat. pendeo, to hang, pen- 
 dulus, hanging. 
 
 Penetrate, h^ii. penitus, inward. 
 
 Peninsula. Lat. petrntsula j pene^ 
 almost, insula, an island. 
 
 Pennon. — Pennant. — Pensell. It. 
 pe7inone, Fr. pannon, pennon, pennon-- 
 ceau, OQ-aX. pand, Sp. pendone, a pointed 
 flag or streamer, formerly borne at the 
 end of a lance. iHance pennant, in nauti- 
 cal language, a streamer. The origin is 
 Lat. penna, pinna, a wing, fin, battlement; 
 It. pinna, pinnola, the flat flap of any- 
 thing, as the fin of a fish, flap of a man's 
 ears, float of a water-mill wheel, the out- 
 ward sides of a man's nose. — Fl. Fr. 
 penne, penon, pennule, a small piece of a 
 
470 
 
 PENNY 
 
 thing not altogether separated from the 
 whole (a flap) ; pcntie de foie^ penon^ the 
 laps or napes of the liver ; penneton {pan- 
 ne ton — Trevoux), the bit of a key (hang- 
 ing from the shaft like the pennon of a 
 lance) ; pennes, pennons, the feathers of an 
 arrow.— Cot. The nn of penna changes 
 to nd in Sp. pendola, a pen, as well as in 
 Pendone, a pennon. See Pane. 
 
 Penny. Du. penninck, G. pfennig, a 
 small coin. The original meaning was 
 probably coin in general. Thritig scy- 
 linge penega, thirty shillings in money. — 
 Sax. Chron. 775. Pol.//<?;//^^5', Bohem. 
 Penjz, dim. pe?nzek, a piece of money. 
 Magy. penz, money ; pengni, to ring. 
 Manx/^«^, penny. 
 
 -pense. -pend. Pension. hzX. pendo, 
 Pensum, to weigh, or be of such a weight; 
 pendo, expendo (to weigh out money), to 
 pay, to expend or spend ; pensio (e. pen- 
 sion), a paying ; penso, compenso, to prize 
 or value, to compensate, recompense, or 
 requite. 
 
 Pensive. A secondary application of 
 "LbX. pendo,penso, to weigh, is to ponder 
 in the mind, to consider, whence Fr. pett- 
 ser, to think ; pensif, thoughtful, pensive. 
 
 Pent-. Gr. Trlvrt, five, as in pentagon, 
 a figure of five Singles ', pentateuch (rtvxog, 
 a book) ; pentecost, 'irivTrjKoaTi), the fiftieth 
 (day). 
 
 Penthouse. A corruption of penttce, 
 as the word was formerly written. Fr. 
 appentis, a sloping shed. It. pendice, any 
 bending or down-hanging, the side of a 
 hill, hanging label of anything, a pent- 
 house, hovel, shed. — Fl. Lat. pendere, 
 to hang. 
 
 Penury. Lat. pemiria, scarcity. Gr. 
 "TTEvofiai, to labour, to be poor ; tte^jjc, poor. 
 
 People. Fr. peuple, Lat. populiis, w. 
 pobl. 
 
 Pepper. Lat. piper, Gr. -Kiin^i. 
 
 Per-. Lat. per, through, thoroughly. 
 
 Perambulate. Lat. ambiilo, to walk. 
 
 Perch. Fr. perche, Lat. pertica, a rod. 
 
 Perdition. Lat. perdo, perditum, to 
 lose, to destroy. Perdo, from do, to give 
 {per-do, thoroughly to do away), may be 
 considered the active form of which pereo 
 {phr-eo, thoroughly to be gone), to perish, 
 is the neuter. 
 
 Peregrination. Lat. pereger, a fo- 
 reigner ; peregre, abroad, from home, in 
 a foreign country. 
 
 Peremptory. Lat. peremptorius, ab- 
 solute, without opening for excuses ; per- 
 iino, peremptum, to take away utterly. 
 
 Perforate. Lat. perforo, to pierce 
 through ; foro, to pierce a hole. 
 
 PERIWIG 
 To Perform. Originally /^r/^/^r;^. 
 
 Ergo Poverty and poore men 
 Pcrfourncn the comniandement. 
 And yet God wot unnethe tlie fundament 
 Parfournid\%.—V. P. 
 
 — the foundation is hardly completed. 
 I parforme ; je parforme and j'e par- 
 
 fournys. — Palsgr. * Les queux gens cient 
 plein power de Maire de ceo bien et 
 loialment faire et parfourner.^ — Lib. Alb. 
 I. 494. The origin is probably from the 
 office performed by Lat. fiirnns, the oven, 
 in completing the work of making bread. 
 Fr. enfourner, to put in an oven, also to 
 begin, set in hand or on work ; en/otirne- 
 ment, the beginning or first part of a 
 matter ; s'enfourner, to undertake, or 
 embark himself in ; parfoiirnir, to con- 
 summate, perform, furnish. — Cot. It. 
 
 fornire, to accomplish, finish, furnish. 
 
 The 71 seems early to have been changed 
 to m under the influence perhaps of Prov. 
 
 fo7'mir, furniir, fromir, to fulfil OHG. 
 
 frufnjan, gafrtnnjan, facere, perficere, 
 perfungi, exsequi. 
 
 Perfume. Yr.perfuins, pleasant fumes, 
 
 delicate smells. — Cot. It. profumo, any 
 perfume or sweet smell. — Fl. ijdX.funncs, 
 smoke, vapour. 
 
 Perfunctory. 'L2A. perfunctori^, slight- 
 ly, negligently ; perfungor, perfimctus, to 
 go through with. 
 
 Perhaps. A singular combination of 
 the Fr. par or Lat. per, and E. hap, 
 luck, chance. Peradventure, percase, 
 perchance, are similar forms. 
 
 Peri-. Gr. Trcpi, about, round about. 
 As in Pericardium {Kapdia, the heart), 
 Perigee (yrj, the earth). Perihelion (/jXtoc, 
 the sun). 
 
 Peril, 'Lz.t. periculu)7t, li. periglio, Fr. 
 
 peril, danger. 
 
 Period. Gr. izi^'ioooq, a circuit, going 
 a round ; TrtpJ, and ollq, a route, journey. 
 Periphery. Gr. Trepupipeia, circumfer- 
 ence ; TTipl, about, around ; <pspio, I bear. 
 
 Perish. Lat. pereo, -itum {per-eo, to 
 be quite gone), Yx. pdrir, pdrissant, to 
 perish. 
 
 Periwig. —Perruque. A corruption 
 of Fr. perruque, Du. peruik, under the 
 influence of E. wig of the same meaning 
 already existing in the language. The 
 radical meaning is a tuft of hair, a hand- 
 ful, or so much as is phicked at a single 
 grasp. Cotgrave translates perruque, a 
 lock or tuft of hair, giving fausse per- 
 ruque for a wig. From N. piukka, Sw. 
 
 plocka, Piedm. piuchd, to pluck or pick, 
 are derived respectively plukk, plock, 
 
 i pluch, a little bit, a morsel, Piedm. plu- 
 
PERIWINKLE 
 
 con, a tuft of hair ; and Gr. TrXoKafxoq, a 
 lock of hair, seems to belong to the same 
 class. In the S. of Europe the pro- 
 nunciation is softened by the introduction 
 of a vowel between the mute and liquid, 
 giving It. peluccare, piluccare, Prov. 
 pelucar^ to peck, pick, pluck, with the 
 corresponding nouns, Lombard pelnch^ a 
 particle (bruscolo) — Diet. Milan., also as 
 Sard, pilucca, a tuft of hair. — Diez. In 
 Sp. peluca is developed the sense of a set 
 of false locks, and hence (by the same 
 change from / to r which is seen in Lat, 
 piius, Walach. piru^ hair) It. parruca, 
 Fr. pemiqtie, a wig. See To Pill. 
 
 Periwinkle, i. Fr. pervenche, Lat. 
 vinca pervinca, or s\m^\y pervinca. Pro- 
 bably from the mode of growth in an 
 intricate mass of twigs. Lat. vinciret to 
 bind. 
 
 2. Properly, in accordance with the vul- 
 gar pronunciation, pennywinkle, the sea- 
 snail. AS. pinewincla^ the pin winkle, or 
 winkle that is eaten by help of a pin 
 used in pulling it out of the shell. In 
 the south of England they are called ^/;z- 
 patches. See Winkle. 
 
 To Perk.— To Pert.— Peart. — Pert. 
 To perk up the head, to prick up the 
 head, or appear lively. Plants which 
 droop from drought perk up their heads 
 after a shower. Peark, brisk. — B. Perk, 
 brisk, lively, proud. — Forby. Pl.D. 
 (Lippe) prick, smart, fine. — Deutsch. 
 Mundart. w.percti, to trim, to smarten; 
 perc, trim, neat, compact. In the same 
 sense with a change of the final k into t, 
 to pert. 
 
 Sirrah, didst thou ever see a prettier child? 
 How it behaves itself I warrant you ! and speaks 
 and looks, and perts up the head. — B. and F. 
 Knight of the Burning Pestle, I. 2, 
 
 Hence peart, brisk, lively ; w. pert, 
 smart, dapper, fine, pretty, nice ; perten, 
 a smart little girl. With an initial s, to 
 sptirk up, to spring up straight, to brisk 
 up. — B. Sw. spricka, to burst, to crack. 
 
 The quality of liveliness carried to 
 excess degenerates into sauciness, and 
 therefore there is no ground to suppose 
 that pert in the sense of saucy is a cor- 
 ruption of malapert. The word is used 
 with more or less of blame from the 
 earliest period. 
 
 And she was proud and pert as any pie. 
 
 Chaucer in R. 
 
 Nothing shall be outrageous, neither in pas- 
 sions of mind, nor words, nor deeds, nor nice, 
 nor wanton, piert, nor boasting, nor ambitious. 
 • — Vives, ibid. 
 
 Pernicious. Lat. neco, to kill} per- 
 nicies, violent death, destruction. 
 
 PESTER 
 
 471 
 
 Perpendicular. Lat. perpendo, to 
 poise thoroughly ; perpendicuhcm, a level 
 or plumbline for trying the regularity of 
 work. 
 
 Perpetrate. Lat. patro (to be a father 
 to), to bring to effect, to achieve, to get. 
 
 Perpetual, Lat. perpetmts. 
 
 Perry. Fr. poird (from poire, pear), 
 drink made from the juice of pears. 
 
 Persevere. Lat. severus, hard, stern, 
 earnest; persevero, to go through with 
 anything without allowing yourself to be 
 diverted from what you have in view. 
 
 Person. — Personify. Lat. persona, a 
 mask (used for increasing the sound of 
 the voice on the stage), a part in a play, a 
 charge or office, a person. 
 
 To Peruse. The only possible origin 
 seems Lat. perviso, to observe, but we are 
 unable to show a Fr. perviser, and if there 
 were such a term, the vocalisation of the 
 V in the pronunciation of an E. peruise 
 would be very singular. 
 
 Pest, — Pestilent, l^dl.pestis, a plague, 
 infection. 
 
 To Pester. Fr. empestrer, to pester, 
 intricate, entangle, encumber, trouble. — 
 Cot. Derived by Diez from yixd-l^zX. pas- 
 torium. It. pastoja, the foot-shackle of a 
 horse j impastojare, to shackle a horse, 
 whence einpetrer for empeturer . The 
 true derivation is the figure of clogging or 
 entangling in something pasty or sticky. 
 It. itnpastricciare, to bedaub, beplaster. 
 
 Mais pour les paluz enpaistroses 
 Granz, parfundes e encumbroses— 
 Ne les vout Rous prendre n'aveir. 
 — But for the sticky marshes (of Flanders) Rollo 
 
 will not have them. — Chron. des Dues de Norm. 
 
 2. 6695. I comber, I payster with over many 
 
 clothes. — Palsgr. 
 
 Depestrer, to disentangle, clear, deliver, 
 rid out of. — Cot. The same metaphor is 
 seen in Sp. pantano, bog, morass, meta- 
 phorically hindrance, obstacle, difficulty. 
 — Neum. When Hotspur complains of 
 being pestered by the fop he has the 
 sense of something sticking about him 
 which he would fain be rid of. So Lang. 
 pego, pitch ; pegou, a troublesome, impor- 
 tunate person. 
 
 The sense of overcrowding, is merely a 
 special application of the original figure 
 of clogging ; clogging by excessive num- 
 bers. 
 
 They within though /^j/^a-^^ by their own num- 
 bers (clogged and impeded) stood to it like men 
 resolved, and in a narrow compass did remarkable 
 deeds. — Milton, Hist. Eng, 
 
 The people — gat up all at once into the theatre 
 and pestered (clogged) it quite full, — Holland, 
 Livy. 
 
47: 
 
 PESTLE 
 
 Pestle. Lat. pistil lit m, hom pinso, to 
 pound. See Pistil. 
 
 Pet. I. A fit of displeasure. To take 
 the pet, se mecontenter. — Sherwood. 
 Plausibly derived by Serenius from Svv. 
 Pytt ! Dan. pyt ! Manx pyht I Norm. 
 ^^Z.^pish! tut! It./^//<?,ablurt (Fl.),/^/- 
 teggiare, Magy. pittyni, to blurt with the 
 mouth. A person in a pet pishes and 
 pshaws at things. Comp. ti^tty, ill-tem- 
 pered, sullen (Hal.), standing in a similar 
 relation to the interjection tut/ Swab. 
 P/ausen, pfatitzen, to make a sound by 
 letting out pent-up air, to express displea- 
 sure by gestures. 
 
 * Pet. 2. — Peat. Peat, a delicate per- 
 son, usually applied to a young female, 
 but often used ironically in the sense of a 
 spoiled, pampered favourite. — Nares. 
 
 A pretty peat ! 'tis best 
 Put finger in the eye, an she knew why. 
 
 Taming of the Shrew. 
 
 To see that proud pert peat our youngest sister. 
 
 O. Play of K. Lear. 
 
 Pet-lamb, a lamb brought up by hand. 
 A pet in the modern sense of the word is 
 a favourite child or animal that is made 
 much of, that is petted or indulged in its 
 pets or fits of ill-humour. 
 
 PetaL Gr. TrsraXov, a leaf. 
 
 Petard. A short, mortar-shaped gun 
 for making a loud explosion ; an imple- 
 ment for bursting open a gate with pow- 
 der. Fr. peter, to crack. 
 
 Petition. Lat. peto, petitum, to seek, 
 ask, beg. 
 
 Petr-. Gr. trkTpa, Lat. petra, a rock, 
 and {facio) fio, as in Petrify, to become 
 stone ; Petroleum, rock oil. 
 
 PetreL A breast-plate. Sp. petral, a 
 breast-leather for a horse; It. pettorale, 
 a stomacher, breast-plate ; — di cavallo, 
 a poitrel for a horse (Fr. poictrail, poi- 
 trat). — Fl. Yx.poitral, the dewlap of an 
 ox. 
 
 PetroneL OFr. petrinal, poictriital, 
 a petronel, or horseman's piece. — Cot. 
 Doubtless from Sp. petrina, a girdle, from 
 the weapon being stuck in the girdle. It 
 is said to have been invented in the Py- 
 renees. Ultimately from Lat. pectus. 
 It. petto, the breast ; Yx. poictrine, pot- 
 trine, breast, breast-plate. 
 
 Petticoat. Apparently formed as a 
 sort of translation of Fr. cotillon^ dim. of 
 cotte, coat. 
 
 Pettifogger. Fogger, a huckster, a 
 cheat ; to fog, to hunt in a servile man- 
 ner, to flatter for gain.— Hal. Milton 
 speaks of ' t^^ fogging proctorage of mo- 
 ney.' 
 
 PHASE 
 
 The relationship and fundamental 
 meaning of the word are very doubtful 
 On the one hand we arc led to suspect 
 that it may be from a perversion of the 
 name of the Fugger family, proverbial 
 for their commercial eminence. Bav. 
 fuggern, to traffic, truck, chaffer; Swiss 
 fuggern, to pilfer ; Swab, fuggerei (A. D. 
 1 5 id), a trading establishment. Du. 
 focker, monopola, pantopola, vulgo fug- 
 gerus, fuccardus J fockerije, monopolium. 
 — Kil. On the other hand V\.V> . fokken^ 
 foppen, to jeer, to play tricks on, to de- 
 ceive, Henneberg fuckeln, to cheat, to 
 trick, Bav. focken, fogken, to cajole, to 
 flatter, must be from a different source, 
 perhaps from the notion of deceiving the 
 eye by rapid movements, sleight of hand. 
 Henneberg fickfackerei, jugglery, tricks, 
 cheating ; fackeln, to cajole, flatter. 
 
 Pettitoes. A corruption of Norm. 
 petots, little feet (Pat. de Brai), so modi- 
 fied as to give the word an apparent 
 meaning in E. It. peducci, a precisely 
 analogous form of the same meaning, is 
 explained by Fl. sheep's trotters, pig's 
 pettitoes- 
 Petty. As It. piccolo, Sp. pequeno, 
 small, from the root pic, signifying point, 
 so it seems Fr. petit, Wall, piti, w. pitw, 
 small, are connected with w. pid, Grisons 
 pizza, G. spitze, a point. — Diez. 
 
 Pew. hdX. podium, an elevated place, 
 a balcony ; Du. puyde, puye, a pulpit or 
 reading-desk. — Kil. Hence praying -pe7v, 
 a desk to kneel at, which was doubtless 
 the earliest form of the church pew. 
 Pew-fellow, a fellow-scholar, class-fellow, 
 companion at the same desk at school. 
 Being both my scholars and your honest pue- 
 
 fellow. — Dekker in R. 
 It. poggio, a hill, a turret, out-jutting win- 
 dow, or place to stand or lean upon, a 
 horse-block, high heap or stack. 
 
 Pewter. It. peltro, OFr. peutre, Du. 
 peauter, speauter. — Kil. Pewter is a 
 mixture of lead and tin, or lead and zinc, 
 and spelter is another name for zinc. 
 Kiliaan gives espeautre as Fr. for pewter, 
 which also signifies spelt, a kind of wheat. 
 
 Phaeton. From the proper name 
 ^asS-wv, a son of Apollo. 
 
 Phantasm. — Phantasmagoria. Gr. 
 (paivu), to show ; (pavTaafia, a vision, fan- 
 cied appearance ; ayt/pw, to call up, ex- 
 cite. 
 
 Pharmacy. — Pharmacopoeia, Gr. 
 (pdpiiaKov, a drug, (papixaKOTToiia, a com- 
 pounding of drugs {noiew, to make). 
 
 Phase. — Phenomenon. Gr. fa'tvut, 
 to show, appear, p.p. ^atv6fMi'ov,tha.t which 
 
PHEASANT 
 
 is shown, what appears ; (pucrig, an appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Pheasant, Gr. (patnavbg, from the 
 name of the river Phasis. 
 
 Phial. Gr. ^idXr], a bowl, cup, vase. 
 
 Phil- Gr. (piXoc, 2L friend to, fond of. 
 
 Philtre. Gr. fiXTpov, from (piXsw, to 
 love, a love charm or spell. 
 
 Phlebotomy. Gr. (pXiftorofiog ; ^Xt^pg, 
 a vein, t'chvoj, to cut. 
 
 Phlegm. — Phlegmatic. Gr. tpX^yf^a, 
 inflammation, mucus the proceeds of in- 
 flammation. 
 
 Phonetic. Gr. (pwvqriKog ; fwv^, a 
 sound, articulate sound, voice. 
 
 Phosphorus. Gr. (puxrcpopog, light-bring- 
 ing, Lucifer ; ^log, light, and ^Ipw, to carry, 
 bring. 
 
 Photography. Gr. ^wf, ^wTog, the 
 light. 
 
 Phrase. Gr. ^paZoj, to say, speak, tell ; 
 ^pdrng, a speaking, mode of speech. 
 
 Phthisis, — Phthisical. Gr. <p9i(Tig, 
 from (pOuo, to corrupt, waste away. 
 
 Physics. — Physical. Gr. ^vaiKog, per- 
 taining to {<pvaig) nature ; Lat. physica, 
 natural science. 
 
 Physiognomy. Gr. (pvmoyvwfiuiv (judg- 
 ing of nature), judging of man by his fea- 
 tures, outward look ; yvw/xwv, one that 
 knows, an interpreter ; yivMOKoj, to know. 
 
 Piazza. It. piazza, Yx. place, Sp., Port., 
 Prov. plaza, plaqa, from Lat. platea, a. 
 broad street. 
 
 Pick. Du.pi'cken, to peck, to pick, or 
 strike with a pointed instrument ; Fr. 
 -piquer, to prick ; E. pick or pick-axe, a 
 sharp-pointed instrument for striking ; 
 It. picco, Fr. pic, a beak, sharp point ; 
 Lat. piciis, a wood-pecker ; w. pig, a 
 point, pike, beak ; pigo, to prick, to sting, 
 to pick and choose ; It. picchiare, to 
 knock, as at a door, to peck, to clap or 
 beat hard. The origin is an imitation of 
 the sound of a blow with a pointed in- 
 strument. Bohem. pukati, Russ. pukaf, 
 to crack, to burst ; Lat. pungere, to prick; 
 V\.T>. pinken, pinkepanken, to hammer. 
 
 Pickaback. To carry pickaback (for 
 pickpacli) is to carry like a pack on one's 
 back. Sw. med pick och pack, with bag 
 and baggage. 
 
 * Pickaroon. A rogue. Sp. picaro, 
 a knave or rogue ; mischievous, crafty, 
 merry ; It. picdre, picardre, to play the 
 rogue, to go a roguing up and down.— 
 Fl. Yx.picorer, to forage, ransack, prey 
 upon the poor husbandman. — Cot. Sc. 
 pickery, rapine, theft. ' The stealing of 
 trifles, which in low language is called 
 pickery.^ — Erskine. Picking and stealing. 
 
 PIE 
 
 473 
 
 Picket. Fr. piquet, a peg, a stake ; E. 
 pickets, stakes driven into the ground by 
 the tents of the horse in a camp to tie 
 their horses to, and before the infantry to 
 rest their arms about them in a ring. — B. 
 YiQ.r\CQ picket, a. small outpost. 
 
 Pickle. I. A lye of brine or vinegar 
 for preserving food. G. docket, P'okel, Du. 
 pekel, brine ; pekel-harinck, a pickled her- 
 ring. 
 
 The word probably was first applied to 
 the curing or pickling of herrings, the 
 radical meaning being the gutting or 
 cleansing of the fish with which the opera- 
 tion is begun. The Pr. Pm. has pykyn, 
 or clensyn, or cullyn owte the onclene, 
 purgo, purgulo : pykelynge, purgulacio. 
 To pickle, to glean a second time — Forby: 
 i.e. to pick clean. In the same way, /<? 
 cure fish or meat (to prepare so as to pre- 
 serve from corruption by drying, smoking, 
 salting, &c. — Worcester), is from Fr. 
 dctirer, to scour, to cleanse. 
 
 Pickle. 2. A mess. 'You are in a 
 pretty pickle.' A pickle is also a child 
 apt to get into a mess, or into scrapes, a 
 mischievous boy. 
 
 From Pl.D.//r/&'/, a pig. Pick'l,pick'l / 
 a cry to pigs. Picket is then used as a 
 reproach to a child who has got himself 
 dirtied : you Httle pig ! — Danneil. Dirty- 
 ing the clothes then becomes the type of 
 youthful scrapes in general. 
 
 Picture. — Pictorial. — Pigment. Lat. 
 pingo, pictum,to ^dimi, pigmentum, paint- 
 ers' colours. 
 
 To Piddle. To eat here and there a 
 bit — B. ; to do light and trifling work. 
 The fundamental idea seems to be to 
 pick, to use the tips of the fingers in 
 doing. G. dial, pitteln, piitteln, p'otteln, 
 to meddle with anything by slightly pluck- 
 ing, picking, touching, feeling ; to piddle 
 in eating, work at anything by small 
 touches. Pittle nicht so in der nase, do 
 not keep picking at your nose. Das ist 
 eine pittliche arbeit, that is very piddling 
 (ausserst subtile) work. N . pitta, to pluck, 
 pick, sip. Sw. pillra (of birds), to plume 
 themselves ; G. dial, pitzeln, to whittle, 
 cut little bits — Deutsch. Mund. 2. 236 ; 
 pitzel, labor parvus. — Westerwald. Idiot. 
 Du. peuteren, to pick or work with the 
 finger ; peuselen, contrectare summis di- 
 gitis, varia cibaria carpere et libare, mo- 
 titare digitos, fodicare, carpere. — Kil. W. 
 pid, a point. See Potter. 
 
 Pie, I. Fr. pic, Lat. pica, a daw. 
 Piebald, marked like a pie, black and 
 white. See Ball. 
 
 2. A pasty. 
 
474 
 
 PIECE 
 
 Piece. Fr. piece^ Sp. picsa, bit of any- 
 thing ; \y. petit, a part or fragment, some, 
 a little, a thing ; Bret, pes, a piece, bit, 
 piece of land. It. pezsa, a piece, clout, 
 patch, rag or tatter ; pezze, rags, tatters, 
 shreds, patches. Spezsare, to split, to 
 shiver to pieces. 
 
 Pier. A pier in architecture is the 
 portion of solid wall between two aper- 
 tures, or the solid pillar which stands 
 between two arches of a bridge, also a 
 mole in a harbour to break the force of 
 the sea. 
 
 AS. perey pila, moles, agger ; Du. beere, 
 a pier or mole, apparently from beuren, 
 boren, to raise, to lift. Swiss buren, biih- 
 ren, btrren, to raise ; biiri, biihri, a pier, 
 a wall or mound raised in the water to 
 protect the adjoining land. Bav. e7ibor, 
 G. empor, up, aloft ; enboren, emporen, to 
 raise. Geschrei erhaben und emporen, to 
 raise an outcry. Bav. borkirche, G. em- 
 porkirche, the gallery in a church. Purdi, 
 pyra, rogus. Purd-holz, strues. — Gl. in 
 Schm. 
 
 To Pierce. Fr. percer, It, perciare. 
 Apparently from the same root which 
 gives us perk, prick; to perk up, to prick 
 up the head. It can hardly come from 
 It. pertugiare, Fr. pertuiser. 
 
 Pig. I. Du. bigge, big, a pig. Pl.D. 
 biggen un blaggen, unquiet children or 
 young cattle, especially pigs. De biggen 
 lopet enem under de vote, the children 
 run under one's feet. — Brem. Wtb. 
 
 2. A sow of iron is an ingot. Pano di 
 metallo, a mass, a sow or ingot' of metal. 
 — Fl. When the furnace in which iron 
 is melted is tapped the iron is allowed to 
 run in one main channel, called the sow, 
 out of which a number of smaller streams 
 are made to run at right angles. These 
 are compared to a set of pigs sucking 
 their dam, and the iron is called sow and 
 pig iron respectively. Probably the like- 
 ness was suggested by the word sow 
 having previously signified an ingot. 
 
 Pigeon. From Lat. pipire. It. pipiare, 
 pigiolare, to peep or cheep as a young 
 bird, are Lat. pipio, a young pigeon. It. 
 pippione,piccione,pigione, a pigeon. Mod. 
 Gr. TrnrtviZw, to chirp ; Triiriviov, a young 
 dove. In the same way from Magy. 
 pipegni, pipelni, to peep or cheep, pipe, 
 pipok, a chicken, gosling ; and here also 
 the same metaphor, by which a pigeon is 
 made to signify a dupe, gives pipe-ember 
 {e7nber, man), as Fr. blancbec, bejaune, a 
 booby ; a young bird being taken as the 
 type of simplicity. It. pippione, a silly 
 gull, one that is soon caught and tre- 
 
 PILGARLICK 
 
 panned ; pippionare, to pigeon, to gull 
 one. — FI. See Gull. 
 
 Piggin. A wooden vessel with a han- 
 dle for holding liquids, — B. The appli- 
 cation to a wooden vessel seems a de- 
 parture from the original meaning. Gael. 
 pige, an earthen jar or pitcher ; pigean^ a 
 little jar, a potsherd. 
 
 Pike, I. Fr. pique ^ a pike, or pointed 
 pole. 
 
 Thei profere a man to bete, for two schilynges or 
 
 thre 
 With piked staves grete beten sail he be. 
 
 R. Brunne. 
 
 See Pick. 
 
 2. The pike-fish is so called from his 
 projecting lower jaw. Bret, bek, a beak, 
 snout, point ; beked, a pike-fish. So in 
 Fr. broche, a spit, a pointed object ; 
 brocket, a pike. 
 
 Pikelet. A kind of crumpet apparently 
 of w. origin, being called bara-picklet (w. 
 bara, bread) by Bayley. Fr. popelins, 
 soft cakes of fine flour, &c., fashioned 
 like our Welsh barrapyclids. — Cot. 
 
 Pilaster. — Pillar. Fr. pilastre. It. 
 pilastro, der. from Lat. pila, a column, 
 L.Lat. pilarium, whence also Yx. pilier. 
 
 Pilch.. A piece of flannel to be wrapt 
 about a young child.— B. See Pelt. 
 
 Pilchard. Fr. sard, sardine, a pilch- 
 ard. 
 
 Pilcrow. The mark of a new para- 
 graph in printing. Gradually corrupted 
 from paragraph through parcraft, pil- 
 craft, to pilcrow. Paragrapha, pylcraft 
 in wrytynge— Med. ; paragraphus, Anglice 
 z.pargrafte in vrytynge. — Ortus in Way. 
 
 Pile. A stake driven into the ground 
 to support an erection. Lat. pila, a struc- 
 ture for the support of a building, the 
 pier of a bridge, a mole to restrain the 
 force of water. It. pilare, to prop up 
 with piles, to lay the groundwork of a 
 building, w. pill, stem or stock of a 
 tree ; log set fast in the ground, stake. 
 
 From the notion of supporting, the 
 signification passes to that of the thing 
 supported, a mass heaped up. Fr. pile^ 
 Du. pijl, 2iPile or heap. 
 
 To Pilfer, See Pelf. 
 
 Pilgarlick. One who peels garlick 
 for others to eat, who is made to endure 
 hardships or ill-usage while others are 
 enjoying themselves at his expense. 
 And ye shull here how the Tapster made the 
 
 Pardonere pull 
 Garlick all the longe nighte till it was nere hand 
 
 day.— Chaucer, Prol. Merch. 2nd Tale. 
 The tapster and her paramour were en- 
 
PILGRIM 
 
 joying the entertainment for which the 
 pardoner had paid. The Fr. have a some- 
 what similar proverb. II en pelera la 
 prune, he will smart for it, he is likely to 
 have the worst of it. — Cot. 
 
 Pilgrim. It. pelegrmo, Lat. pere- 
 grinus, a foreigner ; from pereger, one 
 who is gone into the country, who is 
 without the city, from/^r and ager, field. 
 Peregre, abroad. 
 
 Pill. Lat. pilula, dim. of ^//^, a ball. 
 
 To Pill.— Pillage. Fr. piller, to rob ; 
 S^. pillar, to seize, lay hold of, plunder ; 
 It. pigliare, to catch, take hold of, take. 
 To pill \v2iS formerly used in the sense of 
 extort, strip, rob, and also, where we now 
 use peel, for picking off the husk or outer 
 coat of fruit or the like. 
 
 Hear me, you wrangling pirates that fall out 
 In sharing that which you have pilled from me. 
 
 Rich. III. 
 
 To pill (pare, bark, unskin, &c.), peler. — 
 Sherwood. Bret, pelia, to peel, skin ; 
 w. pilio, to peel or skin, to pillage, rob ; 
 pil, peel, rind. 
 
 The figure of fleecing or skinning af- 
 fords so natural a type of pillage and 
 robbery that we are inclined with little 
 hesitation to accept the sense of peeling 
 as the radical signification of the word. 
 But further examination brings to light a 
 numerous series of forms, which it is im- 
 possible to separate from the foregoing, 
 with the radical signification of picking 
 or plucking, of touching or taking with a 
 pointed implement. Nor would it be a 
 forced derivation of the name oti peel if it 
 were supposed to arise from considering 
 the thing signified as what is pilled or 
 picked off in preparing an article for con- 
 sumption. Dan. pille, to pick ; — sig i 
 hovedet, to scratch one's head ; — sig 
 med ncebbet (as Sw. pillrd), a fowl to pick 
 its feathers, prune itself; — eerier, to 
 shell peas j — ud, op, to pick out, pick 
 up ; — barken af et tree, to strip bark off 
 a tree. At pille vednoget, to work slowly 
 at something. Vl.D.pulen, to pick, pluck, 
 unites the foregoing with E. pull. In der 
 nase piilen, to pick the nose; nut pule n, 
 to pick or pull out ; puul-arbeit, piddling 
 work. Se pulet sig, they scuffle, pull 
 each other about, explaining Fr. se piller, 
 said of two persons scolding each other. 
 Pille I seize him ! cry to set on a dog. — 
 Trevoux. i^. pila, to pick, pluck, gnaw ; 
 pile, a little bit ; Sc. pile, a single grain ; 
 a pile of caff, a grain of chaff. On the 
 same principle the original meaning of 
 Lat. pilare would be to pick, and then to 
 plunder, to make bare or bald, giving 
 
 PILLION 
 
 475 
 
 pilus, a hair, what is picked at a single 
 touch, as a derivative, equivalent to N. 
 and Sc. pile above mentioned. 
 
 From YX.Vi.pulen or i^. pila appear to 
 be formed as diminutives or frequenta- 
 tiyes piileken, piilken, polken, N. pilka, to 
 pick. Up den knaken piilken, to pick a 
 bone ; Sc. pilk, to pick, as peas or peri- 
 winkles out of their shells, to pick a pocket. 
 Similar diminutival forms are seen in Fr. 
 pilloter, to pick, or take up here and there, 
 to gather one by one — Cot. ; Prov. pelu- 
 car, Lang, peluca, to pick, to peck ; It. 
 pillucare, to pick up clean as a chicken ; 
 spiluzzicare, to pick out as it were here 
 and there, to eat mincingly ; spiluzzico, 
 the least bit, crum, or scrap. — Fl. We 
 may then suppose forms like N. plikka, 
 plukka, G.pffiicken, to pick, pluck, Pl.D. 
 plik, N. plukk, Sw. plock, a little bit, 
 Piedm. pluche, to pick or pluck, pluch, a 
 grain, morsel, ^ orn\. plucoter, to pick up 
 grains as fowls at a barn door (Decorde), 
 Fr. eplucher, to pick, as pease, to pluck 
 or tease as roses, wool, &c., to arise either 
 from the absorption of the vowel between 
 the mute and liquid in It.piluccare, Prov. 
 pelucar, as in Piedm. pie, to peel or skin, 
 'E.. platoon from ¥r. peloton; or they may 
 have arisen from the transposition of the 
 liquid and vowel in forms like N. pilka^ 
 WD. piilken. But the true explanation 
 may probably be that there was a double 
 form of the root, with an initial/ and pi 
 respectively, //<:/& ox puck (Pl.D. puken, to 
 pick) dind piik ox pluck, v^hxlepill ox pull 
 may be contracted from frequentative 
 forms like OE. pickle, Gxisons piclar, Wa- 
 l3irA^. pigulire, to pick or pluck, Du. bic- 
 kelen, to pick or hew stone, E. dial, pug- 
 gle, to poke the fire ; or perhaps (as Dan. 
 lille compared with E. little) from a form 
 like N. pitla, to pick, E. piddle, to keep 
 picking. The contracted form is seen in 
 Du. billen den molensteen, to pick a mill- 
 stone, compared with bickelen, and in Sc. 
 pile above mentioned compared with 
 pickle or puckle, a single grain or particle 
 of anything, a small quantity. 
 
 Pillion. A cushion for a woman to 
 ride on behind a horseman. Gael, peall, 
 a skin, coverlet, mat, bunch of matted 
 hair ; pillean, a pad, pack-saddle, cloth 
 put under a saddle ; Manx/^//, to mat oi 
 stick together ; pollan, a saddle-cloth. 
 S'g). pillofi, a skin, the use of which (in 
 Sp. S. America) is described in the fol- 
 lowing passage from the Athenaeum, Aug 
 9, 1851 : 
 
 First a long blanket was put upon the horse- 
 then came a wooden concern — in shape like a 
 
476 
 
 PILLORY 
 
 miller's pack-saddle — then came 13 lamb-skins, 
 each larger than the last, so that when the whole 
 were on, the ends appeared cut square like the 
 thatch of a house. These things are called pil- 
 lones, and in travelling form the bed of the horse- 
 man. Then came another /«V/t;«r made of llama 
 skin. 
 
 Pillory. Fr. pilori^ Prov. espitlori, 
 M id. Lat . pilion'cum,piliorium, spilorium. 
 Different derivations have been suggested, 
 of which the most plausible is Fr. pilier^ 
 from the pillar or post at which the crimi- 
 nal is compelled to stand. But the most 
 prominent characteristic of the pillory is 
 the confinement of the neck by a perfor- 
 ated board or an iron ring. Pilorium, 
 sive collistrigium. — Fleta. The prisoner 
 is usually said to stand in the pillory, not 
 at it. ' Condemnat a estar en PespitloriJ 
 — Cout. de Condom in Rayn. And it is 
 rational to look for the origin to the fuller 
 form of Prov. espitlori, which cannot have 
 been corrupted from Fr. pilori, while the 
 converse may easily have taken place, if 
 the punishment was invented in the South 
 of France, and spread from thence with- 
 out the meaning of the name being cor- 
 rectly understood. Now Cat. espitllera 
 is a loop-hole, peep-hole, little window, 
 which would accurately describe the cha- 
 racteristic part of the punishment, the 
 prisoner being derisively considered as 
 showing his head through a loop-hole to 
 the gazing crowd below. * Ponetur in 
 pillorico ut omnes eum videant et cognos- 
 cant.' — Charter of Rouen in Due. On 
 this principle the far-fetched derivation 
 was proposed by Cowel ' from ttwX^j, a gate 
 or door, because one standing on the pil- 
 lory putteth his head through a kind of 
 door, and opaw, video.' — Minsheu. ' The 
 cover of the chest is two boards, amid 
 them both a pillory-like hole for the pri- 
 soner's neck,' — Hackluyt in R. The name 
 oi pillori was given in France to a ruff or 
 collar worn by women encircling the neck 
 like the board of the pillory. To peep 
 through the nutcrackers, to stand in the 
 pillory. — Grose. The word is doubtless 
 equivalent to Lat. specularimn, horn, spec- 
 ula, a look-out, a high place for viewing 
 or watching anything from. Compare 
 Cat. espill, espilleta, from Lat. speculum, 
 a looking-glass ; espillets, spectacles, ^e- 
 glasses. 
 
 Pillow. Du. peluwe, ptduwe, Lat. 
 pulvinus, from Lat. pluma, W. piu, pluf, 
 feathers. Pulvinare, piimiauc — Gl. 
 Cambr. in Zeuss ; pulvinar, plufoc. — 
 Vocab. Cornub. ibid. W. phifawg, fea- 
 thery. 
 
 Pilot, li. pilota, Fr. pilote, Du. pijl- 
 
 PINCH 
 
 loot — Kil., properly a person who con- 
 ducts a ship by the sounding line, from 
 peile/i, to sound the depth, to gauge ves- 
 sels ; peillood, sounding lead ; pell, mark 
 on the scale at the side of a sluice to show 
 the depth of the water. I sownde as a 
 schyppeman with his plommet to know the 
 deppeth of the see : je pilote. — Palsgr. 
 The origin of the term seems to be taken 
 from \\\Q pegs by which the capacity of a 
 vessel was marked. Pl.D. pegeln, to 
 sound, also to tope. Dan. at dricke til 
 peels, to drink for a wager, measure for 
 measure. This in Lat. was termed bibere 
 ad pinnas. Anselm commands, 
 
 Ut presbyter! non eant ad potationes, nee ad 
 pinnas bibant. — Eadmer Hist. Nov. loi. 
 G. pegel is the height of the water on 
 a fixed scale. Thus a Rhenish news- 
 paper, under the head of ' Wasserstands- 
 nachrichter,' gives ' Oberwesel, 31 Aug. — 
 pegel 7 fuss, I zoll.' 
 
 The other half of the word pilote is 
 doubtless the element shown in G. lootse, 
 Du. loots7naji, OE. lodesman, a pilot, which 
 has very naturally been confounded with 
 Du. loot, a sounding lead, whence looten, 
 to sound. But this would be a mere re- 
 petition of the meaning conveyed by the 
 first syllable, and we cannot doubt that 
 the lode in lodesman is the same as in 
 lodestar, lodestone, lodemanage, viz. track 
 or way. The meaning of pilot would 
 thus be one who conducts the vessel by 
 the sounding line. See Loadstone. 
 
 * Pimple. AS. piupel, pustula— ^Ifr. 
 Gl. ; pipligend, pustulatus ; pipligende lie, 
 pustulatum corpus. The word would 
 thus appear to be a nasalised form from 
 Lat. Xt. papula, a pimple. — Weigand. So 
 Fr. pompon, from Lat. pepo, -onis. 
 
 Pin. w. pin, a pin, a pen ; Gael, pinne, 
 a pin, peg, plug ; Du. pinne, a point, prick, 
 peg. — Kil. Lat. pinna, a fin, a turret, 
 pinnacle. The force of the element pin 
 in signifying a pointed object is also seen 
 in Lat. spina, a thorn, and in pinus, a fir- 
 tree, tree with sharp-pointed leaves, in G. 
 called nadeln, needles. 
 
 Pin and Web, an induration of the 
 membranes of the eye, not much unlike a 
 cataract. — B. li. panno nel occhio, a web 
 in the eye. Panni in oculis fiunt et albu- 
 gines ex vulneribus vel pustulis.^Duc. 
 \n pin and web the. foreign name is first 
 adopted and then translated. 
 
 To Pinch. — Pincers. Sp pizcar, Fr. 
 
 pincer, to pinch or nip, to take with the 
 
 points of the fingers or other points ; 
 
 j pince, the tip or edge of the hoof. Sp. 
 
 I pinchar, to prick, pincho, a prickle ; pin- 
 
PINE 
 
 zas^ pincers, nippers. Gnsons pizs, pizza, 
 G. spitze, a point, peak ; pizchiar, to nip, 
 itch, bite ; pizzi, a pinch, as much as one 
 takes up with the tips of the fingers. 
 Walach. piscu, point, eminence ; piscd, 
 to nip, twitch. It. picciare, ptzzare, to 
 peck, pinch, snip, itch ; piccio, a pinch ; 
 pizze, pinch-works, jaggings ; pizzicare, 
 to prick, pinch, snip ; pizzamosche, a 
 hedge-sparrow, a snap-fly ; Du. pitsen, 
 pinssen, to pinch, pluck. 
 
 Pine. Lat. pimis, w. pinwydd, pine- 
 trees, characterised by their pin-shaped 
 leaves, in G. called iiadeln^ needles, and 
 the wood, nadelholz. 
 
 To Pine, Du. pijne, pain, torment ; 
 pijnen, pijnigen, to torture. See Pain. 
 Hence to pine, to languish as one suffer- 
 ing pain. 
 
 Pinfold. — Pindar. Pinfold is com- 
 monly explained as a fold in which stray- 
 ing cattle are temporarily /^;2«^</ or con- 
 fined ; pindar, the officer whose business 
 it is to place cattle in ihQ pound or pinfold. 
 And although it must be observed that a 
 fold is essentially a place for penning 
 cattle, it is probable that if we had the 
 English alone we never should have been 
 led by the tautology to doubt the fore- 
 going derivation. But the foreign ana- 
 logues give a more distinctive meaning 
 to the term as signifying the fold where 
 cattle are kept in pledge until redeemed 
 by their owners. Du. pand, G. pfand, a 
 pawn or pledge ; pfdnden, O Fris. petida, 
 peinda, to distrain or seize by way of 
 pledge ; das vieh pfdjiden, to pound 
 cattle ; pfand-stall, a pinfold ; pfdnder, 
 a pindar, the executive officer whose busi- 
 ness it was to levy distraints ; Grisons 
 pandrer, pendrar, pindrar, to distrain ; 
 Pandrader, pendrader, the pinder. 
 Fro the Pouke's pondfalde no mainprise may us 
 fetch.— P. P. 
 
 Sc. poind, to distrain, poind, pownd, the 
 distress or property taken in pledge. 
 
 The sergents shall cause the poynds to be de- 
 livered to the creditor untill the debt be fully 
 payed to him. — Stat. Rob. i. in Jam. 
 
 There seems to be no real connection 
 with ^. pound, which signifies simply en- 
 closure, unless indeed it is possible that a 
 pawn is something impounded or shut up 
 until properly redeemed. 
 
 Ping. Often used to represent the 
 sharp sound of a bullet flying past. Pl.D. 
 pijigeln, as klingeln, to ring ; pingel, a 
 bell. 
 
 Pinion. Pinion is used in two senses, 
 both applications of the general meaning 
 shown in It. pinna, the flat flap of any- 
 
 PINK 
 
 477 
 
 thing, as the fin of a fish, the flap of a 
 man's ears, the floats of a water-wheel. — 
 Fl. Fr. penne, penon, pennule, a lap or 
 flap (a piece of anything not wholly se- 
 parated from it — Cot.) ; penne, penon de 
 foie, a lap or lobe of the liver ; pennons 
 d'une fleche, the feathers of an arrow ; 
 pennon, a pennon or streamer, the little 
 flag carried at the end of a lance. The 
 pinion of a bird is the flap or last joint of 
 the wing. 
 
 All unawares 
 Fluttering his fen7ions vain plumb down he falls 
 Ten thousand fadom deep. — Par. Lost. 
 
 In the second sense, Fr. pagnon or pi- 
 gnon, a pinion in wheel-work, is a contriv- 
 ance by which the movement of a cog- 
 wheel is transferred to a different axis. 
 To this effect a sufficient number of palets 
 or longitudinal flaps, like the floats of a 
 water-wheel, are fixed round the axis and 
 made to run in the cogs of the larger 
 wheel. The name of pinion properly be- 
 longs to the separate palets, and the term 
 should be pinion-wheel, as Fr. lanterne d 
 pagnons, a pair of trunnion heads, or that 
 which is turned about by the cog-wheel 
 of a mill. — Cot. It. ruota piniiata, a 
 wheel with broad floats. — Fl. It is now 
 commonly given to the smaller of two 
 cog-wheels locking into each other. Lat. 
 pinna was already used in the sense of a 
 float of a water-wheel. 
 
 Pink. Fr. pinces, the flower pink 
 (wild gillowflowers. — Minsheu). Proba- 
 bly from the sharp-pointed leaves set in 
 pairs upon the stalk like pincers ; Fr. 
 pince, a tip or thin point. See Pinch. 
 
 Pink in the sense of bright flesh-colour 
 is probably from the colour of the flower ; 
 although it may be from pink eyes, small 
 winking inflamed eyes. It. gauzoj blear- 
 eyed, pink-eyed, — Fl. 
 
 The application to the sense of acme or 
 point of excellence is apparently taken 
 from the joke in Romeo and Juliet, where 
 Mercutio speaking affectedly uses pink 
 as the type of a flower. 
 
 I^ofn. A most courteous exposition. 
 Merc. Nay, I am the very pink of curtesy. 
 Rom. Pink for flower ! 
 
 Mercutio is playing upon words in a 
 forced manner, and if the expression were 
 already current Romeo would never have 
 been made to suggest an explanation. 
 
 The names of other flowers are used 
 in the same way. 
 
 London thowe arte the flowre of cities all, — 
 Of royal cities rose and geraflour. 
 
 Song temp. H, V. in Reliq. Ant. i. 206. 
 
478 
 
 PINK 
 
 Heo is lilie of largesse, 
 Heo is parvenke of prouesse. 
 
 O. Ballad cited by Steevens. 
 
 To Pink. Used in a variety of senses, 
 which may all be explained from a nasal- 
 ised form of the root pik^ representing the 
 sound of a blow with a pointed instru- 
 ment, Pl.D. pinken, pi?ikepanken, to 
 hammer ; pinkepank, a blacksmith. To 
 pink, to cut silk cloth with variety of 
 figures in round holes or eyes. — B. Fr. 
 piqud, pricked, pierced or thrust into ; 
 also quilted or set thick with oylet holes 
 (pinked). — Cot. 
 
 One of them pinked the other in a duel (stuck 
 him). — Addison. 
 
 In the sense of picking or culling, 
 When thou dost tell another's jest, therein 
 Omit the oaths, which true wit cannot need ; 
 Pink out of tales the mirth, but not the sin. 
 Herbert in Worcester. 
 
 The sense of winking, in which pi7ik was 
 formerly used, may be illustrated by Sw. 
 picka (from which pink differs only in 
 the nasalisation), to peck like a bird, and 
 (from the figure of a succession of light 
 blows) to palpitate as the heart. Wink- 
 ing is a vibration of the eyelid, as pal- 
 pitation is of the heart. 
 
 And upon drinking my eyes will be pinking. 
 Heywood in R. 
 
 Du. pinckoogen, to wink, squinny, sparkle, 
 glitter.— Kil. 
 
 In like manner with and without the 
 nasal, G. blicken, to wink, to glitter, E. 
 blink, Pl.D. plinken, piifikogen, to wink, 
 pointing to a root piik, synonymous with 
 J>ik, in accordance with the view of the 
 relations of the word taken under To Pill. 
 
 Pinnace. It. pino, a pine-tree, and 
 met. the whole bulk of a ship, also (as 
 pinaccia, pinassd), a pinnace.— Fl. 
 
 Pint. Sp. Ptg. pinta, a spot or mark ; 
 pintar, to paint. Hence probably a pint, 
 a certain measure of liquid marked off 
 on the interior of the vessel. So from 
 Du. pegel,peil, the mark on a scale mea- 
 suring depth or content, Pl.D. pegel, sex- 
 tarius, hemina, a measure of content. 
 Pegeln, as in some dialects of O.pinten, 
 to tope ; Yx.pinteler, to tipple. 
 
 Pioneer. Fr. pionier, OFr. peonier, 
 Prov. pezonier, properly a foot-soldier, a 
 common man, then applied to the soldiers 
 Specially employed in labourers' work. 
 Sp. peon, a pedestrian, day-labourer, 
 foot-soldier, common man, or pawn at 
 chess 
 
 Pious. Lat. pius, Fr. pieux. 
 
 Pip. Pl.D. pipp, G. pipps, zip/, Fr. 
 pepie^ It. pipita, Lat. pituita, a disorder 
 
 PISTON 
 
 of fowls, in which a thick slime forms on 
 their tongue, and the nostrils are stopped 
 up. The name seems to be corrupted 
 from Lat. pituita, phlegm. Du. pipse, 
 the mucus of the nose. " 
 
 Pipe. A thin hollow cylinder, an im- 
 plement adapted to make a shrill sound 
 by blowing into it. P>om the imitation 
 of such a sound by the syllable /i'^/. See 
 Peep. 
 
 Pippin. — Pip. Fr. pepin, seed of fruit, 
 as of an apple or grape ; pepini^re, a seed- 
 plot, nursery ground. There seems no 
 ground for the assertion that the word 
 originally signified a melon-seed, from 
 pepo, a melon. A satisfactory origin may 
 perhaps be found in Da. pippe, to peep, 
 shoot, spring forth. For the connection 
 between a sharp cry and the idea of peep- 
 ing forth, just beginning to appear, see 
 Peep. 
 
 A pippin in the sense of a particular 
 kind of apple is probably an apple raised 
 from the pip or seed. Da. pipiing, a 
 small well-tasted apple. 
 
 Pirate. Gr. TreipaTrjg, L-at. pir a ta, ex- 
 plained from TTtipdu), to make an attempt 
 on, to attack. 
 
 Pish I An interjection of contempt, 
 equivalent to hold your tongue ! . It. pis- 
 sipissare, to psh, to husht, also to buzz or 
 whisper very low ; pissipisse / pst, hsht ! 
 still ! — Fl. Fr. nai'gnes, tush, blurt, pish, 
 fy, it cannot be so. — Cot. Norm, pet ! 
 interj. to put to silence. — Decorde. Dan. 
 pyt! O^. putt I Many.pyht/ tut ! pooh ! 
 pshaw ! 
 
 Pismire. The old name of the ant, 
 an insect very generally named from the 
 sharp urinous smell of an ant-hill. Du. 
 miere,pismiere, niierseycke, an ant ; seycke, 
 urine ; Pl.D. miegemke, an ant or emmet ; 
 miegen, mingere ; Fin. kusi, urine ; kusi- 
 ainen, an ant. 
 
 Piss. From the sound. 'Le\X. pischet 
 is a nursery word. In Bav. nurseries 
 iviswis machen, wiseln. Fin. kusi, urine. 
 
 Pistil. Lat. pistillum, a pestle, from 
 pinso, to pound. 
 
 Pistol. Said to derive its name from 
 having been invented at Pistoia in Italy, 
 but no authority is produced for this 
 derivation. Venet. piston was a kind of 
 arquebus s ; piston de vin, a large flask. 
 — Patriarchi. 
 
 Piston. The plunger in a pump or a 
 steam engine. Fr. piston, It. pestone^ 
 pestatoio, a pestle, stamper, rammer ; 
 pesta, any treading or trampling ; pestare, 
 to stamp, pound, bray in a mortar, 
 
PIT 
 
 trample upon, to ram or beat in. Lat. 
 pinsere^pistuni, to pound. 
 
 Pit. I. Lat. piiteus^ It. pozzo, Fr. 
 piiits, a. well ; Du. pu^, pictte^ a well, a 
 hole. 
 
 2. The pit of a theatre is probably 
 from Sp. pdtio, the central court of a 
 house, and thence the pit which occupies 
 the same place in a theatre. Probably 
 from the root pat, plat, representing the 
 tramping of feet. Mod.Gr. Trarw, to 
 tread, -naToq, a public walk, beaten path, 
 bottom, floor. Piedm. platea, the pit or 
 lowest part of a theatre where the audi- 
 ence stand. — Zalli. 'L.z.t. platea, a street, 
 court-yard, area, open space in a house. 
 See Pad. 
 
 Pitch. G. pech, Du. pik, Lat. pix, Gr. 
 TTiTTa, TTtffo-a, Gael, pic, pitch ; i>i^/i, glue, 
 birdlime, gum ; w. pj>£; pitch, rosin. 
 
 The main characteristic of pitch is its 
 stickiness, and it can hardly be doubted 
 that the name is taken from this quality. 
 
 It. piccare, to prick; pice are, appiccare, 
 appicciare, to fasten, stick unto ; appic- 
 cante, appiccaticcio, clammy, gluish, fast- 
 sticking. S'^.pegar, to stick to, fasten on, 
 join together, to infect ; pegajoso, sticky, 
 glutinous, infectious ; pega, glue, varnish. 
 The Sp. name of pitch, pez, as in the 
 other Romance languages, is taken from 
 Lat. pix, picis, in which the original 
 significance was already obscured by the 
 loss of the root pik in the sense of prick 
 or stick. Gr. "kivkt], a fir-tree, is pro- 
 bably, like w. pigwydd (pitch-wood), from 
 producing pitch, and not conversely, as 
 Liddell supposes, the name of pitch from 
 the tree which produces it. See To Pitch. 
 
 To Pitch. Pitch and pick are differ- 
 ent ways of pronouncing the same word, 
 like church and kirk. The radical signi- 
 fication is striking with a pointed instru- 
 ment, driving something pointed into, 
 sticking into, darting, throwing to a dis- 
 tance, w. picell, a dart or arrow ; picio, 
 picellu, to throw a dart, to dart. To pick 
 a lafice was to drive it into an object. 
 
 I hold you a grote I pycke as far with an arrowe 
 as you. — Palsgr. in Hal. 
 
 To pitch upon is to come suddenly down 
 like a javelin striking the ground at the 
 end of its flight. A pitch-fork, or pikel, 
 as it is called in the North, is a fork for 
 pitching corn, throwing it up upon the 
 stack. 
 
 Stakes of yren mony on he pygte in Temese 
 Above scharpe and kene ynow, bynethe grete 
 
 and ronde. 
 That yef ther eny schippis com er me ywar were, 
 
 PITTANCE 
 
 479 
 
 Heo schulde ptcke hem thoru out (they should 
 pierce through them), and adrenche hem so 
 there. — R. G. 51. 
 
 And he took awei that fro the middil, pitching 
 (affigens) it on the cross. — Wickliff in R. 
 
 To pitch a tent is to fix the pegs in the 
 ground by which it is held up. 
 
 Pitch in the sense of a certain height 
 on a scale, or a certain degree of a quality, 
 is from the notion of marking a definite 
 point by sticking in a peg. The pitch of 
 one's voice is the point which it reaches 
 in the musical scale ; the pitch of a screw, 
 the degree in which the thread is inclined 
 to the axis ; the pitch of a roof, the de- 
 gree in which the rafters are inclined to 
 each other. 
 
 Pitcher. Fr. pichet (Jaubert), Lang. 
 pichier, Bret, picher, w. piser. It. pitero, 
 Sp. puche'ro, a pitcher or earthen pot ; 
 Gael, pigeadh, a pitcher ; pigean, a little 
 earthen jar, fragment of earthenware. 
 It. bicchiere, G. becher, a cup. 
 
 Pith. Pl.D. peddik, picke, pith ; Du. 
 pit, pitte, pith, kernel, the best of a thing. 
 Hereford peth, Devon pith, a crum of 
 bread. Then applied to the crum or 
 soft part, the part which crumbles, which 
 in Pembrokeshire is called the pith. So 
 in Fr. mie, originally signifying a particle 
 or little bit, is applied to the crum or 
 soft part of bread, w. peth, a part, frag- 
 ment, quantity, a little, a thing. Bret. 
 pez, pec^h, a piece, bit. 
 
 Pittance. It. pietanza, pitanza, Fr. 
 pitance, properly the allowance of appe- 
 tising food to be eaten with the bread 
 which formed the substance of a meal, 
 afterwards applied to the whole allowance 
 of food for a single person, or to a small 
 portion of anything. Mid. Lat. pictancia, 
 pitancia,^or\.io monachica in esculentis — • 
 lautior pulmentis, quae ex oleribus erant, 
 cum pictancia essent de piscibus et hu- 
 jusmodi. — Due. 
 
 Numerous guesses at the derivation 
 have been made, which have fallen wide 
 of the mark from not attending to the 
 original distinction clearly pointed out by 
 Due. 'Dum — a celleraria per totum con- 
 ventum pictantia, i. e. ova frixa, divi- 
 derentur, invisibilem pictantiam ei misit, 
 quod omnibus diebus vitas suas pictantiis 
 omnibus carere vellet.' ' Quod si aliqua 
 secundo vocata venire contempserit, in- 
 sequenti prandio ei pitancia subtrahatur.' 
 — Stat. Joh. Archiep. Cant. an. 1278, in 
 Due. The nun who was late at dinner 
 was to be punished, not by the loss of 
 her dinner next day, but by having to. 
 
48o 
 
 PITY 
 
 dine on dry bread or vegetables. *Aquam 
 etiam puram frequentius biberunt, et 
 quandoque pro 7nagnd pictantid (for a 
 great treat) mixt^ vel aceto, vel lacte, 
 nulla de vino fact^ mentioned Pidatice 
 is still used in the centre of France in 
 the original sense. * Les enfans mangcnt 
 souvent plus de pidance que de pain.' — 
 Jaubert. Hence we arrive at the true 
 derivation, apidanqant^ apitanqant^ ap- 
 pdtissant, giving appetite. A dish is 
 apidanqant when it gives flavour to a 
 large quantity of bread. — Vocab. de Berri. 
 
 Pity. Fr. pi/tV, horn 'LsX. pietas. In 
 the exclamation, what a pity ! the word 
 is probably an adaptation of OFr. quel 
 pechid ! what a sin ! 
 
 Alias, quel dol et quel pechi^ ! 
 Benoit, Chron. des dues de Norm. 2. 408. 
 Mod.Gr. w rt Kpnna ! what a pity ! what a 
 great misfortune ! what a sin ! 
 
 Pivot. Fr. pivot, the peg on which a 
 door turns ; It. pivolo, a peg. 
 
 Pixy. In Devon, a fairy ; pixy-ptiff, 
 a fuzz-ball, pixy-stool, a toad-stool, pixy- 
 ring, a fairy-ring. Pixie-led, to be in a 
 maze, as if led out of the way by hob- 
 goblins. This in Pembrokeshire is called 
 piskin-led, which seems truer to the ety- 
 mology. Sw. dial, pus, pys, pysing, a 
 little boy ; pysill, pyssling, little creature, 
 pygmy ; pysk, little unshapely person, 
 dwarf; also goblin, fairy (sm^troll). Hem- 
 pjaske, a hobgoblin, brownie. The fairies 
 are called the little people in Wales and 
 Ireland. G. berg-mdnnchen, a goblin. 
 Lat. pusus, a boy ; pusillus, little. 
 
 Placable. — Placid. Lat. placare, to 
 pacify, to make calm and gentle ; piacidus, 
 calm, mild. 
 
 Placard. Fr. plaquard, a bill stuck up 
 against a wall; piaqiier, to clap, slat, 
 stick, or paste on, to lay flat on, to parget 
 or rough-cast. Du. piacken aen de7t wand, 
 to fix to the wall ; piacken, to daub ; 
 placke, a blot. 
 
 Place. Fr. place. It. piazza, G.platze, 
 The spot of ground occupied by a body ; 
 from piatz, crack, representing the sound 
 of something thrown smack down. See 
 Plat. 
 
 Plagiary. Lat. plagium, manstealing ; 
 plagiarius, a manstealer, and fig. one who 
 steals other men's thoughts and publishes 
 them as his own. 
 
 Plague. Lat. plaga, a blow, stroke, 
 wound ; Du. piage, a wound, and met. 
 aflliction, torment, disease, pestilence. 
 
 Plaice. Lat. platissa, a flat fish. 
 
 Plaid. Gael, plaide, a blanket. Goth. 
 paida^ a coat. 
 
 PLASH 
 
 Plain.— Plan.— Plane. Lat. planus, 
 whence Fr. plain, even, level, plaine, a 
 flat surface of ground. To explain, to 
 level out, to make easy. 
 
 -plain. — Plaint. — Plaintiff. Fr. 
 plaindre, from \j3X. piatigere-, to complain, 
 as ceindre from cingere,feindre {rom /in- 
 gere. 
 
 Plait.— Pleat.— Plite.— Plight. The 
 Bret, pleg, plek, w. plyg, bend, fold, show 
 the root from whence are derived Gr. 
 ttXckw, to twine, braid, plait ; Lat. plica, a 
 fold, and the secondary forms flecto, to 
 bend, 2in6. piecto, plextim, to plait, knit, or 
 weave. From the latter verb, or perhaps 
 from the participial form -piicitus {im- 
 plicitus, expiicitus), are derived OFr. 
 ploit, and its E. representatives, plait, 
 plight, pleat. 
 
 Votre cemise me livrez, 
 El pan desus ferai un ploit — 
 (I will make a pleat in the cloth) 
 l^pleti fet. — Rayn. in v. pleg. 
 
 Now gode nece be It never so lite, 
 Yeve me the labour it to sew and plite. 
 
 Troilus and Cress. 
 
 A silken camus lily whight 
 Purfled upon with many a folded plight. 
 
 F. Q. 
 
 Walach, pieta, a tress of hair ; inipietl, 
 to plait. Boh. plitu, plesti, Pol. plesc, to 
 wreathe, plait, braid. G. flechte, some- 
 thing turned or plaited, a tress of hair or 
 a wattled hurdle, corresponds to \.^\.. flecto. 
 
 Planet. Gr. TrXavriTijs, a wandering 
 star ; TrXavdcj, to wander. 
 
 Plane-tree. Fr. plane, contr. from 
 Lat. piatanus. 
 
 Plank. Lat. planca, Fr. planche, G. 
 planke. Boh. pianka, plank ; Gr. irXal, 
 anything flat and broad. 
 
 Plant, -plant. Lat. //<?«/«, the sole 
 of the foot, whence probably planto, to 
 plant or set with the foot in the ground ; 
 piantare, plantarium, a separate plant. 
 The original force- of the verb is preserved 
 in supplanto, to put the foot under, to trip 
 one up. 
 
 To Plash. I. ^o plash ox splash is to 
 dash about liquids, to dabble in water. 
 G. pladdern, plantschen, pldtschern, Sw. 
 plaska, Du. plasschen-, to paddle, splash. 
 Du. piasregen, G. piatzregen, a dashing 
 shower. 
 
 Du. plas, plasch, 'E. plash, a puddle, or 
 shallow pool of rainwater. 
 
 To Plash. 2.— Pleach. Fr. plesser, to 
 plash, to fold or plait young branches one 
 within another, to thicken a hedge or 
 cover a walk by plashing. — Cot. Plessis, 
 a plashed or pleached hedge, or a park 
 
PLASTER 
 
 enclosed with hedges. 'L^t.plecio.piexum, 
 to plait or knit together ; Gr. TrXkw, Lat. 
 piico, to twine, braid, knit. 
 
 Plaster. — Plastic. Plaster, Yx.pldtre 
 {piastre), is the material used, when moist 
 and plastic, for daubing walls and ceil- 
 ings. The material first used for this 
 purpose would doubtless be the mud or 
 clay that is trodden underfoot, and the 
 radical notion is to plash, to paddle or 
 dabble in the wet and dirt. From this 
 source must be explained Gr. -nKanabi, 
 TrXurrw, to work in soft and ductile mate- 
 rials, to mould or form, in Mod. Gr. to knead 
 dough ; TrXacrriKoc, what may be moulded, 
 plastic ; f/^TrXaVaoj, to daub over, to stuff 
 in plaster ; e^TrXaaroq, daubed over ; to 
 efiirXaffTov or tfjnrXaffr^ov, Lat. eviplastrum, 
 Fr. empldtre, a plaister or application 
 daubed over with an adhesive medica- 
 ment. Gael, plcisd, to daub. 
 
 Sp. plasta, paste, soft clay, anything 
 soft ; plaste, size, fine paste made of glue 
 and lime. 
 
 Plat.— Plot. The radical image is the 
 fall of water or of something wet on the 
 ground, with a noise represented by the 
 syllables plats, plat, plot. G. platz, a. 
 crack, smack, pop ; platzregen, heavy 
 rain that makes a dashing sound in fall- 
 ing ; Du. plotsen, to fall suddenly ; plots, 
 sudden, unawares ; E. platte, to throw 
 down flat — Hal., i. e. to dash dov¥n like 
 water. 
 
 PLATFORM 
 
 481 
 
 When I was hurte thus in stound 
 I fell down plat unto the ground.- 
 
 -R. R. 
 
 — I fell plump down upon the ground. 
 G. heraiis platzen, to blurt a thing out, to 
 say it plump, without circumlocution, like 
 a wet mass flung down upon the ground. 
 
 Ye sayd nothing sooth of that, 
 
 But, sir, ye lye, I tell you plat.—R. R. 
 
 The term is then applied to the fallen 
 object, or to things of similar shape, and 
 as wet things thrown down on the ground 
 spread out in breadth and lie close to 
 the ground, the root comes to signify 
 broad, thin, without elevation. See Flat. 
 We come nearest the original image 
 in our dial, cow-plat, Da. dial, ko-blat, 
 Swiss pldder, platter, kiihpldder, a round 
 of cow-dung ; pladern, of a cow, to let 
 fall dung. Bav. platz, pldtzen, a flat 
 cake J It. piatto, any flat thing, a dish, 
 plate, platter; by met. squat, cowering 
 down, low-lurking ; piattare, to squat 
 down. — Fl. In like manner ID^n. piet, a 
 spot or stain, E. blot, Da. dial, blat, a drop 
 of fallen liquid, lead to Fr. se blafir (Cot.), 
 
 blottir, to squat down, lie close to the 
 ground. 
 
 Then as a spot of dirt marks a definite 
 place in a garment, G. platz, a broad even 
 part of the surface of the earth, an open 
 place, a place, the space or room taken 
 up by a body. Der 7narkt-platz, the 
 market-place ; ein griiner platz, a green 
 plot, grass-plat, or grass-plot. Atif dem 
 platze bleiben, to be killed on the spot. 
 It will be observed that spot, which ori- 
 ginally signifies a drop of liquid, has the 
 same application to a definite portion of 
 ground. 
 
 It was a chosen plot of fertile land. — F. Q. 
 
 Bav. platten, a bare spot in a wood {kohl- 
 piatten, where charcoal has been burnt), 
 explains E. platty {pi corn-fields), uneven, 
 having bare spots. 
 
 Plate. I.— Platter. A flat piece of 
 metal, a dish to eat on. It. piatto, any 
 flat thing, a dish, plate, platter ; piatto, 
 made flat or level to the ground, by 
 met. squat, cowering down, low-lurking, 
 hushed. — Fl. Piattare, Fr. se blottir, to 
 squat down ; plat, flat, plain, low, shal- 
 low. The sense of piatto, which Florio 
 treats as metaphorical, is in truth the 
 original, the idea of flatness being com- 
 monly expressed from the image of dash- 
 ing down something wet or soft, which 
 lies spread out and flat upon the ground. 
 Thus E. squat is related to Dan. squatte^ 
 to splash, diWdiflat with Yx.fiatir, to dash 
 down liquids. See Plat. 
 
 2. Vessels of gold or silver. Sp. plata, 
 silver. The name was originally given to 
 the plates or thin lamina in which it was 
 customary to work crude silver, and ulti- 
 mately appHed to the metal itself. * Con- 
 gregaverunt electum aurum regni, etfece- 
 runt in platas, et miserunt in batellos 
 ferratos ad abducendum in Franciam.' — • 
 Knyghton, A. D. 1364 in Due. ' Et quod 
 quilibet Angligena egrediens fines Anglias 
 — possit secum reportare platam argetiti 
 vel auri ad valorem duarum marcarum 
 pro quolibet sacco lanae— et eamdem//^:- 
 tam ferre deberet ad excambium regis, et 
 ibi recipere suos denarios.' — Ibid. A. d. 
 1340. 
 
 Platform. It. piatta-forma, Tiw.platte- 
 forme, \v\go plana fonna (Kil.), the form 
 or pattern of a structure on the level plain. 
 
 For which cause I wish you to enter into con- 
 sideration of the matter, and to note all the is- 
 lands, and to set them down in plat. — Hackluyt 
 in R. 
 
 To be workmanly wrought — according to a 
 plat thereof made and signed by the hands of 
 31 
 
4S3 
 
 PLATOON 
 
 the lord's executors.— Agreement temp. H. VIII. 
 in R. 
 
 God took care to single out the nation of the 
 Jews, and in them to give us a true pattern or 
 platform of his dealings with all the nations of 
 the world. — Sharp, ibid. 
 
 The vihoXc platform of the conspiracy. — Bacon 
 in Worcester. 
 
 The word is still used in America for the 
 prospectus or plan of political action of a 
 candidate. 
 
 From signifying the ground-plan of a 
 building the term is applied to a levelled 
 surface, then to a flat elevation. 
 
 Platoon. Fr. pelote, a little ball to 
 play with ; pelotofi, a clue or little ball of 
 thread. S^.f^elote, goat's hair} peloid n, 
 a large ball, a bundle of hair closely 
 pressed together, a crowd of persons, a 
 body of soldiers. Dn.ffiotte (Kil.), Piedm. 
 platdn^ a ball. 
 
 Platter. See Plate. 
 
 Plaudit, -plaud. -plause. -plode. 
 Lat. plaudo, -sum, to make a noise by 
 clapping of hands, to approve of, en- 
 courage. Applause, approbation. Ex- 
 fflodo, to drive out with clapping of hands, 
 to hiss or stamp off the stage. 
 
 * Play. AS. piegan, pleoga7i, to play, 
 sport, play on a musical instrument. 
 Play is the exercise of the natural activity 
 of the creature for the mere pleasure of 
 the exertion. Its earliest type is seen in 
 the mimic strife of joyous dogs pretend- 
 ing to worry each other, and all our games 
 take the form of a competition for some 
 object adapted to call forth the powers of 
 the rival playfellows. Thus the name of 
 play may well be taken from a term 
 signifying contention or struggle. In AS. 
 poetry war is called plega gares, the play 
 of the javelin ; cescplega, of the shield ; 
 heard handpiega, the hard play of hands. 
 Hearmplega, strife. It appears to me 
 that we must look for the origin to Lat. 
 placitum, in the sense of discussion, con- 
 test at law, whence Vxo\ . plag, plait, play , 
 litigation, quarrel, dispute ; plaidejar, 
 playejar, plaegat', to contest, discuss, 
 quarrel ; Sp. pleito, litigation, debate, 
 strife; OFr. plaidier,piaidoyer, to litigate, 
 contest ; piaidier, plaider, badiner, plai- 
 santer, s'amuser, se moquer. — Roquef. 
 * Le mari — prist a pieidoyer (began to 
 wrangle with) et maudire ledit prison- 
 nier.'— Litt. remiss, a. d. 1373. ' Le sup- 
 pliant se appoya k I'uis d'un mercier,voisin 
 de son pere, k la femme duquel mercier et 
 k son varlet il piaidoit et s'esbatoit ' — he 
 joked and sported with them. — L. R., A. D. 
 1392 in Carp. 
 
 AS. plegan is used in a very similar 
 
 PLEDGE 
 
 sense in Gen. xxi. 9. Sarra behiold hu 
 Agares sunu with Isaac plegode, (in our 
 version) saw him mocking Isaac. The 
 same train of thought is seen in Du. pia- 
 deren, playeren, pieyten, litigare, conten- 
 dere, disceptare judicio ; piaderen, plae- 
 yeren, ludere, jocari, nugari ; plaederije, 
 piaerije, ludus, jocus. — Kil. See Plead. 
 
 The primary image of play being, as 
 we have seen, what is done for the plea- 
 sure of the exertion itself, the term is used 
 in a general sense to signify the exertion 
 of powers of any kind, as when we speak 
 of the play of the lungs or muscles, of 
 giving play to one's mirth or imagina- 
 tion, of the fire-engine playing on the 
 flames or the cannon on the enemy. By 
 a similar metaphor Fr. se jouer is used 
 for doing a thing easily. Faire jouer le 
 canon, les eaux, to bring the cannon or 
 the waters into play ; \tjeu d'un ressort, 
 the play of a spring. 
 
 To Pleach. See Plash. 
 
 * To Plead.— Plea. Lat. placere, to 
 please, to seem good to one, to be one's 
 choice, forms placitutn, an opinion, re- 
 solve, ordinance, sentence. In the pro- 
 logue to the Salic laws they are sanctioned 
 by the formula, Placuit atque convenit 
 inter Francos, It seemed good and was 
 agreed upon among the Franks. Thus 
 the term was extended to an agreement 
 or treaty, and from the decisions of the 
 judges it seems to have passed to all the 
 deliberate proceedings of a court of jus- 
 tice, and to the court itself from whence 
 ordinances issued. 
 
 Per capitula avi et patris nostri, qua? Franci 
 pro lege tenenda judicaverunt et fideles nostri in 
 generali placito nostro conservanda decreverunt. 
 — Capitula Caroli Calvi in Due. 
 
 The course of corruption ixomplacitum 
 to Fr. plait, plaid, is well shown in the 
 Prov. forms piach, plag, piacht, plait, 
 piai, suit, process at law, quarrel, dispute. 
 — Rayn. In OPtg. according to Diez the 
 form is placito, afterwards plazo, prazo. 
 It. piato, piado, a plea. — Fl. St^. pleito, 
 covenant, contract, debate, strife, litiga- 
 tion, legal proceedings. In the language 
 of the Grisons the sense has been further 
 generalised. Plaid, pled, word ; — da 
 Dieus, the word of God ; dar buns pleds, 
 to give good words ; surplidar, to per- 
 suade. 
 
 To Please.— Pleasure. Fr. plaire, 
 plaisant, to please ; plaisir (direct from 
 Lat. place?'e, as loisir from licere), plea- 
 sure. 
 
 Pleat. See Plait. 
 
 * Pledge. — Plevin. — Replevy. — 
 
PLENARY 
 
 Plight. It. pieg^o, Fr. pleige, plege, 
 Wxdi.l^dX. plivus, pligius, plejus, plegius, 
 a surety, one who undertakes for ; pli- 
 vium, Prov. pint, promise, guarantee, 
 pledge ; pievir, plivir, Fr. plevir, pleu- 
 vir (Mid.Lat. plegire), to engage, to 
 guarantee ; pievine, pleuvme, OE. plevin, 
 warrant, warranty, assurance. To re- 
 plevy (Mid.Lat. replegiarx) goods taken 
 in distress, is to take them out of the 
 hands of the distrainer on giving security 
 to answer his claim at law ; replevin, the 
 act of entering on such an arrangement. 
 Replegiabilis, replevissable. — Due. 
 
 The origin of these terms has been 
 sought in Lat. prcES, prcedis, a security, 
 and is explained by Diez from prcebere 
 Jidein, which is not more satisfactory. It 
 seems to me that we have solid ground 
 in yV\di.\j2X. placitare, to negotiate, agree 
 with ', placituni, OYr. plaid, plait, convtn- 
 tion, agreement, engagement. ' Cepitque 
 castrum quod dicitur Hocfeoburg,et Theo- 
 tecnnva. placitando sibi conquisivit.' — Ado 
 Viennensis, A.D. 743 in Due. ' Taliter^/rti- 
 citatum est fide media et condictum.' — 
 Eric. Upsal. ibid. In the famous treaty 
 preserved by Nithardus, ' Et ab Ludher 
 nul//^/^nunquam prindrai qui meon vol 
 cist meon fradre Karle in damno sit' — 
 nullum pactum inibo. ' Firent pais e 
 plait al rei David.' — Livre des Rois. The 
 next step is supplied by Grisons pladir, 
 plidir, to engage, as a servant. From 
 hence, as from Lat. adulter iiim to It. 
 avolt^rio, E. avowtery, we pass to Fr. 
 pievir, the v of which passes into the soft 
 goi pleige,piege., as in Fr. leger from Lat. 
 levis. ' R et A fide interposita plegive- 
 runt quod censum istum Y et ejus haere- 
 dibus bona fide garandizabunt.' — Chart. 
 A.D. 1 1 90 in Carp. Se pieger, to com- 
 mence a suit ; piegeiir, a plaintiff in an 
 action. — Cot. 
 
 To the same class of words belongs E. 
 plight, to engage, corresponding to Fr. 
 plait, agreement, accord, although it is 
 probably not directly from that source. 
 Lat. placituin becomes in Prov. placht, 
 Plag, piach, plait, play ; while placitare 
 assumes the forms oi plaidejar,plaideyar, 
 playejar, piaegar, to litigate, treat, make 
 accord. Quan lo plag es comensat — 
 when the plea is begun — Rayn. in v. 
 Part. From the form placht we pass to 
 Dm. plickt (Holl. Sicamb.), judicium, lis, 
 litigium ; piichteti, plechten, agere lites ; 
 plechten (Fland.), spondere merces pro- 
 bas esse, to warrant or guarantee. — Kil. 
 Placiturn, Yr. plait, piet, in the sense of 
 duty payable to the lord on the death of 
 
 PLIGHT 
 
 483 
 
 the tenant or other occasion must proba- 
 bly be explained in the sense of engage- 
 ment, payment that the tenant has bound 
 himself to make, and thus we account for 
 Du. plecht, plicht, plegh, officium, debi- 
 tum, obligatio et census, tributum, et 
 munus, officium ; plichtvrij, immunis ; 
 plichtig, devinctus, obnoxius. — Kil. G. 
 pflicht, promise, engagement, obligation, 
 duty. In like manner the Prov. forms 
 plag, piaegar, above-mentioned, corre- 
 spond to Mid.Lat. piigare, to engage, to 
 plight ; pleyare, to give or take in pledge. 
 — ' ipse Petrus custus pro parte supra- 
 dicti monasterii pligaret se cum rationem 
 suam,et cum rationibus jam dicti monas- 
 terii ' — should bind himself with his own 
 means and those of the monastery. — 
 Chart. A.D. 1020 in Carp. 'SsiYLG.phlegen, 
 verpjligen, to assure, warrant. Ic pfiige 
 mich, I undertake. Des vil ic iu ver- 
 Pflegen, as OFr. ce vos plevis (Rayn.), I 
 warrant you. Du. pleghe, plech (Sax.) 
 officium et servitus patrono a cliente 
 prsestandum. — Kil. 
 
 Plenary.— Plenty, -plenish. -plete. 
 Lat. pienus, full, from pieo, extant in 
 impleo, to pour in, to fill. So Lith. pibias, 
 Lett, pilns, pils, from Lith. pillu, pilti, to 
 pour. Pildyti, to fill, complete, fulfil. 
 Gr. ttXioq, full ; irifirrXijut, to fill. 
 
 Plenitas, OFr. pletite, fulness, plenty. 
 Compleo, -pletiis, to fill up to the top, to 
 accomplish, complete. Repleo, repletus, 
 to fill again, fill to overflowing. 
 
 Pleonastic. Gr. TrXtovaaTiKOQ, redund- 
 ant, TrXforcf^w, to be more than necessary; 
 irXtov, more. 
 
 -plete. — Complete. — Expletive. — 
 Repletion. See Plenary. 
 
 Plethora. Gr. irXnGujpt], fulness, sa- 
 tiety ; ir\r]QoQ, abundance ; irXkoQ, full. 
 
 Pleurisy. Gr. irXtvpd, -ov, a rib, in 
 piur. TrXivpd, the ribs, side ; TrXevpiTTjs, dis- 
 ease of the side. 
 
 Pliable.— Pliant. See To Ply. 
 
 -plic-. -plex. Lat. plico, -as, to fold ; 
 plica, a pleat or fold ; complicatio, a fold- 
 ing together. Implication, a folding of 
 one thing in another. Supplicatioft, a 
 bending under of the knees in humility 
 when making a petition. Lat. -plex is 
 used as E. -fold in siinplex, singlefold, 
 duplex, twofold, multiplex, manifold. 
 Hence also complex, folded together, in- 
 volved. See To Ply. 
 
 Plight. OFr. pioit, fold, bending, 
 thence state and condition. See Plait. 
 The plight of the body, I'habitude du corps. 
 — Sherwood. 
 
 31 * 
 
484 
 
 PLIGHT 
 
 Tantost le met en si mal ploit 
 A po li fait le cuer criever. — 
 
 He soon puts him in so bad a plight he nearly 
 breaks his heart.— Fabliau of Miller and Clerks 
 in Wright's Anecdota Lit., p. 22. 
 
 Bret, plcg, pick, fold, bending, inclina- 
 tion, tendency, habit. In the same way 
 they speak in Fr. of affairs taking un 
 mauvais pii, nne inauvaise tourn?ire, fall- 
 ing into a bad condition. // a pris son 
 pit, the habit is fonned. La toicrmire 
 if line affaire, the turn that things take, 
 the condition of the business. 
 
 It is observable that G. pflicht, from 
 Pflegen, was frequently used in a sense 
 closely approaching that of E. plight: 
 guise, fashion, condition, or sometimes as 
 the termination -ness. In keiserlicher 
 PJiichte, in imperial fashion, as becomes 
 an emperor ; in ordenlicher//i!/////, in an 
 orderly way; an armlicher ^. in poverty; 
 mit vvilliger p. with obligingness. Ich 
 lebe in grozes nides p. I live in a state of 
 great hatred.— Zarncke. Compare, 
 
 With eyes sore wept he in mornyng pHtc. 
 Rom. of Partenay, 3968. 
 
 To Plight. See Pledge. 
 
 Plinth. Gr. TvXvvQoq, a brick or tile, 
 the plinth or flat tilelike member on which 
 a column rests. 
 
 To Plod. The primitive sense oiplad 
 ox plod \s to tramp through the wet, and 
 thence fig. to proceed painfully and labo- 
 riously. 
 
 I am St Jaques' pilgrim thither gone, 
 Ambitious love hath in me so offended 
 That barefoot //ci^ I the cold ground upon. 
 
 All's Well, III. 4. 
 
 Coming to a small brook, I perceived a hand- 
 some lass on the other side, who according to the 
 custom of the rustick Irish tucked up her coats to 
 the waste, and so cvixao. pladding\hxo\x^. — Eng- 
 lish Rogue in Nares. 
 
 To ploivd, to wade. — Grose. Gdiel. plod, 
 plodach, a puddle. 
 
 In a foul plodde in the strete suththe me hym 
 slong.— R. G. 536. 
 
 Q..pladdern,plantscJien, to dabble, paddle j 
 Da. pladder, mire. 
 
 -plore. — Deplore, — Explore. Lat. 
 ploro, to weep, wail ; deploro, to lament, 
 deplore. It is hardly possible to imagine 
 a connection between the sense of expioro, 
 to search out, and that of wailing. 
 
 Plot. A parallel form with plat, sig- 
 nifying spot, spot of ground, then the 
 ground occupied by a structure, the 
 ground-plan. To plot out, to plan, to lay 
 out the ground for a design. 
 
 PLUCK 
 
 And squaring it in compass well bescen 
 ThetQ plottcth out a tomb by measured space. 
 F. Q. in R. 
 
 Hence figuratively//:?/ is used for a de- 
 sign of future action, and originally it was 
 as far from implying blame as piaft is 
 now. 
 So forth she rose and through the purest sky 
 To Jove's high palace straight cast to ascend, 
 To prosecute her plot. — F. Q. III. n. 
 
 Accident has appropriated plan to a de- 
 sign of open action ; plot, to one of 
 secret machination. 
 
 Plough. G. pjlug, Pol. plug. Boh. 
 piuh. Perhaps from the plough having 
 been a plug or peg, a stake pushed along 
 through the ground. G. pjlock, a peg. 
 ' The plough, a sort of long wooden plug 
 dragged through the soil, having an elfect 
 much like that of a subsoil plough.' — 
 Olmsted's Texas. Modenese piod, pie 11, 
 pioca, a plough, may be compared with 
 Fr. pieu, a stake. — Murat. Diss. 19. 84. 
 Dan. plog, plok, a peg ,• piov, a plough. 
 Sv^.plig, peg ; piog, plough. 
 
 ♦ Plover. Fr. dial, piuvier, as if be- 
 tokening rain. Lat. pliivialis, rainy. 
 The G. name is regenpfeifer, the rain- 
 piper. 
 
 To Pluck. Du. piucken, G. pfliicken, 
 N. plikka, Dan. piukke, Piedm. plucJie, 
 Grisons spluccar, Fr. eplucker, to pick, 
 pluck, gather. The radical meaning of 
 the word is preserved in Rouchi phiqiier, 
 to peck, to pickup crumbs, Yx.pluquoter, 
 to pick nicely — Cot, Champ, piuchoter, 
 to pick in eating, or with the pronuncia- 
 tion softened by the insertion of a vowel 
 between p and /, \\.. piluccare, peluccare, 
 to pick one by one, to pick up clean, 
 as a chicken doth corn. — Fl. From this 
 sense of the verb are formed nouns sig- 
 nifying a small portion, so much as is 
 picked at once, Piedm. pluck, Milan. 
 peluch (bruscolo), a crumb, particle. Ai 
 n^d pa'71 pluch, there is not a morsel. 
 Pl.D. plik-schuldcn, small debts ; piik- 
 kerie, small matters ; Sw. plockwis, by 
 little and little ; plock, things of small 
 value; Dan. piukkeri, trumpery. Du. 
 plugghe, res vilis et nuilius valoris. — Bigl. ' 
 It is in this latter sense that E.//z/;f>^ must 
 be understood, when it is applied to the 
 heart, liver, and lights of cattle, food of 
 little estimation consumed by the poorer 
 classes. 
 
 From what has been said under Pill it 
 will be seen that there is some difficulty 
 in tracing our way with certainty through 
 the variety of related forms to the original 
 root. It would seem however that in. 
 
PLUG 
 
 pick 2indipiick, or pluck, we have one of 
 those cases where the root appears under 
 a double form, with an initial p and pi 
 respectively, as in Y.. paste and Sp. plasle, 
 E. pate and G.piatte, S^.pdtio and Piedm. 
 piatea, pit, Du. paveien and plaveien, to 
 pave, peisteren and pleisteren^ to plaster, 
 &c. 
 
 Plug. Sw. piigg, a peg ; Du. plug, a 
 bung, a peg ; Pl.D. plugge, a peg, a blunt 
 needle ; pbikk, a block, clog, log, peg, 
 plug, wadding of a gun. Gael, pioc, 
 strike with a club, block, or pestle ; as a 
 noun, any round mass, a clod, club, bung, 
 stopper ; piiic, beat, thump, a lump, 
 bunch, bung. Fin. pulkka, a peg, tap, 
 wedge ; pulkita, to plug, wedge, com- 
 press ; Esthon.^////^, peg, round of a lad- 
 der, bung of a cask. Russ. polk, Boh. 
 plukj a troop, regiment. 
 
 The sense of a projection, lump, round 
 mass, is commonly expressed by a root 
 signifying strike, and the act of stopping 
 or plugging takes its designation from the 
 bunch of materials with which the orifice 
 is stopped. Compare Fr. boucher, to 
 stop, with E. bush, a tuft of fibrous matter. 
 From the notion of a bunch of something 
 thrust in to stop a hole, the signification 
 passes on to a peg or elongated body 
 driven in for the same purpose. 
 
 Plum. I. Q. pjlauin, Qfi^. ploiiia, plum- 
 ma, T>n. pruim, OberD. prume, pratwie, 
 Lat. prunu7n. 
 
 2. Plum, light, soft ; plim, stout, fat ; 
 to plim, to fill, to swell. — Hal. Fr. pot^, 
 plump, or phimme, full-round ; potele, 
 plump, full, ?Les\\Y,plumme. — Cot. Not- 
 withstanding the close resemblance, the 
 word is distinct from plump, being the 
 equivalent of G. pflaum in pjiaum-feder7t, 
 down, swelling, fluffy feathers. Bav. 
 PJiaum, down, loose foam, froth. To the 
 same root belong h^X. pluma, w. plu,pluf, 
 feathers, down, and E. flue, flufl, light, 
 downy flakes. From plufl, a parallel form 
 with pufl, to blow, Pluffer, a pea-shooter; 
 pluffy, spongy, porous, soft, plump.— Hal. 
 
 Plumb. — Plummet. A ball of lead 
 suspended by a line to show the perpen- 
 dicular. Fr. plomb, Lat. plujnbum, lead. 
 
 Plumbago. — Plumber. Lat. plum- 
 him, Xtd^di, plumbarius, a worker in lead, 
 plumbago, a vein of natural lead. 
 
 Plume. Lat. pluma, a soft feather ; 
 w. pluf, feathers. See Plum. 
 
 Plump. The radical image is the 
 sound made by a compact body falling 
 into the water, or of a mass of wet falling 
 to the ground. He smit den steri in't 
 water, plump! seg dat. He threw the 
 
 PLUNGE 
 
 4'^f 
 
 stone into the water ; it cried plump ! 
 Phnnpen, to make the noise represented 
 hy plump, to fall with such a noise. He 
 full inH water dat het plumpede. He 
 fell into the water so that it sounded 
 plump. — Brem. Wtb. Bav. plumpf, 
 plumps, noise made by something falling 
 flat with a dull sound. Sw. phwtpa tied 
 i vandet, to plump or plunge into the 
 water ; plumpa tied ett papper, to let a 
 blot fall on paper. To tell one something 
 plump is to blurt it out, to tell it without 
 circumlocution, like a mass of something 
 wet flung down upon the ground, or a 
 stone which sinks at once, without a 
 splash, into the water. And as it is only 
 a compact and solid mass that makes a 
 noise of the foregoing description, the 
 iQYva plump is applied to a compact mass, 
 a cluster ; a. pliunp of spears, of wildfowl, 
 of rogues, of gallants. It is then used to 
 signify a thick and massive make. G. 
 plump, massive, lumpish, rounded. Ein 
 dicker und plumper kerl ; ein plumpes 
 gesicht, a plump face. In a similar way, 
 from Dan. pludse, Du. piotsen, to plump 
 down, to plunge, are derived Dan. plud- 
 set, swollen, bloated, piudsfed, chubby, 
 V\.T>, piutzig, pudgy, chubby. Plutzige 
 finger, round fleshy fingers. Swiss blunt- 
 schen, the sound made by a thick heavy 
 body falling into the water ; bluntschig, 
 thick and plump ; bluntschi, a thickset 
 person. Sw. dial, flunsa, to fall into 
 water with a plashing noise; Svf.flunsig, 
 plump, over-corpulent ; flunsa, a short 
 pudgy girl. Gael, plub, sound as of a 
 stone falling into water, a sudden plunge, 
 a soft unwieldy lump,//?/<5«^/;, jolt-headed, 
 chubby-headed. This plub with inversion 
 of the / (as in blob, bleb, compared with 
 bubble) explains Cleveland /w^*^/^, plump, 
 stout, fat. 
 
 Plunder. PI. D. plunne, formerly plun- 
 den, rags, thence in a depreciatory man- 
 ner, clothes of poor people. Wedekind 
 toch an tore ten plundeti, alse ein bedeler, 
 Witikind put on torn clothes like a beg- 
 gar. Mine beten plunnen, my bits of 
 things. Du. plunj'e, sailors' clothes ; 
 piufije kist, clothes-chest. G. plunder, 
 things of little value, lumber, trumpery ; 
 plunder kam?ner, lumber-room. Hence 
 Du. plonderen, plunderen, to seize on 
 the goods of another by force, to plunder. 
 
 To Plunge. Yx. pionger, T>u. piotsejt, 
 plonssen, plonzen, to fall into the water — 
 Kil. ; piotsen, also to fall suddenly on 
 the ground. The origin, like that of 
 plump, is a representation of the noise 
 made by the fall. Swiss bluntschen, the 
 
4% 
 
 PLURAL 
 
 sound of a thick heavy body falling into 
 the water. To blunge clay (among pot- 
 ters), to mix up clay and water, and Du. 
 blanssen (Biglotton), to dabble, are forms 
 of similar construction. 
 
 Plural. Lat. pluralisj plus, pluris, 
 more. 
 
 Plush. Fr. peluche, Piedm. plua'a, 
 plush ; Du. pluis, flock, flue, lock, also 
 plush, a kind of cloth with a flocky or 
 shaggy pile. We have traced (under 
 Periwig) the line of derivation from the 
 root pluck to Sp. pduca, a lock or tuft of 
 hair, a handful, so much as is taken at a 
 pluck. Now the final ck of pluck is soft- 
 ened down in Fr. ^plucher, pluchoter, to 
 the sound of sh, corresponding to z in 
 'Dn. piuizen, VX.Y). piusen, to pick, pluck, 
 strip, whence piuis, in the senses above 
 mentioned. 
 
 To Ply. -ply. From Lat. plicare, to 
 bend or fold, are It. piegare, Pro v. 
 plegar, pieiar, Fr. piier, to ply, bend, 
 bow ; piegatoie, benders or bowing-ply- 
 ers. — Fl. The compounds applico, im- 
 plico^ produce Fr. appliquer, to apply, 
 bend, bow unto, and impliquer, to infold, 
 enwrap, and fig. to imply ; It. inipiegare, 
 to employ ; Fr. s'etnpioyer^ to set him- 
 self about, to apply himself unto, to la- 
 bour, be earnest upon. Lat. applicare in 
 littus, to arrive at land. Per mare Asiam 
 applicare^ to pass over to Asia. Ad phi- 
 losophiam, ad eloquentiam se applicare. 
 From these may be understood the force 
 of E. ply, to give one's mind to, to be 
 intent upon. — B. ' Her gentle wit she 
 plies to teach him truth.' ' Thither he 
 plies undaunted ' (Milton), bends his 
 course. Walach. plecd, to bend ; plecu 
 la fuga, I take flight ; plecu la druinu, I 
 ply the road, set out on a journey. Mid. 
 Lat. plicare vadia, to give pledges. To 
 ply one's heels, to ply for hire, &c. 
 Parallel with the foregoing are AS. pieg- 
 gan, G. pjlegen, to attend to, to take care 
 of. Plegge on his bocum, incumbat ejus 
 libris. — Lye. 
 
 Keep house and ply his book, welcome his 
 friends. — Shakesp. 
 
 MHG. arzenie p/legen, to cultivate medi- 
 cine ; slafes p. to sleep ; aventiure, der 
 eren p. to seek adventures, honour ; des 
 altars p. to serve the altar ; pflege, what 
 a man is occupied in, employment. Die 
 wile er was in dirre p/lege, while he was 
 in this employment. — Zarncke. 
 
 Pneumatic. — Pneumonia. Gr. 7rv«w, 
 to breathe ; Ttvivfia, -rog, breath, wind ; 
 TiVtvfiaTiKoc, belonging to the wind or air ; 
 
 POINT 
 
 irvivfitov, the lungs, whence pncninonia, 
 disease of the lungs. 
 
 To Poach. Fr. pochcr, to thrust or 
 dig out with the fingers. Oeuf pochd, a 
 poached egg. rocher le labeur dhiutrui, 
 to poche into or incroach upon another 
 man's employment.— Cot. So Y.. to poach, 
 to intrude in search of game on another 
 man's land. 
 
 The word is merely a dialectic varia- 
 tion oipoke, to thrust with a pointed in- 
 strument. 
 
 They use to poche them (fish) with an instru- 
 ment somewhat hke a salmon spear. — Carew in R . 
 
 For his horse, pocking one of his legs into some 
 hollow ground, made way for the smoking water 
 to break out.— Sir W. Temple, ibid. 
 
 To pock, to push ; to potch, to poke, to 
 thrust at, to push or pierce ; to pouch, to 
 poke or push. — Hal. Swiss putschen, 
 butschen, biitschen, to thrust, push with 
 the horns. 
 
 * When clay land in wet weather is 
 said to be poached or trodden into holes 
 by cattle, it may be doubtful whether the 
 word is the foregoing poche for poke, or 
 whether it may not correspond to the 
 potch or podge in hotchpotch, hodgepodge. 
 Banff potch, to trample into mud, to 
 work in liquid or semi-fluid substance in 
 a dirty way, to walk through mud or 
 water. G. patschen, to dabble or tramp 
 in mire ; patsch, mud, mire. To poach 
 would then be to tread into mire. 
 
 Pock. Du. pocke, pockele, puckele, a 
 pustule, a bubble, as it were, of morbid 
 matter breaking out of the flesh. Puk- 
 kel, peukel, a pimple. Fr. boticle, a bub- 
 ble. See Buckle. Cotgrave calls pustules 
 water-powkes. In Da. kopper, small-pox, 
 the consonantal sounds of the root are 
 transposed, and here also we are led to 
 a similar origin in Fin. kuppa, kuppelo, 
 kupula, a bubble of water, tumour, pus- 
 tule. G. blase and Fr. ampoule signify 
 both a bubble and a blister or pustule. 
 
 Pocket. See Poke. 
 
 Pod. The analogy of cod, which sig- 
 nifies a bag, a cushion, as well as the pod 
 or bag-like fruit of beans and peas, would 
 lead us to connect pod with Da. pude, 
 Sw. puta, a pillow or cushion. The word 
 may indeed be a parallel form with cod, 
 as E. poll with ON. kollr, top, head. 
 
 Podgy. See Pudgy. 
 
 Poem. — Poesy. — Poet. Gr. Troirjua, 
 TTo'fqaiQ, TTOJijrjyc, from iroina, to make, 
 compose ; thence Lat. poema, poeta. 
 
 Point. — Puncture. — Punctual. — 
 
roiNT 
 
 Pungent. Lat. puttgo, pupugi^ puncttnn, 
 Fr. poindre, to prick ; punctum^ Fr. 
 poinds pointy a prick, point. 
 
 Point Device. See Device. 
 
 To Poise. Fr. poiser^peser^ to weigh, 
 irovsxpoids, 'LdX.pondus, weight. Matters 
 of great poise, matters of weight. 
 
 Poison. Yx. poison, from LzX.poHo, a 
 drink. Mid. Lat. impotionare, to poison, 
 Diez points out a similar euphemism in 
 ^^. yerba, Ptg. erva, properly herb, then 
 poisonous herb, poison, and in G. gift, 
 originally a dose, what is given at once, 
 then poison. 
 
 Poke. — Pocket. — Pouch, on. poki, 
 Du. poke, poksack, Fr. poche, Norm. 
 pouque, pouche, pouquette^ sack, wallet, 
 pocket ; that into which anything is 
 poked or thrust. — Richardson. But if 
 the word be identical with E. pock, a 
 pustule (Rouchi poqiies, poquetes, small- 
 pox), the radical would seem to be a 
 bubble taken as the type of a hollow 
 case. See Pock. It is possible, however, 
 that the ultimate signification may be 
 simply protuberance, from the root pok, 
 in the sense of strike. 
 
 To Poke.— Poker. Dn.poken, to poke ; 
 poke, a dagger. ON. piaka, to thrust, to 
 pick ; N. paak, pjaak, Sw. pdk, a stick. 
 Probably the change to a broader vowel 
 in poke, as compared with pick, repre- 
 sents a thrust with a coarser instrument. 
 A similar relation is seen in stoke, to 
 poke the fire, to thrust with a large in- 
 strument, as compared with stick, to 
 pierce with a pointed instrument. Rouchi 
 poque, blow with a ball. Recevoir eune 
 bo7te poque, to get a good blow. 
 
 A parallel form of root is found with a 
 final t instead of k. E. 6\2i\. pote, poit, to 
 push or kick ; fire poit, a poker — Craven 
 Gl. ; w. pwtio, to poke, to thrust ; Sw. 
 pdta, to turn up the ground, feel in one's 
 pocket ; peta, to poke the fire, pick one's 
 teeth. Sc. paut, to strike with the foot, 
 kick, stamp. 
 
 Pole. Sw. pdle, a stake, pale, pile ; 
 Lat. pains, a pole. 
 
 Pole. — Polar. Gr. ttoXsw, to turn up, 
 turn about ; icokoq, a pivot, hinge, axis, 
 the axis of the sphere, the vault of heaven. 
 Fin. palaan, pallata, to roll, to return; 
 Lap. pale, turn, occasion. 
 
 * Poleaxe. An axe with a hammer 
 at the back ; the implement used by 
 butchers in felling an ox. Should pro- 
 perly, it seems, be written pollaxe, an axe 
 for knocking one on the poll or head. 
 Du. bollen, to fell, to knock down with 
 an axe or mallet, from bol, the head. 
 
 POLL 
 
 487 
 
 Polecat. Du. pool-kat, an animal dis- 
 tinguished by its offensive smell, whence 
 the Fr. name putois, from Lat. putere, to 
 stink. To stink like a polecat. — Ray's 
 Proverbs. Sanscr. piitika, stinking ; pu- 
 tikd, a civet or polecat. The origin of 
 the E. name is OFr. pulent, pullent, 
 stinking. 
 
 Polemic. Gr. TroXefiog, war. 
 
 Police. — Policy Politics. From 
 
 Gr. TToXig, a city, we have iroXiTrjg, 2l citi- 
 zen ; TToXiTiKog, belonging to a citizen ; 
 TToXireia (whence It. polizia, Fr. police), 
 citizenship, administration, government. 
 
 Policy. A policy of assurance is a 
 written engagement to make good a cer- 
 tain sum on the occurrence of a specified 
 contingency. It. pdlizza, a bill or sche- 
 dule ; polizza di carico, a bill of lading, a 
 document which it was necessary to pro- 
 duce on applying for the money assured 
 on goods lost at sea. 
 
 The word is a violent corruption of 
 Lat. polyptycha, -um, A pair of tablets 
 folding on each other used as a memo- 
 randum-book was called diptycha, from 
 ^tTrruxoc, two-fold. The term was then 
 applied in ecclesiastical language to the 
 catalogues of the bishops and other nota- 
 bles of a church, whose names were 
 read at a certain period of the service. 
 When the list was too long to be con- 
 tained in a pair of tablets the additional 
 tablets gave the memoranda the name of 
 polyptycha, a term specially applied to 
 the registers of taxes. Polypticos, i. e. 
 breves tributi et actionis.— Glossae ad 
 Cod. Theod. Ut illi coloni tam fiscales 
 quam et ecclesiastici, qui sicut et v!\ po- 
 ly pticis continentur, et ipsi non denegent 
 carropera et manopera.— Edict. Car. Calv. 
 in Due. Reditus villarum nostrarum de- 
 scribere jussit, quod polyptychum vocant. 
 The term then appears in the corrupted 
 forms oi piUeticttin, poleticiim, polegium. 
 Episcopus divino consilio nsns, poleticum 
 quod adhuc in eadem ecclesia reservatur 
 scripsit. — Due. A similar corruption 
 converted diptychus into diptagus, dipti- 
 tiiis. 
 
 Poll.— Pollard. PI. D . poll, head, head 
 of a tree or plant, top, tuft ; OT)\x. polle, 
 polleken, vertex capitis, capitellum, cacu- 
 men, fastigium ; bol, bolle, globus, spaera, 
 caput ; bolleken, capitulum, capitellum. — 
 Kil. Sw. dial, pull, top, crown of hat. 
 To poll, to cut off the poll or top, or 
 sometimes to reduce to a/^// or rounded 
 summit (as Sw. stynipa, to cut short, from 
 stutnp, or ON. bola, to cut off, from bolr, 
 trunk), to clip the hair ; a polled sheep 
 
488 
 
 POLLUTE 
 
 or cow, one without horns ; pollard^ a tree 
 whose top has been cut off, a deer that 
 has lost its horns. 
 
 Parallel with the foregoing are a series 
 of forms in which the initial/ is replaced 
 by k. ON. kollr, top, stump, skull ; kol- 
 Idttr. polled, hornless, bald ; N. koiiut, 
 hornless, bald, without point, stumpy ; 
 Pl.D. koir, top of tree ; koirn (Danneil), 
 to cut off the head, to poll. Sc. coil, cow, 
 to poll the head, to cut, Clip, lop ; collie, 
 a shepherd's dog, which has commonly 
 the tail cut short. The radical notion 
 seems to be a round knob. Hesse kulle, 
 a bowl. 
 
 Pollute. Lat. polluo, pollutum. 
 
 Polt. A thump or blow. — Hal, Hence 
 polt-foot^ a club-foot, the notion of a blow 
 and of massiveness being frequently con- 
 nected. Fr. poulser, to push, thrust, 
 justle, joult. Lat. pulsare, pidtare, Sw. 
 bulta, to knock or beat. Manx poll, a 
 blow, stroke, thump, or the noise which 
 it makes. 
 
 Poltroon. Fr. poltron, a scoundrel, 
 also a dastard, coward, sluggard, base, 
 idle fellow. — Cot. It. poli?'one, an idle 
 fellow, a base coward, base rascal, knave. 
 Yrom. poltrare, poltrire, to loll and wal- 
 low in sloth and litherness, to lie lazy in 
 bed ; poitra, a bed to lie on a-days. — Fl. 
 G. polster, a mattress, cushion. 
 
 In latter times the signification has 
 been so much confined to the idea of 
 cowardice that the derivation has been 
 obscured. Fr. paillaj'd is an analogous 
 form, signifying in the first place a lie-a- 
 bed, from paille, straw, then a rascal, 
 scoundrel, filthy fellow. — Cot. 
 
 Poly-. Gr. TToXi'g, many ; as in Poly- 
 gamy {yafxog, marriage). Polyglot (yXaxrcra 
 or yXwTTu, the tongue), Polypus (ttovq, a 
 foot), &c. 
 
 Pomander. A musk-ball, little round 
 ball made of several perfumes. Fr. 
 pomme d^mnbre, an apple of amber. — B. 
 Sp. poma, a perfume-box, round vessel 
 pierced with holes for containing per- 
 fumes. 
 
 Pomatum. Originally made with 
 apples, as appears from the receipt in 
 Pharmacop. Lond., 1682. Axungias por- 
 cinas recentis lib. ii. &c. ; po7norum (vulgo 
 pomewaters) excorticatorum et conciso- 
 rum lib. i. &c. — N. and Q. 
 
 Pommel. Fr. pommcau, pomelle, as 
 It. pofnolo (dim. oi porno), an apple, by 
 met. any round head, knob, or pommel, 
 as of a sword or saddle, a pin's head, head 
 of a nail. — Fl. 
 
 To Pommel. Plausibly derived from 
 
 PONTIFF 
 
 the notion of striking with a knobbed im- 
 plement, like the pommel of a sword. 
 But the root prnn is used to signify strik- 
 ing, from direct imitation of the sound of 
 a blow, which is represented in Pl.D. by 
 the syllable biwts /—^VQin. Wtb. Bav\ 
 Pumsen, to sound hollow, to beat, strike 
 against so as to resound. Lang, poumpi, 
 to beat, to knock. Craven pum, to 
 thump, whence/«ww^r,/<?^/;/^rr, a thump- 
 er, anything very large of its kind, ex- 
 plaining boomer, the name given in Au- 
 stralia to the largest kind of kangaroo. 
 
 The two derivations would be made to 
 agree if Lat. pomicm itself were one of 
 the numerous cases in which the idea of 
 roundness or projecting form is expressed 
 by the figure of striking, w. pwtJip, a 
 blow, a round mass ; pwmp o ddyn, a 
 lusty fellow. 
 
 Pomp. Lat, pompa, a solemn proces- 
 sion. 
 
 Pompion. — Pumpkin. Lat. /<?/<?, It. 
 Pepone, popone, Lang, poiipoun, Fr. pom- 
 pon, melon, gourd, pumpkin. 
 
 ^.piimpkin seems to be a corruption 
 of pompion, as tompkin or tamkin, the 
 rammer of a gun, of Fr. tompioti. 
 Pond. See Pen. 
 
 Ponder. Lat. pondiis, -eris, weight ; 
 ponderare, to weigh. 
 
 -ponent. -pound. \j2i\.. potio,positum, 
 to put, set, lay. Hence compono, to put 
 together, in OE. to compone, or compoune, 
 and thence by corruption to compound, as 
 to pound irova the older poune or pun, or 
 as sound from Fr. son. In the same way 
 Expound, Propoimd. 
 
 Poniard. Fr. poignard, It. pugnale, 
 Ptg. punhdl, a dagger, probably, as Gr. 
 lyXtipiSiov (from xt'P> hand), a hand-knife, 
 from \^2X. pugniis, Fr.poing,the fist ; em- 
 poigner, Ptg. punJiar, apunhar, to grasp. 
 Pontiff. i^-aX. pontifex, the name given 
 to those appointed to preside over reli- 
 gious rites. In the opinion of Varro, from 
 their having occasion to make and repair 
 the bridge over the Tiber for the perform- 
 ance of sacred rites on the other side. 
 ^ PontiJices,vX Q. Scaevola Pontifex Maxi- 
 mus dicebat k posse et facei'e : ego k 
 ponte arbitror, nam ab iis sublicius est 
 factus primum et restitutus saepe, quod eo 
 sacra et uls et cis Tiberim non mediocri 
 ritu fiant.' It is obvious that this ex- 
 planation is a mere guess, and it has 
 always been felt as a strange origin of the 
 designation. A highly plausible explana- 
 tion is suggested by F. W. Newman, who 
 supposes that pojitifex is for pompifex, 
 the conductor of the pompa or solemn 
 
PONTOON 
 
 processions, analogous to Gr. irevrt from 
 TTSfirrs. The Samnite Pontius is the Sa- 
 bine Pompeius. And pontes occurs in 
 the Iguvine tables with the appearance of 
 signifying poinpcE^ processions. 
 
 Pontoon. Fr. ponton, Lat. pons, pon- 
 tis, a bridge. 
 
 * Pony. In Boyer's Diet, 1727, it is 
 marked as a mean or vulgar term, and is 
 explained as ' a little Scotch horse.' The 
 name may then be from Gael, ponaidh^ a 
 pony, a docked horse (Macalpine), and 
 not vice versa. The derivation from 
 puny, insignificant, appears highly im- 
 probable. 
 
 Poodle. Du. poedele, to paddle in the 
 water, whence poedel-hond, a poodle or 
 rough water-dog. — Overyssel Almanach. 
 G. pudel-nass, thoroughly wet. 
 
 Pooh ! An interjection expressive of 
 contempt, originally representing the 
 sound of spitting, from the figure of spit- 
 ting out an ill-tasting morsel. 
 
 To-o-h ! Tuh ! exclaims the Muzunga, spitting 
 with disgust upon the ground. — Burton, Lake 
 Regions of Africa, 2. 246. There's Mackinnons 
 live there. But they are interlopers, they are 
 worthless trash. And he spit in disgust. — Geof- 
 fry Hamlyn, 1869. Would to God therefore that 
 we were come to such a detestation and loathing 
 of lying, that we would even spattle at it, and cry 
 fy upon it, and all that use it. — Dent's Pathway. 
 
 Sw. spott, spittle, also derision, raillery, 
 contempt, insult. Galla twu ! interj. re- 
 presenting sound of spitting ; tufa, tiifada, 
 to spit, to slight, to scorn. Maori //^w//<^, 
 Gr. Trruw, Lat. spuere, to spit ; 7'espuere, 
 to spit out, to disgust or dislike, to reject, 
 refuse. As sneezing is a convulsive act 
 of spitting, it is taken as expressive of re- 
 jection, and we speak of a thing not to be 
 sneezed at. Bav. pfuchezen, pfugezen, to 
 puff as a short-winded person, spit as a 
 cat, sneeze. 
 
 Pool. w. pwll, a pool, pit, ditch ; Du. 
 poel, puddle, slough, plash, pool, fen ; ON. 
 pollr, a standing water, water-hole. Fin. 
 pula, an opening in the ice. The origin 
 is preserved in Fin. pulata, 'to splash, 
 dabble, duck, in aqua moveor cum sonitu, 
 aquam agito. E. dial, pooler, the imple- 
 ment with which tanners stir up the ooze 
 of bark and water in the pits. 
 
 Poop. Lat. puppis, Fr. poupe, the 
 hinder part of a ship- 
 Poor. Lat. pauper, Fr. pauvre, pro- 
 vincially/^^^r^y poui'e honime I — Vocab. 
 de Berri. 
 
 Pop. Imitative of the sound made by 
 a small explosion of air ; a pop-gun, a 
 tube contrived to drive out a pellet with 
 
 PORCELLANE 
 
 489 
 
 a pop. Hence to pop, to move suddenly. 
 Pope. The name of papa, father, was 
 formerly the peculiar address of a bishop, 
 and sometimes was used for the episcopal 
 title ; Papa urbis Turonicce. — Greg. Tur. 
 By a decree of Greg. VII. the title was 
 confined to the Roman Pontiff. — Due. 
 In the Greek Church the name is still 
 given to a priest. Gr. iraTag, Walach. 
 popa, Magy. pap. G. pfaffis a corruption 
 of the same word. 
 
 Popinjay. It. papagallo, OYr. pape- 
 gau,papegay, Sp, papagayo, parrot, ety- 
 mologically talking cock. Devon pop- 
 ping, chattering, tattling ; Bav. pappeln, 
 to chatter, tattle, talk ; der p apple, the 
 talker, a parrot. So Sanscr. vach, to 
 speak ; vacha, a parrot. The change in 
 the last element from It. gallo, Fr. gau, 
 geau, a cock, to gay^ g^^h ^ J'^Y? probably 
 arose from the fact that the jay, being re- 
 markable both for its bright-coloured 
 plumage and chattering voice, seemed to 
 come nearer than the cock to the nature 
 of the parrot. 
 
 Poplar. Lat. populus, G. pappel, a. 
 tree distinguished by the tremulous move- 
 ment of its leaves. Bav. poppeln, to move 
 about like water in boiling ; poppern, to 
 move to and fro, to tremble with anger ; 
 Pfopfentj to beat as the heart, to palpi- 
 tate. 
 
 Poppy. Fr. pavot, pabeau, papou. — 
 Jaubert. Lat. papaver. 
 
 Populace. — Popular. — Populous. 
 Lat. populus, v^.pobl, people. 
 
 Porcellane. China ware seems to 
 have been first made known in Europe to 
 the Italians through the Arabians, who 
 called it, as we now do, China. The 
 name oi potcellane. It. porcellana, was in 
 all probability given to it from the re- 
 semblance of the surface to that of various 
 sea-shells, as the Venus' shell or tiger- 
 shell, in It. called porcellana, a name 
 which Rob. Estienne also gives to the 
 buccinum or conch-shell. ' Ung grand 
 OS de poisson de mer faict comme ung 
 cor, et duquel Ton peut corner, et en font 
 les graveurs des images, communement 
 diet Porcelaine, buccinum.' Porcelle, the 
 fine scallop or cockleshells that painters 
 use to put their colours in. — Fl. Porcel- 
 lane is mentioned by Marco Polo in the 
 13th century, long before the intercourse 
 of the Portuguese with the East. He also 
 gives the same name to the cowries 
 which were used as money in India. — • 
 Mahn. Etym. Unt. 11. The designation 
 of porcellane by the name of the shell 
 early led to the supposition that the 
 
490 
 
 PORCH 
 
 China ware was made of powdered shells. 
 
 Porch. Fr. porche^ Lat. porticus, as 
 pcrche from pertica. 
 
 Porcupine. It. porco spinoso, Ptg. 
 porco espin/to, Venet. porco-spin^ a spiny 
 pig, porcupine, hedgehog. From these 
 was formed E.porpin, a hedgehog (Hal.), 
 and thence coxr\x^i\y Porpenttne^ the word 
 used by Shakespeare where we now read, 
 Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. 
 
 Pore. Fr. pore^ Lat. porus, the minute 
 holes in the skin through which the per- 
 spiration oozes out, from Gr. Tropof, a 
 passage. 
 
 To Pore, To look close and long. 
 The Sw. uses pdla in a similar way ; 
 Pala hela dagen i en bok, to pore all day 
 over a book. Pala med skrifwande, to 
 be drudging in writing. 
 
 Porpesse. It. pesce porco ^ the hog- 
 fish. 
 
 Stinking seales and porcpisces. — Spenser. 
 
 It is remarkable that while in England 
 the native mereszvine^ ON. rnarsvin, sea- 
 swine, has been supplanted by the Latin 
 porpesse^ the same change has taken place 
 in France in the opposite direction, and 
 the porpesse is there known by the name 
 of tnarsouiii. 
 
 Porphyry. Gr. iroppvpa, purple, irop^v- 
 p'lTtjg, red marble. 
 
 Porridge. — Porringer. Not the equi- 
 valent of It. parr at a, leek-pottage — Fl., 
 from Lat. por7'U7n, a leek, but simply a 
 corruption oi pottage, what is boiled in 
 the pot. Fr. potage, pottage, porridge. — 
 Cot. Yxovcv porridge is ioxxnoA porringer 
 (as messenger from message), a vessel for 
 holding porridge ; more correctly called 
 pottenger in Devonshire. 
 
 A potenger, or a little dish with eares. — Baret. 
 1580 in Hal. 
 
 Pottanger, escuelle. — Palsgr. 
 
 Port. Wine of Porto, or Oporto, in 
 Portugal. 
 
 Port-, -port. — Portable. — Porter. 
 
 \j3X.porto, -as, Yx. porter, to carry. Hence 
 to import, export, to carry in, out of a 
 country ; portfolio, an implement for 
 holding papers ; portmanteau, &c. 
 
 Portcullis. Fr. porte-coulisse, a slid- 
 ing-gate ; coulisse, anything that slides 
 or slips or is let down, from couler, to 
 slide, slip, flow gently, trickle. 
 
 The Porte. The Porte or Sublime 
 Porte, the name formerly given to the 
 Ottoman Court, is a perverted Fr. trans- 
 lation of Babi AH, literally the High 
 Gate, the chief office of the Ottoman 
 
 POSE 
 
 government. Bab, a gate, a house of 
 government, official residence, or place of 
 business. — Redhouse. The term is never 
 applied by the Turks to the Sultan or his 
 court, but simply to the premises where 
 the general business of the government is 
 carried on. 
 
 Portend. — Portentous. Lat. por- 
 tendo (from porro, onward, in front, and 
 tendo, to stretch), to foreshow ; portentum, 
 a sign of good or ill luck, thence some- 
 thing wonderful, a prodigy. 
 
 Porter. A dark kind of beer, origin- 
 ally called porter's beer, implying great 
 strength and substance. 
 
 Porthole. G. stiick-pforten, geschiitz- 
 pforten, or pfort-gaten, the openings for 
 the artillery in a ship side ; pforte, a door. 
 
 Portly. Stately ; Fr. se porter, to 
 carry oneself, to behave. 
 
 To Portray. — Portrait. Fr. pour- 
 traire, to draw, delineate ; pourtrait, de- 
 lineation ; traire, Lat. trahere, to draw. 
 
 Pose. -pose. — Position. — Positive. 
 Posture. Lat. po7io, positum, to put, set 
 down, place, gives positio, a setting, 
 placing, or situation, positura, position, 
 posture, and a very numerous set of com- 
 pounds, as Deposit, Composite, Imposition, 
 Proposition, &c. In the verbs however 
 which correspond to these substantival 
 forms, Fr. deposer, composer, imposer, 
 &c., the place of potio has been surrepti- 
 tiously occupied by derivatives from Lat. 
 pausa, a cessation or rest. Hence Prov. 
 pausa, rest, repose, peace. It. posare, to 
 pause, abide, repose, Ptg. pousar, to stay 
 in the house of some one, to rest, to sit 
 down. Then in an active sense, Prov. 
 pausar, Ix.. posare, Yx. poser, Ftg. pousar, 
 to set down, to place, put, set. Diez quotes 
 from the Alamanic laws, ' etpausant arma 
 sua josum.' ' Elhs lo van pausar en .1. bel 
 lieyt : ' they lay him. in a fine bed. ' Ar 
 o pauzetn aissi :' now let us suppose it 
 so. — Rayn. From this source came, in- 
 dependent of any Latin original, Prov. 
 ripausar, It. riposare, Fr. reposer, to rest, 
 repose, while the compounds expausar, 
 depausar, empausar, &c., Fr. exposer, de- 
 poser, &c., took the place of Lat. expono, 
 depono, impono, &c. 
 
 To Pose. — Appose. Fr. apposer, to 
 lay, or set, on, or near to. — Cot. 
 
 Then he apposed to them his last left roste. 
 
 Chapman, Homer. 
 
 To pose or appose were then used in the 
 sense of putting to a person specific 
 points on which an answer was expected, 
 of subjecting to examination, and an ap- 
 
POSNET 
 
 f>ositc answer is an answer on the points 
 put to one. 
 
 And often coming from school, when I met her, 
 she would appose me touching my learning and 
 lesson. — Stow in R. She pretended at the first 
 to pose him and sift him., thereby to try whether 
 he were indeed the very Duke of York or no. — 
 Bacon, H. VII. inR. 
 
 The exercises of the students written 
 for examinations at St Paul's school are 
 still called appositions. The term is then 
 specially applied to the case in which the 
 person examined is unable to answer, 
 when pose or appose takes the meaning of 
 putting to a nonplus. 
 
 And canst thou be other than apposed with the 
 question of that Jew who asked whether it were 
 more possible to make a man's body of water or 
 of earth ? All things are alike easie to an infinite 
 power. — Bp Hall in R. 
 
 Posnet. A pipkin. Probably a dim. 
 of pot. Posnet., a lytell potte. — Palsgr. 
 Olle in Necham is glossed poz; urceoli, 
 pocenet. Urceos, in John de Garlandia, 
 in one MS. pos, in another pocenez.-^ 
 Scheler. 
 
 Possess. Lat. possideo, possession, 
 from potis sedeo, I sit as master or wield- 
 er ; as possum from potis sum, I am 
 master, I have in my power. Sanscr. pati, 
 a master, owner, lord. 'L^ii. potior, -itus, to 
 have in possession, to get the upper hand. 
 
 Possible. — Potent, -potent. Lat. 
 possum, I am able, pcpl. potens, -entis. 
 See Possess. 
 
 Post. I. Lat. postis, a doorpost, the 
 fixed upright on which the door is hung. 
 Perhaps from positus, set, laid ; positus, 
 -its, the site of a thing. 
 
 2. It. posta, ironx positus, a set place or 
 station, the post or appointed place where 
 a sentinel must stand ; the posture or 
 standing of a man, the stake set on a 
 game ; also a station or place where re- 
 lays of horses are kept for the public ser- 
 vice. Posta seems also to have been 
 used for an entry in a book of account, 
 whence our expression to post up an ac- 
 count. ' Ubi vero per postas libri usu- 
 rarii non apparuerit per petentem sibi 
 usuras restitui.' — Concil. Ravennense, A.D. 
 1317, in Due. 
 
 Post-. Posterity. Lat. post, after, 
 afterward ; posteri, those that come after, 
 descendants, posterity. 
 
 Postern. Posterne, yate, posticum, 
 posterula. — Pr. Pm. Fr. posterne, po- 
 terne. It. posterla, explained by Muratori 
 as a corruption oi posterula lor porterula, 
 a little gate, ^wt posterula is also used 
 in the sense of a back way. * Viator qui- 
 dam ad citeriora festinans cum bivium 
 
 POTATOE 
 
 491 
 
 armato milite vidisset oppletum, per/^j- 
 terulam trajnitein medium squalentem 
 fructetis et sentibus vitabundus excedens, 
 in Armenios incidit fessos.' — Ammianus 
 in Due. In general, however, it is used 
 for back door, and like posticium, which 
 was used in the same sense, is a deriva- 
 tion {rom post, behind. 
 
 Postulate. Lat, postulo, to demand, 
 from posco, poscitum {pos tuni), to ask 
 for, require, demand. 
 
 * Posy. A motto or device, an in- 
 scription on a ring or the like. From 
 poesy. 
 
 A paltry ring whose posy was 
 
 For all the world like cutlers' poetry 
 
 Upon a knife. Love me and leave me not. 
 
 Shakesp . 
 
 Udal writes it poisee — ' There was also a 
 superscription or poisee written on the 
 toppe of the crosse — This is the King of 
 the Jews.' — Luke c. 23. 
 
 A nosegay was probably called by this 
 name from flowers being used emblema- 
 tically, as is still common in the East. 
 Among the tracts mentioned in Catal. 
 Heber's MSS. No. 1442, is 'A new yeares 
 guifte, or a posie made upon certeti fiowers 
 presented to the Countess of Pembroke. 
 By the Author of Chloris, &c.' — N. and 
 Q., Dec. 19, 1868. 
 
 Then took he up his garland and did shew 
 What every flower, as country people hold, 
 Did signify, and how, ordered thus 
 Expressed his grief.— B. & F., Philaster 1. 1. 
 There's rosemary, that's for remembrance ; 
 
 pray, love, remember ; and there's pansies, that's 
 
 for thoughts. — Hamlet. 
 
 Pot. ON. pottr, Lith. pudas, Yin.pata, 
 Fr. pot. 
 
 The expression to go to pot is probably 
 to be explained from Sw. dial./?///, pit, 
 hell. Far te putten ! go to hell. Hd 
 gikk dpyttes, it went to pot, turned out 
 fruitless. 
 
 Potable. Gr. TrtVw, TrkiriaKa, from a 
 root TTo-, to drink ; ttotov, Lat. potioy 
 drink ; potare, to drink. 
 
 Potash. The salt obtained from holl- 
 aing wood ashes in a pot or kettle. 
 
 Potatoe. From the name by which 
 the root was known in Haiti. Peter 
 Martyr, speaking of Haiti, says (in De- 
 cad. 2, c. 9), 'Effodiunt etiam e tellure 
 suapte natura nascentes radices, indigenae 
 Batatas appellant, quas ut vidi insubres 
 napos existimavi, aut magna terrcB tubera.^ 
 From this last expression sprang It. tar- 
 tufalo and G. kartoffel. Navagerio, who 
 was in the Indies at the same time, writes 
 in 1526, 'lo ho vedute molte cose dell' 
 
492 
 
 POTENT 
 
 PRANK 
 
 Indie ed ho avuto di quelle radice che 
 chiamano batatas, e le ho mangiate : sono 
 di sapor di castagno.' Doubtless these 
 were sweet potatoes or yams, which are 
 still known by this name in Spanish. 
 
 Potent. See Possible. 
 
 Pother. See Pudder. 
 
 To Potter. To stir or disorder any- 
 thing — B. ; to poke, push, as with the end 
 of a stick, to do things ineffectually. — 
 Craven Gl. Du. poteren, peuteren, to 
 pick one's nose or teeth, to finger. The 
 notion of trifling or ineffectual action is 
 often expressed by the figure of picking, 
 or stirring with a pointed implement. So 
 Norm, diguer, to prick, digonner, to work 
 slowly. — Decorde. To piddle, or work in 
 a trifling manner, is properly to pick with 
 the fingers. The simple form of the verb 
 of which potter is a frequentative is seen 
 in E. ^\2\. poit ox pot e, to poke, ^\v. pdta, 
 peta,Xo poke or pick. '?\.T>.padte?'n,io 
 stir (herumwhiilen) with an instrument in 
 something. If the instrument is pointed 
 the word is pdokern. — Danneil. 
 
 Pottle. A measure of two quarts. 
 Fr. potel, little pot ; measure of a demi- 
 setier or other small measure. — Roquef. 
 
 Pouch.. See Pocket. 
 
 Poultice. Lat. puis, pultis, pulticnla, 
 It. polta^ poltiglia, pottage, gruel, pap. 
 Gr. TTokToq, wo'Kcpog, porridge. The form 
 poultice, poultis, corresponds to a Lat. 
 pulticius. See Putty. 
 
 Poultry. — Pullet. Fr. pottle, a hen ; 
 pojilet, a chicken, from Lat. pulliis, the 
 voung of an animal, as a chicken or a 
 foal. 
 
 Pounce. I. Powder for smoothing 
 parchment for writing on, for which pur- 
 pose pumice was formerly used. Fr. 
 pierre ponce, from It. pomice, a pumice- 
 stone; poncer, to smooth, rub over with 
 a pumice-stone. 
 
 2. The talon of a bird of prey. Sp. 
 puficha, thorn, prick ; punchar, punzar, 
 to prick, sting. To poimce upon an ob- 
 ject is to dash down upon it like a bird 
 of prey, to seize it with his pounces. 
 
 Pound. I. Tin. pond, Q.pfnnd; Lat. 
 pondo, in weight, in pounds as the unit of 
 weight. ' 
 
 Poimd. 2. — To Pound. Pound, the 
 inclosure for straying cattle. See Pen. 
 
 To Poujid. AS. punian, OE. to pun. 
 To stamp or pufine in a morter. — Y\. 
 
 To Pour. An initial p in an English 
 word occasionally corresponds to ch in 
 Sp., as in E. poll and Sp. cholla, the top 
 of the head. To pourmzy thus be the 
 equivalent of Sp. chorrear, to gush, to 
 
 e soun^ 
 
 pour ; choiTO, a strong and coarse 
 emitted by the mouth, a gush of wiUer. 
 The word is however by some ident.fied 
 with W. dwrw, to cast or throw ; bwrw 
 gwlaw, to rain ; bwrw dagrau, to shed 
 tears. 
 
 To Pout, \jax\-g. pout, pot, Wvcv. poto, 
 a lip ; fa las potas, Gencvese faire la 
 Potte, to stick out the lips in ill humour, 
 to pout. Serv. putyenie, thrusting out the 
 lip in discontent ; putyitise, to pout. 
 
 The origin is the interjection of con- 
 tempt and displeasure,//;-^/.^ /r///./ /;-;//.'' 
 tut! o^. putt/ Yr.YlsLTsd. put / putte .' 
 representing a blurt of the mouth with 
 the protruded lips. M?igy. pittyni,pitty- 
 egetni, pittyentni, to blurt with the lips; 
 pittyasz, one who has prominent lips ; 
 pittyesztni, to hang the lips, to pout ; 
 pittyedni (of the lips), to project. 
 
 In like manner from the iorm. prut / 
 may be explained G. pj'otzen, pnitzen, to 
 sulk, and OilG. prort, a lip ; from ////.'' E. 
 tutty, ill-tempered, sullen, and tut-mouth- 
 ed, having a projecting mouth ; from 
 trut I G. ti'otzen, to pout or sulk, to huff, 
 and Sw. tt'ut, snout, chops. 
 
 Powder. Fr. poudre, from Lat. pul- 
 vef, dust (poVre, poldre, poudre), as 
 soudre from solvere, rnoudre from molere. 
 
 Power. Fr. pouvoir, OFr. pooir, It. 
 potere, an infinitive formed by analogy 
 from the inflections poles, potest, as It., 
 volere, Fr. vouloir, from volo, vohimus, 
 &c. 
 
 Practice. — Pragmatic. Gr. irQaaaio, 
 -?w, to do, work, behave, deal ; rrpaKTiKog, 
 business-like ; irpayna, what is done, a 
 thing, business ; irpayiiaTiKOQ, Lat. prag- 
 inaticus, busy, skilled in state affairs or 
 in law ; pi'agniatica sanctio, constitutio, 
 &c., what was done by the emperors in 
 council. Pragmatical, busy, officious, 
 meddlesome. 
 
 Prairie. Yr. prairie, L.Ld.t prataria, 
 from pratum, a meadow. 
 
 Praise. — Prize. Lat. pretium, It. 
 pretio, pr-ezzo, pregio, Fr. prix, price ; 
 Du. prijs, price, worth, value, also praise, 
 or the attribution of a high value, also 
 prize, or the reward of success. Sp. 
 prez, honour or glory gained by some 
 meritorious action. Yx.prix, price, value, 
 prize, reward ; priser, to set a price on ; 
 Du. priiseji, to appraise, to praise. 
 
 Prank. — Prance. To prank, to set 
 off, trick or trim — B. ; to set out for 
 show. 
 
 They which are with God and gather with 
 him^goeth not fj-ankyng afore God, but mekely 
 corneth after. — Bale, Ap. in R. 
 
PRATE 
 
 G. ^rartgen^ to glitter, strike the eye 
 with outward show ; mit kleidernprangeii, 
 to prank up oneself, go costly. P range 
 nicht vor dem konige, put not forth thy- 
 self in the presence of the king. Prange- 
 pferd, T)u. pronkpaard, a horse of state, 
 horse for show. G. prangeji, 'Dvi. pro?tk, 
 ostentation, finery. Te pi^onk stellen, to 
 show off ; te pronk staan, to be exposed 
 to view, to stand in the pillory. Pronken, 
 to make a fine show, to strut. 
 
 A prank is commonly taken in a bad 
 sense, and signifies something done in 
 the face of others that makes them stare 
 with amazement. 
 
 In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks 
 they dare not show their husbands. — Othello. 
 
 The link httwe^n prank and prance is 
 found in Bav. prangezeu, prangssen, to 
 make compliments, assume airs ; prangss, 
 ziererei, idle ceremony. Da. dial, prajije, 
 prandse, to strut, prance. Swiss spranzen, 
 to strut. 
 
 The word may be regarded as a na- 
 salised form of Fr. bragner, to flaunt, 
 brave, brag, or jet it ; bragnerie, wanton 
 tricking or pranking, bragging, swagger- 
 ing. See Brag. From the same root 
 {brag or brak, crack) may be traced G. 
 prahlen^ to cry, speak loud, to glitter, 
 strike the sight, to brag, boast, make 
 parade ; Swiss brogeln, progeln, to strut, 
 swagger. 
 
 To Prate.— Prattle. Sw. prata, Du. 
 praaten, Pl.D. praten, prafeln, G. prdtcn^ 
 prdschen (D. M. 4. 236), prattoi, prdt- 
 zeln (Sanders), Swiss pradeln, brandeln, 
 brudeln, brodschen, brtischeln, Swab. 
 bratscheln, to prate, tattle ; Pl.D. braod- 
 schen, to talk loud ; E. dial, pross, chat ; 
 Sw. dial, patra, padra^ to prate, chatter ; 
 Serv, prtlyati, to prattle. 
 
 The sense of idle or excessive talk is 
 commonly expressed by the figure of 
 broken sound, as we call a great talker, 
 a rattle, a clack. On this principle the 
 forms above collected take their rise in 
 slightly varying representations of inar- 
 ticulate sound. G. pratsch I represents 
 the sound of water dashed down (San- 
 ders) ; prasseln, prasteln, pratzeln, sprat- 
 zen, to crackle, rustle (Sand.), protzeln, 
 rauschen (D. M. 4. 132, 300), Du. preu- 
 telen, protelefi, to simmer, murmur (Kil.), 
 Sw. dial, pmttla, to boil hard, bubble up. 
 
 Prawn. From the formidable spur 
 with which the head is armed ? AS. p7-eon, 
 bodkin. NFris. porn, It. parnocchia, 
 prawn. 
 
 To Pray. Lat. precari, It. pregare, 
 Yx.prier. 
 
 PREPOSTEROUS 
 
 493 
 
 Pre-. Lat./rcp, in front: as \x\ Precinct, 
 Precise, &c. 
 
 To Preach. Lat. predicare, to an- 
 nounce, proclaim ; Sp. predicar, G. pre- 
 digen, oi^.predika, '^.preika, Fr, prescher, 
 prechcr, to preach. 
 
 Preamble. Yr. preajnbulej Lat.pm- 
 anibulare, to go before. 
 
 Prebend. See Provender. 
 
 -prec-. — Precarious. Lat. preces, 
 prayers ; precor, -catus sum, to pray ; 
 deprecor, to deprecate or pray against ; 
 imprecor, to imprecate or invoke upon. 
 Also \j3X.preca7'iits, Y.. precarious, granted 
 on entreaty, held at the pleasure of 
 another, and so, unreliable, uncertain. 
 
 Precept. Lat. prcecipio, -ceptum, to 
 instruct. See -cept. 
 
 Precious. 'LrI. pretiiwi, a price ;/r^- 
 tiosus, Fr. precieux, costly. 
 
 Precipice. — Precipitate. Lat. prcs- 
 ceps (from prce and caput, head), head 
 foremost, headlong, steep, rash ; prcEci- 
 pito, to fling or run down with violence, 
 to hurry. 
 
 Precocious. Lat. coqiio, to cook, to 
 ripen ; prcEcox, early ripe. 
 
 Predaceous.— Predatory. See Prey. 
 
 Predial. Lat. prcEdinm, a farm. 
 
 Preface. Lat. fari, to speak ; prce- 
 fatio, something spoken before. 
 
 Pregnant. Lat. prcEgnans, in the 
 state previous to giving birth to a child. 
 From the root gen exhibited in Gr. 
 yavj/aw, to beget, produce, and implicitly 
 in Lat. nascor, natiis (jor genascor, genas- 
 cor, to be born. 
 
 -prehend. — Prehensile. Lat. prce- 
 hendo,prcchensum,\.o<gx-3i'i>^ ; apprehendo, 
 to lay hold of, to understand ; compre- 
 hejido, to hold, to comprise, to under- 
 stand. 
 
 Prelate. Lat. prcefero, prcelatus, ad- 
 vanced before the rest. 
 
 Preliminary. Lat. limen, a threshold. 
 
 Premises. Lat. prcEinissa, things 
 spoken of or rehearsed before. Then 
 from the use of the term in legal language, 
 where the appurtenances of a thing sold 
 are mentioned at full in the first place, 
 and subsequently referred to as the pre- 
 mises, the word has come to signify the 
 appurtenances of a house, the adjoining 
 land, and generally the whole inclosure 
 of a property. 
 
 Premium. Lat. prcemium, a reward. 
 
 Prentice. For apprentice, Fr. appren- 
 tis, from apprendre, to learn. 
 
 Preposterous, Lat. prcEposterus, the 
 wrong end first ; pra, before, in front, 
 posterns, behind. 
 
491 
 
 PREROGATIVE 
 
 PRICK 
 
 7 
 
 Prerog-ative. The tribes that were 
 asked to give the first vote at the election 
 of the Roman magistrates were called 
 prcerogativce {rogo, to ask) ; whence /r^?- 
 rogativa., precedency; pre-eminence. 
 
 Presag-e. See Sagacious. 
 
 Presbyter. Gr. Trpta(3vTipoQ^ comp. of 
 9rpf«T/3vts an aged man. 
 
 Present. Lat. prccsens^ prce esens, 
 being before, from esuvi^ the primitive 
 form of sum, I am. 
 
 Press, -press. \jaX.premo,pressum. 
 As in Express, Compress, &c. 
 
 To Press for a soldier. — Press-gang. 
 From Lat. prcBsto, in readiness, to give 
 money in prest was to give money in hand 
 to be subsequently accounted for. 
 
 And he sent thyder three somers (baggage 
 horses) laden with nobles of Castel and floreyns, 
 to gyve in prest to knyghts and squyers, for he 
 knewe well otherwyse he sholde not have them 
 come out df theyr houses. — Bemers, Froissart 
 in R. 
 
 YioxiZ^ prest-money ,zoxx\x^\\y press-money , 
 the ernest money received by a soldier 
 taking service. 
 
 I never yet did take press-money to serve under 
 anyone. — Cartwright in R. As we have all re- 
 ceived our fress-money in baptism, so we must 
 every one according to our engagement maintain 
 the fight against the world. — Bp Hall in R. 
 
 Hence to prest, or press, to engage sol- 
 diers. To press soldiers, soldaten werben, 
 conscribere, colligere milites. — Minsheu. 
 
 At a later period the practice of taking 
 men for the public service by compulsion 
 made the word be understood as if it sig- 
 nified to force men into the service, and 
 the original reference to ernest money 
 was quite lost sight of. 
 
 Prater-. Lat. prcster, beyond . 
 
 Pretext. Lat. prcetexo, prcEtextiim, to 
 cover over, overspread, to cloke, excuse, 
 pretend. 
 
 Pretty. Dapyr or pratie, elegans. — 
 Pr. Pm, The analogies usually suggested 
 are not satisfactory. There is too great 
 a difference in meaning to allow us to re- 
 gard the word as the equivalent of G. 
 prdchtig, stately, splendid. Nor does It. 
 pretto, pure, unmixed, give a much better 
 explanation. The radical meaning seems 
 to be that of Fr. piquant, agreeably pro- 
 voking, making a strong impression on 
 our taste ; qui plait, qui touche extreme- 
 ment ; beaut^ piquante. — Gattel. 
 
 It IS shown under Proud that the blurt 
 of the mouth expressive of defiance is re- 
 presented by the interjections trut ! prut! 
 from the former of which are formed G. 
 irotzen, to pout like a child, to defy ; Bav. 
 
 trdtzen, to provoke one, lacessere, irritare ; 
 then (as G. reizend, charming, from reizen, 
 to irritate, provoke, charm), trutzig (nett, 
 zierlich, artig, mignon), pretty. 
 
 In like manner, from the interjection 
 pnit / are formed G. protzen, to sulk ; 
 Protzig, insolent, saucy ; Du. pratten, 
 superbire, ferocire. — Kil. From the no- 
 tion of insulting we readily pass to that of 
 irritating, provoking, and thus the E. 
 pr a ty, pretty, the equivalent oi G. protzig, 
 would acquire its actual signification in 
 the same way as has been shown in the 
 case of Bav. ti'utzig. 
 
 Thus spurred and rendered desperate by the 
 irresistibly provocative prettiness of Catherina. — 
 TroUope, Marietta, 2. 55. 
 
 It is a strong confirmation of the fore- 
 going derivation that it enables us to ex- 
 plain a meaning of pretty apparently at 
 total variance with the common one ; 
 pretty, crafty. — Hal. ON. pretta, to de- 
 ceive. N. pratta, Sc. prat, prot, a trick. 
 The notion of provoking or teasing natur- 
 ally leads to that of playing tricks upon 
 one, then deceiving him. 
 
 Prevaricate. Lat. prcBvaricari ; a 
 term of Roman law, to act dishonestly in a 
 cause, to promote the interest of the side 
 for which you are engaged, to shuffle, to 
 work by collusion in pleading, properly to 
 walk crookedly. Varus, crooked, awry. 
 
 Prey. Lat. prceda, Bret, preiz, Fr. 
 proie. The original meaning is shown 
 in w. praidd, a flock or herd, prey taken 
 in war, which in early times would con- 
 sist mainly of cattle. Gael. sprHdh, cat- 
 tle ; Sc. spreith, prey, plunder. ' A party 
 of Camerons had come down to carry a 
 spreith of cattle, as it was called, from 
 Morray.' — Abernethy. 
 
 Thai folk were all that nycht sprethand, 
 Thai made all thairis that thai fand. 
 
 Wyntown. 
 
 Price. Lat. pretitim, w. prid, Bret. 
 prtz, Fr. prix. 
 
 Prick. — Prickle. Du. p7-ik, a prick 
 or stab ; w. pric, a skewer ; Ptg. prego, 
 a tack or small nail, the sharp horn of a 
 young deer ; pregar, to nail, fix, stick. 
 Sw. prick, point, spot ; prickig, spotted. 
 Pl.D. prikken, prikkeln, prokeln, to pick, 
 stick ; anprikken, to stimulate, set on. 
 w. procio, to thrust, to stick in. Gael. 
 brog, to goad, to spur ; Fr. broche, a spit; 
 brocher, to stitch. 
 
 To Prick. To prick along is probably 
 not from spurring the horse but moving 
 sharply forwards. * I pycke me forthe 
 out of a place, or I pycke me hence : je 
 me tire avant.' — Palsgr. 
 
PRIEST 
 
 Priest. OFr. prestre, Lat. presbyter, 
 from Gr. Trptfr^vrepoc, elder. 
 
 * Prim. The word seems to repre- 
 sent the pursing up the mouth of a per- 
 son, keeping a careful watch on their 
 words. On the same principle is formed 
 Sc. mint, prim, demure, prudish. — Jam. 
 * The peer pridefou body cam miminiti^ 
 an' primpin' ben the fleer.' — Banff, dial. 
 Sc. primp, to deck oneself out in a stiff 
 and affected manner ; priuipit, stiff in 
 dress and demeanour ; primsie, demure, 
 precise. It may probably be the latter 
 word which was intended by ' iheprefizie 
 Angelo,' in Measure for Measure. Isabella 
 has just been speaking of the * outward- 
 sainted deputy,' and his * settled visage.' 
 
 Prime. — Prim.ary . — Primate. — Pri- 
 mitive. h2Lt. pr<x, in front, before ;/;7i5'r, 
 former ; prifnus, first, as Gr. 7rp6, Trporjpog, 
 TrpwToc. Lith. pirm, before, pirmjatis, 
 sooner, rather ; pinnas, the first. Gr. 
 TrptV, before. 
 
 To Prime. The priming of a gun is 
 the last dressing or trimming which fits 
 it for immediate service. To prime, to 
 trim up young trees. — Forby. Apriniing- 
 iron, a pruning-knife. — Minsheu. The 
 original meaning of prnne is to dress or 
 set in order, and the priming of a gun 
 was c?i\\td pruning. It. granita polvere, 
 corn-powder, prztning, or touch powder. 
 — Fl. See Prune. 
 
 Primrose. Prymerose, primula. — Pr. 
 Pm. Lat. primula veris, Fr. primevere, 
 the earliest conspicuous flower of spring. 
 The element rose is added in the E. 
 name as the type of flower in general. 
 
 Princ e. — Princip al . — Principle. 1 1. 
 principe, prince, prence, Lat. princeps, 
 prince, leader, beginner, chief; princi- 
 pium, beginning, first taking ; from capio 
 and the element prim or prin, before. 
 Lith. pirm, before ; pirmgalas, forepart ; 
 pirjjtgimys, first-born. See Prime. 
 
 Print. Prcente, effigies, impressio. — 
 Pr. Pm. It. imprenta, Fr. empreinfe, 
 print, stamp, impression. — Cot E7n- 
 preindre, from Lat. imprimere, as craindj-e 
 from cre7nere (XxeraQxe), geindre iromge- 
 mere. 
 
 Prior. See Prime. 
 
 -prise. Lat. prehendere, Fr. prendre, 
 to take ; pris, taken ; prise, a taking. So 
 from Lat. apprehendere, Fr. apprendre, 
 appris, to learn, to teach, and thence E. 
 apprise, to make known to one. So also 
 Fr. comprendre, compris, E. to comprise, 
 or contain ; Fr. entreprendre, -pris, to 
 undertake, E. enterprise, an undertaking. 
 
 To Prise. To prise a box open is to 
 
 PROCTOR 
 
 495 
 
 force it open by leverage, from Fr. prise, 
 a taking, seizing, any advantage — Cot., 
 what enables one to hold, a purchase in 
 nautical language. Manx prise, a ful- 
 crum ; as a verb, to raise by lever on a 
 fulcrum. — Cregeen. On the other hand 
 in Wiltshire to brise is to use force. If 
 one wants an overfull box to shut, the 
 direction is to brise upon it. — N. and Q., 
 September 3, 1870. 
 
 Prism. Gr. xp/w, to saw ; 7rpiV/xa, 
 anything sawed, sawdust, a geometrical 
 prism. 
 
 Prison. It. prigione, Yr. prison, from 
 Lat. prehensio, prensio, seizure. Sp. pri- 
 sidn, seizure, capture, confinement, pri- 
 son, prisoner. In OE. also prison was 
 commonly used for prisoner. 
 
 Pristine. hsX. pristinus, ancient, be- 
 longing to former times. See Prime. 
 
 Private, -prive. Lat. privtis, sepa- 
 rate, single, particular, one's own ; privo, 
 to take away, to deprive ; privatus, de- 
 prived of, also appropriated, peculiar, 
 one's own. 
 
 Privilege, Lat. p^-ivilegium, a law 
 affecting particular persons, a private law. 
 
 Prize. Two words seem to have been 
 confounded. i. from Lat. pretiutn, Fr. 
 prixy the price, value, worth of things, 
 also the prize, reward, or honour due to 
 the best deserver in a justs, &c. — Cot., 
 and 
 
 2. Fr. prise, a taking, seizing, booty, or 
 prize. De bonne prise, good or lawful 
 prize, also full ripe, fit to be cropped, 
 gathered, or taken. — Cot. Et s'ils prieg- 
 nent riens des enemys de roy ou d'autres 
 qiconques, qu'ils tiele prise feront amener 
 en le dit port, et ent ferront pleine infor- 
 mation a dit conservator. — Stat. 2 H. V., 
 c. 6. 
 
 Pro-. Gr. Trpo, before. Lat. pro, for, 
 before, in comp. in place of, for, as pro- 
 noun, what stands y^r a noun. 
 
 Probable.— Probate. — Probity. Lat. 
 probus, good ; probo, to make good, to 
 deem good or approve. See To Prove. 
 
 Probe. Cat. proba, Fr. dprouvette, an 
 instrument of surgery to try the depth of 
 a wound, from Lat. probare, to try. Prov. 
 Prova, a probe, a sounding-line. The Sp. 
 name of the implement is tienta, from 
 Lat. tentare, to try. 
 
 Problem. Gr. trpo^Xrwua ; Trpo, in front, 
 (3d\\(o, to cast. 
 
 Procrastinate. Lat. procrastinare, to 
 put off to the morrow ; eras, to-morrow ; 
 crastinus, belonging to the morrow. 
 
 Proctor. See Proxy. 
 
496 
 
 PRODIGAL 
 
 Prodigal. 'Lzii. prodigus, irom prodigo, 
 to lavish. 
 
 Prodigy. Lat. prodigium^ a thing 
 monstrous. 
 
 Profane. Lat. pro/anus; pro, away 
 from, and/anum, a temple, fane. 
 
 Profile. It. porjilo, a border in arm- 
 oury, a purfle or worked edge, a profile ; 
 also used for the superficies or surface of 
 anything. — Fl. Fr. pourjil, a. man's out- 
 ward lineaments, the middle line of his 
 face.— Cot. Properly the outline of the 
 face. It.yf/^, line, edge. 
 
 Profit. Lat. proficio, -fectinn, to help 
 on, further, advantage, to proceed or go 
 forward ; profecttis, It. profetto, Fr. profit, 
 profit, advantage, increase. 
 
 Profligate, hal. fiigo, to dash down ; 
 profiigo, to put to flight, to ruin ; profii- 
 gatus, ruined, debauched, wicked. 
 
 Profound. Lat. profundus, deep, 
 having the bottom {fundus) far down. 
 
 Prog. Prog is what is got by prog- 
 gi7ig, as the provisions in a beggar's bag, 
 and is thence applied to victuals taken to 
 be consumed on a journey or the like. 
 While spouse tucked up does in her pattens 
 
 trudge it, 
 With handkerchief oi progX^kR trull with budget. 
 Congreve in R. 
 
 To Prog". To use all endeavours to 
 get or gain. — B. Da, prakke, to get by 
 importunity. At prakke sig jfrem i wer- 
 deti, to get on in the world by hook or by 
 crook. Prakker, a beggar. N. prakka, 
 to scrape together, to molest ; prakkar, 
 a miser, a pedlar. Sw. pracka, to make 
 shifts, to shuffle, to beg. Pracka tilsam- 
 fnan, to scrape together, get by hook or 
 by crook ; pracka pd, to fob off ; pracka 
 ihop ndgot, to patch up a piece of busi- 
 ness. Prack, meanness, huckstering, 
 beggary, bungling ; prackare, a vagabond, 
 beggar, broker, huckster, bungler. Du. 
 pragchen,prachen,iog?i.\n by sordid means, 
 to scrape up, to cheat, to beg ; pracher, a 
 niggard, usurer, miser, beggar. There 
 can be little doubt that the foregoing are 
 identical with E. prag, prog. 
 
 O neighbours, neighbours, first get coyne 
 Firste hardlye pragge the purse. — Drant, Horace. 
 
 He married a light huswife who stealing that 
 money which for many years before he had been 
 scraping together by his progging2>Xi^ necessitous 
 tricks and shifts. — Wood, Ath. Oxon. in R. A 
 proguing knave. — B. and F. 
 
 The word is commonly referred to Lat. 
 procurator, an attorney or proctor, a per- 
 son a main part of whose business coa- 
 sisted in calling in money, and recovering 
 dues of a more or less oppressive nature. 
 
 PROP 
 
 He was thus a very unpopular character, 
 and was made the type of discreditable 
 dealing. 
 
 The fogging proctorage of money. 
 
 Milton in Worcester. 
 
 It would seem that the OE. contractions 
 prokeior, prokecy, for procurator, procu- 
 racy, and Gael, procadair, a law agent, 
 pracadair, a collector Qi\y\}s\QS,procadair- 
 eachd, advocacy, pleading, importunity, 
 might vulgarly have been felt as if de- 
 rived from a root, prock or prack, to ad- 
 vocate, to importune. And thus we may 
 explain OE. prokkyn, or styffly askyn, 
 procor, procito — Pr. Pm., as well perhaps 
 as Sc. prig, to importune, to haggle. 
 Gael, (locally) prac, small tithes, dues. 
 
 Prolific. \jaX. proles, offspring. 
 
 Prolix. 'LzX.prolixus (explained from 
 pro and laxus, slack), long, lengthened, 
 tedious. 
 
 Promenade. Fr. mener, to lead, to 
 move ; promener, to walk, to lead out. 
 Je le pourmenerai, I will keep him stir- 
 ring, will find him work enough. — Cot. 
 Se promener, to go out for pleasure or 
 exercise ; promenade, a walk. Lat, mino, 
 to drive cattle. ' Prominare jumenta ad 
 lacum.' — Appian. 
 
 Promiscuous. Lat, promiscuusj pro, 
 and inisceo, to mingle. 
 
 Promontory. Lat. promontorium j 
 pro, in front, mons, a mountain. 
 
 Prompt. Lat. promo, promptum, to 
 draw forth, bring out, lay open ; promptus, 
 drawn forth, ready. 
 
 Promulgate. Lat. promulgare, to 
 publish abroad, explained as \iiox provul- 
 gare, from vulgus, the people ; to lay be- 
 fore the public. 
 
 Prone. Lat. pronus, bending forward, 
 inclined. 
 
 Prong. The point of a fork, in the S. 
 of E. a pitchfork. Prongstele, the handle 
 of a hay-fork. — Hal. Yxovcv prog, synony- 
 mous '^I'Cciprod, to prick. Sussex sprong, 
 spronk, stump of a tree or of a tooth. 
 
 Prop. Sw. propp, a bung, stopper, 
 cork, wadding ; proppa, to stop, ram, 
 cram ; Du. p7'op, proppe, a stopper, also 
 a support ; proppen, to cram, to support. 
 — Kil. Piedm. broba, bropa, a. vine prop, 
 stake for supporting vines. Walach. 
 proptea, a prop, support ; propti, to prop, 
 to lean on. 
 
 The radical meaning seems to be pre- 
 served in E. brob, to prick with a bodkin 
 — Hal., a parallel form with^r^^ or brode. 
 From the notion of pricking we pass to 
 that of thrusting in, cramming, or to that 
 
PROPAGATE 
 
 of thrusting upwards, supporting. Com- 
 pare Lang, pounchar^ to prick or sting ; 
 pounche, Yx. poiiital, a support, prop. It. 
 puntare, to prick, puntello, a prop. 
 
 Propagate. \jaX.propago, to spread as 
 a tree at the top, to multiply and increase ; 
 propago, -inis, a vinestock cut down for 
 the sake of shooting out afresh, a shoot 
 or cutting, a race, stock, or lineage. 
 
 Proper. — Proprietor. Lat. proprius, 
 one's own. 
 
 Prophet. Gr. Trpocpnrrjg ; irpo, before- 
 hand, ^///x«, to say, speak. 
 
 Propinquity. Lat. prope, near by ; 
 propinqu2is, near at hand, neighbouring. 
 
 Propitious. Lat. pi-opitius^ favour- 
 able to. 
 
 Prose. Lat. prosa, simple discourse, 
 opposed to metre. Explained from /r^r- 
 siis {pro-versiis), straight. 
 
 Proselyte. Gr. trpoaiikvTog, from Trpoa- 
 Ipyo/iat, -jjX0ov, to come over to. 
 
 Prosody. Gi . Trpocry^ta ; irpoq and ^^j;, 
 a singing. 
 
 Prosper. — Prosperous. 'LaX. prosper, 
 fortunate ; Gr. Trpoo-^Epw, to bring to, to 
 add ; Trpoacpopog, serviceable, profitable. 
 
 Prostrate. Lat. s/erno, stratum, to 
 strew or spread ; prostenio, to lay flat, to 
 cast down. 
 
 Proto-. Gr. Trpo, before ; comp. irpb- 
 Ttpog, earlier ; superl. TrpCJTog (for irporaTog, 
 irpnaTog), first. 
 
 ProtocoL- Fr. protocole, Gr, Trpwro- 
 KoWov, a Byzantine term applied to the 
 first sheet pasted on a MS. roll, stating 
 by whom it was written, &c. Subse- 
 quently applied to notarial writings. Gr. 
 KoWcii^, to glue, paste. 
 
 Protuberant. Lat. protuberare ; pro, 
 before, and tuber, a swelling. 
 
 Proud. — Pride. The blurt of the 
 mouth expressive of contempt or de- 
 fiance is represented by the interjections 
 Ptrot ! Prut ! Trut ! Putt ! Tut ! Twish ! 
 some of which forms have been retained 
 in one of the European languages and 
 some in another. OE. ptrot! scornful 
 word, or trut! vath ! — Pr. Pm. Prut I 
 ON. putt ! interjection of contempt ; Fr. 
 trut I tush, tut, fy man; trut avant / a 
 fig's end, on afore for shame. — Cot. From 
 the form trut the G. has trotz, scorn, 
 bravado, arrogance ; ei?iem trotz bieten, 
 to defy one ; das kmd trotzt, the child 
 pouts, is sullen ; trotzig, huffing, swag- 
 gering, proud, insolent. In like manner, 
 the form prut produces protzen, to show 
 ill-will or displeasure by a surly silence 
 (to pout) ; protzig, insolent, snappish, 
 saucy— Kiittn. ; Hesse, brotzen, to pout 
 
 PROW 
 
 497 
 
 or thrust out the lips from ill-will ; brotze, 
 brotzmaul, prutsche, a pouting mouth, 
 projected lips ; briid, priits, priitsch, 
 Swiss briitsch, Du. prootsch, preutsch, 
 proud ; pratten, to pout ; prat, proud, 
 arrogant ; Pl.D. prott, apt to give short 
 and surly answers. — Danneil. OF., prute, 
 proud. 
 
 The Manuel des Pecchds treating of 
 Pride takes as first example him who 
 defies the reproofs of his spiritual father, 
 and says 
 
 Prut ! for thy cursyng, prest. — 1. 3016. 
 
 ON. at pruttd a hesta, to pop to a horse 
 to make it go faster. The different forms 
 of the interjection representing a blurt 
 with the lips may be compared with 
 Magy. ptrusz,prusz, triisz, w. tis, sneeze. 
 We say that a thing is not to be sneezed 
 at, meaning that it is not to be despised. 
 
 -prove. — Prove. — Proof. Lat. probus, 
 good ; probo, to make good, to show the 
 soundness of a thing, to prove, also to 
 find good, to approve ; also, as It. p7^o- 
 vare, to try, to use means that must 
 make manifest the goodness or deficiency 
 of a thing. Reprobo, Fr. reprouver, to 
 reject on trial, to find bad, to rep7'ove or 
 reproach one with his fault. To improve, 
 to make better. 
 
 Provender. — Prebend. Lat. prcB- 
 benda, -orum (from prcebeo for prce-hibeo, 
 to hold forth, supply, provide), the ration 
 or allowance of food for a soldier, was 
 applied to the allowances for monks and 
 canons in monasteries. ' Centum clericis 
 pauperibus prcpbendam panis, piscis et 
 vini concedebat.' ' Fratres amavit, prce- 
 betidam auxit.' — Due. The word became 
 in Yr. provende, and corxu^xXy provendre 
 (whence E. provender), a ration of food 
 either for man or beast. Provendre, 
 benefice ecclesiastique. — Roquef. 
 
 Se il ne s'en amende — manjust sols et 
 perde sa provende de vin, jusqu' alors qu'il 
 ait fait satisfaction et amende. — Regie de 
 St Bernard in Roquef. Du. provende, 
 provisions. 
 
 In process of time the term was appro- 
 priated to the benefices of the canons or 
 dignitaries of a cathedral. ' Et in Remensi, 
 Cameracensi et Leodiensi ecclesiis be- 
 neficia quae \\x\go prcebefidcB dicuntur ob- 
 tinuit.' — Due. 
 
 Province. Lat. provincia. 
 
 Provost. OFr. provost, O. probst. 
 From Lat. prcepositus, set before. 
 
 Prow. Lat. prora, It. proda, Fr. 
 proue, the fore part of a ship. Pol. 
 przod, fore part ; przod okretu, frotit of 
 ship, prow. Naprzod ! forwards ! 
 32 
 
498 
 
 PROWESS 
 
 Prowess. Lat. probus, good, sound, 
 became Cat. pro us, Pro v. pros, good for 
 its purpose, Fr. preux, valiant, loyal, 
 worthy, discreet, ready. — Cot. Adverb- 
 ially p?0H, much, greatly, enough. — Cot. 
 Cat. pro batre alcun, prob^ percutere 
 aliquem. — Diez. It. buon pro vi faccia, 
 Fr. bon prou leur face, much good may 
 it do them. oe. prow, profit, advantage. 
 In long abydyng is full \y\.y\prow. — MS, in Hal. 
 
 The general quality of goodness is 
 typified by valour in a man and virtue in 
 a woman. Preud^ homnie (Mid.Lat. /r^- 
 biis homo), a valiant, faithful, discreet 
 man ; pretide feinme, a chaste, honest, 
 modest, discreet matron. — Cot. 
 
 Las donas eissamen an pretz diversamens, 
 Las Unas de belleza, las autras deproeza : 
 
 thus women also have different excel- 
 lencies, some in beauty, and others in 
 virtue. — Rayn. 
 
 But reference being commonly made 
 to the quality as exhibited in men, Fr. 
 prouesse. It. prodezza (with an intrusive 
 d to prevent hiatus, as in Lat. prodest, 
 Prodesse), Vrov. proheza, 'E.. prowess, came 
 in general to signify valour or valorous 
 deeds. 
 
 Praefatus heros post mfimias probitaies. 
 
 Orderic. Vit. in Due. 
 
 * To Prowl. — ProU. The derivation 
 from a supposed Fr. proieler, to seek 
 one's prey, is extremely doubtful. The 
 older way of spelling is proll, and even 
 purl, in Pr. Pm. I prolle, I go here and 
 there to seke a thynge, je tracasse. — 
 Palsgr. 
 
 Though ^Q prolle aye, ye shall it never find. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Proximate. Lat. prope, near ; comp. 
 propior ; superl. proximus (for propsi- 
 mus), nearest. 
 
 Proxy. "LzX.. procurator, an advocate 
 or attorney, was cut down in Sc. to pro- 
 cutor, and in E. io proke lor, proctor ; and 
 procuratio, Du. prokuratie, an authority 
 or warrant of attorney, was curtailed in 
 like manner to prokecy, proxy. Proke- 
 ioure, procurator ; prokecye, procuratio. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 * Prude. Properly a woman who 
 keeps men at a distance, treats their 
 offers with contempt ; 2i proud g\r\. Du. 
 preutsch, prootsch, proud ; een preutsch 
 meisje, a prude ; preutschheid, prudery. — 
 Bomhoff. Swiss brutsch, stolz, sprode, 
 proud, cold, disdainful. Compare ein 
 sprodes mddchen, a shy, coy, or capricious 
 girl, a prude. — Kuttn. 
 
 PSALM 
 
 Prudent. Lat. pi'udens, contr. from 
 providens. 
 
 To Prune. — Proin. To prune or 
 proin is for a bird to dress her feathers 
 with her beak. 
 
 Skartis (cormorants) with thare bekkis 
 Forgane the sun gladly thaym prunyeis and bekis. 
 D. V. 131. 46. 
 
 The signification, however, is not confined 
 to the case of a bird, but is extended to 
 the notion of dressing or trimming in 
 general. 
 
 I wald me prcin plesandlie in precious wedis. 
 
 Dunbar. 
 
 A special application of this idea gives 
 the ordinary sense of prune, to dress or 
 trim trees. The priming or pruning of a 
 gun (as it was formerly called) must be 
 understood as the dressing or trimming 
 of the implement, giving it the last touch 
 necessary to fit it for immediate service. 
 The origin seems to be ON. prjon, Sc. 
 preen, pritt, a pin or knitting-needle, from 
 the notion of picking or arranging nicely 
 with a pointed implement. 
 
 He kembeth him, \iQ proinethYAm and piketh. 
 Merch. Tale. 
 
 Fr. eschargotter, to pruine a tree, to pick 
 any thing round about. — Cot. So also 
 Sc. prink, signifying to prick, is also used 
 in the sense of decking. Prinked (Ex- 
 moor), well-dressed, fine, neat. — Grose. 
 They who prink and pamper the body, and neg- 
 lect the soul. — Howell in Todd. 
 
 To pick, to dress out finely. — Hal. Prick- 
 medainfy, one who dresses Jn a finical 
 manner.— Jam. 
 
 On the same principle Du. prie7Jt, a 
 pin or bodkin, seems to be the origin of 
 primcy to prune or dress trees. To prime, 
 to trim up young trees.— Forby. Prim- 
 ing-iron, as pruning-iron, a knife for 
 pruning. — Minsheu. A person carefully 
 dressed is said to be tire a quatre epin- 
 gles. 
 
 Prurient. Lat. prurio, to itch, to feel 
 strong desire. 
 
 To Pry. To peep. I pike or prie,]e 
 pipe hors. — Palsgr. Perhaps identical 
 with Sc. prieve,preif,pree, to prove, taste, 
 try. 
 
 Nae honey beik that ever I did pree 
 Did taste so sweet and smervy unto me. 
 
 Ross's Helenore. 
 
 Possibly however it may be a modifica- 
 tion oiO'E.pire or peer, to peep. 
 
 Psalm. — -Psaltery, Gr. TrtraX/ioe, from 
 ■KaaXXw, to play on a stringed instrument, 
 whence TraaXrrjpiov, an instrument of that 
 description. 
 
PSEUDONYM 
 
 Pseudonym. Gr. ■J/ivSdJwfioQ, falsely 
 named ; \ptvSog, a lie, and ovofia, a name. 
 
 Psha. — Pshaw. The interjections 
 pisk ! and psha ! are different ways of 
 articulating the sound/j-/^, by introducing 
 a vowel between the consonantal sounds 
 in the one case, and subsequent to both 
 in the other. See Pish. 
 
 Puberty. — Pubescence. Lat. pubes, 
 the signs of manhood, the hair that grows 
 on the body at the approach of manhood ; 
 piibertas, youth. Pubescence (pot.), down 
 on plants. 
 
 Public. — Publican. — Publish. Lat. 
 piiblicus (from populus^ people), belong- 
 ing to the people ; publico, Fr. publier, 
 to publish or make public. 
 
 Puce. Flea-coloured ; Fr. puce, It. 
 puke, Lat. pulex^ pullcis, a flea. 
 
 Puck. See Pug. 
 
 Pucker. To pucker is to make pokes, 
 to bag. Fr. poche, the pucker or bagging 
 of an ill-cut garment. — Cot. It. saccola, 
 saccoccia, a pouch, pocket, also any puck- 
 ering or crumpling in clothes ; saccolare, 
 to bag, to pucker. — Fl. 
 
 Pudder. — Podder. — Pother. D is- 
 turbance, confusion, confused noise ; to 
 pudder, pother, to confound, perplex. 
 
 The image immediately suggested by 
 the word is a thickness of the air imped- 
 ing the sight and damping the vital powers, 
 from whence the signification is extended 
 to the confusion of the hearing and under- 
 standing by the conflict of sounds. 
 
 — such a smoke 
 As ready was them all to choke, 
 So grievous was the pother. — Drayton. 
 They were able enough to lay the dust and 
 pudder in antiquity which he and his are apt to 
 raise. — Milton. 
 
 The resemblance to powder is merely 
 accidental, and pudder is probably a pa- 
 rallel form with Da.. piudre, 'E.. puddle, to 
 work up clay and water together ; piuther, 
 mire (Whitby Gl), or with E. blunder, to 
 stir and puddle water, to make it thick 
 and muddy. — Hal. Compare also to 
 muddle, to dabble like ducks in the dirt, 
 also to confuse, perplex. Da. ^xsX. pulse, 
 to stir up water ; puis, pudder or thick- 
 ness of the air or water from smoke, dust, 
 fog, &c. See Puzzle. 
 
 If the radical sense of the word be a 
 confusing noise we may comp. G. polte?'n, 
 to make a noise, in Bav. to disturb, trou- 
 ble. ' Sie wollten frey und ungepoltert 
 von andern leuten seyn.' 
 
 * Pudding. Fr. boudin, Piedm. bodin, 
 Pl.D. budden, pudden (Schiitze), pudde- 
 wurst (Brem. Wtb.), properly the gut of 
 
 PUDGY 
 
 499 
 
 an animal stuffed with blood and other 
 materials, w. poten, belly, pudding. 
 
 The radical image may be lump or 
 round mass, then something stumpy, 
 short and thick, protuberant, swelling, 
 E. pod, a protuberant belly ; poddy, round 
 and stout in the belly (Hal.); Sc. pud, a 
 fat child; ^.Y.. puddly, fat (Craven Gl.) ; 
 Northampton puddy, thick-set j Pl.D. 
 puddig, thick (Brem. Wtb.) ; Wall, 
 s'boder, to swell ; bodi, rabodi, stumpy,, 
 short and thick ; boudenn, belly, navel 
 (Sigart) ; bodenn, prominent belly, calf of 
 leg (Remade) ; OFr. boudine, navel ; 
 Piedm. bodero, bodila, a paunchy, thick- 
 set man ; Lang, boudougna, boudijla, to 
 swell ; boudena, to burst with fat ; boudoli, 
 a short and thick person ; Castrais bou~ 
 doul, bouzolo, the belly. 
 
 Puddle. 7^0 puddle iron is to stir a 
 portion of melted iron with a bar in a re- 
 verberatory furnace until it becomes vis- 
 cous, G. butteln, buddeln, to poke or root 
 about in earth, ashes, &c. ; aschenputtel,- 
 one who pokes about in the ashes. — San- 
 ders. 
 
 Puddle, a plash of standing water left 
 by rain, a mixture of clay and water. 
 Formed X'ik.Q. paddle {xov(\ a representation 
 of the sound of dabbling in the wet. Du. 
 poedele, to dabble in water. — Overyssel 
 Aim. Fr. dial, patouiller, to paddle ; 
 patouille, puddle, dirty water, liquid mud, 
 slops of water. — Jaubert. In these imi- 
 tative forms an initial p or pi are used 
 with great indifference. Pl.D. pladdern, 
 to paddle or dabble in the water ; Dan. 
 pluddre, to work up peat and water to- 
 gether, to puddle. The derivation of 
 Lat. palud\ marsh, from the same root, is 
 somewhat obscured by the insertion of a 
 vowel between the p and /. 
 
 Pudgy. ,! Soft like mire ; then, as soft 
 materials fall back upon themselves and 
 are ill-adapted for a slender structure, 
 short and thickset. Pudge or podge, a 
 puddle. ' The horse-road stood m pudges, 
 and the path was hardly dry.' — Clare. 
 * And littered straw on all the pudgy 
 sloughs.' — lb. Banff, pudge, punch, a 
 thickset person or animal, anything short 
 and stout of its kind. Northampton 
 pudgell, gudgell, a puddle ; gudgy, short 
 and thick. Podge, to stir and mix to- 
 gether ; porridge, a cesspool.— Hal. Sw. 
 puss (Da. puds), a puddle ; picssig, fat, 
 bloated. Litet pussigt och fett barn, a 
 little ///<^y child. Bav. bdizen, to dabble 
 in something soft ; batzen, botzen, a lump 
 of soft materials ; batzig, sloppy, soft, 
 clammy; Hesse, batsch, wet, dirty weather. 
 32 * 
 
500 
 
 PUERILE 
 
 Westcrwald, batscJi j(ox the sound of plash- 
 ing or tramping in the wet ; batsch, mud, 
 dnt, puddle. G. patsch / represents the 
 sound of a blow with the flat hand, or of a 
 fall upon the soft earth or in the water, or 
 the plashing sound of water. Pitsch, 
 putsch gcht das ruder, splash goes the 
 oar ; pitschpatschnass^ thoroughly wet. 
 "Ex patschte ihm das wasser ins gesicht. — 
 Sanders. Hence patsch, the soft pudgy 
 hand of a child ; also mud, mire, puddle. 
 
 Puerile, Lat. puer, a child. 
 
 Puerperal. Lat. puerpera, a woman 
 that has just brought forth ;/«<?r, a child, 
 pario, to bring forth, produce. 
 
 To Puff. To blow in an intermittent 
 way, thence to swell. It. buffare, to puff, 
 blow hard, bluster ; Fr. bonffer, to puff, to 
 swell. A puff, a blast of wind, anything 
 of a swollen airy texture. Du. poffen, to 
 blow, fill the cheeks, swell, brag. 
 
 The sound of blowing is very generally 
 represented by the syllable pu, usually 
 with a terminal consonant. ON. pua, to 
 breathe upon, to blow ; Sw. pusta, to 
 breathe, blow, pant, to take breath ; Lith. 
 pukszti, to pant, snort ; pusti, to blow, 
 breathe, snort ; Fin. puhua, puhella, 
 puhkia, to blow, breathe, pant ; Boh. 
 pitch, a breathing ; puchnauti, to swell ; 
 Russ. putchitsya, to swell ; Serv. puati, 
 to blow ; piialka, a bellows ; Turk, piifla, 
 to blow ; Magy. pitffadni, to swell, puf- 
 fmini, pufogni, pufolni, to puff ; Malay 
 puput, to blow ; Maori puka, to pant ; 
 puku, to swell ; Sc. to pec' h, to puff, pant. 
 Now mon they work and labour, pech and pant. 
 Magy. pihegni, to breathe hard, pant ; 
 pihelni, to breathe ; pihes, panting. 
 
 ♦ Pug. — Puck, o^.poiike, devil. 
 
 The heved fleighe fram the bouke 
 The soule nam the helle-pouke. 
 
 Arthur and Merhn. 
 
 om.puki, goblin ; Sw. ^xdl.puke, devil, 
 goblin, scarecrow ; Ir. puca, goblin ; Sw. 
 spoke, ghost, goblin, scarecrow. 
 
 Essentially the same with bttg, w. bwg, 
 an object of terror, ghost, hobgoblin. Russ. 
 pugaf, to terrify ; pugalo, a scarecrow. 
 
 Then, as an ugly mask is used for the 
 purpose of terrifying children, the term 
 ptig was applied to a monkey as resem- 
 bling a caricature of the human face. 
 Sw. boogg, bogk, a frightful mask, ugly 
 face. The Ptg. term coco, a bugbear, hob- 
 goblin, was applied to the cocoa-nut from 
 the resemblance to a monkey's face at 
 the base of the fruit. A pug-dog is a dog 
 with a short monkey-like face. 
 
 Pugilist. Lat. pugil, Gr. Truy/taxoc, 
 
 PULLET 
 
 a fighter with the fists ; ttvK, with clenched 
 fist ; Trvyfit], Lat. piignus, the fist ; png.'o, 
 a dagger. From the element shown in 
 Pungo,p7cpHgi, to stick, prick. 
 
 Pug-mill. A mill for working up clay 
 for bricks. ViTssi. piikke, to pound ore be- 
 fore melting. E. dial, to pug, to strike ; 
 pug, a thrust ; to puggle, to poke the fire. 
 — Hal. Pol. puk ! the noise of a blow ; 
 Puk, knock, rap, tap. 
 
 Pugnacious. Lat. pugno, to fight. 
 See Pugilist. 
 
 Puisne. — Puny. Fr. pJiisrJ, since 
 born, younger brother. Puisne, and in an 
 Anglicised iovm puny, wqyq. formerly used 
 in the general sense of junior, but with 
 the exception of puisne, or junior judge, 
 the use is now confined to the metaphori- 
 cal sense of ill-grown, poor of its kind. 
 
 If any shall usurp a motherhood of the rest, 
 and make them but daughters axid. punies to hef, 
 she shall be guilty of a high arrogance and pre- 
 sumption. — Bp Hall in R. 
 
 Puissant. Fr. puissant, powerful ; 
 formed as if from a participle possens, 
 from Lat. posse, to be able. 
 
 To Puke. G. spucken, to spit ; Magy. 
 pok, spittle. 
 
 To Pule. Yx.piauler, to peep or cheep 
 as a young bird, to pule or howl as a 
 young whelp.— Cot. To make the cry 
 represented by the syllable piau, as mi- 
 auler, to mewl, to make the cry repre- 
 sented by 7niau, mew. G. pauen, Sc.pew, 
 to pule, to cheep as a chicken. 
 
 To Pull. A parallel form with pill, 
 signifying originallyto pick. V\.T>.pulen, 
 to pick, nip, pluck. To pull garlick, to 
 peel or pill it. The sounds of i and u 
 often interchange. A Glasgow man pro- 
 nounces which, whuch; pin, pjm. In 
 other parts to put is pronounced pit, and 
 on the same principle Du. put, a well, 
 corresponds to E. pit. In OE. we had 
 rug and rig, the back ; hulle ^.nd hill; 
 cuth and kith, acquaintance ; luther and 
 lither, bad, &c. From the present root 
 we must explain 'Dn. puele,pole. It. pula, 
 the husks or hulls, the strippings of corn, 
 and perhaps Lat. polire. It. pulire, to 
 clean or polish, properly to pick clean. 
 The slang expression of polishing off a 
 bone shows the natural connection of the 
 two ideas. PI. D. upp den knaken piilken, 
 to pick a bone. With an initial s, Lat. 
 spoliare, to strip ; spoliuin, what is strip- 
 ped off, as the skin of an animal, the 
 arms of an enemy overcome in battle. 
 See To Pill. 
 
 Pullet. See Poultry. 
 
PULLEY 
 
 Pulley. Fr. potilie, It. poliga, OE. 
 polive, poliff^ polein. 
 
 Ther may no man out of the place it drive, 
 
 For non engine of windas ox polive. 
 
 Squire's Tale. 
 Poleyne, troclea. — Pr. Pm. Sc. pullisee, 
 pidlishee — Jam., Cat. politxa (politsha), 
 pulley ; Du. paleye, a frame for torture, a 
 pulley. 
 
 The names of the goat and the horse 
 were very generally applied to designate 
 mechanical contrivances of different kinds 
 for supporting, raising, or hurling weights, 
 or for exerting a powerful strain. Thus 
 G. bock, a goat, is used for a trestle, saw- 
 ing-block, fire-dogs, rack for torture, 
 painter's easel, windlass, or crab for 
 raising weights. Fr. chevre^ Lang, crabo, 
 a she-goat, signify a crane; crabo, also 
 trestles or sawing-block, a plasterer's 
 scaffolding. — Diet. Castr. From the same 
 source are derived OSp. cabreia, Pro v. 
 calabre, a catapult ; Ptg. cabre, calabre, a 
 rope or cable; Sp. cabria, Fr. cabre, a 
 crane ; cabria, also an axle-tree ; cabrio, 
 cabriol, a beam or rafter. 
 
 The series taking their designation 
 from the horse comprise Fr. chevalet, a 
 pair of sawing trestles, a rack for torture, 
 a painter's easel ; Lat. cantherius (pro- 
 perly a gelding or pack-horse), a rafter or 
 vine-prop, and thence Fr. chantier, a vine- 
 prop, sawing-block, stocks for a ship, 
 stand for a cask ; Sp. potro, a colt, rack 
 for torture, frame for shoeing horses ; Fr. 
 poutre, a beam ; Fr. poidain (colt), a 
 sledge for moving heavy weights, a dray- 
 man's slide for letting down casks into a 
 cellar, or other contrivance for that pur- 
 pose ; the rope wherewith wine is let 
 down into a cellar, a pulley-rope — Cot.; 
 giving rise to OE. poleyn, above-mention- 
 ed. Sp. Polm, a wooden roller for moving 
 heavy weights on ship-board. The Prov. 
 poll, Lang, pouli, a colt, agree with Fr. 
 poulie, while Piedm. pold, a colt, coincides 
 with Sp. polea, Ptg. pole, a pulley. In 
 like manner Yx.poliche ox poidiche,z.^y, 
 explains Cat. politxa, and Sc. pullishee, 
 a pulley, as well as Lang, poulejho, the 
 wipe of a well. It. poliga must be re- 
 garded as an analogous form, from which 
 we pass to OE. polive, as from It. doga to 
 Fr. douve, a pipe-stave. 
 
 The figure of a colt is so commonly 
 used to express a support of one kind or 
 another, that li. poltra,2i conch, poltrona, 
 an easy-chair, may perhaps be identified 
 with poltra, a filly, instead of being de- 
 rived from G. polster^ as commonly ex- 
 plained. 
 
 PUNCH 
 
 5or 
 
 Pulmonary. Lat. pulmo, -onis, the 
 lungs. 
 
 Pulp. Lat. pulpa, the fleshy part of 
 meat, pith of wood. Gdicl.plub, sound of 
 a stone falling into water ; as a verb, to 
 plump, plunge into water ; a soft lump ; 
 plubaiche, lumpishness. 
 
 Pulpit. Lat. pulpitum, a scaffold, 
 stage, desk. 
 
 -puis-. See -pel. Repulse ^ Impul- 
 sio7i, &c. 
 
 * Pulse. Grain contained in a shell 
 or pod, as peas and beans. Fulls, the 
 chaff of peas. — Hal. Probably the pi. 
 of Du. puele, pole, pelle, peule^ peascod, 
 shell, — Kil. Petd, peascod ; peulvrucht, 
 pulse, leguminous plant. — Bomhoff. Pel^ 
 shell, pod ; peul, peas. — Halma. From Du. 
 pellen, Y.. pill, pull,j)eelj V\.I}.pulen, to 
 pick. 
 
 Pulverise. \jaX. pulvis,pulveris, dust. 
 
 Pumice. Lat. pumex. 
 
 To PummeL See Pommel. 
 
 Pump. Fr. pompe, ON. pumpa, G. 
 pumpe, in vulgar language //«?;z/^. Lith. 
 pluittpa, plumpas. Rightly referred by 
 Adelung to the idea of splashing. The 
 sound of something heavy falling into 
 the water is represented in G. by the syl- 
 lable //?/;/z/, whence plumpen, to splash, 
 to beat the water with a pole in fishing ; 
 plump-stock, the pole employed for such 
 a purpose. Pianperi, wv\g2ix\y phwipett, 
 to pump. In CoxrvN2i\\ plump is a pump 
 or draw-well, to plufnpy, to churn, an act 
 in which a plunger is driven up and down 
 in an upright vessel like the piston in a 
 pump. BsLXiK. piump-kirn, the common 
 churn. Pl.D. pump, pumpely a pestle ; 
 pumpeln, to pound. 
 
 Pumpkin. See Pompion. 
 
 Pun. A play upon words, possibly, 
 as Nares suggests, from OE. ptm, to 
 pound, as if hammering on the word. 
 
 Punch. — Puncheon, i . Punch, a short, 
 thick fellow, a stage puppet. — B. Banff. 
 pudge, punch, a thickset person or animal, 
 anything short and stout of its kind. 
 Northampt. puddy, pudgy, punchy ^ short 
 and thickset. — Mrs B. 
 
 I did hear them call their fat child punch, which 
 pleased me mightily, that word having become a 
 word of common use for everything that is thick 
 and short. — Pepys. 
 
 BdiV. punzen, a short thick person or 
 thing ; punzet, thick and short. From 
 signifying something short and thick it 
 seems to have been applied to a barrel or 
 cask, and thence to the belly. 'B^.v.panz, 
 ponz, punz, -eft, a cask ; bautzen, panzl, 
 belly. Carinthian/rt';/5'^, a cask, and (con- 
 
S02 
 
 PUNCH 
 
 temptuously) the belly, a child, li. pim- 
 soney Yr. poinson, a puncheon. 
 
 Punch seems to be a nasalised form of 
 pndge^ as G. pantsch of the synonymous 
 patsch, mire, puddle, or niantsh of matsch, 
 mire. Pantschen, to paddle, dabble in 
 the wet ; also to strike a sounding blow. 
 The signification of something short and 
 thick must be explained on the same 
 principle as in the case of Pudgy. But it 
 may be from the connection which causes 
 so many words signifying a blow to be 
 used also in the sense of a lump or knob, 
 as in the case of bunch. 
 
 The fact that punch already signified a 
 short thick man probably led to the con- 
 version of Pulcinella^ the little hump- 
 backed puppet of the Italians, \n\.oPunch- 
 inello^ now cut short to Punch. 
 
 2. The well-known beverage, said to 
 be from YWnAxa panch^ five. 
 
 At Nerule is made the best arrack or Nepo da 
 Goa, with which the Enghsh on this coast make 
 that enervating liquor called pounche (which is 
 Hindostan for five), from five ingredients. — 
 Fryer, New Account of E. I. and Persia, 1697. 
 
 The drink certainly seems to have been 
 introduced from India. 
 
 Or to drink palepuntz (at Goa), which is a 
 kind of drink consisting of aqua vitae, rosewater, 
 juice of citrons, and sugar. — Olearius, Travels to 
 the Grand Duke of Muscovy and Persia, 1669. 
 
 To Punch. I. To punch with the fist 
 or the elbow, to strike or thrust. Bim- 
 chynge^ tuncio.- — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To boiinche or pusshe one ; he buncheth me 
 and beateth me, il me pousse. — Palsgr. He came 
 home with his face all to bounced, contusa. — 
 Plorm. 
 
 PID. bu?7isen^ bunsen^ to knock so that it 
 sounds. See Bounce. G. pantsche?i, to 
 strike a sounding blow. ' Den dritten 
 panscht er auf den bauch.' — Sanders. 
 Cimbr. punke7i, to punch with the fist ; 
 punk, fiancata, a punch in the ribs. Swiss 
 bunggen, to give blows, especially with the 
 foot or the elbow. 'B?iV. pumsen^ piimbsen, 
 to sound hollow, strike so that it resounds. 
 Dan. dial, pundse, to butt like a ram. 
 
 2. It. ptinzacchiare, punsellare, to 
 punch, push, shove, justle, prick forward, 
 goad ; punzone, a sharp-pointed thing, 
 bodkin, pouncer or pounce, ox-goad ; 
 punzonare, to pounce, make pouncing 
 work ; Fr. poindre, to prick, spur, incite ; 
 poinson, a bodkin, a stamp, puncheon. 
 Prikkyn ox punchy n, as men doth beestis, 
 pungo. — Pr. Pm. ^^. punchar, punzar, 
 to prick, sting, punch ; punzon, a punch, 
 puncheon, a pointed instrument used by 
 artists. Lang, pjounchar^ to prick, to 
 
 PURFLE 
 
 sting ; pounche, Yx. pointal, a support, 
 prop ; pouncho, point of a pin ; pounchon, 
 a sting, goad. Du. pontsen, ponssen, to 
 punch. 
 
 Punctual. — Puncture. — Pungent. 
 Sec Point. 
 
 Punish. Lat. punire, Fr. punir, punis. 
 
 Punt. A flat-bottomed boat. Du. 
 pout, a ferry-boat, broad flat boat ; navi- 
 gium quo amnes trajiciuntur loco pon- 
 tium. — Kil. Fr. ponton^ a ferry-boat, 
 pontoon. 
 
 Puny. See Puisne. 
 
 Pupil. Lat. pupa, a young girl, a doll, 
 whence the dim. piipilla, an orphan fe- 
 male child, the apple of the eye ; pupus, 
 a small child {xxxdAo), pupillus, an orphan, 
 ward. 
 
 Puppet.— Puppy. It. pupa, puppa, 
 a child's baby, puppy, or puppet to play 
 withal. — Fl. Fr. poup^e, a baby, a pup- 
 pet, or bable ; the flax of a distaff; poupes 
 de chenilles, bunches of caterpillars. Du*. 
 pop, a puppet, doll, young baby. The 
 radical meaning, as in the case of doll, 
 seems simply a bunch of clouts. Du. 
 pop, popje, cocoon or nest of caterpillars ; 
 pop aa?i een schermdegen, the button on 
 a foil ; brand-pop, a bunch of tow dipped 
 in pitch to set a house on fire. Magy. 
 biib, a bunch or tuft ; buba, a doll. 
 
 It is from the obsolete sense of a doll, 
 and not in the modern one of a young 
 dog, that the term puppy is applied to a 
 conceited, finely-dressed young man. In 
 the same way, Du. pop is applied to a 
 flaunting girl. — Bomhoff. 
 
 Purblind. Pure -blind, altogether 
 blind, or else simply blind, just blind, 
 able to see a little. In the former sense 
 it is used by R. G. 
 
 Me ssolde pulte out bothe hys eye and make him 
 purblynd. — p. 376. 
 
 Purblynde, luscus. — Pr. Pm. Du. puur^ 
 pure, simple, only ; puursteken, alto- 
 gether ; puursteken blitid, altogether 
 blind ; puur willens, with hearty good 
 will. Sw. dial, purblind, totally blind. 
 Comp. G. rei7i, pure, clean ; rein-blind, 
 -taub, -toll, -voll, totally blind, deaf, &c. 
 — Dief. in v. ragin. The sense of par- 
 tially blind is a softening down in a man- 
 ner similar to that in which we say, ' Oh, 
 he is quite blind; he cannot see across 
 the street.' 
 
 Purchase. Fr, pourchasser, eagerly 
 to pursue, thence to obtain the object of 
 pursuit ; \\.. procacciare, to shift or chase 
 for, to procure. — Fl. See Chase. 
 
 Purfle. — Purl. Ornamental work 
 about the edge of a garment. It. porfilOy 
 
PURGE 
 
 the profile or outline of a person's face, a 
 border in armoury, the surface or super- 
 ficies of anything, any kind of purfling 
 lace ; por/ilare, to overcast with gold or 
 silver lace ; Yr. potir/iler, to purfle, tinsel, 
 or overcast with gold thread, &c. — Cot. 
 ■E.purl (contracted oi piirfle),2i kind of 
 edging for bone lace.— B. Sc. pearling, 
 lace. 
 
 Purge. — Purgative. Lat. purgare, 
 to cleanse ; from ptirus, clean. 
 
 Purify. — Puritan. h^X. purus, clean. 
 
 To Purl. Du. borrelen, to bubble, to 
 spring as water. 
 
 Betres lay burlyng in hur blode. 
 
 Florence of Rome, 1639. 
 
 — ^with the blood bubbling forth. 
 Swab, burren (of the wind), to roar. G. 
 perlen, to bubble. Sw. porla, to simmer, 
 bubble, murmur, rumble, gurgle. 
 
 Purlieu. Land which having once 
 been part of the royal forest has been 
 severed from it by perambulation {pour- 
 all^e, OYx.puralee) granted by the Crown. 
 The preamble of 33 E. I. c. 5 runs — 
 
 * Cume aucune gentz que sount mys hors de 
 forest par la puralie — aient requis a cest parle- 
 ment qu'ils soient quites — des choses que les 
 foresters lour demandent.' 
 
 In the course of the statute mention is 
 made of terres et tenements deaforestds 
 par la piirali. These would constitute 
 the purlieu. A purlieu or purlie-man is 
 a man owning land within the purlieu 
 licensed to hunt on his own land. 
 
 To Purloin. To make away with. 
 Purlongy7i or put far away, prolongo, 
 alieno. — Pr. Pm. Purloigner^ to prolong 
 (a truce). — Lib. Custom, 166. Fr. loin, far. 
 
 Purport. OFr. pourporter, declarer, 
 faire savoir. — Roquef The simple por- 
 ter, to carry, is used in a similar sense. 
 Les lettres d'aujourd'hui portent que, 
 &c., bring news, announce that, &c. The 
 import of a deed is what it signifies or 
 carries in it. 
 
 Purpose. OFr. pourpe?tser, to be- 
 think oneself, a word afterwards sup- 
 planted by proposer, to purpose, design, 
 intend, also to propose, propound. — Cot. 
 For all his purpose, as I gesse, 
 Was for to maken great dispence. 
 
 Chaucer, R. R. 
 
 In the original the word \s pourpens. 
 T>G.2.yNQ\X. purpensed, ex insidiis precogitatis. 
 Leg. Gul. L 
 
 Pourpos, design, resolution. — Roquef. 
 
 Purpresture. An encroachment or 
 enclosure out of the common property, a 
 taking part of it into one's own possession. 
 Fr. poii7p7'endre, -pris, to possess wholly I 
 
 PUSS 
 
 503 
 
 (Cot.), investir, envelopper, usurper, oc- 
 
 cuper. — Roquef. 
 
 Quand je vis la place porprendre, 
 Lui et sa gent de toutes parts. 
 
 Powprins, possessed on every side, fully 
 held ; pourpris, pourprissure, an in- 
 closure, a close. 
 
 To Purr. Represents the sound made 
 by a cat. G. murren, schnurren. 
 
 Purse. Fr. bourse. It. borsa, Sp. bolsa, 
 a purse. Gr. ^hpoa, Lat. bursa, a hide, 
 skin, leather. 
 
 To Pursue. — Pursuivant. Fr. pour- 
 suivre, in Berri poursuir, to pursue, to 
 prosecute ; poursuivant, a suitor, suer ; 
 — d'armes, a herald extraordinary, a bat- 
 chelor in heraldry, one that's like to be 
 chosen when the place falls. — Cot. See Sue. 
 
 Pursy. OE. Purcyfe, short-winded or 
 stuffed about the stomach, pourcif. — 
 Palsgr. It is singular that the more 
 modern ioxras poulsif, poussif, should be 
 truer to the origin, 'LdJi. pulsare, ¥y. poul- 
 ser, pousser, to beat or thrust. There is 
 so much analogy between the action of 
 the lungs and the pulse of the heart that 
 we need not be surprised at finding Prov. 
 polsar used in the sense of breathe or 
 pant. — Raym. Hence Fr. potisse (in 
 horses), broken wind, choke-damp in 
 mines ; poussif, short-winded. It. pul- 
 sivo, panting, also pursy, short or broken- 
 winded ; pjilsare, to pant, to beat. — Fl. 
 Lang, poulsa, to take breath ; Du. bul- 
 sen, pulsare et tussire. — Kil. Swiss biilze, 
 to cough.— Idiot. Bern. 
 
 Purtenance. See Appurtenance. 
 
 Purulent. — Pus. — Suppurate. Lat. 
 pus,puris, Gr. ttvov, Sainscx. puya,pfiya?ta, 
 discharge from a sore, matter. Doubtless, 
 like putris, from the foul smell. See 
 Putrid. 
 
 Purvey. Fr. pourveoir, to purvey or 
 provide. Lat. providere. 
 
 Purview. The provisions of an act of 
 Parliament. Yx. pourvu, provided. 
 
 To Push. Yx. poulser, pousser, to push, 
 thrust ; hdX.pulso, to push, strike, beat ; 
 It. bussare, to knock. 
 
 Pusillanimous. Lat. pusus, a little 
 boy ; pusillus, little, insignificant ; ani- 
 mus pusillus, a faint heart. 
 
 Puss. Du. poes, PI. D. putts, puusmaUy 
 puuskatte. Originally a cry either to call 
 or to drive away a cat, from an imitation 
 of the noise made by a cat spitting. G. 
 pfuchzen, to spit like a cat. Serv. pis / 
 cry to drive away, Alban./zj-j- / to call a 
 cat ; pisso, puss, cat in nursery language. 
 Lith. puz, puiz {z = Fr. j), cry to call a 
 cat ; puize, puss. 
 
504 
 
 PUSTULE 
 
 Pustule. 'L:i\..pNsu!a,fiusfiiia, a blister, 
 swelling, pimple, pock. The equivalent 
 of Gr. ^uffaXi'c, a bladder, bubble, from 
 0v<Trtw, to puff, to blow. Lett. pUschlis, 
 a bladder ; Pi7st, to blow. Da. pitste, to 
 blow ; puse, to swell up. The image of 
 blowing is represented in a very wide 
 range of languages by the syllable pu 
 or/u. 
 
 To Put. Properly to push or poke. 
 'Q-x.putte, to put, put into, put away. Fr. 
 bouter^ to thrust, put, bud, to put forth 
 leaves. It. buttare, to cast, fling; botta,. 
 a stroke, w. pwtio, to poke, thrust ; E. 
 dial, to pote, poit, to poke. In OE. there 
 is frequently an intrusive /, /«//, as in 
 joli compared -with. Jot. 
 
 -pute. — Putative. Lat. puto, to cast 
 in one's mind, to reckon, think. Hence 
 computOj to reckon together, to sum up ; 
 dispiito, to cast one's thoughts in oppo- 
 sition to another ; imputo^ to reckon to 
 one ; reputo, to consider, to think and 
 think again. Putativus, supposed. 
 
 Putrid. — Putrefy. Lat. puteo, to 
 stink ; putidus, stinking ; thence puter 
 or putris, piitridus, rotten, corrupt. Gr. 
 TTwOw, TTUffw, to rot. Sanscr. pu^ stinking ; 
 putij putika, putrid, stinking ; pily, to 
 putrefy, to stink. Lett. pi7t, to rot. 
 
 The interjection pu ! or fu ! repre- 
 sents the exspiration with closed nose 
 by which we reject an offensive smell. 
 Sp. pu ! exclamation of disgust at a bad 
 smell ; excrements of children. — Neum. 
 Pl.D. ///.'' apu! interj. by which child- 
 ren express their disgust at anything 
 stinking or nasty. Dat is apu., that is 
 nasty. lla.pu/t, wie stank der alte mist ! 
 — Sanders. Russ. fu / fie ! fukaty, to 
 detest, to huff (i.e. blow) at draughts. 
 Lett, piist^ to puff, to blow. See Fie ! 
 Faugh ! 
 
 Puttock. A kite. It. bozzago^ a buz- 
 zard. 
 
 QUACK 
 
 Putty. A pasty mass composed of 
 powder of metallic oxides and oil used 
 for fastening glass in windows, stopping 
 holes in carpentry, &c. Fr. pottle, a 
 glazier's putty, also in foundries the mix- 
 ture of clay and horsedung used for 
 moulds ; pot^e d'^m^ril, the pasty residue 
 of emery and oil arising from the grind- 
 ing of precious stones. The essential 
 meaning is something of a pasty nature, 
 from Lat. puis, put lis, pap, whence It. 
 poltiglia, Milan, poltia, pap, poultice, 
 batter, also mud, slime, especially that 
 which comes from the sawing of stones ; 
 spoitij, as potde d'dmdri, also mud from 
 the grindstone. Mason's putty is a pasty 
 material used for filling cavities. ' The 
 interior of the bed was filled with fine 
 mason's putty, consisting of lime and 
 stonedust.' — Report on Holborn Viaduct, 
 Dec. 17, 1869. 
 
 To Puzzle! "To confuse, bewilder. 
 A figure taken from the puddling or 
 troubling of water, the sound of dd and 
 zz before / easily interchanging, as in 
 fuddle and fuzzle, inuddle and muzzy. 
 Puzzle-headed and muddle-headed are 
 synonymous. 
 
 Something sure of state, 
 HcXth puddled his clear spirit. — Othello. 
 
 In the same way blunder, signifying 
 originally to trouble water, is used meta- 
 phorically in the sense of confound. 
 
 To shuffle and digress so as by any means 
 whatsoever to blunder an adversary. — Ditton 
 in R. 
 
 Pygmy. Gr. Trvyfxalog, from irvyfxrj, a 
 measure of length, from the elbow to the 
 knuckles. 
 
 Pyramid. Gr. -jrvpafilg, from the form 
 taken by the flame of a fire ; rrvp, fire. 
 
 Pyre. Gr. Trvpa, a funeral pile. 
 
