Chapter 8

What should the wars do with these jigging fools?Companion, hence.Shakespeare,Julius Cæsar, act iv. sc. 3As that empty barrencompanionin St. James who bids the poor be warm and fed and clothed (as if he were all made of mercy), yet neither clothes, feeds, nor warms his back, belly, or flesh, so fares it with these lovers.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 391.The young ladies, who thought themselves too much concerned to contain themselves any longer, set up their throats all together against my protector. ‘Scurvycompanion! saucy tarpaulin! rude, impertinent fellow! did he think to prescribe to grandpapa!’—Smollett,Roderick Random, vol. i. c. 3.

What should the wars do with these jigging fools?Companion, hence.

What should the wars do with these jigging fools?

Companion, hence.

Shakespeare,Julius Cæsar, act iv. sc. 3

As that empty barrencompanionin St. James who bids the poor be warm and fed and clothed (as if he were all made of mercy), yet neither clothes, feeds, nor warms his back, belly, or flesh, so fares it with these lovers.—Rogers,Naaman the Syrian, p. 391.

The young ladies, who thought themselves too much concerned to contain themselves any longer, set up their throats all together against my protector. ‘Scurvycompanion! saucy tarpaulin! rude, impertinent fellow! did he think to prescribe to grandpapa!’—Smollett,Roderick Random, vol. i. c. 3.

‘Conceit’ is so entirely and irrecoverably lost to the language of philosophy, that it would be well if ‘concept,’ used often by our earlier philosophical writers, were revived.13Yet ‘conceit’ has not so totally forsaken all its former meanings (for there are still ‘happyconceits’ in poetry), as have ‘conceited,’ which once meant well conceived, and ‘conceitedly.’

Oft did she heave her napkin to her eynWhich had on itconceitedcharacters.Shakespeare,A Lover’s Complaint.Triumphal arches the glad town doth raise,And tilts and tourneys are performed at court,Conceitedmasques, rich banquets, witty plays.Drayton,The Miseries of Queen Margaret.The edge or hem of a garment is distinguished from the rest most commonly by someconceitedor costly work.—Cowell,The Interpreter, s. v. Broderess.Cicero most pleasantly andconceitedly.—Holland,Suetonius, p. 21.

Oft did she heave her napkin to her eynWhich had on itconceitedcharacters.

Oft did she heave her napkin to her eyn

Which had on itconceitedcharacters.

Shakespeare,A Lover’s Complaint.

Triumphal arches the glad town doth raise,And tilts and tourneys are performed at court,Conceitedmasques, rich banquets, witty plays.

Triumphal arches the glad town doth raise,

And tilts and tourneys are performed at court,

Conceitedmasques, rich banquets, witty plays.

Drayton,The Miseries of Queen Margaret.

The edge or hem of a garment is distinguished from the rest most commonly by someconceitedor costly work.—Cowell,The Interpreter, s. v. Broderess.

Cicero most pleasantly andconceitedly.—Holland,Suetonius, p. 21.

Concubine.Our Dictionaries do not notice that the male paramour no less than the female was sometimes called by this name; on the contrary, their definitions exclude this.

The Lady Anne did falsely and traiterously procure divers of the King’s daily and familiar servants to be her adulterers andconcubines.—Indictment of Anne Boleyn.

Conjure.The quotation from Foxe shows that this use of ‘to conjure’ as to conspire is not, as one might at first suspect, one of Milton’s Latinisms, and as such peculiar to him.

Divers, as well horsemen as footmen, hadconjuredamong themselves and conspired against the Englishmen, selling their horses and arms aforehand.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs, 1641, vol. i. p. 441.Art thou that traitor angel? art thou heThat first broke peace in heaven, and faith till thenUnbroken, and, in proud rebellious arms,Drew after him the third part of Heaven’s sons,Conjuredagainst the Highest?Milton,Paradise Lost, ii. 689.

Divers, as well horsemen as footmen, hadconjuredamong themselves and conspired against the Englishmen, selling their horses and arms aforehand.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs, 1641, vol. i. p. 441.

Art thou that traitor angel? art thou heThat first broke peace in heaven, and faith till thenUnbroken, and, in proud rebellious arms,Drew after him the third part of Heaven’s sons,Conjuredagainst the Highest?

Art thou that traitor angel? art thou he

That first broke peace in heaven, and faith till then

Unbroken, and, in proud rebellious arms,

Drew after him the third part of Heaven’s sons,

Conjuredagainst the Highest?

Milton,Paradise Lost, ii. 689.

Contemptible.‘Adjectives in “able” and “ible,” both positive and negative ones, are frequently usedby old writers in an active sense’ (S. Walker,Criticisms on Shakespeare, vol. i. p. 183: whom see). ‘Contemptible’ where we should now use ‘contemptuous’ is one of these; ‘intenible’ (All’s Well that Ends Well, act i. sc. 3) another; ‘discernible’ a third.

Darius wrote to Alexander in a proud andcontemptiblemanner.—LordSterling,Darius, 1603 (in the argument prefixed to the Play).If she should make tender of her love, ’tis very possible he’ll scorn it, for the man, as you know all, hath acontemptiblespirit.—Shakespeare,Much Ado about Nothing, act ii. sc. 3.I do not mock, nor lives there such a villain,That can do anythingcontemptibleTo you; but I do kneel, because it isAn action very fit and reverentIn presence of so pure a creäture.BeaumontandFletcher,The Coxcomb, act v. sc. 2.

Darius wrote to Alexander in a proud andcontemptiblemanner.—LordSterling,Darius, 1603 (in the argument prefixed to the Play).

If she should make tender of her love, ’tis very possible he’ll scorn it, for the man, as you know all, hath acontemptiblespirit.—Shakespeare,Much Ado about Nothing, act ii. sc. 3.

