11. Preface appears to be compounded of face; whereas it is derived from Latin præfatio, a speaking before.

12. Rhyme is so written as if connected with rhythm, Greek rhuthmos, regular flow of language; whereas it is derived from AngloSaxon rim, German reim, having much the same meaning.

13. Shamefaced, as if having a modest face, is probably a corruption for shame fast; compare Old English shamefast in Chaucer and Froissart, and Anglo-Saxon sceamfæst, protected by shame.

14. Shotover, the name of a hill in Oxfordshire, is a corruption of French château vert, green castle.

15. Sparrowgrass, as if compounded of sparrow and grass, is a corruption of sparage or asparagus, Latin asparagus.

16. Wiseacre, as if compounded of acre, is a corruption of German weissager, a diviner, a pretender to wisdom.

17. Belly-bound, for French belle et bonne, fair and good, a species of apple.

18. Bell Savage, for la belle sauvage, the wild beauty, the picture on the sign of an old inn in London.

19. Bully-ruffian, a corruption by English sailors of Bellerophon, the name of a French ship of war.

20. Fulsome, to the common apprehension compounded of full and some, as if full to satiety, cloying; whereas it is compounded of AngloSaxon ful, foul, and some, as if nauseous, odious.

21. Island, so written, as if compounded of Norman-French isle (Latin insula), and Anglo-Saxon land; whereas it is the same word with Anglo-Saxon ealand, German eiland, water-land, compounded of Anglo-Saxon ea, water, and land. See Dr. NOAH WEBSTER. The orthography island is a hybrid word, or malformation, in lan

guage.

22. Sandy Acre, for Saint Diacre, holy deacon, a parish in Derbyshire.

23. Surname, sometimes written sirname, as if the name of one's sire; whereas it is derived from French surnom, additional name. 24. Righteous, so written, as if formed by means of the Latin suffix cous; whereas the word comes from Anglo-Saxon rihtwis, Old English rightwys, skilful or expert in right.

25. Yeoman, plural yeomen, as if compounded with man; whereas the word comes from Anglo-Saxon gemæne, German gemein, common, if a commoner.

as

26. Lieutenant. This word has, from the earliest times, been written or pronounced leftenant, supported, without doubt, by the idea that the second in command holds the left, while the first holds the right. The true derivation is from the French lieutenant, which signifies one holding or supplying the place of another.

27. Mussulman. The plural of this word, in respectable writers, is often written Mussulmen, as if the English word man entered into its composition. The true root, however, is salama, an Arabic word.

This error is committed also in German. With regard to Boschman or Bushman (plural Boschmen or Bushmen), this objection does not lie; for it is a Teutonic word made up of Dutch bosch, a wood, and It is remarkable that for the words German, Norman, which are really made up of our word man, the plurals Germen, Normen, are never thought of.

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28. Parchment. This word seems, at first view, to have the termination ment, which occurs so often in English; but its true derivation is from Latin pergamena, scilicet charta; whence Italian pergamena, Spanish pergamino, Portuguese pergaminho, French parchemin, German and Dutch pergament, English parchment.

29. Key, a ledge of rocks near the surface of the water. This word appears to be connected with the instrument of that name in English, but is actually derived from Spanish cayo, a rock or sandbank.

The following examples are taken from WILLIAM HOLLOWAY: A General Dictionary of Provincialisms. Lewes, 1839. 8vo. Introd. 1. Bag of nails, for bacchanals, the picture on the sign of an old inn in Pimlico.

2. Beef-eaters, for French buffetiers, men stationed at the king's buffet, or side-board, to take care of it.

3. Bloody Mars, for French blé de Mars, March wheat, a species of wheat introduced into England a few years ago, on account of the stiffness of its straw, which rendered it fit for making into plaits for bonnets.

4. Boarder of Dover Castle, for Norman-French bordar, the name still used in public documents of an officer who arrests the debtors in the Cinque Ports for the purpose of taking them to Dover Castle, where they are confined.

5. Boneless, for Latin boreas, the north wind. In Kent, when the wind blows violently, they say "Boneless is at the door."

