To punish me for what you make me doSeems mostunequal.Shakespeare,Antony and Cleopatra, act ii. sc. 5.These imputations are too common, sir,And easily stuck on virtue when she’s poor:You areunequalto me.Ben Jonson,The Fox, act iii. sc. 1.Jerome, a veryunequalrelator of the opinion of his adversaries.—Worthington,Life of Joseph Mede, p. xi.
To punish me for what you make me doSeems mostunequal.
To punish me for what you make me doSeems mostunequal.
To punish me for what you make me doSeems mostunequal.
To punish me for what you make me do
Seems mostunequal.
Shakespeare,Antony and Cleopatra, act ii. sc. 5.
These imputations are too common, sir,And easily stuck on virtue when she’s poor:You areunequalto me.
These imputations are too common, sir,And easily stuck on virtue when she’s poor:You areunequalto me.
These imputations are too common, sir,And easily stuck on virtue when she’s poor:You areunequalto me.
These imputations are too common, sir,
And easily stuck on virtue when she’s poor:
You areunequalto me.
Ben Jonson,The Fox, act iii. sc. 1.
Jerome, a veryunequalrelator of the opinion of his adversaries.—Worthington,Life of Joseph Mede, p. xi.
Uneasy.This has lost the sense of ‘difficult,’ and means now restless or anxious. But the objective signification is to be found in our Bible and in Shakespeare.
The town was hard to besiege and uneasy to come unto.—2 Macc.xii. 21. (A.V.)This swift businessI mustuneasymake, lest too light winningMake the prize light.Shakespeare,The Tempest, act i. sc. 2.
The town was hard to besiege and uneasy to come unto.—2 Macc.xii. 21. (A.V.)
This swift businessI mustuneasymake, lest too light winningMake the prize light.
This swift businessI mustuneasymake, lest too light winningMake the prize light.
This swift businessI mustuneasymake, lest too light winningMake the prize light.
This swift business
I mustuneasymake, lest too light winning
Make the prize light.
Shakespeare,The Tempest, act i. sc. 2.
Unhandsome.See ‘Handsome.’
A narrow straight path by the water’s side, veryunhandsome[οὐ ῥᾳδίαν] for an army to pass that way, though they found not a man to keep the passage.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 317; cf. p. 378.The ships were unwieldy andunhandsome.—Holland,Livy, p. 1188.
A narrow straight path by the water’s side, veryunhandsome[οὐ ῥᾳδίαν] for an army to pass that way, though they found not a man to keep the passage.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 317; cf. p. 378.
The ships were unwieldy andunhandsome.—Holland,Livy, p. 1188.
A very deep truth lies involved in the fact that so many words, and I suppose in all languages, unite the meanings of wicked and miserable, as the Greek σχέτλιος, our own ‘wretch’ and ‘wretched.’ So, too, it was once with ‘unhappy,’ although its use in the sense of ‘wicked’ has now passed away.
Fathers shall do well also to keep from them [their children] such schoolfellows as beunhappy, and given to shrewd turns; for such as they are enough to corrupt and mar the best natures in the world.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 16.Thou oldunhappytraitor,Briefly thyself remember; the sword is outThat must destroy thee.Shakespeare,King Lear, act iv. sc. 6.The servants of Dionyse, king of Sicily, which although they were inclined to allunhappinessand mischief, yet after the coming of Plato, perceiving that for his doctrine and wisdom the king had him in high estimation, they thus counterfeited the countenance and habit of the philosopher.—SirT. Elyot,The Governor, b. ii. c. 14.[Man] from the hour of his birth is most miserable, weak, and sickly; when he sucks, he is guided by others; when he is grown great, practisethunhappinessand is sturdy; and when old, a child again and repenteth him of his past life.—Burton,Anatomy of Melancholy; Democritus to the Reader.
Fathers shall do well also to keep from them [their children] such schoolfellows as beunhappy, and given to shrewd turns; for such as they are enough to corrupt and mar the best natures in the world.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 16.
Thou oldunhappytraitor,Briefly thyself remember; the sword is outThat must destroy thee.
Thou oldunhappytraitor,Briefly thyself remember; the sword is outThat must destroy thee.
Thou oldunhappytraitor,Briefly thyself remember; the sword is outThat must destroy thee.
Thou oldunhappytraitor,
Briefly thyself remember; the sword is out
That must destroy thee.
Shakespeare,King Lear, act iv. sc. 6.
The servants of Dionyse, king of Sicily, which although they were inclined to allunhappinessand mischief, yet after the coming of Plato, perceiving that for his doctrine and wisdom the king had him in high estimation, they thus counterfeited the countenance and habit of the philosopher.—SirT. Elyot,The Governor, b. ii. c. 14.
[Man] from the hour of his birth is most miserable, weak, and sickly; when he sucks, he is guided by others; when he is grown great, practisethunhappinessand is sturdy; and when old, a child again and repenteth him of his past life.—Burton,Anatomy of Melancholy; Democritus to the Reader.
Union.The elder Pliny (H. N.ix. 59) tells us that the name ‘unio’ had not very long before his time begun to be given to a pearl in which all chiefest excellencies, size, roundness, smoothness, whiteness, weight, met and, so to speak, wereunited; and as late as Jeremy Taylor the word ‘union’ was often employed to designate a pearl of a rare and transcendent beauty. See Skeat’sDictionary(s. v.‘Onion’).
And in the cup anunionshall he throw,Richer than that which four successive kingsIn Denmark’s crown have worn.Shakespeare,Hamlet, act v. sc. 2.Pope Paul II. in his pontifical vestments outwent all his predecessors, especially in his mitre, upon which he had laid out a great deal of money in purchasing at vast rates diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, crysoliths, jaspers,unions, and all manner of precious stones.—SirPaul Rycaut,Platina’s History of the Popes, p. 114.Perox, the Persian king, [hath] anunionin his ear worth an hundred weight of gold.—Burton,Anatomy of Melancholy, mem. ii. sect. 3.
And in the cup anunionshall he throw,Richer than that which four successive kingsIn Denmark’s crown have worn.
And in the cup anunionshall he throw,Richer than that which four successive kingsIn Denmark’s crown have worn.
And in the cup anunionshall he throw,Richer than that which four successive kingsIn Denmark’s crown have worn.
And in the cup anunionshall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark’s crown have worn.
Shakespeare,Hamlet, act v. sc. 2.
Pope Paul II. in his pontifical vestments outwent all his predecessors, especially in his mitre, upon which he had laid out a great deal of money in purchasing at vast rates diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, crysoliths, jaspers,unions, and all manner of precious stones.—SirPaul Rycaut,Platina’s History of the Popes, p. 114.
Perox, the Persian king, [hath] anunionin his ear worth an hundred weight of gold.—Burton,Anatomy of Melancholy, mem. ii. sect. 3.
