Outline of the history of the English language and literature

Outline of the history of the English language and literature
Author: Anonymous
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Abase, to bring or make low. From a Low Latin word bassus, low.

Abate, to beat down. Low Lat. abbattĕre

Adder, O. E. nadder. The n has dropped from the noun, owing to the mistaken notion that it belonged to the article. Compare umpire for numpire (non par—that is, not equal), orange for norange (Pers. náranj), apron for napron. The dropping of the n is probably owing to the prefixing of an and mine

Adrift, on or in the drift. From the verb drive. Compare give, gift; shrive, shrift

Alligator is Spanish el lagarto, the lizard (par excellence), from Lat. lacerta, a lizard.

Aloft, on-loft, in the lift (air). Northern Eng. or ‘Scotch’ lift, the air.

Anon, on or in-one (instant). The phrase then ones has become the nonce

Atonement, at-one-ment, bringing into one, reconciliation. In alone and atone the numeral one has its true sound.

Babble, to keep saying ba, ba

Balloon, a large ball (Fr.) . The oon is augmentative.

Ballot, a little ball (Fr.) . The ot is diminutive.

Bank, a bench on which money is laid out.

Batch, the quantity of bread baked at one time. Compare wake, watch

Bird, one of a brood (formerly brid). Compare three, third; burn, brand; work, wright. In all these the r changes its place.

Bran-new, that is, brand-new, burnt-new, as if newly from the fire.

Breakfast, a breaking of a fast. Compare Fr. déjeûner, from jeûne

Brick, a piece broken off.

Brimstone, that is, burn-stone, from brennan, to burn. Compare brindled. The r is a letter which is easily moved. Compare three and third; burn and brown; etc.

Brood, something bred

Butcher, O. Fr. bocher, a slaughterer of he-goats. From O. Fr. boc, a goat, not from bouche, mouth. Boc is allied to the Eng. buck

Butler = bottler—that is, keeper of the bottles. From Nor. Fr. butuille, a bottle.

Buxom, pliable; from bugan, to bend, which gives bight and bout

Carouse, Ger. gar aus, right out.Used of drinking a bumper.

Caterpillar = hairy cat. From O. Fr. chate, she-cat; pelouse, from Lat. pilosus, hairy. Compare Woolly-bear

Causeway, corrupted from Fr. chaussée, a raised way.

Club, a society clumped together. Connected with clump

Constable, from comes stabuli, count of the stable.

Coop, anything hollow, like a cup

Cope, a covering, a cap

Costermonger = costard-monger—that is, apple-seller, costard being a kind of apple.

Country-dance, a corruption of French contre-danse, a dance in which each dancer stands opposite his partner.

Coward, a bob-tailed hare. Through O. Fr. , from Lat. cauda, a tail.

Coxcomb, a corruption of cock’s comb

Daisy—that is, day’s-eye, so called from its sun-like appearance, or because it closes its flower at night, and opens it again in the morning.

Dandelion, a corruption of French dent-de-lion, tooth of the lion.

Dirge, from dirige (= direct), the first word in the passage beginning Ps.v.8, sung in the office for the dead.

Disease, want of ease; pain.

Drawing-room; originally with-drawing room—that is, a room for retiring to after dinner.

Easel, from Dutch ezel, a little ass.

Etiquette, originally a ticket on which the forms to be observed on particular occasions at court were inscribed.

Fare, originally a going or travelling, hence the price paid for such.

Farthing, the fourth part, hence the fourth of a penny.

Ferry, places for faring, or travelling across a stream.

Ford, places for faring, or travelling across a stream.

Frontispiece, that which is seen in the front. Low Lat. frontispicium, from specio, I see. Not connected with piece

Gad-fly, the goading or stinging fly.

Gaffer = gramfer, West of England for grandfather

Gammer = grammer, West of England for grandmother. Compare O. E. gomman and gommer, for good man and good mother

Gospel, God-spell (news of God, that is, life of Christ); commonly explained, however, as good-spell (good story), as if a translation of Gr. eu-anggelion, from eu, well, and anggelia, a message.

Grocer, should be grosser, from O. Fr. grossier, a wholesale dealer, a dealer en gros—that is, in the large. In older Eng. , grocers were called spicers. Compare the Fr. épiciers

Groove, something graven, or hollowed out.

Haft, the handle or part of anything which we have or hold in the hand.

Hamper, Low Lat. hanaperium, a large vessel for keeping cups, from Low Lat. hanapus, a drinking-cup.

Handicraft, craft or trade performed by the hand. Compare priestcraft, witchcraft

Handle, (v.) to touch with the hand; (n.) the part held in the hand

Handsel, money given in hand (hand, and sellan, to give).

Hanker, to allow the mind to hang on or long for a thing. Compare hank of wool.

Harbinger, one who goes forward to provide a harbour or place of safety for an army (O. E. here, an army; beorgan, to protect).

Hatch, to produce in a heck, a northern English word, meaning a hay-rack; a frame made of cross bars of wood; a hen-coop. Compare bake and batch; wake and watch

Hatchment, the coat of arms put up over a house, the master of which has lately died; a corruption of achievement

Hawthorn, the hedge thorn. A. S. haga, a hedge or inclosure.

Heaven, that which is heaved, or lifted up above our heads.

Heavy, that which requires much heaving to lift.

Hinder, to put or keep behind

Homestead, the stead or place of a home; a farm inclosure. Stead, A. S. stede, occurs in instead, steadfast, and steady. Cf. also roadstead, a place where ships ride at anchor.

Husband, the master of a house. Short for house-band. The band is present participle of a word meaning ‘to dwell.’

Hussy, short for housewife. Compare bos’n for boatswain

Icicle = ice-gicel. The termination is not to be confounded with the diminutive ending -icle, which is of Latin origin. Gicel = a small piece of ice, and is therefore redundant.

Intoxicate, to drug or poison. From a Low Latin verb to poison, from Greek toxon, an arrow, because arrows were frequently dipped in poison.

Island, water-land (O. E. ea, water, and land). The s is intrusive, and due to a confusion with isle, which is from Lat. insula, an island. Milton always spells it iland

Jaw (old spelling, chaw), from chew, therefore = that which chews

Jerusalem artichoke, It. girasole; Lat. gyrus (Gr. gyros), a circle, and sol, the sun. The artichoke is a kind of sunflower. Jerusalem is a corruption; like sparrow-grass for asparagus

Kickshaws, a corruption of French quelques choses

Kindness, the feeling that is natural to those of the same kin or family.

Lanthorn, Lat. lanterna. No connection with horn

Ledge, a place on which things may be laid. From the verb lay

Likewise, in like wise or manner.

Line, to cover with linen on the inside.

Linen, cloth made from lint or flax.

Liquorice, Gr. glukurrhiza = sweet root; from glukus, sweet, and rhiza, a root.

Meadow, place where grass is mown or cut down. Compare math and aftermath

Morris-dance = Moorish dance.

Naught, no-whit, nothing.

Ness, a promontory or headland. A doublet of naze, and probably connected with noseIt occurs frequently in place-names along the shores of the North Sea, as in Sheerness, Caithness, the Naze

Nonce, in ‘for the nonce’ = for the once, for the one occasion; M. E. for then ones. The n belongs to the article, and represents the m of the dative of the article, namely thamCompare a newt, for an ewt; nuncle for mine uncle; a nickname for an eke-name; a nugget or ningot for an ingot.

Nostrils, corrupted form of nose-thirles, nose-holes. (Thirl is connected with thrill, drill, etc.)

Notwithstanding, not withstanding—that is, not standing against. The with has in this word the old sense of against

Nurse, one who nourishes (Fr. nourrice).

Nutmeg = musk-nut. M. E. note-muge, O. Fr. muge, musk. Lat. muscus

Offal, waste, part of anything, refuse. Literally ‘what falls off.’

Offing, the sea far off from the land. Compare off-scouring; offset; offshoot; and offspring

Onset, a setting or rushing on or upon.

Orchard = wort-yard, wort or herb-yard, or garden.

Ostrich, through O. Fr. ostruche, from Lat. avis struthio, ostrich bird; Gr. struthion, an ostrich.

Outlaw, one out of the protection of the law

Pastime, that which serves to pass away the time

Pea-jacket, Dutch pije, a rough woollen coat. ‘Jacket’ is redundant. Not connected with pea

Peal of bells, Fr. appel, a call with drum or trumpet.

Penthouse, O. E. pentice, Fr. appentis, Lat. appendicium. Not connected with house. A corruption like Bird-cage Walk for Bocage, (shrubbery) walk.

Pickaxe, O. Fr. pikois. No connection with axe

Poach, originally to put into the pouch or pocket. Cf. to bag, to Pocket, sack and satchel

Pocket, a little poke or pouch

Porpoise, the hog fish, from Lat. porcus, a pig, and piscis, a fish.

Proxy, contracted from an obsolete procuracy, a taking care of for another.

Quicklime, lime in a quick or active state. Compare the phrase, ‘the quick and the dead.’ Cf. also quicksand = sand easily moved, quicksilver, a fluid metal which is very mobile.

Rhyme, properly rime = number, confused with rhythm = flow.

Rubbish, that which is rubbed off; waste matter.

Scent (for sent), from Lat. sentio, I feel.

Sexton, Fr. sacristain, sacristan.

Shamefaced, is shamefast—that is, shamefixed

Sheaf, a quantity of things, especially the stalks of grain, shoved together and bound.

Sheriff, a shire-reeve, the governor of a shire or county.

Ship, something scooped or dug out, and therefore hollow. Compare skipper, where the hard k reappears.

Somerset, a corruption of O. Fr. soubresault, from Lat. supra and saltus, a leaping over.

Sorry, sore in mind.

Soup, that which is supped

Splice, to split in order to join.

Squirrel, Fr. écureuil, Gr. skiouros = bushy or shadow tail. From Gr. skia, shade, and oura, a tail.

Starboard, the steering side of a ship—that is, the right hand side to one looking toward the bow.

Stew, to put into a stove to be cooked.

Stirrup, put for sty-rope; A. S. stig-rap, a mounting rope. From the same root are stair, sty, stile, and stag

Straight, stretched out, tight.

Strong, with the muscles strung up. Compare wrong from wring

Sweetheart, from sweet and heart, an expression as old as Chaucer.

Tackle, things to be taken hold of.

Tale, that which is told, what is counted. So also teller (in a bank).

Thorough, passing through, or to the end.

Thread, that which is thrown or twisted.

Treacle, Lat. theriaca, Gr. thēriakē, viper’s flesh; therion (a wild beast), a name often given to the viper. Originally an antidote to the viper’s bite. Milton speaks of ‘the treacle of sound doctrine.’

Twist, to twine or wind two threads together. (Compare twine, twirl, twiddle, etc.)

Verdigris, Fr. verd-de-grise, Lat. viride æris, green of brass. Not connected with grease

Walrus = whale horse, O. E. hwæl, whale; hors, horse. The r has shifted its place, as in three, third; turn, trundle, etc.

Whole, hole, O. E. hael. The w is redundant; just as it is in the pronunciation of one. It does not appear in heal, health, etc.

Wiseacre, a corruption of the Ger. weiss sager, a wise-sayer or soothsayer, or prophet.

4. WORDS THAT HAVE CHANGED THEIR MEANING.

Artillery, great weapons of war; was once used to include crossbows, bows, etc., before gunpowder was invented, 1 Sam. xx. 40: ‘And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.’

Blackguard, a name originally applied to the lowest kitchen servants from the dirty work they had to do.

Bombast, originally cotton-wadding, affected language.

Boor, originally a peasant or tiller of the soil. In South Africa a farmer is called a boer

Brat meant originally a rag or clout, especially a child’s bib or apron; hence, in contempt, a child. Mandeville speaks of ‘Abraham’s brats.’

Carriage once meant baggage. Acts, xxi. 15: ‘And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.’

Censure once meant opinion or judgment. Shakspeare, As You Like It, IV.i.7: ‘Betray themselves to every modern censure.’

Charity, once love, now almsgiving. 1 Cor. xiii. 3: ‘And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.’

Cheat originally meant to seize upon anything which was escheated or forfeited.

Churl, a countryman or farmer.

Conceit, originally a thought or notion.‘Dan Chaucer was a conceited clerk’—that is, a learned man full of new inventions or thoughts (conceits).

Cunning, originally knowing, clever, skilled in a craft or trade.The Bible speaks of ‘cunning workmen.’

Demure, originally of good manners, now staid, grave.

Disaster, an unkindly star (Gr. astēr, a star); a term from the old astrology.

Fond once meant foolish.

Gazette, a small newspaper, originally a small coin. The newspaper was so named because a gazetta was paid for it.

Gossip (sib, or related, in God), originally a sponsor in baptism. Gossip is the kind of talk that goes on between people who are connected with a family. Compare Fr. commère and commèrage

Heathen, an unbeliever, originally a dweller on a heath. Compare pagan, a dweller in a pagus, or country canton.

Idiot, from Gr. idiōtēs, a private person.It afterwards meant a person who kept himself aloof from public business and politics; a person despised by the Athenians.

Imp, formerly used in a good sense, meaning scion or offspring.Now a demon of mischief.

Impertinent, not relating or belonging to the matter in hand.

Influence, a flowing down from the stars; originally a term in astrology.

Kind, originally born; hence natural, and so loving.

Knave, originally a boy or servant.Sir John Mandeville speaks of Mohammed as a ‘poure knave.’

Miser sometimes means merely a wretched creature. Spenser, Faerie Queene, II.i.8:

‘Vouchsafe to stay your steed for humble miser’s sake.’

Officious, sometimes used in a good sense, obliging, serviceable. Shakspeare, Tit.And. V. ii. 202:

‘Come, come, be every one officious
To make this banquet.’

Ostler = hosteller, properly the keeper of a hostelry or hotel; now applied to the horse-groom.

Pagan, from paganus, a dweller in a canton, a countryman or villager; hence a heathen or unbeliever.Christianity was first preached in the large cities.

Painful, originally painstaking.‘Rev.J.Flavel was a painful preacher.’

Polite, from Lat. polītus, polished.

Prevent (to), originally to go before (præ and venio).‘Prevent us, O Lord, in all our goings.’

Silly, the adj.originally happy, blessed; whence it came to mean innocent, simple, foolish.

