A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers : to which are prefixed a history of the language, and an English grammar (Volume 1).

  • Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784.
Date:
1819
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dictionary of the English language: in which the words are deduced from their originals, and illustrated in their different significations by examples from the best writers : to which are prefixed a history of the language, and an English grammar (Volume 1). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. A THE first letter of the European ** ? alphabets, has, in the English lan- guage, three different sounds; which may be termed the broad, open, and slender. The broad sound, resembling that of the German c, is found in many of our monosyllables, as all, wall, malt, salt; in which a is pronounced as au in cause, or aw in law. Many of these words were anciently written with au, as sault, waulk; which happens to be still retain- ed in fault. This was probably the an- cient sound of the Saxons, since it is almost uniformly preserved in the rus- tick pronunciation, and the northern dialects, as maun for man, haund for hand. A open, not unlike the a of the Italians, is found in father, rather, and more ob- scurely infancy,fast, Sec. A, slender or close, is the peculiar a of the English language, resembling the sound of the French e masculine, or diphthong at in fiats; or perhaps a middle sound between them, or between the a and e: to this the Arabick a is said nearly to ap- proach. Of this sound we have exam- ples in the words, filace, face, waste; and all those that terminate in ation, as, relation, nation, generation. A is short, as glass, grass; or long, as glaze, graze: it is marked long, gene- rally, by an e final,plane, or by an i ad- ded, as plain. The short a is open, the long a close. 1. A, an article set before nouns of the sin- gular number; a man, a tree; denoting the number one, as, a man is coming; that is, no more than one; or an indefi- nite indication, as, a man may come this way; that is, any man. This article has no plural signification. Before a word beginning with a vowel, it is written an, as, an ox, an egg, of which a is the con- traction. VOL. I. 2. A, taken materially, or for itself, is a noun; as, a great A, a little a. 3. A is placed before a participle, or par- ticipial noun; and is considered by Wal- lis as a contraction of at, when it is put before a word denoting some action not yet finished; as, I am a walking. It also seems to be anciently contracted from at, when placed before local sur- names; as, Thomas a Becket. In other cases, it seems to signify to, like the French a. A hunting Chlog went. Prior. They go a begging to a bankrupt's door. Dryden. May peace still slumber by these purling foun- tains! Which we may every year Find when we come a fishing here. Wotton. Now the men fell a rubbing of armour, which a great while had lain oiled. Wotton. He will knap the spears a pieces with his teeth. Mores Jlntid. Athm. Another falls a ringing a Pescennius Niger, and judiciously distinguishes the sound of it to be mo- dern. Addison on Medals. 4. A has a peculiar signification, denoting the proportion of one thing to another. Thus we say, The landlord hath a hun- dred a year; the ship's crew gained a thousand pounds a man. The river Inn passes through a wide open coun- try, during all its course through Bavaria; which is a voyage of two days, after the rate of twenty leagues a day. Addison on Italy. 5. A is used in burlesque poetry, to length- en out a syllable, without adding to the sense. For cloves and nutmegs to the line-a, And even for oranges to China. Dryden. 6. A is sometimes, in familiar writings, put by a barbarous corruption for he; as, will a come, for will he come. 7. A, in composition, seems to have some- times the power of the French a in these phrases, a droit, a gauche, &c. and sometimes to be contracted from at, as, aside, aslope, afoot, asleep, athirst, aware. I gin to be a weary of the sun; A ABA And wish the state of th' world were now undone. Shakspeare's Macbeth. And now a breeze from shore began to blow, The sailors ship their oars, and cease to row; Then hoist their yards a-trip, and all their sails Let fall, to court the wind, and catch the gales. Dryden's Ceyx and Alcyone. A little house with trees a row, And, like its master, very low. Pope's Horace. 8. A is sometimes redundant; as, arise, arouse, awake; the same with rise, rouse, wake. 9. A, in abbreviations, stands for artium, or arts; as, a. b. bachelor of arts, artium baccalaureus; a. m. master of arts, ar- tium magister; or, anno; as, A. d. anna domini. AB, ab. at the beginning of the names of places, generally shows that they have some relation to an abbey, as Abingdon. Gibson. Aba'cke, a-bak'. adv. [from back.'] Back- wards. Obsolete. But when they came where thou thy skill didst show, They drew abacke, as half with shame confound. Spenser's Pastorals. ABA'CTOR, ab-ak'tor. n. s. [Latin.] One who drives away or steals cattle in herds, or great numbers at once, in distinction from those that steal only a sheep or two. Blount. A'BACUS, ab'a-kus. n. s. [Latin.] 1. A counting-table, anciently used in cal- culations. 2. [In architecture.] The uppermost member of a column, which serves as a sort of crowning both to the capital and column. Diet. Aba'ft, a-baft'.648 adv. [of abaptan, Sax. behind.] From the fore-part of the ship, towards the stern. Diet. Abai'sance, a-ba'sanse. n. s. [from the French abaiser, to depress, to bring down.] An act of reverence, a bow. Obeysance is considered by Skinner as a corruption of abaisance, but is now universally used.