Air distrait. Fr.-" An absent look, a look expressive of abstraction, or expressive of absence of mind." Air noble. Fr.-"A noble, distinguished, patrician air" guished position in society]. [a distin Al amico cura gli il fico, al inimico il persico. Ital. prov.Pull a fig for your friend, and a peach for your enemy." Al canto si conosce l'uccello; Ed al parlar, il cervello. Ital. prov. "We know a bird by its song, and the man by his words, speech [whether he be a wise man or a fool]. Al confessor, medico, ed avocato, non side tener il vero celato. Ital. prov.-" Hide nothing from thy minister, physician, and lawyer." Al finir del gioco, si vede che ha guadagnato. Ital. prov."At the end of the game one may see who hath won.' 99 Al fresco. Ital.- -"In the open air." 'An al fresco ball." Al molino, ed alla sposa Sempre manca qualche cosa. Ital. prov. "A mill and a woman are always in want of something: " the former from the complexity of its machinery, and the latter from the influences of her caprice. Al pobre no es provechoso, Acompañarse con el poderoso. Span. prov."The poor man gains naught by allying himself with, by forming an alliance with, a powerful man." See "Nunquam est fidelis, &c." Al Rey, en viendolo; a DIOS, en oyendolo. Span. prov."External homage is due to the king upon seeing him; and to God [that is, the host, preceded by its never-failing appendage, the bell] the very moment you hear him." GOD and the king are so coupled in the language of Spain, that the same title of MAJESTY is applied to both; you hear, from the pulpit, the duties that men owe to BOTH MAJESTIES; and a foreigner is often surprised at the hopes expressed by the people that HIS MAJESTY will be pleased to grant them life and health for some years more. Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur. Lat. VIRGIL. "Privets, prime-prints, though white, are suffered to lie untouched, while hyacinths, though black, of a dark hue, are speedily gathered." 'Snow is white, and lies in the dike, And every man lets it lie: Pepper is black, and hath a good smack, Albumen, and, Alburnum. Lat.-"On the contact of corrosive sublimate with any vegetable juice containing albumen, a new combination, a tertium quid, results:" that is to say, a third something, results. Struck out by the collision [knocking together] of two opposite forces or principles. N.B. "Albumen," in animal and in vegetable substances, is the main element of physical vitality, and consequently of fermentation and putrefaction. Every tiro [novice, beginner of any particular study] who walks an hospital knows that "albumen" [the white of an egg] is the simplest antidote [counter-poison, thing given to counteract poison] to corrosive sub C limate; and, in like manner, when a solution of sublimate is applied to timber, it at once penetrates the "alburnum " [outer wood, sappy part of trees on the outside next the bark, subject to rot and be worm-eaten], and then flies to the heart-wood, combining with the "albumen," whether in an active or a dormant [sleeping, inactive] state, and killing it. Alcinoo poma dare. Lat. prov.-"To give tree-fruit [such as apples, pears, oranges, &c.] to ALCINOUS." To carry coals to Newcastle. ALCINOUS was king of the island Corcyra [now Corfu], much commended for his strict justice by the poet ORPHEUS. His orchard was so famed for choice fruit of all kinds, that it gave occasion to the above proverb. Alea sequa vorax species certissima furti Non contenta bonis, animum quoque perfida mergit; "Gaming, that direst felon of the breast, Lat. PETRONÍUS.— Steals more than fortune from its wretched thrall, And gnaws, and rots, and taints, and ruins all." Aleator quantum in arte melior tanto est nequior. Lat. PUBLIUS SYRUS."The gambler, dice-player, gamester, is more wicked according as he is a greater proficient in his art." His demerits keep pace with his acquirements. Alere flammam. Lat.-"To feed, cherish, nourish the flame, ardour, love" [of learning]. N.B. A motto sometimes printed on the title-pages of literary works. Alia res sceptrum, alia plectrum. Lat. prov.