I do not mock, nor lives there such a villain,That can do anythingcontemptibleTo you; but I do kneel, because it isAn action very fit and reverentIn presence of so pure a creäture.

I do not mock, nor lives there such a villain,

That can do anythingcontemptible

To you; but I do kneel, because it is

An action very fit and reverent

In presence of so pure a creäture.

BeaumontandFletcher,The Coxcomb, act v. sc. 2.

Convince.This and ‘convict’ have been usefully desynonymized. One is ‘convinced’ of a sin, but ‘convicted’ of a crime; the former word moving always in the sphere of moral or intellectual things, but the latter often in that of things merely external.

Your Italy contains none so accomplished a courtier toconvincethe honour of my mistress.—Shakespeare,Cymbeline, act i. sc. 4.Keep off that great concourse, whose violent handsWould ruin this stone-building and drag henceThis impious judge, piecemeal to tear his limbs,Before the lawconvincehim.Webster,Appius and Virginia, act v. sc. 5.There was none of you thatconvincedJob, or that answered his words.—Jobxxxii. 12. (A. V.)

Your Italy contains none so accomplished a courtier toconvincethe honour of my mistress.—Shakespeare,Cymbeline, act i. sc. 4.

Keep off that great concourse, whose violent handsWould ruin this stone-building and drag henceThis impious judge, piecemeal to tear his limbs,Before the lawconvincehim.

Keep off that great concourse, whose violent hands

Would ruin this stone-building and drag hence

This impious judge, piecemeal to tear his limbs,

Before the lawconvincehim.

Webster,Appius and Virginia, act v. sc. 5.

There was none of you thatconvincedJob, or that answered his words.—Jobxxxii. 12. (A. V.)

Copy.A more Latin use of ‘copy,’ as ‘copia’ or abundance, was at one time frequent in English. It is easy to trace the steps by which the word attained its present significance. The only way to obtain ‘copy’ (in this Latin sense) or abundance of any document, would be by taking ‘copies’ (in our present sense) of it. Then, too, it often meant the exemplar, and is so used in the quotations from Shakespeare and Jeremy Taylor.

We cannot follow a better pattern for elocution than God Himself. Therefore He using divers words in his Holy Writ, and indifferently for one thing in nature, we may use the same liberty in our English versions out of Hebrew or Greek, for thatcopyor store that He hath given us.—The Translators [of the Bible, 1611] to the Reader.Becopynow to men of grosser blood,And teach them how to war.Shakespeare,Henry V.act iii. sc. 1.Drayton’s Heroical Epistles are well worth the reading also, for the purpose of our subject, which is to furnish an English historian with choice andcopyof tongue.—Bolton,Hypercritica, p. 235.The sun, the prince of all the bodies of light, is the principal, the rule and thecopy, which they in their proportions imitate and transcribe.—BishopTaylor,Exhortation to the Imitation of Christ.

Becopynow to men of grosser blood,And teach them how to war.

Becopynow to men of grosser blood,

And teach them how to war.

Shakespeare,Henry V.act iii. sc. 1.

Drayton’s Heroical Epistles are well worth the reading also, for the purpose of our subject, which is to furnish an English historian with choice andcopyof tongue.—Bolton,Hypercritica, p. 235.

The sun, the prince of all the bodies of light, is the principal, the rule and thecopy, which they in their proportions imitate and transcribe.—BishopTaylor,Exhortation to the Imitation of Christ.

Coquet.At present all our ‘coquets’ are female. But, as in the case with so many other words instanced in this volume, what once belonged to both sexes is now restricted to one.

Cocquet; a beau, a gallant, a general lover; also a wanton girl that speaks fair to several lovers at once.—Phillips,New World of Words.

Corpse.Now only used for the body abandoned by the spirit of life, but once for the body of the living equally as of the dead; now only = ‘cadaver,’ but once ‘corpus’ as well. It will follow that ‘dead corpses’ (2 Kingsxix. 35 and often) is not a tautology.

A valiantcorpse, where force and beauty met.Surrey,On the Death of Sir T. Wyatt.Night is the sabbath of mankind,To rest the body and the mind:Which now thou art denied to keep,And cure thy labouredcorpsewith sleep.Butler,Hudibras, iii. 1. 1349.Women and maids shall particularly examine themselves about the variety of their apparell, their too much care of theircorps.—Richeome’s Pilgrim of Loretto, by G. W.Your conjuring, cozening, and your dozen of tradesCould not relieve yourcorpswith so much linenWould make you tinder, but to see a fire.Ben Jonson,The Alchemist, act i. sc. 1.

A valiantcorpse, where force and beauty met.

Surrey,On the Death of Sir T. Wyatt.

Night is the sabbath of mankind,To rest the body and the mind:Which now thou art denied to keep,And cure thy labouredcorpsewith sleep.

Night is the sabbath of mankind,

To rest the body and the mind:

Which now thou art denied to keep,

And cure thy labouredcorpsewith sleep.

Butler,Hudibras, iii. 1. 1349.

Women and maids shall particularly examine themselves about the variety of their apparell, their too much care of theircorps.—Richeome’s Pilgrim of Loretto, by G. W.

Your conjuring, cozening, and your dozen of tradesCould not relieve yourcorpswith so much linenWould make you tinder, but to see a fire.

Your conjuring, cozening, and your dozen of trades

Could not relieve yourcorpswith so much linen

Would make you tinder, but to see a fire.

Ben Jonson,The Alchemist, act i. sc. 1.

Counterfeit.Now, to imitate with the purpose of passing off the imitation as the original; but no such dishonest intention was formerly implied in the word.