Sycophant (Gr.) , originally a fig-shower; a person who informed the police regarding the smuggling of figs into Athens.

Tawdry was applied originally to goods bought at St Audrey’s fair (St Audrey = St Ethelreda).

Varlet once meant a serving-man. Valet is a doublet of varlet. (From vassaletus, an inferior vassal.)

Villain, a farm-servant, a peasant; from Lat. villanus, a servant on a villa or farm.

5. WORDS DERIVED FROM THE NAMES OF PERSONS.

Amazon, the name of a nation of warlike women, who were said to cut off their right breasts that they might use the bow. (From Gr. a, without, and mazos, the breast.)

Argosy, from Argo, the name of a famous ship in which the Greek warrior Jason sailed to seek the golden fleece, which was at Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea.

August was named so in honour of the Roman Emperor Augustus (Cæsar).

Brougham, after Lord Brougham, a famous English lawyer and politician.

Cravat, named from the Croats (Crabats), the people of Croatia, in Austria, from whom we derived the custom of wearing cravats.

Dahlia, from Dahl, a Swede, who introduced the flower into Europe.

Dunce, from Duns Scotus (d.1308), the great schoolman whose name was used as a term of reproach by his opponents, the followers of the learned Thomas Aquinas.

Filbert, from St.Philibert, whose anniversary falls in the nutting season.

Friday, from Freya, the wife of Odin; one of the Saxon goddesses.

Galvanism, from Galvani of Bologna, who discovered it.He died in 1798.

Herculean, very powerful; from Hercules, one of the Greek demigods, who was very strong.

Jacobite, one of those who were favourable to the Stuarts; from Jacobus II., the Latin name for James II.

January, from Janus, the god with two heads, who opened the year.

Jeremiad, a sorrowful story; from Jeremiah, who wrote the Lamentations

Jovial, cheerful; from Jove, the king of the ancient gods.

July, from Julius Cæsar, the great Roman statesman and general.

Macadamise, to pave a road with small cubical stones; from Macadam, who invented this method of making roads.He died 1836.

March, from Mars, the Roman god of war.

Martial, from Mars, the Roman god of war.

Mausoleum, a magnificent tomb; from Mausolus, a king of Caria, in Asia Minor, whose widow erected a splendid tomb to his memory.

Mercury, quicksilver; from Mercury, the light-footed messenger of the gods who dwelt on Olympus.

Panic, from Pan, the god of shepherds, who often appeared to them suddenly and terrified them.

Petrel, a sea-bird; from Peter, who is said to have walked upon the waters.

Philippic, a speech full of strongly passionate language; from Philip, king of Macedon, against whom Demosthenes delivered some fiery speeches of this kind.

Saturday, from Sæter, one of the old Saxon gods.

Saturnine, grave, severe; from Saturn, the father of the Roman gods.

Stentorian, very loud; from Stentor, the name of a Greek herald, who is mentioned by Homer, and who had a very loud voice.

Tantalise, from Tantalus, who is said to have been always thirsty and up to his chin in water, which went out of his reach whenever he tried to drink.

Thursday, from Thor, the Saxon god of thunder.

Tuesday, from Tiew, the Saxon god of war.

Wednesday, the day of Woden or Odin, the Saxon god of war. The es is the old possessive form.

6. WORDS DERIVED FROM NAMES OF PLACES.

Academy, a school; from Academia, the name of the gymnasium where Plato, the Greek philosopher, taught his pupils.

Attic, an upper room; from Gr. Attikos, Athenian.In Athens the houses are said to have been built with a low upper story.

Bayonet, a kind of dagger, from Bayonne, in France.

Bedlam, a lunatic asylum; from Bethlehem, a monastery in London, which was afterwards used as a madhouse.

Calico, a kind of cotton cloth; from Calicut, in India.

Cambric, fine linen; from Cambray, in French Flanders.

Canary, a bird, and a kind of wine; from Canary Islands, whence these things were brought.

Canter, from Canterbury.The pilgrims to this shrine are said to have ridden at an easy pace.

Cashmere, Cassimere, or Kerseymere, a rich kind of woollen cloth; from Cashmere, a province among the Himalayas, in the north of India, noted for the manufacture of fine woollen fabrics.

Cherry, from Cerăsus, on the Black Sea, whence the fruit was introduced into Europe.

Copper, a metal; from Cyprus, an island in the eastern part of the Mediterranean.

Currant, from Corinth, in Greece, where these small dried grapes were first produced.

Damson, Damask, from Damascus, in Syria.

Dollar, from St Joachim’s Thal or valley, in Bohemia. These coins were first made there about 1518, and were called thalers or talers: whence dollars

Florin, a coin; from Florence, in Italy.

Gin, an alcoholic liquor; from Geneva, in Switzerland.(Gin, a trap, is an abbreviation of engine.)

Guinea, a coin worth twenty-one shillings; from Guinea (or Gold Coast) in Africa, whence the gold of which these coins were first made was brought.

Gypsy, from Egypt, whence these people were supposed to have come.They really came from India.

Holland, a kind of linen cloth; Hollands, a kind of gin; from Holland.

Indigo, from India.

Jersey, a woollen jacket; from Jersey, one of the Channel Islands.

Magnesia, Magnet, from Magnesia, a town in Asia Minor.

Mantua, a lady’s gown; from Mantua, in Italy.

Meander, to wind about; from Mæander, a river in Asia Minor, which had a very winding course.

Milliner, from Milan, in Italy.

Morocco, leather prepared in a certain way; from Morocco, in North Africa.

Nankeen, a kind of cotton cloth; from Nankin, in China.

Port, a dark red wine; from Oporto, in Portugal, whence great quantities of it are shipped.

Sherry, a light-coloured wine; from Xeres, in Spain.

Spaniel, a kind of dog; from Spain.

Turkey, a large domestic fowl; from Turkey, whence the bird was supposed to have come.

Worsted, woollen yarn; from Worsted, the name of a village near Norwich.

7. ENGLISH (OR TEUTONIC) ROOTS.

Ac, an oak; acorn, Acton [oak-town], Uckfield.

Æcer, a field; acre, God’s acre [the churchyard].

Æsc, an ash; ash, Ascot, Ashby.

Æthele, noble; Atheling, Ethelbert, Ethelrede [noble in rede or counsel].

Bacan, to bake; bake, baker, baxter [a woman baker], batch.

Bana, a slayer; bane, henbane, baneful.

Beám, a tree, or anything in a straight line; beam, sunbeam.

Beorgan, to save or shelter; bury, burgh, harbour, harbinger.

Bigan or beogan, to bend; bow, elbow, buxom.

Bindan, to bind; bind, band, bundle, bond, bandage.

Blówan, to blossom; blow, bloom.

Brecan, to break; break, breakers, breakfast.

Cáld or ceald, cold; cold, chill.

Ceápian, to buy; chapman, Cheapside, cheap, Chippenham, Copenhagen [= Merchants’ Haven].

Cunnan, to know, to be able; can, con, cunning.

Cwellan, to slay; quell.

Cwic, alive; quick, quicksand.

Cyning, a king; king, Kingston.

Dragan, to drag; drag, draw, dray, draught, dredge, draggle.

Drypan, to drop; drop, drip, dribble.

Eáge, an eye; eye, eyebright, daisy [= day’s eye].

Erian, to plough; ear.

Faran, to go; fare, ferry, wayfarer, fieldfare, ford.

Fleógan, to flee; flee, fly, flight, fledge.

Fleótan, to float; float, fleet.

Fod, food; feed, fodder, foster [= foodster].

Gangan, to go; go, gang, gait, gangway.

Geard, an inclosure; yard, orchard, vineyard.

Gód, good; good, goodwife.

Grafan, to dig; grave, engraver, groove, grove.

Hál, sound; hale, heal, healthy, whole, wholesome.

Healdan, to hold; hold, holding, behold.

Here, an army; harbour, herring, harbinger [a person sent on before to provide quarters for a here or army].

Hláf, a loaf; lady, lord, Lammas (loaf-mass).

Hús, a house; house, housewife.

Lædan, to lead; loadstone, loadstar.

Læt, late; late, latter, last, later, belate.

Lang, long; long, length, along, linger.

Lif, life; life, alive.

Mere, a lake; mere, Windermere, marsh.

Móna, the moon; moon, month.

Nosu, or nasu, a nose; nose, the Naze, Ness, nostril, Sheerness.

Rædan, to read; read, rede, riddle.

Reáfian, to rob; rob, bereave, rover.

Scíran, to cut; shear, share, shire, shore, short, skirt, ploughshare.

Settan, to place; sittan, to sit; sit, set, seat, settle.

Spell, a message; gospel [= good spell].

Stede, a place; homestead, bedstead.

Stelan, to steal; steal, stealth.

Stow, a place; Chepstow, bestow.

Tellan, to reckon; tell, tale, tell-tale.

Thyrel, a hole; thrill, nostril, drill.

Tredan, to tread; tread, treadle.

Wácian, to watch; wake, watch.

Ward, a looker at or guard; ward, warden, weir.

Witan, to know; wit, witness, wisdom, wistful.

Wyrcan, to work; work, wright.

Wyrt, an herb; wort, wart, orchard [wort-yard].

8. LATIN ROOTS.

Acer, sharp; acrid, acrimony, vinegar [= sharp wine].

Acidus, sour; acid, acidity.

Ædes, a house; edifice, edify.

Æquus, equal; equality, equator, adequate, iniquity, equanimity.

Æstimo, I value; estimation, estimate, esteem.

Ager, a field; agriculture, peregrinate.

Agger, a heap; exaggerate.

Ago, I do; act, agile, agency, cogent.

Alacer, cheerful; alacrity.

Alo, I nourish; aliment, alimony.

Alter, the other of two; alternation, subaltern.

Altus, high; altitude, exalt.

Ambulo, I walk; amble, perambulator.

Amo, I love; amity, amorous, inimical.

Anima, the soul; animation, inanimate.

Animus, the mind; magnanimity.

Annus, a circle or year; annual, perennial.

Aperio, I open; aperient, April [the opening month, the month of spring when the buds open out].

Appello, I call; appeal, appellation.

Aptus, fit; apt, aptitude.

Aqua, water; aqueduct, aquatic, aqueous.

Arbiter, a judge; arbitration, arbitrary.

Arbor, a tree; arboraceous, arbour.

Ardeo, I burn; ardent, arson.

Arduus, steep [with the idea of difficulty of attainment]; arduous.

Arma, weapons; arms, armistice, disarm, army.

Aro, I plough; arable.

Ars (art-is), art; artificial, inertia, artisan.

Artus, a joint; articulate, article.

Audio, I hear; audience, audible.

Augeo, I increase: augment, auctioneer.

Avis, a bird; aviary.

Barba, a beard; barber, barbel, barb.

Bellum, war; bellicose, belligerent, rebellious.

Bibo, I drink; imbibe, winebibber.

Bis, twice; biscuit, bissextile.

Bonus, good; benevolent, bounty.

Brevis, short; brevity, abbreviate, brief.

Cado (cas-um), I fall; casual, accident.

Cædo (cæs-um), I cut or kill; precise, excision, decide.

Campus, a plain; camp, encamp.

Candeo, I shine; candidus, white, incandescent, candidate.

Cano, I sing; canticle, chant, incantation.

Capio (capt-um), I take; captive, accept, reception.

Caput, the head; capital, captain.

Caro (carn-is), flesh; carnal, carnival, carnivorous.

Castus, pure; chastity, castigate, chastise.

Causa, a cause; accuse, causation.

Caveo (caut-um), I take care; caution, cautious.

Cavus, hollow; cavity, cave, excavate.

Cedo (cess-um), I yield; cede, accede, proceed.I go; procession, ancestor.

Centum, a hundred; century, centurion.

Cerno (cret-um), I notice or discern; discern, decretal, discretion.

Cingo (cinct-um), I gird; cincture, succinct.

Cito, I rouse; excite, citation.

Civis, a citizen; civic, civil, city.

Clamo, I shout; clamour, proclamation, reclaim.

Clarus, clear; clarify, declare, clarion.

Claudo (claus-um), I shut; close, exclude, seclusion.

Clivus, a slope; declivity.

Colo (cult-um), I till; cultivate, arboriculture.

Copia, plenty; copious, cornucopia.

Coquo (coct-um), I boil; decoction, biscuit.

Cor (cord-is), the heart; courage, cordial, discord.

Corpus (corpor-is), the body; corpse, corps, incorporate.

Credo, I believe; credibility, credence, miscreant.

Creo, I create; create, creation, creature, recreation.

Cresco (cret-um), I grow; crescent, increment.

Crimen, a charge; crime, criminate.

Crux (cruc-is), a cross; crucial, crucifix.

Cubo, I lie down; incubate, recumbent.

Culpa, a fault; culpable, exculpate, culprit.

Cura, care; sinecure, curate, secure, accurate.

Curro (curs-um), I run; cursory, course, recur, occur.

Decem, ten; decimal, December.

Dens (dent-is), a tooth; dentist, dental, indent.

Deus, a god; deity, deify, divine.

Dexter, right hand; dexterous.

Dico (dict-um), I say; verdict, dictation, dictionary, indictment.

Dies, a day; diary, meridian.

Dignus, worthy; dignity, indignant.

Do (dat-um), I give; donor, add [= ad-do, I give to], data.

Doceo (doct-um), I teach; docile, doctor.

Dominus, a lord; dominant, dominion, dame.

Domus, a house; domicile, domestic.

Dormio, I sleep; dormitory, dormant.

Duco (duct-um), I lead; induct, education, duke, produce.

Duo, two; dual, duel, (double), duplex.

Durus, hard; durable, obdurate, duration.

Emo (empt-um), I buy; redeem, exemption.

Eo (it-um), I go; exit, transit, circuit, ambition.

Equus, a horse; equine, equestrian.

Erro, I wander; error, aberration.

Esse, to be; essential, essence.

Facies, the face; facial, facet, superficial.

Facilis, easy; facile, facility, difficult.

Facio (fact-um), I make; manufacture, factor, faction.

Fallo (fals-um), I deceive; false, infallible, fallacious.

Fama, a report; fame, defame, infamy.

Fans (fant-is), speaking; infant [= a non-speaker].

