A Dictionary of the English language : in which the words are deduced from their originals, explained in their different meanings, and authorized by the names of the writers in whose works they are found

1756·40.8 MB·English

by  Johnson, Samuel, 1709-1784

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Theological Seminary,
PRINCETON, N. J--
t\a~r-e booV.
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DICTIONARY
O F T «
ET
ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
IN WHICH
WORDS
The are deducedfrom their Originals,
Explained in their Different Meanings,
NAMES WRITERS
Authorized by the of the
in whofe Works they are found.
AbftracSed from the FoLio Edition,
By S A M U E L j'O H N S O N, A. M.
To which isprefixed,
A GRAMMAR ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
of the
TWO VOLUMES.
In
V O L L
LONDON,
Printedfor J. Knapton ; C.Hitch andL.Hawes ; A. Millar;
R. and Dodsley; and M. and T, Longman*
J.
MDCCLVI.

THE
PREFACE.
'AVING been long employed in the fludy and culti-
_ vation of the Englifh language, I lately pubHlhed a
Hftionary like thofe compiled by the academies of Italy
and France, for the ufe of fuch as afpire to exadnefs of
criticifm or elegance of ftyle.
Butit has been fince confidered that works of that kind
are by no means neceflliry to the greater number of readers,
who, feldom intending to write or prefuming to judge,
turn over books only to amufe their leifure, and to gain de-
grees of knowledge fuitable to lower charadlers, or neceffary
tothe common bufinefsof life: thefe know not any other ufe
of a diflionary than that of adjufting orthography, or ex-
plaining terms of fcience or words of infrequent occurrence
or remote derivation.
For thefe purpofes many didlionaries have been written
by different authors, andwith different degrees ol fkili ; but
none of them have yet fallen into my hands by which even
the loweft expefl tions could be fatisfied. Some of their
authors wanted induftry, and others liierarure fome knew
:
not their own defeds, and others were too idle to fupply
them.
For thisreafon a fmalldidionary appeared yet to be want-
ing to common readers : and, as I may without arrogance
claim to myfelfa longeracquaintance with the lexicography
of our language than any other writer has had, i ihaLl
hope to be confidered as having more experience at lead: than
molt of my predeceffors, and as more likely to accommo-
date the nation with a vocabulary ot daily ufe. I therefore
offertothe publick an abftradorepitome ofmyformer work.
In
The P R E F A C E.
In comparing this with other didlionaries of the fame kind
it will be lound to have fcveral advantages.
I. It contains many words not to be found in any other.
II. Many barbarousterms and phrafes by which other dic-
tionaries may vitiate the flyle are reje6led from this.
III. The words are more corredlly fpelled, partly by at-
tention to their etymology, and partly by obfervation ofthe
praftice cf the bcft authors.
IV. The etymologies and derivations, whether from fc-
reign languages or from native roots, are more diligently
traced, and more diftind:ly noted.
V. The fenfes of each word are more copioufly enume-
rated, and more clearly explained.
VI. Many words occurring in the elder authors, fuch as
Spenfer, Shakefpeare, and Milton, v/hich had been hither-
to omitted, are here carefully inlerted ; fo that this book
may ferve as a glofiary or expofitory index to the poetical
writers.
VII. Tothe words, andtothedifferent fenfesofeachword,
are fubjoined from the large didionary the names of] thofe
writers by whom they have been ufed fo that the reader
-,
who knov/s the different periods of the language, and the
tmie of its authors, may judge of the elegance or preva-
lence of any word, or meaning of a word and without re-
•,
curring to other books, may know what are antiquated,
what are unufual, and what are recommended by the belt
authority.
The words of this didionary, as oppofed to others, are
more diligently colleded, more accurately fpelled, more
faithfully explained, andmore authenticallyafcertained. Of
an abftrad it is not neceffary to fay more; and I hope, it
will not be found that truth requiresme to fay lefs.
MAR
G R A
O F T H E
ENGLISH
T0NGU:E.
GRAMMAR,
which is the Roman. ItalJck. Oldjngliih. Name.
p
art of ufi-iig ijjords properly,
comprifes four parts; Orthogiaphy,
Etymology, Syntax, and Prorody.
