NEW DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE; BY CHARLES RICHARDSON. ALDI DISCIP. ANGLVS VOL. I. LONDON: WILLIAM PICKERING, CHANCERY LANE. WILLIAM JACKSON, 102 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. R39n A, is the first letter, and first vowel of the B. Jonson observes, that all our vowels are A, the English article, means one; in A. S. an. In A. S. on means in; and has been corrupted in English to an before a vowel, and to a before a consonant; and in writing and speaking it has been connected with the subsequent word: hence a numerous race of adverbs. From On dæg, On niht, On lenge, On bræde, On bæc, On lande, On life, On middan, On wihte, On twa, On weg; we have Aday, Anight, Along, Abroad, Aback, Aland, Alive, Amid, Aright, Atwo, Away. See Tooke. A, in such expressions, as a-hunting, a-begging, a-going, admits of a similar explanation; i. e. on or in, the act of hunting, begging. In the A. S. the prefix a to words also in use without it, is of constant occurrence. In some words, which have descended from that language, the word with this prefix is preserved; e. g. in Abide, Abut, Ashamed. In a far greater number VOL. I. the prefix is dropped; e. g. in Abeodan, to bid; A per se (A by itself), as denoting pre-emi nence, is not unusual in our old poets. Chaucer. Testament of Crescide, v. 78. Right as our first letter is now an A, In beaute first so stode she makeles. Id. Troilus, b. i. Clerc he was god ynou, and gut, as me telleth me ABA/CK. On back. Backwards. See BACK. Iesus seith to hem I am, and Iudas that betraiede him stood with hem, and whanne he seide to hem, I am, thel Wicliff. Ion, c. 18. And therewithall abacke she start. "Away there ! lower the mizen yard on deck," Falconer. Shipwreck. ABA'FT. On the aft or hind part; behind. And the boteswaine of the galley walked abaft the maste, ABALIENA'TION. given way to To alienate. ABA'ND, v. ABA'NDON, U. ABANDONER. Fr. Abandonner; It. Aban- To band or bind, or put in bondage; to stay, or cause to stay, or remain in; to leave in, or give up to, a state of bondage or entire subjection. And then simply To resign; to quit, to desert, to forsake; and consequently, to reject or cast away: to repel or drive away: to banish. Abandonment, n. is used by Cotgrave in v. Abandon. The authorities quoted are very modern : Abandoning appears also to have been a common noun; but the old noun was Abandon: applied to the act, the thing, or the person. He that dredeth God, spareth not to do that him ought to do; and he that loveth God, he wol do diligence to plese God by his werkes, and abandon himself with all his might wel for to do. -Chaucer. The Persones Tale. Id. The Rom. of the Rose, fol. 127. Moris hir sonne was coroned, To Christes feith, that men hym calle. Moris the christnest of all.-Gower. Conf. Am. b. ii. Further John a man of perfecte holines, perceyuing the enuious affections of his disciples, to thintent that he might heale their weakness, and abandone them from him and deliver them to Jesus: he chose out of them two and sent them to Jesus. - Udall. Erasmus' Matthew, c. 10. - those forreiners, which came from farre, 'And Vortiger enforc't the kingdome to aband. Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. ii. c. 10. 'Tis better far the enemies t'aband Quite from thy borders, to a forren soile, Then he at home, thee and thy countrie spoile. Mir. for Magistrates, p. 119. What when Severus old,did vnderstand, Beg. Madame wife, they say that I haue dream'd Lady. I, and the time seemes thirty vnto me, Shakespeare. Tam. of S. Act 1. sc. 1. - Meanwhile reviv'd Abandon fear: to strength and counsel join'd Milton. Par. Lost, b. vl. See how he lies at random, carelessly diffused, With languish'd head unpropt, As one past hope, adandon'd, And by himself given over.-Milton. Scmson Agonistes. Source unk Aurel. - You form reasons, Just ones, for your abandoning the storms Beau. & Fletch. Two Noble Kinsmen, Act v. sc. 1. What is it that Sathan can despaire to perswade men unto, if he can draw them to an unnatural abandoning of life, and pursuit of death.-Hall. Occasionall Medit. 117. Then thought hee it also time to send an ambassage unto Archduke Philip, into Flanders, for the abandoning and dismissing of Perkin.-Bacon. Henry VII. p 126. Ror. I see no crime in her whom I adore, Or if I do, her beauty makes it none: Look on me as a man abandon'd o'er To an eternal lethargy of love. Dryden. Spanish Friar, Act iv. Nor let her tempt that deep, nor make the shore, Where our abandon'd youth she sees, Shipwreck'd in luxury, and lostin ease. Prior. Ode (1692). He that abandons religion must act in such a contradiction to his own conscience and best judgment, that he abuses and spoils the faculty itself. -Watts. Sermons. Cities then Attract us, and neglected nature pines Abandon'd, as unworthy of our love. -Cowper. Task. b. ii. When thus the helm of justice is abandoned, an universal abandoning of all other posts will succeed. Burke. On Reg. Peace. Let. 4. They amount (says he) to the sacrifice of powers, that have been most nearly connected with us; the direct or indirect annexation to France of all the parts of the con tinent, from Dunkirk to Hamburgh; an immense accession of territory; and, in one word, the abandonment of the independence of Europe. Id. ib. p. 81. Fr. Abbaiser; It. Abbasare; Abaxar. See BASE, and ABA'SEMENT. ABASH, infra. ABA'SING, n. } To put or bring low, to lower, to depress; to degrade, to humble, to disgrace. Our kynge hath do this thing amisse, So to abesse his roialtee; That euery man it might see, And humbled him in such a wise To them that were of none emprise.