Felix (felīc-is), happy; felicity, infelicity.

Fero, I bear or carry; infer, reference, difference.

Ferrum, iron; ferruginous.

Ferveo, I boil; fervent, effervesce, ferment.

Fido, I trust; confide, infidel, perfidy, diffident.

Filius, a son; filial, affiliation.

Filum, a thread; file, defile, profile.

Finis, an end; final, infinite, confine.

Firmus, firm; infirm, affirm.

Flecto, I bend; flexible, inflection.

Flos (flōr-is), a flower; floral, Flora, floriculture.

Fluo (fluct-um), I flow; fluent, flux, refluent, fluid.

Forma, a form; form, formal, reform, conformity.

Fortis, strong; fortify, fortitude, fortress.

Frango (fract-um), I break; fragile, fragmentary, infraction.

Frater, a brother; fraternal, fratricide.

Frons (front-is), the forehead; frontispiece, frontal, frontier.

Fruor (fruct-us), I enjoy; fruit, fructify, fruition.

Fugio, I flee; fugitive, refugee, subterfuge.

Fundo (fus-um), I pour; fusible, diffusion, foundry.

Fundus, the bottom; foundation, profound.

Furor, madness; furious, fury.

Gelu, frost; gelid, jelly, congeal.

Gens (gent-is), a nation; gentile, genteel, gentle, congenial.

Genus (genĕr-is), a kind; general, genus.

Gero (gest-um), I bear or carry; gesture, suggestion.

Gradior (gress-us), I go; gradus, a step; degrade, progress, degree.

Grandis, great; grand, aggrandise.

Gratia, favour; gratiæ, thanks; gratitude, ingratiate, gratis.

Gravis, heavy; gravitate, gravity, (grief).

Grex (greg-is), a flock; gregarious, egregious.

Habeo, I have; habit, able, exhibit, prohibition.

Hæreo (hæs-um), I stick; adhere, cohesion.

Homo, a man; homicide, human.

Hospes (hospit-is), a guest; hospital, hostel, hotel.

Hostis, an enemy; host, hostile.

Humus, the ground; posthumous, exhume.

Ignis, fire; ignite, igneous.

Impero, I command; imperial, emperor, empire.

Insula, an island; isle, insular, peninsula, insulate.[Island is not connected with this root. It was in older English spelled iland.]

Iter (itiner-is), a journey; itinerant.

Jacio (jact-um), I throw; adjective, project, injection.

Judex (judĭc-is); (adjudge), judicial.

Jungo (junct-um), I join; junction, conjoin, juncture.

Jus (jur-is), law, right; justice, jurisdiction, jury.

Labor (laps-us), I glide; lapse, collapse.

Lædo (læs-um), I injure; collision, lesion.

Lapis (lapĭd-is), a stone; lapidary.

Latus, broad; latitude.

Laus (laud-is), praise; laud, laudable.

Lego (lect-um), I gather or read; college, collect, prelection, lecture.

Lĕvis, light; levity, alleviate, relief.

Lex (lēg-is), law; legal, legislate.

Liber, free; liberal, liberty.

Libra, a balance; deliberate.

Ligo, I bind; ligament, religion.

Limes (limit-is), a boundary; limit.

Linquo (lict-um), I leave; relinquish, relict, relics.

Litera, a letter; literature, literary, letters, obliterate.

Locus, a place; location, dislocate.

Longus, long; elongate, longitude.

Loquor (locūt-us), I speak; loquacious, eloquent, elocution.

Ludo (lus-um), I play; ludicrous, allusion.

Lumen (lumin-is), light; illuminate, luminous.

Luna, the moon; Luna, sublunary, lunacy.

Luo, I wash; ablution, dilute.

Lux (luc-is), light; lucid, pellucid.

Magister, a master; magistrate, master.

Magnus, great; magnificent, magniloquent, magnify.

Malus, bad; malady, malice, maltreat.

Maneo (mans-um), I remain; mansion, permanent.

Manus, the hand; manufacture, manual, manuscript.

Mare, the sea; marine, mariner.

Mater, a mother; maternal, matricide.

Maturus, ripe; mature, maturity.

Medeor, I heal; medicine, remedy.

Medius, the middle; medial, immediate, Mediterranean.

Memini, I remember; memor, mindful; memorable, commemorate, memento, immemorial.

Mens (ment-is), the mind; mental, comment.

Mereo (merit-um), I deserve; merit, meretricious.

Mergo (mers-um), I dip; submerge, immersion.

Merx (merc-is), goods; merchant, commerce, mercantile.

Miles (milĭt-is), a soldier; military, militant, militia.

Mille, a thousand; mile, million.

Miror, I admire; admire, miracle, mirage.

Misceo, I mix; miscellaneous, promiscuous.

Mitto (miss-um), I send; mission, missile, remittance.

Mŏdus, a measure; modify, mood, accommodate.

Mollis, soft; mollify, emollient.

Moneo (monĭt-um), I advise; admonition, monitor.

Mons (mont-is), a mountain; mountain, promontory.

Monstro, I point out; demonstrate.

Mors (mort-is), death; mortify, mortal.

Moveo (mot-um), I move; motion, movable, move.

Multus, many; multiplex, multitude.

Munus (munĕr-is), a gift; remunerate, munificent.

Muto, I change; mutable, immutable, transmute.

Nascor (nat-us), to be born; nascent, natal, nativity.

Navis, a ship; navigate, naval, navy.

Necto (nex-us), I tie; connect, nexus, annex.

Nego, I deny; negative, negation.

Noceo, I hurt; noxious, innocuous, innocent.

Nomen (nomĭn-is), a name; nominal, nomination, cognomen.

Nosco (not-um), I know or mark; note, notation.

Novus, new; novel, novitiate, innovation.

Nox (noct-is), night; nocturnal, equinoctial.

Nudus, naked; nude, denudation.

Numero, I number; enumerate, numeration.

Nuntio, I announce; nuncio, annunciation, pronounce.

Nutrio, I nourish; nutriment, nurse.

Octo, eight; octave, octagon, October.

Oculus, the eye; oculist.

Odor, smell; odour, redolent.

Omnis, all; omnipotent, omniscient.

Onus (onĕr-is), a burden; onerous.

Opus (opĕr-is), a work; operate, operation.

Ordo (ordĭn-is), order; ordinal, ordinary.

Oro, I pray; oration, inexorable, peroration.

Os (ōr-is), the mouth; oral, adore.

Os (Oss-is), bone; ossify, ossification.

Pando (pans-um or pass-um), I spread; expand, expanse, compass.

Pango (pact-um), I fix; compact, impinge.

Panis, bread; pantry, pannier, company.

Par, equal; (pair), par, parity.

Pareo, I appear; apparent, apparition.

Paro (parat-um), I prepare; prepare, repair, apparatus.

Pars (part-is), a part; partition, particle.

Pasco (past-um), I feed; repast, pastor.

Pater, a father; paternal, patricide.

Patior (pass-us), I suffer; impatient, passion.

Pauper, poor; pauper, poverty.

Pax (pāc-is), peace; pacify, pacific.

Pello (puls-um), I drive; repel, expel, expulsion.

Pendeo (pens-um), I hang; dependent, suspend.

Pendo, I weigh out, hence, I pay; expend, recompense.

Pes (pĕd-is), the foot; impede, pedestrian, biped.

Peto (petīt-um), I seek; petition, petulant.

Pingo (pict-um), I paint; picture, pigment.

Placeo, I please; placid, complacent.

Planus, level; plane, plain, plan.

Plaudo (plaus-um), I clap the hands; applause, (explode).

Plecto (plex-um), I weave; complex, perplex.

Pleo (plēt-um), I fill; complete, completion, repletion.

Plĭco, I fold; complicate, reply.

Plus (plūr-is), more; plurality, surplus.

Pœna, punishment; penalty, repent.

Pondus (pondĕr-is), weight; ponderous, pound.

Pono (posĭt-um), I place; disposition, exposition, imposition.

Pons (pont-is), a bridge; pontiff, transpontine.

Popŭlus, the people; populace, popular.

Porto, I carry; export, deportation, report.

Possum, I am able; potens, able; possible, potency, potentate, impotent.

Poto, I drink; potion, poison, potable.

Prĕcor, I pray; precarious, imprecation.

Prehendo, I take; apprehend, comprehension, apprentice.

Premo (press-um), I press; compress, print.

Pretium, a price; precious, appreciate, prize.

Primus, first; prime, primitive, primrose.

Prīvo, I separate; deprive, privateer, private.

Probo, I try or prove; probable, prove, reproof.

Proprius, one’s own; property, appropriation.

Pugna, a fight; pugnacious, repugnant.

Pungo (punct-um), I prick; pungent, poignant, punctual.

Puto, I cut or think; amputate, compute, reputation.

Quæro (quæsīt-um), I seek; quest, inquiry, inquisition.

Quatuor, four; quadrilateral, square, quarry, quart, quadrant.

Quies (quiēt-is), rest; acquiesce, quiet, requite.

Radius, a ray; radiant, irradiate, (ray).

Radix (radic-is), a root; radical, eradicate.

Rapio (rapt-um), I seize; rapture, rapine, surreptitious.

Ratio, reason; rational, ration, reason.

Rego (rect-um), I rule; regiment, regal, regulate, rector, rectify.

Res (re-i), a thing; real, reality, republican.

Rex (reg-is), a king; regal, interregnum, royal.

Rideo (rīs-um), I laugh; deride, derision.

Rivus, a brook; river, rival.

Rodo (ros-um), I gnaw; erosion, corrode.

Rogo, I ask; derogatory, interrogation, arrogate.

Rota, a wheel; rote, rotation, rotund, round.

Rumpo (rupt-um), I break; rupture, disruption, irruption, eruption.

Rus (rūr-is), the country; rural, rustic.

Sacer, sacred; desecrate, sacrilege.

Sal, salt; saline, salary [= salt-money].

Salio (salt-um), I leap; sally, assail, assault, insult, salmon [= the leaping fish], salient.

Salus (salūt-is), health; salvus, safe; salutary, salubrious, salvation.

Sanctus, holy; sanctify, saint

Sanguis (sanguin-is), blood; sanguinary.

Sano (sanāt-um), I cure; sanitary, sane, insane.

Sapio, I taste or am wise; sapient, insipid, savour.

Scando (scans-um), I climb; scala, a ladder; scan, scale, ascension, descend.

Scio, I know; science, scientific, conscience, omniscient.

Scribo (script-um), I write; scribe, scripture, manuscript, describe.

Seco (sect-um), I cut; dissect, insect, segment, section.

Sedeo (sess-um), I set; sediment, subside, residence.

Senex, an old man; senile, senior, senate, senator.

Sentio (sens-us), I feel or perceive; sense, sentimental.

Septem, seven; septennial, September.

Sequor (secūt-us), I follow; sequel, consecutive, consequent.

Servio, I serve; servant, service, servitor.

Servo, I preserve; reserve, conservative, conservatory.

Signum, a mark; sign, signify, designation.

Simĭlis, like; dissimilar, similitude, resemble, dissemble.

Sisto, I stop; insist, consistency.

Solus, alone; solitary, sole.

Solvo (solūt-um), I loose; absolute, resolve, solution, resolution.

Somnus, sleep; somnolent, somnambulist.

Specio (spect-um) I see; aspect, retrospect, specious.

Spero, I hope; despair, desperate.

Spiro, I breathe; spiral, aspire, inspiration, conspiracy.

Spondeo (spons-um), I promise; respond, sponsor, (spouse).

Statuo, I set up; sto (stat-um), to stand; statute, statue, institute, restitution, extant, substance.

Stella, a star; stellar, constellation.

Stringo (strict-um), I bind; stringent, stricture, constrain.

Struo (struct-um), I build; structure, (construe, destroy), destruction.

Suadeo (suas-um), I persuade; persuasion, dissuade.

Sumo (sumpt-um), I take; resume, consumption.

Surgo (surrect-um), I arise; insurgent, resurrection.

Taceo, I am silent; tacit, taciturn.

Tango (tact-um), I touch; intangible, contact, contagious.

Tego (tect-um), I cover; integument, detect.

Tempus (tempŏr-is), time; temporal, tense.

Tendo (tens-um), I stretch; extend, intension, tent, tense.

Teneo (tent-um), I hold; contain, tenacious, retentive.

Terminus, an end or boundary; term, terminus, determine.

Tero (trīt-um), I rub; contrition, trite, detritus.

Terra, the earth; subterranean, Mediterranean.

Terreo, I frighten; terror, terrify.

Testis, a witness; testator, testify, contest.

Texo (text-um), I weave; texture, context, textile.

Timeo, I fear; timid, intimidation.

Tono, I thunder; astonish, detonate.

Torqueo (tort-um), I twist; torture, torsion.

Traho (tract-um), I draw; contractile.

Tribuo, I give; tribute, contribution.

Tribus, a tribe; tribe, tribune, tribunal.

Trudo (trus-um), I thrust; extrusion, intrude.

Turba, a crowd; turbid, turbulent.

Umbra, a shadow; umbrage, adumbration.

Unda, a wave; undulate, inundation.

Unguo (unct-um), I anoint; unguent, unctuous, ointment.

Unus, one; unity, union.

Urbs, a city; urban, suburb.

Utor (us-us), I use; use, utensil, usury.

Vacca, a cow; vaccinate.

Valeo, I am strong; valour, valiant, prevail.

Vanus, empty; vain, vanish, vanity.

Vas (vās-is), a vessel; vase, vascular, vessel.

Veho (vect-um), I carry; vehicle, convey.

Vello (vuls-um), I pluck; convulsion.

Venio (vent-um), I come; venture, advent.

Ver, the spring; verdant, vernal, verdure.

Verbum, a word; verb, verbal, verbose, proverb.

Verto (vers-um), I turn; controvert, aversion.

Verus, true; verdict, veracious, verity.

Vestis, a garment; invest, vesture.

Vetus (vetĕr-is), old; veteran.

Via, a way; deviate, previous.

Video (vĭs-um), I see; vision, provident.

Vinco (vict-um), I overcome; victor, victory, convince.

Vir, a man; virtue, virile.

Vita, life; vital, vitality.

Vitium, a fault; vitiate, vicious, vice.