I wol noon of thapostlescounterfete:I wol have money, wolle, chese and whete,Al were it yeven of the prestes page,Or of the porest wydow in a village.Chaucer,The Pardoner’s Prologue(Morris, p. 90).Christ prayseth not the unrighteous stuard, neither setteth him forth to us tocounterfeit, because of his unrighteousness, but because of his wisdom only, in that he with unright so wisely provided for himself.—Tyndale,The Parable of the Wicked Mammon.But for the Greek tongue they do note in some of his epistles that he [Brutus]counterfeitedthat brief compendiousmanner of speech of the Lacedæmonians.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 818.

I wol noon of thapostlescounterfete:I wol have money, wolle, chese and whete,Al were it yeven of the prestes page,Or of the porest wydow in a village.

I wol noon of thapostlescounterfete:

I wol have money, wolle, chese and whete,

Al were it yeven of the prestes page,

Or of the porest wydow in a village.

Chaucer,The Pardoner’s Prologue(Morris, p. 90).

Christ prayseth not the unrighteous stuard, neither setteth him forth to us tocounterfeit, because of his unrighteousness, but because of his wisdom only, in that he with unright so wisely provided for himself.—Tyndale,The Parable of the Wicked Mammon.

But for the Greek tongue they do note in some of his epistles that he [Brutus]counterfeitedthat brief compendiousmanner of speech of the Lacedæmonians.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 818.

Courtesan.The Low Latin ‘cortesanus’ was once one haunting the court, a courtier, ‘aulicus,’ though already in Shakespeare we often meet the word in its present use.

By the wolf, no doubt, was meant the Pope, but the fox was resembled to the prelates,courtesans, priests, and the rest of the spirituality.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs, ed. 1641, vol. i. p. 511.

Courtship.We now assign to this and to ‘courtesy’ their own several domains of meanings; but they were once promiscuously used. See for another example of the same the quotation from Fuller,s. v.‘Defalcation.’

As he [Charles I.], to acquit himself, hath not spared his adversaries, to load them with all sorts of blame and accusation, so to him, as in his book alive, there will be used no morecourtshipthan he uses.—Milton,Iconoclastes, The Preface.

This word, the Old Frenchcombrer, has lost much of the force which it once possessed; it means now little more than passively to burden. It was once actively to annoy, disquiet, or mischief. It was as possessing this force that our Translators rendered ἵνα τί καὶ τὴν γῆν καταργεῖ; ‘whycumberethit the ground?’ (Lukexiii. 7.)

The archers in the forefront so wounded the footmen, so galled the horses, and socombredthe men of arms that the footmen durst not go forward.—Hall,Henry V.fol. 17, 6.We have herde that certayne of oures are departed, and have troubled you and havecombred[ἀνασκευάζοντες] yourmyndes, sayenge, Ye must be circumcised and must keep the law.—Actsxv. 24.Coverdale.But Martha wascumbered[περιεσπᾶτο, cf. ver. 41: μεριμνᾷs καὶ τυρβάζῃ] about much serving.—Lukex. 40. (A.V.)A cloud ofcombrousgnats do him molest,All striving to infix their feeble stings.Spenser,Fairy Queen, i. 1. 23.

The archers in the forefront so wounded the footmen, so galled the horses, and socombredthe men of arms that the footmen durst not go forward.—Hall,Henry V.fol. 17, 6.

We have herde that certayne of oures are departed, and have troubled you and havecombred[ἀνασκευάζοντες] yourmyndes, sayenge, Ye must be circumcised and must keep the law.—Actsxv. 24.Coverdale.

But Martha wascumbered[περιεσπᾶτο, cf. ver. 41: μεριμνᾷs καὶ τυρβάζῃ] about much serving.—Lukex. 40. (A.V.)

A cloud ofcombrousgnats do him molest,All striving to infix their feeble stings.

A cloud ofcombrousgnats do him molest,

All striving to infix their feeble stings.

Spenser,Fairy Queen, i. 1. 23.

Cunning.The fact that so many words implying knowledge, art, skill, obtain in course of time a secondary meaning of crooked knowledge, art that has degenerated into artifice, skill used only to circumvent, which meanings partially or altogether put out of use their primary, is a mournful witness to the way in which intellectual gifts are too commonly misapplied. Thus there was a time when the Latin ‘dolus’ required the epithet ‘malus,’ as often as it signified a treacherous or fraudful device; but it was soon able to drop this as superfluous, and to stand by itself. Other words which have gone the same downward course are the following: τέχνη, ‘astutia,’ ‘calliditas,’ ‘List,’ ‘Kunst,’ and our English ‘craft’ and ‘cunning,’—the last, indeed, as early as Lord Bacon, who says, ‘We takecunningfor a sinister or crooked wisdom,’ had acquired what is now its only acceptation; but not then, nor till long after, to the exclusion of its more honourable use. How honourable that use sometimes was, my first quotation will testify.

I believe that all these three Persons [in the Godhead] are even in power and incunningand in might, full of grace and of all goodness.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.So the number of them, with their brethren, that were instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that werecunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.—1 Chron.xxv. 7. (A.V.)

I believe that all these three Persons [in the Godhead] are even in power and incunningand in might, full of grace and of all goodness.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.

So the number of them, with their brethren, that were instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that werecunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.—1 Chron.xxv. 7. (A.V.)

Curate.Rector, vicar, every one havingcureof souls in a parish, was a ‘curate’ once. Thus ‘bishops andcurates’ in the Liturgy.

They [the begging friars] lettencuratsto know Gods law by holding bookes fro them, and withdrawing of their vantages, by which they shulden have books and lerne.—Wiclif,Treatise against the Friars, p. 56.If there be any man wicked because hiscurateteacheth him not, his blood shall be required at thecurate’shands.—Latimer,Sermons, p. 525.Henry the Second of England commanded all prelates andcuratesto reside upon their dioceses and charges.—BishopTaylor,Ductor Dubitantium, b. iii. c. 1.Curate, a parson or vicar, one that serves a cure, or has the charge of souls in a parish.—Phillips,New World of Words.

