Part 4 — APPENDIX II.
Reading edition
TO PART SECOND, OR ETYMOLOGY.
OF THE DERIVATION OF WORDS.
Derivation, as a topic to be treated by the grammarian, is a species of Etymology, which explains the various methods by which those derivative words which are not formed by mere grammatical inflections, are deduced from their primitives. Most of those words which are regarded as primitives in English, may be traced to ulterior sources, and many of them are found to be compounds or derivatives in the other languages from which they have come to us. To show the composition, origin, and literal sense of these, is also a part, and a highly useful part, of this general inquiry, or theme of instruction.
This species of information, though insignificant in those whose studies reach to nothing better,—to nothing valuable and available in life,—is nevertheless essential to education and to science; because it is essential to a right understanding of the import and just application of such words. All reliable etymology, all authentic derivation of words, has ever been highly valued by the wise. The learned James Harris has a remark as follows: "How useful to ETHIC SCIENCE, and indeed to KNOWLEDGE in general, a GRAMMATICAL DISQUISITION into the Etymology and Meaning of WORDS was esteemed by the chief and ablest Philosophers, may be seen by consulting Plato in his Cratylus; Xenophon's Memorabilia, IV, 5, 6; Arrian. Epict. I, 17; II, 10; Marc. Anton. III, 11;" &c.—See Harris's Hermes, p. 407.
A knowledge of the Saxon, Latin, Greek, and French languages, will throw much light on this subject, the derivation of our modern English; nor is it a weak argument in favour of studying these, that our acquaintance with them, whether deep or slight, tends to a better understanding of what is borrowed, and what is vernacular, in our own tongue. But etymological analysis may extensively teach the origin of English words, their composition, and the import of their parts, without demanding of the student the power of reading foreign or ancient languages, or of discoursing at all on General Grammar. And, since many of the users of this work may be but readers of our current English, to whom an unknown letter or a foreign word is a particularly uncouth and repulsive thing, we shall here forbear the use of Saxon characters, and, in our explanations, not go beyond the precincts of our own language, except to show the origin and primitive import of some of our definitive and connecting particles, and to explain the prefixes and terminations which are frequently employed to form English derivatives.
The rude and cursory languages of barbarous nations, to whom literature is unknown, are among those transitory things which, by the hand of time, are irrecoverably buried in oblivion. The fabric of the English language is undoubtedly of Saxon origin; but what was the particular form of the language spoken by the Saxons, when about the year 450 they entered Britain, cannot now be accurately known. It was probably a dialect of the Gothic or Teutonic. This Anglo-Saxon dialect, being the nucleus, received large accessions from other tongues of the north, from the Norman French, and from the more polished languages of Rome and Greece, to form the modern English. The speech of our rude and warlike ancestors thus gradually improved, as Christianity, civilization, and knowledge, advanced the arts of life in Britain; and, as early as the tenth century, it became a language capable of expressing all the sentiments of a civilized people. From the time of Alfred, its progress may be traced by means of writings which remain; but it can scarcely be called English, as I have shown in the Introduction to this work, till about the thirteenth century. And for two or three centuries later, it was so different from the modern English, as to be scarcely intelligible at all to the mere English reader; but, gradually improving by means upon which we need not here dilate, it at length became what we now find it,—a language copious, strong, refined, impressive, and capable, if properly used, of a great degree of beauty and harmony.
SECTION I.—DERIVATION OF THE ARTICLES.
1. For the derivation of our article THE, which he calls "an adjective," Dr. Webster was satisfied with giving this hint: "Sax. the; Dutch, de."—Amer. Dict. According to Horne Tooke, this definite article of ours, is the Saxon verb "THE," imperative, from THEAN, to take; and is nearly equivalent in meaning to that or those, because our that is "the past participle of THEAN," and "means taken."—Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii, p. 49. But this is not very satisfactory. Examining ancient works, we find the word, or something resembling it, or akin to it, written in various forms, as se, see, ye, te, de, the, thá, and others that cannot be shown by our modern letters; and, tracing it as one article, or one and the same word, through what we suppose to be the oldest of these forms, in stead of accounting the forms as signs of different roots, we should sooner regard it as originating in the imperative of SEON, to see.
2. AN, our indefinite article, is the Saxon oen, ane, an, ONE; and, by dropping n before a consonant, becomes a. Gawin Douglas, an ancient English writer, wrote ane, even before a consonant; as, "Ane book,"—"Ane lang spere,"—"Ane volume."
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.—The words of Tooke, concerning the derivation of That and The, as nearly as they can be given in our letters, are these: "THAT (in the Anglo-Saxon Thæt, i.e. Thead, Theat) means taken, assumed; being merely the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Thean, Thegan, Thion, Thihan, Thicgan, Thigian; sumere, assumere, accipere; to THE, to get, to take, to assume.
'Ill mote he THE That caused me To make myselfe a frere.'—Sir T. More's Workes, pag. 4.
THE (our article, as it is called) is the imperative of the same verb Thean: which may very well supply the place of the correspondent Anglo-Saxon article Se, which is the imperative of Seon, videre: for it answers the same purpose in discourse, to say…. see man, or take man."—Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii, p. 49.
OBS. 2.—Now, between Thæt and Theat, there is a considerable difference of form, for æ and ea are not the same diphthong; and, in the identifying of so many infinitives, as forming but one verb, there is room for error. Nor is it half so probable that these are truly one root, as that our article The is the same, in its origin, as the old Anglo-Saxon Se. Dr. Bosworth, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, gives no such word as Thean or Thegan, no such participle as Thead or Theat, which derivative is perhaps imaginary; but he has inserted together "Thicgan, thicgean, thigan, to receive, or take;" and separately, "Theon, to thrive, or flourish,"—"Thihan, to thrive,"—and "Thion, to flourish;" as well as the preterit "Theat, howled," from "Theotan, to howl." And is it not plain, that the old verb "THE," as used by More, is from Theon, to thrive, rather than from Thicgan, to take? "Ill mote he THE"—"Ill might he thrive," not, "Ill might he take."
OBS. 3.—Professor Hart says, "The word the was originally thæt, or that. In course of time [,] it became abbreviated, and the short form acquired, in usage, a shade of meaning different from the original long one. That is demonstrative with emphasis; the is demonstrative without emphasis."—Hart's E. Grammar, p. 32. This derivation of The is quite improbable; because the shortening of a monosyllable of five letters by striking out the third and the fifth, is no usual mode of abbreviation. Bosworth's Dictionary explains THE as "An indeclinable article, often used for all the cases of Se, seo, thæt, especially in adverbial expressions and in corrupt Anglo-Saxon, as in the Chronicle after the year 1138."
