HiUhftr^l ■"/r;W 4. Cornell IniuerHttg Cthraqj Sttfara, Bfaw fork BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND THE BEQUEST OF W1LLARD FISKE LIBRARIAN OF THE UNIVERSITY I868-I8B3 1905 Cornell University Library PE 1582.G2M15 Gaelic etymology of the languages of wes 3 1924 027 421 944 'M 'm "«3 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027421944 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY 'angiraps of Wt&tun <8/nto$t AND MORE ESPECIALLY OF THE ENGLISH AND LOWLAND SCOTCH, AND OF THEIR SLANG, CANT, AND COLLOQUIAL DIALECTS. CHARLES MACKAY, LL.D. FELLOW OP THE BOYAL SOCIETY OP ANTIQUARIES OP DENMARK. " Eyery word in human language has its pedigree." — The Duke op Somerset. " Without a considerable knowledge of Gaelic, no person can make any proficiency whatever in philology.'' -Dr. Hurray, .Late Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of Edinburgh. LONDON : PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR BY N. TRUBNER AND CO., LUDGATB HILL. 1S77. LONDON : GIL11EKT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUARE. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OE WALES, DUKE OF ROTHESAY, EARL OF CARRICK, BARON RENFREW, AND LORD OF THE ISLES, %\as lolumc, WHICH SHOWS THE CONNEXION OF THE LANGUAGE OF HIS SCOTTISH ANCESTORS AND OF THE EARLIEST KELTIC INHABITANTS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND WITH SAXON, MEDIAEVAL, AND MODERN ENGLISH, IS DEDICATED BY SPECIAL PERMISSION. London, October, 1877. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. The Names marked with (*) are those of Gentlemen deceased since the commencement of this Work. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh. H.R.H. Prince Leopold. The Highland Society of London. The Highland Society of Edinburgh. The University of Aberdeen. The University of Edinburgh. The University of Glasgow. The University of St. Andrew's. The University of Virginia, U.S. The Gaelic Society of London (2 copies). Argyll, His Grace the Duke of (5 copies). Athole, His Grace the Duke of. Ainsworth, William Harrison, Esq. Andrew, William Patrick, Esq. Buccleuch, His Grace the Duke of (2 copies). Bute, the Most Noble the Marquis of. Bald, John, Esq., Wells, Jedburgh. Ballantine, James, Esq., Edinburgh. Barber, William, Esq., Reform Club. Beaumont, James A., Esq. (2 copies). Bennoch, Francis, Esq., F.S.A. Blackie, John Stuart, Esq., Professor of Greek, University of Edinburgh. Blackwood, John, Esq , Edinburgh. Blackwood, William, Esq., Edinburgh. *Bosworth, the Rev. Dr. (Author of the " Anglo-Saxon Dictionary "). Boult, Joseph, Esq , Liverpool. Bourke, the Very Rev. Ulick J., Canon of Tuam, and Principal of St. Jarlath's. Boyd, John, Esq., St. John, New Brunswick (2 copies). Brown, James B., Esq., Selkirk. Brown, Colin Rae, Esq., Oakleigh Park. Brown, Charles Herbert, Esq., Leach House, Colne, Lancashire. *Burns, William, Esq., Glasgow. Burton, Walter, Esq. Caird, J. F., Esq., Greenock. Cameron, Donald, Esq., of Lochiel, M.P. Campbell, Colin, Esq., Greenock. Church, George Earle, Esq., C.E. Cluny, Macpherson, of Cluny. Derby, the Right Hon. the Earl of. Dufferin, Right Hon. the Earl of, Gov.-Gen. of Canada. Dunmore, the Right Hon. the Earl of. Dallas, A. Graut, Esq., Dunain, Inver- ness. Davies, D. P., Esq., Liverpool. Dewar, Captain James, Glasgow. Doyle, Andrew, Esq. Edmonston and Co., Messrs., Edinburgh. Elder, Alexander Lang, Esq. Ellice, Edward, Esq., M.P. Ellis, Joseph, Esq., Monks, Balcombe, Sussex. Evelyn, W. J., Esq., Wotton, Surrey. Fellowes, F. P., Esq., Reform Club. Ferguson, Robert, Esq., M.P. Finlay, A. H., Esq., Greenock. Finlay, Alex. S., Esq., Castle. Toward, Argyleshire. Fleming, John, Esq. Forbes, Dr. George, Delfur, Fochabers. Fraser, Donald, Esq., Reform Club. # Fraser, Thomas, Esq., Sheriff, Skye. Gallenga, Antonio, Esq., Athenaeum Club. Gilbert, William, Esq., Reform Club. Gillies, William, Esq., of Ardconnell, Oban. Godwin, George, Esq., F.S.A. Grain, John Henry, Esq., Lewisham Hill. Grant, John, Esq., Cardiff. Grant, Donald, Esq., Pencoed, South Wales. VI LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Hamilton and Brandon, His Grace the Duke of (6 copies). Hartington, the Most Noble the Marquis of, M.P. Hertford, the Most Noble the Marquis of. Houghton, Right Hon. Lord. Hall, J. Macalaster, of Tangy, Esq. (4 copies). *Halley, Alexander, Esq., M.D. Hawkes, Geo., Esq., Cressingham House, Sutton, Surrey. Henderson, Geo., Esq., Jun., Heverswood, Sevenoaks. Hepburn, Robert, Esq. Herz, James, Esq., Cheque Bank (8 copies). Hodgson, W. B., LL.D., Prof, of Political Economy, Edinburgh. Hood, Archibald, Esq., Cardiff. Houghton, J. A., Esq., Armsworth House, Alresford. Hutcheson, David, Esq., Glasgow (4 copies). Ingleby, C. M., Esq., LL.D. Inglis, Henry, Esq., of Torsonce. Kennedy, Donald, Esq., Boston, U.S. Kettle, Rupert, Esq., Wolverhampton. Lome, the Most Noble the Marquis of. Lovat, Right Hon. Lord (2 copies). Lawley, Hon. F. (2 copies). Lewis, J. Delaware, Esq. Lubbock, Sir John, Bart., M.P. McArthur, L. G. ; Esq., Oban. McConnell, James E., Esq., C.E. McGregor, P. Comyn, Esq., Brediland, Paisley. Mackay, Miss Minnie, Fern Dell. Mackay, Sir James Wm., Dublin. Mackay, Mrs., of Blackcastle and Carskae, Edinburgh. Mackay, Donald, Esq., Ceylon. Mackay, Geo. F., Esq., Otago, New Zealand. Mackay, Geo. G., Esq., Oban, Argyleshire. Mackay, H. Ramsay, Esq., Pelham House, Canterbury. Mackay, Hugh, Esq., Montreal, Canada. *Mackay, Isaac, Esq., 17, Brunswick Street, Liverpool. Mackay, James, Esq., Victoria Road, Water- loo, Liverpool (3 copies). Mackay, James, Esq., Roxburgh. Mackay, John, Esq., Swansea (4 copies). Mackay, John, Esq., Ben Reay, Montreal, Canada. Mackay, John S., Esq., Chamba, Punjaub. Mackay, Niel, Esq., Pencoed, Glamorgan. Mackay, Robert, Esq., Montreal, Canada. Mackay, William, M.D., Norton, Malton, Yorkshire. Mackay, J. B., Esq., Totteridge, Herts. Mackay, Wm., Esq., Church St., Inverness. Mackay, William, Esq., Melness, Tongue, Sutherlandshire. MacDonald, James, Esq., 7, Lothbury. MacDonald, James, Esq., Oriental Club. MacDougall, A. W., Esq., of Soroba (5 copies). Mackinnon,Wm.,Esq.,Ballinakill(10copies). Mackinnon, W. A., Surgeon-Major, C.B., Staff, Aldershot. Mackinnon, Lauchlan, Esq.,Broadford, Skye. Mackinnon, P., Esq., Glasgow. Mackintosh, E. W., Esq., of Raigmore. Mackintosh, Charles Fraser, of Drummond, Esq., M.P. Maclachlan and Stewart, Messrs.,Edinburgh. MacLaurin, Peter, Esq. Macmillan, Rev. D., M.A., Edinburgh. Macnair, Alex., Esq., St. Andrew's Square, Edinburgh. MacNeill, Duncan, Esq., Lothbury. Macpherson, the Hon. D. L., Toronto, Canada. Marignan, Field Marshal the Duke of, Count cle Bustelli Foscolo. Matheson, Sir James, Bart., Stornoway Castle, Lewes. Matheson, John, Esq., Glasgow. Maxwell, Sir Wm. Stirling, Bart., M.P. Milbank, Mrs. Frederick. Miller, Gavin, Esq., Glasgow. Mills, John, Esq., Manchester. Mitchell, Joseph, Esq., C.E., London and Inverness. Morfit, Dr. Campbell. Morfit, Miss Campbell. Morley, Samuel, Esq., M.P. Morrison, Alfred, Esq., Fonthill (6 copies). *Neaves, the Hon. Lord, Edinburgh. Newmarch, William, Esq., F.R.S., &c. Oxley, T. Louis, Esq., Reform Club. Paget, John, Esq., Reform Club. Petter, G. W.,Esq., Cassell, Fetter &Galpin. Phene, John S., Esq., LL.D., F.S.A., &c. Philipps, J. O. Halliwell, Esq., F.S.A., F.R.S., &c, &c. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Vll Pope, Hon. W. II., Prince Edward Island. Priaulx, Osmond de Beauvoir, Esq. Priestley, Dr., Hertford Street, May Fair. Reay, the Eight Hon. Donald Mackay, Lord, The Hague (2 copies). Rosebery, the Right Hon. the Earl of. Eae, James, Esq., Eeform Club. Ramsay, John, Esq., M.P. Eichardson, Francis, Esq., Juniper Hall, Mickleham. Eogers, Rev. Charles, LL.D., Grampian Lodge, Forest Hill. Sutherland, His Grace the Duke of. *Stanhope, Right Hon. the Earl, F.S.A. Southesk, Right Hon. the Earl of. Seymour, Lt.-Gen. Sir Francis, Bart.,K.C.B. Salmond, Robert, Esq., of Rankineston. Smith, Duncan, Esq., Glasgow. Smith, James, Esq., Dowan Hill, Glasgow. * Smith, Dr. Edward, F.S.A., &c. Smith, Dr. Angus, Manchester (2 copies). Spalding, Samuel, Esq., Spalding and Hodge. Stratton, Dr., Plymouth. *Symonds, Arthur, Esq., Reform Club. Thomas, Llewelyn, Esq., M.D., Weymouth Street. Timmins, S., Esq., Birmingham. Tully, Thomas, Esq., St. Stephen's Club. Tyndall, Professor John, F.R.S., LL.D., &c. Van der Vyver, the Countess. Van der Vyver, Mad 11 ". Bertha. Wolverton, Right Hon. Lord. Walter, John, Esq., M.P. Ward, Wm. Gibson, Esq., Perriston Towers, Ross. Watkin, Sir E. W., M.P. Weir, Harrison, Esq. Whalley, G. Hammond, Esq., M.P. Wilson, Erasmus, Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A. Wilson, Edward, Esq., Hayes, Kent. Wolff, Sir H. Drummond, M.P. Wylie, J. L., Esq., Camilla Lacey, Mickle- ham, Surrey. Young, Sidney, Esq. INTRODUCTION. IT has been a belief common to all the lexicographers and compilers of English dictionaries from the earliest time at "which such works were undertaken, until the present day, that the English was originally a Saxon or Teutonic language — modified and extended by the Greek and Latin — introduced into it in the first instance through the medium of Norman French, and afterwards more directly from the learned languages. Dr. Johnson was among the first to state this opinion as a fact. He says in the Preface to his well-known Dictionary, that continues to be the basis on which all our modern works of the kind — whether English or American — are founded ; that " the two languages from which our primitives have been derived are the Roman and Teutonic. Under the Roman I comprehend the French and Provincial (Provencal) tongues; and under the Teutonic range the Saxon, German, and all their kindred dialects. Most of our polysyllables are Roman, and our words of one syllable are very often Teutonic." A similar idea was expressed before Johnson's time by the author of Gazophylacium Atiglicanwm (1689), who set forth in his preface that " all (English) words almost, except such as come from the French and the Latin, and their adherents, owe their original to the English, Saxon, and Low Dutch dialects of the ancient German ; for Spain did very little contribute thereto, except that some few words have crept in by commerce, which are only useful to such as trade thither." This author would not allow that any portion of the original language spoken by the Keltic inhabitants prior to the successive invasions of the Romans, Danes, and Saxons, was adopted by the conquerors. "The Saxons," he said, " did endeavour the total destruction of the inhabitants ; INTRODUCTION. and did effect it, saving some few that fled to the mountains of "Wales and Cornwall. Thus is it not reasonable to conjecture that the language — the ancient British (save what was preserved as before, who, by a law of conquerors, were prohibited intercourse with the Saxons) must die with the people ; and a new one, namely the Saxon, be introduced in its stead?" Dr. Johnson, nearly a hundred years afterwards, reiterated this reasoning and these supposed facts, stating in his History of the British Language, prefixed to his Dictionary, — " Though- the Britains [Britons] or Welsh were the first possessors of this island, whose names are recorded, and are therefore in civil history always considered as the predecessors of the present inhabitants ; yet the deduction of the English language from the earliest times of which we have any knowledge to its present state, requires no mention of them ; for we have so few words which can with any probability be referred to British roots, that we justly regard the Saxons and "Welsh as nations totally distinct. It has been conjectured that when the Saxons seized this country, they suffered the Britons to live among them in a state of vassalage, employed in the culture of the ground and other laborious and ignoble services. But it is scarcely possible that a nation, however depressed, should have been mixed with another in considerable numbers, without some communication of their tongue ; and therefore it may, with great reason, be imagined that those who were not sheltered in the mountains perished by the sword." Recent historical researches prove abundantly (see especially " The English and their Origin," by Luke Owen Pike, M.A., 1866 ; " The Pedigree of the English People," by Thomas Nicholas, M.A., Ph.D., 1868, and an "Introduction to the Study of Early English History," by John Pym Yeatman, 1874), that the Keltic inhabitants of England were not exterminated by the conquerors, that the story of such extermination rests only on the authority of one writer, Gildas, who lived and wrote in Brittany long after the period of which he treats; and that the Danish and Saxon invasions— though successful on the Eastern and Southern coasts of the island— did not extend so far into the Midland Counties or into the West, as to make the invaders numerically superior to the original inhabitants. It is also clear on philological grounds, that two branches of the Keltic language were spoken by the people— the Kymric, or Welsh ; and the Gaelic or Erse, that spoken to this day in the Highlands of Scotland and Ireland, and INTRODUCTION. X i which was formerly spoken in the greater part of England. The proofs are, first, the Keltic names of places (London itself is a Gaelic name) in every part of the British Isles ; second, the patronymics of families, not merely Scottish, but English, which are clearly traceable to the Gaelic; and the incorporation into the language of many hundreds of words — used in the vernacular — many of them called slang or cant, and declared to be unfit for the purposes of literature ; and others, a puzzle to all philologers, who obstinately or ignorantly refused to look for their roots in the only place where it was pos- sible to find them, viz. — the Gaelic. If the British people had really been exterminated, their language would of course have been exterminated with them, at a time when there were no printed books and few manuscripts to preserve it ; and all that could have remained of it, would have been the names of moun- tains, rivers, and important places, though it is possible that these names might have perished also, and been superseded by new ones given by the conquerors. A succinct statement and examination of the theory of this mythical extermination of a whole people, will clear the way for the philological question. On the departure of the Eomans the Britons were not only a numerous but. a highly civilized race — as civilization was considered in that age — and powerful enough, if they could only have managed to agree among themselves, to assert and maintain their independence. But they did not agree ; and the result was that they fell a prey to the Saxons, whom one of their jealous princes foolishly invited to take part in their internal commotions. All this is patent to every- body. But here the question arises, did the Saxons, and after them the Danes, really gain such a complete mastery over the Britons as to exterminate the greater portion of them and drive the small re- mainder into the mountain fastnesses of Wales, to the remote extremities of Cornwall, and across the Forth to the other side of the then formidable Grampians, that not even the Romans had ventured to cross in their career of conquest? The answer to this question until very recent times was always in the affirmative. The ancient historians, and after them the modern school histories, agreed in accepting this view of the case, and while admitting the a 2 Xll INTRODUCTION. conquered English to be a mixed race— more mixed perhaps than any other European people — they uniformly insisted that, in the reign of Harold and his predecessors, the English people were Anglo- Saxons, with a slight admixture of Danes and other Scandinavians, and that the Kymri, and Kelts, were nowhere to be found except in Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and the Highlands of Scotland. Careful criticism will show that this historical statement is untrue. The great majority of the English people at the time of the Conquest under William of Normandy were Kelts. The Norman invaders were themselves of the same race — recruited to a great extent in Armorica, now called Brittany — and this invasion, as far as numbers went, was a consequent augmentation of the Keltic element in the British or English race. The only authority for the commonly received statement, is Gildas. Who was Gildas ? He was a monk, born in England in or about the year 514. His name implies that he was a Kelt, and is derived apparently from gille or gil, a youth, and doorsa, captivity or bondage. He went to Armorica, or Brittany, in 550, and at some time during the ten subsequent years wrote his book called " De Excidio Britan- nia?," in which he told the melancholy story of the degeneracy, con- quest, flight, and extermination of the ancient and Gaelic-speaking Britons. He declares that the Britons, reduced to a " wretched rem- nant," sent their " groans " to the Roman Consul Aetius, imploring his aid against the Scots and Picts (who, it should be remembered, were Kelts as well as they), stating "that the barbarians drove them to the sea, and that the sea drove them back to the barbarians ; that these two modes of death awaited them ; that they were either slain or drowned." He adds, "that the Romans, affording them no aid, their councillors agreed with that proud tyrant Furthrigern (Yortigern) to invite the fierce and impious Saxons— a race hateful to God and man. Nothing was ever so pernicious to our country. ... A multitude of whelps came forth from the lair of the barbaric lioness. They first landed on the east shore of the island, and there fixed their sharp talons. . . . Some of the miserable remnant (of the Britons), being taken in the mountains, were murdered in great numbers; others constrained by famine, came and INTRODUCTION. yielded themselves to be slaves for ever to their foes; others passed beyond the seas with loud lamentations." This very melan- choly story was copied from Gildas a century afterwards, by the " Venerable Bede," and three centuries afterwards by Nennius, and thence found its way, unquestioned, into the ordinary histories of England. Dr. Nicholas in his "Pedigree of the English" expresses the greatest contempt for Gildas as an authority — asserts that there were three or four persons of the name, and that he cannot distinguish which was which ; but allowing, for the .sake of argument, that he was a real person, he asks how far is he to be considered an adequate authority for the statements he makes ? By no means mistrusting his own judgment in the matter, he nevertheless, supports his conclusions by those of other writers, and notably by the most illustrious of historians, Gibbon, and by Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy. The former, speaking of Gildas, describes him as a monk, who, in profound ignorance of human life, had presumed to exercise the office of historian, and had strangely disfigured Britain at the time of its separation from the Eoman Empire. Sir Thomas Hardy proclaims the narrative of Gildas to be " meagre," and " involved in a multitude of words ;" that he has but an " indistinct acquaintance " with the events he describes ; that he is confused and declamatory ; that his state- ments, except in very few instances, cannot be traced to any known source ; and that when he comes to his own time he is, if possible, more obscure than when he discusses those of a bygone age. As regards his authorities, Gildas himself confesses "that he wrote more from foreign relations than from written evidences pertaining to his own country." Having shown how little the authority of Gildas is to be depended on, the next step in the inquiry is to ascertain whether his statement as to the all but total extermination of his countrymen gains any cor- roboration from subsequent facts with which he and the men of hisday were unacquainted. If the Ancient Britons over the greater part of England were exterminated in the sixth century, how could they be numerous in any part of England in the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries ? In the time of Athelstan, the Saxon king, five hundred years after the arrival of Hengist and Horsa (if these were XIV INTRODUCTION. the names of real persons, and did not signify horse and mare, from the devices on the banners of the invaders), communities of Kymri (Kelts) speaking Keltic, and observing their own usages, were in existence in the very heart of the kingdom of Wessex. In the reign of Egbert, four hundred years after the days of Hengist and Horsa, it appears from the " will of King Alfred," published in Oxford in 1788, that the counties of Dorset, Devon, Wilts, and Somerset, were all considered as belonging to the Weal-cynne (Welkin), the dominion or kingdom of the Welsh, or Ancient Britons. " Throughout the country, even in the central parts," says Dr. Nicholas, " such as Bedford, Banbury, Potterton, Bath, we find so late as between the years 552 and 658, mighty battles fought by the Britons proper of those districts, who rose to avenge the oppressive exactions of their conquerors, as is proved by the Saxon Chronicle under those dates. During all this time," he adds, " West Wales, or Cornwall and Devon, great part of Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, West- morland, Cumberland, and the south of Scotland, as well as the whole of Wales, the patria intacta of the Kymri, were in the possession of those Britons who had hitherto kept themselves un- mixed with the Teutons." Regarding the manner in which the Britons were disposed of — a hundred and twenty-five years after Gildas wrote of their total extermination — a curious instance is recorded in Camden's " Britannica," quoted by Dr. Nicholas. In the year 685, " Egfrid, King of Northumbria, makes a grant of the district of Cartmel, with the Britons thereupon, to the see of Lindisfarne." Cartmel is in Furness, Lancashire ; and it appears, as Dr. Nicholas states, " that when an Anglo-Saxon king obtained the power of absolute disposal of the native inhabitants of a whole district, he exercised the power not by their extermination, not by their consign- ment to bondage, but by bestowing them as a holy gift to the Church, thus handing them over to the best protection then existing." In short, the researches of modern authors abundantly prove that the Britons made a gallant fight against both the Saxons and the Danes ; that neither the Saxons nor the Danes ever sought to exter- minate, but only to subdue them ; and that as time wore on, and INTRODUCTION. XV Saxon rule became more firmly established, the two races blended together, and the Kelts became so Saxonified and the Saxons so Keltified by constant intermarriage, that Danes, Saxons, and Kelts gradually fused into one people, called the English. The last conquest of England added to, and did not diminish, the Keltic element, inas- much as the Normans who came over with "William were of Keltic origin. This fusion of race was fortunate alike for Kelts and Saxons, and produced not only a noble people, but a noble 'language. The Kelts are martial, quick-witted, imaginative, musical, generous, and rash, but lack continuity of purpose, and sustained energy ; while the Saxons are solid, plodding, industrious, prudent, slow to anger, sure to complete what they once take earnestly in hand, while they are deficient in wit, fancy, and imagination. The Keltic poetry of Shakespeare, Scott, and Burns is combined in the English character with the Saxon energy and sound sense of such men as "Watt, Stephen- son, Cobden, and Bright ; while the language that has sprung from the two sources, promises to be the language of the world. The Saxon monks who were the earliest historians of Britain wrote at a time when the English language was in an inchoate form and had not come into literary existence. They knew nothing whatever of the ancient language that had been spoken by the British people, for more than a thousand years before either Roman, Saxon, or Dane, set foot on these islands. The language they employed was Latin, and they derived such knowledge of Great Britain, and the Britons as they possessed or laid claim to, from the Saxons and Danes who by right of conquest had assumed the government, but more especially from Julius Caesar and the Latin historians who had made mention of the Roman conquest and partial occupation of the country. They were acquainted with some of the myths and legends of the early Britons, but these they either exaggerated, perverted, or misun- derstood, and presented as history a farrago of foolish romance, that rested on no solid fact, and often had no better foundation than the mistranslation of a British word, as in the case of the Goir-mhor (Stonehenge) which they supposed to signify " chorea gigantum " or the " dance of giants," and upon which misunderstanding they built up many ridiculous legends to account for the title, XVI INTRODUCTION. British historians of a later date, and after the hybrid Anglo-Saxon, partially Keltic, but largely Teutonic, had developed into such English as was spoken, and written in the times of Wicliffe and Piers Plowman, took their cue from their monkish predecessors, and represented the Britons, whether they were Kymri or Gael, between whom they recognized no difference, as utter barbarians. No one thought of verifying or even questioning the supposed facts that were recorded ; so that error from small beginnings grew into monstrous bulk, and still overshadows the page that purports to be British history. That the Britons on the first invasion of their island by Julius Caesar, had attained a considerable degree of civilization, and profi- ciency in the arts of peace, is evident on the unimpeachable, because unwilling, testimony of the great commander himself. According to his showing they cultivated the land, possessed numerous flocks and herds as well as horses, and were skilful artificers in all the known metals. The formidable war-chariots which played such havoc in the thickly serried ranks of the Bomans, and of which Caesar has recorded his salutary dread, could not have been constructed by savages. Nor was the Druidical religion which the Britons professed, the dark and bloody superstition that it has been for ages the fashion to represent it, or a faith, whatever its errors and cruelties may have been, inferior either in humanity or in sublime ideas of the great Creator, to that of the Greeks and Bomans. Hume borrowing the facts from Caesar, represented the religion of the Druids "as one of. the most considerable parts of the government of the people. The Druids, comprising the three orders of Priests, Bards, and Prophets, besides ministering at the altar, and directing all religious duties, presided over the education of youth; enjoyed an immunity from wars and taxes; possessed both the civil and criminal jurisdiction; and decided all controversies among states and individuals. Whoever refused to submit to their decrees was exposed to the severe penalty of excommunication, forbidden access to public worship, and debarred all intercourse with his fellows." Yet with strange inconsistency the historian who rendered this high tribute to the Druids persisted in calling them barbarians and cannibals! Hume's example was INTRODUCTION. xv i{ followed by nearly all succeeding historians until the recent period of the equally prejudiced Macaulay. But as already observed, the searching critical spirit and the fuller investigation of our times have lifted some portion of the once almost impenetrable veil that hid from our eyes the noble forms, and the venerable speech of our British ancestors, from whom at this remote day, the living people of Great Britain and Ireland have inherited some of their finest qualities. It has been tardily discovered that we are not quite so Teutonic a people as we have been for ages considered, and that even our modern English, largely Teutonic as it became in consequence of the Saxon and Danish invasion and partial conquest of the country, had a threefold infusion of Keltic, both in its vernacular, and in its literary speech ; first, the portion derived primarily from the Britons, second, the portion derived from the Normans, whose language was itself Keltic at second-hand, and third, from the Latin, all the principal root words of which are older than the Latin of Cassar, by many centuries, and traceable to the Keltic swarms that migrated from Asia and overran Europe long before Greece and Kome had come into national existence. The true place of the Kelts in history has been well assigned by the greatest of American writers, with a mind wholly uninfluenced by the prejudice instilled by early English writers. Mr. R. W. Emerson, in his " English Traits," affirms that the English, through these Keltic or early British, " are of the oldest blood of the world ! " " Some peoples," he adds, " are deciduous or transitory. Where are the Greeks ? and where the Etrurians t where the Romans 1 But the Kelts are an old family of whose heginning there is no memory, and their end is likely to be still more remote in the future ; for they have endurance and productiveness. They planted Britain, and gave to her seas and mountains names which are poems, and imitate the pure voices of nature. They are favourably remembered in the oldest records of Europe. They had no violent feudal tenure, but the husbandmen owned the land. They had an alphabet, astronomy, priestly culture, and a sublime creed. They made the best popular literature of the middle ages in the songs of Merlin, and the tender and delicious mythology of Arthur." So much for the historical argument. Coming to the philological we find that Dr. Johnson, the great English lexicographer of the eighteenth century says of the " Erse," meaning the Scottish Gaelic, " Of the Erse, as I understand nothing, I cannot say more than I have been told. It is the rude speech of a barbarous people, who had few thoughts to express, o:nd were content, b XV111 INTRODUCTION. as they conceived grossly, to be grossly understood. After what has heen lately talked of Highland bards, and Highland genius, 1 many will startle when they are told, that the Erse never was a written language, that there is not in the world an Erse manuscript a hundred years old ; and that the sounds of the Highlanders were never expressed by letters, till some little books of piety were translated, and a metrical version of the Psalms was made by the Synod of Argyle. Unaware that Irish and Scotch Gaelic are essentially the same language, with a few orthographical differences, and more especially the substitution of a dot for the letter h in the mode of expressing the aspirate, Dr. Johnson attempted to depreciate the Scottish Gaelic by comparing it unfavourably with the Irish. " The Welsh, and the Irish," he said are cultivated tongues. The Welsh, two hundred years ago, insulted their English neighbours for the instability of their orthography ; while the Erse merely floated on the breath of the people and could therefore receive little improvement." Though Dr. Johnson visited the remarkable island of Iona, the Sacred Isle of the Kelts, the seminary of learning and the nurse of civilization at a time when all Europe, except the perishing Roman Empire, was sunk in the deepest barbarism, he appears to have been wholly unaware that long after the era of St. Columba, with whose history he was familiar, the piratical Danes and Norsemen, in a series of cruel and relentless invasions, persisted in for upwards of two centuries, carried fire and sword into the Hebrides, and that they destroyed all the records, muniments, and manuscripts that were stored in the Holy Island, and that the absence of any very ancient Gaelic manuscripts in Scotland is to be attributed to that cause. The Welsh and the Irish were more fortunate in the preservation of the written treasures of their language ; a fact of which Johnson was aware, and of which he took advantage to decry the Scotch, the favourite objects of his real or pretended aversion. Leaving the question of the fabulous extermination of the Britons and the consequent death of their language in England to the recent historians, who have treated the subject so thoroughly as to render necessary a new History of England, to be traced on the lines which they have laid down, the attention of the reader must now be directed to the proofs afforded by the English language itself ; — 1 The Poems of Ossian. INTRODUCTION. First, that the Gaelic and other divisions of the Keltic, so despised by Johnson and the succeeding writers whom his false teaching led astray, prevails to a very large extent in the unliterary and colloquial speech of the English people, and that it continually crops up in apparently new, but in reality very ancient slang, or, as they are some- times called, cant words. Second, that the Gaelic underlies all the languages of the Western, and some parts of North-Western Europe, especially Trench, Spanish, and Italian. .Third, that what is called Anglo-Saxon, should be designated Kelto-Saxon, and that the word Angle, is a corruption of An Gael, or, " the Gael." Fourth, that the " Low Latin " of the Middle Ages, especially that form of it which is used in law books, is composed of Keltic or Gaelic words with Latin terminations. Fifth, that large numbers of English words which Johnson and others affirm to be "low, vulgar, and without etymology," are derived from the Gaelic and the Kymric, where Johnson and his successors could not or would not look for them. Sixth, that the great Keltic swarms which before the dawn of history proceeded from the heart of Asia and peopled Assyria, Baby- lonia, Egypt, Phoenicia, and afterwards Greece, Italy, Gaul, and the British Islands, gave names to all the mountain ranges and great rivers of Europe; and that these names are mostly Gaelic, though sometimes Kymric. 2 Seventh, that the Gaelic is akin to the Sanscrit and other ancient and modern Oriental languages, and that it is probably, co-eval with, if not anterior to Sanscrit itself, which was the language of the priesthood and the literati ; v/hilst the Gaelic was the language of the people. 2 " That the Celtic is a dialect of the primary language of Asia, has received the sanction of that celebrated philolpgist, the late Professor Murray, in his Prospectus to the Philosophy of Language. That the Celts were the aborigines of Europe, and their language the aboriginal one, even Pinkarton himself is obliged to admit. It is a point, on all hands conceded, that neither colonies nor conquerors can annihilate the aboriginal language of a country. So true is this, that, even at the present day, the Celtic names still existing over the greater part of Europe, and even in Asia itself, afford sufficient data whereby to determine the prevalence of the Celtic language, the wide b 2 3X INTRODUCTION. Much prejudice, the result of long and industriously circulated error must be removed before these propositions will be generally accepted, or in many instances so much as listened to. It will be enough to quote the statements of two recent writers on the History and growth of the English Language, to prove how deeply rooted is the Saxon or Teutonic idea in the minds of scholars, and what slight attention they have bestowed or are prepared to bestow on the Keltic. Saxonism belongs to the historic period, but Kelticism is prehistoric, and has to be judged not from the books composed in a newer language, by men who did not understand the old, but by its own internal evidence as well as by the topographical and geographical nomenclature of the greater part of Europe, and all Asia that is not Mongolian. The first of the writers from whom it is proposed to quote is Mr. George P. Marsh, in his " Lectures on the English Language," and the second is Professor Craik, of Belfast, in his " Compendious History of English Literature and of the English Language from the Norman Conquest," London, 1861. Both of these writers insist upon the exclusively Teutonic foundation of . the English Language, and where they do not wholly ignore, they strenuously depreciate the Keltic people and the Keltic tongues. Mr. Marsh says, — • " To one acquainted with the history of Great Britain, the comparative insignificance of the Celtic element, loth as respects the grammar and the vocabulary of English, is a surprising fact, and the want of more distinct traces of Celtic influence in the develop- ment of the Continental languages is equally remarkable. Of European languages, the Celtic alone has not propagated or extended itself, and it does not appear ever to have been extxnt of their ancient territories, and their progress from east to west. The Roman language unquestionably derives its affinity to the Sanscrit through the medium of the Celtic ; and to any one who pays minute attention to the subject, it will appear self-evident that the Doric dialect of the Greek, founded on the Celtic, laid the foundation of the language of Borne. The Gothic, over the whole extent of Germany and the greater part of Britain and Ireland ; the Phoenician, or Moorish, in Spain, &c, &c, &c, are, all of them, merely recent superinductions ingrafted on the Celtic — the aboriginal root. Conquerors generally alter the form or exterior of the language of the conquered to their own idiom ; but the basis or groundwork is always that of the aboriginal language. The Eoman language Gothicized produced the Italian. The Celtio in Gaul (with an admixture of the lingua rustica Romana) Gothicized produced the French. The old British (a dialect of the Celtic) Saxonized produced the English, &c, &c. Whoever would rear a philological system radically sound (as far, at least, as respects the languages of Europe) must, therefore, commence with the Celtic, otherwise he will derive the cause from the effect — the root from the branches." — Huddleston's Preface to " Toland's History of the Druids." 1814. INTRODUCTION. XXI employed by any but those rude races to whom it was aboriginal, as well as vernacular. Nor has it in any important degree modified the structure, or scarcely even the vocabulary of the languages most exposed to its action. Two thousand years ago, if we are to rely on the general, though it must be admitted, uncertain testimony of historical narrators and inquirers, the British Islands, Prance, a large part of Switzerland, a considerable extent of the coasts of the Adriatic, of the valley of the Danube, and of Northern Italy, as well as portions of the Spanish pe.niusula, and an important territory in Asia Minor, were, with the exception of small maritime colonies, of Italian, Greek, and Phenician origin, inhabited exclusively by Celts.'' In making this statement, to which Mr. Marsh gives but a feeble and reluctant acquiescence, he is strictly accurate, but when he goes on to assert that " the race is now confined to "Western and South Western England, the Scottish Highlands, Ireland, and a narrow dis- trict in "Western France," he is not only in error with regard to Western and South- Western England, but he leaves out of sight the important truth that race and language are not identical, or else the English-speaking negroes of the Southern States of the American Union might claim to be considered Saxons, or, if the epithet be preferred, Anglo-Saxons, and that all the white races of Europe have become so amalgamated within the last thousand years, that in our time it is difficult to say who is a pure Kelt, and who a pure Saxon or pure Goth. " In "Wales alone," Mr. Marsh goes on to say, " did the Celts attain an elevated original and spontaneous culture, and in their disappearance from their wide domain, they have left indeed some ruined temples, some popular superstitions, as relics of their idolatrous worship, but scarcely a distinguishable trace of their influence in the character, the languages, or the institutions of the people which have superseded them." " The " ruined temples " of the Kelts, unless such stone circles as Stonehenge be meant, would be difficult to discover ; but, in- dependently of that subject, Mr. Marsh falls into the error of confounding the Kymri and the Gael, and of imagining that the language of the one was the language of the other, and that there were no Britons but the Welsh. Still under the impression that the Welsh were the only people in the British Isles who were entitled to the name of Britons, he argues, — "We may safely say that though the primitive language of Britain has contributed to the XX11 INTRODUCTION. English a few names of places, and of familiar material objects, yet it has, upon the whole, affected our vocabulary and our syntax far less than any other tongue with which the Anglo-Saxon race has ever been brought widely into contact. I might go too far m saying that we have borrowed numerically more words from the followers of Mohammed than from the aborigines of Britain, but it is very certain that the few we have derived from the distant Arabic are infinitely more closely connected with, and influential upon, all the higher interests of man, than the somewhat greater number which we have taken from the contiguous Celtic." That Mr. Marsh is perversely wrong in the assertions which he makes in this and the previous passages quoted from his work, which' is an admirable one, when it does not touch upon the qucestio vexata of the Gaelic or Keltic, will, it is hoped, be apparent to every impartial student of the following pages. Mr. Marsh, in a final note to the various passages above quoted, endeavours to guard himself against the not unnatural supposition that his partisanship of the Teutonic, if it does not blind, somewhat perverts his philosophic and critical judgment, and says, — " I am not here controverting the opinions of Prichard and other advocates of the original Indo-European character of the Celtic languages, but I speak of the actual relations of the Celtic, the Gothic, and the Eomance tongues, through the period during which we can trace their fortunes with historical certainty. The Celtic dialects, at the earliest moment when we can be fairly said to know anything of their vocabularies, had been long exposed to the action of Gothic and Eomance influences." No doubt this is correct : — but the main fact that the Keltic lan- guages are of an older date than the " Gothic and Romance influences," which were brought to bear upon them in the course of time and the permutations of politics and nationalities, ought to have inspired an inquirer after the truth, to hear and examine before he condemned ; and this Mr. Marsh, like Dr. Johnson before him, has not done. He remarks accurately that " Etymology has its fashions and its caprices as well as other human pursuits, and Geltism seems just now to be the prevailing epidemic in this department." To this it may be retorted that the fashion or the caprice too long prevalent among English philologists was in favour of Saxonism and Teutonicism, and that if Keltism is an epidemic, it is one of research and study, and has but succeeded a worse epidemic of incredulity and contempt, bestowed upon an ancient history and a INTRODUCTION. XX111 venerable speech, both, of which deserve the respect which all true things ought to inspire. Professor Craik, who as soon as he comes upon the known and firm ground of English literature from the times of Chaucer to our own, writes well and impartially, exhibits the Keltophobia, if such a word may be coined for the purpose, that has afflicted nearly all English writers, who have had to pass an opinion on the Keltic languages originally spoken throughout all the British islands. He says, in the earliest pages of his " Compendious History," — " Neither the Welsh nor the Irish language and literature, can with any propriety be included in the history of English literature and of the English language. The relation- ship of English to any Celtic tongue is more remote than its relationships not only to German or Icelandic, or French or Italian or Latin, but even to Eussian or Polish, or to Persian or Sanscrit. Irish and Welsh are opposed in their entire genius and structure to English. It has indeed sometimes been asserted that the Welsh is one of the families of the English. One school of last century philologists maintained that full a third of our existing English was Welsh. No doubt, in the course of the fourteen centuries that the two languages have been spoken alongside of each other in the same country, a considerable number of vocables can hardly fail to have been borrowed by each from the other ; the same thing would have happened if it had been a dialect of Chinese that had maintained itself all the time among the Welsh mountains. If, too, as is probable, a portion of the previous Celtic population chose or were suffered to remain even upon that part of the soil which came to be generally occupied after the departure of the Eomans by the Angles, Saxons, and other Teutonic or Gothic tribes, the importers of the English language and founders of the English nation, something of Celtic may in that way Lave intermingled and grown up with the new national speech. But the English language cannot therefore be regarded as of Celtic parentage." In this passage the Professor imagines that the Kymric and not the Gaelic was the speech of all the early Britons. He goes on to say, " the Celtic words, or words of Celtic extraction, that are found in it, be they some hundreds in number, or be they one or two thousand, are still only something foreign." To this assertion it is sufficient to reply that the purely Keltic words which remain in the English vernacular, consisting as they do, to a large extent of slang expressions, and of many others that cannot be traced to any other European tongue, and which Johnson and his successors abandon as " without etymology," cannot justly be called foreign, whatever other epithet may be applied to them. Again ignoring the Gaelic of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, XXIV INTRODUCTION. and confining himself to the idea of a Kymric infusion of elementary- words into the English, he says, — " It has been suggested that the Celtic branch must in all probability have diverged from the common stem at a much earlier date than any others. At any rate in point of fact the English can at most be said to have been powdered or sprinkled with a little Celtic. Whatever may be the number of words which it has adopted, whether from the ancient Britons, or from their descendants the Welsh, they are only single scattered words. No considerable department of the English dictionary is Welsh. No stream of words has flowed into the language from that source. The two languages have in no sense met and become one. They have not mingled as two rivers do when they join and fall into the same channel. There has been no chemical combination between the Gothic and Celtic elements, but only more or less of a mechanical intermixture.'' As if remembering, ere too late, that he occupied a Chair in an Irish University, and that the Irish Gael, proud of their ancient lan- guage, might not be satisfied without some mention of their early literature, the Professor endeavours though without any suspicion that the Gaelic or Irish could have any claim to a share in the Eng- lish vernacular which he denied to the Kymric, to render a tribute to the learning of the people among whom his lot was cast. " The earliest literature of which any remains still exists in any of the native languages of the British Islands must be held to be Irish. The Irish were probably possessed of the knowledge of letters from a very remote antiquity. Although the forms of their present alphabetical characters are Eomau, and are supposed to have been introduced by St Patrick in the fifth century, it is very remarkable that the alphabet, in the number and powers of its elements, exactly corresponds with that which Cadmus is recorded to have brought to Greece from Phoenicia." 3 There is a remarkable passage in Home Tooke which relates to a certain Northern language which he calls the Anglo-Saxon, and which he imagines to be much older than the Latin or the Greek. The Anglo-Saxon is not older than Latin or Greek except in those portions of it which are derived from the Keltic. If, whenever he mentions either the "Northern language" or the "Anglo-Saxon," we were to substitute the word " Keltic," the result would be a striking testi- 3 Not exactly. The alphabet of Cadmus contained sixteen letters. That of the Irish and Scotch Gaelic contain seventeen, in consequence of the addition of the/, or digamma, which was lost to Greek literature for a period of three thousand years. If h (which is the mark of the aspirate) be considered a letter— which it really is not in Gaelic any more than in Greek— the Gaelic alphabet would consist of eighteen. INTRODUCTION. XXV mony, to the value of the evidence, brought forward in the following pages, in support of the immense antiquity of the Gaelic. He says, — " Our modern etymologists become surrounded with, difficulties, because they direct their attention to the East (Eome and Greece) and not to the North. . . . They seem to forget that the Latin is a mere modern language, compared with the Anglo-Saxon (Keltic). The Eoman beginning (even their fable) is not, comparatively, at a great distance. The beginning of the Eoman language we know, and can trace its formation step by step. But the Northern (Keltic) origin is totally out of sight, is entirely and completely lost in its deep antiquity. . . . The bulk and foundation of the Latin language most assuredly is Greek, but great part of the Latin is the language of our Northern (Keltic) ancestors grafted upon the Greek. And to our Northern (Keltic) language the etymologist must go for that part of the Latin which the Greek will not furnish ; and there, without any twisting or turning, or ridiculous forcing and torturing of words, he will easily and clearly find it. "We want, therefore, the testimony of no historians to conclude, that the founders of the Eoman State and the Latin tongues, came not from Asia, but from the North of Europe, for the language cannot lie. And from the language of every country we may with certainty collect its origin. In the same manner, even though no history of the fact had remained, and though another Virgil and another Dionysius had again, in verse and prose, brought another iEneas from another Troy to settle modern Italy, after the destruction of the Eoman Government ; yet, in spite of such false history or silence of history, we should be able from the modern language of the country (which cannot possibly lie) to conclude with certainty that our Northern (Keltic) ancestors had again made another successful irruption into Italy, and again grafted their own language upon the Latin, as before upon the Greek. Eor all the Italian which cannot be easily shown to be Latin, can be easily shown to be our Northern (Keltic) language.'' Home Tooke had devoted no attention to Keltic literature, to the Keltic language, or to the migration of the Keltic races into Europe, or he would not have fallen into the error of denying the Asiatic origin of that great Keltic, which he wrongly calls Northern, speech, which is the indubitable — or, as might better be said, the undoubtable — predecessor both of the Greek and the Latin. It was not generally known, or scarcely suspected in the time of Home Tooke, though it is now generally admitted by all who have studied the subject, that the Kelts were a people of Asiatic origin, who spoke a language as ancient as Sanscrit, and closely allied to it, of which the Scottish and Irish Gaelic is a branch, and that from the heart of Asia as population increased, they spread themselves into Assyria, Phoenicia, Egypt, and the neighbouring countries, where they founded a mighty civilization, and that afterwards in the course of many, XXVI INTRODUCTION. perhaps three or four thousand years, they overran the West of Europe, Italy, Spain, Gaul, Ireland, Britain, part of Germany, and Scandinavia. The names of all the rivers and mountains of Europe are clearly traceable to this remarkable people, as philologists in the present revival of investigation into the Keltic languages are aware. And not only rivers and mountains, but continents and kingdoms, received from this primitive race, the appellations by which they are known to this day. The Egyptians, who swarmed from the heart of Asia into new lands, when the old had become over-peopled, just as the people of our isles have swarmed into America, called the home of their race As-ia, or the " back country," from the Gaelic As, back, and ia (now obsolete), a country, in the the same way as the Scotch, English, and Irish in America speak of their first home as the " old country." They called Africa — known to the Eomans as Libya — Abh-ruitheach-ia (Av-ruic-ia) , the country of the flowing river, or the Nile ; and Italy, they called Eudail-ia, from Eudail, cattle, and ia, country, the land of cattle and pastoral wealth. But though these facts are known to the learned, few are aware how many of the names of the gods and goddesses, and the more or less fabulous heroes in the Greek and Boman mythology, were immediately derived from the Egyptians, and before them from the Babylonians and Assyrians, along with the religion and the philosophy of Greece. The Greeks themselves did not know how much they were indebted to foreign sources for the names of their divinities, though the great Socrates had a suspicion of it. In Jacob Bryant's "Mythology," vol. i. page 165, there is a quotation from Socrates, which says, — " I am very sensible that the Grecians in general, and especially those who are subject to foreigners, have received with their language many exotic terms. If a person should be led to seek for their analogy or meaning in the Greek tongue and not in the language from whence they proceeded, he would be grievously puzzled." Jacob Bryant, though almost wholly ignorant of the Keltic lan- guages, and unaware of the helps to investigation to be derived from those rich mines of words and ideas, says in another part of his work, — " Hecatseus of Miletus acknowledges that the traditions of the Greek were as ridi- culous as they were numerous ; and Philo confesses that he could obtain little intelligence INTRODUCTION. XXV11 from that quarter ; that the Grecians had brought a mist upon learning, so that it was impossible to discover the truth : he therefore applied to people of other countries for information. Plato owned that the most genuine helps to philosophy were borrowed from those, who, by the Greek, were styled barbarians." In the Appendix to this volume will be found the Keltic or Gaelic derivation of many of the names of the Greek and Roman Divinities, showing a clear connexion between the Assyrian, and the Egyptian, and the Gaelic, as it has come down from remote antiquity to our times, and affording a very singular support to the conviction of all those who have found reason to believe in the early Eastern origin of that language, or rather of that small and attenuated remnant of a speech that is older than the oldest of empires, older than many that perished thousands of years ago. An equally remarkable proof of the almost imperishable vitality of the Gaelic, surviving in forms of speech, among various nations, with- out attracting the smallest suspicion on the part of the learned, as to the meaning that the words were ever intended to convey, may be found in the choruses, supposed to be mere gibberish, of the popular songs of the English, the Scotch, the Irish, the Welsh, and the French. The Fal, lal, la, the Tra, la, la, the Fa, lew, loo, the Tooral, looral, the Doion, down, derry down, the Tire lire, and other apparently absurd collocations of syllables that do duty in hundreds of widely diffused songs aDd ballads, and that have done such duty for scores of generations as choruses to compositions with which they have no real connexion, are relics of the once solemn worship by the Druids of the Sun and the heavenly bodies. These choruses, often repeated, fixed themselves upon the popular ear and memory, and have flourished in the parrot-like repetition of the unthinking multitude for ages after their original meaning has fallen into oblivion. From the further elucidation of this curious subject that carries us back to the time when Druidism was the faith of all non-Roman Europe, the reader is also referred to the Appendix, where he will find fully set forth, the true meanings of the otherwise non-intelligible rhymes of the ancient races, that masquerade unsuspected in the songs of the vulgar. The uninformed who know nothing of the Keltic — and the preju- XX V1U INTRODUCTION. diced who know little, and depreciate that little — assert that the Gaelic, if once spoken throughout the British Isles, has left no trace, either of words or of grammar, in the modern English language. That it has left abundant traces in the words, will be evident to all who will peruse without prejudice the " Gaelic Etymology " of the following pages, As regards the influence of Gaelic upon English Grammar, it is easy to show that the Gaelic idiom, lost in the Continental languages, survives in English, and in English only. The phrase " I am speaking," cannot be rendered in Trench or German or any other Continental tongue, except by the simple, "I speak." " Je suis parlant " or " Icli bin spreclieiid " would sound barbarously, or be unintelligible to a French or German ear. The idiom, however, is Gaelic, in which language it is constantly employed. The use of the word " do " as an intensitive of a verb is another instance of Gaelic origin. The French and the German, or any other European nation, cannot say " I do love you," but the Gael use the word " dean " in the exact sense of the English " do," and to these two languages the word is restricted. The difference between the words "do" or "make" supposed to be synonymous, is a subject that merits a fuller investigation than is necessary or would be convenient in these pages. It is only the Gaelic and the English, and to a small extent the French, which can use such expressions as " make haste," " make ready," or " do make haste," or " do make ready." The French, however, say "faites attention," male, not do attention; and " Faites-moi le plaisir," do or make me the pleasure. For "make haste," the Gaelic has "dean cabhag" do or make haste or hurry, and for " make ready," dean reidh, two phrases that in French would be hdtez-vous or preparez-voas. The common English salutation, " How are you ? " is not literally translatable into any European language except the Gaelic. A French- man would not understand the inquiry if put into the form of Com- ment etes-vous ? Nor an Italian, if he were asked, Come siete ? Nor a German, if he had to reply to Wie sind Sie ? But the words, if translated into Gaelic, become Cia mar tha sibh ? which is an exact verbal rendering of the English. The equally common English phrase, " How do you do ? " partakes of the Gaelic idiom in the use of the INTRODUCTION. first do, as an augmentative of the force of the second, but the i " do " is a vulgar, and possibly not to be amended, corruption of old word dow, to thrive, to prosper, to flourish. Such vernacular English phrases as " I am a going," or " adoii or " a walking," are of Gaelic origin, and are not reproducifr other European languages. All these examples show that the primitive grammar of the Gael has modified in English that of Teutonic, with which it came into contact, and that it lar pervades our colloquial speech. The prefixes ac and ag in so many English words derived in diately from the Latin seem to have been borrowed originally fron sign of the Gaelic present participle ag or aig (ing) which prec and does not follow the root as in English. The English say di ing, the French say buvam£, but the Gael say ag ol. It is difficul account for this syllable on the hypothesis that ac is a corruption o in such words as ac-cede, ac-celerate, ac-cept, ac-claim, ac-commo( ac-company, ac-cord, ac-quire, aa-glomerate, agglutinate, a<7-gran ag-gravate, aggregate, and many others, where the root is in i sufficient to express the meaning without a prefix. In the w ac-knowledge and ac-quaint, that are not derived from the Lati: French, it is the same Gaelic ag or aig that does duty in expreg the present participle before, instead of after the infinitive. The orthography of the English and French languages shares the Gaelic, the peculiarity of making use of silent letters, am consonants that serve no other purpose, than to lengthei broaden the sound of a preceding vowel. As the Gaelic asp modifies the sound of m or b into that of v or /, and of d into y a beginning of a word, and silences d altogether at the end if foil* by the aspirate, so in a similar manner the English g is silent in g gnarl, gnat, gnash, and such Greek words as gnome and gnostic, anc silent in lenave, hnead, knee, kneel, knot, &c. The letters gh in the way are silent, >nd only serve to modify the sound of the prect vowel or vowels as in nigh, night, through, thought, plough, ought, others familiar to all who read and spell. The French sounc singular and the plural of the third persons of their verbs s but write them differently, and are clearly indebted to their I ancestors for this orthographical peculiarity. XXX INTRODUCTION. The Gaelic as now spoken in the Highlands of Scotland and in Ireland has lost many words that it once possessed — of which the places have not been supplied by any new growth — but of which the roots remain hitherto unsuspected in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and even German, and of which many examples will be found in the following pages. In reference to the words which some etymologists, in their ignorance of the Keltic, derive from what they sometimes call the Neo-Latin, and sometimes Low Latin, Professor Max Miiller states in his "Lectures on the Science of Languages," First Series, Lecture V., " That from the very beginning the stock with which the Neo-Latin dialects started was not the classical Latin, but the vulgar, local, provincial dialects of the middle, the lower, and the lowest classes of the Roman Empire ;" to which statement of a fact he might have added that all these Neo-Latin words were Keltic or Gaelic, with a Latin terminal, many of which have been incorporated in our law books, of which the word "burglary " (page 64) is a notable example. Anglo-Saxon in the same manner is largely a Keltic language. All the words that it contains, which are not traceable to one or the other of the Teutonic dialects are either from the Kymric or the Gaelic. "What is called the Anglo-Saxon or more properly the Saxon, or Teutonic, may be looked upon as the father of the early English language, but the mother, or grandmother, is unquestionably the Keltic in one of its two great branches. The last, and one of the most striking of the proofs that the Keltic tongues, instead of leaving no traces upon the literature of Europe, has left many, is to be found in the fact that modern poetry is indebted for the idea of rhyme and all its charm and grace to the Gael and Kymri. Upon this point the Rev* Ulick J. Bourke, Canon of Tuam Cathedral, and President of St. Jarlath's College, speaks with authority in his excellent volume, " The Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race and Language," London, 1875. He says, — " Amongst the many important results from the modern study of Gaelic as a language, and as a branch of philology, is the certainty that from the " dans," or songs of the Kelts, has come the use of rhyme in modern European poetry In this way English literary writers of the past — not those of the present, who have written within the past ten years— have acted regarding the subject of rhyme in modern poetry. They knew that rhyme is found at the present time in poetry of every language throughout Europe. INTRODUCTION. Where did it come from ? Hot from Latin poetry as practised by the Eomans from the Greek, because the Greeks never knew anything about rhyme ; not Germany, for the ancient Germans did not regard rhyme as a requisite of j composition. Men, ignorant of the true cause of an effect, like the philosophers o: who, not being able to account for the fact that a fluid ascended an exhausted tube that it was because nature abhorred a vacuum, feign a cause rather than admit their of knowledge. Hence, not knowing the origin of rhyme, sciolists and mere litera stated that it must have been borrowed from the Saracens. "Men who have studied Irish poetry express their opinion forcibly and favoural the subject of rhyme, and say, with strong reason, that it is to the Kelts of Gau Ireland, Europe owes the poetic property of rhyme in modern metrical composition " What says Zeuss, the greatest of German Keltic scholars ? and his authority aL worth that of a thousand others : ' In ea assonantia, origo prima assonantia? final cultse preesertim a populis recentioribus Europse, quam dicunt rimum. ' And he she a note that the word rimum (rhyme) is of Irish origin : ' Quamvis ea vox computati poeticam indicans in vetustis libris Hibernicis non occurrat, frequentissimi tamen est Simplex Hibemica substantiva rim, inde derivator rimire, computator.' " The authority of Matthew Arnold, Professor of Poetry in the University of 0: ought, on a subject relating to English poetry, to have great weight with the E: reader; both because he is a man of great learning, especially in poetry, and impartial witness on this special subject of Gaelic learning. He declares that 'rhj the most striking characteristic of our modern poetry as distinguished from that ( ancients, and a main source to our poetry of its magic charm of what we call its ror, element ; rhyme itself, all the weight of evidence tends to show, comes into our ] from the Kelts.' " Though Gaelic, like the Latin and the Greek, seems destined ; distant date to expire as a spoken language, it will not be allowi perish, any more than the classical tongues of Greece and Rome the memory and appreciation of the learned. It will afford an< exemplification of the fact, portrayed in eloquent words by Prof Max Miiller (Lectures on the Science of Language, Second Se 1861). " That languages reflect the history of nations, and how if properly analyzed, every word will tell us of many vicissitudes through which it passed on its wa Central Asia, to India, or to Persia, to Asia Minor, Greece and Italy, to Eussia. Germany, the British Isles, America, New Zealand, nay back again, in its encompassing migrations, to India and the Himalayan regions from which it 8 many a word has thus gone the round of the world and it may go the same rounc and again. For although words change in sound and meaning to such an extei not a single letter remains the same, and that their meaning becomes the very o of what it originally was, yet it is important to observe, that since the beginning world no new addition has ever been made to the substantial elements of speech, an than to the substantial elements of nature. There is a constant change in language, a i XXXU INTRODUCTION. and going of words, but no man can ever invent an entirely new word. We speak to all intents and purposes substantially the same language as the earliest ancestors of our race ; and guided by the hand of scientific etymology, we may pass on from century to century through the darkest periods of the world's history, till the stream of language on which we ourselves are moving carries us back to those distant regions where we seem to feel the presence of our earliest forefathers.'' In studying Gaelic we in reality go back to the earliest dawn of civilization. We find it to have been the language of a primitive, but a highly poetical, and pure-minded people, who had attained a high degree of spiritual and moral culture. The Gael, like the early Hebrews, gave names to things without thought of immodesty, and spoke of the functions of nature and of the physical formation of man, without shame or the suspicion of indecency ; — for what is usually called indecency never exists among primitive communities. They also gave simple names to simple ideas, that in the growth of ages have become complex. When they spoke of what we now call " fame " they called it fuaim, a sound, a noise, and when they uttered the word gloir, which we call " glory," they only meant " praise," or laudatory talk. If in the compilation of this work, which has been a labour of love, and has employed the author for many years in the never idle intervals of other literary studies and pursuits, he has fallen into errors, few or many, as no doubt he has, for want of knowledge, for want of care and forethought, for want of thorough and exhaustive investigation, for want of time, he has only to throw himself on the indulgence of the critical and learned reader, and to plead the shortness of human life, the limitation of the intellect, and the overshadowing abundance of the cares that burthen us all. No philologist is, ever has been, or ever can be, perfect in a study which might well overtask a life of three times the traditional seventy years accorded to mankind ; and in the statement of this fact the author rests his defence against the possibly superior judgment that in after-time may find occasion to expose his unintentional errors, or dispute his conclusions. THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ENGLISH LANGUAGE. A. — A prefix to several English words, and in many instances a contraction for at, on, or in, as, ffl-shore, on shore or at shore; a-foot, on foot; long a-coming, long in coming; come a-board, come on board. Mr. Max Miiller, in the second series of his Lectures on the Science of Language says : — " We have not far to go to hear such phrases as ' he is a-going,' ' I am a-coming,' instead of the usual, 'he is going,' 'I am coming.' Now the fact is, that the vulgar or dialectic expression, ' he is a-going,' is far more correct than ' he is going.' ... 'I am going,' is in reality a corruption of ' I am a-going, i. c. I am on going.' . . . Thus, a-sleep is on sleep, a-right is on right, a-way is on way, a-baek is on back, a-gain is on gain (German entgegen), &c." Mr. Max Miiller is a notable autho- rity, and all that he says on the subject of language is entitled to respectful con- sideration. That the prefix a is some- times synonymous with on is evident from the phrases, a- foot and «-shore ; but that it is not invariably synonymous with or a contraction of on, will appear from a critical examination of the word " again," q. v. ABASH. — To intimidate, to be intimi- dated, to shame, to make ashamed. This word appears originally to have been lash, as in the following examples from Hares and Halliwell. Neither hash I to say that the people of Rome invaded this isle, rather upon a greedy mind to encroach than as just title thereto. — ■ Holland, Ammianus Marcellinus, 1609. And this bash not thou to do, in whose ancestors' time a senator was taxed and fined by the censor, that durst, while it was not decent and seemly, kisss his own wife before the daughter of them both. — Ibid. And as I stood in this bashment, I re- membered j-our incomparable clemencie. — Gowee, 1544. Abash, from the French esbahir, to affrighten, which comes from the Latin ex- paveo, if it be not likewise from the Spanish abaxar, to keep under, because inferiors are usually abashed when suddenly accosted by superiors. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Abash, originally to put to confusion from a strong emotion, whether of fear, wonder, shame, or admiration, but restricted in modern times to the effect of shame. Abash is an adoption of the French esbahir, the origin of which is to be found in the old French baer, beer, to gape, an onomatopeia from the sound ba, most naturally pronounced on opening the lips. Hence bah ! the interjection of wonder. — 'Wedgwood. The author of Gazophylacium Angli- canum, unaware of the word bash, took the lead in a definition, which has been accepted by every succeeding English lexicographer from bis day to the pre- sent. The French ebahir does not, however, explain the word bashful, easily THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY shamed, timid, shy, modest. The true etymon would seem to be the (Sraelic. — Bathais (the t silent before the aspirate, and pronounced ba-hash), the forehead, the brow. The words brow-beat, to intimidate with severe looks; and affront, from the French front, the brow or forehead, lend counte- nance to this derivation; so that bash would be synonymous with brow-beat, as bashful would signify a person easily brow-beaten, or easily put to shame by the severity or the impudence of another, or easily overawed in the pre- sence of a superior. See Pash. ABET. — To incite, to assist, and en- courage. This I think may not incommodiously come from the Latin preposition, ad, to a bet, which in composition signifies, to stand by one, or bet on one's side. — Gtazojphylacium Anglicanum. Saxon betan, to encourage, egg on, incite. — Bailey, 1731. Old French abetter, from bet, the cry used in setting dogs on their prey. — Chambers. (SBraellC. — Ath (pronounced ah), a pre- fix equivalent to the Latin re and the German wieder, again, or a second time. See Again. Beathaich (from Beatha, life), to feed, support, nourish, animate : whence ath beathaich, or abet, to reanimate, to re- vive. ABIGAIL (slang).— A lady's maid; more properly one of an ill-temper, or tyrannical to her mistress ; a spoiled favourite. (Sadie — Alhagail, waspish, snap- pish, ill-tempered. ABOYER (French).— To bark like a dog. CSaeliC. — Abh, the barking of a dog ; abhach, a terrier dog; abhagail, abha- gach, petulant, snappish, currish, ill- tempered (said of a dog). ABRACADABRA.— A word used by the astrologers and by superstitious people in the middle ages, written in the form of a triangle, in successive repetitions, each time with the omis- sion of the final letter, thus : — ABRACADABRA ABRAC AD AB K, ABRACADAB ABRAC AD A ABRAC AD ABRACA ABRAC ABR A ABR AB A A paper, or parchment, or piece of metal, with the inscription in this form was worn round the neck, and was sup- posed to guard the wearer against fever or ague. The word appears resolvable into the C&3f ItC. — Adhamhra [ahavra, or abra), glorious, noble, excellent, illustrious ; ceud, first, or a hundred; whence ad- hamhra-eeud adhamhra [avra, or abra- ceud, abra), may either mean excellent, a hundred times excellent; or excel- lent, first excellent, or of the first ex- cellence. ABRAM (cant), naked; Abram cove, a strong thief, a poor man; Abraham men, or Abram men, the slang name of a class of beggars in England in the sixteenth century. An abraham man is he that walketh hare- armed and bare-legged and faineth himself mad. — ■Fraternitye of Vagabonds, 1575. (ffirOflic. — Brama, unpolite, boorish, savage, uncivilized. ISmnric. — Bram. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. ABYSS. — A bottomless profundity. Greek d, without; j3utr&, wrong, left; Anglo-Saxon ward, direction ; i.e. in a wrong direction. — Chambebs. CRaeltC. — Ag, to hesitate, to doubt, hesitation ; agach, inclined to doubt. AWL. — An instrument used by shoe- makers for piercing leather. Anglo-Saxon, ael or aweel. — Woecestee. German ahle, Old High German alansa, French alesne. — "Wedgwood. ©X-aelfc. — Adhal (aal), a hook. AWMRIE. (Lowland Scotch).— A chest; generally supposed to be de- rived from the French armoire. <2*aeltC. — Amraidh, a cupboard; pro- perly a recess in a cottage wall, done over with wicker work, as still seen in many parts of the Highlands; amar, a receptacle, a vessel, a chest ; fraigh, a partition wall. — Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, compiled under the direction of the Highland Society of Scotland. 1828. AX. — To ask, to inquire. This word, which now passes for a vulgarism, is the original form used by Chaucer and others. It is found in Bishop Bale's " God's Promises/' That their sinne, vengeance axeth continu- ally. — Nabes. ' Ask ' is from the Anglo-Saxon ascian or axian. — Woecestee. From the Anglo-Saxon acsian, ascian, the Icelandic aeslcia, German leischen.- — Wedg- wood. CRaeliC. — Achanaich, to entreat, to beseech earnestly, to supplicate ; whence ackain, a prayer, a supplication ; and ackanach, beseechingly, supplicatory ; aisg, a request : this last word was probably introduced into Gaelic from the English. AZURE.— The purest blue, the blue of the unclouded skies. From the French azur, Italian azurro, Spanish azul, Persian lazurd; all of them from the Latin lazulis, a blue stone. — Gazo- phylacium Anglicanum. From the Persian lazur, whence lapis lazuli, the sapphire of the ancients. — Wedg- wood. (SfaeltC. — TJr, fresh, young, beautiful; as-ur, to renew, to refresh, to make beautiful again, as the sky becomes after the clouds and storms have passed over. B. BABY, or Babe. — The new-born of the human species, an infant. A word, says Skinner, according to Menage of Syriac origin. Skinner himself would derive it from the Italian bahbola, a babbo, but as it is purely vox infantilis, and the infants of one country do not borrow it from the infants of another, it needs no foreign etymology. It consists of the repetition of ba, the earliest because the easiest consonant uttered by children. Akin to it is the Greek jrawnas, nana, the Hebrew ab, and the Syriac abba, father. — Richabdson. In the nursery language of the Norman- English, papa, mamma, baba, are the father, mother, and infant respectively, the two 22 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY latter of which pass into mammy and babby, baby and babe ; while the last'with a nasal forms the Italian bambino. — Wedgwood. Bahe, French poupde, Latin pupa, a doll. — Latham. Dr. Richardson's and Mr. Wedgwood's reasoning and its illustrations do not ap- ply to the word " baby/' representing an infant; but to baba ox papa, as represent- ing father. The word " baby " does not exist in any European language but the English except in colloquial French, into which it has very recently been adopted, as be be ; whereas if Dr. Richardson's reasoning were correct, the word should be as widely spread as "papa." The new-born child, when beginning to speak, does not speak of itself, but of its parents, its " papa " and its '■' mam- ma," words that are known in all languages and dialects. fiK-aelic. — Bed, living, alive, active, lively ; from bi, to be, to exist ; whence beo-beo ! a name not given to the infant by itself, but an exclamation of pleasure applied by the father or mother to the living thing which has been given to them. BACHELOR. — An unmarried man. This is a word of very uncertain etymo- logy, it not being known what was its original sense. — Johnson. Apparently from a Celtic root. — Wedg- wood. Probably from the Welsh baclyen, a boy, and bach, little. — Chambees. ffljaelic. — Bacail, a stop, a hindrance, an impediment; bacalaire, an impeder, i. e. one who impedes by his celibacy the peopling of the world. See Balk. BAD. — Evil, wicked, not good, hurt- ful. This word is sometimes used, not in the sense of the reverse of good, but in the sense of pain, hurt, disease, as in the phrases, " I have a bad cold ;" " He has a bad sore throat ;" " He has a bad leg," &c. Gothic, bauths, insipid. — Junius. Dutch, quaad. — Skinneb. Bayed,, past participle of bay, to bark at or reproach. — Hoene Tooke. Persian, bad, evil. — Webstee. Written by Grower quad. — Woecestee. fljfaellC. — Beud, mischief, hurt; beud- ach, evil, iniquitous, hurtful ; beudaich, to harm, to injure; beudag, a little, idle, slanderous, bad woman. BAGATELLE (French).— A trifle, a small thing, Italian bagatella, a conjuror's trick. — Chambees. French bague, a trifle, from Latin bacca, a berry. — Stoemonth. ©raeltC. — Beag, little, small; tail, fee, wages. BAGGAGE.— A term of contempt applied to a woman. From the French bagasse, a prostitute. — Chambees. From the Italian bagaseia. — Latham. (BSraflif. — Bagaid (pronounced bag- age), a fat woman, a clumsy woman, a coarse woman, a woman with a large stomach ; bag, the stomach. BAH ! — An exclamation of contempt at anything foolish. GJaelt'C. — Bath (pronounced ba), foolish, childish, puerile, stupid; bath, a fool. BAIL. — A surety; to give security for a person's reappearance in a court of justice, if he be allowed his liberty until the day of trial. From the French bail, a keeper. — Qazo- phylacium Anglieanum. BAILIFF.— An officer of the sheriff, charged with legal functions of OF THE ENGLIS.I LANGUAGE. 2.'5 arrest and service. Also the manager of a farm, under the proprietor or tenant ; a steward of a house or estate. Prom the Italian baglio, a foster father, which by a metaphor manifestly flows from the Latin bajulo, to carry on one's shoulders. — Gazopliylacium Anglicanum. Prom the Low Latin balliare, and French battler, to deliver.— Woecester. <35radtC. — Baile, a village, a town, a city ; whence the Scottish word baillie, the magistrate of a city, equivalent to the English alderman; Gaelic bailidk. The Old Bailey in London means the old town, throwing back its origin to the pre-Saxon and pre-Roman times. Baile in Gaelic also signifies a farm, whence bailiff, in the sense of a steward or overseer. Bailiff, in the sense of a sheriff's officer, means a town's officer. BAIT.— The food, or pretended food, placed upon a hook to deceive and catch fish ; meat set to allure ; to furnish with food on a journey, as to lait a horse. Anglo-Saxon batan, Icelandic belt, Swedish bete, pasture. — Stoemonth. C&acllC. — Biad/i, food, to feed, to fatten ; biadhta, fed, baited ; biadhtach, a grazier, (rarely) an ostler. BALAI (French).— A broom. Balayee. — To sweep. (Gallic. — Bealaidh, bealuidh, the broom, planta-geneta, of the sprigs of which sweeping brooms were originally made. BALDERDASH.— Nonsense, loud and empty talk. Anything jumbled together, an unnatural mixture. A low word probably from the Saxon bald, bold, and dash, to mix. — Ash. Balder, to use coarse language. — Halli- well. Welsh, baldorddi, to babble, to talk idly ; Dutch, bahhren, to roar ; Danish, bialdar, foolish talk, nonsense ; Gaelic, ballart, noisy boastiDg ; ballartaich, a loud noise. — Wedg- wood. ©raeltC. — Ballart, ballartach, noisy, boastful, braggart; ballartaehd a pro- clamation, a boast ; ballartaich, a noise, a shouting, a boasting; bailisdeir, a babbler; bailisdeir eachd, bluster. BALK. — To frustrate, to hinder, to impede ; usually pronounced bawJc. Derived by Skinner from the Italian valicare, to pass over. — Johnson. To balk young lads in learning languages. — Locke, quoted by Johnson. From the Anglo-Saxon, Dutch, and Ger- man balk and balken, a beam of wood, a log, piece of timber. — Woecesteb. To balk is to pass over in ploughing ; to leave a thing unaccomplished ; to disappoint, to skip over. Icelandic balkr, the division between two stalls in a cow-house. Swedish balka, to partition off (with a beam of wood) . — Wedgwood. ©raelic. — Bdc, to hinder, to prevent, to frustrate one's design, to restrain ; bacadh, a hindrance, an obstruction. BALLUSTER.— The column, or the light rail that acts as a protection to a flight of stairs; — corrupted into bannisters. Ballusteade. — A row of columns or bannisters. Said to be from balaustia, the flower of the pomegranate, the calyx of which has a double curvature, similar to that in which ballusters are commonly made. But such rows of columns were doubtless in use before that name was given to them. The Spanish barauste, from bare or varc, a rod, seems the original form of the word. . . . Saraudilta, a small balustrade, small rail- ing. — Wedgwood. (Sac ItC. — Balladh, a wall, a defence ; sliorlan, stirean, thin, slender. BALOW (Lowland Scotch).— The first word of a lullaby used by nurses, and well known to all lovers of poetry by the pathetic song, Balow, my babe, lie still and sleep, It grieves me sair to see thee weep. u THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY CBraellC. — Ba, an injunction to sleep, equivalent to the English " Bye ! bye \" Laogk, the young of any animal; a calf; a word used especially as a term of endearment for a child. BAMBOOZLE (Slang).— To cheat, to deceive. Swift says bamboozle was invented by a nobleman in the reign of Charles TI. ; but this I conceive to be an error. The pro- bability is that a nobleman first used it in polite society. The term is derived from the Gipsies. — Hotten's Slang Dictionary. Sammel, to beat, to pummel : a Salopian word. — Halliwell. Bamboozle is from bam, a cheat ; to de- ceive, to impose upon. — Worcestee. CSafllC. — Beum, a blow, to strike; hasail, deadly, mortal. It would appear from the Gaelic derivation that the original meaning of bamboozle was to deal " a deadly blow " or "to kill." Probably the word in process of time was softened down in English, so as to signify no more than to ruin a person by cheating him. BANAL (French) . — Common-place, of the nature of a truism, not pro- found, unoriginal. (&aelic. — Banail, womanish. BANNS. — The public proclamation at church of the names of men and women who propose to be united in wedlock. This word is always used in the plural. Ban. — To place under interdict by force of law, to proclaim. BiNiSH. — To decree by law the ex- pulsion of a person from his native country. All these words, of such opposite meanings, spring from one root, the OVaeltC. — Baiin, a covenant, an ob- ligation, an agreement, a bond, a security ; anything ratified by the law ; and in this sense applying alike to- marriage or other contracts between parties, or to penal liabilities incurred towards the State. See Appanage. Banais, wedlock, the bonds of matri- mony. Fear na bainnse, the man of the wedlock or wedding ; Bean na bainnse, the bride or woman of the wedding. The Italian handa and banditti are words traceable to the same root, a band of- thieves leagued together by a real or implied oath, or bond of fidelity. BANQUET. — A dinner, supper, or other repast of more than usual mag- nificence. This word, both in French and Eng- lish, is commonly derived from the Italian banchetto, the diminutive of banco, a bench; but the connexion of ideas between a very large and splendid en- tertainment and a very small table or bench is not obvious. Nares says : — " That what we now call the dessert, was in early times called the banquet, which was placed in a separate room to which the guests removed after they had dined." He quotes from Massinger's Un- natural Combat : — We'll dine in the great room, but let the music And banquet be prepared here. He also quotes the latest use of the word in this sense from Evelyn's Memoirs, 1685 :— " The banquet (dessert) was twelve vast chargers piled up so high, that those who sat one against another, could hardly see each other. Of these sweetmeats the ambas- sadors tasted not." As the word is peculiar to languages that have a Keltic basis, and does not appear, except in a borrowed form, in < any languages of Gothic and Teutonic origin (the Germans render " banquet " Gastmahl or Guest Meal), and as the OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 25 retirement of the guests after dinner to another and larger room for dessert and sweetmeats, was for the purpose of joining the ladies and hearing music, as stated in Massinger, it is probable that the true etymon is to be sought in the ©ajllC. — Ban or bean, a woman; banais, bainnse, a wedding; bainsean, a wedding feast; bainnseacM, feasting, banqueting. If this derivation be accepted, a banquet was originally a wedding breakfast or dinner, from whence, the ideas being associated with the presence of ladies, it was afterwards extended to mean any elegant repast; a dessert after dinner, and any feast of more than customary splendour and preten- sion. BANTER. — To jest against a person, in vulgar language to " chaff/'' A barbarous word without etymology, unless it be derived from the French badiner. ■ — Johnson. When wit hath any mixture of raillery, it is but calling it banter, and the work is done. This polite word of theirs was first borrowed" from the bullies in Whitefriars, then fell among the footmen, and at last retired to the pedants. — Swift, quoted in "Wedgwood. Prom the French badiner, to joke. — Woe- CESTEE, CHAMBEES, &C. Unknown derivation, but probably ori- ginating in a slang word. — Stobmonth, (fiaeltr. — Ban-tighearna, a lady-lord, the mistress of the house, the lady- ruler. Possibly the English word is from this root, and may have originated in the jocular accusation against a man, that he was "henpecked," that "the grey mare was the better horse," and that he was under "petticoat govern- ment." BANTLING.— A name sometimes of contempt, sometimes of affection, for an infant. From bairnling, a little child. — Johnson. So called from the bands in which it is wrapped. — Wedgwood. Used only in low or droll st3'le : perhaps from bairn. — Ash. A child born before the marriage of its parents. Perhaps 5a»-telling, or bane- telling. — Eichaedson. CBfaelic. — &«, a woman ; altraeh, a nurse, a fosterer; banaltracli, a female nurse; banaltracM, nursing, the business of a nurse. BANYAN DAYS.— A phrase employed by sailors to denote the days when no animal food is served out : derived from the remembrance of childhood, when bread and milk days came round twice or thrice in the week. The Banians are a peculiar class among the Hindoos, who believe in the doctrine of metempsychosis, and therefore abstain from animal food. The phrase " Banian days," when seamen have no meat served out to them, is probably derived from the practice of the Banians of Hiudostan. — Wobcestee. <3>racltC. — Bainne, milk; bonnach, Lowland Scotch, bannock, a cake ; ban- nachan, a cake made with milk. BAR. — A rod of wood or metal, to mark the limits of a, place set apart, either for privileged persons, or for criminals in a court of law; also a bolt to keep a door closed. Baeeiee. — A collection of bars. Baeeistee. — An advocate who pleads at the " bar " before the judges. Baeeicade. — A defence; parapet, a protecting wall. All these words are traceable to the C&aeltC. — Ban; the top, a high place, 26 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY a reserved place, the upper part ; barra, a court of j ustice ; barradhal, a para- pet; barrack, to heap up; barrachd, superiority, height ; barra-bhard, a high poet, a chief poet, a laureate ; barrail, excellent, exceeding, surpassing. BARBARIAN. — Uncivilized, savage. Baebakous. — Cruel, fierce. Barbar, the native name of a part of the coast of Africa. The Egyptians leaving and hating its inhabitants, used their name as a term of contumely and dread, in which sense it passed to the Greeks, and thence to the Eomans. — Brttce, quoted by Worcester. The original import of the Greek pdpfiapos, and the Latin barbarus, is to designate one ■whose language we do not understand. Then as the Greek? and Eomans attained a higher pitch of civilization than the rest of the ancient world, the word came to signify rude, uncivilized, cruel. — Wedgwood. ©adtC, — Borb, cruel, fierce, ignorant, savage ; borbackd, ferocity ; borbarra, barbarous, uncivilized, wild, untamed. BARBICAN. — A beacon, a watch- tower. The name of a street in London, so called from a watch-tower on the ancient wall of the city. Low Latin, barbacanna, probably from the Persian baba-Tcaneh, an upper chamber. — Chambers. (QSacllC. — Barr, the top, the upper- most part ; beachd, observation, watch- ing ; beackd-ionaid, a watch-tower, a beacon. BARE. — Naked, uncovered, shorn, clean shaven or cut. Perhaps from the Greek , to drink ; and in Latin po- tus. In Gaelic the word bior is used in the sense of water. — Wedgwood. (SrSelic. — Bior, water, rain, liquor, drink ; Moras, a water-lily ; bior-bhoga, a water-bow, a rainbow; bior-dhorus, a water-gate, a flood-gate. BEG. — To entreat, to ask, to pray, to supplicate. Beggar. — A mendicant. Beg and beggar, or perhaps better bagger, because they carry their provisions about with them in bags. Perhaps it may not in- elegantly be drawn from the Latin vagari, to go from place to place. — G-azophylacium Anglicanum. From the German beggeren, to live upon alms. — Johnson. [Note. — There is no such German word as beggeren ; but begehren signifies to covet, to crave, to desire ardently. The German for entreat, pray, or supplicate is beten.] Skinner's derivation of this word from bag, though it seems improbable at first, is un- doubtedly the true one. . . . So, from the Gaelic bag, and baigean, a little, baigeir, a beggar, which may perhaps be an adaptation of the English word ; but in the same language, from poc, a bag or poke, is formed pocair, a beggar. — Wedgwood. diae lie. — Bag, a bag, also abig belly ; bagaire, a beggar, also a man with a big belly ; baigear, a beggar, a mendi- cant; baigeareach, inclined to beg, needy, covetous. BEGIN. — To originate, to commence, to come into being. Lexicographers long contented with tracing this word to the Saxon beginnen 32 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY (which word does not do so much duty in the same sense as " anfangen," the true Saxon or German for "begin-") have lately turned their attention to other sources, and fixed the root of its second syllable in the Sanscrit gin, and the Greek ytvafiai, to generate. They make no attempt to account for the first syllable. Both however are trace- able to the <&aeltC. — Bith {be, the ih silent), life ; gin, to procreate, produce ; whence begin, to procreate or "produce life." Thus the first verse of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis might be ac- curately made to read, " In the produc- tion of life God created the Heaven and the Earth." BELFRY (French, beffroi).—K clock tower. Though a clock is often found in connexion with a bell to strike the hours, it does not appear that this word has any reference to a bell, which is apparent from the French synonyme. In England a false etymology has confined the name of belfry, properly belonging to the church tower, to the chamber in the upper part of the tower in which the bells are hung.— Wedgwood. The true etymology is the (BJraeliC. — Beachd {bea), watch, ob- serve; frith, small, little ; whence the French beffroi corrupted in English into " belfry," a small place of obser- vation (in a church tower), commanding a view of a city or the surrounding country. BELLY. — The stomach, the abdomen ; the part of the body that contains and covers the intestines. Bellows, belly, the word lalg, bolg is used in several Keltic and Teutonic languages to signify any inflated skin or case. . . . The original signification is probably a water bubble (still preserved by the Gaelic diminu- tive balgan), which affords the most obvious type of inflation. The application of the term to the belly, the sack-like case of the inflations, needs no explanation. — Wedg- wood. (jRafltC. — Bolg, the belly, the womb ; bolgaire, a man with a big belly ; bolg, a bag, a wallet. BELT. — An ornamented ligature a- round the waist, and over the breast and shoulder, a fringe, a border. (SSadtC. — Bait, a belt, a border, a welt; Baltach, belted, welted, bordered. BERLINA.— In the edition of Nares' Glossary by Halliwell and Wright, this word, not included in the original Nares, is added, with this explanation, " the pillory." Then follows a quota- tion from Ben Jonson's Volpone. Wearing a cap with fair long asses' ears Instead of horns, and so to mount, a paper Pinn'd on thy breast, to the berlina. A reference to Ben Jonson gives some anterior lines which throw a light on the etymology. Thou, Corvino, shalt Be straight embark' d from thine own house Bound about Venice through the Grand Canale. " Berlina," in Italian signifies both a pillory and a four-wheeled coach (the modern Berlin is supposed to have taken its name from the Prussian capi- tal) ; but as in Venice, where the scene of Ben Jonson's play is laid, a four- wheeled or any other coach is an im- possibility, the punishment of the pillory must, if inflicted on the highway, have been inflicted in a gondola, a boat, or other vessel on the Canal. This points to the derivation of the word in the ©raelic. — Bior, water; biorlinn, bir- linn, a boat, a barge, also a pleasure- boat. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 33 BETRAY. — To deceive treacherously in breach of trust ; German betrilgen ; French trahir. Treason (French trahison). — Breach of allegiance to the sovereign. Latin, tradere, Italian) tradire, French, trahir. . . . Probably the unusual addition of the particle be to a verb imported from the French, Vas caused by the accidental resemblance of the word to the German betriigen, which is from a totally different root. — Wedgwood. afltC. — Balaoch, a lad, a young man, a herdsman, a fellow; balach, a fellow. BILLOW. — A large wave, a swollen wave, a surging mass of water. From the Teutonic bilg, Danish bolg, both from bullio, or rather the Teutonic bellen, to make a noise like a dog, as waves do, rolling one on the back of the other ! — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Johnson derives "billow" from the German bilge, but there is no such word in that language. The true root is the (fraelic. — Bolg, a belly, to bulge, to swell; bolgach, swollen, puffed out, having a large protuberance. BILLY (Slang).— A silk pocket hand- kerchief; a handkerchief with an ornamental border. * 'Blue-billy, a peculiar handkerchief given by boxers to their backers, of a blue ground, with red spots. — Slang Dictionary. (SrHfltC. — Bile (two syllables), a margin, an edge, a border; bileaeh, bordered, edged, rimmed, and orna- mented. BIN (Slang). — A pocket with money in it. And the vestat (waistcoat) with the bins so rorty . The Chickaleery Cope. (BiRtUt. — Binn, melodious; whence by metaphor, money that chinks in the pocket with a sound melodious to the ears of the thief who wants to appro- priate it. BIRD.— The Saxon-English of this word is "fowl," from the German vogel, as in the Scriptural phrase, "the fowls of the air." Fowl is nearly obsolete except as applied to domestic fowls or poultry. " Bird," or a small bird, seems to be derived from, and to be a corruption of the (Sr£UliC. — Brid eun, a little bird ; brid (obsolete), little; brideag, a little wo- man ; brideach, a bride, a virgin. The word is also used in Lowland Scotch, as a term of endearment for a young woman, as in Campbell's ballad, " Lord Ullhr's Daughter," And by my word, the bonnie bird In danger shall not tarry. BISMARE. — Infamy, reproach, dis- grace. And he that brought here to this bysmere For here foly he shall answere. MS. Karl., quoted by Halliwell. A bawd, a lewd person. — Jamieson. CBriWltC, — Baois, lust, lewdness; wior, great. BIT.— A portion. This word is commonly supposed, after the analogy of the French morceaw, a bit, from mordre, to bite, to express the portion of anything that is bitten by the teeth, as in the phrases, " give me a bit," or a " bit of dinner." This etymology cannot however be accepted in such expressions, " I do not care a bit," " I can't have a bit of peace," or of sleep, a " bit of garden ground." Neither is it quite certain that the true root of the word, in connexion with eating, is to be sought in " bite " or 36 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY that which is bitten. Possibly a clue to the derivation may be found in the ©rSeltC. — Biadh, food, nourishment, diet; to feed, to nourish; biadh madainn, the morning meal, breakfast ; biadh noin, the noon meal, lunch or dinner ; biadh feasgair, the evening meal or supper ; biadh briste, broken victuals; biadhte, fed, nourished. BITCH.— The female of the dog, the fox, the wolf, and some other animals. A term of contempt or anger for a woman. Of uncertain etymology. — Richardson. Prom the Anglo-Saxon bicea, bicce. — Latham. This word prohably signifies a female, for the French biche is a hind. — Webstee. CJfaeltC — Bith, a woman; bithe, of the female sex; bithis {bith and ise), pudendum muliebris. — Gaelic Dictionary of the Highland Society, 1828. BLAB (Vulgar). — To divulge a secret, to blurt, to disclose a matter unneces- sarily or inadvertently. From the Teutonic blapperen, the Latin labia elabiare, to speak rashly or unadvised- ly. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Danish, blabbre, Old English, blabber, from the sound. — Chambees. fi*£UltC. — Blabaran, a stutterer ; blabhdach, garrulous ; blabhdair, plabair, a babbler. BLACK. — Niger, swarth, the reverse of white. Originally bleak, pale, of the darkest colour, without colour. — Chambees. The original meaning of black seems to have been exactly the reverse of the present sense, viz. shining, white. It is in fact radically identical with the French blanc, white, from which it differs only in the absence of the nasal. — Wedgwood. These derivations are not satisfactory; though they might be to such politicians as are ready to vote that black is white in support of their party. Neither the Latin nor the German, with any of their derivatives, have any root to which the word "black" can be fair- ly traced. The German synonym is Schwartz, which survives in the English swarthy, deeply coloured and browned by the sun, and suggests a similar idea as to the origin of the puzzling word "black," as opposed to and not cor- rupted from bleak, or white, as Mr. Wedgwood asserts. The true root seems to be the (ilVaeltC. — Blathaich (th silent), to warm, to make hot; blatlias, warmth, heat; blathaichte, warmed, heated, whence blackened by the heat; bias na greine, the heat of the sun. BLACKGUAED.— A man without morals, manners, or character ; a low disreputable, ill-behaved, and vulgar person. This word does not appear in Gazo- phylacium Anglicanum (1689), nor in the English Dictionary of Bailey (1731), Cocker (1724), nor in Phillip's "World of Words" (1687). A name originally given in derision to the lowest class of menials or hangers-on about a court or great household, as scullions, and others engaged in dirty work. "A slave that within this twenty years rode with the black guard in the Duke's carriage (i.e. with the Duke's baggage) 'mongst spits and dripping-pans." — Webstek. " I am degraded from a cook, and I fear that the Devil himself will entertain me but for one of his blackguard, and he shall be sure to have his meat burnt." — Old Play, quoted in Naees. The word is well explainedin a proclamation of the Board of Green Cloth in 1683, cited in Notes and Queries, January 7th, 1854. " Whereas of late, a sort of vicious, idle, mas- terless boys and rogues, commonly called the Black- Guard, with divers other lewd and loose fellows, vagabonds, vagrants, and wan- dering men and women, do follow the Court OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 37 to the great dishonour of the same, — We do strictly charge all those so called the Blach- Guard as aforesaid, with all other loose, idle, masterless men, boys, rogues, and wanderers, who have intruded themselves into His Majesty's Court and stables, that within the space of 24 hours they depart." — Wedg- wood. All the Dictionaries that now admit the word, agree in this derivation, from the two words, " black " and " guard." But in reality the word is one, and pure Keltic, and as common to the colloquial or Keltic-French, as to the Gaelic and Irish. In French, blague signifies loud, offensive, abusive talk, and sometimes vainglorious boasting; blagueur is an insolent braggart. M. Francisque Mi- chel admits it into his Dictionnaire d' Argot as a word "bien connu et generalement repandu." CRajltC. — Blagair, a boaster, an im- pudent boaster ; blagaireachd, loud boasting ; blagh, a blustering wind ; blagkair, a blusterer, a braggadocio; blaghanta, boastful, blustering. The word was slang in the days of Ben Jonson, and the English people misled by the sound appear to have Anglicized it into " blackguard," and invented an etymology for it in an English sense. In Belgian- French bla- gueur is sometimes call blagard, a still nearer approach to the English " black- guard." BLACKLEG. — A swindler, a cheat, who uses fair words to deceive, as distinguished from a robber or thief who uses violence. The derivation of this term was solemnly argued before the Court of Queen's Bench upon a motion for a new trial for libel, but was not decided by the learned tribunal. Probably it is from the custom of sporting and turf men wearing black toprboots. Hence blackleg came to be the phrase for a professional sporting man, and thence for a professional sporting cheat. This word is now in its worst sense diminished to leg.— Slang Dictionary. It is probable, considering the known antagonism of the English tongue to gutturals, that this word is a corruption of the CSaJltC. — Bleachdair, acajoler, a flat- terer, a deceiver; bleachdair eachd, ca- jolery; leag, to pull down, or throw down as a wrestler; from whence "black- leg," one who throws down, foils or fells another by cajolery and deceit. BLACK-MAIL.— A tribute exacted by robbers and others for protection in their own and neighbouring ter- ritories. Mail. — The letters despatched by the Post Office, in a bag. Gothic, maala, Anglo-Saxon, mal, Ice- landic, mala, Persian, mal, riches. — Wob- CESTEE. Black-mail ; black as denoting the low coin in which the tribute was paid (Spel- man) ; or, in a moral sense, as denoting its illegality. Gaelic, mal, rent. — Wobcestee. ©raflic. — Mal, rent, tribute; mala, a bag or sack ; maladair, one who pays rent or tribute. BLADDERED (Obsolete) .—Flattered, puffed up with pride. The Athenians bladdered up with pride from their decay. — Tlie Sage Senator, quoted by Naees. OiatltC. — Bladair, to flatter; bla- daireachd, flattery, sycophancy. BLADE (Slang). — A man, a fellow; a dashing " blade," a roaring " blade." In ancient times the term for a soldier. " Knowing blade," a sharp, cunning fellow. — Slang Dictionary. (SraeltC. — Bleid, to importune, to beg; bleidir, a genteel beggar. BLAIDRY (Lowland Scotch).— Fool- ish talk, sycophancy. 38 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY <3»rH?ltc; — Bladaireachd, flattery, sy- cophancy, idle talk; Lowland Scotch blethers. BLAND. — Courteous, gentle, of mild and pleasant voice and manner. All the Etymological Dictionaries trace this word and its derivatives blandish, blandishment, blandly, to the Latin blandus, of which the root is the (SBfaeltC — Blanda, gentle, mildly flat- tering ; blandair, a flatterer, a mild- speaking man; blandar, cajolery, dis- simulation. BLARE. — The loud sound of a trumpet; to roar in anger, to break out into vehement speech. See Bloke. dSaeltC. — Blor, a loud voice or sound ; blorach, noisy ; bloracan, a noisy person. BLARNEY (Vulgar) .—Cajoling talk to a woman in courtship ; afterwards applied to any form of verbal cajolery. Supposed by Grose to havebeenderivedfrom thephrase "kissing the blarney stone," applied to incredible stories told of climbing to a stone very difficult of access, on the top of Blarney Castle, near Cork in Ireland. But Dr. Johnson derives it from the French balivernes, lies, frivolous talk. — Wobces- tbe. CS-afltC. — Bladhair (d silent), to flat- ter; and nighean {gh silent), the girl; i. e. blar-ni-an, blarneying or flattering the girl, i. e, cajoling and deceiving her. BLASE. — One who has tasted all human enjoyment, and been disap- pointed in the flavour . Worn out with self-indulgence. A word recently bor- rowed from the French, and that has no synonym in English. (iSr&tlit, — Bias, taste, flavour, relish; blais, to taste ; blaiseamaieh, to smack with the lips when tasting. BLAVER (Lowland Scotch). — The blue corn flower; any large wild flower. The corn blue-bottle, North. — Weight's Provincial Dictionary. (BSraeliC. — Blath, a flower ; mhor, great, large (pronounced bla-vor). BLAZE.— A flame. A blaze is so intimately connected with a blast of wind as to render it extremely pro- bable that the word blaze, a flame, is radically identical with Anglo-Saxon blcesan, German blasen, to blow. — Wedgwood. CiaeltC. — Blathas [bias'], warmth, heat ; am bias na greine, in the heat or blaze of the sun. BLAZON. — To spread abroad a report, to publish. Emblazon (In heraldry) . — To design a coat of arms or other heraldic devices (French, blasonner). The origin of this word has given rise to much discussion, and two theories are pro- posed, each of much plausibility ; first, from the English blaze, blazen, to proclaim, to trumpet forth, whence the French blason, used among other senses in that of praise, commendation, blason fwnebre, a funeral ora- tion. . . . The other derivation which Diaz treats as hardly doubtful, is from Anglo- Saxon blosse, a torch, a flame, splendour. The term would then be applied to the armorial bearings painted in bright colours on the shield or surcoat, in the same way as we speak of an illuminated manuscript, — Wedg- wood. C&aeUc. — Blath, a shout, praise, re- nown ; sonn, a hero, a stout man, a warrior ; whence blath, or bla-sonn, the praise of a hero. BLE (French).— Corn. CSaeliC. — Bleth, to grind; blethte, ground, as corn. BLELLUM (Lowland Scotch).— An incoherent drunkard. Thou wert a blethering, blustering, drunken blellum. Buens, Tarn o' Shanter. QSiUiUu—Blialum, confused speech, OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 39 stammering", the incoherent utterances of a drunken man. BLETHER (Lowland Scotch). — To talk idly or offensively. ©artic — Bleid, impertinence, ef- frontery; bleidear, an impertinent per- son, a sycophant. BLOB. — A vulgar term for the lower lip ; anything blunt and round. In Lowland Scotch, a round drop, a " blob o' dew." Blub. — To swell, swollen, rounded. Blob or blub, to swell, from the German blahen, to blow out, to swell. — Wobcesteb. Blob, a bubble, a blister, a small drop of anything thick, viscid, or dirty. Bleb, blab, a drop, a blister, a blain.— Wedgwood. She has a delicate lip ! such a lip ! so red, So hard, so plump, so blub ! Otway, Soldier's Fortune, 1681. CSratltC. — Blob, thick-lipped ; blobach, one who has thick lips ; plub, a round lump, a drop ; plub-ceann, a lumpy head. BLOKE (Slang). — A man, a person, an individual. BloaJc, or blolce, a man: block, the head; to block a hat, is to knock a man's hat over his eyes. — Slang Dictionary. (BrSfltC. — Bloc, or plog, a block, a round mass, a very large head, a boy, a young man; plocack, a boy, a lad; plocania, a stout, sturdy person, or one with large cheeks ; ploeag, a fat woman. BLOOD (Slang). — A smart young man, a buck, a dandy, a fashionable youth. Blood, a riotous, disorderly person.— Geose. A fast or high-mettled man ; nearly obso- lete in the sense in which it was used in George the Fourth's time. — Slang Dictio- nary. (JSraeltC. — Blaodh, a noisy person ; a shout ; blaodliag, a riotous woman. BLOODY. — This common vulgarism, detestable if derived from " blood," would lose much of its offensiveness if it could be traced to any other source. Such phrases as a " bloody fool," a " bloody impostor," a " bloody shame," and scores if not hundreds of others, which are too current among the uneducated English, are probably derived from that Keltic vernacular which philologists have been accustomed to ignore. Swift writes to Stella, Windsor, 5th Oct., 1711, "It grows bloody cold,, and I have no waistcoat here." In 1760, the poet Gray wrote to Mason, " I have sent Musseus back as you desired me, scratched here and there, and with it also a bloody satire written against persons no less than you and me by name." — Notes and Queries, No. 15, 1873. CBraeltC. — Bloide, a piece, a bit, a half; if this derivation be correct, a "bloody fool" may merely signify a bit of a fool, and " bloody strange " rather strange, or very strange. BLOBE (Provincial). — In the Eastern Counties " blore " is to bellow like a bull. In Lincolnshire "blore" is the moan of a cow uneasy for want of her calf, or from being in a strange pasture. According to Mr. Wright it also signifies a blast, or a blowing; and to weep with a loud moan. Blout. — To chide in a loud tone. Blurt. — To express loudly a fact or an opinion that ought to be con- cealed. Derivation not known. — Ash, 1775. From the Scottish Mutter. — Chambers. Bluiter, to make a rumbling noise, to blurt. — Jamieson. Scottish, a blirt of greeting, a burst of tears ; related to blutter-bludder, as splirt to splutter. — Wedgwood. Blurt is formed from blur, to obscure by some blot or stain — blurred.— B^icsjl'b.dso's. 40 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY If the meaning of " blurt " as defined by Richardson and others is to speak out rashly and unadvisedly, the de- rivation cannot be from blur, to obscure, for he who " blurts/' common- ly makes what he says but too plain and clear. The true root of both " blore " and " blurt " are to be sought in the (SSraellC. — Blaor, a cry, a shout, a loud lament; blbr, a loud voice, a clamour ; llbrack, clamorous, noisy ; blbracan, a noisy person. See Blare. BLOW.— A stroke. The English language that receives increase from so many sources, has the word "blow" in a variety of un- related meanings. The wind " blows," the flower "blows," he "blows" his nose, he " blows " his brains out. The substantive " blow," unconnected with any of these, and for which there is no corresponding verb is the (BVael it. — Buttle, to strike. The other components of the language, the Ger- man with sclilagen, and the Norman- French with f rapper, offer no roots or constituents. • BLOWEN (Slang).— A woman of bad character; the associate of thieves, and employed by them to trap and rob the unwary. Possibly the street term blowen, may- mean one whose reputation has been blown upon and damaged. — Hotten's Slang Dic- tionary. (QraeltC. — Blaodh, a call*; eun, a bird. Blaodheun (d silent), a bird-call, applied metaphorically to a woman who decoys and entices men (for plunder). BLUBBER.— To weep loudly, like a child. Blubber-lipped. — Thick-lipped, hav- ing lips swollen with excessive weeping. Bleb, blob, blub, blobber, have no doubt the same origin ; and bleb, Skinner says, is from the German blaen, to swell. — Richabd- son. A common, vulgar word ; but legitimate.— Webstbe. (HJraeltC. — Blob, blobach, thick-lipped, blubber-lipped ; blobaran, a stutterer, also one who cannot speak plainly for weeping. See Blob. BLUDGEON.— A thick stick used for offence and defence; an instrument much in favour with foot-pads, ga- rotters, and highway robbers. Bludgeoner, corrupted to Bludger. — A low thief who does not hesitate to use violence. Johnson gives no etymology of this word. It is not contained in any earlier Dictionaries. Ash's Dictionary considers the etymology " doubtful." Mr. Wedgwood has omitted it alto- gether. Richardson derives it from an implement to " fetch blood." Worces- ter suggests the Gothic blyggwan, to strike, and the Greek (pXeyavov, a rod. «2Sratl IC. — Bloagh, strength ; dion , security, defence ; whence blaogh-dion (pronounced blao-jion),& strong security, or defence. BLUFF. — Loud, rough, outspoken. Bloughty, puffed, swelled. Old English. — Webstbe. Blaffen, to stammer. — Stbatman's Old English. Dutch, blef, planus ei amplus. The word is probably derived in the first instance, from the sound of something falling flat upon the ground. — Wedgwood. ©raeltC. — Blaodh, a shout, a loud call; blaodhag, noisy; blud (obsolete), fat, puffed, swollen. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 41 BLUSTER.— To talk loudly or offen- sively ; to blow like a strong wind. Blustreden forth as beestes Over bankes and hilles. Piers Ploughman. An augmentative of blast. — Chambers and Wedgwood. Blustre (A.N.P), to wander or stray along without any particular aim. — Weight's Glossary to Piers Ploughman. (BiaeltC. — Blad, a foul or abusive mouth; bladhastair (d silent before the aspirate) , a blusterer, a babbler, a bully, one with an abusive mouth. BOARD. — A plank of wood, a table ; food supplied at a common table, as in the phrase "board and lodging;" on " board " of a ship, i. e. on the planks or deck of a ship. ©raelic. — Bord, a table, a plank; bord- luing, the deck or board of a ship. BOAST.— To vaunt, to brag, to ex- press pride of one's self or one's ac- quirements or possessions. Prom the "Welsh host. — Johnson. Old English and Low German, host, German, bausen, pausten, or brusten, to brag. — Chambebs. The radical meaning seems to be a crack or loud sound, and when applied to vaunting language, it implies that it is empty sound. — Wedgwood. ©faeltC. — JBosd, to boast; gun hhosd, without boasting; bosdail, vain-glo- rious ; bosdalachd, vain-glory, presump- tion, pride. BOB (Vulgar and colloquial). — To nod, to shake, to make a curtsey or obeisance. The etymologists afford no insight into the origin of this word. — Richardson. A birthday jewel bobbing at their ears. — Detden. ©faeltC. — Babag, a fringe, a tassel; anything easily moved by the wind or by the action of the body. BOBBERY (Colloquial).