Note 161 — Chapter VI · COMPOUND EPITHETS IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY POETRY

The first literary appearance of each compound has been checked as far as possible by reference to the “New English Dictionary.” It is hardly necessary to say that the fact of a compound being assigned, as regards its first appearance, to any individual writer, is not in itself evidence that he himself invented the new formation, or even introduced it into literature. But in many cases, either from the nature of the compound itself, or from some other internal or external evidence, the assumption may be made.