‘Unkind’ has quite forfeited now its primary meaning, namely that which violates the law of kind, thus ‘unkindabominations’ (Chaucer), meaning incestuous unions and the like; and has taken up with the secondary, that which does not recognise the duties flowing out of this kinship. In its primary meaning it moves in a region where the physical and ethical meet; in itssecondary in a purely ethical sphere. How soon it began to occupy this the passages which follow will show; for out of a sense that nothing was so unnatural or ‘unkind’ as ingratitude, the word early obtained use as a special designation of this vice.
Unkynde[ingrati, Vulg.], cursid, withouten affeccioun.—2 Tim.iii. 2, 3.Wiclif.It is all one to seyunkinde,As thing whiche doone is againe kinde,For it with kinde never stoodeA man to yelde evill for goode.Gower,Confessio Amantis, b. v.Whar-for ilk man, bathe lered and lewed,Suld thinke on that love that He man shewed,And love Hym and thank Hym als he can,And elles es he anunkyndman.Richard Rolle de Hampole,Pricke of Conscience, 117.The most damnable vice and most against justice, in mine opinion, is ingratitude, commonly calledunkindness. He isunkindthat denieth to have received any benefit, that indeed he hath received; he isunkindthat dissimuleth; he isunkindthat recompenseth not; but he is mostunkindthat forgetteth.—SirT. Elyot,The Governor, b. ii. c. 13.God might have made me even such a foule and unreasonable beast as this is; and yet was I never sokyndeas to thancke Him that He had not made me so vile a creature; which thing I greatly bewayle, and myunkindenessecauseth me now thus to weepe.—Frith,Works, 1573, p. 90.We have cause also in England to beware ofunkindnesse, who have had in so fewe yeares the candel of Goddes woorde, so oft lightned, so oft put out; and yet will venture by our unthankfulnesse in doctrine, and sinfull life, to leese againe lighte, candle, candlesticke, and all.—Ascham,The Scholemaster, b. i.
Unkynde[ingrati, Vulg.], cursid, withouten affeccioun.—2 Tim.iii. 2, 3.Wiclif.
It is all one to seyunkinde,As thing whiche doone is againe kinde,For it with kinde never stoodeA man to yelde evill for goode.
It is all one to seyunkinde,As thing whiche doone is againe kinde,For it with kinde never stoodeA man to yelde evill for goode.
It is all one to seyunkinde,As thing whiche doone is againe kinde,For it with kinde never stoodeA man to yelde evill for goode.
It is all one to seyunkinde,
As thing whiche doone is againe kinde,
For it with kinde never stoode
A man to yelde evill for goode.
Gower,Confessio Amantis, b. v.
Whar-for ilk man, bathe lered and lewed,Suld thinke on that love that He man shewed,And love Hym and thank Hym als he can,And elles es he anunkyndman.
Whar-for ilk man, bathe lered and lewed,Suld thinke on that love that He man shewed,And love Hym and thank Hym als he can,And elles es he anunkyndman.
Whar-for ilk man, bathe lered and lewed,Suld thinke on that love that He man shewed,And love Hym and thank Hym als he can,And elles es he anunkyndman.
Whar-for ilk man, bathe lered and lewed,
Suld thinke on that love that He man shewed,
And love Hym and thank Hym als he can,
And elles es he anunkyndman.
Richard Rolle de Hampole,Pricke of Conscience, 117.
The most damnable vice and most against justice, in mine opinion, is ingratitude, commonly calledunkindness. He isunkindthat denieth to have received any benefit, that indeed he hath received; he isunkindthat dissimuleth; he isunkindthat recompenseth not; but he is mostunkindthat forgetteth.—SirT. Elyot,The Governor, b. ii. c. 13.
God might have made me even such a foule and unreasonable beast as this is; and yet was I never sokyndeas to thancke Him that He had not made me so vile a creature; which thing I greatly bewayle, and myunkindenessecauseth me now thus to weepe.—Frith,Works, 1573, p. 90.
We have cause also in England to beware ofunkindnesse, who have had in so fewe yeares the candel of Goddes woorde, so oft lightned, so oft put out; and yet will venture by our unthankfulnesse in doctrine, and sinfull life, to leese againe lighte, candle, candlesticke, and all.—Ascham,The Scholemaster, b. i.
As the ‘thrifty’ will probably be the thriving, so the ‘unthrifty’ the unthriving; but the words are not synonymous any more, as once they were. See ‘Thrifty.’
What [is it] but this self and presuming of ourselves causes grace to beunthrifty, and to hang down the head? what but our ascribing to ourselves in our means-using, makes them so unfruitful?—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 146.Staggering, non-proficiency, andunthriftinessof profession is the fruit of self.—Id.,Index.
What [is it] but this self and presuming of ourselves causes grace to beunthrifty, and to hang down the head? what but our ascribing to ourselves in our means-using, makes them so unfruitful?—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 146.
Staggering, non-proficiency, andunthriftinessof profession is the fruit of self.—Id.,Index.
Unvalued.This and ‘invaluable’ have been usefully desynonymized; so that ‘invaluable’ means now having a value greater than can be estimated, ‘unvalued’ esteemed to have no value at all. Yet it was not so once; though in Shakespeare (seeHamlet, act i. sc. 3) our present use of ‘unvalued’ occasionally obtained.
Two golden apples ofunvaluedprice.Spenser,Sonnet 77.Go,unvaluedbook,Live, and be loved; if any envious lookHurt thy clear fame, learn that no state more highAttends on virtue than pined envy’s eye.Chapman,Dedication of Poems.Each heartHath from the leaves of thyunvaluedbookThose Delphic lines with deep impression took.Milton,An Epitaph on Shakespeare.
Two golden apples ofunvaluedprice.
Two golden apples ofunvaluedprice.
Two golden apples ofunvaluedprice.
Two golden apples ofunvaluedprice.
Spenser,Sonnet 77.
Go,unvaluedbook,Live, and be loved; if any envious lookHurt thy clear fame, learn that no state more highAttends on virtue than pined envy’s eye.
Go,unvaluedbook,Live, and be loved; if any envious lookHurt thy clear fame, learn that no state more highAttends on virtue than pined envy’s eye.
Go,unvaluedbook,Live, and be loved; if any envious lookHurt thy clear fame, learn that no state more highAttends on virtue than pined envy’s eye.
Go,unvaluedbook,
Live, and be loved; if any envious look
Hurt thy clear fame, learn that no state more high
Attends on virtue than pined envy’s eye.
Chapman,Dedication of Poems.
Each heartHath from the leaves of thyunvaluedbookThose Delphic lines with deep impression took.
Each heartHath from the leaves of thyunvaluedbookThose Delphic lines with deep impression took.
Each heartHath from the leaves of thyunvaluedbookThose Delphic lines with deep impression took.