— A disturb- ance, an uproar, an outcry. Booby. — A silly young person who laments or roars without sufficient cause. fiJrafltC— -Z?w5, to bellow, to roar; bub- ail, yelling, roaring, lamenting, outcry. BOBBY (Slang). — A policeman, com- monly supposed to be derived, like the synonymous " Peeler,'" from the name of Sir Robert Peel. The word, however, according to the author of Hotten's Slang Dictionary, is older than the introduction of Sir Robert Peel's police, ©raeltc. — Boban, a boy, a big boy; bobug, bobugan, a fellow ; a term either of affection or contempt for a big boy or lout. BOCK (Provincial). — To look upon one disdainfully (Wright's Obsolete and Provincial English). CSaeltC. — Boc, bocadli, a frown. BODKIN. — A kind of needle, a small dagger, an instrument to prick with. Very likely from bodikin, a little body, from its smallness. — Qazophylacium Angli- canum. The French bouter, to thrust, and the English butt, exhibit a modification of the root (bod). — Wedgwood. (Sadie. — Biodac/ian, a shoemaker's awl ; a little dagger ; biodag, a dagger, a dirk, an instrument with which to pierce or prick ; bod, membrum virile. BODY. — The corpus, the human frame, the frame or physical substance of any animal or living thing. Low- land Scotch, a person, a silly " body," afoolish or sillyperson, a kind "body," a good kind person. Bottom. — The fundament. G 42 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Bout (French) .—The end, the bottom, the substratum; "un petit bout d'homme;" equivalent to the Gaelic bodach, and the Lowland Scotch, " a wee bit body." Anglo-Saxon, bodig, Gaelic, bodhag. It seems the same word with the German bottich, a cask. . . . The primary sense is the thick round part of the living frame as distinguished from the limbs or lesser divisions ; thus the whole material frame as distinguished from the sentient principle by which it is ani- mated. — Wedgwood. fi&aelic — Bod, membrum virile; bodair, a fornicator, a dissolute and lascivious man, a debauchee; bodagach, wanton, lascivious; bodach, a churlish old man or " body ;" bodachan, a little old " body " or man ; bodhag, bodhaig, the human body ; bodhan, the seat, the bottom, the breech, the buttock. Bod, which some hold to be synonym- ous with the Asiatic Buddha, is the true etymon of the word "body." Divine honours were paid to the bod or phallus bythe earliest Oriental nations ataperiod long anterior to authentic history. "The following," says O'Brien in the Mound Towers of Ireland, " is from one of the Hindu Paranas. 'During the flood, Brahma, or the creative power, was asleep at the bottom of the abyss ; the generative powers of nature, both male and female, were reduced to their simplest elements, the Lingam (Bod), and the Yoni (Pite). The Yoni assumed the shape of the hull of a ship, while the Lingam became the mast. In this manner they were wafted over the deep under the care and protection of Vishnu."' See under Peitho, a name of Venus, and the Gaelic word Pite. iSgvntt'C. — Bod, to be, existence. BOG. — A miry, marshy, soft ground. Ground too soft to bear the weight of the body ; Irish, bog, soft. — Johnson. CRaellC. — Bog, soft; bogach, a swamp, a quagmire, a bog. BOGIE. — An imaginary monster with which foolish'nurses frighten children ; the devil with cloven hooves and horns like a goat. (BJaeltC. — Boo, a he-goat ; bocan, devil in the shape of a goat ; a goblin, a spectre; baogh, a female spirit supposed to haunt dangerous rivers ; baoghal, peril, danger ; baoghalach, wild, furious, destructive, dangerous; baogh- alan, a silly fellow, liable to be fright- ened by bogies. BOGUS. — Fraudulent, sham, unreal, " pretended. This word has long been popular in America, where it is supposed to be a corruption of the name of one Borghese, a notorious forger of bank notes. It seems, however, like many other Ameri- canisms, to have been introduced by Highland emigrants, and to be trace- able to the (BiafltC. — Boc, fraud, deceit. BOIL. — To heat water until it rages or rises in bubbles and steam ; to place any substance in water under these conditions, from the French bouillir. It is customary to say that a man or woman "boils" with rage, or that a person is in a " boiling " passion. The Old English word was seethe. ©arttC. — Boil, boile, madness, rage, fury, passion. BOLLA (Italian Slang) . — A town. dyadic. — Baile, a town. BOLT (Slang) . — To run away furtively, to disappear from one's creditors or the law, to avoid danger expeditiously. (SiaeltC. — Bolt, a margin, whence, metaphorically, to leave a wide margin between one's self and one's pursuers. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, BOLT. — That which strikes, a thunder- bolt, an arrow ; " a fool's bolt is soon shot;" the "bolt" of a door, that which strikes into the catch or socket, ©raeltc, — Buail, to strike; buailte, struck. BON (French). — Good; bonus (Latin), good. (ffircirltc. — Buan, good, lasting, dura- ble; buanaich, to last, abide, endure; luanas, perpetuity. BQNE (Slang).— To steal, privately or surreptitiously. A young gentleman from Belgravia, who had lost his watch or his pocket handkerchief, would scarcely say that it had been boned, yet bone in old times meant among high and low to steal. — Slang Dictionary. ©iaeltC. — Buin, to take away; buinig, luinich, to obtain by conquest, to win, to acquire ; buain, to pluck, to pull ; to snatch away, to reap. BONNET.— A soft covering for the head, either of man or woman, as distinguished from a hat, or covering of a harder material. From the French bonnet. — Johnson. Q$<&tlit. — Boineid, a bonnet, a cap. BOOBY.— A stupid fellow; a child who cries in a difficulty instead of helping himself out of it. Literally a baby, a. silly or stupid fellow, from the root babe; German, lube. — Chambers. OjrSdtC. — Bub, to roar, to lament loudly, to bellow ; buba, a roar ; buban, a fool, a coxcomb; bubanacli, foolish, stupid. BOOM. — The solemn sound or stroke of a large bell; also the heavy roll and roar of the waves upon the beach. Here I, great Tom, Sing loudly, bim-bom ! Mother Hubbard, a Burlesque. Halliwell. G From the Dutch bommen, to make : low sound. — Woecb8teb. To sound like a bomb, the firing of a ca the roar of the sea, the noise of a drur cry of the bittern ; to rush with violenc< ship under sail. Anglo-Saxon, byme, atru bommen, to drum, from the root of Bomb, Latin, bombus, Greek, (3ojuj3or. imitation of the sound. — Chambees. (iUaeltC. — Beum, a heavy blo\ stroke; beum-sgeithe, the striking the shield ; beumadh-chlag, the rin of bells. BOOR.— One rude of speech, clow unmannerly ; a country labourer This word seems to have no connt with the German bauer, a peasar farmer; literally, a builder or constru from bauen, to build ; or with the L boer, synonymous with the Gen Neither the German nor the Dutcl tach any idea of rudeness or clownisl to the bauer or the boer) any more the English do to the word " farnu ©aeltC. — Bur, a clownish pers( boor, a digger and delver; buraia blockhead, a lout; burachadh, dig and delving, the rudest kind of lab buarachan, a cowherd. BOOTH. — French, boutique, Spa: bodega, a shop, a tent. Bothy. — A shepherd's house or a mSiUtUc. — Bo-tiglie, a cow-house; a cottage, hut, tent, bower, be Hebrew, beth, a house. ISgmctC. — Bwth, ahut,acabin; bwi a small cabin ; budy, a house for ca BOOTY. — The prizes of vid French buiin, German beute, Ita bottino, plunder. Feeebooteb. — A robber, one makes war on his own accoum the sake of plunder. Swedish byte, byta, to divide. — Chamj 44 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGT It is admitted that the French butin, Italian bottino, are derived from the German beute. — Wedgwood. ©raeli'C. — Buaidk, victory, conquest. iv£mric. — Budd, profit, gain. BORACHIO (Italian).— A leathern bottle. Borracctna. — A little leathern bottle, a bladder. Borachio, a wine skin, and metaphorically a drunkard : Spanish. Borracha, a leather hag or bottle for wine : Gaelic. — Wedgwood. ©r3f ItC. — Borracha, a bladder. BORE. — A troublesome friend or ac- quaintance who pesters you with his talk ; a nuisance ; anything which annoys or wearies. The Gradus ad Cantabrigiam suggests the derivation from the Greek J3apos, a burden. — Slang Dictionary. ©racliC. — Bodhar (d silent), deaf; bodhair, to deafen, to stun with noise; bodhradi, [bora), deafening, stun- ning with noise. Boreas. — The North, the blustering or deafening wind. At the head of the Gulf of Venice, a peculiarly violent North-east wind prevails at some seasons, which is called the Bora or the " deafener." BOROUGH.— Burgh (English), bourg (French), burg (German) ; burgo (Spanish), borg (Icelandic), jmr (Hin- dustanee) . All these words are obviously from the same root; a root more primitive than the Anglo-Saxon beorgan, to pro- tect, which both the earliest and the latest philologists have agreed to accept. In the pastoral ages, from which the words "trade/' "market," "pecuniary," and others have descended to modern speech, sheep, cattle, and horses were wealth, and their names were its re- presentatives. The first settlements of a pastoral people were around the folds and enclosures of their cattle. Thus we have the (SradtC. — Buar, cattle ; ach, achadh, a field or enclosure ; whence buar-ach (bo- rough, burgh, burg, borg, &c), a field or enclosure for the cattle which formed the wealth of the community, and gra- dually became a town. BOSH. — Nonsense, idle talk. A word lately introduced from our inter- course with the East, signifying nonsense. The Turkish bosh, empty, vain, useless ; agreeing in a singular manner with the Scottish boss, hollow, empty, poor. — Wedg- wood. A writer in the Saturday Review states that bosh is coeval with Morier's novel, Eadji Baba, but this is a mistake. The term was used in this country as early as 1760. A correspondent asserts that the expression is from the German bossch, answering to our word swipes (small beer). — Slang Diction- ary. (JKafltC. — Baois (pronounced baoish), idle talk, folly, lustfulness. BOSS (American English) .—The chief or director of any trade, work, or business ; used originally in the days before the abolition of negro slavery, to avoid the word master, which was only employed to signify the relation between a slave-owner and his human chattel. GSt&t lit, — Bos, the hand ; bos-bhuail, to clap hands, to praise ; bos-luath, nim- ble or quickhanded ; bos-ghaire, applause by clapping of hands. The word " bos," used in the sense of the hand or directing hand of a business in which all the men are called hands, would^by metaphor signify the prin- cipal hand, chief, or master. BOTCH. — To do anything ill, to cobble, to patch in a slovenly manner. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 45 Botcher. — One who botches. tJEraelt'c. — Boidsear, a blockhead, a stupid fellow. BOTHY.— A Highland hut. See Booth. A house built of boards or boughs, to be used for a short time. Dutch, hoed; Welsh, bwth. — Johnson. Neither the German bauen, to build, nor the English abode, afford a satisfactory derivation. Gaelic both, bothag, bothan, hut, tent, bower; Bohemian, banda, a hut. — Wedgwood. (BrSf lie. — Buth, a shop, a tent, a hut, a small cot (Kymric, bwth, Irish, both) ; buthan, a little hut, a tent, a bothy. BOTTLE. — A small vessel to contain liquor, commonly made of glass, but formerly of wood, bladders, leather, stone or earthenware. From the French bouteille, Low Latin buticula, Anglo-Saxon bitte, or perhaps it may be a diminutive of butte, as a butte of beer. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Bottle of hay, or bundle of hay ; French botal, diminutive of botte. — Chambbes. (Uraelic. — Buideal, a cask. BOTTOM. — The fundament. See Body. ISk&tUt. — Bod,the trunk or frame, as distinguished from the limbs ; torn, a protuberance, a rising, a hill. BOUCHE (French).— The mouth. Boucheb. — A butcher, a provider for the mouth. Picard, bouque; Provencal et Bspagnol, boca ; Italien, bocca; du Latin bucca, que Ton rattache au Sanscrit bhuj, manger. — Littee. (SRaeltC. — Bus, a mouth, a lip; busach, having a large mouth. BOULANGER (French).— A baker. This word has no resemblance to the synonymous words in the allied languages. In Italian it is fornajo and panattiere, and in Gaelic fuine- adair, which suggests the same de- rivation as the Italian, from furnace, an oven. Perhaps the French boulanger was formerly not only a baker of bread, as the word is now used, but what in modern English is called a pastry-cook, a maker of cakes, pastry, and similar delicacies into which the bakers' ingre- dient flour, enters mainly with fruit, sugar, &c. The derivation is to be found in the ) ; brataich, to kindle. BRAKE. — A covert of fern or heather. Breckan (Lowland Scotch). — The mountain fern, also heath, heather. Far dearer to me yon lone glen o' green breckan, Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yel- low broom. Bttens. Noiselessly they flow, and clear, By open wold, and cover'd brake. The Water Tarantella. Welsh, brwg, brake ; Graelic,/hzoe, heather. — Chambees. (SraeliC. — Fraoch, heath, heather; fraochach, heath-covered ; fraoch bheinn, heath-covered mountains. BRAME. — Grief, vexation, bitterness of spirit. Old English. That through long languor and heart- burning brame, She shortly like a pined ghost became. Spensee's Faerie Queene. i&aelic. — Breamas, grief, misfortune. BRAN. — The coarser part of grain and meal, with the husks ground along with it. CRaeltC. — Pronn, the coarser parts of oatmeal ; bran, chaff, husks. BRANGLE.— To quarrel, to contend (Obsolete or Provincial). Brangled. — Confused, entangled. Branglesome. — Contentious. Heer I conceive that flesh and blood will brangle, And murmuring reason with th' Almighty wrangle. Du Baetas, quoted by Mares. OF THIS ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 49 ffiarltC. — Brionglaid, confusion, wrangling, disagreement ; brionglaid- each, causing strife, contention, or con- fusion. BRINKS (Lowland Scotch).— A hal- ter, a bridle ; also an instrument for- merly used for the punishment and restraint of scolds. Branks, — This instrument is of iron, and surrounds the head, while the mouth is gagged by a triangular piece of the same mate- rial. There is one still preserved at Newcastle. — Halliwell, 1855. An iron bit was preserved in the steeple of Forfar, formerly used in that very place for torturing the unhappy creatures who were ac- cused of witchcraft. It was called the Witches' branks. The word is also applied to a sort of bridle used by country people in riding, or tethering cattle. Instead of leather, it has on each side a piece of wood, joined to » halter, to which a bit is sometimes added. — Jamieson. (jRaoltC. — Brangas or brangus, an in- strument formerly used in the Highlands for the punishment of scolds and slan- derers ; braaig, a horse's halter. BRASH (Lowland Scotch).— An erup- tion on the skin, a fit of illness. Bjrashy. — Delicate in constitution ; subject to frequent ailments or fits of illness. Wae worth that brandy ! burning trash ! Pell source o' mony a pain an' brash. BtTBNS, Scotch Drink. CSaeltC. — Brais, a fit, a convulsion. BRASS (Slang). — Impudence; a bra- zen-faced hussy, an impudent woman. Literally a metal of the colour of glow- ing coal. Anglo-Saxon, braes, Icelandic, bras, to solder ; French, braise, glowing coal, from the coals over which the solder- ing is done. — Chambers. Brazen-faced, impudent, shameless ; such a person is said to have rubbed his face with a brass candlestick. — Slang Dictionary. (KaellC. — Bras, keen, rash, impetuous, ardent, impudent ; each bras, a mettle- some horse ; braise, rashness, bold ; braisead, forwardness, rashness, im- pudence, effrontery ; bras-bhuiUeach, ready or apt to strike, impetuous in striking (as in battle) . BRAT. — A word of contempt applied to a child ; a beggar's " brat," i. e. the ragged, squalid child of a beggar. A brat, one come of an obscure parentage ; a bastard; from the Belgian fradde, both, without any offence, from the Anglo-Saxon bredan, to bring up. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Literally, a rag ; a contemptuous name for a child. Gaelic, brat, a rag. Provincial English, brat, a child'spinaf ore. — Chambers. Brat, clothing in general ; the " bit and and the brat," food and raiment ; also a troublesome child. — Jamieson. CRa f I tC. — Brat, a rag, a cloth ; bratach, a flag, an ensign, the colours of a regi- ment ; bratag, a rag, an impudent girl. BRAVE IT OUT (Slang.)— To lie im- pudently to clear one's self of a diffi- culty. Bravado. — Boasting, blustering. Bravo (Italian). — A bully, a hired assassin. These words have no relation to brave in the sense of courageous, or heroic, except the similarity in sound, and are from an entirely different root, the (Sadie. — Brabhdadh (bh pronounced v), idle talk, swagger, bluster; brabh- dair, a swaggerer, a bully, a blusterer ; brabhdaireachd, bluster, braggadocio. UgtltriC. — Brawychu, to daunt, to terrify. BRAW (Lowland Scotch) .—Fine, hand- some, beautiful. From the French brave, or Teutonic, brauwe (ornatus). — Jamieson. tiSxSWlit. — Breagh, fine, beautiful; latha breagh, a fine day ; nighean breagh, a fine girl ; breachachd, finery, orna- ments; " Is breagh andealradh ni grian," H 50 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY "beautiful is the shine of the sun." Gaelic poem, quoted in Armstrong. BRAWL. — To contend loudly and angrily; a strife, a contention, a broil. Brawl is contracted from brabble ; brab- ble is from the Dutch brabbelen, or the French brouiller. — Kichaedson. German, brullen; Dutch, brullen; French, brailler, to roar or bellow. — Websteb. (3*aeIlC. — Braodhlach, braodlaich, braoileadh, a great noise, rixa discordia, ingens strepitus; a burst of indignation ; braoilicli, a loud noise, a rattling sound. BRAWN.— Muscle. Brawny. — Fleshy, muscular. Transposition of Anglo-Saxon baren, plu- ral of bdr, a boar ; Italian, brano ; Old French, braion, a lump of flesh. — Chambees. dSatfltC. — Brain, big, bulky ; branna, brainn, the belly ; brannach, corpulent ; brannaire, a corpulent man. BRAXIE (Lowland Scotch). — A disease among sheep, affecting the mouth ; the foot and mouth disease; bad mut- ton ; the flesh of a sheep that has died of disease. (SraeltC. — Braic (obsolete), the mouth; bragsazdh, a disease among sheep, the braxie. BRAY. — To grind or bruise into a powder ; " to bray a fool in a mortar." (SJraeltC. — Bra, a quern, a hand-mill. BRAZEN-NOSE.— One of the colleges of Oxford, founded in 1500, of which the name has given rise to much literary and antiquarian controversy. Some maintain that the name arises from the brew-house, brasen-haus, of Alfred's Hall ; while others would derive it from the Brazen nose, fixed on the top of the College Gate. The first derivation is probably cor- rect. — Sheimpton's Guide to Oxford. CSaPliC. — Bras-chaoin, quick and pleasant; nbs, custom, manner, usage, habit, ceremony. If this be the de- rivation, it would imply that the " Man- ners that make the man " were taught at Brazenose as well as the Classics. BREAD.— The Gaelic word for the staff of life is aran, akin to ar, to plough, to till, to cultivate the land ; and signifies the result of such culti- vation. The English "bread," im- mediately derived from the Saxon and Teutonic brod, seems to be of a Keltic origin. (JKaellC. — Brod, the choice or best quality of anything; the best quality of grain, with which bread is made ; brot, brod, to fatten, to feed, to live upon bread, or the best quality of corn or wheat. BREE (Lowland Scotch) . — Brewage, broth, spirit; the "barley-bree." (KafltC. — Brigh, essence, substance, juice, sap, pith, vigour. See Brick. BREECHED.— This word, in a sense not usual, occurs in Shakspeare. There, the murderers Steep'd in the colours of thtir trade, their daggers Unmannerly breech' A with gore. — Macbeth. This passage has puzzled all commentators. The lower extremity of anything might be called the breech (as the breech of a gun), and Dr. Farmer has quoted a passage which proves that the handles of daggers were actually so termed. . . . The true explana- tion is " having the very hilt or breech covered with blood." — Naees. CRacItC. — Breac, a spot, a stain, and breachaiehte, spotted, freckled, stained ; i. e. the daggers were spotted or stained with gore. BREECHES (Scottish, Breeks).— The name of this garment is derived in English from the word "breech/' which they cover. The Scottish OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 51 "breeks," which admits of no such derivation is the €5ra el tC. — Briogais, trousers, breeches ; briogamach, having trousers. From the Keltic word the Romans derived bracca, breeches, trowsers ; and bracca.tus, wearing such breeches or trews, as the Gauls, &c. — Ainswobth. Braque (French). — Pour culotte, calecon ou haut-de-chausses, " Sortir d'une affaire braques nette," signifie sortir d'une affaire sans en recevoir de prejudice ; si c'est un combat, sans 6tre blesse\ — Le Roux, Dic- tionnaire Comique. BREHON LAWS.— The ancient and unwritten laws of the Druids. The decisions of the judges. A collection of some of the Brehon Laws in Ire- land was made in the tenth century. The actual date at which the Brehon Law Tracts assumed their present form cannot be accurately fixed, but Sir H. Maine, on the authority of the distinguished Keltic scholar, Mr. Whitley Stokes, seems to consider that the chief of them belong to the 10th and 11th centuries of our era, though it is probable that there may be found embedded in them here and there fragments which may be as- signed to a much earlier date. Like all bodies of primitive law, they no doubt consist chiefly in the reduction to order and shape of a mass of pre-existing custom, and of course it is impossible to tell at what period in the history of the race some of these customs re- corded may have arisen ; but if we find among these relics of Keltic antiquity, as is more than once the case, customs substantially identical with practices immemorial among the Hindoos, it is not too hazardous to con- jecture that the common customs descended from a time when Keltic and Indian races • had not yet separated from the primitive Aryan stock. — Times, Feb. 10, 1875, Review of Sir S. 8. Maine's Early History of Institutions. (Sac lie. — Breath, breiih, judgment ; breathacli, breitheach, judicial; breiili- eanas, a decision. BREW. — To produce beer or ale from the boiling of the proper ingredients ; also to compound or mix liquors, as in the phrase used in Shakspeare, * " Brew me a pottle of sack." Broth. — The liquor produced by the boiling of flesh, soup. Brew is from the Anglo-Saxon briwan, the German brauen, the Old French bruer. — Wobcesteb. Broth, from the Anglo-Saxon briwan, the Italian broda or brodo, the Spanish, brodio, and the Gaelic brot. — Woecestee. CUadic. — Bruich, bruith, to boil, to seethe, to simmer ; and hence any li- quor that has been boiled with ingre- dients; beer, ale, broth. BRIAR, Brier.. — A thorn, a rose, the brier-rose, the sweet briar. Anglo-Saxon, brcer, brere ; but probably from the Norman. In the patois of Normandy the word briere is still preserved ; French, bruyere, a heath. — Wedgwood. [Bruyere, i. e. a place covered with brambles and other prickly shrubs.] OS art it. — Briar, a thorn, a prickle ; bior, a thorn, a pin; biorach, briaraeh, prickly, sharp-pointed. BRIBE. — A reward given to a man to induce him to do that, either good or evil, which he might otherwise not do. French, bribe de pain, a lump of bread ; briber, to beg one's bread, collect bits of food. Hence Old .English, bribour, a beggar, a rogue. — Wedgwood. The origin of the word is the Welsh briwo, to break; briw, broken, a fragment; bar a briw, broken bread. — Hecaet, quoted by Wedgwood. The meaning of the French bribe is a fragment, and the Old English bribour, a beggar, can scarcely be from the same root as briber, the rich man who gives, not the poor man who receives. An- other root offers in the CBraelic. — Brib,& small sum of money; bribearachd, payment of a debt by driblets or small sums. The sense in which the word is used appears in the following example given in M f Alpine's Dictionary, " Am bheil thu brath am brib sin a phaidheadh ? " Are you going to pay that small sum ? b-Z THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY BRIC-A-BRAC— A French word re- cently introduced into English, signi- fying costly old furniture articles of virtu, or curiosities. Bric-a-brac. — Objets vieux et de hazard, comme bahuts, ferrailles, tableaux, statuettes, &c. Etymologie ; — mot forme a l'imitation de brie et de brae, deca et dela, d'une fagon ou de l'autre, de toute facon. — Littee. (SBraelic. — Breac, to carve, engrave, embroider, cover with devices, to che- quer; breacadh, carving, embroidering, ornamenting ; breacair, a graver, a car- ver; breacairectchd, the art of an en- graver or carver; carved work, che- quered work, highly ornamented work ; breach, spotted ; brice (the c pronounced hard like k), more spotted. BRICK (Slang).— A good solid fellow, a regular brick. Said to be derived from an expression of Aristotle's, " rerpayovos aurjp." — Hottbn's Slang Dictionary. ®r30l ic. — Brigh, vigour, essence, pith ; brigkeilj substantial, whence metaphori- cally, a man to be depended upon, a " brick." BRIDE. — A woman about to be mar- ried, or one newly married. Bridal. — The ceremony of marriage. No philologist has hitherto been able to assign any other origin to the word bride, than the German braut, and the Anglo-Saxon bruht, and recently, the "Welsh priod. " Bridal " is supposed to mean the bride-ale, or the marriage festivity, when ale was drunk by the wedding guests. Mr. Wedgwood says, " the Gothic bruths, means a daughter- in-law, and the Old High German brut, signifies spousa, conjux, nurus, and the German braut, a bride." He also sug- gests the Welsh priod, appropriated, fit, owned ; also married, a married man or woman ; priodi, to appropriate ; priodas, a wedding. The author of the Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum says, " the word is from the Anglo-Saxon hid, Belgic bruyd, Teutonic brand, and all of these from the Anglo-Saxon bredan, Teutonic bruten, and Belgic brueten, to keep warm or cherish.-" Mr. Donald, the editor of Chambers' Dictionary, adoptsMr. Wedg- wood's derivation, aud declares that " bride signifies one who is owned or purchased." Bird, brid, and birdie, are all terms of endearment, employed by the Lowland Scotch to female children, and to young ladies; and might sug- gest a better derivation than the one so uncomplimentary to the fair sex that finds favour with Mr. Wedgwood and Mr. Donald. In Gaelic, bru, signifies the womb, and in Modern French, a daughter-in-law, the same doubtless as the Gothic bruths, which Mr. Wedg- wood cites. Remembering the common and tender phrase, "the wife of one's bosom," it may be suggested that the true etymon is to be sought in the CJcaeltC. — Broit, the bosom; a pos- sible root for " bridal " is briodal, en- dearment, loving attention ; briodalach, fond of caressing; briodalaiche, a fondler, a caresser (as a bridegroom with his bride). Without attempting to decide whether or not these Gaelic words are the true sources of the German braut, and the English bride, Gaelic offers still other words for consideration, all of them better than the Welshpriod. Breid signifies a woman's head-dress, consist- ing of a square of fine linen, neatly pinned round the head, and is generally put for the female badge of marriage, whence " bride," the wearer of the breid; breid- each, a married woman; brideach, a bride, a virgin; brideachail, like a bride; OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 53 brideag, a little woman. Nor do these words, suggestive as they all are, ex- haust the possible Gaelic roots, as there remain briadha, beautiful, elegant, well- dressed ; briadhachd, hriadhas, beauty, finery. Love, beauty, the bosom, endearment, and an article of attire as a symbol of marriage, all are included in the idea of a " bride," and all of these are clearly traceable in the Gaelic ; and each or any one of these seems preferable to all previous etymologies. BRIEF. — The instructions given to a barrister for the conduct of his case, either for the plaintiff or thedefendant. A short (or brief) account of a client's case. Instructions to a counsel. Latin brevis, short. — Chambebs. ©artic. — Breitlieamh (pronounced bre-uv), a judge, and afterwards the data on which to form a judgment or opinion. BRIGAND. — A robber, or freebooter, inhabiting the mountainous districts of wild and unsettled countries, and thence descending into the plains for the purposes of plunder. Italian, briga, strife ; Mid-Latin, briga, jurgia, rixa,pugna; Italian, brigare, to strive, brawl, combat. Prohably it was in the sense of skirmishers that the name of brigand was given to certain light-armed foot-soldiers frequently mentioned hy Proissart and his contemporaries. — Wedgwood. ffiafltC. — (Obsolete) BriogacA, hilly, mountainous; braigh, braig/ie, the up- lands, the " braes," the upper part of anything or place ; braigAeacA, a moun- taineer. Ugmric. — Srig, a top, a summit ; brigant, brigantead, a highlander, a mountaineer. BRIGHT. — Shining, brilliant, lustrous, resplendent. Anglo-Saxon, beort, shining, full of light. — Johnson. From the Keltic-British brith, painted, or rather party-coloured. — Qazophylacium Anglicanum. Gothic, bairhts, clear, manifest ; Icelandic, biartr, Anglo-Saxon, beorht, Old High Ger- man, praht, pracht, clear sound, outcry, tumult ; and at a later period, splendour. The English bright was formerly applied to sounds. — Wedgwood. (SSfarttC. — BraigAt, a large, blazing fire, a bonfire ; braighteal, a beacon fire. In old times the fire that the Druids had on the top of mountains. This word must be the true etymon of the English word bright. M'Alpine's Gaelic Dictionary. BRILLIANT.— Shining. Bbjllee, (French). — To shine. Esprit beillant (French) . — Wit. Brilliant, shining like a beryl or pearl; French, briller, probahly from the Latin beryllus, a beryl. — Chambebs. L'etymologie donnee depuis longtemps de berillus, sorte de pierre brillante, est bonne. Bril, e"clat. — Littbe. It would appear from the above au- thorities, that the word "brilliant" ori- ginally meant solid and valuable, rather than shining or showy. The derivation from a pearl is not satisfactory. ffiaellC. — BrigAeil (bri-eil), solid, real, efficacious. BRIM (Slang). — A violent woman. An irascible woman, as unpleasant and in- flammable as brimstone, from which the word is contracted. — Slang Dictionary. Brimo, the " angry and terrifying," a sur- name of Hecate and Persephone. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. ©afllC. — Brinneach, a hag, a coarse woman; brin-nicAte, hag-ridden; brimin- bodaicA, a mean disagreeable old person; broimeis, anger, irascibility ; broimseadA, a furious burst of anger. BRIO (Italian) . — Vivacity, spirited- ness, vigorousness, gaiety. In mu- sic, the direction " con brio/' means 54 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY to play the passage in a lively and forcible manner. ©aelic— Brigk {bree), spirit, es- sence, pith, energy. BRIONY.— A climbing plant of two varieties, the white and the black, from which is extracted bryonia, a medicinal bitter much used in homoeo- pathy. It is sometimes called the wild hop. Latin, from the Greek [ipvovia, from hryo, to push ; in allusion to its growth. — Woe- CESTEB. ffifatlic. — Brionn, brionnach, comely, pretty, beautiful, bright ; brionn-shuil, a bright eye. BRISK.— Quick, lively, active. (BaeltC. — Briosg, quick, lively, alert, active ; briosg, a start, a leap, a sudden movement; briosg adh, briskness, activity, a very short space of time. BRISKET.— The breast, or part of the breast of an animal used for food. A " brisket " of beef. French brichet, the hrisket or breast-piece of meat. — Wedgwood. fflfarttC. — Brisg, brittle ; brisgeac, cartilage, gristle ; brisgeanach, the crackling or skin of roasted pork. BRITH (Lowland Scotch) .—" A term," says Jamieson, " which seems to mean strife or contention," and which he derives from the Swedo-Gothic, braede, anger ; brigd, controversy ; brigda, to litigate. ffifarttC. — Breith, judgment, decision, sentence; breitheaeh, judicial. English and BROCK (Northern Scotch) . — A badger. Brocket, Brockit (Lowland Scotch) . — Variegated, spotted, striped, having a mixture of black and white. A cow is said to he brocket when she has black spots or streaks mingled with white in her face. — Jamieson. Brock, a badger ; so called from the white- streaked face of the animal. Prom the Gaelic breach, piebald, spotted. — Wedowood. Brock, a badger. Pure Saxon. Used fre- quently as a term of reproach, as in Twelfth Night, Actii. Scene 5. "Marry! hang thee, brock ! " — Naees. They gang as saucy by poor folk As I would by a stinking brock. Btjens, The Twa Dogs. (ffiaeltC. — Broc, a badger; breac, a badger, or brock, also a speckled trout ; breac, spotted, freckled , piebald, speckled ; each-breac, a piebald horse ; fear-breac, a man deeply marked with the small- pox ; breacan, a tartan plaid, so called from the mixture of colours, especially in the shepherd's plaid of black and white. BROGUE (Lowland Scotch) .—A trick, a lie. You play'd on man a cursed brogue, Black be your fa' ! Bubns, Address to the Beil. (SKaeltC. — Breug, a lie ; breugach, de- ceitful, tricky; breugaicA, belie, falsify. BROGUE.— An Irish or Scottish pro- nunciation or accentuation of the English language. A corrupt dialect, a coarse shoe. Irish. — Johnson. A particular kind of shoe, without a heel, worn in Ireland, and figuratively used to signify the Irish accent. — Geose. The connexion between a corrupt dialect and a shoe is not evident. The true derivation is the (BJaelic. — Brogli, brogacA, strong, sturdy ; brogalacAd, sturdiness, activity ; broganach, lively, jocose, sturdy, having OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. the rough uncultivated dialect of the country, as distinguished from the polite and more cultivated speech of the town. BROGUES.— Shoes. Brocarder (French) . — To tan leather. Brodeqtjin (French). — A boot. I thought he slept, and put My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness Answered my steps too loud. Shakspeabe, Cymbeline. Plamand broseken, ancien brosekin, d'a- pres Diez qui soupijonne que oe mot flamand a ete forme de byrsa, ouir, par interversion . Brodequin, dans r ancien francais, a signifie une sorte de cuiv. — Littbe. CEfapliC. — Brog, a shoe ; brogan, a lit- tle shoe; brog-cMudaire, a shoemaker, a cobbler. This is one of the very few words that Dr. Johnson admits to be Irish or Gaelic. BROKE (Obsolete) .—To do business for others, to act as an agent. Broker. — An agent, a middleman, a transactor of business on behalf of another. Anglo-Saxon, brucan, to discharge an office ; brocian, to oppress. French, broyer, to grind. — WoBCESTEB. Broker, a pander, cheater, or lifter. Sol- land's Leaguer, Todd. — Wares. The name broker seems to have come to us from the shores of the Baltic where the term braker, bracker, or wracker, is used to signify public inspectors appointed to class goods according to their quality. . . . Tf we advance another step in the inquiry and seek the origin of brack, and in the sense of rejec- tion, we shall probably find the original image in the act of spitting, as the liveliest expres- sion of disgust and contempt for the rejected article. German, brechen, Dutch, braeken, to vomit, &c. — Wedgwood. The Germans call a broker a maMer, or fault-finder, and tadler, a censor, a carper. The French use the word courtier, and speak of a courtier chevaux, a horsedealer ; a courtier vin, a wine agent. The Italian wc is sensale, which not only means broker and an agent, but a procure a pander, a pimp. The non-appearai of any word resembling the Engl: verb to "broke" suggests a nati root. To broke is to deal or transact a busin< particularly of an amorous nature ; proba from Saxon brucan, to be busy, used jectively, to seduce in behalf of another Naees. 'Tis as I tell you, Colax, she's as coy, And hath as shrewd a spirit and quick conci As ever wench I broked in all my life. Daniel, Queen's Arcadia And broke with all that can in such a suil Corrupt a maid. Shakspeabe, All's Well that ends Wt One of Johnson's definitions of " bi ker" is a pimp, a match-maker. ~N. Howard Staunton, in his Glossary Shakspeare, defines the word as Sha speare uses it, to signify "a pandi a procuress, a cheat." As the busint of a pander, which the word evident meant in early English — and as : modern synonym in Italian and Fren still suggests — conveys no idea of fau finding, on which Mr. Wedgwood buil his etymological hypothesis, but tli of flattery, cajolery, and lying, i turn for another etymon, and find in the ffiaeltC. — Breug, soothe, flatter, e tice, cajole, lie ; breugach, deceitfi breugadh, cajolery, deceit. These words apply to the business a pander or go-between, and while th clearly show the base origin of a n< honourable word, point how in proce of time they came to be employ with reference to the occupation of o whose object is to sell, or dispose of t 56 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY goods of another, with a profit to himself for his agency. BROOD.— To meditate, to think over anything, long and patiently. This word is of a different origin from " brood " the progeny or breed, or the act of brooding or hatching. ©faellC. — Brnad, a dream (obsolete) ; bruada, a dream, a vision ; bruadair, to dream ; bruadaraiche, a dreamer, a visionary. BROOD. — To sit upon eggs, like the hen and other birds ; progeny, the young of birds ; metaphorically and contemptuously, the young of the human species, as " a beggar and his brood." Prom the Anglo-Saxon Sredas, Teutonic bruten, to sit upon eggs. It alludes to the Greek fipva>, to grow big with young. — Q-azo- phylacium Anglieanum. To be in a state to develope the embryos of new life, as a fowl sitting on eggs in order to hatch them. Prom the Anglo-Saxon bredcm, to nourish. — Worcester. Connected with the Welsh brwd, warm. — Chambers. (SJatltC. — Bru, the belly, the womb; bru-iorrach, pregnant. BROOK. — The overflow of a fountain that forms a stream. Brook, Anglo-Saxon, broca, abrook; Welsh, brwche, the bubbling or springing up of water ; Gaelic, bruich, to boil, seethe, simmer, from the murmuring noise, Greek, (3pvx, to spring. — Wedgwood. (GSaeXtC. — Bruich, to bubble up or boil over, Stwittric. — Brwch, brvjckan, ferment, bubbling. BRUIN. — A familiar name given to the bear in fairy tales. A cant term given to a bear. — Worcester. The brown animal. — Chambers. But as bears are not of necessity broion, and may be grey, white, or black, and as many other animals have as much claim to the epithet brown, such as the bull, the horse, the buffalo, the ass, the rat, the etymology is not wholly satisfactory. Perhaps the clue may be found in the well known habit of the animal of hugging its enemies or vic- tims to death ; and the word may be derived from the ffiaeltC. — Bruan, to press, to hug, to squeeze. BRUISE.— To wound the skin or flesh ; to macerate, to crush. Anglo-Saxon, brysan, Prench, briser, Celtic, bris, to break. — Chambers. Gaelic, bris, brisd, brist ; Portuguese, bri- tar, to break. — Wedgwood. As a person's limbs or body may be bruised without being broken, the root does not seem properly traceable to bru, but to the ©aeliC. — Bruth, to bruise, to crush; bruthadh, a bruise, a contusion ; bris, to break ; briseadk, breaking, bursting ; briste, splintering, broken; bruis, frag- ments, splinters ; bruite, bruised, broken. BRUIT (French).— A noise. Bruit. — To spread a rumour or re- port, as in the phrase, "it is bruited abroad.'" And the king's rouse the heavens shall bruit again, Eespeaking earthly thunder. Shakspeaee, Samlet. Low Latin, brugai, Greek, $pvx, to roar, probably imitating, like the Latin rugio, to roar. — Chambers. ©faeltC. — Briot, briotail, the mingled cry of a multiplicity of birds ; a meeting or company where every one is speak- ing; idle tattle, chatter. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. BRUNNEN (German).— Spas, or wells of medicinal, or supposed medicinal waters, most of them known for their fetid odour. ffiaeltc. — Breun, putrid, rotten, fetid; breunadh, rottenness. BRUTE. — An animal, a beast ; applied contemptuously to a rude uncultivated and ferocious man ; Latin, brwtus, dull, barbarous, irrational. Brutal. — Inhuman, cruel, savage, beastly. The ancients living in cities, in which all civilization was supposed to be con- fined, as the etymology of that word implies, attributed all rudeness and bar- barism to the country people. ©aeltc. — Bru (obsolete), the country, the wild country ; brut/t, a cave, the habitat of a wild beast; bruaidh, a peasant, a boor. See Boor. BUBBLE. — A dishonest project to cheat the public, generally supposed to be derived from a bubble on the water, a soap bubble, that only glitters for a time, and then bursts. But this de- rivation is not wholly satisfactory. Nares defines " bubble, to cheat," and describes it as " a word of some anti- quity, although its origin is not clear." Poor Robin, 173.1, speaks of one " who was foolishly bubbled out of his money." Shakspeare in Macbeth makes Banquo say of the Witches, — The earth has bubbles as the water hath ; And these are of them. This at first sight would seem to help the derivation from the globules of air, formed by the commotion of water, but as the earth cannot form such globules, it would seem as if a pun were intended on another meaning of the word. And this is found in the (SarltC. — Baobh, a wizard, a wicl woman; baobhail, wicked, wild, m mischievous. BUCK.— The male of the deer, i rabbit, the hare, the goat, &c. Gaelic. — Boc, a he-goat (Frem bouc) ; beothach {th silent), a beast, animal; beuc, to roar. BUCK. — A dandy, a swell, a macaroi for by all these names the idle m of fashion has been called by 1 vulgar within the last hundred yea (jwaflir. — Buadkach {bua-ach), v torious, brave, having good qualiti The word first used in seriousness, w afterwards adopted in derision to den< a pretender to the qualities he did i possess. BUCK-BASKET.— A basket to cc vey clothes to the laundry. Buch, to steep or soak in lye, a process bleaching. German, beuchen, Danish, by Gaelic, bog, to steep ; also given from German buche, the beech -tree, because was made ot the ashes of the beech. — Chj BEES. (SaiilC. — Buac, bwacliar, dung us in bleaching ; the liquor in which clc is washed ; also, linen in an early sta of bleaching ; buachadair, a bleacher. BUCKIE (Lowland Scotch).— A fello a lad. Buckie-ruff. — A wild or rude lad, Devil's Buckie, De'il's Buckie. — j ill-tempered fractious boy. QSr&tlit. — Bo-gille, a cowboy; I achaille, a shepherd, a cowherd, a 1 that tends cattle. BUCKRAM.— Coarse linen cloth. Coarse cloth, stiffened with glue, origins having open holes or interstices. Ital bucherame, buca, a, hole. — Chambees. 1 38 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Italian, bucherame, French, bougran, bou- earar, Mid-Latin, boquerianus. It is ex- plained as if the stuff was made of goats' hair. The reference to Italian bucherare, to pierce holes, is doubtless fallacious. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — JBuac, unbleached linen cloth ; raimke, reamhar, thick, coarse ; whence buckram, coarse unbleached linen. BUCOLIC. — Relating to pastoral pur- suits, and the rearing or tending of cattle ; a pastoral poem. Latin, bucolicus, Greek, /3oukoAikos, /3ou- koXos, a herdsman ; from j3ou, an ox, and (coXcco. Latin, colo, to tend. — Worcester, Chambers, &c. (Sadie, — Bo, a cow, an ox; gille, a lad; buachaille, a shepherd. BUFFALO.— The wild bull. Huff, buffle, buffalo, Latin, bubulus, Rus- sian, buivol, French, bufle, &c. — Cotgrave. The name of the beast seems taken from a representation of his voice. Lithuanian, bubenti, to bellow, Magyar, bufogni, to give a hollow sound. — Wedgwood. ©aeliC. — Bo, a bull; alluidh, wild; bo-alluidh, the wild bull ; buabhull, a buffalo. BUFFER (Slang).— A contemptuous epithet applied to a man, sometimes used as synonymous with a " fellow," as a " good old buffer," a "good old fellow/' Buffer, a navy term for a boatswain's mate, part of whose duty it is to administer the cat o' nine tails. In 1737 a buffer was a rogue that killed good sound horses for the sake of their skins by running a long wire into them. The term was once applied to those who took false oaths for a consideration. — Slang Dictionary. CfaeltC. — Buaf, a toad, any ugly creature or person ; buafach, virulent ; luafaire, an adder, a viper; buaf a, a serpent. See Bdffoon. BUFFET (French).— A side-board for the display of eatables and drinkables. Buffetiee. — An attendant at the side-board, whence, by corruption, the English " beefeater/' an in- ferior officer in a great household. Buffet signifiait dans l'ancien francais un coup sur la joue. II est difficile de passer par la a l'acceptation que nous occupe. — Littee. The primary sense of buffeler seems to have been to take the vent-peg out of a cask, and let in the air necessary for drawing out liquor. Buffeter, to marre a vessel of wine by often tasting it. Bufetarium, the duty paid for retailing wine in taverns. — Wedg- wood. ffiaeltC. — Buad/i, food, sustenance, refreshment ; buadha, precious, valuable. BUFFOON. — A coarse and vulgar jester. Buffoonery. — Coarse fun. Bouffe (French). — A word applied to a coarse comic opera, or Opera Bouffe. Bufo (Italian). — A toad. Bufonite. — In geology, the toad- stone. French, bouffon, a jester, from Italian buffa, a puff, or blurt from the month made at one in scorn. A puff with the mouth is probably indicative of contempt, as emblematically making light of a subject. — Wedgwood. The name of the toad is generally taken from the habits of the animal in puffing it- self up with wind. So, Greek, <$>vo-aa>, to blow, to swell ; (j>vo-aKos, a toad ; Latin, bufo, a toad ; Magyar, bufa, a toad, a man with swollen cheeks ; Danish, tudse, a toad. — Wedgwood. Among the coarser Romans, we find the bufo — the Italian buffo, the Spanish bufa, and our own buffoon — the toad-like droll who, while somebody piped or chanted for him, diverted the company with antic gestures, extraordinary contortions, and hideous gri- maces. — Article on Opera Bouffe, Daily Telegraph, December 12, 1874. The writer in the Daily Telegraph hints at the true root of the word, origin- ally applied to the lowest kind of comic actors, from the custom of padding out their dress to enlarge the figure, and OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 5'J swelling themselves out as the toad does when alarmed or excited. fflfaellC. — Buaf, a toad ; buafach, poisonous. BUG (Obsolete).— A ghost, a frightful object. Bugaboo. — An object of unreasonable terror. Bugbear. — An object of aversion. Humbug. — A deception. The word "bug " used by Shakspeare, signified an object of terror or aversion. In the Third Part of King Henry VI., Act v. Scene 2, he makes King Edward say, " Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all/' and again in Cymbeline, Post- humus exclaims, " Those that would die or e'er resist, are grown the mortal lugs of the field /' and a third time, " The bug which you would fright me with I seek." "Bugbear," a person or thing causing fright or terror, is a well known word from the same root. " Bugaboo " is of similar origin. The word "humbug," signifying a wilful deception, a wilful deceiver, either on a great or small pretence, or for a great or small object, is compara- tively modern. It is not in Johnson's Dictionary, nor in those of any of his predecessors and contemporaries. The word was used by Fielding in 1751, but did not commend itself to the lexico- graphers. It does not even appea,r in Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785, though he uses it inci- dentally in his explanation of " hum," which he says is to "humbug," to deceive, or be guilty of a jocular im- position. Many controversies have been waged as to its derivation. Some have derived it from Hamburg, a city whence false news was often propagated during the wars of the last century ; some from " humpback," something not straight or well-formed ; some have contended that its origin is to be traced to the word " bug," which indeed seems to be the true root. In Welsh or Kymric, bwg signifies a goblin or fright- ful object; whence by an easy transition the word has come to signify a decep- tion, a cheat, a fraud; something set up to frighten people, like the scooped- out turnip on the top of a pole, with a candle inside, formerly used to scare children by the mischievous fools of a village, and which, being discovered, lost its terrors, and could no longer deceive any one. The same word occurs with a different orthography in the ffifacllC. — Bocan, a goblin, an evil spirit, a frightful apparition ; uime, about, around. 3UgmT.ic. — Um, that spreads around or about; bwg, a goblin. Thus "hum- bug " would be a deception circulated or disseminated abroad or around, but discovered at last. The word " bugaboo " that seems an abbreviation and corruption of " bug- about." lends support to the derivation of " humbug " from the Kymric um- bwg and the Gaelic uime-bocan. The Scottish bogle, a ghost, and bogie, the devil, all come from the same root. Descending further into the depths of language and superstition, we find the French bouc, the English buck, the Gaelic boc, a he-goat ; a shape in which the arch-enemy of mankind was re- presented in the middle ages, and in which he appears in Burns's immortal Tarn o' Shanter. BUGGER. — This odious and disgusting word if used in the sense usually I 2 til) THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY assigned to it, and which is con- stantly in the mouths of the vulgar, appears to have a more innocent origin than is generally assigned to it, and to be derivable from one of many words in the ffiacltC. — Baoghaire, a fool; buaghair, a herdsman, a shepherd, a cowherd; hagaire, a greedy glutton, also a beggar; buagharra, vexatious, disagreeable, a disagreeable person; liogarra, mean, shabby ; bagarl, a threat ; bagarrach, one who is prone to threaten ; pogair, a kisser, from pog, a kiss. With all these words to choose from, especially the last, it is time, if the word cannot be abolished, which is too much to hope for, that it should convey a sense less offensive than the one which is commonly assigned to it. BUGLE, or Bugle-horn. — A wind in- strument, originally made of the horns of cattle. English philologists all agree in de- riving the word ' ' bugle " from the French buffie, the English buffalo. Hence bugle-horn, properly a buffalo horn, then a horn for drinking, or on which notes are played in hunting. — Wedgwood. Possibly, as buffaloes were unknown in England at the time this word was first used, the true etymon is the fflfaeltC. — Bo-gille, a cowboy ; bu- gail (Kymric), a cowboy, a cowherd; whence by a mixture of English with Keltic, " bugle-horn," a cowboy's horn, such as the Swiss herdsmen still use for calling the cattle from the moun- tains. BUILD. — To erect a house or other edifice. From Old Norse bua, Old Swedish boa, wire formed bol, a farm, bylS, a habitation. It was formerly written in English to bylle. " That city took Josue and destroyed it, and cursed it and alle hem that billed it again." — Sir John Mandeville. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Baile, a town, a village; bailie, villages, towns, cities ; baile mbr, a great city, a metropolis, the Old Bailey in London, i. e. the old town. BULGE. — To swell out, to belly out like the sail of a ship in a fair wind. This word is connected by Wedgwood with bilge, bulk, words which convey the notion of something, swollen, especially the sides of a ship ; whence bilge, to let in water. Belly and billow with their numerous congeners doubtless belong to the same class, so far as the remote and general origin of the word is concerned. — Latham. Old English, bouge, a cask; Anglo-Saxon, baelg, bylig, belgan, to swell. Welsh, bwlg, a round body. — Chambees. (ffiatlic. — Bolg, builg, balg, a bag, a belly, the womb ; balgan, a little bag or sack. BULK. — Size, greatness, magnitude. Bulk, a form of bulge. — Chambees. GSarttC. — Bale, a conspicuous boun- dary ; a ridge of earth between two fur- rows, a protuberance, a projection ; bolg, the belly ; bolgaah, protuberant ; bal- canta, strong, brawny, muscular, bulky. ISginric. — Balch, towering, superb, proud ; balchedd, pomp, pride. BULL. — An Irish bull, a peculiar form of blundering in telling a story, re- peating a joke, or making a remark. The phrase is said by Grose in his Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, to have taken its origin from one Obadiah Bull, a lawyer in the time of Henry VII., who was noted for his blunders. But this is mere conjecture, and does not explain the epithet Irish, unless Obadiah, which is not stated, was an Irishman. The true derivation ap- pears to be from the OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 01 (ffifatlic. — Beul-aithris (pronounced beul-airish) , an oral tradition, a story repeated from age to age, and having no other foundation than talk, from beul, the mouth, and aithris, a tradition. When the phrase was inverted from beul-aithris to Irish hill, is not discover- able. BULL-BEGGAR.— Something terri- ble, something to frighten children with. Etymology very uncertain. Bold beggar, which Skinner mentions, is not quite satis- factory. — Nares. ffiaeltC. — Buille, to strike ; bagaire, beggar, a man with the bag, i. e. a violent beggar, who used menaces. BULLION. — A mass of precious metal, as of gold and silver, as distinguished from small money and coins. Originally the office where the precious metals were made into stamped money ; gold and silver simply regarded by weight as merchandize. Low Latin, bullio, a mass (of gold). — Chambers. CraellC. — Buillion, a mass of any material, but more commonly applied to a mass of dough, to be converted into bread, also a loaf; from buille, to strike, something to be beaten into consistency and shape; buillionach, a baker, or maker of loaves. BULLY, Bully-rook. — A braggart; a low, coarse, violent, blustering, overbearing, loud-talking man; also " bully," to intimidate. Etymology uncertain. Skinner suggests burly and bull-eyed; Webster, the Anglo- Saxon lulgian, to bellow; Richardson and others, the Pope's bull. — Worcester. Erom the Dutch bulderen; Swedish, bul- ler, noise, clamour. — Chambers. I observe that you derive bully from a Gaelic word signifying to strike. A friend of mine, who is a good hand at etymology, derives it with greater probability, as it seems to me, from the French bel, from which he maintains that John Bull, Jean Bel, is de- rived ; and he states in support of his theory that people of the name of Bull are almost always remarkable for their size or beauty. Of this, indeed, I have myself witnessed many examples. — Letter to the Author. When cattle throw up the hedges, they aTe said in Yorkshire to bull them up. — Halli- well. Bull, an instrument for beating clay. — Halliwell. ffifaelfc. — Buille, a stroke, a blow, a thump ; buille air son buille, blow for blow; builleach, one who is apt to strike ; builleanach, giving blows and hard strokes. BULLY FOR YOU! (Slang.)— An Americanism signifying high com- mendation or cause for triumph in the person commended. ©aelic. — Buadhail (d silent), victo- rious, triumphant; buadhalachd, triumph, ascendancy, superiority, mastery. BULWARK. — A defence, a mound of earth ; and, in later times, a brick or stone rampart encircling a town. Boulevard (French). — A street formed upon a previous rampart or fortification, and encircling a town, or the nucleus of a town. Espagnol, baluarte, Italien, baluardo, de l'Allemand bollwerJc, defense, fortification; werlc, ouvrage, et bollen, lancer, a cause des engins dont e'taient armes les boulevards ; ou beaucoup plutot, de bohle, ais, planche. — Littbe. Bulwark, a defence originally made of the boles or trunks of trees ; French, by corrup- tion, boulevart, boulevard, primarily the ramparts of a town. — Wedgwood. ©aelic. — Buil, complete; uir, uir- each, mould, earth ; a mound or arti- ficial hillock of earth ; whence buil- uireach, a complete wall or mound of earth, as a fortification or means of defence. BUM. — The bottom, the posterior. Bum-boat. — A broad-bottomed boat. 6:2 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Prom the Belgian bomme, a cover for a vessel. A noted author draws it from the Belgian bodem, the fundament. — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum . Prom the Dutch bomme, the part on which we sit. — Johnson. This word was in common use with the Elizabethan writers, and with those of the century following. — Weight's Provincial Dictionary. Who like so many inanimate statues sat cross-legged, and joined their bumms to the ground, their backs to the wall, their eyes to a constant object, not daring to speak to one another. — Herbert's Travels, 1638. Ibid. From the Gaelic and Irish bun, and Danish bund, the bottom, the buttocks. — Wobces- TEK. (GJaeliC. — Bun, the bottom or founda- tion of anything, also the root ; bun na craoibh, the root or bottom of the tree ; ban na beinne, the bottom of the moun- tain. The word also signifies " confi- dence " and " dependence " resulting from a firm foundation or faith or re- liance; bunag, bunach, a short, stout, stumpy person ; having a large seat or bodily foundation; bunadas, foundation; bunalte.acli, firmly fixed in one place, stationary, not to be removed. BUMBAILIPF.— A vulgar term for a sheriff's officer. See Bailiff. Some say this term is derived from the proximity which this gentleman generally maintains to his victims. Blackstone says it is a corruption of bound-bailiff. — Slang Dictionary. Prom the notion of a humming, droning, or dunning noise, the term bum is applied to dunning a person for a debt. The ordinary explanation of a bound-bailiff 'is a mere guess. No one ever saw the word in that shape. — Wedgwood. (fliarlic. — Beum, a blow, a calamity or misfortune ; hence the bailiff who seizes one's goods or person in the last extremity ; the bailiff of the final mis- fortune or stroke. BUMPER.— A full glass, a goblet. Many attempts have been made to trace the origin of this word. Some have derived it from a supposed habit in pre-protestant times, of drinking in a full glass to the health of the bon pere, i. e. the Pope ; others have derived it from "bump/' a protuberance, be- cause in a " bumper " the liquor swells or protrudes over the brim. The word does not occur in Dictionaries prior to Johnson. A hitherto unsuspected de- rivation is supplied in the ©a flic. — Bun, the bottom ; barr, the top. If bun be for euphony changed into bum, we have bum-barr or bum-parr (6 and p being alike in sound), or full from the bottom to the top, which is the true meaning of the word. There is no record that it ever was the fashion to drink au bon pere to the health of the Pope either in France or in England; and there is no other instance, if this be one, in which the English have borrowed a drinking phrase from the French. A " bumper house/'' in theatrical parlance, is a house full from the bottom to the top, from the pit to the gallery, which accords with the Gaelic etymology. BUMPKIN.— A term of contempt for an ignorant or stupid peasant or farm-labourer. Bumkin (Nautical). — A short boom or beam of timber, projecting from each bow of a ship. Probably from bump, one who does things in a clumsy, awkward manner. — Wedgwood. ffiaelic. — Bun or bum, the bottom, the breech, the fundament ; cean, the head ; whence a term of contempt for a stupid head, a head without more expression than the breech. BUMPTIOUS (Slang). — Insolent, saucy, quarrelsome, vainglorious. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 63 ffiaelic. — Buamastair, buamasdair, a vain boaster, a quarrelsome blockhead ; buamasdaireaclul, vain boasting, bump- tiousness. BUNGLE. — To spoil by bad manage- ment or clumsy handling. Bungler. — A bad workman, or per- former. "Welsh, bwngler, query bon y gler, the last or lowest of the profession. — Davies, Johnson. Icelandic bbngun, rude art ; Old Swedish bunga, banga, to strike. — Chambees. ©a flic. — Buin, to touch, to meddle; buintinn, the act of meddling, or of in- terference with that which one does not understand ; consequently to bungle. BUNION, Btjnyon. — A callosity on the great toe. Greek /3owor, a hill, a heap. — Woecesteb. (HJaelic. — Bun, a root or stump; bunan, a little root or stump. BUNNY.— A familiar name for a rab- bit, like puss or pussie for a cat. Bun, the tail of a hare, Northern English. — Weight's Provincial Dictionary. ffiaeltC. — Bunag, a stumpy tail. BUOSO (Italian Slang) .—Wine, drink. This word is of the same origin as the Lowland Scotch and Old English bouze, corrupted in modern times, into booze, and is from the fflfSf lie. — Bus, the mouth, and thence, drink, which is put into the mouth ; See Bouse. BUOY. — A floating cask or barrel, kept in its place by a weight at the bottom of the water, to which is attached a chain. A buoy serves to point out shallow water to passing vessels. Johnson derives the word from the French boue, or boi/e, and the Spanish boya. There are no such words as boue or boye in the Dictionary of the French Academy, 1718, although bouee appears in some French Dictionaries of the pre- sent century. Mr. Wedgwood throws no light on the etymology. The de- rivation seems to be the ffiaellC. — Buidhe {dh silent), yellow, the usual colour with which these floating casks were painted in the ports of the German Ocean and the North Channel. BUR. — A prickle, a small thorn. The French bourre, the prickly head of the burdock. — Johnson. The prickly seed-case or head of certain plants which stick to clothes like a flock of wool ; French, bourre, flocks of wool ; Italian, borra, any kind of stuffing. — Chambees. ffiaelic. — Bior, a thorn, a prickle, a spit, a pin ; to prick, to goad ; biorach, pointed, piercing, prickly ; bioraich, to sharpen at the point ; biomnach, abound- ing in prickles. BUEDEN.— Of a song, originally the bass or accompaniment to the treble. French, bourdon, the buzz or hum of a bee ; bourdonner , to buzz. The word has no connexion with burthen or burden, a load ; as if the burthen of a song was the sentiment with which the song was loaded. Full loud he sang, Come hither, love, to me ! This sumpnour hare to him a stiff burdoun Was never trumpe of half so great a soun. CHAtTCEE. Bourdon is the French for drone aa&foot; undersong and burden mean the same thing, although burden was afterwards used in the sense of ditty, or any line often recurring in a song. — Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time. ffiafltC. — Burd, a hum, a buzz, the drone of the bagpipe; burdan, a hum- ming noise ; whence, metaphorically, an under-current of sentiment running through and accompanying a song. 64 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY BUREAU (French) .—An office or place for the transaction of business ; also a cabinet for the preservation of papers and correspondence. There is much doubt as to the origin of this word ; but bearing 1 in mind that " trade," " pecuniary/' " merchant," are all derived from the early civilization of mankind, when the exchange of pastoral for agricultural produce formed the only commerce ; it is not difficult to trace this also to a commercial source. When men had cattle to sell or barter, the place where the sale or barter was effected, and the business transacted, derived its name from the ©a?ltC. — Buar, cattle ; buar-aite, the place, inclosure, or fold of the cattle; whence, by corruption, bureau, a place for the business of cattle-dealers. BURGANET, BURGONET or Bak- gant. — A kind of defensive head-dress or helmet. And that I'll write upon thy burgonet. Shakspbaee, Henry VI. Part II. Upon his head his glittering burganet. Spenser, Faerie Queene, They rode . . . with burgant, to resist the stroke of the hattle-axe. Geeene's Quip. — Naees. fi&nfltC, — Beur, a point, a pinnacle ; cean-eudacli, a head-dress ; whence beur- cean-eudach, i. e. " burgonet," a high pointed head-dress, a helmet. BURGEON (French bourgeonner). — To sprout, to blossom, to swell. See Buiily. ffifacXtC. — Borr, to swell, to grow big or proud. BURGLARY.— The crime of forcible entry into a house at night for the purpose of committing a robbery. Burglar.— One who commits a bur- glary. The Americans have recently coined the word "burgle," to commit a bur- glary. The Teutonic for the English " burglar " is the compound word nacht- einbrudisdieb , i. e. a thief who breaks in by night ; and the French render " burglary " by vol de maison avec effraction. The current etymology points to the Latin burgus, a town, and latro- cinium, a robbery, and to the French bourg, a town or castle, and larron, a thief, as the roots of the word. The law books do not strictly confine the word to housebreaking. Burrill quoted in Wor- cester, says, " its radical meaning is the breaking into, with a view to robbery, of any fenced or enclosed place, as dis- tinguished from the open country." If the word were really from a Latin root, it would most probably have been adopted by some of the Latin nations, and not been confined, as it is, ex- clusively to the English. Notwith- standing the ingenuity of the derivation, it is probable that all the philologists who have adopted it, have been misled, and that its true source dates from the Keltic neriod, and from a time when there were few or no towns or bourgs to plunder, and that the word is from the ffiatltC. — Buar, cattle ; glac, to seize, to snatch, to lift; whence buar-glac, the lifting or seizure of cattle (from an enclosed place) ; glacair, a seizer, a robber, a thief; whence buar-glacair , a cattle-thief or " burglar." iltnmttc. — Buarth, a cattle-yard, or fold. The derivation from buraich, to dig a burrow, and lar, the ground, suggesting the idea of breaking into a place by OK THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 65 undermining it, is possible, but not so probable as that from buar-glacair. BU RGULLIO NT.— " S apposed," says Nares, " to mean a bully or bragga- docio." Who was Bobadil here, your Captain ? that rogue, that foist, that fencing hur- gullion. — Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour. (j&at ItC — Borb, turbulent wild; gille, a boy, lad, youth. BURLESQUE.— A ridiculous imita- tion of a serious work. Probably a modification of the root which gave the Old English board, a jest. Italian, burlare, to jest, to ridicule. — Wedgwood. (i&adtC. — Buir, to roar, to bellow, to laugh loudly ; buirleadh, language of ridicule, creative of boisterous laughter; buirte, a jest, a taunt, a jibe. Scottish, lourcl. BURLY.— Big, strong. Boreas. — The North wind, a strong wind. Bora (Italian). — A strong wind. Bir (Lowland Scotch). — Strength. Burly Englishman. — A stout, strong Englishman ; one not too polished or refined, but big, honest, and Burly is probably from boor-like. Sir Thomas More writes boorely, from boor-like. — Wobcestee. Boor is a Gaelic word that has crept into our common colloquial language, and there is nothing more common than for a person to , u ay he will do anything with all his boor or bir, i.e. with all his strength. — Toland's History of the Druids. Johnson defines "burly "as blustering, falsely great. Ash (1785), says the word is of uncertain derivation, and renders it "tumid, bulky." Bailey (1731), de- rives it either from " boor-like/" or the Teutonic gebuJirlicli, comely, and defines it as " big, heavy, gross." The compiler of Gazophylacium Anglicanum (1689), is in favour of " boor-like " as the origi- nal word, and says it means " one who hath a big, plump body." He also en- deavours to reconcile " boor-like " with the German gebuhrlich, for the reason (perhaps he was fat himself) " that fat men are generally the most comely." Mr. Wedgwood refers the word to the French burgeon, to bud forth, and thinks its primary origin, "as of so many others signifying swelling, is an imita- tion of the sound of bubbling water, preserved in the Gaelic burnrus, a purl- ing sound or gurgling." ©aelif. — Bon; great, noble, splendid, strong, majestic; borrail, swaggering, haughty, proud ; borrghanta, swollen, pompous, turgid. The Lowland Scotch word hdrily is of the same origin ; Burns speaks of " buirdly chiels and bonnie lasses." BURN (Lowland Scotch).— A small stream, a brook; a rivulet. Bourne.- — A bound, a boundary, a limit ; also a brook or watercourse that often formed the boundary of a farm or estate. OJaPltC.— Burn, water, fresh water; bumach, watery. Ni burn salach lam/tar glan, Foul water will make a clean hand. — Gaelic Proverb. BURROW.— To dig under the earth. The same word with burgh, borough ; from the Anglo-Saxon beorgan, to protect, shelter, fortify, save ; Dutch, berge, to hide. A rabbit burrow is the hole which the animal digs for its protection. — Wedgwood. The true root is the (SSafUc. — Buraich, to dig; whence bury : the idea of protection and hiding 66 THE GAETJC ETYMOLOGY is involved, and points back to the far distant ages, when men constructed their dwellings under, and not above the ground. From the same root with the aspirate bAuraicA (vuraicA) conies the word " warren," a rabbit-warren. BURY.— To inter. The root of this word is found in the idea of a dwelling-place, a home, a city, in which form it still exists in Bury St. Edmunds, Aldermanbury, Canterbury, and other words. To "bury" a body is therefore to place it in its long last home. The rabbit "burrows" in the ground, i. e. makes itself a home or city in the ground. English philologists from Johnson, the worst of them, to Wedgwood, the best, prefer to derive the word from the Anglo-Saxon beorgan, to preserve, protect, keep. (Sadie. — BuraicA, to dig, to delve, to inter ; buraicAe, a delver, a grave- digger ; burach, a searching or turning up of the earth. BUSHEL. — A measure of corn, vege- tables, coal, &c. Literally a little box. — Chambers. (•SfaellC. — Bus, a mouth; iall, a thong, i. e. a sack tied up at the mouth with a thong or string. BUSK (Lowland Scotch).— To adorn, to prepare, to dress, to make ready. C&af ItC. — Busg, dress, adorn; busgadA, dressing, adorning ; a head-dress ; bus- gainn, to decorate, to prepare, to dress. BUSS (Yulgar).— A kiss; to kiss. From the Belgian boesen, French baiser, Italian baciare, to kiss ; all from the Latin. — Qazophyladum Anglicanum. (JRatllC. — Bus, a mouth ; whence to touch with the lips, to kiss ; busag, a loud kiss, with a smacking noise; busaire, a man with blubber lips. BUSY. — Active, lively, occupied with physical or mental work. From the Anglo-Saxon biseg, bisgung, occupation, business; French besogne, busi- ness. The word is referred by Diefenbach to the Gothic anabuidam, to enjoin (entbreten), whence anahusus, command, commission. — Wedgwood. From the Anglo-Saxon bysig, perhaps con- nected with bid, to order. — Chambers. (•RaeliC — Beo, alive; beosacA, active, lively. BUTT.— To strike or push with the head, as goats, deer, and other animals. i&aelic. — ButadA, a push, a thrust, a shove. BY AND BY.— Quickly, immediately, very soon. A corruption and duplication of the ©aeltC. — Beo, quick ! lively ! BYE! BYE!— An abbreviation and partial reduplication of " good-bye." Also a nurse's or mother's exclama- tion to children when lulling them to sleep. The exclamation has not been ad- mitted into the earlier or later Dic- tionaries, from Bailey, Ash, and John- son, to Todd, Latham, Richardson, Wedgwood, Worcester, Webster, &c. It is probably from the (BSrarlU. — BaigA, kindness, goodness, benignity (See Good-bye) ; an adjura- tion to a good and beloved child to go to sleep ; baigA ! baigA ! mo lenabA, bye ! bye ! my child. BYRE (Lowland Scotch). — A cow- house, a place of shelter for cattle. Baun, Bakth.— A place of deposit 01' THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 67 for farm produce, or of shelter for cattle. C&aeltC — Buar, cattle; buarach, a shackle for the hind legs of cows, to prevent them kicking when being milked. StgllltlC. — Buarlh, a cattle yard or fold ; buartho, to fold cattle. c. CA' ME, AND FLL CA' THEE.— A proverbial phrase equivalent to " Do me a good turn, and I'll do you another/'' This was the English form, as may be seen in its frequent use by the Elizabethan Dramatists, as quoted by Nares. The Scottish form, though also used in England was " Claw me, and I'll claw you," i. e. " Praise me, and I'll praise you/'' from the Gaelic cliu, praise. The phrase was sometimes varied to "ca' and cob." In Kelly's Scottish Proverbs, " Kae me, and I'll kae thee," has the marginal explana- tion. Kae, invite ; spoken when great people invite and feast one another and neglect the poor. — Nares. If you'll be so kind as to ca me one good turn, I'll be so courteous as to cob you another. ■ — Poed, The Witch of Edmonton. ©a?ItC. — ■ Cabkair, cobhair (pro- nounced ca-air and co-air), to help, to assist ; whence " Ca' me, and I'll ca' thee," meaning, " Help me, and I'll help you." CABBAGE (Slang).— To steal; origin- ally and still applied to tailors and milliners, who are said to cut off for their own use pieces of the cloth, silk, or other materials entrusted to them to be made up. Termed by Johnson a cant word, but adopted by later lexicographers as a respect- able term. Said to have been first used by Arbuthnot. — Slang Dictionary. ©acilC. — Cabaich, to notch, to in- dent, to make square or blunt by cutting off the end of anything. CABE, CABOT (French Slang).— A snarling, ill-natured dog, that shows its teeth on the slightest provocation. Cabe-chien, corruption de clabaud, qui avait la meme signification et qui a donne naissance au mot clabauder, aboyer. — Michel, Dictionnaire d' Argot. ©arlic. — Cab, a large mouth ill set with teeth ; cabach, ugly mouthed. CACKLE. — The sound made by poul- try to express activity or alarm ; applied metaphorically to the gossip of women. C&aeltC. — Gac, to cackle as a hen ; gacail, cackling; gaoan, gagan, noisy speech ; gagail, stammering, spluttering, lisping. CAD (Slang). — A vulgar person. Apparently from cadger, the old cant term for a man. The exclusives at the English Universities apply the term cad to all non- members. — Slang Dictionary. The well-known story of Beau Brum- mel, who asked a nobleman to whom the Prince Regent (George IV.) was speaking, "Who's your hX friend?" suggests the sense in which the Gaelic word came to be applied in English. ©facllC. — Cad (obsolete), a friend; cadach, cadas, friendship, affinity. CADASTRE.— A register of lands and tenantry. Cadastral. — Relating to landed property ; a public register. Cadastre (French). — The rank and 68 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY file or full number of a regiment or an army, Catastro (Italian).— The rent-roll of a manor or landed estate; a public registry. There is no etymon of this word in the Teutonic or Latin sources of the modern European tongues. It appears to have sprung from the habit of the chiefs in the primitive ages of number- ing or otherwise registering their re- tainers, before going, as the American Indians say, on " the war path," and to be traceable to the CBiaeltC. — Catli, war, battle ; asiair, a journey, an expedition ; whence cal/t- astair, a warlike expedition. The mean- ing may have been afterwards extended to a register of the persons of which the expedition was composed. CADE. — A pet lamb, one that is brought up by hand ; a petted child, unduly indulged. The designation seems taken from the troublesome boldness and want of respect for man of the petted animal ; Old Norse, Tcatr, joyous ; Swedish dialect, Iciit, frisky ; Danish, kaad, frolicsome. — Wed&wood. (SJaclic. — Cead, leave, permission, license, favour ; ceadach, forward, li- centious, presuming on favour. CADE, JACK. — The name given to the popular leader in the reign of Henry VI., who called him- self John Mortimer, and who took it upon himself to redress by force of arms the grievances of the people. He was sometimes called in Saxon parlance " John Amend-All," but his Keltic appellation was " Cade." The word cade, corrupted into keg, meant a barrel, as in the phrase " a cade of herrings." — Nares. Cade. We, John Cade, so termed of our supposed father. Dick. Or rather of stealing a cade of her- rings. Henry VI., Part II. But " cade " in this sense, as Nares asserts, is derived from the Latin eadus, a measure of eighteen gallons. The true derivation of the word appears to be the (jJrartic. — Cead {cade), leave, permis- sion, liberty. The name of " Cade " was probably applied by the Commons of Kent to their favourite leader, because he was for the liberty of the Commons. CADGE. — To beg or steal by the way; whence a cadger, a tramp or vagrant. Cadging, begging with an eye to pilfering when opportunity occurs. — Slang Diclionai y . Gaelic. — Gaid {gadj or cadj), to steal (more often but less properly spelled goid. — M' Alpine's Gaelic Dic- tionary) . CADNAT.— "A word," says Nares, " to be found in the Perfect School of Instruction," 1682. A sort of state covering for princes, dukes, or peers, at a great dinner. (SJacltC. — Cadha [ca-ha), a porch or entry; deithneas {dei-nas),deithneasachd, haste, speed ; whence a porch or entry, made hastily in honour of a great personage, like a triumphal arch in modern times. CAGG- (Slang).— To abstain from liquor for a certain time. A military term used by the private soldiers signifying a solemn vow or resolution not to get drunk for a certain time ; or as the term is, not till their c.agg is out, which vow is commonly observed with strictness, viz. : — " I have ragged myself for six months. Excuse me this time and I will cagg for a year." This term is also used in the same sense among the common people in Scotland where it is performed with divers cere- monies. — Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. OF THIS ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 69 CSaelic. — Cagail, to save, to spare, to refrain, to economize ; cagailt, fru- gality, parsimony ; cagallach, miserly, sparing, economical ; caoch, empty, blind ; caochag, a blind nut, a nut with- out a kernel. CAG-MAG. — Slanderous whisperings among women, the tittle-tattle of servants (Slang). This word is some- times used for bad food, odds and ends of victuals unfit to eat. Cag, to irritate, to affront, to anger. — Slang Dictionary. Cag-mag, to quarrel and use slanderous words; a Worcestershire word. — Halliwell. CRadlC. — Cag, to whisper; cagaire, a whisperer ; mag, to mock, to deride ; whence cag-mag, to mock and slander secretly or in whispers. CAIN-COLOURED.— Light-coloured. He hath, hut a little wee face with a yellow heard, a Cain-coloured beard. — Merry Wives of Windsor. Yellow or red, a colour of hair, which, being esteemed a deformity, was by common consent attributed to Cain and Judas.— Naeis. In the old tapestries and pictures, Cain and Judas were generally repre- sented with yellowish red beards. This conceit was frequently alluded to in early books. And let their beards be of Judas his own colour. — The Spanish Tragedy. I ever thought by his red beard he'd prove a Judas. — The Insatiate Countess. Red hair in men was considered the proof of a bad disposition, as when Dryden described Jacob Tonson, the oookseller,as a fellow "with two left legs and Judas-coloured hair." " Cain/' however, signifying a shade of colour is not derived from the name of the first murderer, but from the (Sarlir. — Cain, light-coloured, of a yellow nearly approaching to white ; cu cain, a white or light coloured dog ; caineab, canvas or hemp, from its colour ; a cain-ccloured beard, a hemp or canvas- coloured beard. CAIRD (Lowland Scotch).— A tra- velling tinker, a gipsy. dSk&C (ir. — Ceard, a smith, an artificer, a workman; ceardaich, a forge, a smithy, a blacksmith's shop. CAITIFF. — A term of personal con- tempt, a mean scoundrel, a despicable villain. Originally a captive. Italian, catlivo, Latin, captious, capio, to take. — Chambees. The Italian ca/tivo signifies bad, and is akin to the French clietif, poor, puny, miserable. The true root is the ffiaeliC. — Cailh, to waste, to squan- der, exhaust, throw away recklessly ; caXtlieack, an idle spendthrift, a prodi- gal ; cditheamh, reckless prodigality, waste. CAJOLE.— To wheedle, to coax, to gain over by fair words. French, cajoler, cajolerie, cajoleur. An upstart word from the Frenuh cageoler, or cajoler, Italian gazzolare, and these from the Latin graculus, a jackdaw.- — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum. A low word from the French cajeoler. — Ash, 1775. Originally to lure into a cage, like a bird. — Chambees. French cajeoler, caioler, to prattle or jangle, like a jay in a cage. — Cotgeave. The reference to the word cage hinted at by Cotgrave is probably delusive. It is more likely a word formed like cackle, gabble, gaggle, directly representing the chattering cry of birds. — Wedgwood. ©rafltr. — Cad, a friend; debl, (d pronounced as j), to suck; debthal, debghail, sucking, in these words the t and g are aspirated and therefore silent. If the Gaelic derivation cad- 70 THE (UELLC ETYMOLOGY debl (pronounced cad-jebl) be correct, the Freuch and English "cajole" would signify to suck, or gain some- thing from a friend, by means of fair words and flattering entreaties. CALAMITY.— Misfortune, loss, hurt, detriment. Cado, cadamitas, calamitas, an affliction that has befallen any man. It was also by the Latiii6 used in the sense of calamus, a reed or cane, and then calamitas signified the lodging or laying of corn by reason of heavy winds, rain, hail, &c. . . . According to Lord Bacon calamitas is first derived from calamus, which signifies straw ; and since calamitas is in the next place used to signify that disorder by which corn cannot be got out of the stalk, it would be better to derive our word immediately from KaXapos, calamus, a straw pipe or reed. — Lemon's English Etymology. (SrfieUc. — Call, loss, hurt, privation ; calldach, losing ; calldac/id, loss, dam- age ; mend, greatness, bulk ; whence calla-meud, a great hurt or loss, a calamity. CALE (French Argot or Slang).— To say of a man that he is cale, means that he is rich, well-to-do, comfort- able — equivalent to the English slang " warm." Ce mot, que je derive de calle, espece de coiffure, est synonyme de coiffi, qui figure dans une expression proverbiale, dont le t,ens est le meme. Sainte Migorce ! nous sommes nees coif- fees ! — La Comedie des Proverbes. Diction- naire d' Argot, Michel. The French cale signifies a flat cap worn by servants, and also a livery. Perhaps the true root of the word should be sought in the (SraeltC. — Cal, to get into harbour; calaidh, safe in harbour ; whence, meta- phorically, in the harbour of riches. CALENTURE. — A disease of sailors long at sea, who behold visions of the earth and trees, and throw them- selves into the water, thinking it dry land. Spanish calentura, a fever ; calentar, to heat; Latin, calidus, hot. — Wedgwood. (Gaelic. — Cealg, deceive, allure; ceal- gadh, alluring, enticing ; deception ; an, the; tir, land; whence cealg adh-an-tir [quasi with the omission of the gut- turals, cal-an-tir),& deceptionof the land. CALF.— The fleshy hind-part or muscle of the leg. Most of the lexicographers, from the author of Gazophylacium Anglicanum downwards to Johnson and later writers, are content to trace the etymology of " calf," the young of the bovine species, from Teutonic sources, and to place the "calf" of the leg under the same heading, implying thereby a co-related etymology. From the Teutonic Icalb comes " calf," a young bull or cow, says the Gazophylacium, hence the "calf " of the leg. From this glaring specimen of the Incus a non lucendo, a study of Gaelic might have saved the writer. From the Gaelic culpa, calba, or colpa na coise, the calf of the leg. The primary meaning of the word seems simply a lump ; calp is riadh, priucipal(or lump) and interest. —Wedgwood. C&iirliC. — Calp, the flesh of the hinder part of the leg, the " calf." CALF. — The young of the bovine species, German, Icalb. drclfltr. — Dliamli (ilh pronounced like the Greek ■%, the mil like/" or v), i. e. caff, with the c guttural. CALF OF MAN. -A projecting head- land in the Isle of Man. This word has been assumed to be OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 71 a pun upon the limbs of "Man," the English name of the island of Mona (from Monadh, the mountain). As the heraldic symbol of the island is composed of three legs, it was taken for granted, that as a leg bad a calf, the " Calf of Man " was somehow or other derived from this anatomical idea. The true root is the (Siaeltr. — Calbh (calv), a headland, a cape ; whence the " Calf of Man/' the headland or cape of the Tsle of Man. CALID. — From the Latin calidus, hot, warm. Caloric. — Heat. Caldron. — A vessel for heating water. (ffiraeltC. — Cal, to burn (obsolete). CALIVER. — A gun, a musket. Skinner and others derive it from calibre, ■which means only the hore or diameter of a piece. Its derivation is not yet made out. — Nares. CSrarltC. — Call, destruction, loss; oibricli, work, labour; whence call- oibrich, a "caliver," that works de- struction. CALK, CAWK.— To fill up the seams between the planks of the deck of a ship with oakum. (SlfaeliC. — Calc, to ram, drive, push in ; calcaich, to cram, drive, fill in a seam by pressure of an exterior substance, such as oakum. CALLANT (Lowland Scotch).— A youth. Gallant. — Attentive to the ladies, brave, polite. Gallantry. — Courage, politeness, attention to the ladies. Gallant, see Gala. Gala, show, splen- dour, festivity. French, gala, show ; Italian, gala, finery ; Anglo-Saxon, gal, merry ; Old German, geil, proud. — Chambers. (JRaeltC. — Gille, a youth ; galan, a youth, a sapling. CALLE (Spanish). — A street, a lane. (fSneltC. — Cala, a street, a quay, a landing-place, a haven, a port; caol, narrow. CALLER (Lowland Scotch).— Fresh, pure, in a natural state. "Caller herring," "caller haddies," and " caller 'oo," are well-known street cries of the Newhaven fishwomen in Edinburgh. The word occurs in the beautiful song, " There's nae luck about the house." Sae sweet his voice, sae smooth his tongue, His breath's like caller air, His very foot has music in't When, he gaes up the stair. Jamieson, who erroneously derives the word from the Iceland kalldur, cold, gives four meanings, " cool," " fresh," " the temperament of the body which indicates health, as opposed to hot and feverish," and " the plump and rosy appearance of health, as opposed to a sickly look." The root is the ©raeltC. — Call, disposition, temper, strength, life, vitality, constitution, look, appearance, quality ; caileachd, natural endowments, genius, energy, ability ; caileacJidach, having natural endowments, accomplished, possessed of genius and ability, or high qualities. The Latin qualitas is probably from the same root. CALLET (Obsolete).— A vulgar, vio- lent, or unchaste woman. A beggar in his drink could not have laid such terms upon his callet. — Shakspeaee, Othello. A callet of boundless tongue. Shakspeaeb, Winter s Tale. 72 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY A calat of lude demeanour. — Chauoek. Prom the French caillette, ferame frivole et babillarde. Probably an unmeasured use of the tongue is the leading idea. Northern English, collet, to rail or scold. — Wedg- wood, 1871. ©faeltC. — Caile, a vulgar girl, a quean, a hussy ; caileag, a little girl, a lass. CALLOW.— Unfledged, destitute of feathers. Calvus (Latin). — Bald, without hair on the head. That it shall supply wings to the human soul in its callow efforts at upward flight. — Me. Gladstone on Ritualism. Latin, calvus, bald ; Anglo-Saxon, calo, caluw ; Dutch, hael, kaluwe, bald. — Wedg- wood. {&arltf. — Call, loss, privation, desti- tution ; caill, to lose, or suffer loss ; cailleanauh, one who suffers a loss ; calbh, bald. CALLYMOOCHER (Obsolete) . — A term of reproach, "which," says Nares, "requires explanation/' I do, thou upstart callymoocher, I do ! "Pis well known to the parish, T have been Twice ale-conner. Mayor of Quinborough. Naees. CSracltC. — Cailleach, a coward; muc, a pig; miiiceanach, a mean person, a swine, a pig ; whence " callymoocher," a cowardly pig. CALM. — Still, quiet, not disturbed or excited, mentally or physically. Italian and Spanish, calma; Prench, calme, absence of wind, quiet. The primitive mean- ing of the word seems to be heat. The origin is the Greek Kav/ia, from Kaia, to burn. The word was also written cawme in Old English. — Wedgwood. Espagnol, Portugais et Italien, calma; Hollandais, balm; Anglais, calm; origine inconnue. — Littee. This word is not traceable either to the Teutonic or Latin sources of the language. Though immediately de- rived from the French calme, its root is to be found in the dSfHtUc — Calm, calma, brave, cool, calm, collected, resolute and strong; calmadas, cool courage, calmness and self-possession in difficulty. CAM or Kam.— Crooked. The river Cam, the crooked river. One of the few genuine Celtic elements in English. — Latham. Sicinius. This is clean kam. Brutus. Merely awry. Coriolanus. Clean kam-, equivalent to rigmarole, rho- domontade. — Staunton's Sli aksjpeare. (jRafltC. — Cam, gam, crooked ; whence the modern slang " a game leg," i. e. "a cam or crooked leg;" and "gam- mon ■" or " carnmon," a piece of decep- tion, a story that is not straight, but that has a lie or a crook in it. CAMEL. — A well known African and Asiatic animal, used to bear riders or other burdens. Literally, the bearer; Anglo-Saxon, camell; Old French, camel ; Latin, camelos ; Greek, ko/jt/Xos ; Hebrew, gamal ; probably from the Arabic chamal, to bear. — Chambees. Oraeitr. — Ceum, a step, a pace; cen- mail, stately in gait, walking slowly and sedately. CAMSCHAUCLED (Lowland Scotch) . — Said of a person who walks lamely, clumsily, and awkwardly. (ffiraellC. — Cam, crooked; seach{shach) , a sprain of the joint. CAMSTATRY, CAMSTERIE (Low- land Scotch) . — Obstinate, quarrel- some, not to be convinced by argu- ment. Gaelic, comli-stir, striving together ; or German kampf, battle, and starrig, stiff.^- Jamieson. OJ? THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 73 CBraeltC. — Cam, crooked, perverse ; stairich, noise; stairirach, a great noise ; straighlicli, noise, clash, uproar. CANCER. — A schirrous, livid tumor. Cankee. — To corrode; a disease in trees and shrubs. Cankeeed. — Venomous, malignant. Cancer is so named from the resemblance of the large blue- veins around a cancer on the breast to the claws of a crab. — Dunglison. (Gaelic. — Cangaruich, to vex, irri- tate, inflame, incense. CANDID.— Free-spoken, clear. Candidate. — An applicant for an office, so called because it was the custom at Rome for persons who wished to serve the state, and ap- pealed to the suffrage of their fellow citizens, to appear in white robes ; from candidus, white, and candeo, to shine. ®ra?I(C. — Can, white; diadhaidh, godly, pure-minded. CANER (French Slang).— To ease nature, Aller a la selle. CBraelic. — Cain, tribute ; whence caner, to pay tribute to nature and necessity. CANNIE (Lowland Scotch) —Cautious, prudent, fair-dealing, fair-spoken, fortunate ; applied to one who knows what he is about in all the affairs of life, in buying and selling, and the general management of himself and others. " A cannie Scot " is a pro- verbial phrase in England. dVaeltC. — Ceannaich, to buy; thence to know how to buy ;fear ceannaichaidh, a man who buys, a buyer ; ceannaiche, a merchant, a buyer; ceannaichle, bought. CANON. — An ecclesiastical rule or precept ; a priest attached to a cathe- dral, who takes part in the choral service. Prom Greek kclvt), xavva, a cane, was formed Kavav, a straight rod, a ruler, and, metaphor- ically, a rule,' a standard of excellence. Hence Latin canon was used by the ecclesiastical writers for a tried or authorized list or roll. Again we have canonicus, regular, the canons or regular clergy of a cathedral. — Wedg- wood. CUaeltC. — Can, to sing; fon, a tune; whence can-fhonn (/ silent, can-fionn), a song, a precept. In the times of bardism all maxims, whether political, moral, or religious, were delivered and promulgated in verse. — Akm- steong's Gaelic Dictionary. CANOPY. — A curtain or other orna- mental drapery over a bed or a throne, or carried in state ceremonials and processions over the head of a distinguished personage. The poets speak of "the canopy of heaven." The Germans call a " cano- py" a prachthirnmel, or "adorning heaven,'" and sometimes use the word baldaccMn, from the Italian haldacchino. The French have canape, a certain kind of couch or sofa, which was originally provided with drapery. The word was probably adopted into English from the Keltic-French. The author of Gazo- phylacium Anglicanum derived it from the Greek icwvunros, a gnat, fly, or mos- quito, because a net or " canopy " was spread over the heads of sleepers to keep off the flies. "With us/' he added, " it is set up over princes' heads for a badge of imperial power," This etymology was adopted in the eighteenth century by Bailey, Ash, and others, and in the nineteenth has found accept- ance with Wedgwood, Donald, Stor- L 74 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY month and other lexicographers. John- son derived it from the Low Latin cono- peum, a covering spread over the head, but made no mention of the gnats or mosquitoes. As the word is peculiar to France and Great Britain, where the sore affliction of mosquitoes is happily unknown, it is not probable that the word has any connexion with those insects, or with their name in the Greek language. The root is clearly Keltic and traceable to the (jBrSEllC. — Ceann the head ; heart, an engine, a loom, a frame, a bundle, a truss; clothing, covering; whence ceanna-bheart {veari), a head-covering, a framework, held over the head with drapery, a " canopy ." McLeod and Armstrong in their Gaelic Dictionaries, both have ceann-lhrat, a head-cloth, a " canopy." CANT. — The secret language of va- grants and gipsies ; also the language of hypocrisy, or the peculiar morality and talk of a profession or business. Cantie (Lowland Scotch). — Talka- tive and cheerful. Philologists were long at a loss to ac- count for this word. It is only recently that even a glimmer of the truth as regards it has been found. In its modern acceptation the word signifies in the first place, the secret or vul- gar language of vagrants, thieves, and gipsies; and in the second, the lan- guage of hypocrisy, or of the peculiar morality and practice of a trade, profession or business. In one of the latest Slang Dictionaries by Ducange Anglicus, London, 1859, all the old errors perpetuated by Johnson and other ignorant or prejudiced lexico- graphers are reproduced, without so much as the hint of a suspicion that there may be doubts as to their cor, rectness. It is said, that once upon a time there were two Scottish clergy- men, the Rev. Oliver, and the Rev. Ezekiel Cant, "who preached with such a voice and manner, as to give their name of ' Cant ' to all preaching and talking of a similar kind." It is also said that the name was originally derived from the Rev. Andrew Cant, minister of Aberdeen in the reign of Charles I., of whom Pennant remarks in his Tour in Scotland, that Andrew " canted no more than the rest of his brethren, for he lived in a whining age." " One can scarcely suppose Skinner, Pen- nant, and others to be correct in deriving the word from the Latin cantare, to sing, as our word ' cant ' does not imply a mere sing- song tone, hut rather a whining voice, uttered by a person who you feel is attempt- ing, in a greater or lesser degree, to de- ceive you ; you are conscious of hypocrisy being practised, whether the subject be re- ligion, politics, begging, or anything else. Moreover if the word meant singing, the Anglo-Saxon oantere, a singer, is a much more probable source of origin than the Latin canto." — .Notes and Queries, Feb. 19, 1859. Cant, from the old French cant, Italian canto, to sing ; Latin canthus, an edge ; Greek KavBos, corner of the eye ; Welsh cant, a border. — Chambees. Dr. Latham in his edition of Todd's Johnson, 1871, stumbles upon rather than discovers the truth, when he says that the real origin of the word cant, is the Gaelic cainnt, language, applied to the special language of rogues and beggars, which idea is shared by Mr. Wedgwood in his Dictionary of English Mymology. The real meaning of the word is " language," without any refer- ence to thieves, rogues, or beggars, as appears from the (SVadtC. — Cainnt, speech, language, OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 75 talk ; cainnteach, (Lowland Scotch, can- tie), talkative; cainntear, an orator, a speaker, a talker, a linguist, also a babbler; canain, language, dialect, speech. This word, the source of which has been sought everywhere but in the right direction, is a striking instance of the vitality of the Gaelic element in the English language. The successive invaders of England, Saxons, Danes, and Normans, degraded and enslaved, where they could not extirpate, the aboriginal Keltic inhabitants or Britons. The aborigines retained their own lan- guage, which they spoke among them- selves secretly. Hence the origin of the English word " cant/' as mean- ing a secret language ; not of necessity a language of vagrants, although those belonging to the conquered and im- poverished classes habitually spoke it, perhaps because they knew no other. From this ancient idea of secrecy, pro- ceeded the modern idea of " cant," the secret or peculiar language of a trade or profession, whether lay or clerical. CANTANKEROUS (Slang).— Quar- relsome, light-headed, shallow-headed. An American corruption probably of con- tentious. A correspondent suggests pan- herous as the derivation. — Slang Dictio- nary. dSkuMt.— Canran, grumbling, bicker- ing, scolding; canranach, incessantly grumbling; but possibly from cean, head; tana, shallow, thin; cearr, wrong ; whence cean-tana-cearr, a shal- low wronghead, or shallow wrong- headed person. CANTRIP (Lowland Scotch). — A charm, a spell, an incantation, a mischievous trick. Cantrip-time. — The season for prac- tising magical arts or mischievous tricks. From the Icelandic gan, gand, witchcraft ; or hiaen, applied to magical arts, and trapp, calcatio. — Jamieson. Coffins stood round like open presses That show'd the dead in their last dresses, And by some devilish cantrip slight Each in its cauld hand held a light. Burns, Tarn o' Shanter. ©raeltC. — Cean, the head, the chief; drip, a snare meant for another but trapping the author of it, a mischievous trick; whence cean-drip [cantrip), a great and mischievous trick. CANVAS. — A coarse, strong hempen cloth used for sails, tents, &c. Prom the French canevas; Greek, Kavvafiis, hemp. — Chambers. CRaeltC. — Cainb (canav), canvas, hemp ; aodach, cloth, whence cainb-ao- dach, or sackcloth. CANVASS. — To discuss, to question, to examine, to ask electors for their votes so as to examine the opinions of a constituency. A metaphorical word from sifting a sub- stance through canvas. — Stormonth. Literally to sift through canvas. — Cham- bers. Johnson derives the word from the French canabasber, which, however, is not to be found in that language. The connexion with "canvas" or coarse cloth is not clear. Probably the word is a corruption of the CSraeltC. — Ceamaich, to examine, to search out; ceasnachadh, an examina- tion by questioning, a scrutiny. CAPPERNOITY (Lowland Scotch).— Crotchety, whimsical. i 2 76 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY <&Mlk.~Ca6aire, a gabbler, a tattler; nodadh, a wink, a nod. CAPRICE (French and English).— A slight or unreasoning fancy, a sudden but slight desire to do or possess something. Italian, caprizzio. from capra, a goat. — Diez. Italian, capriccio, a goat's leap, something unexpected. — Littbe. Mr. Wedgwood, in a very long dissertation, derives the word from various languages, all tending to signify trembling or shivering, but does not, as he sometimes does, venture into the Gaelic. Perhaps with a metaphorical meaning latent in the word, as a light breeze of fancy or intention, the true etymon is the (ESaeltC. — CeabJiair, a light breeze, a gentle breeze ; the state of being slightly intoxicated, and irresponsible to some extent, for speech or action. CAPSIZE (Nautical).— To upset, to overturn. Probably from cap, the head, and seize. — Stobmonth. Johnson, Bailey, Ash, and other early Dictionaries do not contain this word. Mr. Wedgwood also omits it. Worcester suggests no etymology, and Chambers marks it with a ? The roots seem to be the ffiafltC (Obsolete). — Capat, the same in Irish; Latin, caput; cap-fhlath, a chief or head commander, a prince ; calb (obsolete), the head; the same in Irish; sios, down. Either capat, cap, or calb may be accepted as the root of the first syllable; whence "capsize/' the head downwards. CAPTAIN. — The commander of a troop of cavalry or of a company of infantry. Also the commander of a ship, and generally a leader. The word is usually derived from the Latin caput, the head, and the Prench capitaine, as if it signified the head or chief person. Without disputing the correctness of this etymology it may be noted as curious that a word very similar in sound occurs in the livJHUic. — Cad-pen, from cad, battle ; and pen, the head or chief. This is remarkably like the commonly used word of modern European languages. The modern Gael have borrowed the English word which they spell caiptin. The ancient word was constructed on the same principle as the Kymric cad- pen, and was either ceann feadhna or cean feachd, the head of the fight or battle. CAPTIOUS.— Quarrelsome, apt to take offence. Latin, captiosus, captio. — Chambees. C&acltC. — Ciap, to vex, to torment; ciapal, strife, debate ; ciapalack, conten- tious; ciapalaiche, a contentious, quar- relsome, captious person. CAR, CHARIOT.— A vehicle to ride in. ffiaeltC. — Cathair, a seat; roth, a wheel; whence cathair-roih, a seat on wheels ; or it may be from ceiiher, four, roth, wheel, four wheels. CAR, CART, CARRIAGE (English). — Caroche, carouche (Old English); carosse (French). All these words represent vehicles in which a person or persons can be seated. The root is the fiSncltC — Cathair [ca-ir), a seat; OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 77 uachclair, elevated; whence caroche, or carouche, a vehicle with an elevated seat. CARAVAN. — A company or troop traversing the deserts of the East, and banded together for greater security against enemies. Also a large car- riage for the conveyance of goods. Persian, carvan, a trader ; Spanish, cara- vanera ; Trench, paravane. — W obcesteb. From the Persian herwan. — Wedgwood. (&£Wlic. — A chaoradh bhan \caora- l/ian'], the white sheep. If this deriva- tion be correct, the word was probably suggested to the nomadic patriarchs of Chaldea and Phoenicia by the constant passage of flocks and herds to new pastures, as in the days of Abraham and Lot. CARCASS. — A dead body, also applied in contempt to a living body. French, carquasse, the dead body of any creature. The radical meaning seems to be something holding together, confining, con- straining ; the shell, case, or framework. Welsh, carch, restraint; Gaelic, carcair, a prison. — Wedgwood. In Sanscrit harlcasa signifies hard, stiff, rigid, which are the proper epithets for a dead body. The word has come into the English and French from the (SaeltC. — Cairhh, carcais, a dead body, a corpse. CARE. — Heedfulness, anxiety, sorrow. Caek (Obsolete, but used by Spenser, Milton, and some of the Scottish poets). — Care, great care, or fretful anxiety. Prom the Anglo-Saxon care; Latin, curus. — GazophylaciumAnglicanum. Saxon, cearc, care, anxiety. — Johnson. Anglo-Saxon, cear; Gothic, cara; Celtic, car ; allied to the Latin curus. — Chambers. Probably the origin of this word is the act of moaning, murmuring, or grumbling at what is felt to be grievous. — Wedgwood. CRaeltC. — Care, care, anxiety, distress of mind (obsolete) ; cur am, care, anxiety, distress ; a charge, trust, office [cure) ; curamach, full of care, anxious, solicitous; curamachd, solicitude, anxiety, care. CAREME (French).— The season of Lent or Spring, from the German Lenz, the Spring ; when the days lengthen ; the triumph of Spring over Winter. CarSme, from quarantieme, the fortieth (or the forty days). — Littee. (KfacltC. — Cath-reim (t silent, ca-reim), triumph, from calh, battle, and reim, order; quasi, the order of battle against the lusts of the flesh, commanded in the Scriptures. CARESS. — A gesture, or movement of fondness or endearment. French, caresse; Italian, earezza; Latin, cans, dear. — Chambees, Littee. (JBraeltC. — Cairich, to soothe ; caircleas, friendship, love ; caraid, a friend. CARFAX.— The local name of the church of St. Martin, with its vene- rable square tower, that stands at the junction of four roads or streets in the city of Oxford. Two derivations of the word are sug- gested, and both from the (SiaeltC. — Cathair (t silent), a seat, a throne, a city, a cathedral ; faic ! behold ! see ! whence cathair-faic ! be- hold the throne, city, or seat. The second is ceithir (t silent), four; faich, a meadow, a green; whence ceithir- faich, the four meadows (separated by the cross roads). CARICATURE.— A twisted or dis- torted resemblance. 78 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Italian, caricatura, an overloaded repre- sentation of anything, from caricare, to overload. — Wedgwood. Italien, caricatura, charge ; de caricare, charger. — Littbe. GRaeltC. — Car, a twist, a turn, a bend, a deviation ; caracli, whirling, winding, twisting; fur, sense, meaning, intention, whole, altogether; gu-tur, entirely; carach-gu-tur, altogether twisted, or a twisted and perverted sense. CARILLON (French).— A peal or chime of bells. Manage indique la vraie etymologie ; tm mot bas Latin quadrilio, signifiant un quaternaire, a, cause que les carillons se faisaient autrefois avec quatre cloches. — Littbe. (05r£l?ltC. — Caireall or coirioll, the sound of distant music, harmony,melody; cairealach, harmonious, musical. CARMEN (Latin) . — A song, a poem. Carmen, a verse, comes properly from carm or garm, which among the Keltics signified a joyful cry, and the verses sung by the Bards to encourage the soldiers, before they went to battle ; and this is so evident that even X a PI"- e i n Greek is the same as pugna and conflictns. — Pezbon, The Antiquities of Nations. (Sk&t\iz. — Qairm, a cry, a shout, a joyful song. CARNAC: — The name of the great Druidical circle in Brittany, and of an ancient city in Egypt. (SSraeltC. — Cathair (ca-air), seat; achd, judgment ; Another possible deriva- tion is cathair, seat ; naigheadid, news, intelligence, learning. CARNEY (Provincial and Slang).— To wheedle, to use hypocritical lan- guage for the purpose of persuasion, to insinuate one's self by flattery into the favour of another. CRaeltC, — Cam, to heap up ; camadh, to pile up stones on a cairn or earn ; whence, metaphorically, to pile up flat- teries and compliments with an object. CAROL. — A song; to sing, to chant. Old French, carole; Italian, carola; dimi- nutive of the Latin chorus, a choral dance. — Chambees. Properly a round dance ; French, earole, querole; Bret. koroll, a dance ; Welsh, coroli, to reel, to dance. — Wedgwood. (KaeltC. — Coirioll, a cheerful note, a song, a symphony, hilarity ; coiriolleach, musical, cheerful. See Carillon. CAROUSAL.— Revelry. The author of G-azophylacium Angli- canum derived this word from the German gar aus ! which he supposed to be a command to the guests to empty their glasses " quite out," or in more modern parlance, "to leave no heel- taps." Johnson adopted this explana- tion, and most other etymologists, and particularly Mr. Wedgwood, have deemed it satisfactory. But neither the Germans, nor any other of the Teutonic languages, have adopted the phrase in the sense of a festival or drinking assemblage; but have gelag, a banquet, and zechen, to drink deep, and borrow harussell from the French carrousel. The Place du Carrousel in Paris, between the Tuileries and the Louvre, was the spot where the knights and nobles held their tournaments, to which, except as spectators, the vulgar were not admitted. Littre, in his French Dictionary, has — Carrousel. Tournoi ou. des chevaliers partages en quadrilles distingues par la diversity des livrles et des habits, se livrant a, differents jeux et excercises. On y ajoutait souvent des courses de chariots, des machines, des recits, et des danses de chevaux. Thus the banquet, of which the OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 79 knights and nobles partook at the con- elusion of their sports, was corrupted in English into " carousal," signifying the feast and not the preliminary joustings. From " carousal," by another corruption, sprang the verb carouse, in which the primary meaning of the original French was wholly lost. The true root of the French carrousel, or tournament, is the (iS-aeltC. — Cathair, seat, place, arena ; uasail, gentle, noble, of high birth and lineage ; whence cathair (t silent) uasail, the place for the nobles and gentles, who alone were admitted to the tourney and the feast that took place afterwards. CAROUSE.— To revel, to drink, to feast. Chouse (Lowland Scotch). — Happy> vigorous, jolly. Carouse, to drink, from the French ca- rousser. — Johnson. German, hrause; Dutch, hruyse; English, cruse, a drinking vessel. — Chambees. The derivation of carouse from Jcroes, a drinking cup, is erroneous, and there is no doubt that the old explanation from the German gar aus, all out, is correct. When the goblet was emptied, it would probablybe turned upside down with the exclamation gar aus. — Wedgwood. A " carousal," and to " carouse," and the French carrousel, are not from the same root, and represent different ideas. " Carouse " and crouse are not associated with chivalry and tournaments, or the feasts of the noble and gentle, but ex- press the idea of mere conviviality and deep drinking, and are from the (ffiraeltC. — Craos, a large mouth j craosach, wide-mouthed, deep drinking ; craosaire, a wide-mouthed person, a deep drinker ; a carouser. Gaelic, craos, a wide mouth, revelry. From craos are evidently derived the English word carouse, and the French carrouser. — Abm- stbong, quoted by Woecestee. CARPET. — A woollen or other cover- ing for the floor of a room. From the Latin carpere, to pluck, to pull asunder, was formed the Mid Latin carpia, carpita; French, charpie, lint. — Wedg- wood. (Gaelic. — Cas, the foot ; brat, a cloth ; whence cas-bhrat, footcloth or carpet. j©ait0CUt. : — Karpata,mx old or patched garment, a covering, a cloth. CARRE-FOUR (French).— A public place, a place where four roads meet. d&aelic. — Cathair (car), a seat, a place ; buar, bliuar, cattle ; whence carre-four, a market-place for cattle. See Carfax. CARRI-WARY (French charivari).— A burlesque and insultingperformanee of rough music (sometimes called Marrow-bones and Cleavers), with which the common people celebrate an unpopular or objectionable mar- riage of a very old man with a very young woman, or of a very old woman with a very young man. The noise of mock music made with pots, kettles, frying-pans, shouting, screaming, &c. — Wheatlet's Dictionary of the Redupli- cated Words of the English Language. Charivari. Mot d'origine inconnu qui ne parait pas remonter au-dela du quatorzieme siecle. Scaliger le tire de chalybaria, chaudrons ; Ducange du bas Latin caria, noix, a, cause qu'on jetait des noix, et qu'on faisait tumulte le jour des noces. — Littbe. properly an opening, an abyss; Sanscrit, kha, a cavity. — Littee. (KadtC. — Ceo, a thick mist. CHAQUE (French).— Each; chacun, each one. <2*aellC. — Gach, each; gach-aon, each one. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 85 CHARIOT.— A four-wheeled vehicle. Etymologists generally refer the deri- vation of this word to " car/' the Latin earns, and French char, but do not seek to explain the last syllable. There is a difference of construction between a " car " and a " chariot ;" a car may have only two wheels, a chariot has four; whence perhaps the true derivation of the latter word is the <35raelic. — Ceiihir (t silent, cei-Mr), four ; roth, a wheel ; whence ceithir- roth, four wheels, or, in modern English, a four-wheeler. CHARM. — To fascinate, to delight, to give pleasure, charming, fascinating, agreeable, delightful. Literally a song, an enchantment; to subdue by secret influence, to enchant, to delight. From the French ckarme; Italian, car me, car mo ; from the Latin carmen, a song. — Chambers. The root of the Latin carmen is preserved in the Anglo-Saxon cyrm, noise, shout; charm (chirm), a hum, a low noise of birds. [Milton has the charm (chirm) of earliest birds.]— Wedgwood. CSiartiC. — Cearmanta, tidy, neat, trim, agreeable; cearmantas, tidiness, neatness, pleasantness. CHARY. — Sparing, frugal, reluctant, keeping behind, either in words or deeds. Anglo-Saxon, cearig, from cearain, to care. — Wedgwood and Chambees. A careful man is not a chary man, and care and chare are not related. Possibly the root is the (Gaelic. — Deire (jary), backward, behind, the end, the conclusion ; deire- annach, the hindmost (i. e. the most chary) . CHATTELS (in Low Latin, catalla).— All moveable property and also all estates in land which are limited to a certain number of years or other determinative time. " Goods and chattels" is a common phrase, though there is no real difference in the meaning of the two words except in so far that an estate in land may not be described as goods. Horses, car- riages, and all removeable property may be either goods or chattels. Chattels, cattle ; French, chatel, from Latin capitate, catallum, the principal sum in a loan, as distinguished from the interest due upon it. . . . Catallum came to be used in the sense of goods in general, with the exception of land, and was specially applied to cattle as the principal wealth of the coun- try in an early stage of society. — Wedg- wood. The Low Latin catalla is of unknown etymology. It is but recently that the word cattle has been confined to domestic quadru- peds as the most valuable of ordinary move- able possessions. — Mabsh's Lectures on the English Language. ffiartlC. — Cath, battle; diol, reward, pay, recompense ; whence cath-diol or caith-diol, the spoil of battle, the re- ward of battle, cattle lifted from the enemy. CHAUNT (French, chanter).— To sing. The word " chaunt," in English, as distinguished from sing, seems derivable from the intonation of the prayers in religious services. The Latin canere, to sing, and the Gaelic cainnt, lan- guage, spring from the same source in the fflf atllC. — Can, to say, to sing ; canain, language, dialect, speech; cainnt, speech, language, conversation; cainntearachd, oratory. See Cant. CHE ARE, CHOURE.— Nares defines the first of these obsolete words as " look, air of countenance," and the 86 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY second as " to grumble or to mutter." He cites as examples : — No sign of joy did in his looks appear Or ever moved his melancholy chear. Deayton, The Owl. With cheare as though one should another whelme. — Sonnet on Windsor Castle. Subeey. But when the crabhed nurse Begins to chide and choure. Tubbeeville's Ovid. The two words are from the same source, the CSfacltC. — Oiar, gloom, darkness ; ciaradh, the gloaming, glooming, or dusk of the evening. For " cheare " and "choure" read gloom, and the sense in the cited instances is complete. CHEAT.— To defraud. Lexicographers have tortured etymology for an original (for this word) but without success. Stevens, the learned commentator on Shakspeare, acknowledged that he did not recollect to have met with the word cheat in our ancient writers. — Introduction to "Hot- ten's Slang Dictionary. The derivation, like many others that have puzzled English philologers, is to be sought in the Keltic. The root — remem- bering the antagonism of the English to the guttural sounds, and the constant change of ch, or final eg or gh, to d or t — is probably the ffiaeltC — Ditheach {jee-ach, Angli- cized into jee-al), a beggar, a poor man, an indigent person ; one in the straits of poverty. In the Rogues' Dictionary, " chete " or " cheat," instead of meaning a poor man, who cheats because he is very poor, came to signify any man, person, or thing ; as, bleating chete, a calf; crash- ing chete, a tooth ; cackling chete, a fowl; lowing chete, a cow; hearing chetes, ears ; prattling chete, a tongue ; quacking chete, a duck, &c. CHEESE (Slang).