 Pyrites. — Pyro-. Gr. irvp, -og, fire ; 
 TrvpiTijQ (Xi^og, stone), a stone which 
 strikes fire. 
 
 a 
 
 Q,uack. — Cluacksalver. The salving 
 of wounds was so generally taken as a 
 type of the healing art, that no reason- 
 able doubt can be entertained of the 
 meaning of the latter element in G. quack- 
 salber, Du. kwakzalver, kwakzalfster, E. 
 quacksalver. The import of the element 
 quak is not so clear. It has usually 
 been explained as having reference to 
 
 the noisy outcry with which the quack- 
 salver or mountebank (G. marktschreie?') 
 vaunts his wares. 
 
 Seek out for plants with signatures 
 To quack <j^universal cures.— Hudibras. 
 Du. kwak, a jest, or story. De kwak- 
 zalver vertelde aardige kwakken, the 
 mountebank told them funny stories. — 
 P. Marin. But when we look to the 
 
QUACK 
 
 dialects of the north of Europe, where 
 the word seems to have originated, we 
 are led to a different explanation. 
 
 Du. guakkelen, Pl.D. quackeln, seem 
 to be parallel forms with G. quackeln, 
 wacheln, wankeln, E. quaggle (Hal.), 
 waggle, expressing in the first place the 
 agitation of liquids, and then wavering, 
 splashing, spilling, dabbling, bungling, 
 babbling. 
 
 In the sense of wavering, G. guackeln, 
 to waggle, waver (Kiittn.), Pl.D. quakkel- 
 haftig, wavering, inconstant ; Du. quak- 
 kelen^ to freeze and thaw by turns, to vary- 
 in health, to be an invalid ; qjtakkel- 
 winter, a mild winter ; quakkel-ziekte, a 
 slight indisposition. Pl.D. Ik Icier mi an 
 keen qtcakkeln^ I stand no trifling, I go 
 my own way. The sense of splashing, 
 dabbling, spilling, is seen in Pl.D. ver- 
 quakkeln, to waste one's money on trifles ; 
 Du. quakkelgeld, money for small ex- 
 penses ; qiiak, a slop, drop of liquid left 
 in a glass, a trifle ; quacken, quackelen, 
 dissipare, profundere (Kil.) ; Da. qiiakle, 
 to dabble, bungle, deal in what one does 
 not rightly understand. Qiiakleri i land- 
 bruget, i Isgekonster, dabbling in farm- 
 ing, in medicine. Kicsrlingqiiakleri, old- 
 wives' doctoring ; forquakle, to spoil by 
 unskilful management ; f. en sag, sin hel- 
 bred, to bungle a business, to spoil one's 
 health by quackery. N. kvakla, to bungle, 
 botch. Sw. qjiackla^ quacksalwa^ to drug, 
 to physic; q. vied sig, to take too many 
 slops, to take a great deal of physic to 
 little purpose — Widegren : quacklande, 
 too much medicine, quackery, charlatan- 
 ery. — Nordforss. 
 
 The original meaning of qiiacksalver 
 would thus be a dabbler in medicine, an 
 idea expressed also (although from a dif- 
 ferent metaphor) by the Du. synonym 
 lapzalver, a bungler in medicine, pro- 
 perly a cobbler of the body, from lappen, 
 to patch, to botch, or mend clumsily. 
 We may compare also Bav. batzig, soft, 
 clammy, sloppy ; batzen, to handle ma- 
 terials of such a nature ; batzeln, to dab- 
 ble in medicines, to doctor oneself. Du. 
 kladdefi, to dawb, dabble ; klad-salver, 
 a quack. 
 
 To duack. To make a noise like a 
 duck or frog. Aristophanes represents 
 the croaking of a frog by the syllables 
 Koa^, Koa%. Lat. coaxare ; G. quacken, 
 quacksen, to croak like a frog ; Lith. 
 kwaketi, kwaksetz, to croak, quack, cluck, 
 gaggle. 
 
 duadr-. Q,uadri-. duadru-. In 
 Lat. compounds, like quadrangle, quad- 
 
 QUAIL 
 
 S05 
 
 riiped, &c., from quatuor, four. Quad- 
 rant, the quarter of a circle ; Lat. quad- 
 rafts, the fourth part. Quadrooti, Fr. 
 quarteron, one a fourth part a negro. 
 
 To duaff. / quaught, I drink all out, 
 je bois d'autant.— Palsgr. In Scotland 
 a child is said to wacht when sucking so 
 forcibly as to swallow a considerable 
 quantity at once. Waught, a hearty 
 draught. 
 
 Cou'd your skill 
 But help us to a waught of ale, 
 I'd be oblig'd t' ye a' my life. — Ramsay. 
 
 To waucht, waught^ wauch, to drink 
 copiously. 
 
 Thay skink the wyne and waucht is cowpys full. 
 D. V. 210. 8. 
 Nather Lord nor Knicht he lute alane, 
 Except his coup war wachtit out alway. 
 
 Burne in Jam. 
 
 Thay wauchitai the wicht wyne. — Dunbar. 
 The forms above cited seem to represent 
 the sounds made in an eager draught of 
 liquid, as Sw. qudfwa, to choke, does the 
 sound of gasping for breath in choking. 
 Analogous forms are G. hauchen, E. huj^, 
 whiff', to draw the breath, waft, a draught 
 of air, Sc. waff", to blow ; the resemblance 
 in sound between the act of drawing 
 breath and of taking a draught of liquid 
 being witnessed by Sc. souch {ch gutt.), 
 sou/, to draw a deep breath as in sleep- 
 ing, Fr. souffler, to breathe, and G. saufen, 
 to drink deep ; soff, a draught, or gulp. 
 
 duag.— Quagmiro. Provincially gog 
 ^iXid gogjnire. Quaggle, a tremulous mo- 
 tion. — Hal. See Quake. 
 
 QuaiL Du. quackel. It. quaglia, Gri- 
 sons quacra, a quail, from the note of 
 the bird. Coturnices, quacoles.—G\. de 
 Reichenau. Du. quack en, to cry as a 
 quail ; Pl.D. quackeln, to tattle. Mid. 
 Lat. quaquila, Prov. quisquila, a quail ; 
 quilar, Sw. quillra, to pipe, to twitter. 
 Zulu quehle, expressive of a ringing 
 sound, partridge ; quali, the small wild 
 red pheasant, so called from its noise. 
 — Dohne. 
 
 To auaiL I. To curdle as milk.— B. 
 In s. s. It. quagliare, cagliare, Ptg. coal- 
 har, Fr. cailler, w. ceulo. It. quaglio, 
 gaglio, Du. quaghel, W. caul, Lat. coagu- 
 lum, rennet, the infusion used to curdle 
 milk. Of these the Lat. coagulmn, ren- 
 net, or curdled milk, derived from con and 
 agere, to drive together, is commonly 
 supposed to be the original. But the 
 word admits of a perfect explanation from 
 the Germanic root shown in E. dial, quag- 
 gle, a tremulous motion (Hal.), G. quac- 
 keln, to waver, on the same principle on 
 
5o6 
 
 QUAINT 
 
 which N. quap^ a soft gelatinous body, 
 soft fat or flesh, is derived from ON. gitapa, 
 to tremble. In like manner may perhaps 
 be explained E. curdle^ properly cruddle^ 
 from Prov. crotiar, OFr. crodler^ crosier, 
 to shake. Compare also Swiss hottern, 
 to shake, to jog, with Du. Jiot, hotte, 
 curds; Sc. hattit cream, clotted cream. 
 If we may judge from the words signify- 
 ing butter and cheese, the Latins seem to 
 have learned dairy operations from the 
 Germanic races, and coagiilian may be 
 an accommodation of the form qiiagel to 
 a Latin derivation, in the same way that 
 the G. butter was made to bear a refer- 
 ence to the animal from whence it was 
 produced, when adopted in Greek under 
 the form of j^ovrvpov, as if from jSovc, an 
 ox. 
 
 2. To quail, as when we speak of one's 
 courage quailing, is probably a special 
 application of quail, in the sense of cur- 
 dle. The bodily effect of fear or horror 
 being very similar to that of great cold, 
 these mental emotions are represented as 
 causing the blood to congeal or curdle. 
 
 Yet I express to thee a mother's care : 
 God's mercy, maiden, does it aird thy blood 
 To say I am thy mother? 
 To-day a mighty hero comes, to warm 
 Your curdling blood, and bid you Britons arm. 
 
 Garth. 
 The guilty man felt his heart curdle with terror. 
 — Love's Sacrifice, i. 266. 
 
 Mi s^agghiaccio il sangue per la paura, 
 my blood congealed with fear. So also 
 It. cagliare, Piedm. quaj^, to curdle as 
 milk, to begin to be afraid of one's adver- 
 sary, to quail in one's courage. — Fl. The 
 metaphor is carried still further in It. 
 cagliare, to hold one's peace ; Sp. callar, 
 to keep silence, to abate, become calm. 
 When somer took in hand the winter to assaile 
 With force of might, and vertue great, his stormy 
 blasts to quaile. — Surry in R. 
 
 We are apt to be distracted from the fore- 
 going explanation by Du. quelen, to pine 
 away, to languish, to fade. 'T gewas 
 qtceelt op het veld, the herb fades in the 
 field. De hoochste van het volck des 
 lants quelen : sink, are overcome. — Bible 
 in Weiland. Devonshire qiceal, to faint 
 away ; squeal, infirm, weak. But the re- 
 semblance is purely accidental, the latter 
 forms being from the pipy tones of a sick 
 person. Pol. kwilid, to pule, wail, whine, 
 lament, Du. quelen, quenen, gemere, lan- 
 guere, languore tabescere.— Kil. 
 
 duaint. Fr. coint, neat, fine, dainty, 
 trim.— Cot. Bret, koant, pretty. It. con- 
 iezzttj information, advertisement, know- 
 
 QUALM 
 
 ledge of, familiarity, acquaintance, also 
 quaintness, neatness, spruceness; conti- 
 gie, curious ornaments, quaint trimmings 
 used of women rather for grace and show 
 than for use. — Fl. Prov. co7ite, cointe, 
 coinde, conge, gracious, agreeable, pretty ; 
 coindansa, acquaintance, agreeableness ; 
 coitideiar, Fr. cointoier, to deck forth, 
 embellish, make oneself agreeable. It. 
 accontare, to acquaint or meet with. 
 
 Notwithstanding the singular agree- 
 ment with \jaX.comptus, trimmed, adorned, 
 the word must be derived either from Lat. 
 cognitus (as Diez supposes), or from G. 
 kund, kundig, known, acquainted with, a 
 sense in which Fr. coint was formerly 
 used. Dunt il ja bien fut cointe : of 
 which he was already informed. — Alexis 
 in Diez. The transference to the later 
 signification arises from the amenities 
 which grow out of civilised intercourse. 
 So from the equivalent as. cuth, known, 
 we have Sc. couth, couthy, familiar, agree- 
 able in conversation, pleasant, loving, 
 affectionate, giving satisfaction.— Jam. 
 
 A mankie gown of our own kintra growth 
 Did make them very braw and unco couth. 
 
 ON. kunnliga, comiter, familiariter. Un- 
 couth is the opposite of quaint j awkward, 
 revolting, displeasing. 
 
 To Quake.— duag. Forms repre- 
 senting broken sound are very frequently 
 used to signify broken movements, such 
 as the agitation of liquids or the quaver- 
 ing or shaking of things more or less soft 
 or loose. Thus Du. gagelen, to gaggle, 
 or make the harsh broken sounds of a 
 goose, Bret. ^^^<?V, to stutter, lead to Swiss 
 gageln, to joggle, gagen, to rock ; E. gog- 
 gle, to roll to and fro ; goginire, a quag- 
 mire or shaking bog. A slight modifica- 
 tion of the radical syllable gives Du. 
 quacken, to cry like a goose, frog, or quail 
 (Kil.) ; ON. quaka, quackla, to twitter as 
 birds ; E. dial, quaggle, quackle, to make 
 choking sounds in the throat (Nail, Dial, 
 of E. Anglia), from which we pass to G. 
 quackeln, to joggle, waggle, totter, E. 
 quaggle, a tremulous motion (Hal.), and 
 quake, to shake. Du. waggelen, G. wac- 
 keln, to jog, totter, shake, E. waggle, wag, 
 are essentially the same words with the 
 initial qu softened down to a simple w. 
 
 Qualify.— Quality. Lat. qualitas, 
 whatlike-ness, from qualis, whatlike, of 
 what sort. See Which. 
 
 Qualm. A feeling of sickness, fig. a 
 distressing thought suddenly coming over 
 us. 
 
 They sayed, our soul is qualmyshe over thys 
 
QUANTITY 
 
 meate— and is readye to caste it up agayne.— 
 Udal in R. 
 
 AS. ewe aim, cwylm, destruction, pesti- 
 lence, death. 
 Vol of syknesse, and of qualm and 'sorwe thys 
 
 lond was tho, 
 Of honker and of vuele (evil) geres.— R. G. 
 The radical image is shown in Dan. 
 giiiEle, to choke, offering a type of abso- 
 lute destruction when the breath is en- 
 tirely stopped, or of every degree of op- 
 pression from positive torture to mere 
 sickness of the stomach. Sw. qudlja, to 
 turn the stomach, produce sickness ; fig. 
 to grieve, torment ; qiial, torment, suffer- 
 ing, oppression of the chest, sickness ; 
 samwets-qual, remorse, qualms of con- 
 science ; dods qudlet, the agony of death ; 
 qualm, hot, stifling weather ; qiialmig, 
 qualmish, sickening. O. qualm, a vapour, 
 exhalation, thick smoke, properly a chok- 
 ing smoke ; qualmig, full of steam or 
 smoke. 
 
 Quantity. Lat. quantitas ; quantus, 
 how much. 
 
 To duap. — duave. — duaver. To 
 quap, to quake, pant, tremble. — B. To 
 quave, to have a tremulous motion. — R. 
 Earthquave, quavemire, earthquake, 
 quagmire. ON. quapa, Bav. quabeln, G. 
 qiiabbeln. Da. quabbre, to shake like a 
 jelly, or loose fat ; Du. quabbe, a dewlap, 
 from its quavering movement; Swab. 
 quabbe, a morass. To quaver with the 
 voice is to utter a shaking note, to rise 
 and fall in the musical scale, to speak un- 
 steadily. We have seen under Quake 
 the mode in which terms originally repre- 
 senting a broken sound are applied to 
 movements of analogous character. Now 
 it is matter of indifference in representing 
 an abrupt sound whether the syllable is 
 made to end with a guttural or a labial. 
 We use whap and whack indifferently for 
 a sounding blow, and so in Du. the sylla- 
 bles quap / or quak / represent the sound 
 of a sudden fall. Dat gaf eenen harden 
 qtiak I — Weiland. Quakken, to throw 
 down. Hee strukelden, en quap I daar 
 li 'e, he stumbled, and slap ! there he lay. 
 — Overyssel Almanach. Da. quoppe, 
 quabbe, to give a hollow sound like a blow 
 on an inflated body or a horse trotting. 
 
 Quarantine. Fr. quarantaine, a period 
 of forty days ; quaraiite, Lat. quadraginta, 
 forty. 
 
 duarrel. i. Fr. qtcerelle, quarrel, 
 broil, altercation. Lat. querela, com- 
 plaint ; queri, to complain. The repre- 
 sentation of the high tones of complaint 
 or anger by a root similar to that which 
 
 QUARRY 507 
 
 gives rise to the foregoing forms is widely 
 spread. G. quarren, to cry as children, 
 to grumble, wrangle. 
 
 Menschenfreundlich, nicht ein quarrer 
 1st der bibelfeste pfarrer. — Sanders. 
 
 ON. kurr, complaint, murmur ; Fin. ku- 
 rista, to speak in a high thin tone, to 
 complain, cry as a child ; kiristd, to cry 
 as a child ; kirid, querulous. 
 
 2. Fr. quarreau, a quarrel or boult for 
 a cross-bow, an arrow with a four-square 
 head. — Cot. 
 
 duarry. i. Fr. quarriere, carriere, a 
 place where stones are hewn for building ; 
 quarrieur, a quarrier, a hewer of stones 
 in quarries. 
 
 Mid. Lat. quadra, Fr. quaj're, anything 
 cut square ; G. quader, quaderstein, Prov. 
 caire, a stone squared for building ; Fr. 
 quarrer, to cut square. 
 
 2. Among falconers any game flown at 
 and killed. — B. In this sense the word 
 is from Fr. ctirSe, the entrails of the game, 
 which were commonly given to the dogs 
 at the death. Cur^e, a dog's reward, the 
 hounds' fees of, or part in, the game they 
 have killed.— Cot. Norm, couraie (Pat. 
 de Brai), It. curata, corata, corada, cora- 
 della, the intestines of an animal, heart, 
 liver, lungs, &c. From cor, heart. Corata, 
 intestini intorno al cuore. — La Crusca. 
 In the dialect of Lyons cora is the pluck 
 of an animal ; couree de mouton, fressure 
 de mouton. — Diet. Etym. Mid. Lat. co- 
 ralhun, OFr. corailles, intestines. — Due. 
 
 The word is written cuyei'ie by De 
 Foix in his Miroir de la Chasse, and was 
 imported into E. under the form of querre 
 or querry. The book of St Albans in- 
 structs us in ' undoing ' a hart to take 
 out 'the tongue and the brains, laying 
 them with the lights — the small guts and 
 the blood upon the skin — to reward the 
 hounds, which is called the querfy' — N. 
 & Q., May 9, 1857. To make a hawk to 
 the querre is to teach him to find his 
 game. In the following passage of Hey- 
 wood the word is clearly used in the 
 sense of the Fr. original : 
 
 Aye, but 't was at the querre. 
 Not at the mount hke mine : 
 
 i. e. at the distribution of the reward, 
 which was made at the close of the 
 chase. In the same sense must be ex- 
 plained a passage of Hollinshed, which 
 has been misunderstood by Nares. ' The 
 vii of Auguste was made a generall hunt- 
 yng with a toyle raised of foure or five 
 miles in lengthe, so that many a deere 
 was that day brought to the quarrie :' 
 
5o8 QUART 
 
 brought to the distribution, not to the 
 square {carr^e) or inclosure where the 
 animal was killed. Considered with re- 
 ference to the dogs, the cur^e or guerre 
 was the practical object of the chase, and 
 thus came to be applied to the game 
 killed. Defendre la cnr^e was to keep 
 the dogs from the game till it was pro- 
 perly prepared for them. And meta- 
 phorically soldiers are said to be en cnrtfe 
 when they have seized their quarry, or 
 are making valuable plunder. — Trevoux. 
 
 duart. — Cluarto. Lat. quatuor, four ; 
 guartus, fourth ; whence giiarty the 
 fourth part of a gallon ; guarto, a sheet 
 of paper folded in four ; guarter, a fourth 
 part, &c. 
 
 duarter. The conformation of our 
 bodily frame naturally leads us to divide 
 the horizon into four quarters, fore and 
 aft, right and left. Hence guarter is 
 taken as the type of position, or division ; 
 as when we ask a person what quarter he 
 is come from, or speak of a certain quar- 
 ter or division of a city. 
 
 In a more confined sense, guarfers, in 
 military language, is the special residence 
 appointed to particular army corps, or 
 even individuals. 
 
 Again, from signifying a definite posi- 
 tion the word is extended to the notion 
 of limitation, conditions. To keep guar- 
 ter is to keep within certain bounds, 
 limits, or terms. 
 
 They do best who if they cannot but admit 
 Love, yet make it keep quarter, and sever it 
 wholly from their serious affairs.* — Bacon in 
 Todd. 
 
 Friends all but now 
 In quarter and in terms, like bride and groom 
 Divesting them for bed, and then but now 
 Swords out and tilting one at other's breast. 
 
 ' Mr Wharton, who detected some hundred of 
 the bishop's mistakes, meets with very ill quarter 
 from his lordship : ' very ill conditions. — Swift in 
 Todd. 
 
 Clarendon speaks of ' offering them quarter 
 for their lives if they would give up the castle.' 
 
 Finally, to give guarter was used in an 
 elliptical sense for sparing life, keeping 
 within bounds, not proceeding to the ut- 
 most extremities. 
 That every one should kill the man he caught, 
 To keep no quarter. — Drayton in R. 
 
 duartz. G. guarze or guerze^ a name 
 formerly given to crystals forming in the 
 earth from the solution of disintegrated 
 elements, but now confined to crystal- 
 ized silex. Quarzchen von alaunj salz- 
 guarzey crystals of alum, of salt. — San- 
 ders. 
 
 To duash. Fr. gttasser, casser^ to 
 
 -QUEAN 
 
 crash in pieces, quash asunder, also to 
 casse, annul, abrogate. — Cot. Lat. guas- 
 sare, to shatter, dash to pieces, enfeeble. 
 Sp. cascar, to crush, break to pieces ; It. 
 casciare, to squash or crush flat ; accas- 
 ciare^ accastiare, to squash, to dash or 
 bruise together. G. guetschen, to quash, 
 crush, bruise. Imitative. See Cashier. 
 
 To duaver. See Quap. 
 
 duay. See Key, 2. 
 
 dueach. — dueachy. Queach is used 
 in two senses, the connection between 
 which is not very obvious, though imme- 
 diately derived from a common root. 
 The term is commonly applied by Dray- 
 ton to boggy unstable ground. 
 
 Whereas the anvil's weight and hammer's dread- 
 ful sound 
 
 Even rent the hollow woods and shook the 
 queachy ground. 
 
 Here the word is identical with the ele- 
 ment guick in guickmire, a quagmire 
 {\l'A\.),gutcksilver, ON. ^«/ir,mobilis, tre- 
 mens, and with the verb to guiche^ gueachy 
 guinch., to stir, to move slightly. — Hal. 
 
 In the second sense, a gueach is a plot 
 of land left unploughed because full of 
 bushes or roots of trees. — Forby. 
 
 All sylvan copses and the fortresses 
 Of thorniest queaches. — Chapman. 
 Here the radical idea is the spontaneous 
 growth of bushes and thorns by which 
 the land is infested, and the word is 
 identical with the name guickgrass, guitch 
 or squitch, the troublesome grass that 
 spreads over our corn-fields. Du. gueyck- 
 en, guicken, to breed ; Pl.D. gueken, to 
 propagate, guek, Du. gueek, Ditmarsh 
 gjdtsch, squitch. G. gueck is extended to 
 weeds in general. — Sanders. E. dial. 
 guickwood, thorns. — Hal. 
 
 ♦ duean. A disrespectful term for a 
 woman. 
 That stool, the dread of every scolding quean. 
 
 Gay. 
 
 Sc. guean, gueyn, a young woman ; a 
 sturdy gueyne, a hure-gueyne. Like 
 wench it has in itself no evil signification, 
 being merely the as. cwen, woman, wife, 
 queen, with the disrespectful quality im- 
 plied. When used in this way it was 
 very early marked by a difference of 
 spelling (and probably of pronunciation) 
 from gueen. 
 
 At churche in the charnel cheorles are uvel to 
 
 knowe. 
 Other a knyght fro a knave, other a queyne fro a 
 queene. — P. P. 
 
 Or prelate living jolily 
 Or prieste that halt his quein him by. 
 
 Chaucer, R . R. 
 
QUEASY 
 
 The word has met with a similar fate 
 in the cognate languages, and a still 
 wider distinction has in some cases 
 grown up between the original word and 
 the depreciatory application of it. Du. 
 quene, mulier vana, garrula, improba, 
 procax, et meretrix ; qiienen-kaap, ineptite, 
 aniles fabulae. — Kil. Da. qiiinde^ a wo- 
 man ; quind, a quean. ON. kona, a wo- 
 man, is still in some parts of Sweden 
 used in the original sense, but in ordi- 
 nary Swedish it signifies a worthless 
 wench or strumpet, while the word for 
 woman is qiiinna. See Queen. 
 
 * Q,ueasy. Sickish at stomach. — B. 
 Pl.D. quaos'n, to pick and chuse in eat- 
 ing ; verqtiaos'n, to spoil the fodder by 
 turning it over in so doing. — Danneil. 
 
 €lueen. as. cwen, woman, wife, queen. 
 * Abrahames cwenj' 'thes Caseres civen.' 
 Cwen-fugol, a hen-bird. Goth, qiiens, 
 queins, quins, woman ; ON. ko?ia, kitna, 
 in comp. quenn-, woman ; qtienndyr, fe- 
 male animal ; qicemikiiid, womankind. 
 Russ,, Boh. ze7ia, Pol, zona, Gr. -^wr], 
 Sanscr. jani, Pers. sen, woman. From 
 the root jan, Gr. ytv, to bring forth. 
 
 Q,ueer. It is singular that two cant 
 words, rum and queer, signifying good 
 and bad respectively, have both come to 
 be used in the sense of curious, out of 
 the common way, odd. Bene, good ; 
 quier, nought ; ken, a house ; quyerkyn, 
 a prison-house ; to cutte quyre whyddes, 
 to geve evell wordes. — Harman, Caveat, 
 A.D. 1567. 
 
 To duell. The primitive meaning of 
 the word is shown in Dan. qucele, to 
 choke, strangle, suffocate ; fig. to quell or 
 suppress. Quellyn or querkyn, sufifoco. 
 — Pr. Pm. Sw. qudlja, to oppress the 
 stomach, cause sickness. Det qudljer 
 mig, I feel sick, qualmish. Fig. to tor- 
 ment, distress ; qudlja sainwetet, to wring 
 the conscience \—ndgons rati, to violate 
 the rights of one. Qiidljas, to suffer, be 
 ailing, languish. AS. cwellan, acquellan, 
 OE, quell, to kill ; AS. cwellere, a killer, 
 manslayer, tormentor. In the same way 
 N. querka, to strangle, choke, to slay, 
 kill ; Sw. quafwa, to suffocate, strangle^ 
 suppress, tame, extinguish. 
 
 The origin of qucele, to choke, like 
 that of G. kehle, the throat, is to be found 
 in a representation of the guttural noises 
 made by a person choking. We repre- 
 sent by the syllable quawk the deep gut- 
 tural note of a raven, or the inarticulate 
 sounds of a person choking. 
 E'en roused by quaivking of the flopping crows. 
 
 Clare. 
 
 QUERN 
 
 509 
 
 Quawkened (made to cry quawk), almost 
 choked. — Mrs Baker. ON. quaka, to 
 sigh ; Pl.D. quakken, to groan. We have 
 then provincially to quackle, to interrupt 
 breathing, formed to express the inar- 
 ticulate sound then uttered (Forby), to 
 choke (Plal.). Hence forms like Lith. 
 kaklas, the neck, and contractedly (as E. 
 ^//rt:// compared with Y)\x.quacket),Y.s\kiQXi. 
 kael, kaal, the neck ; G. kehle, the throat. 
 In the same way E. Joll, jowl, chowl, 
 from AS. geagl, geahlas, throat, jaws. 
 
 To duench. as. cwincan, OFris. 
 kwinka, to waste away ; AS. cwenca?tf 
 acwencan, acwitian, to quench. The 
 radical image seems to be the whining 
 tone of a sick person, figuratively used to 
 signify the sick condition of the patient, 
 and thence a languishing, failing state, 
 gradual extinction. Du. quijneti, que- 
 ne?t, gemere, languere, languore tabes- 
 cere. — Kil. Pl.D. quinen, to wail, com- 
 plain, to be poorly. — Brem. Wtb. Dan. 
 tvine, to whine, whimper, to pine away ; 
 Sw. twina, to languish, to fade away, to 
 perish. AS. cwanian, to mourn, to lan- 
 guish ; watiian, to lament, bewail, also 
 to wane, to decrease. The final c, ch, of 
 AS. cwencaTi, E. quench, indicates a fre- 
 quentative form answering to ON. queinka, 
 to keep complaining ; E. dial. wJiinnock^ 
 intensitive of whinny, to whimper like a 
 child — Forby ; Bav. quenken, qtienkeln, 
 to whimper ; G. quengeln, to speak in a 
 whining tone of voice. 
 
 The verb signifying extinction of life 
 is subsequently applied to a flame from 
 the analogy between the subjects with 
 which we are so familiar. Thczt fyr 
 acquan wees, the fire was quenched. 
 
 To duerken. — Wherken. To choke. 
 Chekened or querkened. — Pr. Pm. Noid, 
 drowned, whirkened. — Cot. From the 
 guttural sounds made by a person chok- 
 ing. Lith. qtcarkti, G. quarken, to croak 
 like a frog. E. dial, to quej-k, to grunt, to 
 moan. — Hal. Querking, the deep slow 
 breathing of a person in pain, a tendency 
 to groaning. — Exmoor Scolding. Fris. 
 quarke, to breathe hard, to catch the 
 breath ; querke, to throttle ; querk, the 
 throat. — Outzen. In the same way from 
 quawk, representation of a guttural sound, 
 quawkened or quockened, almost choked. 
 — Mrs Baker. 
 
 To the same imitative root belong Fin. 
 kurkku, kulkku, the throat, chops, neck, 
 G. gutgel, Lat. gurgulium, the windpipe. 
 
 Q,uern. A handmill. Goth, quaernus, 
 AS. cweorn, OHG. quirn, ON. qztorn, a mill; 
 Lith. girna, Boh. zcrnow, millstone \ 
 
5IO QUERPO 
 
 Lith. gimos (pi.), Pol. zarna (pi.), hand- 
 mill. 
 
 Perhaps from the whirring sound of the 
 stone in turning. Du. quirren^ to creak, 
 G. kin-en, to make a shrill tremulous 
 sound ; w. chwyrn, whizz, snarl, whirl ; 
 OHG. quirnan, MHO. zwirnen, to whirl. 
 Sanscr. jtnta, tritus ; jri, to grind. 
 
 duerpo. Sp. ciierpo (Lat. corpus), 
 body, and specially the trunk of the body. 
 En cuei-po de caviisa, in his shirt-sleeves, 
 half dressed. En cuerpo, in his doublet, 
 without the cloak necessary to complete 
 the out-door attire. Hence /// querpo 
 was used by our writers of the 17th cen- 
 tury for in undress. 
 
 Boy, my cloak and rapier, it fits not a gentle- 
 man of my rank to walk the streets in querpo. — 
 B. & F. in Nares. 
 
 duert. Ease, quiet, safety. Queri or 
 whert, incolumis, sanus, sospes. To 
 make quarfulle, prosperare. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Bitwene the adder and the grehound 
 The cradel turned upsodown on ground — 
 The stapeles hit upheld all quert, 
 That the child n'as nowt ihert. 
 
 Seven Sages, 771. 
 
 Than was the king ful glad in hert 
 
 That thai were hale and in quert. — Ibid. 3862. 
 
 My life, my hele and all my hert, 
 My joy, my comfort and my quert. 
 
 Ywaine and Gawaine, 1488. 
 
 N. kvar, still, quiet, at ease. Haer asr saa 
 kvart og stilt. Kvare seg, kjtrt'e seg, to 
 set oneself to rest. ON. kyrr, tranquil. 
 At sitia um kyrt, to live quiet at home. 
 At kyrras, to grow calm. Ktcra, rest. 
 
 The origin would seem to be the cower- 
 ing attitude of a bird at rest. N. kti7'a, to 
 bow the head, rest, lie still, sleep. Kure 
 seg is said of birds when they put their 
 heads under the wing to sleep. 
 
 Q,uerulous. Lat. querulus, from qtie- 
 ror, to complain. 
 
 Q,uery. From Lat Qucere (seek, ask, 
 inquire), which is often used as a mark of 
 interrogation to call attention to a ques- 
 tion we are about to ask. It is doubtless 
 from this source that the mark of interro- 
 gation is derived, representing, as it un- 
 mistakeably does, the initial Q of Quaere. 
 
 -quest, -quisite. -quire. \.2.\.. qticEtv , 
 qucesitum, to seek, inquire. As in hi- 
 quest, Exquisite, Require, &c. 
 
 Quibble. To play with words, to 
 equivocate, to move as the guts do. — B. 
 A word of like formation with G. qnab- 
 beln, mentioned under Quap, but indicat- 
 ing (like quiver, compared with quaver) 
 a finer, quicker movement, by force of the 
 
 QUICK 
 
 thin vowel /. Bret, gwiblcn, a weather- 
 cock ; Gael, cuibhle, circular motion ; w. 
 chwip, a quick flirt or turn. See Quip, 
 Quirk. 
 
 duick. The analogy between sound 
 and movement is nowhere better illus- 
 trated than in the origin of quick, and the 
 numerous connected forms. The radical 
 image is a quivering sound, the represent- 
 ation of which is used to signify a quiver- 
 ing movement, and thence applied to 
 express the idea of life as the principle of 
 movement. G. quick ! quick ! quick ! are 
 used interjectionally to represent a sharp 
 shrill sound, as the squeak of a pig or a 
 mouse, the grating of a wheel ; gequickc, 
 gcquicks, gequietsch, squeaking, twitter. 
 ' Quieksen wie junge Eule.' * Ferkel 
 quictschen so.' ' Den quitschcndcft tonen 
 der violinen.' — Sanders. Silesian quick- 
 em, to titter. Bav. quitscher, quitschcrn, 
 to twitter, to creak ; der quicker, the chaf- 
 finch. With a nasal, Du. quincken, quinc^ 
 kclcn, quinckeren, to warble, quaver. 
 
 Then passing to the sense of move- 
 ment, to quick, to stir ; to quetch, to 
 budge or stir, to cry. — B. To quitsch^ 
 quench, quinc/i, to make a slight noise, to 
 stir, to flinch. — Plal. I quytche, I styrre 
 or move with my bodye, or make noyse, 
 je tinte ; I quynchc, I make a noyse, je 
 tinte. — Palsgr. ON. quika, to move ; 
 quiktri, a peg that moves to and fro ; 
 quiksandr, a quicksand. Du. quicken, 
 vibrare, librare, agitare, movere, mobili- 
 tare, also, vivere et moveri ; quincken 
 micare, motitari, dubio et tremulo motu 
 ferri. — Kil. Da. quickstjert, a wagtail ; 
 Fris. quinksteert, an earwig, from the way 
 in which it turns up its tail when threat- 
 ened. 
 
 From the notion of mobility to that of 
 life is an almost imperceptible step. ON. 
 quikr, moveable, tremulous, active, live ; 
 E. quick, active, rapid in movement, also 
 living, having the principle of movement 
 in oneself. Quicksand, a moving sand ; 
 quicksilver, moving silver, or living silver, 
 argentum vivum. Da. qu(Fg, living, 
 quick ; qucFgsand, quicksand, uniting 
 quick with quag. Fris. quek-, quink-, 
 quag-jacht {jacht =^ light), a moving light, 
 will-o'-the-wisp. 
 
 The softening down of the initial qu to 
 w/i and TV gives a similar series. E. dial. 
 whicker, to neigh ; whink, sl sharp cry ; 
 ON. hv/ka, kvika, to flinch, to totter ; 
 Du. wicken, to vibrate ; E. wink j Du. 
 wiket, winckct, a wicket, or little door 
 moving easily to and fro ; E. dial, whick^ 
 lively, quick ; whicks, quickgrass. 
 
QUID 
 
 Quid. A piece of tobacco rolled about 
 in the mouth like a cow chewing the cud, 
 in some parts called chewing the quid. 
 Qutde, or cud, the inner part of the throat 
 in beasts. — B. See Cud. 
 
 duiddity. — duiddit. Mid.Lat. gui- 
 ditas, the vvhatness or distinctive nature 
 of a thing, brought into a by-word by the 
 nice distinctions of the schools. Quiddity 
 or qiiiddit, a subtilty or nice refinement. 
 — Nares. 
 
 By some strange quiddit or some wretched clause, 
 To find him guilty of the breach of laws. 
 
 Drayton's Owl in N. 
 
 It. quiditativo, full of quiddities, quirks, 
 or wranglings, also obscurely doubtful. — 
 Fl. 
 
 duiescent. — Cluiet. Lat. quies, rest, 
 whence qiiiesco, quietutn, to take rest. 
 
 Quill. Qnylle, stalke, calamus. — Pr. 
 Pm. G. kiel, quill, stalk, narrow water- 
 pipe, shaft of lance ; kegel, a cone, nine- 
 pin, peg ; Da. kogle, kongel, a fir-cone ; 
 Swab, kengel, a quill, stalk, icicle ; lilien- 
 kengel, a lily stalk, mhg. kil, quill, stalk ; 
 kU, G. keil, wedge ; Fr. quille, a skittle, 
 the keel of a ship. As the distaff is de- 
 scribed by Hupel (Esthon. Diet.) as the 
 * kegel Oder stock ' on which the flax to 
 be spun is bound, the foregoing forms 
 may be identified with w. cogel, a distaff 
 or truncheon ; Bret, kegel, kigel, a distaff 
 (commonly a reed — Legonidec) ; Gael. 
 cuigeal. Lap. kakkel, Pol. kadziel. Boh. 
 kiizel, distaff ; kuzelaty, conical ; kuzelka, 
 a skittle. The ON. kongidl, N. kokle, 
 kugla, kuiigle, a fir-cone, lead to G. kun- 
 kel, distaff. Whence Mid.Lat. concula, 
 It. conocchia, Fr. quenouille. 
 
 The primitive signification, as in the 
 case of many words signifying pointed 
 pbjects, would seem to be a splinter or 
 fragment split off from a mass of wood 
 or stone. Fr. esquaille, escaille, a scale, 
 pieces of wood wherewith crannies left 
 between stones in building are filled up ; 
 rniir escaille, a wall full of cracks or 
 chinks ; escaillures de pierre, shards or 
 spalls, small pieces broken or hewed from 
 stones ; esquille, a little scale or splint of 
 a broken bone. — Cot. E. dial, squalls, 
 ninepins. Squalls were also the sticks 
 or pieces of cleft wood used in cock-throw- 
 ing. Fr. quille also can only have the 
 sense of chip in the expression trousser 
 son sac et ses quilles, to pack up his sack 
 and his chips, to be compared with.Du. 
 zijne spillen pakken (e. spill, splinter, 
 chip), or, as we say, to pick up his orts 
 (or droppings), to take himself off. It. 
 squillo was formerly used in the sense of 
 
 QUINTAIN 
 
 SIT 
 
 spillo, properly a splinter, then the vent- 
 peg of a cask, the hole itself, or the gimlet 
 by which it is bored. Diciamo spillare 
 la botta, per assaggiarla, traendole non 
 per la cannella il vino, ma per lo spillo, 
 cide piccol pertugio fatto con instrumento 
 detto anch' egli spillo, e dagli antichi 
 squillo. — La Crusca. G. spule, Pl.D. spole, 
 a quill, is identical with E. spall, speal, 
 &c., splinter, fragment. From the sense 
 of a splinter, or split piece of wood, the 
 passage is easy to that of a wedge, or 
 anything wedge-shaped or tapering, a 
 cone, ninepin, the pointed end of a fea- 
 ther, whence probably the name of keel 
 is applied to the backbone of a ship, from 
 which the ribs and planking are given off 
 on either side like the web from the stalk 
 of a feather. 
 
 Quillet. 
 
 Why may not this be the scull of a lawyer? 
 where be his quiddits now, his quillets, his cases, 
 his tenures, and his tricks ? — Hamlet. 
 
 Notwithstanding Nares' objection that 
 the scholastic term was quodlibet, and 
 not quidlibet, the derivation from this 
 source is probably correct. It. quilibetto, 
 a quidlibet. — Fl. Fr. quodlibet, a low 
 joke, play upon words. A quodlibet was a 
 question in the schools where the person 
 challenged might choose his side. Quod- 
 libetuin, quia quod libet defenditur. — 
 Vossius. 
 
 Many positions seem qtiodlibetically constitu- 
 ted, and like a Delphian blade will cut on both 
 sides. — Brown, Christian Morals in R. 
 
 Quilling. A kind of pleating. Guern- 
 sey enquiller, to pleat, gather, wrinkle. 
 ' Au front tout enquilli.^ From Fr. cueil- 
 lir, to gather.— Metivier. 
 
 Quilt. See Counterpane. 
 
 Quinary. — Quint. Lat. quinque, five ; 
 quintus, fifth ; quinarius, belonging to 
 the number five. 
 
 Quince. Formed from Fr. coignasse^ 
 pear-quince, the greatest kind of quince. 
 — Cot. Going, It. cotogno, Lat. coto- 
 neum, cydoniuni, a quince. Quyne apie 
 tre, coingz. — Palsgr. 914. 
 
 Quinsy. Fr. squinance, the squinancie 
 or squinzie. — Cot. Lat. cynanche a bad 
 kind of sore throat ; Gr. Kvvayxn', literally 
 a dog-throttling. 
 
 Quintain. A game in which the fun 
 was to see the player tumbled off his 
 horse. * At last they agreed to set up a 
 quinten which is a crossbar turning upon 
 a pole having a broad board at the one 
 end and a bag full of sand at the other. 
 Now he that ran at it with the lance, if 
 he hit not the board, was laughed to 
 
512 
 
 QUIP 
 
 scorn ; and if he hit it full and rid not 
 the faster, he would have such a blow 
 with the sandbag on the back as would 
 sometimes beat them off their horses.' — 
 Essex Champion (1690), in Nares. 'The 
 speciality of the sport was to see how 
 sum for his slakness had a good bob 
 with the bag, and sum for his haste to 
 toppl doun right, and cum tumbling to 
 the post.' — Kenilworth Illustrated, in N. 
 
 Lang, tintaino, //>//'^/;/^, a similar game, 
 in which persons tilted against each other, 
 placed on a bowsprit at the end of boats, 
 from which the leAst shock precipitated 
 them into the water ; ' ce qui est le prin- 
 cipal divertissement de ces sortes de fetes.' 
 JFa la thitaitw, chanceler, perdre I'equili- 
 bre et culbuter dans I'eau. Fr. tintin^ the 
 ringing of a bell ; It. tentennare, to ding- 
 dong, dingle, tingle, jangle, gingle, also 
 to vacillate, stagger, waver. In Florence 
 boys tilt at a gourd hung to a string and 
 call it tin tana. — Vanzoni. 
 
 Q-uip. A jibe, jeer, or flout. — B. Pro- 
 perly a cut, a smart stroke, w. chwip, 
 a quick turn or flirt ; chivipio, to whip, 
 to move briskly. Gael, cuip, a whip, lash, 
 trick. ON. hvipp, saltus, celer cursus ; 
 hvipp inn og hvapp inn, in and out, here 
 and there. Du. Het is maar guik, it is 
 only a joke. 
 
 Q,uire. i. Fr. choeur^ Lat. chorus, a 
 choir or band of singers. 
 
 2. Fr. quaier (Roquef.), cayer, cahier, 
 a quire of written paper. There is no 
 reason to doubt that it is formed from 
 Lat. quaternio, analogous to Rouchi qua- 
 yere, kayere, a seat, from cathedra, or 
 quarry, from qiiadraria. Assit ei (scrip- 
 tori) quaternio [glossed quaer\. — Nec- 
 cham in Nat. Antiq. Sp. quaderno, four 
 sheets of paper stitched together ; duerno, 
 two sheets so stitched. Du. quatern, ca- 
 tern, a few sheets stitched together ; Fr. 
 cahier, a copy-book. OE. quair, a. book. 
 
 Diez suggests a derivation from a sup- 
 posed codicarium. 
 
 -quire. -quis-. Lat. qucero, qucEsi- 
 tum (in comp. -quiro, -quisitum), to ask, 
 to seek, to labour to get, to procure. 
 Queer ere victum, to get one's living. 
 Hence Acquire, Inquire, Requii'e. Ex- 
 quiro, to search out, to inquire diligently,- 
 exquisitus, much searched for, exquisite. 
 
 Q,uirk. A shift, or cavil. — B. Pro- 
 perly a quick turn. E. dial. qui7'k, to 
 turn. 
 
 And by the barn side we saw many a mouse 
 Quirking round for the kernels that littered 
 about. — Clare in Mrs Baker. 
 
 Qiiit. — Q,uite. — Requite. — Acquit. 
 
 QUIVER 
 
 The Lat. quietus, at rest, was specially 
 applied to the sense of free from any 
 claim of another party. ' Et accepi pre- 
 tium ego venditor a te emptore meo — et 
 finitum pretium testor apud me habere, 
 ita tamen ut omnibus temporibus securus 
 et quietus maneas.' ' Libera et quieta in 
 pcrpetuam eleemosynam tenenda.' 
 
 Hence It. quieto, queto, a discharge 
 from legal claims ; quetare, to discharge, 
 absolve, acquit. Quietum clamare, to 
 quit claim, was to acknowledge another 
 to be freed from the demands of the 
 speaker. Acquietare was sometimes used 
 in the sense of quieting the demands of a 
 debtor, viz., by paying his debt or dis- 
 charging his claim. * Tenentur hjeredes 
 testamenta patrum — servare et debita 
 eorum acquietare.^ Hence simply to pay. 
 ' Petitum est ut Clerus adquietaret novem 
 millia marcarum.' Hence to quite or re- 
 quite a. service is to pay it back, to dis- 
 charge the obligation incurred, to quiet 
 the claims to which it gave rise. 
 
 A q7/it rent, quietus redditus, is a rent 
 paid in money in discharge of services 
 which would otherwise be due. 
 
 The adverb quite, or quitely as it was 
 formerly written, signifies absolutely, dis- 
 charged from any condition which would 
 interfere with the full meaning of the 
 term to which it is applied. 
 
 Lo here this Arcite and this Palamon 
 That quitely weren out of my prison, 
 And might have lived in Thebes really. 
 
 Chaucer, 
 
 Q,uiver. OFr. quivre, G. kocher, Dan. 
 koger, Mod.Gr. KovKovpov, It. coccaro, 
 quiver ; Du. koker, case ; messen-, boog-, 
 piil-koker, a. knife-, bow-, arrow-case, or 
 quiver. Koker van den mast, the recep- 
 tacle in which the mast is stepped. Fin. 
 ktikkaro, a purse. 
 
 David prit les armes d'or et les quivres d'or. — 
 Livre des Rois. 
 
 To Q-uiver. To shiver or shake. — B. 
 Related to quaver as quick to quake, and 
 parallel in sense and form to Lat. vibrare. 
 The formally equivalent Sp. quebrar sig- 
 nifies to break, an idea the connection of 
 which with that of shaking is shown by 
 the expression of breaking a thing to 
 shivers. Du. kuyven, kuyveren, huy- 
 veren, to shiver, tremble. — Kil. 
 
 From the figure of moving to and fro, 
 quiver was used in the sense of active, 
 lively. 
 
 Thy quick and quiver wings. — Turberville. 
 
 Simeon— of body feble and impotente, but of 
 soule quiver and lustie. — Udal in R. 
 
QUOIN 
 
 Quoin. Lat. cimetis^ a wedge. 
 
 Quoit. E. dial, coit, to toss, to throw ; 
 Sc. coit, as Fr. cottirj to butt or strike 
 with the horns. 
 
 If thou dost not use these grape-spillers as thou 
 dost their pottle pots, quoit them down-stairs three 
 or four at a time. — Wilkins in R. 
 
 / coyte^ I play with a coyting-stone. — 
 Palsgr. The radical sense of tossing or 
 hurling through the air seems preserved 
 in Fin. kuutta^ a quoit ; kuutilo^ a shut- 
 tlecock ; kuutilo-kiwi {kiwi, stone), a 
 white pebble, a chuckie-stane, 
 
 duorum. A selection from enumer- 
 ated persons whose presence is required 
 to authorise the proceedings. From the 
 form of the appointment in Law Latin : 
 A B, CD, E F, &c., of whom (quorum) 
 A B, CD, &:c., shall always be one. Or, 
 of whom at least such a number shall 
 always be present, &c. 
 
 Quota. — Quotient. Lat. guoi, how 
 many ; guotiens, quotiesy how often. 
 
 To Quote. To cite or note with chap- 
 ter and verse. Lat. quot, how many ; 
 quotus, what in number. 
 
 Quoth. The terms significative of 
 much or idle talking are commonly taken 
 from the sound of dabbling in water, or 
 from the chattering or cackling of birds. 
 Then, as the image from which a desig- 
 nation is taken is commonly a caricature 
 of the thing ultimately signified, the term 
 which originally signified much talking is 
 applied to talking in general. Thus Du. 
 lellen, to tattle, seems to point out the 
 origin of Gr. \aKiiv, to speak, while E. 
 
 RABBLE 
 
 513 
 
 prate shows an earlier acceptation of the 
 word than Gr. (ppdZtiv. 
 
 The sound of dabbling in the wet is 
 represented in G. by the syllables quatsch^ 
 or niatsch. Quatsch-nass, so wet as to 
 give a sound, like water in the shoes, for 
 instance. In defn dreck herum quatschen, 
 to tramp through the dirt. Quatscheln, 
 to dabble. — Westerwald. Matsch und 
 quatsch, slush, soft mud, also senseless 
 chatter. Das ist lauter quitsch quatsch 
 was du sagst. Quatschen^ to chatter. 
 With shght variation, Pl.D. quaddern, to 
 dabble— Brem. Wtb., Dan. quadder, soft 
 mud, the quacking of ducks, or their 
 snubbhng in the wet, and according to 
 Diefenbach, chatter, tattle. In Harzge- 
 birg and Saterland, quaddern, to chatter 
 foolishly ; Brunsw. koddern, to tattle, to 
 talk ; Cimbr. koden, koden, to speak or 
 say. We arrive at the same end from 
 forms representing the chirping or chat- 
 tering of birds. Westerwald qttitschern, 
 Sw. quittre, Dan. quiddre, Du. quedelen, 
 to twitter, warble — KiL, quetteren, to 
 chirp, warble, prattle. The connection 
 between the piping of birds and the high 
 tones of complaint or song lead to Sw. 
 quida, to lament, to cry ; qticsda, to 
 sing ; OSax. qtdthean, to lament ; ON. 
 qiieda, to sing, to recite, to say, to re- 
 sound ; AS. cwctthan, Goth, quit ha, to 
 say ; w. chivedlai, gossip, tattle ; chtaedl, 
 report, news, a saying, story ; chwedleua, 
 to chatter, to talk, or discourse. Thieves' 
 cant, whids, words ; to whiddle, to tell 
 tales, to inform. — Grose. 
 
 Quotidian. Lat. quotidianus j quo- 
 tidie^ day by day ; quot diebus. 
 
 R 
 
 Rabbit. Rabet, young cony. — Pr. Pm. 
 CentralFr. rabotte, Wall, robett, Du. 
 robbe, robbeken, a rabbit. Fr. rabojiil- 
 lere, a rabbit burrow, a hole. 
 
 To Babbit. To channel boards. To 
 rebate, to channel, chamfer. — B. Rabat, 
 an yron for a carpentar, rabot. Rabet- 
 tyng of hordes, rabetture. I plane as a 
 joiner dothe with a plane or rabatte. — 
 Palsgr. Fr. rabot, a plane. The radical 
 image is a broken, rattling sound, repre- 
 sented by Fr. rabalter, rabaster, rabdter 
 (Jaubert), to rumble, rattle, clatter, whence 
 raboteux, rugged, rough, uneven, and ra- 
 boter, to remove the unevennesses, to 
 
 plane. In the same way, from Du. hob- 
 belen, to stutter, to jog, and thence hob- 
 belig, rough, uneven, we are led to G. 
 hobebi, to plane. From Du. rouiv, rough ; 
 het taken rouwen, to take away the 
 roughness from cloth, to comb cloth. 
 The expression of the idea of roughness 
 from the figure of a rattling sound is 
 shown in Du. rompelen, to rumble, rattle, 
 roinpelig, rough, uneven. 
 
 Rabble. Du. rabbelen, to gabble, gar- 
 rire, blaterare, precipitare sive confun- 
 dere verba — Kil. ; rabbel-taal, gibberish, 
 jargon. Swiss rdbeln, to clatter, make a 
 disturbance ; rdblete, grdbel^ an uproar, 
 33 
 
514 
 
 RABID 
 
 crowd of people, noisy disturbance ; vH- 
 bclkilth^ a loose assembly of young peo- 
 ple. Lat. rabulare^ to bawl, make a 
 noise ; It. rabularCy to prattle, scold, to 
 rabble, to huddle. — Fl. Swab, rapplen, 
 to talk quick and unclearly, to be wrong 
 in the head. 
 
 The original sense is a noisy confusion 
 of voices, then a noisy crowd. 
 
 Thus, Father Travis, you may see my rashness 
 to rable out the scriptures without purpose, rime, 
 pr reason. — Fox in R. 
 And after all the raskall many ran 
 Heaped together in rude rabblement. — F. Q. 
 
 See Rubbish, Rammel. 
 
 Rabid. Lat. rabidusj rabies^ mad- 
 ness. 
 
 Race. Used in several senses, which 
 may, however, all be derived from the 
 figure of violent action or rapid move- 
 ment. 
 
 In this fundamental signification we 
 have OE. race, to dash, to tear. 
 
 His bannerman Wallace slew in that place, 
 And soon to ground his baner down he race. 
 Wallace in Jam. 
 
 And in her swounde so sadly holdith she 
 Her child rin two, whan she gan them embrace. 
 That with grete slight and grete difficulte 
 The childeme from her armes they gan to race. 
 Clerk's Tale, 2124. 
 
 OFr. esracer, esracher, Fr. arracher, OE. 
 arace, to pluck off, pull down. Erased 
 (in Heraldry), anything violently torn off 
 from its proper place. — B. A race, or 
 dash with the pen, liture, rature ; to race 
 otit (to strike out), rayer, effacer. — Cot. 
 G. reissen, to rage, to tear, to snatch. 
 Der wind reisst, tobet, brauset, rages, 
 roars ; reisst die ziegel vo7i den ddchern, 
 hurls down the tiles from the roofs. Je- 
 manden nieder reissen, to dash one to the 
 ground ; sich 7'eissen, to rush, move along 
 with a swift force, to tear along. Ein 
 reissender strom, a violent current. Riss, 
 a cut or blow with a stick, a rent, a 
 draught, sketch. Pol. raz, a stroke, blow, 
 cut ; Fin. raasia, to scratch, to tear ; as. 
 Jireosan, reosan, ON. hrasa, properly to 
 move with a noise, to rush, to fall ; AS. 
 mycelum rase, with great violence. A 
 race is then a rapid course, whether of 
 horses or of waters, or, with the significa- 
 tion softened down, simply course, the 
 current of events. 
 
 Bot gif yee weigh the mater weill and consider 
 the race of the history. — Bruce in Jam. 
 
 ON. rds, a rapid course ; rds hesta, cursus 
 equorum ; rdsir dagra, cursus dierum ; 
 vats rds, a watercourse, outlet of waters. 
 N. raas^ course, stream ; rcesa^ to go 
 
 RACK 
 
 straight forwards, to stream, flow in abund- 
 ance. 
 
 The sense of a violent current of water 
 is exemplified in Venet. roza, Prov. rasa, 
 OFr. rase, a mill-race, the stream which 
 turns a mill, the characteristic feature of 
 which is the tail-race or agitated part be- 
 low the wheel, though the name is ex- 
 tended to the tranquil conduit above. 
 
 Another application is to currents pro- 
 duced by the conflict of tides in the sea, 
 as the Race of Alderney, of Pentland. 
 Thai raysyt saile and furth thai far, 
 And by the mole thai passyt yar. 
 And entrit som into the rase, 
 Quhar that the stremys sa sturdy war. 
 
 Barbour in Jam . 
 Du. raes, sestuarium. — Kil. Rase, as the 
 Rase of Bretayne, ras. — Palsgr. Race, 
 in the sense of breed, lineage, line of de- 
 scent, Fr. race, It. razza, Sp. raza, has 
 been commonly derived from Sp. and 
 OFr. raiz, root, as signifying the root or 
 stock of the family. 
 
 Bon burjon de bon raiz 
 Et de haut pfere vaillant fiz. 
 
 Chron. Norm. 2. 12738. 
 But probably Diez is right in rejecting 
 that derivation and connecting the word 
 with OHG. reiz, reiza, a line, in accord- 
 ance with Wal. ttr, race, compared with 
 Fr. tiire, line, row ; or AS. tuddor, race, 
 compared with Du. tudder, tuyer, tether, 
 strap, row ; or with Pl.D. toom, strap, 
 also progeny, race. He might however 
 have found a form mpre nearly connected 
 in OE. race, a dash or stroke with the pen, 
 the simplest type of a line. Sp. raza is 
 not only race, but a ray or line of light. 
 
 A Race of ginger is OFr. raiz, root. 
 It is written rasyn of ginger in Pr. Pm. 
 Fr. racine de gengimbre. 
 
 To Rack. I. To rack wines is to de- 
 cant, to draw them off the lees. Lang. 
 araca le bi, transvaser le vin. From 
 draco or rdco, dregs, the husks and solid 
 remnants after pressing wine or oil. So 
 from Venet. 7norga, lees of oil ; inorga?ite, 
 travasatore di olio. — Boerio. Fr. raque, 
 dirt, mire ; vin raque, small or coarse 
 wine squeezed from the dregs of the grapes. 
 — Cot. Rache de goudron, dregs of pitch. 
 Fr. bourras, silk-rash (Cot.), i. e. the dregs 
 of silk. 
 
 2. To strain, to stretch. Du. rekken, 
 G. recken, to stretch. To rack oiie's brains 
 is to strain them ; rack rent is rent 
 strained to the uttermost. 
 
 You find it necessary to say as we say, and are 
 afterwards to rack and strahi invention to find 
 out some subtle and surprising meaning for it. — 
 Waterland in R. 
 
RACK 
 
 Back. I. An instrument for stretch- 
 ing. 
 
 These bows were bent only by a man's imme- 
 diate strength without the help of any bender or 
 rack. — Wilkins in Worcester. 
 
 As the stretcher of a cross-bow was 
 provided with a series of teeth which held 
 the string while it was gradually drawn 
 onwards, the name of rack- or ratchet- 
 work is given to a row of teeth into which 
 the cogs of a wheel work. 
 
 2. Du. racke^ reck-bancke, a frame on 
 which torture was inflicted by stretching 
 the joints ; recken, racken^ to stretch, to 
 torture. — Kil. G. recken^ to stretch ; einen 
 verbrechcr aicf der folterbank recken^ to 
 put a criminal to the rack ; Sw. strdcka, 
 to stretch ; strdck bank, the rack. 
 
 3. A receptacle for hay formed of a 
 range of upright bars, and generally the 
 name seems to be given to any set of 
 linear things fixed parallel to each other 
 like the teeth of a comb or rake. Kplate- 
 rack is a frame for holding plates, com- 
 posed, like a hay-rack, of upright bars. 
 The term is then extended to frames for 
 holding other things in which the charac- 
 teristic feature of upright bars is lost, as 
 in a bottle-rack. Pl.D. rakk, a book- 
 stand ; theerakk, glaserakk, a stand for 
 tea-things or glasses ; klederrakk, a row 
 of pegs for hanging clothes on. Du. reke, 
 regge, a rake or comb — Biglotton ; rak, 
 rek, a dresser, clothes-horse. — Halma. 
 
 On the same principle, Fr. ratelier, a 
 rack for hay, from rateati, Lat. rastelluDi, 
 a rake, while G. raufe, an implement like 
 a large comb, used in separating flax from 
 the seeds, is also used in the sense of a 
 hay-rack. 
 
 4. The drift of the sky. 
 
 The winds in the upper region which move the 
 clouds above, which we call the rack. — Bacon in 
 R. 
 
 OSw. wrceka, ON. reka, to drive ; rek, 
 drift, motion. Isinn er i reki, the ice is 
 driving ; skyrek, the rack or drifting 
 clouds. 
 
 Three glorious suns, each one a perfect sun, 
 Not separated by the racking clouds. — H. VI. 
 
 Sometimes confounded with reekj a mist, 
 or vapour. 
 
 They must needs conceit that death reduces us 
 to a pitiful thin pittance of being, that our sub- 
 stance is in a manner lost, and nothing but a 
 tenuious reek remains. — Mores Immortality of 
 the Soul. 
 
 Rack. — Backel. Rack, in the expres- 
 sions gone to rack, rack and ruin, is to 
 be understood in the sense of crash, 
 
 RAFFLE 
 
 515 
 
 breakage ; gone to smash. Sc. rak, 
 crash, uproar. 
 
 They met in melld with ane felloun rak, 
 Quhill schaftis all to schudderis with any crak. 
 D. V. 386, 14. 
 
 From the rutis he it lousit (the rock) and rent, 
 And tumblit doun fra thyne or he wald stent — 
 The river wod affrayit with the rak. 
 And demmit with the rolkis ran abak. 
 
 D. V. 249. 31. 
 
 Boh. rochati, to make a crash ; Fin. rack- 
 kid, cum strepitu concutio, fragorem edo. 
 E. dial, rackle, to rattle. From this source 
 seems to spring OE. rakyl, rackle, impetu- 
 ous, unbridled, rash. 
 
 Racket. Noise as of things knocking 
 about, disturbance. Sc. rack, crash, 
 shock ; Rouchi raqtce, expression repre- 
 senting the noise made in striking the 
 hands together. Boh. rachotiti, to make 
 a noise ; rachoceni, crash, noise. Gael. 
 rac, to tear, sound as things tearing ; ra- 
 caid, noise, disturbance, blow on the ear. 
 
 To racket about is to move noisily 
 about, and hence the name of racket was 
 given to the game of tennis, in which the 
 ball is violently driven to and fro, and 
 ultimately to the bat or racket, Fr. ra- 
 quette, used in striking the ball. 
 
 And though I might, yet I would not do so, 
 But canst thou platen racket to and fro, 
 Nettle in, dock out, now this, now that, Pan- 
 dare ? — Chaucer, 
 
 Thus like a tennis ball is poor man racketed 
 from one temptation to another. — Dr Hewet in 
 R. 
 
 Racy. Flavorous, pungent. — Worces- 
 ter. Face and raciness in wine signifies 
 a kind of tartness. — Blackstone in R. 
 Brisk racy verses. — Cowley. 
 
 The radical meaning of the word is that 
 of Fr. piquant, inciting, appetising, from 
 G. reizen, Sw. reta, to provoke, entice, 
 allure. Reta sinaken, piquer le gout ; re- 
 ta7tde, charming, appetising. Bav. ras~ 
 sen, incitare ; rass. Swab, ress, sharp in 
 taste, pungent ; zapf-rasser wein, wine 
 fresh from the tap ; der rassling, agari- 
 cus deliciosus. — Schm. OHG. rdzer win, 
 racy wine. Swiss rass, sharp, cutting, 
 astringent ; rdsses messer, rdsser wind, 
 rdsse lauge. 
 
 Radiant. — Radiate. Lat. radio, to 
 send out rays or beams of light. See 
 Ray. 
 
 Radical. Lat. radix, the root. 
 
 Radish. Fr. radis, Walach. radike. 
 It. radice, G. rettig, from Lat. radix, root. 
 
 Raffle. It. raffio, a hook, or drag ; 
 
 raffolare, to rake, drag, scrape together 
 
 by hook or crook, to rifle for. — Fl. Raf- 
 
 33 * •' ' 
 
5i6 
 
 RAFT 
 
 fola-ntjfola^ riffraff, by hook or crook. 
 Fr. rajler, to scrape or scratch, to catch 
 or seize on violently ; /aire une rafle, to 
 rifle, sweep all away before them ; jeter 
 tine rafle, to throw three dice alike, as 
 three aces, &c., to win all. ON. hrajla^ to 
 scrape together ; It. arraffare, to grab ; 
 G. raffen^ to rake together, to take away 
 everything by force and violence ; Piedm. 
 rafa^ G. raffgut, spoil, pillage. 
 
 To raff was formerly used in our own 
 language in the sense of scraping or 
 raking. 
 
 No\Y that churchales ought to be sorted in the 
 better ranks of these twaine may be gathered from 
 their causes and effects, which I thus raffe up 
 together. — Carew in R. 
 
 Hence raff, riffraff, scraping, scum, re- 
 fuse, the refuse of society ; r(^ (^^ks. rake) , 
 St debauched, unprincipled person. In 
 another application, raff is a scraping 
 together, a confused heap. 
 
 The Synod of Trent [was called] to settle a 
 rtffoi errors and superstitions. — Barrow in R, 
 
 Raft. — Rafter. A raft is a float made 
 of spars of wood. Raff-merchant, a tim- 
 ber merchant.— Brockett. Rafter, a piece 
 of timber for building — B., but especially 
 one of the spars of a roof. ON. raftr, a 
 pole, stake, small beam ; Dan. raft, a 
 long thin piece of timber, spar, lath, pole ; 
 hurnleraft, a hop pole. Fris. rafte, dach- 
 raff, a lath ; Swab, raf, rafen, a spar, 
 especially roof spar ; Bav. rafen, the roof 
 spar, also young stem of tree fit to make 
 a rafter. Raf nun, capriuns ; 7'avo, tignus, 
 luctans, asser. — Gl. in Schm. 
 
 The name is probably connected, as 
 Outzen suggests, with Fris. rabb, Du. ribb, 
 ribbe, Sw. ref, a rib, from the rib-like ap- 
 pearance of the timber used in roofing. 
 
 Rag. The primary meaning is proba- 
 bly a jag or projecting piece, the word 
 being formed on precisely the same prin- 
 ciple as jag or shag. Sw. ragg, long 
 coarse hair, like that of goats ; raggig, 
 shaggy ; Dan. rage, to project ; Litb. 
 ragas, horn, projecting corner, tooth of a 
 wheel. The radical image seems to be a 
 harsh broken sound, the representation 
 of which is applied in a secondary sense 
 to signify an abrupt, reciprocating move- 
 ment, the path traced out during such a 
 movement, or finally, a single element of 
 that path, an abrupt projection. 
 My voice is ragged, I know I cannot please you. 
 As You Like It. 
 
 In the original sense, It. ragghiare, to 
 bray like an ass, to make a harsh broken 
 sound ; rugghiare, to roar ; Swiss rdg- 
 geuy to make harsh disagreeable sounds 
 
 RAIL 
 
 in speaking or singing ; raggig, hoarse ; 
 Esthon. raggisema, to crackle ; Magy. 
 rcgetni, rekegni, to croak ; Dan. ro'gle^ to 
 rattle in the throat. Then passing to the 
 idea of motion, Sw. raggla, to totter, to 
 make zigzags ; ragglande,i\gz2igs. — Nord- 
 forss. N. rigga, rigla, riigga, rugla, to 
 rock, waver, hang loose. l3a. dial, rcrgle^ 
 rigle, torn hanging rag, tatter ; raggeret, 
 ragged. Gael, rag, stiff, rigid, also a rag, 
 a wrinkle ; ragach, ragged, wrinkled. 
 
 AS. hracod, torn ; Gael, rac, to tear ; 
 racadh, act of tearing, or of sounding as 
 cloth in the act of tearing, seem radically 
 distinct notwithstanding the similarity of 
 meaning. 
 
 Rage. Lat. rabies. It. rabbia, Sp. Pro v. 
 rabia, Ptg. rabia, ravia, Sicilian raggia^ 
 Fr. rage, rage. Ptg. raivar, Prov. raviar, 
 raujar, ratjar; enrabiar, enrapjar^ enrat- 
 jar, to rage. 
 
 The radical image is probably the 
 senseless utterance of a madman. Du. 
 rabbelen, to gabble ; G. rappeln, to rattle ; 
 Swab, rapplen, to speak in a quick and 
 confused way, to be cracked in the head. 
 — Schmid. See Rave. 
 
 Ragout. A highly seasoned dish. Fr. 
 ragouter, to restore the appetite, from 
 gout, Lat. gustus, taste ; ragout, sauce 
 to stimulate the appetite and restore the 
 taste for food. — Trevoux. 
 
 Rail. I. A bar or strip of wood, metal, 
 &c. A word of diminutive or frequenta- 
 tive form, from It. riga, a streak, line, 
 ruler ; Prov. rega, a line, furrow ; Piedm. 
 riga, a line, ledge, rod, thin slip of wood, 
 ruler ; Pl.D. rige, rege, a row or string. 
 From forms like these we pass to Du. 
 7-egel, a row or line ; Pl.D. regel, G. riegel, 
 a bar, bolt, rail ; riegelholz, timber for 
 rails or bars. Fr. rayaux [sing. rayal\ 
 bars, or long and narrow pieces of metal. 
 — Cot. The Cat. form is ralla, a line, 
 whence passar ralla, to cancel, to be com- 
 pared with Lat. cancelli, rails. Rouchi 
 7-oie, line, furrow ; roile, line, window- or 
 chimney-shelf. Norm, railer, to score, 
 to draw lines ; railette, the division of the 
 hair ; roile du das, the backbone. See 
 Ray. 
 
 2. Fr. rasle, rale. Fin. rddkkd, w. cre- 
 genyr yd, the rail or corncrake, a bird of 
 pecuHar harsh note, represented by the 
 foregoing names. It. 7'agliare, to bray 
 like an ass ; Ptg. ralhar, to grate ; Dan. 
 rcEgle, G. rocheln, Fr. rasler, rdler, to 
 rattle in the throat. 
 
 3. AS. hrcEgel, rcEgel, a garment ; nihtes- 
 /^r^^^/, a night-rail, night-clothes ; hrcegel- 
 hus, vestry. OHG. hragil, indumentum, 
 
RAIL 
 
 cothurnus, tropaea, spolia ; gihragilon^ 
 ornare ; anthragilon, exuere. Grisons 
 ragila (in a depreciatory sense), clothes, 
 children's clothes, ragged clothes ; rag- 
 liim, a ragged person. Other cases in 
 which the designation of clothes is taken 
 from a rag are given under Hater and 
 Duds. 
 
 To Bail. I. To use opprobrious 
 words. — B. Fr. railler, to jest, sport, 
 deride, mock, scoff at. — Cot. Dan. ralle, 
 to rattle ; N. ralla, radla, radda, rassa, 
 to tattle, jabber. Da. dial, ralde, ralle, 
 to rattle, to talk idly. ' J eg troer du ral- 
 ler^ you are joking, said to one who tells 
 an improbable story. Du. railen, rellen, 
 blaterare, garrire, jocari. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 7'alle?i, to make a great noise as children 
 playing, to sound as the waves beating 
 on the shore. — Brem. Wtb. 
 
 2. To trickle, as tears, or blood from a 
 wound. 
 
 The purple drops down railed purple red. 
 Fairfax in R. 
 From the unsteady trembling movement 
 of trickling drops. Du. rillen (for rid- 
 delen — Weiland), trillen, grillen, to 
 tremble, shiver. To trill, it will be ob- 
 served, is also used in the sense of to 
 trickle. Fr. griller, to shiver, also to 
 trickle, steal, run glib along. — Cot. 
 
 Raiment. See Array. 
 
 Rain. AS. rcEgn, regn, ren, G. regen, 
 Fris. rein, Goth. rign. 
 
 To Raise. To cause to rise. Goth. 
 iirreisan, — rais, — risun, to stand up ; 
 raisjaii, urraisjan, to raise, to rouse. ON. 
 reisa, to go, to excite, to raise. At reisa 
 flock, to raise a tumult ; — Jms, to build a 
 house ; — dfcstr, to set up. Risa, to rise. 
 
 The primary origin is probably rasa, 
 to go straight forwards, to rush, to move 
 with violence ; ras, precipitancy, fall. 
 AS. reosan, hreosan, to rush, to fall. See 
 Race. 
 
 Raisin. Fr. raisin, Prov. razim, ra- 
 zain, grape, Lat. racemus, Sp. racimo, a 
 bunch of grapes. 
 
 Rake. i. From the noise of raking 
 or scraping. Bret, raka, graka, to make 
 noise in rubbing a hard and rough body, 
 to cluck, croak ; Gael, rac, rake, harrow, 
 make a noise like geese or ducks. ON. 
 raka, to scrape. Sw. raka, to shave, to 
 make a disturbance ; rakande, noise, dis- 
 turbance. Fr. racier, to scrape, rasp, 
 grate, rake. Du. raeckelen, raecken, to 
 rake. Maori rdkurdku, to scrape or 
 scratch, an implement to scrape with, a 
 rake, small hoe. 
 
 2. In the sense of a dissipated person 
 
 RAKEHELL 
 
 517 
 
 or profligate, is commonly supposed to 
 be a contraction from rakehell, but in 
 the first instance it may have signified 
 nothing worse than noisy merry-making. 
 Than all thay leuche upon loft with laiks full 
 
 mirry, 
 And raucht the cop round about full of ryche 
 
 wynis, 
 And raiket lang, or thay wald rest, with ryatus 
 
 speiche. — Dunbar in Jam. 
 
 Bret, raka is used of many kinds of im- 
 portunate noise, to cackle like a fowl, to 
 croak, and figuratively to babble, tattle. 
 Swed. raka, to riot about ; rakande, riot- 
 ing, disturbance, noise, Dessa kattorna 
 hafwa rakat der forfarligen hela natten 
 igenom : these cats have kept a horrible 
 racket all night through. Raka omkring, 
 to rove about. — Widegren. Racka, to 
 run about. Racka best&ndigt fram och 
 tilbaka, to keep running to and fro ; racka 
 omkring hela Paris, to run about all 
 Paris. To rake, to gad or ramble idly — 
 Forby ; to rove or run about wildly as 
 children. — Mrs Baker. 
 And right as Robartes men raken aboute 
 At feyres and at full ales, and fyllen the cuppe. 
 P. P. Crede, 143. 
 
 Sc. raik, to range, wander, rove at large. 
 A lang raik, a long extent of way ; sheep- 
 raik, a sheep-walk. 
 
 The radical notion may probably be a 
 sweep or rapid movement over a surface. 
 Sw. raka of, to run off, to brush away ; 
 rak, straight ; Craven raik, raitch, a 
 streak, scratch; Du. recken, strecken, to 
 stretch ; streke, a stroke, streak, extent, 
 tract, course ; Sw. strek, a dash, stroke, 
 streak, line ; Sc. straik, to rub gently, to 
 stroke, to spread butter or plaister ; a 
 straik, an extent of country ; a lang 
 straik, a long excursion on foot ; upd' 
 straik, in motion, in a state of activity. 
 With Sterne staves and stronge thei over lond 
 
 straketh.—V. P. Creed. 
 Lolleres lyvynge in sleuthe, and over lond stryken. 
 
 P. P. 
 
 G. streichen, to rub, to stroke, to sweep 
 along, move rapidly along or away, to 
 wander, ramble, rove, or run about, to 
 extend in length. Sw. stryka, to stroke, 
 rub, wipe, move along. Stryka omkring, 
 to rove about ; —fdrbi, to graze, to shave ; 
 — ut, to strike out, draw a line through 
 writing to efface it. 
 
 Rakehell. Rendered by Minsheu, 
 taugenichts, furciferj a profligate, the 
 scrapings of hell. 
 
 Such an ungracious couple [Domitian and 
 Commodus] as a man shall not find again if he 
 raked all hell for them.— Ascham in R. 
 
 On the same principle are formed Pl.D. 
 
5i8 
 
 RALLY 
 
 holienbessem, hell-besom (Danneil), Du. 
 helleveeg {veegen^ to sweep), terms of 
 abuse, especially for an angry violent 
 woman, a shrew, a vixen. 
 
 It is sometimes supposed that rakehell 
 is a mere corruption of Fr. racaille^ the 
 base and rascal sort, the dregs or offals 
 of any company — Cot., a word signifying 
 simply scrapings, off-scourings, from Bret. 
 raka^ Pl.D. raoken, to scrape ; as rascal, 
 from It. rascare; Fr. raspaiile, Du. raep- 
 alje, the scum of the people, from It. 
 rasp are, Fr. rdper, Du. raepen, to scrape. 
 And doubtless the two words were con- 
 founded in our older writers, and rakehell 
 written where only 7-ascal is meant. 
 
 And far away amid their rakehell bands 
 
 They spied a lady left all succourless. — F. Q. 
 
 In record whereof I scorn and spew out the 
 rakehelly rout of our ragged rhymers. — Spenser 
 inR. 
 
 The confusion is increased by the re- 
 semblance in sound and meaning of the 
 OE. rakel, rackyl, impetuous, unbridled, 
 passionate. 
 
 The jolly woes, the hateless short debate, 
 The rakehell '^Iq that longs to love's disport. 
 Surrey in R. 
 
 See Rack, Rackle. 
 
 To Bally, i. Fr. railler. See Rail. 
 
 2. Fr. rallier (Lat. religare), to re-as- 
 semble, re-unite, gather dispersed things 
 together. — Cot. Rouchi raloier, to put 
 together the bits of a broken thing. 
 Eftsoones she thus resolved — 
 Before they could new counsels reallie. — F. Q. 
 
 Ram. Du. ra7n, Bav. ramm, rammer, 
 G. ramm, ram,men, rammel, the male 
 -sheep. Commonly derived from the 
 • strong smell of the animal. E. dial, ram, 
 acrid, fetid ; Dan. ra7ti, rank in smell or 
 taste, as old cheese, or a he-goat ; ON, 
 andramr, one whose breath smells ill. 
 But it is more probable that the word is 
 a special application of a general term 
 signifying originally the male of animals, 
 from OHG. ra?MJtalon, G. rammeln, to 
 cover the female, said of sheep, hares, 
 rabbits, cats, &c. ; rainmler, the male of 
 such kind of animals ; mhg. rammelcEre, 
 a ram ; raimnelcerm, dissoluta virgo. 
 See To Ramble, 
 
 To Bam. To strike like a ram with 
 his head, to thrust in. So Dan. bukke, to 
 ram, from buk, a buck or he-goat, an 
 animal equally prone with a ram to but- 
 ting with the head. At ram.me pcele ned, 
 at bukke pale, to drive in piles. Rambuk, 
 a rammer. Lat. aries, a battering-ram. 
 
 Bamag'e. Fr. espervier 7'amage, a 
 brancher, a ramage hawk. — Cot. From 
 
 RAMBLE 
 
 ramage, boughs, branches, of or belong- 
 ing to branches ; also ramage, haggard, 
 wild, homely, rude.— Cot. It. ramo, a 
 branch ; ramigtio, branchy ; ramingOf 
 rame?igo, a ramage hawk. 
 
 Bamas. In Pembrokeshire a rigma- 
 role, a string of nonsense. Dan. ramse^ 
 remse, string of unmeaning words, rigma- 
 role ; at Icere paa ramse,\o learn by rote. 
 At ramse noget op, to repeat a thing in a 
 monotonous way without reference to 
 sense, to say by rote. Sw. eji lang ramsa 
 af ord, une kyrielle de mots. — Nordforss. 
 
 Sc. rammes, to roar, rame, to cry aloud, 
 to roar ; rame, a cry, especially when the 
 same sound is repeated. ' He has ay ane 
 rame,' when he continues to cry for the 
 same thing, or to repeat the same sound. 
 — Jam. Fr. ramas, a heap, medley, min- 
 glemangle, probably belongs to this head, 
 signifying originally a confused noise. 
 Cette histoire n'est qu'un ramas d'impos- 
 tures. Fr. ramage, the song of birds, 
 chatter of children, is another shoot from 
 the same stock. Quel 7'amage font ces 
 enfans la ! Rabdcher, to make a tedious 
 repetition. 
 
 To Bamble. i. The syllables ram^ 
 7'om, ru7n, are used in a numerous class 
 of words framed to represent continued 
 multifarious noise, clatter, and then ap- 
 plied to the sense of noisy, riotous, ex- 
 cited action. We may cite E. dial. 7'a77te, 
 to cry aloud ; Lat. ruiTior, murmur, noise, 
 confused sound ; It. rombare, ro7nbaz~ 
 zare, ro7nbeggiare, ro77ibolare, to rumble, 
 clash, clatter ; G. rtmior^ 3. noise, bustle, 
 clamour, tumult, commotion ; Westerwald 
 ra77i7iiore7i, Austrian ro7tiotte7i, Hamburgh 
 rametiteTt, to make a clatter, make a dis- 
 turbance ; E. dial. ram77takiitg, behaving 
 riotously and wantonly ; ramracketitig, a 
 country rout where there are many noisy 
 amusements ; Sw. ra77tla, to rattle ; Du. 
 ra77t77tele7t, to rattle, chink, clash. De 
 ra7n77ieli7tg der 'wape7te7i, the clash of 
 weapons ; TTtet geld ra77i77iele7t, to clink 
 with money. Ra77tmelen is then applied 
 to tumultuous, noisy action ; perstrepere, 
 tumultuari. — Kil. Mil ju7ige7i 77idgde7i 
 ra7nmle7t, to sport with girls ; sich im 
 belle ra7nmel7t, to rout about in bed. 
 * Tanzen and ra77imel7t.' ' Ball spielen, 
 laufen und ra77i77iel7i' — Sanders. Next 
 from the excited action of animals pairing, 
 G. ra77t77tel7t is specially applied to the 
 pairing of animals, as hares, rabbits, cats, 
 sheep. The wild conduct of hares under 
 this influence is witnessed by the proverb, 
 ' as mad as a March hare.' ' Wenn die 
 hasen ra77imel7t, so jagen sie einandei" 
 
RAMIFY 
 
 herum.' ' Der im Marz rarninelnden kat- 
 zen.' — Sanders. Du. ram7nelcn, lascivire, 
 catulire, efferari libidine, et domo relicta 
 vagari. — Kil. Rammeler, a male rabbit, 
 and a libidinous man, a sense in which E. 
 rambler also is vulgarly used. Sc. ram- 
 mis^ to go about in a state approaching to 
 frenzy under the impulse of any powerful 
 appetite j to rammis about like a cat, to 
 be rammising W\t\i hunger. — Jam. 
 
 The sense of wandering up and down 
 is derived from the notion of noisy move- 
 ment, disturbance, agitation. Du. rajjt- 
 inelen, rommelen^ strepere, turbare ; rom- 
 melen (inquit Becanus) robust^ et cele- 
 riter sursum deorsum, ultro citroque se 
 movere. — Kil. 
 
 In his sieve — he had a silver teine, 
 He silly toke it out this cursid heine, — 
 And in the pannes bottom he it lafte, 
 And in the water rambled to and fro, 
 And wonder privily toke up also 
 The copper teine. — Canon Yeoman's Tale. 
 The people cried and rambled up and doun. 
 
 Monk's Tale. 
 
 The same train of thought is shown in N. 
 rangla, to rumble, tinkle, to revel, riot, to 
 ramble, wander about ; Dan. ralde^ to 
 rattle ; N. ralla, to tattle ; of beasts, to 
 rut, to be on heat, also to ramble or gad 
 about. 
 
 2. To ramble, in the sense of being de- 
 lirious, talking in an incoherent way, is 
 probably not from the figure of wandering 
 in speech, but from the primitive sense of 
 rattling, clattering ; Sw. rajnla, to clatter, 
 to tattle, analogous to Sc, clash applied to 
 idle talk ; Du. rammelen, to talk idly, 
 loosely, confusedly, rabbelen, kakelen — 
 Halma ; remelen, delirare, ineptire. — Kil. 
 Comp. rallen, rellen, strepere, garrire, 
 blaterare, deliramenta loqui. — Kil. 
 
 Ramify. Lat. ramus, a bough or 
 branch. 
 
 Bammel. — Rubble. — Rubbish. Ram- 
 mel, rubbish, especially bricklayer's rub- 
 bish, stony fragments. 
 
 To ramtnel or moulder in pieces, as sometimes 
 mud walls or great masses of stones will do of 
 themselves. — Florio in Hal. 
 
 Sw. rammel, rattle, clatter; rammel af 
 stellar somfalla ur muren, rattle of stones 
 falling out of the wall ; ramla, to rattle, 
 to fall with a crash. Stenar ramlade of 
 berget, stones rattled down from the moun- 
 tain. Ramla omkull som en mur, to 
 tumble down as a wall. E. dial, rames, 
 ruins, remnants. An old rames of a 
 house. 
 
 In the same way from the parallel form 
 Du. 7-abbelen, to gabble (properly to rattle, 
 
 RAMP 
 
 519 
 
 as shown in Pl.D. rabbel, bustle — Dan- 
 neil, rabbellasch, a rattle, a great talker — • 
 Schiitze), is formed E. rubble, what comes 
 rumbling down, the ruins of old walls. 
 ' RubbellxiY brokell of old decayed houses.' 
 — Huloet. '■Rubble, as mortar and broken 
 stones of old buildings.' — Baret. 
 
 On the same principle Rubbish (com- 
 monly explained as what comes off by 
 rubbing) is from Fr. rabascher, rab aster, 
 rabalter, to rumble, rattle ; rabaschement, 
 a rumbling or terrible rattling. — Cot. So 
 from the form rabaster, Lang, rabastos, 
 silk rubbish, remnants of silk spinning. 
 Comp. Pl.D. rabakken, to rattle; een 
 oold rabak, an old ruinous house or fur- 
 niture, a rattle trap. Pl.D. rabusch (pro- 
 nounced as Fr. rabouge), confusion. 
 
 To Ramp. — Romp. — Rampage. It 
 is shown under Ramble that the element 
 rain or rom is used to represent noise in 
 a long series of words signifying noisy, 
 riotous, excited action. The radical sense 
 is shown in It. rombare, rombazzare, roin- 
 beggiare, to rumble, clash, clatter ; Du. 
 rammelen, to rattle, clash, clink, then in 
 a further developed sense, perstrepere, 
 tumultuari. — Kil. G. rammeleti, to rout 
 about, to sport in an excited manner, to 
 caterwaul. The It. rombazzare, rombeg- 
 giare, may be identified with MHG. rain- 
 biieze, spring widely about — Zarncke, and 
 with E. rampage, to be riotous, to scour 
 up and down, rampadgeon, a furious, 
 boisterous, or quarrelsome fellow — Hal, 
 while Hamburgh ramenten, to make a 
 clatter, corresponds to Lincolnsh. rain- 
 pantous, overbearing ; and It. rampegare, 
 rampicare, to clamber or grapple, to E. 
 rammaking, behaving riotously and wan- 
 tonly. — Hal. From the syllable ram or 
 ramp, which lies at the root of all these 
 forms, springs the verb to ramp or romPy 
 signifying unrestrained bodily action, 
 throwing about the limbs, scrambling, 
 jumping about, pawing. 
 
 And if that any neighebour of mine 
 
 Wol not in chirche to my wife incline, 
 
 Or be so hardy to hire to trespace, 
 
 Whan she cometh home she ravipeth in my face, 
 
 And cryeth, False coward wreke thy wife. 
 
 Chaucer, Monk's Prologue. 
 Yet is this an act of a vile and servile mind, to 
 honour a man while he lived— and now that 
 another had slain him, to be in such an exceed- 
 ing jollity withal- as to ramp in manner with 
 both their feet upon the dead, and to sing songs 
 of victory, &c. — North, Plut. in R. 
 
 It. ramp are, rampegare, rampeggiare, to 
 ramp, clamber, drag, or grapple, to paw 
 like a lion or a bear ; Fr. ramper, to 
 climb, to creep. 
 
520 
 
 RAMPALLION 
 
 RANGER OF A FOREST 
 
 1 
 
 When Clare speaks of ramping wil- 
 lows, he conceives them as scrambling 
 about, pushing out their limbs in an ex- 
 cessive degree, growing luxuriantly, in 
 the same way that G. rammeln^ which 
 when used of children signifies tumbling 
 and tossing about, throwing about the 
 limbs, is also applied to plants in the 
 sense of shoot, spring, sprout. — Sanders. 
 
 A ramp or romp is a young person of 
 unrestrained spirits, a girl noisy and bois- 
 terous in play. G. Mit jiingen magden 
 rammeln, to toy or romp with girls. 
 
 Rampallion. A coarse vulgar person. 
 Devonsh. rumbullion, a great tumult. — 
 Hal. Castrais ratnbal, confused noise, 
 bustle and movement of a house ; ram- 
 bal/ia, to disturb, trouble ; ramboul, a 
 mess ; ramboulha, to disorder, turn topsy- 
 turvy. Comp. Sc. rallion, clattering, 
 noise, with rullion, a coarse masculine 
 woman. — Jam. 
 
 Rampart, — Rampire. Fr. rempar, 
 rempart, a rampier, the wall of a fortress ,• 
 remparer, to fortify. — Cot. It. riparare, 
 to ward off a blow ; riparo, a defence, 
 remedy, a rampier, fence, covert, place of 
 refuge. — Fl. See Parry. 
 
 Rancour. — Rancid. — Rank. Lat. 
 ranceo, It. rancire, to become rank, tainted, 
 or unpleasant in taste or smell. Rancore, 
 rancura, rancour, rage, spite ; rancorare, 
 to rancour, fester, rage, rankle, — Fl. Fr, 
 ranci, musty, tainted, unsavoury, ill smell- 
 ing ; rancceur, rancour, hatred, rankling 
 despight. — Cot. CentralFr. rancosur, dis- 
 gust; qafaitrancosur. T>\i.ranst,ranstig, 
 G. ranzig, rancid. 
 
 Random. — Randon. The radical 
 meaning is impetus, violence, force. Ran- 
 doun, the swift course, flight, or motion 
 of a thing. — Jam. 
 
 He rod to him with gret randoutn. 
 
 Beves of Hampton. 
 Then rode he este with grete randowne. 
 MS. in Hal. 
 
 The adverb at random is to be explained 
 as left to its own force, without external 
 guidance. 
 
 The gentle lady loose at randon left 
 The greenwood long did walk. — F. Q. 
 
 Fr. randon, force, violence ; de randon, 
 impetuously. — Roquef. Aller k grand 
 randon, to go very fast ; sang respandu 
 a gros rando7is,\Aood. spilt in great gushes. 
 — Cot. Prov. randa, randon, effort, vio- 
 lence. Faitz es lo vers a randa, the verse 
 is made at one effort, at a blow. Las 
 regnas romp a un randon, he breaks 
 the reins at a blow. Cant ac nadat un 
 
 good 
 
 gran randon, when he had swum a 
 bit, — Raynouard. 
 
 The radical image is the noise which 
 accompanies impetuous action. Fr. ran- 
 tanplan, rubadub, the beating of a drum. 
 Piedm. rabadan, ramadan, Gloucestersh. 
 randan, noise, bustle, uproar. It. ran- 
 dellare, to make a whirling noise, to turn 
 as a whirlwind, to hurl or fling furiously ; 
 randello, a violent hurling or whistling 
 noise in the air ; a randello, in flinging 
 manner, at random. — PI. OE, randall, 
 random. — Coles in Hal. Randy, bois- 
 terous, noisy, obstreperous. G. randdl, 
 noise, uproar. — Sanders. E. dial, ran^ 
 violence, force. 
 
 Range. — Rank. Fr. rang,reng,renge, 
 Prov. renc, rengua, Cat. retic, Lyonnese 
 ranche (Gl. G^nev.), w, rhenc, Bret, renk, 
 Piedm. ran, rem, row, line, rank ; Fr. 
 ranger, to arrange, dispose, set in order ; 
 rangde, a rank, row ; Prov. rengar, arren- 
 gar, arrenjar. It. rangiare, to range or 
 set in order. Sc. raing, row, line ; to 
 raing, to rank up, to be arranged in line ; 
 also to go successively in line, to follow 
 in succession. * The folks are raifiging 
 to the kirk.' It. rangiare is used as E. 
 range, in the sense of making stretches 
 up and down. To range along the coast 
 is to move along the line of coast ; to 
 range over the country, to stretch over 
 the country in extensive sweeps. 
 
 The Britons renged about the field. 
 
 R. Brunne, 194. 
 
 And in two renges fayre they hem dresse. 
 Knight's Tale. 
 
 Diez' explanation from ring, a circle of 
 hsteners, is very unsatisfactory. In a 
 circle there is no priority, which is the 
 ruling idea in rank. It is far^more pro- 
 bable that the origin is to be found in a 
 nasalised form of Du. recken, Sw. rdcka^ 
 to stretch, to reach to. Du. recke, Sw. 
 rdcka, rank, line, / eti rdcka, at a stretch, 
 in a continued line. The range of a gun 
 is as far as the gun will reach, A range 
 of mountains is a stretch or line of moun- 
 tains, and a reach of a river is an analo- 
 gous expression, so far as it extends in 
 one direction. 
 
 Rang-e. 2. mhg. viur-ram, a fire- 
 grate, kitchen range ; G. rahmen, a 
 frame. 
 
 Ranger of a Forest, So called be- 
 cause it is his duty to range up and down 
 in the forest [ad perambulandum quotidie 
 per terras deafforestatas — Manwood] to 
 see to the game, and the duty of the 
 keepers in their several walks. — Minsheu. 
 
I 
 
 RANK 
 
 521 
 
 The guardians of the forest are termed 
 regardatores, inspectors, in the Charta de 
 Foresta, 9 H. III., rendered rangers in 
 the old translation of the Statutes, while 
 facere regardiun is rendered, to make 
 range ^ or make his range. Now to make 
 range is not an English expression, and 
 certainly is not a translation oi facere re- 
 gardian, to make inspection. It is ob- 
 viously framed to correspond with the 
 name of the Ranger (by which the officer 
 was known in the time of the translation) in 
 the same way that the phrase facere re- 
 gardum corresponds to regardator in the 
 original, and therefore cannot be used in 
 support of Minsheu's derivation. The 
 probability is, as it seems to me, that the 
 name of ranger was taken from rama- 
 g^ur, the name by which the guardian of 
 the forest was known in France. The 
 right of cutting branches in the forest for 
 fodder or other purposes, and the duty 
 payable to the lord for the exercise of 
 the right, were called ramage, Mid.Lat. 
 ramagium, from rafnus, branch. ' Ego 
 Audiernus dedi B. ramagiiim per omnes 
 buscos meos in curte de M. ad hoc 
 ut homines de C. accipiant ad omnes 
 necessitates suas.' — Chart. A.D. 1104 in 
 Due. Hence OFr. ramageur, an officer 
 whose duty it wjis to look after the woods 
 and to receive the payments on account 
 of ramage. ' Pasturages communs sanz 
 en riens payer au ramageur.' — Chart. 
 A.D. 1378 in Carp. The corruption from 
 ramageur to ranger will cause little diffi- 
 culty if we compare the Fr. raim^ rain, 
 rains, rainche, a branch or stick, derived 
 from ratnus. Cut brushwood is still called 
 rangewood, or ringewood, in Northamp- 
 tonshire.— Mrs Baker. 
 
 It would be perfectly natural that the 
 superintendence of the game should be 
 given to the same officer whose business 
 was to look after the woods, and it might 
 easily happen that the former duty might 
 supersede the latter, as in England, where, 
 according to Manwood, the ranger had 
 no care of vert, but only of venison. It 
 is not true however that such was the 
 case with the regardatores of the Forest 
 Charter. 
 
 Rank. The adj. ra7tk is used in very 
 different senses, which however may per- 
 haps all be developed from the funda- 
 mental notion of violence or impetuosity 
 of action. 
 
 The seely man seeing him ride so rank. 
 And aim at him, fell flat to ground for fear. 
 
 F. Q. 
 Ah for pity ! will rank winter's rage 
 
 These bitter blasts never gin to assuage ? 
 Shepherd's Cal. 
 
 Of many iron hammers beating rank. — F. Q. 
 From the last quotation we readily pass 
 to the sense of frequent, closely set, ' As 
 rank as motes i' t' sun,' — Craven Gl. And 
 generally the image of vigorous action 
 supplies the senses of strong in body, 
 luxuriant in growth, fully developed, ex- 
 cessive in any quality, strong in taste or 
 smell, harsh in voice, &c. 
 
 ' In the mene tyme certane wycht and 
 rank men [viribus validiores] take hym 
 be the myddill' — Bellenden, Boeth. in 
 Jam. * Seven ears came up on one stalk, 
 rank and good.' — Gen. ' A rank modus.* 
 '■Rank idolatry.' ' The rank vocit swanys.' 
 — D. V. 
 
 Precisely analogous senses are ex- 
 pressed by forms springing from the 
 parallel root ramp, ram, representing 
 noisy, excited, violent action, as shown 
 under Ramble, Ramp. ON. rammr, ranir, 
 robust, strong ; r. rymr, a loud noise ; 
 r'dmm hildr, a sharp fight ; r. ast, vehe- 
 ment love ; ramr reykr, a sharp smoke ; 
 andramr, of rank breath. In N, of E. 
 ra7n, fetid. 'He is as ram as a fox.' 
 Strong-tasted butter is said to be ram- 
 mish. — Craven Gl. N. ram, strong in 
 taste as old cheese, bold in speech, tho- 
 rough in respect of a bad quality. Ein 
 ram kjuv, Sw. 7'am tjtif a rank thief. 
 Sw. ram lukt, rank smell ; ram bonde, as 
 Fr. un franc paysan, a mere boor. Dan. 
 vor ramme alvor, in good earnest ; at 
 tale ram Jydsk, as we should say, to talk 
 rank Cockney. 
 
 When frank Mess John came first into the camp, 
 With his fierce flaming sword none was so ramp. 
 
 Jam. 
 
 The term is then applied to the lux- 
 uriant growth of plants. 
 By overshadowed ponds in woody nooks, 
 With rampitig sallows lined and crowding sedge. 
 
 Clare. 
 
 E. dial, ramjnily, tall, rank. — Hal. G. 
 rammebi (of plants), to spring, shoot, 
 sprout. — Sanders. Cimbr. rammele, twig. 
 It. rampollo, a bud, sprig, branch. 
 
 "With nk or ng instead of mp or m in 
 the radical syllable, as in E. shrink, com- 
 pared with G. schriimpfen, we have Da. 
 r angle, to rattle, jingle ; N. rangla, to 
 rumble, tinkle, to revel, riot, to wander 
 about ; G. ranken, rankern, rdnkeln (San- 
 ders), rangen (Brem. Wtb.), to sport 
 noisily, run wildly about, tumble about, 
 romp ; ranken (of the sow), to be on heat. 
 Ranken is also said of plants which cling 
 to or climb up other bodies by means of 
 
$22 
 
 RANSACK 
 
 RARE 
 
 their filaments. Die gurken ranken auf 
 dcr erde fort, the cucumbers scramble, 
 ramp, creep, or grow along the ground. 
 Ranke, ranken^ a branch, tendril, twining 
 sprigs of vines or hops. — Kuttn. 
 
 To Ransack, on. rannsaka, Sw. ran- 
 saka, to search thoroughly, to search for 
 stolen goods. Gael, rannsm'c/i, Manx 
 ronnsee, search, rummage. Ihre explains 
 the first syllable from Goth, razns, ON. 
 rann^ a house, comparing the word with 
 Lombard salisuchen {sal^ a dwelling), G. 
 haussuchen, Fris, hamsekene, a searching 
 or an attack of a house. It may possibly 
 be from the figure of a hog rooting with 
 his snout. ON. rani^ snout of a hog ; 
 rannadr^ snouted. 
 
 Ransom. Fr. ranqon^ OFr. raanqon, 
 raeiiqon^ raention — Roquef., from Lat. re- 
 emptio^ a purchase back. Redemption is 
 the same word with insertion of the eu- 
 phonic d. 
 
 To Rant.— Rantipole. To rant, to 
 rage, rave, or swagger— B. ; to drink or 
 riot. — Hal. 
 
 Let's drink and rant and merry make. 
 
 Craven Gl. 
 
 Ranty, wild, frisky, riotous. Randy, 
 boisterous, obstreperous, disorderly — 
 Brockett, also lecherous, on heat. — Hal. 
 Luxuriari, gogel sein, rant haben. — 
 Schmeller. G. ranzen, ranten, to make a 
 noise, move noisily about ; den ganzen 
 tag im hofe herum ranzen; im bette 
 herum ranzen, to rout about. Ranzen 
 in sportman's language is used of dogs 
 and wild animals on heat. Bav. ranten, 
 to play tricks ; sich ranten, to swagger ; 
 ju-ranten, to jodel, to cry ju ! Swab. 
 rande, junger rande, a young sportive 
 person ; randlen, to sport, muthwillen 
 treiben ; rantschen, to ramble idly about ; 
 Du. ranzen, to caterwaul, be on heat ; 
 randen, randten, delirare, ineptire, insa- 
 nire. — Kil. In Franconia and Silesia 
 rant is noise, uproar, according to Frisch. 
 See Ramble, Rank, Romp. 
 
 Rap.— Rape. — Rapid. The syllable 
 rap is used in the first instance to repre- 
 sent the sound of a blow or hard knock, 
 and then to signify whatever is done with 
 the violence or quickness of a blow. 
 Rouchi rapasse, a volley of blows ; Mod. 
 Gr. panlZoj, to smite. Sw. rapp, blow, 
 stroke, and as an adj. prompt, active, 
 operating like a blow. Dan. rap, quick, 
 swift, brisk ; rappe dig, make haste. 
 And Ich comaunde quath the kynge to Con- 
 science thenne, 
 Rappe thee to ryde, and Reson that thou fette. 
 P. P. in R. 
 
 1 
 
 OE. rape, haste. 
 So oft a day I mote thy werke renew 
 It to correct and eke to rubbe and scrape, 
 And all is thorow thy negligence and rape. 
 Chaucer to his scrivener. 
 
 To rap out oaths is to utter them with 
 violence and haste like a volley of blows. 
 Lat. rapere, to seize with violence ; rapt- 
 diis, occupying a short space of time like 
 a blow, quick. Rapt with joy, rapt in 
 admiration, signify carried away with the 
 emotion. Bav. rappen, to snatch. I 
 rappe, I ravysshe. — Palsgr. In rap and 
 ran, to get by hook or crook, to seize 
 whatever one can lay hands on, the word 
 is joined with the synonymous ON. rdn, 
 rapine. / rap or rende, je rapine. — 
 Palsgr. To rap and renne. — Chaucer. 
 To get all one can rap and run.— Coles 
 in Hal. ON. rdn ok hrifs {hrifs, robbery) 
 is used in the same way. Leida vikin- 
 gum rdn ok hri/san, to thoroughly plun- 
 der the vikings. Kilian has raep, collec- 
 tio, raptura. Manx raip, to rend or tear. 
 See Rend. 
 
 Rapacious. — Rapine. — Rapture. 
 Lat. rapio, raptum, to seize, take by vio- 
 lence. 
 
 Rape. I. Fr. rape, marc de raisin, 
 the stalks and husks of grapes in the 
 wine-press. — Jaubert. Properly the scrap- 
 ings, refuse. Lang, raspal, a besom ; ras- 
 palia, to sweep ; Du. raepeti, colligere, 
 levare, auferre — Kil, raepalie, refuse, rub- 
 bish. 
 
 2. A division of the County of Sussex. 
 ON. hreppr, N. repp, a district. 
 
 3. Fr. rapt, a ravishing or taking by 
 violence ; Lat. rapio, raptum. 
 
 Rapier. Fr. rapi^re, a long sword for 
 thrusting, a word commonly used in a 
 depreciatory sense. From Sp, raspadera, 
 a raker (Neum.), demiespadon pour rac- 
 ier (Taboada), as if we called it a poker. 
 Rapi^re, Spanische sworde. — Palsgr. 908. 
 
 Rapparee. A wild Irish plunderer, so 
 named from the rapary or half-pike with 
 which he was armed. — Burnet. 
 
 Was it not the priests that were the original of 
 the Rapparees? Did they not enjoin every one 
 upon pain of excommunication to bring a rapary 
 or half-pike in his hand to mass ? — Essay for the 
 Conversion of the Irish, Dub. 1698, in N. & Q. 
 
 Ir. ropaire, a rapier, doubtless from the E. 
 
 Rare. i. — Rarefy. — Rarity. Lat 
 rams, thin, scarce. 
 
 Rare. 2. Raw, underdone. — Hal. In 
 the U.S., according to Lowell, rare or 
 raredone is the ordinary term used in that 
 sense. It is well explained by that author 
 (Biglow Papers, II. Series, xxxi.) as a 
 
RASCAL 
 
 contraction from rather^ signifying too 
 quickly done, too soon taken from the 
 fire. The same form is seen in rare ripe, 
 early ripe. Devon rare, early. — Hal. 
 The elision of th between vowels is very 
 common, as in whe'r for whether, smore 
 from smother, or (G. oder) from other, &c. 
 
 Rascal. The meaning of rascal is the 
 scrapings and refuse of anything. Ras- 
 caly or refuse, whereof it be, caducum. — 
 Pr. Pm. Rascall, refuse beasts. — Palsgr. 
 N. raska, to scrape ; rask, offal, remnants 
 of fish or the like. Sp. 7'ascar, raspar, It. 
 rascare, to scrape. 
 
 In like manner from Bret, raka, Fr. 
 racier, rdper, Du. raepen, to scrape, are 
 derived Fr. racaille, the rascality, or base 
 and rascal sort, the scum, dregs, offals, 
 outcasts [scrapings] of any company — 
 Cot., Du. racalie, raepalie, the dregs of 
 the people. — Bigl. Kil. Yorkshire rag- 
 galy, villanous. — Hal. Da. rage to rake, 
 scrape ; rageri, trumpery, trash. 
 
 The imitative character of the words 
 signifying scraping is shown by their ap- 
 plication to the act of hawking or clearing 
 the throat, in which a similar sound is 
 produced. It. raschiare, rastiare, ras- 
 care, rassare, to scrape, also to keck hard 
 for to cough or fetch up phlegm from the 
 lungs. — Fl. ON. rceskia, screare cum 
 sonitu. Sp. raspar, to scrape, may be 
 compared with G. rciuspern, to hawk ; It. 
 recere, to retch, with G. rechen, to rake ; 
 ON. hrczkia, to hawk, with E. rake; Dan. 
 harke, to hawk, with Du. harcken, to 
 rake ; Ptg. escarrar, to hawk, with G. 
 scharren, to scrape. 
 
 Base. -rase. Lat. rado, rasum, to 
 scrape. 
 
 Rash. G. rasch, quick, impetuous, 
 spirited. Rasches pferd, a spirited horse ; 
 rascher wind, fresh wind ; rasches feuer, 
 brisk fire, Bav. rosch, resch, Swab, raisch, 
 fresh, lively, quick ; ON. roskr, acer, stre- 
 nuus, validus. A rasch carle, a man 
 vigorous beyond his years. — Jam. Pl.D. 
 rask, risk, quick, brisk ; Sw. en ung ras- 
 kerkerl, a brisk young fellow ; Pol. rzeski, 
 brisk, smart, lively. 
 
 The word is formed on the same prin- 
 ciple as the adj. rank above explained, 
 from a representation of the sound ac- 
 companying any violent action, for which 
 purpose the Germans in common life 
 make use, according to Adelung, of the 
 exclamations rr ! hurr ! ritsch ! ?-atsch / 
 Hence many verbal forms approaching 
 each other more or less closely. G. rau- 
 schen, to rustle, roar, to rush, or move 
 swiftly with noise and bustle. ON. raska, 
 
 RASPBERRY 
 
 523 
 
 rtiska, strepere, turbare, violare. Fridr 
 raskadiz, the peace was broken ; tauinar 
 raskiz, the reins are broken. Sp. rasgar^ 
 to tear ; rasgo, a dash of the pen, a stroke. 
 AS. rascian, stridere, vibrare ; Sc. rasch^ 
 dash, collision. 
 
 Enee — and Turnus samyn in fere 
 Hurllis togiddir with thare scheildis Strang, 
 That for grete raschis al the heuinnis rang. 
 
 D. V. 
 
 To rash, to do anything with hurry or 
 violence, to tear or throw down, to snatch, 
 to rush. 
 
 There Marinell great deeds of arms did shew — 
 Rashing off helms and riving plates asunder. 
 
 F.Q. 
 
 I missed my purpose in his arm, rasht his 
 doublet sleeve, ran him close by the left cheek.^ 
 B. Jonson in R. 
 
 To rash through a darg, to hurry through 
 a day's work. — Jam. I rasshe a thing 
 from one, I take it from hym hastily, Je 
 arache. — Palsgr. See Race. 
 
 A rash is an eruption or breaking out 
 of the skin, i. e. the breaking out of an 
 humour, according to the old doctrine. 
 
 Rasher. A rasher of bacon is a slice 
 of broiled bacon. 
 
 The syllable rash represents the sound 
 of broiling or frizzling. Bav. rdschpfann, 
 a frying-pan ; gerosch, a fritter ; reschen, 
 to fry. — Schm. E. dial, r'ash, to burn in 
 cooking. 
 
 The term rask is provincially applied 
 to things that rustle in moving, as corn 
 in the straw which is so dry that it easily 
 falls out in handling. — Hal. Bav. rosch, 
 resch, crackling, crisp, like fresh pastry, 
 dry hay, straw, frozen snow. 
 
 To Rasp. The harsh sound of scraping 
 is represented by various similar syllables, 
 rasp, rask, rastj Sp. raspar, rascar, to 
 rake, scrape ; It. rascare, raschiare, ras- 
 tiare, to scrape, to hawk or spit up phlegm 
 with a harsh noise. The same two mean- 
 ings are united in E, rasp and G. rduspern, 
 to hawk. Bav. raspefi, to scrape upon a 
 fiddle, to scrape together; raspeln, to 
 rattle, to scrape together. — Schm. 
 
 From the root rast, Lat. rastriim, a 
 harrow, rastelliimj Bret, rast el, Fr. rd- 
 teau, a rake ; ratelier, a hay-rack. 
 
 Raspberry. Formerly raspise or rcLsp- 
 ise-berry. It. raspo, a bunch or cluster 
 of any berries, namely, of grapes, also the 
 berry that we call raspise. — Fl. Doubt- 
 less from rasp^ signifying in the first in- 
 stance scrape, then pluck or gather. It 
 raspolare, to glean grapes after the vint- 
 age. Bav. abreispen, to pluck off, espe- 
 
524 
 
 RAT 
 
 cially the burnt pieces of a torch, to make 
 it burn brighter. 
 
 Rat. G. raise ^ It. ratio, Fr. rat, Gael. 
 radan. 
 
 Ratchet-wheel. A cog-wheel having 
 teeth like those of a saw, against which a 
 spring works, allowing the wheel to move 
 in one direction and not in the other. It 
 appears to be named from the resem- 
 blance to a watchman's rattle, where the 
 noise is made by a cogged wheel con- 
 tinually raising and letting fall again a 
 wooden spring. Lim. roqueto, a wooden 
 rattle (moulinet de bois) used instead of 
 bells on Holy Thursday and Good Fri- 
 day. Doubtless so named from the 
 racket which it makes. It. rocchetto, the 
 cog-wheel of a mill ; the wheel about 
 which the string of a clock or of a jack 
 goes. — Fl. 
 
 Rate. — To Ratify. Lat. reor, ratiis 
 sum, to think, to deem ; ratus, reckoned, 
 allowed, settled, established; rata pars, 
 a proportionate part ; pro raid, in propor- 
 tion. Hence E. rate, a calculated propor- 
 tion, an assessment in certain proportion. 
 Lat. ratifico, to make firm, to ratify. 
 
 To Rate. To assess, to appoint one 
 his due portion of something to be done 
 or paid. Hence to impute or lay some- 
 thing to one's charge, to reprove or chide. 
 
 And God was in Crist recounceilinge to him 
 the world, not rettynge [reputansj to hem her 
 giltis.— Wiclif in R. 
 
 By the same figure we speak of taxing 
 a man with an offence, or taking him to 
 task on account of it. Tax and task are 
 synonymous with rate. * I sette one to 
 his taske, what he shall do or what he 
 shall pay ; Je taxe.' — Palsgr. In like 
 manner from It. tansa, a taxing ; tansare, 
 rateably to sess a man for any payment ; 
 also to tax a man with some imputation, 
 to chide, rebuke, or check with words. — 
 Fl. 
 
 Rathe.— Rather. Rathe, soon, early ; 
 rather, sooner. I had rather die, I would 
 sooner die. When used to signify a slight 
 . degree of a quality it must be understood 
 as asserting that the subject approaches 
 nearer the quality in question than the 
 opposite. Rather deaf, sooner deaf than 
 not, further advanced in the direction of 
 deafness than the opposite. 
 
 ON. hradr, quick ; hrada, to hasten ; 
 N. rad, quick, hasty, ready, straight ; 
 radt (adv.), quick, readily, straight for- 
 wards. Du. rad, Picard rade, nimble, 
 quick. 
 
 Ratio. — Rational. From Lat. reor, 
 ratus sum, to think, is ratio^ account, 
 
 RAVE 
 
 reckoning, respect, consideration, pro- 
 portion, reason ; ratiocinari, to reason. 
 
 Rattle. G. rasseln, Pl.D. rastern, Du. 
 ratelen, to make a collection of sounds 
 such as might individually be represented 
 by the syllable ras or rat; Pl.D. rat- 
 tern, to speak quick and indistinct, to 
 rattle on.— Danneil. Gr. KpoTOQ, the sound 
 of striking; Kporko}, to knock, clap, clat- 
 ter, rattle, chatter, prate ; KporaXov, a 
 rattle. 
 
 Rattle-traps are old worn-out rattling 
 things, hence a slighting name for move- 
 able goods. So from Norm, pataclas, 
 crash, clatter (Decorde), Lim. potodan 
 (properly rattle), trumpery, goods. N'o 
 empourta tou sown potoclan, he has taken 
 away all his rattle-traps. Pl.D. rabak- 
 keft, to rattle ; een odd rabak, an old 
 worn-out piece of goods. 
 
 Ravage. — Ravenous. — Ravine. — 
 Ravish, Lat. rapere gives rise to Prov. 
 rapar, arapar, arabar, Fr, ravir, to 
 snatch, to seize ; ravage, spoil, havoc ; 
 ravine, Prov. rabina, violence, impetu- 
 osity ; ravineux, impetuous, violent. ' Et 
 li jaians par tel ravine le fiert,' the giant 
 strikes him with such violence.— Rom. de 
 la Violette. In E, ravenous the sense is 
 confined to greediness or eagerness in 
 eating. 
 
 Puis menjue de grant ravine 
 Des plus belles qu'il eslut : 
 eats with great violence. — Fab. et Contes, 
 
 In a different application, ravine d'eau 
 is a great flood, a ravine or inundation of 
 water which overwhelmeth all things that 
 come in its way. — Cot, Thence in a se- 
 condary sense, E, ravine is the water- 
 course of such a flood, a narrow steep 
 hollow cut by floods out of the side of a 
 hill. 
 
 To Rave. The syllable rab is used as 
 well as ram (as explained under ramble), 
 in the construction of words representing 
 a confused noise. Piedm. rabadan, ra- 
 madan, crash, uproar, bustle, disturb- 
 ance, Fr, rabalter, rabaster, rabascher, 
 to rumble, rattle, or make a terrible noise, 
 as they say spirits do in some houses. — 
 Cot. 
 O esprit done, bon feroit, ce me semble, 
 Avecques toy rabbater toute nuict. — Marot, 
 Prov. rabasta, chiding, quarrel, dispute. 
 Champ, rabache, tapage ; rabacher, ra- 
 doter, to dote, to rave, and with the b 
 passing into a v, ravacher, ravasser, ra- 
 vauder, radoter ; ravater, gronder, mal- 
 traiter ; raver, vagabonded — Tarbes. Fr. 
 ravacher^ ravasser, to rave, talk idly, — 
 
RAVEL 
 
 en dormant, to sleep unquietly ; ravau- 
 deur, one that either confounds or under- 
 stands not what he says, or one that 
 neither says nor does aught rightly, a 
 bungler, botcher ; 7-evayde, a coil or stir ; 
 resver, to rave, dote, speak idly. — Cot. 
 Resver de nuit, courir les rues pendant la 
 nuit ; raver par la ville, courir par la 
 ville. — Roquefort. Hence Du. rabaud, a 
 vagabond, properly a noisy reveller, and 
 with the exchange of b for v, ravot, revot, 
 caterva sive turba nebulonum ; ravoiten, 
 tumultuari, et luxuriari, popinari, to riot, 
 revel — Kil., to romp, play in a wild man- 
 ner. — Bomhoff. The same radical syl- 
 lable gives also Du. rabbelen, to rattle, 
 gabble ; Pl.D. rdbeln, to rave, to be de- 
 lirious. — Danneil. It. rabidare, to rab- 
 ble, to huddle, to prattle, or scold. — Fl. 
 Wal. ravld, to dream unquietly ; Du. 
 ravelen, raveelen, aestuare, circumcursare, 
 et delirare, desipere, insanire, furere. — 
 Kil. Revelen, to rave, to dote. — Halma. 
 Champ, revel, bruit, gaitd, emeute. To 
 the same root belong Lat. rabies, It. rab- 
 bia, rage, madness ; Gael, rabhd, idle 
 talk, coarse tiresome language ; Fr. ra- 
 bacher, to keep repeating in a tiresome 
 way. 
 
 See Revel, Riot, Ribald, Rove. 
 
 To Ravel. Of thread, to become con- 
 fused and entangled. It. ravagliare, Fr. 
 raveler, Du. ravelen, rafelen, uitrafelett^ 
 to ravel out ; rafeling, unravelled linen, 
 lint. I fasyll out as sylke or velvet, Je 
 rauele. — Palsgr. The primary image is 
 confused and rapid speech, from whence 
 the expression is applied to a confused 
 and entangled texture. Du. rabbelen, to 
 rattle, gabble, precipitare sive confundere 
 verba. — Kil. Rabbelschrift, scrawl, con- 
 fused writing. P1.D. rabbi, bustle, dis- 
 order, confusion of head. Du. ravelen, 
 revelen, to wander in mind, talk con- 
 fusedly, rave, dote. 
 
 The same passage from the figure of 
 confused speech is seen in Gael, mabair, 
 a stammerer ; tnabach, stammering, en- 
 tangled, confused, ravelled ; and in Du. 
 hatteren, hutteren, to stammer, falter ; 
 Sc. hatter, to speak thick and confusedly ; 
 PI. D. verhadderen, to entangle, ravel. 
 
 Ravelin. Fr. ravelin, It. ravellino, 
 7'ivellino, a ravelin, a wicket or postern 
 gate ; used also for the utmost bounds of 
 the walls of a castle ; also a sconce with- 
 out the walls.— Fl. 
 
 Raven, on. hrafn. From Du. raven, 
 to croak. Pl.D. nagt-rave, the night-jar 
 or goat-sucker, from the croaking noise 
 it makes at night. Fin. rddwyn, the 
 
 RAZE 
 
 525 
 
 croaking of crows or rooks. Lat. ravus, 
 hoarse. 
 
 Ravine. — Ravish. See Ravage. 
 
 Raw. AS. hreaw, hreoh, Du. rouiv, 
 roud, rudis, austerus, asper, insuavis 
 gustu, visu, tactu. Rouw, rauw, rudis, 
 imperfectus, non laboratus, immaturus, 
 crudus. RoHwen, rouden, pectine pan- 
 nos rudes confricare. ON. hrdr, raw, not 
 dried, cooked, salted. Sw. rd wed, green 
 wood ; radt iveder, AS. hreoh weder 
 (Matt. xvi. 3), wet weather. Sw. rd, rude, 
 unworked, unpolished ; G. raiih, rough, 
 raw ; It. ruvido, rough, rugged, rude ; 
 Lat. rudis, rough, unwrought, undressed, 
 raw ; crudus, raw, rough, unpolished, un- 
 ripe. Bret, criz, w. crai, cri, unprepared, 
 raw ; Fin. raaca, rdan, unripe, uncooked, 
 untilled, rude ; G. roh, raw, undressed, un- 
 cooked, unpolished, rough. 
 
 Ray, Lat. radius^ a straight rod, 
 spoke of a wheel, and thence a ray or 
 beam of light, which issues from the sun 
 like the spokes from the nave of a wheel. 
 Fr. ray (m.), a ray or. beam of the sun, 
 spoke of a wheel ; raie {{.), a ray, line, 
 streak, row, spoke of a wheel. Prov. rai, 
 raig, rait, rack, rah, ray, line, current ; 
 rega, streak, furrow ; raia, ray. It. radio, 
 raggio, razzo, a ray ; Sp. rayo, a ray, 
 beam of light, straight line, radius of 
 circle, spoke of a wheel ; raya, stroke, 
 dash of a pen, streak, line ; rayado, 
 streaky. Rayar, to streak, to rifle, to 
 draw lines, to expunge or strike out ; raza, 
 ray, beam of light. Piedm. riga, a line, 
 stroke, strip of wood ; rigd, striped. We 
 see a masc. and fem. form running 
 through the Romance languages, of which 
 the m. is doubtless from Lat. radius, but 
 the f. has probably come from a Gothic 
 influence. G. reihe, Pl.D. riege, E. row, 
 line, order, rank. 
 
 To Raze. To lay even with the ground. 
 — B. Fr. ras, shaven, cut close by the 
 ground, cut close away. Couper tout ras, 
 to cut clean off, sweep clean away. — Cot. 
 Lat. radere, rasum, to shave. Fr. rez, 
 level, ground, floor, iDottom ; rez de chaus- 
 see, level with the pavement, ground floor. 
 Mettre rez pied rez terre, to raze, makfe 
 even with the ground. — Cot. 
 
 To rase, in the sense of scratching out 
 a word in writing, is singularly con- 
 founded with race, to obliterate by a 
 stroke of the pen. / race, I stryke out a 
 word or a lyne with a pen, Je arraye. / 
 race a writynge, I take out a word with 
 a pomyes or penknife. Je efface des 
 mots. I rase, je defface ; I rase or stryke 
 out with the pen, j'arraye. — Palsgr. In 
 
526 RE- 
 
 the same way erase to scrape out, is con- 
 founded with arace, to strike out. / arace, 
 I scrape out a word or a blot, je efface. 
 — Palsgr. 
 
 Probably this is one of the numerous 
 cases in which ultimate unity of origin 
 shows itself in close resemblance between 
 remote descendants, and Lat. radere, 
 rasum, to scratch or scrape, belongs to 
 the same class with G. reissen, to tear ; 
 OE. rash^ to dash, to tear ; Fr. arracher^ 
 E. arace, race. 
 
 Re-. Red-. Lat. re, again, back. 
 
 To Reach. G. reichen, to extend to ; 
 recken, to draw out, to stretch; Dxi.reiken, 
 to reach ; Pl.D. raken, reken, to reach, to 
 touch ; It. recare, to reach unto, bring 
 unto. Gr. opkynv, Lat. porrigere, to reach 
 forward ; dirtgere, to direct, &c. 
 
 A reach of a river is so far as it 
 stretches in one direction. 
 
 * To Read. as. rcedan, to advise, 
 counsel, direct, appoint, govern, to in- 
 terpret, to read. Swa swa Josue him 
 rcedde, as Joshua directed him. Swefn 
 rcEdan, as Sc. to red, to interpret a dream. 
 * The gude king gaif the gest to God for 
 to rede : ' gave up his spirit to God to 
 dispose of. — Jam. ON. rada, to direct or 
 dispose of, to take counsel, to interpret, 
 to read. Ef ek md radaj if I may de- 
 cide. At rada draum, runar, stafi, pit, 
 skrd, to explain a dream, to read runes, 
 letters, writing. Vpprada bref, to read 
 aloud a letter. Sw. rdda, to counsel, to 
 direct, to have one's way. Rd sig sjelf, 
 to be one's own master. Da. raade, to 
 advise, sway, rule, to divine, unriddle ; 
 raade bod paa, to devise a remedy for. 
 Goth, garedan, to provide \fauragaredan, 
 to foreappoint. ON. rceda, G. reden, Sc. 
 rede, to speak, to discourse, seem deriva- 
 tive forms. 
 
 It is difficult to speak with any con- 
 fidence as to the fundamental meaning 
 of the word. Perhaps the most plausible 
 suggestion is that it signifies to lay in 
 order, to dispose, arrange. To consult 
 is to lay in order one's thoughts ; to read 
 a dream or a riddle, to lay in order the 
 several parts and so to make clear their 
 meaning. ON. rod, Sw. rad, a line, rank, 
 row ; ON. rada, to dispose, arrange (Hal- 
 dorsen) ; Pol. rzqd, order, rule ; rzt^dzic, 
 to direct, govern, manage ; Boh. rady 
 Illyr. red, rank, order ; Boh. raditi, Illyr. 
 rediti, to dispose, arrange ; Lith. redyti, 
 to set in order, to dress ; redas, arrange- 
 ment, order. 
 
 Ready. AS. rcsd, gerced, Pl.D. reed, 
 rede, Du. gereed, G. bereit^ ready ; Dan. 
 
 REAR 
 
 rede, plain, straight, clear, ready, pre- 
 pared. Rede solv, — penge, ready money ; 
 en rede sag, a clear case. Rede, to pre- 
 pare, to deal with. At rede en settg, to 
 make a bed ; —for sig, to acquit oneself j 
 — sit haar, to comb one's hair ; — sig ud 
 av, to extricate oneself. At giore rede 
 for, to give account of a matter. Rcdskab, 
 tool, implement, with which anything is 
 done. Sw. reda, to prepare, to set to 
 rights, to dress, to fit out, to arrange ; 
 reda, order ; redig, clear, regular, orderly. 
 N. reiug (for reidug), ready. ON. reida, 
 to deal with, drive, set forth, prepare. 
 Reida sverdit, to wield a sword ; —f-am 
 mat, to set out food ; —feit, —iit and, to 
 pay money. Reida, apparatus, prepara- 
 tion ; /// reidu, in readiness. Reidi, 
 harness, rigging of a ship. Sc. to red, 
 to disentangle, to clear, make way, put 
 in order. 
 
 Reaks. To revel it, to play 7'eaks. — - 
 Cot. in V. degonder. See Rig. 
 
 ReaL Lat. realis, of the nature of a 
 thing ; what is in deed and not merely in 
 show ; 7'es, a thing. 
 
 Realm. O Fr. reahne, reauhne, reaume, 
 Prov. rey aline. It. reame, kingdom. Ac- 
 cording to Diez through a form regali- 
 7nen, from regalis, 
 
 * Ream. Du. riem, Fr. rame. It. 
 risjna, risima, resima, Sp. resma, a bundle 
 of twenty quires of paper. From Arab, 
 riztna, a bale, packet, bundle, especially 
 a ream of paper. Rizma itself is from 
 razaina, to pack together. As paper 
 seems to have been first received from 
 the Arabs, it was natural that the terms 
 relating to it should have come from the 
 same quarter. The acts of the Caliph 
 Haroun Alraschid are written on paper 
 of cotton, while the earliest Western 
 documents are of the eleventh century. — 
 Dozy. 
 
 To Reap. Sc. 7'ep, reip, ne. 7'eap, as. 
 ripa, ripe, a handful of corn in the ear ; 
 to reap, AS. hriopan, ripan, to gather 
 reaps, to harvest the corn. The remote 
 origin is shown in Goth, ratipjan, G. rau- 
 fan, Du. roopen, riiepen, Pl.D. ruppen, 
 repen, to pluck. Goth, ranpjan ahsa, 
 to pluck ears of corn. — Marc 2. 23. In 
 the Salic laws reffare segetein. So from 
 Swab, raspett, to pluck, to gather, G. raspe, 
 rispe, an ear of corn ; MHG. respe, a bun- 
 dle of twigs ; It. raspolo, a bunch of 
 grapes. 
 
 * Rear. Thin, rawish, as eggs, &c., 
 boiled rear. — B. See Rare. 
 
 Rear. Prov. reire, OFr. riere, from 
 
REAR 
 
 Lat. retro, behind. It. dietro, Pro v. de- 
 reire, Fr. derrilre, behind. 
 
 To Rear. Another form of rai&e, anal- 
 ogous to Du. verlieren and verlieseti, to 
 lose ; kieren and kiesen, to choose, &c. 
 AS. rcBran, to rear, raise. 
 Reason. Fr. raison, Lat. ratio, 
 Reasty. Reasty or reezed bacon is 
 bacon grown rancid by keeping, now 
 generally pronounced rusty from an ac- 
 commodation of the name to the rusty 
 yellow of bacon in that condition. Fr. 
 relant, musty, fusty, resty, reasy, dankish, 
 unsavoury. — Cot. / reast, I waxe ill of 
 taste, as bacon. — Palsgr. p. 688. Caro 
 rancidus, rest flesh. — Eng. Vocab. in Nat. 
 Ant. The radical meaning seems to be 
 stale or over-kept bacon, as chars 7'estez 
 (remnants, broken meat) is glossed in 
 Bibelesworth by resty Jlees (rtsty flesh), 
 and resty or restive (from Fr. rester) is 
 pronounced reasty in the N. of E. *A 
 reasty horse.' — Brocket. 
 
 II avera payn musy ho cerveise assez egre, 
 Bure assez resle, moruhe assez megre : 
 — stale or rancid butter. — Reliq. Ant. 155. 
 Of the finely dressed ladies returning 
 from the feast and putting on their homely 
 attire, it is said : 
 
 Pas s'en vont a I'oustel, retoment de la feste, 
 E tantost si changent la bele lusante teste, 
 Cele kefu si fresche ja devient si reste, 
 Ke le marchant se repent ke achata cele beste. 
 
 — she who was so fresh now becomes so 
 stale. — Satire on Ladies, Rel. Ant. 163. 
 
 To Reave. — To Rive. Of these verbs 
 the latter is nearer the original form. ON. 
 ri/a, to tear asunder ; rijinn, ragged, torn ; 
 riu/a (pret. rauf, ptcp. rofid), to tear 
 asunder, to break up. Hence AS. I'eaf, 
 Pl.D. roof^ G. raub, spoil, what is torn 
 away, carried off ; AS. reafian, Goth, raii- 
 bon, Pl.D. roven, Dan. rove, to rob ; ON. 
 ratifari, reyfari, Sc. reiver, a robber. 
 
 The sense of robbing or violently taking 
 away is commonly taken from the figure 
 of scraping or scratching. Sw. rifwa, to 
 scratch, tear, claw, grate, rasp. Rifwa 
 ned et hus, to tear down a house. Dan. 
 rive, to rasp, to rive, rend, tear. Du. rij- 
 ven, to rub, rake, scrape. Bret, skrapa, 
 to seize with the claws, gripe, carry away, 
 rob ; skraba, to scratch, to scrape, to rob. 
 In the same way the original sense of 
 Lat. rapere, to seize, to rob, has probably 
 been that of Pl.D. raopen (Danneil), G. 
 raffen, to scrape or rake. 
 
 Rebeck. Bret, rebet, rebed, Fr. re- 
 beque, rebebe, reberbe. — Roquef. It. ri- 
 becca, ribebba, a crowd, or fidler's kit. — 
 Fl. OE. ribible. Corrupted from Arab. 
 
 RECEIPT 
 
 527 
 
 rubabah. 'Besides this they have the 
 one-stringed rubabah or guitar.' — Thom- 
 son, Pilgrimage to Medina. 
 
 Rebel. Lat. rebellis, warring against, 
 from bellum, war. 
 
 Rebuff, An expression formed on the 
 same principle as the vulgar blow up, to 
 scold. * He gave him a good blowing up.^ 
 It. buffa, a puff, blurt with the mouth 
 made at one in scorn, also a brabble or 
 brawling contention ; rabbuffare, ribuf- 
 fare, to check, rebuke, chide. — Fl. OFr. 
 reboujfer, to repulse, drive away with con- 
 tempt. — Roquef. 
 
 Rebuke. It is difficult to make up our 
 mind as to the Fr. form from which the 
 word is taken. The closest resemblance 
 is to Rouchi rebuquer, to give one blows. 
 Td s'ras ben rebuqud, you will catch it. 
 But the sense agrees better with Fr. re~ 
 becquer, to peck again as one cock at an- 
 other, to answer saucily. — Cot. Bret. 
 rebecha (Fr. ch), to rebuke, reprove ; It. 
 ribeccamento di parole, a check or rebuke 
 with taunting words ; rimbeccare, to re- 
 tort back word for word or blow for blow, 
 to beat back by direct opposition ; ri7n- 
 boccare, to retort word for word, to up- 
 braid, to twit or hit one in the teeth of 
 anything done for him. — Fl. As It. bocca 
 corresponds to Norm, bouque, mouth, 
 rimboccare should be replaced by Norm. 
 rebouqiur, which however is only given in 
 the sense of Fr. reboucher, to nauseate (ne 
 pouvoir plus manger — Decorde) ; rebou- 
 cher le coeur, to turn the stomach. Gene- 
 vese rebequer, degouter, soulever le coeur. 
 
 Rebus. A riddle where the meaning 
 is indicated by things (Lat. rebus) repre- 
 sented in pictures, the syllables forming 
 the names of the things represented hav- 
 ing to be grouped in a different manner. 
 Thus the picture of a fool on his knees 
 with a horn at his mouth is to be read in 
 Yr.foldgenoux trompe {tromper, to blow 
 a horn), but read in a different manner it 
 gvvQsfol age nous trompe. — Cot. Rebuses 
 in Heraldry are such coats as represent 
 the name by things, as three castles for 
 Castleton. 
 
 To Rebut. Fr. rebuter, rebouter, to 
 put or thrust back, to reject, refuse ; 
 bouter, to thrust, put, push forwards. It. 
 buttare, to throw, cast, fling ; ributtare, 
 to cast back, repulse, reject. 
 
 To Recant. It. ricantare, to sing 
 again. Fr. deschanter, to recant, unsay. 
 
 Receipt. — Recipe. Receipt, a medi- 
 cine prepared for the cure of diseases. — B. 
 Receyte of dyvers thynges in a medicine : 
 recepte. — Palsgr. Originally applied to 
 
528 
 
 RECENT 
 
 medicine, the term is extended to signify 
 instructions for compounding any other 
 kind of thing, as a receipt for making 
 soap, for tanning leather, &c. 
 
 The word is sometimes spelt recipe, 
 from that word being placed at the head 
 of a physician's instructions for the medi- 
 cine to be taken by his patient. 
 
 Recent. Lat. recens, fresh, new. 
 
 Reciprocal. Lat. reciprocus, working 
 to and fro. 
 
 To Reck. — Reckless. AS. r^can, rec- 
 caHy pr. ro^ite, Pl.D. rochen, Du. roecken, 
 rochten, OHG. rohj'an, ruachen, OSax. 
 rokean, ruokean, to reck, regard, care, 
 care for ; Pl.D. rokeloos, Du. reukelos, G. 
 ruchlos, reckless. ON. rcekja, to care, to 
 take care of ; afr'dkjaz^ to neglect ; rcekja 
 veidifang, to attend to fishing ; rcekjatidi, 
 qui curam gerit, curator. Hvat rcekir 
 thik f cujus rei rationem habes ? quid 
 curas tibi est ? OHG. ruahha, roka, care. 
 Lith. rupeti, to concern. Kas tai taw 
 rup\ what does that concern you ? Riipus, 
 careful ; riipinti, to take care of ; ne- 
 rupus, reckless, careless . 
 
 With regard to the origin we can only 
 suggest with great reserve Du. raaken, to 
 touch, to hit, thence to concern, to re- 
 gard. Dingen die my raaken, things 
 which concern me. Hy wierd door haar 
 elende geraakt, he was touched by her 
 misery. Wat raakt u dat? what does 
 that concern you, what is that to you ? 
 Compare Sc. Quhat raik ? what does it 
 signify, what do I care .'' 
 
 Flattry. I will ga counterfelte the freir, 
 Dissait. A freir ! quhair to ? thow cannot 
 
 preiche — 
 Flattry. Quhat rak? bot I can flatter and 
 
 fleiche. — Lyndsay in Jam. 
 
 On the other hand, Lith. rokiindas, reck- 
 oning, is also used in the sense of affair, 
 concern. Tai mono rokiindas, that is 
 my business. ON. I'ok, events, things ; 
 OHG. racha, rahha, thing, cause ; Pol. 
 rzecz, speech, subject, fact, affair, thing. 
 See Reckon. 
 
 To Reckon. AS. recan, reccean, to 
 say, recite, tell, number, reckon. Ic mag 
 reccan, I can relate. Bigspell reccan, to 
 tell a parable. Areccan of Lcedene on 
 Englisc, to translate from Latin into 
 English. Gereccean thankas, to give 
 thanks. Facce, narration, account, speech. 
 OHG. rahha, res, ratio, causa, fabula ; 
 rahhon, rachon, rechen, gerechen, to say, 
 tell, interpret ; Goth, rahnjan, to count, 
 account, reckon ; faura-rahnjan, to pre- 
 fer; Pl.D. reken^ rekenen, G. rechnen,to 
 reckon. 
 
 RECREANT 
 
 Lith. rokdti, to say, tell, reckon ; ro- 
 kdtis, to reckon with oneself, consider ; 
 rokundas, reckoning, concern ; rokudd, 
 reckoning, number, account. Pol. rach- 
 owatf, to count, reckon ; rachunek, ac- 
 count, reckoning, bill ; rachuriki (pi.), 
 arithmetic ; rachiiba, calculation. Rzed, 
 rzeknad, to say ; rzecz, speech, subject, 
 matter, affair, thing. Esthon. rdkima, 
 rddkma, to speak ; rddkle?na, to reckon. 
 Fin. rdkista, to speak, speak loudly, lo- 
 quens strepo ; rdkitid, sermocinatio. 
 
 Recluse. Fr. reclus, Lat. recliido, re- 
 clusum. The classical sense of the Lat. 
 word is to set open ; the E. & Fr. words 
 take a sense nearly opposite. 
 
 To Recoil. Formerly written rectile 
 or recinlj Fr. reenter, to draw back, 
 from cut, the rump. 
 
 Recondite. Lat. recondo, reconditum, 
 to hide or lay up apart. 
 
 Reconnoitre. Fr. reconnattre, to ex- 
 amine carefully, Lat. recognoscere, to take 
 notice of again. 
 
 Record. Lat. recordari, to call to 
 mind ; from cor, cordis, the heart. 
 
 To Recoup. To diminish by keeping 
 back a part as a claim for damages. — 
 Worcester. Fr. recouper, to cut again 
 in order to correct the fault of a first 
 cutting.— Trevoux. 
 
 To Recover. Fr. recouvrer, It. ri- 
 coverare, Lat. recuperare, to recover 
 or get again. This verb, which has no 
 derivation in Lat., would seem to find its 
 explanation in Swab, kober, E. coffer, a 
 basket, whence Swab, kobern, erkobern, 
 to get, to earn ; Bav. erkobern, erkowern 
 sich (sich erholen), to recover health or 
 strength. Jrkoboran, adipisci. — Otfr. 
 But what glut of the gomes 
 May any good kachen, 
 He will kepen it himself, 
 And coffrene itfaste. — P. P. Creed, 133. 
 
 Recreant. Mid.Lat. recredere. It. n- 
 credere, OFr. rec7^oire, are not to be ex- 
 plained as originally signifying to change 
 one's belief, but to give up, give back the 
 subject of dispute, to give in, to yield, to 
 fail. ' Cum Blancha comitissa Campaniae 
 cepisset et captum teneret dilectum et 
 fidelem meum H, ipsa per preces et re- 
 quisitionem meam illtun mihi recredidit 
 [delivered him up to me] tali pacto quod 
 ego cepi super me et eidem dominae meas 
 concessi, sicut homo suus ligius, quod 
 infra quindenam quam ab ipsa inde fuero 
 requisitus praedictum H illi reddam in 
 sua captione apud Pruvinum.' — Docu- 
 ment A.D. 121 1 in Carp. ' L'evesque de 
 Chartres me requist fist le roy que je li 
 
RECRUIT 
 
 feisse recroire ce que je tenois du sien.' — 
 Joinville, ibid. But it was often used for 
 virtually giving up or acknowledging the 
 right to be in another, and giving pledges 
 for actual delivery when required. Red- 
 dere vel recredere is to give actual pos- 
 session, or to give security for delivery in 
 due season. ' Cognoscentesque rei veri- 
 tatem atque comprobationem statim se 
 recrediderunt^ they gave in. 'Tassilo 
 venit per semetipsum tradensque se in 
 manus domini regis Caroli in vassaticum, 
 et recredidlt se in omnibus se peccasse 
 [he gave himself up as having been alto- 
 gether in the wrong] et mala egisse, 
 denuo renovans sacramenta.' — Annales 
 Francorum a.d. 787 in Due. 
 
 ' Quando i vescovi del tempio viddero 
 che '1 re si ricredea d'andare a adorare i 
 loro Iddei si ebbero grande paura: ' when 
 the priests saw that the king gave up 
 worshipping their gods. ' I Fiorentini 
 ordinarino di fare armata in mare per 
 fare ricredenti i Pisani della loro arro- 
 ganza : ' to make the Pisans abate their 
 arrogance. — La Crusca. 
 
 Ne direz ja que failliz seie, 
 Ne que de valeir me recreie. 
 Chron. des ducx de Norm. i. 418. 
 
 You shall not say that I am failed, nor 
 that I have given up my valour. 
 
 The active and passive participles. It. 
 rlcredente, ricreduto^ Fr. recr^ant^ recreti^ 
 were used in general of one who yields in 
 battle, and especially of the beaten party 
 in a judicial combat. 
 
 Vedrai, in uno stante o vivo o morto 
 Ricredente il faro ; datti conforto : 
 
 in one instant alive or dead I will make 
 him give in. ' E se tu mi vinci, rimarro 
 vostro ricredente siccome il cavalier che 
 combatte il torto : ' and if you conquer 
 me I will remain at your mercy like the 
 champion who fights for the wrong. The 
 formula to be pronounced by the cham- 
 pion undertaking a duel is given in the 
 Assises de Jerusalem. ' Je suis prest de 
 le prouver de mon corps contre le sien, 
 et le rendrai mort ou recrdafit en une 
 heure dou jour, et v^ez cy mon gage.' — 
 Due. ■ Thus recreant became a term of 
 abuse of the utmost infamy, equivalent to 
 poltroon, coward, convicted traitor. Cow- 
 ard, recrdant. — Palsgr. 
 
 Recruit. From Fr. recroist, a re-in- 
 crease, a new or second growth ; recrois- 
 tre, to grow or spring up again. — Cot. 
 
 To recruit, to supply or fill up, to re- 
 inforce. — B. 
 
 Beet-. -rect.~ Rector. Lat. rego, rec- 
 tum, to direct, rule, govern ; in comp. 
 
 REEF 
 
 529 
 
 •rigo, to drive, cause motion in, guide. 
 Rectus, right, straight, driven to a cer- 
 tain point. Dirigo, to guide between, 
 aim at one among^ several points, to order, 
 arrange ; erigo, to rear up, raise from out 
 of; porrigo, to stretch forward ; corrigo, 
 to straighten, to bring to agree with a 
 pattern, &c. See Reach, Regal. 
 
 Recumbent. Lat. recnmbo; cumbo, 
 cubo, to lie down. Gr. kvtttu), to stoop. 
 
 Red. Goth, rands, ON. raudr, w. 
 rhudd, Lat. rutilus, Gr. ipv%^hq. 
 
 Redan.— Redent. In fortification, an 
 indented work with salient and re-enter- 
 ing angles. — B. 
 
 Redeem, — Redemption. Lat. redi- 
 mo, redeniptiimj re, again or back, emo,. 
 to buy. 
 
 Redolent. Lat. redoleo, to give out a 
 smell ; oleo, to smell. 
 
 Redoubt. Fr. reduite, It. ridotto, Sp. 
 reducto, reduto, a blockhouse, or little 
 fort, within which soldiers may retire on 
 occasion. It ridiicere, ridiirre, Fr. re- 
 duire, rednit, to bring back ; reduit, a 
 place of retiral. 
 
 Redound. — Redundant. Lat. rediin- 
 dare, to overflow, rise above the banks ; 
 re and unda, a wave. 
 
 Reed. Du. riet, OHG. hriot, AS. hreod. 
 Probably named from their rustling or 
 whispering sound. Du. rijsseien, rijtelen, 
 susurare, levi strepitu moveri. — Biglotton. 
 Fin. rytista, to rustle, to sound lightly as 
 a reed breaking ; ryti, reed, sedge. So 
 from kahata, to rustle as a mouse among 
 straw, to whisper as the wind among reeds; 
 kahila, reed. So also ON. reyra, stridere, 
 fremere (Egils.) ; AS. hreran, to agitate ; 
 ON. reyr, reyrr, a reed. 
 
 Reef. — Rifif. i. A ridge of rocks pro- 
 jecting above the water. G. raufe (from 
 raufen, to pluck), provincially raff, reff 
 (Westerwald), raufel, reffel, riffel (Knttn.), 
 a kind of fixed comb through which the 
 flax or hemp is drawn, to pluck off the 
 heads of seeds ; ON. hrifa, a rake. Du. 
 rieve, rieffe, a rake or comb. — Kil. From 
 the figure of a comb the term rdf, reff, 
 is in Swabia applied to a row of long pro- 
 jecting teeth. Westerwald zahnrahf, a gap 
 in the teeth ; raffel, rdffel, zahn-7'dffel, a 
 broken-toothed person. The comparison 
 to a row of broken teeth is equally ap- 
 plicable to a ridge of rocks. 
 
 The whole fleet was lost on a riff or ridge of 
 rocks that runs off from the isle of Aves. — Dam- 
 pier in R, 
 
 Bav. riffen, riffeln, to ripple flax ; riffel, 
 
 a jagged ridge of rocks. OHG. riffila, 
 
 serra. — Gl. in Schm. Compare Sp . J/Vrr^:,. 
 
 34 
 
530 
 
 REEK 
 
 REGATTA 
 
 1 
 
 a saw, a ridge of mountains and craggy 
 rocks, standing out like the teeth of a 
 saw against the sky. 
 
 In Du. rif^ r/^*, the term is improperly 
 extended to a projecting sand-bank or 
 spit of sand. Sw. ref^ reef of rocks, sand- 
 bank. 
 
 2. A reef^ Du. reef^ rtf, is a row of short 
 ropes stretching across a sail for the pur- 
 pose of tying the strip of sail above the reef 
 up to the yard, and so diminishing the size 
 of the sail. When loose they hang against 
 the sail like the teeth of a comb, from 
 whence apparently the name. Rif or 
 ri/t inbinden, to take in a reef. — Kil. 
 
 To Reek. To smoke, to steam. AS. 
 rdc^ ON. reykr^ G. raiich^ Du. rook, smoke. 
 
 To Reel. To move unsteadily like a 
 drunken man, to turn round ; Sc. reile, to 
 roll the eyes. The formation of the word 
 may be explained by Swiss riegeln, to 
 rattle, then to wriggle, swarm ; Bav. 
 rigeln, to set in motion, to shake, stir ; 
 rogel, roglet, loose, shaky ; N. rigga, 
 rugga, to shake, rock ; rigla, rugla, to 
 be loose, to waver, totter ; Sw. ragla, to 
 reel, stagger, move in zigzags. In like 
 correspondence to E. wriggle we have 
 Sc. wreil, to turn about. 
 
 Quha is attaichit unto ane staik we se 
 May go no forther, but wreil about that ixt. 
 D.V. 8.27. 
 
 The Scotch reelis, a dance in which three 
 or four dancers in a row twist in and out 
 round each other. It is known in Nor- 
 way and Denmark under the same name 
 of ril or riel, Gael, righil. 
 
 To reel silk or thread is to wind it 
 round an appropriate implement, so as 
 to make a skein of it. Gael, ruidhil, 
 ruidhle, ruidhlichean, a reel, probably 
 from the E. 
 
 The designation of a broken or con- 
 fused motion is commonly taken from 
 the representation of a sound of like cha- 
 racter, and it may be that 7'eel is not so 
 much a contraction of forms like the fore- 
 going as a parallel form, originally, like 
 them, a direct representation of sound. 
 Sc. reiling, a loud clattering noise, con- 
 fusion, bustle ; reil, a confused motion. 
 — Jam. Supp. . Pl.D. r alien, to make a 
 noise as children at play ; Dan. dial. 
 raale, role, to cry ; Dan. vraale, to bawl, 
 squawl. 
 
 Reeve. The bailiff of a franchise or 
 manor. — B. AS. gerefa, ON. greifi, a pre- 
 fect, governor ; Du. graef, greeve, G. graf, 
 count. In composition, shire-reeve, or 
 sheriff, port-reeve, borough-reeve. 
 
 To Refrain. Lat. frcetmm, a bridle ; 
 j-efrcrno, to curb in, to hold back. 
 
 Refulgence. Lat. fnlgeo, fulsi, to 
 shine. 
 
 * Refuse. It. rijiutare, rif2isa7-e, Sp. 
 refusar, rehiisar, Fr. reftiser. The word 
 is explained by Diez as arising from a 
 mixture of Lat. recusare and refutare, but 
 it can hardly be necessary to resort to so 
 doubtful a plan of origination. We have 
 Prov. refutz, refut, refui (Fr. re/us), re- 
 fusal, contempt, disdain ; refiidar, refuy- 
 dar, refusar, Piedm. rifude, to refuse j 
 Castrais rafut, rafus, refusal ; rafuda, 
 rafusa, to refuse. ' Refused his wife,' di- 
 vorced her.— Capgrave Chron. 245. See 
 -fute. 
 
 Regal. — Regent. — Reign. — Royal. 
 Lat. rego, to govern, gives rex, regis, and 
 thence It. re, OFr. rei, Fr. roi, a king ; 
 regnum, Fr. regne, a kingdom, reign ; 
 regner, to reign. Sanscr. raj, to govern ; 
 rdjan, a king ; rajni (Lat. regina), a 
 queen ; rdj'atd, royalty. The radical sense 
 of the word, to guide or direct, appears in 
 the Lat. compounds. See Rect-. 
 
 To Regale, Sp. regalar, to make 
 good cheer, to make much of, to gratify, 
 caress, entertain ; regalarse, to fare sump- 
 tuously, to take pleasure in, also to melt. 
 Plumbum regalatum is explained by Pa- 
 pias liquefactum. It is not easy to under- 
 stand why Diez should separate the word 
 from It. gala, good cheer ; Fr. galler, to 
 entertain with sport, game, or glee — Cot., 
 galer, se rejouir. — Roquef. It has already 
 been shown that the latter forms spring 
 from the image of floating or swimming 
 in delight. It. galare, to float, might be 
 used to explain Sp. regalar, as signifying 
 to cause to float or swim, then to melt. 
 The connection between the ideas of 
 melting and of enjoyment may be illus- 
 trated by a quotation from Spenser given 
 under Gala. 
 Long- thus he lived slumbring in sweet delight, 
 Bathing in liquid joys his melted sprite. 
 
 Regard. It. riguardare, Fr. regarder, 
 \\.. guardare, to look. See Guard. 
 
 Regatta. It. regata, regatta, a boat 
 race much used at Venice. — Vanzoni. 
 Sunt et alia spectacula k pluribus sseculis 
 usitata Florentiae, Senje, Venetiis, vide- 
 licet, il gioco del calcio, le regatte, &c. — 
 Murat. Diss. 29, 853. It. rigatta, any 
 striving or struggling for the mastery, a 
 play among children called musse (hide 
 and seek) ; rigattare, to contend for the 
 victory, to wrangle or shift for, to cog and 
 lie craftily. — Fl. Brescian regata, strife, 
 scramble ; fare a regata, fare a ruffa 
 
REGIMEN 
 
 raffa, to scramble for anything. — Melchiori. 
 Venet. regetare, fare a gara. — Patriarch!. 
 Sp. regate, a quick turn to avoid a blow ; 
 regatear, to wriggle, to shuffle, to haggle. 
 
 Sw. dial, ragata, to be noisy, to make a 
 disturbance. 
 
 Regimen. — Regiment. Lat. regi- 
 men, reghnentum, government. Medical 
 regimen is the government of one's diet, 
 &c., under medical directions. A regi- 
 ment, a body of men under one command. 
 See Regal. 
 
 Region. Lat. regio, -nis, a tract of 
 country. From rego. 
 
 Register. Lat. regero {gero, to carry), 
 to cast back, cast up again ; regestum, 
 earth cast up out of a trench ; whence 
 fig. regesta, and corruptly registra, notes 
 of things thrown together in a memoran- 
 dum book, a. register. 
 
 Regesta, -orum, res multae in unum collectae, 
 et in tabulas et commentarios relatas, quas vulgo 
 registra dicunt. — Vopiscus in Forcell. I regyster, 
 I put a thyng in writynge in a booke of recorde. 
 — Palsgr. 
 
 Regrator. A huckster, or one who 
 trimmeth up old wares for sale ; but it is 
 commonly taken for him who buys and 
 sells any wares or victuals at the same 
 market, or within five miles thereof — B. 
 Fr. regrat, sale of salt by retail ; mar- 
 chandises de regrat, trumpery goods 
 bought to sell again ; regratter, to haggle, 
 to sell salt in small quantities. C'est un 
 homme qui regratte sur tout, who haggles 
 at the most trifling article ; regrattier, a 
 huckster, broker. Regratier de sel, de 
 vivres, &c. 
 
 Commonly explained from Fr. gratter, 
 to scratch, through its supposed com- 
 pound regrater, to dress, mend, scour, 
 furbish, trim or trick up an old thing for 
 sale. — Cot. The difficulty is that it is 
 hardly possible to separate Fr. regratier 
 from It. rigatiere, a huckster, retailer, re- 
 grater, or such a one as at a cheap rate 
 engrosseth commodities and then sells 
 them very dear. — Fl. Rigatiere also, like 
 Fr. regratier, signifies a broker or fur- 
 bisher up of old things for sale. Sp. re- 
 gatero, regaton, a huckster, a retailer. 
 The two forms, with and without the r, 
 are found side by side in Limousin regro- 
 taire, recotaire, a corn badger, or one who 
 buys corn at a cheap market to sell it at 
 one worse supplied. — Beronie. Fr. Flan- 
 ders haricotier (Vermesse, Hdcart), a 
 huckster, broker, seems to be another 
 form of the same word, corresponding to 
 Bayonne haricoter, to haggle, as Sp. re- 
 gatero to regatear, recatear, Ptg. regatar^ 
 
 RELAY 
 
 531 
 
 to haggle, to huckster. Wall, halcoter, to 
 joggle, to haggle.— Grandg. Sp. regatear 
 is also to riggle or move sideways, to 
 shuffle in business. See Regatta. 
 
 Regret. Properly to lament, then to 
 grieve for. I mone as a chylde doth for 
 the wanting of his nourse,y<? regrete. — 
 Palsgr. Regreter was also to scold. 
 
 Que Madame m'a fait regret 
 Que j'ai affaiti^ mon chiennet. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, 4. 319. 
 
 Grate, reprimande. — Pat. de Champ. ON. 
 grdtr, weeping, lamentation ; Sc. greety 
 to cry. 
 
 Regular. — Regulate. Lat. regula, a 
 rule or ruler, a pattern for guidance in 
 drawing lines. From rego, to direct or 
 govern. 
 
 To Rehearse. Fr. rehercer, to repeat 
 what one has already said. — Roquef. 
 Properly to go over again like a harrow 
 (Fr. herce) over a ploughed field. 
 
 Et si le rois o lui conseille 
 Molt ait bien overte I'oreille, 
 Que ne lui covient herder, 
 Ce que le rois li velt chargier. 
 
 Fab. et Contes, 2. 161. 
 
 — it is not fitting to go over the ground 
 again, to make the king repeat his charge. 
 
 The same met. is seen in on. hrifa, a 
 rake, also iteration. Hann kalladi upp i 
 h^-ifu, clamitabat. To rake, to repeat a 
 tale.- -Hal. Gael, rclc, rake, rehearse, re- 
 peat, — Armstrong. 
 
 Reign. See Regal. 
 
 Rein. Fr. resne, reine, the reigne of a 
 bridle. — Cot. OFr. regne, Prov. regtts, 
 regna. It. redina, Ptg. redea, rein, bridle. 
 According to Diez from retinere, to hold 
 in. 
 
 Bret, ren, direction, government ; rena, 
 to direct, govern, guide ; ranjen, renjen, 
 rein; 
 
 Reins. — Renal. Lat. ren, retiis, the 
 kidneys. 
 
 Relative. Lat. relativus, from refero, 
 relatum, to bring back, refer. 
 
 Relay. A relay of dogs or horses is a 
 supply of fresh animals posted to relieve 
 and take the place of a tired set. The 
 explanation of the word is not to be found 
 in the notion of laying on the fresh 
 animals, but in the release or dismissal of 
 the old. It. rilasciare, to release, to ac- 
 quit or discharge ; rilascio, rilasso, a re- 
 lease or discharging. Cani di rilasso, 
 fresh hounds laid for a supply set upon a 
 deer already hunted by other dogs.— Fl. 
 Fr. chevaux de relais, horses layed in cer- 
 tain places on the highway y27r the ease of 
 those one hath already rid hard on. A 
 34 * 
 
532 
 
 RELEASE 
 
 relais, spared, at rest, that is not used. 
 Relayer^ to succeed in the place of the 
 weary, to reheve or ease another by the 
 undertaking of his task. — Cot. Relays, 
 chose delaissde, abandonn^e. — Roquef. 
 
 Release. To release is to let loose, to 
 let^ go the hold one has on anything. 
 La*t. relaxare, to slacken ; It. rilasciare, 
 to relax, release, relinquish ; Fr. relaisser, 
 to relinquish, forego again. See Lease. 
 
 Relent. Fr. ralentir, It. rallentare, 
 Lat. relentesco, to grow soft and limber ; 
 lentils^ supple, pliable. 
 
 Relevant. Tending to support the 
 cause, important to the matter in question. 
 Lat. relevo, to lift up again. 
 
 Relic. — Relict. — Relinquish. Lat. 
 linguo, to leave ; relinqiio, relictam, to 
 leave behind ; reliquicE, Fr. relique, relick, 
 remains. Lith. lyktis, overplus, remain- 
 der ; likti, to remain over. See Eleven. 
 
 Relief.— To Relieve. Lat. relevare, to 
 lighten, to raise or lift up, tp relieve from 
 a burden, render more tolerable, refresh. 
 It. rilevare, rilievare, to raise, lift up 
 again, to work raised or embossed work ; 
 to comfort, to cure or recover again ; 
 rilevo, relievo, any uprising or uptaking, 
 any raising or advancing, any ease or re- 
 lief, also any raised or embossed work ; 
 also leavings, remainders or scraps of 
 anything (what is taken up after a meal). 
 — Fl. It. rilievo, Fr. relief, E. relief, was 
 also the duty paid by the heir to his lord 
 on taking up the inheritance of a deceased 
 ancestor. 
 
 Religion. Lat. religio., 
 
 Relinquish. See Relit. 
 
 Relish. Savour, enjoyment of food. 
 CentralFr. relicher, to lick; se relicher, 
 to show enjoyment by licking one's chaps 
 again. II a trouv^ ce plat si bon qu'il 
 s'en reliche. — Jaubert. The Academy 
 uses the expression s'e7i Ucher les babines. 
 
 Reluctant. Lat. lucta, a wrestling ; 
 reluctor, to struggle against. 
 
 To Rely. To rest or repose upon — 
 R., properly to look to for rest or repose ; 
 not from E. to lie, but Fr. relayer, to ease 
 another by an undertaking of his task ; 
 se relayans Pun Vautre, easing one an- 
 other by turns. — Cot. To rely on one 
 then is to look to him for a relay. 
 
 To Remain. Lat. inaneo, to wait, 
 stay, stick ; remaneo, to continue, to be 
 left after. 
 
 Remedy. See Medicine. 
 
 Remember. Lat. remejnoror, to call 
 to memory. See Memory. 
 
 Reminiscence. Lat. reminiscor, me- 
 minif to remember. Gr. fnnvrjffKOfiai, 
 
 RENOWN 
 
 ^tvdonat, perf. /if/ur»;juat,to remember. From 
 the root men (signifying think) of mens, 
 mind. 
 
 Remonstrate. Mid. Lat. remonstrare : 
 re and mofistrare, to show, point out. 
 
 Remorse. Lat. mordeo, morsttm, to 
 bite ; remordeo, to bite again, to torment 
 or grieve one. An old English treatise 
 on the Remorse of Conscience is called 
 the Againbite of Inwit. 
 
 Remote. Lat. remotus,irora retnoveo, 
 to move back, away. 
 
 Remunerate. Lat. munus, -eris, a 
 gift, recompense. 
 
 To Rend. on. rdn, rapine ; rcena, to 
 seize by violence, plunder. E. dial, ran, 
 force, violence. — Hal. The radical image 
 is the sound accompanying violent action, 
 produced by giving way of opposition 
 before it. Examples of the representation 
 of such a noise by the syllable ra7i are 
 given under Random. We may add 
 Gael, rctn, roar, shriek, make a noise ; It. 
 rajtto, the noise made in the throat by 
 difficult breathing ; rantola?'e, rantacare^ 
 to hawk or keck. 
 
 The resemblance between the harsh 
 sounds produced in the throat"when op- 
 pressed by phlegm and the sound of tear- 
 ing is witnessed by Gael, rclc, a crash, 
 the noise of cloth in the act of tearing, of 
 a scythe in the process of mowing, com- 
 pared with N. rcBkja, to hawk ; Picard. 
 raquer, to spit ; and by Bret, strak, noise, 
 crack, crash ; Gael, srdc (for strak), tear, 
 rend, rob, spoil ; It. stracciare, to tear, 
 compared with Grisons scracchiar, Sicil. 
 scraccair, to spit. 
 
 To Render. — Rent. Lat. reddere {re- 
 dare). It. rendere, Fr. rendre, to give up, to 
 yield. It. rendita delta terra, the fruits 
 of the earth ; what it annually yields ; 
 rendita, rendite (Fr. rente), revenues, in- 
 comes, yearly rents, land profits. — Fl. 
 
 Renegade, It. rinnegato, Sp. rene- 
 gado, one who renounces his faith, an 
 apostate, a wicked, perverse person ; rene- 
 gai^e (Lat. negare), to deny, disown, then 
 to blaspheme, to curse. See Runagate. 
 
 Rennet. — Runnet. The membrane 
 of a calf's stomach for curdling milk. G. 
 gerinfien, Du. rennen, rinnen, runnen 
 (Kil,),to run together, to coagulate, curdle; 
 7'ensal, ri^isal, runsal (Kil.), OE. renlys or 
 rendlys {renels, P.) for mylke, coagulum. 
 — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Renown. Fr. renom, renommie, re- 
 nown, fame. Sp. renonibre, surname, 
 epithet added to the name of a person, 
 renown, reputation ; renombrar, to give 
 a name, to render famous. The nasal 
 
REPAIR 
 
 sound of the final m and ft in Fr. being 
 unknown in E. was represented indiffer- 
 ently by ni or n. Thus Fr. nom^ a name, 
 became E. noun, a substantive, and the 
 word was written in the same way in our 
 Norman Fr. Les nouns de lour nief, 
 barge, balengere, &c. : the names of their 
 ship, &c.— Stat. H. v. c. 6. On the other 
 hand, renown was often written with 
 an m. 
 
 Her name was Rosiphele, 
 
 Which was of grete reno7ne. — Gower. 
 
 Go to then, O thou far renowmed son 
 Of great Apollo.— F. Q. 
 
 Bepair. i. Lat. reparare, Fr. reparer, 
 to get again, to restore, recover, renew. 
 
 2. Fr. parer, to ward off, leads to It. 
 .riparo, a defence, shelter, place of refuge; 
 Fr. repaire, a lodging, haunt, den of a 
 beast, and thence repairer, to haunt, fre- 
 quent, lodge in a certain place, giving 
 rise to e. repair, to resort to, to return as 
 to one's den. 
 
 Repartee. Fr. repartie, an answering 
 blow in fencing, &c., and thence, a return 
 of or answer in speech, a reply. — Cot. 
 Pai'tir, to set out, start with impetuosity, 
 to go off as a gun ; partir d'un ^clat de 
 tire, to burst out laughing. Thus repar- 
 tee is a prompt reply. 
 
 Repast. Lat. pascor, to feed ; paslus, 
 food. 
 
 To Repeal. Fr. rappeler (Lat. re-ap- 
 pellare, to call back), to revoke or make 
 void. 
 
 Repeat, — Repetition. Lat. repeto, 
 repetitiim, to ask back, go over again. 
 
 Repertory. Lat. repertorimn, an in- 
 ventory, from reperio, repertum, to find, 
 meet with. 
 
 To Repine. Properly to feel dissatis- 
 faction, then to express it. 
 
 Then the knyght retourned again to them and 
 shewed the kynges wordes, the whiche gretly en- 
 couraged them, and repoyned [se repentirent] in 
 that they had said to the king as they did. — Ber- 
 ner's Froissart in R. 
 
 From It. repugnere, Fr. repoindre, to 
 prick again. 
 
 Now when they heard this they were pricked in 
 their heart (weren compunct in herte. — Wicliff). 
 — Acts ii. 37. 
 
 Replenish. — Replete. Lat. repieo, 
 repletum, to fill full. See Plenary. 
 
 Replevy. See Pledge. 
 
 Reprehend, Lat. reprehendo, to lay 
 hold on, blame, rebuke. See -prehend. 
 
 * Reprieve. Reprieve or repreve is 
 OFr. reprover, repreuver^ from Lat. re- 
 probare, to disallow, reject, mislike. — Lit- 
 
 REREMOUSE 
 
 533 
 
 tleton. Christ suffered many reprevynges 
 for us. — Mandeville in Hall. Reprevyn^ 
 reprehendo, redarguo. — Pr, Pm. The re- 
 prieve of a criminal must be an elliptical 
 expression for the disallowing of the sen- 
 tence. 
 
 Reprimand. Fr. reprimande, Sp. re- 
 primenda. Explained from Lat, repri- 
 mere, to repress, snub, or keep under 
 (Litt.), analogous to Fr. offrande, an offer- 
 ing, from offrir. On that principle repri- 
 menda should signify a fault, but it does 
 not appear in Latin in that sense. 
 
 Reprisal. It. ripresaglia, whence Fr. 
 reprdsaille, E. reprisal, from Lat. repren- 
 dere, repreftsus, to take back again. 
 
 Reproach, Fr. Sp. reproche, It. rim- 
 proccio, Prov. repropche, reproach, blame, 
 outrage. Explained by Diez as equiva- 
 lent to a Lat. repropiare (analogous to 
 Fr, approcher for appropiare), ixoraprope, 
 near ; to bring a man's actions before 
 him, to twit him with them. 
 
 But repropiare, to bring near, is far 
 from having the force of G. vorwerfen, to 
 cast before one. And though no doubt a 
 difficult step remains to be supplied, it 
 seems more probable that the origin is to 
 be found in It. brobbio, from opprobrium, 
 reproach, disgrace. Mi disse mille brob- 
 bii, he covered me with abuse. Rimbrob- 
 biare, ri?nbroggiare, or rimproppiare, 
 rimprocciare. The intermediate form 
 rimbroccio is vouched by Florio. The 
 change from bbi to ggi is exemplified in 
 abbia, aggia^ may have, while that from 
 ggi to cci is seen in staggia, staccia, a 
 lath.— Fl. 
 
 Reprobate. — Reprove. See -prove. 
 
 Repudiate, Lat. repudium, a putting 
 away one's wife. This, like pudor, shame, 
 and 7'efuto, to reject, refuse, is probably 
 one of the words derived from the inter- 
 jection /«.■' or pu / expressing in the first 
 instance disgust at a bad smell, then dis- 
 like and rejection. G. anpfuien, verp- 
 fuien, to cry fie upon, to reject. By a 
 similar figure the Lat. has respuo, to spit 
 back, to refuse. 
 
 Repugnant. Lat. repttgnare, to con- 
 trary one ; pugno, to fight. See Pugilist. 
 
 Requiem. Lat. requies, rest, repose, 
 the accus, of which is requiem, the initial 
 word of the service for the dead, whence 
 the term is taken. 
 
 Reremouse. as. hreremus, a bat, 
 equivalent to Q.flittertnaus, from the flut- 
 tering of his wings, from AS. hreran, ON. 
 hrcera, to move. At h^^cera tungu, to 
 wag the tongue ; — sverS, to brandish a 
 sword.^Egils. 
 
554 RESCIND 
 
 Rescind. Lat. rescindo^ to cut off, 
 abolish. 
 
 Rescue. OE. rescous, rescow, from 
 OFr. rescouyr, rescoitrre, to recover, re- 
 deem, deliver ; whence rescous^ recovered } 
 rescoueur, one who redeems goods from 
 the hands of creditors. It. riscuotere 
 (Lat. re-excutere\ to fetch a thing out of 
 pawn, to exact payment ; riscuotersi, to 
 escape ; rtscossa, exaction of payment, 
 recovery, retaking, rescuing, deliverance. 
 — Altieri. Lat. excutere, to tear from, 
 take away by force, to which corresponds 
 OFr. escourre^ to beat corn from the chaff, 
 as rescourre to riscuotere. 
 
 Resemble. From Lat. similis^ like, 
 siniilare or simulare, to make like, to 
 imitate ; It. sembiare, sembrare, Fr. sem- 
 bler, to seem ; Prov. resejnblar, Fr. ras- 
 sefubler, It. rassembrare^ to resemble. 
 
 Resort. — Resource. To resort^ to re- 
 pair or betake oneself to. Resource, some- 
 thing to apply back to for succour. — B. 
 Fr. resortir, ressortir, to issue, go forth 
 again, to resort, repair, to appeal from an 
 inferior to a superior court. En dernier 
 ressort, finally, without further appeal. 
 Sans nul resort, without delay. — Fab. et 
 Contes, II. 
 
 Diez would explain the meaning from 
 It. sortire, to 'obtain or acquire, whence 
 risortire would signify to get back, to re- 
 cover, and thence to betake oneself to, 
 on the same principle on which ricove- 
 rarsi signifies to have recourse to, to fly 
 to for help. But risortire diO^'s, not appear 
 ever to have been used in the sense of 
 recover, and we have no occasion for this 
 hypothetical explanation. 
 
 The truth is, that Fr. ressort and res- 
 source are parallel forms with the same 
 general meaning more or less directly 
 derived from Lat. surgere, to rise. Hence 
 It. sorgere, ppl. sorto, Fr. sourdre, ppl. 
 sors, sours, to rise, spring, come out of ; 
 se resourdre, to spring up again, recover, 
 come to one's former estate or vigour ; 
 resours, raised, recovered, got up again ; 
 ressource, a new spring, recovery, up- 
 rising, also refuge for succour. — Cot. 
 From the other form of the participle, 
 sorto, surto, are formed Cat. su7't, a bound 
 or spring ; Ptg. surto, the spring upwards 
 of a bird, Fr. essort, essour, essor, source, 
 spring, flight ; ressort, spring, elasticity, 
 the spring which moves a piece of me- 
 chanism, and thence metaphorically, re- 
 source, supply of needful power. II a 
 fait jouer tous ses ressorts, he has used 
 all his means, resources. — Tarver. From 
 the substantive arises a secondary form 
 
 RET 
 
 of verb, Sp. surtir, to spring as water 
 (Taboada), Ptg. surtir, to fly, to soar, 
 Cat. surtir, to spring up, Fr. sortir, to go 
 out. To resort to a thing is to have re- 
 source to it, to come back to it as the source 
 or supply of what is wanting to meet the 
 emergency. 
 
 Al I refuse but that I might resorte 
 Unto my love, the well of goodlihede. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 The same met. sense is found in Prov. 
 ressort. 
 
 Contra mort ressort ni cubatura. 
 — against death there is neither resource 
 nor protection. 
 
 Respite. Breathing time, delay, for- 
 bearance. — B. From Lat. respectus. It. 
 rispetto, Prov. respieg, respeit, Fr. respit, 
 regard, consideration, expectation, then 
 respite, delay. * Tout prent sans nul 
 respit avoir : ' takes everything without 
 regard for any consideration. — Fab, et 
 Contes, 4. 445. ' Mando vobis ut respec- 
 tetis benedictionem usque ad Pascham : ' 
 should delay the blessing until Easter. — 
 Eadmer. ' Et ainsi fut respoitiez li allers 
 a Adrenople a cele fois : ' was put off. — 
 Villehardouin. 
 
 Respond. — Response. Lat. spondeo, 
 to promise, engage for; respondeo, to 
 answer. 
 
 Rest. Two words are confounded. 
 
 1 . From Lat. restare, to remain, to re- 
 sist, stand firm, hold out j Fr. rester, to 
 remain ; reste, a remainder ; It. restare, 
 to remain, abide, or stay still in one place, 
 to cease from, to leave or be left over- 
 plus. 
 
 2. From G. rast, Du. ruste, raste, ease, 
 quiet, repose. 
 
 Restive.— Resty. It. restio, restivo, 
 resty, drawing back, loth to go as some 
 horses, by met. slow, lazy. — Fl. Fr. restif, 
 stubborn, drawing backward, that will 
 not go forward. — Cot. From Lat. restare. 
 
 Restore. Lat. restaurare, to repair, 
 remake. See Store. 
 
 Result. Lat. resulto, to leap back ; 
 re and sulto, a freq. of salio, to leap. 
 
 Resurrection. Lat. resurrectio, from 
 resurgo, resurrectum, to rise again ; re 
 and surgo, to rise. 
 
 To Ret. To rait timber, to set it to 
 soak. — Ray. Hay is raited when it has 
 been much exposed to wet and dry. — 
 Hal. G. rosten, Pl.D. rbthen, Du. rotten 
 or rooten het vlasch, to ret flax, to steep 
 it in water in order to separate the fibre 
 by incipient rotting. Rettyn' tymber, 
 hempe, or other lyke, rigo, infundo. — Pr. 
 Pm. 
 
RETAIL 
 
 The word is a mere modification of 
 rot. Svv. rota, N. rbyta, to rot, putrefy, 
 decay, to .ret flax. Royte upp klcEcia, to 
 rot clothes by much exposure to wet. 
 Foyte hamp, skinn, to set hemp or skins 
 to soak in order to loosen the fibre in 
 the one case and the hair in the other ; 
 royta, rottenness, long continuance of 
 wet weather in which corn is in danger 
 of rotting, also the steeping or stripping 
 of goods. 
 
 Retail. Fr. retail, a shred or small 
 piece cut from a thing. — Cot. Tailler, to 
 cut. 
 
 Retaliate. Fr. talion, a pain equal to 
 the harm done ; retaliomid, requited or 
 paid back with the like. — Cot. Lat. talis, 
 such. 
 
 To Retch. It. recere, Lang, raca, to 
 vomit. AS. hrcEcan, Picard. raquer, N. 
 rcekja, to retch, hawk, spit. ON. hraki, 
 spittle ; Du. rachelen, to cough, to hawk 
 and spit ; Bret- roclia, rodhella, to snore, 
 to breathe with difificulty. It. recere rani- 
 ma, to breathe one's last, expresses the 
 stertorous breathing of the death-bed. 
 
 The origin is a representation of the 
 harsh raking noise made in forcing the 
 breath through passages encumbered with 
 viscous secretions. 
 Reticent. See Tacit. 
 Reticulate. Lat. reticiilatus, made in 
 the form of a {rete) net. 
 
 Retinue. Fr. retenir, to retain or hold 
 land of a superior ; retentce, a holding, a 
 train of retainers or persons holding of or 
 dependent upon one. 
 
 To Retire. Fr. retirer, to draw back ; 
 tirer, It. tirare, to draw, pull, strike ; 
 tiro, a throw, draught, stroke. Identified 
 by Diez with Goth, tairan, to tear, on the 
 principle on which we use tear for any 
 violent action ; to tear a paper down, to 
 tear along the road. It must always be 
 remembered that the original image from 
 whence an expression is taken will com- 
 monly appear a gross caricature of the 
 thing signified. 
 
 Retreat. Fr. retraite corresponding 
 to a Lat. retracta, from retrahere, retrac- 
 tum, to withdraw. 
 
 To Retrench. Fr. retrancher, to cut 
 off. See Trench. 
 
 To Retrieve. To recover, get again. 
 See Contrive. 
 
 Retro-. Lat. retro, backwards, behind. 
 Reveal. Lat. revelare, to disclose, as 
 if by throwing back {velum) a. veil. 
 
 Revel. Commonly referred to Fr, re- 
 veille/-, to waken, as if signifying one who 
 keeps late hours. But reveiller is to 
 
 RHYME 
 
 535 
 
 awake, not to watch or sit up late. The 
 real origin is in the notion of noisy merry- 
 making. Swiss rdbeln, to clatter, make a 
 disturbance ; grdbel, rdblete, disturbance, 
 uproar, confusion ; rdbelkilth, nocturnal 
 assembly of young people. Bret, ribla, 
 to revel, lead a dissipated life. Champ. 
 ribler, to be out at night, lead a debauched 
 life ; revel, noise, disturbance, gaiety ; 
 reveatix, pleasures, debauches. 
 
 Plains est de joie et de revel. — Roquef. 
 
 Du. ravelen, raveele7i, aestuare, fluctuare, 
 et circumcursare et delirare, insanire, 
 furere. — Kil. With a change of termina- 
 tion, ravotten, tumultuari et luxurian, po- 
 pinari, to riot, romp. Connected forms 
 are Du. rabbelen, to gabble ; Swiss raf- 
 feln, to rattle ; Gael, ramhlair, a noisy 
 fellow ; ramhlaireachdy play or sport. 
 
 Revenge. Fr. revanche, requital, re- 
 venge. See Vengeance. 
 
 Revenue. Fr. revenir, to come back, 
 to profit or yield increase ; revenue, a. re- 
 turn or coming again ; revenue de bois, 
 the new springing of wood after it has 
 been lopped or felled. — Cot. In like 
 manner revemie is applied to the yearly 
 income from property in general. 
 
 Revere. ^ Reverend. Lat. vereor, 
 revereor, to stand in awe of. 
 
 Reverie. When ideas float in our 
 mind without any reflection or regard of 
 the understanding, it is that which the 
 French call resverie, our language has 
 scarce a name for it. — Locke. Resver, 
 to rave, dote, speak idly ; resveur, a 
 dotard or dreamingfop. — Cot. See Rave. 
 Revulsion. Lat. revulsio, a plucking 
 back ; vello, vulsuni, to pull or pluck. 
 
 Rhapsody. Gr, pa-ilxpSia, a portion of 
 an epic poem for recitation at one time ; 
 pcLTTTu), to stitch or link together, and ^t^j;, 
 a song. 
 
 Rhetoric. Gr. pfirup, an orator; r) pij- 
 TopiKT] (j-exvri), the art of the public 
 speaker. 
 
 Rheum-. — Rheumatism. Gr. ptvfia, 
 pevfiaTiKog y from psio, to flow, the idea 
 being that there was an undue flow of 
 r/ieum, or humour, through the part af- 
 fected by the disorder termed R/ieumatism. 
 Rhinoceros, Gr, pivoKepiogy piv, the 
 snout, nose, and Kkpag, a horn. 
 
 Rhomboid. Lat. rhombus, Gr. pSfjifiog, 
 a lozenge, and ddog, form, fashion. 
 
 Rhyme. It. rima, Fr. rime, G. reim. 
 Diez objects to the derivation from Gr. 
 pvQfiog, measure, proportion, regular move- 
 ment, metre, rhythm, that it would have 
 given rise to an It. rimmo or remmo in- 
 
536 
 
 RIB 
 
 stead of rima, and he is more inclined to 
 OHG. rimy AS. rim^ germiy w. rhif^ Bret. 
 rummy number. But in Fr., at least, 
 there is no difficulty in the formation of 
 rune from the older spelling rithme, rime 
 or metre.— Cot. Rithmailler (rimailler), 
 to rime paltrily. — Ibid. The term rith- 
 micare was used in the sense of versifying 
 long after the introduction of rhyme, and 
 it is perfectly natural that rithmus, which 
 signified metrical writing, should gradually 
 have been applied to the rhyme which 
 became its most striking characteristic. 
 An Ars rithmicandi written in the 14th 
 century begins as follows : Ad habendum 
 artem rithmicandi et dictaminis notitiam 
 sciendum est quid sit rithmus et ex quot 
 syllabis constare debet — et ubi servanda 
 est consonantia [the rhyme]. Rithmus 
 est coitsona paritas syllabarum sub certo 
 numero comprehensarum. — Reliq. Ant. i. 
 30. As conso7iantia is used throughout 
 in the sense of rhyme, it seems that con- 
 sona in the latter clause must be under- 
 stood in the sense of rhyming, showing 
 that in the apprehension of the author 
 rhyme formed an. essential element of 
 rhythm. 
 
 Rib. Du. ribhe, a rib, beam, lath, 
 rafter ; G. rippe, rib ; gerippe^ Pl.D. rif, 
 rifty sceleton. — Brem. Wtb. AS. /zr^,the 
 intestines, is probably what is contained 
 in the framework of the ribs. Swab, raf, 
 rafeity rafter or spar of a roof. 
 
 The radical image seems to be a frame- 
 work of rods or bars, perhaps originally 
 from comparison with the parallel teeth 
 of a comb or rake. G. raufey raffel, rtffel, 
 an iron comb for plucking off the heads 
 of flax-seed ; raufe^ Swab, raf, reff, the 
 rack or lath-work which holds the hay 
 for cattle, the cradle of a scythe. G. 
 helmreifey the grate of a helmet or bars 
 which protect the mouth. — Brem. Wtb. 
 G. ranfey Bav. reffy refty is also a basket 
 made of rods for carrying on the back ; 
 reftrager, feferer, higler, one who carries 
 about fowls, eggs, butter, &c., on his back 
 for sale. We have the same word in E. 
 ripy a panier for carrying fish ; ripper, 
 one who carries about fish for sale. 
 
 The foregoing supposition would unite 
 W. criby a comb, cribiny a hay-rake, Bret. 
 cribin (as G. rmifey riffel), a comb for flax, 
 with G. krippe, a crib, rack for cattle, any 
 framework of rods or beams to be filled 
 up with earth or stones. Das ufer krip- 
 peiiy to fasten a bank with stakes or piles, 
 by which the earth is held together, as 
 the soft parts of the body of an animal 
 by the (gerippe) skeleton. 
 
 RID 
 
 Bibald. OFr. ribmilty ribauldy It. ri- 
 baldoy a name applied generally to any 
 loose character. ' Fures, exules, fugitivi, 
 excommunicati, quos omnes ribaldos Fran- 
 cia vulgariter consuevit appellare.' — Matt. 
 Paris in Diez. Du. rabaud, scortator, 
 lascivus, nequam, nebulo, mendicus fallax, 
 aeruscator. — Kil. 
 
 It is probable that the original signifi- 
 cation is nothing worse than a reveller or 
 noisy companion, from Fr. rabaltery to 
 rumble, rattle, make a terrible noise, as 
 they say spirits do in some houses.— Cot. 
 Du. ravottetiy to riot, racket, lead an up- 
 roarious life. — Halma. Ravot, revot, 
 caterva nebulonum et lupanar.— Kil. 
 
 In ultimate formation the word is a re- 
 presentation of rattle, clatter, analogous 
 to Piedm. rabadaiiy noise, uproar, clatter ; 
 or to E. rubaduby rowdydoWy from the last 
 of which is formed the American rowdy y 
 a term exactly synonymous with OP'r. 
 ribauld. 
 
 Ribband.— Ribbon. Yx.ruban. From 
 Du. rijghey rijCy a row or line 'y'riigheti, 
 to string, to lace ; rijghbandy rijghsnoer, 
 rijghnestely a lace, band, tie. Du. nestel, 
 a lace or strap, is identical with It. nastro^ 
 a ribbon. 
 
 Rich. Prov. rzV, noble, powerful, illus- 
 trious, rich ; Sp. ricos hom-bres, magnates, 
 grandees. Goth, reiksy ruler ; reikinon, 
 to rule. ON. rikiy realm, power ; rikia, 
 to reign ; rikdoinry riches. G. reichy em- 
 pire, rich. Gael, righ, king ; 7'ighich, 
 govern. Lat. regere, rex, &c. 
 
 Rick. AS. hreaCy ON. hraukry especi- 
 ally applied to a heap of fuel ; hreykiuy 
 to pile up. N. r'oyky rauk, a small heap, 
 as of corn-sheaves in the field, or of turf. 
 
 Rickets. Mid.Lat. rachitis, disease of 
 the spine. Gr. pax'f? the spine. 
 
 To Rid. ON. hrioda, to clear away ; 
 hrodiy rubbish, what is cleared away ; 
 hrodit skip, a ship in which all the de- 
 fenders are killed ; riodry a. place cleared 
 of wood, in E. commonly called riddings. 
 Dan. rydde, to grub up, to clear ; rydde 
 op i en stuey to set a room to rights ; 
 rydnings-pladSy a cleared place ; rydde 
 borty rydde af veien, to clear away. G. 
 reuteUy Bav. riedeUy to clear away, root 
 out, extirpate ; das ried, geriedy rieder, 
 riddings, place cleared of wood and 
 bushes. 
 
 Sc. red, to clear away, set in order, 
 clearance, removal of obstructions ; red, 
 outredy rubbish. 
 
 Pl.D. reddetiy G. retten, Dan. redde, to 
 save or rescue, seems a wholly different 
 word, signifying perhaps to snatch from 
 
RIDDLE 
 
 danger. AS. hreddan, rapere, eripere. — 
 Lye. 
 
 Biddle. i. as. hriddel, hridder, G. 
 reiter, rdder^ Bret, ridel^ w. rhidyll^ Gael. 
 rideal, a sieve, especially a corn-sieve. 
 
 From the way in which a sieve is shaken 
 whenever it is used. ON. rida, to tremble ; 
 AS. hrethadl, Du. ridde, a fever or shak- 
 ing sickness ; riideren, rijeren, rijelen, to 
 shiver with fever or with cold. — Thes. 
 Ling. Teut. E. dial, to rue, to ree, to sift 
 — Hal. ; Sc. ree, a small riddle. Bav. 
 erridern, to shiver. The primary origin 
 s^ems to be the representation of a rust- 
 ling or rattling sound. G. ratteln, to sift. 
 Bav. rodel, a tin box with pebbles in it ; 
 rodeln, rudeln, to shake, to stir ; G. riit- 
 teln, to shake, sift, winnow corn. Gr. 
 ifpor«\or, a rattle ; Gael, crith, tremble, 
 shake, quiver. AS. hriscian^ to make a 
 rustling noise, to shake, frizzle. 
 
 2. AS. rcsdelse,2in imagination, a riddle. 
 * Se leasa wena and sio rcsdelse thara 
 dysigra monna : ' the false opinion and 
 the imagination of foolish men. OHG. 
 ratsal, ratisca, ratissa, rdtersch, radisli, 
 a riddle. Rat mir dise rdtschen, read me 
 this riddle. 
 
 Bav. rdten, G. errathen, rathen, ON. 
 rdda, to conjecture, divine, make out, 
 imagine. Rathe was ist das, guess what 
 is that. Dan. raade, to divine, devise. 
 Raade bod paa, to devise a remedy for. 
 See Read. 
 
 To Ride. ON. retda, to sway, lift, weigh, 
 brandish, move up and down. Ld reidir 
 buk, the tide carries the corpse. Skip 
 reiddiiz, the ships were borne on the 
 waves. A ship rides at anchor when she 
 is borne up and down by the waves with- 
 out changing place. ON. rida, to be 
 borne on a horse or in a ship. Rida 
 kj'ol, to be carried in a ship. To be borne 
 or carried aloft as a standard, a sword, 
 an axe. N. rida, to sway to and fro as a 
 boat resting on a stone. Du. rijden, to 
 ride on horseback, to be borne in a car- 
 riage, to slide on the ice. 
 
 Parallel with reida and rida are ON. 
 leidq,, to lead, and lida, to be borne. At 
 lida i lopti, to be borne through the air. 
 Du. lijden, to slide, to pass by. 
 
 -ride. -ris-. Ridicule. Lat. rideo, 
 risu7n, to laugh ; as in Deride, Derision^ 
 Lat. ridiculus, what moves to laughter. 
 
 Ridge. AS. hricg, ON. hryggr, Pl.D. 
 ^^'■SS^i Dan. ryg, g. riicken, the back. 
 Then anything formed like the back of 
 an animal, a long horizontal line from 
 which the surface slopes down on either 
 side. 
 
 RIG 537 
 
 Ridingf. In Domesday, treding, one 
 of the divisions of three into which the 
 county of York is broken up. ON. 
 Thridjungr, N. tridjung, a third part. 
 The initial t was probably lost, as Miiller 
 suggests, in consequence of the difficulty 
 of recognising the sound in the com- 
 pounds North-, East-, and West-trithing^ 
 in which the word would principally 
 occur. 
 
 Rife. Du. rijf, copious, abundant. ON. 
 rifr, rijlegr, liberal, munificent ; rifka, to 
 increase. In the N. of E. ripe, prevalent, 
 abundant. — Hal. 
 
 Riffraff. Refuse, dregs, scum of any- 
 thing. — B. Rif and raf, tag rag and 
 bobtail, every atom, scrapings and all. 
 
 King Richard it wan and tille his sister it gaf, 
 The Sarrazins ilk man he slouh alia rif and raf. 
 R. Brunne in R. 
 
 II ne lui lairra rif ni raf, he will strip 
 him of all. On n'y a laissd ni rifle ni 
 rafle, they have swept it all away. — Cot. 
 It. raffola-ruffola, riff-raff, by hook or by 
 crook. Lomb. o de riff o de raff, in one 
 way or another. See Raff. 
 
 Rifle. A rifle is a gun having a barrel 
 internally grooved or scored in a spiral 
 in order to make the bullet revolve. Pl.D. 
 rifeln, to streak, to furrow. Dan. rijle, to 
 groove a column. See To Rifle, Rive. 
 
 To Rifle. Yx. rifler, to rifle, ransack, 
 sweep all away before him. Du. rijfelen, 
 to scrape, rub, seize. It. raffa, a raffling, 
 rifling ; raffio, any hook or crook, a rake, 
 a drag ; raffolare, to rake, drag, scrape 
 together by hook or by crook ; ruffolare, 
 riffare, to rifle, to filch or pilfer craftily. 
 Lombard ruff, sweepings, dirt. See 
 Raffle. 
 
 Rift. A cleft, chink, crack.— B. From 
 rive. 
 
 To Rig". * I. N. rigga, to rig a ves- 
 sel. Perhaps a metaphor from harness- 
 ing a horse. Sw, dial, rigga pd, to har- 
 ness a horse. From rygg, the back ? 
 
 2. To rig about, to be wanton, to romp; 
 rig, a wanton, romping girl \ riggish^ 
 rampant, rutfish. — B. 
 
 The wanton gesticulations of a virgin in a wild 
 assembly of gallants warmed with wine, could be 
 no other than riggish and unmaidenly. — Bp 
 Hall in R. 
 
 Probably from the excited movements 
 of animals under sexual impulse, as in- 
 dicated under Ramble. N. rugga, rigga, 
 rugla, rigla, to rock or waver ; E. wrig- 
 gle. Manx reagh, ruttish, wanton, merry, 
 sportive, lecherous ; riggan, to rut ; rig- 
 gyl, as E. rig, ridgil, ridge ling, a ram 
 imperfectly castrated, and consequently 
 
538 
 
 RIGHT 
 
 liable to sexual excitation. To play reaks, 
 to run a rig^ to act in an excited manner, 
 to do something outrageous. 
 
 Right. AS. riht, Goth. raOits, G. recht, 
 Lat. rectus, straight, stretched out ; por- 
 rigOy to stretch out ; dirigo, to stretch 
 towards a definite point. Gr. ^ptyw, to 
 stretch. 
 
 The meaning of right is always a 
 metaphor more or less direct from 
 the image of straightness. The right 
 course is that which leads in a straight 
 line to the object sought for. Moral 
 right is that which has to be done, which 
 lies in the straight way to satisfy the con- 
 science. The right hand is the hand it 
 is right to make use of. 
 
 Rigid. — Rigour. Lat . rigidus, rigor j 
 rigeo, to be stiff. ON. rigr, stiffness. 
 
 Rigmarole. A repetition of idle words, 
 a succession of long foolish stories — Wor- 
 cester ; a confused, unconnected dis- 
 course.— Hal. There can be little doubt 
 that it is a corruption of ragman-roll, 
 which was used in a very similar sense. 
 
 Tindall — hath in the handling of that one mat- 
 ter alone utterly destroyed the foundation of all 
 the heresies they have in their whole raggemans 
 rolle. — Sir T. Moore. 
 
 In the play of Juditian, Towneley Mys- 
 teries, p. 311, Tutivillos, one of the devils 
 who had been employed in catching 
 people sinning, and comes to make his 
 report, says : 
 
 Here a rolle of ragman of the rownde tabille 
 Of breffes in my bag, man, of synnes dampnabille. 
 
 The origin of the term has been made 
 out by Mr Wright in his Anecdota Litte- 
 raria. The name was originally given to 
 a game consisting in drawing characters 
 from a roll by strings hanging out from 
 the end, the amusement arising from the 
 application or misapplication of the cha- 
 racters to the persons by whom they were 
 drawn. 
 
 A roll of this kind, from MS. Fairfax 
 16, is printed by Mr Wright : 
 
 Here begynnyth Ragmane roelle, 
 My ladyes and my maistresses echone 
 Lyke hit unto your humbyl womanhede, 
 Resave in grd of my sympill persone 
 This rolle, which withouten any drede 
 Kynge Ragman me bad serve in brede, 
 And cristened it the merour of your chaunce. 
 Drawith a strynge, and that shall streyght you 
 
 leyde 
 Unto the very path of your govemaunce. 
 
 The popularity of the amusement is 
 shown by the familiar allusion of Gower: 
 
 Venus whiche stant withoute lawe 
 In non certeyne, but as men drawe 
 
 RIME 
 
 Of Ragemon upon the chaunce, 
 She leyeth no peys in the balaunce. 
 
 MS. in Hal. 
 The name of Ragman is given to the 
 devil in P. P., ^nd he is probably made 
 to preside at our game as the father of 
 sorcery. Sw. raggen, the devil. 
 
 From the strings hanging out at the 
 end of the roll by which the characters 
 vvere drawn, the name oi ragman-roll y^diS 
 given to any deed with a number of seals 
 hangmg to it, and especially to the inden- 
 tures by which the Scottish Barons were 
 made to subscribe allegiance to Ed. I., 
 and of which a record was kept in four 
 large rolls of parchment preserved in the 
 Tower. Unum instrumentum sive car- 
 tam subjectionis et homagii faciendi re- 
 gibus Anglias— a Scottis propter multa 
 sigilla dependentia ragman vocabatur. — 
 Chronicon de Lanercost in Wright. 
 
 Swa thai consentyd than 
 And mad upon this a ragman 
 With mony sells of Lordis, thare 
 That that tyme at this trett^ ware.— Wyntown. 
 There preached a pardoner as he a priest were, 
 Brought forth a bull with many bishops scales ; 
 He— raughte with his ragman both ringes and 
 broches. — P. P. 
 
 Rill. A trickling stream, from the 
 sense of trickling, explained under To 
 Rail, 2. 
 
 Aganippe's spring 
 — with soft murmurs gently rilling 
 Adown the mountains where thy daughters 
 haunt. — Prior. 
 
 Pl.D. rille, a little stream or water- 
 course, such as those which the rain 
 makes in running off meadows, or the 
 tide retiring from mud-banks. 
 
 Rim. AS. rima, margin, edge. The 
 rime of the sea was used for the surface 
 of the sea. 
 
 The weeds being so long that riding in fourteen 
 fathoms water, many times they streamed three 
 or four fathoms upon the ry7ne of the sea. — Haw- 
 kins" Voyage, p. 116. 
 
 It is perhaps in this sense that the mem- 
 brane enclosing the bowels is called the 
 rim. Sw. and Dan. hytt is used as well 
 in the sense of edge or border as of sur- 
 face. Dan. bryn, the ryme or surface of 
 the sea, also the brow or rim of the eye. 
 G. augenbraune, the eyebrow, is in other 
 dialects augenbramen. Thus rim, brim, 
 and bryn, must be regarded as radically 
 identical. N. bryning, Dan. brmnme, 
 a border or edging, w. rhint, rhimp, 
 edge, rim. 
 
 Rime. G. reif, Du. rijpe, rijm, Sw. 
 rim, hoarfrost. ON. hrim, soot, hoarfrost. 
 
RIMPLE 
 
 Bret, frimm, Fr. fj'imas, mist which 
 freezes in falling, 
 
 Rimple. — Rumple. — Ripple, as. 
 hryjnpel, Du. rimpe^ rimpel, rompe, roni- 
 J)el, a wrinkle, rumple, pucker. Words 
 representing a broken sound are com- 
 monly applied to signify a broken move- 
 ment, then a broken, uneven, rugged sur- 
 face. The gentle sound of small waves 
 breaking on the shore is represented by 
 the word ripple, which is then applied to 
 the uneven surface of the rippling water, 
 and rimple is used in the same sense. 
 As gilds the moon the rivipling of the brook. 
 Crabbe in R. 
 Pl.D. rumpeln^ originally signifying to 
 rumble, to clatter, is now chiefly used in 
 the applied sense of jolting, jogging. 
 Rumpelgeest, as G. poltergeist, a clatter- 
 ing ghost. De buuk rimipelt mi, my belly 
 rumbles. De wage rumpelt up dem 
 steenwege, the carriage clatters along the 
 road, or jolts along. Ik kan dat rumpeln 
 nig verdragen, I cannot endure the jolting. 
 Rujnpumpeln, to jolt excessively. Du. 
 rompelig, uneven, rugged. Then as a 
 shaking motion throws a surface into 
 confusion, to ru7nple, to disorder, disar- 
 range, crumple. See Rumble, Rumpus. 
 
 To Rince. Fr. rincer, ON. hreinsa, 
 Dan. rense, to cleanse. ON. hrein, G. 
 rein, Dan. reen, pure, clean. 
 
 Rind. Du. G. rinde, crust, bark. 
 
 Ring. ON. hringr, a circle, a ring ; 
 kringr, a circle. Dan. kringel, krinkel, 
 crooked, twisted ; kringle, to go in folds, 
 to run round. E. crinkle, to curl. The 
 connection of the foregoing forms with 
 ON. hrifigla, to tinkle, is probably based 
 on the principle so often referred to on 
 which a crooked, curling form is desig- 
 nated by the figure of a broken or qua- 
 vering sound, w. crychlais, a quivering 
 voice ; crychiad, a shake in music ; crych, 
 a curling, wrinkling, rippling. 
 
 To Ring. ON. hringia, to ring bells ; 
 hringla, to clink, ring, tingle. Hann 
 hringlar gialldi, he chinks his money. 
 Dan. ringle, klingre, to ring, tinkle. All 
 imitative. 
 
 Riot. Fr. rioter, Bret, riota, to chide, 
 brawl, jangle ; Gael, raoit, indecent mirth. 
 It. riotta, riot, brawl ; Du. ravotten, tu- 
 multuari, et luxuriari, popinari ; ravot, 
 revet, caterva nebulonum, et lupanar, 
 luxus, luxuria. — Kil. Ravotterig, bruit, 
 tintamarre, charivari. — Halma. 
 
 A similar word to Fr. rabater, men- 
 tioned under Ribald. 
 
 Rip. I. A panier for fish. See Rib. 
 . 2. A name applied to men and boys, 
 
 RISE 
 
 539 
 
 and even to animals if they appear to be 
 lean, half-starved, or otherwise ill-condi- 
 tioned. — Hal. A rip of a horse is a thin, 
 worn-out horse. Pl.D. rif, rift, a skele- 
 ton. G. gerippe, a skeleton. He is een 
 rift, so mager as een rift. — Brem. Wtb. 
 E. rip is also applied metaphorically to a 
 morally ill-conditioned person. 
 
 To Rip. I. To tear. Ultimately de- 
 rived from the sound of scratching or 
 tearing. See Raffle. ON. hrifa, to scrape, 
 to snatch ; rif a, riufa, to tear ; Du. roo- 
 Pen, reupen, ruppen, G. raufen, to pluck ; 
 Yx.friper, to rub, to wear ; fripon, a rag. 
 
 2. ON. at rippa ttpp, Dan. oprippe, to 
 rip up, to go over again, to repeat. Jeg 
 ei oprippe vil det som jeg for har sagt : 
 I will not repeat what I have said before. 
 Du. Die zaak werd niet gerept ; men repte 
 van die zaak niet : they did not make 
 mention of the thing. 
 
 When each party had ripped up their sundry 
 fortunes ' and perils passed, they highly praised 
 God. — Hackluyt in R. 
 
 It has been shown under Rehearse 
 that the figure of raking is often used to 
 express iteration. ON. hrifa, a rake, also 
 iteration. To rip and to rake up old 
 grievances are used indifferently. 
 
 Ripe. Du. rijp, G. reif 
 
 To Ripe. To rake, to probe, and 
 thence met. to search or examine. 
 
 Then fling on coals and ripe the ribs 
 And beek the house baith but and ben. 
 
 Ramsay. 
 All the hymis of his goist 
 He rypit with his swerd amid his coist. 
 So til his hart stoundith the prick of death. 
 D. V. 330. 38. 
 
 It is from this sort of action that a sword 
 is called in Sp. raspadera, Fr. rapilre, a 
 raker or rasper. Esthon. ritpma, to rake. 
 See To Rip. 
 
 Ripple. See Rimple. 
 
 To Ripple. To pluck off the heads of 
 flax seeds by drawing the straw through 
 a fixed iron comb. Walach. grebla, a 
 comb or rake. Fris. rebbel, Dan. ribbely 
 a frame with iron teeth through which 
 thrashed straw is drawn and combed to 
 save any remnants of the corn. — Outzen. 
 G. raufen, rupfen, Swiss riipfeln, to pluck ; 
 G. rajifen, raiifeln^ to ripple flax ; raufe^ 
 reffe, raufel, reffel, riffel, the comb used 
 in that operation. Pl.D. repen, reppen^ 
 repeln, to rip, pluck, tear, to ripple flax ; 
 repe, a rack for hay ; repe, repel, a ripple. 
 Dan. rive, to rake, rive, tear, rasp. 
 
 To Rise. ON. risa, to rise ; Goth. 
 urreisan, AS. arisan, to rise up ; reosan, 
 to rush, to fall. Du. riisen, opriisen^ to 
 
540 
 
 RISIBLE 
 
 rise up ; riisett, a/riisen, to sink, to fall. 
 OHG. risan^ to fall ; anarisan, irruere ; 
 arrisaUy corruere, surgere ; zarisan^ de- 
 labi, ruinari. — Graff. Regenes tropphen 
 risente in erda, rain-drops falling on the 
 earth. — Notker, Ps. 71. 6. Bav. reisen^ 
 to fall ; reisuhr, an hour-glass, marking 
 time by the trickling of the sand. Swiss 
 riesen^ rauschend herabfallen; laubriesi^ 
 laubriesete, the fall of the leaf. 
 