OBS. 4—Dr. Latham, in a section which is evidently neither accurate nor self-consistent, teaches us—"that there exist in the present English two powers of the word spelled t-h-e, or of the so-called definite article;" then, out of sixteen Anglo-Saxon equivalents, he selects two for the roots of this double-powered the; saying, "Hence the the that has originated out of the Anglo-Saxon thy is one word; whilst the the that has originated out of the Anglo-Saxon the, [is] another. The latter is the common article: the former the the in expressions like all the more, all the better—more by all that, better by all that, and the Latin phrases eo majus, eo melius."—Latham's Hand-Book, p. 158. This double derivation is liable to many objections. The Hand-Book afterwards says, "That the, in expressions like all the more, all the better, &c., is no article, has already been shown."—P. 196. But in fact, though the before comparatives or superlatives be no article, Dr. Latham's etymologies prove no such thing; neither does he anywhere tell us what it is. His examples, too, with their interpretations, are all of them fictitious, ambiguous, and otherwise bad. It is uncertain whether he meant his phrases for counterparts to each other or not. If the means "by that," or thereby, it is an adverb; and so is its equivalent "eo" denominated by the Latin grammarians. See OBS. 10, under Rule I.
SECTION II.—DERIVATION OF NOUNS.
In English, Nouns are derived from nouns, from adjectives, from verbs, or from participles.
I. Nouns are derived from Nouns in several different ways:—
1. By the adding of ship, dom, ric, wick, or, ate, hood, or head: as, fellow, fellowship; king, kingdom; bishop, bishopric; bailiff, or baily, bailiwick; senate, senator; tetrarch, tetrarchate; child, childhood; God, Godhead. These generally denote dominion, office, or character.
2. By the adding of ian: as, music, musician; physic, physician; theology, theologian; grammar, grammarian; college, collegian. These generally denote profession.
3. By the adding of r, ry, or ery: as, grocer, grocery; cutler, cutlery; slave, slavery; scene, scenery; fool, foolery. These sometimes denote state or habit; sometimes, an artificer's wares or shop.
4. By the adding of age or ade: as, patron, patronage; porter, porterage; band, bandage; lemon, lemonade; baluster, balustrade; wharf, wharfage; vassal, vassalage.
5. By the adding of kin, let, ling, ock, el, erel, or et: as, lamb, lambkin; ring, ringlet; cross, crosslet; duck, duckling; hill, hillock; run, runnel; cock, cockerel; pistol, pistolet; eagle, eaglet; circle, circlet. All these denote little things, and are called diminutives.
6. By the addition of ist: as, psalm, psalmist; botany, botanist; dial, dialist; journal, journalist. These denote persons devoted to, or skilled in, the subject expressed by the primitive.
7. By the prefixing of an adjective, or an other noun, so as to form a compound word: as, foreman, broadsword, statesman, tradesman; bedside, hillside, seaside; bear-berry, bear-fly, bear-garden; bear's-ear, bear's-foot, goat's-beard.
8. By the adoption of a negative prefix to reverse the meaning: as, order, disorder; pleasure, displeasure; consistency, inconsistency; capacity, incapacity; observance, nonobservance; resistance, nonresistance; truth, untruth; constraint, unconstraint.
9. By the use of the prefix counter, signifying against or opposite: as, attraction, counter-attraction; bond, counter-bond; current, counter-current; movement, counter-movement.
10. By the addition of ess, ix, or ine, or the changing of masculines to feminines so terminating: as, heir, heiress; prophet, prophetess; abbot, abbess; governor, governess; testator, testatrix; hero, heroine.
II. Nouns are derived from Adjectives in several different ways:—
1. By the adding of ness, ity, ship, dom, or hood: as, good, goodness; real, reality; hard, hardship; wise, wisdom; free, freedom; false, falsehood.
2. By the changing of t into ce or cy: as, radiant, radiance; consequent, consequence; flagrant, flagrancy; current, currency; discrepant, discrepance, or discrepancy.
3. By the changing of some of the letters, and the adding of t or th: as, long, length; broad, breadth; wide, width; high, height. The nouns included under these three heads, generally denote abstract qualities, and are called abstract nouns.
4. By the adding of ard: as, drunk, drunkard; dull, dullard. These denote ill character.
5. By the adding of ist: as, sensual, sensualist; separate, separatist; royal, royalist; fatal, fatalist. These denote persons devoted, addicted, or attached, to something.
6. By the adding of a, the Latin ending of neuter plurals, to certain proper adjectives in an: as, Miltonian, Miltoniana; Johnsonian, Johnsoniana. These literally mean, Miltonian things, sayings, or anecdotes, &c.; and are words somewhat fashionable with the journalists, and are sometimes used for titles of books that refer to table-talk.
III. Nouns are derived from Verbs in several different ways:—
1. By the adding of ment, ance, ence, ure, or age: as, punish, punishment; abate, abatement; repent, repentance; condole, condolence; forfeit, forfeiture; stow, stowage; equip, equipage; truck, truckage.
2. By a change of the termination of the verb, into se, ce, sion, tion, ation, or ition: as, expand, expanse, expansion; pretend, pretence, pretension; invent, invention; create, creation; omit, omission; provide, provision; reform, reformation; oppose, opposition. These denote either the act of doing, or the thing done.
3. By the adding of er or or: as, hunt, hunter; write, writer; collect, collector; assert, assertor; instruct, instructer, or instructor. These generally denote the doer. To denote the person to whom something is done, we sometimes form a derivative ending in ee: as, promisee, mortgagee, appellee, consignee.
4. Nouns and Verbs are sometimes alike in orthography, but different in pronunciation: as, a house, to house; a use, to use; a reb'el, to rebel'; a rec'ord, to record'; a cem'ent, to cement'. Of such pairs, it may often be difficult to say which word is the primitive.
5. In many instances, nouns and verbs are wholly alike as to form and sound, and are distinguished by their sense and construction only: as, love, to love; fear, to fear; sleep, to sleep;—to revise, a revise; to rebuke, a rebuke. In these, we have but the same word used differently.
IV. Nouns are often derived from Participles in ing; as, a meeting, the understanding, murmurings, disputings, sayings, and doings: and, occasionally, one is formed from such a word and an adverb or a perfect participle joined with it; as, "The turning-away,"—"His goings-forth,"—"Your having-boasted of it."
SECTION III.—DERIVATION OF ADJECTIVES.
In English, Adjectives are derived from nouns, from adjectives, from verbs, or from participles.
I. Adjectives are derived from Nouns in several different ways:—
1. By the adding of ous, ious, eous, y, ey, ic, al, ical or ine: (sometimes with an omission or change of some of the final letters:) as, danger, dangerous; glory, glorious; right, righteous; rock, rocky; clay, clayey; poet, poetic, or poetical; nation, national; method, methodical; vertex, vertical; clergy, clerical; adamant, adamantine. Adjectives thus formed, generally apply the properties of their primitives, to the nouns to which they relate.
2. By the adding of ful: as, fear, fearful; cheer, cheerful; grace, graceful; shame, shameful; power, powerful. These come almost entirely from personal qualities or feelings, and denote abundance.