— That's the cheese. This vulgar phrase is sometimes varied to " That's the Stilton." Anything good, or first-rate in quality. The expression may be found in the Gipsy vocabulary, and in the Hindostanee and Persian languages. In the last, chiz means a thing. — Slang Dictionary. ©farltC. — Cms, the side which one takes in a game; a cause, matter, or subject of argument or controversy. CHEESE.— The curd of milk, Com- pressed and salted. Kebbuck (Lowland Scotch). — A large cheese. ©a fltC. — Ce,che, cream; caise, cheese; hoc, to swell, to puff out ; bochd, swol- len. CHEMIN (French).— A way, a path. (SSirafltC. — Ceum, a step, a pace; tri cheumanan, three paces. I&gmriC. — Caman, a way, a path. CHEQUE. — An order of payment on a bank. Exchequer. — One of the four superior courts of law in England. Chan- cellor of the Exchequer; one of the Lords of the Treasury. There is some doubt as to the origin of these words. The modern " cheque " or " check " is supposed to be derived from its separation from the counterfoil, by which means its accuracy can be checked or ascertained. Mr. Wedgwood says, " to check an account," is an ex- pression derived from the practice of the Court of Exchequer, where accounts were taken by means of counters upon a checked cloth, i. e. a cloth with squares of different colours, like a chess or draught board. Knight's Political OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 87 Dictionary says, "the Latinized form of the word ' Exchequer ' is scaccarium, so called, according to Camden, from the covering of the table at which the Barons sat being parti-coloured or che- quered, and on which, when certain of the King's accounts were made up, the sums were marked and scored with counters." As the court was established for the collection of the king's dues and revenues, and as the judges under the Norman kings, unlike the peers of par- liament, were learned and literate men, it can hardly be supposed that they kept their accounts by means of a table- cloth, chequered or plain ; it would seem that the etymology of the word should be sought in another direction. The derivation from the German schatz, a treasure, is not satisfactory. The fol- lowing possible roots offer themselves in the (JBfaellC. — Cis, with the aspirate, chis, a tax, a cess, an assessment ; teic, due, legal, lawful, convenient, fitting. Teic is sometimes written deic ; deach- mhaith, to take tithe ; deachamh, a tithe, a tenth. The last word, derived from deach or deic (pronounced jek, quasi chek), ten, is in all probability the true root of "cheque." " Exchequer," in like man- ner, may be cis-deachamh (pronounced Jcis-checkav) , tax (and) tithe. Neither " cheque," " check," or " exchequer," is to be found in Herbert Coleridge's Dictionary of the first or oldest Words in the English Language, from the semi- Saxon period of a.d. 1250 to a.d. 1300. CHER (French).— Dear. Chaeity. — Love, affection, a feeling of kindness and toleration for others. French, chariie; Italian, carita; Latin, caritas, from cans, dear. — Chambers. Love and charity are used promiscuously in the New Testament, and out of the sense of their equivalence are made to represent one and the same Greek word ; but in modern use charity has come almost exclusively to signify one particular manifestation of love, the supply of the bodily needs of others; love continuing to express the affections of the soul. — Tkench. ©aelic. — Seirc or seirg (sheirg), love, affection, benevolence, charity of thought as well as of deed ; seirceil, affectionate, dutiful, benevolent, kind, loving, chari- table ; seircean, a beloved person, a benevolent person ; seircire, a kindly or charitable person; seirceag, a beloved and affectionate woman or girl ; seircear, a wooer, a lover; seircealachd, benevo- lence, charitableness. CHESS. — This admirable game appears to have been known in Asia at a very early period, and to have been brought into Europe long before the Christian era by the Keltic immigrants, who peopled Egypt and Phoenicia, and afterwards Greece, Italy, Spain, Gaul, and the British Islands. Much research and ingenuity have been employed in the effort to trace the etymology of the word, which some have derived from a Chinese and others from a Persian root. The Rev. George William Lemon in his ingenious at- tempt to trace the English language to the Greek, London, 1783, quotes from Cleveland, " That the game is of the very highest antiquity, and probably of North-Western Keltic origin, and that it must have been carried with the ancientest Keltic immigration into Asia." The mistake here is in imagining that the Keltic races immigrated into Asia, whereas the Keltic races emigrated from Asia S3 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY into Europe, as all recent investi- gations tend to prove. Two roots — irreconcileable with each other — have found especial favour with ety- mologists; one, the Persian schach, the King or Shah, which finds itself reproduced with slight variation in the Italian scacco, the Spanish saque, and the German schach; the other from chequers, the squares of two colours into which the board is divided, whence the French le jeu cles echecs. Recognizing as most probable the fact of the Keltic origin of the game, a Keltic root offers itself for considera- tion in the €*aeltC. — Cas, and in the aspirated form, chas, a difficulty, a perplexity, a dilemma. This derivation well explains the character of the game. The designation and values of the several pieces on the board have varied in different ages and countries. The king has always been the king, but the queen has sometimes been called the general, while the bishops have been called elephants or alfins. The castle still goes by the name of the rook, a fact that helps to confirm the Keltic origin and nomenclature of the game. A writer in Hone's Year Booh, 1831, says that "the name of rohh, which is common both to the Persians and Indians, signifies a sort of camel used in war, and placed at the wings of their armies by way of light horse. The rapid motions of this piece, which jumps from one end of the board to the other, agrees with this idea of it. It was at first the only piece that had motion." With this explanation we may trace the root of Booh to the (SXaeltC. — Btiag, to pursue, to put to flight, to persecute, to harass ; ruagair, a chaser, a hunter ; ruagaclh, a pursuit, a putting to flight, a harassment. The word " pawn " has been explained in a variety of ways, from the Greek 7rt/?, Latin pes, a foot ; the Italian pe- tona, or pedona, a footman; and the Old French pion {pieton),& foot soldier. Possibly the word pawn is the ffiarllC. — Buain, a foundation, be- cause the pawns, like the rank and file of an army, are the foundation of the contest. Caisg, to restrain, has been suggested as a possible root of "chess," but that from cas, and chas, seems prefer- able. CHICKALEEEY COVE.— This is one of the newest slang phrases of the time (1875), and gives the title to a popular song received with applause at the Music Halls. This strange word is asserted to mean' the district of London known as Whitechapel, so that a " chickaleery cove," or "bloke " as it is sometimes termed, is a " White- chapel man." But the derivation is erroneous. So full of vitality under discouragement is the old Keltic lan- guage of the original possessors of the British soil, that words, of which the derivation is utterly unknown to this present and many previous genera- tions, crop up after twelve hundred years, in the speech, or what is called the slang or cant of the lower people, and find no explanation except in the ancient and ignored tongue of the Britons and the Gaels. " Chick- aleery" offers a signal example of this fact. The word is not invented by the roughs and vagabonds of out- age, as this and many others of a OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 89 similar character are supposed to have been, but resolves itself into the ©afllC. — Bitheach (See Jack), pro- nounced jeach, a beggar, a destitute person, and liath (lee-a), grey; reodk, freeze ; frost ; whence ditheach {jee-ach) liatk [lee-ah) reodh (reo), a beggar that goes out begging in the hard frost. This class is well known in London as the "frozen-out gardeners," who sing and bellow lustily a ballad of which the chorus is, " We have no work to do," work being the last thing they require, and money the first. CHIEL (Lowland Scotch). — A. person, a fellow. A chiefs amang ye talrin' notes, An' faith he'll print them. Burns. €5faeltC. — Gille, a lad, a youth. CHILD. — The young or new born of the human species. Originally, ac- cording to Mr. Halliwell, this word was schylden, to bring forth a child ; puer, Anglice, a schyle. Anglo-Saxon, did; German, hind. A similar interchange of n and I is seen in English, kilderkin; Dutch, kindehen, a small cask. ... It is remarkable that the anomalous plural children agrees with the Dutch hinderen. — Wedgwood. The derivation from hind is not ad- missible. That from the Gaelic gille, a youth, is more to the purpose, but possi- bly the true root, somewhat corrupted, is from the ffiaell'C. — Siol {sheel), seed, progeny, issue, family, children ; a tribe, a clan ; siolach, having progeny ; sioladh, off- spring. CHIRM, Churm.— The song of a mul- tiplicity of birds. Milton makes Eve speak of the "charm" of earliest birds ; a corruption of " chirm." Small birds with chirming and with chirping changed their song. — Gavin Dowlas. At last the sky began to clear, The birds to chirm, and daylight to appear. Ross's Selenore. Latin, carmen, a song ; Anglo-Saxon, cirm, a charm. — Wobcestee. Chirm, the melancholy undertone of a bird previous to a storm. — North. Chyrme or churr as burdes doe. Hulvet. 1552. — Hal- liwell. (Baclic. — Seirm (s/ieirm), music, melody, skill, dexterity, art ; seirmeach, musical. CHIZZLE (Slang).— To cheat, to be chizzled out of anything; to be cheated by a false pretence. ffiarltc. — Disle (jisle), relationship; dislean, cousinship ; whence the meta- phorical use of the word, to be cheated by a person under the false pretence of relationship or consanguinity. CHOUSE (Slang).— To cheat, swindle, defraud. In the year 1609 there was attached to the Turkish embassy in England an inter- preter or Chiaous, who by cunning, aided by his official position, managed to cheat the Turkish and Persian merchants then in London out of £4000. From the notoriety which attended the fraud, any one who cheated was said to chiaous, chause or chouse, to do, that is, as this Chiaous had done. — Tbench, English Past and Present. The word, notwithstanding this story (See Bogus), is much older than the seventeenth century, and is probably of home growth and origin. The Turkish etymology is only a coincidence, and a resemblance to the original (HifaeltC. — Diosg, a barren cow that yields no milk (the d before i or e pro- nounced as/, and the guttural g at the end omitted for the sake of euphony), pronounced jios or chios ; diosgadh, the state of being dry or barren. N 90 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY " Chouse " is correctly described in the Slang Dictionary , " to cheat out of one's share or portion •" and appears to have been used metaphorically by thieves and tricksters to signify a baulked hope of plunder, a barren job from which nothing was to be got. CHRISOME CLOTH.— A white cloth that was formerly swathed around the body of a child about to be baptized, and worn during the month of bap- tism. Mr. Halliwell says : — • " It signifies properly the white cloth which is set by the minister upon the head of a child newly anointed with chrism after baptism. . . With this cloth the women used to shroud the child if dying within the month." The resemblance between chrisome, a cloth, and the Greek ^pia-fia, an un- guent, has led to the supposition that the two words were from the same root, and that " chrisome cloth " simply meant a cloth that had been anointed with chrism. However, that may be, a derivation of chrisome, in the sense of an encircling cloth, offers in the C&aeliC. — Crios, a girdle, a band, a belt ; and uim, round, or round about. CHUCK (Colloquial).— To throw. Chtjckie Stane (Lowland Scotch) . — A pebble or stone that may be easily thrown from the hand. Jerk. — To cast or throw with a sudden motion. French, claquer, to clack. . . . Turkish, chakil, a pebble. To chuck, in the sense of throwing, may be in the notion of a sudden j erk. — Wedgwood. The vulgar word " chuck," if not a corruption of "jerk," is probably from the (ffiaeltC. — Sebg (she-og), to swing to and fro, preparatory to throwing, sling- ing, or casting ; sebg an, a pendulous or swinging motion. CHUM (Slang). — An intimate ac- quaintance. To " chum " with any one is to share the same bedroom. Stated to be from the Anglo-Saxon cuma, a guest. — Slang Dictionary. Many English words, derived from other languages beginning with k or the hard sound of c, take ch, as kirk, church. It is probable that " chum " in like manner is the (KadtC. — Caomhach, a friend, a bosom friend, an associate ; caomh, gentle, cour- teous, beloved. CIELING. — The roof or covering of a room. Ciel (French). — The sky, the roof or covering of the earth formed by the atmosphere. Conceal. — To hide, to cover up (Latin celo, to hide). Cell. — The retreat of an anchorite, where he hides from observation. (KaeltC. — Ceil, to conceal, hide, shel- ter, cover; ceilte, secret, covered, hidden, concealed; cellinn, concealment, cover- ing ; cill, a cemetery, a grave, a conceal- ment of the corpse ; cillein, a secret repository; anything concealed from observation, buried in the ground. See Caul, Kell, &c. CIRE (French).— "Wax; cire a cacheter, sealing-wax; cirage, blacking for boots; cirer, to wax. During the reign of the first Napoleon, who made and unmade kings at his pleasure, some French wag chalked on the walls of the Tuileries, " Fabrique de cire." OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 91 ©JlElir. — Ceir, wax ; ceir-chluas, the wax of the ears ; ceirick, to cover or seal with wax; ceireil, waxen. CLACHAN (Lowland Scotch). —A village in which there is a church or place of worship. ffiaflic. — Clackan, the stones. The stones originally meant were those of Druidical circles, which are numerous in the Highlands. The earliest Chris- tian churches were erected on the sites of the rude Druidical temples or stones. CLACK (Vulgar and colloquial) .—Talk, loud talk. Hold your clack ! hold your tongue ! (ffiacltc. — Glagaire, a loud talker ; glagaireachd,\o\id, foolish, or impertinent talk ; glagadaich, glagarra, garrulous ; glaganach, noisy, rattling; glagan, the clapper of a mill. CLADDER.— " A word," says Nares, " of uncertain derivation, probably no more than a temporary conversational term." Mr. Thomas Wright thinks it means a general lover, who wanders from one object to another. The mention in the only passage in which the word has been found (see Nares and Wright) of " glovers " and " laun- dresses " suggests that it meant a handicraftsman of some kind ; possibly from the ffiaeltC. — Clad, to comb or card wool ; cladaire, a wool-comber. CLAM. — A shell-fish very common and much esteemed in America. (HJaeliC. — Glaim, a large mouthful. CLAMOUR. — Loud continuous up- roar, noise ; an exclamation of voices. This word comes directly into the language from the Latin, but the root of the Latin is in the , to clash any arms. — Wedgwood. The root of " clish," of which " clish- clash" is both an augmentative and a reduplicative, seems to be in the idea of very rapid motion, as in the tongues of over-talkative persons, and in a hand-to- hand fight with swords, and is to be found in the fflfaelic. — Clis (clis/i), active, nimble, restless, lively ; clisneach, a tongue never at rest ; na fir chlis, the nimble or merry men, i. e. the Northern lights or Aurora borealis ; clabar, a mill clap- per ; whence clis-mo-claiar, quick my mill-clapper ! applied to a too voluble woman. CLOACA (Latin). — A large sewer, formed of stone or brick-work, for carrying off the drainage of cities. Conduit fait de pierre et voute par ou on fait ecouler les eaux et les immondices d'une ville. Les cloagues des Eomains subsistent encore, et sont bien baties et fort hautes. — Dictimmaire de VAcadimie Francaise. ffiaeltC. — Clock, a stone, a large stone; clochan, stones, the stepping-stones over a stream ; a pavement, a causeway. Another derivation is possible from clo- dack, dirt, filth, slime, ordure; achadh, a field, a place, whence, by abbrevia- tion, clo-acha, the place of filth. CLOAK. — A long garment falling from the neck to the hips or breech, and sometimes to the feet. Neither the French, nor the Teutonic sources of the English offer any clue to this word. Flemish, MoeJce, toga, pallium, toga mu- liebris. Welsh, cochl, a mantle. — Wedg- wood. Old French, cloche; Low Latin, cloca, a garment worn by horsemen. — Chambees. The Britons call a cloak cueul. — Grant's Thoughts on the Origin and Descent of the G-ael. fflfaeli'c. — Cul, the back, the back part (French cul) ; ceil, to cover ; ceil- leach, a covering ; whence cul-ceilleach, a covering for the hind or back parts, abbreviated and corrupted into cul-each, cul-acli, and cloak. CLOCK. — A time-piece with a bell that strikes the hour. Literally that which clicks ; a variation of clack; Anglo-Saxon, cluge. — Chambees. The word clock is a variation of clack ; being derived from a representation of the sound made by a blow, at first probably on a wooden board. Gaelic, clag ; Irish, clagaim, to make a noise, to ring. — Wedgwood. ©aelt'C. — Clag, a bell; to sound, to make a noise ; clag-aite, clag-lann, bel- fry, the place of a bell ; clagan, a little bell. • CLOD. — A lump of earth, a turf. Sod. — A turf, the grass. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 95 Clodhoppeu. — Term of derision for an ignorant boor or peasant. Danish, Mod; Swedish, Mots, a block, a log ; Dutch, Mos, a hard luQip of earth. — Stobmonth. ©farttC. — Clod, a turf, a sod, a lump of earth ; to pelt with turf or clods ; to cover with clods or turf ; clodan, a little clod ; clod-cheann, a stupid heavy dull- head ; clod-cheannach, clod-headed, heavy-headed; sod, the turf; also a silly person ; French sot, a fool. CLOSE.— To shut. Enclose. — To shut in. Close (Lowland Scotch). — A narrow lane or alley. Cloisters. — The enclosed portions of a monastery or abbey, where the monks or priests took exercise. From the Latin claudo, clansum; French, clorre, clos, to shut up, close, enclose, finish ; clos, a field enclosed. — Wedgwood. (ffifaelic. — Clolh, a pair of tongs ; clobhsa, an enclosure, an area, a close (Scottish), an entry, a passage. CLOSE (Slang). — Keep close, be quiet, don't tell or divulge what you know. (DracttC. — Clos, rest, stillness, quiet- ness, sleep ; closadk, quieting, hushing, stilling, or keeping still ; closach, a dead body, silent (in the grave). CLOTHES, Clothing.— Dress, gar- ments, attire, habiliments. Cloth. — Woollen or linen stuff. Saxon, clath, the matter whereof garments are made. — Bailey, Ash, Johnson, &c. Anglo-Saxon, clath; German, Meid, con- nected with Latin claudo, to shut. — Cham- bers. (BiaeltC. — Cloimh, wool ; clutliaich, to warm, to clothe ; clomhach, wool ; do, clothe, coarse, homespun cloth. SSgintlC. — Clyd, warm, sheltering, comfortable. German Ideiden, to clothe. CLOUT. — A patch, a small piece of cloth, a rag ; also to patch, to mend clumsily. From the Anglo-Saxon clut, a little cloth ; and the Welsh clwt, a patch, and clytian, to patch . — Chambers . From the Anglo-Saxon clut, a patch. The primary sense is a blow, as when we speak of a clout on the head ; from the Dutch Telotsen, to strike. Thence applied to a lump of material clapped on hastily to mend a breach. — Wedgwood. (SiaeltC. — Clud, a rag, a patch ; clu- dair, a patcher, a cobbler, a mender; chidatk, patching, clouting. 'Bahj-clouts, dish-clouts, and other words in which this root appears, have nothing to justify Mr. Wedgwood's supposition of its derivation from any root that means to strike. CLOUT (Vulgar and colloquial) .—A slap or blow on the head. " Fll give you a clout on the head " (Street par- lance in London). ffiafliC. — Cliudan,2L slap on the face; cliudanaclid, a series of slaps on the face or head. CLOVER.— "To be in clover," a fami- liar expression, to signify that a person is in a state of great comfort or plea- sure. To be or live in clover, to live luxuriously. Clover is the most desirable food for cattle. — Gbose. Clover, happiness, luck, a delightful posi- tion ; from the supposed happiness which attends cattle when they suddenly find their quarters changed from a barren field to a meadow of clover. — Slang Dictionary. an0Cttt. — G'val, to burn; whence, "coal" and "fuel," that which will burn. KgttUtC — Gawl. Sanscrit, G'ala, light produced from burning. COAT. — The upper garment of men. Petticoat. — A small coat, an under- garment of women. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. From the Anglo-Saxon, cote; Belgian, hot. — Gruzophylaciu m Anglicanum. French, cotte, a coat or frock ; Italian, cotta, any kind of frock, coat, or upper gar- ment. — Wedgwood. French, cotte; Low Latin, cottus, cotta, a tunic; provincial English, cot, a matted fleece; German, kotze, a matted covering. — Chambebs. CBraeltC. — Cota, an upper garment; cota-mor, a great coat; cotag, a long eoat ; coiaii, a petticoat ; cotaich, to cover with a coat. COAX. — To wheedle, to win over by fair words, to cajole. A low word of uncertain derivation, to fawn upon, to wheedle. — Ash. Cogs, a kind of vessel used on the coast of Yorkshire, or cogs-men, the crews which navigated them, and who were notorious beggars, — Bichabdson. Welsh, cocru, to fondle ; Spanish, cocar, to make wry faces, to coax. — Webstek. The Old English cokes was a simpleton, a gull, probably from the French cocasse, one who says or does laughable or ridiculous things. Trevoux. Cocasse, plaisant ridicule ; cocosse, niais, imbecille. — Hecart. To calces or coax one then is to make a cokes or fool of him, to wheedle or gull him into doing something. — Wedgwood. The original signification of what Ash calls " this low word of uncertain de- rivation," seems to have been to blind a person by fair and flattering words, and make him do what he otherwise might not have done, and to be trace- able to the <35a?lic. — Caoch, blind ; caochadh, blinking, making blind. COCK. — To erect, to cause to project or stand up stiffly, to stick up. To cock is to start up with a sudden action, to cause suddenly to project, to stick up. — Wedgwood. Dr. Johnson does not attempt to ex- plain the etymology of this word, which appears with its various mean- ings in his Dictionary under " cock," the male of the hen; a word derived from the French coq, which has no relation whatever to the English verb. Worcester, and other American and more recent English lexicographers are equally silent on the subject. C&aeltC. — Coc, to hold up, to erect, to stick up; coc do bhonaidk! cock your bonnet. From this Gaelic word comes a "cocked" hat, a hat stuck up on one side, a cockade stuck on a hat, a cock horse, a prancing or erect horse, as well as the phrases applied to animals, cock- ing the ear, cocking the tail, and perhaps cock-sure, erectly, stiffly, rigidly, proudly sure. From the same root comes the cock of a barrel, a cock of hay ; cock-a- hoop, stuck-up and impertinent, or in high spirits; a cock-eye, a squint. In Scotland a " cock-laird " is a small landed proprietor or laird, who is as proud and stuck-up as if he were a great one. Cockernonie, the ancient name for the modern chignon, is false hair stuck prominently on the back of the head. COCKADE. — A badge or ornament on the hat of the servants of military officers ; formerly worn in the shape of bunches of ribbons by gallants or partisans. The white cockade was the badge of the Jacobites, as in the song : — My love was born in Aberdeen, The bonniest lad that e'er was seen ; But now he makes our hearts fu' sad, He's ta'en the field wi' his white cockade. (JBraeltC. — Coc, manifest, plain, to stand erect ; cocadh, standing erect. See Cock, ante. COCKATRICE.— Fabled to be a ser- 9S THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY pent generated in a cock's egg, some- times called a basilisk. Johnson derives the word from "cock" and " adder/' The French have coca- trix and cocatrice. Basilisk is derived from the Greek fiacriKevi, a king, and was so called, according to Pliny, from a white spot upon the head of the creature, which resembled a crown. The " Cockatrice " was supposed to possess a fatal power of fascination, a glance of its eye being sufficient to cause death. Shakspeare in Romeo and Juliet speaks of " The death-darting eye of cockatrice," and in Twelfth Night, has " They will kill by the look like cock- atrices." From this idea sprang the use of the word, as applied to a beautiful and fascinating woman of bad character, who led men to their ruin or moral death. It is more than once used in this sense in Ben Jonson's play of Cynthia's Bevels, in which the gallants speak of their mistresses as "cocka- trices," and by other playwrights of the time, some of whom employ the word as if it implied fondness and endear- ment rather than reproach. A recent Dictionary (Stormonth's), derives the word from the Spanish cocalriz, a crocodile. The similarity of the French and English word shows a common origin, which is not Saxon or Teutonic. The etymology adopted by Johnson is evidently invented to suit the ancient fable. The true etymology may be ' traced back to a very early period, and is clearly derivable from the ancient serpent worship, and that of the Phallus. (SrafllC. — Coc, to stick up, to stand erect ; cocadh (coca), standing erect ; treise, power, strength, vigour; cocadh or coca-treise, that which stands power- fully erec'". In its application to women by the Elizabethan Dramatists, the name of the effect was jocularly applied to the cause. COCKER.— To pamper, to fondle, to nurture too tenderly. Corker, cockney. The original meaning of cockney is a child too delicately or tenderly nurtured, applied to citizens as opposed to the hardier inhabitants of the country, and in modern times confined to the citizens of London. . . The Dutch kokelen, to pamper, the equivalent of the English cocker, is explained by Kilian "cutrire sive foyere culina " as if from koken, to cook, but this is doubtless an accidental resemblance. The French coqueliner, to dandle, pampei', make a wanton of a child, leads us in the right direction. This word is precisely of the same form and significance with dodeliner, to dandle, loll, cocker, hug fondly, but primarily, to rock or jig up and down ; dodelineur, the rocker of a cradle ; dondeliner de la tete, to wag the head, &c. The primitive meaning of cocker then is simply to rock the cradle, and hence to cherish an infant. — Wedg- wood. How ingeniously wrong these sup- positions are, and how hopelessly the writer missed the right track when he was close upon it, appears from the ffiaelt'C — Clock, a woman's breast; ciocar, greedy as a child for the breast; ciocharan, an infant at the breast; ciocharanachd, the condition of a suck- ling, the management of a suckling child. COCKLE,— A small and well-known shell fish. ©ra?l!C. — Cochull, a hull, a husk, a cover, a shell; Greek, KO^Xta; Latin, cochlea. The final syllable of the Gaelic words appear in the English hull ; the German Mile, a covering; in the Sans- crit hul, to cover ; and in the Kymric, a cover, a coverlet ; liuliaw, to spread over. COCKLE, or Corn Cockle. — A flower that grows among the corn ; the agroslemma githago of botanists. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 99 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cackles instead of barley. — Book of Job. (Gaelic. — Cogatt, cogull, tares, husks, the cockle or corn cockle. COCKLES (Slang).— The cockles of one's heart, i. e. the very innermost heart, or " heart of hearts." " To rejoice the cockles of one's heart;" a vulgar phrase, implying great pleasure. Also to warm one's cockles, said of any hot, spiced drink, taken in eold weather. Cockles altogether seem to he an imaginary portion of great importance in the internal economy of the human frame. — Slang Dictionary. (BS-afltC. — Coigill, a secret; coigilte, preserved, saved alive ; coigil, to save alive; whence "cockles,'" the secret heart, the action of which keeps a person alive ; the internal machinery of the human frame. COCKNEY.— A depreciatory epithet formerly applied by country people to the inhabitants of London, deri- sive of their ignorance of rural things and occupations. Minsheu relates a silly story of a Londoner in the country, who hearing a cock crow for the first time in his life, exclaimed, " the cock neighs," and traces the word to that source ; which has been accepted since his time by other philologists. Puller tells us that a person who was absolutely ignorant of rural matters was called a. cockney, which is most probably the meaning of the term in Lear, Act ii. Scene 4, and is still retained. — Halliwell. (SiaeltC. — Caoch, empty, hollow, void ; neoni, nobody; whence caoch-neoni (or cockney), an empty nobody, an ignora- mus. COCKY (Vulgar and Colloquial).— Quarrelsome, saucy, pert. C&aeliC — Cog, war, fight; coga'd, cogach, warlike, quarrelsome, belligerent. CODDLE. — To nurse a sick, ailing, or old person, too fondly or constantly. Probably from the French chaud, or the Latin calidus, warm. — Chambees. ■(Hxaelic. — Cattail, to sleep; codail, to put to sleep. CODE. — A collection, digest, or sum- mary of the laws. The law, the un- written code, i. e. the unwritten law (of honour, society, or man in a primitive state). Latin, codex, log, trunk of a tree, a book ; the Romans writing on wooden tablets covered with wax. Codicilles, the small trunk of a tree ; codicilli, writing tablets, memorials, &c. — Wedgwood. Latin, codex, or caudex, the trunk of a tree, a tablet. — Chambees. C&arlic. — Coda, law, equity, justice; cod, triumph. The Latin etymology of the word " code " has been so long and so gene- rally I'eceived, that the totally different origin afforded by the Gaelic may not meet with universal acceptance. But as law and justice existed in the world before men took to writing, either on wooden tablets like the Romans, or on bricks of clay like the Assyrians, it is possible that the Gaelic coda and not the Latin codex is the true root, and that the similarity of sound between the two words is purely accidental. CODGER (Slang).— An old fellow, a good old fellow, a strange old fellow. Codgers, the name of a debating society, formerly held in Bride Court, Fleet Street, and still (1864) in existence. The term is probably a corruption of cogitators. — Slang Dictionary. Codger, an eccentric old person, a miser ; codgery, any strange mixture or composition. —Halliwell. 100 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY OVaeltC. — Cuideachd (pronounced Icwjj-acAg), company, society; cnideacA- dail, social, convivial; cuideacAdaire, a companion, i. e. a " codger." COFFIN. — The chest in which a corpse is placed. Coffer, coffin. Greek, ko^lvos ; Latin, cophinus, a basket ; Italian, cqfano, any coffin, coffer, chest, hutch, or trunk; Breton, kof, hov, the belly; Anglo-Saxon, cof, a cave, cove, receptacle; French, cqfin, a coffin, a great candle case, or any such close and great basket of wicker. — Cotgkave, Wedgwood. A more dignified and reverential root of this word is the a shrine. -ComAan [cof -an or cov-an), COG.— To lie, to cheat, to make use of loaded dice. Since you can cog I'll play no more with you. Love's Labour Lost. Cogger. — A swindler, a cheat. At first a broker, then a petti-fogger, A traveller, a gamester, and a cogger. Habington's Epigrams, 1663. Lies, coggeries, and impostures. — Nares. fiS-aeltC. — Caog, to wink, to connive, to be in collusion with a confederate for purposes of fraud ; caogadA, winking, conniving. ISjimrtC. — Coegio, to trick. COG (Lowland Scotch). — A cup. Cogie (Lowland Scotch). — A little cup. I canna want my cogie, sir, I canna want my cogie, I canna want my cogie, sir. For a' the wives in Bogie. Duke of Gordon. Quaich (Lowland Scotch) .—A drink- ing cup of horn or wood, for taking a dram of whisky. CRaeltr. — CuacA, a cup. COIT. — The wig of a sergeant-at law. Coiffeb, (French). — To dress the hair. Coiffure. — A head dress. A lady's head dress. — Nakes. Say so much again, ye dirty quean, And I'll pull ye by the coif. Newest Academy of Compliments, Nares. Coif, a cap or covering for the head; French, coiffe ; Italian, cuffia ; Arabic, kufiyah, a head kerchief. — Chambers. OJaclic. — CiabA ijciaff), the hair; a ringlet, a lock of hair ; or-cAiabAacA, having golden or yellow hair. COIL (Obsolete), fusion. -Noise, tumult, eon- coil about To see them keeping up such a nothing. — Suckling. The wedding being there to-morrow, There's a great coil to-morrow. Much Ado about Nothing. When we have shuffled off this mortal coil. Samlet. Coil, noise, disturbance ; from the Gaelic coileid, a stir, movement, or noise ; perhaps from goil, boiling, vapour, fume, battle; goileam, prattling, vain tattle. The words signifying noise anddisturbanceare commonly taken from the agitation of water. — Wedg- wood. QSdXtlic. — Coile, coileid, stir, move- ment; coilcAean, water gurgling or gushing from an orifice; coileideacA, noisy . confused, turbulent ; goil, to rage, to boil ; goileacA, raging, boiling. COIN. — A piece of metallic money, copied and repeated from a die. To coin money is to stamp money, from the Latin cuneus, French, coin, quin, the steel die with which money is stamped ; originally doubtless from the stamping having been effected by means of a wedge, cuneus. . . . Muratori endeavours to show that the word is really derived from the Greek cikov, an image, whence the Latin iconiare, in the sense of coining money. So from the Welsh bath, a likeness, avian bath, coined money, and bathu, to make a likeness, to coin. — Wedgwood. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 101 <&aeltr. — Cu com : cm meag, a copy; cuinn, a , coining, copying. COISTEEED.— " This," says Nares, " is an uncommon word, known only in the following example where it seems to mean, coiled up into a small compass. The attempts to lind a derivation for it have not been very successful." I could have carried a lady up and down, at arm's end, in a platter, and I can tell you, there were those at that time, who to try the strength of a man's back and his arm would be coistered. — Malcontent, Old Play. Nakes. Coistered, French, inconvenienced. — Halliwell. Coister, ill-tempered, Northern. — Weight. The French cuistre is a word of con- tempt for a low or worthless person, and cannot be the origin of the English " coistered," as Mr. Halliwell supposes ; the most probable root that fully meets the sense of the passage quoted by Nares is the (Sin CltC. — Coisie, exhausted, spent, worn out with exertion ; coisg, quell, extinguish, exhaust ; eoisgte, quelled, exhausted. COISTREL.— Defined by Nares to mean " a young fellow, probably an inferior groom, or a lad employed by the esquire to carry the knight's arms and other necessaries ; probably from constillier , old French of the same signification." He's a coward and a coystrel that will not drink to my niece. — Shakspeabe, Twelfth Night. You whoreson, bragging coystril. — Beu Jonson. CBraeltC — Cas, cois, foot; triall, to go, set out, depart, run, travel ; whence coistriall, a running footman, or a foot traveller. COKE.— Coal, kilc -burnt and dried, and emptied of its moisture. <&aeltr. — Caoch, empty, blind, hollow, dried up ; caochag, an empty shell ; caochad, emptiness, blindness, cecity. COKES. — A fool, a simpleton. Why we will make a colces of this wise master We will, my mistress, an absolute fine colces. Ben Jonson. Go ! you're a brainless coax, a toy, a fop. Beaumont and Fletcher. Skinner's attempts towards a derivation of this word are very unsatisfactory ; but from it is unquestionably derived to coax, meaning to make a fool of a person, the usual object of coaxing. — Nares. (JKafltC. — CaocJi, empty, hollow ; whence an empty-headed person, a fool. See Coax. COLE PROPHET. — " This word," says Nares, "is sometimes written col prophet and cold prophet, The origin of the term is very obscure ; but it seems from instances produced by Tyrwhitt (Chaucer), that col, in composition, signified ' false/ " Nares cites several instances of the use of the word by English writers of the sixteenth century; among others : — As he was most vainly persuaded by the cold prophets, to whom he gave no small credit. — Knolles, History of the Turks. Phavorinus saith that if these cold prophets or oraclers, &c. — Scot's Discovery of Witch- craft. Though Dr. Jamieson, as Nares says, suggests kail, cunning, Keltic and Cornish, as the origin of col, cole, and cold, which Nares thinks may possibly be right, the root seems to be the CRaeltC. — Caill, call, loss, evil, detri- ment, calamity ; whence by corruption " cold prophet," a prophet of calamity, a Cassandra. 102 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY COLLIE (Lowland Scotch).— A shep- herd's dog. The tither was a ploughman's collie. *,y- ^t. JL M. Jf- TT TP TP 'tV ^P His hreast was white, his touzie hack Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black. Burns, The Twa Bogs. CSrcieltC. — Colg, the hair or fur of an animal; colgach, hairy, shaggy ; colgail, smart, brisk, active ; calg, hair. COLOMBE (French) .—A dove. Latin, (ffinclic. — Colman, caiman, a dove, a pigeon ; colman-tighe, a house or domes- tic pigeon ; colman-coille, a wood pigeon; colwman, a dove. COMART.— "A word," says Nares, " only found in the old quarto edition of Hamlet, but restored by Warburton as better suiting the sense than ' covenant/ which had been substituted. It may very analogically mean bargain or covenant between two." As by the same co-mart And carriage of the articles design'd His fell to Hamlet. Shakspeare, Samlet. If the previous lines of Horatio's speech are carefully read, it will appear from the sense that "comart" is not necessarily a covenant, and that in the doubt, Warburton was right to restore the original word. The frequent use of Keltic colloquialisms by Shakspeare suggests a scrutiny into that source of much of the English language, and here is found the (JSfaeltC. — Comhard, coimheart, a com- parison. " Comparison " meets all the requirements of the context, and Shak- speare having in the same passage used the word "compact" or "covenant," seems to employ a different word for a different shade of meaning. COMELY.— Well-formed, handsome, agreeable ; applied only to the human form. Mer-Cas draws it from the Greek KOfifios, i. e. neat. I had rather deduce it from our word become. — Qazophylacium Anglica- num. Prom become, or from the Saxon cueman, to please. — Johnson. Becoming, pleasing, convenient. — Cham- bees. (ffiraeflC- — Cuma, shape, form; cuma- dail, shapely, well-formed, finely pro- portioned; cumachdail, shapely, comely. COMFORT.— Ease, well-being, con- solation. The attempts made to trace the pecu- liarly English word to its source have not been wholly successful. In the French, where Mr. Wedgwood finds comforter, to comfort, the word is com- paratively modern, and is written con- forter, and signifies to strengthen. It is traced by him and Mr. Donald in Chambers' Etymology to the Latin con &T\A.fortis, strength. A different origin is traceable in the CKflEltC. — Furtack, relief, aid, con- solation; furtachail, yielding relief and consolation ; furtachd, comfort ; furtachd aige an Dia, consolation with God; furtaiche, a comforter, a helper. This word with the prefix comh, the equivalent of the English con, co, and the Latin con and com, signifying parti- cipation or fellowship, as in such words as comrade, co-equal, and others, yields the compounds, comh-fhurtachd, comfort, consolation, help ; comh-flmrtair, a com- forter; comh-fhurtaich, to aid, to com- fort. COMPANY. -Society. Companion. — An associate. These words belong wholly to the Keltic languages, and have been traced OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 103 lio lower than to the Mid Latin com- panium, from whence it has been sup- posed are derived the French compagnon, the Italian compagnia, the Spanish com- pano, &c. Formed from com and panis, bread. — Wedgwood. Companion, literally ono who eats bread with another ; one who keeps company, or frequently associates with another ; an asso- ciate or partner. Company, literally a num- ber of companions, any assembly of persons or number of persons associated together for trade. — Chambbks. This derivation is not satisfactory. Another clue to the real etymology suggests itself in the CRarltC. — Pannal, a band of men; (the English panel, a list of persons liable to serve on a jury, whence to em- panel a jury) ; companelaah, companach, a companion; companachd, companion- ship ; companas, partnership. It appears from this, that pannal, not panis, is the root of the idea of com- panionship. COMRADE.— A companion. This word is usually derived from the French camaracle, which in its turn is derived from the Italian camera, a chamber, and is held originally to have signified a chamber-fellow. Mr. Wedgwood favours this etymology, but as comrades and companions do not always occupy the same apartment, it is possible that another derivation may be sought; as in the (ffi-aeltC. — Comaradh, help, assistance ; comaraick, .protection, aid, assistance ; whence perhaps " comrade/'' he who helps or assists another. CONCEAL.— To hide, to cover up. Ceiling. — The roof or cover of a room. Ciel (French). — Heaven. dK-aellc — Ceal, ceil, Death, Heaven ; to hide, to conceal, to cover. CONEY.— A rabbit. ©at lie. — Coinean, coinein, a rabbit; Keltic French (conin). CONJUROR. — A wizard, a professor of the ait of legerdemain, a presti- digitateur. This word is evidently of a different origin from conjure, conjuro, to swear together, to conspire, to unite under an oath, or to implore earnestly. To say of a man derisively that " he is no con- juror," means that he is a fool. (ffiraelir. — Cainnlearaclid (cainl-jear- achd), oratory, eloquence, power of per- suasion. CONTECK. — Argument, allegation, affirmation. Conteclc, for contest. In Chaucer conteTce, Retained by Spenser. Tyrwhitt marks it as Saxon, but no such word is found in that language. Skinner supposed it only a cor- ruption of contest. Gasgoigne has : I found some conteck and debate In regiment where T was wont to rule. Naees. (2*af ItC. — Contagair, affirm, allege ; contagairt, an affirmation ; coniar, a doubt. GOODIE (Lowland Scotch) .—A tub. CR-aellC. — Cudainn (a tub) ; clacli na cudainn, in Inverness, the stone of the tub before the town hall ; a " clach na cudainn " boy, an Inverness man. COOP. — A barrel or other receptacle made of bent wood. Coopek. — A barrel maker. Coop up. — To confine in a small space like that of a barrel ; to courb or curb ; French, courber, to bend, to restrain within small space. All these words are more or less from the 104 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY <&adtC. — Cub, to stoop, to bend, to yield, to lie down; Spanish cuba, a cask ; ciubair, a cooper, a barrel or cask maker. COPIOUS.— Plentiful. Coknucopeia.— The horn of plenty. Copiousness. — Plenty. Copy. — A transcript that may be made plenteous by multiplication. French, copiewx ; Latin, copiosus ; copia, plenty; co, intensitive, and ops, opis, power, property, wealth. — Chambers. These Latin words have their original root in the (&&t\\t. — Cob, plenty, abundance. A great number of English words are traceable to the Gaelic cob, among others : — co3-nut, a large and very full nut ; cob, a wealthy person, a full man, a miser; co£-eastle, a house that over- tops, and is larger than its neighbours ; coi5-eoals, large lumps of coal ; cob, a stout, strong horse ; coS-loaf, a large loaf; cob-stone, a large stone; cob or coxxv-cob, the spike or staff on which grow the heads of Indian corn or maize; co^-nut, a hazel nut very full. COQUETTE.— A girl or woman who flirts and gives herself airs to attract attention. French, coqueter, a cock to call his hens, or to cluck as a cock among hens, to swagger as a cock, among hens ; hence coquette, one who lays herself out for the admiration of the male sex as the cock does for the female. — Wedgwood. (Sxiiclic. — Gog, nodding, wagging of the head ; gogaid, a silly, vain woman who nods to the men, a "coquette;" gog-clieannacli, light-headed, giddy, frivo- lous ; gogaideach, coquettish. COR, COIR.— These two Gaelic roots enter into the composition of a vast number of words in nearly all the Arian languages. The primary idea in both is that of roundness; the roundness of the sun, the moon, and the heavenly bodies ; a circle, which ought to be pronounced kirlcle, and is itself a corruption of the Greek tap/cos, and which reappears in the Latin cir, circulus, and scores of other words that fill several pages of Worcester's Dictionary. (SHaeltC. — Cor, a state or condition, a circular motion, a circle; coron ; whence corona, signifying a crown ; corp, the Latin corpus, pronounced cor by the French, the body, alive or dead; cor red, to bring right within the circle (of obedience and duty). The word coir, first applied to the sacred circle of the solar worship, is the root of court, the court of the temple, the king's court, a court of justice, and was afterwards applied to the maxims or doctrines inculcated by the priests, and signified justice, equity, probity, right, law, and all things within the circle of human duty. CORRIDOR.— Originally a circular hall or gallery in a great mansion, from which there opened many doors into the interior apartments. French, corridor; Italian, corridore, a runner; a long gallery, terrace, walk, or upper deck of a ship. — 'Wedgwood. A gallery round a building; Spanish, corredor, a runner ; Latin, corro, I run. — Stobmonth. Allee le long dps chamhres ou des apparte- ments d'une maison. Cette porte donne sur le corridor. . . . Galerie etroite que tourne autour d'un batiment. Etymologie: Espagnol corredor, de correre, courir ; l'endroit oii Ton court, ou Ton passe. — Littbe. Corridor, in architecture, a gallery or passage round a quadrangle leading to the several chambers connected with it. — Latham's Todd's Johnson. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 105 There is something very noble in the amphitheatre, though the high wall and cor- ridors that went roufid it are almost entirely ruined. — Addison, Travels in Italy. (SraellC. — Coke, a circle, a ring, a girdle, a circular enclosure; dorus, a door; whence " corridor/' a circle of doors. COEN.— Eatable grain of all kinds, particularly the grain, or seed of wheat. The English, corn is the Gothic Icaurn. In Latin we find granum, in Sanscrit we may compare jirna, ground down ; Old High German, chorn. — Max Mullee. a,vard, h&jard, babil- lard and others, is an intensitive par- ticle, equivalent to the Gaelic ard, high, the Greek apx, as in archbishop. ©arltC. — Tais, fainthearted, weak, timorous ; iaisead, taiseachd, faintheart- edness. DAUB. — To smear, to lay on the colours too thickly. Prom dabble, to work in wet materials; hence daub, clay ; dauber, a builder of walls with clay or mud; Spanish, tapia, a mud wall. — Wedgwood. (OlaeltC. — Dbl, to plaster, to cement, to smear ; dobadh, plastering ; dbbair, a plasterer. DAUPHIN. — A name formerly given to the eldest son of the kings of France. This word, from its identity of sound and orthography with " dauphin " or " dolphin/'' a fish, has been connected with a story to fit it, as is customary with such etymologists as are led away by cheating resemblances. But the connexion between " dolphin " and the heirs to the French throne, is not more sustainable than would be a supposed connexion between a " whale " and the Prince of Wales. Titre attache a, certaines seigneuries. Dauphin d'Auvergne. Grand Dauphin, titre donne quelquefois au Dauphin, ills de Louis XIV. Dauphine, nom de province, derive du nom de ces seigneurs qui avaient pris pour leurs armes trois Dauphins. — LlTTEE. The true etymology is from the ffineltC. — Da fionn, doubly or twice fair or beautiful. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 127 DAWDLE.— To trifle, to linger, to waste time. Johnson used this word, " Come, some evening, and dawdle over a dish of tea with me," but did not admit it into his Dictionary. Worcester admits it, but ventures upon no etymology. Scottish, daddle, or daidle, to be slow in motion or in action ; to daddle, daidle, dandle, to trifle, to move lazily. Piatt Deutseh, dodeln, to be slow, not to get on with a thing. — Wedgwood. ffiaflt'C. — Babhdail, to saunter, to loiter ; dabh, sauntering ; daoi, daoidh, feeble, spiritless. DAY. — The period from the rising to the setting of the sun. This word in various forms pervades nearly all the languages of Europe and Asia, and dates from the era of the early religions, when men worshipped the Sun, or the day, as God. Hence the words Theos, Dews, in Greek and Latin, the Gaelic Bia, the French Bieu, and the Italian and Spanish Beos and Biqs. In Sanscrit, daha signifies light or redness in the sky. In Gaelic, dalh or da is brightness and colour. The Latin dies and the German tag are clearly from the same root, so that all these languages, ancient and modern, con- centrate the ideas of Light, Day, and God into one focus. The Sanscrit da is to give ; whence the Latin and Italian dare, in which the same fundamental idea seems to prevail ; that the dalia, or day, or Sun, or Deus, or Dia, gives, and is the great giver of light and fertility and all other blessings to the world. DEAL. — To traffic in commodities, to sell. Dealer. — A merchant. This word is commonly derived from the German iheil, a part, a portion, a division ; but the Germans do not use it in the sense of trade or trading, and render dealer by liandelsmann , a trades- man, or haufmann, a merchant. The true etymon is the CRaeltC. — Bail, credit, trust ; dailich, to deal, to buy and sell ; deilig, business, to transact business ; deiligeadh, having dealings, transacting business. DEAN. — A clerical functionary in a cathedral. Doyen (French). — A deputy bishop. Literally, the chief of ten men ; a superior ; a dignitary in a cathedral or a collegiate church who presides over the other clergy. The President of the Faculty in a college. Old French, dean; Latin, decanus, decern, ten. — Chambers. ffiaclt'C. — Bean, to do; deanadach, laborious, industrious ; deanamh, doing, acting, performing; whence the English dean, applied to the working or active member of the cathedral clergy, who performs the work that the bishop is unable to do. DEAR. — The common acceptation of this word is costly, the opposite of cheap. It was used in a different sense by the Elizabethan writers and by Shakspeare in the following passages : — So I made lame by fortune's dearest spite, Take all my comfort of thy worth and truth. Sonnets. Let us return And strain what other means are left to us At our dear peril. — Timon of Athens. Would I had met my dearest foe in Heaven, Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio ! Samlet. In dear employment. — Borneo and Juliet. What dure and cruell penance doe I sustaine for none offence at all. — Palace of Pleasure. Nabes. Ben Jonson in Catiline says, — 128 THE GAELTC ETYMOLOGY Put your known valours on so dear a busi- ness, And have no other second than the danger. Nares says that " Extension seems to have been the first sense, whence it was applied to anything valuable or beloved. . . . By another appli- cation of the original sense it came also to mean excessive, high, or anything superlative, even superlatively bad." The explanation given by Nares is scarcely satisfactory. It is suggested that "dear," in the sense in which Shakspeare and Ben Jonson employ it in the above passages, is that of the English dire, the Lowland Scotch dour, hard, cruel ; the French dur. ffifaclic. — Bur, hard, unbending; du- aira, stern, unyielding, unamiable ; dnranta, morose, churlish; durantachd, churlishness, bad temper. The substi- tution of the word " hard " for " dear " in all the passages quoted from Shak- speare and Ben Jonson would exactly convey the meaning that seems to have been intended by the writers. DEAR. — Beloved, cherished, precious; costly in price, expensive, not cheap. In French, German, English, " dear," beloved, and "dear," costly, are gene- rally rendered by the same word, but the Keltic nations established a differ- ence between the two ideas. CRarllC. — Daor, expensive, costly; daoraich, to raise the price, to enhance the value; daoradh, the act of making more costly, of enhancing, or advancing the price of anything. " Dear " in the sense of beloved is rendered by gaolach, gradhach, and many other words. DEARNE or Derne. — Lonely, melan- choly, solitary, strange, grievous. Dearnely, Dearnful. — In a melan- choly manner. Derne usurie, derne shrift. — Piers Ploughman. By many a derne and painful perch Of Pericles, the painful search Is made. — Shakspeare, Pericles. They heard a rueful voice that dearnly cried. Faerie Queene. Who wounded with report of beauty's pride Unable to restrain his derne desire. Tragedy of Wars of Cyrus. Weight. Prom the Saxon dyrnan, to hide; so Tyrwhitt explains it in Chaucer.— -Naees. ffiatltC. — Deur, deuran, a tear; deur- ach, deuranach, tearful melancholy, sad. DEBAUCH.— To corrupt with lewd- ness. Debauchery. — Riotous living, excess in meat or drink, or in the indul- gence of lust. This word is traceable to the French debaucher, but, iu that language, laucker without the affix is no longer existent. The root of bauche is the (JRaelfC. — Baois (pronounced baoish), lewdness, lust. Possibly the affix "de" is from deidh (dei'), great desire, pro- pensity or longing ; whence deidh-baois [dei-baois) , a great propensity for lust or lewdness. DECOY-DUCK. — A bird tamed or taught to allure others of its species. Properly duck-coy, Jcooi, Jcowr, Iceu, a cage; vogel-kooi, a bird-cage, decoy, apparatus for entrapping water fowl. English dialect, coy, a decoy for ducks, a coop for lobsters. Forby. The name was probably imported with the thing itself from Holland to the fens. — Wedgwood. Latin de and coy, Old verb, to entice. — Chambees. ©raelic — Goimh-deach [coi-deach), I safe, secure ; coimh-ea-dach, watchful, vigilant; coimheadaiche , an inspector, a scout, a spy; coimheadachd, a convoy, a watching, an inspecting. When or why the prefix de in the English word was added to the Gaelic root is difficult to explain. 0J> THE ENGLTSH LANGUAGE. 129 DECREPIT.— Feeble. CuiPPLE.— One lame in the foot or leg. Ceutch. — A support for the lame. Ckeep. — To move slowly. Decrepitus, Latin, very old, worn out, infirm ; derivation uncertain. — Wedgwood. <&aeltC. — Orion, wither, fail, decay; criopag, a wrinkle or sign of decay and old age. DEDUIT, Faire le (Slang and collo- quial French). — Co-ire. fflfaellC. — Deadh, excellent; Suit, with you. 3&B11UIC. — Bedwydd, great enjoy- ment ; dedwyddan, to beatify. DELAY. — To defer, to linger, to rest in action, to procrastinate. French, delai, from Latin, differre, dila- tum, protract, defer; dilatio, delay; Old French, delayer, to delay. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltc. — Dail, dailich, to delay, to procrastinate. 3KjnnitC. — Dal, to detain, to arrest, to stop. See Dalliance. DELL (Cant of beggars and gipsies). — A female child ; a girl, a young woman not arrived at marriageable age. C&aPltC. — Deol, to suck; deolach, sucking, suckling ; deothal [t silent), a suckling. DELUGE.— A flood of rain. Diluvian. — Pertaining to rains or floods. Latin, diluvium, diluo, to wash away; Spanish, diluvio ; French, de'luge. — Woe- CESTEE. Latin, lavo, lotum, to wash ; diluo, to wash away. — Wedgwood. (ffiratltc. — Dil, dile, heavy rain, an inundation, a deluge ; dilinneach, inun- dating, flooding ; dileanta, rainy ; iuil, a flood. The Gael call Noah's deluge, the "Dile ruadh/' and "Ruadh thuile," the " Red flood." It is not easy to sug- gest a reason, unless one may be found hereafter in the cuneiform inscriptions and druidic legends of the tablets of Assyria. DEMOGORGON.— A mysterious deity of Mid Mythology, unknown to the ancients. Milton in Paradise Lest, speaks of "the dreaded name of Demogorgon." — Book II., lines 960 —970. A formidable deity, by some supposed to be the grandsire of all the gods, made known to modern poetry by Boccaccio. Bentley on Milton says contemptuously, " Boccace, I suppose, was the first that invented this silly word, Demogorgon." . . . Spenser, in the Faerie Queene, says of Night, Thou wast begot in Demogorgon' s hall, And sawest the secrets of the world unmade. Ben Jonson apparently with the same notion that Bentley afterwards took up, has Boccace's Demorgorgoti, thousands more, All abstract riddles of our store. All the learning on this subject is accu- mulated in Heyne's Opuseula Academiea. He supposes it derived from Demiurgos, and drawn from the Oriental systems of magic. The very mention of this Deity's name was said to be tremendous. . . . Tasso alludes to the awful name without mentioning it. — Naees. This "dreaded" name does not seem to have been that of a deity, but, as will appear hereafter, an exclamation or prayer for protection against a parti- cular evil. The roots are all Keltic, and if Boccaccio understood that ancient tongue, he may, as Bentley ignorantly supposed have invented the word. But there is no proof or even supposition that he knew Gaelic or any other branch of the Keltic, and the probability is that he found the word current and adopted it without clearly understanding its purport. Turning to the Greek 130 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Gorgon, we find a clue that may help us to the meaning. The three Gorgons, of whom the best known in mytholo- gical fable is Medusa, were of such frightful appearance, that the horror they excited was sufficient to paralyze or turn into stone all who looked upon them. A trace, and probably the origin, of Gorgon is to be found in the ©arlic. — Gbrag, a mad woman; gon, to hurt or wound with an evil eye, to wound sorely, to destroy by enchant- ment, whence gbrag-gon, and by abbre- viation Gorgon. Bearing this in mind, we have, as the roots of " Demogorgon," dion, defend, protect, save : mi, me ; gbrag, a mad woman; gon, enchantment by the evil eye. Thus dion mi gorag gon, becomes by a slight corruption easily accounted for by the lapse of time, and by the ignorance of the illiterate people of the sources of the language which they spoke, " Bemogorgon," an excla- mation meaning '* Save or protect me from the witch, hag, or mad woman with the evil eye!" This superstition of the Evil Eye is, and always has been prevalent in Italy, Greece, France, Arabia, and in fact all over the world. McAlpine, Gaelic Dic- tionary, under the word gon, a hurt with the evil eye, appends a note. " The Arabs pray that an evil eye may not hurt their favourite horses and hence the learned Dr. Clarke argues that the Irish and Scotch Gael must have derived this supersti- tion from the East." Upon the former prevalence of this gloomy belief in Scotland, there are some curious particulars to be found in the work of John Graham Dalzell, The Barker Superstitions of Scotland, Glasgow, 1835. DENIZEN.— An inhabitant, an old inhabitant, a citizen ; one entitled by age and position to the privileges of citizenship. Prom dinasdynn, Welsh, a man of the city, a free man, one enfranchised. — Johnson. Welsh, dinas, a city; Cornish, dinas, from dir, a place of strength. Dinesydd in Welsh is a citizen. Good authorities give the Old French, deinsein, as the origin, but the word is more probably a corruption of the Kymric. — Nicholas, Pedigree of the English. Denizen is a British Law term which the Saxons and Angles found here, and retained. — Sir John Davies, quoted in Latham's Todd's Johnson. dyadic. — Duine, a man; sean, old; whence duine sean, an old man, a sena- tor, a city father. DERRICK. — An apparatus for lifting heavy weights, called in . America an " elevator." Derrick was the name of the common hangman at the time when some of our old plays were produced. " He rides circuit with the Devil, and Der- riclc must be his host, and Tyburn the inn at which he will light." — Bellman of London. 1616. Naees. It is likely that the name of Derrick was popularly given to the hangman from a grim jest at his occupation of hoisting or raising criminals on the gallows. dSaeltC. — Birich, to climb, to mount, to hoist; direach, straight; eirich, to raise, to lift ; dk' eirich, did raise, lift or hoist. DERRIERE (French).— Behind; the breech, the podex. Du Latin de, et retro, qui a, subsists dans l'ancien Francais riere. — Litteb. (BraeltC. — Beire, the end, the rear, the back part of anything ; the stern of a ship. DEUCH (Lowland Scotch).— A drink. Deuch, tench, a draught, a potation ; German, tog, haustus, potantium ductus ; OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 131 ■" fvomtog-a-trahere. Teutonic, teugh.e,\i&a&t\x&. — Jamieson. ©faeltc. — Beoch, a drink. DEVIL. — The spirit or god of evil, the arch enemy, the foul fiend, Satan, Apollyon the destroyer ; (liable (French) ; teufel (German) ; diavolo (Italian) ; diabolus (Latin). This word is derived by nearly all philologists from the Greek BiafioXos, with its various forms in the languages of modern Europe. Without impugn- ing the accuracy of this derivation, it may be interesting to the student of language to compare the following possible etymons from the ffiaellC. — Bith mhill (dee-vil), to de- stroy; dith mhitttar, dith mhillteach, a destroyer. Bith, signifies destruction, and mill, with the aspirate mhill, to lay waste, injure. So that the word dith mhill is an augmentative of " destroy " and "destruction." Bia, a god; buail, bhuail, to strike, to smite, i. e. dia-buail, the god who strikes, who wields the thunderbolt. DICH. — An obscure word in Timon of Athens, used by Apemantus after his cynical grace before meat, and when he has eaten and drunk. Much good dich thy good heart, Apemantus ! Mr. Charles Knight passes the word over without remark. Nares conjec- tures from the sense that it means " may it do," and Mr. Staunton explains it as " do it." Nares says " Though this has the appearance of being a familiar and colloquial form it has not been met with elsewhere, which is rather extra- ordinary ; nor is it known to be provincial." If not a misprint of some word which it is now difficult and impossible to supply, it is probable that the word is a corruption of the ffiaeltC. — Tog, to raise, to lift; tog do cridhe, lift up your heart, be of good cheer. The Gaelic tog appears in English as tug, to strive to lift or drag a heavy weight ; tigh (Nares), a chain for dragging ; and tick, to fondle, to lift a child or young person on the knee. — Halliwbi,!. DICKENS. — A vulgar exclamation; " What the dickens is this ?" Synonymous with devil, What the dickens are you after ? i. e. what the devil are you doing? Shakspeare uses it in the Merry Wives of Windsor. . . . The word was some- times spelled diconce. — Slang Dictionary. It is very probable that the exclama- tion dates from the pre-Saxon age in England, and that it is but a Saxon corruption of the , Svva>, to inter ; Minsheu from the Greek dei8a>, to fright, whence Death is called the King of Terrors. Dr. T. H. takes it from the French de irer, and this from de ire, which signifies as much as to depart this life. — Oazophylacium Anglicanum . Anglo-Saxon, death.- German, tod, con- nected with Greek davaros. — Chambbes. Prom the Anglo-Saxon d edian.— Johnson. From the Gothic dauthjan ; Anglo-Saxon, deadian ; Dutch, dooden, to kill; German, todten, to kill ; and French titer, to kill. — WoECESTEB. It will be seen that nearly all the roots suggested for the English word " die " signify to kill, whereas one may die without being killed, — die by natural decay. The true root appears to be the CS-af lie. — I)ioth (obsolete, Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary), to die; dioihadh, death, decay; dit/i, want, defect, de- struction ; dithich, to extirpate, to de- stroy, to put to death ; diih-mhill, to destroy unto death ; dith-laraich, to de- vastate or destroy dwellings and habita- tions. DIE. — The stamp used for impressing coins or metals. for Die-Sinkbe,. — A maker of dies metals. CSafltf. — Bilh, to press, to squeeze, to compress, to impress. DIEL (Lowland Scotch). — This word is usually supposed to be a contraction of the English devil, the German teufel, the French diable, the Italian diavolo, the Latin diabolus, &c. In this sense the word means a destroyer ; but the Scottish diel may be wholly unrelated to these. (JKaeltC. — Biol, to avenge; dioladk, vengeance, or requiting of evil for evil ; diolair, an avenger. This idea of the infernal character is more consonant with the office attributed to Satan than that of a destroyer. The Devil of theo- logy cannot destroy, he can only avenge or torment. DIET. — Food, provision. The mode of living with especial reference to food. The French, diete; Italian, dieta; Greek, Siaira ; Latin, dicsta.- — Chambebs. dyadic. — Biot, a meal; diotmkor, the great meal, i. e. dinner. DIGNITY.— Nobility of look, manner, or conduct. Digne (French). — Worthy. The words ".dignity, dignified, indig- nant," &c, found their way into the English language either through the Norman French, or directly from the Latin. The root of the Latin seems to be the CBraeltC. — Bagk, greatly or nobly good, as distinguished from maith, good. The word in the Irish Gaelic is deag, as deag duine, a worthy good man. The usual word maith, Irish mait, good, follows the noun and goes through the three degrees of comparison ; but deag precedes the noun, and is rarely compared. Deag conveys the idea of inherent goodness or moral worth* OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 133 which maith does not. — Key. UlickBoueke, Gaelic Irish Grammar. DIKE. — A stone wall; a defence against the encroachments of the sea or a river. French, digue, a trench, a ditch, a boundary wall. CSfieltC. — Big, a dike. DILLING (Obsolete).— A lover, a sweetheart, a darling. The same as darling, a favourite, tut used rather for the female, and seems to be a kind of fondling diminutive. Minsheu explains it as a wanton, but there is nothing in its origin to convey that meaning, even if with him we derive it from diligo. Whilst the birds billing Each with his dilling, The thickets still filling With amorous notes. — Drayton. To make up the match with my eldest daughter, my wife's dilling, whom she longs to call Madam. — Eastward Ho ! Nabes. (SRcUltC. — Biall, attachment, fondness; dile, love; dileas, faithful, fond, true, affectionate, beloved; deidheil, very fond of; dileag, beloved. DILL-WATER.— Extract of aniseed, very often improperly given to infants by ignorant or unfeeling nurses or mothers to produce sleep. CRadtC. — Bile, aniseed. DINNER. — The principal meal or repast of the day. Dine. — To partake of dinner. English and French etymologists have been unable to account for this word, or to trace it beyond the Keltic French diner, from whence it is imme- diately derived. Neither the Teutonic nor the Latin owes it any paternity. The Germans call dinner the Midday meal, or the Mid-day eating, " Mit- tagsmahl, or Mittagsessen." The Italian and other modern languages derived from the Latin (the French excepted) have words for this important meal of a totally different derivation, such as the Latin prandeo, and the Italian pranzare, to dine. Mr. Wedgwood derives the English " dinner/' and consequently the French diner, from the Latin desinere, to cease, the " dinner " being the meal taken at the noon-tide cessation from labour. The Gaelic wliich has borrowed so little from any modern language is not likely to have been indebted to the French for this word. It is most pro- bable that the root is Keltic, and com- mon both to the Gaelic and the French. The Gaelic for " dinner " is dinneir, of which the root, not signifying rest from labour as Mr. Wedgwood supposes, but protection and fortification against hun- ger is to be found in the C&aeU'C. — Bion, dionadh, protection, defence. Two other derivations, which are possible, but not so probable, offer themselves for consideration. The one is din, pleasant, agreeable; which a "dinner" most certainly is to most people; the second is dinn, to cram, to stuff, to eat plentifully. Any one of these derivations, all Keltic,, seems to be preferable to that from desinere. It is suggested by M. Littre that diner is a corruption of di-cmnare, to sup a second time, from cozna, a supper or repast. DIRE,— Painful, dreadful. All English etymologists, without exception, derive this word from the Latin dims. As this is itself traceable to the Keltic it is more probable that the word came into English through the Keltic than through the Latin. The Lowland Scotch dour, severe, and dourly, without mercy or kindness, sug- gests the same root in the 134 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY (&a,t lit. — Daor, doom, sentence, pun- ishment, imprisonment, slavery ; Daor- Tigh, the House of Doom, a prison. DTRGE, — A mournful song, or piece of music ; a funereal hymn, a requiem for the dead. German, t/rauengesang ; French, hymne funebre ; Italian, can- zone funebre. Dirige, a solemn service in the Romish Church ; a hymn beginning Dirige gressus meus. Hence probably our dirge, though it has been disputed, and the hymn Dirige is not exactly a dirge ; — yet any other etymo- logy is more forced. — Nares. This is not a contraction of the Latin dirige, as some pretend, but is from the Teu- tonic dyrke, laudare, to praise and extol ; and our dirge was a laudatory song to com- memorate and applaud the dead. Verstegan. Bacon apparently derives it from dirige. — Johnson. If " dirge " were really derived from the Latin dirige, direct, guide, lead; the French, Italian, German, or other European languages that enter into the composition of English would likely have borrowed their synonym from the same source. But this is not the case. There is no such word in the Teutonic languages as dyrke, cited by Johnson from Verstegan. The German trauen- gesang suggests the true etymology in the ffifaeltC. — Deur, a tear; deurach, mournful, tearful, sorrowful. DIRT.— Foulness, filth. Dirty. — Foul, not clean. Frorn the Belgian, dritt ; Teutonic, dreck, filth, dung. — G-azophylacium Anglicanum. From the Dutch dreyt, the Icelandic drit, mud, mire, filth, any thing that sticks to the clothes or the body. — Johnson. From the Anglo-Saxon gedritan; Scottish, drite, to ease one's self. — Chambers. CBraeltC. — Doirt, to spill, pour, shed ; dortach, to spill, apt to spill or make a mess ; dortadh, shedding, spilling ; dor- tadh fola, bloodshed, or the spilling of blood. DISCANDY.— This word occurs twice in Antony and Cleopatra. The hearts That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Cassar. — Act iv. Scene 10. Till by degrees the memory of my womb, Together with my brave Egyptians all, By the discandying of this pelleted storm, Lie graveless.— Act iii. Scene 11, Nares says the whole passage is ob- scure, but interprets "discandy" to melt away from the state of being can- died, like sugar, or anything of that kind. Mr. Staunton in his Glossary to Shakspeare renders " discandy " to li- quefy. But if the word be derived from the Gaelic, as is most probable, it means the very reverse of "liquefy," and has nothing whatever to do with " candy.'" fa$ltC. — Baoid/t, worthless, feeble, weakly, foolish. DOWFF, DOWIE (Lowland Scotch). — Forlorn, melancholy, dejected, dark, dreary, spiritless. Sore and long may their sorrow last That wrought them sic a dowie cast. Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. There needs na be so great a phraise Wi' dringing dull Italian lays, I wadna gie our ain strathspeys, For half a hundred score o' em ; They're dowf and dowie at the best, Wi' a' their variorum. Skinneb, Tullochgoruni. CRaeltC. — Bubh, black, dark, lament- able; duibhe, blackness; dubhach, sor- rowful, sad; dubhair, to darken, to overshade with grief or dejection. DOWLE (Obsolete).— Supposed to mean a feather, a particle of down. Diminish one dowie that's in my plume. The Tempest. 143 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Perhaps only a corruption of down. — Naees. HalliwelFs Archaic Dictionary con- tains donl, a feather, down (of birds) ; and doule, which he renders thick, dense, and quotes from an Ashmolean MS. " As in the woddis for to walke under doule schadis." The quotation lends itself to another interpretation in the (SX-afltC. — Duille, a leaf, or spray; " doile shadis," i. e. leafy shades ; dvil- lich, to sprout, to open into leaves, after the fashion of the vanes, or beards of the quill, that forms the spine of the feather. DOWN. — The reverse of up, to go down, to descend, to go from a higher to a lower place. Anglo-Saxon, a duna, from a higher place to a lower. — Johnson. (3*HPlic. — Domhain, deep, profound. The Celtic root is don; Hebrew, adon, a bottom ; Arabic, douna, under ; Greek, 8vva>, to sink ; English, down. — Aemsteong's . Gaelic Dictionary. DOWNS.— Bare hills, without trees, so called in the South of England, as at Brighton and Hastings, and Ban- stead Downs, near Epsom. Prom the Anglo-Saxon, dune; Belgian, duyne, a heap of sand. P. Jun. deriveth all of them from the Greek 6w, an heap. It may be better drawn from the Greek Sovvos for /3owos, a hill. — Guzophylacium Anglieanum. Tracts of hilly land used for pasturing sheep. Prom the Saxon dun, a hill. — Chambers. (ffiacltc — Bun, a hill, a fortification ; dunati, a little hill or fort ; dim molir, a great hill or fort. DOXTE (Cant) . — The female companion or paramour of a tramp, gipsy, beggar or thief. The vagrant Autolycus in the Winter's Tale sings : — When daffodils begin to peer Sing hey the doxie over the dale. The word was very generally adopted by the writers of Shakspeare's time to signify a lady-love or mistress. Perhaps the word dale in this stanza ought to be dell ; in which sense it would signify the preference of the singer for a mar- riageable over an unmarriageable girl. See Dell. In the West of England the women fre- quently call their little girls doxies, in a familiar or endearing sense. A learned divine once described orthodoxy as a man's own doxy, and heterocfoa 1 ^ as another man's doxy. — Slang Dictionary. No etymological root for this word has hitherto been traced. It is probably, if not certainly, the . — Qazophylacium Angli- canum. From the Saxon etan ; the Gothic itan ; and the Erse (Gaelic) eich. — Johnson. From the Sanscrit, ad, to eat. — Chambers. (Gaelic. — loth, ith, to eat, consume, devour, corrode ; also corn ; ioih-lann, a corn field; itheadh, to eat; eating; " aran ri itheadh" bread to eat. SnnSCtlt. — Ad, to eat. ECHO; — The duplication of a sound by refraction. Latin, echo ; Greet, e^a>, a sound. — Wedg- wood, Chambebs, &c. ©a? lie. — Mgh, a shout, a call, a cry, a sound; eigheach, an earnest cry, an entreaty. EDDY. — A back flow or current of water, a circular motion in the water caused by a back-flow, a running back. €5fa?ItC. — Ath, the prefix of repetition equivalent to the Latin and English " re ;" teich, to flee, flow, run ; whence ath teich [a tei, t and c silent), an " eddy," or after-course of the waters. EERIE (Lowland Scotch). — Dismal, ghastly, dreary. &TO-some, causing fear, that especially ■which arises from the idea of the supernatural. — Jamieson. (ffifaeltC. — Sire, a burden ; eireirich, a sitting up, a night-watch with the dead. EFFORT.— An attempt. S'efforcer, to put force or strength to any thing. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC— Ath, the prefix of repetition, foir, help, aid, deliverance ; whence ath, {a)foir (a-foir), renewed help or deliver- ance, springing from a man's own exertions. EGYPT. — Etymology has long been employed in searching for the origin of this word, which does not appear to have been a name given to it by the ancient inhabitants of that celebrated land. The Hebrews called the coun- try Misraim, the Egyptians called it Chemia or Chame. The most common opinion is that the Greek AiyvTTTos is composed of ma, from yaia, land, and yvirros, or rather kotttos ; and that con- sequently Egypt signifies the land of Jeopt, or the Jcoptic land. Others derive it from aia and yxms, the black vulture, the colour of that bird being, according to them, characteristic of the soil or its inhabitants. Mede conceives the primitive form to have been Aia cuphti, the land of cuphti; while Bruce says that Y Gypt, the name given to Egypt in Ethio- pia, means the country of canals. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. Whether either of these derivations be correct, it is difficult to decide, but the following etymons, which may pos- sibly throw light upon the matter, are to be found in the (Gaelic. — Ai (obsolete, see McLeod and Dewar), land or territory; cib, ciob, food, long grass for the sustenance of cattle ; gibeach, a sheaf of grass or corn; cob, plenty. Egypt, as all history shows, was known to the ancients as a land of plenty, and all readers will remember the sentence in the book of Genesis, "There is corn in Egypt." Without insisting that this is the true deriva- tion, it may be admitted that this sug- gestion is quite as plausible as any of the solutions of this etymological diffi- culty which have hitherto found favour. It is curious that the Hebrew Misraim OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 155 might also be resolved in Gaelic into a corroborative idea, in meas, fruit ; ream- ha, fatness, abundance. EITHER.— One of two, or of many. From the Anglo-Saxon aegther, idem ; and this from the preposition aec, also, and ther, afterwards. — Q-azophylacium Ang Il- ea num. From 1 the Anglo-Saxon aegther, or the Scottish auther. — Johnson. ffiaeltC. — Badar, between. EKE, or Eke out. — To lengthen, to stretch, to supplement. Eke, adverb; Saxon, eac ; Dutch, oolc, also, likewise, moreover ; eacan, Saxon, to increase. — Johnson. (GJaelic. — 1c, to supply, to lengthen, to eke;, also to cure, to heal, i. e. to sup- ply the remedy to cure a hurt or' an illness ; ieeach, supplementary, remedial. ELDRITCH (Lowland Scotch).— Un- earthly, frightful, ghastly, horrible. His eldritch squeel and gestures. Bt/bns, The Holy Fair. The creature grinn'd an eldritch laugh. Buens, Death and Doctor Hornbook. ©acttc. — Eillteil, oillteil, dreadful; oilltich, to frighten ; oillt, dread, terror ; oillt-chrith, trembling with terror ; oillt- chriiheach, trembling from terror, caus- ing to tremble. ELEGANCE.— Beauty or delicacy of form, appearance, or expression. This word, derived from the Latin and French, has its deeper source in the (iSaclic. — Aluin, beautiful; ailleag, a jewel, a beautiful young girl ; ailleagan, a term of affection for a beautiful young girl; aitteach, beautiful; aille, most beautiful. ELEMENT.— A first principle.' The root of this word has not been traced beyond the Latin elementum. Ainsworth [Latin Dictionary) hints that it may come from creseo, to grow, because all things grow out of the elements; but the gulf of difference between the words cresco and elementum is scarcely to be bridged over by this supposition. The ancients reckoned but four elements, air, earth, fire, and water. Perhaps the first of the four provides the root of this mysterious word, and is the ffiaellC. — Aileadh, the air, the atmo- sphere, the pervading and surrounding element without the aid and concurrence of which fire could not burn, water be liquid, or earth produce or sustain the slightest life upon our planet. ELF (Obsolete). — To twist and entangle the hair in rings and knots. JElf all my hair in knots. Shakspeabe, Xing Lear. And cakes the eZ/-knots in foul sluttish hairs. Shakspeaee, Romeo and Juliet. ffiafltC. — Ailbheag (bh as v or f, elf- ag), a ring, a curl; ailbheag ach [elfagach), full of rings or curls. ELL. — An ell was originally the length from the third or longest finger to the crook of the arm, called the ell- bow, from the bow or bend which it makes with the shoulder. €5aeltC. — Uillean, an elbow ELSE. — Other, another, otherwise. This word formerly written alles, alys, alyse, elles, ellus, ellis, els, and now else, is no other than the Anglo-Saxon ales or alys, the imperative of alesan or alysan, dimittere. —John Home's Letter to John Dunning. Greek, aXXos; Latin, alius. — Wedgwood. El is the old nominative of which else or elles is the genitive used absolutely. — Cole- bidge's Oldest Words, Sfc. (JUadtC. — Bile, another; duine eile, another man; co-eile? who else? eile- thir, another country, a foreign country. a 156 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY EMBARRASS.— To throw a difficulty in the way. Embarrassed. — ■Suffering from diffi- culties, mental or physical. The most obvious type of hindrance is a bar which stops the way to anything. — Wedgwood. Literally to put a bar, or difficulty in the way. — Chambers. The word with its prefix came into the language from the French. The root is. ffiiietic. — Am barr, the high place, the summit to be surmounted ; barr, a high place ; to be in embarassment is therefore to have to pass over or surmount a high or difficult place. EMBEZZLE.— To defraud, to appro- priate to one's own use the property of another, entrusted for other pur- poses. Of uncertain etymology. — Johnson, Ash. From the obsolete bezzle, to drink hard, to squander; according to Wedgwood, from an imitation of the sound made in greedy eating and drinking. — Chambees. Old French, embesler. — Wobcestee. © a tXit. — Beus, moral quality, honesty, integrity, virtue; an-bheus, immorality, dishonesty; an-bensail, dishonest, im- moral, unvirtuous. EMPTY.— Void, vacant. Philologists have been contented to trace this word to the Anglo-Saxon aemti, or aemtig, and no further. The author of Gazophylacium Anglicanum not quite satisfied with this derivation suggests the Anglo-Saxon emete, which he translates, "without meat, or hungry." Anglo-Saxon, aemtig; in the German, leer; in the Norse languages, torn is the equivalent to the word in its English sense, its English sense being exceptional. The meaning in Germany and Scandinavia is connected with, or relating to, an ampt, meaning court, office, or jurisdiction. For an office to be held by one person, it must have been left empty by another, so that ampt, void, to fill up a vacancy ; vacuus in Latin having a like im- port, and meaning not only empty, but open or at leisure to receive. A connexion with the Latin emo, so that an ampt, or place, is "idquod emptum est,"is probable. — Latham's Todd's Johnson. (JRaeltC. — Taom, to pour out; taomte, poured out, emptied ; taomte, or with the aspirate thaomte, which, by the initial mutation peculiar to the Gaelic language, effaces the sound of the t, and is pronounced aomte, is evidently the root of the Anglo-Saxon aemti. The Saxon or German word is leer, empty; and verleeren, to empty, or make empty. The river Thames derives its name from taom, the outpourer. ENOUGH.— Sufficient. All English etymologists are content to trace this word to the German genug. A nearer approach is to be found in the ©arllC. — Inich, sufficient, enough; gu h'inich, sufficiently. ENTICE.— To lure on by excitement, and heating of the passions or the imagination; French, attiser, to stir the fire, to heat. The origin is the hissing sound by which dogs are incited in setting them on to fight with each other or to attack another animal. These sounds are represented in English by the letters ss, st, is, being doubtless imitations of the angry sounds of a quarrelling dog. . . . The idea of provoking to anger must be taken as the original image. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Teas, heat; teasaich, to heat; ath-teasaich, to re-heat, or heat again. EQUERRY.— One who has the care of the horses in a royal or princely establishment. Ecurie (French) . — A stable for horses. Prom old High German scur, scura, sciwra, a pent-house, out-house, barn, must be ex- plained the Mid Latin scura, scuria; French, ieurie, barn, stables; German, scheur,scheuro, pent-house, loft, barn. The form equerry corresponds with Mid Latin scurarius, Wal- OP TUB ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 157 lachian, schuraria, the officer in charge of the barn or stables. — Wedgwood. ©aeltC. — Each, a horse (Latin, equus); curam, trust, charge, care, office, or employment. EQUIP. — Originally, to supply with horses as a preparation for a journey; afterwards, to supply with necessaries, accoutrements, &c. Equipment. — The trappings of horses, or the necessaries for a journey. Equipage. — A carriage and horses. In French equipage has come to signify the crew of a ship, the men necessary to equip and work her. French, Squiper, to furnish for a horseman ; iquipage, furniture for a horseman ; a car- riage of state, a vehicle ; attendance, retinue. — Johnson. Prom Old Norse, shipa, to arrange ; Anglo- Saxon, sceapan, scyppan, to form ; German, schaff&n, to create, provide, furnish. — Wedg- wood. Dr. Johnson was on the right track for the root of this word, though igno- rant of the Keltic derivation of the French Squiper. It is clearly traceable to the ffi-aeltC. — Each, a horse; furniture, accoutrements, trappings, dress ; iiidheamach, furnished, accoutred, provided, &c. ERECT.— To raise, to lift, to build ; to stand straight on end, perpendicular. Latin, erectus, from erigo, to set upright ; e,out,and?*eyo,to make straight. — Chambers. From e, out of, and rectus, straight or up- right, to set up, to build. — Stobmonth. (SJaellC. — Eirich, to rise; eirigh,eiridh, rising, act of rising. ERIN.— Ireland. ©acltC. — Iar-innis, The Isle of the West. ERUCTATION. — The belching of wind from the stomach by the throat, from the Latin eructare. ffiaeli'c. — Ruchan, the throat, a noise or wheezing in the throat; ruchanach, wheezing; ruchd, a grunt, a wheeze, a belch. ESCALIBUR or Excalibur.— The sword of King Arthur, renowned in Keltic romance, given to him by the Lady of the Lake. The swords and other weapons of all the legendary Keltic heroes had usually names de- scriptive of their qualities. See Moeglay and Dumndana. C&aflic. — -dis, back; cail, a shield; beur, shrill, sonorous, giving a loud sound ; whence by corruption and eu- phemism Escalibur and Excalibur, "re- turning upon the shield with a loud or violent sound/'' ESCAPE.- To free one's self from difficulty, danger, or imprisonment; to run away. French, Schapper ; Italian, scappare ; English, ship. — Chambebs. Diez resolves escape, the Italian scappare, into eaccappare, to slip out of one's cloak or cape, in the hurry of flight ; and the syno- nymous scampare into ex-campare, to quit the field. This separation of the two forms is wholly unnecessary. The radical idea ia simply that of slipping away. — Wedgwood. ©a die. — Sffap, scatter, spread, dis- perse, escape ; sgapadair, a scatterer, a disperser; sgapadh, dispersing; sgapta, dispersed, escaped. ESCROC (French).— A swindler, a rogue. Esckoqueeie. — Cheating, swindling. dyadic. — Croch, to hang; crochaire, a villain, a rogue, a swindler, one who deserves to be hanged j crochadair, the hangman. ESQUIRE.— A title of courtesy used in addressing letters to gentlemen. 158 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Squire. — An abbreviation of "es- quire," signifying 1 , in country parishes and rural districts, the principal landed proprietor, if he be not a Peer or a Baronet. These words are usually traced to the French escu, or ecu, a shield ; and escu- yer, a shield-bearer; formerly, and in the feudal ages, in attendance upon a knight, and a candidate for elevation to that dignity. ffiarttC. — Sgiath, a shield; sgiathadair {sheeadair) , a shield-bearer. EUROPE.— The name of one of the five great continents of the earth, generally supposed to be derived from that of a fabulous nymph in Grecian mythology, whom Zeus, under the form of a bull, carried on his back across the sea to the island of Crete. Europa is supposed to have been the daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor. The name of Europe is not found in the Iliad or the Odyssey, and first occurs in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, where it indicates the mainland of Hellas. The origin of the name is doubtful, but the most probable of the numerous conjectures is that which sup- poses that the Asiatic Greeks called it Europa from eurus, broad, and the root op, to see, from the wide extent of its coast. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. It is more probable, however, that the Asiatic tribes who overran and peopled Egypt and Phoenicia, and who after- wards spread themselves as population increased over the great western regions of Europe, named it from the GSb&tlit. — Eu-ropach, unravelled, un- tangled; signifying a country unknown, vast, mysterious. EVE. — The ripening of the day. Evening. — The day at its fullest maturity, when it commences to decay. Dutch, avend ; German, abend, the sinking of the day ; Swiss, aben, to fall off, decrease, fail ; es abet, it draws toward evening, the day fails. — Wedgwood. fflfatltC. — Abuich, mature. EVERMORE.— For ever, everlasting, in unending continuity. The final syllable of this poetical word is not satisfactorily accounted for by the supposition that it is identical with "more,'" the comparative of "much" and "many." Mr. Donald [Chambers) has it that " evermore " is " more for ever," an explanation that cannot be accepted, and in which the word "more" would be wholly unnecessary. Dr. Worcester and Mr. Wedgwood offer no solution. Dr. Johnson is of opinion that "more" is an expletive accidentally added, " unless it signified originally from this time, as always henceforward, but this sense," he adds, " has not been strictly preserved." The true explana- tion is found in the ffiaell'C. — Mair, to last, to endure, to exist ; lasting, enduring, continuing, existing; hence the Lowland Scotch evermair, and the English evermore, lasting, or enduring for ever. EVIL. — The reverse of good ; harmful, wicked, injurious. German, iibel; Gothic, ubils ; Dutch ovel, evel. — Wedgwood. ffiartic. — Aimh (av or ev) , a prefix to substantives, signifying negation, de- privation, or contradiction, like the Latin ne, and the English and German un j leas, good, fitness, benefit, improve- ment; whence aimh-leas (evles), bad- ness, unfitness, wickedness, evil, hurt, harm, mischief, ruin ; aimhleasach, un- OV THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 159 fortunate, mischievous, ruinous; aimh leasachd, misfortune, evil. EWE. — A lamb, a female sheep. Anglo-Saxon, eowu; Latin, ovis; Greek, ois; Sanscrit, avi, a sheep. — Chambees. ffljfafltC. — Uan, a sheep, a lamb. EXTINGUISH.— To put out a fire or a light; French, eteindre. Latin, extinguo ; ex, from, used intensively, and stinguo, to quench. — Wokcesteb. Literally, to prick or scratch out, to quench, to put an end to ; from the Latin ex-stinguo, from root stiff, to prick. — Chambers. Extinguish, from the Latin stinguo, stinctum, to put out ; from the root stig, sting, signifying to prick ; the passage from which to the idea of putting out is not clear. — Wedqwood. It is singular that no philologist, especially Mr. Wedgwood, who seems dissatisfied with the derivation of ex- tinction from the root of prick or sting, and who in many instances has looked into the Gaelic, should not have dis- covered the true root of this word, both in Latin and in French, namely in the €*ael!C. — Teine, fire; thence the French eteindre, to put out the fire; eteinte, extinguished. See also the words Tinder and Tingle, where the same root appears. EYOT.' — A name given to small islands in the upper reaches of the Thames above London. <&aelic. — Aite, a place. — See Ait. EYRIE. — An eagle's nest, usually built on the mountain crags or inaccessible rocks. Teutonic, ey, an egg, the place where hirds of prey build their nests and hatch ; an aerie. — Wobcestee. Erroneously explained in the first edition as from eggery, really from the French aire, an airie or nest of hawks. — Wedgwood. Literally, an eggery; or Anglo-Saxon, ari; German, aar, an eagle; and suffix ry, de- noting a collection ; or French, aire ; Low Latin, cerea ; Latin, area, an open space; or from aer, the air. — Chambees. (Bfaelic. — Eiriok, to ascend, to mount, to rise to a high place ; eiridh, a rising, an ascension, a mounting to a high place. F. FA' (Lowland Scotch) . — This word is not the same as fa', to fall. In the phrase, " Gude faith he maunna fa' that," in Burns' " A man's a man for a' that," the interpretation " fall" does not render the meaning. It is possible that the real word is the ©raelic. — Fa' or fath, cause, reason, object, attempt; and which used as a verb in the Lowland Scotch, would, in its last signification of "attempt," clear up an otherwise obscure passage. FAA or Fae. — A name assumed by a tribe of gipsy vagrants who came into Britain from the Continent in the reign of James I. " Johnnie Faa " is the title of a popular Scottish ballad, which describes the elopement of the Countess of Cassilis with the Gipsy King. Fey (Lowland Scotch and Old Eng- lish) . — Fated, in the power of the Fates, doomed. Let the fate fall upon thefeyest. Take care of the man that God has marked, for he's no fey. — Allan Eamsat's Scottish Proverbs. The Komains for sadness rushed to the erth, as they fey were. — Morte Arthur. Halliwell. Fairy. — An imaginary being that mingles in the affairs of men and predicts the future. Fee (French). — A fairy. 160 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY " Fairy " and " fee," the gipsy name of Faa, arid the anciently, all appear to be from the ©aelic. — FaicU, a prophet, a rhapso- dist, one inspired, a soothsayer, a for- tune-teller. Sanscrit, vadi, a prophet; Latin, vates. PA! FE! FI! FO ! FUM !— These mysterious syllables occur in the popular story of Jack the Giant Killer, so dear to all British children. Fa,fe,fi,fo,fum ! I smell the blood of an Englishman ! Let him be living, or let him be dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread. The antipathy expressed to an Eng- lishman or Saxon points to a time for this version of the story when the con- quered Keltic population, having no other means of expressing their detesta- tion of their invaders, vented it in rhymes and fairy stories. It has been supposed that these alli- terative sounds were mere inventions without meaning, but researches into the Keltic language at the early, almost primeval time, when the fascinating story first charmed the youths and maidens of our remote ancestors, show a derivation which gives sense to an other- wise incomprehensible string of jargon. CK-aeltC — Faich {fa!), behold! see! fiadh {fee-a), food; fiu, good to eat/ worthy; fogh (fo), sufficient; foghair, to suffice; feurn (French /aim), hunger; whence faich, fiadh, fiu, fogh, feum, or " fa, fe, fi, fo, fum ! " " Behold food, good to eat, sufficient for my hunger;" the exclamation of the Keltic giant, who, without being a cannibal, would have been glad to devour the Saxon. FADAISE (French).— A long, old, worn-out story; a silly repetition. Fade ( French) . — Stale, -tedious. CKae ItC. — Fad, long, tedious ; fadaich, to spin out, to stretch out, to lengthen tediously. FADDLE.— To trifle, either in talk or action, to be tedious or dilatory, to dawdle. Fiddle- Faddle. — A duplication of " faddle," with the same meaning. From the French ./Me or the li&tin fatuus, a fool ; and fiddle, q. d. to draw the stick to and again hastily ; or from fiddle and the TevXomc faden, a thread, i. e. a fiddle-string ; and to this day when we show our dislike of anything, we say, a fiddle-stick. — 6-azophy- lacium Anglicanum. Corrupted from fiddle, to play with the fingers ; a low word. — Johnson. She said that her grandfather had a horse shot at Bdgehill, and that their uncle was at the siege of Buda, with other fiddle-faddle of the same nature. — Spectator. The root of this word is evidently faddle and not fiddle, reduplicated on a principle common to most languages. ffiafllC. — Fad, length ;fadal, tedious, lengthy, prolix; fadalack, wearisome, tedious. FADGE. — To suit, to fit, to answer the purpose intended; as, "it won't fadge," i. e. " it won't do." (Slang.) We will have, if this fadge not, an antic. — Shakspbaee, Love's Labour Lost. ffifaelic. — Faigean, a sheath ; the Latin vagina. " This -won't fadge," i. e. "this will not fit into the sheath or scabbard, this will not suit or answer the purpose." FAG. — To work hard ; also a word at public schools to designate a smaller boy, made a slave or servant of by one larger or older, to do his behests. fflfaeltC. — Faigh, to get, obtain, acquire. FAG-END.— The end of anything, a term of depreciation. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 161 The latter and meaner part of anything. — Johnson. The inferior or remaining part, the refuse. — Slang Dictionary. Faggot, a term of opprobium used by low people to children and women. Originally a term of contempt for ji dry shrivelled old woman, whose bones were like a bundle of sticks, only fit to burn. — Idem. Fagot, a bundle of sticks ; from the French fagot and Italian fagotto; from the Anglo- Saxon fegan, to join. — Bichabdson. dJaeltC. — Fag, to leave, abandon, re- linquish; whence that which is left, abandoned, relinquished, as of no ac- count or value. FAIL. — To make default, to be de- ficient, to decay, to attempt unsuc- cessfully. Failure. — An unsuccessful attempt. - Fell. — Cruel, bitter. These words in various forms occur through most of the languages of "Western Europe, and may be clearly traced in Greek, Latin, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. Johnson cites thirteen different meanings for " fail/' but only derives it from the French faittir, and the Welsh faeln. The author of Gazophylacium Anglicanum says "the word is from the French faittir; Italian, fa Hare ; Teutonic, fahl, a defeat; all of them from the Latin fallo, to disappoint, frustrate." The first root is to be sought in the original language of Western Europe, where it is used in a variety of senses, the chief being one that implies falsehood, or unsuccess in the performance of a duty imposed by honour, or integrity. (3*aeItC. — Feall, to deceive, to betray, to fail; feall, treason, treachery; fealladh, failure, desertion; feallan, a felon, a traitor; one who in his falseness to his neighbour or his sovereign has com- mitted a crime ; feall-duine, a false man, I one who has failed in truth, a worthless man; feall-gniomh, a deceitful or false action; feallsa, false, mendacious ; fealU lair, a traitor. The same idea runs through the kindred words foill, deceit, treachery, foul play ; foitteil, deceitful, fraudulent, failing to perform a promise; foillein, a cheat, one who makes a dis- honest failure. The word "fell," signify- ing fierce, cruel, bloody, brutal, as when Shakspeare says "felled foes," or Thomson in the Seasons, "the keen hyena, fellest of the fell," seems trace- able to the same root. See Felon. FAIL (Lowland Scotch). — A dyke, a wall of turf. In ayont yon aulifaii dyke I wot there lies a new slain knight. The Twa Corbies. ©ra?lfC. — Fal, a pen fold, a circle, a wall, a dyke, a hedge, sods and turves. FAIN. — Willing, desirous. To be fain to do a thing is to be glad to do it. But there is a curious resemblance in the expression to the old French, avoir faim, iotfaim, hunger, to be desirous (or hungry) of something. — Wedgwood. CKaelic- pense. -Fan (obsolete), prone, pro- FAINT. — Weak, deprived of strength from want of food, over-exertion, or diminution of the powers of life. French, finer, to fade as flowers do in the heat of the sun. — GazojpJiylacium Angli- canum. French, faner, to fade ; s'ivanouir, to faint away ; Latin, vanus, empty ; G&elic,fann.— Chambebs. drEielic— ifoww, weak, feeble; duine- fann, a weak man ; fannaich, to grow weak, to debilitate. From the same root comes the Latin vanesco, the French evanouir, and the English vanish, to fade away from sight, to disappear. It may be questioned whether the 162 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY words " fancy," " fantasy/' and " phan- tom/' the French fantome, are not from this root, rather than from the Greek (fraivw, to appear; and (jyavracr/ia, an image, to which they are generally as- signed. The idea of weakness, shadowi- ness, faintness, and unreality, underlies them all, as in Phantasy (Greek) . — A vision, a fancy. Phantom, Fant6me (French). — A phantom, a shade, an unreality. ©racltc. — Fainne, weakness; taom, empty ; i. e. phantom, an empty weak- ness, an unreal appearance; fann-taiihse, a dim ghost or apparition. 'Fantome, according to Halliwell, signifies in old English, faint, weak ; and fantome corn, unproductive corn ; a fantome fellow, a weak light-headed person. See Infant. FAIR. — Beautiful, light-complexioned, just, equitable. Johnson cites seventeen different shades of meaning to this word, which is probably derived from different roots. Thus a man may be fair in complexion, yet unfair in conduct. Johnson derives it from Anglo-Saxon/a^ew, and Danish favr, in which course he has been followed by all his philological suc- cessors, and in which he himself but followed the author of Gazophylacium Anglicanum and Bailey. He also de- rives "fain," "willing," "glad," from the same Saxon root. These etymolo- gies are not satisfactory. The Danish favr (almost favor), not faur, means handsome, agreeable, without reference to lightness of complexion. Possibly the true roots of " fair " in the sense of equitable, is the (SXatliC. — Firinn, the truth; firean, righteous, just, true; or fear r, better, best, most preferable. In the sense of light-complexioned or beautiful the root is Fair, the rising or setting of the sun ; faire, the dawn, the break of day, the brightness of the morning. FAIR. — A periodically appointed mar- ket for the sale of cattle and agri- cultural produce, to which by degrees was added the sale of commodities likely to find purchasers among the crowd that attended. Sports and amusements were also provided for the evening or the intervals of busi- ness. Freneh foire. Latin, feria, holidays ; then like Italian, feria, French, foire, applied to the market held on certain holidays. — Wedgwood. Connected with festive. — Chambees. The word came into English from the French foire, andnot from the Latin. The Germans call a fair &jahr?narM or messe, the Belgians and Dutch kermis and Jcermesse. The derivation from the Latin favoured by Mr. Wedgwood, supposes that the market was established on a saint's day or holiday; whereas the holiday on the day of a fair was consequent upon the market, and had no connexion with the festivals of the church. The root of the French foire and the English fair is the rnu, apo<;, a lighthouse ; the idea of both of which is "heed" or " attention." FAP. — A word that occurs in the Merry Wives of Windsor. Why, sir, for my part, I say the gentleman had drunk himself out of his five senses, and being fop, he was, as they say, cashiered.— Act i. Scene 1. It has been attempted to derive this word from vappa, but that, as Mr. Douce observes, is too learned. I have not met with it in any glossary. It was probably a cant term. — Naees. The derivation from vappa is adopted by Halliwell, Wright, and Staunton. Possibly the root is the (BadiC. — Faob, a protuberance, a swelling ; whence swollen with drink ; having a large stomach from intempe- rance. FARDEL. — Generally supposed to mean a burden, and to be derived from the French, fardeau, the Low Latin fardellus, and the Italian far- del lo. Who would fardels bear, To groan and sweat under a weary life ? Samlet. The word in Shakspeare, is capable of other interpretation than that of bur- den, and seems traceable beyond the Low Latin, which was merely a Latinized form given to various Keltic words, to the <25raeltC. — Fardal, delay, hindrance, obstruction, detention; fordalach, ob- structive, slow, tardy. FARM. — An extent of land in cultiva- tion. Faumee. — A cultivator of the land. French for me and fermier. Farm, literally, food, entertainment ; after- wards rent, the land rented, ground let for cultivation, or pasturage, &c. Anglo-Saxon, feorm,fearme, food ; feormian, to feed, rent being originally paid in kind. The word fearme, Latinized into firma, was next ap- plied to the money paid, and then to the land rented. — Chambebs. ffiaelic. — Fearann, an estate, a farm, a land, a country ; foarann saor, a free OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 165 estate, a freehold ; fearannach, of land, pertaining to land. FASCINATE.— To enchant, to charm. These ' ancient words have been so worn down in the service of prosaic modern ages, as to have lost their original strong signification, which was the act or the art of a magician, wizard, conjuror or diviner. "Fascinating," "charming," "enchanting," are epithets applied indifferently to objects animate or inanimate, to works of nature or of art, without reference to the occult sciences, or the devices of the soothsayer. The word "fascinate" is immediately from the French fasciner, and the Latin fascino, both of which are sometimes derived from the Greek fiaaicaivai, to bewitch; and formerly meant, and in special cases still means, to bewitch or vanquish by the power of the eye, as the snake fascinates a small bird or other prey. In ancient times the pro- phets were magicians, and pretended to foretell the future by incantations (enchantments), charms, and other weird devices. The true source of the Latin fascino is to be traced to the following related words from the ffiaeltC. — Faidh, a prophet; faisin- neacM, a prophecy ; faisnich, prophesy, foretell ; faisniche, a prophet ; faisti- neach, a wizard, a diviner, a fascinator. FASHION. — The prevalent custom or favour of society, in dress or manners, style of living, &c. This word has been borrowed from English by the French and Germans, and sometimes does duty for the old expressions, la mode and die mode. Prom the French facon, and Latin facere, to make, the form and make of a thing.— "Wedgwood. Latin, factio, a making or doing ; French, facon. — Woecesteb. fi&aclic — Fas, growth, increase ; to grow, to increase, to rise into favour and acceptance ; fasan, that which has risen into favour and acceptance; the " fashion ;" fasanta, fashionable : fas- antachd, the state of being fashionable. FAST. — Rapid, quick, the opposite of slow. From the Welsh ffest, quick. — Johnson. Mid Latin, faste, immediately, without interval. It rains fast, i. e. the drops fall close on each other. Thus the idea of close- ness passes into that of rapidity. — "Wedg- wood. There are three of these words in English of the some sound and ortho- graphy ; fast, quick ; fast, steady, firm fixed, or rooted ; and fast, to ab- stain from food; all of different ety- mology. The second is of German, the third of Latin origin. The true root of the first seems to be the <35ra?ltC. — Fas, to increase, to grow ; i. e. a fast movement is an increasing or growing movement. FAST.— To go without food, which no one does unless from illness or want of appetite, or in performance of a religious vow, or presumed religious duty. Here, as in the Latin abstinence, the idea may be holding back from food, but if the word be of ecclesiastical origin it may be better explained by the Gothic fastan, to keep or observe, viz. the ordinances of the Church. Wachter remarks that observare and jejunare are frequently used as syno- nyms by ecclesiastical writers. — "Wedg- wood. A fast is an observance to which a person binds or pledges himself for a certain season, and its root is the Gaelic. — Fastadh, f astaidh, to bind one's self, to engage ,' fastaich, to b'ud, 166 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY to secure, to *make fast ; fastakUe, bound, secured, engaged. FAUBOURG.— A suburb. A word recently introduced into English from the French, and especially- used in reference to the suburbs of Paris. Fauxhourg est une alteration de forbourg prononce fobourg (le parler vulgaire ayant quelquefois supprime' IV) puis finalement pris pour faux-bourg. — Littee. (35r£l£lfC. — Fo, under; borg or burg, a town or fort ; literally, suburb. FAUGH ! — An exclamation of disgust or abhorrence. Past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb fian, to hate. — Hobne Tooke. I think he had better have left faugh ! fie I and fo ! in the class of brutish inarti- culate interjections. — Barclay. Beaumont and Fletcher have faugh as an exclamation of abhorrence. — Woecestee. The interjection, I believe, represents the lengthened emission of the breath with screwed-up mouth, and lifted nostrils, which aims at the rejection of an offensive smell. It will be observed that the syllable fu, or pu, is used in many languages as the root of words signifying to blow, as in Greek vcraa> ; English, puff; Scottish, fuff; Sanscrit, phut, Sfc— Wedgwood. (BraeltC. — Fuath, hatred, aversion ; fuathag, hateful, abhorrent; fuathaich, to hate, detest, abhor, loathe. McAlpine's Pronouncing Gaelic Dictionary gives the pronunciation of the last word asfua-ack, which is as nearly as possible the English faugh I FAVORIS (French) .—Whiskers, usu- ally supposed to be derived from "favourite," or because it was the favourite fashion to wear them. ©raeltC. — 'Fabhraidh (favrai), the eye-lashes, the hair on the side of the face, the whiskers; also a fringe or curtain. FAWN.— To flatter, to cajole, to be unduly submissive; to wait upon a great man's humour. Of uncertain origin ; perhaps a contraction of the French fanfan, a term of fondness for children. — Johnson. From the Anglo-Saxon faignean, to rejoice, to flatter. — "Woecestee. From the Anglo-Saxon fandian, to tempt, or entice; or perhaps from the English fain, willing. — Gtazophylaeiwm Anglicanum. Q5tiXZ\it.—Fan, to wait, to dance attendance : fanachcl, waiting, tarrying (for a favour). FAWSONT (Lowland Scotch). — Decent, seemly, respectable ; in accor- dance with custom and fashion. A creditable stock Of decent, honest, fawsont folk. Buens, The Twa Dogs. ffifflfllC. — Fasanta, customary, ha- bitual, respectable, fashionable; fasan- tac/td, fashion, custom, use, propriety. See Fashion. FEALTY. — Allegiance for benefits conferred. This word is generally supposed to be deri ved from "fidelity " or "faithfulness;" but possibly as there was no reason for fidelity between inferior and superior, unless in return for benefits, the word may have had a different origin. The vassal for protection, bounty, liberality, gave his allegiance in return. (SiadtC. — Fial, generous, liberal, bountiful ;fial,feile, bounty, hospitality, liberality ; fiallach, a champion, a gene- rous hero (from^a I and laoch) ; fiallachcl, knight-errantry, chivalry, the practice of bravery, generosity, and hospitality. FEAR.— Terror. Johnson derives "fear" from the Anglo-Saxon fearan; Richardson from the Latin vereor, or the Anglo-Saxon foeran, afoeran, and these from faran, Of THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE'. 167 to go, or cause to go away, and hence from the motion to the feeling which caused it. Mr. Wedgwood thinks "the radical idea is shown in the Swiss fasa, to shudder at, to be amazed at, the final * changing into r, as in Latin, honos, honor ; and in the German hase, English a hare." Mr. Donald in Chambers refers it to the German gefahr, and Swedish far a, danger. The correctness of all these derivations may be questioned. "Fear" is the cold sensation that pervades the frame when a person is suddenly con- fronted with a great danger. It is a common phrase to say that " the blood ran cold with horror," or that a cold perspiration seized upon one in the extremity of a sudden peril. The French have the word peur, and the Germans furcht, and these words, as well as the English "fear," are traceable to the (SraeltC. — Fuar, cold. Another etymology presents itself for consideration in the (35raeliC. — Fiadh (pronounced fee-a), wild, untamed, timid, afraid of man ; a deer, which is among the shyest of animals ; fiadhach,fiadha, wildness, shy- ness, fearfulness, timidity ; fiamh, fear, reverence, awe. The English word " fear" is pronounced almost exactly the same as the Gaelic fiadh, and the addition of an r to the root is common to many words in the English vernacular. FEASE, FEIZE, PHEESE.— Nares defines this word "to chastise, to beat." I'll pheeze you, i' faith. Shakspeaee, The Taming of the Shrew. An' he be proud with me, I'll pheeze his pride. — Troilus and, Cressida. Come, will you quarrel, I'll feize you, sirrah. Ben Jonson, The Alchemist. This word is apparently from the first syllable of the fiRaeltC. — Feas traeh, to muzzle, to bridle, to put a bit in the mouth ; feasag, feusag, the beard, the moustache above and below the mouth. All the quota- tions in Nares correspond with the idea of muzzling or bridling. FECK (Lowland Scotch and North of England) . — Worth, power, value. Feckless. — Powerless, worthless; of no account ; without feck. Feckful. — Brave, full of worth. Feckless folk are aye fain of one another. — Allan Ramsay. Spiritless, feeble ; perhaps a corruption of effectless. — Todd's Johnson. Poor devil ! see him o'er his trash, As feckless as a wither'd rash. Buens, To a Haggis. Of feck, of value ; anjfeck, any considera- tion ; feckful, having the appearance of wealth. — Jamieson. (SraeltC. — FiacJi, worth, value; fiachail, worthy, virtuous, of high position ; fiachalachd, worthiness, value, dignity. FEEBLE. — Weak, deficient in energy; immediately derived from the French faille, formerly written foible. The common derivation from the Latin fcebilis, lamentable, is unsatisfactory. — Wedgwood. CEraeltC- — Fo-lhuile, an understroke, a weak movement. FEED. — To eat ; or pasture for nourish- ment. Food. — That which is eaten, or good to be eaten. Fodder. — Food for horses or cattle. Food; Anglo-Saxon, foda, fode, food, nourishment; Dutch, voeden, to feed, to bring up ; Danish, fode, to feed, and also to give birth to. The ideas of giving birth to and feeding are connected in other cases, as in the Gaelic alaich, to bring forth, to nourish. Fodder, the Mid Latin foderum, 163 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY fudrum, was especially applied to the demand of provisions for man and horse, made under cover of prerogative, or seignorial rights, or by an army in an enemy's country. — Wedg- wood. GEfaelic. — Fiadh, meat, food, venison, deer ; fodair, to give food or provender to cattle; fodar, provender, fodder; biadh, to feed, to bait cattle. FELLOW. — An associate, a companion, a person, a man ; sometimes used as a term of contempt, as a " low fellow." Quasi, to follow, Minsheu. From/e, faith, and lag, bound, Saxon; Scotch, fallow. — Johnson. Old English, felavs; Old Norse, felagi, a partner in goods ; sam-fte-lag-shap, part- nership, or laying together of goods ; from fe, money, goods; and lag, order, society, community. — Wedgwood and Chambebs. Anglo-Saxon, felavs, a companion. — Todd. Jimius and Spelman say from fe, faith, and lag, bound, but HicJces, Minsheu, Skinner, and Richardson, from Anglo-Saxon folgian, to follow ; Gothic, felag, companionship. — WoBCESTEB. (jRarttC. — Balach or balaoch, a lad, a youth, a clown; conjoined with an adjective, the word takes the aspirate after the initial consonant and becomes bhalaoch, falaoeh, or valaoch (fellow), as sgon bhalaoch, a bad, lumpy, heavy, lazy fellow ; droch bhalaoch, a wicked fellow. Ball, in Gaelic also signifies a servant, a lad ; and with the aspirate becomes bhall or vail, whence the Keltic- French valet. Another possible etymon of the Eng- lish w -oi d fellow is the Kymric or Welsh felaig, a prince ; the same as the Gaelic fiath, and the Irish fal; but the deriva- tion from balach and balaoch is prefer- able. The word balaoch is derived by some from ba, cattle, and laoch, a boy, a lad, a youth; whence balaoch, a young herdsman. This word fellow in ancient English law books is said to mean a shepherd. In Egypt the peasants or tillers of the soil are called fellahs, which is probably from the same ancient root. FELON.— A criminal. Felony. — A crime. Prom the French fellon; or the Italian felone; and all from the Anglo-Saxon_/efe» .• Teutonic, fehlen, to offend. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Felon, cruel, rough, untractahle ; felonie, anger, cruelty, treason; any such heinous offence committed by a vassal against his lord, whereby he is worthy to lose his estate. — COTGEAVE. Diez rejects the derivation from the Latin fel, gall ; but his suggestion from the old High German fillo, a skinner, a scavenger or executioner, is not more satisfactory. The true origin is probably to be found in the Keltic branch, either in Welsh or Gaelic— Wedgwood. Various derivations of this word have been suggested. Sir Henry Spelman supposes that it may have come from the Teutonic or German fee (fief or feud), and Ion (price or value), and from the Saxon feelen, to fall, or offend. — Knight's Political Dictionary. How much time and research have been wasted over this word by etymo- logists and lawyers, ignorant of the primitive language of Great Britain may be surmised from the following derivations from the CRaeltC. — Feall, treason, treachery; feall, to deceive, to betray, to fail ; fealladh, deceit, desertion, failure; feallan, a felon, a traitor ; feall-dhuine, worthless men, traitors, deceivers ;feall- gtiiomh, a deceitful action ; feall-leigh, a quack doctor, i. e. a traitorous and therefore cruel doctor; feall-dhuine, d silent before the aspirate, bad men, i. e. felons. FELT. — Coarse, unwoven wool or hair, used in the manufacture of hats, wadding, and other articles. Cloth made of wool, without weaving ; German, filz, woollen cloth ; allied to Greek iriXos; Latin, pileus. — Chambebs. OF THK ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 109 (JKarltC.—i^, hair, matted hair; faltan, a hair-belt. FELL. — To turn down a seam. To fell a seam, to turn it down, is from the Gaelic fill, fold, wrap, plait; Swedish, folia, a hem. — Wedgwood. ©raelic. — Fill, to fold, to plait. FEM. — This word occurs in Messrs. Halliwell and Wright's edition of Nares' s Glossary, and is described as " apparently for a female/' Which are three ills that mischief men To know dost thou desire P Have here, in few, my friend exprest, The fern, the flood, the fire. Kendall's Flowers of Epigrammes, 1557. It is possible that the explanation is correct, but " woman and flood and fire " would be so much more forcible, as well as so much more intelligible, than " fern," as to suggest another de- rivation. Perhaps it may be the ©aeltc. — Feum, need, necessity (from the same root as famine) . The three ills, with this explanation, would be famine, flood, and fire, which would preserve both the alliteration and the sense. FEN. — A low lying or swampy piece of ground. CBraellC. — Feannag, a ridge of ground; feanndagach, a place where nettles and weeds grow. FENCE (Slang) . — A receiver of stolen goods; the shop where stolen goods are bought. C&afJtt. — FaigA, to get, obtain, acquire; faigAinn, get, obtain; faigh- neackcl, asking, obtaining; faignicA, to ask, i.e. to ask a price and get it, or a portion of it, without any questions being asked in return. FENNEL. — A well known herb, " sup- posed," says Nares, " to have been an emblem of flattery." It was one of those offered by Ophelia in Hamlet to the courtiers, "joining it" adds Nares, " with columbines, to mark that though they flattered to get favours, they were thankless after receiving them.'" Among the quotations is Flatter, I mean, lie ! Little things catch light minds, and fancy is a worm that feedeth first upon fennel. — Ltlt, Sappho. In the modern " language of flowers " the columbine signifies folly, and when we traee the word " fennel " to its root, we find the @radtC. — Feineil, self-love, selfishness. This interpretation would lend new point to Ophelia's line : — There's fennel for you, and columhine. That is to say, " There's selfishness for you, and folly;" as if the two were combined. FERE, FEERE, PHEARE, PHEER. — All these words are defined by Nares to mean " companion, partner, husband, or lover." The derivation is given " from the Saxon gefera." And swear with me as with the woeful fere And father of that chaste dishonour'd dame. Titus Andronicus. But faire Clarissa to a lovely fere Was link'd. — Spenseb, Faerie Queene. But pomp and power alone are woman's care, And where these are light Eros finds afeere. Bteon, Childe Harold. ©aeltc. — Fear, a man, a husband; Latin, vir. The word, though originally sig- nifying a husband, afterwards came to signify a lover of either sex, and was applied to a woman, as appears from the following epitaph : — 170 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Howe ! Howe ! who is heare ? I Robyn of Donoaster, And Margaret raj fear e. That I spent, that I had ; That I gave, that I have ; That I left, that I loste.— a.d. 1579. Blunter s South Yorkshire. FEROCIOUS. — Fierce, angry, savage, derived in the first instance from the \idA.mferox, and the'^French/eroctf, but traceable to the C&3C lie. — Fearg, anger, rage, fury ; feirg, feargach, angry, passionate, furi- ous, ferocious ; feargaich, to provoke or incite to anger. Vieh (German), cattle, deer, wild animals. Latin, ferox, ferocis, fierce. — Wedgwood. ffiacltc. — Fiadh, a deer, a wild ani- mal; fiadhaich, wild, untamed, savage, ferocious ; fiadhaiclie, a hunter of wild animals; fiadhain, wild, savage, fero- cious. FERTIG (German) .—Ready, prepared. (SBarllC. — Beartach, energetic, ready; heart, a weapon ; beartach, ready with a weapon for defence. FERTILE. — Productive, capable of produce. Latin, fertilis, from fero, to hear. — Chambers. ©a flic. — Feart, virtue, efficacy, en- ergy ; feartach, efficacious, fruitful, ener- getic ; feartail, virtuous, efficacious. FETCH. — To bring, also to acquire, obtain; as in the phrase, "to fetch and carry/' The attempts to trace this word to the German fassen, to seize, and to other Teutonic sources, have not been satisfactory. ©rEfltC. — Faigli, obtain, find, lay hold of, acquire. FETTLE (Local, principally North- ern). — To arrange, put in order, fix, prepare. Fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next. Borneo and Juliet. This word (fettle) does not occur again in Shakspeare, and curiously enough it has been overlooked in this passage hy every editor from Rowe downwards, modern editors all reading settle. — Staunton's Shakspeare. When the sheriff saw Little John bend his bow, He fettled him to be gone. Percy's Meliqy.es. ffiarttC. — Faod, must, may; feud (fet), to be able ; feudar, shall be able; feath, skill, knowledge; a calm; featliail, calm, quiet, fixed. FEU (French). — This word applied to the dead when speaking of them, as "feu mon pere," my late father, has never been satisfactorily traced by French philologists. Funt; Latin, functus, difunt; Italien, fu, il fut (ou, il etait). Mais d'oii vient le vieux francais feu ou fata, qui est la forme la plus ancienne? Ce mot dissyllabique representerait une forme barbare faduehes ou fatutus ; est-il permis de conjecturer qu'il provient irregulierement de fatum, et qu'il signifie, qui a accompli sa destinee ? — Littre. On the well-known principle embodied in the Latin phrase "de mortuis nil nisi bonum," it seems as if the true origin is the ffiaelic. — Fiu, worthy, estimable, so that "feu mon pere," or, my late father, would signify, my worthy father. FEUD. — A quarrel, an ebullition of ill-will or hatred. Foe. — An enemy. German, fehde; Anglo-Saxon, fian, to hate. — Chambers. Foe; Anglo-Saxon, fah, fa, an enemy; Old Norse, fia, to hate (see fiend). — Fiend, from fian, to hate, which itself is formed from the interjection fie! expressive of disgust, reprobation, displeasure. — Wedg- wood. ffiacIt'C. — FuatJi, hate, aversion; fu- OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 171 aihach, hateful, abhorrent; fuaUiaicJi, to hate, to abhor ; fear-fuatha, an enemy, an hated man. FEUDAL. — Pertaining' to feus, or fiefs ; or lands held of a superior, under the obligation of military ser- vice whenever required in defence of the landlord, or of the state. Philologists have been much puzzled to account for this word. Feu in the Scottish language signifies, to let on building leases, and formerly described a tenure in which the tenant paid rent in grain or money. Some have derived the word from the Low Latin feudum, feodum, and the French fief and others from the Irish fuidkur ; fuidh signifying in the Brehon laws, a stranger who en- joyed land within the territory of a clan, and the tenure by which he held it. The true origin of the word is to be sought in the pastoral ages, when the chief wealth of the people was in their flocks and herds, and when an ownership of the land, either on the part of the chief or on that of the whole clan had been established, the rendering either of rent or personal service for the use of the land for grazing purposes. This points unmistakeably to the ffiaell't. — Feiidail, cattle, herds, flocks; feudaileach, abounding in flocks and herds. Mr. Wedgwood was on the track of the right idea, but did not pursue it to its legitimate conclusion. He says, — " The importance of cattle in a simple state of society, early caused an intimate connexion between the notion of cattle and that of money and wealth." This should have led him to the Gaelic, but he got no further than the Gothic faihu, possession, which he says "is identical with the German vieli, cat- tle. Adopted into the Romance tongues, the word became the Provencal feu and fieux, and the French fief When it assumed a Latin dress the word became feudum." So sorely pressed have been not only the etymologists, but the lawyers, to trace the origin of this not very mys- terious word — that one, in Knight's Political Dictionary, while denying that there were such Low Latin words as feudum and feodum, is of opinion that the true root is fevdum orfeftum, which he imagines to be fdef or pldtef and that again to be a colloquial abbreviation of emphyteusis, pronounced emphytefsis, a term of the Roman imperial law for an estate not granted to be held abso- lutely. All this is but confusion worse confounded, and makes a darkness only to be removed by the clear light thrown on it by the original language of the Keltic people. FIACRE (French).— A hired vehicle, hackney cab or coach, let out for the journey or for the day. Un nomine Sauvage etablit le premier en 1640 les voitures de louage, dites d'abord carosses a cinq sous (on ne payait que cinq sous par heure) rue St. Martin, dans une grande maison nommee L'Hotel St. Fiacre ; parceque une image de St. Fiacre y £tait pendue. De L'Hotel le nom passait aux voitures. — Littee. It will be new to many readers to hear of St. Fiacre, or St. Cab, who seems to be wor- shipped in France. Tuesday was St. Fiacre's day, and the coachmen of Paris celebrated it with the proper honours. Have our cabmen any tutelary Saint to whom they render reverence in the chapel-like shelters which are springing near to so many stands in London? Do they retire thither to ask his intercession p Perhaps the fearful condition of our cabs is to be attributed to the neglect of St. Fiacre in this country. — Daily News, September 2, 1875. ffiaell'C. — Fiacli, value ; giulain, to 17a THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY bear, to carry ; jlaeli-giulan, fare or hire for bearing or carrying a passenger. FICKLE. — Apt to change in mind and purpose, changeable. Anglo-Saxon, ficol ; German, ficken, to move quickly to and fro ; see fidget. — Fidget, to make light involuntary movements ; to fidge about, to be continually moving up and down. — Wedgwood. (ISfaeltC. — Faicill, caution, watchful- ness, care ; faicilleach, cautious, watch- ful, on one's guard, wary. This seems to be the true root of the English word " fickle," which originally signified only a cautious person, and was subsequently applied to persons so over-cautious as to be continually changing their minds. FICTILE. — Woven, or appertaining to the process of weaving. Fictile, fiction; see feign.— Feign, to make a fashion; French, feindre ; Latin, Jingo, fictum, to form. — Chambees. Fjction. — A story that is woven or constructed from the imagination of the writer. (GiaeltC. — Fig A, to weave ; figAeacA, weaving; figAeadhair, a weaver; figAle, woven. FIDDLE-FADDLE (Colloquial).— Tediousness, prolixity, nonsense, to cause delay by trifling. This word is used in Pierce's Superero- gation by Gabriel Harvey, 1593. — Wheat- ley's Dictionary of Reduplicated Words in the English Language. Leave these fiddle-faddles. — Wit without Money. Beaumont and Eletchee. " Fiddle-faddle '* seems to be a redu- plication of the ffiaeltC. — Facial, length, prolixity; fadalacA, tedious, prolix; fadalacAd, tediousness, prolixity. See Fidge. FIDGE. — To be restless in small mat ■ters. Fidget. — A restless, uneasy person. Fidge, to make light involuntary move- ments, to be unable to keep still; Swiss, fitschen, to flutter to and fro. — Wedgwood. Fidget, literally to make quick movements ; Swiss, fitschen ; German, figgen, to move to and fro ; connected with fickle. — Chambees. Etymology uncertain. Todd says Gothic filca, to move quickly ; Eichardson says probably from the same word as fag and feague. — Woecestee, A cant word ; it implies in Scotland agita- tion. — Johnson. ffiatltc. — Fidir (fidjir), to ponder, to search narrowly, to be unsatisfied without strict inquiry ; fidileir, a rest- less person ; fidileir 'acAd, fidgetiness, restlessness. FIER (French).— Proud. There is a difference in meaning in French, in the position in which this adjective is placed ; as " e'est wn, fier cochon ;" or " c'est un coc Aon fier." The root is the OrarltC. — Fiar, bent, perverse, crook- ed, unjust; also to bend, to twist, to pervert; fiarach, fiaradh, out of the straight line, perverted, twisted. FIERTE (French).— Proper pride. CSraeltC. — Feart, virtue, manliness, an inherent quality. FIG (Vulgar).— "I don't care a fig," " I would not give a. fig for it. A-figo for thy friendship ! — Henry V. Fig's-eni, a thing of small value. "I would not give a,fig's-eni for it." — Withall Dictio- narie, 1634. Figs were never so common in England as to be proverbially worthless. — Naees. The doubt suggested by Nares points to the true derivation of the word in the ©raeltC. — Fuigh, fuigheacA, a rem- nant, a paring; fuighleach, remnants, parings, leavings, refuse, rubbish. OF TUB ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 173 In Thomson's Etymons of English Words, 1826, Fieo is explained as a sign of contempt, made by placing the point of the thumb between the two forefingers. Worcester explains it as " a snap of the fingers contemptuously expressing, 'a fig for you.' " FIG (Vulgar).— To be in full fig. To be in full dress. The expression is supposed in the Slang Dictionary to be derived from the fig-leaves of Adam and Eve, which formed for awhile their whole attire. It is more probable that the root is the ffiaelic. — Figh, to weave, to plait; fighe, that which is woven, i. e. clothes, attire ; figheadair, a weaver. FILCH.— To steal. Filou (French). — A pickpocket, a thief. He who filches from me my good name Eobs me of that which not enriches him, But makes me poor indeed. Secakspeabe. Originally a cant word, derived from the filches or hooks which thieves used to carry to hook clothes or any portable articles from open windows. It was considered a cant or gipsy term at the beginning of the last century. Harman has fylche, to rohb. — Slang Dictionary. To steal small matters. Swiss, feoke, subducere, clam auferre. — Idioticon JBernense in Deutsch. Mundart. Northern, pilka; Scottish, pilk, to pick. " She has pilkit his pouch." — Jamieson. Northern, plikka, to pluck. — Wedgwood. Perhaps connected with pluck, and Scotch pilk, to steal. — Chambebs. Of doubtful etymology, but supposed to be connected in its origin with pilfer. — Woe- cestee. Pilchee, (Thieves' Slang). — A steal- er, afilcheroi fogies, a pickpocket, a stealer of pocket-handkerchiefs. The initial consonants in filcher and pilcker are interchangeable. The root of both is the ©rafltr. — Peattaid {peallaij) , the skin of an animal, the pelt, a sheep-skin ; whence to filch or pilch, originally signified to rob an animal of its skin, and was afterwards applied to every other species of mean robbery. An- other possible derivation is feallcaidh, knavish ; feallcaidheach, knavery. See Felon. FILE (Slang). — A clever person; a knowing file, a very clever or cunning person. A deep or artful man ; a jocose name for a cunning person. Originally a term for a pickpocket, when to file was to cheat or rob. File, an artful man, was used in the thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries. — Slang Dictionary. ©aeltC. — File, fileadh, filidh, a bard, a poet, an accomplished person; fileanta, ready- worded, speaking with fluency; fileantacAd, fluency, ornate and poetic language ; filidheach, poetic ; filead- lieachd, poetry. Among the Druids the poets ranked high, and, as in all early ages and among all peoples, were held to possess the gift of prophecy as well as of song. That the original idea of the modern slang "file" was associated with the poetic feeling, and with power of speech to convince or animate, appears from the following passage and extracts from Nares : — To file was used for to polish, and was very often applied to the tongue of a delicate speaker. The sly deceiver, Cupid, thus beguiled The simple damsel with his filed tongue. Faibfax, Tasso. Thereto his subtil engins he does bend, His practick witt, and his fair fyled tongue. Spenseb, Faerie Queene. Ben Jonson therefore prays that the king may be delivered From a tongue without a file, Heaps of phrases and no style. From these instances which Nares 174 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY cites, it seems that the English word file, now obsolete in this sense, con- veyed the idea of the Gaelic file and fileania, poetic eloquence and fluency. The word occurs in the same sense in Shakspeare's Sonnets, lxxxvi., in the Passionate Vilgrim, and in Ben Jonson''s Commendatory Verses. FIN BEC (French).— An epicure, a judge of good eating and drinking. CRafllC. — Beachd, perception, judg- ment ; fein, self; whence fein Iheachd, self-conceit. FINE. — Resplendent, delicate, soft, beautiful. Diez adheres to the derivation of this word from the Latin finitus, finished, perfect. A more probable derivation may be found in the Welsh gwyn, white, fair, pleasant; Gaelic, flonn, white, sincere, pleasant, true. The idea of white passes readily to that of pure, unsullied, as in fine gold. In the sense of small and delicate the word may arise • from the application of the term to fabrics, where smallness of parts is an excellence, or it may be a separate word from the Welsh main, slender, thin, small. — Wedgwood. CBraeltC. — Fionn, white, pure, shiny ; finealta, fine, elegant, handsome ; fineal- tachd, elegance, handsomeness; finne (comparative of fionn). FINEW. — Mouldiness, mustiness. ffiaeltC. — Mneag, fionag, a mite, an animalcule. FINNICKING (Colloquial).— Affect- ed in small matters, over dainty in manner, speech, or behaviour, like a small creature with a small mind. Finical. — Affected precision in trifles. ffiafltC. — Fionag, fineag, an animal- cule, a mite, a cheese-mite ; fionagach, abounding in mites or animalcule ; also niggardly, miserly. FIRCUG. — A slang word that occurs in Beaumont and Fletcher, but which has not hitherto been explained. It evidently meant something dan- gerous. March off amain within an inch of afircug, Turn me on the toe like a weathercock, Kill every day a sergeant for twelve months. Wit without Money, Act ii. Scene 2. Fire-cock and fire-lock have been con- jectured; either is better than nonsense. — Naees. (SraeltC. — Fior-cuig, a true five ! an old expression for a closed fist uplifted to strike. In the United States, the closed fist is called " a bunch of fives." FIRE. — French, feu, German, feuer, the combustion of wood, coal, or other materials. Italian, fuoco. GSatlic—Faire, to watch, to kindle beacons on the hills, a watch-fire. FISHY (Slang) — Suspicious, not to be touched without due inquiry and investigation. (ffiafltC. — Fios, knowledge; fiosail, knowing, expert ; fiosachd, fortune-tell- ing, augury; whence by corruption " fishy," something to be known more about hereafter, not safely to be under- taken at the present time, and in igno- rance of the facts. FIT. — This is a word of many mean- ings and derivations, as in the sen- tence, " His coat is a good fit; but it is not fit that he should have a fit of passion, of drunkenness, or of apo- plexy, or that he should be fitful in his temper, or do things by fits and starts." Fit and fitting, as applied to adjustment, physical or moral, is generally derived from the French fait, the Latin f actus, accomplished or done; but 'fit in the sense of a OF "THE EXGLIS1I LANGUAGE. 175 sudden attack of disease or temper, and its derivations fitful and fitful- ness, are evidently from another source. A sudden attack of pain or illness ; Swedish dialect, futt, a moment, a very short interval of time ; Bavarian, alle pfitz, every moment ; Suabian, pfitzen, to move with a sudden start, to disappear. — Wedgwood. A fit is a sudden sharp attack of disease like a stab ; a sudden attack by convulsions, as apoplexy, epilepsy, &c, a passing humour. Italian, fitta, a stab or sharp pain ; from Latinj^o, to pierce, or from root of fight. — Chambees. Fits, (]. d. fights, they being the conflicts between the disease and nature. — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum, Skinner, Bailey, and Ash; but rejected by Jo hnson. Etymology uncertain. — Woecestee. It is possible that the primary idea, at the root of this obscure word, is that of the sudden starting with fear or mis- trust of a wild or shy animal, or the sudden change of a storm, and that it may be traced to the QH&dic. — Fiadh, shy, wild, fitful; fiadhaidh, boisterous, wild, fitful as the weather; fiadhanta, shy, wild ; fiadh-aite, a wilderness, a wild place. The well-known phrase "fits and starts" supports this derivation, and likens the idea to the starting of a shy animal. FIT, FYTTE.— A portion of a poem, a canto. Among the Druids, the Prophets and Bards intoned or sang their com- positions. This suggests the possible derivation of this word from the ffiaeltC. — Faidh, a prophet (the Latin vates) ; faidheaehd, prediction, prophecy ; the verse sung by a bard when prophesying to the people. FLACCUS. — A celebrated andcommon Roman patronymic, borne among others by the poet Horace. dSrElflfC. — Math, a hero, a prince ; Jlathag, flathach {t silent), heroic. FLACQUER (French Slang).— To re- lieve the bowels, " aller a la selle." Ce mot est emprunte a notre langage populaire, on il signifie jeter, lancer avec bruit. — Feancisque Michel, Dictionnaire d' Argot. (SSrEteltC. — Flaiche, a gust of wind; flaicheach, windy, gusty. FLAM (Slang). — A lie, a deception. Fullams. — False dice. A Kentish and Anglo-Saxon word. — Slang Dictionary. If it prove a lie, a flam, a wheedle, it will out! I shall tell.it to the next man 1 meet. — Sedley's Bellarmina, quoted by Naees. Gourd, fullam, high-men and low-men, were professional terms for false dice. — Howaed Staunton, Notes to the Merry Wives of Windsor. CSraeltC. — Falamh, written also fo- lamh, empty, worthless^ void (of truth) . FLASH.— A sudden burst of light. Greek, \os, a flame. — Junius. Prom blaze. — Skinner. From the root of fly. — ■ Richardson. — Woecestee. A representation of the sound made by a dash of water or a sudden burst of flame. A flash is a rush of water from the locks on the Thames to assist the barges in their descent. — Grose. A shallow temporary pool of water is called a flash or a plash. So from French flaquer, to dash down water, flaque, a small shallow pool. — Wedgwood. Mr. Wedgwood's onomatopeia would refer more appropriately to flush than to flash ; the word seems to be derived from the ffiatltC. — Flaiche, a sudden burst or gust of wind; or of sunshine in a storm. A Gaelic scholar suggests the wor&flaitheas (t silent), heaven; whence, metaphorically, the light of heaven as the primary idea. FLASH. — Ancient name for Slang. Also any thing or person more than 176 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY usually fine or showy, a favourite, a flash man or flash girl, a paramour. A person is said to be dressed flash when his garb is showy but without taste, when he apes the appearance or manner of his betters, or when he is trying to be superior to his friends and relations. Flash also means fast, roguish, counterfeit or deceptive. Vul- gar language was first termed flash in the year 1718 by Hitchin, author of The Regu- lation of Thieves, Sfc, with an Account of Flash Words. — Slang Dictionary. Flash ken, a house that harbours thieves ; flash lingo, the canting or slang language. — Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. (Sraelic. — Fleasgach, a youth, a bachelor, a fine fellow, a hero ; a swell, applied ironically; fleasg, some- thing fine and showy ; a ring, a crown, a garland. Fleasg oir, a crown of gold; rfeasgan, a treasure; fleasgach fir na bainnse, the bridegroom's best man at a wedding; flathasach (i silent), stately, elegant, fine, princely (whence, ironically, flashy). FLATCH (Slang).— "I do not care a flatch" i. e. " I do not care at all." I do not care & flatch, as long as I've a tatch, Some panem for my chest, and a tog on. Song of the Chichaleerie Cove, London, 1868. (jRafltC. — Flaic/ie, a sudden gust of wind. FLATTER. — To praise unduly, to praise with a selfish object. From the French flatter, to soothe with compliments, to please with blandishments, to gratify with servile obsequiousness, to gain by false compliments. — Johnson. To stroke, and so to make flat, to soothe with praise and servile attentions.—CHAM- BEBS. The wagging of a dog's tail is a natural image of the act of flattering or fawning on one. . . . Old Norman fladra signifies both to flatter and to wag the tail; German, flattern, to flutter; J)utch,vledderen,fleddren, to nutter, to flap the wings. — Wedgwood. Flatter, Teutonic, fletsen; Dutch, vleijen; Icelandic, fladra; French, flatter. The French flatter is derived by Menage from the Latin flato, to blow. Junius thinks it may have been formed from flat. Perhaps from the Latin lactare, to entice, to wheedle, by prefixing /as in flagon. — Sullivan. So fleech, to flatter or cajole, &c, may have had in the preterite and past ^avtici^le flaught, like reach, raught, teach, taught, &c, and dropping the guttural flaughter would be- come to flatter. — Barclay. — Wobcesteb. ffiatflic. — Blad, a big mouth, a loud mouth ; bladair, a fellow with a loud mouth, a flatterer, a sycophant ; blad- aireachd, sycophancy, flattery, fulsome adulation ; blad, with the aspirate be- comes bhlad (vlad ovflad). FLAUNT. — To display finery in dress. Flaunts. — Finery, ribbons, gaudy adornments. Johnson gives no etymology, but defmesfiaunt, to make a fluttering show in apparel, and a flaunt, as anything loose and airy. Bavarian, flandern, to wave to and fro ; German, fladdern, to flutter. — Stoemojjth. Of uncertain etymology. Bichardson thinks from Anglo-Saxon fleon, to flee ; Ice- landic, flana, to rush headlong. — Jamieson. — Wobcesteb. (BtadtC. — Flann, red ; whence, flaunts, red (or gaudy) ribbons. FLEG- (Lowland Scotch). — A sudden blow, a box on the ear, a stroke. Fortune ; She's gi'en me mony afleg. Bubns, Fpistle to LapraiJc. Wi' unco' kintra/ey O'er Pegasus I'll fling my leg. Burns, Epistle to Graham ofFintray. ©raelic. — Flaiche, a sudden squall or gust. See Flatch. FLETCHER (Old English).— A maker of arrows, from fleche (French), arrow. The name is still preserved in that of a London guild or com- pany. ©a flic. — Fleisd, an arrow ; fleisdear, an arrow-maker. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 177 FLEW. — A Northern word ; washy, tender, weak. — Halliwell. (JBradic. — Flinch, wet. FLIQUE (French Slang).— A police agent; a word employed by loose women to commissaries of police whose silence or favour may be pur- chased by a drink. (SfaellC. — Flinch, wet, moist ;fiiuchan, a drop of any liquid, a drink. FLOG.— To lash with a whip, to ad- minister a shower of blows. From the sound of a Mow, represented by the syllable flag, flak ; Iia,tin,flagum,flagel- lum, a scourge. — Wedgwood. Flog, to whip ; cited both by Grose and the author of Bacchus and Venus as a cant word. It would be curious to ascertain the earliest use. Eichardson cites Lord Chester- field. — Slang Dictionary. Flic et flac, to express the noise made by blows with a stick or the flat of a sword upon a person's shoulders. These imagined (in- vented) words serve also to represent the brisk, sharp, short blows inflicted on any one. " II lui a donn6 deux ou trois soufflets, flic etflac, sur la joug." He gave him two or three slaps, flic et flac, on the cheek. — Le Eor/x, Dictionnaire Comique. Possibly the idea is derived from an old Keltic and forgotten expression, signifying rain and wind or storm, and metaphorical of a rain or storm of blows. OaeltC — Flinch, wet, rain, sleet; flaiche, a storm or gust of wind. FLOOR. — The part of a house or room on which we walk or stand. (SSraeltC. — Fo, under; lar, the ground; folar, the under ground. FLUNKEY (Lowland Scotch). — A servant in livery. This word has of late years made good its footing in English, and sig- nifies not only a liveried servant, but a mean person, a toady of the great, a hanger-on and parasite. GXaelic. — Flann,flannach, blood-red ; cas, a leg ; flannach-cais or flann-cais ; red-legs, a derisive name given to liveried servants when first introduced into Scotland, from the colour of the plush integuments, with which it is the pleasure of many of their em- ployers to make them look gorgeous. Ylonh, the Anglo-Saxon for haughty, saucy, has also been suggested as the root. Eed-shanks, a contemptuous appellation for Scottish Highlanders and native Irish. See Harrison's England, page 6. — Halli- weil. Was it in hurling back this epithet that the Highlanders called the Eng- lish flann-chas, red-legs or flunkies? FOB. — A small pocket for a watch, when watches were worn with chains and seals, dependent from the waist- band of the trowsers. Provincial German, fuppe, a pocket.— Chambees. ([Sadie. — Faob, a projection, a lump (the projection made by the watch in the pocket). FOBEDAYS. — A word half Gaelic, half English, and signifying days that pass rapidly in joy or merriment. Apparently mysteries or feasts. " Likewise Titus Livy writeth that in the celebrated times of the Bacchanalian fobedays at Eome. — Rabelais JEnglished." Ozell says upon this : " If this be a Scotch word for holidays, be it so." The word there- fore was Sir. F. Urquhart's, but Dr. Jamieson has it not. Perhaps it was from fou, quasi drunken days. — Nabes. ffiaellC. — Fobha {/ova), rapid. FOG. — To hunt in a mean or surrep- titious manner, whence 178 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Fogger. — Unduly ardent in the pur- suit of business ; whence Pettifogger. — A low lawyer who hunts up cases. A soldier says to a lawyer in Dryden's Miscellanies, — " Wert not for ns, thou swad," quoth he " Where wouldst thou fog to get a fee?", Naees. Pettifogger is corrupted from the French petit, small, and voguer, to swim. — Johnson. Petty, and Provincial English fog, to practise in small cases. — Chambees. (BiaeltC. — Fogair, chase, hunt, pur- sue ; fogkail, plunder, spoil, results of the chase. FOGIE or Fogey (Colloquial and vul- gar). — A word applied in contempt to an elderly person who does not sympathize with the tastes, ideas or amusements of a younger generation. Foggje (Lowland Scotch). — A gar- rison soldier, as distinguished from one on active and more brilliant service. Jlr. Keightley says, "fogie, i. e.folkie, the Dutch vollcje, comes as surely from folk, as lassie from lass, or any other diminutive from its primitive." Old fogie is a term long since used in Ireland and Scotland for old soldiers and old men in the hospital. — Notes and Queries. Grose says it is a nickname for. an invalid soldier, from the French fourgeaux. Fogger is an old word for a huckster or servant. — Slang Dictionary. The word, in the metaphorical sense signifies one banished from the company by his own want of taste, or by infirmity, and is from the CRaeltC. — Fogair, to banish ; fogairt, banishment, exile ; fogarrach, an exile, a fugitive ; one out of the pale — one " sent to Coventry/' FOGLE (Thieves' Slang).— A pocket- handkerchief. Those who remember the scene in Dickens's Oliver Twist, where the Jew Fagin teaches his young pupils how to steal pocket-handkerchiefs in the deft- est manner, and without exciting, by any motion or sound, the attention of the person robbed, will possibly admit the derivation of the word from the (SadlC. — Foghlum, learning. FOGO (Vulgar). — A stench, a very bad smell. ffiaeltc. — Fuathach (fu-hach), hateful, noisome. FOIL. — A button on the point of a sword used by fencers and actors, to prevent accident, to blunt the thrust and render it harmless. (&ar!ic. — Foil, gentle, soft. FOIN. — A term in fencing, used by Shakspeare, and supposed by Mr. Staunton and other commentators to mean a " thrust," or to " thrust." Skinner derives it from poindre, to prick ; Junius from (j>oveva>, both very improbably. It seems more likely to be from fouiner, to push for eels with a spear. — Naees. <3*aeIIC. — Foinich, foighnich, to in- quire, to ask; to make a tentative effort or feint, to discover the weak point in an antagonist ; foinnich, a weapon. FOLK.— People. This word, though a noun of plu- rality, is sometimes doubly pluralized by the vulgar, who speak of gentle-folks. It is usually derived from the German volJc, Anglo-Saxon folc ; and by some from the Latin vulgus, the people, the vulgar. The original roots, both of the Latin and the German, are the ©rarltc. — Zuc/id) the people; fo, un- der ; whence fo-luchd, corrupted into " folk," the under or lower people, or as OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 179 the French say, le has peuple. The word luchd, without the prefix, is com- monly used by the Gael, in the Eng- lish sense of "folk," as luchd-tuarais, travelling folk ; luchcl-eolais , learned folk ; luchd-aiteachaidh, farming folk, &c. The German leute, and the Anglo- Saxon lede, leode, are probably from the same root, with a softening or omission of the guttural ch. FOND.— Tenderly attached. Fondling. — A little, beloved object. Foolish, from fou ; quasi formed, which may be found in Wieliffe. Fond therefore in the modern sense of tender evidently im- plied in its origin a doting or extravagant degree of affection. . . . Fondling was also nsed in the sense of an idiot or foot. — Naees. As freshly then thou shalt feign to fonne and dote in love. — Chaitceb. Gaelic, faoin, vain, foolish, idle, empty ; faoin chean, an empty head ; Latin, vanus, empty. — Wedgwood. ©rar ItC. — Fonn, delight, pleasure ; delight in excess. FOOL. — A person without any sense, or without sufficient to guide his actions prudently. From the French fol; or the Italian /o lie, folie, and follia. Menage derives it from the Latin follis, a pair of bellows ; q. d. a fellow full of nothing but wind. Skinner derives it from the German faul, a sluggard. — Oazophylacium Anglicanum. From the Welsh ffol. — Johnson. Welsh, ffol; Breton, fol, mad. The funda- mental meaning seems to be a failure to attain the end proposed, a wandering from the straight path. It would thus be con- nected with the root of the English fail, and the Latin fallere, to deceive. — Wedgwood. French, fou, fol; Italian, folle; Low Latin, follere, to be inflated with air ; follis, a wind-bag. — Chambers. (SraeltC. — Baoth, foolish, unwise; baothail {t silent), silly, foolish, giddy. With an adjective prefixed, the word baothail takes the aspirated form and becomes bhaothail (pronounced vao-ail or fao-ail) ; the same as the Welsh ffol, a fool. FOP. — A person swollen with conceit, or vain of his personal appearance, in modern parlance, a swell. Derivation unknown. — Ash. Etymology disputed and doubtful. Rich- ardson alleges the root to be the Dutch pqf, a puff. A man of small understanding and much ostentation, fond of dress, a coxcomb, a beau, a dandy. — Wobcestee. ©raeltC. — Faob, to protrude, to swell. FOR GOOD.— Are you leaving for good? Boys who are leaving school for good. — Daily News, July 31, 1875. Whence is the derivation of good in such phrases as this? The meaning seems to be " finally," or " altogether." Probably the word is from the dcacltc. — Chaoidh, or a chaoidh, for ever (the ch pronounced hard and with the guttural, like the Greek %). FORAGE.— Food for cattle; to forage, to go about, like soldiers in an ene- my's country, to provide food for the army or the horses. Low Latin, foragium; Italian, fodero. — Chambees. Junius and Richardson derive this word from the root oi fodder.— Woecestee. ©aeltC. — Feur, grass, herbage ; feu- rach, grassy, abounding in grass or hay ; feurachadh, feeding on grass ; feuraich, to graze, to pasture, to feed on grass. FOREST (French forei) .—A wilderness of trees, also a large uncultivated tract of territory, that may be moor- land, or mountain-land without trees. The English word " forest " is a British adaptation of the base Latin foresta, which first occurs in the Capitulars of Chable- magne, and is itself derived from the Ger- man forst, signifying the same thing. Vos- a a Si 180 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Biua, we believe, and Spelman refer it to the Latin foris, as being extra urbem et agros. —The Hour, August 31, 1875. " Forest," is a certain territory or circuit of woody grounds and pastures, known in its bounds as privileged for the peaceable being and abiding of wild beasts and fowls of forest chase and warren, to be under the King's protection for his princely delight ; bounded with irremovable marks and works, either known by matter of record or prescription ; replenished with beasts of venery and chase, and great coverts of vert for succour of the said beasts ; for preservation whereof there are particular laws and privileges belonging thereunto. — Manwood (quoted in the Hour). What is called base, or Low Latin, is but Keltic with Latin inflexions and terminations, and the word forest was not a British adaptation as the writer in the Hour supposes, but a Latin corruption of the CRarltC. — Fridh, a forest, an open, uncultivated space. The various steps of the word appear to be from the origi- nal Gaelic fridh, to the Anglo-Saxon frith or firth, the German forst, the French foret, a forest, and the Low- Latin foresta. The Gaelic also has fridhire, a forester. A related word is fraoch, a heath, and the heather that grows upon a heath, or large open space of uncultivated ground. FORGETIVE.— -This word occurs in Shakspeare, Henry IV., Part II., Act iv., Scene 3. Make it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble, fiery, and delectable shapes. Nares derives it from forge, in the sense of to make, and translates it " inventive/' full of imagination. Possibly the unusual word is from the CUaflt'c. — Forgan, keenness, anger, impetuosity, which would meet the sense of the passage. FORM. — A slang word that suddenly made its way from the stables to polite society in 1872, and perhaps earlier, signifying manner, fashion, behaviour. It does not appear in the first edition of the Slang Dictio- nary, published in 1864. It appears in the second edition, 1874, as fol- lows : — " In good form, or in bad form refers to a man's or horse's state of being, in the sporting world. Form has also had a moral signifi- cance of late years, and is extensively used in general conversation, as ' it was bad form of Brown to do that,' or ' that article was bad form' " fiRaflic. — Fuirm, manner, fashion, condition. FORM. — A long seat, in a school or elsewhere, on which several persons can sit. ffiajlic. — Farm, a stool. FORTUNE. — That which happens, whether good or evil. This word is immediately derived from the French through the Latin, and no English etymologist has traced it further back than to the Latin fors, luck, chance. (jRaeltC. — Fortail, strong, brave, bold; for tan, fortune ; fortanach, fortunate ; fortachd, comfort (in the security of strength) ; fortalachd, strength, bra- very. The well-known adage that "Fortune favours the bold" seems to support this derivation rather than that from fors, chance. FOUL.— False, unfair, as "foul play," a different word from the Saxon/ow^, dirty, impure, loathsome, the Teu- tonic faul. ©aellC. — Foill, deceit, fraud, trickery, OV THB ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 181 treachery, wrong; " Hi foill," playing unfairly. FOUND.— To establish on firm ground. Foundation. — Theground, orthepart of a building that rests immedi- ately on or under it. Founder. — To sink, as a ship under the water, to the ground or bottom. The Funds.— The funded debt, the debt guaranteed by a government on the security of the nation. Dumb-founder (Lowland Scotch). — To fall speechless to the ground with astonishment. All these words are traced to the Latin fundus, the bottom, the depth. The French have fond, the bottom, the foundation ; and fonder, to establish. Provencal, /oms; Espagnol, fondo, fwndo .- Italien, fondo ; Latin, fundus ; Ancien haut Allemand, bodam; Sanscrit, budhun. — Littbe. The original root is the <3»aellC. — Fonn, the ground, the earth, the land, the soil, i. e. that on which everything in this world is grounded or founded. FOUDRE (French).— The lightning, the lightning stroke, a thunderbolt. (JBfafliC. — Fuadar, suddenness ; fua- darach, quick, rapid. FOUTRE (French Slang).— A very common word, but not admitted into the Dictionaries. It is the most opprobrious word that a French- man can use. To be "foutu," means to be utterly ruined and un- done. The word foutra in English, has a more innocent meaning than the obscene French expression ; and is interpreted by Johnson as " a fig, a scoff," a word of contempt, as in the passage of Shakspeare, Henry IF., Part II. A foutra for the world and worldlings base Footy, fouter, and fouty, occur in Halliwell, and are interpreted as words of contempt, or as signifying something mean, paltry, and contemptible. In the most odious sense of the term, the de- rivation seems to be the GS-acltC. — Fuath, hatred, aversion; fuatkasach, frightful, horrible ; fualka- dar {fua-adar),fuathack, a monster. In its milder sense the root is the ©racltC — Fudaid/i, mean, contempti- ble, vile, worthless. FRAG. — Low, vulgar people; a low woman . — Halliwell. Frake, Freke. — A man (Wiltshire and Warwickshire) . — Halliwell. Frau (German) . — A woman. OarllC. — Frag, a woman; fraigein, a little active man ; freacadan, attend- ants, the guard, the watch. Another suggested Gaelic derivation of the Ger- man frau, is mna, pronounced mra, and sometimes mhra (vra), genitive of lean, a woman ; mnathan, mhralhan (vraan), women. FREAK.— A sudden outburst of folly or anger* Prom the Teutonic frecli, a petulant fact ; or Anglo-Saxon fraec, an action showing the discomposedness of mind to be voluntary, not forced. — Gazophylaciwm Anglicanum. The origin is the verb fregare, to rub, to move lightly to and fro, expressing the rest- less condition of one under the influence of strong desire, as in French fritiller, to wag, stir often, wriggle, trickle, to itch to be at it. — Cotgeave. Gothic, froint, a freak ; German, frecli, impudent, bold ; Icelandic, freha, to hasten ; Anglo-Saxon, free, overbold. — "Woecbstbe. Italian, fregare, to rub ; frega, a longing desire. — Chambees. 182 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Freak, like caprice, expresses an act with- out apparent motive, and is therefore referred to a violent internal desire. Italian, frega, a longing desire or urgent lust ; fregola, long- ing, fancy, desire. — Wedgwood. The original meaning of this disputed ■word seems to have been a fit of anger or ill-temper, and to be traceable to the C&acItC. — Fraoch, anger, an outburst of wrath or petulance ; fraochan, a slight fit of passion ; fraochanach, pas- sionate, petulant, full of freaks of ill- humour. FREAK (Lowland Scotch) . — Stout, firm, healthy, a word generally ap- plied to old people who are in robust health. ffifaeltC. — Fraigeasaich, a lively little man ; fraigeil, ostentatious of personal strength ; fraigein, a lively active per- son. See Frag. FRECKLE (Diminutive of the obsolete •word /reck) . — A spot on the skin, a streak of colour. Milton has " pansy freaked (or freckled) with jet." Brucket (Lowland Scotch). — Freck- led. Freek in this sense is from the Italian fregare, to streak ; frego, a dash, stroke, touch, line. . . . Freckle, the Gaelic breae, speckled ; Welsh, brith, party-coloured. — Wedgwood. Old English, freken, frecken ; German, flecken, to spot. — Chambers. (Sadie. — Breac, with the aspirate (bhreac pronounced freck) ; speckled, spotted, variegated in colour ; breacadh- seunain, freckles on the skin. FREDONNER (French).— To trill, to make small embellishments or ca- dences in music and song. Feet- Work. — Work in which bars and lines of wood, iron, or other material are crossed and recrossed, leaving small open spaces between. (Sraelic— Frith, small, trifling. FREE MARTIN.— "If a cow has twin calves of different sexes, the female is termed a. free martin, and is said never to breed." — Halliwett. The application of the word martin to a calf is explained by the (BSafltC. — Mart, a cow; martan, a little cow or calf. The prefix " free " is not so easily explicable unless it be the (SVaeltC. — Frith, small. Fye-Marten. — A term of reproach. — ■ Halliwett. 1582, Feb. 22. We went to the theatre to se a scarvie play set owt, al by one virgin, which then proved a Jye-marten, without voice, so that we stay'd not the matter. — MS., quoted by Halliwell. (ffiapltC. — Fiadh, wild; martan, calf; i. e. the writer's opinion of the singer was that she had no more voice than a wild calf. FREET. — A proverb, an idle observa- tion, rumour. CSafltC. — Abh (av), dexterous; raite, a saying, a proverb ; whence abh-raite, and with the elision of the initial a, bhraite, pronounced fraite, a " freet." FRESH. — Uncorrupted, cool like the atmosphere during or after rain. Refresh. — To reinvigorate the earth with rain, man with food, drink, or repose. Anglo-Saxon, fersg ; Italian, fresco; Trench, frais, fraiche. The original sense is probably to be sought in the English frisk, indicating lively movement ; exertion for the mere pleasure of the thing. — Wedg- wood. lAter&Wj, frisking, or in a state of activity and health. Anglo-Saxon, verse; Dutch, OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 183 versch ; French, fraiche ; Italian, fresco; Icelandic, frisJcr ; whence also the French frisque, lively. — Chambebs. A derivation, differing from all of the above, and suggesting 1 alike the ideas of pleasant coolness and fertility, offers itself for acceptance in the (Gaelic. — Fras, a shower, a fall of rain ; frasach, showery ; frasachd, fresh or showery weather; frasachd a cheilein, the freshness, or showeriness of spring. Sanscrit. — Fras, rain. FRESHET.— The sudden overflow of a river or other stream after a heavy rain. The excellent word freshet for a river swollen by rain, which is scarcely found in English since Milton employed it, has never been out of use in America, and has lately come back to us from thence. — Tbench, English Past and Present. <£*nrlir. — Fras, a shower of rain or hail ; frasachd, frasach, showers, show- ering, a downpour of rain. FRET. — A small wire fixed on the fin- ger-board of a guitar or violin, un- der, and at a right angle to the string, serving as the string is brought into contact with it by the pressure of the finger to vary and determine the pitch of the tone. ©jafltC. — Frith, small. FRIBBLE. — To totter like a weak per- son; a weak, vain, conceited or frivolous person. To be explained from Centra] French, friboler, to flutter, flit to and fro ; barivoler, to flutter in the wind. . . . Latin frivolous, may be from the same ultimate root. — Wedgwood. ©artiC. — Frith, small; buail, bhuail, to strike ; luille, a stroke. FRICASSEE.— A dish in French cook- ery, consisting of fowls, rabbits, &c, cut into small pieces, and served up in a savoury sauce. A dish made of fowls cut into pieces and fried. Latin, frigere, frixum, to fry, akin to Greek, pvya>. — Chambebs. A fricassee is not a fry. The Dic- tionnaire de I'Academie Francaise says that to fricasser is to stew meats in a stove, after having cut them into small pieces. It is said of a person whose affairs are in disorder, or who is ruined, that he is fricasse, or broken to pieces. The origin of the word is therefore not from fry, but more probably the (JBrafliC. — Frith, small; cas, quick, rapid ; something 1 cut small in order to be more rapidly cooked. The Ameri- cans call a fowl cut open and broiled rapidly, a " spatch cock," i. e. a des- patch cock. FRIGATE (French /«frafe).— A small, fast-sailing vessel. Originally a light row-boat. Diez supposes it from fabricata, a construction. — Wedg- wood. A vessel without a deck ; from Latin affractus ; Greek, a, to tremble from cold or fear. To fritter then would signify to shiver, and thence to break to shivers. — Wedgwood. ~Freni;h,frdtUler, to fidget; Greek,'$p«ro-<», to tremble. — Stoemonth. fi&aelic — Frith, small. FRIVOLOUS.— Trifling, of small ac- count. Latin, frivolus, probably contracted from frigibulus,frigidus, cold, dull. — Chambers. ffiacltc. — Frith, small, trifling; buail, to strike ; frith-buail (fre-vual) , to vi- brate, strike softly and with a gentle motion ; frith-bhualadh, palpitation. See Fribble. FROG. — A well-known, harmless, am- phibious reptile, that breeds in marshy grounds and swamps. Anglo-Saxon, froga; German, froscJi ; Danish, frok, from the sound made by frogs. —Chambers. (Biaelt'c. — Frog, a hole, a marsh, a fen ; frogach, marshy. FROWY (Obsolete).— Fenny, marshy, boggy. A word of uncertain derivation which seems to mean mossy. I cannot think with Dr. Johnson that the familiar word frowzy is in any degree a substitute for it. But if the sheep with thy goats should yede They might be soon corrupted, Or like not of the frowy fede (on the mountains). — Spenser. Naees. (SRarltC. — Frogach, fenny, marshy. FRY.— Small, small fry, little fish. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 185 Fry, literally, the spawn of fish.— Cham- bees. ffinelic. — Frith (t silent), small; fritk-iasg, small fry (offish). FUDDLE.— To get drunk. Fuddled.. — Drunk. Prom the word puddle, i.e. to drown himself as it were with wine or other liquor. An ingenious etymologist supposeth that it cometh of full, by the interpolation of the letter d; hence it is that the Scots use the ■vrorifull for one that is drunk. — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum. Of uncertain etymology. Fuddle, to drink to excess; so that ale is the chief food; hence food-ale, fuddle. — Craven Glossary. — Woe- CESTEB. CSfarlic. — Fadalach, wearisome; fa- dail, tedious, a long time ; applied to one who has sat long over his liquor. FUDGE. — An expression of dissent from, or contempt of anything said by another. Nonsense ! stupidity ! Todd and Richard- son only trace the word to Oliver Goldsmith (in the Vicar of Wakefield). Disraeli how- ever gives the origin to a Captain Fudge, who told monstrous stories, which made his crew say, when any one else did the like, " you fudge it ! " — Slang Dictionary. (jjfarltc — Fuidse {fuidshe), a craven, a poltroon, a cock that won't fight. In America it is a common piece of slang to say of an incredible story, or of an extravagant proposition, "that cock won't fight!" FULLAM (Obsolete).— False dice. For gourd and fullam holds, And high and low beguile the rich and poor. Merry Wives of Windsor. What should I say more of false dice, of fulloms, high men, low men, gourds,' &c. ? — Gbeene's Art of Juggling, 1612. Ha ! he keeps high men and low men ; He ! he has a fair living at Fulham. Ben Jonson, Every Man out of Humour. Fullam or Fulham. There were high fullams and low fullams, probably from being loaded with some heavy metal on one side so as to produce a bias, which would make them come high or low as they were wanted. It has been conjectured that they were made at Fulham, hut I have seen no proof of it. — Naees. (Sadie. — Foill, deceit, treachery; uime, about him or it, around him or it ; foill-uime, deceit or treachery. FUN. — Merriment, sport, glee. A low cant word. — Johnson. From the Anglo-Saxon faegan, glad. — Todd's Johnson. From the German wonne, delight. — Web- stee. The Anglo-Saxon fean, joys ; Provincial French, fun, smoke, anything frivolous ; Swedish, fuin, down ; Provincial Danish, fiun, foolery ; or connected with the Old English fon, foolish. — Chambees. It is remarkable that the Gaelic fon, and the Anglo-Saxon glee, both signi- fying music, have come in process of time to mean joy, or merriment, such as may be produced by music. ffiaellC. — Fonn, an air, a tune, a melody (Greek duinne, brown ; whence, a garment made of brown goat-skin, such as Cali- ban might be supposed to wear. GABERLILTIE.— A ballad-singer. Gabkeltjnzie. — A beggar. The first of these Lowland Scotch words appears in Mr. Wright's Dic- tionary of Obsolete and Provincial Eng- lish, where it is marked as Northern. In Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary, gaberlunzie is defined as a wallet, and gaberlunzie man as one who carries a wallet ; i. e. a beggar. The origin of both words is to be traced to the (IRaeltC. — Gabair, a talker, a jabberer. This, compounded with the Scotch lilt, the Gaelic luailte, a song or ballad (see Let), becomes " gaberliltie," a profuse ballad-singer. Lundair, an idle, talka- OK THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 187 tive beggar ; luinnse, lainnsear, a lazy vagrant, a lounger; whence, gaberlunzie, gabairhdnnse, a prating, troublesome, importunate, idle beggar. GABY (Colloquial). — A fool, one who talks much without knowledge. ). — A very tall or big man. Gigantic. — Very big. <2»a£ltC — Guga, a fat, ponderous man; gugurlach, a corpulent man. GIBBERISH.— Incomprehensible talk. A kind of canting language used by a sort of rogues we vulgarly call gipsies ; a gibble- gabble only understood among themselves. — Slang Dictionary. (KadtC. — Gob or gab, the mouth; gabaireachd, gobaireachd, loquacity, im- pertinent or silly talk, incomprehen- sible talk. GIBLET.— The liver and lights of poultry, especially of geese. Old French, gib elet ; probably from gib ier, game ; or a diminutive of French gobean, a Bit or gobbet. — Chambers. CS-aellC. — Giblion, entrails of a goose or other fowl, or such parts of them as are considered fit for food ; dibli (pro- nounced jilli) , vile, worthless, mean. GIDDY. — Light-headed, frivolous, vain, loquacious. Unsteady, on the verge of falling. Gaelic, godach; Norse, gidda, to shake, to tremble. — Wedgwood. ©aeltC. — Cadach, talkative, loqua- cious; gahlidach, godach, giddy, coquet- tish, frivolous. GIG. — A whim, a caprice, a fancy. This word occurs in one of Dibdin's Sea Songs. Now fore and aft having abused them, But just for my fancy and gig, Could I find any one would ill use them, D — n me, but I'd tickle his wig. It appears to be of the same origin as the Lowland Scotch geclc, to mock, to taunt, and to be like that word derived from the CRaelic. — Goic, a caprice, a scoff, a taunt ; goicealachd, a scornful tossing of the head ; goiceil, disdainful, taunt- ing, mocking ; gigJiis, a masquerade, a play. GIGGLE.— To laugh foolishly, secret- ly, or without adequate cause. From the Teutonic gochelen, to jest ; which is derived from gech, a fool, much laughter being a true indication of a fool. — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum. From the Dutch gic.Jcelen, to grin with merry levity. It is retained in Scotland. — Johnson. This word is derived from the sound. — Chambees. Swiss, gigelen, to giggle. — Stoemonth. ffiaellC. Gig, to tickle; gigail, tickling (whence the laughter of a OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 197 person who is tickled) ; gugall, the cackling of poultry. GIGLET, GIGLOT.— A young girl. Gtiglet, a wanton wench. Fortune is called a giglet in Cymbeline, and Ben Jonson applies the same term to the same goddess. — Nares.' (KiUllC. — Geug, a young female, a nymph. GILL.— Of a fish. Jowl. — Of an animal. Anglo-Saxon, geqflas, geaglas, gealdas ; French, gifle, the chaps, jaws, jowl; Gaelic, gial, jaw, cheek, gill of a fish; Latin, gula, the throat. — Wedgwood. French, gueule, the throat. — Chambers. (BSrflfllC. — Gial, a cheek, a jaw, gill, a jowl ; gial llirat, a jaw-cloth, i. e. a cravat or neckerchief. GILLOEE, GALORE.— Plenty. They all with a shout made the elements ring As soon as the office was o'er, To feasting they went, with true merriment, And tippled strong liquors gillore. Robin Mood and Little John. Nares. ©Of ItC. — Gil, with ; leoir, leor, suffi- ciency. GIN. — A snare, a trap. Cotton-gin. — A machine for pressing cut the seeds of the cotton plant from the woolly envelope in which they are embedded. A contraction from engine. — Chambers. From Latin ingenium, natural disposition, talent, invention ; French, engin, an engine, instrument, &c. In the sense of a trap or snare we might be tempted to look at the Old Norse ginna, to allure, deceive ; the agreement with which is probably accidental. — Wedgwood. ffiflrtic. — Dinn (pronounced Jin or gin), to press, force down, trample out; an idea as applicable to the operation of a trap or snare, as to the moi e com- plicated work of the " cotton-gin," or other machine for pressure. GIRL. — A female child, a young wo- man. This word is not traceable either to the Teutonic or the Latin sources of the English language, though many attempts have been made, to derive it, either from one or the other. Dr. Latham, in his edition of Todd's John- son, favours the etymology of gor, gurre, gurrle, which he affirms to be Provincial German. Dr. Johnson did not pretend to decide it. The German or Teutonic words for " girl " are magi and maichen, which have their representatives in the English maid and maiden. The Anglo-Saxon had an additional word piga, which survives in ludicrous long life in the ale-house sign, not uncommon in England, of the " Pig and Whistle," a corruption of piga and wassail, i. e. a lass and a glass, women and wine, Venus and Bacchus. The Latin synonym is represented by filia. The derivations which Johnson quotes from Minsheu and others are unworthy of philology. About the etymology of this word there is much question. Meric Casaubon, as is his custom, derives it from the Greek Koprj ; Minsheu from the Latin garrula, a prattler ; or the Italian girella, a weather-cock. Juni us thinks it comes from herlodes, Welsh, from which he says harlot is very easily deduced. Skinner imagines that the Saxons who used ceorl for a man, might likewise have ceorla for a woman, though no such word is now found. Dr. Hickes derives it most probably from the Icelandic karlinna, a woman. — Johnson. The origin of this word is not obvious. It is most probably the Low Latin gerula, a young woman employed to tend children ; a word left in England by the Romans. — Webster. Halliwell and Wright in their Dictionaries give girl, Anglo-Saxon, a young person of either sex ; but the word girl is not found in the Anglo-Saxon Dictionaries of Lye or Bosworth. Gaelic, caile, caileag, a woman. — Worcester. (Gaelic. — Gaol (pronounced as the 198 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY vulgar English pronounce the word girl, without the r), love, affection, fondness ; gaolach, lovely, dear, highly- prized and cherished; whence possibly, the English " girl/' an object of love, fondness and affection. SattSCttt. — G'ala, a girl, a daughter. GLAD. — Joyful, pleased, joyously ex- cited in mind. Dutch, glad, glat, smooth, polished, bright. . . . Connected with a numerous class of words founded on the notion of shining. — Wedgwood. The conjunction of the consonants tl is uncongenial to the English tongue, and in words borrowed from the Gaelic, that commence in this manner, the initial t is usually changed into g. Vj CSracltC. — Tlachd, pleasure, satisfac- tion; whence by the omission of the middle guttural, glad. Tlath, Uaiihead, gentle, smooth, pleasant, agreeable. From the Gaelic Ham, to pluck, to snatch, comes by a similar process the Lowland Scotch glaum (with the same meaning) ; from tli, a feature, glee (Lowland Scotch), a distorted feature, a squint; from tlus, mildness, genial warmth, comes glow (with kindness, as a glowing heart), &c. GLADIATOR.— One who fought or struggled in the public arena at Rome. A professional athlete. Formerly the gladiators, like the English wrestlers struggled without weapons, but in after-times fought with the gladius or sword, whence the name " gladiator." But the word gladius springs from a root more ancient than the weapon. , entendre. — LlTTEE. The Latin gloria signifies fame, but the , English glory has quite as much reference to visible splendour as to spoken renown. Old Norse, glora, to glitter; see Glare. . . . Glare, a dazzling light ; Norse, glora, to shine, to stare ; Swiss, glare, to stare. Applied in the first instance to phenomena of hearing, Gaelic, glbr, noise, speech ; glbrach, noisy, clamorous. The Latin clarus, which is applied as well to visual as to audible phenomena, is another modification of the same root. — Wedgwood. In citing glor as the root, Mr. Wedgwood was close to the truth, Of THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 201 though he did not exactly reach it. The real etymon, with a great number of modifications aud derivatives, is the ©rtifltr. — Gibir, praise, honour, laud- ation, glory, fame, reputation, the pre- valent talk of the people ; glbirmhor, great glory; glbr, speech, utterance, talk ; glbramas, boastful talk, loud talk; glbirich, to glorify, to raise to glory ; glbirichte, glorified, honoured, celebrated, much spoken of, greatly praised; glbireis, boasting, prating, verbose ; glbirmhian, ambition, greed of praise, lust of celebrity ; gloirm- Mannach, ambitious of being talked of, and praised In this, and in many other cases, it will be seen that great words, if traced to their sources, have sometimes but little meanings ;fame signifies a breath, and glory nothing more than the talk of the multitude. GLOVE. — A covering for the hand. The etymology of this word cannot be traced either to Saxon or French sources. In the one it is handschuh, in the other gant. Mr. Wedgwood cites without comment the O. N. (Old Northern) glofi. Mr. Donald, the editor of Chambers, comes nearest to the source when he derives it from the Scottish loof, the hand, and the Welsh golof, to cover. The true origin of the word seems to be the (flS-arlt'C- — Lamh (lav, the Scottish loof), the hand; and ceil, to cover, conceal; whence ceil-lamh (Jcelav or hlof), the covering of the hand, a glove. GLUE. — To join together by-means of an adhesive substance. This word is usually derived from the Latin gluo and glut-is, and from the French gin, but the true root is possibly to be found in din, a com- bination of consonants not congenial to any of the modern tongues, and which has been softened into gin, from the ffiaeltC. — Bin, dlutJi, close, near to, joined together, closely set ; dluithead, closeness, junction; dluthaich, to join together; dlutlias, nearness, closeness, proximity. GLUG. — To gulp, the sound caused in the throat by greedy or hasty de- glutition. This word has not been admitted into the Dictionaries, though a similar word glutch, with the same meaning, appears in Wright's Obsolete and Pro- vincial English. The French have a pear of delicious flavour which they call the glou-glou, and the word is also apjilied to other fruits as well as to sweetmeats or dainties that are pleasant to the palate. The word occurs in the chorus of an English bacchanalian song, in " The Myrtle and the Vine," Book of F.nglish Songs. — 1851. While I am engaged at the bottle, Which goes gtoggity, gluggity, glug, glug, glug! Glou-glou (French). — The noise or murmur made by a bottle when it is being emptied. Qti'ils sont doux, bouteille, ma mle ! Qu'ils sont doux, vos petits glovglous ! Moliere, Le Mddeci-% malgre Lui. quoted in Le Roux, Diciionnaire Comiqtie. (Sftarltc. — Gloc, a large wide throat or mouth ; glug, the rumbling noise of fluids in the throat, or in the pouring out of a bottle ; glucaid, glugaid, a bumper. GNAW. — To bite against a hard sub- stance, as a dog with a bone. Akin to Greek Kvaa>, to scrape, to scratch, from the sound. — Chambers. d a 202 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ffiaell'C. — Cnaimh, a bone; cnamh, to wear away, corrode ; cnamhan, a gnaw- ing pain. GOAD, — A sharp-pointed instrument used to impel cattle on the road; whence the verb, used metaphorically, " to goad," to propel, to incite ; " to goad a person to anger." Anglo-Saxon, gaad, the sharp point of anything. — Gazopliylacium Anglicanum. Anglo-Saxon and Scottish gad, a rod, a spear, a, goad; Gaelic, gath, a sting. — Chambers. (TBracltC. — Gad (plural gold), a strong stick, a withe, a bar of iron or other metal ; gadan, a little stick, a twig. GOBBLE. — To eat greedily and noisily. Gobbet. — A mouthful, a little lump of food. Gob (Vulgar). — The mouth; also a large expectoration of mucus. Gobble, from the vulgar gob, a mouthful; French, gobbe, a ball for swallowing ; gobe, to swallow. Gobbet, French, gobet ; Gaelic, gob, the mouth. — Chambers. CSaelic. — Gob, the mouth, used de- risively or contemptuously. GOBLET. — A large drinking-vessel with a spout or beak, a beaker. From the French gobelet, a greater kind of chalice ; perhaps coupelette, a little cup. Dr. T. H. draws it from the French gober, to swallow. — Gazopliylacium Anglicanum. French, gobeloter, to guzzle, to tipple. — Storhonth. (•S-aEltC. — Gob, a beak, a bill; also con- temptuously the mouth. See Gobblk. GOBLTN. — An evil spirit, a frightful phantom. Gibber. — To articulate indistinctly, like spirits or evil phantoms, as in the phrase of Shakspeare : — The sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the streets of Rome. Gibberish. — Confused, harsh, and unintelligible discourse, or attempts at discourse. These words all seem to flow from the same source, and to be traceable to the ffiafllC. — Geob, a wry mouth; a gap- ing mouth, widely extended to excite terror in the beholder; whence geobail, gaping, jabbering; a goblin, a jabbering fiend. IKgmrtC. — Coblyn. GOD. — The Supreme Being (German, Gotf). None of the Keltic languages, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Gaelic, &c., have any word for the Divinity resembling the Teutonic and English. All these languages derive the idea and the name from a primitive which sig- nifies Bay, and the worship of the Day or the Sun which produces it. Zeus, Dens, Dieu, Dia, and the English Di- vine are from this root. The Teutonic Golt and English God are traced by some philologists to the Persian Khoda, and the Hindostanee Khooda, the Su- preme Being. The word has probably a deeper and very noble origin in the ethics of the earliest races in the Cfiarlic. — Coda, law, justice, equity; and cod, victory. If this derivation be correct, the ' / primary idea of God is that of justice, and the victory of the Right inherent in the character and attributes of the Divine Being, of whom this was but a secondary appellation. GOGGLE-EYED (Colloquial).— Squinting. (ffiaeltC. — Gaog, a defect; mil, an eye; whence gaog-sJiuil [gaog-uil), a defective eye. GOLF. — A favourite diversion in Scot- OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 203 land, in which a ball is propelled with a crooked club into a series of holes at considerable distances from each other. Dutch, Icolf, a club. — Wedgwood. German, lcol.be ; Swedish, lcolf, a club. — Stobmonth. CRar lie. — Colbh, a. club, a sceptre, a staff. G-OLLOP (Vulgar) .—A large mouthful. Gulp. — To swallow greedily. Gollopshus (Vulgar). — Delicious to the palate. Dutch, gulper, to swallow eagerly ; Langue- doc, gloulc, a mouthful of liquid; Provincial English, gulh. — Chambers. Qrollop, a Somersetshire word, a lai'ge morsel. — Halliwell. ffifaeltC. — Gulba, a mouth. GOLLS. — This word was in common use among the Elizabethan dramatists, though it does not appear in Shak- speare. Nares defines it as " hands or paws, a contemptuous expression/' He adds that Todd proposes to derive it from the Greek rk, an action, a deed, a performance; jniomh a laimh, the work of his 3s; gniomhach, active, industrious, j ; gniomhaicli, a steward, a factor, iverseer. In the Dictionnaire d'Ar- or " French Slang Dictionary/' of Francisque Michel, " grive " is in- reted a " soldier," and he quotes a erb that shows how underpaid the iers were. " II fait comme les grives, it d'air," a proverb that cannot y to such comfortable and well-to- leople as Scottish factors and land- r ards. Grivois in slang French formerly meant a thief. The French word is evidently of Keltic origin. GRILLON (French).— A cricket. (SStieltC. — Greollan, a cricket. GRIM. — Austere, fierce, forbidding in aspect. Giumace. — An angry distortion of the features. Anglo-Saxon, grim, grimm; German, grimm, fury ; Welsh, grem, murmuring, grinding the teeth. — Chambees. Diez tire grimace non tres affirmativement, de FAnglo-Saxon grima, masque fantorfie Scheler prefere l'ancien Haut Allemand grim, furieux, colere. Grimace parait tenir a l'ltalien grido, ride", et signifierait propre- inent grosse ride, vilaine ride. — Littbe. ffiS a E I i C. — Grlmeach, grimeasaeh, grim, surly, rugged ; gruaim, a surly or grim look; gruamach, surly, sullen; gruam- achd, sullenness. In Italian slang grima signifies old and ugly, and grim- aldo, a father or an old man. GRIMALKIN.— The name of a fiend, sometimes given to a cat. Grimalkin's a hell cat, the devil may choke her. — Alley Croker. Nabes.. <35ra?ItC. — Grimeac/i, surly, fierce, wild, grim; maol, bald; ceann, head; whence grim-maol-ceann, the grim bald-head, the name of the fiend, represented in old poetry. Another derivation that may apply- to the cat, but not to the fiend, is the (ffiflEllC. — Gruaim, sadness, melan- choly; gruama, melancholy; ailleogan, pretty, a term of affection for a sad- looking girl. GRIN. — To show the teeth in laughter or in rage. Literally, to grind the teeth. Anglo- Saxon, grinnian, allied to the Latin ringor, to snarl; French, grogner, to growl; German, greinen, to grumble. — Getambees. E e 210 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY CUaeltC. — Greanti, a grin; a surly, angry look; an appearance of rage; greannach, morose, surly, irritable; greannachadh, irritation or frowning, gloominess, the lowering of an approach- ing storm. -The roast spine or loin of GRISKIN, pork. Orisgin, roast meat. Irish. — Johnson. From gris or grise, a swine. — Todd's ^Johnson. ffifarltC. — Grisg, to roast; grisgean, a piece of roast meat of any kind, pork, mutton, beef, or veal. GRISLY.— Frightful, hideous; the " grisly " bear, the savage bear. Grise (Lowland Scotch). — To shud- der. German, grieseln, to fall in small particles, to trickle, and thence to shudder, which is felt like a trickling or creeping over the skin. — "Wedgwood. Anglo-Saxon, grislia, agrisan, to dread ; German, grasslicli, frightful ; grieseln, to shudder. — Chambbes. CRaf ItC. — Gris, horror, terror, exceed- ing great terror. GRIT. — Substance, quality. Honour and fame from no condition rise. It's the grit of a fellow that makes the man. — Colonel Crockett. — Babtlett's Diction- ary of Americanisms. ffiaeltC. — Grid, substance, quality. GRIZZLE (Colloquial).— To whine, to weep, and complain. Grizzle-pate. — A whining, dissatis- fied, and complaining child. ffiaeltc. — Gnuis (pronounced grids), the face, the countenance; sil, rain, metaphorically tears ; whence gnuis-sil, to weep till the face is covered with tears. GROG. — A mixture of rum, whisky, brandy, or other spirit, with water, and used as a beverage. Cuiqite (French Slang) .— Brandy. Cric-Cuoc (French Slang). — To your health ! (in brandy grog). Cric~ Croc, a ta sante ! Recois moi dans l'heureuse troupe Des francs chevaliers de la coupe. Michel, Diclionnaire d' Argot. This word is commonly supposed to have been first used by the sailors in Admiral Vernon's fleet, in the reign of George II., because the admiral was popularly known as " Old Grogram," or " Old Grog," from the grogram, or " gros-grain " suit which he usually wore in bad weather, and because he was supposed to be the first to order an allowance of spirits and water to his crew. For this tradition, however, there is no adequate authority. In Scotland, a " horn " for holding liquor, instead of a glass, is still common ; and a horn expresses not only the cup, but its con- tents. " To take a horn " is to take a drink. The true derivation of the word is the (garlic. — -.Croc, a horn, a drinking- cup; whence to take a croc, or grog, was used in the same sense as in English, when we say " a man takes his glass." GROSS. — Filthy, obscene, lewd, un- warrantable, violent. This word is not synonymous with, nor from the same root as "gross/' large, coarse, the French gros, the Latin crassus ; but is directly traceable to the '(Gaelic. — Graosda, filthy, obscene; graisgeil, vulgar, low, disreputable ; graosdachd, ribaldry. GROOVE. — A narrow channel hol- lowed in the ground by the constant passage o wheels, also an indentation or hollow in an instrument into OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 211 which another part of the same is intended to fit. German, grube, a pit, hole, grave ; from graben, to dig ; Dutch, groeven, to engrave, to hollow out. — Wedgwood. ©aelic. — GnumJi (gruv), a notch, a dent. G-ROVE. — A cluster of trees, a small wood. Grove, from grave, a walk covered by trees meeting above. — Johnson. Prom the Anglo-Saxon grafan, to dig, because they are frequently protected by a ditch thrown up around them. — Junius. More probably because a grove is cut out, hollowed out of a thicket of trees ; it is not the thicket itself. — Richardson. — Worces- ter. A place grooved, or cut out among trees. — Chambers. (K-acltC. — Oraohh, a tree; craobhach, well-wooded, abounding in trees; craobh- arnach, a shubbery, a hedge of evergreen or other trees. GROUSE. — A bird on the moors and mountains of Great Britain. CBfaelt'c. — Cearc, a cock; fraoch [as- piratedyirfflo^ {fk silent)], the heather; i. e. cearo-raoch, corrupted and euphe- mized by the English — who cannot pro- nounce the guttural — into "grouse," the cock or bird of the heather. GROUTS.— The sediments of boiled grain, coffee, &c. From grit, that which is ground or grated, the coarse part of meal, gravel. — Chambers. dfaelic. — Grind, grain, malt, sedi- ments, dregs. GRUDGE.— To deny with a bad grace, to give unwillingly, to be disagreeably parsimonious. Trench, groucher, groucer; Greek, ypvfa, to murmur. — Chambers. There are no such words in French E e as grouclter or groucer, but there is grucher, which means to grind. The true etymon of the English word '■grudge" and its intensitive "be- grudge " is the ffiafll'c, — Gruig, morose, sullen, in- hospitable; gruigein, a sorry wretch, an inhospitable man, a miser; gruigein- each, mean-spirited, illiberal, morose, inhospitable; grugaire, a morose man. GRUFF. — Coarse in voice and manner. Swedish and Dutch, geof; German, grob, large, coarse ; Grisons, grufflar, to snore ; probably formed in imitation of the sound. — Chambers. ffi-aelic. — Gnomh {groff), to grant like a pig. GRUMBLE.— To complain, to find fault, to express dissatisfaction. Grommeler (French). — To complain. Gruesome (Lowland Scotch). — Frightful, fearful. Grumpy (Colloquial and Vulgar).-— Ill-tempered, morose, surly. Grauen (German) .-—To dread, to fear, to have an aversion. Graulich, Grausam (German). — Awful, frightful, horrible, fearful. All these words, more or less related to the idea of dissatisfaction, dislike, and the expression of discontent have their root in the OJaEltC. — Gnuth orgru/A (pronounced grit), a stern, fierce look ; gruig, a lowering expression of countenance, a surly look; grugag, a sullen womi:n grugaire, a surly or sullen man; grua- mach, sullen, gloomy ; gruamacJid, gloominess, sullenness, moroseness ; gruamain, dejection; gruaim, darkness, gloom. See Grudge. UjMlU'tC. — Grivm, a murmur of dis- content. 2 2ia THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY GUARD.— To protect. Guardian. — A protector. French, garder ; Old French, guarder ; from the root of ward. — Chambers. CS-aeltC. — Gaird (Greeks x ei P)> an arm, a hand (to protect with); gairdean (diminutive of gaird), an arm or hand; gairdeanach, strong-armed. GUDGEON. — A stupid person, a fool, one who may easily he robbed or deceived ; a fish (French, goujon). One easily imposed on ; to gudgeon, to swallow the hait or fall into a trap ; from the fish of that name, which is easily taken. — Geose. From the French goujon and gouvion ; faire avaler des gouvions, to make one swallow a lie ; hence to gudgeon, to deceive, to befool. — Wedgwood. A gudgeon was also a term for a lie, as appears from Florio, p. 476. — Halliwell. ©afltC. — Gun, without; dion (pro- nounced J ion), defence; corrupted into gu dion, without defence ; i.e. a person so utterly silly and weak as to be without defence against falsehood and knavery. GUERDON. — A reward, a recompense. French, guerredon, guerdon ; Italian, guiderdone, reward. From Old High German, widarlon ; Anglo-Saxon, wither- lean, with a change from I to d, perhaps through the influence of Latin olonum. Anglo-Saxon, wither, against, in return for, and lean, reward. — Diez, quoted by Wedg- wood. Guerdon ! a sweet guerdon 1 better than remuneration. — Shakspeabe, Love's Labour Lost. ffiaclic. — Gearr adh, a tribute; Gear- radhan, a small tribute. GUERE (French).— Scarcely, hardly sufficient. ffiaeltC. — Gearr, short, laconic, de- ficient, not reaching the intended point ; ihainig iad gearr air, they came short of it. " lis ne Fapprochaient gnere." GUESS. — To forecast; to calculate from probabilities the meaning of something mysterious or unknown ; to form an opinion on imperfect knowledge. From the Belgian ghisse, or ghissen, to conjecture ; and this perhaps from the Teu- tonic weisen, to know. Minsheu derives them all from the Hebrew Jcesem, a divination. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. From the Dutch ghissen. — Bailet, John- sou", Ash, &c. Dutch, ghissen, to estimate; Icelandic, giska, from gitska, allied to geta, to get, to think ; English, get. — Chambers. ©neltC. — Gis, to conjecture; giseag, a charm by which to pry into the future; giseagach, superstitious, judging of the future without data. These words are allied to geas, a charm, a divination ; geasadair, a wizard, a charmer; geasadaireachd, witchcraft, sorcery ; geasa dioma, a kind of sorcery practised by the Druids, from geas, and diomadh, anger or displeasure of God. GUEUX (French).— A beggar. Gueuseeie. — The trade of beggary. Les gueux, les gueux ! Sont les gens heureux ; lis s'aiment entre eux. Vivent les gueux ! Beeanger. CSraellC. — Gaoth, guth, a voice, the whining voice assumed by professional beggars. T- v GUFFAW (Vulgar) .—A boisterous and long laugh. A Scottish word. — Worcester. Gaffaw, a hoarse laugh. — Jamieson. ffiaellC. — Gu fad, lengthily or with length; whence with the elision of the d by the Lowland Scotch, gu fa, or guffaw. GUILE and Beguile. — To cheat a person by fascinating manners, and pretence of love and afFection. To lead one astray by fair pretences. ffiaeliC. — Gaol, love. 'J -\V~ OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 21:5 GUILT. — The state of a person justly- chargeable with crime or wrong. All the English etymologists, with the exception of Home Tooke, derive this word from the Anglo-Saxon gylt, money; gildan, to pay; and give the literal meaning as the fine in money imposed as a penalty for the commission of a crime or offence. Home Tooke traces it to the Anglo-Saxon gewiglan, to beguile; and considers the words guile and guilt to spring from the same root. Mr. "Wedgwood adheres to the older opinion, and defines "guilt" ascon- ductwhich has to be atoned for by money. Pie quotes "Swiss, giiltj Danish, gjeld ; Old Norse, giallcl, debt ; Danish skylcl, debt, guilt, offence; German, sc/iuld, a crime, also a debt; Anglo-Saxon, gildan; Danish, gielde ; German, gelten, to re- quite, pay, atone, return an equivalent.'''' There is, however, an older as well as a nobler etymon, to which the word "guilt" may be traced, and to which no idea of money or debt can be attached. Among a warlike race like the ancient Caledonians, cowardice was the greatest of all "guilt," and among civilized races in which the primitive virtue of courage is not held in the same esteem as it was by ruder peoples, the " guilty man" is of necessity a coward to his own conscience. Shakspeare says, " Tis conscience that makes cowards of us all." Disregarding the Teutonic derivation of "guilt," the true etymon may possibly be the (ffiatlic. — Gealt, fear, cowardice; gealt- ach, cowardly, pusillanimous, guilty; gealtair, a coward, a poltroon; geilt, terror, fear, cowardice. GUINGUETTE,GUINCHE (French). . — A public-house, ordinarily outside of a town, where wine is drawn from the barrel, and not sold in bottles. D'ou peut venii' le mot guinguette ? Sans aucun doute des petit vin qu'on travail dans les cabarets, qui faisait guinguer, ou comrae on dit encore, danser les clievres. Cette sorte de vin, des le seizieme sieule s'appelait guinguetis. — Francisque Michel, Dic- tionnaire d' Argot. GBraclif. — Gingein, a cask or barrel. GULES.— The heraldic term for red; supposed by Nares to be derived from the barbarous Latin gulae, signifying furs dyed red, and worn as ornaments of dress. The word appears to be derived from the (JUacltC. — Glial, coal; gualaidh, to burn to coal. There is some doubt whether " gules " originally signified red or black. Coal may be either, and its colour depends upon whether it is, or is not, in a state of combustion. Shakspeare uses " gules " for red, — Follow thy drum. "With man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules, gules 1 — Timon of Athens — and in another contrasts the red with the black : Hath now this dread and black complexion smear 'd With heraldry more dismal ; head to foot Now he is total gules. — Hamlet. The derivation from the French gueule, the red open mouth, or gullet, is scarcely admissible. GULL (Vulgar and Colloquial).— A person easily deceived, a dupe. Gullibility. — The condition of mind of one who is easily cheated or imposed upon. Johnson traces the word to the French guiller, to cheat (which, how- ever, does not appear in the Dictionnaire de I'Academie Francaise); Richardson 214 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY from the past ten e of the Anglo-Saxon gewiglian, to beguile. Wedgwood con- siders that "gull" means an unfledged bird; probably from the Danish gnul; Swedish, gul, yellow; from the yellow colour of the down, or perhaps of the beak. Mr. Froude in his History of England narrates that Shan J Neil built a fort on an island in Lough Neagh, Ireland, and called' it " Fooch na Gull " (Gaelic, Fmthaich) or hatred of the English. This probably affords a clue to the origin of a word which appears as " cant " in Grose's Classical l)ictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Gall in the language of the Kelts originally meant a foreigner, a stranger; and thence came to signify a barbarian, an outlandish person, a fool. It was ap- plied as a term of contempt to the Saxons, and afterwards in the cant or slang of the vulgar acquired its present sense. ©aplic. — Gall, a, Lowlander, a Saxon, an Englishman, a foreigner ; gallda, Lowland, English, Saxon ; stupid, mean- spirited, foreign. GUM (Slang). — Abusive language. Let us have no more of your gum. — Geose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. ©attic — Geum, to low, to bellow; geumnack, the bellowing or lowing of cattle. GUMPTION. -Common sense. A Lowland Scottish and Northern English word that is gradually establish- ing itself in colloq.uial English. Mr. Wedgwood and others derive it from the Northern gaum, to know. In some places, not to gaum a man, is not to know him. — Halliwell. ffiaelic. — Caimse, sensible, moderate ; cuimcis, sense, moderation; cuimeasach, moderate, temperate, sufficient to one's self. GUN. — A fire-arm, a musket, a cannon. It must be observed that this name is exclusively English, and it may be well that it appeared first in the designation of the gunner, from the French guigner, an aimer with one eye, as a gunner taking his level ; guigner, to wink with one eye, to level at a thing winking. — Wedgwood. Welsh, gum ; Gaelic, gunna; Irish, gunn. Gyn is an abbreviation of the French engine, afterwards changed to gun. This seems the natural origin of the latter term. The only circumstance that can give birth to hesitation as to this etymon is that Gothic gun, and Icelandic gunne, denote warfare, battle, and that gunnar, in the Jidda, signifies a, bat- tering-ram. — Jamieson, Worcester. The primary idea of a " gun," as of an arrow or a sword, was that of a weapon which would inflict a wound, the " gun " being particularly formid- able, because capable of inflicting the wound from a great distance. In this sense the root of the English "gun," as well as of the Icelandic gunne, is the ffiartlC. — Gun, gunna, a weapon with which to discharge or project; a musket, a javelin, a squirt; gunte (obsolete), wounded, hurt with a projectile. An- other corroborative derivation of the English " gun " from the Gaelic is gon, a wound ; whence a weapon that inflicts a wound ; gon, to wound, to sting, to pierce, to stab; gonadair, gonair, a wounder, a stabber, a shooter ; gonais, a prick, a wound, a stab. GUN. — " Son of a gun;" a slang term of abuse launched against a man to imply that his mother was unmarried. C&aeltC. — Coinne (obsolete), a quean, a prostitute. GUSH. — To issue forth as water or other liquid. German, giessen ; akin to Greek x*">> to Of THE ENGLTSH LANGUAGE, 816 pour out ; Icelandic, guza, that which is ' poured out. — Chambeks. GSarlic. — Gais (pronounced gaish), a torrent, a flow of water; whence also, gash, a deep wound, from which the blood flows. GUST. — A sudden burst of wind or storm. Icelandic, gustr ; Danish, gust; German, giessen, to pour out. — Woecestee. (ffiaelic. — Gaoth, the wind] gaothar, windy. GYP (Slang). — A name given at Cam- bridge to the servants of under- graduates and others, supposed to be derived from the Greek 7111^ a vul- ture; from their dishonesty and rapa- city. It is possible, however, that the word has a pleasanter origin, and that it is the first syllable of the ©-arlic. — Global, a rag, a clout, an old garment, cast-off clothes given as perquisites to a servant; a term of per- sonal disrespect; giohalach, a rough, hairy, ragged, disreputable person. GYVES. — Fetters; a word more com- mon in poetical composition than in ordinary speech. (ffiaclir, — Geimkeal, a fetter, a chain; geimhlich, to enchain, to put into gyves or fetters. HgmtlC. — Gefyn, fetters. H. HABERDASHER. — A mercer, a dealer in small articles of male or female attire. Minsheu derives this from the German habt ihr das? have you that? or from the French avoir d'acheter, i. e. to have to buy. . . Mr. Thomson constructs a German com- pound, haab verlauscher ; from haab (liabe), goods, wares, and veriauscher, a dealer, an exchanger. — Richaedson. Icelandic, hapertask, things of small value. — Chambeks, Stoemonth. Berdash, a name said to have Been for- merly used for a kind of riband, the maker or seller being called -a. berdasher. — Todd's Johnson. Of uncertain etymology. — Woecestee. fi&aelic. — Amhach (avach), the neck; deise, deas {dash), clothes, fitting, sym- metrica], suitable ; whence haberdashery , things suitable for the neck. See Ha- bergeon. HABERGEON. — Armour formerly worn to protect the neck and breast. Anglo-Saxon, heals, neck ; beorgan, to defend. — Chambebs. ffiseltC. — Amhach {avac), neck; dion (jion), security. HACK. — An old horse, a horse let out on hire. Prom the Old French haque, and haquet, a pony. — Chambebs. (HJaeliC. — Bach (hac), Latin equus, a horse; whence also by corruption and omission of the aspirate, a nag, an hack; a small horse, a pony. HACK. — To cut, to notch, to hew. Hack, hash, hatch. The syllable hack in which the voice is sharply checked is used in all the Gothic dialects to signify a stroke with a sharp instrument, or an effort abruptly checked. . . . The hatching of eggs is the chipping or breaking open of the shell by the pecking of the bird. — Wedgwood. dBaellC — Bag, a nick, a notch; eag- aich, to cut, to notch, to hack ; eag- aichie, hacked, notched, cut in pieces. HAG. — An ugly, decrepid, or disagree- able old woman, of the class of those who in former times were accused of witchcraft. 216 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Haggard. — Care-worn, dejected in spirits and failing in health. Sag, from the Saxon haeggere, a goblin, a fury, a she-monster ; haggard, from the French hazard, wild, untamed ; Welsh, hage, ugly. — Johnson. Sag, one wise in unholy secrets, a witch, an ugly old woman ; Anglo-Saxon, haeges ; German, heoce (a witch), perhaps connected with the Grtek ayws, and the Latin sacer, in a bad sense. Saggard, originally wild, ap- plied to an untrained haivk. — OhamBebs. Sagged is emaciated, scraggy like a witch, with sunken eyes; haggard is wild, strange, froward, unsociable ; whence applied to a wild hawk ; derived from the German hag, a wood, forest, thicket or grove. — Wedgwood. ©nelic. — Aognaich, to become lean or pale as death, to wither, to fade; aognuidh, emaciated, frightful ; eug, to perish, to fail, to wither, to die ; eug- nachadh, dying, becoming pale or ghastly; eugnaidh, death-like, going to decay. HAIL (Nautical and Colloquial). — Where do you hail from ? i. e. where do you sail from ? This word is decidedly not from the same root as "hail/' to salute, or "hail/" frozen rain, but traceable to the CRaeitC. — Seol, to sail; which when aspirated becomes s/ieol (s silent), pro- nounced hale, HALK ARD. — A person of low degree. A halkard, or of low degree, proletarius. — Withall's Dictionarie, 1608. s, a thrashing-iioor. — Chambebs. ffiaeliC. — Aille, bright, shining, pleasant, beautiful; ailleanta, beautiful, bright, handsome, lovely; ailleantachd, personal beauty. HAMMER. — The instrument which hits and drives the nail. Anglo-Saxon, hamer ; Icelandic, liamar, from the sound of blows. — Wedgwood. ffiaellC. — Amas, hitting; amaiseacli, hitting well, taking a sure aim. HANAPER. — An obsolete word, signi- fying a basket, and so used in legal parlance, modernized into hamper. Sanaper, a receptacle for cups ; a large strong basket for packing goods, especially crockery ; originally a royal treasure-basket. Low Latin, hanaperium; Old Trench, hanap, a drinking-cup. — Chambebs. The learned Menage only mentions that the word hanap is a very ancient Norman- French one, and is supposed to be derived from the Teutonic or Frankish hein nap, signifying a porringer, bowl, or basket — the Anglo-Saxon knap in fact ; the learned Guy Miege tells us that hanap may mean a bowr or drinking-cup ; the modern etymological dictionaries state in their loose way that hanaper comes from the Latin hanapus or hanaperium — there being no such words at all in genuine Latin ; and even in the Latina infirma of the middle ages the Teutonic- Gallic hanap was translated sporta. In this country, nevertheless, the mediseval lawyers boldly Latiniz d hanap into hanapus; the word itself came to signify a wicker basket ; the Clerks of the Chancery were not mighty particular even with their bad Latin. They gave a Saxon twist to hanapus, and called it hanaper, which the common people speedily and cheerfully vulgarized into hamper. Finally, the most learned of legal antiquaries, Dr. Cowel, tells us all about the Clericus Hanaperii; or Clerk of the Sanaper ; how OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 217 he was confirmed in his office as Warden of the Samper by 2 Elizabeth IV., cap. 1 ; how he received all moneys due to the Crown for sealing charters, patents, Commissions, and writs ; how he was " tied to the Lord Chan- cellor, or keeper, daily in term time, and at all times of sealing, having with him leathern bags, into which he put all charters as they were sealed." — Daily Telegraph, August 4, 1874. Article on the " Great Seal." Mid Latin, hanaperium ; probabry a re- ceptacle for cups ; French, hanap, a drinking- vessel ; German napf, a porringer, bowl, platter. — Wedgwood. CSaeltC. — ^M«£a//, excess, superfluity; anabarrach, redundant, superfluous, ex- cessive. The word having first signified excess and redundancy, was afterwards applied to the vehicle that contained or to which was consigned the redundancy, as in our day, we say a waste-paper basket. Thus the basket received its name from its contents and became " hanaper," from anaharr. HANCED.— Intoxicated. The following quotation from Tay- lor's Works in Nares, supplied by Messrs. Halliwell and Wright, supports this interpretation. I swear by these contents, that I doe find myself sufficiently haneed, and that when- ever I shall offer to be haneed again, I shall arme myself with the crafte of a fox, the manners of a hogge, the wisdom of an asse, mixt with the civility of a beare. This was the forme of the oath, which as neare as I can shall be performed on my part. — Tay- lob's Worhes. The word does not appear to have been common. (SraeltC. — Aineas, passion, fury; ai- neasacli, passionate, furious ; whence furiously drunk. HANDSEL.— The first money given or taken in the morning, or at the commencement of trade. Hansel or handsale, the lucky money or first money taken. — Cocker, 1724. In Nor- folk, hanselling a thing, is using it for the first time. — Bailey. CSrfldtC. — Sainnseal, sliainnseal (with the aspirate, pronounced 'ainskeal), a new year's gift, a handsel. HANSE TOWNS, The Hanseatig League. — Certain commercial towns in Germany, associated together in the Middle Ages for mutual security and defence against the encroach- ments of royal despotism. London, Aberdeen, and many other cities of Great Britain were at one time members of the League, but ceased to belong to it, as Scottish and Eng- lish liberty was increased and secured. Hanse, an old Gothic word, a society. or corporation of merchants combined together for the good usage and safe passage of mer- chandize fromkingdomtokingdom. — Bailey. This confederacy took its name from the ancient German word hanse, signifying an association for mutual support. — Penny Cyclopedia. Prom the very earliest period of our history free burghs with certain privileges of trade had existed in Scotland, and from the days of David I. at least two combinations of these burghs appear ; one from Aberdeen north- wards, including all the burghs beyond the Moray Firth, had a confederacy called by the name of Hanse. — Lectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities by Cosmo Innes, 1872. Hanseatic, from the Old German hansa, a troop ; or Old French hanse, a league. — Chambees. From handsal (or handsel), a contract; the Manse Towns, a confederation of towns on the Baltic and North Sea. . . . From this original the term hanse was applied in a more general sense to a mercantile community. French, hanse, a company, society or corpora- tion of merchants, for so it signifies in the book of the ordinances of Paris ; also an asso- ciation with, or the freedom of, the hanse, also the fee or fine which is paid for that freedom . — Wedg-wood. The root of the word, which has ex- cited much difference of opinion among philologists, has been sought in the second stage of its existence, and not in the first, which is to be found in the <3*tiel!C. — Annsa, dearly-beloved .; v f 218 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY annsachd, annsadh, great and strict friendship and attachment. Each member of the League or corpora- tion was addressed officially as, "dearly beloved brother/' and one town speaking of another, as for instance, Hamburg of Aberdeen, would speak of it as "annsa." As the Gaelic or Keltic tongue gradually disappeared from the knowledge of the nations, where it left its traces in popu- lar speech, the true sense of the word was lost, though the word itself was retained, as in this instance. HAP, HAPPEN.— To befall at the appointed time, to become a fact at the predestined moment. Happiness. — The state of pleasure produced in the mind by the ex- istence of the facts or circumstances that we have desired to befall or happen. Mr. Wedgwood traces these words to the French happer, to catch, to snatch, to grasp at. He says, "hap, luck, is what we catch, what falls to our lot, having good hap ; happen, to befall/' According to the Dictionnaire de 1' Aca- demic Francaise, /tapper is only used in vulgar and familiar parlance, as in the phrase applied to the action of a hungry dog in snapping at the food thrown to it, " On lui jetta un morceau et il le Jiappa." Dr, Johnson, who is always loth to be indebted to the Keltic lan- guages if he can help himself elsewhere, cites the Welsh word an-hap, misfortune or unhappiness as the root. If he had investigated the Welsh more deeply, he would have found several corrobora- tions of his conjecture in hap, luck, chance, fortune ; hapiaiv, to happen ; hapus, fortunate, happy; hapusaiv, to become fortunate ; and hapus-nvydd happiness. What seems to be the real root of these mysterious words, and one that excludes the idea of luck or chance, and imposes fate, destiny, and divine appointment in its stead, is the (BSaeltC. — Ab, fit, proper, ripe, mature (the Latin aptus) , that which fits in with circumstances, ready, mature, agreeable ; abaich or aluich, to ripen, to mature, to bring or grow to maturity ; abaicheadh or abuicheadh, ripeness, maturity, ful- ness of perfection according to degree. According to this derivation, any- thing that happens, happens at its appointed time, when all circumstances have ripened to produce it. " Happi- ness" in this sense would signify the ultimate destiny, vainly sought in a world that is not ultimate ; the ripening and maturing of the soul. HARAS (French). — An establishment for the breeding of horses; a stud farm. Haras. Lieu ou 1'on loge des. etalons et des juments pour elever des poulains. Bas Latin, haracium. II y a dans le Latin liara, toit a pores ; et dans le Bas Latin Kara cunicularia, garenne a lapins. Diez rejette l'ancien Haut Allemand hari, troupe ; mais il signale coin me bien plus approprie l'Arabe faras, clieval, &c. — Littee. CRaelic. — Aras or aros, a house, a dwelling, an establishment. HARICOT.— A dish of mutton cooked the second time in small pieces, and seasoned with vegetables. French, liaricot, kidney beans; Italian, caraco ; Spanish, caracollillo, snail flowered kidney beans ; from Spanish caracol, a snail. Perhaps haricot, minced mutton, may be con- nected with haggle; the original meaning ■would thus be anything minced small. — Chambees. The word seems formed from hack or hag, hacoter, halcoier, harcoter. — Wedgwood. Saricoteur is the French slang for the executioner. The word haricot, in culinary OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 219 language, signifies a sort of ragout, ordinarily- made of mutton, cut small with turnips. Amateurs will find three receipts for making it in Cotgrave. I find the origin of the term in the words Jiarigol, harligol, harligote, which existed in our Ancient French in the sense of slice, piece, morsel. — Diationnaire d' Argot, far Fjjancisqite Michel. It will be seen from the foregoing 1 extracts, that much research and in- genuity have been expended upon this word. Its true root is to be found in the ancient language of Gaul, the ffiajlic. — Aris, a second time, again ; coc, cooking, to cook ; code, cooked ; whence by corruption and abbreviation, " haricot,'" that which has been cooked a second time. HARLOT. — A woman of unchaste life. This word was originally applied to both sexes, with a meaning very diffe- rent to that which now attaches to it. Some derive it from one Arlotta, that was miss to Eobert Duke of Normandy, and mother to William the Conqueror ; or, as Camden will have it, from one Arlotta, that was concubine to the Conqueror himself; or most likely from the Italian arlotta, a proud whore ; or lastly, as the ingenious Dr. T. H. has it, whorelet, or horelet, a little whore. — Q-azophylacium Anglicanum. From the Welsh herlodes, — Johnson. Of uncertain etymology. — Ash. Mr. Wedgwood cites Chaucer's Pro- logue to the Canterbury Tales : — He was a gentle harlot and a kind, A better felaw should a man not find; and also the Sompnour's Tale : — A sturdy harlot went behind, And bare a sack, And what men gave him laid it on his back. Herlawd, a tall stripling; herlodes, a hoyden, or girl of masculine manners ; Jierlotiad, a tall stripling ; herlotyn, a, mere stripling. — Owen's Welsh Dictionary. The word seems originally to have signified a young man, from Welsh herlawd, herlott, a youth ; herlodes, a damsel ; then to have acquired the sense of a loose companion. — Wedgwood. According to Tooke, harlot is horelot, diminutive of liore (whore). — Wobcesteb. V f The word used in its original sense as favourably applied to a youth, a hand- some, brave young man, " a gentle harlot and a kind," as Chaucer has it, is traceable to the CKadtC. — Ur, young, beautiful, vi- gorous; laoch, a hero (whence by soften- ing of the guttural, the English lad, and the Kymric llawd) . Ur-laoch would thus signify a young hero or warrior, which is probably the true origin of a word that in its early sense has long been a stumbling-block in the path of etymologists. The modern word, as applied to a woman, is not necessarily connected with it merely because it has an accidental resemblance of sound, but was possibly derived at a comparatively recent period from whore, as Dr. T. H. first, and afterwards Home Tooke suggested. The Italian arlotto does not bear the meaning attributed to it by the author of Gazophylacium Anglicanum, but sig- nifies a glutton. HARM. — Injury, damage, hurt, mis- chief. From the Anglo-Saxon hearm, or perhaps from the Latin arma, because arms offensive are reckoned things harmful. — Gazophyla- cium Anglicanum. Anglo-Saxon, hearm; Old Norse, harmr, grief, sorrow, injury; harma, to grieve; German, harm, affliction ; gram, griefi sorrow, vexation ; gramlich, peevish, morose, — Wedgwood. Connected with gram, grief. — Chambees. The Teutonic words for " harm " are schade and leide, and the verb verletzeu, to harm or injure. The French to harm is /aire du mat, and the substantive injure. These languages therefore do not supply the primitive root. The conjecture of the author of Gazophyla- cium Anglicanum is probably correct, % '220 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY with this addition, that the Anglo- Saxon hearm is itself derived from an older language, and from the idea of hurting with an arm or weapon. Con- nected with this word is the English armour, a covering of mail, or other metal, to protect the body of a com- batant from the harmful, hurtful weapon of an enemy. (BJafltC. — Arm, a weapon ; armac/id, armour; armaichte, clad in armour; armaich, to gird on the arms or clothe in armour. HARNESS.— The trappings and gar- niture of a horse ; also the trappings of a knight in full armour, furniture. French, liarnois ; supposed from the Welsh and Erse Maim, iron. — Johnson. The meaning of the word is hahiliment, furniture ; probably from the Spanish guar- nescer, to garnish, trim, adorn, harness mules. — Wedgwood. CSapItC. — Airneis, household stuff, goods, chattels, property, moveables. HARP. — A well-known musical instru- ment, in the use of which the Keltic nations were proficient. It is still the symbol of Ireland, greatly fa- voured in Wales, and was until the sixteenth century the national instru- ment of the Scottish Gael, when it began to be superseded by the bag- pipe. It is called harpe by the French, and harfe by the Germans. The Gael called the instrument the clarsacli and the emit, and had no word corresponding in sound to the German harfe, the English harp, or the French karpe. It appears that the original clarsacli and emit of the Gael were entirely strung with brass or other wire, and that the introduc- tion of the string of cat-gut or sinew was comparatively recent. In the interesting Memoir -on the Harp by Mr. Gunn, published under the pa- tronage of the Highland Society of Scotland, 1 807, the difference between the wired and the sinewed instrument is pointed out. C&aeltC. — Air-feith (air-fe), on the sinew. HARP. — To cling persistently to and talk of one leading idea, as in the phrase of Polonius in Hamlet, " Still harping on my daughter." This word has no reference, as ety- mologists have hitherto assumed, to the musical instrument the harp, as if the idea involved was that of playing or performing on it, but is traceable to the ffiaeltC. — Airiheart (arvarl), a leading or prevailing idea or meaning; air- bheartach, sagacious. HARRIDAN.— An ill-tempered, ugly old woman. All the Dictionaries from Ash, Bailey, and Johnson, down to those of more recent times, derive this word from the French hariclelle, a decayed old horse. Mr. Wedgwood, however, strikes out an independent course, makes no mention of hariclelle, and traces the word to a corruption of the Walloon liar, a breach, and clair, a tooth, a gap-toothed person. Looking nearer home, the true etymon may be found in the (SJariiC. — Mridinn, to nurse, or a nurse. In ancient, and to comparatively modern, if not present times, the office of a nurse or attendant upon the sick, was usually an old woman, of whom Charles. Dickens gives a not very ex- aggerated specimen in his famous Sarah Gamp. The temper of these ladies, OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 221 especially when they were attendant on the poor, was not of the sweetest. HARROW. — An agricultural imple- ment drawn over the soil, to break and pulverize the clods left by the plough. Anglo-Saxon, liergian, to vex, to lay waste, to destroy ; hyrwian, to harrow. — Woe- CESTEE. Danish, liarv, a harrow ; Swedish, Jiarv, a hay -rake ; Finnish, Jiara, a brush harrow made of the branches of trees ; German, liarhe, a rake ; French, herce, a harrow. — "Wedgwood. The true root of the word seems to be the (3*aeltC. — Taming, to draw, to pull; tharruing (t silent), harrowing, pulling; so-iAamdng , ductile, easily drawn ; do- tharruing, hard to be drawn. HARRY (Lowland Scotch).— To op- press, to plunder, to overrun a coun- try or a district with fire and sword. Harass. — To vex, to torment, to persecute. From the French Jiarasser, and harasse, a, heavy buckler, according to Ducange. — Johnson. Haro, an outcry for help against an invader or a conquerer. — Jamieson. (JKaeliC. — SharachadA (s silent), op- pression, conquest ; saraicA, to oppress, to plunder; sAaraicA (s' silent), op- pressed ; saracAain, an oppressor, a con- queror, an extortioner. HARRY, Old Harry. — A vulgar phrase for the Devil or arch-enemy of mankind, who is reputed to be always on the alert to lead astray, and to go about " seeking whom he may devour." " To play old Harry" with a person, is to injure or ruin him, or "send him to the Devil." Hotten's Slang Dictionary suggests the derivation to be from old Hairy. The root of the main word, and the essence of the idea seems to be the CKaeltC. — AireacA, subtle, violent, hostile, on the watch to do evil ; from aire, watchfulness, design, intent, mali- cious intent. HARUM-SCARUM.— In a confused manner, one over the other. Harum-scarum, a flighty person ; flighty, wild, unsettled. Also harum-starum in Brockett's North Country "Words. — Wheat- let's Dictionary of Seduplicaied Words. Hare, to fright ; and scare, to fright. "Vulgar. — Todd's Johnson. Harum-scarum, wild, dissipated, reckless; from horses driven in a line. — Slang Dic- tionary. Neither Halliwell, Wright, or Nares, makes mention of this word. It ap- pears to be a reduplication of and asso- nance with the fflrflflt'C. — TAaram (t silent), over me ! across me ! on top of me ! applied to a person running, riding or driving reck- lessly. HATCHET.—" To throw the hatchet," to lie, to exaggerate, to embellish a story falsely in telling it, to boast falsely. (JSaeltC. — Aithris, narrate ; also a tale, or report ; aitArisfe, told, reported ; ailA- riseacA, a Darrator, a reciter, a repeater of a story ; aitkrisicAe, a tale-bearer. HATTER. — " Mad as a batter." • (Slang). Hatter (Lowland Scotch) . — To speak thick and confusedly; a state of disorder and confusion; to gather and collect in riotous crowds. — Jamieson. As there is no reason to accuse hatters of madness in a greater degree than any other artificers or traders, it is possible 222 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY that this apparently unmeaning phrase, like many other slang expressions, has a Keltic origin. <&MiC.—lt, to swell, puff, to bluster; atactt, swelling, a tumour; ataireacM, raging, blustering; the swelling and raging of waters. HAVEN. — A harbour, a place of shelter for ships. Norwegian, Jidfn ; Old French, havene, Jiavre; Old Norwegian, hafna, to refuse, abstain, desert ; at hafna sig (to withdraw from the perils of the sea), to betake one's self to port. — Wedgwood. C&acltC. — Abhuin {avuin or avori), the water ; and in the case of a haven, the smooth water. HAVER (Lowland Scotch).— To talk foolishly. CEfaeltC. — Abair, to speak. HAVOC. — Ravage, destruction ; " Cry havoc ! and let slip the dogs of war." There are both doubt and difficulty in the derivation of this word, which may either proceed from the Kymric hafog, destruction, or from the t&aclic. — Alhag (avag), joyous, exul- tant ; also a terrier dog ; abhagach, like a terrier dog. Mr. Wedgwood says the word was "perhaps originally, aery of encourage- ment to a hawk (Anglo-Saxon hqfoc), when loosed upon its prey.-" Possibly the two ideas of destruction and joy may be combined, and abhag may mean a cry or incitement to destruction, in the chase or in war. Shakspeare's mention of dogs lends support to this interpretation. HAVRESAC (French).— A knapsack. German and Dutch, Jcnappen, to chew; and sack, to put food in. — 'Chambees. It has been suggested that the Eng T lish knapsack was originally nape-sack, from its being carried on the nape or neck. This idea is confirmed by the etymology of the French word, which is the ffifaeltC. — Abhach, the neck (see Haberdasher and Habergeon) ; and sac, a sack. In modern Gaelic the word has been corrupted into aparsaig. HAWKER. — A crier of goods about the streets. To Hawk. — To cry goods about the streets, to peddle. Huckster. — A retail dealer in the streets. <&aelic. — Ac and aca, speech, tongue, to cry out ; acain, to moan or groan ; achain, a supplication. HAWTHORN.— The beautiful flower- ing tree popularly called " May." From the Anglo-Saxon hagan, a hedge. — Woecestee. i&aelic. — Uath, the white thorn. HAYDIGYES, or Heydegues.— " A sort of rural dance, variously spelt from the uncertainty of the etymo- logy. — Nares. Nymphs that danced their haydigyes. Beown, Britannia's Pastoral. While some the ring of bells, and some the bag-pipes play, Dance many a merry round and many a hey- degy. — Deayton, Polyolbion. By wells and rills and meadows greene, We nightly dance our hey-day-guise. Peecy's Reliques. The Fairy's Song. The word was sometimes abbreviated into hey. I will play on the tabor to the Worthies, and let them dance the hey. — Shaeispeaee, Love's Labour Lost. Whoever has seen a Highland Fling or the Reel of Tulloch well danced, and OF THE ENGLTSH LANGUAGE. 223 heard the exultant shouts of the dancers, as they became excited by the music of the bagpipes, or even of the piano-forte, or violin, may be prepared to admit the etymology for this obscure word sup- plied by the <3*ae!tC. — Aite {hoity), joyful; geisg, giosg, to shout; whence with the elision of the guttural final g, aiie-gels or aiie- gios, a joyous shout, or dance with joyous shouting, like the Keel of Tul- loch. See Hoity-Toity, the Gaelic name for the same or some similar dance known to the Britons. HEARSE. — The carriage that conveys the dead body to the grave; the coach of mourning. The origin is the French Jierce, a harrow, an instrument which in that country is made in a triangular form. Hence, the name of herse or herche was given to a triangular frame-work of iron for holding a number of candles at funerals and church ceremonies. CBraeltC. — Tuir, to lament for the dead, to sing a funeral song or elegy, to mourn, to deplore ; tuirse, sadness, melancholy mourning, lamentation for the dead; tmirseach, melancholy, mourn- ful; thuirse {t silent), with the aspirate; whence the English " hearse." The word was formerly used as Mr. Wedg- wood remarks for a solemn obsequy at funerals, though now confined to the carriage in which the corpse is con- veyed. HEATH. — A tract of uncultivated land covered with ling, gorse, furze, and other wild shrubs. ©aelic. — TJath, uathail, solitary, lonely. HEED. — To attend, to take care, to be aware of. Anglo-Saxon, heclan. — Latham's Johnson. d&afltC. — Uid/i, care, attention, heed, observation. HEIR. — One who succeeds or is ex- pected to succeed to the property or honours of his father or other rela- tives. The next in succession to title or estate. Heir-loom. — An object of family pride or value, that is not to be sold or otherwise parted with, but to descend with the estate, from father to son, or from heir to heir. Old French, heir; Latin, hceres. — "Wedgwood. (!!15acItC. — Oig/tre {gh silent), an heir, from og, young ; and oige, youth ; i. e. the young who are to succeed or in- herit ; leum, to leap ; whence heir-loom, an article that descends or leaps from heir to heir. HELM.— The handle of a ship's rudder. Melma, Saxon, the steerage, the rudder. — Johnson. In all probability the helm may be the helve, or handle by which the rudder is managed. Old English, halve, a handle. — Wedgwood. (3»acItC. — Ailm, the helm or handle of the rudder; also an elm -tree ; ail- meag, a little elm-tree. Possibly elm wood was originally used for the han- dle of the rudder. HELTER-SKELTER. — Confusedly, in a state of confusion. A redupli- cated word, with a meaning to only one of the two. Mr. Wedgwood, rightly supposing that " skelter " is the root word, sug- gests as the etymons the Swedish siaka, to yell, and Gaelic sgall, to shriek. The true meaning seems to be the con- 224 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY fusion of a flight of alarmed people. In Lowland Scotch scale signifies the outpouring of the people from a church, a school, or a public meeting. ©raeltC. — Sgaoil, to spread, to scatter; sgaoilte, scattered, spread abroad, dif- fused, dispersed. HEM.— The folded fringe or border of a garment stitched down. Prom the Anglo-Saxon hem, or from the Latin ambire, to hem in, or to compass about. — Qazophylacium Anglicanum: Anglo-Saxon and Welsh, hem, a border. — Chambers. ffiaeltC. — Aom, to bend over ; aomadh, bending over ; uaim, embroidery. ftgmrtC. — Hem, a border. HEN.— A female bird. Gaelic. — Hun, a bird, a fowl ; euna- dair, a fowler, a bird-catcher. HERALD. — A messenger sent on a particular errand (French, kerault) ; one to whom special attention was to be paid, in peace or war, according to his message. Old High German, haro, to shout. — Wedgwood. Kymric, herodri, to go on an embassy. — Owen's Welsh Dictionary. CSaeltC. — Aire, notice, heed, atten- tion; aireachail, watchful, observing; araid, particular, special. HERO. — A great man, a warrior. Greek, r)pa>s; akin to Latin vir, a man.— Johnson, Wedgwood, Worcester, and all the Dictionaries. , to destroy, or empty; or of \av, to gorge; but Skinner from the Latin lavare, to wash. — Bailey. Of uncertain etymology. — Ash. Obsolete English, lave, to throw up or out ; French, laver; Latin, leoo, to raise; from levin, light. — Chambeks. Prom lave, to throw out, to lade. — Rich- ardson. French, lavasse, or lavace d'eaux, an in- undation. The idea of unthrifty dealing is often expressed by the dashing abroad of water. — Wedgwood. Itwill be seen from the aboveexamples that philologists are not agreed upon the origin of this word, and that one of them gives up the etymology as " un- certain." Bearing in mind that the word is not confined to the expenditure of money, but is employed in the sense of prof'useness generally, whether of words, compliments, promises, endear- 256 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY mentSj fee, the probably true root offers itself for consideration in the CSrSrltr. — Labhair (lavair), to speak; labhar, loquacious, speaking loudly, loud-sounding ; lahhrach, prodigal of speech, profuse in talk ; labharra, talk- ative, using many words. LAW. — The order of nature, the ordi- nances of men in civil government, or of nations among each other. Etymologists are not decided whether this word comes from the French loi, the Latin lex, the Anglo-Saxon lag j an, or the German legen ; forgetful all of them that there is a language more ancient than any of these from which it is possible to trace it. The proofs of the confusion of idea that still exists on the subject will appear from the follow- ing quotations: — Law, or as anciently written lagk, is the past participle of the Guthic and Anglo-Saxon verb lagjem, ponere, to lay down.