 The radical image seems to be the rust- 
 ling sound of fragments falling to the 
 ground, which is represented by such 
 forms as Bav. riseln, Swiss rieselen, to 
 fall in drops, in little bits. Es riselet, 
 cadit nivosa grando. Der rtsel, hail. — 
 Schmeller. Swiss rieslete^ stones rattling 
 down a hill-side ; riesobst, worm-eaten 
 fruit that falls prematurely. Sometimes 
 the imitative syllable begins with gr or 
 dr instead of a simple r, as in G. grieseln, 
 to fall in bits ; Fr. gresiller, to fall in 
 rime ; gj'hil, hail ; Swiss droseln, troseln, 
 to patter down ; E. drizzle. To these 
 latter forms are related Goth, driusan, 
 AS. dreosan, to fall, in the same way as 
 OHG. risan to riseln. Gr. ^poaoq, Lith. 
 rasas, Lat. ros, dew, probably owe their 
 designation to being originally conceived 
 as what drizzles or falls in a fine shower. 
 Bav. es reisst nebel, a drizzling mist falls. 
 
 The direction of the motion in the act 
 of falling being often expressed by a pre- 
 position, as when we speak of falling 
 down, tumbling down, coming pattering 
 down, it was a natural device to designate 
 motion in the opposite direction by the 
 same radical with a preposition of oppo- 
 site signification : Du. a/riisen, to fall 
 down ; opriisen, to rise up. In English, 
 where the compound signifying to fall was 
 wanting, the addition of the preposition 
 in the compound expressing the opposite 
 idea would appear superfluous, and thus 
 it may have been that the simple verb to 
 rise has come to include the signification 
 of motion upwards which it originally 
 owed to union with a preposition indi- 
 cating that relation. 
 
 Risible, -ris-. See -ride. 
 
 Risk. Fr. risque, It. risico, risco, Sp. 
 riesgo^ risk. Bret, riska, riskla, to slip 
 or slide ; riskuz, slippery. A slippery 
 path affords a lively image of risk or 
 danger. So Gael, sgiorr, slip, slide, run 
 a risk ; sgiorrach, apt to slip or stumble, 
 running a risk. — Armstrong. 
 
 Rissoles. Fr. rissoler, to fry meat till 
 it is brown. — Cot. From the rustling 
 noise of frying. Dan. risk, to purl, mur- 
 mur ; Swiss riesert, riesenen, krachen. 
 
 RIVET 
 
 zitternd rauschen — Stalder ; Sv/ab. risse- 
 len, to rustle, shake in the wind ; Sc. 
 reissil, a clattering noise. 
 
 Rite.— Ritual. Lat. ritus, a custom, 
 ceremony, established order of proceed- 
 ing- . 
 
 Rival. Lat. rivalis, explained in dif- 
 ferent ways from rivus, a brook ; by some 
 from the struggles between herdsmen 
 using the same watercourses ; by others 
 as signifying those who dwell on opposite 
 sides of the stream. 
 
 To Rive. — Rift, -reave. Ryvyn' or 
 rakyn', rastro ; ryvyn^ or reendyn', lacero ; 
 ryvyn^ or clyvyn', as men doo woodde, 
 findo ; revyn\ or be vyolence take awey, 
 rapio. — Pr. Pm. ON. rifa, to scratch, 
 tear, tear asunder ; Sw. rifwa, to scratch, 
 tear, claw, to grate, to grind. Rifwa af, 
 to tear, pull, strip off ; — sbnder, to tear 
 to pieces ; N. riva, to scratch, tear, tear 
 to pieces ; riva. Da. rive, a rake ; riva, 
 Da. revne, rift, a rift, crack, split. See 
 To Rob. 
 
 Rivel. Wrinkle. Riveting, turning 
 in and out. — B. w. of E. to reeve, to 
 wrinkle. — Hal. Du. riiyffelen, to wrinkle. 
 
 Closely allied with rabble, rubble, rum- 
 ple, rimple, ripple ruffle, ravel, all from the 
 radical figure of a broken confused noise, 
 leading to the notion of a jolting irregular 
 movement, then of a rugged, rumpled, or 
 entangled structure. Grisons rabaglia, a 
 wrinkle ; teila rabagliada, rumpled, tum- 
 bled cloth. E. ravelled, entangled. Pa- 
 rallel forms with an a and i in the radical 
 syllable are very common. 
 
 River. OFr. riviere, shore ; from 
 Lat. riparia, derivative from ripa, bank. 
 It. riviera, coast. Ptg. ribeira, meadow, 
 low land on the bank of rivers, shore, 
 coast ; ribeiro, a stream. 
 
 Rivet. From Lat. ripa, shore, bank, 
 are formed Lang, ribo, Fr. rive, edge, 
 border, strip along the edge of anything ; 
 rivet, Lang, ribe, the welt of a shoe, the 
 strip of leather turned in between the 
 upper leather and the sole, to which they 
 both are fastened ; Sp. Ptg. ribete, bor- 
 der, seam, binding, the doubling down at 
 the edge of a garment. Welt of a shoe, 
 rivet d'un Soulier. — Sherwood. Hence 
 Fr. river, Ptg. rebitar (for ribetar), to 
 double back the edge or point of a thing, 
 to rivet or clench a nail ; river un lit (in 
 Berri), to tuck in a bed ; rebitar o chapeo^ 
 to cock or turn up the brim of the hat ; 
 naris arrebitado, a turned-up nose. It. 
 ribadire, to clench a nail. In Craven 
 rebbit, Sc. roove, ruiff, to clench, to rivet. 
 It is not surprising that the word should 
 
RIVULET 
 
 have been referred to a root which would 
 account for the meaning so well as It. 
 ribattere, Fr. rebattre, to beat back, turn 
 back the extremity, but such a derivation 
 would destroy the connection between 
 Fr. river and E. rivet, nor could It. ri- 
 battere have been corrupted to ribadire. 
 
 Rivulet. A double dim. from Lat. 
 rivus, a brook. 
 
 Road. From ride, pret. rode, a way 
 through which men ride. An htroad is 
 a riding into an enemy's country ; a road 
 at sea (Fr. rade, Du. reede), a place where 
 ships may ride at anchor. 
 
 To Roam. It, roineo, romero, OFr. 
 romier, a pilgrim, one who makes a pil- 
 grimage to Rome. Chiamansi ro?nei in- 
 quanto vanno a Roma. — Dante, Vita 
 nuova. From romeo is formed It. rome- 
 are, romiare, to roam or wander about as 
 a palmer. — Fl. The verb to roam how- 
 ever could hardly have come to us direct 
 from the It., and it does not seem to have 
 had a Fr. equivalent. I am inclined 
 therefore to believe that it is from G. 
 raum, e. room, space, analogous to Lat. 
 spatiari, G. spazieren, to walk abroad, 
 from spatium. 
 
 The usual signification of ON. ryma, G. 
 raiimen, Du. ruimen, is to clear a space, 
 to make or leave room. 
 
 Hii ali3te with drawe suerd, with matis mony on, 
 And with many an hard stroc rumede her way 
 
 anon, 
 Vort hii come up to the deis. — R. G. 536. 
 
 AS. rym thysum manne setl : give this 
 man place. — Luc 14, 9. Pl.D. rujim 
 hus maken, to vacate a house. The 
 verb was then used in the special sense 
 of leaving home, wandering abroad. 
 Uuanda andere fogela rtiinent, sparo ist 
 heime : when other birds quit the nest, 
 the sparrow remains at home. — Notker, 
 Ps. loi, 7. Hence OSw. rum, abroad ; 
 wara rumme, to be abroad, as opposed 
 to wara hemma, to be at home. — Ihre. 
 From this application may be explained 
 the use of roam in the usual sense of 
 wandering abroad. 
 
 Roan. Fr. rouen. It. roano, Sp. ruano, 
 roaiio, the colour of a horse having a 
 mixture of bay and grey hairs. 
 
 To Roar. as. raran, Du. reeren, from 
 the sound. 
 
 Roast. It. rosta, a frying-pan ; rostire, 
 Fr. rostir, to roast, broil, toast. G. rost, 
 a grate, trellis, a gridiron. Feuerrost, a 
 fire grate ; bratrost, a gridiron ; helm- 
 rost, the grate of a helmet ; rosten, to 
 dress meat on a gridiron, to broil, fry, 
 
 ROBE 
 
 541 
 
 and more generally to roast or toast. 
 Pol. roszt, a grate ; roszczka, a rod, twig, 
 small braach. A grate is a collection of 
 parallel or interlaced rods. See Roost. 
 
 Rob. It. robbo, Fr. rob, Arab, robb, 
 the thickened juice of fruits. 
 
 To Rob. Goth, biraiibon, to strip or 
 spoil ; Prov. ratibar, OFr. rober, Sp. 
 robar, It. 7'ubare, Du. rooveu, Dan. rove, 
 E. reave, bereave, to take by violence, to 
 plunder, rob. The Gael, reiib has the 
 simpler sense of rend, tear, pull asunder, 
 but the meaning is completely developed 
 in the derivatives reubainn, robann, ra- 
 pine ; reubair, robair, a robber. 
 
 MHG. rouben signifies both to 7'ob and 
 to rub, and it is probable that the differ- 
 ence between these two forms has only 
 arisen from the tendency, which may 
 often be observed in the growth of lan- 
 guage, to distinguish variations in the 
 application of a term by slight changes 
 in the pronunciation of the word. Thus 
 Grisons rapar, to rub, and Du. raepen^ 
 to scrape, will be connected with Lat. 
 rapere, to rob. The senses of rubbing, 
 scrubbing, scraping, scratching, tearing, 
 gradually pass into each other, and acts 
 of this kind being accompanied by a pe- 
 culiar harsh sound, while the effect of 
 the action when sufficiently forcible is to 
 tear away a portion of the body operated 
 on, it furnishes language with a conve- 
 nient type of robbery. Dan. rive and 
 Sw. rifwa are used in all the foregoing 
 senses, to rasp, scrape, rake, rub, rend. 
 Rive farver, to grind colours ; rive noget 
 af eens haand, to snatch a thing out of 
 one's hand ; en riveude strom, a rapid 
 stream. Sw. rifwa af, to tear away, to 
 take by violence. G. rajen, to rake to- 
 gether, to take away everything by force 
 and violence. — Kiittn. Bret, krafa, ki-ava, 
 skraba, skrapa, signify to scrape or scratch, 
 and also to seize, steal, rob. 
 
 Robbins. g. 7-aabanden, small ropes 
 on board a ship that fasten the sail to 
 the yard, from ON. rd, Sw. rd, a sail-yard, 
 and ba}id, a tie. 
 
 Robe, It. roba, any robe or long upper 
 garment for man or woman, also goods, 
 stuff, merchandise. — Fl. Fr. I'obe, a gown, 
 mantle, coat. Sp. ropa, cloth, clothes. 
 The name is undoubtedly taken from the 
 notion of stripping, whether it be from 
 the fact that clothes originally consisted 
 in skins stripped from the backs of ani- 
 mals or that they were regarded as what 
 might be stripped off the wearer. 
 
 Prov. raubar, to rob ; rauba, garment, 
 spoil. Du. rooven, to spoil j roof spoils,. 
 
54- 
 
 ROBIN 
 
 plunder ; roof van V schaep^ a fleece. AS. 
 reafian^ to rob or spoil ; reaf garment, 
 spoil, plunder. Lith. rubas^ a garment ; 
 rubiti, to plunder, also to clothe. It has 
 indeed been supposed that the derivation 
 runs in the opposite direction, and that 
 the act of robbing takes its name from the 
 clothes which would constitute the earli- 
 est subject of plunder. And it must be 
 admitted that such a relation of ideas 
 seems to hold good in the case of Prov. 
 pan^ cloth, panar, to rob or steal. But it 
 is incompatible with the relations estab- 
 lished in the case of the verb to rob, 
 
 Robin. The most familiar of our wild 
 birds, called Robin-red-breast (from Rob- 
 in, the familiar version of Robert), on the 
 same principle that the pie and the daw 
 are christened Mag (for Margery) and 
 Jack. In the same way the parrot takes 
 its name from Pierrot, the familiar version 
 of Pierre, Peter. 
 
 Robust. Lat. robiistusj robur, vigour, 
 strength. 
 
 Rochet. It. rochet to, a garment of 
 plaited lawn worn by bishops. Central 
 Fr. rochet, a smock-frock. . From G. rock, 
 a coat. See Frock. 
 
 Rock. I. ON. rockr, OHG. rocco, It. 
 rocca, a. distaff. The origin of the term 
 seems preserved in Fin. and Lap. riioko, 
 a reed, from the distaff having been made 
 of that material. Thus Legonidec in ex- 
 plaining Bret, kegel, a distaff, observes 
 *ce baton est ordinairement un roseau,' 
 and Altieri explains rocca^ * strumente di 
 canna o simile.' 
 
 2. It. rocca, Fr. roc, a rock, crag, cliff, 
 a fortress or stronghold ; roche, rocher, a 
 rock, stony crag or hill. Bret, rodh, a 
 rock ; rodhel, a mass of stone. 
 
 Diez' suggestion of a derivation from 
 rupes through a form rupica, analogous 
 to avica, tiatica, cutica, from avis, natis, 
 cutis, is not satisfactory. Probably the 
 original may be merely a lump, then a 
 small piece of stone for throwing. Fr. 
 rocque, lump of earth — Roquef. ; It. 
 rocchio, any round rugged stone, any un- 
 polished lump or mass of stone or earth, 
 any mammock or luncheon piece. Roc- 
 chinoy a piece of an eel or other fish baked 
 in a pie. Rocchetto, a bobbin (a short 
 piece of stick?) to wind silk upon. Cat, 
 Lim., roc, a stone for throwing ; OFr. 
 rocher, to throw stones. 
 
 To Rock. Dan. rokke, N. rugga, to rock, 
 shake, vacillate ; rugla, to waver, go up 
 and down. e. dial, to rog, roggle, to 
 shake ; roggan, a rocking-stone ; OFr. 
 rocquer un enfant, to rock a child. G. 
 
 ROGUE 
 
 ruck, a shake, toss, or jerk. Dem tische 
 einen rtick geben, to give the table a 
 shove. 
 
 The original image would seem to be a 
 broken sound, as represented by Sw. 
 rockla, N. rukla, to rattle in the throat. 
 See Ruck, Rugged. 
 
 Rocket. \\.. rocca, 2i rock or distaff; 
 rocchello, rochetto, a rocket or bobbin to 
 wind silk on ; also the wheel about which 
 the cord of a clock or jack goeth ; also 
 any kind of rocket or squib of wildfire. — 
 Fl. 
 
 The distaff was commonly made of 
 reed, and with its clothing of flax offered 
 a familiar resemblance to a barrel-wheel 
 with the cord of the jack round it, or to a 
 quill or bobbin wound round with silk. 
 From these the appellation is transferred 
 to a firework contained in a hollow case 
 or cylinder. 
 
 Rod, Du. roede, G. ruthe, a rod. 
 Walach. ruda\ a pole or stick, the pole of 
 a carriage, a stick of sealing-wax. 
 
 Rodent, -rosion. -rode. Lat. rodo, 
 rostwt, to gnaw. As in Corrosion, Erode. 
 
 Rodomontade. A boasting speech 
 such as those of Rodomonte in Italian 
 Romance. 
 
 Roe. I. ON. rd, G. 7'eh, a small kind 
 of deer. 
 
 2. ON. hroga, Sw, rog, rom, Du. roghe, 
 roghen, the eggs of fish. 
 
 -rogate. — Rogation. — Prorogue. 
 Lat. rogo, -as, to ask. Rogare legem, to 
 propose a law. Hence abrogare, to ab- 
 rogate, annul ; prorogo, to adjourn ; de~ 
 rogo, to withdraw something from ; sur- 
 rogo {sub-rogo), to substitute, whence 
 surrogate, an official authorised to grant 
 licences in the place of the Bishop. 
 
 Rogue. To rogue, to wander round 
 the country. Fr. divaguer, to stray, 
 range, rogjie about, wander inconstantly 
 up and down. — Cot. 
 
 Fye on thee, thou taynted doge ! 
 What, laye thou still in that stonde, 
 And let that losinger go on the roge ? 
 
 Chester Plays II. 94, in Hal. 
 
 Apparently an equivalent of Fr. roder, to 
 roam, wander, vagabondise it, rogue 
 abroad (Cot.), from Prov. rodar (Lat. ro- 
 tare), to roll, as N. ralla, to roll, also to 
 tramp about. The Prov. has a secondary 
 form rogar, in the same sense, from whence 
 E. rogue seems to be descended in the 
 same way as Fr. roder from rodar. 
 
 Peyras y rogan molt espes : stones roll 
 there thickly. 
 
 Swiss rtigeln, to roll ; E. dial, to ruggle 
 about, to stir about. 
 
ROIL 
 
 To Boil.— Rile. i. To roil, to dis- 
 turb, trouble, vex, — Hal. To rile^ to 
 render turbid, to vex, disturb — Brockett, 
 to stir up liquor and make it turbid by 
 moving the sediment, figuratively applied 
 both to the temper and complexion ; a 
 riled complexion is one coarsely ruddy. — 
 Forby. ' How roiled the water looks :' 
 i. e. muddy. — Mrs Baker. The word 
 seems to signify lees or sediment. Fyall, 
 fome or barme, spuma. — Pr. Pm. Riall 
 of wine, fome, brou^e, fleur. — Palsgr. 
 Cot. explains fletir de vin as mother of 
 wine, the mouldy spots that float on old 
 wine. 
 
 2. To roil, to range. — B. 
 Man shall not suffre his wife roil about. 
 Wife of Bath, Prol. 680. 
 
 * Don't roil about so' is often said to rest- 
 less children. — Mrs Baker. ON. rdla, to 
 wander about ; N. ralla, to roll, also to 
 vagabondise ; Bav. ralleii, to run about. 
 Swab, rollen, to be noisily merry ; roller, 
 a rambler, a Tom-cat, Swiss rollen, to 
 run hither and thither, to toy, dally, romp. 
 
 To Roist. — Roisterer. To roist, to 
 swagger or boast ; roisting, noisy, bully- 
 ing ; roister, a rude, boisterous fellow. — 
 B. Gloucestersh. to roust, to disturb, to 
 rouse. — Hal. Sw. rusta, to make a rout 
 or disturbance ; rustande, noise, bustle, 
 banqueting, dissolute life ; riistare, a dis- 
 solute fellow. Piedm. rustic, to squabble, 
 quarrel ; rustlon, a quarrelsome person. 
 Fr. rustre, a roister, hackster, swaggerer. 
 " — Cot. Bret, rouestl, tumult, disturb- 
 ance ; rouestler, reustler, a disturber. 
 Gael, riastair, become turbulent or dis- 
 orderly. 
 
 Perhaps the representative origin of 
 the word is clearest in Pl.D. r astern, to 
 clatter, do a thing noisily. hiH hus riimm 
 rastern, to racket about the house. — 
 Danneil. Holstein raastern, to rattle ; 
 raasterer, one who makes an outcry, 
 speaks with much noise. 
 
 To Roll. It. rotolare, Venet. rodolare, 
 Prov. rodolar, 7'otlar, rollar, Fr. rouler, 
 Du^ G. rollen, ON. rulla, Dan. rtille, Bret. 
 rula, w. rholio, to roll. 
 
 The origin of the word seems to be the 
 rattling sound which is so marked a cha- 
 racteristic of rolling bodies, and remains 
 as the only meaning of the word when we 
 speak of the roll of the drum or of thun- 
 der. Swiss rollen (of a stream of water), 
 to brawl, to murmur. Dan. ralle, to rat- 
 tle ; Da. dial, rallesteen, loose rolling 
 stones, rubble ; ralde, to rattle along, to 
 roll rattling along. Bret, rula, to roll 
 down, to fall rolling. 
 
 ROMANCE 
 
 543 
 
 If we were to adopt the ordinary de- 
 rivation from Lat. rota, we must suppose 
 that the Scandinavian and Teutonic forms 
 above cited are borrowed from the Ro- 
 mance, a supposition, in the case of the 
 Scandinavian forms at least, extremely 
 unlikely. On the other hand, if the origin 
 of the word be the representation of a 
 rattling or rolling sound, it would con- 
 versely afford a derivation of rota, a 
 wheel, as the implement of rolling, on the 
 principle in accordance with which we 
 have in other cases had occasion to ob- 
 serve that words of an imitative nature 
 often seem to take their birth in the fre- 
 quentative form, from which the element 
 indicating continuation is subsequently 
 eliminated. 
 
 Romance. The name of Roman was 
 given to the popular language, Spanish, 
 Provencal, French, &c., which grew out 
 of Latin in the different provinces of the 
 Empire, and the name is preserved in the 
 native designation of the dialects spoken 
 in the Grisons and in Wallachia, Ru- 
 monsch or Rumauntsch, and Romanesca. 
 The Walloon dialect was (in Ducange's 
 time) called by the Belgians la langue 
 Romane, and the parts of Flanders and 
 Brabant where it was spoken, le Roman 
 pays. In Sp. the expression hablar en 
 Romance signifies to speak in plain Span- 
 ish, to speak in plain words. A chronicle 
 of A. D. 1 177, speaking of translations into 
 French, says, Multos libros et maxim^ 
 vitas sanctorum de Latino vertit in Ro- 
 manum. In Provengal we find Latin 
 called letra, the letter or learned language, 
 in opposition to Roman, the language of 
 ordinary speech. Aquest peccat es epelat 
 en letra presomptio, mas en Romans se 
 deu apelar folia esperansa. 
 
 From the name of the language were 
 formed Ptg. arro?nan^ar, Prov. romansar, 
 Fr. romancier, to translate into or to write 
 in the vulgar tongue ; and romajis, ro- 
 mance, rojnan, a writing in that language. 
 ' Lo libre que vos ay de Lati romansat : ' 
 the book which I have translated out of 
 Latin into (in this case) Provengal. ' Cel 
 que vola romansar la vida Sant' Alban : ' 
 he who chose to write in the vulgar tongue 
 the life of St Alban. — Rayn. The name 
 of Ro7na7ice was subsequently appropri- 
 ated in different countries to different 
 kinds of writings, according to the form 
 which the popular literature took in each. 
 In Spanish it came to signify a ballad. 
 In English, where the literature began 
 with translations from the French, the 
 name was commonly given to the French 
 
544 
 
 ROMP 
 
 original, but was subsequently used in the 
 sense the word had acquired in F'rench, 
 of a story of fiction. 
 
 Whan Philip tille Acres cam, litelle was his dede, 
 The romance sais grete sham, whoso that pas 
 
 will rede. 
 The romancer it sais, Richard did make a pele. 
 R. Brunne, ii8. 
 
 Men speken of romaunces of pris, 
 Of Hornchild, and of Ipotis, 
 Of Bevis and Sir Guy. — Sir Thopas, 
 
 Bomp. See Ramp. 
 
 Ronyon. A mangy person. Fr. rogne, 
 scurf, scabbiness, mange. 
 
 Kood. I. M id. Lat. 7//?'^^/rt;, a measure 
 of land, from the rod used in measuring. 
 Du. roede, a rod, a measure of ten feet in 
 land-surveying. 
 
 , 2. AS. rod, the cross ; Fris. rode, gal- 
 /lows, cross. G. ruthe (the equivalent 
 form) is by no means confined to such a 
 slender shoot as that to which we com- 
 monly give the name of rod in E., but is 
 applied to the beam of an anchor, and 
 specially to the swipe of a well, or long 
 transverse pole working at the top of an 
 upright support which seems (as we have 
 argued) to have furnished the original 
 type of a gibbet. 
 
 Roof. AS. hrof, ODu. roef, Russ. 
 krov, krovle, roof. Serv. krovnat, thatch- 
 ed ; krovnatsch, a straw hut. 
 
 Book. I. AS. h7'oc, Du. roek,roekvogel, 
 not (as Kilian supposes) from the sooty 
 colour of the bird (Du. roek, smoke), but 
 from its croaking cry. Gael, roc, cry 
 hoarsely, croak; rocas, a rook, a crow. 
 Lat. raiiais, hoarse. 
 
 2. It. rocco, Fr. roc, the rook or castle 
 at chess, from Pers. rokh, a camel. — Diez. 
 
 Kooxu. Goth, rmns, space, place, 
 spacious ; ON. n'lm, AS. rum^ G. raum, 
 Lith. 7'tnmas, space. 
 
 Roost. AS. hrosf, Du. roesf, sedile 
 avium, pertica gallinaria. — Kil. Plausibly 
 explained by some from Du. rust, G. 7'ast, 
 rest. Dan. dial. 7^dstc, to rest ; so/rSst, 
 sunset. But the true meaning of the word 
 seems to be simply that indicated by 
 Kilian, the rod or perch on which the 
 bird settles itself to rest. Traces of this 
 fundamental meaning may be found in 
 the proverbial expression to rule the roast, 
 where the word must probably be under- 
 stood as the rod, the emblem of authority ; 
 to rule or wield the rod. 
 
 This yeir sail richt and reason rule the rod. 
 New Year's gift to Q. Mary, in Evergreen. 
 
 To fall down at the roist, in the Fly ting 
 of Kennedy and Dunbar, can only have 
 
 ROSARY 
 
 the sense of kissing the rod or submitting 
 to authority. 
 
 Thou raw-mou'd rebald, fall down at the roist— 
 
 Say Deo mercy, or I cry thee down ; 
 
 And leave thy ryming, rebald, and thy rows. 
 
 From the same source are G. rost, a 
 grating or framework of rods, Sc. roost, 
 the spars forming the inner roof of a cot- 
 tage, OSax. hrost, roof. See Roast. 
 
 Root. ON. rdt. 
 
 To Root. AS. wrotan, Du. wroeten, 
 Dan, rode, to root as a pig or a mole. N. 
 7-ota, to dig, to dabble ; rot, digging, 
 labouring in mud and dirt, long-continued 
 and wearisome work. Then from the use 
 of the snout by a pig in rooting (and not 
 vice versa), AS. wrot, G. riissel, a snout ; 
 Du. rote, an elephant's trunk. Pol. ryd, 
 Bohem. ryti, rypati, to dig, to root, to en- 
 grave ; 7'ijak, 7'ypak, a snout. Pol. rycie, 
 the act of digging, burrowing, rooting as 
 swine, also of engraving ; 7ytowad, to en- 
 grave. 
 
 Rope. ON. reip, Pl.D. reep, rope ; 
 Goth. skauda7'aip, shoe-tie ; Du. reep, 
 roop, rope, cord, strip or band, hoop ; 
 a7igelreep, a fishing-line. 
 
 The analogy of E. strap. It. st7'0ppa, 
 Du. stroop, a noose or cord ; G. strippe, 
 strap, string (Fliigel), in the first instance 
 probably a strip or narrow piece .of bark 
 stripped from a tree (Du. stroopen, to 
 strip), would lead us to suspect a similar 
 origin of the word rope, which may have 
 served to designate a band ripped from a 
 surface of some stringy material. G. reif, 
 rope, hoop ; raufe7t, to pluck. The oc- 
 currence of parallel forms beginning with 
 r and scr or sir respectively is very com- 
 mon. G. reife7i and strei/efi both signify 
 to groove or channel, properly to stripe 
 or streak. Rie7ii, rie7nen, a thong, strap, 
 tie ; strie77te, a stripe or streak. 
 
 Ropy, Viscous, stringy. 
 
 Viscous bodies, as pitch, wax, birdlime, cheese 
 toasted, will draw forth and roape. — Bacon in R. 
 
 Rosary. Rosariu77i or rosa7'ius, sig- 
 nifying properly a collection or garland 
 of roses, was a title of many works (like 
 E. garla7id, a common name for small 
 collections of popular ballads — Hal.) con- 
 sisting of compendiums of flowers as it 
 were culled from preceding authors. Of 
 these the most celebrated was that of 
 Arnold de Villanova, entitled Liber quon- 
 dam abbreviatus, verissimus thesaurus 
 thesaurum, Rosarius philosophorum et 
 omnium secretorum maximum secretum, 
 &c. It begins as follows : Iste liber no- 
 minatur Compositor alias Rosarius eo 
 
ROSE 
 
 quod ex libris philosophorum breviter 
 abbreviatus est. — Carp. 
 
 In the course of time the name was 
 specially appropriated to a string of Pater- 
 nosters and Ave Marias to be recited in 
 a certain order in honour of the fifteen 
 mysteries of our Lord in which the Virgin 
 was a partaker, and from the collection of 
 prayers the name was transferred to the 
 string of beads used for the purpose of 
 keeping count in the recitation. 
 
 The Rosary, otherwise called Virgin's Psalter, 
 is a new manner of praying — which is made up 
 of 150 Ave Maries and 15 Paters tacked together 
 with little buttons on a string. — Breviat in R. 
 
 Rose. Lat. rosa^ Gr. po^oj/. 
 
 Rosemary. Lat. rosmarinus, Fr. ros- 
 marln, Sp. romero . 
 
 Roster. In military language the list 
 of persons liable to a certain duty ; Bav. 
 der roster. Wacht-roster, the list of those 
 who are to take the watch. Probably 
 from register, the common word for a 
 list in G. — Schm. 
 
 Rostrum. Lat. rostrum, the bill of a 
 bird, stem or beak of a ship ; the rostra 
 in the Forum at Rome was a pulpit or 
 speaking-stage adorned with the beaks 
 of captured ships. 
 
 To Rot. ON. rotna, to decay, to fall 
 off. //^V//fr<?/«(i:r, the hair falls off. At 
 1-0 1 a skinn, to strip the hair from skin. 
 Du. rot, rotten, rottenness. 
 
 Rota. An arrangement of the mem- 
 bers of a court to perform certain duties 
 in turn. From Lat. rota, a wheel. The 
 Rota at Rome is a high court of appeal 
 which proceeds on this principle. 
 
 Rotate. Lat. rotarej 7-ota, a wheel. 
 
 ♦ Rote. — Routine. 
 
 I know and can by route the tale that I would 
 
 tell. — Surry in R. 
 
 Now it lies on you to speak to th' people 
 
 Not by your own instruction, nor by th' matter 
 
 Which your heart prompts you, but with such 
 
 words 
 That are but routed in your tongue. — Coriolanus. 
 
 Fr. route, a track or road, was formerly 
 written rote, whence rotine, routme, an 
 usual course, ordinary way ; par rotine, 
 by rote. — Cot. Faire une chose par 
 routine, only by habit without reflexion. 
 Routiner, router, to make one learn by 
 routine; routiner quelqu'un h. coudre. 
 
 II est routine k ce travail, is thoroughly 
 accustomed to it.— Gattel. See Route. 
 
 Rote.— Rut of the sea. 
 I hear the sea very strong and loud at the 
 North, which is not unusual after violent atmo- 
 
 ROUSE 
 
 545 
 
 spheric agitations, when the wind has lulled. 
 They call it the rote or rut of the sea. — D. Web- 
 ster in Worcester. 
 
 ON. sioar-rot, roar of the sea. AS. 
 hrutan, Sc. rout, to roar, to bellow. 
 
 Ane routund burn amydwart thereof rynnis 
 Rumland and soundand on the craggy quhynnis. 
 
 D. V. 
 
 Rouge. Fr. rouge, It. roggio, robbio, 
 Sp. rubio, Prov. rog, from Lat. rubeus or 
 robins. — Sch. 
 
 Rough. G. ratich, Du. ruycli, ruygh. — 
 Kil. AS. hruit, ruh, rug, ruw, Da. ru, 
 rough, hairy. AS. hreoh. Da. raa, Sw. 
 rd, stormy, fierce, cruel, seems a different 
 word, though the two are sometimes conr 
 founded. Da. ru hugger, raa hugger, 
 rough-hewer. G. das rauche heraus keh- 
 ren, to turn the rough side outwards, fig. 
 to show severity ; rauh, hoarse, rough, 
 disagreeable to the feelings. Ei^ie rauhe 
 luft, a sharp raw air. Eiti rauher mann^ 
 a rough, severe, inhuman, austere man. 
 Rauh is also used for hairy. 
 
 Round. Lat. rotundus, It. rotondo, 
 Sp. redondo, Prov. redon, OFr. reont, 
 roont, Mod.Fr. rond, round. From ro~ 
 tare, to turn round. See Roll. 
 
 To Round or Rowne. To round one 
 in the ear is to whisper. G. raunen, Du. 
 roenen, ruenen, to whisper, to whisper in 
 the ear. — Kil. Rouchi roun ! roun ! re- 
 presents the noise made by a cat purring. 
 Sp. runrun, rumour, report. Lap. rudn, 
 fame, rumour, speech. 
 
 Roundel. — Roundelay. Fr. rondeau y 
 rondelet de rime, a rime or sonnet that 
 ends as it begins. — Cot. Of rondelet we 
 have made roundelay, as if compounded 
 with lay, a song. 
 
 Rouse. The radical sense of the word 
 is shown in Pl.D. ruse, rusie, noise, 
 racket, disturbance; G. rauschen, to rustle, 
 roar, to bustle, rush, do things with noise 
 and bustle. Der bach r^//j-<:/!// die wellen 
 rauschen; der wind rauscht'm den biischen. 
 Gr. pQiX,oq, any rushing sound, the whizzing 
 of an arrow, flapping of wings, &c. The 
 original sense is preserved in a rousing 
 fire, a roaring or crackling fire ; a rousing 
 he, a cracker, a thundering lie. Fris. 
 I'uwzjen, to roar as the sea. — Epkema. 
 In the same way G. rausch is a flare up, a 
 sudden blaze. Einen rausch or raiisch- 
 chen in den ofen machen, to make a quick, 
 clear, burning fire in the stove.— Kuttn. 
 The same word is metaphorically applied 
 to excitation from drink. Sich ei7ien 
 rausch trinken, to have a flare up, a 
 drinking bout, to be made tipsy, lut 
 35 
 
546 
 
 ROUT 
 
 erstcn rausch, in the first heat. — Stalder. 
 Pl.D. musk, ON. riiss, Du. roes, tipsiness. 
 When transferred to the cognate sense of 
 a full glass or bumper, E. rouse was not 
 unnaturally supposed to be contracted 
 from carouse (G. garaus), with which it 
 has a merely accidental resemblance. 
 I have took since supper 
 
 A rouse or two too much, and by G — 
 
 It warms my blood. — B. & F. 
 
 Rouse, noise, intemperate mirth. — Hal. 
 From the noise accompanying impetuous 
 action, G. rauschen, Sw. rusa, to rush, to 
 move impetuously. Rusa opp, to rouse 
 up, rise briskly up. Han rusade opp ur 
 sJmnen, he roused up, started up out of 
 sleep. 
 ./Eneas rousing as the foe came on, 
 With force collected heaves a mighty stone. 
 
 Pope's Homer. 
 
 More commonly however it is used as an 
 active verb in the sense of exciting others 
 to vigorous action. 
 
 Rout. To rout is to snore, to bellow 
 as oxen; N. rjota, on. hriota, ryta, to 
 mutter, grumble, grunt, snore. To rout 
 about is then to move about uneasily, to 
 make a disturbance. Prov. rota, tumult, 
 confusion, rout. Mais dura la rota que 
 fan en I'albergada ; longer lasts the rout 
 or disturbance which they make in the 
 lodging. Cuia eissir de la rota, he thinks 
 to get out of the tumult. 
 
 From the noise made by a crowd of 
 people, OFr. route, G. rotte, E. rout, come 
 to signify a gang, crowd, troop of people. 
 * The rabble rout: 
 
 But nightingales a full great rout 
 That flien over his head about. — R. R. 
 
 To rout together is to meet together in a 
 rout, to consort. 
 
 On the same principle we have Lat. 
 turba, tumult, confusion, uproar, then a 
 crowd of persons, animals, things, a com- 
 pany of soldiers. Diez' explanation of 
 rout in the sense of assemblage, from 
 Lat. rupta, as a fraction or division, is 
 quite unsatisfactory. It is however to 
 this latter origin that we must refer It. 
 rotta, a breach, rout, or overthrow of an 
 army — FL, Fr. route, a rout, discomfiture, 
 the breaking of a troop or squadron of 
 men. — Cot. On the other hand, Fr. de- 
 route, of precisely the same signification, 
 would seem to be from route, a troop. 
 * I parte a rowte or company of men 
 asonder. — Je desrouteJ — Palsgr. 
 
 Route. — * Rut. Fr. route (formerly 
 rote), a rutt, way, path, street, course, 
 passage ; trace, tract or footing; routes, 
 the footing of ravenous beasts, as the 
 
 ROW 
 
 wolf, boar, fox, &c.— Cot. Bret, rouden, 
 a trace, line, vestige, mark ; Gael, raihad 
 {rd'ad),?i road, way ; Manx raad, a track, 
 road, path ; raad cart, a cart way. Wall. 
 rote, arote, trace, footsteps. — Grandg. 
 A rut is the trace of the wheel. Banff 
 rot, a line drawn on the soil as a guide in 
 planting, &c,, a row, a rut. 
 N. rad, rod, ro, a line, row. 
 To Rove. — Rover. Rover was form- 
 erly used in the special sense of a pirate 
 or sea robber. Rovare, or thef of the 
 se, pirata. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 And over that the best men of the cytie by thyse 
 ryotous persones were spoyled and robbid ; and 
 by the rovers also of the sea. — Fabyan in R. 
 
 There is no doubt that in this use of 
 the word it is a simple adoption of Du. 
 roover, a robber, from rooven, to rob ; 
 Dan. roverskip, a pirate ship. But as 
 pirates are eminently a roving race, the 
 verb to rove acquired from the coincidence 
 the special sense of ranging the seas in 
 search of plunder. 
 
 Four score of them departed with a barke and 
 a pennesse — and so went to the islands of His- 
 paniola and Jamaica a roving. — Hackluyt in R. 
 Row. I. OE. rew, as. rcBwa, rawa, 
 Pl.D. rege, rige, Du. rijge, rije, G. reihe, 
 a line, rank, row, streak; Pl.D. rige. It. 
 rtcga, Fr. rue, a row of houses or street. 
 It. riga, a line, streak, ruler ; Fr. raie, a 
 ray, line, stroke, row ; raier, to rew, 
 streak or skore all over. — Cot. On the 
 other hand the word seems related to ON. 
 rod, N. rad, rod, ro, Sw. rad, Pol. rz(^d, a 
 line, row, rank. Lat. radius, a rod, spoke 
 of a wheel, beam, ray. Chaucer uses 
 row of the rays of light. 
 
 The rowis red of Phebus' light. 
 See Ray. 
 
 2. Row is familiarly used in the sense 
 of noise, disturbance, tumult. The imita- 
 tive character of the word is shown by 
 the term rowdydow, formed like rubadub 
 to represent a continued noise. Swiss 
 rauen, rauwen, to make a dull, hollow, 
 muttering sound ; rausen, to run noisily 
 about, to revel ; rausi mache7t, to make a 
 row, make merry in a loud and unre- 
 strained manner ; rusen, ruussen, to roar, 
 buzz, snore ; russeti (rumoren), to make a 
 row. Pl.D. ruse, noise, tumult, quarrel. 
 Swiss riiden, to bellow, to make a noise ; 
 umeriloden, to rove noisily about, ne. 
 to row, to stir about. 
 
 To Row. I. Du. 7'oede, roeye, a rod, a 
 pole. Roede is also an oar, the pole with 
 a flat blade by which a boat is propelled 
 in rowing. Hence roeden or roeyen het 
 schip, to row, Roeden or roeyen den 
 
ROWDY 
 
 WLJn, to gauge a cask with a measuring 
 rod. G. ruder, Du. roer, an oar. 
 
 2. To row, to dress cloth. Du. roiid, 
 roKW, rough, raw, unfinished ; roiiden, 
 7'otcwen het laecken, to card or dress 
 cloth, to dress rough cloth and raise the 
 nap upon it. Rowed or unrowed cloth 
 was what was sold as such after or before 
 the nap had been raised respectively. 
 
 Sw. rugg, rough entangled hair; rugga, 
 to raise the nap on cloth. 
 
 Rowdy. A noisy turbulent fellovv, 
 from rowdydow, an expression framed to 
 represent continued noise. 
 
 Deuced handsome fellow that : a little too 
 row-de-dow for my taste. — Aspen Court, i, p. 6. 
 
 Rowel. Fr. rouelle, dim. of roue, a 
 wheel, any small hoop, circle, ring or 
 round thing that is moveable in the place 
 which it holds. — Cot. Venet. roda, a 
 wheel ; rodela, the rowel of a spur. 
 
 To Rowne. To whisper. See To 
 Round. 
 
 Royal. Fr. royal, OFr. reial, real, 
 Lat. regalis; from rex, a king. 
 
 Roynous. — Roynish.. Fr. rogneux, 
 roigneux, scabby, mangy, scurvy ; rogue, 
 roignc, Sp. rofia, Bret, roun, It. rogna, 
 the mange ; Wall, rogn, ragn, itch, 
 mange, also moss on a tree. Fin. rohnd, 
 scurf, rubbish. 
 
 To Rub. ON. rubba, to move a thing 
 from its place, to rub ; Sw. rubba, to put 
 out of place, to disorder ; Dan. rubbe, to 
 rub, scrub, rough-hew. Lap. ruobbet, to 
 rub, to scratch ; aiweb ruobbet, to scratch 
 the head. w. rhwbio, Gael, rub, to rub. 
 G. reiben, to grind or rub, seems the 
 equivalent of Dan. rive, to grind, grate, 
 tear, and not of rub. 
 
 PVom the meaning of the Scandinavian 
 forms it would seem that the radical 
 signification is to jog, to give an abrupt 
 impulse, whence may be explained Pl.D. 
 rubberig, Du. robbelig, rough, uneven, 
 pimply. From the sense of jogging, that 
 of moving abruptly to and fro, and of 
 rubbing, would readily follow. 
 
 Sc. rug, to tug, and thence to rob, is a 
 parallel form, and corresponding to rug 
 and rub may be noted Du. ruckeu, rup- 
 pen (Biglotton), to pluck, to rip, snatch 
 away ; G. riicken, to push, pull, remove, 
 proceed ; dem tische einen riick geben, 
 to give the table a shove ; rupfen, to 
 pluck, to rob. 
 
 Rubbish. — Rubble. Rubbish or rub- 
 ble, moilon, decombres. — Sherwood. Ro- 
 bows or coldyr, petrosa, petro (Petrone 
 sunt particulas qu£e abscinduntur de pe- 
 tris. — Cath.}— Pr. Pm. Way cites a pay- 
 
 RUCK 
 
 547 
 
 ment from the Wardrobe account of a.d. 
 1480, 'for cariage away of a grete loode 
 of robeux, that was left in the strete after 
 the reparacyone made upon a hous ap- 
 perteigning unto the same Wardrobe.' 
 Robrisshe of stones, platras. — Palsgr. 
 These words have a similar origin, and 
 are not to be explained as rubbage, or 
 what comes away in the process of rub- 
 bing. The radical image (as in rammel, 
 rubbish, compared with Sw. ramla, to 
 rattle, crash, fall down) is the rattling 
 down of fragments from a ruinous struc- 
 ture, and the origin of rubbish may be 
 found in Fr. rabascher, to rumble, rattle 
 — Cot., while rubble (mortar and broken 
 stones of old buildings — Baret) may be 
 explained from Du. rabbelen, G. rappeln, 
 to rattle ; Fr. rabalter, to rumble, rattle. 
 Pl.D. rabakken, to rattle ; eeji old rabak, 
 a rattle-trap, old ruinous piece of goods. 
 
 Rubicund. — Rubric. — Ruby, Lat. 
 ruber, rubicundus, red; rubrica, a red 
 pigment. 
 
 Ruck. A disorderly mass, a crease or 
 fold in linen. 'Your gown sits all o' 
 rucks.^ To ruckle, to rumple or work up 
 into wrinkles. ' The bandage ruckles up, 
 so it must all come off.' — Mrs Baker. 
 
 ON. hrucka, to wrinkle,- N. rukka, a 
 crease, a wrinkle. The course of deriva- 
 tion seems to be the same as we have 
 had occasion to observe in so many other 
 instances, from a tremulous or broken 
 sound, to a tremulous or abrupt move- 
 ment, then to a wavy or broken, uneven 
 surface 
 
 Representing broken sound may be 
 cited Sw. rockla, N. rukla, G. rocheln, to 
 rattle in the throat ; Du. ruchelen, to 
 bray like an ass, cough, grunt, mutter ; 
 E. dial, ruggle, a child's rattle ; to rucket, 
 to rattle. Then, in the sense of abrupt 
 or broken movement ; N. rugla, to wag- 
 gle, shake, rock ; E. dial, roggle, to 
 shake ; ruggle, to stir about ; ruckle, a 
 struggle ; Pl.D. ruckeln, rucken, to jog — 
 Danneil; N. rugga, to rock, shake, vacil- 
 late ; Sc. rug, to tug. Roggyn or mevyn, 
 agito. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Finally from the idea of a jogging or a 
 jolting movement to that of a rough un- 
 even surface is an easy step. The com- 
 plete transition from sound to shape is 
 exemplified in N . hurkla, to rattle in the 
 throat ; glamra, skrangla, to rumble, 
 rattle ; hurklet, glamren, skranglen, rug- 
 ged, uneven. In like manner we pass 
 from Dan. skrukke, to cluck as a hen, to 
 N. skrukka, a wrinkle, an unevenness ; 
 skrukkjen, hard, uneven, wrinkled. 
 35 * 
 
548 RUCK 
 
 The same connection between the 
 image of a confused noise and a rumpled 
 structure is seen in Dan. tiitnme/, uproar, 
 racket, and E. tumbling of a garment. 
 To Ruck. To squat or cower down. 
 After a most comely sort she rucketh down upon 
 the grounde, not muche unlike the sitting of our 
 gentlewomen oft-times here in England. — Fardle 
 of Fashion, a.d. 1555. 
 
 But now they rucken in their nests 
 And resten. — Gower in Mrs Baker. 
 A brooding hen is provincially called a 
 rucking hen, probably from her importu- 
 nate clucking at that time. Gael, rdc^ to 
 croak. Dan. s/crukke, to cluck ; skruk- 
 hone, a brooding hen. To ruck then is 
 properly, as It. chioccare, chiocciare, to 
 cluck as a brooding hen, also, to cower or 
 squat down as a hen over her chickens. — 
 Fl. Dan. ruge, to brood, to hatch. 
 
 The same transposition of the r that is 
 found in N. rukla, hurkla, to rattle in the 
 throat, connects E. ruck with Pl.D. hur- 
 ken, daal hurken, to squat down ; hurke- 
 pott^ a pot of embers over which women 
 crouch to keep themselves warm. E. dial. 
 to hurkle^ to shrug up the back ; to hurch, 
 to cuddle.— Hal. 
 
 Rudder, i. G. ruder, an oar ; steuer- 
 ruder, the steer-oar or rudder, vessels 
 having originally been steered by an oar 
 working at the stern. See To Row. 
 
 2. A sieve for separating corn from 
 chaff. — B. G. reiter, rader, Du. rede, 
 reder, a sieve.— Kil. See Riddle. 
 
 Ruddy. Of a red colour. Pl.D. rood, 
 w. rhudd, AS. read, red ; AS. rudu, red- 
 ness ; OE. rode, complexion, the red colour 
 of the face, and thence ruddy, full colour- 
 ed. Gr. pbtov, the rose, is doubtless the 
 same word ; Lat. rutilus, red. 
 
 Rude. Lat. rudis unwrought, un- 
 taught. 
 
 Rudiment. Lat. rudimentuni, the 
 first teaching, a principle or beginning. 
 
 To Rue.— Ruth. AS. hreowan, reo- 
 wan, to rue, be sorry for, grieve, lament. 
 G. reue, OHG. hrinwa, mourning, lamenta- 
 tion ; ON. hryggr, sorrowful ; hrygd, E. 
 ruth, pitifulness, sorrow. 
 
 Ruff. — Ruffle. Another instance of 
 the kind mentioned under Ruck, where 
 from a root representing in the first in- 
 stance a tremulous or vibratory sound are 
 developed forms signifying motion of like 
 character, then a waving, uneven, irregu- 
 lar surface. 
 
 In the original sense, E. ruffle, a vibrat- 
 ing sound made upon a drum less loud 
 than the roll. — Stocqueler in Worcester. 
 When James Robertson offered to speak upon 
 
 RUGGED 
 
 the scaffold he was interrupted by the ruffle of 
 the drum. — Wodrow. j 
 
 Sc. ruff, the roll of the drum, beating 1 
 with the feet in token of applause. — Jam. 
 Ptg. rufa, rujia, a roll on the drum. Fr. 
 rouJJer, Lang, roujlar, Grisons grunflar, 
 grufflar, to snore ; E. gruffle, to growl. 
 
 That ruffen was used in the sense of 
 shivering or trembling" is shown by the 
 glossaries cited in Dicf. Supp. Frigutirc, 
 zittern vor frost, von kalte ruffen: van 
 kelden roeffen : schaderende of bevende 
 kald lijden. To ruffle is then to throw a 
 surface into elevations, to disturb, disor- 
 der, whether in a physical or figurative 
 sense. A breeze ruffles or curls the sur- 
 face of the water ; anger ruffles or dis- 
 turbs the mind. To riffle silk is to tum- 
 ble or rumple it. A ruff is a plaited 
 collar ; ruffles, plaited borders for the 
 wrist or in other parts of dress. Du. 
 ruyffelen, to rumple, wrinkle. Ptg. arru- 
 farse, to snarl as a dog, to set up his fea- 
 thers as a turkey-cock, to curl as the sur- 
 face of water, to become angry. Cat. 
 arrufar, to wrinkle, crumple ; arrufarse, 
 to bristle, to set up the hairs or feathers ; 
 arrufar las nas, to turn up the nose, to 
 show displeasure. Castrais nifa, to 
 wrinkle, crumple, crease ; Lang, rufo, a 
 wrinkle, crease, rumple ; rufe^ rough, 
 rugged. 
 
 Ruffian. — Ruffler. To riffle is to do 
 anything with noise and disturbance, to 
 bustle, to swagger. 
 
 The night comes on, and the high winds 
 Do sorely ruffle. — Shakesp. 
 The rising winds a ruffling gale afford. — Dryden. 
 Fr. ronfler, Bret, rufla, to snort, snore, 
 snift. Hence ruffler, a bully. So Ptg. 
 roncar, to rumble, roar, snore, also to 
 hector ; roncador, a snorer, a fierce bully, 
 a noisy fellow. Rufista, a quarreler. 
 From the same origin is It. ruffiano, Sp. 
 rufian, E. rifflan, properly a swaggerer, 
 swasher, a bully, then the companion of 
 a prostitute, and in It. a pimp or pander. 
 Sp. arrufianado, quarrelsome, swaggering, 
 insolent. 
 
 Rufous. Lat. rufus, reddish. 
 Rugged.— Rug. A rugged surface is 
 one broken up into sharp projections, the 
 idea of abrupt irregularities of surface 
 being expressed by the figure of sharp 
 abrupt movements, as in the case of 
 shagged, shaggy, from shog, or jagged, 
 ixox^jog. Roggyn or mevyn, agito. — Pr. 
 Pm. Roggle, to shake.— Brockett. Sc. 
 rug, to tug, to snatch. N. rugga, to rock, 
 shog, jog. Sw. rugga sig, se h^risser, to 
 stand on end ; ruggig, raggig, rugged, 
 
RUIN 
 
 roupjh, shaggy ; rugg, shaggy hair ; 7'ngga 
 kldde, to raise the nap on cloth. Water- 
 rugs mentioned in Macbeth are shaggy 
 water-dogs. A rug is a shaggy garment. 
 See Ruck, Rag. 
 
 Ruin. Lat. ruina; ruo, to fall head- 
 long. 
 
 Rule. Lat. regula, Prov. regla, Fr. 
 r^gle, OE. rewele, reule. 
 
 Rum. Rome or ruin, in the cant of 
 rogues and thieves, signified great, good. 
 Romevyle (rumville), London ; 7'omemor't 
 {mort, woman), the Queen (Elizabeth) ; 
 rome bouse {bouse, drink), wine. — Har- 
 man, a.d. 1566. 7?ww, like the opposite 
 term queer, properly signifying bad, is 
 used in the secondary sense of odd, 
 curious, out of the way, in a contemptible 
 sense. ' A rummy old fellow,' or ' a queer 
 old fellow.'— Modern Slang. 
 
 From rum-booze, good drink, strong 
 drink, wine, brandy, the name of ru?n has 
 been appropriated to the spirits distilled 
 from the produce of the sugar-cane. 
 Rumbooze, wine or other good liquor. — 
 Grose. 
 
 Rumb. The angle which a ship makes 
 in her sailing with the meridian of the 
 place where she is ; one point of the 
 mariner's compass, or eleven degrees and 
 a quarter. — B. It. rombo, Ptg. rumbo, 
 rumo. The points of the compass were 
 in old charts marked by large lozenges or 
 rhombs, whence the name of rJucmb is 
 said to be given to the points of the com- 
 pass. Fr. rumb, a roombe, or point of 
 the compass, a line drawn directly from 
 wind to wind in a compass, traversboard, 
 or sea-card. — Cot. But it is not unlikely 
 that the word may have been introduced 
 with the compass itself, which is sup- 
 posed to have come through the Arabians. 
 Now Arab, rub'^ is quarter; rub"-u-takhta 
 {takhta, board), a wooden quadrant for 
 taking altitudes, a graduated board. 
 
 To Rumble. Du. rommelen, to rum- 
 ble, buzz ; rommeling, lumber, old fur- 
 niture ; rammelen, to clink, rattle, tattle ; 
 rammeliiig, clash. G. rummeln, to rum- 
 ble ; rummel, geriiinpel, rumtneley, lum- 
 ber ; rtimpeln, to rumble, rattle, clatter. 
 E. dial. rom?nle, to speak low or secretly ; 
 rojnmock, to romp boisterously; ram- 
 making, behaving riotously and wantonly; 
 rumbullion, a great tumult ; rumbustical, 
 boisterous ; rummage, lumber, rubbish ; 
 rumpus, a noise, uproar ; It. rombare, 
 rombazzare, rombeggiare, to make a rum- 
 bling or clattering noise ; rombolare, to 
 rumble, roar, clash, clatter. 
 
 RUMP 
 
 549 
 
 Rumbustical. Boisterous, — Hal. Fr. 
 rabaster, to make a clatter or disturbance. 
 — Cot. Lang, rabastaire, rambaliaii'e 
 (tracassier), a busybody ; Castrais rabas- 
 traire, rabastejha, to trouble, importune. 
 
 Ruminate. Lat. rumen, the paunch, 
 belly, the cud of beasts ; rumino, to chew 
 the cud. 
 
 Rummage. Two words seem con- 
 founded. I. Rummage, the proper stow- 
 ing of merchandise in a ship ; rummager, 
 the person appointed to look to that duty ; 
 from Du. ruiin, Fr. ruin, the hold of a 
 ship. 
 
 The master mvist provide a perfect mariner call- 
 ed a roviager, to raunge and bestow all merchan- 
 dise in such place as is convenient. — Hackluyt 
 in R. 
 
 And that the masters of the ships do look well 
 to the romaging, for they might bring away a 
 great deale more than they do if they would take 
 paine in the romaghig. — Ibid. 
 
 Hence to rummage, to search thoroughly 
 among the things stowed in a given re- 
 ceptacle. 
 
 2. But in addition to the foregoing the 
 word is sometimes used in the sense of 
 racket, disturbance. 
 
 And this, I take it, 
 Is the main motive of our preparations, 
 The source of this our watch, and the chief head 
 Of this post haste and romage in the land, 
 
 Hamlet. 
 In this sense it may be a parallel form 
 with rumpus ; It. rombazzo, rombeggio^ 
 a rumbling noise ; rammoscio, disturbance 
 (shown in rammoscitiare, to rumple, ruffle 
 — Torriano), or with Sc. rimimes, rum- 
 myss, to bellow, roar ; rammis, to rage 
 about, and perhaps with Fr. rainage, the 
 song of birds, chatter of children. Under 
 the same head must be classed E. dial. 
 rummage, lumber, rubbish, probably from 
 the rattling, shaky condition of old things. 
 G. rummel, rumble, lumber, old things ; 
 rumpeln, to rumble, rattle ; rumpelkasten, 
 a chest for lumber, figuratively, an old 
 coach, exactly corresponding to E, rattle- 
 trap ; geriimpel, lumber. Pl.U. rabakken, 
 to rattle ; een old rabak, an old piece of 
 furniture- 
 Rummer. Sw. remmer, Du. roomer, 
 G. rofner, a large drinking glass. 
 
 Rumour. Lat. rinnor, a rumbling 
 sound, a report. 
 
 Rump. G. rumpf, Du. rompe, trunk, 
 body separate from the extremities. Sw. 
 rumpa, the tail, rump. We are led from 
 analogous forms to suppose that the pri- 
 mitive meaning is projection, then stump, 
 tail, tail-part or rump. Thus we have G. 
 sturz^ shock, plunge, something project- 
 
550 
 
 RUMPLE 
 
 ing, stump, dock of a horse's tail ; stiirz 
 am pflug^ plough-tail. Bav. starz^ cab- 
 bage stalk, tail of a beast. Again from 
 stutzen, to start, push, knock against ; 
 stutZy shock, push, anything short ; stutz- 
 schiuanz, bobtail. 
 
 The sense of projection would naturally 
 spring from Pl.D. rumpeln, rmnpumpeln, 
 to jolt, jog. 
 
 Rumple, G. rtwtmeln, rumpeln, to 
 rumble, rattle. Pl.D. rummeln^ rumpeln^ 
 both in the first instance identical with 
 E. rumble^ are generally appropriated, the 
 one to the original sense, the other to the 
 derived one of jogging, jolting. De wage 
 rutnpelt up dem steen wege : the carriage 
 rattles or jolts along the road. Rum- 
 piwtpeln, to jolt greatly. 
 
 Then, as in so many other cases, we 
 pass from the notion of broken sound or 
 shaking motion to that of disturbance, 
 confusion, a disordered, tumbled struc- 
 ture. Bav. riiminel^ a disturbance, uproar: 
 der Bayrische ruinmel, the war of suc- 
 cession in 1778. To rttmpie clothes is 
 to disorder by rough usage. Du. rompelett, 
 rimpelen, rompen, to wrinkle. — Kil. Rotn- 
 pdig^ rough, uneven. 
 
 In like manner rammel, rattle, clatter ; 
 G, ra7nmeln, to rout about, make a dis- 
 turbance, move noisily to and fro. Das 
 kind rammelt sich im bett herum, das 
 bett zu schande verrammelt^ the child 
 tumbles about in bed, tumbles the bed 
 shamefully. 
 
 Rumpus. A disturbance. Rumhis- 
 tioiis^ ru7Jtbustical, boisterous, noisy. Sc. 
 rummy ss, to bellow, roar ; It. rombazzo^ 
 a clatter ; Swiss rumpusen, to pull one 
 another alDout, to contend in sport. ON. 
 rtitnr, ryjnr, clash, noise. 
 
 Run. AS. rinnan, and transposed, 
 yrnan, Du. rennen, to run. on. renna 
 {rann, r?mnit), Dan. rinde, to flow, to 
 melt, to run, to fly ; ON. renna, rensl, 
 Dan. rende, a canal, a nmnel. ON. renna 
 (rendi, rent), to pour-out, liquefy, to cause 
 to run ; renna kopar, to smelt copper. 
 Line, to rind or render, to melt as lard, 
 &c.— Hal. 
 
 Runagate. A refugee or runaway, 
 from OE. gate, way. 
 
 Whom they coulde not ovej-come by battell, 
 they overcame with fear of beating, and made 
 them run away, not hke enemies overcome by 
 battell, but like runnagate slaves. — Golding, Jus- 
 tine in R. 
 
 The word is then confounded with Fr. 
 rendgat. It. rinnegato, one who renounces 
 his religion, from rinnegare, to renounce, 
 
 RUSH 
 
 deny. In Sp. renegador is commonly 
 used in the original sense of an apostate, 
 while renegado is taken in the secondary 
 sense of a reprobate, a wicked abandoned 
 person. 
 
 He letteth the runagates continue in scarcity. 
 
 Rundlet.— Runlet. A small cask, a 
 further dim. of OFr. rondelle, s. s, — 
 Roquef. 
 
 Rung. A staff, a step of a ladder. 
 Goth, rugga, a staff, rod. Gael, rong, 
 rojigas, a staff, bludgeon, rib of a boat, 
 any piece of wood by which others are 
 joined. ON. raung, rong, rib of a boat. 
 
 Runnet. — Rennet. The maw of a 
 calf, used to make milk rim or curdle for 
 cheese. 
 
 As nourishing milk when runnet is put in 
 Rnmies all in heapes of tough thicke curd, though 
 
 in his nature thinne. — Chapman, Homer in R. 
 G. rennen, to run ; rennse, rennet ; Du. 
 rennen, rinnen, rimnen, to run, to coagu- 
 late ; runsel, rensel, rennet. — Kil. 
 
 Runt. Sc. runt, trunk of a tree ; kail 
 ricnt, a cabbage-stalk. E. dial, runt, 
 stump of underwood, dead stump of a 
 tree, the rump. From the sense of a 
 stump or dead stock the term is figura- 
 tively applied to a withered hag, an old 
 woman, or to poor lean cattle. The 
 primitive sense is probably a projection, 
 as in the case of rump. Sw. runka, to 
 jog, shake, vacillate. 
 
 The occurrence of parallel forms" with 
 an initial r and str or scr is very common, 
 as rub and sci'ub ; G. rumpfzxv^ stnimpf, 
 trunk, stock. In like manner, corre- 
 sponding to rimt, we have E. dial, strunt, 
 a bird's tail ; strunty, docked, short. 
 
 -rupt. -ruption. — Rupture. Lat. 
 rtiptus, broken, burst, ruptio, a bursting, 
 breaking, from ruinpo, ruptum. As in 
 Co7'rupt, Disruption, &c. 
 
 RuraL — Rusticate. Lat. rzis, rwis, 
 the country, whence ruralis, and rusticari, 
 to dwell in the country. 
 
 Rush. AS. rise, Pl.D. rusk, aurusk, 
 risch. Probably from the whispering 
 sound when moved by the wind. as. 
 hriscian, to make a rustling noise, to 
 shake, vibrate, frizzle. — Bosw. Sw. ruska, 
 ruskla, to rustle, to shake. To shake as 
 a rush is a proverbial expression. He 
 bevet as een aurusk. — Brem. Wtb. See 
 Reed. 
 
 To Rush. G. rauschen, to rustle, purl 
 as a brook, whisper as the wind in the 
 bushes, roar as the waves, to make a noise 
 or bustle, to rush, to move swiftly with a 
 noise or bustle.^ — Kiittn. Du. rtiysschen, 
 bombilare, strepere, fremere, susurrare et 
 
RUSSET 
 
 impetum facere, irruere, grassari. — Kil. 
 N. rusk, noise, rattle, uproar, sudden 
 movement ; rough weather ; ruska, to 
 rattle, throw into disorder, do things with 
 bustle and haste. 
 
 Russet. Fr. roux, It. rosso ^ Lat. rus- 
 sus, red. 
 
 Rust, G. rosf, Du. roesf.' 
 
 To Rustle. AS. hristlan, Pl.D. russeln, 
 krusseln, rusckeln, G. rasseln. Pl.D. De 
 muus russelt im stro ; G. die maus rasselt 
 im stroh. Sw. rnskla, to move with a 
 slight noise, to rustle in moving. Directly 
 imitative. 
 
 Rut. I. The trace of a wheel. See 
 Route. 
 
 2. Fr. riiif, rut, the rut of deers or 
 boars, their lust, and the season when 
 they engender ; also a herd of female 
 deer followed by the male in that season. 
 
 SACK 551 
 
 — Cot. In Bret, the term 7-nd or rut is 
 applied also to domestic animals, as 
 dogs ; ruda, to be on heat. 
 
 From the violent behaviour of the ani- 
 mal under sexual excitation. See Ram- 
 ble, Rout. G. ranzen, to make disorderly 
 motions united with a loud noise, to rout 
 about, is applied to hogs and all four- 
 footed beasts of prey when they go to 
 rut or to couple. Rauschen, properly to 
 roar or rustle, is also applied to hogs and 
 especially sows on heat, Swiss riiden, 
 to make a noise, to bellow ; wnerUbden, 
 to riot about ; der riiedi, riiedibub (wild- 
 fang), an inconsiderate and petulant 
 young man. In a special sense riiden is 
 to rut, to be on heat ; riid, riidi, a Tom 
 cat. Sp. ruido, noise, uproar, tumult. 
 
 Rye. ON. rugr, Du. rogge, g. rocken, 
 roggen, Lith. ruggei, Russ. rozhj. 
 
 Sabbath. A Hebrew word signifying 
 rest. 
 
 Sable. It. zibeilino, G. zobel, Pol. so- 
 bol, ON. safali or savali. Jornandes calls 
 the iwx pelles saphirince. 
 
 Sabre, g. sabel, Ital. sciablo, Pol. 
 szabla, Magy. szablya, a sword, from 
 szabni, to cut. 
 
 Saccharine. Lat. saccharum, Gr. 
 <7a'(C)^ap, acLKya^ov, sugar. 
 
 Sacrament. — Sacerdotal. — Sacred. 
 ■ — Sacrifice. — Sacrist. Lat. sacer, sacred, 
 whence sacerdos, a priest ; sacrificmm, 
 the holy rite of offering a victim ; sacra- 
 mentutn, a solemn or sacred oath ; sa- 
 crista, a keeper of holy things, &c. 
 
 Sack. I. A word common to a wide 
 range of languages, Heb., Arab., Gr., 
 Lat., G., &c. 
 
 Sp. saquear, Fr. saccager, to sack a 
 town, is from the use of a sack in re- 
 moving plunder. Du. sackefi,. to sack, 
 put up in sacks, thence to rob, to plunder. 
 Sacken ende packen, convasare omnia, 
 furto omnia colligere. Sackman, a plun- 
 derer, robber. — Kil. In the same way we 
 speak of bagging game for bringing it to 
 bag. 
 
 ^ To give the sack is a very general ex- 
 pression for dismissing one from his em- 
 ployment, equivalent to packing him off, 
 sending him off bag and baggage. Fr. 
 On lui a donnd son sac ei ses quilles (said 
 of a servant whom his master hath put I 
 
 away), he hath his passport given him. — 
 Cot. Den sack sijtien knecht geven, to 
 dismiss his servant ignominiously. — Kil. 
 2. Sack (wine), vin d'Espagne, vin sec. 
 — Sherwood, 1650. Bishop Percy cites 
 from an old account-book of the city of 
 Worcester, 'Anno Eliz. 34. Item for a 
 gallon of claret wine, and seek, and a 
 pound of sugar.' The name was properly 
 given to the dry Spanish wine such as 
 that still imported under the name of 
 sherry. ^Sherry sack, so called from 
 Xeres, a sea town of Corduba in Spain, 
 where that kind of sack is made.' — 
 Blount, Glossographia in Nares. Shake- 
 speare uses sherris and sack as synon- 
 ymous. 
 
 This valour comes of sherris, so that skill in 
 the weapon is nothing without sack. — H. IV. 
 Minsheu (1625) explains sacke, a wine 
 that Cometh out of Spaine, Belgic^ Roo- 
 menije [Roomenije, vinum Hispaniense 
 — Kil.], wijn seek, quasi siccum, propter 
 magnam siccandi humores facultatem, 
 giving the right derivation of the word 
 though he did not understand the mean- 
 ing of the term dry applied to wine. 
 When the proper meaning of the name 
 was so early lost in England, it is not 
 surprising that it should have been ap- 
 plied to other strong white wines coming 
 from the same quarter, whether sweet or 
 dry, and we hear of Canary and Malaga 
 sacks. Venner (Via recta ad vitam longam 
 
552 
 
 SACRILEGE 
 
 1637 in N.), after discussing medicinally 
 the propriety of mixing sugar with sack, 
 adds : ' But what I have spoken of mix- 
 ing sugar with sack must be understood 
 of Sheric sack, for to mix sugar with 
 other wines, that in a common appella- 
 tion are called sack, and are sweeter in 
 taste, makes it unpleasant to the pallat 
 and fulsome to the stomach.' ' Canarie 
 wine, which beareth the name of the 
 islands from whence it is brought, is of 
 some termed a sacke with this adjunct, 
 sweet' 
 
 Kilian's sack-wijn, vinum percolatum, 
 vulgo saccatum, was a totally different 
 thing, being a wash of the lees of wine 
 and water strained through a bag. ' Sac- 
 catum, buffet, c'est beuvraige de lie de 
 vin et d'eau coulee parmy un sac' — Ca- 
 tholicum parvum in Due. 
 
 Sacrilege. Lat. sac7'ilegium, a steal- 
 ing of sacred things ; lego, ledum, to 
 pick, to gather. 
 
 Sad. The radical meaning is at rest, 
 steadfast, fixed, serious, sorrowful. 
 
 Though I be absent in bodi, bi spyryt I am 
 with ;ou joiynge and seynge 30ur ordre and the 
 sadnesse [in common version steadfastness] of 
 your bileve that is in Christ. — ^Wiclif, Coloss. c. 
 2, in R. 
 
 But we saddere [firmiores] men owen to sus- 
 teyne the feblenesses of sike men and not plese 
 to ussilf. — Id. Romans, c. 15. 
 
 w. sad, firm, wise, sober, discreet ; inerch 
 sad, a discreet woman. Pl.D. sade, rest, 
 stillness, quiet, from setten, to set, to fix. 
 Sik to sade geven, to be at rest ; saden, 
 sadigeft, Lat. sedare, to quiet, to bring to 
 rest. ON. settr, Dan. sat, sedate, steady, 
 staid. Swab, satt, fast, firm, close. Das 
 eisen liegt satt an. Satt binden, to bind 
 fast. 
 
 Saddle. Du. sadel, G. sattcl, Bohem. 
 sedlo. Lat. sella is a contracted form of 
 the same word, signifying a seat or con- 
 trivance for sitting on a horse. Bohem. 
 sedeti, to sit ; sedadlo, Lat. sedile, a seat. 
 Pol. siodlo, saddle ; siedlisko, seat . The 
 word is very likely to have been formed 
 among the equestrian Sarmatians. 
 
 Safe. —Save. — Salvation.— Salvage. 
 Lat. salvus, in good health, whole, sound, 
 well ; Fr. sauf, safe. Lat. salvo, Fr. 
 sauver, to save, and thence salvage, the 
 saving of goods from wreck or fire. 
 
 To Sag. To sink gradually down, to 
 be depressed ; properly to sink as the 
 surface of water leaking away or sucked 
 up through the cracks of the vessel in 
 which it is contained. Sc. seg, seyg, to 
 sink as liquids in a cask in consequence 
 
 SAINT 
 
 of absorption. The roof of a house is 
 seggit when it has sunk a little inwards. 
 —Jam. Gael, siig, suck, imbibe ; sugh, 
 drain, dry up, drink up. Swiss suggeii, 
 to suck ; siiggern, siickern, G. sickern, to 
 drain away, trickle, ooze. AS. sigan, 
 pret. sah, to suck in, to sink down, to 
 set. ' Swa swa sigende sond thonne ren 
 swylgth : ' as thirsty sand swallows the 
 rain. G. saugen, pret. sog, to suck, to 
 absorb moisture ; sogen, to drop, trickle 
 down, to sink, settle. Sw. suga, to suck, 
 to soak ; suga i sig, to absorb, imbibe ; 
 suga or siga sig igenovi, to soak through, 
 to drip ; signa, to sink, fall gradually. N. 
 siga, to ooze, as water through the earth, 
 to fall gradually by its own weight, be- 
 come gradually lower, sink. ON. at lata 
 siga undan, to give way. Byrdin sigr at^ 
 the load weighs heavy on the horse, sags 
 on him. Bav. ersaigen, to make the sur- 
 face of water sink, to dry up, exhaust, 
 waste ; seigen, to sink. 'Die prawt swaig 
 und saig nider in -amacht : ' the bride 
 was silent and sank down fainting. Du. 
 seyghen, sijghen, G. seigen, sethen, to 
 strain liquids, to cause them to sag or 
 sink down through a strainer. Seiger, 
 an hour-glass, marking time by the sink- 
 ing of sand. Bav. seig, G. seicht, shallow, 
 having sunk down or drained away. 
 Lith. nuseku, nusenku, I flow away, dry 
 up, sink ; stinkus, heavy. N. sakka, 
 Pl.D. sakken, to sink down. Dat water 
 is in't sakken, the water is falling. De 
 mudder, de barm is sakket, the sediment 
 is fallen or settled. Af sakken, he?i under 
 sakken (as Fr. sier en arri^re), to fall 
 with the stream. 
 
 Sagacious, -sage. Lat. sagax, quick 
 of apprehension, or of sight or scent or 
 taste ; sagio, to smell out, to perceive 
 quickly, to guess at or foresee. Prcesagio, 
 to presage or have scent of beforehand. 
 Probably a modification of sapio, to 
 savour, smell, taste or smack, to under- 
 stand and perceive well, to be wise. 
 
 Sage. I. Fr. sage, OFr. saive. It. 
 savio, saggio, from Lat. sapius, preserved 
 in 7tesapius, imprudent, silly. — Petronius. 
 Sapio, to taste, thence to discriminate, to 
 be wise.. See Sagacious. 
 
 2. Fr. saulge, Lat. salvia, the aromatic 
 plant. 
 
 Sail. G. segel, ON. segl, sail ; sigla, to 
 sail ; w. siglo, to shake, rock, move, or 
 stir. 
 
 Saint. — Sanctify. — Sanctimonious. 
 Lat. sanctus, devoted or dedicated, thence 
 holy, a saint ; sanctimonia, holiness. See 
 Sanction. 
 
SAKE 
 
 Sake. AS. sacu, contention, dispute, 
 suit at law. Wearth saai betweox Abra- 
 hames hyrdemannum and Lothes. — Gen. 
 xiii. 7. ForsecgaUf cstsacan, andsacan, 
 withers acan, to gainsay, deny, forsake. 
 Goth, sakan, to object, reprove, contend 
 with ; andsakan, to oppose ; gasakan, to 
 accuse ; sakjo, contest. Pl.D. sake, suit 
 at law, cause of a thing ; saken, to com- 
 plain, to bring an action ; versdkeii, to 
 deny. G. sache, a complaint, process, suit 
 at law, an affair, business, occurrence, 
 thing. 
 
 Salad. Fr. salade, It. insalaia, pro- 
 perly a dish seasoned with salt. 
 
 Salary. Lat. salariiim, a soldier's pay, 
 properly an allowance of salt. 
 
 Sale. See To Sell. 
 
 Salient. Lat. salio, to leap. 
 
 Sallow. I. AS. salig, salk, Gael, seil- 
 each, Lat. salix, w. helyg, Fin. salawa, a 
 willow. 
 
 2. AS. salowig, dark in colour. Bav. 
 sal, discoloured, dark, dirty. 'Der spiegel 
 glitz was worden sal :^ the polish of the 
 mirror was become dull. Goth, disauljan, 
 Fr. salir, to dirty. Gael, sal, dross, scum, 
 filth ; salaich, to sully ; w. halawg, de- 
 filed ; halogi, to defile. 
 
 Most words signifying to dirty have 
 their origin in the figure of dabbling in 
 the wet, as shown under Salve, Soil, Sully. 
 Under the latter head are indicated a 
 parallel series, Fr. souiller, Pl.D. solgen, 
 solen, Flem. solowen, seulewen, &c., to 
 dirty, which it is difficult clearly to dis- 
 tinguish from those in the present article. 
 
 Sally. Fr. saillie, a breaking out 
 upon, a leap, spring ; saillir, to leap, go 
 out, stand out beyond others. Bret, sola, 
 Lat. satire^ to leap. 
 
 Saloon. Fr. salon, a large hall ; salle, 
 It. sala, a hall; OHG. sal, ON. salr, AS. 
 salo, house, palace, hall. Goth, saljan, 
 to lodge, to dwell ; salithvos, lodgings. 
 
 Salt.— Saline . Lat. sal, Gael, salann, 
 salt ; sal, salt water, the sea ; Gr. dXc, 
 salt, the sea ; w. halen, salt ; hallt, salted. 
 The word is common also to the whole 
 Finnish family. Fin. suola, Wogul sal, 
 Magy. so. 
 
 Saltier. Fr. satiltoir, properly a stir- 
 rup, from sauter, to mount, but in 
 Heraldiy applied to signify St Andrew's 
 Cross. 
 
 Salubrious. — Salute. Lat. salvus, 
 whole, sound, in good health ; saluber, 
 'brls, healthbearing, wholesome ; sains, 
 -utis, health. Corresponding forms with 
 an initial h corresponding to the Lat. s 
 
 SAME 
 
 55"3 
 
 (as in W. hale7i, Lat. sal; \v. hen, Lat. 
 senex) are Gr. o\oq, whole, sound ; Goth. 
 hails, hale, whole ; G. heil, health ; e. 
 lt£al, holy, &c. Compare the Lat. salu- 
 tation Salve / with E. Hail / 
 
 Salve. Goth, salbon, G. salven, to 
 anoint ; Pl.D. salven, to smear, to mess. 
 Mit dem eten up'n teller herum salven, to 
 make a mess on one's plate in eating. Wo 
 best du di so to salvet ? how have you so 
 dirtied yourself, made such a mess of 
 yourself.? Sien \Xi^besalven,X.o daub or 
 dirty one's clothes. Bav. salben, a mish- 
 mash. YiQ.xiXiQ\)Qxgbesappeln (of children), 
 Coblenz besdbeln, Palat. besalben, to daub 
 oneself; Osnabr. besabbe^i, to beslobber. 
 
 The word is probably, like S7near and 
 others signifying grease, formed from the 
 image of dabbling in the wet, dirtying, 
 then daubing with grease as the most 
 permanent kind of dirtying. It would 
 thus be of a common origin with E. sal- 
 low, Fr. sale, and the parallel forms sully, 
 soil, &c. Traces of the original sense of 
 dabbling in the wet are to be found in 
 Bav. gesalb, gesalf, gesalfer, chatter, tat- 
 tle, a sense constantly expressed by terras 
 taken from the agitation of water ; sal- 
 fern, to spatter ; sulfern, to sip. Swiss 
 sulper'7i, to blot, to dabble. Bav. salber, 
 one who works slow, on the same princi- 
 ple on which we give the name of a dab- 
 bler to an inefficient workman. 
 
 Salver. Sp. salva, salvilla, a salver, 
 or piece of plate on which glasses, &c., 
 are served at table. As salva was the 
 tasting of meat at a great man's table, 
 salvar, to guarantee, to taste or make the 
 essay of meat served at table, the name 
 of salver is in all probability from the 
 article having originally been used in 
 connection with the essay. The Italian 
 name of the essay was C7'edenza, and the 
 same term was used for a cupboard or 
 sideboard ; crede7itiere, crede7izere, a 
 prince's taster, cup-bearer, butler, or cup- 
 board-keeper. — Fl, Fr. crede7ice d'a7gent, 
 silver plate, or a cupboard of silver plate. 
 —Cot. 
 
 Same. Goth. sa77ia, same ; Slav. i-<^;;z, 
 Russ. sa77iiii, self ; Pol. sa7n, alone, by 
 himself, mere, same, self. Sanscr. sama^ 
 like, equal, plane, all, whole. 
 
 Fin. sa77ia, same, in what is called the 
 adessitive case, becomes sa77ialla, which 
 is used elliptically in the sense of ' at the 
 same time,' agreeing in a remarkable 
 manner with Lat. si77iul, and offering a 
 far from singular instance in which an 
 explanation of Greek or Latin forms may 
 be found in the Finnish languages. Sa- 
 
554 
 
 SAMPHIRE 
 
 inalla vmodolla^ in the same mode or 
 manner. 
 
 Samphire. Fr. Herbe de Saint Pierre^ 
 
 a sea-side plant. 
 
 Sample. — Sampler. From Lat. ex- 
 emplufn^ OSp. enxemplo^ Ptg. enxemplar^ 
 exemplar^ a model. The same insertion 
 of an n is seen in Ptg. enxame, a swarm 
 of bees, from Lat. exainen. 
 
 Sanction. Lat. sancio, sajtcitiwt and 
 sanctum, to ordain, appoint, establish, 
 ratify, thence to consecrate, dedicate ; 
 sanctus, ordained, sacred, inviolable, holy ; 
 sanciiOy an ordinance, ratification. 
 
 Sane. — Sanity. — Sanatory. Lat. sa- 
 nus, whole, sound ; sajto, -as, to make 
 sound, to heal. Insamis, unsound of 
 mind, insane. See Sound. 
 
 Sand. ON. sandr, G. sand. 
 
 Sandal. Gr. cav^akov, Lat. safidaliiun. 
 
 Sanguine. — Sanguinary, -sang^n-. 
 Lat. sanguis, -inis, blood. Consanguin- 
 ity, community of blood. 
 
 Sap. P1.D. sapp, juice, wet. * He 
 paddjet in den drekk dat em de sapp um 
 de oren fiugt : ' he paddles in the dirt so 
 that he is splashed over head and ears. 
 G. saft, juice. 
 
 The word seems radically the same 
 ■with sop, from the noise of dabbling. 
 Pl.D. sappen, to sound as wet in motion, 
 to drip, leak, ooze. De schoe sappet, the 
 water sounds in one's shoe. Idt is so 
 vuul up'r straten dat it sappet : it is so 
 dirty in the streets that one hears it splash, 
 it is sopping wet. Een sappigen weg, a 
 soppy or muddy way. De appel sap)pet 
 dor den sakk : the apple-juice soaks 
 through the sack. Bav. saffei'en, to squash 
 or sound under the feet like wet ground, 
 or shoes full of water ; OHG. saf, G. soft, 
 juice. 
 
 To Sap. Fr. sapper, to undermine, to 
 dig into ; It. zappare, to dig ; zappa, a 
 mattock, spade, shovel ; Wal. sapd^ to 
 dig. 
 
 Essentially the same word as step, from 
 the stamping action of the foot in digging, 
 on the same principle on which Bohem. 
 kopati is to kick, and also to hack or hoe, 
 to dig. Venet. zapar, to tread, paw as a 
 horse, stamp ; It. zaptpegare-, to trample. 
 
 Sap-green. g. saft-fdrbe, among 
 painters, colours made of the juices of the 
 animal or vegetable kingdom as opposed 
 to minerals. Saft-griin, sap-green, made 
 of the juice of buckthorn-berries. 
 
 Sapient. Lat. sapio, to be wise. See 
 Sagacious. 
 
 Saponaceous. Lat. sapo, Gr. outtcuv, 
 soap. 
 
 SATRAP 
 
 Saracen. Gr. "EapaKrjpog. Commonly 
 explained from Arab, sluwk, rising, the 
 East ; sharki, Eastern. The difficulty 
 is that the Moslems would not have ap- 
 peared to themselves in the character of 
 Easterns, but only to the Western 
 enemies whom they were attacking. In 
 fact the name of Saracens seems to have 
 been unknown to the Arabs themselves, 
 and only to have been in use among the 
 Greeks, who never would have devised a 
 name with an Arabic explanation. 
 
 Sarcasm. — Sarcastic. Gr. <Tap^, -Kog, 
 flesh ; (Tapjfd^o), to tear flesh like dogs, 
 to sneer (in mod.Gr. to bite, to deride) ; 
 aapKaafxoQ, a bitter laugh, sneer. 
 
 To Sarce. — Searce, Fr. sasser, to 
 sift through a fine sieve ; sas (OFr. s<fas, 
 Lang, sedas), a ranging sieve or searce. 
 — Cot. It. setaccio, setazzo, a sieve or 
 strainer made of horse-hair ; Lat. seta, a 
 bristle, horse-hair. 
 
 Sarcenet. It saracinetto, q. d. Sara- 
 cen's silk. — B. Pannus Saracenici operis. 
 — Due. 
 
 SarcopliagTis. Gr. oapKo^dyog ; aap^, 
 flesh, and <payeh', to eat. 
 
 Sardonic. Gr. ^apdwviKog, "EapSoviog. 
 rkXioQ "EapSoviog, a bitter, feigned laughter ; 
 from a herb growing in Sardinia, which, 
 if eaten, caused great laughing, but ended 
 in death. 
 
 Sash. I, It. sessa, a Persian turban 
 [a piece of muslin wrapped round the 
 cap] — Fl. 
 
 2. Fr. chassis, the sliding frame of a 
 window ; chdsse, framework in which cer- 
 tain things are held, a shrine for relics. 
 La chdsse d'un rasoir, the handle of a 
 razor ; d'une rose, the calix. See To 
 Chase. 
 
 Sassafras. A medical wood. Fr. 
 sassafras, Sp. saxafrax, salsafrax, saxi- 
 frage, because the same virtue was attri- 
 buted to sassafras as to saxifrage, of break- 
 ing up the stone in the bladder. 
 
 Satchel. Du. sackel, G. sdckel, a purse. 
 Fr. sachet, a little sack. 
 
 To Sate. — Satiate. — Satiety.— Satis- 
 faction. Lat. sat, satis, enough. 
 
 Satellite. Lat. satelles, a personal 
 attendant. 
 
 Satin. Ptg. setim. Said to be a 
 Chinese word. — N. and Q. 
 
 Satire. Lat. satij-a, satyra, a poem 
 in which the manners of the times were* 
 freely treated without respect of persons. 
 Gr. adrvpog, a play in which the chorus 
 consisted of Satyrs. 
 
 Satrap. Gr. aarpaTri^c, originally Per- 
 sian. 
 
SATURATE 
 
 Saturate. Lat. satur, full fed, sated. 
 
 Saturnalia. Lat. saturnalia, feast of 
 Saturn, in which unrestrained licence was 
 allowed, even to slaves. 
 
 Saturnine. A grave unsocial disposi- 
 tion ascribed to the influence of the 
 planet Saturn, as a Jovial disposition ex- 
 presses the tendency to good fellowship 
 induced by the planet Jupiter. 
 
 Satyr. Lat. Satyrtis, Gr. ^arvpoQ. 
 
 Sauce. — Saucer. It. salsa, Fr. sauce, 
 properly a mixture of salt, then any relish- 
 ing addition to food. Saucer, a little 
 dish to hold sauce. 
 
 Saucy. As sauce is a sharp-tasted 
 seasoning of food, it is metaphorically 
 applied to sharp speech, short sharp re- 
 plies. Fr, sauce, met. a reprimand. A 
 man is said to be bien sauce' when he has 
 received a sharp reprimand. 
 
 Wo was his coke but if his sauce were 
 Poinant and sharp, and ready all his gere. 
 Chaucer, Prol. 
 
 If it be so, as fast 
 As she answers thee with frowning looks, I'll 
 
 sauce 
 Her with bitter words. — As You Like It. 
 
 To Saunter. One of those cases in 
 which either an / after the initial s has 
 been lost, or parallel forms beginning with 
 J and i-/ respectively have originally been 
 developed, as in Lat. sorbere and G. schliir- 
 fen, E. sop and slop, Pl.D. sabbeln, sdb- 
 berri, and E. slobber. 
 
 In like correspondence with sautiter 
 we have G. schlentern, Sw. sldntra, to 
 wander idly about ; G. schlendern, to 
 saunter, loiter — Fliigel ; Pl.D. slender- 
 weg, a promenade. 
 
 The radical meaning would seem to be 
 to trail or drag along. G. sch lender, a 
 gown with a train ; Pl.D. slender, the 
 usual course. E. dial, slade to drag ; 
 Sw. slade, E. sled, a sledge or drag. Sw. 
 slinla,Fl.D. slindern, to slide ; Da. slunte, 
 to idle. 
 
 Sausage. It. salsiccia, Fr. saucisse, 
 from being cured with salt. 
 
 Savage. Fr. sauvage, It. selvatico, 
 selvaggio, salvaggio (Lat. sylvatic7is), 
 savage, wild, untamed, forest-bred. — Fl. 
 
 To Save. See Safe. 
 
 Saveloy. Fr. cervela-s, a kind of dry 
 sausage eaten cold. — Cot. It. cei^velada, 
 a kind of yellow sausage in use in the 
 Milanese. Doubtless from being made 
 of (Fr. cerveille) brains. 
 
 Savour. Fr. savetir, Lat. sapor, taste ; 
 sapio, -ere, to smack, taste or smell, to 
 relish. Portevin saper, rapprocher les 
 levres et les separer avec bruit. 
 
 SCALE 
 
 555 
 
 Saw. I. ON. sbg, N. sag. Da. sav,-G. 
 sage, It. sega, Fr. scie, a saw. The origin 
 is perhaps the zigzag or seesaw movement 
 by which the act of sawing is character- 
 ised. Sp. ch'g'uec/tague, a. sziwyer ; Pl.D. 
 suggen, suggeln, to hack, haggle, cut 
 with a blunt knife. 
 
 2. Du. saege, a narration, a saying. 
 ON. saga, a narrative. 
 
 Saxifrage. Lat. saxifragaj saxum, a 
 stone, and frango, to break, being sup- 
 posed to be good against stone in the 
 bladder. 
 
 To Say, as. secgan, ON. seiga, G. sagen. 
 
 Scab. Lat. scabies. It. scabbia, G. 
 schdbbe, scab, scurf, itch, from scabere, 
 Du. schabben, schobben, schrabben, to rub, 
 scratch, scrape. Bret, skraba, to scratch, 
 scrape. 
 
 * Scabbard. Might be plausibly ex- 
 plained from being made oi scaleboard ox 
 thin board, in the same way that a hat 
 was called a beaver. Scaleboard — com- 
 monly pronounced scdbboard. — Worces- 
 ter. 
 
 The ancients — used splints — and of them some 
 are made of tin, others of scabbard and tin, sewed 
 up in linen cloths. — Wiseman, Surgery. 
 
 But this explanation is opposed by the 
 OE. forms scawberk {scauberke — Merlin 
 514), or scaberge (Rom. of Partenay), 
 scaubert (Miiller). Of these scawbei^k 
 may have passed into Fr. escaubert or es- 
 cauber, by which vagina is glossed in John 
 de Garlandia : vaginas, escaubers. Hence 
 cbnversely E. scaubert, scabbard. The 
 first syllable should mean blade, as giving 
 the word the meaning of blade-cover, 
 but no one has succeeded in making out 
 that signification. 
 
 Scaffold. Fr. eschaffaut, Lang, escafold, 
 escharfaut, escadafaut, It. catafalco, cata- 
 farco, Sp. cadafalso, Prov. cadafalc. 
 From Prov. and OSp. catar (Lat. cap- 
 tare), to look, to see, and It. palco, a 
 planking. — D iez. 
 
 To Scald. Fr. dchaiider, It. scaldare^ 
 to heat, warm, scorch, scald ; caldo, Lat. 
 calidus, hot. Gael, sgald, scald, pain, 
 torture ; Bret, skaota, to scald, sting like 
 a nettle ; Dan. skolde, Sw. skolla, to scald. 
 Scale. I. — Shale.— Shell. T)n.schaelej 
 bark, crust, shell, scale ; schelle, bark, 
 shell, skin, scale. G. schale, a shell, dish, 
 cup, bowl, bark of a tree, cover of a book, 
 peel of fruit, shale or mineral that separ- 
 ates in flakes. It. scaglia, scale of fish, 
 shiver or splinter of stones, skin of snake ; 
 Fr. escaille, scale of fish. Escailler des 
 noix, to pill or shale walnuts ; escailleures, 
 shards or spalls, small pieces broken or 
 
55fi SCALE 
 
 hewed from stones. F'r. dial, challe do 
 noix, the green husk or shale of a walnut. 
 The radical signification is something 
 that splits or separates or that is picked 
 off. The shale or husk of fruit or vege- 
 tables or scales of fish are what is picked 
 off as unfit for food. The shailes of 
 hemp (Hollyband) are the bits of stalk 
 that have to be picked from the fibre. 
 
 Lith. skelti, skilti, to split, burst ; skel- 
 {ieti, skaldyti, to crack, burst, split ; skalus, 
 skilluSy easy to split ; skalai, splinters of 
 fir for torches ; skilstis, hoof of a cloven- 
 footed animal ; skyle, a split, hole, open- 
 ing. Gr. (TKvWu), to rend, tear, flay ; 
 aKvXoQ, the skin of an animal ; aKvXa, arms 
 stripped from a slain enemy, spoils. Gael. 
 sj^il, sg-iol, shell, unhusk ; sgiolta^ un- 
 husked, active, quick ; It. sciolto, loosed, 
 active. Da. skille, to separate. Melken 
 skilles, the milk is turned. E. dial, to 
 sheal milk, to curdle, to separate the parts 
 of it. — Ray. It. scagliare, to shiver or 
 splitter— Fl. ; Fr. mur escailU^ a wall full 
 of cracks or chinks. 
 
 Scale. 2.— To Scale. — Escalade. Lat. 
 scala (from scando, to climb?), Sp. escala, 
 Fr. ^chelle, a ladder, thence a scale or 
 graduated measure ; Sp. escalar, to mount 
 by ladders ; escalada, an escalade. 
 
 Scalene. Gr. (TKaXijrbg ((tko^w, to limp), 
 limping, halting, uneven, unequal. 
 
 Scall. Scurf in the head ; scalled or 
 scald head, a scurfy head. Du. schelle^ 
 bark, shell, skin, membrane ; schellejt 
 van't hoofd, scurf of the head. Dan. 
 skaldet, bald, bare. 
 
 Scallop. A shell-fish of a round in- 
 dented shape, whence scalloped, having 
 the edge indented like a scallop shell. 
 Du. schelpe, shell, cockle-shell, nut-shell ; 
 schelpevis, shell-fish ; St Jacob's schelpen, 
 coquille de St Jaques, the scallop-fish or 
 pilgrim's scallop-shell. 
 
 Words signifying shell, peel, husk, are 
 commonly derived from the notion of 
 scaling, peeling, or picking off, separating 
 the outer useless portion. Du. schelfe^ 
 shell, scale ; de vis schelfen, to scale a 
 fish, to scrape off the scales ; Bret, skalfa, 
 to separate, to split. Gael, sgealb, a quick, 
 sudden sound, the sound of a blow, a 
 slap, then, from the crack of things burst- 
 ing or splitting, to split, splinter. Sgealb- 
 chreag, a splintered or shelvy rock. Sc. 
 skelpy a slap, blow, stroke ; to shelve, to 
 separate in lamina. 
 
 Probably Lat. scalpere, to scrape, 
 scratch, engrave, sciilpere, to form by 
 cutting or carving, Gr. yXa^w, yXv^oj, 
 
 SCANTLING 
 
 yXviTTU), to hollow out, to carve, must be 
 classed under the same head. 
 
 Scalp. It. scalpo, the skin of the head. 
 Sc. s/iaup,hu\\, husk; peas/iaup, Da. dial. 
 skalp, the shell of peas. Fr. escaldotter, 
 to pill, to unhusk, or loosen the husk of. 
 — Cot. ON. .y/t^^r, sheath. See Scallop. 
 
 To Scamble. To scramble, to make 
 shift. Fr. griffe-graffe, scamblingly, catch 
 that catch may. — Cot. Sca7nbling,s^xi!i\y\- 
 ing. — Hal. 
 
 Thus sithe I have in my voyage suffered wrack 
 with Ulysses, and wringing wet scambled to the 
 shore. — Gosson (1579) in Hal. 
 It. scarmigliare, to card cotton or wool, 
 to scramble, scratch, touse or tug by the 
 hair ; scarmigliato, scrambled, loused, 
 scratched, &c. 
 
 A parallel form with scramble, in the 
 same way that we have Du. schabben and 
 schrabbetij to scrape or scrub, or E. dial. 
 scaffle and scraffle, to scramble. 
 
 Scamp. A ^heat, a swindler. — Jam. 
 A workman is said to scamp his work 
 when he does it in a superficial, dishonest 
 manner. Swab, schampe, liederlicher 
 mensch. — Schmid. 
 
 Du. schampen^ to shave, scrape, slip 
 away ; schampig, slippery ; schainpschoot, 
 a grazing shot. 
 
 To Scamper. '^zN.gampeti^gampern, 
 to sport, spring about. Sw. skumpa, to 
 jog ; —sin wdg, to jog off, scamper away. 
 See Jump, Game. 
 
 To Scan. i. It. sca?tdere, to mount, 
 ascend, also to scan a verse, to examine it 
 by counting the feet ; hence 
 
 2. To examine narrowly. 
 
 Scandal. Lat. scandaluin, from Gr. 
 oKavlaXov, a trap for an enemy, a stumb- 
 lingblock, offence. 
 
 Scant. — Scanty. Barely sufficient. 
 ON. skammr, short ; skamtr, a measured 
 portion. I skornum skamti, circumcisa 
 portione, i. e. pared, circumcisd. — Egills. 
 N. skaftt, a measuring rod, measured por- 
 tion ; skanta, to measure off, to cut off a 
 little so as to make a thing exact, to give 
 sparingly, reckon closely. Skanta, mea- 
 sured, exactly fitted, leaving nothing to 
 spare. 
 
 Scantling-. A small piece of anything, 
 also the size to which a timber is to be 
 cut. From Fr. chantel, chanteau, a cor- 
 ner-piece, lump or cantle of bread, «&:c. 
 (g. kant, edge ; It. canto, side, corner), 
 are formed Fr. eschanteler, to break into 
 cantles, to cut off the corners or edges 
 of, eschantillo7t, a small cantle or corner- 
 piece, also a scantlmg, sample, pattern, 
 proof of any sort of merchandise. — Cot. 
 
SCAPE 
 
 Hence to scantle, to cut bits from. 'The 
 chines of beefein great houses are scantled^ 
 to buie chaines of gold.' — Lodge (1596) 
 in Hal. Omnes denarii Jaccenses qui 
 falsi non sint recipiantur ab omnibus 
 hominibus — sive sint fracti, sive perforati, 
 vel etiam scantellati. — Fori Aragon. in 
 Due. 
 
 The sense of measurement is explained 
 by Sp. descantillar^ descantonar^ to break 
 off part of a thing, to lessen ; descaiitillon, 
 a small line marking the proper scantling 
 to which anything is to be cut. — Neum. 
 
 Scape. Lat. scapus, shaft of a pillar, 
 stalk of a plant ; Gr. (TKrjTrru), to prop, to 
 lean on. 
 
 Scapular. Lat. scapula^ the shoulder- 
 blade. 
 
 Scar. Originally a crack or breach, 
 then specially applied to the mark of a 
 wound, a cliff, precipice or broken rock, 
 a fragment. It is used by Gower in the 
 original sense : 
 
 And eke full ofte a littel skare 
 Upon a banke, ere men be ware, 
 Let in the streme. 
 
 Bret, skarr, crack in a wall, chap in the 
 skin ; skan^a, to crack, to open. Fr. 
 escarre, breach, bursting open, opening 
 made with noise and violence. Faire 
 grande escarre, to disperse people, to 
 leave a wide space open ; escarrir, to 
 scatter, disperse. — Trev. ' Le canon a 
 fait une grande escarre dans ce bataillon, 
 dans la muraille : ' has made a great 
 breach in them. — Gattel. The foregoing 
 must not be confounded with Fr. eschare, 
 surgically, the crust of a burn or ulcer, 
 from laxaga, from whence E. scar of a 
 wound is commonly derived. 
 
 In the Scandinavian and Teutonic 
 dialects the root is found as well in the 
 shape of scar as with the addition of a 
 final d. Du. scheure, schaerde^ crena, 
 ruptura, rima, schaere (vetus) scopulus, 
 rupes ; scheure, schore, scissura, ruptura. 
 — Kil. ON. skor, N. skar, notch, breach, 
 cleft in a rock. ohg. sco?to, scorra, 
 prasruptum montis, scopulus. — Gl. in 
 Schm. in v. schorrett. ON. skard, a 
 breach, nick, opening ; skard'x vor, Dan. 
 hareskaer, a hare-lip. Dan. skaar, a 
 cut, notch, fragment, shard. E. dial. 
 potscar, 2l potsherd; share, the opening 
 of the thighs ; shard or sherd, a piece of 
 broken stone or pottery, a notch or gap, 
 an opening in a wood. — Hal. 
 
 The ultimate origin is in all probability 
 a representation of the noise made by 
 a thing cracking or bursting. Comp. 
 
 SCARCE 
 
 557 
 
 Gael, sgairt, a loud shout or cry, and 
 thence Fr. escarter, to scatter, disperse, 
 with Fr. escarre, escarrir. 
 
 Scarce. OFr. eschars, eschard, escar, 
 close, sparing, niggardly ; escharcer, 
 escharder, to diminish, to spare ; eschas, 
 scarcely. Sp. escaso, scanty, narrow, 
 small, short, sparing, niggardly. It. 
 sca?'so, scarce, scant, sparing. Bret. 
 skarz, slender, little, close, niggard, 
 clean, cleansed ; skai'za, to spare, re- 
 trench, diminish, also to cleanse, scour, 
 steal. Re skarz eo ho sae, your gown is 
 too short. N(? ket skarz ann Id-man, 
 this corn is not clean. The radical 
 meaning of the verb would seem to be 
 to scrape, leading on the one side to the 
 notion of cleansing, and on the other to 
 that of paring, shaving off, clipping, 
 sparing. Piedm. moneda scarsa, light 
 money, money that has been clipped or 
 rubbed. Scarsole, to pluck off super- 
 fluous leaves and shoots from vines. Du. 
 schaers, a razor ; schaers afschaeren, to 
 cut close ; schaers, close, niggardly, also 
 hardly, scarcely. It. cogliere scar so, to 
 strike a grazing blow shaving along the 
 surface, to strike slanting. 
 
 The root may be traced through a wide 
 extent of variation. Sometimes it is 
 found without the initial s, as in Bret. 
 karza, to scrape, cleanse, sweep, to clear 
 out dung ; karz, sweepings, ordures ; 
 karzpren, kazpren, karpren, a plough- 
 staff, stick for scraping the coulter of 
 the plough. The Breton z changes to th 
 in w. carthu, to scour, cleanse, carry out 
 dung from stables or cowhouses ; earth- 
 bren, a plough-staff; earth, offscouring, 
 outside, rind, what is peeled off ; ysgartli, 
 offscouring, ordures. 
 
 With the loss of the final d or z, on. 
 karra, kara, to scrape, to cleanse, ex- 
 plaining Dan. karrig, sparing, niggardly ; 
 ON. skara, to rake or scrape, to snuff 
 the candle ; G. scharren, to scrape, to 
 cleanse stables, streets, &c. 
 
 The ultimate origin is an imitation of 
 the sound of scraping or scratching, 
 which are often represented by the same 
 forms. ON. karra, to creak as a wheel ; 
 Gael, sgairt, screech, shriek ; Sc. scart, 
 to scratch, scrape, cleanse by scraping, 
 gather money in a penurious way. Scart, 
 a scratch, a niggard. ' Move thee to 
 scrape, to sca?'t, to pinch, to spare.' 
 
 The same train of thought is indicated 
 in Gael, sgread, a shriek, cry ; sgreadan, 
 a disagreeable sound, noise of anything 
 tearing asunder ; Sc. screed, any loud 
 shrill sound, the sound or act of rending, 
 
558 
 
 SCARE 
 
 a rent, the thing that is rent or torn off. 
 See Shard, Shred. 
 
 To Scare. Sc. skar^ skair^ to take 
 fright. A skat'r horse, or a horse that 
 skars, is one that is easily startled. Skare, 
 a fright, a scarecrow. — Jam. ON. sh'drr, 
 timid, shy. N. skjerra^ to frighten, to 
 scare. 
 
 The idea of frightening is commonly 
 expressed by the figure either of the 
 trembling symptomatic of fright, or of a 
 sudden noise which instinctively startles 
 and produces fright. It has been argued 
 under Afraid that Fr. effrayer and G. 
 schrecken, to frighten, both have their 
 origin in forms representing a crash or 
 crack, and it is probable that scare is 
 derived from a like source. Fr. escarre, 
 breach, bursting open with noise and 
 violence. — Trev. Bret, skarr, crack, 
 breach. Gael, sgairt^ a loud cry or shout. 
 A similar connection may be observed 
 between E. scream and Sw. skrama, to 
 frighten. 
 
 To Scarf. To join timbers with a 
 slanting joint. Sw. skarftua, to join to- 
 gether, to piece, eke out. Skarfiva en 
 arm, to lengthen a sleeve ; — timmer, to 
 scarf two pieces of timber. Dan. skat-re, 
 N. skara, skjervcy to scarf timber ; skarv, 
 a bit cut off the end of a plank. Bav. 
 scharben, to shred vegetables, to make a 
 notch in a timber to receive a cross- 
 piece. Bret, skarfa, to scarf timber or 
 stone. — Lepelletier. 
 
 The origin of the "term is to be found 
 in the scraping down or slicing off a 
 piece of each of the timbers in order to 
 make the joint. Sp. escarbar, to scrape 
 or scratch the ground like a fowl or 
 beast ; escarpar, to rasp or cleanse works 
 of sculpture, to escarp or slope down a 
 bank, to scarf timber. Escarpa, the 
 scarp or steep slope on the inside of a 
 ditch next the rampart. It. scarpello, a 
 chisel, lancet, tool for slicing or paring. 
 
 Scarf. Fr. escharpe, a scarf or bau- 
 drick ; escharpe d'un pelerin, the scrip 
 wherein he carries his meal. — Cot. It 
 would seem that the name of the scrip 
 was transferred to a scarf from the latter 
 being worn over the shoulder in the way 
 that a beggar's scrip was carried. In 
 the same way Da. taske, a pouch, becomes 
 Sc. tische, a belt. Da. taskebelte, zona ; 
 taskemagere, zonarius. — Lye. Scheler's 
 explanation of the word as signifying a 
 strip of cloth from OFr. escharper, to 
 tear, is not satisfactory. OHG. scherbe, a 
 scrip, comes still nearer the E. form than 
 Fr. escharpe. See Scrip. 
 
 SCATTER 
 
 Scarf-skin. The outside skin. Bav. 
 schui-ffen, scherpffoi^ to scratch or pick 
 off the outside of a thing. Sich schetpffeu, 
 summam cutis stringere. See Scurf. 
 
 Scarify. Lat. scarifico (for scarifo), to 
 lance or open a sore. Gr. <TKdpf<po(:, a 
 stile, etching tool ; oKaptiptvu), oKapitpdofiai, 
 to scratch. 
 
 Scarlet. It. scarlato, Fr. ^carlate, G. 
 scharlach. 
 
 The origin of the word has been much 
 disputed, and it has been supposed to be 
 borrowed from an Eastern source. But 
 the name of an article of commerce is at 
 least as likely to have passed from Europe 
 to the East as vice versa, and the word 
 admits of a plausible explanation in the 
 Lat. cam, flesh. 
 
 It. scarnatino, flesh-coloured, became 
 in Venet. scarlatm, explained iDy Patri- 
 archi as a colour of mixed white and 
 red. But the mixture of a colour with 
 white is considered as a dilution or weak- 
 ening of the colour, and therefore if the 
 diluted colour were expressed by a di- 
 minutive, the full colour would be signi- 
 fied by the primitive form. Thus from 
 scarlaiin, a whitish red, would be formed 
 scarlato, full red, scarlet. Compare 
 Shakespeare's incarnadine, to dye with 
 crimson. 
 
 Scarp. It. Scarpa, Fr, escarpe, Sp. 
 escarpa, the slope of a wall or steep front 
 of a fortification. See Scarf. 
 
 Scatches. — Skates. Fr. eschasses, stilts 
 or scatches to go upon. — Cot. Schaetse, in 
 Flanders stilts, ' vulgo scaccE^ in Holland 
 skates ; also a carpenter's trestle, the sup- 
 port on which he saws wood. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 shake, shank or leg. It. zatica, shank ; 
 zanche, stilts. Sp. zanca, shank ; zan- 
 ciido, long-shanked ; zancos, stilts. So 
 Lim. digo, a leg ; diga, a long-legged 
 person ; digas, stilts. The point in which 
 stilts and skates agree is that they are 
 both contrivances for increasing the 
 length of stride. 
 
 Du. schaetse (from whence E. skate) would 
 seem to be a corruption of Pl.D. skake, 
 which was Latinised under the form 
 scaca, scata, scadea, scacia, scassa. — Dief. 
 Supp. But see To Scotch. 
 
 Scathe. Goth, skathjan, G. schadcn, 
 to injure ; ON. skadi, AS. sceatha, Pol. 
 szkoda, damage, hurt. Gael, sgad, mis- 
 fortune, loss ; sgath, lop off, prune, de- 
 stroy, injure. 
 
 To Scatter. Du. schetteren, to crush, 
 resound, burst out laughing, to scatter. 
 It. scaterare, to scatter. — Fl. The idea 
 of a thing breaking to pieces is represent- 
 
SCAVENGER 
 
 ed by the figure of the sound of an ex- 
 plosion. So Fr. s'eclater^ to crash, to 
 burst or shiver to pieces. Eclat de ton- 
 nerre, a clap of thunder ; par eclats, in 
 shivers. Dan. sprage, to crackle, Sw. 
 spraka, to crack, explode, show the origin 
 of Lat. spargere, OE. sparkle, to scatter. 
 Dan. skingre, to ring, clang, resound ; 
 Sw. skijigra, to scatter, dissipate. 
 
 Scavenger. The scavage or shewage 
 was originally a duty paid on the inspec- 
 tion of customable goods brought for sale 
 within the city of London, from AS. scea- 
 wiaii, to view, inspect, look. The sec- 
 tion De Scawanga, Liber Albus, p. 223,. 
 commences as follows : ' Qi est contenuz 
 des queux marchaundises venauntz en 
 Londres deit estre prys Sca'we7ige nostre 
 Seignur le Roy ; et comebien doit estre 
 prys de chescun. — Et fait assavoir que 
 Scawenge est dite come demonstratice, 
 pur ceo qe marchauntz demonstrent as 
 viscounts marchaundises des queux deit 
 estre pris custume, einz qe rien de ceo 
 soit vendue.' The scawetigers or scava- 
 gers were the inspectors to whom the 
 goods were actually shown. Afterwards 
 the inspection of the streets seems to have 
 been committed to the same officers, 
 unless the name was used in the general 
 sense of inspectors. ' Qe scawageoitrs 
 eyent poair de survder les pavementz et 
 qe touz ordures es rewes soyent oustez,' 
 p. 585. The oath of the scawageour is 
 given p. 313. 'Vouzjurrez qe vaus sur- 
 verrez diligientement qe les pavementz 
 deinz vostre garde soient bien et droitur- 
 element reparaillez — ; et qe lez chemyns, 
 ruwes et venelles soient nettez des hens 
 et de toutz maners des ordures, pur 
 honestee de la cittfe ; et qe toutz les 
 chymyneys, fournes, terrailles soient de 
 pierre, et suffisantement defensable en- 
 con tre peril de feu.' The labourers by 
 whom the cleansing of the streets was 
 actually done were then called rakyers, 
 or rakers. 
 
 -scend. -scans-, -scent. Lat. scan- 
 do, scansmn, to climb (in comp. -scendo, 
 -scensum) ; as in Ascend, Descent, Ascen- 
 sio7i. 
 
 Scene.— Scenery. Gr. (ticjjvj), the cover 
 or tilt of a waggon, a tent, booth, stage, or 
 scaffold, the stage on which the actors 
 performed, a scene at a theatre. 
 
 Scent. Fr. sentir, to smell. 
 
 Sceptic. Gr. aKSTTTOfiai, to look about, 
 look carefully, consider ; (TKt}pig, examina- 
 tion, inquiry, doubt ; aKSTrriKog, inclined 
 to reflection ; aKt-rrTiKoi, the Sceptics, a 
 
 SCOFF 559 
 
 school of philosophers who doubted of all 
 things. 
 
 Sceptre. Lat. sceptrum, Gr. oktitttqov, 
 a regal staff, from aKijimo, to prop, to lean 
 upon ; oKrjTTTouai, to support oneself on a 
 staff. 
 
 Schedule, Lat. scJieda, schedula, a 
 scroll, leaf of paper, short writing ; schidia, 
 a sheave or thin shoe of wood ; Gr. axtht], 
 a tablet, leaf. From ax'iZ,^, to split. 
 
 Scheme. Gr. trx^/ua, outward form, 
 fashion, appearance, from OGr. o-x^w, to 
 have, hold. 
 
 Schism.— Schist. Gr. oxi<yna, a rent, 
 ffxttrro^, split, from ayilia, to cleave, split, 
 produce fissures. 
 
 Scholiast. Gr. axo^iaarriQ, from (syp- 
 Xiov, a comment. See School. 
 
 School. — Scholar. Gr. axoXt], leisure, 
 rest, that in which leisure is employed, 
 discussion, lecture, philosophy, the place 
 where such studies were pursued, a 
 school. 
 
 Sciatic. Gr. Iffxiov, the hip ; lax'^ag, 
 -ddog, pain in that region ; lax^adtKog, 
 subject to pains in the hips ; Lat. sciatica, 
 disease in the hips. 
 
 Science. — Sciolist. Lat. scio, to 
 know ; scientia, knowledge. 
 
 Scimetar. Fr. cimeterre, It. scimitarra. 
 
 Scintillate. Lat. scintilla, a spark. 
 
 Scion. A graft or young shoot of a tree. 
 Here, as in scetit, the c is inserted without 
 etymological grounds. Fr. scion, sion, a 
 young and tender plant, a shoot, sprig, or 
 twig.— Cot. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word is a 
 sucker, a shoot that sucks its sap from 
 the parent tree. Sp. chiipar, to suck, to 
 imbibe moisture ; chupon, a scion or 
 sucker of a plant, a young twig. Gr. 
 (r('0wv, a reed, straw, tube used to draw 
 wine out of the cask, the sucker of a 
 pump. It. sione, a pipe, gutter, or quill 
 to draw water through. — Fl. Another 
 application of the sense of sucker is seen 
 in Lat. sipJio7i, It. sio7ie, a whirlwind, 
 waterspout, sucking up the water as it 
 passes over it. See Sip. 
 
 Scirrhus. Gr. cKippog, an indurated 
 tumor. 
 
 Scissors. Written by Chaucer sisoures. 
 It. cesore, a cutter, a tailor ; cesoie, Mo- 
 denese cesore, Mantuan zisora, scissors ; 
 Lat. ccBsus, cut. 
 
 Scoff. ON. skatip, skauf, skop, derision ; 
 draga skaup at einum, hafa i skatcpi, to 
 deride. Thad hlaup vard at skaitpi, that 
 inroad was in vain. O Flem. schop, schoppe, 
 ludibrium ; Du. schobbe, scomma, sarcas- 
 mus.— Kil. Possibly a shave, a dry wipe. 
 
56o 
 
 SCOLD 
 
 Compare Du. schatnpen, to graze the sur- 
 face, to deride, scoff, abuse. — Kil. Lat. 
 Perstringere is used in both senses, to 
 graze, and to censure, speak acrimoni- 
 ously. 
 
 Scold. Du. schelden, to scold, revile ; 
 scheldnaem^ nickname, name of abuse. 
 From the loud shrill tone of scolding. 
 ON. skellr, clang, crash ; skella, to bang. 
 Hann skelldi upp og hid : he burst out a 
 laughing. Sw. skalia, to bark like a dog, 
 to cry out loud, to scold, make use of 
 abusive language. Alia hans kreditoren 
 s'calla efter honom : all his creditors cry 
 after him. Skalla ut, to decry ; skallsord, 
 abusive language. N. skjella^ a clapper, 
 rattle. 
 
 Sconce, i. A small fort. Du. schantse, 
 a rampart made of trees and branches, 
 parapet, outpost ; schantsen, to defend 
 with a rampart ; schantskorven, gabions. 
 — Kil. G. schanzen, to make a fence, in- 
 trench, fortify ; schanzkleid, a canvas 
 screen drawn round a ship at the time of 
 an engagement to prevent the enemy from 
 seeing. To sconce or ensconce oneself is 
 to post oneself behind a screen of some 
 kind. 
 
 The meaning of the word is something 
 to conceal or cover one from the enemy, 
 from Fr. esconser (Lat. abscondere, abscon- 
 sunt), to hide, conceal, cover. Esconsail, 
 a screen or shelter, a sconce, abri, ca- 
 chette, refuge. — Roquef. Guigneville (in 
 Carp.) makes man after the fall address 
 God, 
 
 Fai moi de toi un esconsail, 
 Un abril [abri] et un ripostail 
 Ou je me puisse aler bouter. 
 
 2. A sconse or little lanterne. — Baret- 
 1 580. Scons to sette a candel in, lanterne 
 k main. — Palsgr. Mid. Lat. absconsa, 
 sconsa (Lat. absconsa candela, a hidden 
 light), originally a dark lanthorn. Ab- 
 sconsa^ abscons, absconse, luchte, lan- 
 terne. — Dief Sup. 'Debet Prior cum 
 absconsa accensa per chorum ire ac videre 
 quam regulariter sedeant.' ' Sconsas — 
 nunquam Prior vel Abbas habuit nisi 
 illam quae omnium communis fuit.' — Due. 
 ' Lesquelz compaignons alumerent la 
 chandelle et la mirent dedens une esconse 
 ou lanterne.' — Lit, Remiss. 145 1 in Carp. 
 
 Scoop. Du, schoepe, schuppe, a shovel ; 
 schoepen, scheppen, to draw water, draw 
 breath ; schepvat, a scoop ; scheplepel, a 
 ladle ; G. schuppe, a scoop, shovel ; sch dp- 
 fen, to draw water, take breath, let in 
 water, 
 
 'Tis as easy with a sieve to scoop the ocean 
 As to tame Petruchio.— B. & F. 
 
 SCORN 
 
 Pl.D. schuppe, a scoop, shovel. Fr. ^cope, 
 a scoop for baling boats. 
 
 Boh. kopati, to kick, hack, dig, hoe ; 
 Pol. kopad, to dig, hollow, scoop out ; 
 Serv. kopati, to dig ; kopanya, a wooden 
 bowl. 
 
 Scope. Lat. scopus, from Gr. (tkottoq, 
 a mark or butt to shoot at, thence a pur- 
 pose or object ; oKiiTTopiai, to look at 
 steadily. 
 
 To Scorch. The Ormulum has scorrc- 
 ned, scorched, of a crusty loaf, or land 
 shrunk up with drought. 
 
 All the people that the violent wind Nothus 
 scorclith, and bakyth the brennyng sandes by his 
 drie heate. — Chaucer, Boeth. 
 
 Du. schroken, Pl.D. shroggen, to scorch, 
 singe. 
 
 The origin seems to lie in the crackling 
 sound of frizzhng or scorching. Boh. 
 sskwrcitiy to crackle or fizz as butter on 
 the fire ; sskwrlitiy to scorch, singe ; 
 zsskwrknauti, to f^zz in singeing ; sskwrk- 
 nautise, skwrkatise, to shrivel up ; 
 sskwrkly, shrivelled, shrunk. Pol. kur- 
 czy<f, skurczyd sie, to shrivel. 
 
 Score. A notch, then from the cus- 
 tom of keeping count by cutting notches 
 on a stick, account, reckoning, number, 
 the specific number of twenty, as being 
 the number of notches it was convenient 
 to make on a single stick ; when that 
 number was complete the piece on which 
 they were made was cut otf (Fr. taillee), 
 and called a tally. 
 
 Whereas before our forefathers had no other 
 books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused 
 printing to be used. — H. VI, 
 
 ON. skera {sker, skar, skorit), AS. sceran, 
 scyran, Du. scheren, to shear or cut ; ON. 
 skor, Dan. skaar, sktere, Du. schofe, 
 schorre,^ a notch or score. See Shear. 
 
 Scoria. Gr. ffKwp, dung, ordure ; Lat. 
 scoria, dross or refuse from the smelting 
 or refining of metal. 
 
 Scorn. Two closely resembling forms 
 from totally different figures are found in 
 the Romance languages. First, \X..scherno, 
 Sp. escarnio, Prov. esquern, OFr. eschern, 
 derision, mockery ; It. schernire, OFr. 
 escamir, eschernir, eschermir, to mock. 
 ' Eschennirs est quant Ten gabe homme 
 seulement de bouche.' — Roquef. 
 
 The foregoing forms are derived from 
 OHG. skerny derision ; skerno7t, to mock ; 
 skirno, a mountebank. — Diez. The radi- 
 cal meaning would seem to be to treat 
 one as dirt, from Dan. skarn, ordure, dirt, 
 met. a scoundrel, worthless person. ON. 
 skarnlega, shamefully. E. dial, scam, 
 dung ; scarnyhoiighsj a dirty drab. 
 
,<>' 
 
 SCORPION 
 
 Ambitious mind a world of wealth would have, 
 And scrats and scrapes for scorfe and scornie 
 
 dross. — Mirror for Mag. in R. v. Scrab. 
 In the next place, from the helpless con- 
 dition of an animal that has lost its horns 
 we have It. scornare, to take off the horns, 
 and met. to scorn, mock, flout ; scorno, a 
 scorn, mock, flout — Fl. ; Fr. escorner^ to 
 deprive of horns, to take from one a 
 thing which he thinks an ornament and 
 grace to him, to lop the boughs of trees, 
 to deface, disgrace ; se laisser escorner^ 
 to suffer himself to be made a fool, used 
 like a gull ; escorne, shame, disgrace ; 
 escorn^, unhorned, that hath lost his 
 horns, hence melancholy, out of heart, 
 ashamed to show himself, as a deer is 
 that hath lost his head. — Cot. 
 
 Scorpion. Lat. scorpio. 
 
 To Scoss or Scourse. To change. — B. 
 See Horse-courser. 
 
 Scot. — Shot. Fr. escot, payment of 
 one's own share of a common expense. 
 It. scoito, the reckoning at an inn. AS. 
 sceotan, to shoot, cast, throw down in 
 payment, expend, pay. Pl.D. scheten, to 
 cast; schott, contribution, tribute. G. 
 schiessen, to shoot ; geld zusanimenschies- 
 sen, to contribute one's share of money ; 
 Tjorschiessen^to advance money; zuschuss^ 
 a disbursement of money for one's quota 
 of expense. ON. skot pennijtgr^ money 
 for expenses on a journey. 
 
 Scotch. A notch ; to scotch^ to notch. 
 Scotch-collops are sliced or minced col- 
 lops. 
 
 What signify scotch-collops to a feast. 
 
 King in R. 
 
 The word is probably'formed on the same 
 principle as nock or nick^ representing, in 
 the first instance, a sharp sudden sound, 
 then applied to a sharp sudden impulse, a 
 projection or indentation. It. coccare^ to 
 snap, click, crack ; cocca, notch of an 
 arrow, nib of a pen ; scoccare, to clack, 
 snap, or pop ; — un bacio, to give a smack- 
 ing kiss ; — delle hore, the striking of the 
 hours. 
 
 E. dial, scotlle, to haggle or cut badly. 
 The beef was scottled shamefully. 
 
 To Scotch. To scotch or scoat a wheel, 
 to stop it by putting a stone or piece of 
 wood under^t. — B. Scote, a prop, a drag- 
 staff or stay by which a waggon is pre- 
 vented from running back when going 
 up-hill. — Hal. Wal. ascot^ anything used 
 to support an unsteady object ; ascoter, 
 to prop, to scotch ; Fr. accoter^ to under- 
 prop, shore, bear up, stay from shaking 
 or slipping.— Cot, Lang, acouta, to sup- 
 
 SCOUT 
 
 port, put a wedge under the leg" 
 shaking table ; acouta las rodos, to scotch 
 the wheel. The word scotch is probably 
 identical with E. skatch, Du. schaetse, a 
 stilt, properly a support. Du. schaetse is 
 also a carpenter's trestle, a support for 
 his work. See Scatches. 
 
 The idea of propping or supporting 
 rests on that of a shock or push, as shown 
 in It. cozzare, to shock, to butt ; Genevese 
 cotter, to boggle, hesitate in reciting, to 
 prop or support ; rester cotte, to stop short; 
 se cotter, to break off ; cotte, stay, prop, 
 as of a loaded apple-branch, shore of a 
 ruinous building, wedge under the leg of 
 a ricketty table. Vaud. cottar, to push 
 or shut the door, to support, steady. E. 
 dial, scant, to push violently ; as a noun, 
 a dragstaff. 
 
 The same train of ideas is seen in G. 
 stutzen, to butt, to start or boggle like a 
 horse ; stutzen, to stay or underprop ; 
 Dan. stode, to push, thrust, jog ; Pl.D. 
 studde, stutte, a prop. 
 
 Scough. See Scuff. 
 
 Scoundrel. In the absence of any 
 foreign analogue we may suggest the pos- 
 sibility of the word having originally been 
 scuinberel, from sciwiber, scummer, to 
 dung. ' With filth bescumbered.' — Mars- 
 ton. Comp. Da. skarn, dung, dirt, met. 
 a good-for-nothing, a scoundrel. 
 
 To Scour. There is little essential 
 difference in the sound made by the act 
 of scraping, scrubbing, scratching, tear- 
 ing, and accordingly all these modes of 
 action are designated by closely resem- 
 bling forms. Du. scheuren, schoren, to 
 tear ; G. scharren, to scrape, rake, scratch; 
 schenern, Dan. skiire, It. scitrare, Fr. 
 escurer, to scour, cleanse ; N. skura, to 
 rub, scrape, scour.' Pol. szorowac, to 
 rub, scrub, scour, to drag as a gown, to 
 shuffle with the feet, also to go fast, as in 
 E. to scour the country. 
 
 Scourge. Fr. escourgee, a thong, latchet, 
 a scourge or whip. — Cot. It. scoreggia, 
 coreggia, strap, scourge, whip. Lat. cor- 
 rigia, strap, from coriuin, leather. 
 
 Bret, skourjez, a whip, rod. Gael. 
 sginrs, to whip, drive away. It. scurisciOj 
 a switch ; scurisciare, to switch. 
 
 Scout. OFr. escoute, a spy. Etre aux 
 ecoutes, to be on the watch, to spy, from 
 escoiiter. It. ascoltare, Lat. anscultai'e, to 
 listen. To scotit or reject contemptuously 
 seems to be Sc. scont, to pour forth any 
 liquid forcibly — Jam,; to throw away 
 slops. ' It is also used, in a neuter sense, 
 to fly off quickly, most erroneously ap- 
 plied to liquids.' 
 
 36 
 
 Library. 
 
n 
 
 562 SCOWL 
 
 But as he down upon her louted 
 Wi' arm raxed out, awa she scouted. 
 
 Pl.D. schndden, to shake, to pour. In 
 the last appHcation compare E. scud. 
 
 To Scowl. Da. skule^ to look with 
 downcast eyes, to look privily from fear 
 or distrust. Pl.D. schulen, Du. schuilen^ 
 to sculk, lurk, spy. Daar schulet wat 
 unter, there is something hidden. Pl.D. 
 schuuloord, Du. schuilhoeck, a lurking- 
 place ; sc/utiltoren, specula et insidiae. 
 — K. The sense seems to be to look 
 from under cover of the overhanging 
 eyebrows or from under cover of a more 
 general kind. ON. skjd/, shelter, conceal- 
 ment, covered place ; skjdleygdr, whose 
 eyes lie 'deep in the head ; AS. sceoleage, 
 scyle-eagede^ squint-eyed. 
 
 Da. skeelbiet, squinting ; skele, G. schiel- 
 en, E. dial, skelly, to squint ; Sc. to shoivl 
 the mouth, to make wry mouths. Bohem. 
 sskuliti, to squint ; sskula, sskulina, a 
 (peephole) slit. Pol. skulony, Gr. (ncoXtd^, 
 crooked, bent. ON. skjdlgr, skew, squint- 
 ing ; at skjota augum i skjdlg^ to squint ; 
 N. skjaag^ skjegly squinting ; skjegla, to 
 squint. Possibly there may be a confu- 
 sion of two forms, one expressing a covert 
 look and the other a crooked or slanting 
 one. See Shallow. 
 
 To Scrabble. To scratch with the 
 nails, to scramble. — Hal. To feel about 
 with the hands. — B. 
 
 He scrabbled up the tree.— Mrs Baker. And 
 he — fained himself mad in their hands, and 
 scrabled on the doors of the gate. — i Sam. xxi. 
 13- 
 
 Du. schrabben, Bret, scraba^ Da. skrabe, 
 E. dial, scrab, to scrape or scratch ; 
 scrapple, to grub about. — Hal. The no- 
 tions of scratching, scraping, clutching, 
 griping, scuffling, struggling, making re- 
 peated irregular exertions of the arms 
 and legs, are signified by a variety of 
 forms adapted in the first instance to 
 represent any harsh and broken sound. 
 Thus from ON. spraka, to crackle, we 
 have sprokla, to throw about the arms 
 and legs, to sprawl ; G. spratzeln, to 
 crackle ; Sc. sprattle, to sprawl. Lith. 
 skrebeti, to rattle, crackle, signifies also 
 to struggle, sprawl, crawl. Sw. skrafla, 
 to rustle, crackle, leads to E. scraffle, to 
 struggle, scramble, climb, to wrangle, 
 quarrel. In the same way NFris, skrab- 
 litty to rattle, is used in a secondary 
 sense for struggling, working laboriously. 
 A daskar skrabbalt, the plates rattled. — 
 Johansen, p. 49. It. scar abi Hare, to 
 make a scraping or squeaking sound, 
 
 SCRAGGLE 
 
 screpolare, to crackle, are used as direct 
 representations of sound, while the figur- 
 ative sense is exhibited in Fr. escarbillat, 
 stirring, quick, lively — Cot. ; Sp. escara- 
 pdar^ to dispute, wrangle, quarrel ; Ptg. 
 escarapellar, to scratch, to scuffle ; Sp. 
 escarabajear, to scribble, scrawl, crawl to 
 and fro like insects ; escarabajo, Ptg. 
 escaravelho, Lat. scarabcEus, a beetle, the 
 scrabbling animal. 
 
 On the same principle Sw. skramla, 
 to racket, clack, cackle. Da. skramle, to 
 rumble, explain It. scaramelare, to play 
 tricks of legerdemain, to make rapid and 
 confusing movements with the hands. 
 Sw. skrdla, to bawl, to make a racket, 
 Du. schrollen, to mutter, grumble, cor- 
 respond to E. scrawl, to crawl about, to 
 make irregular confused scratches on 
 paper. Fr. grouiller, to rumble, in a 
 secondary sense signifies to move about 
 in numbers, to swarm. Du. rabbelen, to 
 rattle, to speak quick and confusedly, 
 figuratively to scribble, scrawl ; rabbel- 
 schrift, a scrawl. See Scraggle, Scrall. 
 
 Scrag-. A lean scrag, a body which is 
 nothing but skin and bones. — B. Fris. 
 skrog is used in s. s., while Da. skrog 
 signifies carcase, the hull of a ship. Scrag 
 of mutton, the bony part of the neck ; 
 scraggy, lean and bony. 
 
 The scragged and thorny lectures of monkish 
 sophistry. — Milton. 
 
 E. dial, scrag, a crooked, forked branch ; 
 scrog, a stunted bush ; scroggy, twisted, 
 stunted. 
 
 The proximate origin seems to lie in 
 the notion of shrinking or shrivelling. N. 
 skrekka, skrokna, to parch, shrink; skrok- 
 kjen, dried up, shrunk, hard, wrinkled ; 
 skrokka, to shrink ; skrukka, a wrinkle, 
 pucker, unevenness ; skrukkut, wrinkled, 
 shrunk. E. dial, shrockled, withered. 
 Pl.D. schrdkel, schrokel, a stunted, mis- 
 shapen thing. Gael, sgreag, shrivel, 
 become dry, parched, or shrivelled ; 
 sgreagair, an old shrivelled or close- 
 fisted man ; sgreagan, anything dry, 
 shrunk, or shrivelled ; sgrog, shrivel ; 
 sgrogag, anything shrivelled and con- 
 temptible, a little old woman, useless old 
 timber, stunted tree. See Scorch. 
 
 To Scraggle. Dorset to scramble. 
 — Hal. In Northampton used in the 
 sense of struggle, make efforts with dif- 
 ferent members of the body. 
 
 I'm often so poorly I can hardly scraggle along. 
 
 S'craggling, irregular, scattered. Also 
 applied to vegetation that grows wild 
 and disorderly. — Mrs Baker. Essentially 
 
SCRALL 
 
 the same word with straggle or struggle, 
 an initial scr or str often interchanging. 
 * I scruggell with one to get from him, 
 je m'estrive.' — Palsgr. The word origin- 
 ally represents a broken sound, then a 
 jerking irregular movement. N. skraiigle, 
 to jingle, rumble, rattle. Palsgrave gives 
 murmur or grumble as the first sense of 
 stroggelL * He stroggleth at everything 
 I do. II grommelle a tout tant que je 
 fays.' 
 
 Probably Fr. escarquiller, to straddle, 
 is an equivalent of E. scraggle, having 
 first signified to throw about the legs, 
 then to stretch them apart. 
 
 To Scrall. — Scrawl. To scrawl or 
 scrall is used in two senses : first, to be 
 in general movement ; and, secondly, to 
 write or draw ill, to make irregular, ill- 
 formed scratches. To scrall or stir, 
 muovere ; to scrall or scribble, scara- 
 bocchiare. — Torriano. Fr. grouiller, to 
 rumble, also to move, stir, scrall, to 
 swarm or break out confusedly in great 
 numbers. — Cot. 
 
 The two senses may be reconciled if 
 we observe that to scrawl or scribble is 
 to scramble about the paper, to move 
 over it in an irregular variety of direc- 
 tions, while to scrall as a set of young 
 pullets, or an ant-hill, is to be in a state 
 of confused, multifarious movement. It. 
 scrollare, Piedm. scroll, to shake, to wag. 
 
 The present is one of the numerous 
 cases in which the representation of a 
 rattling, crackling, rumbling sound is 
 applied to movement of fancied analogy. 
 Fr. grouiller, above quoted, is applied 
 both to sound and movement. Devon- 
 shire scrowl, to broil or roast (properly 
 doubtless to make a crackling sound). — 
 Hal. Du. schrollen, to mutter, grumble. 
 Da. skraale, to bawl ; skralde, to rattle ; 
 N. skrella, to bawl, to rattle, crack, echo. 
 ON. skridla, to rustle like dry things. 
 
 To Scramble. To do something by 
 repeated clutching with the hands. To 
 scrainb, to pull or rake together with the 
 hands ; to scr amp, to catch at, to snatch. 
 — Hal. To scraum, to grope about as a 
 ! person in the dark. — Craven Gl. Du. 
 scrammen, to scratch. It. scaramelare, to 
 juggle or move the hands rapidly to and 
 fro, seems an analogous form. 
 
 The origin is probably similar to that 
 of scrabble, scraffle, scraggle, words in 
 the first instance representing confused 
 sound. Da. skramle, to rumble ; Sw. 
 skramla, to clash, clatter, cackle. It. 
 scramare, to cry out. See Scrabble. 
 
 To Scranch. To crash with the teeth, 
 
 SCREAM 
 
 563 
 
 to make a noise in eating. — B. Directly 
 imitative, like craunch, crunch. Du. 
 schrantsen, to gnash, chew, craunch, eat 
 greedily. 
 
 * Scrap. A shred or small fragment. 
 Not to be identified with Da. skrab, Sw. 
 skrap, afskrap, scrapings, rubbish, but 
 rather with G. scherbe, a sherd or frag- 
 ment of something hard. MHG. schirbe, 
 scharp, schu7'ben, Bav. zerscherben, to 
 break in pieces ; schdrben, OHG. scarbon, 
 to shred vegetables. Farskirbinon, dis- 
 crepare. — Graff. See Scrip. 
 
 The radical image is the crack made 
 by a hard body in breaking. ON. skrap, 
 crack, rattle. Lat. crepare, to crack, also 
 to break to pieces. The same train of 
 ideas is seen in Fr. Sclat (esclat), a crack, 
 clap, also a fragment, splinter ; eclater, to 
 burst. 
 
 To Scrape. Direct from the harsh 
 sound of scraping, scratching, tearing. 
 N. skrapa, to make a harsh sound, to 
 grate, scrape ; skraapa, skraaba, to creak, 
 crackle ; skreppa, to rattle ; ON. skrapa, 
 to creak or grate, to rattle as hail, rustle 
 as dry skin. Du. schrabben, to scratch 
 or scrape ; schraeffen, schrapen, to scrape. 
 Bret, skro.ba, to scratch. Sp. escarbar, 
 to scratch or scrape like an animal with 
 the paw ; escarpar, to rasp ; Prov. escar- 
 pir, escharpir, to tear to pieces. Cat. es- 
 garrapar, Ptg. escarvar,\.0's>crzX.f:\\, scrape. 
 
 Scrape in the sense of difficulty, dis- 
 grace, is perhaps from the metaphorical 
 sense of Sw. skrapa, to reprimand. Han 
 ddrog sig en skrapa, he drew down a 
 reprimand on himself, got into a scrape. 
 It may however be from the figure of a 
 narrow exit where you can only scrape 
 through, on the same principle on which 
 we call a narrow escape a close shave. 
 N. skrapa, to get on with difficulty, to 
 make shift to live. 
 
 To Scratch. — Scrat. — Cratch. As 
 in the last article, the present forms are 
 direct representations of sound. * Cratch- 
 ing of cheeks.' — Chaucer. Du. krassen, 
 to scratch, scrape, splutter as a pen, 
 croak as a raven. Kratseii, to scratch, 
 scrub. ON. krassa, to scratch, to tear. Fr. 
 grater, to scratch, scrape ; esgratigner, 
 to scratch. 
 
 To Scrawl. See To Scrall. 
 
 To Screak. Synonymous with creak, 
 as scranch and cranch, squash and quash, 
 smash and fnash, &c. 
 
 Scream. It. scramare, sclamare, to 
 cry out ; W. ysgarm, outcry, bawling ; 
 garm, shout, outcry. AS. hryma7t, to cry 
 out, call. 
 
 36 * 
 
T 
 
 564 
 
 SCREECH 
 
 SCUD 
 
 Screech. — Shriek. Da. skrige, Sw. 
 skrika, to cry, shriek, scream. It. scric- 
 ciolare, scricciare, to screech, w. ysgrech, 
 a scream. 
 
 Screen. — Shrine. Pol. chronid^ schron- 
 i6, to shelter, to screen ; Bohem. chraniti, 
 schraniti, to guard, protect, keep ; schrana, 
 a receptacle, a screen. In the first of 
 these senses Boh. schrana corresponds to 
 Lat. scrinium, G. schrein^ Fr. escrain, a 
 chest, casket, shrine ; in the second with 
 Fr. escran, dcran^ a skreen, the one being 
 an implement to keep something of value 
 in, the other, to keep what is noxious off. 
 
 The final n is exchanged for an m in 
 Du. schennen, to defend, scherm, a screen ; 
 G. schirnu, anything that affords shelter or 
 protection, a screen ; It. schermaglia, a 
 fire-screen ; schermire, scremire, Fr. 
 escrimer, to exercise the art of defence, to 
 fence or fight scientifically with swords 
 or foils. Skirmish is quite a different 
 word. 
 
 A screen for gravel or corn is a grating 
 which wards off the coarser particles and 
 prevents them from coming through. 
 
 Screw. Fr. escroue, G. schraube, Sw. 
 skruf, Da. skrtie, Pol. szruba. 
 
 To Scribble, i. To scratch with a 
 pen, write ill. Scribble-scrabble^ sorry or 
 pitiful writing. — B. Fr. escrivailld, 
 scribbled, baldly written. — Cot. See To 
 Scrabble. 
 
 2. To scribble wool, to card, scratch or 
 tear it to pieces with a wire comb. Gael. 
 sgrlob, scratch, scrape ; sgrloban^ a 
 scraper, currycomb, wool-card. Sw. 
 skrubba, to rub, to scratch ; skrubbel, a 
 wool-card ; skrubbla, G. schrabbeln, to 
 card or scribble wool. Pol. grzebad, to 
 scrape or scratch ; grzebien, a comb ; 
 grepel, a wool-card ; greplowad^ to card 
 or scribble. 
 
 -scribe, -script-. Scripture. Lat. 
 scribo^ scriptum^ to write ; scriptura^ a 
 writing. Hence G. schreiben, Du. schrij- 
 ven^ Bret, skriva, Gael, sgrlobh, to write. 
 Doubtless, like Gr. y^atpio, or E. write, 
 from the notion of scratching lines. Bret. 
 krava, skraba, to scratch, scrape ; Gael. 
 sgrloby scratch, scrape, draw lines ; 
 sgriobair, a graving tool. 
 
 Scrimp. Scanty. G. schr7impfen, pz.. 
 kryfnpe, to shrink, w. crimpio, to pinch 
 or crimp. See Shrimp. 
 
 * Scrip. Pl.D. schrap, Fris. skrap, 
 ON. skreppa, w. ysgrepan, Fr. escharpe, 
 Lith. krapszas, a wallet, scrip. De Guile- 
 villes Pilgrimage, Cotton MS., has, ' I 
 ffailede a shetpe and bordon,' where the 
 Cambridge Prose has, ' Me failede scrippe 
 
 and burdoun.' OHG. scherbe, pera ; ein 
 scharpe, ein sack, stips. — Graff. From 
 this latter gloss it appears that scharpe 
 was used in the sense not only of a scrip 
 or bag, but also of Lat. stip^, an alms, 
 contribution, scrap, agreeing with OG. 
 scherf, a mite, the smallest coin. It is 
 probable then that scrip is properly a re- 
 ceptacle for scraps, a scrap-sack. 
 
 On the other hand, Bav. scherben (pro- 
 perly a potsherd) is used for an earthen 
 vessel : licht-, milch-, nacht-scherben. And 
 as in the East the beggar collects his 
 alms in a basin, it is possible that an 
 earthen vessel (G. scherbe, Du. scherf, 
 scherve, a potsherd) was used for that 
 purpose among our own ancestors when 
 the term scherbe, schejpe, scrip, took its 
 rise, and that the name was inherited by 
 the bag or wallet which served the same 
 purpose in later times. The former ex- . 
 planation however appears far the more 1 
 probable one. 1 
 
 Scrivener. Bret, skriva, to write ; 
 skrivahcr, one who teaches to write, or 
 who does writing for another. It. scrivano, 
 a notary, clerk, scrivener. 
 
 Scrofula. Lat. scrofulcB, diseased 
 glands of the neck, from scrofa, a sow. 
 Probably a translation of the Gr. name . 
 Xoipa^te, which was or seemed to be de- f 
 rived from xoTpof, a pig. 1 
 
 Scroll. Corrupted from scrow. See 
 Escrow. 
 
 To Scrub. Sw. skrubba. Da. skrubbe, 
 Pl.D. schrubben, to rub, scrub ; Du. 
 schrobben, to rub or scrape ; schrabben, 
 to scratch. Gael, sgrlob, scrape, scratch, 
 make bare by rubbing, curry a horse. A 
 scrub, in the sense of a sorry fellow, a 
 person treated with contempt, might be 
 explained by Da. skrab, scrapings, fig. 
 trumpery, trash, but more probably it 
 signifies only something stunted, poor of 
 its kind. See Shrub. 
 
 Scruple. — Scrupulous. Lat. scrupu- 
 liis, a small stone such as may get into 
 a traveller's shoe and distress him, whence 
 the further meanings, of a doubt or source 
 of doubt, and a small weight. 
 
 To Scruse. — Scrouge. To scruse, to 
 press or thrust hard, to crowd. — B. 
 Into his wound the juice thereof did scruze. — F.Q. 
 
 Fr, escrager, to crush and squeeze out of; 
 escraser, escrager, to crush. — Cot. 
 
 -scrut-. Scrutiny. Lat. scrufor, to 
 seek diligently ; scrutiniujn, a search. 
 
 Scud. Du, schudden, to shake, toss, 
 jolt, wag. Hence, as the figure of shak- 
 ing expresses the exertion of superior 
 
SCUFF 
 
 power over an object, E. scud is used to 
 signify the movement of a body under the 
 influence of overpowering force. To scud 
 before the wind is to drive before it with- 
 j out attempt at resistance. A scudoi rain 
 is a violent shower driving with the wind. 
 j * Scuff. SkufoYskuft, the nape of the 
 I neck. A good spiffing, a punishment 
 among boys by nipping the neck with the 
 finger and thumb. — Whitby Gl. Du. 
 schocht, schoft^ atlas, the nape of the neck, 
 higher part of the back on which a burden 
 is borne.— Kil. Schoft (P. Marin), Fris. 
 skuft^ the withers of a horse, properly the 
 tuft of hair which a person mounting lays 
 hold of to help himself up. Hence E. 
 sciiff, applied to the loose skin on the 
 shoulders by which one lays hold of a dog 
 or a cat. The radical notion is a tuft of 
 hair, Goth, skuft^ hair of the head, G. 
 schopf^ tuft of hair or of feathers. Shtiff 
 is used in familiar language for a dis- 
 orderly mass of hair. See Shag. 
 
 * Scuffle. I. A fray, a close hasty con- 
 test. Probably the radical meaning is a 
 struggle in which each seizes the other by 
 the scuff or hair of the head, in which 
 they fall together by the ears. See Scuff. 
 Words expressing the same idea are 
 widely formed on this principle. Thus 
 from G. schopf, Bav. schiibel, a tuft of hair, 
 are Austr. schopfen, schubeln (to scuffle), 
 to pull by the hair ; Pol. czub^ hair of the 
 head ; czubic\ to pull by the hair ; czubid 
 si^, to fall together by the ears ; Swiss 
 tschogg, tschuber, tuft of hair ; tschoggen, 
 tschtibern, to pull by the hair. See Tug. 
 On the other hand we have Sw. skuffa, to 
 shove, jog, nudge ; skuffas, to shove or 
 push one another, to hustle ; but the 
 former appears to me the more probable 
 origin. 
 
 * 2. Du. schoffel^z. Dutch hoe or scuffler^ 
 an instrument for lightly paring the sur- 
 face of a garden bed and cutting off the 
 weeds. Schoffelen, to scuffle weeds. 
 Here the radical notion seems to be 
 whisking or passing lightly over the sur- 
 face. Du. schtiiffelen, to hiss, whistle. 
 Banff, scuff, with slightly whizzing sound. 
 'A hard the stane gang sctiff past ma 
 hehd.' Scuff, to wipe very lightly. 
 Scuff e, a slightly grating sound. ' The 
 scuff e o's feet gart ma leuk roon.' To 
 scuffe^ to rub lightly, do any kind of 
 work, as hoeing, sweeping, brushing, &c., 
 in a slight manner. See Shuffle. 
 
 To Sculk. Da. skulke, to slink, sneak ; 
 skulke syg, to sham sick. * I skowlke, I 
 hide myself, je me couche.' — Palsgr. Pl.D. 
 schulken, to shirk school ; verschulken, 
 
 SCULLERY 
 
 565 
 
 to hide a thing.— Brem.Wtb. Du. schui- 
 len, Pl.D. schulen, to conceal oneself, get 
 out of the way from shame, fear, &c. ON. 
 skjol, Da. skiule, cover, shelter, hiding- 
 place. Fris. schuwl, shelter, conceal- 
 ment ; schuwlcjen, to shelter from rain, 
 &c. — Epkema. See Lurk. 
 
 Scull. I. See Skull. 
 
 2. A small oar. To scull a boat, to 
 drive it by a single oar working to and 
 fro at the stern like a fish's tail. From 
 N. skol, splash, dash, as Fr. gache, an 
 oar, from gacher, to splash. ON. skola, 
 to wash ; N. baare skol, the dashing of 
 the waves. 
 
 Scullery.— Scullion. Two derivations 
 are given for scullery, either of which 
 would be quite satisfactory were it not 
 for the occurrence of the other. From 
 Lat. scutella we have It. scudella, Venet. 
 sguela, OFr. escuclle, a bowl, platter, 
 saucer ; escueillier, place where the dishes 
 are kept ; sculier^ officer in charge of 
 them. — Roquef. And as we \vaNQ. pantry 
 and buttery from the Fr., analogy would 
 lead us to look to the same source for 
 scullejy. But the primary office of a 
 scullery is that which is indicated in the 
 definition given by Bailey, a place to 
 wash and scour in. In this direction we 
 are led to ON. skola, Sw, skolja, Da. 
 skylle, to rinse, splash, wash, skylle-regn, 
 a drenching shower, skylle-vand, N. skol, 
 dish-water, Sw. skSljerska, a scullery- 
 maid or scullion. The corresponding E. 
 form is swill or squill. * I swyll, I rynce 
 or dense any maner vesselL' — Palsgr. 
 Swiller, a. scullion. Lixa, a swyllere. — 
 Nominale, xv. Cent. Of the hero of a 
 story in the Manuel des Pecchds who be- 
 came a scullion it is said, 
 
 He makede hymself over skyle 
 Pottes and dysshes for to swyle. — /. 5827. 
 
 And shortly after he is spoken of as ' the 
 squyler of the kechyn.' — /. 5913. Other 
 instances of the use of squiller in s. s. are 
 cited by Halliwell. ' The pourveyours of 
 the buttlery and pourveyours of the squy- 
 lerey.^ — Ord. and Reg. p. ']']. Palsgr. 
 has squillary for scullery, and Worcester 
 gives Norm. Fr. squillejge in s. s. 
 
 In the case of scullery then we must 
 pronounce in favour of the Scandinavian 
 etymology ; but scullion would seem to 
 have a totally different origin in Fr. 
 escouillon, escouvillon j Sp. escobillo7ty 
 a dish-clout, oven-malkin ; Lang, escoube, 
 a brush, also a maukin for an oven. — Cot. 
 Sp. escoba, Lat. scopjCE, a besom, broom, 
 w. ysgubo, to sweep. In the same way 
 
566 
 
 SCULPTURE 
 
 SCURVY 
 
 ^ 
 
 malkin, maivkin^ is used both for a 
 kitchen-wench and for the clout which 
 she plies. 
 
 Sculpture. Lat. sculpo^ sadptumy to 
 engrave, to carve in stone or wood. Gr. 
 yXw^w, to hollow out, to carve. Lat. 
 scaipo, to scratch, scrape, grave. 
 
 Scum. ON. skum, G. schaiun, OFr. 
 escHtne, It. schiuma, scuma, Gael, sgum, 
 foam, froth, scum. From the humming 
 sound of agitated waters. Pol. szumiedy 
 to rush, roar, bluster as the wind, waves, 
 &c. ; sziim, rush, roar, bluster, then (as 
 foam is produced by the agitation of the 
 waves), froth, foam. 
 
 * To Scummer. — Scumber. To dung, 
 and fig. to dirty. OFr. encumbrer^ encom- 
 brier, escimbrier, to embarrass, encum- 
 ber, dirty. — Burguy. 
 
 Scuppers. — Scupperholes. The holes 
 in the side of a ship by which the water 
 runs off from the deck. Commonly de- 
 rived from Pl.D. schuppen, to cast with a 
 scoop or shovel. Dat water uut schuppen, 
 to bale out water. But it must be ob- 
 served that the action by which the water 
 runs off through the scuppers is very 
 different from baling, nor are they known 
 by a name similar to the E. term in any 
 Teutonic or Scandinavian dialect, in all 
 of which the name is spit-holes^ G. spei- 
 gaten. We are thus reminded of OFr. 
 escopir, escupir^ Sp. escupir^ to spit, to 
 which however the designation of scuppers 
 in the latter language {einbornales) has no 
 relation. Walach. scupi, scuipi, Bret. 
 skopa, to spit. 
 
 To Sour.— Skir. To scjtr, to move 
 hastily ; to skir, to graze, skim, or touch 
 lightly ; to skirl, to slide. — Hal. To skir 
 the country round. — Macbeth. 
 
 The light shadows 
 That in a thought sair o'er the fields of corn. 
 
 B. & F. 
 
 Gael, sgiorr, slip, slide, or stumble. Sw. 
 skorra, Da. skurre, to grate, jar. The 
 primary force of the syllable scur or skir 
 is probably to represent the sound of 
 rapid movement through the air, as in 
 hurry-skurry. 
 
 Scurrer in the sense of scout is proba- 
 bly distinct from the foregoing, being 
 taken from It. scorrere, to run, gad to and 
 fro.— Fl. 
 
 And he sent for the scurrers to advyse the deal- 
 ynge of their ennemyes and to see where they 
 were and what number they were of. — Berners, 
 Froiss. in R. 
 
 Scurf. G. schorf, Du. schorfte, Sw. 
 skorf, scurf, scab j skorpa, crust, scab. 
 
 Dan. skorpe, crust ; skorphudj scurf. 
 Lancash. scroof, dry scales or scabs. 
 
 The ideas of scratching and of itching, 
 or the cause of it, a rough, scabby, scurfy 
 skin, are closely connected. Thus from 
 Lat. scabere, to scratch, rub, scrape, we 
 have scaber, rough, scabby, scabies, scab, 
 itch, mange. On the same principle, G. 
 schaben, to scrape, schabe, the itch, scab, 
 scurf; kratzeuy to scratch, krdtze, the 
 itch ; Sw. kid, to scratch, kldda, the itch. 
 It is probable that sairf or ihe equivalent 
 scruf, scroof, has a similar origin in a 
 form allied to E. scrub, scrape, Dw.schrab- 
 ben, schraeffen, Sp. escarbar, Ptg. escarvar, ' 
 to scratch, scrape. Pol. skrobad si^ po 
 glowie, to scratch one's head. Another 
 application of the same radical figure is 
 to express the notion of refuse, worthless, 
 whence E. dial, scroff, scruff, refuse wood 
 or fuel ; scrawf, refuse. — Hal. So from 
 G. kratzen, krdtze, the waste or clippings 
 of metals or minerals. It is a strong con- 
 firmation of the foregoing derivation that 
 parallel with scurf, or the more original 
 scruff, and related to it as rub and its 
 numerous allied forms are to scrub, are 
 found widely spread among the European 
 languages a series of synonymous forms, 
 of which perhaps the most instructive is 
 Lap. ruobbe, scar, scab, itch, to be com- 
 pared with ruobbet, to rub or scratch ; 
 aiweb ruobbet, to scratch the head ; ruob- j 
 bajes, scabby. Fin. rupi, scurf, scab, f 
 itch, small-pox ; G. ruf rufe, Fr. rouffe, ^ 
 It. ruffia, roffia, scurf; Milan, ruff, 
 sweepings, rubbish, filth, scurf; Venet. 
 rufa, crust, dirt, moss of trees ; Swiss riife, 
 riefe, eruption, scab ; Sc. reif eruption, 
 the itch ; AS. hreof scab, leprosy ; hreofla, 
 a leper; hrieftho (to be compared with 
 Du. scherfte) scaliness of the skin, scurf, 
 leprosy ; ON. hrufa, roughness, crust, 
 scab ; hrufla, to scratch the surface, 
 slightly wound ; Pl.D. roof, rave, rob, 
 scab ; Du. rappe, scab, scurf, scabies quae 
 plerumque decerpi solet — Kil. ; E. dial. 
 rove, scab. 
 
 Scurrile. — Scurrilous. Lat. scurra, a 
 buffoon, professional jester. 
 
 Scurvy, i. Scurfy, scabbv,then shabby, 
 mean. 
 
 2. Mid.Lat. scorbutus; Fr. scorbut ; E. 
 dial, scorvy. Sw. skdrbjugg, G. scharbock, 
 are doubtless corruptions oi scorbutus, the 
 origin of which is unknown. Perhaps 
 the disorder may have taken its name 
 from the scurfy unwholesome skin of a 
 scorbutic person. 
 
 Scurvy grass, provincially scroo by grass, 
 the botanical cochlearia, may be an ac- 
 
SCUT 
 
 commodation from the ON. name, ska?'fa- 
 gras, from skarfr, a cormorant, the plant 
 growing on seaside rocks. 
 
 * Scut. The short tail of a rabbit or 
 deer. Sw. dial, skati, tip, point, extremity, 
 top of a tree, spit of land, short tail of 
 animals as of a bear or a goat. 
 
 To Scutcli. To cleanse flax. Scutched, 
 whipped. — Pegge. Gael, sgiiids, switch, 
 lash, dress flax. A form analogous to E. 
 switch, from the sound of a thin rod 
 moving rapidly through the air. 
 
 Scutcheon. Fr. escusson, a scutcheon, 
 small target or shield. — Cot. Dim. of 
 escu, a shield, coat of arms, from Lat. 
 scutum. 
 
 Scuttle. I. Sp. escotilla, Fr. dscou- 
 tUles, the scuttles or hatches of a ship, the 
 trap doors [properly openings] by which 
 things are let down into the hold. — Cot. 
 Sp. escotar, to hollow a garment about 
 the neck ; escote, the hollow of the neck ; 
 escotado, a dress cut low in the bosom. 
 From OHG. sco2,G. schooss,hosom.. — Diez. 
 See Sheet. 
 
 2. A hollow basket. AS. sctitel, G. 
 schiissel, Du. schotei, a dish, bowl, Lat. 
 scutella, scutula, dim. of scutum, a shield. 
 
 To Scuttle. I. To make holes in a 
 ship's deck or sides to let out or in the 
 water, from scuttle, a small hatchway. 
 
 2. To hurry furtively away. Apparent- 
 ly for scuddle, a dim. of scud. To scuddle, 
 to scud away, to run away all of a sud- 
 den.— B. 
 
 Scythe. See Sithe. 
 
 Se-. Lat. se-, a particle used only in 
 composition, and signifying apart : se- 
 ponere, to place apart. It seems to be 
 merely the ablative of the reflective pro- 
 noun. To lay apart is to lay by itself. 
 Seorsum (for se-vorsuin), apart, asunder, 
 in a direction by itself. In the same way 
 ON. ser, the dative of the pronoun, is used 
 to signify separation : h. hofud ser, on his 
 head ; vera einn ser, to be alone by one- 
 self ; serhverr, every one by himself. 
 
 Sea. ON. sior, sea, salt-water. Da. 
 so, G. see, Goth, saivs, lake. 
 
 Seal. I. ON. selr. Da. sceI, scslhund, 
 OHG. selach, a seal. 
 
 2. Lat. sigilhwt (dim. of signum, a 
 mark). It. sigillo. Pro v. sagel, OFr. sael, 
 seel, Sp. sello, a signet, seal. 
 
 Seam. i. on. saumr, a sewing, seam ; 
 saum thradr, sewing thread. Du. zoom, 
 a hem, brim, border ; G. saum, Sw. som, 
 hem, seam. 
 
 2. Fr. saim, seam, the tallow, fat or 
 grease of a. hog. — Cot. Lat. sagina, fat- 
 tening, fatted animal, fat produced by 
 
 SEASON 567 
 
 feeding ; saginare, Sp. sainar, to fatten 
 beasts. Prov. sagin. Champ, sahin, Sp. 
 sain, It. saime, grease or fat. 
 
 Sean. Lat. sagetta, Gr. aayijvtj, a. drag- 
 net. 
 
 Sear. — To Sear. Du. zoo?-, Pl.D. 
 soor, dry ; sooren, AS. searian, to dry, 
 dry up. Fr. sorer, to dry herrings in the 
 smoke ; Gr. %r]^6q, withered, dry. 
 
 Sear leaves, leaves withered or dead as 
 at the fall of the leaf; sear wood, dead 
 boughs. — B. 
 
 To Searce. See Sarce. 
 
 To Search. It. cercare, Prov. cercar^ 
 ser car, Fr. chercher. Norm, sercher (Pat. 
 de Brai), Bret, kerc'hout. 
 
 The origin, as Diez has well shown, is 
 Gr. KipKog, a circle, from the idea of going 
 round through every corner of the space 
 which has to be searched. When Ahab 
 and Obadiah made their anxious search 
 for any springs of water remaining un- 
 dried, it is said in the Vulgate, ' divise- 
 runtque sibi regiones ut circuirent eas? 
 Propertius uses circare in the same sense. 
 
 Fontis egens erro, circoque sonantia lymphis. 
 
 The monk or nun whose business was 
 to make a round of -examination was 
 called in Mid.Lat. circa, Fr. cherche. 
 ' Ordonnons qu'il y aura deux cherches 
 lesquelles on prendra pour un an, les- 
 quelles iront par sepmaines circuir les 
 officines du monastere pour voir si on ne 
 trouvera point aucunes caquetant ou fai- 
 sant autre chose illicite.' — Carp. Albanian 
 kerkoig signifies both I go throughout, 
 and I search. Kerkoig dynjame, I travel 
 round the world. In the same way from 
 Gr. yvpoQ, a turn, a circle, Mod.Gr. ywptvw, 
 to seek, search, inquire for ; yvpi^u) tov 
 Koanov, I travel round the world. 
 
 Season. Fr. saison, due time, fit op- 
 portunity, a term, a time. — Cot. Sp. 
 sazon, fit time, time of maturity, proper 
 condition, taste, savour j sazonar, to 
 ripen, bring to maturity, or to a proper 
 condition for enjoyment, to season meats. 
 Ptg. sazao, proper time, time of maturity, 
 season of the year. Prov. sazo, period, 
 time. En breu de sazo, en pauc de sazo, 
 in a short or little time ; manta sazo, 
 many times, often. Sazonar, to ripen, to 
 come to maturity, to satisfy. No fui 
 sazonada de, I was never surfeited with, 
 satisfied with. — Rayn. Dessazonar, to 
 trouble, derange, disconcert. Mid.Lat. 
 saisonare, sadonare, assaxonare, to bring 
 to a proper condition. ' Quod pelles quaa 
 ex dorsis scuriolorum erant confectae non 
 bene saisonatce.^ ' Item furnarii debent 
 
568 
 
 SEAT 
 
 coquere bene et sa^onare panes m fuino.' 
 — Consuet. Perpin. in Carp. * Teneatur 
 (furnarius) panem bond fide coquere et 
 asaxvuare.' —Stat. Vercel. ibid. 
 
 Two derivations are commonly offered, 
 first from Lat. sa^/o, sowing, seed-time, 
 extended to other seasons of the year ; 
 the objection to which is that sa/i'o does 
 not appear ever to have been used in the 
 sense of seed-time, much less of season in 
 general. The second explanation sup- 
 poses the word to be a corruption of It. 
 stagione (from Lat. statlo), a season or 
 time of y£ar, Sp. estacion, station, a 
 place appointed for a certain end, season 
 of the year, hour, moment, time. The 
 loss of the /, which would bring It. 
 stagioiie to Fr. saison, is no doubt a dif- 
 ficult step, but the senses correspond so 
 exactly that I am inclined to believe that 
 saison has originated in such a manner. 
 It. zocco, Fr. souche, the stock or stump 
 of a tree, have a like relation with E. 
 stock. 
 
 Seat. See Sit. 
 
 Second. Lat. secundtis, Fr. second. 
 
 Secret. Lat. secretus j secerno, secre- 
 tum, to sever, lay separate, put by itself. 
 
 Sect. Lat. secta, for secuta^ a follow- 
 ing, course of life, course of doctrine, 
 union of persons following thesame leader. 
 Div'.tioris enim sectam plerumque se- 
 guuntur. — Lucret. Qui banc sectam 
 rationemque vitas re magis quam verbis 
 secuti sumus. — Cic. Hostes omnes 
 judicate qui M. Antonii sectam secuti 
 simt. — Cic. Sector^ tp follow. Mid. Lat. 
 secta was used for a suit or uniformity of 
 dress. ' Quodlibet artificium simul vestiti 
 in una secta,' each guild dressed in one 
 suit of colour. — Knyghton in Due. ' Libra- 
 tam magnam panni unius sectce,' a copious 
 livery of cloth of one suit or of uniform 
 colour and quality. -- Fortescue, ibid. 
 Secta in English Law was also suit or fol- 
 lowing. Secta curies, attendance on the 
 court of the Lord ; secta ad molendifium, 
 duty of carrying the tenants' corn to a 
 certain mill. Secta or sequela, the right 
 of prosecuting an action at law, the suit 
 or action itself. 
 
 -sect. — Section. — Seg-ment. Lat. 
 seco, sectum, to cut ; sectio, a cutting ; 
 segmentum, what is cut off. 
 
 Secular. Lat. seculum, an age, se- 
 cularis, belonging to this age or world. 
 
 Secure. Lat. securusj se and cura, 
 care, without care, safe. 
 
 -secute, -sequence. Lat. sequor, 
 secutus, I follow, whence Persecute, Con- 
 secutive, Consequent^ &c. 
 
 SEEK 
 
 Sedate, Lat. scdo, -as, to render calm 
 or still, the causative of sedeo, to sit. 
 
 Sedentary. — Sediment. Lat. sedeo^ 
 to sit or settle down. 
 
 Sedge. AS. secg, carex, gladiolus. 
 Lingula, the herb gladen or seggs. — Fl. 
 Ir. sei?!g, w. hesg, sedges. 
 
 Sedition. Lat. seditio {se itio), a 
 going apart, making a separate cabal or 
 mutiny. 
 
 Sedulous. Lat. sedulus, careful, as- 
 siduous, sitting at work. 
 
 See. Properly the seat or throne of a 
 bishop. 0¥r. st^,sied3,siez. 'The arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury took him be the 
 rite hand and sette him in the Kyngis seJ 
 — Capgrave, 273. ' Quant il fu sacrd e 
 miz el se'.' — Vie St Thomas. ' E sui assis 
 al sed rdal.' — Livre des Rois. Lat. sedes. 
 
 To See. as. seon, Goth, saihvan, G. 
 sehen. 
 
 Seed. AS. seed, G. saat, ON. sdd. W. 
 hdd, seed. Lat. satus, sown. 
 
 To Seek. Goth, sokjan, ON. scekia, 
 Sw. sSka, Pl.D. s'dken, seken, G. suchefi. 
 
 The most obvious type of pursuit is an 
 infant sniffing for the breast, or a dog 
 scenting out his prey or sniffing after food. 
 On this principle we have Du. snoffelen, 
 naribus spirare, odorare, indagare canium 
 more — Kil. ; G. schniiffeln, to search out ; 
 Bav. schmirkeln, to snift, also to search 
 about, ferret out ; N. snusa, to snuff, sniff, 
 to search, to pry into ; Du. snick en, to 
 draw breath, to sob, sigh, sniff, to scent 
 out ; E. dial, sneak, snawk, snuck, to 
 smell ; snook, snoke, Sw. snoka, to search 
 out, to trace a thing out. Snoka i hvar 
 vra, to thrust one's nose into every corner. 
 
 Now the sound of sharply drawing 
 breath through the nose as in sobbing or 
 snilifing is often represented by parallel ; 
 forms beginning with sn and s respectively. 1 
 Thus we have E. dial, snob, to sob ; G. i 
 schnauben, to snort, schnobern, to sniff, to 
 scent out, to be compared with E. sob ; 
 and E. sntij^, sniff, to be compared with 
 Sc. souff, to breathe deep in sleepi, AS. 
 seofan, to sigh. In the same way Du. 
 snicketi, Pl.D. smccken, to sob, correspond 
 to OE, sike, to sigh, and Sw. sucka, to 
 sigh or sob. The syllabic suk is used to 
 represent the sound of sniffing or sniffing 
 in Lap. sukt, a cold in the head, to be 
 compared with E. dial, sneke, Du. snof, in 
 the same sense. Such an application of 
 the root would also explain w. swchio [to 
 sniff out], to search with the snout as a 
 pig or a dog (Lewis), the origin instead 
 of a derivative of swch, Gael, soc, the 
 snout. Hence Fin. sika^ Esthon. sigga^ 
 
SEEL 
 
 a hog, w. socyn^ a pig, as the rooting 
 animal. Sw. sSka to seek, is appUed to 
 dogs in the sense of tracing by scent ; 
 soka som hundar, to scent out ; sSka efter 
 i jorden^ to root hke a pig in the ground. 
 
 To Seel. Fr. siller les yeux, to seel or 
 sew up the eyehds, (and thence) to hood- 
 wink, keep in darkness. — Cot. It. ciglio, 
 Fr. cil, an eyeHd ; cigliare^ to seel a 
 pigeon's eye or any bird's. — Fl. Seeling 
 (among falconers) is the running of a 
 thread through the eyelids of a hawk when 
 first taken, so that she may see very little 
 or not at all, to make her better endure 
 the hood. — B. The process oi ensiling a 
 hawk's eye is described in the book of St 
 Alban's. 'Take the nedyll and threde 
 and put it thorough the ouer eyelydde, and 
 so of that other [and so with the other 
 eye], and make them faste und the becke, 
 that she se not, and then is she ensiled 
 as she oughte to be.' 
 
 We must not confound the word with 
 sealing in the sense of closing. 
 
 To Seem. i. — Seemly. —Beseem. To 
 seem was formerly used in the sense in 
 which we now use beseem, to become, be 
 suitable to. 
 
 Honest mirth that seemed her well. — Spenser. 
 
 ON. sama, to fit (as a coat), to be fitting 
 or becoming, to adorn ; soma, scema, to 
 be or to deem fitting or becoming. Betr 
 sa^mdi thcer : it would better become 
 you. Hann scemir thad ecki : he does 
 not approve of it, does not think it fitting. 
 ScBinilegr, N. sameleg, Dan. sommelig, 
 decorous, seemly, fitting. 
 
 The principle of the foregoing expres- 
 sions is the unity resulting from a w^ell- 
 assorted arrangement, giving rise to the 
 use of the root sam (which indicates 
 unity or identity in so many languages) 
 in expressing the ideas of fitness, suit- 
 ability, decorum. N. sa?ns, like, of the 
 same kind ; sain, agreement, unity ; usa^n, 
 discordance ; scsmja, to fit one thing to 
 another, to agree together, to live in 
 unity. See Same. 
 
 We must not confound the foregoing 
 with G. ziejnen, geziemen, Goth, gatifnan, 
 Du. taemen, betaemen, to be fitting or 
 becoming ; G. ziemlich, Du. taemeligh, 
 taemigh, Sw. tetmnelig, decent, tolerable, 
 middling, the origin of which is explained 
 under Beteem. 
 
 To Seem.. 2. There is considerable 
 difficulty in tracing the development of 
 the verlD seem, to appear. Diefenbach 
 regards as undoubted that it is a second- 
 ary application of see7n, to be fitting. He 
 
 SEIZE 569 
 
 quotes E. seejn as formerly signifying 
 decere, now videri.— \\. p. 192. It is not 
 very obvious how such a change of mean- 
 ing coulcj have taken place, although, if 
 the meaning had originally been to ap- 
 pear, the change to that of appearing 
 right or fitting would have been compre- 
 hensible enough. It is however some 
 confirmation of Diefenbach's position that 
 Bav. zemen (= G. zietnen), to become, 
 beseem, behove, is also used in the sense 
 of being acceptable to one, seeming good 
 to him, and generally of seeming or ap- 
 pearing to one in a certain light. Mich 
 zimet, gezimel eines dinges : I am well 
 pleased with a thing, it seems good to 
 me. -Das zimbt mich : videtur mihi, me- 
 seems. Es zam mi, or zam mi, me- 
 thought, meseemed. Zitnts di weit auf 
 Traunstein : do you think it is far to 
 Traunstein t Comp. w. of E. si7n, zim, 
 to think. 
 
 It is to be remarked that It. sembrare, 
 Fr. sembler, to seem, are derived from 
 the same ultimate root from which we 
 have explained seem, to become or be 
 fitting. 
 
 There is an accidental resemblance to 
 ON. synask. Da. synes, to think, to seem, 
 from syn, sight, view. Mig synes, me- 
 seemeth, methinks. Maanen synes os 
 lige stor sem solen : the moon seems to 
 us as large as the sun. N. han kann 
 koma naar han synest : he can come 
 when he thinks fit, when it seems good 
 to him. ON. nier syndiz, it appeared to 
 me. 
 
 To Seethe. on. sjoda, to cook by 
 boiling ; G. sieden, to boil. Doubtless 
 from the bubbling noise of boiling water. 
 ON. suda, hum, buzzing, boiling. Pl.D. 
 suddern, to boil with a subdued sound ; 
 Sc. softer, to make the bubbling noise of 
 a thing boiling, to simmer. Gael, sod, 
 noise of boiling water, steam, boiled 
 m^at. Gr. giIuv (of hot iron plunged 
 into wet), to hiss. 
 
 To Seize. Fr. saisir, Prov. sazir, to 
 seize, to take possession of; sazina, sa- 
 dina. It. sagina, Fr. saisine, seisin, pos- 
 session of land. It. sagire, Mid.Lat. 
 sacire, to put in possession. Regarded 
 by Diez as formed from OHG. sazjan, to 
 set ; bisazjan, to beset, to occupy. Ga~ 
 sazjan, to possess ; sezzi, possession. — 
 Graff. Mid.Lat. assietare (from Fr. as- 
 siette, seat) is used in the sense of giving 
 possession. Quod feudum castri de Po- 
 piano fuerat — assignatum, assietatiim, et 
 traditum dicto militi. — Arest. Pari. Paris, 
 A.D. 1355, in Carp. It may be doubted 
 
570 
 
 SELDOM 
 
 however whether the word is not of Celtic 
 origin. Gael, sds, lay hold of, fix, adhere 
 to ; sds, a hold or grasp, an instrument, 
 means. 
 
 Seldom. Goth, sildaleiks, wonderful ; 
 ON. sjaldan, seldom, sjaldshi, seldom 
 seen, sjaldgcetr, seldom got, rare, &c. 
 AS. seld, -or, -ost, unusual, rare ; seldan, 
 seldon, rarely, seldom ; seldcuth, selcuth, 
 rarely known, wonderful, strange ; G. 
 selten, seldom. 
 
 Dief. avows that he has no light on the 
 subject either from within or without the 
 Gothic stock of language. 
 
 Self. ON. sjalfr^ Goth, silba, G. selb. 
 Possibly from the reciprocal pronoun, 
 Lat. se, G. sich, and leib, body, as OFr. 
 ses cars. ' Et il ses cors ira avec vous en 
 la terre de Babiloine : ' and he himself 
 will go with you, he will go bodily with 
 you. — Villehardouin, p. 46. 
 
 To Sell. ON. sella, As. sellan, syllan, 
 ODu. sellen,\.o transfer, deliver, sell ; ON. 
 sala, MHG. sal, delivery. 
 
 Selvage. Du. selfende, selfkant, self- 
 egge (Kil.), the selvage, properly self-edge, 
 that which makes an edge of itself with- 
 out hemming. De zel/kanten worden 
 niet gezoomd, the selvages are not hem- 
 med. — Halma. 
 
 Semblance, -semble. Lat. simulo 
 (from similis, like), to make as if, to 
 assume the appearance of ; dissimulo, to 
 make as if it was not, to dissemble. It. 
 semblare, seinbiare, seinbrare, Fr. sembler, 
 to seem, to resemble ; It. sembianza, Fr. 
 semblance, appearance, semblance ; It. 
 simigliare, Sp. semejar, to resemble, to 
 seem like ; It. rassomigliare, Fr. ras- 
 sembler, to resemble. 
 
 Semi-. Lat. seitii, Gr. jj/it, half; both 
 used in comp. only. 
 
 Seminal. Lat. semen, seed for sowing ; 
 sero, I sow. 
 
 Senate. — Senile. — Senior. Lat. 
 senex, an aged man ; senior, eldSr ; 
 senilis, belonging to old age ; senatus, 
 properly an assembly of aged men. Goth. 
 sineigs, aged, from a simple j/wj, preserved 
 in the superl. sinista, the eldest, w. hen, 
 Gael, sean, aged, old. 
 
 To Send. on. sendaj Goth. sa7idjanj 
 G., Du. senden. 
 
 SeneschaL Mid. Lat. siniscalcus, fa- 
 mulorum senior, the steward. From 
 Goth, sineigs, old, superl. sinista, and 
 skalks, a. servant. — Grimm. In like man- 
 ner, the slarosl or steward of a village, in 
 Russia, signifies eldest. 
 
 Sense. — Sensation. — Sensible. Lat. 
 sentio, sensum, I think, feel ; sensus^ feel- 
 
 SEPT 
 
 ing, perception; j'^;/j/(!^///>, that may be felt. 
 
 -sent. I. -sent xn absent, present, \^2i\.. 
 abscns, prasens, is the active participle of 
 the verb stim (for esuni), to be. See 
 Essence. 
 
 -sent. 2. — Sentient. — Sentiment. — 
 Sentence. Lat. sentio, to feel, perceive, 
 think ; as-, dis^, con-sentio, to agree to, 
 to think differently from, to think with. 
 Sententia, opinion, pronounced opinion, 
 decision. 
 
 Sentinel.— Sentry. It. sentinella, Fr. 
 sentinelle, from whence E. sentinel is 
 borrowed, are variously explained ; from 
 Sp. sentar, to seat, as signifying a soldier 
 appointed to watch a fixed post in opposi- 
 tion to a patrole ; or from sentire, to 
 perceive, as It. scolta, a scout, from ascol- 
 tare, to listen ; or from sentitia, the sink 
 of a ship, on the hypothesis that the name 
 was originally given to a person appoint- 
 ed to watch the state of water in the 
 hold. But neither sentar nor sentire 
 could have formed a feminine noun like 
 sentinella in the senses above understood, 
 nor could the word be a corruption of 
 sentinatore, which must have been the 
 original form if it signified the watcher of 
 a sentina. 
 
 The real origin of the designation is the 
 confinement of the sentinel to a short 
 path or beat along which he paces to and 
 fro, from OFr. sente, a path, the origin of 
 the modern sentier, and of the diminutives 
 sentine, sentelle, senteret, cited by Roque- 
 fort. Thus sentinelle (as a secondary 
 dim. from sentine) or senteret would 
 originally signify the sentinel's beat, and 
 his function would be familiarly known 
 by the phrase faire la sentinelle, or per- 
 haps battre la sentinelle or senteret, as in 
 English to keep sentry, whence the name 
 would be compendiously transferred to 
 the functionary himself. Fr. lever de 
 sentinelle, to relieve a sentinel, to take 
 him from his beat. 
 
 It is a strong confirmation of the fore- 
 going derivation that it accounts for the 
 origin of both the synonyms sentinel and 
 sentry, the last of which is commonly 
 assumed to be a corruption of sentinel 
 without further explanation. 
 
 Separate. Lat. separo, -as, to put by 
 itself. 
 
 Sept. A clan or following ; a corrup- 
 tion of the synonymous sect. 
 
 Wherein now M'Morgho and his kinsmen, 
 O'Byrne and his septe, and the Tholesbien in- 
 habited. — State Papers, a.d. 1537. 
 
 There are another secte of the Berkes and divers 
 of the Irishry towards Sligo. — Ibid. A.D. 1536, in 
 N. &Q. May9, 1857. 
 
SEPULCHRE 
 
 The same corruption is found in Prov. 
 cepte. * Vist que lo dit visconte non era 
 eretge ni de lor cepie:' seeing that the 
 said viscount was not heretic nor of their 
 sect. — Sismondi, Litt. Proveng. 215. 
 
 Sepulchre. — Sepulture. Lat. sepelio, 
 sepidtum^ to bury. 
 
 Sequel. — Sequence, -sequent. Lat. 
 seqiior, secutiis sum, to follow ; sequent, 
 following ; sequentia, sequela^ a following. 
 
 Sequester. Lat. sequester, an inter- 
 mediary, one who holds a deposit ; se- 
 questra, to put into the hands of an 
 indifferent person, to lay aside. 
 
 Seraglio. The palace in which the 
 women of a Mahometan prince are shut 
 up. It. serragUo, a place shut in, locked 
 or inclosed as a cloister, a park, or a 
 paddock ; also used for the great Turk's 
 chief court or household. — Fl. From 
 serrare, to lock in, to inclose. Probably 
 the application to the sultan's palace was 
 favoured by the Turkish name saray 
 (from the Persian), a palace, a mansion. 
 Sarayli, any person, especially a woman, 
 who has belonged to the sultan's palace. 
 Caravanserai, the place where a caravan 
 is housed, an Eastern inn. 
 
 Sere. Several, divers. — B. 
 
 Befor Persye than seirxa^-a. brocht war thai. 
 Wallace. 
 
 In seir partis, in several divisions. — Ibid. 
 NE. They are gone seer ways, in different 
 directions. — Jam. Sw. sdr, apart. Taga 
 i sdr, to take to pieces. Sdrdeles, singu- 
 lar, special ; sdrskildt, diverse, different, 
 particular. 
 
 The origin is ON. sdr, sibi, for or by it- 
 self. Hann var ser mn mat, he was 
 by himself at meat. * Their foro stun- 
 dum bathir samt, stundum ser hvarr (Sw. 
 hvar for sig) : ' they went sometimes both 
 together, sometimes each by himself — 
 Heimskringla, I. 27. SMegr, singular, 
 morose. Sdrrddr (Dan. selvraadig), self- 
 willed, obstinate ; servitr (Dan. selvklog), 
 conceited, confident in his own wisdom. 
 See Se-. 
 
 Swed. sin, suus, is used in an analog- 
 ous way in the sense of separate, peculiar, 
 particular. Sin budkqflei hvarnfidrding, 
 a separate token (baculum nuntiatorium), 
 in each division. Sinaledes, quisque suo 
 modo {sin led, his own way), whence pro- 
 bably may be explained Sc. seindle, sel- 
 dom, rare ; originally, peculiar. 
 
 Sere.— Cere. The yellow between the 
 beak and eyes of a hawk. From the re- 
 semblance to yellow wax ? 
 
 Serenade. It. serenata, evening music 
 
 SETTLE 
 
 571 
 
 played before the door of one's mistress 
 by way of compliment. Sereno (of the 
 weather), open, fair, clear, thence the 
 open air as opposed to the confinement 
 of a house ; giacere al sereno, serenare, to 
 lie in the open air. Sereno is also applied 
 to the evening dew which only falls in 
 clear weather. 
 
 Serene. Lat. serenus, clear, bright, 
 calm. 
 
 Sergeant. It. sergente, a serjeant, 
 beadle, also a servant, a groom or squire. 
 — Fl. Fr. sergent, Piedm. servierit, a 
 beadle, officer of a court. Li serganz kil 
 servoit, the servant who served him. — 
 Chanson d'Alexis in Diez. Mid.Lat. ser- 
 viens ad legem^ a serjeant at law. The i 
 oi servients is converted into a ;" and the v 
 lost, as in Fr. abreger from abbreviare. 
 
 Series. Lat. series, a train, order, row, 
 from sero, to lay in order, to knit. 
 
 Serious. Lat. serius, grave, earnest. 
 
 Sermon. Lat. sermo, a discourse. 
 
 Serpent. Lat. serpens; serpo, to 
 creep, glide, as snakes do. 
 
 Serrate. Lat. serra, a saw. 
 
 Serried. Fr. serrd, closely pressed ; 
 serrer (Lat. sera, a lock), to shut in, in- 
 close, press. 
 
 -sert. Sero, sertum, to knit, wreathe, 
 join ; as in Assert, Insert, Desertion, &c. 
 
 To Serve. — Servile, -serve. Lat. 
 servus, a slave ; servio, to be a slave, to 
 serve, to work for another. Hence to de- 
 serve, to earn a thing by work. 
 
 -serve, -serv-. Lat. servo, properly 
 to look, to take heed, then to take care 
 of, to keep, preserve, or save. Hence Con' 
 serve. Observe, Preserve, Reserve. 
 
 Session. Lat. sedeoy sessum, to sit ; 
 sessio, an act of sitting. 
 
 To Set.— To Sit.— Seat. as. set tan, 
 G. setzen, ON. setia, to place, to let down ; 
 G. sitzen, on. sitia, to sit, to set oneself 
 down. Lat. side're, to let oneself down, 
 to alight, to sink, settle, sit down ; sedere, 
 to sit, to remain sitting ; Gr. ei^ofiai, to 
 seat oneself, to sit ; Uog, seat ; t^w, to 
 make to sit, to sink down, settle, sit. 
 
 Seton. Fr. seton, an issue in the neck, 
 where the skin is taken up and pierced 
 with a needle, and a skein of silk or 
 thread passed through the wound. Mid. 
 Lat. It. seta, silk ; setone, a hair cord. 
 Bret, seizen, a string of silk. 
 
 Settle.—* To Settle. AS. setl, a seat, 
 a setting ; setlgang, setlung, the setting 
 of the sun. To settle is to seat oneself, 
 to subside, to become calm. In the sense 
 of adjusting a difference, coming to agree- 
 ment upon terms, there is probably a 
 
572 
 
 SEVEN 
 
 confusion with a radically different verb 
 from ON. sdtt, satt, agreement, reconcilia- 
 tion ; AS. sahte, seht, peace, agreement ; 
 sahtlian, sehtian, OE. saghtle, to compose, 
 settle, reconcile ; sahtnys, an atonement. 
 
 For when a sawele is sa'^tled and sakred to 
 dry3ten: when a soul is reconciled and dedicated 
 to the Lord.— Morris" Alliterative Poems, p. 72. 
 The confusion with settle^ to subside, took 
 place very early, and in the poem last 
 quoted it is said of the Ark, 
 Where the wynde and the weder warpen hit 
 
 wolde, 
 Hit saT^tled on a softe day synkaride to grounde. 
 
 P-Si. 
 Again, of the subsidence of the storm as 
 soon as Jonah was cast into the sea. 
 
 The se sa-^tled therwith as sone as ho mo3t. 
 
 p. 98. 
 
 Seven, as. seofon, Goth, sibun, ON. 
 sio, Dan. syv, Gr. tTrra, Lat. septem, Gael. 
 seachd, w. saith, Sanscr. saptan. 
 
 To Sever. — Several. Fr. sevrer, to 
 wean ; It. severare, to sever or sunder, 
 from Lat. separare. Hence OFr. several, 
 divers, several, separate persons. 
 
 Severe. Lat. severus, stern, rigorous, 
 harsh. 
 
 To Sew. Lat. suere, Goth, siujan, AS. 
 siwian, siiwan. 
 
 Sew. — Sewer, i. To sew is used in the 
 sense of to make or to become dry. A 
 cow when her milk is gone is said to go 
 sew ; a ship is sewed when she comes to 
 lie on the ground or to lie dry. To sew 
 a pond is to empty or drain it, to set it 
 dry. — B. To sew (of a hawk), to wipe 
 the beak.— Hal. 
 
 A corresponding form is found in all 
 the Romance languages with the radical 
 sense of sucking up moisture, the origin 
 of which is shown in Gael, siig, suck, im- 
 bibe ; sugh, juice, sap, moisture, and as 
 a verb, drink up, suck in, drain, dry, be- 
 come dry ; sughadh (pronounced su-d), 
 drinking or dicing up, seasoning of wood; 
 gun sugh (without moisture), dry. In the 
 same way Sp. jugo. It. suco, succo, sugo, 
 sap, juice ; Sp. enjiigar, It. ascmgare, 
 Prov. eisugar, essiigar, echucar, Fr. essuer, 
 esseuwer (Roquef.), essuger (Jaubert), 
 essuyer, to dry, and thence to wipe. Prov. 
 eissiich, Fr. essuy (Vocab. de Berri), e. 
 dial, assue, k sec, dried. Grisons schig, 
 Schick, dry ; ina vacca schich, a cow that 
 is gone a sew. Schichiar, siiar, siier, to 
 dry, to wipe. The w. sych, Bret, sec'h, 
 dry ; sychu, sec'ha, to dry, to wipe, con- 
 nect the foregoing forms with Lat. siccus, 
 and show that the latter is (like Gael, gun 
 sii^h, dry) formed on a negation of succus. 
 
 SEX 
 
 Sometimes, instead of considering the 
 effect of the suction in drying the subject 
 from whence it is drawn, our attention is 
 directed to the bodily presence of the 
 liquid withdrawn. In this point of view 
 we have E. dial, sew or sue, to ooze or 
 issue as blood from a wound, water from 
 wet land, to exude. Ta sew out stam- 
 minly, it flowed out surprisingly. — Moor. 
 NE. seugh. Midland sough, sicff, a drain. 
 'The town sink, the common j^w.' — No- 
 menclator 1585, in Hal. Grisons schuar, 
 assaver, assovar, to water ; Fr. essiaver, 
 to flow away; essiaw, essuier, essuyer, 
 esseouere, essiaviere, seuwilre, esewi^re, a 
 conduit, mill leat, drain of a pond. — Ro- 
 quef. Mid. Lat. assewiare, to set dry, to 
 drain. ' Quod ipsi mariscum prasdictum 
 cum pertinentiis assewiare, et secundum 
 leges marisci vallis includere et in cultu- 
 ram redigere, — et mariscum sic assewia- 
 tum, &c.' — Chart. Edw. III. The use of 
 seware in the sense of watering is a 
 secondary application, as the water drawn 
 off in the process of draining would often 
 be usefully employed on other land. ' Cum 
 prohibuissem ne ecclesia Si Bertini pra- 
 tum suum per terram meam sewaret.' — 
 Chart. Domi de Basenghem, a.d. 1220, 
 in Carp. 
 
 ♦ Sewer. 2. An officer who comes in 
 before the meat of a king or nobleman 
 and places it on the table. — B. To sew 
 was used in the sense of serving up 
 dishes. 
 
 Take garlick and stamp it and boil hit and sew 
 it for the.— Vr. Pm. 
 
 The origin may probably be found in 
 Pl.D. sode, soe (from sieden, to boil), so 
 much as is boiled at once, a dish ; een soe 
 fiske, a dish of fish. Sew in the Liber 
 cure cocorum is commonly used for 
 sauce : 
 
 Hew thy noumbuls alle and sum, 
 
 And boyle thy sew, do horn ther inne. — p. 10. 
 
 Lay the hare in charioure (charger), as I the 
 kenne, 
 
 Powre on the sewe and serve it thenne. — p. 21 . 
 
 It is used for boiled meat in the following 
 passage : 
 
 At Ewle we wonten gambole, daunce, 
 
 To carrole and to sing, 
 To have gud spiced sewe and roste. 
 And plum-pies for a king. 
 
 Warner, Alb. Eng. V. c. 24. 
 
 The w. forms are probably borrowed 
 from the English, w. saig, seigen, a dish 
 or mess of meat ; seigio, to serve up ; 
 seigiwr, one who serves up dishes, a 
 sewer. 
 Sex. Lat. sexus. 
 
SEXTON 
 
 Sexton. OE. sekesteyn, Fr. sacrisiain, 
 the keeper of the sacristy or place where 
 the sacred vestments and other imple- 
 ments of a church are stowed. 
 
 The Sekesteyn for all that defense 
 jyt he save the body ensense. 
 
 Manuel des Pecchds, ij.ioo. 
 
 Sextry, a vestry. — B. 
 
 Shabby. Mean, contemptible. A 
 term expressive of contempt, of like origin 
 and application with scurvy, from the 
 itching skin and scratching habits of a 
 neglected dirty person, e. dial, shab 
 (Fris. shab), the itch ; shabby, mangy, 
 itchy. — Hal. Du. schabben, schobben, to 
 scratch, to rub ; schabbe, scab ; schabbigh, 
 scabby — Kil. ; schabbig, schabberig, 
 shabby. — Bomhoff. Dan. skabe, to 
 scratch ; skabbig, Dan. skabbed, mangy. 
 • — Outzen. 
 
 ! Shack. The shaken grain remaining 
 on the ground when gleaning is over, the 
 fallen mast. — Forby. Hence to shack, to 
 turn pigs or poultry into the stubble-field 
 to feed on the scattered grain ; shack, 
 liberty of winter pasturage, when the cattle 
 are allowed to rove over the tillage land. 
 To go at shack, to rove at large, and met. 
 shack, a vagabond ; shackling, idling, 
 loitering. — Hal. 
 
 In the original sense, shackin, the ague ; 
 shackripe, so ripe that the grain shakes 
 from the husk. — Craven Gloss. Shack, 
 to shed as over-ripe corn. — Mrs Baker. 
 Manx skah, shake, shed. 
 
 Shackle, as. scacul, sceacul, a clog, 
 fetter ; Du. schaeckel, the link of a chain, 
 step of a ladder, mesh of a net ; schakelen, 
 to link together. It is not easy to see 
 any connection of meaning with Sw. 
 skakil, Dan. skagle, the shaft of a cart. 
 
 Shade. Goth, skadus, shade ; nfar- 
 skadrjan, to overshadow ; gaskadveins, 
 covering ; AS. sceado, sceadu, Du. schaede, 
 schaeye, schaduwe, schawe, G. schatten, 
 shade ; Gael, sgath, Bret, skeitd, shade ; 
 w. cysgod, shadow, shelter ; ysgodi, to 
 shelter, shadow ; ysgodigo, to be affright- 
 ed (comp. Fr. cheval ombrageux). Gr. 
 (SKia, shade ; cr/cta^w, to shade ; <SKt.altx.ov, 
 oKiaSiaKT], a screen. 
 
 Shaft. ON. skapt, the shaft of a spear, 
 a handle ; Du. schacht, schaft, a stalk, 
 reed, rod, pole, arrow, quill, the shaft of a 
 mine. 
 
 Chaucer seems to use it in the sense of 
 reed. 
 
 His slepe, his mete, his drinke was him byraft 
 That lene he wede and drie as is a shaft. 
 
 Knight's Tale. 
 Gr. (TKaTrrov, ffKijirTpov, a staff; Lat. 
 
 SHAIL 
 
 573 
 
 scapus, stalk, shaft of a pillar, post; 
 scipio, a staff. 
 
 Shag.— Shaggy. -^ Shock. Shag or 
 shock is long tufted hair, long nap of cloth. 
 
 Of the same kind is the goat hart, differing only 
 in the beard and long j/^o^ about the shoulders. — 
 Holland, Pliny. Buls with shackt heares and 
 curled manes hke fierce lions. — HoUinshed in R. 
 Shag wootd sheep. — Drayton. 
 
 A shock head is a head of tufted hair ; 
 a shock dog or shag dog, a rough shaggy 
 dog. 
 
 AS. sceacga, caesaries, item frondium 
 fasciculus ; sceacged, comatus, comosus. 
 — Lye. 0^.skegg,hQ.zxA. Swiss tschogg, 
 tuft on a bird's head, locks of a man's 
 head ; tschoggen, to tug one by the hair. 
 It. ciocca, any tuft, bush, lock of hair, silk 
 or wool, also a thick cluster ; cioccoso, 
 bushy, shaggy, bunchy. — Fl. Du. schocke, 
 a heap. — Kil. E. shock, a pile of sheaves. 
 Lap. tiiogge, a tangled lock ; Fin. tukka^ 
 forelock, hanging lock. 
 
 Parallel with the foregoing is a series 
 of similar forms with exchange of the 
 final guttural for a labial. Goth, skuft, 
 OHG. sc7iji, scuft, hair of the head ; MHO. 
 schoup, bunch, wisp of straw ; G. schopf, 
 Swiss tschiiff, tschup, tuft of feathers, 
 hair of head. It. ciujv, a tuft or forelock 
 of hair, Fr. touffe, E. tuff, tuftj G. zopf, 
 tuft or tress of hair, top of tree ; Pol. 
 czub, tuft, crest; Let. tschuppis, tuft of 
 hair, bunch, cluster, heap ; w. siob, tuft, 
 tassel ; sioba, crest of bird. 
 
 The radical image is probably a shag, 
 ^^og,jog or abrupt movement, leading to 
 the notion of a projection, then a lump, 
 bunch, tuft. ON. skaga, to project, skagi, 
 a promontory. In the same way Sw. 
 ragg, shaggy hair, seems to be connected 
 with Da. rage, to project. 
 
 To Shag.— Shog. To jog, move ab- 
 ruptly to and fro. Shoggle, to shake, to 
 joggle. — Brocket. ' And the boot in the 
 myddil of the see was schoggid with 
 waives.' — Wiclif. To rock, shake, shog, 
 wag up and down. — Cot. w. ysgogt\ to 
 wag. A parallel form with gog (in gog- 
 inire),jog,jag, formed on the same prin- 
 ciple with them from the representation 
 of abrupt movements by sounds of similar 
 character. Compare Swiss tschaggen, to 
 tick as a clock ; schaggen (stossen), to jog. 
 Da. skoggre, to make a loud harsh noise ; 
 skoggerlatter, horselaugh, roar of laughter. 
 See Jag. 
 
 To ShaiL To walk crookedly. To 
 drag the feet heavily. — Craven Gloss. 
 Esgrailler, to shale or straddle with the 
 feet or legs. — Cot. on. skjdlgr, oblique. 
 
574 
 
 SHAKE 
 
 Swab, schelk^ awry ; scheiken, to go awry. 
 
 To Shake, on. skaka, to shake, to 
 jog; Du. schockeUy to shake, jog, strike 
 against ; S-wah.schokkenySchokklenySchuk- 
 ken, to shake, strike against, move. Dem 
 schuldigen schokki das mantele : the cloak 
 of the guilty trembles. Schtick, an im- 
 pulse ; schuckweis, by starts. 
 
 Parallel fornis with Shag, Shog. 
 
 Shale. A kind of slaty marl that may 
 be separated in thin sheets. G. schaie, a 
 shell or scale. See Scale. 
 
 Shall. — Should. Goth, skulan, pres. 
 skaly skulun, pret. skulda ; ON. skal^ 
 skuldij G. sollen, shall. Goth, skula, a 
 debtor ; Sw. skuld, fault, crime, cause, 
 debt. Skuld pd ett rekning, balance 
 due in an account. Lith. skeliti, skilti, 
 to be indebted ; skola, debt. 
 
 The sense of liability or indebtedness 
 is explained by Grimm on the supposition 
 that the original meaning of skal was I 
 have slain, thence, I have become liable 
 for the weregelt. A more satisfactory 
 explanation may be found in N. sktl, 
 skjel, sky I, separation, difference, distinc- 
 tion. D'ae skil paa (of anything unusual), 
 there is a difference. Hence skilj'a, to 
 make a difference, to be of consequence, 
 to produce an effect, to signify, to concern 
 one. D^ skil ikje lite, there is no little 
 difference. Dae skilde meg inkje, that 
 made no difference to me, did not con- 
 cern me. In this sense it skills not was 
 formerly common in our own language. 
 
 Now we three have spoken it 
 It skills not greatly who impugns our doom. 
 2nd pt. H. VI. 
 
 It skilleth very much [it is of great importance] 
 in this matter and question now in hand to know 
 the nature of the earth, &c. — Holland, Pliny 
 in R. 
 
 In the same way odds, difference, is 
 vulgarly used in the sense of consequence, 
 tendency to produce an effect. ' It's no 
 odds which you take.' 
 
 The term signifying difference is then 
 applied to that from whence the differ- 
 ence proceeds, the reason, cause, grounds 
 of an action, the sake or that on account 
 of which it is done, the proper principles 
 of action, equity, justice. 
 
 In like manner Joon the apostle for humilnesse 
 in his epistleyor the same skile sette not his name 
 thereto. — Wiclif in R. 
 
 Philip herd that chance how the Inglis had done, 
 And alle how it began, and all the skille why 
 That thai togidder ran, and we had the maistrie. 
 R. Brunne, 252. 
 
 Da. han veed intet skiel til det han sager, 
 he has no grounds for what he says. ON. 
 
 SHAM 
 
 skil, N. skiel, right, just demand ; alle ei 
 skj'el, one rule for all ; ON. gora skil, Da. 
 gjore ret og skjel, to do justice, satisfy all 
 legitimate claims upon one. 
 
 A king to kepe his lieges in justice, 
 Withouten doute that is his office, 
 All woU he kepe his lordes in hir degree 
 As it is right and skil that they be 
 Enhansed'and honoured. — Chaucer in R. 
 
 N. gjera skjel fyr' ein ting, to make satis- 
 faction for a thing, to earn it. Sw. skdl, 
 reason, ground, motive. Hwad skdl 
 foregaf han, what excuse did he give, 
 what pretext did he make. Hafwa skdl 
 att, to have ground for. Han har skdl 
 at klaga, he has reason to complain. 
 Med rdtt och skdl, with right and reason. 
 Han har gjordt skdl (or maten, he has de- 
 served his meat. Han har gjordt skdl 
 for sig, he has performed his part. From 
 the foregoing forms we pass to ON. skal 
 (pi. skitlujtt), AS. sceal (pi. sceolon), I 
 shall, as fundamentally signifying, I have 
 ground for, I have reason, I am bound 
 to do so and so, to pay a sum of money, &c. 
 
 The derivation of shall from a word 
 signifying difference is supported by the 
 analogy of ON. inunr, difference, and 
 thence jnan (infin. munu), I must, E. dial. 
 / inuti. Munr er at mans lidi, there is 
 a difference in one man's aid ; one man's 
 aid produces an effect. Siafyri miin um 
 eit, to foresee the consequence of a thing, 
 the difference it will make. N. mun, dif- 
 ference, change ; muna, to change, to 
 produce an effect, to be of use, to help ; 
 miine (auxiliary), must, ought. 
 
 Shalloon. Stuff of Chalons.— B. 
 
 Shallop. — Sloop. It. scialupa, Fr. 
 chalonpe, Du. sloepe, a boat. 
 
 Shallow. — Shelve. — Shoal. Swiss 
 schalb, schelb, slanting, shelving. In 
 proportion as the shore shelves or slants 
 the sea is slow in deepening. Hence 
 shallow, shoal, undeep. ON. skidlgr, 
 oblique. Sc. schald, shallow, shoal. Swab. 
 schelb, crooked, wry ; schelk, askew, wry, 
 of the eyes or gait. See Shelve. 
 
