keeping his face in the opposite direction. Backward and Forward denote literally, in the direction of the back and the fore part or face of the human body and, metaphorically, point to the past and to the future in respect to time, or in any other allusion in which we can conceive the words to apply. We say that a man is backward, when he hesitates to do what we require; and he who obtrudes himself upon others is a forward man. The season is said to be forward, or backward, (anciently LATEWARD) according as vegetation is advanced, or retarded. It is in a state of FORWARDNESS, or BACKWARDNESS. BACKWARDLY and FORWARDLY are adverbs; and TO FORWARD is a verb. He who forwards or hastens an action is a FORWARDER. In old English we have the substantives VAWARD and REARWARD, designating the fore (van) and rear divisions of an army. Hind, aft, and back, according to Mr. Tooke, had originally the same meaning. In the oldest usage that we have seen, AFT denotes the RUMP or posterior part of an animal. It is that which follows last in the order of motion, or, metaphorically, in the succession of time. Fore and aft are head and tail, beginning and end. Aft is now only known in the sea phrase, "fore and aft," meaning the fore and after parts of a ship. The Saxon preposition be-aftan (contractedly bæftan) after, or behind, produced the old English adverb ABAFT, on the be-aft part, which, we believe, is still heard on shipboard. AFTER is more aft, or following the latter part of the object, act, or time of which we speak, and is a preposition, an adjective, or an adverb, according as it is applied. It preserves the same meaning when compounded with other words, to which it is in some cases a prefix, and in others a termination. AFTERWARDS is following in the order of time, in which it is sometimes superseded, we think improperly, by after. AFTER ALL Occurs so frequently that its parts must soon be conjoined. It is already marked as an adverb in the Dictionaries. After, as following, is a synonyme of according to, or like to, that is, following the manner or appearance of. "God made man after his own image." It is only by degrees that derivative meanings become separate words by changing their orthography. The old English eft not only meant after in the order of time, but again and oft. In the first usage, when the interval was overlooked, EFT stood for immediately, and EFTSOONS, or soon after, made the expression more decisive, but neither of these adverbs is now written. The Saxon eft, afterwards, was also equivalent to the Latin iterum, again. It expressed going aft, or aft, that is, back to the place from whence we came; and was a common prefix in such cases as we now put re, or retro. To go back is to repeat the journey, and when the number of repetitions was left indefinite, the word acquired the distinguishing orthography Oft, the precursor of the English ad verb OFT and the Scotch Aft. To go Oft is, literally, to return to the same place, and in a consequent sense, repeatedly. OFTEN (epuivalent to many) is an adjective usage of Oft, formed like golden, and silken, from an old form of the genitive, and has the comparison OFTENER and OFTENEST. In old English, Oft was confined to the repetition of an act, OFTSYTHES being written where we now say OFTTIMES, OFTENTIMES, or merely OFTEN leaving the word times (anciently SITHES OF SYTHES) to be understood. Often as an adjective may be seen in the New Testament, 1 Tim. v. 23. The phrase in Wiclif's translation is, "for thin ofte fallynge ynfirmytees." This derivation of Oft will be further elucidated when we come to speak of the adverb AGAIN and the inseparable preposition RE. UNOFTEN, for not often, is old and useless. To and FRO, when they refer to motion in general, are adverbs and equivalent to forwards and backwards. When a place or point of time is specified, the words become prepositions, and Fro is changed into FROM; as he came to London from Paris:' but, whether they be used as prepositions, or as adverbs, the change of place, or of time, is always understood. Before the object of which we speak, began to move, it was ON, or IN, a certain body, or place; and Or which it might, then, have been, metaphorically, considered as a part. At the instant of its motion, it went OFF (or from,) TOWARDS, or in the direction of, another body or place, the goal of its destination. When it arrived at the end of its journey, the Towards ceased, and the To became Ar, the Latin ad. It was ON or