Each heart
Hath from the leaves of thyunvaluedbook
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took.
Milton,An Epitaph on Shakespeare.
This, which is now the lending of money upon inordinate interest, was once the lending it upon any. The man who did not lend his money for nothing was then a ‘usurer,’ not he, as now, who makes unworthy profit by the necessitiesof the needy or the extravagance of the foolish. It is true that the word was as dishonourable then as it is now; and it could not be otherwise, so long as all receiving of interest was regarded as a violation at once of divine and of natural law. When at length the common sense of men overcame this strange but deep-rooted prejudice, the word was too deeply stained with dishonour to be employed to express the lawful receiving of a measurable interest; but ‘usury,’ taking up a portion only of its former meaning, was now restricted to that which still remained under a moral ban, namely the exacting of an excessive interest for money lent.
On the other side, the commodities ofusuryare: first, that howsoeverusuryin some respects hindereth merchandising, yet in some other it advanceth it; for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants uponborrowing at interest; so as if theusurereither call in or keep back his money, there will ensue presently a great stand of trade.—Bacon,Essay, 41.Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own withusury[σὺν τόκῳ]?—Lukexix. 23. (A.V.)Brokers, takers of pawns, bitingusurersI will not admit; yet because we converse here with men, not with gods, and for the hardness of men’s hearts, I will tolerate some kind ofusury.—Burton,Anatomy of Melancholy; Democritus to the Reader.
On the other side, the commodities ofusuryare: first, that howsoeverusuryin some respects hindereth merchandising, yet in some other it advanceth it; for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants uponborrowing at interest; so as if theusurereither call in or keep back his money, there will ensue presently a great stand of trade.—Bacon,Essay, 41.
Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own withusury[σὺν τόκῳ]?—Lukexix. 23. (A.V.)
Brokers, takers of pawns, bitingusurersI will not admit; yet because we converse here with men, not with gods, and for the hardness of men’s hearts, I will tolerate some kind ofusury.—Burton,Anatomy of Melancholy; Democritus to the Reader.
Varlet.Littré, dealing with this very word, has truly said, ‘Les mots, soit en changeant de pays, soit en changeant de siècle, s’ennoblissent ou s’avilissent d’une façon singulière’ (Hist. de la Langue Française, vol. ii. p. 166). There could be no more signal proof of this than that which the word ‘varlet’ supplies.I continue to quote his words, ‘Vaslet, ou, par une substitution non rare de l’rà l’s,varlet, est un diminutif devassal;vassalsignifiait un vaillant guerrier, etvarletun jeune homme qui pouvait aspirer aux honneurs de la chevalerie.’ From this it fell to the use in which we find it in the passage quoted below from Shakespeare of squire or attendant, which is also the continually recurring use in the Old English translation of Froissart. In this sense it survives as ‘valet;’ but not pausing here, ‘varlet’ is now tinged with contempt, and implies moral worthlessness in him to whom it is applied.
Call here myvarlet; I’ll unarm myself.Shakespeare,Troilus and Cressida, act i. sc. 1.Right so there came in avarlet; and told Sir Tristram how there was come an errant knight into the town with such colours upon his shield.—SirT. Malory,Morte d’Arthur, b. x. c. 56.
Call here myvarlet; I’ll unarm myself.
Call here myvarlet; I’ll unarm myself.
Call here myvarlet; I’ll unarm myself.
Call here myvarlet; I’ll unarm myself.
Shakespeare,Troilus and Cressida, act i. sc. 1.
Right so there came in avarlet; and told Sir Tristram how there was come an errant knight into the town with such colours upon his shield.—SirT. Malory,Morte d’Arthur, b. x. c. 56.
Vassalage.This, like the Old French ‘vasselage,’ had once the meaning of courage, prowess, superiority. See in explanation the quotation from Littré under ‘Varlet.’
And certeynly a man hath most honourTo deyen in his excellence and flour,Thanne whan his name appalled is for age;For all forgeten is hisvasselage.Chaucer,The Knightes Tale, 2189 (Clar. Press).And Catoun seith is noon so great encressOf worldly tresour, as for to live in pees,Which among vertues hath thevasselage.Lydgate,Minor Poems, Halliwell’s ed., p. 176.
And certeynly a man hath most honourTo deyen in his excellence and flour,Thanne whan his name appalled is for age;For all forgeten is hisvasselage.
And certeynly a man hath most honourTo deyen in his excellence and flour,Thanne whan his name appalled is for age;For all forgeten is hisvasselage.
And certeynly a man hath most honourTo deyen in his excellence and flour,Thanne whan his name appalled is for age;For all forgeten is hisvasselage.
And certeynly a man hath most honour
To deyen in his excellence and flour,
Thanne whan his name appalled is for age;
For all forgeten is hisvasselage.
Chaucer,The Knightes Tale, 2189 (Clar. Press).
And Catoun seith is noon so great encressOf worldly tresour, as for to live in pees,Which among vertues hath thevasselage.
And Catoun seith is noon so great encressOf worldly tresour, as for to live in pees,Which among vertues hath thevasselage.
And Catoun seith is noon so great encressOf worldly tresour, as for to live in pees,Which among vertues hath thevasselage.
And Catoun seith is noon so great encress
Of worldly tresour, as for to live in pees,
Which among vertues hath thevasselage.
Lydgate,Minor Poems, Halliwell’s ed., p. 176.
Vermin.Now always noxious offensive animals of thesmallerkind, but employed formerly with no such limitation.
But he shouke of thevermeninto the fyre and felt no harme.—Actsxxviii. 5. Geneva Version.This crocodile is a mischievous four-footed beast, a dangerousverminused to both elements.—Holland,Ammianus, p. 212.Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, andvermin[καὶ τὰ θηρία], and worms, and fowls of the air.—Actsx. 12. Geneva.The Lord rectifies Peter, and frames him to go by a vision of all crawlingverminin a clean sheet.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 42.
But he shouke of thevermeninto the fyre and felt no harme.—Actsxxviii. 5. Geneva Version.
This crocodile is a mischievous four-footed beast, a dangerousverminused to both elements.—Holland,Ammianus, p. 212.
Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, andvermin[καὶ τὰ θηρία], and worms, and fowls of the air.—Actsx. 12. Geneva.
The Lord rectifies Peter, and frames him to go by a vision of all crawlingverminin a clean sheet.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 42.
Vilify.This now implies a great deal more than to hold morally cheap, which was all that in the seventeenth century it involved.
Can it be imagined that a whole people would ever sovilifythemselves, depart from their own interests to that degree as to place all their hopes in one man?—Milton,Defence of the People of England, c. 7.The ears of all men will be filled with deceitful figments and gainful lies, the merits of Christ’s passion will bevilifiedand maimed.—H. More,The Mystery of Iniquity, b. ii. c. 7, § 11.The more I magnify myself, the more Godvilifiesme.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 469.