— Hoenb Tooke, Diversions of Pur ley. Tooke's etymology is not original. The learned Wachter had adopted the opinion of a still older lexicographer (Stiern'nielmius), who asks, " what is law but that which is laid down or imposed by God or nature, or by a people binding themselves, or by a prince governing a people." Wachter goes further and observes, that if we were to derive from the Latin lex we should not wander far, since Scythian words are far mire ancient than the Latin, and increased the Latin with many additions. — Richabdson. This word, law, which has become part and parcel of our natnre, is another instance of a Northern word which has ousted two Anglo-Saxon equivalents. Those equivalents were " se " or " tew " for civil, and "dom" for criminal law. In early times most laws were Criminal, and so the earliest Anglo-Saxon code — that of Ethel berht in the 6th century — ■ is entitled, Ethelberht's Dooms or Sentences. We do not find "se" or "sew" till the code of Hlothere and Eadric in the 7th eenturp, who in the preface to their " Dooms " are said to have " augmented the laws — tha ce — which their Elders had made before them." So also the preface to Ine's Laws in the same century declares that he had established them that "just law — 'sew' — and just kingly ' dooms ' might be settled throughout his folk." This form " se " or " sew," we may observe, is akin to the German Ehe, which now means marriage only, but anciently was applied to any civil sanction or contract. Those then were the old Anglo-Saxon words for law ; but when the invaders from the North settled in England as Guthrum.in the days of Alfred and Edward the Elder, they brought their law terms with them, and then it was that the word law was first heard in England. When an Anglo-Saxon king could adopt the foreign word so completehy, there is little wonder that during the Danish dynasty in England in the 11th century the triumph of law over its rivals was rendered still more complete. It is curious that though the Danish invaders evidently brought lag or lah with them in the singular, the Icelandic language only recognizes the plural lor/ as law. With them the singular lag, which is derived from leggja, means not law, but a layer or stratum, anything laid down in fact ; it is not till the plural, or, as it were, after successions of layers or things laid down, that the word assumed in their philology the notion of law. — Times, Review of Clea*by's Icelandic English Dictionary, March 2, 1874. Norse, lag, order, method, custom, law; from leggia {hefi lagi), to lay. So Latin, stalutum, statute, from statuere, to lay down; German, gesetz, from setzen, to set ; Greek, dco-fios, laid, from Tidrifii, to lay. — WEDGWOOD. The connexion between law and ligan, to lay, was pointed out by Home Tooke a hun- dred years ago, yet his explanation is not generally accepted, and the Latin licere, to permit, to allow, has been thought by some a more probable source of the word. Licere itself and all such words originate in the idea of laying, leaving; and therefore the ultimate base of law through either channel would be the same. Still there can be no doubt that ligare, to bind, is a nearer relative to leoc, legis, than licere, to allow; and we therefore agree with Mr. Wedgwood in thinking that by law is meant " what is laid down." — Primitive and Universal Laws of the For- mation and Development of Language, &'c, by COMTK DE GoDDES LlANCOTJET and Peedbeic Pisco tt, 1874. The word " law " in what Home Tooke admits to be its original form of lagli, existed in the British isles for many centuries before the Danish inva- sion in the ffiaellC. — Lagh, order, method, se- OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 257 quence, regularity, law ; laghail, orderly, methodical, legal, lawful; laghaileacJid, legality; lagkaeh, orderly, comely, ac- cording to rule. Wachter alone was on the right track for the root of the word, when he found it in the Scythian, meaning the Gaelic, for he admits, as all the advanced philologists of the Continent do, that the Scythian, Gaelic, Gallic, and Keltic — all different names for the same speech — was long anterior to the Latin. There is a popular Highland song called Mari Laghacli, in which the word would seem to imply order, beauty, and regularity of body and mind, the very highest ideal of beauty. LAWIN (Lowland Scotch). — The reckoning at an inn or tavern. Gude wife, count the lawin. Bumts. (jRaellC. — Lacli, lachan, a reckoning, expense of an entertainment, the price of the drink ; lac/tag, a small or insig- nificant reckoning. LAWN. — An ornamental grass plot, an enclosure. Lawn, see lane. Lane, an alley, an opening between houses and fields. The fundamental idea is probably the opportunity to see through, given by an opening amid trees or the like. — Wedgwood. Welsh, llan; Breton, llan, Ian, territory, akin to land. — Chambees. Italian and Spanish, lande, from Anglo- Saxon and Dutch land; French, lande; Welsh, llan, an extent of untilled land between woods. — Wobcesteb. (ffiaeltc. closure. -Lan, full; lann, an en- LAWN-SLEEVES.— Large and full sleeves, worn by Anglican bishops when in full episcopal costume. It is doubtful whether "lawn" is a corruption of linen, as has been supposed, or whether it is derived from the Oaeltc. — Lan, full. LAY. — A song, a poem. German, lied; French, lai, as in virelai and rondelai. As the old Fienjh poets, as Diez obsevves, regard the lay as especially belonging to the Bretons, it is natural to look to the Keltic for the origin of the word. — Wedgwood. ©aeltC. — Laoldh, a verse, a hymn, a sacred song; luaidh, praise, a song in praise of a beloved person; love; a beloved one ; mo luaidk, my dearest ; "gun fhilidh, gun luaidhe," Without a bard, without a song ; leadan, the notes of music; leadanach, musical, melodious; leadarra, harmonious, musical, melo- dious; leadarrachd, harmony, melody. l&nmttC. — Llais, a voice, a sound. LAY. — Not learned or clerical ; applied to the unlearned people. Laity. — The people as distinguished from the clergy. ©ratfltC. — LucM, the people. LAYES. — An obscure word which Nares supposes to mean Laises, or loose women ; from Lais, the Grecian courtesan. " At least," he adds, " I can make nothing else of it." But how may men the sight of beautie shun In England, at this present dismall day P All void of veiles, like Layes where ladies run And roam about at every feast and play, They wandering walk in every sh-eet and way. — Mirror for Magistrates. If in this passage, which seems alone in English literature to have preserved the word, we suppose that layes means the place where the ladies run, and not the ladies themselves, a clue to the etymology offers in the ffiaelic. — Leas, more properly lios, l 1 258 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY a court, a palace, a garden, a field, a public place. LAYSTALL. — A midden, a place for the refuse of the garden or farm, to be afterwards used as manure. According to Skinner from lay and stall, because they lay there what they take from the stalls or stables. Perhaps it is rather a stall or fixed place on which various things are laid. — Naees. CSrarttC, — Lios, a garden ; stall, to throw (marked as obsolete in Arm- strong's Gaelic Dictionary) ; whence lios-siail (or laystall), a place in the garden in which to throw the refuse. LAZY. — Indolent, disinclined to work, slothful. From, the Latin laxus, loose. — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum. This word is derived bj' a correspondent with great probability from the French a I'aise, but it is, however, Teutonic. Lijser in Danish, and losigh in Dutch, have the same meaning. — Johnson. Bavarian, laz, slow, late ; Dutch, losig, leusig, flaccid, languid, slack ; German, lass, slow, dull, slack. — Wedgwood. Literally, tired, wearied. Latin, lassus. — Chahbees. ffiafllC. — Leasg, leisg, indolent, sloth- ful, loath, reluctant, unwilling (to work); leisgear, a sluggard ; duine leisg, a lazy LEA. — A field, a garden ; a frequent terminal of English surnames, as Stanley, Winstanley, Ottley, Oak- leigh; Oakley, Oakly, &c. Ley, Saxon, a fallow, ground enclosed, not open. — Wedgwood. Grass land, pasturage; Anglo-Saxon, leug ; German, lehde ; Dutch, ledig, leeg, empty, fallow. — Chambebs. (BJaellC. — Lis, or lios, a garden or field; liosadair, a gardener; fion-lios, a wine garden, a vineyard. LEAGUE.— A measure of distance, three miles. Mid-Latin, leuca ; French, lieue, properly a stone which marked the distance on the public roads ; Gaelic and Welsh. — Wedg- wood. ffiaPltC. — Leac, a flat stone, a flag- stone, a way-stone, a tomb-stone ; leac- aich, to pave with stones; leacach, a little stone; cromlech, a crooked stone (over a grave) . l&gmtic. — LlecJi, a flat stone. LEASOWES.— The name of the poet Shenstone's farm. A pasture. Mr. Todd {Todd's Johnson) has very properly shown that this word, which is now only known as the appellative of Shenstone's ferme ornSe, was once a. general word derived from the Saxon leswe. Shenstone probably found the name esta- blished at that place by ancient use. — Naees. (BiajltC. — Lios, a garden; acli, ach- aidh, a field, a meadow; whence lios- ach, or leasow, the meadow gardens, or garden meadows. LEATHER (Slang). — To beat or thrash. From the leather belt worn by soldiers and policemen, often used as a weapon in street rows. — Slang Dictionary. CSracltC. — Leadair, mangle, thrust, thrash, beat round; laidir, strong, robust, powerful; leidir, to thrash or drub lustily. LEAVEN. — Yeast, barm; a substance used for creating fermentation in bread. From the Latin levare, because it lifteth up the dough, as it were, and maketh it leviorem, more light. — Gazophylacium An- glicanum. Low Latin, levanum ; from the Latin leva, to raise. — Woecestee. (SriieUc. — Lailhin, yeast, barm, leaven; gun laibhin, without leaven; laibhineacli, yeasty. LECH. — A vehement desire, the prompting of lust. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 259 Lechery. — Sensuality, lust. From the German lecken, to lick ; lecher, dainty, lickerish, nice in food; in familiar language a lively degree of sensual desire. — Wedgwood. latin, ligurio, to lick up what is dainty. — — Chambees. CRaeltC. — Leid (the final d pronounced like/), a longing desire (obsolete). LEECH. — A surgeon, a physician ; almost obsolete in this sense, but still retained for the blood-sucking worm, occasionally applied by doctors for the reduction of inflammation. -From the Saxon laec, a physician. — John- son. Prom the Saxon loec. This word has been occasionally used by late writers, particularly in the burlesque style, where obsolete words are allowed to remain for a time before they finally perish. — Nabes. We are inclined in the first instance to suppose that the notion of curative efforts may be taken from the type of an animal licking its wounds; Greek, Xti^fij/; Gothic, ligon ; Gaelic, Ugh, to lick. But it is more probable that the radical idea is the applica- tion of medicinal herbs. — Wedgwood. CrafltC. — Lighich, to let blood, to lance ; ligliiche, leigh, a surgeon, a blood- letter, a doctor, a phlebotomist ; leigheas, a cure ; leigheis, to heal, to cure. LEG. — The lower limb of the human body. Old Norse, leggr, a stalk or stem ; arm- leggr, the upper joint of the arm; hand- leggr, the fore-arm ; gras-leggr, a stalk of grass. — Wedgwood. The English word is more likely to be a softening, with the omission of the guttural, of the ©ratltC. — JJorg, a staff, a support; lurg, a shank, a stem, a stalk. The word is not traceable to the Teutonic beiit, the French jambe, or the Latin crus or tibia. LEIGER, LEIDGER, or LEDGER (Obsolete). — A resident ambassador at a foreign court, a plenipotentiary. L This word has been variously derived from liegan, Saxon, to lie; from legger, Dutch, and from legatus, Latin. — Naees. Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven, Intends you for his swift ambassador, Where you shall be an everlasting leiger. Measure for Measure. You have dealt discreetly to obtain the presence Of all the grave leiger ambassadors To hear Vittoria's trial. White Devil, Old Play.— Nabes. (Gaelic. — Laidir (laidjir), having great power, force, or authority ; potent, plenipotentiary. LEISTER. — A mode of taking salmon at night by attracting them towards the surface by torches held near the water and then driving a spear or other sharp instrument through them, (ffifartt'c. — Leasdair, light, efful- gence, lustre. LEMAN. — A lover; obsolete except in poetry ; a word applied to both sexes, though most commonly to the female, when it signified a concubine. Old English, loveman ; generally supposed to be from the French I'aimant or le mignon, the favourite. — Woeoestee. Let them say of me, as jealous as Ford that searched a hollow walnut for his wife's leman. — Merry Wives of Windsor. And angry Jove $rj hideous storme of raine Did pour into his leman s lap. Faerie Queene. A corruption of the (Gaelic. — Lean, to follow; leanachd, pursuit ; leannanach, amorous ; leannan- achd, courtship; leanamhain, a sweet- heart, a follower. LESS. — Comparative of little. ©raeltc — Lugha, comparative of beag, little, less, least. LEVEL-COIL. — An old English phrase of which the meaning has been long obscured. Nares seems to 2 260 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY think it was the name of a sport or diversion as actually played as a game at whist'might be. If he had reflected upon the meaning of the old song, " The Shaking of the Sheets," he might have discovered a clue to the real inter- pretation. Level-coil, a game of which we seem to know no more than that the loser in it was to give up his place, to be occupied by another. Minsheu gives it thus, " to play at level-coil, ■jouer a cul levS, i. e. to play and lift up your taile when you have lost the game and let another sit down in your place. Coles in his English Dictionary seems to derive it from the Italian leva il ciilo, and calls it also hitch buttock, — Nabes. (BfaellC. — Leaba, bed ; coilce, bed- clothes. This phrase in its English dress signifies amorous sport or dalli- ance. Nares cites several instances of its uses from the poetry of the seven- teenth century which are all suscepti- ble of this interpretation : — Young Justice Bramble has kept level-coil Here in our quarters ; stole away our daugh- ter.— Tale of a Tub. Yes ! yes ! said she, and told him then, What level coyle had been. — Qoain's Italian Taylor and, his Boy, 1609. Buggins is drunk all night, all day he sleepes, That is the level coyle that Buggins keepes. Heeeick. He carelessly consumes the golden pelf, In getting which his father damned himself. Whose soule (perhaps) in quenchless lire doth broyle, Whilst on the earth his son plays level coyle. Taylob, 1630. By the help of this globe I made her con- fess that the Alderman and one Bilboe play level de coyle with her. — The Cheats, 1662. These quotations all show that the phrase was not applied to any ordinary game or diversion such as Nares imagines, but that it had a particular meaning well understood at the time. Even if the derivation of Minsheu and Coles were correct, it would only convey in a grosser form the meaning ex- pressed more delicately in the Gaelic. LEVIN. — Ancient English for light- ning. Levin bolt.- — The thunder-bolt. Lightning ; from Anglo-Saxon hlifian, to shine. — Naees. Chaucer rhymes the word with "heaven" and imprecates vengeance on the scorners of women in a magnificent line : — Thus sayest thou, lovel, when thou goes to bed, And that no wise man needeth for to wed, Ne no man that intendeth unto heaven, With wild thunder dint and fiery levin ! Mote thy welked neck be to be broke. Lost Beauties of the English Language. CRadtC. — Liobh, liomh (leev), polish, burnish, sharpen; liomhanach (leevanach) , glittering, bright, sharp, sudden. LEWD. — Indecent, obscene. The modern use of this word differs entirely from its original meaning, and is not suggested as many have supposed by the Latin ludus. It is the same as the German leute, people, a multitude, and was primarily used in the sense of the ignorant or uninformed many, or laity (see Lay), as opposed to the in- structed few, and especially to the clergy. Lewd, leute, lay, laity, leod, loewd, are all abbreviations or corrup- tions of the dSatXic— Sluagh, a people, a host, an army, a multitude ; sluaghach, sluaghail, populous, multitudinous, thickly in- habited. From the root of sluagh, and by the elision of the initial consonant, comes the Gaelic luchd, people, folk ; a noun that does not signify so large a multitude as sluagh, but a smaller gathering, such as is conveyed in the phrases luchd amharc, spectators, literally people who look on; luchd anachaint, revilers, slanderers, people who speak evil; luchd eolais, acquaintances, or OJ? THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 261 people known to us, &c. From luchd rather than from sluagh comes the English and German form of a word which has been very widely spread over the world. In the Grammar of the Pure and Mixed East Indian Dialects by Herasim Lebedeff, 1801, the word appears as log, the people. Log also does duty as the mark of the plural; hap, a father; lap-log, fathers. The German word schlecht, bad, appears to have undergone a similar metempsy- chosis to that of the English lewd, and to have been derived from the primitive Gaelic sluagh. The modern German volk ; English, folic ; is from the Gaelic luchd ; with the prefix_/o, under ; whence fo-luchd, the under people. See Folk, Minsheu derives this word from the Belgian luy, ley, idle ; or the Teutonic leidig, wicked, or sad ; from leid, sadness ; as we say, a sad fellow. It may also be drawn from the Anglo-Saxon leode, the common people, who are most prone to lewdness. It alludes to the Greek \vtos, a dissolute man. — Gazophy- lacium Anglicanum. LICK (Vulgar and Colloquial).— To beat, to thrash ; " a lick on the head/' i. e. a blow on the head. Ancient Cant, lycke ; Welsh, llachio, to strike. — Slang Dictionary. I have licked Butt. . . . Now I have licked him, I have made it up with him. — Loed Lttton, Eenelm Chillingley. In Kymric or Welsh llach signifies a ray of light, a blow, or a slap ; llachffon and llachbren, a cudgel. It is possible that this may be the etymon, but equally possible that the root is the dVaclic. — Leac, a stone, a flat stone, a slate. To throw a stone at a person, to strike with a stone, this came to signify to beat generally; whence the word lick in the sense of a blow or a beating. Leachad, a slap on the face ; leag, to throw down (the stones), to destroy, to demolish, are all words that are connected with the original idea of a stone, a stoning, a beating. It is a curious coincidence in English slang language that a beating is called a slating, though this latter word (which see) is derived from the Gaelic slat, a wand. LICKS (Slang).— "To put in big licks" to make great exertions. "To put in big licks," a curious and common phrase, meaning that great exertions are being made. — Dkyden, North. Slang Dictionary. This phrase probably originated in the building of a cairn, a monumental pile to a departed hero or great man among the ancient Kelts, and signified the putting of a large or several large stones to the edifice, from the ©aelic. — Leac, leachd, a stone, a flat .stone. LILLILO (Northern and Provincial). — A bright flame. — Halliwell. CJraeltC. — Li, light, colour, tinge ; la, latha, lo, day; i.e. lililo, or li-la-lo, colour bright as day. LILT (Lowland Scotch). — A merry song sung rapidly; "the lark is lilting in the lift." In Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary a " lilt " is also interpreted " a large pull in drinking, frequently repeated." The leading idea in both cases is rapidity. Lodola (Italian). — The lark. Alouette (French). — The lark. (BJadtC, — Lu, luath, swift; ' luailte, speed, despatch, haste ; luailtich, to accelerate, to move merrily and rapidly forward. LILY. — The well-known flower that 26.2 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY next to the rose is the popular favourite. (SiaellC. — Hath (<^-a),pale; &, colour; whence lily, the flower of the pale colour. LIMB. — The arm or leg of the human body. Sometimes used metaphorically for the branch of a tree. From the Saxon lim. — Johnson. Anglo-Saxon, lim ; Danish, lem, a joint of the body. Norse, limr, a branch. — Wedg- wood. Lime, glue, the part of an animal joined as it were to the body, as an arm or a leg. — Stobmonth. (j&aclic. — Lamh, an arm or hand; laimh, genitive of lamh. The word that originally signified the arm was extended in its meaning to include the lower members of the body. The deri- vation from lime to glue first suggested, but not supported by Mr. Wedgwood, scarcely merits consideration. LIMEHOUND.— A greyhound. Limier, (French) . — A bloodhound. Limmer. — A mongrel dog, engendered between a hound and a mastiff. — Ash. Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach or lim. Shakspeaee, King Lear. Limehound, a dog held in a, leash ; from Latin, ligamen, a tie; Old French, liamen, u tie. — Wedgwood. Limehound, a limmer or large dog led by a learn or string, used in hunting the wild boar. — Wobcesteb. Limier, sorte de gros chien de chasse, bracco da seguito. — Albebti's French and Italian Dictionary. Learn, a collar for hounds. A ?eamhound was an old term applied to some sort of dog. Weight's Provincial Dictionary. Lyam, a thong or leash. Blome makes a distinction between leash' and lyam. " The string used to lead a greyhound is called a leese, and for a hound a lyam." — Halliwell. If lime or learn in the sense of a string or leash were the true source of this word, some trace of a similar etymology would be found for the French limier, the same as the English limehound. But lime in French means an iron file, and no word in that language signifying a cord, string, or leash has the slightest affinity with that word. Possibly the root is not learn or lime, but the ($kM\\t. — Leum, to leap, to jump, to spring ; leumadair, a jumper, a springer; leumnach, starting, skipping, leaping. Thus limier and limehound would signify a jumping or leaping hound, necessary to be held in leash to prevent him from springing or leaping till let loose for the hunter's purpose. LIMMER (Lowland Scotch). — A word of opprobrium. Applied to a man it often expresses a charge of dishonesty or scoundrelism, and to a woman of unchastity. It is often used as a mere expression of wrath or displeasure against a child. The word lymmer is used in Hollinshed's History of Ireland, quoted by Nares : — " Wrong which had been offered him by these lymmers and robbers." The original idea seems to have been that of a quarrelsome, unpleasant, un- ruly person, from the (J&aelic. — Leum, to fight, to quarrel, to wrangle ; and also to leap, to spring ; leumadair, a leaper, one who leaps, or breaks out of the bounds of law, order,, and propriety. Possibly the common English expression applied contemptu- ously to a lawyer, " a limb of the law," is from the same root. In Roxburgh- shire, according to Jamieson, the phrase, " a perfect limb" or limb of the devil," means a wicked and quarrelsome person. LINCEUL (French).— A winding sheet, a shroud. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 263 ©aelic. — Linnseach, a shroud, a grave- cloth ; also a covering of coarse linen, anciently worn by delinquents when doing penance before a congregation. LINE. — To impregnate, applied to dogs and other quadrupeds. • Line, lineage. Latin, linea, originally a thread, a string, a fishing-line; thence aline, track or trace ; the line of descent from father to son, whence lineage, a line of ancestors. — Wedgwood. (SXaelic. — Lion, to fill, replenish; lionadh, filling, replenishing, populating; lionmhor, numerous, plentiful ; lion- mhoraich, to increase, to multiply, to procreate. LINEAGE.— A "line" of ancestry, a man's " lineage/' These words are commonly derived from the same root as " line J ' in mathe- mathics. Mr. Wedgwood adheres to this idea and says the source is the Latin linea, originally a linen thread or string, a fishing-line; thence a line, track, or trace, the " line " of descent from father to son; whence lineage, a line of ancestry, &c. The true derivation is the' (JBfaeltC. — Lion, to replenish, to mul- tiply, and metaphorically to replenish or people the earth, to increase; lion- mhoraick, to increase greatly in numbers; lionadh, replenishment ; lionta, filled, multiplied, replenished; linn, line, a generation. "Cinnidh Clann Fhear- chair gus an deiche line." — Mackintosh's Collection of Gfaelio Proverbs. " The Clan Farquhar will flourish till the tenth generation." LINEN.— A cloth woven of flaxen thread. The root lin, flax, appears in the Greek, the Latin, the German, the French, the Italian, the Spanish, and nearly all the ancient and modern languages of Europe. ffiaellC. — Lin, a thread of lion, or flax ; lion, a web or net of threads, a fishing- net; lion, flax, lint ; lion-aodach, a linen sheet, a linen cloth. LINNET. — A well-known singing bird. So called for its feeding on the seed of flax (lint) ; Anglo-Saxon, linetwige; French, linot. — Woecesteb. ©a cite. — Luinne, melody, soft music; luinneach, melodious ; luinneag, the chorus of a song. LIQUOR. — A flowing, loose substance, such as water. Liquid. — That which flows as water, wine, oil, &c. Latin, liquidus, liqueo. ffifaflic. — Leagh, to melt, cause to melt, or make liquid. LIRRIPOOP or Leeeipoop. — " A word," says Nares, "sometimes used without any definite meaning, chiefly, I presume, from its droll and bur- lesque sound, as where in Beaumont and Fletcher a girl is called a young liny-poop. Lyly twice used it to express a degree of knowledge or acuteness. There's a girl that knows her leripoop. — Mother Bomhie. Thou may'st he skilled in thy logic, but not in thy lerrypoop. — Sappho and Phaon. In this mode it was very current." (SraeliC. — Leir, whole; purp, faculties of the mind; purpail, courageous; whence lerry-poop or lirripoop as an epithet would signify one in full possession of all the mental faculties. See Nincom- poop. LITH (Lowland Scotch). — A joint, a vertebra. 264 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Theve is much force in that reply of old Lord Auchinleck, Boswell's father, to Doctor Johnson, when they were quarrelling over the character of the Great Protector, and the sturdy old English Tory pressed the no less sturdy old Scottish Whig hard to say what good Cromwell had ever done to his country : " He gart kings ken that they had a lith — a joint — 'in their neck." — Daily Telegraph, Dec. 3, 1875. GSk&tMt.—Luth, a joint; luthdag, a hinge, a joint. LO ! — An interjection, commonly sup- posed to be abbreviated from "look!" But in such phrases as "Lo! I be- held;" "Lo! I was awakened and saw," &c, the derivation is certainly pleonastic, even if it be assumed that it is correct. In \ea>, to fight ; fiaKot, struggle, toil of war. — Woecestee. ffiaelt'C. — Maille, slowness, tardiness, painful effort, deficiency, want of strength. MOIS (French).— A month. ©raelic. — Mios, a month; miosach, monthly ; miosachan, a monthly calen- dar. MOIST. — Damp, vapoury, muggy. (Q*a?ItC. — Muig, gloomy, misty, va- poury, dark, moist. iSgmtic. — Mwyd, moist, damp. MOKE (Slang).— An ass, a donkey. Originally a gipsy word, but now general to all the lower orders ; a coster(monger) and his moJce are almost inseparable terms. Pro- bably derived originally from the Arabic al moereve, a carrier. — Slang Dictionary. The word "pig" is often used as a term of contempt to an animal, espe- 294 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY cially one that is stubborn, which suggests the ffiaeltc. — Muc, a pig; mucacli, pig- gish, obstinate, surly. MOLE. — A mass of masonry con- structed on the sea coast as a break- water. Latin, moles, a large mass. — Chambers. ©arltC — Mol, a sea beach. MOLL (Slang). — A woman. Molly-coddle (Slang). — An effemi- nate man, or one who prefers female society to that of his own sex. Moll'd (Slang). — Followed about by a woman. Moll-sack (Slang). ^-A woman's reticule or market bag. Moll-tooleb, (Slang) . — A female pickpocket. Molly. — A familiar term for one whose name is Mary. There is an old English song in which the first of these words is used either in the sense of moll, a woman ; or of Moll, the familiar name for Mary : — Moll in the wad and I fell out, You ask me what 'twas all about? She had money, and I had none, That was the way the row begun. The word in all its varieties and modifications has been derived from the Latin mollis, soft, signifying one of the softer sex ; and from mulier, a woman or wife. The Italians have the word moglie, a spouse; and the Portuguese molherona, a big woman; and molhesiusa, a little woman, a wench. In Warwickshire, according to Mr. Thomas Wright in his Provincial Dic- tionary, a mollhem signifies a female heron. (SXafltC. — Moilean, a plump, healthy girl ; moilteach, a plump, pleasant little woman ; moileanach, a plump little child. MOLLYGRUBS, MULLIGRUBS (Vulgar and Colloquial).— The cholie, pains or rumbling in the stomach. Mollygrubs or mulligrubs, stomach-ache or sorrow, which to the costennongeris much the same, as he believes, like the ancients, that the viscera are the seat of all feeling. — Slang Dictionary. A corruption of the (Gaelic. — Maodal, the stomach; maodalach, a corpulent person, one with a large stomach; gromhan {groffan), a rumbling noise, growling, grumbling, grunting. MOLROWING (Slang).— Frequent- ing the company of dissolute women. Out on the spree, in company with so-called gay women. In allusion to the amatory sere- nading of the London cats. Moll, a girl ; a nickname for Mary. — Slang Dictionary. ©atltC. — Maol, foolish, silly; ruain- each, forward, impudent ; maol-ruainidh, an idle and lewd female fond of places of public resort. MONGER. — A retail dealer; one who trades in small articles, as distin- guished from a wholesale merchant. Anglo-Saxon, mangian, to traffic, to trade; m anger e, a trader. Often derived from Latin mango, a slave-dealer, a horse-dealer, but it is very unlikely that this term which has left no root in the Romance languages should so widely have taken root in the Teu- tonic and Scandinavian. — Wedgwood. fiRaellC. — Min, small; min-ghear, to cut into small pieces; minig, often, frequent, in small pieces or intervals; minich, to make small ; whence by cor- ruption miniger and monger, one who makes his profits out of small articles by a rapid trade. MONILE (Latin).— A necklace. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 295 Monile baccatitm. — A pearl neck- lace. An ornament for any part of the body, but chiefly for the neck, of which word the etymology is uncertain. — Ainswobth's Latin Dictionary. (Gfadt'c. — Muineal, the neck. MONKEY.— An ape ; one of the mam- malia having a resemblance to man too close to be agreeable. Breton, mouna, mounika, a female ape ; Italian, mona, monna. . . . Probably at first a fondling; name for a eat ; French, minou, minet. — Wedgwood. ©arllC. — Muing, a mane; muingeacli, having: a mane. MOOE (Slang).— The mouth. Faike la motje (French) . — To make a grimace. Mug (Slang). — An " ugly mug," i. e. an ugly face or expression of face. (BapltC. — Muig, a frown, an austere look ; mugach, gloomy, sullen, frowning. MOON-RAKER (Slang).— An old term for a very stupid person. A native of Wiltshire, because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, took it to be a cheese, and endeavoured to pull it out with a rake. — Slang Dictionary. OXacItC. — Meunan, to gape, to yawn like a fool ; rag, obstinate, also a term of contempt for a mean fellow. MOONEY (Slang).— Dull, stupid. To go " mooning about " is to go about in an idle, vacant, listless, manner. The word has no connexion with the moon, or lunacy, but is from the (SraeliC. — Meunan, to yawn; meunan- ach, listless, stupid, yawning from stupidity, sleepiness, or intoxication. MOOR. — An extensive tract of heath or uncultivated land, whether of plain or mountain. Perhaps from the English word mere, a marsh. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Dutch, moer ; Teutonic, modeler, clay ; a marsh, a fen, a bog; a tract of low and watery ground. — Johnson. From the Anglo-Saxon mor, waste land, whether heath, bog, or mountain. — Wob- CESTEE. CRarttC. — Mor, large, great; hence a large space. The modern English phrase " to go out into the open " sug- gests the corresponding phrase in ancient Gaelic, " to go out into the large," i. e. the mor ; — or moor. MOOR (Nautical). — Amarer (French). To fasten a ship by chain, cable, or anchor. French, amarer ; Dutch, maren; Anglo- Saxon, merran; Old German, merjan, to hinder. — Chambebs. (Gaelic. — Amar, a chain or cable ; a narrow rocky channel or place where it was proper todrop anchor in bad weather; the bed of a river; muir, the sea. MORE (EVERMORE).— The syllable "more" in this poetical word does not appear to have any connexion with " more," the comparative of the adjective "much" or "many." "Ever" by itself, as in the phrase " for ever," admits of nothing beyond; and the phrases " for ever " and " for ever- more " are identical in meaning. Whence then the " more " ? CSneliC. — Mair, to last, to continue, to endure, to survive. Thus "ever mair " in Lowland Scotch, and " ever- more " in English would be the same as "ever-enduring," "everlasting." Mair- eannacli, mairth&an, long enduring, everlasting, perpetual. 296 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY MORGANATIC MARRIAGE.— A marriage contracted by a person of imperial or royal rank with a subject, but conveying to the issue no right to the throne, title, or status of the father. In Low Latin, during the middle ages, when the idea of this distinction between a husband of high and a wife of lower degree originated, such marriage was called morganatica, a Keltic word which the earliest philologists and lawyers did not understand. Misled by a similarity in sound to the German morgen, the morning, they interpreted it to signify morgen-gabe, or a morning giit, given by such a husband to his bride, to imply that beyond that " morning gift " she had nothing to look for in the way of dowry for herself, or inheritance for her children. There is no proof that such "morning gifts" were ever bestowed, though all philologists have taken the fact as indisputable (except Johnson, whose Dictionary does not contain the word). It is possible that the coiners of mediaeval Latin, in Latinizing a Keltic word in common use, led succeed- ing etymologists astray, and that the true roots of " morganatic " are the Charlie. — Meur, a branch or finger; gineadh, generating, begetting ; whence meur-gineadh, a generation of offspring on a branch, instead of on the main or royal stem. This is offered as a sugges- tion, not as an assertion, though more likely to be correct than the derivation of the word from morgen-gabe, for which there is no sufficient authority. MORGLAY.— The name of the sword of Sir Bevis of Hampton in the early Arthurian romances. See Dtjein- DANE. fflfaellC. — Claidheamli {clay or glaive), a sword; mor, great; whence the modern "claymore," a broad sword. " Morglay" is but a transposition of these syl- lables. MOSAIC. — A term applied to orna- mentation by means of small pieces of glass, brick, stone, or other mate- rial, inlaid so as- to form designs; thus utilizing what might otherwise from its minuteness and apparent worthlessness have been thrown a- way. Mid-Latin, mosaicum opus. The origin of the word is unknown. — Wedgwood. Greek, fiova-c ws, belonging to the Muses. — Chambers. GBradiC. — Mosach, worthless, insig- nificant, small pieces; mosaiche, insig- nificance, parsimony. In this sense a piece of " mosaic " is a work composed of the little insignificant pieces that are parsimoniously or economically turned to account. MOTE (obsolescent). — A court. The word survives in the City of London in " ward-mote," the court or public meeting of the inhabitants of the wards, into which the City is divided. Moot. — A moot point, a point to be decided. Anglo-Saxon, motian, from mot, an assem- bly, akin to metan, to meet. — Chambers. Crabbe says from Latin movere, to move. Johnson suggests the French mot, a word. — Worcester. (ffiraelic. — Mod, a court of justice, an assembly for discussion; modach, holding courts or meetings. MOTLEY.— Of various colours. Welsh, mudlio, a changing colour ; from mud, ohange, axii'lliw, colour. — Webster. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 297 ©aellC. — Muth, to change ; li or lid A, colour, tinge, hue. MOTT (Slang) .—A girl, usually applied to one of bad character, but originally a term of affection. ©atll'C. — Maoth, soft, tender, delicate, young, loveable. MOTTO. — A choice of words in epi- grammatic form describing the pride, custom, or rule of conduct of a family, a sovereign or a private person. Mot (French) . — A word. Literally a word muttered ; a sentence or phrase prefixed to anything intimating the subject of it ; a phrase attached to a device. — Wedgwood and Chambers. This very insufficient explanation, wholly wrong as regards muttering, with which the French mot, a spoken word, has nothing to do, leaves out of sight morality, always implied in a "motto." A nearer approach to the true meaning is supplied in the (HJaeltC. — Mod, a judgment, a decision; modh, a mode, a fashion ; good breeding, manners. MOU, MOLLE (French).— Soft. Mollify. — To soften, to appease, to conciliate. Latin, mollis, soft ; mvllio, to soften. — Chambers. ffiafltC. — Maoth (t silent), soft, ten- der, delicate. MOULT.— To lose the feathers. There is no reason to suppose the word to be borrowed from the Latin muto, to change. Wedgwood. Old English, mout; German, mausen; French, muer, from root of mew, to change. — Chambers. (SVatliC. — Maol, bald, bare ; to make bald ; maolte, maolaichte, made bald. itgmric. — Moel, bare ; moeli, to make bare or bald. Irish, maol; Cornish, moel, bare. MOUNT, MOUNTAIN.— A high hill. Mound. — An artificial hill or hillock. Latin, mons ; French, montagne. (ffiaeltC. — Monadk, a mountain. MOURN. — To lament, to grieve, to deplore. Mournful. — Sorrowful, lamentable. Morne (French). — Sorrowful, sad. Anglo-Saxon, murnan, to lament, deplore. — Gazopkylacium Anylicanum. Old German, mornen, to grieve ; maurnan, to be troubled about ; Gaelic, mairgnich, to groan, to sob. — Chambers. Latin, wuereo. — Worcester. CSradtC. — Mairg, pitiable, deplorable ; a subject of pity ; mairgne, woe, sor- row ; mairgneach, woeful, sorrowful j mairgnich, to mourn, to lament, to be- wail, to deplore. MOURNIVAL.— The four aces, or four court cards; formerly used in a game called Gleak or Gleek. A mournival of healths To our new-crown'd king. Cavalier Ballad, temp. Charles II It is possible that four aces or court cards, dealt to one person in a game, would be very cheerfully received, and that this idea is the true source of this singular word, derived from the ffiaf ItC. — Mnirn, cheerfulness; muirn- each, joyful, pleasant; ImiMe, a stroke; whence muirneach bhuile, a pleasant stroke (of chance or fortune). See Gleek. MUCH.— A great quantity. French, heaucoup ; German, viel ; Spanish, mucAo. q q 298 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY This word, peculiar to the English, the Spanish, and Portuguese, has not relation to the Teutonic or Norman- French sources of the language. It appears clearly traceable to the ©raelt'c. — Moid (pronounced molge), comparative of mor, great. MUCK (of sweat). Vulgar.— A profuse perspiration. iSraeltC. — Muck, to smother, stifle, quench ; whence a " muck of sweat," a smothering or stifling perspiration. MUCK.— Rubbish, manure, dirt, filth, dung ; refuse in a state of rottenness. The cleansings of cattle stalls; from North- ern (Icelandic), moha, to shovel, to cast aside with a shovel. In the same way the German mist, seems to he from the Bohemian mesti, to sweep. — Wedgwood. A mass of decayed vegetable matter, any- thing low and filthy. Anglo-Saxon, meox, Icelandic, mocha ; root of the Latin, macero, to sleep. — Chambees. ffiacliC. — Mugh, to begin to rot, decay, deteriorate; mucail, dirty, swinish ; maithaich it silent, ma-aich), manure, muck ; mathachadh, act of manuring land, mucking; anything which enriches the land. -To beat, to over- MUCK (Slang), power, subdue. " Its no use, luck's set in him ; he'd much a thousand." — Matthew. Much out, often applied to one utterly ruining an adversary in gambling. — Slang Dictionary. (SSHEltC. — Much, to extinguish, put out, quell, subdue, press upon, squeeze ; muig, quench, suffocate, extinguish, subdue. MUCK-MIDDEN.— A dust-hole; a receptacle for rubbish; the place for the deposit of the refuse of a dwelling- house or farm. The heap known in thejtne Old Saxon of the Midland Counties as the muck-midden. — Daily Telegraph, June 8, 1875. The " fine old Saxon " is not Saxon at all, but ©afltC. — Maithaich (^silent, ma-aich), muck, manure; maithaichte, manured, mucked ; rn.eadh.on, the centre, the _ middle; whence "muck-midden," maith- aich meadhon, the central place or re- ceptacle of the muck or manure. MUPE (Slang).— A fool, a simpleton. Mufle, Muefe (French Slang). — A mason; also a fool. Nous ne savons quelle circonstance a valu a ces honnetes ouvriers (les masons) vm tel nom. Aujourd'hui le peuple donne le nom de muffe aux gens qu'il veut traiter de laid ou de sot. — Feancisque Michel, Dictionnaire d' Argot, The origin of " mufie," abbreviated into " muff," appears to be the (ffiaellC. — Mi-bhuil {mi-vuil), from mi-bhuilich, to misapply, to misunder- stand, to mismanage ; whence the transi- tion is easy to the idea of incompetency or folly. MUFFIN.— A species of bread or cake, much used in England for breakfast or tea. ffiaell'C. — Maoth (mac), soft j lonnach, bhonnach (vonnach), a cake; whence mao-vonnach or mao-von, a muffin, a soft cake. MUG (Slang). — The face, more especi- ally an ugly face; sometimes used for the mouth. " Mug," signifying a drinking utensil or jug, seems to have derived the name from the representation of a face, often and still used as a design for the handle, and sometimes for the cup or bowl itself. Public-houses in London were OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 299 at the end of the -seventeenth and besin- ing of the eighteenth century called " mug houses." In the famous " Mug House " riots which broke out in Salis- bury Court, Fleet Street, in 1718, when the then Lord Shaftesbury was highly unpopular, the "mugs" had a rude representation of his Lordship's face, or his ugly " mug." Goblet and Mug — Topers should bear in mind that what they quaff from the goblet afterwards appears in the mug. — Slang Dic- tionary. (Kaelic. — Muig, a discontented ex- pression of countenance, a frown ; mnig- ean, a disagreeable, surly person, with a continual frown upon his face. The English " mug," and the Gaelic muig, reappear in the French word morgue, which M. Littre describes as of "un- known origin." He says, "Morgue, the face, a serious and proud counte- nance." The word does not appear in the language before the sixteenth century. According to Menage morgue also signi- fies the place where the dead are exposed in order that their faces may be recog- nized. The word is also applied to the little chamber at the entrance of prisons where the prisoners are exhibited to the gaolers, in order that they may be afterwards recognized. MUGGY.— Close, suffocating, thick, sultry, moist, commonly applied to the weather. Corrupted from mucky. — Johnson. From the Welsh mwg, smoke. — Wobces- TEB. Old Norse, mugga, dark, thick weather ; Gaelic, muig, smother, quench, become misty, gloomy. — Wedgwood. (StaellC. — Much, to suffocate; much ach, suffocating, stifling; muig, muigeach, cloudy, dark, . suffocating ; muigeil, misty, dark, obscure, close; muchadh, suffocation. | Q q MULCT. — A penalty or money pay- ment imposed or exacted as a punish- ment for an offence or crime. Multuke (French, mouiure). — The miller's fee for grinding corn. Mutton. — The flesh of sheep; ori- ginally applied only to that of the wedder, wether, or castrated sheep. In Italian mutton is still called castrato. Latin, mulcto, to fine. Italian, multare. — Woecesteb. Latin, mulcta, a fine of money imposed. — Wedgwood. Mutton; Mid Latin, multo ; French, mouton, a castrated sheep. Old French, molt ; Welsh, mollt, mollwyn; Breton, maout, a wether. — Wedgwood. These three words " mulct," " mul- ture," and " mutton," that seem to have so little in common, are all traceable to the (EfaeltC. — Mult, a sheep, a wedder ; mullean, a little sheep ; mult-fheoil, mutton, the flesh of sheep. On this subject the author of Thoughts on the Origin and Descent of the Gael (1844), says, — " The multa of the Romans was a fine, or that satisfaction which was made to the injured person by delivering to him some portion of the offender's goods. This was done by the delivery of a sheep to the injured part3 r . ... It is worthy of observation that it was said by M. Varro that multa was not a, Latin but a Sabine word, and that it re- mained in his time in use among the Samnites who were of Sabine origin. ... We learn from Pliny that in the imposition of the mult or mulct (as it was afterwards called in Latin), the satisfaction was to be made in sheep before cows or oxen could be adjudged. The highest mult or fine consisted of two sheep and thirty cows or oxen ; the minimal multa was one sheep." In early times, when the use of money was unknown, the miller's fee was paid in kind, which often took the form of a sheep, whence the word " mul- ture." 2 300 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY MULE. — A hybrid and barren animal, half horse, half ass. The same term is applied to birds, the offspring of the goldfinch and canary, &c. CfiaeltC. — Maol, bald, bare, barren; maoluin, a mule. MULL. — To sweeten ; " mulled" port, " mulled " claret ; port or claret made warm and sweetened. From the Latin mollio, to soften. — Cham- bbbs. ©raeltC. — Milsig, to sweeten; mil, honey (used before vegetable sugar was known). MULSE. — Sweet wine. — Weight's Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English. ffiafltC. — Millse, millseaclid, sweet- ness ; millseanach, desirous of sweets, or sweetness* MUM (Colloquial).— Silent. "Mum's the word." Mum-Budget. — A cant word, im- plying silence, or "be silent, you fool!" An imitative word, the sound made with the lips closed, the least articulate sound a person can make ; silent ; not speaking. — Stobmokth. CUafltC. — Maoim, terror, alarm) danger ; boidsear, a fool, a blockhead. MUMMERY. — Masquerade, a gro- tesque dress, to amuse or frighten. Dutch, mommen, to mask ; mom, a mask, from the inarticulate sounds made by the per- formers. — Chambebs. The primary idea of "mummery" is not from the word " mum/' mute, silent; but from the terror sought to be inspired in ignorant minds, either by the dressing up of a person in frightful guise, or by the simulacrum of the scooped turnip, with a lantern inside, hoisted on the top of a pole with a sheet; hanging around it in folds, such as used to be employed in English villages to scare the superstitious vulgar. ffiaeltc. — Maoim, terror, alarm; maoimeack, causing terror; maoimeadh, state of being alarmed or terrified. MUNIFICENT. -Giving abundantly and generously from one's wealth. Means. — Property, wealth ; " a man of means," i. e. a man possessed of property and wealth, or, in a cor- responding sense, of means to ac- complish his ends. " Munificent " and " munificence " have been introduced into the English from the Latin munus, a gift, although at first glance they seem to have no relation to "means," and the French synonym moyens, yet both are traceable to the CRaeltC. — Maoin, wealth, property, substance, riches. MUNLOCH (Lowland Scotch).— A dirty puddle. ffiaeltC. — Mun, urine ; loch, a pool, a pond, a puddle. MURGE (Obsolete, 14th century).— To gladden, to be merry, to make merry. In May it murgeth when it dawns. — Weight's Specimens of Early English. Percy Society. 1842. ffiaellf. — Mear, merry, joyful, playful, sportive ; mir, to sport, to play. MURLE (Lowland Scotch) .—To crum- ble, or crumb. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 301 Muelie.— That which can be crum- bled, friable. ffiaell'c. — Mir, a crumb; mirean, a little piece, a fragment, a crumb. MURMUR.— A low indistinct sound, a complaint in a low sad voice. Derived from the Bound of running water. — Chambebs. A representation of a sound like that of running waters, the wind among branches, &c. Latin, murmurare ; Greek, ixoppvpeiv. A similar element is seen in the French, mar- matter, to mutter. — "Wedgwood. Le mur murant Paris rend Paris mur- murant. — Jules Janin. CRaeltC. — Muir, the sea; whence by- duplication muir-muir, an imitation of the noise made by the waves upon the shore. MURRAIN. — A disease among cattle. Mumi (Old English). — A catarrh, a cold in the head. The word occurs frequently in old English poetry. Deaf ears, blind eyes, the palsy, gout and murr. Eowland, 1613. The murr, the head-ache, the catarrh, the bone-ache. — Chapman. Lost Beauties of the English Language, 1874. Latin, morior, to die. — Skinneb. Greek, jiapaiva, to waste. — Minsheit. Anglo-Saxon, myrran, to mar, to destroy. — Richaedson. French, morine, a dead carcass. — Wedg- wood. (SrafltC. — Muire, a disease; a word afterwards applied pre-eminently to one particular form of disease, the leprosy. MUSTA (Slang).— A sample. An Anglo-Indian term used in describing the make or pattern of anything. ; generally used in mercantile transactions, all over the world. — Slang Dictionary. flSraeltC. — Mu, about, concerning, in regard of; sta, use, utility, advantage, profit, service. MUTABLE.— Changeable. Mutability. — Change. These words adopted into English immediately from the Latin have their root in the CRaellC. — Muth, to change, to alter; muthtach, changeable ; muthadh, change. MUTTON (Slang).— A woman, a loose woman, a concubine ; a derisive term for a woman of bad character. Mutton-monger. — Scortator; a fre- quenter of the company of dissolute women. Laced mutton. — A prostitute. As a slang term this word was employed by Ben Jonson in his Masque of Neptune's Triumph. Shakspeare uses it. In that class of English Society which lays no claim to re- finement, a fond lover is spoken of as being "fond of his mutton." — Slang Dictionary. SJaeltC. — Muthadh, mitthan, change, variety ; i. e. one that may be changed, or that is changed according to caprice or fancy; maoth'an,& young woman or person, anything tender or soft. Another derivation is suggested from mutan, any- thing worn by time or disease. MY EYE! — A vulgar exclamation of surprise or pleasure. dSfSLcUc. — Mo, my; doigh, hope, con- fidence ; mo-dhoigh (pronounced mo-yoy), my hope ! my expectation ! i. e. "It is as I thought ! my hope is realized \" a com- mon Gaelic exclamation. See the song of Mridh Clan Dhomhnuil in Lieutenant Donald McLeod's Poetry and Music of the Highland Clans. 302 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY NAG. — A small, useful horse. Dutch, negge ; Scottish, naig, a horse ; Anglo-Saxon, hnaegan, to neigh. — Wobces- TEB, ChAMBEBS, &C. ffiafltC. — Each, a horse; whence the English /lack, a horse let for hire; and by corruption and misplacement of the aspirate, an hack, and a " nag/' NAIF and Naive (French, the latter form of the word generally adopted in English) . — Simple, innocent, artless. Provencal, natue ; Espagnol et Italien, nativo ; du Latin notivus, qui vient de n atus — ne. — Littee. OraeltC. — Naomh (naov), holy, pure, guileless; naoidhean, a child, an infant without guile. NAKED. — Bare, uncovered ; without clothing, without concealment. Anglo-Saxon, naced, nacod ; Old German, nakod ; German, nackt ; Sanscrit, nagna, akin to Latin nudus, naked ; Sanscrit, naj, to be ashamed. — Chambees. C&acltC. — Nochd, reveal, show, dis- cover, uncover; nochdadh, a revelation, a discovery, a showing; nochta, bare, uncovered. This word is derived by Dr. Stratton from ne, not; and eudachte, clothed; but the sense of uncovering seems preferable. See the kindred word Night, which uncovers or reveals the stars that are hidden from our sight in the glare of the sun's beams. NARD (Slang of thieves). — A person who obtains confidence for the purpose of betraying it ; a treacherous in- former. This word has no connexion with the German narr, a fool, but implies dis- honesty rather than folly. <2»aeliC. — Narach, shameful, disgrace- ful, ignominious; narachadh, disgrace. NARGUE (French). — Shame, disgrace. Narquois. — Mocking, railing, de- risive. Nargue du sot qui meurt pour la patrie. — Bebangee. Nargue ; Bas-Latin, naricus, qui fronce le nez ; cc qui fait supposer un verbe naricare, froncer le nez, se moquer ; de naris, narine. — Littee. (Gaelic. — Naire, shame, disgrace; naireach, nairich, narach, to shame, to affront. NARK (Slang) . — A common informer. S'il faut en croire l'Academie, aujourd'hui le mot narquois, familier et peu usite, signifie un homme fin, subtil, ruse, qui se plait a. tromper les autres, ou a s'en moquer. Narquois signifie un membre de l'ancienne famille des gueux. — Michel, Dietionnaire d 'Argot. (iBaeltC. — Naire, shame, disgrace; naireach, narach, shameful, disgraceful ; nairich, to shame. See Nargue and Naed. NASK, NASKIN (Slang).— A prison, a place for the safe keeping of criminals. The NewiVas^.Clerkenwell Prison; Tothill Fields Nash, the Bridewell at Tothill Fields. ■ — Gbose. ffiartic. — Nasff, naisg, to bind, to make fast, to secure ; also to deposit as a pledge. NASTY. — Ill-flavoured, disagreeable, offensive, dirty. Of uncertain etymology. Skinner derives it from the Old German nety, and Modern German nass, wet. — Woecestee. Formerly written nasky. . . . The pig is so generally taken as a type of dirtiness, that the word may well be taken from the Finnish naslci, a pig, as the Latin spurcus, apparently from porcus. — Wedgwood. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 303 - dJJfieltC. — Naitheas (t silent before the aspirate), harm, injury, mischief; naith- easach, injurious, harmful, disagreeable. NAVE. — The middle part or main body of a church, distinct from the aisles or wings. May be drawn from the Greek vaos, a temple. — Philips's New World of Words. Perhaps so called from the resemblance of the roof to the hull of a ship. French, nef ; Spanish, nave; Latin, navis, a ship. — ChamBees. The origin is traceable to the name of the inner circle of a temple, the Holy of Holies, from the ©aelic. — Naomh (naov), holy. NEARDY (Slang). — A person in au- thority over another, a master, a parent, a foreman. A Northern word. — Slang Dictionary. ©a flic — Neart, strength, power, might; neartaich, to strengthen. See Inert. NEAT. — Clean, pure, well arranged, unadulterated. diarlir. — Nigh {nee), to wash, to cleanse; nighte [neete) , cleansed, washed, purified. Sanscrit. — Nig, to cleanse. iSymrtf. — NyiMan, to cleanse, to purify. NECK.— The part of the body that supports the head. German, neigen, to bend ; also given from the root of nape. — Chambees. The Germans call the neck the hah, which has no connexion with neige. The root is the ffiajlic. — An amhach (pronounced an ahach), the neck ; whence by corruption an ack, a nack, a neck. NEGON (Obsolete).— A morose, dis- agreeable person. A niggard, a miser. " Avaryce is a negon." — It. I)e Brunne, MS. Bowes, quoted by Halliwell. (SraeltC. — Neoghain, hatred, ill- humour, surliness ; neo-ghanail, out of humour, peevish, morose. NEGUS.— Wine mixed with water, sugar, and spice. So named because first made in Queen Anne's time, by Colonel Negus.— MaLoNe, Life of Dryden, quoted by Woecestee, Latham, &c. This tradition appears to be as un- founded as that of the origin of the word " Grog" [which see] from Admiral Vernon's coat. It is possible that the name was in the old deep-drinking days first given in contempt to a weaker mixture by some sturdy toper who preferred his wine without water, and that it is traceable to the ffiaclic. — Neo-aogas, unseemly, im- proper, unfit. NEST.— A mare's nest (Slang). To find a mare's nest, to make a mistake or a supposed discovery, founded wholly upon misapprehension. OJaeltC. — Meadheadh (mea-ra), a deception; nios, upwards; from be- low up, i. e. a mare's nest, a deception from the bottom upwards, altogether a deception, a mistake. NEVER, NE'ER.— At no time. Prom the Anglo-Saxon ncefre, or nefre ; we, not ; and mfre, ever. — Chambees. ffiaeltC— Nior, never. NICE. — Agreeable to any of the senses. Philologists have found no better de- rivation for this word than the Latin 304 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY nescius /ignorant, and the French niais, silly, neither of which conveys the modern meaning. Even Mr. Wedgwood seems to despair of tracing it to any better sources. Distrustful however of these, he suggests that possibly the word may be derived from the Piatt Deutsch, or Low German nusseln, nisseln, nailseln, noseln, to sniff at one's food, to turn one's meat over, like a dog with his snout ; to eat without appetite ; to be " nice " in eating. These derivations do not apply to such phrases as a " nice day," a " nice girl," a " nice dress," &c. From the Saxon nese, soft. Accurate in judgment to minute exactness ; delicate, re- fined. Often used to express a culpable delicacy. — Johnson. Simple, silly, ignorant, used in this sense by Chaucer, but now obsolete. — Ash. Nesh, from the Saxon nese, soft, tender, or weak. — Gbose's Provincial Glossary, quoted by Nabes. Ignorant, foolish ; foolishly particular ; hard to please ; i'astidious, refined, delicate dainty, agreeable &c. Prom the French niais, foolish, simple ; the Latin, nescius, ignorant. — Chambees. From the Anglo-Saxon hnese, nese, soft, tender ; nesh, effeminate ; the Old German naschung and nascheren, the eating of dain- ties ; and naschen, to eat dainties. — Wob- CESTEB. ffiaflic— Nais, modest, lovely; naisin, modesty, propriety; naisneachd, nice- ness, modesty, sense of propriety, so- briety, appropriateness; neas, noble, generous ; nine, genitive singular of neas. — Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary. NID (French). — A nest; Latin, nidus. Nidification. — The art of building a nest. Nest. — Anglo-Saxon, nest, nist; Welsh, nyth ; Gaelic, nead, akin to Latin, nidus ; Sanscrit, nida. — Chambees. dSa?ItC. — Nead, a nest; neadach, abounding in nests ; neadaich, to build a nest ; neadaichte, housed, lodged, pro- tected as in a nest. NLDDICOCK.—A fool, a foolish per- son ; affected in dress and manners. — Nabes. , a child, or the Italian neucio, a fool. — Gazophylacium Ancjlicanum. Prom the Greek vevos, foolish. — Junius. A fool, a simpleton. — Johnson. Literally a child ; a fool, a simpleton ; Spanish nino, from the unmeaning word nina, used as a lullahy ; or a contraction of nincompoop, a corruption of the Latin, non compos mentis. — Chambees. ffiaeltC. — Neoni, a nonentity; nothing; a fool, a ninny ; neonach, eccentric, silly ; neonachas, silliness, eccentricity; duine neonach, a simpleton; neo dhuine (pro- nounced neo yuine), an unmanly person, an incompetent person ; a ninny. See Nincompoop. NINNY-HAMMER.— A fool, a block- head; sjrnonymous with ninny and nincompoop, which see. An old ninnyhammer ; a dotard, a nin- compoop, is the best language she can afford me. — Addison, quoted by Johnson. (SracltC. — Neoni, a fool, a nobody ; aomadh, yielding-, submissive, i. e. a soft or yielding fool. NITHE (Obsolete).— Wicked. Nithing — A base wicked man. — Weight. Niding — A coward, a base wretch. — Naees. From the Saxon nith, vileness. Camden says of this word that it had more force than abracadabra or any word of magical use. For when there was a dangerous rebellion against King William Rufus, he required that all subjects should repair to his camp upon no other penalty, but that whoever re- fused to come should be reputed a niding. They swarmed to him immediately from all sides in such numbers that he had in a few days an immense army. — Naees. The word appears to be a Saxon cor- ruption of the (5&aeltC. — Naitheas, harm, injury, animosity, malice; naitheasach, harm- ful, mischievous, injurious. NITTIE (Obsolete) .— Clean,_ pure. Natty (Colloquial) . — Carefully dress- ed. Nittie seems to be used for splendid, as if from nitidus, Latin ; but it also means filthy, from a nit. — Naees. dapper, rare, complete, sweet, nittie youth. Maeston's Satires. ffiaell'c. — Nigh (pronounced nee), to cleanse, to purify, to wash; nighte, cleansed, washed, purified, Sargent. — Nig, to cleanse. Iftnmrt'c. — Nithian, to cleanse, to purify. NODDY. — A simpleton, a fool; a person in a state of senility or second child- hood. Noddy Poll, Noddy Pate. — A fool, a fool-head. A fool, . because, says Minsheu, be nods when he should speak. — Naees. ©iaeltC. — Naoidheacha, a babe, an infant ; and metaphorically, a childishly foolish person; naoidhearta, childish, puerile. NOEL (Old English and Modern French) . — Christmas. Originally a shout of joy at Christmas (Chaucer). — Woecestee, Nowel signified originally the Feast of Christmas, and is often found in that sense. A political song in a MS. of Henry "VT.'s time in my possession concludes, — Let us all sing nowelle ! Nowelle ! Nowelle ! Nowelle I Nowelle ! And Christ save merry England and. spede it well. — Halliwell. Du Latin natalis, naissance. — Littee. The modern Gaelic for Christmas is nollaig in the Dictionaries of Macleod, Maclntyre, Armstrong, and that pub- lished under the auspices of the High- land Society of Edinburgh. In neither of these is an attempt made to explain the etymology. The word however seems to be anterior to Christianity and to be derived from the OF THE ENGLISH LAHGUAGE. 307 (ffiaeltC. — Naomh, sacred, holy; and la, day; whence nao-la, the holy day, corrupted into the modern nollaig. NOGGIN (Lowland Scotch).— A small mug, a wooden cup. Noggie, a small wooden vessel with an upright handle. In Galloway it is pro- nounced noggin, like the English word. — Jamieson. ffiatlic. — Noigean, a jug or mug with a handle ; a wooden cup. NOODLE (Colloquial).— A fool, a simpleton. From noddle or noddy. — Johnson. Nodula, nape of the neck. — Latham. To comh your noddle with a three-legged stool. — Taming of the Shrew. The connexion between noddle, from nodula, the nape of the neck, and noddy, a simpleton who is deficient in head or brain, is not obvious. Nor is that which connects noddle and noddy with noodle at all apparent. To have a noddle, is to have a head, as Shakspeare puts it ; but to be a noodle is to be deficient in head or brains. (8*&tlic. — Neo-dhuine, unmanly, inept; neo-dhuinealacJid and neo-dhuinealas, in- eptitude, silliness, cowardliness ; cor- rupted and softened into noodle to avoid the gutturals. NOOK. — A corner; a narrow place formed by an angle; a recess. From the German ein hoeclc, a corner. — Johnson. — [The German for corner is eck, not hoeek.~] Scottice, neuh; Gaelic, niuo. — Chambers. Macleod's Dictionary has the word nine, provincial or corrupt Gaelic. The true root is the CSraeltC. — Uig, a corner; a solitary place. This word mispronounced in English as "ook," became with the indefinite article " an ook," and by an easy transition " a nook." NOSE.—" Pay through the nose," to pay at an exorbitant and fraudulent rate. " To give/' says Halliwell, " an extravagant credit price." (SfacItC. — Nos, custom, habit; whence in taking long credit, the debtor has to pay according to the nos, the custom or habit of the trade for the indulgence afforded. NOSE.— "To put the nose out of joint." This common expression to signify that a new favourite has dis- placed the old, or that a new comer has rendered the welcome of one who preceded him less warm than formerly, has no reference to the nasal organ. (3*aeltC. — Nos, custom, usage; whence to put the " nos " out of joint would be to disarrange or alter the pre-existing custom or usage, as when a new baby is born into a family it attracts to itself the favour formerly accorded to its im- mediate predecessor. NOSEGAY.— A bunch of freshly- gathered flowers, worn at the breast or carried in the hand, and generally presented to a lady by a gentleman as a tribute of respect or gallantry. The word has usually been considered vulgar, and in the Elizabethan era was often superseded by " posy " or " posie," a corruption of "poesie," from the rhymes that it was customary to write along with it, either to be tied round the stalk with a ribband or enclosed amid the flowers. " Posie " also signi- fied the motto on a ring. The words nosegay ' r a and posie' are now 308 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY seldom heard, except the former, which is still in use among' the vulgar, both having been superseded in polite society by the French word bouquet, sometimes corrupted into boquet. Johnson and his successors have all been content to trace the etymology to " nose " and "gay/' as if from the idea that the fragrant flowers when put to the nose made that member gay. Mr. Donald in Chambers defines " nosegay " to be a bunch of (gay) flowers for regaling the nose or sense of smelling. Mr. Wedg- wood omits the word from his vocabu- lary. But as a "nosegay " or "bouquet" may be composed of scentless flowers, such as the camellia, the dahlia, &c, and may be only pleasant to the eye, it is probable that the true root, like many others that have been unsuspected by philologists, is to be found in the Keltic. The Teutonic languages lend no support to the English word. The German of " nosegay " is blumenstrauss, i. e. bunch of flowers. <2*aeltC. — Nos, custom, use, ceremony; nosachd, customary; nosach, habitual, usual; nosaich, to practise, to make customary; nosaicMe, practised, per- formed. This last word corrupted into " nosegay " would thus signify some- thing presented in accordance with gallantry and the polite customs of society. NOUS (Modern Slang).— Sense, wit, gumption, knowledge. Usually derived from the Greek vovs, mind, understanding, judgment. CSrClflic. — Nos, knowledge, custom, habit. NOWTE (Lowland Scotch).— Horned cattle; in English sometimes "neat" cattle. Jamieson has " nolt," black cattle, an ox, or a stupid fellow. Old Norse, naut,'an ox. The Anglo-Saxon nytan, is applied to animals in general, although mostly to cattle. The m<>aning of the word is unintelligent, from Anglo-Saxon nitan, for ne nitan, not to know. — Wedg- wood. Taking the modern Scotch " nowte," as a derivative from the older word " nolt " as cited by Jamieson, we may trace the true origin of the word to the (ffiaeltC. — Nith, cattle; nual, to roar, to bellow, to lovv like an ox; ttualte, roared or bellowed ; nuallan, the lowing of cattle; nuallanaich, a continued roaring, lowing, or bellowing. NUANCE (French).— A shade of colour. Nuer, unir des couleurs. — Littee. ffiacltC. — S/iuad/t (snua), hue, colour, complexion, appearance, beauty; snua- clhach, good-looking, fresh, having a good colour ; snuadhaich, to give a good colour or appearance to anything. NUDGE. — To give a hint by a gesture or push, to refresh the memory. This word does not occur in Johnson or any of the Dictionaries of the eighteenth century. Belgian, Tcnutchen, to push or touch gently, as with the elbow, in order to call attention or give a hint. — Wokcester. Probably from provincial German, kniit- scken, to squeeze. — -Chambers. Nudge, Austrian, nussen, to thrust or strike, especially with the fist; Swiss, motchen, to thrust or press, to make another give way; nutschen, to strike with the fist. — Wedg- wood. ffiaell'C. — Nodadh. a wink, a nod, a suggestion; nuadh, fresh; nuadhakh, to renew, renovate. OV THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 309 NUN. — A woman devoted to a secluded religious life. Italian, nonna, grandmother, the original nuns being persons advanced in life. — Latham's Todd's Johnson. Du Latin eccl&iastique nonnus, nonna, qui 6tait un terme de reverence, et dont l'origine n'est pas encore dtablie. — Littbe. (SRaeltC. — Neoni, a nobody; a person removed from the active world, and thence of no account in life ; neonitheach, valueless. NYMPH. — A holy virgin, or iu Greek mythology a spirit of the trees, the waves, the hills, &c. In modern English it signifies in poetical par- lance any beautiful young woman. Sanscrit, nam, to worship ; Greek, Vfjxm ; Irish, namhta, holy ; Latin, nemus, a grove (i.e. a consecrated place). — Pictet, quoted in Taylob's Names and Places. ffiartlC. — Naomh, holy, sacred. o. OAE.— A silly person, a dolt, a fool. A corruption of elf, a changeling ; a foolish child, left by the fairies in place of one more witty and bright. — Wobcesteb. Formerly more correctly written auf, oupji, from Old Norman alfr, an elf or fairy. When an infant was found to be an idiot _ it was supposed to be an imp left by the fairies in the room of the proper child carried away to their own country. — Wedgwood. (iEaeltC. — Amh (pronounced aff), a fool, a simpleton, a dwarf; amhach (affach), like a fool, like a dwarf; amli- ackd (affachd), conduct of a fool. OB. — A Latin prefix, signifying off, away, to shun, to reject, as in " ob- ject," to throw off; "obviate," to remove out of the way ; " obliterate/' to reject the letters, &c. CRadlC. — Ob, deny, refuse, reject, shun ; obadh, refusing, denying, reject- OBELISK. — A monolith, broad at the base and narrow at the apex, such as were set up by the ancient Egyp- tians. Obelisk, a little dart ; a tall four-sided tapering pillar ; Greek o/3eXio-/cor, diminutive of o/3cXor, (3eXor, a dart ; from |3aXXco, to throw. — Chambees. Greeko/3eXos,aspit,a pointed object; o/3eXor, o(3eXio-»cof, a pointed pillar. — Wedgwood. A serpent was styled in the Egyptian language ob or aub. This idolatry (of the serpent) is alluded to by Moses, who in the name of God forbids the Israelites even to inquire of those demons Ob and Ideone. — Bryant's Ancient Mythology. The word obelisk is Greek, and signifies a spit, skewer, or bodkin ; and the term " needle " applied to this massive property of ours (Cleopatra's Needle) is therefore really a very fair translation of the old word. Pliny's idea was that the obelisk primarily typified a pointed flame, and that it stood everywhere in honour of the Sun-god, so much worshipped by the Egyptians. Later authorities have looked upon it as merely a development and refinement of the original rude " stone of memorial," such as that set up by Jacob at Bethel, and found in all countries under the title of Dolmens, and the like. Obelisks were certainly used by the ancient peoples of the Nile as votive or commemorative pillars — imperishable memoranda books — on which to record the glories of kings and the powers and attributes of deities. Looking to the general form and constant occurrence of the obelisk in the valley of the Nile, it seems likely that these structures were emblems of Nature-worship, and deeply connected with the fundamental faiths and obscene liturgies of Isis and Osiris. This might have been their first meaning, and other ideas may have been added subsequently. In hieroglyphical writing an obelisk stands for "strength," and it is another curious proof of " the wisdom of the Egyptians," that when plans were being drawn for the Eddystone Light- house, the symbol was found to be an exact and perfect mechanical diagram of height and stability combined; so that its outlines were actually adopted in construction. — Daily Telegraph. Mr. Bryant's etymology accounts only for the first syllable in " obelisk," 310 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY which is probably derived from Oub or Ob, the serpent to whom divine honours were paid by the Egyptians. The Greek etymology of " needle " or " bodkin " is a mere fancy of the philologists, who have been misled by a remote similarity of sound. The negroes in the West Indies and the Southern States of America still retain the tradition of Ob, derived from their African ancestors, as is evident from the well-known superstition of Obeah. The word lisk in " obelisk " remains to be accounted for CRaeltC. — Leigh, a stone, a sacred stone supposed to possess medicinal or healing virtues ; leigheas, a cure, a remedy ; leach, a stone (as in the word cromleach or cromlech, a crooked stone). In connexion with the Egyptian and obsolete Gaelic Ob, the serpent, we have thus the meaning of " obelisk " as the serpent's stone, or stone of healing. In the mountainous country of Scotland, whither the Druids of the East im- migrated from Egypt, an " obelisk," however large, would have been dwarfed to the eye by the height of the neigh- bouring hills ; and the consequence was that instead of erecting a perpendicular stone, the early Scottish or Gaelic Druids placed the serpent lengthwise on the ground, as may be seen at Lochnell, near Oban, in Argyleshire. The supposed healing power of the serpent was recog- nized by the Greeks who borrowed the notion from the Egyptians and made the serpent the symbol of medicine, and placed it in the hand of Esculapius. The Israelites in the wilderness, as re- corded in the Pentateuch, had the same idea; and thought to heal themselves of the plague by looking at a brazen serpent which Moses commanded to be set up. OBERON.— The fairy king, the hus- band of Titania. The name of Oberon, according to Grimm, is the German Elberich or Albrich slightly altered, derived from Alp, Alf. Elberich becomes Auberich and ich not being a French termination, the diminutive on was sub- stituted. The elf queen's name Titania was an appellation of Diana.. — Notes to Mid- summer Night's Dream, Staunton's Shahspeare. The Keltic people of Britain and Prance had fairy legends of their own in great abundance, and had no need to borrow any from the Germans. " Oberon " and " Titania " are quite as Keltic as King Arthur and his court ; and their names are traceable to the ©faeltC. — Og, young ; breach, beauti- ful ; aon, one ; whence by elision of the guttural g in og, and the ch in breach, o'-brea-aon, the beautiful young man. " Titania," in like manner is from ti, a natural being ; tan, the earth ; one of the aboriginal inhabitants. See Titan. OBSTREPEROUS. — Noisy, loud, vehement. ffiafltc. — Streup, strife, contention ; streupaid, a squabble; streupaideach, noisy, quarrelsome; streupach, con- tentious, quarrelsome. OCEAN. — An expanse of salt water larger than a sea; from the Greek a/ceavos, and the Latin ocean us. Perhaps from Greek wkvs, swift, and vaa>, to flow. — Liddell and Scott, quoted by Worcesteb and Chambees. Etymologists have never attempted to get beyond or under the Greek and Latin, for the source of this word. Mr. Jacob Bryant under the head of " Ra- dicals " in the first volume of his Ancient Mythology has the words Cohen and Cahen, which, he says, seem among the ancient Egyptians to have signified a OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 811 priest, also a lord or prince. " The term/' he adds, " was sometimes used with a greater latitude and denoted any- thing noble and divine." <3jfadtC. — Cuan, the sea, the ocean ; cuan-ard, a high sea, a stormy sea; cuan-taic/i, sea-faring people. OCHIL. — The name of a range of hills in Perthshire. The Welsh word uchel, high, may be adduced to prove the Kymric affinities of the Picts. It does not exist in the Erse or Gaelic languages. — Tayloe's Words and Places. (Sartic. — Uchd, a bosom, abreast; the brow or side of a hill ; uchdail, erect, high-breasted. OD'S PITIKINS.— An ancient ad- juration. Od's pitiJcins ! Can it be six miles yet ? Cymbeline. Corrupted from God's pity — God's little pity. — Weight's Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial Mnglish. A corruption of God me pity. — Staunton. The true derivation is obscene rather than blasphemous. (ScadtC. — Bod, pit, and pitighean. The reader who desires to pierce deeper into the explanation, is referred to these words in Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary, where they appear in Greek characters to disguise them from the unlearned. OE, OYE (Lowland Scotch).— A grand- child. OSraeltC. — Off A, young ; ogha, a grand- child. OGRE. — A ravenous giant in fairy tales and in the Arabian Nights, who was supposed to devour children and young virgins. Ancien Espagnol, huergo, uerco, triste; Anglo-Saxon, ore, de*mon infernal ; du Latin Orcus, enfer, dieu de l'enfer. Orcus, d'apres Maury est un mot Etrusque. On a long- temps pre'tendu que ogre venait de Songrois, a, cause des devastations que les Songres, ou Songrois, ou Oigours avaient faites dans l'occident au moyen age. La forme du mot dans les langues Romanes ne se pr&te pas a cette derivation. — Littbe. It is probable that the term ogre is derived from Oegir, one of the giants in the Scandi- navian Mythology ; though it has been al- leged with even more probability that it has been derived from the Ogurs or Ouagurs, a desperate and savage Asiatic horde, who over- ran a pai't of Europe in the fifth century. — Wokcestbe. The man-eating giant of fairy tales; Spanish, ogro; French, ogre ; Italian, Oreo, a surname of Pluto ; by metaphor, any Chimera or imagined monster. — Wedgwood. Ofaeltf. — Ochras, hunger; ochrach, hungry, ravenous ; ocrasan, a glutton. Though this derivation is in all pro- bability correct, another offers itself for consideration in oig-fhear [pig-ear), a young man, suggestive of such fairy tales as Little Red Riding Hood, to lead young girls to beware of young men, who are compared to wolves, or other wild animals. OISEAU (French).— A bird. Ucciello (Italian) . — A little bird. GwHCltC. — JJiseag, a skylark. OLIVER. — A well known Christian and surname. OaeltC. — Ottamh (ollav), learned; fear or /hear [ear), a man; whence " Oliver," a learned man. See Ullema. ON (French). — An impersonal pronoun, signifying '' they," " people," " one/' as onparle, on pent dire, "they speak," " one may say." The Germans use the word man in this sense, and say, Man spricht Denlsch, Man sagt so, &c. Du Latin homo, homme. Mom, om, on est le nominatif du mot dont l'origiae est 312 .THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY homo. On comprend comment oe mot a pu devenir le substantif abstrait on. — Littbe. (SapIlC. — Duine, a man; and with the aspirate which effaces the initial consonant, dhuine, pronounced yuine or uine, quasi the French on. ONGLE (French).— The nail of the finger or toe. (Saelic. — Ionga, the nail, the quick under the nail. OOZE. — To percolate; also slush, or the mud of rivers left exposed by the tide. Anglo-Saxon, wos, juice ; Icelandic, vos, moisture; Anglo-Saxon, wase, mud; akin to water, wet. — Chambees. fljaeltc. — Uisgue, Water. Sanscrit. — ^L ORCHARD. — An enclosure or garden for fruit-trees. This word is usually derived from ort, or wort, a root, a vegetable ; and gar t, a garden, whence ort-gard. But an orchard is not a place for the cultiva- tion of roots, but of fruit-trees. (KiafltC. — Oir, a border; garadh, a garden or yard ; in which the middle part is reserved for vegetables, and the borders planted with fruit-producing trees. ORIENT.— The East, the place of the rising of the sun. Oriental. — Pertaining to the east. These words have been traced no further by English philologists than to the Latin orior, to rise, and oriens, the East, where the sun rises. In Gaelic oir signifies not only the east, but a blaze of light or glory, such as is caused by sun-rise, and, metaphorically, anything great, splendid and illustrious. Or, gold, a metal of the colour of the rising sun, seems to derive its name from the same root. The following words show the connexion between the ideas of the east, of gold, of light; and of shining, illustrious, or glorious deeds. C&aeltC. — Oir or ear, the East ; oir, shining like the eastern sky at sunrise ; oir-bheart, or-lheart, an illustrious or brilliant action; oir-iheartach, or-bJieart- acli, great, noble, brilliant, performing illustrious deeds; oir-dheirc, illustrious, noble, excellent ; or, the yellow, shining metal, gold; or-ihuadhach, brilliantly victorious. JiJe&Wto .— Or, light. ORIGIN. — The beginning, the source. Latin origo, from orior, to rise. — Wob- CESTEE. Ur signifies light or fire, and is to be found in every dialect of the Keltic. It is also Hebrew and is the radix of the Greek 'Ypavos, the Latin uro. — Tolahd's History of the Druids. ffiaellC. — Ur, light, fire, the sun as the source of heat and life; ur, fresh, new, recent, flourishing, young, fair, beautiful; urachadh, renovation ; urac/id, newness, freshness; uraich, to renew, to recommence; wail, flourishing, young, vigorous. ORKNEY ISLANDS. Orkney is of course the form given by the Northmen to the ancient name which the Romans made Orcas, Orcades. This may be originally Keltic, but the meaning is not clear. May not Orka-ang be the house of the ship, orhao ? — Quarterly Review, July, 1876. (JSratliC, — Uraich, fresh, green; innis, islands. ORT (German). — A place; Scottish, airt, the quarter whence the wind blows. CRaeltC. — Ard, a height, ahigh'place. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 313 OSIER. — The water-willow, the leaves of which, like those of the aspen, tremble at the slightest breath of wind. ffiaelt'c. — Osag, a breeze, a breath of wind. -The fish-hawk, the sea OSPREY.- eagle. Latin ossifragia, the bone-breaker. — Wedgwood. ©raeltc. — Uisge, water; preach, preachan, a kite, a hawk, any ravenous bird ; also, to snatch, to claw ; whence uisge-preach, the water-hawk, abbre- viated into " os-prey." OUCHE, OWCHE.— A jewel ; obso- lete, except in the Authorized Version of the Bible. Your brooches, pearls, and owches. . Shakspeake, Henry IV. Part II.. What gold I have, pearls, bracelets, rings, or ouches, Or what she can desire. Beaumont and Fletcher. Oucher, a maker of ouches, a jeweller. Ouchers, skynners and cutlers. Cock Corell's Bote.— Weight. A jewel, brooch, spangle or necklace, but which is its primary signification cannot be known till its etymology shall be found, which is at present very uncertain. Mr. Tyrrwhit in his Glossary to Chaucer inclines to think that the true word is nouche, from the Italian nocchia, which means any kind of bosse, also a clasp or buckle. — Nabes. French oche or hoche, a notch. — Woeces- teb. The French word hoche, on which Dr. Worcester relies, is from hocher, to jog, to wag, to shake, whence the name of the beautiful bird, the wag-tail, hoche-queue. Hocher also signifies a child's coral, with bells to it, which may be jogged or shaken for the child's amusement. QSfRt ItC — TJsgar (pronounced ush-gar), a jewel, gem, any personal ornament, such as a necklace, bracelet, earring, &c. ; usgaraiche, a jeweller; nsgarach, jewellery; usgar-lamhe, a bracelet, a jewel for the hand or arm ; usgar-mheur, a finger-jewel, i. e. a ring. OURC, or Oec. — A marine animal, the nature of which seems not well- defined. (Nares.) Latin, orca. Now turn and view the wonders of the deep, Where Proteus herds, and Neptune's orlcs do keep. — Ben Jonson, Masque of Neptune. I call him orlce, because I know no beast Nor fish from whence comparison to take. His head and teeth were like a boars, the rest A mass of which I know not what to make. Orlando Furioso. (ffiaeltC. — Uirc, a pig, a swine; uircean, a little pig ; uirc-mhara, a sea-pig, a porpoise. OUKN (Vulgar).— Ours. This word is common among un- educated people, and seems in this form to be derived from the OiaeliC, — Oirnn, on us, upon us, belonging to us. P. PACK. — A number, a company, usually applied in an opprobrious sense, as "a pack of thieves," "a pack of rogues," " a pack of fools," &c. In Lowland Scotch, " pack " as an ad- jective signifies intimate, familiar, as in the English phrase, "thick as thieves." ©aeliC. — Paca, pachd, a mob; pa- carras, a mass of conluoiuii. 314 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY PADDY. — A familiar and colloquial term for an Irishman, supposed to be derived from Pat, the diminutive of Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. ffiaeltC. — Paisd, paiste, a child, a boy. The Greek nraihiov is the synonym of the Gaelic paisd, and the common use of the word " boy/' applied to men of all ages by the Irish, strongly sup- ports the Gaelic derivation. PAL (Slang). — A partner, acquaint- ance, friend, accomplice. Originally applied as a term of affection in speaking of a horse, the constant part- ner of one's journey. (BiafltC. — Peall, a horse. PALFREY.— A little horse. Palefroi (French). A small horse fit for ladies. It is always distinguished in the old books from a war-horse. — Johnson. Palfrey, literally, a beside or extra horse ; a small horse for a lady. French, palefroi; Italian, palafreno ; probably Greek, rrapa, beside ; and veredus, a post-horse ; con- tracted from velio, to carry, and rheda, a car- riage. — Chambees. Provencal, palafra, palafrei, ane . . . Bas Latin, parafredus. — Littre. The etymologists have written largely about this word ; it appears clearly to be composed of the three words, par le Jrein, a horse led by the bridle. — Kichardson. ffiafltC. — Peall, a horse; frith, small, pronounced palfree, a small horse. PALL. — A cloth that covers the coffin at a funeral. ©acltc. — Peallag, a skin, a covering, a coverlet. PALL. — To fail upon the appetite, to satiate so as to lose piquancy and relish. (BfaeltC. — Paillinnich, to fail. llwmtic. — Pallw, to fail, weaken on the appelite. PALL-MALL. — A well-known street in London. Mall. — A public walk in St. James's Park. Supposed to be so called from being the place where a game was played with malls and a ball. — Johnson. Latin, malleus; Italian, maglio, malleo ; Spanish, mallo ; French, mail. "A kind of hammer, or beetle ; a heavy wooden hammer; a mallet." — Addison. " A stroke, a blow." — Spenser. This word is a whimsical instance of the caprice of custom. Nothing can be more uniform than the sound we give to a before double I in the same syllable ; and yet this word, when it signifies a wooden hammer, has not only changed its deep sound of a in all into a in alley, but has dwindled into the short sound of e, in Mall, a walk in St. James's Park, where they formerly played with malls and balls, and from whence it had its name ; and, to crown the absurdity, a street parallel to this walk is spelt Pall Mall, and pronounced pell mell, which confounds its origin with the French adverb pile mile. For Bailey appears to derive the name of the streetjustly frompellere malleo, to strike with a mallet. That this word was justly pronounced formerly, we can scarcely doubt from the rhymes to it : — And give that reverend head a mall Of two, or three against a wall. Hudibras. As a corroboration of this, we find a large wooden club, used for killing swine, called and spelt a mall ; and the verb signifying to beat or bruise is spelt and pronounced in the same manner. The word mallet, where the latter I is separated from the former, is under a different predicament and is pronounced regularly. — Walkeb. ©faeltC. — Peall, a horse; mall, slow; A name that appears to havebeen origin- ally given to the London street, by the grooms and servants of the royal family when it was forbidden to ride horses furi- ously in the neighbourhood of the royal Palace of St. James's. See Rotten Row. PALOT (French Slang).— A peasant. Thisword,I think, comes from paille, straw, on which country people were accustomed to sleep. Nevertheless it is not impossible that it may be derived from paliot, a kind of cape, common both to men and women, which perhaps they only wore at certain periods. OF THE ENGT.TSH LANGUAGE. 315 Whatever may be the value of the second etymology, I do not hesitate to prefer the first. Fallot seems to me synonymous with " a man of straw," a man of no account. — Feancisque Michel, Dictionnaire A' Ar- got. <&a£ltc. — Peattag, a hide, a skin; peallaid, a sheepskin (worn by the French peasantry in the Middle Ages) .] PALTOQUET (Colloquial French).— A rude bumpkin, a boor. Paltoke (Obsolete English) . — A cloak, a coat. " How stupid are those English paltoquets Or country bumpkins," was the energetic ex- pression of Prince Talleyrand, " qui ne savent pas un mot de Francais ! " — Daily Telegraph, January 9, 1*73. Proud priests came with him More than a thousand, In paletokes and pyked shoon. Piers Ploughman. Terme familier. Un homme grossier. Homme sans valeur ni consideration. Bour- guignon, paltoquai, paysan, de paletoc, celui qui est vetu d'une casaque. — Littbe. <&*B.t\\l.-~Pealltag, a sheepskin coat or a jacket ; a ragged or patched gar- ment; peallaideach, one who is dressed in sheepskins. PALTRY. — Low, mean, petty, base, contemptible. Poltiion (French). — A coward. Polisson (French). — A blackguard. A paltry knave, from the Italian paltone, paltoniere, a most profligate knave ; or from the French poltron, a coward. — Gazophyla- cium Anglicanum. Palter, paltry, to palter is more properly to babble, chatter, than to trifle ; paltry tri- lling : — On which his tongue it ran, and paltered of a cat. — Gammer Gurton. Wedgwood. Of uncertain origin. Jamieson and Todd refer to Low German pall, a fragment ; palte, palter, a rag, a tatter ; paltering means worthless ; Scotch, peltry, vile trash ; Old English, pelter, a mean fellow. Johnson, S S Tooke, and Richardson, with the older etymo- logists, derive it with poltroon from Latin pollice truncus. — Worcester. Polisson est d'apres Diez forme du Latin, politionem, action de polir devenu masculin, comme nourrisson de nutritionem, poincon de punctionem, et signifioat celui qui nettoye les rues, bat les rues, y vagahonde. — Littbe. G&aeltC. — Peatt, a skin, a hide; peal- lair, a sheepskin ; pealltag, a cloak of skins ; peattag, matted, dirty, paltry. The term was probably first employed by the superior classes to the lowest class of boors and rustics. The word "palter" as used by Shakspeare in Macbeth in the sense of deceive and betray : — The juggling fiends That palter with us in a double sense ; This if not derived from falter , to speak in an uncertain or hesitating manner, may be connected with the root of the sheep- skin, as " paltry " is, and have origin- ally signified to use the shifting or evasive language of tramps, beggars, low people., and what the French call polissons. The Italian paltone signifies, not as the author of Gazophylacium as- serts, a most profligate knave, but a beggar clad in sheepskins, a gueux, a vagabond. PAMPER.— To over-feed, to over- indulge ; to feed luxuriously or to the full or top of one's inclination ; to glut. From the Italian pamherare, to make fat ; or q. d. Pan and Beer, i. e. bread and beer. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Italian, pamherare, to glut, to fill with food. — Johnson. Usually given from old French pamprcr. from pampre, a leafy vine branch; Latin, pampinus, si vine-leaf; but perhaps from pamp, u, nasalized form of pap. — Chamber. Bavarian, pampfen, to stuff; pamp, thick gruel. — Stobmontii. 316 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ©a fll'C. — Buad/i, food ; am, to the ; barr, top ; i. e. bua-am-barr, food to re- pletion, whence with the interchange of b top, "pamper." PANDER. — One who caters and pro- vides for the gratification of the lusts and vices of another. A pimp : from the Belgian pander, one •who takes a brihe to hold his tongue ; this from the Belgian pand, or the Teutonic pfand, a pawn or pledge. — Gazophylacium JLnglicanum. Prom Pandarus, the pimp in the story of Troilus and Cressida. — Johnson. French, pendard, one who ought to he hung; a pimp. — Bailey ©ra? ItC. — Painntear, a snare, a trap ; painntearach, wily, tricky, enslaving, deluding; painntireaeh, a deluder, an ensnarer, an entrapper, an inveigler. PANEL or Pannel. — The names of persons summoned to serve on a jury. Empanel. — To select a j ury from the official list. Panel. — A -Scotch law-term for a prisoner at the bar. Prom French panne, the writing or enter- ing into a schedule by the sheriff of the names of a jury whom he has summoned to ap- pear. — Johnson. To set down the names of a jury on a roll called the panel. — Bailey. The etymology is doubtful. Sir Edward Coke says panel is an English word, and signfies a little part ; for a pane is a part, and a panel is a little part. Spelman derives the word from pagella, a little page, supposing the g to be changed to n. Both these etymologies seem to be incorrect. In the old hook called Les termes de la Ley, panel is said to come from the French word panne, a skin, whence in barbarous Latin might come panellus or pattella, signifying a little skin of parchment.— Knight's Political Dic- tionary. <2*a?liC — Pannal, a band of men, a crew, a company, a group of people, written also banned; bannalach, in com- panies, in troops, in crowds. PANTALOON.— A well known cha- racter in Christmas pantomimes, who serves as the butt and victim of the jokes and mischievous tricks of the Clown. Pantaloons. — A word from the same source, which originally signified a pair of loose linen trowsers, such as " Pantaloon " wore. In French masquerade, Pierrot, who is the representative of the Italian Pantaleone, wears a complete suit of white linen, loose both at the legs and arms, and so long in the sleeves as to conceal the hands. The word seems to signify a slovenly dressed person, from Spanish panal, clout, skirt, or tail of a shirt ; panalon, a slovenly fellow ; Latin, pannus, rag or cloth. — Wedgwood. From Pantaleone, the patron saint of Venice, and a common Christian name among the Venetians, whence applied to them as a nickname by the other Italians. — Chambees. The name is said by antiquarians to be derived from the Italian words pianta-leone, as it were the lion-planter, in allusion to the boastful language of the Venetians. — Bbande. In the extract from Brande's Popular Antiquities, the words pianta-leone ought to be pianta-lino, or planter of flax, from the making of linen, which suggests the true derivation of the word. The first syllable, however, is not pianta, but the CRaSlic. — Panda, bandaidh, womanly, feminine, effeminate; lion, lint, flax, linen. As b and p like d and t are con- vertible in Gaelic, we have panta-lion, signifying feminine garments or linen, a description of the original costume of Pantaloon. PANTER. — A net, a snare. — "Weight's Obsolete and Provincial English. The bird was caught and trapped with a pantere, Lydgate. A panther to catch birds with. Palsgrave. — Halliwell. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 317 ©facile. — Painnlear, painnter, a net, a snare, a gin ; painntearach, wily, de- ceptive, alluring, ensnaring; an in- sidious and designing person. PARADISE.— The Garden of Eden or any delightful garden or abode. Greek, irapa8eio-os, from a Persian word signifying a park or hunting-inclosure. — Wedgwood. Sanscrit, paradeca, a high, well-tilled land; Hebrew, pardes ; Persian, firdans, plural, faradis, a pleasure-garden, a plantation. — WoBCESTEB, ChAMBEBS, &C. ©rEEltC. — Beur, a hill or high place ; deise, adornment, elegance, luxury ; also a southern exposure ; deiseil, looking towards the south ; whence benre-deise, an ornamental garden on a hill side, looking towards the south, and con- sequently with a cheerful and sunny exposure. PARCH.— To diy up. Parched. — Dried up, desiccated, ut- terly deficient of moisture. Probably from the French percer. — Bailey. Of uncertain etymology. — Junius. Perhaps Jjatmpercoqzio, to burn, to heat. — Skinnee. Bavarian, pfarzen, to fry ; farzen, to toast bread — probably from the crackling sound of things frying. Wallachian, parjoli, to burn, to singe. — Wedgwood. Perhaps nothing more than a contraction of the Old English, perisohe, perish.— Richardson. (SIVaeltC. — Paihach (i silent, pa-ach), thirsty ; pathadh, padhadh, thirsty. The difficulty which the English ex- perience in the use of the guttural has converted pathachd into " parch " — so written — but without the burr of the r, thus resolving the word into paldch, as commonly pronounced. PARK. — A pleasure-ground, public or private. French pare, an enclosure, sh'eep-fold, fish- pond ; Danish, fisk-parh, a fish-pond. — Wedgwood. Mot d'origine obscure; Gaelic, pairc ; ~Kjrnnqae,parc,%tparwg ; Bas Breton,^xz«v Bas Latin, parous. — Littee. Junius derives from the Greek nepi£, circumcirca, roundabout ; and Wechter from the German bergen, i. e. the Anglo-Saxon byrgan, to keep safe, to protect, to secure. — ■ Bichaedson. ®5facltC. — Pairc, an enclosure, a fenced or enclosed field; pdircich, to enclose, wall, or fence a piece of ground ; pdirc- ichte, enclosed. PARLEY.— To talk, to discuss. Parliament. — The high council of the nation for the discussion of public affairs. Parole (French). — A word. Etymologists have generally been contented to trace these words to the French parler, and the Italian parlare, without searching for the ulterior root. M. Littre suggests that the derivation is by elision, from the Low Latin para- bolare. This derivation does not satisfy, Mr. Wedgwood, who thinks that as parabola meant a comparison or an allegory, it is hard to understand how the word for speaking could have had so forced an origin. His own explana- tion is, — " Brabble and brawl are used as well to signify the noise of broken water as of chiding or loud and noisy talking. Shakspeare makes Sir Hugh Evans use 'pribbles and prabbles ' in the sense of idle chatter. The insertion of a vowel between the mute and liquid would give the Welsh parabl, speech, utterance, discourse ; parablan, to talk con- tinual ly, to chatter ; parablu, eloquent, fluent. CBrtSelic. — Beurla, the English lan- guage and that of .the Lowland Scotch. This word seems originally to have signified every language, and only to have been confined in comparatively re- 318 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY cent times to English. In an ancient Irish poem, quoted in O'Brien's Round Towers of Ireland, page 23, appear the lines — Iod na laimh lith gan gtmib ; Iod na beorl gan ean neamhuib ; which he translates — Theirs were the hands free from violence ; Theirs were the mouths free from calumny. If beorl was at one time the correct word for beul, a mouth, we have the original root of the French parl(ev), and the Italian parl(are), as well as of the Gaelic beurla, and perhaps of the Kymric parlian, to speak. The word " lan- guage " comes from lingua, the tongue, and beurla, a language, in like manner comes from beurl, or beul, the mouth. The Gaelic beul-radh, which means a proverb, a phrase, a speech, a dialect, strengthens this etymology. A second etymon of these words is suggestible in another direction. As one of the main objects of speech, after that of narration, is the expression of opinion, the primitive root may be the dfaeltC. — Barail, opinion, thought, guess, conjecture, supposition; barail- aich, to conjecture, to suppose, to form an opinion; barailach, conjectural, hypothetical; baralachadh, conjecturing, opining (by means of speech). In Gaelic the b and the p are, if not always interchangeable, almost identical in sound, and from barailaich to parailaich, and thence to parlare and parler, the transition is easy. PASH.— In The Winter's Tale, Act i. Scene 2, Leontes, suspicious of the fidelity of his wife Hermione, ad- dresses his little son Mamilius, and asks, — Art thou my calf? Mamilius. — Yes, if y ou will, my lord. Leontes. — Thou want'st a rough pash and the shoots that I have, To be full like me. The word " pash " has puzzled the com- mentators. Supposed to mean a skin ; from the context it seems to mean something belonging to a calf or bulL Mr. Stevens pretends to derive it from paz, a kiss, Spanish ; but there is neither proof nor probability for it, and he seems diffident of the interpretation himself. It is probably a provincial term not yet traced out. Grose and others mention mad- pash, as meaning mad-cap in Cheshire. — Nakes. Pash in Cheshire signifies brains. — Weight. Pash, a tufted head,or brow. — Staunton's Shakspeare. Mr. Staunton, though ignorant of Gaelic, hit the mark. But "pash" does not mean the head or caput, but the brow, and is from the C&aeltc. — BatJiais (pronounced bash or pash), the forehead. In the speech of Leontes, a rough " pash " means a furrowed brow, a brow wrinkled with care or sorrow. Thus the passage signifies that the little child wants the furrowed brow, and the "shoots" (the emblematical horns, which the jealous husband suspects he may wear) to be " full like " the father. See Abash and Bashful. PASTE. — To make to adhere ; an ad- hesive substance. Pastby. — Articles of food, made of paste or dough sweetened. FromtheFrenchjpa.sfe,or the Italian pasta, all from the Latin pascere, to feed. Prom whence the word pasty, the place where paste is made. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Old French, paste; Italian, pasta; Greek, TrXaoTOf , moulded ; paste-board, a stiff board made of sheets of paper pasted together. — Chambees. (3*aeltC. — Taisg, to wrap together ; paisgte, wrapped, folded together so as to adhere. By the elision in the past OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 319 participle of the g for the sake of eu- phony, as in many other words derived by the English from the Gaelic, we have paiste. " Pastry " would, if the etymon were accepted, signify articles of food, wrapped together in a covering or wrap- per, such as tarts and pies, that contain fruits, meat, &c, in the crust or out- ward envelope. PAT.— " A pat of butter," i. e. a small lump of butter. Pat. — Fitting ; perhaps a corruption of apt. fiRaeltC. — Fait, a hump, a lump; paiteag, a little lump or hump ; a lump or "pat" of butter. PATH. — A road, a way. This word has descended into English from the Sanscritjoa^a, probably through the Gaelic. Lord Neaves, in his Helps to the Study of Scots Keltic Philology, notices what a tendency the Gaelic has to drop the initial p, as in athair, from pater, father. The CRaeltC. — Ath, a ford, a path or way over a river, is another instance of this kind. PAVILION.— A large tent. Literally that which is spread out like the wings of a butterfly'; French, pavilion ; Latin, papilio. — Chambebs, [French, papillon, a butterfly.] Apparently from the flapping of the canvas like a butterfly. — Wedgwood. Latin, papilionem, ainsi dit de la res- semblance avec un papillon. — Littee <&a?ltC. — Paillimi, pailliun, a pa- vilion, a tent, a tabernacle ; paillion, a temporary abode. PAWN. — A pledge, a deposit; some- thing left with a broker or money- lender in security for a loan. Latin, pignus ; Italian, pe'gno ; Old Ger- man, pliant, pfant. — Woecestee. Old Norse, pantr; Dutch, panel; German, pfand ; French, pan, a pledge. According to Diez, it signifies something taken from the possessor against his will, from the Pro- vencal panar, to take away, rob, steal, with- draw from; French, paner, pawner, to distrain, &c. — Wedgwood. ffia?Iic. — Bun, a foundation; buin, to treat with, to deal with. PAY (Slang).— To beat or thrash. Originally a nautical term, meaning to stop the seams of a vessel with pitch ; from the French poix. " Here's the devil to pay, and no pitch hot." Shakspeare uses pay in the sense of to beat, to thrash. — Slang Dictio- nary. ©aeltC. — Buail, to strike, to beat, to thrash ; buille, a blow, a stroke. PEACH (Slang). — To betray confidence; to inform against an associate, to break the so-called law of honour among thieves. (SraellC. — Peacadh, to sin. PEACOCK. — A well-known gallinace- ous fowl, the male of which is adorned with a long and gorgeous tail. Mr. Wedgwood thinks the Greek name is derived from the cry of the bird; but does not venture to derive the English " pea/' as in " pea-cock," " pea-hen," and " pea-fowl," either from the Greek or the Latin. It is scarcely derivable from the English pea, with which vegetable the bird has no more connexion than with beans or potatoes. Of this word the etymology is not known ; perhaps it is peak-cook, from the tufts of feathers on its head; the peak of women being an ancient ornament ; if it be not rather a corruption of the French beau-coq, from the more striking lustre of its spangled train.— Johnson. 'Peacock, said to be used for a fool, but as Mr. Douce properly observes, only for a vain fool, that bird being at once proud and silly. 320 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY For thou hast caught a proper paragon— A thief, a cowared and a peacoche tool, An asse, a milksop and a minion. Gascoigne, 1575. Nabes. Anglo-Saxon, pawa; French, paon; named from its cry. — Chambees. ffiacltc — Peuo, a long tail ; pewcach, having a long tail. Sanscrit. — Puco/ia, the peacock's tail. The Greek 71-1/717, appears to be related. PEA- JACKET.— A coarse thick jacket, worn by seamen. Prom the Dutch py'e, coarse cloth or jacket.— Chambees. Finnish, paita, a shirt ; Gaelic, plaide, a blanket, a plaid. — Wedgwood. <2&arltC. — Peitean, a woollen shirt, a short jacket. PEAK, PEEK.— -(Peek and pine.) To waste away in sickness. Weary, seven nights, nine times nine Shall he dwindle, peah and pine. Macbeth Puling, sickly, from the pipy tone of voice of a sick person. Italian, pigolare, to peek as a chicken, to whine or pule. — Wedgwood. Peah, to be, or to become emaciated ; peaking, showing signs of decay, as timber (Local). — Woecesteb. (No etymology at- tempted.) (JRacItC. — Piochan, one who wheezes in the throat, from sirfkness or con- sumption ;piochanach, wheezing, breath- ing with difficulty; piochanaich, a wheezing in the throat. PEASANT.— A farm labourer ; a culti- vator of the soil ; the lowest class of the agricultural community. Pays (French). — A country. Paysan. — A peasant. Pagus, a village ; paganus, a villager, a rustic. Pagan, a heathen, a gentile, a wor- shipper of false gods. — Wobcestee. Pays, pagus, canton ; ager pagensis ou pagesius ; territoire d'un canton d'ou par extension region, patrie. — Littee. (i&aelfC. — Buaidh (d silent), a eon- quest ; whence, a conquered country, so called by the new comers, who dis- possessed or enslaved the old; peasan, a sorry fellow, a poor creature, a varlet; peasanach, mean, little, contemptible. PEAT. — A coarse term, applied to a young woman. The word was com- mon in the Elizabethan era. A pretty peat ! tis best Put finger in the eye, an she knew why. Taming of tlte Shrew. You are a pretty peat, indifferent fair too. Massingeb. Maid of Honour. To see that proud pert peat, our youngest sister. — Old Play of King Lear. Quoted by Naees. A citizen and his wife the other day, Both sitting on one horse, upon the way I overtook ; the wench a pretty peat. Donne's Poems. Nares and Halliwell, both unaware of the etymology, define " peat," a delicate person. Nares adds that the word was usually applied to a young female, but often ironically; that the " modern word pet is supposed to be the same, and that the French petit is conjectured as the origin." The word with many others affords a proof of the strong vitality of the Keltic among the Saxon elements of the language, and of which the true etymology was lost long anterior to Shakspeare's time. The root is the ©raeltC. — Pit (pronounced peet), the vagina, indecently used to signify a woman; piteanta, effeminate, unduly fond of the society of women, lascivious ; piteantachd, effeminacy, lasciviousness. PECCANT.— Sinning. Peccable. — Liable to sin. Peccadillo. — A little sin. These words are traceable to the Latin, but have an anterior root in the 01? THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 321 (ffiaelt'C. — Peacaich, to sin ; peacach, sinful ; peacachadk, sin, transgression. PECK (Slang). -Food. Pecker. — Hunger. Peckish. — Hungry. These words have been derived from the French bee, the beak of a bird, and from to peck at food, as a bird does. But there may be " pecking " without hunger, and our slaug words do not come from the modern French, but from a far earlier source. (BJadic. — Beuc (peuc), to clamour, to make a noise, to roar ; beucach, clamor- ous for food (peckish). PEDLAR. — One who deals in small wares and travels about the country to sell them. Minsheu derives it from the French aller a pied, but Skinner from the German bettler, a beggar. — Gazophylacium Anglieanum. Supposed to be a contraction of petty dealer. — Johnson, Ash, &c. Of uncertain, etymology ; the Scotch for pedlar is pec^der, from ped, a basket. — WoBCESTEE. A ped in Norfolk is a pannier or wicker basket ; a pedder, a pedlar, a packman, one who carries on his back goods in a ped for sale. — Wedgwood, Chambers. bkel; Dutch, j»e&e£, brine; the word probably was first applied to the curing or pickling of herrings, the radical meaning being the gutting or cleansing of the fish with which the operation began ; pickle, i. e. to pick clean. — Wedgwood. (flXaeltC. — Picil, brine, or salt liquor; picil, to preserve in brine ; picleadh, pickling. PICKLES. — Small pieces of vegetables or small vegetables, such as onions or ghirkins, preserved in vinegar and used as a condiment. Piccolo (Italian). — Small. fiRatlir. — Beag, little, small. PICKT^HATCH.— A brothel. To your manor of pickt-hatch go. Merry Wives of Windsor. From the bordello it might come as well the spittle or pickt-hatch. — Every Man in his Humour. It has been well observed that a Tialcli with pikes upon it was a common mark of a bad house : — Set some picks upon your hatch, and I pray profess to keep a bawdy-house. — Cupid's Whirligig. Hence the name; the pikes were probably intended as a defence against invasion. — Naees. The ingenious derivation of Nares is a corruption of a simpler but more obscene expression, the fiSaerie.— Pit, the vagina; teacfi, theaclt, a house. PIE. — A magpie ; sometimes applied to birds generally. Latin, pica. — Woecestek. (&arl:c. — Pighe, a bird. PIE or Pye. — A printer's word, signify- ing the confusion into which type is sometimes thrown, when on distribu- tion the letters are mingled together instead of being thrown each iuto its proper receptacle. " To knock into pie," is to knock into confusion. The word is an abbreviation and cor- ruption, with the elision of the guttural, of the CJraeltC. — Paisg, to involve, mix, or roll together. PIE-BALD. — Of two colours ; applied to a horse that is either white and roan, or white and black, marked like a magpie. ffiaellC. — Pighe, a bird, a magpie; ball, a spot, a mark; ballachd, spotted, marked ; whencep/gfie-ballac/id, marked like a magpie; or the derivation may be from bo, a cow ; ballachd, marked ; a horse that is marked like a cow. PIERCE (French, jsercer).— To prick, to wound with a sharp-pointed instru- ment, to make a hole. French, percer, from the Latin pertundo, pertusus, to beat, push, or thrust through. — WOBCESTEE. ffiaellC. — Bior, to prick, to gall, to sting; biorach, sharp-pointed. PIG (Lowland Scotch). — An earthen jar or flower-pot. There is a story told of a Glasgow mer- chant, whose vernacular was richer than his English, that he ordered a London artist to decorate the panels of the state- OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 325 cabin of his yacht with " pigs " and flowers, and that to his horror the artist represented pigs in the English sense, with flowers in their snouts ! Tos ; irptv, before. — Wedgwood. ffiatltc. — Priornh, main, chief, prin- cipal, first ; priomh-alhair, patriarch, primogenitor, first father ; priomh-sonas, chief happiness ; priomh-laoch, a prime hero. PROD or Prog. — A goad for oxen. Proddle is used in the same sense.— Halliwell. ffltarllC. — Brod, a goad ; to stir up, to stimulate, to goad, to excite; brodach, stimulating, stirring up. PRODIGAL.— Lavish. Prodigious. — Very large, very great, or extraordinary. Prodigy. — Any person or thing wonderful for some unusual quality of mind or body. These words have doubtless been adopted, as all philologists agree, from the Latin prodigo and prodigium. The root of the Latin is to be found in the ffiaelic. — Brod, the choice or pick of. anything ; the best quality of grain or other article, whence the German brod, or bread ; brodach, to enliven, to stimulate; brodad/i, a stimulating to excellence or to activity; brodail, arrogant. See Pride and Prod. PROG (Slang) . — Food, provisions ; originally used by vagrants and x x 338 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY beggars; also used as a verb, "to go progging." _ Prog, to shift meanly for provisions ; victuals, provisions of any kind ; a low word. Johnson. Prom the Latin procuro, to procure. — Skinneb. From the Dutchprac/jyen.to heg. — Todd's Johnson. Anglo-Saxon, priccian, to prick. — Rich- ABDSON. ffiadtC. — Proinn (anciently proi- ghinn), a meal, a dinner ; proghan, broken victuals, odds and ends of food, such as are given to beggars ; pronnan, fragments. PROLIX. — Wordy, diffuse in speech or writing. Prolix, Latin. — Johnson. Prolixus, Latin ; explained from pro and loams, slack, long, lengthened, tedious. — Wedgwood. CUaeliC. — Brolasg, garrulity, loqua- city ; brolaig, confused muttering as in sleep ; brolasgach, talkative ; brolasg- ackd, loquacity, tattling. PROP, or Prop vs. — To support, main- tain, sustain. Swedish, propp, a bung, a stopper, cork, wadding; Dutch, prop, proppe, a stopper, also a support. The radical meaning seems to be preserved in the English brob, to prick with a bodkin ; from the notion of pricking we pass to that of cramming, thrusting in, or to that of thrusting upwards, supporting. — Wedg- wood. Danish, proppen, to cram, support ; Dutch, prop, a stopper ; Latin, propago, a shoot, a sucker. — Chambees. ©afllC. — Prop, to support, sustain; propadh, supporting, sustaining; pro- painaich, a stout young man (who helps to support the family) ; propte, main- tained, supported, sustained, propped. PROWESS.— Valour. Preux (French). — Valiant, gallant, chivalrous. Latin, prolus, good, sound ; Catalonian, prores ; Provencal, proris ; French preux, gallant, loyal, — Cotgeave, &c. Eeference being commonly made to this quality as exhibited in men, French, prouesse; Italian, prodezza, with an intrusive d to prevent hiatus, as in Latin, prodest, prodesse, came to signify valour. — Wedgwood. Preux, prouesse, mots tres difficiles.— LlTTEE. (QiaeltC. — Prois, pride, haughtiness, high-bearing ; proiseil, haughty, digni- fied ; proisean, a haughty person. PRUDE. — A woman who in conversa- tion with men affects, or feels a cold or repulsive demeanour. Prudery. — Affectation of modesty and undue reserve. T?reac\\, prude ; OWExeruk, prod or prode; Latin, probus, good, proper, excellent, but affected by the Latin prudens, prudent. — Webstee. Prude, a word of very modern date, is supposed by some to be from provida, by others from proba. — Richaedson. Prude ou prode, feminin de l'adjectif preux, valiant, brave. — Littbe. Abbreviation of prudent. — Latham. Todd refers to the Anglo-Saxon prut, proud, and the Icelandic prudr, modest.— Woecestee. ffiaflt'C — Bruid, a check, a pro- hibition; bruideach, a cold or unkind woman. dtornfel). — Prydyry, to have a thought, to think, to consider, to hesitate ; pryder, care, anxiety, thought, hesitation. PRY. — To look into things vexatiously and over-curiously. Connected by Wedgwood with prowl. — Latham's Todd's Johnson. Of uncertain etymology. Skinner suggests Old French, preuver, to make trial or exa- mination. — Woecestee. Probably contracted from per-eye, to eye or look through. — Webstee. OV THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 339 It is pernaps a corruption of the verb to peer. — Richardson. ©faelt'c. — Prac, a tithe, a tax; prac- adair, a tithe or tax collector ; one who looks narrowly into people's affairs, in order to tax their property. PUCK. — A half-mischievous, half- friendly sprite in the fairy mythology of England, sometimes called " Robin Goodfellow." Pouke, a fiend ; the same as Puck, a mis- chievous fairy. . . . Puck, pug, and pouke, are all synonymous. Puke, a demon, Ice- landic. Pug, in Ben Jonson's Play, The Devil is an Ass, is evidently the same person- age. In the Sad Shepherd of the same author he appears under the title of Puck Hairy. Butler unites the names 6f Pug and Robin. — Naees. ©raeltC. — Boo, bocan, a sprite, a goblin, a hobgoblin, a spectre, an apparition ; boe, deceit, fraud ; boenm- ort! "a goblin on thee!" an imprecation to frighten children. PUDDING.— A well-known article of diet, variously compounded with fruits, and sometimes with flesh- meat, and to the use of which the English are supposed to be more addicted than any other people. Sir Walter Scott makes one of his characters speak contemptuously of Englishmen as " pock-puddings." Literally that which bulges out. Welsh, poten; German, pudding ; French, boudin, from root bod, something projecting, akin to pout. — Chambees. Latin, botulus, a sausage ; Low Latin, bodinus ; Italian, bodingo ; Dutch, podding, a pudding. — Worcester. Welsh poten. The radical image may be lump, or round mass ; then something stumpy, short and thick ; English, pod, a protuberant belly; poddy, podgy ; round and stout; Scan- dinavian, pud, a fat child. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Putag, a pudding ; puiagcm, a little pudding. x PUERILE.— Like a child, childish; from the Latin jreer, a boy or child. The Latin puer originally meant a child of either sex, but came in time to signify a boy. The word remains with a different meaning in the (SiaeltC. — P'mtliar (t silent), a sister; piutkarail, sisterly. PUFF.— To inflate, to swell out with wind; or, metaphorically, to praise unjustly or over much. German, puff; Danish, puf; Dutch, pof, from the sound. Toad. An amphibious reptile, which swells out on being alarmed ; Icelandic, tutna, to swell. — Chambees. C&aeliC. — Buaf (Obsolete) .; — A toad, a reptile that swells or inflates itself when alarmed or angry. PUG. — A species of dog with a black monkey-like face. Essentially the same with bug ; Welsh bwg, an object of terror, ghost, hobgoblin Then as an ugly mask is used for the purpose of terrifying children, the term pug was applied to a monkey, as resembling a cari- cature of the human face. — Wedgwood. CRaellC. — Piug, a sorry, mean, dis- agreeable appearauce ; piugach, having a pug-like, mean appearance. PUG (Slang). — In large families the under servants call the upper ones " pugs," and the housekeeper's room is known as the "pug's hole." — Haxliwell. The allusion is to the bribes, " tips " or perquisites that the upper servants receive from tradesmen, or visitors to the house, and is traceable to the ©adtC. — Puic, a bribe; puicear, a briber; pmceach, giving or receiving bribes. x 2 340 THE -GAELIC ETYMOLOGY PULL. — To draw along, to tug, to tear, to rend, to drag. Saxon, pullian. — Johnson. Anglo-Saxon, pullian; Dutch, pellen, to peel. — Woecestek. A parallel form with " pill," signifying originally to pick. To pull garliok, i. e. to peel or pill it. — Wedgwood. Etymologists have discovered no root in the Teutonic or Latin sources of the English language, to which this word can be traced, except the Anglo- Saxon pullian, which is not Saxon. ©aelt'C. — Biol, to pull, to pluck, to dig up, to tug ; piolachadJi , plucking, digging; piolachair, one who digs, plucks, draws, or pulls. PUMMEL.— To beat with the fist. TYom the Latin pomum, an apple ; a globular mass ; a ball, a knob, whence pommel or pummel, to beat as with a pummel, or anything thick or bulky. — Woecesteb. fiRacllC. — Beum, to strike, to beat. PUMP. — A machine for raising water from a well or spring. Prom the French pomper, to pump. Rightly referred h} r Adelung to the idea of splashing ; the sound of something heavy falling in the water is represented in German hy the syllable plump, whence plumper, to splash. In Cornwall plump is a pump or draw-well. — Wedgwood. (S^afUc. — Buinne, a stream, a cascade, a cataract, a flow of water, a confluence of waters ; buin, a tap, a spigot. PUN. — A play upon words in which the wit, real or supposed, consists in hinting a different sense from that which the word really implies. Johnson attempts no etymology; Ash declares the word to be without etymo- logy. Todd derives it from fun ; Bos- worth from the Anglo-Saxon punian, to pound; Nares thinks it may perhaps mean to beat or hammer upon the same word, a definition in which Mr. Wedg- wood inclines to agree. Mr. Donald in Chambers? suggests the Prench ptftnte and the Latin punctus. The word, however, is Keltic, and nothing like it in the same sense occurs in any of the recognized sources of the English. The French have jeu-de-mot, and the Germans worfspiele. It is to be traced, ■ — like so many vernacular words, which have been stumbling-blocks to all phi- lologists, who, following the example of Johnson, have denied or ignored the fact that the ancient Britons had a language of their own before Romans, Saxons, or Danes came near them, — to the ©aell'C. — Bun, a root, a foundation. A "pun" would not be a "pun" unless it were rooted or founded upon a similarity of sound to that other mean- ing, upon which the joke, witticism, or play of words was superposed. Bun na chainnte, or the foundation of speech, is the Gaelic for " etymology." PUNCH or Punchy.— Short, thick set, fat. I did hear them call their fat-child Punch, which pleased me mightily, that word having become » word of common use for every- thing that is thick and short. — Pepys's Di ary. The fact that Punch already signified a short thick man probably led to the conversion of Pulcinello, the little hump-backed puppet of the Italians, into Punchinello, now cut short to Punch. — Wedgwood. ©atllC. — Bunach, squat, short, stumpy ; having a large foundation. PUNK (Obsolete).— A prostitute. Latham queries the etymology and suggests none; Webster omits the word; Richardson says it is the regular OF THE ENOLTSH LANGUAGE. 341 past participle of pyngan, pungere, and means a woman, pnncta. But the quotations do not support this ety- mology. Shakspeare in Measure for Measure has She may be a, punk, for many of them are neither maid, widow, or wife. In this instance a " punk " does not signify a woman simply, but a woman of a particular class. A coarse term which is deservedly growing obsolete. It was used by Butler, Dryden, and still later. — Nabes. Why risk the world's great empire for a punk ? Caesar perhaps might answer he was drunk. Pope. Or for a titled punk, or foreign flame, Renounce our country and degrade our name. Pope. Possibly the word originally had no such opprobrious meaning as it acquired in English in the days from Shakspeare to Pope, but was one of compliment to a young woman. ffiacltC. — Buinneag (puinneac/i) , a handsome young girl (Armstrong's ' Gaelic Dictionary), PURR. — The noise of pleasure made by a cat when thrusting her head against any one who caresses her; — also, to push, to thrust. It is difficult to say wha,t pur can mean in the whimsical description of Parolles by the Clown : — • Here is a. pur of fortune, sir, or of fortune's cat — All's Well that Ends Well. The purr of a cat is well known, but how Parolles could be a. pur, is not easy to say ; and what is a pur'oi fortune ? Latimer tells of^KJ* as an invitation to a hog. "They say in my country when they call their hogges to the swine-trough, Come to thy mingle mangle, come, pur ! come, pur .'" — Nabes. ffiaeltC. — Purr, thrust, push, drive ; purradh, pushing, thrusting (often applied to the pushing or thrusting of pigs to the trough when fed). PUSS, Pussy. — Familiar and fondling names for a cat. Bailey, Johnson, and other early com- pilers of Dictionaries make no attempt to trace these words. Ash (1775) says the etymology is uncertain. Mr. Wedgwood is of opinion that the word " puss " is an imitation of the sound made by a cat spitting. "Worcester after suggesting the Latin pusa, a little girl, as a possible derivation, ends by admitting the claim of the <35fadtC- — Pus, a cat; pusag, a little cat; piseag or puseag, a young cat, a kitten; piseag ach or puseagach, like a kitten. PUT. — To place, to set down, to setup. Of this word, so common in the English language, it is difficult to find the etymology ; putter, to plant, is Danish. — Junius. John- son. [Note. — The difficulty was only that it was not to be found in the Teutonic or the Latin languages, the only places where Johnson looked for it.] This word has no cognate in the other Northern languages, unless it have (and it may have) its origin in the Anglo-Saxon hidan, German, bieten ; by the change of b and d into their cognates p and t; and thus mean to bide or stay. Skinner derives it from the French bouter, to butt like a ram, to push or drive forward — Richabdson. Lemon refers it to the Latin pono, positum, to place; the French poser, to set; the Welsh pwtio, to push ; the Danish putte, to put something into. — Wobcesteb. Italian, buttare ; a form of butt, to strike. — Chambebs. (BfaeltC. — Put, to throw, to push, to thrust, to place ; putach, putadh, shov- ing, jostling. " The word put" says Jamieson, " is used in a variety of forms (in the Scottish language or dialect) which are unknown in English : — i. e. ' to make one's put,' to gain one's end or object ; ' to put on/ i. e. to push on, to increase one's speed in running and walking." 342 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY " To put the stone," is a well-known diversion and feat of agility among the Highlanders of Scotland, and consists in throwing a heavy stone to a considerable distance. PUTTOCK.— A wild bird of some kind, supposed to be a kite. Skinner, Minsheu, and others derive it most improbably from luteo, which would make it a buzzard. It is called a kite in the following example : — Who finds the partridge in the puttocTc's nest, But may imagine how the bird was dead, Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak? Shakspeaee, Henry VI. Part II. Imogen comparing Posthumus and Cloten, says, — I chose an eagle, and did avoid & puttock. Thersites also in his abuse of Menelaus says, — To be a dog, a mule, a cat, a fitchew, a toad, a lizard, a. puttock, or a herring with- out a roe, I would not care : but to be a Menelaus ! I would conspire against destiny ! ■ — Troilus and Cressida. Being considered as a base kind of hawk the puttock was despised in proportion to the high estimation of that bird, and was often used as a term of reproach. — Naees. It is possible that in Shakspeare's time " puttock " had come to signify a kite, but that it sometimes means other birds is evident from the (ffijacltC. — Puta, a young moorfowl; putach, abounding in moorfowl; luta- gachd, a snipe. From these examples it is evident that the bird really de- signated by the English "puttock-" is doubtful. PUZZEL or Pusle— A drab, a low woman. Possibly a derisive corruption of the French pucelle, a virgin. Derived by Minsheu from puzzolente, Italian. — Naees. Pucelle, or puzzel, dolphin or dog-fish. — Shakspeaee, Henry V. Part I. Lady or pusill. — Ben Jonson. (KaeltC. — Busag or pusag, from pus or ius, a mouth ; a girl with thick lips, a vulgar girl. PUZZLE. — To perplex, bewilder. Diminutive of pose, to perplex. — Cham- bees. Latham marks the word with a query (?), and suggests no derivation. Skinner inclines to the opinion that posle, is from the verb "to pose," to confuse by a difficult question. CSaeltC.— Biosgail, difficult. PYE or Pie.— A bird of the genus pica, a jay, &c. Magpye. — A chattering bird or pie. Pigeon. — A dove. Pigeon, from the Latin pipire; Italian, pipiare, pigiolare, to peep, or chirp as a young bird. — Wedgwood. French provincial, pijon; Italian, pic- cione ; Latin, pipio, a young bird; pipio, to chirp, from the sound. — Chambees. Pigeon. — Wallon, pevion, puvion, Picard et Normand, ping eon ; Proven cal, pijon; Espagnol, piclion ; Italien, piccione, &c. ; Latin, pipionem, qui vient de pipire, piauler. — Littee. These words are all from the same root signifying a bird. ©radtC. — Pig/te (pi), a bird ; pigidh, a robin redbreast ; pibhinn, a lapwing ; pigheann, a pye, a jay. The word "pigeon," or pighe-dion, the " bird of security," has possibly a reference to some old tradition of the Dove of Noah, that let loose from the ark, and re- turning no more, gave proof that the Flood had subsided, and that men could safely return to the earth. PYRAMIDS.— The celebrated build- ings erected by the Ancient Egyptians in the valley of the Nile, by some supposed for the sepulture of the Of THE ENGLTSH LANGUAGE. 343 Pharaohs, but more probably for astronomical purposes, and obser- vations of the return of the hea- venly bodies. Greek irvpa/iis, from the form taken by the flames of a fire, trvp, fire. — Wedgwood. Also from vvpos, wheat ; from a wheaten loaf so shaped ; but probably an Egyptian word. — Chambers. MacLon (Hebrew) signifies the great mea- sure, extension, also mensuration. — Sie. W. Deummond, (Edipus Judaicus. ©iaelic. — Beur (or pew), a pinnacle, a peak ; meud, magnitude, bulk ; moid, great. UtgtttttC. — Sera, a pyramid, a stack, a pile. The Chaldseans, Phoenicians, and Egyptians, were like all the Druids, astronomers and sun-worshippers, and in a flat country like Egypt, they required artificial mountains, which the ''pyramids" really were, to take cor- rect observations of the movements of the heavenly bodies. This theory alone accounts satisfactorily for the existence of these costly and stupendous monu- ments. Ancient etymologists were deceived by the resemblance of the Egyptian and Gaelic word beurr, to the Greek word -irvp, fire, and led all succeeding investigators into the wrong path. PYEENEES.— The mountains that separate France and Spain. Herodotus speaks of a city of Pyrene belonging to the Kelts. The ancient writers derived the name from irvp, fire, " and then/' says Dr. Smith in his Classical Dictionary, "invented a story to explain a false etymology, relating that a great fire once raged upon the mountains." As the b and j) are pronounced nearly alike in all the Keltic languages, it is probable that the true etymology is the ©raelic. — Beur, a pinnacle, a peak ; neamh, the sky, heaven, the firmament ; i. e. " Pyrenees," the pinnacles or peaks above the clouds, or in the sky. PYRRIE (Obsolete).— A violent storm, or swell of the sea. Pirr in Scotch means a gentle breeze. — Naees. CicacltC. — Piorradh, a squall or blast. Q. QUACK. — A term of contempt applied by physicians to interlopers and pre- tenders who have no legal right to practise medicine or surgery. Quack and Quacksalver. The salving of wounds was so generally taken as a type of the healing art that no reasonable doubt can be entertained of the meaning of the latter element in quacksalver. The import of the element quack is not so clear Dutch, quakkeln; Piatt Deutsch, quackeln, seem to be parallel forms with the German quackt-ln, wacheln, wangeln; English, quaggle, waggle. expressing in the first place the agitation of liquids ; and the wavering, splashing, spill- ing, dabbling, and bungling. — Wedgwood. To cry like a duck ; to boast, to practise as a quack ; a boastful pretender to skill which he does not possess, especially medical skill. From the sound, like the Greek Koag, a croak ; Latin, coaseo, to croak. — Chambers. ffiaeltC. — Coimheach (m silent, pro- nounced Icoi-hacli), foreign, strange. By this etymology a " quack " doctor would signify one foreign or strange to the profession, not rightfully belonging to it. QUAFF— To drink;— to drink a large draught. Of this word the etymology is uncertain. Junius with his usual idleness of conjecture derives it from the Greek laxxpifav, in the 344 THE OAELIC ETYMOLOGY Eolic dialect used for Kva8i£tiv. Skinner derives it from go off. It comes from the French coiffer, to be drunk. — Johnson. The Anglo-Saxon wafian, to wave, with the common prefix ge, would form gewafian or cwafian, to wave, or flow in waves ; to swallow in waves, or gulps in ahundauce. — RlCHAKDSOlf. Welsh cofftio, to quaff. — Woecestee Quaff". In Scotland a child is said to ■wacht when suckling so forcibly as to swallow a considerable quantity at once ; wauglit, a, hearty draught ; analogous forms are the German hauchen; English, huff, whiff, to draw the breath j waft, a draught of air. — Wedgwood. Johnson is quite as erroneous as Skinner and Junius whom he condemns. Coiffer in French means to dress the hair, also to put on a head-dress or a nightcap. To he coiffe in this sense was to have so much drink in the head as to be sleepy, i. e. to have a nightcap on: just as a glass of spirits and water before retiring to rest is sometimes called "a nightcap." ffiaeltC— Cuach, a drinking-cup, a bowl ; to drink out of a bowl. The guttural ck, softened into f by the English, would become cuaf, cuaff, or " quaff." Another possible etymon presents itself in sgual, to sweep out, to drain the cup, to quaff deeply. This word occurs in the latter sense in the famous Gaelic formula, used in pro- posing a toast with Highland honours, viz.:— Suas-e! suas-e! suas-e"! Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Sios-e! sios-6! sios-e! Hurra ! Hurra! Hurra! S'ud adhuibh! s'ud a dhuibh! S'ud a dhuibh! Hurra ! Hurra! H un ' a ' A'nis! a'nis ! a'nis! Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Ariste! ariste! ariste! Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Sguab as'e ! The proposer of the toast as well as the guests mount upon their chairs, and place one foot upon the table when the honours are to be given — and when the health is drunk, throw the glass which has been drained behind them upon the floor, to break it to atoms. The mean- ing of the latter part of the ceremony is, that the glass thus honoured shall never be used again for a meaner toast. The formula may be freely translated : — Up with it ! up with it ! up with it ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Down with it ! down with it ! down with it ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Hurra ! To you ! to you ! to you ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Now ! now ! now ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Again ! again ! again ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Hurra ! Q^a^it off! Sweep it off! drain every drop of it! QUAIL (Obsolete). — A term of con- tempt for a woman. Prom the bird (quail), a prostitute ; bor- rowed from the French, where caille, and cattle coiffie, had the same meaning The quail was thought to be a very amorous bird ; thence the metaphor. — Nabes. CSraeltC. — Caile, a girl, a quean, a hussy ; caitteach, an old woman ; caile- anta, girlish, like a girl. QUAKER. — A member of the religious sect which calls itself the " Society of Friends." The " Friends" do not now accept the epithet "Quaker," which seems to have been given in contempt, or derision, to mark their nonconformity to the fashion and ideas of the time. So called from the enthusiastic shakings and convulsions of their preachers. — Cham- bers. ffiaeliC. — Cuaff, ungainly, awkward, out of the line ; cuaff aire, one out of the line of observance; an awkward, un- gainly person, one not in the fashion ; cuagaireachd, clumsiness, slovenliness, awkwardness. QUALITY! CALITY! CONSTRUE ME.— This odd phrase is used by OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 345 Pistol in Henry V., in answer to the French Soldier who says, " Je pense que vous etes le (un) gentilhomme de bonne qualite." Mr. Staunton in a note to this pas- sage, says, — In the folio [this line is not found in the quarto] this is printed qualitie calino cus- ture me. Malone having met with a sonnet of a lover in praise of his lady, to Calen a custure me, sung at every line's end, concluded that the incomprehensible jargon of the folio was nothing else than this very burden. Sub- sequently Boswell discovered that Calino casture me is an old Irish (G-aelic) song, still preserved in Playford's Musical Com- panion. The line is now therefore usually printed Quality ! Callino castore me. The solution of the difficulty is certainly curious and very captivating, but to us the idea of Pistol holding a prisoner by the throat and quoting the fag-end of a ballad at the same moment is too preposterous ; and in default of any better explanation of the mys- terious syllables, we have adopted that of Warburton, Quality, cality, construe me. Nares was of a different opinion, he says that, — The words so curiously disfigured by the printer belong to a four-part glee in the Irish (Gaelic) language, and should be read Callino, Callino ! castore me, which together with a second line, Eva ee, eva loo, lee ! have been found to mean, " Little girl of my heart, for ever and ever." Mr. Boswell adds very properly, " They have, it is true, no "great con- nexion with the poor Frenchman's supplica- tion : nor were they meant to have any.'' The true reading of the old chorus is CRaeltC. — Cailin, a girl, a dear girl ; ogh, young j whence, by corruption, Callino. The words castore me resolve themselves into elm stiuridh mi, I will not steer; so that Callino, castore me, would seem to be a part of the chorus of a boat song, in which the rower addresses a young woman on board and invites her to steer while he rows. The other words in Nares's quotation which he gives as Eva, eel JSva, loo, lee ! and translates " for ever and ever,'* are evidently the Gaelic Aihhe ! I! aibhe ! Luatk, li ! or " Hail to the island, hail 1 swift (on the) sea !" as if the rowers were coming in sight of an island which they were desirous to reach. This remnant of a long-for- gotten song still current among the English in Shakspeare's time is a curious proof of the vitality of the old Keltic speech long after its meanings had become hopelessly obscure. See Djiuidical Choruses. QUAND (French).— When. Latin, quando. ©artic. — Cia, what; nine, time; whence c'uine, when ? QUANDARY.— A dilemma, a diffi- culty, a perplexity. Very few English Dictionaries admit this word, and when it is admitted it is described as low, vulgar, and without etymology. " Quandary," says Skin- ner, quoted in Hotten's Slang Dictionary, "is from the French Qu'en diraije? 'what shall I say of it?"' All the dictionaries that notice the word, Blount's Glossographia, Gazophylacium, Anglicanum, Bailey, Ash, Johnson, Worcester, and others accept this etymology as satisfactory. Blount mentions another, but does not prefer it, quando ora, at what hour, " for that in the time of heathenism people would ask quando ora, at what hour shall the sacrifice be made ? " Qu'en, dirai-je is certainly the more ingenious of the two. There is a proverb applied to a man in extremity of peril which says that he is " between the devil and the deep y Y 346 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY sea/' i. e. that the devil is driving him, and that if he escape it will only be by falling into the sea. This leads us to the (QtSCltC — Cuan, the sea; deire, be- hind ; whence euan-deire, the sea behind, applied to the unfortunate position of a man driven from one calamity or peril into a worse, or from the land into the sea. That this is the correct derivation appears to be cor- roborated by a passage in Gildas, — in his Be Excidio Britannicce — in which he describes the Britons, sorely pressed by the Saxons, as writing to iEtius, the Eoman consul, " the barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea throws us back on the barbarians, thus two modes of death await us, we are either slain or drowned." It has been suggested by a Gaelic scholar, as this sheet is passing through the press, that the derivation may be from coin-deire, " dogs behind " — the con- dition of a man pursued by bloodhounds; or from the obsolete cuan, a multitude; and deire, behind. Either derivation is preferable to that from Qn'en dirai-je? QUARREL. — A dispute, a contention, a feud. Old English and French, querelle ; Italian and Latin, querela ; Latin, queror, to com- plain. — Chamb ees. The representation of the high tones of complaint or anger by a" root, similar to that which gives rise to querelle, or querela is widely spread. German, quarren, to cry as children, to wrangle ; Old Norse, hurr, com- plaint, murmur; Pi rrnish, kurista, and kirista, to cry as a child; kirid, quarrelsome. — Wedgwood. diaelic. — Ciar, gloomy, stern, dis- agreeable, ready to quarrel; ciarail, a quarrel, a brawl, a fray ; ciarailach, quarrelsome ; claralacM, quarrelsome- ness, perversity. QUARRY. — A pit from which stone is excavated for building purposes. To quarry stones means properly to square them, i. e. to hew and prepare them for the builders. — Woecestee. From the Latin quadraria, quadrus, square. — Chambebs. (ffiartic. — Coire, a cauldron, any round natural hollow or artificial excava- tion in the earth ; a corrie in the hills. QUARRY.— The offal given to the dogs after a hunt ; the prey pursued by a hawk, falcon, &c. In this sense the word is from the French curie, the entrails of the game, commonly given to the dogs at the death. The word is written cuyerie by De Foix. To make a hawk to the quarre is to teach him to find his game.- — Wedgwood. ffiatlic. — Cuaradh, ciur, to hurt, to injure, to maim, to destroy ; ciurradh, a hurt, a wound, a fatal injury; ciurrail, hurtful, injurious, destructive. QUARTER. — A point in a circle, as in the phrases, "from what quarter or point does the wind blow ?" " from what quarter of the world has he come?" &c. Quarter. — To station a regiment in a town or elsewhere. Quarters. — Lodgings, habitations. These words signifying position, place, &c, as "from what quarter do you come ?" or " he lives in country quarters," "the regiment was quartered at — ," are not derived from quatuor, four, or quarter, the fourth part; but from the ffiaeltC. — Cia (lea), what? aird, place, condition, or state, whence, cia- aird or c'aird ; cuairt, a circle, a circumference, a round, a tour, a journey; a whirl, an eddy; cmirtear, a tourist, a traveller, a sojourner; cuar- OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. S47 tick, to surround, to enclose, shut in ; cuairteackadh, an enclosure. Thus, the enemy's "quarters'" are the enemy's enclosures, country " quarters," country enclosures or residence, &c. QUAY (French, quai) . — Sometimes vulgarly pronounced hey, a passage or a pier, for convenience of embarca- tion on the sea or the river. French, quai; Spanish, cayo ; Portuguese, caes ; Welsh, cae, an enclosure ; also given for key, thus meaning originally a space compacted together by beams and planks, as you if it were by keys. — Chambees. Quai. Bas Latin, caium, du Celtique, Cymrique, £ae, barriere; Bas Breton, Kae, haie et quai. — Littbe. nittC. — Rhad, RATE (Colloquial and Vulgar).— To scold, to talk angrily in reproof. A " rating," a scolding, a reproof. Anglo-Saxon, Jirettian, to scold. — Rich- AEDSON. CSrHCltC. — Radh, a saying. RATHE. — Early, seasonable, soon. Rather. — Sooner. Math fruit, for early fruit, that is, ripe in the beginning of summer, from the Anglo- Saxon rath, or the Belgian rade, soon, all contractions of the Latin rapidus, swift ; Bath wine, wine made of grapes gathered before full maturity. — Qazophylacium, An- glicanwm. Prom the Anglo-Saxon rath, early, coming before the time, quick. — Woecestee. Old Norse, hradr, quick ; Norse, rad, quick, hasty, ready, straight; Dutch, rad; Picard, rade, nimble, quick. — Wedgwood. (ISaeltC. — Thrath (initial t silent), the early dawn ; trath, time, season, day, hour; thrath noiu, early noon ; trathail, early, soon, in good time, seasonable; trathalachd, seasonableness. RATTEN.— A term employed by Trades' Unionists when they per- secute and annoy a man who persists in working while his fellows are on strike. <2BracllC. — Rathan, a surety ; i. e. the workmen ratten or make sure of the rebellious comrade by forcibly prevent- ing or striving to prevent him from going to work. RAVE. — To talk in a wild, incoherent, or idle manner. " Raving mad," wildly and incoherently mad. " You are raving," applied to a person who advances a wild and untenable pro- position . French, river, to dream, to be delirious ; Latin, rabies, madness ; obsolete, rabo, to be mad; akin to Sanscrit, ra b h, to be exasperated; Gaelic, rabhd, idle talk. — Webstee, Cham- bees, &c. Menage declares it difficult to discover the origin of this word, and writes to little pur- pose. It is to act as one reaved or bereaved. Kichaedson. ffiaeltC. — Ra6hd,idle, wild talk; rabh- an, rhapsodical, tedious ; rabhdair, an idle talker ; rabhdaireachd, raving, wild nonsense. See Rhapsody. RAW (Colloquial). — Inexperienced, new, fresh to the world ; a " raw " youth. Possibly this word is not derived from " raw " in the vulgar sense of uncooked, but from the ffiaeltC. — Radhar (ra-ar), raghar, (ra-har), arable, a field not in tillage (McLeod and Dewar's Dictionary) ; whence, metaphorically, a " raw youth " would signify one who is yet unculti- vated. RAY.— A beam of light. Radiance. — Light, the throwing forth of rays. Rayon (French). — A beam of light, or of the sun or moon. Rayonnant (French). — Beaming with light or joy. Prom the Latin radius, a, straight rod, a spoke of a wheel, and thence a ray or beam of light which issues from the sun like the spokes from the nave of a wheel. — Wedg- wood. No English or French philologist has ever suggested any other etymology for the English ray and the French rayon, than the Latin radius. The Speaker's OH THE ENGLISH LANQUAOE 357 Commentary on the Bible, vol. i. page 87, says that "the Egyptians claimed to be the children of Ba, the sun/' The supposition that this may be the true root of " ray " is remarkably supported by the ffifaeltC. — Be, the moon, time, light, duration ; reul, a star, a planet ; reul- adair, an astronomer ; reul-eolas, astro- nomy (German, stemkunst) ; re-sholus (re-holus), the light of the moon; reul- sholus {reul-Jiolus), the light of stars, starlight ; reulaoh, starry ; reultag, a little star; reultagach, glittering with little stars. RAZE. — To level a building with the earth, to overthrow. Razor. — An instrument for shaving the beard. Trench, raser ; Spanish and Portuguese, rasar ; Italian, rasare ; Latin, rasare, to scrape often, from radere, rasum, to shave, to scrape. — Webster. Sas, shaven, cut close by the ground, eouper tout ras, cut clean away ; French, rez, rez-de-chaussie, level with the ground. — CoTGEAVE. Probably this is one of the numerous cases in which ultimate unity of origin shows itself in close resemblance between remote descendants, and Latin radere, rasum, to scratch or scrape, belongs to the same class with the German reissen, to tear. — Wedg- wood. (SJaeltC. — Beidk, smooth, level, plain, close-shaven; dean reidh, to make smooth. REACH. — To stretch, to stretch ont, to extend the hand. Rax (Lowland Scotch) . — To assist a person by extending the hand, to reach ; " rax me my cloak." Dutch, reychen, rechen ; German, reichen; Anglo-Saxon, raec-an; Gothic, rahyan, to extend, to stretch out. — Richabdson. Anglo-Saxon, reacan, to stretch out the arm. — Chambers. Italian, recare, to reach with, to bring unto ; Greek Irreyav, to reach forward ; diri- gere, to direct. — Wedgwood. German, reichen : Dutch, reichen; Latin, porrigere, to reach forward ; dirigere, to direct. The reach of a river is as far as it stretches in one direction. — Wedgwood. CSflfltr. — Bigh, to stretch; righeadh, stretching; ruig, reach, extend (pre- position — until, as far as) ; HgJie, ruigk, ruighe, an arm, the fore-arm ; ruigheach, having long arms ; ruigheachd, reach- ing, extending. READY. — Prepared for action or con- tingency. Anglo-Saxon, raedig. — Latham's Johnson. Anglo-Saxon, roed, geroed ; Piatt Deutsch, reed, rede ; German, bereit ; Danish, rede, plain, straight, clear, ready prepared. — Wedgwood. CBraellC. — Beidk, smooth, plain, level, prepared, ready ; reidkearachd, readi- ness, preparation, levelness. REALM. — The dominion of a king. Royaume, Royaulme (French). — A kingdom. Old French, realme, reaume ; Provencal, reyalme; Italian, reame, a kingdom; ac- cording to Diez through or from regalima, from regalis. — Wedgwood. (Gaelic — Bigh {ree), a king; all- mharc, foreign, tributary; whence, "realm" or " royaulme," signified in the first instance the king's foreign pos- sessions, and the tributary nations over which he ruled. REAM (Slang). — Good, genuine ; " ream bloke," a good man. From the old cant rum. — Slang Dictio- nary. ©aellC. — Beamliar, fat, plump, big ; reamhrachd, fatness; rein, power, au- thority; reimeil, authoritative, even- tempered. 358 TH£ GAELIC ETYMOLOGY REASON. — To argue or think on the fitness of things. Reason. — The power of tracing effects to causes, or of calculating the progress and consequences of an action in futurity. Reasonable. — According to reason or common sense, and the fitness of things. French, raison ; Latin, ratio. — Wedg- wood. Literally, to calculate. . . . French, raison; Spanish, razon ; Latin, ratio; reor, ratus, to calculate, to think ; res, a thing. — Cham- BEBS. (UraeltC. — Reusan, reuson, a cause ; reusanaich, to reason, to argue; reusanta, reusonta, reasonable, just. These words have an anterior Gaelic root in rackd, law, right; and sonn, to pierce, to thrust, to press ; sonraiek, ap- point, ordain, set forth. REBUKE.— To reprimand; to give another blow, warning, or lesson to one who has done wrong. "Whether there was ever such a word as " buke " without " re," the prefix of iteration, is not easy to determine. Sebuquer, to give one hlows : — tu seras bien rebuqui, you will catch it. But the sense agrees better with rebecquer, to peck again, as one cock at another ; to answer saucily . — Cotgeave. Perhaps from French reboucher, boucher, to stop or stuff the mouth ; Latin, bucca, the cheek. — Wedgwood. Possibly the Latin "re" has been prefixed to a Keltic root, and formed the hybrid word of which the etymology is so difficult to discover. OJaelic. — Boo, a blow, a stroke; and, metaphorically, a reproach, a rejoinder, a blow in words. RECANT. — To unsay what one has said, to take back one's assertion, to retract. Philologists have been content to de- rive this word from recantare, to sing again, or sing to another tune ; misled by the second syllable, which is not from cantare, to sing, but from the CSfafltC. — Can, to say, rehearse; cainnt, speech, discourse. This with the addition of the Latin re, again, instead of the corresponding Gaelic particle aih, beeame " recant," to say again, but in another sense. RECOIL (French, reculer).— To draw back, a drawing or starting back. The admired line in Collinses Ode to the Passions, in which Fear is said to have Back recoil'd even at the sound himself had made, becomes pleonastic when the correct etymology of the word is remembered. (ffiaeltC. — Cul, back, behind (French, cut). RED PLAGUE. — A disease mentioned by Shakspeare and other writers, but of which the true character is now unknown. One of the diseases imprecated by Caliban upon his master. — Tempest, Act i. Scene 2. Mr. Steevens says that the erysipelas was anciently so called ; but he gives no proof of it, and I believe there was none to be given. Shakspeare doubtless meant to give the epithet red to the disease usually called the plague. He joins it equally with pestilence: Now the red pestilence strike all trades in Rome, And occupations perish, — Coriolanus, Act iv. Scene 1. Nabes. The epithet " red " was often applied to a terrible person, thing, or event. The Gael invariably speak of the Noachian deluge as the Bile ruadh, or OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 359 " red flood," with what meaning it is difficult to imagine. REEF (Nautical). — A dangerous ridge of rocks appearing above or not far below the surface of the sea ; a short rope of a series stretching across the sails of a ship used to draw up the sail so as to diminish the surface exposed to the wind. fflxaeltC. — Biolh, a snare, a danger ; a reef of rocks ; riobh, riof, a reef in the sail of a ship. REEL. — To turn, to twist, to turn like a wheel ; " the Scottish or High- land Reel," a well-known dance. Roll. — Anything, especially a paper or parchment, that is twisted round a centre; that is turned round upon itself for economy of space ; to turn round as a wheel, as the rolling earth, &c. The formation of the word may be explained by the Swiss riegeln, to rattle, thence to wriggle, to swarm. The Scotch reel is a dance in which three or four dancers in a row twist in and oat round each other. — Wedg- wood. Swedish, raffia ; see roll. Roll ; Italian, rotolare; Dutch and German, rollen; Latin, rotula, diminutive of rota, a wheel. — Woecesteb. ffiaeliC — RuidJiil (d silent), a wheel, a whirling dance, a reel ; rnidhleadh, whirling, rolling, wheeling, reeling. REFRAIN (French).— A chorus or burden of a song. This word is sometimes used in the same sense in English. _ Provencal, refrant, refrim; Catalonien, refra ; Espagnol, refran, &c. Ces formes se rattachent a l'ancien verbe refraindre, tire" du Latin refrangere ou refringere, &c. Le refrain est done ce qui refl^chit, se ripete ; le Picard, refrain, qui est de meme origine, signifie degout, repugnance. — Lute B. Spanish, refran, a proverb, a short sentence frequently repeated by the people ; refrancico, a very short proverb. — Baeetti's Spanish Dictionary. GBrajItC. — Ramh (rqf), an oar; rann, a song ; whence raf-rann, a boat-song or chorus to keep time to the oars. REGALE. — To give or to partake of a joyous festival. It is not easy to understand why Diez should separate the word from the Italian gala, good cheer ; French, galler, to enter- tain with sport, game, or glee. — Wedgwood. (ffiatlic. — Ceol, music. From this root, with the Latin prefix of re (instead of the Gaelic ath), comes the French regaler and the English regale, in the sense of a repeated feast with music and rejoicing (see Gala). With the Gaelic prefix ath or a, instead of the Latin prefix re, we have the French accueil, or ath-ceol, a pleasant or festive recep- tion. REICH (German). — An empire, a state, a realm. ffifadic. — Riogachd, a kingdom, a realm ; mor-riogachd, a great kingdom, an empire. REIN, REINS.— The strap or straps by which a horse is governed or directed by the rider or driver. Restrain. — To curb, to hold back. French, rene ; Italian, redira; Latin, retinacido, retineo ; re, back, and teneo, to hold. — Chambees. ffiaelic. — Srian (pronounced slrian), to hold back, to restrain, to bridle, to curb; srianadh, curbing, restraining, bridling. RELTC, RELICT.— That which re- mains of the dead. Relic, relict, relinquish : Latin, linquo, to leave ; relinquo, relictum, to leave behind; Lithuanian, lyhus, overplus, remainder ; likti, to remain over. — Wedgwood. 860 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Perhaps the true root of this word is the poetic and melancholy ©rarlic. — Reidh, smooth; lack, stone ; or rei-lach, the smooth or flat stone over a grave ; all that remains to tell of the departed. REMEMBER.— To have again in memory. Latin, memini, meminisse, to remember ; memor, for mnemo>; mindful, remembering ; Greek ptpv^iai. — Wedgwood. ©raeltC. — Meamhair, memory, re- membrance ; meamhraich, to call to memory or remembrance. RE-RAW (Slang).— "To be on the re-raw," to be royally or exceedingly drunk ; drunker than a lord, drunk as a king. C&aeltC. — Righ-rath {ri-ra), a royal fortress or seat; "to be on the righ- rath," to be on the king's seat. RESTIVE, or Restt. — Stubborn, hard to manage, unruly, unquiet, unyield- ing, obstinate. Italian, restio, restivo, resty,'drawing back, lotb to go ; slow, lazy ; French, restif, stub- born, drawing backward, that will not go forward. — Cotgeave. From the Latin restare. — "Wedgwood. The original meaning does not seem to have included the idea of rest and dislike of moving, but of a more active quality, from the ©faeltC. — Reasgach, perverse ; reas- gaichead, stubbornness; riasg, indoci- lity, riasgach, reasgach, stubborn, un- ruly; reastach, perverse, stubborn, im- patient ; reasgaichead, stubbornness, unruliness, restiveness. The t in the English word was in- troduced by corruption to avoid the guttural. RETAIL.— To sell articles in small quantities as distinguished from wholesale trade. The French phrase for "wholesale and retail " is " en gros et en detail," not retail. French, rStail, a shred or small piece cut from a thing. — Cotgrave. Tattler, to cut. — Wedgwood. The English retail, of the same meaning as the French detail, seems to be compounded of the particle re, and the C&aeltC. — Bealaich, to divide, to deal, which in unmixed Gaelic would be ath- dealaich, to redivide or redistribute. RETCH.— To vomit violently. Teutonic, recken, to stretch. — Bailey. Anglo-Saxon, hroecan, to hawk ; Dutch, racheten, to hawk and spit. Icelandic, nruki, spittle. — Chambers. CiaeltC. — Ruchd, to grunt, to belch, to retch, to make an eructation. REVEL.— To drink or feast with loud merriment, to luxuriate. Derived by Johnson from the Dutch raveelen, and by other philologists from the French reveiller, to awaken or re- awaken. But if this last were the true root, a " revel " would more properly signify a breakfast than a later repast. Mr. Wedgwood suggests the ffifaeltC. — Ramhlair (ravelair), a jocu- lar and noisy person; ramhlair each, jocularity, sport, play. This derivation suggests no idea of " revelry " in the sense of feasting or luxuriating, which is found however in another Gaelic word of kindred sound, reamhraich {revaraich), to feed up, to fatten, to make fat; OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 361 reamhrachail, having a tendency to fat- ten or make fat. REYNARD. — A name given to the fox, in French renard, from his lean and hungry aspect. Reins (French). — The loins, the ribs. Renard ou Renaud est un nom propre, le meme que Renault ou Reginald . . . Mot Ger- manique compost de ragin, conseil, et hart, dur : — le sens est bon au conseil- — Littee. ffiaelic. — Reang, reing, a rib ; reang- ach, lean, starved, emaciated, so that the ribs are visible ; reangaichte, lean, hungry ; reangair, a loiterer, lounger, a hungry beggar ; reing-ard, a high rib. REZ DE CHAUSSEE (French).— An apartment on the ground floor, on a level with the roadway. Rez de chaussee, niveau du sol, surface d'un terrain de niveau avee une chaussee ou une rue.— Littee. (ffiaelic. — Reid/i [d silent), flat, plain, level, on a level with ; cas, a foot, from whence the French chausse and chaussee,, a footway, a road, a highway. See Causeway. Thus the French rez de chaussee signifies a ground floor, on a level or smooth with the footway. RHAPSODY.— Wild, extravagant and illogical talk or writing. Rabachage (French). — Tiresome re- petition. Greek, paTJrioSia, a portion of an epic poem for recitation at one time ; from pawra, to stitch or link together, &1S17, a song. — Wedg- ■ WOOD. Rave ; Gaelic, rabhd, idle talk ; French, rabacher, to keep repeating in a tiresome way. — Wedgwood. <3»aeltC. — Rabdh, idle talk; rabhan, a rhapsody; a tedious repetition; rab- hanach, tedious ; rabhdair, an idle, tedi- ous, illogical talker. See Rave. RHETORIC— Oratory. Greek, prjrwp, an orator ; rhetoric, the art of public speaking. — Wedgwood. (Siaelic. — Radh, speech. RHINO (Slang). — Money; the por- tion or share of a robbery divided among the robbers. CSaelic. — Roinn, a share, a portion,, a division. RHODA (Greek).— The rose. (ffiaeltC. — Ro, very, exceeding; datJi y colour ; whence, ro-dath, of an exceeding colour, i. e* a beautiful colour. RHYME. — The consonance of syllables at the end of verses. The distinction between " rhythm " and " rhyme " is not generally under- stood. Blank verse must be rhythmical and is called blank from the absence of the " rhyme." Latham's Todd's John- son following Skinner and others de- rives " rhyme " from " rhythmus," which is clearly wrong. The word rhyme is not derived from the Graeco-Latin rhythmus. It is of original Gothic stock, and ought to cast off the Greek garb, in which the pedantic affectation of classical partialities, and the desire to help the theory that ascribes to the thing, as well as to the name, a Latin origin, have dressed it. The proper spelling is rime. — Maesh's Lectures on the English Language. dracltC. — Riomhacli, elegant, beauti- ful ; riomhachas, beauty, adornment, elegance ; riomkadh, beautiful. RIBALD. — Indecent or lewd in speech. Ribaldry. — Indecency or lewdness of speech or conversation. Rip (Slang). — A person of bad life or character. Ribald, Old French, ribault, ribaudi .3 A 362 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Italian, ribaldo, a name applied generally to any loose character. It is probable that the original signification is nothing worse than a reveller or noisy companion, from French rubalter, to rumble, rattle, make a noise. The American rowdy is exactly synonymous with the Old French rilauld. — Wedgwood. Hip is a corruption of reprobate. — Hotteu. A miserable rip is a poor, lean, worn-out horse. — Geose. ©raeltC. — Raip, debauchery; filthy or lewd conversation; a foul mouth; ribal- dry; raipleacA, a slovenly, indelicate, ill- behaved woman. BIBAUD (French).— The readers of modern French romance may re- member a novel entitled Le Roi des Ribands. The original Keltic mean- ing of " ribaud " having been lost, the author fell into the error of making a " King of the Bibauds " where the word " king " was already included. Mot d'origine incertaine. Quelques-uns le tirent du Germanique bald, hardi, qui avait donne* baud, dans l'ancien Francais, avec le prefixe Germanique eri, qui signifie avant ; le tres hardi, le tres baud. Diez y voit un derive" de l'ancien Haut Allemand hripa, prostitute. Cette etymologie parait la plus prob able. — Littee. " Bibaud," the good king, or king of good fellows, is traceable to the ffiaeltc. — Riff A, a king; badA, kind, good-natured. This was a term em- ployed by women of loose character to men who spent their time and money in their society. BIBB ON or Bibband (French, mban). — A narrow band of silk, used as a personal adornment, principally by women. Probably from ring-band, it being origi- nally for the neck. — Chambebs. Origine incertaine. — Littee. (ffiadtc. — Ruadh (rua), red; bann, a belt, a chain, a band, a chord ; whence the French ruban, and the English ribband, from the original red and flaunting colour, still the favourite. BIBIBE.— " This," says Nares, "is a Chaucerian word put by him and others for an old bawd, but meaning originally a rebeck (a musical in- strument), but why the name was so applied does not appear." Or some good ribibe about Kentish Town Or Hogsden, you would hang now for a witch. Ben Jonson, The Devil's an Ass. There came an old rybibe. — Skelton. Sibibe, a kind of fiddle ; Latin, vitula. Vitula may have interchanged with vetula, and hence we may have the term applied to an old woman, as in Chaucer, Skelton, and Ben Jonson. — Halliwell. The word seems to have originally signified a handsome woman, a nymph, from the (Sadie. — Ribhinn, rigA-bAinn, a handsome young woman; ribhinneach, lady-like, elegant; and to have gradu- ally acquired an alien sense, as in the corresponding word wench, which at first was used in a complimentary sense, but is now applied irreverently or contemptuously. A similar change has come over the phrase " belle dame," fair lady, which has been perverted into beldam, an ugly old woman, a wieked woman, a witch. BICH. — Having wealth or possessions. Philologists have been contented to derive this word from the idea of power and wealth associated with the royal office, the Latin rex, the Gaelic riff A, a king, and the German reieA, a realm or empire. Another derivation may be found in the (SSfaeltC. — Reie, to sell; reicadair, a seller or merchant. Here the idea OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 363 would signify not the wealth or power of a king, but the wealth derived from trade. RICK. — A " hay-rick," a heap or stack of hay. Reek is the original form of the word now written rick, a stack of hay or corn. John- son derives it from a German word meaning a pile of anything. — Nabes. Anglo-Saxon, hreac, to pile up ; Norse, royk, rank, a small heap. — Wedgwood. Anglo-Saxon, hreac ; Icelandic, kraukr, applied to a heap of fuel ; Norman, royk, or rank, a small heap, as of corn sheaves or of turf; a heap of corn or hay piled in the fields. — Stoemonth. (ffiraelic. — Rue, a rick, a stack, a heap ; rucan, a little rick, a stack. RIDDLE. — An enigma, a puzzle to exercise the imagination or the judgment. Anglo-Saxon, writtan, to twist. — Hobne Tooke. Anglo-Saxon, raedeln, araedan, to read, to guess ; Dutch, raadsel ; German, rathsel. — Woecesteb. (SraeliC. — Raideal, inventive, sagaci- ous, crafty, sly ; well put together and contrived; a riddle, a puzzle. The children's phrase in proposing one of these puzzles for solution, " Riddle me riddle me ree," is a corruption of the Gaelic "Raideal mo raideal mo rian," Riddle my riddle in my way, or in my method. RIDDLE (Lowland Scotch and Pro- vincial English). — A sieve. The word is used in literary English in such phrases as the flag, or the sails, or the walls were " riddled " with shot ; i. e. so perforated with holes as to resemble a sieve. Gaelic, rideal, a sieve, a corn-sieve. The primary origin seems to be the representation 3 of a rustling or rattling sound; German, ratteln, to sift ; Gaelic, crith, tremble, shake, quiver, — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Rideal, ruideal, a riddle; to winnow, to sift through a sieve. RIFF-RAFF (Colloquial).— The ragged multitude. ^JratliC. — Riohlach, ragged, torn ; rioblaich, a man in rags. RIG. — A girl, a woman. Nares defines it a prostitute, but his quotations do not justify the epithet. He cites " immodest rigg " from Whet- stone's Castle of Delight, but if " rigg " bore the sense attributed to it, there would be no necessity to prefix the adjective. The same argument applies to " wanton rigg " in Davie's Scourge of Folly. ffiacltC — Righinii, a nymph, a fair RIG (Vulgar, colloquial, and Slang). — A trick, a change, a metaphor; " none of your rigs." He little thought when he set out Of running such a rig. Cowpee, John Gilpin. ffiafltC. — RiocM, shape, form, meta- morphosis ; also a new shape, an unex- pected shape or form, a change from one thing to another. RIG, RIGGING (Of a vessel).— The regulation or order of a vessel in regard to its sails, spars, and ropes. Perhaps a metaphorfrom harnessing ahorse. Swedish, riggapa, to harness a horse ; from rygge, the back P — Wedgwood. ©acltC. — Riagkail, rule, order, regu- larity. RIGHT. — The opposite of the wrong, the contrary of the left ; justice, law. a 2 864 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY This word is the Latin rectus, the German richt, the French droit, from directus, and has its origin in the idea of a straight line, from which there can he no turning without error, and has two separate hut closely connected roots in the CUaelt'c. — Bireach, straight, upright, just, equitable ; dirich, to straighten, to direct, to make right ; dirichte, straightened. The other root, from which proceeds the idea of law as synonymous with right and justice, is reachd, a law, a statute, a rule of con- duct that must be obeyed ; reaclidacli, rightful, lawful, just; reachdaick, to legislate, to make laws ; reachd-mhod, a court of justice; reachdmhor, valid, strong, legal. RIGID, RIGOUR, RIGOROUS.— Stiff, severe, strict. These words, derived immediately from the French or the Latin, have their original etymon in the ffiacliC — Bag, stiff, not pliable, obstinate ; ragaich, stiffen, to make stiff; raige, raigead, stiffness, rigour, obstinacy; ragaichte, rigid, that has become stiff. RIGMAROLE>~A foolish and uncon- nected story. Whether rigmarole and ragmawrole be the same word still seems a matter of doubt. The origin of both remains unaccounted for. — Richabdson. ^HJaeltC. — Bighleadh, reeling, flounder- ing i mo, my; roghalackd, romancing, gasconading; righleadh mo roghalacM, ■" floundering in my romancing." SIM (Obsolete).— Fat, fatness. For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat In drops of crimson blood. Shakspeaee, Henry V. Sim was a term formerly used not very definitely for a part of the intestines. — ■ Staunton. ffiaelic. — Beimhe, fatness, grossness. RIM. — The edge or circle of a howl or glass, or other round and hollow substance ; the outer circle of a wheel. Anglo-Saxon, rima ; Welsh, rhim, a rim. — Ohambees. Anglo-Saxon, rima, margin, edge. The rime of the sea was used for the surface of the sea. — Wedgwood. dyadic. — Biomb, a wheel ; allied to the Greek po/j,/3o<;. RIND (Vulgarly pronounced rine). — • The skin of bacon or of an orange or apple ; the crust or hard outer cover- ing of a cheese ; the bark of a tree. Rind is related to the German rand, the extremity, border, or outside of a thing ; the edge, brim, brink, margin. Bilderdyk de- rives this word from the Dutch ryten ; German, raissen, to rend, break, cleave, crack, burst, it being the quality of all bark to rend or break asunder. — Woecestee. Dutch, German, rinde, crust, bark.— Wedowood. ffiaeltC. — BitMnn (t silent), tough, viscid, made of good stuff, durable ; righinn (g silent)^ tough, stiff, viscid, adhesive. RING.— A Kilkenny Ring. "What this means/' says Nares, " remains to be discovered. Beaumont and Fletcher use the words in the sense of a wild Irish footman. Mr. Weber conjectures ' rung ' to be a Scotch word for coarse heavy stuff, but why," he adds, "a Scotch word should be applied to an Irishman does not appear. If ' rung ' was ever current in England it was for some kind of wooden spars." OB THD ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 865 Nares stumbled unwittingly upon half the meaning of the word. ©aellC. — Hong, a staff, a spar, a bludgeon, a pole. RINK. — This Lowland Scottish word signifying a frozen pond or other piece of water swept, ordered, and arranged for the sports of skating and curling, has become fashionable in London in connexion with the arti- ficial skating-floors in enclosures which have lately been erected. It is derived by Jameson and others from the Anglo-Saxon hring, a circle, but this is not its origin — as "rink" does not signify circle, or circularity — but, according to Jameson's own showing, a course, a race, the run of a river, a station allotted to each party at the commencement of a tournament or other contest, such as quoits, &c. He saj's, — Sink is used in the South of Scotland as signifying a straight line. It also denotes a line or mark of division. In this last sense it is used on the border between Scotland and England ; and the public market annually held a few miles south of Jedburgh is for this reason called the Sink fair. Then Steven came stepand in with stenda Nae rynh might him arrest. Chryste Kirke on the Grene. The origin of " rank," " range," and " rink," is the G&acltC. — Rian, order, arrangement, adjustment; Hanaich, to arrange, ad- just, distribute; rianachadk, order, mode, method, adjustment. RIOT. — Noise, confusion, uproar. Riotous. — Noisy, uproarious, quar- relsome. By some derived from the Latin rixa. It is undoubtedly the same word as rout, differ- ently written, and with some difference also in the application. — Richabdson. French, rioter; Breton, riota, to chide, brawl, jangle ; Gaelic, raoit, indecent mirth. — Wedgwood. • <3»arUr. — Ruidhte, drunkenness, glut- tony, loud revelry ; ruidhtear, a noisy drunkard, a rioter, a loud reveller; raidhteaorchd, gluttonous, addicted to drink and revelry ; raoit, indecent mirth ; riatach, wanton, immodest ; riatachd, immodesty, a disorderly desire; illegitimacy; raoich, to roar; raoich- deachd, bellowing, roaring ; raoiceadh, roaring. RIP (Vulgar and colloquial). — A per- son of bad temper and morals. Demi-Rep (Fashionable Slang). — A woman of bad character, suspected rather than known. The word " demi-rep " is supposed to be a corruption of " demi-reputation ;" but though the demi is Latin, the rep is not an abbreviation of reputation, but a direct derivation of the ffiaellC. — Raip, debauchery; whence rip, a debauched, lewd, or immoral person. RIP or Rip up. — To tear, to mangle ; to destroy, to cut into shreds or fragments. Ultimately derived from the sound of scratching or tearing. Old Norwegian, hrifa, to scrape ; Dutch, roof en, reupen, ruppen ; German, raufen, to pluck ; French, /riper, to rub, to wear ; fripon, a rag. — Wedgwood. fiRaeltC. — Riapa.il, bungle, botch, de- stroy; riapailte, bungled, destroyed, mangled, spoiled. RIVER. — A stream, a current of fresh water flowing to the sea; riviere, French; Ho, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. 16 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY From Latin riparia, riva, a bank ; Italian, riviera, a coast; Portuguese, ribeira, meadow, low land on the banks of a river ; ribeiro, a stream. — Wedgwood. f the Danish rive, to grind, grate, tear, and not of rub. — Wedgwood. OracllC. — Rub, to rub ; rubair, a rub- r ; rubadh, friction ; rubach, rubbing. UBRIC. — Red-letter directions in prayer-books, missals, almanacks, &c. Rubrica dm la real mano (Span- ish) . — Tbe " rubric," or " red mark of the royal hand;" the signature of the kings of Spain, Rubric, rubicund, ruby; Latin, ruber, rubicundus, red ; rubrica, a red pigment. — Wedgwood. The red letter in books of devotion is :ed to attract attention. With regard the singular phrase preserved in pain, and only abolished by Alphonso II. in 1875, its origin is that the ,rly kings of Europe, unable to sign leir names, affixed their mark to public tcuments in the sign of a cross, some- mes in black, sometimes in red. The ord rubric, usually derived from the atin rubrica, red earth, has an anterior ot, and means, not red earth, but a d mark. (ffifaeltC. — Ruadh (rua), red; Ireac, ark, spot, line. UBY. — A gem of a red colour. Ruddock. — The robin- redbreast. Ruddy. — Of a red colour, inclining to red. The ruddock would with charitable bill Bring him all this. — Cymbeline. The ouzel shrill, the ruddoch warbling soft. Spensee, Epithalamium. The colour of the skin in high health ; Old English rode, the colour of the face, from red. — Chambees. The word for red, in nearly all the nguages of Europe, is from the root c, ro, or re, as in German, roth; French, mge ; Latin, ruber. CR-aelic.— Ruadh, red ; ruadhiich, to redden, to make red. RUCK (Colloquial). — The common mass of people that follow after one idea, the herd that have no individual opinions. (UraeltC. — Ruaig, a flight, a precipitate retreat, a dispersion ; a running away of the herd of deer, or other animals. RUE. — To grieve, to be sorry for; to lament a fault or a misfortune. Rueful. — Sad, sorrowful. Saxon, roowan ; Dutch, ruwen ; German, reuen, to repent. — Wobcesteb. Old High German, hriuwa, mourning, lamentation ; Norse, hrygqr, hrygth (English ruth), sorrowful. — Wedgwood. The root of this word seems to lie much deeper than in any of the Teutonic derivations above cited, and to be the ffiaelic. — Truagh (Kymric, truan), sad, sorrowful, mournful, distressed. This word with the aspirate, as in the phrase, mo crid/i thruagh, my sad heart, is pro- nounced by a well-known rule of Gaelic grammar and orthoepy, ruagh. Mo thruaighe! woe's me! mo sgeul thruagh ! my sad tale ! truaighe, woe, wretched- ness; truaganachd, wretchedness, cala- mity; truaighmheil, rueful, compassio- nate. RUG. — A coarse, warm cloth; a mat, a coverlet ; a small carpet before a fire- place (a hearth-rug). from the root of rough. — Chambees. Italian ruga, a fold or plait ; Danish, rug, rough ; Swedish, rugg, entangled hair. — Worcester. A rug is a shaggy garment. — Wedg- wood. (Gaelic. — Rothaig (t silent), to wrap up warmly,, to enswathe; rothaighte, wrapt up ; rochall, a coverlet. OV THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 375: RUGGED.— Wrinkled, worn with old age or sorrow. From the root of rough, rough; from the Anglo-Saxon hruh ; German, ranch ; Dan- ish, ru, hairy, rough. — OhaKbees. A rugged surface is one broken up into sharp projections ; the idea of abrupt ir- regularities of surface being expressed by the figure of sharp abrupt movements, as in the case of shagged, shaggy, from shag, or jagged, from jag. ... A rug is a shaggy garment ; see rag. — Wedgwood. (ffiacltC. — Rug, a wrinkle; rugach, an old man (a wrinkled man) ; ruga, a rough, coarse woman. RUISSEAU (French).— A brook, a rivulet. Diminutif du Latin rims, Latin fictif, rivicellus. — Littee. (halite. — Ruith, to run, to flow as a stream; Ruitheach, running, flowing, streaming. RUMBALLIACH (Lowland Scotch). — Stormy, generally applied to the weather, but sometimes to the temper of a woman ; a " rumballiach " wife, a woman given to brawls and turns of passion or ill-humour. Rumble. — The heavy sound of re- volving wheels, any sound caused by a circular motion. ffifaeltC. — Riomball, a circle, a turn; riomlallach, circuitous; whence the Scottish word means, one afflicted with sudden turns of temper. The word appears in McAlpine's, but not in Arm- strong's or McLeod and Dewar's Gaelic Dictionaries. RUMBLE. — A confused sound as of wheels on a rough pavement, the violent motion of water, or of wind or water in the intestines. ffiatltC. — RuaimlicA, to stir or agitate water; ruaimlichte, agitated, troubled, stirred about. RUMP.— The buttock of cattle or other large animals. From the Danish rumpe ; Teutonic, rumpff, the tail-piece, especially of a bird, or of an ox, sheep, &c. — Bailey. From the German rumpff, the end of the back-bone, .jised vulgarly of beasts and con- temptuously of human beings. — Johnson. Rwmpf, the trunk, the body. — Tubneb s English and German Dictionary, 1820. (SSaeltC. — Rumpal, a tail, a breech, a rump ; rumpalaeh, large-hipped. RUNG.— The step of a ladder ; one of the floor timbers that cross the keel of a ship; a cudgel (Lowland Scotch) . Auld Scotland has a raucle tongue, She's just a deevil wi' a rung. — Buens. (KaellC. — Rong, a joining spar; any piece of wood by which other pieces are joined together; the rib of a boat, a staff, a bludgeon ; rongas, rougas, the timbers or ribs of a boat, staves, cudgels ; rongach, lean, cadaverous, stiff and fleshless as a staff. RUNNYMEDE. — A meadow near Windsor, where Magna Charta was signed in the reign of King John. (3»a?lt'c. — Raon (pronounced reun), a field ; mead/ion., middle ; i. e. " Run- nymede," the middle field. RUSH. — A well-known plant or reed that grows in wet ground, consisting of a stem without leaves. Bull-bush. — A large species of reed. Rash (Lowland Scotch). — A rush. Bull in composition generally denotes large size. — Johnson. Green grow the rashes, O ! The sweetest hours that e'er I spent, Were spent among the lasses, O ! Buens. ffiaellC. — Ras, a rush, a shrub, a bough, a vegetable growth ; riasg, coarse moorland grass, rushes; rasan, underwood, brushwood. 6 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY USTLE. — To shake iu turning over or moving; the rustling of silk when a lady walks; the rustling of the leaves by the winds, &c. ©nelic. — Ru&al, to turn over in arching, to rustle the leaves ; ruslach, sladh, searching, turning over. s. iBBATH (The Witches') . — The Walpurgis dance of German super- stition, a wild and riotous assemblage of evil spirits and of human beings in league with them. This word is not derived from the Sabbath " of the Jews and the Bible, hich supposes " rest," but from the ffiaeltC. — Sabaid, a tumult, a dis- rbance, an affray, a commotion. This ord is sometimes written tabaid, which the same as the French tapage, a noise, tumult. A.BRE. — A short, broad, curved sword. French, sabre; Spanish, sable ; German, sabel ; Italian, sciabla ; Polish, szabla; Magyar, szablya, szabra, to cut. — Wedg- wood, Chambers. ftSaelir. — Sabaid, a quarrel, a fight; art, a weapon, an instrument ; whence r corruption, sabeart . and sabre, a eapon for fight, quarrel, or defence. AD. — This word in the Elizabethan era was often used in the sense of serious and attentive, without such implication of grief or melancholy as now belongs to it. Tell me in sadness who is she I love ? Borneo and Juliet. My father and the gentlemen are in sad talk.— Winter's Tale. The conference was sadly borne. — Much Ado about Nothing. Welsh, sad, wise, sober ; Low German, sade, rest, quiet, from setten, to set or fix. — ■ Stoemonth. Hence the phrase still in use, " in sober sadness." — Nabes. CBrHPllC. — Saod, care, attention, hope, expectation ; saodach, careful, attentive, serious. SAGE. — Wise, prudent, sagacious. French, sage, . . . Latin, sagax, sapiens. Wedgwood. CRaelir. — Seadh, seadhach, discreet, sensible, prudent. SAIL. — To float; whence sails, the instruments on which the winds act for the propulsion of a ship. It has been generally assumed that the sails of the ship gave name to the action of the hull upon the water, but this idea is not supported by either popular or poetic usage. We say that " a steam vessel will sail " on a certain day, though she may have no sails. Dryden speaks of Little dolphins when they sail In the vast shadow of the British whale ; and Shakspeare has A winged messenger from heaven, When he bestrides the lazy -pacing clouds And sails upon the bosom of the air. The slow and graceful flight of a bird through the air is described by the same word, which is not derived from the German and Anglo-Saxon segel, a sail, but from the (fUarltC. — Sebl, to guide, to direct; also, a way, a method (the ship is under way). Thus the implement, the " sail," is the method, means, or way, by which the ship is propelled. The eommon nautical phrase " where do you kail from?" or " where does the ship kail from ?" appears to be the OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 377 aspirated form, shell (the * silent), and means "where do you sail from?" The French word voile, a sail, is from another Gaelic word, buail or bhuail, to move quickly. See Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary . SAIR (Lowland Scotch). — Very, very much. Soke (English). — Very. " Sore dis- tressed," very much distressed. This word is not to be confounded with the word " sore," a hurt, a bruise, a wound, a pain. ffiartlC. — Sar, very, very good or excellent; an augmentative particle or prefix expressing a great degree of any quality. SAKE. — This word has no synonym in any known language, the Gaelic excepted, unless a periphrasis be re- sorted to. " For my sake " is ren- dered in French " pour Famour de moi." The Saxon salca; Dutch, sake, a cause, as " for my sake," " for my cause." — Bailey. Final cause, end, purpose ; from the Saxon sac, and Dutch saeke. — Johnson. Literally a dispute, a cause, an end, a purpose ; Old English, sake ; Anglo-Saxon, saca ; German, sache. — Chambees. This word appears in the Dictionary of the Oldest Words in the English Language, by Herbert Coleridge, where it is used in the sense of dispute or contention. But none of the derivations offered by any English Dictionary throws light upon its true meaning in such phrases as, " I loved her for her own sake;" "Do justice for justice's sake." The true etymon appears to be the (BJaeltC. — Sgath {ska), shelter, whence by corruption, for euphony and by transposition of letters, sale or sake, on account of, for the sake of; also, shelter, protection ; as air sgath sgoinne, for the sake of decency, i. e. on ac- count of, or under the shelter or pro- tection of decency; sgath an tighe, the shelter of the house. For sake of my love, i. e. for the sheltering or protection — or on account of my love. SALISBURY PLAIN (Stonehenge). Salisbury Crags (Edinburgh). — Ar- thur's Seat. Salisbury, so called from being built near the chief seat of the Druidical religion, Stonehenge, or the Coir Mhor, the place of religious consolation, whence Salisbury, the City of consolation. (KatfltC. — Solas, comfort, consolation, joy, delight ; burg, a burgh, a bo- rough, a town. SALOOP (Slang).— A thin soup. Slop. — A word of contempt applied by drinkers of strong liquors to tea, broth, gruel, and other weak beve- A greasy-looking beverage formerly sold on London stalls in the early morning. . . . Within a few years coffee stalls have super- seded saloop stalls, hut Charles Lamb in one of his Essays has left some account of this drinkable, which he says was of all prepara- tions the most grateful to the stomachs of young chimney-sweeps. — Slang Dictionary. OraeliC. — Slaoj), to parboil, to sim- mer. SALTANT.— Dancing, leaping. Saltatory. — Having reference to dancing or leaping. Sauter (French). — To jump, to leap. From the Latin saltans, salto, saltatum. — Chambees. ffiaeltC. — Saltair, to tread, to trample, to walk; sallrachachd, treading, walk- 3 c THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY g, treading under foot; saltraichte, )dden under foot. 1LVE. — An ointment to allay or soothe the irritation of a sore. From Latin salvus. — Johnson. ©racItC. — Sabli, ointment ; saimh %iv), peace, tranquillity; samhach, laceful, quiet, serene. 4.MMY (Slang).— A silly, "soft" person. Dicky Sam, a native of Liverpool. Samh in Keltic signifies, as a substantive, rest, ease ; as an adjective, pleasant, still, calm. Samaehan denoted a soft, quiet person ; the similarity of the meanings of this word with those of the English word soft and its con- geners leads me to suppose that in its un- complimentary sense Dicky Sam was equi- valent to soft, or satcft, to give it the true Lancashire breadth of sound. To this day the word sammy is still used in an uncom- plimentary sense. — The Former Topography of Liverpool, by Joseph Botjlt. ©a fltC. — Samli, a clownish, or rustic rson; samhach, uninformed; samh, hull, quietness, softness, stillness. iNK-WORK (Slang).— The making of soldiers' clothes for military out- fitters and contractors ; a term used by the work-people to signify the low rate of their earnings. Mayhew says the word is derived from the Norman (French) sang, blood, in allusion either to the soldier's calling or the colour of his coat. — Slang Dictionary. CJflPliC. — Seang, hungry-looking, ider-fed; seangaichte, made lean, in, and attenuated ; seangachd, lean- ss. ^P. — The juice, or blood of trees and vegetables. French, seve. ©aeltC. — Sabli, ointment, salve, sap; ijh, sap, juice (whence sugar, the juice the cane, the maple, or the beet). g?a\mxit—Sava. SARACEN. — A name given to and adopted by the Moors after their settlement in Spain. Derived by Ducange from Sarah, the wife of Abraham ; by Hottinger from the Arabic saraca, to steal ; by Forster from sahra, a desert. But the true derivation is from the Arabian sharheyn, the eastern people, first corrupted by the Greeks into o-apaxej/ot, the Latin saraceni. — Penny Cyclopcedia. Commonly explained from the Arab shark, the East, sharhi, eastern. The difficulty is that the Moslems would not have appeared to themselves in the character of Easterns, but onty to the Western nations whom they weie attacking. In fact, the name of Sara- cens seems to have been unknown to the Arabs themselves, and only to have been in nse among the Greeks, who never would have devised a name with an Arabic ex- planation. — Wedgwood. But if the Greeks did not borrow words from the Arabic, they certainly borrowed largely from their Keltic pre- decessors, and this obscure word resolves itself either into the (K*aeltC. — Sar, excellent, pre-eminent; ach, a skirmish ; whence " Saracens," excellent skirmishers, which they un- doubtedly were ; or into sar, excellent ; each, a horse ; sar eachacli, having many horses ; whence by corruption, " Sara- cens," people possessing many excellent horses. Possibly the latter derivation should be accepted, and the conjecture is strengthened by the fact of the well- known celebrity of the Arabian horses, a celebrity that has endured for ages, and that still exists. SARDINE.— A small fish about the size of a sprat, well-known when potted and preserved in oil as a delicacy for the table. It is commonly supposed to derive its name from the island of Sardinia, on the shores of which it abounds. The word has been adopted into English from the French; but as the island in that language is OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 879 called Sardaigne, and not Sardine, it is possible that the resemblance to the name of Sardinia is a mere acci- dent, and that the root is the ffiaelic. — Sard, sardail, a sprat. SASSENACH.— The Gaelic name for the English, or Southerners, supposed to be a corruption of Saxon ; but, as the word was used by the Gael for generations before either the Danes or Saxons set foot in England, the root of the word ought to be looked for elsewhere, and may possibly be found in the CSaeltC. — Deas (pronounced jeas) and seas, south ; sios, seas, down south- ward ; and duine, dhuine, men ; whence " Sassenach," the Southern men. SATIN.— A kind of silk. Soie (French).— Silk. Satin; Portuguese, setim, said to be a Chinese word. — Notes and Queries, quoted in Wedgwood. (JK-aelt'c. — Sloda, silk; siodackan, siodail, silky. See Shoddy. SATIRE. — A composition either in prose or verse, that ridicules the vices or follies of the age, or of some par- ticular person or persons. Satyr e or satire; Trench, satyr e; Latin, satyra; Greek, trarvpos. — Ash. Originally a dish full of various kinds of fruit ; — a species of poetry, originally drama- tic, exposing and turning to ridicule vice and folly. Latin, satira, satura, a dish ; satur, full, akin to satis, enough. — Cham - bebs. A poem in which the manners of the times were freely treated without respect of persons. Greek, Sen-upas, a play in which the chorus consisted of satyrs. — Wedgwood. The derivation either from satira, a dish, satur, full, or satis, enough, is not 3 c to be accepted. That from the Greek satyr, a creature with the head and body of a man, and the legs and feet of a goat, is more to the purpose. It is supposed that the satyrs of mythology were only rude peasants clad in goat- skins, who took part in the festivals of Bacchus or Dionysus, and followed the processions with shouts and riotous laughter. And as the function of the satj'rs was to mock and laugh and make wild uproar, the name was in course of time given to poems and other com- positions which excited laughter at, and mockery of the vices and follies of mankind. Like many others in the Greek and Roman Mythology, the word came from an older people, and is trace- able to the C&aelic. — Sitir, loud laughter; the neighing of a horse; sitrich, to neigh, to laugh obstreperously. SATISFY, Satiate, Satiety. —All these words are derived from one root, signifying plenty or abund- ance ; and though introduced into the English language immediately from the French or the Latin, have their original root in the ©raelif. — Sath, plenty, abundance. wander about, to SAUNTER.— To stroll, to loiter. Prom the Prench sauter, sauteler, to skip about. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Alter a. la Sainte Terre, from idle people who roved about the country, and asked charity under pretence of going a, la Sainte Terre, or the Holy Land; — or from sans terre, as having no settled home. — Johnson. ffiadic. — Sannt, carnal inclination; lust; sanntach, lustful; sanntair, a person with a lustful inclination who goes prowling about after women ; 2 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY inslated in Armstrong's Gaelic Die- mart/ as " a stroller or lounger." WOURY.— Pleasant to the palate, having agreeable taste. French, saveur ; Latin, sapor, taste ; sapio, sapere, to smack, taste or smell, to relish. Probably the syllable sap represents the smacking of the lips.— Wedgwood. (SSaellC. — Sugh, juice; sughmkor [su r), juicy, sappy, succulent; sugA- horacAd (suvora), savoury. AW. — A notched or toothed instru- ment for cutting through wood or stone. Anglo-Saxon, syge or saga; Teutonic, sage; alia secundo, from cutting. — Gazo- phylacium Anglicanum. Italian, sega ; Latin, sego, to cut. — Cham- bees. (BfaellC. — ShbA (sav), a saw; sabhadA, te act of sawing. AVVDER (Slang). — Soft sawder, gross flattery; cajolery. I don't like to be left alone with a gal ; it's plaguy apt to set me a soft sawderiri and a courtin'. — Sam Slick hi England. dUaeltC. — Sodal, flattering, fawning; jolery; sodalacA, a flatterer, a ca- ler, a parasite. CAB. — A word used by the Trades' Union of the Shoemakers, according to the Times (October 27, 1875), as a term of abuse for non-unionists. A paltry fellow, so named from the itch often incident to negligent poverty. — John- son. Coriolanus talks, according to Shakspeare, of certain " poor rogues " who make them- selves scabs. But some of the words which he uses to work out his metaphor show that he had not in his mind the sort of scab ■which is described in the rules of the Union of Boot and Shoe Eiveters and Finishers. An appeal which was decided against the appellants in a case of picketing at the Middlesex Sessions yesterday gave occasion for the production of the book of rules of this Union, and the reading of the articles therein which defines or describes a scab. According to the definition this unhappy being seems to be one of the direst offenders against the human race that imagination can well conceive. He is to his trade it seems " what a traitor is to his country." He is detested of all, even of those whom he serves. He " sees not beyond the extent of a day, and for momentary and worthless approba- tion would betray friends, family, and coun- try." Finally, after many other character- istics had been recited, he is branded as " an enemy to himself, to the present age, and to posterity." — Daily News, Jan. 26th, 1876. Scab, a worthless person. Shakspeare uses scald in a similar sense. — Slang Dic- tionary. ©ache. — Sgob, to pluck, to snatch; sgobanta, eager, voracious. SCABBARD.— The sheath of a sword or other sharp instrument, to protect the edge from injury. Might be plausibly explained from being made of scale-board, or thin board, in the same way that a hat was called a beaver. But this explanation is opposed to the old English form of scaioberh. This may have passed into the French escaubert, by which vagina is glossed in John de Garlandia. . . . The first syllable should mean blade, as giving the word the meaning of blade-cover ; but no one has succeeded in making out that signification. — Wedgwood. (iSaeltC. — Sgalh, sgiath {t silent), to shelter, to protect; beart, an imple- ment, a machine, a blade, a weapon ; whence "scabbard," the protection of the weapon. SCALD. — To hurt, wound, or injure with a boiling liquid. French, e"c7iauder ; Italian, scaldare, to heat, warm, scorch, scald ; Latin, cali'dus, hot ; Gaelic, sgald, pain, torture, scald. — Wedgwood. (Gaelic. — Sgatt, to scald; sgallla, scalded, burned, bare, bald; sgalltach, scalding hot. SCALD. — Scabby, particularly in the head. 01? THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 381 Scald-head. — A disease in the skin of the head. To be revenged on this same scald, scurvy, cogging companion, the host of the Garter. — Merry Wives of Windsor. Derived from the Icelandic sJcalladur, bald; used for mean, shabby, disgusting; in short, a general term of contempt. — Naees. (ffiaeUc. — Sgail, baldness; a scab; sgallach, bald; also troublesome, im- pertinent; sgallachan, a bald-headed person. SCALE (Lowland Scotch).— To dis- perse. " The school scales ;" i. e. the children disperse to play or to their homes. " The kirk scales," i. e. the congregation disperses at the close of the service. That scale also means to separate and fly off, as scales fly from heated metal, is proved by the following passages, which Mr. Steevens cites for that purpose : — They would no longer abide, but scaled and parted away. — Molinshed. Whereupon their troops scaled and de- parted away. — Ibid. Naees. ©raeltC. — Sgaoil, to disperse, to spread abroad; sgaoille, dispersed; sgaoilteacli, scattering, spreading out, dispersing. SCALE. — The small shell-like covering on the skin of fishes. . Dutch, schaele, bark, shell, crust, scale; German, schale, a shell, dish, bark of a tree, &c. — Wedgwood. dBfadtC. — Sgail, a covering. SCALLAWAG (American Slang).— A low, lazy, shiftless person. Schalk (German). — A rogue, a vaga- bond. A scamp, a scapegrace. A scallawag has been defined to be like many other wags a compound of loafer, blackguard, and scamp. — Baetlett's Dictionary of Americanisms. You good for nothing young scallawag, is that the way you take care of that poor dear boy? — Sam Slick, Nature and Human Nature. C&acIlC. — Sgalag, scallag, a farm- labourer of the lowest class in the Hebrides in former times, who was held to compulsory labour, and in a position little better than that of a slave. Many of the class emigrated to the United States at the close of the last and the beginning of the present cen- tury, and brought the word into the New World. A full account of the miserable condition of these people was published by the Rev. J. L. Buchanan, in 1793, in his Travels to the Western Hebrides from 1782 to 1790. SCALP.— A cliff. (ffiraeltC. — Sgealp, sgeilp, a sgeilpeacA, cliffy, shelvy, rocky. shelf; SCALY (Slang).— Disreputable, that will hot bear the light ; mean, bad. Following out the wrong idea of the etymology of this word, the moderns have invented another slang word, " fishy," that has the same meaning. Shabby or mean ; perhaps anything which betokens the presence of the old serpent ; or it may be a variation on fishy. Shakspeare uses scald, an old word of reproach. — Slang Dictionary. The true etymon is the ffifafltC. — Sgail, a shadow, a veil, a curtain; sgaileach, shadowy, dark, con- cealed, hidden, unfit to see the light. SCAMMEKED (Slang) . — Violently drunk, and employing abusive words. CRflf ItC. — Sgeamh, abusive language ; sgeamhail, using abusive and violent words ; sgeamhair, a person who uses vile language, whether drunk or sober. SCAN. — To look with critical eyes ; to mirror another's merits or demerits in your own mind. Italian, scandere, to mount, ascend ; also to scan a verse, to examine it by counting the feet; hence to examine narrowly. — Wedgwood. THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY CRajIic. — Sgath, a shade, a reflection ; xthan, a mirror. ^ANDAL. — A reproach ; also, a re- port injurious to a person's character. Low Latin, scandalum ; French, scandale, Vossius derives the Greek a-Kavbdkov from TKageiv, to halt, and explains it to be any- thing laid in the way that may cause the passenger who strikes his foot against it to stumble or fall. — Richabdson. Latin, scandalum; Greek, a-KavSaKos, a trap for an enemy, a stumbling-block, an offence. — Wedgwood. ffiatltC. — Sgaineadh, a bursting out; zinneal, a reproach, a calumny, a a,ndal ; sgainnealach, scandalous ; tinnealaich, to calumniate; talach, a mplaint, a murmur, an expression of ssatisfaction ; ialaich, to complain, to press dissatisfaction; whence the eaking out of dissatisfaction with, or mplaint against another. Another ssible derivation that merits in- iry and consideration is, (ffiraeltC. — Sgon, bad ; dealhh, an Lage, a picture, a representation ; lence sgon-dealbh (pronounced sgon- lav), a bad or wicked representation of :hing, i. e. a scandal. }AR. — A rock, a mountain. Scatjk, (Lowland Scotch) . — A crag, a steep rock. Scar, a broken precipice. " This/' says Mr. Henley, on the following passage, " is ^ts known signification in every part of England where rocks abound." Whence Scarborough, as Mr. Todd has observed. This word occurs in an unintelligible passage )f Shakspeare, which Eowe first altered, and nost of the other commentators have at- ;empted to amend by conjecture : — [ see that men make ropes in such a scarre, Chat we'll forsake ourselves. — All's Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Scene 2. 3o read all the folios ; which makes it very mprobable that it was an error of the press or scene, as Mr. Malone and others have hought.— -Naees. QbrMliC.—Sgor, a steep rock, a scaur. SCARCE. — Rare, separated in space. Scaue. — To frighten a mass of people until they separate. Prom Trench eschars 1 Dutch, schaers, rare, uncommon, difficult to come by. — Bailey. Italian, scarso ; Dutch, schaers, not plentiful, not copious. — Johnson. Scarce, literally, picked out. Low Latin, scarpsus, excarpsus, for excerptus, past participle of excarpo ; ex, out of, and carpo, to pick.— Chambers. From the Icelandic slcirra; and the German scheren, to drive away. — Cham- bees. (ffifaeltC. — Sgar, to separate; applied originally to the separation of a multi- tude by terror or defeat ; subsequently and improperly to a single person. SCART, sometimes Scarf (Lowland Scotch). — A cormorant. Like scarts upon the wing by the hopes of plunder led. — The Invasion of the Norse- men. d&aeltC. — Sgarlh {scarv), a cormo- rant. SCATH.- SCATHE.- Injury. -To injure, to harm. You are a saucy boy ! is't so indeed ? This trick may chance to scathe you. Homeo and Juliet. German, schaden, to injure; Anglo-Saxon, sceatha, damage, hurt ; Gaelic, sgad, mis- fortune, loss ; sgath, to lop, to prune ; de- stroy, injure. — Wedgwood. (j&acltC — Sgath, to destroy ; destruc- tion, waste, havoc, ruin ; sgad, a loss, a misfortune. SCATTER.-To disperse, to separate with violence. Dutch, schetteren, to resound, to scatter ; Italian, scatterare, to scatter, to throw loosely about. — Wedgwood ; Stobmohth. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 8! {&ReUt.—8ffaM, to lop, to prune, to cut off, to destroy ; sgathadair, a lopper off, a pruner, a cutter; sgatJde, pruned, lopped, scattered. SCAVENGER. — A cleanser of the streets from refuse and decayed mat- ter. Perhaps from the Anglo-Saxon scaeptJia, shavings, and feagan, to take up ; or from scapan; Teutonic, shah en ; Belgian, shaven, to shave, and the Teutonic fegen, to make clean. — Gazophylacium Anglican/am. Anglo-Saxon, scafan, to shave, to scrape. — Worcester. The scavage or shewage was originally a duty paid on the inspection of customable goods brought for sale within the city of London ; from Anglo-Saxon sceawian, to ■view, inspect, look. . . . Afterwards the in- spection of the streets seems to have been committed to the same officers, unless the name was used in the general sense of in- spectors. The labourers by whom the clean- ing of the streets was actually done were called rakers. — Wedgwood. ffiafXic. — Sgamhan (scavan), refuse, dross, dirt, SCELERAT (French) .—A blackguard, a scoundrel, a rogue. Latin, sceleratus, de scelus, crime. Au 16"" siecle on disait sciliri. Sce'lerat est un latinisme ou un italianismo, scelerato. — Littbe. C&acllC. — Sgalag, a servant, a dis- honest servant or knave, a serf. See SCALLAWAG. SCENERY.— This word is peculiar to the English language, and signifies a widely extended or panoramic view of the beauties or grandeur of Nature, as in the phrases, " mountain scenery/' " woodland scenery," "rural scenery," " pastoral scenery," &c. Neither the French nor the Germans have any synonymous word by which these expressions could be rendered. The French pay sage, the nearest ap- proach, signifies a landscape ; and tl Germans have landscJiaft, a landscape darstellung ,a representation; and anblic a glance, a sight, a view, a coup d'wi but neither of these corresponds entire with the English " scenery." The wo is of recent introduction into the la guage, and does not appear in Gaz phylaciwm Anglieanum, Blount's Gloss, graphia, 1681, Cocker's Dictiona? 1724, Bailey's Dictionary, 1731, or ai other before Johnson. The latter deriv it from " scene," the Latin scena, tl Greek ctktjvt], a representation on t stage; and cites Addison's definition it. " As the continued appearances places or things." But though t word " scenery " is new, " scene," fro which it is held to be derived, and whi was used in an entirely theatrical sens was in use in the Elizabethan era, if n earlier, and belongs to all, or nearly a the languages of modern Europe. Scene, or sene, is the front or forepart o theatre or stage, or the partition between t players' vestry and the stage ; a comec a tragedy, or the division of a play into cerfc parts ; viz. first into acts, then again ir scenes, which sometimes fall out more, son times fewer, in any act ; the definition oi scene being mutatis personarum. In i times it signified a place covered with boug or the room where the players made thi ready. Blunt (Glossographia). Mr. Wedgwood's definition is : — Scene, scenery ; Greek, aia)vr], the cover tilt of a waggon ; a tent, booth, stage, scaffold ; the stage on which the actors p formed ; a scene at a theatre. It would be singular if the Engli language, in which it is unique, shot have borrowed from the theatre, a from its artificial accessories, a wc that expresses the beauties of Nature the grandest scale. Should not i root be sought elsewhere ? And ha philologists not been led from the ti S4 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY mrce by the accidental resemblance to ie Greek and Latin root ? Addison's ifinition already quoted, and that of [r. Donald in Chambers, " scene," a imber of objects presented to the view once ; and " scenery/' the appearance anything presented to the eye, iggest the ffiarttC. — Sin, to reach out, to stretch, prolong ; sineadk, prolongation ; hence " scene," and by addition, scenery" — a prolongation of natural id beautiful objects presented to the ew at the same time, as the moun- ins, the meadows, the groves, the rests, &c. CHICKS AL (German).— Fate, des- tiny, fortune ; that which shall befall during one's lifetime. Gaelic. — Saoghal, the world, universe, e, lifetime; saogkalach, long living, oghalachd, long life ; gu saoghal nan oghal, henceforth and for ever. ]OFF. — To jeer, to jest, to mock, to deride. From the Greek o-Kanrra, to ape, to jeer, to scoff. — Junius. Probably from Anglo-Saxon, scufan, sceqf- an, to shove. — Richardson. Old Norse, skaup, shauf, sloop, derision. . . . Possibly a shave, a dry wipe. Compare Dutch, schampen, to graze the surface ; to deride, scoff, abuse. — Wedgwood. ©radtC. — Sgafarra, lively, alert; tgaf- r, a bold, lively, aggressive person ; iff aire, a reviler; sgaffanta, vehement speech, angrily derisive ; sgaffantachd, iuperation. ^OIL. — Loose stones, rubbish, the head of a quarry. ffiafltC. — Sgoilt, to split, to cleave, to id asunder ; sgoiltean, splinters, frag- ints, refuse. SCOLD. — To reprimand, to blame angrily. Prom the Dutch scholden, to quarrel clamorously and rudely. — Johnson. Dutch, scholden, to scold, revile ; Swedish, sTcalla, to cry out loud, to scold, to make use of abusive language. — Wedgwood. Gaelic. — Sgall, to trouble, to dis- turb; egaltte, disturbed, troubled, an- noyed; sgallais, derision, mockery, blame ; sgallaiseaeh, opprobrious ; sgal, to cry aloud, to squall. SCON, SCONE (Lowland Scotch).— A cake, a kind of roll or bread. Sconce (Slang) . — A contemptuous word for the head. Must I then show them my unbarbed sconce ? — Shakspeaee, Coriolanus. Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel P — Shakspeaee, Hamlet. ffiarttC — Sgonn, a block of wood, a lump, a cake, a dunce ; sgonnasach, silly, puerile, stupid ; sgonnaire, a dunce. In modern Scottish slang, cahy signifies eccentric, odd, demented, more or less crazy. SCORE.— To mark the numbers of tricks or winnings at a game of chance or dexterity ; literally, to scratch, to notch or make a mark with chalk. Scoee. — A public-house reckoning, when the numbers of glasses or bottles ordered by one person or a company are recorded on a slate. A larger mark or notch than the ordinary one signifies twenty, whence a " score," twenty. Scarify. — To make marks on the flesh with a whip or other instru- ment of punishment. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. A notch, thence from the custom of keep- ing account by cutting notches on a stick, an account, or reckoning, the specific number of twenty (a score) as being the number of notches it was convenient to make on a single stick . . . Old Norse, shera ; Dutch, schore, schoore, a notch or score. — Wedgwood. ©aeltC. — Sgar, cut, hash, slash, gash, scarify ; sgoradh, scoring, marking, scarifying. SCOT.— The reckoning. " To pay the scot, to pay the bill.'" Shot. — The reckoning, the bill. Scot and Lot. — A tax laid upon in- dividuals according to their ability to pay and their station in life. Scot-fxiee. — Free from payment, un- taxed, unhurt. Scot, a quantity of anything, a lot, a share ; Anglo-Saxon, sceat. — Slang Dic- tionary. . French, escot, payment of one's own share of a common expense. Italian, scotto, the reckoning at an inn. Schott, contribution, tribute. — Wedgwood. Anglo-Saxon, sceotan, to shoot, to throw down money ; German, schiessen, to shoot. — Chambers. C&acIlC. — Sgot, part, or share of a reckoning 1 . SCOTCH. — A corruption of scutch, to bruise flax. Shakspeare says, " We have scotched the snake, not killed it ;" i. e. " we have scutched or bruised the snake "; an error of the press which the com- positors of Shakspeare's time had not knowledge enough to correct, but which he would himself in all probability have corrected if he had been in the habit of reading his proofs. And sang those tunes to the overscutclied huswifes. — Shakspeare, Henry IV. Part II. Seems to be a corruption of overscutclied, much lashed with a whip. Mr. Steevens seems to be in error in deducing it from over- scotched ; to scotch being rather to score or cut with a knife or sharp instrument, tl to slash with a whip or rod. — Naees. (JSatlfC. — Sguids (scutch), thrai swish, lash ; bruise or dress flax ; sgm seach, thrashing, lashing, scutching. SCOTCH COLLOPS.— Minced ve mutton or beef. The second word in the name of tl dish common in Scotland seems to derived from the ffiaeltc. — Calba, the leg; calpa, t calf of the leg, probably because it w once the custom to make the mir or cottop, from that part of the anim No other derivation can be suggest for " collop." SCOUNDREL.— A bad and worthli person, a man without principles honour ; a man who would rati cheat and steal than work. This word, and the derivations soug for it by all the lexicographers, in eve imaginable source except the right 01 afford a remarkable as well as amusii proof of the value of Gaelic to all w would trace the roots of colloquial En lish. Latin, abscondere, to hide ; a man whi a bad life and guilty conscience force abscond. — Gazojphylacium Anglicanum. Scoundrel, in the absence of any forei analogues we may suggest the possibility this word having originally been scumbre from scumber, scummer, to dung, with fi beseumbered. — Maeston. Compare Danish sham, dung, di metaphorically a good-for-nothing, a scoi drel. — Wedgwood. Scondaruolo, Italian, a hider. — -Shinn A mean rascal or low petty villain ; a wc rather ludicrous. — Johnson. Either from the Dutch and Germ schande, ignominy; or from the Italian, sa dere, to hide. — Wobcestee. The instances of the usage of this w< are so modern, that it seems dillicalt to c< nect it with ah Anglo-Saxon origin. 1 3 D THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY irst etymology of Skinner seems plausible. — RlCHAEDSON. Probably from the German schand-herl ; tchande, disgrace, and herl, a fellow. — Web- 3TEE and Chambebs. Latham marks this word with (?) to note the uncertainty with which he jards its origin. CRaeltC. — Sgon, bad, vile, worthless; oil, droit, droilean, an idle, stupid rson ; dreallaire, a loiterer, a man who gleets his work ; sgonnair, a rascal ; mnairail, rascally; sgon-lhaloch, a d fellow. }OUR. — 'To rub, to wash, to clean with the brush. Dutch, scheuren, schoren, to tear; German, wharren, to scrape, rake, scratch ; French, iscurer, to scour, cleanse. — "Wedgwood. CSaelic. — Bgnr, to scour, to cleanse ; t in the Gaelic. — Sgriob (screeb), to scratch, scrape, to furrow with the plough ; 'iobair, a scraper, a scratcher, a grater; •iobli, to write, record, engrave; pen- mship. miVENER. — A law writer, an attorney, a copyist. This word is usually derived from e Latin scribere, itself a form of the Dre ancient Keltic, sgriob, to scratch th a stylus or pen; and scriobh, to ■ite. fiJracItC. — Sgriobliadair, a writer; <-iobhainn (scriven), a writ, a bill, idence, i. e. that which is written ; nobliainnear (scrivaner), a scrivener, notary, a clerk, a writer. See Sciiib- E. ]!ROFULA.— A disease of the skin. Scorbutic. — Afflicted with scurvy or " scrofula/'' Italien, scorbuto ; du Grermanique schar- Soclc ; Hollandais, scheurbuilc ; Suedois, skoerbitig ; Anglais, scurvy. — Littbe. The Latin term scrofula has been traced to crofa, a sow ; but the origin is dnbious. — Bkande and Coxe, quoted in Latham, who uarks the word with a (?). Mid-Latin, scorbutus; French, scorbut ; xerman, scharboch. The origin of scorbutus s unknown. — Wedgwood. <&neltC — Sgreab, the scurvy ; a scab, a blotch, scabies ; sgreabach, blotched, scabbed, scrofulous. SCROGGY (Lowland Scotch).— Short, stunted ; applied to shrubs and trees. It's up the scroggy mountain And down the scroagy glen, We daune gang a milking To Charlie and his men. Jacobite Ballad. ©aeltC. — Sgrog, to shrivel, compress, dry up ; sgrogach, anything shrivelled ; a little old woman; srogair, a withered, dried-up old man; scrogag, stunted shrubs. The name of Wormwood Scrubbs — ■ overgrown with furze-bushes — near London, is probably a corruption of Wormwood " scroggs/' SCROIL, SCROYLE. — Rubbish, refuse, a paring or peeling ; anything torn off and thrown away as worth- less. By heaven, these scroyles of Angiers flout me. Shaespeaee, Sing John. Hang 'em ! scroyles ! There is nothing in them in the world ! — Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour. From the French icrouelle, a scabby rogue. — Johnson. \JEscrouelles, the king's evil, always used in the plural. No such word as Scrouelle.^ ffiaelic. — Sgrbill, a paring, a scraping, that is thrown away as worthless; refuse ; to peel, to take the skin off, to excoriate. SCRUB (Colloquial). — A niggardly mean person. Scrub, a low, mean fellow employed in all kinds of dirty work. — Gbose. This word is not to be confounded with another written in exactly the same manner; "scrub," to rub, or scrape, from the Gaelic sgriob, but OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. springs from a different source and train of idea. (SRaeltC. — Sgrub, to be niggardly ; sgrubail, niggardly, parsimonious ; sgrubair, a churl, a niggard ; sgrubadh, miserliness, niggardliness. See Screw. SCRUB. — To scrape or clean by rub- ing. Scrubbing-brush. — A brush with which to cleanse or rub floors, &c. Low German, schru b ben; Danish, sjcru b be, intensitive of rub. — Chambebs. OtaeltC. — Sgriob, to rub, to scrape, to scrub clean, to scratch; sgriobac/i, the itch ; the scratch, scratching ; sgrio- bair, a scraper, a wool card, a curry- comb. SCRUTINY. — A search, an examina- tion. This word was probably introduced into the English language from the French scrutin ; the Latin scrutare, to search, and scrutinium, a search or exa- mination. The root is the (Sraelic. — Sgrud,to examine, to search, to question ; sgrudadh, examination, scrutiny ; sgrudach, searchable ; do- sgrudach, inscrutable, unsearchable ; sgrudair, an investigator. See Screw. SCTJD. — To move rapidly away, to sail before the wind. Scoot (American Slang). — To walk rapidly, to run. The fellow sat down on an hornet's nest ; and if he didn't run and holler, and scoot through the briar bushes, and tear his trow- sers. — Sill's Yankee Stories. Babtlett. Dutch, schudden, to shake, to jolt, to wag. Hence as the figure of shaking expresses the exertion of superior power over an object, the English scud is used to signify the movement of a body under the influence of overpowering force. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltr. — Sgud, to walk or move rapidly, to sail ; sgudach, moving rapi ly, scudding. SCULDUDDERY (Lowland Scotcl — Fornication, obscene language. ©afltC. — Sgail, an example; dru drus, lust, obscenity, fornication ; draoia obscene. In the Irish branch of the la guage sgaldrutli signifies fornication. SCULLERY. — An appurtenance of kitchen, where the pots and pans a: dirty dishes are cleansed. Scullion. — A servant whose duty is to attend to the work of t scullery. Mr. Wedgwood tries the Latin, t French, the Italian, the Norse, t Swedish, the Spanish, the Languec 1 cian, and other languages and dialec for a satisfactory derivation of th( words ; but does not try the CBfaJltC. — SguileacJi, rubbish, refus sguillean, a large basket ; a hamper, put refuse in ; sguille, a kitchen-boy scullion; sguillean, a scullery, a pis to put the hampers and baskets wi the remnants of the repast, and with t dirty dishes, preparatory to their clear ing ; sguidlear, a scullion, a dir drudge; sgudal, filth, refuse, offal. SCUM. — That which rises to the top a boiling liquid, in contradistinction the dregs, which sink to the bottoi French, iscume; Ita\ia.n,scMuma ; Dani shum ; Dutch, schuym. — JoHif son. Old French, escume, Gaelic, sgum ; fr the humming sound of agitated waves Wedgwood. ©iajltC. — Sgum, foam, froth ; sguma, frothing, foaming. SCUNNER (Lowland Scotch).—' loathe, to be disgusted at ; loathir disgust, abomination. 890 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ting in the East and North of lgland, received a name that the xons did not give to those parts the island which they themselves ssessed. The Saxons had no sliires, 3 Britons had. The fact suggests a itish origin for the word. ©aeltC. — Tir, earth, or land, com- Dnly pronounced tshir (see Monro's wlic Grammar) ; tir-mor, a continent, large or great land. If this deri- tion be accepted, Yorkshire would ;an Yorkland; Devonshire, Devonland; d the derivation from the Anglo- ,xon sciran would have to be aban- ned. It is noticeable that the common Dple in England seldom pronounce 3 word as shire, but as sheer, a ;t which serves to strengthen the obability of its Gaelic or British rivation. The word is the same in fmric. The German name is Land- ',irh, or " land circle,'"'' equivalent to i French arrondissement. IIRK. — To avoid lazily or dishonestly the performance of a work, a duty, or an obligation. A modification of shark, signifying in the irst instance to obtain by rapacious or unfair iroceeding, then to deal unfairly, and finally THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY to avoid or escape from anything by unfair proceeding. — Wedgwood. A form of vulgar shark, to play the thief, to shift for a living, from shark, the fish. — Chambees. It seems erroneous to derive the word shark, which means a rapacious and greedy thief, and shirk, to avoid a duty, from the same root. Shirk is more clearly traceable to the ffiaelt'C. — Searg (pronounced sherg or sherk) to dry up, to wither, to lose power and energy ; also a weak and useless person, one dried up with age, infirmity, or hopeless indolence ; seirg, decay of the faculties; seirgean, a shrivelled or sickly person who cannot work ; seargach, evanescent, fading. SHIRT (Slang).— "To have one's shirt out," to be in an ill-temper. Shirty. — Ill-tempered. Ill-tempered. When a person is in an ill- humour he is said "to have his shirt out."— Slang Dictionary. He said he would write his father a shirty letter, and teach him to keep to his own affairs, and not to meddle with his. — Evidence in the Bravo Case, Aug. 1876. ffiaeltC. — Searhh (sherv), bitter, dis- agreeable, ill-tempered, acerb; searbhaich, to embitter; searihaichte (shervechte) , embittered, ill-tempered. The Persian sherbet, and the French sorbet, pleasant drinks with a slight admixture of bitter to flavour them, are words very probably of kindred derivation. SHOAL. — A large quantity or multi- tude of fish, as a shoal of whales, herrings, mackarel. This word in the phrase "a school offish" applied to a large number of fish swimming together, appears to be derived from the Dutch "een school visch." — Babtlett's Dictionary of Americanisms. Anglo-Saxon scolu, a company ; Dutch, school, a crowd; Old German, schuole, a gathering, scholen, to meet. — Chambees. Anglo-Saxon, sceol, a multitude, which OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Tooke considers the past participle of scylan, to divide, to separate. — Woecestee. The radical meaning seems to be a clump or mass; Dutch, scholle, a elod, mass, lump of ice ; scholen, to flock together. — Wedg- wood. (iRacIlC. — Siol (pronounced shole), seed, or brood, or progeny ; seol, a tide ; seol-mara, a sea-tide. SHODDY.— Old cloth, reconsigned to the mill to be worked up anew. A 'Lancashire word, much used in the United States to describe textile fabrics of an inferior and fraudulent description, whether of linen, woollen, cotton, or silk. ' This word, which has not yet found its way into the Dictionaries, is to be traced to the ffiatllC.— Sioda {shodda), silk ; sio- dail, silky; siodachd, silkiness ; applied in derision to those inferior fabrics of silk, that were partly made up of cotton. SHOOL (Slang) To saunter idly, to vagabondize, to beg rather than work. Roderick Random, quoted in the Slang Dictionary. (ffifaeltC. — Siolgach {sholgach), lazy, j spiritless, worthless ; siolgair, a vaga- ; bond, a lazy lout, a sluggard; siol- gaireachd, mean laziness. SHOTE. — A word used in America, with or without a depreciatory ad- jective, as "a poor shote," to signify a worthless person. Shote or shoat, an idle, worthless fellow ; it is also provincial in England, in this sense. — Baetlett's Dictionary of Americanisms. Shote, a young pig/ — Halliwell. (Gaelic. — Seot (sheot), an inferior: animal in a drove or herd; seotair, a. drove ; a useless creature, a lazy fellow ; \ seotach, slovenly, lazy; seotanta, lazy;! seotantachd, sloth, laziness; siota (pro-j nounced shota), an ill-bred child, a! spoiled child ; siotach, pampered, spoil ill-mannered, ill-conditioned. SHREW.— This word, almost obsol in conversation and literature, li in Shakspeare's Taming of the S7m A "shrew" meant an ill-temper irascible, voluble woman with a co ous flow of abusive language ; but 1 word was not wholly confined to 1 female sex, and was applied, thou more rarely, to men of a simi infirmity. From "shrew/' was supposed tocoi "shrewd" which meant, and still mea: cunning, far-sighted, more than usua sagacious, with which word and "shre\ the connexion is not obvious. 1 imprecation, common in Shakspear time and for a century and a half lat " beshrew me ! " supposed to sign: " curse me " [with a shrew for a wife comes from the same root. T etymon of " shrew " in the first sen has been asserted by nearly all Engli philologists from Johnson downwards, be the German schreien, to shrie call or cry out; and of "beshrew beschreien, to bewitch. A very absu derivation found favour before the tir of Johnson, from " shrew mouse," harmless little animal which was su posed to be particularly venomous, ai injurious to cattle if it chanced to era' over their backs. The primitive sense of the word seems be shown in German, schroff, rugged, passii into the notion of harsh, hard, sharp, d agreeable, bad. A shrewd air is a sharp a a shrewd man, a man of a hard, clear jud nient. In Hesse the word appears under t form of schrd, schrd, schreff, in the plui schrowe, schrawe, schrewe, rough to t touch, poor, miserable, bad. Ein schro pferd, an ill-fed, poor horse; ein sehroes esse coarse bad food ; ein schrd, maul, a sha: tongue; ein schrower, a shrewd man, oi ready of speech and act. Pi. D. scliri 3 F 402 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY weide, bare, scarce pasture ; ene schrae tied, a shrewd time, hard times ; schrae huus holen, to keep a spare house. — "Wedgwood. ffiaelic. — Sruth or sm,to flow ; whence " shrew/- 1 one with a fluent tongue. The word was formerly used in a favourable as well as an unfavourable sense, so that a " shrew " might have meant one prone to wordiness, whether for good or evil. " Shrewd," if this derivation be accepted, would signify the quality of one who h#d a flow of ideas ; whence a shrewd suspicion, a suspicion that flows, or has flowed through the mind. These words of such different significations are pervaded with the one idea of running or flowing, which links them together, as the common German and other derivations fail to do. The modern Gaelic for a " shrew " is te ladarna, an audacious and abusive woman; the words for " shrewd " are ciallach, sensible, pru- dent, rational ; glic and sicir, wise, sagacious. SHEIVEL.— To shrink or dry up, to contract into wrinkles. Perhaps from the German schrumpeln, to rumple, whence schrump, sohrumpel, a furrow or wrinkle. — Gazophylacium Angli- canum. From the Dutch schrompeln. — Johnson. Gaelic, sgreubh> sgreag, dry, parch, shrivel. English dialect, shravel, dry faggot wood; related to Old English rivel, to wrinkle ; as Dutch, schrompelen, to English rumple, or as Swedish skrynka to rynka, to .wrinkle. — Wedgwood. (35ra?Iic. — Sgreubh, dry up, crack by drought ; sgreubladh, state of drying up, parching, or shrivelling. SHRUB. — A cordial compounded of rum, sugar and other ingredients, well known in London and the great cities of England. Eiom root of sherbet. — Chamjsees. ffiadtC. — Srub, to suck, inhale, drink ; srubag, a little gulp, a drink; srubadh, a large mouthful of drink. SHUN. — To avoid, to turn away from. Shunt. — To turn a train on another line of rails. Shun, properly to shove, in which sense it is still used provincially ; then to shove on one side, to avoid. Synonymous with shun and probably a mere corruption of it is shunt, a word which having become obsolete in culti- vated languages has been revived in the terminology of railways ; a train is said to shunt, when it turns aside to allow another to pass. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Sewn (pronounced shun), to deny, to refuse, to decline, to forbear, to avoid ; to turn out of the path (to shunt); seunta, denied, refused, turned off to one side ; seunadh, a refusal. The Gaelic seun signifies not only to avoid, but to endeavour to avert or avoid evil by means of charms or enchantments; as in the following : seunach, of or belonging to charms, enchantments, or incantations ; seunadair, an enchanter, a magician, an averter of evil omens ; seunail, for- tunately, by means of the avertment of evil ; seunmhoraehd, magical power to avert evil and produce good ; seunta, defended from evil by enchantment; senntas, a magic charm for protection against evil. SICK.— Not well, in bad health. In neither of the two great recognized sources of the English language can this word be traced. The Teutonic has hranh, the French malade. The forlorn attempts to derive it from the Latin siccus, and the French sec, dry, are not satisfactory. The Flemish has seik, derived like the English from the C&aelic. — Sgith, weary, fatigued, worn out with ill-health ; sgithich, to weary, to wear out; sgith ichte, wearied, worn out, OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. sick of any malady. The transition from sgitkich {shick) to slack and sick is obvious. To be " sick " of a person or thing is to be " weary " of it. Seac, infirm, debilitated, weakened, decayed. SIDANEN.— " This," says Nares, " is a Welsh epithet for a fair woman, and was sometimes applied to Queen Elizabeth." In Kymric sidanen, from sia, silk, signifies silky, from the same root as the Gaelic siod. But to call a woman "silky" is not a particularly appropriate compliment, and it is possible that the true meaning is to be found in the ffiaeltC. — &««2,ajewel; also a darling; whence seudach, abounding in jewels; seudag, a little jewel, a charm; seudair, a jeweller, &c. SIERRA. — A long range of mountains. Sierra, Arabic ; not, as is usually supposed, from the Latin serra, a, saw, but from the Arabic sehrah, an uncultivated tract. — Taylob's Words and Places. As there are no cultivated tracts on the summits of high mountains, and as there are very many uncultivated tracts in the plains, the Arabic derivation is probably erroneous. CRaeliC. — Sior, long, extended, per- petual; siorruid/i, eternal; whence sierra, the long extended, or the eternal (hills). SIGH CLOUT (Obsolete).— A clout, rag, or cloth to strain milk or other liquids through. Sigh clout, a rag to strain milk through. — Staunton's Shakspeare. Sie, to strain milk. — "Weight's Provincial Diationary. My cloake it was a very good eloake, It hath been always true to the wear, But now it is not worth a grout, I have had it four and forty y( ar ; 3 F Sometime it was of cloth in graine,' 'Tis now but a sigh-clout, as you may £ It will neither hold out wind or rain, I'll have a new cloak about me. Prom the ballad, " Take thy old clo about thee." ©raelt'C. — Sugk, to drain, to dry, strain; snghadh, draining, straininj clud, a clout, a rag. SILL. — The timber, stone, or otl material at the base of a door window. Anglo-Saxon, sayl; Gaelic, sail, a beai French, seuil ; Italian, soglio,& threshol Latin, solum, a foundation. — Wedgwoi and Chambees. (Gaelic — Sail, a beam of woo sail bhuinn, a beam of wood that serv as a foundation. SILT. — Sand or ooze left by the strai ing or flow of water, a deposit earthy matter from a stream. Provincial English, sile; Breton a Swedish, silen, to strain. — Chambees. , and aiceSavvvfii, disperse, and by others from the Lowlai Scotch " scale/' to disperse, like ch dren from school or a congregation fro church. It is probably a corrupts that commended itself to the many Iri: recruits in the Federal armies. 6 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY CBrftellC. — Sgatli, to cut off; adhl, a ok. A ludicrous perversion of the iglish "cut it," and "hook it." aithearaehd, a lopping off, a scatter - * ; to scatter, disperse, to fling about. LELLUM (Lowland Scotch and Old English). — Defined in the Glossary to Robert Burns, as "a worthless fellow." To run away the rascal shall have scope, None hold him, but all cry, Lope, scellum, lope! Tayloe 1630. Skettum, a scoundrel ; a cant term for a thief. He ripped up Hugh Peters, calling him ;he execrable shellum. — Pepys's Diary. Give way, quoth the Paladine. and let me send that skellum to perdition. — Pagan Prince, 1690. Nabes. 3he tauld thee weel thou wast a skellum, A. blethering, blustering drunken blellum. Bubns, Tarn, o'Shanter. - Skellum, a rogue ; Dutch, schelm, a car- ;ase, carrion, dead animal ; German, schelm, i rogue ; Old High German, scelmo, scalmo, pestilence. — Wedgwood. iffiraeltC. — Sgeilm, sgiolam, a froward, [pertinent, tale-bearing, coarse-minded rson ; sgiolomach, addicted to tale- aring and mischief-making. CELP (Lowland Scotch). — To slap with the flat of the hand. "To sleety the doup," a woman's irase used in reference to a child. Poet Burns ! poet Burns ! wi' your priest skelping turns ! Why desert ye your auld native shire ? The Kirk of Scotland" s Alarms. BtTBN8. fflfaell'C. — Sgealp, to strike with the lm of the hand; sgealpach, the act of •iking or skelping. DERBIES — Well-known rocks on the coast of England. Scaur, Scar. — A steep rock, a moun- tain; whence Scarborough in York- shire, and Nab Scaur in Westmore- land.. Skerrievore, or The Great Rock. — Well known for its beautiful lighthouse, on the west coast of Scotland. (ffiaelic. — Sgeir, a rock in the sea; sgeireach, rocky ; sgeir eag, a little rock ; sgeireagail, a sea full of little rocks; mor, m/tor (vor), great. SKETCH. — A rough, rapid, and ready- delineation of a scene or person. French, esquisse; Italian, schizzo, from schizzare, to squirt or spirt ; to dash or dabble with dirt or mire ; to blur or blot ; also to delineate the first rough draught of any work, as of painting or writing. — Wedgwood. (KrSeltC. — Sguids (pronounced shitch or skulch), to lash, to slash; to strike or stretch out and produce the effect in- tended at one blow. SKILL. — Discernment, aptitude, knowledge derived from practice. Anglo-Saxon, scylan ; Icelandic, shilia, to separate, discriminate, understand. — Cham- bees. Shile, to separate ; an iron slice for skim- ming the fat of broth. — Weight's Obsolete and Provincial English. (ffira el ic. — Sgaiol, to disperse (Scottice, scale), sgil, sgiol, to separate, to divide; to shell peas, or divide the fruit from the husk. SKILLIGOLEE.— This is a word of contempt applied by English paupers in the union workhouses, and by prisoners in the penitentiaries, to the thin broth or gruel served up to them as part of their rations. Skilly. Water in which meat has been boiled, thickened with oatmeal. A word, I believe, of modern growth. — Halliwell. Skilligolee is prison gruel; also sailors' soup of many ingredients. The term is occasionally used in London workhouses. — Slang Dictionary. (ffifaeltc. — Sgaoil, to dispense or dis- perse, to distribute ; sgaoileadh, distri- OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. bution ; gn, with; liadh or liagh, a ladle, *- e. that which is served or divided cut with a ladle, and may apply either to the gruel or soup which the paupers and prisoners despise, when they require beef or mutton or other solid food. The word is susceptible of a derivation from sgeile, misery; in which case, " skilligolee " would mean sgeile gu liadh, misery with a ladle. SKIP. — To jump, to leap, to move the legs suddenly in running. Danish, kippe, to leap. — Worcester. In Anglo-Saxon forth-scipe is expedition, speed, despatch ; but all other traces of the word are lost. — Richardson. Welsh, cip, a sudden start or effort; ysgip, a quick snatch ; Gaelic, sgiab, to start or move suddenly ; to skip, is to move with a sudden start. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Sgiab, to start suddenly. Mac Intyre's Gaelic Dictionary. Sgiab, to pass off with celerity. Arm- strong's Gaelic Dictionary. SKIPPER (OldEnglish and Colloquial) . — The master or captain of a ship. Generally supposed to be a corruption of shipper. Oh where '11 1 get a skeely skipper To sail this ship o' mine ? Hallad of Sir Patrick Spens. (ffifaeltC. — Sgioba, a ship, a skiff; a ship's crew, a boat's crew; sgiobair {sgioba fear, a man), the skipper, the man or master of the ship or crew, a shipmaster, a pilot. SKIRMISH. — A slight encounter before or after a great battle. Italian, scaramuccia ; French, escar- mouclie. The word properly signifies a row or up- roar from a representation of the noise of people fighting. Anglo-Saxon, hrean, clamour, outcry ; Breton, game, clamour, battle-cry ; Welsh, gam, ysgarn, shout, bawling, out- cry ; ysgarmer, outcry ; also a skirmish ; Gaelic, sgairneach, crying aloud, shouting. — Wedgwood. (JBfafltC. — Sgar, to separate or dis by force ; sgaradh, separation ; nh bustle, hurry. Whence a body separ: from the main army, engaged ii hurried encounter, outside of the 1 of the general conflict. The mot Gaelic renders skirmish by arab/iec little fight ; from ar, a battle, and b little. SKIRT.