3. By the adding of some: as, burden, burdensome; game, gamesome; toil, toilsome. These denote plenty, but do not exaggerate.
4. By the adding of en: as, oak, oaken; silk, silken; wheat, wheaten; oat, oaten; hemp, hempen. Here the derivative denotes the matter of which something is made.
5. By the adding of ly or ish: as, friend, friendly; gentleman, gentlemanly; child, childish; prude, prudish. These denote resemblance. The termination ly signifies like.
6. By the adding of able or ible: as, fashion, fashionable; access, accessible. But these terminations are generally, and more properly, added to verbs. See Obs. 17th, 18th, &c., on the Rules for Spelling.
7. By the adding of less: as, house, houseless; death, deathless; sleep, sleepless; bottom, bottomless. These denote privation or exemption—the absence of what is named by the primitive.
8. By the adding of ed: as, saint, sainted; bigot, bigoted; mast, masted; wit, witted. These have a resemblance to participles, and some of them are rarely used, except when joined with some other word to form a compound adjective: as, three-sided, bare-footed, long-eared, hundred-handed, flat-nosed, hard-hearted, marble-hearted, chicken-hearted.
9. Adjectives coming from proper names, take various terminations: as, America, American; England, English; Dane, Danish; Portugal, Portuguese; Plato, Platonic.
10. Nouns are often converted into adjectives, without change of termination: as, paper currency; a gold chain; silver knee-buckles.
II. Adjectives are derived from Adjectives in several different ways:—
1. By the adding of ish or some: as, white, whitish; green, greenish; lone, lonesome; glad, gladsome. These denote quality with some diminution.
2. By the prefixing of dis, in, or un: as, honest, dishonest; consistent, inconsistent; wise, unwise. These express a negation of the quality denoted by their primitives.
3. By the adding of y or ly: as, swarth, swarthy; good, goodly. Of these there are but few; for almost all the derivatives of the latter form are adverbs.
III. Adjectives are derived from Verbs in several different ways:—
1. By the adding of able or ible: (sometimes with a change of some of the final letters:) as, perish, perishable; vary, variable; convert, convertible; divide, divisible, or dividable. These, according to their analogy, have usually a passive import, and denote susceptibility of receiving action. 2. By the adding of ive or ory: (sometimes with a change of some of the final letters:) as, elect, elective; interrogate, interrogative, interrogatory; defend, defensive; defame, defamatory; explain, explanatory.
3. Words ending in ate, are mostly verbs; but some of them may be employed as adjectives, in the same form, especially in poetry; as, reprobate, complicate.
IV. Adjectives are derived from Participles, not by suffixes, but in these ways:—
1. By the prefixing of un, meaning not; as, unyielding, unregarded, unreserved, unendowed, unendeared, unendorsed, unencountered, unencumbered, undisheartened, undishonoured. Of this sort there are very many.
2. By a combining of the participle with some word which does not belong to the verb; as, way-faring, hollow-sounding, long-drawn, deep-laid, dear-purchased, down-trodden. These, too, are numerous.
3. Participles often become adjectives without change of form. Such adjectives are distinguished from participles by their construction alone: as, "A lasting ornament;"—"The starving chymist;"—"Words of learned length;"—"With counterfeited glee."
SECTION IV.—DERIVATION OF THE PRONOUNS.
I. The English Pronouns are all of Saxon origin; but, in them, our language differs very strikingly from that of the Anglo-Saxons. The following table compares the simple personal forms:—
Eng. I, My or Me; We, Our or Us. Mine, Ours, Sax. Ic, Min, Me or We, Ure or Us. Mec; User, Eng. Thou, Thy or Thee; Ye, Your You. Thine, or Yours, Sax. Thu, Thin, The or Ge Eower, Eow or Thec; Eowie. Eng. He, His Him; They, Their or Them. Theirs, Sax. He, His or Him or Hi or Hira or Heom or Hys, Hine; Hig, Heora, Hi. Eng. She, Her or Her; They, Their or Them. Hers, Theirs, Sax. Heo, Hire or Hi; Hi or Hira or Heom or Hyre, Hig, Heora, Hi. Eng. It, Its, It; They, Their or Them. Theirs, Sax. Hit, His or Hit; Hi or Hira or Heom or Hys, Hig, Heora, Hi.
Here, as in the personal pronouns of other languages, the plurals and oblique cases do not all appear to be regular derivatives from the nominative singular. Many of these pronouns, perhaps all, as well as a vast number of other words of frequent use in our language, and in that from which it chiefly comes, were very variously written by the Middle English, Old English, Semi-Saxon, and Anglo-Saxon authors. He who traces the history of our language, will meet with them under all the following forms, (or such as these would be with Saxon characters for the Saxon forms,) and perhaps in more:—
1. I, J, Y, y, i, ay, ic, che, ich, Ic;—MY, mi, min, MINE, myne, myn;—ME, mee, me, meh, mec, mech;—WE, wee, ve;—OUR or OURS, oure, ure, wer, urin, uren, urne, user, usse, usser, usses, ussum;—Us, ous, vs, uss, usic, usich, usig, usih, uz, huz.
2. THOU, thoue, thow, thowe, thu, tou, to, tu;—THY or THINE, thi, thyne, thyn, thin;—THEE, the, theh, thec;—YE, yee, yhe, ze, zee, ge, ghe;—YOUR or YOURS, youre, zour, hure, goure, yer, yower, yowyer, yorn, yourn, youre, eower;—You, youe, yow, gou, zou, ou, iu, iuh, eow, iow, geow, eowih, eowic, iowih.
3. HE, hee, hie, se;—His, hise, is, hys, ys, hyse, hus;—HIM, hine, hiene, hion, hen, hyne, hym, im;—THEY, thay, thei, the, tha, thai, thii, yai, hi, hie, heo, hig, hyg, hy;—THEIR or THEIRS, ther, theyr, theyrs, thair, thare, theora, hare, here, her, hir, hire, hira, hiora, hiera, heora, hyra;—THEM, thym, theym, thaym, thaim, thame, tham, em, hem, heom, hiom, eom, hom, him, hi, hig.
4. SHE, shee, sche, scho, sho, shoe, scæ, seo, heo, hio, hiu, hoo, hue;—HER, (possessive,) hur, hir, hire, hyr, hyre, hyra, hera;—HER, (objective,) hire, hyre, hur, hir, hi. The plural forms of this feminine pronoun are like those of the masculine He; but the "Well-Wishers to Knowledge," in their small Grammar, (erroneously, as I suppose,) make hira masculine only, and heora feminine only. See their Principles of Grammar, p. 38.