Can it be imagined that a whole people would ever sovilifythemselves, depart from their own interests to that degree as to place all their hopes in one man?—Milton,Defence of the People of England, c. 7.
The ears of all men will be filled with deceitful figments and gainful lies, the merits of Christ’s passion will bevilifiedand maimed.—H. More,The Mystery of Iniquity, b. ii. c. 7, § 11.
The more I magnify myself, the more Godvilifiesme.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 469.
A word whose story, like that of ‘churl,’ is so well known that one may be spared the necessity of repeating it. It was, I think, with ‘villany’ that there was first a transfer into an ethical sphere, though it is noticeable how‘villany’ till a very late day expressedwordsfoul and disgraceful to the utterer much oftener thandeeds.
Pour the blood of thevillainin one basin, and the blood of the gentleman in another; what difference shall there be proved?—Becon,The Jewel of Joy.We yield not ourselves to be yourvillainsand slaves [nonin servitutemnos tradimus], but as allies to be protected by you.—Holland,Livy, p. 935.[He] was condemned to be degraded of all nobility, and not only himself, but all his succeeding posterity declaredvillains, and clowns, taxable and incapable to bear arms.—Florio,Montaigne, b. i. c. 15.In our modern language it [foul language] is termedvillany, as being proper for rustic boors, or men of coarsest education and employment, who, having their minds debased by being conversant in meanest affairs, do vent their sorry passions in such strains.—Barrow,Of Evil-speaking in general, Sermon 16.
Pour the blood of thevillainin one basin, and the blood of the gentleman in another; what difference shall there be proved?—Becon,The Jewel of Joy.
We yield not ourselves to be yourvillainsand slaves [nonin servitutemnos tradimus], but as allies to be protected by you.—Holland,Livy, p. 935.
[He] was condemned to be degraded of all nobility, and not only himself, but all his succeeding posterity declaredvillains, and clowns, taxable and incapable to bear arms.—Florio,Montaigne, b. i. c. 15.
In our modern language it [foul language] is termedvillany, as being proper for rustic boors, or men of coarsest education and employment, who, having their minds debased by being conversant in meanest affairs, do vent their sorry passions in such strains.—Barrow,Of Evil-speaking in general, Sermon 16.
Virtuous.Virtue is still occasionally used as equivalent to might or potency; but ‘virtuous’ has quite abdicated the meaning of valorous or potent which it once had, and which its etymology justified.
With this all strengths and minds he moved; but young Deiphobus,Old Priam’s son, amongst them all was chieflyvirtuous.Chapman,Homer’s Iliad, xiii. 147.Or call up him that left half toldThe story of Cambuscan old,Of Camball and of Algarsife,And who had Canace to wife,That owned thevirtuousring and glass.Milton,Il Penseroso.Tho lifting up hisvertuousstaffe on hyeHe smote the sea, which calmèd was with speed.Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 12, 26.
With this all strengths and minds he moved; but young Deiphobus,Old Priam’s son, amongst them all was chieflyvirtuous.
With this all strengths and minds he moved; but young Deiphobus,Old Priam’s son, amongst them all was chieflyvirtuous.
With this all strengths and minds he moved; but young Deiphobus,Old Priam’s son, amongst them all was chieflyvirtuous.
With this all strengths and minds he moved; but young Deiphobus,
Old Priam’s son, amongst them all was chieflyvirtuous.
Chapman,Homer’s Iliad, xiii. 147.
Or call up him that left half toldThe story of Cambuscan old,Of Camball and of Algarsife,And who had Canace to wife,That owned thevirtuousring and glass.
Or call up him that left half toldThe story of Cambuscan old,Of Camball and of Algarsife,And who had Canace to wife,That owned thevirtuousring and glass.
Or call up him that left half toldThe story of Cambuscan old,Of Camball and of Algarsife,And who had Canace to wife,That owned thevirtuousring and glass.
Or call up him that left half told
The story of Cambuscan old,
Of Camball and of Algarsife,
And who had Canace to wife,
That owned thevirtuousring and glass.
Milton,Il Penseroso.
Tho lifting up hisvertuousstaffe on hyeHe smote the sea, which calmèd was with speed.
Tho lifting up hisvertuousstaffe on hyeHe smote the sea, which calmèd was with speed.
Tho lifting up hisvertuousstaffe on hyeHe smote the sea, which calmèd was with speed.
Tho lifting up hisvertuousstaffe on hye
He smote the sea, which calmèd was with speed.
Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 12, 26.
‘Longevity’ is a comparatively modern word. ‘Vivacity,’ which has now acquired the mitigated sense of liveliness, served instead of it; keeping in English the original sense which ‘vivacitas’ had in the Latin.
James Sands, of Horborn in this county, is most remarkable for hisvivacity, for he lived 140 years.—Fuller,Worthies of England: Staffordshire.Fables are raised concerning thevivacityof the deer; for neither are their gestation nor increment such as may afford an argument of long life.—SirT. Browne,Vulgar Errors.Hitherto the English bishops had beenvivaciousalmost to wonder. For, necessarily presumed of good years before entering on their office in the first year of Queen Elizabeth, it was much that but five died for the first twenty years of her reign.—Fuller,Church History of Britain, b. ix. § 27.
James Sands, of Horborn in this county, is most remarkable for hisvivacity, for he lived 140 years.—Fuller,Worthies of England: Staffordshire.
Fables are raised concerning thevivacityof the deer; for neither are their gestation nor increment such as may afford an argument of long life.—SirT. Browne,Vulgar Errors.
Hitherto the English bishops had beenvivaciousalmost to wonder. For, necessarily presumed of good years before entering on their office in the first year of Queen Elizabeth, it was much that but five died for the first twenty years of her reign.—Fuller,Church History of Britain, b. ix. § 27.
Voluble.This epithet always insinuates of him to whom it is now applied that his speech is freer and faster than is meet; but it once occupied that region of meaning which ‘fluent’ does at present, without any suggestion of the kind. Milton (P. L.ix. 436) recalls the word, as he does so many, to its primary meaning.
He [Archbishop Abbott] was painful, stout, severe against bad manners, of a grave and avolubleeloquence.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part i. p. 65.
He [Archbishop Abbott] was painful, stout, severe against bad manners, of a grave and avolubleeloquence.—Hacket,Life of Archbishop Williams, part i. p. 65.
Voyage.All journeys, those alike by land and by water, were ‘voyages’ once. The word is restricted now to journeys made by water. ‘Voyage’ is the French form of the late Latin ‘viaticum.’