— The lower fold of a garm a border. (iKaellC. — Sgiort, an edge, a horde SKITTLES.— A favourite past among English workmen, in wl nine wooden pins or billets are up, to be overthrown by the pli with a ball. Johnson does not mention this w Worcester attempts no derivation. Editor of Chambers' traces it from t Mr. Wedgwood ignores it altogethe (EfarttC. — Sguit, to scatter; sgiot, perse, scatter, throw about ; sgiota sgiotadJi, scattering, throwing down SKULK.— To loiter, to hide, sneak; to avoid work in a cowa manner. Old Swedish skolka, to be at leisur shirk, allied to Danish, skiule ; Swe skyla, to hide, conceal ; Dutch, schvilt Webster. The origin seems to be the Anglo-S scylan, to separate. — Richardson. Danish, skulke, to sneak ; Icelandic, s, a hiding-place. — Chambers. CRaeltC. — Sgiolg, to creep or sli] and out; sgiolgaire, a skulk ; one cl in concealment, and in slipping ii out unobserved. SKULL. — The bony envelope covering of the brain, the craniur Danish and Swedish, skal, shell; Norse, skal, a bowl; Old English, sch drinking-cup. — Wedgwood. )8 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Danish and Swedish, shal, a shell. — Chambers. ffiraeltC. — Sgail, a covering, to cover. KY.— The atmosphere around, and that always to the onlooker seems to be above the earth, the visible heavens, formerly but erroneously called the firmament. The various languages of Europe nder the idea either by a word ex- essive of a covering, as in the Latin lus, French ciel, the Italian cielo e'rived from the Gaelic ceil, to cover, lich see), or from that of something aved or lifted up over the earth, as the modern Lowland Scotch and d English, lift, and the modern srman, toft; the Germans have nmel from the same root as the lglish hummock, something raised up, ted, heaved or heaven. The Danish d other Scandinavian languages have (, which signifies not heaven but a lud that obscures it, which has a rious resemblance to the Greek aicia, :hade, and the Sanscrit sku, to cover. ffiaeltC— Sgiamh, beauty, loveliness ; amhach, beautiful, lovely, i. e. the lutiful blue sky. JAB. — A smooth stone. Welsh, yslab, llab, a thin slip.— Websteb, JHAMBEBS, &C. (SSafltC. — Sleamhuinn (slav-nin.) ooth, slippery ; sleamhnad (slav-nad), amhnuich, to slip, to slide on a ooth surface. iAB. — Slime, viscous earth or clay. Slobby, Slobbery. — Slimy, dirty slippery earth. Sloppy. — Disagreeably wet under foot. Make the mixture thick and slab. Shakspeaee. Anglo-Saxon, slipan, to slip. — Kichaed- SON. The sound of dabbling in the wet.— Wedgwood. ffiaeltC -~Slaib, mire, filth, dirt; slaibeach, slaibeil, miry, filtby, dirty, sloppy. SLACK.— Loose. Slacken. — Loosen, unbind. Welsh, yslac (Hoc, lax); German, sehlaff, schlapp ; Swedish, slajc ; Icelandic, slakr ; akin to Latin, laxus, loose. — Chambebs. The sound of the flapping of a loose sheet, or of dabbling in liquids is represented equally- well by a final b or p as by a h, and hence the syllables flab, flap, &c. — Wedgwood. CSfaellC— Lasach, loose, slack, not firm ; lasaich, to slacken, to loosen, to intermit. SLAM. -An ancient game at cards. Eaffe, slam, trump, noddy, whisk, hole, sant, new cut, Unto the keeping of four knaves he'll put. Tatlob's Works, 1630. Slam is also a term at whist, used when one party wins the game before the other has scored a trick. — Halliwell. Slam (Lowland Scotch) means a share of anything acquired by forcible or artful means from slem, craft. — Jamieson. ffiacltC— -Slam, shim, to monopolize, to usurp, to acquire plunder or booty ; sglaim, to acquire a large share of any- thing by force ' or dexterity ; slamaire, sglamaire, a usurper, a greedily acquisi- tive person ; slamaireachd, sglamai reaohd, usurpation, voracity. SLANG. — The language of the vulgar, or words vulgarized by constant repetition, and peculiar to certain trades and professions. Connected with Latin lingua, the tongue ; literally the language of the gipsies.— Stobmonth. Norse, slengja, ix> fling, to cast. — Wedg- wood. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. The German for slang is Pobelsprache, the talk of the populace, synonymous with the ©aelt'C. — Shiagh, a multitude, a peo- ple, a host, an arm y, a mob ; teanga, the tongue, a speech, a dialect. Teanga, with the aspirate, as in the phrase from the Gaelic translation of the Psalms (xxxiv. 13), becomes theanga, pronounced eanga or heanga, "Gleidk do theanga o'olc," " Keep (or save) thy tongue from evil." From these two words abbreviated and corrupted into slua and eanga, or slua- eanga, is derived the English word "slang." SLASH.— To lash with a whip. Slashing. — Severe. A "slashing" review in modern literary slang signifies a piece of criticism that shows no mercy to the author. Icelandic, slasa, to strike, to lash ; slashis improper. — John son. The representation of the sound of a blow- cutting through the air. The same form is used to represent the dashing of liquids, or the napping of loose clothes. — Wedgwood. (BfaeltC. — Slais (pronounced slash), a lash; to drub, to beat ; slaiseadh, lashing, whipping ; slaiste, lashed, whipped. SLATE (Slang).— To beat; a "good slating," a good beating. To pelt with abuse ; to beat, to lick ; to scold. — Slang Dictionary. Slat, to strike, to slap, to beat with violence. — Weight. <3rS£ lie. — Slat, a wand, a stick, a rod ; a yard measure ; a sceptre. SLATE (Lowland Scotch, sUate).—K blue grey stone, well known, that splits easily into laminse or sheets, and is used for the roofing of houses, or in lieu of paper for school exercises. Junius refers to slit; Tooke derives it from the Anglo-Saxon scylan, to scale, to separate ; and traces it thus, shailit, slclait, sMt slate ; Old French, esclatej Gaelic, sgleat Woecestee. (ffiaflic. — Sgleat, a slate; tigh-sgle a slated house; sgleatach, slaty, about ing in slates ; sgleatair, a slater, a til a roofer. SLAVE.— A bondsman, a thrall; o held in servitude, and who may bought and sold. Escla ve. — French. This word is commonly supposed to taken from the name of the Selavonian ra the source from which the German slai would be almost exclusively derived. I possibly it may be formed on the same pri ciple with the synonym drudge, a nai derived from dragging heavy weights a doing such like labourers' work. Dani slaebe, to drag, toil, drudge. — Wedgwooi (KaeltC. — Sglamk (sclav), to sei violently, to grasp, 'to clutch; sglamhac greedy, grasping (enslaving) ; sglar> kaich, to engross to one's self, to mon polize ; to enslave; slabhraidh (slav-rai slabhruidh (slav-rui), a chain; slab, ruidheach, furnished with chains; ei chained. In Irish Gaelic (see Ti Remains of Japhet, by James Parson M.D., 1787), a chain, or fetter is rei dered by the word slaveradh. SLEEVE,—" To laugh in one's sleeve, It is difEculb to trace the origin i this phrase. " To laugh in the sleeve of one's vestment can scarcely be ai eepted as an explanation. Possibly tl phrase arose in the marauding and la\i less times when the Highlanders can down from their mountain fastnessi to plunder the Lowlands, and runnin off with their booty to the hills defie pursuit. (Gaelic. — Sliabh {sleev), a mountai of great extent ; an extended heath hig up on the mountain side or top, whenc the robbers in their inaccessible sliabh c 3 g THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ountain fastnesses, defied pursuit and ngeance. The phrase thus became overbial, after its original meaning is lost. Sliabhair, a mountaineer. LiEIGH. — A sledge for travelling over the snow. (SfaeltC. — SligJie, a way ; a journey. LEUTH-HOUND (Lowland Scotch). — A hound that follows on the track of its prey. Slot. — The print or track of a stag's feet on the ground. Sleuth-hound, a blood-hound ; Icelandic, slod; Irish, sliocht, a track. — Jamieson. (SfSfltC. — Slaod, a trail, a track; aodan, the rut of a wheel ; slaoid, to ■ag, to trail , to pull. LEWED (Slang).— Very drunk. A sea term; when a vessel changes the tack, she, as it were staggers, the sails flap, she gradually heels over, and the wind catch- ing the waiting canvas, she glides off at another angle. The course pursued by the intoxicated or slewed man is supposed to be analogous to that of the ship. — Slang Dictionary. Slew or slue (maritime), to turn around as a mast or boom lying on its side, by moving the ends while the centre remains stationary or nearly stationary. — Wobcesteb. Slew, to turn round, properly to slip. A rynnard cord they slewit oex his head, Hard to the bank, and hangit him to ded. Slewit, i.e. slipped It is the same word with the English slive, to slip. — Wedgwood. Though a drunken man may " slip," slew " or turn round, the etymology :arcely explains the slang word, which ems to be of a different origin from le nautical term. <8*apItC. — Sluig, swallow, absorb, •ink eagerly; sluigte, swallowed, en- alfed; &lugach y swallowing, gulping; ugaid, the gullet; slugair, a glutton, devourer, a deep drinker. SLICE. — To divide a broad substance into thin flat partitions. Old French, esclisser, to divide ; Old Ger- man, sleiean, to split (see slit); Anglo-Saxon, slitan; Swedish and Icelandic, slitu, to tear. — Chambebs. ©aelic. — Slis, a shave, a slice, a thin board; sliseag, a thin slice of anything; sliseagach, shavings. SLIGHT or Sleight of Hand. — The art of performing conjuring tricks, to deceive the eye. French, leger de main, from whence it is supposed is derived the English " slight," a corruption of " light of hand." Sleight, dexterity, from the root of sly ; German, sohlau, and the Swedish stog.^- Wedgwood. In such a matter as religion he would hardly hope to convert half England, with deft speech and sleight of words. — Times Sept. 29, 1874. Mr. Gladstone on Ritual- ism. (flSrartl'C. — Slaight, roguery ; slaight- ear, a rogue ; slaightearachd, roguery ; sloighte, dishonesty, roguery (German, scJtlecM, bad) ; sloightir, a rogue, a dis- honest person, a cozener, a deceiver; sloightireachd, roguery, deception, ras- cality, cozening. SLIM.— Slender. A cant word as it seems, and therefore not to be used. — Johnson. From the Dutch slim, bad, worthless ; German, schlimm. — Wokcesteb. <&aeltC. — Slim, lean, slender; sliom, slender, sleek, smooth; slionachd, slen r derness. SLOCK. — To entice away, to inveigle. Slockster, one that slocks or entices away another man's servant. — Blount's Olosso- graphia, 1684. ffiaeltC. — Slaoightear, a rascal, a knave. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. SLOCKDOLOGER (American Slang). — A heavy blow, a knock-down blow ; sometimes written socdologer. This strange word is probably a perversion in spelling and pronunciation of doxology, a stanza sung at the end of religious services, and as a sign of dismissal. Hence a socdo- loger is a conclusive argument, the winding up of a debate, a settler ; and figuratively ill a contest, a heavy blow, which shall bring it to a close. — Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms. ©rSeltC. — Slochd, a pit, a grave; dolach, destructive, ruinous, i. e. a destructive or ruinous blow that will kill or send to the grave. SLOGAN (Lowland Scotch).— The battle-cry of the Highlanders ; the watch-word or gathering cry of a clan, such as " Stand fast, Craig Ellachie \" the war-cry of the Grants ; " It's a far cry to Loch Awe ! " the cry of the Campbells, &c. Our slogan is their lyke wake dirge. — Sib W. Scott. Corrupted from slughorne. — Woecesteb. S ughorne, sloggom. The watch-word used by troops in the field. Irish sluagh, an army, and arm, an horn. — Jamieson. (BVafltC — Sluagh, a people, a host, a multitude, an army ; gairm, a cry, a shout, a call ; whence sluagh-ghairm, a battle-cry, or call of the host. SLOMMOCKING (Colloquial and Slang) . Untidy, especially applied to women whose hair is out of order, dirty, and neglected. OSaeltC. — Slam, a lock of hair, a tuft; slamach, clotted, like uncombed and neglected hair. SLOP. — A term of contempt applied by lovers of strong drink to tea and other unintoxicating liquors. (JBratltf. — Slaop, to parboil, to sim- 3 G mer, slaopaoh, parboiled, weak. ' Saloop. SLOPER ("Ally Sloper").— A sla word applied to describe a vulg low person. CtViUllC. — Sliolair, a clumsy or aw ward person; sliobach, clumsy, aw ward. See Slubberdegullion. SLOSH.— To beat the water, to tre through soft mire. Slush. — Melted snow and mud. Provincial and familiar for wet mud, dirt}' liquid, melting of snow. The origin a representation of the noise made by dabbli or paddling in the wet. — Wedgwood. CJaeltC. — Sloisir, dash, beat again; as the sea against the shore ; wai by working backward and forwa in the water ; to mix soft substanc together (as snow and mud) ; sloisreac dashing, rumbling, surging ; sloisread a dashing as of waves against the voc. or the shore. SLOT. — The print of a deer's foot ( the ground; the trail or track of wild animal. Sleuth (Lowland Scotch). — Tl track of man or beast. When the hounds touch the scent, ai draw on till they rouse or put up the cha; ■we say : " They draw on the slot." — Gem Recreations, quoted by Nabes. ffiaettC. — Slaod, to trail along tl ground, to leave a track ; slaodan, track, the rut made by a wheel ; slaot adk, trailing. See Sleuth. SLOW. — Not fast, tedious, longsom taking a long while to do. Anglo-Saxon, slaw, sleaw; Danish, sic — Woecesteb. ffiaelic. — Slaod, to trail, to dra along the ground ; slaodag, slow, trai ing; also a slut or slovenly womaj THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY t active in her work; slaodair, a jy person, a sluggard. jOY (Obsolete). — A slatternly or slovenly woman. Perhaps a contraction of disloyal, a disloyal person. (Nares). More probably a slut. — Halliwell. How tedious were a shrew, a sloy, a wanton, or a foole. Warner's Albion's England,. Nabes. Exceeding brave from head to foot, But married proves a sloy or slut. Poor Bobin. NaBES. CBracItC. — Slaoid, to trail on the ound ; slaodach, slaodag, a slut, a ittern ; slaodair, a lazy awkward lout, lubber. jUBBERDEGULLION (Slang).— A mean, dirty fellow. A burlesque word whimsically compounded Df slubber and gull. It is used by Butler in Hudibrai, where Trulla styles that hero, " base slubberdegullion." . . . The word occurs in Beaumont and Fletcher's Customs of the Country. — Nabes. This hybrid word seems to be a cor- ption of the ffiaeltC. — Slaqpair, a dirty, slovenly [low ; a lazy lout ; goileach, a glutton. LUGGAED. — A slow, idle, lazy person. Sluggish. — Slow, lazy. Slug, Danish, and slog, Dutch, signifies a glutton ; and thence one that has the sloth of a glutton. — Johnson. Prom slack, slow. — Woecesteb. Prom slack, one who is slack or not diligent, a heavy lazy fellow. Akin to Welsh llac ; Low German, slukkeren, to shake to and fro. — Chambebs. ffiatlt'C. — Stuck, to quench, extin- tiish ; whence a man whose activity is lenched by sleep or over-indulgence ; ugair, a deep drinker, a glutton. LUM. — "A back slum;" a squalid, overcrowded district in a great city, inhabited by the poorest and most prolific of the population. Perhaps from the Scottish slump, a marsh or swamp.— Woecesteb. What are slums, and where is the word to he found and explained ? Is it Romish or Spanish ? There is none such in our language, at least, used by gentlemen. I would ask, may not the word be derived from asylum ? seeing that the precincts of alleys, &c, used to be in ancient times, asylums for robbers and murderers. — Notes and Queries. As it is the great characteristic of a " slum " to be overcrowded, and as none but the very poorest of the poor allow themselves to be overcrowded, it is pro- bable that the root of this word is the ffifarttC. — Sluagh, a multitude; mor, great ; whence sluagh-mor, very or greatly populous, abridged and corrupted into the English "slum \" sluaghmhoir- eachd, populousness, over populous- ness. SLUT, Slattern. — A dirty, untidy girl or woman. Danish, slutte; Bavarian, schluitte. — Chambebs. ©rBfltC. — Slaod, a lazy, dirty person ; slaodach, lazy, sluttish; slaodair, a lazy, slovenly, awkward man ; slaodag, a slut, a dirty female ; slaoit, dirt, filth. See Sloy. SLY. — Meanly and secretly cunning. Danish, slu ; German, schlau ; Swedish, slug, cunning ; Norwegian slog, and Swedish slog, dexterous. — Chambebs. Sleight, dexterity. The radical unity of sly and sleight was formerly more distinctly felt than it is now. — Wedgwood. (Gaelic. — Sliog,sliogach, sly, sneaking, subtle; sliogair, a sly, sneaking per- son; sligheach, artful, sly, cunning; slig/ieadair, one who lives by fraud and cunning; slighearachd, deceit, cunning. SMACK.— To strike with the open hand. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Johnson in his fourth folio edition has not included this word, though he gives every variation of the meaning of " smack," to taste, derived from the German sclimecken, a word of a totally different origin and signification. (SrflJltC. — Smag or smac, a large hand ; smachd, to chastise, to correct with the hand. SMALL.— Little. Small, Saxon ; smal, Dutch. — Johnson. Anglo Saxon, smael ; Old German, smal ; Welsh, mal, ysmal, light. — Chambers. (ffiaflic — Smal, dust, cinders, embers; smodal, light particles, crumbs ; smiol- amas, fragments, small pieces, broken victuals. SMASH. — To break into small pieces. Italian, smaccare, to crush ; German, schmessen, to smite, same as mash, to break in pieces with violence. — Woecestee. ay, a snow flake. — Wedgwood. (BJaJlic — Sneachd, snow. SNUG. — Warm, comfortable, cosy. Sntjggeey. — A comfortable room, a warm and well-fitted little house or apartment. From the Dutch sniffer.— 'Johnson. Snuff, snuggle. To snuggle is to nestle, to lie close like an infant pressing itself to its mother's bosom; hence snug, warm and close. The ultimate origin is the figure oisnooJcing or sniffing after food. — Wedgwood. Akin to sneak.— Chambers. (8*a? ItC. — Snuadh, beauty, appearance, colour, complexion ; snuadhach, good- looking, pleasant to the eye ; snuadhaich, to give a good colour or appearance to anything; snuadhaichte, well-coloured, adorned, made comfortable. SNUM (American Slang). — "A pre- varication and euphemism," says Bartlett, "for swear; — f I snum/ I swear." C&aeltC. — Sniomh, to twist; i. e. I twist out of the oath, and do not swear. SO. — Johnson cites twenty-one different uses and shades of meaning for this word, all of which he traces to one root, the Anglo-Saxon swa, and the German so. But this multifarious syllable has come into the language from different sources unrelated to each other and unsuspected by John- son. In the following sentences, "I said so," i. e. I said this or that ; " Do so," i. e. do this or that, the word is trace- able to the ffiartl'C. — So, this, thus, these, here; this or that place, this or that thing ; as " I would not do so ," i. e. I would not do this thing, or that thing ; So am fear, here is the man ! Tha mi so, I am here ! Treig so ! leave this (place) ! ** So saying he departed," this saying he de- parted ; " So do and prosper," do this and prosper. But when in colloquial and especially in feminine parlance, the word "so," synonymous with the French and Italian si, is used to intensify an ad- jective, as in the phrase " I am so glad to see you," " I am so sorry you are unwell," " This pudding is so nice," " He is so handsome ; " it is evident that the idea of place is not attachable to it, and that the word might find its synonym in very. Here also the root is the fi&aeltC. — So, a prefix to adjectives and substantives, implying facility, aptness, fitness, ease, equality, and sometimes goodness. Deanta, made or done. So dheanta, that may be easily OV THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 417 done. So bhlasda, well tasted, i. e. savoury. So aimsir, favourable or good weather. So chridheach, good-hearted. This prefix in Gaelic is the opposite of do, which signifies evil, as in sonas, good fortune, donas, evil fortune. SOAP. — A well-known article of do- mestic use, compounded of oils or fats with soda, potash, clay, and other ingredients. The name is commonly supposed to be derived from the Latin sapo, saponis, and the French savon. " Soap," says Mr. Wedgwood, " was regarded by the Latins as a Keltic in- vention, and therefore it is reasonable that we should look to the Keltic lan- guages for an explanation of the name. ' Prodest et sapo. Gallorum hoc inven- tum, rutilandis capillis, ex sevo et cinere.' Pliny." (ffiaeltC. — Siab, to wipe, to rub, to clean ; siabach, cleansing, rubbing, wiping; siabuinn, soap, that which cleanses; siabutmag, soapy, detergent. SOAR. — To mount in the air, to be free as a bird, to fly high ; to excel. From the Italian sorare. — Johnson. Sorare, volare a giuco, e dicesi di falcone, voler par plaisir. — D'Albebti's French and Italian Dictionary. Italian, sorare ; French, essor, a flight. — Woecestee. French essorer, to air or weather, to expose to the air ; to mount or soar up ; also being mounted, to fly down the wind. — Cot- grave. From aura, air. — Wedgwood. ffifatltC — Saoradh, to free, to liberate ; saor, free, to set a bird free to the air ; sar, excellent, that which excels, or is high ; sar f hear, a man who excels, who rises above his fellows. SOBER. — Not guilty of excess in eating, drinking, speech or behaviour. French, sobre; Latin, solrius, probably from se, away from, and ebrius, drunk ; e, out of, and hriiis, a cup. — Chambees. Latin sobrius, sober ; as ebrius, drunk. No plausible explanation is offered of either. — Wedgwood. The Gaelic prefix so, means pleasant, agreeable, right ; the prefix ea, is equivalent to the Latin dis and the English un. Thus we have in (KncItC — Brigh, the juice, essence, the spirit, the drink ; whence so brigh, the pleasant, wholesome, and temperate use of drink ; and ea brigh, the unwhole- some, intemperate use of juice, spirit, essence, the root of the Latin ebrius ; intensified by the prefix in, whence inebriated. SOCAGE. — A legal term, signifying a tenure by any certain and deter- minate service. Also a privilege formerly claimed by millers of grind- ing all the corn, used within the manor or parish in which their mill was situated. Sock. — A ploughshare. From Anglo-Saxon soc or socn, a liberty or privilege, or from French soke ; Latin, socus or soccus, a plough. — Woecestee. Soccage, plough, service ; sock, a plough- share, from the Gaelic soc, snout, beak, chin, forepart of anything ; ploughshare ; Welsh, swch.,3. snout; swell aradar, snout of a plough. — Wedgwood. <&arltC. — Soc, a coulter, a beak, a snout, a socket ; a ploughshare ; socach, socage, plough tenure ; socadh, a coul- ter, a ploughshare. SOCIAL. — Society, Sociable, Social- ity, Associate, Association. All these words are degrees and varieties of the one idea of companionship, friendliness and union, and of the feelings that produce the pleasure of the intercourse of human beings with one another. 3 H 418 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY The only root to which philologists refer them is the Latin socius, a com- panion, a fellow, a mate. ffiaettC. — So, a prefix to nouns adjec- tive, always used in the sense of plea- sant and agreeable ; eta (obsolete, see McLeod and Dewar) , a man, a husband; ciatt, a darling, a beloved person. SOCK (American Slang).— To bonnet a man, and by a smart blow knock his hat over his eyes and nose. To press by a hard blow a man's hat over his head and face. Used in Khode Island. I have never heard it elsewhere. The New York phrase is " to crown him." — Babtlett's Dictionary of Americanisms. ffiaeltC. — Soc, a beak, a snout ; con- temptuously, a nose. SOCK (slang). — A feast, a dainty, a treat. The Eton College term for a treat, believed to be derived from the monkish word soke. An old writer speaks of a man who did not soke for three days, meaning that he fasted. A correspondent says the word is still used by the boys of Heriot's Hospital School at Edinburgh, and signifies a sweetmeat, being derived from the same source as sugar, suck, &c. — Slang Dictionary. CSacIic. — Sbgh, luxury, delicious fare ; a dainty, a delicacy ; sbghach, sbg- Tiail, luxurious, dainty, sumptuous ; sbghalaehd, luxury, abundance of deli- cacies. SOCK and BUSKIN.— These two words are supposed to be the trans- lation of the Latin soccus et cothurnus, and to symbolize Comedy and Tragedy; soccus signifying the shoe or shoes worn on the stage in Greece and Italy by comedians; and cothurnus, the high-heeled boots worn by the Greek actors in tragedy, to give them the appearance of great taHness, or at least of the requisite height, when seen from the greatest distance in their largest amphitheatres. Soccus may be translated a shoe, but it is not certain that cothurnus ought to be rendered by " buskin." Dryden writes : — • Great Fletcher never treads in buskins here, Nor greater Jonson does in socks appear. Milton had previously written, And what, though rare, of later age Ennobled hath the buskin'd stage. The word in the use made of it by Milton, may signify something other than a boot ; as will appear hereafter. The author of Gazophylacium Anglicanum derived buskin from the Latin bottijw, and the French bottine, a little boot, words in which neither the * nor the k are represented, and in which a superfluous t is inserted; Johnson derived " buskin " from the Dutch boosekin, and in our own day Mr. Wedg- wood has traced it to the French bro- dequin. But all these derivations are unsatisfactory. Tt may be suggested that the English version of soccus et cothurnus may be due to the accidental resemblance in sound of the Latin soc- cus to the Gaelic sog, and that cothurnus has been translated into " buskin," and " buskin " held to signify a boot without any etymological justification, and solely with the object of supporting the classical origin of the phrase. The roots that support the Keltic derivation of " sock and buskin," as distinguished from soccus et cothurnus, are to be found in the CHaelie. — Sog, spirit, good humour, merriment; busg (Lowland Scotch, busk), to dress, to adorn; busgadh, adorning, dressing; busgainnich, to dress, to adorn, to prepare ; as in the Scottish phrase, " a bonnie lass is soon buskit." In Pope's lines, later than Milton's and Dryden's, we have OF THB ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 419 Here arm'd with silver bows in early dawn, Her buskin A virgins tread the dewy lawn. Buskin' d, may possibly mean booted, but it may also mean in the Scottish and old English sense, buslcit, busked ; bus- cainnichd, adorned, ornamented, or grace- fully dressed. The French phrase does not support the English version. It is not soc el brodequin, but soc et eothurne. The Gaelic derivation admirably suits the requirements of the modern stage, without reference to shoes and boots, and signifies proper spirit, and proper dress for the parts to be represented. Sog, for comedy, finds an equivalent in the San- scrit. Pictet, in his Affinite des Langues Celtiques avec le Sanscrit, says, page 33, Edition Duprat, Paris, 1833, that the Sanscrit for pleasure is sauk'ya, from the root sak, to render happy, equivalent to the Irish (Gaelic) sbgh, pleasure, and sugJiach, joyous. The Greek tyvxn (psyche), soul, animation, is a word of the same derivation. SOFT. — This word in modern slang and careless colloquial intercourse signifies that the person to whom it is applied is foolish, easily to be deceived. ffiaelic. — Saobh, foolish, deranged, silly, easily moved or led astray ; saobh- chaint, silly talk, nonsense. SOFT-SAWDER (Slang). — Menda- cious flattery, employed to wheedle, cajole, and deceive. Sawdust. — " To throw sawdust into a person's eyes," i. e, to deceive him. Sawny. — A fool, one easily deceived. ' ©aeltc. — Sabhd {saw), a lie, a fable ; sabhdach, fabulous ; sabhdag, a small lie; sabhdair (saw-dair), a liar; sabhd- aireachd, the habit of lying to inveigle and flatter. 3 SOIN (French). — Care, tender atten- tion. Soigneb,. — To take care of, to attend to ; to cherish with tenderness. Origine douteuse.- — LittbIs. d&atlit. — So, pleasant; inntinn, mind; whence by abbreviation, soin, to esteem; soinnean, cheerfulness, pleasantness ; soinnivnta, well-tempered; somniontachd, cheerfulness, pleasantness of temper; soighne, soighneas, pleasure, delight ; soighneasaeh, pleasant, delightful. SOIR (French). — The evening; the darkening, the gloaming; when the darkness steals over the sky from the east. ©rat lie. — Soir, the east. SOL (Latin).— The sun. Solar. — Appertaining to the sun. Cicero derives sol from solus, alone, because there is but one sun and no more. By parity of reasoning, the moon has an equal claim to the name, because there is one and no more. But how beautifully appropriate is the derivation of the Roman sol from the Gaelic soil, which signifies clearness or light, an attribute of the sun in all nations and lan- guages. — Toland's History of the Druids. The number of words derived from sol or soil, the sun in Gaelic, is very great, and all convey the idea of warmth, light, comfort, and satisfaction. Even the French sol, the soil ; and the English " soil," the earth, the ground, seem to spring from the same radix. ©raeltC. — Soil, the sun; soil bheum, a stroke of light, un coup de soleil; soilleir, clean, bright, light; soilleirachd, brightness, daylight, dawn; soillsich, to brighten, to clear; solas, light, know- ledge, comfort, warmth, consolation, pleasure ; sblasach, pleasant to the senses or the mind, consoling; solasta, bright, luminous; solus, light, know- h a 420 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ledge ; the sun, any heavenly body ; solnsmhor, great luminosity. English philologists refer soil, the earth or ground, to the same root as sully, to make dirty. Mr. Wedgwood says, "it is not improbable that the Latin solum belongs to the same stock, having originally signified mud ; then the ground, the lowest place, the foundation." But the Gaelic derivation releases the soil from the idea of dirt, which ought not to attach to the teeming bosom of bountiful and beautiful Mother Earth. In the Gaelic sense, the English word soil and the French sol, would signify that which the sun shines upon and fertilizes, i. e. this sunny (or soily) earth. SOLDIER. — One who serves in the army of his country, or who volun- teers his services to a foreign state. This word is vulgarly pronounced sojer t>r sodger ; and seldom except among the educated with the I fully sounded. The received etymology is from the French soldat, one who accepts solde, or pay ; or the Latin solidus, solid cash, a piece of money. The Teutonic nations have mostly adopted the French word soldat; ' though the Germans sometimes call the soldier Jcriegsmann, or war-man. It is possible, however, that the vulgar Eng- lish and LowlaDd Scotch pronunciation — Burns rhymes lodger and soldier — affords the true key to the etymology and that it is to be found in the ©aeltC. — Saighdear (saoj-jaer), from saighde, arrows ; an arrower, a wielder of the arrow, which all soldiers were before the invention of firearms, Is tu an saigh- dear, thou art the soldier, thou art the hero ; saighdear -coise, a foot-soldier ; saighdeasail, military, brave, soldier- like. The Latin Sagittarius, an archer, confirms the idea that the origin of the vernacular sodger, as distinguished from the wrongly emended word soldier, is to be found in the Gaelic. SON (Filius).— A male child. All philologists with the exception of Mr. Wedgwood have been contented to derive this word from the Saxon and Anglo-Saxon sohn. But its roots lie deeper and are to be found in the Sanscrit, sunu, a son, from su, to beget, to bear, to bring forth ; and in the , to hasten. — Wedgwood. Sanscrit, spad, aller, se mouvoir ; Celtic, spid, mouvement. — Pezeon. ffiaeltC. — Spid, movement, expedition, quickness ; spiod, to pull along, to tug ; spwdadh, a tug, a pull. Sanscrit. — Spad, to move. SPELL. — The Americans speak of a " warm spell " and a " cold spell," a long continuance or stroke of warm or cold weather ; also of a " spell'" of work. Spain has obtained a breathing spell of some duration from the internal convulsions which have through so many j'ears marred her prosperity. — President Tyler, 1844. Baetlett. ©raflic. — Speal, a scythe, whence, metaphorically, the stroke, swathe, or work done by one sweep of the instru- ment ; also a turn of work, a little while, an interval; spealanta, acute, sharp, that cuts; spealack, cutting, severe. SPIDER. — A well-known insect. It has been generally held that the name is a corruption of " spinner/'' so called from the exquisitely beautiful and symmetrical web, which many varieties of them, especially the garden spiders, construct for the purposes of locomotion, habitation, and the capture of their natural prey. But it is probable that etymologists have been led astray by a too obvious fancy of their own. The word " spin " exists in many forms in the English language, as in " spinning wheel," " spinning jenny," " spinning machine," &c; and has not suffered either the elision of the n, or the in- sertion of the d, which are necessary to form "spider." The old English was spither, which suggests a different root from "spin." The modern Gael have a name for this insect, damhan-alluidk, or little wild ox, which is singularly in- appropriate, but their language con- tains a root spid, to which attaches two ideas that in their combination exactly express the form as well as the nature of the insect. (JKaeXic. — Spid or spiod, cruelty, spite (q. v.) ; spideag, a delicate and slenderly formed creature ; also, a malicious young woman. Spideag is a name applied to the nightingale, the robin-redbreast, and other slenderly and beautifully formed birds. SPILL. — A thin shaving of wood, or a slight roll of paper, for procuring a light. fi&aelic— Spealt, a splinter. SPIN. — To draw out the wool, cotton, or silk from the distaff, and twist it into threads; to form a web, by draw- ing out threads, as a spider does from its own substance. Etymologists finding the German word spinnen, and similar words in lang-uajjes derived from or related to the Teutonic, have been contented with this root, and have sought no further. Mr. Wedgwood refers from " spin " to " spindle," and under the latter word says;— The thread was fastened in a, slit at the upper end of the spindle, and at the other end was a whorl or round weight for keeping up the circular movement. Henee the ap- plication of the name to any axU of revolu- tion. In another point of view it was taken v.s the type of anything long and slender as 3 I 426 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY spindle-shanks . . . The radical meaning of the word is simply a splinter, and the act of spinning seems to take its name from being performed by a spindle, instead of vice versa. A reference to Gaelic will show that spindel was formed from " spin" and that the true idea of the English "spin" and German spinnen is that of pulling out ; and lies in the CSracItC. — Spion, draw out, pull, pluck, tear away; spionacli, spionadh, pulling, plucking; spionadair, one who pulls or plucks; a spinner. From this primary root comes spionna, strength (the strength of the web formed of the threads that have been drawn out ; that which has been "spun "). Dr. Armstrong in his Gaelic Dictio- nary cites a poem in which this word recurs four times. Spion an eidheann o craobh, Spion an iolair o ciar-chreich, Spion an leanabh a mhathair ghaoil, Ach na spion o m' ghaol mise ! which he thus translates : — Pull or tear the ivy from its tree Pall or tear the eagle from its prey, Tear the infant from its mother dear, But tear not me from my love. The idea of a " spindle " cannot be associated with the word in any of these senses. The " spindle " was but the instrument used in " spinning " or pulling out the threads; and the "spinning" wheel afterwards adopted in the progress of domestic manufacture, superadded in the course of time the idea of revolution or rotatory motion, as in the phrase " to spin round," or in the word " spinning-top." SPIRITUOUS LIQUOR, ALCO- HOL. — Spirit produced from the distillation of grains or fruits. It is certain that we owe the discovery and the name of Alcohol to an Arabian tliemist. But several of the scientific achievements of the learned Moors are plausibly conjectured to have been known, not only to the Greeks, but to the priests of Egypt. — All the Year Round. What we drink. Oct, 23, 1875. Arabic, al kohl, a powder of antimony to paint the eyes with. The name was after- wards applied, on account of the fineness of this powder, to highly rectified spirits ; a signification unknown in Arabia. — Web- stee. Arabic, al, the ; kohl, impalpable powder ; hence anything brought to extreme tenuity. Latham. L'article arabe al, le, etant mis a part, on est en doute sur l'etymologie du reste. Les uns tirent cohol de qochl, poudre tres-fine, de qulical enduire d'une poudre fine, d'un collyre ; les autres de kaly, rotir, griller. — Litise. The connexion between a fine powder and a fine spirit is not obvious. Wine was known in the very earliest times — witness the story of Noah and the traditions of Dionysus or Bacchus. It is most likely that spirits, distilled from wine, were of a contemporary period, and by no means so recent as Arabian civilization. But if the word "alcohol" be Arabic either for "the spirit" or "essence," or for a fine powder as asserted, it is none the less remarkable that the word resolves itself into two words much more ancient than the Arabic the C&aellC. — 01, a drink; to drink; coilchean, liquid flowing from an orifice ; coileach, a rill, or small stream, the worm of a still. SPITE. — Petty malice or vindictive- ness. i&aelic. — Spiod, malice, cruelty. SPLASH. — To scatter water, mire, or other liquid clumsily or wilfully. Splash, to daub with dirt in great quanti- ties ; from the Swedish plaska. They both have an affinity with plash. — Johnson. The sound of dashing water is represented by the syllables plad, plat, plash, splash. — ■ Wedgwood. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 427 (SJaell'c. — Splaidse, to fall with a noise, to squash. SPLIT. — To cleave longitudinally. Splinter. — A small fragment of wood cleft or cut from the block. Dutch, splitten ; German, splissen ; Old German, splizen. — Chambees. dJaeltC. — Spealt, a splinter; spealtan, a little splinter, a spill; spealtair, a cleaver, a " splitter." SPLURGE (American). — A sensation; to make a splurge by ostentation and extravagance. Vulgar English, " to cut a dash." GSrac lit. — Spliug, a bubble ; the com- motion and bubbles caused in the water by the dropping of a stone. SPLUTTER.— To do anything con- fusedly, or with undue noise or irregu- larity. One " splutters " who speaks with his mouth full ; — a pen " splut- ters " when it catches at an impedi- ment on the paper and scatters the ink otherwise than in the formation of the letters. Richardson and Webster trace the word to split, with which, however, it has no affinity. ffiafllC. — Splint, to gush out sudden- ly as liquor from a vessel when broken. SPOIL. — To lay waste, to plunder. Spoils. — Plunder taken from an enemy. Despoil. — To plunder, to rob. Prom the French despouiller ; Latin, spoliare, to take the spoil or plunder. In the sense of waste, make useless, ruin, the word is a hroad pronunciation of spill, to shed liquids, and thence to waste them. — Wedg- wood. Literally that which is stripped off, that which is taken hy force; plunder, pillage, robbery ; Latin, spolium, akin to the Greek 3 I (tkvKov, in plural a-Kv\a, arms stripped off an enemy, from crxuXXo, to skin, to flay. — Chambers. (ffirarltc. — Spiol, to pluck, to snatch away, to take away ; spiolaoh, taking away by force ; spioladair, one that snatches, or plucks, or takes away by force; a spoiler. The Gaelic word has lost somewhat of its original force, and means not only to pull or snatch violently, but to nibble, as cattle do the grass, and to pick with the fingers ; but the sense remains the same, though modified. SPOKE (Slang).— "Put a spoke in the wheel of any one," i. e. to hinder, obstruct or do him a damage. Spoke, literally a spike or splinter; one of the bars from the nave to the rim of a wheel. — Chambees. The slang word " spoke," in the sense of obstructing, or doing a malici- ous act, is not from this root, for to put a " spoke " in a wheel is to mead a wheel if broken. C&aellC- — Spog, to seize upon with the claw, or the strong hand, in order to obstruct or hinder; spogadh, the act of seizing violently for the purpose of obstruction. SPOLT (Colloquial).— A hard, heavy blow. ffiadtc. — Spblt, slaughter, batter; to hack, to hew down with heavy strokes ; spoltadh, slashing, slaying. SPONDULIX (American Slang).— Money, plunder; a term of affection for gold or silver coin. ©nellC. — Spuinn, spoil, booty, plun- der ; dileach, beloved ; duileach, a term of affection for a girl. SPORT. — Play, amusement, pastime. % 428 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY From the Italian disporto, or the French importer, to pass time. — Gazophylaoium Anglicanum. Spott, a make-game. Icelandic. — Johnson. Gaelic, spors ; Old French, desport. — Worcester. ffiatllC. — Spors, diversion, sport, play, merriment j sporsach, sporting, sportive, fond of sport, playful, causing 1 sport or diversion. The Icelandic spott, cited by Johnson, and the Saxon and German spott, signify scorn, mockery, derision, and are always used in a disagreeable sense, and do not convey the Gaelic and English idea of innocent diversion. SPOT. — A place, a locality; also, a mark, a blemish. Spotte, Danish; spotte, Flemish. — John- son. Spot. English patter represents the rattling sound of rain-drops or hail; spatter, sputter, the scattering abroad of drops of liquid or mud. Dutch spatten, bespatten, to bespatten or splash ; spat, a drop of what is splashed, or the spot or mark which it leaves. — Wedgwood. dSfHtliC. — Spot, a place, a mark, a blemish; gun spot, without spot, spot- less, unstained; spotach, spotted, spec- kled ; air an spot, on the spot, " sur-le- champ," immediately. SPOUSE.— A husband or wife. Espouse. — To accept in wedlock, to marry. French, epoux, epouse, eponser ; Italian, sposo, sposa. Latin, spondeo, sponsum, to engage in marriage. — Chambers. fi&aeltC. — Pos, to wed, to marry; posad/i, marriage ; posackail, marriage- able, nubile. SPOUT.— The pipe or mouth of a vessel containing liquids. Sputter. — To sound like liquid issuing from a " spout." From the Dutch spuyt — Johnson. Norse, sputra, to keep spitting,. to sputter, to spirt ; Dutch, spuyten, to spit, to spout. From signifying a gush of water, spout is applied to the pipe or mouth whence the water is ejected. — Wedgwood. fiBraeltt. — Sput, a spout; a small cas- cade ; a downpour of rain ; (used con- temptuously) a bad, weak drink; slip- slop; sputadh, a cascade; sputachan, a squirt, a syringe. SPEACK. — Quick, alert, active, lively. Pronounced sprag by Sir Hugh Evans in the Jiferry Wives of Windsor. — Nares. ffiacItC. — Sprachadh, strength, exer- tion, sprightliness ; spracail, active, lively; spracalachd, activity. SPEACKLE (Lowland Scotch).— To make way by sheer strength and exertion. So far I sprachled up the brae, I dinner'd wi' a lord. Burns. (SSaeltC. — Spracail, strong, energetic. SPRAY.— A little twig or shoot on the branch of a tree. Of the same race with spirt and sprout. — Johnson. Kather of the same race with sprig. — Todd. Perhaps from spread. — Richardson. The word spray is used in two senses ; scattered drops of water dashed into the air, and twigs or shoots of trees. The idea from whence both significations are developed is that of bursting open, springing forth, scat- tering abroad. — Wedgwood. "Spray" and "sprig" were originally the same word, and have their root in the GJaflt'C. — SpreigJi, to seattei-, to burst open ; spraig/i, idem. SPRAY. — The drops of water scattered by the wind from the tops of the waves in stormy weather. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 429 int-stoup, An' surely I'll be mine. Bubns, Auld Lang Syne. wrinkled, lined or furrowed with age. Literally, a stroke. — Chambebs. Piatt Deutsch, streke; Danish, streg, a streak, stroke, stripe, dash, line. — Wedgwood. The derivation of " streak " from " strike " is satisfactory to all who acknowledge no English roots for com- mon words but such as are Saxon, Anglo- Saxon, Latin, or Norman French; but there is another derivation, in which the idea of a blow, or a stroke of force, has no existence. The (SSaeltC. — Strioch, a line. According to this etymology a man is not " struck " or "stricken" with years — for a "stroke" is sudden and violent, and age comes gradually — but lined or furrowed or wrinkled with years. STREAM. — A running or. flowing water, that is rippled, wrinkled, or cast into irregularity of surface by the act of movement or of the wind. The commonly accepted root for this word has been the German strom, which is identical in meaning with the English. Irish, sreamh, a stream, a spring ; sream- haire, to flow. Sanscrit, sru, to flow. — Wedgwood. (SadtC. — Sream (pronounced stream), wrinkled, corrugated, rippled; sruth, (stru), current, stream, tide ; sruthach, (stru-ach), streaming, flowing ; sruthan, {stru-aii), a rivulet, a rill, a small stream ; struthail, to rinse with water, to sprinkle; abounding in streims or rivulets. 440 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY STREAMER. — A long narrow flag or ensign. All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd, The streamers waving in the wind. Gay, Black Eyed Susan. This word is generally derived from streaming or flowing water, the flag seeming to flow upon the air. Possibly this is but a simile derived from the stream-like motion of a long flag when the wind blows. (Gaelic. — Striam, a long shred; striamalacA, anything unduly long. STREEL.— To trail, as a long dress upon the ground. There is one word in common use in Ire- land, street. It is not in Webster nor in the Slang Dictionary, although its derivation, perhaps, from the Latin stratum, or the same root as the English strew, may be plain enough. It signifies generally to drag along the ground in a careless manner, as the following quotations of Dublin slang will show : — " He streeled his coat all over the fair, but could get no one to tread on it." " She is a dirty sthreel " (i. e. careless in her dress). " And she went along streeling her dirty gownd in the gutter behind her." Notes and Queries, Aug 8, 1874. ([Bfaflic. — Srol, sroil, stroil, a banner, an ensign, anything silky or loose that floats or flutters in the wind, any flowing part of a lady's dress ; strolaeh, flowing or trailing as the skirts of a lady's dress, or as her ribbons or other finery. See Stroll. STREW.— To scatter profusely. (Ger- man, streuen). To scatter loosely, to spread. Latin, sterna; Greek, o-rputvw\>.i ; Sanscrit, stri. — Cham- bees and others. (ISt&t lie. — StruidA, squander, dissipate; spend lavishly. STRIKE. — To surrender, to yield, to submit ; " strike the flag," lower the flag; "strike work," cease from working ; " strike under," to submit ; This word is evidently from another root than " strike," to give a blow, a word of a totally different meaning, represented in Gaelic by buail. ffiaelt'c. — StriocAd, ; yield, submit, give up ; striocAdAadA, yielding, submissive; striocAdail, submissive. STRIKE.— To aim, deal, or deliver a blow. Stroke. — A blow. German, slreiehen, Dutch strijhen, to take the course of a stroke, to move rapidl3' along a surface. The radical syllable is applied to the sound of tearing, in Gaelic srac, tear, rend, rob, spoil ; Italian, stracciare, to tear. — "Wedgwood. ffiaelic. — Strac, to strike, also to measure ; the English phrase, " strike a balance;" stracadA, striking ; srae (also pronounced strae), to tear, to rend. STROLL. — To wander leisurely without particular purpose. Contracted from straggle — BlCHABDSON. Supposed to be from roll. — Ash. Swiss, strielen, strolen, strolchen, to rove about, &c. The term seems to be a metaphor from the flow of water, as we speak of people streaming about, wandering about without definite aim. — Wedgwood. The German or Saxon for " stroll " is Aerum wandem, or Aerum geAen, to wander or go about or around. Failing the German, there is no need to travel to Switzerland for the root of this word. ffiaellC. — Srol, a banner, an ensign, a ribbon ; to flutter, to wave idly in the wind; (pronounced strol, as sratA is pronounced strati, and sron, strone), a flowing ribband, a streamer; srolacA, flowing or streaming like a ribband, or banner. See Streel. STRUMPET.-A woman of bad life; a street-walker. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 44,1 Latin, stuprum, concubinage ; Irish, strio- pachas, fornication ; striobuid, a prostitute. Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Stramp, to tramp, to walk, to tread, to pace; strampach, treading, pacing, walking the streets ; strampair, a tramper, a walker. STUFF.— Substance, household stuff, household goods. "There's stuff in him," i. e. he has character and in- telligence. " Worsted stuffs," wool- len fabrics ; French, etoffe, formerly ■esfoffe, vulgarly anything good to eat or drink is said to be "good stuff." The word is a softening to avoid the guttural of the ©raelic. — Stugh, a thing, substance; droch stugh, bad staff. STUNTED.— Prevented or impeded in the act of growth, dwarfed. Stunt is the past participle of the Anglo- Saxon stintan, to stop.— Hobne Tooke. Old Norse, stuttr, short; stytta, to cut ■short. OH Swedish, stunt, docked, cut short ; stunten, to shorten. The fundamental mean- ing of the word is » short projection, from slutzen, to knack, to strike against, to start. — Wedgwood. (HJaeltC. — Slaon, awry or askew; •staonie, turned awry, bent, deprived of growth, growing in a wrong direction ; Maonachadh, restraint, the act of bending awry. See Stint. STURABIN (Slang).— A prison. ©afll'c, — Bturr, a rock; slur rag, a pinnacle, a high tower; s-turragach, pinnacled, having towers like a French prison; abhnin, water; whence sturrabin, a rock in the water, inaccessible. STURDY (French, etourdi).—k pro- vincial expression for wrongheaded- ness, or for vertigo, stupefaction, obstinacy. 4jaelic, stuircL, stuirdean, vertigo; a dis- ease in sheep ; drunkenness. Italian, stordire, to make dizzy or giddy in the head. — Wedg- wood. (jRaelic. — Stuird, vertigo in sheep; stuirt, sulkiness, obstinacy, pride; stuirteil, sullen, morose, supercilious, obstinate ; stuirtealeachd, obstinacy, haughtiness, wrongheadedness. STUTTER, Stammer.— To speak with a nervous difficulty in pronouncing the words, or with a constant impedi- ment. German, stottern, from the sound. — Cham- bees. ffiacltc. — Slad, a hindrance, an im- pediment; stadach, stopping, hesitating, stammering; sladac/id, a hindrance. SUAVITY. — Gentleness of manner. Suave (French). CJaeliC. — Soimh, (soiv), quiet, peace- able, good-natured; soimheagan, a good- natured, affable person. SUCK. — To imbibe from the breast ; to swallow a sweet substance as it melts in the mouth and without mastication. S ucculent. — Juicy. Suckling. — An infant at the breast. Suction. — The act of sucking. Sugak. — The expressed and crystal- lized juice of the cane that yields it abundantly, thence called the " sugar-cane." Sugar is also ob- tained from the beet-root, the parsnip, the maple, and other vegetables. Swig (Colloquial). — To drink or im- bibe copiously; — a "swig of beer," i. e. a large draught of beer. All these words have a common origin in the Gaelic verbs sng, to suck, and sugh, to drain or drink, and the 3 1 4-4-2 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY substantive stiff I, juice, sap, that which may be sucked in or drank. The fol- lowing are among the many derivatives from this root. ©raeltC— Stiff, to suck; sugack, a suckling, one that sucks ; also, cheerful, pleasant; sugadh, suction; sugag, a little drink; sughach, sugan, juicy, sappy, suc- culent; sugkadh, drying up, or drink- ing up ; sughmJior, sughail, juicy, sappy, abounding in moisture; sughmhorachd, juiciness, suceulency, and metaphorically richness of mind and intelligence ; suigh (suig), to suck in, to imbibe greedily. The earliest English philologists never attempted to trace the word " sugar " further back than to the French sucre and the Latin saceharum, but Mr. "Wedgwood and Mr. Max Miiller have not been satisfied with these derivations. Mr. Wedgwood refers to the Arabian sukkar and the Sanscrit sharkara. Mr. Max Miiller asks, "Who does not imagine that he hears something sweet in the French sucre, sucre? Yet ' sugar ' came from India, and is there called sarkhara which is anything but sweet sounding/' Neither of these writers have commented upon the affinity between " suck/' and " sugar," which the Gaelic displays. Mr. Wedgwood though he has in many instances shown a knowledge of the Keltic tongues, has overlooked the Gaelic in this instance, and derived "suck" and its synonyms in the various lan- guages of Europe " from an imitation of the sound." Worcester refers " suck" to the Gaelic suigh, but does not connect it with " sugar " or " suceulency." SUDDEN. — Very quick, or unex- pected. Auo-lo-Saxon, soden ; Latin, subitaneus, subitus ; subeo, to come or go under, to come upon secretly; from sub, under, and eo, to go. Old French, soubdain; French, sou- dain. — Woecestee. ffiaclic. — So dheanta, quickly or easily done ; sodradh, quick or rapid motion ; sodan as sudden expression of joy, or blithesomeness. SUDS.—" To be in the suds," to be in a condition or state of distress or despondency. The Lord Coke is left in the suds. — Letter dated 1617. Now land is sold, and money gone in goods, He calls out, Andrew, I am in the suds. Good Names and Bad Names, 1622. Nabes. (JRaeltC — Saod, state, condition, whe- ther good or bad; saodach, in con- dition. SUET.— The solid internal fat of an animal. An old French word ; a hard fat, particu- larly about the kidneys. — Johnson. French, suif; Old French, suie ; Latin, sebum, fat. — Chambebs. Old French, sieu; how or when the ter- mination et was added, does not appear. — — Wedgwood. ©aeltC. — Suit, suiit, fat, fertile ; sult-mhor, fertility, the fatness of the land. SULKY.— In bad humour. Anglo-Saxon, asealcan, languescere, flac- cescere, torpere; asolcen, remissus, &c. — Lye, quoted by Wedgioood. Bavarian, selchen, to dry, as hams, sau- sages, &c. — Wedgwood. Anglo-Saxon, solcen, slow, or perhaps sulty, old French, soltif, sullen, solitary. — Cham- bees. (3Jart!C. — Suil, the eye ; ciar, dusky, gloomy, stern, suil-ciar, an angry, frowning, stern, or gloomy eye. SUMMER.— The warm season. German, sommer ; Old Norse, sumar ; Gaelic, samhradh. As winter and wind are OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 443 connected, so we should expect summer and sun to be, but the connexion has not been satisfactorily traced.— Wedgwood. Gaelic, samKradh; according to Garnett, from Irish (Gaelic) samh ; the Sanscrit root sam, mild, gentle ; and so, the mild or genial season. — Chambers. In Ireland the first day of May is eele- ' brated with great rejoicings (and songs) and .... The burden of their songs tending to the bringing home of the summer, a Saxon word which the English now owns, and which is derived from the ancient Pelasgic word samrha, from which the Saxons took it. — Paesons, The Remains of Japhet, 1787. <2i*aelic. — Samhradh, summer. The words samh and saimh in Gaelic enter into numberless combinations. The primary idea attached to the root is peace, quietness, stillness, luxurious ease, softness, mildness. The Gaelic samh- radh, summer, is compounded of this word and trath, season, in the aspirated form thrath, the soft or pleasant season. The Gaelic for winter is geamhradh, probably from geim, geamh or gamh, to bellow, and trath or thrath, i.e. the sea- son of rough or tempestuous winds or storms. SUPPER.— The evening meal. From the French, souper, a meal at which soup formed the principal dish. — -Wbdq wood. Anglo-Saxon, supan, to sup. — WuECEsteb. Supper, from sup, to take into the mouth as a liquid — to sip. Anglo-Saxon, supan j Icelandic, supa ; German, saufen, to drink, from the sound. — Chambees. The name of the cheerful evening meal, at which' fruits were served and not soup, as Mr. Wedgwood supposes, is traceable to the ffiaeltc. — Suhh, a. berry; swbhach, merry, cheerful; subhachas, mirth, cheerfulness. SUPPLE.— Pliant, flexible, easy to bend. French, souple, Breton, soubla, to bend down ; Gaelic, subailt, probably from the 3 L Latin supplex, bending the knees.— Cham- bers. (fijJaeltC. — Subailt, supple, pliant, flexible ; sublaioh, to make supple ; sublaichte, made flexible. SURE.— Safe, certain, generally derived from the French stir, and the Latin securus, but traceable to the <2*aeltC. — Sior {shbr), long continued,- lasting, perpetual, certain to endure. SURLY. — Ill-tempered, angry, sullen, showing the teeth like an offended dog or other animal. Philologists usually derive this word from "sour,-" "of a sour temper/' Mr. Wedgwood thinks the derivation is' from " sir," " sir-like," arrogant, as a master. But " sir-like " might mean lordly, noble, majestic, without impu- tation of ill-nature or even of arrogance. It seems to be a softening and modi- fication of the t33faeltc. — Searr fhiaclach {fh silent), having sharp or long teeth, from searr, sharp and fiacal, tooth ; searr in Gaelic, signifies not only long and sharp, but awry, across, distorted, as in searr sh'ml, a squint eye ; and searr shhdleach, squinting. SWAB. — Nautical term for scrubbing and cleaning the deck of a ship. Swedish, swabb ; Norwegian, svabba, to splash water. — (Jhambees. fiBraeltC. — Sguab, to brush, to scrub, to clean; sguabadh, cleaningj brushing, scrubbing. See Sweep. SWAG (Slang).— Plunder, booty. (SWellC. — Subhach, sugach, happy, joyous; sug, suck, imbibe ; stiff h, juice; sugadhj draining or drinking up. 2 444 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY SWAP, Swop (Colloquial).— To ex- change, barter. A low word (no derivation attempted). — Woecesteb. Grose says this is Irish cant ; but the term is now included in most dictionaries as an allowed vulgarism. — Slang Dictionary. Irish cant, to exchange. — Gbose. <25ra$ItC. — Stcaip, to exchange, to bar- ter, also a faint or distant resemblance of one thing to another ; suapeacA, fond of bartering or exchanging. SWAT (American Slang). — A knock, a blow, a hard rub. Tell me that again, and I'll swat you over the mug. — Baetlett. l&aclic. — Snath, to rub ; suathadh, rubbing ; a mode of thrashing barley. SWEEP. — To clean with a broom or besom. Old Norse, sopa, to sweep, to wipe ; sopr, a besom ; Swedish, sopa, to sweep, also a clout, a duster. Gaelic, sguab, to sweep ; Welsh, ysgub,&a. — Wedgwood. tfJaeltC. — Sguab, a brush, a besom. SWEETHEART.— A term of endear- ment applied to a lover by either sex. The word has lost much of its ancient popularity, and is seldom used in what is called " good society.'" It is generally supposed to be a compound of the two words, " sweet " and " heart " though if this were really the origin, we might expect to find a similar compound in the Teutonic languages. But no such compound exists in German, Dutch, Flemish, or Danish. Were the word translated into French doux ccettr or cosur doux, no Frenchman would understand the meaning. But although the ety- mology seems plausible if not palpable, it is not improbable that the word is an English corruption and softer rendering of the (SSaeltC. — Suire {sweer-e), a maid, a nymph (see Siren, Mythology); suiridhe, courtship, wooing, making love; suirid- keach, a lover, a wooer; suiridheachd, courtship. This last word, difficult of pronunciation by a people in whose lan- guage there are no gutturals, may have been the true Keltic root of the endear- ing English word which Shakspeare used, and which is still colloquially cur- rent, though little used in literature. SWELL (Slang) . — An important per- son, a finely dressed person, anything very fine and showy, as "a swell carriage/' a " swell house," or as the ladies sometimes say "a swell bonnet." " Swell " also means dis- tinguished, as "a swell author," " a swell doctor." The word is modern and does not appear in Grose. Hctten's Slang Dictionary (1864) contains the word, but makes no attempt to trace the etymo- logy. It may be derived from the ordinary English " swell," to expand, to grow large, — the German schwetten ; but the slang word does not express the idea of bulk. GVaeltC. — Sughail (g/t silent), sub- stantial, solid; juicy; strong, important. SWEVEN (Old English) .—Sleep, (and sometimes) a dream. Swoon. — A sudden sleep or fainting away. I dreamt in my sweven on Thursday eve, In my bed whereon I lay. Percy's Meliaues, Sir Adlingar. GUaellC. — Suain, sleep ; suaineack, sleepy. SWINDLE.— To cheat and defraud by false pretences. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 445 This word is usually derived from the German schwindel, vertigo, dizziness, or swimming in the head, and schwin- deln, to turn round very rapidly, a motion that if lo'ng continued produces dizziness. The English " swindle " is a comparatively modern word, and is not included in the Dictionaries of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and appears to have been wholly un- known to Bailey, Ash, Johnson, and all the lexicographers of that period. But English, has borrowed nothing from German since the Saxon conquest, so that it is not likely that this particular word is from a German source. The Slang Dictionary (1874) says the word " was used by the low Londoners against the German Jews who set up in London about the year 1762, also by our soldiers in the German war about the same time.'" Without asserting that the commonly received etymology is erroneous, it may be affirmed that modern slang words were all originally Keltic. (SJaeltC. — Suain, a deep sleep ; suain- each, narcotic; dealbh, an image, and also as a verb, to plot or contrive, whence suain-dealhh, to contrive, to plot, to put a person to sleep or off bis guard in order to cheat him. SWIG (Vulgar and Colloquial).— A hearty drink. Swizzle. — Small beer. To drink greedily, or by large draughts. Icelandic, swirga. — Woecbstbe. Swig, or swidge, water or beer spilt on the floor or table, &c. If the roof or a barrel leaks, the floor will be all of a swidge. Swidge, a puddle ; to swiggle, to shake liquor in an enclosed vessel. — Wedgwood. CBraEltC. — Sugh, juice, moisture ; sug- adh, the act of drinking up greedily; suigh, to drink up, to suck t up ; to dry up. See Suck. SWIPES. — A vulgar word for very weak or small beer. ffiaeltC. — Suaip, a faint resemblance; apparently first used to describe inferior liquor from its faint resemblance to a superior beverage. SWITCH.— A small flexible twig, a whipcord; to beat with a twig, or slash with a whip. Said to be a form of twig, but derived by Mr. Wedgwood from the swishing sound which the blow makes in the air. ©aeltC. — Suist, to thresh, beat, thump ; suist, a flail ; snistear, a thresher, a wielder of the flail; suist- earaehd, threshing of grain. SWOON.— To faint away, to fall into an insensible sleep. Prom the Anglo-Saxon, swinden, and the Belgic, swinden, to be in a fit. The judicious Dr. T. H. draws it from the Anglo-Saxon, $weyn,%. dream, an ecstasie. — Gazophylacium Anglicanum. Anglo-Saxon, suanan, to swoon ; Old Ger- man, swindan, to become weak, to faint, to fail. — Chambees. This word was formerly written swough, swowe, swown. Swon is the past participle of swigan, stupere, whose regular past tense is swog or swoug, written by Chaucer, swough and swowe s adding to which the participial termination en, we have swowen. — Richabd- son's Critical Examination of Dr. John- son's Dictionary. A swoon is a failure of the active principle. Anglo-Saxon, swindan, to consume, languish, vanish. The idea of wasting or consuming is often expressed by the figure of spilling liquids, as in squander, which is a nasalized form of squatter. In the same way the German verschwenden, to squander, dissi- pate, waste, must be regarded as a nasalized form of the English equivalent — to swatter, to splash or spill. — Wedgwood. a>, to smoke, to consume in a slow fire ; Latin, tumulus; Italian, tomba ; French, tombeau. — Woeoestee. All these words, though differing so much in their application, are traceable to the one primitive root in the CRadtC. — Tom, ahill ; a protuberance; an elevation above the surface ; tomad, bulk, quantity; toman, a small hill; tomultjhuYk, size; tomultach, bulky, large. TOM-FOOL (Slang).— A great fool ; why the fool should be called Tom rather than Jack, Bob, Bill, &c, is not very apparent. Perhaps the origin is the ©ra?ltc. — Tomad, size, bulk, dimen- sion ; tomadaeh, bulky, big. TOMMY (Slang). — Bread, truck, barter. Tommy-shop. — A shop where wages are paid in goods. Tommy-master. — One who pays his workmen partly in money, and partly in goods. Generally a penny roll. Sometimes applied by workmen to the supply of food which they can-y in a handkerchief as their daily al- lowance. — Slang Dictionary. CJraeltC. — Tomad, bulk, quantity ; tomadh, a lump; tomadhach, bulky, lumpy. TOMMY-DODD (Slang).— A game played at public-houses to decide which of a company shall pay for beer for the rest. It was the custom in public-houses when a party wished to treat one another, to go " Tommy Dodd " to see which should pay. His (the counsel's) idea was that the odd man each time went out, until the last, who had to pay for all. — Pall Mall Gazette, March 1,1876. A phrase in frequent use in music-halls. Origin not known. — Slang Dictionary. OP THE ENGLCSH LANGUAGE. 469 C&afllC. — Tomadh, bulk, quantity ; a lump ; the aggregate ; rojia,ruogia ; German rugen, to accuse ; i. e. to bring an offence to the notice of the authorities. — Wedgwood. (Ufa flic. — Brath, inform against, ac- cuse, betray. BIGOT. — An obstinate holder of an opinion ; one intolerant of unbelief or opposition. Bigotry. — Obstinate and unreasoning tenacity of opinion. Of uncertain and disputed etymology. . . . From the English phrase by God, uttered as an oath by Bollo, Duke of Normandy, when he refused to kiss the foot of his father-in- law, Charles the Foolish (Camden). Cot- grave says, " Bigot, an old Norman word, signifying as de par Dieu, or our for God's sake, made good French, and signifying an hypocrite, or one that seemeth much . more holy than he is ; also a scrupulous or super- stitious fellow." A corruption of Visigoth, the word vigos occurring in an old French romance, cited by Roquefort, in the sense of a barbarous people (Malone). Low Latin, begutta, one of the appellations of the nuns called beguines (Todd). Italian, bigotti, a religious fraternity still existing in Tuscany (Ogilvie). Spanish, bigote, a whisker ; hombre de bigote, a man of spirit ; a person unrea- sonably devoted to some party, denomination, or creed ; a blind zealot. — Woecesteb. The syllable " bi " has led philologists into tracks wherein they have failed to discover the etymon of "bigot." In the (BiaeliC. — Baotk (pronounced as French beu) signifies profane, wild, wicked, stupid, &e. This word in con- junction with creidimh, belief, becomes baolh-creidimh, superstition, a wild, wicked belief; and with radh, a saying, 518 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY becomes baoth-radh, profane discourse. In conjunction with guidhe, a curse, an imprecation, we have baotk-guidhe, a profane, a wicked imprecation, of which word bigot may possibly be a corruption ; in its primary signification one who in- dulged in profane and wicked curses. BLADE. — A leaf of gra:s. German, Matt. (UrarllC. — Blath, a bloom, a flower. BLOW (as the wind).— "The wind blows/' " blow the bellows ;" Low- land Scotch, "blaw," "Of a 5 the airts the wind can blaw/ 3 Anglo-Saxon blawan. — Woecesteb. <3*aeltC. — Blagh, to blow as the wind; blaghair, a blast, a loud wind ; meta- phorically, a loud-talking man, a blus- terer, a blower. A braggadocio in America is called a " blower." BLOW. — To bloom, to expand like the opening bud or blossom of a flower. German, bliithen, blossoms. Blossom. — A young or expanding flower. (Sadie — Blath (bla), bloom, blossom, flowers ; blathaich, to warm, to expand in the warmth. BORLEY.— A fishing-boat so called on the Eastern English coast. The boats range in size from the ten and twelve ton half-decked lugger, or borley, to the thirty and forty tonners of the Kentish and Essex harbours. — Daily Telegraph, March 9, 1877. (flJaellC. — Biorlinn, a boat, a fishin - boat. BOX HARRY (Slang).— This phrase is used to signify that a person suf- fering from the effects of intem- perance, is resolved to be more ab- stemious for a time, or to refrain altogether ; — in other words, to watch over himself with particular care. (jRaeltr. — BeacM, surety; aim; judg- ment; aire, heed, attention, watchful- ness; aireach, cautious, circumspect. BRATH or B rathe (Obsolete) .—Fierce, excessive. — H alliwell. Biiathely. — Fiercely, excessively. CSafltC. — Brat/i, a conflagration; a fierce flame. BRETH (Local English) .—Rage, fury. — Halliwell, Weight. ©radtC. — Breathas, frenzy, extreme fury. BRETWALDA.— A title assumed by some of the early kings of the Hep- tarchy, and supposed to signify " su- preme ruler." We find the Kentish king Ethelbert sub- scribing himself to a charter : " Ego Ethel- bertus, Rex Anglorum,'' in virtue apparently of his dignity as Bretwalde, or supreme monarch, which he held from about the year 589 till his death in 616.— Penny Cyclo- peBdia. Mr. Kemble totally rejects the idea that the Bretwalda was a king of kings, or lord paramount over the other sovereigns of the Heptarchy. The fanciful derivation Bret wealda, " wielder of the Britons," he also rejects. His more rational etymology is bryten, wide, and wealda, a ruler; a great far-reaching king or governor. — NichuLAS, Pedigree trf the English People. That this word was native British, and not Saxon or Danish, appears clearly from its import in the (BarltC. — Breii/i, judgment; breitli- eamh, an umpire; gallda (corrupted into walda), foreigners; whence the "Bretwalda" was the supreme arbiter when disputes arose among the fo- reigners, i. e. the invaders who overran and occupied some parts of the country. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 519 BRIDLE (Colloquial).— To hold up the head in surprise or anger ; generally applied to women. Until Mrs. Pipchin had done bridling and shaking her head.— Dickens, Dombey and Son. How the fool bridles ! — Beaumont and Fletcheb. To bridle up, to show pride or resentment by holding up the head. — Taller, quoted in Wobcesteb. ffiaelic. — Bridie, grieved. sad, offend- ed; bruid, grief, affliction. BRITTLE.— Apt or easy to break. Anglo-Saxon, brittan. — Johnson, Cham- bees, &e. OVaeXtC. — Bris, to break ; briste, broken ; bristeil, breakable, fragile. BULL. — The male of the bovine species ; Latin, taurus ; Gaelic, iarbh ; French, taureau; Spanish and Italian, toro. The name is supposed by some etymo- logists to be from the same root as " bellow," to roar. " Bellow," however, is from the Gaelic beul, a mouth, and the " bull " no more merits a name from that source than the cow, the horse, the tiger, or the lion. Perhaps the name has been suggested by the usefulness and beauty of the animal in a pastoral state of society, and may mean no other than the ©aeliC. — Buil, fine, handsome. BUMPTIOUS (Slang) .—Quarrelsome, boastful, noisily self-asserting. <2*aeltC. — Buamastair, buamasdair, one who talks boisterously; a vain boaster, a pompous fool; bhumasdair- eachd, vain boasting ; quarrelsomeness. BUNGLE.— To spoil a performance by CANOE (generally pronounced canoo) doing it in an ignorant and clumsy manner (see anie, p. 63). Icelandic, bongitn, rude art ; from Old Swedish banga, bunga, to strike. — Cham- bees. CSrcieltC. — Smack, clumsy ; bunacliail, in a clumsy manner. BUSTLE (also written Buskle, Wedg- wood). — To hurry or make a great stir. Latham queries the derivation, and makes no suggestion. ffiaellC. — Sustail, bustnil, puffing, blowing ; strife, discord ; busgaid, stre- pitus ; from bus, a mouth, puffing and blowing with the mouth. BUY. — To purchase, to acquire. Anglo-Saxon, bycgati; Gothic, bugjan. — Chambees. ©afll'c. — Suldhinn, to gain, to win ; to acquire. 0. CALCULATE.— To count, to reckon. "From calculus, a small stone, a counter used in casting accounts. — Wedgwood. ffiarltC. — Cailc, chalk, lime; a piece of chalk or lime ; to mark with chalk. CALUMNY.— A slander, a back- stroke, a false imputation ; erroneous- ly founded on a partially and im- perfectly understood or exaggerated truth. ©taeltC. — Cid-bheum (cul-reum), a back-stroke; cul-chainth, back-speech; cul-chai,neadh, back-biting, slandering, calumniating. 520- THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY — A small boat, so named from its resemblance to a nut-shell. Perhaps Greek Kawa, Latin eanna, a reed. " Pliny," says Richardson, "records of Indian reeds or canes that they are of such length, that between every joint they will yield suf- ficient to make boats." " The word canoe or cannoe," says Lemon, " is originally an In- dian word, and if so, all derivation from Greek and Latin ceases." — Wobcesteb. (SarllC. — Cno or cnu, a nut; these words are often pronounced cro or' cru by the Scottish Gael, but the Irish preserve the sound of n. Owen Con- nellan's Pract cat Irish Grammar gives the English pronunciation of cnu as Jcun-noo. CARACOLE (French).— The irregular movements of a proud, frisky, or half-tamed horse. Anglo-Saxon, eerran, to turn ; Gaelic, car, a twist ; carach, winding, turning. — Wedg- wood. dStlrtir. — Caradh, carachd, motion ; carach, whirling, twisting, turning, circling. CASHIER. — To dismiss a servant or inferior officer from his employment or office. To quash ; French, easier, to break. — Cot- GKAVB. Latin, cassus, empty, hollow, void; Italian, casso, made void. — Wedgwood. ©Jar ItC. — Caisg, pronounced caishg, to check, put an end to, restrain, dismiss. CASTRATE.— To emasculate, to de- prive of the power of procreation. Latin, castro ; probably from castus, to make clean or chaste. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltC. — Cath, caithe, seed; slruidh, to waste, to dissipate. CATAPULT.— An instrument of an- cient warfare, for the propulsion of stones or other missiles against an enemy. A mischievous toy with the same name has recently been introduced for the amusement of boys and the annoyance of other people. Latin, catapulta ; Greek, KaraiTe^Ttjs, from Kara, down, and 7raXXc», to throw. Professor Newman's " Kegal Rome," pp. 16, 17, 56, 57, and at 61 an interesting ex- ample is given of the Gaelic words cathtab- hail (pronounced as if katavall) , and meaning the battle sling, as the words whence the Latins got their catapulta. Taking away the ta, catapul remains, which is almost identical in pronunciation to the Gaelic cata- bhal (katavall). — Robebtsom's Gaelic Topo- graphy of Scotland. CSaeliC. — Cath, battle ; tabhul, a sling. CATH RAIL.— A Pictish work com- mencing near the Gala Water in the south of Scotland. CRafliC. — Cath, battle; triall, journey, i. e. the war path or war journey. CHAISE.— (French) A chair on which to sit down. (English) A small vehicle drawn by one horse. In the French and English sense "chaise" is that which is intended that one should sit down in. Chaise est une prononciation vicieuse de chaire. Chaire. Berry et Normandie, chaise, etc. ; du Latin cathedra, siege, du Grec Ka&rjSpa, dont le radical est le mSme que le Latin radical sed, sedere. — Littbe. ffiarlic. — Suidh, to sit; sios (shees), down, whence to sit down. CHARADE.— A kind of riddle. Prom the Norman charer, Langued*cin chara, to converse, seems to be derived charade, a kind of riddle by way of social amusement. — Wedgwood. ffiaeltc. — Gar, dark, mysterious; radh, a saying. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 521 CHARLATAN.— A mountebank; one who performed conjuring' tricks for the amusement of the public; — in modern parlance a false pretender of any kind. French, charlatan; Italian, ciarlatnne, from ciarlare, to tattle, to babble ; Spanish, charlar. cMrlar,to prattle, jabber,clack, chat. An imitative word, representing the inar- ticulate chattering or chirping of birds.-— Wedgwood. As conjurors and mountebanks to amuse the public must do something more than talk or babble, the derivation from the Italian ciarlare is scarcely satisfactory. One of the most ancient forms of street-conjuring and one that is still popular, was the playing of tricks with fire, the swallowing of flames and their ejection through the nostrils, and other apparently hazardous fami- liarities with the destructive forces of combustion by professional mountebanks, who called themselves and were properly called "Fire-eaters." It is probable that the true etymon is the ffiatlt'C. — Cearraiclie, dexterous; a dexterous player ; an adept in his art ; dexterity ; le, with ; teine, fire ; whence cearrach-le-teine, or "charlatan," one dexterous with fire. CHARM or Chirm.— Milton's " charm of earliest birds/' See ante, page 84. d&aelit. — Seirm (sherm), a musical noise, music, melody. IJetStan. — Shir las shirim, the Song of songs. — Times, Jan. 5, 1876. CHEER.— To gladden, to comfort. Cheerfulness. — The state of being in good spirits ; friendliness. Greek, \apa, joy; Italian, cera, cheer; Spanish, cara, the countenance. — Woe- CE8TEB. Kirk becomes " church " in English ; Icaff, "chaff;" kauffman, "chapman;" caritas, "charity," &c. "Cheer" fol- lows the same rule. ffiacliC. — Cairdeas, friendliness; cair- dich, to cheer up, to make friendly; cairdeach, kindly, pleasant; cheerful. UninttC. — Sir {sheer), cheer, solace, comfort ; siriaw, to cheer, to solace ; sirioldei, cheerfulness. CID. — A title given in Spanish poetry and romance — "El Cid campeador," to the national hero, Roderigo Diez, Conde de Bivar. Cid, seigneur. "Soyez desormais le Cid; qu'a. ce grand nom tout cede" (Corneille); de l'Arabe Seid, seigneur.- — Littbe. C&aeliC. — Ceud, the first. CLAGGER. — A Yorkshire word signi- fying a knock-down blow ; used at first in the sense of throwing a stone at a person, and afterwards to any heavy blow. Both Mr. Hallivvell and Mr. Wright in their Archaic Dic- tionaries call this a Northern word, and define it as " a well-timed re- mark," i.e. by metaphor, a knock- down argument or blow that conquers an antagonist. ffiaeltC. — Clach, a stone. CLAPPER DOGEON.— This cant, or beggar's slang, signifies according to Grose, "a beggar born." "Pal- liards," he adds, in explanation of another slang word, " are those whose fathers were clapper dogeons, and who themselves follow the same trade." The word has a curious resemblance in its fundamental idea to the modern " gutter children," or " street Arabs," and is traceable to the ©facltC, — Claiar, filth, mire, slush, 3 x 522 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY gutter dirt j clabarach, filthy, miry ; clabaracM, filth from the gutter, slime, nastiness ; doigh, manner, method ; doigJiean, manners, methods ; whence clabar doighean, a "clapper dogeon," one born to the manners and the filth of the gutter. CLERK. — A writer; also a priest in holy orders, — commonly pronounced dark. Clergy. — The priesthood. Clerical. — Pertaining to the priest- hood, or to the art of writing. One of the three orders of the Druidical priesthood, all held in almost equal honour, were the bards or harpers, and from these the Roman clericus and the English " clerk " in the sense of priest take their name. CRaeltC. — Clar, a harp ; clarach, pre- taining to a harp ; clarsair, clarsachair, a harper, a minstrel, a bard. CLEVER. — Dexterous, able ; well- informed and able to turn informa- tion to good account. A word of uncertain etymology. — John- son. Old English deliver, or Anglo-Saxon gleaw- ferth, sagacious, from gleaw, skilful, wise. Scottish, gleg. — Chambebs. Mr. Palmer supposes clever to have sprung from the old adjective deliver, used chiefly in the sense of nimble or alert, which was con- tracted into d'liver, and then pronounced as at present, having thus emerged from a merely provincial usage not earlier than 1684. . . . " If deliver be spoken quickly and the first syllable slurred in pronunciation, the resultant form d'liver or d'lever would inevitably tend to become clever, the combination dl being to most ears hardly distinguishable from gl or cl." He then adduces many similar omissions of a vowel and many changes of tl to el, dl to gl, tr to cr, &c. The weak point in this theory is that dl is readily confounded with gl but not with cl, while gl cl are usually, in modern English at least, consistently kept apart from one another.— Pall Mall Gazette, April 10, 1876. The word is probably derived from the notion of seizing, as Latin rapidus, from rapio. . . . The Scotch has cleih, clek, cleuch, clooh, identical with English clutch, to catch, snatch. One is said to be clench of his fingers who lifts a thing so cleverly that bystanders do not observe it (Jamieson). Now the Old English had diver, a claw, exactly corresponding with the Scotch cleik, whence perhaps the adjective clever, in the sense of catching,— Wedgwood. ffiaelic— Gle, very, sufliciently well, pretty well. This word, says Arm- strong, is prefixed to adjectives, giving them the force of the superlative degree, as gJe gheal, very white; gle mhaith, very good ; mor, great, excellent ; gle mhor, very good or excellent. As the letters c and g are pronounced with a scarcely perceptible difference, we have a very clear etymon in the Gaelic for the puzzling English word "clever," or gle mhor. A " clever " performance or exploit is a sufficiently excellent per- formance or exploit ; and this is unques- tionably the origin of the word. CLOUD. — A collection of vapour on the sky, a patch on the clear blue. This word has no root in the German wolke, a cloud, or in the French image, and cannot be traced to any con-. stituent of the English tongue except to the (gjaelt'c — Clud, a patch, a clout. CLUCK. — The noise made by poultry when eager or excited. (ffiadt'C. — Gloc, glog, the cluck of a hen. COB. — A rich man; a miser; a lump, a large piece ; a large cock of hay ; the stone of fruit. Cobby. — Brisk, lively. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 5*8 Cob-nut. — A large nut with plente- ous kernel. Cobber. — A great falsehood. CoJ-castle, a great prison, or any other building which overtops its neighbours. — Weight. " Cobbing country chaffers which make their bellies and their bagges their gods, and are called rich cobbes." — Nash's Lenten Stuffe, quoted in Wright. All these words presuppose size, abundance, or power. The root is the ffiaelic. — Cob, abundance, plenty. — See Copious, ante, page 104. COCK. — A male bird. French, coq. See ante, page 97. It is probable, as previously stated, that this word is derived from the French coq, and that coq is not from the same root as " cock," to stand erect, or turn up, as " a cocked hat," " a cock nose," &c, and that the root is to be sought in the OSafllC. — Coileach, a male bird ; coil- eacli fraoch, a moor cock, a heather cock ; coileach duhh, a black cock. The elision of the central I, reducing the word to one syllable, gives the possible etymon. COCKSURE (Vulgar).— Very sure, too sure. (3Va?ltC. — Coc, manifest. COLD-HARBOUR.— It is calculated that there are no less than fifty-four places in the British Isles known by this name ; spelled sometimes " Cole- harbour," " Cole-arbor," " Coal-har- bour," &c. The name is traceable to the dfcaelic. — Cut, back; ard, height; and mor, great; and aird-mkor, genitive of ard-mor, signifying a place at the 3 x " back of the great height or hill." This is the most probable derivation, but another offers itself in cuil, a corner, a receptacle, and arbhar (arvar), corn ; which suggests that these various villages were at one time known as granaries or store-houses for corn. COMPANION.— One associated with another in work or recreation ; a wife. See ante, page 102. Comrade. — One who is accustomed to associate and converse with another ; a talk-fellow. ffiarltC. — Cow.h (Latin, com), with, in association with ; bainionn, a woman; womanly ; radii, a discourse. COUNTRY.— The etymology of this word, as given at p. 107, should in- stead of cuan-treigh, be ffiaeltC. — Cuan-tralgh, the sea-shore. COVIN. — A legal term signifying collusion and confederacy to defraud. Covin, eovina, a deceitful compact between one or more to deceive or prejudice others. — Jacob's Law Dictionary. From the Latin conventum, an agreement. Low Latin, eovina ; Old French, covin, covin- ous, fraudulent, deceitful, dishonest. — Woe- CESTEE. And when they be eovyned They faynen for to make a pees. MS. Society of Antiquaries (Halliwell). In the case of Girdlestone versus the Brighton Aquarium, for opening on Sunday, the counsel for the defendants said he did not know what covin meant. — Daily Telegraph, April 30, 1877. CSraellC. — Comh bhann (co van), a league, a confederacy, a bond, a contract, an agreement, a compact ; bann, boinne, a bond, a will, an indenture. — See Covin, ante, page 109. COWARD.— One who fears to, fight, or to face a difficulty. See ante, page 108. Z 521 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY (BiacItC. — Cutliaich {cu-aic/i), foolish, mad ; arcl, eminent, high, great, chief ; whence cuaich-arcl, a " coward, '' a great fool. CRACKLING (Vulgar).— The skin of roasted pork ; so called because it cracks in the mouth when eaten. (SSaeltC. — Craiceam, the skin. CREEP.— To crawl; to move like a worm, snake, or other reptile; to move slowly ; to grow slowly upwards, like the ivy and other climbing plants. Anglo-Saxon, creopan; Dutch, kruipen; Swedish, krypa. — Woecestee. dVaclic. — Crub, crup, to crouch, to bend, to cringe, to creep. CREW. — The company of sailors that work a ship. See ante, p. 114. ffiaeltc. — Cro, a group of children ; a large family. CRINGE. — To stoop to a superior; to fawn ; to bend the knee ; meta- phorically, to sink one's self into small dimensions in presence of a real or supposed superior. From Anglo-Saxon crumb, crymMg, crook- ed. — Wedgwood. German, kriechen. — Woecestee. ©ffiellC. — Crion, to shrink, to become small ; to decay ; to repress growth ; erionach, a withered tree — a term of great personal reproach ; a cringer. CROAK. — The hoarse cry of the frog, the raven, the cormorant, and other birds. CttOAKER. — One who makes disagree- able complaints and habitually looks upon the worst side of things, a pessimist. Gothic, Icrulc ; Old French, croac. — Wedg- wood. ffiaeltC. — GrSc, to croak; grocadh, croaking; a hoarse sound ; a faint roar, CRUCHE (French).— A jug. Chuse. — A pitcher ; a lamp. Kruiche, Dutch, a small cup. — Johnson. ffiacltc. — Cruisgean, a pitcher, a jug. CRIB. — A child's cradle ; also in slang parlance a lodging of any kind. See ante, p. 114. (SEaeltC. — Craobli, criob/i, a tree. CRUDE. — Hard, stiff; unripe, im- mature. Latin, crudus, from Greek, Kfjvos, icy cold ; French, cru. — Woecestee. Latin, crudus, bloody, raw, unripe, unfeel- ing. . . . Breton, kriz, raw, cruel. — Wedg- wood. (BiacltC. — Cruaidh, hard, stiff, firm, rigid; unripe. CUDGEL.— A thick stick. See ante, p. 118. Dutch Tcodse, kudze, a club. The origin is probably a form like the Italian cozzare, to knock. — Wedgwood. ffiactic. — Cuigeal, a distaff. CUFF.— A blow with the hand. . Latham marks this with a note of interrogation, or inquiry. drafltC. — Caob, a clod, a lump. CULLION. — A term of contempt and opprobrium. C&aeltC. — Cuilean, a whelp. CURRY FAVOUR.— To ingratiate one's self with a superior, or to break down the ill-will of an opponent. The old dramatists (see Nares) have OP THE ENGUSH LANGUAGE. 525 " to curry favell," a light bay horse ; " but why/' asks Nares, " if the word is derived from the stable, should we not curry bayard, or any other co- loured favourite?" <3»afl!C. — Cnir, to turn; faobhar [faovar), the sharp edge of any cutting instrument ; whence to turn the sharp edge, to overcome the prejudices of one by whom we desire to profit, to in- gratiate one's self from an interested purpose ; to " curry favour." The word cuir, metamorphosed in this instance into " curry/' has multi- farious meanings in Gaelic, to put, to place, to incite, to turn, to persuade, to try; see examples in Macleod and Dewar's Dictionary. CUTTER.— "A cant word," says Nares, " for a swaggerer, bully, or sharper, derived from committing acts of vio- lence, like those ascribed to the Mo- hocks in Addison's time In Cowley's Cuiter of Coleman Street, a Captain Cutter is a town adventurer." Cutter, a swashbuckler, taillebras, fen- deur de naseaux. — Cotgbave. The "cutter," or swashbuckler, was one who not only threatened to slit noses, as Cotgrave has, but to rip people up, to disembowel or gut them; from the CRa t\\t. — Cut, to disembowel ; to gut fish ; cutadh, disembowelling. D. DAD, Daddy, Dadda. — Infantile names for a father. ©aeltC. — Taid, a father; Irish Gaelic, daid: ISDinu'c. — Tad, a father. SSreton or Himoric— Tdt. Sanscrit. — Tata. DEUCE (The).— The Devil. Dusius, a term applied by the Gauls to a demon. — Wobc esteb. Low Latin, dusius; Armenian, teus, a demon.— Chambebs. The Dus was known as a kind of goblin among the Frisians. — Wedgwood. A corruption of the CRaeKc. — Duis, gloom, heaviness, darkness ; duis-neul, a dark cloud ; a sad heavy countenance. DEWSKITCH (Slang).— A severe beating ; an awakener, a rouser. A good thrashing, perhaps from catching one's due. — Slang Dictionary. ©aeltC. — Buisich, duisg, to awake, to arouse. DINGLE.— A dell, a hollow on the side of a hill, sometimes called a " dene" or "den ;" as " Deep dene," in Surrey ; " Hawthorn den," near Edinburgh; the "dowie dens of Yarrow." A variety of dimble. And as the latter was derived from dib, expressing a blow with a pointed instrument, dingle stands in the same relation to dig, ding. The primary meaning then would be a dent, pit, hollow. — Wedgwood. dSrHtliC. — Linn, or dun, a hill ; (Kymric, din) ; glac, a pit, a hollow, a cavity, a valley ; whence dinn glac, An- glicized into " dingle," a pit or hollow in the hill. DIRECT.— Straight forward; to guide aright. Latin, dirigo, directus, from dis, used in- tensively, and rego, to lay straight ; Italian, dirigere ; Spanish, diriger ; French, diriger. WOBCESTEK. 526 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ffiarltC. — Direach, straight, perpen- dicular; dirlch, to straighten ; to ascend, to go up ; eiridh, eirigli, to arise, to ascend. DOLDRUMS (Slang and Colloquial). — Low spirits. See ante, p. 138. ffiarltC. — Dottrum, grief, vexation. DOMAIN. — A property in land; a landed possession. Domain and dominion must probably be explained from domus, Latin, dominus, a lord, the master of tbe house. — Wedgwood. ffiadtC. — Domhan, the world, the universe. DONZEL (Obsolete). — A young man. Prom the Italian donzello, a squire, a young man, a damosell, a bachelor. . . . The Captain in Philaster calls the citizens in insurrection with him " my dear donzels." — Naees. Donzel, a youth of good birth, but not knighted. — Halliwell. Donzelle, fille ou femme de distinction ; masculine doncel ou dancel, damoiseau. — Littee. <25rflelic. — Duine-uasal, a gentleman ; duine, a man. DRIECH (Lowland Scotch).— Slow, hard, laborious, painful. ffiaelt'C. — Briachadaick, stiffness, ob- stinacy ; driachan, slow, plodding, painful labour; driachaire, a plodder; a dribbler, a painfully slow person. DRUMBLE.— To be heavy; to go heavily about anything. See Drum- LY, ante. . "What, John, Robert, John! Go, take up these clothes here quxkly: where 's the cowl-staff? look ! how you drumble; carry them to the laundress in Datchet mead ; quickly, come." — Merry Wives of Windsor, Act iii. Sc. 3. Mr. Collier says " the meaning is evident," but he does not explain it. He adds, how- ever, " a drumble, in some parts of England, means a humble or humming bee ; and, in the North, drumbled ale is thick, disturbed ale." From further dialectic researches it might have been found that drumble is still used as a verb in the west and north of England, meaning to do anything in a pur- poseless or confused manner. It is probably of Scandinavian origin. The Prov. Swedish dromla answers exactly in meaning to our drumble (Rietz, Prov. Sw. Lex.). — Notes and Queries, March 25, 1876. CSacItC. — from, heavy. DUKE. — A title of nobility. See ante, p. 149. (BfafliC. — Tuaihach, a lord, a landed proprietor; tuathachd, lordship, pro- prietorship, sovereignty. E. EAGER.— Cold, sharp. An eager and a nipping air. — Shakspeaee. (ffifaellC. — Eigreadh, cold, frost ; eigreadhail, severely cold. EARSH.— Stubble; a stubble-field.— Halliwell. ©radic. — Uireas, weak, defective, in- sipid. Lowland Scotch, Wersh, a. v. EAVES-DROPPER, Eves-Dropper.— A listener, a spy ; — hitherto supposed to be derived from the eaves of a cottage, under which a spy stationed himself to peer in at the window, or hear what was said inside. ©racltr. — TJibhir, a quantity, a num- ber ; uibhireach, numerous ; druaip, lees, dross, sediment, drip ; druaipeir, a tippler who indulges in small but fre- quent drops ; whence " eaves-dropper," one who acquires information by a number of small drops or driblets. OV THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 527 EBBER. — This worl is described in llalliwett as meaning shallow. " Bishop Hall/' he says, " speaks of the ' ebber ' shore." He also cites from MS. Lincoln, "an ebber fule/' and from Cursu Mundi MS., Trin. Coll. Cam., "as she that was an ebber fol." ffiaeltC. — Edbair, slimy, muddy. Thus Bishop Hall's expression, " an ebber shore " would signify a muddy or slimy shore, and " an ebber fule " would be a bemuddled fool ; eabarach, slimy, sloppy. EDEL or Adel (German). — Noble, rich, of high birth. Ethel. — A woman's name. Athel (Old English). — Noble. Atheliste. — Most noble. Then Sir Arthur Atheliste of othere. Morte Arthur (Weight). In the earliest pastoral ages the noble or rich man was he who was possessed of much cattle, like Abraham and the patriarchs. The origin of the word is the (Badl'C. — Budal, cattle ; riches, trea- sure ; store of worldly goods. ENNUI (French ; recently adopted into English). — Weariness, listlessness, a slight disgust at the life of the moment. Mental lassitude or lan- gour produced either by depression of spirits, satiety of enjoyment, or over- excitement, and which leaves no re- lish for any mental pursuit or pleasure. Prom the root of annoy. — Chambers. The French from which " ennui " is borrowed has no word that more nearly approaches " annoy " than nuire, to hurt, and nuisible, hurtful, from whence the English " nuisance." Nuire, to hurt, is active, but " ennui " is a pas- sive feeling. ffiaeltc. — Ain, or an, a privative particle, equivalent to the English un, signifying deprivation ; uidh, hope, ex- pectation, desire, wish; from whence ain-uid/i, or " ennui," a listless state of mind without a wish for anything. ESTUARY or ^Estuary.— The widen- ing out of a river at its confluence with the sea ; Scottice, a firth ; the "Estuary of the Thames," "The Firth of Forth/' "The Firth of Clyde," " The Moray Firth." What was called tsstus by the Komans, namely the swell or surge of the sea where the waves seemed to foam, to flame, and to smoke; hence cestuary was called by the Teutonic nations the whirl or brim. — Max Mulleb, Science of Language. The first syllable in the Latin word astus is evidently from the (SfatllC. — Visge, water; as in Ouse, Oise, Esk, Oos, Isis, and other Keltic names of rivers ; and the second appears to be the Gaelic tits, commencement, origin; whence astus would be the commencement of the fresh water or river passage as approached from the sea. ETIOLLATED (French, etiotte, for- merly written estiolle). — Streaked, striped, whitened. <3*aeltC. — Stiall, a streak, a stripe; stiallach, streaked, striped, variegated in colour. ETOURDI (French).— Giddy-headed. OSaeltC. — Sturd, sturdan, the herb darnel, the seed of which causes intoxica- 523 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY tion when mixed with meal ; also, the vertigo in sheep, or the diseases which cause them to reel. — M f Alpine.. ETTLE (Lowland Scotch). — To at- tempt. CRaeliC. — Eathlamh, ready. EUNUCH. — A man deprived by a barbarous operation of the natural power of reproduction. The word is invariably derived from the Greek evvt), a couch, and e%co, to guard, and is supposed to signify the guardian of the bed in Eastern establish- ments where polygamy was allowed. But the practice did not originate in Greece, nor was it ever much known in that country. In Egypt, Babylonia, arid Assyria, " eunuchs " were not ne- cessarily employed as male servants in the bed-chambers, but were reduced to impotency in early youth or boyhood, with the intention of preserving the boyish voice to a late period of life for musical purposes. ffiaellC. — Eu, privative prefix ; equi- valent to un, in, or dis, whence eunuch, or unrenewing ; nuadhachadh, renewing. F. FAD (Slang). — A fancy, a whim, a caprice ; a hobby. It is probable that the great Ben- jamin Franklin made use of the English translation of this Keltic word when he wrote his famous apologue of the " Whistle," with the continually recur- ring moral that he paid too dearly for it. The phrase " To pay too dear for one's whistle " has become proverbial. (SttieltC. — Fead, a whistle. FAIR. — A market ; French, foire. See ante, p. 162. ffiaellC. — Faidhir (d silent), a market, a fair; faidhreach, showy; fit for sale, fit for the fair ; faidhrean, a fairing, a present purchased at a fair. FAKEMENT (Slang).— A begging petition. ffiaflic. — Faie, to exhibit, to set forth ; to see, to behold. FALTERED.— Having the hair dis- ordered, dishevelled ; a Northern word. — H ALL1WELL. (Gaelic.— Fait, the hair of the head; faltan, a snood, a hair belt. FANGAST. — An obsolete Norfolk word, signifying fit for marriage, said of a maid. — Halliwell. (BSaeltC. — Ban, lean, a woman ; bhean (van), of a woman; gasda (gasta), well- shaped ; whence the English word would signify a shapely or well-formed woman ; duine-gasda, a handsome man. F ANGLE.— A trifle; a fashionable trifle ; a vain thing. New-fangled. — A new-fashioned trifle. New-fangled means, properly, fond of new toj a or trifles. From the Saxon. — Naees. CSacItC. — Faoin, vain ; faoinealach, foolish, silly, vain ; faoinealachd, trifling, silliness. FANTOME (Local and Provincial).— Faint, weak. Fantome corn, corn that is unproductive ; fantome flesh, flesh that hangs loosely on the bone ; a fantome fellow, a light-headed per- son. — Halliwell. ffiaeltc. — Fann, weak, feeble, faint; fannaich, to enfeeble ; fanntais, weak-, ness ; fannanta, infirm ; duine fann, a weak man. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 529 FAQUIN (French), Facchino (Italian). — A porter ; a loiterer at street corners or public places, looking out for small jobs ; also, in French, a term of contempt for a low, mean fellow. Facchino — Porte-faix — gagne denier. — Graviee's Italian and French Dictionary. ffiaeliC. — Faigh, to beg by licence; to acquire, to get, to obtain ; faighinn, a getting, an acquiring. See Fake, p. 163. FARDEL. — A burden. See page 164. Fardel means a burden, or bundle, or pack. An act of Common Council, 1554, recites that " the inhabitants of Loudon and others were accustomed to make their common carriage of fardels of stuffe and other grosse wares through the Cathedral Church of St. Paules, and prohibits the abuse." — Hone's Fvery- Day Booh. CSacllC. — Fardal, an impediment. The luggage or baggage of travellers is still called impedimenta. FARDREDEAL.— An impediment.— Halliwell. CRaeltC. — Fardal, delay, detention, impediment. FAST.—" Hold fast ! " hold in a tight grip. ffineltC — Fdist, to squeeze. FAWNEY (Slang).— A ring. ©aeltC. — Fainne, a ring. FEAKE.— Supposed by Nares to mean a wild or loose lock of hair on a lady's forehead. Can set his face and with his eye can speake, And dally with his mistress' dangling/ea&e, And wish that he were it, to kiss her eye. Marston's Satires (Nares). Three female idle feakes. Hold's Poems, 1664. Fealc, a sharp twist, a pull. To fidget, to be restless (Yorkshire) and flutter, generally applied to the (wild) anxiety of a lover. — Halliwell. ©afltC. — Fiagh,fiad7i, wild, restless, untamed. FEBRUARY.— The second month of the modern year; French, Fevrier. Hitherto supposed to be derived from a Sabine (Keltic) word signifying a purgative ; whence Februa, the Roman festival of purification (at the end of the year). ffiaellC. — Fe, a calm; fuar, cold. FECKINS.— " By my feckins," a form of oath or exclamation supposed to mean " by my faith/' quoted in Halliwell from Heywood's Edward IV. As the word "faith" has no resemblance to " feckins," and as there was no profanity in the phrase, and consequently no necessity for concealment as in the case of adjura- tions, which are opposed to the Third Commandment, it is probable that the etymology is to be sought in the dcfleltC. — Faicinn, wariness, observa- tion, circumspection, caution ; faicill, cautious ; faieilleaclul, cautiousness. FESTER.— To rankle, to grow in- flamed like a pustule on the skin ; an angry sore. Of uncertain, etymology. Todd suggests pustula, a blister. — Worcester. Dialect of Aix, fiesen, to begin to smell disagreeably (Grandgage, Walloon Dictio- nary). Piatt Deutsch, fistrig, fusty, ill- smelling. — Wedgwood. (Gaelic. — Fiasdair, angry, inflamed. FETCH. — An apparition that forebodes approaching death. Fetch-lights. — Appearance at night of lighted candles formerly sup- 3 Y 530 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY posed to prognosticate death. — Bhande's Popular Antiquities. CBrclfliC. — Faidh, or faisniche, a pro- phet; faisneacka.il, prophetic ; faisneas, secret intelligence. FETICH. — An object of worship among the barbarous tribes of Africa. The word formed by traders to Africa from the Portuguese fetisso, a thing en- chanted (Dubrosscs). Portuguese, feitico, sorcery, witchcraft ; probably from Latin fascinum, enchantment {Marsh). — Wob- CESTEE. Portuguese, feitico, sorcery, charm ; Latin, factitius. — Wedgwood. French, fitiche; Portuguese, feilicao, magic ; from Latin fictitius, counterfeit,,/??!^, fictus, to form by art ; or fatidicus, telling fate ;fatum, fate, dico, to tell ; or from facio, to make. — Chambebs. ©afltC. — Faidh, or faisniche, a pro- phet; faidheaehd, prophesying, predict- ing, soothsaying. FIB. — A small lie, or falsehood. Fub. — To eheat, to delude ; to put off by false pretences. Fubs (Vulgar and Colloquial). — A little fat child. Fubsy. — Fat, plump, round. Fib, q. d., to fable ; a soft expression for a lie. Fub, a little plump child. — Bailey. Fib, a cant word among children for a lie. .... I Lave been fibbed off and fubbed off from day to day. — Ash. The sculptors and painters apply the epi- thet fubs to children, and say for instance of the boys of Piamengo that they axefubby. — Nichols's Literary Anecdotes. A " fib " is a statement swollen be- yond the limits of truth ; a " fub " is a child unduly plump. As a falsehood is sometimes called a " bouncer," a " whap- per " a " cracker/' a " crammer," and in Lowland Scotch, as Burns has it, " a rousing whid," it is easy to see the con- nexion of idea in the dyadic — Faob, a swelling, a lump, an excrescence ; faobach, lumpy, fubsy ; faobaire, a large person. See Fob, p. 177. FODDER. — Food or provision for horses and cattle. (S»acliC. — Fod, land, earth; fodar, fodder, food for cattle ; straw ; fodair, to feed cattle; " Eadar am feur is am fodar," betwixt the grass and the straw. FOIL. — To circum vent ; to prevent the accomplishment of a purpose ; to de- feat. French, /baZer, to trample on, weigh down, oppress, foil, overcharge. Affoler, to foil, hurt, or bruise sore. — Cotgbave. To tread underfoot is taken as a type of the most complete overthrow and defeat. — Wedgwood. (ffiajlic. — Foghladh (fo-la), trespass, offence ; fog hlaich, to pillage, to plun- der ; for/hail, grief, vexation. FOUL.— Dirty; "foul water," dirty water. See Foul, ante, p. 180. SBrflf lit. — Fual, urine ; akin to feol, flesh. FOUL. — Shameful, wicked. Between this epithet in the phrases, "foul linen," and " foul murder," there is a difference not alone in origin but in idea. ffiaell'C. — Full, blood; "foul murder," i. e. bloody murder. FOULE (French).— A crowd. C'est par une derivation facile que de fouler, presser, serrer, on a the foule, presse de gens. — Littbe. ©aeltc. — Fo-lucAd, from fa, under, and luchd, the people. See Folk, page 178. FRAME. — An elementary or original structure or design that is afterwards OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 531 to be filled up and completed. The human " frame " is the human ske- leton, which in the living body is covered and filled up by the muscles and vital organs. A " window- frame " is the wood or ironwork that is devised for containing and sustaining the glass or the window itself. Mr. Wedgwood says "To ' frame a story ' is to arrange it for a certain purpose ; hence ' frame/ dis- position, structure, fabric; the ' frame of mind ' is the disposition of the mind ; ' out of frame ' is out of adjustment/' The etymology that connects "frame" with " form " is erroneons. To "form" is to make; but to "frame" is to lay the foundations or roots of something that has afterwards to be made or more fully and completely formed. The etymon is the dyadic. — Freumh, or freimh, a root, a stock, an origin ; freumhach, an ori- ginal cause ; whence, both in the Scot- tish and Irish Gaelic, framadk, a frame; and the Armorican or Breton framm, a framework. FRAY. — A quarrel ; a fight ; an en- counter not ' sufficiently severe and multitudinous to be called a battle. Fray, from affray ; French effrayer, to scare, appal, dismay, affright ; effroi, terror. . . . The original meaning of effrayer is to startle or alarm by a sudden noise. — Wedg- wood. As a " fray " signifies a fight and not a fright, may not the root be the ffiflflic. — Freadh, pillage, plunder; a plundering expedition leading to a fight between tbe robbers and the robbed ? The word is marked obsolete in Armstrong, hut according to O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary is still current in Ireland. 3 x FRET. — To grieve or vex one's self; to take things ill. Fretful. — Peevish ; addicted to com- plain of small grievances. This word and " fret," to consume, to corrode, are usually derived from the German fressen, to eat. This deriva- tion, as in the phrase, the " moth fret- ting," or eating, the garment, is correct. But " fret," to grieve, is from another root, and not from the German, in which " to fret " is argern, or sick argent, from arger, vexation, anger. , I laugh.— Wedgwood. ffiaell'C — Cebl, music, melody ; ceol- ach, musical; ceol-bhinn, soft music; ceol-radh, musicians, gleemen. GLEG (Lowland Scotch) . — Wise, quick of perception, ffifaelic. — Glic, wise. GLTCK. — A jest, a joke. — Halliwell. OP TIIE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 535 (SriiellC. — Glic, wise; a wise saying; gliocas, wisdom. GLUCK (German). — Happiness; whence the English " luck " and "lucky." CEraelic. — Tlachd, pleasure, satisfac- tion, joy ; love, attachment. Neither the English nor any of the Teutonic languages admit the combination of the initial consonants t and I, and invariably change the t into g when they adopt words that thus commence in the Keltic. GLUE. — A cement for joining wood and other substances. See ante, p. 201. GSaeltC. — Glaoidh, glue. GLUT.— To satiate. Glut. — A great or excessive abun- dance. Gluttony. — Excessive eating. Latin, glutio, to swallow ; French, glauton, — Woecestee. To glut, glutton. The sound of swallow- ing is represented by the syllables glut, glop, glup, gluk, gulp, guile, giving Latin glut- glut, for the noise of liquid escaping from a narrow-necked opening ; glutire, to swallow ; Trench, glout, ravenous, greedy ; Wehh,glosA, glwth, gluttonous; Catalonian, , a mouth- ful ; Norse, glupa, gloypa, to swallow, eat greedily; Swedish, glupak, ravenous; Eng- lish, glubbe, to swallow up ; glubber, a glut- ton ; gulp, guile, gulch, glutch, to swallow. Hal. French, glouglouter, to guggle, sound like a narrow-mouthed pot when it is emp- tied. — Wedgwood. fi&atltC. — Glut, voracity, gluttony; to devour, to gormandize ; glutair, a glutton ; glutair eachd, gluttony, greed. HmnvtC. — Ghvth. GLUTCH.— To swallow. Glutchee. — The throat. Shakspeare has glut, to swallow. — Halm- WELL. CXaeltc. — Glut, to swallow greedily ; ghitaire, a glutton. GOAL. — The terminus; the end of an effort; the point to be reached. In Skinner, from the French gaule, a pole, a stake. This, Lye thinks, is manifestly from the Anglo-Saxon, ge-afle, which means the same thing. Menage thinks it from the Latin vallus. — Kichabdson. ffiarlic. — Gollial (pronounced goval and. go-al) , a post, a pillar ; the mark of a boundary or the end of a course. GONDOLA.— A Venetian boat of a peculiar shape, formerly ornamented with gold, silver, satin, and em- broidery, but afterwards in order to curb the undue luxury and extrava- gance of the Venetian nobles, ordered by the Council of Ten to be covered only with black cloth. (SiacltC. — Condual, from comh-dhual- adh, embroidery, sculpture, ornamenta- tion ; dualadair, an embroiderer, a sculptor, a carver, an ornamenter. GOWN. — -An obscure word in Shak- speare. " Our poesie is as a gown, which uses From whence 'tis nourisht." Timon, Act i. Sc. 1. Pope altered the passage to " Our poesie is as a gum," &c, and other editors have adopted the emendation. Dr.. Johnson sug- gested oozes for uses, and Mr. Knight, adopting both suggestions, prints the passage thus : — " Our poesie is as a r/um, which ooz.es From whence 'tis nourisht." Uses is certainly another form of oozes, but there is no need to alter the word gown. It is found in our older writers, and is still used in the Western counties as a term for a run- ning sore. In the North, nurses call the eruption which sometimes appears in the mouth of a young child red gown, or thrush ; and in Yorkshire gunny eyes are eyes that discharge foul matter. Another form of the word, and a more ancient one, is gownd. In this form it is found in the Promp. Pavvu- 536 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY lorum (gownde of the eye, ridda, albugo) and in Piers Ploughman's Vision. It is the Anglo-Saxon gund; OMl.Gt. gunt, pus, sanies (Graff).— Notes and Queries, Mar. 25, 1876. ffiaellC. — Gon, to wound; guin, a wound, a sore. GRAMPIANS. — Much controversy has arisen as to the origin of this name for the greatest range of the Scottish mountains. That "plan " is a corruption of leinn, mountains, is generally conceded; but whence " gram " ? Some have suggested that the word is compound — half English, half Keltic, and that it means the "grand Bens;" others that "gram" is a corruption of grianach, sunny; — but the Gram- pians are no sunnier than other hills in Scotland ; — while a third section of etymologists favour graidh, a flock, a herd, as the root, plural graidhean, and assert that the Gram- pians means the hills of cattle. The last surmise is the most probable. Colonel Robertson, in the Gaelic Topography of Scotland, makes no mention of the word. GRAND. — The French grand, from which the English word is usually derived, expresses size, but there is an underlying idea in the word beyond that of bulk, suggestive of beauty, splendour, or sublimity, and of men- tal as well as physical greatness or superiority. Latin, grandis, large, plentiful. — Wedg- wood. Perhaps akin to grow and great. — Cham- bees. ©aeliC. — Greadhnach (d silent), joy- ful, cheerful, bright, splendid; greadhnas, pomp, magnificence ; greadhan, a joy- ous troop, band, or multitude; grean- nar, lively, brisk, joyous. GRAPE.— The fruit of the clambering vine. French, grappe de raisins, a bunch of grapes ; Italian, grappo, a seizing ; grappas, the stalk of fruit, the part by which it is held ; grappare, to grasp. — Wedgwood. (Sadie. — Grap, to climb; (Irish, grapain, to climb or clamber like the vine) ; grapuidhe, grapes. GREE (Lowland Scotch).— Pre-emi- nency. Shall bear the gree and a' that. — Btjbns. ©aeltc. — Grith {gree), knowledge, learning, pre-eminency; gritkeach, learned, eminent. GRIND. — To reduce into powder or into small grains; "to grind the corn." The primary sense of the word is in all probability the grinding of the teeth, regarded as a symbol of ill-temper, and designated by representations of the snarling sounds of an angry animal. . . . From grinding the teeth the term is transferred to the breaking small by a mill. — Wedgwood. CErflfliC. — Graine, grainne, a grain; grainneach, full of grains ; grainnichie, granulated ; ground down into grains. GROGGY (Slang).— A term applied to a horse that is weak in its knees and otherwise unserviceable. When a prize-fighter becomes " weak on his pins " and nearly beaten, he is said to be groggy. The same term is applied to a horse in a similar condition. Old English, aggroggd, weighed down, oppressed ; or it may only mean that unsteadiness of gait consequent on imbibing toe much grog. — Slang Dictionary. OSarltC. — Groig, awkwardness; groig- eil, awkward, clumsy, unhandy, help- less; groigeileas, unsteadiness. GUEUX (French).— A beggar. Les gueux, les gueux, Sont les gens heureux, lis s'aiment entr'eux, Vivent les gueux '. — Bebangeb. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. (SaeltC. — Guidh, to beg, to intreat, to supplicate. GUfiRE (French). — "Je ne crois guere," I scarcely believe ; I hardly I don't believe for a mo- believe ; ment. <&aelt'c- a moment ; —Gearr, for a short time, for geur, shrewd, sharp-sighted. GULP. — To swallow hastily, and with- out mastication. English, gobble ; Provincial English, gulk, from the sound made in swallowing liquids. — Chambers. (BaeltC. — Gulba, a mouth; gul, to weep or lament with a wide-opened mouth. iSjMnttC. — Golbhin, Gollop, ante, p. 203. a mouth. See H. HAAR (Lowland Scotch). — Bad wea- ther. In the months of April and May easterly- winds, commonly called haars, usually blow with great violence. — Nimmo's Stirlingshire, quoted in Jamieson. Skinner mentions a sea Jiaar as a phrase used on the coast of Lincolnshire. The word seems radically the same with hair, q.v. . . . Hair, cold, nipping. It is surprising that Kuddiman should attempt to trace this word to the English harsh. — Jamieson. The hayr rim is ane cauld dew, which falls in misty vapours and syne freezes a' the gird (earth). — Complaint of Scotland. ffiafltC. — Uair, weather, and, par ex- cellence, bad weather. HAITH.— The hawthorn. Can any of your correspondents tell me the meaning of the word haiih ? I have met with it in an old deed, and fancy it is an old name for osier. — Notes and Queries, Nov. 25, 1876. ©acllC — Vath, the hawthorn. 537 HAND. — Employed colloquially for a man. "All hands on board!" " How many hands do you employ?" ffiatflic. — Man (Latin, manus), a hand. HANDICAP. -To adjust the weight, that horses differing in age, power, and speed have to carry, so as to place them all on as near an equality as possible, and thereby enable each to have a fair chance of winning the race. Literally, hand in the cap ; originally ap- plied to a method of settling a bargain or exchange by arbitration, in which each of the parties exchanging put his hand containing money into a cap while the terms of the award were being stated. — Chambbes. ©raelic. — Andeigh, after or after- wards ; ceap, to obstruct or stop ; — also a clog on a beast's foot (M c Alpine). Thus andeigh-ceap, Anglicized into " handicap," signifies a weight, obstruc- tion or hindrance, put on a horse after examination by the competent judges, to put it on an equality with its com- petitors. HARANGUE.— A discourse. Menagius derives it from the Teutonic horung — with us hearing, because it is spoken to the end that the assembly may hear it. — G-azophylacium Anglicanum. Ring, a circle, is German ; to harangue, to address a ring, to address as a ringleader. Italian aringa, French harangue. — Max Mullee. The old derivation from the ring or audi- ence addressed in a solemn discourse, is pro- bably correct. . . . The derivation from ring explains the double sense of the Italian aringo, which would remain unaccounted for if arringare, to harangue, were identical with English arraign. — Wedgwood. ©rfirliC. — Aran, a discourse, a dia- logue; familiar talk ; marked as obsolete in MacLeod and Dewar; oraideach, an orator, declaimer, haranguer; oranaiche, a singer, a declaimer. 