Vivo (vict-um), I live; survive, victuals.

Voco, I call; vox (vōc-is), the voice; voice, convocation, revoke, vociferate.

Volo, I fly; volatile, volley.

Volo, I wish; involuntary, volition, benevolence, malevolence.

Volvo (volūt-um), I roll; involution, evolve, volume.

Voveo (vot-um), I vow; vow, devote.

Vulgus, the common people; vulgar, divulge.

Vulnus (vulnĕr-is), a wound; vulnerable.

9. GREEK ROOTS.

Ago, I lead; pedagogue, synagogue.

Agōn, a contest; agony, antagonist.

Allos, another; allopathy, allegory.

Anggelos, a messenger; angel, evangelist.

Anthrōpos, a man; misanthrope, philanthropy.

Archo, I begin or rule; monarch, archaic [= early]; archbishop, archdeacon.

Arctos, a bear; Arctic, Antarctic, Arcturus.

Arithmos, number; arithmetic.

Aster or astron, a star; astronomy, astrology, asteroid, disaster.

Atmos, vapour; atmosphere.

Autos, self; autocrat, autograph.

Ballo, I throw; symbol.

Bapto, I dip; baptise, baptist.

Baros, weight; barometer.

Biblos, a book; Bible, bibliomania.

Bios, life; biography, biology.

Cheir, the hand; surgeon [older form, chirurgeon].

Chrio, I anoint; Christ, chrism.

Cholē, bile; melancholy.

Chronos, time; chronology, chronic, chronicle.

Daktŭlos, a finger; dactyl, pterodactyl, date—the fruit

Deka, ten; decagon, decalogue.

Dēmos, the people; democrat, endemic, epidemic.

Dokeo, to think; doxa and dogma, an opinion; doxology, orthodox, heterodox, dogma, dogmatic.

Drao, I do; drama, dramatic.

Dunămis, power; dynamics.

Eidos, form; kaleidoscope.

Eikon, an image: iconoclast.

Electron, amber; electricity.

Ergon, a work; surgeon [= chirurgeon], energy.

Eu, well; eucharist, euphony, evangelist.

Gamos, marriage; bigamy, monogamist, misogamy.

, the earth; geography, geometry, geology.

Gennao, I produce; genesis, genealogy, hydrogen, oxygen.

Grapho, I write; gramma, a letter; graphic, grammar, telegraph, biography, diagram.

Haima, blood; hæmorrhage, hæmorrhoid.

Haireo, I take away; heresy, heretic.

Helios, the sun; helioscope, heliotype.

Hemi, half; hemisphere.

Hieros, sacred; hierarchy, hieroglyphic.

Hippos, a horse; hippopotamus, hippodrome.

Hŏdos, a way; method, period, exodus.

Hŏmos, the same; homœopathy, homogeneous.

Hudor, water; hydraulic, hydrophobia.

Ichthus, a fish; ichthyology.

Idios, one’s own; idiom, idiot, idiosyncrasy.

Isos, equal; isochronous, isobaric (of equal weight).

Kalos, beautiful; caligraphy, calotype.

Kephalē, the head; hydrocephalus.

Klino, I bend; climax, climate.

Kosmos, order; cosmogony, cosmography, cosmetic.

Krino, I judge; critic, criterion, hypocrite.

Kuklos, a circle; cycle, cycloid, cyclone.

Kuon, a dog; cynic, cynicism.

Lĕgo, I say or choose; eclectic, lexicon.

Lithos, a stone; lithograph, aerolite.

Lŏgos, a word, speech; logic, dialogue, geology.

Luo, I loosen; dialysis, analysis.

Metron, a measure; metronome, diameter, thermometer, barometer.

Mŏnos, alone; monastery, monogram, monosyllable.

Morphē, shape; amorphous, dimorphous, metamorphic.

Naus, a ship; nautical.

Nekros, a dead body; necropolis, necromancy.

Nŏmos, a law; autonomous, astronomy, Deuteronomy.

Oikos, a house; economy, economical.

Onŏma, a name; anonymous, synonymous, patronymic.

Optŏmai, I see; optics, synoptical.

Orthos, right; orthodoxy, orthography.

Pais (paid-os), a boy; pedagogue [lit. a boy-leader].

Pan, all; pantheist, panoply, pantomime.

Pathos, feeling; pathetic, sympathy.

Pente, five; pentagon, pentateuch, Pentecost.

Phainŏmai, I appear; phantasy, phantom, fantastic, fancy.

Phero, I bear; periphery, phosphorus [= the light-bearer].

Phileo, I love; philosophy, Philadelphia.

Phōs (phōt-os), light; photometer, photograph.

Phusis, nature; physics, physiology, physician.

Planao, I cause to wander; planet.

Poieo, I make; poet, poetic, pharmacopœia.

Polis, a city; Constantinople, metropolis.

Polus, many; polytheist, Polynesia, polyanthus.

Pous (pŏd-os), a foot; antipodes.

Pur, fire; pyrotechnic, pyre.

Rheo, I flow; rhetoric, catarrh, rheumatic.

Skŏpeo, I see; microscope, telescope, spectroscope, bishop [from episkopos, an overseer].

Sophia, wisdom; sophist, philosophy.

Stello, I send; apostle, epistle.

Stratos, an army; strategy, strategic.

Strĕpho, I turn; catastrophe.

Technē, an art; technical.

Tĕlē, distant; telegraph, telescope, telephone, telegram.

Temno, I cut; anatomy, lithotomy.

Tetra, four; tetrachord, tetrarch.

Theāomai, I see, behold; theatre, theory.

Theos, a god; theist, enthusiast, theology.

Thermē, heat; thermal, thermometer, isotherm.

Tithēmi, I place; thēsis, a placing; synthesis, hypothesis.

Treis, three; triangle, trigonometry, trilobite.

Trĕpo, I turn; trophy, tropic.

Tupos, the impress of a seal; type, stereotype.

Zōon, an animal; zoology, zodiac.

10. THE BRANCHING OF WORDS FROM LATIN STEMS.

Ag-o (act-um), I do.Act, that which is done; active, engaged in doing; action, a doing; enact, to make an act, to establish as law; enactment; transaction, the doing of a thing thoroughly; react, to do again.

Apt-us, fitted.Apt, fit: aptitude, fitness; adapt, to fit to; adaptability, capability of being fitted to; adaptation, a fitting to; adept, one who is fitted for doing things.

Ced-o, I go.Accede, to go to, hence to agree to; access, a going to, hence an approach or entrance; accessory, going to or aiding; concede, to go away from, to give up; concession, the act of giving up; exceed, to go out of; excess, that which goes out or beyond; excessive, going beyond; intercede, to go in between, hence to act as a peacemaker; intercessory, going in between; precede, to go before; procession, a going forth, or that which goes forth; recede, to go back; recess, a space which goes back; succeed, to come from under, hence to follow in order; success, the act of succeeding; successor, one who follows; successively, following in order.

Cor (cord-is), the heart.Cordial, hearty; cordiality, heartiness; concord, state of being of the same heart, harmony; discord, want of heart or agreement; discordant; record, to call back to the heart or mind; recorder, one who keeps records or registers; courage (through Fr.) , heart—that is, bravery; encourage, to put heart in; discourage, to take heart from; discouragement

Cur-a, care.Cure (verb and noun); curable, that may be cured; cureless, without cure; curate, one who has the cure (or care) of souls; curator, one who has care of anything; curative, tending to cure; curious, full of care, anxious; curiosity; accurate, done with care, hence without error; procure, to take care of; procurator, one who takes care of; secure, free from care; security, state of being free from care; sinecure, an office without care.

Curr-o, I run.Current, that which runs; currency, a running, the money which runs in a country; concur, to run together, hence to agree; incur, to run into; occur, to run in the way of; recur, to run back; course (through Fr.) , the track on which anything runs; courser, a runner; recourse, a running back, a going to for aid; intercourse, a running between; precursor, one who runs before; courier (Fr.) , one who runs; corridor (Spanish), a passage or gallery running along.

Do (dat-um, what is given), I give.Add, to give to; addition, act of giving to; condition, state in which things are put together, or exist; conditionally; edit, to give forth or out; edition, what is given out; editor, one who gives out; date, the time given in a letter.

Duc-o, I lead.Duke, a leader; ducal, pertaining to a leader; ductile, that which may be led or drawn out; ductility, the quality of being ductile; educate, to lead out; education; conduct (verb and noun), to lead together; induce, to lead into; produce, to lead forth; reduce, to lead back; seduce, to lead out of the right path.

Dur-us, hard.During, lasting (but now used as a preposition); dure, to last; duration; durable; durability; durableness; endure, to be hard, firm, or lasting; obdurate, hardened against.

Fac-io, I do, or I make.Fact, a deed; factor, a maker; affect, to act upon; affection; affected; affectation, acting upon one’s self; defect, a want; effect, something thoroughly done; effective; perfect, to make thoroughly; perfection, state of being thoroughly made; imperfect, not thoroughly made.

Fer-o, I carry.Confer, to come together for council; conference; defer, to bear one’s self down or yield to the wishes of another; deference; differ, to carry asunder, hence to disagree; different; differently; difference; offer, to carry in the way of; prefer, to carry before, hence to esteem more than another; preference; refer, to carry back; suffer, to bear up, hence to undergo; transfer, to carry across.

Firm-us, strong.Firm, strong; firmness; firmly; confirm, to make more strong; confirmation; affirm, to declare strongly; infirm, not strong; infirmity, state of being infirm, hence disease; infirmary, a place for the infirm; firmament, that which is firm, the place supposed to be fixed above the earth.

Form-a, shape.Form, shape; formal, according to form; informal, not according to form; formality; formally; formative, giving form; formula, a little form; conform, to make of the same form with; deform, to alter or injure the form of; inform, to put into form or shape, educate, instruct; information; misinform, to give wrong knowledge to; perform, to form thoroughly; reform, to form again; reformation; transform, to change the form of.

Grati-a, favour.Grace (through Fr.) ; graceful, full of the power to win favour; gracefulness; gracefully; gracious, full of grace; disgrace, state of being out of grace or favour; grateful, thankful for favour; ingratitude; ingrate, an ungrateful person; gratify, to please; gratuitous, by favour and without price; gratitude; agree (Fr.) .

Habe-o, I have.Habit, the having one’s self in a certain condition; habitual; habitable, that may be inhabited; habitat, the place which a plant or an animal inhabits; habitation, place where one dwells or inhabits; exhibit, to hold out to view; inhibit, to hold in or keep back; inhibition; inhabit, to be in the habit of living in; prohibit, to hold before one, hence to check.

Jac-io (jact-um), I throw.Eject, to throw out; ejectment, a throwing out; ejection, the act of throwing out; ejaculate, to throw out (a sound); ejaculation; abject, thrown down; adjective, that which is thrown to or added to; conjecture, a throwing together of chances, or a guess; deject, to throw down; inject, to throw into; interjection, a throwing into the middle of; project (verb and noun), to throw forward; subject (verb and noun), to throw under; reject, to throw back.

Jung-o (junct-us, joined), I join.Join (through Fr.) ; joint, a place where things are joined; joiner, one who joins; juncture, a joining; conjoin (Fr.) , to join together; conjuncture, a joining together; disjoin (Fr.) , to separate; adjunct, something joined to; conjunction, that which joins together.

Leg-o (lect-um), I gather or read.Collect’, to gather together; col’-lect, what is gathered together; collection; collector; elect, to gather out from; election; elector; select, to choose apart, to pick out; legend, that which should be read; legible, that which may be read.

Mitt-o (miss-um), I send.Admit; commit, to send together with, to intrust to; commitment, a sending together; commission, a sending with authority; emit, to send out; emission, a sending out; omit, to send away, to leave out; omission, the act of leaving out; permit; permission; remit, to send back; transmit, to send through.

Norm-a, a rule.Normal, according to rule; normally; enormous, great, beyond rule; enormity; abnormal, away from rule.

Nosc-o (not-um), I know or mark.Note, something by which a thing may be known, hence a mark; noted, known; notable, deserving to be known; noble (Fr.) ; notify, to make known; notorious, too well known; notice, a warning to know; noticeable, likely to be observed or known.

Ord-o (ordin-is), arrangement.Order; ordain, to arrange or put in order; ordinal, that which shows arrangement; ordination, the act of arranging; ordinary, according to the common arrangement; extraordinary, out of the common arrangement; disorder, want of arrangement; orderly, properly arranged.

Pars (part-is), a part.Part; particle, a small part; tripartite, divided into three parts; partition, that which divides into parts; partial, relating to a part only; apart, parted from; depart, to part from; impart, to give part to.

Pell-o (puls-um), I drive.Compel, to drive together; compulsion, the act of driving together; dispel, to drive asunder; expel, to drive out; expulsion; impel, to drive forward (or into); impulse; propel, to drive forward; repel, to drive back; repulse

Pend-o (pens-um), I hang.Append, to hang to; appendage, something hung on to; depend, to hang down from; dependant, one who hangs from another; independent, not hanging from another; independence, the state of not hanging from another; pendant, that which hangs; suspend, to hang under; suspense, state of hanging [under].

Pon-o (posit-um), I place.Post, something placed, and hence the place in which it stands; position, state of being placed, hence place; composition, a placing together; opposition, a placing in the way of; proposition, a placing before.

Port-o, I carry.Porter, one who carries; export, to carry out of a country; import, to carry into a country; report, to carry back, to repeat; report, what is carried back or repeated; reporter; support, to bear up from under; transport, to carry across; transportation

Prem-o (press-um), I press.Press; compress, to press together; compression, the act of pressing together; depress, to press down; express, to press out, hence to utter or say; impress’, to press into (as of a seal); im’press, the mark left by anything impressed; repress, to press back; suppress, to press under.

Rect-us, right.Rectify, to make right; rectitude, state of being right; correct, to put right; corrector; correction, a putting right.

Reg-o (rect-um), I rule.Regal, pertaining to a king or ruler; rector, one who rules (in the church); rectory, the house in which the rector lives.

Rump-o (rupt-um), I break.Abrupt, broken off; rupture, a breaking; corrupt, to break thoroughly, to break in pieces; corrupt (adj.) broken in pieces; corruptible, that which may be corrupted; irruption, a breaking into; eruption, a breaking out; disruption, a breaking asunder.