 Sham. Pretended. To sham one, to 
 put a trick upon one. — B. Probably a 
 hide-shame, as Da. skamskiul {skittle, to 
 hide, conceal), Sw. skamtdcke {tdcka, to 
 cover), a false pretext, cloak for shame. 
 Hans sygdom var kun skamskinl : his 
 sickness was only a sham. G. schand- 
 deckel, a sham, a flam, what one takes 
 for a cloke to cover one's shame with. — 
 Kuttn. 
 
 This pretended zeal for natural religion is a 
 mere sham and disguise to avoid a more odious 
 imputation.— -Stillingfieet . 
 
SHAMBLES 
 
 Shambles. Lat. scajnlllus^ dim. of 
 scamnum, a bench. It. scabello, OFr. 
 eschame, eschamel^ a stool. AS. sceamol, 
 a bench. Du. schabelle, schaemely a sup- 
 port, trivet, stool. 
 
 Shambling. Du. schampeien, to 
 stumble. Swiss tschiiinpelen, to go about 
 in a slack and traihng manner. Sc. 
 shamble, to rack the limbs by striding 
 too far. ' You'll shamble yourself.' 
 Shamble-chafts, wry mouth, distorted 
 chaps. — ^Jam. 
 
 Shame. Goth, skaman sik, to be 
 ashamed. ON. sk'dmin, shame, dishonour, 
 abuse ; skam7na, to dishonour, disfigure, 
 abuse ; skammask, to be ashamed. 
 
 Shame is the pain arising from the 
 thought of another person contemplating 
 something belonging to us with con- 
 tempt, indignation, or disgust. It shrinks 
 from the light and instinctively seeks con- 
 cealment, like Adam when he heard the 
 voice of God in the garden and knew he 
 was naked. Accordingly the word may 
 well originate in the idea of shade or con- 
 cealment, and may be illustrated by Pl.D. 
 scheme, shade, shadow ; averschemen, to 
 overshadow ; hevenschemig, dark, over- 
 cast. See Shimmer. 
 
 Shamoy. — Shammy. Fr. chamois, a 
 wild goat, and the skin thereof dressed. 
 It. camoccia, camozza, the wild goat ; 
 camoscio, Fr. sameau, chameau, shammy 
 or buff leather, leather dressed soft. G. 
 gemse, chamois ; zemisch, semisch, Du. 
 seem, seemen, seemsch, Pol, zamsz, Sw. 
 samsk, shammy leather. The resemblance 
 to the name of the chamois seems acci- 
 dental, as it is not likely that an animal 
 so rare as the chamois must always have 
 been should give its name to a leather in 
 general use. Some explain it as Samogi- 
 tian (g. Sdmisch) leather. It must be 
 observed however that the characteristic 
 of the material is pliantness as opposed 
 to the stiffness of tanned leather. Now 
 Du. sam (applied to leather) is soft, 
 pliant ; smeu en sam, sappig en malsch, 
 — Overyssel Almanach, 1836. E. dial. 
 semmit, semmant, pliant, supple, slender. 
 As soft and semimt as a lady's glove. As 
 tall and semmant as a willow wand. — 
 Whitby Gl. 
 
 Shank, as. earmscanca, the arm-bone ; 
 Pl.D. schake, schanke, long leg, leg in a 
 depreciatory sense. Da. skank, G. schenkel, 
 the shank ; diehschenkel, the thigh. It. 
 zanca, leg, shank, shin. Sp. zanca, leg 
 of a bird, long thin leg. 
 
 Shape. Goth, gaskapjan, ON. skapa, 
 Du. schaepen, scheppen^ to form. N. skap, 
 
 SHARD 
 
 575 
 
 form, shape. OHG. scaffelosa zimber, in- 
 formis materia. Probably derived from 
 the notion of carving or shaping by the 
 knife. Lith. skabeti, to cut ; skabus, 
 sharp ; skapoti, to shave, to carve ; 
 iszkapoti, to hollow out, cut hollow. 
 Abroza skaptoti, to carve an image in 
 wood or stone. 
 
 Shard, i . A broken piece of a tile or 
 of some earthen vessel, a gap in a hedge. 
 — B. Du. schaerde, scheure, a breach, 
 notch, crack, piece of broken pottery ; 
 schaerdtandig, gap - toothed, broken- 
 mouthed. Pl.D. skaard, G. scharte, ON. 
 skard, Da. skaar, a notch, breach, cut. 
 OHG. orskardi, lidiscardi, injury to the 
 ears or limbs. Da. skaar, also, as NE. 
 potscar, a fragment. Fr. escharde, a 
 splinter. 
 
 The corresponding verb is seen in the 
 forms Du. scheuren, schoren, to rend, tear, 
 cut, crack — Kil., Pl.D. scheren, to tear 
 away, separate, OHG. skerran, Prov. 
 esqnirar, to scratch or tear, OYr.deschirer, 
 to tear apart, G. scharren, to scrape, 
 Bret, skarra, to crack, chap, Gael, sgar^ 
 tear asunder, separate, divorce, Fr. es^ 
 carter, to separate, to disperse. All from 
 the sound of scraping, scratching, tearing, 
 analogous to Gael, rdc (which uses the 
 same consonantal sounds in an opposite 
 order), make a noise as of geese or ducks 
 or of cloth tearing, tear asunder, rake, 
 harrow. See Scarce. 
 
 2. A special application of the notion 
 of separating (closely allied to that seen 
 in Fr. escharde, a splinter) gives OE. 
 shard, a scale. 
 
 She sigh her thought a dragon the 
 
 Whose schtrdes shynen as the sonne. — Gower. 
 
 The sharded beetle. — Cymbeline. It. 
 scarda, a scale ; scardare, to scale fishes, 
 card wool. 
 
 3. Shard, dung. 
 
 You forget yourself— a squire, 
 And think so meanly ? fall upon a cowshard. 
 B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, 4, 5. 
 
 Sharde and dung. — Elyot in Hal. It is 
 in this sense that ' the shard-born beetle ' 
 is to be understood in Macbeth ; dung- 
 born, and not borne aloft on shards or 
 scales. 
 
 The humble bee taketh no scorn to lodge in a 
 cow's foul shard. 
 
 So from sham, dung, the beetle is called 
 sharnbtig, sharnbude, P1.D. scharnbulle, 
 scharnwevel. 
 
 This sense of the word is to be explained 
 from the notion of scraping or raking 
 away and casting out as refuse. G. 
 
576 
 
 SHARE 
 
 scharren^ to scrape, scratch, rake ; Swiss 
 scharren, to scrape the dirt of the roads ; 
 schoren, to cleanse out the dung from a 
 stall ; schorete, ausschorete, dung ; schor- 
 graben, gutter that receives the draining 
 from stables ; Bret, skarza (properly to 
 scrape), to sweep, to cleanse ; Vf.ysgarth, 
 offscouring, excrement ; Sw. skrdda, to 
 cleanse, to pick, to cast out the bad. 
 Skrada ogras, afekrap ifrin, to weed, to 
 free from rubbish. It. scardare, to weed, 
 is the same word, although commonly ex- 
 plained as if it signified to free from 
 thistles. 
 
 Share. — Shire. As scir, a share, a 
 shire or territorial division ; sceran, 
 scyran, to shear, shave, cut off, divide, 
 part, share. Pl.D. scheren, to separate, 
 tear away, shear ; Du. scheuren, schoren, 
 to tear, cut, burst ; Prov. esquirar, to 
 scratch or tear ; Fr. deschirer, to tear ; 
 It. scevrare, to sever or sunder, to tear 
 apart. OHG. scerran, to scrape ; gascer, 
 a portion, division ; scara, ON. skari, It. 
 schiera, a body of troops, ohg. scaro, G. 
 PJlugschar^ a ploughshare, the part of the 
 plough which tears up the furrow-slice. 
 Gael, sgar^ tear asunder, separate. Bret. 
 skarra, to crack, chap. 
 
 The radical image is the harsh sound 
 of scraping, scratching, tearing, cracking, 
 all agreeing in the separation of a portion 
 of the body operated on. 
 
 To Shark.— Shark. To shark is to 
 clutch greedily after, thence to make dis- 
 creditable shifts to obtain ; shark, a fish 
 eminent for its voracity. Du. schrokken, 
 to eat greedily; schrok, schrokdarni, a 
 greedigut. It. scroccare, scrocchiare, to 
 shark or shift for, to shark for victuals, to 
 live by wit ; scrocco, any wily shift or 
 sharking for ; viatigiare a scrocco^ to live 
 well at other people's expense, to shark 
 for victuals. — Fl. Grisons scrocc, a rogue. 
 Fr. escroqiier^ to swindle. II escroqjie son 
 diner ou il peut : he gets his dinner where 
 he can. The signification is attained 
 through the figure of scraping, clutching, 
 getting by hook or by crook. E71 gierige 
 schrok is explained by Halma, vrek die 
 regts en links schraapt, a wretch who 
 scrapes right and left. And Bret, skrapa, 
 to scrape, is also rendered by Fr. gripper, 
 enlever, escroquer. Skraba, to scratch, 
 scrape, steal. — Legon. E. to scrape ac- 
 quaintance is to make shift to get ac- 
 quainted, to seize on any indirect means 
 that may occur for attaining that end. 
 Comp. It. grofolare, to scrape together, 
 to filch or shift for by hook or by crook, to 
 snatch one's meat and feed greedily. — Fl. 
 
 SHATTER 
 
 The sense of scraping or scratching is 
 commonly expressed by direct representa- 
 tion of the sound. E. screak, to creak or 
 grate like a door or a cart-wheel ; scrauk, 
 to scratch. — Hal. The same radical form 
 may be recognised in Da. skrtikke, to 
 cluck like a hen, when it is observed that 
 the cries of domestic fowls are often de- 
 signated by the same forms as the harsh 
 sounds of scraping or tearing. Thus we 
 have Bret, graka, to croak, to cluck, to 
 make a noise like scrubbing a rough body, 
 to scrape ; Gael, rdcadh, noise of geese 
 or of ducks, noise of tearing, act of raking 
 or of tearing. 
 
 The transposition of the liquid and 
 vowel (which often conceals the imitative 
 character of words) leads to Du. schurken, 
 to scratch {schurkepaal, a scratching-post 
 for cattle), Fris. skurke, skark, a scratch 
 or notch — Outz., corresponding to Du. 
 schurk, G. schurke, a rogue, sharper, knave, 
 shark, cheat — Kiittn., as E. scrauk to It. 
 scrocco and Fr. escroc. 
 
 Sharp. ON. skarpr, G. scharf, sharp. 
 AS. scearfa7i, to cut in pieces ; scearfe, Du. 
 scherf, scherve, a fragment. Bav. scherp- 
 fefi, schiifpfen, to scratch, to cut. Sich 
 sche7pfe7i, summam cutis stringere. 
 
 The earliest kind of cutting would be 
 scraping with a shell or the like. Du. 
 schraeffen, Sp. escarbar, to scrape, scratch ; 
 escarpar, to rasp, rub, cleanse. Lat. scal- 
 pe7'e, to scratch, scrape, also to cut or 
 engrave; scalpriuji, a knife, lancet, chisel. 
 In the same relation which sharp bears 
 to scrape, stands Lith. skabus, sharp, to 
 skaboti, to cut, skapoti, to scrape, shave, 
 carve. 
 
 Sharper. Properly one who resorts to 
 any means of obtaining money, from Du. 
 schraapen, to scrape, which is specially 
 used in the sense of getting money by 
 hook or by crook ; schraaper, an avari- 
 cious, unconscientious man. The word 
 would thus be exactly synonymous with 
 shat'k or shai'ker above explained. 
 
 * But the idea of playing a trick on 
 one, and thence of cheating, is so fre- 
 quently expressed by the representation 
 of a blast with the mouth, that it is not 
 improbable that sharper may be from 
 sJmpiiig. It. biiffa, the despising blast 
 with the mouth that we call shirpmg. 
 See Halliwell. 
 
 To Shatter. A parallel form with 
 Scatter. Du. schetteren, to crack, crash, 
 resound, burst, scatter with noise ; schet- 
 teringhe^ sonus vibrans, sonus dissolutus, 
 stridor dispersus, fragor. — Kil. Swiss 
 tschdtterti, schdttern, to rattle like a heavy 
 
SHAVE 
 
 fall of hail or rain. E. dial, shatter^ to 
 sprinkle, to scatter about ; shatted, be- 
 spattered. — Hal. 
 
 To Shave. Du. schrabben, schabben, 
 schobben, to scrape, shave ; schaven, to 
 rub, to shave, polish. Sw. sktibba, to rub. 
 Lat. scabere, G. schaben, to scrape, scratch, 
 shave. Lith. skaboti^ to cut, to hew. 
 
 Shaw. A thicket. ON. skogr^ Dan. 
 skov^ a wood. Commonly identified with 
 ON. skiiggi, Du. schawe (Kil), Sc. scug, 
 scoiig, shade, shelter. It is certain that 
 E. shaw was very generally used for the 
 shade or shelter of the woods. 
 
 Welcome, quoth he, and every good felaw ; 
 Whider ridest thou under this grene shaw f 
 
 Frere's Tale. 
 I rede that ye drawe 
 Into the wode schawe, 
 Your heddes for to hyde 
 
 Ritson, Lybiaus Disconus. 
 
 Sc. and NE. scug^ to seek shelter. The 
 scug of a brae, of a dyke, the shelter it 
 affords. To scug is said of one who is 
 skulking from the pursuit of the law, and 
 is compared by Jam. with ON. skogar- 
 madr, skoggangr-tnadr, an outlaw, one 
 who has taken refuge in the woods. 
 
 Shawl. Persian, shal. 
 
 Sheaf. Du. schoof, G. schaub, schob, a 
 bundle of straw, a sheaf. OHG. scoub, a 
 bundle of straw or the like, a mop, a troop. 
 Gael, sguab, Bret, skttb^ w. ysgub, a sheaf 
 of corn, a besom ; Sp. escaba, Mod.Gr. 
 oKovira, a besom, scrubbing brush, w. 
 siobj sioba, a tuft, crest, tassel. It. ciuffo, 
 tuft or forelock of hair ; Pol. czub^ hair of 
 the head ; Let. tchuppis^ bunch of hair. 
 The radical image is probably a projec- 
 tion, bunch, bush. See Scuff, Shag. 
 
 Sheal. — Shealing". A hut for shep- 
 herds, fishers, &c., shed for sheltering 
 sheep. To sheat the sheep, to put them 
 under cover. — Jam. on. skjot, shelter, 
 protection ; skyla, shade ; as a verb, to 
 protect. Gael, sgdil^ shade, shadow, cur- 
 tain ; sgailean, a little shade, umbrella, 
 arbour, cottage, booth ; sgdlan, a hut. 
 
 To Sheal. To sheal milk, to separate 
 the parts, to curdle it. Dan. skille, to 
 sever ; ski lies, to part asunder. Melken 
 \skilles, the milk is turned. See Skill. 
 
 To Shear. Pl.D. scheren^ to tear 
 asunder, separate, to shave. Schere hen : 
 shear off, pack off, or in vulgar slang, 
 cut ! Du. scheuren, schoren^ to tear, 
 break asunder, crack, burst ; scheure, 
 schore, a breach, crack, cut, opening. ON. 
 skera, to cut, and (as Sc. shear) to reap 
 corn, to clip hair. Lith. skirti, to separ- 
 
 SHED 
 
 577 
 
 ate, distinguish, choose ; skirtts, to part 
 asunder ; skyris, difference, distinction. 
 
 The radical meaning is probably to 
 tear, from the harsh sound of rending. 
 Albanian shkyir, I tear asunder. 
 
 Shears, g. schere, an implement for 
 shearing, scissors, shears. See Share. 
 
 Sheath, g. scheide, ON. skeidir, sheath. 
 Sw. skida, shell, pod, husk, sheath. The 
 fundamental purpose of the sheath is 
 undoubtedly the protection of the sword, 
 and the origin of the word may perhaps 
 be shown in Gael, sgiath, a wing or pin- 
 ion, a promontory jutting into the sea, 
 shelter, protection, a shield. So Illyrian 
 krilo, a. wing, also protection ; kriliti, to 
 protect. 
 
 Sheave. — Shive. Sheave, the circular 
 disc on which the rope works in a pulley ; 
 shive, a slice. Du. schijve, schijf, G. 
 scheibe, a disc, wheel, slice, quoit ; fen- 
 sterscheibe, a pane of glass ; Pl.D. schive, 
 anything round and flat, the leaf of a 
 table. Sw. skifwa, a slice of bread, meat, 
 &c., sheave of a pulley. ON. skifa, Dan. 
 skive, a slice. 
 
 From the notion of shivering or split- 
 ting to pieces. ON. skifa, to split, to 
 cleave ; G. schieferti, to scale, to separate 
 in small pieces ; schiefer, a splinter, slate, 
 a kind of stone which splits in flat layers; 
 Pl.D. schevelsteen, schevel, slate ; scheve, 
 Da. skicBve, Sw. skdfwa, splinters of 
 hemp and flaxstalks that fly off in dress- 
 ing. See Shiver. 
 
 Shed. I. A penthouse or shelter of 
 boards. — B. Du. schiitten, to ward off, to 
 hedge, defend, hinder, shut. Schutteti 
 den slag, den wind, to parry a blow, to 
 shelter from the wind ; het water met 
 dyken schutten, to stop the water with 
 dykes ; schutberd, paling ; schut tegen 't 
 vuur, a fire-screen ; schutdack, an open 
 roof for shelter against the weather, a 
 shed ; Du. schot, a pigsty ; N. skut, a 
 shed made by the projecting roof of a 
 : house ; ON. skuti, shelter given by a pro- 
 jecting rock ; N. skuta, to project ; Sw. 
 skydd, protection, shelter, rampart ; skyd- 
 da, to protect, shelter. Suffolk shod, 
 shud, a shed. The origin appears to be 
 the notion of shoving forwards, inter- 
 posing an obstacle between ourselves and 
 the danger which threatens us. ON. 
 skjota {skyt, skaut, skuhitn, skotit). Da. 
 skyde, to push forth, shove, shoot. Skyde 
 wand, to repel water ; skyde skylden paa 
 een, to throw the blame upon one. Du. 
 schieten, to push forwards, to shoot. Het 
 brood in den oven schieten, to put the 
 bread into the oven. Hence schot , the 
 37 
 
578 
 
 SHED 
 
 act of shooting forwards, or the obstacle 
 pushed forwards. Een scliott \oox schietcn^ 
 to shove forwards an obstacle, to prevent 
 a thing. Pl.D. schotl, the bolt of a door ; 
 Da. skodiie, a shutter. 
 
 From schot again and its equivalents 
 are formed the verbs VLD-schotten^ schut- 
 ien, schudden, to bolt a door, to repel by 
 a panel or shutter, and Du. schutten, Sw. 
 skydda^ above mentioned. 
 
 2. Another shed is provincially pre- 
 served in the sense of parting, difference, 
 from Goth, skaidan^ G. scheiden, AS. scea- 
 dan, to separate, divide, belonging to the 
 same root with Lat. scindere, Gr. (TxiKnv, 
 to cleave. OE. she//, s/iead, shode, the 
 parting of the hair. ' The dividing or 
 shedding of a woman's hair of her head.' 
 — Fl. To shead, to distinguish ; shed, 
 difference between things.— B. 
 
 To Shed. Properly to shake, then to 
 shake off, shake down, shake out, spill, 
 scatter. Pl.D. schudden, to shake, also 
 to pour out. Appel un beren schudden, 
 to shake apples and pears from the tree. 
 Bav. schutten, to shake, to spill, to pour. 
 Entschiitten sich eines dinges, to rid 
 oneself of a thing, to shake it off. Es 
 schiittef, it pours with rain. Gib acht das 
 d'ndt schidst, take care that you do not 
 shed or spill anything. Shedes, pours. — 
 Sir Gawaine in Hal. 
 
 Allied with scatter, shatter, shudder, 
 and with Gr. cKth^ (aKtSdwvfxi, (TKtddaui), 
 scatter, shatter, sprinkle, shed. 'EKtSnaai 
 alfxa, to shed blood ; — aixfxi^v, to shatter 
 a spear. Manx sJ^ah, shake, shed. 
 
 Sheen. Fair, shining. — B. as. scyne, 
 scytia, bright, clear, beautiful. Wif curon 
 scyne and faegere, chose wives beautiful 
 and fair. — Caedm. Engla scynost, bright- 
 est of angels. G. schbn, beautiful. See 
 Shine. 
 
 Sheep. G. schaaf, sheep. The name 
 has been referred to Pol. skop, Bohem. 
 skopec, a wether or castrated sheep 
 (whence skopowina, mutton), from sko- 
 piti, to castrate. It should be observed 
 that the common It. word for mutton is 
 castrato, and the original meaning of 
 Mid. Lat. multo, Fr. inouton, seems to 
 have been a wether, derived by Diez from 
 Lat. rnutilus. 
 
 Sheer. Altogether, quite, also (of cloth) 
 thin. — B. The fundamental signification 
 seems to be shining, then clear, bright, 
 pure, clean. Da. skicer, gleam, glimmer- 
 ing ; Sc. skyrin, shining. Goth, skeirs, 
 clear ; gaskeirjan, to make clear, to in- 
 terpret. ON. skirr, clean, bright, clear, 
 innocent ; skira, to cleanse, thence to 
 
 SHELTER 
 
 baptise. Skirdagr, skirithorsdagr, Sheer 
 Thursday, was the evening before the 
 Passover, when our Lord washed the 
 disciples' feet. The sense of clear, trans- 
 parent, when applied to cloth, passes into 
 that of thin, flimsy. Pl.D. eeti schier lass- 
 gaarn, a wide-meshed salmon-net. 
 
 From the same root probably belong 
 Lith. czyras, pure ; Pol. szczery, Russ. 
 shchiruii, clean, true, pure, and possibly 
 the latter element in Lat. smcerus. 
 
 Sheet. An open piece of cloth not 
 made up into a shaped garment, and 
 thence any flat expanse, as. sceat, cor- 
 ner, part, region, covering, sheet. Eor- 
 than sceatas, regions of the earth. — 
 Cccdm. S(^s sceat, a corner of the sea, a 
 bay. Under his sceat, under his garment. 
 — Bede. Wejofod sceatas, the covering of 
 the altar. G. schooss, the lap, lappet, 
 skirt, the loose part of a garment. 
 
 The primary meaning is a corner, then 
 the lap of a garment, corner of a sail ; 
 then, in nautical language, the ropes 
 fastened to the corner of the sail by which 
 it is drawn to one side or the other of the 
 vessel. Lap. skaut, point ; aksjo skaut, 
 the point of an axe ; skautek, angular ; 
 ON. skaut, cornel-, lap, corner of a sail. 
 Suffolk scoot, an angular projection mar- 
 ring the form of a field. — Forby. Goth. 
 skauts, the lap of a garment. AS. Pes 
 \Q}i\, sceat. — Vocab. nth century in Nat. 
 Ant. Gael, sgbd, corner of a garment or 
 of a sail, sheet of a sail. 
 
 Sheld. Spotted, particoloured, whence 
 sheldapple (Jor sheld-alpe ?), the chaffinch, 
 or pied finch ; sheldrake, a particoloured 
 kind of duck. ON. skibldr, a shield ; 
 skioldottr, Da. skioldet (of cattle), parti- 
 coloured ; N. skioldet, spotted ; skiolda 
 (of snow), to thaw in patches. 
 
 Shelf. AS. scylfe, a board, bench, 
 shelf; Du. schelf, the scaffold on which 
 a mason stands; VX.'D, schelf en, upschelfen, 
 to raise on a scaffold or boarding. — Brem. 
 Wtb. 
 
 The primary meaning seems a thin 
 piece formed by splitting. Gael, sgealb, 
 split, dash to pieces ; sgealb-chreag, a 
 splintered or shelvy rock. Sc. skelve, to 
 separate in lamina. A stone is said to 
 skelve when thin layers fall off from it in 
 consequence of friction or exposure to the 
 air. — Jam. Du. schelffe, a shell, husk, 
 scales of a fish ; schelfferen, to split off, 
 to scale ; schelffer, a splinter, fragment ; 
 schelferachtig, fissile. — Kil. See Shiver. 
 
 Shell. Du. schaele, schelle, shell, scale, 
 bark. See Scale. 
 
 Shelter, Covering, protection. Pro- 
 
SHELVE 
 
 bably from shield^ OHG. schild, schilt. 
 Swab, schelter, guard for a stove. 
 
 To Shelve. It. stralare, to shelve or 
 go aside, aslope, awry. — Fl. ON. skjdlfa, 
 Da. skjcslve, to shake ; skjdlga, to shake, 
 to make crooked, awry ; skjdlgr, shaking, 
 faihng to hit the mark, squinting, askew. 
 See Shallow. 
 
 Sherbet. It. sorbetto, any kind of thin 
 supping broth ; also a kind of drink used 
 in Turkey, made of lemons, sugar, cur- 
 rants, almonds, musk, and amber, very 
 dehcate, called in England Sherbet. — 
 Fl. There is no doubt that the e. word 
 is from Arab, sharbat, a drink or sip, a 
 dose of medicine, sherbet, syrop ; s/mr- 
 bat, a draught of water, from skarb, shtrb, 
 shurb, drinking, supping, the exact equi- 
 valent of Lat. sorbere, It. sorbire^ to sup 
 or suck up liquid ; the Arab, as well as 
 the Latin root being doubtless, like G. 
 schlurfen, a direct representation of the 
 sound. Lith. srebti, srobti, sraubti, srtlbli, 
 sruboti, to sup, sip ; sruba, soup, broth. 
 
 Sheriff. AS. scirgerefa^ a shire-reeve, 
 governor of a county. The origin of the 
 latter element is unknown. 
 
 Sherry. Wine of Xeres in Spain, the 
 Sp. X often representing the sound of ch 
 or sh, as in xagtie, check, xefe, chief, 
 xeqite^ a sheik, xabegiie, a kind of vessel 
 called a shebeck. — Baretti. 
 
 To Shew. AS. sceawiaft, Du. schouwen, 
 to look, to show. G. schauen^ to look ; 
 Sw. skdda, to behold, to view. Du. 
 schotcde, schouwe, an outlook, high place. 
 
 Shide. 
 And bad shappe him a shup of shides and of 
 hordes.— P.P. 
 
 ON. skid, a thin piece of wood, splinter 
 for burning ; skidgardr, a fence of laths, 
 Du. schieden, to split wood. G. schcit, a 
 splinter, a fragment, a piece of cleft fire- 
 wood ; scheitern, to split to pieces ; OE. 
 shider, a shiver or fragment ; to shider or 
 shinder, to shiver to pieces. 
 
 Faste they smote them togedur 
 
 That their sperys can to-schyder. — MS. in Hal. 
 
 The origin of shide and shider seems 
 precisely analogous to that of shive and 
 shiver. In both cases we proceed from 
 the representation of a broken sound to 
 express the idea of shivering, shattering, 
 bursting asunder. In the original sense 
 we have Swiss tschddern, schddern, tschi- 
 derrif tschudern, to give a cracked sound ; 
 tschdderi, a clapper; Du. schetteren, to 
 crash, resound, burst with laughter, to 
 quaver with the voice, then (as the equiv- 
 alent E. scatter, shatter) to burst in pieces, 
 
 SHIFT 
 
 579 
 
 dispergere cum sonitu, diffundere, spar- 
 gere. — Kil. The sense of quivering or 
 shaking is preserved in shudder, differing 
 slightly in form from shider, while the 
 two senses of trembling and breaking to 
 pieces are united in shiver. On the same 
 principle Bav. tattern, to shiver for cold, 
 is connected with E. tatter, a rag or frag- 
 ment of cloth. 
 
 Parallel with E. shide, shider, shinder, 
 are Lat. schidice, chips, splinters; scin- 
 dula, a shingle or thin piece of cleft 
 wood ; Gr. ox^lr], oyi^i], a shide or splin- 
 ter ; and as these are undoubtedly con- 
 nected with Lat. sci?ido, scidi, to cleave, 
 split, cut, Gr. ox'iZ.oi, to cleave, we must, if 
 we rely on the principle of derivation 
 above explained, suppose that it also 
 gave rise to the last-mentioned verbs, but 
 there is no reason to suppose that these 
 latter were earlier in the order of forma- 
 tion than the related substantives. 
 
 Shield. G. schild, on. skjoldr. Com- 
 monly referred to ON. skjol, shelter, pro- 
 tection, skyla, to cover, protect, as ON. 
 hlif, a shield, hlifa, to protect. Gael. 
 sgdil, shade, covering, curtain. 
 
 Shift. The older sense of dividing, 
 distributing, allotting, is now nearly obso- 
 lete. Shifting, in Kent, the partition of 
 land among coheirs.-^B. 
 
 God clepeth folk to him in sondry wise 
 And everich hath of God a propre gift 
 Som this, som that, as tliat hira liketh shift. 
 
 Chaucer, W. of B. Prol. 
 
 ON. skipa, to ordain, arrange ; skipta, to 
 distribute, share, arrange a succession 
 among heirs, booty among captors. Gud 
 skipti med okkr : let God deal with us 
 two, let him allot to each what seems 
 good to him. Skipta is then, like E. shift, 
 to change. N. skipa, to arrange, appoint; 
 skipta, skifta, Da. skifte, to partition, 
 shift, change. A shift or woman's smock 
 is not, as Richardson explains it, a gar- 
 ment often shifted, but simply a change 
 of linen, as a dehcate periphrasis which 
 lost its virtue when shift was no longer 
 understood as a special application of the 
 sense of change. The name then became 
 liable to the same feeling which made 
 s7nock obsolete, and has in modern times 
 been widely replaced by the Fr. chemise. 
 The radical meaning of the verb seems 
 to be to give shape or form to. AS. sceo- 
 pan, scyppan, to form, create, ordain. Ic 
 hiwige oththe scyppe : I form or create — 
 ^Ifr. Gr., where it will be observed that 
 the synonymous hiwige is derived in an 
 analogous manner from hi%v, form, 
 fashion, appearance. Pl.D. schippen, to 
 37 * 
 
58o 
 
 SHILLING 
 
 give a thing its form and appearance, to 
 arrange. *Du best hier niks to schippen:^ 
 you have nothing to meddle with here. 
 Misschippt'tij to deform, misfit ; umschip- 
 pen, to alter, change the form of a thing. 
 — Brem. Wtb. The same change of ch 
 and/ which is seen in Pl.D. achter, E. 
 after, in Du. schacht and schaft, a shaft, 
 lucht and iuft, left, Pl.D. lucht and /////, 
 air, identifies shift with G. schicht, a part 
 or division ; erbschicht, share of an in- 
 heritance. Schicht is also a layer, stratum, 
 row, so much of a certain arrangement as 
 is laid out at one continuance without a 
 break. Eine rede in drei theilen schichten : 
 to arrange a discourse in three parts. 
 A special application is to a definite 
 period of work, as (when the day is divided 
 into three parts) friih-, tage-, nacht- 
 schicht, the morning, day, and night-shift. 
 Schicht halten, to take one's turn or shift 
 of work. In the same sense Pl.D. schitft, 
 schuft-tied. Das kann ich in einer schiift 
 thun : I can do that without resting. — 
 Adelung. Du. schoft, schoff, the division 
 of the day's work into four parts ; also 
 the meals by which they are broken. 
 Schoften, schoffen, to rest or to take meals 
 at the stated hours. — Kil. G. bierschicht, 
 pause when workmen leave their work 
 for a draught of beer. Thus schicht, or 
 the equivalent shift, might be applied to 
 the breaking off of the old strain or the 
 commencement of a new one, and hence 
 acquires the sense of change. A shift of 
 work is properly a bout of work, the 
 period during which the labourer works 
 at a single stretch, but is subsequently 
 applied to the change of workmen at the 
 expiration of the proper time. In the 
 same way a shift of linen would properly 
 be the period during which a shirt would 
 wear without washing, then the entrance 
 on a new shift, or the change of shirt 
 when the old one was sufficiently worn. 
 
 It is in this sense of a turn of work 
 that the word is used when we speak of 
 making shift, making a thing serve our 
 turn. To shift is to do the duty of the 
 hour ; a shifty person, one skilled at turn- 
 ing his hand to various kinds of work. 
 
 Shilling'. G. schilling, a piece of 
 money, a definite number of certain 
 things, or a definite quantity of materials. 
 The most likely suggestion as to the 
 origin is that supported by Ihre, from Sw. 
 skilja, to divide. The name, according 
 to his view, would be originally given to 
 those pieces of money which were 
 stamped with an indented cross, so that 
 they could easily be broken into four, 
 
 SHI"N 
 
 and the quarter of which was in AS. called 
 fcorthlyng, a farthing or ferlyng, or styca^ 
 a bit. 
 
 To Shimmer, g. schimmern, Pl.D. 
 schemern, Sw. skimra, to glimmer, flicker, 
 shine unsteadily or obscurely, whence 
 Du. schemeren, schemelen, to shade, Pl.D. 
 scheme, shade, shadow. 
 
 We have frequently had occasion to 
 observe that ideas connected with the 
 faculty of sight are expressed by words 
 applying in the first instance to the phe- 
 nomena of sound. Thus Fin. kili?iA is 
 rendered tinnitus clarus, splendor clarus j 
 kilid, clar^ tinniens, clar^ lucens ; kilistad^ 
 tinnitum clarum moveo, splendorem cla- 
 rum reflecto ; kimistd, acut^ tinnio 
 (comp. E. chime) ; kimaltaa, kiimottaa^ 
 to glitter, sparkle ; komista, to sound 
 deep or hollow ; kotnottaa, to shine as 
 the moon. Esthon. kum, noise, shine, 
 brilliancy ; kumama, to glow ; kutmnama, 
 to roar, hum, tingle, to shine. Du. scha- 
 teren, schetteren, to ring, crash, resound ; 
 schittereti, to glitter, shine. The same 
 relation holds good between Pol. sze7nrad 
 {sz — E. sh), to murmur, mutter, rustle, or 
 the equivalent E. sijumer (in Suffolk 
 shimper), to make a gentle hissing or 
 rustling noise like liquids just beginning 
 to boil, and shim)ner, to shine unsteadily 
 or faintly. 
 
 From the frequentative, which in imi- 
 tative words is usually the original form, 
 are developed OHG. scimo, splendour, 
 brilliancy, ray of light, sciman, to glitter ; 
 ON. skima, splendour, reflection, and, as 
 a verb, to glance suspiciously round ; AS. 
 sciman, to glitter, to squinny, still pre- 
 served in the provincial skime, a ray of 
 light, also to look at a person in an un- 
 derhand way ; shim, appearance, white 
 streak on the face of a horse. — Hal. N. 
 skjoma, to glance, to flicker ; Pl.D. scheme^ 
 reflexion, shade. 
 
 Shin. G. schiene, a splint or thin piece 
 of wood, splint for a broken arm, tire of a 
 wheel or strip of iron with which it is 
 bound round. Armschiene, beinschiene, 
 a piece of armour for the arm or thigh j 
 schienbein, the shinbone, so called from 
 its sharp edge like a splint of wood. The 
 analogous bone in a horse is called the 
 splintbone. 
 
 The original meaning of the word is 
 probably a splinter or fragment, from a 
 form like E. dial. shi?tder, to shiver to 
 pieces. Adelung mentions an obsolete 
 schinen, to split, and perhaps Lat. scindere 
 may be referred to the same root if the 
 primary sense were to burst asunder, then 
 
 I 
 
SHINE 
 
 to separate, to cut. For the ultimate 
 origin, see Shingle. 
 
 Shine. Goth, skeinan, ON. skina, G. 
 scheinen, to shine. Bret, skina, to spread, 
 to scatter , skin, ray, spoke of a wheel, 
 furrow. 
 
 The resemblance of the forms shime 
 and shine,\iO\yeye.r striking, is probably 
 not to be accounted for on the supposition 
 of a confusion between the pronunciation 
 of m and n, but rather from both the 
 foregoing forms having arisen from inde- 
 pendent representations of somewhat simi- 
 lar sounds. 
 
 In designating the phenomena of sight 
 we are necessarily driven to comparison 
 with sounds which produce an analogous 
 effect upon our sensitive frame. Thus 
 the sudden appearance of a brilliant light 
 is represented by the sound of an explo- 
 sion, and a sparkling or broken glitter by 
 the sound of crackling. Fr. Mat, origin- 
 ally representing a loud smart sound, is 
 applied to a brilliant light ; ^clat de ton- 
 neiTe, a clap of thunder ; eclat de lumilre, 
 a sudden flash of light. Petiller, to 
 crackle, also to sparkle, twinkle. Du. 
 schetteren, schateren^ to crash, resound ; 
 schitteren, to glitter. At the same time, 
 the sounds employed as the types of visual 
 conceptions have their connections also 
 in the realm of mechanical action. A 
 loud and sudden crash suggests the notion 
 of explosive action, bursting asunder, 
 shivering to pieces, while a crackling 
 sound is connected with the idea of vibra- 
 tory or broken movement. S^eclater, to 
 burst, crash, shiver into splinters ; ^clat, 
 a shiver, splinter, small piece of wood 
 broken off with violence. — Cot. Du. schet- 
 teren is identical with E. scatter, and was 
 formerly used in the same sense ,• diffun- 
 dere, dispergere cum sonitu. — Kil. In 
 like manner Da. sprage, to crackle, cor- 
 responds with Lat . spargere and with E. 
 sparkle, which itself was formerly used in 
 the sense of scatter. ' I sparkyl abroode, 
 I sprede thynges asonder.' — Palsgr. 
 Hence may be explained the relation of 
 Bret, skin, dispersion, as well as of G. 
 schiene (mentioned under Shin), a shiver, 
 splinter, to E. shine. 
 
 When we look for forms representing 
 sound which might, on the principle above 
 explained, give rise to the root skin sig- 
 nifying shine, we meet with Da. skingre, 
 to ring, clang, resound, leading to Sw. 
 skingra, to disperse, scatter, and Sc. 
 skinkle, to sparkle. 
 
 The gay mantel 
 Was skinkland in the sun. — Jam. 
 
 SHIRT 581 
 
 In Lat. scintilla, a spark, the sound of kl 
 in skinkle is exchanged for tl, in a manner 
 analogous to the interchange of ^/ and dl 
 in E. shingle and G. schindel, or in N. 
 singra, to jingle, and ON. sindra, to 
 sparkle. 
 
 Shingle.— Shindle. i. A lath or cleft 
 wood to cover houses with. — B. It. scan- 
 dole, laths or shindells. — Fl. G. schindel, 
 a shingle, a splint for a broken arm. Lat. 
 scandula, scindula, a shingle. 
 
 The idea of breaking to pieces is com- 
 monly expressed by reference to the 
 sound of an explosion, as explained under 
 Shine. Thus OFr. esclat, properly sig- 
 nifying a clap or crack, is used in the 
 sense of a shiver, splinter, also a small 
 and thin lath or shingle. — Cot. The 
 origin of shi7igle, shindle, is shown in 
 Dan. skingre, to ring, clang, resound, 
 leading to Sw. skingra, to disperse, scat- 
 ter. In E. dial, shinder, to shiver to 
 pieces, the sound of 7ig exchanges for nd 
 as in shingle and shindle, or in N. singra, 
 to jingle, and ON. sindra, to sparkle. 
 The dental is also found in Lat. scindere, 
 to split, and in It. schiantare, to rap, split, 
 or burst in sunder, whence schiantolo, a 
 splinter, shiver [shindle]. — Fl. 
 
 Shingle. 2. The pebbles on the sea- 
 shore, from the jingling noise made by 
 every wave on a shingly beach. N. singla, 
 singra, to jingle, clink ; singl, gravel, 
 shingle. 
 
 Ship. Goth, skip, G. schiff, Fr. esquif. 
 It. schiffo, Lat. scapha, Bret, skaf, ship, 
 boat. Gr. oKai^ri, anything scooped or 
 dug out, a hollow vessel, tub, bason, bowl; 
 a light boat or skiff : (TKairTU), to dig. The 
 first boat would be a canoe or hollowed 
 trunk, now called a dug-out in the U. S. 
 
 Shire. See Share. 
 
 To Shirk.— Sherk. A modification of 
 shark, signifying, in the first instance, to 
 obtain by rapacious or unfair proceeding, 
 then to deal unfairly, and finally to avoid 
 or escape from anything by underhand 
 proceeding. ' Certainly he (Laud) might 
 have spent his time much better— in the 
 pulpit than thus sherking and raking in 
 the tobacco shops.' — State Trials in R. 
 Laud was accused of fraud in contracting 
 for licenses to sell tobacco. ' Idle com- 
 panions that shirke living from others, 
 but time from yourselves.' — Bp Rainboro 
 in R. 
 
 Shirt.— Skirt, o^.skyrta, 'D2i. skiorte, 
 Sw. skjorta, shirt ; Da. skidrt, Sw. skorte, 
 skirt. The original meaning of shirt 
 seems to have been a short garment, 
 while skirt is the part shortened or 
 
582 
 
 SHIVE 
 
 tucked up for the convenience of action. 
 AS. sceort, short ; sccorfian, scyrtan^ to 
 shorten ; OHG. scurz, short ; scurziu kau- 
 uaii, short garments. Walach. scurtu, 
 short ; scurtd, to shorten ; scurtdica^ a 
 short garment (togula superior), small 
 upper cloak. 
 
 Bibelesworth distinguishes OFr. eschour, 
 a shirt, and escoiir, a skirt. 
 
 Prenez, valets en vos eschours [the schirtes] 
 De 90 frael hareng rous. 
 Par devant avet escour [the shirte beforne] 
 Et de cote sont gerons [gores] — Nat. Antiq. 
 
 Escourchi^, tucked up. — Roquef. Du. 
 schorssen, schorten^ to tuck up, suspend, 
 be wanting ; schorsse, schorte^ an apron, 
 upper petticoat. Pl.D. upschorten, Da. 
 skiorte, opskiorte^ to tuck up one's clothes. 
 G. schurz^ schurze, an apron ; schiirzen, 
 to truss or tuck up ; die drmel sc/turze?ty 
 to tuck up the sleeves. 
 
 Shive. See Sheave. 
 
 To Shiver. Written chiver, chever, 
 by Chaucer. Chyveryng or quakyng for 
 cold. Chymerynge or chyverynge, or 
 dyderynge, frigutus. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 The analogy between sound and move- 
 ment enables us to speak of a quivering 
 or tremulous sound and a quivering 
 or tremulous motion, and thence to de- 
 signate the motion by what was originally 
 meant as a representation of the sound. 
 Thus the word chitter, originally repre- 
 senting confused, broken sound, as the 
 chirping of birds, is applied to trembling 
 movement. ' Chytteryng, quivering or 
 shakyng for cold.' — Huloet in Hal. So 
 Du. qiieiteren^ to chirp, corresponds to 
 Lat. qiiatere^ to shake. Du. schetteren, 
 to crack, to warble, is also rendered by 
 the Lat. tremere, intremere. Schetter- 
 inghe^ sonus vibrans, stridor dispersus, 
 modulatio. — Kil. 
 
 On the same principle, Sp. gtuebro, a 
 trill or quaver, leads to E. quiver, to 
 tremble, Du. kuyveren, kuyven, to shiver, 
 tremble, parallel forms with Lat. vibrare. 
 The same variation of the initial con- 
 sonant which is seen in shake as com- 
 pared with quake, or in Du. schetteren as 
 compared with quetteren, brings quiver 
 into parallelism with shiver. Lower Rhine 
 schoeveren, to tremble. 
 
 When a body not altogether rigid is 
 violently shaken, the parts of which it is 
 composed are flung into movement in a 
 variety of directions, and seem to be fly- 
 ing apart from each other. Thus the 
 senses of shaking and of breaking to 
 pieces are frequently united, and we speak 
 
 SHOCK 
 
 of shivering a pane of glass, breaking 
 thing to shivers. 
 
 The birdes song — 
 So loud ysang that all the wode yrong 
 Like a^ it should shiver in pecis small. 
 
 Chaucer, Black Knight. 
 And tlian the Squyer wrocht greit wonder 
 Ay till his sword did shaik in sunder. 
 
 Squyer Meldrum, 156. 
 She dithered an' sha'k, you thought she wad 
 ha' tummled i" bits. — Cleveland, Gloss, in v. 
 dither. 
 
 Du. scheveren, to break to pieces ; scheve, 
 a shive, a fragment ; scheversteen, slate, 
 stone that splits up into slices. ON. skifa^ 
 Da. skive, a thin slice ; ski/a, to cleave 
 or split. 
 
 In the same way ON. skjalfa, Da. 
 skicElve, to tremble, are connected with 
 Du. schelfe, schelve, schelfer, a scale, crum, 
 splinter, fragment ; E. quiver, to tremble, 
 with Sp. quiebra, crack, fracture ; quebrar, 
 to break. 
 
 ShoaL I. AS. theofsceol, a gang of 
 thieves ; thegnscole, a train of retainers. 
 Du. school, a shoal of fishes, flock of 
 birds. En school vinken, a flock of spar- 
 rows. Ir. sgol, a scull, school, or shoal 
 of fishes. 
 
 ' The radical meaning seems to be a 
 clump or mass. Du. scholle, a clod, mass, 
 lump of ice ; scholen, to flock or crowd 
 together. It. zolla, a clod ; zollare, to 
 grow together in clods ; zolle dell' aria, 
 the clouds. *A cloud of witnesses.' Mod. 
 Gr. GKovka, a mass, lock of wool, flax, &c. 
 Compare flock of wool, flock of sheep, of 
 birds, &c, 
 
 2. A shallow place in the sea. Perhaps 
 from Fr. escueil, ecueil, It. scoglio, Sp. 
 escollo, a shelf on the sea, or rock under 
 shallow water, from Lat. scopulus, a rock. 
 More probably however it corresponds 
 to Sc. schald, schaul, shallow. * The 
 schaldis of Affrik : ' syrtes — D. V. '■Shawl 
 waters maik maist din.' — Ramsay, Sc. 
 Prov. 
 
 Shock. I. Fr. choquer, Sp. chocar, 
 Du. schokketi, to jog, jolt, knock against. 
 
 The word is of analogous formation with 
 cock, kick, cog, shag, shag, jag, jig, jog, 
 &c., from a form in the first instance re- 
 presenting an abrupt sound, then used 
 to signify an abrupt movement, a projec- 
 tion, prominence, bunch or tuft. 
 
 Forms closely bordering on the sylla- 
 ble shock are used to represent broken 
 sound in Sc. chack, to clack or click ; E. 
 dial, chackle, to chatter ; Sp. chacolotear, 
 to rattle like a loose shoe ; Swiss tschdg- 
 gen, to tick like a clock ; Da, skoggre, 
 skoggerlee, to roar with laughter. Pl.D. 
 
SHOE 
 
 suk! is used to represent the jolt of a 
 rough conveyance. Of a rough horse 
 they say, Das geit jummer suk ! suk / it 
 goes always suk ! suk ! Ene olde suksiik, 
 an old rattle-trap, of an old spinning- 
 wheel, or a jogging-horse. Hence suk- 
 keln, G. schuckeln, schaukeln, schokkehi, 
 Fr. sagoter^ to shake, jolt, jog. 
 
 2. Shock, tufted hair, pile of sheaves. 
 See Shag. 
 ^ Shoe. Goth, skohs, ON. skor, G. schuh. 
 K To Shog'. To jog, joggle, or make to 
 vacillate. — B. Swiss schauggen, schagge?i, 
 to jog ; w. ysgogi, to wag. See Shag, 
 Shock. 
 
 To Shoot. ON. skjota, Du. scMeten, 
 G. schiessen, to dart, shoot, move with im- 
 petuosity. A shoot or young branch is 
 the growth shot out in a single season. 
 
 Shop. — Shippen. Fr. eschope, a stall 
 or little shop ; G, schoppen, Pl.D. schupp, 
 a shed ; AS. scypen, a stall, stable, shed ; 
 NE. shippen, a cow-house ; ON. skdpr, 
 Da. skad, Sw. skdp, a press or cupboard. 
 Shore, i. The border of the land, or 
 extremity where the land is broken off. 
 Du. schoj'e, ruptura, scissura, rima, et 
 acta, ripa — Kil. ; scheuren^ schoren, to 
 burst, spHt, tear, divide ; P1.D. schoren, 
 to tear asunder. See Shard. 
 
 2. A prop. N. skoi-a, ON. skorda, a 
 shore or prop, the shores or stocks by 
 which a ship is supported on dry land. 
 N. skora, skara, to hew ; skoraspone, 
 chips. The word properly means a piece 
 or length of timber. Bav. schi^ot, a piece 
 of bread, flesh, cloth, paper, especially a 
 length of timber, abschnitz von holzstam- 
 men. — Schmeller. In the same way G. 
 stolle, a piece ; stollen, a support, prop, 
 pedestal. See Shard, Sherd. 
 
 3. A public drain. Erroneously sup- 
 posed to be a corruption of sewer. It is 
 really from G. scharren, to scrape, Swiss 
 schoren, to cleanse, sweep out stables, 
 whence schorete, ausschorete, what is 
 scraped or swept out, dung, manure ; 
 schorgraben, the drain which receives the 
 runnings of the cattle. So shoreditch is 
 the ditch which receives the scrapings of 
 the streets. The scavengers were form- 
 erly called rakiers, scrapers. Item quod 
 homines cujuslibet Wardse habeant ras- 
 tratores sufficientes ad purgandas War- 
 das de diversis fimis. — Liber Albus, 258. 
 See Shard. 
 
 Short. I . AS. sceort, ORG. scurz, Walach. 
 sairta, Alban. shkourte, G. kurz, Lat . cur- 
 tus, Pol. krotki, short ; skrocid, to shorten. 
 
 2. Applied in a technical way to the 
 quality of iron it signifies brittle ; hot- 
 
 SHOWER 
 
 583 
 
 shvrt, red-short, &c. • In this combination 
 it is often pronounced and sometimes 
 written shear, as red-shear iron, and is 
 from Sw. skor, brittle. — Marsh. The 
 technical terms of iron point to Sweden 
 as the early seat of the manufacture, as 
 in the case of Sw. walla, to weld iron. 
 
 Shoulder. OHG. scultara, G. schulter. 
 Connected by some with ON. skjoldr, a 
 shield, a derivation supported by E. dial. 
 shield-bones, blade-bone. — Hal. But per- 
 haps a more likely origin is the broad 
 shovel-like shape of the bones. E. dial. 
 shull, a shovel ; shull-ba7ie, the shoulder- 
 blade. The G. schaufel is applied to any 
 broad flat implenient, as the blade of an 
 oar, fluke of an anchor. Pol. lopata sig- 
 nifies a shovel, oven-peel, blade of an oar, 
 while the dim. lopatka is a shoulder- 
 blade. Lat. scapula may not improbably 
 be identical with G. schaufel. In parts of 
 England the sho'ulder is called spade-, 
 spaud-, or sP'aw-^bone, from Sc. spa Id, 
 spauld, spawl, Fr. espaule, Sp. espalda, 
 Prov. espatla. It. spalla, a shoulder, show- 
 ing the same relation to Lat. spatha, 
 spatula, a spatula, spattle or broad slice, 
 and to E. spade, as that which has been 
 shown above between shoulder and shovel. 
 
 To Shout. A parallel form with hoot, 
 as E. dial, siss and hiss, Pl.D. schuddern 
 and huddern, to shudder. It. scioare, to 
 cry shoo ! to frighten birds. Mod. Gr. 
 aKovX,iii, to shout. 
 
 Shove. Du. schuiven, G. schiebett, on. 
 skit/a, N. skuva, skyve, to shove, push, 
 draw ; Du. gaan schuiven, to abscond, 
 steal away. Fr. esquiver, Sp. esquivar, 
 Grisons schivir, to slip aside, avoid, 
 escape ; It. schtfare, schivare, to shun, 
 avoid, to loathe, or abhor. It is to be 
 remarked that the proper meaning of shun 
 is to shove or push, then to avoid. 
 
 Shovel. G. schaufel, Du. schuffel, 
 schuyffel, schoepe, schuppe, a. shovel or 
 similar implement. The meaning would 
 seem to be an implement for digging. 
 Pol. kopac, to dig, scoop, hollow ; kopnac 
 nogq. {noga, foot), to kick ; kopystka, a 
 spattle ; Boh. kopati, to dig j skopati, to 
 dig away ; kopyto, hoof; kopeysko, a coal- 
 shovel. Russ. kopnuf, to dig ; kopanie, 
 digging ; kopanitza, a spade, shovel. 
 Walach. scobi, to scoop, hollow out, 
 carve in wood, stone, &c. Bret, skop, 
 skob, a scoop, bowl. As digging is a 
 coarser kind of scraping, Lat. scabere, G. 
 schaben, and E. shave, must probably be 
 closely allied. N. skavl, skjevla, a scraper. 
 Shower. Goth, shira windis, a storm 
 of wind. ON. skur, a shower of rain. 
 
584 
 
 SHRED 
 
 Pl.D. sc/iuufy a passing fit of illness. 
 Dat dulle schiair hebben, to have an at- 
 tack of madness. Dat schuur is vorbi, 
 the fit is passed. Bi schuren, at recur- 
 ring intervals. 
 
 The origin is probably shown in G. 
 schandern, schauern, to shudder, shiver ; 
 schauer, a trembling, shivering, especially 
 that of cold or fever. Then, taking an 
 attack of fever as the type of a passing 
 fit of illness, the term is applied to other 
 cases of intermittence wholly unconnected 
 with the symptom of shivering, and 
 finally to a passing shower of rain or hail. 
 In the same way Da. gys, shudder, and 
 also shower. 
 
 Shred. Du. schroode, schroye, a bit, 
 piece of paper, scrow ; schroodery a tailor ; 
 Pl.D. scharden, schraen, to eat, to gnaw as 
 a mouse ; G. schrot, what is cut up intb 
 fragments, corn coarsely ground, lead cut 
 up for shot ; schroten, to shred, cut up. 
 OberD. schreissen^ to split j Goth, dis- 
 kreitan, to tear asunder. 
 
 The word differs only in the transposi- 
 tion of the liquid and vowel from shard, 
 sherd, and the radical meaning is a piece 
 rent off, from a representation of the sound 
 of tearing. Gael, sgread, shriek, cry, 
 harsh grating sound ; Sc. screed, a loud 
 shrill sound, the sound made in tearing, 
 the act itself of rending, or the piece torn 
 off. Gael, sgraid, sgrait, a shred, rag. 
 
 * Shrew.— Shrewd. Shrew was form- 
 erly used in the general sense of a bad man. 
 vS'^r^w/^ generation, prava. — Wiclif, Acts 
 2. Shreude folke, improbis. — Chaucer, 
 Boeth. 6. II. The primitive sense of the 
 word seems to be shewn in G. schroff, 
 rugged, passing into the notion of harsh, 
 hard, sharp, disagreeable, bad. A shrewd 
 air is a sharp air, a shrewd man, a man 
 of a hard clear judgment. In Hesse the 
 word appears under the form schro, schrd, 
 schreff, in the pi. schrowe, shrawe, 
 schrewe, rough to the touch, poor, miser- 
 able, bad. Ein schroes pferd, an ill-fed 
 poor horse ; ein schroes essen, coarse bad 
 food ; ein schrd maul, a sharp tongue ; 
 ein schrower, a shrewd man, one ready of 
 speech and act. Pl.D. schrae weide, bare, 
 scarce pasture ; ene schrae tied, a shrewd 
 time, hard times ; schrae huus holen, to 
 keep a spare house. 
 
 Shrewmouse. AS. screawa, mus 
 araneus cujus morsus occidit. From 
 shrew, wicked, as the bite of the animal 
 was supposed to be fatal, and it was said 
 to lame cattle even by running over them. 
 It must not be confounded with Du. 
 schermuysj G. schormaus, the mole or dig- 
 
 SHRIMP 
 
 ging mouse, from schan-eti, schoren, to 
 scrape, to dig. 
 
 The derivation is confirmed by a pas- 
 sage in Higden Polychron. by Trevisa, p. 
 335, new ed. 'There is grete plente of 
 samon — and of wel schrewed mys* The 
 Latin text has mures nocentissimos, the 
 other old translation most nyous mys. — 
 Marsh. 
 
 Shriek. See Screech. 
 
 Shrift. See Shrive. 
 
 Shrill. Used by Spenser as a verb. 
 
 At last they heard a horn that shrilled clear 
 
 Throughout the wood that echoed again. 
 Sc. skirl, to cry with a shrill voice ; a 
 shriek, a shrill cry. N. skryla (of children), 
 to cry in a high note ; skraala, to squawl. 
 Pl.D. schrell, harsh, sharp in sound or 
 taste, hoarse. Schrell bier^ hard, sour 
 beer ; de appel het e7ien schrellen smakk^ 
 the apple has a sharp taste. Shriek and 
 shrill are related to each other as squeak 
 and squeal. 
 
 Shrimp. Anything very small of its 
 kind, a small shell-fish. 
 
 Such things go for wit as long as they are in 
 Latin, but what dismally shrimped things would 
 they appear if turned into English. — Echard in R. 
 
 Du. krimpen, to contract, diminish. 
 AS. scrymman, to wither or dry up. G. 
 schrumpfen, to shrivel, wrinkle, shrink ; 
 Sc. scrimp, to deal sparingly with one ; 
 contracted, scanty, deficient. * He scrimps 
 him in his meat.' Da. skrumpe, to shrivel, 
 shrink ; Du. schro77ipelen, to shrivel, be- 
 come wrinkled or crumpled. E. dial. 
 shrump, to shrug, to shrink; shrump- 
 shouldered, cmmp-shouldered, having 
 contracted shoulders. Gr. Kpafi(3o£, parch- 
 ed, shrivelled. 
 
 The idea of contraction is connected 
 with a vast variety of forms which may 
 be arranged in two parallel series, rup, 
 rump, crup, crump, skrtip, skrump, and 
 ruk, runk, cruk, crunk, skruk, skrunk. 
 But whether the foregoing forms have 
 grown from a common root or have arisen 
 independent of each other, or whether the 
 connection between the fact of contraction 
 and the sound by which it is signified is 
 always of precisely the same nature, are 
 questions on which it would be rash to 
 pronounce a decisive opinion. 
 
 The general course of development 
 would seem to be from the analogy be- 
 tween a broken, rugged sound, and a 
 movement, and thence a shape of similar 
 character, and from the individual con- 
 tractions of a rugged line or surface to 
 the idea of contraction in general. 
 
 As examples of the different forms may 
 
SHRINE 
 
 be cited Lith. rupas, rugged ; E. ripple, 
 rimple, the surface of water curled by a 
 breeze ; rumple, G. rump/en, to distort 
 the mouth or nose ; Gael, crup, crouch, 
 contract, shrink ; E. crump, crimp; Sw. 
 skrumpen, shrivelled, shrunk ; and for the 
 series with a terminal k instead of p, N. 
 rukka, Lat. ruga, a wrinkle; E. rugged; 
 Sw. runka, to shake, vacillate ; rynka, 
 wrinkle, rumple ; E. crook, crouch, crincle; 
 N. skrukka, a wrinkle ; AS. scrincan, to 
 shrink ; Sw. skrynka, wrinkle ; skrynkla, 
 to crumple, wrinkle. 
 
 Shrine, as. serin, G. schrein, Fr. escrin, 
 Lat. scrinium, a cabinet or place to keep 
 anything in. See Screen. 
 
 * To Shrink. To start back, instinc- 
 tively to withdraw from something pain- 
 ful ; then, to contract, to draw in. OFlem. 
 schrincken, contrahere, retrahere. — Kil. 
 It seems to be a nasalised form of the 
 Du. schrikken, to start back, to startle 
 (Bomhoff), the origin of which is ex- 
 plained under Shrug, which is indeed 
 fundamentally synonymous. Florio ex- 
 plains It. raggruzzare, to crinch, shrink 
 or shrug together. * I drawe together 
 as lether or other thing that shringeth 
 together.' — Palsgr. G. eschrecken, to be 
 alarmed, is properly to start at, to shrink 
 from. Du. en schrikkig paard, a startlish 
 horse. N. skrekka, to shrink as cloth. 
 
 To Shrive.— Shrift. To shrive is ex- 
 plained by Bayley, to make confession to 
 a priest, also to hear a confession, and it is 
 generally understood to include the whole 
 circumstances of the transaction, the im- 
 position of penance and consequent ab- 
 solution. From the latter applications 
 ON. skript is used in the sense of repri- 
 mand and of punishment. 
 
 The word has been explained from 
 Lat. scribere, to write, on different grounds 
 which will hardly bear examination. Ac- 
 cording to Skinner, because the names of 
 persons confessing were taken down in 
 writing ; according to Ihre, because the 
 penance enjoined was given by the priest 
 in writing. But the name must have 
 arisen at a period when writing materials 
 were too dear, and the knowledge of read- 
 ing too confined to make it possible that 
 the injunction of penance should with 
 any generality have been delivered in 
 writing. The truth appears to be that 
 there is no direct descent from Lat. scri- 
 bere, and in order to explain the relation 
 with the Lat. verb we must go back to a 
 meaning which it had anterior to that of 
 writing, viz. the scoring of a line, as shown 
 in the compound prcBscribere, to prescribe 
 
 SHROUD 
 
 585 
 
 or enjoin, literally, to trace out a line to 
 be followed by the agent in question. 
 ' Culter vocatur, praedensam, priusquam 
 proscindatur, terram secans, futurisque 
 sulcis vestigia prcescribens incisuris ' — • 
 Pliny ; where the latter clause may be 
 translated, and marking out beforehand, 
 by the incisions, a track for the future 
 furrows. 
 
 From the same original source, but 
 doubtless by no direct descent, is Pl.D. 
 schreve, a line, which is used in the same 
 metaphorical sense as the verbal element 
 in prcescribere. Na dem schreve hauen : 
 to cut according to the line chalked out. 
 Aver den schreven gaan : to go beyond 
 the line, to transgress. Thus we are 
 enabled from the internal resources of 
 the language to explain AS. scrifan, ge- 
 scrifan, to trace out a line of action, to 
 ordain, enjoin, assign. Sylle with his 
 life swa hwast swa him man scrife : he 
 shall give as a ransom for his life whatso- 
 ever is laid upon him. — Exod. xxi. 30. 
 Throwige thaer swa bisceop him scrife : 
 patiatur ibi sicut episcopus ei imponat. 
 Buton swa gescryfen sy : unless it is in 
 any way enjoined. Edictis, gebennum 
 oththe gescrifum; ahdictis, /orscnyenum. 
 — Gl. Cot. in Junius. 
 
 To shrive then had reference originally 
 to the injunctions given by the priest on 
 hearing confession, and was only a spe- 
 cial application of a word which in its 
 general sense has been lost to the Eng- 
 lish language. 
 
 To Shrivel. Gael, sgreubh, sgreag, 
 dry, parch, shrivel ; sgreagan, anything 
 dry, shrunk, or shrivelled. E. dial, shravelj 
 dry faggot wood. Related to OE. rivel^ 
 to wrinkle, as Du. schrompelen to E. rum- 
 ple, or as Sw. skrynka to rynka, to wrin- 
 kle. 
 
 The word, like so many others con- 
 nected with the idea of a wrinkled, rug- 
 ged surface, may be from the mere repre- 
 sentation of a broken sound, but in the 
 present case it is probable it has a more 
 specific origin in a form like ON. skrdfUy 
 N. skraava, to creak or rustle like dry 
 things. ON. skrdthurr, so dry as to make 
 a noise of the foregoing kind. N. skraaenj 
 dried, shrunk ; skraana, to dry, shrivel, 
 shrink. Da. dial, skrasle, to rustle ; skras, 
 skraasel, very dry. On the same prin- 
 ciple, Lith. skrSbeti, to rustle, crackle ; 
 skrebti, to become dry. 
 
 Shroud. To shrowd, to cover, shelter. 
 — B. 
 
 Give my nakedness 
 Some shrowd to shelter in. — Chapman, Homer. 
 
586 
 
 SHRUB 
 
 I gan anone so softly as I coude 
 
 Among the bushes prively me to shrowde. 
 Chaucer, Black Knight. 
 
 AS. scmd^ garment, clothing. ON. skrtict, 
 ornament, clothing ; sknidbuinn, state- 
 lily clothed ; loptlig skrudy the ornaments 
 of the sky, the heavenly bodies. Skryda^ 
 to adorn, to clothe. 
 
 Shrub. A dwarf tree, also a little sorry 
 fellow. — B. Scrubby, stunted, poor of 
 its kind. Da. dial, skrub, bush, brush- 
 wood. Egeskrub, b'dgeskrub, an oak or 
 a beech that is stunted in its growth. The 
 scrubs in Australia are growths of brush- 
 wood or stunted trees. • . .. 
 
 The original meaning would seem to 
 be a roughness, then a prominence, pro- 
 jection, stump, low tree with stiff brushy 
 branches, a stunted growth. Da. skrubbet, 
 rough, rugged. The E. shrub or scrub 
 and scrog correspond to Du. strobbe and 
 struik, Pl.D. struuk, G. strauch, a shrub 
 or bush. Du. stobbe, struik, strotik, G. 
 struinpf, a stump or stalk. St7'aube, 
 anything with a rough or uneven surface. 
 * Harte und straube hdnde wie ein reibi- 
 sen.' — Schmeller. Bav. strauben, struben, 
 strupen, to stand up stiff, subrigere, in- 
 horrere ; strobeln, to be or to make rough, 
 like disordered hair. G. struppig, rugged, 
 staoding on end like hair or feathers. A 
 sh?'ub or scrub is a bush with stiff project- 
 ing branches. 
 
 Du. strobbelen, strompelen, struikelen, 
 stronkelett, to stumble, are probably not 
 to be understood as striking against a 
 stump, but as plunging, striking irre- 
 gularly out with the feet. Bav. strabebi, 
 strappeln, to move the hands and feet. 
 See Stumble. 
 
 * Shrug. The actual meaning is a 
 twitch or convulsive movement, especially 
 of the shoulder, a shuddering, shrinking. 
 Schruggyn, frigulo. — Pr. Pm, ' The touch 
 of the cold water made a pretty kind of 
 shruggi7ig come over her body like the 
 twinkling of the fairest among the fixed 
 stars.' — Arcadia in R. Kiittner translates 
 den kopf zucken, to shrink or shrttg in 
 order to ward off a blow. Zucke nicht ! 
 don't shrug, don't stir in the least. Shriig 
 corresponds to OHG. scrican, screcchan, 
 to start, spring, leap, dash. The syllable 
 scrick, like crack or crick, represents in 
 the first instance a sharp sudden sound, 
 then a sharp quick movement. Sw. dial. 
 skrdkka, to give a crack, to move by 
 jerks. Bav. schrick, a sudden sound, a 
 clap of thunder, a crack in a glass vessel. 
 *Voll der offnen schriick und ritzen.' — 
 Schm. ' Crepuit medium, zerschrick in 
 
 SHUN 
 
 der mitt.' ON. skrugga, thunder ; skrykkr, 
 a sudden movement. Med ry-kkjum ok 
 skrykkjum, with jerks and starts. N. 
 skrukka, a wrinkle, or drawing in of a 
 texture. Parallel forms without the sibi- 
 lant initial are N. rukka, a wrinkle, OE. 
 7-Mg, rog, to tug, wag, shake ; ON. rykkja^ 
 Da. jykke, to twitch, pluck, tug; Sw. 
 rycka, to pluck or snatch ; rycka pd axlar- 
 nar, to shrug one's shoulders. 
 
 To Shudder. Du. schudden, schudderii, 
 Pl.D. huddern, Du. huggeren, huyvereu, 
 to shiver ; Pl.D. schiiddeln, to shake ; 
 schuddern, G. schaudern, schauern, to 
 shudder, shiver. The radical figure is a 
 broken sound, the representation of which 
 is subsequently applied to a broken move- 
 ment. Swiss tschddern, tschitdern, tschi- 
 dern, schddern, to give a cracked sound ; 
 tschdderi, a clapper. E. dial: shider, to 
 break to shivers ; shider, a shiver. Da. 
 dial, skuddre, to shiver. — Molb. in 
 toddre. 
 
 To Shuffle. Bav. schufeln, to go along 
 scraping the ground with one's feet. 
 Hesse, schuben, shufehi, to slide, schufel, 
 a slide on the ice. See Scuffle. 
 
 To Shun. Properly to shove (in which 
 sense it is still provincially in use), then 
 to shove on one side, to avoid. A Sussex 
 peasant said : ' He kept shunning me off 
 the path.' ' I shonne a danger, I starte 
 asyde whan I se a thynge, Je me guenchys. 
 An I had not shonned asyde he had hit 
 me in the eye.' — Palsgr. So from Du. 
 schuizfen, to shove, Fr. esquiver, to slip 
 aside, shun, avoid. 
 
 From turning aside from arose the sense 
 of forbearing, sparing. 
 
 What wuste I what was wrong or right, 
 What to take or what to schone. 
 
 Body and Soul, 341. 
 
 Hence may be explained G. schonen, to 
 spare, to abstain from. Er schonete zu 
 nehmen von seinen schafen und rindern : 
 he spared to take of his own flock. 
 
 Synonymous with shuti, and probably 
 a mere corruption of it, is shunt, a word 
 which, having become obsolete in culti- 
 vated language, has been brought back 
 again by accidental use in the termino- 
 logy of railways. A train is said to shunt 
 when it turns aside to allow another to 
 pass. 
 Then I drew me down into a dale whereat the 
 
 dumb deer 
 Did shiver for a shower ; but I shunted from a 
 
 freyke, 
 For I would no wight in the world wist who I 
 
 were. — Hal. 
 
 To shwit is also, as G. verschiebett {schieben, 
 
SHUT 
 
 to shove), to put off, delay. Schape us 
 an answer and schimte yow no lengere. — 
 Morte Arthure in Hal. 
 
 To Shut. From Du. schieten, to shoot, 
 cast, drive forwards, is formed schut, 
 something put forwards, a defence, ob- 
 stacle, hindrance, mound, dike. Schieten 
 een gracht^ to dig a ditch. Een sclmt 
 voor jets schiete^i^ to place an obstacle be- 
 fore a thing, to hinder it. Schut tegen V 
 vuur, tegen de wiiid, a screen against the 
 fire or wind. Schutdeiir, a sluice gate ; 
 schutdak^ shed ; schuthok, schutkooi, a 
 pound for cattle. Pl.D. schott, a bolt, a 
 sliding door by which water can be kept 
 out. Bav. schiitt, a mound. Schutteti 
 machen^ aggerem facere. — Gl. in Schm. 
 
 Again from the substantive schutt or 
 schott is formed a secondary verb, Du. 
 schtitten^ to ward off, turn back, hinder, 
 stop, shut up. Schiitten den wind, to 
 keep out the wind, whence schutsel, a 
 window shutter. Slag schutten, to parry 
 a blow. Schutberd, boarding for in- 
 closures. Schuttefi de beesten, to impound 
 beasts. Pl.D. schotten, schtitten, to keep 
 or shut out. Schotte de dore to, bolt the 
 door. Water schotten, to repel the water 
 by a dam. In the latter sense, the Da. 
 uses the primary verb skyde, to shoot ; 
 skyde vand, to repel water. Bav. schiitten, 
 to fence round, to protect ; Sw. skydda, 
 to protect, shelter ; G. schUtzen, to pro- 
 tect, are equivalent forms. 
 
 Shuttle. Da. vcBverskytte, N. skutul, 
 skibt, skyt, the implement by which the 
 thread is shot to and fro in weaving. 
 
 Shy. G. scheu, timorous, shunning ; 
 scheuett,\.o\i& afraid of, to shun ; scheuchen, 
 to scare away, to affright ; scheuche, 
 vogelscheu, a scarecrow. Du. schonw, 
 timid, wild ; schowen, schuwen, to avoid. 
 It. schifare, to loathe or abhor, to shun ; 
 schifo, loathsome, also nice^ coy. Prov. 
 esquiu, wild, frightened ; esqiiivar, to 
 avoid, refuse. Sp. esquivo, scornful, shy, 
 cold. 
 
 A natural origin of the word may be 
 found in the interjection of shuddering, 
 schii ! schuck I (Grimm, 3, 298), leading 
 to OHG. scitihan, expavescere, perhor- 
 rescere, terrere ; kisciuhit, perterritus ; 
 liohtskihtig, lucifugus ; Pl.D. schuck, 
 horror, fear, avoidance. Ickheffn schuck 
 vaor'n aust : I shudder at the thoughts of 
 harvest. He schuckt sick nao hus te 
 gaon : he fears to go to the house. Dat 
 part schuckt : the horse shies. — Danneil. 
 G. schiichtern, shy, timorous. And this I 
 believe is the true explanation of the word, 
 although a different origin would seem to 
 
 SIDE 
 
 587 
 
 be indicated by Sw. skygg, timid, fearful, 
 shy, wild ; skygga, to take fright, to turn 
 aside ; which seem derived from skugg, 
 shade, shadow, making the original signi- 
 fication, starting at a shadow, a figure 
 very generally used to express the idea of 
 taking fright. Sw. wara rdddforsin egen 
 skugga, to be afraid of one's own shadow, 
 to be fearful ; Bret, skeud, shadow ; lam- 
 mout rag he skeud, to start at his shadow, 
 to be afraid. So also w. ysgod, shadow ; 
 ysgodigo, to take fright as a horse — 
 Richards ; Sp. sombra, shadow ; asom- 
 brar, to overshadow, to take fright as a 
 horse, to terrify, amaze ; Fr. ombrage, 
 shade ; ombrageux, jealous, suspicious ; 
 cheval ombrageux, a shying horse ; Gr. 
 aKid, shadow ; Mod.Gr. o-/ctd^w, to shade, 
 to terrify ; aKidl^ofxai, to be afraid. 
 
 Sib. Related, of kin ; preserved in 
 gossip (God-sib), related in God, i. e. by 
 the ordinance of baptism. Goth, sibj'a^ 
 relationship ; OHG. sibba, sippia, affinity, 
 peace ; ON. sifi, relation, friend; h.?>. sib, 
 peace, alliance, kindred, companionship. 
 
 Sick. AS. seoc, G. siech, ON. siukr, 
 Goth, siuks, sick ; G. siechen, to be sickly, 
 to languish. Connected by Diefenbach 
 with the notion of drying up, fading 
 away. Lett, sjikt, to fade away ; Pol. 
 suchy, dry ; suchota, dryness, leanness ; 
 suchoty (pi.), consumption. Russ. soch- 
 mtty, to fade away, dry up. Bret, seach, 
 dry ; siochan, feeble, delicate, tender. 
 
 A more probable derivation may be 
 drawn from the sighing and moaning of a 
 sick person. Pl.D. siicht signifies both 
 sigh (and thence longing, strong desire), 
 and also sickness. G. sucht, an im- 
 moderate longing for a thing, sickness. 
 Ehrsucht, geldsticht, zanksucht, a longing 
 for or devotion to honour, money, broils ; 
 gelbsucht, jaundice. E. love-sick and 
 love-longing are equivalent terms. Du. 
 suchten, to sigh, groan, languish. Gael. 
 acain, sigh, sob, moan ; acaineach, wail- 
 ing, sickly. Da. hive, to pant or gasp, 
 also to languish in sickness. Haji har 
 IcEnge hivet, he has long been ailing. 
 
 Sickle. AS. sicel, Du. sekel, seckel, OHO. 
 sihhila, G. sichel, Lat. sectcla, a sickle or 
 scythe, from seco, to cut. 
 
 -side, -sidence. Lat. sedeo, sessum^ 
 to sit ; sido, sedi, sessum, to seat oneself, 
 to sit down, settle ; whence Reside, Sub- 
 side, &c. In like manner are related Gr. 
 'iZofiai, to seat oneself, sit, and t^w, to seat, 
 place, sit, 'iZofxai, to settle down. 
 
 Side. I. ON. sida, G. seite, a side. 
 
 2. Long, as 'my coat is very side.' — B. 
 AS. s/d, ample, spacious, vast ; ON. sidr, 
 
588 
 
 SIDEREAL 
 
 long, loose. Sidr har, flowing hair ; 
 sideyrdr^ long-eared ; sidd^ length of gar- 
 ment. 
 
 Sidereal. Lat. sidus^ -eris, a star, con- 
 stellation. 
 
 Siege. Fr. si^ge, It. sedta, seggia^ a 
 seat or sitting ; assedio, Lat. obsidium, 
 the sitting down before a town in a hostile 
 way. See -side. 
 
 Sieve.— Sift. as. sife^ Pl.D. seve^ Du. 
 zee/, zijghe, G. sieb, a sieve ; si/ten, sich- 
 ten, Du. sijghen, Dan. sigte, to sift. The 
 name may probably be taken from the 
 implement having originally been made 
 of sedge or rushes, on. si/ Dan. siv, 
 sedge, rush. ' Sieves were made of flax- 
 string, but many of a more common 
 quality were made of thin rushes, and that 
 they were originally of this simple mate- 
 rial is evident from the sieve being repre- 
 sented in the hieroglyphics as composed 
 of rushes.' — Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt- 
 ians. 
 
 The probability of the foregoing deriva- 
 tion is supported by w. hesg, sedge ; 
 hesgyn, a sieve ; Pol. sit, a rush 5 sito, a 
 sieve. On the other hand, the name 
 might naturally be derived from Dan. 
 sive, N. siga, to ooze as water, to fall by 
 its own weight, to sink ; Du. zijgen, zij- 
 pen, to trickle, drip, strain ; N. sia, sila, 
 to filter, to strain. Boh. prosy%vati, to 
 sift, to strain through a sieve ; prosywad- 
 lo, a sieve. Da, sie, to strain ; si, a 
 strainer, filter. See Sile. 
 
 Sigh. AS. sican, siccettan, E. dial, sike, 
 Sw. sucka, w. igio, to sigh, sob ; AS. seof- 
 ian, to mourn ; E. dial, to sife, siff, to 
 sigh ; G. senfzen, Pl.D, suchten, siiften, to 
 sigh. Da. hige, hie, hive, to pant, gasp. 
 Sc. souch, swouch, the sound of the wind, 
 or of one breathing heavily in sleep, a 
 deep sigh ; souch, sou/, to sound as the 
 wind, to breathe deep as in sleep. All 
 directly imitative. 
 
 Sign, -sign, — Signal, — Signify, 
 Signuin, a mark, sign ; whence signifi- 
 care, to make a sign, to signify ; signacu- 
 lu7n, a seal ; OFr. seignal, signacle, a 
 seal, mark, signal. To Consign, Resign, 
 &c. 
 
 To Sile,— Silt, To sile, to drip, to ooze 
 through, sink down, to fall ; siting dish, 
 a milk-strainer ; silt, sediment, ooze. 
 And then syghande he saide with sylande terys. 
 Morte Arthure. 
 Many balde gart he sile 
 With thedyntofhis spere.— MS. Hal, 
 Sw, sila, to strain, filter ; sila sig frain, 
 to percolate or ooze through. P1,D. silen, 
 to drain off water. 
 
 SILLABUB 
 
 The immediate origin is the form ex- 
 emplified in N. siga, Du. zijgen, doorzij- 
 gen. Da. sie, to strain, percolate, sink in ; 
 G. versiegen, to drain or dry up ; N. sika, 
 to strain or drain off moisture, whence 
 the frequentatives sikla, to trickle, also 
 (as Da. sagle) to drivel ; sila, to drip, to 
 strain ; stlla, to drip fast ; G. sickern^ 
 siekern, to trickle, leak, percolate. 
 
 As in so many similar cases, a parallel 
 form is found with a terminal labial in- 
 stead of guttural in the radical syllable. 
 Du, door zijpen, doorzijpelen, to drip or 
 trickle through \ Pl.D. sipe7t, sipern, to 
 ooze, drip ; sipeln, sippern, to let tears 
 trickle. 
 
 The ultimate origin is to be found in 
 the notion of sucking or supping up, then 
 sinking into the cracks of the vessel or 
 walls in which the liquid is contained. 
 See To Sag. 
 
 Silence, Goth, sila7t, Lat. sileo, Gr. 
 (Tiytiw, to be silent. In all probability 
 from hushing or commanding silence by 
 a hiss. Gr. <T(2[w,to hiss, to cry j^ ! to hush. 
 The interjection commanding silence is 
 in Turk, stlsd! Ossetic ss ! sos / Fernan- 
 dian sia ! Yoruba sio ! — Tylor. 
 
 Silk. Lith, szilkai, silk ; silkai, cot- 
 ton. From Gr. <Tj/piic6j/, Lat. sericum, the 
 produce of the Seres, by the conversion 
 of the r into /. 
 
 The first people of any knowledge and acquaint- 
 ance be the Seres, famous for the fine silke that 
 their woods doe yeeld. — Holland, Pliny, 
 
 Sill, The threshold of a door or win- 
 dow. Pl.D. sull, G. schwelle, Fr. seuil, 
 It. soglia, a threshold. Sw. syll, Dan. 
 syld, base of a framework, building, 
 ground-sill. NE, sites, the main timbers 
 of a house ; soil, rafter, window-sill. — 
 Hal, Fr, so live, a beam. 
 
 Sole signifies in general the founda- 
 tion, or that on which a thing rests, w. 
 swl, a flat place, ground, soil ; Bret, sol, 
 soil, area, floor of a house ; foundation, 
 base, bottom ; sole of a shoe, beam, w. 
 sail, syl, a groundwork, foundation, base ; 
 seilddar {daear, earth, ground), a founda- 
 tion, pile, or prop ; seilfaen, sylfaen, 
 foundation stone ; seilddor, door-sill, 
 threshold ; gosail, an underpinning or 
 ground silling, foundation ; goseilio, to 
 underpin, to prop. Gael, sail, a beam ; 
 sailbhunn {bonn, sole, foundation, base), 
 the sole, lower beam of a partition. 
 
 Sillabub. A frothy food to be slapped 
 or slubbered up, prepared by milking from 
 the cow into a vessel containing wine or 
 spirits, spice, &c. 
 
SILLY 
 
 And we will ga to the dawnes and slubber up 
 a sillibub. — Two Lancashire Lovers in Hal. 
 
 The word is a corruption of slap-up or 
 slub-tip (like Fr. salope, from Swab. 
 schlapp, a slut), and is the exact equiva- 
 lent of Pl.D. slabb' ut, Swiss schlabutz, 
 watery food, spoon-meat, explained by 
 Stalder as schlabb uus, from schlappen^ 
 slabben, to slap, lap or sup up food with 
 a certain noise. Schlabbete^ schlappete^ 
 weak soup. — Stalder. Mantuan, j/<^//«r, 
 to devour. To slap up, to eat quickly, to 
 lick up food. — Hal. ON. slupra, Da. 
 slubre, Pl.D. slubbern, to sup up soft 
 food with a noise represented by the 
 sound of the word. On the same prin- 
 ciple are formed E. dial, slubber, anything 
 of a gelatinous consistency, the spawn of 
 toads or frogs ; slub, wet and loose mud. 
 — Hal. Du. sle7np [sillabub], a certain 
 drink made of milk, sugar, &c. (Bomhoff), 
 is derived in like manner from slempen, 
 Bav. slampen, to lap, sup up, junket. 
 
 Silly. AS. scelig, G. selig, blessed, 
 happy . 
 
 O God (quod she) so worldly selinesse, 
 Whiche clerkes callen false felicitie, 
 Ymedled is with many bitternesse. 
 
 Chaucer, Tro. and Cress. 
 
 It is probably from the union in an infant 
 of the types of happiness or unalloyed 
 enjoyment, innocence, and inexperience, 
 that we must explain the train of thought 
 in the present word. It is constantly 
 used by the older writers in the sense of 
 simple, unknowing. 
 Thus craftily hath she him besette 
 With her lime roddes, and panter and snare, 
 The seize soul ycaught hath in her nette, 
 Of her sugred mouth alas ! nothing ware. 
 
 Ch., Remedy of Love. 
 
 The simplicity of a child carried on into 
 later life implies deficiency of understand- 
 ing, and thus simpleton or innocent be- 
 come synonymous for an idiot or fool. 
 The French say, que vous etes bon enfant, 
 what an innocent you are ! N. Fris. 
 salig, half saved, weak in mind. The 
 same train of thought is seen in Gr. 
 ti'jyOjjc, good-hearted, simple-minded, then 
 silly, in Fr. tenet, a simpleton, from bene- 
 dictus, blessed, or in Boh. blazeti, a fool, 
 from blaziti, to bless. 
 
 The primary origin of the word is 
 probably shown in Manx shilloo, a herd 
 of cattle ; Gael, sealbh, cattle, posses- 
 sions, good fortune ; sealbhi7ihor, having 
 great possessions ; sealbhach, prosper- 
 ous, fortunate. In the same way AS. ead, 
 a possession ; eadig, rich, happy, blessed. 
 
 Silvan. Lat-. sylva or silva, a wood. 
 
 SIMPLE 
 
 589 
 
 Silver. Goth, silubr, Slav, srebro^ 
 Lith. sidabras. 
 
 Similar.— Similitude. Lat. similis, 
 like ; similaris, of like nature ; similitudo^ 
 likeness. Goth, sama, same ; samaleiks, 
 samelike, agreeing together ; samaleiko^ 
 equally, likewise. 
 
 To Simmer. Imitative of the gentle 
 hissing or murmuring of hquids beginning 
 to boil. ' I symper as licours on the fyre 
 byfore it bygynneth to boyle.' — Palsgr. 
 The Q.XQ2.Vi\oi simpering vm\k. — Fl. Comp. 
 Du. sissen, to fizz as water on hot iron; 
 to simmer. — Bomhoff. Pol. szemrad, to 
 murmur, ripple, rustle. Turk, zemzemd, 
 soft murmur of voices. In the name of 
 the fountain zemzein at Mecca the same 
 root represents the purling of water. 
 
 Simony. The crime of Simon Magus, 
 selling spiritual things for money. 
 
 * To Simper. To smile in a restrained 
 affected manner, to put on an air of mo- 
 desty. 
 
 With a made countenance' about her mouth 
 between simpering and smiling, her head bowed 
 somewhat down, she seemed to languish with 
 overmuch idleness. — Sidney, Arcadia. 
 
 Swiss zimpfer thun, to behave in an over- 
 bashful way, to affect .propriety, to eat, 
 drink in an overdelicate way ; zimpfer- 
 len, to mince, to be prudish, overdelicate ; 
 zimpferli, zimpertrili, a girl of affected 
 sensibility, as OE. simperdecocket, a nice 
 thing. — Cot. Bav. zimpern, zitnpeln, to 
 behave in an affected, delicate, nice 
 way. Swab, zumpfer, zemper, bashful, 
 affected, nice in eating; zimperknickele, 
 an affected person. Sw. sipp, simp, sejn- 
 per, affectedly moderate in eating. — Ihre. 
 Da. dial, semper, simper, affected, coy, 
 prudish, especially of one who requires 
 pressing to eat ; ' She is as semper as a 
 bride.' The radical meaning is probably 
 the same as that of E. prim, signifying a 
 conscious restraint of the lips and mouth, 
 as if closing them in the pronunciation of 
 the word sipp. ^ Sipp,' says the Brem. 
 Wtb., ' expresses the gesture of a com- 
 pressed mouth, and an affected pronun- 
 ciation with pointed lips. A woman who 
 makes this sort of megrims is called Miss 
 Sipp or Madam van Sippkels. Of such 
 a one they say. She cannot say Sipp. 
 Den mund sipp trekken, to screw up the 
 mouth. De bruut sitt so sipp, the bride 
 sits so prim.' See Prim. 
 
 Simple. Lat. simplex, single, without 
 pretence. Ihre compares semel, once ; 
 semita, a footpath, path for a single per- 
 son ; sitigulus, each by himself, single, 
 
590 
 
 ILMULATE 
 
 referring them to the possessive pronoun 
 sin, suus. See Se-. 
 
 Simulate. Lat. simularey to feign. 
 See -semble. 
 
 Simultaneous. Lat. sitnui, together, 
 all at once. Fin. sama, the same ; in the 
 adessitive case, samalla, at the same mo- 
 ment, together ; samalla muotoa, in the 
 same manner. 
 
 Sin. G. sjinde, OHG. sunta, ON. synd. 
 The radical meaning is probably breach. 
 N. sundi synde, sundered, injured, broken; 
 i sund, in pieces, asunder ; eii siindt glas, 
 a broken glass ; sunde klczde, torn 
 clothes. N. synd is used not only for sin 
 or guilt towards God, but breach of right 
 in general. Hava syjid fyr' ein, to re- 
 proach one with his misconduct ; gjera 
 synd paa ein, to deal hardly with one, do 
 him injustice ; syndapeng, money unjustly 
 extorted. OHG. sunta, peccatum, culpa, 
 noxa, macula ; ano stmta, sine macula ; 
 suntiga, noxia (corpora) ; Lat. sons, so7ttis, 
 guilty, hurtful } insons^ OHG. unsuntig, 
 innocent. 
 
 Since, as. sith, late, and as an adv. 
 lately, afterwards ; sithnicBst, sithest, last ; 
 siththan, siththen, after, after that, thence- 
 forth, since. OE. seththe^ sith, siihen, sin, 
 sithence, Sc. syne. 
 
 And he axide his fadir how long is it sithe this 
 hath falle to him ? — Widif, Mark 9. 
 
 For sit hen the fadris dieden. — 2 Peter 3. 
 
 O mighty God, if that it be thy will, 
 Sin thou art righteous judge, how may it be, &c. 
 Man of Laws T. 
 
 From consequence in time since is trans- 
 ferred to consequence in reasoning and 
 causation. In accordance with, or in de- 
 pendence on the fact that thou art 
 righteous judge, how may it be, &c. ON. 
 sid, sidar, sidasi, o. late, later, at last ; 
 M7n sidir (ace. pi.), Da. omsider, at last, 
 at length, on. fyrr og sider, from be- 
 ginning to end. Pl.D. seder, seder t, sinter, 
 sint, Du. sedert, sinds, G. seit, since. 
 
 Sincere. Lat. sincerus, apparently a 
 compound of the same element which 
 gives the sim in simplex, and Pol. szczery, 
 pure, unmixed, genuine, sincere, true. AS. 
 sin (in comp.), ever, always ; G. singriin, 
 E. sengreen (evergreen), a plant ; OHG. 
 sinvluot, G. siindjiuth, the great flood. 
 
 Sinew, as. sinu, Du. zenuw, G. sehne, 
 ON. sin, sinew. 
 
 To Sing". Goth, siggvan, to sing, to 
 read aloud, Gael, seinn, ring as a bell, 
 play on an instrument, sing, chant, pro- 
 claim. Sanscr. chinj, ring, tingle. ON. 
 sangra, to murmur ; N. sangra, to whine, 
 
 61 R 
 
 give a long-drawn whining sound ; singla, 
 sing?-e, to clink. 
 
 To Singe. Du. senghen, senghelen, 
 to burn superficially ; de gesengde lucht- 
 streek, the torrid zone. Derived by Ade- 
 lung from a representation of the sound 
 of blazing. ON. sangra, to murmur ; 
 sangr, having a burnt taste. 
 
 Single. — Singular. Lat. singulus^ 
 singiilaris. 
 
 Sinister. Lat. sinister^ on the left 
 hand, unlucky. 
 
 To Sink. Goth, siggqiian, ON. sokkva, 
 G. sinken, Sw. sjiinka, to fall to the bot- 
 tom ; Goth, saggquan, G. sdnken, Sw. 
 sanka, to cause to sink. It is not easy to 
 separate the present form from the series 
 mentioned under Sag, where the radical 
 notion is the wasting or soaking in of 
 water through the pores and interstices of 
 the basin in which it is held, then the 
 lowering of the surface, the fact of gradu- 
 ally lowering or sinking down. Lith. seku, 
 setikti, to dry up, drain away, become 
 shallow ; sujikus, heavy ; AS. sigan, to 
 sink down, fall, set as the sun ; N. siga, 
 to ooze or trickle through, to sink slowly, 
 become imperceptibly lower, to fall gradu- 
 ally down by its own weight. 
 
 In accordance with the original mean- 
 ing, to sink was used in the sense of 
 pouring away liquids, and the word is 
 still used in the sense of a drain or place 
 where slops are poured away. 
 
 In the lordys cup that levys undrynken, 
 Into the almes dische hit schall be sonken. 
 
 Book of Curtasy, Percy Soc. vol. iv. 
 
 The bailiff that had the charge of the publick 
 sinkes vaulted under the ground dealt with Scau- 
 rus for good security. — Holland, Pliny in R. 
 
 In the same way Du. siipen, to trickle, 
 drip, ooze ; siipe, a drain or sink. — Kil. 
 
 Sinuous. Lat. sijiiis, a bosom, a bay. 
 
 Sip. A related form with sap, sop, sup, 
 all representing the sound of a mixture of 
 air and water, as in the act of sucking up 
 liquids or of agitation in a confined 
 space. Du. sop, soppe, juice, sauce ; sope, 
 suype, a draught of liquid ; suypen, G. 
 saii/en, to sup up, to drink deep ; Du. 
 sippen, to sip or take small draughts. 
 
 A sippet is a small piece of bread sop- 
 ped in sauce. Skelton uses it for a sip. 
 
 And ye will geve me a sippet 
 
 Of your stale ale. — Elinor Rummyng. 
 
 Gr. aifwv, a reed or tube used to suck or 
 sip wine out of the cask. 
 
 Siphon. Gr. o-i^wj/, a tube. 
 
 Sir. — Sire. It. Ser, Sere, a title given 
 to Doctors, Priests, Clerks, &c., and to 
 
SIREN 
 
 Knights, as we say, Sir ; Ser buono, 
 Goodman Sir ; Ser bello^ fair Sir. Mes- 
 sere, my Sir; also a master. — Fl. Fr. 
 Sire, Sir or master ; a title of honour 
 which without addition is given only to 
 the King, but with addition unto mer- 
 chants or tradesmen (Sire Pierre, &c.), 
 and unto knights (Sire chevalier), and 
 unto some few owners of fiefs or seig- 
 niories. — Cot. 
 
 The question has been raised whether 
 the word is a contraction of Signore, 
 Seigneur, or whether it is an adoption of 
 Mod.Gr. Kvp, Sir, master, from Kvpiog, 
 Lord. But signor and seigneur readily 
 pass into sior (used colloquially for Sir 
 in the N, of Italy), and sieur, sire, and 
 seigneur were used indifferently by the 
 early writers. ' Messires Nicolas Pol, 
 qui peres Monseigneur Marc estoit, et 
 Messires Mafo, qui fr^res Messires Nico- 
 las estoit.' — Marco Polo, ch. i, from 
 Marsh. The old Catalan form is Mos- 
 sen. 
 
 Siren. Lat. sii-en, from Gr. Seipj)^. 
 
 Sirloin. Properly surloin, as it is 
 written in an account of expenses of the 
 Ironmongers' Company, temp. H. VI. : 
 ' A surloyn beeff, vii.d.' — Athenaeum, 
 Deer. 28, 1867. Fr- surlonge, terme de 
 boucherie ; superlunibare. — Trevoux. 
 
 Sirname. Fr. surnom, It. sopranome, 
 additional name. 
 
 Sirocco. Sp. xirque, Ptg. xaroco, S.E. 
 wind, from Arab, charqui, adj. of chare, 
 the East. 
 
 Sirreverence. From salvd reverentid, 
 save your reverence, sa' reverence, an in- 
 troductory excuse made when anything 
 indecorous has to be mentioned. 
 
 Neither would common fame report these 
 horrid things of them, not to be uttered without 
 a pre/ace of ho7iour to the hearer. — Minucius 
 Felix by James, 29. 
 
 At which the lawyer taking great offence 
 Said, Sir, you might have used save reverence. 
 Harrington. 
 
 The beastliest man ; why, what a grief must this 
 be 
 
 {Sir-reverence of the company) a rank whore- 
 master. — Massinger in Nares. 
 
 Siserara. Corruption of certiorari, 
 the name of a legal writ by which a pro- 
 ceeding is moved to a higher court. 
 
 They cannot so much as pray, but in law, that 
 their sins may be removed with a writ of error, 
 and their souls fetched up to heaven with a sasa- 
 rara. — O. Play in N. 
 
 Siskin. A small singing bird of a 
 yellowish hue. Du. siisken, ciisken, G. 
 zeisig, Pol. czyz, a goldfinch, greenfinch ; 
 
 SIZI^ 
 
 591 
 
 Sw. siska, siskin. Du. sissen, to twitter 
 like small birds. 
 
 -sist. Lat. sisto, to place, stay station- 
 ary. As in Consist, Insist. 
 
 Sister. Goth, swistar, Pol. siostra, 
 Lith. sessere, Esthon. sdssar, Fin. sisa, 
 Sanscr. swast'i, sodary, Lat. soror, w. 
 chwaer, Gael, piuthar. 
 
 To Sit. See Set. 
 
 Site.— Situate. Lat. situs, -a, -urn, 
 set, placed, buried ; sittis, -us, It. sito, Fr. 
 sit, the setting or standing of a place, a 
 situation. According to the form of the 
 word, situs should be the pple. of sino, 
 situni, to permit, let be, suffer, but the 
 sense is as if it came from sido, sessiim, 
 to set down. 
 
 Sithe. ON. sigct, a sickle, a sword ; 
 Pl.D. seged, segd, seed, seid, a kind of 
 sickle or billhook for cutting turf. Lat. 
 securis, Boh. sekera, an axe. From the 
 verbal root exemplified in Lat. j-^r^,Wend- 
 ish, sseku, sseczu, to cut ; Bohem. sekati^ 
 to cut, hew, strike with a rod, sword, &c., 
 whence sekac, a mower. Pol. siekad, to 
 chop, hack, mince. ON. sax, a knife, or 
 short sword ; saxa, to chop, to strike. 
 
 Six. Lat. sex, Gr. U, Goth, saihs, Boh. 
 ssest, w. chwech, Heb. schesch, Sanscr. 
 shash, Gael. s^. 
 
 Size. I. From Lat. sedere, to sit, de- 
 scended It. assidere, Prov. assezer, assire, 
 assir, Fr. asseoir, to seat, set, place, fix, 
 and thence It. assisa, Prov. asisa, Fr. 
 assise, a sitting, setting down, settlement, 
 arrangement. It. assisa, a settled fashion, 
 the arrangement of a tax, and thence the 
 tax itself. AlV assisa, according to the 
 fashion. Prov. asiza, state, condition, 
 manner. ' Per mostrar noel asiza, so es 
 noela maniera:' to show a new assize, 
 that is, a new manner. — Raynouard. E. 
 assize, and corruptly size, was the settle- 
 ment or arrangement of the plan on which 
 anything was to be done. The assize of 
 bread or of fuel was the ordinance for the 
 sale of bread or of fuel, laying down price, 
 weight, length, thickness, &c. 
 
 'Tis not in thee 
 To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, 
 To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes. — Lear. 
 
 — i. e. to curtail my allowances. 
 
 There was a statute for dispersing the standard 
 of the exchequer throughout England, thereby to 
 size [regulate] weights and measures. — Bacon, 
 
 The term was then applied to the 
 specific dimensions laid down in the 
 regulation, and finally to dimensions of 
 magnitude in general. The measure de- 
 scribed by Rastall as an act for the assize 
 
592 SKATE 
 
 of fuel is mentioned by Fabyan in the 
 following terms : 
 
 Also this year was an act of parliament for 
 wood and coal, to keep the full size [the regulated 
 construction of the faggots, &c.] after the Purifi- 
 cation of our Lady — that no man shall sell of any 
 other size — upon pain of forfeiture. 
 
 2. A second meaning, apparently very 
 different from the former one, is a kind of 
 glue used to give coherence to the coat 
 laid on in colouring walls or to stiffen 
 paper. It. assisa, si'sa, a kind of glue 
 that painters use. — Fl. The original 
 meaning seems to be a laying on, a coat 
 of plastic material laid on for gilding, then 
 the viscous ingredient used to give cohe- 
 rence to the coating. Fr. assiette is often 
 used synonymous with assise, and both 
 forms are used in the sense of a couch or 
 layer of stones or bricks in building, 
 while assiette a dorer is gold size. — Cot. 
 
 Skate. Lat. sgiiatus, squatina, ON. 
 skata, perhaps from its pointed tail. N. 
 skat, top of a tree, properly point ; skata, 
 to become smaller at the end, to run to a 
 point. Dee skata att, it runs to a point 
 behind. Skaten, narrow at the end. 
 
 Skein. Fr. escaigne, w. caific,ysgainc, 
 a branch ; ysgainc o edaf,^. skein of thread ; 
 rhaff dair cainc, a rope of three yarns ; 
 cai7ic o gerdd, a tune in music ; cainc o 
 for, an arm of the sea. Gael, sgeinnidh, 
 flax or hemp, thread, . twine ; sgeinn, 
 sgeinnidh, a skein. 
 
 Skellum. A rogue. Du. schehn, a 
 carcase, carrion, dead animal ; a plague, 
 pest, pestilent fellow; schelmshals, a 
 villain ; schelmstuk, a piece of wicked- 
 ness. G. schehn, a rogue. OHG. scelmo, 
 scalmo, pestilence. 
 
 Sketch. Fr. esquisse. It. schizzo, from 
 schizzare, to squirt or spirt, to dash or 
 dabble with dirt or mire, to blur or blot, 
 also to delineate the first rough draught 
 of any work, as of painting or writing. 
 Schizzata, a spitting, a dashing with dirt, 
 blurring with ink, any rough draught. — 
 Fl. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word is 
 something dashed off or jotted down upon 
 paper ; a mere blotting of paper. So 
 from Du. kladde, a blot, patch of dirt, 
 kladden, to blot, to dirt, also to scribble ; 
 Pl.D. kladde, the rough draught or sketch 
 of a writing. 
 
 Skew. G. schief, Du. scheef, on. skeifr. 
 Da. skicev, oblique, wry ; skiceve, to slant, 
 to swerve or deviate. The radical mean- 
 ing seems to be something shoved or 
 thrust out of the straight line, as wry is 
 what is writhed or twisted aside. G. 
 
 SKILLET 
 
 schicben, to shove ; sich schieben, to be 
 displaced or awry, to be removed out of 
 its horizontal situation sideward — Kiittn.; 
 vcrschieben, to put out of its place, to dis- 
 order. Eure perriicke ist verschoben, sits 
 quite awry. OberD. schiebicht, awry. 
 Gr. tsKawii, Lat. sccevus, left. 
 
 In the same way E. shun, to shove, to 
 turn aside, seems connected with Du. 
 schnyn, oblique, E. dial, aswyn, awry. 
 
 Skewer. In Devonshire called a skiver, 
 probably identical with shive or shiver, a. 
 splinter of wood. Da. skiceve, Pl.D. 
 scheve, a bit of straw or of the stalk of 
 hemp or flax. E. dial skeg, stump of a 
 branch, peg of wood. 
 
 Skid. A piece of wood on which 
 heavy weights are made to slide ; a slid- 
 ing wedge to stop the wheel of a carriage. 
 To skid the wheel is then applied to any 
 mode of locking the wheel ; skidpan, an 
 iron shoe used for that purpose. The 
 word signifies a shide or billet of wood. 
 G. scheit, a splinter, fragment, piece of 
 cleft wood. ON. skidi, a billet of wood, 
 a snow-shoe, consisting of thin boards 
 fastened to the feet ; skidgardr, a fence 
 of cleft wood. See Shide. 
 
 Skiff. Fr. esquif. It. schiffo, scaffo, 
 Lat. scapha, a boat. 
 
 Skill. The radical sense is separation, 
 then difference, distinction, discernment, 
 reason, intellectual or manual ability. 
 ON. skil, separation, distinction, discrim- 
 ination. Sjd skil handa sijia, to know 
 his right hand from his left. Kutina skil 
 eines, to know the rights of a thing, to 
 understand it. Gora skil, to do what is 
 right and just. Skilja, to separate, dis- 
 tribute, arrange. Ver skilduni Ijos frd 
 myrkri, we parted light from darkness. 
 Da. skille, to sever, put asunder ; adskille, 
 to sever, divide, distinguish, discriminate. 
 Skiel, separation, boundary, discernment. 
 Han veed intet skiel til det han siger, he 
 has no grounds, no reason for what he 
 says ; ret og skiel, right and justice ; 
 skiellig, reasonable. 
 
 In like manner Joon the apostle for humelnesse 
 in his epistle, y^r the same skile seite not his name 
 thereto [for the same reason]. — Wiclif. 
 
 See Scale, Shall. 
 
 Skillet.— Skellet. A small vessel with 
 feet for boiling. — B. Fr. escuellettCi a 
 little dish (Cot.), designates an object of 
 a somewhat different kind. The skillet 
 is a metal vessel, and is apparently from 
 the resemblance in shape and material to 
 a mule-bell. It. squilla, a little bell, from 
 squillare, to [squeal] ring, clink, squeak, 
 shrill, to sound shrill and clear. — Fl. G. 
 
SKIM 
 
 sdu'llen, to ring ; schelle, a small bell. 
 Lang, esquile, esquileto^ a mule-bell. * Si 
 quis skellam de cabaliis furaverit.' — Leg. 
 Sal. in Due. * Skeletta, in old Latin re- 
 cords, a little bell for a church steeple, 
 whence our vessels called skillets^ usually 
 made of bellmetal.' — Philip's New World 
 of Words, 1706. 
 
 To Skim. To take off the scum, 
 thence to move lightly over the surface 
 of a liquid. 
 
 To Skime. To look asquint. — B. ON. 
 skt7na, to glance around, to look out fur- 
 tively ; skwia, a glimpse, gleam. AS. 
 sciman, to glitter, to be dazzled, weak- 
 eyed ; me scwtiat.h, lippus sum. Swiss 
 schimer, specious, showy. 
 
 From shimmer, to glitter, to shine in- 
 termittently or feebly, and not vice versa, 
 the frequentative being usually the 
 original form in these imitative words. 
 So we have shive and shide, a fragment, 
 splinter, from shiver and shtder. 
 
 Skin. Du. schinde, scheene, skin, bark, 
 peel ; schinden, to skin. ODu. schin, 
 scurf. ON. skinn, skin, fur. w. cejm, 
 skin, peel, scales ; cettn y coed, the moss 
 of trees ; ysgc7i, scurf. Bret, ketin (in 
 comp.), skin, leather. Biigenn, neat's 
 leather ; talgenn, band worn across the 
 forehead. Kenn, scurf, dross of metals. 
 
 Skink. AS. sce7ic, drink, a drinking 
 cup ; scefican, to skink or serve with 
 drink. Du. schencken, to pour out, serve 
 with wine, give to drink ; schencker, a 
 skinker or drawer, one who serves with 
 drink. G. scheftkefi, to pour out of a 
 larger vessel into a smaller ; schenke, a 
 place where liquids and even other wares 
 are retailed. Sw. skdnka, to pour out 
 wine, &c. ; skdnksven, Fr. e'chansofi, a 
 cup-bearer. 
 
 Skip. To leap. W. cip, a sudden 
 snatch or effort ; ysgip, a quick snatch. 
 Gael, sgiab, start or move suddenly, 
 snatch at. To skip is to move with a 
 sudden start. 
 
 Thanne shal your soule up into heven skippe 
 Swifter than doth an arow of a bow. 
 
 Merchant's Tale. 
 If one read skippingly and by snatches. 
 
 Howel in R. 
 
 See Jib. 
 
 Skipper. Du. schipper, a sailor ; Gael. 
 sgioba, ship's company, a company asso- 
 ciated for any purpose ; sgiobair, ship- 
 master or pilot. 
 
 To Skir. To glide or move quickly. — 
 B. To graze, skita, or touch lightly. — Hal. 
 
 Send out moe horses, skirre the country round. 
 
 Macbeth. 
 
 SKULL 
 
 593 
 
 Pl.D. schurren is said of anything that 
 makes a noise by rubbing along the 
 ground ; to slide over the ground with a 
 rustling noise ; especially to shuffle along 
 with the feet. If the noise is clearer the 
 term is schirren. Wat schurret da ? 
 whence comes that scraping noise ? Af 
 schurren, to scuttle away. Vorbi schur- 
 ren, to slide by. G. scharren, to scrape 
 with the feet. To shurl, to slide on the 
 ice. — Grose. 
 
 Skirmish. A small encounter of a 
 few men when they fight in confusion 
 without observing order. — B. OE. scar- 
 mish, Fr. escarmouche, G. scharmiitzel. 
 
 The word has no relation to Fr. es- 
 crimer, to fence, to which it is often re- 
 ferred. It properly signifies a row or 
 uproar, from a representation of the noise 
 of people fighting. AS. hream, clamour, 
 outcry ; Bret, garin, clamour, iDattlecry ; 
 W. gar7n,ysgarm, shout, bawling, outcry ; 
 ysgar77ies, outcry, also a skirmish, bicker- 
 ing. 
 
 Gael. gair7n, call, crow like a cock ; 
 sgair7i, howling of dogs or wolves ; sgai7'- 
 7ieach, crying aloud, shouting, howling. 
 
 Skirt. See Shirt. 
 
 Skit. An oblique taunt, something 
 cast in one's teeth like a splash of dirt. 
 Sc. skite, to eject any liquid forcibly, to 
 squirt, to throw the spittle violently 
 through the teeth. It. schizzare, to squirt, 
 to dash or dabble with dirt or mire, to 
 blur or blot. 
 
 The same metaphor is seen in E. dial. 
 sla7't, to splash with dirt, to taunt by in- 
 sinuations — Hal. ; ON. sletta, a splash or 
 spot, a slur ; sletta, to dash (properly 
 something liquid), spargere, projicere ; 
 sletta i tiasir, to have a skit at one. 
 
 Skittish. Humoursome, fantastical, 
 frisking. — B. It. schizzinoso, peevish, self- 
 weening, skittish, froward, from schizzare, 
 schizzinare, to frisk or spirt and leap as 
 wine doth being poured into a cup, to 
 spin, spirt, gush forth violently. — Fl. The 
 effervescence of youthful spirits is a com- 
 mon metaphor. 
 
 Skull. I. Da. skal, sheW', hierneskal, 
 brain-pan, skull. Sw. skal, shell ; skalle, 
 hufwiid skalle, skull, pate, noddle. ON. 
 skal, bowl, scale ; hiarnskdl, the skull. 
 If skull be radically identical with ON. 
 skdl. Da. skaal, Sw. skull, skoll, OE. 
 schal, a bowl or drinking-cup, it is not, as 
 Jamieson suggests, because our barbarous 
 ancestors used the skulls of men for such 
 a purpose, but from the resemblance of 
 the skull to a drinking bowl, the earliest 
 contrivance for which would be a shell of 
 38 
 
59+ 
 
 SKY 
 
 some kind, of a gourd, a cocoa-nut, or 
 
 shell-fish. It. cocuzsa, a gourd ; cocuz- 
 
 zolOy the crown of the head ; ziicca, a 
 
 gourd, also a kind of round drinking-glass ; 
 
 by met, a man's head, pate, or nob. — Fl. 
 
 We have seen that fnassarci, the head, 
 
 is probably from mazer, a bowl. 
 
 In flakoun and in skull 
 
 They skink the wyne.— D. V. 210. 7. 
 
 Scrvanz war at thes bridale, 
 
 That birled win in cupp and schal. 
 
 Small, Metrical Horn. 120. 
 
 2. A small oar. See Scull. 
 
 3. A skull of herrings. See Shoal. 
 Sky. Properly a cloud, then the 
 
 clouds, the vault of heaven. So G. wolke, 
 a cloud, compared with E. welkin, the sky. 
 And let a certaine winde go 
 That blewe so hidously and hie 
 That it ne lefte not a skie 
 In all the welkin long and brode. 
 
 Chaucer, House of Fame. 
 
 In the same way Sw. sky, a cloud ; skyn 
 (in the definite form), the sky, heaven. 
 07n skyn folle ned, if the sky should fall. 
 Ropa til skyn, to call to heaven, to call 
 upon God. ON. i>ky, cloud ; skylaus, evi- 
 dent ; /// skyia, up in the sky. 
 
 Probably the word may be connected 
 with Sw. skugga, AS. scuwa, sat a, Du. 
 schaede, schaeye, Gr. oKia, shadow, shade. 
 My fader than lukand furth throw the sky (umbra) 
 Cryis on me fast, Fie son, fle son in hye. 
 
 D. V. 63, 12. 
 
 Slab. I.— Slabber. — Slobber. The 
 
 sound of dabbling in the wet, of the 
 movement of the air and liquid in a con- 
 fined space, of suppmg or drawing up 
 liquid into the mouth, is represented by 
 the forms slabber, slobber, slubber, or the 
 syllables slab, slap, slop. 
 
 We may cite G. schlabbern, to slabber 
 one's clothes, to sputter in speaking, 
 schlabberig, schlabbig, sloppy, plashy, 
 dirty ; Swiss schlabbete, schlappete, watery 
 drink, broth, &c. Pl.D. slabbei^n (of 
 ducks), to make a noise with the bill in 
 seeking their food in water, to slobber, to 
 spill liquid food in eating ; Du. slabberen, 
 slabben, to slap up liquids, to slobber. E. 
 slabber is sometimes used in the sense of 
 splashing only. 
 
 Till neare unto the haven where Sandwitch 
 
 stands 
 We were enclosed in most dangerous sands, 
 There were we soused and slabbered, washed 
 and dashed. — Taylor in Hal. 
 His hosen — 
 
 Al beslombred in fen as he the plow folwede. 
 P. P. 1. 430, Skeat. 
 
 Pl.D. slabben, to lap like a dog, to make 
 a noise in supping up liquids (Danneil) j 
 
 SLADE 
 
 N. slabba, to dabble, dirty, spill ; E. dial- 
 slab, a puddle or wet place ; slabby, sloppy, 
 dirty ; Gael, slaib, mud, ooze. E. dial. 
 slub, wet and loose mud (Hal.), thick mire 
 in which there is danger of sticking fast. 
 — Forby. Here we see that the same 
 term is used to express two opposite 
 kinds of consistency, wet and loose, or 
 stiff and thick. In the one case the mud 
 is compared with solid ground,' and in the 
 other with water, and on this principle it 
 is that slab has sometimes the sense of 
 thick, stiff. 
 
 Make the gruel thick and slab. — Macbeth. 
 
 * Slab. 2. A slab or thick unhewn piece 
 of wood or stone, must be explained from 
 Lang, esclapa, to split wood ; bos esclapa, 
 split logs ; esclapo, grand quartier de 
 bois, dclat de moellon brut, a slab of 
 wood or stone. Esclapa is a parallel 
 form with esclata, to crack, Fr. ^clater, 
 to burst, split. See Slate. 
 
 Slack. — To Slake. ON. slak, Flem. 
 slack, G. schlapp, schlaff. Da. slap, not 
 tight, flapping, loose ; N. slekkja, to 
 make slack, and figuratively, to slake, to 
 diminish the active force of anything, to 
 still pain or thirst, to quench the fire, to 
 deaden, to put out. N. slokkjen^ extin- 
 guished ; slokna, to go out, to faint. 
 
 The sound of the flapping of a loose 
 sheet or of dabbling in liquids is repre- 
 sented equally well by a final b ox p •a.s by 
 g or k, and hence the syllable s_^^<^,y%J, 
 flag, flak, slab, slap, slag, slak, with the 
 usual modifications, are found in innu- 
 merable instances expressing the idea of 
 a wet or loose condition, the absence of 
 tension or inherent strength. Pl.D. slak- 
 kern (of the weather), to be sloppy, to 
 rain continuously, to dabble in the wet 
 and dirt, to slobber or slop one's food 
 about, to wabble or waver ; slakkerig, 
 sloppy, wet ; slikk, mud, ooze. Sc. slau- 
 kie, slatipie, flaccid, flabby, inactive, 
 slovenly. Pol. slaby, faint, weak, feeble, 
 
 Sc. slack, a depression in the ground 
 or a gap between hills, may be explained 
 by N. slakkje, slackness, a slack place in 
 a tissue, where the surface would swag 
 down. 
 
 To Slade. To drag along the ground ; 
 slade, a sledge or carriage without wheels 
 for dragging weights along. ON. slceda, 
 to trail ; si cedar, the train of a gown. 
 slodi, what is sladed or dragged along, 
 a brush harrow. Gael, slaod, trail along 
 the ground. 
 
 The idea of dragging along the ground 
 is probably connected with the figure of 
 a rope which when hanging slack trails 
 
SLAG 
 
 along the ground, while when hauled 
 tight it is suspended in the air. Thus 
 from Du. slap, slack, is formed slepen, G. 
 schlc'ppen, to drag, to trail, to carry on a 
 sledge, and m the same way Gael, slaod, 
 to trail, may perhaps be explained from 
 Du. slodderen, to flap or hang loose ; Du. 
 slodde (what hangs loose), a rag or tatter. 
 See To Slur. 
 
 Slag". G. schlacke, Sw. slagg, scoria, 
 dross of metals ; slaggsiimp^ the pit into 
 which the slag runs from a furnace. When 
 minerals are smelted in a furnace the 
 melted metal sinks to the bottom, and 
 the slag or vitrified dross is allowed to 
 run off from the surface like slaver drivel- 
 ling from an infant's mouth. N. slagg, 
 slaver, spittle ; slagga, to drivel, to spill 
 or flow over the sides of a vessel. 
 
 The word is connected with many simi- 
 lar forms derived from a representation of 
 the sound made by the agitation of liquids 
 or masses of wet. Sw. slagg, slush, a 
 mixture of snow and water ; Pl.D. slakk, 
 so much of a slabby material as one takes 
 up at once in a shovel or large spoon and 
 flings down anywhere. — Brem. Wtb. Sc. 
 slag, a quantity of any soft substance 
 lifted from the rest, as a slag of porridge, 
 a large spoonful. Slag, miry and slip- 
 pery. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Slam. To shut or to fling down 
 with a bang. Lap. slam^ noise ; nialme 
 slam, the noise of the mouth, words. 
 Uksa slamketi, the door was slammed, 
 was shut with violence. Sw. slanwa, to 
 jingle, clatter, chatter. It. schianio, schia- 
 inanzo, uproar, noise. 
 
 Slammacking. To slaininack, to walk 
 slovenly, to do anything awkwardly; 
 slajninocks, slammerkin, slamkin, an awk- 
 ward waddling person, a sloven. 
 
 The sound of dabbling in the wet or of 
 the flapping of loose clothes is repre- 
 sented by the syllables slab or slap, slamp, 
 slam. Du. slap, slack, loose, weak ; slab- 
 bakken, to go slackly to work, to loiter ; 
 slabbakke, a loitering woman. Pl.D. vers- 
 labben, slamp'ri, slampamfn, to neglect 
 one's dress, to let it go into disorder ; 
 slabbsack, sla7np, slampainp, a slovenly 
 woman, — Danneil. Swiss schlampen, 
 schlampern, to be flappy ; Swab, schlappe, 
 schlamp (Fr. salope), a slut ; schlampam- 
 pen, to go dawdling about ; schlampere, 
 schlampamp, Hamburgh slaviuietje, a 
 slatternly woman. See Slattern. The 
 meaning seems to vibrate between slack- 
 ness or laziness of action, and the ex- 
 pression of neglect by the figure of loose, 
 trailing, or flapping clothes. 
 
 SLAP 
 
 595 
 
 Slander. OE. sclannder, Fr. esclandre, 
 scandal, discredit, from Lat. scatidalian, 
 a stumbling-block, cause of offence. ' Ce 
 qui tourne au grand esclandre de la jus- 
 tice.' — Coutume d'Anjou in Diet. Etym. 
 The word, as Menage remarks, was 
 first escandre, then esclandre. Escandale, 
 escande, escandle, escandre, esclandj-e, scan- 
 dal, noise, bad example. — Roquef. We 
 find skandre in R. Brunne. 
 Till Emme, Hardknoutes moder h^ did a grete 
 
 outrage, 
 His brother a foule despite, himself vileyn skan- 
 dre.—^. 53. 
 
 Slang. I . N. slengja, to fling, to cast ; 
 slengje kiceffeti (to fling jaw), to give bad 
 words, to make insulting allusions, as in 
 E. to slang or to jaw one are vulgarly 
 used in the same sense. N. slengje-of 
 (slang- words), insulting words, also new 
 words taking rise from a particular occa- 
 sion without having wider foundation. — 
 Aasen. Pat. de Flandre, ftomgUe (nom 
 ]€t€), a. nickname, a name flung on one. 
 — Vermesse. 
 
 2. A long narrow strip of land. Sw. 
 slang, a stroke ; piskslang, a slash with 
 a whip. In the same way stripe signifies 
 both a blow with a lash and a long nar- 
 row portion of surface. Pol. kresa, cut, 
 slash, also a long streak. The word 
 streak itself is a close relation to stroke. 
 
 Slangam. An awkward lout — Hal. ; 
 * one that being sent on an errand is long 
 in returning.' — - Cot. in v. longis. N. 
 slengja, slyngja, to dangle, sway to and 
 fro, to saunter idly about ; slyngjar, a 
 dawdler. G. schlingel, a sluggard, lazy- 
 bones, scoundrel, clown. 
 
 Slant. It. schiancio, oblique, sloping ; 
 a schiancio, aslant. The notion of ob- 
 liquity seems derived from the figure of 
 sliding or slipping aside, w. ysglentio, 
 Sw. slinta, to slide, to slip. OFr. en 
 etclenkaunt, obliquando (in the next page 
 he writes etpines for espines, thorns). — 
 Neckam, Nat. Antiq. Yx.glisser, glincer, 
 esclincher, esclinser, to slide or glance. 
 Esclanche, the left side. — Roquef. Sc. 
 sklent, to slope, decline, move or strike 
 obliquely ; glent, glint, to glance, gleam, 
 glide, to start aside, to squint. See 
 Glance. 
 
 Slap. A blow with the flat hand, from 
 a direct imitation of the sound. To fall 
 slap down, is to fall suddenly down so as 
 to make the noise slap ! It. schiaffb, a 
 slap. In Da. slap, G. schlapp, scjdaff, 
 slack, loose, the sound represented is the 
 flapping of a loose sheet. 
 
 To slap is also to slop or spill liquids, 
 38* 
 
596 
 
 SLASH 
 
 to sup up watery food. G. schlappen^ 
 Pl.D. slabben^ to lap or sup up with a 
 noise like dogs or pigs. Slabb' nich so/ 
 said to children who eat in such an un- 
 gainly manner. — Danneil. 
 
 Thy milk slopt up, thy bacon filcht ! 
 
 Gammer Gurton, ii. i. 
 Slash. A representation of the sound 
 of a blow cutting through the air, or 
 scissors closing sharply. 
 What's this, a sleeve ! 'tis like a demi cannon. 
 What, up and down, carved like an appletart ! 
 Here's snip and nip, and cut and slish and slash. 
 Taming of the Shrew. 
 
 The same form is used to represent the 
 dashing of liquids, or the flapping of loose 
 clothes. E. dial, slashy, wet and dirty ; 
 Da. slaske, to dabble, paddle, to hang 
 loose as flapping clothes; slasket, slovenly. 
 See Slush. Sw. slaska, to paddle, to be 
 sloppy ; slask, puddle, wash. 
 
 To Slat. See Slate. 
 
 Slatch. The slack part of a rope which 
 hangs down. See Slouch. 
 
 Slate. OE. sclat, sclate^ fissile stone 
 used for roofing. 
 
 The puple wen ten on the roof and by the sclattis 
 thei letten him doun with the bed into the myddil. 
 — Wiclif. 
 
 ^Sklat or slat stone.' — Pr. Pm. From 
 Fr. esclat, a shiver, splinter, also a small 
 and thin lath or shingle; s^esclater, to split, 
 burst, crash, shiver into splinters. — Cot. 
 Lang, esclata, to crack, chap ; esclatos, 
 chaps in the hands. Esclapa, to split 
 wood ; esclapo, a chip. 
 
 The ultimate origin is a representation 
 of the sound of a blow or of an explosion 
 by the syllable sclaty slat, sclap, slap. 
 OFr. esclat de tonnerre, a clap of thunder. 
 To slat, to slap, to strike, to throw or 
 cast down violently, to split or crack. — 
 HaL 
 
 And withal such maine blows were dealt to and 
 fro with axes that both headpeeces and habergeons 
 were slat and dashed a-pieces. — Holland, Am- 
 mian in N. 
 
 Slattern. — Slut. The act of paddling 
 in the wet and the flapping of loose tex- 
 tures are constantly signified by the same 
 words, from the similarity in the sound 
 by which the action is characterised in 
 both cases ; and the idea of a slovenly, 
 dirty person may be expressed either by 
 reference to his ragged, ill-fitting, neglect- 
 ed dress, or by the wet and dirt through 
 which he has tramped. The Da. slaske 
 is to dabble or paddle, and also (of 
 clothes) to hang flapping about one, from 
 the last of which senses must probably 
 be explained slaske t, slaskevorn, slovenly. 
 
 SLAVER 
 
 G. schlottertt, to flap like loose clothes, 
 and in Bavaria, to dabble in the mud ; 
 schlottcrig, loose, flapping; sclilotterig 
 gekleidet gehen, to be slovenly or care- 
 lessly clad. Du. sloddereti, to hang and 
 flap ; slodderkleed, loose flapping. clothes ; 
 slodderig, slovenly, negligent ; slodder, 
 slodderer, a slattern, sloven. Pl.D. slod- 
 derig, loose, wabbling, lazy, slow, lifeless. 
 Devonsh. sloiidring, clumsy, loutish. — 
 Hal. Swiss schlodig, negligent in dress. 
 From the figure of flapping is derived 
 Pl.D. slodde, a rag, then a ragged dirty 
 man ; Fris. slet, a rag or clout, a ragged 
 slovenly woman— Epkema; Du. slodde, 
 sordida et inculta mulier (Kil.), a slut. 
 Da. slat, slattet, loose, flabby ; slatte, a 
 slut or slattern. But probably in many 
 of these cases the idea of flapping or 
 flagging is used in a figurative sense to 
 express a dull, spiritless, inactive dis- 
 position, and not the actual flapping of 
 loose and ragged clothing. Pl.D. shid- 
 dern, to flag, to hang loose, to be slow, to 
 deal negligently with. 
 
 On the other hand, from the same 
 original imitation of sound with the fore- 
 going, are Bav. schlott, schlutt, mud, dirt, 
 sloppy weather ; schlutt, a puddle, a dirty 
 person, a slut ; Swab, schletteim, to slat- 
 ter or spill liquids, schlutt, a slut or dirty 
 woman ; E. dial, slud, sludge, mud, dirt ; 
 slutty, dirty. Bav. schlotzen, to dabble 
 in the mud, to be negligent and slow; 
 schlotz, dirt, mud ; schlotzen, schlutzen, 
 an uncleanly woman. See Sleet, Slouch. 
 
 Slave. Fr. esclave. It. schiavo, G. 
 Sclav e. Commonly supposed to be taken 
 from the name of the Sclavonian race, 
 the source from which the German slaves 
 would be almost exclusively derived, and 
 it is in favour of this derivation that the 
 ODu. had slavven as well as slave, a 
 slave. But possibly the word may be 
 formed on the same principle with the 
 synonymous drudge, a name derived from 
 dragging heavy weights and doing such 
 like laborious work. Da. sla;be, to drag, 
 trail, toil, drudge ; slcebe eu seek paa ryg- 
 gen, to carry a sack on one's back ; slcEbe- 
 kiole, gown with a train ; slcebetoug, a 
 towing line. Slcsb, a drudge. E. dial, slab, 
 a drudge, a mason's boy. — Forby. Fris. 
 slobbjen, Du. slooven, to toil, to moil, or 
 drudge. N. slava, to slave or drudge ; 
 slave, a drudge, a slave. G. schleppen, 
 Du. sleypen, to drag or trail ; sleype, the 
 train of a gown. Sw. slap, train of a 
 gown, laborious work. 
 
 To Slaver. A variation of slabber, 
 slobber, in the same way that the G. has 
 
SLAY 
 
 scJilaff as well as schlapp, slack. ON. 
 sla/ra, to lick, to chatter, siefa, N. sieve, 
 slaver, drivel ; Lat. saliva. Slavering or 
 Blattering weather, a continuance of slight 
 rain. — Forby. 
 
 To Slay.— Slaughter, as. slean, sloh, 
 geslagen, to slay, smite, strike, cast. 
 Goth, slahan, to strike ; afslahan, to slay ; 
 ON. sld, to strike ; sldtr, slaughter, meat 
 of slaughtered cattle ; sldtra, to slaughter. 
 G. schlagen^ to strike, to move with vio- 
 lence ; schlacht, battle ; schlachten, to slay, 
 to slaughter. 
 
 From the sound of a blow represented 
 by the syllable slag I as smack, slap, 
 slash, &c., all signifying the act of striking 
 with a certain noise. 
 
 * Sleave. Sleave or sleave silk would 
 seem to be the tangled refuse of the co- 
 coon which cannot be wound off, but only 
 spun. It. capitone, the hurds of silk cods, 
 or coarse sleeve-silk j floscio, faint, droop- 
 ing ; seta floscia, sleave or ravelling silk ; 
 flosciare, to ravel as sleave silk doth. — 
 Fl. Fr. flosche, faggy, weak, soft ; sole 
 flosche, sleave silk. — Cot. 
 
 Eight wild men apparelled in green moss made 
 with sieved silk. — HoUinshed. 
 
 The meaning is probably husk or cod 
 silk, from G. schlaiibe, schlaue, Pl.D. 
 sluive, Du. sloove, sliUve, the husk, cod, 
 pod of peas, beans, &c., husk of grain, the 
 covering outof which the grain is slipped. 
 Bav. schlauffeii, sloiifen, to make to slip ; 
 inslouf, indumentum ; urslouf, exuviae — 
 Schm. See Sleeve. From the nature of 
 sleave silk, sleave acquires the sense of a 
 tangled mass of fibrous matter, as when 
 Shakespear speaks of ' the ravelled sleave 
 of care.^ 
 
 Sled.— Sledge, i. Du. sledde, slidde, 
 G. schlitten, a sledge or carriage made to 
 slide along the ground instead of rolling 
 on wheels. G. schlittern, to slide or slither ; 
 schlitten, a sledge ; schlittschuh, a skate 
 or sliding shoe. It. slisciare, to slide or 
 glide, to go on sleds or trucks ; sliscio, a 
 sled. — Fl. ON. sledi, sledge ; slodi, any- 
 thing that is dragged over the ground, as 
 a brush-harrow. Gael, slaod, drag, haul, 
 trail along the ground, a raft or float, a 
 sledge. To slade, to drag on a sledge — 
 P^orby ; sled, to drag the feet, to go slip- 
 shod. — Craven Gl. Sladering drag, a 
 small drag sliding on the ground, drawn 
 by one horse. — Hal. To slade is to make 
 to slide, as Da. slcebe, Du. sleypen, to trail 
 or drag, is to make to slip, but we must 
 not in either case assume that the factitive 
 is a derivative forai from the neuter verb. 
 See Slade. 
 
 SLEEP 
 
 597 
 
 Perhaps the form sledge may corre- 
 spond to OHG. sleihha, a sledge ; sleichuHy 
 traheas. — Graff. From slihhan, g. 
 schleichen, to slide. 
 
 Sledge^ 2. AS. slecge. Da. slcegge, Sw. 
 slagga, a large smith's hammer, from AS. 
 slean (ppl. geslagen), to strike. See Slay. 
 
 Sleek. — Slick. Polished, smooth. 
 
 Her flesh tender as is a chike, 
 With bent browes smooth and slike. 
 
 R. R. in R. 
 Who will our palfries slick with wisps of straw. 
 B. & F., Knight of burning pestle. 
 Which dissolved, and he 
 Slickt all with sweet oil. — Chapman, Odyssey. 
 
 The most natural type of the act of 
 smoothing a surface is a cow or a cat 
 licking its young or its own skin. ON. 
 sleikja. Da. slikke, to lick. N. sleikja, 
 also to stroke with the hand ; slikja, to 
 be sleek, to shine ; slikjande, sleek, shin- 
 ing. Hesten (e so fat^ at dee slikje ti haar'a, 
 the horse is so fat that its coat shines. 
 ON. slikja, to sleek, to polish ; slikjii- 
 steinn, a whetstone. E. slickstone, a stone 
 for polishing the surface of paper or cloth. 
 In the same way Gael. sHob, lick, stroke, 
 rub gently with the hand, polish ; sllobta, 
 licked, stroked, polished, '^.sleip, smooth, 
 slippery, polished ; slipa, to whet ; sUpe- 
 steiji a whetstone. Du. slijpett, to grind, 
 whet, polish. 
 
 Sleep. — Slumber. Goth, slepan, OHG. 
 sldfan, slaffaii, G. schlafen, Du. slaepen, 
 to sleep. The radical figure is probably 
 the relaxation of all the vital energies in 
 sleep, from OHG. slaf, staph, slack, relaxed, 
 weak, slothful ; slafen, slaffeii, tabescere, 
 torpere, dissolvi ; arslaffen, resolvi, elan- 
 guescere. G. einschlafen, to slacken, be- 
 come remiss, to fall asleep. ON. slapa, 
 to hang loose. Russ. shW, relaxed, loose, 
 feeble ; slabety, to faint, become slack. 
 When one of our limbs is rendered tem- 
 porarily torpid by pressure, we say that 
 it is asleep. Westerwald schlaafen, to go 
 lazily and slow, to drag on; schlaafer, 
 schlaafsack,2, lazybones ; schlaafig,schlaa- 
 ferig, dawdling, lazy. 
 
 In the same way G. schlummern, Du. 
 sluimeren, sluimen, E. to slumber, NE. 
 sloom, slaum, a gentle sleep or slumber 
 (Grose), to sleam, to slumber, sloomy, 
 dull, slow, inactive, dreamy, may be de- 
 rived from the root slap, slamp, slump 
 (indicated under Slammack), signifying 
 flagginess, feebleness, slackness, relaxa- 
 tion. Du. slomphose, loose bagging trow- 
 sers ; Bav. schluinpen, to slobber, to hang 
 loose and negligently, to be negligent, 
 especially in dress ; schlummerig, loose, 
 
598 
 
 SLEET 
 
 flapping. E. dial, slommakin, slovenly, 
 loose, untidy. To go slooming along is 
 to go along in a dreamy, inactive way. 
 ON. sliima, to be dejected ; slcemleiki, 
 failure of strength ; at slce))ia til, opus ali- 
 quod leviter et invalide attrectare (Gudm.), 
 to go to it in a sloomy way. Sw. slicmra, 
 to slumber ;—d/ver, to slubber a thing 
 over, to pass over it slightly ; slumrare, 
 a lazybones, indolent, sluggish person ; 
 shanrig, indolent, lazy, torpid, negligent. 
 Without the initial s, Swiss luhm, liimtn, 
 soft, gentle, then sleepy, spiritless, yield- 
 ing. Das wetter luemet, the weather be- 
 comes mild. Du. Lome, slow, lazy. — Kil. 
 Swiss liimmern, to lounge, slug, lie lazily 
 about. 
 
 Sleet,— Sludge.— Slush. The sound 
 of paddling in the wet and dirt or of the 
 dashing of water and wet bodies, is re- 
 presented by the syllables slash, slosh, 
 slush, slatter, slotter, slutter, s ladder, 
 slodder, sludder, with such modifica- 
 tions as are common in the different 
 dialects of the Gothic race ; and with the 
 image of paddling in the wet is con- 
 stantly joined that of the flapping of loose 
 textures, and the idea of slackness or 
 looseness, passing into that of inactive, 
 slow, lazy, slovenly. 
 
 We use the words slosh and slush 
 with a distinct consciousness of their 
 effect in representing the sound of dash- 
 ing water. To slosh or sltish,_ to splash 
 about liquid mud. It sloshes so, is often 
 said after a thaw. To slush, to wash 
 with much water without rubbing. ^ Slush 
 it in the river.' — Mrs Baker. Slosh, snow 
 in a melting state. — Craven Gl. Sc. slash, 
 a great quantity of broth or sorbillaceous 
 food ; slashy, wet and dirty. — Jam. Cor- 
 responding forms are Da. slaske, to dab- 
 ble, paddle, to hang flapping as loose 
 clothes ; Sw. slaska, to dabble, splash, 
 slop ; slaskwdder, sloppy weather ; sno- 
 slask (sloshy snow), sleet. Bav. schlass, 
 schloss, loose, slack, flaccid. Swiss schlas- 
 sein, soft damp snow, slack. 
 
 With a change of the final sound from 
 s or sh to d or /, w. yslotian, to dabble, 
 paddle ; E. dial, sladdery, sloddery (Mrs 
 Baker), slattery, wet, dirty ; to slatter, to 
 wash in a careless manner, throwing the 
 water about ; slattering, rainy weather. — 
 Forby. ' It'* varra slattery walking.' To 
 slat, to dash water ; slat, a spot of dirt. 
 ■ — Craven Gl. ON. sletta, to splash ; 
 Swab, schlettern, to spill liquids. E. dial. 
 slotter, to dirty, to spatter with mud, and 
 as a noun, filth, nastiness; Bav. schlottern, 
 schldtten, schliitten, schlotze?i, to dabble,- 
 
 SLENDER 
 
 Schlatter, mud, dirt ; schlott, schlutt, mud, 
 dirt, sloppy weather, thaw. Swiss schlud- 
 ern, to slobber, eat and drink uncleanly ; 
 schluderig, watery ; geschluder, slops ; 
 Swab, g'schliitten, snowy and rainy wea- 
 ther in winter ; schluttig, sloppy, rainy, 
 E. dial, sludder, to eat slovenly ; slodder. 
 sluthir (Mrs Baker), slud, sludge, slutch, 
 slush, wet mud. Da. slud, sluus, N. sletta, 
 Lap. slatte, rain and snow together, or 
 sleet ; N. slatra, to rain and snow toge- 
 ther. 
 
 Sleeve, as. slyf, Fris. slicf, a sleeve, 
 what one slips the arm into, from Bav. 
 schlaiffe?i, to slip (as a bird does its head 
 under its wing) ; schlauffen, to slip in or 
 out ; anschlauffen, to slip on an article of 
 dress ; Swab, anschliefen, ausschliefen, to 
 slip on or off ; einschlauf, the whole 
 dress ; Swiss schlauf, a muff for slipping 
 the hands into. E. dial, slive, to put on 
 hastily. *■ I'll slive on my gown and gang 
 wi' thee.' — Craven Gl. 
 Where her long-hoarded groat oft brings the 
 
 maid 
 And secret slive': it in the sybil's fist.— Clare. 
 
 I slyppe or slyde downe, je coule; / slyve 
 downcj je coule. — Palsgr. 
 
 On the same principle Du. sloop, Fris. 
 slupe, a pillow-slip, the washing cover 
 that is slipped on and off a pillow ; bes- 
 lopje, to slip a covering over. See Slop. 
 
 * Sleeveless. Wanting reasonableness, 
 propriety, solidity. — Todd. A sleeveless 
 errand, reason, tale. Probably a corrup- 
 tion of Sc. thewless, thieveless, unprofit- 
 able, unsatisfactory ; a thieveless excuse, 
 errand, &c., exactly as E. sleeveless. AS. 
 theaw, custom, manner, thew ; theawlice, 
 according to manners, decently, properly. 
 
 Sleezy. Weak, wanting substance. — J. 
 
 I cannot well away with such sleazy stuff, with 
 such cobweb compositions. — Howell in Todd. 
 
 The radical sense is, apt to fray or tear, 
 from G. schleissen (the equivalent of E. 
 slit), to fray, wear out, tear, slit, split. — 
 Kiittn. E. dial, sleeze, to separate, come 
 apart, applied to cloth when the warp and 
 woof readily separate from each other ; 
 sleezy, disposed to sleeze, badly woven. 
 — Jennings. Carinthian schleiss'n, to tear 
 or to fall asunder ; schleissik, worn out, 
 ready to tear ; «' schleissige pfdt, a thread- 
 bare coat. Cimbr. slaizeg, thin through 
 wear, worn out. See Slit. 
 
 Sleight. See Sly. 
 
 Slender. ODu. slinder, tenuis, exilis. 
 — K. The radical meaning is pliant, 
 bending to and fro, thence long and thin, 
 from a verb signifying to dangle, to sway 
 to and fro, the evidence of which is pre- 
 
SLEW 
 
 served in Bav. schlenderling^ something 
 dangling j rotzschlenderling^ stiria e naso 
 pendens — Schm. ; G. schlendern, to stroll, 
 saunter, walk about without settled pur- 
 pose ; 'Dn.slidderen, slindefen, to wriggle, 
 to creep as a serpent. — Kil. On the same 
 principle G, schlank, pliable, slender, from 
 Bav. schlanken, schliiikschlaiiken^ to dan- 
 gle ; Pl.D. slakkern, slukkern, slunket'ti^ 
 to waggle, joggle. 
 
 To Slew. To turn round.— Hal. Pro- 
 perly to slip. * It slewed round to the 
 other side.' 
 
 A rynnand cord they slewyt our his hed 
 Hard to the bawk, and hangyt him to ded. 
 
 Wallace. 
 
 Slewyt^ slipped. — Jam. It is the same 
 word with E. slive^ to slip. See Sleeve. 
 
 Slice. OFr. escleche, separation, dis- 
 memberment, portion ; esclisse, a splinter ; 
 esclisier, to separate, divide . — Roquef. 
 G. schleisseUy to cleave, slit, split. ON. 
 slita, to tear asunder ; slitr^ a piece torn 
 off. See Slit. 
 
 Slick. See Sleek. 
 
 Slidder.— Slither.— Slide. Du. sled- 
 deren, slidderen, slibberen^ to slip, slide, 
 fall J slidderen,slinderen,to creep (wriggle) 
 like a serpent, w. llithr, a slip, slide ; 
 llithrig, slippery. Lith. slidus, sliddtis, 
 slippery, smooth, shining ; slidineti, 
 slysti, Pol. slizgac sie^ to slip, slide ; 
 sliski, It. sliscio, slisso, slippery ; slisciare^ 
 to slide. Lett, slids, slanting ; sliddet, 
 sliddindt, to slide ; slidet, to slip ; slid- 
 dens^ slisch, shppery, sloping, steep. 
 The radical signification is probably a 
 vacillating unsteady movement, as in Du. 
 sloddere?i, slobberen, to flap, flag, waggle ; 
 G. schlottern, to waggle, joggle, swag ; ON. 
 slodra, to drag oneself on ; Sw. sliddrig, 
 loose, flagging. From the notioA of a 
 vacillating movement arises that of slip- 
 ping or sliding as opposed to moving 
 steadily onwards. And from the frequent- 
 ative and earlier form slidder is formed 
 the verb to slide, to move smoothly over 
 a surface without leaving it. The root is 
 then applied to smoothness of surface 
 which causes one to shde. See To Slur. 
 It is however equally difficult to ignore 
 the relation of sl-ide with glide ; slidder 
 with glidder, slippery ; Sw. slinta, to slip. 
 Slide, with E. glijif, to glance, V7.ysglentio, 
 to slip, or to derive both series from a 
 common image. See To Glide. 
 
 Slight. G, schlecht, originally plain, 
 smooth, straight, then plain, simple, un- 
 qualified, plain as opposed to what is of 
 superior value, low in value, mean in esti- 
 mation, bad, base j schlicht^ sleek, smooth, 
 
 SLIME 
 
 599 
 
 even ; scJilichten, to straighten, to make 
 smooth or flat. Du. sleeht, slicht, planus, 
 Eequus, et simplex, et ignobilis, communis, 
 vulgaris, vilis, tenuis — Kil. ; slechten, 
 slichten, to level to the ground, to demol- 
 ish. 
 
 In three days they slighted and demolished all 
 the works of that garrison. — Clarendon in R. 
 
 Goth, slaihts, ON. slellr, even, smooth ; 
 Sw. sldl, smooth, polished, plain, poor, 
 slight, common, bad. Sldta ord, flatter- 
 ing words. N. sletta, to fling or cast, ex- 
 plains the passage where Falstafi" speaks 
 of being slighted out of the buck-basket 
 into the river. Skocn slatt ntav /of a, 
 the shoe was cast or flew from his foot ; 
 sletta mce haandaa, to fling with the 
 hands. 
 
 Slim. Slender, thin, slight, also dis- 
 torted, worthless, sly, crafty. — Hal. Du. 
 slem, slim, transverse, oblique, distorted, 
 worthless, bad. Slim, pravus, perversus, 
 astutus, vafer. — Bigl. Slimgast, a sly 
 fellow ; slimbeen, slimvoet, having a dis- 
 torted leg or foot. Bav. schlimm, wry. 
 Fris. slom, oblique ; aslem (of the door), 
 half open} slemme, to set the door ajar. 
 — Outzen. E. dial, slam, the slope of a 
 hill ; tall and lean. — Hal. ON. slczmr, 
 vilis, invalidus ; at slcema til, to set 
 slacicly to work. Probably the original 
 meaning of the word may be flagging, 
 flaccid, then hanging down, sloping, lead- 
 ing to the idea of obliquity and depravity. 
 See Slammack, Slope. To slim in Sus- 
 sex is to do work in a careless and decep- 
 tive manner (Hal.), to be compared with 
 ON. slcema, above mentioned, and Pl.D. 
 stamp, a slovenly woman. E. dial, slimjny^ 
 of slight texture. — Hal. 
 
 Slim.e. G. schlamm, mire, mud; schleimy 
 ON. slim, Du. slijm, slime, viscous matter. 
 In the same way, without the initial sibi- 
 lant, AS. lam, Pl.D. leem, G. lehm, loam, 
 clay, mud ; leim, AS. lime, glutinous mat- 
 ter. Lat. limus, mud. 
 
 Probably the fundamental notion may 
 be sloppy mud, from a representation of 
 the sound of dabbling in wet. Du. slob- 
 beren, slabberen, slabben, to slap up liquid 
 food ; Gael, slaib, E. dial, slob, Du. slibbe^ 
 slibber (limus, Ccenum mollius — Kil.), 
 mud, ooze. Slip in the Potteries is the 
 name given to the sloppy mixture of clay 
 and water. 
 
 The terminal labial is first nasalised, 
 as in Bav. schlampetiy to lap like a dog, 
 to eat greedily and uncleanly, and finally 
 extinguished, leaving the nasahsing liquid 
 into which it seems to have been con- 
 verted. Thus we have Du. slempen, slcm- 
 
6cx) 
 
 SLING 
 
 men^ G. schldmmen^ schlemmen, to guzzle, 
 live luxuriously, while in a different appli- 
 cation G. schlamm, mud, corresponds to 
 Gael, slaib, E. slob, above mentioned. 
 
 The same connection is seen between 
 G.schlocke7iySchlicken, Du. slacken, slicken, 
 to guzzle (from the sound of supping up 
 liquids), and Du. slijck, G. schlick, mud. 
 
 On the other hand, there are grounds 
 for suspecting that the name of slime 
 may be derived from the image of licking. 
 Gael, sliob, to lick, stroke, rub gently with 
 the hand— Macleod ; to smooth, polish, 
 besmear — Armstrong ; sliom (properly to 
 lick T), to smooth, gloss, flatter ; sliom, 
 sleek, smooth, slippery, lubricated. Na 
 brie shlioni, the sleek (slimy) trout. 
 Esthon. libbama, limpa7na, to lick ; libbe, 
 smooth, slippery, flattering; litn7na, slime, 
 mud. 
 
 Sling-. Sw. sldnga, to totter, stagger, 
 twist, swing, fling, hurl. Slinga, to twist ; 
 slingra, to curl, to roll. Sldnga sig som 
 en mask, to writhe like a worm. Da. 
 slingre, to reel, stagger, roll like a ship. 
 Du. slifigeni, to dangle, stagger, whirl 
 round, hurl ; slingen, slingeren, to creep 
 as a serpent, to sling ; slinger, slanger, 
 spira. — Kil. S linger ^ a pendulum, a 
 sling. — Bomhoff. G. schlingen, to twist ; 
 schlingeln, to loiter, saunter, ramble. 
 
 To Slink. To creep or move secretly, 
 to slip a foal or calf, i. e. cast it privily 
 before its time. AS. slincan, to creep, 
 crawl ; slincend, a reptile, creeping thing. 
 G. schleichen, Du. sleyken, to sneak, slink, 
 creep ; sleyncke, a hole. Das schleichen 
 einer schlange, the wriggling of a serpent. 
 Sw. slinka, to dangle. Hdret slinker 
 kring 6rone7i, the hair hangs loose about 
 the ears. Slinka efter qui7tfolk, to dan- 
 gle after women. Han sla7ik bdrt, he 
 slunk away. Tide7i slinker for bi, time 
 slips by. N. sle7ija, to dangle, sway to 
 and fro, saunter, loiter. Bav. schla7iken, 
 schUnkschla7tken, schli7ike7ischla7ike7i, to 
 dangle, sway to and fro, loiter about ; 
 schld7ikeln, to dangle ; schle7iker7t, to 
 swing, to sling. Swiss schle7igge7t, schle7i- 
 ken, to sway to and fro. Lith. slinkti, to 
 slip, slide, creep. Plaukai sle7ika, the hair 
 falls off. Sla7ikioti, to lounge, saunter, 
 dawdle. Sli7ikas, lazy, slow. 
 
 The radical idea in creeping or crawl- 
 ing is wriggling onwards, moving onwards 
 by alternate movements to the right 
 and left, and the notion of secrecy seems 
 to arise from the movement not being 
 directed in a continuous right line to the 
 object sought for. On this principle it is 
 argued under Slender, that the primitive 
 
 SLIT 
 
 meaning of Du. sli7idercn, to creep like a 
 serpent, is to wriggle, to move by zigzag 
 efforts. 
 
 Slip.— Slippery. It may perhaps not 
 be possible to trace the derivation of the 
 word slip in all its senses from a single 
 source. In the first place, from Sw. slapp, 
 lax, slack, we have sldppa, to let loose, let 
 slip. Sldpp hu7ide7i Ids, let the dog loose, 
 let slip the dog. Sldppa ndgot iir hdtid- 
 erna, to let slip a thing out of one's hands. 
 Sldppa f7'a77i et 07-d, to slip out a word. 
 Sldpphd7id, clumsy-handed, apt to let slip 
 out of one's hands. 
 
 From the foregoing seems to be formed 
 the neuter slippa, slapp, slnppit (ON. 
 sleppa, slapp, sloppil), to slip, to get off, 
 get loose from, escape. Et ord slapp 
 fra77ifor hono77t, a word slipped out from 
 him, he let fall a word. iidi7ie7i slipper 
 up, the seam rips up, comes apart, separ- 
 ates. In a similar way we speak of taking 
 a slip from a plant, i. e. separating a 
 small portion of the plant from the parent 
 stem. When the foot slips, it loses its 
 hold. When we speak of anything slip- 
 pi7ig through an obstacle we imply that 
 it gets loose from it, is not held by it. 
 To slip i7ito a chamber implies escape 
 from something that might have hindered 
 the action. G. schliipfe7i, Pl.D. sUppen^ 
 slnpeii, to slip away, slip or slide into ; 
 Sw. slipprig, G. schliipfrig, ON. sleipr, 
 OE. slipper, slippery. Swab, schlappig, 
 schlapperig, loose, flagging ; schlapper, 
 old trodden-down shoes, slippers. To 
 slip 071 a garment is to throw it loosely 
 over one. So also we may compare G. 
 schlaff, loose, with Bav. schlaiffe7i, schlauf- 
 fe7i, sloiife7i, to slip in, slip on. Der spar 
 slaifft sei7i haubt under sei7i fettig, the 
 sparrow slips its head under its wing. 
 ' A7iesloufe, indue.' Ei7ischlauf, what is 
 slipped on, dress ; urslouf, what is slip- 
 ped off, cast clothes, skin, &:c. Schleiffe7t^ 
 OHG. slifa7t, G. schleifen, to slide, glide. 
 
 Perhaps we should set out from forms 
 like slabber, slobber, representing the 
 agitation of liquids or loose textures ; Du. 
 slobbere7t, laxum sive flaccidum esse, to 
 flap ; slibbe, slibber, mud, mire ; slibberigh, 
 muddy, slippery ; slibberen, to slip, slide. 
 — Kil. Somerset slopper, loose, unfixed. 
 —Hal. 
 
 To Slit. AS. slitan, to tear, to con- 
 sume ; G. schleissen, to slit, split, fray, wear 
 out ; schleisse, a splint, lint, scraped linen. 
 Sw. slita, to tear, separate by force. Slita 
 sig Ids ifrdn, to shake oneself free from ; 
 slita opp ur jorde7t, to tear up out of the 
 earth. Slita ut kldder, to wear out 
 
SLIVER 
 
 clothes ; slita sonder, to tear asunder ; 
 slitning, wear and tear. ON. slita, to tear 
 asunder, separate ; slifaflokk, to dismiss 
 an assembly ; slita tlujigi, to close the 
 court ; slitr, slitri, a rag, portion. Da. 
 slide, to pull, tear, to wear, to toil, 
 drudge. 
 
 Sliver. A splinter, slice, slip. — Hal. 
 Slive, sliver, a large slice. — Mrs Baker. 
 "Tis broke all ta slivvers.^ — Moor. 
 Westerwald schliewer, a splinter. AS. 
 slifan, Craven slieve, to cleave, split. 
 Slyvyh asundyr, findo ; slyvynge of a tre 
 or other lyke, fissula. — Pr. Pm. ' I slyve 
 a gylowflowre from his braunche or 
 stalke.' — Palsgr. Tusser uses sliver for 
 split logs of firewood. To slive, to slip, 
 slide. — Mrs B. See Sleeve, Slip. 
 
 Slobber. See Slabber. 
 
 Sloe. Du. sleetiwe, sleepriiyme, G. 
 schlehe, the small astringent wild plum, 
 so named from what we call setting the 
 teeth on edge, which in other languages 
 is conceived as blunting them. — Adelung. 
 Du. slee, sleeuw, dull, blunt ; (of the teeth) 
 set on edge ; (of fruit) sour, astringent. 
 Sleeuwe scherpte, a blunt edge ; sleeuwe 
 tanden, stupidi dentes, obtusi. — Kil. Die 
 prttimen zij'n soo slee als of het wilde 
 priiinien waren: these plums are as sour 
 as sloes. Bav. schleh, blunt, set on edge. 
 ON. sliofr, dull, inactive, blunt ; sliofar 
 tenmir, teeth on edge. 
 
 Sloop. Du. sloepe, a shallop, light 
 vessel ; from sloepen, sluipen, to slip } 
 See Shallop. 
 
 Slop. I. Imitative of the sound of 
 dashing water. To slope, to make a noise 
 when supping liquid. — Teesdale Gl. 
 
 Thy milk slop' i up, thy bacon filcht. 
 
 Gammer Gurton, ii. i. 
 
 Du. slabben, to lap, to slobber. Lap. 
 sldbbot, to sprinkle ; slebbet, to pour, to 
 splash ; slappe, wet and soft snow partly 
 thawed. Fris. door dik, door dim te slob- 
 ben, to splash through thick and thin. — 
 Epkema. 
 2. A loose, outer dress, smock-frock. 
 His overest sloppe it is not worth a mite. 
 
 . Chaucer. 
 With slop-frock suiting to the ploughman's taste. 
 
 Clare. 
 
 ON. sloppr, a wide outer dress, a surplice, 
 night-dress. Fris. sliipe, a pillow-slip ; 
 beslopje, to slip a covering over. Bav. 
 schlauffen, to slip in or out; atischlaiiffen, 
 to slip on an article of dress ; einschlauf, 
 the whole dress. Du. slobbe, sloefhose, a 
 pair of slops or loose bagging breeches. 
 The connection of the latter form with 
 slobbercn, to flap or flag, laxum sive flac- 
 
 SLOUCH 
 
 6oT 
 
 cidum esse, corroborates the derivation 
 above given of slip from slapp, loose, 
 slack. See Sleeve. 
 
 To Slope. To hang obliquely down- 
 wards like a slack rope, from Du. slap, 
 slack. — Skinner. But the immediate 
 origin is a verb like ON. sldpa, flaccere, 
 pendere — Haldorsen ; N. slope, to hang 
 down, to slope or Idc a little inclined 
 downwards. ON. slapeyrdr, lop-eared, 
 having hanging ears. 
 
 Slot. I .—Sleuth. The slot of a deer is 
 the print of a stag's foot on the ground. 
 Sc. sleuth, the track of man or beast as 
 known by the scent, whence sleuth-ho'und, 
 a bloodhound, dog kept for following the 
 track of a fugitive. ON. sl'dd, track, path, 
 way ; dbggslod, the track left by men or 
 animals in the dew ; mark made by 
 something dragging along when the 
 ground is covered with dew ; slodi, a 
 drag-harrow. Cheshire cartslood, cart- 
 rut. — Wilbraham. Gael, slaod, trail along 
 the ground ; slaodan, the track or rut of 
 a cart-wheel. Pol. slad, a trace, track, 
 footprint. See To Slade. 
 
 * Slot. 2. A bolt. Slot or schytyl of 
 a dore, verolium (Fr. verrouil). — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Probably a somewhat different applica- 
 tion of Du. slot, a lock or fastening, from 
 sluiten, G. scliliessen, to shut. Du. sluit 
 boo7n, a bar, barrier, rail ; vectis et clath- 
 rus ; slotel, a key ; slotelen, securiculae, 
 snbscudes duo tigna inter se vincienfes. — 
 Kil. From this last may probably be 
 explained Cleveland slot, a crossbeam or 
 bar running from one side to another in 
 any construction ; slofes of a cart, the 
 underpieces whioh keep the bottom to- 
 gether ; slotes of a ladder or a gate, the 
 flat step or bar. — B. 
 
 Slot in engineering is a hollow for the 
 head of a bolt or the like to work in, the 
 tuck in a dress for a string to run in. — 
 Atkinson. Probably from Du. sluitgafy 
 a mortise or hollow to hold a tenon. 
 
 Sloth. See Slow. 
 
 Slouch. To slouch is to flag, to hang 
 down for want of inherent stiffness, to do 
 anything with unstrung muscles, to walk 
 with a negligent gait. A slouch, a lub- 
 berly fellow. — B. ' No weather pleaseth: 
 it is colde, therefore the slouch will not 
 plow.' — Granger in Todd. The s latch of 
 a rope is the slack part of a rope which 
 hangs trailing. 
 
 From ON. slakr, slack, w^e pass to Sw. 
 sloka, to droop ; sloka med Sronen, med 
 luingarna, to hang the ears, drag the 
 wings. Slokhatt, a slouch hat, hat with 
 hanging flaps ; slokbjdrk, a weeping birch. 
 
6oo 
 
 SLING 
 
 w<7/, G. schldmmeH^ schlemmcn^ to gurzle, 
 live luxuriously, while in a different appli- 
 cation G. schlamffi, mud, corresponds to 
 Gael, slaib, E. slob, above mentioned. 
 
 The same connection is seen between 
 G.sc/ilocketiysclilicken, Du. slocken, slicken, 
 to guzzle (from the sound of supping up 
 liquids), and Du. slijck, G. schlick, mud. 
 
 On the other hand, there are grounds 
 for suspecting that the name of slime 
 may be derived from the image of licking. 
 Gael, sliob, to lick, stroke, rub gently with 
 the hand— Macleod ; to smooth, polish, 
 besmear — Armstrong ; slioin (properly to 
 lick ?), to smooth, gloss, flatter ; sliom, 
 sleek, smooth, slippery, lubricated. Na 
 brie shliom, the sleek (slimy) trout. 
 Esthon. libbama, Ihnpama, to lick ; libbe, 
 smooth, slippery, flattering; lijnma, slime, 
 mud. 
 
 Sling-. Sw. sldnga, to totter, stagger, 
 twist, swing, fling, hurl. Slinga, to twist ; 
 slingra, to curl, to roll. Sldtiga sig som 
 en mask, to writhe like a worm. Da. 
 slingre, to reel, stagger, roll like a ship. 
 Du. slingern, to dangle, stagger, whirl 
 round, hurl ; slingen, slmgeren, to creep 
 as a serpent, to sling ; slinger, slaiiger, 
 spira. — Kil. S linger ^ a pendulum, a 
 sling. — Bomhoff. G. schlingen, to twist ; 
 schlingeln, to loiter, saunter, ramble. 
 
 To Slink. To creep or move secretly, 
 to slip a foal or calf, i. e. cast it privily 
 before its time. AS. slincan, to creep, 
 crawl ; slincend, a reptile, creeping thing. 
 G. schleichen, Du. sleyken, to sneak, slink, 
 creep ; sleyncke, a hole. Das schleichen 
 einer schlange, the wriggling of a serpent. 
 Sw. slinka, to dangle. Hdret s linker 
 kring dronen, the hair hangs loose about 
 the ears. Slinka efter quinfolk, to dan- 
 gle after women. Han slank bdrt, he 
 slunk away. Tiden slinker fdrbi, time 
 slips by. N. slenja, to dangle, sway to 
 and fro, saunter, loiter. Bav. schlanken, 
 schlinkschlanken, schlinketischlanken, to 
 dangle, sway to and fro, loiter about ; 
 schldnkeln, to dangle ; schlenkern, to 
 swing, to sling. Swiss schlenggen, schlen- 
 ken, to sway to and fro. Lith. slinkti, to 
 slip, slide, creep. Platikai slenka, the hair 
 falls off. Slankioti, to lounge, saunter, 
 dawdle. Slinkas, lazy, slow. 
 
 The radical idea in creeping or crawl- 
 ing is wriggling onwards, moving onwards 
 by alternate movements to the right 
 and left, and the notion of secrecy seems 
 to arise from the movement not being 
 directed in a continuous right line to the 
 object sought for. On this principle it is 
 argued under Slender, that the primitive 
 
 SLIT 
 
 meaning of Du. slindercn, to creep like a 
 serpent, is to wriggle, to move by zigzag 
 efforts. 
 
 Slip. — Slippery. It may perhaps not 
 be possible to trace the derivation of the 
 word slip in all its senses from a single 
 source. In the first place, from Sw. slapp, 
 lax, slack, we have sldppa, to let loose, let 
 slip. Sldpp hwiden Ids, lot the dog loose, 
 let slip the dog. Sldppa Jidgot nr hdnd- 
 erna, to let slip a thing out of one's hands, 
 Sldppa fravi et ord, to slip out a word. 
 Sldpphdnd, clumsy-handed, apt to let slip 
 out of one's hands. 
 
 From the foregoing seems to be formed 
 the neuter slippa, slapp, sluppit (ON. 
 sleppa, slapp, sloppil), to slip, to get off, 
 get loose from, escape. Et ord slapp 
 frainfor honom, a word slipped out from 
 him, he let fall a word, ^ometi slipper 
 up, the seam rips up, comes apart, separ- 
 ates. In a similar way we speak of taking 
 a slip from a plant, i. e. separating a 
 small portion of the plant from the parent 
 stem. When the foot slips, it loses its 
 hold. When we speak of anything slip- 
 ping through an obstacle we imply that 
 it gets loose from it, is not held by it. 
 To slip into a chamber implies escape 
 from something that might have hindered 
 the action. G. schliipfen, Pl.D. sUppen, 
 slnpen, to slip away, slip or slide into ; 
 Sw. slippfig, G. sckliipfrig, ON. sleipr, 
 OE, slipper, slippery. Swab, schlappig, 
 schlapperig, loose, flagging; schlapper, 
 old trodden-down shoes, sHppers. To 
 slip on a garment is to throw it loosely 
 over one. So also we may compare G. 
 schlaff, loose, with Bav. schlaiffen, schlauf- 
 fen, slonfen, to slip in, slip on. Der spar 
 slaifft sein haiibt under sein fettig, the 
 sparrow slips its head under its wing. 
 ' Anesloufe, indue.' Einschlauf, what is 
 slipped on, dress ; urslouf, what is slip- 
 ped off, cast clothes, skin, &c. Schleiffen^ 
 OHG. slifan, G. schleifen, to slide, glide. 
 
 Perhaps we should set out from forms 
 like slabber, slobber, representing the 
 agitation of liquids or loose textures ; Du. 
 slobberen, laxum sive flaccidum esse, to 
 flap ; slibbe, slibber, mud, mire ; slibberigh, 
 muddy, slippery ; slibberen, to slip, slide. 
 — Kil. Somerset stopper, loose, unfixed. 
 —Hal. 
 
 To Slit. AS. slitan, to tear, to con- 
 sume ; G. schleissen, to slit, split, fray, wear 
 out ; schleisse, a splint, lint, scraped linen. 
 Sw, slita, to tear, separate by force. Slita 
 sig Ids ifrdn, to shake oneself free from ; 
 slita opp ur jorde7i, to tear up out of the 
 earth. Slita ut kldder, to wear out 
 
SLIVER 
 
 clothes ; slita so?ider, to tear asunder ; 
 slitning, wear and tear. ON. slita, to tear 
 asunder, separate ; sUfaflokk, to dismiss 
 an assembly ; slita thingi, to close the 
 court ; slitr, slitri, a rag, portion. Da. 
 slide, to pull, tear, to wear, to toil, 
 drudge. 
 
 Sliver. A splinter, slice, slip. — Hal. 
 Slive, sliver, a large slice. — Mrs Baker. 
 * 'Tis broke all ta slivvers.^ — Moor. 
 Westerwald schliewer, a splinter. AS. 
 slifan, Craven slieve, to cleave, split. 
 Slyvyn asundyr, findo ; slyvynge of a tre 
 or other lyke, fissula. — Pr. Pm. ' I slyve 
 a gylowflowre from his braunche or 
 stalke.' — Palsgr. Tusser uses sliver for 
 split logs of firewood. To slive, to slip, 
 slide. — Mrs B. See Sleeve, Slip. 
 
 Slobber. See Slabber. 
 
 Sloe. Du. sleeuwe, sleepriiyme, G. 
 scJilehe, the small astringent wild plum, 
 so named from what we call setting the 
 teeth on edge, which in other languages 
 is conceived as blunting them. — Adelung. 
 Du. slee, sleeuw, dull, blunt ; (of the teeth) 
 set on edge ; (of fruit) sour, astringent. 
 Sleeuwe scherpte, a blunt edge ; sleeuwe 
 tanden, stupidi dentes, obtusi. — Kil. Die 
 pruivien zijn soo slee a Is of het wilde 
 priiimen waren: these plums are as sour 
 as sloes. Bav. schleh, blunt, set on edge. 
 ON. sliofr, dull, inactive, blunt ; sliofar 
 tennur, teeth on edge. 
 
 Sloop. Du. sloepe, a shallop, light 
 vessel ; from sloepeii, sluipen, to slip ? 
 See Shallop. 
 
 Slop. I. Imitative of the sound of 
 dashing water. To slope, to make a noise 
 when supping liquid. — Teesdale Gl. 
 
 Thy milk slop' t up, thy bacon filcht. 
 
 Gammer Gurton, ii. i. 
 
 Du. slabben, to lap, to slobber. Lap. 
 sldbbot, to sprinkle ; slebbet, to pour, to 
 splash ; slappe, wet and soft snow partly 
 thawed. Fris. door dik, door dim te slob- 
 ben, to splash through thick and thin. — 
 Epkema. 
 2. A loose, outer dress, smock-frock. 
 His overest sloppe it is not worth a mite. 
 
 , Chaucer. 
 With slop-frock suiting to the ploughman's taste. 
 
 Clare. 
 
 ON. sloppr, a wide outer dress, a surplice, 
 night-dress. Fris. sliipe, a pillow-slip ; 
 beslopje, to slip a covering over. Bav. 
 schlauffeji, to slip in or out; aiischlauffen, 
 to slip on an article of dress ; einschlanf 
 the whole dress. Du. slobbe, sloefhose, 2l 
 pair of slops or loose bagging breeches. 
 The connection of the latter form with 
 slobbercn, to flap or flag, laxum sive flac- 
 
 SLOUCH 
 
 6ot 
 
 cidum esse, corroborates the derivation 
 above given of slip from slapp, loose, 
 slack. See Sleeve. 
 
 To Slope. To hang obliquely down- 
 wards like a slack rope, from Du. slap, 
 slack. — Skinner. But the immediate 
 origin is a verb like ON. sldpa, flaccere, 
 pendere — Haldorsen ; N. slape, to hang 
 down, to slope or be a little inclined 
 downwards. ON. slapeyrdr, lop-eared, 
 having hanging ears. 
 
 Slot. I.— Sleuth. The slot of a deer is 
 the print of a stag's foot on the ground. 
 Sc. sleuth, the track of man or beast as 
 known by the scent, whence sleuth-ho'und , 
 a bloodhound, dog kept for following the 
 track of a fugitive. ON. sWd, track, path, 
 way ; doggslod, the track left by men or 
 animals in the dew ; mark made by 
 something dragging along when the 
 ground is covered with dew ; slodi, a 
 drag-harrow. Cheshire cartslood, cart- 
 rut. — Wilbraham. Gael, slaod, trail along 
 the ground ; slaodan, the track or rut of 
 a cart-wheel. Pol. slad, a trace, track, 
 footprint. See To Slade. 
 
 * Slot. 2. A bolt. Slot or schytyl of 
 a dore, verolium (Fr. verrouil). — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Probably a somewhat different applica- 
 tion of Du. slot, a lock or fastening, from 
 sluiten, G. schliessejt, to shut. Du. sluit 
 boom, a bar, barrier, rail ; vectis et clath- 
 rus ; slotel, a key ; slotelen, securiculse, 
 snbscudes duo tigna inter se vincienfes. — 
 Kil. From this last may probably be 
 explained Cleveland slot, a. crossbeam or 
 bar running from one side to another in 
 any construction ; slotes of a cart, the 
 underpieces whioh keep the bottom to- 
 gether ; slotes of a ladder or a gate, the 
 flat step or bar. — B. 
 
 Slot in engineering is a hollow for the 
 head of a bolt or the like to work in, the 
 tuck in a dress for a string to run in. — 
 Atkinson. Probably from Du. shutgaty 
 a mortise or hollow to hold a tenon. 
 
 Sloth. See Slow. 
 
 Slouch. To slouch is to flag, to hang 
 down for want of inherent stiffness, to do 
 anything with unstrung muscles, to walk 
 with a negligent gait. A slouch, a lub- 
 berly fellow. — B. ' No weather pleaseth: 
 it is colde, therefore the slotich will not 
 plow.' — Granger in Todd. The s latch of 
 a rope is the slack part of a rope which 
 hangs trailing. 
 
 From ON. slakr, slack, ^ve pass to Sw. 
 sloka, to droop ; sloka med oronen, med 
 wingarna, to hang the ears, drag the 
 wings. Slokhatt, a slouch hat, hat with 
 hanging flaps ; slokbjork, a weeping birch. 
 
6o2 
 
 SLOUGH 
 
 G(T och sloka, to go slouching about. ON. 
 sldkr, a slouch or dull inactive person. 
 Da. slukoret, slouch-eared, having hang- 
 ing ears. 
 
 In the same way without the initial s, 
 w. llac, slack, loose ; llacio, to droop, to 
 decline ; ON. Idka, to hang down ; Idkr^ 
 anything hanging; Idktibyr, a light wind 
 that lets the sails flap ; Fr. locker^ to 
 shake like a loose wheel ; loque^ a dan- 
 gling rag ; E. dial, loiich-eatrd, having 
 hanging ears ; G. latschen^ to go dragging 
 one's feet, to slouch along. 
 
 In another set of parallel forms the 
 final k of slack is exchanged for ss^ /, 
 or tz. Bav. schlottern, to hang dangling, 
 to slouch about (Schmid) ; schlotze?i, to 
 dabble in the dirt, to be negligent and 
 slow ; schlotz, a lazy slow person ; sc/ilass, 
 schlatt^ flaccid, slack ; schlattoret, slouch- 
 eared ; schlatte, a lazy ill-dressed per- 
 son ; Swab, schlossigkeit, inactivity ; ON. 
 slota, sliita, to be relaxed, to soften, 
 to hang down. Vedrinn slotar, the wea- 
 ther becomes mild. Lata hattin slota, to 
 slouch one's hat, let the flap hang down. 
 
 Slough. I. A deep muddy place in 
 which one is ingulfed. Du. slackest, to 
 swallow ; slock, gula, fauces, et bara- 
 thrum, vorago, gurges. — Kil. Gael, sliag, 
 swallow, ingulf; sltigpholl, a whirlpool j 
 slugaid, a slough or deep miry place. 
 
 * 2. The cast skin of a snake ; the 
 skin or husk of a gooseberry or currant 
 (Atkinson) ; the crust of dead matter that 
 separates from a sore. MHG. sluch, the 
 skin of a snake ; G. schlauch, properly, as 
 balg, the skin of an animal stripped off, 
 and made into a vessel for liquids, a 
 wineskin, hose for conveying liquids, also 
 the loose skin of a horse's sheath. The 
 meaning of the word is something slipped 
 off, that from which something has slip- 
 ped, from OHG. slthhan, MHG. sltchett, G. 
 schleichen, to slip, slide, slink. Bav. 
 schlaichen, to slip in or out, to convey 
 privily ; einem etwas zuschlaichen, to 
 slip or slive it into his hand. Schlich, 
 the gliding of a brook or of serpents, to 
 be compared with slough, the slime of 
 snakes (marking th,e track where they 
 have slid). — Hal. 
 
 In the same way from the parallel 
 form OHG. slifan, Bav. schleiffen, E. dial. 
 slive, to slide, slip, with the factitive 
 schlauffen, sloufen, to make to slip, are 
 schlanff, that into which a man slips ; 
 insloiif, indumentum ; iwsloiif, exuvice ; 
 G. schlaiif, a serpent's slough ; schlaube, 
 husk or cod of beans, &c. (Sanders) ; Du. 
 sloof, sloove^ husk, velum, tegmen, exuviae; 
 
 SLUBBER 
 
 also the prepuce, in which sense it is to 
 be compared with G. schlauch, the sheath 
 of a horse. 
 
 * Sloven, A person careless of dress 
 and personal cleanliness. Du. slof,sloef, 
 an old slipper, and fig. a sloven or slut. 
 Sloef, toga sive tunica rudis, impolita et 
 sordidula; sloef hose, tibiale laxum. — Kil. 
 See Slop. 
 
 Slow, — Sloth. AS. sleaw, slaw, lazy, 
 slow ; slaiuiari, aslaiviaii, to be lazy, 
 torpid ; slcewth, slewth, sloth. Du, slceww, 
 slee, blunt, ineffective ; Bav. schlew, schle- 
 "Wig, feeble, flat, faint, slow, insipid, un- 
 salted, lukewarm, blunt ; OHG. slewe, 
 slewechait, torpor — Schm, ; sleo, sleuuo, 
 dull, faded, lukewarm ; sleiaten, to fade, 
 waste, become torpid, indifferent, luke- 
 warm ; slenni, languor, dullness ; slewig, 
 slebig, dull ; Swab, schlaib, unsalted, 
 watery, thin, empty. ON. sljdr, slcer 
 {slcefr), blunt, dull, slow, inactive ; slceva, 
 sljova, to blunt, dull, slacken ; Da. sl'ov, 
 Sw. sld, blunt, dull, slow of apprehension. 
 
 Probably Pol. slaby, faint, weak, feeble, 
 dull of hearing, Russ. slabuii, slack, re- 
 laxed, weak, faint, feeble, belong to the • 
 same stock. The radical image would 
 be the slapping of a slack structure, as a 
 rope or the sail of a ship. Related forms 
 are Du. slap, G. schlaff, slack, flaggy, 
 weak, soft, flat. Met sLppe handen to 
 werk gaati, to work slowly. Du. slofy 
 slow, negligent, careless, 
 
 Slowworm. This name may really 
 signify what it appears to do, as motion 
 is very difficult to the animal on a bare 
 surface such as a road, where it is fre- 
 quently found, though among herbage it 
 is agile enough. But the element slow 
 is suspiciously like schleich in the G. name 
 blindschleiche, Carinthian schleich, plint- 
 schleich, pliiitschlauch, from schleichen, to 
 slide. In N. it is called sleva, sldge,slde, 
 perhaps from its slime ; sieve, slaver, 
 drivel. 
 
 To Slubber. A word of like formation 
 with slabber, slobber, representing the 
 sound of supping up liquids into the 
 mouth, dabbling in the wet, &c. ON. 
 slupra, Dan. slnbre, Pl.D. slubbern, to 
 sup up liquids. Hence in Hamburgh 
 metaphorically, from the notion of hasty 
 and greedy eating, slubbern, to slubber 
 up, to do a thing carelessly and superfi- 
 cially ; slubber er, slubber^ip, a careless, 
 negligent person. 
 
 Bassanio told hirn he would make some speed 
 Of his return : he answered, Do not so, 
 Slubber not business for my sake. 
 
 Merch, Venice. 
 
SLUDGE 
 
 Du. slobbei-en, to sup up liquids like ducks, 
 pigs, &c., to sup up in a dirty uncouth 
 manner ; over keen slobberen, to pass 
 lightly over a matter. In like manner 
 Du. slorpen, slorven^ to sup up, serve to 
 explain Sw. slurfwa, to bungle, botch, 
 slubber. 
 
 To slubber is also to slobber or spill 
 liquids in eating, hence to dirty. 
 
 To slubber the gloss of your new fortunes. 
 
 Shakesp. 
 
 N. slubba, to spill liquids, to dirty. 
 
 Sludge. See Slush. 
 
 Slug". — Sluggard. Another of the 
 numerous metaphors from the image of a 
 loose unstrung condition. Pl.D. slukkern, 
 slunkeru, Westerw. schlockern, scJiliickeni 
 (synonymous with schlapperii^ schlollern), 
 to wabble, shake to and fro. Da. shig- 
 oret, sljckoret, having flagging ears. To 
 slug is thus to lie slack and unstrung, to 
 indulge in sloth. 
 
 He lay all night sluggijig under a mantle. 
 
 Spenser in Todd, 
 
 / slog-ge, I waxe slowe or drawe behynde. 
 — Palsgr. A slug is a creature of a soft 
 boneless consistency. ON. slceki, a dull, 
 inactive person. 
 
 In like manner without the initial j, 
 Swiss higg, luck, loose, slack ; das seil 
 lugget, the rope trails, is slack ; Du. log, 
 heavy, slow ; E. luggish, dull, heavy, slow ; 
 lug, luggard, a sluggard ; Fris. lugghen, 
 to be lazy and slothful ; luck, luggerig, 
 slothful. Lith. slukyti (faullenzen), to 
 slug ; slunkis, a sluggard, a lazy creeper 
 alDout ; slinkas, lazy, slow. 
 
 Sluice. Sw. sluss, Du. sluys, G. schleuse, 
 Fr. dcluse, a sluice or floodgate. Da. 
 sluse, lock in a canal ; sluscport, flood- 
 gate. Mid.Lat. clusa, eclusa, as if for ex- 
 clusa, from the notion of shutting off the 
 water, a derivation supported by Swiss 
 kluss, a large sluice in a gorge where 
 water is collected until it is sufficient to 
 wash down a collection of timber ; klusen, 
 verkhisen, to stop the flow of water. Das 
 ivasser hat sich geklusst, has stopped 
 running. 
 
 But it may be doubted whether the 
 Mid.Lat. form is not an accommodation, 
 and the word really derived from the 
 sloshing or slushing sound of the water 
 as it rushes through the gates. To sluice 
 one with water is to slosh water over him, 
 to throw a mass of water over him. Sw. 
 slosa, to lavish, squander ; Da. dial, sluse, 
 to purl as a brook. Westerw. schloseu, 
 schlusen, to become sloshy, to thaw. 
 
 On the same principle Du. sas^ a flood- 
 
 SLUR 603 
 
 gate, may be connected with E, souse, re- 
 presenting the sound of dashing water. 
 Soss, a slop ; as a verb, to pour out, to 
 dabble in the dirt. From the same origin 
 is the cry sus I sus/ to pigs to come to 
 their wash. 
 
 To Slumber. See Sleep. 
 
 Slump. To fall plumb down into any 
 wet or dirty place. — B, ' In Suffolk we 
 should say, I slumped into the ditch up 
 to the crotch,' — Moor. Slump, a dull 
 noise made by anything falhng into a hole. 
 — Jam. 
 
 From representing the noise of a thing 
 falling plump upon the ground the term 
 is applied to chance, accident, what hap- 
 pens at a single blow or in an unforeseen 
 manner. Pl.D. slump, a chance ; slump- 
 schote, a chance shot ; shimps, plump, 
 thoughtlessly ; up'ti slump kopen, to buy 
 upon the chance, without knowing the 
 exact quantity. Sw. af en slump, by 
 chance ; en blott slump, a pure chance ; 
 slumpa, to buy things in block. Da. 
 slumpe, to light, stumble, chance upon ; 
 slump, a. lot. To slump things together, 
 to throw them together in a single lot. 
 
 To Slur. — Slurry. To bedaub or 
 dirty, whence met. slur, a stain or dis- 
 grace. Slur, slurry, thin washy mud. — 
 Forby. To slairg, slerg, slairy, to be- 
 daub. — Jam. 
 
 We have frequently had occasion to 
 remark the identity of forms representing 
 the sound of dabbling in the wet and the 
 flapping of loose fabrics, giving rise to an 
 intimate relation between words signify- 
 ing mud or dirt, and a loose texture, a 
 wabbling, vacillating, slipping or sliding 
 movement, inefficient nerveless action, 
 and the like. 
 
 The sound made by the agitation of 
 liquids or of loose textures is represented 
 by the forms sladder,slodder,sludder, slid- 
 der. Thus we have Da. s ladder, sludder, 
 tattle, idle talk (an idea constantly ex- 
 pressed by reference to the sound of dab- 
 bling in water) ; Swiss schlodern, to slobber 
 in eating ; E. dial, sludder, to eat slovenly ; 
 slodder, slud, sludge, wet mud — Hal.; slu- 
 ther, liquid mud — Mrs Baker; Bav. schle- 
 dern, to move to and fro in the water, to 
 rinse linen ; schluder, mud ; schludern, 
 schlodern, to wabble ; schlaudern, to work 
 negligently and superficially, to slur a 
 thing over ; Du. slodderen, to hang loose, 
 to flag ; slodderig, slovenly, negligent ; 
 Pl.D. sludern, sluren, to wabble, to flag 
 or hang loose, to be lazy, to deal negli- 
 gently with. Aver ene arbeid sluren, to 
 slur over a piece of work. Slodderig^ 
 
6o4 
 
 SLUSH 
 
 slndderig^ slurig, flagging, lifeless, in- 
 active. De kleder sittet em so sludderig 
 [or slung] uni't lief, the clothes hang so 
 loose about him. Du. shore, slot-lceu, 
 sordida ancilla, serva vilis, ignava — Kil. ; 
 slooren, sleiiren, to drag, trail, sweep along 
 the ground as a loose hanging garment, 
 a slack rope ; sloorigh, dirty. Swiss 
 schlarggen, to dabble, to bedaub, to go 
 trailing or shuffling along ; schlargg, a 
 slur or spot of dirt ; geschlargg, nastiness, 
 dirt ; schlarggig, dirty ; E. dial, sladder- 
 ing-drag, a sled for trailing timber along ; 
 Pl.D. slarren, slurren, to shuffle, slip the 
 feet along ; slarren, slurren, slippers, old 
 shoes j Du. slieren, to stagger, to slide on 
 the ice, to drag — Bomhoff ; E. dial, to 
 slither, to slir, to slide, to slip. — Hal. 
 Pl.D. slieren, to lick (to sup up). — Schiitze. 
 Bav. schlieren, to bedaub ; schlier, mud. 
 ON. sldr, uncleanness, slime of fish ; 
 slorugr, dirty. 
 
 Slush. Slodder, slotter, sluther, slud, 
 sludge, slutch, slosh, slush, are used pro- 
 vincially or in familiar language for wet 
 mud or dirty liquid, melting snow, &c. 
 The origin is a representation of the noise 
 made by dabbling or paddling in the wet, 
 by forms like Swiss schlodern, to slobber, 
 E. dial, sludder, to eat slovenly, Bav. 
 schlede?'fi, to rinse linen in water ; schlot- 
 zeti, to dabble, Sw. slaska, to dash, dabble, 
 slop, giving rise to Sw. slask, dirty liquid, 
 Bav. schlott, schlutt, mud, slush, thawing 
 weather ; schlotz, mud, dirt. Da. sladder, 
 sludder, tattle, idle talk, belong to the 
 same root, on the same principle that G. 
 waschen signifies both to wash or to 
 agitate in water and to tattle. 
 
 Slut. In this word, as in slattern, the 
 idea of dirt is constantly mixed up with 
 that of lazy negligent work, on the prin- 
 ciple mentioned under Slur. Pl.D. slatte, 
 sladde, anything that hangs loose and 
 flagging, a rag j slatje, Du. sladde, slodde, 
 sletse, slet. Da. slatte^ slutte, a slut, a 
 negligent, slovenly woman ; Swab. 
 schlatte, a lazy, slovenly man ; schlutt, a 
 slut. Pl.D. slatterig, flaccid, flagging ; 
 G. schlottern, to flag, dangle, wabble. Da. 
 slat, slattet, loose, flabby ; slattes, to 
 slacken ; Bav. schlattoret, having flag- 
 ging ears. Bav. schlott, schlutt, mud, 
 slosh ; schlutt, a puddle ; schlutten, to 
 dabble in the wet and dirt ; schliitt, an 
 uncleanly person. E. dial, slutch, mud — 
 Tim Bobbin ; slatch, the slack of a rope ; 
 slatching, untidy — Hal. ; slotch, a sloven ; 
 slotching, slovenly, untidy. His stockings 
 hang slotchikin about his heels. — Mrs 
 Baker. Slouch, a lazy fellow ; to walk 
 
 SMACK 
 
 about in an idle manner. — Hal. Bav. 
 schlotzcn, to dabble, meddle with dirt, to 
 be lazy and negligent ; schlotzen, schlut- 
 zen, a slut ; schlotz, dirt, mud, a lazy per- 
 son, sluggard. 
 
 Sly.— Sleight. Sleight, dexterity.— 
 B. ON. slceg?; crafty, cunning ; slcegd, 
 contrivance, cunning ; slccgdai'bragd, art- 
 ful trick ; N. slog, dexterous, expert, 
 clever, sly, cunning. Sw. slog, dexterous, 
 handy ; slogd, mechanical art ; hand a 
 sldgd, manufacture ; slug, G. schlau, Pl.D. 
 slou, cunning, sly. 
 
 The same connection of ideas is seen 
 in handicraft compared with crafty, and 
 in a7-tificer compared with ai'tful. And on 
 the same principle cunning was formerly 
 used in the sense of manual skill. Per- 
 haps the ultimate origin may be found in 
 the root slag, strike, from the use of the 
 hammer being taken as the type of a 
 handicraft. ON. slcegr (applied to a horse) 
 signifies apt to strike with his heels. Sw. 
 slogda, opera fabrilia exercere. — Ihre. 
 Sldgamens werk, the work of artificers. — 
 Jerem. x. 9. 
 
 The radical unity of sly and sleight was 
 formerly more distinctly felt than it is 
 now. 
 
 — and stele upon my enemy, 
 For to slee him slehiiche, slehtes Ich by thenke. 
 
 P. P. 
 For thei ben sligh in such a wise 
 That thei by slyght and by queintise 
 Of fals witnes bringen inne 
 That doth hem often for to winne. 
 
 Gower in R. 
 
 Smack, i. A syllable directly represent- 
 ing the sound made by the sudden col- 
 lision or separation of two soft surfaces, 
 as a blow with the flat hand, the sudden 
 separation of the lips in kissing, or of the 
 tongue and palate in tasting. Hence 
 sinack, a slap, a sounding blow, a hit with 
 the open hand. — Hal. 
 
 Du. smak, noise that one makes in eat- 
 ing. Gy moet zoo niet smakken als gy 
 eet : you must not smack so in eating. — 
 Halma. Sinak, noise of a fall, [and 
 thence] smakken, to throw, cast, fling, 
 to fall down. — Bomhoff. Met dobbel- 
 steenen smakken : to rattle the dice — 
 Halma ; smack7nuylen {muyl, the chops), 
 maxillas sive labia inter se claro sono col- 
 lidere, manducando sonum edere ; smack- 
 tanden, to strike the teeth together in 
 chewing. — Kil. Kussen dat het smakt, to 
 give one a smacking kiss. Pl.D. stnaksen, 
 G. schmatzett, Da. smaske, N. smatta, to 
 smack with the tongue and chops in eat- 
 ing. Schmatzen is also applied, as E. 
 E. dial, sniouch. 
 
 I 
 
SMACKERING 
 
 smoucher, a loud kiss. Pol. smoktad^ 
 anokac, to smack with the lips, to kiss, to 
 sip or suck. 
 
 Smack represents the sound of a blow 
 or of a sudden fall, in such expressions as 
 knocking a thing smack down, cutting it 
 smack off. 
 
 From the smacking of the chops in the 
 enjoyment of food has arisen the sense of 
 taste, in which the root smak is widely 
 used. Pol. smak, savour, taste, relish. 
 AS. smcEccan, smecgan, to taste ; Sw, 
 smaka, Du. smaken, G. schmecken, to taste ; 
 geschmack, schmackhaft, of agreeable 
 taste. Geschmacke speis, savoury food. — 
 Schm. Pol. sjuaczny, well-tasted. Lith. 
 smagurei, dainties ; smagus, good, plea- 
 sant, nice. Lett, smakka, taste, smell. 
 
 In some dialects the initial s of the 
 imitative syllable is dropped, as in Fris. 
 macke, to kiss — Outzen ; Fin. maku, 
 taste ; makia, well-tasting, sweet ; mais- 
 kia, maskia, to smack the chops ; jnaiskis, 
 smacking, dainties, also a kiss ; maistaa, 
 to taste, to sip, to be savoury ; maisto, 
 ,the sense of taste, taste of a thing. Lat. 
 maxilla, a jaw, must be referred to the 
 same root. In Bohem. an / is inserted 
 after the m; mlask, a smack with the 
 mouth, a loud kiss ; mlaskati, mlassfiti, 
 to smack with the mouth ; mlaskanina, 
 delicacies. 
 
 2. Pl.D. sjnakk, Fr. semague, a light 
 vessel. The ;/z is probably a corruption 
 from an original n; AS. sjiakk, ON. sneckia, 
 Sw. sndcka, Pl.D. snikk, a small vessel. 
 The original meaning was probably a 
 beaked vessel. OG. snaggun, snacgtin, 
 naves rostratas — Gl. in Schmeller, who 
 cites ' holzschuhe mit schiiackeii^ as pro- 
 bably signifying wooden shoes with beaks. 
 Sette Communi, snacko, beak. Swiss 
 schneicke, schneugge, snout, from schneick- 
 en, schneuggen, Sw. snoka, to sniff, search 
 about with the nose like a dog or a pig. 
 See Snook. Lith. snukkis, snout, beak. 
 Du. sfweck, a pike, from his beaked snout. 
 Schmeller has also ' snarcke?i, rostratee 
 naves,' to be explained by Sw. snork (pro- 
 perly snout), extremity of anything, from 
 snorka, to snort, snuff, sniff. Bav. 
 schnorren, prow of a boat ; schnorre7t, 
 schnurren, snout, mouth and nose. 
 
 It is certain that this principle of no- 
 menclature has taken place in the case of 
 Du. sneb, a boat with a beak, from sneb, 
 beak ; and Pl.D. snati, siiatischip, a snow, 
 a kind of small seaship, from snati, snout, 
 beak j and probably navis may be con- 
 nected in the same manner with neb, 
 snout, beak, as G. nachen, Mid. Lat. 
 
 SMATTERING 
 
 605 
 
 naca, Fr. nacelle, a skiff, with Fin. nokka, 
 beak. Wenheen nokka, the prow of a 
 boat. 
 
 Smackering. A longing for : to have 
 z: smackeri7ig after a thing. — B. Origin- 
 ally a smacking of the chops at the 
 thoughts of food, as Lat. ligiirio, to long 
 for, properly to Hck the chops at, from 
 lingere, to lick. 
 
 Small, Du. smal, thin, narrow, small ; 
 ON. smdr, comp. smceri, superl. smcestr, 
 Da. smaa, Fris. sma, smad, stnaed, small; 
 S. Da. smddsk (kleinlich), small in size. — 
 Outzen. ON. smdregUy sindsandr, fine 
 rain, sand. 
 
 Perhaps from Da. dial, smadder, E. 
 smaller, a fragment, Gael, smad, a par- 
 ticle, jot, the smallest portion of a thing. 
 So in ON. of the golden calf, eg molacle 
 hann z smaat, I stamped it to powder. — 
 Deut. 9. Sc. to smaller, to deal in small 
 wares, to be busily employed about trivial 
 matters ; la smaller awa\ to spend on a 
 variety of articles of little value. 
 
 It may be observed that Pol. malo, 
 little, has a similar connection with Lat. 
 7nolere, to grind. 
 
 Smalt. A colour made from blue 
 enamel. It. smallo, a name given to 
 different bodies which are used as coat- 
 ings in a melted or liquified state, and 
 subsequently harden, as enamel, plaster 
 of Paris, mortar. G. scJimelz, enamel, 
 metallic glass, from schmelzen, to melt. 
 See Enamel. 
 
 Smart. As a noun or verb it signifies 
 sharp pain ; as an adjective, sharp, bri^k ; 
 significations which may be connected 
 on the supposition that the word originally 
 signified a sharp stroke or cut. G. sdimerZy 
 Du. smarl, pain, ache. 
 
 Da. snerle, to lash ; snerl, lash of a 
 whip ; Da. dial, at sidde sne7'l (of a gar- 
 ment), to sit close ; snyrl, neat, pretty, 
 smart (smukt), ON. snirla, to smug, adorn, 
 smarten ; snirlm?i, neat, spruce. Fris. 
 snar, quick, smart ; snirre, a stroke with 
 a whip. — Outzen. The notion of smart- 
 ness of dress is connected with that of 
 briskness of action, as opposed to the 
 dawdling movements of a slattern. 
 
 To Smash. It. smassare, to crush 
 flat. See Mash. Gael, smuais^ smash, 
 break in pieces ; sinuaisrich, Si breaking 
 into pieces, splinters, fragments. Da. 
 smaske, to smack with the lips in eating ; 
 Sw. s mi ska, to smack, slap ; smiska son- 
 der, to smash, break to pieces. It. smac- 
 care, to crush, squash, bruise. 
 
 Smattering. — Smatch. Smalch, a 
 taste or small touch of a quality. S7nat~ 
 
6j6 
 
 SMEAR 
 
 teringy superficial or slight knowledge ; 
 smatterer, one who has some smatch or 
 tincture of learning. — B. Pl.D. stnak- 
 sefty G. schmatzeny Swiss schmatzern^ 
 schmatzeliiy N- smatta^ to smack with the 
 tongue in eating. Fris. smeijtsen, to taste, 
 to try. — Epkema. 
 
 After he had indifferently taught his scollers 
 the Latine tong and some smackering of the 
 Greek. — Primaudaye Fr. Acad, transl. by T. B. 
 C. A.D. 1589, p. 3. 
 
 SmatierSy in the expression breaking 
 to smattersy must be explained from 
 G. schvtettern, to crash or crack, as a peal 
 of thunder, and thence like zcrschmettern, 
 to break to pieces. Sw. smattra, to 
 crackle. Tallwed smattrar i elden, deal 
 crackles in the fire. And as the crackhng 
 is the result of the wood splitting to 
 pieces, it is natural that the term which 
 represents the crackling should be applied 
 to the splinters. So Fr. ^clat signifies 
 both crack and fragment. Da. dial, smad- 
 der, crack, fragment. Det gav en smad- 
 der saa man kunde hbre det langt borte, 
 it gave a crash so that one could hear it 
 a Tong way off. Det gik i smadder, it 
 went to smatters. Han smaddrede cBgget 
 mod steenbroe7i, he smashed the Qgg on 
 the pavement. Gael, smad, a particle, 
 jot. 
 
 To Smear. Du. smeeren, G. schmteren, 
 Bav. schmireiiy scJwiirbeny to smear, daub, 
 grease ; as. smeru (g. smef"wes)yG.sch7neer, 
 ON. smjor, smbr, fat, grease, butter. 
 Another oe. form still provincially pre- 
 served is smore or smoor. ' I smore one's 
 face with any grease or soute : je bar- 
 bouylle.' — Palsgr. And this probably 
 points to the true origin of the word as a 
 contraction from smothe7'y which itself is 
 provincially used in the sense of smear or 
 daub. — Hal. Pl.D. stniidderen^ smiid- 
 delen, smullen, to dabble, dirty; snmdder- 
 regen, E. dial, smiiry drizzling rain. Du. 
 smoddere7iy smeiiren, to daub, smear ; 
 smodderigy si7iorrigy smeerig, Fris. S77idrigy 
 dirty ; s77iorig Ii7i7ien. — Epkema. Gael. 
 S77iur, S7nuiry S77itirach, a blot, spot, par- 
 ticle of dust, ashes, earth ; S77iur, S77iinr, 
 bedaub, smear. The radical image would 
 thus be the act of dabbHng in the mud, 
 and the name would be transferred to 
 grease, as the material that daubs in the 
 most effectual manner. On this principle 
 G. schmutZy filth, dirt, is in Swiss applied 
 to lard, butter, grease ; sch77iutze7iy to 
 smear the hair with grease. Bav. scJmiotZy 
 dirt, fat, grease. Pol. 77iazac, 77tazgady to 
 blot, smear, daub, anoint ; 77taslo, butter. 
 See Smother. 
 
 SMILE 
 
 Smeech. — Smeegy. e. dial. S77ieechy a 
 stench, obscurity in the air, arising from 
 smoke, fog, or dust. To S77icechy to make 
 a stink with the snuff of a candle. — Hal. 
 S77ieegyy tainted, ill-smelling. — Moor, 
 Connected with AS. s77ieCy S77iicy s/neocy 
 smoke, as G. riechc7iy to smell, with 7'a7icJiy 
 smoke. Bav. sch7necke7iy to smell, and 
 thence sclmtec/cer, the nose ; scJu/iec/ce, 
 scJwieckbuschely a nosegay. There is 
 however a strong tendency in the Ober 
 Deutsch dialects, as in the English, to 
 use the word in the sense of a bad smell. 
 Thus the Swiss translation of the Bible, 
 speaking of Lazarus in the tomb, says, 
 ' Er ist vier tage im grabe gelegen, er 
 sc/wiecket ]Qzt.' See Smoke. 
 
 Smell. The original sense of the word 
 would seem to be dust, smoke, then smell, 
 as G. riecheUy to smell, from rancJiy smoke. 
 Pl.D. S77iele7iy S77ielle7iy to burn slow with 
 a strong-smelling smoke. Dat holt S77ielet 
 ivegy the wood smoulders away. Hier 
 S77ielet waty here is a smell of iDurning ; 
 S77ielerigy smelling of burning. — Brem. 
 Wtb. Du. S77ieulc7iy to burn or smoke 
 in a hidden manner. — Bomhoff. Pl.D. 
 S77idp7iy a verb applied to thick dust, 
 mist, mizzling rain, a smoking fire. — Dan- 
 neil. Lith. S77ialkasy smoke, vapour ; 
 S77ielktiy to smoke, to rise in vapour ; 
 S77iilkstetiy to smoulder, burn in a hidden 
 way ; S77tilkytiy to perfume ; S7nilkii7tasy 
 perfume. Sw. smolky dust ; Da. dial. 
 S77ielky S77iilky fine rain. Da. S77iuly dust ; 
 s77iMley to crumble. See Smoulder. On 
 the same principle ON. diipt, dust, duptay 
 to throw out dust, N. duft, ditpt, fine dust, 
 dufta, to fly in dust, to smoke, must be 
 identified with Da. dnft, fragrance, dii/tey 
 to exhale odour. G. diift, vapour, mist, 
 evaporation, the fine exhalation of sweet- 
 smelling bodies, scent. 
 
 Sm.elt. G. 5ch77ielze7i, Du. S77ielte7ty to 
 melt, dissolve, liquefy. See Melt. 
 
 To Smicker. To look amorously upon. 
 Sw. S77ieka, to stroke, caress, flatter ; 
 S77iickray Da. S7nig7-ey to flatter ; ON. 
 snieykligry smooth, sweet, flattering. Du. 
 S77ieecke7iy S7neeckele7iy to speak smoothly, 
 to implore, to flatter j G. sdwieichebiy to 
 coax, caress, fondle, cajole, flatter. See 
 Smile. 
 
 To Smile. N. S77iilay Da. smile, OHG. 
 S77iiela7iy MHG. S77iieleny 577iiereny Bav. 
 sch77iiere7iy Manx s77iooiry to smile. AS. 
 S77ia;rcy laugh ; S77ierciany to smirk, smile, 
 where S7nirk is evidently a diminutive 
 form, in the same way that the Fris. has 
 S7nilleken (Outzen), S77iilke (Junge), along- 
 side of S77tille7t, S77iiile, S77ieele, 
 
SMIRCH 
 
 It is probable that both modifications 
 of the root, smile as well as sjnire, are 
 contracted, the one from a form like G. 
 schineicheln, to caress, coax, flatter, the 
 other from one like Sw. smickra, Da. 
 sviigre, of the same signification, both 
 these latter forms being derivatives from 
 an equivalent of Sw.sjneka^onG.smeicken, 
 to caress, cajole ; smeichan, assentiri, 
 adulari, blandiri. — Graff. G. schmeicJiebi 
 is actually used in the sense of smile. 
 * Sie I'achlet, sie schmutzt, sie schmeichlet.^ 
 — Sanders, And conversely Westerwald 
 sch7niere7t and Svv. smila are used in the 
 sense of fawn , coax, flatter. Smila or smeka 
 sig ill hos ndgon, to curry favour with one ; 
 smila med immneii [munnen, the mouth), 
 to smile, to simper. Da. dial, smila^ to 
 flatter, to be false. Pol. smea^ sie, Boh. 
 smati se, to laugh. Lett, smeet, to laugh ; 
 smeekls, laughter, sport, ridicule ; smaidit, 
 to smile, flatter, sport. Sanscr. s?m, to 
 smile. 
 
