NOT TO MYSELF AI ON, 118. NOVEMBER (from no em aine), the eleventh month of the Julian year (so called from Julius Cæsar, who reformed the Calendar); but the ninth month in the old Roman year, which began with March. OBLA'TION (Lat. oblatio, an offering) means, properly, an offering presented to the church. OB'SOLETE, gone into misuse; neglected. OCTOBER (Lat. octo, eight), the eighth month of the old Roman year; the tenth of ours. ODD. According to Trench, odd is properly owed; an "odd" glove, or an "odd" shoe, is one that is "owed" to another, or to which another is "owed" for the making of a pair-just as we speak of a man being "singular," wanting, that is, his match. The plural form, odds, is often used to signify the excess of a thing, inequality, &c. ODE. The Greeks called every lyrical poem adapted to singing an ode. In the modern sense of the word, the ode is distinguished from the song by greater length and variety, and by not being necessarily adapted to music; and it is distinguished from the ballad by its admitting narrative, if at all, only as subsidiary to the expression of sentiment, or of imaginary thought. See Lyric. Ode to Peace, 137. Ode to the Passions, 402. Ode on Cecilia's Day, 416. OMNIFA'RIOUS, of all varieties, forms, or kinds; omni being Latin for all. ONE-PENNIED, having only a penny. Words are often compounded, by poetical license, which it would not be proper to use in prose. OPAQUE (v-pak'), dark; not transparent. OPIE, AMELIA, On False Pride, 57. OPTICAL (Gr. op'tomai, I see), belonging to optics, which is that branch of physical science which treats of light and vision. ORATORIO, an Italian word, from the Lat. oratorium, a small chapel, which again is derived from orarë, to pray. A sacred musical composition, the subject of which is generally taken from Scripture. ORATOR. The Latin word os, the mouth (genitive, oris), whence orare, to speak, is the root of this word, so that the literal meaning is, one who makes or utters a speech, 383. OR'BIT (Lat. orbis, a circle) is the path which any celestial body describes by its proper motion. ORDER OF THE DAY (p. 136), in deliberative assemblies, the particular business previously assigned for the day. ORGAN'IC, pertaining to an organ or organs. In organic disease, the structure of an organ is morbidly altered; in functional disease, the secretions or functions only are altered. DRI'ON, one of the forty-eight ancient constellations mapped out by Ptolemy. the astronomer. It is situated in the southern hemisphere with respect to the ecliptic, and contains seven stars, three of form what is called the belt of Orvo OR'PHEUS, one of the old bards of the Gre who is fabled to have tamed the wild animals by his lyre. There is a legend that his wife, Euryd'icë, having died, he followed her to the infernal abode of Pluto, and, by the charms of his music, won her back from the inexorable deity. An Orphean song is one that pleases like the strains of Orpheus. OSCILLATION, a motion backward and forward, like that of a pendulum. OS'SIAN, the name of a supposed Scottish bard, who lived in the third century. His productions were first given to the world in an English version by James M'Pherson, in 1760, with the assurance that these were translations made by himself from ancient Erse manuscripts. There was a long controversy as to the genuineness of these poems, which was finally settled by the decision of the Highland Society, in 1805, that they had not been able to obtain any one poem the same in title and tenor with the poems of Ossian. It is believed, however, that there was much traditional foundation for the poems as they now exist. For extracts, see pp 47, 48. OVIEDO (ō-ve-a'do), a city in the north-west of Spain, having a fine cathedral. OWL. The name of this dissonant night bird, according to Trench, has the same origin with "howl," differing from it only in the omission of the aspirate letter. OX'FORD, a city of England, having a university founded or revived by King Alfred; which university consists of twenty col leges, each with separate students and teachers, but all united under one government. An Oxonian is one who studies at Oxford. OXYDA'TION, the act of combining with oxygen. OX'YGEN (Gr. oxys, acid, gennaein, to