Holofernes went forth with his chariots and horses to go before King Nebuchodonosor in thevoyage.—Judithii. 19. (A.V.)My life hath not been unexpensive in learning, andvoyagingabout.—Milton,An Apology for Smectymnuus.This is the poynt, to speken schort and pleyn,That ech of yow to schorte with oure weieIn thisviageschal telle tales tweyeTo Caunterburi-ward, I mene it so,And homward he schal tellen othere tuo.Chaucer,Canterbury Tales, Prologue.
Holofernes went forth with his chariots and horses to go before King Nebuchodonosor in thevoyage.—Judithii. 19. (A.V.)
My life hath not been unexpensive in learning, andvoyagingabout.—Milton,An Apology for Smectymnuus.
This is the poynt, to speken schort and pleyn,That ech of yow to schorte with oure weieIn thisviageschal telle tales tweyeTo Caunterburi-ward, I mene it so,And homward he schal tellen othere tuo.
This is the poynt, to speken schort and pleyn,That ech of yow to schorte with oure weieIn thisviageschal telle tales tweyeTo Caunterburi-ward, I mene it so,And homward he schal tellen othere tuo.
This is the poynt, to speken schort and pleyn,That ech of yow to schorte with oure weieIn thisviageschal telle tales tweyeTo Caunterburi-ward, I mene it so,And homward he schal tellen othere tuo.
This is the poynt, to speken schort and pleyn,
That ech of yow to schorte with oure weie
In thisviageschal telle tales tweye
To Caunterburi-ward, I mene it so,
And homward he schal tellen othere tuo.
Chaucer,Canterbury Tales, Prologue.
Wainscot.I transcribe a correction of the brief and inaccurate notice of this word in my first edition, which a correspondent, with the best opportunity of knowledge, has kindly sent me: ‘“Wainscot” is always in the building trade applied to oak only, but not to all kinds of oak. The wainscot oak grows abroad, chiefly, I think, in Holland, and is used for wainscoting, or wood lining, of walls of houses, because it works very freely under the tool, and is not liable to “cast” or rend, as English oak will do. It is consequently used for all purposes where expense is no object. Formerly all panelling to walls was done in wainscot, and was called “wainscoting.” It was never painted. In modern times it was imitated in deal, and was painted to represent real wainscot, or of any other colour, while the name of “wainscoting” adhered to it, though the material was no longer wainscot. At present, however, the word “wainscot” is always used to designate the real wainscot oak.’ It will be seen from this very interesting explanation that within the narrow limits of a particular trade, the old meaning of ‘wainscot,’ which has everywhere else disappeared, still survives. It would be curious to trace how much in this way of earlier English within limited technical circles liveson, having everywhere else died out. For a further account of ‘wainscot,’ see Skeat’sDictionary, p. 833.
A wedge ofwainscotis fittest and most proper for cleaving of anoakentree.—SirT. Urquhart,Tracts, p. 153.Being thus arrayed, and enclosed in a chest ofwainscot, he [Edward the Confessor] was removed into the before-prepared feretry.—Dart,History of St. Peter’s, Westminster, c. 3.
A wedge ofwainscotis fittest and most proper for cleaving of anoakentree.—SirT. Urquhart,Tracts, p. 153.
Being thus arrayed, and enclosed in a chest ofwainscot, he [Edward the Confessor] was removed into the before-prepared feretry.—Dart,History of St. Peter’s, Westminster, c. 3.
Want.Among other differences between ‘carere’ and ‘egere,’ this certainly is one, that the former may be said of things evil as well as good, as well of those whose absence is desirable as of those whose absence is felt as a loss, while ‘egere’ always implies not merely the absence but the painful sense of the absence. ‘To want,’ which had once the more colourless use of ‘carere,’ has passed now, nearly though not altogether, into this latter sense, and is = ‘egere.’
If he be lost, andwant, thy life shall go for his life.—1 Kingsxx. 39. Geneva.The happy and fortunatewantof these beasts [wolves] in England is universally ascribed to the politic government of King Edgar.—Harrison,Description of England, b. iii. c. 4.In a word, he [the true gentleman] is such, that could wewanthim, it were pity but that he were in heaven; and yet I pity not much his continuance here, because he is already so much in heaven to himself.—Clement Ellis,Character of a True Gentleman.Friend of my life, which did you not prolong,The world hadwantedmany an idle song.Pope,Lines to Arbuthnot.
If he be lost, andwant, thy life shall go for his life.—1 Kingsxx. 39. Geneva.
The happy and fortunatewantof these beasts [wolves] in England is universally ascribed to the politic government of King Edgar.—Harrison,Description of England, b. iii. c. 4.
In a word, he [the true gentleman] is such, that could wewanthim, it were pity but that he were in heaven; and yet I pity not much his continuance here, because he is already so much in heaven to himself.—Clement Ellis,Character of a True Gentleman.
Friend of my life, which did you not prolong,The world hadwantedmany an idle song.
Friend of my life, which did you not prolong,The world hadwantedmany an idle song.
Friend of my life, which did you not prolong,The world hadwantedmany an idle song.
Friend of my life, which did you not prolong,
The world hadwantedmany an idle song.
Pope,Lines to Arbuthnot.
Wench.In Middle English this term (in the older form ‘wenchel’), like ‘girl,’ ‘coquette,’ ‘slut,’‘flirt,’ and so many more, might be ascribed to either sex; and when afterwards restrained to one, was rather a word of familiarity, or even of passion, than of slight and contempt, which now it has grown to be. See Mayhew-Skeat’sDict. of Middle English.
And, wretchedwench, she thinks she has obtained such a thingAs both to Progne and herself should joy and comfort bring.Golding,Ovid’s Metamorphosis, b. vi.O, ill-starredwench,Pale as thy smock, when we shall meet at comptThis look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven.Shakespeare,Othello, act v. sc. 2.The tongues of mockingwenchesare as keenAs is the razor’s edge invisible.Id.,Love’s Labours Lost, act v. sc. 2.And going in, He saith to them: Why make ye this ado, and weepe? The wenche is not dead, but sleepeth.... And holding the wenches hand, He saith to her, Talitha Cumi.—Markv. 39, 41. Rheims.
And, wretchedwench, she thinks she has obtained such a thingAs both to Progne and herself should joy and comfort bring.
And, wretchedwench, she thinks she has obtained such a thingAs both to Progne and herself should joy and comfort bring.
And, wretchedwench, she thinks she has obtained such a thingAs both to Progne and herself should joy and comfort bring.
And, wretchedwench, she thinks she has obtained such a thing
As both to Progne and herself should joy and comfort bring.
Golding,Ovid’s Metamorphosis, b. vi.
O, ill-starredwench,Pale as thy smock, when we shall meet at comptThis look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven.
O, ill-starredwench,Pale as thy smock, when we shall meet at comptThis look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven.
O, ill-starredwench,Pale as thy smock, when we shall meet at comptThis look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven.
