LANGUAGE, (lingua the tongue,) The utterance of the tongue. Thought expressed either audibly or visibly. LETTER, (litera,) An alphabetic character. The sign of an elementary sound. LIQUID, (liquidus fluid,) Having a fluent continuous sound. LOGIC, (Gr. logos discourse,) The science and art of reasoning. Precise signification of discourse. MASCULINE, (masculus a male,) Relating to the male sex. MEMBER, (membrum a limb,) A principal division of a compound sentence. METAPHOR, (Gr. meta beyond, phoreo I carry,) An imaginative transference of the properties of one thing to another. METRE, (Gr. metron a measure,) The measured arrangement of words in verse. MODE, (modus a form or manner,) A particular manner of employing a verb. MODIFY, (modus form or manner, fico for facio I make,) To make special in form. To make special in manner of signification. MONOPHTHONGAL, (Gr. monos single, phthonge sound,) Descriptive of two letters having but one sound. MUTE, (mutus dumb, silent,) Descriptive of a consonant whose sound is incontinuous or interrupted. NASAL, (nasus the nose,) Sounding through the nostrils. NEGATIVE, (negatus denied,) Expressive of denial or disallowance. NEUTER, Neither. Descriptive of a noun as neither masculine nor feminine. Descriptive of a verb as neither active nor passive. NOMINATIVE, (nominatus named,) The 1st case of nouns; because it represents the pure noun unmodified and independent. NOUN, (nomen a name,) A word used as a name. NUMERAL, (numerus a number,) Expressive of numerical rank or quantity. OBELISK, (Gr. obelos a dart or spit,) A mark in the form of a spit, referring from the text to the margin of a page: - originally a mark of censure. OBJECT, (ob in the way, jactus thrown,) Any thing thrown in one's way, or to which observation is directed. The noun or pronoun governed by a verb or preposition. OBJECTIVE, The case which makes a noun or pronoun signify an object affected by a verb or preposition. OBLIQUE, (obliquus slant,) Indirect. Diverging from the nominative. See Case. OBSOLETE, (obsoleo I fall into disuse,) Out of use. OBSOLESCENT, (obsolesco I begin to fall into disuse,) Wearing out of use. OPTATIVE, (opto I choose,) Expressive of wishing. ORGANS, (Gr. organon an instrument,) The natural instruments of speech, as the tongue, lips, teeth, &c. ORTHOEPY, (Gr. orthos correct, epos a word,) The correct expression of words by sound. Pronunciation. ORTHOGRAPHY, (Gr. orthos correct, grapho I write,) The correct expression of words as they are written. Spelling. PARAGRAPH, (Gr. para beside, or near, grapho I write,) A section of discourse nearly related to the preceding parts. discourse. A slight division of PARAPHRASE, (Gr. para beside, phrasis a mode of speech,) An amplified version of any discourse placed beside the original for illustration. PARENTHESIS, (Gr. para beside, en in, thesis a putting,) An expression put in beside the principal parts of a sentence, but not incorporated with them. A pair of curves inclosing such an expression. PARSE, (pars a part,) To describe words as parts of speech. PARTICIPLE, (pars a part, cipo for capio I take,) Partaking of the form and meaning of a verb. PARTICLES, (particula a little part,) The smaller indeclinable parts of speech. PASSIVE, (passus having suffered,) Descriptive of the perfect participle when it denotes the subject of its auxiliary as having undergone or experienced some state or action. PERFECT, (per through, factus done,) Done thoroughly. Completed. PERIOD, (Gr. peri round, hodos a way or going,) A circuit, or exact revolution. Defined extent. A compound sentence which does not yield any complete sense till we reach its termination. A full sentence. The point marking a full stop. PERIPHRASIS, (Gr. peri round, phrasis a mode of speech,) A roundabout mode of speech. A circumlocution. The con PERSON, (persona,) The distinction of a name as denoting one speaking, one spoken to, or one neither speaking nor spoken to. formity of a verb, in its accidence, to the person of a noun or pronoun. PERSONIFY, (persona person, fico for facio I make,) To speak of objects without sex as if they were persons. PERSPICUOUS, (per through, specio I see,) Clear; easily seen through or understood. PHILOLOGY, (Gr. philos studiously attached, logoi principles of language,) The critical study of languages. PHILOSOPHY, (Gr. philos studiously attached, sophia wisdom,) The principles of true knowledge. Science as studied by one who loves wisdom. PHRASE, (Gr. phrasis a mode of speech,) An expression consisting of two or more related words, but not marking a complete thought or proposition. PLEONASM, (Gr. pleon more,) More than enough. Redundancy of expression. PLURAL, (plura more things,) Referring to more than one individual of a class. PLUPERFECT, (plus quam more than, perfectum finished,) The Latin tense which denotes finished previously to some past time. POSITIVE, (positus put,) Expressive of a quality put in the simplest relation, or that antecedent to comparison. POSSESSIVE, (possessum possessed,) The English case corresponding to the Latin genitive, and making the noun signify a source, producer, or possessor. POTENTIAL, (potentia