6. Catch-rogue, a Norfolk corruption of Norman-French cachereau, a bum-bailiff.

7. Country-dance, for French contre-danse, a dance in which the partners are arranged in opposition, or in opposite lines. It is remarkable that Girault-Duvivier, a French grammarian, states, vice versâ, that French contre-danse is a corruption of English countrydance. The true etymology, however, is evident from the concur rence of Portuguese, contradanca, Spanish contradanza, and Italian contraddanza.

8. Goat and Compasses, for "God encompasses us," the motto on an old sign in the eastern part of London, in the time of the Puritans, having a pair of compasses.

9. Mount Widgeon pea, for Monte Videan pea, a species of pea introduced into England from Monte Video.

10. O yes! O yes! for Oyez! oyez ! Hear ye! hear ye! the old exclamation made by the criers to call people's attention to the notices they were about to give.

11. Pony, for Latin pone, behind, the person who sits behind the dealer at a game of cards, whose business is to collect the cards preparatory to the next deal.

12. Scarlet likeness, for scarlet lychnis, a flower.

13. Shallow Church, for Shadoxhurst, a village near Ashford, Kent. 14. Shepherd's Well, for Sibbald's Wold, a village near Dover, Kent.

The following have been suggested by Dr. J. G. PERCIVAL:

Oyster Hills, in Hertfordshire, corrupted from the Latin Colles Ostorii, so called from the Roman general Ostorius, who constructed a fortified camp in that vicinity.

Katzenelnbogen, a county and town in Hesse, Germany; literally cat's elbow, but a corruption of Cuttimeliboci, the name of a tribe of the Catti inhabiting Mount Melibocus..

Altrippen, a town in Germany, on the Upper Rhine, literally old ribs, but a corruption of the Latin Alta Ripa, high bank.

Manteuffel, man-devil, the name of a noble family in the north of Germany, corrupted from the French Mandeville.

The English in India have singularly corrupted many of the proper names, such as Suraja ud Doula, the celebrated nabob of Bengal, in Warren Hasting's time, to Sir Roger Dowler; Allahabad, literally the dwelling of God (Allah), Isle of Bats; Chuhul Sitoon, the name of a palace in Gazipoor, to Chelsea Tune.

SECTION CCCCXXIII.DIMINUTIVES.

A DIMINUTIVE (French diminutif) is a word formed from another word to express a little thing of the kind.

Diminutives have been divided into three classes, according to their meaning-1. Those which express Simple Diminution. 2. Those which express Endearment. 3. Those which express Contempt. They are distinguished by various terminations :

:

I. Those which end in kin; as, Mannikin, from man; lambkin, from lamb; ladikin or lakin, from lady; pipkin, from pipe; Malkin, from Mary; Peterkin, from Peter; Hopkin, from Hob; Watkin, from Wat or Walter; Wilkin, from Will; Hodgkin, from Hodge.

II. Those which end in ock; as, Bullock, from bull; hillock, from hill; paddock, from Anglo-Saxon pad or pada, a toad.

III. Those which end in ie, and which are almost peculiar to the Lowland Scotch; as, Ladie, minnie, wifie.

IV. Those which are formed by a change of vowel; as, Kitten, from cat; chicken, from cock.

V. Those which end in et; as, Lancet, trumpet, pocket, from the old word pock, a bag, streumlet.

VI. Those which end in el; as, Cockerel, pickerel, satchel.

VII. Those which end in ling; as, Darling, duckling, changeling, nurseling, suckling, stripling, bantling, seedling. In lordling, hireling, and underling, there is the idea of contempt.

"In Anglo-Saxon the termination -ing is regarded as patronymic, just as -ing is in Greek. In the translation of the Bible the son of Elisha is called Elising."-LATHAM.

SECTION CCCCXXIV.-ORIGIN OF ENGLISH SURNAMES.

SURNAME, derived from the French surnom, is a name superadded to the first or Christian name, to indicate the family to which the individual bearing it belongs; as, William Pitt, John Milton.

All names were originally significant; though, in the course of time, the meaning of many of them has become obscure or entirely obliterated. In the early ages of the world, a simple name was sufficient for each individual; as, Adam, Moses. The first approach to the modern system of nomenclature is the addition of the name of one's sire to his own name; as, Caleb, the son of Nun; Icarus, the son of Daedalus. Another species of surname was some significant epithet; as, Alfred the Great; Harold Harefoot, which betokened swiftness of foot. The Romans regularly had three names; as, Publius Cornelius Scipio. Publius, the prænomen, corresponded to our Christian name, as John; Cornelius, the nomen, was the generic name or term of clanship; Scipio, the cognomen, indicated the particular family to which one belonged.