Inthis divifion andorderof the partsof
grammarIfollowthecommongrammarians,
vrithoutenquiring; whether a fitterdiftribu-
tion might not he found. Experience has
longfhown thismethod to be fo diftinct as
toobviate confufion, and fo comprcheiifive
asto preventany inconvenientomilhons. I
likewifeufe theterms alreadyreceived, and
already underftood, though perhaps others
more propermightfometimes be invented.
Sylburjjius, andotherinnovators,whcfenew
termshavefunktheirlearninginto negledl,
have leftfufficientwarningagainft the trif-
lingambitionof teachingartsin a newlan-
guage.
GRAMMAR THE
A OF
For u we often write iy after a ruftick pronunciationj as maun for w^k,
vowel, to make a diphthong; as boundiorhand,
ranv, greiv, 'vieav, 'vonxi, Jlo'xving, The fhort a approaches to the a
loTtT:nhefes.founds of all the letters are opeTnh,ezl%ognrgafsa., if prolonged by e at
various.
theend of the word, is always flen-
fomIentortehaetirnggornamtmhaerileatntser,s,enIqiuTiiarlelniontt,oltihkee derA, faosrgmrsazaed,ifpahmteh.ongonlywith/or
ontttrioooiemrsgimili^antnan,'tldooorgortrfhafpedhitayrJhtfeiiiTfoorlonor\gomfifa"offttrio"m:ounnand"sosar',n"aim/no^tr^oap^tnrathtonheiilecaqektulp,iaerorgoniaapannenbacry-e-; y'^f.,^earsia^nnn^,do^tzu^a^vom.,rovctjl,^.haye^,^pAhrfialos^no^uxO^nnaecylri,yaaat,tsi•h,oea'nwnidfpflroadruiitOnftmd-y
or harfhnefs of particular combinations, as plane, ntjaJie.
a writer of univcrfal and tranfcendental Ju or a^W has the found of the
grammar. I confider the Englift alphabet German a, as ra^, naughty.
ornolwy avsieiwtisIEfnogllliowm;thaendexeavmepnleinofthifsornmare-r ^fis fometimesfoundinLa*tin-^words not
grammarians, perhaps with more reverence completelynaturalifed or affimilated, butis
tIhfaunppjoufdegmmeynt,reabdeecrauaflerebaydywraictqiunagiinnteEdngwliitfhh enxoprEenigfleidflibydfiipnhgltehoe,ngas; Cacnfdari,smEomraes.properly
theEngliflilanguage ; and.becaufeoffoui«ds
In generalitm?ybeobferved, thatwords are
ufleonfrasebloaeflmttohofetdeprfaiclriirik.biectittvoeheatmnh.doffeiAmwpnhleoaclcektontueonrtswtishteuhrfeeei--r lyEinitshteheEnlgeltitfelriwlhaincghuaogcec.ursmoftfrequent-
found, andthofe whoknow itnot. E is long, as in fce/ie; or fliort,
Of VOWELS. asin cellar,jiparate, celebrate, mhty
then.
It is always fiiortbeforea double
A confonant, ortwo conforiants, relent,
has three founds, the fiender,
open, and broad. nudl.r, reptile,,firpent, cellar, ccjja-
A tion, hlcjfmg, fell, felling, deht.
z.%facfei,en7dnearnei;s faonudndininwmoorfdts weonrddisn,g worEd,isea.lxcweapytsimnutmoenoaftylthleabelneds otfhaat
jrantiaotnI.on, as creation, falvaticn, gene- have no othervowel, as the; orpro-
per names, as Penelope, Phehe, Derbe;
Thea (lenderisthevropcrEnglifli a, call being ufed to modify the foregoing
ed veryjuftly by Erpenius, in his Arabick coniOTi'dnt, BSfnce, once,heJjj^e, oblige;
Grammar, aAnglicumcmt:e mifium, ashav or to lengthen the preceding vowel,
tihngeac.midTdhleeFfroeunndchbheatvweeeanfitmhielaorpfeonuandanidn as ban, bjne; can, cane; pin, pine;
the wordpais, andintheirirmafculinc. tiln, tune; rob, robe ; pop,pope;flr^
fire; cur, care; tub, tube.
