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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$alphabet, ou each of which lay a grain of corn. Then put a cock in the centre of the circle, and watch what grains he eats. The letters will prognosticate the answer. Libanius and Jainblicus thus discovered who was to succeed the emperor Valens. The cock ate the grains over the letters t, h, e, o, d = Theod [orus]. Greek alector, cock; manteia, divination. Ale'ria (in Orlando Furioso). One of the Amazons, and the best beloved of the ten wives of Guido the Savage. Alert. To be on the watch. From the Latin erectus^ part, of erig^re, to set upright; Italian, erto ; French, erte, a watch-tower. Hence the Italian stare air erta, the Spanish estar alerta, and the French Hre d I'erte, to be on the watch. Alessio. The lover of Liza, in Bel- li'ni’s opera of La Honnamhula (Scribe’s libretto). Alethes (3 syl.). An ambassador from Egypt to King Al'adine. He is represented as a man of low birth raised to the highest rank, subtle, false, de- ceitful, and wily.— Tasso : JermaUm Delivered. Alexander and the Robber. The robber’s name was Diomedes.—Gesta Romanonun, cxlvi. You are thinking of Parmenio, and I of Alexander—i.^., you are thinking what you ought to receive, and I what I ought to give ; you are thinking of those castigated, rewarded, or gifted; but I of my own position, and what punishment, reward, or gift is con- sistent with my rank. The allusion is to the tale about Parmen'io and Alex- ander, when the king said, “ I consider not what Parmenio should receive, but what Alexander should give.” Only two Alexanders. Alexander said, “ There are but two Alexanders—the invincible son of Philip, and the inimit- able painting of the hero by Apelles.” The continence of Alexander. Having gained the battle of Issus (b.c. 333) the family of King Darius fell into his hand; but he treated the ladies as queens, and observed the greatest de- corum towards them. A eunuch, having escaped, told Darius of this noble con- tinence, and Darius could not but admire such nobility in a rival.—Arrian Ana- basis of Alexander., iv. 20. {See Con- tinence.) Alexander, so Paris, son of Priam, was called by the shepherds who brought him up. Alexander of the North. Charles XII. of Sweden, so called from his mili- tary achievements. He was conquered at Pultowa, in Russia (1709), by Czar Peter the Great (1682-1718). “ Repressing here The frantic Alexander of the North.” Thomson: Winter. The Persian Alexander. Sandiar (1117- 1158). Alexander the Corrector. Alex- ander Cruden, author of the “ Concord- ance to the Bible,” who petitioned Parliament to constitute him “ Corrector of the People,” and went about con- stantly with a sponge to wipe out the licentious, coarse, and profane chalk scrawls which met his eye. (1701- 1770.) Alexander’s Beard. A smooth chin, no beard at all An Amazonian chin. “ Disgraced yet with Alexander’s bearde.” Gascoigne: The Steele Glas. Alexandra (in Orlando Furioso). Oronthea’s daughter ; the Amazon queen. Alexandra, so Cassandra, daughter of Priam, is called. The two names are mere variants of each other. Alexan'drian. Anything from the East was so called by the old chroniclers and romancers, because Alexandria was the depot from which Eastern stores reached Europe. '■ Reclined on Alexandrian carpets (i.e., Persian). Rose: Orlando Furioso, x. 37. Alexandrian Codex. A manuscript of the Scriptures in Greek, which be- longed to the library of the patriarchs of Alexandria, in Africa, a.d. 1098. In 1628 it was sent as a present to Charles I., and (in 1753) was placed in the British Museum. It is on parchment, in uncial letters, and contains the Sej)- tuagint version (except the Psalms), a part of the New Testament, and the Epistles of Clemens Romanus. Alexandrian Library. Founded by Ptolemy So'ter, in Alexandria, in Egypt. The tale is that it was burnt and partly consumed in 391 ; but when the city fell into the hands of the calif Omar, in 642, the Arabs found books sufficient to ‘ ‘ heat the baths of the city for six months.” It is said that it con- tained 700,000 volumes. Alexandrian School. An academy of literature by Ptolemy, son of La'gos,$