generate). This important element was discovered by Dr. Priestley, in 1774. It was called vital air, &c., from its property of supporting combustion and animal life a term changed to oxygen from its property of giving acidity to compounds in which it predominates. See pp. 381, 362. PAD'UA, an old city of the north of Italy, strongly fortified, and now held by Austria. It has a once celebrated university. PA'GOD, or PAGO'DA, the East Indian name for a temple containing an idol. Sometimes it signifies the idol itself. PALACE is from Pala'tium, the court of the kings and emperors of ancient Rome, The Pala'tium was so named because it was built on the Pal'atine Hill. is supposed to have been originally Balatin, from the sound of the cattle which in the early days of Rome were kept there. Thus from the lowing of a cow we have his beautiful word palace Palatine PAL'ADIN, a knight-errant, one who wandered about the earth to give proofs of his valor and gallantry. It is doubtful whether the word has a similar origin with palace, or whether it is from palus, a wooden spear or lance. PALATINE. See Palace. PALEY, WM., an eminent English divine, b. 1743, d. 1805; one of the clearest reasoners on the subject of religious evidences. PALLIATE. This word is derived from the Latin pallium, a cloak, and its original meaning is to cloak, to cover; though now to "palliate" our faults is not to hide them altogether, but to seek to diminish their guilt in part. PALMY RA, a Syrian city, once called Tadmor (the city of palms), of which Palmyra is a Latin translation. It was situated in a valley in the midst of a beautiful palm-grove in the desert, and was adorned with magnificent palaces, of which the ruins still excite admiration. PA'LOS, a small town in Spain, from which Columbus sailed on his first voyage of discovery, and where there is a convent at which he once begged bread for his child. PANAMA', an ancient seaport city of New Granada, S. America, on the gulf of the same name, which is an inlet of the Pacific ocean. It has been nearly Americanized, since the Californian emigration. Population, six thousand. PANEGYRIC (pan-e-gyric), an harangue in praise of some person or persons. PANORAMA (Gr. pan, all, and orama, view), a picture in which all the objects of nature and art that are visible from a certain point are represented on the interior surface of a round or cylindrical wall. PAPUA, an extensive island separated southward by Torres Strait from the north point of Australia. PARABLE (Gr. paraballo, I compare), a comparison; in Scripture, a short tale conveying some moral or religious truth. It differs from the fable in being taken from the province of reality. PARADISE LOST, Extracts from, 348. See Milton. PARADOX (Gr. para, against, doxa, opinion), any proposition contrary to received opinion, or at variance with common sense. PARALLEL'OGRAM, a plain four-sided figure, of which the opposite sides are parallel. PARAPHRASE (Gr. para, beside, or near to, phrazein, to speak), an exposition that holds the sense, but changes the words of the thing expounded; a free or altered translation. PARASITE (Gr. para, beside, sitos, food), one who takes food with another; hence, a flatterer, a fawner. Parasitical plants are those which feed on the juices of other plants or of trees. A parasitic animal is one that lives on some other body. PAREN'THESIS, Uses of the, 49, 54. PARIAN, pertaining to Paros, an island of the Grecian Archipelago, famous for its white marble; whence parian may mean, in poetry, white. A delicate species of white porcelain of modern manufacture is called Parian. PARIS, the capital of France, the second city in Europe for population, and the fourth for extent. PARK, SIR A., On Christianity, 313. PARLEY, to treat with by words; the French word parler means to speak. The prov erb (p. 66), Virtue that parleys, &c., imposes upon us the danger of treating with temptation for a moment. The only safety is in instant and final resistance. PARLIAMENT (pár/le-měnt), from the French parler, to speak. The name of the supreme legislative assembly of Great Britain and Ireland. PARLOR. This word is also from the French parler, to speak; and originally meant the room out of which nuns used