-Gower. Conf.Am.b.i. This example was shewed to teache vs, howe the teachers of Gods worde should not grutche to descend from their highnes or perfection, and abase themselues euen to the lowlines of the weake, thereby to wynne very many to theyr Lorde. Udall. Erasmus, S. Marke, c. 2. At this tyme also, the kinges maiestie, with the aduice of his privy counsaile, did now purpose not onely the abacyng of the sayd copper moneys, but also ment wholly to reduce them to bollion, to the intent to deliuer fine and good monies for them. The peece of ix pence was abaced to sixpence. Grafton. Chronicle. Ed. VI. an. 5. And will she yet abase her eyes on me, That cropt the golden prime of this sweet prince, Shakespeare. Rich. III. Act i. sc. 2. If he that abases the prince's coin deserves to die, what is his desert, that instead of the tried silver of God's word, stamps the name and character of God upon base brazen stuff of his own?-Hales. Remains, Ser. 1. There is an abasement because of glory, and there is that lifteth up his head from a low estate. Ecclus. xx. 2. It is a point of cunning to wait upon him with whom you speak with your eye; as the Jesuits give it in precept; for there may be many wise men that have secret hearts and transparent countenances: yet this should be done with a demure abasing of your eye. --Bacon. Essay on Cunning. Let the example of our Lord's humility bring down the haughtiness of men; and when we consider how he abased himself, let us be vile in our own eyes, and abhor ourselves in dust and ashes. Tillotson. Works, vol. iii. 217. Ser. 135. Absorb'd in that immensity I see, I shrink abas'd, & yet aspire to Thee. - Cowper. Retirement. Heaven was to be earned only by penance and mortification; by the austerities and abasement of a monk, not by the liberal, generous, and spirited conduct of a man. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 1. ABA'SH, v. The past tense and past part. } of the past tense and past part Abaisit, Abayschid; whence the word Abash appears to be formed: and is applied to The feelings of those who are abased, depressed, disgraced, humbled. In Wicliff it is applied to The feelings which overpowered, subdued, the witnesses of the miraculous restoration of the damsel by Christ. Abasshe is found in Gower, used as a substantive. See BASH, Piers Plouhman, p. 394. And anoon the damysel roos and walkide: and sche was of twelve yeer, and thei weren abayschid with a great stoneying.-Wiclif. Mark, c. 5. And as the new abashed Nightingale, And after siker doeth her voice out ring. Chaucer. Troilus, b. iii. fol. 173. Certes (quod she) that were great a maruayle and an abashinge, without ende. --Chaucer. Boecius, b. iv. p. 1. The kynges doughter, whiche this sigh, And let hem still ride enough. Gower. Con. A. b. iv. The town restlesse with furie as I sought, Th' unlucky figure of Creusaes ghost, Of stature more than wont, stood fore mine eyen. Gan start right up my voice stuck in my throte. Surrey. Virgile, b. ii. But the water kepte his course, and wette, at length the kynges [Canute] thyes; wherwith ye kynge abasshed, sterte backe and sayde, all erthly kynges may knowe that theyr powers be vayne, and that none is worthy to have the name of a kynge, but he that has all thynges subiecte to his hestes. Fabyan, c. 206. I saie to the, thou hast put me in a more greatte abasshement, than the feare of myne enemies. Golden Boke, Let. 15. Why, then, (you princes) Do you with cheekes abash'd behold our workes, And thinke them shame, which are (indeed) nought else, But the protractiue trials of great Ioue, To finde persistiue constancie in men. Shakespeare. Tro. & Cres. Act i. sc. 3. Yet all that could not from affright her hold, Ne to recomfort her at all prevail'd, For her faint heart was with the frozen cold And all her senses with abashment quite were quail'd. Basenesse of birth is a great disparagement to some men, especially if they be wealthy, bear office, and come to promotion in a common-wealth: then, if their birth be not answerable to their calling, and to their fellows, they are much abashed and ashamed of themselves. Burton. Anatomy of Melancholy, p. 310. But when he Venus view'd without disguise, Congreve. Homer. Hymn to Venus. And harsh austerity, from whose rebuke Akenside. Pleasures of Imagination, b. iii. ΑΒΑ'ΤΕ, ν. Авл'те, п. ABA'TEMENT. ABA