Scrib-o (script-um), I write.Scribe, one who writes; describe, to write down; inscribe, to write upon; inscription; subscribe, to write under; subscription; scripture, that which is written.

Sed-eo (sess-um), I sit.Sedentary, in the habit of sitting; preside, to sit before others, hence to be in authority; assiduous, sitting close to (work); subside, to sit under, hence to settle; session, a sitting.

Serv-o (servat-um), I keep.Conserve, to keep together; conservatory, a place for keeping things together; observe, to keep in the way of (the eyes), hence to keep in view; observatory, a place for observing (the stars); reserve, to keep back; reserve, what is kept back.

Spec-io (spect-um), I look.Aspect, look; spectator, one who looks at; speculum, a looking-glass; suspicion, a looking under.

Statu-o (statut-um), I set up.Statue, something set up; statute, a law set up.

Tang-o (tact-um), I touch.Tangent, a line which touches; tangible, which may be touched; tactile, that which can touch; contact, touching; tact, the art of knowing as it were by mere touch.

Tend-o (tent-um or tens-um), I stretch.Distend, to stretch asunder; extend, to stretch out; extent, the amount a thing stretches; tense, stretched; tent, something which is stretched.

Ten-eo (tent-um), I hold.Tenant, one who holds (a house or land); tenacious, holding much or firmly; contain, to hold together; detain, to hold down, hence to hinder; retain, to hold back; retentive, holding back or keeping.

Trah-o (tract-um), I draw.Attract, to draw to; contract, to draw together; traction, the act of drawing; subtract, to draw from under, hence to take away; subtrahend, that which has to be taken away; contraction, a drawing together.

Ut-or (us-us), I use.Use; abuse, to use away from its proper purpose; peruse, to use thoroughly, hence to read through; usury, money paid for the use of money; utensil, something to be used; utility, usefulness.

Veh-o (vect-um), I carry.Vehicle, that in which goods are carried; convey, to carry together; conveyance, that in which goods are carried together.

Ven-io (vent-um), I come.Convene, originally to come together, afterwards to summon; convention; advent, a coming to; intervene, to come in between; contravene, to come against, hence to oppose; circumvent, to come round; intervention, the act of coming in between.

Vert-o (vers-um), I turn.Convert, to turn together; conversion, the act of turning together; advert, to turn towards; divorce, to turn asunder; invert, to turn into; inversion, the act of turning into; reverse, to turn back; verse, a kind of composition in which the writer turns back from the end of the line.

Vid-eo (vis-um), I see.Visitor, one who sees; vision, what is seen; visual, pertaining to seeing; visible, what may be seen; provide, to see before; providence, a seeing beforehand; prudence (Fr.) , another form of providence

Voc-o (vocat-um), I call.Convoke, to call together; convocation, a meeting which has been called together; revoke, to call back; vocal, calling—that is, having a voice; voice, that by which one calls; vociferate

Volv-o (volut-um), I roll.Convolution, a rolling together; revolve, to roll round; involve, to roll into.

11. THE BRANCHING OF WORDS FROM ENGLISH STEMS.

Bac-an, to bake.Bake; baker; baxter (bakester), a woman who bakes; batch, what is baked.

Beat-an, to strike.Bat, an instrument to strike a ball with; beetle, an instrument to beat clothes with.

Ber-an, to carry.Bearer; burden; barrow, that on which something is borne; bier, that on which a corpse is borne; forbear, to bear forth or off, hence to abstain; overbear, to bear over, to overpower.

Brec-an, to break.Break, an instrument for breaking the speed of a train; breach, a break in a wall; brook, a stream which breaks from the ground.

Brinn-an, to burn.Burn; brown is the burnt colour; brand, a mark made by burning; brandy, a drink made by burning wine; brunt, the burning or hottest part of a fight; brimstone, burning stone (a name for sulphur); brindled, striped with brown; bran new [=brand new].

Drag-an, to pull.Drag; draw, another form of drag; dray, a kind of cart which is drawn along; draught, what is drawn; draft, a cheque drawn on a banker; drain, a ditch for drawing off water; drawl, to keep drawing out one’s words.

Far-an, to go.Far, that which requires much going to reach; farewell, go well! fieldfare, a bird which goes in the fields; thoroughfare, a place where people go through; ford, a place in a river where one can go across on foot; ferry, a place in a river where one can go over in a boat; fare, the money paid for going.

Hæl, sound.Hale; heal, to make hale; health, state of being sound or hale; healthy; healthful; holy, spiritually hale; hail, be hale! or be healthy! whole, in a state of being hale (the w is intrusive); wholesome, what tends to make hale.

Lig, lie.Lie, to lie down; lay, to make to lie; lair, the place where a wild beast lies; law, what lies or is in due order; low, what is (lying) down.

Maw-an, to mow.Mower; math, the grass that is mowed; aftermath, the grass that is mowed after the first crop; mead, a place where grass is mowed; meadow, a small mead.

Met-an, to meet.Mote, a meeting (an old word now found only in wardmote and folkmote); meet

Reaf-ian, to take away.Reave; bereave; reef, what is taken in in a sail; rifle, to plunder or take away; robber, a person who takes away what does not belong to him.

Sceot-an, to throw.Shoot, to throw out (by means of a gun or otherwise); shut, to throw to (the door); shoot, a branch thrown out by a tree; shot, what is thrown out (by a gun or otherwise); shout, to throw out of the mouth; shuttle, an instrument thrown by a weaver; sheet, what is thrown over (a bed); shutter, what is thrown to, to guard a window.

Sit-an, to sit.Sit; set, to make to sit; beset, to set about; onset, a setting on; overset, to turn over; upset; setter, a kind of dog; settle, a kind of seat; settle, to set or fix; settler; settlement; seat, the place where one sits.

Treow-an, believe.Trow, to believe; true, what should be believed; truth; truthful; truthfully; truism; trust; intrust; trustee; trusty; trustworthy; troth

Wac-an, to wake.Wake; awake; awaken; wakeful; wakefulness; watch; watchful; watchfulness

CHAPTER VI.

Prefixes and Suffixes.

PREFIXES.

1. ENGLISH (OR TEUTONIC).

A (a broken-down form of the A. S. preposition on), at, to, on, in, etc.; astern, abed, aboard, afield, afoot, ashore, alive, aweary.

After; afternoon, afterthought, aftermath, aftercrop.

At; atone (to bring together into one); ado (= at-do); twit (= at-wit).

Be, used both with nouns and with verbs—behalf, behoof, behest, bequest; betake, begin, become, bespatter, bedim, besprinkle, behead.

Down; downfall, downstroke, downcast.

For, not; forbid, forsake (not to seek), forget, forgo (wrongly spelled forego); or utterly; as, forlorn, fordone.

Fore, before; foretell, forefather, foresee, forebode, forecast, forenoon.

Gain, against; gainsay, gainstay (gainstand).

In, im, en, em; income, inlet, insight, inlay, inborn, inbred, into, ingraft, inlay, infold, imbed, endear, enthral, engrave, embower.

Mis, wrong; mislead, mistrust, misdeed, mishap, mistake.

Mid, in the middle of; midmost, midnight, midsummer, midday.

Off, from; offshoot, offset, offspring, offal (= off-fall), offhand.

Out; outset, outstrip, outvie, outrun, outdo.

Over; overwise, overfed, overmuch, overcoat, overhand, overseer, oversight.

Through, thorough; thoroughfare, throughout, thoroughbred, thoroughgoing.

To, this; to-day, to-night, to-morrow.

Un, (1) not; unclean, unwise, untrue, unbelief, unrest: or (2) back; undo, untie, unlock, unfold, unbind, unloose.

Under; undergrowth, underbred, underhand, undersell, underwood.

Up; uproar, upland, upstart, upset, upbear, upbraid, upright.

Wel, well; welfare, welcome, well-born, well-bred, well-trained.

With, against; withstand, withdraw (drawing-room = withdrawing-room), withhold.

2. LATIN.

Ab (a, abs), from or away; averse, avert, aversion, abdicate, abstract, abstain, abjure, abate, abound, abuse, abduction.

Ad (ac, af, ag, al, am, an, ap, ar, as, at, a), to: adore, advise, accord, annex, accuse, accede, allude, allusion, announce, appear, assent, attend, aspire, affirm, affix, aggrieve, annul, ammunition, apparent, arrive, assume, assault, assumption, attend, attentive, attention, assimilate, attain, ascribe, avow.

Am (amb), round; ambient, amputate, ambition, ambiguous.

Ante (anti), before; antedate, antenuptial, antenatal, antechamber, antediluvian, anticipate.

Circum (circu), round; circumlocution, circumnavigate, circuit, circumvent, circuitous, circulate, circumference.

Con (col, com, cor, co), together with; consonant, connect, contend, conduct, compact, compound, commend, collision, collect, correct, corrupt, co-heir, coerce.

Contra (contro, counter), against; contradict, contravene, controversy, controvert, contraband, counterfeit.

De, down or from; denote, describe, depart, descent, devise, demure.

Dis (dif, di); disjoin, difficult, diffuse, divide, differ, dilute, dissent.

Ex (ef, e), out of; extort, exhume, efface, educe, extrude, extol, effect, education.

Extra, beyond; extraordinary, extravagant, extraneous.

In (il, im, ir, em, en), into; invade, incite, induce, illusion, illude, improve, impulse, impel, irruption, embrace, endure, encourage, embroil, irradiate, innate.

In (ig, il, im, ir), not; insecure, ignoble, illiterate, inconvenient, incurable, incapable, incapacitate, immortal, irregular, improper, illegitimate, irrational, innocent, infant.

Inter (intel, enter), between; intercourse, intelligent, interfere, interdict, enterprise, entertain, interrupt.

Intro, within; introduce.

Ob (oc, of, op, os), against; oblige, obtain, object, occur, offend, oppose, occult, offer, ostentation.

Pene, almost; as, peninsula.

Per (pel), through; perform, permit, pellucid, pertain.

Post, after; postpone, posthumous.

Præ or pre, before; prelection, preface, prevent, precede, premature, predict.

Præter or preter, beyond; preternatural, preterite.

Pro (por, pur, pol), forth, on or before; proceed, pollution, portend, purvey, portrait, purloin, purchase, pronoun, purpose.

Re (red), back; refute, result, redolent, redound, reduce, redeem.

Retro, backwards; retrograde, retrospect.

Se (sed), aside or apart; select, seclude, secede, seduce, sedition.

Sub (suc, suf, sug, sup, sur, sus, su), under, up from below; subject, suspect, succeed, suffer, suggest, suppose, suspend, suspect, succinct, suppress, surrogate, susceptible, subdue, suffuse, subtract, succour, supplant.

Subter, beneath; subterfuge.

Super (sur), over; superstructure, surplus, survive, superscribe, surfeit, surcharge, supernatural, surname, supercilious.

Trans (tra, tres); across; transmarine, translate, tradition, trespass, traduce.

Ultra, beyond; ultramontane, ultramarine.

Vice, instead of; viceroy, viceregal, viscount.

3. GREEK.

A or an, not; anarchy, anomaly, anonymous, apteryx (wingless), atheist.

Amphi, on both sides, round; amphibious, amphitheatre.

Ana, up; anatomy, analysis, anabasis, analyse.

Anti (ant), against; antithesis, antipathy, antarctic, antitype, antidote.

Apo (ap, aph), from; apogee, apology, apostrophe, aphelion, aphorism.

Cata, down; catarrh, catalepsy, catastrophe, catechism, cathartic, cathedral, catalogue.

Di (dis), two; diphthong, dissyllable, dilemma, diploma.

Dia, through; diameter, diagonal, diaphonous, diabolic, diagnosis, diastole, diaphragm.

En (el, em), in; ellipse, emblem, energy, enthrone, empyrean, emphasis, emporium.

Endo, within; endogenous.

Epi (ep), upon; epilogue, epitaph, epiphany, epistle.

Exo, without; exogenous, exotic.

Hyper, over or above; hyperbola, hyperbole, hyperbolical, hypercritical, hyperborean.

Hypo (hyph), under; hypotenuse, hypothesis, hypocrite, hyphen.

Meta (met, meth) signifies after, change; metathesis, metonomy, method, metaphor.

Para (par), beside; parabola, paraphrase, parhelion, parody, parable.

Peri, round; perimeter, peristyle, perigee, periphery, period.

Pro, before; prologue, problem, prophet, program.

Pros, towards; prosody, proselyte.

Syn (sy, syl, sym), together with; syndic, syntax, symbol, syllogism, syllable, system, systole, synchronous, symptom, sympathy.

SUFFIXES.

4. ENGLISH (OR TEUTONIC).

Noun Suffixes.

1. Denoting a person or the doer of an action:

-er or -ar; singer, baker, beggar, liar, lawyer, bowyer (a bow-maker), sawyer, sailor, speaker, miller, (fletcher = flechier, an arrow-maker).

-nd (old present participial ending); friend (= a loving person), fiend (= a hating person), errand, wind.

-ster (originally a female agent); Spinster, songster, maltster, huckster, baxter [= bakester], (now a term of contempt); youngster, gamester, punster.

-ter, -ther, -der; daughter, father, spider (that is, spinder), mother, brother, foster (= foodster).

2. Denoting an instrument:

-der or -er; ladder, rudder, bladder (from blow), feather, weather, rudder, murder, stair, finger (from fangen, to seize).

-el or -le; shovel, girdle, shuttle, settle (a small seat), thimble.

3. Forming abstract nouns:

-dom; kingdom, earldom, freedom, thraldom, wisdom, martyrdom, Christendom.

-hood, or -head; manhood, boyhood, childhood, priesthood, Godhead, hardihood, neighbourhood, wifehood.

-ing; hunting, blessing, standing, reading, clothing.

-ness; witness (= a person who wits or knows), wilderness, darkness, goodness, redness, weakness, hardness.

-red; hatred, kindred.

-ship, -scape; friendship, lordship, worship (= worthship), hardship, fellowship, landscape (in Milton, landskip: compare skipper for shipper).

-t, -th, -st, -d; weight, height, sleight (from sly), gift, rift (from rive), theft, drought (from dry), frost, flight, warmth, health, width, death, birth, sloth (from slow), trust (from trow, to believe), flood (from flow), seed (from sow).