O, ill-starredwench,
Pale as thy smock, when we shall meet at compt
This look of thine will hurl my soul from heaven.
Shakespeare,Othello, act v. sc. 2.
The tongues of mockingwenchesare as keenAs is the razor’s edge invisible.
The tongues of mockingwenchesare as keenAs is the razor’s edge invisible.
The tongues of mockingwenchesare as keenAs is the razor’s edge invisible.
The tongues of mockingwenchesare as keen
As is the razor’s edge invisible.
Id.,Love’s Labours Lost, act v. sc. 2.
And going in, He saith to them: Why make ye this ado, and weepe? The wenche is not dead, but sleepeth.... And holding the wenches hand, He saith to her, Talitha Cumi.—Markv. 39, 41. Rheims.
Whirlpool.Formerly used in the sense of some huge sea-monster of the whale kind. Thus in the margin of our Bible, there is onJobxli. 1 (‘Canst thou draw outleviathan?’) a gloss, ‘that is, a whale orwhirlpool.’ In Harrison’sDescription of England, b. iii. c. 5, the ‘thirlepole’ is mentioned with the porpoise and whale as among the great fishes of the sea. See Wright’sBible Word Book.
The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are, among which the whales andwhirlpools, called balænæ, take up in length as much as four acres or arpens of land.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 235.Greatwhirlpooleswhich all fishes make to flee.Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 12, 23.The ork,whirlpool, whale, or huffing physeter.Sylvester,Du Bartas, First Day of the Week.About sunset, coming near the Wild Island, Pantagruel spied afar off a huge monstrousphyseter, a sort of whale, which some call awhirlpool.—Rabelais,Pantagruel, b. iv. c. 33. [This creature is suggested by ‘Leviathan descript par le noble prophete Moses en la vie du sainct home Job.’]
The Indian Sea breedeth the most and the biggest fishes that are, among which the whales andwhirlpools, called balænæ, take up in length as much as four acres or arpens of land.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 235.
Greatwhirlpooleswhich all fishes make to flee.
Greatwhirlpooleswhich all fishes make to flee.
Greatwhirlpooleswhich all fishes make to flee.
Greatwhirlpooleswhich all fishes make to flee.
Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 12, 23.
The ork,whirlpool, whale, or huffing physeter.
The ork,whirlpool, whale, or huffing physeter.
The ork,whirlpool, whale, or huffing physeter.
The ork,whirlpool, whale, or huffing physeter.
Sylvester,Du Bartas, First Day of the Week.
About sunset, coming near the Wild Island, Pantagruel spied afar off a huge monstrousphyseter, a sort of whale, which some call awhirlpool.—Rabelais,Pantagruel, b. iv. c. 33. [This creature is suggested by ‘Leviathan descript par le noble prophete Moses en la vie du sainct home Job.’]
There lay in ‘whisperer’ once, as in the ψιθυριστής of the Greeks, the ‘susurro’ of the Latins, the suggestion of a slanderer or false accuser, which has now quite passed away from the word.
Now this Doeg, being there at that time, what doeth he? Like awhispereror man-pleaser goeth to Saul the king, and told him how the priest had refreshed David in his journey, and had given unto him the sword of Goliath.—Latimer,Sermons, Parker edit., p. 486.Awhispererseparateth chief friends.—Prov.xvi. 28; cf. Ecclus. v. 14. (A.V.)Kings in ancient times were wont to put great trust in eunuchs. But yet their trust towards them hath rather been as to goodwhisperersthan good magistrates and officers.—Bacon,Essay, 44, Of Deformity.Lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings,whisperings, swellings, tumults.—2 Cor.xii. 20. (A. V.)
Now this Doeg, being there at that time, what doeth he? Like awhispereror man-pleaser goeth to Saul the king, and told him how the priest had refreshed David in his journey, and had given unto him the sword of Goliath.—Latimer,Sermons, Parker edit., p. 486.
Awhispererseparateth chief friends.—Prov.xvi. 28; cf. Ecclus. v. 14. (A.V.)
Kings in ancient times were wont to put great trust in eunuchs. But yet their trust towards them hath rather been as to goodwhisperersthan good magistrates and officers.—Bacon,Essay, 44, Of Deformity.
Lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings,whisperings, swellings, tumults.—2 Cor.xii. 20. (A. V.)
Whiteboy.Formerly a cockered favourite (compare Barnes’s use of ‘white son,’ Works, 1572, p. 192), but in later years one of the many names which the perpetrators of agrarian outrages in Ireland either assumed to themselves, or had given to them by others.
His first address was An humble Remonstrance by a dutiful son of the Church, almost as if he had said herwhiteboy.—Milton,Prose Works, vol. i. p. 172.The Pope was loath to adventure his darlings into danger. Thosewhiteboyswere to stay at home with his Holiness, their tender father.—Fuller,Holy War, i. 13.
His first address was An humble Remonstrance by a dutiful son of the Church, almost as if he had said herwhiteboy.—Milton,Prose Works, vol. i. p. 172.
The Pope was loath to adventure his darlings into danger. Thosewhiteboyswere to stay at home with his Holiness, their tender father.—Fuller,Holy War, i. 13.
Wife.It is a very profound testimony, yielded by language, to the fact that women are intended to be wives, and only find the true completion of their being when they are so, that in so many languages there is a word which, meaning first a woman, means afterwards a wife, as γυνή, ‘mulier,’ ‘femme,’ ‘weib,’ and our English ‘wife.’ With us indeed the secondary use of the word has now overborne and swallowed up the first, which only survives in a few such combinations as ‘midwife,’ ‘fishwife,’ ‘huswife,’ and the like; but it was not always so; nor in our provincial dialects is it so now. An intelligent correspondent who has sent me a ‘Glossary of Words used in Central Yorkshire’ writes as follows: ‘In rural districts a grown woman is a young wife, though she be unmarried.’
And with that word upstart this oldewife.Chaucer,The Wife of Bath’s Tale.Like as awifewith childe, when hir travaile commeth upon her, is ashamed, crieth, and suffreth the payne, even so are we, O Lorde, in thy sight.—Isai.xxvi. 17.Coverdale.
And with that word upstart this oldewife.
And with that word upstart this oldewife.
And with that word upstart this oldewife.
And with that word upstart this oldewife.
Chaucer,The Wife of Bath’s Tale.
Like as awifewith childe, when hir travaile commeth upon her, is ashamed, crieth, and suffreth the payne, even so are we, O Lorde, in thy sight.—Isai.xxvi. 17.Coverdale.
Wight.The best discussion on this interesting word is in Grimm’sTeutonic Mythology, pp. 439-442, who has a chapter [ch. xvii.], ‘OnWightsand Elves.’ ‘Wight’ has for us lost altogether its original sense of a preternatural or supernatural being, and is used, but always slightingly, of men. It is easy to see how, with the gradual contempt for the old mythology,the dying-out of the superstitions connected with it, words such as ‘elf’ and ‘wight’ should have lost their weight and honour as well.