-"A sceptre is one thing, a quill [with which to play upon the strings of musical instruments] another." A sceptre is one thing, a ladle another. [Alia] tentanda via est. Lat. Altered from VIRGIL." Another way must be tried." We must diversify our means, change our plans if need be, to attain our end. The original passage runs thus: Tentanda via est, qua me quoque possim, Tollere humo. "I too [I, the poet VIRGIL] must attempt a way, must strike out into a path, method, by which I may raise myself from the ground, by which I may rise into celebrity [as other poets have done], by which I may soar aloft." Alias. Lat. "Otherwise, at another time." A law term, used when one changes his name, or assumes a different one; as, Jackson alias JohnThe plural is aliases, “different names.' An alias is also a name given to a second writ issuing from the courts of Westminster, after a first writ has been sued out without effect. son. Alibi. Lat." Elsewhere, in another place." A law term used when one, charged with an offence, alleges that he was elsewhere when it was committed. -Aliena negotia centum Per caput, et circa saliunt latus. Lat. HORACE.— "A hundred affairs of other people leap through my head and around my side," that is, beset me on every side." Compare the form which the same idea would assume in our vulgar idiom, "I am over head and ears in the affairs of others." The above quotation may be applied to the situation of a Minister of state. 66 A hundred men's affairs confound My senses, and besiege me round." Aliena negotia curo, excussus propriis. Lat. HORACE.-"I attend to other men's business, having none of my own to occupy me." PUBLIUS SYRUS.-The quotation is used to mark an idle obtruder. Aliena nobis, nostra plus aliis placent. Lat. PUBLIUS SYRUS. "The things which belong to others please us more, and that which is our own is more pleasing to others." This maxim is applicable in a variety of cases. Aliena optimum frui insania. Lat.-"It is of the highest advantage to be able to derive instruction from the madness of another." It is true practical wisdom to make the faults of others serve as so many beacons to warn us from the rocks and shoals, on which they have been wrecked. Alieni appetens, sui profusus. Lat. SALLUST.-"Coveting the property of others, and lavish, or profuse, in the expenditure of his own." This, which was the historian's description of Catiline [a conspirator of Rome], has since been justly applied to other political adventurers. Alieno in loco haud stabile regnum est. Lat. SENECA.-" The sovereignty which is held over strange or remote territories is precarious." Alii sementem faciunt, alii metentem. Lat. prov.-"Some do the sowing, and others the reaping or mowing." One beats the bush, and another catcheth the bird. The Italian proverb is-I picciol cani trovano, ma i grandi hanno la lepre. "The little dogs find, hunt out, but the great ones seize the hare." Aliis, quia defit quod amant, aegre'st: tibi, quia superest, dolet. Lat. TERENCE. "Some persons grieve, take it to heart, because they cannot have what they love: you, on the contrary, complain, because you have too much." Alio sub sole. Lat." Under another sun;" in another climate, region. "Those who have seen earth and ocean alio sub sole, know how much larger an element colour is in the landscape there than in middle or northern Europe. Nature in those countries has a brighter complexion, though men and women have not." Aliorum medicus ipse ulceribus scates. Lat. prov.-"Though the physician of others, yet thou thyself art full of sores." Physician, heal thyself. Aliquando praestat morte jungi, quam vita distrahi. Lat. VALERIUS MAXIMUS.-"It is sometimes, under certain circumstances, better to be joined, united, in death, than to be separated in or during life." -Aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum Dicat: Quod sapio, satis est mihi; non ego curo Lat. PERSIUS.— "And now, some captain of the land or fleet, Care I whate'er those book-learn'd blockheads say? Aliquis malo sit usus ab illo. Lat.-"Some use or benefit may possibly be derived from that evil." There are some mischiefs which have a tendency not only to rectify themselves, but also to produce an opposite result. Aliquis non debet esse judex in propria causa. Lat. Law maxim. "No man should be a judge in his own cause." A lord of the manor, though having cognisance of all kinds of pleas, cannot hold plea where he himself is a party. Aliquid inane. Lat. "An indescribable, unaccountable, kind or degree of silliness; trifling; folly." Alitur vitium, vivitque tegendo. Lat. VIRGIL.