-reopen is the a of the Italian, or
nearly refemblesit; 2Sfather, rather, Almofl:all wordswhichnowterminate in
conAgratburoaatde, rfeafnceym,blgelsfit-he a of the ycbeolanyrfehoan;datnuttihsled/iefeonprd,ceediovifaIndctneihJeeJn'ctFl;ryewnihcnihcehc,feeamspirnyoiebnaaer,-,
German ; as all, ^isall, call. andconftitutedafyllablewithitsaffociatecon-
Many words pronounced with a broad ftiomneasntd;ivfiord,edintohluds,edidteiao-nrse,,wfodr-dks,arkencfnuolmeed-~
were anciently written witli au, as fault, ge. This e was perhaps foratime vocal
mault; and we ftill fayfault, 'vault. This orfilentin poetry as conveniencerequired;
was probably theSaxon found, for it is \et butit hasbeenlong whollymute, Camden
s-etaineJinthenortherndialedls, andin the callsitthefiiente.
It
ENGLISH TONGUE.
It does not always lengthen the The ftiorto hasfometimesthefoundof a
foregoing vowel, as gL've, li^vc, clofeUf asfon, ceme,
give. O coalefces intoadiphthong with
It has fometimes in the end of
words a found obfcure, and fcarcely at,heafsojunnodan^ofgroolaonn,g.approach; cja has
perceptible, as ope», JJjcpen, Ihotten,
thijlle, participle, metre, lucre. isunitedtoeinfomewordsderivedfrom
wneiatErh;ufoworurmhs-Tua,i,daasispnhedtiehvit,oin,fglreewwcci.etihvea; ;anads tGEnhrgeelyeifkal,riedafisopuhnctdehecoodnn,go,mwytih;tehybouanrtleyobeee,tbteeecrionnwgormiynt.ottenaaas
Ea founds like e long, as mean; With /, as vil, foil, moil, noijome. •
or like ee, as dear, clear, near.
Eiis foundedlike e long, a.ifeize, theThfiosundcsoaloiftiotnheotfwloettleertsterfseeasmsfartoasuntiwtoe
perceiving. founds canbe unitedwithoutbeingdeftroy-
Eufounds as u long and foft. ed, and therefore approaches more nearly
E, a, u are combined in beauty than any combinationinourtongue to the
and its derivatives, but have only notionof adiphthong.
theEfmoaunydboef fua.id to form a diph- hasWitthehfo0;unadsohfoctt,hehIotota,liacnooul.er ; oo
thong by reduplication, as agree, With II or'It', as our, ponxer,f,o'W'
Jleeping. er ; but in fome words has only the
found of long, as in foul, bo-ixl,
aRsoEuenofchciosdrftoliu;knedancied,nyienompeeno,plew,hewlrieerietiistfiosunpdreo-d jaor-ezv,ufgerod<Tvt.o diTflhienfgeuifdhifdfiefrfeenrtenftouinidgs-
nifications ; as bo'w, an inftrument
1. for (hooting ; bonv, a depreffion of
fho/rth,asSLaiffionu.nd long, Zi/lne; and ftohtev,hetaodf;cfaotntue,r tfheeedf:hebco^fJ,a abnoaorr-;
bicular body ; bov:l, a wooden vef-
That iseminentlyobfervable in/, which fel.
may be likewife remarked in otherletters, Oil is fometimes pronounced like
tchonattratchteed,fhobruttfaofuonudndiswnhootlltyhedilfofnergenfto.und foft, ^^ court; fometimes like o
Ihort, as cough; fometimes like u
The long found in monofyllables ciofe, as could; or u open, as rcughy
is always marked by the e linal, as tough; which ufe only can teach.
thin, thine. Ou is frequently ufed in thelaft fyllable
Iisoftenfoundedbeforerasafhort ofwords which in Latinendin or, andare
a ; asfirt, firfi, jhirt. made Engliih, ashonour,labour,fa'vour, from
Itforms a diphLhong only with e, honor, labor, faiior.