3 v. 538 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY HARP. — A well-known and very an- cient musical stringed instrument. Mr. Chappell says he is able to prove that the harp is a Saxon instrument from its very name, which, he adds, is not derived from the British or any other Keltic language. — Brinlet Richaeds, Introduction to a Col- lection of Welsh Songs. ffiatltC. — Airfid, harmony; airfideach, a musician, a harper. See Harp, ante. HARVEST.— The gathering in of the corn. German, herbst. The Dutch has oogst, harvest, oogsten, to harvest, whence Hire conjectures that all these forms, oogst, aust, haust, are from the Latin Augustus ; and the German herbst. English harvest, are a further corruption by the creeping in of an r. — Wedgwood. Connected with the Latin carpo, to gather fruit ; Greek, xapwos, fruit. — Chambers. (HSracltr. — Ar, agriculture ; feud, fes- tival ; whence the feast or festival of agriculture. HATTER (Lowland Scotch) .—Accord- ing to Jamieson the word signifies " a numerous and irregular as- semblage of any kind ; as a ' hatter (or heap) of stanes/ a 'hatter of berries/ a great quantity clustered together; a 'hatterin/ all moving together in a confused mass ; to gather, to collect in crowds." See Hatter, ante, p. 221. ©a flic. — Ataireachd, a swelling, a blustering ; a fermentation ; atadh, a swelling, a tumour. HAUGH (Lowland Scotch). — A meadow by a river side liable to overflow. (Sialic. — Audi, a field ; a meadow. HAWBUCK.— A word of contempt applied to a rough country bumpkin. ffiaeliC. — Abhag (aw-vag), a rough terrier; abhagall, terrier-like, suavlipg. HECKLE. — Busy interference; in- trusive meddling, impertinence (Yorkshire) . — Halliwell. Heckle (Lowland Scotch). — To ask severe or impertinent questions ; applied to the examination of Par- liamentary candidates or members by rude or dissatisfied consti- tuents. ©acllC. — Eachlair, a rude or brutish person ; a saucy groom ; eacJiail, horse- like, brutal. HELL AND TOMMY (Slang).— To play "hell and tommy" with anyone is to do him great mischief, ruin him, or consign him to utter destruction. ffiacltc. — T.aladh (eala), or eal quick ; na, dative plural of an, the ; tuam, a grave, a tomb ; tuamaidh, da- tive plural, to the tombs ; whence ealadh na tuamaidh, quick to the grave or tomb ; corrupted into the English " hell and tommy/ 5 consigning any one to the grave or to quick destruction. HELTER-SKELTER.— To run away, like a flock or herd of animals in a confused and disorderly manner. Of uncertain etymology. Skinner suggests Dutch heel, wholly, ter, to, and schotteren, to scatter. . . Setter shelter is halter loose, halter broken (Brockett). Others suggest Latin hie et aliter, and hilariter celeriter. — Worcester. In defiance of order, composed of two Cum- berland words, helter or halter, to hang, and shelter or helter, order or condition ; i. e. hang order, as we say " hang sorrow." — Geose. ©at ItC. — Ealta, a drove of animals ; ealtach, gregarious ; ealtainn, a flock of birds ; sgealb, to dash into fragments ; sgealbta, dashed into pieces ; whence " helter-skelter," like a drove or herd of animals in confusion. See ante, p. 223. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 539 HERR (German).— A man; or as a title of respect, . Sir. (Swaflfr. — Fear, a man; aon /hear (fh silent), one man. HOCUS (Slang). — To give a person a narcotic in Jiis liquor to render him insensible and apparently dead, and then to rob him. CSraeltr. — Aogos, an appearance (as of death) ; aog, death ; aogaidh, ghastly, death-like. HOGMENAY.— New Year's morn. OaeltC. — Oige, youth; maduinn, morning. See ante, p. 227. HOST. — An entertainer, one who gives to eat and drink, and receives you in his house. From Latin hospes. — Wedgwood. Among other reasons given by him (Varro) for the obscurity and difficulty of etymolo- gies, one is that the Latins had changed the signification of many of their words — of which he gives an example in the word hostis, a host, which in his time signified an enemy, which he could not comprehend, hut it is plain enough to those who have the least knowledge of the Keltick tongue. — Pezbon, The Antiquities of Nations. (SSaclic. — Osda, an entertainer; a re- ceiver of guests ; an Amphytrion. HUMBUG. — Deception, guile. A colloquial word of comparatively recent introduction into the English language and susceptible of two closely related meanings, those of de- ception and of the deceiver. Many attempts have been made to trace it to its origin, but all with very in- different success. Humbug. — Of uncertain etymology. Ac- cording to H. T. Eiley a corruption of the Latin ambages ; full of ambages (Howell). According to P. Crossley, from the Irish words uim bog (pronounced oom bug), soft copper or worthless money (Notes and 3 z Queries, Vol. viii.). According to the Ma- nual of Orthoepy, the word humbug originated in London, being a corruption of Hamburg on the Elbe, because, during the Continental wars, this city was the nucleus of false ru- mours and reports." Perhaps from mum, expressive of silence, and bug, a ghost; a mum-bug, thus meaning a device to frighten another into silence ( Gentleman's Magazine, 1858). — Wobcesteb. Perhaps from hum (to buzz), and bug, a frightful object. Approbation in public places was formerly expressed by humming, which came to mean in low English flattering and deceiving. — Chamb ees. Humbug, an imposition, or a person who imposes upon others. A very expressive but slang word, synonymous at one time with hum and haw. Lexicographers have fought shy at adopting this term. Eichardson uses it frequently to express the meaning of other words, but, strange to say, omits it in the alphabetical arrangement as unworthy of re- cognition. In the first edition of this work, 1785 was given as the earliest date at which the word could be found in a printed book. Since then I have traced humbug half a cen- tury farther back, on the title-page of a sin- gular old jest-book, " The Universal Jester ; or a Pocket Companion for the Wits : being a choice collection of merry conceits, facetious drolleries, &c, clenchers, closers, closures, bon-mots, and humbugs," by Ferdinando Killigrew, London, about 1735-10. — Slang Dictionary. (SjarltC. — Two derivations suggest themselves; first, iom, oxiomadh, much, many; hoc, deceit, fraud ; bhuic (plural), deceits, frauds; second, umbaid, nmbaidh, a blockhead, a fool, sometimes written umpaid/i; umaidh, a blockhead ; bog, soft, silly, senseless. Thus from umaidh (uma) , and bog may come " humbug/' a silly blockhead, and afterwards that which is spoken by a silly blockhead. HUMDRUM. — Stupid, dull, slow, lazy, heavy. Humdrujn, what goes on in a humming and drumming or droning way; monotonous common-place. — Wedgwood. (ffiaelt'C. — Umaidh, a fool; foolish; trom, heavy. HURRICANE.— A violent storm at sea. 540 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY I call your attention to a word which has puzzled our etymologists exceedingly, the word hurricane. Dean Trench has justly scouted one derivation as a specimen of the ahsurd, that of hurrying the canes off the field, and in his English Past and Present saems, though doubtingly, to assent to its having been " derived from the Caribbean islanders." . . . Ouragan has no meaning in French, nor huracan in Spanish. But in Basque it has a meaning, urac, waters, and an, a common termination, being for the ad- verb in or there, and giving the word uracan a signification of a collection of waters. — Kennedy's Essays, 1861. Hurricane : French, ouragan, Spanish, huracan, from a native American word, pro- bably imitating the rushing of the wind. Compare English hurl, to rumble as the wind ; hurhoind, a whirlwind ; hurleblast, a hurricane. — Wedgwood. Hurricane, Spanish, hurricano, a violent storm, such as is often experienced in the eastern hemisphere. — Johnson. Hurricane, a storm with extreme violence and sudden changes of the wind, common in the East and West Indies. Spanish, huracan; from an American- Indian word, probably imitative of the rushing of the wind. — Chambers. ©raeltr. — TJair, tempest or rough weather ; a', of the ; cuan, the sea ; whence uair-a-cuan, a tempest of the sea. HUSK. — The desiccated or dried shell of grain. ffiadic. — Seasg, dry, barren, unpro- lific. ISgnuiC. — Hesg, dry, barren. I. 1ER OE (Lowland Scotch).— Great grandchild. Auld Bessie in her red coat braw Cam wi' her ain oe Nanny. Allan Ramsay. In Blind Harry's Life of Wallace it is said of Malcolm Wallace that " the second oe he was of Good Wallace." In Burns's Dedication of his Poems to Gavin Hamiltoti occurs — Till his wee curlie Johnnie's ier oe, The last sad mournful rites bestow. (KaellC. — Iar, hindmost ; ogha, a grandchild ; whence the Lowland Scotch " ier oe," a hindmost grand- child, a great grandchild. See Oe, ante, p. 311. IMAGE. — The representation or re- semblance of a thing or person. Latin, imago, imaginis, a resemblance or representation of a thing. According to Festus from imitor, to imitate. — Wedgwood. Imago, an image, from the Celtic imaich. — Pezeon. (BSaeltC. — Iomhaigh, a similitude, a statue, a likeness ; countenance, expres- sion of face. This word seems to be corrupted in modern Gaelic from torn, many or multiplicity, and eugas, a face, a countenance; whence iom-eugas (the Keltic imaich of Pezron), the face multiplied, or duplicated in the repre- sentation or image. INGENUITY.— Skill. Engine. — An instrument skilfully constructed to serve a purpose. Engineer. — One who constructs en- gines, or undertakes great works that must be accomplished by engines. Latin, ingenium, innate or natural quality, mental capacity, invention, clever , thought. Italian, ingegno; Provencal, engeinh; French, engin, contrivance, craft. "Mieux vaut engin que force," better be wise than strong (Cotgrave). The term was then applied like the Greek fni^avf], to any mechanical con- trivance for executing a purpose, and especi- ally to machines of war. — Wedgwood. Engine, an ingenious and skilful contriv- ance, a complex machine; French, engin, Latin, ingenium, skill. — Chambebs. ©apltC. — Intinn {inchin), the mind ; OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 541 intent, purpose, will; intinneaeh, sen- sible, wise ; having a mind or will to do a thing. See ante, p. 236. IRONY.— A covert satire. Prom Greek elpcoveia, an assumed appear- ance, pretence : dpmv, one who speaks in a sense other than the words convey. — Wedg- wood. C&aellC. — Aithrin (i-rin), a shai-p point; a satirizing tongue; in Irish Gaelic, a satirist, a scold. J. JAIL. — A prison ; French, geole, a place in which criminals are set apart from the community, either as a punishment, or to await trial. (GJaeltC. — Deal (de pronounced nsje), to set apart; dealachd, parting, sepa- rating; dealaich, to divide^ to set apart ; dealaichte, separated, divorced. JANUARY.— The first month of the modern year ; French, Janvier. This word is usually derived from Janus, the god of the year, or janua, a gate, because it is supposed to be the gate of the year. But the first month or gate of the ancient Roman year was March, from which date September, October, November, and December were severally called the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months, making January the eleventh. This word seems to have been taken from the Celtse, who say jenver or guenver (French Janvier), which is compounded of jen, cold, and aer, air, and so this Janvier is the month of cold, which suits very well with January. — Pezeoit, Antiquities of Nations. d&afll'C. — Iom, an augmentative par- ticle, much [or many] ; fuar, cold ; whence iom-fuar, the month of much cold. K. KICKSHAW. — A word applied in contempt or depreciation of anything unfamiliar, especially in cookery. See ante, p. 246. The French, from whom the word is erroneously derived, translate it by ragont or bagatelle. The Germans also render it by ragout, as well as by wunderliche, strange or odd. The Ita- lians render it by manicaretto, a highly seasoned dish. Thus it appears, as stated previously, that the word is unknown except to the English. The first syllable as stated in page 246 is the (Srartt'C. — Caoe (ao pronounced like the French eu), hollow, empty; the second instead of searbh, may be seasg (pronounced shasg), dry, barren, unpro- fitable, of no account; often applied to a cow that yields no milk. Hence "kickshaw," as applied to a mess in cookery, unfamiliar, or distasteful to the person to whom it was offered; would signify in his opinion that it was either sour and unsubstantial, or barren and unsubstantial. KILN. — An edifice erected over and covering a fire for the burning of lime or drying of malt. " To kiln- dry," to dry by fire. Prom the Latin calx, lime. — Minshett. The process to which malt is subjected seems to warrant the conjecture that the word is derived from to kill or quell. — Richardson. 542 THE RAELIC ETYMOLOGY Anglo-Saxon, cyln; Swedish, kolno; Welsh; kylyn, an oven for roasting and drying malt and grain, burning bricks, tiles, lime, &c, a furnace for annealing glass and pottery. — Woecesteb. ©atlt'c. — Ceil, to cover, to conceal ; ceileadh, covering ; cillean, a concealing or covering heap. KINDLE.— "To be in kindle," a term applied to rabbits and hares and other small animals when heavy with young. Last night, when we were all retiring peacefully to bed, we were disturbed by a loud knocking at the door, and the master was sternly called for by a fellow who held in his hand a fine hare, and, sad to relate, a doe in kindle. — Letter on the Game Laws, Daily News, July 23, 1877. Anglo-Saxon, cennan ; Lowland Scotch, kindle; German, kind, a child ; to bring forth, to give birth to. — Wobcestee. Probably a nasalized form of kittle, not- withstanding the Welsh cenedlw, to beget. It may be observed that Danish killing, for Mtlinff, is applied to the young both of the hare and cat. — Wedswood. (ffiaeltC. — Cinn, to increase, to multi- ply ; cine, cineal, progeny, offspring. The first syllable of the English " kin- dle" is clearly traceable to cinn and cine ; the second syllable may possibly be de- rived from the Gaelic dull, nature; whence the word would signify natural increase, and an animal "in kindle" would be one with young. In Kymrie, cenaw signifies a cub, a whelp, offspring ; and cenfaint, progeny. See Kin and Kind, ante, p. 247-8. KISS. — To salute with the lips, either on the lips, cheek, or forehead of an- other ; or in proof of great reverence to a superior to salute in a similar manner the foot or the hand, or some other part of the body. Cotgrave translates the French phrase, " baiser la porte, ou la serrure, ou le verrouil de l'huis du fief," — a vassal to kiss the gate, the lock, &c, of the principal manor house of his absent lord, in lieu of the homage he should other- wise have done him had he been present. Kiss, variously written in old authors kiss, kuss, coss. Anglo-Saxon, cyss-an ; Dutch and German, kiissen ; Greek, xuoyu, to touch gently and with a slight action of the lips. RlCHABDSON. I&issen, Greek kuiv, future nco-eiv, seems to be allied to kuo, Latin, do, and to have signified primarily sich Mnbewegen gegen einen ; hence to touch, ein sanfter Wind kiisste die Slumen, a soft wind kissed the flowers. . . . Herzen, to kiss ; we herzen only from love ; we kiissen, however, also from reverence. We herzen those we em- brace, but other parts, as the hand or foot, may be gekusst. Inanimate objects may be gekusst, our own species only can we herzevl. Hilpebt's German Dictionary. kvo>, Kvo-a (to (friheiv), oscular, to' salute ; osculum dedit. — Lemon. kvraefe; Dutch, prat; Scotch, pretty, strong, active; German, prachtig, fine (magnificent); pracht, splendour. — Chambers. Gaelic. — Breagli, pretty, fine; breagh- ad, beauty, prettiness; breaghaich, to adorn, to beautify, breaghaichte, adorned, beautiful. t£j) m tic. — Pry dh, beautiful. PUDDLE.— A small pool of dirty water. Paddle (Lowland Scotch, paidle). — To tramp barefooted in the water, in a pool, or in a stream. Old English, podel. — Worcester. Pool is a contraction of puddle. — Horne Tooke. Prom Latin pains, a marsh. — Skinner. C&aeltC. — Pol, a pool; pleadhan, to paddle. SjailSCttt. — Palala, mud, slime. PUNY. — Thin, small, weak; usually applied to a sickly and undergrown child. It is doubtful whether this word, as English etymologists have all represented it to be, is . derived from the French puis-ne, the afterborn, as distinguished from aine, the first or elder born. The idea of " puniness" does not necessarily attach to the second any more than to the first born, and it may happen that the eldest child is the weakest and. "puniest" of the family. Shakspeare has the phrase " a puny subject," and Cowper speaks of the " puny hands of heroes." Perhaps the idea originally was that of one stunted, undeveloped, or cut down in growth, from the ©artlC. — Buain, to cut down ; bunach, squat, short, stumpy, not handsomely or fully grown. PURCHASE.— To buy, to acquire by payment. Italian, procacciare ; French, pourrhas- seur ; Low Latin, purchacio, porchaicia per, or rather por-ehaucare, which are de- rived by Dueange from French pourchasser (Richardson). Low Latin, perquisitio. (Blackstone). — Worcester. French, pourchasser, eagerly to pursue ; thence to obtain the object of pursuit ; Ita- lian, procacciare, to shift or chase for, to procure. — Wedgwood. Literally to chase or seek for. — Cham- bers. The French word for " buy " or " purchase " is acheter, and the Italian comprare. The French pourchasser and the Italian procacciare are never used in the sense of buying or bargaining. What is called Low Latin is mostly Keltic with a Latin termination. Bearing in mind the agricultural and Gaelic origin of such commercial words as " trade," " pecuniary," " market," " mart," &c. (which see, ante), should we not look to the same source for the roots of " purchase," which are certainly not to be found in the words that John- son, Richardson, and other etymologists suppose? The earliest commercial trans- actions among nations at the dawn of civilization were exchanges of corn for cattle, and vice versa, which fact may serve to account for this puzzling word. ffiadie. — JBuar {pilar), cattle; cois- inn (pronounced coishin), obtain, win, earn, acquire. Thus to "purchase" would be to acquire cattle for corn or any other equivalent in value. 552 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY PURE (Slang).— A lady— applied de- risively to one of questionable repu- tation. ffiaelic. — Piuthair (t silent), a sister. PYRAMID.— See ante, p. 343. (SrcUllC. — Beurradh, the tops of mountains, cliffs, or rocks; mend, great- ness, bulk ; degree, measure, extent. Q. QUAY or Key. — An embankment of stone, or emplankment of wood on the side of a river, or by the sea- shore, at which to load or unload vessels. ©WltC. — Ceigh, a quay. QUEER CUFFIN (Slang) .—A magis- trate. A very ancient term, mentioned in the earliest Slang Dictionary. . . . The term is evidently derived from quero, to inquire, to question. — Slang Dictionary. This strange phrase is a singular proof of the vitality of the old Keltic speech in English. Coibhi was the name given to an arch druid, or chief magistrate. Armstrong's Gaelic Dic- tionary says, in a passage repeated by MacLeod and Dewar, — The Coibhi was always chosen from the worthiest of his order. His habitual bene- volence is recorded in the following verse : " Ged is fagus clach do'n lar, is faigse na sin cobhair Choibhi (Near though a stone be to the ground, nearer still is the aid of Coibhi)." Thus a " queer cuffin " would signify a queer coibhi or a queer chief judge, the words being resolvable into the ©arttc. — Gear, awkward, wrong, severe, cross-grained; see ante, page, 347; coibhi, an arch druid or supreme judge. Thus a "queer cuffin" would signify a judge too severe to be approved of by a criminal. QUIRINAL.— The royal palace at Rome, on the Mons Quirinalis. Quimtes. — Servitors in the Temple. Quirinvs, a Sabine word, perhaps derived from quiris, a lance or spear. It occurs as a name of Romulus after he had been raised to the rank of a divinity, and the festivals in- stituted in his honour bore the name of Quirinalia. . . , The city on the Palatine hill was inhabited only by Latins. On the neighbouring hills there also existed from the earliest times settlements of Sabines and Etruscans. The Sabine town probably called Quirinum and inhabited by Quirites, was situated on the hill to the north of the Pala- tine. . . . The Latin and Sabine towns after- wards became united, and the two peoples formed one collective body under the name of Populus Bomanus (et) Quirites. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. The Curetes were the priests and sacri- ficers who took charge of what belonged to religious matters and the service of the gods. . . . They were magicians, diviners, and en- chanters. . . To them was ascribed the know- ledge of ^he stars, of nature, and of poetry. .... They were astronomers, physicians, poets.- — Pezeon-, Antiquities of Nations. The derivation of the words " Qui- rites " and " Quirinal " is not from quiris, a spear, an implement not pecu- liar to the Sabines, but more probably from the great druidical temple erected by that people for religious worship, and the administration of justice, like the coir mhor of the Britons (see Stone- henge). The word resolves itself into the CBracltC. — Coir, court, circle, or tem- ple; dhuine (d silent), men^ uile, all; whence the great court to which all men might have recourse for justice. " This temple," says Dr. Anthon, " was built by Numa and afterwards recon- structed with greater magnificence by Papirius Cursor, the Dictator." The OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 553 Latin word quiritatio employed in the English form of quiritation by Bishop Hall, and quoted in Worcester as " a calling or imploring for help " would imply that the help needed was that of the " Quirites " or officers of the great Court of Justice ; — an appeal to the law. Quiritor, to cry for help ; quiritans, crying for help to the civil as distin- guished from the military power. The "Quirites/' called Ouretes by the Greeks, were priests of Zeus in Crete. RATE, Berate (Slang).— To scold; to launch angry words against one who has offended. See ante, p. 356. GUatltC. — Raite, idle words, arrogant language ; raitkeach, threatful, mina- tory. -Refuse, dregs, sedi- RAPE (French). ment. The rape, as the refuse of the treading (of the grape) is called. — A. B. Reach, Claret and Olives. ffiaelic. — Raip, filth, refuse. REAP. — To cut down the ripe corn. Reave, Bereave. — To take away. Bereft. — Deprived of a possession. (ffiraellC. — Reul, to rend, to pull asunder; reu'air, a robber; a render; a puller asunder. REDE. — A saying ; advice. And may you better reck the rede Than ever did the adviser. Br/BNS. Therefore I rede you three go hence, and within keep close. — Gammer Gurton's Needle. ©afliC. — Radh, a saying, an adage, a proverb ; raite, an adage, a proverb, a saying. REDSHANKS.— A familiar and con- temptuous name for the Irish, and for the Scottish Highlanders. — Nares. And where the redshanks on the borders by Incursions made and ranged in battle stood. Mirror for Magistrates (Naees). See Flunkey, ante, p. 177. RILL. — A small stream; a winding- stream. (SarlfC. — Ruith, to flow. ROAD. — A public way. See ante, p. 366. ffiaelfc. — Rothad. The component parts and true etymons of this word and the French route appear to be roth, a wheel, and aite, a place ; roth-aite, whence rothad, and " road," i.e. a wheel- place, or place for wheels. ROAR.— The sound of a great rush of waters, or of the elements in a storm, or of the wind among the trees, or of an angry wild beast, or of an excited multitude. ffiaflic. — Ruaihar (rua-har), force in motion; ruatharach, having much velo- city with a loud sound. ROLLICKING. — Over-joyous, ex- uberant in merriment. CRafltC. — RoifMeach, unsteady; roll- ing or tossing about. See Rollick, ante, page 369. ROUSE. — To praise; to drink a health. Roose (Lowland Scotch). — To praise, to extol. At the king's rouse the heavens shall burst again. Hamlet. 4 B 554- THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Moose the ford, as ye find it, Soose the fair day at e'en. Allan Eamsay's Scottish Proverbs. (iKadtC. — -Roiseal, a boast; roiseal- ach, addicted to boasting and extra- vagant lauding ; roisealachd, the habit of boasting. RUNE. — A secret or sacred alphabet or system of writing, of which the meaning was concealed from all but the initiated. See Round, ante, p. 373. Runic. — Pertaining to the Runes. Ollaus Wormius, whose erudition cannot be questioned, has an elaborate dissertation on the origin of the Runse, in the beginning of his work on Eunic literature. It would have shortened or facilitated his inquiries had he known, or rather had it occurred to him, that in the Gaelic, Irish, and Armoric dialects of the Celtic, run signifies a secret or mystery. Indeed, the Cimbric term runa, which signifies hieroglyphics, seems to be quite explanatory of Sunce, characters which were but a mysterious and hieroglyphical mode of writing used by the priests of the ancient Goths. The Runic hieroglyphics are, perhaps, the secreta literarum men- tioned by Tacitus De Mor. G-erm. When the Germans afterwards learned the use of letters, they, very naturally, called their .alphabet Sunce. — Aemsteong's Gaelic Dic- tionary. (j&flfltC. — Run, & secret; nmadair, a .secretary, or keeper of a secret. s. SAWLEY (Lowland Scotch) .—A mute, an attendant at funerals ; an under- taker's man. (jJSaflt'C. — Samliladh (saw-la), an ap- pearance, form, ghost, spectre; an ex- emplar, i. e. of a mourner. SCARLET. — A deep French, ecarlate. red colour ; The word scarlet came from the Gaulish language, though, like many similar deriva- tions, it has not hitherto been observed.— Pezeon's Antiquities of Nations. CBfaellC. — Scarhid, scarlet. SCOTTLE.— To cut badly or unevenly. "How you have scottled that leather?" " The beef was scottled shamefully." — Hal- liwell. t° pour. — Chambees. The combination of the Arabic al, the with the ancient name of Egypt, Cham, or, with the Byzantine Greek words X7/ ie(a or X v pos, appears highly questionable. But the Irish (Gaelic) furnishes roots for both the principal syllables ; and they appear to har- monize perfectly with the little which is known of the history of alchemy and che- mistry. In Keltic al, a stone, and caomha, skill, knowledge, is that pithy definition in which the Keltic speech excels ; the com- pound indicating that search for the philo- sopher's stone which taxed the knowledge and resources of the most skilful adepts ; whilst those who, mayhap, despised that visionary pursuit, by dropping the first sylla- ble, retained testimony to their honourable and skilful search for knowledge. — Bor/LT, On the Suffix " Ster." Mr. Boult's derivation from the Irish does not seem to be quite so satisfactory as that from the Scottish dcMltC. — Alaich, to bear, to bring forth, to produce; cumadh, cumaidh, form, pattern, shape. If this be the true etymology, the idea of alchemy would be by chemical manipulation to produce or bring forth change of form in the substances ope- rated upon or amalgamated. Another possible derivation of the second syllable may be sought in enmaixg, to mix ; and cumaisgte, mixed. From this source alchemy would signify produc- tion by mixing (of metals). * UgllU'tC. — Cymmysg, a mixture, a compound ; Icymmysgw, to mix, to com- pound. THING, Husting or Hustings, Stor- thing. — The syllable ".ting " or " thing " is always applied to a place of assembly in which a conference or parliament for talk and discussion was held, or to a Court of Justice. The word in its various combinations is usually derived from the Scandina- vian. The " storthing " is the Nor- wegian Parliament. " Ting " in Swe- dish and Danish signifies an audience or assize of Justice. "Tingshus" in Swedish is the house where a Court of 560 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY Justice is held. In Danish it is called " Tingsted," or Place of Justice. The English word " hustings," a temporary erection, built to accommodate candidates for election to Parliament when address- ing their constituents, or for the re- ception of votes, was originally used in the singular only, and appears to have signified the 'house thing,' or domestic court. Among illustrations of Scandinavian civi- lization, the institution of things is frequently adduced. . . . The word, however, appears to he the Keltic ting, pronounced theeng, a tongue, and thus not only closely resembles the palaver, or talkee talkee, of uncivilized races, but the parlement of the French, and the august Parliament of Great Britain. — Bottlt's Glimpses of Pre- Boman Civiliza- tion in England. . As all these "things" or "tings" were places of discussion, or Parlia- ments (from parler, to speak), Mr. Boult's suggestion of the Keltic origin of the word must be accepted. (JSaeltC. — Teanga, a tongue, a lan- guage ; teangair, an interpreter, an orator, a linguist; teangach, speaking many languages; teangadh, a dialect; teangaireachd, eloquence, oratory. Tilt BIRLINN — Near the ancienf Berigonium in Argyleshire, the mo- dern Bun, Mac uisnichean, a district that bears evident traces of having formed the bed of a lake that com- municated with Loch Etive, is a small rock, at a long distance from* the water, which is called Tir-birlin, or the boat-land or landing-place. Under the word Berlina (see p. 32 ante), berlina and biorrlina are said to he derived from the Gaelic bior, water. Another derivation has been suggested for this very ancient word in the (foaeltC. — Bior, a log; linn, a pool; a log floating on a pool, the first notion of a canoe or boat. TOIT.— To fall over;— a Northern word. — Weight. <25ra0lt'C. — Tuit, to fall ; tuiteam, fall- ing. See Teetotuji, ante, page 454. TOM- POKER.— A goblin;— a word used to terrify children. A word perhaps connected with Puck. The bugbear of naughty children, supposed to inhabit dark places. A Norfolk word. — Weight. (fiaclic. — Tom,, a hill; bocan, a goblin, a; spectre; whence "Tom-poker," the goblin of the hill. The word " Tom," in the English vernacular is often used in the sense of strong or great, as " tom- cat," a great male cat; "tom-pin," a large pin ; " tom-noddy," a great fool ; " tom-toe," the great toe, &e. See Tom- Fool, ante, p. 468. TORT. — A legal word signifying wrong, injury, damage. Tortuous. — Twisted, out of the line of right or honour. Latin, tor- queo, to twist; iortuosus, twisted. French, " Vous avez tort," " you are wrong," or " you have wrong," you are not on the right line, path, argument, &c. ©arltC. — Tiort, a mischance, a wrong, an injury; tiortach, wrong, unfortu- nate. TRAIN.— To draw along, to pull ; "a railway train," that which is drawn along by the engine. Trainer (French). — To pull, to drag. From Latin trahere, to draw. — Wedg- wood. ffiaeltC. — Tarruin, to draw, to pull. TUG.—" The tug of war,"— generally explained as signifying the tugging, pulling, or striving for victory. ffiSaeltC. — Taog, a fit of passion, a OP THE ENGLTSH LANGUAGE. 561 ,.» frenzy; whence "the tug of war would signify the madness or frenzy of the fight, or the war. u. UNGUENT, Unction.— An ointment. Latin, unctis ; ungo, to anoint ; French, onction ; Italian, undone. CRacllC. — Ung,io anoint; ungadh, an ointment ; the act of anointing. Sanscrit. — Anj, to anoint. UPAS. — A large tree, the Antiaris toxicaria, fabulously supposed to poison the surrounding atmosphere and to render all forms of vegetable or animal life impossible within a certain distance. The venom of the Antiar poisr>n, antiaris toxicaria, is due to the presence of that most deadly substance strychnia. Notwith- standing the exaggerated statements that have been made regarding this tree, there remains no doubt that it is a plant of extreme virulence ; even linen fabricated from its tough fibre, being so aerid as to verify the story of the shirt of Nessus, for it excites the most distressing itching if inefficiently pre pared. — Lin die y. Pierce in dread silence on the blasted heath Pell Upas sits, the Hydra-tree of death. Darwin's Botanic Garden. (ffifartlC. — JJamhas (uavas), horrible, dreadful. URGE. — To press forward ; to incite. Uksache (German). — A cause; the reason of a thing; that which presses, urges, promotes, and ren- ders necessary an effect. The accepted etymology is the Latin urgeo. The root is the ffiarttc. — TJr, new, fresh, recent uraich, to renew, to recreate, to pro- create. StfiintlC. — TJr, essential, pure. Sanserif. — TJrga, the power of pro- creation or renewal. URLAR (Technical). — A term in building. ffiaeliC— Urlar, flat. UTTER. — Complete, entire, whole, or wholly. "An utter falsehood," en- tirely a fakehood; "utter absurdity," the extreme of absurdity. This word is usually derived from "outer," as in the phrase "an utter barrister," which is supposed to mean an outer barrister, one not yet admitted to the bar, though duly qualified ; but this derivation would not suit such expressions as " utterly untrue," "utter madness," &e. The word utter and its compounds pre- sent an example of the very unsatisfactory shifts to which philologists are driven who assume that the Anglo-Saxon is the earliest form of the English language, and neglect the Keltic speech of the indigenous Angle (An Gael). . . . Utter appears to me to be allied to Keltic uachdar, the top, the sum- mit, &c. — Joseph Boult, On the English Suffix " Ster " (Liverpool, 1877). ffiaeltC. — Uachdar, the top, the sum- mit, the extreme height of a thing ; also cream that floats to the top. Thus " utter absurdity " would be the height of absurdity, a common expression. Uachdaran, a ruler, prince, governor; the uppermost person, the top man, the superior. Y. VOTE. — To express a wish for or against a person or act. Vow. — To swear, to affirm, to pledge faith. The immediate derivation of " vote " in English is the Latin volum ; and of 4 c 562 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY " vow " the French vceu. The primary root of the Latin and French is the CSafltC. — Bold (bhoid), a vow, an oath, a solemn promise; boidich, to vow, to swear or promise solemnly and sacredly. w. WALES.— The Kymric portion of the west of Britain. French, Pays de Galles ; le Prince de Galks, the Prince of Wales. ffiaeltC. — Gall, foreign; a foreigner. WALKER! Hookey Walker! (Slang) — Exclamations of incredulity, uttered in answer to one who tells a monstrous falsehood, or narrates anything that seems unworthy of belief. The Saturday Reviewer's explanation of the phrase is this : " Years ago there was a person named Walker,an aquiline-nosed Jew, who exhibited an orrery, which he called by the erudite name of Eidouranion. He was also a popular lecturer on Astronomy, and often invited his pupils, telescope in hand, to take a sight at the moon and stars. The lecturer's phrase struck his school-boy audi- tory, who frequently ' took a sight ' with that gesture of outstretched arm and adjustment to nose and eye which was the first garnish of the popular saying. The next step was to assume phrase and gesture as the outward and visible mode of knowmgness in general." A correspondent, however, denies this, and states that Hookey Walker was a magistrate of dreaded acuteness and incredulity, whose hookrd nose gave the title of Beak to- all his successors ; and, moreover, that the gesture of applying the thumb to the nose and agi- tating the little finger, as an expression of " Don't you wish you may get it?" is con- siderably older than the story in the Satur- day Review would seem to indicate. There is a third explanation of Hookey Walker in Notes and Queries, iv. such parts of this continent as they knew — Egypt, Carthage, and all the Medi- terranean shore, to the Pillars of Hercules — by the name of Libya. At what period the Romans first called it " Africa " is not very clearly known. Professor Anthon says the name was originally applied by the Romans to the country round Car- thage, and to have been derived from a small Carthaginian district c lied Frigi, for which opinion he gives the authority of Ritter's Erdkunde. ffiacllC. — Abh (qfov av, from abhuin), a river; ruitheach {rui-eacli), flowing, streaming ; ia, a country ; whence abh- rui-each-ia, or "Africa," the country of the flowing river, i. e. the Nile. AGAMEMNON.— One of the heroes of the Iliad, and a personification of courage. 566 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY ffiaellC. — Aig, or aige, in possession of; meamnadk, courage, bravery, strength; whence aige-meamnadh, one in possession of bravery. AH RIM AN, Ahiumanes.— The lord of darkness or god of evil in the Persian mythology. (SaeltC. — Ar, air, plough, till, culti- vate; aire, agriculture; mainne, delay, hindrance ; whence aire-mainne, the im- peder of agriculture, the lord of winter, cold, and darkness. . AJAX. — The defier of the lightning, and denier of the power of the gods. (ffifaeltC. — Ain, privative particle, equivalent to the Greek a ; diadhachd, godliness ; whence ain or a diadhachd, an ungodly person, an atheist, a denier of the gods. AMALTHEA. — A nymph who nursed Zeus, and fed him with goat's milk and honey, and all the seasonable fruits of the earth. Amalthea's Horn.— Called by the Romans the cornucopeia — was fabled to be the horn of a goat, endued with the power of becom- ing filled with whatever the pos- sessor might wish. ({Gaelic. — Amail, seasonable, timely. V ANADYOMENE. — A surname given to Venus, or Aphrodite, in allusion to the story of her being born from the foam of the sea. (SraeltC. — An, the; doimhne, ocean, the deep, the sea, depth ; an-doimhne- mhor, the great deep, whence by Greek euphony " Anadyomene." i APHRODITE.— The Greek name of the Roman Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, fabled to have sprung from the foam of the sea. dSi&lUt. — Abh (av or aph, obsolete; whence abhuin and avon), water; rod, the sea foam ; whence (with the Greek termination) abh-rod(-ite), (born of the) sea foam. APOLLO. — Son of Zeus, and one of the great divinities of the Greeks. He is described as the god who punishes, whence some of the ancients derived his name from Apolluvi, to destroy. All sudden deaths were believed to be the effects of the arrows of Apollo. (Query, sun-stroke ?) He was also the god who affords help and wards off evil. As he had the power of punishing men, he had also the power to deliver them if duly propitiated.— Smith's Classical Dic- tionary. In later times he was identified with Helios, or the Sun. fi&aelic. — Ath (pronounced a), again ;H buaile, and, with the aspirate, bhuail, to strike ; i. e. " Apollo," he who strikes again. ARCTURUS.— The lower star in the great constellation of Ursa Major; supposed to be so called from the Greek ap/eros, a bear. ffiaelic. — Arc or arg, a hero, a champion; tuath, north; tuathair, northern ; and with the Greek or Latin terminal o? or us, arc-tuathair-us, the northern hero. ARES. — The Greek name for the god of war and battles. Mass. — The Roman name for the same divinity. In Greece the worship of Ares was not very general. All the stories about Ares in the countries north of Greece, seem to indi- cate that his worship was introduced from Thrace. The name of Mars in the Sabine and Oscan was Mamers, and Mars is a con- traction of Mavers or Mamers. His wife was called Neria or Nereine, the feminine of Nero, which in the Sabine language signi- fied strong. — Smith's Classical Dictionary OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 567 Both the Greek "Ares" and the Latin " Mars " signify a field of battle., and are traceable to the ffiaeltC. — Ar, battle; slaughter; arach, a field of battle ; magk, a field of battle. This noun is both masculine and feminine, and with the adjective mor, great, would in the first case be- come magh-mor (mamor), the Sabine and Osean Manner (Mamers), and in the second magh-mhor (mavor), whence Mavers. The name of the wife of the Roman " Mars/ which Dr. Smith says is the feminine of Nero, a Sabine word for strong, is the Gaelic neart, power, strength, activity. ARGUS. — Smna,me& Panoptes, all-eyed or the all-seeing, by the Greeks; he was fabled to have a hundred eyes. ffiaell'C. — Arg, knowledge [with a hundred eyes to study and observe the facts of nature]. ARIADNE.— The daughter of Minos, beloved by Theseus, to whom she gave the sword with which to slay the Minotaur, and the clue of thread by means of which he was to find his way out of the labyrinth. By strict heed to her commands or directions he succeeded in escaping from his peril. (BfaeltC. — Aire, notice, heed, atten- tion ; aithne, command ; aire-aithne, heed to the command. ART^II.— Persians. The inhabitants of Persia were a collection of nomad peoples who called themselves by a name which is given in Greek as apraei (aprawt), which like the kindred Median name of Arii (Arioi), signifies " noble " or " honourable," and is applied especially to the true worshippers of Ormuz and followers of Zoroaster. It was in fact rather a title of honour than a proper name.— Smith's Clas- sical Dictionary. CR-deltC. — Ard, high ; ardaieh, exalt, extol, elevate, ennoble; ard-aigne, mag- nanimity, nobility of character. ARTEMIS.— An ancient Asiatic and Egyptian divinity, whose worship the Greeks found established in Ionia. She is sometimes represented as a huntress, sometimes as the moon, and is the same as the Roman Diana. Herodotus expressly says that the gods of Greece came in great measure from Egypt ; yet Socrates is made by Plato to derive the name Artemis from to a^re/its, integritas. — Betant's Mythology. The real or supposed influence of the moon on the tides must have been familiar to such close observers of the heavenly bodies as the ancient priests of Egypt, and in the character of the moon the name " Artemis " was but a Greek rendering of the CVaeltC. — Ar, earth, land; taom, to pour out, to empty ; is, or uis [uisge) , the waters; ar-iaom-is, or "Artemis," the pouring out of the waters upon the land, as in the annual overflow of the Nile. ASIA. — The great Eastern continent. It is doubtful whether the name is of Greek or Eastern origin ; but in either case it seems to have been first used by the Greeks for the west part of Asia Minor. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. As early as the time of Herodotus we find the name of Asia employed to designate this vast continent. The Greeks pretended that it was derived from Asia, the wife of Japetus. The Lydians, on the other hand, deduced the name from Asius, one of their earliest kings. Bochart, in modern days, has traced the appellation to Asi, a Phoeni- cian word signifying, according to him, a " middle part, or something intermediate ; and hence he makes Asia mean the conti- nent placed between Europe and Africa. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. The Americans of the present day speak of the British Isles as the " old 568 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY country." Possibly the swarms of im- migrants who issued outwards to Egypt, Greece, Italy, Gaul, and Britain, and there established themselves, spoke of their native home in the same way, as the " back region " from which they came, whence we should have as the origin of the word the ffiacttC — Ais or as, back ; ia, a terri- tory or region. This derivation sup- ports the conjecture of Bochart. ASTARTE.— A Syrian goddess, some- times represented by the Greeks as Aphrodite, at other times as Juno. Creuzer thinks it more than probable that the legend of Astarte is purely astronomical, and may apply to the Moon in connexion with the planet Venus. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. The Greeks were exceedingly intolerant of foreign words till they had laid aside their foreign appearance. . . . Thus Herodian re- produces the name of the Syrian goddess Astarte in a shape that is significant for Greek ears, Astroarche, the star-ruler, or star-queen. — Tbench, English Past and Present. (ffiarltr. — Aslar, a journey; astaraicA, travelling, journeying; astairich, to journey, to travel ; astairicAte, travelled. The name appears to have been given to one of the planets, probably to Venus, as Creuzer suggests, because of its " travelling." The English word " planet " is from the Greek Tr\avrjTrj<; } a wanderer or traveller ; from nfkavato, to wander. The Jews learned the name of this goddess in Egypt, and rendered it "Ashtaroth" — the Gaelic astaireaicAe, a traveller. Lempriere says,— The goddess was represented in medals with a long habit, and a mantle over it, tucked up over the left arm. She had one arm stretched forward, and held in the other a crooked staff. This seems to symbolize her as a traveller, staff in hand, proceeding on her journey. ATLAS. — A Titan who made war upon Jove. He is commonly represented as bearing the globe of the earth on his head and shoulders, and supporting it with his hands. ffiaeltC. — Ait, aite, glad, joyous ; las, light; whence probably the origin of the myth, that the "glad light" (of heaven) supports or maintains the world. AURORA.-«-The goddess of the dawn ; the first faint light of the morning. <3*adic. — JJr, early, fresh, new; /aire (./%««•> to gape, to yawn ; " chaos " in tbis sense signifies a deep yawning void. But as there is no real void, and the idea of " chaos " is that of formless matter ; a better derivation presents itself in the ffiaelic— G?0, a mist, a dense fog, a mass of vapour; ceoban, a heavy rain com- bined with fog ; ceodhar, misty, foggy, obscure. This word in a metaphorical sense is applied to bewilderment and confusion of mind. CHARON.— Theboatman fabled to row or ferry the souls of the dead over the river Acheron to Hades. The idea of the functions as well as the name of Charon, was derived by the Greeks from Egypt. (ffiraellC. — Carthan (car-han), friendli- ness, affection ; carthannach {ear-lian- nach), friendly, charitable. CICERO. — The patronymic of several eminent Romans, and more especially of the great orator and lawyer of the time of Julius Caesar and Antony. The name appears to have been given originally from a personal peculiarity. The Latins call a vetch deer, and a nick or dash at the top of his nose, which resem- bled the opening in a vetch, gave him the surname of Cicero. — Plutaech. (jUapltC. — Ceic, ceiff, a mass of thick hair ; ceara, red, blood-coloured ; whence Ceic-ceara, or "Cicero," one having clotted red hair. See Bhutus. CINCINNATUS.— The famous Roman patriot, who left his plough to save the state, and returned to his plough when the deed was accomplished, not wishing to occupy the chief place or any other. OVaellC. — Cein, distant; cean, the head ; aite, place ; whence cein-cean-aite, far from the head "or chief place ; a humble person. CIRCE.— Daughter of the Sun, and of Perseis, a nymph of the ocean. Ulysses in his wanderings tarried a whole year with her on the island of iEsea, which she inhabited. She was fabled to have the power of transforming men into swine, or other animals, if they drank of the enchanted cup which she presented to them. Various theories have been broached for explaining the story of " Circe," but none of the com- mentators have looked into the etymo- logy of her name for a clue to the mystery. It signifies in ffiaelt'C. — Ciar, ciere, dark grey; ceo, thick fog, or mist; i.e. ciere-ceo. May not the true interpretation of the fable be that Ulysses in his wanderings was detained on the island by a thick mist, that for along time prevented him from resuming his voyage ; a mist born of the sun and the moisture, and may not the idea of the fabulous transforma- tion of men into animals be accounted for by the appearance that men would present at a distance, when looming large and dimly through the fog ? COMUS. — The god of riotous, joyous, and unrestrained excess in animal indulgence. ffiaeltC — Comas, strength of body, virility, power, liberty, licence; Coma- sach, powerful, able. CORYBANTES.— Dancing girls in the temples of Cybele. OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 578 ffiarlt'c. — Coir, the court, the temple or circle of the Druidical priests ; bean, a woman, a girl. CYRUS. — The founder of the Persian Empire, son of Cambyses. ©aelic. — Coir, justice, right, truth, equity. D. DANAUS.— Son of Belus, and twin- brother of iEgyptus. From Danaus, king of the Argives, the Argives were called Danai, which name was often applied by the poets to the collective Greeks. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. <&aclic. — Dan, dana, bold, daring, intrepid ; danadas, boldness, intrepidity. DEUCALION.— The Grecian proto- type of Noah, who was saved from the Deluge with his wife Pyrrha. When the waters subsided, and they returned from their ark to the dry land, they consulted Themis how the race of man might be restored. The goddess bade them cover their heads and throw the bones of their mother behind them; which they interpre- tated to mean the stones of the earth, the universal mother. They accord- ingly threw the stones as suggested; from those thrown by " Deucalion " sprang up men, and from those thrown by Pyrrha, women. GBraelic. — Duthaich it silent before the aspirate, duaich), the country; duthca, of the country; lion, to fill, replenish; thus Deucalion signifies the replenisher of the country, or the Earth. DIANA. — The Roman name for the Grecian divinity Artemis. " At Rome/' says Dr. Smith, " Diana was the goddess of light, and her name contains the same root as the word dies, day." Di or dia signifies day, and a trace of the idea, suggested by Dr. Smith, appears in the (3*aeltC. — Dian, lively, quick, ex- treme, vehement, intense, sudden (like the bursting of light) . This word as an intensitive appears in conjunction with others, as diantheas, intense heat ; dian- mhear, extremely merry; dianfhearg, intense and fiery wrath, &c. DIONYSUS. — The great Grecian divinity, whom the Romans called Bacchus, the conqueror of India, the introducer of agriculture and vini- culture ; the god of wine, and of the temperate enjoyment of all the boun- ties of Nature. The history of Dionysus is closely con- nected with that of Bacchus, though they were two distinct persons. It is said of the former that he was horn at Nusa in Arabia, but the people upon the Indus insisted that he was a native of their country, and that the city Nusa, near Mount Meru, was the true place of his birth. There were, how- ever, some among them who allowed that he came into their parts from the West, and that his arrival was in the most ancient times. He taught the nations whither he came to build and to plant, and to enter into societies. To effect this, he collected the various families out of the villages in which they dwelt, and made them incorporate in towns and cities, which he built in the most commodious situations. After they were thus established, he gave them laws, and instructed them in the worship of the gods. He also taught them to plant the vine and to extract the juice of the grape, together with much other salutary knowledge. This he did throughout all his travels, till he had con- quered every region in the East. Nor was it in these parts only that he showed himself so beneficent a conqueror, but over all the habitable world. The account given by the Egyptians is consonant to that of the Indians, only they suppose him to have been of their own country, and to have set out by the way of Arabia and the Red Sea, till he arrived at the extremities of the East. He travelled also into Lybia, quite to the Atlantic, of 574 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY which performance Thymcetes is said to have given an account in an ancient Phrygian poem. After his Indian expedition, which took him three years, he passed from Asia hy the Hellespont into Thrace, where Ly- curgus withstood him and at last put him to flight. He came into Greece, and was there adopted by the people, and represented as a native of their country. He visited many places upon the Mediterranean, especially Campania and the coast of Italy, where he was taken prisoner by the Hetrurian pirates. Others say that he conquered all Hetruria. He had many attendants, among whom were the Tityri, Satyri, Thyades, and Amazons. The whole of his history is very inconsistent in respect both to time and place. Writers therefore have tried to remedy this by intro- ducing different people of the same name. — Bryant's Ancient Mythology. The Greeks, in borrowing from the Egyptians the names of the divinities, softened, and, if the word may be used , hellenicized the sometimes harsh and guttural sounds of the older people, as has already been shown in these pages, and converted into Dionysus, the ffiaeltC. — Bia, God ; nan of the; uisge, uisgean, the waters. There is a mythological tradition that Dionysus and Noah were the same per- son, perhaps derived from the story that both instructed the nations iu the culti- vation of the earth, and more especially of the vine ; but although in one sense, any derivation of the attributes of Noah, from the waters, might be considered plausible, it seems, if the myth of Dionysus be conceded, to be of Egyptian origin, that his name and power, as the great cultivator and teacher of cultivation, originated in the fact that the annual overflowing of the Nile, caused by the God of the waters, the beneficent God without whose assist- ance cultivation would have been im- possible, was the greatest and most important event recurring in the social history and very existence of the people. Another possible derivation of the name of " Dionysus " is the (SRaeltC. — Bia, a god; nias, neas, generous, magnanimous ; nios, the east. Thus the name may either signify the generous god, or the god of the east, both of which are appropriate to the tradition. DORSANES.— One of the names of the Indian Hercules. The Indian Hercules was called (by the Greeks) by the unintelligible name of Dor- sanes. The later Greeks believed that he was their own hero, who had visited India, where he became the father of many sons and daughters by Pandora, and the ancestral hero of the Indian kings. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. ffiaelic. — Boire, a wood, a grove; sanas, a whisper, a search, knowledge, science. If this be the explanation of the word, it would seem to point to the idea of an oracle, such perhaps as that of Dodona, which was also in a grove. DRACON, or Dbaco.— An Athenian lawgiver, who decreed the punish- ment of death for all crimes whether great or small. It was said that his laws were written not in ink, but in blood. He seems to have derived his name from an ancient Keltic root, corresponding with the ffiaeltC. — Bragh, trouble, annoyance, vexation ; dragkail, troublesome, annoy- E. EGERIA (NIGERIA).— A nymph consulted by Numa on the secrets of life, time, and eternity. OF THE ENOLTSH LANGUAGE. 575 ffiaclic. — Ait. aith, glad, joyous, cheerful ; geire, genius, intellect, sharp- ness and aeuteness of perception; whence aitk-geire {Egeria), a glad and hopeful intellect or genius. ENDYMION.— A youth distinguished for his beauty and renowned for his somnolency. As he slept in Lat- mus his beauty warmed the heart of Selene (the Moon), who came down to him, kissed him, and lay by his side. By Selene he had fifty daughters. — Smith's Classical Dic- tionary. ffiaelic. — Aon, illustrious, excellent; dia, a god; min, mion, soft, sweet, luxurious; Aon-dia-mion, the excellent luxurious god. ERICHTHEUS, or Euechtheus.— A king of Athens. His celebrated temple, the Erechtheum, stood on the Acropolis. CKaeltC. — Eirigh, to erect or build ; iigh, thigh, a house. ERINNYS. — One of the names given to the Furiee and Dirae of the Roman, and to the Eumenides of the Greek mythology ; the avenging deities. The name Eumenides, from Eumenes, kindly, ben^olent, shows that these goddesses v.~re fabled not only to punish bad, but to reward good actions, enacting the part of conscience; and dividing among men according to their deserts the share or portion of happiness or misery that rightly belonged to them. The name JErinnys is the more ancient one ; its etymology is uncertain ; but the Greeks derived it from ipiva or epevvaa, I hunt up or prosecute ; or from the Arcadian ipivaa, I am angry ; so that the Erinnys were the angry goddesses. — Smith's Classical Dic- tionary. Taking into account the benevolent side of the character of these mighty and mysterious rulers of human destiny, may not the root of the word "Erinnys," which Dr. Smith admits to be uncertain, be traced to the (SSraeltC. — Earrann,a. share, a portion, a division ; earrannaich, to share, divide, distribute; earrannaiche, a sharer, a divider, a distributor. In this sense the " Erinnys," like the Eumenides, and not the Furim or Dim would be the distributors of reward and punishment. EROS.— The Greek name for the god of amorous passion, whom the Romans called Cupid, or desire. ffiaell'C. — Iarr, ask, request, desire; iarraidh, desire, longing, act of seeking. There is, however, another possible de- rivation. " Homer/' says Dr. Smith in his Classical Dictionary , " does not mention Eros, and Hesiod, the earliest author who speaks of him, describes him as the cosmogonic, ' Eros.' ' First,' says Hesiod, ' there was Chaos, then came Ge, Tartarus, and Eros, the fairest of the Gods.'" The record in Genesis that " the evening and the morning were the first day," and that the day at the creation began at sunset, leads with the other words mentioned by Hesiod to the cosmogonic origin of the name of Eros. We have in the (Gaelic. — Ceo, mist, vapour, fog; (whence Chaos, q.v.) ce, or ge, the earth ; iar, the west, the evening light. Thus with the omission of Tartarus we have the whole of the Hesiodic nomenclature in the regular order of creation as understood in that age, first Chaos, then the Earth, and last iar, or " Eros," the 576 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY western light, announcing the youthful day first bursting over the earth. ESCULAPIUS.— The God of the medical art, worshipped in Greece and Rome. CSr£U lie. — Aisig, to restore, give back ; uile, all ; beatha, life. ETNA. — The great burning mountain of Sicily. The name of Etna means a furnace in the Phoenician language. — Taylob's Words and Places. ©iaelic. — Ath, a kiln ; at, a swelling ; teine, the fire. EUPHRATES.— The great river of Western Asia ; the Phrat. ffiarttC. — Abh, abbreviation of abliuin, a river ; rath, increase, prosperity, fer- tility, advantage ; whence abh-rath, the river of increase and fertility. EUROPE.— See ante, page 158. G. GORGON.—" The Gorgons," the three daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, frightful beings who had wings, brazen claws, and enormous teeth, and whose hair took the shape of hissing serpents. See Demogorgon, ante, page 129. ,f- <&aell'c— Gorg, fierce; gorag, a mad woman; gon, to wound. GRACCHUS. — The patronymic of many celebrated Romans. ©aeltC. — Gradh, love, fondness ; gradhach {d silent), a beloved object. GRAD1VUS.— A surname of Mars. The marching, probably from gradior, a surname of Mars, who is hence called Gra- divus pater, and rex gradivus. Mars gra- divus had a temple on the Appian foad, and it is said that Numa appointed twelve Salii as his priests. — De. Smith's Classical Mythology. (SarliC. — Grad, quick, sudden, violent, irascible, fiery; dia, god. GRYN^EUS.— One of the names of Apollo, and also of a city in Mysia. In our Irish Grian is to be found the root of that epithet of Apollo, Grynaus, which was also the name of a city of Asia Minor, which was consecrated to his worship, and formed, as Strabo informs us, with a grove, a temple and an oracle of that deity.— O'Beien's Sound Towers of Ireland. dSarlif. — Grian, the sun ; grianach, sunny, warm, bright. H. HADES. — The place of departed spirits, divided into two portions, Elysium, the abode of the good ; and Tartarus, of the bad. The word is sometimes derived from the Greek a, not ; and elSco, to see, i. e. the unseen (world). " Hades," or Aides, is also the name of Pluto. " Being/' says Dr. Smith, " the king of the lower world, he is the giver of all the blessings that come from the earth. He bears several surnames, referring to his ulti- mately assembling all mortals in his kingdom, and bringing them to rest and peace." ffiaclic. — Ad/i, happiness, felicity; ' adhach, fortunate; adhas, prosperity, happiness, good fortune. HALCYON DAYS.— Calm, peaceful, happy days on the sea. The " Hal- cyon " is usually supposed to be a bird. According to Pliny the halcyons made OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 577 their nests during the seven days preceding the winter solstice, and laid their eggs during the seven days that follow. These fourteen days are the halcyon days of the poets of antiquity, during which time the sea was always supposed to be calm and pleasant. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. ffiaeltC. — Allle, pleasant, calm, beau- tiful; cuan, the sea. HARPIES. — Three sisters in the Grecian mythology having the faces of women and the bodies of vultures. They hovered over battle-fields, and preyed on the bodies of the slain. They also attacked the living. The name has come to signify a cold- blooded and ravenous extortioner, one who will have your heart's blood, like Shylock, rather than nothing. In Eschylns the harpies appear as dis- gusting creatures with wings, being birds with the heads of maidens, with long claws and faces pale with hunger. . . The harpies, that is the robbers or spoilers, are in Homer nothing but personified storm winds. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. The harpies emitted a noisome stench and polluted whatever they touched. Virgil in- troduces them into the iEneid, as plundering the table of iEneas and his companions when that hero touched at the Strophades M. Leclerc has a curious though unfounded theory regarding them. He supposes them to have been a swarm of locusts. According to him the word arba, of which he maintains harpy is formed, signifies a locust. There are many objections to his explanation. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. The harpies emitted an infectious smell, and spoiled whatever they touched by their filth and excrements. — Lempbiebe. All the descriptions of these fabulous creatures, point to the unclean bird the vulture, as the origin of the idea which Greek poetry and superstition, developed into the form in which it has come down to our time. ffiaeltC — Ar, battle, slaughter ; pig/ie, a bird; whence ar-pighe (ar-pee), the bird of slaughter, the vulture, the foul bird that hovers over battle-fields to feast on the bodies of the slain. HECATE. — A sorceress ; a goddess of Egyptian and afterwards of Greek mythology. Hecaie is evidently a strange divinity in the mythology of the Greeks. She is men- tioned neither in the Iliad nor the Odyssey. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. In consequence of her being identified with other divinities Hecate is said to have been Selene or Imna in heaven, Artemis or Diana on earth, and Persephone or Proserpine in the lower world. Being thus as it were a threefold goddess, she is described with three bodies and three heads — the one of a horse, the second of a dog, the third of a lion. Prom her being an infernal deity, she came to be regarded as a spectral being, who sent at night all kinds of demons and terrible phantoms from the lower world, who taught sorcery and witchcraft ; and dwelt at places where two roads crossed, or tombs, and near the blood of murdered persons. She herself wandered about with the souls of the dead, and her approach was announced by the howling and whining of dogs.— Smith's Classical Dictionary. Hecate was represented with three heads, those of a horse, a dog, and a boar. — Lem- pbieee. It is probable that this gloomy divinity, or sorceress, with the head of a horse, who sent frightful dreams, was originally a personification of the noc- turnal malady, popularly known as the " night mare." See Fuseli's marvellous picture of the " Night Mare " for corro- boration of this idea. ffiadtC. — Each, a horse; aileach, ~i gigantic, swinish. HELICON. — A celebrated range or mountains in Bceotia, sacred to Apollo and the Muses. CRadlC. — Aille, pleasant, agreeable, joyous; ceann, a head, a headland; whence aille-ceann, or " Helicon/' the pleasant headlands or mountains. HELIOS (Greek). -The Sun. 4 E 578 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY CKaeltC. — Aille, bright, shining, lu- minous, beautiful. HELIOPOLIS.— Or "City of the Sun/' in Syria, chief seat of the wor- ship of the Sun. Heliopolis was called by the Egyptians Bin Ma. — Daleth, by E. L. Claek. ©aeltC. — Ion, the Sun, a circle ; re, the Moon, a planet. Thus the Egyptian name seems to consecrate the place both to the Sun and Moon. HERCULES.— The Pillars of. ©raeltC. — Ard, height j cul, back, behind ; uisgue, water ; the height behind the waters. HERMES.— The herald of the gods in Greek mythology. " He is said, - " says Dr. Smith, "to have invented the alphabet, numbers, astronomy, music, gymnastics, &c." CBrarttC. — Mrmis, to discover, to find, to light upon, to invent. HORiE. — The three goddesses of the order of nature and of the seasons. In works of art they were represented as blooming maidens, carrying the dif- ferent products of the year. The early nations appear to have acknowledged the three seasons, the spring ripening into summer, the summer ripening into the fall, and the fall comprising autumn and winter. The seasons as they followed each other were always new and beautiful ; whence the deriva- tion from the (iBfaeltC. — Ur, fresh, new, flourishing, young, vigorous, beautiful ; uair, time, weather, season. HYGEIA.— The Greek name for the goddess of health. ffiaelic. — Ioc, or iug, medicine, heal- ing ; uile ioc, " all heal," the Druidical name for the misletoe. I. IACCHUS.— One of the names of Bacchus or Dionysus. The solemn name of Bacchus in the Eleu- sinian mysteries. ... In these mysteries lacchus was regarded as the son of Zeus and Demeter, and was distinguished from the Theban Bacchus, the son of Zeus and Semele. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. The tradition of the two separate gods or demigods, under the names, the one of " lacchus," and the other of Bacchus, is curiously illustrated by the CBfaeltC. — loo, iae, iuc, balm, medicine, healing, the temperate use of wine; whence with the Latin terminal, " lacchus,'" the god of temperate enjoy- ment of wine and the other gifts of God to mankind. Bacchus, from the Gaelic back, drunk, signifies in like manner the god of intemperance, or the abuse of wine. ICARUS.— Son of Daedalus; who with his father attempted to fly over the JSgean with wings fastened to his body with wax. Daedalus effected the voyage in safety, but " Icarus," according to the legend, flew too near the sun, and the heat melting the wax of his wings, he fell into the sea and was drowned. Icarus, from cikg>, to be like, was a suit- able name for his (Daedalus) son, and the resemblance between it and the Icarian sea probably gave occasion to the legend of his flight through the air. — Anthon's Classical Dictionary. ©raelic. — Ite or iteach (pronounced ee-tche and ee-icheach), a feather, plu- mage ; ceir, wax ; ceirach, waxen. IRIS.— The rainbow. I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth . . . that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. — Gen. ix. 13, 15. The law of the rainbow, and its sign of the faith to be inculcated of the security of the earth from flood, and the love that made the promise are all repre- sented in the ffiaell'C. — Iris, law, faith, love; iris- each, just, equitable, lawful, right. ISIS. — One of the principal deities of the ancient Egyptians, and wife of Osiris. Bryant in his Ancient Mythology remarks that the Ammonian natives generally formed their superlatives by the repetition of the positive ; rab was great, and rab-rab very great." In like manner the fiSaeltC. — Uis, abbreviation of uisge, water, became nis-uis ; and then is-is, the great waters ; and thus the name represented the overflowing of the Nile. See Ulysses. Plutarch says Isis is frequently called by the Egyptians Athena, signifying in their language " I proceeded from myself," from which the Greeks probably borrowed the idea of the goddess being born without a mother. Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 285. Athena "in this sense seems to be derived from the Gaelic Ath-ghinte, re- born ; from ath, re, or again ; and gin, to generate. ITALIA, ITALY.— So called in the early ages from its pastoral wealth. , to invent. — Chambers . The Greeks, as Mr. Chappell conclu- sively shows, derived their music from the Egyptians, which fact suggests a Keltic or Phoenician root for the mys- terious words, Muse and Music. Mr. Wedgwood is of opinion that the undis- covered root was one which signified modulation. May it not be alternation (of sound) ? by Jacob Bryant, vol. iii., the author says, "I have observed the Romans called him Sator, making use of a term in their own language, which was not inapplicable to his own history. Yet I cannot help thinking that this was not a title of Roman original, but im- ported from Egypt and Syria by the Pelasgi." Pezron thinks that the Roman word " Saturn " signifies strong, valiant, and warlike, and to have been derived from the Gaelic dor a (the fist), the puffniis of the Romans. Bryant had no acquaintance with the Keltic lan- guage of the first settlers in Europe, or he would have seen a partial confirma- tion of his idea in the <2*aellC. — Satk, plenty, abundance; ur, origin, source ; whence satkur, the source of plenty, an epithet rightly applied to agriculture, the most useful of human arts, and afterwards extended to the fabled deity who first taught, it. The legend that " Saturn " or Sath - ur, devours his own children, may be explained by the fact that all which proceeds from the earth, returns to the earth, and that good farming requires good manuring. The consonant n, in the Roman name of this Egyptian god is evidently a corruption, and has dropped out of the English word Saturday, which was originally consecrated to him. SCYLLA and CHARYBDIS.— Two 2 588 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY dangerous rocks between Italy and Sicily, situated at a short distance apart. It became a proverb, that in avoiding " Scylla " you should take care not to run against " Charybdis," and vice versa. In one of these rocks there was a cave, in ■which dwelt Scylla, a fearful monster, bark- ing like a dog, with twelve feet and six long necks and heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth. The opposite rock, which was much lower, contained an immense fig-tree, under which dwelt Cha- rybdis, who thrice every day swallowed down the waters of the sea, and thrice threw them up again. Both were formidable to the ships which had to pass through. — Du. Smith's Classical Dictionary. The recent wreck of the Schiller upon that terrible series of rocky ledges which are known to Cornishmen as " the howlingdogs of Scilly " has called attention to the Bishop Eock Lighthouse, in the immediate vicinity of which the ill-fated German steamer met her fate. Those fatal " dogs of Scilly " are not less fierce than the whelps which, ac- cording to Homer, howled around the fabled monster of the Sicilian seas. — Daily Tele- graph, June 16, 1875. One is tempted to regard Scylla, the sea- monster which devoured six of the rowers of Ulysses, as an overgrown polypus, magnified by the optical power of poetry .— Eusebe Salvbete, Des Sciences Occultes, 1828. This myth is evidently allegorical of the •perils of the rocks, caves, and agi- tated billows of the narrow water way ; and is distinctly traceable to the original language of the people who prepared the way for the Greeks. The two words, irrespective of the fig-tree, which is in- comprehensible, resolve themselves into the (ffiaflt'C. — Sgeile (Greek 2/euXXa), calamity, misery ; sgeileach, calamitous, ruin, ruinous. Cearr, czar, unlucky, unfortunate, gloomy, stern; uamh (uav), a cave ; uamhach, full of caves or dens ; uamkarr, horrible, terrible, dreadful; whence cearr-uamliaili, [car--itav-ac7i,~] or in Greek, Xapv/3$K, the unfortunate or dangerous place, fall of caves and dens. The early mariners in the infancy of navigation derived from the word iiamli, a cave, the adjective uamharr. signifying dreadful, terrible, horrible. SILENUS (Greek SetX^os) . — The antitype of Dionysus, who personified the abuse and not the temperate use of wine and the gifts of nature, the drunken and drivelling god of excess. He was represented by the Romans as a vulgar, obese man, sitting astride of a cask. It is a peculiar feature in the character of Silenus that he was thought an inspired prophet, who knew all the past and the most distant future. . . . When he was drunk and asleep he was in the power of mortals, who might compel him to prophecy. — Da. Smith's Classical Dictionary. This is but an ancient rendering 1 of the phrase " in vino Veritas." (ffiraPltC. — Seile, drivel, saliva ; saleid, a bellyful, a surfeit ; one with a big belly, one who has habitually eaten and drunken too much. SOCRATES.— The celebrated Athenian philosopher and martyr. CRacltC. — Socrach, sedate, comfortable, f leisurely ; socradh, steadiness ; socraick, to make steady, to establish, to place on a firm foundation. SOMNUS.— The god of sleep and dreams ; whence " somniferous," " somnolent," &c. Somnus is de- scribed as a brother of Death, and the son of Night. (ffiracliC. — So, pleasant; am, time; nochd, night; whence so-am-nochd, the pleasant time of night, the appropriate time for sleep. SPARTA, also called LiCEDiEMONiA. — The chief city of Peloponnesus, cele- brated for the severe discipline to which its youth of both sexes were subjected. OP THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 589 The Spartans were the dwellers in Sparta, the town of scattered houses, more loosely built than other Grecian cities because un- confined by a wall. — Taylob's Names and Places. ffiadtC. — Sparr, to inculcate, to drive, to enforce by argument; spairte, incul- cated, enforced. STENTOR.— The name given to a Grecian herald in the Trojan war from the extreme loudness of his voice, which was said to equal in volume of sound, the voices of fifty- men, all shouting together. ©raeltC. — Stubh (stu), strength, vigour ; an, of the ; tarbh, hull ; whence stu-an-tarbh {stn-an-tar) , the vigour of a bull, i. e. that had a voice as strong as the bellowing of a bull. SYRENS or SIRENS.— Nymphs in Grecian mythology supposed to lure sailors to destruction by sweet music. Metaphorically a siren signifies a fas- cinating woman. Latin, siren; Greek, creipev, literally en- tangling, binding, from seira, a chord or band. — Chambees. He who for siren writes syren, certainly knows nothing of the magic cords (aeipai) of song by which those beautiful enchantresses were supposed to draw those that heard them to their ruin. — Tbench's English, Past and Present. ffiaeltC. — Suire, a maiden ; suireach, a wooer of maidens ; suirick, suiridhe, courtship. T. TANTALUS.— Many legends are told of this personage (See Smith's Classical Dictionary.) The one which relates that he was buried by Zeus under Mount Sipylus, a volcanic mountain of Lydia in Asia Minor, throws some light on the origin of the name, which appears to signify volcanic eruption, from the draeltC. — Teine, fire ; talamh, earth ; i. e. earth-fire, or fire from the earth. " Tantalus " is represented as being afflicted with a perpetual burning thirst, and placed not only within sight, but within reach of water and fruit. The water always receded from his lips when he attempted to drink, and the fruit in like manner, that hung over his head, receded from his hand when he attempted to grasp it. ffiatltC. — Teine, fire, heat, burning ; talaich, to complain, to murmur; whence tein-talaich, one complaining of the burning, or the fire (of thirst). TARQUIN. — The name of a once royal family of Rome. ©rarttC. — Tarr, contempt, scorn; guin, pain, agony, i. e. contempt of pain. TELEGONUS.— The son of Ulysses and Circe. After Ulysses had re- turned to Ithaca, Circe sent Telegonus in search of his father. A storm cast his ship on the coast, and being pressed by hunger, he began to plun- der the fields, for which he incurred the wrath of Ulysses, who going out to fight him with his other son Tele- machus, the son of his wife Penelope, was slain. ffiarttC. — Tallam/i } \and, earth, fields; gon, to wound, ravage, destroy ; gonach, ravaging, wounding, destroying ; whence talla-gonach, the ravager of the fields. TELLUS (Latin).— The Earth. Telluric (Scientific) . — Pertaining to 590 THE GAELIC ETYMOLOGY the structure of the Earth, geo- logical. ffiaeltC. — Talamh, the Earth, earth, land, soil, fields. TERMINUS.— A Roman divinity sup- posed to preside over boundaries and frontiers. Rivers, streams, rivulets, &c, were natural and obvious territorial divisions in an early stage of society as they are now. Did not France go to war against Prussia in 1870 for the Rhine boundary? ©faeltC. — Doir, water; meadhon, the middle, the centre; whence doir-meadhon (doir-mea-don) , or "Terminus," the water between. THEUTH, Thoth, Taut. — Names differently spelt of one of the chief deities of the ancient Egyptians. From Theuth the Greeks formed Theos, which with that nation was the general name of the Deity. Plato mentions him as Theuth. He was looked upon as a great benefactor, and the first cultivator of the vine. He was also supposed to have found out letters. — Bbyant. GSaf ItC. — Taite, pleasure, delight, enjoyment of life within the bounds of reason ; taitneach, pleasant, delightful, fascinating; taitneas, the faculty or quality of exciting pleasure or delight. TITAN.— A giant; whence " Titanic/' gigantic. The Greeks called the twelve children of Uranus and Gaea, or Heaven and Earth, by the name of " Titans." The word is resolvable into the ©raelic. — Ti, a rational being; tan, the earth, a country, a portion of the earth, a syllable that survives in Britannia, Lusitania, Mauritania, and the poetical name of many other parts of Europe, Sec. See Tan. A." Titan" would thus signify one of the rational beings who first inhabited the earth, and who in the mythological period were sup- posed to have been of immense size, and greatly superior both in bulk and intel- lect to their degenerate successors. It was in Phrygia that the Gomerian Sacae began to change their name and to assume that of Titans, which signifies " a man of the earth, or an earth-born man." . . . The Titans spread themselves in Greece, Italy, Sicily, Gaul, and Spain, and it may well enough be imagined that their language became as extensive as their empire. — Pez- EOn's Antiquities of Nations. TRIPTOLEMUS.— The supposed in- ventor of the plough and of agricul- ture. His name originally signified two- handed haste, a by no means inap- propriate cognomen for the agricultural labourer who must work with both hands, or with all speed, in the proper season, in which the earth is to yield its fruits. ©rartir.— Drip (or trip), haste; do- lamhach, ambidextrous, having the equal use of both hands. TTPHON.— The destroyer ; sometimes described in Greek mythology as a destructive hurricane, and sometimes as a fire-breathing giant. CRaeltC. — DM (di), to lay waste, to spoil, to destroy ; fonn, the land, earth. II. ULYSSES. — Famous for his wander- ings, the hero of the Odyssey. The name of " Ulysses " seems to be derived from his many journeys upon the waters, in storm, shipwreck, and the perils of tempests and rocky shores; 0E THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 591 when for twenty years a mariner sub- jected to all the perils of the deep. (SJaelic. — Vile, all; uisgue, or uis, water. The other name of Odysseus agrees with that of Ulysses in representing the wandering of the hero on the sea, and is traceable to the hospitalities he received. (See Smith's Classical Dictionary.) (SJatliC. — Aoidh, hospitality; uis (idsgue), water. URANUS or OURANOS.— A name given to the planet first observed in modern times by Dr. Herschell, and originally called by him the Georgium Sidus. " Uranus was supposed by the Greeks to be the first of the gods, and the father of Saturn, by whom he was dethroned. Gaelic— Ur, first, early, original; an, a planet, a principle, an intelligence; whence with the Greek terminal 09, and the Latin us; Ouranos, Uranos, or Uranus, the first great planet. Y. VENUS. — The Roman name for the Aphrodite of the Greeks ; the goddess of love and beauty. CSacliC. — Bean, lliean, a woman; whence with the Latin terminal B/ieanus, or Venus. VIRGIL.— The Roman poet. CRaelt'c. — Fear, man ; gille, child ; fear-gille, a man child, or a male child. VULCAN.— The Latin name for the Greek Hephsestus, the god of fire, of blacksmiths and artificers in iron. The Roman god of fire, whose name seems to he connected with fulgere, fulgur, and fulmen. The most ancient festival in his honour seems to have heen the fornacalia, or furnalia, Vulcan being the god of fur- naces, but his great festival was called Vul- canalia. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. ffiaeltC. — Buaill, or buille, to strike; with the aspirate bhiaill (vuail) ; ceann, the head; whence Muaill-ceami, the striker on the head, a blacksmith who hits the nail on the head, and strikes when the iron is hot. Vul, god of the atmosphere in Ancient Assyria. — Me. G. Smith, Lecture to the Society of Biblical Archaeology, Daily Telegraph, July 8, 1874. z. ZEPHYR— Greek Zevpa, the soft or mild west wind. Described by Hesiod as a son of Astrseus and Bos. Boreas and Zephyrus are fre- quently mentioned together by Homer, and both dwelt together in a palace in Thrace. — Smith's Classical Dictionary. (Sadie. — Seimh, or seamh (seav), peaceful, mild, gentle; iar, the west; whence seav-iar, or zephyr, the mild west wind. — See Bokeas. GAELIC CHORUSES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. Me. Godfrey Higgins informs us truly in his " Anacalypsis " that, "Every word in every language has originally had a meaning, whether a nation has it by inherit- ance, by importation, or by composition/'' He adds that " it is evident, if we can find out the original meaning of the words which stand for the names of obj ects, great discoveries may be expected/' The Duke of Somerset, in our own day, expresses the same truth more tersely, when he says that " every word in every language has its pedigree." All who are acquainted with the early lyrical literature of England and Scotland, must sometimes have asked themselves the meaning of such old choruses as "Down, down, derry down!" "With afal, lal,la !" "Tooral, looral !" "'Hey, nonnie, nonnie!" and many others. These choruses are by no means obsolete, though not so fre- quently heard in our day as they used to be a hundred years ago. " Down, down, derry down," still flourishes in immortal youth in every village alehouse and beer- shop where farm labourers are accustomed to assemble. Mr. William Chappell — the editor of the "Popular Music of the Olden Time," — is of opinion that these choruses, or burdens, were " mere nonsense words that went glibly off the tongue." He adds (vol. i. page 223), "I am aware that 'Hey down, down, derry down,' has been said to be a modern version of ' Hai down, ir, deri danno,' the burden of an old song of the Druids, signifying, ' Come, let us haste to the oaken grove ' (Jones, 1 Welsh Bards/ vol. i. page 128), but this I believe to be mere conjecture, and that it would now be impossible to prove that the Druids had such a song." That Mr. ChappelFs opinion is not correct, will appear from the etymological proofs of the antiquity of this and other choruses afforded by the Gaelic language. Julius Csesar, the conqueror of Gaul and Britain, has left a description of the Druids and their religion, which is of historical interest. That system and religion came originally from Assyria, Egypt, and Phoenicia, and spread over all Europe at a period long anterior to the building of Rome, or the existence of the Roman people. The Druids were known by name, but scarcely more than by name, to the Greeks, who derived the appellation erroneously from fyw?, an oak, under the supposition that the Druids preferred to perform their religious rites under the shadows of oaken groves. The Greeks also called the Druids Saronides, from two Gaelic words sar and dfaiine, signifying " excellent or superior GAEIJC CHOEUSES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. 593 men." The Gaelic meaning of the word " Druid " is to enclose within a circle, and a Druid meant a prophet, a divine, a bard, a magician, one who was admitted to the mysteries of the inner circle of the Temple or Coir. The Druidic religion was astronomical, and rendered reverence to the sun, moon, and stars as the visible representatives of the unseen Divinity who created man and nature. " The Druids used no images," says the Reverend Doctor Alexander, in his excellent little volume on the Island of lona, published by the Religious Tract Society, " to represent the object of their worship, nor did they meet in temples or buildings of any kind for the performance of their sacred rites. A circle of stones, generally of vast size, and surrounding an area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in diameter, constituted their sacred place ; and in the centre of this stood the cromlech (crooked stone), or altar, which was an obelisk of immense size, or a large oblong flat stone, supported by pillars. These sacred circles were usually situated beside a river or stream, and under the shadow of a grove, an arrangement which was probably designed to inspire reverence and awe in the minds of the worshippers,, or of those who looked from afar on their rites. Like others of the Gentile nations also, they had their ' high places/ which were large stones, or piles of stones, on the summits of hills ; these were called earns (cairns), and were used in the worship of the deity under the symbol of the Sun. In this repudiation of images and worshipping of God in the open air they resembled their neighbours the Germans, of whom Tacitus says, that from the greatness of the heavenly bodies, they inferred that the gods could neither be inclosed within walls, nor assimilated to any human form ; and he adds, that ' they consecrated groves and forests, and called by the names of the gods that mysterious object which they behold by mental adoration alone/ " In what manner and with what rites the Druids worshipped their deity, there is now no means of ascertaining with minute accuracy. There is reason to believe that they attached importance to the ceremony of going thrice round their sacred circle, from east to west, following the course of the sun, by which it is supposed they intended to express their entire conformity to the will and order of the Supreme Being, and their desire that all might go well with them according to that order. It may be noticed, as an illustration of the tenacity of popular usages and religious rites, how they abide with a people, generation after generation, in spite of changes of the most important kind, nay, after the very opinions out of which they have arisen have been repudiated ; that even to the present day certain movements are considered of good omen when they follow the course of the sun, and that in some of the remote parts of the country the practice is still retained of seeking good fortune by going thrice round some supposed sacred object from east to west." But still more remarkable than the fact which Doctor Alexander has stated, is the vitality of the ancient Druidic chants, which still survive on the popular tongue for nearly two thousand years after their worship has disappeared, and after the meaning of these strange snatches and fragments of song has been all but irretrievably lost, and almost wholly unsuspected. Stonehenge, or the Great 4 G 594 GAELIC CHORUSES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. Court or Circle, on Salisbury Plain, is the grandest remaining 1 monument of the Druids in the British Isles. Everybody has heard of this mysterious relic, though few know that many other Druidical circles of minor importance are scattered over various parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In Scotland they are especially numerous. One but little known, and not mentioned by the Duke of Argyll in his book on the remarkable island of which he is the proprietor, is situated between the ruins of the cathedral of Iona and the sea-shore, and is well worthy of a visjt from the hundreds of tourists who annually make the voyage round the noble Island of Mull, on purpose to visit Iona and Staffa. There is another Druidic circle on the mainland of Mull, and a large and more remarkable one at Lochnell, near Oban, in Argyleshire, which promises to become almost as celebrated as Stonehenge, combining as it does not only the mystic circle, but a representation, clearly defined, of the mysterious serpent, the worship of which entered so largely into all Oriental religions of remote antiquity. There are other circles in Lewes and jthe various islands of the Hebrides, and as far north as Orkney and Shetland. It was, as we learn from various authorities, the practice of the Druidical priests and bards to march in procession round the inner circle of these rude temples, chanting religious hymns in honour of the sunrise, the noon, or the sunset; hymns which have not been wholly lost to posterity, though posterity has failed to understand them, or imagined, that their burdens — their sole relics — are but unmeaning words, invented for musical purposes alone, and divested of all intellectual signification. The best known of these choruses is " Down, down, derry down" which may either be derived from the words ' dun ' a hill, and ' darag ' or ' darach,' an oak-tree ; or from ' duine ' or dhuine, man and men, and f doire' a wood ; and may either signify an invitation to proceed to the hill of the oak-trees, for the purposes of worship, or an invocation to the ' men of the woods ' to join in the druidical march and chant, as the priests walked in procession from the interior of the stone circle to some neighbouring grove upon a down or hill. This chorus survives in many hundreds of English popular songs, but notably in the beautiful ballad "The Three Ravenf," preserved in Melismata (1611). There were three ravens sat on a tree, Down-a-down ! hey down, hey down. They were as black as black might be, With a down ! Then one of them said to his mate, Where shall we now our breakfast take ? With a down, down, derry, derry down, ! A second well-known chorus is " Tooral looral," of which the most recent appearance is in a song which the Anglo-Saxon world owes to the bad taste of the comic Muse — that thinks it cannot be a muse until it blackens its face to look like a negro : — Once a maiden fair, She had ginger hair, With her tooral looral, la, di, oh ! GAELIC CHORUSES AND DEUIDICAL CHANTS. 595 This vile trash contains two Gaelic words which are susceptible of two Gaelic interpretations, Tooral may be derived from turail — slow; and Looral from luathrail (pronounced luarail) — quick, signifying a variation in the time of some musical composition to which the Druidical priests accom- modated their footsteps in a religious procession either to the grove of worship or around the inner stone Circle. It is also possible that the words are derived from Tuatli-reul, and Lualh-reul (U silent in both instances), the first signifying 'North star/ and the second 'Swift star;' appropriate invocations in the mouths of a priesthood that studied all the motions of the heavenly bodies, and were the astrologers as well as the astronomers of the people. A third chorus, which occurs in John Chalkhill's " Praise of a Countryman's Life," is quoted by Izaak Walton : — Oh, the sweet contentment The countryman doth find. Sigh trolollie, lollie, lot ; high trolollie, lee. These words are resolvable into the Gaelic Ai ! or Aibhe ! Hail ! or All Hail ! Trath— pronounced trah, early, and la, day ! or " Ai, tra la, la, la " — - " Hail, early day ! " a chorus which Moses and Aaron may have heard in the temples of Egypt, when the priests saluted the rising sun as he beamed upon the grateful world, and which was repeated by the Druids on the remote shores of Western Europe, in now desolate Stonehenge, and a thousand other Circles, where the sun was worshiped as the emblem and ' Circle ' of divinity. The second portion of the Chorus, *' High trolollie lee," is in Gaelic, Ai ! tra la ! la ! li ! which signifies, " Hail, early day ! Hail, bright day ! " The repetition of the word la as often as it was required for the exigencies of the music, accounts for the chorus, in the form in which it has descended to modern times. " Fal, lal, la," is a chorus even more familiar to the readers of old songs. Lord Buckhurst, afterwards Earl of Dorset, wrote, in 1665, the well-known ballad com- mencing — . To all you ladies now on land, We men at sea indite, But first would have you understand How hard it is to write. With a fal, lal Id, and a. fal, lal, Id. And a, fal, lal, lal, lal, la ! Fal is an abbreviation of Faille ! welcome ; and la, as already noted, signifies a day. The words should be properly written Faille I la, la ! The Chorus appears in the " Invitation to May," by Thomas Morley, 1595 : — Now is the month of Maying, When merry lads are playing. Fal, la, Id ! Each with his honnie lass, Upon the greeny grass, Fal, la, la ! 4 G 2 596 GAELIC CHOBUSES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. The Gaelic and Druidical Interpretation of these syllables is, " Welcome ! the day!" " Fal, lero, loo" appears as a chorus in a song by George Wither (1588 — 1667). There was a lass — a fair one, As fair as e'er was seen, She was indeed a rare one, Another Sheba queen. Bnt fool, as I then was, I thought she loved me true, But now, alas ! she's left me, Fal, lero, lero, loo ! \ ■ . Here Faitte, as in the previous instance, means welcome ; tear (corrupted into lero), the sea.; and luadh (the d/i silent), praise; the chorus of a song of praise to the sun when seen rising above the ocean. The song of Sir Eglamour, in Mr. Chappell's collection, has another variety of Faille or Fal, la ! of a much more composite character : — Sir Eglamour that valiant knight, Fal, la, lanky doivn dilly ! He took his sword and went to fight, Fal, la, lanky down dilly 1 In another song, called " The Friar in the Well," this chorus appears in a slightly different form : — Listen awhile, and I will tell Of a Friar that loved a bonnie lass well, Fal la ! Ml, lal, lal, la ! Fal Id, langtre down dilly ! Lan in Gaelic signifies full, ri, to or towards, and dile, rain. The one version has lanky, the other larighe, both of which are corruptions. The true reading is " Faille la, lan, ri, dun, dile," which signifies, " Welcome to the day, full — complete ; [let us go] to the hill of rain ! " " Hey, nonnie, nonnie." " Such unmeaning burdens of songs," says Nares, in his Glossary, "are common to ballads in most languages." But this burden is not unmeaning, and signifies " Hail to the noon." Noin or noon, the ninth hour was so-called in the Gaelic because at midsummer in our northern latitudes, it was the ninth hour after sunrise. With the Romans, in a more southern latitude, noon was the ninth hour after sunrise, at six in the morning, answering to our three o'clock of the afternoon. A song with this burden was sung in England in the days of Charles the Second : — I am a senseless thing, with a hey ; Men call me a king, with a, ho ! For my luxury and ease, They brought me o'er the seas, With a heigh, nonnie, nonnie, nonnie, -no ! M r. Chappell cites an ancient ballad which was sung to the tune of " Hie dildo .GAELIC CHOUUSES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. 597 (III." This also is Druidical, and resolvable into " Ai ! dile ! dun dile ! " or " Hail to the rain, to the rain upon the hill ! " a thanksgiving for rain after a drought. " Trim go trix " is -a chorus that continued to be popular until the time of Charles the Second, when Tom D'Urfrey wrote a song entitled ' Under the Greenwood Tree," of which he made it the burden. Another appears in Allan .Ramsay's " Tea-table Miscellany :" — The Pope, that pagan full of pride, He has us blinded long, For where the blind the blind does guide, No wonder things go wrong. Like prince and king, he led the ring Of all iniquitie. Hey trix, trim go trix ! Under the greenwood tree. In Gaelic dieam or dreim signifies a family, a tribe, the people, a procession, trie, frequent, and gu trie frequently, often, so that these words represent a frequent procession of the people to the hill of worship under the greenwood tree. In Motherwell's "Ancient and Modern Minstrelsy," the Ballad of " Hynd Horn," contains a Gaelic chorus, repeated in every stanza. Near Edinburgh was a young child born, With a hey lilli lu, and a how lo Ian ! And his name it was call'd young Hynd Horn, And the birk and the broom bloom bonnie. Here the words are a corruption of Aidhe (Hail) li, light, a colour; lu, small; afh, again ; lo, daylight ; and Ian, full ; and may be rendered " Hail to the faint and small light " (of the dawn) ; and " again to the full light of the day " (after the sun had risen). In the " Nursery Rhymes " of England, edited by Mr. Halliwell for the Percy Society, 1842, appears the quatrain. Hey dorolot, dorolot 1 Hey dorolay, dorolay. Hey, my bonny boat, bonny boat, Hey, drag away, drag away. The two first lines of this jingle resolve themselves into Aidhe, doire luchd ! doire luchd I Aidhe, doire leigh, doire leigh. Aidhe, an interjection, is pronounced Aye, or Hie ; doire, is trees or woods ; luchd, people; and leigh, healing; [and also a physician, whence the old English word for a Doctor, a leecL] Thus the couplet means Hey to the woods, people ! to the woods, people ! Hey to the woods for healing ! to the woods for healing ! If this translation be correct, the chorus would seem to have been sung when the Druids went in search of the sacred mistletoe. 598 GAELIC CH011USES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. There is an old Christmas Carol which commences — Nowell ! Nowell I Nowell ! Nowell ! This is the salutation of the Angel Gabriel. Mr. Halliwell, in his " Archaic dictionary/' says " Now el was a cry of joy, pro- perly at Christmas, for the birth of the Saviour." A political song of the. time of King Henry the Sixth, concludes — Let us all sing Nowelle ! Nowelle, nowelle, nowelle, nowelle ! And Christ save merry England and spede it well. The modern Gaelic for Christmas is Nollaig — a corruption of the ancient Druidi- cal name for a holiday — from naomli, holy, and la, day, whence Naola ! the burden of a Druidical hymn, announcing a day of religious rejoicing. A singular example of the vitality of these Druidic chants is afforded by the well-known song " Lilli Burlero" of which Lord Macaulay gives the following account in his History of England. " Thomas Wharton, who, in the last Parliament had represented Buckingham- shire, and who was already conspicuous both as a libertine and as a Whig, had written a satirical ballad on the administration of Tyrconnel. In this little poem an Irishman congratulates a brother Irishman in a barbarous jargon on the approaching triumph of popery and of the Milesian race. The Protestant heir will be excluded. The Protestant officers will be broken. The great chaEter and the praters who appeal to it will be hanged in one rope. The good Talbot will shower commissions on his countrymen, and will cut the throats of the English. These verses, which were in no respect above the ordinary standard of street poetry, had for burden some gibberish which was said to have been used as a watchword by the insurgents of Ulster in 1641. The verses and the tune caught the fancy of the nation. From one end of England to the other all classes were constantly singing this idle rhyme. It was especially the delight of the English army. More than seventy years after the Revolution a great writer delineated with exquisite skill a veteran who had fought at the Boyne and at Namur. One of the characteristics of the good old soldier is his trick of whistling Lillibullero. Wharton afterwards boasted that he had sung a king out of three kingdoms. Bnt in truth the success of Lilliburlero was the effect and not the cause of that excited state of public feeling which produced the Revolution." The mysterious syllables which Lord Macaulay asserted to be gibberish, and . which in this corrupt form were enough to puzzle a Keltic scholar, and more than enough to puzzle Lord Macaulay, who like Doctor Samuel Johnson, knew nothing of the venerable language of the first inhabitants of the British Isles, resolve ~ themselves into "In ! li ! lew ! lear-a ! buille na la," which, signify, " Light !. light! on the sea! Beyond the promontory! 'Tis the stroke (or dawn) of the day ! " Like all the choruses previously cited these words are part of a hymn to the rising sun. GAELIC CHORUSES AND DRUIDICAL CHANTS. 599 The syllables " Fol de rol" which still occur in many of the vulgarest English songs; and which were formerly much more commonly employed than they are now, are a corruption of Failte-reul ! Welcome to the star! " Fal de ral" is another form of the corruption which the Gaelic original ,has undergone. The French, a Keltic people as the English, have preserved many of these Druidical chants. , In Beranger's song " Le Scandale " occurs one which is as remarkable for its Druidic appositeness as any of the English choruses already cited : — Aux drames du jour Laissons la morale ;— Sans vivre a, la cour J'aime le scandale: Bon! Lafarira dondaine, Gail Lafarira dondS. These words are corruptions of the Gaelic La ! /aire ! aire ! dun teine ! " Day ! sunrise ! watch it on the hill of fire " and La ! /aire ! aire ! dun De ! " Day ! sunrise ! watch it on the hill of God ! " In the " Recueil de Chansons Choisies " (La Haye, 1723), vol. i. page 155, there is a song called " Danse Ronde/' commencing IS autre jour pres d' Annette, of which the burden is Lurelu, Lurela ! These syllables are the Gaelic Luadk reul ! Luadh! " Praise to the star ! Praise ! " or Luath real ! Lualh ! " The swift star ! the swift star!" and La reul! La f "The day! the star! the day!" There is a song of Beranger's of which the chorus is Tra la, tra la, tra lala ; already explained ; followed by the words, " C'est le diable enfal&ala." lierefalbala is a corruption of the Gaelic/WM la ! " Farewell to the day \" A hymn sung at sunset. Beranger has another song entitled ' Le Jour des Moris' which has a Druidical chorus. Amis, entendez les cloches, Qui par leurs sons gemissants Nous font des bruyans reproches Sur nos rires indecents. 11 est des ames en peine, Dit le prStre interesse, C'est le jour des morts, mirliton ! mirlitaine ! Requiescant in pace ! Mir, in Keltic, signifies rage, or fury ; ton, a wave ; and teine, fire ; whence these apparently unmeaning syllables may be rendered " the fury of the waves ; the fury of the fire." The modern French mirliton is a child's whistle ; and the Ballad of Mirliton, the king's son who went whistling all over the world, is a nursery rhyme familiar to most French children. French scholars, however, do not know the origin of the word ; and even M. Littre does not suspect it. Tira lira la. This is a frequent chorus in French songs, and is composed of the Gaelic words tiorail, genial, mild, warm ; iorrach, quiet, peaceable ; and la, day ; 600 GAELIC CHORUSES ANT) DltTJIDICAL CHANTS. and was a Druidieal chant at the rising of the sun signifying Tiorail-iorra-la ! mild, peaceful day ! " Tra deri dera," says Charles Nodier, " is a chorus often sung in the joyous songs and dances of the French people." See Francisque Michel, Bictionnaire d' Argot. These syllables are the Gaelic Trath {tra) early, and doire, the woods, and : mean "early to the woods, to the woods," and are clearly Druidieal. Rumbelow was in early times the chorus or. burden of many songs both English and Scotch. "After the battle of Bannockburn," says Fabian, a citizen of London who wrote the Chronicles of England, " the Seottes, inflamed with pride, made this rhyme as followeth in derision of the English : — Maydens of England, sove may ye mourn For your lemans ye've lost at Baanockisburne, With heie and lowe ! What weeneth the kyng of Englande, So soon to have won Seotlande With rumbylowe ! " The word is traceable to the Gaelic riomball, a circle ; riombattach, circuitous ; riomballachd, circularity. The perversion of so many of these once s r cred chants to the service of the street ballad, may well suggest the trite remark of Hamlet to Horatio : — To what base uses may we come at last ! zfc Tp -}? tt tP TT Imperial Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay, May stop a hole to keep the winds away. The hymns once sung by thousands of deep-voiced priests marching in solemn pro- cession from their mystic Circles or Clachans to salute with music and song, and reverential homage, the rising of the glorious orb which cheers and fertilizes the world, the gift as well as the emblem of Almighty Power and Almighty Love, have whollyt departed from the recollection of men, and their poor dishonoured relics are spoken of by scholars and philosophers, as trash, gibberish, nonsense, and an idle farrago of sounds, of no more philological value than the lowing of cattle or the bleating of sheep. But I trust that all attentive readers of the foregoing pages will look upon the old choruses — so sadly perverted in the destructive progress of Time, that demolishes languages as well as empires and systems of religious belief— with something of the respect due to their immense antiquity, and their once sacred functions in a form of worship, which, whatever were its demerits as compared with the purer religion that has taken its place, had at least the merit of incul- cating the most exalted ideas of the Power, the Love, and the wisdom of the Great Creator. GAELIC CHORUSES AND DRU1DICAL CHANTS. 601 NOTES. To the Editor of the. "Oban Times." Deab Me. Ei>iTOB,r-What Johnson asserted in his world-renowned epitaph on Goldsmith, we dare assert of Dr. Charles Mackay. " Qui nullum fere scribendi genus Non tetigit, Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit." " He leaves hardly anything unmeddled with, nor meddles he with anything but to embellish and adorn it !" His " Gaelic Choruses " have quite taken our fancy. With some pretensions to Keltic scholarship, and to a knowledge of all that is known of Druids and Druidism, yet are we vastly interested in our friend's " Ancient Choruses " as something absolutely new to us. The learned Doctor lets in a beam of kindly light upon a corner of literary archaeology that had hitherto been involved in total darkness. One " chorus," however, yet remains for him to unravel and spread out before us in its pristine Keltic form. It occurs in Boswell's " Tour to the Hebrides " in the following connexion : — " His notion (Johnson's) as to the poems published by Mr. Macpherson as the works of Ossian, was not shaken here. Mr. Macqueen always evaded the point of authenticity, saying only that Mr. Macpherson's pieces fell far short of those he knew in Erse, which were said to be Ossian's. Johnson — ' I hope they do. I am not disputing that you may have poetry of great merit, but that Macpherson is not a translation from ancient poetry. You do not believe it, I say before you. You do not believe, though you are willing that the world should believe it.' Mr. Macqueen ' made no answer to this. Dr. Johnson proceeded — ' I look upon Macpherson's Fingal to be as gross an imposition as ever the world was troubled with. Had it been really an ancient work — a true specimen of how men thought at that time — it would have been a curiosity of the first rate ; as a modern production it is nothing.' He said he never could get the meaning of an Erse son" explained to him. They told him the chorus was generally unmeaning. ' I take it,' said he, ' Erse songs are generally like a song which I remember : it was composed in Queen Elizabeth's time on the Earl of Essex, and the burthen was — Radarato, radarate, radara tadara tandore ! ' ' But surely ' said Mr. Macqueen, ' there were words to it which had meaning.' Johnson—' Why yes, sir, I recollect a stanza, and you shall have it. ! then bespoke the 'Prentices all, Living in London, both proper and tall, For Essex's sake they would fight all. Eadaratoo, radarate, radara tadara tandore ! ' " To this Boswell subjoins a note : — " This droll quotation I have since found was from a song in honour of the Earl of Essex, called ' Queen Elizabeth's Champion,' which is preserved in a collection of old ballads, in three volumes, published in London in different years, between 1720 and 1730. The full verse is as follows: — , , ,, ,„ ,. ,, Oh ! then bespoke the Prentices all, Living in London, both proper and tall, •* In a kind letter sent straight to the Queen, .Por Essex's sake they would fight all. Eadaratoo, radarate, Radara tadara tandore ! " 4 II 602 GAELIC CHORUSES AND DETIIDICAL CHANTS^ We mean that the learned Doctor should take our old Elizabethan chorus into avizandum, as the lawyers say, and tell us its real Keltic meaning; for a very old, ancient chorus it is', and pure Gaelic. We could give it here, but the whole subject is Dr. Mackay's preserve, and we hate anything like poaching.— I am, dear Mr. Editor, yours faithfully, Nethee Lochabeb. GAELIC CHORUSES IN ENGLISH POETRY. To the Editor of tie "Oban Times." I was not previously acquainted with the old Elizabethan chorus, which Dr. Johnson (moresuo with reference to all things Gaelic and Scottish) considered to be mere trash and gibberish, until my attention was drawn to it by your well-known and accomplished correspondent " Nether Lochaber." That such words should occur in a popular street ballad of London, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, when English intercourse with the Gaelic-speaking population of the Highlands and of Ireland, was so infrequent and slight, as to be next to imperceptible, shows how long and how deeply the language of the aboriginal Keltic population of England, remained upon the tongues, if not wholly in the mind of the English people. The chorus misquoted by Johnson, and misprinted by Boswell, would read in English rhyme, rhythm, and orthography as Radaratoo ! Radaratee ! Radara ! Tadara ! Tandoree ! In compliance with the request of Nether Lochaber, I have endeavoured to resolve these words into their original elements, and have come to the conclusion that the English • people, who generally eliminate the " g" in English words derived from the Gaelic [making for instance tilt out of the Gaelic tilgte, and lord out of lorgte~\ dropped the " g " in the very key-note of this chorus ; and that it ought to read Grad orra, tu 1 Grad orra, ti ! Grad orra ! Teth orra ! Tean do righe ! Another possible rendering is Grad orra an diugh 1 Grad orra an de ! Grad orra ! Teth orra ! Tean do righe ! If I am correct in either of these suppositions, which I put forth with all deference to native Gaelic scholars, such as the Rev. Mr. Stewart himself (Nether Lochaber), the chorus would seem to be a warlike exhortation to a champion about to do battle — or in plainer English, to a fighter about to fight, and to signify — Quick on them, thou ! Quick on them, with a will ! Quick on them ! Hot on them I Stretch forth thine arm ! If the second rendering be more correct than the first, the lines would signify GAELIC CHORUSES AND DB.TJIDICAL CHANTS. 603 Quick on them to-day ! Quick on them (as) yesterday ! Quick on them ! Hot on them ! Stretch forth thine arm ! I shall be curious to see if the interpretation which " Nether Lochaber " says he can afford corresponds with mine. — I remain yours truly, Charles Mackay. Oban, September 3, 1873. ANCIENT CHORUSES. To the Editor of the " Oban Times." Sie, — As to the Elizabethan chorus repeated by Boswell and growled over by Johnson — (after all, how interesting and loveable the pair-! never did mere human flint and steel interchange such living, lasting sparks !) — as to the chorus, I say, I think our friend Dr. Charles Mackay is very likely right. That it is the go-ahead, forward, fighting refrain of an old Keltic battle-piece is, I think, beyond question. The repetition of the broad vowel, and the reiteration of the ever- formidable R, seems to me to put its defiant, warlike character beyond doubt. The whole thing is to unriddle the riddle, to extract the ore, to lay bare the substratum of Keltic. That the learned Doctor is not right, I, for one, will not say. He who has done nine things out of ten things well, is most likely to do the tenth thing well also. It is only fair, however, to Dr. Mackay and to myself, who brought this very old and interesting song-burden into immediate notice, to give what struck me as being the interpretation ; and for all whom it may concern, here it is. First of all the chorus as in the Saxon ballad — In Keltic thus — " Eadaratoo, radaratee, Radara, tadara, tandoree V Rathad an diu' (dhuinn) rathad an de, Rathad, da rathad (dhuinn) deanabh dhuinn reith ! Suppose I put it into jingle, to please your innumerable versifiers in Oban and Lorn — ■ A clear path to-day to us, as yesterday, A path, e'en two paths for us, clear ye the way ! I prefer, where possible, to stick to the initials of words as best guiding us to the original puzzles of this kind. I may be wrong, and probably am, and my excellent friend Dr. Mackay right ; but right or wrong, I have given my verdict, and I only wish that a few of my " Keltic," " Ossianic,'' and other friends would give such an interesting subject some little share of their attention. — Believe me, Sir, yours, Nethee Lochabee. ANCIENT CHORUSES. To the Editor of the " Oban Times." Sie, — Would you kindly permit me a word regarding the Gaelic interpretation assigned in your columns by Dr. Charles Mackay, to the apparently meaningless refrain of an English sonc of the age of Elizabeth ! There can be no doubt that that gentleman is quite correct in his 604 GAELIC CHORUSES AND DffiUIDICAL CHANTS. rendering, which lifts the dense veil of ignorance from an interesting relic of more warlike times and men. What I miss, however, in Dr. Mackay's letter, is such a demonstration of the nature and necessity of the changes that the words of that martial refrain have passed through in the process of their long deoay, as would carry conviction to the great body of your readers To some of course the demonstration is so evident as to require no direct statement, but to others, a few words of explanation seem to be not out of place. The original Gaelic words are stated by Dr. Mackay to be — Grad orra tu ! Grad orra ti ! Grad orra ! Teth orra ! Tean do righe ! 1 Grad must become rat?, because a throat-letter like g always tends to disappear before a liquid such as r. In recitation by a people who knew not the meaning or true form of the words, this change becomes an absolute necessity. 2. Orra must become ara, as the strongly accented o of the first word forcibly assimilates to itself all the less accented vowels following. 3. Tu becomes too in English spelling, without any change in sound. Ti similarly becomes tee. 4. Teth. must become tad, the hard Gaelic th passing into the softer d, while the prevailing vowel a forces a change from e to a, altering teth into tad. 5. Tean must become tan, the shorter and narrower e preceding being swallowed up by the stronger a. 6. Righe must become rte, as the guttural gh cannot maintain its place between the two vowels. If this is true in Gaelic as spoken by people to whom it is full of meaning, how much more when sung or recited as foreign and unknown sounds. Prom all which it follows, that the martial refrain quoted above will necessarily decay into Eadara too ! Eadara tee ! Eadara ! Tadara ! Tan do ree ! The point I aim at is, that these are the very changes that must take place, sooner or later, and that if there can be said to be degrees of the inevitable, the changes are most inevitable, when, as in this case, the words sung or chanted are not understood by those who utter them. John St. Claie. Ewart Institute, Newton- Stewart, September 16, 1873. GILBERT AND BITINGTON, PBINTEES, ST. JOHN'S SQTJAEE, LONDON. ■m mfflw&fl&ffi.