General French and English dictionary, newly composed from the French dictionaries of the French Academy ... / from the English dictionaries of Johnson, Webster ... etc.
- Spiers, A. (Alexander), 1807-1869
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: General French and English dictionary, newly composed from the French dictionaries of the French Academy ... / from the English dictionaries of Johnson, Webster ... etc. Source: Wellcome Collection.
10/640
![Unauthorized and useless words that are in ncw dictionaries merely because the} hâve been in old ones bave been pitilessly suppressed ; and room has thus been found foi new and useful words without exceeding the size ol' ordinary dictionaries. COMPOUNDS. In both dictionaries the compounds are inserted when they are not translated literally or when thcy are rendered by single words. Tliis is an important part of a Dictionary o two languages; but these terms are not generally given in a dictionary of one language only. Brass-foil is in no English lexicon ; but one must be gifted with powers of divina- tion to surmise that it is called in French oripeau or clinquant. The dictionaries inser brass-candlestick, brass-canon, brass-kettle, brass-money, that are translated literally These then I hâve suppressed or rather I hâve replaced them by other compounds no construed literally, the number of which has been so greatly increased thatl havesome- times (as at the word coal) as many as forty-four compounds, twenty-one of which art in no other dictionary. In the French-English dictionary these compounds are scarcelj fewer. Among those of the word porte, there are in this work seventy-six, sixty-one ol which are in very few French and English dictionaries, and of these twenty-nine art to be found in none. SUPPRESSIONS. Not however satisfied with making valuable additions to the vocabulary, I hâve eu- deavoured to render the service of suppressing impropriétés not merely of language that hâve been accumulating for more than a century. 1 hâve never forgotten that I was writing for the young and that the instruetor of yout’n is invested with a moral priesthood. COINS, WEIGHTS AND MEASDRES. The coins, measures and weights of one country hâve been accurately reduced te those of the other. It will be readily imagined that for both nations the new systerr has been adopted ; a table of them has been added at the end of the dictionary. Tbt Annuaire du bureau des longitudes, which is an authority in England and France has been taken for the basis of these réductions. (See page 602 and the words of the table. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC FUNCTIONS. The grealer part of political institutions and of public functions, when they differ ir the two countries, hâve been succinctly explained. (F. état civil, états généraux, fier: état, etc.) This dictionary gives at the names of the months of the calendar of the firs French republic, constantly met with in French works, the corresponding time of thr ordinary calendar. (F. Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse, etc. ABBREVIATIONS. The greater part of readers will not learn with indifférence that the principal abbre- viations and contractions in use are found in the following pages; they are destined for the foreigner, who is often embarrassed by their absence. GRAMMATICAL PART. It is superfluous to dwell on the importance of the grammatical accuracy of a worl intended to serve as a guide and destined by its very nature to be an authority. The dictionaries of the two languages are in this respect sadly déficient; they commonh unité in one article the active and ncuter verb and not unfrequently words of two oi three different dénominations. Since, the préposition, adverb and conjunction, forms e single article. The dictionaries constantly construe the verb active by the neuter and via versa. Surpass, the active verb, is rendered by exceller, l’emporter, which in French arc neuter verbs and which necessarily mislead the student; itshould be exceller sur, l’em- porter sur. These faults are of constant récurrence. Much care has been bestowed on this portion of the work. Attention has been called, especially in the French-English dictionary, to the principal grammatical distinctions, and observations hâve been added and frequent]} examplcs to elucidatc them (See the words dont, échapper, gens, le (the pronoun), ni, on](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2201391x_0010.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