I crouche thee from elves and fromwights.Chaucer,The Miller’s Tale.The poet Homer speaketh of no garlands and chaplets but due to the celestial and heavenlywights.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 456.A black horse cometh, and his rider hath a balance, and a voice telleth among the fourwightsthat corn shall be dear [Rev.vi. 6].—Broughton,Of Consent upon Apocalypse.When the fourwightsare said to have given glory, honour, and thanks to Him that sate upon the throne [Rev.v. 14], what was their ditty but this?—Mede,Sermons.
I crouche thee from elves and fromwights.
I crouche thee from elves and fromwights.
I crouche thee from elves and fromwights.
I crouche thee from elves and fromwights.
Chaucer,The Miller’s Tale.
The poet Homer speaketh of no garlands and chaplets but due to the celestial and heavenlywights.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 456.
A black horse cometh, and his rider hath a balance, and a voice telleth among the fourwightsthat corn shall be dear [Rev.vi. 6].—Broughton,Of Consent upon Apocalypse.
When the fourwightsare said to have given glory, honour, and thanks to Him that sate upon the throne [Rev.v. 14], what was their ditty but this?—Mede,Sermons.
‘Wilful’ and ‘willing,’ ‘wilfully’ and ‘willingly,’ have been conveniently desynonymized by later usage in our language; so that in ‘wilful’ and ‘wilfully’ there now lies ever the sense of will capriciously exerted, deriving its motives merely from itself; while the examples which follow show there was once no such implication ofself-will in the words.
Alle the sones of Israel halewidenwilfulthingis to the Lord.—Exod.xxxv. 29.Wiclif.A proud priest may be known when he denieth to follow Christ and his apostles inwilfulpoverty and other virtues.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.Fede ye the flok of God, that is among you, and purvey ye, not as constreyned, butwilfulli.—1 Pet.v. 2.Wiclif.And so, through his pitiful nailing, Christ shed outwilfullyfor man’s life the blood that was in his veins.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.
Alle the sones of Israel halewidenwilfulthingis to the Lord.—Exod.xxxv. 29.Wiclif.
A proud priest may be known when he denieth to follow Christ and his apostles inwilfulpoverty and other virtues.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.
Fede ye the flok of God, that is among you, and purvey ye, not as constreyned, butwilfulli.—1 Pet.v. 2.Wiclif.
And so, through his pitiful nailing, Christ shed outwilfullyfor man’s life the blood that was in his veins.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.
Wince.Now to shrink or start away as in pain from a stroke or touch; but, as far as I know, used always by our earlier authors in the sense of to kick.
Poul, whom the Lord hadde chosun, long tymewynsideagen the pricke.—Wiclif,Prolog on the Dedis of Apostlis.For this flower of age, having no forecast of thrift, but set altogether upon spending, and given to delights and pleasures,winsethand flingeth out like a skittish and frampold horse in such sort that it had need of a sharp bit and short curb.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 14.
Poul, whom the Lord hadde chosun, long tymewynsideagen the pricke.—Wiclif,Prolog on the Dedis of Apostlis.
For this flower of age, having no forecast of thrift, but set altogether upon spending, and given to delights and pleasures,winsethand flingeth out like a skittish and frampold horse in such sort that it had need of a sharp bit and short curb.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 14.
The present meaning of ‘wit’ as compared with the past, and the period when it was in the act of transition from one to the other, cannot be better marked than in the quotation from Bishop Reynolds which is given below. It is a protest, an impotent one, as such invariably are, against a change in the word’s meaning, going on before his eyes. Cowley’s Ode,Of Wit, is another very important document, illustrating the history of the word.
Who knew thewitof the Lord, or who was his counselour?—Rom.xi. 34.Wiclif.I take notwitin that common acceptation, whereby men understand some sudden flashes of conceit whether in style or conference, which, like rotten wood in the dark, have more shine than substance, whose use and ornament are, like themselves, swift and vanishing, at once both admired and forgotten. But I understand a settled, constant, and habitual sufficiency of the understanding, whereby it is enabled in any kind of learning, theory, or practice, both to sharpness in search, subtilty in expression, and despatch in execution.—Reynolds,Passions and Faculties of the Soul, c. xxxix.For the world laghes on man and smyles,Bot at the last it him bygyles;Tharfor I hald that man noghtwittyThat about the world is over bysy.Richard Rolle de Hampole,Pricke of Conscience, 1092.I confess notwithstanding, with thewittiestof the school divines, that if we speak of strict justice God could no way have been bound to requite man’s labours in so large and ample manner.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. i. c. 11.
Who knew thewitof the Lord, or who was his counselour?—Rom.xi. 34.Wiclif.
I take notwitin that common acceptation, whereby men understand some sudden flashes of conceit whether in style or conference, which, like rotten wood in the dark, have more shine than substance, whose use and ornament are, like themselves, swift and vanishing, at once both admired and forgotten. But I understand a settled, constant, and habitual sufficiency of the understanding, whereby it is enabled in any kind of learning, theory, or practice, both to sharpness in search, subtilty in expression, and despatch in execution.—Reynolds,Passions and Faculties of the Soul, c. xxxix.
For the world laghes on man and smyles,Bot at the last it him bygyles;Tharfor I hald that man noghtwittyThat about the world is over bysy.
For the world laghes on man and smyles,Bot at the last it him bygyles;Tharfor I hald that man noghtwittyThat about the world is over bysy.
For the world laghes on man and smyles,Bot at the last it him bygyles;Tharfor I hald that man noghtwittyThat about the world is over bysy.
For the world laghes on man and smyles,
Bot at the last it him bygyles;
Tharfor I hald that man noghtwitty
That about the world is over bysy.
Richard Rolle de Hampole,Pricke of Conscience, 1092.
I confess notwithstanding, with thewittiestof the school divines, that if we speak of strict justice God could no way have been bound to requite man’s labours in so large and ample manner.—Hooker,Ecclesiastical Polity, b. i. c. 11.
Witch.This was not restrained formerly, as it now is, to thefemaleexerciser of unlawful magical arts, but would have been as freely applied to Balaam or Simon Magus as to her whom we call ‘the Witch of Endor.’ ‘She-witch’ was not uncommon in our Elizabethan literature, when such was intended. In the dialect of Northumbria ‘witches’ are of both sexes still (Atkinson).
There was a man in that citee whos name was Symount, awitche.—Actsviii. 9.Wiclif.Item, he is awitch, asking counsel at soothsayers.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Appeal against Boniface.Then the king commanded to call together all the soothsayers, charmers,witches, and Caldees, for to shew the king his dream.—Dan.ii. 2.Coverdale.Who can deny him a wisard orwitch, who in the reign of Richard the Usurper foretold that upon the same stone where he dashed his spur riding toward Bosworth field he should dash his head in his return?—Cotta,The Trial of Witchcraft, p. 49.