If there be any man wicked because hiscurateteacheth him not, his blood shall be required at thecurate’shands.—Latimer,Sermons, p. 525.

Henry the Second of England commanded all prelates andcuratesto reside upon their dioceses and charges.—BishopTaylor,Ductor Dubitantium, b. iii. c. 1.

Curate, a parson or vicar, one that serves a cure, or has the charge of souls in a parish.—Phillips,New World of Words.

Customer.One sitting officially at the receipt of customs, that is, of dues customably paid, and receiving these, and not one repairing customably to a shop to purchase there, was a ‘customer’ two and three centuries ago.

He healeth the man of the palsye, calleth Levi thecustomer, eateth with open synners, and excuseth his disciples.—What S. Marke conteyneth.Coverdale.The extreme and horrible covetousness of the farmers,customers, and Roman usurers devoured it [Asia].—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 432.We hardly can abide publicans,customers, and toll-gatherers, when they keep a ferreting and searching for such things as be hidden.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 138.

He healeth the man of the palsye, calleth Levi thecustomer, eateth with open synners, and excuseth his disciples.—What S. Marke conteyneth.Coverdale.

The extreme and horrible covetousness of the farmers,customers, and Roman usurers devoured it [Asia].—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 432.

We hardly can abide publicans,customers, and toll-gatherers, when they keep a ferreting and searching for such things as be hidden.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 138.

A feudal term, beset with many difficulties when we seek to follow it as it passes to its present use; but very well worth some study bestowed upon it. Ducange has written on the subject, and Diez, and Littré (Hist. de la Langue Franç.vol. i. p. 49). [The Old Frenchdangier,dongier, power, lordship, refusal, danger, is of Late Latin origin, representing a formdominiarium(from Latindominium) which signified properly the strict right of the suzerain in regard to the fief of the vassal]; thus, ‘fief dedanger,’ a fief held under a lord on strict conditions, and therefore in peril of being forfeited (juri stricto atque adeo confiscationi obnoxium; Ducange). There is no difficulty here; but there is another early use of ‘danger’ and ‘dangerous’ which is not thus explained, nor yet the connexion between it and the modern meaning of the words. I refer to that of ‘danger’ in the sense of ‘coyness,’ ‘sparingness,’ ‘niggardliness,’ and of ‘dangerous’ in the sense of haughty, difficult to please.

And if thi voice is faire and clere,Thou shalt maken no gretedaungere,Whanne to synge they goodly preye;It is thi worship for tobeye.Romaunt of the Rose, 2317.We ourselves also were in times past unwise, disobedient, deceived, indangerto lusts [δουλεύοντες ἐπιθυμίαις].—Tit.iii.Tyndale.Come not within hisdangerby thy will.Shakespeare,Venus and Adonis.My wages ben full streyt and eek ful smale;My lord to me is hard anddaungerous.Chaucer,The Freres Tale(Morris, p. 250).But nathelesse, for hys beautéSo fyers anddaungerouswas he,That he nolde graunte hir askyng,For weepyng, ne for faire praiyng.Romaunt of the Rose, 1480.

And if thi voice is faire and clere,Thou shalt maken no gretedaungere,Whanne to synge they goodly preye;It is thi worship for tobeye.

And if thi voice is faire and clere,

Thou shalt maken no gretedaungere,

Whanne to synge they goodly preye;

It is thi worship for tobeye.

Romaunt of the Rose, 2317.

We ourselves also were in times past unwise, disobedient, deceived, indangerto lusts [δουλεύοντες ἐπιθυμίαις].—Tit.iii.Tyndale.

Come not within hisdangerby thy will.

Shakespeare,Venus and Adonis.

My wages ben full streyt and eek ful smale;My lord to me is hard anddaungerous.

My wages ben full streyt and eek ful smale;

My lord to me is hard anddaungerous.

Chaucer,The Freres Tale(Morris, p. 250).

But nathelesse, for hys beautéSo fyers anddaungerouswas he,That he nolde graunte hir askyng,For weepyng, ne for faire praiyng.

But nathelesse, for hys beauté

So fyers anddaungerouswas he,

That he nolde graunte hir askyng,

For weepyng, ne for faire praiyng.

Romaunt of the Rose, 1480.

Deadly.This and ‘mortal’ (which see) are sometimes synonyms now; thus, ‘adeadlywound’ or ‘amortalwound;’ but they are not invariably so; ‘deadly’ being always active, while ‘mortal’ is far oftenest passive, signifying not that which inflicts death, but that which suffers death; thus, ‘amortalbody,’ or body subject to death, but not now ‘adeadlybody.’ It was otherwise once. ‘Deadly’ is the constant word in Wiclif’s Bible, wherever in the later Versions ‘mortal’ occurs.

Elye was adeedliman lijk us, and in preier he preiede that it schulde not reyne on the erthe, and it reynede not three yeeris and sixe monethis.—Jam.v. 17.Wiclif.Many holy prophets that weredeadlymen were martyred violently in the Old Law.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.

Elye was adeedliman lijk us, and in preier he preiede that it schulde not reyne on the erthe, and it reynede not three yeeris and sixe monethis.—Jam.v. 17.Wiclif.

Many holy prophets that weredeadlymen were martyred violently in the Old Law.—Foxe,Book of Martyrs; Examination of William Thorpe.

This word was only true to its etymology (débattre) so long as an element of strife, of war waged by the tongue or by the sword, was included in it. Thus, in some memorable lines attributed to Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots is described as ‘the daughter of debate.’ It has now a far more harmless meaning, the element of strife having quite gone out of the word.