-"Vice thrives and lives by concealment." It is in the nature of foul deeds to delight in darkness. The above translation, however, does not convey the meaning of the passage in the original, which has reference to the disease in sheep called the scab: "This distemper is nourished and continues to live, continues in a state of vitality, by being covered" [instead of being brought to a head by the lancet, according to the suggestion of Virgil]. Aliud et idem. Lat. One and the same thing, though under different aspects." "We never have returned from abroad after having feasted a month or two on the bread and water called 'potage,' and the exhausted rags denominated ‘bouilli,' and all the aliud et idem hash and trash of the common French cuisine, without enjoying, as a great luxury, the natural flavour of beef, mutton, and pork, peas, beans, and potatoes, tasting of themselves, and not of one general clammy stock-pot." Alium silere quod valeas, primus sile. Lat. SENECA.-" To make another person hold his tongue, be you first silent, do you first hold your peace." Do not irritate an idle dispute by fruitless perseverance. Aliunde. Lat.- From some other quarter, person. 66 All the Russias.-The expression of "All the Russias" is founded on the ancient division of Russia, which comprehended the provinces of Great or Black Russia, Little or Red Russia, and White Russia. St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia, took its name from having been built by PETER THE GREAT. Allah. The name given by the Mahometans of all classes to the Almighty. Allevato nella bambagia. Ital.-" Brought up very tenderly." To be nursed in cotton. Αλλων ιατρός, αυτος έλκεσι βρυων. Gr. PLUTARCH. The physician of others, whilst he himself teems with ulcers." Applied to a man who pretends to cure the faults of others, whilst he has abundance of his own. ALMA MATER. Lat.-"A mild, gentle, benign, mother." A term used by students to designate the University in which they were educated. It is also applied to nature, and to the earth, which affords us everything we enjoy. Almans frioun is almans gick. Frisian prov.-" All men's friend is all men's fool." Alter ego. Lat. CICERO.-"The duplicate, double, second impersonation, counterpart, deputy, representative [should be, representive]." The alter ego of the Sovereign," a phrase applied by LORD CAMPBELL to PRINCE ALBERT. Alter in obsequium plus aequo pronus: Lat. HORACE.— "One man carries his obsequious complaisance to excess [the toad-eater]: another wrangles eternally about trifles, things of no consequence whatever, and, armed with jargon, combats everything you say" [the man of rude and blunt manners]. The application of "Alter rixatur, &c." is to those who are always contending for objects, things, of no moment. "He strives for trifles, and for toys contends, And then, in earnest, what he says defends." N.B. The expression "de lana caprina rixari" is a proverbial one, and is well explained by the scholiast [commentator]: To dispute about goat's-wool," that is, about nothing, since a goat is covered with hair, and not with wool. On the subject of the man of rude and blunt manners, compare SHAKSPERE:: This is some fellow, Who, having been praised for bluntness, doth affect A saucy roughness; and constrains the garb, King Lear, Act 2, sc. 2. Alter remus aquas, alter mihi radat arenas. Lat. PROPERTIUS. -"Let me strike the water with one oar, and with the other scrape the sands." Let me never hazard my safety by getting out of my depth. Alterius [sic] Altera poscit opem res, et conjurat amice. Lat. HORACE."Each [Art and Genius] demands the aid of the other, and conspires amicably to the same end.” This is applied by the poet to the alliance which should exist between Art and Genius. It is sometimes used, however, to describe combinations of a different nature. Alterum lumen Angliæ. Lat.-"The other light, luminary, of England." A phrase at one time applied to the University of OXFORD. "We do not go farther back into times when Oxford was recognised by all as the "alterum lumen Anglia," and the glory of the Church; times, in which all her goodness might be traced to herself; and whenever studies declined or corruptions crept in, it was through some external interference." AXUTO atopia. Gr.-"Difficulties of hard solution, inexplicable difficulties, problematical questions of hard solution." The lovers of wisdom, [philosophers] in the best ages of Athens and of Rome, always discoursed with reverence and submission to the Author and Governor of the world. |