4. Diminutives:

-el or -le; thimble (from thumb), riddle (from read).

-en; maiden, kitten, chicken.

-ing; farthing, tithing (from tithe = tenth), riding (from thrid = third).

-kin; lambkin, mannikin, pipkin.

-ling (= l + ing); darling (from dear), duckling, suckling, hireling, gosling, fatling, firstling, nestling, underling, starveling, suckling.

-ock; bullock, hillock, paddock.

-y, -ie; lassie, Annie, Charlie, baby, Tommy, doggie.

Adjective Suffixes.

-d or -ed (originally a perfect participle-ending); hard, cold, loud: also added to nouns, as gifted, wretched, ragged, long-eared, feathered, landed.

-el or -le; fickle, brittle, little, idle, mickle (from much).

-er; lower, higher, brighter, sooner.

-er; bitter, clever.

-ern, denoting the region of the globe; northern, eastern, southern, western.

-est; lowest, highest, brightest, soonest.

-fold; manifold, twofold, threefold, hundredfold, etc.

-ful; scornful, sinful, wilful, truthful, tearful, needful, awful, dreadful, sorrowful.

-ish, -sh, or -ch, denotes partaking of the nature of; childish, foolish, slavish, swinish, churlish, waspish, whitish, goodish, brutish, girlish, boyish.

-less denotes destitute of; worthless, fearless, heedless, hopeless, tearless, sinless, godless, lawless, toothless.

-like, -ly, denotes like; warlike, childlike, womanly, manly, heavenly, godly, ghastly, likely.

-n or -en (also a perfect participle-ending); drunken, shaken, broken, molten, shorn, torn. It also denotes the material of which a thing is made, as golden, linen, wooden, silvern, flaxen, hempen, leathern.

-some denotes the possession of a quality; wholesome, blithesome, gladsome, winsome, lissom (from lithe), buxom (that is, buhsum, from bugan, to bend), quarrelsome, tiresome.

-t (like d), probably perfect participial ending; short (from sceran, to shear), blunt, tight, slight.

-ward denotes direction; homeward, heavenward, seaward, northward, awkward (from awk, contrary), toward, froward (from from).

-y or -ey denotes the possession of a quality; bloody, thirsty, guilty, woody, mighty, healthy, greedy, moody, sundry (from sunder), sticky, sorry (from sore), hairy, bushy, stony, clayey.

Verb Suffixes.

-el or -le gives a frequentative meaning to the verb; waddle (from wade), startle, sparkle, dazzle (from daze), dribble (from drip), swaddle (from swathe), dapple (from dip), crawl, kneel (from knee), struggle, mingle, hurtle.

-en denotes making or doing; fatten, broaden, soften, open (from up), lighten, sadden, gladden, sweeten, frighten, lengthen.

-er, also frequentative; glimmer, stagger, patter, flitter, flutter, wander, batter, sputter, stutter.

-k, also frequentative; stalk (from steal), hark (from hear), walk.

Adverb Suffixes.

-ere denotes place in which; here, there, where.

-es, -se, -ce, -s, which are old (possessive) genitive terminations; sometimes, besides, unawares, else, twice (= twiës), thrice, hence, thence, whence, needs, outwards.

-ly denotes manner; sweetly, sadly, cleanly.

-ther denotes direction towards; hither, thither, whither.

-ward, -wards, denote direction; homeward, homewards, heavenward, heavenwards, hitherward, inwards.

-wise, -ways, denote manner or fashion; otherwise, anywise, nowise, straightway, alway, always, sideways, lengthways.

5. LATIN.

Noun Suffixes.

1. Those denoting persons or the doer of an action:

-an, -ain; artisan, grammarian, villain.

-ant or -ent; agent, student, assistant, attendant, recreant, tenant, miscreant.

-ate, -ee, -ey, -y; legate, magistrate, advocate, curate, nominee, trustee, legatee, committee, attorney, covey, ally, deputy, jury.

-ess denotes a fem. agent; governess, traitress, empress, duchess.

-ive, -iff; captive, fugitive, caitiff, plaintiff.

-tor, -sor, -or, -our, -er, -eer, -ier, -ar, -ary; doctor, successor, chancellor, emperor, actor, Saviour, founder, enchanter, governor, preacher, juror, author, monitor, victor, auditor, sponsor, engineer, auctioneer, grenadier, brigadier, registrar, usher, archer, farrier, vicar, premier, lapidary.

-trix, female agent; executrix.

2. Those forming Abstract Nouns:

-age; age, homage, savage, marriage, voyage, tillage, courage, personage, breakage, salvage.(Tonnage, bondage, shrinkage are hybrids.)

-ance, -ancy, -ence, -ency; distance, constancy, infancy, consistence, resistance, decency, consistency, persistence, conveyance, cadence, chance (a form of cadence).

-ice, -ise; avarice, service, merchandise, justice, exercise.

-ion, -tion, -sion, -som, -son, originally denoted the action of a verb; action, potion, opinion, poison, venison, malison, fusion, reason, tension, lection, ransom, season, position, nation, occasion.

-or, -our; labour, honour, ardour, savour, clamour, amour.

-tude; servitude, latitude, fortitude, altitude, longitude, magnitude, custom (from consuetudo).

-ty, -ity; cruelty, charity, bounty, poverty, fealty, city, vanity.

-ure; juncture, censure, culture, measure, cincture, picture, inclosure.

-y, -cy, -ce; family, copy, memory, story, victory, misery, aristocracy, fancy, grace.

3. Diminutives:

-el, -le; damsel, mongrel.

-et, -let; pocket, rivulet.

-ette; coquette, rosette.

-icle, -cule; article, animalcule.

-ule; globule, granule.

Adjective Suffixes.

-able, -ible, -ble; culpable, probable, flexible, edible, capable, soluble, feeble, amiable.

-acious denotes tendency, generally excessive; loquacious, veracious, vivacious, tenacious, voracious.

-al, -ar; comical, regal, legal, general, regular, singular, loyal, royal, equal, secular.

-an, -ane, -ain, -en, -on; human, urban, pagan, humane, mundane, certain, mizzen (from medius).Surgeon and sexton have become nouns.

-aneous, -ain, -aign, -eign, -ange; cutaneous, mountain, champaign, foreign, strange.

-ant, -ent; volant, fluent, patent, innocent.

-ary, -arian, -arious; stationary, contrary, necessary, gregarious, agrarian.

-ate, -ete, -eet, -ite, -ute, -te; fortunate, deliberate, concrete, effete, discreet, erudite, minute, chaste.

-estrial, -estrian; terrestrial, equestrian.

-ic; civic, classic, barbaric, unique.

-id; fervid, morbid, acid, tepid.

-ile, -il, -eel, -le; servile, senile, fragile, civil, frail, genteel, gentle, able.

-ine denotes belonging to; feminine, divine, feline, lacustrine, canine, equine, saline.

-ive, inclined to; pensive, massive, captive, plaintive, restive, native, fugitive, active.

-ous, -ose, denote full of; famous, ingenuous, glorious, copious, assiduous, querulous, anxious, verbose, grandiose, jocose, dangerous.

-ory; illusory, amatory, admonitory.

-und; jocund, moribund, floribund, rotund.

Verb Suffixes.

-ate; advocate, complicate, anticipate, supplicate, eradicate.

-eer; domineer, career, volunteer.

-esce denotes the beginning of an action; effervesce, coalesce.

-fy denotes to make (from facio), magnify, terrify, qualify, signify.

-ish; nourish, perish, cherish, finish, flourish, banish, punish.

-ite, -ete, -t; expedite, delete, perfect, conduct, reflect, connect.

6. GREEK.

Noun Suffixes.

-et, -t, -ete, -ate, denote the agent; poet, prophet, athlete, comet, planet, apostate, æsthete(?), patriot.

-isk has diminutive signification; asterisk, obelisk.

-ism denotes the result of an action; deism, fatalism, egotism, criticism, aneurism.

-ist denotes the agent; baptist, sophist, evangelist.

-ma, -em, -me, -m, denote the result of an action; diorama, drama, dogma, system, scheme, theme, diadem, phlegm, enema.

-sis, -sy, -se, denote action; crisis, poesy, phase, genesis, emphasis, paralysis, hypocrisy, ellipse, phrensy.

-ter, -tre, denote the instrument; metre, centre.

Verb Suffixes.

-ise signifies to do; criticise, baptise, eulogise.

LITERATURE.

I.

Outline of Our Early Literature

(WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EARLY LANGUAGE).

1. THE BEOWULF.—The Beowulf is a poem which recounts the life and death of a hero of that name, who slays a monster called GrendelIt was a poetic legend brought from the Continent by our Teutonic ancestors.It does not seem to have been written down, or committed to paper, till the seventh century; and it was probably preserved in the memory of different generations, by its being taught by fathers to their sons, and by the habit of chanting portions of it at the banquets of kings and warriors.It is a poem which in substance belongs to the Continental Teutons as much as to the English; and it marks the point at which their literatures and languages begin to branch off.The scene is laid in the north of Denmark; so that the poem is Northern, and not Southern, Teutonic.Its present form is due to a Christian writer of Northumbria.In literary form, therefore, it is English; and is one of the earliest monuments of our literature.The poem consists of 6350 short lines, and is written throughout in head-rhymes,[15] or alliterative rhymes.

2. CÆDMON.—But the first true English poem was the work of a Northumbrian called Cædmon, who was a servant to the monks of the abbey of Hilda, in Whitby.It was written about the year 670.It is a paraphrase of the history given in the Old and the New Testament.It sings of the creation of the world, of the history of Israel, of the life of Christ, of death, judgment, purgatory, heaven, and hell.

3. BÆDA.—The oldest literature of a nation—the early writings of its childhood—are always poetic; and prose-writings do not appear until the nation has, as it were, grown up. The first English prose-writer was Bæda—or, as he is generally called, The Venerable Bede. He was born in the year 673. Like Cædmon, our first poet, he was a Northumbrian, and belonged to the monastery of Jarrow-upon-Tyne. His most important writings were in Latin; and the best known of them is an Ecclesiastical History of the English People. But the work which makes Bæda our first writer of English prose, is a translation into English of the Gospel of St JohnIt was his last work; and, in fact, he died just after he had dictated the last sentence.This was in the year 735.

4. KING ALFRED.—Up to the year 866, Northumbria was the home of learning and literature; and the Northumbrian monks were its loving and diligent cultivators. But the incursions of the Danes, the destruction of the monasteries, and the perpetual danger to life and property arising from the troubled condition of the country, put a stop for some time to study and to letters. The cultivation of English as a book-language reappears, towards the end of the ninth century, in the south of the island. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, is its great friend and promoter. Winchester was the capital of his kingdom; and it was at Winchester that Alfred and his colleagues laboured at the writing of English books. He invited great scholars from different parts of the world; he set up schools; he himself taught a school in his own court; he translated the Latin manuals of the time into English, and added largely to them from his own materials; he translated also the History of the Venerable Bede; and, most probably, he worked at the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and made it much fuller and more detailed than it had ever been before.He founded schools in the different parts of his kingdom, with the purpose and in the hope that ‘every free-born youth, who has the means, may attend to his book till he can read English writing perfectly.’Alfred was born in the year 849, and died in 901.His own personal diligence—his unceasing head-work, are well known.He gave eight hours a day to the work of public affairs—of managing the business of his kingdom; eight hours to books and study; and he reserved only eight hours for sleep, meals, exercise, and amusement. The following is a passage from one of King Alfred’s writings:

Swa claenë heo waes othfeallen on Angel-cynne, thaet swithe feawa waeran be-heonan Humbre the hira thenunge cuthon understandan on Englisc, ohthe farthon an aerend-gewrit of Ledene on Englisc areccan; and ic wene thaet naht monige be-geondan Humbre naeron.

 

So clean (completely) it was ruined (had ruin fallen) on the English folk (kin), that very few were on this side Humber who their service could understand in English, or out (forth) an epistle (errand-writing) from Latin into English declare (= translate); and I wene that not many beyond Humber were (who could do this).

5. THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE.—This chronicle was written chiefly by monks, and was, in its earliest forms, a dry register or record of events—of the births and deaths of kings, bishops, earls, and other distinguished persons.In Alfred’s time, it became more of a history; and even war-songs and battle odes are quoted in it.It was continued down to the death of King Stephen in 1154; and the last portions of it were composed and transcribed by the monks of Peterborough.

6. ARCHBISHOP ÆLFRIC.—Ælfric was Archbishop of Canterbury in the early part of the eleventh century; and he translated the first seven books of the Bible, and part of Job, into the oldest form of English, which is generally called Anglo-SaxonThe following is a specimen:

1.On anginnë gesceôp God heofenan and eordan.

 

In beginning shaped God heaven and earth.

4.God geseah thâ, thaet hit gôd vaes, and he gedaeldë thaet leóht fram thâm theóstrum.

 

God saw then, that it good was, and he dealed (divided) the light from the darkness.

7. ANGLO-SAXON GOSPELS.—This translation of the four gospels forms another land-mark in the history of our English tongue.This translation was made before the Norman Conquest—before French words had come into our language, and therefore before the inflections of English had dropped off from the words.

8. OLD ENGLISH DIALECTS.—For more than a century after the Conquest, English ceased to be used as a literary language—as a book-speech, except in the Saxon Chronicle, which was continued down to 1154. It still continued, of course, to be the language of the English nation. The Normans, when they used books at all, imported French books from France; and they never dreamed that English was a language worthy to be written down. Different English counties spoke different kinds of English; and this continued for many centuries—and still continues to a considerable extent. Thus the English spoken by a Yorkshire-man is very different from the English spoken by a Dorsetshire-man; and the English of both differs very much from that spoken in Kent. But, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries—and even much later—travelling was very difficult and expensive; working-men could not travel at all; there was little motive to travel for any one; and generations were born and died within the same village, or on one farm, or at least in one part of the ‘country-side.’ Thus different parts of this island pronounced their English in their own way; had their own grammar—that is, their own inflections; and each division of England looked upon itself as the right and correct speakers of the English tongue. But, among the large number of different dialects, there gradually emerged into distinct and even remarkable prominence three chief dialects. These are now known as the Northern, Midland, and Southern. The grammar of the three differs in several respects; but the chief grammatical mark is found in the plural ending of the present tense of verbs. This is ës in the North; en in the Midland dialect; and eth in the South. Thus we have:

N.M.S.
We hopës,we hopen,we hopeth.
You hopës,you hopen,you hopeth.
They hopës,    they hopen,    they hopeth.