It is not the possession of a man’s own, but the usurping of another man’s right that hath brought injustice,debate, and trouble into the world.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 680.Prevy bacbiteris, detractouris, hateful to God,debateris[contumeliosi, Vulg.], proude.—Rom.i. 30.Wiclif.

It is not the possession of a man’s own, but the usurping of another man’s right that hath brought injustice,debate, and trouble into the world.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 680.

Prevy bacbiteris, detractouris, hateful to God,debateris[contumeliosi, Vulg.], proude.—Rom.i. 30.Wiclif.

So far as we use ‘deceivable’ at all now, we use it in the passive sense, as liable to be, or capable of being, deceived. It was active when counted exchangeable with ‘deceitful’ as at2 Pet.i. 16, where the ‘deceivable’ of Tyndale appears as the ‘deceitful’ of Cranmer’s Bible. It has fared in like manner with ‘discernible,’ ‘contemptible,’ which see, and with other words which, active once, are passive now.

This world is fikel anddesayvable,And fals and unsiker, and unstable.Richard Rolle de Hampole,Pricke of Conscience, 1088.The most uncertain anddeceivableproof of the people’s good will and cities’ toward kings and princes are the immeasurable and extreme honours they do unto them.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 743.For we folowed notdecevablefables, when we openned unto you the power and commynge of our Lorde Jesus Christ.—2 Pet.i. 16. Geneva Version.Whose coming is after the working of Satan with alldeceivablenessof unrighteousness in them that perish.—2 Thess.9, 10. (A.V.)

This world is fikel anddesayvable,And fals and unsiker, and unstable.

This world is fikel anddesayvable,

And fals and unsiker, and unstable.

Richard Rolle de Hampole,Pricke of Conscience, 1088.

The most uncertain anddeceivableproof of the people’s good will and cities’ toward kings and princes are the immeasurable and extreme honours they do unto them.—North,Plutarch’s Lives, p. 743.

For we folowed notdecevablefables, when we openned unto you the power and commynge of our Lorde Jesus Christ.—2 Pet.i. 16. Geneva Version.

Whose coming is after the working of Satan with alldeceivablenessof unrighteousness in them that perish.—2 Thess.9, 10. (A.V.)

Defalcation.A word at present of very slovenly and inaccurate use. We read in the newspapers of a ‘defalcation’ of the revenue, not meaning thereby an activelopping off(‘defalcatio’) of certain taxes with their proceeds, which would be the only correct use, but a passive falling short in its returns from what they previously were. Can it be that some confusion of ‘defalcation’ with ‘default,’ or at least a seeing of‘fault’ and not ‘falx’ in its second syllable (there was once a verb ‘to defalk’), has led to this?

My first crude meditations, being always hastily put together, could never please me so well at a second and more leisurable review, as to pass without some additions,defalcations, and other alterations, more or less.—Sanderson,Sermons, 1671, Preface.As for their conjecture that Zorobabel, at the building of this temple purposely abated of those dimensions assigned by Cyrus, as too great for him to compass, in suchdefalcationof measures by Cyrus allowed, he showed little courtship to his master the emperor, and less religion to the Lord his God.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, b. iii. c. 2.

As for their conjecture that Zorobabel, at the building of this temple purposely abated of those dimensions assigned by Cyrus, as too great for him to compass, in suchdefalcationof measures by Cyrus allowed, he showed little courtship to his master the emperor, and less religion to the Lord his God.—Fuller,A Pisgah Sight of Palestine, b. iii. c. 2.

Now, to protect, but once to protect by prohibiting or fencing round, to forbid, as ‘défendre’ is still in French.

Now wol I youdefendenhasardrye.—Chaucer,The Pardoneres Tale. (Clar. Press.)Whan sawe ye in eny maner ageThat highe GoddefendidemariageBy expres word?Id.,The Wife of Bath’s Tale.And oure Lorddefendedhem that thei scholde not tell that avisioun till that He were rysen.—SirJohn Mandeville,Voiage and Travaile, p. 114.O sons, like one of us man is become,To know both good and evil, since his tasteOf thatdefended fruit.Milton,Paradise Lost, xi. 84.Adam afterward ayeines hisdefence,Frette of that fruit.Piers Plowman, B-text, Passus xviii. 193.

Now wol I youdefendenhasardrye.—Chaucer,The Pardoneres Tale. (Clar. Press.)

Whan sawe ye in eny maner ageThat highe GoddefendidemariageBy expres word?

Whan sawe ye in eny maner age

That highe Goddefendidemariage

By expres word?

Id.,The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

And oure Lorddefendedhem that thei scholde not tell that avisioun till that He were rysen.—SirJohn Mandeville,Voiage and Travaile, p. 114.

O sons, like one of us man is become,To know both good and evil, since his tasteOf thatdefended fruit.

O sons, like one of us man is become,

To know both good and evil, since his taste

Of thatdefended fruit.

Milton,Paradise Lost, xi. 84.

Adam afterward ayeines hisdefence,Frette of that fruit.

Adam afterward ayeines hisdefence,

Frette of that fruit.

Piers Plowman, B-text, Passus xviii. 193.

This means now to dare to the uttermost hostility, and so, as a consequence which will often follow upon this, tochallenge. But in earlier use ‘to defy’ is, according to its etymology, to pronounce all bonds offaithand fellowship which existed previously between the defier and the defied to be wholly dissolved, so that nothing of treaty or even of the natural faith of man to man shall henceforth hinder extremest hostility between them. But still, when we read of one potentate sending ‘defiance’ to another, the challenge to conflict did not lie necessarily in the word, however such a message might provoke and would often be the prelude to this: it meant but the releasing of himself from all which hitherto had mutually obliged; and thus it came often to mean simply to disclaim, or renounce.