5. IT, yt, itt, hit, hyt, hytt. The possessive Its is a modern derivative; His or Hys was formerly used in lieu of it. The plural forms of this neuter pronoun, It, are like those of He and She. According to Horne Tooke, who declares hoet to have been one of its ancient forms, "this pronoun was merely the past participle of the verb HAITAN, hætan, nominare," to name, and literally signifies "the said;" (Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii, p. 46; W. Allen's Gram., p. 57;) but Dr. Alexander Murray, exhibiting it in an other form, not adapted to this opinion, makes it the neuter of a declinable adjective, or pronoun, inflected from the masculine, thus: "He, heo hita, this"—Hist. of Lang., Vol. i, p. 315.
II. The relatives and interrogatives are derived from the same source, the Anglo-Saxon tongue, and have passed through similar changes, or varieties in orthography; but, the common relative pronoun of the Anglo-Saxons being like their article the,—or, with the three genders, se, seo, thæt,—and not like our who, which, and what, it is probable that the interrogative use of these words was the primitive one. They have been found in all the following forms:—
1. WHO, ho, hue, wha, hwa, hua, wua, qua, quha;—WHOSE, who's, whos, whois, whoise, wheas, quhois, quhais, quhase, hwæs;—WHOM, whome, quham, quhum, quhome, hwom, hwam, hwæm, hwæne, hwone.
2. WHICH, whiche, whyche, whilch, wych, quilch, quilk, quhilk, hwilc, hwylc, hwelc, whilk, huilic, hvilc. For the Anglo-Saxon forms, Dr. Bosworth's Dictionary gives "hwilc, hwylc, and hwelc;" but Professor Fowler's E. Grammar makes them "huilic and hvilc."—See p. 240. Whilk, or quhilk, is a Scottish form.
3. WHAT, hwat, hwet, quhat, hwæt. This pronoun, whether relative or interrogative, is regarded by Bosworth and others as a neuter derivative from the masculine or femine [sic—KTH] hwa, who. It may have been thence derived, but, in modern English, it is not always of the neuter gender. See the last note on page 312.
4. THAT, Anglo-Saxon Thæt. Tooke's notion of the derivation of this word is noticed above in the section on Articles. There is no certainty of its truth; and our lexicographers make no allusion to it. W. Allen reaffirms it. See his Gram., p. 54.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.—In the Well-Wishers' Grammar, (p. 39,) as also in L. Murray's and some others, the pronoun Which is very strangely and erroneously represented as being always "of the neuter gender." (See what is said of this word in the Introduction, Chap. ix, ¶ 32.) Whereas it is the relative most generally applied to brute animals, and, in our common version of the Bible, its application to persons is peculiarly frequent. Fowler says, "In its origin it is a Compound."—E. Gram., p. 240. Taking its first Anglo-Saxon form to be "Huilic," he thinks it traceable to "hwa, who," or its ablative "hwi," and "lie, like."—Ib. If this is right, the neuter sense is not its primitive import, or any part of it.
OBS. 2.—From its various uses, the word That is called sometimes a pronoun, sometimes an adjective, and sometimes a conjunction; but, in respect to derivation, it is, doubtless, one and the same. As a relative pronoun, it is of either number, and has no plural form different from the singular; as, "Blessed is the man that heareth me."—Prov., viii, 34. "Blessed are they that mourn."—Matt., v, 4. As an adjective, it is said by Tooke to have been formerly "applied indifferently to plural nouns and to singular; as, 'Into that holy orders.'—Dr. Martin. 'At that dayes.'—Id. 'That euyll aungels the denilles.'—Sir Tho. More. 'This pleasure undoubtedly farre excelleth all that pleasures that in this life maie be obteined.'—Id."—Diversions of Purley, Vol. ii, pp. 47 and 48. The introduction of the plural form those, must have rendered this usage bad English.
SECTION V.—DERIVATION OF VERBS.
In English, Verbs are derived from nouns, from adjectives, or from verbs.
I. Verbs are derived from Nouns in the following different ways:—
1. By the adding of ize, ise, en, or ate: as, author, authorize; critic, criticise; length, lengthen; origin, originate. The termination ize is of Greek origin, and ise is most probably of French: the former is generally preferable in forming English derivatives; but both are sometimes to be used, and they should be applied according to Rule 13th for Spelling.
2. Some few verbs are derived from nouns by the changing of a sharp or hard consonant to a flat or soft one, or by the adding of a mute e, to soften a hard sound: as, advice, advise; price, prize; bath, bathe; cloth, clothe; breath, breathe; wreath, wreathe; sheath, sheathe; grass, graze.
II. Verbs are derived from Adjectives in the following different ways:—
1. By the adding of ize or en: as legal, legalize; immortal, immortalize; civil, civilize; human, humanize; familiar, familiarize; particular, particularize; deaf, deafen; stiff, stiffen; rough, roughen; deep, deepen; weak, weaken.
2. Many adjectives become verbs by being merely used and inflected as verbs: as, warm, to warm, he warms; dry, to dry, he dries; dull, to dull, he dulls; slack, to slack, he slacks; forward, to forward, he forwards.
III. Verbs are derived from Verbs in the following modes, or ways:—
1. By the prefixing of dis or un to reverse the meaning: as, please, displease; qualify, disqualify; organize, disorganize; fasten, unfasten; muzzle, unmuzzle; nerve, unnerve.
2. By the prefixing of a, be, for, fore, mis, over, out, under, up, or with: as, rise, arise; sprinkle, besprinkle; bid, forbid; see, foresee; take, mistake; look, overlook; run, outrun; go, undergo; hold, uphold; draw, withdraw.
SECTION VI.—DERIVATION OF PARTICIPLES.
All English Participles are derived from English verbs, in the manner explained in Chapter 7th, under the general head of Etymology; and when foreign participles are introduced into our language, they are not participles with us, but belong to some other class of words, or part of speech.
SECTION VII.—DERIVATION OF ADVERBS.
1. In English, many Adverbs are derived from adjectives by the addition of ly: which is an abbreviation for like, and which, though the addition of it to a noun forms an adjective, is the most distinctive as well as the most common termination of our adverbs: as, candid, candidly; sordid, sordidly; presumptuous, presumptuously. Most adverbs of manner are thus formed.
2. Many adverbs are compounds formed from two or more English words; as, herein, thereby, to-day, always, already, elsewhere, sometimes, wherewithal. The formation and the meaning of these are, in general, sufficiently obvious.
3. About seventy adverbs are formed by means of the prefix, or inseparable preposition, a; as, Abreast, abroach, abroad, across, afar, afield, ago, agog, aland, along, amiss, atilt.
4. Needs, as an adverb, is a contraction of need is; prithee, or pr'ythee, of I pray thee; alone, of all one; only, of one-like; anon, of the Saxon an on; i.e., in one [instant]; never, of ne ever; i.e., not ever. Prof. Gibbs, in Fowler's Grammar, makes needs "the Genitive case of the noun need."—P. 311.
