and by this Means, the prefent common Speech of England is for the greatest Part of a Saxon and French Original.

BUT as for our Technical Words, or Terms of Art and Science, we, like the reft of the Nations of Europe, have fetch'd them from the Greeks and Latins, together with the Arts and Sciences themfelves. WE have likewife, by Commerce and Converfe, introduced many Words from the French, Danes, Germans, Italians, &c.

By this Coalition of Languages, and by the daily Custom of Writers to introduce any emphatical and fignificant Words, that by Travels or Acquaintance with foreign Languages they find, has fo enriched the English Tongue, that it is become the moft copious in Europe; and I may (I believe) venture to fay in the whole World: So that we scarce want a proper Word to exprefs any Thing or Idea, without a Periphrafis, as the French, &c. are frequently obliged to do, by Reafon of the Scantinefs of their Copia Verborum.

THIS Copioufnefs of the English Tongue, rendring it not poffible to be comprized in the firft Volume, has been the Occafion, and the general Acceptance that my Labours therein have met with, the Encouragement, for my Proceedure in it, and prefenting the World, with this Second, in order to render this Dictionary as complete, as I am capable.

BUT befides what I would before have inferted in the firft Volume, had there been Room, I have fince found many Words, and Terms of Art, and have had others communicated to me by fome Perfons of generous and communicative Difpofitions, and have alfo added to this much other ufeful Matter, not at all in the former.

AND whereas bare verbal Defcriptions and Explications of many Things, efpecially in Heraldry and the Mathematicks, produce but a feint and imperfect Idea of them in the Mind, I have here given Cuts or engraven Schemes, for the more clear apprehending them.

AND it being fo common with our modern Poets, to interfperfe the Grecian and Roman Theology, Mythology, &c. in their Works, an Unacquaintance with which renders their Writings either obfcure, or at leaft lefs intelligible and tafteful to the Readers, I have in this Volume taken Notice of the most material Parts of the Accounts we have of their Gods, Goddeffes, Oracles, Auguries, Divinations, &c.

AND as there has been among the Ancients, and is not yet grown out of Ufe, a Sort of Language called Hieroglyphical, i. e. expreffing Matters by the Forms of Animals, Vegetables, &c. in Painting or Sculpture, I have interfperfed in their proper Places the most material Remains we meet with in Authors of thofe myfterious Characters, for Affiftance of fuch as defire to be acquainted with the Dialect of fuch fpeaking Pictures, as our Oxford Almanacks were wont to be, and fuch Hiftories in Sculpture, as that on the North Side of the Mnument near London- Bridge.

AND again, for the better Understanding of Hiftory-Painting, I have here described in what Form, Poftures, Dreffes, and with what Infignia, Statuaries, Carvers and Painters, ancient and modern, have

and

and do reprefent the Heathen Gads, Goddeffes, Nymphs, Heroes, Virtues, Vices, Paffions, Arts, Sciences, Months, &c. and thro' the Whole there are inferted many Curiofities too many here to be mentioned.

AND forafmuch as many Perfons of a fmall Share of Literature, and not very converfant in Books, are frequently apt to accent Words wrong, especially thofe that are Technical, and fuch as are not the moft common, Í have placed an Accent on that Syllable, on which the Strefs of the Voice fhould be laid in pronouncing: And here I would defire the favourable Cenfure of Criticks, in that I have not confined myself to the placing it always on the Syllable that the Greeks have; because they would, if fo accented, frequently found very uncouth, and harth to English Ears, and very diffonant to the Genius of the English Tongue.

As to the Method of this Volume, it is exactly the fame as the first, and as to the Etymology, where I could not find any Original, I have in their Stead writ (Incert. Etym,) i. e. the Etymology is uncertain. Tho' I am perfuaded that many, nay moft of our common Words (excepting fuch as are humorous or canting) do owe their Original to the Saxon Language. But the Saxons having been a warlike People, who minded Fighting more than Writing, and the Art of Printing being not then found out, has been the Occafion that there were few Books in the World in thofe Times, and the greateft Part of them probably deftroyed by the Normans, and the Iron Teeth of Age having been gnawing the Remains of them for now near feven hundred Years, it is no Wonder, that what is left is fo imperfect.