No man speaking in the Spirit of GoddefiethJesus [λέγει ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦν].—1 Cor.xii. 3.Tyndale.Despise not an hungry soul, anddefynot the poor in his necessity.—Ecclus.iv. 2.Coverdale.All studies here I solemnlydefy,Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke.Shakespeare,1 Henry IV.act i. sc. 8.There is a double people-pleasing. One sordid and servile, made of falsehood and flattery, which Idefyand detest.—Fuller,Appeal of Injured Innocence, p. 38.Now although I instanced in a question which by good fortune never came to opendefiance, yet there have been sects formed upon lighter grounds.—BishopTaylor,Liberty of Prophesying, § 3, 5.

No man speaking in the Spirit of GoddefiethJesus [λέγει ἀνάθεμα Ἰησοῦν].—1 Cor.xii. 3.Tyndale.

Despise not an hungry soul, anddefynot the poor in his necessity.—Ecclus.iv. 2.Coverdale.

All studies here I solemnlydefy,Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke.

All studies here I solemnlydefy,

Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke.

Shakespeare,1 Henry IV.act i. sc. 8.

There is a double people-pleasing. One sordid and servile, made of falsehood and flattery, which Idefyand detest.—Fuller,Appeal of Injured Innocence, p. 38.

Now although I instanced in a question which by good fortune never came to opendefiance, yet there have been sects formed upon lighter grounds.—BishopTaylor,Liberty of Prophesying, § 3, 5.

Delay.Like the French ‘délayer,’ used often in old time where we should now employ ‘allay.’ Out of an ignorance of this, and assuming it a misprint, some modern editors of our earlier authors have not scrupled to change ‘delay’ into ‘allay.’ This is quite a different word fromdelay, to put off.

Winedelayedwith water.—Holland’sCamden, p. 20.The watery showersdelaythe raging wind.Earl of Surrey,The Faithful Lover, p. 34 (ed. 1717).Even so fathers ought todelaytheir eager reprehensions and cutting rebukes with kindness and clemency.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 16.Cup-bearers know well enough, and in that regard can discern and distinguish, when they are to use more or less water to thedelayingof wines.—Id.,Ib.p. 652.

Winedelayedwith water.—Holland’sCamden, p. 20.

The watery showersdelaythe raging wind.

Earl of Surrey,The Faithful Lover, p. 34 (ed. 1717).

Even so fathers ought todelaytheir eager reprehensions and cutting rebukes with kindness and clemency.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals, p. 16.

Cup-bearers know well enough, and in that regard can discern and distinguish, when they are to use more or less water to thedelayingof wines.—Id.,Ib.p. 652.

In the same way as self-indulgence creeps over us by unmarked degrees, so there creeps over the words that designate it a subtle change; they come to contain less and less of rebuke and blame; the thing itself being tolerated, nay allowed, it must needs be that the words which express it should be received into favour too. It has been thus, as I shall have occasion to note, with ‘luxury;’ it has been thus also with this whole group of words. See the quotation from Sir W. Raleigh,s. v.‘Feminine.’

Thus much ofdelicacyin general; now more particularly of his first branch, gluttony.—Nash,Christ’s Tear’s over Jerusalem, p. 140.Cephisodorus, the disciple of Isocrates, charged him withdelicacy, intemperance, and gluttony.—Blount,Philostratus, p. 229.The mostdelicateand voluptuous princes have ever been the heaviest oppressors of the people, riot being a far more lavish spender of the common treasure than war or magnificence.—Habington,History of King Edward IV., p. 196.And drynk nat ouerdelicatliche, ne to depe neither.Piers Plowman, C-text, Passus vii. 166 (Skeat).She that livethdelicately[σπαταλῶσα] is dead while she liveth.—1 Tim.v. 6. A.V. (margin).Yea, soberest men it [idleness] makesdelicious.—Sylvester,Du Bartas, Second Week, Eden.How much she hath glorified herself and liveddeliciously[ἐστρηνίασε], so much torment and sorrow give her.—Rev.xviii. 7. (A.V.)

Thus much ofdelicacyin general; now more particularly of his first branch, gluttony.—Nash,Christ’s Tear’s over Jerusalem, p. 140.

Cephisodorus, the disciple of Isocrates, charged him withdelicacy, intemperance, and gluttony.—Blount,Philostratus, p. 229.

The mostdelicateand voluptuous princes have ever been the heaviest oppressors of the people, riot being a far more lavish spender of the common treasure than war or magnificence.—Habington,History of King Edward IV., p. 196.

And drynk nat ouerdelicatliche, ne to depe neither.

Piers Plowman, C-text, Passus vii. 166 (Skeat).

She that livethdelicately[σπαταλῶσα] is dead while she liveth.—1 Tim.v. 6. A.V. (margin).

Yea, soberest men it [idleness] makesdelicious.—Sylvester,Du Bartas, Second Week, Eden.

How much she hath glorified herself and liveddeliciously[ἐστρηνίασε], so much torment and sorrow give her.—Rev.xviii. 7. (A.V.)

Demerit.It was plainly a squandering of the wealth of the language, that ‘merit’ and ‘demerit’ should mean one and the same thing; however this might be justified by the fact that ‘mereor’ and ‘demereor,’ from which they were severally derived, were scarcely discriminated in meaning. It has thus come to pass, according to the desynonymizing processes ever at work in a language, that ‘demerit’ has ended in being employed only ofilldesert, while ‘merit’ is left free to good or ill, having predominantly the sense of the former.