added to the body Ar which it stopped: the two were united into one, [see page xxxiii.] The adverb Too expresses a degree of quantity, or quality, over or beyond what is requisite. The object may be too small, or too large; too low, or too high; too early, or too late, for our purpose. The adverbs TO-DAY, TO-NIGHT, and To-MORROW have been already mentioned. [pp. xlv.xlvi.] They are, in fact, substantives, and are frequently so used. TOGETHER, jointly, and ALTOGETHER, wholly, are obvious compounds. ALLTOGETHER, when it refers to the assemblage, or action, of many, should either have the hyphen, or be written in separate words. The adjective ToWARD or TOWARDLY, and the corresponding substantives, TOWARDNESS and TOWARDLINESS, designate the quality and the state of being easily directed to any object which we may have in view; but they are more seldom written than their negatives, UNTOWARD, or UNTOWARDLY, and UNTOWARDNESS, which refer to such things as are either adverse, or not easily turned to our purpose. Untowardly is better applied as an Adverb. "They were untoward circumstances, they happened very untowardly; but toward and towardly can scarcely be so distinguished. AWKWARD, AWKWARDLY, and AwKWARDNESS (also written AUKWARD, AUKWARDLY and AUKWARDNESS,) are, in many cases, synonymous with untoward, untowardly, and untowardness; but their origin is different. The old English AwKE or AUKE, signified left, in the sense of the Latin Sinister which we have Anglicized in the adjectives SINISTER and SINISTROUS and the adverbs SINISTERLY and SINISTROUSLY, in order to qualify things and events that are unlucky, or not of the right kind. The Awke hand was the left hand, and to do any thing AWKELY was to do it Awkwardly or lefthandedly,—absurdly and out of the common way. FROWARD differs from untoward in degree. It is not merely the negative, but the opposite of toward. The simple opposite of toward would be FROM WARD, and this word has been sometimes written; but froward is not only away from but designedly in that direction for the words FROWARD, FROWARDLY, and FROWARDNESS are applied solely to designate the intention of the mind. In the same manner, the obsolete word AWAYWARD denotes merely in the direction of the road that leads from the object; but WAYWARD, WAYWARDLY, and WAYWARDNESS imply an obstinacy of mind that will have its own way. The distinction between words that are apparently synonymous is best discovered by grouping them together, as we have done in the preceding paragraph. The adjectives untoward, awkward, wayward and froward seem to rise upon one another. Untoward is simply unsuitable, or inconvenient if in one's way; awkward is clumsy in action, or in result; wayward is wilful, obstinate, but not necessarily for a bad purpose; and forward is with an evil design, intentionally to thwart, or oppose. Sinister in the literal sense, as "the sinister hand" for the left hand; "the sinister side" for the left side, &c. was once common but is not now written. It is a word of evil omen and characterizes an unfortunate event, whether proceeding from a malicious being, or some fortuitous cause. We máy further observe of sinister that it can apply only to events, or to the motives by which they are caused. We may speak of an untoward, awkward, wayward or froward man; but not of a sinister man: though we may suspect him of harbouring sinister, or sinistrous, intentions towards another. He is said to look upon his neighbour with an evil eye. HIGH and Low, in their literal sense, refer to place, and are relative adjectives: marking the greater or less distance from the earth, or rather from its centre. Up and Down are either the corresponding adverbs or prepositions, accordingly as they refer to verbs or to nouns. ADOWN for Down is becoming old. UPWARD and DOWNWARD are adjectives which specify the direction in which any thing lies. UPWARDS and DOWNWARDS also specify direction; but they are adverbs, and refer to motion, in the change of place. Up and Down are sometimes used substantively, as in the metaphorical phrase, “ the Ups and Downs of life." Mr. Horne Tooke derives Down from the Saxon verb dufian, to sink, plunge, dive, or dip. "The Anglo-Saxons," says he, "use indifferently for the past participle of Durian, either Dured, or Duren, or Doren. I suppose this same verb to have been variously pronounced, 66 Dorian Doren, Doven, Dovn, Doun, Down, DON If the preceding etymologies be accurate, it would appear that Down, Dive, Dip, Dun, and