BUT having in the Introduction to the Firft Volume given an Account more at large by what Steps and Gradations our English Tongue is come to be what it now is, from what it anciently was, and not having Room here to expatiate, I fhall defift, hoping that thefe my Labours may be both as acceptable and ferviceable to my Countrymen, as they have been laborious to me in the Compiling.

AND for the Satisfaction (but not the Imitation) of the Curious, I have added a Collection of Words, &c. ufed by the Canting Tribe.

N. BAILEY.

ALPHABETS of the English, Saxon, Greek, and Hebrew Characters, parallel'd for the Ufe of thofe who would acquaint themselves with the Etymological Words.

English Capitals,

O. English Capitals,
Saxon Capitals,

Greek Capitals,
English fmall,

O. English small,
Saxon fmall,

Greek fmall,
Hebrew,

a b c d e

b

IKA M hik 1 m

f g h i k l m

F

hi

k 1

E LD

מ ל ק י ה ג

N O P Q R S T VU W X Y Z

DDDRSTH

RSTV W X Y Z

P Σ Τ

v u

n O P q r f t
no p q r ft vu

Ꮓ

A NEW

Etymological and Explanatory

ENGLISH DICTIONARY.

A

A B

A

A or AA or Æ is

a Roman Character, A Italick, alufed in prefcriptions, and denotes fimply equal Old English, a Greek, Hebrew, parts of the ingredients therein mentioned. are the first letters of the alphabet; and in all languages, ancient and modern, the character appropriated to the fame found, is the first letter, except in the Abyssine, i. e. a people of Ethiopia.

This letter has in the English language, three different founds, the broad, open, and flender; the broad refembling the German a in our monofyllables all, wall, malt, falt; in which a is pronounced as au în caufe, or aw in law; many of which words were anciently written with au, as fault, waulk; which happens to be ftill retained in fault.

A open, not unlike the a of the Italians, is found in father, rather, and more obfcurely in fancy, faft, &c.

A flender or clofe is the peculiar a of the English language, refembling the found of the French e mafculine, or diphthong ai in païs, or perhaps a middle found between them, or between the a and e, as in the words place, face, waste, and all those that terminate in ation; as relation, nation, generation.

A is fhort, as grafs, glass; or long, as graze, glaze; it is marked long, generally, by an e final, as plane, or by an i added, as plain.

A is fometimes redundant; as arife, aroufe, awake, the fame with rife, roufe, wake. A [among Logicians] is used to denote an univerfal affirmative propofition; according to the verse,

Afferit A, negat E, verum generaliter amba.

Thus in the first mood, a fyllogifm confifting of three univerfal affirmative propofitions, is faid to be in Bar-ba-ra. The A thrice repeated denoting fo many of the propofitions to be universal.

AAA (with Chymifts) is sometimes used to fignify Amalgama or Amalgamation.

AB, at the beginning of English Saxon names, is generally a contraction of Abboz, i. e. an Abbot or Abby; fo that as to the names of places, it may be generally concluded, that the place belonged to a monastery elfewhere, or that there was one there.

AB (of N, a father, Heb.) according to the Jewish computation, is the 11th month of their civil, and the 5th of their ecclefiaftical year, which latter begins with the month Nifan, and the former answering to part of our July.

The Jews obferve the firft day of this month as a faft, on account of the death of Aaron, and the 9th on account of the burning of Solomon's temple by the Chaldeans; and alfo of the building of the fecond temple, after the captivity by the Romans: and alfo in remembrance of the edict of the emperor Adrian, whereby they were banished out of Judea, and forbid fo much as to look back towards Jerufalem, tho' at a distance, with defign to lament the ruin of it.

They have also a notion, that on this day, the perfons who were fent as fpies by Jebua from the camp, returned to the camp and engaged the people in rebellion.

They likewife obferve the 18th of this month as a faft, on account of the going out of the lamp in the Sanctuary that night, in the time of king Abaz.

ABACUS (ACanos, Gr.) a counting table, anciently used in calculations: this was fometimes a board covered with fand, duft, &c. fifted evenly upon it, on which Geometricians, &c. used to draw their schemes.

B

ABACUS