I fetch my life and beingFrom men of royal siege; and mydemeritsMay speak, unbonneted, to as proud a fortuneAs this that I have reached.Shakespeare,Othello, act i. sc. 2.By our profane and unkind civil wars the world is grown to this pass, that it is reputed a singulardemeritand gracious act, not to kill a citizen of Rome, but to let him live.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 456.But the Rhodians, contrariwise, in a proud humour of theirs, reckoned up a beadroll of theirdemeritstoward the people of Rome.—Id.,Livy, p. 1179.

I fetch my life and beingFrom men of royal siege; and mydemeritsMay speak, unbonneted, to as proud a fortuneAs this that I have reached.

I fetch my life and being

From men of royal siege; and mydemerits

May speak, unbonneted, to as proud a fortune

As this that I have reached.

Shakespeare,Othello, act i. sc. 2.

By our profane and unkind civil wars the world is grown to this pass, that it is reputed a singulardemeritand gracious act, not to kill a citizen of Rome, but to let him live.—Holland,Pliny, vol. i. p. 456.

But the Rhodians, contrariwise, in a proud humour of theirs, reckoned up a beadroll of theirdemeritstoward the people of Rome.—Id.,Livy, p. 1179.

Used by our earlier writers without the insinuation, which is now always latent in it, that the external shows of modesty and sobriety rest upon no corresponding realities. On the contrary the ‘demure’ was the truly modest and virtuous and good. It is one of the many words towhich the suspicious nature of man, with the warrants to a certain extent which these suspicions find, has given a turn for the worse.

These and other suchlike irreligious pranks did this Dionysius play, who notwithstanding fared no worse than the mostdemureand innocent, dying no other death than what usually other mortals do.—H. More,Antidote against Atheism, b. iii. c. 1.Which advantages God propounds to all the hearers of the Gospel, without any respect of works or formerdemurenessof life, if so be they will but now come in and close with this high and rich dispensation.—Id.,Grand Mystery of Godliness, b. viii. c. 5.She is so nice and sodemure,So sober, courteous, modest, and precise.True History of King Leir, 1605.In like manner women also in comely attire; withdemureness[cum verecundiâ, Vulg.] and sobriety adorning themselves.—1 Tim.ii. 9. Rheims.His carriage was full comely and upright,His countenancedemureand temperate.Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 1, 6.

Which advantages God propounds to all the hearers of the Gospel, without any respect of works or formerdemurenessof life, if so be they will but now come in and close with this high and rich dispensation.—Id.,Grand Mystery of Godliness, b. viii. c. 5.

She is so nice and sodemure,So sober, courteous, modest, and precise.

She is so nice and sodemure,

So sober, courteous, modest, and precise.

True History of King Leir, 1605.

In like manner women also in comely attire; withdemureness[cum verecundiâ, Vulg.] and sobriety adorning themselves.—1 Tim.ii. 9. Rheims.

His carriage was full comely and upright,His countenancedemureand temperate.

His carriage was full comely and upright,

His countenancedemureand temperate.

Spenser,Fairy Queen, ii. 1, 6.

Depart.Once used as equivalent with ‘to separate’ (divido, partior,Promptorium Parvulorum)—a fact already forgotten, when, at the last revision of the Prayer-Book in 1662, the Puritan divines objected to the form as it then stood in the Marriage Service, ‘till death usdepart;’ in condescension to whose objection the words, as we now have them, ‘till death usdo part,’ were introduced.

And he schaldepartehem atwynne, as a scheepherdedepartithscheep fro kidis.—Matt.xxv. 32.Wiclif.And whanne he hadde seid this thing, dissencioun was maad bitwixe the Fariseis and the Saduceis, and the multitude wasdepartid.—Actsxxiii. 7. Id.If my neighbour neede and I geve him not, neytherdepartliberally with him of that which I have, than withholde I from him unrighteously that which is hys owne.—Tyndale,Parable of the Wicked Mammon.Neither did the apostles put away their wives, after they were called unto the ministry; but they continued with their wives lovingly and faithfully, till deathdepartedthem.—Becon,An Humble Supplication unto God(1554).

And he schaldepartehem atwynne, as a scheepherdedepartithscheep fro kidis.—Matt.xxv. 32.Wiclif.

And whanne he hadde seid this thing, dissencioun was maad bitwixe the Fariseis and the Saduceis, and the multitude wasdepartid.—Actsxxiii. 7. Id.

If my neighbour neede and I geve him not, neytherdepartliberally with him of that which I have, than withholde I from him unrighteously that which is hys owne.—Tyndale,Parable of the Wicked Mammon.

Neither did the apostles put away their wives, after they were called unto the ministry; but they continued with their wives lovingly and faithfully, till deathdepartedthem.—Becon,An Humble Supplication unto God(1554).

Deplored.It is well known that ‘deploratus’ obtained in later Latin, through a putting of effect for cause, the sense of desperate or past all hope, and was technically applied to the sick man given over by his physicians, ‘deploratus a medicis.’

The physicians do make a kind of scruple and religion to stay with the patient after the disease isdeplored; whereas, in my judgement, they ought both to inquire the skill, and to give the attendances, for the facilitating and assuaging of the pains and agonies of death.—Bacon,Advancement of Learning, ii. 10. 5.If a man hath the mind to get the start of other sinners, and desires to be in hell before them, he need do no more but open his sails to the wind of heretical doctrine, and he is like to make a short voyage to hell; for these bring upon their maintainers a swift destruction. Nay, the Spirit of God the more to aggravate theirdeploredstate, brings on three most dreadful instances of divine justice that ever were executed upon any sinners.—Gurnall,The Christian in Complete Armour, pt. ii. p. 317.