Modern nations have adopted various methods of distinguishing families. The Highlanders of Scotland employed the sire name with Mac (son), and hence the Mac Donalds and Mac Gregors, respectively the son of Donald and the son of Gregor.

The Irish had the practice of prefixing oy or o, signifying grandson ; as, O'Hara, O'Neale. Many of the Irish use the word Mac as the Highlanders do.

The Old Normans prefixed to their names the word Fitz, a corruption of fils, derived from the Latin filius; as, Fitz William, the son of William.

The peasantry of Russia employ the termination -witz, and the Poles -sky, in the same sense; as, Peter Paulowitz Peter, the son of Paul; James Petrosky James, the son of Peter.

In Wales, until a late period, no surnames were used beyond ap or son; as, Ap Howel, ap Richard, now corrupted into Powel, Prichard. It was not uncommon, a century back, to hear of such combinations as Evan ap Griffith, ap David, ap Jenkin, and so on to the seventh or eighth generation. To ridicule this species of nomenclature, some wit describes cheese as being

"Adam's own cousin-german by its birth:

Ap curds, ap milk, ap cow, ap grass, ap earth.” The ancient Britons generally used one name only; but very rarely they added another; as, Uther Pendragon.

The Saxons had a peculiar kind of surname, the termination ing signifying offspring; as, Dearing, Browning, Whiting; meaning, respectively, dear, dark, or tawny, white or fair offspring. More

commonly this termination was added to the father's name; as, Ceolwald Cuthing Ceolwald, the son of Cuth.

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The Saxons bestowed honourable appellations on those who had signalised themselves by a gallant exploit. To kill a wolf was to destroy a dangerous enemy, and to confer a benefit on society. Hence several Saxon proper names end in ulph or wolf; as, Biddulph, the

wolf-killer.

The fore-names of the Anglo-Saxons are characterised by a beautiful simplicity; as, Alfred, all peace; Bede, he that prayeth; Cuthbert, bright in knowledge; Edmund, truth-mouth, or the speaker of truth; Edward, truth-keeper, a faithful man; Goddard, honoured of God; Leofwin, win-love; Richard, richly honoured. "William was a name not given anciently to children, but was a title of dignity imposed upon men from a regard to merit. When a German had killed a Roman, the golden helmet of the Roman was placed upon his head, and the soldier was honoured with the title Gildhelm, or golden helmet. With the French the title was Guildhaume, and since Guillaume, Latin Gulielmus."-VERSTEGAN.

In the twelfth century it was considered a mark of disgrace to be without a surname. A distinguished lady is represented as saying, in respect to her suitor, who had but one name,

"It were to me great shame,

To have a lord withouten his twa name."

The king, to satisfy the lady, gave him the name of Fitz Roy. The practice of bearing a double set of names prevails among the miners of Staffordshire. The best are used on important occasions, like their Sunday clothes, while, for every-day purposes, the nick names are used; as, Nosey, Soaker. An apothecary in the collieries, who, as a matter of decorum, put the real names of his patients on his books for ornament, put in the sobriquet for use; as, for instance, Thomas Williams, vulgo dict. OLD PUFF.

SECTION CCCCXXV.-LOCAL SURNAMES.

From the GREAT ROLL OF BATTLE ABBEY, which contains a list of the principal commanders and companions in arms of William the Conqueror, we are prepared to admit the statement of CAMDEN, that there is not a single village in Normandy that has not surnamed some family in England. The French names introduced from NORMANDY may generally be known by the prefixes De, Du, Des, De la, St. and by the suffixes Font, Ers, Fant, Beau, Age, Mont, Bois, Ly, Eux, Et, Val, Court, Vaux, Lay, Fort, Ot, Champ, and Ville, most of which are the component parts of the proper names of places; as, De Mortimer, De Forest, St. Maure (Seymour), Montfort, &c. Names from OTHER PARTS OF FRANCE: Boleyn, Chaworth, Beaumont, Bohun, Cauncy, &c. Other names have also been introduced from OTHER COUNTRIES; as, Dane or Denis, from DENMARK; Gael or Gale, from SCOTLAND; Wales, Wallis, or Walsh, from WALES.