5. Very is from the French veray, or vrai, true; and this, probably, from the Latin verus. Rather appears to be the regular comparative of the ancient rath, soon, quickly, willingly; which comes from the Anglo-Saxon "Rathe, or Hrathe, of one's own accord."—Bosworth. But the parent language had also "Hrathre, to a mind."—Id. That is, to one's mind, or, perhaps, more willingly.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.—Many of our most common adverbs are of Anglo-Saxon derivation, being plainly traceable to certain very old forms, of the same import, which the etymologist regards but as the same words differently spelled: as, All, eall, eal, or æll; Almost, ealmæst, or ælmæst; Also, ealswa, or ælswa; Else, elles; Elsewhere, elleshwær; Enough, genog, or genoh; Even, euen, efen, or æfen; Ever, euer, æfer, or æfre; Downward, duneweard; Forward, forweard, or foreweard; Homeward, hamweard; Homewards, hamweardes; How, hu; Little, lytel; Less, læs; Least, læst; No, na; Not, noht, or nocht; Out, ut, or ute; So, swa; Still, stille, or stylle; Then, thenne; There, ther, thar, thær; Thither, thider, or thyder; Thus, thuss, or thus; Together, togædere, or togædre; Too, tó; When, hwenne, or hwænne; Where, hwær; Whither, hwider, hwyder, or hwyther; Yea, ia, gea, or gee; Yes, gese, gise, or gyse.
OBS. 2.—According to Horne Tooke, "Still and Else are the imperatives Stell and Ales of their respective verbs Stellan, to put, and Alesan, to dismiss."—Diversions, Vol. i, p. 111. He afterwards repeats the doctrine thus: "Still is only the imperative Stell or Steall, of Stellan or Steallian, ponere."—Ib., p. 146. "This word Else, formerly written alles, alys, alyse, elles, ellus, ellis, ells, els, and now else; is, as I have said, no other than Ales or Alys, the imperative of Alesan or Alysan, dimittere."—Ib., p. 148. These ulterior and remote etymologies are perhaps too conjectural.
SECTION VIII.—DERIVATION OF CONJUNCTIONS.
The English Conjunctions are mostly of Anglo-Saxon origin. The best etymological vocabularies of our language give us, for the most part, the same words in Anglo-Saxon characters; but Horne Tooke, in his Diversions of Purley, (a learned and curious work which the advanced student may peruse with advantage,) traces, or professes to trace, these and many other English particles, to Saxon verbs or participles. The following derivations, so far as they partake of such speculations, are offered principally on his authority:—
1. ALTHOUGH, signifying admit, allow, is from all and though; the latter being supposed the imperative of Thafian or Thafigan, to allow, to concede, to yield.
2. AN, an obsolete or antiquated conjunction, signifying if, or grant, is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon verb Anan or Unan, to grant, to give.
3. AND, [Saxon, And,] add, is said by Tooke to come from "An-ad, the imperative of Ananad, Dare congeriem."—D. of P., Vol. i, p. 111. That is, "To give the heap." The truth of this, if unapparent, I must leave so.
4. AS, according to Dr. Johnson, is from the Teutonic als; but Tooke says that als itself is a contraction for all and the original particle es or as, meaning it, that, or which.
5. BECAUSE, from be and cause, means by cause; the be being written for by.
6. BOTH, the two, is from the pronominal adjective both; which, according to Dr. Alexander Murray, is a contraction of the Visigothic Bagoth, signifying doubled. The Anglo-Saxons wrote for it butu, butwu, buta, and batwa; i. e., ba, both, twa, two.
7. BUT,—(in Saxon, bute, butan, buton, or butun—) meaning except, yet, now, only, else than, that not, or on the contrary,—is referred by Tooke and some others, to two roots,—each of them but a conjectural etymon for it. "BUT, implying addition," say they, "is from Bot, the imperative of Botan, to boot, to add; BUT, denoting exception, is from Be-utan, the imperative of Beon-utan, to be out."—See D. of P., Vol. i, pp. 111 and 155.
8. EITHER, one of the two, like the pronominal adjective EITHER, is from the Anglo-Saxon Æther, or Egther, a word of the same uses, and the same import.
9. EKE, also, (now nearly obsolete,) is from "Eac, the imperative of Eacan, to add."
10. EVEN, whether a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or a conjunction, appears to come from the same source, the Anglo-Saxon word Efen or Æfen.
11. EXCEPT, which, when used as a conjunction, means unless, is the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) an ancient perfect participle, of the verb to except.
12. FOR, because, is from the Saxon preposition For; which, to express this meaning, our ancestors combined with something else, reducing to one word some such phrase as, For that, For this, For this that; as, "Fortha, Fortham, Forthan, Forthamthe, Forthan the."—See Bosworth's Dict.
13. IF, give, grant, allow, is from "Gif, the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon Gifan, to give."—Tooke's Diversions, Vol. i, p. 111.
14. LEST, that not, dismissed, is from "Lesed, the perfect participle of Lesan, to dismiss."
15. NEITHER, not either, is a union and contraction of ne either: our old writers frequently used ne for not; the Anglo-Saxons likewise repeated it, using ne—ne, in lieu of our corresponsives neither—nor; and our modern lexicographers still note the word, in some of these senses.
16. NOR, not other, not else, is supposed to be a union and contraction of ne or.
17. NOTWITHSTANDING, not hindering, is an English compound of obvious formation.
18. OR, an alternative conjunction, seems to be a word of no great antiquity. It is supposed to be a contraction of other, which Johnson and his followers give, in Saxon characters, either as its source, or as its equivalent.
19. PROVIDED, the perfect participle of the verb provide, becomes occasionally a disjunctive conjunction, by being used alone or with the particle that, to introduce a condition, a saving clause, a proviso.
20. SAVE, anciently used with some frequency as a conjunction, in the sense of but, or except is from the imperative of the English verb save, and is still occasionally turned to such a use by the poets.
21. SEEING, sometimes made a copulative conjunction, is the imperfect participle of the verb see. Used at the head of a clause, and without reference to an agent, it assumes a conjunctive nature.
22. SINCE is conjectured by Tooke to be "the participle of Seon, to see," and to mean "seeing, seeing that, seen that, or seen as."—Diversions of P., Vol. i, pp. 111 and 220. But Johnson and others say, it has been formed "by contraction from sithence, or sith thence, from sithe, Sax."—Joh. Dict.
23. THAN, which introduces the latter term of a comparison, is from the Gothic than, or the Anglo-Saxon thanne, which was used for the same purpose. 24. THAT, when called a conjunction, is said by Tooke to be etymologically the same as the adjective or pronoun THAT, the derivation of which is twice spoken of above; but, in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, as abridged by Chalmers, THAT, the conjunction, is referred to "thatei, Gothic;" THAT, the pronoun, to "that, thata, Gothic; thæt, Saxon; dat, Dutch."