 The ultimate origin of the expression 
 may be the caressing of an infant with the 
 mouth and chin, whence the designation 
 of the chin seems to be used in express- 
 ing the idea of caressing. Sw. smekas, 
 to caress one another, to bill and kiss ; 
 smekunge, a darling. Gael. S7?iig, svii- 
 gean, Manx smeggyl, Lith. smakras, the 
 chin, Gael, smig^ S7nigean, also a smile, 
 mirth. In the same way, from Fin . Icuka, 
 the chin, leukailla, to use the chin, to 
 kiss, sport, smile. So also w. gwen, a 
 smWe, gweniaith, flattery, seem connected 
 with gen, chin, jaw, mouth. The intro- 
 duction of the w, at least, need cause no 
 difficulty, as we have both gwenfa and 
 geiifa^ a bit, curb, from gen^ jaw. 
 
 On the other hand, a smile may be 
 considered as smothered laughter, and 
 may be typified by the smoke and ashes 
 which betray the presence of a smoulder- 
 ing fire. Thus we may compare Du. 
 smiiylen, smolleft (K.), Swab, sc/wwllen, 
 Fris. smillen, smilleken, smilke, to smile, 
 N. smolla, smolka, to laugh low, to titter, 
 with Du. smenleti^ Pl.D. smelen, smullen, 
 smolen, to smoulder or burn in a hidden 
 way, to send up a thick smoke, steam, 
 dust, mist, to rain fine, Sw. smolk, dust, 
 mote, dirt. Da. dial. j-;;z///l', fine rain, Lith. 
 smalkas, smoke, vapour, smelkti, to 
 smoke. Schmollen, in ordinary G., sig- 
 nifying a sulky silence, may be explained, 
 as if brooding over hidden ill-will instead 
 of hidden mirth. 
 
 The connection of the idea of covert 
 laughter with that of smouldering, dust, 
 dirt, smoke, holds good in a remarkable 
 
 SMITH 
 
 607 
 
 way in other instances. E. dial, to smtidge^ 
 to daub, to stifle or smother, to smoulder 
 or burn in a hidden way, is also used in the 
 sense of smothered laughter. — Brockett. 
 G. schmutzen^ to dirty, also, as schmtitz- 
 lacheji, schmiitzeln^ schmunizen, schimint- 
 zeln, to smile, simper, laugh in one's 
 sleeve. Du. smiiysteren, to daub or smear, 
 corresponds with Pl.D. smtisterii., smiins- 
 tern, smtisterlachen, to smile; as Swiss 
 smusseln, to dabble, dirty, NE. smush, to 
 smoulder, with Pl.D. S7nuscher7t, to laugh 
 in a covert way. In the same way we 
 have Manx s77iooir, MHG. si7tiere7i^ sch77iier- 
 lich lache7i, E. S77iirk, to smile, titter, 
 parallel with E. S77iear, Pl.D. S77207'e7i, 
 S77wrche7i, S7iiu7ken (Br. Wtb,), to smother, 
 stifle, stew, Du. S77ieure7t^ s77tooren, to 
 smoke (K.), E. dial, smur, fine rain. 
 
 Sw. S77tdle, N. S77taala'gja, to smile, are 
 wholly unconnected with any of the fore- 
 going, being analogous to G. klei7t lache7i, 
 ¥r. soi(7'ire, from S77id, S77iaa, little, small, 
 and le, Icegja, to laugh. 
 
 ♦ To Smirch.— Besmirch. To black- 
 en, to dirty. From 77ti7'k, dark, a root 
 much developed in the Slavonic lan- 
 guages. Illyr. i7ie7-k, dark ; i7te.rciti (mer- 
 chiti), to blacken, befoul, dirty ; sine7-k- 
 7mtise, to become dark. Pol. i7irok, 
 darkness, r7i7'OCZ7iy, murky, dusky ; Serv. 
 7717'chili, to blacken ; Boh. S77irkatise, to 
 become dark. Commonly explained from 
 the notion of S77iea7-i/ig or daubing. 
 
 To Smirk. See Smile. 
 
 To Smite. Pl.D. S77iite7i, G. scJwteissen, 
 to strike, to cast. Doubtless from an 
 imitation of the sound of a blow, which is 
 represented indifferently by the forms 
 S77iack, scJwiatz, S77iat. N. S77tatta, to 
 smack with the tongue ; Bav. sch77iatze7t, 
 to smack with the tongue, to kiss, strike, 
 let a thing fall with a sudden noise ; 
 sch77titze7i, to strike, to cast ; G. scJwiitz, 
 a lash with a whip. Sw. s7/iiska, to lash, 
 to dash ; Bav. scJmtaiss, sclwtiss, a blow. 
 ' Der fuhrman sch77ieisst mit der giesel 
 und gibt ein sch77iitzen : ' the carter 
 smacks or cracks his whip and lashes 
 his horses. — Schm. 
 
 Smith. — Smithy. ON. S77iidr, arti- 
 ficer ; S77tidja, smithy, workplace ; S77iid', 
 workmanship, art ; S77tida, to construct j 
 S77iidi, an object of art. 
 
 The radical sense seems to be a 
 worker with the hammer, one who S77iites 
 metal into shape. In Galla tu77ia is to 
 beat or strike, to forge iron, whence Umitu, 
 every kind of craftsman (' but the signifi- 
 cation oi strike preponderates '), especially 
 
6o8 
 
 SMOCK 
 
 a smith, locksmith, but also a shoemaker, 
 tailor, &c. — Tutschck. 
 
 Smock. — Smockfrock. ON. sjftokkr, a 
 shirt without arms, also a sheath, or what 
 one sticks a sword or knife into. In He- 
 ligoland smock is a woman's shirt. The 
 meaning is a garment one creeps into or 
 slips over one's head. ON. smokkci, to 
 stick in ; smokka s^r in^ to creep into ; 
 smokka s^r or iiete^ to slip out of a net ; 
 smeygia, to slip into, to slip on ; smjiiga^ 
 to creep through or into. Lith. sjnaigti, 
 sineigtiy to stick into, as a pole into the 
 ground ; smaigas, a hop-pole. 
 
 Smoke. AS. S7nec, smeoc^ G. schfnauch, 
 Du. smook, smoke. Gr. ofivx^^) tjo burn in 
 a smouldering fire. w. mwg, smoke, 
 fume ; ysmwdan, a little smoke, mist, fog ; 
 mfgu, to smoke, smother, stifle. Bret. 
 moug, (originally doubtless smoke, then) 
 fire, family, house ; moged, smoke ; mo- 
 geden^ exhalation, vapour ; mouga, to 
 suffocate, extinguish. Gael, miiigy much, 
 smuch, suffocate, smother ; 7nuchan, a 
 chimney ; miiig, smoke, mist, gloom ; 
 viuigeach, smoky, misty, gloomy ; Ir. 
 much, smoke ; miuhaim, to smother, ex- 
 tinguish ; mtichna, dark, gloomy. Manx 
 jnoogh, extinguish; smoghan, stink; sjnog- 
 hafn, a suffocating or smouldering fume. 
 
 The ultimate origin is, I believe, to be 
 found in a representation of the nasal 
 sounds made in sniffing an odour or in 
 gasping for breath. From sniffing an 
 odour we pass, on the one hand, to the 
 idea of that which is snuffed up, exhala- 
 tion, vapour, smoke ; then, from smoke 
 being considered as the suffocating agent, 
 to the idea of choking, suffocation ; or we 
 may step at once to the latter conception 
 from the figure of gasping for breath. 
 Pl.D. snikken, to gasp for air, to sob, in 
 Hamburgh, to be suffocated, to choke ; 
 versnikketi, to draw the last gasp, to die. 
 The imitative form preserved in Bav. 
 Pfnechen, to pant, to breathe deep, leads, 
 on the one hand, to Gr. ttvew, to breathe ; 
 TTvorj, a breathing, an exhalation, vapour, 
 odour, and, on the other, to Trviyu), to stifle, 
 choke, drown, stew ; Lat. necarc, to kill ; 
 It. annegare, to drown. 
 
 The inarticulate sounds made in mut- 
 tering, sobbing, sniffling, were imitated 
 in Gr. by the syllable /uv, which must 
 sometimes have been strengthened by a 
 final guttural, shown in fivxfiog, groaning, 
 fivKTTjp, the nose or snout, fxiiKog, snivel, 
 the mucus of the nose, nvicrjg, snuff of a 
 lamp. The same imitation gives rise to 
 G. mucken, mucksen, Mag. inukkani, Fin. 
 mukahtaa, to make slight inarticulate 
 
 SMOTHER 
 
 sounds with the mouth closed ; Gael. 
 much, mutter, hum ; jnitgach, snuffling ; 
 sj/iuc, a snivel, snore, nasal sound ; smu- 
 each, snivelling, snuffling, snoring. 
 
 Hence must be explained Bav. schmec- 
 ken, to sniff, to smell, to detect by smell, 
 in the same sense as E. smoke, to find any 
 one out, to discover anything meant to be 
 kept secret. — Hal. Swiss erschmekkern, 
 to smell out, to discover. AS. smeagan, 
 smean, to investigate, consider. Bav. 
 schmeckst eppes [etwas] ? do you smell 
 anything ? do you smoke ? do you twig ? 
 Schmecken, a nosegay ; schmecker, a nose- 
 gay, the nose. In schmeckeiide bach, the 
 sulphur springs, we see the passage from 
 the idea of smelling to that of vapour, 
 smoke. Devon, smeech, stench, as of a 
 candle blown out ; obscurity in the air 
 arising from smoke, fog, or dust. — Hal. 
 Bav. schmecken and the equivalent Ber- 
 nese, schmbke, are especially applied to 
 the disagreeable smell of tainted meat. 
 Das fleisch schmokt, Bav. 'j Jieisch 
 schmeckt, is schtnecked wordeji, would in 
 Suffolk be rendered ^ the meat is smeegy.^ 
 Bernese, ubel-, wolschmokig, ill or well 
 smelling. G. sch7nauchen, to smoke to- 
 bacco, is to be rather understood in the 
 original sense of snuffing or inhaling 
 than in that of making a smoke. 
 
 Smooth. AS. smethe, smooth, even, 
 soft. The radical meaning is, pliable, 
 from G, schuiieden, to forge or form by 
 the hammer, leading to geschmeidig, 
 malleable, ductile, then soft, pliant, com- 
 plaisant ; Pl.D. smidig, smodig, Du. 
 smedig, pliant, soft ; Pl.D. smbde7i,smbdi- 
 gen, Du. smijdigeii, mulcere, mollire — 
 Kil. ; Dan. smidig, limber, supple. 
 
 Smother. — Sm.oor. The radical image 
 seems to be dabbling in wet and dirt, 
 whence follow the ideas of splashing, 
 slobbering, dirtying, spotting, of a spot, 
 stain, separate particle of dirt or dust, 
 thickness of air, mist, smoke, and thence 
 suffocation, choking, extinction. Pl.D. 
 smaddern, to dabble, meddle with dirty 
 things, make blots in writing — Danneil ; 
 smiiddeii, smuddern, sjnuddehi, smullen, 
 Du. smodderen, E. dial, smothe}', Swiss 
 schmusselft, schmaitseln, to dabble, daub, 
 dirty ; Du. smoddig, smodderig, smodsig, 
 Pl.D. smudderig, sinuddelig, smullig, G. 
 schmottrig, schmutzig, E. smudgy, sfnutty, 
 smeared, dirty ; Pl.D. besi7iuddern, to be- 
 smotter, to splash with dirt ; smudderregn 
 {s\.dMhrQgVL),smuttregn (Schiitze), Da. dial. 
 smudskregn, mizzling rain ; Pl.D. idt 
 smuddert, E. dial, it smithers, it drizzles ; 
 Pl.D. smudderig, smullig weder, dirty 
 
SMOTTERED 
 
 weather, moist, rainy weather ; stnudder- 
 sweet, sweat caused by close smothery 
 weather ; Bav. schmodig, schimidig, 
 schmiidrig, close, oppressively hot ; Du. 
 smul, sjnoel iveder, aura tepida, aer lan- 
 guidus, calor flaccidus, close, oppressive 
 weather. — Kil. Da. sjjntds, Sw. smuts, 
 spot, splash, dirt, mud ; E. sjnotch, smutch, 
 smut, stain, soot, dirt ; smudge, a thick 
 smoke, and as a verb, to stain or smear, 
 to smoulder or burn without flame, to 
 stifle — Craven Gl. ; smudgy, hot and 
 close. 
 
 As Pl.D. smuddehi contracts to st7iullen, 
 so smiiddern melts into Du. s7nooren, 
 smcureu, to exhale, smoke, suffocate, ex- 
 tinguish ; smoor, vapour, smoke — Kil. ; 
 E. dial. s7noor, smore, to daub, smear, 
 smother ; smur, small misty rain ; West- 
 erwald schmor?'en, schmarren, to smoke 
 tobacco. 
 
 The same course of development may 
 be traced in Boh. smud, smoke, vapour, 
 Gael, smod, dirt, dust, smut, mizzling rain ; 
 smodan, a little spot or blemish, dirt, dust, 
 drizzling rain, haze ; smudal, sweepings, 
 trash ; sfnudan, a particle of dust, soot, 
 smut, smoke ; smud, smuid, smoke, 
 vapour, mist ; smuidre, smuidrich, clouds 
 of smoke or dust, exhalation, mist ,• 
 sjnuidir, smuidrich, to smoke. Then in 
 a contracted form, smur, smiur, bedaub, 
 smear ; smilr, smiiir, sjnurach, a blot, 
 spot, blemish, a particle of dust, an atom, 
 dust, ashes, dross. See Smoulder. 
 Smottered. See Smut. 
 Smouch. I. A kiss. ' What bussing, 
 what smouching and slabbering one an- 
 other.' — Stubbs in Todd. Swiss iiber- 
 schmauseln, iiberschmusseln, to kiss over 
 and over, to beslabber, from schmau- 
 sehty sch77tusseln, to dabble, dirty. Swab. 
 sch77iatz, sch77iutz, a hearty kiss. G. 
 sch77iatze7i, to smack. 
 
 2. To s77iouch, to convey away secretly, 
 to steal. 
 
 Swiss iTtauchcTt, 77iuchel7i, 77iautsche7t, 
 7itattschel7t, to enjoy delicacies in secret ; 
 sch77iauche7i, versch77iauche7t, to smouch, or 
 secretly purloin eatables, to conceal ; 
 i7iaiicke7i, sch77iaiicke7i, versch77iaiicke7i, G. 
 I7iause7i, to pilfer, steal. Sw. S77iussla, to 
 do anything furtively ; — bort, to make 
 away with privily ; — in 7iagotin si7i Jicka, 
 to slip something into his pocket ; — U7i- 
 da7i, to appropriate slily, to smouch ; Du. 
 S77iuigeu, to eat and drink in secret, to do 
 anything secretly. See Smuggle. 
 
 Smoulder. Thick smoke ; to s77tould- 
 er, to burn with a thick smoke, burn in a 
 
 SxMUGGLE 609 
 
 hidden way, consume away without show- 
 ing the fire. 
 
 The powder sendes his smoke into the cruddy 
 
 skies, 
 The smoulder stops our nose with stench, the 
 
 fume offends our eyes. — Gascoigne in R. 
 
 Now the Sonne is up your smooder is scattered. 
 — Jewell. / smolder as wetc wode doth that 
 burneth not clere. — Palsgr. 
 
 Sometimes used in the sense ois77iother. 
 
 A great number of them falling with their 
 horses and armour into a blind ditch were 
 stnouldered and pressed to death. — HoUinshed. 
 
 We have seen under Smother that Pl.D. 
 S77iuddel7i, to dabble, smear, dirty, passes 
 into S77iulle7i, as S77tudder7i into s77ioore7i. 
 Dat weder s77iuUet, it is dirty weather ; 
 S77iudderig, s77tuddeHg, s77iulHg, dirty, 
 smudgy j dat ligt S77iullet weg, the candle 
 gutters away. Hence Da. S77iul, dust; 
 falde he/i i S77iul, to crumble into dust, 
 S77iulei S77iulre, S77iicld7'e, to crumble, 
 moulder. Pl.D. S77iele7i, S77ielle7i, S7ndle7i, 
 Du. S77ieule7i, to burn slowly with a thick 
 smoke. In E. s77ioulder the burning body 
 is considered as going away in ashes and 
 soot. In an analogous manner S77iudge, 
 dirt, is in Craven used for a thick smoke 
 or suffocating vapour ; to S7nudge, to 
 smoke without flame, to smear, to stifle ; 
 S77iudgy, hot or close, smothery. See 
 Smother. 
 
 Smug. Spruce, neat ; to smtig up 07ie- 
 self, to trim, to set oneself off to the best 
 advantage. — B. G. sch77i2ick, pretty, hand- 
 some, fine, neat ; sch77mcke7i, to adorn, set 
 off, deck, trim, smug up or beautify. — 
 Kiitner. Da. S77iuk, pretty ; det smukke 
 kib7i, the fair sex. G. sich sch77iiege7i, and 
 in Bavaria sch77iucke7t, to shrink, contract, 
 make oneself small ; gesch77wgeti, small, 
 contracted ; schmugelich, neat, pretty, 
 pleasing. Neat and tight in dress is the 
 opposite of loose, flapping, slatternly. 
 
 To Smuggle. G. sch77iuggel7t, Da. 
 S7nugle, to smuggle ; Du. s77iokkele7i, to 
 smuggle, sharp at play, pilfer. AS. 
 S77iugan, to creep ; S77tygelas, holes, lurk- 
 ing-places ; Du. S77itiigen, to do anything 
 furtively ; ter S77iuig, ter S7nuik, Da. / 
 S77tugy S w. i S77iyg, i 77tjugg, clandestinely ; 
 S77iyga, to slip privily in or out of ; si7iyg- 
 ha7idel, smuggling trade ; srmygJidl, 
 S77iygwra, a lurking-place ; ON. S77ieygja, 
 to slip into, to put into. S77ieygja fati 
 yfir hofud ser, to slip on a garment over 
 one's head, to creep into it ; S77ijuga, to 
 press oneself through or forwards with a 
 S9 
 
6io 
 
 SMUT 
 
 creeping motion ; smuj^a, Da. snwge, a 
 Lttle hole, narrow passa<,^e. 
 
 The primitive sense is probably pre- 
 served in Lith. stuaigti, stJieigti, smcgti^ 
 to stick into, whence smaigas, a hop-pole. 
 fsisHU'igtiy to penetrate, stick into, per- 
 smeigti, to stick through, pierce. 
 
 Smut. The senses of paddle, puddle, 
 pi ash, splash, spatter, sputter, spot, are 
 closely allied, and similar senses are 
 signified by P1.D. pladdern, plasken, G. 
 platschen, to dabble, splash ; platsen, 
 Pl.D. piastern, piattern, to sound like 
 a heavy shower ; Svv. plottra, to blot, 
 to scrawl ; Da. piet, a spot, stain, &c. 
 In other cases the same class of pheno- 
 mena are represented by imitative forms 
 in which the/ ox pi of the former class 
 is replaced by an in. Pl.D. maddern, 
 moddern, to dabble, paddle (Danneil), 
 and thence Du. vtodder, mud; bemod- 
 dereit, to bedaub — Epkema ; E. muddle. 
 Swab, motzen, PLD. inatschen,mantscheu, 
 to dabble, plash, daub, and with the sibi- 
 lant, PI. D. smudden, smuddern, smuddeln, 
 smullen, to dabble, dirty ; sniaddern, to 
 dabble, let wet or dirt fall about (Dann.), 
 to blot, sjcribble ; Sw. smattra, to crackle, 
 sputter. Da. smadder, E. smaller, E. dial. 
 smitjier, N. smitter, fragment, atom ; E. 
 smaller, to spatter, dirty ; Sw. smuts, 
 spot, splash, dirt, mud ; G. schmutz, E. 
 smut, smudge, suiilch, dirt, smoke, dust ; 
 Du. smetten, Sc. smad, smot, E. smit, to 
 mark or stain, w. ysmot, a spot ; ysmotio, 
 to spot or dapple. See Smother. 
 
 Snack. — Snap. — Snatch. A sharp 
 sudden sound like that of the collision or 
 breaking of hard bodies is represented by 
 forms like k)iack, knock, knap, snack, 
 snap, which thence are applied to signify 
 any sharp sudden action, or the quality of 
 quickness essential for the production of 
 the noise in question. 
 
 Sc. smuk represents the snapping of a 
 dog's jaws, a sudden snap, then quick, 
 alert, agile. 
 
 The swypper tuskaiid hound assayis 
 And neris fast, ay ready hym to hynt — 
 
 Wyth hys wyde chaftis at hym makis ane snak. 
 D. V. 439, 33. 
 
 A snack is familiarly used in the sense 
 of a hasty meal, a mouthful snatched or 
 snapped up in haste. 
 
 Our kind host would not let us go without 
 taking a snatch, as they called it, which was, in 
 truth, a very good dinner. — Boswell, Journey. 
 The knack 1 learned frae an auld auntie 
 The snackest of a' my kin. — Ramsay, 
 
 In vulgar slang snack or snap is booty, 
 share, portion, any articles out of which 
 
 SNAIL 
 
 money can be made ; * looking out for 
 snaps,' waiting for windfalls or odd jobs. 
 — Modern Slang. Hence logo snacks, to 
 go shares, to particijjate in the booty. 
 
 The imitative character of the word is 
 shown in Pl.D. snapps ! interj. expressing 
 quickness. Snapps ! snupps I het de 
 katte de muus weg. G. schnapps I da 
 gieng es los ; snap ! there it went off. 
 Bav. in ein'ni scJmipps, Du. met eenen 
 snap, Sc. in a snap, in a crack, in a mo- 
 ment ; snaply, quickly ; Da. dial, snap, 
 Sw. snabb, quick ; Du. snapreisje, a hasty 
 journey. A snap is a spring which closes 
 with the sharp sound represented by the 
 name. G. schnapps, a dram of spirits, so . 
 much as is tossed off at a swallow. i 
 
 Snaffle. A bit for a horse, an imple- ■ 
 ment to confine the snout, on the same 
 principle on which Bav. schnabel is ap- 
 plied to an iron mask fastened on the 
 faces of abandoned women, from Pl.D. 
 snavel, G. schnabel, the snout. 
 
 The designations of the words signify- 
 ing snout are commonly taken from the 
 sounds made by snuffing through the 
 nose, snorting, or smacking with the 
 jaws. Thus we have G. s-chnauben,. 
 schnaufen, Pl.D. snuven, to snuff; Bav. 
 snaben, to smack like a pig ; E. dial. 
 snabble, to eat greedily, eat with a smack- 
 ing sound ; snaffle, to speak through the 
 nose, to chatter, talk nonsensically ; and 
 Du. snabbe, snebbe, snavel, snebel, Bav. '■ 
 schnufel, Pl.D. snuffe, a snout, beak. 
 
 Snag". A short projection, the project- 
 ing stump of a broken branch, a tooth 
 standing alone (Hal.) ; snaggletoothed, 
 having the teeth standing out. 
 
 The word S7iag is adapted to signify a 
 short projection, on the same principle as 
 knag, jag, shag, cog, syllables represent- 
 ing a sound abruptly brought to a con- 
 clusion, and thence applied to a movement 
 suddenly cut short, or to the figure traced 
 out by such a movement, an abrupt pro- 
 jection. Gael, snag, a little audible knock, 
 a hiccough, a wood-pecker ; snaglabhair, 
 stammer in speaking ; Manx snog, nod ; 
 S7iig, a fillip, a smart stroke or blow. G. 
 dial, schnacke, schnocke, to jerk the 
 head about ; schnicken, to snap, move 
 quick. — Deutsch. Mund. III. E. dial. 
 snug, to strike or push as an ox with his 
 horn. 
 
 Snail. AS. sncBgel, sncegl, sncslj West- 
 er wald schndgel, schnalj G. schnecke, Pl.D. 
 snigge, E. dial, snag, snig, snake, ON.' 
 snigil, N. snigjel, sniel, all apparently 
 from Swiss scJviaken, schnanggen, to 
 creep, go on all fours, crawl ; AS. snican^ 
 
SNAKE 
 
 to creep, as Du. slecke, a snail, from G. 
 schleichen, to creep. 
 
 Snake, as. snaca, ON. snakr, snokr, 
 Da. SJiog, Sanscr. naga, a snake. AS. 
 snican, to creep. 
 
 Snap. See Snack. 
 
 Snapsack. Originally, perhaps, a beg- 
 gar's wallet. ON. snapa, to seek one's 
 living ; s/iap, scanty pasture, begged 
 scraps. See Knapsack. 
 
 To Snape. — Sneap. To nip with cold, 
 to check, rebuke, properly to cut short. A 
 step-mother snakes her step-children of 
 their food. To snaple, to nip as frost 
 does. Du. S7tippefi, to nip. De wind 
 snipt in't augezigt, the wind cuts one's 
 face. 
 
 Scharp soppis of sleet and of the stiyppand sna.-w. 
 D. V. 200. 55. 
 
 Da. dial, sneve, snevve, to clip, cut short, 
 to cut one's hair, to nip or dwarf with 
 cold, to give one a reproof. At snyppe or 
 snevve een af, to cut one short, set him 
 down. N. suikka, to cut, also to repri- 
 mand, to put one to shame. In Suftblk 
 the word is S7iip. * The frost ha' sjiipt 
 them tahnups.' Also in the sense of 
 checking or rebuking. — Moor. 
 
 The sense of cutting short may be 
 attained in two ways : i. From the sharp 
 snap of a pair of scissors, or the blow by 
 which the cut is given ; and, 2. From an 
 abrupt movement leading to the notion 
 of a projection or point, then to that of 
 removing the point or stump, or reducing 
 to a stump, as explained under Snub. 
 From Bay. schnaiippen^ snout or ex- 
 tremity, is formed g'schnmipct^ nipped by 
 the frost, which seems the true equivalent 
 of E. S7ieaped or snaped. Bav. scJineppen^ 
 schnippen^ to make a short sudden move- 
 ment, gives sdmepp, Pl.D. snibbe, snippe, 
 beak or point, so that even snip may be 
 explained in the sense of ctitting off the 
 point, docking, curtailing. 
 
 Snare, on. snara, a cord, snare, 
 springe ; Du. snat'e^ a cord, string of a 
 musical instrument ; Fris. S7iar^ a noose. 
 The designation of cord or string may be 
 taken from the notion of twisting or turn- 
 ing, in two ways, viz. either from the twist- 
 ing of the fibres in the formation of the 
 string, or from the notion of its use in 
 twisting round and entangling, or con- 
 fining another object. Thus from the 
 verbs to twisty to tzaine, the name of twist 
 or twine is given to various kinds of thin 
 cord. In the same way Svv. S7W, to twist, 
 twine, entangle ; s7io, string, twist ; hats7io, 
 hat-string. 
 
 The ultimate origin is the whirring 
 
 SNATCH 
 
 611 
 
 sound of an object rapidly turning through 
 the air, of which different modifications 
 are represented by syllables framed on the 
 vowels a, z, n, according as the sound is 
 of a sharper or a duller nature. Pl.D. 
 s7iajTC7i,\.o whirr like a spinning-wheel, to 
 grumble, mutter, to pronounce the r in 
 the throat ; G. schnar7'e7i, to make a harsh 
 noise like that of a rattle, or a string jar- 
 ring ; to cry like a missel-thrush or a 
 corn-crake ; OE. to S7iarre, as a dogge 
 doth under a door when he sheweth his 
 teeth. — Palsgr. Hence, in a secondary 
 application, ON. S7iara, to whirl, hurl, 
 turn, twist. N. snara seg ihop, to snarl 
 or twist up like thread ; S7iara eit baand^ 
 to twist a rope. 
 
 With the other vowels we have Pl.D. 
 S7iirre7t, to whirr like a thing whirling 
 round, to lace, to draw a string tight ; 
 s7ii?Te, a lace, a noose. Pl.D. S7iurre7i^ 
 to whirr like a spinning-wheel, buzz like 
 a fly, snore ; Sw. snorra, to whirr, hum, 
 and thence to spin round, to whirl ; s7iorra^ 
 a spinning-top. G. sc/uiur, Sw. S7idre, a 
 string or lace. See next article. 
 
 To Snarl. The final / is merely an 
 element implying continuance of action, 
 as in Fr. i7iianler^ to cry 77tiau ! E. k7ieel 
 from k7iee, whirl from whirr ^ &c. To 
 S7iarl like a dog was formerly sfiar^ as 
 mentioned in the last article. The term 
 is then applied in the same way as the 
 simpler form, to the idea of twisting, curl- 
 ing, entangling. To ruffle or S7iarl as 
 over-twisted thread. — Cot. ' Lay in wait 
 to S7ia7'l him in his sermons.' — Becon in 
 Hal. S7tarl, a snare — Hal. ; Sc. s7ior/, 
 a snare, difficulty, scrape ; S7m7-l, to ruffle, 
 wrinkle ; S7inrlie, knotty. 
 
 Northern blasts the ocean snurl. — Ramsay. 
 Pl.D. sndrk'71, to snarl as thread. — Dan- 
 neil. Henneberg sch7iarre7t, to shrink, to 
 crumple up. On a similar principle to 
 the above, Da. kwTe, to coo like a dove ; 
 knrre, a knot, twist, tangle in thread. 
 
 Snast.— Snace. — Snat. The snuff of 
 a candle ; S7iasty, cross, snappish ; snattcd, 
 snub-nosed. Parallel forms are seen in 
 k7iast or gnast, the snuff or wick of a 
 candle (emunctorium, lichinus — Pr. Pm.) ; 
 Pol. k7iota, wick or snuff of a candle ; 
 Lith. k7iatas, wick ; Pl.D., Da. k7iast, a 
 knot in wood. The radical meaning 
 should be a knot or tuft of fibrous mate- 
 rial used as a wick, then the burnt por- 
 tion of the wick that is snuffed off. The 
 same equivalence of an initial sti and g7i 
 or k7i is seen in S7iag and k7iag, sjiarl and 
 g7iarl. 
 
 To Snatch. See Snack. 
 39 * 
 
-6r4 
 
 SNIVEL 
 
 In which all day he snotters^ nods, and yawns. 
 
 Ramsay. 
 
 G. schnatfern, schnadern iin kothe, to 
 muddle like ducks in the mud ; Swab. 
 sclinuderny to dabble in mud ; Bav. 
 schmuicrn^ schnodcin, to draw breath 
 through the impeded nose. * So si den 
 atum hart haben un schmdrent durch 
 die nasen.' — Schm. Swiss schnudern^ to 
 snivel, to snift in crying ; Bav. sc/maiide?i, 
 to draw breath, snort, pant. ON. sfiudda, 
 snitdraj Bav. schnillefi, to sniff about, to 
 search. Gael, stiot, smell, snuff the wind, 
 suspect ; snoitean^ a pinch of snuff. Lap. 
 s?iodkesci, to snift ; snudtjet^ to sniff out, 
 to trace by scent. 
 
 From these we pass to Bav. schnuder, 
 schnttdeli Uu. snodder, s7iot, sunt, Pl.D. 
 snotte, Da. snat, snot, ON. snyta, snot, the 
 mucus of the nose, and ON. sniidr, Bav. 
 schnuder, schniid, Pl.D. snute, Y)\x.s7mite, 
 G. schnautze, the snout. G. sclmaiitzen, 
 'Dm. smitten, snuiten, Pl.D. sniitten, ON. • 
 S7iyta, to snite, to blow the nose and 
 cleanse it from mucus, and thence to 
 snuff a candle, are pretty equally related 
 both to snout and snot, and perhaps may 
 have been developed simultaneously with 
 those forms from the same radical image. 
 
 From Gael, snot, snuff the wind, Bav. 
 sniiten, N. snntra, to sniff, search, may 
 be explained Goth, snntr, AS. snotor, 
 sagacious, prudent, an exact equivalent 
 of Lat. sagax, keen at following the 
 scent. 
 
 Snivel. Besides the ordinary sense of 
 snifting, drawing up the mucus audibly 
 through the nos'e, especially in crying, 
 snivel is used in Northamptonshire in 
 the sense of shrink, shrivel. Fruit that 
 is over-ripe and withered is said to be 
 sniveVd up ; flannel snivels up in wash- 
 ing. ' I'm so cold I could snivel into a 
 nut-shell' 
 How snivelled and old he looks. — Mrs Baker. 
 
 This is one of the numerous cases in 
 which the idea of contraction is expressed 
 by the drawing up the nose and mouth 
 in the act of grinning, snarling, snifting, 
 sniveling. 
 
 A kind of cramp when the hps and nostrils are 
 pulled and drawne awry like a dog's mouth when 
 he snarreth. — Nomenclature, 1585, in N. 
 
 Bav. schnarkeln, to snore ; schnurkeln 
 schniirkeln, to draw the air or mucus 
 through the nose with a certain noise, to 
 sniff, snore, snift, pry, shrink ; schnnrkel, 
 a wrinkled old woman ; G. schnorkel, a 
 volute in Architecture. ON. med sfierk- 
 jnnda nef, with upturned nose ; snerkja, 
 pain that makes one wry the mouth ; 
 
 SNOOZE 
 
 snoi'kinn, shrunk, contracted. N. snorka, 
 to snift, snort, grumble, scold ; snerka, 
 to shrink. With the final guttural ex- 
 changed for a labial, Bav. schnorfezen, 
 schtnirfeln, to snift, snifter ; schnerfen, 
 schnarpfen, schnurpfen. Da. snerpe, to 
 contract or shrink ; snerpe innnden sam- 
 mefi, to purse up the mouth; Du. sneipen, 
 to make one smart, to pinch. NE. to 
 sneiple, to shrivel up. — Hal. Compare 
 also Lat. ringor, to grin, to be in ill- 
 humour, to wrinkle, shrivel. 
 
 Snob. In Suffolk a journeyman shoe- 
 maker ; in slangish language used in the 
 sense of a coarse vulgar person. Sc. 
 S7iab, a cobbler's boy. The proper mean^ 
 ing of the word is simply a boy, then, 
 like G. knappe, a journeyman or work- 
 man, servant. E. dial, snap, a lad or servant, 
 generally in an ironical sense. — Hal. The 
 ultimate meaning of the word seems to 
 be a lump of a boy. Sjiap, a small piece 
 of anything (frustulum — Coles). — Hal. 
 See Knave. 
 
 To Snook. — Snoke. To smell, to 
 search out, pry into— Hal. ; to lie lurk- 
 ing for a thing. — B. ' Halener, to vent, 
 snook, wind, smell, or search out.'— Cot. 
 Nicto, to snoke as houndes dooth. — Ortus 
 in Hal. 
 
 The sound of sharply drawing the 
 breath, as in sobbing, snifting, sniffing, 
 is represented by the syllable snik, snuk ; 
 and from the figure of sniffing the air is 
 very generally expressed the idea of 
 searching about, especially seeking for 
 delicacies or eatables, prying curiously 
 into things. Pl.D. snikken, snukken, to 
 sob ; Du. snicken, to sob, gasp, sniff, 
 scent out.— Kil. E. dial, sneke [a snift- 
 ing], a cold in the head. Swiss schneicken, 
 scJineuggen, to sniff like dogs or pigs ; 
 schneicke, schticngge, Lilh. snukkis, the 
 nose or snout. Da. dial, snoke, to trace 
 by scent ; at faae e7i S7idk af noget, to 
 get wind of something ; S7iykke, to snuff 
 tobacco. N. S7iik, smell ; S7iikja, to han- 
 ker after. Lap. s7iuogget, to scent, trace 
 by scent like a dog, pry into ; Sw. snoka. 
 Da. S7iage, ON. S7iaka, to snuff about, 
 rummage, search. E. dial, snawk, sneak, 
 S7iuck, to smell. Fris. s7iiUke, snoke, 
 S7iickje, to sniff. 
 
 To Snooze. To slumber, nap. — Wor- 
 cester. S7toozing, nesthng and dozing, 
 lying snug and warm. — Mrs Baker. Lilh. 
 S7iudau, S7iusi, snnsti, to fall asleep, to 
 doze ; snaiisti, to be sleepy ; S7iudis, a 
 dozer, dreamer. 
 
 The word may spring from the same 
 origin in a representation of the sound of 
 
SNORE 
 
 breathing, by two different courses, viz. 
 I St, direct from the deep breathing of a 
 person in sleep, as in the case of OE. 
 swough, Sc. souj/', signifying, in the first 
 place, breathing heavily, and then sleep. 
 In the same way V>diV.p/na7isen, to breathe 
 deep through the nose, is used exactly as 
 E. snooze, in the sense of comfortable 
 sleep. 'Als er einest bey niichtlichem 
 weise in dem warmen federbeth^^^rt://^'/'^;' 
 as he nightly snoozed in the warm feather- 
 bed. 
 
 On the other hand, the sense may be 
 taken from the figure of an infant sniffing 
 after food, and pressing close to its mo- 
 ther's breast, Dan. s?mse, to snuff, sniff, 
 and, in a secondary sense, to sniff out, to 
 pry ; E. dial, snowze, to pry into, to ferret 
 about. ' Don't come snowzmg after me.' 
 — Mrs Baker. N. smiska, siiusla^ snutra, 
 to sniff or pry after eatables. ON. snudda, 
 sn7idi^, Bav. snauden, to sniff, scent out ; 
 E. srmddle, to nestle (Hal.) ; nuddle, to 
 nestle, to fondle, as when a child lays its 
 head on the bosom of its nurse ; nuzzle, 
 to creep closely, as an infant in the bosom 
 of its nurse or mother. — Mrs Baker. 
 Pl.D. snusseln, to sniff after, to trace by 
 scent ; snusselije, niceties, tit-bits ; sjmss, 
 the snout ; herumsnusseln, to pry about. 
 Dat kind smisselt an dem titte : the child 
 nuzzles or snuggles up to the breast. E. 
 snoozling, nestling. — Hal. 
 
 The association of the idea of seeking 
 for food with those of warmth and sleep 
 is derived from the earliest period of the 
 infant's life. See Snug. 
 
 To Snore. — Snort. Sno?'t bears the 
 same relation to snore as snifl to sniff, 
 the addition of the final / intimating a 
 separate act as distinguished from the 
 continuous action of s9iore or sniff. ' In 
 the snir^ of a cat,' in a moment. 
 
 Swiss se/inodern, to snore, sniff, snort ; 
 scimerre, P1.D. stiurre, the snout, nose ; 
 snurren, to whirr like a spinning-wheel, 
 to snore in sleep; snoren, snorken, G. 
 scJmarcheii, Lap. snoret,s7torret, to snore ; 
 Sw. snor, mucus of the nose ; Pl.D. snir- 
 ren, to whirr ; snarren, to grumble, mutter. 
 
 Snot. See Snite. 
 
 Snout. See Snite. 
 
 Snow. I. G. schnee,cm.s7ii6r {snjova, 
 snjoa, to snow), Goth, snaivs, Pol. snjeg, 
 Lith. snegas, Gael, sneachd, Lat. nix, 
 nivis {iiingere, to snow), Gr. vi^aq, a 
 snowflake. 
 
 2. Pl.D. S7iaii, a kind of ship, originally 
 a beaked ship, from snau, beak, snout. 
 
 Snub. Snub is a word analogous to 
 J^Si jog^ job, snag, &c., representing, in 
 
 SNUB 
 
 615 
 
 the first instance, a short abrupt sound, 
 then applied to a sudden movement 
 abruptly stopped, then an abrupt projec- 
 tion or stump. To snub is, then, to re- 
 duce to a stump, to cut short, as Sw. 
 styinpa, to dock or mutilate, from stump, 
 a snag or stump. 
 
 In the sense of a short abrupt sound 
 we may cite E. dial, snob or stiub, Swiss 
 schnupf, a sob, passing to the idea of 
 abrupt movement in Swiss auf den 
 schmipf, Da. i en snub, in a moment, at a 
 blow, and in Sw. dial, snubba, snabbla, 
 snubbla, snappla, snoppla, snuppla, to 
 stumble. Then, as stiunble and stump 
 are connected together, we have Sc. snab, 
 the projecting part of a rock or hill, a 
 rough point ; E. snub, a jag or snag. 
 
 His dreadful club 
 All armed with ragged smibs and knotty grain. 
 
 F. Q. 
 
 A sniibjtose is a stumpy nose. Sw. dial. 
 snubba, nubba, a short tobacco pipe, a 
 dumpy woman. Hence ON. snubba, to 
 reduce to a stump or snub, to cut short ; 
 snubbottr, Da. sjticbbed, stumpy. 
 
 The heads and boughs of trees — towards the 
 sea are so snubbed by the winds as if the boughs 
 had been pared or shaven off. — Ray in Todd. 
 
 Da. snubbe of, Sw. dial, snubba, to cur- 
 tail, to dock ; snubba, a cow without horns ; 
 snubbug, snubbut (of cattle), wanting 
 horns ; snuv-brug, having short stumpy 
 ears. 
 
 To S7iub or snib is then figuratively to 
 set down or reprimand, take one up short, 
 cut off his excuses, &c. Sw. snubba, Da. 
 dial, snibbe, Yxxs. snubbe, snobbe, snope, 
 afsnope, to set one down, as a too forward 
 child, to give a sharp reproof; snop, sn2ipp, 
 ashamed, cast down. It is the same 
 metaphor when we speak of being com- 
 pletely stumped, being cut short, reduced 
 to a nonplus. 
 
 The foregoing is, I believe, the true ex- 
 planation of the connection between the 
 verb to snub or snib, and forms like Du. 
 snabbe, S7iebbe, Bav. sch7iauppe7i, ON. 
 snoppa, the snout ; otherwise there is a 
 close analogy between a sharp reprimand 
 and a slap in the face, blow in the chops, 
 as shown in It. 7iasada, Venet. tnustaz- 
 zada, a rebuff, from 7iaso, and inustazza, 
 a snout, respectively. Pol. buzia, the 
 mouth ; buzowaJ, to snub. Svv^iss schtiautz^ 
 a rough reproof ; schnautze, snout ; a/i- 
 sch7iautze7i, to speak roughly to one ; 
 Dorsetsh. S7i07it, to snub — Hal. ; and we 
 might be inclined to explain a snubbi7ig 
 as a figurative application of ON. sjtop- 
 
6i6 
 
 SNUDGE 
 
 phtigr^ a blow on the chops ; Gloucest. 
 snoupy a blow on the head. — Hal. 
 
 To Snudge. To smtdge along, to 
 walk looking downward and poring as 
 though the head was full of business— B., 
 marcher d'un air rampant et pensif. — 
 Miege. 7b snudge over the fire, to keep 
 close to it. To nudge or snudge, to hang 
 down the head. — Mrs Baker. 
 
 The primitive meaning seems to be 
 going along with the face bent to the 
 earth like a dog tracing out the scent, 
 then looking closely after, seeking greedily 
 for, leading to the use of snudge in the 
 sense of a miser. ON. ^sniigga, snudda, 
 Da. smtse, to sniff, snuff, search out ; 
 snugga til eines, to have hope of some- 
 thing. N. snuska, snusla, to sniff out, 
 search for something to eat. F'rom the 
 latter sense must be explained the familiar 
 E. nuzzle, middle, to creep closely or 
 snugly, as an infant in the bosom of its 
 mother. 
 
 She nuzzhth herself in his bosom. 
 
 Stafford's Niobe. 
 We then pass to the idea of grovelling, 
 going along in a dejected way with the 
 head down. 
 
 Sir Roger shook his ears and nuzzled along, 
 \vell satisfied that he was doing a charitable work. 
 — Arbuthnot in 1 odd. How he goes jiuddling 
 along. — Mrs Baker. 
 
 The passage from the idea of sniffing 
 to that of a miser is shown in Du. snicken, 
 to sniff, to scent, and Sw. snikas, to be 
 greedy of gain; j;«'>^^«, greedy, avaricious, 
 stingy, mean. 
 
 To Snuff.— SnifE! From a representa- 
 tion of the sound made by drawing 
 breath through the nose. Du. snoffcn, 
 snuffen, S7iuffele7i, snuyve7i, to breathe 
 through the nose, to trace by scent ; 
 snoffen, siniffeti, to sob ; snof, scent, 
 perception by scent ; s?ioeve?i, smiyven, 
 to take breath ; snoff, snuff, cold in the 
 head, running at the nose — Kil. ; Fr. 
 renifler, 7iiJJer, to snifter, snuff up, snivel. 
 OE. nevelynge with the nose.— Pr. Pm. G. 
 schnauben, schnaufen, schnieben, to snuff, 
 snort, huff, puff and blow. Emungere, 
 snuben, smmen de nasen. — Dief. Supp. 
 Schnuffeln, schniiffeln, to snuffle, speak 
 through the nose ; schm{pfen,to snuff up, 
 a cold in the head ; schnuppe, the snuff 
 of a candle ; schtiuppen, -pfen, to be of- 
 fended at a thing, to snuff at it ; svhnup- 
 pern, to snivel. Pl.D. snuff, snuffe, nose, 
 snout. 
 
 Snug.— Snuggle. To snuggle is to 
 nestle, to lie close, like an infant pressing 
 itself to its mother's bosom. 
 
 SOAP 
 
 Betwixt them two the peeper took his nest 
 Where snugging \sg\\ he well appeared content. 
 
 Sidney. 
 
 Hence snug, warm and close, sheltered, 
 concealed. The ultimate origin is the 
 figure of snooking or sniffing after food. 
 See Snook. Westerwald schnaucken, to 
 sniff after eatables, to eat ; sclumucker^ 
 one who pokes his nose everywhere ; 
 schnuckeln, to seek after delicacies, to suck 
 at the breast ; sclmuckler, a person with 
 a lickerish tooth, an infant at the breast ; 
 schnuckeles waare, lollipops. Bav. 
 scJimickeln, to suck, lick, eat with plea- 
 sure ; abschimckebi einen, to devour with 
 kisses ; schmickes, a darling. Sw. snugga, 
 to play the parasite, to sponge ; snugga 
 sig til nagot, to get a thing by fawning. 
 See Snooze. 
 
 So. Goth, sva, AS. swa, ON. sva, svo, 
 G. so, Fr. It. si, Lat. sic. Gael, so, this, 
 these ; aft so, here ; gu so, hither, to this 
 place ; mar so, thus, in this manner.. So ! 
 here, see here, take this. Fr. ce, OFr. qo, 
 Prov. aisso, so, this. Fin. se, he, that. 
 Esthon. se, the, this ; sel kombel, scdda 
 wisi (in this wise), sis, so. In vulgar 
 language, a person says, * I was that 
 angry ' for so angry, angry in that degree. 
 So.— Soa. A tub with two ears to 
 carry on a stang. — B. ON. sdgr, sd7', Da. 
 saa, tub, pail, bucket j not to be con- 
 founded with Fr. seau, a bucket, formerly 
 seel, from situla. 
 
 To Soak. To drain through or into, 
 to imbibe or suck up, to cause to imbibe, 
 E. dial, sock, the drainage of a farmyard ; 
 socky, wet ; sog, a quagmire ; sogged, 
 soaked with wet. G. and ON. sog, the 
 sink of a ship, lowest place that receives 
 the drainings of the ship ; soggr, wet ; G. 
 soge7i, socke7i (in salt worlts), to drip, to 
 drain ; sieker7t, sicke7'7i^ in Hesse sockerfi, 
 to leak, trickle, soak through ; Gael, sug, 
 suck, imbibe ; siigh, juice, sap, moisture ; 
 as a verb, suck in, drink up, drain, dry ; 
 sughadh nan tonn, as ON. sog, the flux 
 and reflux of the waves. Manx sooghey 
 soo, to suck, steep, soak ; w. sivg, a soak 
 or imbibing ; swgio, to soak, to become 
 soaked ; soch, E. sough, a sink or drain. 
 
 Soap. Du. zeep, G. seife, Lat. sapo{7t), 
 w. sebon, Gael, siabtmn, siopU7m, soap. 
 Bret, soav, soa, sua, tallow ; soavo7i, sua7i, 
 soap. Fr. S7iif, tallow ; savo7i, soap. w. 
 swyf, scum, foam, yeast, also suet. 
 
 Soap was regarded by the Latins as a 
 Celtic invention, and therefore it is rea- 
 sonable that we shotdd look to the latter 
 class of languages for an explanation of 
 the name. ' Prodcst et sapo. Gallorum 
 
SOAR 
 
 hoc inventum, rutilandis capillis, ex 
 sevo et cinere.' — Plin. Martial calls it 
 Batavian scum or foam. 
 
 Et mutat Latias spuma Batava comas. 
 
 To Soar. It. sorare, to soar or hover 
 in the air like a hawk. Fr. essorer, to air 
 or weather, to expose to the air, and so 
 to dry, to mount or soar up, also, being 
 mounted, to fly down the wind. — Cot. 
 Prov. eisaitrar, essatereiar, to lift into the 
 air, to raise. From atira, air. 
 
 To Sob. A representation of the sound. 
 
 Sober. Lat. sobrtus, sober, as ebriits, 
 drunk. No plausible explanation is of- 
 fered of either. 
 
 Sobriquet. Fr. sobriquet, a nickname. 
 Norm, bruchet, the bole of the throat, 
 breast-bone in birds. Fouler S7is Vbriichet, 
 to seize by the throat. HancQ soubriquet, 
 sobriquet, [properly a chuck under the 
 chin, then] a quip or cut given, a mock or 
 flout, a jest broken on a man, [finally] a 
 nickname. — Cot. ' Percussit super men- 
 tonem faciendo dictum le soubriquet.^ — 
 Act A.D. 1335 in Archives du Nord de la 
 Fr. iii. 35. ' Donna deux petits coups 
 appeles soubzbriquets des dois de la main 
 sous le menton.' — Act A.D. 1335, ibid, in 
 Hericher Gloss. Norm. In the same way 
 soubarbe, the part between the chin and 
 the throat ; a check, twitch, jerk given to 
 a horse with his bridle ; endurer une 
 soubarbe, to endure an affront. — Cot. So 
 also Gael, smeachar, the chin, smeachar- 
 anachd, a taking too great a liberty with 
 one, as taking one by the chin. 
 
 Soccage. See Sock, i. 
 
 Social. — Society. Lat. socius, a com- 
 panion, fellow, mate. 
 
 Sock. I. A ploughshare. — B. Fr. j^^, 
 the coulter or share of a plough, the 
 plough itself. — Cot. From Gael, soc, 
 snout, beak, chin, fore part of anything, 
 plough-share ; w. swch, snout, point ; 
 swch aradr, swch esgid, snout of a plough 
 (ploughshare), point of a shoe. G. sech, 
 coulter. The plough turns up the land 
 like the snout of a pig. For the ultimate 
 origin of the word see Seek. Soccage, a 
 tenure of land by inferior services in hus- 
 bandry [by plough service] to be per- 
 formed to the lord of the fee. — B. 
 
 2. Lat. so ecus, a kind of shoe ; Du. 
 socke, a sock, woollen covering for the feet. 
 Prov. soc, a buskin, a wooden shoe ; 
 soquier, a maker of sabots or wooden 
 shoes ; Cat. sock, soc, clog ; Pied, soch, 
 soca, socola, a clog or shoe with a wooden 
 sole ; Ptg. socco, a wooden shoe, also, as 
 Fr. socle^ the base of a pedestal ; It. zoc- 
 
 SOIL 
 
 617 
 
 colo, a clog. Fr. socque, a sock or sole of 
 dirt cleaving to the bottom of the foot in 
 a cloggy way. — Cot. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word seems 
 to be a clog or block, as in It. zocco, Prov. 
 soc, soca, Fr. souche, a stock or stump of 
 a tree ; Lang, souc, a block of wood, a 
 hack-block. A clog or wooden shoe is, 
 on the same principle, in Du. called 
 block, holblock ; in G. klotzschuh, from 
 klotz, a log ; in Gr. r^oKapor, from r^oKoi>, 
 a stump of a tree, a log. 
 
 The sense of a stump or stock is taken 
 from the idea of a projection, an abrupt 
 movement suddenly checked. Pl.D. suk, 
 a syllable expressing the idea of a jog or 
 jolt. Of a rough trotting horse they say, 
 Dat geit jummer suk! suk! it goes 
 always jog ! jog ! Sukkebi, to jog along, 
 to stumble. A similar resemblance is 
 seen between stump and sttanble. 
 
 Socket. The base upon which a can- 
 dle is fixed like a tree upon its stump. 
 Fr. souc/iet, souchon, souchette, Lang. 
 soukete, a little stock or stump of a tree ; 
 Fr. souche, Prov. soc, soca, stump. See 
 last article. 
 
 Sod. Pl.D. sode, soe, Du. sode, soede, 
 Fris. satha, a turf. Gael, sod, a turf, a 
 clumsy person ; sodach, a robust or clumsy 
 man ; sodair, a strong-built man ; sodag, 
 a clout, a pillion or pannel. 
 
 Soda. Sp. soda, sosa (from Lat. salsa). 
 Mid. Lat. salsola, seaside plants, from 
 whose ashes soda was made. 
 
 Sodden. See Seethe. 
 
 Sofa. Arab, sofah. 
 
 Soft. Du. sacht, saft, V\.V>, sagt, G. 
 sacht,^ sanft. 
 
 Soil, I. Fr. sol. It. suolo, Lat. solum, 
 ground, soil, foundation, sole of the foot. 
 
 2. Fr. soil, sueil de sanglier, the soil of 
 a wild boar, the mire wherein he wallows ; 
 se souiller (of a swine), to take soil, to 
 wallow in the mire. Da. sol, mire, mud ; 
 Sw. sola, to wallow. Bav. solen sich (of 
 a stag), to cool himself by wallowing in 
 the water. To take soil, to run into the 
 water as a deer when close pursued. — • 
 B. Soal, a dirty pond. — Hal. See next 
 article. 
 
 To Soil.— Sully, i. Fr. souiller, It. 
 sogliare (FL), OHG. solagon, mhg. siiln, 
 solgeu, Swiss siilcJien, Pl.D. solen, siillen, 
 Du. solowen, seuleweu, sbleu, ON. sola, 
 Da. sole, to daub, dirty. Swiss sidch, a 
 stain of dirt ; G. solung, the wallowing 
 place of swine ; It. sugliardo, filthy. ON. 
 sulla, to paddle, dabble, mess. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word is 
 doubtless to dabble in the wet, and the 
 
Ci8 
 
 SOIL 
 
 primitive form is probably similar to that 
 shown in Sc. suddill^ suddle, G. stideln, 
 suddeln^ soddcin, (Brcm. Wtb.), Du. soe/e- 
 leUy to daub, sully, stain, from a repre- 
 sentation of the sound of dabbling in 
 water. Bav. suttcni, sotteni, to boil a 
 gallop, make a noise in boiling ; to gug- 
 gle out of a narrow-necked bottle ; sutt^ 
 a puddle. 
 
 The elision of the d is palpably shown 
 in Bav. suddn, sitPn, to dirty, to boil (in 
 a contemptible sense), Pl.D. sjnuddeln, 
 smullen, to smear, dirty, dabble. In a 
 similar manner Fr. mottilier, E. jnoil, 
 maul, to wet, dabble, dirty, must be re- 
 garded as contracted from forms like 
 muddle^ maddle^ originally imitating the 
 sound of dabbling in the wet. 
 
 For a parallel series of similar origin 
 see Sallow. 
 
 It is not improbable that Lat. solum 
 belongs to the same stock with the fore- 
 going, having originally signified mud, 
 then ground, lowest place, foundation. 
 
 To Soil. 2 . To feed cattle with green 
 food in the stall. In Suffolk it signifies 
 to fatten completely j soiling, the last fat- 
 tening food given to fowls when they are 
 taken up from the barn-door and cooped. 
 — Forby. In this sense of high-fed, stall- 
 ed, it is used by Shakespeare. 
 
 The fitchew nor the soiled horse goes to 't 
 With a more ravenous appetite. — Lear. 
 
 E. dial, soul, to satisfy with food. — Hal. 
 The origin is undoubtedly Fr. saouler, 
 Prov. sadollar, Lat. satullo, to glut, sa- 
 tiate. Prov. sadol, Fr. soul, It. satollo, 
 Lat. satur, satullus, sated, full, fatted. 
 
 It is singular that even in this last 
 sense the word seems ultimately to spring 
 from the same physical image of dab- 
 bling or wallowing in liquids. When 
 once man had become acquainted with 
 intoxicating liquors, abundance of drink 
 would become the normal type of the 
 highest luxury, and hence probably must 
 be explained the figures of bathing or 
 swimming in delight noticed under Gala. 
 N; sumla, to paddle, dabble, bathe, swim 
 (Aasen), is in ON. applied to Pharaoh 
 and his host overwhelmed by the billows 
 of the sea. Siwiladisk konungrinn — i 
 sidvarins bylgium. Hence suml, sumbl, 
 drink, ale, a drinking bout. AS. syinbel, 
 a feast, banquet, supper ; syvibelnys, a 
 festival, solemnity. Tha syvibelnys incBssa- 
 sanges, the solemnity of the mass. From 
 the image, then, of the splashing of liquids 
 we pass, on the one hand, to the idea of 
 filth and dirt, and, on the other, to that 
 
 SOKE 
 
 of flowing bowls, luxurious enjoyment, 
 sated appetite. 
 
 Both branches of the metaphor are ex- 
 hibited in Pl.D. suiudden, sniuddeln, 
 S7nullcn, to dabble, splash about, dirty, 
 also to eat and drink copiously, to live 
 luxuriously ; Du. sinul, gluttony ; sinul, 
 smj/l van dfanke, ebrius, obrutus vino, 
 thoroughly drunk. — Kil. Smullen, to 
 soil oneself ; to make good cheer, to gor- 
 mandise [and hence to satiate oneself]; 
 Ik Jicb er van gesmuld, I have had my 
 belly-full of it.— Bomhoff. Smullbroer, a 
 boon companion, lickerish fellow. In the 
 same way from forms like Sw. sjidda, PI. 
 
 D. suddeln, soddeln, soetelen (Brem. 
 Wtb.), to dabble, we pass to the contract- 
 ed solcn, used in both senses. Besdlen, 
 to bedabble, to dirty, also to swill one- 
 self \^ith drink ; solig, drunken ; solbroer 
 (as Du. smullbroer), solgast, a boon com- 
 panion. With these last may be compared 
 
 E. swillbowl, swilltub, a drunkard; to 
 swill, to wash or rinse, to drink copiously ; 
 swill, hog's wash, siviller (exactly equiva- 
 lent to Fr. souillard), a scullion. — Hal. 
 Sw. sola, to wallow, dabble, bedaub ; also 
 to sot, to guttle ; N. sulla, satiated, drunk. 
 It is hard to separate the series here 
 given from Fr. saoul, soul, sated, drunk. 
 Soul comme tifie gi'ive, as drunk as an 
 owl. But if the forms are truly analogous, 
 we must suppose that the root sat, ap- 
 pearing in Lat. satur, satiari, satullus, 
 was derived from a form like satullare, 
 originally (like Pl.D. suddeln, soddeln, Du. 
 soetelen, Bav. sotterii, suttern) represent- 
 ing the agitation of liquid. From this 
 source also would be explained the con- 
 
 tracted form shown in Fr. 
 
 Gael, sal. 
 
 dirty, Fr. salir, to dirty, E. salloiv, which 
 it is so difficult to keep apart from the 
 series connected with I r. souiller and E. 
 sully. 
 
 To Sojourn. Fr. sejourner; It. sog- 
 gioriiare ; OVr. sorjornier. — Chron. Dues 
 de Norm. 2. 11607. Ed uimeis od mei 
 surjurne7'os. — L. des Rois. 
 
 Soke. The privilege of holding a court 
 which the tenants of the lordship are 
 bound to attend, or the territory over 
 which the duty of attending the court ex- 
 tends. The soke of a mill is the territory 
 over which the tenants are bound to bring 
 their corn to be ground at a certain mill. 
 The word is derived from AS. soean, secait, 
 to seek, and is equivalent to Mid. Lat. 
 secta, Fr. suite, E. suit. Soca moleridini 
 and secta molendini are both used for the 
 soke of a mill. Soca placitorum and sec4a 
 piacitorum signify the right of holding a 
 
SOLACE 
 
 court to which the tenants of the lordship 
 owe sicit. Sw. soka^ to seek, to bring a 
 suit at law. 
 
 Solace. Lat. solor^ to console, solace, 
 ease ; solatmm, It. solazzo, Fr. soulas^ 
 solace, sport, recreation. In Gael, the 
 particles so and do are used like iv and 
 Ivq in Gr. Thus from leir^ sight, percep- 
 tion, soilleir, bright, clear ; doilleir, dim, 
 dark, obscure ; solas, comfort, cheerful- 
 ness, joy ; dolas, woe, grief, mourning. 
 
 Solar. Lat. sol, the sun. 
 
 Solder.— Sodder. Fr. soulder, sonde?', 
 to souldcr, consolidate, close or fasten to- 
 gether. — Cot. It. saldo, sodo, solid, firm ; 
 saldare, to fix, fasten, to stanch blood, 
 I solder metals, starch linen, gum or stiffen 
 silks, close or heal up a wound. — Fl. 
 I Lat. solidus. 
 
 Soldier. OFr. souldart. Norm, soldar, 
 soldier, one who receives pay. Eo son 
 stao to soldaero. — Barsegap^ (Milanese 
 13th cent.). It. soldo, Fr. solde, pay, hire, 
 from solidus, Fr. sol, sou, a piece of 
 money. 
 
 Sole. The basis of anything, floor of 
 a mme, lower surface of the foot, of a 
 shoe, &c. Pl.D. sale, G. sohle, Lat. solea. 
 It. suola, Sw. sola, sdla, sole of the foot 
 or of a shoe. Goth, sulja, sandal ; sjil- 
 jan, to found, to lay a foundation, w. 
 saU, foundation, groundwork ; seilgamu 
 i^camu, to step), to tread a sole away ; 
 seilddor (foundation of door), threshold ; 
 seilddar {daear, earth, ground), a found- 
 ation, pile, a prop, explaining Pl.D. sule, 
 G. saiile, a column, pillar. 
 
 The radical signification is probably 
 that of Lat. solum, the ground or earth, 
 from the origin explained under Soil. 
 
 Sole. Lat. solus, only. 
 
 Solecism. Gr. (To\oiKi(r[ibg, a barbarism 
 in speech ; from 26Aoiico«, dwellers at Soli, 
 a city in Cilicia, who had lost the purity 
 of tlie Attic speech. 
 
 Solemn. Lat. sollemnis, solemnis, so- 
 lennis, what is done every year at a cer- 
 tain time. Solemnia sacra dicuntur quae 
 certis temporibus annisque fieri solent. — 
 Festus. It then acquired the sense of 
 accustomed, authorised, formal. The de- 
 rivation of the first syllable has been 
 much disputed, whether from solus, only, 
 according to the analogy of biennis, from 
 bis, twice, and annus, or from sollo, which, 
 according to Festus, signified all, whole, 
 in Oscan. 
 
 Solicit. Lat. solicitus, careful, troubled, 
 busy. 
 
 Solid. Lat. solidus, whole, entire, not 
 
 SOOL 619 
 
 hollow ; solus, only, alone ; Gr. o\oq^ 
 whole, entire. 
 
 Solitary.— Solitude. Lat. solus, 7>\oxiQ. 
 
 SoUar. An upper room of a house. — 
 B. Properly simply a flooring, then ap- 
 plied to floors or stages in different parts 
 of the house. It. solaro, sollato, a floor 
 or ceiling ; solare, a story of any build- 
 ing, from solare, to sole, to floor, or ceil. 
 — Fl. OFr. so Her, sollier, an upper floor, 
 ground floor, loft. 
 
 Du. solder, soller, lacunar, tabulatum, 
 contignatio ; solde?-en, contignare, con- 
 tabulare ; et in solario sive horreo con- 
 dere. — Kil. Corn, soler, a stage of boards 
 in a mine. — Dief. Bret, sol, base, found- 
 ation, beam ; solier, ceiling, floor, loft. 
 
 Solstice. Lat. solstitium, midsummer 
 or midwinter, the period at which the 
 midday sun is stationary in the heavens, 
 neither rising nor falling ; sol, sun, and 
 statio, standing. 
 
 Soluble. — Solution, -solve, Lat, 
 solvo, soluhun, to loosen, relax. Gr. Xvw, 
 to loosen, undo. 
 
 Some. Goth. su7ns, Swiss som, sum, 
 Sav. som, somlige, Du. somjnig, some. 
 Sw. so77t is used as a relative particle in 
 the sense of that, as, so. 
 
 Son, Goth., Lith. sunus, Russ. siiin, 
 Bohem. syn, Sanscr. sunn, son. Fin. 
 siindica, to be born ; simnuttaa, Esthon. 
 siinnitama, to beget. Sanscr. su, to beget, 
 to bear, bring forth ; ptcple past, suta, 
 a son ; sutd, a daughter ; silna, born, 
 blown, budded (as a flower), a son ; sund, 
 a daughter. 
 
 Song. See Sing. 
 
 Songle. — Songow. A handful of 
 gleaned corn. — B. Sc. single, s. s. — Jam. 
 Du. sangh,sanghe, fasciculus spicarum. — 
 Kil. Bav. sdngelu, to glean ; sdngel- 
 biiscJiel, a bundle of gleaned corn. Sange, 
 manipulus, gelima. — Gl. in Schmeller. 
 Swab, sange, a bundle of hemp. 
 
 The origin is Da. sanke, to gather, cull, 
 glean, pick. Sanke-ax, gleanings of corn, 
 sankebrcBude, bundles of firewood, faggots. 
 Sw. sainka, samla, to collect, gather, from 
 the particle sam, in composition equiva- 
 lent to Lat. coft, Gr. aw ; sainman, toge- 
 ther. Bav. sdmen, to collect, gather. Sam^ 
 sdmnat, manipulus. — Gl. in Schm. 
 
 Sonorous, -son-. Lat. sonus, a sound ; 
 sonorus, sounding. Cojisonant,Dissonafit, 
 &c. 
 
 Sool.— Sowl, Anything eaten with 
 bread.— B. The butter, cheese, &c., 
 eaten with the bread that forms the staple 
 of a poor man's meal, is called sowling 
 
620 
 
 SOON 
 
 in Pembrokeshire. Edulium, Anglic e, 
 sowyllc. — Nominale xv. cent., in Hal. 
 Kam he nevere horn hand bare, 
 That he ne broucte bred and scrwel. 
 
 Havelok, 767. 
 Maria Egyptiaca eet in thyrty wynter 
 Bote thre lytel loves, and love was her souel. 
 
 P.P. 
 
 ON. sufl, N. siivl^ Sw. sofwely Da. suul, 
 anything eaten with bread. Sw. sq^a, to 
 season. 
 
 The origin of the term is shown in Bret. 
 soubinel, the sowling or sauce eaten with 
 the brose or porridge that forms the prin- 
 cipal part of a peasant's diet. The soji- 
 binel consists of honey, melted butter, &c., 
 and is commonly put in a hollow in the 
 middle of the porridge, each spoonful of 
 which is dipped in the soubinel as it is 
 eaten. From souba, to sop or dip. — Le- 
 gonidec. Goth. sKpofi, OHG. sqffon, ga- 
 sofon, to season food. Sowling is called 
 sippe7'sauce in Cleveland. 
 
 Soon. Goth, stms^ immediately, swtsei, 
 as soon as ; AS. sona, soon, Du. sae?i, 
 immediately, soon. 
 
 Soot. Condensed smoke. Du. soet, 
 Pl.D. sott, sud, Sw. sot, Da. sod, Gael. 
 suith, Lith. sodis. 
 
 Probably from Du. soetelen, Pl.D. sud- 
 deln, Sw. siidda, to dabble, dirty, in the 
 same way as the nearly synonymous simit, 
 from Pl.D. sfmidden, snniddeln, in the 
 same sense. The idea of staining or 
 dirtying is expressed by the figure of 
 splashmg or daubing with wet, and then 
 the name is given to soot as the most 
 staining or dirtying material. 
 
 Sooth. ON. sajiiir, sadr, true, in ac- 
 cordance with the fact. Sanscr. sat (nom. 
 san, ace. santam), being, equivalent to 
 Lat. sens, setitis vaprcesensj whence asat, 
 nothing ; satya, true. When the Houyh- 
 nyms wefe driven to express the idea of 
 falsehood, new to them, they called it say- 
 ing that which is not. 
 
 To Soothe. The radical meaning is 
 to lull or calm by a monotonous sound. 
 Goth, suthjan, to tickle the ears. AS. 
 gasothian, to flatter. ON. suda, to hum, 
 to buzz. Sc. south, sowth, to hum a tune, 
 a murmuring sound. 
 The soft south of the swyre [gorge of the hills], 
 
 and sound of the stremes, 
 The sweit savour of the swairde, and singing of 
 
 fowhs, 
 Might comfort any creature of the kyn of Adam, 
 Dunbar in Jam. 
 
 G, sausen, Da, sMse, to buzz, whizz, sound 
 as wind or water ; einem kitide sause sin- 
 gen, to lull a child asleep; w. suo,\.o buzz, 
 to hush, to lull. 
 
 SORE 
 
 On the same principle the word ///// is 
 derived from monotonous singing, la-la- 
 la. Da. nynne, to hum a tunc ; It, ninnarCy 
 to sing, to lull or dandle children asleep.] 
 N, hulla, lidla, sulla, to hum, to lull. 
 
 It seems to be from some hazy feeling 
 of the physical origin of the word that it 
 is so frequently used in the sense of calm- 
 ing by sound. 
 
 There is little doubt but the verse as well as 
 the lyre of David was able to soothe the troubled 
 spirits to repose. — Knox, Ess. in R. 
 Ideal sounds 
 Soft-wafted on the zephyr's fancy'd wing. 
 Steal tuneful soothi7tgs on the easy ear. 
 
 Thomson. 
 The godlike man they found 
 Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious 
 
 sound : 
 With this he soothes his angry soul. — Pope, Iliad. 
 
 Possibly Lat. sedare may have the same 
 origin. See Seethe. 
 
 To Sop. To dip into or soak in broth, 
 &c. ^op, bread soaked in broth, drip- 
 ping, wine, or any liquid. — B. N. sabba, 
 svabba, sitbba, to paddle, dabble ; subbeji, 
 soaked, wet. Goth, supon, gasupon, to 
 season, properly to dip bread in sauce. 
 Sw. soppa, broth, soup. N. soppa, bread 
 and milk. Pl.D. sappeti, to make a sound 
 like water in dabbling. Idt is so vuul 
 up'r straten dat idt sappet : it is so dirty 
 in the streets that it splashes audibly, De 
 schoe sappet : it squashes in one's shoe. 
 Sappig, soppy, plashy. 
 
 Sophist, Lat. sophista, Gr, ao^iarrjg, 
 from ao^iZo), to teach wisdom ; aotpoi^, 
 wise, 
 
 Soporiferous, Lat. sopio, -Hum, to 
 set to sleep ; sopor, sleep. 
 
 Soprano. See Sovereign, 
 
 Sorcerer. Fr, sorciei', a wizard, pro- 
 perly one who divines by casting lots ; 
 sortilege, witchcraft, divination by lot ; 
 sort, Lat, sors, a lot, Alban. short, lot ; 
 shortar, soothsayer, sorcerer. Fin. arpa, 
 lot ; arpaniies {inies, man), soothsayer. 
 
 Sordid. Lat. sordes, filth; sordidtis, 
 dirty, slovenly, vile. 
 
 Sore, — Sorry, on, sdr, wound, sore ; 
 sdrbeittr, very sharp ; sdrkaldr, very 
 cold, sorely cold, so cold as to be 
 painfully felt ; sdrligr, painful, sore ; 
 sdrliga, sdr la, badly, hardly. N. saar, 
 wounded, injured, sore, and in a figurative 
 sense, painful, bitter. Ein saar snkk, a 
 bitter sigh ; ein saar'e graat, bitter weep- 
 ing ; saart, painfully, bitterly, with pain- 
 ful effort. Bav. ser. Swab, seir, seer, 
 painful, sore ; OHG. serig, painful, suffer- 
 ing, sad, Sc. sare, sair, a sore, wound, 
 pain to the mind, sorrow ; sore, painful, 
 
SORREL 
 
 Sorrowful, oppressive, severe, violent, 
 hard ; Sc. sary^ sad, sorrowful, pitiable, 
 wretched.— Jam. E. sorry has come 
 pretty generally to be felt as if it was the 
 adjective of sorrow^ with which, in reality, 
 it has no etymological connection. 
 
 Sorrel, i. Fr. sorel, the herb sorrel 
 or sour dock ; sorel du bois, sour trefoil, 
 wood sour [wood-sorrel]. — Cot. N. sure- 
 gras, G. saiierampfer^ Gr. c^akiQ^ from 
 o^i-c, sharp. 
 
 2, A horse of a mixed red colour. It. 
 sauro, a sorrel colour of a horse. Fr. 
 satir, sorrel of colour ; harenc saur, a red 
 herring. Saurir les harencs, to redden 
 herrings, to lay them on hurdles in a close 
 room and then smoke them with dry 
 leaves until they have gotten their sorrel 
 hue ; sorer^ to reek, to dry or make red as 
 herrings in the smoke. — Cot. 
 
 As the sorrel stems are of a brown-red 
 colour, strikingly conspicuous in a field 
 of mowing-grass, the word may simply 
 signify of the colour of sorrel. On the 
 other hand, it may be from Pl.D. soor^ 
 dry ; OHG. sauren, soren, to dry. See 
 Sear. The name of the colour would 
 then be taken from that of a dried her- 
 ring. 
 
 Sorrow. Goth, saurgaii^ to sorrow ; 
 saiirga, sorrow ; G. so7^ge, ON. sorg, care, 
 sorrow, anxiety ; syrgja^ to mourn. Fin. 
 snru, grief, sorrow, care ; surua, surktia, 
 to grieve, mourn ; surra, to be sorrowful, 
 painful, to take care of. 
 
 Sort. Fr. so7'te, Du. soorfe, G. sorte, 
 Lat. sors, sortis, lot. Sort was frequently 
 used in the sense of a company, assem- 
 blage, as lot is in vulgar language. 
 
 There on a day as he pursued the chase. 
 
 He chanced to spy a sort of shepherd grooms 
 
 Playing on pipes. — F. Q. 
 
 Soss.^Souse. Soss, a mucky puddle 
 — B, ; anything dirty or muddy, a heavy 
 fall ; souse, a thump or blow ; a dip in 
 the water. — Hal. Souse or soss is used 
 to represent the sound either of a dull 
 blow or of dabbling in the water. To 
 souse or soss down is to sit suddenly 
 down. To souse into the w^ater, to plunge 
 suddenly in. ' Sossing and possing in the 
 durt.' — Gammer Gurton. ' Of any one 
 that mixes slops or makes a^ place wet 
 and dirty, we say in Kent, he makes a 
 soss' — Kennett in Hal. .5'^j-j-f^, saturated; 
 sossle, to make a slop. — Hal. N. susla, 
 to paddle, dabble. Pigs are called to 
 their wash by the cry of suss ! suss ! To 
 suss, to swill like a hog. It. sozzare, to 
 defile, sully. 
 
 SOUGH 
 
 621 
 
 They soused me over head and ears in water when 
 a boy. — Addison. 
 
 — The rabble sotis d them for't 
 O'er head and ears in mud and dirt. — Butler in T. 
 
 Swiss sotschen, shoes full of water which 
 make a sousing or squishing noise at 
 every step. 
 
 Sot. A drunkard ; to sot, to drink to 
 excess. From drunkenness the meaning 
 seems to have passed to drunken stupidity, 
 folly, misconduct. Fr. sot, sottish, dull, 
 gross, absurd, foolish, vain, lascivious. 
 Bret, sot, sod, stupid, imbecile, coarse. 
 
 The idea of drinking to excess is in 
 many cases expressed by the figure of 
 paddling or washing, as in E. swill, which 
 from signifying rinsing or w^ashing with 
 water is applied to inordinate drinking. 
 Sw. sSla, to dabble, wallow ; sola och supa, 
 to sot away one's time. — Widegren. PI. 
 D. solen, to dabble ; besolen, to swill, to 
 drink oneself full ; solig, dabbled, drunk. 
 Again, Pl.D. smudden,smuddeln,smullen, 
 to dabble, paddle, daub, also to sot, to 
 gormandise, guttle, tope, and suddeln, sod- 
 deln, Sw. sudda, suddla, to daub, blot ; 
 N. sulla, drunken, full. The noise made 
 by the agitation of water, in a somewhat 
 different manner, is represented by Pl.D. 
 suddern, to boil with a gentle sound ; E. 
 dial, sotter, to boil gently. 
 
 From forms like the foregoing the radi- 
 cal syllable sod, sot, is used in the expres- 
 sion of ideas connected with the dashing 
 of liquids : Gael, sod, noise of boiling 
 water ; E. soapsuds, water and soap beaten 
 up together in washing ; sot, to tope, a 
 drunkard ; Lith. sotus, G. salt, full, sati- 
 ated. 
 
 Souce. — Souse. Pickle of salt, any- 
 thing pickled, especially the ears of pigs, 
 whence souse, the ear. To souse, to steep 
 in pickle, to season with pickle. 
 Kill swine and sowse 'em, 
 And eat 'em when we have bread. 
 
 B. & F. in T. 
 Oil though it stink they drop by drop impart ; 
 But souse the cabbage with a bounteous heart. 
 
 Pope. 
 Fr. saulse, sauce, sauce. 
 
 Souchy. Du. zootje, Pl.D. soodje, 
 water-soodje, water-souchy, perch served 
 up in the water in which it has been 
 boiled. Zootje, soodje, is the dim. of PI. 
 D. sode, soe, Du. zoo, a boiling, so much 
 as is boiled or sodden at once. Eeti soe 
 Jiske, a dish of fish. 
 
 Sough.. An underground drain, w. 
 soch, a sink or drain. ON. sog, the sink 
 of a ship, outflow of a lake. See to Soak, 
 to Sew, Sewer. 
 
622 
 
 SOUL 
 
 Soul. Goth, saivala^ AS. sawel, saw/, 
 ON. sd/, G. scc'/c', soul. Gael, sao//, think. 
 
 Sound. I. w. sou, noise, report, 
 rumour ; Bret, son, soun, sound, tune ; 
 ¥r. son, Lat. sonus. 
 
 2. A narrow arm of the sea, properly 
 one that can be swum over. AS. and ON. 
 stindy swimming. He mid sunde thas ea 
 oferfaran wolde : he would pass the river 
 by swimming. A'in er k siindi : the river 
 must be crossed by swimming. ON. sund, 
 a sound or straits ; N. sund, a ferry ; ON. 
 sundfngl, water-fowl ; siindfari', what 
 may be swum over. N. symja, to swim ; 
 snmd, symd, capable of swimming. 
 
 3. From the same source must be ex- 
 plained cod-sounds (in Shetland called 
 soiims), the swimming bladder of the cod- 
 fish. ON. sundinagi {magi, maw or 
 stomach), the swimming bladder. 
 
 4. G. gesund, Du. zond, gesotid, Lat. 
 samts, sound, whole, uninjured. 
 
 To Sound. Fr. sofider, to measure the 
 depth with a plummet. Bret, sounn, stiff, 
 steep, upright, perpendicular. Sounn 
 gand ar riou, stiff with cold. Sonnn eo 
 ar menez, the mountain is steep. Sound- 
 er, uprightness, perpendicular. Sounna, 
 to make or become upright, to stiffen. W. 
 syth, stiff, erect, upright. 
 
 Soup. — To Sup. Fr. soupe. It. sopa, 
 broth with bread soaked in it ; also sops 
 of bread. Mouille comme une soupe. 
 NE. soup, to saturate, soak ; soupy, wet 
 and swampy. ON. sup a {syp,saup, sopit), 
 to sup up liquids, to drink. OHG. ivein- 
 sawj, wine-sop. Swiss saufen, to sup up, 
 eat with a spoon. G. smlfen, Sw. supa, 
 Pl.D. supen, to drink copiously ; sopen, to 
 give to drink ; soopje, a sip, a little drink. 
 
 Like sap, sop, sip, from the sound. 
 
 Sour. G. sauer', ON. siirr, w. sur. 
 
 Source. Fr. source, from sourdre, 
 Prov. sorzer. It. sorgere, to rise, spring, 
 bubble up as water. Fr. sourgeon, a 
 young shoot of a tree, the rising up of 
 water in a spring. — Cot. Lat. surgere, to 
 rise. 
 
 Souter. A cobbler. Immediately from 
 Fr. savetier, It. ciabattiere, a cobbler, 
 souter or clouter of old shoes. — Fl. Fr. 
 savate. It. ciabatta, an old shoe ; Sp. 
 zapdto, a shoe ; zapdto de tierra, earth or 
 clay which sticks to the shoes. Lang. 
 sabdto, a shoe ; sabdtier, a shoemaker. 
 Fr. sa,bot, a wooden shoe. In the Limou- 
 sin dialect sabot is contracted to sou; 
 whence soutie, a maker of sabots, which 
 may serve to illustrate the passage from 
 savetier to E. souter. The resemblance 
 to Lat. sutor is a curious accident, made 
 
 SPADE 
 
 more singular by the fact that we are 
 brought round to the same designation 
 from other quarters. Fin. suutari. Lap. 
 sutar, a shoemaker, are supposed by some 
 to be corruptions of G. scJiuster. They 
 also remind us of ON. sutari, a tanner, 
 from suta, to tan. 
 
 I'he origin of Sp. zapdta, as well as of 
 Fr. sabot, appears to be a representation 
 of the sound of the footfall. Sp. zapatdzo, 
 clapping noise of a horse's foot, noise 
 attending a fall ; zapatear, to beat time 
 with the sole of the shoe, to strike the 
 ground with the feet, said of rabbits when 
 chased ; zaparrazo, a violent fall attended 
 with great noise. Prov. sabotar, to shake, 
 to stir. 
 
 South. Du. zuid, G. sild, ON. sunnr, 
 sudr, Sw. sunnan, sdder. Da. sonden, 
 south. There can be little doubt that 
 the meaning of the word is, turned to the 
 sun. Bav. sunnenhalb, sunnhalb, sunder- 
 halb, turned towards the sun, southward ; 
 sundew-wind, the south wind. Swiss sun- 
 net-halb (on the sunny side), southwards ; 
 schatten-halb (on the shady side), north- 
 wards. 
 
 Sovereign. Fr. souverain. It. sov- 
 rano, soprano, uppermost, supreme. Lat. 
 supra, above. 
 
 * Sow. AS. sugu, Du. soegh, sogh, souwe 
 (Kil.), Pl.D. soge, G. sau, Sw. sugga, 
 OberD. sucke,^2^. couche (Sigart), Fin. 
 sika, Esthon, sigga, Let. cuka [tsukd), 
 Lat. sus, sow ; sucula, OberD. suckel, Fr. 
 cocJion, w. soccyn, a pig. 
 
 The name seems to be taken from the 
 cry to call the animal to its food, OberD. 
 suck! Norfolk sug ! (Hal), Let. ciik .' 
 Wall, couche! U.S. chuk ! (Bartlet). 
 
 To Sow. Goth, saian, AS. sawan, PI .D. 
 saden, saien, OHG. sahatt, G. sden, Sw. 
 sdda, sa, Bohem. syti, Lith. seti, Lat. 
 serere isevi, satum, semeii), w. hau, to 
 sow ; had, seed ; Bret, hada, to sow. 
 
 * To Sowle. — Sole. To sowle by the 
 ears, to lug one by the ears. 
 
 He'll go, he says, and sole the porter of Rome 
 gates by the ears. — Coriolanus. 
 Du. sollen, to toss up and down, as a ship 
 upon the waves, to toss in a blanket ; 
 jemand sollen (Fr. Jiouspiller), to towze 
 one, pull him about. Sol over bol, solle- 
 bol, sol oriole over bol vallen, prtpcipi- 
 tari, to tumble head over heels, q. d. solea 
 supra caput. — Kil. Fr. sabouler, to toss, 
 tumble with, tread under the feet, to tug 
 or scuffle with. — Cot. 
 
 Space. Lat. spatium. 
 
 Spade. — Spud. — Spattle. G. spa ten, 
 a spade; Du. spade, spaeye, a spade, hoe ; 
 
SPALL 
 
 spadelken, spayken, G. spatiel, a spattle or 
 slice for mixing medicines or spreading 
 plaisters. Spattle is also used in the 
 sense of spud, a spade with a diminutive 
 blade for digging weeds. N. spode, spudu, 
 a small shovel. Gr. (nrABr], a blade. Lat. 
 spat/ia, a short broad sword ; spat/iuta, 
 spatula, a spattle. It. spada, Sp. espada, 
 Fr. cpe'e, a sword. It. spdtola, spatella, 
 spatula, a spattle, trowel, cook's flat scum- 
 mer or broad slice, broad flat shovel, 
 shoulder-blade, a broad flat lath, or splint 
 of wood with a handle to beat flax with. 
 — Fl. Alb. shpate, sword ; shpatoule, 
 shoulder-blade. 
 
 The primitive type of a blade or im- 
 plement for digging would be a splinter 
 of flint or piece of cleft wood, as shown 
 in G. grabscheit, a spade, properly a shide 
 or piece of cleft wood for digging. It is 
 probable, then, that spade may be radi- 
 cally identical with Swab, spatt, speitel, 
 Bav. speidel, spaitl, a chip, splinter, shin- 
 gle. The ultimate origin may perhaps 
 be found in forms like E. spatter, spattle, 
 to scatter liquid in small drops ; Piedm. 
 spatare, to spatter, scatter, squander ; 
 Du. bespatteit, to bespatter, bedash. The 
 spattering of liquid by a sudden blow 
 would afford a lively image of dashing to 
 small fragments. 
 
 Spall.— Spell.— Spin.— Spoil. Spalls 
 or broken pieces of stone that come off 
 in hewing. — Nomencl. in Hal. Shivers, 
 spals, rivings.— Fl. Spawl, a splinter. — 
 Hal. Sc. spate ^ speal, a splinter, lath, 
 chip. A splint or speall of wood or stone. 
 — Fl. Spels, spoils, chips of wood. — Hal. 
 Spell, spill, a chip of wood for lighting a 
 candle. Swiss spallen, to apply splints. 
 Du. spelle (properly a splinter), a pin. It. 
 spillo, a pin, prick, spill. — Fl. N. spile, a 
 thin lath, a shaving ; spilekorg, a chip 
 basket ; spjeld, a shive, shelf, float of a 
 water-wheel ; ON. spjall, spjald, a lath, 
 thin board, tablet, back of a book ; 
 stcinspjold, the tables of stone on which 
 the law was written ; Goth, spilda, a 
 tablet ; AS. speld, a torch, chip for light- 
 ing ; E. spelt, a splinter. Chippes and 
 spelts of wood. — Nomencl. 1585, in Hal. 
 Gael, spealt, a splinter ; spealt, cleave, 
 split, break with force. Sw. spillra, to 
 shiver to pieces ; spillraySi splinter, shiver. 
 Pl.D. spellei-n, spelleu, to split. — Brem. 
 Wtb. in V. spelje. Pl.D. spatter, a thin 
 piece of wood ; spiller, a smaller splinter, 
 such as matches are made of; spallrig 
 (Swiss spdllig, spellig), easily cleft. — 
 Danneil. E. spelder, a shiver or splinter. 
 Spelder of wood, esclat. — Palsgr. 
 
 SPALLES 
 
 623 
 
 The grete schafte that was longe 
 AUe to spitdurs hit sprongc, 
 
 Avowing of Arthur. 
 
 Bav. gespilderter zauii, a fence of laths. 
 OE. spillers or spilters, the thin divisions 
 at the top of a deer's horn. — Hal. 
 
 There is no doubt that the foregoing 
 forms signifying a splinter or fragment 
 are of like origin with G. spalten, Gael. 
 spealt, to cleave, Fris. spjellen, to split 
 (Outzen in Spille), but it would be rash 
 to say that the noun is derived from the 
 verb or vice versa. 
 
 The sound of a blow or of an explosion 
 is represented by an articulate form, 
 which is then applied either to the act of 
 flying to pieces, or to the separate parts 
 which are the result of the explosion. Ir. 
 spallaim, to beat or strike ; spalla, frag- 
 ment of stone for walling. Gael, sgealb, 
 the sound of a blow, a slap ; as a verb, 
 to split, dash into fragments ; and again, 
 sgealb, a splinter. 
 
 Spalles. Shoulders. — B. Spalde, 
 spawde, a shoulder ; spadebone, spawbone, 
 spautbone, the shoulder-bone- It. spalla^ 
 OFr. espalde, Fr. epaule, Ptg. espalda, 
 espddra, Prov. espatla, Gris. spadla, w. 
 yspaivd, shoulder. 
 
 The meaning of the word has doubtless 
 reference to the broad shovel- or blade-like 
 shape of the shoulder-bone. Gr. a-KaQr], 
 any broad blade, a flat strip of wood used 
 by weavers, a spatula for stirring ; aitaBi], 
 t) Tov dv6pu)Trov, costa, humerus, armus. — 
 Joannes de Janua, hat . spat/ia, a sword ; 
 spathula, spatula, a spattle, or slice ; 
 Alban. shpate, sword ; schpatoule, 
 shoulder-blade. Mid. Lat. spatula, spa- 
 dula, schulder, schulderbein. — Dief, 
 Supp. Spatulosus, magnas et diffusas 
 habens spatulas. — Joan, de Jan. 
 
 The radical meaning of spatula, as 
 shown under Spade, is a splinter or piece 
 of cleft wood, from a form like spatter, 
 spattle, to scatter abroad, and a similar 
 contraction to that from spatula to It. 
 spalla is seen in E. spattle, spawl, to spit 
 about. It is probable, then, that the con- 
 traction may have taken place at a very 
 early stage of language, when the root 
 was used in the sense of splashing about, 
 and thus that E. spall and spill, a splinter, 
 may be true equivalents of It. spalla. 
 Bav, speidel, a splinter, is pronounced 
 spei'l, spdl. — Schm. The nasalisation of 
 speidel gives G. spindel, while the con- 
 tracted form is seen in the synonymous 
 spille, a spindle. 
 
 It is reasonable, on the same principle, 
 to suppose that Lat. pala, a shovel, is, 
 
624 
 
 SPAN 
 
 contracted from a form corresponding^ to 
 It. padella, any fiat or frying pan — FL, 
 tlic root of which is preserved in Pol. 
 padac si^, to chap, crack, burst. 
 
 Span. G. spanne^ It. spatina^ Fr. espan, 
 empan, the length of the outstretched 
 thumb and fingers. G. spa/inen, to strain 
 or stretch, extend, bind, fasten. Einen 
 aiif die folter spannen, to stretch one on 
 the rack. Tiichcr in den rahmen spannen^ 
 to stretch cloth on the tenters. 
 
 The radical meaning of the verb to 
 span is probably to fasten with spans, i. e. 
 chips, splinters, or pegs. Fris. sponne, a 
 peg or nail. In support of this deriva- 
 tion may be cited Lap. spanes, a chip ; 
 spanestet, to peg a skin out to dry. In 
 the same way, ON. spita, a splinter or 
 peg ; spita, to fasten with pegs, especially 
 to stretch out a skin to dry. N. spila, 
 spile, a splinter, chip, peg ; spila, Pl.D. 
 spHen, to stretch out, to fix open, De 
 ogen tipspilen, to open wide the eyes. 
 Du. spalk, a splint or splinter j spalken, 
 to support with splints, to set open. He 
 spalkte ziine oogen op, he opened wide his 
 eyes. Fris. spalckjen, to stretch out, to 
 fasten on the cross. — Epkema. 
 
 To Span. To wean a child.— B. G. 
 spanferkel, a sucking pig ; spdnen, to 
 wean ; AS. spana, ON. spene, a teat ; 
 spendrekkr, spenabarn, a sucking-child. 
 Flem. spene, spenne, sponne, spnnne, 
 mother's milk. Pl.D. spennen, to wean, 
 in other dialects to suck. — Brem. Wtb. 
 Bav. spinti, spiinn, gespnnn, gespiinst, 
 spun yarn, also mother's milk ; gespunne, 
 the breast.— Schm. 
 
 As we use the word spin to express the 
 springing forth of a thread of liquid from 
 a small orifice, as blood from a vein, or 
 milk from the breast, it is probable that 
 the milk springing from the breast was 
 compared to the thread of yarn springing 
 from the flax on the distaff, and from the 
 flow of milk the name of spiinn or spin 
 was given to the breast. Spin, to stream 
 out in a thread or small current. — Todd, 
 The blood out of their helmets span. — Drayton. 
 
 Span-new. See Spick and Span. 
 
 Spangle, The radical meaning seems 
 to be to tingle, then to glitter, sparkle, on 
 the principle by which words representing 
 ringing sound are transferred to glittering 
 objects. Lith. spengti, to rmg, to sound ; 
 spangius, twinkling, squinting. 
 
 The twinkling spangles, the ornaments of the 
 upper world.— Glanville in R. 
 A vesture — ^sprinkled here and there 
 With glittering spangs that did like stars appear. 
 
 F. Q. 
 
 SPAR 
 
 Gael, spang, anything shining or spark- 
 ling, any small tliin plate of metal ; 
 spangach, shining, sparkling, Bav. spAn- 
 geln, to sparkle or bubble up like wine in 
 a glass, to ornament with metal plate. 
 To spangle was used in the sense of 
 glitter. 
 
 Lucignolare, to shine, flare, spangle, glitter. 
 Lucignoli, ribbands, flowers, glittering jewels, 
 spangles, bodkin pendants. Smogliare, to shiver 
 in pieces, to spangle or glitter as some precious 
 stones do. — Fl. 
 
 In the application to a clasp, perhaps 
 the snapping sound with which it shuts 
 may also come into play. Du. spang, a 
 stud, clasp, spangle ; ON, spong, a clasp, 
 a plate of metal. N,Fris. spnngin, to 
 snap. — Johannson, p. 176. From the 
 sound of a snap also must be explained 
 the.Sc. sense of the word, to leap with 
 elastic force, to spring. — Jam. 
 
 The arrowis flaw spangand fra every stryng. 
 
 D. V. 
 See Spank. 
 
 Spaniel. Fr. ^pagneitl, OFr. espag- 
 neiil, espagnol — Sherwood ; a Spanish 
 dog. 
 
 Spank. —Spunk, Spank, a sounding 
 blow with the open hand ; to spank along, 
 to move at a rapid rate ; spanking, 
 sprightly, active, large ; spanky, showy, 
 smart, w. ysponc, a smack, a jerk, skip 
 or quick bound ; ysponcio, to smack, to 
 bound sharply. In familiar E. spunk, 
 spirit; j;^/^;//&y, spirited. V\.V).spakkern, 
 spenkern, to run and spring about, to 
 gallop a horse.— Brem. Wtb. Sc. spunk, 
 a spark, a match or splinter of wood for 
 lighting. 
 
 Spar. I. The crystallised minerals of 
 a metallic vein. as. spceren, spcerstan, 
 gypsum. ' Gypsum, sparchalch, gybss, 
 Oder spalJ — Vocab. A.D. 1430, in Deutsch, 
 Mundart, G. spath, a spaad, spat, spalt 
 or spar, a kind of leafy stone ; fiusspath, 
 fusible spath or spar, — Kiittn. 
 
 2. A bar of wood. Du, sperre, sparre, 
 a rod, stake, bar, post, beam, g. sparren, 
 a rafter. It. sbarra, a bar, barrier, palis- 
 ade, impediment, Gael, sparr, a joist, 
 beam, spar, a hen-roost. 
 
 The radical sense may perhaps be an 
 implement of thrusting. ON. sparri, a 
 pin or stick which holds something apart 
 from another ; gonisparri, a stick which 
 holds the mouth open, a gag ; sperra, 
 Da. sparre, a rafter. N. spaj^re, a prop, 
 stake set slanting against a door or a wall, 
 a rafter. See next article. 
 
 To Spar. i. To shut as a door.— B. 
 AS. sparran, to shut. G. sperren, to set 
 
SPARE 
 
 open, force apart ; das maul sperren, 
 auf-sperren, to open wide the mouth ; 
 die thiire aiifsperren^ to set the door wide 
 open. Also to shut, stop, block the way, 
 prohibit. Sich sperren, to resist, oppose. 
 Sw. spdrra tipp, to set open ; spdrra igen, 
 to shut, bar, stop. 
 
 The radical image is probably exhibited 
 in Lith. spirru, spirti, to kick, to stamp, 
 to strike or thrust against something. 
 Spirit i zemi, to stamp, to paw the 
 ground. Spirits, to rely upon, to lean 
 upon, to bear up against ; spirdyli, to 
 stamp or kick ; spardyti, to kick like a 
 horse ; alsispirli, to strive against, to set 
 one's feet against ; ispirli, to thrust in, to 
 thrust away ; paspirli, to support, to prop ; 
 uzspirli (uz, behind), to shut up, stop, 
 barricade. ON. sperrask^ to make resist- 
 ance by thrusting with hands and feet. 
 From the same source must be explained 
 ON. spor, G. spur, footmark, the print 
 left in the ground by the pressure of the 
 foot. 
 
 If the foregoing view of the radical 
 meaning of the word be correct, it will 
 also account for the next signification, viz. 
 
 2. To spar, to practise boxing, to box 
 in gloves, to set oneself in attitude to 
 fight. In this sense the word is a meta- 
 phor from cock-fighting : ' when a cock 
 is opposed to another, both having their 
 spurs covered, to embolden them to fight.' 
 — Todd. To spare a gamecock^ to breathe 
 him, to embolden him to fight ; the fight- 
 ing a cock with another to breathe him. 
 — B. Sparing, the commencement of a 
 cockfight by rising and striking with the 
 heels.— Hal. 
 
 The immediate origin is Fr. esparer, to 
 fling or yerk out with the heels, as a horse 
 in high manage. — Cot. S'eparer (in horse- 
 manship), to rear, to stand on the hind 
 legs and paw the air with the fore-feet. — 
 P. Marin in v. sleigeren. 
 
 To Spare. To refrain from using, 
 taking, or doing something. ON. spara, 
 G. sparen, Lat. parcere, It. sparagnare, 
 sparmiare, Fr. dpargner. 
 
 Spark. — Sparkle. The meaning of 
 these words is developed on the same 
 plan as that of Fr. esclat, signifying in the 
 first instance a clap or crack, an explosion, 
 the effects of an explosion, the breaking 
 to bits, scattering in drops or fragments, 
 sprinkling, speckling, orthrowing out rays 
 of light and glittering. 
 
 The radical sense is shown in Lith. 
 sprageli, Lett, sprakolet, to crackle as 
 firewood on the fire, to rattle ; sprdgl, 
 Da. sprage, Sw. spraka, to crackle, to ex- 
 
 SPAWL 625 
 
 plode, sprdcka, to crack, to break .to 
 pieces ; Da. spraglel, Sw. spracklig, 
 variegated, speckled. The E. sparkle, 
 spark, differ from these last only in in- 
 verting the place of the liquid and vowel. 
 E. dial, spark, to splash with dirt ; spark- 
 ed, variegated ; sparkle, to sprinkle, 
 scatter, disperse ; sparkled, spreckled, 
 speckled, spotted. 
 
 I sprede thynges asunder or j/«r/5^// them abrode. 
 
 Palsgr. 
 
 Du. sparckelen, scintillare et spargere, 
 dispergere. — Kil. Lat. spargere belongs 
 to the same class. 
 
 The exchange of the final k in the radi- 
 cal syllable for a p produces the parallel 
 form shown in Fr. esparpiller (It. spar- 
 pagliare), to scatter, disparkle asunder, 
 dishevel — Cot., OE. sparpil, to disperse. 
 Besperpled with blood.— Mort d'Arthur. 
 From the same root Lang. parpaliejJia, 
 Castrais parpalhela, to twinkle as the 
 eyes, to range from object to object, 
 opposed to a steady look at a given ob- 
 ject ; parpalhol. It. parpaglione, a butter- 
 fly, from its fluttering flight, changing in 
 direction at every moment. 
 
 Sparrow. Goth, sparva, ON. sporr, 
 Da. spurre, spiwv, G. Sperling. 
 
 Sparse, -sperse. Lat. spargo, spar- 
 sum, in comp. sperswn, to scatter, strew. 
 Hence Disperse, Aspersion. See Spark. 
 
 Spasm. Gr. a-Kaayiay a convulsion, 
 from a-Kcua, to wrench. 
 
 To Spatter. — Sputter. — Spot. Du. 
 bespatten, to splash, bespatter or be- 
 spattle. The sputtering of a candle re- 
 presents the crackling noise caused by 
 moisture in the wick exploding and spat- 
 tering the grease about. Small portions 
 of grease or dirt so thrown about consti- 
 tute spots. To spattle, or bespattle, differs 
 only in the sibilant prefix from Yr.petiller, 
 to crackle, sparkle. La luntiere petille, 
 the candle sparkles or spits. — Cot. A 
 pen sputters when it scatters or spatters 
 about the ink with a crackling noise in- 
 stead of moving smoothly over the paper. 
 Lang, s^espatara, to spread oneself on the 
 ground ; espatara, espoterat, scattered, 
 spattered, Fr. dparpille. Piedm. spatare, 
 to spatter, sprinkle, scatter. Spatter and 
 scatter are analogous forms. 
 
 Spattle. See Spade, Spawl. 
 
 Spavin. It. spavana, Fr. espavent, 
 esparvain, esprevain, a spavin, a cramp 
 or convulsion of sinews in horses. — Fl. 
 
 To Spawl. To spit, to cast spittle 
 
 about. Contracted from spattle, as brattle, 
 
 brawl J sprattle, sprawl, &c. Spatyll, 
 
 flame [phlegm], crachat.— Palsgr. Lith. 
 
 40 
 
6:6 
 
 SPAWN 
 
 spjauditij to spit ; spjaudalas, spattle, 
 spawl. 
 
 ♦ To Spawn. To spanyn.—Vx. Pm. (K.) 
 Probably from It. spandere, OFr. cspan- 
 dre, to shed, spill, pour out, as spends 
 spene (OHG. spendon, spenton, effundere) 
 from Let. expcruiere. 
 
 That he spen his herte blod.— Havelok. 
 
 A spent fish is one that has spawned or 
 shed its roe. 
 
 To Spay. — Spave. To castrate a 
 female animal. Gael, spoth, Bret, spaza, 
 W. dyspaddu, Manx spoiy^ to castrate ; fer 
 spoiyty Lat. spado, Gr. aird^iav, an eunuch. 
 
 To Speak, as. spczcan, sprecan, G. 
 sprechen, Fris. spreka, to speak. Bav. 
 spdchien, sprdchten, to speak, tattle, 
 speechify ; spacht, speech, song of birds ; 
 whence probably specht, a woodpecker. 
 * Schwatzen wie ein specht;^ to chatter 
 like a woodpecker. ' Die vogel enphien- 
 gen den tag mit suessem spacht : ' the 
 birds greeted the day with sweet song. 
 Atispecken, concionari ; speckere, con- 
 cionator, rhetor. — Gl. in Schm. ON. 
 spekja, speech. 
 
 The connection of the word with Pl.D. 
 spaken, Bav. spachen, spachten, to crack 
 from drought, may be illustrated by the 
 analogy of Sc. crack, rumour, noisy talk, 
 familiar conversation ; cracky, talkative. 
 A like relation may be observed between 
 the forms sprecan, sprechen, ,and ON. 
 spraka, to crackle, spraki, a rumour, 
 report. Fd. spraka af einu, to get wind 
 of a thing. 
 
 The existence of parallel forms with 
 and without a liquid after the initial mute 
 is very common, as in cackle and ci'acklej 
 G. sputtd and Sw. sprund, a bung ; E. 
 spout and Sw, sprutaj spruthval, the 
 spouting whale ; G. spiitzeii, to spit, 
 spriitzen, to spirt, sprinkle ; E. speckled 
 and Sw. sprecklot, &c. 
 
 Speal. A splinter.— B. See Spall. 
 
 Spear, g. speer, w. ysper. See Spar. 
 
 Species. — Special. — Specify. Lat. 
 species, outward form or figure, appear- 
 ance, particular kind of things. See 
 -spect. 
 
 Speck. — Speckle. Lith. spakas, spake- 
 lis, a drop, a speck ; spakas, a starling, 
 from his speckled coat ; Boh. szpakas, a 
 starling, a gray horse ; szpakoivaty, 
 grizzled, roan, gray. The origin lies in 
 the figure of spattering with wet. Swiss 
 verspecken, to splash with dirt ; speckig, 
 dirty. G. spucken, Du. spickeii, to spit, 
 to scatter the saliva. It. spicchiare, to 
 gush or spirt out, as blood out of a vein, 
 
 SPELK 
 
 wine out of a spigot-hole. In the same 
 way from Pl.D. sputteni, to sputter or 
 scatter the saliva in speaking, also to 
 splash or squirt, Du. bespatten, to bedash, 
 to spatter, Sw. spott, spittle, wc pass to E. 
 spot, the mark, as it were, of a drop of 
 saliva or other wet falling on a body. 
 We call it spitting when the rain falls in 
 small drops. 
 
 On the same principle "Dn.sprenckelen, 
 to sprinkle, also to speckle, spot ; sprcnc- 
 kel, a spot. G. gesprenkelt, sprenklick, 
 speckled, dappled. From Sw. spruta, G. 
 spriitzen, E. j//r/',j^zy//^, to scatter liquid, 
 Flem. sprietelen, to sprinkle (Kil.), G. 
 spurzeny spiirzeln, to spit (Diefenbach), 
 may be explained Du. sproet, sproetel, a 
 freckle ; Sc. spourtlit, sprutillit, speckled ; 
 sprutill, a speckle. — Jam. To sparkle 
 was (as we have seen) used in the sense 
 of sprinkling, corresponding (with trans- 
 position of the r) with Sw. sprdckla, a 
 speckle ; sprdcklot, E. dial, spreckled, 
 speckled. 
 
 -spect. — Spectacle. — Spectre, -spic-. 
 Lat. specio (in comp. -spicio), specttim, to 
 behold, look, forms a very numerous 
 class of derivatives ; specto, to look, spec- 
 tacnlum, a thing to be seen ; spectrum, a 
 vision, a spectre ; speculum, a looking- 
 glass ; species, appearance ; also the covc\- 
 ^onndiS, Aspect, Inspect, Respect, Conspicu- 
 ous, &c. 
 
 Speculate. Lat. specula (from specio, 
 to lookj, a look-out, watch-tower ; specu- 
 lor, to watch, contemplate, consider dili- 
 gently. See -spect. 
 
 Speed. AS. spedan, to succeed, prosper, 
 speed, effect ; spedig, prosperous, abund- 
 ant, rich ; sped, success, effect, virtue, 
 means, goods, substance, diligence, haste. 
 Thurh his mihta sped, by dint of his 
 might ; thurh his mildsa sped, through 
 virtue of his mercies. Bringe spede us, 
 bring us assistance. On thas ivoruld- 
 speda, on these worldly goods. Spedum 
 miclum, with much zeal. Pl.D. spoden, 
 spoden, to haste. OHG. spuon, spuoan, to 
 succeed ; gaspuon, to happen ; spuat, 
 prosperity, success, quickness ; in spuote, 
 in brevi tempore ; gaspuat, substantia ; 
 framspuat, prosperitas. 
 
 Bohem, spech, haste, success, fortune ; 
 spichati, sphsiti, to haste ; Pol. spieszyJ, 
 to hasten; spieszny, hasty, speedy; Russ. 
 speshit, to haste. Lap. spaites, quick, 
 rapid ; spaitet, to hasten. Gr. oTrtiSu), to 
 hasten ; airovdr], diligence, zeal, haste. 
 
 Spelk. A thin chip frequently used 
 for lighting candles. To spelk, to apply 
 splints. — Craven Gl. ON. spjalk, spelka^ 
 
 I 
 
J^ibr 
 
 -r* 
 
 SPELL 
 
 spitka, a peg. Sw. spidle, spidlke, a splint, 
 splinter, round of a ladder. Du. spalke, 
 a splint. Speli and spelk may originally 
 represent the crack of things splitting. 
 Pl.D. spalk, noise, racket ; Gael, spealg^ 
 speaii, cleave, split, break with violence, 
 fall into pieces or splinters. E. dial. 
 spelch, split, as spelched peas. — Pegge. 
 See Spall. 
 
 Spell. — Spill. The radical meaning 
 of the word, as shown under Spall, is a 
 splinter or fragment, of which several 
 special applications may be noted. 
 
 1. Spill^ a thin slip of wood, and in 
 later times, of paper, for lighting candles. 
 From this source may perhaps be ex- 
 plained G. spiel^ play, as originally sig- 
 nifying drawing lots made of straws or 
 splinters. The word spielen is still used in 
 this sense in some parts of Germany. — 
 Westerw. Idiot. In Bavaria it is applied 
 to drawing lots for the conscription. — 
 Schm. 
 
 2. Spell, a turn, a job ; spill^ quantity, 
 lot. — Hal. To do a spell of work, to 
 work by turns ; to give a spell, to be 
 ready to work in such a one's room ; 
 fresh spell, when the rowers are relieved 
 with another gang. — B. The sense, like 
 that oijob, is a portion or separate piece. 
 ON. spilda, a piece of anything, as of 
 meat, of land ; Pl.D. spal, spall, a certain 
 portion of land. 
 
 3. To spell, to tell the letters of a word 
 one by one, pointing them out with a spill 
 or splinter of wood, Lang, toco, la touche, 
 buchctte dont les enfans se servent pour 
 toucher les lettres qu'ils epellent. — Diet. 
 Lang. Butza, petite buchette de bois ou 
 de baleine dont I'enfant se sert en dpelant 
 pour suivre et indiquer les lettres. — Gloss, 
 du Pat. de la Suisse Romaine. Festue, 
 to spell with, festeu. — Palsgr. In York- 
 shire it is called to spelder, from spelder 
 or spilder, a splinter. — Hal. Fris. spjeald, 
 a splinter ; letterspjealdiiig, spelling ; Du. 
 spell, a splinter ; spellen, to spell. 
 
 4. Spell in Gospel is an entirely differ- 
 ent word. AS. spell, ON. spjall, discourse, 
 relation, rumour, language. Tha ongan 
 he secgan spell, then he began to make a 
 speech. Ealdra cwena spell, old wives' 
 fables. He thas hoc hcefde of Ladene to 
 Engliscimt spell gewe7ide, he turned this 
 book from Latin into the English lan- 
 guage. Spellian, Goth, spillon, to an- 
 nounce, relate, declare. 
 
 The words signifying talking are so gene- 
 rally taken from the sound of the agitation 
 of water, that it is plausible to derive 
 spell, discourse, from the same root with 
 
 SPirK— 
 
 Sw. spola, G. spillen, to dash or wash, and 
 E. spill, to shed liquid, in the same way 
 that ON. skol, skvol, tattle, chatter, skola, 
 to tattle, are from a figurative application 
 of skola, to rinse or wash, Sw. squal, 
 splash, gush. There are many other 
 cases in which terms signifying in the 
 first place tattle or babble, are subse- 
 quently applied to serious talk. 
 
 5. A magic spell is commonly explained 
 as equivalent to incantation ; a form of 
 words by the recitation (as. spellian, to 
 recite) of which magical effects were pro- 
 duced. It was by charms of such a nature 
 that Circe worked. 
 
 Carminibus Circe socios mutavit Ulyssis. 
 Virg. Eel. 
 
 And Boethius attributes the transforma- 
 tion to 'tacta carmine pocula.' In the 
 corresponding passage of Alfred's para- 
 phrase it is said : ' Tha ongunnon lease 
 men wyrcan spell,' then began bad men 
 to work spells. 
 
 -sperse. See Sparse. 
 
 To Spew. AS. spiwan^ Du. spouiven, 
 spiigen, to spit, vomit ; Goth, speiwan, 
 G. speien, Lith. spjanditi, spjauti, Lat. 
 spuere, Gr. ir-vio, to spit. 
 
 Sphere. Gr. a^ai^a, Lat. sph(2ra. 
 
 Spice. Fr. epices. It. spezie, spices. 
 Spyce, a kynde, espece. — Palsgr. Lat. 
 species, kinds, was used at a later period 
 for kinds df goods or produce in general ; 
 species annonarice, agricultural produce. 
 ' Equos quoque ejus, aurum. argentumque, 
 sive species qiias meliores habebat, pariter 
 auferentes.' — Greg. Turon. in Due. The 
 term was then applied to spices as the 
 most valuable kinds of merchandise. 
 * Adde et aromaticas species quas mittit 
 Eous.' 
 
 In the same way Cat. generos, kinds, is 
 applied to kinds of merchandise, wares ; 
 generos, mercaderias, mercium genera. — 
 Esteve. Die. Cat. * Tabaco, cacao y 
 altros generos de America.' 
 
 Spick and Span. — Span-new. Du. 
 spelleniew, spikspelderniew, Sw. spill- 
 erstny, ON. spdnnyr^ Da. splintertty, all, 
 as well as the E. terms, signify fresh from 
 the hands of the workman, fresh cut from 
 the block, chip and splinter new. ON. 
 spann, sponit, G. span, a chip, splinter, frag- 
 ment ; hobelspdne, shavings ; sagespdne, 
 saw-dust ; leuchtspdne, matches. The Du. 
 spelle and spelder correspond to E. spill, 
 spilder, Sw. spillra, a splinter. N. spik^ 
 a chip, splinter, match. See Spike. 
 
 The same metaphor is used to express 
 absolute nakedness ; Sw. spillernaken^ 
 40 * 
 
628 
 
 SPIDER 
 
 Da. spUttcrnogen^ Pl.D. splinternachcnd^ 
 naked as a thing comes from the hands 
 of the maker. 
 
 Spider. Du. spinne, spinnekobbe, 
 -koppe (Kil.), G. spinne, Sw. spinnel, E. 
 dial, spinner. * Addercop or spinets web, 
 araign^e.' — Palsgr. When the sound of 
 ft and r come together there is a tendency 
 to replace the n by d, as in ON. madr for 
 fnnnnr, man j dndr for dunr, clang. 
 
 Spiggot. — Spiddock. A peg to stop 
 the vent-hole of a cask, or the pipe of a 
 faucet. It. spigo, a spigot or quill. — Fl. 
 w. yspig, a spike, spine ; pigo, yspigo, to 
 prick ; yspigod, a spiggot, spindle ; pigo- 
 den, a. priqlde. Bav. spickel, a wedge, a 
 pointed or tapering portion. 
 
 The E. dial, spiddock^ Manx spyttog, is 
 not to be considered as a corruption of 
 spigot^ but as formed in a similar manner 
 from the parallel root spid, spit, signifying 
 splinter. Bav. speidel, a chip, splinter ; 
 also, as speigel, spettel, spittel, a gore or 
 pointed strip of cloth ; Swab, speidel, 
 speigel, a wedge or wedge-shaped portion 
 of bread, meat, cloth, &c. ; speitel, a 
 splinter, w. pid, pig, a tapering point. 
 See Spile. 
 
 Spike. — Spoke. Sw. spik, a nail. N. 
 spik, a splinter, a match ; leggspik, the 
 shin-bone ; handspik, a handspike, lever. 
 Pl.D. speke, G. speiche, It. spica^ ^P^g^-, 
 the spoke of a wheel. Manx speek, a peak, 
 a spire ; w. pig, a point, prick ; yspig, a 
 spike, a spine. 
 
 The primitive sense is a splinter, from 
 whence the term is transferred to any- 
 thing pointed or tapering, as in Lat. spica, 
 an ear of corn ; spiculum, a point, a sting. 
 The origin of the word seems to be a re- 
 presentation of the crack of an explosion. 
 Pol. p^kadf to crack, crackle, burst, split ; 
 sp^kad si^, to split ; Russ. pukaf, to burst 
 with a crack ; It. spaccare, spacchiare, to 
 crack or break, to burst, cleave, split in 
 sunder ; Pl.D. spaken, verspaken, Bav. 
 spachen, spachten, to crack with drought, 
 to become leaky 5 spachen, spachten, chips, 
 shides, firewood. Swiss spicken, to snap, 
 to fillip ; specken, spiggelen, to split wood, 
 to splinter ; spiggel, a splinter. 
 
 Spile, The vent-peg of a cask. It. 
 spillo, a pin, prick, thorn, a spigot or 
 gimlet, also a hole made in a piece of 
 wine with a gimlet or drawing-quill ; spina, 
 a spigot, quill, gimlet, or tap to broach or 
 pierce a barrel. — Fl. Spinare, Venet. 
 spilare, to spile a cask, to bore a hole for 
 a peg in order to let in the air. See 
 Spigot, Spill. 
 
 Spill. Splinter, chip, fragment of 
 
 SPINDLE 
 
 paper used as chips for lighting candles. 
 *■ Spils or chips of the tree.' ^ Spils of 
 broken and shivered bone.' — Holland, 
 Pliny. It is used by Spenser in the sense 
 of a slice of ivory for inlaying. 
 Though all the pillars of the one were gilt 
 And all the others pavement were with ivory spilt. 
 
 ON. spjald, spH, a tablet or thin piece of 
 board, applied to the cedar wainscoting 
 with which Solomon covered the walls of 
 the temple. Spill in the sense of splinter 
 or fragment seems to be ultimately identi- 
 cal with spill, to shed liquid, on the same 
 principle that shed\\.s€ii is connected with 
 shide, a splinter of wood. The dashing 
 or spattering of liquids affords a lively 
 type of the act of scattering in fragments, 
 and Sw. skdlja, N. skvala, skola, skylja, 
 to sound like water in a flask, to wash, 
 gush, dash, may thus indicate the origin 
 of It. scagliare, to shiver or splitter, and 
 thence of scaglia, Fr. esquaille, esqualle, 
 escale, a scale or splinter ; esquille, a little 
 scale, a splint. — Cot. The same relation 
 holds good between splatter, splutter, to 
 splash, and splitter, splinter, a shiver ; 
 between Yx.fiatir, to dash water, and E. 
 flitter, flinder, a shiver ; between e. slatter, 
 to splash, and Fr. esclat, a shiver. 
 
 To Spill. To shed liquid, and figura- 
 tively, to waste, to destroy. 
 And gaf them sonde at wille in Inglond for to 
 
 fare, 
 Man and beste to spille, non ne suld thei spare. 
 R. Brunne, p. 114. 
 
 Pl.D. spillen, to shed, spill, waste, spoil ; 
 N. spilla, to gush, flow, spill, waste, throw 
 away. Han spille ned, it pours with rain ; 
 te spilles, to waste. G. spiilen, Sw. spola, 
 to wash or rinse. Sjdn spolade dfwer 
 ddcket, the sea washed over the deck. 
 
 The word probably represents, in the 
 first instance, the sound of the dashing of 
 water, from a root parallel with Sw. sgual, 
 noise made by the dash of water, gush, 
 flow ; squala, skdlja. Da. skylle, to wash, 
 rinse, pour, gush. Compare N. spilleregn 
 and Da. skylregn, Sw. squalregn^ a 
 drenching shower. 
 
 To Spin. ON. spinna. Da. spinde, G. 
 spinnen. See Spindle. 
 
 Spindle. The pin or thin rod formerly 
 used in spinning, for twisting the fibres 
 drawn from the distafif. The thread was 
 fastened in a slit at the upper end of the 
 spindle, and at the other end was a 
 whorl or round weight for keeping up the ! 
 circular movement. Hence the applica- 
 tion of the name to any axis of revolution, 
 as the axis of a wheel, of a capstan. In 
 another point of view it was taken as the 
 
SPINE 
 
 . type of anything long and slender, as in 
 spindleshanks. To spindle^ among gar- 
 deners, to put forth a long and slender 
 stalk.— B. In G. the name of spindeln is 
 given to the pointed lime-twigs of the 
 fowler. In spindelbaum^ the spindletree 
 or prickwood, Euonymus Europeus, a 
 shrub of which skewers were made, it has 
 the sense of skewer. Pl.D. spindel, a 
 knitting-needle. 
 
 The radical meaning of the word is 
 simply a splinter, and the act of spinning 
 seems to take its name from being per- 
 formed by means of a spindle, instead of 
 vice versa. Spindel is a nasalised form 
 of Bav. speidel^ Swab, speitel^ a splinter, 
 analogous to E. shinder^ shider, flinder, 
 Jlitter, splinter, splitter^ all in the sense 
 of shiver, fragment. It is a parallel form 
 with G. schindel, a splint, splinter for a 
 broken limb, shingle or cleft plate of wood 
 for covering roofs, and is connected with 
 Lat. spina, a thorn, and G. span, a chip, 
 just as schindel is connected with schiene, 
 a splint or thin plate of wood or metal, E. 
 shin, the sharp-edged bone of the leg. 
 
 This constant parallelism between 
 forms beginning with sp and sk or sh is 
 explained by instances like E. spatter and 
 scatter, Piedm. spata?-d, to spill, spatter, 
 scatter, spread, It, scaterare, to scatter ; 
 where the endeavour to represent a rat- 
 tling sound is equally satisfied with either 
 initial. 
 
 Spine. — Spinach. Lat. spina, a thorn, 
 prickle ; spinacia, whence It. spinace, the 
 prickly plant. 
 
 -spire. — Spirit. Lat. spirare, to 
 breathe, spiritus, breath, the soul or life. 
 Inspire, Conspire, Respiration, &c. 
 
 Spire. A steeple that tapers by de- 
 grees and ends in a sharp point ; to spire, 
 to grow up into an ear as corn does. — B. 
 spire, the sharp seed-leaf of corn that 
 springs from the ground. 
 
 Out of this ground must come the spire, that by 
 processe of tyme shall in greatnesse sprede to have 
 branches and blossomes. — Chaucer. 
 
 Spy re of come, barbe du bled. 
 
 I spyer as corne dothe whan it begynneth to 
 waxe rype, je espie. — Palsgr. 
 
 Spire, a stake, a young tree, the sharp 
 leaves of flags. — Hal. Sw. spira, a rod, 
 lath, sceptre, yard or spar of a vessel, top, 
 point, spire or pointed steeple ; also bud, 
 shoot, sprout ; Da. spire, germ, sprout, 
 to germinate, to sprout ; spirekaal, sprouts 
 from the old stock of a cabbage ; spiir, 
 boom, spar, spire ; spiirtaarn, a steeple. 
 N. spir, point, top, ray of a crown, spirt 
 or little stream of liquid shooting forth ; 
 
 SPIT 629 
 
 spira, to shoot up, to spirt, stream, spring 
 forth. Bav. sporl, a pin, leaf of fir. 
 Sporle, acicula. — Gl. in Schm. 
 
 The radical sense is perhaps a splinter, 
 which is frequently taken as a type of 
 anything thin and pointed. It may be a 
 contraction from Sw. spillra, Pl.D. spiller, 
 a splinter, whence spillern, to spindle or 
 spire up, to shoot up into slender growth. 
 The original sense would then be pre- 
 served in Pl.D. sptr, spirkn, a crum or 
 shiver (of bread, cheese, &c.) — Danneil. 
 
 Spirt. See Spurt. 
 
 Spit. Du. spit, spet, a spit ; spiet, 
 spiesse, spietse, a pike, spear. ON. spita, 
 a. little piece of wood, peg, skewer, &c. 
 N. spyta, a spit, a thin pointed nail, a 
 knitting-needle ; spita, to become pointed. 
 Sw. speta, a little rod ; spets, a point, 
 extremity. Da. spid, a spit ; spids, point, 
 tip, end ; pointed, peaked ; spyd, a lance 
 or spear ; spydig, sharp. It. spito, spedo, 
 spiedo, a spit, a spear. OHG. spiz, a spit, 
 a pike, point ; G. spiess, any slender- 
 pointed object, a spit, a pike, vf.yspyddu, 
 to jut out ; yspyddaid, prickly, sharp. 
 A spit of sand is a tapering point run- 
 ning out into the sea ; spitter, spittart, a 
 young stag with simple pointed horns. 
 
 The type from whence the designation 
 was originally taken seems to have been 
 a splinter of wood, designated on the 
 principle explained under Spade, an ob- 
 ject of finer point and narrower shape 
 being indicated by the thin vowel in spit 
 as compared with the broader a in spat- 
 tie, spade. That there is no distinct line, 
 however, to be drawn between the two 
 conceptions is shown by E. dial, spit, a 
 spade (Hal.), or spadegraft, the portion 
 of earth taken up by the spade at once ; 
 Du. spitten, to dig. The It. schidone^ 
 schidiotie, a spit, is the augmentative of a 
 form corresponding to E. shide, G. scheity 
 a splinter or cleft piece of wood, which 
 constitutes also the latter element in G. 
 grabscheit (digging shide), a spade. 
 
 It. spezzare, to break, split, shiver in 
 pieces, must not be considered as formed 
 from dis and pezza, pezzo, a piece, but as 
 bearing the same relation to G. piatzen, to 
 crack or fly in pieces, which sputter does to 
 sphitter, and must be regarded as a direct 
 representation of natural sound, along 
 with Fr. patatras, crash of falling objects, 
 pe'tille?; to crackle, pe'ter, to crack or 
 explode, Piedm. spatare, to scatter, spat- 
 ter. 
 
 Spit.— Spittle. OE. spattle, spottle^ 
 spittle ; AS. sp^tan, Sw. spotta, ON. spyta, 
 N. sputta, Da. spytte, G. spiitzen^ Lat. 
 
630 
 
 SPITE 
 
 SPOIL 
 
 I 
 
 spufare, Gr. y\/vTTnv, to spit ; Du. spuy- 
 ten, to spit, to spout. 
 
 PI.D. sputtern, N. sputra, to spirt or 
 sputter ; Piedm. spatard, E. spatter, sput- 
 ter, or with a formative / instead of r, 
 spottle, to splash or dirty {l{^\),bespattle, 
 to splash, represent the sound in spitting 
 or scattering drops of liquid. 
 
 Spite. The somewhat antiquated equi- 
 valent despite leads us at once to Fr. 
 despit, It. dispetto, Prov. despieit, despieg, 
 Sp. despecho, displeasure, malice, anger ; 
 Lat. despectus, contempt. En depit de, 
 in spite of. 
 
 On the other hand, we have Du. split, 
 PI.D. spiet, vexation, jeering, spite. Dat 
 spijt myy it irks me. Di to 'm spiet, in 
 spite of you ; spiet sines bardes, in spite 
 of his teeth. N. spit, vexation, annoy- 
 ance, derision, affront ; spiten, spitig, de- 
 risive, irritating ; Da. spydig, sharp, sar- 
 castic, caustic. Now it is not easy to see 
 how a word of this nature should have 
 been imported from Latin into the retired 
 Norwegian dialect, while two plausible 
 derivations occur in native ground. In 
 the first place, we have seen the root spit 
 used in the designation of any pointed 
 object, and hence spite may have the 
 sense of pricking, irritation, analogous to 
 Fr. piquer, to prick, nettle, sting, pro- 
 voke, taunt, vex ; pique, vexation, quarrel, 
 grudge ; or to G. stickeln, to prick, and 
 figuratively to jeer, scoff, taunt. G. spitzig, 
 pointed, and figuratively, sharp, satirical, 
 offensive. 
 
 Again, the feelings of disgust, dislike, 
 contempt, find natural expression in the 
 act of spitting, whence Sw. spott, spittle, 
 signifies also affront, contempt, derision. 
 Gawaine Douglas, expressing his vexation 
 at the way in which Virgil's language is 
 spoilt in Caxton's translation, says : 
 
 His ornate goldin verses mare than gylt 
 / spittefor dis spite to se thame spylte 
 By sic ane "wicht. — 5. 44. 
 On this principle E. pet, a fit of anger, 
 has been explained from the interjection 
 T>2i. pyt / Norman ^^/.^ equivalent to E. 
 tut / pish / pshaw / expressing a con- 
 temptuous blurt with the lips which ulti- 
 mately represents the act of spitting. 
 And as It. petto is explained by Florio, a 
 blurt, petteggiare, pettachiare, to blurt 
 with the mouth or lips, it is quite possible 
 that this may be the figure by which dis- 
 petto comes to signify displeasure, and 
 not from the calmer sense of Lat. despec- 
 tus. Thus spite and despite would ulti- 
 mately be derived from the same source 
 without supposing any direct connection 
 
 
 between Fr. despit and N. spit, PI. 
 spiet. 
 
 Splash. The sound of dashing wa 
 is represented by the syllabic plad, plat, 
 plash, splash. G. pladdem, Sw. plaska, 
 Champ, platrouiller, to paddle, dabble ; 
 G. piatzregn, a dashing shower ; Da. 
 pladse, to shower down ; pladske, to dab- 
 ble, splash. E. splotch, a splash of dirt ; 
 splitter-splatter, splashy dirt. — Hal. 
 
 Spleen.— Splenetic. Gr. <T7rXj}i/, Lat. 
 splen. 
 
 Splendid.— Splendour. Lat. splendeOy 
 to shine brightly. 
 
 To Splice. Du. splissen, Sw. splissa, 
 G. splisseti, split zen, to join together so 
 that the two ends shall interlace or over- 
 lap. Probably to join so that the imple- 
 ment shall appear as if split. G. spleis- 
 sen, to split, to cleave ; spliss, a cleft, slit. 
 
 Splint. — Splinter. Splinter, and thence 
 splint, is a nasalised form of splitter, in 
 the same way that we have flitters and 
 flinders, pieces, fragments. G. splint, a 
 pin or peg ; splintchen, a little shiver or 
 splitter of wood. — Kiittn. See Split. , . 
 
 Splinter-bar. The bar to which aj 
 horse is harnessed in drawing. Writteti| 
 springtreebar by Serenius ; spintree-bar\ 
 in Wiseman's Surgical Treatises, p. 397, * 
 cited in N. & Q., March 10, i860. 
 Doubtless from G. span7ien, to fasten ; 
 Y)w. aanspannen,voorspannen, to put the 
 horses to a carriage. Fr. atteler, to spang, 
 yoke or fasten horses to a chariot, plough, 
 cart, &c. — Cot. The word was then 
 originally spangtree, corrupted to spin- 
 tree, springtree, spiiitree-bar, splinter-bar. 
 
 To Split. — Splitter. ohg. splizen, 
 Du. splitten, splijten, G. spieissett, to split ; 
 Bav. spleissen, schleissen, a match, splinter 
 for lighting. PI.D. spliten, to split, strip ; 
 splittern, to shiver to pieces. The sound 
 made by dashing liquid is represented by 
 the expression splitter-splatter, splashy 
 dirt. — Hal. To splutter is to scatter 
 drops about in speaking or in writing 
 with an ill-made pen. Splatter-dashes or 
 spatter-dashes are coverings for the legs 
 to keep off the splashes of mud. Thus 
 splitter expresses the idea of scattering 
 abroad, in the first place, drops of liquid, 
 and then fragments of a solid object, and 
 thence comes to signify a shiver or splinter. 
 Sw. splittra, to shiver, splinter ; splittra 
 sig, to fly to pieces, explode ; splittra, 
 splitter, a shiver, splinter. G. platzcn, to 
 crack, snap, split, break to pieces. 
 
 To Spoil. I. To spoil ox despoil, from 
 Fr. despouiller, Lat. spoliare, to take the 
 spoil or plunder. 
 
 I 
 
SPOKE 
 
 2. In the sense of waste, make useless, 
 go to ruin, the word is a broad pronun- 
 ciation of spill, to shed liquids, and 
 thence to waste. 
 
 Spoke. See Spike. 
 
 Sponsor, -sponse. Lat. spondeo, 
 spans II in, to be surety for another ; re- 
 spondeo, to answer. The origin of the 
 word seems to have been the custom of 
 sanctioning an engagement by a sacrifice 
 or libation to the gods. Gr. o-ttev^w, to 
 pour out a drink offering ; (rirovdfi, a 
 drink offering, libation ; pi. (nrovdai, a 
 treaty or truce. 
 
 Spontaneous. Lat. spontaneusj sponte, 
 of one's own free will. 
 
 Spoon. AS. spon, G. span, Sw. span, 
 a chip ; ON. spdnn, sponn, chip, splinter, 
 fragment, also a spoon, originally a chip 
 of wood for supping up liquid. Du, spaen, 
 a chip, a spoon ; schtiymspaeti, a scum- 
 mer. — Kil. 
 
 Probably Lat. spina is a parallel form 
 with transference of the sense from a 
 splinter to a thorn. The final 7i seems to 
 stand in the place of an original d or /, 
 first strengthened, and then supplanted 
 by an intrusive ft. From an equivalent 
 of E. spatter, to scatter, we have derived 
 Du. spadel, G. spatel, a spatula or thin 
 slice of wood ; Bav. speidel, speitel, a 
 splinter, as well as the nasalised spindle 
 of the same original sense. 
 
 The nasalised form is also exhibited in 
 Sw. spdnta, to cleave, to split ; spiiit, a 
 splint or snip; spinta sonder, to cleave 
 into splinters, to cut to pieces ; It. spon- 
 tone (properly a large shiver or splinter), 
 a pike, a goad, a hunter's staff tipped 
 with iron, a long bodkin, the prick or 
 sting of a serpent or wasp — Fl. ; in 
 Milanese, a needle or spindle — Diez ; G. 
 spimd, a bung or thick peg to stop a cask. 
 The growth of 3. d after final n is seen 
 in the vulgar pronunciation goivnd for 
 gown, and the passage in the opposite 
 direction from fid to a simple fi is equally 
 easy. The same change of sound from d 
 to ft is also found in the parallel series 
 shide, shidder, shifider, s hi f idle a shiver 
 or splinter, G. schiefie, a scale or thin 
 plate. 
 
 Sport.— Disport. Sport or amuse- 
 ment, OFr. desport, deport, is properly 
 diversion, which is resorted to in order to 
 divert the thoughts from the serious busi- 
 ness and sorrows of life. 
 
 Amors I'avoit fait a ses mains 
 
 Por les fins amans conforter 
 
 Et por les maulx miex deporter. — R. R. 1866. 
 Qu'il soit distreint par touz sez biens et 
 
 SPRAWL 
 
 631 
 
 chateux— et ceo de jour en jour, sans niille 
 disport avere [without having any remis- 
 sion] ou nulle mainprise trovere. — Lib. 
 Alb. i. 474. 
 
 It. disporto, diporto, disport, solace. — 
 Fl. On the same principle O Fr. desduire^ 
 deduir (from Lat. deducere), se distraire 
 du travail, to divert, withdraw from work 
 or occupation ; deduit, pastime, recrea- 
 tion. 
 
 Spot. E. patter represents the rattling 
 sound of raindrops or hail ; spatter, sput- 
 ter, the scattering abroad of drops of 
 liquid or mud. Du. spatten, bespattefi, to 
 bespatter or splash ; spat, a drop of what 
 is splashed, or the spot or mark which it 
 leaves. 
 
 Spouse. — Espouse. Lat. spoftdeo, 
 spofisuffi, to engage, betroth ; spoftsus, -a 
 (It. sposo, -a; Fr. espous, epoux^ dpouse), 
 an affianced man or woman, a new-mar- 
 ried man or woman, a spouse. See 
 Sponsor. 
 
 Spout. N. sputra, to keep spitting, to 
 sputter, to spirt, squirt, spout ; sputr, a 
 stream of liquid squirted out ; sputta, to 
 spit ; Du. spiiytefi, to spit, to spout. From 
 signifying a gush of water, spout is applied 
 to the pipe or mouth from whence it is 
 ejected. 
 
 Sprag". — Sprack. Quick, lively, active. 
 — Hal. A springy, elastic way of doing 
 things is typified by the sound of a crack. 
 Dan. sprakke, to crack, to burst ; Sw. 
 spricka, to crack, burst, split, spring, 
 sprout. ON. sprcBkr, brisk, fiery ; sparkr, 
 brisk, lively. Pol. szparki, quick, lively. 
 A spark is a brisk young man. 
 
 On the same principle, E. sprufit, lively, 
 active, brisk — B., may be compared with 
 sprunk, to crack or split. — Hal. To 
 sprunt, to spring. See Spruce. 
 
 Sprain. Fr. espreindre, to press, wring, 
 strain, squeeze out, thrust together. From 
 Lat. expriffiere. 
 
 Sprat. A small fish considered as the 
 fry of the herring. Du. sprot, pullus, 
 germen (a sprout), sarda pisciculus, vel 
 harengae soboles sive halecis pullus ut 
 quidam putant : Angl. sprat, sprot. — 
 Kil. 
 
 To Sprawl. Fris. sprawle. Da. sprcelde^ 
 sprcelle, to toss about the limbs ; at giore 
 sprcEld, to make a fuss, cut a dash. Somer- 
 set, sprawl, motion, movement ; Devon. 
 sproil, liveliness. — Hal. 
 
 One of the numerous cases in which a 
 broken confused sound is used to repre- 
 sent multifarious movement. We may 
 cite AS. brastlian, to crash, crackle, roar 
 like flame ; G. prassebi, to crackle ; Sw^ 
 
632 SPRAY 
 
 prassla, to rustle, also to be in continual 
 movement, to wag the tail, to flounder 
 like a fish out of water, to kick like an 
 infant, &c. ; sprassla, to crackle, sprattla, 
 spralla^ to throw the limbs about, to 
 sprawl ; OHG. sprazalon, spratalon, pal- 
 pitare, micare ; ne. sprottle^ to struggle. 
 Then with inversion of the liquid and 
 vowel, as before in the case oi sparkle, Uu. 
 spartelen, to sprawl, frisk, flutter, wag 
 one's legs, sparkle as wine. — Bomhoff. 
 
 ON. sprokla, sprikla, to sprawl or throw 
 about the limbs, E. dial, spf-ackle, to climb 
 (to get on by the action of hands and 
 feet), are analogous forms from the re- 
 presentation of crackling sound mentioned 
 under Spark. 
 
 Spray. This word is used in two 
 senses, viz. : scattered drops of water 
 dashed into the air, and twigs or shoots 
 of trees. The idea from whence both 
 significations are developed is that of 
 bursting open, springing forth, scattering 
 abroad. 
 
 The ultimate root is the representation 
 of a crackling noise, as by Swiss sprdt- 
 zelen, to crackle, Bav. spratzeln, to sput- 
 ter like a pen in writing, to crack, burst 
 (vor leid zerspratzen, of the heart, to burst 
 with grief— Schm.) ; It. sprazzafe, to 
 shower down as water upon stones, to 
 dash or bespirt, to roar and rage as the 
 sea ; sprizzare, spmzzare, G. spritzen, to 
 spirt, spatter, Sw. sprdtta, to sputter like 
 a pen, to scatter ; sprdtta tipp i he/ten, to 
 throw up into the air ; spritta, to crackle 
 like salt in the fire, to spirt, to start ; G. 
 sprudeln, to sputter, to spout or spurt 
 out, to emit moisture by small flying 
 drops ; OHG. anspradern, to sprinkle 
 (Schm.), E. dial, spraid, to spatter, to 
 sprinkle ; Da. sprede^ to scatter, to spread. 
 The final d is softened down in spray in 
 the same way as in Y'\.Y).sprede7i, spreen, 
 to spread, or in G. sprtideln, spriihen^ to 
 sputter, to sparkle or cast forth anything 
 in a flow of small particles, to drizzle. 
 
 The close connection between the idea 
 of the springing forth of waters and the 
 bursting forth of vegetation is shown by 
 the use of the word sprmg in both senses. 
 To sprout, also, as a tree, is the same 
 word with Sw. sprtita, to spout, and with 
 E. spurt. Bav. sprutzen signifies both to 
 sprout like a shrub, and to spurt or 
 sprinkle. The immediate antecedent of 
 spray in the sense of twig is shown in 
 OHG. sprad, frutex ; spreid, sarmentum, 
 frutices, frutecta, arbutus ; gespraide, ar- 
 busta. — Graff. Pl.D. sprate, spratel, a 
 sprout. Lith. spj'ogti, to crack, to split, 
 
 SPRING 
 
 also to sprout or shoot as a tree ; spj-oga, 
 a spray or shoot of a tree. 
 
 To Spread. Du. sprcedcn, spreydcn, 
 G. spreiten, Sw. sprida, Da. sprcde, to 
 spread, to scatter. O Fr. espardre, espai-- 
 tir, to scatter, spread abroad. 
 
 The sound of a heavy shower or of the 
 dashing of the waves is represented by It. 
 sprazzo (Fl.), while a less violent action 
 is signified by sprjizzare, to sprinkle, 
 spriizzolare, to drizzle. In a similar 
 manner are formed Swiss sprdtzeln, to 
 crackle, spreitzen, spreissen, to spirt, 
 sprinkle water, to rain ; Bav. spratzeln, 
 to sputter like a pen in writing ; zersprat- 
 zen, to burst asunder ; Sw. sprdtta, to 
 sputter like a pen, to scatter abroad, 
 spread manure, or the like; spritta, to 
 crackle like salt in the fire, to spirt, to 
 start ; Swiss sprdtten, to spread hay, PI. 
 D. sprei'n (for spreiden), to spread out 
 hay, flax, &c. to dry (Danneil) ; G. spru- 
 deln, to sputter, to spurt ; OHG. attspradern, 
 to sprinkle ; E. spirtle, E. dial, sprit tie (Mrs 
 Baker), spraid (Forby), to spatter, to 
 sprinkle. 
 
 Thus there can be no doubt that spread 
 comes from the image of spattering 
 liquids ; whether it is connected with G. 
 breiten, to spread abroad, is a different 
 question. It may be that breit itself takes 
 its rise in a representation of the sound of 
 spattering or scattering particles abroad. 
 
 Spree. See Spry. 
 
 Sprig. The representation of a crack- 
 ling noise gives rise to two parallel roots, 
 sprat and sprak, from the first of which 
 has been deduced spray, a twig. From 
 the latter form spring Sw, spraka, to crack, 
 crackle ; spricka, to crack, burst, split ; 
 spricka ut, to burst forth, to spring, bud, 
 shoot ; sprdcka, to shatter, break to 
 pieces, leading to Swiss spryggen, spryg- 
 geleti, to splinter ; spryggeli, a match or 
 small splinter ; gespriggelt, speckled ; 
 Lith. sp?'agetiy spragseti, to crackle, 
 sprogti, to crack, burst, split, and thence 
 to shoot, sprout, bud ; sproga, a crack, a 
 sprig or shoot of a tree ; sprogalas, a 
 sprout or shoot, w. brigyn, ysbrigy7i, a 
 sprig, twig, shoot of tree. 
 
 Sprightly. See Sprite. 
 
 Spring. A sharp sudden movement is 
 typified by a sound of similar character, 
 such as a crack or snap. Now the use of 
 a root sprag or sprack, representing the 
 sound of a crack, is exemplified in Sw. 
 spraka. Da. sprage, Lith. sprageti, to 
 crackle ; sprogti, Sw. spricka, to crack, 
 burst, split ; sprdcka, to cause to burst, 
 to shatter. Of these last Sw. springa, to 
 
SPRINGALD 
 
 split, burst, spring forth, and sprdnga^ to 
 cause to burst, G. sprengen, to scatter, to 
 burst open, to cause to spring, are nasal- 
 ised forms. Glaset sprang, the glass 
 cracked j springa lek (to crack to the ex- 
 tent of becoming leaky), to spring a leak. 
 Springa i stycken, to fly to pieces. To 
 spring a mast is when a mast is only 
 cracked but not broken. — B. 
 
 * Spring-aid, i. A youth. * Joseph, 
 when he was sold to Potiphar, he was a fair 
 young spj'ingaldJ — Latimer. In this ap- 
 plication it is probable that the word has 
 originally signified a branch or shoot of a 
 tree, like Gael, gas, gasan, or gallan, or 
 our own imp, all of which signify both a 
 branch and a youth. Thus Cot. trans- 
 lates ino7i peton, my pretty springall, my 
 gentle imp. The origin is the OFr. es- 
 pringaler, to spring, bound, spurt (Cot.), 
 and though espritigale is not found in the 
 sense in question, yet Roquefort has es- 
 prinier, a scion, shoot, imp for grafting. 
 
 2. Fr. espringalle, espringarde, espin- 
 garde, Prov. espringalo, espingalo, was 
 an ancient machine of war for casting 
 large darts or stones, and the name was 
 subsequently applied to a piece of artil- 
 lery. Sp. espingarda, a musketoon. The 
 double form of the word with and without 
 an r after the p is found in the original 
 verb as well as in the derivative. We 
 have Lang, espinga as well as Fr. esprin- 
 guer, espringaler, to leap, spring, dance ; 
 It. springare,springere, to wince or thrust 
 forward violently, to fling ; sprinto, sprin- 
 gato, yerked, winced (Fl.) ; and also, spiii- 
 gare, to jog one's feet (Altieri), spingere, 
 spignere, to drive, to thrust on forwards. 
 
 Springe. A noose to catch birds with, 
 a spring-noose. Du. spring-net, a net to 
 catch birds with. 
 
 To Sprinkle. The representation of 
 a crackling or explosive sound by the 
 syllable sprak (as shown under Spark) 
 gives rise to Lat. spargere (for spragere), 
 to scatter in fragments, as well as the 
 nasalised E. dial, sprnnk, to crack or split ; 
 G. sprengen, OE. sprenge, to spread, scat- 
 ter, sprinkle ; Du. sprenkelen, to sprinkle ; 
 sprenkel, a spot, a spark ; G. sprenkeln, 
 to mark with scattered spots, to speckle. 
 In the latter sense we have (without the 
 nasal) Sw. sprdckla,Y..d\dX. spreckle, Swiss 
 gespriggelt, speckled, freckled. 
 
 Sprit. Examples have been given under 
 Spark, Spring, Sprinkle, of words derived 
 from a root, sprak, representing a crack 
 or explosion, and signifying cracking, 
 splitting, bursting asunder, scattering in 
 fragments, spreading abroad, and a similar 
 
 SPRUCE 
 
 633 
 
 series may be traced to the parallel root 
 sprat. G. prasseln, spratzen, spratzeln, 
 to crackle ; Swiss sprdtten, to spread 
 hay ; Sw. sprdtta, to sputter like a pen, 
 to scatter abroad, to spread ; spritta, to 
 crackle like salt in the fire, to spirt, spring 
 forth as water ; N. spj^etta, to split, to 
 spring asunder, to fly abroad like chips 
 of wood or stone under the axe ; to spring 
 or shoot like leaves, to spring up like the 
 sun at day dawn, and actively, to scatter 
 abroad, to sprinkle. Das spratt fliserne 
 paa alle kantar, the splinters flew on all 
 sides. E. sprit, to split, sprout, grow ; to 
 sprit tie, to sprinkle (Mrs Baker) ; sprotes^ 
 fragments. ' And thei breken here speres 
 so rudely that the tronchouns flew in 
 sprotes and peces alle aboute the halle.' — 
 Maundeville. OHG. sprat, a crum or 
 atom. Du. sprat, a spot or freckle ; 
 sprietelen, to sprinkle ; spriet, the cleft 
 or fork of the body ; sprietwegh, the part- 
 ing of two ways ; spriet (properly a piece 
 of cleft wood), a javelin, spear, shepherd's 
 staff, the yard of a sail, bowsprit. AS. 
 eafor spreot, a boar spear ; sprota, a nail 
 or peg. 
 
 Sprite. — Spright. Contracted from 
 spirit, analogous to Fr. esprit, Sw. sprit. 
 Winsprit, spirits of wine. Sprightly, 
 spirited, lively. 
 
 Sprout. — Spurt. — Spirt. The dis- 
 tinction between spnrt as applied to the 
 spouting or projection of liquids, and 
 sprout, to the springing of vegetable life, 
 appears to be a late refinement, the two 
 forms being used by Cotgrave indifferently 
 in either sense. * Rejaillir, to spurt or 
 sprout (as water) back again.' * Drageon 
 fourcherain, a shoot that spurteth out 
 between two branches.' In like manner 
 Bav. sprutzen, to spirt or sprinkle, also 
 to sprout or spring as a plant. Du. sprui- 
 ten,to sprout, is identical with Sw.j/r«/^, 
 to spirt, sprinkle, squirt. 
 
 Spurt, sprout, and sputter, are differ- 
 ent arrangements of the same consonantal 
 sounds representing the noise made by 
 a mixture of air and drops of water, n. 
 sputra, spruta, spryta. Da. sprutte,sp7'ude, 
 G. sprudeln, to spurt, spout, gush, to bub- 
 ble up ; It. spruzzare, to sprinkle ; E. 
 dial, spruttled, sprinkled over ; Sc. spru- 
 tillit, spou7'tillit, speckled, spotted ; PLD, 
 sprutteln, Du. sproetel, sproet, spots, 
 freckles, 
 
 A short exertion is familiarly called a 
 spirt or spurt, while in Sussex the name 
 of sprut is given to a violent jerk or sud- 
 den movement. 
 
 Spruce. I. Neat or fine in garb. — B. 
 
634 
 
 SPRUCE-BEER 
 
 The original sense, as in the case of the 
 nearly synonymous smarts is brisk, lively 
 in action, then carefully attended to, as 
 opposed to dull and slovenly. To spruce 
 upy to trim, to dress. Sprack, s^rag, quick, 
 lively, active ; spark, a gay dashing fel- 
 low. — Hal. ON. sparkr, brisk, lively. E. 
 spurky brisk, smart. 
 
 Come spurk up, here's your sweetheart a-coming. 
 
 Moor. 
 
 To spurk up, to spring, shoot, or brisk up. 
 — Ray. To sprug up, to dress neatly.— 
 Hal. To perk up again, to recover from 
 sickness ; to pe7-k oneself up, to adorn. 
 The idea of attention to dress is con- 
 stantly connected with that of briskness 
 and life. 
 
 The equivalent of E. spurk, sprugy is 
 Sw. spricka, to crack, snap, spring, shoot, 
 and in the same way it seems that spruce 
 is to be compared with Bav. spriessen, to 
 spring, to sprout ; sprutzen, to sprout, to 
 spirt ; spriitzen, a well-grown young girl ; 
 Swiss spriitzen, to spring with elastic 
 force. 
 
 In like manner sprunt, to spring, and 
 sprunt, lively, active, brisk, spruce. 
 See, this sweet simpering babe, 
 
 Sweet image of thyself ; see, how it sprunts 
 
 With joy at thy approach. 
 
 B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass. 
 How do I look to-day, am I not dressed 
 Spruntly f— Ibid. 
 
 Spruce-beer.— Spruce-fir. A decoc- 
 tion of the young shoots of spruce and 
 silver fir was much in use on the shores of 
 the Baltic as a remedy in scorbutic, gouty, 
 and rheumatic complaints. The sprouts 
 from which it was made were called spros- 
 sen in G. 2indijopen in Du., and the de- 
 coction \\.se\i sprossen- or jopenbier. From 
 the first of these is E. spruce-beer. — Beke 
 in N. and Q., Aug. 3, i860. And doubt- 
 less the spruce-fir, G. sprossenfichte — Ad., 
 takes its name as the fir of which the 
 sprouts are chiefly used for the foregoing 
 purpose, and not from being brought 
 from Prussia, as commonly supposed. 
 
 Spry. Nimble, active, alert. A soft- 
 ened pronunciation of the synonymous 
 sprag, sprack. Spree, a frolic, is proba- 
 bly from the same root, signifying a spurt, 
 an ebullition of spirits. G. spriihe?i, to 
 spurt. 
 
 Spud.— Spuddle, w. of E. spudlee, to 
 stir the embers with a poker ; spuddle, to 
 move about, to do any trifling matter 
 with an air of business. — Hal. To puddle 
 iron is to stir a melted mass in the oven 
 with an iron rod till it coheres in a viscous 
 lump. Spud, a pointed staff. 
 
 SQUAB 
 
 Sw. spSde, spo, a staff, a rod ; N. spodc, 
 spuda, a stick for turning cakes in the 
 oven, a small shovel, w. yspodol, a slice 
 to spread salve, a staff ; yspodoli, to 
 cudgel. 
 
 Spunk. Spirit, w. ysponcio, to smack, 
 to bound sharply ; ysponc, a jerk, squirt, 
 skip or quick bound. Spunk is also a 
 spark, and thence apparently a match, 
 tinder, touchwood. Sc. to spank is to 
 move with quickness and elasticity, and 
 also to sparkle or shine. — Jam. Compare 
 also Sc. to spang, to spring, with spangle, 
 to sparkle. See Spank, Spangle. Du. 
 voncke, a spark, also tinder. 
 
 Spur. — To Spurn, as. spura, spora, 
 G. sporn, ON. spori, Sw. sporre, Gael, spor, 
 W. yspardun, Fr. dperon. It. sperone, 
 sprone, a spur ; AS. spurna7t, spurnettan, 
 to kick, to spurn ; sporning, a stumbling- 
 block. Lith. spirti, sperdyti, spardyti^ 
 to kick, stamp, thrust with the foot. Fr. 
 esparer, to kick. Lat. spernere, to despise, 
 probably signified, first, like E. spurn, to 
 kick, then to kick away, to despise. ON. 
 spor, T)2i.fodspor, footmark, the indenture 
 made by the pressure of the foot. See 
 To Spar. 
 
 Spurge. A plant, the juice of which 
 is so hot and corroding that it is called 
 Devil's Milk, which being dropped upon 
 warts eats them away. — B. Hence the 
 name, Fr. espurge, from espurger, to 
 purge, cleanse, rid of. — Cot. 
 
 Spurious. Lat. spurius, bastard. 
 
 To Spurn. See Spur. 
 
 To Spurt. See Sprout. 
 
 To Sputter. Pl.D. sputtern, N. sputra., 
 to sputter, spurt. Formed to represent 
 the sound of a mixture of air and liquid 
 driven from an orifice. 
 
 * Spy. Fr. espier. It. spiare, OHG. 
 spiohon, spiehan, spehon, G. spdhen, Du. 
 spieden, spien, Da. speide, to examine 
 narrowly, to explore. Notwithstanding 
 the terminal d of the Du. and Da. forms, 
 the true relation seems to be with Lat. 
 specio, specto, to look, whence specular, to 
 look out, explore ; speculator, a scout or 
 spy. OberD. spegen, specheti, Pol. szpie- 
 gowad, Let. spiggot, to spy. The radical 
 signification is probably shown in Let. 
 spigulot, to glitter ; spiguls, a glowworm ; 
 spidet, to shine ; spidigs, shining, bril- 
 liant. The G. blicken, radically signifying 
 to shine, expresses also the idea of looking. 
 
 Squal3. Anything thick and soft ; a 
 soft stuffed cushion, a thick fat man or 
 woman, an unfledged bird or nestling. 
 
 From a representation of the sound 
 made by the fall of a soft lump. 
 
SQUABBLE 
 
 No, truly, Sir, I should be loth to see you 
 
 Come fluttering down like a young rook, cry 
 
 squab^ 
 And take ye up with your brains beaten into your 
 buttocks.— B. & F. 
 
 The eagle took the tortoise up into the air, and 
 dropped him down, squab, upon a rock, that 
 dashed him to pieces.-— L' Estrange in T. 
 In the same way plump, thick and fat, 
 from the sound made by the fall of a body 
 of such a nature. 
 
 Squabble. Words signifying noisy 
 talk are commonly taken from the dash- 
 ing of water. Thus we have G. waschen, 
 ON. thwcEtta^ to wash, also to tattle ; It. 
 giiazzare, to dabble, plash ; guazzolare, 
 to prattle ; Da. dial, sguatte, to slop, also 
 to chatter, tattle. In like manner, Du. 
 kabbelen, to beat as waves against the 
 shore ; en kabbelend beekje, a murmuring 
 brook ; Sw. kdbbla,X.o squabble, wrangle ; 
 N. svabba, E. dial, sgtiad, swab, swob, to 
 splash ; swobble, to talk in a noisy bully- 
 ing manner — Forby ; Swiss schwabbeln, 
 to splash ; G. schwabbeln, geschwabbel, 
 chatter. 
 
 Squad. A group, a company. — Hal. 
 Fr. escouade, a small body of men. The 
 latter is explained as if for escouadt-e, 
 from Sp. escuadra, Fr. escadre, It. sguadra, 
 a troop or square of soldiers, which is 
 also supposed to be the origin of G. gesch- 
 wader, OberD. geschwieter, Du. geswade, 
 geswadder (Kil.), a squadron. But these 
 latter forms may be satisfactorily explained 
 from an internal source, and if the Fr. 
 escadre or It. squadra had been adopted 
 in G. they never would have received the 
 Teutonic prefix ge. The origin of G. 
 geschwader is shown in Du. swadderen, 
 to splash, slop, spill, to make a noise, 
 and thence gheswadder, a noise, disturb- 
 ance, crowd, a troop of men. Sc. swatter, 
 to dabble, also a large collection, especi- 
 ally of small things : ' a swatter oihdXxns.^ 
 In a similar manner we have charm, a 
 hum, or low murmuring noise ; a charm 
 of goldfinches, a flock. 
 
 The E. squad, and perhaps Fr. escouade, 
 may be derived from the same source by 
 a different track. The sense of break- 
 ing up a complex body into separate divi- 
 sions may naturally be expressed by the 
 figure of splashing or spilling liquid. 
 Thus from E. squatter, swatter, to dabble, 
 splash, we pass to Sw. squdttra, to waste 
 or scatter, and the nasalised E. squander, 
 provincially used in the sense of disperse, 
 scatter. N. squetta, to spirt, splash, to 
 spread abroad like a flock of cattle ; 
 squett, a small portion of liquid. The 
 latter form is the equivalent of Lincolnsh. 
 
 SQUASH 
 
 635 
 
 squad, sloppy dirt, which seems to signify 
 a lump or dab, an unmoulded mass, 
 when an awkward boy is called an awk- 
 ward squad. In the same way, a swad, 
 a clown or bumpkin — Hal. ; a swad of 
 a woman, obesula. — Coles. The dim. 
 squidlet signifies a small piece of any- 
 thing, as of meat or cloth. — Hal. The de- 
 rivation of Fr. escouade from E. squad is 
 supported by Rouchi escouater, to squat 
 or press flat. Wad is used in a similar 
 manner for a body of people when it is 
 said of persons connected together in any 
 way of business that they are all in the 
 same wad. — Hal. 
 
 Squalid. Lat. squaleo, to be filthy. 
 
 Squall. A sudden storm of wind and 
 rain. Sw. squala expresses the sound 
 of gushing water. Regnet squalade pi 
 gatorna, the streets were streaming with 
 rain. Blodet squalade ur saret, the blood 
 gushed out of the wound. Squalregn, a 
 violent shower of rain ; squalbdck, a tor- 
 rent; squalor, skulor, dish-wash. See 
 Scullery. 
 
 To Squall.— Squeal, on. squala, to 
 scream, cry, make a noise ; squaldr. Da. 
 squalder, noisy talk, clamour ; N. skval- 
 dra, to yelp as dogs, to bawl, make a 
 noise ; Sw. squallra, to tattle ; squala, 
 to squall as an infant. E. squeal, to make 
 a shrill cry. It. squillare, to sound shrill 
 and clear, to ring. Pro v. quilar, quillar, 
 to chirp, chatter, cry, complain. ' La re- 
 gina va gitar un gran quil^ the queen 
 makes a great cry. Fin. kilid, ringing, 
 clear sounding ; kilistd, to ring ; kiljua, 
 to cry with a shrill voice, to vociferate. 
 
 To Squander. A nasalised form of 
 squatter, signifying, in the first place, to 
 splash or spill liquids, then to disperse, 
 scatter, waste. Da. squatte, to splash, 
 spirt, and fig. to dissipate ; Sw. squdttra, 
 to squander. E. to squat, to splash; to 
 swatter, to spill or throw about water, also 
 to scatter, to dissipate. — Hal. Squan- 
 dered is still used in the sense of dis- 
 persed. 
 
 His family are all grown up and squandered about 
 the country. — Hal. 
 
 Square. OFr. esqua^^rd. It. squadro, 
 Lat. quadratus. 
 
 To Squash, e. dial, squash, to dab- 
 ble, splash — Moor ; squish-squash, noise 
 made by the feet in walking over a 
 swampy piece of ground. 
 If nought was seen, he heard a squish-squash 
 
 sound, 
 As when one's shoes the drenching waters fill. 
 
 Clare. 
 
 Pl.D. quatsken, quasken, quahen^ express 
 
636 
 
 SQUAT 
 
 the sound of dabbling in a wet material, 
 walking with water in the shoes, or dash- 
 ing a soft material on the ground. G. 
 quatscheUy to make the sound of wet 
 things. In dreck treten dass es quatschct, 
 to plash in the mire. Quetschen^ to quash, 
 squash, crush, bruise. Den saft aus den 
 trauben guetschen, to squeeze the juice 
 out of grapes. Niisse qtietschen^ to crack 
 nuts. It. gimzzare, to dabble, splash ; 
 sqiiazzo d'acqua, a plash of water ; squac- 
 ciare^ squasciare^ Fr. esquac/ier, to squash, 
 crush something soft. 
 
 To Squat. To bruise or make flat by 
 letting fall, to sit oi* cower down — B. ; to 
 throw anything against the ground — 
 Baret; to splash, to make flat, to quiet. 
 — Hal. 
 
 Saieng that though laws were squatted \n warre, 
 yet they ought to be revived in peace. — HoUin- 
 shed. 
 
 As radical syllable of the imitative j^^/z^/- 
 ter, squat represents the sound of a drop 
 of liquid falling to the ground, and is 
 then figuratively used to signify lying flat 
 and close to the ground like a liquid mass. 
 Da. dial, squatte, to slop, spill ; sqtiat, a 
 slop, blot, drop ; Derbysh. squot, to spot 
 with dirt. It. quattare, quattire, to squat 
 or cowre down, to lie close and hushed. 
 — Fl. 
 
 The same transition from the idea of 
 spilling liquid to that of lying close to the 
 ground is seen in Da. dial, blat^ blaite, a 
 drop, a blot, koblat, a cow-plat or flat 
 cake of cow-dung, compared with Fr. 
 blotir^ to squat, skowke or lie close to the 
 ground, to hide or keep close. — Cot. 
 
 To Squatter. — Squitter. To squatter 
 is a word not generally recognised in our 
 dictionaries, though fully understood by 
 every one. It is a parallel form with 
 spatter, representing the sound of dashing 
 about a liquid in scattered drops, and is 
 used by Cotgrave in explaining Fr. escarter, 
 to scatter, to sheed, squatter, to throw 
 about or abroad. The parallel forms spat- 
 ter and squatter are also found in Piedm. 
 spatard, to spill, scatter, spread, and It. 
 scattarare, to scatter. — Fl. Sc. squatter, 
 swatter, to go splashing along ; E. dial. 
 swatter, to spill or throw about water as 
 geese and ducks do in drinking. Bav. 
 sckwadern, schwidern, to splash, to spill. 
 Sw. squattra preserves the secondary 
 sense of chatter, tattle, constantly ex- 
 pressed by reference to the sound of 
 dashing water. It. squaccherato, squat- 
 tered, plashy. — Fl. 
 
 The thinner vowel in squitter indicates 
 an action of more confined nature than 
 
 SQUIB 
 
 squatter. N. skvittra, Grisons squittrar, 
 squittar, to squirt, spirt ; squittir (of cat- 
 tle), to be loose in the bowels. 
 
 To Squeak.— Squeal. The moment- 
 ary sound of the terminal k in squeak, as 
 compared with the continuous sound of 
 / in squeal, adapts the former word to re- 
 present a short acute cry, the latter a 
 prolonged note of similar character. G. 
 quicken, quicksen, to squeak like a pig, 
 &c. Prov. quilar, to cry, chirp, &c. 
 
 Squeamish. Sickish at stomach, and 
 met. nice, scrupulous. 
 
 Thou wast not skoymus of the maiden's womb, 
 Te Deum of 14th cent, in N. & Q., Feb. 20, 1869. 
 
 Cleveland swaimous, swaimish, diffident, 
 bashful, shy ; Devon weamish, squeam- 
 ish.— Hal. 
 
 It was shown under Qualm that the 
 image of choking is used to express 
 every degree of oppression, from sim- 
 ple sickness of the stomach to death 
 itself. Da. qucele, to choke, to oppress, 
 plague, torment i Sw. qudlja, to make 
 sick. Mdten qudljer mig : the meat lies 
 heavy on my stomach, makes me qualm- 
 ish. The derivative qimbn signifies what 
 causes choking. Sw. qualm, oppressive, 
 suffocating weather ; qualm or qtial i 
 magen, sickness at stomach ; qualmig, 
 qualmish, sickish ; Da. qualm, a choking 
 feeling, thick oppressive air, also as G. 
 qualm, and Du. walm, steam, vapour, 
 smoke. Da. dial, swalm, oppressively hot, 
 smoke, choking vapour. E. dial, swalm, 
 swa77ie, pestilence, sickness. 
 
 That yere litulle shal be of wyne, 
 
 And swalme among fatte swyne. — MS. in Hal. 
 
 OE. sweam or swaim, subita aegrotacio. — 
 Gouldm. in Pr. Pm. Sweem, tristicia, mo- 
 lestia, mseror ; swemyn, molestor, msereo. 
 — Pr. Pm. To think swem in Genesis 
 and Exodus is to grieve over. Skeymows, 
 sweymows, queymows, abhominativus. — 
 Pr. Pm. Devon weamish may be com- 
 pared with Sw. wdmjas, to nauseate, have 
 disgust at. Wabnynge of the stomake, 
 nausia. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 To Squeeze, as. cwysan, to squeeze, 
 crush, bruise. Pl.D. quetsen, qudsen, G. 
 quetsche7i, quedden, quetten, to squeeze. 
 
 Squelch, — Squolsh. The sound pro- 
 duced by the fall of soft bodies. — Wright. 
 Hence squelch, a fall. 
 
 Squib. A child's squirt — Mrs Baker ; 
 also a firework, spouting fire like a squirt 
 does water. A modification of E. dial. 
 squab (Mrs Baker), swab, N. svabba, to 
 splash. From the notion of splashing or 
 dashing about liquids we pass to that of 
 
SQUINT 
 
 driving it out in a thin stream, as in spat- 
 ter^ sputter^ spurt or spirt j squatter^ squit- 
 ter, sqinrt. 
 
 To Squint. Fr. gutgner, to wink or 
 aim with one eye, to bhnk, to wink and 
 look askew. — Cot. To squinny, to look 
 with eyes half shut, to squint. To squine, 
 to squint. — Mrs Baker. To squink, to 
 wink or squint. — Moor. See Wink. 
 
 To Squir. To cast away with a jerk 
 [to hurl], to whirl round. — Hal. To skir, 
 to graze or touch lightly, to scour a coun- 
 try ; to sctir, to move hastily. — Wright. 
 From a representation of the whirring 
 noise of a body hurled through the air, 
 with a prefixed s. Sw. htirra, to whirl. 
 Pl.D. swiren, to fly about, to riot, to swing 
 from side to side. G. scharren, to scrape ; 
 schurren, to slip over the surface with a 
 scraping sound; schurrende fusstrittej 
 Hinweg schurren, to scurry off. 
 
 It. sguirrare is quoted by Adelung as 
 equivalent ioG.schwirre7t,io chirp, warble, 
 whirr. ON. svarra, to whizz, roar, rush ; 
 N. svirla, E. dial, swir, to whirl ; to swirk, 
 to fly with velocity, to swirl, to whirl. — 
 Jam. 
 
 Squire. See Esquire. 
 
 To Squirm. To wriggle like an eel. 
 The sound of a whizzing movement, as 
 shown under Squir, is represented by the 
 syllables whirr, swirr, squir. The roots 
 so form.ed are modified by terminal ele- 
 ments adapted by their nature to repre- 
 sent a continuous or a momentary move- 
 ment. Thus swirk signifies a jerk or 
 rapid sudden movement ; swirl, a con- 
 tinuous movement, analogous to the re- 
 lation between squeak and squeal. The 
 final m, though not so common as /, has 
 a similar effect in the construction of 
 words, giving to squirm the signification 
 of a whirling, twisting movement. G. 
 schwar77ien imitates the confused noise 
 which things make in their motion, the 
 humming or buzzing of bees, of a crowd 
 of people. See Swarm. 
 
 Squirrel. Fr. ecureuil, Aragonese 
 esquirol, escurol, from a dim. of Lat. sciii- 
 rus, Gr. (T«ciovpog, a squirrel, properly sig- 
 nifying bushy-tail ; from (tkiu, shade, and 
 ovpa, tail. 
 
 Squirt. As we have spatter, sputter, 
 spurt, N. sputra, spruta, by different 
 arrangements of the consonantal sounds, 
 so we are led from squatter, squitter, to 
 squirt J from swatter to YWi. swirtjen, 
 E. dial, swirt, to squirt. Esthon, wirt- 
 suina, to sprinkle, spirt, splash. N. 
 squetta, squittra, to spirt, spout, squirt, 
 splash. 
 
 STABLE 
 
 637 
 
 To Stab. To give a sharp abrupt 
 thrust. Gael, stob, stab, thrust, drive into 
 the ground, and as a noun, a projecting 
 stump, a pole, stake, prickle ; ON. stappa, 
 stoppa, to pound, to stamp ; n. stappa 
 also, as Lat. stipare, to stuff, to cram ; 
 Pl.D. stappen, to step, to go slowly ; n. 
 stabba, stabla, to go slowly, to stagger ; 
 Gr. (TTeilSb), to stamp, to tread. 
 
 It has been shown, under Falter, Halt, 
 Hamper, that the senses of stammering 
 or stuttering, and staggering, limping, 
 stumbling, are often expressed by the 
 same or slightly modified forms, signify- 
 ing a series of abrupt efforts made in the 
 one case with the voice in the attempt to 
 speak, in the other with the legs and body 
 in the attempt to walk. To stammer is 
 used in the N. of E. and Scodand in the 
 sense of stumble or stagger. Fr. chan- 
 celer, to stagger, also to stammer. — Cot. 
 Sw. stappia, to stammer, stutter, also to 
 stumble. In this latter example the fre- 
 quentative / signifies repetition or con- 
 tinuation of action, while the radical 
 syllable stap corresponds to a single 
 element of which the action is composed, 
 viz. an abrupt effort with the voice or 
 with the limbs, a thrust, stamp, or stab. 
 
 The same train of thought may be 
 traced through two similar series in which 
 the final labial of stab, stamp, statnmer, 
 is exchanged for a corresponding guttural 
 and dental. 
 
 Thus in the guttural series, Swiss stag- 
 geln, Rhenish staggscn, to stammer ; Sc. 
 stacker, stacker, stocker, to stagger ; ON. 
 stakra, to totter. Then passing to the 
 elementary form, Sc. slug, to stab ; stuggy, 
 said of stubble when cut unevenly ; to 
 stock, to thrust ; stok, stog-sword, Fr. 
 estoc, a thrusting sword. 
 For so Eneas siokkis his stiff brand, 
 Throw out the youngkere hard up tyl his hand. 
 D. V. 349, 14. 
 G. stock, a stick, staff, stock of a tree ; 
 Bret, steki (for stokt), to knock, jolt ; stok, 
 a shock or knock. 
 
 With a dental termination, G. stottern, 
 and provincially slattern, statzen, stotzen, 
 statzeln, to stutter ; Sc. stoit, slot, stoiter, 
 to walk in a staggering way, to stumble. 
 
 Sho stottis at straes, syne stumbilles not at 
 stanis. — Montgomery in Jam. 
 
 Du. stootefi, to push, thrust, thump, hit ; 
 stootsteeii, a stumbling-block. 
 
 Stable. I. Lat. stabuhwi, from starCy 
 to stand. 
 
 Stable. 2. — Stablish. Lat. stabilis, 
 firm on its basis, from stare, to stand ; 
 OFr. establer, Fr. ctablir, to make stable. 
 
638 
 
 STACK 
 
 STAKE 
 
 I 
 
 Stack. From forms like Sc. stacker, 
 to stagger, ON. stakra, to totter, the sylla- 
 ble stak comes to express the sense of jog 
 or project sharply. ON. s/akka, a stump ; 
 staksteinar, projecting stones ; stakkr, a 
 stack or projecting heap. Gael, stac, a 
 precipice ; a steep and high cliff; stacach, 
 rugged, uneven. A stack is a precipitous 
 rock standing separate from a line of 
 cliffs. See Stagger. 
 
 Staddle. A youn^ tree left standing 
 when underwood is felled ; a support. 
 AS. stcethel, stcethol, a foundation, that on 
 which a structure stands. ON. stada, 
 standing ; Da. stade, stand, station. See 
 Stead. 
 
 Staff. ON. stafr, G. stab, Alban. stapi, 
 a staff. The meaning of the word is an 
 implement of stabbing or thrusting, as 
 shown in Gael, stob, push, stab, thrust ; 
 stob, a stake, pointed iron or stick, prickle, 
 stump ; Lat. stipo, to cram, stuff, pack ; 
 stipes, a stake, stock. In like manner G. 
 stock, a stick, may be compared with Sc. 
 stug, to stab ; stock, to thrust. The E. 
 stick is used as a noun in the sense of 
 staff, and as a verb in that of stab or 
 thrust into. 
 
 Stag. The name of stag is given to 
 very different animals, chiefly however to 
 the male. ON. steggr, steggi, a gander 
 or drake. Sc. stag, staig, a stallion or 
 young horse. E. stag, a castrated bull, a 
 gander, a turkey-cock fatted in its second 
 year. — Hal. Staggard, a hart in its 
 fourth year. — B. Swiss stagel, a hart. 
 
 Stage. Fr. estage, a story, stage, loft, 
 or height of a house ; also a lodging, 
 dwelHng-house, or place of abiding. Es- 
 tager, a vassal, dweller within such or 
 such a liberty or manor. — Cot. Prov. 
 estatge, residence, delay, rank, manner, 
 state. ' Tornara en aquel estatge on el 
 era premeiramen : ' will return to that 
 state of life where he was first. ' Pueys 
 s'en torna la mars suau en son estatge : ' 
 then the sea returns quickly to its bed. — 
 Rayn. A stage is a framework of timber 
 on which anything is made to stand. 
 ' The great toure stode but on stages of 
 tymbre.' — Berners, Froissart. 
 
 From Lat. stare; Prov. estar, to re- 
 main, to be. 
 
 The sense of stage on a journey may 
 be either a metaphor from the floors suc- 
 cessively attained in going to the top of a 
 house, or it may be used in the original 
 sense of resting-place. 
 
 To Stagger. Sc. stacker, stacker, 
 OE. staker (Chaucer), Da. dial, staggre, 
 st^ggie^ stagge, to stagger ; ON. stakra, to 
 
 totter ; staka, to stumble ; Du. staggelen, 
 to paw the ground. Swiss staggcln, 
 Rhenish staggse?i, N.Fris. staggin (Jo- 
 hannsen, p. 52), to stammer, stutter. 
 Fr. saggoter, to jolt, rudely to shog or 
 shake. — Cot. 
 
 A staggering gait is when one moves 
 by a series of abrupt movements, sway- 
 ing from side to side, while in stammering 
 or stuttering the broken efforts are made 
 with the voice instead of the legs. The 
 syllables dag, jag, jog, shag, shog, stag, 
 are all used to represent movement 
 abruptly checked. See Stab. 
 
 Stagnate.— Stagnant. Lat. stagnum, 
 a standing pool. See Stanch. 
 
 Staid. Grave, sober, stayed or sup- 
 ported, not vacillating. See Stay, 
 
 To Stain. — Distain. Fr. desteindre, 
 to distaine, to dead or take away the 
 colour of ; desteinct, distained, pale, wan, 
 bleak, whose die is decayed or colour lost. 
 — Cot. I stayne a thyng, I marre the 
 colour : je destains. — Palsgr. Lat. tin- 
 gere, to dye. 
 
 Stairs, as. stcEger, a ladder, steps ; Du. 
 steiger, waterside stairs, a mason's scaf- 
 fold ; Sw. steg, a step ; stege, a ladder ; 
 NE. stee, steye, a ladder. From Goth. 
 steigan, AS. stigan, OE. steye, to mount, to 
 step up. 
 
 There ne is cable in no land maked that might 
 stretche to me to drawe me into blisse, ne steyers 
 to iteye on is none. — Chaucer, Test. Love. 
 
 N. stiga frain, to step forwards ; s. npp,'io 
 lift the foot ; s. ned, to set down the foot, 
 to tread ; s. uppyve, to tread over shoe- 
 tops in mud or water ; stig, a step, foot- 
 print, step of a ladder or stairs. Gr. 
 (jTt'ixtiv, to step, to mount ; Lett, staigdt, 
 to go, to walk ; stigt (tief eintreten), to 
 stump. 
 
 The ultimate origin is the figure of an 
 impulse abruptly stopped, which is repre- 
 sented by the parallel roots stag and stab, 
 as shown under Stab. From the former 
 we have Gael, stac, a hobbling step, and 
 E. stagger, and from the latter ON. stappa, 
 to stamp, Du. stappen, stippen, to step. 
 In stamping or stepping the movement of 
 the foot is abruptly stopped by the solid 
 ground. 
 
 Staith. A stage or platform for ship- 
 ping coals. ON. stod. Da. stade, a stand, 
 station, standing -place ; stod also is 
 specially used in the sense of Du. staede^ 
 statio navium. — Kil. N. stod, a quay, 
 landing stage, sea-wall. G.gestade, shore. 
 See Stage. 
 
 Stake. Essentially the same word with 
 stack, a syllable representing, in the first 
 
STALACTITE 
 
 instance, effort abruptly checked, then the 
 idea of sticking up or sticking in, what is 
 prominent or projecting, what fastens or 
 is firm. Gael, stac^ stumble (make a false 
 step — Armstr.), a hobbling step, halt, a 
 stake or post driven into the ground, a 
 pillar, column, eminence, rock, stack, 
 thorn ; stacanach, knolly, rugged, full of 
 impediments. E. stacker, staker, to stag- 
 ger ; ON. staka, to stumble. OFr. estac, 
 estache, a stake, tie ; Sp. estaca, G. staken, 
 Du. staeck, a stake, stick, post. Lap. 
 staikes, stable, steady, firm. 
 
 Stalactite. — Stalagmite. Gr. <TraX- 
 uktIq, (JTakaynhq, from aTaXaaaia or OTaXa'Cii), 
 to fall or distil in drops. 
 
 Stale. I . Stale was formerly used in 
 slightly varying senses, derived from Du. 
 slelle, position, place ; G. stellen, to place, 
 post, set in a certain place. Die game, 
 eine falle stellen, to pitch nets, to set a 
 trap. Hence stale, a bait laid to entrap, 
 a decoy, a snare. Stale for foules takyng. 
 — Palsgr. 
 
 Still as he went he crafty stales did lay 
 
 With cunning trains to entrap him unawares. 
 
 F. Q. 
 
 G. stell-vogel, a decoy bird. Das gestell 
 derfischer, nets, &c., laid by fishermen. 
 
 Closely allied is the sense of an am- 
 bush, a laying in wait. Laie in stale, 
 lay in wait. — Stanihurst. Descr. Ireland. 
 Stale of horsemen in a felde, guecteurs. — 
 Palsgr. O Fr. prendre estal, to take posi- 
 tion, to stand. G. Eine schrift stellett, 
 to draw up a writing. Sich stellen, to 
 make as though, to behave purposely, to 
 counterfeit. 
 
 This easy fool must be my stale, set up 
 To catch the {people's eyes. — Dryden. 
 
 Was this your drift, to use Femeses name : 
 
 Was he your fittest stale f— B. J 
 
 2. Another application is, when stale is 
 used in the sense of old, past its season, 
 overkept. Du. stel, vetus, vetustus, reses, 
 quietus. — Kil. This sense may be ex- 
 plained from OFr. teiiir estal, to keep 
 your place, to remain. — Roquef. Piedm. 
 staliy of a horse, kept long in the stable ; 
 of bread, stale. On a similar plan It. 
 stantio, stantivo, what has long been 
 standing, tainted, stale. 
 
 Stale. — Steal. A handle, as of a be- 
 som, axe, plough. Pl.D. steel, G. stiel, 
 stalk, pillar, prop, handle. Probably a 
 contraction from a form like Swiss stigel, 
 stiegel, a staff, pole, stiegele, stagel, a 
 prop, support. Hence Swiss stielen, to 
 accompany a godfather to church for the 
 sake of showing him honour, to support 
 him. Lett, stiga, a stalk ; stigt^ to stick 
 
 STALK 
 
 639 
 
 the foot deep in the ground. G. stange, a 
 staff, pole ; stdngel, a stalk. 
 
 To Stale. It. stallare, OFr. estaler^ 
 Du. stallen, a decorous expression for the 
 urining of horses. Probably not as com- 
 monly taking place when the animal 
 returns to the stall or stables, but, as 
 Schmeller explains it, from stopping the 
 horse to let him stale. Das pferd stallt, 
 the horse stops. Stallen den lauf des 
 krieges : to stop the course of the war. 
 Sw. stdlla en hest, to stop a horse. Piedm. 
 stale, to stop, to stanch. 
 
 Their [mares] staling is no hindrance to their 
 pace in running their carriere, as it doth the 
 horse, who jnust needs then stand still. — Holland, 
 Pliny, 
 
 To Stalk, AS. stcelcan, to step ; Da, 
 stalke, to go with high uplifted feet, with 
 long steps. N. statika, to go slowly, to 
 stump along like an old man with a stick. 
 * A stalker or goer upon stilts or crutches, 
 grallator.' — Withal, 1608. The proper 
 meaning is, to set down the foot with 
 marked effort, so as to throw the weight 
 of the body on that leg. Gael, stale, dash 
 your foot against — M 'Alpine ; walk with 
 halting gait — Macleod ; stailc, strike, 
 knock against, stamp, set down the foot 
 suddenly ; Ir. stailc, stop or impediment ; 
 E, dial, stalk, to poach the ground, the 
 horse's feet to sink deep into it. 
 
 It stalks so as horses can't come on the land ; 
 us were forced to dibble it. — Mrs Baker. 
 
 Stolky, miry, — Hal, 
 
 The origin may be a representation of 
 movement abruptly checked by a form 
 like Bret, stlak, clap, crack. In a similar 
 manner, the parallel root stlap (shown in 
 Bret, stlapa, to dash, to throw with vio- 
 lence) might give rise to Du, staipett, to 
 paw the ground (ungula ferire), steipen, 
 stuipen, to stop (properly to strike against) 
 — Kil. ; Sc. stiip, to halt, to go on crutches. 
 So also from Bret, strak, crack, loud noise, 
 we pass to G. straucheln, Du. struikeln, to 
 stumble ; Bav. storkeln, starkeln, to strut, 
 stagger : Dorset, stark, to walk slowly ; 
 N.Fris. staurke, to strut. 
 
 Stalk, ON. stilkr, N. stalk, stelk, stylk, 
 stalk ; Da. stilk, stalk, stem, handle ; Suf- 
 folk staivk, the handle of a whip. 
 
 The equivalence of G. stielchen, from 
 stiele, a stalk, handle, column, would lead 
 us to regard the final k of stalk as a di- 
 minutival ending, were it not for the oc- 
 currence of parallel forms stilp and stilt, 
 in which the k of stalk is exchanged for 
 a p and t respectively. Sc. stilp, to 
 stump, to go on stilts or crutches ; Walach. 
 stilpu, a column ; stiipare, a shoot, twig ; 
 
640 
 
 STALL 
 
 S\v. stolpe^ a stake, support, leg, pillar ; 
 E. dial, stulp, stump, post ; Swiss stclz, a 
 stalk — Adelung ; E. stilt, a support. 
 
 The radical signification seems to be 
 that explained under To Stalk, viz. strik- 
 ing with the foot, throwing the weight of 
 the body upon one leg as in staggering 
 or stumbling or stepping with delibera- 
 tion, whence the name is transferred to 
 anything used as a leg in bearing up a 
 weight, a prop, support, stalk. 
 
 StalL ON. stallr, that on which any- 
 thing stands or is placed, bench, foot, 
 basis ; AS. steal, a stall, place, stead, seat, 
 room. Horsa steal, a place for horses or 
 stable. Gehalgode on his stealle, con- 
 secrated in his stead. OHG. stall, G. stelle, 
 place ; stal geban, to give place ; kernstal, 
 the place which holds kernels, the core of 
 fruit. Bav. kerzenstall, a candlestick ; 
 burgstall, place where a castle stands or 
 has stood. It. stallo, OFr. estal, place, 
 seat, residence, whence estaller, to install, 
 to place in seat. Prendre estal, to take 
 position. 
 
 De haut estal en bas escame 
 Pu^ent bien lor siege cangier : 
 —from high stall to lowly bench can well change 
 their seat. — Roquef. 
 
 In this sense we speak of the stalls of a 
 cathedral. In a somewhat different ap- 
 plication, Fr. estail, estal, the stall of a shop 
 or booth, anything whereon wares are 
 laid and showed to be sold. — Cot. Lith. 
 stdlas, Pol. stol, a table. Bav. stellen, 
 what is set for objects to stand on ; biiche' 
 stellen, G. biichergestell, a book-stand or 
 book-stall. 
 
 Stallion. Fr. estalon, dtalon. It. stal- 
 lone, stallione, a horse long kept in the 
 stable without being used, also a stallion. 
 — Fl. A stallion is called equus ad stal- 
 lu7n in Leg. Wisig. according to Diez. 
 
 Stamina. Lat. stamen, a thread, the 
 grain of wood. 
 
 To Stammer. Goth, stamms, OHG. 
 stainm, ON. stamr, AS. stomni, stainer, 
 stomer, stammering ; ON. stania, Sw. 
 stainma, OHG. stamen, stammen, sfamma- 
 lon, stambilon, G. stammeln, stam7nern, 
 stujnmern, AS. stommettan, to stammer, 
 stutter. Sc. stammer, to stagger. * The 
 horse stammers.^ The broken efforts 
 made by the voice in stammering, as con- 
 trasted with the uniform flow of ordinary 
 speech, are represented by varying forms, 
 of which perhaps Sw. stappla, to stam- 
 mer or stagger, may be taken as the ori- 
 ginal type. The final p of the root is first 
 nasalised and afterwards absorbed, leav- 
 ing the nasal as its sole representative, 
 
 STANCH 
 
 as shown in the forms OHG. stambilon^ 
 OE. stamber (Hal), E. stumble, stammer. 
 A. similar series is exhibited in Sw. hap~ 
 pla, Sc. habble, habber, to stammer ; E. 
 hobble, to limp ; Sc. hamp, to stammer, 
 to halt in walking ; Du. hompelen, to 
 limp, E. hambyr (Pr. Pm.), hammer, to 
 stammer, to give repeated blows, to do a 
 thing by repeated efforts. 
 
 To Stamp. See Step. 
 
 To Stanch.— Stanch. Fr. estancher, 
 to stanch or stop the flow of liquid, to 
 quench. Sp. estancar, to stop, to pro- 
 hibit, to stop a leak ; estanco, stanch, 
 water-tight. A stanch vessel is one that 
 will hold the water in or out, whence fig. 
 stanch, firm, reliable. Bret, stanka, to 
 stop the flow of liquid, to stop a hole, to 
 obstruct ; Prov. estancar, restancar, to 
 stanch, to stop ; estanc, firm, stable. 
 Lat. extingnere, restinguere, to quench, 
 put out a fire, in which sense E. stanch 
 also was formerly used. 
 
 The foresayde erle sette fyre upon a syde of the 
 citie — whiche fyre was scantly stenchyd in seven 
 dayes after. — Fabyan, Chron. 
 
 Prov. estancir, to quench. In Lat. stag- 
 num, a standing water. It. stagnare, to 
 stanch, to stagnate, the g and n are 
 transposed, which are again found in 
 proper order in OFr. estanche, estang, 
 Gael, stang, a pond. 
 
 The sense of stoppage or hindrance of 
 action is expressed by forms springing 
 from two parallel roots, stab, stap, stamp, 
 and stag, stak, stank, signifying, in the 
 first instance, jog, thrust, impulse ab- 
 ruptly checked by an obstacle, which may 
 either oppose an absolute resistance to 
 motion, or may be penetrated to some 
 extent, allowing the implement of force 
 to stick fast in the substance of the im- 
 pediment. To the former class belong E. 
 stab, to strike with a sudden thrust ; 
 stamp, to strike the ground with the 
 foot ; Sw. stappa, to pound, to stuff or 
 thrust into ; Sc. stap, to stop ; Prov. 
 estampir, to stop, to close : to the latter, 
 Du. staggelen, to strike the ground with 
 the foot, to paw like a horse, E. stagger, 
 staker, to make abrupt movements right 
 and left instead of moving steadily on- 
 wards ; Swiss staggelen, stanggeln, to stut- 
 ter, to speak by a series of broken efforts ; 
 Bret, stok, a shock or knock ; ON. staka, 
 to stumble, to strike against an impedi- 
 ment ; Sc. stock, to thrust ; G. stocken, to 
 stop, to cease from motion, to stick or 
 stop short in speech ; Lang, s'estacd, to 
 stick at, hesitate, boggle j estangd, to 
 stop, shut, fasten ; T>q.w on slagged, stuck 
 
STANCHION 
 
 in the mire ; Bret, siaga, Castrais estaca, 
 to fasten ; G. stang, It. stanga, a stake, 
 bar, or implement for thrusting ; ON. 
 stanga, to stick, thrust, strike with the 
 horns ; Sw. stanga, Lap. stagget, to shut. 
 
 Stanchion. Supporters in buildings ; 
 (in ships) pieces of timber that support 
 the wast-trees. — B. Fr. estanson, a prop, 
 stay, trestle ; estancer, to prop, to stay. — 
 Cot. Prov. estafic, firm, stable, ^.ysta^tc, 
 a hold-fast, bracket ; ystancio, to prop. 
 The office of a stanchion is to thrust 
 against an object and prevent it from 
 giving way. See Stanch. 
 
 To Stand. Goth, standan, pret. stothj 
 ON. standa, stod, stadit. Stada, stand- 
 ing, standing still j solstada, solstice ; 
 vedrstada, the standing or direction of 
 the wind. Stada, as Da. stade, stand, 
 station, stall ; also as Da. sted, stead, 
 place ; Goth, staths, place. 
 
 The root of the word is stad, which, on 
 the one hand, is nasalised in stand, while 
 the d is softened down and lost in G. 
 stehen, Lat. stare, Gr. \(jTr\-\n, Sanscr. 
 sthd. Boh. std-ti. The final t will be ob- 
 served in Lat. status, standing, posture, 
 station. The primary meaning is proba- 
 bly to strike against, to meet with an im- 
 pediment, to come to a stop, from the 
 representation of an abrupt sound by the 
 syllable stad, stat, in a way analogous to 
 the course of development illustrated 
 under Stanch. Gael, stad, impediment, 
 stop, cessation ; stadach, stopping, hesi- 
 tating, stammering ; Devon stat, stopped 
 — Hal. ; E. stotter, stutter, stut, to speak 
 in broken tones ; Sc. stot, stoit, stoiter, to 
 totter, stagger, stumble. 
 
 Sho stottis at straes, syne stumbillis rot at stanes. 
 
 To stot, to stop. — Jam. Goth, stautan, 
 Sw. stota, Da. stode, Du. s. 
 against, to jolt, jog, thrust 
 
 Standard. It. stendardo, Prov. estan- 
 darty estandard, Sp. estandarte, Fr. esten- 
 dart, Mid.Lat. standardutn, stantarum, 
 standarmn. Two words from different de- 
 rivations seem to be confounded. Thestan- 
 dard was a lofty pole or mast, either borne 
 in a car or fixed in the ground, marking the 
 head-quarters of an army, and commonly 
 bearing a flag on which were displayed 
 the insignia of the authorities to which it 
 belonged. Hence the word is explained 
 from Lat. extendere, It. stendere, to spread 
 abroad, display. Stendale, any displaid 
 streamer, banner, or standard. — Fl. Era 
 uno carro in su quattro rote, et havevavi 
 su due grande antenne vermiglie, in su le 
 quali ventilava il grande stendale dell' 
 
 STAPLE 
 
 641 
 
 arme del commune de Firenze.— Joh. Vil- 
 lani in Due. Extendarium, vexillum. — 
 Albertinus Mussatus (ob. a.d. 1329) de 
 Gestis Italicorum. On the other hand, 
 the term frequently occurs in the histories 
 of the crusades, designating especially 
 the ensigns of the Saracens, which con- 
 sisted solely of a stander or upright with- 
 out a flag. 
 
 Unus autem nostrorum accepit standaruTK 
 Ammaravisi, desuper quod erat pomum aureum, 
 hasta vero tota cooperta argento : quod stanta- 
 rum apud nos dicitur vexillum. — Tudebodus in 
 Due. Longissiraa hasta, argentooperta pertotum, 
 quod vocant Standart, et quae regis Babilonias ex- 
 ercitui signum pfaeferebatur et circa quam praeci- 
 pua virtus densabatur. — Albertus Aquensis, A.D. 
 mo. Qui omnes procedentes secus Alvertum in 
 campo quodam — standart, id est, malum navis 
 erexerunt, vexillum S. Petri — in eo suspendentes. 
 — Simeon Dunelm. a.d. 1138. 
 
 Aliqui eorum in medio cujusdam machinse, 
 quam illi adduxerant, unius navis malum erexe- 
 runt, quod Standard appellaverant, unde Hugo 
 Eboracensis Archidiaconus : 
 
 Dicitur a stando standardum, quod stetit illic 
 
 Militiae probitas, vincere sive mori. 
 In summitate vero ipsius arboris — vexilla suspen- 
 derunt. — Ricardus Hagustald. a.d. 1190. 
 
 G. stander, an upright in building ; thiir- 
 stander, eckstdnder, a door-post, corner- 
 post. In this sense E. standard is a fruit- 
 tree that stands of itself in opposition to 
 one that is supported against a wall. 
 
 As the standard is the object to which 
 the army looks for direction, the term is 
 met. applied to any fixed mark to which 
 certain actions or constructions are to be 
 made to conform : the standard of morals, 
 standard of weights and measures. 
 
 Stang. ON. stong, OHG. stanga, It, 
 stanga, a bar, staff, pole, properly an in- 
 strument of thrusting, from ON. stanga, 
 to thrust, stick, strike with the horns. 
 Sw. stanga, to shut, to fence ; stangel, a 
 bar, also, as G. stengel, a stalk, the part of 
 a plant that shoots up and supports the 
 flowering branches. Lap. stagget, to 
 shut ; staggo, a stake or pole. 
 
 Stanza. It. stanza, Fr. stance, a staff 
 or stave of verses at the close of which 
 there is a pause in the versification. Sp. 
 estancia, stay, continuance in a place, re- 
 sidence, stanza. From estar, to stand. 
 Walach. stare, a pause, a stanza in verse. 
 
 Staple. I. as. stapel, a prop, support, 
 trestle. 
 
 Under ech stapel of his bed, 
 
 That he niste, four thai hid. — Seven Sages. 
 Du. stapel, stalk, stem, support, heap, 
 steeple, foot, basis on which anything 
 rests. — Kil. Sw. stapel, stocks on which 
 a ship is built, a heap, pile ; OFr. estappe 
 41 
 
643 
 
 STAR 
 
 Rouchi estape^ a stake, pole, pile. Gael. 
 stapul, bolt, bar, staple. Fr. esttnnpcau^ 
 a trestle ; estamper, to support, to under- 
 prop. — Cot. 
 
 The origin of the word is the root siab 
 or stap, signifying abrupt thrust, from 
 whence we pass to the notion of a pro- 
 minence or projection, as in Da. dial. 
 stap, N. stabbc, stump of a tree, ON. stabbi, 
 a heap, a stack. The application of the 
 name to a prop or support arises from 
 regarding the prop as thrusting upwards 
 against the weight imposed upon it. The 
 staple of a door is the iron loop stuck into 
 the door-post in order to hold the bolt of 
 the lock. Sc. stapalis, fastenings. — Jam. 
 
 2. In a derivative sense staple is used 
 for a market or emporium, the merchan- 
 dise brought to be sold at such a market, 
 the principal merchandise of a country, 
 the materials of manufacture, raw mate- 
 rial, substance of a thing. 
 
 The origin of these significations is Du. 
 and Sw. stapel, a heap, and thence a place 
 where goods are stored up or exposed for 
 sale. Rouchi estapler, to expose goods 
 for sale in public market ; Champ, estape, 
 estaple^ shop, market ; estapler Mtie voi- 
 tiire^ to stop a conveyance for the purpose 
 of offering the goods for sale. Fr. estape^ 
 estaple^ a public storehouse wherein mer- 
 chant strangers lodge their commodities 
 which they mean to vent ; also a certain 
 place whereto the country is enjoined to 
 bring in provisions for a marching army ; 
 also the pecuniary contribution allowed 
 by those towns or persons that bring in 
 none. — Cot. Hence etape^ resting-place, 
 or soldier's allowance on march. 
 
 In the N. of France, and Germany, the 
 term was applied to a privilege accorded 
 to certain towns, by which they were 
 entitled to stop all imported goods brought 
 within their limits until they had been ex- 
 posed to public sale for a definite period, 
 and the name was also given to the towns 
 possessed of such a privilege. Rouchi 
 estapie, public exposure to sale. * Le temps 
 de Pestaple au lieu de deux heures devra 
 durer toute la journde.' E, staple, a city 
 or town where merchants jointly lay up 
 their commodities for the better vending 
 of them by the great ; a public store- 
 house. — B. 
 
 Star. Gr. aarrjp, d^rpov, Lat. astrzim, 
 Goth, stalrno, Bret, steren, w. sere7i, a 
 star ; s^r, stars. Bret, stdreden, a star ; 
 stdrdd or sterede7inou, stars ; stdredenni, 
 to twinkle, glitter. In a similar manner 
 appear to be formed w. serenu, to glitter, 
 dazzle, sparkle; Du. sterren, to twinkle 
 
 STARE 
 
 — Kil., ON. stirna^ to glitter. But, on the 
 other hand, nothing is more probable 
 than that the stars should take their name 
 from sparkling or glittering, and a root 
 ser or ster having that signification ap- 
 pears in Lat. serenus, bright, clear, shin- 
 ing ; Gr. artpoTTTj {avTepoTrrj), aoTpairff 
 (analogous to Champ, ablancer for bala?t- 
 cer), a flash of hghtning, flashing, glitter. 
 See Stare. 
 
 Lat. Stella may perhaps be for sterula, 
 but it may be direct from the root stely 
 parallel with ster, signifying, in the first 
 \nst2ince, crack, then burst, scatter, sparkle, 
 according to the analogy of Fr. dclat, 
 which signifies, in the first place, the crack 
 of an explosion, then fragment, glitter. 
 Sp. estallary to crack, to burst with a 
 loud sound ; estallo, crackling, crashing, 
 sound of anything bursting or falling ; 
 OFr. estoile, estelle, dclat de bois, chip, 
 splint, to be compared with estoile, a star; 
 esteler, to flash like lightning. — Roquef. 
 Another instance of the name of a star 
 being taken from the sense of sparkling 
 is seen in Magy. tsillag, a star, compared 
 with tsillogni, tsilldmlatii, to sparkle, 
 glitter ; G. schillem, to glance, play with 
 different colours. 
 
 Starboard, The right side of the ves- 
 sel. ON, stjornbo7'cti. Da. styrbord ; from 
 stjorn, the rudder. Da. styre, to steer, be- 
 cause the rudder consisted of an oar on 
 the right side of the ship, where the steers- 
 man stood. 
 
 Starch. See Stark. 
 
 To Stare, i. To glitter, shine. ^Staryng 
 or schynyng as gay thyngys, rutilans. 
 Staryn or schynyn and glyderyn, niteo.' 
 — Pr. Pm. Du. sterren, to twinkle. 
 As ai stremande sternes stared alle thaire wedes. 
 K. Alex. p. 129. 
 Herfiery eyes with furious sparks did stare. — F.Q. 
 See Star. 
 
 2. ON. stara, Sw. stirra, Du. staren, 
 staroogen, to stare, gaze, look fixedly. N. 
 stara, stira, are also used in the sense of 
 simply looking, turning the eyes towards. 
 Star, eyes, look, sight ; brunt star, brown 
 eyes. 
 
 As the act of looking consists only in 
 opening the eyes for the reception of light, 
 the senses of looking or gazing and of 
 shining are often expressed by the same 
 word, as in G. blick, a flash of light, a 
 glance or look, and fig. the eye, looks. 
 Swiss glare, to stare, is identical with E. 
 glare, glow ; OE. glare, gloivr, to stare, 
 with N. glora, to glitter, to stare. To 
 stare then, in the sense of looking fixedly, 
 may be a secondary application of staiCy 
 
 I 
 
STARK 
 
 to shine. ' / stare, as a man's eyes stare 
 for anger, mes yeulx s'alument.' — Palsgr. 
 On the other hand, we have G. starr, 
 stiff, rigid ; ein starrer blick, a fixed 
 look ; starren, to be stiff ; starren, an- 
 starren, starr ansehen, to stare at. And 
 certainly the verb to stare is used in this 
 latter sense, when we speak of an ill- 
 fed horse having a rough and staring 
 coat. * Aggricciamenti, astonishments, 
 ^tarings of one's hairs.' — Y\. Holstein 
 sturr, stiff ; sturre haar, rigid hair. ON. 
 stargresl, Dan. sta;rgr(ES, stcBr, sedge, 
 rigid grass, growing by the sea or on 
 moors, in E. provincially starr or bent. 
 It. stora, a mat or hassock made of bents 
 or sedge. Sw. sttrra ntjingrefi, to spread 
 one's fingers ; stirra med ogonejt, to 
 look wildly, to stare. Bav. storren, to 
 project ; derstorren, the stump of a tree ; 
 Gael, sturr, rugged point of a hill ; stur- 
 rag, turret or pinnacle ; sturrach, rugged, 
 surly in temper. 
 
