A

HIGH-SCHOOL

DICTIONARY

OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

EXPLANATORY, PRONOUNCING, AND SYNONYMOUS.
WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING VARIOUS USEFUL TABLES.
MAINLY ABRIDGED FROM THE LATEST EDITION OF THE
QUARTO DICTIONARY OF

NOAH WEBSTER, LL.D.,

BY WILLIAM G. WEBSTER

AND

WILLIAM A. WHEELER.

3llustrated with more than Three Hundred Engravings on Wood.

IVISON, BLAKEMAN, TAYLOR & CO.
NEW YORK AND CHICAGO.

PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. CINCINNATI: WILSON, HINKLE
& CO. SPRINGFIELD, MASS.: G. & C. MERRIAM.

9245,30.5

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

GIFT OF

MR. & MRS. HENRY H. BOND
AUGUST 31, 1933

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by

G. & C. MERRIAM,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE:

ELECTROTYPED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY.

N

PREFACE.

THE first edition of this work, which is mainly an abridgment of the AMERICAN DICTIONARY of Dr. WEBSTER, was published in 1848, under the editorial care of Dr. Webster's son, Mr. William G. Webster, who, nine years later, or in 1857, prepared a very careful revision and improvement of the same. The design, as stated by Mr. Webster in the Preface to the latter edition, was "to furnish a vocabulary of the more common words which constitute the body of our language, with many technical terms in the sciences and arts."

With the view of bringing it in all important respects into conformity with the revised edition of the American Dictionary published in 1864, the work has now been reviewed and corrected throughout by the subscriber, who has availed himself of the opportunity thus presented to introduce several new features, although he has adhered to the general plan of the previous editions. Of the additions which have been made, the most important are the Principles of Pronunciation and the Rules for Spelling, in the Introduction, and, in the Appendix, the pronouncing vocabularies of Greek and Latin Names, of Scripture Names, and of Modern Biographical Names, the pronouncing and explanatory list of Christian Names, the explanatory table of Arbitrary Signs used in Writing and Printing, and the list of Prefixes and Suffixes. Distributed throughout the Dictionary are upward of 300 wood-cuts, skillfully engraved, and designed to serve not as mere embellishments of the book, but as veritable illustrations of the worls under which they are given. The vocabulary has been considerably enlarged, and now comprises an aggregate of nearly 27,000 words, all of which are in current or occasional use at the present day. To many of the words are attached numerical references to the principles of pronunciation or the rules of orthography which these words exemplify. Etymologies have now and then been introduced in the hope of attracting the attention of young students, and of stimulating in them a desire to learn more of the origin, structure, and affinities of our language.

In the hands of an accomplished teacher, this volume may be maae highly useful in schoos, since it furnishes material for a valuable course of exercises on words, including their orthography, pronunciation, definition, composition, syllabication, and the like.

WILLIAM A. WHEELER.

A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 25 to 338.

METRIC SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

ARBITRARY SIGNS

WORDS, PHRASES, ETC., FROM THE GREEK, THE LATIN, AND MODERN

PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS

388, 389

390, 391

SOUNDS.

Oil, Join, Oyster, Toy.
Out, Hound, Owl, Vowel.

CONSONANTS.

C, C, soft, like s sharp, as in. Çede, Accept.
€, e, hard, like k, as in. Call, Coneur.
Ch, ch (unmarked), as in. Child, Touch.
Ch, ch, soft, like sh, as in. Chaise, Machine.
Eh, eh, hard, like k, as in. Chorus, Eeho.
G, g, hard, as in
Get, Tiger.
Ġ, g, soft, like j, as in Gem, Engine.
S, s, sharp (unmarked), as in Same, Rest.
$, §, flat or vocal, like z, as in Haş, Amuşe.

When one letter of an improper diphthong, or of a triphthong, is marked, it is to be taken as repreBenting the sound of the combination, and the letter or letters which are not marked are to be regarded as silent; as in aim, clean, ceil, people, route, soul, journal, tow, &c. The combined letters ce, ci, sci, se, si, or ti, occurring before a vowel in a syllable immediately preceded by an accented syllable, are generally equivalent to sh; as in o'cean, cetaceous, social, logi'cian, suspicion, auspi'cious, con/science, nauseous, controversial, dissen'sion, ini'tial, ora'tion, fictitious, &c. Such syllables are not always respelled. as, in general, they will naturally be pronounced correctly by an English speaker. But in all exceptional, doubtful, or difficult cases, the appropriate respelling is used.

ACCENT.-The principal accent is denoted by a heavy mark; the secondary, by a lighter mark; as in Su'perintend'ent. In the division of words into syllables, these marks, besides performing their proper office, supply the place of the hyphen, except in some compound and derivative words. (v)