TER. } Fr. Abbatre; It. Abbatere; Sp. Abatir; A. S. Beatan, to beat. The word exists also without the prefix A; though more limited by modern usage in its application. See BATE. To beat or press down; to cast down; to lower, to depress; to lessen; to diminish; to reduce. The kyng did samen his men, to abate Gryffyn's pride. R. Brunne, p. 63. For that abatement he chalenges thorgh right. Id. p. 278. As God saith, the horrible divels shul gon and comen upon the hedes of dampned folk: and this is, for as moche as the higher that they were in this present lif, the more shul they be abated and defouled in helle. Chaucer. Personnes Tales, vol. ii. p. 291. The kynge of Scottes wyth all hys hoste and power entered into England:-and planted hys siege before the castell of Norham, and sore abaled the walles.-Hall. Hen.VIII. an. 5. He [the horsse] breaketh the groude wyth the hoffes of his fete chearfully in his strength, and runneth to mete the harnest men. He layeth asyde all feare, hys stomack is not abated, neither starteth he abacke for any swerde. Bible, London, 1539. Job, с. 39. O happie Cato Censorine, who with suche as haue folowed his waies, are now sure fro the abatementes of fortune. The Golden Boke, ch. xxv. Hel. O weary night, O! long and tedious night, That I may backe to Athens by day-light, From these, that my poore companie detest. Knight. My lord, I know not what the matter is, but to my judgement, your Highnesse is not entertained with that ceremonious affection as you were wont; there's a great abatement of kindnesse appeares as well in the generall dependants, as in the duke himselfe also, and your daughter. Shakespeare. Lear, Act i. sc. 4. - A day Will come (hear this, and quake, ye potent great ones) Beaumont and Fletcher. Laws of Candy, Act. v Impiety of times, chastity's abator, Daniel. Complaint of Rosamond. If we could arrest time, and strike off the nimble wheels of his chariot, and like Joshua, bid the sun stand still, and make opportunity tarry as long as he had occasion for it; this were something to excuse our delay, or at least to mitigate or abate the folly and unreasonableness of it. Tillotson. Works, vol. i. Ser. 14. The triall hereof (whether men weigh heavier dead than alive) cannot so well be made on the body of a man, nor will the difference be sensible in the abate of scruples or dracms. Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. iv. c. 7. The greatest tyrants have been those, whose titles were the most unquestioned. Whenever the opinion of right becomes too predominant and superstitious, it is abated by breaking the custom: thus the revolution broke the custom of succession.-Paley. Moral Philosophy, b. vi. c. 2. ABA/WED, i. e. Abashed. Fr. Esbahi. To chyrche and to pouere men he zef vorst, as he ssolde, And in this time was geuen vnto the kyng by the consent of the great and fatte abbottes, all religious houses that were of the value of three hundred marke and vnder, in hope, that their great monasteryes should haue continued still: but euen at that tyme one sayde in the parliament house, that these were as thornes, but the great abbottes were putrifyed old okes, and they must needes folowe. Grafton. Chron. Hen. VIII. an. 26. The abbot was elected by the monks of the monastery, at least in the greater part of abbacies. Smith. Wealth of Nations, b. v. c. 1. It. Abbreviare; Sp. Abreviar:-from Lat. Brevis; the Gr. Βραχυς; Α. Σ. Bracan, to break. See ABRIDGE. ABBREVIAΤΕ, υ. ABBREVIATE, n. ABBREVIATION. ABBREVIATOR. ABBREVIATURE. To break or make short, concise; to shorten, to abridge; to bring or reduce to a smaller space or compass by breaking off, or removing parts. In all theyr wrytynge, [the Frenshe] when they come to any mater that soundyth any thynge to theyr honour, it is wrytten in the longest and mooste shewynge manoure to theyr honour and worshyp. But if it sounde any thynge to theyr dishonoure, than shall it be abreuyatyd or hyd, that the trouthe shall not be knowen.---Fabyan. Hen. III. an. 26. The epistles do conteyne counsayles and aduertisementes in the fourme of orations, recytynge diuers places, as wel out of the olde testament, as the gospels, as it were an abbreuiate, called of the Grekes and Latines, Epitoma. Elyot. The Governor, b. iii. c. 23. Of this Joseph, Trogus Pompeius, and also his abreuiator Justine do write in this manner: Joseph was the yongest among the brethren, whose excellent wit they fearing, solde him vnto straynge marchauntes, by whome he was brought Shakespeare. Mid. Night's Dream, Act iii. sc. 2. into Egypt. Grafton. Chron. The Third Age. Post. I know you are more clement than vilde men, Who of their broken debtors take a third, A sixt, a tenth, letting them thrive againe On their abatement.-Id. Cymbeline, Act v. sc. 4. The Egyptians indeed did teach religion by symbolical figures, and in the eastern empire their laws were written with characters and abbreviatures. Bp. Taylor. Rule of Conscience, b. ill. o. 4 |