25. THEN, used as a conjunction, is doubtless the same word as the Anglo-Saxon Thenne, taken as an illative, or word of inference.
26. "THOUGH, allow, is [from] the imperative Thaf, or Thafig, of the verb Thafian or Thafigan, to allow."—Tooke's Diversions, Vol. i, pp. 111 and 150.
27. "UNLESS, except, dismiss, is [from] Onles, the imperative of Onlesan, to dismiss."—Ib.
28. WHETHER, a corresponsive conjunction, which introduces the first term of an alternative, is from the Anglo-Saxon hwæther, which was used for the same purpose.
29. YET, nevertheless, is from "Get, the imperative of Getan, to get."—Tooke.
SECTION IX.—DERIVATION OF PREPOSITIONS.
The following are the principal English Prepositions, explained in the order of the list:—
1. ABOARD, meaning on board of, is from the prefix or preposition a and the noun board, which here means "the deck of a ship" or vessel. Abord, in French, is approach, arrival, or a landing.
2. ABOUT, [Sax. Abútan, or Abúton,] meaning around, at circuit, or doing, is from the prefix a, meaning at, and the noun bout, meaning a turn, a circuit, or a trial. In French, bout means end; and about, end, or but-end.
3. ABOVE, [Sax. Abufan, Abufon, A-be-ufan.] meaning over, or, literally, at-by-over, or at-by-top, is from the Saxon or Old English a, be, and ufa, or ufan, said to mean "high, upwards, or the top."
4. ACROSS, at cross, athwart, traverse, is from the prefix a and the word cross.
5. AFTER, [Sax. Æfter, or Æftan,] meaning behind, subsequent to, is, in form, the comparative of aft, a word common to seamen, and it may have been thence derived.
6. AGAINST, opposite to, is probably from the Anglo-Saxon, Ongean, or Ongegen, each of which forms means again or against. As prefixes, on and a are often equivalent.
7. ALONG, [i.e., at-long,] meaning lengthwise of, near to, is formed from a and long.
8. AMID, [i. e., at mid or middle,] is from a and mid; and AMIDST [, i.e., at midst,] is from a and midst, contracted from middest, the superlative of mid.
9. AMONG, mixed with, is probably an abbreviation of amongst; and AMONGST, according to Tooke, is from a and mongst, or the older "Ge-meneged," Saxon for "mixed, mingled."
10. AROUND, about, encircling, is from a and round, a circle, or circuit.
11. AT, gone to, is supposed by some to come from the Latin ad; but Dr. Murray says, "We have in Teutonic AT for AGT, touching or touched, joined, at."—Hist. of Lang., i, 349.
12. ATHWART, across, is from a and thwart, cross; and this from the Saxon Thweor.
13. BATING, a preposition for except, is the imperfect participle of bate, to abate.
14. BEFORE, [i.e., by-fore,] in front of, is from the prefix be and the adjective fore.
15. BEHIND, [i.e., by-hind,] in rear of, is from the prefix be and the adjective hind.
16. BELOW, [i.e., by-low,] meaning under, or beneath, is from be and the adjective low.
17. BENEATH [, Sax. or Old Eng. Beneoth,] is from be and neath, or Sax. Neothe, low.
18. BESIDE [, i.e., by-side,] is probably from be and the noun or adjective side.
19. BESIDES [, i.e., by-sides,] is probably from be and the plural noun sides.
20. BETWEEN, [Sax. Betweonan, or Betwynan,] literally, by-twain, seems to have been formed from be, by, and twain, two—or the Saxon Twegen, which also means two, twain.
21. BETWIXT, meaning between, [Sax. Betweox, Betwux, Betwyx, Betwyxt, &c.,] is from be, by, and twyx, originally a "Gothic" word signifying "two, or twain."—See Tooke, Vol. i, p. 329.
22. BEYOND, past, [Sax. Begeond,] is from the prefix be, by, and yond, [Sax. Geond,] past, far.
23. BY [, Sax. Be, Bi, or Big,] is affirmed by Tooke to be "the imperative Byth, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, to be."—Diversions of P., Vol. i, p. 326. This seems to be rather questionable.
24. CONCERNING, the preposition, is from the first participle of the verb concern.
25. DOWN, the preposition, is from the Anglo-Saxon Dune, down.
26. DURING, prep. of time, is from the first participle of an old verb dure, to last, formerly in use; as, "While the world may dure."—Chaucer's Knight's Tale.
27. ERE, before, prep. of time, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ær, a word of like sort.
28. EXCEPT, bating, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) the ancient perfect participle of the verb to except; and EXCEPTING, when a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.
29. FOR, because of, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying cause, or sake.
30. FROM, in Saxon, Fram, is probably derived from the old adjective Frum, original.
31. IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin in: the Greek is [Greek: en]; and the French, en.
32. INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of in and to.
33. MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for Amid and Amidst.
34. NOTWITHSTANDING, not hindering, is from the adverb not, and the participle withstanding, which, by itself, means hindering, or preventing. 35. OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by Tooke to come from a noun signifying offspring.
36. OFF, opposed to on, Dr. Johnson derives from the "Dutch af."
37. ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some etymologists to the Gothic ana, the German an, the Dutch aan; but no such derivation fixes its meaning.
38. OUT, [Sax. Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from the adverb or adjective Out, or the earlier Ut; and OUT-OF, [Sax. Ut-of,] opposed to Into, is but the adverb Out and the preposition Of—usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.
39. OVER, above, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, over; and this, probably, from Ufa, above, high, or from the comparative, Ufera, higher.
40. OVERTHWART, meaning across, is a compound of over and thwart, cross.
41. PAST, beyond, gone by, is a contraction from the perfect participle passed.
42. PENDING, during or hanging, has a participial form, but is either an adjective or a preposition: we do not use pend alone as a verb, though we have it in depend.
43. RESPECTING, concerning, is from the first participle of the verb respect.
44. ROUND, a preposition for about or around, is from the noun or adjective round.
45. SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word Sithence; but is conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, "Seen as."
46. THROUGH [, Sax. Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to Thorough, Sax. Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a Door.
47. THROUGHOUT, quite through, is an obvious compond of through and out.
48. TILL, [Sax. Til or Tille,] to, until, is from the Saxon Til or Till, an end, a station.
49. TO, whether a preposition or an adverb, is from the Anglo-Saxon particle To.
50. TOUCHING, with regard to, is from the first participle of the verb touch.
51. TOWARD or TOWARDS, written by the Anglo-Saxons Toweard or Toweardes, is a compound of To and Ward or Weard, a guard, a look-out; "Used in composition to express situation or direction."—Bosworth.
52. UNDER, [Gothic, Undar; Dutch, Onder,] beneath, below, is a common Anglo-Saxon word, and very frequent prefix, affirmed by Tooke to be "nothing but on-neder," a Dutch compound = on lower.—See Diversions of Purley, Vol. i, p. 331.