to speak through an iron grating. PARNAS'SUS, in mythology, a mountain in ancient Greece, sacred to Apollo, the god of music and song, and to the Muses. From its side flowed the Castalian spring, the fancied source of inspiration to poets. PARR, THOMAS, an extraordinary instance of longevity, was born in England in 1483. He labored in the field after he was 130 years old. He died at the age of 152, through the change and dissipation attendant on going to the court of Charles I. PARTICULAR LADY, THE, 133. PASCAL, BLAISE, born in France 1623, died 1662. He was equally eminent as a geometrician, a writer, and a pious Christian. PATRICIANS (derived from patres, fathers) were the first order or nobility of the Roman people. PECULATION, the embezzlement of public money or goods by a public officer. PEDAGOGUE; a Greek word, from pais, boy, and agōgos, leader; originally, at Athens, the slave who went with a boy from home to school and back again; in modern usage, an inferior teacher of boys. PELISSE (pe-lees'), originally a furred robe; now a silk habit for ladies. The word is from the Latin pellis, a skin. PELTING, in Shakspeare, paltry. PENAFLOR. The Spanish pronunciation of this word is Pa-nyah-flor'. PENAL (from the same root as pain), enact ing punishment. PEND'ULOUS (Lat. pendeo, I hang), hang ing, or swinging in suspense. PERPETUITY, indefinite duration. PHENOMENON, a Greek word, the past participle of the verb phainein, to appear. In Natural Philosophy, the term is usually applied to those appearances of nature of which the cause is not immediately obvious. Remember that the plural of this word is phenomena: do not, as many blunderers do, use this as the singular form. PHILANTHROPY (Gr. phileo, I love, and anthropos, a man), a general term for a benevolent feeling towards the whole hu man race. It is opposed to misanthropy PHOTOGRAPHY (Gr. phos, photos, light, PHRASE (Gr. phrasis, speech), a mode or PHYSIOLOGY (Gr. phusis, nature, and lego, PANO-FORTE (pe-ăn'o-fōr-te), a well-known PICHEGRU (pronounced Pe-sh-gru), Charles, PILGRIMAGE, a long journey; properly a PIZARRO, FRANCIS, the conqueror of Peru, PLAINTIFF (from the Fr. plaintif, com- plaining), one who commences a law-suit. has not yet been introduced into Eng PLA'TO, an illustrious Grecian philosopher PLEASAUNCE, an ancient form of the word PLE-BE IAN (Lat. plebs, the common peo- PLOUGHMAN, THE, a poem, 265. POEMS, MISCELLANEOUS, 358. On Reading Poetry, 52. Extracts from, 286, 309, 411. POR'TICO, a projection supported by columns POST FIX, in grammar a letter, syllable, or POST'HUMOUS (Lat. post, after, and humum, P. M., the initial letters of the Latin words P. S., the initial letters of the Latin words POUNDS, JOHN, Account of, 115. POVERTY, THE GODDESS of, p. 439. In this allegorical apostrophe, the author, resorting to the mythological license of the ancient poets, under which they deified the quality or attribute which they would exalt, has made Poverty a goddess, and told us how much the world has been indebted for its great deeds to the stimulus she imparts. There is much truth in the thought. Whatever may be the obstacles and privations of the poor man's son, he may be assured that they are less perilous to his successful fulfilment of the active purposes of life than the temptations to pleasure and inertness that beset on every side the youth brought up in afflu ence. PRACTICAL JOKES, Danger of, 77. PRAGUE (Prag), a city of Bohemia, on the river Moldau. It contains a fine Gothic cathedral, built in the middle of the fourteenth century; also a university, the oldest in Germany. PRAIRIE (pra're), a French word; meaning, in the U. States, an extensive tract of land, mostly level, and destitute of trees, and covered with tall, coarse grass. PRAYER, EFFICACY OF, 318. PRECISIAN (pre-siz'yan), a person ceremoniously exact in the observance of rules. PREFIX, a letter, syllable, or word, put to the beginning of a word, usually to vary its signification, as un, not, in unseen, not seen; ex, out, in exclude, to shut out; mis, ill, wrong, as misconduct,.ill conduct; inter, between, as interpose, to place between. The English prefix pre is from the Latin præ, before. PREJUDICE. The original meaning is simply a judgment