 Stark. — Starch, on. sterkr, styrkr, 
 OHG. starah, starh, G. stark, rigid, stiff, 
 strong. Goth, gastaiirkan, to dry up ; 
 ON. storkna, Du. storkelen, Swiss storche- 
 len, to congeal, coagulate, thicken ; Sw. 
 storkna, provincially strogna, to choke. 
 E. dial, stark, starky, stiff, dry. — Mrs B. 
 
 The original sense is probably rugged, 
 uneven in surface, an idea commonly ex- 
 pressed from the figure of a harsh, broken 
 sound. Bret, straka, strakla, to crack, 
 clap, crackle, rattle; strakel, stragel, the 
 clapper of a mill ; Boh em, ssterkati, 
 sstrkati, sstrokotati, to rattle ; Russ. 
 strogat\ strugaf, to rake, scrape, plane ; 
 strog', rigid, hard, austere j Lith. stregti, 
 to stiffen, to freeze. 
 
 As the sense commonly passes through 
 the idea of a broken movement before 
 that of a broken surface, we must in all 
 probability refer to the foregoing root 
 such forms as E. straggle, struggle, and 
 G. straucheln, Du. stricikeleny to stumble ; 
 Bav. storkeln, starkehij to stagger ; E. 
 dial, stark, to walk slowly, stump. 
 
 Starch for stiffening linen is G. stdrke, 
 strength, stiffness, starch. Sw. stdrkelse, 
 Du. stiff set, starch. 
 
 To Start.— Startle. To start, to do 
 anything with a sudden spring. At a 
 stert, in a moment. — Chaucer. G. sturz, 
 a fall, tumble, start, spurt. — Kuttn. Sein 
 pferd that einen stjirz, his horse started ; 
 sturzkarren, a tumbril or cart that tilts 
 up. Stiirz is also what projects abruptly, 
 the stump of a tree, dock of a horse's tail, 
 handle of a plough. Das ^kxd stiirz t die 
 ohren, the horse pricks his ears. Pol. 
 
 STATIONER 
 
 643 
 
 storczyc', to raise or set up, to bristle, to 
 prick up the ears ; sterczec, to stick out, 
 protrude, jut out, G. stiirz am pfltige, 
 pflugstert, plough-handle ; E. dial, stert, 
 tail of a plough, stalk of fruit ; redstart, a 
 bird with a red tail ; Bav. starz, tail of 
 beasts, stalk. G. stiirzen, to dash, to 
 do things with a quick sudden motion, 
 throw down, fall ; Du. storten, to hurl 
 or throw headlong, to tumble, fall, to shed 
 or spill. Stortregen, a violent shower. 
 G. eiiie tonne stiirzen, as in E. nautical 
 language, to start a cask, to spill the con- 
 tents. 
 
 The origin appears to be the clattering 
 sound of dashing down. Bohem. stur- 
 coxuati, to clatter, to empty out ; E. dial, 
 strat, to dash to pieces, to splash with 
 mud ; strat, a fall, — Hal. Comp. Bret. 
 stlaka, straka, to clap ; stlapa, to dash 
 down. Swab, stritzen, to spirt. Tv 
 startle, to sparkle. — Hal. * Frizzare, to 
 spirt, to frisk, to startle as good wine doth 
 being poured into a glass, also to frisk or 
 skip nimbly.' — Fl. 
 
 To Starve. In the Midland Counties 
 to clem is to perish from hunger ; to starve, 
 to suffer from cold. / am starved, I am 
 perished with cold. ON. sta7'f, labour, 
 trouble, inconvenience ; star/a sik, to ex- 
 ert oneself. N. starva (of a sick or wearied 
 beast), to go slow and tottering, to shrug 
 like cattle in the cold, to go off, fall away, 
 perish ; starving, a slow and tottering 
 gait. Du. sterven, G. sterben, to die. 
 Compare AS. deorfan, to labour, painfully 
 to exert oneself, to perish. Gedurfon heora 
 scipa, their ships perished. Sw. strdfwa, 
 to endeavour, to strive ; strdfwan, work, 
 pains. See Strife. 
 
 State. — Station. — Stature. — Statis- 
 tic. From Lat. sto, statum, to stand, are 
 formed statio, a station or standing-place; 
 stattira, stature ; status -tis, the standing, 
 state or condition of a thing, and thence 
 E, statist, one who examines the state of 
 things. 
 
 Stationer, In Mid, Lat. and even in 
 classical times (according to Muratori, 
 Diss. 25), statio was applied to a stall or 
 shop. It became appropriated to a seller 
 of books and paper, &c., as grocer, which 
 formerly signified a wholesale dealer, to a 
 seller of spices. ' Datia (quod dant mer- 
 catores de locis in quo vendunt) staytgeldJ 
 — Dief. Supp. An ordinance of A.D. 1408 
 prescribes, ' quod nullus libellus sive trac- 
 tatus — amodo legatur in scolis — nisi per 
 Universitatem Oxonii aut Cantabrigiae 
 primitus examinetur — et universitatis auc- 
 toritate statio7ta?'iis tradatur ut copietur 
 41 * 
 
644 
 
 STATUE 
 
 et factA collatione vendatur justo pretio.' 
 — Concil. Britan. Ed. Spelman in N . & Q., 
 Jan. 12, 1861. 
 
 Statue. Lat. statua. 
 
 Statute, -stitut-. Lat. status, stand- 
 ing, posture, gives rise to staiuo, -utum 
 (in comp. -stituo), to set, place, establish, 
 ordain. Hence Constitute, Institute, Sec. 
 
 * To Staw. To glut, to clog, to be 
 restive, to refuse to draw. — Craven. Gl. 
 Staud, surfeited, tired. — Hal. 
 
 Or olio that would staw a sow. — Burns. 
 It is merely the broad pronunciation of 
 stall, in the sense of standing-place ; to 
 stall, to bring to a stand. Stalled, set 
 fast in a slough, satiated, cloyed. — Mrs 
 Baker. 
 
 As stille as a stone oure ship is stalled, 
 
 Townely Myst. 
 
 Bav. stallen, Sw. stdlla, to stop ; Piedm. 
 stal^, to stop, to stanch. 
 
 Stave. I. A different pronunciation of 
 staj^, appropriated by custom to certain 
 modifications of the object, as a pole of 
 some length, or one of the bars of which 
 a cask is composed, ON. stafr, N. stav, a 
 stick, pole, stave of a cask. 
 
 2. A stave in psalm-singing is a verse, 
 or so much of the psalm as is given out 
 at once by the precentor to be repeated 
 by the congregation. Pl.D. staven, to 
 recite the words of a formula that is to 
 be repeated by another person, to admin- 
 ister an oath ; een staveden eed, an oath 
 solemnly administered. 
 
 In this sense the word is a met. from 
 the construction of a hooped vessel by 
 putting together the staves of which it is 
 composed, and as each of these is separ- 
 ately set up, so a stave is so much of the 
 formula as is separately recited. ON. 
 sta/a einmn eid, to administer to one an 
 oath ; svd stofud s'ok, a matter so con- 
 stituted, so arranged. N. stava, to set up 
 the staves in a cask, and thence fig. to 
 set together the letters of which a written 
 word is composed, to spell ; stavelse, a 
 syllable, a separate element of a spoken 
 word. It is obviously from this meta- 
 phor also (and not, as commonly sup- 
 posed, from the upright bar forming the 
 body of the letter in the Runic alphabet) 
 that we must explain ON. stafr, as. stcef, 
 bocstcef, G. buchstab, ,a letter. ' Litera,' 
 says ^Ifric, * is stcsf on Englisc, and is 
 se laesta dael on bocum, and is untodas- 
 ledlic : ' letter is stcef in English, and is 
 the least element in writings, and is in- 
 divisible. In the same way the stave is 
 the ultimate element of a cask or tub, 
 
 STEAD 
 
 and as the staves are separately useless 
 until they are set up in the form of a 
 vessel, so the letters are individually in- 
 significant until set together in a word. 
 
 Stay. I. ON., Da., Du., slag, Fr. estaye, 
 the stay or strong rope that fastens the 
 top of the mast to the bow of the vessel. 
 Olii. staga, to bind, to fasten. Bret, stag, 
 a tie, fastening; staga, to fasten. See 
 Stanch. 
 
 2. Stay. — Staid. Stay, a prop, a sup- 
 port, also a stop, let, or hindrance ; to 
 stay, to support, to bear up, to stop, to 
 continue in a place. — B. 
 
 The primary sense is that shown in ON. 
 stod, N. stdd, styd, Sw. stod, stake, prop, 
 support ; ON. stoda, to support, to help ; 
 Du, staede, staeye (Kil.), Fr. estaye, a prop 
 or supporter. Hence staid, stayed, sup- 
 ported, steadied, kept firm. 
 The abbot who to all posterity did leave 
 The fruits of his stay'd faith, delivered by his pen. 
 
 Drayton. 
 Du. staeden, stabilire — Kil. ; Sw. stoda, 
 stodja, to prop or support ; stodja sig, to 
 rest, repose on; n. stod, stb, steady, continu- 
 ous ; side se, to be steady. To stay, in 
 the sense of hinder, prevent, stop, as 
 when one speaks of staying one's hand, is 
 a metaphor of the same kind as when we 
 use help in the sense of abstain from, 
 prevent. ' It cannot be helped.' In the 
 same way from G. steuer, which properly 
 signifies a stake, prop, support, is formed 
 steuern, to stop, hinder, stay, keep back, 
 avert. — Kiittn. 
 
 Probably j/^_y, in the sense of continue, 
 remain unmoved, has come to us through 
 the Romance. Lang, estaia, residence. 
 ^ Estaia farem ab lui :' mansionem apud 
 eum faciemus. Prov. estar, to stand, to 
 cease or abstain from action ; OFr. ester, 
 esteir, to stand, remain, be. 
 
 The essential function of a stay or prop 
 consists in the upward thrust by which it 
 counteracts the weight of an incumbent 
 body. Thus the immediate origin of the 
 word may be found in G. stossen, Sw. 
 st'dta, Da. stode, to strike against, jog, 
 thrust, strike endways, stamp, pound. In 
 the same way from the secondary form G. 
 stutzen, to dash against, to come to a 
 stop, we have G. stiitze, Sw. stbtta, a prop 
 or support. A conjecture as to the ulti- 
 mate origin is given under Stilt. 
 
 Stead. — Steady. — Steadfast. Two 
 words seem to be confounded in E. stead, 
 viz. : I, Goth. stat/is,Oi<5. stadr,stbd, Du., 
 AS. stede, Da. sled, place, spot, properly 
 standing ; ON. standa, stod, stadit, to 
 stand. Se stede is halig, this place is 
 
 J 
 
STEAK 
 
 holy. — Jos. V. 15. Da. i steden, in the 
 place of, instead of. From this sense of 
 the word we have homestead^ the home 
 place ; bedstead; G. bettstatt, bettstdtte ; 
 ON. eldstad; Cleveland, firestead^ door- 
 steady meddenstead ; ON. stadfastr, Da. 
 stadfast, stedfast, standfast, E. steadfast, 
 firm in its place ; Sw. stadig, E. steady, 
 standing in its place, stable ; ON. stedja, 
 to place, staddr, Sw. stadd, situated, 
 placed, bestead. Wara stadd i fara, to 
 be placed in danger. Icke wara stadd 
 wid pen7iifigar, to be hard bestead for 
 money. 
 
 2. Stead in the other sense corresponds 
 to Du. staede, Sw. stod, prop, stay, sup- 
 port ; ON. adstod, assistance ; stoda, to 
 avail. ^ 
 
 From this sense of the word must be 
 explained the expression, to stand one in 
 good stead, exactly equivalent to the Du. 
 te staede ko?nmen, in staede staen. — Kil. 
 See Stay. 
 
 Steak. Slices of meat to fry or broil. 
 — B. ON. steikja, Dan. stege, to roast, 
 broil, fry ; ON. steikari, a cook. N.Fris. 
 stajcketi, to roast in the ashes. As 7-oast 
 seems originally to signify the rod on 
 which the meat was stuck by way of a 
 spit, so it is probable that steak is a modi- 
 fication of stick or stake. OHG. stekko, 
 pole, stake, stick, peg. Da. steg, a stake, 
 pole, also a roast ; at vende steg, to turn 
 the spit. Sw. stek, roast meat. 
 
 Steal. A handle. See Stale. 
 
 To Steal. Goth, stiian, ON. stela. 
 
 Steam. as. stem, vapour, smoke, 
 smell. Du. stoovi, dom, domp, damp 
 (Kil.), steam, vapour. Boh. dyni, smoke. 
 Bav. damn, vapour, smoke ; doamwint, 
 moist warm wind. See Damp, Stew. 
 
 Steed. AS. steda, a horse or stallion. 
 Gael, steud, to run, to race ; a race, a 
 wave ; steiidshrnth, a rapid stream ; steud- 
 each, stetid^ a swift horse, racehorse, war 
 horse ; stendach, swift, billowy. 
 
 Steel. OHG. stahal, OberD. stahel, 
 stachel, G. stahl, steel. Probably Wach- 
 ter and Adelung are right in connecting 
 it with stechen, to stick, and stachel, prick, 
 point ; analogous to It. acciaro, Fr. acier, 
 steel, from acies, point, edge. When steel 
 was first introduced it would be too 
 valuable to be used for more than the 
 edge of the weapon, and would be known 
 as edge metal. Du. stael van het 7nes, 
 the edge of a knife. — Kil. A similar con- 
 traction is seen in OHG. stechal, Bav. 
 stickel, G. steil, steep. Boh. staly, firm, 
 stable, is unconnected. 
 
 To Steep. — Steep. — To Stoop. In 
 
 STEER 
 
 64s 
 
 different branches of the Gothic stock the 
 syllables stop, stip, stup, convey the sense 
 of striking end foremost, stabbing, stick- 
 ing into, stamping, setting down the foot, 
 throwing down, lowering, dipping or sink- 
 ing into a liquid, soaking. 
 
 We may cite ON. stappa, to stamp, to 
 pound ; N.Fris. sttippin, to strike against 
 (stossen, Johans. p. 50) ; Du. stappett, 
 stippen, to step, to set down the foot; 
 stippen, to fix, to stick into, to embroider ; 
 G. stupfen, to goad, to prick ; Pl.D. stup- 
 pen, stippen, to strike the ground with a 
 stick in walking ; stipstock, a walking- 
 stick ; stippen, also to dip ; instippen, to 
 dip the pen in ink. N.Fris. stiepen, to 
 dip candles, Sw. stopa, to dip candles, to 
 cast metals, to steep seed or the like in 
 water, to soak into, as ink into paper. 
 The sense of soaking is incidental to that 
 of dipping into liquid. ON. steypa, to 
 cast or throw down, to pour out, to cast 
 in metal ; steypask, to cast oneself down 
 or out of, to fall. N, stbypa, to cast down, 
 sttipa, to fall. Sw. stiipa, to incline, to 
 lower, to fall. Stnpa en tunna, to tilt a 
 cask ; s. omkull, to drop down. Han 
 stnpade i slagtningen, he fell in battle. 
 From the idea of tumbling to that of 
 steepness or abrupt inclination is an easy 
 step. The Lat. p)'ceceps, headlong, sig- 
 nifies also sloping, steep. Sw. stupad, in- 
 clined, leaning downwards ; stupning, de- 
 clivity. N. stup, a steep cliff ; stupebratt, 
 so abrupt that one may fall down. The 
 stoop of a hawk is when he falls from a 
 height upon his prey. 
 
 Steeple, as. stypel, a tower; Sw. 
 stapel, stocks on which a ship is built, a 
 heap, a pile ; klockstapel, a steeple or 
 belfry; N. stupel, clock-tower; Pl.D. stipel, 
 stiper, a prop, support, pillar. A pair of 
 thick legs are called een paar gode stipels^ 
 to be compared with G. stapeln, to come 
 striding along. See Staple. ON. stopull^ 
 support, pillar, tower, steeple. 
 
 Steer. — Stirk. A young bull, ox, or 
 heifer. Bav. ster, steren, sterch, sterchen, 
 the male sheep or hog. ohg. stero, a 
 ram. Swiss sterchi, a bull for breeding ; 
 stier, an ox calf. Gael, stuir, a male calf. 
 G. stier, stierchen, a bull ; stieren, to copu- 
 late, of the bull and the ram. as. styric^ 
 styrc, Du. stierick, heifer. Gris. stierl^ 
 sterl, yearling bull. 
 
 To Steer.— Stir. as. styran, astyrian^ 
 to move, stir, steer, govern. Uit ne rnihte 
 thcEt hns astyrian : it could not move 
 that house. — Luke vi. 48. He styreth 
 thone roder: he moves the sky. Osric 
 thcEt rice xi gear styrdc : ruled the realm 
 
646 STEM 
 
 eleven years. Eall thcct the styrath and 
 h'ofath: all that moves and lives. ON. 
 styra^ to guide, steer, govern, control. 
 OHG. stiuran, stiurja?iy to direct, move, 
 govern, control, also to prop, support, 
 lean on. Du. stieren, siuerrn, to drive 
 forwards, impel, propel. — Bigl. Kilian 
 renders it, agere, adigere, agere navigium, 
 subigere navem conto, promovere navem. 
 Stierboom, contus nauticus, trudes, per- 
 tica nautica. The sense here indicated, 
 of poling a boat or pushing it along with 
 the help of poles would seem to be the 
 original meaning of the word, as it re- 
 conciles several applications, apparently 
 unconnected. We have OHG. siiiira, 
 baculus, stipes, remus — Graff ; Bav. 
 steuet; a prop, support, aid, contribution ; 
 ON. statirr, Sw. stor, a stake or pole ; 
 E. dial, stottr, siower, a stake, a boathook ; 
 OHG. sturle, storlen/jischerstorl, a fisher's 
 pole for stirring the water, or fishing-rod. 
 • — Dief. Supp. in v. contus. Gr. aravpoQ, 
 a stake, pole, pale, afterwards the cross 
 or stake on which a criminal was crucified. 
 
 The use of a pole for a somewhat 
 different purpose gives Du. stooreii, to 
 stir up the mud or shallows, to disturb, 
 impede, to stir up, irritate, excite — Kil. ; 
 G. stSt'en, to poke, rake into, stir up, dis- 
 turb ; Sw. sidra, to trouble, interrupt, 
 hinder, molest; also to place stakes, to 
 support ; Bav. stilren, to poke, as with a 
 stick in the mud, with a finger in the 
 nose, &c. ; zandstilrer, a toothpick. 
 
 Stem. I. AS. stemn, G. staimn^ the 
 stem or trunk of a tree. E. dial, stelms, 
 stembles^ shoots that grow from an old 
 stock; sfmiins, stalks. — Mrs B. Lith. 
 ftambas, the stock or stem of a cabbage 
 or the like ; stambras, stalk of grass ; 
 Lett, stobrs, stalk of grass, shaft of an- 
 chor. ODu. stapel, stalk. Lat. stipes^ 
 any piece of wood standing in the ground, 
 a pale, stake, trunk of a tree ; stipttla^ a 
 stem, stalk, straw ; Bohem. stopka, the 
 stalk of a leaf, fruit, &c. Fr. estampeazi, 
 a prop, stay, trestle. Rouchi, s'etajnper, 
 to keep upright, to support. G. stdnwieji, 
 to sustain, prop, stay or bear up ; sich 
 stdmmeny to lean or rest against some- 
 thing. 
 
 The stem is the part of the plant which 
 thrusts or shoots upwards and supports 
 the boughs and whole produce of the 
 plant. From the root stab, signifying 
 thrust. Sanscr. stambh, to stop, support ; 
 stambha, a pillar, post, stem. 
 
 2. The stem of a ship (as. stefn, stemn, 
 ON. stafn, Da. stavn) is that great pile of 
 timber which is wrought compassing from 
 
 the keel below, and serves to guide the 
 ship's rake. — B. The parts of this timber 
 that turn upwards before and behind are 
 in Sw. called fra7nstam and bakstam, the 
 prow and poop respectively. In E. the 
 name of stem has been retained only in 
 the case of the former. ' From stem to 
 stern.^ N. stemm, the stem or prow of a 
 vessel. ODu. steve, a staff; the handle 
 of a plough ; steve, veiirsteve, the stem or 
 prow of a ship ; achtersteve, stern. 
 
 To Stem. i. To stop, to put a stop to. 
 — B. To resist, as when we speak of 
 stemming the flood. ON, stemma, to stop, 
 close, bar, dam. At osi skal d stemma : 
 a river must be stopped at its source. 
 Stemma stigu fyrir einum : to bar the 
 way before one. 
 
 From a modification of the root stap, 
 signifying thrust, endlong blow, the final 
 p of which is first nasalised and then 
 absorbed : stap, stamp, stain. ON. stappa, 
 to stamp, to pound ; Sc. stap, to stop, 
 obstruct, to cram, to stuff. Prov. desta- 
 par, to unstop. ' Lo bondonel destapa' 
 he draws the cork. Sp. destapar, to un- 
 stop, uncover. Lith. stabdyti, to stop. 
 
 The nasalised form is seen in e. stamp, 
 to strike an endlong blow ; Rouchi stam- 
 per, to support. Etampe-td conf V mur: 
 support yourself against the wall. S^etam- 
 per, to stand upright. When the thrust 
 is sufficiently violent, the implement is 
 stuck into the obstacle by which it is met, 
 and the act assumes the aspect of striking 
 or fixing, fastening, stopping. Prov. es- 
 tamph', tafnph; to shut, to stop. ' Una 
 porta — que fon barrada et estampida de- 
 dins :' a door that was barred and shut 
 within. The terminal^ is finally absorbed 
 in G. stdmmen, stemmen, to plant, to stick 
 something on or against an object with 
 sudden thrust, as a stick upon the ground, 
 the elbow on a table, the feet against a 
 wall, the foot or knee upon an adversary's 
 breast — Sanders ; to stem, resist, bear up 
 against, to sustain, support, prop. — Kiittn. 
 ' Sich gegen etwas steminen : ' to bear up 
 against it. 'Sich empor stemmen:' to 
 raise oneself up by leaning on one's elbow, 
 &c. (to be compared with Rouchi s'dtam- 
 per). ' Sass ich aufgestemmt in meinem 
 bette : ' I sat supported in my bed. Sw. 
 stamina, to stop, stanch, to hem or border. 
 
 A parallel series of similar forms, differ- 
 ing only in the want of an initial s, may 
 be found under Dam. Lang, tapa, tampa, 
 to stop, shut, inclose, surround ; ON. tep'pa, 
 to stop, to close ; Pol. tamoivae, to stop, 
 to dam, to check, restrain. 
 
 2. To stem is sometimes used in a 
 
STENCH 
 
 different sense derived from ON. stefna or 
 stemna, to turn the stem towards, to move 
 in a certain direction. Hafa eit fyrir 
 stafni, to have an object before the stem, 
 to stem towards it, to move in that di- 
 rection. Their stefiidic inn i fjordin : they 
 steered in towards the firth. 
 
 They on the trading flood — 
 Ply stemming nightly towards the pole. — Milton. 
 
 Sw. stdfwa, to direct one's course towards 
 a point. N. stemna, course, direction, 
 appointment, a number of ships coming 
 at an appointed time. A coHiery is said 
 to have a large stetn on when there are a 
 number of ships waiting for cargo. N.E. 
 Steven, an appointed time ; to set the 
 Steven, to agree upon a time and place of 
 meeting. In Cornwall, stem, stemmin, an 
 appointed task, a day's work. 
 
 Stench. See Stink. 
 
 Stent. An allotted portion, a right of 
 pasturage [for a definite number of cattle] 
 — Hal. Stent, portion, part. — Palsgr. 
 Stente or certeyne of value or dette and 
 other lyke, taxatio ; stentyd, taxatus. — 
 Pr. Pm. The day's work of a collier is 
 called his stent in Staffordshire. Mid.Lat. 
 extendere, OFr. estendre, to estimate. — 
 Roquef. ' Haec est extenta terrarum de 
 terris et tenementis Prions de Derhuste 
 quantum valeant.' — Monast. Ang. ' Par 
 mesmes les jourours soient les terras es- 
 tendues k la very value.' — Due. 
 
 Stentorian, Having a voice like 
 Stentor, the crier of the Greeks at Troy. 
 
 Step. — Stamp. Du. stap, baculum, 
 gradus, passus ; stappen, to step, to set 
 down the foot. ON. stappa, to stamp, to 
 thrust with a pole or the like. Their stop- 
 pudu snjdinn med spjotskoptiim sinum : 
 they beat down the snow with their spear- 
 shafts. Stappa fcEtinum i jordina, to 
 stamp with their feet on the earth. N. 
 siampa, to stamp, to tramp in wet or 
 mud ; stappa, to pound, to stuff in, cram 
 full ; stapp, pounded or mashed food. G. 
 stapfen, to step, to tread hard. Gr. arfifiu), 
 to stamp, tread, ram down. Pol. stq,paS, 
 to step, stride ; stopa, sole of the foot. 
 See Stab. 
 
 Step-father.- Step-son. The original 
 application of the term is to a step-child, 
 signifying an orphan, a child deprived of 
 one at least of its parents, and is thence 
 extended to a person marrying a widow 
 or widower with children, coming in the 
 place of father or mother to orphan chil- 
 dren. Sie bear?i his astepte, in another 
 version, syn beam his steopcild, may his 
 children be orphans. — Ps. cviii. 9. Ne 
 Icete ic eoiv steopcild, ego non vos orbos 
 
 STERN 
 
 647 
 
 relinquam. — J oh. xiv. 18. Ofhreow hint 
 thcet astepede wif, miserabat eum orbatae 
 mulieris. OHG. stiuf, steof, step (-father, 
 -child, &c.) ; stiufan, orbare ; arstiufan, 
 viduare ; bestinftiii, orphani. — Graff. 
 
 The origin may perhaps be shown in 
 ON. sttifr, a stump, whence styfa, to cut 
 short ; styfdr, cropped, cut short. OSw. 
 stuf, stnbbe, a stump ; stubba, stufwa, to 
 cut short. 
 
 Stereo-. Gr. nrtpioQ, firm, solid ; as 
 in Stereotype (fixed type). Stereoscope, &c. 
 
 Sterile. Lat. sterilis. 
 
 Sterling'. Originally a name of the 
 English penny, the standard coin in 
 which it was commonly stipulated that 
 payment should be made ; it was sub- 
 sequently applied to the coinage of Eng- 
 land in general, and metaphorically came 
 to signify, of standard value, genuine, 
 sound. 
 
 ' Denarius Angliae qui vocatur Sterlin- 
 gusJ — Stat. Edw. I. in Due. ' Moneta 
 nostra, videlicet sterlingi, non deferatur 
 extra regnum.' — Stat. David H. Scot. ' In 
 this year (135 1) William Edginton — made 
 the kyng to make a new coyne — distroy- 
 ing alle the elde sterlynges which were of 
 gretter wight.' — Capgr. Chron. 214. 'In 
 centum marcis bonorum novorum et lega- 
 lium sterlingorum tredecim solid, et 4 
 sterling, pro qualibet marca computetis.' 
 —Chart. H. III. in Due. 
 
 The origin of the name is unknown. 
 Some suppose it to be from the coin 
 having had a star on the obverse, the ob- 
 jection to which is that there is no evi- 
 dence of any coin in which the star occu- 
 pied a place sufficiently marked to give a 
 name to the coin. There are indeed 
 pennies of King John on which there is a 
 star or sun in the hollow of a crescent 
 with other emblems, but it is a very in- 
 conspicuous object. Others suppose that 
 the name was given to coins struck at 
 Stirling in Scotland. But the hypothesis 
 most generally approved is that the coin 
 is named from the Easterlings or North 
 Germans, who were the first moneyers in 
 England. Walter de Pinchbeck, a monk 
 of Bury in the time of Ed. I., says, ' Sed 
 moneta Anglise fertur dicta fuisse a no- 
 minibus opificum, ut Floreni a nominibus 
 Florentiorum, ita Sterlingi a nominibus 
 Esterlingorum nomina sua contraxerunt, 
 qui hujusmodi monetam in Anglia pri- 
 mitus componebant.' The assertion how- 
 ever merits as little credit in the case of 
 the Sterling as of the Plorin. We do not 
 even know when the name originated. 
 
648 
 
 STEW 
 
 Ac wile Hunger was here mayster wolde non 
 
 chide, 
 Ne stryve agens the statute, he loked so sturne. 
 
 P. P. 
 ON. stiira, sorrow, disturbance ; sturinn, 
 N. stureHy sturali, sorrowful, cast down, 
 disturbed ; Du. stuer^ torvus, austerus, 
 ferox; stooren, to disturb, trouble; Sc. 
 stour, disturbance, battle, conflict. 
 
 2. Stern, the steerage or afterpart of a 
 ship. From ON. styra, to steer, direct, 
 rule ; styri, the rudder ; stiorn, govern- 
 ance, rule, rudder ; stjorna, to steer, to 
 govern. OHG. stiura, Du. stuur^ rudder. 
 Himself as skippare hynt the stere on hand. 
 
 D, V. 
 See Steer. 
 
 Stew. I. Sc. stew, vapour, smoke, 
 dust. 
 
 All thair flesche ofswait was wate, 
 
 And sic a stew raiss owt off thaim then, 
 
 Of aneding [aynding, breathing] bath of 
 
 horss and men 
 And off powdyr, that sic myrknes 
 Intill the ayr abowyne thaim wes. — Barbour. 
 
 Millstew, G. miihlstaub, the dust of a 
 mill. Stew, when the air is full of dust, 
 smoke, or steam. — Grose ; dust, pother, 
 disturbance, * What a stew you are 
 making.' Figuratively, a state of vexa- 
 tion and perplexity, ' I was in a fine stew.^ 
 — Mrs Baker. Goth, stubjus, Pl.D. stoff, 
 G. stattb, dust ; OHG. stoupon, turbare ; 
 stubbi, Bav. stubb, stupp, dust, powder. 
 
 It would seem that dust, smoke, vapour, 
 is originally conceived as the suffocating 
 agent, and is named from stopping the 
 breath, and, in the first instance, from 
 sticking or thrusting into. Thus we have 
 Lat. stipare, to cram, press, stuff; It. 
 stipare, stivare, to pack, ram in hard, to 
 stop chinks ; Du. stuwen, to ram, to 
 stow ; E. dial, stive, to push with poles, to 
 stuff, to choke. A road is said to be 
 stivven up when it is so full of snow as to 
 be impassable ; to be stived tip, to be 
 stifled up in a warm place ; stiving, close, 
 stifling. ' Sweep gently or you will stive 
 us.' i Hence stive, dust. — Mrs Baker. For 
 the identity of stive and stew, compare 
 skewer and skiver; E. dive and Du. 
 duwen, douwen. ' The room was so warm 
 I was quite stewed.' — Mrs B. Stives, 
 stews or brothels. — Hal. 
 
 A series of parallel forms without the 
 initial s is seen in Du. douwen, duwen, to 
 push, stick into ; It. tuffare, to dip, duck, 
 plunge in water, to smother ; Sp. tufo, 
 choking vapour, Lang, toufo, oppressive 
 heat ; tubos, fog, mist ; Gr. Tv<^oq, smoke, 
 mist, cloud j ON. dupt, dust ; Da. duft, 
 fragrance ; Grisons toffar, tuffar, to stink. 
 
 STICK 
 
 2. Stew, a place to keep fish in alive 
 for present use. * They take a milter out 
 of their steeves or pooles where they use 
 to keep them.'— Holland, Plinie in R. 
 Pl.D. stauen, to stop, to dam ; stau, a 
 dam ; Pol. stmu, a pond ; stawidlo, a 
 floodgate. 
 
 To Stew.— Stove.— Stews. It. stuva, 
 stufa, stua, Prov. estuba, ON. stofa, Sw. 
 stufwa, OHG. stupa, G. stube, Pl.D. stove ^ 
 stave, E. stove, a heated confined space, 
 heated room, hot-bath ; the notion of 
 heat being incidental merely, on the same 
 principle on which we speak of a room 
 being close when we mean that it is too 
 hot. Piedm, stua, a stove or hot closet, 
 also the wadding of a gun, what is ram- 
 med down to keep the powder tight. 
 Pl.D. veile stoven, venal chambers, a 
 bagnio or stews, a brothel. 
 
 From the noun is formed the verb Fr. 
 estuver, to stew, soak, bathe ; It. stufare, 
 stuvare, stuare, to bathe and sweat in a 
 stove or hothouse, to stew meat in a close 
 covered pot or pan — Fl. ; Sw. stufwa^ 
 Pl.D. staven, stoven, to stew. G. stauchen, 
 to jog, thrust, stick into, stop the flow of 
 water, is also used in the sense of stewing 
 meat ; to cram it into a confined space. 
 Stauchen einen, to poke one in the ribs ; 
 sich aufs bett hinstauchen, to lean on the 
 bed. — Schmeller. It. stufai^e, to glut or 
 satiate, is also from the original sense of 
 stuffing or thrusting into. 
 
 Steward, on. stivardr, the person 
 whose business it is to look to the daily 
 work of an establishment, from stjd, N. 
 sti, domestic occupation, especially the 
 foddering the cattle ; stia, to be busy 
 about the house, especially in taking care 
 of cattle, to bring the cattle to the house. 
 ON. stia, sheephouse. 
 
 To Stick. The radical image is a 
 shock or sharp blow, a thrust with a 
 pointed implement, which is driven into, 
 and remains fixed in, a solid obstacle. 
 Hence the idea of stoppage, cessation. 
 When the action is considered with re- 
 ference to the source from which it pro- 
 ceeds, rather than the end to which it is 
 directed, we are led to the notion of pro- 
 jection, of something sticking sharply out 
 of the surrounding surface. 
 
 The radical sense is seen in Pol. stuk, 
 noise made by striking with something 
 hard ; stukai, to make such a noise, to 
 knock ; Bret, stok, a knock or shock ; 
 steki, to knock; Sc. stock, to thrust. We 
 have then Du. steken, G. stecken, to stick 
 into, to put a ring on one's finger or 
 money into one's hand, to stick a sword 
 
STICKLER 
 
 in the sheath, to stab one with a sword, 
 to stick fast, to come to a stand. Im 
 kothe stecken, to stick in the mud. Die 
 sache steckt, the thing is stopped. Sich 
 stecken^ of water, to be stopped, to cease 
 to flow ; steckhusten, a choking cough. 
 In Scotland a stickit minister is one who 
 has failed to pass his examination. To 
 stick or steke, to stab, to stitch, to fix or 
 fasten, and thence to close, to shut. To 
 steek the door, to shut it. * He steeked his 
 eyne, his neive : ' shut his eyes, his fist. 
 To steek is also to stop, to choke. 
 
 And Bannokburn betwix the braes 
 
 Off men, off horss swa stekyt wais. — Barbour. 
 ON. stika, to dam. E. dial, stagged, stog- 
 ged, stuck in the mire. It. stuccare, to 
 stanch, stop or close up, to glut or cloy 
 (Fl.), also to stop masonry with a com- 
 position of lime, to parget. Da. stikke, to 
 prick, stick, stab, stitch. 
 
 Alongside the verb we have G. stock, 
 stecken, a staff or stick, an implement for 
 thrusting; It. stocco, a thrusting sword, 
 also a short truncheon or cudgel, stecco, 
 stecca, a stick, lath, splinter ; N. stikka, a 
 stick, pin, point, prick. 
 
 Stickler.— To Stickle. Sticklers were 
 persons appointed on behalf of each of 
 the parties in a combat to see that 
 their party had fair play, and to part 
 the combatants when occasion required. 
 Hence to stickle for, to maintain one's 
 rights to a thing. ' I styckyll between 
 wrastellers or any folkes that prove mas- 
 tries to se that none do other wronge, or 
 I part folke that be redy to fight : je me 
 mets entre deux.'— Palsgr. 'Advanced 
 in court, to try his fortune with your 
 prizer, so he have fair play shown him, 
 and the liberty to chuse his stickler'— V>. 
 Jon., Cinthia's Revels. . . 
 
 The proper reading of the word should 
 be stigh tiers, as signifying those who 
 have the arrangement or disposition of 
 the field, from AS. stihtian, OE. stiT^tle, to 
 govern or dispose. ' Thas the Willelm 
 v-eolde and stihte Englelond :' from the 
 time that \v. wielded and ruled E. 
 Tha5e he be a stum knape 
 
 To stiiiel and stad with stave, 
 Full well con dry3tyn schape 
 His servaunte? for to save. 
 Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight, 2136. 
 
 When Gawaine goes to keep his appoint- 
 ment with the green knight in the chapel 
 of the wood, he asks, Who sti^tles here ? 
 who rules, who is the master here ? 
 If we leven the layk of owre layth synnes, 
 And stylle steppen in the styse he styptics hym- 
 
 selven, 
 He will wende of his wodschip and his wrath leve: 
 
 STILL 
 
 649 
 
 if we step in the path he himself appoints. 
 — Morris, Alliterative Poems. 
 
 In accordance with the above the word 
 is written stiteler in the Coventry Mys- 
 teries, p. 23. 
 
 This is the watyre abowte the place, if any 
 dyche may be made, ther it schal be played : or 
 ellys that it be strongly barryd al abowte, and lete 
 nowth over many stiielerys be withinne the plase. 
 
 Stiff. G. steif, Dan. stiv. From the 
 same source with stab, staff, stub, Lat. 
 stipes, &c. ; what projects, stands abruptly 
 out, unbending, unyielding. Swiss staben, 
 gestaben, to be stiff with cold ; gestabet, 
 stiff; met. uncultivated; stabi, a clown. 
 P1.D. stdvig, stiff, staff-like. Lith. stipti, 
 to become stiff with cold, or in death ; 
 stiprus, strong. Let. staibus, strong, 
 brave. In like manner Esthon. kang, a 
 bar, lever, pole ; kange, hard, stiff, strong, 
 great. 
 
 The sense of stiffness may however be 
 attained from the notion of stuffing or 
 thrusting in. Gr. ffrai3ai, to stamp ; an- 
 (3ap6g, strong, stiff, thick ; OTv^iXSg, gtv^Xoq, 
 (TTv^poQ, oTvcpoQ, closc, soUd, ruggcd, harsh; 
 oTvu), to make stiff; an^poq, pressed close, 
 compact, solid, strong ; arlfpog, anything 
 pressed firm. Lat. stipare, to cram, stuff, 
 pack close ; It. stipare, stivare, to ram in 
 hard ; Du. stijven, to stiffen. Dat stijft 
 de beurs, that fills the purse. E. steeve, to 
 stow cotton by forcing it in with screws, 
 to stiffen, to dry.— Hal. Sc. stive, steeve, 
 firm, compact, trusty. 
 
 To Stifle. To stop the breath. ON. 
 stijla, to stop, to dam ; stifla, a stoppage, 
 as of the nose, of water. Fr. estouper, to 
 stop, to close ; estouffer, to stifle, smother, 
 choke. E. stuff, to ram, to thrust in. G. 
 stopfen, to stuff, to stop. Bret, stoufa^ 
 stouva, stefia, stevia, to cork, stop a bottle. 
 Gr. (rru^w, to draw together, to compress. 
 E. dial, stife, a suffocating vapour ; stify^ 
 stifling. 
 
 Stigma. — Stigmatise. Gr. ariyiJia, a 
 
 mark or brand, from ariZio, to prick in, to 
 
 brand ; oriy/ian'^w, to mark with ariynara. 
 
 -stil.— Still. Lat. stillare, to drop, fall 
 
 in drops ; as in Distil, Instil. 
 
 Stile. AS. stigel, gradus, scala, from 
 stigan, to climb, to mount. A stile is a 
 contrivance for stepping over a fence. 
 Pl.D. stegel, stiegsel, steps in a wall for 
 getting over ; Bav. stigel, a stile. 
 
 Stiletto. Lat. stylus, stilus, a bodkin 
 or pointed implement to write with ; It. 
 stile, a pricker, knitting needle, goad, in- 
 dex of a dial ; stiletto, a pocket dagger. 
 
 * Still, adj. and adv. Without move- 
 ment, and thence, without sound, or vice 
 
650 STILT 
 
 vers^. G. still siehett, to stand still ; still 
 schweigen, to be totally silent. By those 
 who regard the absence of movement as 
 the original idea, the word is connected 
 with G. stelle, place, standing-place. Das 
 pferd will nicht von der stelle, the horse 
 stands still, will not stir ; stellen, to place, 
 settle, order or regulate something. Der 
 bund stellet ein wild, the game stands 
 still before the dog ; Eine uhr stellen, to 
 set or regulate a clock ; steller, the regu- 
 lator; ON. stilla, to arrange, moderate, 
 direct, to tune an instrument, to stop a 
 horse. Da. stille, to place, set, station, to 
 set a watch, to level a gun, also to stop, 
 still, quell, appease ; stilles, to subside, 
 abate. Grimm supposes a primitive verb, 
 stillan, stall, stullun, to rest, whence OHG. 
 stil, quiet, still ; stilli, silence. Gr. oriXXw, 
 to set in order, arrange, dispatch. 
 
 On the other hand, the hushing of a 
 person to silence affords the most lively 
 image of calm and quiet, and a plausible 
 origin is suggested in the interj. of silence, 
 St ! Du. een stille geruisch, a soft noise. 
 Stil! seg ik. Peace ! I say. But this sug- 
 gestion again is opposed to forms like 
 Lith. tylus, quiet, still ; /////, to be silent ; 
 tildyti, to still, to quiet ; tyld, silence ; 
 Pol. tulie, uticlid, to calm, quiet, soothe. 
 
 Stilt. G. stelzen, Du. stilten, stilts ; 
 stilte, a wooden leg ; Bav. stelzen, a prop, 
 stilt ; stelzen, to prop, to go on stilts or on 
 wooden legs, to strut ; Sw. sttdta, to totter; 
 stylta, stilt, prop, stay, support. — Wide- 
 gren. Sc. stilt, to halt, limp, go on 
 crutches ; stilt of a plough, the plough- 
 handle. 
 
 The common element in the foregoing 
 significations seems to be the thrust ex- 
 erted through the stilt, crutch, or support, 
 and perhaps the type from which the de- 
 signation is originally taken may be the 
 abrupt exertion of the voice in impeded 
 speech, the broken efforts of the muscular 
 frame in staggering or stumbling being 
 constantly signified by the same terms 
 with the analogous exertions of the voice 
 in stuttering or stammering. Thus we 
 pass from E. stotter, stutter, to Sc. slot, 
 stoit, steet, stoiter, Yorkshire stauter, to 
 stagger, stumble, Sw. stota, to jolt, knock, 
 dash, thrust, G. stutzen, to knock or dash 
 against, to start, and from thence to Sc. 
 stut, steet, Du. stut, Sw. stotta, G. stiitze, 
 a prop or support. 
 
 Again, the broad sound of the a in 
 Yorkshire stauter corresponds to the 
 introduction of an / in Bav. stalzeln, to 
 stutter, from whence we pass as above to 
 G. stelze and E. stilt. The / is introduced 
 
 STINT 
 
 in a similar manner in Du. staipen (Kil.), 
 to stamp, compared with stappen, to step, 
 to stalk ; in G. stolpern, to stumble, com- 
 pared with Sw. stappla, to stammer, 
 stumble, and in E. stalk, compared with 
 OE. staker, to stutter, stagger, or Da. dial. 
 stagge, stagle, to stagger. 
 
 Stimulate. — Stimulus. Lat. stimu- 
 lus, a prick, goad. 
 
 Sting. ON. stangd, stinga. Da. stikke, 
 stinge, OHG. stungan, stingan, to butt, 
 stick, thrust, prick. A nasalised form of 
 the same root with stick. 
 
 Stingy. ' Pinching, sordid, narrow- 
 spirited. I doubt whether it be of ancient 
 use or original, and rather think it to be 
 a newly-coined word.' — Sir Thos. Brown. 
 It is explained in the New Diet, of the 
 terms ancient and modern of the Canting 
 Crew, by B. E. Gent (17 10), as ' covetous, 
 close-fisted, sneaking.' 
 
 The word is probably a corruption of 
 skijigy, used in Line, in the same sense, 
 also in Suffolk in that of cold, nipping. 
 To skiiich, to give scant measure, to nip 
 and squeeze, and pinch and pare. — Hal. 
 Schinch, a. small bit. 'Just give me a 
 schinch of your cake.' Schinching, nip- 
 ping, niggardly, parsimonious. — Mrs B. 
 Lincoln, kinch, a small bit ; OE. chinche, 
 Fr. chiche, pinching, niggardly, sparing ; 
 chic, a small piece. De chic a chic, from 
 little to little. — Cot. It. cica, any little 
 jot. 
 
 Stink. — Stench. OHG. stiftchan, to 
 smell sweet, or the converse. ' Er stinchet 
 suozo :' he smells sweet. AS. stenc, smell, 
 fragrance. ' Blostman j-/^;z^^j-.-' blossoms 
 of fragrance. Stencian, to scatter, sprinkle. 
 ON. stokkva, to spring or cause to spring, 
 to sprinkle. ' Blod stokk or nosunom : ' 
 blood sprang from his nose. Sw. stinka, 
 to spring ; stinkfidder, a steel spring ; 
 stinka, also to stink ; stdnka, to sprinkle. 
 N. stekka, to crack, to chip. 
 
 Smell seems to be considered as arising 
 from the exhalation of odoriferous par- 
 ticles sp7'inging from the odorous body 
 and spreading abroad in the air. 
 
 To Stint. To cut short, to stop. Styti- 
 tyn^ of werkynge or mevynge, pauso, de- 
 sisto. — Pr. Pm. ON. stiittr, short ; stytta, 
 to shorten ; stytta npp, to stop raining. 
 OSw. stunt, short; stunta, to shorten. G. 
 stutz, stutze, anything cropped or docked, 
 or short of its kind ; stutzen, to crop, dock, 
 curtail. 
 
 The radical meaning of stutz seems to 
 be a jog or sudden movement ; stutzen, to 
 butt at, to hit, to knock, to start ; aufden 
 stutz, on a sudden. From the notion of a 
 
STIPEND 
 
 jog we pass to that of a projection or 
 stump, then of something stumpy or short. 
 
 Stipend. Lat. stipendium, pay ; slips, 
 small money, contributions, alms. 
 
 Stipulate. Lat. stipulor, to covenant 
 or engage, probably from a straw {sti- 
 pula) being emblematically used in 
 making the engagement. 
 
 Stirrup. AS. stigerap, G. steigreif, a 
 rope or strap for mounting on horseback ; 
 stigaft, G. sieigen, to mount, and rap, rope, 
 G. reif, a ring or hoop, as well as cord or 
 rope. 
 
 Stitch. A modification of stick, signi- 
 fying a prick, a sharp pain. G. sticken, to 
 embroider. 
 
 Stithe. AS. stith, stithelic, hard, severe, 
 rigid; stithfei'hth, firm-minded. Appar- 
 ently connected with N. styd, a pole, prop, 
 support, on the same principle on which 
 stiff is connected with staff, or Fin. kan- 
 kia, rigid, with kanki, a stake or bar. Du. 
 stedigh, steegh, firm, fixed, steady, obsti- 
 nate, restive. 
 
 Stithy. ODu. stiete—YSi. ; ON. stediy 
 Sw. stdd, an anvil. 
 
 -stitute. See Statute. 
 
 Stoat. A stallion horse. — B.; also a 
 weasel, from a supposed analogy. Du. 
 stuyte, equus admissarius, vulgo stuotus. 
 — Kil. Dan. stodhingst, a stallion ; AS. 
 stodhors, stotarius . 
 
 Stock. The ultimate origin of the 
 word in a representation of the sound of 
 striking with something hard, by the 
 syllable stok, sttik, has been explained 
 under Stick. Hence arose a verb signify- 
 ing to thrust, stab, strike endways, drive 
 into, fasten ; and a noun signifying the 
 implement of thrusting or stabbing, for 
 which is required something long, straight, 
 and rigid, as a stick, the stem of a tree, 
 the part that shoots or thrusts upwards. 
 
 The course of development may be 
 traced through Bret, stok, jog, shock, 
 knock, blow ; Rouchi etoquer, to knock ; 
 Hereford stock, to peck ; Sc. stock, to 
 thrust ; Yorksh. stoche, to stab ; stoach, 
 stolch, to poach, tread into wet land as 
 cattle in winter ; Fr. estoquer, to thrust 
 or stab into ; Rouchi estoquer, to stick 
 into a soft material ; E. stoke, to poke the 
 fire ; G. stacker, a poker, picker ; Rouchi 
 stiquer, to poke, to stick. / stique toudi 
 ate feu: he is always poking the fire. We 
 have then Fr. estoc, a thrust or thrusting 
 sword, the stock of a tree ; It. stoccata, a 
 thrust in fencing ; G. stock, a stick, staff, 
 stem of a plant or tree, stump of a felled 
 tree, a short thick piece or block ; alino- 
 senstock, a trunk in churches in which 
 
 STOLE 
 
 6ST 
 
 alms were put. From this last must be 
 explained the Stocks or public funds, re- 
 ceptacles opened by the state authorities, 
 into which the contributions of the public 
 might be poured as into the charity trunk 
 in churches. Stocks or gilliflowers are to 
 be explained by Du. stock-violiere, leu- 
 coion, viola lutea et muraria, q. d. viola 
 lignescens sive in baculum crescens — 
 Kil., stem- or stalk- violets {violet being 
 taken as the type of a sweet-smelling 
 plant), as contrasted with the humble 
 growth of the true violet. The stockdove 
 is the wild kind, the stock or stem from 
 whence the tame pigeon is supposed to be 
 derived. In the same way, Sc. stockduck, 
 G. stockeiite, wild duck ; stockerbse, wild 
 peas. 
 
 The stocks is a wooden frame in which 
 a prisoner is stocked or set fast. 
 
 Rather die I would, and determine 
 As thinketh me now, stocked in prisoiin. 
 
 Chaucer. 
 
 Sw. stockhus, prison ; G. stocketi, to stick, 
 stagnate, stop. Das blut, die vi\Ach.stockt : 
 curdles, congeals. Gael, stocaich, grow 
 stiff or numb ; Lincoln, stockeiied, stopped 
 in growth. Rouchi etoquer, to choke. A 
 ship is stoaked when the water cannot 
 come to the pump. — B. 
 
 Stocking-. The clothing of the legs 
 and lower part of the body formerly con- 
 sisted of a single garment, called hose, 
 in Fr. chausses. It was afterwards cut in 
 two at the knees, leaving two pieces of 
 dress, viz. : knee-breeches, or, as they 
 were then called, upperstocks, or in Fr. 
 haut de chausses, and the netherstocks or 
 stockings, in Fr. bas de chausses, and then 
 simply bas. In these terms the element 
 stock is to be understood in the sense of 
 stump or trunk, the part of a body left 
 when the limbs are cut off. In the same 
 way G. strumpf, a stocking, properly sig- 
 nifies a stump. ' Mit strunip und wurzel :' 
 with stump and root. Strtimp, strutnp- 
 fung, a short length cut off a strip of 
 land. — Sanders. An r is inserted or left 
 out in many of these forms without 
 change of meaning, as in the foregoing 
 strump and E. sttimpj Pl.D. strumpeln 
 and the synonymous E. stumble; Du. 
 strobbe, a shrub or bush, and E. stub; the 
 Pl.D. dim. struddik and E. stud, G. staude, 
 a shrub ; G. strampfen and E. stainp. 
 
 Stoic. Gr. oToa, a portico ; (TrwV/cof, of 
 a portico, whence a Stoic, a follower of 
 Zeno the philosopher, who taught in the 
 portico called Psecile at Athens. 
 
 Stole. Lat. stola, from Gr. trroXi/, a 
 robe. 
 
652 
 
 STOLID 
 
 Stolid. Lat. stolidus, dull, foolish. 
 
 Stoiuach. Gr. arofxa, mouth ; aro/iayof 
 (properly mouth, opening), the throat or 
 gullet, the orifice of the stomach, neck of 
 the bladder, stomach itself. 
 
 Stone. AS. Stan, ON. sten, G. stein. 
 
 Stook. A shock of corn of 12 sheaves. 
 FromG. stauchen^io jog, is formed stanch, 
 Pl.D. stuke (properly a projection), a 
 heap or bunch. Stauchen einen, to poke 
 one in the ribs. Ein stanch flachs, a 
 bundle of flax ; ene stnken tor/, a. heap of 
 turfs set out to dry. Rouchi stoc, estogne, 
 a shock or stook. Bohem. stoh, a heap, 
 a hay-cock. 
 
 Stool. I. Goth, stols, OHG. stnol, Gael. 
 stot, w. ystol, a stool, seat. OHG. stuol, 
 stol, also a support ; G. stollen, a prop, 
 foot, post ; Pl.D. stale, foot of a table, &c. ; 
 Du. voetstal, It. piedestale, a pedestal. 
 Pvuss. stul, a stool, a block ; Lith. stalas, 
 Pol. stol, a table. Pol. stolek, Boh. stolec, 
 a seat, throne, bench ; Serv. stola, seat, 
 throne, table. See Stall. 
 
 2. Stool, a cluster of stems rising from 
 one root ; to stool, to ramify as corn. An 
 old stool is a stump that sends up fresh 
 suckers. Manx sthol, sprout or branch 
 forth, grow in many stalks from one root. 
 Lat. stolo, -nis, a shoot, sucker. 
 
 Stoop. A drinking vessel. See Stoup. 
 
 To Stoop. See To Steep. 
 
 To Stop, The radical idea is stabbing, 
 striking endways, thrusting a lengthened 
 implement into an orifice which it fills up, 
 or into the substance of a body in which 
 it sticks fast. N. stappa, to stamp, pound, 
 stuff, cram ; stappa, cramfull ; Sc. stap, 
 to stuff, to obstruct or stop. ' The meal- 
 kist was bienly stappit.^ Stapalis, fasten- 
 ings ; stappil, a stopper ; Du. stoppett, to 
 stuff, to bring to a stand ; G. stopfen, to 
 stuff, cram, close a hole ; Fr. estouper, to 
 stop, close, shut ; estonpillon, a stopper ; 
 esioupe, tow, the material for stopping or 
 stuffing, showing the origin of Lat. stupa, 
 Gr. arvirri, Du. stoppe, stopsel, tow. Mod. 
 Gr. arvfoj, to squeeze ; (xrvxpig, astringency, 
 alum ; aTvirrtjpi, a press ; (ttovttovu), to 
 stop up; aroviri, tow ; aTovfiirovio, to pound, 
 force in or fix. 
 
 Store. Fr. estorer, to erect, build, store, 
 garnish, furnish. — Cot. Estor, marriage 
 provision ; estorement, provisions, furni- 
 ture ; Norm, itorer, to provide. There' 
 is no doubt that it is the same word with 
 Lat. instaurare, to repair, renew, provide, 
 by which it is rendered in Mid. Lat. : ' Et 
 reddat haeredi cum ad plenam aetatem 
 venerit terram suam totam instauratam 
 de carucis et omnibus aliis rebus : ' pro- 
 
 STOUND 
 
 vided or stored with. — Magna Charta. 
 It may be doubted however whether the 
 word is not immediately derived from a 
 Teutonic source. ON. stanrr, Sw. stor, a 
 stake, pole, pillar ; OHG. stinra, a stake, 
 pole, prop, and thence aid, assistance, 
 contribution. Baustenr, brandstenr, con- 
 tribution towards building a house, to- 
 wards loss by fire; ivegstenr, viaticum, 
 provision fora journey.— Schmeller. OHG. 
 heristiura, expeditio, may be compared 
 with OFr. estoree, fleet, naval expedition; 
 G. aussteuer, marriage portion, with Fr. 
 estor above-mentioned. On the same 
 principle may be explained Lat. instauro, 
 from Gr. OTavpog, a stake. 
 
 Stork. A bird remarkable for its 
 stalking gait and long legs. Dan. storken 
 stalker i mose : the stork stalks in the 
 fen. N.Fris. stanrke, to strut ; Dorset. 
 stark, to walk slowly ; Bav. stdrkeln, to 
 stalk, walk with long legs ; storkel, man 
 with long legs or long thin body ; a fish- 
 ing rod ; sterken, a stalk. ' Der truncken 
 starckelt auf den fiissen : ebrius titubat 
 pedibus.' — Gl. in Schm. The ultimate 
 origin is seen in Bret, strak, a crack ; 
 strakla, to crackle ; whence we pass to E. 
 strike, on the one side, and G. strancheln^ 
 Du. struikelen, to stumble, stagger, on 
 the other, and thence by inversion of the 
 r to the foregoing forms. See Stalk. 
 
 Storm. Du. storm, rumor, strepitus, 
 tumultus vehemens; impetus, procella, 
 nimbus ; stormen, tumultuare, strepere, 
 oppugnare, impetum facere. It. stormo, 
 a storm, a rumbling noise, a blustering 
 uproar, a confused rout or crue. — Fl, 
 Stormare, to storm, rumble, rumour, 
 noise, to troop together tumultuously, to 
 make an uproar. 
 
 Story. I. Fr. histoire, Lat. historia, a 
 relation. 
 
 2. The height of one floor in a building. 
 Probably from Fr. estorer, to construct, 
 build, although I cannot find that estoree 
 was used in the sense of E. story. 
 Hii bygonne her heye tounes strengthy vaste 
 
 aboute, 
 Her castles and storys that hii myjt be ynne in 
 doute.— R. G. p. 181. 
 
 Stound. Hour, time, season, also mis- 
 fortune. — B. Properly a blow. AS. stu- 
 nian, to dash, strike. 
 
 So tyl hys hart sioundis the pryk of deith. — D. V. 
 Sc. stoutid (a stab), a sharp pain affecting 
 one at intervals. 
 
 When I was hurte thus, in stounde [at the mo- 
 ment] 
 I fell doune plat upon the grounde.---R. R. 1733. 
 
 OHG. stunt^ a moment ; Du. terstond, im- 
 
STOUP 
 
 mediately, upon the spot. Pl.D. iipstiind^ 
 at present. OE. stonndmele, at intervals, 
 from one moment to another. In G. stund, 
 an hour, the word has acquired the sense 
 of a definite interval of time. 
 
 Stoup. AS. stoppa, Du. stoop, N. staup, 
 a flagon or drinking vessel. N. staup 
 also, as well as stava, Sw. stdfwa, is a 
 milking-pail or wooden vessel with one 
 stave prolonged in order to form the 
 handle, a peculiarity from which the 
 vessel probably takes its name. NE. stap, 
 staup, the stave of a tub. — Hal. In the 
 same way stouk, the handle of a pail, also 
 a drinking-cup with a handle. — Hal. 
 Suffolk stawk, the handle of a whip. 
 
 Stout. OFr. estout, Du. stout, bold, 
 proud ; stouthertigh, stout-hearted ; G. 
 stolz, proud, stately, fine. 
 
 Stove. See Stew. 
 
 To Stow. I. Da. stuve, Du. stouiven, 
 siuweu, G. stauen, stauchen, to push, to 
 stow or thrust wares together in packing. 
 Gr. <TTei(3tiv, to stamp, tread, stamp tight ; 
 Lat. sttpare, to pack together, cram, stuff, 
 make close ; It. stipare, stivare, to stop 
 chinks, to store or pile up close as they 
 do packs in ships ; Mod. Gr. 0Tt/3a, heap- 
 ing together ; ari^a tov Kapa^iov, the stow- 
 ing of a ship ; (xn/SaJai, to heap together, 
 stow, pack. 
 
 2. To lop or top trees. Stowd, cropt, 
 as a horse's ears ; stowings, loppings ; 
 stowlin, a lump of meat. The meaning 
 is, to reduce to a stump, on. stufr, a 
 stump ; Sw. stjif, Pl.D. stuw (Danneil), 
 a remnant. ON. stufa, a female slave 
 whose ears have been stowd or cropt for 
 theft ; Pl.D. stuf, blunt, stumpy, cut 
 short ; borne stuven, to lop or cut off the 
 head of trees. 
 
 As the verb to stow, to thrust or pack 
 tight, is a variety of stab, stop, stamp, so 
 stuf, stuw, above-mentioned, are modifi- 
 cations of stub, stump. 
 
 To Straddle.— Stride. Pl.D. striden, 
 strien, Du. strijden, G. streiten, on. strida. 
 Da. stride, to contend, oppose, struggle 
 with. Pl.D. striden is also to stride ; be- 
 striden, to bestride ; strede, AS. strcede, a 
 stride ; Pl.D. striedschoe, G. schrittschuh, 
 schlittschuh, skates. 
 
 There seems so little connection be- 
 tween the two senses of Pl.D. striden, and 
 the interchange oi scr and str is so easy 
 (e. scraggle, straggle, scruggle, struggle; 
 It. scrosciare, strosciard; to crack, clatter ; 
 E. scrub, Du. strobbe, shrub), that we are 
 inclined to regard E. stride as a corruption 
 of the form still retained in Somerset, 
 scride, and in Du. schrijden, G. schreiten, 
 
 STRADDLE 
 
 6S3 
 
 to stride, straddle, deriving it with Dief- 
 enbach from Goth, skreitan, to tear, 
 OSax. scritan, scindere, lacerare; from 
 the notion of separating the legs. This 
 view is strengthened by the double form 
 adduced by Kil., schrijden and scherden, 
 schrijdbeenen, scherdebeenen, to straddle ; 
 schrijdlinck, scherdelinck {Q.schrittlings), 
 straddling, astride ; schrede, scherde, a 
 stride, as if from schaerde, a gap, breach, 
 opening. E. share, the fork or division 
 between the legs. But this appearance is 
 probably deceptive, as G. schritt, a step, 
 can hardly be distinct from Sw. skridfj 
 pace, rate of going. Da. skridt, pace, step, 
 from on. skrida, Sw. skrida. Da. skride, 
 to slide, glide, advance, OHG. skritan, 
 gaskritan, labi, delabi, collabi, significa- 
 tions which appear to belong to a radical 
 image of a totally different nature. 
 
 It appears to me that the word straddle 
 (with its derivative stride) is a kindred 
 form with scrabble, scraggle, straggle, 
 struggle, representing, in the first instance, 
 confused noise, then signifying tumultuous 
 movement, throwing about the arms and 
 legs, thrusting in different directions, 
 standing on end, contending with, spread- 
 ing out the legs in the exertion of force. 
 The development of these significations 
 may be traced through Lat. stridere, to 
 hum, whizz, creak, &c., G. strudeln, to 
 move tumultuously like gushing water ; 
 Bav. strodeln, OHG. stredan, to boil ; AS. 
 stredan, to sprinkle, scatter ; Bav. stro- 
 deln, also to kick or struggle. The 
 infant strodelt himself out of his swad- 
 dlings ; the child strodelt off the bed- 
 clothes. Da. dial, sti'utte, to stand on 
 end, stick out, like the staring coat of 
 a horse ; Pl.D. struit, Da. strid, stiff, 
 rough, hard ; Bav. strut, Pl.D. strudden, 
 struddik, a bush or shrub, a growth con- 
 sisting of stems striking out in all direc- 
 tions. N. strat, a stalk, stump of small 
 trees or bushes, obstinate person ; stratta, 
 stritta, Sw. j^r^/c?, to resist, oppose ; streta 
 emot strommen, to swim against the 
 stream. Bav. verstreten, Devonsh. to 
 strat, to stop, hinder. Da. dial, strede, to 
 set the feet apart for the purpose of re- 
 sistance. At strede med benene. Stred, 
 Sw. streta, a shore, support, strut. At 
 staae til stred, to stand leaning against ; 
 stredfast, firm, solid. Pl.D. sti'idde, a 
 trivet ; Da. stritte, to straddle. 
 
 A closely similar series of forms may 
 be traced in which the d of straddle is ex- 
 changed for b, 11, or f. OHG. stropalon, 
 crepitare, strepitum edere ; Bav. strabeln, 
 strapeln, to scrabble, struggle, sprawl} 
 
654 
 
 STRAGGLE 
 
 STRAW 
 
 strobeln, strauben, to stand on end ; stro- 
 belkopf^ a person with tangled staring hair; 
 Du. strobbe^ strubbe, a bush, shrub ; Bav. 
 straub, Pl.D. struuf^ bristUng, rough, up- 
 staring ; strnben^ striiven^ to stand on 
 end, to set oneself against, to oppose ; G. 
 sich straiiben^ to resist, make head against; 
 Pl.D. streven, to set oneself against, to 
 strive, also to stride, to make wide steps ; 
 streefy what resists, strong, stiff ; streve, a 
 slanting support, also a stride ; to streve 
 staan (as Da. at staae til stred), to sup- 
 port, to thrust in opposite directions with 
 hands and feet. Sik to streve setten, to 
 struggle against. Streveledder^ a step- 
 ladder, a ladder with a straddling sup- 
 port. 
 
 Fr. escarqtiiller, to straddle, seems iden- 
 tical with E. scraggle, with inversion of 
 the liquid and vowel, as in Du. schrede, 
 scherde. Lang, esparpalia, to straddle. 
 
 To Straggle. To move irregularly, in 
 varying directions, to separate from the 
 regular line of march. From the figure 
 of a broken rattling noise. Bret, straka, 
 strakla, to crackle ; strakel, stragel^ a 
 clapper of a mill, rattle to frighten birds. 
 A similar relation seems to hold good be- 
 tween Sw. skrainla, to rattle, clash, and E. 
 scramble, to get on by broken efforts, to 
 move irregularly, confusedly. See Strug- 
 gle. 
 
 Straight. G., ODu. strack, straight ; 
 st racks yStracksweghs, straight ways, direct- 
 ly, at once. — Kil. Bav. strack, gestrakt, 
 outstretched, direct, immediate. ' Stracks, 
 recto modo, sine medio ; strackait, recti- 
 tudo.' — Gl. in Schm. G. strecken, to 
 stretch. See Stretch. 
 
 Strain. Breed, race, hereditary dis- 
 position, inborn character, turn, tendency, 
 manner of speech or action, style or air 
 of music. In Scotch the word strynd or 
 strain is met. used for the resemblance of 
 the features of the body. As we say, ' he 
 has a strynd or strain of his grandfather,' 
 i.e. resembles him, — Rudd. in Jam. 
 
 AS. streonan, strynan, to acquire, get, 
 beget, procreate ; strynd, stock, race, ge- 
 neration. E. dial, strene, shoot of a tree ; 
 strene, strinde, progeny, child. — Hal. 
 
 To Strain. Fr. esiraindre, estreindre, 
 from Lat. stringere, to squeeze, wring, 
 strain. 
 
 Strait. OFr. estroit, Bret, striz, It. 
 stretto, strait, narrow. Lat. stringere, 
 strictum, to strain. 
 
 Stram. we. strain, a loud sudden 
 noise ; to beat, to dash down ; strambattg, 
 violently ; strainmer, a great falsehood ; 
 stramming, huge, great. Pl.D. strajwn, 
 
 
 G. straff, tight, stretched. Violence 
 action is expressed by reference to the 
 noise which accompanies it. See Strap- 
 ping. 
 
 Strand, i. on. str'dnd, border, edge, 
 coast, shore ; N . strind, a row, stripe, 
 line ; Sw. rand, border, margin, stripe, 
 edge. 
 
 2. OHG. streno, G. strdhn, strange, 
 strdhe, the strand of a rope, one of the 
 strings of which it is twisted, a skein, 
 tress. 
 
 Strange. OFr. estrange. It. strano, 
 Lat. extraneus, from extra, without. 
 
 Strangle. — Strangury. Gr. <rrpa yyw, 
 Lat. stringo, to strain, squeeze, draw tight ; 
 Gr. aTpayyaXi], a halter ; orpayyaXt^w, Lat. 
 strangido, to strangle. 
 
 Again, from the same root, (rrpay^, what 
 is squeezed out, a drop ; arpayyovpia (pvpop, 
 urine), suppression of urine. 
 
 Strap. Du. strop, a noose, knot, rope, 
 halter ; Sw. stropp, tie, fastening, strap ; 
 Bav. strupfen, a strap, noose ; einstrup- 
 fen, to draw together, to shrink. ' Strop- 
 fen, strangulare.' — Gl. in Schm. Lat. 
 struppus, a thong, tie. It. stroppo, a 
 withy, osier to bind faggots. Bret, stroba, 
 to tie or join several things together, to 
 envelop, surround ; strob, whatever serves 
 to envelop, surround, or tie together ; 
 strobinel, a whirlwind, whirlpool. Gr. 
 (Trp6(3oQ, a whirling round, a cord, rope ; 
 (7Tp6(poQ, a twisted band, cord, rope ; 
 arpofSsu), (Trpo(})su), to spin, whirl round. 
 
 Strapping. Huge, lusty, bouncing. — 
 B. The idea of large size is expressed by 
 the figure of violent action, such as is 
 accompanied by noise. Thus a large 
 object of its kind is called bouncing or 
 thumping, whacking, strapping, the last 
 of which is to be explained by Bret, strap, 
 clash, racket, noise, disorder; strapa, to 
 make a noise. It. sti'appare, to tear away 
 with violence, to break or snap asunder. 
 — Fl. We speak of a tearing passion, a 
 tearing, slapping, strapping pace. 
 
 Stratagem. Gr. arpuTnybq, a general, 
 from arparbq, an army, and ayw, to lead. 
 Hence rrTpaTrjytoj, to act as general, and 
 oTpaTTjyrina, a piece of generalship. 
 
 Stratify. — Stratum, Lat. sterno, stra- 
 tum, to strew, spread over ; stratum, what 
 is strewed, a layer, bed. 
 
 Straw. AS. streow, streaiv, stre, G, 
 stroh, Du. stroo, oi^. strd, G. streu, streu- 
 stroh, straw, litter, what is strewed to lie 
 on. Heht he him streowne gegarwian, he 
 ordered to prepare a bed for him. So 
 Lat. strametitiim, . what is strewed or 
 
STRAY 
 
 spread under anything, straw, from ster- 
 iiere, stratum, to strew. 
 
 Stray. A beast taken wandering from 
 its pasture. — B. Mid.Lat. extrarius, OFr. 
 estrayer, estrajer, a stranger, foreign mer- 
 chant ; a stray or beast that has lost its 
 master. — Cot. Estrayet'e, estrahere, estra- 
 jere, goods left by a stranger dying with- 
 out heirs in a foreign country, which were 
 forfeited to the Lord. ' Si catallum estra- 
 iers inveniatur in teneamento ecclesiae 
 Cameracencis.' — A.D. 1302. ' Justitia 
 spaviae, quod Gallice dicitur estrahere.' — 
 A.D. 1348. The word seems directly 
 formed from Lat. extra without the aid of 
 a second element, and in like manner 
 seems to be formed the verb : OFr. estreer 
 son fief, to abandon his fief; Pro v. estra- 
 gtiar, esiracar, to exceed, go out of bounds. 
 Dos estraguat, an extravagant gift ; Jor- 
 nada estracada, an excessive day's jour- 
 ney. 
 
 Streak. Pl.D. streke, Da. streg, a 
 streak, stroke, stripe, dash, line, trick. 
 See Strike. 
 
 Stream, on. stratunr, Du. stroom, G. 
 strom, Pol. stru7nien, a stream. Jr. 
 sreanih, a stream, a spring ; sreamhaim, 
 to flow. Sanscr. sru, to flow. 
 
 Street. Du. straete, G. strasse. It. 
 strada, Lat. strata, via strata, a paved 
 way, then the street of a town. 
 
 Stress. Pressure, compulsion. ' I 
 stresse, I strayght one of his liberty, or 
 thrust his body together ; je estroysse. 
 The man is stressyd to sore, he can nat 
 styrre him : I'homme est trop estroyss^.' — 
 Palsgr. OFr. estroissir, Fr. ^trecir, to 
 straiten, as if from a form strictiare, from 
 strictus, tight, compressed. See Strait. 
 
 To Stretch. OHG. strac, strah, rectus, 
 rigidus, strictus ; stracchen, to be tight, 
 stiff; stracchian, strecchan, AS. streccaii, 
 Du. reckeii, strecken, to make tight, to 
 stretch ; AS. strac, strec, rigid, violent. 
 Strec man, a powerful man. Strece 
 nimath, violent! rapiunt. — Matt. xi. 12. 
 The ultimate origin may be found in Bret. 
 strak, crack, loud noise, the accompani- 
 ment of violent action, whence the term 
 is applied to the state of tension into 
 which a structure is thrown when made 
 the instrument of forcible exertion. See 
 Stram. 
 
 To Strew. Goth, straujan, OHG. streu- 
 uan, stroiiwen, strawen, straian, A?,.streo- 
 ivian, ON. strd, Lat. sternere, stravi, stra- 
 tum, to strew ; stramen, what is strewed, 
 straw. Sanscr. stri, to strew, to spread ; 
 AS. stredan, stregan, to sprinkle, scatter. 
 Swab, stritzen, Serv. strtzati, to sprinkle. 
 
 STRIKE 655 
 
 Strict, -strict. Lat. stringo, strictuj^y 
 to tie, or draw tight. District, Restrict. 
 See -strain. 
 
 Stride. Pl.D. strident, strien, to con- 
 tend, to stride ; bestriden, to bestride ; 
 stride, as. strcede, a stride. It is to be 
 observed that Pl.D. streven is used in the 
 same two senses, to strive and to stride. 
 See Straddle. 
 
 Strife.— To Strive. OFr. estrif, strife, 
 contention ; estriver, to contend ; Bret. 
 str'if, st?'iv, quarrel, eflbrt ; striva, to 
 quarrel, to strive or endeavour, ON. strida^ 
 to contend, fight with, molest ; strid, con- 
 test, war ; stridr, rough, contrary, stub- 
 born, hard, severe, violent. G. streben, to 
 strive, make efforts, exert force against; 
 strebepfahl, a buttress, shorepost, prop. 
 Pl.D. streven, to exert force, to resist, 
 also to stride. 
 
 The radical image seems to be the 
 throwing out the limbs or other means of 
 resistance in the act of opposition, the 
 bristling up of an angry dog or other ani- 
 mal. G. straubeii, to stand on end as 
 feathers or hair, to stare up, bristle ; sich 
 straiiben, to resist, oppose, or make head 
 against, to go against the grain. Es 
 straiibet sich, it goes against the grain. 
 Das straiiben, standing on end, resisting, 
 opposing. Pl.D. struuf, rough, bristling; 
 sik strilven, striiben, to bristle up, to set 
 oneself against, to resist, to strut. See 
 Straddle. 
 
 To Strike. — Stroke. A loud sharp 
 sound such as that of a hard blow is re- 
 presented by two parallel forms, strac and 
 strap, the first of which is shown in Bret. 
 strak, crack, explosive noise ; straka, to 
 crack, to burst ; Gael. strd,c, a loud or 
 crashing sound, a blow or stroke, and as 
 a verb, strike, beat 5 E. stroke; G. streich, 
 Du. streke, on. strik, stryk, a stroke, 
 blow, lash, as well as a streak or line, the 
 course of a blow. Milan, strdcc, blows. 
 We have then the verbs, G. streichen, Du. 
 strijken, to take the course of a stroke, to 
 sweep or move rapidly along a surface, to 
 graze or touch lightly; Pl.D. striken, to 
 sweep, move rapidly over a surface, to 
 iron linen, sharpen a tool, to stroke or 
 flatter ; straken, strakeln, G. streichen, 
 streicheln, to stroke. Dieflagge, die segel 
 streichen, to let the sails sweep or slip 
 down, to strike sail. 
 
 The radical syllable is applied to the 
 sound of tearing in Gael, srac, tear, rend, 
 rob, spoil ; It. stracciare, to tear. 
 
 The parallel root strcip is seen in Bret. 
 strap, fracas, crash} Lat. strepere, to 
 make a noise ; It. strappare, to tear, snap 
 
656 STRING 
 
 asunder ; E. strappings thumping, large. 
 See Strip. 
 
 String. — Strong, as. sireng, on. 
 strengr^ G. strangy Gael, sreang^ a string, 
 cord, rope ; It. stringa^ a lace, tie ; Du. 
 strengy a strand, twist, hank, skein, traces; 
 G. strtck, a noose, snare, cord, traces ; Du. 
 striky a noose, knot. String seems to be 
 originally conceived as the implement of 
 compression. Gr. (rrpayyw, Lat. stringo, 
 strictum, to draw tight, compress, squeeze. 
 
 To the same root belong AS. strange 
 strejig, ON. strangr, Du. streng, strong, 
 rough, rigid, severe, tight, strict. 
 
 Strip. — Stripe. We have seen under 
 Strike that the parallel roots strak, strap, 
 are used to represent various loud noises 
 such as those of a blow, a rent, &c. In 
 the former of these applications we have 
 Pl.D. stripps', blows ; strippsett, to beat, 
 to flog — Danneil ; Du. strippen, to basti- 
 nado; E. stripe, a lash or stroke, and 
 thence the mark of a lash, a streak or 
 long narrow line ; V\.T>. stripe, Du. strepe, 
 strijpe, G. streif, a stripe or line, a strip or 
 long narrow portion. Swiss strdpfebt, to 
 stroke. 
 
 From the application to the sound of 
 tearing. It. strappare, to break or snap 
 asunder, to pluck or tear away with 
 violence— Fl. ; Swiss strapen, strap/en, 
 Bav. strauffen, strupfen, Du. stroopen, to 
 strip or pull off, especially something that 
 comes off in a continuous line. A strip 
 is a narrow slip such as is stripped off at 
 a blow. 
 
 A stripling seems to signify stripe- 
 shaped, a tall thin young person, as N. 
 strik, a stripe or streak, also a tall slim 
 youth. 
 
 To Strive. See Strife. 
 
 Stroke. See Strike. 
 
 To Stroll. Swiss strielen, strolen, 
 strolchen, to rove about ; strolchvolk, beg- 
 gars. Lang, estralia, to wander about. 
 * Knowing that rest, quiet, and sleep, with 
 lesser meat, will sooner feed any creature 
 than your meat with liberty to run and 
 stroyle about.' — Blith's Husbandry, 1652. 
 Da. dial, strelle, to stroll ; gadestrelP, a 
 street-walker. 
 
 The term seems to be a met. from the 
 flow of water, as we speak of people 
 streaming about, wandering about with- 
 out definite aim. The sound of milking 
 is represented in Pl.D. by the syllables 
 stripp-strapp-strull (Danneil), whence 
 strull, a thin stream of liquid ; strullen, 
 to stream out as the milk from a cow's 
 udder ; strull-becken, a chamber-pot ; 
 Du. strullen^ struylen, streylen, to urine — 
 
 STRUT 
 
 I 
 
 Kil. ; G. strahl, a ray, a spirt of water ; 
 luasserstrahl, a waterspout ; Bav. stralen^ 
 straiten, to urine ; strdlen, to stroll ; Swab. 
 strollen, a gush oif water, struolen, strielen, 
 to stroll. 
 
 Structure, -struct. Lat. struo, struc- 
 tum, to build, erect. As in Construct, De- 
 struction, Instruct. 
 
 Struggle. — Scruggle. Words of analo- 
 gous formation and signification with 
 straggle, scraggle, representing in the first 
 instance a broken sound, then applied to 
 broken confused movement. ' I strogell^ 
 I murmur with words secretly. He strog- 
 gleth at everything I do : il grommelle a 
 tout ce que je fays. I scruggel with one 
 to get from him. I scruggel with him : 
 je me estrive a luy. I sprawle with my 
 legs, struggell' — Palsgr. Scriggley scrug- 
 gle, to writhe or struggle. — Forby. Scrig- 
 gins, scrogglings, the straggling apples 
 left on a tree when the crop has been 
 gathered. Du. struikelen, Pl.D. striikeln, 
 G. straucheln, to stumble. 
 
 To Strum. To play badly on a string- 
 ed instrument. Properly to thump, to 
 make a noise. G. stratnpfen, strampeln, 
 to stamp or make a clattering motion with 
 one's feet. — K. OHG. strojim, strum, stre- 
 pitus. Piedm. strun, resonance, ringing ; 
 struni, perstrepere, reboare, resonare. So 
 Boh. ssumeti, to hum, make a noise ; 
 ssumar, a strummer or bad player on the 
 fiddle; ssuma7'iti, to strum. It. stri7n- 
 pellare, to scrape, play badly on an in- 
 strument. 
 
 Strumpet. OFr. strupre, stupre, Lat. 
 stuprum, concubinage. Ir. striopachas, 
 fornication ; striobuid, a prostitute. 
 
 To Strut. I. To project, to swell one- 
 self out, to walk in an ostentatious man- 
 ner. ' Their bellies standing astrutte 
 with stuffing.' — Sir T. More. G. strotzen, 
 to be swollen or puffed out, to strut, Ein 
 gestrotzt voiles enter, an udder distended 
 with milk. Sie strotzt einher, she struts 
 along, she flaunts it. So in vulgar lan- 
 guage a swell is one who makes a show 
 in dress. Da. strude, strutte, to stick out; 
 strudbuget, pot-bellied ; strud, extremity, 
 end. Pl.D. strutt. Da. strid, rigid, stiff, 
 sticking out ; Bav. strut, bush, shrub, a 
 growth of stems sticking out in all di- 
 rections. 
 
 The sense of sticking out seems to 
 come from the image of kicking, throwing 
 out the limbs, and the word to belong to 
 the class indicated under Straddle. 
 
 Strut. 2. In architecture a piece of 
 timber set slanting as a support to a 
 beam. Sw. streta, a support, strut, stan- 
 
STUB 
 
 chion; streta, to resist, struggle, strive 
 against ; Da. dial, stred, a strut ; at strede 
 med befiene, stritte imod, to set the legs 
 apart in resistance, to struggle against ; 
 stredig, firm, stiff. G. streiten, to contend, 
 struggle with, to oppose or be contrary to. 
 See Straddle. 
 
 Stub. — Stump. Two forms diftering 
 only in the nasal pronunciation of the 
 latter, both signifying a short projecting 
 end. Du. stobbe^ Pl.D. stubbe,sX.\xxi\'^ of a 
 tree ; Da. stub, stump, stubble ; Gael. 
 stob, stump, stake, prickle, thorn ; Du. 
 sto/npe, Pl.D. stump, stumpel, stu?nmel, a 
 stump, end from which something has 
 been cut off. 
 
 The radical image is a sharp abrupt 
 thrust, a conception represented in E, by 
 slightly varying forms, dab, job, stab, and 
 by Gael, stob, push, stab, thrust ; Du. 
 stompen, to kick, push, thump ; Bav. 
 stupfoi, stumpen, to nudge, thrust. 
 
 The expression then passes on to sig- 
 nify a body of the form traced out by a 
 movement of the foregoing description, 
 an abrupt projection or object sharply 
 standing forth out of the surrounding sur- 
 face. In the same way from Bret, stok, 
 jog, shock, we pass to E. stock, the trunk 
 or stem ; from Rouchi choquer, to knock, 
 shock, jog, to choque, stump of a tree, 
 block, and the equivalent It. zocco, stump, 
 snag, log, and Fr. souche, stock, trunk ; 
 from Da. stode, to jog, strike, push, to 
 stod, a stub or stump of a tree as well as 
 a shock or jolt. 
 
 Sometimes an r is introduced Avithout 
 alteration of the sense, as in Sc. stravip, 
 G. strampfeti, to trample, compared with 
 E. stamp; Du. strobbe, a shrub or stubby 
 growth, compared with stobbej G. strumpf, 
 synonymous with stumpf, a stump ; and 
 Fr. estrouble, as well as estouble, stulDble. 
 
 Stubble. Fr. estouble, Prov. estobla, 
 It. stoppia, G. Du. stoppel, the stubs of 
 corn. 
 
 Stubborn. For stubberen, like a stub, 
 rigid, obstinate. '■ Stiibbernesse, contu- 
 mace ; stubbleness, or sturdinesse, lour- 
 dasse.' — Palsgr. 
 
 Stud. I. A knob or projecting head 
 of a nail or button, also a bush, shrub, or 
 stumpy growth. 
 
 Seest not thilke same hawthorn stud, 
 How bragly it begins to bud. 
 
 Shepherd's Cal. 
 
 G. statide, a bush, shrub. Der kohl stau- 
 det sich, the cabbage grows to a head. 
 
 The radical image seems to be a sud- 
 den shock or jog, from whence we pass, 
 
 STUM 657 
 
 as in the case of Stub, to the idea of a 
 sharp projection, a short projecting body. 
 Da. stdd, a shock, jog, jolt, also a stub or 
 stump of a tree ; G. stutzen, to knock, to 
 start ; stutz, anything stumpy ; stutzohr^ 
 an animal with cropped ears ; stutz- 
 schwanz, a bobtail. 
 
 2. A stock of breeding mares. Da. stod^ 
 a stud ; stodhingst, a stallion, stodhoppe^ 
 brood-mare. G. stute, a mare ; stuterey^ 
 a stud, a collection of breeding horses 
 and mares. Pol. stado, a flock of birds, of 
 sheep, covey of partridges, herd of oxen, 
 stud or collection of breeding horses ; 
 stadnik, a stud-horse, stallion, a town bull, 
 herd bull. Lith. stodas, a herd of cattle, 
 especially of horses. 
 
 And as he welke in the wodde 
 He sawe a full faire slode 
 Of coltis and of meris gude. 
 
 Sir Percival, 325. 
 
 Student. — Study. 1.2it. studeo,io apply 
 one's mind to a thing ; studium, study. 
 
 To Stuff. To cram, thrust into a re- 
 ceptacle. G. dial, stauchen, stuffeti, to 
 thrust, to strike endways {stossen) ; G. 
 stop/en, Pl.D. stoppen, to stuff, to fill up a 
 cavity, and hence to stop, to prevent 
 access or egress, to bring to a stand. Je- 
 7nande7i das maul stopfen, to stop one's 
 mouth, to silence him. Fr. estouper, to 
 stop, to close ; estoiiffer, to stop the breath, 
 to stifle, choke.— Cot. That this is the 
 true explanation of etoiiffer is shown by 
 Pl.D. stoff, which signifies not only sttiff^ 
 but dust, the choking material. Goth. 
 stubjus, G. staub, dust. ON. stybba, thick 
 smoke. ' For when they should draw their 
 breaths this stuffing air and dust came in 
 at their mouths so fast that they had much 
 ado to hold out two days.' — North, Plu- 
 tarch. ' / stuffe one up, I stoppe his 
 breath. Je suffoque.' — Palsgr. 
 
 ON. j/<^//<i:, to pound, stamp ; Gr. orf/jSw, 
 to stamp, tread ; arvtpw, Lat. sttpo, to cram, 
 stuff, make close, pack together. 
 
 Household stuff \% the goods with which 
 a house is filled to fit it for occupation, 
 and in a more extended sense, Fr. etoff'e, 
 G. stoff, E. stiff, the contents of a thing, 
 that of which it is essentially composed, 
 and specially the woven fabric of which 
 clothes are made. 
 
 Stultify. Lat. stultus, foolish. 
 
 To Stum.— Stummy. Stummed up, 
 stujnmy, close, confined. G. stemmen, to 
 stop, to dam. From a modification of 
 the same root with stop, stuff, signifying, 
 in the first instance, thrust or stab, then 
 stick into, bring or come to a stand. G. 
 stupfen, to nudge, to thrust ; Du. stajn' 
 42 
 
658 
 
 STUM 
 
 pen^ to thrust, push, thump; Lith. stutnit, 
 to thrust ; stiimpUs^ a ramrod ; stumtis, 
 to crowd, to press against each other. 
 See To Stem. 
 
 Stum. Unfermented wine. Du. stom 
 signifies dumb, and is also explained by 
 P. Marin, du vin muet, wine that has not 
 worked from being oversulphured, and by 
 Holtrop, du vin dtouff^, wine that has 
 been choked by sulphur and stopped from 
 working. We have seen in the last arti- 
 cle that stum has in E. the sense of stuff 
 or stop up, and Du. stom may be explain- 
 ed from regarding a dumb person as one 
 whose voice is smothered. 
 
 To Stumble. To make a false step, 
 to strike the foot against an obstacle in 
 walking. The derivation from stumpy as 
 if the word signified to strike against a 
 stump, is supported by many analogies. 
 It. cespo, cespite, a turf, sod, bush ; cespi- 
 tare, to stumble ; G. strauch, a shrub, 
 bush ; straticheln, to stumble ; Du. strobbe, 
 stroHck, a stump ; strobbelen, stronckelen, 
 to stumble. — Kil. OFr. bronche, a bush, 
 broncher^ to stumble ; Qz}\2.gufu,2, stump, 
 gufada^ to stumble. 
 
 Nevertheless I believe in the present 
 case that the analogy would mislead us, 
 and that the primary meaning is simply 
 to strike with the feet, from the root ex- 
 hibited in Du. stompen, to kick, thrust, 
 thump, Bav. stumpe7i^ to nudge, strike 
 with the elbow, or the like. Mod. Gr. 
 (TTovfiTriZuj, (7Tov[XTr6vu), to pound, E. stuinp, 
 to walk with heavy steps, to strike the 
 ground heavily in walking, N. stumpa^ to 
 stumble, totter, fall, Da. dial, stumle^ 
 stumre, to strike the ground with the feet, 
 to stamp, stumble, totter. At gaae og 
 stumre med en kiep : to stump along with 
 a stick. Pl.D. stumpeln, stunkeln, to 
 hobble ; Sc. stummer, to stumble. 
 He slaid and stummerit on the sliddry ground, 
 And fell at end grufelingis amid the fen. — D.V. 
 
 The resemblance to the word stump 
 arises from the fact that the latter also is 
 derived from the same root, as explained 
 under Stub. 
 
 Stump. See Stub. 
 
 To Stun. To stupefy with noise or 
 with a blow, primarily with noise. AS. 
 stunian, to resound, to dash ; stun,gestun, 
 strepitus. — Ettmiiller. G. staunen, erstau- 
 nen, to lose the power of action, to be 
 stupefied, astonished. Sc. stonay, to 
 stupefy, astound. The same connection 
 between a loud noise and stupefaction is 
 seen in Lat. attonare, to thunder, and 
 thence to amaze, astonish, deprive of the 
 senses ; attonitus, thunderstruck. 
 
 -SUADE 
 
 Stunted. Dwarfed, hindered in growth. 
 ON. stuttr, short ; stytta, to cut short ; 
 OSw. stutt, stunt, docked, short ; stmita, 
 to shorten. — Ihre. G. stutz, a stump, any- 
 thing short of its kind ; stutzen, to dock, 
 to shorten. The fundamental meaning of 
 the word is a short projection, from 
 stutzen, to knock, to strike against, to 
 start. 
 
 Stupefy. — Stupid. — Stupor. Laf. 
 stupeo, to stand still like a stock, to be 
 numbed, senseless, astonished. Sanscr. 
 stambh, stop, make or become immov- 
 able ; stabhda, stopped, blocked up, stupe- 
 fied, insensible j stumbh^ stubh, stop, 
 stupefy. 
 
 Sturdy. Provincially, giddy, sulky, 
 and obstinate ; also a disease in sheep in 
 which the animal becomes sturdy or 
 stupefied. — Craven Gl. Sturdy or stub- 
 born, estourdy. — Palsgr. Gael, stuird, 
 stuirdean, vertigo, a disease in sheep, 
 drunkenness. — Macleod. It. stordire, to 
 make dizzy or giddy in the head. — Fl. 
 Sp. attirdir, to stupefy, confuse. 
 
 The radical meaning is probably, as in 
 the case of stun, to stupefy with noise, 
 w, twrdd, noise, stir, thunder— Richards ; 
 Da. torden, thunder; Gael, durdan, hum- 
 ming noise. It must be merely an acci- 
 dental resemblance between stu7'dy and 
 Bret, stard, firm, solid, ON. stirdr, stiff, 
 unbending, hard. 
 
 To Stutter. The broken efforts of the 
 voice in imperfect speech and those of the 
 body in imperfect going are commonly 
 represented by the same forms. ' To stut 
 or stagger in speaking or going.' — Baret. 
 ' I stutte, I can nat speake my wordes 
 readily, je besgue.' — Palsgr. G. stossen, 
 to kick, knock, hit ; anstoss, a stumbling- 
 block, also stammering or stuttering. 
 Pl.D. stoot, a blow ; s to tern, G. stottern, 
 to stutter. Swiss dudem, dodern, to 
 stammer ; dottern, duttern, to palpitate. 
 See Stammer, Stagger. 
 
 Sty. I. N. stigje, stigkbyna (e. dial. 
 stianeye, stiony), Pl.D. stieg, a pustule at 
 the corner of the eye. 
 
 2. ON. stt, stia, Da. sti, a sty ; faarstt, 
 a sheep-cote. Bohem. stdg, stage, a 
 stable, shed, from stogim, stdti, to stand. 
 Russ. stoilo, a stall, place for one beast to 
 stand. 
 
 Style. Lat. stylus, stilus, a sort of 
 pencil to write with on waxed tablets. 
 
 Styptic. Lat. stypticus, from Gr. 
 arvKTiKoz, astringent, from arv^m, to con- 
 tract, make close, stiff, thick. See Stiff. 
 
 -suade. -suasion. Lat. suadeo, sua- 
 sum, to advise ; Persuade, Dissuade. 
 
SUB- 
 Sub-. Subter-. La.t. sud,si(d^er, under, 
 beneath. 
 
 To Subdue. OFr. subduzer, to subdue. 
 — Roquef. The meaning of the word 
 agrees with Lat. subdo, to put under, but 
 according to form it should come from 
 Lat. subdtico, OFr. sosduire, to take from 
 under, to withdraw. 
 
 Sublime. Lat. subli?nis, on high. 
 Subtile.— Subtle. Lat. subtilis, fine, 
 thin, probably from tela, a web of cloth. 
 
 Suburb. Lat. siiburbhinij from sub 
 and urbs, a city. 
 
 Sue-. Lat. sub, before words beginning 
 with c, as in Succeed, Sticcumb. 
 
 Succour. Lat, sticcurro {sub and curro, 
 to run), to come to the aid of, to come 
 into one's mind ; Fr. secourir, to help ; 
 secours, succour, assistance. 
 
 Succulent. Lat. succus, juice, moist- 
 ure. 
 
 Such. Goth, svaleiks (so like), AS. 
 svilk, OHG. solih, sulih, G. solcher, Sw. 
 slik, Westphalian siik. 
 
 To Suck. G. saugen, Du. suigen, Lat. 
 sugere, Fr. sucer, It. succhiare, w. sugno, 
 Boh. cucati (tsutsati). From an imitation 
 of the sound. 
 
 Sudden. Fr. soubdaitt, soudain, Prov. 
 sobtan, Lat. subitus, subitaneus, sudden. 
 
 Suds. G. sod, the bubbling up of water 
 that simpers or seethes ; seifensod, soap- 
 suds. — Klittn. G. sottern, Pl.D. suddern, 
 Du. zudderen, to boil with a suppressed 
 sound ; Pl.D. suddeln, G. sudebi, to dabble 
 in the wet, do dirty work. In the same 
 way Swiss schwadejyt, of liquids in a cask, 
 to dash with a certain noise, to paddle, 
 splash ; schwaderete, soapsuds. Banff. 
 setter, the noise made by anything in 
 boiling or bubbling up ; the act of doing 
 work m a dirty, disorderly manner ; a state 
 of dirt and disorder. See Seethe. 
 
 To Sue. — Suit. From Lat. segui, to 
 follow, arose It. seguire, Sp. seguir, OFr. 
 sewir, sievir, Wall, suir, to follow, to pro- 
 secute or pursue one at law. OE. seuve, 
 sywe. ' Forsake al and seuve me.' — P.P. 
 To sue for an office is to follow after it. 
 
 From the participle secutus we have 
 Mid. Lat. secta. It. seguito, OE. sywete, 
 Fr. suite, a following, a train of followers, 
 a set of things following in one arrange- 
 ment. A suit at law, a suit of clothes. 
 A thousand knyghtes — clothed in ermyne ech one 
 Of on sywete.—^. G. 
 
 To suit is to agree together, as things 
 made on a common plan. 
 
 Suet. Lat. sebum, OFr. sieu. * Miex 
 valt a Dieu obdir que le sieti del multun 
 offrir.'— 'Livre des Rois. How or when 
 
 SULTRY 
 
 659 
 
 the termination et was added does not 
 appear. 
 
 Suf-. Lat. sub, before words beginning 
 with 7^ as in Suffer, Suffix. 
 
 Suffocate. Lat. suffoco, to choak, stop 
 the breath, from sub zxid.faux,faucis, the 
 gullet. 
 
 Sugar. Lat, saccharum, Arab, sukkar, 
 Sanscr. sharkara. 
 
 Suicide. Lat. sui, of himself, -cida, 
 slayer, from ccedo, to kill. 
 
 Suit. See Sue. 
 
 * Sulky. — To Sulk. as. asealcan, 
 languescere, flaccescere, torpere ; asolcen, 
 remissus, ignavus, deses, iners ; solcen, 
 deses, desidiosus. — Lye. 
 
 Ne last thu the thin mod asealcan, let 
 not thy mind depress thee. — Cccdmon. 
 130, 30. Bav. selchen, to dry, as hams, 
 sausages, &c. 
 
 Sullen. Formerly written soleine, i. e. 
 solitary ; of an unsociable morose dis- 
 position. 
 
 So I, quoth he [the cuckoo], may have my make 
 
 in peace — 
 Let each of hem be soleine all hir Hve. — ^Assembly 
 
 of Foules. 
 
 To Sully. It. sogliare, Fr. souiller, to 
 befoul, dirty ; se souiller (of a swine), to 
 wallow in the mire. Pl.D. suddeln, s'olen, 
 G. stideln, properly to dabble in wet and 
 dirt, to do dirty work, to dirty. G. sudel. 
 It. soglia, Fr. souil, j?^^//, the place where 
 a boar wallows in the mire. 
 
 All ultimately from a representation of 
 the sound made by dabbling in the wet. 
 Swiss siidern, to splash, to slobber, eat 
 untidily; siiderete, fen, mire, also (con- 
 temptuously) sauce. 
 
 Sulphur. Lat. sulphur. 
 
 -suit. Lat. salio, sultmn, to leap, 
 whence the freq. sultarej as in Insult, 
 Result. 
 
 Sultry.— Sweltry. Oppressively hot. 
 Du. zwoel, zoel, G. schwiihl, sweltry, 
 swelting, suffocating with heat. — Kiittn. 
 AS. swelan, to burn ; swaloth, aestus, 
 cauma, oppressive heat ; OHG. sueleii, 
 suilizon, to burn, to dry up ; suilizung, 
 cauma ; Pl.D. suelen, to burn without 
 flame, to smoke, and thence (of cut grass) 
 to dry into hay. E, dial, swale, sweat, to 
 wither in the sun, to burn, dry up. ' And 
 men swaliden with greet heete.' — Wiclif. 
 Lith. svilti, svelti, to burn. ON. svcrla, 
 thick smoke. Pl.D. verswelen, to burn 
 away, explains another sense of E. sweat, 
 when apphed to the guttering of a candle 
 or burning away without producing light ; 
 to gutter, melt away, met. to grow thin.— 
 Hal. A similar metaphor is seen in ohg. 
 42 * 
 
66o 
 
 SUM 
 
 suilizon^ to parch or di7 up ; OFlem. 
 sweifen, OE. suwlt, to faint ; MHG. swel- 
 ten^ to be suffocated, to perish through 
 heat or hunger ; ON. svelta, Da. suite, to 
 hunger, famish; Goth. svi7ta;i, AS. swel- 
 tan, to die. Nearer the original form is 
 perhaps siuelter, to suffer oppressive heat, 
 to faint, or, consequentially, to sweat. 
 Sivaltety/ige or swownynge, syhcopa. — 
 Pr. Pm. From this form of the verb we 
 pass to sweltry, sultry. 
 
 When vi^e seek for the radical image 
 from whence the expression is ultimately 
 derived, we observe that the characteristic 
 of a smothered flame is the fuel wasting 
 imperceptibly away, an idea which may 
 conveniently be expressed by reference to 
 the spilling or slopping of a liquid, be- 
 cause in the latter case the fact is accom- 
 panied by a certain noise which admits 
 of vocal imitation. Now swelk is used 
 to represent the sound of milk dashing in 
 a churn ; to swilker, to splash about ; to 
 swilker over, to dash over ; to swilter, to 
 waste away slowly ; swelking, sultry. To 
 swele, swile, to wash or rinse. On the 
 same principle, Pl.D. smuddeln, simdlen, 
 to dabble in the wet ; of a candle, to gut- 
 ter or sweal ; Du. smoel, sultry ; smoel 
 weder, aer languidulus, calor flaccidus. — 
 Kil. E. dial, swatter, to spill or throw 
 about water, to scatter, to waste ; swattle, 
 to waste away. 
 
 Sum. — Summary. — Summit. Lat. 
 super, above ; superior, higher ; supre- 
 mus, sunimus, highest, topmost, utmost ; 
 summum, the top, the whole, the sum. 
 
 -sume. -sumption. Lat. sumo, suinp- 
 tuin, to take ; as in Consume, Presump- 
 tioti, &c. 
 
 Summer, i. G. sommer, ON. sumar, 
 Gael, samhradh, w. haf. As ivmter and 
 wind are connected, so we should suspect 
 summer and sun to be, but the connec- 
 tion has not been satisfactorily traced. 
 
 2. A beam ; bressomer, breast-summer 
 or front beam of a house. Erroneously 
 explained as trabe sommaria, a principal 
 beam. 
 
 The true explanation is found in Fr. 
 sommier, a sumpter-horse (and generally 
 any toiling and load-carrying drudge or 
 groom), also the piece of timber called a 
 sujnmer. — Cot. It. somaro, a pack-horse, 
 a summer. — Fl. w. swmer, a beam ; 
 swmeru, to support, uphold, prop. See 
 Sumpter. 
 
 Summon. Fr. semondre, to invite, 
 warn, summon ; semonneur, a summoner. 
 Lat. summoneo ; sub and mo7ieo,\.o warn. 
 
 Sumpter-horse. From Gr. cdrrw 
 
 SUPPLE 
 
 ((Ta|w, <T((Tuyfxat), to pack close, stamp 
 down, to pack or load, was formed auyfiu, 
 a pack-saddle, a load. We have then 
 Lat. sagma, salma {sagma qua^ corrupte 
 sahna dicitur — Isid.), It. salvia, soma, G. 
 saum, a burden ; It. somaro, Fr. sommier, 
 a sumpter or pack-horse. Somai'o is now 
 used for a donkey, as Prov. sauma, a 
 she-ass. 
 
 Sumptuary. — Sumptuous. Lat, sump- 
 tus, expense, costliness, from sumo, sump- 
 tum, to take. 
 
 Sun. Goth, sunno, ON. sunna, Sanscr. 
 siinn, syuna, syona. 
 
 To Sunder. — Sundry. on. sundr, 
 asunder, in separate parts ; siindra, to 
 tear to pieces, separate ; Du. sonder, with- 
 out, separated from ; N. sund, i suud, in 
 pieces ; sunde klcede, tattered clothes ; 
 sutidriven, torn to pieces. 
 
 To Sup. — Sip. To draw up liquids in 
 small quantities into the mouth with an 
 audible noise, represented by the word 
 itself. Sp. chupar, to suck ; Gr. ai^uiv, a 
 sucker, a pipe for sucking wine out of a 
 cask. 
 
 Super-. Lat. super, above, in advance 
 of. 
 
 Superb. Lat. supei^bus, proud. 
 
 Supercilious, Lat. cilium, eyelid {cillo, 
 to stir, to twinkle) ; supercilium, what is 
 above the eyelid, the eyebrow, then, from 
 the contraction of the eyebrows in the 
 expression of such feehngs, pride, haughti- 
 ness, severity. 
 
 Superficies. Lat. superficies ; super, 
 and /aeies, face. 
 
 Superfluous. Lat. superjluo, to over- 
 flow, 
 
 Superior, See Sum. 
 
 Superlative, Lat. superfero, -latum, 
 to lift or bear above ; superlatio, excess, 
 amplifying. 
 
 Supersede, Lat. supersedeo, to sit 
 upon, and thence by a somewhat obscure 
 figure, to cease from, to give over. To 
 supersede an officer is to cause him to 
 cease from his command. 
 
 Superstition, Lat. superstes, remain- 
 ing ; superstitio, a vain fear and worship 
 of supernatural beings. The word is 
 variously and not satisfactorily explained. 
 
 Supper, Fr, souper, a meal at which 
 soup formed the principal dish. 
 
 Supplant, 1.2i\.. planta, the sole of the 
 foot ; supplanto, to trip up, 
 
 * Supple, Fr, souple, supple, limber, 
 pliant, nimble, flexible, — Cot. Apparent- 
 ly from OFr. soplier, soploier, soiiploier 
 {sub and plico), to bend, to yield to the 
 will of another. — Burguy. Bret, soubla. 
 
 I 
 
SUPPLIANT 
 
 to bend down, to incline. Soiiblid ho 
 penn, bow your head. Gael, subailt, 
 supail (Macalpine), flexible, supple ; sub- 
 laich, to make or become supple. 
 
 Suppliant. — Supplicate. Lat. sup- 
 plico, Fr. S7ippiler, to intreat humbly, the 
 knees bending under one. 
 
 Supply — Supplement. Lat. suppleo, 
 Fr, suppleer J sub^ and pieo, to fill. 
 
 Suppurate. Lat. suppicro, to generate 
 {pus, puris) matter. Gr. ttvOw, to rot ; 
 Ttvov, matter. See Putrid. 
 
 Supreme. See Sum. 
 
 Sur-. In some cases contr. from Lat. 
 super, upon, above, as in Stnprise ; in 
 others, where the verb begins with an r, 
 from Lat. sub, under, as in Surrogate. 
 
 Sure. Fr. stir, OFr. segur, seur, Lat. 
 seacrus. 
 
 Surf. The foaming or broken water 
 made by the waves beating on the shore. 
 Norm, etchurfer, to foam. — Hdricher. 
 
 Surfeit. 1 siirfet, I eate to muche 
 meate. Je surfays, or, je fays exces. You 
 surfayted yesternight at supper ; vous 
 vous surfistez, or, vous fistez exces hier h. 
 souper. — Palsgr. Super, and facia. 
 
 Surge. Fr. sourdre (Lat. surgere), to 
 rise, spring, boil or bubble up ; sourgeon, 
 the spouting up of water in a fountain, 
 spring of a well. 
 
 It is said that — all great rivers are gorged and 
 assemblede of divers surges and springs of water. 
 — Berners, Froissart. A surge oi tears. — Turber- 
 ville. 
 
 Now applied only to the boiling of the 
 waves. 
 
 Surgeon. Gr. x"poi'pyoc, one who works 
 with the hand ; Lat. chirmgus, Fr. chi- 
 rurgien. Norm, serugien, OFr. surgien, 
 surgeon. 
 
 Surly. The meaning has probably 
 been modified in modern times in accord- 
 ance with a supposed derivation from 
 sour. 
 
 tleo schulen hem sulf grennen — and makien 
 sur semblant for the muchele angoise ithe pine of 
 helle. — Ancren Riwle, 212. 
 
 The original meaning seems however 
 to have been sir-like, magisterial, arro- 
 gant. 
 
 For shepherds, said he, there doen lead, 
 
 As lords done otherwhere, 
 Their sheep han crusts and they the bread, 
 
 The chips and they the chear— 
 Sike sirly shepherds han we none. 
 
 Shepherd's Cal. July. 
 
 It. signoreggiare, to have the mastery, 
 to domineer ; signoreggevole, magisterial, 
 haughty, stately, surly. — Altieri. Faire du 
 
 SWAD 
 
 661 
 
 grobis, to grow proud, to take a surly 
 state upon him. — Cot. 
 
 Surmise. OFr. surmise, accusation, 
 from surmettre, to lay upon, to accuse. — 
 Roquef. 
 
 Surname. Fr. surnoiJt, an additional 
 name. It. sopranoine, a sirname, a nick- 
 name. — Fl. 
 
 Surplice. Fr. surplis, OFr. sorpelis. 
 Mid. Lat. superpelliceuvt, a linen gown 
 worn over the woollen or furry garments 
 of the ecclesiastic. 
 
 Surplus. Lat. super, above, contract- 
 ed into sur, ^.ndpius, more. 
 
 Surprise. Fr. surprise, from smpren- 
 dre. It. sapraprendere, to take unawares, 
 to come upon one suddenly. 
 
 Surrender. OFr. surrender, to deliver 
 up. Lat. reddere, to give back. 
 
 Surreptitious. Lat. surreptitius j sur- 
 repo (sub repo), to creep in unawares. 
 
 Survey. OFr. surveoir (Lat. videre)^ 
 to oversee, overlook. 
 
 Sus-. Lat. sub, in comp. with words 
 beginning with c, p, s, tj as vsxSusceptible, 
 Sjispejid, Stistain, &c. 
 
 Sutler. G. siideln, to dabble in the 
 wet, to do dirty work, to handle a thing 
 in a slovenly manner ; sudler, a dabbler, 
 dauber in painting, a scullion ; Du. soete- 
 len, to do dirty work, to carry on a petty 
 trade, to huckster ; soetelaar, a camp 
 huckster or sutler. See Suds. 
 
 Suture. Lat. sutttra, a seam sewed, 
 from stio, sjitum, to stitch or sew. 
 
 Swab. — Swabber. Du. ztvabber, Sw. 
 swabb, a swab or kind of mop made of 
 unravelled rope, used on board ship for 
 mopping the decks. The radical mean- 
 ing of the word is to sop or slop, to 
 splash in water. Du. zwabberen, to swab, 
 dabble, paddle ; G. schwabbeln, schwap- 
 pe?yi, schwappen, schweppen, to splash, 
 dash to and fro, wabble. ' Dann 
 schwappte diie woge bis zu den schultern :' 
 the wave splashed up to the shoulders.— 
 Sanders. N. svabba, sabba, subba, to spill 
 or splash water, to dabble in wet ; E. dial. 
 swab,\o splash over. In like manner Fr. 
 gadrouille, a swab, from Swiss Rom, 
 gadrouilli, to dabble, to disturb water. 
 
 Swad.— Swaddle. Swad, a peascod, 
 a handful of peasestraw. — Hal. A sivad 
 of a woman, obesula. — Coles. Swat, to 
 throw down forcibly, a quantity ; swatch, 
 a piece of anything, a patch, a sample. 
 The fundamental meaning of swad, swat, 
 swath, like that of squad, squab, would 
 seem to be a lump or bundle of some- 
 thing soft, from Du. swadderen (Kil), 
 Bav. schwadern, schivatteln, E. dial. 
 
662 
 
 SWAG 
 
 swatft.r, sivattle^ to splash, dasli, or spill 
 liquids. Swiss schwetti^ so much of a 
 fluid or soft matter as is thrown down at 
 once, then a lot or quantity of things, as 
 of apples. The swath of grass would 
 then be the bundle of grass cut at each 
 stroke of the scythe, and the verb to 
 siuathe^ to make a bundle of, to tie up in 
 bundles. ^Swathed or made into sheaves.' 
 — Cot. in V. javeld. It is certainly in this 
 sense that swatch seems to be used by 
 Tusser : 
 
 One spreadeth those bands, so in order to lie, 
 As barley, in swatches, may fill it thereby. 
 To swatch, to bind, as to swaddle, &c. — 
 Hal. The forms swatch and swatchel, a 
 fat slattern, also to daggle, dirty, to beat, 
 unite swad, swath, swathe, swaddle, with 
 Du. swachiel, swadel, a swathe or swad- 
 dling-band ; zwachtelen, to swathe, to 
 swaddle. In the application of swatchel 
 to a fat woman, the reference is to the 
 swagging or wabbling movement of the 
 flesh of a fat person, as in Bav. schwadig, 
 schwattig, swagging, soft, as boggy 
 ground, and the softer parts of the body ; 
 e schwadige menschin, a full-breasted 
 woman. 
 
 To swaddle was also to beat. Swad- 
 dled, cudgelled. — Coles. He banged, be- 
 lammed, thumped, swaddled her. — Cot. 
 in V. chaperon. And this is in accord- 
 ance with other cases in which words ex- 
 pressing the dashing of liquids are used 
 to signify beating, as to wallop, or G. 
 schwappen, to splash, compared .with E. 
 swap, a blow ; Banff soople, to wash, 
 to soak, to beat with severity ; Fr. escla- 
 boiisser, to splash, Lang, esclabissa, as- 
 sommer de coups. 
 
 Perhaps we must regard swatchel and 
 swatch as immediately derived from forms 
 in • which the d of swaddle or labial of 
 swap, swabble, is replaced by a guttural. 
 E. dial, swack, to strike, to throw ; swack, 
 a large quantity (Jam.), a blow, a fall ; 
 swacking, huge, large. — Hal. 
 
 To Swag. — Swagger. The idea of 
 tremulous motion, swaying backwards 
 and forwards, is commonly expressed by 
 forms originally representing the sound 
 made by the dashing of water, swabble, 
 swaddle, s waggle, wabble, waddle, waggle; 
 where the final consonant may be of any 
 class, labial, dental, or guttural, and the 
 initial s may be omitted without altering 
 the force of the word. 
 
 Thus we have Swiss schwabbeln, 
 schwabben, to splash, dash to and fro, 
 wabble, swag like loose flesh, stagger like 
 a drunken man. With a final g, E. dial. 
 
 SWAP 
 
 swiggle, to shake liquor violently, to 
 rinse linen to and fro in water. 
 I swags^e, as a fatte person's belly swaggeth as he 
 goth.— Palsgr. 
 
 Swaggergogy a quaking bog. — Mrs Baker. 
 To swagger in gait is to walk in an 
 affected manner, swaying from one side 
 to the other. Swiss schwdgeln, to stroll 
 about. To swagger in talk may be di- 
 rectly taken from the noise made by the 
 dashing of liquids, as in the case of Bav. 
 schwadern, to splash, tattle, bluster, 
 swagger. 
 
 The nasalisation of the consonant gives 
 G. schwanken, to splash to and fro, to 
 waver, rock, stagger ; E. dial, sivanky, 
 watery beer, boggy, swaggering, strutting. 
 
 Swain. Da. svend, a bachelor, serv- 
 ant, attendant, journeyman ; svendedreng, 
 a male child ,• ON. sveimi, a boy, young 
 man, servant. The word has clearly no- 
 thing to do with swine. 
 
 Swale. NE. windy, bleak, cold. ON. 
 svala, to cool, to refresh ; svali, coolness, 
 cold, hate. 
 
 To Swale.— Sweal. See Sultry. 
 
 Swallow. ON, svala, G. schwalbe, 
 Du. zwaluw, Pl.D. schwalke, OberD. 
 schwalm. 
 
 To Swallow. G. schwelgen, to swill, 
 guzzle, tipple. ON. svelgia, to swallow. 
 Du. swelgen, to devour, swallow, drink. 
 From the sound made in swallowing 
 liquid. Bav. schwappeln, to splash, to 
 swag (of loose flesh), to swill, to be ad- 
 dicted to drink. N. skvala, to gurgle. 
 
 Swamp. — To Swamp. To swamp a 
 boat is to sink it by the washing in of the 
 waves. ON. squampa, to splash ; Swiss 
 schwampeln, to splash, dash to and fro 
 like water. N. skumpla, to shake to and 
 fro in a vessel. It is the nasahsed form 
 of Bav. schwappeln, E. dial, swab, squab, 
 to splash, dash over. 
 
 From the same source is E. swamp, a 
 soft plashy ground ; Pl.D. swamp, swa7nm, 
 G. schwamm, a sponge, a structure adapt- 
 ed to sop up water ; or a fungus, a soft 
 spongy growth. 
 
 Swan. ON. svanr, G. schwan. 
 
 Swap. I. Swap and stuack represent 
 the sound of a blow, and thence are ap- 
 plied to any sudden movement, as in fall- 
 ing, striking, throwing. Pl.D. swaps / 
 swips ! swups ! express the sound of a 
 smack, and thence signify quick, imme- 
 diate. Swaps! kreeg he enen an de 
 oren : smack ! he caught it on the ears. 
 Sch%vipp I schwapp ! schlug er mir den 
 kopf ab : smack ! he cut off my head. 
 Swap / quickly, smartly. In some counties 
 
SWARD 
 
 a fall is called a swap. — Hal. W. chwap^ a 
 sudden stroke or blow, and as an adverb, 
 instantly. To swap, to draw a sword, to 
 cast a stone, to strike. — Jam. Hence 
 sivapping (like strapping, whapping, 
 bouncing, thumping), large, huge, strong. 
 — Hal. In like manner from the repre- 
 sentation of the sound of a blow by the 
 syllable swackj swacking,\ysm'~>\x2\\y large. 
 — Mrs B. ' He swacked the wood in his 
 face.' Schwapp I lasst sie ihr schliissel- 
 band nach seinem kopfe fliegen : slap ! 
 she let fly her keys at his head. — Sanders. 
 
 2. The sense of barter or truck seems 
 to come from the notion of a sudden turn, 
 an exchange of place in the objects that 
 are swapped. In the same way to cJiop is 
 to do anything suddenly, to turn suddenly 
 round, and to swap or barter. The wind 
 chops round to the north, a greyhound 
 chops up a hare. G. stutzen or stossen, to 
 knock or strike ; waaren verstutzen, ver- 
 stossen or titnstossen, to chop, swap, bar- 
 ter.— Kiittn. 
 
 Sward, on. svorSr, Du. swaerde, G. 
 schivarte, Pl.D. swaai'de, sware, the thick 
 skin of bacon or pork, then applied to the 
 skin of the head, the coating of turf on a 
 grass-field. Du. swaerde van den hoofde, 
 the skin of the head; Vl.T) . gronswaardj 
 greensward. 
 
 The proper meaning of the word would 
 seem to be the crackling or skin of roast 
 pork. Bohem. sskwariti, Illyr. chwariti, 
 to crackle like melting fat, to fry ; sskwar, 
 skin of pork ; sskwarek, Illyr. chwarak, 
 greaves, remnants after the melting of 
 tallow. OHG. swarte, cremium [quod re- 
 manet in patilla decarnibusfrixis] — Schm. 
 
 Swarm. A multitude of creatures in 
 intricate movement. The idea of multi- 
 tudinous movement is expressed by the 
 representation of a confused sound, as in 
 scrall, crawl, and Fr. grouiller, to rumble, 
 also to swarm, abound, break out in great 
 numbers. Zulu bubula, to hum, as bees ; 
 bubulela, a swarm of bees, concourse of 
 people. On the same principle the origin 
 of swarm is the representation of a hum- 
 ming or buzzing sound. E. dial, sharm, a 
 confused noise, buzzing, din. — Moor. G. 
 Schwann, noisy revelry ; schwdrmen, to 
 buzz, to make a confused sound as a mul- 
 titude in motion, to swarm as bees, to 
 revel. * Was fur ein liebliches sumsen 
 schwdrmt um mich her.' Bav. schwurm, 
 geschwiirm, confusion in the head, swarm, 
 throng ; schwirbeln, schwarbeln, to move 
 in a confused mass, to whirl, to swarm. 
 
 To Swarm.— Squirm. — Swarf. To 
 climb the bole of a tree by clipping it 
 
 SWAY 663 
 
 with the arms and legs, twisting them 
 around it. 
 
 He swarfed then the mainmast tree, 
 He swarfed it with might and main. 
 Ballad of Sir Andrew Barton, N. & Q., Ju. 59. 
 Then up the mainmast swerved he. 
 
 Ibid., Percy Soc. 
 
 To squirm, to wriggle about, to climb 
 trees by embracing them with the arms 
 and legs. — Webster. OFris. swerva, to 
 crawl. ' Alle da creatura deer op der eerde 
 swerfV — Richthofen. mhg. swirben, to 
 whirl, to move in a confused mass. Sw. 
 swarfwa, to turn ; Du. swermen, swerven^ 
 to wander about (Kil.), to rove, wander, 
 revel. — Bomhoff. The radical image is 
 a mass in intricate confused movement. 
 See Swarm. 
 
 Swart.— Swarthy. Goth, svarts, ON. 
 svartr, G. schwarz, black; ON. surtr^ 
 swarthy. Diefenbach connects \.2X.sordes^ 
 dirt, as if swarthy were dirt-coloured. 
 
 Swash. Swish and swash represent 
 the sound made by the collision of liquids 
 or of divided solids. A horse swishes his 
 tail ; swish-swash, washy liquor. Piedm. 
 svass^, to splash, to rinse. To swash 
 down, to fall with a noise. In the same 
 way soss, a heavy fall, a dirty mess. 
 Sossle, to make a slop. — Hal. 7o swash, 
 also figuratively to swagger, to talk big. 
 Sw. swassa, to strut, to swagger, to talk 
 bombast. 
 
 Swath. G. schwaden, Du. swade, 
 Pl.D. swad, swatt, the row of grass as it 
 lies on the left of the mower cut by his 
 scythe, also the bare space from which it 
 is cut. Commonly explained from AS. 
 swathe, a track, path, footsteps. Nasnige 
 swathe his owhw^er astywde : no traces of 
 him anywhere appeared. On swathe, in 
 the way. Dolhswathe, the traces of a 
 wound, a cicatrice. Thus the swath is 
 understood as primarily signifying the 
 path cut by the mower in the standing 
 grass. But the heap of grass seems to 
 have a stronger claim to attention than 
 the space from which it is cut, and the 
 original meaning of the word is probably 
 the mass of grass cut by a single blow of 
 the scythe. Fr. javeler, to swathe or 
 gavel corn, to make it into sheaves or 
 gavels. — Cot. E. dial, swaff, as much 
 grass as a scythe cuts at one stroke.^ 
 Hal. See Swad. 
 
 Sway. Du. zwaayen, to swing, turn, 
 brandish ; Pl.D. swajen, to waver in the 
 wind ; ON. sveigja, N. svbgja, svoia. Da. 
 sveie, to bend ; N. svaga. Da. svaie, to 
 swing to and fro, to roll like a ship; 
 svaierum, room for a ship to swing at 
 
664 
 
 SWEAL 
 
 anchor. Svv. swegryggad^ swankruggad, 
 swayed in the back ; E. swaying^ a hollow 
 Hiking of the backbone.— B. For the 
 uhimate origin see Swag. 
 
 To Sweal. To sweal a hog, to singe 
 him ; to siveal^ to melt wastefully away 
 like bad candles. — B. See Sultry. 
 
 To Swear. Goth, svaran^ ON. sverja, 
 G. schwiiren, to swear; ON. svara^ to an- 
 swer. 
 
 The radical meaning seems to be to 
 certify, to assure, to declare as true, from 
 OHG. war, G. wahr, certain, assured, true. 
 Ze tod wdr, as sure as death. ' Ez ist 
 mir wdrez gewizzen : ' it is known to me 
 for certain. Wdr jnachett, to make sure, 
 to prove by documents. — Schmeller. 
 Pl.D. waren, to certify, to prove by wit- 
 nesses or documents. Waren up den 
 hilligen, to take his corporal oath, to 
 swear by the holy relicks. — Brem. Wtb. 
 See Ware. 
 
 Sweat. ON. sveitij as. swat, sweat, 
 also blood, w. chwys, Sanscr. svaidas, 
 Lat. sudor, sweat ; udor, moisture ; udus, 
 wet. 
 
 To Sweep, on. sSpa, to sweep, to 
 wipe ; sopr, a besom ; Sw. sopa, to sweep, 
 wipe, brush ; also a clout, a duster; Gael. 
 sguab, sweep ; sgiiab, sguaib, w. ysgub, a 
 besom, brush, a sheaf of corn ; ysgubo, to 
 sweep, to whisk; Bret, skuba, to sweep; 
 Lat. scopcE, Sp. escoba, a besom. 
 
 The radical image seems to be the rins- 
 ing of a vessel with water, the dashing of 
 water over a surface, or the coursing of 
 the waves along the surface of water. G. 
 schwappen, schweppen, to splash or slop. 
 * Die schwappenden fluthmassen.' ' Der 
 weinim g\i.'3,eschweppet nher.' Schweifen, 
 to move a fluid body to and fro, to rinse, 
 to splash, to sweep along the ground, to 
 rove or range over the country ; Du. 
 sweyven, to vacillate, fluctuate, wander. 
 
 Sweet. AS. swet, Du. zoet, ON. scetr, 
 G. siiss, Sanscr. svad, Lat. suavis. 
 
 To Swell. ON. svella, to swell ; sollin 
 skip, a sodden, water-logged ship. The 
 original sense is probably shown in Du. 
 swellen (Kil.), a parallel form with wellen, 
 to boil, to spring, G. wallen, to boil, wal- 
 lop, move along in a waving manner. 
 Das meer wallet, the sea swells up in 
 waves ; eine hohe welle, a great swelling 
 wave. — Kiittn. The same relation is seen 
 in ON. bolginn, Da. bullen, swollen, 
 and Lat. bullire, to boil, Du. bolghe, a 
 wave or billow. 
 
 To Swelter. The sense of this word 
 in the ordinary expression of sweltering 
 with heat seems to be to faint with heat. 
 
 SWIFT 
 
 Swalterynge or swownynge, syncopa. — 
 Pr. Pm. Probably swatter, swalter or 
 swelter, swilker, are parallel forms, 
 representing, in the first instance, the 
 noise of dashing liquids, then signifying 
 the dashing or splashing of liquids, spill- 
 ing, squandering, wasting ; then wasting 
 away, fainting. To swatter, to spill or 
 throw about water as geese or ducks do in 
 drinking, to scatter, to waste ; to swather, 
 to faint ; to swattle, to drink as ducks do 
 water, to waste away. — Hal. The inser- 
 tion of an / (as in palter compared with 
 patter, E. dial, swalch for swatch, a patch, 
 stramalkin for stramaking, Sc. fagald 
 ior fagot) givQS swalter,s%uelter, to flounder 
 in the wet, to drip, trickle. 
 
 Slippes in the sloppes oslante to the girdylle, 
 Swatters up swiftly with his swerde drawene. 
 Morte Arthure. 
 
 I feel the drops of sweltering sweat 
 Which trickle down my face. — Gascoigne. 
 
 To swilter, to waste away slowly. — Hal. 
 
 We must however not regard these 
 parallel forms as actually derived from 
 each other, but rather as arising from 
 slightly varying efforts to represent the 
 same inarticulate sounds. With a final k 
 instead of t in the radical syllable we 
 have swelk, noise made by liquid in a 
 churn ; to swilker, to splash ; swelking, 
 sultry. See Sultry. 
 
 To Swerve. To wander from. — B. Du. 
 swervcn, swermen, to wander, rove, also 
 to riot, revel. 
 
 The radical image is a hum or confused 
 noise, from which we pass to the notion 
 of noisy revelry, on the one hand, and, on 
 the other, to that of whirling, turning 
 round, turning aside, moving to and fro. 
 Sw. hurra, su7'ra, swirra, to whizz, buzz, 
 whirl ; surra, swirra, also to revel ; ON. 
 hverfa, to turn, bend ; Da. surre, to hum, 
 buzz, also as N, svarva, to lash or twist a 
 rope round with string ; Da. svire, to 
 revel ; to whirl, turn round ; Da. dial. 
 svirre, to move to and fro ; slceden 
 svirrer, the sledge swerves, swings to 
 one side ; svarre, sva7'be, to turn in a 
 lathe. 
 
 Swift. The idea of rapidity or mo- 
 mentary duration is commonly expressed 
 by the figure of a smart blow. Thus in 
 Scotch they say, I'll be with you in a rap, 
 in a clap; while swak, which originally re- 
 presents the sound of a blow, is used for 
 a little while. 
 
 He had slummerit bot an swak. — D. V. 
 Swap, which like swack represents the 
 sound of a blow, is used for any rapid 
 
SWIG 
 
 action, for the drawing of a sword, cast- 
 ing of a stone, or the like. The change 
 of the vowel from a to i expresses a finer, 
 smaller motion, as in whip, to strike with 
 something thin, to do anything quickly, 
 compared with whap, to strike a heavy 
 blow. On this principle we pass from 
 swap to ON. svtpa, to whip, to move 
 quickly, do anything hastily, to brandish 
 a sword ; svipull, moveable, transitory ; 
 svipfj svif, a sudden movement, a mo- 
 ment, instant ; i dvi sviji, at the same 
 moment ; Da. i et svip, in a trice ; ON. 
 svif a, to move to and fro ; to move sud- 
 denly ; svifr, moveable, yielding. Sc. 
 swipper^ quick, nimble, sudden ; swiff, 
 rotatory motion, or the sound produced 
 by it ; the swiff of a mill. — Jam. AS. 
 swipa, a whip ; swipian, to whip or do 
 something with a momentary action. 
 Swipte hire tha^t heaved : he whipped 
 off her head. See Swivel. 
 
 To Swig-. To drink in sounding gulps. 
 Swig or swidge, water or beer spilt on the 
 floor, table, &c. If the roof or a barrel 
 leaks, the floor will be ' all of a swidge.^ 
 Swidge, a puddle ; to swiggie, to shake 
 liquor in an inclosed vessel — Forby ; to 
 rinse linen in water. — Moor. 
 
 To Swill. To rinse, to wash out with 
 water ; swill-tub, the tub which holds 
 the hog-wash — Mrs Baker ; swill-bowl, a 
 drunkard ; swiller, a scullion, one who 
 washes the dishes ; as. swilian, to wash ; 
 swiling, a gargle. Doubtless from the 
 sound of agitated liquid, and perhaps 
 contracted from a form like swiggie, to 
 shake liquor violently, to rinse in water, 
 to drink greedily. To swilker, to splash, 
 is a parallel form. 
 
 Da. sky lie, to rinse, wash ; skyllevand, 
 dishwash, swillings ; skyllebad, a shower- 
 bath. See Scullery. G. spiilen, to wash, 
 rinse, swill. 
 
 To Swim. This word seems origin- 
 ally to apply to the movement of water in 
 agitation ; to move or flow hke water ; to 
 be carried along on the surface of water, 
 to move about on the surface or in the 
 water. N. svabba, to dabble, paddle, 
 splash, spill ; Swiss schwabbeln, to wab- 
 ble, splash, fluctuate, to reel like a drunk- 
 en man ; schwabbelig, overflowing, reehng ; 
 est ist mir so schwabbelig. Bav. schwaib- 
 en, to overflow, to rinse, to wash. Die 
 wasche schwaiben, to swiggie or rinse 
 linen in water ; glase schwaiben, to rinse 
 glasses ; das geschwaibet (geschwemme, 
 gespiile), dishwash, swillings. Schwai- 
 ben, or schweben are then used in the 
 sense of moving to and fro like water, 
 
 SWING 
 
 665 
 
 being carried on the surface of water, 
 reeling, staggering. Auff 'm wasser schwe- 
 ben, fluctuare, jactari fluctibus ; das schiff 
 das da schwebet in dem mer, the ship 
 floats in the sea. Suebont, natant ; sue- 
 pen, sueparon, nare.— Gl. in Schm. G. 
 schweben, to float, wave, hover, flutter. 
 — Kiittn. 
 
 The softening of the final b to m leads 
 from Swiss schwabbeln to ON. svamla, to 
 splash, paddle in water, and from G. 
 schweben to Bav. schwaimen. Der vogel 
 schwaimet in den luften, the bird hovers 
 in the air. Hin und wider schwaimen, 
 to wander to and fro. G. schwemtnen, to 
 wash, to bathe in water ; schwinnnen, to 
 swim, to be borne along by or to be 
 bathed in liquid. ON. sveima, to move 
 to and fro in a confused manner, to wan- 
 der about, to swarm ; svima, svivima, 
 to swim ; svimra. Da. svimle, to be 
 dizzy, giddy. The Kestrel or Windhover 
 is called in G. sch%ueimer, schwemmer, 
 schwimmer, schweberle, from its ' schwe- 
 benden ' flight. The head swijns when 
 the visible scene appears in unsteady 
 movement around us like the surface of 
 water. 
 
 Swindle. G. schwiudel, swimming in 
 the head, dizziness, giddiness. In a 
 figurative sense schwindel is applied to 
 dealings in which the parties seem to have 
 lost their head, as we say, to have become 
 dizzy over unfounded or unreasonable 
 prospects of gain. ' Als der Assignaten- 
 schwindel (Assignat-mania) zu wiithen 
 begann.' ' Er hat bei dem Aktien-schwin- 
 del (Share-mania) viel geld verdient.' — 
 Genz in Sanders. The word may be 
 translated madness, delusion. Then in a 
 factitive sense schwindeler, one who in- 
 duces delusions in others. Einem etwas 
 abschwindeln, to get something from 
 another by inducing delusion ; to swindle 
 him out of something. 
 
 The parallel form ON. siindla, to be 
 dizzy, connects G. schwindeln through 
 ON. sund, a swimming, with svima, sviin- 
 ma, to swim, svinu'a, Da. svimle, to be 
 dizzy. Du. swijmelen, falsa imaginari 
 instar dormientium, vertigine laborari. — 
 Kil. Da. svingel, dizziness, darnel (from 
 producing dizziness) ; svingle, to reel as a 
 drunken man. 
 
 Swine. Goth, svein, ON. svin, Russ. 
 svinyia, Pol. swinia, swine. Apparently 
 a derivative from the original form corre- 
 sponding to E. sow. 
 
 Swing. G. schwingen, N. svinga, to 
 swing, whirl, brandish. The idea of an 
 undulating or to and fro movement is 
 
666 
 
 SWINGE 
 
 widely expressed by forms that may be 
 grouped round a root wag. E. waggky 
 wags G. wackehi, to wag, waddle, wabble ; 
 Du. iviggJiclen, to shake, to totter, also as 
 G. wickeln, to roll in, to wrap. — Kil. Lat. 
 vagafi, to wander ; vacillare^ to waver, 
 totter ; Fr. imgue^ a wave ; and with a 
 nasal, Du. wankelen, G. wanken, to wag, 
 wabble, reel ; AS. luancol, Du. wankel, 
 wavering, unsteady ; ON. vingsa, to swing, 
 to dangle ; E. wifig, from its rapid vibra- 
 tions in flight. 
 
 Then with a sibilant prefix, Sc. swag, to 
 swing, move backwards and forwards, 
 and with the nasal, G. schwanken, Du. 
 swa?tcken, swanckeien, to waver, stagger, 
 totter ; G. schwanken (as E. swtggle), to 
 rinse in water ; ein fass schwdn/een, to 
 swing a cask with some water in it in 
 order to wash it thoroughly. — Kiittn. AS. 
 swangettan, to wag, waver, palpitate. 
 Fris. swinge, a wing. 
 
 To Swinge. To beat or strike, an act 
 that is done with a swinging movement. 
 AS. swingan, to do anything with violent 
 action, to scourge ; swetig, a blow ; Fris. 
 swinge, a flail. — ^Japycx. 
 
 To Swink. To labour. From a swing- 
 ing, whirling movement, taken as a type 
 of violent exertion. Du. swancken, li- 
 brare, vibrare, quatere ; swanck, swinck, 
 vibratio, libratio, motus, momentum.. — 
 Kil. Fl.D. swunken, to sway to and fro, 
 as a tree under the impulse of a violent 
 wind. — Danneil. 
 
 Swipe. The crane-like contrivance for 
 drawing water, consisting of a rod un- 
 evenly balanced on a post, having a weight 
 at the short end and bucket at the long 
 end ; in Du. wippe, wipgalge, from 
 wippen, to vibrate ; or swankroede, from 
 swanken, to vibrate, as E. swipe from ON. 
 svipa, to brandish, to move rapidly to and 
 fro. VX.Vi. swe7igel,-3L swipe, from JwzV/^- 
 ing to and fro. — Danneil. NE. swape, the 
 handle of a pump. 
 
 Swipes. To swipe, to drink off hastily. 
 — Hal. N. skvip, thin and tasteless 
 drink. G. schwappen, schweppen, to 
 splash, dash ; diiiines geschweppe, thin 
 watery beer. Da. dial, at svipe bllet, to 
 water the beer ; svip, swipes, thin beer. 
 
 Switch. A pliant rod, from the swish- 
 ing noise which it makes in moving 
 rapidly through the air when a blow is 
 struck with it. Pl.D. zwuksen, to make 
 such a noise, also to bend to and fro ; 
 zwukse, Hanover swutsche, a long, thin 
 rod, a switch. G. zwitschern, to chirp or 
 twitter as birds. 
 
 Swivel. A fastening so contrived as to 
 
 SYMBOL 
 
 allow the thing fastened to turn freely 
 round on its axis. ON. svif, sudden 
 movement ; N. sviv, swing, force of move- 
 ment ; sviva, to turn round ; sveiva, 
 the crank or handle of a wheel ; on. 
 sveifla, to swing round, to brandish. See 
 Swift. 
 
 Swoon. — Swound. A swoon is a fail- 
 ure of the active principle. AS. swindan, 
 to consume, languish, vanish. OHG. 
 switidan, swintan, tabesccre ; suuintit, 
 tabescit (anima tua) ; farsitindan, evan- 
 ere, deficere, absorbere, transire. 
 
 The idea of wasting or consuming is 
 often expressed by the figure of spilling 
 liquids, as in squander, which is a nasal- 
 ised form of squatter, to splash, dabble. 
 In the same way G. verschwenden, to 
 squander, dissipate, waste, must be re- 
 garded as a nasalised form of the equiva- 
 lent E. swatter, Bav. schwaddern, schwid- 
 dern, to splash or spill. The final ^ is 
 lost in schwainen, to spill, consume. 
 ' Alles des pluts das ymmer verswaint 
 und vergossen wirt : ' of all the blood that 
 is ever shed and poured out. ' Blutvers- 
 wainer Christus :' Christ prodigal of his 
 blood. — Schmeller. Swab, schwanen, 
 schweinen, schwenden, to waste away, 
 shrink, wither ; Bav. schwand, schwund, 
 decrease, waste. Es geschwindet mir, 
 hat mir geschwinden : I have lost my 
 strength. G. schwindsucht, the wasting 
 sickness, consumption ; Swiss schwinden, 
 geschwinden, to swoon or faint. 
 
 Swoop. A sweeping movement. 
 
 Sword. AS. sweord, ON. sverd, G. 
 schwert. 
 
 Sycophant. Gr. nvKo^avrriq, a common 
 informer, false accuser, slanderer, false 
 adviser. The name would literally signify 
 an informer about figs, from ovkov, a fig, 
 and (paivb), to shew, but there is no really 
 historic knowledge how it arose. 
 
 Syl-. Sym-. Syn-. Sy-. The Gr. prep. 
 avv, with, answering to Lat. a/ni, con- , ap- 
 pears in composition under the foregoing 
 forms, the final v being assimilated to a 
 following liquid, and lost before a or or $, 
 
 Syllable. Gr. Xafx^dvo, tXafSov, to 
 take ; avWafSij, a taking together, 
 several letters taken together, a syllable. 
 
 Syllogism. Gr. (rvWoyiaixog ; Xoyta/uoc, 
 an argument, reason. 
 
 Sylph. A spirit of the air, a name 
 said to be invented by Paracelsus. 
 
 Symbol, Gr. jSaXXw, to cast ; (Tv//j3a\Xw, 
 to put together, to compare ; avfi^oXov, a 
 mark or token of a thing, a ticket, cheque, 
 a verbal signal or watchword, hence the 
 
SYMMETRY 
 
 creed or watchword of the Christian 
 body. 
 
 Symmetry. Gr. avfififrpog, commen- 
 surate with, in due proportion, fitting ; 
 fikrpov, a measure. 
 
 Sympathy. Gr. avfiiraOda, feeling 
 with another. See Pathetic. 
 
 Symphony. Gr. av/Atpwvia ; avv, and 
 ^u)vf], a voice, uttered sound. 
 
 Symptom. Gr. avuirriuna, a coincid- 
 ence, concurrent event ; from (rvfiiriTTTU), 
 to fall out together. 
 
 Synagogue. Gr. <Tvvayuiyrf, an assem- 
 bly ; ovvdyijj, to bring together, collect. 
 
 Syncopy. Qr. avyKOTrr], a cutting short ; 
 aiiv, and KonTttt, to cut. 
 
 Syndic. Gr. diKt], right, law, lawsuit ; 
 GvvhKOQ, a helper in a court of law. 
 
 Synod. Gr. odog, a way ; avvodog, a 
 coming together. 
 
 Synonym. Gr. ovofxa, name, avvwvvnog, 
 having the same name. 
 
 TACK 667 
 
 Synopsis.— Synoptical. Gr. o^/tc, a 
 viewing, sight ; (Tvvox(/ig, a comprehensive 
 glance. See Optic. 
 
 Syntax. Gr. rdaffw, rd^bj, to arrange ; 
 Ta^ig, an arranging, order, rank ; avvra^ig, 
 an arranging together, putting together in 
 order. 
 
 Synthesis. Gr. ovvOeaig, from vwriOtjiJitf 
 to put together. 
 
 Syringe. Gr. (rvpi^w, to pipe or whis- 
 tle ; avpiy^, a pipe. 
 
 Syrup. It. siroppo^ Sp. xarope, xara- 
 be, axarabe^ from Arab chardb, a frequent 
 word among the Arab doctors. Becri 
 says the chardb of honey is called hy- 
 dromel. From chariba^ to drink. — 
 Engelberg. Sharb, shurb, drinking. See 
 Sherbet. 
 
 System. Gr. avarrjfxa, what stands 
 together, a body of united elements ; 
 avvi(TTT]iii, to put or be put together, to con- 
 sist. 
 
 Tabard. It. tabarro, Fr. tabarre, Sp. 
 tabardo, a wide loose overcoat, the paint- 
 ed overcoat worn by heralds. 
 
 Tabby. Sp. tabi, It. tabino, iabi, Fr. 
 tabis, Arab, dttdbi, a rich kind of watered 
 silk. From a quarter of Bagdad called 
 al-Attdbiya, where figured stuffs of that 
 kind were manufactured. — Dozy. 
 
 2. A brindled cat, marked with stripes 
 like the waves of watered silk. 
 
 Tabernacle. Lat. tabernaculum^ dim. 
 of taberna, a booth. 
 
 Table. — Tabular. Lat. tabula, a 
 board, a table. 
 
 Tabor. —Tambour. — Tambourine. — 
 Timbrel. Prov. tabo?^, Fr. ta7nbour, Sp. 
 tambor, atambor, a drum ; ta7nborete, 
 tamboril, a little drum, a labour or tim- 
 brel. Arab, tabl, a drum, Sp. atabal, tim- 
 bal, kettledrum. The sound of a blow is 
 very generally represented by the sylla- 
 bles tab, tap, dab, dob, top, or the like. 
 Thus the Spaniards represent the beating 
 of the drum by tapatan or taparapatan, 
 as we by riibadub or dubadub. Arab. 
 tabtabat represents the sound made by 
 the dashing of a waterfall. Malay tabah, 
 tabuh, to beat, to drum ; tabuk, tapuk, to 
 slap. Gr. TVTTTtii, to beat. Magyar dob- 
 ogni, to knock, to stamp ; dob, a drum. 
 Fr. taboicler, to knock loud and fast ; 
 Piedm. tabiissd, to knock at a door, to 
 
 beat ; tabuss, noise, uproar. Fr. tapper, 
 to strike, clap ; E. tap, to knock gently ; 
 E. dial, tabber, to knock or tap. * How 
 that boy is tabbering on the table.' — Mrs 
 Baker. Devon, to taper at the door. — • 
 Lye. It. toppa I toppa / represents the 
 sound of knocking at a door. Swiss dop- 
 peln, to knock at a door, to hammer. 
 Champagne tombir, to resound ; tombe, a 
 hammer. It. tavibiissare, tainbustare, to 
 rumble, rattle, drum, to dubadub. — Fl. 
 
 Tacit. Lat. tacitus; taceo, to be silent. 
 Goth, thahan, on. thegja, Sw. tiga. Da. 
 tie, OHG. thagen, thaken, dagen, to be 
 silent. 
 
 *Tack. I. To tack, to fasten, to sew 
 slightly together, whence tack, a small 
 nail for fastening on something to a more 
 important object. Piedm. tachd, Milan 
 taccd. It. attaccare, to fasten ; staccare,Xo 
 unfasten, to detach ; attaccaticcio, sticky. 
 Bret, tach, Langued. tacho, a tack or 
 small nail. 
 
 Tack is, I believe, an analogous form to 
 jog, jag, dag, dig, stag, stack, stick, repre- 
 senting in the first instance a sharp move- 
 ment abruptly checked, then signifying 
 thrust, projection, point. The passage to 
 the sense of fastening is seen in the ex- 
 pressions to stick out, to stick in, to stick 
 to. 
 
 G. zack I is used as an interj. ex- 
 
668 
 
 TACKLE 
 
 pressing movement with a sudden start. 
 — Sanders. Er saiimte nicht den rappen 
 anzustechen,und zack ! zack ! war cr zum 
 thor hinaus. The repetition of the signi- 
 ficant element in zickzack represents a 
 succession of abrupt movements in 
 different directions, indicated by the 
 change of vowel from a to /, and thus 
 signifies a jagged or zigzag line. 
 
 Hence zacke^ zacken^ a jag, spike, 
 prong, tooth ; zacken, to jag, notch, in- 
 dent, explaining It. tacca, a notch. Pl.D. 
 takk, a point, tooth, branch of a tree. 
 
 The sense of thrusting is seen in 
 Piedm. taca, a support, a stand for a bar- 
 rel ; Gael, taic, prop, support ; Sp. taco, 
 stopper, plug, ramrod, billiard-cue. Some- 
 times the word may come direct from the 
 figure of something clapped on. Sp. 
 tague, the clapping of a door ; Fr, taqner, 
 toqtier, to beat, to knock. — Jaubert. It. 
 tach-tach, the sound of beating, hammer- 
 ing, &c. ; tacco, taccone^ a patch, a heel- 
 tap ; toppa, a tack cobbled on an old shoe. 
 — Fl. 
 
 2. In nautical language a tack is the 
 rope which draws forward the lower cor- 
 ner of a square sail, and fastens it to the 
 windward side of the ship in sailing trans- 
 versely to the wind, the ship being on 
 the starboard or larboard tack according 
 as it presents its right or left side to the 
 wind. The ship is said to tack when it 
 turns towards the wind, and changes the 
 tack on which it is sailing. 
 
 Tackle. The harness of a draught 
 horse, or ropes and furniture of a ship. 
 Du., Pl.D. takel, the fittings of a ship. 
 W. taclau, accoutrements, implements ; 
 taclau y llo7ig^ the tackle of a vessel ; 
 iaclii, to dress, deck, fit, furnish ; taclus, 
 trim, adorned. Perhaps the word may be 
 explained from It. dial, tacar or tacar 
 sotto (Cherubini), It. attaccare, to harness 
 horses and fasten them to the carriage. 
 
 Tact-, -tact. — Tangent, -ting-ent, 
 Lat. tango, tacticm (in comp. -tlngo, 
 -tactum), to touch ; tactus, the sense "of 
 touch, a touch ; coiitmgo, to touch one 
 another, to arrive, to happen ; contigtius, 
 touching each other, near to. E. tangent, 
 a touching line. 
 
 Tactics. Gr. raKTiKu, matters perti- 
 nent to military movements, from raeraoi, 
 tTa^a, to array. 
 
 Tadpole. The young of the frog in 
 its first stage after leaving the egg, a 
 creature consisting apparently of a glolDU- 
 lar head with a tail. Hence it is frequent- 
 ly designated by the same name with 
 the miller's thumb, a small fish of similar 
 
 TAILOR 
 
 conformation. Fr. chabot [Lat. capito, 
 big-head], the little fish called a bull- 
 head or millers thumb ; also the little 
 water vermine called a bullhead. — Cot. 
 Another name for both is tetard (Trev.), 
 while the tadpole is distinguished as 
 tetard de grenoiiille, G. kulhaupt, kaiil- 
 haupt (Diefenb.), kaiilkopf (Sanders), 
 kullkopf, tadpole, bull-head (Idioticon v, 
 Kurhessen), from knlle, Boh. kule, kaule, 
 a bowl or ball. yis\ penbwl, a blockhead, 
 a tadpole, from pen, head, and pwl, ob- 
 tuse, blunt, properly round, globular. Gael. 
 pollceannach, lump-headed, stupid ; poll- 
 ceannan, a tadpole. To these latter 
 forms correspond E. dial, polehead, Sc. 
 Powhead, a tadpole, from poll, a rounded 
 top, a head ; a mere variation of bullhead. 
 The creature is also called pollwiggle, 
 pollywig, from AS. wigga, Esthon. waggel, 
 a worm (s. Earwig) ; the round-headed 
 worm. 
 
 The form tadpole is equivalent to Fr. 
 tetard de grenoiiille, or to G. kaiilpadde, 
 kaiilfrosch, Pl.D. kulpogg,piilpogg (Dan- 
 neil), the element tad, being the AS. tade, 
 a toad, corresponding to Pl.D. padde, 
 Pogg, a frog, while the final /i?/^ is identi- 
 cal with the w. pwl, Gael, poll, with the 
 bnll in bullhead, and with poll, a round 
 top. 
 
 Tag-. Point of a lace. — B. Sw. tagg, 
 Pl.D, takke, G. zacken, a point, tooth, 
 thorn ; ^-^r/^^;/, to jag, dent, notch. Formed 
 on the same principle as dag, jag, jog, 
 representing in the first instance a sharp 
 movement abruptly checked, then the 
 path traced out by such a movement, a 
 pointed shape. See Zigzag, Tack. 
 
 Tail. w. tagell, a dewlap, wattle. G. 
 dial, zagel, zdl, a tassel. — Deutsch. Mun- 
 dart. Zagel is also the tuft of hair on a 
 beast's tail, the tail itself ; zageln, to wag 
 the tail. ON. tagl, a horse-tail. Sw. tagel^ 
 horse-hair. 
 
 The radical idea would seem to be what 
 dangles to and fro. 
 
 -tail. — Entail. — Retail. From Fr. 
 tailler, to cut, an estate-tail is a partial 
 estate cut out of the fecsimple, so as to 
 leave a remainder in the hands of another 
 owner. To entail an estate is to divide 
 the feesimple among successive owners. 
 
 Other compounds of tailler are re- 
 tainer, to shred, snip, cut very often ; re- 
 tailles, shreds, clippings ; detailler, to 
 piecemeal, to cut into pieces. Hence E. 
 retail, to sell in small portions ; details, 
 the separate elements of which a matter 
 is composed. 
 
 Tailor. Fr. tailleur d'habits, a cutter 
 
-TAIN 
 
 of clothes. Tailler, It. tagUare, to cut. 
 ON. tdlga^ t^lgj(^-, to cut, hew, to form by 
 cutting. See Tally. 
 
 -tain. -tent. -tin-. Lat. tenco, ientum 
 (in comp. -tineo), to hold ; continco, to 
 keep in, keep together, withhold, contain ; 
 adstirieo, to hold from, to abstain ; con- 
 tincntia, keeping in, temperance, contin- 
 ence ; pertineo, to hold on, to reach to, to 
 belong to, &c. 
 
 Taint. A touch of corruption. Fr. 
 attaiiidre (Lat. attingere)^ to reach or at- 
 tain to, to touch or hit in reaching, to 
 overtake in going ; attaint, raught, at- 
 tained to, touched.— Cot. 
 
 To Take. ON. tak, grip, hold, grapple 
 in wrestling ; taka, to seize, take, touch. 
 Sw. tag, hold, touch ; fatta tag i, to seize 
 hold of ; sldppa tag, to let loose ; drtag, 
 the stroke of an oar ; taga, to seize, to 
 take. Tag hit, give it me. Tagas, to 
 struggle, to contend. Du. tacke7t,ta.ngere, 
 arripere, apprehendere, harpagare, capere, 
 figere. — Kil. 
 
 Radically identical with Lat. tangere, 
 tactum, to touch ; and with It. attaccare, 
 Piedm. tache, to fasten, to join one thing 
 to another. Compare tachessd, to contend, 
 dispute, quarrel, with N. takast, Sw. tagas, 
 to wrestle, contend, dispute. Tache la 
 rogna da mi autr, to take the itch from 
 another ; tache la 7'ogna a tin, to give it 
 to another. Tachd H feu, to take fire, also 
 to light a fire, to communicate fire. To 
 attack is to seize hold of one, to commence 
 the struggle. 
 
 Talc. ON. talgiistein7i, talgstein, soap- 
 stone, talc, from being easily cut with a 
 knife or split into panes ; ON. telgja, to 
 cut, carve. Herra biskup skal upp Mta 
 gera brjdstit (the front of the church), ok 
 i setja tvislongan glygg med talgusteini, 
 a twolight window paned with talc. 
 
 Tale.— To Tell. on. tala, telja, to 
 speak, say, talk ; tal, speech, number ; 
 telja tolu, to make a speech. Telj'a is 
 also to reckon or count. Du. taele, 
 speech, discourse ; taelen, to speak ; 
 taelen, tellen, to count. — Kil. G. zahl, 
 number ; zdhlen, to reckon, count ; erzdh- 
 lett, to tell, relate. See Talk. 
 
 Talent. Lat. talentjim, Gr. rcCKavTov, 
 a certain weight of money. In the sense 
 of natural endowment the term is taken 
 from the Parable of the Ten Talents. 
 
 Talisman. Fr., Sp. talisman, Ar. 
 telsafn, a magical image, on which are 
 mystical characters as charms against 
 enchantment's. Byzantine Gr. HXtana, in- 
 cantation. 
 
 To Talk. In seeking the origin of talk 
 
 TALL 
 
 669 
 
 two principles must be borne in mind : 
 first, that the words by which this idea is 
 expressed have commonly signified in the 
 first instance to talk much or imperfectly, 
 to chatter, tattle, lisp ; as Gr. \aXuv, to 
 speak, compared with G. lallen, to speak 
 indistinctly, to lisp, stammer, babble, or 
 Gr. ^pd^eia/, to speak, compared with E. 
 prate. And secondly, that the sense of 
 tattling or idle talk is often expressed by 
 forms taken from the splashing or dashing 
 of water. So we have Swab, schwappeln, 
 to splash, also to speak quick and con- 
 fusedly ; and with inversion of the mute 
 and liquid, Swiss schwalpen, to splash, 
 Da. dial, svalpe, to tattle. E. dabble, to 
 paddle in wet, G. dial, dabbeln, to tattle. — 
 
 D. M., 3. 373. Now E. daggle, or taggle 
 (Mrs B.), is to trail in wet and dirt • be- 
 daggled, bedabbled, dirtied ; daggly, wet, 
 showery. — Hal. To these correspond 
 OberD. taggeln, tegeln, tekeln, dekeln, to 
 dabble, daub ; teglich, teklich, smeary, 
 dirty (Deutsch. Mundart, 3. 344) ; as well 
 as It. taccolare, which must originally 
 have signified to splash or dabble, as 
 shown by taccato, bedashed, speckled ; 
 taccola, a bungling, botching piece of 
 business (compare dabble, to work imper- 
 fectly, to bungle), also babbling, chatter- 
 ing, prating.— Fl. Hence taccola, a jack- 
 daw, a bird eminent for chattering. A 
 like inversion to that which was shown in 
 schwappeln and schwalpen, or in splitter 
 and spurt, squitter and squirt, leads from 
 
 E. daggle and G. taggeln, or It. taccolare, 
 to Bav. dalken, to dabble, also to bungle, 
 cobble, work unskilfully ; verdalken, to 
 besmear ; dalk, a dauber, bungler ; dalken, 
 dolken, dolkezen, to stutter, sputter, speak 
 imperfectly, to speak (in a contemptuous 
 sense), or, finally, to talk. — Schm. Talgen, 
 talken, to dabble, to smear, then to tattle, 
 or talk foolishly. — Sanders. So also from 
 It. taccola we pass to Pl.D. taalke, talk, a 
 daw, a tattling woman. — Brem. Wtb. On 
 the other hand, we cannot doubt that the 
 It. form is identical with Bav. dachal, 
 dahhel, dahel. Swab, dahle, G. dohle, a 
 daw. Thus It. taccolare, to chatter, is 
 connected with G. dahlen, dallen, to stam- 
 mer, chatter, tattle, trifle. *Wer lehrt 
 dem Psittacum unser wort dallen ? ' — 
 Sanders. Silesian tallen, to stammer. 
 'Die tunge lallt und tallt.' — Deutsch. 
 Mund. 4. 188. Swiss talen, dalen, to 
 speak imperfectly, to drawl. ON. tala, to 
 speak or talk. 
 
 Tall. Fr. taille, cut, and thence the 
 size or stature of a creature. A tall man 
 is a man of good stature. 
 
670 
 
 TALLOW 
 
 Tallow. G. talg^ ON. tolgr^ the solid 
 fat of ruminants. Apparently from being 
 considered as the means of daubing or 
 smearing. G. talgeUy talken, dalken, to 
 dabble, daub. ' Sichimkuhdreck<5t'/^?/^tv/, 
 betalkcnj^ to daub oneself with cowdung. 
 — Sanders. Swiss talggeti, a soft mass, 
 as an ill-cooked pudding ; Swab, tallcet, 
 iaikicht, clammy, doughy, fat ; Bav. ver- 
 dalken, to bedaub, smear. Swiss dolgg, 
 tolky a blot of ink ; verdolggen, vertolken, 
 to bedaub. See Talk. 
 
 Tally. From It. tagiiare, Fr. tailler, 
 to cut, is formed Fr. taille^ a tally or piece 
 of wood on which an account was kept 
 by notches. When complete the wood 
 was split in two, with corresponding 
 notches on each piece. Hence to tally, 
 to correspond exactly. 
 
 The root may be preserved in It. tacca, 
 a notch or tally ; also, as Fr. taille, the 
 size or stature of a man. Here the syl- 
 lable tac seems, like E. hack, to represent 
 the sound of striking with a sharp instru- 
 ment. It. tach-tach, sound of knocking 
 at a door. A frequentative form from this 
 root, analogous to Du. hackelen, to chop, 
 or E. haggle, might give rise to tagliare, 
 tailler. 
 
 Talon. The claw of a bird of prey, 
 properly the hind-claw. * Talant of a 
 byrde, the hynder clawe, talon, ergot.' — 
 Palsgr. Lat. talus, the heel. 
 
 Tamarind. Arab, tamr hindi, Indian 
 dates. 
 
 Tambour. See Tabor. 
 
 Tame. Du. tarn,, taem; G. zahm, 
 tame. ON. tamr, accustomed to ; — vik 
 sund, accustomed to swimming ; — a 
 bdthar hendr, accustomed to use either 
 hand ; teinja, to accustom to, to tame. 
 Goth, gatamjan, to tame. Lat. domare, 
 Gr. Safxdu}, to subdue, to tame. 
 
 Tammy, Fr. tamis. It. tamigio, 
 tainiso, Du. teems, terns, a boulter, 
 strainer, sieve. Fr. estamine, the stuff 
 tamine, also a strainer. — Cot. It. staniig- 
 na, a strainer made of goat's hair, from 
 stame, Lat. stamen, the fixed threads in a 
 loom, woof, yarn. 
 
 To Tamper. To meddle with ; pro- 
 bably a metaphor from the tempering of 
 clay. So Sw. kladda, to dabble, to do a 
 thing in a slight manner, to meddle with- 
 out fitness or necessity, to tamper. — Wide- 
 gren. Lang, tapo, clay ; tapio, dab or 
 daub, tempered clay for wall building. 
 
 Tampion. — Tamkin. — Tomkin. Fr. 
 tampon^ a bung or stopper ; Lang, tampa, 
 to shut, stop ; fenestra tampado, a shut 
 window ; se tampa las aourelios, to stop 
 
 TANK 
 
 one's ears ; tampes, shutters ; tampo, a 
 tank or reservoir. A nasalised form of 
 Lang, tapa, Yx. tapper (Cot.), to stop. 
 See Tap. The same corruption as that 
 of tamkin from tampion is seen in pump- 
 kin ixovci pompion. 
 
 Tan. — Tawny, Fr. tan, bark of young 
 oak for tanning ; taner, to tan or dress 
 leather with oak bark ; tati^, tanned, also 
 swart, dusky, tawny of hew, as things 
 which have been tanned. — Cot. Bret. 
 tan7t, oak ; aval tann, an oak-apple or 
 oak-gall ; G. tanne, a fir-tree, the bark of 
 which is also applicable to tanning. 
 
 Tandem, A mode of driving from the 
 carriage seat two horses one before the 
 other. From a joking abuse of Lat. tati- 
 dem, at length. 
 
 Tang. I. A rank taste. — B. A meta- 
 phor from a ringing sound. Twang and 
 tang are both used for a loud ringing 
 sound and a strong taste. 
 
 There is a pretty affectation in the Almain 
 which gives their speech a different tang from 
 ours. — Holden in Todd. His voice vi^as some- 
 thing different from ours, having a little twang 
 hke that of street music. — Search. He then 
 owned that he had received heavenly gifts in 
 earthen vessels, and though the liquor was not at 
 all impaired thereby in substance or virtue, it 
 might get some twang of the vessel. — Search in R. 
 
 To tang bees is to ring a bell or make 
 a noise with a piece of metal on a shovel 
 or the like at the swarming of bees. — Mrs 
 Baker. Fr. tan-tan, a cattle-bell. Sp. 
 tangir, taner, to play on a musical instru- 
 ment ; tafiido, tune, sound, clink. Maori 
 tangi, cry, sound. Arabic, tantanat, 
 sound, re-echoing of musical instruments, 
 murmuring of water; tanln, noise, sound, 
 echo. 
 
 2. The part of a knife that runs up into 
 the handle ; the tongue of a buckle. ON. 
 tangi, a. narrow tongue of land ; the tang 
 of a knife or a sword. Gael, teanga, 
 tongue. 
 
 Tangent. — Tangible. See Tact. 
 
 Tangled. Tangled, or in the E. of 
 England twangled, is twisted together in 
 a confused intricate mass. Now twang- 
 ling signifies in the first instance a disso- 
 nant jingling sound like unskilful playing 
 on a stringed instrument, and thence in a 
 secondary sense the term is applied to a 
 confused involved texture. So from 
 brangle, representing a continuous jarring 
 sound, to embrangle, to perplex or en- 
 tangle. Rumble and grumble represent a 
 broken muttering sound, rumple and 
 crumph a broken uneven state of surface. 
 
 Tank. Ptg. tanque, a pond, reservoir, 
 basin of water, a receptacle of water 
 
TANKARD 
 
 pounded or stopped up, from Prov. tancar, 
 to stop, to shut. Tancar la boca, to shut 
 the mouth. Langued. ianca, to stop ; 
 tafico, the bar of a door. Ptg. tanchar^ to 
 stick into ; tanchcio, a stake, a stanchion. 
 Sp. taco^ a. stopper or plug. Cat. la{:o, a 
 ramrod, a mace at bilhards. 
 
 The ideas of sticking into, stopping, 
 shutting, are also expressed by the parallel 
 root tap, tamp ; as in Castrais tapa, to 
 stop, to stuff or satisfy; tapofam, a damp- 
 er, a stop-hunger, a piece of meat given 
 at the beginning of a feast ; tap, a stop- 
 per ; tanipa, tanca, to stop, shut, cease ; 
 tampadou, tancadou, a stopper ; tanco, a 
 stake ; Langued. tampa, to stop or shut ; 
 fefiestro tampado, a shut window ; tampos, 
 shutters ; tampadou, tancadoii, a bolt or 
 bar ; tainpo, estampo, a tank or reservoir. 
 See Stanch, Dam. 
 
 Tankard. Fr. tanquard, Du. tanckaerd, 
 N. tankar, a can with a spout ; dankar, a 
 jug, jar. Commonly supposed to be a 
 corruption of Lat. ca?itharus. 
 
 Tansy. Fr. tanasie, Sp. atanasia, from 
 Gr aQavacia, immortality. 
 
 Tantalise. Fr. tantaliser, from the 
 proper name Tantalus. 
 
 Tantamount. Lat. tantus, so much, 
 and amount. 
 
 Tap. I. A form analogous to rap or 
 pat, signifying a light blow. Fr. taper die 
 pied, to rap with the foot. Bohem. tepati, 
 to strike with a hammer, a stick, &c. ; 
 Russ. topaf, to stamp with the feet. 
 
 2. Then as ON. stappa, E. stamp, are 
 specially applied to striking endways, as 
 with a pestle, the root tap or top takes 
 the sense of striking endways, thrusting 
 into. We speak of the woodpecker tap- 
 ping with his beak, whence apparently 
 Boh. top, the beak of a bird ; toparka, the 
 stamper of a churn ; Sp. topar, to but or 
 strike with the head, run against. Hence 
 may be explained Pl.D. tappe, G. zapf, 
 Du. tap, a plug thrust in to stop a hole. 
 With the addition of an initial s we have 
 Du. stappen, to step, to set down the foot, 
 and stoppen, to thrust into, to stuff or stop. 
 Sp. tapar, to stop up, choke, cover ; tapar 
 la boca, to stop one's mouth ; tapon, a 
 plug, bung, cork. Lap. tappet, to shut. 
 
 Tape. AS. tcBppe, properly the tip or 
 corner of a garment, then the tape or tie 
 which is fastened to it. A like transfer- 
 ence of sense is seen in the sheet of a sail, 
 which signifying in the first instance the 
 corner of a sail, is transferred to the rope 
 fastened to the corner, by which the sail 
 is managed. 
 
 Taper.— To Taper, as. taper, tapor, 
 
 TARE 
 
 671 
 
 a waxlight. The question arises whether 
 it is so called because of the tapering 
 form ; or whether to taper is to assume 
 the form of a taper or dip-candle. If the 
 former is the case, a satisfactory origin 
 may be found in a tap or plug for stop- 
 ping a hole, which is smaller at the fore- 
 most end. A tap root is a root of taper- 
 ing form. G. zap/en is applied to different 
 objects of tapering form, as the uvula, an 
 icicle, a fircone ; and the resemblance be- 
 tween an icicle and a dip-candle is strik- 
 ing enough. 
 
 Tapestry. Fr. tapisserie, tapestry; 
 tapis, Prov. tapit, Sp. tape to, Lat. tapete^ 
 hangings for covering walls. Sp. tapar, 
 to stop up, conceal, mantle, cover. 
 
 Tar. AS. tear, tyrwa, ON. tjara, G. 
 theer, Gael, tearr, Fin. terwa, tar. The 
 root seems to be preserved in Swiss targ- 
 gen, toorggen, daarggeln, dohrggeln, tir- 
 gen, dirggen, dirggelen, to dabble, daub, 
 work in dough, handle uncleanlily, bun- 
 gle ; E. dial, teer, to daub with clay, to 
 plaster ; teerwall, a clay-wall. 
 
 To Tar. To set on, to provoke, OFr. 
 atarier, atarjer. Si Deus te atarried vers 
 7ne : si Dommus incitat te adversum me. 
 — Livre des Rois. Ilvient pur nus at- 
 tarier e escharnir : he comes to provoke 
 and to scorn us. — Ibid. They have ter- 
 rid thee to ire. — Wiclif, Psalms. Du. 
 tergen, G. zergen, Pl.D. targen, tarren, 
 tirtarren, to irritate, provoke. Da. tirre, 
 to tease. 
 
 The origin seems to be an imitation of 
 the sound of a dog snarling, used for the 
 purpose of setting the animal on to fight. 
 Sc. tirr, to snarl ; quarrelsome, crabbed. 
 Swab, zerren, to be in ill humour. So w. 
 hyr, the gnar or snarl of a dog, a word 
 used by one who puts a dog forward to 
 fight, a pushing or egging on ; hys, a 
 snarl, also used in setting on a dog ; hysio, 
 to cause to snarl, to set on. 
 
 Taradiddle. An idle story, a falsehood. 
 Formed in the same way as fiddlededee f 
 G. larifari I Langued. tatata ! or Fr. 
 tarare ! interjections mocking what is 
 said and expressing disbelief. See Tattle. 
 
 Tardy. Fr. tardif, It. tardivo, tar do, 
 Lat. tardus, slow. 
 
 * Tare. It. tar a, Fr. tare, Sp. tara or 
 merma signify the deduction to be made 
 from the gross weight of the merchan- 
 dise on account of the package in which it 
 is contained- Of the two Sp. synonyms, 
 mcrma is the participle past, mermi or 
 niermd, of the Arab ramd, to reject ; and 
 in like manner tara is the Arab, tarha, or, 
 with the article, at-tarha, the substantive 
 
672 
 
 TARGET 
 
 of the verb taraha, to reject, deduct, re- 
 trench. — Dozy. 
 
 Target. Fr. targe, t argue ^ It. farga, 
 targetta, Sp. darga, adarga, OHG. targa, 
 G. tartscJie, Gael, targaid, a shield. Com- 
 monly referred to Lat. tergus, hide, skin, 
 thence a shield, as being made of hide. 
 Septem taurorum tergora, a shield of 
 seven bull-hides. 
 
 Walach. targa, however, signifies cer- 
 tain things made of wicker, as a wicker 
 chimney, a wicker bed, and the old Celtic 
 shield was made of wicker. 
 
 Tariff. A book of rates for duties to 
 be laid upon merchandises. — B. Turk. 
 ta'rif, an explaining, describing ; Arab. 
 ta'rtf, explanation, notification; "arif, 
 knowledge. 
 
 Tarn. on. fjorn, a little lake, morass. 
 
 To Tarnish. It. ternire, Fr. ternir, 
 to make dim ; terne, dull, lustreless. OHG. 
 tarnjan, to conceal, cover ; tartikappe, 
 the coat of darkness which made the 
 wearer invisible. AS, deorii, OE. deni, hid- 
 den, secret ; dyrnan, to secrete, conceal. 
 
 Tarpawlin. Properly tar-palling, a 
 tarred pall or covering for goods. 
 
 To Tarry. Fr. tarder, formerly also 
 targer, Grisons targinar, Prov. tardar, 
 tarzar, to delay, tarry, from Lat. tardare. 
 
 Tart. I. AS. teart, teartlic, sharp, 
 biting, pungent. Du. taertig, subacidus, 
 acerbus, immitis. — Kil. Perhaps from 
 Du. tarten, to provoke, defy, as Swiss 
 rdss, sharp, cutting, astringent, from Bav. 
 rassen, G. reizen, to provoke, incite. 
 
 2. It seems that there was no original 
 difference between Fr. tourte, toiit'teait, a 
 cake, a loaf of brown bread, and tarte, a 
 pie or pudding, a flat portion of soft 
 materials which consolidates in baking. 
 It. tort a, a kind of pastry- w^ork, like a 
 rice-pudding baked ; tortello, a little pud- 
 ding — Altieri ; tartera, tarterella, tarta- 
 relle, any tartlet or little tart. — Fl. ' Et 
 aliqui loco turtarujn et zoncarum dant in 
 principio prandii turtas, quas appellant 
 tartas, factas de ovibus [ovis] et caseo et 
 lacte et zucchero.' — De moribus Placen- 
 tiae, A.D. 1388, in Mur. Diss, 24. 
 
 The word has often been explained as 
 if it signified a twist of pastry, from Lat. 
 tortus, twisted ; but, as Scheler remarks, 
 Fr. tarte signifies something flat and 
 squat. It is taken as the type of a 
 squashy consistency in the expression 
 of tarte Bourbounaise, a mire or slough. — 
 Cot. 
 
 The fundamental meaning seems to be 
 a mass of something soft and wet, which 
 when thrown down spreads out and lies 
 
 TASSEL 
 
 flat and broad. Venet. torta cotta al solei 
 Wall, tourte cuite au soleil, a cowdung. 
 Swiss datsch, dotsch, a blow with the flat 
 hand ; ddtschen, to fall with a noise. 
 Then from the noise of a soft thing falling, 
 datsch or dotsch is a cake, a lump of some- 
 thing soft, something unseemly broad, ill- 
 baked bread, doughy pastry ; datscJtig, 
 dotschig, doughy, soft, broad and flat, 
 dumpy ; Swab, daatsch, a dumpling, 
 doughy pastry, unrisen pastry ; datschen, 
 to work in pastry; Bav. datschen, dots- 
 chen, to press down something soft ; 
 datsch, dotsch, mash of apples, potatoes, 
 &c., pudding, dumpling. Kueddtsch, a 
 cowdung. The addition of an r in the 
 imitative syllable gives Bav. trdtschen, 
 trdtscheln, to dabble in the wet ; tart- 
 schen, tortschen,\.o dabble, splash, bedaub; 
 tartsch, mash (brei) of any kind, mess. — 
 Deutsch. Mundart, 4. 444 ; tartsch, ill- 
 cooked food. — Ibid. 3. 9. Grisons trus- 
 cher, tui'schar, to stir up, mix, knead ; 
 turschimm, dabbling. Fr. torcJiis, a mix- 
 ture of clay and cut straw for daubing 
 walls ; torcher, to wipe, properly to daub 
 or smear. 
 
 Tartan. A word not known in Gaelic, 
 and probably taken from Fr. tiretaine, 
 Du. tireteyn, Milanese tarlantaitna, lin- 
 sey-woolsey. In later times the word 
 has come over again in the shape of ta7'- 
 latan, a kind of clear muslin, 
 
 Tartar. Lat, tartarum, the hard de- 
 posit in wine-casks. 
 
 Task, Fr. tasche, Rouchi tasque, a 
 definite amount of work set one to do ; 
 formerly used in the sense of tax, or a 
 definite sum appointed one to pay. Du. 
 tackse, taescke, a task; tackswerck, task- 
 work. — Kil. Lat. taxare, to estimate, to 
 tax, w, tasg, tax, tribute, also task ; 
 giueithio ar dasg, to work by the job ; 
 tasga, to tax, rate, assess. 
 
 Task that a prince gadereth, taulx. — Palsgr. 
 In this first year he lost Normandy and Angeoy, 
 and every ploughland tasked at 35. to get it 
 again. — Grey Friars' Chron. i Hen. viii. 
 
 Tassel, — Tercel, It. terzolo, Fr, tier- 
 celet, a male hawk, said to be a third less 
 than the female. 
 
 Tassel, A hanging tuft of silk or the 
 like for ornament. Entirely distinct from 
 It, t as sell o, Fr, tasseau, Lat, taxi litis, a 
 die or small cube. The relationship of 
 E. tassel is with G. zote, zotte, zottel, a 
 lock of shaggy hair, tuft, fringe, tassel. — 
 Sandei-s. Goldne zbttlein auf dem hut. 
 Mit halbstiefeln und zotte ht daran : Hes- 
 sian boots with tassels. Die sogenannte 
 zatteln, eine zcrschneidung der rander in 
 
TASTE 
 
 lange zacken oder lappen. ohg. zata, 
 zota, juba, villus, fimbria. — Graff. Swiss 
 zattig, zattelt, shaggy, ragged. Henne- 
 berg zassel, a fringe of mud hanging to 
 the skirts of a garment, agrees exactly with 
 the E. word. Bav. zasel, zassel, a catkin 
 or male tassel-like flowers of the hasel, 
 &c., hanging wavering in the wind. We 
 may compare also Bav. doschen, with the 
 dim. doschl, anything bushy, a nosegay, a 
 tassel ; Da. dusk, a tuft or tassel. See 
 Tussock, Tatter. 
 
 Taste. It. t as tare, Fr. faster, tdter, to 
 handle, to feel or examine by the sense of 
 touch ; afterwards applied to examining 
 by the sense of taste. G. fasten, to feel or 
 grope. 
 
 The primary sense is probably to strike 
 with the hand, afterwards softened down 
 to the idea of handling. G.Jliegentaschen, 
 a fly-flap ; inaultasche, a slap on the 
 chops. Swab, datsch, a. blow ; ddtscheln, 
 to pat or stroke ; G. tdtscheln, to stroke ; 
 tatsche, a clumsy hand; tatze, paw of 
 beast ; Bav. tascheln, to plash with rain ; 
 taschen, tascheln, tdtscheln, to strike with 
 a clashing sound, to handle, to feel. 
 
 Tatter. Clothes hanging in rags. — B. 
 ON. toturr, a rag, tatter. Hlifir han- 
 gandi totr : there is shelter in a hanging 
 tatter. The radical image is the flutter- 
 ing of the torn fragment. Bav. tattern, 
 to tremble, shiver; tatterman, a scare- 
 crow, a figure dressed in rags that flutter 
 in the wind. So E. dial, jotider, to chat- 
 ter with cold; jouds, rags.-- Connected 
 forms are seen in G. zotte, zottel, a hang- 
 ing lock, tassel ; zottelig, shaggy ; zottet, 
 zotlet, shaggy, tattered. — Schmeller. 
 Swiss zattig, zattelt, shaggy, ragged ; 
 zattli, a tattered person. OHG. zotarjan, 
 MHG. zotteren, to hang in locks. Chaucer 
 uses tatterwags, as Henneberg zassel, for 
 a fringe of dirt hanging to the skirts of a 
 garment. 
 
 — ^with graie clothis nat full clene 
 
 But frettid full of tatanoags. — R.R. 7210. 
 
 The meaning of which is apparent from 
 the original — 
 
 Qui ont ces larges robes grises 
 ToniQS fretel^es de crotes. — 1. 12663. 
 Banff tatterwallop, to hang or flutter in 
 rags. 
 
 To Tattle. A continuance of broken 
 sound without sense is represented by 
 the syllables ta ta ta, which are used in- 
 terjectionally in Languedoc, as tar are ! 
 in. French, or tdter let at ! in Pl.D., to ex- 
 press contempt or disbelief of what is 
 said. In the latter dialect tatebi is to 
 gabble like a goose, to talk much and 
 
 TAW 
 
 (^11 
 
 quick ; eene oolde tdtel, an old tattler. 
 Taatgoos, tatelgoos, a goose in children's 
 language, a tattling woman; titeltateln, 
 to tattle continuously. It. tattamelare, 
 Pl.D. taotern (Danneil), to prattle. Du. 
 tateren, to stammer, to sound as a trum- 
 pet. 
 
 Tattoo. The imprinting of permanent 
 characters on the living body, a name 
 brought from the South Sea Islands. 
 Tahiti tatau, sign, writing ; Maori ta, to 
 cut, to print, to tattoo. 
 
 Tattoo. The beat of the drum is re- 
 presented by various combinations of the 
 syllables rap, tap, tat, or the like. E. 
 rubadnb, diibadubj Fr. rataplan, rantan- 
 plan, Piedm. tantan, tarapatapan, tara- 
 patan, Sp. taparapdtan, tapatdn. It. tap- 
 patd (Vocab. Milan.), from the last of 
 which we pass to Du. taptoe, the imme- 
 diate parent of our tattoo. It is easy to 
 see that the final toe of taptoe is nothing 
 but the accented tdn or td of the Sp. and 
 It. forms. 
 
 To Taunt. From Fr. tancer, tanser^ 
 to chide, rebuke, check, taunt (Cot.), as 
 "E.. jaunt from Yx. jancer. In tancer, fen- 
 cer, two words seem to be confounded, 
 one from It. fenzone, tenza, OFr. fa?i^on, 
 tance, contention, dispute, quarrel ; and 
 the other probably from It. facca, taccitty 
 Fr. fache, and with the nasal, fanche, a 
 spot, stain, blemish, reproach. 'Ausi 
 pOrte Jesu Christ son sergant parmi 
 I'ordure du monde et parmi les pechids, 
 qu'il ne comprent tenche de mortel pe- 
 chid.' — St Graal, c. 31. 308. 
 
 From the latter of these forms may be 
 explained Fr. tancer, Picard feincher, to 
 chide (Roquef.), as It. facciare, to tax, 
 charge, or accuse, to blame (Altieri), 
 from taccia, a blot. But if we may rely 
 on the forms cited by Florio, another 
 derivation equally plausible may be found 
 in It. tansa, an assessment, a taxing, a 
 taxing with a fault ; fansare, to assess 
 for any payment, to tax, to chide, rebuke. 
 Tautology. Gr. ravToXoyia ; TavTO 
 raiiTov, the same thing. 
 
 Tavern. Lat. faberna, properly, ac- 
 cording to Cic. (from tabula), a boarded 
 hut, a shop, warehouse, tavern. 
 
 To Taw. AS. fawian, Pl.D. tauen, to 
 taw or dress leather ; Du. touwen, mace- 
 rare, emollire, depsere, coria perficere, pa- 
 rare, agitare, subigere. — Kil. To taw 
 leather is properly to dress it soft. ' I 
 tawe a thynge that is styffe, to make it 
 soft, je sou pie. It is styffe yet, but tawe 
 it a little.'— Palsgr. Sc. taw, to work 
 43 
 
674 
 
 TAWDRY 
 
 mortar, to knead. From Pl.D. iaa, tage, 
 taw, Du. taey, G. zdhe, tough. 
 
 Tawdry. Vulgarly showy. Com- 
 monly explained from the cheap finery 
 sold at Saint Awdry's fair. But there 
 is much that is hypothetical in this ex- 
 planation. If such a fair was really held 
 in the Isle of Ely it does not appear how 
 its wares got such celebrity. The term is 
 applied in the earlier instances to a kind 
 of lace or necklace. ' The primrose 
 chaplet, tawdry lace and ring.' — Faithful 
 Shepherd. 
 
 Not the smallest beck 
 But with white pebbles makes her tawdries for 
 her neck. — Polyolbion. 
 
 Now in the legend of St Ethelred she is 
 said to have died of a swelling in her 
 throat, which she considered as a judg- 
 ment for having been vain of her neck- 
 laces in her youth. She said when dying, 
 'memini cum adhuc juvencula essem 
 collum meum monilibus et auro ad vanam 
 ostentationem onerari solitum. Quare 
 plurimum debeo divinae providentiae quod 
 mea superbia tam levi poena defungatur.' 
 Hence the author explains the name of 
 tawdry for a necklace. ' Solent Anglias 
 nostras mulieres torquem quendam ex 
 tenui et subtili serica confectum collo 
 gestare quam Ethelredas torquem appel- 
 lamus, forsan in ejus quod diximus memo- 
 riam.'— Harpsfield, Hist. Eccles. Ang. in 
 Nares. 
 
 Tawny. See Tan. 
 
 Tax. Fr. taxe, Lat. taxare, to value, 
 assess. 
 
 To Teach, as. tcscan, to instruct, 
 direct. Goth., gateihait, to announce, make 
 known ; G. zeigen, to show ; Sanscr. 
 dich, show ; ddich, teach ; Lat. docere, to 
 teach ; dicare^ to appoint ; indicare, to 
 declare, proclaim, appoint ; index, what 
 points out ; Gr. duicvvni, 1 point out, show, 
 teach. 
 
 Team. — To Teem. A team of horses 
 is properly a string of horses drawing a 
 plough or waggon. ON. taumr, a rein, 
 bridle, rope. Fl.D. toom, a rein, and thence 
 a line of progeny, a race ; avertoom, the 
 ascending, neddertoom, the descending 
 line ; AS. team, anything following in a 
 row, race, progeny j tyman, to beget, pro- 
 pagate, teem. 
 
 The same metaphor is seen in ON. 
 tjodr, Pl.D. tider, Du. tudder, a tether, a 
 rope for tying cattle ; A.S. tuddor, off- 
 spring, progeny ; tyddrian, to procreate. 
 
 To Tear. Goth, gatairan, to break 
 up, destroy ; distairan, to tear asunder ; 
 gataura, rent, separation ; OHG. zeran, 
 
 TED 
 
 ferzeran, to destroy ; Du. terren, to tear, 
 separate, destroy. W. tori, to break ; Bret. 
 tcrri, to break, destroy, abrogate, abolish. 
 
 Tear. as. ta;r, tccher, OHG. za/iart 
 Goth, tagr, Gr. daKpv, Lat. lacryma, w. 
 deigr, Gael. dear. 
 
 To Tease. — Teasel.— Tose.—Touse. 
 Du. teesen, to pick, pluck, pull about, 
 touse ; G. zausen, to pick or tease wool, 
 to touse or pull about ; Bav. zaisen, 
 zaiseln, to tease wool, to pluck, pill. ' Wit- 
 twen und waisen schaben und zaisen' to 
 shave and pill widows and orphans. Zais- 
 el, a teasel, a plant of which the head is 
 used in teasing ox raising the nap of cloth. 
 Sc. tousle, to rumple, handle roughly, pull 
 about ; tousie, rough, shaggy, dishevelled. 
 
 The radical idea is picking at a lock or 
 entangled mass. G. zotte, Bav. zottel, 
 zozen, zozel, a cot or lock of hair ; Sw. 
 totte. Da. tot, a bunch of flax or wool ; 
 Sc. tate, teat, tatte, a flock of wool, flax, 
 hay, &c., a lock of hair. ON. tcEta, a bit, 
 tata, to pull to pieces, to tease wool. 
 
 To Tease. To annoy for the purpose of 
 provocation. Probably from the figure of 
 irritating a dog, setting him on to attack 
 by hissing or snarling sounds. To tice a 
 dog is in Pembrokeshire to set him on to 
 attack another animal. OFr. enticer, to 
 excite, provoke. Sw. tussa, to set on, to 
 provoke. See Entice. The Da. tirre, 
 to tease, corresponds to E. to tar or ter, to 
 set on. G. reizen is to entice, to provoke, 
 and also to tease. 
 
 Teat. Pl.D. titte, G. zitze, W. teth^ 
 Gael, did, It tetta, cizza, zizza, Fr. teton, 
 Gr, Tir0<5c, Pol. eye (tsyts), OHG. deddi^ 
 E. dial, diddy, breast. Goth. daddja7t^ 
 ON. totta, to suck. 
 
 TechnicaL Gr. re^v?;, art. 
 
 -tect.— Tegument. Lat. tego, tectum, 
 to cover, preserve : as in Protect, Detec- 
 tion. 
 
 To Ted. To turn or spread abroad new- 
 mown grass. — B. Swiss zetten, zetteln, 
 to separate in small parts, especially ap- 
 plied to the spreading out haycocks with 
 the fork. Zettelkraut, sourcrout, cabbage 
 cut into small bits. Bav. zetten, to strew. 
 ' Sieh, wie zettest du, en ut defluit juscu- 
 lum, decidunt nuces.' ' Sie zatten pulver : ' 
 they scattered powder. Har zetteln, to 
 spread out flax to dry. — Schm. 
 
 Probably from the rattling sound of 
 things falling in a scattered way. Swiss 
 zdttern, to sound like a heavy shower of 
 rain. Ich hore das wasser zdttern. Zdt- 
 tern, zdttern, ziittern, to let a little fall at 
 a time, to sprinkle. Pl.D. toddeln,\.o fall 
 in small quantities as corn from a hole in 
 
 I 
 
TEDIOUS 
 
 a sack. — Danneil. Hesse, zissein, to 
 scatter. 
 
 Tedious. Lat. tcedimn^ weariness ; 
 tcedere, to weary, to irk. 
 
 To Teem, i . To bring forth plenteous- 
 ly. See Team. 
 
 2. To pour out, to unload a cart. — Hal. 
 Sc. too7n, tume, empty, void. ^ ON. tomr, 
 empty, unoccupied ; Sw. totmna, Da. 
 tomme, to exhaust, empty. Gael, taoin^ 
 empty, pour out, bale a boat ; taomaire, 
 a pump. Jr. taomahn, to draw water. 
 Rom. Swiss touma, tejna, to pour. 
 
 Teen. Sorrow, trouble, mischief; to 
 teen, to excite or provoke. — B. AS. ieona, 
 reproach, injury, wrong ; teonan, tynan, 
 to incense, irritate, provoke. OFr. attayne, 
 ataine, anger, hatred, vexation, dispute. 
 Flem. tanen, tenen, irritare.— Kil. 
 
 The commencement of anger and dis- 
 cord is frequently expressed by the figure 
 of kindling or lighting up, as when we 
 speak of wrath being kindled, or a person 
 being incensed, from incendere, to light 
 up. To teend or teen a candle is still pro- 
 vincially used in the sense of lighting a 
 candle. Fris. tdnde, tdne, tine, to kindle. 
 — Outzen. AS. tendafi, Da. tcsnde, to 
 kindle. 
 
 Teetotum. — Totum. Rom. Swiss to- 
 ton. 
 
 Teine. A teine of silver, an ingot of 
 silver. — Chaucer. OHG. zain, a rod, reed, 
 arrow, also a bar or ingot of metal. ON. 
 teinn, a thin bar, a spit. Da. teen, a 
 slender rod, spindle. N. tein, a thin stick, 
 shoot of a tree. 
 
 Tele-. Gr. r^Xt, at a distance. 
 
 To Tell. See Tale. 
 
 Temerity. Lat. temeritasj temere, 
 rashly. 
 
 Temper. — Temperate. Lat. tempero, 
 to mix, to bring to a proper condition, 
 to moderate, govern, refrain. Tempera- 
 mentn7ti, temperatura, mixture in due 
 proportions, condition of a thing with 
 respect to the proportion of conflicting 
 qualities ; temperies^ mixture in due pro- 
 portions, a good moderation or wear. 
 
 Tempest. Lat. tempus, time ; tein- 
 pestas, time, season, weather good or 
 bad, a storm or tempest. 
 
 Temple, i. Lat. templnm, originally 
 an open space with a view all round, and 
 as such adapted for observing auguries ; 
 a place consecrated for that purpose by 
 the augurs, a building for the worship of 
 the gods. 
 
 2. Lat. tempns, pi. tempora^ It. tempia, 
 Fr. tempe, the temples of the head or flat 
 spaces behind the eyes. 
 
 TENDRIL 
 
 675 
 
 TemporaL — Temporise. Lat. tempus^ 
 
 temporis, time. 
 
 To Tempt.— Attempt. Fr. tenter, Lat. 
 tentare, OFr. tenter, temter, tempter, \.o try. 
 The signification of the word may be ex- 
 plained from the figure of shaking at a 
 thing in order to ascertain whether it is firm. 
 The syllables representing sounds of differ- 
 ent kinds are often applied to signify move- 
 ments of corresponding character. Thus 
 from ding-dong, representing the sound 
 of large bells, we have to dangle, to swing 
 to and fro. It. dondon represents the 
 sound of bells, and thence is formed don- 
 dolare, to swing, toss to and fro, dandle. 
 The sound of a smaller bell is represented 
 by tintin, whence Lat. tintin?iire, to ring, 
 tingle. The same elements are applied 
 to movement in It. tentennare, to shake, 
 jog, stir. Tejitennare all' uscio, to knock 
 at a door. Tentennio, jogging, shaking ; 
 tentennio, the tempter, the devil. The 
 contraction which must be supposed in 
 order to produce tentare from tentennare 
 is precisely that which is found in Fr. tin- 
 ier, to tingle, from Lat. tintinnire. 
 
 Ten. Goth, taihun, taihund, OHG. ze- 
 hnn, zehan, G. zehn, Lat. decern, Sanscr. 
 dasan, Gr. ^Ka. 
 
 Tenable. — Tenacious. — Tenant. — 
 Tenement. — Tenure. Lat. teneo, ten' 
 turn, Fr. tenir, to hold ; tenant, holding, 
 whence a tetiant, one holding land under 
 another. Lat. tenax, Fr. tenace, that holds 
 fast, &c. 
 
 Tench. Lat. tinea. 
 
 To Tend.— Tender, -tend, -tension. 
 Lat. tendo, tensu7n, to stretch out, to 
 spread, to reach, to bend his course ; at- 
 tendo, to direct the mind to, to attend, 
 and thence E. tend, to wait upon ; extendo, 
 to stretch out from ; dis'tendo, to stretch 
 apart, &c. 
 
 A tender is a stretching out or offering 
 of something. 
 
 Tender. Fr. tendre, Lat. tener. 
 
 Tendon. It. tendotte, tendine, the 
 sinew which fastens the muscles to the 
 bones like a string to the bow ; tendere^ 
 to stretch. 
 
 Tendril. The tender shoot of a plant, 
 now confined to the twisting claws of 
 climbing plants, probably from having 
 been chiefly applied to the shoots of the 
 vine. It. teneriitne and Fr. tendron signify 
 the tender shoot of a plant, as well as 
 cartilage or gristle considered as the 
 young or tender state of bone. Tene- 
 rella, a young girl. — Altieri. Tenerina, 
 a tendrel or tender sprig of plants. — Tor- 
 riano. 
 
 43* 
 
676 
 
 TENNIS 
 
 Tennis. A game in which a ball is 
 driven to and fro with rackets. To tennis 
 is used by Spencer in the sense of driving 
 to and fro. ' These four garrisons issuing 
 forth upon the enemy will so drive him 
 from one side to another and tennis him 
 amongst them.'— State of Ireland. It is 
 true that the word here used may be 
 taken from the game of tennis, but it is 
 possible, on the other hand, that it may 
 show the origin from whence the name 
 of the game is taken. Now tennis in the 
 foregoing sense might well arise from Fr. 
 tafniser, Du. temsen, to boult or scarce, 
 an operation affording a lively image of 
 an object driven to and fro from one side 
 to the other. A similar change of m be- 
 fore s into n is seen in E. tense, from Fr. 
 temps. 
 
 Tenon. Fr. tenon, It. tenone, a pro- 
 jection made to fit into a mortise ; the 
 leathern holdfasts of a target. That by 
 which something holds, from tenir, to 
 hold. 
 
 Tense. OFr. tens (Fr. teinps), Lat. 
 te?npus, time. 
 
 -tent. In content, retetttive, &c. 
 See -tain. 
 
 Tent. I. Lat. tentorium, Fr. te7ite, a 
 tent. Fr. tenture, a stretching, extending, 
 displaying ; tenture d'une chambre, the 
 hangings of a chamber. It. tenda, a tent 
 or any cloth to hang before a window or 
 shop to keep off the sun. Tendere, Fr. 
 tendf-e, to stretch, display, spread. 
 
 2. It. tenia, a surgeon's probe or search- 
 ing needle, from tentare, to try, to search 
 a sore, as probe, from probare, to try or 
 prove. 
 
 Tenter. Fr. tendoires, frames used by 
 clothiers for stretching cloth. ' Quand 
 les dtoffes ont passd le moulin on les etale 
 sur ces tendoires pour les faire s^cher.' — 
 Beronie in v. Tendas. Tentar, for cloth, 
 tend, tende. — Palsgr. Lang, te^itd, to 
 spread out cloth as a shelter against the 
 sun ; tento, an awning. Fr. tendre, to 
 stretch ; tenture, a stretching, spreading, 
 extending, displaying. — Cot. w. deintur, 
 a tenter, is borrowed. 
 
 Tenuity, -tenuate. Lat. tenuis, thin ; 
 attenuo, extenuo, to make thin, to lessen. 
 See Thin. 
 
 Tepid. Lat. tepidus ; tep'eo, to be 
 warm. 
 
 Tergiversation. Lat. tergiversari j 
 tergus, the back, versare, to turn. 
 
 Term.— Terminate.— Terminus. Lat. 
 ter?ninus, a bound, landmark, limit, end ; 
 Gr. rkpua, -arog, a goal, bound, end. 
 
 Termagant, A ranting, bold woman. 
 
 TESTAMENT 
 
 From Termagant or Tervagant, one of 
 the supposed deities of the Mahometans, 
 represented in our old plays as a person- 
 age of a most violent character. ' Gron- 
 nyng upon her lyke Termagauntes in a 
 play.'— Bale in Todd. 
 
 So help me, Mahoun of might, 
 And Termagant, my God so bright. 
 
 Guy of Warwick in N. 
 
 It. Termegisto, Tremegisto, the child of 
 thunder and of the earthquake, by met. a 
 great quarrellous boaster.— Fl. 
 
 Ternary. Lat. ter, thrice ; ternus, 
 three and three together. 
 
 Terrace. It. terrazza, terracia,co2irsQ 
 earth, rubble, rubbish ; an open walk, flat 
 roof. — Fl. 
 
 TerrestriaL— Territory. Lat. terra, 
 the earth. 
 
 Terrier, i. A small dog used to hunt 
 badgers, foxes, or rabbits in their holes. 
 Fr. terrier, the hole, burrow, or earth of 
 a cony or fox. — Cot. 
 
 2. Fr. terrier, papier terrier, the court- 
 roll or catalogue of all the names of a 
 Lord's tenants, and the rents they pay and 
 the services they owe him ; from tej're, 
 land. 
 
 Terrine.— Tureen. Fr. territie, an 
 earthen vessel, with us confined to the 
 vessel that holds soup. 
 
 Terror.— Terrible. Lat. terreo, to 
 frighten. Sw. darra, to shiver, to tremble. 
 
 Terse, Lat. tergeo, tersujn, to wipe ; 
 tersus, wiped, clean, neat. 
 
 Tertiary. Lat. tertius, the third. 
 
 Tesselated. Lat. tessera, a square 
 piece of anything, a die to play with ; 
 tessella, a small square tile, to be used in 
 mosaic work. 
 
 Test.— Testaceous. ' Test is a broad 
 instrument made of maribone ashes 
 hooped about with iron, in which refiners 
 do fine, refine, and part gold and silver 
 from other metals, or (as we used to say) 
 put them in the test or trial' — Blount, 
 Glossographia, 1679, The term is then 
 metaphorically applied to any operation 
 by which the quality of a thing is tried. 
 
 From Lat. testa, shell, earthen vessel, 
 potsherd, was taken It, testo, an earthen 
 pitcher, a goldsmith's cruze or melting- 
 pot, the test of any silver or gold, — Fl. 
 Fr. test, tet, shell, potsherd, test. 
 
 Lat, testaceus, made of brick or tile, 
 having a shell. 
 
 Testament. — Testify, -test. Lat. 
 testis, a witness ; testor, to bear or call to 
 witness, to make his will. Protestor, to 
 declare against a thing. Contestor^ to 
 
 I 
 
TESTER 
 
 come to an issue ; contestation, the trial of 
 a cause by hearing both sides, a contest. 
 
 Tester. It. testier a, the testern or 
 headpiece of anything, crown of a hat, 
 head of a cask, &c. It. testa, Fr. tete, the 
 head, are from Lat. testa, an earthen pot, 
 a shell, analogous to G. kopf, from OHG. 
 kopf, a cup.— Diez. The dim. testula 
 gives It. teschio, the scull. 
 
 Tether, on. tjodra, to tether. Fris. 
 ttidder, Pl.D. tider, tier, a tether. Gael. 
 taod, a halter, hair-rope, reins ; teadhair 
 (tyaoer), to tether. Manx tead, teid, a 
 rope. 
 
 Tetra-. Gr. prefix rerpa, for rkxrapa, 
 four. 
 
 Tetter. A humour accompanied with 
 redness and itching. — B. The word 
 tetter was used in the sense of itching. 
 It. pizzicare, to itch and smart, to tetter ; 
 pizza, a kind of itching scurf, tetter, or 
 ringworm. — FI. It was shown under Itch 
 that the name of the affection was taken 
 from the tremulous or twitching move- 
 ments to which it leads ; and in the same 
 way tetter must be connected with ON. 
 titra, Suffolk titter, Bav. tattern, G. zittern, 
 to tremble ; whence zittennahl, zitter, a 
 tetter or ringworm ; zitteraal, an electri- 
 cal eel. 
 
 Text. — Texture, -text. Lat. texo, 
 textiim, to weave ; textum, textus, a weav- 
 ing or web, a composition, the subject of 
 a discourse. Prcetexo (to weave in front), 
 to border, cover, encompass, and met. to 
 colour, cloak, excuse, pretend ; prcetext- 
 um, a border, a pretence, pretext. 
 
 Thane, as. thegen, thegn, a minister, 
 disciple, attendant, a soldier, servant of 
 the king, nobleman ; ON. thegn, a brave 
 man, freeman, man, warrior ; thegnskapr, 
 bravery, generosity, honour ; OHG. degan, 
 a male, a soldier, disciple ; edildegan, 
 nobleman ; heridegan, a warrior ; swert- 
 degan, a guardsman ; deganheit, bravery, 
 valour. 
 
 The word may perhaps be accounted 
 for from the sword being taken as the 
 emblem of the male sex as the distaff 
 of the female. OFlem. sweerdmaghe, 
 sweerdside, relations on the male side ; 
 spilletnaghe, spitidel-maghe, relations on 
 the female side. Fris. ' Ende sint hia 
 lika-sib dia sweerdsida ende dia spindel- 
 sida : ' the male and female side are in 
 the same degree of consanguinity. In 
 this way from G. degen, a sword, the word 
 might come to signify a male child, young 
 man, warrior. 
 
 Thank. — Think. Goth, thagkjan, 
 thankjan^ G. denken, to think ; Goth. 
 
 THEME 
 
 677 
 
 thugkjan, G. diinken, to seem or appear, 
 to present itself in thought. Gr. IokCi, tSo^e, 
 it seems, seems good; SoKw,tdoKa fiot, I seem 
 to myself, I think ; SoKt), a vision. Lith. 
 dingti, to seem ; man ding, methinks, it 
 seems to me. Kas dingsta taw, what is 
 your opinion ? Dingoti, to think ; dings- 
 tis, opinion. 
 
 ' AS. thafic, thought, will, favour, thanks. 
 Heora agnes thances, of their own will. 
 Thurh 7incres hearran thane, through the 
 will or favour of our lord. Thanks are a 
 recognition of good will, an expression on 
 our part of the feelmg which an intended 
 kindness should produce. Bav. dank, 
 will, voluntary act ; meines dankes, of my 
 own accord ; dankes, willingly. 
 