Zt'hieJirdloduybflieielede,; wehxiccehptyis)-/fVoWu,ndweidxicahs wgiivtSehsoomutethelcafotnoefuiniddnenronivenaigttohtrehsrathoafvtoe/h-eenjoelraffltcudr,ftylhbleuatbal,ae
is founded &sfrevii. found between them,'ifnotcompounded oi
both befidesthatthey areprobably derived
wh/iicshjtoriinepdhtwhiotnghseaurieafloieuun,daenddaseitul>il;aonpjeientuu.j t71o!uru,sJffario;emurt.heFrenchnounsiii cur, asbi-
o. u.
O is long, asb'j7ie, chcdient, corrZd- Uis longiniile,coTifufion; orn.ort*
ing \ or fliort, as hUch, biock, oLiicue, as lis, con^ijfiu'i.
Kil. It coaleices Vv'ith «, e, /, c; but
Wcmcii is pronouncedji^mf/?. has rather in thtfe coivibivi.'iriona
A GRAMMAR ©F THE
the force of the <vj confonant, as cular, ciJJern, city,ftccity: before «,
(juoJJ, qiiejl, quit, quite, laJiguifo ; and u, it founds like k, as calmy
fometimes in «/the / lofcs its found,- concavity, copper, incorporate, curio-
as injuice. Itisfometimes mute be- Jit;, concupifcence.
fore a, e, i, y, asguard,guejl,guife,
Cmightbeomitted in thelanguagewith-
buy. outlofs, fincc one of its founds might be
Uis fo'lowedbyein-virtue,-but thee has fuppUcd by/, and the other by k, butthat
nofound. itprefervestotheeyetheetymologyofwords,
Ueisfometimesmuteattlieendofawoid, asface hornfaces, cafiivefromcapti-vui,
in imitation of the French, as prorogue,
Jynagogue, flaguc, -vague, harangue. Ch has a found which is analyfed
into tjh, as church, chin, crutch. Itis
^' the lame found which the Italians
ris avowel, which, as Quintilian give to the c fimple before i and e^
obfervesotone oftheRoman letters, as citta, ccrro.
we might want without inconveni- Ch is founded like k in words de-
ence, but that we have it. It fup- rived from the Greek, as chymijfy
plies the place of i at the end of fche?nc, cholcr. Arch is commonly
words, as thy; before ani, as dyirig; foundedark before avowel, asarch-
and is commonly retained in deriva- argel; and with the Engliihfoundof
live words where it was part of a ch before aconfonant, as archbijhop.
diphthonginthe primitive;asdejiroy.
dejiroyer ; betray, betrayed, betrayer; Ch, infomeFrenchwordsnotyetaflimi-
pray, prayer;fay, fayer; da:, days latCc,J,afcocuonrddsinlgike_yt7o-i,Eansglmiaschhimo,rtchhoagifrea.phy,
Tbeing the Saxon vowel y, whichwas never ends a wordj therefore we write
c*eormymfornelqyuenutflcydiwnhealrleol/dibsoonkosw. put, occurs bPliocckk,e,Hionckf,uchwhwiocrdhs.werCeisonriogwinamlultye.picke,
Itisufed before/andr, asclock, crsfs,
General Rules. D
A vowel in the beginning or mid-
dle fyllable, before two cor.fonants, Is uniform in its found, as death,
is commonly Hiort, as 'Opportunity. diligent.
befJonremoanfoifnygllleabcloensfonaanftinigslfehorvto,weals asIdtiucisllu.fedbeforer, asdraw, drojsj and 19,
J'^-S^frog.
F.
Of CONSONANTS. F, though havinga name begin-
ning with a vowel, ic is numbered
B. by the grammarians among the fe-
asBIictohbiastsamionusnteeiniunontvdhaeerbrti,eldadnefgbtououarng,de,sf.ubftulceh, mmekluidetv.beoe,wfeItolthrsahe,taasiytlaeiintsquhcuianodsv,mamrt-oihddia^sijbiolaqeujukfa,flloiyfutynyf,do,fuornfeedxca---
i-juht, uvnh,limb, dumb,thumb, climb, cept that of is fometimes fpoken
comb, <ivo7nb.
nearly as o-u.
Itisufetibefore/arr>; r, asHack, broiuti, G.
. C. G has two founds, one hard, as
C has before (Tand/ the found of in gay, go,gun; the other foft, as
J; as Jmcerely, centrick, century, cir- ingem, giant.
At