53. UNDERNEATH is a compound of under and neath, low; whence nether, lower.
54. UNTIL is a compound from on or un, and till, or til, the end.
55. UNTO, now somewhat antiquated, is formed, not very analogically, from un and to.
56. UP is from the Anglo-Saxon adjective, "Up or Upp, high, lofty."
57. UPON, which appears literally to mean high on, is from two words up and on.
58. WITH comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon With, a word of like sort and import; which Tooke says is an imperative verb, sometimes from "Withan, to join," and sometimes from "Wyrthan, to be."—See his Diversions, Vol. i, p. 262.
59. WITHIN [, i.e., by-in,] is from with and in: Sax. Withinnan, Binnan, or Binnon.
60. WITHOUT [, i.e., by-out,] is from with and out: Sax. Withútan, -úten, -úton; Bútan, Búton, Bútun.
OBSERVATION.
In regard to some of our minor or simpler prepositions, as of sundry other particles, to go beyond the forms and constructions which present or former usage has at some period given them as particles, and to ascertain their actual origin in something ulterior, if such they had, is no very easy matter; nor can there be either satisfaction or profit in studying what one suspects to be mere guesswork. "How do you account for IN, OUT, ON, OFF, and AT?" says the friend of Tooke, in an etymological dialogue at Purley. The substance of his answer is, "The explanation and etymology of these words require a degree of knowledge in all the antient northern languages, and a skill in the application of that knowledge, which I am very far from assuming; and though I am almost persuaded by some of my own conjectures concerning them, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and far-fetched derivation, to justify your imputation of etymological legerdemain."—Diversions, Vol. i, p. 370.
SECTION X.—DERIVATION OF INTERJECTIONS.
Those significant and constructive words which are occasionally used as Interjections, (such as Good! Strange! Indeed!,) do not require an explanation here; and those mere sounds which are in no wise expressive of thought, scarcely admit of definition or derivation. The Interjection HEY is probably a corruption of the adjective High;—ALAS is from the French Hélas:—ALACK is probably a corruption of Alas;—WELAWAY or WELLAWAY, (which is now corrupted into WELLADAY,) is said by some to be from the Anglo-Saxon Wá-lá-wá, i.e., Wo-lo-wo;—"FIE," says Tooke, "is the imperative of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb Fian, to hate;"—Heyday is probably from high day;—AVAUNT, perhaps from the French avant, before;—LO, from look;—BEGONE, from be and gone;—WELCOME, from well and come;—FAREWELL, from fare and well.
SECTION XI—EXPLANATION OF THE PREFIXES.
In the formation of English words, certain particles are often employed as prefixes; which, as they generally have some peculiar import, may be separately explained. A few of them are of Anglo-Saxon origin, or character; and the greater part of these are still employed as separate words in our language. The rest are Latin, Greek, or French prepositions. The roots to which they are prefixed, are not always proper English words. Those which are such, are called SEPARABLE RADICALS; those which are not such, INSEPARABLE RADICALS.
CLASS I—THE ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PREFIXES.
1. A, as an English prefix, signifies on, in, at, or to: as in a-board, a-shore, a-foot, a-bed, a-soak, a-tilt, a-slant, a-far, a-field; which are equal to the phrases, on board, on shore, on foot, in bed, in soak, at tilt, at slant, to a distance, to the fields. The French à, to, is probably the same particle. This prefix is sometimes redundant, adding little or nothing to the meaning; as in awake, arise, amend.
2. BE, as a prefix, signifies upon, over, by, to, at, or for: as in be-spatter, be-cloud, be-times, be-tide, be-howl, be-speak. It is sometimes redundant, or merely intensive; as in be-gird, be-deck, be-loved, be-dazzle, be-moisten, be-praise, be-quote.
3. COUNTER, an English prefix, allied to the French Contre, and the Latin Contra, means against, or opposite; as in counter-poise, counter-evidence, counter-natural.
4. FOR, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition For, seems generally to signify from: it is found in the irregular verbs for-bear, for-bid, for-get, for-give, for-sake, for-swear; and in for-bathe, for-do, for-pass, for-pine, for-say, for-think, for-waste, which last are now disused, the for in several being merely intensive.
5. FORE, prefixed to a verb, signifies before; as in fore-know, fore-tell: prefixed to a noun, it is usually an adjective, and signifies anterior; as in fore-side, fore-part.
6. HALF, signifying one of two equal parts, is much used in composition; and, often, merely to denote imperfection: as, half-sighted, seeing imperfectly.
7. MIS signifies wrong or ill; as in mis-cite, mis-print, mis-spell, mis-chance, mis-hap.
8. OVER denotes superiority or excess; as in over-power, over-strain, over-large.
9. OUT, prefixed to a verb, generally denotes excess; as in out-do, out-leap, out-poise: prefixed to a noun, it is an adjective, and signifies exterior; as in out-side, out-parish.
10. SELF generally signifies one's own person, or belonging to one's own person; but, in self-same, it means very. We have many words beginning with Self, but most of them seem to be compounds rather than derivatives; as, self-love, self-abasement, self-abuse, self-affairs, self-willed, self-accusing.
11. UN denotes negation or contrariety; as in un-kind, un-load, un-truth, un-coif.
12. UNDER denotes inferiority; as in under-value, under-clerk, under-growth.
13. UP denotes motion upwards; as in up-lift: sometimes subversion; as in up-set.
14. WITH, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition With, signifies against, from, or back; as in with-stand, with-hold, with-draw, with-stander, with-holdment, with-drawal.
CLASS II.—THE LATIN PREFIXES.
The primitives or radicals to which these are prefixed, are not many of them employed separately in English. The final letter of the prefix Ad, Con, Ex, In, Ob, or Sub, is often changed before certain consonants; not capriciously, but with uniformity, to adapt or assimilate it to the sound which follows.
1. A, AB, or ABS, means From, or Away: as, a-vert, to turn from, or away; ab-duce, to lead from; ab-duction, a carrying-away; ab-stract, to draw from, or away.
2. AD,—forming ac, af, al, an, ap, as, at,—means To, or At: as, ad-vert, to turn to; ac-cord, to yield to; af-flux, a flowing-to; al-ly, to bind to; an-nex, to link to; ap-ply, to put to; as-sume, to take to; at-test, to witness to; ad-mire, to wonder at.
3. ANTE means Fore, or Before: as, ante-past, a fore-taste; ante-cedent, foregoing, or going before; ante-mundane, before the world; ante-date, to date before.
4. CIRCUM means Round, Around, or About: as circum-volve, to roll round; circum-scribe, to write round; circum-vent, to come round; circum-spect, looking about one's self.
5. CON,—which forms com, co, col, cor,—means Together: as, con-tract, to draw together; compel, to drive together; co-erce, to force together; col-lect, to gather together; cor-rade, to rub or scrape together; con-junction, a joining-together.