 ON. thekkja, to observe, to recognise ; 
 thekkjask, to seem good ; thakka, to 
 thanic ; thokka, to take notice of, to think, 
 be of opinion, thokkask, to be agreeable 
 to ; thokki, disposition towards, good 
 will ; thykkja, thotta, thot, to seem, to think. 
 Da. tykkes, to think, to be of opinion ; 
 tykke, opinion, judgment, will, pleasure; 
 tcekkes, to please ; tcsnke, to think ; takke^ 
 to thank. 
 
 Thatch. AS. thac, thcec, a roof, thatch ; 
 theccan, to cover, conceal ; sceome theccan^ 
 to cover his nakedness ; thece, cover ; 
 thecen, a roof. Da. tag, roof; tcskke, to 
 roof, to thatch. G. dach, a roof ; decken^ 
 to cover. Lat. tegere, Gr. aHyetv, to cover ; 
 tectum, (TTsyr), a roof. 
 
 Thaw. AS. tha%van, Du. dooden, ont~ 
 dooden (Kil.), dooijen, E. dial, to dove, ON. 
 thida, theya. Da. toe, to liquefy, to thaw ; 
 ON. thd, unfrozen earth ; theyr, thaw, mild 
 weather ; OHG. dawjan, G. danen, ver~ 
 dauen, to digest or dissolve in the stomach. 
 The radical sense is to become soft, to 
 melt. Gael, tais, moist, soft ; taisichy 
 moisten, soften, melt ; Bret, tenzi, to 
 melt, to disappear ; Corn, tedha, to melt, 
 dissolve, thaw ; w. tawdd, melting, 
 dripping ; toddi, to melt. Lat. tabesco, to 
 dissolve, consume, waste away ; tabes, 
 miouldering away, corruption, consump- 
 tion. 
 
 Radically distinct from ON. dbgg, Da. 
 dug, Du. daauw, dew, although the two 
 forms are confounded in G. thauen, to 
 dissolve, to thaw, to fall in dew, and in 
 Pl.D. dauen, to fall in dew, to thaw, to 
 digest in the stomach. 
 
 Theatre. Gr. S-larpov, from Btaofiat, to 
 behold. 
 
 Theft. See Thief. 
 
 Theist.— Theo-. Gr. GeSg, God. 
 
 Theme.— Thesis. Gr. tIOtjiii, to place, 
 put, and thence O'sixa, what is laid down, 
 
678 
 
 THEOREM 
 
 a proposition, subject of discussion ; Ohtc, 
 a setting, placing, affirmation. 
 
 Theorem. — Theory. From Gr. Qtajpog, 
 a spectator, springs Otoopku), to look at, to 
 contemplate, speculate on, whence Otwpia, 
 a viewing, contemplation, theory ; Otwprina, 
 a speculation of the mind. 
 
 Thews, in the sense of manners, quali- 
 ties (as. iheawas)^ is nearly obsolete, and 
 can hardly be the same word with thews 
 in the sense of muscles, brawn. Thew in 
 the latter sense seems identical with thigh, 
 the fleshy part of the leg. ON. thjo, but- 
 tocks, thick part of the thigh, especially 
 in cattle and horses ; thjd-leggr, thigh- 
 bone. AS. theohf Du. diede, diege, die, 
 thigh. 
 
 Thick. ON. thyckr, thjiikr, close press- 
 ed, tight, thick ; G. dick, thick, frequent ; 
 Gael, tiiigh, thick, close set, frequent. 
 
 The radical idea seems to be close set, 
 compact, solid, then broad in comparison 
 to length, and should be derived from a 
 verb signifying stick, or thrust into, as 
 compact, from Lat. pangere, to stick into. 
 So also Gr. Traxvg, thick, and Tjjyog, firm, 
 solid, seem connected with vf]yvvijii, to 
 drive or stick into, to stiffen, condense ; 
 and Esthonian /<3:-^j-, thick, with pakima, 
 to stuff, to cram. The origin of thick 
 maybe preserved in Fin. tukkia, to thrust 
 into, to stop ; ttikko, tuket, a stopper ; 
 Esthon. tiikkima,tiikma,tQ) stuff, to cram, 
 and thence tiikkis, a stopper ; Magy. 
 dugni, to stick into, to stop ; Sc. dook, a 
 peg. The Du. dik, ODu. dijck (K.), thick, 
 would thus be connected with dijck, a dike, 
 a dam, a pond, as Bret, stank, close press- 
 ed, thick, with stank, a pond. 
 
 Thief. — Theft. Goth, thiuvs, ON. 
 thjofr, G. dieb, thief. 
 
 Thigh. AS. theoh, Du. diede, dij'e, 
 dieghe, thigh. ON. thjd. See Thews. 
 
 Thill. AS. thil, a stake, boarding, 
 planking, the pole or shafts of a carriage ; 
 ON. thil, thili, a pannelling, boarding. 
 
 Thimble. A protection for the thumb. 
 
 Thin. ON. thunnr, Du. dun, G. diinnj 
 Lat. tenuis, W. teneu, tenau, Gael. tana. 
 
 Thine. Goth, thu^ gen. theina, thou ; 
 theins, thine. 
 
 Thing. ON., AS. thing, G. ding. The 
 primitive meaning seems to be discourse, 
 then solemn discussion, judicial con- 
 sideration, council, court of justice, law- 
 suit, cause, sake, matter, or subject of 
 discourse. ' Zelit thir iz Lucas uuaz iro 
 thing thar tho uuas :' Lucas tells you 
 what their discourse then was. — Otfried. 
 AS. For minum thingum, on my account, 
 
 THORP 
 
 for my sake. On thisuin thingum, in 
 this state. 
 
 The analogy of the foregoing train of 
 thought would lead us to suppose that 
 Fr. causer, to prattle, talk idly, wrangle, 
 strive together in words (Cot.), G. kosen, 
 to talk, chatter together, indicate the 
 origin of Lat. causa, subject, matter, 
 question, anything that is spoken about 
 or controverted, a suit at law, a cause, 
 which in It. cosa and Fr. chose acquires 
 exactly the sense of E. thing. A like 
 connection may be traced between G. 
 sache, a discussion, matter of discussion, 
 suit at law, affair, thing, ursache, cause, 
 and sagen, to say ; or between the cor- 
 responding AS. saca, dispute, suit at law, 
 E. sake, cause, and secgati, to speak, say. 
 A like train of thought is found in Maori 
 mea, to speak, say, do, think, also a thing. 
 
 To Think, Thought is considered in 
 primitive languages as internal speech, as 
 in Maori ki, speech, thought, to speak, 
 to think ; 77iea, to speak, think, do ; also 
 a thing. See Thing, Thank. 
 
 Third. AS. thridda, Goth, thridja, 
 Du. derde, ON. thridi, G. dritte, Lat. ter- 
 tius, Gr. Tp'iTOQ, Sec. See Three. 
 
 To Thirl, as. thyrel, a hole ; thirlian, 
 to pierce a hole through. G. thiir, a 
 door ; Bav. tilr, tiirlein, tirl, a door, hole, 
 opening. Das hosentiirlein, the slit in 
 the trowsers. Tiirlin an der ?iasen, the 
 nostril. — Schm. The Lat. forare, to 
 pierce, seems connected in like manner 
 \iit\\. fores, doors. 
 
 Goth, thairh, through ; thairko, a hole. 
 MHG. diirhel, dUrkel, perforated ; a hole. 
 
 Thirst. Goth, thaurstis, dry ; ga- 
 thairsan, to become dry ; thaursjan, to 
 thirst ; thaurseith mik, I am thirsty, I 
 am dry ; thajirstei, thirst. ON. thurr, G. 
 diirr, dry ; therra, thurka, to dry ; 
 thyrstr, thirsty. Gr. rspffu), to dry up, to 
 parch. Lat. torreo, to parch or dry up, 
 to roast. 
 
 Thistle. ON. thistill, G. distel. 
 
 Thong. AS. thivang, thwong, on. 
 thvengr, a strap. Related to whang, a 
 slice or strap, as thwack and whack, 
 thwittle and whittle, thwart and whart. 
 Under this guidance we are led to sup- 
 pose that the original meaning is a separ- 
 ate portion, a slice. See Whang. 
 
 Thorn. Goth, thaurnus, on. thorny 
 G. dorn, Pol. ciern, Boh. trn, w. draen. 
 Probably from the root preserved in Lith. 
 durru, durti, to prick, stick. 
 
 Thorp, — Throp. A village. G. dorf, 
 s. s. N. torp, a small farm ; a troop of 
 cattle. ON. thorp, a bank or eminence, a 
 
THOUGHT 
 
 group of houses, a collection of three 
 people. 
 
 The origin seems preserved in Gael. 
 tarp, a clod, a lump. Perhaps Lat. turba, 
 a crowd, may be the same word. See 
 Troop, 
 
 Thought. See Think. 
 
 Thousand. Goth, thustmdi, ohg. 
 zenstunt, Lith. tukstantis^ Lett, tukstots. 
 
 Thowl. Du. dolle, an oar-pin ; ON. 
 thoUr, a fir-tree, poet, tree in general ; 
 rothrar-thollr, an oar-pin. N. toll, tall, 
 fir-tree ; toll, a pin, peg, oar-pin ; Da. 
 toll, a stopper, an oar-pin. 
 
 Thrall, on. thrall, Gael, trdill, a 
 slave. 
 
 Thrapple. — Thropple. as. throt- 
 bolla, the throat-pipe. 
 
 To Thrash. — Thresh, on. thriskja, 
 thryskva. Da. tcerske, Sw. troska, G. 
 dreschen, Du. droschen, doschen, Goth. 
 thriskan, to thresh. Imitative of the 
 sound. G. draiischen, to sound as heavy 
 rain ; Bav. dreschen, to tramp ; durch's 
 koth dreschen, to tramp through the mud ; 
 gedrasch, mud, sludge. It. trescare, OFr. 
 trescher, to dance ; Sp. triscar, to make 
 a noise with the feet, to stamp, to frisk ; 
 Milan, trescd, to thresh, especially to 
 tread out rice and millet under horses' 
 feet. Bohem. treskati, triskati, to knock, 
 strike, crack, crash, chatter ; Pol. trzask, 
 crack, crash, clap. 
 
 Thrave. A bundle, a certain number 
 of sheaves of corn set up together. Da. 
 trave, a score of sheaves ; Sw. trafive, a 
 pile of wood. 
 
 The proper meaning seems a handful. 
 AS. threaf, manipulus. ON. thrifa, to 
 gripe, to seize. " 
 
 Thread. Du. draed, thread ; G. draht, 
 drath, thread, wire, straw-band. From 
 drehen, Du. draayen, to turn, twist. 
 
 Threat, as. threan, threagan, threa- 
 wian, to reprove, reprehend, correct, 
 chastise, punish, afflict, vex, torment ; 
 threading, reproof, threats ; threat, re- 
 proof, threat, punishment ; threatan, 
 threatian, to compel (Mat. v. 41), to cor- 
 rect, to threaten. Mid thaere bisiie men 
 threatian, to warn men by the example. 
 Thaet hio hine threatige to thon th^t he 
 bet do, that she should reprove him to 
 the end that he should do better. Threat- 
 ende, violent. — Mat. xi. 12. 
 
 ON. thruga, to press, compel, force; 
 N. truga, trua, to force, to drive by 
 threats or fear ; to threaten ; Sw. truga, 
 trufwa, to force, to drive by threats or 
 fear ; trug, constraint, threats ; Da. true, 
 G. drohen, Du. dreigen, drouweny droten 
 
 THRIVE 679 
 
 (Kil), Pl.D. drowen, droen, Fris. truwa, 
 druwa, to threaten. Goth, threihan, to 
 press, crowd, straiten. 
 
 Three. Sanscr. tri, Lith. trys, Lat. 
 tres. 
 
 Threshold, as. therscwald, thresc- 
 wald, therscold, therscol, OE. threswold, 
 ON. threskjolldr, throskulldr, Sw. troskel^ 
 Da. tcerskel, OG. driscuvili, truscheufel, 
 Bav. drischaiifel, Swiss drischiibel. Not 
 to be confounded with G. thiirschwelle, E. 
 doorsill, which are composed of different 
 elements. 
 
 The latter element in threshold is as. 
 weald, wold, wood ; OSw. wal, ol, bar, 
 staff. In the story of Genesis and Exodus 
 we have rodewold, synonymous with rode- 
 tre in Hampole, the roodtree or cross ; 
 and archewald, the ark, corresponding to 
 earcebo?'d in Csedmon. 
 
 Noe sag ut of the archewolde. — 1. 614. 
 
 With regard to the first element of the 
 word it must be observed that AS. thers- 
 col, therscel, is a flail as well as threshold, 
 and in Dorset drashel is still used in 
 both senses. Now the notions of tread- 
 ing and threshing are closely connected 
 together, and indeed the primitive mode 
 of threshing was to tread out the corn 
 under the feet of oxen. Milan trescd, to 
 thresh, especially to tread out rice and 
 millet under horses' feet ; It. trescare, to 
 dance, Sp. triscar, to stamp, to frisk. 
 
 Threshold, then, is the bar on which 
 we tread on entering the house, as Lane. 
 threshel, Dorset drashel, a flail, is a staff 
 for threshing. In Sweden the two ele- 
 ments of the flail are drapwalox slagwal, 
 the bar that strikes the corn, and hand- 
 wal, handol, the handstafif or handle. 
 
 Thrift. Well doing, then economy, 
 sparingness. See Thrive. 
 
 To Thrill. Two words seem con- 
 founded. 
 
 1. To thrill or thirl, to pierce. See 
 Thirl. 
 
 2. To tingle, shiver, to feel a sharp 
 tingling sensation. 
 
 A sudden horror chill 
 Ran through each nerve and thrilled in every 
 vein. — Addison. 
 
 It. trillare, to shake ; Fr. dridriller, to 
 tingle, as mule-bells. See Trill. 
 
 To Thrive. — Thrift, on. thrifa, to 
 seize, snatch, lay hold of; thrifask, pro- 
 perly to take to oneself, then as Da. trives, 
 to thrive, prosper, attain well-being, grow, 
 flourish ; thrifnadr, well-being, advan- 
 tage, gain} thrifill, a careful, diligent 
 man ; thrtf, good luck, well-being, dili- 
 gence, good bodily condition. N. triva. 
 
68o 
 
 THROAT 
 
 THRUST 
 
 I 
 
 to snatch ; trive ti^ to seize hold of ; tri- 
 vast, to thrive, to be satisfied with his 
 circumstances. Comp. G. zunehmen, to 
 increase, improve. Der mensch nimmt 
 2u, the man grows fat. Das zunehmen, 
 increase, growth, thriving. — Kuttn. Da. 
 tilt age ^ to assume, to increase. 
 
 Throat.— Throttle. AS. throte, throt- 
 bolUiy Du. strot^ It. strozza, strozzolo, 
 the throat ; OHG. droza^ - drozza, fauces, 
 frumen, G. drossei, drostelj the throat, 
 gullet, Bav. dross, the throat, the soft 
 flesh under the chin. 
 
 To Throb. To beat in strong pulsations, 
 a notion which the word seems adapted 
 to express in virtue of the abrupt effort 
 with which it is pronounced. We are 
 unable to show any very closely related 
 forms, but may cite G. trab, representing 
 the jolting trot of a horse, or the measured 
 tramp of troops. Pol. drabowad, to trot. 
 Sw. trubb (in tmbbnos, snubnose, trubbig, 
 stumpy) must once have signified a jog, a 
 projection, to be compared with Du. 
 strobbelen^ to stumble, to dash the foot 
 against an obstacle. A lighter kind of 
 action is expressed by the root trep in 
 Lat. trepido, to tremble ; Russ. trepetaty, 
 trepetatsya, to tremble, palpitate, beat. 
 
 Throne. Gr, Qqovoq, Lat. thro mis. 
 
 To Throw. — Throe. The primitive 
 meaning of the word is to turn or whirl, 
 and thence to cast or hurl. It will be ob- 
 served that the Lat. torquere has the same 
 two senses, and it is probably a true 
 equivalent of the E. word. Sc. ihraw, to 
 wreathe, to twist. 
 
 ' Thraw the wand while it is green .' 
 
 The E. throw is still technically used 
 in the sense of twist or turn when we 
 speak of throwwg silk j and in pottery 
 the man who works the clay upon the 
 wheel is called the thrower. Throwyn 
 or turne vessel of a tre, torno. — Pr. Pm. 
 To throw is still used in the sense of 
 turning wood in the North. A throw, a 
 turner's lathe. — Hal. G. drehen^ Du. 
 draien, to twist, or turn. w. troi, to turn ; 
 Bret, trei, to twist, to turn ; tro, a turn, 
 an occasion ; tro-d-tro, turn about, in 
 turns, successively, w. tro, a turn, a time. 
 
 The analogy of these latter forms shows 
 that AS. thrag,thrah,OT£.. throw, ^z. thraw, 
 a space of time, an occasion, are to be 
 explained in the sense of a turn, and not 
 from Goth, thragjan, to run, as supposed 
 by Jamieson. By throws, in turns. . 
 
 By throwes eche of them it hadde. — Gower. 
 
 The Sc. thraw is used in the sense of 
 wrench or sprain, wrest, distort, oppose, 
 
 resist, use violence with. Hence, on the 
 one hand, we pass to the idea of pang or 
 agony in the dead thraws or agonies of 
 death, the throes of childbirth. The word 
 torture, by which we express the highest 
 degree of pain, at bottom means simply 
 twisting. 
 
 On the other hand, the figure of twist- 
 ing or wresting, taken as the type of 
 violent exertion, leads to ON. thrd, ob- 
 stinacy, continuance, opposition ; N. traa^ 
 obstinate, enduring, close, opposing, cross, 
 harsh, bitter of taste ; NE. thro, eager, 
 earnest, sharp, bold. 
 
 Thoghe the knyght were kene and thro. 
 The outlawys wanne the chylde hym fro. 
 
 MS. in Hal. 
 
 A like train of thought may be observed 
 in Du. wringen, to wring or twist, and 
 wrang, sharp, harsh, sour, hard. 
 
 Throng, as. thrang, a press or crowd ; 
 thringan, G. dringen, to press ; ON. 
 thryngva ithryng, thrttnginn), to press ; 
 throjigr. Da. trang^ narrow, compressed, 
 close, pressing, difficult. Corresponding 
 forms without the nasal are found in ON. 
 thriiga, Da. trykke, G. driicken, AS. thric- 
 can, to press ; ON. uthrugadr, voluntarily, 
 un compelled. Goth, tht'eihan, to press, 
 to afflict. 
 
 AS. thriccan survives in E. dial, thrutch, 
 to press, thrust ; thrutchitigs, the last- 
 pressed whey in the making of cheese. 
 
 Throstle. — Thrush, g. drossei, dros- 
 tel. Da. trost, Pol. Russ. di'ozd, Lat. turdus. 
 
 Through. Goth, thairh, OHG. durh^ 
 G. ditrch, AS. thurh, thicruh, through ; w. 
 trw, trwy, trwydd, through, by, by means 
 of ; traws, transverse direction, adverse, 
 cross ; Gael, thar, over, across ; tarsuinn, 
 transverse, across ; Lat. trans, across, 
 over, on the other side. 
 
 Thrum. An end of thread. G. trumm, 
 a short, thick piece, an end of candle, 
 rope's end, end of a thread, of a piece of 
 stuff. The ends of the thread of the warp 
 cut off by the weaver are called trumm, 
 in Switzerland triem. Trii7n7ner, in pi., 
 fragments. Von ort bis an das drum, 
 from beginning to end. The primitive 
 form of the word is probably shown in 
 Sw. trubb, stump, preserved in trubbndsa, 
 trubbnos, a snubnose ; trubbig, stumpy, 
 blunt. See Throb. 
 
 To Thrum. To play badly on an in- 
 strument. ON. thruma, to make a noise, 
 to thunder. See Strum. 
 
 To Thrust, on. thrysta, to press, 
 thrust. Goth, trudan, to tread, to tread 
 grapes in a press. Lat. trudere, trusum, 
 to thrust. Russ. trud\ pains, effort, 
 
THUD 
 
 labour ; potricdit\ to put work upon one, 
 to incommode. 
 
 Thud. The sound of a dull blow, a 
 violent impulse. Lat. tundo^ tutudi, to 
 beat, to pound. 
 
 Thumb. OHG. dumo, tkumo, G. dau- 
 men, ON. thumall. 
 
 Thump. Imitative of the sound of a 
 blow. It. thojnbo, thumbo, a thump. — Fl. 
 Champ, toinbe^ a hammer, tomblr, to re- 
 sound. Da. dump, Bolognese /<?«y5 sound 
 of a heavy fall, or the fall itself, w. twm- 
 pian, to thump, stamp, strike upon, fall. 
 Fr. tomber, to fall. Let. dujnpis, noise, 
 uproar. 
 
 Thunder, o. donner^ Lat. tonitru, Fr. 
 tonnerre; Lat. tonare, to thunder. ON. 
 du7ta, dynja, to bellow, roar, rush ; dunr, 
 dynr. Da. dunder, dundren, rumbling 
 sound, roar, din. Tordejtens, kanonernes 
 dwidren, the roar of thunder or cannon. 
 To dun was used in OE. in the sense of 
 making a hollow noise. 
 
 Now wendeth this oste in wardes ten 
 Ful wel araied with noblemen ; 
 The dust arose, the contre bad wonder, 
 The erthe dotted like the thonder. 
 
 Syr Generides, 1. 3774. 
 
 Dumiyn in sownde, bundo. — Pr. Pm. 
 Lith. dundeti, Sanscr. taft, to sound. The 
 reduplicate form of It. tontonare, to 
 thunder, to make a confused noise, to 
 grumble (Fl.), shows the imitative nature 
 of the word, and the same may be said 
 of Yolof denadeno, thunder, and Yoruba 
 dondoH, a drum. Wolof danou, thunder. 
 In the face of forms like these it is a 
 wanton preference of the abstruse to de- 
 rive the word from the Sanscr. root tan, 
 which from signifying j-/r^/(:/z, is supposed 
 to express ' that tension of the air which 
 gives rise to sound.' It is impossible 
 that so incongruous a notion as the 
 stretching of the air could ever have 
 occurred to an unscientific mind. The 
 tone or pitch of a musical sound is a 
 totally different notion, which, depend- 
 ing as it does on the tension of the 
 sounding chord, is naturally expressed by 
 the root in question. The imitative sylla- 
 ble is strengthened by the introduction of 
 an r in It. tronare, to thunder ; Da. dron, 
 din, peal, rumbling noise ; G. dronen, to 
 drone. 
 
 Thursday, on. Thorsdagr, the day of 
 Thor, who in the northern mythology 
 filled the place of Jove, the thunderer 
 (Du. dondergod), in classic mythology. 
 Hence, in Mid-Lat. it is called dies Jovis, 
 AS. thunres dcEg, G. donnerstag. 
 
 Thwack. • Thwick-thwack represents 
 
 TICKET 
 
 681 
 
 the sound of blows. Whack is an ana- 
 logous form. So we have thwite and 
 thwittle as well as whittle, to hack with a 
 knife ; twirl, synonymous with whirl; 
 twink with wink j g. zwerch, and quer^ 
 across ; zwehle and quehle, a towel. 
 
 Thwart, on. thvera, to slant ; thwerr, 
 AS. thweorh, ohg. dwerah, g. zwerch, 
 cross, wry ; Du. dwaers, dweers, oblique, 
 transverse ; dweerwind, the whirlwind. 
 ON. 7iin thvert, across, athwart. From 
 the same root signifying turn or twist, 
 which produces Du. dwarlen, to whirl, 
 and E. twirl. AS. thwiril, a churnstaff or 
 whirl for stirring milk. It is seen without 
 the initial dental in Fr. virer, to turn, in 
 E. whirl and Lat. vertere. 
 
 To Thwite. See Whittle. 
 
 Thyme. Gr, Quiiog or Qvnov. 
 
 Tiara. Gr. rtapa, a royal head-dress 
 in the East 
 
 Tick. Fr. tigue, G. zecke, the parasite 
 on dogs, &c. 
 
 Tick.— Ticking. Du. tijk, G. zieche, 
 Bohem. cycha, a tick or covering of a bed. 
 Champ, tiquette, a pillow-case. Grisons 
 teigia, taja, taschia, a tick, sheath, case. 
 Fr. taie d'oreiller, a pillow-case. All 
 apparently from Lat. theca (Gr. QrjKti), a 
 case. The teke of a bed, teca culcitraria. 
 — Levins. But the G. dial, forms, zilge, 
 ziehe, shew that in G. the word has been 
 felt as if, like the syn. iiberzug, it signi- 
 fied something drawn on, from ziehen. 
 
 To Tick. Parmesan tac-tac, Brescian 
 tech-tech, toch-toch. It. ticche-ii^cche, repre- 
 sent the sound of knocking. Bolognese 
 tectac, a cracker. Tick, with the thin 
 vowel, represents a lighter sound, and is 
 then applied in a secondary sense to a 
 slight touch. ' Such ticking, such toying, 
 such smiling, such winking, &c.' — Hal. 
 Du. tikken, to pat, touch ; Pl.D. tickett, 
 anticken, to touch gently, as with the tips 
 of the fingers. — Danneil. To tick a thing 
 off is to mark an item with the touch of 
 the pen. Hence to take a thing on tick is 
 to have it jotted down or marked on the 
 score instead of paying. So V\.T>. klitzen, 
 to jot down in writing ; upp den klitz 
 halen, to take upon tick. When this im- 
 port of the term was not understood, a 
 false etymology led precisionists to speak 
 of taking upon ticket. 
 
 Ticket. A mark stuck on the outside 
 of anything to give notice of something 
 concerning it. Fr. itiquet, a little note, 
 breviate, or ticket, especially such a one as 
 is stuck up on the gate of a court ; eti- 
 quette, a ticket fastened within a lawyer's 
 bag, &c. — Cot. Rouchi estiguette, a point- 
 
^82 
 
 TICKLE 
 
 ed stick, and ludicrously a sword (a peg — 
 Roquefort), from estiquer^ to stick into. 
 
 To Tickle. Provincially tittle, Lat. 
 titillare, Sc. kittle, Du. kittelen, G. kitzeln, 
 Fr. chatouiller, Wal. catt, kdki, Gael. 
 ciogail, diogail, Magyar csiklani, csikolni, 
 to tickle ; csikos, ticklish. The explana- 
 tion of the expression may be found in 
 Pl.D. ticken (Danneil), to tick, or touch 
 lightly, to twitch or cause to twitch. A 
 tickling is a light touch that causes one 
 to twitch. See Itch. 
 
 Esthon. kiddisema, to crackle, swarm, 
 creep, to tickle ; kuttistama, kddditema, 
 to tickle ; Fin. kutittaa, to tickle, to itch ; 
 kutinen, ticklish ; kutina, tickling, creep- 
 ing ; kutia, kutita, to be tickled, to itch ; 
 kutkua, to feel tickling, to itch, to waver, 
 as boggy soil ; kutkuttaa, to dangle, to 
 tickle. 
 
 Tide.— Tidings.— Tidy, as. tid, hour, 
 time ; G. zeit, Sw. tid, time, season, period, 
 hour, space. Time is the happening of 
 events, the course of what happens. AS. 
 tidan, getidan, to betide or happen. R. 
 G. uses the expression tyde what so by- 
 tyde, happen what may. 
 
 For by my trouth in love I durst have sworn 
 
 Thee should never have tidde so fair a grace. 
 Chaucer. 
 
 The tides are the seasons of the sea, the 
 regular course of ebb and flow. ON. 
 tidindi, events, tidings, news. Tidy, 
 seasonable, orderly, appropriate, neat. 
 If w^eather be fair and tidy, thy grain 
 Make speedier carriage for fear of a rain. 
 
 Tusser. 
 
 G. zeitig, timely, seasonable, mature. 
 Wiclif speaks of tidefuland latefiil fruits. 
 
 Tie. AS. tige, a drawing, efficacy, a tie, 
 from teon {tugon, togen, getogen), P1.D. 
 teen, togen, G. ziehen, to draw ; ztig, a 
 pull ; ziigel, a rein ; AS. tigehorn, a horn 
 for drawing blood, a cupping glass. Han, 
 getian, to tie. 
 
 Tier. OFr. tiere, rank, order. Du. 
 tuddery tuyer, Pl.D. tider, tier, a tether, 
 a row of connected things; tuyeren, to 
 tether cattle, to connect in a row. — Kil. 
 Pl.D. tidern, tiren, to tie. De ko in'tgras 
 tiren, to tether a cow to a stake. 
 
 Gael, taod, a halter, hair-rope, cable. 
 Ir. lead, a rope, cord, string. 
 
 Tierce. Fr. tierce, from Lat. tertiiis, 
 third. 
 
 TiflF.—Tift.— Tiffin. Used in several 
 senses, all ultimately reducible to that of 
 a whiff or draught of breath. Tiff, a sup 
 or draught of drink. — Moor. Hence tiff 
 sm.all beer. Tift, a small draught of 
 liquor, or short fit of doing anything; 
 
 TILLER 
 
 fetching the breath quickly, as after run- 
 ning, &c. A tiff or fit of anger ; tifty, 
 ill-natured, petulant. — Brocket. N. tev, 
 tceft, drawing the breath, wind or scent 
 of a beast ; leva, to pant, breathe hard. 
 
 A tiff ox fit of ill-humour must be ex- 
 plained from snuffing or sniffing the air, 
 as miff, a pet or ill-humour, from Castrais 
 miffa, to sniff. Tiffin, now naturalised 
 among Anglo-Indians, in the sense of 
 luncheon, is the North-country tiffing 
 (properly sipping), eating or drinking out 
 of due season. — Grose. 
 
 Tiger. Lat. tigris, Gr. riypif. 
 
 Tight. Du. dicht, digt, solid, thick, 
 close, tight. — Hal. ON. thettr, Sw. taty 
 staunch, tight. NE. theat, close, stanch, 
 spoken of barrels when they do not leak. 
 Thyht, hool fro brekynge, not brokyn, in- 
 teger ; thytyn', or make thyht, integro, 
 consolido. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Tile. AS. tigel, G. ziegel, Lat. tegiila, 
 Fr. tuile. From Lat. tegere, to cover. 
 
 Tin.— Until. G. ziel, OHG. zil, Bohem. 
 cyl, a bound, limit, end. 
 
 Till. A drawer, then a money-box. 
 Fr. layette, a till or drawer ; also a box 
 with tills or drawers. — Cot. Possibly 
 from Du. title ft, to lift, to move. 
 
 To Till.— Toil. The fundamental 
 signification of AS. tilian and its Germanic 
 equivalents seems to be to direct one's 
 efforts to a certain end, thence to endea- 
 vour, to purpose, to procure or get. G. 
 ziel, a bound, limit, mark, end ; zielen, to 
 aim at, to hit ; Bav. zilen, to appoint a 
 set time or place, to beget children ; G. 
 kinder, getreide erzielen, to beget children, 
 to cultivate corn. AS. tiliaji, to direct 
 one's efforts to a purpose, to labour, to till 
 the soil, to get. ' Sume tiliath wifa •. ' 
 some seek wives. ' Geornlice ic tylode to 
 aMTitanne : ' I earnestly laboured to write. 
 ' He is wyrthe thast thu him tilige : ' ille 
 est dignus ut tu ei operam des, that he 
 was worthy for whom he should do this. 
 — Luc. 7. 4. Bav. zelgen, Du. tuylen, 
 teulen, teeleii, to till the soil ; tuyl, agri- 
 cultura, labor, opera, opus. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 telen, to beget, to cultivate, till. 
 
 Tiller. In Suffolk the handle of a 
 spade is called a tiller. The ordinary 
 sense of the word is the handle of the rud- 
 der, the bar by which it is worked. Per- 
 haps from Du. tillen, to lift, to meddle 
 with. 
 
 To Tiller. To send up a number of. 
 shoots from a root. Tillers are also the 
 young trees left to stand when a wood is 
 felled. AS. tilga, Du. telghe, telgher, a 
 branch, shoot.— Kil. In Osnabruck telge 
 
TILT 
 
 is applied to a young oak.— Brem. Wtb. 
 Pl.D. telgholt, tellholty branch wood for 
 burning or other purposes. Correze 
 tudel^ a germ, sprout ; iudela, to sprout. 
 
 Tilt. ON. tjalld, a tent, a curtain ; 
 Du. telle, G. zelt, a tent ; Sp. tolda, toldo, 
 an awning. Lap. telie, a covering for a 
 sledge ; teltek, a sledge with a tilt ; teliet, 
 to spread. 
 
 To Tilt. I. To joust, to ride at each 
 other with blunt lances. To come full 
 tilt against a person is to run against him 
 with the entire force of the body. as. 
 tealtian, tealtrian, Exmoor ////, to totter, 
 vacillate. Teaide getrywth, faith wavers. 
 Tealtiende, nutantes. — Ps. io8. 9. 
 
 The force of a significant syllable is 
 often increased by the addition of an / 
 without change of meaning, as in patter, 
 palter J tatter, Pl.D. taller, rdigs; jot, jolt, 
 to jog. So from totter is developed toller, 
 still used in Northampton in the sense of 
 jog, totter, move heavily and clumsily. 
 The toltering bustle of a blundering trot. — Clare. 
 Thence toll, a blow against a beam or the 
 like.— Mrs Baker. 
 
 TINDER 683 
 
 to thee : it does not 
 
 Ouertok hem, as tyd, tulte hem of sadeles 
 Tyl uche prynce had his pere put to the grounde. 
 Morris AUit. Poems, B. 1213. 
 
 • — Struck or drove them from their saddles. 
 
 In another poem, in the same volume, 
 it is said that Jona was no sooner oul-ttilde 
 (pitched overboard) than the tempest 
 ceased 
 
 2. To tilt up, to strike up a thing so as 
 to set it slanting. 
 
 Tim.ber. Goth, timrjan, 'timbrjan, to 
 build. G. simmer, formerly the stuff or 
 matter of which anything was made, 
 especially building materials. Skaffelosa 
 zimber, informis materia. In Henne- 
 berg zimtner is used for a beam. It was 
 then used for a building, and finally a 
 chamber. Du. timmer, fabrica, contig- 
 natio, et materia, et tignum. — Kil. 
 
 Timbrel. Sp. tambor, a drum ; tam- 
 boril, a tabour or kind of small drum ; 
 tamborilillo, a small drum for children ; 
 timbal, a kettle-drum. Ptg. tamboril, 
 tambourine, little drum. See Tabour. 
 
 Time. Time like tide seems to signify 
 happening, the course of events. ON. 
 ti7na. Da. time, to happen, to befall ; 
 timask, to succeed ; timi, time ; timadagr, 
 a lucky day ; timalaus, unlucky. Goth. 
 gatimait, G. zie7nen, gezie77ten, to be fit or 
 becoming, show a secondary sense ana- 
 logous to that of O'E./all, to be suitable to. 
 
 It nothing fails to thee 
 To make fair semblant where thou mayst blame. 
 
 R. R. 
 
 —It IS not allotted 
 fall to thy lot. 
 
 To have 7to ti7ne for something is a 
 corruption from too77z, leisure. 
 
 And, or the tothyr had toyme to tak 
 His swerd, the king sic swak him gaiff 
 That he the hede till the harnys claiff, 
 
 Bruce iv. 643. 
 
 Timid. Lat. timeo, to be afraid. 
 Tin. ON. Uti, g. zi7tn, Lat. sta7i7tu77t. 
 -tinct. -tinguish. — Extinguish. — 
 Distinguish. Lat. sti7iguo, exsti7iguo, 
 exti7igtio, -ti7ictiim, to put out, to quench ; 
 disti7iguo, to know apart, to separate by 
 marks. The foregoing forms are not to 
 be explained from Lat. ti7igo, ti7iguo, to 
 dip, sprinkle, dye, but from the root, stag^ 
 stig, signifying stick, prick, shown in Gr. 
 ori'Cia, to prick ; otiktoq, pricked, marked, 
 spotted ; SiaffriZw, to distinguish by a 
 mark, to spot ; and in Lat. stigo, i7istigo, 
 to prick or urge on. The nasalised form 
 of the root is seen in e. sti7ig, in sta7ig, a 
 pole, and in staTtch, steTtch, to stop the 
 flow of liquid, to quench or stop the ac- 
 tion of fire. Exsti7iguo then is utterly to 
 stop, and the radical identity of the verb 
 with E. sta7ich is well illustrated by It. 7-e- 
 stag7iar, to sta7ich or stop the flow of blood, 
 compared with 'L2X.resti7iguere,\.o quench. 
 
 Tincture.— Tinge.— Tint. Lat. ti7igo, 
 ti7tctu77i, to dip, stain, dye. Fr. taindre, 
 tei7tdre,^^\e. tei7ict, tei7it,\.o dye or colour ; 
 tei7it, a tint or colour. The E. ti7ige cor- 
 responds to Prov. te7tcha, tinge, colour ; 
 teTichar, It. ti7igere. 
 
 The radical sense is shown in Gr. 
 TEyyw, to wet, moisten, bedew, then to dye 
 or stain. See Dew, Daggle. 
 
 Tinder. The idea of glittering or 
 sparkling is commonly expressed by the 
 figure of a crackling or tinkling sound. 
 Thus E. glitter may be compared with 
 Da. k7iittre, to rattle, crackle, and E. glis- 
 ter, gliste7i, or Da. g7tistre, to sparkle, 
 with k7iistre, to crackle. On the same 
 principle, Du. ti7ttele7i, primarily to ti7tklt 
 or ti7igle, in a secondary sense is to twin- 
 kle or sparkle, and thence ti7itel, to7ttel, to7t' 
 del, to7ider, tinder, the recipient of sparks. 
 To ti7ikle a candle was used in North- 
 ampton, according to Kennet, in the 
 sense of lighting. Sw. ti7idra, to sparkle ; 
 tuTtder, tinder. ON. ty7idra, to sparkle ; 
 te7tdra, ta7idra, to light a fire, a candle ; 
 tu7id7'a, to blaze ; ttmdr, tinder. N. /<?«- 
 dra, te7ide, to light ; te7idri7ig, a setting 
 fire to, a beginning to shine ; i7iaa7ieteftd- 
 riTtg, the new moon. G. zil7tde7i, to kin- 
 dle, set fire to ; zu7iderj zu7idel, OFr. 
 to7id7-es, tinder. 
 
684 
 
 TINE 
 
 Tine. The point of a fork, of a deer's 
 horn. ON. tindr^ N. tind^ the tooth of a 
 comb, a rake, a harrow, sharp point of a 
 mountain. ON. tonn^ Da. tand, a tooth. 
 N. tindiit. Da. tandet, toothed. 
 
 Tingle. — Tinkle. The sound of a 
 small bell is represented in different 
 dialects by the syllables tin, ting, tink, 
 tang, twang. Thus Melchiori, Vocab. 
 Bresc, has tinch-tinch, onomatopoeia for 
 the sound of bells. Ting-tang, the saint's 
 bell ; to tang, to sound as a bell ; to 
 ting, to ring.— Hal. Du. tinghe-tanghen, 
 tintinare. — Kil. Lat. tinnire, ti?itinare, 
 to ring ; tintintiabulum, a bell ; tin- 
 tifinacnlus, tinkling, clinking. Fr. tin- 
 ier, to ting, ring, tingle ; tinton, the ting 
 of a bell, the burthen of a song ; tintouin, 
 a ringing, singing or tingling in the head, 
 about the ears ; tintillant, tinging, ting- 
 ling, resounding. — Cot. Du. tintclen was 
 formerly used in the sense of tinkle, but 
 has now the metaphorical senses of 
 sparkle or tingle, as the fingers with cold. 
 In the original sense it represents a suc- 
 cession of brisk impressions upon the 
 ear ; and is then applied to a succession 
 of analogous impressions on the eye or 
 the sense of touch. Hesse zingerti, zin- 
 geln, to tingle with cold. 
 
 Tinker. — Tinkler. A mender of pots 
 and pans, from the clinking sound of his 
 working. A tinker, or tinkeler. — Baret. 
 1580. Tynkynge, the sowndyngofmetalls 
 when they be strycken together, tintin. — 
 Palsgr. For a like reason a dealer in 
 hardware is in Fr. quincailler, or in the 
 N. of France clincaillenx. — H^cart. Cli- 
 quaille, clifiqiiaille^ quinquaille, chinks, 
 coin; quinquailler, old iron, small iron 
 ware ; dinqicaillerie, a chinking or clink- 
 ing of money, or of many pans and skel- 
 lets together. — Cot. 
 
 So also G. klempern, Pl.D. klitnpern, 
 to tinkle, to make a tinkling noise with 
 hammers as tinkers and tinmen, to play 
 ill on a stringed instrument ; Henneberg 
 klemperer, a tinker. On the Lower Rhine 
 he is called spdngler, from Lith. spengti, 
 to ring, to sound. 
 
 Tinsel. Cotgrave explains Fr. bro- 
 catel as tinsel or thin cloth of gold. From 
 OFr. estincelles, sparkling, spangles — 
 Roquef. ; estincelle, a spark, sparkle. It 
 will be observed that spangle also pro- 
 perly signifies sparkle. Fr. estincelle is 
 explained from 1.2i\..scintilla,hy inversion 
 of the c and t. But it may perhaps, on 
 the principle indicated under Tinder, be 
 derived from a form corresponding to E. 
 tinkle, twinkle, or Du. tintelen, to tinkle, 
 
 TIPPET 
 
 then to sparkle. The Lat. scintilla itself 
 might be explained from a form like Da. 
 skingre, to ring, clang, resound. 
 
 Tiny. Small. When we wish to ex- 
 press something very small we make the 
 voice pipy, and say a little tee-eeny thing, 
 a teeny-weeny thing, showing that the 
 force of the expression lies in the narrow 
 vowel ee, the only one that can be pro- 
 nounced when the vocal orifice is con- 
 tracted to the utmost limit. The sense 
 of diminution is expressed by the con- 
 traction of the volume of sound. The 
 rhyming form teeny-weeny may indicate 
 a connection with Du. weynigh, G. wenig, 
 little, small, few. 
 
 The Galla has titia, little. 
 
 Tip. The change of the broad vowel 
 a or o \o the narrow i is often used to in- 
 dicate diminution of action or of size. So 
 from knob, a round broad projection, we 
 pass to nib, a fine and pointed one, and 
 from ON. toppr. Da. top, top, summit, 
 also as G. zopf, a tuft of hair, to Du. tip, 
 tipken, tip, point ; G. zip/el, a tip, corner, 
 lappet. 
 
 The light vowel modifies the sense of 
 the verb in the same way as that of the 
 noun. Hence from Bav. toppen, to knock, 
 to beat as the heart, Sp. topar, to butt or 
 strike with the head, to run or strike 
 against, may be explained E, tip, applied 
 to a light, quick movement ; to tip one a 
 wink ,• to tip or slip a present of money 
 into the hand ; to tip up, tip over. 
 
 Tippet, Properly, like G. zipfel, the 
 tip or lappet of a garment. The tip of 
 the hood was called in Mid. Lat. liripi- 
 piuni, and was greatly lengthened out so 
 as to admit of being wrapped round the 
 head or the neck, and thence the name 
 of tippet was given to a wrapper round 
 the neck. Du. timp, a tip or corner, also 
 a wrapper for the neck, fascia collum am- 
 biens et a frigore cervicem defendens, 
 vulgo coUipendium. — Kil. Leripipium, 
 zippe, kogel-zipp, kappen-zipffel, ti7npe 
 van d^ kogelen ; temp van een kaproen. 
 — Dief Supp. ' As the monks had their 
 cowles, caprons or whodes, and their 
 botes, so had they then their long typ- 
 pettes, their prestes cappes.' — Bale in R. 
 Cum liripipiis ad modum cordarum circa 
 caput advolutis. — Knyghton in Due. 
 Liripipium sive timpani retro latam du- 
 plicem et oblongam habens per dorsum 
 dependentem. — Longa tunica vestitus, 
 nigro caputio, cum grandi liripipio collo 
 indutus. — Due. 
 
 It was perhaps this variety in the mode 
 of wearing the tippet that led to the 
 
TIPPLE 
 
 phrase of turning his tippet in the sense 
 of a total change of conduct. 
 
 To Tipple. Bavarian zip/el, zipfelein^ 
 a tip or corner of anything, is used for a 
 bit, a small portion. Kein zip/el, not a 
 bit ; zipfelweis, in small portions ; Z2p- 
 feln^ zipfele7i, to take, give, eat, drink, 
 &c., in small portions. The cow zipfelt 
 when she lets her milk go in driblets ; 
 Hesse verzippeln, to sprinkle, scatter in 
 small portions. So w. tic, tixyn, a par- 
 ticle, a little bit ; tidal, to produce small 
 particles or drops, to drain the last drops 
 in milking; tip, tipyn, a small particle. 
 E. dial, tip, a draught of liquor. To tip- 
 ple then would be to drink in small por- 
 tions, to be continually drinking. Pl.D. 
 tipply a dot, spot, fine drop. — Danneil. 
 N. tippa, to drip ; tipla, to drip slowly, 
 to sip. 
 
 Tipsy. Swab, dapps, tapps, diebes, 
 dipps, Swiss tips^ a fuddling with drink ; 
 tCpseln, to fuddle oneself; betipst, tipsy. 
 From these forms it would appear that 
 we cannot explain the word as unsteady, 
 apt to tip over, as we should be inclined 
 to do if we had only the E, word. 
 
 Tire. Tire of a wheel, the tier or rim 
 of iron that ties or binds the fellies to- 
 gether. 
 
 * To Tire. i. OE. terwyn or make 
 wery, lasso, fatigo ; terwyd, lassatus, fati- 
 gatus. — Pr. Pm. AS. tirian, tirigan, tyr- 
 wian, to vex, irritate, provoke, oppress. 
 Hine mid wurdum tirigdon, ilium verbis 
 irritaverunt. Me tyrath mine eagan, me 
 irritant mei oculi, lippio. — Elfr. Gr. Hig 
 vattirigdon, illi me provocaverunt. — Deut. 
 32. 21. Mid ungilde tyrwigende waes, 
 was vexing with unjust tribute. — Chr. 
 1 100. Du. tergen. Da. targe, G. zergen, 
 to irritate ; Da. tirre, to tease, to worry. 
 
 The primary sense would seem to be 
 to provoke, . irritate, harass, whence the 
 notion of weariness naturally follows. A 
 person long provoked is at last tired out, 
 he can bear it no longer. We speak of 
 being harassed with business, tired, worn 
 out. See To Tar. 
 
 2. To tire, to feed upon (especially of 
 birds of prey), is a totally different word 
 from the foregoing. 
 
 The foule that hight vultour, that eateth the 
 stomake of Titius is so fulfylled of his songe that 
 it nill eaten ne tyren no more. — Chaucer, Boeth. 
 
 Sw. tdra, to gnaw, eat, consume ; tdra 
 pa, to prey upon, consume, live upon. 
 PL.D. teren, G. zehren, to consume ; OHG. 
 zeran, Goth, tairan, AS. teran, to tear ; 
 zerjan, to consume. See To Tear. 
 
 3. To tire, to dress. See Attire. 
 
 TOAD EATER 
 
 tZ^ 
 
 Tissue. Fr. tissu; tisser, OFr. tissir 
 and tistre, Lat. texere^ to weave. See 
 Texture. 
 
 Tit.— Tittle. Henneb. tuttele, a little 
 bit. See Tot, 
 
 Tithe. AS. teothe, tenth ; teothian, to 
 tithe or take a tenth. Fris. tegotha, 
 tienda, tenth. Tithes are called tiends in 
 Scotland. 
 
 Title. Lat. titulus, an inscription, ex- 
 planatory mark. 
 
 To Titter. Swiss fitzern, kitzern, 
 Henneberg kittern, kekkern, to giggle, 
 titter. Titter, like giggle, represents a 
 succession of sharp thin sounds, while 
 tatter, with the broad vowel, expresses a 
 succession of opener sounds. Bav. tat- 
 tern, OE. tatter (Pr. Pm.), to chatter, tattle, 
 gabble. Du. tateren, to make a rattling 
 sound, to stammer, stutter. 
 
 And as the sense is transferred from 
 sound to movement in Bav. tattern, to 
 shiver, tremble, so we have provincially to 
 titter, to see-saw, to tremble, ON. titra,o. 
 zittern, to tremble, shiver. In like man- 
 ner ^z.v . gigken, gigkezen, to make broken 
 sounds, to stutter or giggle, leads to gig- 
 keln, to tremble, twitch, quiver, corre- 
 sponding to E. kickle, fickle, tottering, un- 
 steady. See To Totter. 
 
 To.— Too. Du. toe, G. zu, to. Too 
 hot, G. zu heiss, is hot in addition to 
 [what is fitting]. 
 
 Toad. The name of the toad is gener- 
 ally taken from the habit of the animal of 
 puffing itself up with wind. So Gr. tpvadio, 
 to blow, to swell ; ^ixraXog, a toad. Fr. 
 bouffer, to puff, blow, swell up ; Lat. bufo, 
 a toad. Magy. bufa, a toad, a man with 
 swollen cheeks. In like manner Da. 
 tudse, Ditmarsh tutze, a toad, are from 
 ON. ttitiia, to swell, Somerset tote, to bulge 
 out. In South Danish trute is to project 
 the lips, to strut like full pockets, and 
 tnitz, a toad. 
 
 Toadeater. Originally the assistant 
 to a mountebank. 
 
 Be the most scorned Jackpudding of the pack, 
 
 And turn toad-eater to some foreign quack. 
 Satire on an ignorant quack, by Thom.as Brown. 
 
 The same author, in a collection of letters 
 from dead persons, puts the following 
 passage into the mouth of Joseph Haines, 
 a celebrated mountebank and fortune-tell- 
 er, who died in 1701. ' I intend to build 
 a stage, and set up my old trade of for- 
 tune-telling, and as I shall have occasion 
 for some understrapper to draw teeth for 
 me or to be my toad-eater on the stage, 
 &c.'— N. & Q., Febr. 15, 1862. 
 The word was explained as ' a metaphor 
 
686 
 
 TOAST 
 
 from a mountebank's boy eating toads in 
 order to show his master's skill in expel- 
 ling poison,' — Daniel Simple, by Sarah 
 Fielding, 1744. But this is doubtless an 
 imaginary explanation. A more rational 
 suggestion is that of Mr Keightley's in N. 
 & Q., that swallowing toads is a version of 
 Fr. avaler des couleuvres^ which signifies 
 putting up with all sorts of indignities 
 without showing resentment. Thus a 
 toad-eater would be a souffredouleur. 
 
 Toast. I. Roasted bread. \X..tostare, 
 to toast or parch. Lat. torrere^ iostum, 
 to roast. 
 
 2. A pledge in drinking. The German 
 cry when topers pledge each other, knock- 
 ing their glasses together, is stoss an / of 
 which it is not improbable that the E. 
 term is a corruption, as carouse from gar 
 aus. 
 
 Tod. A bush, a bunch of anything 
 fibrous, as of hay. A tod of wool is 281b. 
 ON. todda^ a flock or ball of wool ; toddi, 
 a lump of food. G. zote^ provincially zode 
 (Deutsch. Mundart. I. 408), a lock or 
 flock of wool or hair, a rag or tatter. See 
 Dud. Da. tot, a bunch of flax, &c. Pl.D. 
 tadde, tadder, taddel, a rag. 
 
 To Toddle. To walk imperfectly like 
 a child, with alternate impulses. G. zot- 
 teln is used in exactly the same sense. 
 Daher zotteln, or, gezottelt ko7nmen, to 
 come reeling or staggering along, to be 
 trotting along. — Kiittn. Zotten, zotteln 
 (contemptuously), to go. — Schm. Er 
 zottelt nach so gut er kann. — Sanders. 
 Bav. zottern, to dangle, indicates the 
 characteristic feature of the idea. Pl.D. 
 zaddelj a rag, tatter (dangling or flutter- 
 ing in the wind). — Danneil. See Tassel, 
 Totter. 
 
 Toe. ON. td,*AS. ta, Du. teen, Pl.D. 
 taajt, toon. The toes seem to be regarded 
 as the twigs or branches of the foot. ON. 
 teina, a shoot ; teinn, a rod ; Du. teen, 
 an osier, a twig ; as. tan, a. twig, sprout, 
 shoot. N. tein, a shoot, rod, stick. The 
 mistletoe or mistle shrub is in ON. inistil- 
 teinn. 
 
 Toft. A place where a messuage once 
 stood, that is fallen and pulled down. — 
 B. Da. tomt, site of a building ; toft, 
 enclosed field close to a farmhouse; torn, 
 empty. Sw. tomt, place for building, site 
 of a house, empty space. N. tuft, toft, 
 tomt, site of a house, place where a house 
 has stood. 
 
 Together. See Gather. 
 
 Toil. Du. tuylen, teulen, to till the 
 ground, to work, labour ; tuyl, agriculture, 
 work, toil. See Till. 
 
 TONE 
 
 Toil.— 2. Toilet. The toils in hunt- 
 ing were nets set up to enclose the game. 
 Fr. toiles, toils, or a hay to inclose or en- 
 tangle wild beasts in. — Cot. Toile, cloth, 
 from Lat. tela, a web. 
 
 Toilette was a packing or wrapping 
 cloth, the cloth that covered a dressing- 
 table, whence in e. it is applied to the 
 dressing-table itself. 
 
 Toise. Fr. toise, a fathom. From 
 Lat. tensus. It. teso, stretched. Mid.Lat. 
 tensa, tesa, extension, width of the stretch- 
 ed arms, and thence Fr. toise, as moisixovcL 
 mensis, poids from pensuni. — Scheler. 
 
 Token. Goth, taikns, G. zeicken, OSax. 
 tekan, Bohem. ceych, a mark, a brand. 
 Lith. czekis, a mark, burnt in or otherwise 
 imprinted ; czekoti, to mark. Lap. tsekke, 
 a. nick or notch, thence the number ten ; 
 tsekkestet, to notch ; marked tsekkeset, to 
 cut in a mark ; tsekkot, to cut, to desig- 
 nate, to mark out for or appoint. 
 
 Tolerate. — Tolerable. Lat. tolero, to 
 sustain, endure. Goth, thulan, ON. thola, 
 AS. tholian, to thole, endure, suffer. 
 
 * Toll. Gr. rtkoq, consummation, 
 magistracy, government ; that which is 
 paid for state purposes, tax, duty, toll; 
 T-eXtivj/g, a collector of tolls ; rAwvtov, Lat. 
 telonium, a toll-house. Hence Mid.Lat. 
 telon, telonium, tolonium, OFr. toliti, tol- 
 lin, tollien, tonlien, ON. tollr, G. zoll, E. 
 toll 
 
 To Toll. Tollyn! or mevyn' or steryfi' 
 to done a dede, incito, provoco, excito. — 
 Pr. Pm. 
 
 With empty hand may no man hawkes tulle : 
 I-o here our silver redy for to spend. — Chaucer. 
 ' Attirer, to draw or bring to, to toll or 
 lead on, to entice, allure unto.' — Cot. 
 ' The fault of the escape is attributable to 
 the hoggishness of the man who tolled 
 the negroes into Dover.' — American news- 
 paper, 1857. 
 
 To toll the bells is vi^hen they ring 
 slowly to invite the people into church. 
 
 Tom.b. Gr. tv\x^oq, place where a 
 dead body was burnt, mound of earth 
 over the ashes, tomb, grave. Mid.Lat. 
 totnba, Fr. tombe, tombeau. 
 
 Tome. Fr. tojne, Lat. tomus, a volume ; 
 Gr. TOfioQ, a cut, a part, a volume, from 
 Tffivu), to cut. 
 
 Ton. — Tun. Lat. tina, a wine-vessel ; 
 Fr. tine, a tub ; tonne, a barrel. 
 
 Tone. — Tonic. Gr. rtivia, to stretch, 
 strain, whence rbvoq, a. strain, stretching, 
 the thing stretched, a cord, and (as the 
 sound of a cord rises in tone in proportion 
 to the strain) a raising of the voice, a 
 musical tone, note. 
 
TONGS 
 
 Tongs. ON. tanng, tong^ Sw. tdng, 
 Du. tajighe, G. zange, tongs. An imple- 
 ment consisting of two stangs or rods. 
 ON. tong (as stong), a rod, bar, stick, the 
 bar by which the load of a sledge is tight- 
 ened. — Fritzner. 
 
 Tongue. Goth, tuggo, ON. tunga, G. 
 ztmge, Gael, teanga, OLat. dingua^ Lat. 
 lingua. 
 
 Tonsure. Lat. tondeOf tonsum, to clip, 
 shear. 
 
 Tool. ON. tol. Ihre compares Lat. 
 felum, a weapon. 
 
 To Toot. Du. tuyten, toe ten, to sound 
 a horn, to whisper in the ears ; OE. totte, 
 to whisper. on. thjota, Da. tude, to 
 sound, resound as the wind, waves, music. 
 
 Tooth. Goth, tunthus, OHG. zand, G. 
 zahn, Sanscr. dantas, Gr. oSovq, oSovtoq, 
 Lat. dens, dentis, w. dant. 
 
 Top. i. ON. toppr, the top or summit, 
 anything that runs up to a point, a tuft ; 
 tretoppr, tree-top. Da. topsukker, loaf- 
 sugar ; topmaal, heaped measure. Pl.D. 
 topp, Du. top, tsop, summit, top. w. twb, 
 a round lump. 
 
 Words signifying strike or knock are 
 often applied to the end of a thing, as the 
 part with which the blow is given ; or to 
 a projection or part that strikes out from 
 the surrounding surface, then to a bunch 
 or lump. In this way It. botta, a blow or 
 stroke, is related to Fr. botte de foin, a 
 bunch of hay ; and Pl.D. bunsen, to 
 strike, to E. bunch. To bob is to make 
 an abrupt movement, to strike ; and bob 
 is a bunch or lump. 
 
 Now topp ! represents the sound of 
 striking hands or concluding a bargain 
 (see Tope). It. toppa-toppa! sound of 
 knocking at a door.— Diz. Parmeggiano, 
 in V. tac-tac. Sp. topar, to knock or 
 strike against ; tope, the striking of one 
 thing against another, butt end of a plank, 
 top or summit. 
 
 2. Du. top, G. iopf, kreiseltopf, a spin- 
 ning top. The radical idea is a rounded 
 summit, and the name often includes 
 the notion of something tapering. Sw. 
 sockertopp, a sugar-loaf; N. topp, tapp, a 
 cork ; toppa, a bung ; G. zap/en, a bung 
 or stopple, an icicle, a fircone ; Fr. tou- 
 pin, toupon, a. stopper for a bottle ; tou- 
 pil, totipillon, a casting-top ; tonpillonet, 
 a very small top or stopple. — Cot. 
 
 To Tope. Properly to pledge one in 
 drinking, to knock the glasses together 
 before drinking them off, then to have a 
 drinking-bout, to drink in excess. Bav. 
 toppen, Sp. topar, to knock. In Sw. and 
 Pl.D. the exclamation topp .', in Fr. topeJ, 
 
 TOSS 
 
 687 
 
 represents striking hands on the con- 
 clusion of a bargain, whence toper, to 
 accept a proposition, to agree to. And 
 according to Florio the same exclamation 
 was used for the acceptance of a pledge 
 in drinking, where the knocking of glasses 
 stands instead of the striking of hands 
 at a bargain. ' Topa ! a word among 
 dicers, as much as to say, I hold it, done, 
 throw ! also by good fellows when they 
 are drinking ; Til pledge you.' 
 
 The foregoing explanation would make 
 the E. tope the exact equivalent of Fr. 
 choquer, choquailler, to quaff, carouse, 
 tipple — Cot., choquer les verres, to knock 
 glasses. 
 
 Topic. — Topography. Gr. ro-Koq, a 
 place, a topic, a common - place in 
 Rhetoric ; ro-niKoq, concerning place, con- 
 cerning roTTot or common-places. 
 
 Topsyturvy. From topside f other 
 way. It is written topst^-to'erway in 
 Searches' ' Light of Nature.' 
 
 Torch. It. torcia, torchia, Fr. torche, 
 a torch, also the wreathed clout, wisp, or 
 wad of straw laid by wenches between 
 their heads and the things they carry on 
 them. — Cot. From It. torcere, to twist, 
 because the torch was made of a twisted 
 wreath of tow or the like. 
 
 Torment. — Torture. Lat. torqueo, 
 tortum, to twist, wrench, rack. 
 
 Torpedo. — Torpid. — Torpor. Lat. 
 torpeo, to be benumbed, to be dull and 
 drowsy. 
 
 Torrent. — Torrid. Lat. torreo, to 
 roast, scorch, dry up with heat. Hence 
 torrens, a stream that runs only in the 
 winter and dries up in summer. 
 
 -tort. — Torsion. Lat. torqueo, torsiy 
 tortujn, to twist, wrench. As in Distort, 
 Contortion, &c. Retort, a close chemical 
 vessel with the mouth bent downwards. 
 
 * Tortoise. It. tartaruga, Sp. tortuga, 
 Fr. tortue, Prov. tortesa. From Lat. 
 tortus, twisted. 
 
 Be not like the crane or the torhi ; for they are 
 hke the crane and the turtu that tumithe her 
 hede and fases bacward, and lokithe ouer the 
 shuldre. — Knight of Latour, c. xi. 
 
 * To Toss. The radical image is pro- 
 bably shown in N. tossa, to strew, to scat- 
 ter. To toss hay is to spread it in small 
 portions, to throw it here and there. Hesse 
 zisseln, to spread hay, either with the 
 hand or with rakes. See To Ted. Aus- 
 zisseln, to shake the cruras from a table- 
 cloth. Bav. zosselweis, in scattered por- 
 tions. Banff toosht, an untidy bundle of 
 rags, straw, &c. ; to toosht, to dash hither 
 and thither. Fallersleben tost, tassel, tuft 
 
688 
 
 TOT 
 
 of hair. E. dial, tisty-iosty, a bunch of 
 cowslips tied up and used to toss to and 
 fro for amusement. — Jennings. See 
 Tassel, Tatter. 
 
 Tot.— Tit. The syllables tat, tot, tit, 
 are used in the formation of words signi- 
 fying broken sound, as in Du. tateren, 
 toteren, to sound like a trumpet, to stam- 
 mer, G. tottern, todern, to totter in speak- 
 ing, to tattle, or twattle with stuttering 
 (Ludwig.), Bav. tattern, to chatter, OE. 
 tateryti, jangelyn, chateryn, jaberyn (Pr. 
 Pm.), E. dial, tutter, to stutter ; titter, to 
 giggle. The radical element by itself 
 signifies a slight sound in N. tot, a mur- 
 mur ; It. ni totto ni motto, not a syllable. 
 Sc. tutmute, a low muttering ; Banff teet, 
 the smallest sound, smallest word, ' Nae 
 ae teet cam oot o's hehd.' Then, as in so 
 many other cases, the syllables represent- 
 ing sound are transferred to the sense of 
 bodily action and bodily substance. Hence 
 Bav. tattern, to tremble ; Du. totitereti, to 
 palpitate, tremble, see-saw j ^.totter, to 
 move unsteadily ; titter, to tremble, to see- 
 saw (Hal.) ; ON. titra, to shiver; Lat. titillo, 
 E. dial, tittle, to tickle, to excite by slight 
 touches ; Hampsh. tat, to touch lightly. 
 To tot about, to move with short steps, as 
 a child attempting to walk, or a feeble 
 old person. — Mrs Baker. Totty, un- 
 steady, dizzy, reeling. To tot a thing 
 down in the margin is to mark it with a 
 slight touch of the pen, as from jot, to jog, 
 we speak o( jotting a thing down on paper. 
 And as Jot is transferred from the sense 
 of a short abrupt movement to that of a 
 small quantity, so tot is applied to any- 
 thing small. A child is called a pretty 
 little tot. In Lancash. it signifies a tuft 
 or brush. Da. tot, Sc. tait, a flock of 
 wool, flax, &c. Fr. tati/z, a small portion ; 
 It. toz2o, a lump or bit. E. dial, totty, 
 small. 
 
 The change of the vowel from a or o to 
 i marks diminution, in tittle, the mark of 
 a touch, or the least portion of anything ; 
 ///, anything small of its kind, a little 
 horse, a little girl, a little bird. A titlark 
 is a small kind of lark; titmouse (Du. 
 mossche, a sparrow, G. meise, a small bird), 
 or tomtit, a very small bird ; titfaggots, 
 small short faggots. ON. tita, a small 
 bird, an object small of its kind. E. dial. 
 titty-totty, titty, diminutive, tiny. — Hal. 
 On the same principle It. zito,zita,2ihoy, 
 a girl, and E. chit, must be explained from 
 It. zitto, Fr. chut, properly a slight sound, 
 thence used with ellipse of the negative 
 in the sense of hush ! Non fare zitto, not 
 to utter a sound ; chuchoter, to mutter. 
 
 .TOUT 
 
 Total. Lat. totus, whole, entire. 
 
 To Totter. 7'oteron' or waveroft', 
 vacillo. — Pr. Pm. Titter-totter, a play 
 for childre, balenchoeres. — Palsgr. Os- 
 cillum (a swing), a totoure. — Med.Gr. in 
 Pr. Pm. Tatter or totter represent in the 
 first instance broken sound, then broken 
 movement, doing anything by broken im- 
 pulses, stammering or stuttering, totter- 
 ing or moving in a vacillating way, mov- 
 ing to and fro. G. tatterata / represents 
 the sound of the trumpet. — Sanders in v. 
 Tusch. Du. tateren, horribili sonitu tara- 
 tantara dicere instar tubae ; titubare, 
 balbutire, imperfect^ loqui ; maculare, 
 inepte aliquid facere. — Kil. Banff tooter, 
 to tattle, babble, walk with a weak falter- 
 ing step, work in a weak trifling manner. 
 Du. touteren, to oscillate, to swing. E. 
 dial, tutter, to stutter. 
 
 Touch. Fr. toucher, OFr. toquer, to 
 knock, hit, touch. — Roquef. It. ticche- 
 tocche represents the sound of knocking 
 at a door ; Prov. toe, blow ; Sp. tocar, to 
 knock at a door, to ring bells, to play on 
 a musical instrument, to reach with the 
 hand, to touch. It. tocco, a knock, stroke, 
 hit, stroke of a clock ; toccare, to hit, join 
 close to, to touch. 
 
 Tough. AS. toh, Du. taai, G. zdhe, 
 what stands pulling, from AS. teon (ptcple 
 togen), Pl.D. teen, togen, G. ziehen, to pull, 
 to draw. Boh. tahati, to draw ; tahowity 
 tough. 
 
 Tour. Fr. tour, a turn. 
 
 Tournament. A combat in an en- 
 closed space, from It. torneare, attorneare, 
 to surround. ' Feoe attorneare soa huoste 
 con buone catene de fierro con pali di 
 fierro moito spessi ficcati in terra. Quesso 
 attorniajnento fu fatto alia rotonna a 
 modo di un fierro da cavallo.' — Fragm. 
 Hist. Rom. in Muratori, vol. iii., speaking 
 of the preparations for the battle of Crecy. 
 
 To Touse. — Touzle. g. zausen, PL.D. 
 tuseln, to pull or hale about, to tug, tear 
 by snatches, pull by the hair, to touse 
 wool ; sich zausen, to tustle, fight. To 
 touse wool is to pull the flocks to pieces 
 and lay them together again. The pro- 
 per meaning is to pull to pieces. ' Recipe 
 brawne of capons or of hennys — and 
 towse them small.' — Babees Book, p. 53. 
 E. dial, tuz, tust, a bunch of wool or hair. 
 See To Tease. 
 
 To Tout.— Tote. To look, to peep. 
 Than toted I in at a taveme and there I aspyide 
 Two frere Carmes. — P. P. Creed. 
 
 Tote hylle or hey place of lokynge, 
 conspicillum, specula.— Pr. Pm. His ton 
 toteden out — P. P. : his toes peeped forth. 
 
TOW 
 
 A touter is one who looks out for custom. 
 To tote, in Somerset, is to bulge out, and 
 probably the radical meaning of the word 
 may be to stick out. Totodim ut tha 
 heafdu, eminebant capita. — Past. i6. 5. 
 ON. tota, a snout ; tuta, anything stick- 
 ing out ; tuteygdr, having prominent 
 eyes ; tutna, to swell. E. dial. tufmo74thed, 
 having a projecting jaw. Du. ttiyte, the 
 nave of a wheel ; ttiytmuyl, a projecting 
 mouth ; tiiytpot, a pot with a spout ; 
 tuytschoenen, toteschoenett, beaked shoes ; 
 tote, a snout ; de tote setten, to make a 
 snout (in nursery language), to project the 
 lips in ill temper. From the interjection 
 tut f expressive of displeasure, as from 
 trut / tush ! tut ! fy man ! (Cot.), another 
 form of the same interjection ultimately 
 representing a blurt with the lips, are 
 formed Da. dial, trutte, to stick out the 
 lips, to bulge as full pockets ; t7'iitt, a 
 spout. — Molbech. Sw. dial, truta, to 
 pout ; triitas, to be out of temper ; trut, a 
 mouth, snout, spout. 
 
 Tow, Fris. touw. — Kil. ON. tog, the 
 long hairs or coarse shaggy part of the 
 fleece ; tog thrddr, thread spun of such 
 wool. Front ON. toga, to draw, hale, 
 drag : what is drawn out in combing or 
 dressing the wool, as E. tow is the refuse 
 drawn out in dressing flax. The name of 
 tow would thus be precisely synonymous 
 with oakam or ockam, AS. dcembi, what is 
 combed out. 
 
 To Tow. Fr. touer, to hale a vessel 
 by a rope. Du. togheti, ON. toga, to drag 
 or pull ; tog, drag or pull. Hafa hest i 
 togi : to lead a horse with a string behind 
 one, to have a horse in tow. To take a 
 ship in tow then is to take it in drag. ON. 
 tog is also a cable, a fishing-hne ; the 
 means by which the ship pulls at the 
 anchor, or by which the fish is drawn out 
 of water. Du. touw. Da. toug, a cable, 
 rope. Pl.D. tog, draught, stroke, trick. 
 Tog is the root of Goth, tiuhan, G. ziehen 
 {gezogen), AS. teon, teohan {togen), Pl.D. 
 teen, togen, to draw. 
 
 Towel. It. tovaglia, a tablecloth, 
 OFr. touaille, Du. dwaele, dwaal, a towel ; 
 dwell, a clout, a swab ; dwaen, dwaeden, 
 dwaegen, to wipe, wash ; Goth, twahan, 
 AS. thwean, ON. thvd, Da. toe, to wash. 
 
 Tower, w. twr, a tower, a heap or 
 pile. Lat. turris, Fr. tour, a tower. An 
 abrupt peaked hill is called tor'xrs. Devon- 
 shire. Gael, torr, a steep hill, mound, 
 heap, tower, and as a verb, to heap up. 
 
 Town. Properly an enclosure, en- 
 closed place, then farm, dwelling, village, 
 town. AS. wyrt-tutiy a garden for worts. 
 
 TRACK 
 
 68> 
 
 Pl.D. tuun, a fence, hedge, an enclosed 
 place, garden ; G. zatm, a hedge. AS. 
 tynan, to enclose, hedge, shut. 
 
 ' And ase the eie openeth and tuneth' 
 
 Ancren Riwle, p. 94. 
 
 Commonly referred to Goth, tain, G. 
 zain, zein, AS, tan, a rod or shoot, as the 
 simplest material of a hedge. Bav. zain^ 
 zainen, a hurdle, wattle, basket ; zain- 
 reusen, wattled baskets for taking fish. 
 
 -toxic- Lat. toxicum, Gr. ToiiKov, 
 poison. 
 
 Toy. An ellipse for play-toy, imple- 
 ments of play, as G. spielzeug, spielsachen, 
 toys. Zeug, Pl.D. tiig, Sw. tyg, Da. toi, 
 materials, stuff, implements. Pl.D. kla- 
 ter-tiig, rattle-traps ; jungens un derens 
 tiig, a collection of youths and girls. G. 
 liederliches zeug, paltry stuff; Idcher- 
 liches zeug, nonsense. In like manner 
 daff-toy (Sc. daff, foolish, trifling) was 
 formerly used in the sense of a trifle. 
 
 The gentlewoman neither Hked gown nor petti- 
 coat so well as some Httle bunch of rubies or 
 some such daff-toy. I mean to give her Majesty 
 two pairs of silk-stockings lined with plush if 
 London afford me not more da^-toy I like better. 
 —Letter of Arabella Stewart in N. & Q., Dec. 
 i860. 
 
 Fine /'^/j,mignotises ; slender toys, menu- 
 saifles, menuailles. — Sherwood. 
 
 To Toy. To handle amorously. OE. 
 togge, properly to tug, to pull about. 
 
 Mid wouhinge, mid togginge, with wooing, 
 with toying. — Ancren Riwle, 53. 6. Ha tollith 
 togederes ant toggith, they fondle together and 
 /tfj/.—St Marherete in E. E. Text Society. 
 
 Trace. It. traccia, Fr. trace, a trace, 
 point of the foot, footstep, also a path or 
 tract. — Cot. Sp. traza, first sketch or 
 draught, trace, outline. From trahere, 
 through the participial form tractus, trac- 
 tio. — Diez. It will be observed that Sp. 
 rastra signifies both the act of dragging 
 along and a track or mark left on the 
 ground. To trail is to drag along, and 
 trail in N. America is the trace or mark 
 where a person has passed. 
 
 Traces. Trayce, horsy s barneys, traxus, 
 restis, trahale. — Pr. Pm. Fr. traict, a 
 teame-trace or trait. — Cot. From Lat. 
 tractus, draught; cheval de trait, a 
 draught-horse. 
 
 Track. Fr. trac, a track, tract or trace, 
 a beaten way or path, also a trade or 
 course. — Cot. Our first inclination is to 
 unite the word with tract or trace, or to 
 derive it from G. trecken, to drag. The 
 Prov. has trah, trag, trai, in the sense of 
 draught, course. * Lo dreg trai :^ the 
 right direction. 
 
 But the primary meaning seems to be 
 44 
 
690 
 
 -TRACT 
 
 that given by Palsgrave : step, a print of 
 one's foot, trac. And the true explana- 
 tion of the word I believe to be that it is 
 a parallel form with G. trapp, represent- 
 ing the sound of the footfall, and thence 
 signifying a footprint. — Danneil. Swiss 
 Rom. trac, a trap-door. Piedm. trich- 
 track represents the sound made by one 
 who clatters along in clogs or wooden 
 shoes. Roquefort explains trac as noise, 
 the blow of a lance, the pace of a mule or 
 horse. Tracas, much trotting or hurry- 
 ing up and down. — Cot. Castrais tra- 
 qicet-traquet, tripping, going off by little 
 steps. Cat. trac, Sp. traque, a crack, re- 
 port of an explosion. LimosinyJz lo traco, 
 to make a beaten path in snow. 
 
 It is singular that there is yet another 
 route by which we are brought to the 
 same form. From ON. troda, to tread, is 
 the frequentative tradka, and thence N. 
 trakka, to trample, stamp ; trakk, tread- 
 ing, continually going to and fro. 
 
 -tract. — Traction. Lat. traho, trac- 
 tum, to draw, drag. As in Abstract, Con- 
 tract, Retract, Subtract, &c. 
 
 Tractable. See Treat. 
 
 Trade. The proper meaning of the 
 word is a trodden way, a beaten path or 
 course, and thence metaphorically a way 
 of life. A tradesman is one who follows 
 a special way of life in opposition to the 
 husbandmen who constituted the great 
 bulk of the community. The tradewinds 
 are winds which hold a certain trade or 
 course. 
 
 Wyth wind at will the trad held thai, 
 And in England com rycht swyth. 
 
 Wynton. vi. 20, 55. 
 
 Tho would I seek for queen-apples unripe 
 To give my Rosalind, and in summer shade 
 Dight gawdy girlonds was my common trade 
 To crown her golden locks. 
 
 Shepherd's Calendar. 
 
 Pl.D. trade, trahe, wagentrahe, a waggon- 
 rut. — Adelung in v. geleise. ON. trod, 
 treading. In the sense of commerce, 
 however, it is probable that trade, a way 
 of life, has been confounded with Sp. 
 trato, treatment, intercourse, communi- 
 cation, trade, traffic, commerce ; tratar, 
 to treat of a subject, to confer, to trade 
 or traffic. See Treat. The name of traite 
 is specially given in French to the trade 
 of the African coast ; la traite des noirs, 
 the slave trade. 
 
 Tradition, Lat. trado {trans, across 
 and do), traditum, to hand over, to trans- 
 mit. 
 
 TrafB.c. Sp. trafagdr, traficar, to 
 traffic, also to travel or make journeys ; 
 
 TRAITOR 
 
 trafago, traffic, a careful management of 
 affairs ; trdfagon, active, industrious, 
 meddlesome. Castrais trafega, to stir, to 
 mix (brouiller), to bustle ; trafegous, med- 
 dlesome, troublesome. 
 
 The word seems to signify active em- 
 ployment, from Limousin trofi, trdfi, 
 noise, disturbance, quarrel ; then busi- 
 ness, commerce, traffic. * Lei oou fa un 
 fier trofi : ' they have made a fine racket. 
 * Oven oougu doous trofi ensemble : ' we 
 have had some rows together. Trofiga, 
 to traffic. Swiss Rom. trajfi, disturbance, 
 noise, business. Languedoc trdfi, tracas, 
 trouble, desordre, disturbance, trouble. 
 Lou trdfi dun oustaou, the trouble of a 
 household ; irafica, to bustle, to be busy, 
 to frequent a place. Like many of the 
 words of the S. of France it has probably 
 a Celtic origin. W. trafu, to stir, to 
 agitate ; trafod, a stirring, turning about, 
 bustle, intermeddling, labour, pains, trou- 
 ble ; trafodiaeth, transactions — Lewis ; 
 trafaes, stir, bustle, pains. — Jones. 
 
 Tragedy, Lat. tragoedia, from Gr. 
 Tpaytpdia ; from rpayof, a goat, and t^drj, a 
 poem for singing. 
 
 To Trail, To drag along. A fre- 
 quentative from Lat. trahere, to draw. 
 A trail, a sledge. ' Dogs — which they 
 yoke together as we do oxen or horses to 
 a sled or /r«z7,' — Hackluyt, III. 37. Sp. 
 trailla, a drag for levelling ground. Mid. 
 Lat. traha, tracula, a sled or harrow. 
 Trahse quae rustici tragulam vocant. — 
 Papias in Due. Trahale, a sledge. — 
 Carp. It. tragula, a drag-net. Ptg. 
 tralha, a fishing-net. Du. treylen, to tow 
 a vessel, to drag it by a rope. Prov. 
 tralh, traces, track. 
 
 Train, i. lx..traino,S'p. tragin, Vrov. 
 trahi, OFr. trahin, Fr. train, from Lat. 
 trahere, to draw. 
 
 2. Sw. trail, G. thran, train-oil, oil that 
 drips from the fat of whales. Pl.D. traon, 
 tear, drop, train-oil ; traonog, a dripping 
 eye. — Danneil. OHG. trahan^ gutta, la- 
 cryma. 
 
 Traitor. — Treason. — Treachery. 
 From Lat. tradere, to give over, to betray, 
 were formed It. tradire, Prov. trahiry 
 trair, Fr. trahir, to betray, and It. tradi- 
 tore, OFr. trahi tor, traitor, trahitre, Fr. 
 traitre, a traitor. In the same way 
 traditio became Fr. trahison, traison, E. 
 treason. Another version of Lat. tradere 
 gave Prov. trachar, to betray (quite dis- 
 tinct from Fr. tricher, to trick or cozen), 
 and tracker, trackor, OE. treckour, a be- 
 trayer, whence E. treackery. In a similar 
 manner the Prov. had the two forms maU 
 
TRAMEL 
 
 faitor and malfacJior^ a malefactor ; 
 afaitar and afachar, to train, to dress. 
 
 Tramel. It. tramaglio^ Sp. trastnallo, 
 Fr. tramail. Piedm. trimaj, a fishing- 
 net of very fine materials of two or three 
 layers, the middle one of narrow meshes 
 and the outside ones of very wide meshes. 
 The fish strikes against the narrow meshes 
 of the middle net and drives a portion of 
 it through one of the wide meshes on the 
 opposite side, where it is entangled in a 
 kind of pocket. Hence the name, from 
 trans mactilain, through the mesh. The 
 Sp. form of the word, trasmallo, is hardly 
 compatible with the ordinary explanation 
 from the threefold constitution of the net. 
 
 To Tramp. — Tram.ple. From a na- 
 salised form of G. trapp I trapp ! repre- 
 senting the sound of the footfall. Du. 
 trappen^ trappelen, Sw. trampa^ to tread, 
 to trample. 
 
 Trance. It. transire, transitare^ to 
 pass over ; by met. to fall into a swoon, 
 or to yield and give up the ghost ; transito, 
 a passage over, also a dead trance or the 
 instant of giving up the ghost. — Fl. Fr. 
 transi, fallen into a transe or sowne, 
 whose heart, sense, or vital spirits fail 
 him ; astonied, appalled, half dead. 
 Transi de froid, benummed with cold. 
 Transe, extreme fear or anxiety of mind ; 
 a trance or sowne. — Cot. Sp. transito, 
 passage to a better life, death ; transido, 
 languishing, dying of inanition. 
 
 Tranquil. Lat. tranquilhis. 
 
 Trans-. Tra-. Lat. trans^ across, 
 beyond. 
 
 Transept. Lat. trans, across,' and 
 septum, an enclosure. 
 
 Transom. — Transommer. A cross 
 beam, horizontal division in a window. 
 Fr. sommier, a sumpter-horse, also the 
 piece of timber called a summer, a truss- 
 ing hoop on a cask. — Cot. 
 
 Trap. It. trapp a, trappola, a trap ; 
 trappa is also a trap-door, a falling door : 
 Fr. attraper, to catch. From the sharp 
 sound of the falling door represented by 
 the syllable trap ! which is in G. used to 
 imitate the sound of the footfall. 
 
 Trap-rock. A name given in Geology 
 to an igneous rock which often sends out 
 dykes into the fissures of more modern 
 strata, and these being found at different 
 levels on the two sides of the dyke have 
 the appearance of having been dislocated 
 by the intrusion of the dyke. Now strata 
 so dislocated are said by the miners to 
 trap up or trap down (using trap in the 
 sense of a sudden fall or sudden move- 
 ment^ according as they appear at a 
 
 TRAVEL 
 
 691 
 
 higher or lower level on the other side of 
 the dyke. Hence the dyke causing such 
 a dislocation would seem to have been 
 called a trapdyke, and thence the name 
 of trap transferred to the rock of which it 
 was composed. See Account of the strata 
 of a district in Somersetshire, Phil. Trans. 
 1719. 
 
 To Trape.— Traipse. To trail along 
 in an untidy manner. T7-apes, a slattern, 
 an idle sluttish woman. Probably from 
 the notion of being drabbled or drapled 
 in the mire. See Drabble, Draggle. 
 Banff trype, to walk in a slovenly man- 
 ner; traich (ch gutt.), to handle or work 
 in a liquid or semiliquid substance, or in 
 a lazy, dirty, disgusting manner, to go 
 idly from place to place. 
 
 Trappings. To trap a. horse was to 
 dress him in housings. ' Mules trapped 
 with silke and clothe of golde.' — IJdal, 
 Mark. ' Coursers trapped to the earth in- 
 cloth of gold.'— Berners, Froissart in R. 
 Hence trappers or trappings were the^ 
 ornamental housings of horses. 
 
 The origin seems to be the representa- 
 tion of the flapping of cloths by the 
 syllable trap. Sp. giialdrapa, horsecloth, 
 housing, tatter, rag hanging down from 
 clothes ; gualdrapear (of sails), to slap 
 against the mast ; trapo, rag, tatter, sails 
 of a ship, cloth. Ptg. trape, syllable re- 
 presenting the sound of a blow ; trapear, 
 (of sails), to flap against the masts ; trapo, 
 a rag. — Roquete. 
 
 Trash. Trash or trousse signified 
 clippings of trees. 
 
 Gret fur he made ther a night of wode and of sprai, 
 And tresche ladde iher aboute that me wide sai. 
 R. G. 552. 
 
 Trouse is still used in Hereford for the 
 trimmings of hedges. 
 
 Provided always that they be laid with green 
 willow bastons, and for default thereof with vine- 
 cuttings or such trotisse, so that they lie half a 
 foot thick. — Holland, Pliny. Faggots to be 
 every stick of three foot in length — this to pre- 
 vent the abuse of filling the middle part and ends 
 with trash and short sticks. — Evelyn. See N. & 
 Q., June II, 1853. 
 
 N. tros, the sound of breaking ; trosa, 
 to make such a sound, to break to bits ; 
 tros, windfalls, broken branches in a wood, 
 dry broken twigs ; tros vid, light dry wood 
 for burning. ON. tros, offal, rubbish ; 
 trosna, to break up, wear away. Castrais 
 trasso, old worn-out things ; una trasso 
 de capel, an old hat. 
 
 Travel. It. travaglio, Sp. trabajo, 
 
 Prov. trabalh, trebalh, Fr. travail, pains, 
 
 labour, work. The passage to the E. sense 
 
 of travel has taken place in like manner 
 
 44 * 
 
692 
 
 TRAVERSE 
 
 in the case of G. arbcit, labour, which in 
 Bavaria is used in the sense of travel. 
 Uber welt arbatten, to travel over the 
 jkvorld.— Schmeller. 
 
 I beheve that the word signifies in the 
 first instance rattle, noise ; then agita- 
 tion, movement ; then trouble, torment, 
 work. Bret, trabei, a rattle, clapper ; 
 Prov. trebalh, chatter. * Non aug 
 d'auzelhs trebalh :' I do not hear the 
 chatter of birds. Trebalhar, to agitate, 
 disturb, trouble, torment ; trebalhos, tur- 
 bulent, troublesome, quarrelsome. Cast- 
 rais trebo, racket, noise at night ; treba, 
 to make a racket, to stir while others are 
 in bed; treboula, to trouble or muddy 
 water, w. traf, a stir, a strain ; trafi^, to 
 stir, to agitate ; trafel, that stirs or works, 
 a press, a hatchel ; trafael, extreme effort, 
 trouble. See Trouble. 
 
 Traverse. Fr. travers^ from Lat. 
 transversus. 
 
 . Travesty. Fr. travestir, Lat. trans 
 and vestisj to change into other clothes. 
 
 Tray. Du. draag-bak, a hod for 
 carrying mortar ; draagen, to carry. The 
 Du. d sometimes answers to an E. /, as in 
 drollen, E. troll, to roll. — Kil. 
 
 Treachery. See Traitor. 
 
 Treacle. From its resemblance to the 
 old confection called triacle, which was 
 considered a sovereign remedy against 
 poison, and was named from Mid.Gr. 
 Orjpiov, a viper, either because it was good 
 against the bite of vipers, or because it 
 was supposed to be made of viper's flesh ; 
 Btjpiaicf}, Mid. Lat. t/teriaca, teriaca,triaca. 
 — Dief. Sup. 
 
 Tread, as. tredan, Pl.D. treden, treen, 
 G. treten, ON. troda, Goth, trudan, to 
 tread, w. troed, Gael, troidh, troigh, 
 foot. 
 
 Treason. See Traitor. 
 
 Treasure. Fr. tresor^ Sp. tesoro, from 
 Lat. thesaurus. 
 
 To Treat. Lat. traho, tractum, to 
 draw, whence tracto, Fr. traicter, traiter, 
 to handle, meddle with, entertain, treat. 
 
 Treble. — Triple. O Fr . treble, triple, 
 Lat. triplus, Gr. rptTrXoof, rpnr\ovq, three- 
 fold. The highest part in music is called 
 treble. 
 The human voices sung a triple hie. — Fairfax. 
 I have sic pleasour at my hart 
 That garris me sing the troubill pairt, 
 Wold sum gude fellow fill the quart. 
 
 Lyndsay Satire of the three Estates. 
 
 Tree. AS. treow, Goth, triw, on. trd, 
 tree, wood. W. derw, Gr. Ipvq, an oak ; 
 OSlav. drjevo, Boh. drewo, tree. 
 
 Trellis. Fr. treillis^ any latticed or 
 
 TREPAN 
 
 grated frame. — Cot. Treille, an arbour 
 or walk covered with vines. - Lat. trichila^ 
 an arbour. 
 
 Tremble. — Tremendous. — Tremu- 
 lous. — Trepidation, — Intrepid. Gr. 
 rpknuf, Lat. tremo, to tremble, to quake for 
 fear ; tremulus, quaking, and thence It. 
 tremolare, Fr. trembler, to tremble. The 
 original form of the root is preserved in 
 Lat. trepidus, trembling ; trepido, to 
 tremble, to pant. Russ. trepetaty, to pal- 
 pitate, tremble ; trepet, shivering, trem- 
 bling, fear. Boh. trepati, to clash, to 
 beat ; trepatise, to palpitate, tremble. 
 
 Trench. — Trencher. Prov. trencar, 
 to cut off, to break ; It. trinciare, Fr. 
 trancher, formerly trencher, to cut off, to 
 cut to pieces ; tranch^es, the trenches or 
 ditches cut before a besieged place ; tran- 
 choir, a trencher or wooden plate on 
 which our ancestors cut up their meat at 
 meals. 
 
 The primaiy meaning seems to be to 
 crack or break, then to break or divide 
 into small pieces, to divide or cut. Ptg. 
 trinco, snapping of the fingers ; trincar, 
 to crack as a nut with the teeth, to crunch, 
 to gnaw. Sp. trincar, to break, chop, 
 divide into small pieces. Cat. trencar, to 
 break. Prov. trencar, trenchar, trinquar, 
 to break, cleave, cut, break off. ' Lo dorc 
 se trenca : ' the crock is broken. 
 
 It may be doubted whether the It. 
 trincare, Fr. triiiquer, to tope or quaff, 
 does not properly signify the knocking of 
 glasses, instead of being derived from G. 
 trinken, as commonly supposed. Cou- 
 sini^ explains Castrais trinca, knocking 
 glasses as a pledge in drinking. 
 
 To Trend. See Trundle. 
 
 To Trend. In nautical language, to 
 turn or bend in a certain direction. 
 
 Not far beneath i' the valley as she trends 
 Her silver stream. — Brown. 
 
 AS. trindel, an orb, a circle ; Sw. trind, 
 round. See Trundle. 
 
 Trepan. Gr. rpviravov. Mid. Lat. tre- 
 panu7n, a borer for a broken skull ; 
 TpvTTuo), to bore, to pierce. 
 
 To Trepan. — Trapan. To ensnare 
 or entrap. 
 
 Nothing but gins, and snares and trapans for 
 souls. — South, Sermons. 
 
 If these swear true he was trapanned on ship- 
 board. — Stillingfleet, Speech in 1692. 
 
 According to Fl. It. trapanare signified 
 in a met. sense * to slide and pass through 
 with speed and closely, to cheat.' lo non 
 so se tu trapdni nel secreto del mio in- 
 tendimento.— Aretino. 
 
TREPIDATION 
 
 Trepidation, -trepid. See Tremble. 
 
 Trespass. Fr. trespasser^ to overpass, 
 
 exceed, pass on or over ; — son serment, 
 
 to break or go from his oath. — Cot. Lat. 
 
 trans ^ beyond, zx^dipassus, a step. 
 
 Tress. It. treccia, Fr. tresse^ Sp. tren- 
 za, explained by Diez as a plait of three 
 bands of hair, from Gr. rplxa, threefold. 
 So It. /r^;/^, a threefold rope, Prov. trena, 
 a tress, from Lat. trmus. Enirenar, to 
 interlace, to plait. 
 
 Trestle. A crossbeam resting on two 
 pair of legs, for the support of boards 
 serving as a table or scaffolding or the 
 like. OFr. trestel, Fr. treteau, dim. of 
 OFr. traste (Roquef.), It. trasto, a transom 
 or crossbeam. Sc. trest, traist, the frame 
 of a table, trestles. Trabem, trastrum. — 
 Gl. Reichenau. Lat. transtrum, a cross- 
 beam. The analogy of the Celtic lan- 
 guages leaves it hardly doubtful (in spite 
 of Gr. QpavoQ, a serving bench) that the 
 word is derived from the prep, trans, 
 across, or its representatives, w. traws, 
 transverse, across ; trawst, a rafter. 
 Bret, treuzt, to cross ; a dreuz, across ; 
 treuzel, crossbar ; treust, beam, rafter ; 
 treustel, trestle, lintel of a door. Gael. 
 thar, over, across ; tarsuinn, transverse, 
 across ; tarsannan, tarsnan, a cross-beam. 
 Diez erroneously derives the word from 
 Du. driestal, a trivet. 
 
 Trevet. — Trivet. Du. drijvoef, treeft, 
 Fr. trepied, a support standing on three 
 feet. 
 
 Tri-. Lat. tre-j tres, three. 
 
 Tribe. — Tribune. Lat. tjibus, one of 
 the three bodies into which the Romans 
 were originally divided. The magistrate 
 presiding over each of these tribes was 
 called tribnnus, a tribune. 
 
 Tribulation. From Lat. tero, tritttm, 
 to rub, bruise, bray, thresh, springs tri- 
 bula, a dray used for beating out the corn, 
 and thence tribulo, to beat out the corn, 
 to thresh, and met. to afflict, vex, oppress. 
 
 Tribute, -tribute. Lat. tribno, to 
 hand over, to grant, allot, divide. Tribu- 
 tum, tax, impost paid by the people for 
 the public expense. Hence Attribute, 
 Contribute, Distribute, Retribution. 
 
 -trieate. -trigue. Lat. triccF, trifles, 
 .impediments ; whence intrico, -atum, to 
 entangle; extrico, to disentangle, extri- 
 cate. From intrico also is Fr. intriguer 
 (in the place of which Cot. has in- 
 triguer, intringuer), to perplex, puzzle ; 
 intrigue, a plot, entanglement, intrigue. 
 
 Trice. A moment. 
 And whan that he him moste avaunteth, 
 That lord whiche vainglorie daunteth, 
 
 TRICKLE 
 
 693 
 
 All sodenly as who saith trcis, 
 Where that he stode in his paleis. 
 
 Gower. Conf. A. b. i, 
 Sp. tris, crack, noise made in breaking, 
 thence a trice, an instant. VeJiir en un 
 tris, to come in a trice. So in Sc. in a 
 crack, immediately.— Jam. 
 Poor Tackles' grimly ghost was vanished in a 
 crack. — Lewis. 
 
 To Trice. To hoist or hale up aloft. 
 
 For the horses he had, them he made to be 
 girt before one after the other, and then did 
 softly trise them with long pulleys fastened to 
 the beames. — North, Plutarch. 
 
 Sw. trissa. Da. tridse,2L pulley; tridse^ 
 to hoist or lower by means of pulleys ; 
 Pl.D. drysen, updryseji, to hoist; dryse- 
 blok, a pulley. Trisel, a whirling, turn- 
 ing round, dizziness, giddiness, a top. 
 Trisel-stroom, -wind, a whirlpool, whirl- 
 wind. — Brem. Wtb. 
 
 Trick. Du. trekken, to pluck, pull, 
 draw ; trek, a stroke of a pen, draught, 
 pull, tug; a trick at cards, i. e. the collec- 
 tion taken up off the board at once. Een^ 
 trek spelen, to play one a trick. In the 
 same way G. streich, a stroke, a trick. 
 
 I am inclined to believe that Fr. tricher, 
 to cozen, cheat, deceive, use false tricks 
 (Cot), is from a different source, viz. from 
 the representation of a blurt with the 
 mouth by the syllable true, so that tricher 
 would be equivalent to 'E.pop in the sense 
 of cheating, ne. trucky, cheating. — Hal. 
 True, popping or sound with the lips 
 wherewith we use to encourage a horse. — 
 Cot. It. truscare, to blurt or pop with 
 one's lips or mouth ; truscio di labbra, a 
 blurting or popping with one's lips or 
 tongue, for to encourage a horse (Fl.), 
 from which last must be explained Fr. 
 trousse, a cozening trick, blurt, slampant. 
 — Cot. See Trifle. v 
 
 To Trickle.— Trinkle. The radical 
 signification seems to be to roll or advance 
 with an undulating motion. We speak 
 indifferently of tears trickling or rolling 
 down the cheeks. To trickle in the E. of 
 E. is used for the rolling of a solid body. 
 ' Trickle m^ that orange across the table.' 
 — Forby. Devon, truckle, to roll, a roller 
 under a heavy weight. — Hal. w. treiglo, 
 to roll or turn over, to wander about. Sc. 
 trigil, trigle, to trickle. 
 Be all thir teris trigilland ouer my face.— D. V. 
 
 no. 86. 
 
 The sense of rolling is generally ex- 
 pressed by the figure of broken sound, and 
 thus It. rotolare, to roll, has been con- 
 nected with E. rattle. We speak of the 
 roll of the drum or of thunder. In like 
 
694 
 
 TRIDENT 
 
 manner trickle, inickle, seem to be con- 
 nected with forms like Sp. trique-traque, 
 clattering, clashing ; traquear,traquetear, 
 to crack, crackle, to shake to and fro ; 
 Alban. trok, trokelin, I knock at a door, 
 and with the nasal, tringelin, I ring, clink; 
 trongelin, I knock, clap, to be compared 
 with Sc. trinkie, to tingle, to trickle. ' The 
 tares trinkled down her cheek.' — Moor. 
 
 Parallel forms with exchange of the 
 final k for /, are E. dial, triitle, ON. tritla, 
 It. trottoiare, to roll, bowl, twirl ; Sc. 
 trinlle, to roll, to trickle. 
 
 Trident. Lat. tridens ; tres, three, 
 and dens, a tooth. 
 
 Trifle. It. triiffa, a roguish trick, a 
 cheat, a trifle, toy, an idle thing ; stare in 
 truffo, to play the fool, to toy or trifle. — 
 Altieri. Fr. truffe, trtcjle, a gibe, mock, 
 flout, jest, gullery ; triiffer, truffler, to 
 mock or jibe at, to lie, cheat. 
 
 Hold thy tonge, Mercy, 
 Hit is irujle that thou tellest.— P. P. 
 
 How doth our bysshop tryjle and mocke us. 
 
 Berner's Froissart. 
 
 The origin is probably the representa- 
 tion of a contemptuous blurt with the 
 mouth. It, tronfare, tronjiare, to snort, 
 to huff or snuff with anger, also to trump. 
 — Fl. Walach. trtiji, to swell with pride. 
 Trigger. — Tricker. Du. trekken, to 
 pull ; trekker, the trigger, by pulling 
 which the gun is let off. Sw. trycka, to 
 press ; trycka af, to let off a gun ; tryckje, 
 latch of a door, trigger of a gun. 
 
 Trigonom.etry. Gr. Tpiyu)vov, a tri- 
 angle. 
 
 To Trill. To turn, to roll, to trickle. 
 Sw. trii/a, to roll ; Da. /rz7/^, to roll, to 
 trundle; trillebbr, a wheelbarrow ON. 
 trilla, to run about. 
 
 In the Squire's Tale Cambuscan is di- 
 rected to guide the movements of a horse 
 by trilling a pin in his ear. 
 — sudden smarts, 
 Which daily chance as Fortune trills the ball. 
 
 Gascoigne. 
 His sake teares trilled adowne as rejme. 
 
 Prioiess' Tale. 
 
 The radical image is a quavering sound, 
 from whence the expression is transferred 
 to a quavering, vibratory, or whirling 
 movement. It. trigliare, trillare, to 
 quaver with the voice in singing ; w. 
 treigl, a rolling over, walking about ; Sc. 
 trigil, trigle, E. trickle, to roll as tears. 
 Swiss trohlen, to thunder, to roll ; abe 
 trohlen, to roll down, to come rumbling 
 down ; trd?clen, to bowl, to roll. 
 
 Trim. as. tnun, firm, stedfast, try- 
 mian, trymman, to confirm, strengthen, 
 
 TROLL 
 
 establish, prepare, dispose, set in order. 
 Garas trymedon, they prepared arms. 
 Trymede getimbro, would prepare build- 
 ings. Geleafan getrymian, to confirm be- 
 lief. To trim the boat is to steady it. 
 To tritn a garment is to set it in 
 order, to give it the necessary ornaments 
 to set it off. Trim is what is properly 
 decked out. 
 
 Trinity. Lat. trinus, of three, three 
 and three together. 
 
 Trinkets. Gewgaws, toys. — B. Pro- 
 bably to be explained from the rattling 
 which pleases children in their toys, as 
 Lat. crepundia, toys, from crepere, to 
 rattle. Ptg. trinco, snapping of the fin- 
 gers ; trinco da porta, the latch of a door. 
 Fr. traqtiet, a rattle, a mill clack ; triqjie- 
 niques, trifles, things of no value. Walach. 
 trankof, a rattle, a trifle, anything ridi- 
 culous. 
 
 To Trip. G. trapp-irapp-trapp repre- 
 sents the sound of the footfall ; trippeln, 
 to trip, to move by short quick steps. Du. 
 trappen, trippen, to tread ; trippen, trip- 
 pelen, trepelen, to dance. — K. Da. trip, 
 a short step. Bret, tripa, to dance, skip, 
 stamp. Fr. triper, to tread, stamp, 
 trample. 
 
 Tripe. It. trippa, Sp. tripa, Fr. tripe, 
 Bret, striper, w. tripa, belly, guts. 
 
 Tripod. Gr. Tp'nrovg, rpiirodog, three- 
 footed. 
 
 To Trise. See Trice. 
 
 * Trist, — Tryste. An appointed time 
 or place. ON. treysta, treystast til, to 
 rely upon ; Sc. traist, treist, to trust, to 
 pledge faith. 
 
 Thocht thow be greit like Gowmakmome, 
 
 Traist \i&i&. I sal yow meit the morne. 
 
 Lyndsay. 
 
 Syne thai traist in the field throw trety of trew. 
 Gaw. and Gol. 
 
 Trite, -trite. — Triturate. Lat. tero, 
 tritum,to rub, grind down, pound, thresh, 
 wear away ; tritus, worn, much used, 
 broken, ground ; tritare, to thresh or 
 pound. Contrite, broken down. 
 
 Triumph. Lat. triiimpJms. 
 
 Trivet. Fr. trepied, Lat. tripes, tre- 
 pedis, a three-footed stand. 
 
 TriviaL Lat. trivialis, common, from 
 trivium, a place where three roads meet, 
 a place of common resort. 
 
 To Troll. — Trowl. i. To roll or 
 trundle. To trowl the bowl is to push it 
 round. As roll answers to It. rotolare, 
 so //-^//answers to trottoiare, to turn and 
 twirl, to roll and tumble down, whence 
 trottolo, a top.— Fl. So ON. tritill, N. 
 trill, a pulley, a top. 
 
TROLLOP 
 
 Ultimately from the figure of a broken 
 sound, from whence the expression is 
 transferred to a broken, reciprocating, or 
 rolling movement. Brescian trotold, to 
 make the noise of boiling water, to bubble 
 up ; Sc. trattle, to prattle, chatter, patter ; 
 E. dial, trattles, trottles, trutiles, the pel- 
 let-shaped dung of sheep or rabbits, which 
 falls pattering down. Swiss trohlen^ to 
 thunder, to roll ; abetrohlen, to come 
 tumbling down ; trohli, a roller ; trohlefi, 
 to bowl, roll ; Pl.D. triiVn, N. trulla, 
 E. dial, trull, to trundle, roll ; Pl.D. triil, 
 anything of a rounded form ; appel-trul, 
 an apple-dumpling, w. trolio, to trundle, 
 roll ; trol, a cylinder. As trill, to roll, 
 was found related to two parallel forms 
 shown in ON. tritill, a top, and E, trickle, 
 so troll or trull is related to It. trot tola, 
 a top, and E. truckle. 
 
 2. To troll or trowl a song is probably 
 to roll it out with rise and fall of voice, 
 but it may possibly be the equivalent of 
 G. trallen, trallern, trdllern, Swiss tral- 
 len, tralallen, trallallen, to sing a tune, 
 to sound notes without words ; from a re- 
 presentation of the notes by the syllables 
 tra-la-la. ' Sie leiern und tralallen.' 
 * Mit singen und traldreu.' ' Wenn er 
 ein lustiges liedchen trallert.' 
 
 Trollop. A slattern. — Hal. Banff 
 trollop, to hang in a wet state ; ' The 
 bairn cam in wee 'ts frockie a' trollopin' 
 aboot its leggies : ' to do any work in a 
 slovenly manner, to walk in an unbecom- 
 ing dirty manner. Trollop, a. large piece 
 of rag, especially wet rag, a tall ill- 
 made person of dirty habits. From the 
 sound of dabbling in the wet. A parallel 
 form is drabble, to draggle in the mire 
 (Banff) ; a person of dirty habits, a small 
 quantity of liquid. Draplyd, drablyd, 
 paludosus ; drobly, feculentus, turbu- 
 lentus. — Pr. Pm. Gael, druablas, muddy 
 liquor ; druabag, a small drop, weak 
 drink ; dregs, tippling. For the connec- 
 tion between trollop and drabble, di-aple, 
 comp, wallop and wabble, G. schwaipe7i 
 and schwappebi. 
 
 Troop. Sp. tropa, Fr. troupe. It. 
 truppa, a body of men. Prov. trop, Sp. 
 tropel, Fr. troupeati, a herd of cattle, w. 
 torp, a round mass or lump ; torpell, a 
 small mass, a clod, a dumpling. 
 
 Trope. — Tropic. Gr. rplTrw, to turn ; 
 rpoTTOf, a turn, a changed or figurative ex- 
 pression ; rpoTTTj, a turning ; the solstice 
 or place where the sun seems to change 
 his course, whence tropic, the latitude of 
 the solstices. 
 
 Trophy. Gr. T^oiraiov, Lat. tropceum, 
 
 TROUBLE 
 
 695 
 
 a monument of the enemy's defeat ; 
 TgoTrrj, a turning or putting to flight. 
 
 Trot. Diez would derive It. trottare, 
 Fr. trotter, to trot, from Lat. tolutare, 
 contracted to tlutare, with change from 
 /to r as in Fr. chapitre from capitulum. 
 There is however no need to resort to 
 this contraction. Trott I is used in G. 
 synonymous with trapp / to represent the 
 sound of the footfall.— Sanders. We have 
 then Sw. tratta, to trip, to trot ; ODu. 
 tratteti, to step, to tread ; trat, a step — 
 Kil. ; iG. treten, to step; tritt, a step. 
 Bret, trota, to trot, to walk much; tro- 
 tella, to run here and there. 
 
 Troth. See Truth. 
 
 Trouble. Immediately from Fr. 
 troubler, OFr. tourbler. It. torbolare, tur- 
 bolare, and next from Lat. tJirbare, to dis- 
 turb. Alban. tourbouloig, troubouloig, I 
 muddy, confuse, disturb. 
 
 The radical signification seems to be 
 to stun or confuse by a loud noise, to put 
 into confusion, to thicken or make liquors 
 unclear. Gr. 0opw/3oc, noise, uproar, 
 tumult ; 6opv(3ku), to disturb with noise or 
 tumult, to trouble. Castrais treba {tapa- 
 ger), to make a racket at night like ghosts, 
 to rout or toss about in bed ; treboula, to 
 trouble water. Central Fr. trebou, terbou, 
 a tempest ; tribou, triboul, a whirlwind, 
 storm, great noise, confusion, agitation, 
 disquiet. Limousin trebla, to disturb by 
 noise ; se trebla, to become confused, to 
 lose one's head. Bret, trabel, a rattle, 
 clatter ; Prov. trebalh, chatter ; trebalhar, 
 to agitate, disturb, trouble, torment ; Fr. 
 triballer, to make a noise or disturbance. 
 'Le bruit et la t?-iballe des gens de nopce 
 vous romproient tout le testament.' — 
 Rabelais iii. 30. In liv. v. ch. i the same 
 author speaks of the ^ trinballement des 
 paesles, chauderons, cymbales,' the clink- 
 ing of pots, kettles, cymbals. Trinque- 
 b alter les cloches, to jangle bells or ring 
 them untunably — Cot. ; trinqueballer, to 
 run about or carry about from place to 
 place. — Hdcart. Norm, trimballer, to 
 jangle bells, to carry about from place to 
 place. — Decorde. OFr. triballer, and in 
 vulgar language trainballer, to agitate, 
 stir ; triboU, tribouil, agitation, disorder, 
 trouble, affliction. — =Roquef Tribouller, 
 to shog or jog like a cart in an uneven 
 way, and hence to jumble, disorder ; tri- 
 boule-7nenage, an unskilful husband, one 
 that mars his own business. — Cot. Wal. 
 triboli, to chime bells. — Remade. Champ. 
 triballer, to shake ; tribouiller, to agitate, 
 stir ; tribouler, to vex. 
 
696 
 
 TROUGH 
 
 Trough. It. truogo, truogoio, Walach. 
 troCy OHG. trogy Norm, treu, tros. 
 
 * To Trounce. The passage in Judges 
 4. 15, *the Lord discomfited Sisera and 
 his chariots and all his host with the edge 
 of the sword/ is rendered '■ trounced^ m 
 the Bible of 1551. From OFr. tronce, a 
 piece of wood, and thence troncer, troncir, 
 tronquer, briser, rompre, mettre en pieces. 
 — Roquef. Troncir^ to cut or break off, 
 or in two, or into pieces. — Cot. Sp. 
 iroHsar, to shatter, to break to pieces. 
 
 Trover. An action for the possession 
 of goods founded on the pretence that 
 the defendant has found them and appro- 
 priated them. OFr. trover ^ to find. See 
 Contrive. 
 
 To Trow. See True. 
 
 Trowel. Fr. truelle, Lat. truUa, 
 tniella^ a ladle, trowel. 
 
 Trowsers.— Trouse. Commonly men- 
 tioned in the earlier passages as an Irish 
 dress. ' Their breeches like the Irish 
 trooze have hose and stockings sewed to- 
 gether.'~Sir T. Herbert. 'The leather 
 quilted jack serves under his shirt of mail, 
 and to cover his trouse on horseback.' — 
 Spencer on Ireland. Gael, triubhas, Ir. 
 triumhaSy tritis, breeches and stockings 
 in one piece. It seems to have been a 
 strip of cloth wrapped round the legs and 
 thighs. 
 
 Truant. Sp. t?'uhan, Fr. tniand, a 
 beggar, vagabond, rogue. In Limousin 
 it is used in the sense of idle. Cornish 
 tru, w. truan, poor, miserable, wretched ; 
 Gael, truagh, wretched, miserable ; trtt- 
 aghan, a wretched creature. 
 
 Truce. It. tregim, Fr. treve, formerly- 
 used in the plural, troves : treves bris^es, 
 the breach of a granted protection. — Cot. 
 Unes trues. — Froiss. i. 50. 
 
 Tant qu'il avint, ne sai coment, 
 Que les trues furent rompues 
 Et les guerres sont revenues. 
 
 Fabliaux et Contes, 3. 64. 
 
 Hence OE. trews. — Capgrave, 185. The 
 origin is ON. tryggr, secure, trusty ; 
 tryggd, troth, security, assurance, agree- 
 ment, peace. It was commonly used in 
 the plural, tryggdir^ whence the plural 
 form of Fr. treves, and E. trews, truce. 
 Goth, tryggva, covenant. See True. 
 
 -trude. -trus-. Lat. trtido, trusum, 
 to thrust, push forward : as in Intrude, 
 Extrusion, Protrude. 
 
 Truck. I. Traffic by exchange of 
 goods. Sp. trocar, Fr. troquer, to chop, 
 swap, truck, barter. 
 
 The radical meaning of the word is a 
 knock or blow. Fr. true, a blow or thwack, 
 
 TRUDGE 
 
 a smack with the lips. — Cot. Limousin 
 iruca, to strike or knock ; truco, a bruise ; 
 true, knack ; o lou true d'oco, he has the 
 knack of it. Piedm. truchd, MW.?c[i. true- 
 car, Brescian, trcecd, to knock. Truce or 
 trcech is then, metaphorically, a piece of 
 business ; fare un buon trucco, as we say 
 in E. to do a good stroke of business. — 
 Diz. Parmeg. The sense of exchange is 
 explained by Piedm. barati or canbid 
 truch-a-truch, to barter or exchange 
 thing for thing. Fr. troe pour troc, ex- 
 change of one thing for another. It is to 
 be observed that the familiar synonyms 
 swap and chop both radically signify a 
 stroke, a quick turn. 
 
 From the sense of knocking also comes 
 the game of trucks or billiards, It. trucco, 
 Piedm. truck, in which the balls are 
 struck by a mace. F^ un truck, to make 
 a stroke. 
 
 Truck. 2. — Truckle. Devon, truckle, 
 to roll, whence truckle, a pulley, a roller 
 under a heavy weight. — Hal. A truck is 
 a small solid wheel for ordnance, also the 
 round disk at the top of a mast. It. 
 troco, a top. 
 
 A truckle-bed is a bed that is rolled in 
 under another, and drawn out when 
 wanted for use; and such beds being 
 occupied by attendants or inferiors, to 
 truckle was metaphorically used in the 
 sense of knocking under to one, acting in 
 a servile manner. One of the conditions 
 prescribed to a humble chaplain and 
 tutor in a squire's family, according to 
 Hall, was 
 
 First that he lie upon the truckle-bed 
 
 While his young master lieth o'er his head. 
 
 Nares. 
 It was also called a trundle-bed. 
 
 The connection of the idea of rolling 
 with a rattling or broken sound has been 
 repeatedly indicated, as under Roll, Troll, 
 Trickle. Thus true as a root signifying 
 roll may be connected with such forms as 
 Sp. traquear, traquetear,\.o crack, crackle, 
 shake, move to and fro ; Alban. trok, 
 trokelin, I knock. 
 
 To Trudge. The sense of contempt- 
 uous displeasure or rejection is often ex- 
 pressed by a blurt of the mouth or offens- 
 ive pop with the lips, and when the sound 
 so made is imported into speech it is 
 represented by the syllables Prut, Ptrot, 
 Ptrupt, Tprot, Trut, Trots, which were 
 used as interjections of contempt and 
 defiance. Examples of many of these 
 are given under Proud. We may add 
 Pt?^ot, skornefulle word, or trut, Vath. 
 ^^.Z2i, ptrupt or fye ! Vath, interjectio de- 
 
TRUE 
 
 risionis vel increpacionis, Twort ! — Pr. 
 Pm. p. 415. 
 
 A foule herlote hem slowe, trut ! for his renown. 
 R. Bninne, p. 317. 
 
 The interjection takes the form of triitz, 
 trotz, tratz, in G. ya trutz! wer tar 
 kiissen mich : Trut ! who dares kiss me. 
 — Schmeller. 
 
 The derivation of the interjection from 
 the sound of a blurt with the hps is 
 shown by It. truscare, to blurt or pop 
 with the mouth ; truscio di labbra, a 
 blurting or popping with one's lips or 
 tongue, to encourage a horse — Fl. ; Fr. 
 truc^ the popping or sound of the lips 
 whereby we encourage a horse — Cot. ; ON. 
 pi'utta (Haldorsen), trutta (Jonsson), to 
 make a noise with the mouth in driving 
 cattle ; Sw. prutta, to make an offensive 
 sound with the mouth. 
 
 Now the expression of contemptuous 
 displeasure, when uttered by a superior 
 in answer to the application of an inferior, 
 has the effect of driving the latter from 
 his presence, and thus the interjection 
 may be interpneted off ! begone ! Thus 
 the Gael, interjection truis (pronounced 
 iruish), trus, is explained a word by which 
 dogs are silenced or driven away. — Mac- 
 leod. Tms a mach ! trus ort ! {mack, 
 out ; ort, upon thee), begone, get away. 
 — Shaw. It. truccare, to scud, to pack 
 away nimbly. — FI. Tmcca via ! be off 
 with you. InOE. trus! was used in the 
 sense of begone. 
 
 Lyere — was nowher welcome, for his manye tales 
 Over al yhonted, and yhote, trusse ! 
 
 P. P. 1. 1319. 
 
 Thin help quoth Beryn, lewd fole thou art more 
 
 than masid, 
 Dress thee to the shippisward with thy crown 
 
 yrasid, 
 For I might never spare thee bet, trus ! and be 
 
 agoo. — Chaucer, Beryn, 2269. 
 
 In the same way Gascoigne uses trudge ! 
 which would correspond exactly to G. 
 trotz / 
 
 This tale once told none other speech prevails 
 But pack and trudge ! all leysure was to long. 
 
 The primary sense of trudge is thus to 
 hurry away from the presence of the 
 speaker, then to go steadily along as if 
 under compulsion. * And let them trudge 
 hence apace till they come to their may- 
 ster of myschef.' — Bale in R. The same 
 train of thought may be observed in ON. 
 putt ! T>2i.pyt ! Norman/^/./ (Decorde), 
 psha ! tut ! interjection of contempt and 
 rejection ; from whence must be explain- 
 ed the American put ! begone ! (Biglow 
 Papers, 2nd Series, xxxvii.) j to put, to 
 
 TRUMP 697 
 
 start, decamp, be off. ' I see I'm not 
 wanted here, so Pll^?//.'— Bartlett. 
 
 True.— Truth.— Trow.— Troth. The 
 primitive form known to us seems to be 
 Goth, triggws, ON. tryggr, reliable, faith- 
 ful, sure, true. ON. triir, sure, trusty. 
 Hve trutt mun dat ? is that sure, can one 
 trust to it.? Trua,Da. troe, Goth, trauan, 
 G. trauen, to believe, to trow, to confide 
 in ; Goth, trauems, trust, confidence, 
 boldness ; AS. treowa, truwa, trust, faith, 
 a pledge, a covenant ; treowian, truwian, 
 to trust, confide, trow, justify; tr^owth, 
 trywth, ON. tryggd, troth, truth, treaty, 
 league, covenant. 
 
 Trull. A sorry wench, a vile strumpet. 
 — B. Trolly, a dirty indolent sloven. — 
 Mrs Baker. G. trolle, a coarse, sluttish 
 woman. — K. The radical meaning of 
 this abusive term is very doubtful. Per- 
 haps it may be explained by Rouchi 
 troule, a sow, and also a strumpet, a 
 coarse slut, from troulter, to wallow in 
 the mud ; Lang, troulia, to tread grapes, 
 to tramp in wet and mud. Central Fr. 
 trouiller, to dirty ; trouille, trouillon, a 
 slut. Banff troll, trull, to work or walk 
 in a slovenly manner ; a person of sloven- 
 ly habits. 
 
 To Trump. To trutrip, to lie, to boast. 
 — Hal. To tru7np up a story is to get up 
 a fraudulent story. The origin seems to 
 be a contemptuous blurt with the mouth, 
 represented by the syllable trutnp. The 
 E. trump is used for various disagreeable 
 noises. It. troi7ibare, trombettare, to make 
 a rattling noise, to snort, break wind, to 
 bray or trump as an ass ; st?'OJnbare, 
 strombettare, to blurt with one's mouth ; 
 stro7nbazzare, to hout, shout, to hiss or 
 flurt at in scorn or reproach. — Fl. Tron- 
 fare, to snort, to huff, snuff, or chafe with 
 anger, also to trump. — Fl. From the 
 figure of a contemptuous blurt seems 
 to arise the use of trump in the sense of 
 playing a trick upon, deceiving, cheating. 
 
 Fortune, 
 When she is pleased to trick or tromp mankind. 
 B. Jonson. 
 
 Authors have been trumped upon us 
 interpolated and corrupted. — Leslie in 
 Todd. Fr. ti'omper, OSp. trompar, to 
 cheat, to deceive. 
 
 Trump. I.— Trumpet. The syllable 
 trub or trump, represents a loud, harsh 
 sound, in Let. trubet, to snore, to sound a 
 horn, Lith. truba, a herdsman's horn, 
 Russ., Boh. truba. It. tromba, Fr. trompe, 
 trompette, a trumpet, ON., ohg. trumba, a 
 drum. 
 
 2. A trump at cards. Fr. triomphe, 
 
698 
 
 TRUMPERY 
 
 Ptg. trunfo, Sp. triunfo^ G. trumpf^ Du. 
 troef. Latimer uses triumph and triunp 
 indifferently. 
 
 The question arises whether tnimp is 
 a corruption of trioinphc^ as commonly 
 supposed, or whether triomphc may not 
 be an accommodation from G. triwipf. 
 The G. trumpfen^ is used in the sense of 
 giving one a sharp reprimand or set-down, 
 which indeed may be from the figure of 
 trumping his card ; but, on the other 
 hand, it may be the older sense of the 
 word. « A trump is a card which gives a 
 sudden set-down to the party who was 
 winning the trick, and the word might ac- 
 quire that sense from the figure of a con- 
 temptuous blurt or offensive noise with the 
 lips. See To Trump. 
 
 * Trumpery. Worthless matters, trifles. 
 Hesse, trumb, trombel, trjunpel, a trifle. 
 ' Die sache ist um einen trtimpel gekauft 
 vvorden.' G. trunim, end, piece, fragment; 
 triimmer (pi.), ruins, rubbish. Sc. t7'ump, 
 a trifle, a thing of little value (Jam.) ; 
 trumpSy a depreciatory term for goods, 
 odds and ends. 
 
 Grant that our navy thys fyre may eschape, 
 And from distructioun delyver and out scrape 
 The sobir trunipis, and meyne graith of Troyanis, 
 D. V. 150. 55. 
 
 * Truncheon. A short staff. Fr. 
 t7'onqo7iy a piece cut or broken off as of a 
 lance, a sword, &c. It. torso, a stock, 
 stump, trunk, stalk of cabbage. Sp. trozo, 
 Cat. tros, Prov. tros, OFr. tros, trans, 
 tron, a stump, end, fragment ; Piedm. 
 tros, OFr. tj'on de chou, cabbage-stalk j 
 trox de poinme, core of an apple. Prov. 
 t?'osar, Sp. tronzar, to break to pieces. 
 
 The foregoing seem to be modified 
 forms of Lat. trimcus, a stump, stem, 
 stock, and to be related to Bav. triunm, 
 a stump, end, piece, as G. stru^ik, to 
 strumpfj a stump, or as E. trunk {pi an 
 elephant), to Fr. trompe. See Trunk. 
 
 Trundle. Fr. trondeler, rondeler, to 
 turn, wind, wheel. — Cot. AS. trendel, an 
 orb or circle. Sw. Da. trind, round. 
 Banff trintle, to trickle. The foregoing 
 are nasahsed versions of forms like It. 
 trottolaj^e, ON. tritla, trita, to twirl, turn 
 round (whence It. trottola, ON. tritill, a 
 top), E. trittle, to bowl or roll ; Banff 
 tratle, to trickle. The notion of move- 
 ment to and fro is often represented by 
 the repetition of measured sounds, and the 
 notion of reciprocating movement insensi- 
 bly passes into that of rolling or turning 
 round. Thus from botn / bom ! repre- 
 senting a ringing sound, we have G. bom- 
 meln^ baumeln, to swing to and fro, as E. 
 
 TRUSS 
 
 dangle from ding / dong / or It. dondo- 
 lare, to dangle or swing, from don-don re- 
 presenting the sound of bells. In the 
 south of France we find drin-drin, drin- 
 dran for the sound of bells, and drin- 
 doula, trandoula, to sway to and fro, to 
 swing ; drindoul, di'itidol, trantotil, a 
 swing (Cousinid) ; trantoula, Lang, tran- 
 talia, Lim. trontoula, Cat. trontdllar, to 
 stagger, shake, waggle ; exactly corre- 
 sponding to E. trutidle, to roll. 
 
 Trunk. Lat. truncus, Fr. tronc, the 
 stock, stem, or body of a tree without the 
 boughs, the body of a man without the 
 limbs ; also the poor man's box in 
 churches. — Cot. 
 
 By the foresayde place or shryne where the 
 holy martyrs bodyes lay he ordeyned a cheste or 
 tru7ike of clene sylver, to the intente that all 
 such juellys and ryche gyftes as were offryd to 
 the holy seyntis should therein be kepte to the 
 use of the mynstres of the same place. — Fabyan, 
 Chron. in R. 
 
 A chest would seem to be called a trunk 
 as resembling the trunk or chest of a 
 man's body. In the same way G. rumpf, 
 the trunk of the body, is applied to a 
 hollow vessel of different kinds. 
 
 We find two series of forms, with a 
 final labial and guttural respectively, 
 signifying a stump or projecting end. On 
 the one hand we have E. stub, stump, Du. 
 strobbe, a shrub, G. strtimpf, runipf, a 
 stump or trunk; and on the other, It. zocco, 
 E. stock, Du. siriiik, a stump, stalk, bush, 
 and with the nasal, stronk, G. strunk, 
 Lat. truncus, a stump, stalk. The radical 
 image is something sticking or striking 
 out, from forms like E. shock, concussion, 
 Du. suckelen, strobbelen, struikeleti, to 
 stumble or dash the foot against, together 
 with the numerous forms cited under 
 Truck, signifying knock. 
 
 Lat. trunco, to cut short (whence E. 
 truncate), is from the notion of reducing 
 to a trunk or stump, and not vice versa. 
 
 Trunnion. Knobs of a gun's metal 
 which bear her upon the cheeks of the 
 carriage. — B. From Yr.trogno7t,troignon, 
 the stalk of a cabbage with the leaves 
 pulled off, core of a fruit with the flesh 
 gone, trunk of a branchless tree ; and that 
 from It. ti'oncone, as inoignon, i7tugnon, 
 E. 77iunnio7i (mullion), from moncone, a 
 stump. 
 
 Truss. Fr. t7'ousser, to pluck up, tuck 
 up, pack up ; t7vusseau, a bundle ; t7'0us- 
 sis, a tuck. Sc. turse, to pack up in a 
 bale or bundle, to carry off hastily, to take 
 oneself off. To turss forth, to bring forth 
 what has been kept in store. 
 
TRUST 
 
 This jowell he gert turss in till Ingland. 
 Wallace, 
 
 OFr. torser, to pack up, to make a bundle. 
 Prov. torser, torsser, to twist ; estorser, to 
 extort, to pluck away from : OSp. trossa, 
 Lombard torza, torsa, Sp. torca, truss of 
 hay or straw. — Diez. Fr. torche, torchon, 
 a wisp of straw, w. torchi, to twist, to 
 wreathe, to turn up ; torcha dy lewis, 
 truss up thy sleeves. 
 
 Trust. N. traust, fast, steady, solid, 
 hard, strong ; ON. traustr, solid, strong, 
 reliable, true ; traust, reliance, assistance, 
 support ; treysta, to make fast, secure, to 
 try the strength of, to rely upon, rest upon. 
 Goth, trausti, a covenant. See True. 
 
 To Try. Tryyjige, eleccio, preeleccio, 
 examinatio. — Pr. Pm. Fr. trier, to pick, 
 to select, to sift out the truth. Explained 
 by Diez from Lat. terei^e, tritum, to tread 
 out or thresh corn, from the figure of sift- 
 ing out the grain from the straw. It. 
 tritare, tritolare, to break very small ; 
 met. to ponder or consider; tritamento, 
 the threshing of corn. — Fl. Piedm. trid, 
 to stamp, grind, wear down ; trii, beaten, 
 ground down. Tria via, a beaten path. 
 — Gl. Paris, in Diez. Ca.\.. triar el arroz, 
 to pick or clean rice. ' Dieu triara lo 
 gra de la palha al jorn de jutjamen.' ' Sap 
 triar los nescis dels senats : ' he can dis- 
 tinguish the foolish from the wise. — Rayn. 
 
 Tub. Du. tobbe, Pl.D. tubbe, diibbe, G. 
 zuber, zober, OHG. zuibar, zuuipar, ex- 
 plained by Schmeller as a vessel to be 
 borne in two hands, as OHG. ainbar, ein- 
 par, G. eimer, a pail or bucket, a vessel to 
 be carried in one hand. From OHG. beran, 
 to bear or carry. 
 
 Tube, — Tubular. Lat. tuba, a trumpet. 
 
 Tuber. — Tubercle. Lat. tuber, 2^{\xvi^\xs, 
 a swelling on a man's body ; whence 
 dim, tuberculum. 
 
 Tuck. A sword, w. twc, a chip, a 
 cut ; twca, a knife ; twcio, to clip, to trim. 
 
 To Tuck. To turn or gather up— B. : 
 to turn in the bedclothes. G. zucken, 
 to draw in, to twitch, to shrug. Den de- 
 gen — , to draw the sword ; den kopf — , to 
 shrink in order to ward off a blow ; das 
 zucken, a convulsion ; Pl.D, tukken, tukk- 
 schulderjt, to shrug the shoulders. Dat 
 oge tukket mi, my eye palpitates. G. zug, 
 a draught, pull, stroke, from Ziehen, pr. 
 zog, AS. teon, getogen, to draw. 
 
 Tucking-mill. A fulling-mill for 
 thickening cloth, w. tew, Ir. tiiigh, thick ; 
 w. tewychu, Gael, tiughaich, to thicken ; 
 Ir, tiugh-muillean, a tucking-mill. 
 
 Tuft, Fr. touffe, touffet, a group or 
 bunch of hair, trees, &c. Pl.D. topp, top, 
 
 TUNNEL 699 
 
 summit, also as G. zopf, a tuft of hair, 
 w. twb, a round lump ; twff, a tuft. Fr. 
 toupeau, toupet, a tuft or tassel of silk, 
 &c,, forelock of a horse. ON, toppr, sum- 
 mit, top, also tuft of hair, forelock. See 
 Top, 
 
 To Tug. Commonly derived from 
 AS. teon, getogen, to pull, ON. tog, G, zug, 
 a pull or draught. But it is more likely 
 analogous to the verb to big (from Sc. 
 lug, anything hanging, as the ear or locks 
 of hair), to seize by something hanging. 
 Thus we have Swiss tschogg, a hanging 
 lock, tschoggen, to pull by the hair ; Lap. 
 tuogge, a tangled lock. Fin, tukka, fore- 
 lock, hanging lock, tukkata, to pull by 
 the hair ; G. zopf, a tuft or lock of hair, 
 zopfen, zupfen, to lug, pull, twitch ; 
 schopf, a tuft of hair, Austr. schopfen, 
 schufeln, to pull by the hair ; Pol. czub^ 
 hair of the head, czubit, to pull one by 
 the hair ; — sie, to fall together by the ears ; 
 Lett, tschuppis, bunch of hair, tschup- 
 pindt,^ to pull by the hair, scuffle. 
 
 Tuition, -tuition. — Tutor. Lat. 
 tueor, tuitus sum, to look, and thence to 
 guard, protect, defend. Hence tutor, for 
 tuitor, a defender, guardian, teacher ; 
 tutus, looked after, guarded, safe, hitui- 
 tion, a looking upon. 
 
 To Tumble. Fr, tomber, It, tomare, 
 tombolare, ON, ttimba, to fall. AS. ttitn- 
 bian, to dance, 
 
 Hyt telleth that Eroud swore 
 To her that tumblede on the flore. 
 
 Manuel des Pecch(5s, 2823. 
 In the original, 
 
 A une pucelle qui devant lui tumba. 
 The origin is a representation of the noise 
 made by a heavy body falling, or by strik- 
 ing the ground with the feet in dancing. 
 Brescian tonf, noise made in falhng, or 
 the fall itself ; tonfete, noise of repeated 
 blows ; Parmesan tonfar, to knock ; far 
 tonf, tonfolare, to make the sound of a 
 fall ; Fr, tombir, to make a noise with 
 stamping or trampling, w. twmpian, to 
 stamp, thump, strike upon ; twmpio, to 
 drop, to fall, ^oxvd. faire top, to fall, to 
 let a thing fall. 
 
 Tumid. — Tumour. Lat. ticmeo, to 
 swell, be puffed up. 
 
 Tumult. Lat timitdtus. Probably 
 turn is the radical syllable representing 
 loud noise, as in tom-totn, a drum. 
 
 Tun. Prov. totia, Fr, tonne, ON., OHG. 
 tunna, Lat. tina, a cask. 
 
 Tune, Fr, ton, Lat. tomis, a sound. 
 
 Tunnel, i. A funnel or tundish for 
 pouring liquors into a cask, and thence 
 the pipe of a chimney. It will be observed 
 
700 
 
 TUP 
 
 thdXjvnnel also is used in both senses. 
 The smoke ascends from the wide open 
 fireplace through the pipe of the chimney, 
 as water, which is poured into the broad 
 mouth of a tunnel or funnel, runs away 
 through the narrow pipe which forms the 
 other end of the implement. 
 
 One thing I much noted in the HauUe of Bol- 
 ton, how chimenys were conveyed by tunnels 
 made on the syde of the wauls betwixt the lights 
 in the haull, and by this means and by no lovers 
 is the smoke of the harthe in the hawle wonder 
 strangly convayed. — Leland, Itin. viii. 
 
 To tun up, to put liquor into a tun ; to 
 tunnel, to fill vessels with liquor. — B. 
 Doubtless Fr. tomieler was formerly used 
 in the latter sense. Tunnellers on ship- 
 board are men who fill casks with water. 
 
 2. Fr. tonnelle, a trellised walk, a vault- 
 ed roof, a net for partridges, tonnelet, a 
 hoop petticoat (Gattel), as well as E. tun- 
 nel, a net for partridges, a vaulted under- 
 ground passage, must be explained from 
 the resemblance of the object to a tun or 
 cask, inasfar as it consists of a hooped 
 structure : a hooped net, hooped petti- 
 coat, hooped or ribbed roof. 
 
 Tup. OFr. t07ip, a ram.— Bibeles- 
 worth. Perhaps from the tendency of 
 the animal to butt or strike with the head. 
 It. toppa-toppa represents the sound of 
 repeated blows ; toppare, to countershock, 
 to stumble upon by chance. — Fl. 
 
 Turban. Fr. turban, It. turbante. 
 Commonly referred to Pers. dulbend. As 
 the name is not known either in Turkish 
 or Arabic, may it not be from Fr. turbin, 
 a whelk ? to which from its conical shape 
 and spiral folds the object bears a striking 
 resemblance. 
 
 -turb. — Turbid. — Turbulent. Lat. 
 turbo, to trouble, disturb, embroil ; turbi- 
 dus, troubled, muddy, thick ; turba, trou- 
 ble, bustle, debate, a crowd or throng. 
 See Trouble. 
 
 Turbot. Du. bot, blunt ; hot, botvisch, 
 flat fish, plaice ; tar-bot, turbot. Hali- 
 but is another kind of flat fish. 
 
 Turf. ON. torf, It. torba, Fr. tourbe. 
 w. torp, a lump ; torpell, a clod, a dump- 
 ling. 
 
 Turgid. Lat. turgeo, to swell. 
 
 Turkey. It is singular that a bird 
 which came from America should have 
 been considered as a Turkey fowl, but the 
 same is the case with maize, which was 
 called Turkey corn or Turkey wheat, Fr. 
 bled de Turquie. 
 
 In Fr. it is poule d^Inde, fowl of the 
 Indies, as the Western Colonies of Spain 
 were called. 
 
 TUSSOCK 
 
 Turmoil. Skinner suggests Fr. tre- 
 inouille, a mill-hopper, an object pro- 
 verbial for the constant racket it keeps up. 
 Central Fr. triboul, tribou, great noise, 
 confusion, agitation, inquietude ; tribouler, 
 tribouiller, to agitate, stir, trouble. OFr. 
 trimar, disturbance, noise. 
 
 Turn. Fr. tour, a turn ; tourner, to 
 turn. w. twrn, a turn. Lat. tornare, to 
 turn wood. 
 
 Turnip. The first element of the name 
 probably indicates the round form of the 
 root. Lat. napus, Fr. navet, a turnip. 
 
 Turquoise. A Turkish stone. Pals- 
 grave translates Turkes bow, arc Tur- 
 quois. 
 
 Turret. Fr. tourette, tourelle, a small 
 tower. 
 
 Turtle. I. It. tortora, tortSla, torto- 
 rella, Sp. tdrtola, Lat. turtur, Albanian 
 tourra, a turtle dove, the bird that cries 
 tur ! turf Du. korren, to coo, to cry 
 kor! 
 
 2. A sea-tortoise. 
 
 -tus-. -tuse. Lat. tundo, tusum, to 
 beat, pound, bray in a mortar. Contusus, 
 beaten, bruised ; obtusus, thoroughly beat- 
 en, blunted, dulled, blunt, dull. 
 
 Tush ! — Tut ! Tush ! like pish '■ 
 pshaw ! and other interjections of con- 
 tempt, probably represents the act of 
 spitting from disgust. It was formerly 
 written twish I ' There is a cholerike or 
 disdaineful interjection used in the Irish 
 language called boogh ! which is as much 
 in English as twish P — Hollinshed, De- 
 scrip, of Ireland. The Galla twu / re- 
 presents the sound of spitting. Fris. 
 twoy I Da. twH interjection when one 
 spits with disgust. — Outzen. 
 
 Tut ! is a parallel form with Fr. trut ! 
 (representing a contemptuous or angry 
 blurt with the lips), ttfsh, tut, fy man; 
 trut avant ! a fig's end no such matter. — 
 Cot. Tutty, ill-tempered, sullen. — Hal. 
 
 Tusk. — Tush. AS. tusc, tux, tuxla, a 
 grinder ; tuxel, the jaw. Fris. tos, tosch, 
 tosk, tooth. Gael, tosg, tusk. 
 
 Tussock. A rough tuft of grass or 
 sedge, w. das, a heap, a mow ; Gael. 
 dos, a bush, cluster, tuft, bunch of hair, 
 tassel. Manx doss, a bunch, cluster, 
 a bow of riband. Fr. tas, a heap ; tas- 
 ser, to heap, to make into trusses or 
 bundles ; tasse, a tuft of grass ; tasse de 
 foin, a truss of hay. Bav. doschen, dus- 
 chen, with the dim. doschl, anything bushy, 
 a nosegay, a tassel ; dosten, a bunch, bush ; 
 Swab, doschet, doschicht, thick, bushy. 
 Da. dusk, a tuft or tassel. Tuske of haire, 
 
TUSTLE 
 
 monceau de cheveulx. — Palsgr. Svv. dial. 
 tuss, a wisp of hay. See Tassel. 
 
 Tustle. Another form of touzle, toozle, 
 to pull about roughly. — Hal. G.' zausen, 
 to tear and draw by violence ; sich zausen, 
 to tumble one another about, to fight ; 
 Pl.D. sik hermntuseln, to fight more in 
 jest than earnest. — Schiitze. 
 
 Tut! Lith. tat I interj. of contempt. 
 See Tush. 
 
 Twang. — To Twank. Twang repre- 
 sents the resonance of a tense string, 
 whence to twang a bow is to draw a bow 
 and let the string spring back. To twan- 
 gle is a contemptuous term for playing on 
 a stringed instrument. A twang is a dis- 
 agreeable resonance in a voice from speak- 
 ing through the nose, and metaphorically, 
 a strong disagreeable flavour in what is 
 eaten or drunk. 
 
 As twang, ending with the guttural 
 liquid ng, represents a resonant sound, so 
 twank, in which the sound is cut off by 
 the guttural check k, represents an abrupt 
 sound. Thus to twank is to let fall the 
 carpenter's line, which makes a sharp 
 slap on the board ; to give a sharp slap 
 with the palm of the hand on the breech, 
 &c. — Forby. 
 
 Twattle. Betwattled, perplexed, con- 
 fused, stupefied. The radical element 
 twat corresponds to G. zotte, signifying 
 a bush of hair, whence zotteln to entan- 
 gle ; ' den verzottelten bart,' ' die verzot- 
 telte mahne.' — Sanders. The word per- 
 plexed derives its meaning from a similar 
 metaphor. Pl.D. betunteld, betoteld, con- 
 fused, tipsy. See Sanders in v. zote. 
 
 To Twattle. — Twaddle. To prate, 
 chatter, talk foolishly. ' Insipid twittle- 
 twattles, frothy jests and jingling witti- 
 cisms.' — L'Estrange in Todd. 
 
 We have repeatedly observed the ap- 
 plication of words representing the dash- 
 ing of water to the sense of chatter or ex- 
 cessive talk ; as G. waschen, to wash, and 
 also to prattle ; Bav. trdtschen, trdtscheln, 
 N. strupla, to tramp in wet, also to chat- 
 ter ; E. slattery, sladdery, wet and dirty. 
 Da. s ladder, tittle-tattle ; G. schwabbeln, 
 to splash, to chatter ; Swiss schwaipen, 
 to splash, Da. dial, svalpe, to tattle ; Bav. 
 schwadern, schwatteln, to splash, dabble, 
 also to chatter, tattle. 
 
 There is little doubt that twattle, twad- 
 dle, are formed in like manner. Swiss 
 watteln, to dabble in the wet ; watschgen, 
 zwatschgen, to sound like water in the 
 shoes. ON. thwcEtta (n. twcstta), to jab- 
 ber, prate, talk nonsense. 
 
 To Tweak. See Twitch. 
 
 TWIRE 
 
 701 
 
 Tweezers. An implement consisting 
 of two pointed branches, for taking hold 
 of small objects. From the numeral two. 
 Swiss zwlser, zwieser, a forked twig ; 
 Swab, zwisele, a forked stem; a double 
 stem springing from one root. Pl.D. twill, 
 twille, a forked branch, any forked object. 
 
 Twelve. Goth, tvalif, tvalib. See 
 Eleven. 
 
 Twenty. G. zwanzig, Goth, tvaitigjtis, 
 ON. tuttugu, twenty; tugr, tigr, a set of 
 ten things. 
 
 Twig. Pl.D. twieg, G. zweig, twig, 
 from zwet, two, as signifying the extreme 
 divisions of the branches. Da. tvege, a 
 two-pronged fork, a forked branch ; tveget, 
 forked. From the figure of division in a 
 moral sense is MHG. zweiec, zweig, at 
 odds, in disagreement. In the same way 
 Du. twist, discord, dissension ; OE. twist, 
 a twig. 
 
 To Twig. In familiar language, to 
 understand. Gael, tuig, understand, dis- 
 cern ; /z/^^j^, understanding, reason, sense. 
 Can it be that the sense of discernment 
 or understanding, like that of twig, a 
 shoot, arises from the figure of separation 
 in (as. twegen) twain? 
 
 Twill. G. zwillich, Lat. bilix, from bis 
 and licium, a thread ; a web in which the 
 threads are divided in sets of two, as G. 
 d?^illich, drill, a web in which they are 
 divided in a threefold way. Pl.D. twillen, 
 to make double, to divide in two branches. 
 
 Twin. G. zwilling, OHG. zwinilinc, 
 E. dial, twindilling, twinling, twindle, 
 twin ; twin, to divide into two parts. — 
 Hal. Goth, tveihnai, two and two to- 
 gether. Lith. dwyni, twins. 
 
 Twine, on. tvinna. Da. twinde, to 
 twine, radically, to double. ' I twyne 
 threde, I double it with the spyndelle. Je 
 retors. Twyned threde is stronger than 
 syngell.' — Palsgr. 
 
 Twinge. A nasalised form of twitch. 
 
 To Twink. — Twinkle, The idea of a 
 sparkling light is commonly expressed by 
 the figure of a crackling, twittering, or 
 tinkling sound. So Du. tintelen, to tin- 
 kle (Kil.), to twinkle as stars, to sparkle. 
 E. twinkle also is provincially used in the 
 sense of tinkle. — Hal. To twink, to 
 twitter. 
 
 As a swallow in the air doth sing, 
 With no continued song, but pausing still, 
 Twinks out her scattered notes in accents shrill; 
 Chapman, Odyss. xxi. 
 
 Twink, a chaffinch, from his twittering 
 song.— Hal. Swiss zwyggen, to twitter ; 
 zwinggen, zwinken, to wink, twinkle. 
 To Twire. To peep, glance, twinkle. 
 
702 
 
 TWIRL 
 
 I saw the wench that twired and twinkled at 
 thee.— B. & F. 
 
 Fonned on the same plan with twinkle, 
 from the representation of a twittering 
 sound. It is used by Chaucer for the 
 twittering of the bird which ' seeketh on 
 morning only the wood, and twireth — 
 with her swete voise : ' dulci voce siism-- 
 rat. — Boeth. iii. met. 2. 
 
 Fr. Hrelire represents the singing of 
 the lark ; Du. tireliren. It. turluruUare, 
 to chirp and warble like birds. — Fl. e. 
 tooraloora, as the burden of a song, re- 
 presents the accompaniment of music. 
 Then, passing to the sense of sight, and 
 expressing the idea of peeping from the 
 figure of winking at a sparkling light, 
 Du. tureji, Bav. z-wlren, to spy. MHG. 
 zwiren, to wink, to glance, was prover- 
 bially used as synonymous with zwinken. 
 Ich zwiere swi man zwinket v^'i^^x mich : 
 I twire at him who twinks at me. Zwin- 
 ken soil gen zwieren gin : a twink shall 
 go in return for a twire, tit for tat. 
 
 To Twirl. We have seen that the 
 primary sense of twire was a twittering 
 sound. The word representing sound is 
 then applied to movement of analogous 
 nature, as in E. twitter, to tremble ; Swiss 
 zwitschern, zwitzern, properly to twitter, 
 then to flicker. Moreover, terms signify- 
 ing a vibrating or reciprocating move- 
 ment are commonly applied also to the 
 idea of whirling or turning round, as in 
 Lat. vibrati crines, curled hair. Thus 
 from whir representing a rapid vibratory 
 sound are formed G. wirbel, Sw. hvirfwel, 
 E. whirl, what turns rapidly round, Du. 
 wervel, what is shot to and fro, the bolt 
 of a door, or what turns round, as a 
 whirlwind, whirlpool ; and from the same 
 imitative syllable strengthened by a den- 
 tal initial are formed ^^LD. zwirkejt, to 
 chirp, twitter ; Fris. twierren, to whirl ; 
 twierre, twierrewijn, a whirlwind (Ep- 
 kema) ; Du. dwarling, dwarlwind, a 
 whirlwind; MHG. twirel, twirl, what 
 turns rapidly round; twdren, to turn 
 round, to bore ; SW\sszwirlen, zwirrlen, 
 to twirl ; Bav. zweren, to stir ; zwirel, 
 zwirl, a stirrer ; zwireln^ zwirbeln, to 
 stir, turn round, twirl. 
 
 Twist. Used in many senses, all ulti- 
 mately referable to the numeral two. 
 Thus Du. twisten, like twijnen, to twine, is 
 to double or unite two threads, duplicare, 
 retorquere fila. — Kil. Da. dial, twiste 
 gam, to double thread. On the other 
 hand, twist signifies separation or division 
 in two parts, in Du. twist, G. zwist, dis- 
 cord, quarrel; of which the analysis is 
 
 TYPHUS 
 
 made clear by the fuller synonym zwie- 
 spalt, division in two. Chaucer uses twist 
 for the twig of a tree, and it is provincially 
 used for the fork of the body, the part 
 where the body forks in two. Bav. zwisel, 
 the fork of the body or of a tree. * Im 
 schnee stehen bis an die zwisel:^ to 
 stand in snow up to the twist. MHG. 
 zweien signifies either to unite two things 
 together, or to separate in two. Gezweiter 
 bruoder, a half-brother ; zweien, hostility, 
 discord. 
 
 To Twit. The Goth, idveitjan, AS. 
 edwitan, cetwitan, to reproach, reprove, 
 took the form of atwyte in OE. 
 
 This louerd— set his wif forth, fot-hot, 
 And hire misdedes hire atwote. 
 
 Seven Sages, 1687, 
 
 ON. vita, to reprove, blame, punish, fine ; 
 viti, punishment, penalty. 
 
 To Twitch. — Tweak, g. zwicken, to 
 pluck, pinch, nip; zucken, to make a 
 quick, sudden movement, to whip out a 
 sword ; Pl.D. tukken, to twitch, to pluck; 
 dat oge tiikket mi, my eye winks ; tokken, 
 to pluck, to pull. E. dial, twick, a sudden 
 jerk. 
 
 It would seem that the xoo\.twik,twitch, 
 like the nasalised twink, originally repre- 
 sented a sharp short sound, and then, 
 with the usual transference from the sig- 
 nification of sound to that of movement, 
 was applied to a sharp light movement. 
 
 G. quieken, quietschen, to squeak ; E. 
 quitch, to flinch (Hal.) ; Bav. quickezen, 
 zwickezen, to squeak, twitter; Pl.D. 
 zwikkern, to run about like a mouse ; ut 
 un in zwikkern, to slip out and in ; zwik- 
 lok, a loophole, a way of escape. See 
 Twinkle, Twitter. 
 
 Twitter. In the first instance a sharp, 
 broken sound, like the notes of a little 
 bird ; then a tremulous movement. ' To 
 be all in a twitter? So we have G. zwit- 
 schern, to twitter ; Swiss zwitschern, 
 zwitzern, to flicker ; Bav. zwitzern, to 
 gnash the teeth, to tremble, wink, twinkle ; 
 Swiss zwitzizwatz, a person of inconstant 
 disposition. E. twitterlighty uncertain 
 light, twilight. 
 
 Two. — Twain, as. twa, twegen, G. 
 zwey, zwo, zween. Da. to, tveitde, Gr. hvo, 
 Russ. dwa, Sanscr. dvau. 
 
 Tyke. on. tik, a bitch. 
 
 Type. — Typical. Gr. tvittu), to strike ; 
 TviroQ, a blow, a stamp, print, mark, thence 
 a mould or pattern. 
 
 Typhus. Gr. TV(poQ, smoke, mist, and 
 met. the clouding of the intellect, stupor 
 from fever. 
 
TYRANT 
 
 Tyrant. Lat. tyranims, Gr. rvpawog. 
 Tyro. Lat. tyro, a newly-made soldier. 
 
 1^ Thews, manners. Written //ledys 
 in the Manuel des Pecchds. 
 
 That time were here many i/iedys, 
 Many usages in many ledys. — v. 10564. 
 
 UMPIRE 
 
 701 
 
 This may indicate an origin in AS. theod, 
 ON. thjok, Fris. djoe, people ; Let. tauta, 
 people, race, kind. Illyrian csud, dis- 
 position of a man ; O Slav, schtoud, rpoTrog, 
 mos. The G. art signifies race, kind, 
 nature, quality, manner, manners. — Pott, 
 Wiirz. Wtb. 799. 
 
 u 
 
 Ubiquity. Lat. nbique, everywhere. 
 
 Udder. OHG. utar,G. enter, ON./w^r, 
 jufr, Da. yver, Gr. oWap, Lat. uber. 
 
 Ugh ! An interjection representing 
 the sound made by an utterance during 
 the moment of shudder, and consequently 
 expressing any affection accompanied by 
 shudder: cold, horror, repugnance. G. 
 hu ! exclamation of shudder, horror, fright, 
 cold. Hu ! ich erschrak. Hu ! wie kalt. 
 Hiih,yN\x^ derTeufel grimmig ! — Sanders. 
 
 Ugly. From the interj. ugh! arose 
 Y)m hugger en, to shiver (K.) ; ON. ugga, 
 to fear, to doubt ; uggr, fright, anxiety ; 
 OE. ug, houge, to shudder at, feel horror, 
 dread, fear. To hug, or ug, abominari, 
 detestari, fastidire, horrere. — Cath. Ang. 
 Uggely, horridus, horribilis. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 For tha paynes er swa fel and hard — 
 
 That ilk man may ugge, bathe yhunge and aide 
 
 That heres tham be reherced and talde. 
 
 Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 6619. 
 
 From ON. tigga are formed uggligr, 
 
 frightful, alarming, and uggsamr, fearful, 
 
 timid ; and OE. uglike or ugly had 
 
 formerly the sense of horrible. Speaking 
 
 of Hell, the Prick of Conscience says that 
 
 — swylk filthe and stynk es in that ugly hole 
 
 That nan erthely man mught it thole.— i. 6683. 
 
 ' An uglike snake.' 
 
 Morris, Story of Genesis, 2805. 
 
 In modern speech the meaning is softened 
 down to signify what is displeasing to the 
 eye, but we still use frightful for the ex- 
 cess of ugliness, and the tendency of the 
 quality in the extreme to produce a shud- 
 der is recognised in such a passage as, 
 ' Ugh ! the odious /^^/j/ fellow.'— Countess 
 of St Alban's. 
 
 Ulcer. Lat. ulcus, tclceris. 
 
 Ullage. Among gaugers, what a cask 
 wants of being full.— B. Properly the 
 quantity required to fill it up. Fr. eullage, 
 remplissage ; eullier, to fill up to the 
 bunghole. — Roquef. Olier, otdller, to fill 
 to the brim, to swill with drink. — Onofrio 
 Gloss. Lyonnais. In the S. of Fr. when 
 
 the flask is nearly full they add a little oil 
 to prevent evaporation, so that to oil the 
 flask is equivalent to filling it to the brim. 
 In Provence oliar signifies to anoint with 
 oil, and also to fill up a cask. 
 
 Ulterior. — Ultimate. Lat. ultra, be- 
 yond, ulterior, further, ultimus, furthest 
 or last. Perhaps the root of the prep. 
 ultra may be preserved in W. ol, footstep, 
 trace, and thence the hinder part, behind, 
 after, hindmost. Troi yn ol, to turn back ; 
 olaf the furthest back, hindmost, last. 
 When I speak to a person facing me, 
 what is ultra or beyond him is behind 
 him, towards his footsteps. Compare E. 
 last with AS. last, footstep. 
 
 Umbrage. Fr. ombrage, a shade, a 
 shadow, also jealousy, suspicion, an ink- 
 ling of, whence donner ombrage d,, to dis- 
 content, make jealous of, or put buzzes 
 into the head of ; ombrageux, suspicious, 
 giddy, skittish, starting at every feather. — 
 Cot. It. ombrare, to give a shadow, by 
 met. to startle for fear, as if it were at a 
 shadow. — Fl. A shadow is taken as a 
 slight intimation of what is in the back- 
 ground. The metaphor is widely spread. 
 Mod.Gr. GKialio, to shade, to frighten ; 
 (TKta^o/uat, to be afraid ; W. ysgod, shadow ; 
 ysgodigau, to start as a horse, to be 
 affrighted. 
 
 Umpire. A third person chosen to 
 decide a controversy left to arbitration, 
 in case the arbitrators should disagree. — 
 B. This is one of the cases like apron, 
 aivger, where the formation of the word 
 is obscured by the loss of an initial n. It 
 was formerly written nompeir, from OFr. 
 nompair (non par), uneven, odd. In 
 Piers Plowman, when it had been agreed 
 to appoint arbitrators to appraise a bar- 
 gain. 
 
 Two risen rapelich and rounede togeders 
 And preysed the penyworthes apart by hem 
 
 selve — 
 Thei couthe not by here conscience accord for 
 
 treuthe, 
 
704 
 
 UNCLE 
 
 Till Robyn the ropere aryse thei bysouhte, 
 And nempned hym a nompeyr that no dispute 
 were. 
 
 Nowmpere or owmpere, arbiter, se- 
 quester. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Uncle. Fr. ^oncle^ o?icle, Lat. avun- 
 cuius. 
 
 Uncouth. Strange, awkward. Un- 
 cowthy extraneus, exoticus. — Pr. Pm. 
 AS. aith^ G. kund^ known ; AS. cunnan, 
 Du. konnen, to know. Sc. couth, couthy, 
 agreeable in conversation, loving, kind, 
 comfortable, pleasant. E. dial, unkid, un- 
 kard, lonely, dreary, awkward, strange, 
 inconvenient, ugly. — Hal. 
 
 Unction. — Unguent. Lat. unguo or 
 ungo, unctujn, to anoint, besmear. 
 
 TLTnder. Goth, undar, G. tinier, under, 
 unten, below, Sanscr. antar, Lat. inter, 
 among, within. 
 
 Undulation, -und-. -ound. Lat. 
 tinda, a wave, water in motion ; utido, 
 -as, to boil, to surge ; abundo, to over- 
 flow, to be in excessive quantity ; inundo, 
 to flow upon, to inundate ; redundo, to 
 flow back upon, to overflow, abound ; un- 
 dulatus, wavy, like watered silks. Lith. 
 wafidzi, -detisj Lett. Udens, water. See 
 Water. • 
 
 Uni-. Lat. umis, one. 
 
 Unison. Lat. unus, one, and sonus, 
 sound. 
 
 Unit. — Unite. — Union. Lat. unio, 
 unitum, to make one ; tinitas, oneness, 
 unity, an unit in arithmetic. 
 
 Universal. Lat. universus, all with- 
 out exception ; unus and verso, to turn 
 over. 
 
 Up. — Over. ON. Mpp, Pl.D. up, uff, 
 op; G. auf, iiber, over, on, upon; Lat. 
 super, upon ; sub, under. Gr. v-Kip, upon, 
 v-Ko, under. Goth, jup, up ; uf, under ; 
 ufar, over. 
 
 To Upbraid, as. upgebredan, expro- 
 brare, to cry out upon. See To Bray. 
 
 Upholsterer. A corruption of up- 
 holder. The original meaning seems to 
 be one who furbishes up old goods. Up- 
 holstar, fripier. — Palsgr. Caxton in the 
 Booke for Travellers gives * Upholdsters, 
 vieswariers {yiesware, fripperie ; vies- 
 warier, fripier, raccomodeur, vendeur de 
 vieux habits et d'autres vieilles choses. — 
 Roquef.]. Everard the upholster can 
 well stoppe (estoupper) a mantel hooled 
 full agayn, carde agayn, skowre agayn a 
 goune and all olde things.* — Pr. Pm. note. 
 Upholdere, that sellythe smal thynges, 
 velaber. — Pr. Pm. An upholder then 
 was pretty much what we now call a 
 broker, and we can easily understand how 
 
 USE 
 
 the name came to signify a dealer in 
 furniture, and then a maker of furniture. 
 
 Uproar. Du. oproer, a tumult, sedi- 
 tion ; G. aufruhr, disturbance, commo- 
 tion ; riihren, AS. hreran, ON. hrcera, to 
 move, agitate, stir. 
 
 Upaidedown. For up - so - down, w^^ 
 what was down. Vpsedown, up so down, 
 eversus, subversus. — Pr. Pm. 
 Thare is na state of thare style that standis con- 
 tent- 
 All wald have up that is down, 
 
 Welterit the went. — D. V. 239. 20. 
 
 Urcheon. Urchone,'\\€x'\'=>'s,OTi. Irchen, 
 a lytell beest full of prickes, herison. — 
 Palsgr. Rouchi hirchon, hurchon, Lat. 
 ericius, a hedgehog. 
 
 Doubtless the Fr. hirisson is from he- 
 risser, to set up his bristles, to make his 
 hair to stare ; se herisser,\\\?, hair to stare ; 
 also to shiver or earne through fear. — Cot. 
 It. riccio, crisped, curled, frizzled, hairy, 
 rough ; and as a noun, certain prickly or 
 shaggy things, the prickly husk of a chest- 
 nut, a hedgehog or porcupine; arricciare, 
 to curl, frizzle ; also for a man's hair to 
 bristle and stand on end through sudden 
 fear. — Fl. Sp. erizar, to set on end, to 
 bristle ; erizo, hedgehog, husk of chest- 
 nut ; rizo, frizzled, curled, cut velvet. 
 
 It is common to derive the foregoing 
 forms from Lat. ericius, leaving the latter 
 unexplained. It is more likely that the 
 derivation runs in the opposite direction. 
 The hair standing on end is an incident 
 of the shuddering or shivering produced 
 by cold or horror. Thus Fr. se hirisser, 
 and It. arricciarsi ]oin on to gricciare, to 
 shiver, to chill, and chatter with one's 
 teeth, and with Gr. ^piaau), to shudder, 
 shiver, bristle, stand on end ; (ppi^oKoftriQj 
 with bristling hair. See Caprice, Frizzle. 
 
 Possibly howev^er the name urcheon or 
 htirchon may not really be taken from 
 Fr. herisson, but from the habit of the 
 animal of rolling itself into a ball. Fris. 
 horcken, to shrug for cold. — Kil. Pl.D. 
 hurke7i, to crouch down. To hurk over 
 the fire. — Mrs Baker. To hurch, to cud- 
 dle.— Hal. 
 
 Ure. See Enure. 
 
 Urg-e. — Urgent. Lat. urgeo. 
 
 Urine. Lat. urina, from Gr. ou/oeo*, to 
 make water. 
 
 Urn. Lat. urtta. 
 
 Use. Use, as employed in legal instru- 
 ments in the sense of profit, benefit, is 
 not to be confounded with use, from Lat. 
 tisus. The word in the former sense is 
 from Lat. op7is, need, and was formerly 
 written oeps, oes. 
 
USE 
 
 Ceste nos plaist, ceste voluns 
 Que a ton oh la saississoiis. 
 
 Chron. des dues de Norm. 2. 3185. 
 
 A mon ops je chante e a mon ops flau- 
 jol : according to my pleasure I sing and 
 flute. — Rayn. E Turn asist une chaere 
 al oes la dame — Livre des Rois : they set 
 a chair for the use of the lady. Item jeo 
 devys k ma femme tout mon hostylment, 
 vessel d'argent, masers, &c., a tener a son 
 propre opes. — Will of Sir W. de Mow- 
 bray, Testam. Eborac. 
 
 Au diner le donez de oafs 
 E les atyret a soun ones. 
 
 Bibelesworth, 150. 
 
 Use. — Usage. — Usual. — Utensil, 
 
 VAN 
 
 705 
 
 Lat. tit or, us us sum., to enjoy, have the 
 benefit of, be conversant with. 
 
 Usher. It. usciere, Lat. ostiarius, Fr. 
 /^z<;/>i-/>r, a door-keeper, from uscio,ostm7U, 
 httis, a door. 
 
 Usquebaugh, Gael, uisge - beatha, 
 literally water of life, Fr. eau de vie. 
 
 Usury. Lat, tisura., use, occupation ; 
 interest given for the use of money. 
 
 Utility. Lat. utilis, useful ; titor, 1 
 use. 
 
 Utter. AS, uf, out ; ute}', outer, utter, 
 extreme, Wurfath on tha utteran thys- 
 tro : ejicite in extremas tenebras. To 
 utter is to send out. 
 
 V 
 
 Vacant. — Vacate, — Vacuum. Lat. 
 vacare, to be empty, vacuus, empty. 
 
 Vaccinate. Lat. vacca, a cow. 
 
 Vacillate, Lat. vacillo (the equiva- 
 lent of E. waggle), to totter, waver. 
 
 -vade, -vas-. Lat. vado, vasu7n, to 
 go. As in Invade, Evasion. 
 
 Vagabond, — Vagrant. — Vague, Lat, 
 vagor, to rove or wander ; vagus, moving 
 up and down, wandering, inconstant. 
 
 Vagary. Fegary, a whim, freak, toy. 
 — Forby. Sc, Jigmaleery, whigmaleery, 
 whim, fancy, crotchets. — Gl, Burns, 'Fr. 
 lafaridondon is the burden of a song, 
 representing the notes of the musical 
 accompaniment. G. larifari, syllables 
 without sense ; nonsense ! fiddlededee ! 
 fiddle-faddle ! ' Larifari mit feindlichen 
 truppen' — fiddlededee with your hostile 
 troops. From nonsensical words to sense- 
 less thoughts, unreasonable fancies, is an 
 easy step. Comp. fad^ a whim, from 
 fiddle-faddle. 
 
 -vail, -val-, Lat. valeo, to be well, 
 to be strong ; as in Avail, Prevalent, Sec. 
 
 Vain. — Vanity. — Vanish. Fr. vain, 
 Lat. vanus, empty, ineffectual ; vanesco, 
 to vanish or come to nought. 
 
 Valance. It. valenza, valenzana, say 
 or serge for bed-curtains or valences ; 
 valenzane da letto, valences for a bed. — 
 Fl. 
 
 Supposed to be from the stuff having 
 been made at Valencia or Valence. 
 Chaucer speaks of a ' kerchief of Valence.^ 
 
 Vale, — Valley. Lat. vallis, Fr. val. 
 
 Valet. — Vassal. As Lat. puer, a boy, 
 received the subsidiary sense of servant, 
 
 so W. gwas signifies a youth, a young 
 man, a servant, ^Axoxiz^gwasawl, serving. 
 Yxoragwas arose Mid. Lat. vassus, a man, 
 a retainer, a vassal j and vassal is used 
 in the Livre des Rois for vir (pp. 119, 
 204), for pugnator (p. 174). — Diez. We 
 may remember that the performance of 
 homage or recognition of vassalage was 
 made in the words, devenio vester homo. 
 We then pass to the dim. OFr. vaslet, 
 varlet, a boy, whence Fr, valet, E, varlet, 
 valet, a servant. Bel-acueil, in the R, R., 
 is introduced as 'ung varlet bel et ad- 
 venant,' which Chaucer translates 'a lusty 
 bachilere.' The Liber Albus uses the 
 term in the sense of a minor : ' de vallet- 
 tis et puellis qui sunt in custodia regis, in 
 cujus custodia sint, et quantum valeant 
 terrae illorum.' — i. 117. In Walloon a 
 man still says that his wife is brought to 
 bed do petit valet, of a little boy. — 
 Remade. 
 
 Valetudinarian. Lat. valetudo,\).Q?\\h, 
 good or bad ; valetudinarius, subject to 
 sickness or often sick. 
 
 Valiant. — Valid. — Valour. — Value. 
 Lat. valeo, Fr. valoir, to be sound, to be 
 of worth ; OFr. valur, valor, value, 
 worth, and thence courage, as the quality 
 most prized in a man ; vaillant, worthy, 
 courageous. 
 
 Valve. Lat. valv(P, folding doors. 
 
 Vamp, The upper leather of a shoe. 
 Vampey of a hose, avant pied,— Palsgr, 
 To va7np up, properly to put a new upper 
 leather, to furbish up. 
 
 Van. I, The front of an army; Fr. 
 avant, before, from Lat, ab ante. 
 4.0 
 
7o6 
 
 VANE 
 
 2. A carriage for furniture, &c., cur- 
 tailed from caravan, a conveyance for a 
 wildbeast or other show, a carriage that 
 serves the purpose of a dwelHng-place. 
 
 Vane. A weathercock, properly a 
 streamer. AS. f ana, Du. vaene, G./aJme^ 
 a flag or standard ; OHG. /auo, a cloth, a 
 flag, Goih. /ana, cloth, a cloth ornapkin. 
 Lat. pamiHSy cloth. 
 
 Vanish. See Vain. 
 
 Vapid. Lat. vappa, palled wine ; 
 vapidus, flat, dull, musty, ill-tasted. 
 
 Vapour. Lat. vapor, exhalation, 
 steam. Lith. kwapas, breath, exhalation, 
 smell. 
 
 Various. — Variety. — To Vary. Lat. 
 variiiSy of different colours, of different 
 natures ; vario, to vary, alter, change. 
 
 Varlet. See Valet. 
 
 Varnish. It. vernice, Fr. vernis, Sp. 
 berniz. Menage derives Fr. vernir, to 
 varnish, from a Lat. vitrinire, to glaze. 
 The Prov. has veirin, from vitreus. It 
 seems to me more probable that it is from 
 Gr. ISipoviKT], PtpviKij, amber, applied by 
 Agapias to saJidarach, a gum rosin similar 
 in appearance to amber, of which varnish 
 was made ; ^tpviKiaX^nv, to varnish. — Du- 
 cange, Gl. Gr. ModGr. jSepviKi, varnish. 
 
 Vase. — Vessel. — Vascular. Lat. vas, 
 Fr. vase, a hollow implement for holding 
 liquids. PVom the dim. vasailunt is 
 formed Fr. vascel, vaissel, vaisseaii, a 
 vessel. Vascular, composed of vessels or 
 containing vessels. 
 
 Vast. -vast-. Lat. vastus, huge, wide, 
 uninhabited, waste ; vasto, to devastate, 
 lay waste. 
 
 Vat. AS. fat, Du. vat, G. fass, gefass, 
 Lat. vas, a tub, vessel, implement for hold- 
 ing liquids. G. fassen, Du. vatten, to 
 hold, to contain. Compare rimnner, a 
 large glass, from Da. nmtme, to contain ; 
 can, a vessel, from w. can7iu, to contain. 
 
 Vault. It. volta, a turn, a turning 
 round or about, a round walk, a going 
 round, an arched vault or roof — Fl. ; vol- 
 gere, Lat. volvere, to turn. 
 
 To Vault. Fr. volte, a round or turn, 
 and thence the bounding turn which cun- 
 ning riders teach their horses ; also a 
 tumbler's gambol or turn ; volter, to 
 vault or tumble, to bound or curvet ; also 
 to turn or make turn. It. volgere, volsi, 
 volto, to turn ; voltare, to turn. 
 
 To Vaunt. It. vantare, Fr. vanter, 
 from vanitare, used by Augustine in the 
 sense of boast. — Diez. From vanus is 
 formed Prov. van, empty, vain ; vanar, 
 vantar, to boast ; vanaire, boaster ; van- 
 atisa, boast. * En Bertrand si s^vanava 
 
 VENISON 
 
 qu'el cuiava tan valer : ' Sir B. boasted 
 that he was of so great worth. Sp, vani- 
 dad, vanity, ostentation, vain parade ; 
 hacer vanidad, to boast of anything. 
 
 Veal. — Vellum. It. vitcllo, OFr. 
 vedel, vM, Fr. veau, from Lat. vituhis, a 
 calf. Thence Mid. Lat. vitidonium, Fr. 
 velin, E. vellum, fine calfskin dressed hke 
 parchment for writing on. 
 
 Vedette. A sentinel on horseback 
 detached to give notice of the enemy's 
 designs. — B. Fr. vedette, a sentry or 
 court of guard placed without a fort or ! 
 camp, and generally any high place from 
 which one may see afar off". — Cot. It. 
 vedetta, a watch-tower, a sentinel's stand- 
 ing-place, a peeping-hole.— Fl. Vedere 
 to see, to view. 
 
 To Veer. Fr. virer, to veer, turn 
 round, wheel or whirl about. — Cot. It. 
 virare, to turn. Rouchi virler, to roll. 
 In all probability from the same root with 
 E. whirl, whether it directly descends 
 from Lat.^r^r^ or not. 
 
 Vegetable. — Vegetate. Lat. vegeo, 
 to grow \ vegetus, quick, lively, strong ; 
 vegetabilis, that which grows, as herbs 
 and trees. 
 
 Vehement. Lat. vehemens. 
 
 Vehicle. Lat. veho, to carry ; vekicii- 
 lum, anything serving to carry. 
 
 Vein. Fr. veine, Lat. vena. 
 
 Vellum. See Veal. 
 
 Velvet. It. vellnto, veliito, fleecy, 
 nappy, shaggy, and thence the stuff vel- 
 vet. From vello, Lat. vellus, a fleece. 
 It is written velouette by Chaucer, velle- 
 wet in John Russel's book of Nurture, 
 914. — Babees Book. 
 
 Venal. — Vend. Lat. veneo {vemim 
 eo), go to sale, be sold. Vendo {venum \ 
 do), give to sale, sell. 
 
 -vene. -vent. Lat. venio, ve7itum, to 
 come ; intervenio, to come between, to 
 come in one's way. To contravene, to go 
 against, to disobey. To circumvent, td- 
 come round one, to get the better of him. 
 
 Venerable — Venerate. Lat. veneror^ 
 to worship. 
 
 Vengeance, -venge, — Vindicate, — 
 Vindictive. Lat, vindex, an asserter 
 of rights, one who gives effect to the 
 law, a punisher, avenger ; vindico, to 
 avouch, maintain, carry into execution, 
 punish ; vindicta, vengeance, defence, 
 maintenance. Prov. vengar, venjar. It. 
 vengiare, Fr. venger. Scheler compares 
 Fr. manger, from Lat. manducaj-e, ma)id- 
 ^ca7'e. 
 
 Venial. Lat. 7w/zVz, allowance, pardon. 
 
 Venison. Fr. venaison. Lat. venatio. 
 
VENOM 
 
 the chase, or the produce of it ; venor, 
 -afus su/n,to hunt. 
 
 Venom. Fr. venin, OFr. venim, Lat. 
 ve>ieiiu?n, poison. 
 
 Vent. Air, wind, or passage out of a 
 vessel, — B. Yx^venf, Lat. ventus, wind. 
 
 Ventilate. Lat. ventus, the wind ; 
 venHfo, to winnow, to expose to the air. 
 /Ventral. Lat. venter, -tris, the belly. 
 '' Venture. See Adventure. 
 
 Venue. In Law, the neighbourhood 
 in which a wrong is committed and in 
 which it should be tried. Mid. Lat. vicine- 
 tuin, visnetiim. Norm, vesine, visnet, OFr. 
 visnage, neighbourhood. — Roquef. Et 
 sciendum est quod hi sex viri eligentur de 
 visneto quo talis accusatus manserit. — 
 Lib. Albus, 58. 
 
 Veracious. — Verity. — Verify. Lat. 
 verus, true ; Veritas, truth ; verax, dis- 
 posed to truth, veracious. 
 
 Verandah. Ptg. varanda, a balcony, 
 terrace, probably an Indian word from 
 Sanscr. varanda, a portico. 
 
 Verb. Lat. verbicm, corresponding to 
 E. word as Lat. barba to E. beard. 
 
 Verdant. — Verderor. Lat. viridis, 
 Fr. vert, green ; viridaiis, Fr. verdoyatit, 
 verdant, green. The verderors were the 
 officers of a forest who had care of the 
 underwood, the green hue (Fr. vert) as it 
 was called in the statutes. 
 
 Verdict. Lat . vere dictum, truly said. 
 
 Verdigris. — Verditer. Fr. verderis, 
 verd-de-gris, verdigrease. — Cot. Cor- 
 rupted from Lat. vij'ide ceris, green of 
 brass. 
 
 Verditer, Fr. verd-de-terre (g. erdgrvin, 
 earth-green), a kind of green mineral 
 chalk.— Cot. 
 
 Verge. — Verger. Fr. verge (Lat. 
 
 virga), a rod or twig, the wand borne by 
 
 ■ an officer as sign of his authority, whence 
 
 verger, a wand-bearer, a petty officer in 
 
 courts and churches. 
 
 The verge of the court was the limits 
 within which the authority of the officers 
 of the court extended. Sp. vara, rod, 
 wand, mace, carried as an emblem of au- 
 thority ; and met. the jurisdiction of 
 which it is an emblem. The Mod.Gr. 
 roTTouCt, a stick, mace, sceptre, or sign of 
 authority, is used in the same metaphor- 
 ical way for authority or command. 
 
 Fr. verge is also a plain hoop ring or 
 wedding ring, and thence the verge or 
 balance-wheel in a watch, distinguished 
 from the others by the absence of cogs. 
 
 To Verge, -verge. Lat. ve?go, ver- 
 su7n, to pour out, to decline or bow to, to 
 lie towards. Verge in the sense of bound 
 
 VESTRY 
 
 707 
 
 or limit is that to which we verge or tend. 
 
 Verjuice. The juice of sour and unripe 
 grapes, crabs, &c.— B. Fr. verjus, vert 
 jus, juice of green fruit. 
 
 Vermicelli. It. vermicelli, paste 
 made in the form of worms or thin 
 strings ; Lat. vermis, a worm. 
 
 Vermilion. \t.vermiglio,M\'di,\jaX. ver- 
 miculus, scarlet, red, from the worm of 
 the gall-nut from which red was dyed. 
 The Turkish name of the gall-nut, kermes 
 (from whence kirmizi, crimson), is said 
 to be from Sanscrit krimi, a worm. 
 
 Vermin. Fr. vermine, any kind of 
 disgusting or hurtful creatures of small 
 size. Lat. vermis, worm. 
 
 Vernacular. Lat. verna, a slave born 
 in the house ; vernaculus, that is born in 
 one's house, that belongs to one's native 
 country. 
 
 Vernal. Lat. vernalis, belonging to 
 {ver) the Spring. 
 
 Verse, -verse, -vert. Lat. verto, 
 versu7n, to turn, gives rise to numerous 
 compounds, as Avert, Convert, Diverse, 
 Perverse, &c., and other derivatives. 
 Versus, -us, a. turning at a land's end, 
 hence a row, a verse, a line. The fre- 
 quentative form is verso, to turn about, 
 to turn over and over, whence Versatile, 
 apt to turn about ; Converse, Sec. 
 
 Vertebra. Lat. vertebra, a joint that 
 turns ; verto, to turn. 
 
 Vertex. — Vertical. Lat. vertex, a 
 whirlpool, the crown of the head where 
 the hair turns round like a whirlpool, and 
 thence the top of anything. Vertical, 
 directly above the head. See Verse. 
 
 Very. — Verily. Formerly verray, 
 from Fr. vrai. The valow verray, the 
 true value, full value. — R. Brunne, 163. 
 F^;7'^_y pilgryn. — Ibid., 189. 
 
 ' Lord Jhesu,' he said, ' also verray ly 
 As my luf is on the laid.' — lb. 102. 
 
 And this is euerlastynge lyf that thei 
 knowe thee verrei God alone. — Wiclif, 
 Jon. 17. Very God of very God. — 
 Athanasian Creed. 
 
 Vesicle. Lat. vesicula, dim. of vesica, 
 a bladder. 
 
 Vessel. See Vase. 
 
 Vest. -vest. Lat. vestis, a garment. 
 Hence Invest, to clothe ; Devest, to un- 
 clothe. 
 
 Vestibule. Lat. vestibuhmi, a porch 
 or entry to a house. 
 
 Vestige. Lat. vestigium, the print of 
 a foot, a trace. 
 
 Vestry. The apartment Avhere the 
 garments for the service of a church are. 
 45 * 
 
 I 
 
7o8 
 
 VETCH 
 
 I 
 
 VILLAIN 
 
 kept. Lat. vesiiariujn, a wardrobe, from 
 vesttSy a garment. 
 
 Vetch. Lat. via a, It. veccia. 
 
 Veteran. Lat. vetus, -en's, old ; vete- 
 7'anus^ one that has served long in a place, 
 an old soldier. 
 
 Veterinary. Lat. veterina bestia, a 
 beast of burden, a draught animal. 
 
 Vex. Lat. vexo (a freq. of ve/io,vexi, 
 to carry), to toss about, to disquiet, afflict, 
 harass. 
 
 Viands. Provisions. Fr. viande, meat, 
 formerly provisions in general, from Lat. 
 vivenda. 'Et nous requiesmes que on 
 nous donnast la viande:^ and we asked 
 that one might give us something to eat. 
 * Les viandes qu'ils nous donnerent, ce 
 furent begues de fourmages qui estoient 
 roties au soleil — et oefs durs cuis de 
 quatres jours ou de cinq : ' the viands 
 which they gave us were cheesecakes 
 roasted in the sun, and hard eggs four or 
 five days old. — Joinville. 
 
 Vibrate. Lat. vibfo, to quiver, to 
 glitter, to frizzle or ruffle. 
 
 Vicar. — Vicissitude. See Vice-. 
 
 Vice-. Lat. vicis^ a turn, and thence 
 office, duty, place, room, stead. Vice, 
 instead of ; vicarius, one who fills the 
 place of another, a deputy ; vicissim, by 
 turns, one after the other ; vicissitude^ a 
 succeeding in turns. 
 
 Vice. A movable arm capable of being 
 screwed up to a solid support for the pur- 
 pose of holding fast an object on which 
 one is at work. Also the nuel or spindle 
 of a winding staircase. From Fr. vis, a 
 screw, a winding stair. 
 
 The implement takes its name from 
 comparison to the tendril of a vine. It. 
 vite, a vine, also a winding screw ; vite- 
 femina, a female screw ; vilare, vidare, 
 to screw with a vice, — Fl. 
 
 Vicious. — Vitiate. Lat. vitium, a 
 fault, vice; vitia7'e,\.o corrupt. 
 
 Vicinity. Lat. vicus, a village, a 
 street ; vicimis, one who inhabits the 
 same village, a neighbour. 
 
 -vict. -vince. Lat. vinco, victiim, to 
 conquer, overcome ; co7ivinco, to vanquish 
 in argument, to baffle, refute, convince ; 
 eviftco, to recover by law. To evince is 
 to establish in a convincing manner, to 
 make manifest, to display. 
 
 Victim. Lat. viciima, a beast killed in 
 sacrifice. 
 
 Victory. Lat. Victoria; vinco, vic- 
 tum, to conquer. 
 
 Victuals. Lat. victus, food, support 
 of life, from vivo, victum, to live. 
 
 To Vie. To emulate, to compete with. 
 
 I 
 
 To zye who might sleepe best.— Chaucer. 
 
 It is a metaphor taken from the language 
 of gamesters, with whom It. invitare^ 
 Prov. envidar, cnviar, Fr. envier, was to 
 invite or propose to throw for certain 
 stakes, and renvier, to rcvie, for the 
 adversary to propose certain stakes 
 return. 
 
 Quum facio invitum, facias quoque, Balde, n 
 turn. — Merl. Coco, in Rayn. 
 
 * II y 7'envioit de sa reste : ' he set 
 whole rest, he adventured all his estate 
 upon it. — Cot. Invitare, to invite to do 
 anything, to vie at play ; invito, an in- 
 viting, a vie or vying at play. — Fl. Invi- 
 tare is explained by La Crusca, to name 
 the stakes or amount for which one pro- 
 poses to play. OFr. envier was used in 
 the original sense of inviting as well as' 
 in the secondary one of vying at play. 
 ' Entre ces ki furent al convivie enviez : ' 
 among those who were invited to the feast. 
 — L. des Rois. 
 
 From the verb was formed the adverb- 
 ial expression a Penvi, OE. a-vie, as if for 
 a wager, a qui mieux mieux. ' They that 
 write of these toads strive a-vie who 
 shall write most wonders of them.' — Hol- 
 land, Pliny. 
 
 View. Lat. videre, to see, became in 
 It. vedere, vediito ; in Yx. veder, veer, 
 veier, veoir, voir j whence It. veduta, Fr. 
 vetie, viie, sight or view. 
 
 VigiL — Vigilant. Lat. vigil, wake- 
 ful, waking, watchful ; vigilans, watch- 
 ing, awake ; tngilia, a watch by night, 
 the eve before a feast. 
 
 Probably from the same root with E. 
 wake. 
 
 Vignette. Fr. vig7iette, from vigne, 
 Lat. vineaj 'the first vignettes repre- 
 sented vine-leaves and clusters of grapes.' 
 — Scheler. 
 
 Vigour. Lat. vigor; vigeo, to be 
 strong. 
 
 Vile. Lat. vilis, of little worth. 
 
 Villa. — Village. Lat. villa, a coun- 
 try- or farm-house, a farm. 
 
 Villain. Mid. Lat. villani were the 
 inhabitants of villce, hamlets or country 
 estates, peasants, or rustics, and the name 
 was specifically applied to the serfs or 
 peasants who were bound to till their 
 lord's estate, and were sold with the land. 
 ' Ipse quoque terram et villanos et omnes 
 consuetudines de ipsis villanis in vico 
 Silvatico concessit.' — Orderic. Vital, in 
 Due. The supreme contempt in which 
 the peasants were held under the feudal 
 system led to the bad sense of the word 
 
VINDICATE 
 
 in modern language. Fr. vilain, a churl, 
 boor, clown, and a knave, rascal, filthy 
 fellow ; as an adj. vile, base, sordid, bad. 
 —Cot. 
 
 To Vindicate. — Vindictive. See 
 Vengeance. 
 
 Vine. — Vinotis. — Vintage. Lat, 
 vinum, wine ; vinea, the tree from whose 
 fruit it is made, a vine ; vindemia, Pro v. 
 vendenha, Fr. veiidange^ the vintage or 
 gathering of the wine harvest. 
 
 Vinegar. Fr. vin aigre^ sour wine. 
 
 Vinewed. Mouldy. See Fenewed, 
 
 Viol. — Violin. Mid. Lat. vitula,vidula, 
 Prov. viula, It. viola, v to lone, violino, 
 OUG.Jidula (Otfried), G.Jiedel, Du. vedele, 
 vele (Kil.), a fiddle or stringed instru- 
 ment. Diez derives vitiila, as the instru- 
 ment of merry-making, from Lat. vitulari, 
 properly to leap like a calf, then to be 
 joyous or merry. But see Fiddle. 
 
 Violate.— Violent. Lat. vis, force ; 
 violo, -as, to use force with, to wrong. 
 
 Violet. Fr. violette, Lat. viola. 
 
 Viper. Lat. vipera, for vivipera (from 
 vivns 2i\-\dpario, to bring forth), because 
 supposed to produce its young alive, and 
 not, as other snakes, in the shape of eggs. 
 
 Virgin. Lat. vifgo, -inis. 
 
 Virtue. Lat. virtus, -tit is (from vir, 
 a man), the especial character of a man 
 as opposed to woman, courage, strength, 
 power, merit, worth. 
 
 Virulent. Lat. vims, a strong dis- 
 agreeable smell, venom, poison; viru- 
 lentus, venomous, poisonous. 
 
 Visage. — Vision. — Visible. — Visor. 
 Lat. video, visttm, to see ; visio, a seeing, 
 a vision ; vistis, a sight, look, view. From 
 vistts are O Fr. vis, and thence Fr. visage, 
 the face, countenance ; visiere, the viser 
 or sight of a helmet (Cot.) ; It. visiera, a 
 pair of spectacles or anything to see 
 through. — Fl. The word was variously 
 written in E. visor, visar, visard, and 
 was applied to a mask or cover for the 
 face. It. visaruola, a mask. 
 
 Viscid. — Viscous. Lat. visctis, bird- 
 lime, glue ; viscidtts, sticky. 
 
 Visit. From Lat. video, visum, to 
 see, are formed the frequentatives visa 
 and visito, to go to see, to visit. 
 
 Vital. — Vivid. — Vivacious. Lat. 
 vivo, victum, to live ; vita, life. Probably 
 from the same ultimate source with E. 
 quick, whick, living. 
 
 Vitreous. Lat. vitrum, glass. 
 
 Vitriol. Said to be named from its 
 vitreous or glassy substance. 
 
 Vituperate. Lat. vitupe?-are, to blame, 
 find fault with. 
 
 VOLITION 709 
 
 Vivacious. — Vivid. See Vital. 
 
 Vixen. Y orrnQvly Jixen, of which Ver- 
 stegan says : 'this is the name of the she- 
 fox, otherwise and more anciently foxiit. 
 It is in reproach applied to a woman 
 whose nature and condition is thereby 
 compared to a she-fox.' — Restitution of 
 decayed Intelligence in N. & Q., Nov. 14, 
 1863. G./iichsin, a she-fox. 
 
 Vizard. See Visage. 
 
 Vocal. — Vocabulary. — Vocation, 
 -voke. Lat. voco, -as, to call ; vox, 
 -cis, a voice, sound, word ; vocabtilum, a 
 word. To cottvoke, to call together ; re- 
 voke, to call back, &c. Vociferor [voci 
 z.n6.fero), to raise the voice, to shout. 
 
 Vogue. Fr. vogue, course of a ship, 
 and fig. course, sway : avoir la vogtie, 
 etre eit vogue, Sp. estar en boga, to be cur- 
 rent or fashionable, to have sway. It, 
 vogai'e, Sp. bogar, to row or pull at an 
 oar ; Fr. vogtier, to sail forth. Am rems 
 et am vela s'en van a mays vogar : with 
 oars and sails they sail away. — Rayn. 
 From OHG. wagon, MHG. wagen, to be in 
 motion, to move ; iit wago wesan, etre en 
 vogue. — Diez. Sach uf den linden wagen 
 ein schif : saw a ship move on the waves, 
 — Miiller. Darna anno 1527, 28, wage- 
 den se it mit smaksegel in Scotland, Nor- 
 wegen, &c. — Hamburgische Chroniken. 
 — they sailed with a smacksail to Scot- 
 and, &c. 
 
 Voice. Fr. voix, It. voce, Lat. vox^ 
 vocis. See Vocal. 
 
 Void. It. vuoto, voto, empty, hollow, 
 concave ; Fr. vuide, void, empty, waste, 
 vast, wide . — Cot. Prov. voig, vuei, empty; 
 voidar, voyar, vuiar, to empty ; Rouchi 
 wite, empty ; wider, to empty, void, quit. 
 
 Diez' derivation of Fr. vuide, vide, 
 from Lat. vidtitis, seems far less probable 
 than the view which regards it as an 
 equivalent of G. weit, E. wide. OHG. 
 wtt, amplus, latus, largus, procerus, vas- 
 tus, vacuus. Dero utiittm uuuasti, vastaa 
 solitudini, to the wide waste. Utdt weg, 
 spatiosa via. Diu utiita luft, aeria latitudo. 
 The ideas of emptiness and space are 
 closely connected. Space is room to 
 move in, and it implies the absence of 
 what would fill it up. Thus waste, empty, 
 is radically identical with vast, spacious, 
 and in the same way void, empty, is iden- 
 tical with wide, spacious. 
 
 Volatile. Lat. volo, -as, to fly ; vola- 
 tilt's, that flies, flitting, passing swiftly. 
 
 Volcano. It. volcano, from Lat. Vul- 
 canus, the God of fire. 
 
 Volition. — Voluntary. Lat. volo, vis, 
 to be willing, to will; voluntas, the will. 
 
7IO 
 
 VOLLEY 
 
 Volley. Lat. volo. It. volare, to fly ; 
 volata, ¥r. voUe^ a flight, a number of 
 things flying at one time. 
 
 Volume. — Voluble, -volve. -volu- 
 tion. Lat. volvo^ volutum, to roll, turn 
 over, whence volitbtlis, rolling, turning 
 about ; volumen, a roll of writing, a 
 volume, a bundle of anything wrapt up 
 together. 
 
 Voluptuous. Lat. voluptas^ sensual 
 pleasure. 
 
 Vomit. Lat. vomo, voinitum. 
 
 Voracious. — Devour. Lat. tioro, to 
 eat greedily ; vorax, inclined to eat 
 greedily, ravenous. 
 
 Vote. — Votary. — Devote. Lat. voveo^ 
 votton^ to wish for, then to promise some- 
 thing for the sake of obtaining the object 
 of desire, to devote or consecrate ; voticni, 
 a wish, a vow or promise made to the 
 Deity. A vofe is the expression of our 
 choice or wish for a particular alternative. 
 
 To Vouch. — Vouchsafe. Lat. vocafe, 
 OFr. voucher, in Law, was when the per- 
 son whose possession was attacked called 
 upon a third person to stand in his shoes 
 and defend his right. Then in a second- 
 ary sense, to vouch for one is to answer 
 to the call, to give your own guarantee 
 for the matter in dispute. 
 
 To vouchsafe, vocare salvum, is to 
 warrant safe, to give sanction to, to as- 
 sure, and thence to deign, to condescend. 
 
 Of merchandie the sevent penie to have 
 
 WABBLE 
 
 Unto his tresoiie the Barons vouched saue. 
 R. Brunne, 283. 
 Again, when K. Edward sent messengers 
 to France to renounce his fealty for Gas- 
 cony, K. Philip sent answer. 
 Homage up to yekl, lordscliip to forsake, 
 So Edward it willed, on that wise we it take, 
 As ye haf mad present, the kyng vouches it saue. 
 
 — the king gives his sanction to the con- 
 dition. 
 
 Paroles ke sunt dites, de teres resigner, 
 Des homages rendre, de seygnour refuser, 
 Le reis Phelipp resceyt en meme la maner. 
 R, Brunne, 260. 
 
 Vow. Fr. vceu, Lat. votiim. See Vote. 
 
 Vowel. Fr. voyelle, It. vocaU', Lat. 
 vocalis, of or pertaining to the voice. 
 
 Voyag-e. Yr. voyage, It, viaggio^ 
 Prov. viatge, Walacli. viadi, a journey, 
 from Lat. viaticum, journey money, used 
 by Venantius Fortunatus in the modern 
 sense. — Diez. The Lat. via became Fr. 
 voie, way, whence envoyer, renvoyer^ 
 four V oyer, &c. 
 
 Vulgar. — Divulge. — Vulgate. Lat. 
 vulgus, the common people ; vulgo, -as, 
 to publish or spread abroad, to divulge, 
 whence Vulgate, the version of the Scrip- 
 tures in common use. 
 
 Vulnerary. Lat. vulnus, a wound, 
 vubierarius, of a wound. 
 
 -vulse. Lat. vello, vulsum, to pluck, 
 pull, tug ; convello, to pluck up, tear away, 
 wrench, shatter. Revulsion^ a tearing 
 away, tearing back from. 
 
 w 
 
 To Wabble. — Waddle. — Waggle. 
 
 These words all signify to sway to and 
 fro, and are probably taken in the first 
 instance from the rolling of water. To 
 wobble, to bubble up, to reel, totter, roll 
 about. — Hal. Potwobbler, one who boils 
 a pot. — Grose. To wallop, which differs 
 only in the transposition of the labial and 
 liquid, is used primarily of the motion of 
 boiling water, and then of any rolling 
 movement : to wallop about, to roll about. 
 — Hal. Bav. wabeln, to tattle, points in the 
 same direction, the sense of loquacious- 
 ness being constantly expressed by the 
 figure of splashing water. In the same 
 dialect waiben, waibeln, to stagger, totter. 
 Du. wapperen, to waver, dangle, flap. 
 \^2i^.wappeltet, to rock as a boat ; Esthon. 
 wabbisema, Fin. wapista, to shake, waver, 
 tremble. 
 
 With the addition of an initial sibilant 
 G. schwabbeln, scliwappeln, schwapperii, 
 schwappen, to splash, dash like water, to 
 wabble, waggle ; scliwabbebt, quabbeln, 
 Swiss wabbeln, Pl.D. wabbeln, quabbehiy 
 to shake like jelly or boggy ground. 
 
 In favour of a like origin of the form 
 waddle may be cited OHG. wadalon, wa- 
 danon, fluctuare, vagari ; Swab, watsch- 
 nass, thoroughly wet, compared with G. 
 watscheln, to waddle ; Fr. gadiller, to 
 paddle in the wet, to jog or stir up and 
 down ; vadrotdlle, a swabber, for sop- 
 ping up the wet ; and (with the sibilant 
 initial) Du. swadderen, turbare aquas, 
 fluctuare — K., Bav. schwadet^t, schwat- 
 teln, to splash, Sc. swatter, squatter, to 
 move quickly in any fluid, including the 
 idea of undulatory motion, to move 
 quickly in an awkward manner. — Jam. 
 
WAD 
 
 Wad. — "Wadding. A wad is a bundle 
 or quantity of anything, a wisp of straw. 
 — Hal. It is then applied to a bunch of 
 clouts, tow or the like, used by gunners 
 as a stopple and rammed down to keep 
 the powder close. To wad a garment is 
 to line it with flocks of cotton compacted 
 together, and wadding is material pre- 
 pared for that purpose. G. ivatte, Fr. 
 oitate, wadding for lining. 
 
 Wad in Cumberland is the name given 
 to black lead, a mineral found in detach- 
 ed lumps, and not, like other ores, in 
 veins. IVaddock, a large piece. — Hal. 
 
 The sense of a mass or separate por- 
 tion, expressed by wad, as well as by 
 szvad or squad, is probably taken from 
 the figure of splashing in the wet, when 
 separate portions of mire are dashed off 
 on all sides. Compare squad, (in Lin- 
 coln) sloppy dirt, (in Somerset) a group 
 or company. — Hal. Swiss scJiwetti, a 
 slop, so much as is spilt at once ; then a 
 heap, as of apples. The syllable wad is 
 applied to the agitation of liquids in N. 
 vada, vadda, vassa, to dabble in water, 
 to chatter, tattle ; vade ned, to spill or 
 slop. And it has been argued under 
 Wabble that the radical meaning of wad- 
 dle was of a similar nature. See also 
 next Article. 
 
 To "Wade. The root is common to 
 the Latin and Teutonic stocks, signifying 
 originally to splash, then to walk through 
 water of some depth. Lat. vadus, wet ; 
 vadere, to wade ; vadum, a shallow place, 
 a ford. It. giiado, a ford, a washpool or 
 plash of water ; Fr. gue, a ford ; giieer, 
 to wade ; guder iin cheval, to wash a 
 horse in a river ; gucer du Huge, to rinse 
 linen. — Cot. G. //;/ kothe waten, to walk 
 in mud or dirt ; Bav. wetten, Swiss 
 schweeten, to swim or wash a horse in a 
 river ; Swab, wette, Bav., Swiss schwetti, 
 a horsewash, a plash or puddle ; Du. 
 wed, a horsepond, a ford ; wadde, a ford, 
 a shallow ; waden, to wade. N. vada, 
 vadda, vassa, to wade in water, mud, or 
 snow, to dabble, dirty, to chatter, tattle; 
 (of a fish) to swim on the surface of water. 
 Vad^ ihop, to stir up ; vade ned, to spill, 
 slop. 
 
 The imitative force of the word is 
 entirely lost in wade, and can only be 
 made out by comparing it with fuller 
 forms, as Pl.D. quatskeii, to sound like 
 water in the shoes, to dabble ; It. guaz- 
 zare, to dabble, plash, or trample in the 
 water, to shake water in any vessel, to 
 rinse ; guazza, a plash or puddle of water; 
 lllyrian gacati, gaziti, Magyar gdzolni, 
 
 WAG 
 
 71? 
 
 to wade ; gdz, a ford, a shallow ; or Swiss 
 schwadern, to move with a noise like 
 liquids in a vase, to splash ; Bav. schwat- 
 tela, to splash or spill over. 
 
 "Wafer. Fr. gaiiffre, Du. waefel, G. 
 tvaffel, Swiss waffle, a thin cake made by 
 baking it between the round flat cheeks 
 of a peculiar pair of tongs made for that 
 purpose. Said to be from G. wabe, a 
 honeycomb, which the crisscross marks 
 on the surface of the wafer are supposed 
 to resemble. It is much more probable 
 that it is named from the wide-mouthed 
 tongs by which it is made. G. waffel. 
 Swiss waffle, signify the wide chops c,f a 
 dog or any large mouth, as well as a 
 wafer. 
 
 Reinhold indeed in the Henneb. Idiot- 
 icon treats this last as the obvious deriv- 
 ation that must occur to every one, but 
 rejects it on the vague supposition that 
 the word is too ancient and too widely 
 spread for such a derivation. 
 
 To Waft.— Waff.— Whiif. Sc. waff, 
 waif, to blow. 
 
 Ane active bow apoun her schulder bare, 
 As sche had bene ane wild huntreis, 
 With wind waffmg her haris lowsit of trace. 
 D. V. 23. 2. 
 
 Closely allied to Sc. wauck, waucht, E. 
 quaff, to drink in hearty draughts, or 
 with a strong draught of breath. Other 
 related forms are G. hauchcn, to breathe, 
 to blow; E. hiff, whiff, all imitative of 
 the sound. 
 
 The addition of the final t in E. waft 
 probably indicates the formation of a 
 substantive, and thence again of a second- 
 ary verb, as in Da. vift, a puff or breath 
 of wind; vifte, Sw. wefta, to waft, fan, 
 winnow, wave. Wefta pd elden, to blow 
 the fire ; weft-offer, a wave-offering. To 
 waft over, then, would be to convey over 
 by a breath of wind. So we have sniff, 
 snift, and Sc. wauch, waucht, above 
 mentioned. 
 
 * Wag. A joker, one who plays tricks. 
 Probably a curtailment of waghalter, one 
 who is like to wag in a halter, a gallows- 
 bird. ' I can tell you I am a mad wag- 
 halter: — Marston. ' Let them beware 
 of wagging in the galowes.' — Andrew 
 Boorde, p. 84. A similar formation is 
 seen in ?'ake for rakehell, the scrapings 
 of hell. 
 
 To Wag.— Waggle. We signify vi- 
 bratory unsteady movement by the ad- 
 verbial wiggle-waggle. Du. wiggelen, to 
 shake ; waggelen, to stagger, totter. N. 
 I'igga, to rock, to sway from side to side ; 
 '^'■^Sf^(^'> to rock, and thence, a cradle. 
 
712 
 
 WAGE 
 
 Bav. ivageHy wegen^ to shake, move, to 
 stir. Detn die send ivagen ; he whose 
 teeth are loose. Die Juden wegten ir 
 haubet : the Jews wagged their heads. 
 Pl.D. wegen, wogen, to stir ; Sc. waggle, 
 wnggle, a quaking bog ; G. wacke/n, to 
 wag, totter, joggle, shake, and with the 
 nasal, wanken, Westerwald wankelen, to 
 reel, waver, jog, rock. Lat. vaciliare, to 
 totter. 
 
 It has been argued under Wabble that 
 the primitive application of all these 
 forms was to the agitation of water, the 
 sound of which they were intended to re- 
 present. Thus we have E. dial, swiggle, 
 to shake liquor violently, to move about in 
 water, to rinse — Moor ; G. schwdnken, to 
 move a fluid body to and fro, to rinse. 
 OHG. wag, abyss, waters, sea ; G. woge, 
 Fr. vague, billow, wave. 
 
 To Wage. — Wages. — Wager. The 
 Lat. vas, vadis, a surety, corresponds to 
 Goth, vadi, OHG. wetti, OFris. wed, Sc. 
 wad, wed, a pledge, security, engagement, 
 whether these were actually borrowed 
 from the Lat. or not. Hence arose Mid. 
 Lat. vadium, guadium. It. gaggio, Fr. 
 gagey a pledge or surety, a stake at play. 
 Fr. gages, wages, is money paid to a 
 person as a pledge for his services. From 
 vadium sprang the verb vadiare, Fr. 
 gager, to give pledges, to lay down stakes, 
 A wager is an occasion on which oppo- 
 site alternatives are supported by two 
 parties, and stakes are laid down to abide 
 the issue of the event. The chronicle 
 speaking of the emperor Frederic II., 
 A.D. 1250, says, 'Veneno extinctus sepul- 
 tus est — tam occult^, quod multi per 
 annos 40 vadiebarit (wagered) eum vivere.' 
 —Due. 
 