power,) The verbal mode which expresses power, possibility, &c. PRECISE, (pra before, cisus, for cæsus, cut,) Previously cut to the exact measure of thought. PREDICATE, (præ before, dico I set apart or distinguish,) The distinguishing attribute with which a subject is brought before us. That which is declared of the subject in a proposition. PREPOSITION, (præ before, positus put,) A word usually put before a noun or pronoun to which it bears relation. PRETERIT, (præter past, itum gone,) Gone by. Expressive of past time. PRIMITIVE, (primus first,) Expressive of a word in its simplest etymological form. Not derived from any simpler word in the same language. PRONOUN, (pro for, nomen a name,) A substitute for a noun. PROPER, (proprius peculiar, restricted,) Expressive of a name that is the peculiar mark of an individual. PROPOSITION, (pro forth, positus put,) The form in which some thought is put forth or stated. An assertion. PROSODY, (Gr. prosodia song,) That department of Rhetoric which treats of accent, emphasis, metre, and other musical properties of speech. PUNCTUATION, (punctum a point,) The employment of points to mark the endings of clauses and sentences. QUALIFY, (qualis of what kind, fico for facio I make,) To show what kind of object a noun expresses, by making an adjective relate to it. QUANTITY, (quantus how great,) That which denotes how great a measure of sound belongs to a syllable. The character of a syllabic vowel as long or short. QUOTATION, (Lat. quota what portion, Fr. coter to cite,) A portion set apart or extracted from the language of another. RADICAL, (radix a root,) Pertaining to the etymological root. Fundamental. REGIMEN, Government. REGULAR, (regula a rule,) The condition of a word as governed. According to a general rule. RELATIVE, (re back, latus brought,) A pronoun that recalls, brings back, or continues the sense of an antecedent term. RHETORIC, (Gr. rheo I speak,) The art of using appropriate or persuasive speech. RHYTHM, (Gr. rhuthmos harmony,) Harmonious or well-proportioned arrangement of words. RUDIMENTS, (rudis uncultivated,) Elements of knowledge, adapted to the uncultivated mind. SCIENCE, (scientia knowledge,) Knowledge in a systematic form. SEMICOLON, (Lat. semi half, Gr. kolon a member,) A member not so distinct as a colon. The point marking such a member. SEMIVOWEL, (semi half, vocalis sounding,) A letter nearly as full and continuous in sound as a vowel. SENTENCE, (sententiu a thought,) A complete expression of thought. SIGN, (signum a mark,) A mark serving to recall some meaning. SOLECISM, (Gr. soloikismos, Lat. solæcismus, from Soloi a colony in Cilicia who corrupted the Attic Greek, and oikeo I dwell,) Such corruption in language as was usual among those who dwelt at Soloi. A violation of syntax. SPECIES, A sort or class. One of the sorts that compose a genus. SUBJECT, (sub under, jactus cast,) That which is brought under observation or description. That concerning which a verb asserts; the nominative to the verb. SUBJUNCTIVE, (sub under or after, junctus joined,) Expressive of that mode of a verb which occurs in certain subjoined or conditionally dependent clauses. SUBSTANTIVE, (sub under, stans standing,) Fundamental; unsupported. A noun, as the name of an independent notion. The verb to be, as the most elementary of all verbs. SUPERLATIVE, (super above, latus carried,) Elevated to the highest degree. SYLLABLE, (Gr. sun together, labein to take,) Those letters of a word which are taken together as a distinct division of sound. SYNONYMES, (Gr. sun together, onuma a name,) Different names, or words, that agree in meaning. SYNTAX, (Gr. sun together, taxis arrangement,) The arrangement of words in the form of a sentence. TAUTOLOGY, (Gr. tautos the same, logos discourse,) Repetition of discourse, either in words or in meaning. TECHNICAL, (Gr. techne art,) Pertaining to the forms of art. TENSE, (tempus time,) The distinction of time expressed by a verb. TERM, (terminus a limit,) A word as limited to a particular signification. TERMINOLOGY, (Lat. terminus a limit, Gr. logos discourse,) A system of expressions defining the parts and properties of scientific objects; being auxiliary to the Nomenclature, which names the objects themselves. THEORY, (Gr. theoros one who speculates,) Speculation. general principles. System of TRANSITIVE, (trans over, itum to go,) Descriptive of those active verbs from which there is an immediate transition to an object. TRIPHTHONG, (Gr. treis three, phthonge sound,) Union of three vowels in one sound. VERB, (verbum a word,) The principal word in discourse. VERNACULAR, (verna a home-born slave, or vernaculus produced at home,) Constituting or belonging to the mother tongue. VOCABULARY, (vocabulum a word,) A list of words or vocables. VOCATIVE, (voco I call,) The 5th case of Latin nouns; used to make a noun signify that which is called to or addressed. VOICE, (vor a manner of expression,) The distinction between the active and passive forms of those verbs that can be used transitively. VOWEL, (vocalis sounding,) A letter that has a full open sound. THE END. LONDON: SPOTTISWOODE and SHAW, |