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• Clumsy, stiff with cold. "When thou clomsest with cold," says Langland (14th century) = = art benumbed. (Cognates, clamp, cramp.)

Companion, low fellow. Shakespeare has such phrases as "Companions, hence!" Conceit (too high an opinion of one's self) meant simply thought. Chaucer was called "a conceited clerk"="a learned man full of thoughts." From Lat. conceptus, a number of facts brought together into one general conception or idea. Shakespeare has the phrase "passing all conceit"= beyond all thought. Count (to number) meant to think (2 with 3, &c.) with; from Lat. computo, I compute or think with. Count is a doublet, through French, of compute. Cunning, able or skilled. Like the word craft, it has lost its innocent sense. Danger, jurisdiction, legal power over. The Duke of Venice says to the Merchant, "You stand within his danger, do you not?" M. V. iv. 1. 180.

Defy, to pronounce all bonds of faith dissolved. Lat. fides, faith.

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An older form is Assay. Shakespeare has such phrases as "the assay of arms." Explode, to drive out by clapping of the hands. The opposite of applaud. Lat. plaudo, I clap my hands.

Explosion, a hissing a thing off the stage. Firmament, that which makes firm or strong. Jeremy Taylor (seventeenth century) says, "Custom is the firma

ment of the law."

Fond, foolish. The past participle of
A. S. fonnan, to act foolishly.
Frightful, full of fear. (Compare the old
meaning of dreadful.)

Garble, to sift or cleanse. Low Lat. garbellare, to sift corn.

Garland, a king's crown; now a wreath of flowers.

Gazette (Italian), a magpie. Hence the Ital. gazettare, to chatter like a magpie; to write tittle-tattle. (It was also the name of a very small coin, current in Venice, etc.)

Generous, high-born. Lat. genus, race. Compare the phrases" a man of family;'

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Disease, discomfort, trouble. Shakespeare Harbinger, a person who prepared a har

has, "She will disease our bitter mirth;" and Tyndale's version of Mark v. 35, is, "Thy daughter is dead: why diseasest thou the Master any further?"

Duke, leader. Hannibal was called in old English writers, "Duke of Carthage." Ebb, shallow. "Cross the stream where it is ebbest," is a Lancashire proverb. (The word is a cognate of even.) Essay, an attempt. The old title of such a book was not "Essay on" but "Essay at." From Lat. exagium, a weighing.

bour or lodging.

Heathen, a person who lives on a heath. (Cf. pagan, person who lives in a pagus, or country district.) Hobby, an easy ambling nag. Idiot (Gr. idiòtes), a private person; a person who kept aloof from public business. Cf. idiom; idiosyncrasy; etc. Imp, an engrafted shoot. Chaucer says:

"Of feeble trees there comen wretched

impes."

Spenser has "Well worthy impe."

Impertinent, not pertaining to the Offal, that which is allowed to fall off.

matter in hand.

Indifferent, impartial. "God is indifferent to all."

Insolent, unusual. An old writer praises Raleigh's poetry as "insolent and passionate."

Kind, born, inborn; natural; and then loving.

Knave, boy. "A knave child "=a male child. Sir John Mandeville speaks of Mahomet as "a poure knave."

Lace, a snare. Lat. laqueus, a noose. Livery, that which is given or delivered, Fr. livrer; from Lat. liberare, to free. It was applied both to food and to clothing. "A horse at livery" still means a horse not merely kept, but also fed.

Magnificent, doing great things; largeminded. Bacon says, "Bounty and magnificence are virtues very regal." Maker, a poet.

Manure, to work with the hand; a doublet of manœuvre. (Lat. manus, the hand.) Mere, utter. Lat. merus, pure. Shakespeare, in "Othello," speaks of "the mere perdition of the Turkish fleet.' "Mere

wine" was unmixed wine. Metal, a mine.

Minute, something very small. Lat. minutus, made small; from minus, less. Cognates, minor; minish; diminish; etc. Miscreant, an unbeliever. Lat. mis (from minus), and credo, I believe; through O. Fr. mescréant.

Officious, obliging. In modern diplomacy, an official communication is one made in the way of business; an officious communication is a friendly and irregular one. Burke, in the eighteenth century, speaks of the French nobility as "very officious and hospitable."

Ostler=hosteller. The keeper of a hostel or hotel. (A comic derivation is that it is a contraction of oatstealer).

Painful, painstaking. Fuller, in the seventeenth century, speaks of Joseph as "a painful carpenter."

Palliate, to throw a cloak over. Lat. pallium, a cloak.

Pencil, a small hair brush. Lat. penecillus, a little tail.

Peevish, obstinate.

Perspective, a glass for seeing either near or distant things.

Pester, to encumber or clog. From Low Lat. pastorium, a clog for horses in a pasture.

Plantation, a colony of men planted.

Plausible, having obtained applause. "Every one received him plausibly," says a seventeenth-century writer.

Polite, polished. A seventeenth-century writer has "polite bodies as lookingglasses."

Pomp, a procession.

Preposterous, putting the last first. Lat. præ, before; and post, after.

Miser, a wretched person. Lat. miser, mis- Prevaricate, to reverse, to shuffle. Lat. erable.

Nephew, a grandchild. (Lat. nepos.)

Nice, too scrupulous or fastidious. Shakespeare, in "K. John," iii. 4. 138, says— "He that stands upon a slippery place, Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up."

Niece, a grandchild. Lat. neptis.
Novelist, an innovator.

prævaricari, to spread the legs apart in walking.

Prevent, to go before. Lat. præ, before, and venio, I come. The Prayer-Book has, "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings."

Prodigious, ominous. "A prodigious meteor," meant a meteor of bad omen.

Punctual, attending to small points of detail. Lat. punctum; Fr. point.

Quaint, skilful. Prospero, in the "Tem- | Tarpaulin, a sailor; from the tarred pest," calls Ariel "My quaint Ariel!"

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canvas suit he wore. Now shortened into tar.

Thews, habits, manners.

Thought, deep sorrow, anxiety. Matthew vi. 25. In "Julius Cæsar," ii. 1. 187, we find, "Take thought, and die for Cæsar." Trivial, very common. Lat. trivia, a place where three roads meet. Tuition, guardianship. Lat. tuitio, looking at.

Uncouth, unknown.

Union, oneness; or a pearl in which size, roundness, smoothness, purity, lustre, were united. See "Hamlet," v. 2. 283. A doublet is onion-so called from its shape.

Unkind, unnatural.

Urbane, living in a city. Lat. urbs, a city.

Usury, money paid for the use of a thing. Varlet, a serving-man. Low Lat. vassalettus, a minor vassal. Varlet and valet are diminutives of vassal.

Vermin was applied to noxious animals of whatever size. "The crocodile is a dangerous vermin." Lat. vermis, a

worm.

Villain, a farm-servant. Lat. villa, a farm.

Vivacity, pertinacity in living; longevity.

Fuller speaks of a man as "most remarkable for his vivacity, for he lived 140 years."

Wit, knowledge, mental ability.
Worm, a serpent.

Worship, to consider worth, to honour. Wretched, wicked. A. 8 wrecca, an outcast.

PART II.

COMPOSITION, PUNCTUATION, PARAPHRASING,

AND PROSODY.

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