This variety of the plural forms the test which enables readers of books written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to determine in what part of England and in what dialect they were written. The following are the chief books written in these dialects:

NORTHERN (spoken between the Forth and the Humber)—the Cursor Mundi, a version of Scripture in rhyme, written about 1320
MIDLAND (spoken in the East-Anglian counties, and the whole of the Midland district)—Orm’s Ormulum, a paraphrase in verse of the parts of the gospels given in the church service, written in 1215
SOUTHERN (spoken in all the counties south of the Thames, and also in several western counties)—Layamon’s Brut (a translation of a French poem by John de Wace), written in1205

9. THE FIRST ENGLISH BOOK AFTER THE NORMAN CONQUEST.—Normandy was lost to England in the reign of King John, in the year 1204. From that date, as we have seen, there was a compulsion on the Norman-French to forget their foreign origin, and to look upon themselves as genuine Englishmen. A year after, in the year 1205, ten years before the winning of the Magna Charta, appeared the first work—it was a poem—that was written in English after the Conquest. It is a translation by a Somersetshire priest called Layamon or Laweman, from a French poem. Brut is the French form of the name Brutus, who was said to be a son of Æneas, and to be the founder of the British nation. In those rude times, when history was quite unknown, the origin of every nation was traced up to Troy, and the persons of the Iliad of Homer. The Brut is a poem written chiefly in head-rhymes, and consists of about thirty thousand lines. But though it is translated from a French poem, there are not fifty French words in the whole—that is, there is not one French word in every six hundred lines.

10. ORM’S ORMULUM, 1215.—The Ormulum was a poem written by an Augustine monk, called Orm or Ormin, and called after his own name.It is a poem of nearly twenty thousand short lines, without rhyme of any kind—but with a regular number of accents. There are not five French words in the whole poem. Orm was extremely particular about his spelling; and, when an accent struck a consonant after a short vowel, he insisted on doubling the consonant.

11. LANGLAND AND CHAUCER.—William Langland represents the part of the nation that spoke pure English; Geoffrey Chaucer, that part which spoke English with a large admixture of Norman-French. In fact, Chaucer’s poems show the high-water mark of the French saturation of our English vocabulary. Langland—a west-countryman, a monk, a man of the people, and of intensely radical sympathies—was born in 1332; Chaucer, a Londoner, in the very centre of English society, page to the Duchess of Clarence at sixteen years of age, and afterwards for great part of his life in court employment, was born in 1340. Both died in the year 1400. Langland’s most important poem is the Vision of (concerning) Piers PlowmanIt is written in pure English, and in head-rhyme.It is the last English poem that was written in this kind of alliterative verse.The following lines are taken from the introduction:

In a somer seasun
when softe was the sonnë,
I shop me into a schroud
a scheep as I werë,
in habite of an hermite
unholy of werkes,
wende I wydene in this world
wondrës to here.
 In a summer season
when soft was the sun,
I shape me into (dressed) shrouds (clothes)
shepherd as I was,
in habit as a hermit,
unholy in works,
went (far and) wide in this world,
wonders to hear.

Chaucer’s great work is his Canterbury Tales, a series of tales supposed to be told by a company of pilgrims to beguile their journey to the shrine of St Thomas of Canterbury. The company represented men and women of almost every class in England; and their manners and character are painted with wonderful truth and beauty. The following is a passage from the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; and the French words are in italics. It is from the character of the Knight:

And evermore he had a sovereyn prys,[16]
And, though that he was worthy, he was wys,
And of his port[17] as meke as is a mayde.
He nevere yit no vileinye[18] ne sayde
In al his lyf, unto no maner[19] wight.
He was a verray perfight gentil[20] knight.
But, for to tellen you of his array,[21]
His hors was good, but he ne was nought gay[22]

12. ALLITERATION OR HEAD-RHYME.—Alliteration is the correspondence of the first letter of several words in the same line.It is like the well-known: ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper off a pewter plate.’

Round the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.

In Old English or Anglo-Saxon poetry it was the only kind of rhyme used.The rhyme which is called end-rhyme was not known to the Saxons, and was imported into England by the Normans.In the ordinary Old English verse, the lines are written in pairs, and in each pair there are usually three alliterations, two in the first line and one in the second.Even as late as the fourteenth century we find such verses as the following, written by Langland:

I shop me into a schroud,
A scheep as I werë.

Shakspeare is fond of making fun of it.But it has unconsciously survived in the language; and there is not a single great English poet, from Shakspeare to Tennyson, who does not make a large use of it.Thus Shakspeare himself has

In maiden meditation, fancy-free.
Full fathom five thy father lies.

and many other similar lines.

Milton gives us such lines as:

Him the Almighty power
Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky.

Shelley has the line:

Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought.

Tennyson is very fond of alliteration. Thus, in the Day-Dream:

And o’er them many a sliding star
And many a merry wind was borne;
And, streamed through many a golden bar,
The twilight melted into morn.

13. JOHN GOWER.—A contemporary of Chaucer was John Gower, a gentleman of Kent. The date of his birth is not known; but he survived Chaucer eight years, dying in 1408. He wrote the Lover’s Confession in English verse; the Mirror of the Meditative Man in French verse (lost); the Voice of one crying, in Latin.His style was heavy and prosaic.Chaucer called him the ‘moral Gower.’

14. JOHN BARBOUR.—Another eminent contemporary of Chaucer was John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, who wrote in the Scottish, or Northern English, form of our tongue. He was a learned man, and a man of the world, who filled important office in the employment of the Scottish king. His great work was a narrative poem, The Bruce, giving an account of the life and adventures of the great Bruce. It is valuable both as a monument of our language and a storehouse of historical incident. Barbour died about 1395. The literature of Scotland was worthily continued by the royal poet, James I. (1394-1437), brought up as a prisoner in England, and well educated. His great work was the King’s Quhair (or book), a poem in the style and in one of the metres of Chaucer.

15. SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE.—Sir John Mandeville is the first writer of the new English prose—the prose with a large addition of French words. He is sometimes called the Father of English Prose. He was born at St Albans, in Hertfordshire, in 1300, and died at Liège, in 1372. He was a great traveller, soldier, and physician; travelled through the Holy Land, served under the Sultan of Egypt and the Great Khan of Cathay (the old name for China); and wandered through almost all the then known parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.He wrote his travels in three languages—first in Latin for the learned; then in French for the Norman-French; and lastly in English, ‘that every man of the nation might understand them.’The following is a specimen of his prose:

And 2 myle from Ebron (Hebron) is the grave of Lothe (Lot) that was Abrahames brother. And a lytille fro Ebron is the mount of Mambre, of the whiche the valeye takethe his name. And there is a tree of oke, that the Sarazinis clepen (call) Dirpë, that is of Abrahames tyme, the whiche men clepen the drye tree.And thei saye, that it hathe ben there sithe the beginnynge of the world, and was sumtyme grene, and bare leves, unto the tyme that oure Lord dyede on the cros; and thanne it dryede, and so dyden alle the trees, that weren thanne in the world.

This is almost quite like modern English—with the exception of the spelling;

16. JOHN WICLIFFE.—John Wicliffe,* or John de Wycliffe, was born at the village of Hipswell, near Richmond, in Yorkshire, in the year 1324.He died at the vicarage of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, in the year 1384, at the age of sixty.He was the first Englishman who attempted to make a complete translation of the Scriptures.Of this work, however, the Gospels alone can be certainly identified as the work of Wicliffe himself.The Old Testament and apocryphal books were translated principally by Nicolas de Hereford, and it is supposed that his work was interrupted in 1382, and that the Bible was completed about that time by extracting the text of the gospels from Wicliffe’s commentary on the gospels (written in 1360), and adding to it a new translation of the rest of the New Testament.A later version was finished by Wicliffe’s friend, John Purvey, about 1388, and appears to be mainly a revision of the work of Hereford and Wicliffe.The later is a less close and literal version than the former, and is expressed in more idiomatic and less laboured English.

17. OUR ENGLISH BIBLE AND ITS HISTORY.—The first fresh translation from the original sources was that of William Tyndale. His New Testament, printed at Cologne and at Worms, reached the English shores in 1526, and was followed three years later by the Pentateuch. To this translation our authorised version owes much of its peculiar force and beauty. The first complete English Bible was that of Miles Coverdale, which appeared in 1535. In April 1539 appeared the Great Bible (so called from its large size), prepared by Coverdale at Paris, but completed in London under the patronage of Thomas Cromwell. The translation of the psalms in the Great Bible has remained, without alteration, the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer. During the last year of Mary’s reign and the beginning of Elizabeth’s, the English refugees at Geneva completed a fresh revision of the Great Bible, which was published in 1560, in a handy size, with a marginal commentary, and the chapters divided into verses. The Genevan version (sometimes called the Breeches Bible), became popular with the Puritans, and more than two hundred editions of it were published, and it gave way slowly before the present authorised version. Soon after Elizabeth’s accession, Archbishop Parker organised a revision of the Great Bible of 1539, which was published in 1568, and became known as the Bishops’ Bible. During Elizabeth’s reign, the Popish exiles at Rheims produced a new version from the Vulgate, which was printed at Douay in 1609, and is known as the Douay BibleThe English Bible which is now recognised as the ‘authorised version’ wherever the English language is spoken, is a revision of the Bishops’ Bible, begun in 1604 and finished in 1611.Of this noble version many millions have been printed, and its general acceptance by all English-speaking people is the best testimony to its excellence.No book has had so great an influence on our language and literature; its words and phrases have been preserved in our vocabulary, and are the most familiar to our ears, consecrated as they are with the associations of two hundred and seventy years.A revision of our version by the most eminent scholars is now in progress, and the revised New Testament was published, May 17, 1881. Appended is a passage from Romans (xii. 6-8), as it appears in Wicliffe’s, Tyndale’s, the Great Bible, the Genevan Bible, the Bishop’s Bible, and our Authorised Version:

1.WICLIFFE.

6 Therfor we that han yiftis dyuer-synge, aftir the grace that is youun to vs, ethir prophecie, aftir the resoun of feith;

7 ethir seruise, in mynystryng; ethir he that techith, in techyng;

8 he that stirith softli, in monestyng; he that yyueth, in symplenesse; he that is souereyn, in bisynesse; he that hath merci, in gladnesse.

2.TYNDALE.

6 Seyinge that we have divers gyftes accordynge to the grace that is geven vnto vs, yf eny man have the gyft off prophesy lett hym have it that itt be agreynge vnto the fayth.

7 Let hym that hath an office, wayte on his office.Let hym that teacheth take hede to his doctryne.

8 Let hym that exhorteth geve attendaunce to his exhortacion.Yf eny man geve, lett hym do it with singlenes.Let hym that rueleth do it with diligence.Yf eny man shewe mercy lett hym do itt with cherfulnes.

3.GREAT BIBLE.

6 Seynge that we haue dyuers gyftes accordynge to the grace that is geuen vnto vs: yf any man haue the gyfte of prophecy let him haue it that it be agreing vnto ye fayth.

7 Let hym that hath an office wayte on hys office.Let hym that teacheth take hede to hys doctrine.

8 Let hym that exhorteth geue attendaunce to his exhortacion.If any man geue, let hym do it wyth synglenes.Let hym that ruleth do it with diligence.If any man shewe mercy, let him do it with cherfulnes.

4.GENEVAN BIBLE.

6 Seeing then that we haue giftes that are diuers, according to the grace that is giuen vnto vs whether we haue prophesie, let us prophesie according to the proportion of faith:

7 Or an office let vs waite on the office: or hee that teacheth on teaching.

8 Or he that exhorteth on exhortation: hee that distributeth let him do it with simplicitie: he that ruleth with diligence: hee that sheweth mercie with chearefulnes.

5.BISHOPS’ BIBLE.

6 Seeing that wee haue diuers giftes according to the grace that is giuen vnto vs eyther prophecie, after the measure of fayth.

7 Eyther office, in administration: or he that teacheth, in teaching.

8 Or he that exhorteth, in exhorting: he that giueth in singlenesse, he that ruleth in diligence: hee that is mercyfull in chearefulnesse.

6.AUTHORISED VERSION.

6 Hauing then gifts differing according to the grace that is giuen to vs, whether prophecie, let vs prophecie according to the proportion of faith.

7 Or ministery, let vs wait, on our ministring: or hee that teacheth on teaching.

8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giueth let him doe it with simplicite: hee that ruleth, with diligence: hee that sheweth mercy with cheerefulnesse.

II.

Tabular Outline of modern English Literature.

(Poems are mentioned in Italics.)

WILLIAM DUNBAR, 1450-1530.
Poet.

The Thistle and the Rose (1503); The Golden Terge (1508); The Dance of the Seven Deadly SinsThe greatest of the Scottish poets except Burns.He has been called ‘the Chaucer of Scotland.’

SIR THOMAS MORE, 1480-1535.
Barrister; Lord Chancellor of England; writer on social philosophy; historian.

History of King Edward V., and of his brother, and of Richard III.(1513); Utopia (1516)—a description of a model state of society, written to influence the bettering of the laws of England.

WILLIAM TYNDALE, 1477-1536.
Priest; translator; author.

Translation of New Testament (1525, 1534), also of the Pentateuch and Jonah (1530-31).He has done more by his version to fix and shape our language in its present form, than any writer between Chaucer and Shakspeare.

SIR DAVID LYNDSAY, 1490-1556.
Keeper of Prince James (afterwards James V. of Scotland); Lyon king-at-arms; poet.

Satire of the Three Estates, that is, King, Lords, and Commons; Monarchie

ROGER ASCHAM, 1515-1568.
Lecturer on Greek at Cambridge; tutor to Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth.

Toxophĭlus, a treatise on shooting with the bow; The Schoolmaster, a book about teaching, especially the teaching of Latin.

JOHN FOX, 1517-1587.
Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral.

Book of Martyrs (1563), an account of the chief Protestant martyrs, chiefly those in the reign of Mary.

