aries, in order to inquire what is the general usage of those who write the language, we shall find it in a very unsettled state. Many exclude the u altogether from the final syllable of the whole class of words in question; yet a greater number, doubtless, retain it in a part of them; but few of these, however, have probably settled very definitely, in their own minds, to what words they would limit it.

Such diversities being found in the dictionaries and in usage, it becomes a question of some difficulty to be determined, what course it is most advisable to adopt; for there is no one against which respectable authorities may not be cited. But as the omission of the u, in many words in which it was retained by Johnson, has now become the established usage; as a tendency to a further omission has long been gaining strength; as an entire exclusion is now supported by some good authorities; and as a partial omission is attended with inconvenience, on account of the difficulty of fixing the limit, the Compiler of this Dictionary has, after considerable hesitation, decided on an entire exclusion of the u from the whole class of words in question. If any, however, are dissatisfied with this course, they can supply the deficiency with respect to the words which are not of Latin origin, according to the system of Entick; or, together with these, they can include also the words of two syllables above enumerated, which are derived from the Latin, according to the manner of Dyche, Barclay, and others.

There are several other classes of words, more or less numerous, with respect to which there is a want of uniformity in the dictionaries and in usage, and of which it is proper here to take notice.

1. Verbs derived from Greek verbs ending in w, and others formed on the same analogy, are written with the termination ize, and not ise; as, characterize, patronize.

2. Derivative adjectives ending in able are written without the e before a; as, blamable, movable; not blameable, moveable; except those of which the primitive word ends in ce or ge; in such the e being retained to soften the preceding consonant; as, peaceable, chargeable.

3. Words ending in the syllable al or all, with the full sound of broad a, have the double; as, befall, downfall, miscall.

4. A class of compound words retain the final double l, which is found in the simple words; as, foretell, downhill.

5. A class of words, the most of which are derived from verbs ending with the letter 1, with the last syllable unaccented, and which are more commonly written with the final consonant of the primitive word doubled, though analogy would require it to be single, are inserted in both forms; as, traveller, traveler.-A few other words are inserted in two forms; as, dulness, dullness; fulness, fullness; skilful, skillful; wilful, willful; but chillness and

tallness, though found in most dictionaries with a single l, are inserted only in one form, and that with the double l, which they seem to require as much as the words stillness and smallness.

Mr. Todd, in his edition of Johnson's Dictionary, spells the following words with an e after the g, thus, abridgement, acknowledgement, adjudgement, judgement, lodgement; and this mode is defended by Lowth and Walker; and is also countenanced by many respectable authors. The e is, however, omitted in all the above words, except lodgement, by Johnson and most other lexicographers; and, in this Dictionary, the words have been rendered uniform by the omission of the e.

In addition to the above classes, there are many individual words in the English language, with respect to the orthography of which a diversity is more or less common. A copious list of these will be found at the end of the Dictionary, page 345, in the Vocabulary of Words of Doubtful or Various Orthography, to which the reader is referred.

The plural forms of irregular nouns, and the imperfect tenses and perfect participles of irregular verbs, are exhibited in this Dictionary; and it may be useful to insert here the rules for forming the plural number of regular nouns, and the derivatives of regular verbs.

1. The plural number of regular nouns always ends in s, and is commonly formed by adding s to the singular; as, noun, nouns; rule, rules.

2. When the singular number ends in ch (soft), s, sk, ss, or x, the plural is formed by adding es; as, church, churches; crocus, crocuses; lash, lashes ; cross, crosses; box, boxes.

3. Nouns ending in o, preceded by a vowel, have s only added to form the plural; as, folio, folios; nuncio, nuncios: but if o is preceded by a consonant, és is often added; as, cargo, cargoes; hero, heroes; and sometimes only s; as, canto, cantos; portico, porticos.

4. Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant, form their plural number by changing y into ies; as, city, cities; spy, spies: but if the y is preceded by a vowel, the plural is regularly formed, by merely adding 8; as, day, days; attorney, attorneys; valley, valleys. This rule is often violated, and the plural number is erroneously written with the termination ies; as, attornies, vallies.

The imperfect tenses and the perfect participles of regular verbs always end in ed, and when the present tense ends in e, they are formed by the addition of d; in other cases, they are formed according to the following rule: Verbs of one syllable, ending with a single consonant, preceded by a

same manner and having the accent on the last syllable (as regret), double the final consonant of the verb, on assuming an additional syllable; as, plan, planned; regret, regretted; but if a diphthong precedes the last consonant (as in join), or the accent is not on the last syllable (as in suffer), the consonant is not doubled; as, join, joined; suffer, suffered, sufferer.

There is an exception to the last clause of this rule with respect to most of the verbs ending in the letter 1, which, on assuming an additional syllable, are allowed to double the l, though the accent is not on the last syllable; as, travel, travelled, travelling, traveller; and also with respect to the derivatives of the word worship; as, worshipped, worshipper. This, however, is contrary to the analogy of the language, and is condemned by Walker, Perry, and Dr. Webster; and the last two lexicographers spell the derivative words of this class, in their dictionaries, with only a single 1. In this Dictionary, they are given in both forms. To spell them with double l is most agreeable to usage; but to spell them with a single 7 is most consistent with analogy.

Cambridge, Sept. 1, 1830.

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL LEXICOGRAPHERS AND ORTHOEPISTS

WHOSE NAMES ARE CITED AS AUTHORITIES IN THIS DICTIONARY.

1st edition, 1774.

Barclay's Complete and Universal Dictionary,.

Ash's New and Complete Dictionary of the English Language, 1st edition, 1775.

Perry's Royal Standard English Dictionary,.......

Sheridan's General Dictionary of the English Language,.
Nares's Elements of [English] Orthoepy,.

Oliver's Scripture Lexicon,...

.1st edition, 1775. ...1st edition, 1780.

1st edition, 1784. .2d edition, 1787.

Scott's Spelling, Pronouncing, and Explanatory Dictionary,..new edition, 1802. Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dictionary [1st edition, 1791],..4th edition, 1804. Walker's Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek, Latin,

and Scripture Proper Names,.

Jones's Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary,..

.1st edition, 1798.

1st edition, 1798.

.1st edition, 1802.

1804.

Perry's Synonymous, Etymological, & Pronouncing Dictionary, 1st edition, 1805.

Fulton and Knight's General Pronouncing Dictionary,

Scheller's Latin and German Lexicon,...

Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language,....1st edition, 1828.

Maunder's New and Enlarged Dictionary of the Eng. Language, 1st edition, 1830.

A, (pronounced a as a letter, but a as a word) | A-ba/tor, n. one who intrudes into a freehold. an article set before nouns of the singular Ab'a-tude, n. any thing diminished. number; as, a man, a tree. Before words be- Ab'a-tūre, n. grass trodden down by a stag. ginning with a vowel and h mute, it is writ- Abb, n. the yarn on a weaver's warp. ten an; as, an ox, an hour. A is placed be-Ab'ba, n. a Syriac word, which signifies father. fore a participle, or participial noun; and is Ab'ba-cy, n. rights and privileges of an abbot. considered as a contraction of at or on; as, I Ab-ba'tial, (ab-bā'shal) a. relating to an abbey. am a walking. A, prefixed to many or few, Ab bę, n. [Fr.] an abbot: an ecclesiastical title. implies one whole number. A has a pecu-Ab'bess, n. the governess of a nunnery or liar signification, denoting the proportion of convent.

one thing to another; as, The landlord has Xb'bey, or Ab'by, n. a monastery; a convent. a hundred a year. [tor. Ab/bot, n. the chief of an abbey or convent. Ab'a-cist, n. he who casts accounts; calcula-Ab/bot-ship, n. the state or office of an abbot. A-back', ad. backwards: a sea term. *Ab-bre/vi-ate, [ab-bre've-ät, W. J. F. Ja. ; Ab'a cot, n. cap of state once used in England. ab-bre'vyāt, S. E.; ab-brev'e̟-āt, P.] v. a. A-bác tor, n. [L.] one who steals cattle in herds. to abridge; to shorten.