beforehand; but so apt are we to judge harshly and unfavorably before knowledge, that a prejudice is almost always taken to signify an unfavorable anticipation about one. PREROGATIVE (Lat. præ, before, and rogo, I ask), an exclusive, peculiar, or prior privilege. PRESCOTT, WM. HICKLING, a distinguished American historian, born in 1796. Pizarro in Peru, by, 417. PREVENT (Lat. præ, before, and venio, I come), to come before, anticipate; now more generally used to signify to hinder PRIESTLEY, JOSEPH, an eminent theologian and experimental philosopher, b. in England in 1733; died at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, in 1804. He was a friend of Dr. Franklin. PROPERTY. The Latin root of this word is propë, near; whence property meaning a man's peculiar quality, possession, &c. PROVERB. The explanation of the word "proverb" (says Trench) I believe to lie here. One who uses it uses it pro (for) verbo (a word); he employs, for and instead of his own individual word, this more general word, which is every man's Proverbs of all Nations, 64. From Proverbs of Solomon, 443. E BALMIST. The word psalm is from the Greek psallo, I twang or sing. The title of "the psalmist," and "the sweet psalmist of Israel," is applied to King David. Pronounced sam'ist (the a as in father), or sal'mist. PUFFERS, THE, by Macaulay, 162. PUNCTUATION, Derivation of, &c., 49. PURITAN, the name by which the dissenters from the Church of England, about the year 1564, began to be known. The term was assumed, as the word implies, from the superior purity of doctrine and dis cipline which they claimed. PYRAMID. The etymology of this word 18 undecided. Some derive it from the Gr. pur, fire, because of the resemblance of the form to a spire of flame; others derive it from Egyptian and Greek roots combined. PY-THAG-O-RE'AN. So the word is accented by Walker; but Webster makes it Pyth a-go're-an. The followers of Pythag'o ras, a Greek philosopher, born B. C. 570, were thus called. The doctrine of me tem'psychosis, or the transmigration of souls through different orders of animal existence, was held by them. QUAINT. This word is believed to be derived from the Lat. comptus, decked, dressed. QUALITY (from the Latin qualis, of what In common use it means, odd, fanciful. sort?), anything pertaining or belonging to a thing; property, disposition, temper, rank. QUANTITY OF WORDS, p. 25. QUARRY, the game which a hawk or eagle is pursuing or has killed; thought to be derived from the Lat quæro, I seek. The word also means a mine or pit. QUARTAN (Lat. quartanus, the fourth) occurring every fourth day, as a quartan ague or fever. QUARTERLY REVIEW, LONDON, On Educa tion, 184. On Shakspeare, 311. On Milton, 146. Extent of the Universe, 404. PRIMITIVE WORD, an original word; a word | RACK. This word, as used by Shakspeare not derived from another. PRISONER AND RATS, THE, 59. PROBLEM (from the Gr. proballo, I throw or lay before), anything proposed; a question for solution. PRONUNCIATION (Lat. pro, before, and nuncius, a news-bearer, or announcer). The meaning of the word, in its modern use, is limited to the act and mode of uttering or articulating syllables and words. See remarks on, p. 38. (p. 237), is from to reek, like vapor or smoke; hence it simply means, a vapor, an exhalation. RAD'ICAL, having reference to the root of a matter; a primitive word; an uprooting politician. RA'DIUS, a Latin word, meaning a ray; in geometry the semi-diameter of a circle. RAFFAELLE (sometimes spelled Raphael) the most celebrated of Italian painters, born 1483, died 1520. RANDOLPH, THOMAS, an English poet, who died 1634, before his thirtieth year, 256. RAVEN, a large bird of a black color, having its name from ravenous, because of its greedy disposition. The proverb (p. 65) is directed against those who would pull out the mote from a brother's eye before heeding the beam in their own. READING, Remarks on, 13, 52, 399. RECORD. On page 320, Shakspeare places the accent of the noun on the last syllable. It should be on the first, to distinguish it from the verb. To suit the measure of the verse, however, an exception may here be made. RECORD ER, a species of flageolet, in Shakspeare's time. RECTILIN'E-AR, right-lined, straight. REDUNDANCE (Lat. redundans, streaming over, overflowing), superabundance. REEF, a range of rocks seeming to be reft or rift from the main land. RB-ENFORCEMENT, an increase of strength or force by something added. RELIGION. This word is believed to be from the Latin rel'igo, I bind back or fast; whence it means, an acknowledgment of our bond or obligation as created beings to God, our Creator. See pp. 279, 313. RESERVOIR (rez-er-vwor'), literally a place where anything is reserved or kept; a tank or pond in which water is collected and preserved in order to be conveyed by pipes where it is needed. RETRIBUTION (Lat. retribuo, I give back), repayment, requital. The proverb, "the feet of retribation are shod with wool " (p. 66), indicates how silently and surely punishment must come to the transgressor. "Thy sin shall find thee out," — if not to-day, at some future time. Thou mayest have long credit, but thou must pay at length with interest. REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, public wealth, or commonwealth), that form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people. On the American Republic, 287. RETROSPECTIVE (Lat. retro, back, and specto, I look at), looking back on past events. A Retrospective Review, 127. REVOKE (Lat. rěvěco, I call back). In card-playing a revoke is when a party does not follow suit, though in his power to do so. REVENGE, BEST KIND OF, 213. RHEIMS, an ancient city of France, where most of the French kings have been crowned. Pronounced Răngz. RHINE, a celebrated river of Europe, which, rising in Switzerland, flows into the North Sea. Its distance, following its windings, is about six hundred miles. Lines on, 359. RICHTER (pronounced Reehk'tur), a celebrated German novelist, b. 1763, d. 1825. The Two Roads, by, 92. RILL FROM THE TOWN PUMP, 231. ance, applied chiefly to religious ceremonies. RIVAL (Lat. rivus, a river). Rivals, in the primary sense of the word, were dwellers on the banks of the same river, contenders for its water privileges; whence the word came to be applied to any who were on any grounds in more or less unfriendly competition with one another. ROBERTSON, WM., a celebrated historian, b. in Scotland, 1721, d. 1793. Discovery of America, 188. Mary, Queen of Scots, 244. ROGERS, HENRY, a distinguished contributor to the Edinburgh Review in 1849-53. Vanity, &c., of Literature, 345. ROGERS, SAMUEL, a highly-esteemed English poet, b. 1760, and alive 1854. In Rome, 307. ROLAND (pronounced Rolang'; the a as in father), Madame, the wife of a French statesman, was born in Paris, in 1754. She was remarkable for her beauty and intellectual gifts. She was one of the victims of the French revolution. See an account of her execution, p. 291. ROME, a city of Italy, formerly the metrop' olis of the greater part of the world known to the ancients. Its present population is estimated at one hundred and eighty thousand, including about nineteen thousand foreigners, 307, 386. ROM'ULUS, the reputed founder of the city of Rome. He is supposed to be a mythical personage. ROOT. The root of a word is the primary signification to which it can be traced. RO'SARY (Lat. rosarium, a rose-garden). A Catholic devotional practice, consisting in repeating certain prayers a certain number of times. As the computation is made by beads, the string of beads used for this purpose has acquired the popular name of a rosary. ROUEN (pronounced Roo-ang; the a as in father), an ancient city of France on the river Seine. ROUTE (pronounced rout or root), the way of a journey; a course. ROUTINE (roo-teen'), a round or course of occupation. It is from the Lat. rota, a wheel. Ru/BICUND, inclining to redness. RUBY, a crystallized gem of various shades of red, found chiefly in the sand of rivers in Ceylon, Pegu, and Mysore. RUDDER. "He who will not be ruled by the rudder must be ruled by the rock" (p. 65). He who will not be guided by the restraints of conscience, enlightened by the monitions of religion and experience, is likely to make a wreck of his happi ness. RUSKIN, JOHN, an eloquent English writer, author of a work on "Modern Painters." The Sky, 263. RUSSELL, M., Hebrew Literature, 389. SAG'AMORE, a name for a chief among some of the North American Indian tribes. |