 When a person under the Gothic Laws 
 proceeded against another at law, his first 
 step was to give a pledge that his cause 
 was just, and that he would abide the de- 
 cision of the court. This requisition was 
 satisfied when the appeal to law took the 
 shape of a challenge to judicial combat, 
 by the challenger flinging down his glove 
 in court, and the person challenged taking 
 it up. The proceeding was signified by 
 the term vadiare duellum, or wager of 
 battle, and the same verb was extended 
 to the analogous proceedings used on a 
 solemn declaration of war, vadiare hel- 
 ium j although there might here be no- 
 thing in the nature of a pledge. In 
 modern times we use the word wage for 
 the carrying on of war, and not merely 
 the commencement, and the connection 
 with the idea of pledges is wholly obscured. 
 
 WAINSCOT 
 
 Waggon. — Wain. as. wcegen, wcegn, 
 OHG. wagan, ON. vagn, Bohem. wiiz, 
 Pol, wos, waggon, chariot, car. Sanscr. 
 vahana, vaha, bearing, conveying, any 
 vehicle, as a horse, a car ; vah, carry, 
 draw, bear, move; Lat. vehere, Bohem. 
 wezti, to carry. Lith. wezu^ weszti, to 
 draw, convey, carry. 
 
 Waif. — To Waive. Mid. Lat. way- 
 vitmiy OFr. gajyve, a waif, was anything 
 wandering at large, without an owner. 
 ' Choses gayves sont qui ne sont appro- 
 prides k nul usage de home, et qui sont 
 trouvdes, que nul ne reclame siennes.' — 
 Consuetudo Norm, in Due. ' Wayvium, 
 quod nuUus advocat.' — Fleta. ' There is 
 ane other mouable escheit of any waif 
 beist within the territorie of any lord, the 
 quhilk suld be cryed upon the market 
 dayes, &c.' — Jam. From waif is formed 
 Mid. Lat. waiviare, OFr. guesver, to 
 waive, to make a waif of or treat as a 
 waif, to renounce the right of ownership ; 
 guesver VJidretage, to renounce the in- 
 heritance. 
 
 The origin of the word is seen in Sc. 
 waff, waif, to blow, to move to and fro, 
 to fluctuate ; waffie, waitingeour, a vaga- 
 bond; to wawer, waver, to wander — 
 Jam. ; E. dial, wave, to wander or stray 
 — Hal. ; ON. vdfa, vofa, to move to and 
 fro, to waver. 
 
 In like manner Lat. vagari, Fr. vaguer, 
 to wander up and down, are connected 
 with the root wag, signifying motion to 
 and fro. 
 
 To Wail. To cry wae ! as Fr. miau- 
 ler, to cry miau ! It, guai a me I woe is 
 me ! guaire, guaiare, guaiolare, to wail, 
 to lament. Bret, gwela, W. wylo, to weep, 
 lament. Fin, woi ! vox querentis, vse ! 
 ah ! woikata, woikailla (Sw. woja sig), to 
 cry woi ! to lament, wail ; woiwotus,y\'?i\\- 
 ing. See Woe. Let, wai ! M-SLgy. jaj ! 
 oh ! alas ! Let. waideht, Magy, jajgatni, 
 to groan, lament, wail. 
 
 Wain. See Waggon. 
 
 Wainscot. Pl.D. wagenschot, the best 
 oak wood without knots. — Brem. Wtb. 
 Du. waegheschot, oak boards, wood for 
 cabinet work, from the light-coloured wavy 
 lines {waeghe, wave) by which the grain 
 of the wood is marked. — Kil. The second 
 element of the word is Du. schot, schut, 
 beschot, a closure or partition of boards ; 
 schutten, to prevent, hinder, keep ofif ; 
 schiitten den wiud, to keep out the wind ; 
 schutberd, thin board fit for partitions. 
 The shutters of a window are for keeping 
 out the weather. 
 
 Another Du. name for wainscot is 
 
WAIST 
 
 wandschot, from wand, wall, which leads 
 us to suspect that the supposed reference 
 to the wavy lines of wainscot may be an 
 afterthought, and that the first element 
 in Du. waegheschot, waeghenschot, may 
 really be the Fris. waegh, wachy wage, 
 AS. ivag, wall, wall. 
 
 Waist. — Waistcoat. FromW.^w^j^, 
 to squeeze or press, is formed gwasg, the 
 waist, the place where the body is squeezed 
 in. Gwasgod, gwasgbais, a waistcoat. 
 Gael, fdisg, Manx faast, to wring, press, 
 squeeze. 
 
 To Wait. — Watch. From on. waka, 
 to wake, was formed vakta, to observe, 
 watch, guard, tend. The corresponding 
 forms are ohg. wahten, to watch or keep 
 awake, to keep guard ; G. wache, watch, 
 look out, guard ; wacht, the guard ; Du. 
 ivaecke, wachte, watching, guard, and E. 
 watch. NFris. wachtjen, exspectare. — 
 Epkema. The stock was imported into 
 the Romance languages, producing It. 
 guatare, to watch, to spy, OFr. waiter, 
 gaiter, guaiter, Fr. guetter, to observe, to 
 watch ; Wal. waiti, awaiti, to look, ob- 
 serve, spy ; Lang, gach, gdcha, gaict, 
 gaito, a watch or sentinel. Rouchi we'te 
 un po, just look. 
 
 From Northern Fr. descended E. wait, 
 to look, observe, be on the look out for, 
 expect, remain until something happens, 
 remain quiet, or observe, attend. 
 Beryn cleped a maryner and bad him sty on loft 
 And weyte aftir our four shippis, aftir us doith 
 dryve. — Beryn, 856. 
 
 — yet ferthermore he ridis 
 And waytid on his right hond a Mancepilis 
 plase. — lb. 903. 
 
 IVayte, waker : vigil. Wayte, a spye : 
 explorator. IVaytyn or aspyyn : observo. 
 Waytynge or aspyynge with evyl me- 
 nynge : observatio. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 A like development of meaning may be 
 observed in G. warteii, to wait, to stay, to 
 attend upon, which is radically identical 
 with It. guardare, to look. 
 
 The first of the foregoing quotations 
 from Pr. Pm. explains the Waits or nightly 
 musicians of Christmastide. ' Assint etiam 
 excubiae vigiles [veytes] cornibus suis stre- 
 pitum et clangorem et sonitum facientes.' 
 — Neccham in Nat. Antiq. 
 
 To Waive. See Waif. 
 
 Wake. The streak of smooth water 
 left in the track of a ship ; Fr. oiiaiche. 
 It is remarkable that Fin. wako, Esthon. 
 waggo, signifies a furrow, the most obvious 
 figure from which the wake of a vessel 
 could be named. To plough the sea is a 
 famihar metaphor. 
 
 WALE 
 
 1^1 
 
 Mine own good Bat, before thou hoise up sail 
 To make a furrow in the foaming seas. — Gascoyne. 
 
 Fr. silloti, a furrow ; sillage, sillon de 
 vier, the wake of a vessel. Seillonne', fur- 
 rowed, cloven asunder as the sea by a 
 ship. — Cot. Fin. wannas, ploughshare; 
 wenheen wannas (share of boat), front of 
 keel, cut-water. 
 
 The radical idea seems to be the open- 
 ing of the ground by the ploughshare, 
 from the root vag, vak, which is common 
 to the Finnic and Scandinavian languages. 
 Magy. vdgni, to cut ; eret vdgni {et'et, 
 vein), to open a vein ; vdgds, a cut ; kerek 
 vdgds {kerek, wheel), a wheel-rut. ON. 
 vaka, aperio, incido, transfodio ; at vaka 
 blod, to let blood ; at vaka is, to cut a 
 hole in the ice ; vok, incisura in glacie 
 facta, vel ejusmodi apertura in aliis ; vattk, 
 incisura seu fenestra. — Gudmund. In 
 Norfolk when the 'broads' are mostly 
 frozen over the spaces of open water are 
 called wakes. 
 
 * To Wake. on. vaka, Goth, wakan, 
 AS. wacian, G. wachen, to wake. OHG. 
 wachal, AS. wacol, Lat. vigil, waking. 
 The original sense is probably to have 
 the eyes open, to look ; Swiss Rom. 
 votiaiti, vouaiki, to look. 
 
 Wakes. The annual festival of a vil- 
 lage, kept originally on the day of dedi- 
 cation of the parish church. The E. 
 cJmrchwake, as far as the festival itself is 
 concerned, corresponds exactly toG.kirch- 
 weihe, OHG. kirichwihi, from Goth. wei~ 
 han, Sw. wiga, to consecrate, but it is 
 not easy to see how the latter word could 
 have passed into wake. It is commonly 
 explained from the vigil or watch that was 
 kept on the evening preceding a saint's 
 day. But wake is sometimes used in the 
 sense of feasting or reveling, and it is 
 probably in this sense that it is to be un- 
 derstood in the case of the parish wakes. 
 In some parts of England it is called the 
 village revel. 
 
 Wale. I. Outward timbers in a ship's 
 side, on which men set their feet when 
 they clamber up. Gunwale, a wale which 
 goes about the uttermost strake or seam of 
 the uppermost deckin the ship's waist. — B. 
 
 2. Wale or wheal (Fris. wale, walke 
 — Outzen), the raised streak on the skin 
 left by a stripe. AS. walan, vibices. — 
 Som. Wall of a strype, enfleure. — Palsgr. 
 
 The radical meaning in both cases 
 seems to be shown in Goth, valiis, ON. 
 voir, Sw. wal, a rod, stick ; drapwal, 
 slagwal, the part of a flail with which the 
 corn is struck ; OFris. walubera, a pil- 
 grim or staff-bearer ; Bret, gwalen, Fr. 
 
714 
 
 WALK 
 
 gaule, a rod, staff, the staff of a flail. For 
 the application to the swelling raised by 
 a stripe, compare ON. vondr^ a wand or 
 rod, also a streak or stripe, a long narrow 
 mark. 
 
 To Walk. I. To go at a foot's pace, 
 to go on foot. 
 
 2. To full cloth, to work it in a mill 
 with soap and water, so as to convert it 
 into felt ; AS. weaicere, a fuller of cloth. 
 Bret, gwalc'hi, to wash. The radical 
 image seems to be the rolling movement 
 of boiling water. AS. weallan, to boil, 
 bubble up, roll. G. ivallen, to boil, wal- 
 lop, bubble up, move in a waving or un- 
 dulatory manner; poetically, to wander, 
 range, ramble, to go, to travel on foot.-- 
 Kiittn. 
 
 Then with a derivative g or k, OHG. 
 walagon, walgon^ fluctuare, volvi, ambu- 
 lare ; biwalegon, volutare. — Graff. G. 
 waige, wasserswalge^ rolling water, wave ; 
 walgen, walgern, to roll ; den teig aus- 
 ivalgen^ to roll dough. Sw. valka ndgot 
 imellan hdiiderna, to roll something be- 
 tween the hands ; valka ler^ to temper 
 clay, to work it up with water; valka 
 klcEde, to full cloth. ON. valka, to roll in 
 the hands. AS. wealcan, to roll, turn, 
 tumble; wealcynde ea, rolling water; 
 wealcere, a fuller. Bav. walken, walchen, 
 to move to and fro, to hover in the air, to 
 full cloth. 
 
 The sense of going on foot is a further 
 development of the idea of rolling or wan- 
 dering about. OHG , walgotun, volveban- 
 tur ; uiialgotay ambulavit (in via regum 
 Israel). — Graff. 
 
 Wall. AS. weall, wall, a wall ; Du. 
 wal, rampart, bank, shore. G. wall, a 
 rampart, town-wall, a bank or dike. Lat. 
 vallu7n, the palisade or fortification of a 
 camp ; vallus, a stake. 
 
 Wallet. Wale tie, a sack or poke.— 
 Pr. Pm. It. valigia (dim. valigietta), a 
 male, cloak bag, budget, seems to be a 
 modification of bolgia, bolgetta, a budget, 
 leather bucket. — Fl. And probably Fr. 
 malle, malette, a little male, a budget or 
 scrip (Cot.), may be another offshoot from 
 the same stock. — See Budget. 
 
 Wall-eye. An eye of a whitish colour, 
 from the skin becoming opaque. Cassius, 
 AS. wealken-eye. — Dief. Sup. Cooper in his 
 Thesaurus, A. D. 1573, XQwdexs glaiiciolus, 
 a horse with a waicle eye. — R. Fris. 
 waeckel, an ulcer. — Kil. ON. vagi i auga, 
 glaucoma, albugo, nubes in oculo. — Gudm. 
 Sw. wagel i ogat, a stye in the eyelid. — 
 Nordforss. Sw. wagel is a perch for 
 
 WAMBLE 
 
 fowls ; I si. vagi, a prop or support for a 
 cross beam. 
 
 To Wallop. To move to and fro, as 
 the surface of water in a vessel, to boil. 
 Swiss valple, vacillare. — Idioticon Ber- 
 nense". IVallop bears the same relation 
 to wabble that Swiss swalpe?i does to G. 
 schwappebi, to splash or dash to and fro 
 like water, or OE. walmynge to waine- 
 lynge of the stomach. — Pr. Pm. Pot- 
 wabble r diXidi pot-walloper are both in use 
 for one who boils a pot. Both forms re- 
 present the sound of liquid in agitation, 
 only the place of the labial and liquid is 
 transposed in the two. A similar trans- 
 position of the mute and liquid is seen in 
 sputter and spurt, squitter and squirt; 
 in Da. valtre and vralte, to waddle. 
 
 The use of wallop in low language, in 
 the sense of beating one, seems to be 
 taken from comparing the motion of the 
 arm to the action of water dashing to and 
 fro. Norm, vloper, to thresh (rosser). — 
 H ^richer. 
 
 To Wallow. AS. wealwian, to roll ; 
 bewealwian, to wallow, to roll oneself in. 
 Du. wallen, welle7i,\.o boil, bubble, fluctu- 
 ate, also to roll, wallow. — K. Goth, valv- 
 Jan, Lat. volvere, to roll. Swiss walen, 
 walleii, to roll ; sich umewalen, to roll on 
 the ground. The figure of boiling water 
 is often used to express confused multi- 
 fiirious movement. Lith. woloti, to roll, 
 Gr. U^Im, OHG. %uella7t, to roll ; willit, 
 volvit (se in lutosa aqua). OHG. wala- 
 gon, fluctuare, volvi, ambulare ; piuuala- 
 {roten, volutatum (in suo sanguine). See 
 Walk. 
 
 Wallowish. Nauseating. — B. Wal- 
 low, flat, insipid.— Hal. Du. walghen, 
 to nauseate, loathe ; walghinge, nausea, 
 inclination to vomit. Ik walg daran, it 
 turns my stomach. From the sensation 
 of a rolling in the stomach, caused by in- 
 cipient sickness. G. walgen, walgeln, 
 walgern, to roll. — Sanders. In like man- 
 ner the Da. has vamle, to nauseate, 
 loathe, corresponding to G. wammeln, to 
 move about, E. wamble, wabble, to move 
 up and down. 
 
 Walnut. Du. walnot, walsckenot, as. 
 walhnot, a foreign nut. Wealh, a foreign- 
 er. Swiss walen, waalen, to speak an 
 unknown language; welsch, wdlsch, a 
 foreign language. G. wdlsch, Italian ; ein 
 Wdlscher hahn, a Turkeycock ; die 
 Wdlsche bohne, French beans ; wdlschen, 
 to talk gibberish. 
 
 To Wamble. To move or stir, as the 
 bowels do with wind, to rise up as seeth- 
 
WAN 
 
 ing water does, to wriggle like an arrow 
 in the air. — B. Wamlyng of the stomake, 
 esmoLivement. — Palsgr. G. ivainvieln, 
 wummeln, wammezen^ wimineln, to stir, 
 crawl, swarm. Wamble differs from wab- 
 ble only in the insertion of the nasal. 
 
 Wan. — To Wane. Goth. va7is^ want- 
 ing ; vanana gatanjan, to nullify, make 
 void ; vanaiiis, diminution. AS. wana, 
 deficiency, wanting. An thing the is 
 wafia, one thmg is wanting to thee. Anes 
 wana twentig, twenty wanting one, nine- 
 teen. lVa;iian, gewaniaii, awaiiiaii^ to 
 decrease, waste, decay, wane. Thu wa- 
 nodest hine, minuisti eum. Tha wcetera 
 wanodo7i, aquae minuebantur. ON. vatir, 
 wanting ; vana, to weaken, diminish, to 
 castrate a horse. 
 
 The Celtic languages have preserved 
 the word in the least abstract meaning, 
 w. gwaji, weak, faint, poor ; Bret, gwan, 
 feeble, sickly, vain, empty ; Gael. fan7i^ 
 faint, feeble, infirm. Lat. vanns, empty, 
 futile. We have then AS. ivan, wanna, E. 
 wa7i, pale, livid, dusky, properly feeble or 
 weak in colour, what is wanting in bright- 
 ness. 
 
 Wan in composition is used as a nega- 
 tive particle ; OE. wanhope, Du. wanhope, 
 wantroost, despair j wa?iweten, to be 
 ignorant or mad ; wanmaete, deficient 
 measure, &c. ON. vafiafli, without strength ; 
 vanknn7iandi, unknowing ; va7t77idttr, 
 va7t77iegi7i, want of might, weakness. The 
 w. gwan is used in the same way ; gwan- 
 fydd, weak faith, distrust ; gwanffydio, 
 to despair ; gwa7igred, a faint belief ; 
 gwa7igredji, to distrust. 
 
 Wand. ON. vondr, a shoot of a tree, a 
 rod. 
 
 To Wander. There is no essential 
 difference between G. wa7ide7'7i, to wander 
 or go about without settled aim, and wa7i- 
 dehi, to walk, travel, go about one's busi- 
 ness, the terminal elements r and / being 
 used indifferently in the formation of fre- 
 quentative verbs. The primary sense 
 seems to be to fluctuate, roll, move to 
 and fro, as shown in OHG. ima7italo7i, 
 volvere, vertere, mutare, mercari. — Schm. 
 Uua7ital6t, volutat, ventilat ; ima7ida- 
 lo7ttero, fluctuantium ; giuua7italon, ver- 
 tere (vestes).— Graff. And wa7ital67i is 
 only a nasalised form of wadalo7i, venti- 
 lare, vagari, whence wadalari, vagabun- 
 dus. — Graff. Thus wa7tder v^ould. be re- 
 lated to waddle nearly as wa77ible to 
 wabble. 
 
 To Wane. See Wan. 
 
 Want. A derivative from the root wa7i, 
 signifying deficiency, negation. ON. va7ita 
 
 WARBLE 
 
 715 
 
 (impers.), to be wanting, deficient in ; 
 vanla7i, vbntun, want, deprivation. 
 
 The verb to want, used in familiar lan- 
 guage to express the desire of the speaker 
 for something, might well be explained as 
 signifying that he feels the want of it. 
 But it is singular that the word is found 
 in w. and Bret, with the positive signifi- 
 cation of desire, and in those languages 
 has no apparent connection with gwan, 
 the Celtic representative of the Teutonic 
 wa7i. W. chwa7it, Bret. c'hoa7it, desire, 
 longing, appetite, lust ; chwant bwyd, 
 desire of food, hunger ; chwa7ita, to covet, 
 to lust after. 
 
 Wanton. Properly uneducated, ill 
 brought up, then unrestrained, mdulging 
 the natural appetites, from the negative 
 particle wan and the participle toge7i, 
 getogen (OE. towen, itflwe7t), of the AS. 
 verb teon, G. Ziehen, to draw or lead. 
 Ho was itogen among niankunne, 
 And hire wisdome brohte thenne. 
 
 — she was bred among mankind, and 
 gained her wisdom from thence. — Owl 
 and Nightingale. ' Vor the nome one 
 mahte hurten alle wel itowe7ie earen :' 
 for the name alone might hurt all well- 
 bred ears. — Ancren Riwle, 204. Fiill- 
 itowe7i, fully educated. — Ibid. 416. ' Of 
 idele wordes, of tmtownne thoughts.' — 
 Ibid. 342. U7itowe bird, avis indiscipli- 
 nata. — Ibid. 16. Wa7itowe {wa7ttow7i, 
 wa7ito7i), insolens, dissolutus. — Pr. Pm. 
 ' Seeing evermore his (Gods) ghird to 
 chastisen us in his hand ghif we waxen 
 wa7itowe7i or idil.' — Serm. on Miracle 
 Plays, in Nat. Antiq., 2. 44. 
 
 In like manner we have in G. wolge- 
 5'<?^.?;/, well-bred (Nibel. Lied. 1731); and 
 iingezoge7t, ill-bred, ill-mannered, rude, 
 saucy. — Kiittn. 
 
 War, Fr. guerre, It. guerra, war ; 
 gara, strife, contention, jarring ; Du. 
 we7're, contention, strife, war ; werre7i, to 
 disturb, contend, strive, war. — Kil. OHG. 
 werra7i, to disturb, confuse ; gawer, sedi- 
 tio. MHG. werren, to disturb, confuse, 
 trouble, contend. ' Wi7'ret sich ein man 
 mit eime andern, daz si sich slan :' if one 
 man strives with another so that they 
 come to blows. ' Daz sich di werre7i mit 
 einander mit worten, mit stozene.' G. 
 wirren, to jumble, entangle, embroil, con- 
 found; wirrwarr, embranglement, dis- 
 order, confusion. In like manner Fin. 
 hasa, strepitus conviventium, rixantium, 
 &c, ; hassata, strepo, inquiet^ me gero, 
 altercor, rixor. 
 
 To Warble. To chirp or sing as birds 
 do, to sing in a quavering or trilHng way, 
 
7i6 
 
 WARD 
 
 to purl or gurgle as a brook. — B. The 
 radical image is probably to be found in 
 the bubbling or gurgling of water, and 
 the word is a parallel form with gargle^ 
 gurgle^ or It. gorgare, gorgolare, to gar- 
 gle, to rattle in the throat, to warble or 
 quaver in singing, also to wharl, or speak 
 in the throat as the Florentines do ; sgor- 
 gare, sgorgolare, to gurgle, to warble ; 
 sgargagliare^ to gargle, rattle in the 
 throat, prattle ; borbogliare, to make a 
 confused noise (Fl.) ; Sp. barbuliar, to 
 talk loud and fast; Lang, barbalia, to 
 chatter, tattle ; OFr. verbeler, to speak 
 quick and indistinctly. — Roquef. ' I war- 
 bell with the voyce as connyng singers do : 
 Je verbie.' — Palsgr. 
 
 The transference from the region of 
 sound to that of movement gives Sc 
 warble, warple, wrabil, to crawl about, 
 to wriggle, to move to and fro. To war- 
 ble in J to warble or wtcrble oneself out, 
 to get out of confinement by a continua- 
 tion of twisting motions. To wra^le, to 
 entangle. 
 
 Ward. The sense of keeping is com- 
 monly expressed by the figure of looking 
 after. Wal. warde, to guard, keep, ob- 
 serve, defend. \\.. guardare^ Fr. regarder, 
 to look ; garder, to keep. Robert of 
 Gloucester, p. 486, says that when K, 
 Richard went to the crusade he 'bitoc 
 the bisshop of Ely this lond in ech ende 
 to wardi .• ' and shortly after he speaks of 
 * the bisshop of Ely that this londe adde 
 to loke.^ See Guard. 
 
 A ward is a person under age, com- 
 mitted to the ward or care of a guardian. 
 The ward of a lock is what guards the 
 lock against opening with a false key. 
 The ward of a town, prison, hospital, is 
 so much as is committed to the care of 
 one alderman or keeper. 
 
 A warden^ Yy. gardien, is one who has 
 ward or guard of a thing. A warden- 
 pear, Fr. poh'e de garde, a keeping pear. 
 
 Ware. — Aware. — Wary. on. var, 
 having notice of, aware, also cautious, 
 wary. At verda var vid,X.o be aware of, 
 to observe. Vara, to warn ; vara sig, 
 varaz, to beware, to take heed. Da. vare, 
 guard, care ; tage sig vai'e, to take heed 
 of; tage vare paa, to watch, have an eye 
 upon. G. gewahr, aware; Du. waeren, 
 waerden, to observe, take care, beware of, 
 keep, guard — Kil. ; waernemen (G. wahr- 
 nehnien), to take notice, perceive ; waer- 
 schouwen, to give notice, to warn. Bav. 
 waren, to look, take care. War waz du 
 tuest : mind what you are about. Fr. 
 fare ! look out ! take care ! beware ! OE. 
 
 WARN 
 
 gaure, gare, to gaze. The radical mean- 
 ing is doubtless to look, observe, take 
 notice of. 
 
 The same root is found in all the Fin- 
 nish languages with no appearance of 
 being borrowed. Lap. waret, to keep, 
 guard ; wahrok, provident, wary ; wahro- 
 tet, to warn ; Esthon. warrima, to take 
 heed ; Fin. war a, foresight, caution, 
 warning ; warata, to beware, to warn ; 
 warn, cautious, provident, timid. Magy. 
 vdrni, to expect, watch, wait. 
 
 Wares, on. vara, varnadr, Sw. 7aara 
 (pi. zuaro?). Da. 7mre, Du. waere, wares, 
 goods, merchandise. The radical mean- 
 ing seems to be simply provisionment, 
 stores, from the root signifying look, men- 
 tioned in the last article. The develop- 
 ment of the signification is especially clear 
 in Finnish. Warata, to be provident, 
 cautious, to provide, to furnish with what 
 is necessary, in such senses as, to arm 
 my hand with a sword, to fill a purse 
 with money. Warasta, provisions, stores ; 
 wara, goods, means, wealth ; wara-huo- 
 net {huonet, house), a storehouse, a barn ; 
 takawara {taka, behind, after), stores 
 provided for the future ; warajnakso 
 {makso, payment, expense), a provision 
 for expenses ; wa7'a mies, a supplemental 
 man, a man provided to supply the place 
 of another. Sw. inatwar'or, eatables, pro- 
 vision of meat, to which we give the name 
 of provisions, Kar t^oxvv ; fiskwaror, 
 salted fish, provision of fish. Esthon. 
 warrirna, to keep, preserve ; warra, pro- 
 vision, furniture, goods, possessions ; 
 warrandus, goods, provision, treasure. 
 
 Wariangle. The shrike or butcher- 
 bird, .so called from hanging up its prey 
 on the thorn of a tree, like meat in a 
 butcher's shop. G. wargangel, wurgen- 
 gel (Dief. Sup. in curruca), the shrike, 
 from wiirgen, to throttle, to butcher, and 
 angel, a thorn. 
 
 Warm, on, varnir, G. warm, OLat. 
 formtis, Gr. Bipfiog, Hind. g/iurmm,F ers, 
 germ, hot ; Sanscr. ghajina, heat. 
 
 To Warn. To give notice, to cause 
 one to take notice, from the root ware, 
 signifying look or take notice. From the 
 same root in a somewhat different appli- 
 cation are Fr. garnir, guarnir, warnir, 
 to provide, prepare, fortify, secure, pre- 
 serve ; garnison, garnesture, provision, 
 furniture, stores (Roquef.) ; from which 
 last is OE. warnestore, to furnish, store, 
 fortify. ' Et que Egypte soit garni e (pre- 
 served) de la famine des sept ans que 
 sont k venir.' 
 
 The notion of preserving or defending 
 
WARP 
 
 naturally passes into that of warding or 
 keeping off, thrusting away, forbidding, 
 refusing. Thus Fr. defeiidre acquires the 
 sense of forbidding, and to warn one off 
 is to forbid his entrance. / warne, I 
 defende one or commande him not to do 
 a thynge. — Palsgr. as. %uyrnau, to warn, 
 refuse, forbid, deny, hinder. ON. varna, 
 to forbid, refuse. 
 
 And swa the lana embandowned he 
 That nana durst warne (refuse) to do his will. 
 Bruce, iv. 392. 
 
 The G. uses the simpler form without 
 the derivative n; we/iren, to bar, hinder, 
 prohibit, forbid. Einem den zugang 
 wehren, to forbid one entrance, to warn 
 him off. 
 
 Warp. ON. varp, Du. werp, werp- 
 draed, we7pgaeren^ werpte, G. werft, the 
 long threads laid out parallel to each 
 other between which the woof is shot in 
 weaving. Du. werp, worp, a cast. 
 
 To Warp. i. Goth, wairpan, AS. 
 weorpan, ON. verpa, G. werfen, to cast ; 
 then in a special sense, to take a certain 
 turn, to bend. A cast in the eye is when 
 one eye is turned out of the true direc- 
 tion. . Das holz wi7-ft sich : the wood 
 casts or warps. — Kiittn. ON. werpask, 
 N. varpa seg, Da. kaste sig, to contract, 
 to warp. 
 
 2. To warp a ship, to hale her to a 
 place by means of a rope laid out for 
 that purpose and fastened to an anchor. 
 — B. Da. varpe, to warp a ship ; varp- 
 toitg, a tow-line or warp. 
 
 The word probably comes in the first 
 instance from the language of fishermen. 
 ON. varpa in a special sense is to cast or 
 lay out a net, whence varpa, Da. varpe- 
 garti, a drag-net. N. vatp, a cast with a 
 net, a laying out of the net ; varpa, to 
 fish with a net, and thence, apparently 
 from comparison with the hauling in of a 
 drag-net, to warp a ship. 
 
 Warrant. — Warren. It has been 
 shown under Ware and Ward, as before 
 under Guard, that the figure of looking 
 out, looking after, was used to express 
 the sense of taking care of, guarding, pre- 
 serving against, making safe. OHG. gewar, 
 safe, secure (as Lat. tuius, from ttceor, to 
 look). Giuuara vesti, munitum prsesi- 
 dium. Daz siben ziug gewaerrer sint 
 dann zwen : that seven witnesses are 
 safer, more reliable, than two. Giwar, 
 security, safety, safe refuge. Jederman 
 flohe an sein gewar da er denn meinte 
 sicher zu seyn : every one fled to his re- 
 fuge where he considered himself safe. — 
 
 WARRANT 717 
 
 Schmeller. Hence OFr. garir, to seek 
 safety, to take refuge. 
 
 Mais ne saveit queu part aler, 
 N'osout des grantz foresz eisseir, 
 Kar il ne saveit ou garir. 
 Benoit, Chron. des Dues de Norm. 2. 399. 
 
 — he dare not quit the great forests, for he 
 did not know where to find shelter. OHG. 
 gewarheii, tutela ; also security, pledge, 
 secure residence. — Schm. G. gewdhr, 
 assurance, security, surety. Dem kaufer 
 die gewdhr leisten, to give security or 
 safe possession to the purchaser. Ge- 
 wdhrsmann, Pl.D. waarsma?z, warend, 
 warent, one who warrants or gives secur- 
 ity, who answers for the safe possession 
 of a property, Waren, war niachen, to 
 assure, make good, certify, prove by oath, 
 witnesses, &c. OE. warant, protector, 
 defensor. — Pr. Pm. So in OFr. garieur, 
 garent, gnarent, one who makes safe, 
 certifies, answers for ; garimetit, garison, 
 surety, guarantee. 
 
 Another derivative from the same source 
 is OFr. garene, warene, a place where 
 animals are kept, a henyard, pigeon-house, 
 fishpond, rabbit warren. — Roquef A 
 preserve for game expresses the same idea 
 in modern language. 
 
 The derivation of warrant and warren, 
 from the root ware, signifying caution, 
 and thence defence, security, safety, may 
 be further illustrated by the formation of 
 words having the same meaning from 
 Lat. cavere, caiituni, to beware, to guard 
 against. Thus in Mid. Lat. we find cau- 
 tus, safe, undisturbed ; cautis, cautum, a 
 security or written engagement for the 
 performance of a condition ; cautare, in- 
 cautare, to protect, secure, warrant. 
 
 ' Et omnia pecora vestra per omne reg- 
 num meum sint secura et cauta tanquam 
 mea propria, et libera et ubique habeant 
 pascua.' — Charta Alphons. Reg. Castellas 
 A.D. 12 13. ^ Cauto vero [I guarantee] 
 supradictos homines et omnia quae ha- 
 bent vel habebunt, quod nullus de cetero 
 pro aliqua voce vel calumniis, excepto 
 pro pretio debito audeat pignorare, vel 
 de suo ahquid prendere, molestare vel 
 calumniare. Hujus autem liberationis et 
 incautationis inchartationem facio Deo 
 et Stse Agath£E.' — Charta Ferrandi Reg. 
 Cast. A.D. 1224. From the foregoing 
 application of cautiis, in the sense of pro- 
 tected, secure from intrusion, is Sp. coto, 
 an inclosure of pasture grounds, a land- 
 mark, and Port, conto, an inclosure, park, 
 warren, rabbit-burrow, form of a hare, 
 asylum, refuge. 
 
7i8 
 
 WART 
 
 Wart. Du. werte^ wratte — Kil., g. 
 nuarze. 
 
 Was. — Were. Goth, visan, prt. vas^ 
 vesun, to remain, continue, stay, to be ; 
 fauravisan, to be to the fore : vists, na- 
 ture. ON. vera (anciently vcsa, visa — 
 Jonsson), prt; var, vas, vdrimi^ Sw. vaj-a^ 
 AS. ivesan^ to remain, continue, be. 
 Sanscr. vas, to dwell, to live, to wear 
 clothes. 
 
 It is well known that the verb to be is 
 an abstraction unknown to the language 
 of gesture and the rudest uncivilised lan- 
 guages. * In American and Polynesian 
 languages,' says Farrar, Chapters on 
 Lang. 54, ' there are forms for I am M^ell, 
 I am here, &c., but not for I am. More 
 than this, savage nations [when they learn 
 English] cannot even adopt the verb to 
 be. A negro says, " Your hat no lib that 
 place you put him in." ' I have known a 
 child, when learning to speak, say. Where 
 it livef where is it ? Sw. blifwa, to abide, 
 remain, continue, is the common word for 
 to become, to be. We must therefore re- 
 gard the sense of continuance expressed 
 by the verb visan, vera, &c., as prior to 
 that of abstract being, and we cannot se- 
 parate the verb of which was and were 
 are members from G. wahren, to last, and 
 E. wear. See Wear. The primary sig- 
 nification is probably to look, to see, from 
 whence all the others naturally flow. To 
 look, to guard, preserve, defend, cover, or 
 to guard, to keep, to endure, to remain, 
 to be. The G. warten, to expect or wait, 
 is identical with It. guai'dare, to look, 
 and it has been shown that the primary 
 sense of E. wait is to look out, while we 
 have argued in favour of a similar origin 
 for bide, abide. 
 
 To Wash. AS. waescati, wacsan, G. 
 waschen, Sw. waska. A parallel form 
 with swash, slosh, representing the sound 
 of dashing water. ' A great swash of 
 water, niagnus aquarum torrens.' — Coles 
 in Kal. Swash, refuse, hogwash, soft, 
 quashy. — Hal. * Drenched with the 
 swassing waves.' — Taylor. Piedm. 
 svasse, to splash, rinse, wash. Svasse 
 tin caval, to bathe a horse ; svassese la 
 boca, to rinse or wash out one's mouth. 
 Bav, schwatteln, to splash ; schwetti, 
 a horsewash. 
 
 In G. schwatzen, waschen, to tattle, the 
 expression is transferred from the sound 
 of dashing water to that of clacking 
 tongues. N. vada, vadda, vassa, to dabble, 
 splash, wade, also to chatter, tattle. 
 
 Wasp. AS. wcEsp, wa:ps, ohg. wafsa, 
 we/sa, Lat. vespis, wasp. Lith. wapsd, a 
 
 WATTLE 
 
 gadfly. There can be little doubt that it 
 comes from a word signifying to sting. 
 So Gael, speach, bite, strike smartly, and 
 speach (Gr. ff^jj?), a wasp or any venom- 
 ous little creature, or its sting or bite. 
 Lap. pustet, to sting as a serpent, F 
 puskia, to strike with the horns ; pusKi- 
 aitien, a wasp. 
 
 Wassail. A custom still used in some 
 
 places on Twelfth night of going about 
 
 with a great bowl of ale, drinking of 
 
 healths. — B. Hence wassailers, revellers. 
 
 From the AS. salutation on pledging one 
 
 to drink, wees heel, be of health, which th 
 
 person accepting the pledge answered in 
 
 the terms dritic ha:l, I drink your health. 
 
 E pur line feyze esternuer 
 
 Tantot quident mal trouer, 
 
 Si uesheil ne diez aprez : 
 
 — and for a single sneeze they expect to 
 be taken ill unless you say uesheil, God 
 bless you. — Manuel des Pecchds, iioo. 
 
 Waste. The proper meaning of the 
 word is the same as that of the equiva- 
 lent Pol. pusty, empty, void, unoccupied, 
 desert. Thus the waste water of a mill is 
 what runs away without contributing to 
 drive the wheel ; to waste your money is 
 to spend it in vain, without obtaining an 
 adequate return. /« waste was formerly 
 used in the sense of in vain. ' Take my 
 councell yet or ye go, for fear ye walk in 
 waste, ^ — Gammer Gurton, II. 4. 
 
 It. guastare and Fr. gaster, gdter, sig- 
 nify to spoil or render unfit for occupation 
 or employment. Mid. Lat. gastiini, bar- 
 ren land, fallow. OHG. wosti, wuosti, de- 
 sert, solitary ; wuostinna, Du. woestijne, 
 AS. westen, Mid. Lat. vastina, Yv.gastitte, 
 a desert, uncultivated land. G. wilst, 
 waste, desert, uninhabited ; das wiiste 
 geri7ine, the waste water in amill. The 
 term is then applied to the absence of 
 cultivation in a moral sense. Ein wilster 
 mensch, a rude, rough, brutal, ill-bred 
 man. In the same way Lat. vastus, 
 waste, desert, desolate ; also awkward, 
 unmannerly, ill bred, uncouthly large, vast. 
 
 Watch. See Wait. 
 
 Water.— Wet. Goth, vato, pi. vatjia, 
 ON. vatn, Lith. wandii. Let. uhdens, OHG. 
 wazar, G. wasser^ Gr. »^wp, vla-oq, water ; 
 ON. vdtr, Sw. wat. Da. vaad, Lat. udiis, 
 wet. 
 
 It is difficult to suppose that these 
 forms are not from the same root with 
 wade, to splash through water. 
 This whit waseled in the fen almost to the ancles- 
 P. P. (Skeat), 1. 432. 
 
 Wattle. From OHG. wadalon, mhg. 
 wadelen, wedelcn, to waver, move to and 
 
WAVE 
 
 fru (see Waddle), G. luadel^ wedel are 
 used to signify whatever wavers, dangles, 
 or mc -s to and fro, as a fan, the tail of 
 an ant nial, a plume of feathers, the wav- 
 ing blanches of a tree, on the same prin- 
 ple, ^1 the latter instance, that the name 
 jt wati/ers is given in the E. of England 
 to small waving twigs. — Hal. Bav. wadel, 
 fir-bran ches, twigs, l3ranchwood ; wadeln^ 
 to cut Urushwood. — Schm. 'Darausclit 
 i'"^ aen tamie'ivedeln : it sounds in the fir- 
 "branches.'— Deutsch. Mundart. 2. 167. 
 Swiss ivedcle, a bundle of twigs. Hence 
 :must be explained E. wattle, provincially 
 a hurdle (Hal.), a frame of interwoven 
 twigs or rods ; to wattle, to interweave 
 with rods. 
 
 From the same sense of waving to and 
 fro are the wattles or waddles of a cock, 
 the loose pieces of flesh which dangle be- 
 neath his chin. So Du. quabbe, a dew- 
 lap, from G. quabbebi, wabbeln, to shake 
 like jelly. MHG. wadel, an apron, what 
 h.dnjrs before for concealment. Machten 
 in wadel von veigenbaum : made them 
 aprons of fig-leaves. 
 
 Wave. In OE. written wawe ; Goth. 
 vegs (pi. vegos), AS. wcEg, G. wage, Da. 
 •vove, N. vaag, Yx. vague, billow, wave. 
 Sw. wag is both a balance and a wave, 
 the name being given to both for the 
 same reason, viz. from the up and down 
 movement of each. OHG. wegan, to 
 move, vibrate, nod, weigh ; wagon, 
 moveri ; wag, gurges, vorago, lacus, 
 asquor. In manigero waszero wage : in 
 diluvio aquarum raultarum. — Notker. 
 The radical forms waggle and wabble are 
 closely connected, and their derivatives 
 frequently intermingle. 
 
 To Waver. — Wave. Sc. waff, waif, 
 wawe, to fluctuate ; to wavel, to move 
 backwards and forwards ; to waver, 
 ' wawer, to fluctuate, wander. 
 
 And in that myrk nycht wawerand will. 
 
 Wyntown . 
 
 O^. vdfa, vofa, to wave to and fro ; vdfa 
 yfir (as G. schweben), to hang over ; vdfi-a, 
 to totter, to roam or wander about. G. 
 quabbeln, wabbeln, to shake like jelly ; G. 
 dial, wabben, wabbeln, wabern, waffeln, 
 'wafflen, to waver, totter, move to and fro. 
 — Deutsch. Mundart. 2. Bav. waibeln, 
 waiben, to waver, totter, flutter, twirl. 
 Waiben wie ein rohr, to shake like a reed ; 
 waiben wie ein top/, to whirl like a top. 
 Du. wapperen, to waver, vacillate, swing. 
 E. quaver, to shake with the voice, to 
 tremble ; to quave, to move to and fro ; 
 an earthquave, a quavejnire. Fin. 
 tvapistai to quaver, sound tremulous, to 
 
 WEALD 
 
 719 
 
 shake or tremble ; wapina, a tremulous 
 sound, a trembling. See Wabble. 
 
 Wax. AS. weax, ON. vax\ G. wachs, 
 Pol. vosk, Russ. voska, Esthon. waliha, 
 Magy. yiasz, wax. Fin. waha, a rock ; 
 then by a strong metaphor, waha weden, 
 the rock of water, foam ; waha nieden 
 the rock of honey, wax ; wahainen, rocky, 
 foamy, waxen or waxy. Fin. waaksi, 
 waJito, or waahti also signify foam. 
 
 To Wax. AS. weaxan, Goth, wahsjan, 
 Oi<!. vaxa, Sanscr. vah, Gael, fas, to grow, 
 increase. 
 
 Way. Goth, vigs, on. vegr^ Sanscr. 
 vaha, Lat. via, Fr. ime. 
 
 To Wayment. To lament. The in- 
 terjection of suffering is in Lettish 
 
 (corresponding to G. wehe ! E. woe /), and 
 with the personal pronoun, waiman ! 
 equivalent to Gr. w\ioi ! woe is me ! From 
 the compound interjection are formed 
 waimanaht ! to cry waiman ! (as Gr. 
 otfiwZtiv, to cry oifioi !), to lament ; wai- 
 manas, lamentation ; which seem to ex- 
 plain the formation of E. wayment. 
 
 Wayward. Perhaps a corruption of 
 wi'ay.ward, as G. wasen compared with 
 Du. wrase, a sod. Crabbyd, awke or 
 wrawe {wraywarde — W.), bilosus, can- 
 cerinus ; wraw, fro ward, ongoodly, per- 
 versus, bilosus, protervus. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Weak. What yields to pressure. AS. 
 wdc, w^ak, pliant ; Da. veg, pliant ; svag, 
 weak ; Sw. svig, supple, agile ; G. weich, 
 Du. weeck, weyck, Sw. wek, soft, yielding 
 to the touch, tender, effeminate ; G. 
 schwach, weak. Bret, gwak, soft, tender, 
 delicate. G. weichen, AS. wican, Da. 
 vigej Sw. wika, swiga, to yield, give 
 place to. 
 
 The radical image is seen in ON. vik, 
 a slight movement, a nick or recess, 
 whence vikja, to set in motion, to turn ; 
 also to give place ; vikna, to give place, 
 to yield, to be moved or softened. The 
 AS. swican has the same radical mean- 
 ing, the sense of deceiving being derived 
 from that of a short quick turn or move- 
 ment. Compare Sw. wika af, to turn 
 aside, to quit, wika undan, to go off, 
 escape, quit, with AS. tiim from swicon, 
 went from him ; thone death beSwican, to 
 escape death. 
 
 Weal. — Wealth. AS. wel, well ; wela, 
 abundance, wealth, prosperity ; in pi. 
 riches ; wela, welig, rich. OHG. welida, 
 welitha, wealth. In the same way we 
 have Fr. bien, well, and as a substantive, 
 bietis, goods, substance, wealth. 
 
 Weald. AS. weald, G. wald, wood, 
 forest. The weald of Kent is the broad 
 
720 
 
 WEAN 
 
 woody valley between the bare chalky 
 downs which occupy so large a portion of 
 the county. 
 
 To Wean, G. gewohnen, to accustom ; 
 entwohnen^ to break the custom, to use one 
 to do without, to wean. Da. vanne, to 
 accustom ; afvanne^ vanne fra^ to wean. 
 Du. wennen, to accustom, to wean. See 
 Won. 
 
 Weapon, Goth, vepna, arms'; ohg. 
 wd/an, G. luqffe, ON. vapn, AS. wcepn, 
 weapon ; Du. ivapen^ arms, tools. — Kil. 
 
 To Wear. i. To last, endure or hold 
 out, as, this cloth wears well, i. e. lasts 
 long. — B. ON. vera, G. wdhren, and Sw. 
 wara are used in the same sense. Me- 
 dan det warar: while this lasts. Tyg 
 som warar lange : stuff that lasts long, 
 that wears well. Den klddningen har 
 warat twa somrar : that coat has lasted, 
 has worn two summers. OHG. weren, 
 manere, subsistere, durare ; durah weren, 
 permanere ; werig wirig, perpetuus, per- 
 manens ; w^^w^rz^, caducus. — Graff. To 
 wear out is to endure to the end of its 
 existence, to come to an end, correspond- 
 ing to G. verwesen, to moulder away, to 
 decay. To wear off, to go off by lasting, 
 to go gradually off. When we look to 
 the verb to last we see that the idea of 
 continuance or endurance springs from 
 the sense of performing or fulfilling its pro- 
 per end. To last is the equivalent of G. 
 leisten, to comply with one's duty, to per- 
 form what one is required, to fulfil. — 
 Kiittn. ' Thei ben false and traiterous 
 and fasten nogt that thei bihoten.' — Sir 
 Jno. Mandeville. The same sequence is 
 shown in E. wear, to endure, compared 
 with OHG. weren, gaweren, gaweron, 
 facere, praestare, servare, to keep, fulfil, 
 perform. Uuereton iro gedingimg, ser- 
 vaverunt pactum ; uueret sermones dei, 
 he observes the commandments- of God; 
 legem tiueren, to keep the law. — Graff. 
 The word keep itself is used in both senses, 
 to observe or fulfil, and also to last. To 
 keep quiet is to remain quiet, and the 
 word is provincially used for reside or 
 dwell. A Cambridge student would ask. 
 Where do you keep .'' But words signify- 
 ing keep, guard, take care of, almost 
 always derive their significance from the 
 figure of looking, as Lat. servare signifies 
 in the first instance to look, then to keep 
 or guard, while the derivative observe sig- 
 nifies to perform or fulfil. 
 
 The sense of a sharp look out is pre- 
 dominant in E. ware, beware, while G. 
 bewahren signifies to keep or fulfil. ' Das 
 gerechte volk, das den Glauben bewah- 
 
 WEAR 
 
 ret ,-' the righteous people which keepeth 
 the faith.— Isaiah 26. 2. Vie geboihe 
 Gottes bewahren: to keep or fulfil the 
 commandments of God. Thu's we finally 
 trace ^he pedigree of wear ^o the root 
 war, which through a wide rai "* of lan- 
 guage signifies look or take notice, as 
 shown under Ware, Ward, Wp-rn, &c. 
 
 The G. wa/ir (Lat. verus, w- g^ir), trup, 
 is probably to be explained a^: what kee, 3 
 or fulfils the purpose for which it was de- 
 signed. The true way is that whicxi iwd:? 
 to the end we are desirous of attaining. 
 A true man is one who fulfils his pro- 
 fessions. A true saying is one vohich 
 comes out in accordance with fact, ivhen 
 put to the proof. Thus verity may be 
 regarded as the capacity of a thing for 
 wear. OHG. uuar, Veritas, fides ; ze uuare, 
 cert^ ; gawdri, probitas ; ungawdr, im- 
 probus ; warit, kewarit, piuuarit, probat. 
 —Graff. 
 
 2. To wear clothes. The expression of 
 a garment wearing -well, or being w.orn 
 out, seems so closely connected v^ith that 
 of wearing clothes, that we aire at first 
 inclined to identify the verb i* the two 
 cases and to explain the sense Ox^ wearing 
 clothes as remaining or being in thtTTi, in 
 accordance with ON. at vera i skyrtu, 1 
 brdkum : to be in a shirt, in breeches, to 
 wear them ; or as we say, he was in his 
 shirt sleeves, in his best clothes. Sanscr. 
 vas, to dwell, to wear clothes. 
 
 But further examination tends to show 
 that although the ultimate origin is pro- 
 bably the same in wear, to last, and wear, 
 to bear clothes, yet the two senses are 
 not immediately connected. The line of 
 thought seems to be, to look out, take 
 heed, beware, guard against, protect, 
 cover, clothe. Sich vor der kalte, der 
 hitze bewahren, to guard against cold or 
 heat ; verwahreti, to preserve. ON. verja, 
 AS. werjan, to defend, protect, cover. 
 HrcEgle hine mid to werianne ; clothing 
 to cover himself withal. OHG. warjan, 
 werjan, defendere, prohibere, tegere, ves- 
 tire. — Graff. 
 
 Mit uuati er thih io uuerie 
 
 Joh emmizigen nerie : 
 
 Amictu ipse te defendet, et perpetuo alet. 
 
 Otfr. II. 22. 47. 
 
 Then elliptically, to wear clothes, to cover 
 (oneself with) clothes. AS. he nioste 
 wcepen werian, he must wear weapons, 
 must guard (himself with) weapons. OHG. 
 gauueridont Christan, induerunt Chris- 
 tum \ p:inuueri, periscelides, leg-clothing. 
 
 3. To wear ship, to turn the ship before 
 the wind ; properly to veer ship : Fr. 
 
WEAR 
 
 vent (yrriere,lX.. virare in poppa. — 
 Roding 
 
 "Wear. — Weir. From G- ivehren^ Du. 
 weren ' o ward off, prevent, forbid, defend 
 (see "* ^ar, 2.), are G. wehr^ Du. weer, 
 sej.:ni_ntum, defensio, munitio, agger ; G. 
 «/<?/^/-, adam, dyke, causey. Den strom 
 . iurch Hn wehr aicfhalten : to stop the 
 curren by a dyke or wear. Wehrdam, 
 a wea^ or weir on a river. Muhl-wehr^ a 
 mill-' im ; seewehr, a mole or pier ; fisch- 
 wekr, a fish-pond; Pl.D. ware^ a dam 
 across a stream to set nets in for catch- 
 ig eels, &c. ; a crib to defend the banks 
 of a river or a sea-dyke. AS. war., iver, 
 sepimentum, retinaculum ; a dam for 
 fish, fish-pond. Wayre, where watec, is 
 holde, gort. — Palsgr. 
 
 In the sense of a fish-pond the word 
 may be confounded with OE. ivayoture, 
 stondinge water, piscina (Pr. Pm.) ; Suf- 
 folk waver, Du. wouwer, vyver, G. wet- 
 her, OHG. wiwari, MHG. wiwer, wier, a. 
 pond for fish, from Lat. vivarium. 
 
 "^QBXY- AS. werig, v.^eary ; G. wdhren, 
 to endure; langwierig, lingering, tedious; 
 Da. vare, to endure ; latigvarig, pro- 
 tracted, lingering. The extremity (^weari- 
 ness is when we are quite worn out with 
 labour. 
 
 Weasand. as. wcEsend; OFris. was- 
 ende, the windpipe ; Bav. waisel, wazel, 
 wasting, Suffolk w^2^^/z, the gullet, throat. 
 Probably from ON. hvcesa, Da. hvcese, 
 to wheeze, to make ^ ^und in breathing ; 
 E. dial, quezzen, to choke. The same 
 relation holds good between ON. guerk, 
 the throat, and E. wherk, to breathe with 
 difficulty, to make a noise in breathing ; 
 wherken. Da. kvcsrke, to choke. 
 
 Wsasel. G. wiesel. 
 
 VTeather. Du. weder, G. wetter, ON. 
 ve r, weather, wind, storm. Pol. wiatr, 
 wind ; wiad, G. wehen, to blow. Bohem. 
 wjtr, gen. wStru, wind ; wati, wjti, to 
 blov . 
 
 To Weave. — Web. Sanscr. vap, 
 
 weave ; on. vefa. Da. vceve, Du. weven, 
 
 G. web en, to weave } gewebe, Du. webbe, 
 
 ON. vefr, what is woven, a web. G. weben 
 
 s also to move to and fro, to stir. Lebeti 
 
 ■nd weben, to have life and motion. Bav. 
 
 )abern, to be in movement, to wander to 
 
 nd fro ; wabern, wabeln, to bustle about; 
 
 <aiben, waibeln, to stagger, totter. The 
 
 dical image is the reciprocating motion 
 
 the shuttle in weaving. See Wave, 
 
 aver, Wabble. 
 
 Wed. Goth, vadi, OHG. wetti, AS. 
 
 'dd, a pledge, what binds us to perform 
 
 WEDGE 
 
 721 
 
 a certain condition, from Goth, vidan or 
 vithan, to \im^,gavidan, to bind together^ 
 to join ; OHG. wetan, gewetan, zisamana- 
 giwetan, to bind together. Goth. gavisSy 
 a fastening or joint ; disviss, a. loosing. 
 
 To Wed. Properly to engage or pledge 
 oneself, to betroth ; then passing on to 
 signify the marriage which is the conclu- 
 sion of the engagement. Goth. 7/adi, a 
 wed or pledge ; gavadjon, AS. weddian, 
 to engage, to promise. Him weddedon 
 feoh to syllenne : they engaged to give 
 him money. Gif hwa ordales weddige : if 
 any one undertakes an ordeal. Weddige 
 se bridguma, : let the bridegroom promise. 
 Then in the special sense of marriage 
 engagement. Weddian heora magan to 
 wife : to betroth their relation, to promise" 
 her in marriage. Weddian was after- 
 wards, as in E.,used for marriage, but the 
 proper term for the latter was cewnian, 
 and the two are contrasted together in 
 Sax. Chron., p. 314. 37. — Cockayne, in 
 Gloss, to St Marherite. Flem. wedden^ 
 spondere, polliceri, fidejubere. — Kil. 
 
 In like manner from Lat. spotidere, to 
 engage, are formed sponsus, sponsa, an 
 engaged person, a bridegroom or bride, 
 and thence Fr. dpoux, dpoiise, a husband 
 or wife. The comparison of the corre- 
 sponding forms in Welsh would lead to a 
 different view of the immediate origin of 
 the expression, although we are ultimate- 
 ly brought to the same point in both 
 cases, w. gwedd is a yoke or pair, a 
 team of horses ; gweddawg, yoked, cou- 
 pled, wedded ; newydd weddawg, newly 
 married ; dyweddio, to yoke or couple 
 together, to join in marriage, to espouse ; 
 dyweddi, espousal, betrothal. The point 
 of connection between the two lines of 
 thought is that w. gwedd as well as Goth» 
 vadi, a. wed or pledge, seems to be de- 
 rived from the root shown in Goth, vidan^ 
 gavidan, to bind together. OHG. kiwe- 
 tan, conjunctus ; zesamanagiwatan, so- 
 ciarunt ; kiwet, a yoke or pair of oxen ; 
 MHG. gewete, companion ; Swiss, Bav. 
 an-, ein-wetten, to yoke together. Goth. 
 Thatei nu Guth gavath : what God hath 
 joined together — let not man put asunder. 
 — Mark 10. 9. 
 
 By a curious coincidence we have also 
 Esthon. weddama, to lead ; Lith. wedu^ 
 westi, to lead, to lead a bride home, to 
 marry, to be compared with Lat.ducere ux- 
 orem. Wedes, wedded, married ; wedlySy 
 the bridegroom ; wesele, a wedding ; Let. 
 weddama meita, a marriageable daughter. 
 
 Wedge. Du. wegghe, wiggke, G. wecl^y 
 a wedge, oblong mass. 
 46 
 
722 
 
 WEDNESDAY 
 
 Wednesday. AS. ivodensdceg, Wo- 
 den's day. 
 
 Weed. Du. wieden^ to cleanse, espe- 
 cially of noxious herbs, to weed. Thence 
 iviede^ a weed, the noxious herbs that are 
 pulled up and cast out from among the 
 cultivated crops. Fr. vuider, to void, 
 purge, cleanse. See Void. 
 
 Weeds, as. wad, clothing, garment. 
 Wist and ivceda, food and garments. 
 OHG. wdt, gaivdti, clothing, garment ; 
 karuwdt, mourning ; linwdt, linen 
 clothes ; G. wand, gewand, cloth, woven 
 materials ; leinwand, linen. Fin. waatet, 
 cloth, clothes, garment. 
 
 Week. AS. weoce, ON. vika, G. woche. 
 
 To Ween. Goth, vens, expectation, 
 hope ; vetijan, to expect ; gavenjan, to 
 suppose, to think ; ON. vdn, von, vceni, 
 expectation, hope ; vdna, vdna, to hope. 
 Du. waen^ opinion ; waenen, to think, to 
 ween. — Kil. G. wdhnen, to imagine, 
 suppose, think. Sc. will of wane, at a 
 loss for counsel. 
 
 To Weep. Goth, vopjan, to call, to 
 cry ; OHG. wuofan, MHG. wuofen, wafen, 
 to make an outcry, to lament, weep ; 
 wuof, wuoft, AS. wop, hveop, outcry, 
 lamentation. ON. 6p, outcry. From AS. 
 wop is formed wepan, properly to lament, 
 to wail, then to weep or shed tears, as 
 from ON. dp comes CBpa, to shout, to cry. 
 
 The syllable whoop is used to represent 
 a shrill sound in whooping cough, and as 
 a verb signifies to shout. War whoop, 
 ON. herdp, the battle-cry, shout of attack. 
 
 Lith. vapiti, Russ. vopif, to make an 
 outcry, to weep ; vopV, lamentation, cry. 
 
 In Gr. 0^, OTTOS, the sense of shouting 
 is softened down to the signification of 
 the ordinary voice or a separate utterance, 
 a word ; and by a similar change in the 
 radical vowel to that shown in ON. dp, 
 cepa, E. whoop, weep, we have tTrw (pre- 
 served in the aorist Iittov), to say ; liroq, a 
 word. The same train of thought is seen 
 in Lat. vox, vocis (equivalent to Gr. o-^, 
 hTTOQ), the voice, from voco, to call, where 
 the guttural c takes the place of the p in 
 the other languages. Sanscr. vach, speak. 
 
 Weevil. The worm that breeds in 
 com. AS. wibba, a worm ; wibil, wifel, 
 G. wiebel, Du. wevel, a weevil; Lith. 
 wabalas, a beetle. 
 
 The name is taken from the multi- 
 farious movement of a swarm of small 
 animals. G. weben, to stir about, to 
 swarm with ; webeln, to wag, stir, bustle. 
 — Kiittn. Bav. wibeln, wubeln, wibbeln, 
 wimmeln, to move about, to swarm ; 
 wibeligy stirring, sprawling, crawling. 
 
 WEIRD 
 
 'Alles wibbelt, kribbelt, sich beweget.' 
 ' Das wibende, wabende wasser.' — San- 
 ders. Pl.D. wibelsteerten, to wag the 
 tail. 
 
 The Latin name of the insect, curculio, 
 seems to have been formed on exactly the 
 same principle. It may be explain 4 
 from It. gorgogliare, to gurgle, to b "i^\ 
 and then (from a comparison of the iei> 
 petual movement of swarming inser ^ to 
 the agitation of boiUng water), ' to \ ^-eed 
 or become vermine, wormlets, or siich 
 creepers or weevils as breed in pulse or 
 corn.' — Fl. See W^ble. Russ. wreyati, 
 to boil, also to swarm, to crawl. Grisons 
 buglir, to boil, to swarm. 
 
 To Weigh.— Weight. The act of 
 weighing takes its name from the wag- 
 ging movement of the beam, one scale 
 going up as the other goes down. Bav. 
 wagan, wagen, to rock, shake, move ; 
 wagen, a cradle ; wdg, a balance ; 
 gewdg, a lever ; wegen, to prise a thing 
 up ; G. wiegen, to rock, to move to and 
 fro ; also (as wagen) to weigh ; bewegen, 
 to move ; wage, a balance. Du. wagge- 
 len, waegelen, to waggle, vacillate ; 
 waegen, to sway up and down, to vacil- 
 late; to move ; waege, a balance. — Kil. 
 ON. vagga, to rock ; vega, to lift ; vdg, a 
 balance ; vcegi, weight ; vcegr, heavy. 
 AS. wegan; to lift, to weigh. In the ex- 
 pression of weighing anchor the word is 
 still used in the sense of lifting up. Boh. 
 waha, a balance, the swipe of a well. 
 Russ. waga, a balance ; wajif, to have 
 weight, to weigh. 
 
 The same connection between the 
 terms for weighing and for wagging up 
 and down is seen in Let. swirt (wippen, 
 wagen), to seesaw, to weigh ; swirris, 
 swipe of a well ; swars, weight ; swart 
 tilts, 2l drawbridge ; swarrigs, weighty, 
 heavy. Lith. swirti, swyroti, to waver, 
 sway, swing ; swerti, to weigh ; swarus 
 (showing the origin of G. schwer), heavy ; 
 swartis, scales, balance ; swirtis, scale, 
 beam of balance, swipe of well. Du. 
 swieren, vibrare, vagari, gyrare. 
 
 Weird, as. wyrd, geuyrd, fate, for- 
 tune, destiny, from Goth, vairthan, AS. 
 weorthan, G. werden, to come to pass, to 
 become, to be. 
 
 To weird was then elliptically used in 
 the sense of destine, appoint as one's fate, 
 or announce as one's fate, predict. 
 
 And what the doom sae dire, that thou 
 Dost weird to mine or me ? 
 
 Jam. Pop. Ballads. 
 
 Altho' his mither in her weirds 
 Foretald his death at Troy— 
 
WELD 
 
 Hence Shakespeare in Macbeth calls the 
 witches the weii'd-sisters^ and latterly 
 weird has come to be used in our liter- 
 ature in the sense of something belong- 
 ing to the world of witches, supernatural, 
 unearthly. In the same way the analogous 
 conception expressed by Yx.fderie^ magic, 
 and E. fairy ^ takes that designation from 
 1j3X.fatum. 
 
 To Weld. Sw. walla, G. welleii, to 
 join two pieces of iron at a heat just short 
 of melting. From G. w alien, Du. wellen, 
 AS. weallan, to boil ; weallende fyr, fer- 
 vens ignis. In Scotland coals are said to 
 wall when they cake together in burning. 
 The process of welding iron is named, in 
 many languages, from the word for boil- 
 ing, Illyrian variti, to boil, to weld iron ; 
 Let. wdrtt, to boil ; sawdrtt, to weld ; 
 Magy. forrni, to boil ; forrasteni, to 
 solder, to weld ; Turk, kaynatnak, to 
 boil, to weld ; Orisons buglir, to boil, to 
 solder metals. 
 
 To Welk. — Welewe. g. welken, Du. 
 welckeii, verwelckeii, to fade, wither, de- 
 cay, dry. Properly to lose colour. 
 
 For which full pale and welkld is my face. 
 
 Pardoner's T. 
 The which was whilome grene gras, 
 Is welewid hay, as time now is. 
 
 Gower in Hal. 
 W.gwelw, pale. AS>.fealo,fealwe, fallow, 
 yellow ; fealwian, to grow yellow ; weal- 
 wian, to dry up. Esthon. walg, white ; 
 walkia, whitish. Fin. walkia, white ; 
 walawa, whitish ; walastaa, to become 
 pale or whitish ; h^lewa, pale ; halistua, 
 to become whitish, to fade. 
 
 Welkin, as. woken, G. wolke, cloud ; 
 wolken hifnmel, the clouds of heaven, the 
 welkin, sky. 
 
 Perhaps wolke may be from the woolly 
 (G. wolle, wool) aspect of the clouds, 
 analogous to Fin. liemen, wool, liemitika, 
 down, wool, and thence a thin cloud ; 
 liei7iettdd, to cover with wool, to become 
 clouded over. The fleecy clouds is an 
 habitual metaphor, which we also find in 
 Virgil. 
 
 Tenuia nee lance per ccelum vellera ferri. 
 
 Well. Goth, vaila, well, better ; OHG. 
 wala, wola, welo, G. wohl, well. w. 
 gwell, better. Lap. waljo, good ; waljo 
 dlina, a thorough good man ; waljet, ON. 
 velja, to take what is good, to choose. 
 
 To Well.— WelL as. weallan, on. 
 ruella, Du. wellen, G. wallen, to boil, 
 bubble up, spring. AS. wylle, ODu. welle, 
 walle, a spring, a well, spring water. G. 
 quellen, to spring ; quelle, a spring of 
 water. 
 
 WERE 
 
 723 
 
 Welt. w. gwald, a hem ; gwald esgid, 
 the welt of a shoe. ' The welt of a gar- 
 ment, ord, bord, bordure d'un vestement.' 
 —Cot. Gael, bait, baltan, border, belt, 
 welt of a shoe. 
 
 To Welter, as. wceltan, Pl.D. wal- 
 tern, weltern, woltern, Sw. wdlta, wdltra, 
 G. wdlzen, to roll, wallow, welter ; sich in 
 seinem blute wdlzen, to wallow or welter 
 in one's blood. Fr. vautrer, to wallow 
 like a sow in the mire. Lat. volutare, to 
 roll. See Wallow. 
 
 Wem. AS. wcEm, worn, a spot, stain, 
 blemish, crime, sin, evil. on. 7/dmm, 
 shame, dishonour, vice. Fin. wamma, a 
 fault, blemish, wound, swelling, boil ; 
 waminata, to hurt, to wound. 
 
 Wen. AS. wemt, a swelling, a wart. 
 Perhaps a corruption of wem. 
 
 Wench. A depreciatory or familiar 
 term for a young woman. The parallel 
 form in Germany is mensch, niinsch, 
 minsk, answering to Goth. man7tisk, OHG. 
 inennisc, a derivative from mann. Swab. 
 mensch, a girl, a mistress, a woman of the 
 lower orders ; vermenschern, to wench. 
 Westerw. fnensch, a. prostitute ; Pl.D. 
 minsk, contemptuously, a woman ; sic/i 
 betninsken, to take a wife. The inter- 
 change of w and m is doubtless unusual, 
 but wir in some parts of Germany be- 
 comes mer, mir. 
 
 On the other hand wennik is used in 
 G. as a depreciatory term for a woman ; 
 schdl-wennik, a slattern, untidy wench. 
 Wennik, wennk, a woman's garment. — ■ 
 Brem. Wtb. 
 
 To Wend.— Went. Togo. a^. wen- 
 dan, to turn, turn his steps, go. Of 
 Ledene on Englisc wende : turns from 
 Latin into English. Wende hine thanon : 
 turned him thence. Wendan hider and 
 thider:- to go to and fro. In the same 
 way, to return is to go back, and in OE. 
 to bow, i. e. to bend, meaning to bend his 
 steps, was much used in the sense of go. 
 See Bow. on. venda, G. wenden, to turn. 
 Venda vegi sinum: to turn his course. 
 Bav. winden, to turn, to go in a certain 
 direction. ' Thie liuti wuntun heiin : * 
 the people went home. — Otfr. 
 
 Were.— Weregild. In the Old Ger- 
 man laws the death of a man was gener- 
 ally compounded for by the payment of a 
 sum of money to the relations of the mur- 
 dered man. This was called his were or 
 weregild, OHG. werigelt, OFris. wergeld, 
 werield, AS. wet^a, wer, weregeld. Gildan 
 were, to pay were. To eacan thatn riht 
 were : in addition to his right weregild. 
 OS ax. were^ weregheldj iuitio, pretjura 
 4(3 * 
 
7^4 
 
 WEREWOLF 
 
 redemptionis. — Kil. The word is com- 
 monly explained from AS. wer, Lat. vir, 
 man, in accordance with ON. vianngj'dld, 
 mannbot^ Da. mandebod, composition or 
 fine paid for the death of a man. And 
 doubtless the term was early understood 
 in this sense : * weergelt, dat is manne- 
 gelt.^ — Richthofen. It is remarkable 
 however that in all the Finnic languages 
 were signifies blood, which would give a 
 much more lively expression of the idea. 
 Lap. warr, Esthon. werre, Fin. weri^ 
 Magy. v^r, blood ; vdrdij^ Esthon. werre- 
 hittd (Jitnd, price, cost, value), G. blutgelt, 
 the price of blood, money paid in satis- 
 faction of blood. Turk, kan, blood ; kan- 
 ^ahassi, money paid to the heir of a slain 
 man by the homicide. 
 
 Schmeller's explanation is less pro- 
 bable, from weren, geweren, to pay or 
 discharge an obligation. Abraham says 
 to Isaac, * Du must das opfer seyn, wir 
 miissen den Herren geweren' Wertmg, 
 werschafi, payment, satisfaction. 
 
 Werewolf. The temporary trans- 
 formation of men into wolves was a very 
 general superstition, giving rise to Gr. 
 XwKavSpwTToe, wolfman. The correspond- 
 ing term in AS. was werwolf^ from wer, 
 Goth, vair, Lat. vir, man. Hence Mid. 
 Lat. geruip/ms, OFr. garwal, garol, 
 garou. * Vidimus enim frequenter in 
 Anglia per lunationes homines in lupos 
 mutari ; quod hominum genus Gerulphos 
 Galli nominant, Angli vero Werewulf 
 dicunt. Were enim Anglic^ virum sonat ; 
 wulf, lupum.' — Gervas. Tileber. in Due. 
 
 Bisclaveret ad nun en Bretan, 
 Garwall I'apelent li Norman. 
 
 The intrinsic meaning of the word being 
 now obscured to a French ear, the term 
 for wolf was again prefixed in an intel- 
 ligible form : loup-garou^ a werewolf. 
 
 West. It is remarkable that both East 
 and West admit of explanation from the 
 Finnish languages. Esthon. wessi, water ; 
 wessi kaar (the wet quarter), the West ; 
 wessi tuul (the wet wind), the N. W. wind. 
 
 Wet. See Water. 
 
 Whale. AS. hwal^ G. wallfisch. Gr. 
 ^oKi], <pa\aiva, Lat. balcBiia. 
 
 Whang. A blow or bang, to beat, to 
 throw or bang down with violence. — Mrs 
 Baker. From the notion of flinging vio- 
 lently down comes the sense of something 
 large, a large separate piece, a whacking 
 piece, a thumper. Whangs anything 
 large, a thong — Hal. ; whangs quhayttg, 
 a thick slice, a whang of cheese. — Jam. 
 A quhanky a great slice of cheese. — Gl. 
 
 WHELK 
 
 Grose. A strap is a slice or separate 
 portion of leather. 
 
 It is probable that AS. thwang has the 
 same origin, as we find thwack answer- 
 ing to whacky as thwang to whang. So 
 also we have the synonyms whart and 
 thwart^ whittle and thwittle. 
 
 Wharf. The G. wer/en, to cast {auf- 
 werfen, to cast up), is doubtless the origin 
 of Pl.D. war/, a mound of earth on which 
 houses are placed for protection against 
 inundation, or a raised place by the 
 waterside were ships are built and re- 
 paired ; also a wharf or shore secured 
 with timber. — Brem. Wtb. Du. werf, a 
 raised place on which a house is built ; 
 scheepswerf^ timmerwerf Sw. skepphvarf 
 a dockyard, shipyard. — Bomhofif. Hol- 
 stein warf worf, warve, wer/t, a raised 
 mound on which a house stands. — 
 Schiitze. E.Fris. war/, werf raised 
 ground on which a house, church, or 
 windmill is placed. — Wiarda. 
 
 Wheal. See Wale. 
 
 Wheat. AS. hvete, Goth, hvaitei. 
 The name is conjectured to be derived 
 from Goth, hveits^ white. 
 
 Wheatear. A bird with a white rump, 
 formerly called whit tail, from whence 
 wheatear appears to be corrupted. Fr. 
 blanculet, a whittail, or bird of her big- 
 ness that is very fat and good eating. — ■ 
 Cot. 
 
 To Wheedle. To persuade by coax- 
 ing or flattery. From G. wedeln, to wag 
 the tail. In Fab. et Contes, III. 58, the 
 dog says 
 
 ie vois aprfes et si couete 
 'or avoir aucune chosete. 
 
 Coueter, to wag the tail. 
 
 Da. logre, to wag the tail, to flatter, 
 wheedle ; ON. Jladra, to wag the tail, 
 blanditiis fallere, to wheedle. 
 
 Wheel. AS. hweol, on. hjdl, hvel, 
 anything circular, a wheel, w. chwyl, a 
 turn, a course ; chwylfa, an orbit. Du. 
 wiel, a wheel, a whirlpool, the whorl of a 
 spindle ; wielbrood, a twist, bread twisted 
 in a spiral form. Lane, wheel, wheelpit, 
 a whirlpool. 
 
 To Wheeze. AS. hweosan, to breathe 
 with difficulty, to breathe audibly. ON. 
 hvcBsa, Da. hvcese, to wheeze, to hiss. 
 Yorksh. whazle, to wheeze. Bret, c^houeza^ 
 to breathe, blow, puff, swell. 
 
 Whelk. I. AS. weoluc, weolc, a welk, 
 wilk, shellfish. 
 
 2. A whelk is also a blow, a fall, and 
 thence a mark, stripe, pimple. Whelker, 
 a thump or blow ; whelking, very large. 
 —Hal. A modification of the word 
 
WHELM 
 
 whacky representing the sound of a blow. 
 Whacking, thumping, bouncing, strap- 
 ping, are analogous expressions, convey- 
 ing the sense of magnitude. 
 
 To Whelm. — Whelve. To whelm or 
 whemble, to cover a thing by turning some 
 vessel over it. * Whelm that dish over 
 them currants.'— Mrs Baker. To whawm, 
 to overwhelm. — Hal. 
 
 To wabble, and with the nasal, wamble, 
 is to move to and fro, up and down, to 
 roll about ; Sc. whammle, to turn round. 
 Wi' her tail in her teeth she •whammeled it roun 
 Till a braid star drapt frae the lift aboon. 
 
 Du. weinelen, to palpitate, whirl, turn 
 round. — Kil. Sc. womel, whtmimil, 
 NE. whemmle, to turn upside down. 
 And schyll Triton with his wyndy home 
 Over whemlyt ail the flowand ocean. 
 
 Bellendeninjam. 
 
 The change from whemmle to whelm is 
 an instance of an inversion that is very fre- 
 quent in imitative forms. Thus we have 
 G. schwappeln,^3iXa\\.Q\ with Swiss schwal- 
 peti, to splash ; and E. wabble is synon- 
 ymous with wallop ; potwobbler zxA pot- 
 walloper are used indifferently. 
 
 Again the same kind of inversion leads 
 from our original wabble to OHG. walbon, 
 to roll, to turn round ; whence varwalb- 
 nussi, subversion, turning upside down ; 
 sinwelbe, spherical, round ; AS. hwealf, 
 convex ; Da. hvcelve, to arch, vault, turn 
 bottom upwards ; Sw. hwdlfwa, to roll, 
 turn, change, vault ; ON. hvelfa, hvalfa, 
 to turn over, to vault. In Staffordshire 
 to wharve is to turn a vessel upside 
 down in order to cover something. To 
 whave, to cover or hang over. — Hal. 
 
 Whelp. ON. hvelpr, OHG. hvelf, MHG. 
 welf, the young of dogs, lions, bears, &c. 
 W elf en, to bear young. 
 
 Weckerlein ist auf das bett gesprungen. 
 
 Hat darauf gewalft seine jungen. 
 
 Hans Sachs in Schm. 
 
 Perhaps the noun may be from the verb, 
 and not vice versa. G. werfen, to cast, is 
 used in the special sense of casting 
 young. Die hiindinn hat geworfen, sie 
 hat sechs junge geworfen : the bitch 
 has whelped. — Kuttn. To warp in 
 the S. of England is to cast a foal ; in 
 N.E. to warp eggs, to lay eggs. The 
 same interchange of r and /is seen in the 
 parallel forms of AS. hwearfian and hweal- 
 jian, to turn. 
 
 Wherkened. Choked. To wherk, to 
 breathe with difficulty, properly to make 
 a noise in breathing. ' ON. kverk, throat ; 
 Da. kvcerke, to choke. 
 
 WH.ILE 
 
 725 
 
 Wherret. i. A box on the ear ; some- 
 thing to make the ear whirr. 
 
 2. To wherret, to harass, to tease. Per- 
 haps like whartle, whartwhartle, to 
 cross, to tease (Hal.), a development of 
 E. dial, whart, thwart, cross. Over- 
 whart, overth wart, across. — Forby. Wart, 
 to overturn, to plow land across. — Hal. 
 
 To Whet. ON. hvass, hvatr, OberD. 
 wass, wets, sharp ; ON. hvetja, G. wetzen, 
 Du. wetten, to whet, to sharpen. OHG. 
 wasso sehan, to look sharp ; wassida, 
 sharpness, edge. 
 
 Whether. Goth, hvathar, AS. hwcether, 
 which of two, from hva, which, who. 
 
 * Whey. AS. hwcEg, Du. wey. The' 
 Netherlandish forms waddik, wadeke, 
 wattke, wakke, wdke, waje, G. dial. 
 wdssich, wessig, point to a derivation 
 from Goth, vato, water, as signifying 
 the watery part of milk. 
 
 Which. Goth, hvileiks, what-like ; as 
 s7ichixors\ sveleiks,'s,o-\<k&. OFris. hwelik, 
 hulk, hwek, huk, hoek, which. 
 
 Whiff. A breath of air, a word like 
 puff, hiiff,fuff, formed in imitation of the 
 sound of blowing, w. chwaff, a quick 
 gust ; chwiffio, to puff, whiff, hiss ; chwyth, 
 a puff, blast, breath. See Waft. 
 
 To Whiflle. Properly to blow in 
 whiffs, to blow unsteadily, to veer about, 
 to trifle. ' Two days before this storm 
 began the wind whiffled about to the 
 south, and back again to the east, and 
 blew very faintly.'— Dampier in R. ' Ver- 
 satile whifliftgs and dodgings.' — Barrow. 
 
 Du. weyfelen fluctuare, inconstantem 
 esse, omni vento versari ; weyfeler homo 
 inconstans, versatihs, levis. — K. NE. 
 whifle-whaffle, nonsense. — Hal. 
 
 * Whiffler. An officer who heads a 
 procession and clears the way for it. 
 
 Which like a mighty whiffler iore the King 
 Seems to prepare his way. — Hen. V. 
 
 The whifflers in the civic processions 
 at Norwich carry swords which they 
 brandish as if for clearing the way. The 
 name may thus be derived from waviiig 
 or brandishing. 
 
 Whig. I. A drink prepared from fer- 
 mented whey. w. chwig, fermented, sour ; 
 whey fermented with sweet herbs. — 
 Spurrell. 
 
 2. A bun. Bav. wegg, wegk, week, a 
 wedge, a wedge of butter or of dough, a 
 roll. Du. wegghe, wigghe, a wedge, 
 thence a mass, an oblong cake of bread 
 or of butter.— Kil. 
 
 While. Goth, hveila, hour, time; 
 hveilan, to rest, to cease; gahveilans. 
 
726 
 
 WHILOM 
 
 repose, rest. ON. hvilay to rest ; hvila^ 
 w. gTvely, a bed. OFris. hvila^ to remain, 
 delay. AS. on dcrges Jnvile^ in a day's 
 space; tha hwile^ the while, so long as. 
 Du. wiile^ a moment, space of time, 
 leisure, vacant time. Lett, walla^ leisure, 
 space of time, respite, permission. Wal- 
 las deena^ a vacant day ; wallas sirgs, 
 an unoccupied or resting horse ; man 
 nawa wallas^ I have no time. Lith. 
 walanda, a while, an hour, time. 
 
 It would seem from the foregoing that 
 the sense of a space of time springs from 
 the notion of repose or rest, but a differ- 
 ent origin is suggested by w. chwyl, a 
 turn, a course, an event, a while, and as 
 an adverb, while, as long as. Chwyl/a, 
 an orbit ; chwylo, to turn, revolve, run a 
 course. Boh. chivile^ time, leisure ; Pol. 
 chwila, a moment, time. 
 
 Wliiloin. AS. hwilon, hivilum, some 
 time, for a time. Du. wljlen, wijlent, G. 
 weiland, formerly, sometime. 
 
 Whim. 1.— Whims.— Wim.—Wim- 
 "ble. Whim, wim, a drum or capstan 
 drawn by horses for winding ore out of a 
 mine ; whims, a windlas ; wimble, an 
 auger. A windlas or capstan and an 
 auger are all implements that produce 
 their effect by turning round. Bav. wim- 
 meti, wimmeln, wamszeln, wimszeln, 
 wnmszeln, to stir, to be in multifarious 
 movement. Du. wemelen, to palpitate 
 vibrate, be in quick and light movement, 
 to drive round, turn round, thence to 
 bore with an auger ; weine, a wimble or 
 auger. Parallel forms are Fr. gimbelet, 
 Langued. jhimbelet, a gimlet ; jhimbla, 
 to twist. 
 
 The syllables whip, quip, swip re- 
 present a smart stroke, a light quick turn 
 or movement. Thus we have Da. vippe, 
 to seesaw, rock, tilt up ; Du. wippen, to 
 skip, to twinkle, totter, kick suddenly up ; 
 wip, a swing, a lift, a trice, the swipe of 
 a well ; E. whip, to strike with a rod, to 
 do anything with a quick and nimble 
 movement, to draw up by means of a 
 pulley ; w. chwip, a quick turn ; chwi- 
 pyn, a sudden turn, an instant ; chwipio, 
 to whip, to move briskly. Then with a 
 nasalisation of the root, G. wimpern, Du. 
 wimpoogen, to wink or blink the eyes ; G. 
 augenwimper, the eyelid ; w. chwimp, 
 chimmpyn, a quick turn. The final mute 
 is then lost, leaving an 7n as the represent- 
 ative of the original p. Thus we arrive 
 at ON. hvim, a quick movement ; athvima 
 augunom, to move the eyes alaout ; Da. 
 "vimse, to skip to and fro ; W. chwim, 
 motion, impulse ; chwimio, chwimlo, to 
 
 WHINGE 
 
 move round quickly ; Du. wevtelen, to 
 palpitate, twinkle, whirl, turn. — Kil. 
 
 Whim. 2. — Whimsey. ^F///w, a mag- 
 goty fancy or conceit, a freakish humour. 
 — B. Properly an impulse proceeding 
 from some internal buzzing or stirring in 
 the brain that absorbs the attention of the 
 agent and renders him deaf to rational 
 inducements. G. wimmen, wimmeln, to 
 stir ; OSw. hwimla, to wriggle, stir, or 
 crawl ; thet hwimlar i htifwudet, my 
 head is dizzy, I have a buzzing in my 
 brain ; hwimska, folly. Da. dial, hvimle, 
 to have a swimming in the head ; hvim- 
 melhovedet, hvims, giddy, dizzy. Swiss 
 wimseln, to be in a state of multitudin- 
 ous movement ; wimselsinnig, crack- 
 brained, whimsical. Da. vitnse, to skip 
 to and fro. ON. hvini, a light movement. 
 
 ' Gad, my head begins to wkhn it about — why- 
 dost thou not speak ? thou art both as drunk and 
 as mute as a fish.' — Congreve in R. 
 
 But I forget my business. I thank ye, Monsieurs> 
 I have a thousand whimseys in my brain now. 
 B & F. in R. 
 
 To Whimper, g. winimern, Bav. 
 tuimszehi, to cry in a subdued way. E. 
 dial, wipping, the chirping of birds, weep- 
 ing, crying. — Hal. Fin. wipuli, crying, 
 weeping. 
 
 A high-pitched cry is represented by 
 the syllables cheep, peep, weep. The lap- 
 wing is called weep from its plaintive cry. 
 Sc. wheep, to squeak, to give a sharp 
 whistle ; to wheeple, to whistle in an in- 
 efficient manner. Da. dial, hveppe, hvttp- 
 pe, wuppe, to yelp ; hvippe, to chirp. 
 
 Whin. Properly waste growth, weeds, 
 but now appropriated to gorse or furze. 
 Whinnes or hethe, bruy^re. — Palsgr. 
 Bret, c'houenna, to hoe, to weed. w. 
 chwyno, to weed ; chwyn, weeds. 
 
 To Whine. Goth, quainon, ON. kveina, 
 kveinktty to weep, lament ; Bav. quenern, 
 quenken, qitenkeln, to whimper ; Da. 
 hvine, to whistle as the wind ; G. weinen, 
 Du. weenen, to weep, to cry ; Sc. hune, to 
 emit a querulous sound, as children in ill 
 humour, w. cwyno, to complain, bewail. 
 Fin. winistd, to whistle as the wind ; 
 winkua, to whimper ; Esthon. winguma^ 
 wingma, to whimper, whine, creak. 
 
 To Whinge. — Whiniard, Whinge, 
 to whine, to sob. — Hal. A whinging 
 blow, a sounding blow. Hence a whin- 
 ger, a weapon, something large and 
 strong. ' I have heard it in Suffolk,' says 
 Moor, ' as well in the sense given [a 
 weapon] as of other large strong things, a 
 girl particularly — and swinge?', also.' To 
 swinge, to beat ; swinging, great, tre- 
 
WHINNY 
 
 mendous, as a swinging lie, a swinging 
 frost. Swinger^ anything large and 
 heavy. 
 
 From whinger in the sense of a sword, 
 when the radical sense was forgotten, 
 were probably developed both hanger 
 and whiniard. 
 
 Whinny. — Whinner. To neigh. Lat. 
 hinnire. 
 
 To Whip. A light, quick movement 
 is widely represented by the syllables 
 whip, wip, swip, as a heavier blow by 
 the force of the broad vowel in whap, 
 swap. To whip is to do anything by a 
 rapid swing of the arm or any quick, 
 short movement, and the term is thence 
 applied to reciprocating or circular move- 
 ment. Du. wippen, to dangle, swing, skip, 
 do anything in a hurry, seesaw ; to 
 twinkle, to flog — Kil ; wip, a trice, a 
 moment ; wippe, a whip, the swipe of a 
 well ; wipsteert, a wagtail ; wipplank, a 
 seesaw ; wipbrug, a draw-bridge ; Sw. 
 wippkdrra, a tumbrel ; Da. vippe, to 
 seesaw, bob, rock, wag. Pl.D. wippen, 
 wuppen, to move up and down ; wuppe, 
 any contrivance for letting up and down, 
 a crane, a tumbrel ; wuppeln, wiippern, 
 wippern, to set a swinging ; wips ! quick ! 
 ON. hvipp, a quick movement. Da. dial. 
 hvibber, quick ; hvibbre, to turn to and 
 fro, to whip a child. Fin. wippera, quick; 
 wtppota, to whirl round ; wtpu, a. crane, 
 w. chwip, a quick flirt or turn ; quick, 
 instantly ; chwipio, to whip, to move 
 briskly ; chwipyn, an instant. Gael. 
 cidp, a whip or lash, a trick. 
 
 Then with an initial sibilant, ON. svipa, 
 to whip, move quickly, do anything 
 rapidly ; to waver ; svipall, unsteady, 
 movable ; svipan, svipr, a rapid move- 
 ment, an instant ; svipta, to whip out or 
 in, to snatch ; Da. dial, svippe, to move 
 hastily ; svip, an instant, a moment ; E. 
 dial, swipper, nimble, quick ; swippo, 
 supple ; swipe, the handle of a pump, the 
 lever by which a bucket is let up and 
 down into a well. 
 
 To Whir.— Whur. — Whirl.— Whorl. 
 The syllables whirr, whur, hurr, swir, 
 are used to represent a humming noise, 
 as of a wheel in rapid movement, the ris- 
 ing of partridges or pheasants in the air, 
 the snarling of a dog, &c. Then from 
 representing the sound the word is used 
 to signify the motion by which the sound 
 is produced ; whirling, turning rapidly 
 round. The final / only indicates con- 
 tinuance or action without altering the 
 sense. 
 
 We may cite OE. hurrott or bombon 
 
 WHISK 
 
 727 
 
 as bees : bombizo.— Pr. Pm. I hurle, 
 I make a noise as the wind doth : Je bruis. 
 — Palsgr, S w. hurra, to whirl ; surra, to 
 hum, buzz, whizz ; swirra, to whistle ; 
 Da. hurre, surre, to buzz, hum ; svire, to 
 whirl ; Da. dial, hvirrelsyg, giddy, dizzy ; 
 hvirreltrind, completely round ; hvirrel- 
 wind, a whirlwind. Fris. harre, herre^ 
 horre, to turn about ; Da. dial, hverre, to 
 turn, to change ; Pl.D. hverresteen, a 
 grindstone. E. dial, swir, to whirl about ; 
 swirl, a whirling motion. Fr. virer, to 
 turn round ; Rouchi virler, to roll. 
 Esthon. wirrojna, Pol. wirowac, to whirl ; 
 wir, a whirlpool, eddy. w. chwyrnu, to 
 whizz, to snore, to snarl, to move with 
 rapidity ; chwyrnell, a whirl, a whirligig. 
 
 As the representative syllable is strength- 
 ened by a final n in w. chwyrn, it takes 
 a final labial in Sw. hwirjla, to beat a roll 
 on the drum, to whirl ; hwirfwel, a roll 
 on the drum, a whirlwind, whirlpool ; Du. 
 werwel, worwel, G. wirbel, vertex, vortex, 
 gyrus, turbo, repagulum (Kil.), what turns 
 to and fro, or turns round ; wervelen, to 
 whirl. In Lat. vertere, to turn, the root 
 takes a final /. 
 
 Whisk.— Whisp. The syllable whisk 
 or whisp, like G. watsch ! witsch / 
 wutsch I wisch ! husch ! ritsch ! (San- 
 ders), represents the sound of a light or 
 fine body moving rapidly through the air. 
 Witsch ! fiel es mir aus den handen : 
 Wutsch ! waren sie fort. Hence witschen, 
 wischen, and E. whisk, to do anything 
 with a light quick movement. Wischen, 
 davon wischen, to slip, to whisk away ; 
 wischen, to whisk or wipe ; wisch, a 
 bunch of something for whisking or wip- 
 ing. Sw. wiska, to whisk, wipe, dust, to 
 wag the tail ; wiska, a duster, a whisk, a 
 wisp of straw. Fin. huiska, a whisk, 
 duster ; huiskata, to run to and fro ; 
 huiskuttaa, to vibrate, to shake as a dog 
 his tail, to sprinkle water. 
 
 The equivalence of the sounds whisk 
 and whisp in representing sounds made 
 by the motion of the air is shown by E. 
 whisper, compared with ON. hviskra, Sw. 
 hwiska, to whisper. The radical syllable 
 represents the sound of switching through 
 the air in Du. wispelen, kwispelen, to 
 swish or switch, to scourge with rods, to 
 wag the tail, to rub with a brush ; kwispel^ 
 a switch, a tuft, a tassel ; Sw. wispa, to 
 whip, to whip cream ; wispaktig, incon- 
 stant ; Swiss wispeln, to move to and fro, 
 to be in constant motion. G. wipps / 
 interj. representing quick movement. 
 ' Wipps / hat er 's weg.' Wipsen, to 
 whisk, slip away. 
 
728 
 
 WHISKERS 
 
 A whisp or luisp of straw is then a 
 parallel form with whisk, and signifies a 
 handful of straw for whisking or wiping. 
 
 Whiskers. Bushy tufts of hair on the 
 checks of a man. See Whisk. 
 
 Whiskey. Gael, uisge^ water ; uisge- 
 beatha (pronounced ushga-bhda), usque- 
 baugh, whiskey. 
 
 WMsper. The sound made by a light 
 movement of the air is represented by 
 various forms in which the sibilant is 
 the principal element; G. flispeni^fispeln, 
 lispeln^ pispem^ zispern^ to whisper. 
 * Wis, wis, wis / wispelt immer hin und 
 machetkeinwort.' — Scbm. Bav. wispeln, 
 wispern, to hiss, whistle, whisper; wis- 
 perle, a light breath of air. 
 
 Whist. The interjection commanding 
 silence was written st ! by the Romans. 
 In It. it is zitlo I j and pissi pissi! is used 
 for the same purpose; Fr. chtct ! G. st ! 
 hist ! bst ! pst ! bsch ! ps ! 
 
 The original intention of the utterance 
 is to represent a slight sound, such as that 
 of something stirring, or the breathing or 
 whispering of some one approaching. 
 Something stirs ! Listen ! Be still. It. 
 noil fare tin zitto, not to make the slight- 
 est noise ; non sentirse uti zitto, not to 
 hear a leaf stir. Pissi-pissi ! hst ! hsht ! 
 still ! also a low whispering ; pissipissare, 
 to psh, to husht, also to buzz or whisper 
 very low. That Fr. chut! represents a 
 similar sound is shown by the verb chu- 
 chotter, to whisper, to mutter. Sc. whish, 
 whush, a rushing or whizzing sound ; to 
 whish, to hush. AS. hwcEstran, E. dial. 
 whister, to whisper. The game of whist 
 is so called from the silent attention 
 which it requires. 
 
 Whistle. The sound made by the 
 rushing of air is represented by the sylla- 
 bles whis, whisp, whisk, whist, &c. AS. 
 hweosan, ON. hvasa, Bret, dhoiieza, to 
 wheeze, iDreathe audibly, to blow, to hiss. 
 Sw. hwissla, to hiss, to whistle. See 
 Whist, Whisper. 
 
 Whit. A small part. — B. as. wiht, 
 wuht, uht, a creature, animal, thing ; 
 Goth, vaiht, a thing ; nivaiht, OHG. nio- 
 wiht, nought, nothing ; OHG. iowiht, 
 MHG. ieht, iht, ought ; OHG. wihtir, ani- 
 mals. 
 
 The use of whit in the sense of an atom 
 or least bit is in accordance with several 
 other instances where words in the first 
 instance representing a slight sound are 
 applied to a slight movement, and then 
 to a small bodily object. Thus from G. 
 i7iuck, signifying in the first instance a 
 sound barely audible, is formed mucken, 
 
 WHITSUNDAY 
 
 to mutter, to utter a slight sound, also to 
 stir, to make the least movement. The 
 representative syllable takes the form of 
 mick or kick in Du. noch micken nock 
 kicken, not to utter a sound. Thence 
 passing to the idea of movement it forms 
 Du. micken, to wink; Lat. inicare, to 
 vibrate, twinkle, glitter. The analogy is 
 then carried a step further, and the sense 
 of a slight movement is made a stepping- 
 stone to the signification of a material 
 atom, a small bodily object. Hence Lat. 
 and It. mica, Sp. miga, Fr. mie, a crum, 
 a little bit, and It. cica, Fr. chic, a little 
 bit, Sp. chico, small. 
 
 The use of the syllables mot or tot to 
 represent the least sound is exemplified 
 in E. mutter, to utter low broken sounds, 
 and in the It. expression non fare 7ie 
 motto ne totto, not to utter a syllable. 
 Hence Fr. mot, a word, a particle of 
 speech, and (passing to the sense of bodily 
 substance) E. mote, an atom or particle of 
 body ; Du. mot, dust, fragments ; It. 
 motta, Fr. inotte, a lump of earth. 
 
 In like manner from £. dial, whitter, to 
 murmur, grumble, complain (Mrs Baker), 
 whitterwhatter, to whisper (Hal.), Sc. 
 whitter, quitter, to warble, chatter, and 
 thence to vibrate or quiver as the tongue 
 of an adder, we pass to whitters, {x^%- 
 ments — Hal, to whitter, to fritter away.. 
 — Jam. Sup. Sw. dial, guittra, a little 
 bit, a small fragment of stone. Again, we 
 have twitter, to chirp, to giggle — Mrs 
 Baker; twittle, twattle, twit cum twat, 
 chatter, idle talk — Hal. ; twit, the short 
 intermittent chirp of a bird — Mrs Baker; 
 to twitter, to tremble, to shiver ; twitters^ 
 shivers, fragments. 
 
 White. Goth, hveits, ON. ?ivitr, G. 
 weiss, Sanscr, gvita. 
 
 Whitlow. The true form of the word 
 is probably preserved in NE. whickfiaw, 
 a flaw or sore about the quick of the nail. 
 IVhick, quick, alive ; whit, quick. — Hal. 
 The intermediate form whitflaw is found 
 in Holland and Wiseman. 'They cure 
 whitflawes, risings and partings of the 
 flesh and skin about the naile roots.' — 
 Holland, Pliny in R. ' Paronychia — is a 
 small swelling about the nails and ends 
 of the fingers— ; by the vulgar people 
 amongst us it is generally called a whit- 
 flaw.^ — Wiseman. It is however called 
 blanc-dogt at Lille, Fr. doigt blanc, from 
 the white colour of the swelling.— Patois 
 de Flandre Fr. 
 
 Whitsunday. Dominica in albis, so 
 called from the admission of the catechu- 
 mens clothed in white robes to the sacra- 
 
WHITTLE 
 
 ment of baptism on the eve of this festi- 
 val. — Bailey. 
 
 To Whittle.— White.— Thwite. NE. 
 io white or thwite, to cut away by bits. 
 ' He has thwitten a mill-post to a pud- 
 ding-prick.'— Ray. *I thwyte a stycke, 
 or I cutte lytell peces from a thynge.' — 
 Palsgr. AS. sponas thweotan, to cut chips. 
 To whittle is the frequentative form of 
 the foregoing, and is used in the same 
 sense. ' The Pierce administration, which 
 came into power with a majority of eighty, 
 has now been whittled down to ten.' — 
 Bartlett. To whittle sticks, to cut sticks 
 for amusement. A saddle which pinches 
 the shoulder whittles the skin; a shoe 
 working against a stocking whittles a hole 
 in it. — Mrs Baker. Whittle, thwittle, a 
 knife. The radical meaning of the word 
 is to reduce a thing to whits or bits, to 
 fritter it away. Sc. whitter, to lessen by 
 taking away small portions. — Jam. Sup. 
 The double form of whittle and thwittle 
 is explained by the fact that both whitters 
 and twitters are provincially used in the 
 sense of fragments. — Hal. See Whit. 
 
 Whittle. A blanket, or large shawl, 
 named, like the word blanket itself, from 
 being made of white or undyed wool. 
 
 Whizz. A word like fizz or hiss, 
 formed from the sound it is intended to 
 represent. 
 
 Who. Goth, hvas, hvo, hva, who, 
 what ; hvadre, whither ; hvar, where ; 
 hvaiva, how ; hvan, when. Sanscr. kas, 
 who ; Lat. quis, qui, who ; w. pwy, who, 
 what ; pa, what, how. 
 
 Whole. Entire, unbroken, sound, in 
 good health. See Hale. 
 
 To Whoop. Fr. houper, to whoop 
 unto or call afar off. A representation of 
 a clear, high-pitched cry, such as is heard 
 in the whooping or hooping cough. From 
 a ciy of this nature we have Goth, vop- 
 jan, to call, to cry out ; AS. wop, cry, la- 
 mentation ; Illyrian vap, call ; vapiti, to 
 cry out ; Russ. ruopl, cry ; voplif, to cry, 
 make an outcry, lament ; vopif, to call 
 out, to cry. The initial w is lost in ON. 
 op, cry ; CEpa, to shout, showing the origin 
 of Gr. o-^y voice, and tiru), to say. The 
 change from a labial to a guttural final, 
 according to the usual genius of the lan- 
 guage, gives Lat. voco, to call, and vox, 
 voice. 
 
 Whore. AS. hure, commonly explain- 
 ed from AS. hyran, Du. Imeren, to hire, 
 in accordance with Lat. mereti'ix, from 
 mereor, to earn. 
 
 But a more lively figure would be 
 afforded by comparison with animal hfe, 
 
 WICKET 
 
 729 
 
 as the names of the dog, bitch, vixen or 
 she-fox, hog, pig, mule, ass, are used to 
 indicate varieties of human character 
 In like manner the name of whore may 
 perhaps be taken from the habits of do- 
 mestic fowls, where one male frequents a 
 number of females. Pol. kur, a cock ; 
 kura, a hen ; kurwa, a prostitute ; kur- 
 estwo, fornication. 
 
 Whort. — Whortleberry, as. heort- 
 berg (hart-berry), the bilberry. In the 
 South of E. they are called hurts. 
 
 Why. AS. hwi, the instrumental case 
 of hwa, what. For hwi, for what [reason] . 
 In the same vfdiyfor thi signified for that 
 reason, on that account. 
 
 Agayne hym thai ware all irows : 
 Forthi thai set thame hym to ta 
 Intil Perth, or than hym sla. — Wyntown. 
 
 Nochtforthi, nevertheless. 
 
 Wick. The analogy of ON. kveikr, 
 wick, kveikja, to kindle, quicken, set light 
 to, would seem to justify the explanation 
 of wick as the part of the candle which 
 quickens into life. E. dial, whick, alive. 
 Lith. wykis, life. 
 
 But the word has a more general mean- 
 ing, seeming radically to signify a tuft or 
 bunch of some fibrous material. Du. 
 wiecke, a wick, a tent for a wound ; G. 
 wicke, lint, scraped linen to put into a 
 wound ; wicklein, a tent. Bav. wicke, 
 the hair of the head ; wickel, a handful, 
 bunch of flax, so much as is wound (ge- 
 wickelt) on the distaff at once ; wickel, 
 familiarly, a wig. Ain wikhel oder zach- 
 en, a wick. Swab, wicken, wick. G. 
 wickeln, to wrap up. In like manner Fr. 
 miche signifies as well a wick as a lock 
 of hair. Pol., Bohem. knot, a wick, a 
 match, a tent for a wound, may probal)ly 
 be explained as a knotoi fibrous material. 
 
 Wicked. The origin of this word, 
 which has no equivalent in the cognate 
 languages, seems preserved in Esthon. 
 wigga, wikka, spot, fault, injury; Fin. 
 wika, a bodily defect, then a moral fault. 
 Wikainen, faulty, guilty; wiatoin, inno- 
 cent. Lap. wikke, fault, cause ; wikka- 
 lats, guilty ; wikketebme, innocent. 'Ah 
 le wikkeh, there is no fault in him. 
 
 Wicker. From Da. veg, provincially 
 vdg, pliant, are formed vbge, vogger, 
 vegre, a pliant rod, a withy, whence voge- 
 kurv, vegrekurv, a wicker basket ; vceger, 
 vcEgger, a willow. Da. vegne, to bend ; 
 vegne etsdm,to clinch a nail. Sw. wika^ 
 to pleat, to fold. See Weak. 
 
 Wicket. Du. wiket, winket, Fr. 
 guichet, a little door within a gate, for the 
 convenience of easier opening. Wykett 
 
730 
 
 WIDE 
 
 or lytylle wyndowe, fenestra, fenestrella. 
 — Pr. Pm. Doubtless from the notion of 
 rapid movement to and fro. The wicket 
 at the game of cricket is a narrow frame 
 of rods stuck in the ground, which is 
 constantly being bowled over and set up 
 again. 
 
 A short quick movement is represent- 
 ed by the syllables wik^ whtck, quick. 
 ON. hvika, to totter, waver j hvikeygdr, 
 having an unsteady glance ; hvikull, un- 
 steady, flighty; vik, a start, a slight 
 movement \ Du. ivicken, vibrare— Kil. ; 
 wikken, to weigh in the hand, i. e. to 
 move up and down, Wittk, a vibration 
 of the eyelid, is a nasalised form of the 
 same root. 
 
 "Wide. AS. wid, G. iveii, ON. widr, 
 broad, ample, spacious ; Fr. viiidcy empty. 
 See Void. 
 
 "Widow. AS. wuduwa, a widower ; 
 wuduwe, Goth, viduvo, G. wittwe, Lat. 
 vidua, a widow. 
 
 Sanscr. vidhavd, a widow, is explained 
 from vi, without, and dhava, a husband. 
 So sadhavdy a woman whose husband is 
 living. 
 
 On the other hand, from w. gwedd, a 
 yoke or pair, we have dyweddio, to yoke 
 together, to espouse; gweddawg^zoM^X^A, 
 yoked, wedded ; gweddiv, fit to be con- 
 nected, marriageable, single, solitary ; 
 eidion gweddw, an ox without a fellow ; 
 gwas gweddw, a. single msin ; dyii weddw, 
 a single person ; dynes weddw, a single 
 woman ; gwr gweddw, a widower ; 
 gw7'aig weddw, a widow. 
 
 Wield. Goth, valdan, AS. wealdan, 
 ON. valda. Da. volde, Lith. valdyti, II- 
 lyrian vladati, Russ. vladjet\ to rule, dis- 
 pose of. 
 
 Wife. — Woman, as., ON. wif, ohg. 
 wib, wip, G. weib, woman, wife. The 
 two sexes were distinguished in as. as 
 wcEpned-man, weaponed, and wifinan. 
 W(xpned-bearn, wcEpned-cild, a male 
 child ; wifcild, a female child. God hig 
 geworhte, wcepned and wimman : God 
 created them male and female. — Mark lo. 
 6. Gebletsode metod alwihta wif and 
 wcEpned : the lord of all things blessed 
 female and male. — Casdm. lo. 131. As 
 the sword and the distaff were taken on 
 the continent as the type of the two sexes, 
 it was supposed that the weapon was 
 here used in the same sense, while wife 
 was explained from weaving taken as 
 the characteristic function of the female. 
 But in AS. wcEpned the weapon is certain- 
 ly metaphorical. Veretrum, wepen-gecynd. 
 — JEAiv. Veretrum, teors ; calamus, tears, 
 
 WILD 
 
 ///^/ wepen.—A?,. Vocab. in Nat. Antiq. 
 It was to be expected that the distinctive 
 names of man and woman should be 
 taken in the first instance from their phy- 
 sical construction. The woman would be 
 viewed as the child-bearing, and the 
 word wife would be satisfactorily ex- 
 plained if it could be identified with 
 wovib, Goth, vainba, Sc. wame, the belly, 
 womb, bowels. Now Lap. waitno, is the 
 heart (originally perhaps the belly in 
 general, as w. calon, the heart, womb — 
 Richards) ; wuolle-waimo {wuolle,\Qvitx) , 
 the groin, genitals (in male or female), 
 while Fin. wainio is a woman, wife. 
 Sanscr. vdma, an udder, a woman. Bret. 
 gwamm, wife. 
 
 From AS. wif man it was an easy cor- 
 ruption to wimman, wimmon, woman. 
 The king hire wende to 
 As wapmo7i scolde to wimmon do. 
 
 Layamon II. 376. 
 Wig. Commonly supposed to be a 
 contraction from periwig. It is more 
 probable however that periwig is an 
 accommodation of Fr. perruque, under 
 the influence of the word wig already 
 existing in the language. Bav. wickel, a 
 bunch of flax or tow, and fig. a wig ; 
 wicke, the hair of the head. Wikk, floc- 
 cus — Schottel, cited in Hess. Idioticon. 
 G. wickeln, to twist, to wrap ; wickelzopf 
 a tress or lock of hair. See Wick. 
 
 Wight. I. — Wighty, — Wigger. Act- 
 ive, swift, strong. Wyte {wyght) or de- 
 liver, agilis, velox. — Pr. Pm. 
 
 Y schaile gyf the two grehowndys 
 As wyghte as any roo.— MS. in Hal. 
 
 Sw. wig, wiger, nimble, active, quick. 
 Wig at swara, ready to answer. Wara 
 wiger i jnun, to be supple of mouth, 
 ready of speech. Wigt, nimbly. Da. dial. 
 vogger, a pliable rod. G. wacker, brisk, 
 agile, stirring, vigorous. 
 
 Wight. 2. A creature, a man. Du. 
 wicht, a. child. G. bosewicht, a wicked 
 man. See Whit. 
 
 Wild. — Will. ON. villr, wandering at 
 large ; villa, error ; villa, to mislead ; 
 villask, to lose one's way, to miss ; vil- 
 lurad, bewildering counsel ; villutru, 
 false belief. Da. vild, wild, savage ; vilde, 
 to mislead ; fare vild, to go astray ; tale 
 vildt, to talk wildly. Sc. will, confused, 
 bewildered, at a loss ; to go will, to go 
 astray ; Fm will what to do, I am at a 
 loss. Will of rede, at a loss for counsel ; 
 will of wane, at a loss what to look to, 
 what course to take (from ON. vdn, von, 
 expectation, hope), and not, as Jamieson 
 explains it, at a loss for a habitation. Will, 
 
WILE 
 
 desert, trackless. OE. wylgate or wrong 
 gate, deviacio. — Pr. Pm. w. gwill, one 
 that strays about, a vagabond ; gwill iner^ 
 a pirate. Lap. willet, to wander. Russ. 
 wilef, to turn, whirl, turn aside, turn 
 hither and thither, not keep the straight 
 course. 
 
 A rational origin may be found in Sw. 
 wilier-waller^ confusion, disorder, im- 
 broglio, tumult, medley, probably from 
 the figure of boiling water; willa, per- 
 plexity, confusion, distraction of mind, 
 illusion, error ; gd i willa, not to know 
 what one is about, to wander about. G. 
 wallen, to wallop, bubble up, boil, be in 
 violent motion. Let. willii^ wilt, to de- 
 ceive ; wiltus, fraud, treachery, deceit. 
 "Wile. OE. wigele, wihele, trick. 
 Ygerne wes mid childe by Uther kinge 
 Al thurh Merlines wigel. — Layamon II. 384. 
 
 His wigeles and his wrenches.' — An- 
 cren Rivvle. AS. wiglian, to juggle, 
 divine, soothsay ; wigelere, a conjurer, 
 soothsayer, wizard. Russ. y^^//, juggling, 
 sleight of hand ; figlaf, a juggler, con- 
 jurer ; Pol. figiel, trick, prank, frolic ; 
 Jiglowa^, to frolic, to play tricks. The 
 radical signification seems to be to de- 
 ceive the eyes by sleight of hand, to 
 dazzle by rapid movement. Movement to 
 and fro is represented by the expressions 
 wiggle-waggle, widdle-waddle. Pl.D. 
 wigelwageln, to waver to and fro. ' — 
 and wigeleth as vordrunken mon that 
 haveth imunt to vallen.' — Ancr. Riwle. To 
 diddle is explained by Jam. to shake, to 
 jog, and to diddle one out of a thing is to 
 trick him out of it. To widdle, to wriggle, 
 to move to and fro, then to diddle or 
 wile. 
 
 Its Antichrist his pipes and fiddles, 
 And other tools wherwith he widdles 
 Poor caitiffs into dark confusions. 
 
 Cleland in Jam, 
 
 w. chwid, a quick turn ; chwido, to 
 make a quick move, to juggle ; chwidog, a 
 conjurer. In like manner Bav. gigkeln, 
 to quiver, to move rapidly to and fro, 
 shows the origin of Pl.D. gigelu, begigeln, 
 Du. beguichelen, begoochelen, beghiilen, to 
 delude, beguile, bewitch. Lith, wyhcs, 
 deceit, guile ; wilht, wilti, to deceive ; 
 willoti, to entice, beguile, deceive ; Let. 
 wilt, to' deceive ; wiltus, trick, cunning, 
 deceit. 
 
 Will. Goth, viljan, OHG. willan, G. 
 wolleii, ON. vilja, Gr. tSovXo/iai, Lat. volo, 
 velle, to have will, to be desirous of. Lith, 
 weliti, to have rather, to wish ; OSlav. 
 voliti, to will, Russ. voljaf will, wish, 
 consent. 
 
 WINCE 
 
 731 
 
 Willow. AS. weligy wilig, Pl.D. wilge, 
 wichel, a willow. 
 
 Wimble, i. An auger. See Whim i. 
 
 2. Active, agile. 
 
 He was so wimble and so wight 
 From bough to bough he leaped light. 
 
 Sheph. Calendar. 
 From the same expression of rapid move- 
 ment to and fro or round about, as in the 
 fonner sense of the word. 
 
 Wimple. Wympyl, peplum. — Pr. Pm. 
 Fr. guimpe, guijjiple, a wrapper with 
 which the nuns covered their chin and 
 neck. Du. wimpel, velum, velamen ; 
 wimpelen, involvere, implicare, velare, 
 velo operire. — Kil. Wiinpel is also a 
 streamer, a pennant. 
 
 The radical syllable wip, representing 
 a short rapid movement, is used to sig- 
 nify reciprocating action, in Du. wippen, 
 to swing, wag, seesaw. In the technical 
 expression of whipping a cord with a 
 thinner string or with thread, it signifies 
 winding about or wrapping round, in ac- 
 cordance with the connection between the 
 ideas of reciprocating and circular move- 
 ment explained under Winch. And so in 
 the nasalised form of the root the sense of 
 reciprocating movement is expressed by 
 Du. wimp-oogen, G. wimpern, to wink 
 the eyes, and by wimpel, a streamer, while 
 that of circular movement is found in 
 Kilian's wimpeleti, to wrap round, in E. 
 wimple, a wrapper, and in wifjtble, an 
 auger. • See Whim. 
 
 To Win. Du winnen, to gain, get, 
 conquer, earn, to cultivate, till the ground, 
 to procreate children. ON. virma, to 
 labour, get, earn. AS. wiiinan, to struggle, 
 contend, toil, get by labour, gain. 
 
 To Wince. —Winch. i. To kick. 
 ' I wynche, as a horse doth : je regimbe.* 
 — Palsgr. 
 
 2. Winch, a crank, a water-wheel. ' I 
 wyjiche or wynde up with a wyndlasse : 
 je guinde.' — Palsgr. 
 
 The syllables wick, quick, whick, or 
 with the nasal, wink, quink, which pro- 
 bably in the first instance represent a 
 sharp short cry, are used to signify a start 
 or short sudden movement. Du. quicken, 
 vibrare, librare, agitare, movere, mobili- 
 tare ; quincken, micare, motitare. — Kil. 
 ON. vik, a start, a slight movement aside ; 
 vikj'a, to set in motion, to turn aside, turn 
 round ; hvika, to totter. Sw. wicka, 
 hwicka, hwinka, motitare, vacillare. — 
 Ihre. Du. wicken,\\}ox2.xQ. — Kil.; win ken, 
 to nod, to wink ; to make a slight move- 
 ment with the head or eyelid, w. giving, 
 a sudden motion, as a wince or wink of 
 
732 
 
 WIND 
 
 the eye ; gwingo^ to spurn, fling, kick, 
 struggle, wriggle ; gnvingdin^ the wagtail. 
 Bret, gwinka^ to kick ; Fr. guenchir^ 
 guincher, to start, shrink, winch or wrench 
 aside, to wriggle. — Cot. Swiss winggeu, 
 to sprawl with hands and feet ; wingsen, 
 winxen^ wingsten, to kick. 
 
 As a body in turning round, when 
 viewed from one instant to another, is seen 
 moving in opposite directions, words sig- 
 nifying vibratory or reciprocating move- 
 ment are frequently diverted to the sense 
 of circular motion. 
 
 Thus Lat. vibrare has the sense of 
 twist or turn round, in vibrati crines, 
 curled hair. From Du. wikken^ to move, 
 we pass to wikkeleti^ to wrap up, enfold. 
 Wetnelen is explained by Kilian to pal- 
 pitate, be in light and frequent motion, 
 and also to whirl or turn round. And in 
 the same way in the case of wmch^ the 
 notion of turning on an axis is developed 
 from that of a short rapid movement. 
 
 To Wind. Goth, vindan, ON. vinda^ 
 to wind, wrap round, twist ; vindr, 
 crooked, wry ; ve7tda, to turn, to twist. 
 Sw. winda nied ogonen, to squint ; wmd, 
 oblique, askew. Russ. winf, a screw ; 
 wintit'y to screw. Lith. wynoti, to wrap. 
 
 This appears to be one of the cases 
 mentioned under Winch, in which the 
 idea of turning round springs from that 
 of moving to and fro. We use the inter- 
 jectional expression widdle-ivaddle to 
 signify a wavering movement to and fro. 
 To waddle, to sway to and fro in walking, 
 and provincially, to roll up and down in 
 a disorderly way, to fold up, to entwine. 
 — Hal. OHG. ivadalojt, to waver, wander, 
 fluctuate ; wadalungn, ventilationem. — 
 Graff. MHG. wadelen, to flutter, sway to 
 and fro, fluctuate. Sc . widdil, to waddle, 
 wriggle, writhe, winch, w. gwid, a quick 
 whirl or twirl ; chwid, a quick turn ; 
 chwido, to quirk, to juggle, to make a 
 quick move ; Sc. quhid, wind, whud, to 
 whisk, to move nimbly. 
 
 Then with the nasalisation of the vowel, 
 OHG. wantalon, ventilare, volvere, volu- 
 tare, fluctuare, mutare ; It. ventaglio, a 
 fan ; G. wandeln, to go to and fro, to 
 change ; wandebnuth, inconstant mind, 
 to be compared with MHG. wadel, vari- 
 able, inconstant. ' Sin herze was als6 
 ivadel.^ Sc. windle-strae, a dry stem of 
 grass wavering to and fro. 
 Branchis brattling and blaiknyt schew the brayis, 
 With hirstis harsk of waggand wyndilstraes. 
 
 D. V, 202. 29. 
 
 Windle bears the same relation to waddle 
 that wimple does to wabble. OHG. wint- 
 
 WINE 
 
 wajtto, ventilabrum ; wintdn, ventilare ; 
 winda, winta, flabrum, ventilabrum. — 
 Schm. Bav. windel, swathings ; AS. 
 windel (what is tw ined), a basket ; It. 
 guindolare, to wind silk ; guindola, a 
 reel ; ghindare, to draw up ; Bret, gwintay 
 to tilt up, to hoist ; porsgwint, Sw. wind- 
 bro, a drawbridge. 
 
 Wind. Goth, vinds, ON. vindr, w. 
 gwynt, Lat. ventus, wind ; ventilare, to 
 swing or brandish in the air, to move to 
 and fro, to fan. We need not suppose 
 that ventilare is derived from ventus: on 
 the contrary it appears to me that vetiti- 
 lare corresponds to OHG. wantalon, men- 
 tioned in the last article, which exhibits 
 the idea in an earlier stage of develop- 
 ment, signifying to sway to and fro. The 
 name of the wind could not be taken 
 from a more striking characteristic than 
 its proverbial inconstancy and mobility. 
 A reduplicative form like E. pitapat, pin- 
 tledepantledy, or OHG. wintwanto, venti- 
 labrum (Schm. 4. no), is always a sign 
 of the feeling of direct representation. 
 Winniwunt, aura ; winton, ventilare ; 
 winta, winda, flabrum, ventilabrum. So 
 from the unnasalised root wadaldn, fluc- 
 tuare, ventilare, seem to be formed OHG. 
 giwaida, ventus ; giwado, afflatu, flatu 
 aurae ; giwada, spiritum ; Bav. gewddett^ 
 schneegewdden, a snowdrift. 
 
 Windlas. Formerly windas, as in Du. 
 (from as, axis) an axle for winding. After- 
 wards confounded with windlas, a wind- 
 ing or circuit, analogous to st7'icklace, a 
 strickle or measuring-strike — Litt. Lat. 
 Diet, in V. Radius. The term, seems a 
 corruption of as. -els (Da. -else, G. -sal, 
 -set) as in hydels, which Levins writes 
 hydles, latebrae. 
 
 Amonge theis be appoynted a fewe horsemen 
 to raunge somwhat abrode for the greater ap- 
 pearance, bidding them fetch a windlasse a great 
 waye about, and to make al toward one place. — 
 Golding, Caesar in R. 
 
 Window. ON. vindatiga. Da. vindue, 
 a window, literally wind-eye, an opening 
 to admit the air ; ON . aiiga, eye. 
 
 Windrow. Hay or grass raked up 
 into rows, in order to be dried by the 
 wind before cocking up. Sc. wini^aw^ 
 hay or peats put together in long thin 
 heaps for the purpose of being more 
 easily dried. Probably the latter half of 
 the word is an accommodation. Du. 
 winddrooge, wind-dried, vento aliquan- 
 tulum siccatus. Pl.D. witidrog, wind- 
 drog (of linen), half-dried. 
 
 Wine. Gr. olvoq, Lat. vinum, Goth. 
 vein. 
 
WING 
 
 Wing'. ON. vcEngr, Sw. winge, Fris. 
 winge, swinge (Outzen), G. schivingen, 
 schwmg federn, wing. Doubtless from 
 the vibratory action which is its charac- 
 teristic function, w. gwingo, to kick, 
 spring, fling, struggle ; ON. vingsa, to 
 swing, to dangle ; Sw. swcznga, to wave, 
 brandish, swing. In the same way from 
 Fris. wjiveckje, to swing, wj'ueck, wjuwcke, 
 a wing ; wjuwckjen, to fly. — Epkema. 
 Du. wicken, vibrare (Kil.), wiekj wiecke, 
 a wing. 
 
 Wink. The sound of a high-pitched 
 note is represented by the syllables peep, 
 qiieek, tweet, and the like, the effect of 
 which is not altered by the introduction 
 of a nasal. We may cite w. gwich, a 
 squeak or shrill noise ; G. quieken, quiets- 
 chen, to squeak, creak ; E. dial, quinch, 
 to make a noise — Hal. ; Du. quinken, 
 quinckelen, to warble ; E. dial, whiitk, a 
 sharp cry. The syllable representing a 
 sharp note is then appHed to signify a 
 sharp short movement, a start, jerk. 
 Thus we have Du. quicken, to vibrate, 
 stir, move, weigh ; quinken, to vibrate, 
 twinkle ; quikstaart, a wagtail ; E. dial. 
 quinch, to stir, twitch, jerk ; whick, quick, 
 lively ; E. quick, rapid, agile, living ; ON. 
 hvika, to waver, shiver ; vik, a start or 
 flinch ; Du. wicken, to vibrate, to weigh 
 in the hands ; W. gwing, a sudden mo- 
 tion, as a wince or wink of the eye, a 
 motion, turn, or shake made with a 
 spring ; gwingdin {tin, tail), the wagtail ; 
 Fr. guenchir, to flinch or start aside ; 
 Du. wicket, or wincket, a wicket or little 
 movable door; Sw. winka, to make a 
 sign with the hand, head, or eye. 
 
 To Winnow. AS. wifidwian, Bav. 
 winden, Lat. vannare, to winnow ; OHG. 
 winton, ventilare ; wintwanto, ventila- 
 brum ; Bav. windel, It. v.entagliot a fan. 
 See Wind. 
 
 Winter. Goth, vintrus, ON. vetr, 
 winter. Perhaps connected with Pol. 
 wiatr. Boh. wjtr, wind ; G. wetter, storm, 
 tempest, weather. 
 
 To Wipe. To sweep over a surface 
 for the purpose of cleansing. Pl.D. wiep, 
 a wisp of straw ; afenwiep, a straw 
 besom to sweep out an oven. Wipe is a 
 modification of the root wip, whip signi- 
 fying a short quick movement, as sweep 
 is of the root swip, of the same significa- 
 tion with wip. Du. sweepen, to whip, to 
 flog ; ON. svipr, a. short movement, 
 twinkling of an eye, instant. The same 
 train of thought is seen in G. wise/ten, to 
 whisk or move with a quick and transi- 
 tory motion ; hinweg wischen, to whip 
 
 WISE 733 
 
 off", to whisk away. Wischen is then to 
 wipe, to rub ; strohwisch, a wisp of 
 straw, a handful of straw for rubbing 
 down a horse. * Wische,' says the West- 
 erwald Idioticon, 'expresses a quick 
 movement connected with a whizzing or 
 swishing sound.' G. witsch! on a sudden, 
 in a giffy. V\.V).wits! wips ! quick. 
 Wits I ware he weg : pop ! he was off". 
 Wipp-wapp, a seesaw. 
 
 Wire. ON. vir, virr, Pl.D. wire, wier- 
 draad, wire. ON. at draga i virinn, to 
 wiredraw, to protract, to be niggardly ; 
 viravirki, filigree. Da. dial, vire, some- 
 thing twisted together, a twisted wire. 
 
 From Sw. wira, to twist ; Da. virre, 
 Du. wieren, to whirl, turn, twist. 
 
 Wise. I. G. weise, way, method, 
 fashion, way or manner of proceeding, 
 course. — Kiittn. French guise, Breton 
 gtz,-ktz, manner, fashion, custom, usage ; 
 Esthon. and Finnish wiisi, wise, man- 
 ner. 
 
 The original meaning of the word 
 would seem to be way, track, footsteps ; 
 of which sense traces are to be found in 
 Bret, mond war he giz, to go on his foot- 
 steps or on his traces, to turn back ; 
 kiza, to return. It will be observed that 
 we use way in the same sense as wise. 
 In no way, in no wise. 
 
 From the sense of track or way also 
 may be explained OHG. wisgan, to show, 
 guide, teach ; G. weisen, to point out, to 
 show. Jemanden zurecht weisen, to 
 show one the right way. Swiss wisen, to 
 guide, to govern ; ON. visi, a leader, 
 governor. It may be however that these 
 forms are to be explained from the sense 
 of making to see. Etwas weis werden, 
 to be apprised of a thing, to get know- 
 ledge of it. Einein etwas weis machen, 
 to make one believe a thing. Goth. 
 vitan, to look, observe, perceive. 
 
 Wise. 2. — Wit. Goth, vitan, pret. 
 vissa, AS. witan, pret. wiste, wisse, g. 
 wissen, ON. vita, to know. Goth, unvits, 
 unweis, unwise, foolish ; tmviss, un- 
 certain ; hintarveis, cunning ; un/aur- 
 veis, unforeseen. E. wit, wot, to know. 
 
 E. wits, the senses, faculties of percep- 
 tion ; ON. vitr, knowing, vitugr, viskr 
 (for vitskr), AS. vita, wise, counsellor. 
 
 w. gwydd, a state of recognition or 
 knowledge, presence ; dos o 'm gwydd ! 
 go from my presence, get out of my sight ; 
 gwyddfa, a place of presence ; gwyddiad, 
 a knowing ; gwyddwg, knowledge, per- 
 ception ; Gael, fios, intelligence, know- 
 ledge, notice ; thoir fios, to give notice, 
 equivalent to G. weis machen. The fact 
 
734 
 
 WISH 
 
 most completely known is what takes 
 place before our eyes ; according to the 
 proverb, Seeing is believing. Hence the 
 connection between words signifying 
 knowledge and seeing. Lat. videre, 
 visum, to see ; Gr. «5a», t^w, see, per- 
 ceive, know ; Boh. vidjcti, to see ; vjed- 
 ejti, to know ; Sanscr. vid, know. 
 
 Wish. ON. osk, wish, desire ; askja^ 
 yskja, AS. iviscan, to wish ; G. wunsch, 
 wish ; wiinschen, Da. bnske, Boh. ivms- 
 sowati, to wish.; Pol. winszowad, to con- 
 gratulate, wish joy. 
 
 Witch. AS. wicce, Fris. wikke, a witch. 
 Pl.D. wikken, to soothsay, divine. Sik 
 wikken laten, to have one's fortune told. 
 IVikker, ivikkerske, a male or female 
 soothsayer. 
 
 The radical sense is shown in Du. wik- 
 ken, to weigh in the hand, and thence to 
 consider, conjecture, predict. * 'Tis eene 
 zaak die gy wel behoort te wikken eer gy 
 ze aanvaard :' it is a thing you ought 
 well to consider before you answer. — 
 Halma. Dit ongeluk is my gewikt: this 
 misfortune was foretold me. 
 
 Hesse, wicken, to shake to and fro ; 
 wickelen, to enchant ; wickeler, a sooth- 
 sayer (ariolus). 
 
 To Wite. To reproach. AS. witaii, 
 to perceive, to know, then to ascribe to, 
 impute, blame ; are witan, to honour. 
 Goth, vitan, to look ; idveit, blame. OHG. 
 wtzan, to impute, reproach, blame, mhg. 
 wizzen, to reproach, find fault, punish. 
 * Was hast du mir gewizzen daz du min 
 kint erslagen hist : ' what fault hast thou 
 found in me that thou hast slain my child ? 
 Comp. Lat. animadvertere, to perceive, 
 and thence to punish. Da. kjende, mark, 
 sign ; tage kjende ^aa, to take note of ; 
 kjettde, to know, to pass sentence on. So 
 also Fr. savoir bon gre, G. dank wissen, 
 to take a thing kindly, to impute it to him 
 as an obligation. 
 
 With. AS. with, ON. vid, Da. ved, 
 against, opposite, towards, near. AS. 
 wither, ON. vidr, against, opposite ; G. 
 wider, against ; wieder, again. 
 
 Perhaps the radical idea may be look- 
 ing at, facing, in face. w. gwydd, pre- 
 sence ; yngwydd, before or in presence. 
 
 Withe. — Withy. ON. vidir. Da. 
 vidie, vie, AS. withig, G. weide, wiede, an 
 osier, willow ; ON. vidia, Sc. widdie, 
 woo die, Bav. wid^ widen, widlein {wi', 
 wVn, widl, wi^t), a band of twisted twigs ; 
 OHG. wid, retorta. The Craven Gloss, 
 explains widdy, twigs of willows or hazles 
 dried partially in the fire and then twisted 
 
 WITNESS 
 
 into wreaths for many agricultural pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Lap. wedde, a tough twig of root for 
 making baskets ; weddet, to bind. Goth. 
 gavidan, to bind together ; OHG. wettan, 
 wetian, giwetan, to join, to bind. 
 
 The final d of the root is lost in Lat. 
 viere, to weave or plait, and thence vimen, 
 a pliant twig or osier. Lith. wyjti, wyti^ 
 to twist, wind ; wytis, a withe, a hoop for 
 a cask ; Lett, wiju, wiht, to twine, plait, 
 pleach ; wihtes, a hopbine ; wihtols, a 
 willow; Pol. wiif, to wind, twine, twist, 
 wreathe ; wid, an osier twig ; witwa, wit- 
 wina, osier, wicker. 
 
 The ultimate origin is probably the re- 
 presentation of a whizzing sound, applied 
 to rapid movement through the air, rush- 
 ing, whirling, twisting, turning in and 
 out. E. dial, whither, to whizz — Hal.; 
 AS. hweotheran, to murmur ; Sc. quhid- 
 der, quhethir, to whizz, to rush ; ON. 
 hvidra, to rush ; E. dial, whidder, to 
 quake, to shiver ; Sc. widdill, to wriggle, 
 writhe, winch ; E. twiddle, to twist or 
 move to and fro between the fingers ; 
 quhid, whid, a quick movement ; in a 
 whid, in a moment ; w. gwid, a quick 
 turn or whirl ; chwid, a quick turn ; 
 chwido, to quirk, to juggle, to make a 
 quick movement ; chwidro, to move gid- 
 dily. See Wattle, Wind. 
 
 To Wither. NFris. waddern, G. wit- 
 tern, to dry by exposure to sun and air, 
 to weather. Now the consequence of 
 drying a thing like hay is to make it 
 shrivel up and wither. 
 
 But a different line of descent seems 
 indicated by W. gwidd, what is dried or 
 withered ; gwiddon, small particles of 
 what is dried or rotted, mites ; gwiddoni, 
 to dry up, wither, rot ; gwiddan, a witch 
 or hag ; Pol. wiednad, to fade, to wither ; 
 wiedma, a hag ; It. guizzo, vizzo, faded, 
 withered. 
 
 * Withers. g. rist, widerrist, the 
 shoulders of a horse, the joint by which 
 he exerts his force against (G. wider) the 
 draught of the carriage. In the N. of E. 
 withe?'s are the barbs of an arrowhead or 
 jags which prevent the shank of a gate- 
 crook or the like from being drawn out of 
 the wood in which it is fixed, as. withe- 
 ria7t, to resist, oppose. — Atkinson. 
 
 Witness. From AS. witan, to per- 
 ceive, have experience of, know, we have 
 gewita, a witness, one who has actual ex- 
 perience of a fact ; witnesse, gewitnys, 
 OHG- gewiznesse, ON. vitni, experience, 
 and thence testimony, evidence ; vitna. 
 Da. vidne, to give evidence, to depose ; 
 
WITTERING 
 
 ON. vitneskja, intelligence, notice, warn- 
 ing. See Wit. 
 
 Wittering-. A hint or notice of a 
 thing. ON. vita, to wit, to have notice or 
 knowledge of ; vifr, having knowledge or 
 understanding, wise ; vitra, to give notice 
 of, to reveal, display ; N . vitr, warning or 
 sign of an event ; vttra, vittre, to give 
 warning or notice of, to let one know; 
 vitring, warning, information, knowledge. 
 
 Wittol. — Witwall. — Wodewale. 
 The name of witwall or woodwale was 
 loosely given to various birds of a yellow 
 or greenish yellow colour, as the green 
 woodpecker, yellowhammer, oriole, &c. 
 Du. weedewael, geelgorse, galgulus, gal- 
 bula, chlorion, icterus, avis lurida, vulgo 
 oriolus et widewallus ; avis lutei colons. 
 Germ, wittewal, widdewael, Ang. widde- 
 wol. — Kil. The synonym ^^^/^(^rj^ is ex- 
 plained by Kil. emberiza flava, galgulus, 
 curruca, the last of which was used as a 
 term for a cuckold. Curruca est avis, vel 
 ille qui cum credat nutrire filios suos nu- 
 trit alienos. — Dief. Supp. Curruca, 
 adulterae maritus. — Kil. in v. Hanne. The 
 origin of this designation is undoubtedly 
 from the fact that the bird known under 
 the name of curruca is one of those in the 
 nest of which the cuckoo drops its ^g%. 
 Now although with us the nest of the 
 hedge-sparrow is most usually selected 
 fof that purpose, yet the yellowhammer 
 and the greenfinch are mentioned by 
 Bewicke as foster-nurses of the cuckoo's 
 ^%^. A slovenly pronunciation converted 
 witwal into wittal or wittol. ' Godano, 
 a wittal or woodwale.' — Fl. Wittal, like 
 Mid.Lat. curruca, was then used in the 
 sense of a cuckold, especially one who 
 winked at his wife's offence. Wittal, 
 becco contento. — Torriano. When the 
 use of the word as the name of a bird 
 became obsolete, it was supposed to be 
 derived from AS. witol, wittol, sciens, 
 sapiens, as intimating that the husband 
 was witting of his own disgrace. Nor 
 was it only in English that the name of 
 the bird, in whose nest the cuckoo was 
 supposed to lay, became a term of re- 
 proach. The Fr. oriole or oriot is ren- 
 dered by Cot. a heighaw or witwall, the 
 first of which is obviously identical with 
 Picard huyau (verdon), a yellowhammer 
 or greenfinch, and huyau, like wittal, was 
 used in the sense of cuckold. 
 
 Ici git Nicolas Thuyau 
 
 Qui de trois femmes fut huyau. — Hdcart. 
 
 I have little doubt that the G. hahnrei, 
 which is quite unexplained, will be found 
 
 WO 
 
 ni 
 
 to be a local name of the hedge-sparrow 
 or some such bird. 
 
 The yellow colour of the bird is indi- 
 cated by the first half of the name, Du. 
 weede, glastum, isatis, luteum. — Kil. It. 
 guado, woad to dye blue with : some use it 
 for dyer's weed, some possibly call it wad, 
 any greening weed to dye yellow with. — 
 Fl. Fr. gaude, the stalk of a plant where- 
 with dyers make their clothes yellow ; 
 dyer's weed, greening weed. — Cot. 
 
 Wizard. A conjurer or diviner is 
 called among the vulgar the wise or the 
 cunning man, and in like manner from 
 Gael.yf^i- (radically identical with E. wise), 
 knowledge, is fiosach, skilful ; Jiosachd, 
 sorcery, divination, fortune-telling. Russ. 
 vjedaf, to know ; vjedan\ a soothsayer. 
 
 Wizen. Shrivelled, dried up. ON. 
 visinn. Da. wissen, Sw. wisten, wissnad, 
 dried up, withered ; wistna, wissna, to 
 fade, lose freshness. 
 
 The word is to be explained from ON. 
 vera (anciently vesa or visa — Jonsson), 
 to endure, remain, be, as signifying what 
 has past its time, what has been too long 
 kept, in accordance with Fr. passer, to go 
 by, also to fade, decay, or wither. G. 
 wesen, existence ; verwesen (properly to 
 pass away, to wear away), to moulder 
 away, to decay ; verwesen, verweset, 
 rotten, decayed. Sanscr. vas, to dwell, 
 continue ; what has continued too long, 
 stale. Goth, visan, to be, to dwell. 
 ' Inuh thamma garda visaith ' .• in ilia do- 
 mo manete. — Luc. lo. 7. From the pri- 
 mary form visan or visa is formed ON. 
 vist, residence, continuance in a place ; 
 heimvist, duration of life, continuance in 
 the world ; Sw. hemwist, dwelling-place ; 
 wistande, residence, sojourn ; wistas, to 
 sojourn or reside ; wisten, faded, with- 
 ered. 
 
 Wo. — ^Woe. The deep-drawn breath of 
 severe pain is represented by an interjec- 
 tion which is written in Gr. ovai, oi, Lat. 
 vcB, vah, hei, heu, Illyrian vai, Let. wai, 
 Magy.j'aj, w. gwae, It. guai, ON. vei, G. 
 weA, wehe, as. wa. 
 
 The interjection was frequently joined 
 with the personal pronoun, as in Lat. hei 
 mihi ! Gr. oi/xoi .' Let. waiman ! Illyr. 
 vaime / OE. wumme ! * Wumme ! lefdi 
 quath he tha : wa is me mine lifes ! ' — 
 Cockayne, St Marherite, 47. b. 21. 
 
 Again, the same principle which leads 
 us to imitate the cry of a cow or a sheep, 
 when we wish to make our hearer think 
 of those animals, or, in other words, the 
 principle which leads us to signify a cow 
 or a sheep by a representation of their 
 
736 
 
 WO! 
 
 cry, leads also to an imitation of the 
 groan of pain when we wish to make our 
 hearer think of a person in pain, which 
 is the first step towards the conception of 
 pain in the abstract. Hence the almost 
 universal use of the interjection repre- 
 senting a groan, with or without gram- 
 matical additions, in the sense of pain, 
 suffering, whether bodily or mental, sor- 
 row, grief. Thus we have Let. -wai! 
 alas ; luaida, pain, sorrow. Illyrian vai, 
 Magy. j'ajy w. gwae, AS. iva^ are used not 
 only as interjections but also in the sense 
 of pain, sorrow, misfortune, woe. G. 
 kopfweh^ zahnwehy headache, toothache ; 
 wehe thuHj to cause pain ; weJunuth, 
 pain, sorrow, anguish. 
 
 Wo ! Well ! An interjection used to 
 make horses stop, whence wo, stop, 
 check ; ' there is no wo in him,' ' he 
 knows no wo.' In the same way ho! 
 was used as an interjection to make one 
 stop, as well in Fr. as in E., and after- 
 wards in the sense of stop or limit : out 
 of all ho, there is 7io ho with hhn, he is 
 not to be restrained. — Nares. ' Some 
 be interjections betokening warnyng to 
 cease. Ho ! as. Ho ! de par le diable 
 ho ! and, Hola !, c'est assez.' — Palsgr. 
 
 Why woh ! or ho ! should be used for 
 the foregoing purpose may perhaps be 
 explained by Fin. woh ! used to repre- 
 sent the sound of panting. Woh ! woh ! 
 vox moleste anhelantis; wohhata, woh- 
 kaella, vocem woh edo, inde moleste an- 
 helo. The sense of coming to rest can- 
 not better be signified than by imitating 
 the panting of one who is out of breath 
 from violent exertion. Fin. hohody to 
 blow ; hohotella, hohdella, hoikata, to 
 pant ; huowata, to groan, sigh, pant, take 
 breath, rest from labour. 
 
 Woad. OHG. weit, G. waido, It. guado, 
 Fr. guesde. 
 
 Wold. A down or champian ground, 
 hilly and void of wood. — B. The proper 
 meaning seems to be the grassy surface 
 of the ground. ON. vbllr, ground, earth, 
 field ; O Da. vold^ field ; now, mound, 
 rampart, dike ; Sw. wall, rampart, dike, 
 field, grassy surface of the ground, pas- 
 ture ; walla sig^ to become covered with 
 turf ; walla, ga i wall, to lead cattle to 
 pasture ; wigwall, field of battle ; kirkia- 
 wall, churchyard. WE. veiling, getting 
 turf up for burning. — Hal. ' The green 
 welle : ' greensward. — Sir Gawaine. Sc. 
 faily turf ; Qz.€i.fdl, a wall, hedge, sod. 
 
 Wolf. Goth, vulfs, ON. ulfr, Lat. 
 lupus. Then with a final k instead of /, 
 
 WOOL 
 
 Lith. wilkas, Slav, wilk, wulk, Serv. vuk, 
 
 Gr. \VKOQ. 
 
 Woman. See Wife. 
 
 Womb. Goth, vamba, AS. wamb, ON. 
 vbtnb, belly, womb. 
 
 The name seems applicable in the first 
 instance to any hanging or swagging 
 part of the body, as a dewlap, the belly, 
 the udder, from MHG. wappen, G. schwap- 
 pen, to wag or swag ; Du. wapperen, 
 pendere — Kil. ; E. wabble, wamble. Thus 
 we have MHG. wappe, wainine, palear ; 
 Bav. wamben, wampen, wampl, the belly 
 of beasts, and contemptuously, of man ; 
 G. wampe, wamme, dewlap, double-chin, 
 paunch ; wampig, gorbellied ; moswam- 
 pen, a quag or quaking moss ; OHG. mi- 
 lichwdppel, milichwdmpel (Schm.), MHG. 
 inilchwempel, the udder ; wembel, ON. 
 vembill, the belly. Sanscr. vdma, an 
 udder. 
 
 In like manner from Swab, watscheln, 
 to waddle, swag ; watschel, a person with 
 a hanging belly. 
 
 Wonder, on. nndra, as. wundrian, 
 OHG. wunteron, G. wundern. 
 
 To Won, — Wont. as. wunian, Du. 
 wonen, G. wohnen, to dwell, persist, con- 
 tinue. ON. vani, Da. vane, custom, use ; 
 ON. vanr, Da. van, vant, used or accus- 
 tomed to, wonned to, wont. 
 
 To Woo . To seek a wife. as. wogan, 
 to woo, to n. ./ry. From woff, wife, the 
 NFris. forms wbwwen, to lie with a 
 woman, to cohabit (beiliegen, beiwohnen). 
 — Bendsen, Nord Fr. Spr. 323. 
 
 The word even in E. seems formerly to 
 have been used in the coarser sense. 
 
 Wytte is trecherie, 
 Love is lecherie, 
 Play is vilenie, 
 And holyday is gloterie. 
 Old man is skomed, 
 Yonge woman is wowed. 
 
 Epigram, Reliq. Antiq. p. 58. 
 
 Wood. ON. vidr, Sw. ved, as. wudu, 
 OHG. witUy Bav. witt, wit, wood. w. 
 gwydd, tr'^es, ohrubs, what is made of 
 wood ; - composition, of the woods, 
 wild. 
 
 Woof. The weft or cross threads in 
 weaving. OHG. weban, pret. wab, to 
 weave. ON. vefa, vdf or of to weave, 
 twine. 
 
 Wool. Goth, wulla, ON. till, Fris. 
 wille. Fin. willa, Russ. wolna, w. gwlan, 
 Gael, olana, wool. Lith. wilna. Let. 
 willa, wilna, Illyr. vtina, Lat. villus, a 
 lock ; vellus, a fleece ; Gr. ovkoq, woolly ; 
 Esthon. wil, wool ; willane, wildne^ 
 woollen, woolly. 
 
WOOL 
 
 To "Wool or Woold. In nautical lan- 
 guage, to wind a rope round a mast or 
 spar in a place where it has been fished 
 or scarfed, to wrap a yard round in order 
 to prevent it chafing. East E. woulders, 
 bandages. — Moor. Du. woelen, to move 
 to and fro, to toss or tumble in bed, 
 flutter, struggle, to wind, wrap. — Bomhoff. 
 ' De mast kreeg een krak en most gewoeld 
 worden : ' the mast got a crack and must 
 be woolled or woolded. NFris. wollin, 
 Swiss willen, to wrap round. Our word 
 is probably a contracted form from the 
 type ividdle-ivaddlei signifying motion to 
 and fro, from whence in so many cases 
 we pass to the sense of twisting, winding. 
 To waddle is to sway to and fro in walk- 
 ing ; G. wadeln, wedeln, to wag, waver ; 
 Silesian wudeln, verwudeln^ to crumple, 
 tumble, as a tablecloth. — Deutsch. Mun- 
 dart. vi. 19 1. Hanover wudeln^ to boil, 
 to swarm j Bav. wildeln, wiiteln {ivue^ln, 
 10011' In), to move to and fro, to stir, to 
 swarm. Northampton wooddled, muffled, 
 wrapped up about the head and neck. 
 The rudiment of the lost d remains in the 
 h of G. wiihlen, to move in a confused 
 manner, to root in the ground. 
 
 Word. Goth, vaurd (G. wort), word ; 
 andavaurd, answer ; gavaurdi, speech, 
 conversation. Lith. wardas, name ; Lett. 
 wards, name, word. 
 
 Work. — Wright. Goth, vaurkjan, 
 vaurhta, to work, make, do ; hand- 
 uvaurhts, handmade ; vaurstv, work ; 
 vaurstva, a worker. AS. weorc, work, 
 labour, grief, pain ; wyrcan, pret. worJite, 
 to work (pret. wrought) ; OHG. wjcrcho, 
 wurhto, 3. labourer ; AS. wyrhta, ' E. 
 Wright, an artificer ; Gr. Ipyov, work. 
 
 World. AS. werold, worold, weorold, 
 Du. wereld, Fris. war I, wrdl, wrdld, 
 wrdd, Da. verden, G. welt, world. ON. 
 verbid, the universe, world, worldly life, 
 properly the age or life of man, from old, 
 age, lifetime, course of time ; and ver, 
 Goth, vair, AS. wer, Lat. vir, man. In 
 the same way Lat. j(Z'«^/;/;;z,''age,'crenera- 
 tion, period, was used for the orld, a 
 worldly life. 
 
 Worm. AS. wyrin, G. wtirm, Lat. 
 vermis, worm ; Goth, vaurms, serpent ; 
 ON. orinr, serpent, worm. Sanscr. krmi, a 
 worm ; Lith. kirmis, kirminis, kirmele, 
 worm, caterpillar ; kirmiti, to breed 
 worms ; Let. zirmis, maggot, worm. The 
 origin, like that of weevil, lies in the idea 
 of swarming, being in multifarious move- 
 ment, crawling. Pl.D. kribbeln, krubbeln, 
 krenielen, krimfneln, kriimmeln, to be in 
 multifarious movement, to swarm, boil. 
 
 WORT 
 
 737 
 
 ' Idt was daar so vuU, dat idt kremeled 
 un wemelde : ' it was so full that it 
 swarmed. Up kribbeln (Hanover kriin- 
 meln) laten : to let the water boil up. 
 Du. wremelen, to creep ; Da. vrimle, to 
 swarm ; vrimmel, a swarm. 
 
 In accordance with the derivation it 
 was written wrim in early English — 
 
 Offis, of fugel, oiwrim, of der. 
 Story of Genesis (Early E. Text Soc), 299. 
 Thorfore hem cam wrimkin [creep-kind, 
 
 worm-kind] among 
 That hem wel biterlike stong. — lb. 3895. 
 
 Wormwood, as. wormwyrt, worm- 
 wort, from being good against worms. 
 
 To Worry. Du. worghen, to strangle, 
 choke ; worghpeyren, chokepears. G. 
 wiirgen, to choke, thence to kill, to 
 slaughter. 
 
 The word is derived from a representa- 
 tion of the gurgling sound made in the 
 throat by a cnoking person. Fris. wrigia, 
 to rattle in the throat. ' Werther emmant 
 dulget in sin hals thet he wrigiande 
 gunge : ' whoso wounds any one in the 
 throat so that he goes rattling. Pl.D. 
 worghalsen, Hanover qimrkhalsen, to 
 choke ; E. dial, qtierk, to grunt, to moan, 
 wherk,Xo breathe with difficulty ; qiierken, 
 wherkeft, to choke. 
 
 Worse. — Worst. Goth, vairs, on. 
 verri, OFris. virra, verra, OHG. wirs, 
 wirsiro, worse. 
 
 Diefenbach suggests an origin from 
 the idea of turning aside, twisting, as in 
 the case of \jdX,perversus, depraved, bad, 
 and of E. wro7tg, Lith. wertii, werczu, 
 wersti, to bend, turn ; wirsti, to fall 
 down, to change ; Let. virtit, to turn, to 
 change. 
 
 Worsteds So named from a village 
 near Norwich where worsted stuffs were 
 made. 
 
 Wort. I. AS. wyrt, ON. virtr, Pl.D. 
 wort, G. wiirze, the decoction of barley 
 of which beer is made. 
 
 2. OHG. wurz, herba, gramen, olus ; 
 ON. urt, jurt, a plant ; Goth, vaiirts, a. 
 root ; atirtigards, ON. jurtagardr, MHG. 
 wiirzgarte, a kitchen garden. Chaucer 
 calls a cabbage bed a bed of worts. 
 
 Both senses of the word may be ex- 
 plained from the notion of boiling. Lith. 
 werru or werdu, wirti, to boil ; alit 
 wirti, to brew ale ; wirtas, boiled, cook- 
 ed. Russ. varif, Pol. warzyd, to boil, to 
 brew ; w. berwi, to boil ; berwedd, a 
 boiling ; berweddu, to make a decoction, 
 to brew. 
 
 The sense of potherbs, vegetables, may 
 be explained from the same source, as 
 47 
 
73S 
 
 WORTH 
 
 signifying what may be boiled for food. 
 Thus from Pol. luarsytf, to boil, is formed 
 luarzywo^ potherbs ; ogrod ivarzyivny, a 
 kitchen garden. Illyr. variti, to boil, to 
 brew beer ; varivo, vegetable, any garden 
 produce that can be boiled for food. So 
 also Magy. fozni, to boil ; fozeiek, vege- 
 tables. 
 
 The ultimate origin of this Slavonic 
 root expressing boiling is doubtless to be 
 found in the sound of boiling. Pol. 
 gwarzyd, to buzz, hum, chatter ; warczyd, 
 to snarl, growl ; wrze^, to boil ; wrzawa, 
 uproar, din, hubbub. Lith. alatcs wir- 
 rijnas, brewing of ale ; Jurii^ wirriinaSy 
 the roaring of the sea. 
 
 Worth. — Worship, as. weorth, price, 
 value, honour, dignity. ' Geseald to mi- 
 clum wvrthe : ' sold for a great price. 
 Gildan wurth : to pay the price. To 
 wurthe^ in honorem. Weorthscipe, 
 worthiness, dignity, honour,*glory, wor- 
 ship. Biscoplic wjirthscipe, episcopal 
 dignity. Weorthscipes wyrthe : worthy 
 of honour, Goth, vairths, worth, price, 
 worthy ; vairthon, to value. OHG. werd, 
 worthy, estimable ; werdon, to value, to 
 worship, venerate. ON. ve7'd^ vit'di, 
 worth, price, money ; verdr, worth, of 
 value ; virding, valuation, honour, re- 
 spect, w. gwerth, price, sale, value ; 
 gwerthi, to sell. Bret, gwerz, sale, com- 
 merce, retribution, fee. Lith. wertas, 
 worth, worthy, just. Illyrian vredafi, 
 worth, of value ; vrediti, to be worth ; 
 vredno, worthy, fitting. Fin. werta, 
 worth, equivalent, comparable with in 
 value, size, quantity. Riksin werta 
 jywia : a rix-doUar's worth of corn. Sett 
 werta, so much ; 7ninka werta, how 
 much. Kouran werta rahaa (koiira, 
 the open hand), a handful of money. Ei 
 sen wertaa ole : nemo ei £equalis est ; 
 wertainen, par, aequalis. On sen wer- 
 taine?i, est ei par, Wen'atoin, unequal, 
 incomparable, excellent. Wertaan, wer- 
 rata ; wertm/en, wert^ailla, to compare 
 one thing with another. 'Ala koiraa 
 hewoiseen wertaa : do not compare a 
 dog with a horse. IVertatis, comparison, 
 parable, allegory. Esthon, wddrt, worth ; 
 se wddrt ol/ema, to be of such a value. 
 
 Wound. AS. wiind, ON. und, a wound ; 
 Goth, vunds, wounded. 
 
 Wrack. Crash, ruin. It. fracasso, 
 any manner of rumbling noise, as it were 
 the falling of houses, trees, thunder-claps, 
 any ruinous destruction, wrack, havoc, 
 hurlyburly, breaking to pieces ; fracas- 
 sare,f race are, to ruin, wrack, havoc, make 
 a rumbling and ruinous noise. — Fl. Fr. 
 
 WREAK 
 
 fracas, violent breaches, wracks, destruc- 
 tion, havoc, hurlyburly, — Cot. See Rack. 
 
 Wrack.— Seawrack. See Wreak. 
 
 To Wrangle. Da. rangle, to rattle, 
 gingle ; ON. hrang, hraung, noise, dis- 
 turbance, altercation ; hraimgl, noise. 
 N. rangla, to wrangle, dispute. Hesse 
 wrangeln, brangeln, to struggle with, to 
 pull one another about. See Brangle. 
 
 To Wrap.— Whap.— Hap. NFris, 
 wrappe, to wrap ; ON. at reifa barn, to 
 swathe an infant. OE. wrappynge or 
 hyllynge, coopercio, involucio ; wappyn 
 or wyndyn abowte yn clothys, involvo ; 
 wappynge, happynge or hyllynge, cooper- 
 tura, coopericio. — Pr. Pm. Goth, bivaib- 
 jan, to wrap round. Expressions for the 
 idea of turning or winding round are 
 commonly applied in the first instance to 
 motion to and fro. Thus we have 
 waddle, to sway to and fro, and in Devon, 
 to fold up, to entwine — Hal. ; wooddled, 
 muffled up, wrapped up — Mrs Baker j 
 swaddle, swathe, to wrap round. In the 
 same way E. wabble, to roll about, MHG. 
 wabereft, to move to and fro, Du. wap- 
 peren, to dangle, are connected with 
 Goth, bivaibjan, and E. wap above- 
 mentioned ; while Sc. wrabil, warble^ 
 warple, to twist or crawl about, to wriggle, 
 Pl.D. wribbeln, to twist between one's 
 fingers (Danneil), lead to Hereford wrob- 
 ble, to wrap up. In like relation we have 
 Da. dial. vrappe,.xo waddle like a duck, 
 to struggle along, compared with E. wrap. 
 
 Wrath. AS. wrcEth, wrath, sharp, 
 bitter, fierce, angry. Wrathre thonne 
 we7'mod : bitterer than wormwood ; 
 wrathe ongeald, dearly pay. Du. wreed, 
 sharp of taste, rough, hard, sour, unfeel- 
 ing, violent. Wreede wijn, rough, harsh 
 wine. En wreede dood, a violent death. 
 Pl.D. wreed, bitter, austere, fierce. ON. 
 reida, to incense one ; reidi, Sw. wrede, 
 wrath ; Da. vred, angry. We speak of 
 bitter feelings, of being embittered against 
 a person with whom we are angry. 
 
 The word seems to be taken from the 
 writhing or twisting of the mouth under 
 the influence of a harsh astringent taste, 
 as Du. wrang, sharp, sour, astringent, 
 harsh, from wi'ingen, to twist. Sw. 
 wrida pa nmtmen, to make a wry mouth. 
 
 To Wreak. Goth, vrikan, to pursue ; 
 gavrikan, to punish, to revenge ; AS. 
 wrecan, to give effect to, to exert, and 
 elliptically, to revenge, punish. Torn 
 wrecan, to wreak his anger. He gewrecan 
 thohte, he thought to punish. 
 
 The primitive meaning is to drive, in a 
 physical sense. OSw. wrdka, to drive, 
 
WREATH 
 
 as to drive sheep. Wrdka frdn sig, to 
 cast away from him ; wrdka Jmsfru bort, 
 to put away his wife. Wrdka, in an in- 
 transitive sense, to drive or wander about. 
 Even in OE, wreke is used in the physical 
 sense. In the directions for keeping the 
 Passover in the Story of Genesis and 
 Exodus, 3148, the Jews are charged to 
 — eten it bred, and non bon breken, 
 And nogt thor of ut huse wreken. 
 
 — and cast nought thereof" out of the 
 house. 
 
 ON. reka, to cast, to drive, to pursue ; 
 to drive a nail, drive before the wind, 
 drive into exile ; reka aptr, to repudiate, 
 reject ; reka rettar sins, to pursue his 
 rights ; reka harina sinna, to wreak his 
 wrongs. Reki, a driver ; rekatre, re- 
 kavidr, driftwood. From this last must 
 probably be explained E. wrack, wreke 
 (Hal.), seawrack, Fr. vrac, varech, what 
 is driven up by the sea, seaweed cast on 
 the shore, seaweed. 
 - Wreath. See Writhe. 
 
 "Wreck. Shipwreck, properly ship- 
 wrack, Lat. naufragiiun, is the breach or 
 destruction of a ship upon the rocks. 
 Du. wracke, shipwreck, fragments of 
 wreck. — Kil. See Wrack. 
 
 Wreckling". — Writling. Wreckling, 
 an unhealthy feeble child. — Brocket. 
 Ruckling, the least of a brood ; wretch- 
 ock, the least of a brood of fowls. — Hal. 
 Wraglands [wraglings], misgrown trees 
 that will never prove timber. — B. The 
 least pig of a brood is also often called a 
 writling. 
 
 ' Besides it causith it to seem scortched 
 and full of knots, yea and to grow like a 
 dwarf or wreckling^ — Holland, Pliny, in 
 R. Da. dial, vraag, vrcegling, Fris. 
 wrdk, wrdker, an ill-formed, undergrown 
 person ; wrigge, a monster ; wijlde 
 wrigge (Sw. raggen, OE. ragman), the 
 devil. — Epkema. Pl.D. wrak, a poor 
 contemptible creature, either in body or 
 mind ; wruuk, a short, knotty block of 
 wood, an ill-grown, dwarfish creature or 
 plant. 
 
 The radical meaning may possibly be 
 explained from Pl.D. wraken, wroken, to 
 reject, pronounce bad of its kind ; wrak, 
 refuse, faulty. But the more likely origin 
 of the metaphor seems to be from what is 
 shrivelled or wrinkled, as E. shrimp, 
 something small of its kind, from G. 
 schriimpfen, to shrink. So ruckling or 
 wreckling may be explained from ruckle, 
 to rumple ; wrockled, wrinkled — Hal. ; 
 ON. hrokkva, to pucker, curl ; Fris. 
 wrackeUf wrecken, wricken, wrickje^ to 
 
 WRESTLE 
 
 739 
 
 twist. — Outzen. The form writlijtg vaa.y 
 be explained from E. dial, writhled, 
 withered, properly wrinkled, shrivelled. 
 Fris. wriiten, to turn, twist, wrap.— Kil. 
 Cotgrave explains Fr, grugeons, ' the 
 smallest or most writhen fruit on a tree, 
 writlings: They are provincially called 
 crinchlings QX crinklings in English, from 
 crinkle, to shrink, to rumple. From the 
 same root, crink, a. very small child, a 
 crumpling apple. — Hal. On the same 
 principle Da. dial, vremp, a small boy, 
 may be explained from Du. wretnpen, to 
 twist the mouth, E. wrimple, wrinkle. 
 
 Wren. as. wrenna, Gael, dreadhan, 
 Ir. drean. 
 
 Wrench. A sudden twist, a sprain ; 
 to wrench, to force by twisting. ' I 
 wrenche with the bodye, I tourne my 
 bodye asyde : Je me guinche. I wrenche 
 my foot, I put it out of joynt.' — Palsgr. 
 OE. wreTich, wrenck, a trick, properly a 
 sharp turn. Du. ranckeft, rencken, to 
 bend, turn aside ; ra^icke, bending, trick, 
 deceit — Kil. ; ranken, to twine. 
 
 A nasalised form of the same root with 
 wriggle. Pl.D. wrikken, wrikkeln, to 
 move to and fro, to shake, joggle ; Du. 
 verwrikken, to sprain the foot ; G. riick- 
 en, to shove, move ; verriicken, to dislo- 
 cate, displace, put out of order. Fris. 
 wriga, wrigian, to twist. — Japycx in 
 Outzen. Du. wreycketi wt de handen, to 
 wrench out of one's hands. — Kil. See 
 Wring, Wriggle. 
 
 To Wrest. — Wrist. To wrest, to 
 twist, turn aside, to force away by twist- 
 ing. Fns. wridde, wrisse, to writhe, 
 twist — Outzen ; Da. vride, to wring, 
 wrest, writhe ; vriste, to wrest, wrench. 
 
 OFris. wriust,riust, wirst,hondwriusf, 
 NFris. wraast, G. dial, riest, riester, wrist, 
 the joint on which the hand turns ; OPVis. 
 fotwriust. Da. vrist, ancle, the joint on 
 which the foot turns. See Writhe. 
 
 To Wrestle, as. wrcsstlian, wraxliatiy 
 Fris. wraegsiljen, wrakseljen, wragsele, 
 wrassele, Du. wrastelen, wratselen, 
 worstelen, Devon wraxle, Somerset wr^j- 
 sly, to wrestle, to contend by tugging 
 and twisting each other about. The first 
 of the foregoing forms is connected with 
 AS. wrcestan, to twist, and E. writhe, 
 wrest, while the second belongs to the 
 same radical form with Pl.D. wrag- 
 geln, wrackeln, wriggeln, to work a thing 
 loose by pulling to and fro, to keep in 
 constant movement ; wrikken, wrikkeln, 
 to move to and fro, shake, joggle ; 
 wrukkeln, to waggle, totter ; Fris. wreka, 
 wretsa, to use force to, to wrench. ' lef 
 47*' 
 
740 
 
 WRETCH 
 
 WRITE 
 
 I 
 
 emmen dysse sylen op brcck, ief dora op 
 wretst:' if any one breaks up this sluice 
 or wrenches up the door. — Richthofcn. 
 OE. rug^ to tug, to shake ; E. dial, ntckle, 
 to struggle. — Hal. See Wriggle. 
 
 Wretch. — Wretched, as. wrcEcca^ 
 ivrecca, an exile, and thence a wretch, a 
 miserable man. Wine leas wrcecca, a 
 friendless exile. Swithe earme wreccan, 
 very miserable exiles. The same train of 
 thought is seen in G. elend, a foreign land, 
 exile, and thence misery, wretchedness. 
 See Wreak. 
 
 To Wriggle. PI.D. wraggebi^ wrlg- 
 geltij wrackeln (Danneil), wrikken, wrik- 
 keln^ rikkrakketi (Brem. Wtb.), to work a 
 thing loose by wriggling or shaking to 
 and fro ; wrikken^ to scull a boat. ' Du 
 bist jd'n wriggel-wraggel^ you are never 
 still. — Danneil. E. dial, to ivraggle on, 
 to struggle with difficulties. The table 
 wrigs J the child's alius wrigging about. 
 ■ — Mrs Baker. OE. roggyii or mevyn, 
 agito. — Pr. Pm. E. dial, to roggle, rogge, 
 to shake ; to ruggle about, to stir about. 
 Sc. rug, a rough hasty pull. Bav. rogel, 
 roglich, loose, shaking. Der zahn wird 
 rogel, the tooth is loose ; rigeln, to stir, to 
 shake ; rigelsam, stirring, active. G. 
 regen, to move, to stir. N. rugga, Da. 
 7'okke, to rock or vacillate. 
 
 The idea of broken movement is com- 
 monly expressed by the representation of 
 sound of analogous character. The origin 
 of the foregoing expressions may accord- 
 ingly be sought in forms like E. dial. 
 niggle, a child's rattle ; racket, impor- 
 tunate, broken noise ; rackle, riicket, to 
 rattle; Sw. rockla, N. rukla, G. rbcheln, 
 to rattle in the throat. • 
 
 In like manner E. rattle indicates the 
 origin of forms like Swiss rotteln, rodehi, 
 to waggle, shake, stir ; roden, to stir ; 
 rottlich, loose, shaking. And see Wrim- 
 ple. 
 
 Wright. An artificer. AS. tvyrcean, 
 ivorhte, to work ; wyrhta, a maker, work- 
 er. Ealra gesceafta wyrhta, the Creator 
 of all things. Se wyrhta ys wyrthe hys 
 metys, the labourer is worthy of his hire. 
 
 Wrimple. ' Rider, to wrinkle or to 
 wrwtple J rides, crumples, wrimples, 
 folds, plaits.' — Cot. Du. wreinpen, 
 ivriinpen (Kil.), G. rilmpfen, to wry the 
 mouth ; Bav. rimpfen, to twist as a worm, 
 to shrink or crumple. Cumberland 
 wramp, a sprain ; Da. dial, vrimp, a 
 little boy (a shrimp) ; AS. hrympelle, Du. 
 rimpe, rhnpel, rompel (Kil), a wrinkle, 
 fold ; E. rimple, nwiple, to wrinkle, tum- 
 ble, throw into irregular folds. 
 
 It is a common train of thought to 
 apply a root representing rattling or rum- 
 bling sound to signify jolting or rolling 
 movement, and thence a rugged or 
 wrinkled surface. Thus we refer the 
 present word to forms like Du. rabbeln^ 
 G. rappeln, to rattle ; rumpeln, rummeltiy ' 
 Du. ramineln, to rumble, rattle. See • 
 Rumple. 
 
 To Wring. To press or squeeze hard, 
 to pinch or gripe, to put to pain. — B. 
 AS. win wringan, to press wine ; E. cheese- 
 wring, a cheese-press. The proper sense 
 is to twist. PI.D. sik wringen as ecu 
 wiirm, to twist like a worm ; wringen ini 
 live, pains in the bowels. Da. vringel, 
 twisting J vringle, to twist, tangle ; 
 vrcenge, to twist. G. ringen, to wring, 
 wriggle, wrest, twist, wrestle. Sich wie 
 ein wurni ringen, to wriggle like a worm. 
 A nasalised form corresponding to wrig, 
 wriggle, as G. wankeln to E. waggle, or 
 as wamble to wabble, &c. 
 
 Wrinkle. Du. wronck, wronckel, a 
 twisting, a wreath, a wrinkle ; wroncke- 
 len, wrinckelen, to twist, curl, wrinkle ; 
 kronckelen, to curl, twist, crook, bend ; 
 kronckel-wronckel, sinuous, twisting, cur- 
 ly-whirly. 
 
 Formed in the manner explained under 
 Wrimple, from a somewhat different re- 
 presentation of a rattling or clattering 
 sound. Da. rangle, to rattle ; E. wra7igle, 
 to jangle or keep making an importunate 
 noise ; ON. hrongl, noise, rumbling ; 
 hrang, wrangling, altercation ; hringla, 
 to tinkle. Then passing from sound to 
 movement, Da. dial, vrangle, vringle, 
 vrcBngle, to go unevenly, to move in a 
 halting or hobbling way ; vringlet, 
 crooked, twisted, crabbed in disposition. 
 Sw. runka, to vacillate, jog, shake ; rynke, 
 a pleat, pucker, fold, wrinkle. 
 
 The same relation between a broken 
 sound and a rugged or wrinkled surface 
 is shown in E. dial, rackle^ rncket, to rat- 
 tle ; ruggle, a child's rattle ; N. riikla, G. 
 rbcheln, to rattle in the throat, and ON. 
 hrucka, a pleat, wrinkle ; hruckottr, rug- 
 ged, wrinkled ; E. dial, wrockled, wrin- 
 kled. 
 
 To Write. ON. wi-ita,to write ; 7'ista, 
 Da. riste, ridse, to score, cut, scratch. 
 Hann ristr mikla ristu, he scratched a 
 deep score ; rista runir, stafi, to carve 
 runes, letters. Sw. rita, ritsa, to draw, 
 trace, design ; rista, to score, engrave. 
 PI.D. riten, to draw, to make strokes, to 
 tear, to split. 
 
 That Lat. scribere also takes its mean- 
 ing from the notion of scratching is 
 
WRITHE 
 
 shown by Gael, sgriobh^ write ; sgriob, 
 scrape, scratch, draw Hnes ; sgriobair, a 
 graving tool. So also Let. rakt, to en- 
 grave, to carve ; rakstiht, to write, to 
 draw ; Lith. raszyti, to write ; reszti^ to 
 cut, score, tear. 
 
 The ultimate origin is a representation 
 of the sound made in scratching or tear- 
 ing. Pl.D. ritsch! ratscli ! imitation of 
 the sound a thing makes in tearing. — 
 Danneil. 
 
 To Writhe. — Wry. Da. V7'ide^ vrie, 
 Sw. wrida, to wring or twist ; wrida itr 
 led, to dislocate a joint. Da. vridig, pli- 
 able ; Ditm. wriddel (Brem. Wtb.), a 
 wreath of clouts ; Da. vrilde, vrid, vrile, 
 a wisp of hay, so much as is twisted up 
 together ; vreden, half sour, turned, of 
 wine or beer. Du. wreed, sour, harsh, 
 rough. 
 
 The train of thought is probably, as in 
 so many other cases, to rattle, to move to 
 and fro, then to turn round, to twist. Sw. 
 rodeln, rotteln, to be loose and shaky, to 
 stir liquids ; roden, to stir, to move ; Bav. 
 rodeln, rudeln, to shake, stir, roll ; raden, 
 reden, to riddle or sieve ; reiden, to turn, 
 twist, plait ; ridel, a wreath, tress, plait, 
 wisp ; E. dial, rudder, riddle, a sieve, an 
 implement worked by shaking to and fro. 
 Bret, rodella, to roll, to curl. Tiw.wrad- 
 del, a dewlap, from its swaying to and fro. 
 Fris. wridde, ivrisse, to rub or turn to 
 and fro, to twist, to crook. 
 
 It is remarkable that the groups of 
 words expressing ideas connected with 
 vacillating or rolling movement, clustered 
 round the forms wabble, waddle, waggle, 
 are mostly accompanied by parallel forms 
 in which an r is inserted after the initial 
 
 YARD 
 
 741 
 
 w. Thus in the first class are E. wrap 
 and wrobble, as well as wap, to envelop or 
 cover up ; Pl.D. wribbeln, to rub between 
 the fingers, to twiddle, parallel with G. 
 wibbeln, wiebeln, to be in multifarious 
 movement, to crawl ; Da. vrimle, with G. 
 wimmebi, to swarm ; Du. wrijven, G. rei- 
 ben, to rub, with E. wipe. 
 
 In the second class are Du. wraddel, a 
 dewlap, the dangling skin under the throat 
 of an ox, parallel with E. waddles or 
 wattles, the dangling flesh under the 
 throat of a cock, and probably with G. 
 wade, the calf or fleshy part of the leg ; 
 E. writhe, Da. vride, parallel with Goth. 
 vidan, vithan, to bind, Sc. widdle, to 
 move in and out, E. widdy-waddy [mov- 
 ing to and fro], trifling, insignificant — ■ 
 Hal. ; Da. vridig, pliant, parallel with E. 
 withy, a pliant rod. 
 
 In the third class we have V\.V>^wrigel~ 
 wragel as well as wigel-wagel, express- 
 ing vacillation ; E. wriggle, parallel with 
 wiggle, to reel or stagger — Hal. ; wrench 
 and winch, to twist, to turn aside. 
 
 Wrong'. What is wrung or turned 
 aside from the right or straight way to the 
 desired end. Moral right and wrong are 
 the right or wrong means to satisfy the 
 conscience. Da. vrcenge, to twist ; vrang, 
 wrong ; ON. rangr, wry, crooked, unjust. 
 
 In like manner Fr. droit {directtcs), 
 straight, right ; tort (from tordre, to 
 twist), wrong. W. cam, crooked, wrong, 
 false. 
 
 Wry. A degraded form of writhe. 
 The Da. vride, to writhe, is pronounced 
 vj-ie (Bosworth), and the participle vre~ 
 den (of ale), sourish, turned, vreien. — Mol- 
 bech. 
 
 Yacht. Du. jaght-schip, jaghte, a light 
 ship, fit to give chase with, from jaght, 
 chase ; jaghten, to chase, to hurry, hasten ; 
 jaghtigh, venations, valde celer, festinus ; 
 jaghen, to hunt, and met. to hasten. — 
 Kil. 
 
 Yard, i . as. geard, gyrd, G. gerte, a 
 rod, wand, switch, a pole or perch, a 
 measuring rod ; bindgerte, an osier or 
 withy ; Bav. gdrt, gdrten, a twig, rod ; 
 ettergdrten, rods for hedging ; birke?ie 
 gartn, a birch rod ; gert, a rod or pole, a 
 measure for land. Du. gaerde, gheerde, 
 virga, flagrum, scipio, stimulus. — Kil. 
 
 Lith. karte, kartts, a pole, rod ; apwyn 
 karte, a hop- pole. Boh. zerd, Pol. zerds, 
 Russ. zerd\ pole. 
 
 2. In the next place, probably from rods 
 or wattlework affording the readiest means 
 of making fences, ON. gardr, gerdi, a 
 fence, hedge, anything inclosed within a 
 fence, a house, yard, court, garden ; ger- 
 da, girda, to inclose, to fence. Dan. 
 gjerde, a fence ; gaard, a house, a farm. 
 AS. geard, an inclosure ; NE. garth, a 
 yard, small field or inclosure, orchard, 
 garden. Bav. holzgarten, the woodyard ; 
 hopfengarten, hop-garden j weingarien, 
 
742 
 
 YARE 
 
 vineyard. Bret, garz^ a hedge, a garden ; 
 w. gardd^Vi yard, garden. \\\yr. graditi, 
 to fence, wall, build ; gradina^ a hedge, 
 garden. 
 
 Yare. Ready, quick, expeditious. — B. 
 AS. gearo, gcarw, ready, prepared; G, 
 gar, ready, complete, altogether. Der 
 Jisch ist gar, the fish is done enough, is 
 cooked. Das Icder gar machen^ to pre- 
 pare leather, to tan. 
 
 Yam. ON., G. gam, Du. gar en, 
 gaeren, yarn, thread. 
 
 Yawl. Q?i€^.geola, a ship's boat ; Sw. 
 julle. Da. jolle, a yawl, jolly boat ; jolle, 
 to row. 
 
 To Yawl. To cry, to howl.— Hal. G. 
 dial, jtilen, jolen, jaueln, Swiss jaulen, 
 jaiiren,jaiiseln, to lament, wail, whimper ; 
 ON. gola, to howl. \W.yx.jao / alas ; jao- 
 kati, to cry jao !, to lament. Lat. heu ! 
 eu ! alas ; ejulare, to cry eu, eheu, to 
 lament. 
 
 To Yawn. as. geonian, gynian, OHG. 
 gindn, geinori, ON. gina, Gr. x"*»"^> ^o 
 gape, yawn. 
 
 Yea. — Yes. as. gea, and (in composi- 
 tion with se) gese, yea, yes, as ne, nese, 
 nay, no. Goth., G., Du. ja, yes. Illyr. 
 je, is. The meaning of yea would seem 
 to be, it is so. 
 
 To Yean, Ean. as. eanian, parturire, 
 eniti ; eanigend, foetans ; eatiod, enixus. — 
 Lye. Geeajte, (of sheep) in lamb ; geeane 
 eowa, foetas oves. — Gen. 33. 13. 
 
 Plausibly explained as a corruption of 
 eacnian, geeacnian, to increase, conceive, 
 bring forth. But it does not appear that 
 ea7tian, geeanian, is ever used of any 
 other animals besides sheep, and a far 
 more probable origin may be found in w. 
 oen, Gael, uan^ Manx eayn, a lamb ; eay- 
 7iey, to yean, to lamb. 
 
 Year. Goth., jer, G.jahr, ON. dr. 
 
 To Yearn, Earn. Properly to shiver 
 with desire or other emotion, as a dog 
 may be seen to do when he is intently 
 watching his master eating, and yearns 
 for a morsel of the coveted food. ' Fris- 
 soner, to tremble, shiver, earn through 
 cold or fear.' — Cot. Torriano explains to 
 earn (within), sviscerarsi, tremar di freddo, 
 raccapricciarsi (to shiver with cold, the 
 hair to stand on end) ; to yearn, arricci- 
 arsi ; a yearning (through sudden fear), 
 arricciamento. ON. giarn, desirous ; 
 girna, to desire. * A child is said to girn 
 when it becomes peevish from earnest 
 desire of any object.' — Jam. Sophocles 
 has 60pi?' fpwrt, I shivered with love. 
 Alban. AaxrajOtg, I shiver, tremble, earn- 
 estly desire. 
 
 YES 
 
 Yeast. The froth in the working of 
 new beer. — B. Swiss jast, G. gdsc/it, 
 froth of beer, yeast. Swiss jdsen, G. 
 gdschen, to froth or foam, to lather. Beer 
 gdscht when it ferments or frets, but still 
 more when it is poured into a glass and 
 raises a hissing froth. — Kiittn. From the 
 hissing noise of fermentation yeast is 
 called sizzing in the S. of E. — Ray. And 
 the word yeast probably arises from an 
 imitation of the same sound, on. jastr, 
 the rustling of leaves, sound of trees in a 
 storm (Haldorsen), yeast, scum on sour 
 milk (Jonsson) ; gjosa, to spirt, gush forth 
 with a whizzing noise ; AS. gist, a. blast of 
 wind, yeast ; yst, a tempest, storm. Mice/ 
 yst windes, a great storm of wind. — Mark 
 4. 37. Vstig, stormy, may be compared 
 with Shakespear's ^yesty waves.' 
 
 Yelk.— Yolk. as. geolca, gioleca, the 
 yellow of an Q.g<g. Bohem, zluty, yellow ; 
 zlautek, yolk; zlautenice, jaundice, the 
 yellow disease ; Pol. tolty, yellow ; zoltek, 
 yolk. 
 
 Yell. AS. gyllan, giellan, ON. gella, 
 gjalla, to yell, shriek, ring, resound ; Du. 
 ghillen, to creak, squeak, scream ; ghil- 
 linge van de sage, the creaking of a saw. 
 — Kil. G. gellen, to tingle ; Sw. gdlla, to 
 resound. 
 
 Yellow. AS. gelew, geoluwe, G. gel&, 
 ON. gidr, Lat. galbus, gilbics, gilviis, hel- 
 vns, fiilvns,fiavus. It. giallo, S\>. jalde, 
 Ptg. jalde, jalne, Fr. jaune, Pol. zolty. 
 Boh. zluty, yellow. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the word 
 is connected with Gold, Gall, Yelk or 
 Yolk. Boh. zlato, Pol. zloto, gold ; Boh. 
 zinc, Gr. xoX^, gall, bile. Lat. fel, gall, 
 may be compared with flavus, fulvus, 
 Russ. zelf, yellow ; zelch\ gall, bile ; zel- 
 tok, yelk of an ^^%. 
 
 To Yelp. ON. gjalfr, noise, yelping 
 of dogs, dashing of waves ; gjaipa, to 
 roar like the waves, to dash ; Fr. glapir, 
 to bark like a dog, yelp, yawl, brawl. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Yeoman, Rightly explained by Spel- 
 man from Goth, gavi, OHG. gewi, gouiui, 
 G. gau, gai, ge, Fris. gao, gae, district, 
 country, place, village, whence OHG. gou- 
 lih, gawisc, rural, rustic. The primary 
 meaning of the word would thus be a 
 countryman. Fris. gaeman, gaemon, 
 villager, village inhabitants ; gaekercke, 
 village church ; gae Hoed, gaefolc, parish- 
 ioners, village people. — Richthofen. The 
 word then is quite unconnected with the 
 ga7n of G. braiitigam, or with AS. giima, a 
 man. 
 Yes. See Yea. 
 
YESTERDAY 
 
 Yesterday, as. gyrstaitdcEg, gestran- 
 dcEgj geosterlic, yesterday; Du. gister^ 
 gisteren, G. gestern, yesterday ; Lat. heri, 
 hestermisj Gr. x^^C x^'^«C> Sanscr. hyas, 
 hyasiana. 
 
 Yet. AS. gyij W. etto, yet, still, again. 
 Gr. trt, yet. 
 
 Yew. Pl.D. ibe, ive, G. eibe, Fr. ij\ w. 
 yw, Svv. id. 
 
 To Yield, AS. gyldan, geldan, to re- 
 store, repay, pay, give back, give up. Sw. 
 gdlda, to compensate, pay, satisfy ; gdld, 
 debt. ON. gjalda^ to pay ; ^'^Z^, ^'i^'/^ 
 payment, satisfaction. Goth, gildan, to 
 recompense, requite. See Guilt. 
 
 Yoke. Goth, juk, ON. ok, G. y<?ry^, 
 Lith.y/^;/^^j, the yoke or implement by 
 which a pair of oxen are joined together 
 for the purpose of drawing a plough or 
 waggon. 
 
 The name is taken from the verb sig- 
 nifying to join. Thus Sanscr. j/?^/, join ; 
 yuga, a yoke, a pair ; Gr. Zivyweiv, to 
 join; Zvyov, Zivyog, a. yoke ', La.t. jungere, 
 to join, jugum, Yx. joug, a yoke. 
 
 Yon. — Yonder, as. geond, thither, 
 beyond, yonder. Hider and geond, hither 
 and thither. Geond feowertig daga, after 
 forty days. Geond drige stowa, through 
 dry places. Goth. Jains, that ; jaiiiar, 
 there ; jaind, jaindvairths^ jaifidre, 
 thither ; jainthro, from thence ; ON. enn, 
 inn, hinn, that one, the j Du. ginds,gin- 
 der, yon, yonder. 
 
 Yore. Heretofore, anciently. — B. AS. 
 geara, gearwe, gere, formerly, for a long 
 time ; geara nu, jamdudum ; gearage- 
 wuned, long used, inveterate ; geardaga, 
 ancient days, days of yore. Geara was 
 also used in the sense of thoroughly, per- 
 fectly. Hi wisto7t geare (Luk. 20. 6), 
 they be persuaded. Gearwe cuthe, I well 
 knew. In the latter sense, at least, it is 
 impossible to doubt that the word is 
 identical with G. gar, OHG. garo, garawo, 
 thoroughly, altogether, complete. Caro 
 ni wizzanto, penitus ignorantes. Now 
 the G. adverb is from OHG. garo, garaw, 
 AS. gearo, gearu, yare, ready, while the 
 idea of readiness passes easily into that 
 of complete, accomplished, passed, long 
 gone by. Es sind noch nicht gar vier 
 wochen : it is not full four weeks, four 
 weeks are not yet completely gone since, 
 &c. Gar selten, quite seldom. The notion 
 of readiness is in like manner used to 
 signify time completely passed, in the 
 adverb already. Where it is said in the 
 
 YULE 
 
 745 
 
 Acts that 'sailing was now dangerous 
 because the fast was now already past,' 
 it means that the fast was some time 
 past. And precisely as now is joined in 
 the foregoing passage with already, the 
 AS. geo, now, was joined with geara j geo 
 cer, geo geara, geo hwiluin, now already, 
 long ago. 
 
 Young. — Youth. Goth, jnggs, com- 
 parative, juhiza, young ; yunda, youth ; 
 AS. geong, G. jiing, young ; geogothe, G. 
 jiigend, youth. Sanscr. yuvan, Lat. 
 juveriis, Lith. jatmas, w. ieuancg, young. 
 
 Yule. The name of the Christmas 
 festival among the Scandinavians and 
 connected races ; ON. jol, Fin. joiilii, 
 Esihon.joulo. In English the name is 
 nearly confined to Scotland and the 
 Northern counties, where the language 
 was chiefly open to Scandinavian in- 
 fluences. The o^.jol signified not merely 
 the Christmas festival but a feast in 
 general. Hugins jol, skolkynis jol, the 
 crow's, wolfs feast ; battle, slaughter. It 
 is however doubtful whether the name of 
 the principal feast of the year has been 
 generalised, or whether the word once 
 signifying feast in general has been in 
 course of time restricted to the Midwinter 
 festival. On the supposition that the 
 primary signification is a feast it has 
 been connected with w. gwyll, Bret. 
 gouil, a feast. Bede seems to regard the 
 name of Yule as equivalent to G. sonneji- 
 wetide (sunturn), the winter solstice, when 
 the sun turns from the shortening to the 
 lengthening of the day. In the AS. calen- 
 dar the months of December and January, 
 on either side of the solstice, were called 
 cerre-geola and aftera-geola, the former 
 and the latter Yule, and of these Bede 
 says, ' Menses Giuli a conversione solis 
 in auctum diei, quia unus eorum prae- 
 cedit, alius subsequitur, nomina accepe- 
 runt.' — De temporum ratione, c. 13. The 
 author of the Menologium Anglosaxoni- 
 cum takes a similar view, * Duo sunt 
 menses qui uno nomine gaudent ; alter 
 Geola prior, alter posterior est. Eorum 
 enim alter prascedit solem priusquam 
 convertat se ad longitudinem diei, alter 
 subsequitur.' 
 
 The connection between the AS. geohol 
 and the sense of turning is not apparent 
 to us, but it has been explained from w. 
 chwyl, a turn; AS. hwiol, ON. hjul, a 
 wheel. 
 
742 
 
 YARE 
 
 vineyard. Bret, garz, a hedge, a garden ; 
 W. gardd,?i yard, garden. IWyr. graditi, 
 to fence, wall, build ; gradina, a hedge, 
 garden. 
 
 Yare. Ready, quick, expeditious. — B. 
 AS. gearOj gearw, ready, prepared ; G. 
 gar, ready, complete, altogether. Der 
 Jisch ist gar, the fish is done enough, is 
 cooked. Das Icder gar machen, to pre- 
 pare leather, to tan. 
 
 Yam. ON., G. gam, Du. gar en, 
 gaeren, yarn, thread. 
 
 Yawl. Qt7\.^.geola, a ship's boat ; Sw. 
 julle. Da. jolle, a yawl, jolly boat ; jolle, 
 to row. 
 
 To Yawl. To cry, to howl— Hal. G. 
 dial, julen, jolen, jaueln, Swiss jaulen, 
 ja7iren,jausebt, to lament, wail, whimper ; 
 ON. gola, to howl. VXyx.jao I alas ; jao- 
 kati, to cry jao !, to lament. Lat. heu ! 
 eu ! alas ; ejulare, to cry eu, eheu, to 
 lament. 
 
 To Yawn. as. geonian, gynian, OHG. 
 ginon, geinoti, ON. gitia, Gr. xaivia, to 
 gape, yawn. 
 
 Yea. — ^Yes. AS. gea, and (in composi- 
 tion with se) gese, yea, yes, as ne, nese, 
 nay, no. Goth., G., Du. ja, yes. Illyr. 
 je, is. The meaning of yea would seem 
 to be, it is so. 
 
 To Yean, Ean. as. eanian, parturire, 
 eniti ; eanigend, foetans ; eanod, enixus. — 
 Lye. Geeaiie, (of sheep) in lamb ; geeane 
 eoiva, foetae oves. — Gen. 33. 13. 
 
 Plausibly explained as a corruption of 
 eacnian, geeacnian, to increase, conceive, 
 bring forth. But it does not appear that 
 eanian, geeanian, is ever used of any 
 other animals besides sheep, and a far 
 more probable origin may be found in w. 
 oen, Gael, uan, Manx eayn, a lamb ; eay- 
 iiey, to yean, to lamb. 
 
 Year. Goth, y^r, G.jahr, ON. dr. 
 
 To Yearn, Earn. Properly to shiver 
 with desire or other emotion, as a dog 
 may be seen to do when he is intently 
 watching his master eating, and yearns 
 for a morsel of the coveted food. ' Fris- 
 soner, to tremble, shiver, earn through 
 cold or fear.' — Cot. Torriano explains to 
 earn (within), sviscerarsi, tremar di freddo, 
 raccapricciarsi (to shiver with cold, the 
 hair to stand on end) ; to yearn, arricci- 
 arsi ; a yearning (through sudden fear), 
 arricciamento. ON. giarn, desirous ; 
 girna, to desire. ' A child is said to girn 
 when it becomes peevish from earnest 
 desire of any object.' — Jam. Sophocles 
 has i^^i^ tpwrt, I shivered with love. 
 Alban. Xax''«P'f> I shiver, tremble, earn- 
 estly desire. 
 
 YES 
 
 Yeast. The froth in the working of 
 new beer. — B. Swiss jast, G. gdscht, 
 froth of beer, yeast. Swiss jasefi, G. 
 gdschen, to froth or foam, to lather. Beer 
 gdscht when it ferments or frets, but still 
 more when it is poured into a glass and 
 raises a hissing froth. — Klittn. From the 
 hissing noise of fermentation yeast is 
 called sizzing in the S. of E. — Ray. And 
 the word yeast probably arises from an 
 imitation of the same sound. ON. jastr, 
 the rustling of leaves, sound of trees in a 
 storm (Haldorsen), yeast, scum on sour 
 milk (Jonsson) ; gjosa, to spirt, gush forth 
 with a whizzing noise ; AS. gist, a blast of 
 wind, yeast ; yst, a tempest, storm. Micel 
 yst windes, a great storm of wind. — Mark 
 4. 37. Ystig, stormy, may be compared 
 with Shakespear's ^yesty waves.' 
 
 Yelk.— Yolk. AS. geolca, gioleca, the 
 yellow of an egg. Bohem. zluty, yellow ; 
 zlaiitek, yolk; zlautenice, jaundice, the 
 yellow disease ; Pol. :zolty, yellow ; zoltekj 
 yolk. 
 
 Yell. AS. gyllan, giellan, ON. gella^ 
 gjalla, to yell, shriek, ring, resound; Du. 
 ghillen, to creak, squeak, scream ; ghil- 
 linge van de sage, the creaking of a saw. 
 — Kil. G. gellen, to tingle ; Sw. gall a, to 
 resound. 
 
 Yellow. AS. gelew, geoluwe, G. gelb, 
 ON. gulr, Lat. galbus, gilbus, gilviis, hel- 
 viis, fulvus,fiavus. It. giallo, S^. jalde, 
 Ptg. jalde, jalne, Fr. jaune, Pol. zolty^ 
 Boh. zliity, yellow. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the word 
 is connected with Gold, Gall, Yelk or 
 Yolk. Boh. zlato, Pol. zloto, gold ; Boh. 
 zluc, Gr. xoX]7, gall, bile. Lat. fel, gall, 
 may be compared with flavus, fulvus, 
 Russ. zelf, yellow ; zelch\ gall, bile ; zel- 
 tok, yelk of an o^gg. 
 
 To Yelp. ON. gjalfr, noise, yelping 
 of dogs, dashing of waves ; gjaipa, to 
 roar like the waves, to dash ; Fr. glapir, 
 to bark like a dog, yelp, yawl, brawl. — 
 Cot. 
 
 Yeoman, Rightly explained by Spel- 
 man from Goth, gavi, OHG. gewi, gouivi, 
 G. gau, gai, ge, Fris. gao, gae, district, 
 country, place, village, whence OHG. goti- 
 lih, gawisc, rural, rustic. The primary 
 meaning of the word would thus be a 
 countryman. Fris. gaenian, gaemon, 
 villager, village inhabitants ; gaekercke, 
 village church ; gaelioed, gaefolc, parish- 
 ioners, village people. — Richthofen. The 
 word then is quite unconnected with the 
 gam of G. braiitigam, or with AS. gutna, a 
 man. 
 
 Yes. See Yea. 
 
YESTERDAY 
 
 Yesterday, as. gyrstandceg, gestran- 
 dcBg, geosterlic, yesterday; Du. gister^ 
 gisieren, G. gestern, yesterday ; Lat. heri, 
 hesternusj Gr. x^^c? x^'^«e, Sanscr. hyas, 
 hyastana. 
 
 Yet. AS. gyi, w. etto, yet, still, again. 
 Gr. f rt, yet. 
 
 Yew. Pl.D. ibe, ive, G. eibe, Fr. 2/^ w. 
 ^w, S\v. zV. 
 
 To Yield. AS. gyldan, geldan, to re- 
 store, repay, pay, give back, give up. Sw. 
 galda, to compensate, pay, satisfy ; gdld, 
 debt. ON. gjalda, to pay ; ^'«/^, ^W^, 
 payment, satisfaction. Goth, gildan, to 
 recompense, requite. See Guilt. 
 
 Yoke. Goth, juk, ON. ok, G. yW-^, 
 Lith./z/z/^^zj, the yoke or implement by 
 which a pair of oxen are joined together 
 for the purpose of drawing a plough or 
 waggon. 
 
 The name is taken from the verb sig- 
 nifying to join. Thus Sanscr. jj/z(;", join ; 
 yuga, a yoke, a pair ; Gr. Z,ivyvviiv, to 
 join ; ^uyov, ?£uyoff, a yoke ; \jdX.jtmgere, 
 to ]o\n,jugnjn, Yx. jotig, a yoke. 
 
 Yon. — Yonder, as. geond, thither, 
 beyond, yonder. Hider and geond, hither 
 and thither. Geond feowertig daga, after 
 forty days. Geond drige stowa, through 
 dry places. Goth. Jams, that ; jainar, 
 there ; jaind, jaindvairths^ jaindre, 
 thither ; jainthro, from thence ; ON. enn, 
 inn, hiMt, t\i2X one, the j Dxx. ginds, gin- 
 der, yon, yonder. 
 
 Yore. Heretofore, anciently. — B. AS. 
 geara, gearwe, gere, formerly, for a long 
 time ; geara 7iu, jamdudum ; gearage- 
 wuned, long used, inveterate ; geardaga, 
 ancient days, days of yore. Geara was 
 also used in the sense of thoroughly, per- 
 fectly. Hi wiston geare (Luk. 20. 6), 
 they be persuaded. Gearwe cuthe, I well 
 knew. In the latter sense, at least, it is 
 impossible to doubt that the word is 
 identical with G. gar, OHG. garo, garawo, 
 thoroughly, altogether, complete. Caro 
 ni wizzanto, penitus ignorantes. Now 
 the G. adverb is from OHG. garo, garaiv, 
 AS. gearo, gearu, yare, ready, while the 
 idea of readiness passes easily into that 
 of complete, accomplished, passed, long 
 gone by. Es sind noch nicht gar vier 
 wochen : it is not full four weeks, four 
 weeks are not yet completely gone since, 
 &c. Gar selten, quite seldom. The notion 
 of readiness is in like manner used to 
 signify time completely passed, in the 
 adverb already. Where it is said in the 
 
 YULE 
 
 745 
 
 Acts that 'sailing was now dangerous 
 because the fast was now already past,' 
 it means that the fast was some time 
 past. And precisely as now is joined in 
 the foregoing passage with already, the 
 AS. geo, now, was joined with geara j geo 
 cer, geo geara, geo hwilum, now already, 
 long ago. 
 
 Young. — Youth. Goth, juggs, com- 
 parative, juhiza, young ; yunda, youth ; 
 AS. geong, G. jimg, young ; geogothe, G. 
 jugend, youth. Sanscr. yuvan, Lat. 
 juvenis, Lith. j annas, w. ienancg, young. 
 
 Yule. The name of the Christmas 
 festival among the Scandinavians and 
 connected races ; ON. jol. Fin. joulii, 
 Esthon.y^?^/^. In English the name is 
 nearly confined to Scotland and the 
 Northern counties, where the language 
 was chiefly open to Scandinavian in- 
 fluences. The ON.yj/ signified not merely 
 the Christmas festival but a feast in 
 general. Hugins jol, skblkynis jol, the 
 crow's, wolfs feast ; battle, slaughter. It 
 is however doubtful whether the name of 
 the principal feast of the year has been 
 generalised, or whether the word once 
 signifying feast in general has been in 
 course of time restricted to the Midwinter 
 festival. On the supposition that the 
 primary signification is a feast it has 
 been connected with w. gwyll, Bret. 
 gouil, a feast. Bede seems to regard the 
 name of Yule as equivalent to G. sotmen- 
 wende (sunturn), the winter solstice, when 
 the sun turns from the shortening to the 
 lengthening of the day. In the AS. calen- 
 dar the months of December and January, 
 on either side of the solstice, were called 
 cerre-geola and ceftera-geola, the former 
 and the latter Yule, and of these Bede 
 says, ' Menses Giuli a conversione solis 
 in auctum diei, quia unus eorum prae- 
 cedit, alius subsequitur, nomina accepe- 
 runt.' — De temporum ratione, c. 13. The 
 author of the Menologium Anglosaxoni- 
 cum takes a similar view, * Duo sunt 
 menses qui uno nomine gaudent ; alter 
 Geola prior, alter posterior est. Eorum 
 enim alter prsecedit solem priusquam 
 convertat se ad longitudinem diei, alter 
 subsequitur.' 
 
 The connection between the AS. geohol 
 and the sense of turning is not apparent 
 to us, but it has been explained from w. 
 chwyl, a turn; AS. hwiolt ON. hjul^ a 
 wheel. 
 
744 
 
 \NY 
 
 ZYMOTIC 
 
 Zany. ZanCy the name of John in 
 some parts of Lombardy, but commonly 
 taken for a silly John, or foolish clown in 
 a play, as a Jack-pudding at the dancing 
 of the ropes.— Fl. 
 
 Zeal. — Zealot.* Gr. J^Xog, emulation, 
 eager pursuit of, or ardour after, a, thing, 
 whence ^r/Xwr»)c. , . ^>>, 
 
 Zenith. Sai^'to be a corruption of 
 Arab, semt^ quarter, region ; semt-ar-ras, 
 Turk, semt-i-r.essty the head region, the 
 zenith ; semt-i-kadem, the foot region, the 
 nadir. The word Jtadir signifies what is 
 opposite (viz. to* the zenith), from Arab. 
 nazar, look. A circle from the zenith to 
 the horizon was in Arab, called alsetnt^ 
 the zefiith circle, whence our Azimuth. — 
 Diet. Etym. 
 
 Zephyr. Gr. Ze^wpog, the west wind. 
 
 Zero. There is httle doubt that this 
 word must have come to us with the 
 Arabic notation, of which it is the cha- 
 racteristic feature. In Arabic however 
 it is marked by a dot or dash, and not by 
 a circle. It is in vain to attempt to 
 identify it with cypher, as is often done. 
 Possibly it may be the Arabic zai^ (or if 
 we mark the am by an o, zaro), a seed, 
 as we speak of the. pips or dots by which 
 the numbers are marked on dice. 
 
 Zest. Fr. zest, the inner skin of a 
 walnut, which is taken as a type of a 
 worthless trifle. II ne vaut pas un zest, 
 '.he is not worth a rush. Possibly the 
 second may be the primary meaning of 
 the word. Zest is also used to express 
 the sound made by a jerk, yark, stripe, 
 thwack, &c. — Cot. In E. it signified a 
 piece of lemon-peel put in to flavour 
 drink, and thence was used for relish, 
 flavour. Lat. ciccti7n, the soft skin sur- 
 rounding the pips of a pomegranate ; 
 met. a trifle. 
 
 Zigzag. G. zickzack, Fr. zigzag, Pol. 
 zygzag. Commonly called an onomato- 
 
 poeia, and rightly so if by that name is 
 meant an attempt directly to represent 
 the thing signified by means of the voice. 
 But we need not suppose that it is an 
 imitation of the sound made by any zigzag 
 action, as it may be a case of mere 
 analogy between the eftort of utterance 
 and the kind of effort in zigzag action. 
 It is peculiar to the mutes b, d, g, 
 p, t, k, that the breath is completely 
 stopped in their utterance, whence they 
 are called by Max Miiller, checks. Hence 
 a short syllable ending in one of these 
 consonants is frequently used to represent 
 a sharp movement abruptly checked. 
 Thus we have dig, dag, jig, jag, jog, Fr. 
 sag-oter, to jog ; sac-cade, a rough and 
 sudden jerk or check — Sadler, Fr. Diet. 
 choc, a shock \ Pl.D. siik, a syllable by 
 which is expressed a jog or jolt in riding 
 or driving, and which (says the Brem. 
 Wtb.) expresses by the sound the thing 
 itself. Of a ride on a jolting horse it is 
 said, dat geit jummer suksiik / that goes 
 suk ! suk ! Siikkeln, suksen, to go jolt- 
 ing along. In zig I zag / each syllable 
 represents a sharp movement abruptly 
 checked, while the change of vowel from 
 i to a indicates the change in the direc- 
 tion of the movement. Of course no one 
 pretends that^t^e mere utterance would 
 be sufficient to^convey so much meaning 
 to a person who beard it for the first 
 time, but the utterance would in the first 
 instance be accompanied and explained 
 by a zigzag movement of the hand. 
 
 Zodiac. Gr. Iw^iukoq, the epithet of 
 the circle inscribed with the twelve signs, 
 or constellations so called. 
 
 Zone. Gr. Z^wvrj, a girdle. 
 
 Zoo-. Z,(x)o-, from ^wj}, life. 
 
 Zymotic. Gr. IvfxwTiKoq, having the 
 property of promoting fermentation, or of 
 leavening ; Ki'iir], leaven. 
 
 JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS. 
 
 %