Dictionary of phrase and fable, giving the derivation, source or origin of common phrases, allusions, and words that have a tale to tell... . To which is added a concise bibliography of English literature / by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer.

E. Cobham Brewer

Date:: 1910

Credit: Dictionary of phrase and fable, giving the derivation, source or origin of common phrases, allusions, and words that have a tale to tell... . To which is added a concise bibliography of English literature / by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$them ou proper data. T( let them fly loose, like a caged bird. To ventilate an opinion means Co s.xggest ior CLe purpose of having it duly tested. A conceited man airs his opinions, a discreet one ventilates them, as coni when it is wnnowed, and the chaff is blown off. Air>brained. Giddy, heedless. This word is now generally spelt “ hare- brained ; ” but, by ancient authors, ]iair- brained. In C. Thomson’s Autobio- (jraphy it is spelt “ Air-brained,” which seems plausible. Air-line signifies (in the United States) the most direct and shortest possible route between two given places, as the Eastern and Western Ajir-line Railway. Air-ship {An). A balloon. “Presently a north-easterly current of wind struck the air-ship, and it began to move with great velocity upon a horizontal line.”—Max. Adeler: The Captain’s MS. Air-throne. Odin’s throne in Glads- heim. His palace was in Asgard. Airs. To give oneself mighty airs : to assume, in manner, appearance, and tone, a superiority to which you have no claim. The same as Air, manner {q.v.). The plural is essential in this case to take it out of the category of mere eccentricity, or to dis- tinguish it from “air” in the sense of deport- ment, as “ he had a fine, manly air,” “ his air was that of a gentleman.” Air, in the singular, being generally complimentary, but “ airs ” in the plural always conveying censure. In Italian, we find the phrase. Si da dell drie. Airap'adam. The white elephant, one of the eight which, according to Indian mythology, sustain the earth. Aisle (pronounce He). The north and .south wings of a church. Latin, ala (axilla, ascella), through the French, aile, a wing. In German the nave of a church is schiff, and the aisle fug el (a wing). In some church documents the aisles are called alleys (walks), and hence the nave is still sometimes called the “middle aisle ” or alley. The choir of Lincoln Cathedral used to be called the “ Chanters’ alley ; ” and Olden tells us that when he came to be church- warden, in 1638, he made the Puritans “ come up the middle alley ou their knees to the raile.” Aitch-bone of beef. CoiTuption of “ Naitch-bone,” i.c. the haunch-bone (Latin, nates, a haunch or buttock). Similarly “an apron” is a corrupLioii of a. napperon ; “ an adder ” is a corruption of a nadder (.Old Eng., ncBddre). In other words, we have reversed the order ; thus “a newt ” is an ewt; “ a nag ” is an tig (Danish). Latin, eq[jms^, a horse. Ajax, the Greater, King of Sal'amis, a man of giant stature, daring, and self- confident. Generally called Tel'amon Ajax, because he was the son of Tel'a- mon. When the armour of Hector was awarded to Ulysses instead of to himself, he turned mad from vexation and stabbed himself.—Homer’’s Iliad, and later poets. Ajax, the Less. Son of Oileus (3 syl.). King of Locris, in Greece. The night Troy was taken, he offered violence to Cas- sandra, the prophetic daughter of Priam ; in consequence of which his ship was driven on a rock, and he perished at sea. —Homers Iliad, and later poets. “ Ipsa (Juno), Jovis rapidum jaculata e uubibus ignem, Disjecitque rates, e. ertitque aBCfuora veiitis ; Ilium (Ajax) expirantem trausflxo pectore flammas Turlnne corripuit, scopulociue infixit acuto.” Virgil: JEJneid, i. 42, etc. Akbar. An Arabic word, meaning “Very Great.” Akbar-Khan, the “very great Khan,” is applied especially to the Khan of Hindustan who reigned 1556- 1605. Ak'uan, the giant whom Rustau slew. {Persian mythology.) Ak’uman. The most malevolent of all the Persian gods. Alabama, U. S. America. The name of an Indian tribe of the Mississippi Valley, meaning “ here we rest.” Alabaster. A stone of great purity and whiteness, used for ornaments. So called from “ Alabastron,” in Upper Egypt, where it abounds. Alad'din, in the Arabian Nights’’ Tales, obtains a magic lamp, and has a splendid palace built by the genius of tlie lamp. He marries the daughter of the sultan of China, loses his lamp, and his palace is transported to Africa. Sir Walter Scott says, somewliat incor- rectly : - “ Vunisiied into air like the palace of .Aladdin.” ’t The palace did not vanish into air, but was transported to another place. Aladdin’s Lamp. The source oi wealth and good fortune. After Aladdiu came to his wealth and was married, he suffered his lamp to hang up and gel rusty. “It was i:npi)ssil)le I bat a family, bolding a dociuuent which gave them access to the most powerful noblemen in Scotland, should have suffered it to remain unemployed, like Aladdin's nisty lamp.”— Aladdin’s Ring, given him by the African magician, was a “ preservative against every evil.”—Arabian Nights: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. Aladdin’s Window. To finish Alad- din's Window—i.e. to attempt to com-$