6. CONTRA, or CONTRO, means Against, or Counter: as, contra-dict, to speak against; contra-vene, to come against; contra-mure, countermure; contro-vert, to turn against.
7. DE means Of, From, or Down: as, de-note, to be a sign of; de-tract, to draw from; de-pend, to hang down; de-press, to press down; de-crease, to grow down, to grow less.
8. DIS, or DI, means Away, or Apart: as, dis-pel, to drive away; dis-sect, to cut apart; di-vert, to turn away.
9. E, or Ex,—making also ec, ef,—means Out: as, e-ject, to cast out; e-lect, to choose out; ex-clude, to shut out; ex-cite, to summon out; ec-stacy, a raising out; ef-face, to blot out.
10. EXTRA means Beyond, or Out of: as, extra-vagant, syllabled ex-trav'a-gant, roving be-yond; extra-vasate, ex-trav'a-sate, to flow out of the vessels; extra-territorial, being out of the territory.
11. IN,—which makes also il, im, ir,—means In, Into, or Upon: as, in-spire, to breathe in; il-lude, to draw in by deceit; im-mure, to wall in; ir-ruption, a rushing in; in-spect, to look into; in-scribe, to write upon; in-sult, to jump upon. These syllables, prefixed, to English nouns or adjectives, generally reverse their meaning; as in in-justice, il-legality, im-partiality, ir-religion, ir-rational, in-secure, in-sane.
12. INTER means Between, or In between: as, inter-sperse, to scatter in between; inter-jection, something thrown in between; inter-jacent, lying between; inter-communication, communication between.
13. INTRO means In, Inwards, or Within: as, intro-duce, to lead in; intro-vert, to turn inwards; intro-spect, to look within; intro-mission, a sending-in.
14. OB,—which makes also oc, of, op,—means Against: as, ob-trude, to thrust against; oc-cur, to run against; of-fer, to bring against; op-pose, to place against; ob-ject, to cast against.
15. PER means Through or By: as, per-vade, to go through; per-chance, by chance; per-cent, by the hundred; per-plex, to tangle through, or to entangle thoroughly.
16. POST means After: as, post-pone, to place after; post-date, to date after.
17. PRÆ, or PRE, means Before: as, pre-sume, to take before; pre-position, a placing-before, or thing placed before; præ-cognita, things known before.
18. PRO means For, Forth, or Forwards: as, pro-vide, to take care for; pro-duce, to bring forth; pro-trude, to thrust forwards; pro-ceed, to go forward; pro-noun, for a noun.
19. PRETER means By, Past, or Beyond: as, preter-it, bygone, or gone by; preter-imperfect, past imperfect; preter-natural, beyond what is natural; preter-mit, to put by, to omit.
20. RE means Again or Back: as, re-view, to view again; re-pel, to drive back.
21. RETRO means Backwards, Backward, or Back: as, retro-active, acting backwards; retro-grade, going backward; retro-cede, to cede back again.
22. SE means Aside or Apart: as, se-duce, to lead aside; se-cede, to go apart.
23. SEMI means Half: as, semi-colon, half a colon; semi-circle, half a circle.
24. SUB,—which makes suf, sug, sup, sur, and sus,—means Under, and sometimes Up: as, sub-scribe, to write under; suf-fossion, an undermining; sug-gest, to convey under; sup-ply, to put under; sur-reption, a creeping-under; sus-tain, to hold up; sub-ject, cast under.
25. SUBTER means Beneath: as, subter-fluous, flowing beneath.
26. SUPER means Over or Above: as, super-fluous, flowing over; super-natant, swimming above; super-lative, carried over, or carrying over; super-vise, to overlook, to oversee.
27. TRANS,—whence TRAN and TRA,—means Beyond, Over, To another state or place: as, trans-gress, to pass beyond or over; trans-cend, to climb over; trans-mit to send to an other place; trans-form, to change to an other shape; tra-montane, from beyond the mountains; i.e., Trans-Alpine, as opposed to Cis-Alpine.
CLASS III.—THE GREEK PREFIXES.
1. A and AN, in Greek derivatives, denote privation: as, a-nomalous, wanting rules; an-ony-mous, wanting name; an-archy, want of government; a-cephalous, headless.
2. AMPHI means Two, Both, or Double: as, amphi-bious, living in two elements; amphi-brach, both [sides] short; amphi-theatre, a double theatre.
3. ANTI means Against: as, anti-slavery, against slavery; anti-acid, against acidity; anti-febrile, against fever; anti-thesis, a placing-against.
4. APO, APH,—From: as, apo-strophe, a turning-from; aph-aeresis, a taking from.
5. DIA,—Through: as, dia-gonal, through the corners; dia-meter, measure through.
6. EPI, EPH,—Upon: as, epi-demic, upon the people; eph-emera, upon a day.
7. HEMI means Half: as, hemi-sphere, half a sphere; hemi-stich, half a verse.
8. HYPER means Over: as, hyper-critical, over-critical; hyper-meter, over measure. 9. HYPO means Under: as, hypo-stasis, substance, or that which stands under; hypo-thesis, supposition, or a placing-under; hypo-phyllous, under the leaf.
10. META means Beyond, Over, To an other state or place: as, meta-morphose, to change to an other shape; meta-physics, mental science, as beyond or over physics.
11. PARA means Against: as, para-dox, something contrary to common opinion.
12. PERI means Around: as, peri-phery, the circumference, or measure round.
13. SYN,—whence Sym, Syl,—means Together: as, syn-tax, a putting-together; sym-pathy, a suffering-together; syl-lable, what we take together; syn-thesis a placing-together.
CLASS IV.—THE FRENCH PREFIXES.
1. A is a preposition of very frequent use in French, and generally means To. I have suggested above that it is probably the same as the Anglo-Saxon prefix a. It is found in a few English compounds or derivatives that are of French, and not of Saxon origin: as, a-dieu, to God; i.e., I commend you to God; a-larm, from alarme, i e., à l'arme, to arms.
2. DE means Of or From: as in de-mure, of manners; de-liver, to ease from or of.
3. DEMI means Half: as, demi-man, half a man; demi-god, half a god; demi-devil, half a devil; demi-deify, to half deify; demi-sized, half sized; demi-quaver, half a quaver. 4. EN,—which sometimes becomes em,—means In, Into, or Upon: as, en-chain, to hold in chains; em-brace, to clasp in the arms; en-tomb, to put into a tomb; em-boss, to stud upon. Many words are yet wavering between the French and the Latin orthography of this prefix: as, embody, or imbody; ensurance, or insurance; ensnare, or insnare; enquire, or inquire.
5. SUR, as a French prefix, means Upon, Over, or After: as, sur-name, a name upon a name; sur-vey, to look over; sur-mount, to mount over or upon; sur-render, to deliver over to others; sur-feit, to overdo in eating; sur-vive, to live after, to over-live, to outlive.