If a man hath the mind to get the start of other sinners, and desires to be in hell before them, he need do no more but open his sails to the wind of heretical doctrine, and he is like to make a short voyage to hell; for these bring upon their maintainers a swift destruction. Nay, the Spirit of God the more to aggravate theirdeploredstate, brings on three most dreadful instances of divine justice that ever were executed upon any sinners.—Gurnall,The Christian in Complete Armour, pt. ii. p. 317.

Deprave.As ‘pravus’ is literally crooked, we may say that ‘to deprave’ was formerly ‘untrulyto presentas crooked,’ to defame; while it is now ‘wickedlyto makecrooked.’ See the quotation from Bacon,s.v.‘Disable.’

Their intent was none other than to get him [Cardinal Wolsey] from the king out of the realm; then might they sufficiently adventure, by the help of their chief mistress, todepravehim with the king’s highness, and so in his absence to bring him in displeasure with the king.—Cavendish,Life of Cardinal Wolsey.That lie, and cog, and flout,deprave, and slander.Shakespeare,Much Ado about Nothing, act v. sc. 1.I amdepravedunjustly; who never deprived the Church of her authority.—Fuller,Appeal of Injured Innocence, pt. i. p. 45.Unjustly thoudepravestit with the nameOf servitude, to serve whom God ordains,Or nature.Milton,Paradise Lost, vi. 174.

That lie, and cog, and flout,deprave, and slander.

Shakespeare,Much Ado about Nothing, act v. sc. 1.

I amdepravedunjustly; who never deprived the Church of her authority.—Fuller,Appeal of Injured Innocence, pt. i. p. 45.

Unjustly thoudepravestit with the nameOf servitude, to serve whom God ordains,Or nature.

Unjustly thoudepravestit with the name

Of servitude, to serve whom God ordains,

Or nature.

Milton,Paradise Lost, vi. 174.

Derive.Tropical uses of the verb ‘to derive’ have quite superseded the literal, so that we now ‘derive’ anything rather than waters from a river.

An infinite deal of labour there is to lade out the water that riseth upon the workmen, for fear it choke up the pits; for to prevent which inconvenience theyderiveit by other drains.—Holland,Plutarch’s Morals.Nor may the industry of the citizens of Salisbury be forgotten, who havederivedthe river into every street therein, so that Salisbury is a heap of islets thrown together.—Fuller,Worthies of England: Wiltshire.

Nor may the industry of the citizens of Salisbury be forgotten, who havederivedthe river into every street therein, so that Salisbury is a heap of islets thrown together.—Fuller,Worthies of England: Wiltshire.

Descry.This verb had a technical meaning in the seventeenth century, which it afterwards lost; its loss leading to the introduction of the French verb ‘to reconnoitre,’ ridiculed as an outlandish term by Addison (1711), and more than half a century later not admitted by Johnson into hisDictionary. It was exactly this which ‘to descry,’ as used by Shakespeare and by Milton, meant. [The verb is the equivalent of the Old Frenchdescrire,descrivre, Latindescribere, to describe.]

Who hathdescriedthe number of the foe?Shakespeare,Richard III.act v. sc. 3.The house of Israel sent todescry(to spy out, R.V.) Bethel.—Judg.i. 23. (A.V.)Scouts each coast light-armed scour,Each quarter todescrythe distant foe,Where lodged or whither fled; or, if for fight,In motion or in halt.Milton,Paradise Lost, vi. 530.

Who hathdescriedthe number of the foe?

Shakespeare,Richard III.act v. sc. 3.

The house of Israel sent todescry(to spy out, R.V.) Bethel.—Judg.i. 23. (A.V.)

Scouts each coast light-armed scour,Each quarter todescrythe distant foe,Where lodged or whither fled; or, if for fight,In motion or in halt.

Scouts each coast light-armed scour,

Each quarter todescrythe distant foe,

Where lodged or whither fled; or, if for fight,

In motion or in halt.

Milton,Paradise Lost, vi. 530.

Desire.‘To desire’ is only to lookforwardwith longing now; the word has lost the sense of regret or lookingbackupon the lost but still loved. This it once possessed in common with ‘desiderium’ and ‘desiderare,’ from which more remotely, and ‘désirer,’ from which more immediately, we derive it.

He [Jehoram] reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired.—2 Chron.xxi. 20. (A.V.)She that hath a wise husband must entice him to an eternal dearness by the veil of modesty and the grave robes of chastity, and she shall be pleasant while she lives, anddesiredwhen she dies.—BishopTaylor,The Marriage Ring, Sermon 18.So unremovéd stood these steeds, their heads to earth let fall,And warm tears gushing from their eyes, with passionatedesireOf their kind manager.Chapman,Homer’s Iliad, xvii. 379.

He [Jehoram] reigned in Jerusalem eight years, and departed without being desired.—2 Chron.xxi. 20. (A.V.)

She that hath a wise husband must entice him to an eternal dearness by the veil of modesty and the grave robes of chastity, and she shall be pleasant while she lives, anddesiredwhen she dies.—BishopTaylor,The Marriage Ring, Sermon 18.

So unremovéd stood these steeds, their heads to earth let fall,And warm tears gushing from their eyes, with passionatedesireOf their kind manager.

So unremovéd stood these steeds, their heads to earth let fall,

And warm tears gushing from their eyes, with passionatedesire

Of their kind manager.

Chapman,Homer’s Iliad, xvii. 379.

Detest.For the writers of the seventeenth century ‘to detest’ still retained often the sense of its original ‘detestari,’ openly to witness against, and not merely to entertain an inward abhorrence of, a thing; as in ‘attest’ and ‘protest’ the etymological meaning still survives. It is not easy to adduce passages which absolutely prove this against one who should be disposed to deny it. There can, however, be no doubt whatever of the fact. In Du Bartas’Weeks, 1621, p. 106, an invective against avarice is called inthe margin ‘Detestationof Avarice, for her execrable and cruel effects.’

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