Ab'a-cus, n. [L.] a counting-table; the upper-*Ab-bre-vi-ation, n. act of shortening; conmost member of a column.

A-baft', ad. towards the stern of a ship: a sea

term.

A-bai'sance, (a-ba'sans) n. a bow; obeisance. Ab-alien-āte, (ab-al'yen-at) v. a. to estrange:

traction.

*Ab-brē'vi-a-tor, [ab-brē'vę-ā-tor, J. Wb.; abbre-ve-a'tur, W. J. F.; ab-brev-ya'tur, S.; ab-brev'e-a-tur, P.] n. one who abbrevi

ates.

in law, to transfer one's property to another.*Ab-brē vi-a-to-ry, a. shortening; contracting. Ab-al-ien-a'tion, (ab-al-yen-a'shun) n. the act *Ab-bre'vi-a-ture, n. a mark used for the sake

of giving up one's right to another person.
A-ban don, v. a. to give up, desert, forsake.
A-bandoned, (a-ban'dund) p. a. given up;
corrupted in the highest degree.
A-băn/don-er, n. one who abandons.
A-ban'don-ing, n. a leaving or forsaking.
A-ban don-ment, n. the act of abandoning.
Ab-an-nition, (áb-an-ish'un) n. a banishment.
A-båre', v. a. to make bare, uncover, disclose.
Ab-ar-tic-u-la'tion, n. a kind of articulation.
A-base', v. a. to humble, depress, bring low.
A-base/ment, n. the state of being brought low.
A-bash', v. a. to make ashamed; to confuse.
A-bash'ment, n. great shame or confusion.
A-ba'ta-ble, a. that may be abated. [press.
A-bate', v. a. to lessen; to diminish; to de-
A-bate', v. n. to grow less; to decrease.
A-bate ment, n. the act of abating; decrease.
A-bat er, n. the person or thing that abates.
Ab'a-tis, (ab'a-te') n. [Fr.] trees cut down, and
so laid as to form a defence: a military term.

[stones.

of shortening; an abridgment.
Ab-breu-voir', (ab-bru-vwör') [Fr.] n. a water-
ing-place; the joint or juncture of two
A, B, C, the alphabet; a little book.
Ab'di-cant, a. abdicating; renouncing.
Ab'di-cănt, n. a person who abdicates.
Ab'di-cate, v. a. to resign.
Ab'dj-cāte, v. n. to resign an office; to aban-
don; to renounce; to relinquish.
Ab-di-ca'tion, n. act of abdicating; resignation.
Ab'di-ca-tive, [ăb'de-ka-tiv, W. J. F. Ja.; ab-
dik'a-tiv, S. E. P.] a. causing or implying
abdication.

Ab'di-tive, a. having the quality of hiding.
Ab di-to-ry, n. a place to hide goods in.
Ab-do'men, [ab-do'men, S. W. J. E. F. Ja.;
ab-do'men, or ab'do̟-měn, P.] n. the lower ven-
ter or belly.
Ab-dom'i-nal,

Ab-dom'in-ous, }

a. relating to the abdomen. Ab-dūce', v. a. to draw from; to separate.

à, e, i, o, u, y, long ; ă, ě, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, ỹ, short; a, e, i, o, u, y, obscure.-fåre, fär, fast, fall; hêir, her; mîen, sïr; môve, nör, son; bûll, bür rûle.-Ç, G, ç, §, soft ; Ç, G, &, ğ, hard. § as z; x as gz;—this.