There was a man in that citee whos name was Symount, awitche.—Actsviii. 9.Wiclif.
Item, he is awitch, asking counsel at soothsayers.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Appeal against Boniface.
Then the king commanded to call together all the soothsayers, charmers,witches, and Caldees, for to shew the king his dream.—Dan.ii. 2.Coverdale.
Who can deny him a wisard orwitch, who in the reign of Richard the Usurper foretold that upon the same stone where he dashed his spur riding toward Bosworth field he should dash his head in his return?—Cotta,The Trial of Witchcraft, p. 49.
Wizard.A title not necessarily used in times past with any dishonourable subaudition ofpervertedwisdom on his part to whom it was given, as is now the case.
Then Herod, calling thewisardsprivily, did narrowly search of them the time of the star’s appearing.—Matt.ii. 7. SirJ. Cheke.When Jeremy his lamentation writ,They thought thewizardquite out of his wit.Drayton,Elegies, To Mr. G. Sandys.See how from far upon the eastern roadThe star-ledwizardshaste with odours sweet.Milton,On the Nativity.
Then Herod, calling thewisardsprivily, did narrowly search of them the time of the star’s appearing.—Matt.ii. 7. SirJ. Cheke.
When Jeremy his lamentation writ,They thought thewizardquite out of his wit.
When Jeremy his lamentation writ,They thought thewizardquite out of his wit.
When Jeremy his lamentation writ,They thought thewizardquite out of his wit.
When Jeremy his lamentation writ,
They thought thewizardquite out of his wit.
Drayton,Elegies, To Mr. G. Sandys.
See how from far upon the eastern roadThe star-ledwizardshaste with odours sweet.
See how from far upon the eastern roadThe star-ledwizardshaste with odours sweet.
See how from far upon the eastern roadThe star-ledwizardshaste with odours sweet.
See how from far upon the eastern road
The star-ledwizardshaste with odours sweet.
Milton,On the Nativity.
Womb.This is now only the ὑστέρα, but once could be ascribed to both sexes, having as wide a meaning as the κοιλία of the Greeks.
And he coveitide to fille hiswombeof the coddis that the hoggis eeten, and no man gaf hym.—Lukexv. 16.Wiclif.Of this matere, o Paul, wel canstow trete;Mete untowombe, andwombeeek unto mete.Chaucer,Pardoneres Tale(Clar. Press).Falstaff.An I had but a belly of any indifferency, I were simply the most active fellow in Europe. Mywomb, mywomb, mywombundoes me.—Shakespeare,2 Henry IV., act iv. sc. 3.
And he coveitide to fille hiswombeof the coddis that the hoggis eeten, and no man gaf hym.—Lukexv. 16.Wiclif.
Of this matere, o Paul, wel canstow trete;Mete untowombe, andwombeeek unto mete.
Of this matere, o Paul, wel canstow trete;Mete untowombe, andwombeeek unto mete.
Of this matere, o Paul, wel canstow trete;Mete untowombe, andwombeeek unto mete.
Of this matere, o Paul, wel canstow trete;
Mete untowombe, andwombeeek unto mete.
Chaucer,Pardoneres Tale(Clar. Press).
Falstaff.An I had but a belly of any indifferency, I were simply the most active fellow in Europe. Mywomb, mywomb, mywombundoes me.—Shakespeare,2 Henry IV., act iv. sc. 3.
Worm.This, which designates at present only smaller and innoxious kinds of creeping and crawling things, once, as the German ‘wurm,’ was employed of all the serpent kind; and indeed in some of our northern dialects all snakes and serpents are ‘worms’ to the present day. In ‘blindworm,’ ‘slowworm,’ ‘hagworm,’ we have tokens of the earlier use.
There came aviperout of the heat and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw thewormhang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer.—Actsxxviii. 3, 4.Tyndale.’Tis slander,Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongueOutvenoms all thewormsof Nile.Shakespeare,Cymbeline, act iii. sc. 4.O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give earTo that falseworm, of whomsoever taughtTo counterfeit man’s voice.Milton,Paradise Lost, ix. 1067.
There came aviperout of the heat and leapt on his hand. When the men of the country saw thewormhang on his hand, they said, This man must needs be a murderer.—Actsxxviii. 3, 4.Tyndale.
’Tis slander,Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongueOutvenoms all thewormsof Nile.
’Tis slander,Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongueOutvenoms all thewormsof Nile.
’Tis slander,Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongueOutvenoms all thewormsof Nile.
’Tis slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose tongue
Outvenoms all thewormsof Nile.
Shakespeare,Cymbeline, act iii. sc. 4.
O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give earTo that falseworm, of whomsoever taughtTo counterfeit man’s voice.
O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give earTo that falseworm, of whomsoever taughtTo counterfeit man’s voice.
O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give earTo that falseworm, of whomsoever taughtTo counterfeit man’s voice.
O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give ear
To that falseworm, of whomsoever taught
To counterfeit man’s voice.
Milton,Paradise Lost, ix. 1067.
Worship.At present we ‘worship’ none but God; there was a time when the word was employed in so much more general a sense that it was not profane to say that God ‘worshipped,’ that is honoured, man. This, of course, is the sense of the word in the Marriage Service, ‘with my body I theeworship.’
If ony man serve me, my fadir schalworschipehym.—Johnxii. 26.Wiclif.But I yow pray and charge upon your lyf,That what wyf that I take, ye me assureToworschippewhil that hir lif may endure.Chaucer,The Clerkes Tale, 108.Man, that was made after the image and likeness of God, is full worshipful in his kind; yea, this holy image that is man Godworshippeth.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.
If ony man serve me, my fadir schalworschipehym.—Johnxii. 26.Wiclif.
But I yow pray and charge upon your lyf,That what wyf that I take, ye me assureToworschippewhil that hir lif may endure.
But I yow pray and charge upon your lyf,That what wyf that I take, ye me assureToworschippewhil that hir lif may endure.
But I yow pray and charge upon your lyf,That what wyf that I take, ye me assureToworschippewhil that hir lif may endure.
But I yow pray and charge upon your lyf,
That what wyf that I take, ye me assure
Toworschippewhil that hir lif may endure.
Chaucer,The Clerkes Tale, 108.
Man, that was made after the image and likeness of God, is full worshipful in his kind; yea, this holy image that is man Godworshippeth.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.
Wretched.What has been observed on ‘Unhappy’ explains and accounts also for the use of ‘wretched’ as = wicked. ‘Wretch’ still continues to cover the two meanings of one miserable and one wicked, though ‘wretched’ does so no more.