EDMUND SPENSER, 1552-1599.
Secretary to Viceroy of Ireland; poet.

Shepherd’s Calendar (1579); Faerie Queene (1590-96), in six books.

RICHARD HOOKER, 1553-1600.
Scholar and theologian; Master of the Temple; and rector of a country church.

Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity.This is a defence of the Church of England, and contains passages of great majesty and splendour of diction.

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY, 1554-1586.
Courtier; romancist; poet.

Arcadia, a romance (1580); Defence of Poesie. Some Sonnets

FRANCIS BACON, 1561-1626.
Lord High Chancellor of England; essayist; philosopher.

Essays (1597); Advancement of Learning (1605); Novum Organum (1620); and other works on philosophy, and the art of gaining new knowledge.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1552-1618.
Courtier; navigator; historian.

History of the World (1614), written in the Tower of London, where he lay for about thirteen years.His work is ‘one of the finest models of our quaint and stately old English style.’

WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, 1564-1616.
Dramatist and poet; born at Stratford-on-Avon; went to London at the age of twenty-two; left London in 1609, and from that time lived in his native town.

Tragedies and Comedies, and Historical Plays; thirty-seven in all. Among his greatest tragedies are, Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet. Of his comedies the best are the Tempest, Midsummer Night’s Dream, As you like it, Merchant of Venice, &c. Of his historical plays, Richard III. and Julius Cæsar are specially worth mention. Minor Poems. Wrote no prose.

BEN JONSON, 1574-1637.
Dramatist; poet; prose-writer.

Tragedies and Comedies, of the latter, the greatest are Volpone or the Fox; Every Man in His Humour; and The Alchemist

WILLIAM DRUMMOND, 1585-1649.
Poet.

Sonnets and Religious Poems

SIR THOMAS BROWNE, 1605-1682.
Medical practitioner at Norwich.

Religio Medici (the religion of a physician), contains the author’s opinions on a great variety of subjects; Urn Burial, a learned and eloquent work.

JOHN MILTON, 1608-1674.
Poet; Latin secretary to Cromwell (1649). Became blind in 1654.

Minor Poems; Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; Samson AgonistesMany prose works, chiefly on politics, and in defence of the Commonwealth.

THOMAS HOBBES, 1588-1679.
Philosopher.

Leviathan (1651), a great philosophical and political work.

JEREMY TAYLOR, 1613-1667.
Bishop of Down in Ireland.

Holy Living and Holy Dying (1649); and many other books and sermons.

SAMUEL BUTLER, 1612-1680.
Secretary to the Earl of Carberry.

Hudibras (1663), a mock-heroic poem, written to caricature the Puritans.

JOHN DRYDEN, 1631-1700.
Poet-laureate and Historiographer Royal. Also a playwright; poet; prose-writer; critic.

Annus Mirabilis (1667)—a poem on the Plague and the Fire of London; Absalom and Achitophel (1681)—a poem on political matters; Hind and Panther (1687). He wrote many Tragedies and Comedies and Odes; a translation of the Æneid of Virgil. He wrote a great deal of the best prose—chiefly Essays and Introductions to his poems.

JOHN BUNYAN, 1628-1688.
Tinker and preacher.

The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678); the Holy War, and other works.

JOHN LOCKE, 1632-1704.
Member of the Board of Trade; one of the leading men in English philosophy.

Letters on Toleration (1689); Essay concerning the Human Understanding (1690); Thoughts concerning Education, and other prose works.

DANIEL DEFOE, 1661-1731.
Pamphleteer; journalist; had a very troubled and changeful career.

Robinson Crusoe (1719); The True-born Englishman; Journal of the Plague; The Shortest Way with the Dissenters; and more than a hundred books and pamphlets in all.He is one of the most taking writers that ever lived.

JONATHAN SWIFT, 1667-1745.
Dean of St Patrick’s in Dublin; satirist; poet; prose-writer.

Battle of the Books; Tale of a Tub (1704); Gulliver’s Travels (1726). Many of the ablest political pamphlets of the day. A number of PoemsHis prose was the strongest and most nervous prose written in the eighteenth century.

SIR RICHARD STEELE, 1671-1729.
Gentleman usher to Prince George; a fashionable man about town.

Essays in the Tatler, in the Spectator, in the Guardian—all of them a kind of magazine.A few plays.

JOSEPH ADDISON, 1672-1719.
Secretary of State.

Essays in the Tatler, in the Spectator, and in the Guardian. Cato: a tragedy (1713). Several short PoemsHis prose is the finest, most genial, and most delicate of all the prose-writings of the eighteenth century.

ALEXANDER POPE, 1688-1744.
Poet; a Roman Catholic.

Essay on Criticism (1711); Rape of the Lock—the story of the stealing of a lock of hair; Translations of the Iliad and Odyssey, half of the latter done by assistants (1715-20); the Dunciad; Essay on ManA few essays in prose; and a volume of Letters.

JAMES THOMSON, 1700-1748.
Poet; held sinecure cure offices under government.

The Seasons—a poem in blank verse; The Castle of Indolence, a poem in the nine-lined stanza of Edmund Spenser.

HENRY FIELDING, 1707-1754.
Novelist and journalist.

Many comedies—now forgotten.Joseph Andrews (1742); Tom Jones (1749); Amelia (1751).He was the ‘first great English novelist, and he remains to this day one of the greatest.’

DAVID HUME, 1711-1776.
Librarian; secretary to the British Embassy in France.

Treatise of Human Nature (1737); Essays (1742); Inquiry concerning the Principles of Morals; History of England (1754-62).Writes very clear and pleasant prose.

DR SAMUEL JOHNSON, 1709-1784.
Schoolmaster; literary man; dictionary-maker.

London (1738); the Vanity of Human Wishes; The Rambler (1750-52); The Idler; English Dictionary (1755); Rasselas, a kind of novel; Lives of the Poets; and other prose works.

THOMAS GRAY, 1716-1771.
Poet; letter-writer; professor of Modern History, Cambridge.

Odes; Elegy written in a Country Churchyard, one of the most pleasing, perfect, and oft-quoted poems in the language.He was also a good letter-writer.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON, 1721-1793.
Clergyman; historian; Principal of the University of Edinburgh.

History of Scotland (1759); History of Charles V.(1769); History of America (1777).Most readable and fluent prose.

TOBIAS GEORGE SMOLLETT, 1721-1771.
Medical practitioner; poet; pamphleteer; critic and novelist.

Roderick Random; Peregrine Pickle; and Humphrey Clinker.His novels are notable for their broad humour, and an easy picturesque style of narration.

ADAM SMITH, 1723-1790.
Professor of Logic in the University of Glasgow; then of Moral Philosophy.

Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759); Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).The founder of the science of economics (or wealth of nations).

OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 1728-1774.
Poet; literary man; play-writer.

The Vicar of Wakefield (1766); the Deserted Village; She Stoops to Conquer, a comedy. The Traveller; Citizen of the World; Histories and minor PoemsThe writer of the most pleasant prose of the eighteenth century.

EDMUND BURKE 1730-1797.
Statesman; ‘the first man in the Commons;’ writer on political philosophy.

Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful (1756); Reflections on the French Revolution (1790).Many speeches, pamphlets, and articles on political matters.One of the deepest political thinkers, most eloquent speakers, and ornate writers of prose that ever lived.

WILLIAM COWPER, 1731-1800.
Poet.

Truth, the Progress of Error (1781), and other poems; the Task (1785); John Gilpin; Translations of the Iliad and Odyssey (1791) in blank verse; HymnsHis prose—which consists of letters—is clear, humorous, and pleasant.

EDWARD GIBBON, 1737-1794.
Historian; sat eight years in the House of Commons, but never spoke.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-87); Essays on the Study of Literature (in French).His style is a splendid example ‘of smiting phrases and weighty antithesis.’

ROBERT BURNS, 1759-1796.
Ploughman; farmer; Excise officer; poet.

Poems and Songs (1786-96) (Cottar’s Saturday Night, Jolly Beggars, Tam o’ Shanter, Mountain Daisy, etc.) His prose consists chiefly of letters.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, 1770-1850.
Distributor of stamps for the county of Westmoreland; poet; poet-laureate.

Descriptive Sketches (1793); Lyrical Ballads (1798); Sonnets; The Excursion (1814); The PreludeHe marks the dawn of a new school of poetry in the nineteenth century.

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, 1772-1834.
Journalist; secretary; literary man; poet.

The Ancient Mariner and Christabel (1797-1806); several plays, including a translation of Schiller’s Wallenstein; many minor poems; The Friend—a set of essays; Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit; Biographia Literaria; Aids to Reflection.His prose is very elaborate and also very musical.

ROBERT SOUTHEY, 1774-1843.
Literary man; historian; reviewer; poet; poet-laureate.

Joan of Arc (1793); Thalaba the Destroyer; the Curse of Kehama; Life of Nelson.Firm, clear, and sensible prose.Wrote more than a hundred volumes.

CHARLES LAMB, 1775-1835.
Clerk in the East India House; essayist and humorist.

Essays of Elia (1820-25), which are quaint and familiar, and full of kindly wit and grotesque humour.

SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1771-1832.
Advocate; poet: novelist.

Border Minstrelsy—a collection of old Border ballads (1802); Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805); Marmion (1808); the Lady of the Lake (1810); Waverley (1814)—the first of that remarkable series, the Waverley Novels. In verse, he is the ‘Homer of Scotland;’ and he was a master of most fluent, bright, flowing narrative prose.

THOMAS CAMPBELL, 1777-1844.
Poet; literary man.

Pleasures of Hope (1799); Minor Poems—such as Hohenlinden, Battle of the Baltic, Ye Mariners of England, Gertrude of Wyoming (1809). His prose consists chiefly of the Introductions to his Specimens of the British Poets

THOMAS MOORE, 1779-1852.
Poet; biographer; historian.

Odes and Epistles (1806); Lalla Rookh (1817); Life of Byron (1830); Irish Melodies (1834); History of Ireland (1836).

LORD BYRON, 1788-1824.
(George Gordon). Peer; poet.

English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1808); Childe Harold (1812); the Bride of Abydos (1814); and many PlaysHis prose—which is full of vigour, fire, and eloquence—consists chiefly of letters.

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, 1792-1822.
Poet.

Queen Mab (1813); Revolt of Islam; Prometheus Unbound (1819)—a tragedy; Odes (The Cloud, To the Skylark, etc.), and many minor poems. His prose consists chiefly of letters.

HENRY HALLAM, 1778-1859.
Historian; literary man; Trustee of the British Museum.

View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages (1818); Constitutional History of England (1827); Literature of Europe (1837); History of the Middle Ages (1848).A clear and impartial writer.

THOMAS DE QUINCEY, 1785-1859.
Literary man.

Confessions of an English Opium-eater (1821); Essays on subjects in almost every department of History, Philosophy, and Literature.His style is eloquent, musical, and elaborate.In his own way, he was the finest prose-writer of the nineteenth century.

JOHN KEATS, 1795-1821.
Poet.

Endymion (1818); Hyperion; Eve of St Agnes; OdesHis poems are full of beauty and rich and picturesque imagery.

THOMAS CARLYLE, 1795-1881.
Mathematician; literary man; reviewer; historian.

Sartor Resartus (1833); The French Revolution, a History (1837); Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches (1845); Life of John Sterling (1851); History of Friedrich II.of Prussia (1858-65).His style is full of force, fire, and grotesqueness; he paints in vivid colours, and presents a true and exact picture of the living man.

LORD MACAULAY, 1800-1859.
Barrister; reviewer; Secretary of the Board of Control for India; member of the Supreme Council of India; historian; peer.

Essay on Milton (1825); Lays of Ancient Rome (1842); Essays (1843); History of England (1848-1859). Wrote a style of the greatest force and picturesqueness—full of allusion, illustration, grace, clearness, and point.

LORD LYTTON, 1805-1873.
Novelist; poet; statesman.

Eugene Aram (1831); The Last Days of Pompeii; The Caxtons; some plays, minor Poems, and essays.Writes a most clear, fluent, bright, ornate, and readable English style.

JOHN STUART MILL, 1806-1873.
Clerk in the East India House; Utilitarian philosopher.

System of Logic (1843); Political Economy (1844); Essay on Liberty.One of the foremost thinkers of his time.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 1807-1882.
Professor of Modern Languages and Literature; poet.

Evangeline (1847); Hiawatha (1855); Minor Poems (Excelsior; A Psalm of Life, etc.) One of the sweetest and best known of American poets.

ALFRED TENNYSON, 1809-
Poet; poet laureate.

Poems, chiefly Lyrical (1830); In Memoriam (1850); Idylls of the King (1859-73); Enoch Arden (1864); and several dramas. His poetical style is full of beauty, sweetness, and variety.

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, 1809-1861.
Poetess; the wife of Robert Browning.

Poems (1838); Aurora Leigh (1856); The Cry of the Children; Cowper’s Grave; Sonnets from the Portuguese, etc. A poetess of infinite sweetness and power.

ROBERT BROWNING, 1812-
Poet.

Pauline (1833); Paracelsus (1836); The Ring and the Book, and about two dozen more volumes.His poems are very difficult to understand, but are very well worth understanding.

WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY, 1811-1863.
Novelist.

Vanity Fair (1846); Pendennis (1849); Esmond; English Humorists, etc. The finest novelist and one of the best prose-writers of the century.

CHARLES DICKENS, 1812-1870.
Novelist.

Pickwick Papers (1837); Oliver Twist; Nicholas Nickleby; David Copperfield; Dombey and Son; Christmas Books, etc. He has been read over and over again by hundreds of thousands of delighted readers.

JOHN RUSKIN, 1819-
Art-critic; moralist; literary-man.

Modern Painters (1843); The Seven Lamps of Architecture; The Stones of Venice (1851-53); Sesame and Lilies; Lectures on Art; Fors Clavigera.One of the most wonderful and imaginative writers of English prose that ever lived.

GEORGE ELIOT 1820-1880.
(Marian Evans), Novelist.

Adam Bede (1858); Middlemarch (1871); Daniel Deronda (1876); PoemsThe novels of this accomplished lady rank among the greatest of modern times.

THE END.


Edinburgh:
Printed by W. & R. Chambers.