Den are kindred words, varying in their orthography according to the different modes in which they are applied. Those distinctions will be afterwards noticed in the Dictionary; but it must appear strange that, while the word Down and all its connexions invariably allude to descent, to the passing from a higher to a lower state, the same orthography should also signify a Hill. The Dutch duynen are mounds of sand, which line many parts of the sea-shores of that country; and THE DOWNS, a Roadstead for ships, on the Kentish coast, is so called in consequence of its being protected by the Godwin sands. The Saxon dun denoted a hill or rising ground generally; and the Surrey hills (as well as some others) so famous, for sheep pasture, are still called Downs. Mr. Tooke takes no notice of this apparent discrepancy between the noun and the adverb; but contents himself with ridiculing the contradictory definitions of Dr. Johnson. We will hazard a few remarks on the subject : ، It is an old saying that extremes meet;' and this will be found true in the names, as well as in the things themselves. A state is often, if not always, conjoined in the mind with its opposite; because, to use the language of the mathematician, their limits are the same. There can be no height without a hollow, no mountain without a vale. It is hence that relations, which seem, at first sight, to be the reverse of one another, are frequently denoted by words of a like etymology. In fact, the names are, originally, the same; and they assume a different orthography, only when the speaker attempts to distinguish them apart, without adverting to their necessary connexion. A CAVE or COVE, for example, is a vaulted space below ground, and the name is assuredly akin to the word COVER. Without a Cover there would be no Cave; and nevertheless the Cover is no part of the contained space. It is a boundary but not the thing bounded. One, however, cannot be conceived to exist without the other; and they have had, in consequence, the same name. Again, when cutting a trench, or a moat, for the purpose of enclosing a field, or of checking the approach of an enemy, the earth is, usually, thrown up so as to form a bank, or mound, along the side of the trench, or the moat. The result of the labour may be considered under two points of view it may apply to the hollow that is excavated, or to the bank that is raised. In either case, however, our ancestors called it a DIKE, from the verb TO DIG; and the word has one, or other, of those meanings, in old English, according as the trench, or the bank, was the prominent object in the mind of the writer. Even at the present day DIKE and DITCH are confounded in the different counties.* A Ditch is always a trench, or cut; but a Dike (or dig) is a trench, (with or without water,) in some counties; while in others it is a raised fence, of earth, or of stone. It was from a similar origin that the Latin vallum acquired the twofold signification of a moat and of a wall. The Saxon huge was both a mountain and a vale. STEEP and DEEP are correlative terms, which, in their origin, are each equivalent to the Latin altus; and the sloping side of a hill is an ACCLIVITY, or a DECLIVITY, according as we direct our view. To LET is not only to allow, but also to hinder; and NERVOUS is weak as well as strong. It is curious to trace the progress of a word, through its varied orthographies, until it separates into different, and even, apparently, contradictory significations. Numerous examples will be found in the dictionary ; but the following will not be deemed inapplicable to the present subject. The Saxon hyll, is a hill, or mountain; and helan, or hilan, is to cover or conceal. What is covered is a hole or gulf; and, in the same language, the same word (hyll) denoted the bottomless pit, HELL. The hills of the Gothic nations were always hollow. They were scooped from the vales; and covered the abodes of imaginary beings, the Dunelves of the Saxons and the Fairies of more modern mythology. But, setting aside fiction, there is, in many nations, an intimate connexion between the mountain and the mine. The German and Swedish Berg is a mountain; and the Bergmann, or Bergman, is a miner. The reason is obvious: in those countries, the miners are the men of the mountains. The French berger is a shepherd. Camden observes that Solinus called the Cornish men Dunmonii," which name seems to come from their dwelling there † See, BARK, BURY, SHELL, &c. * See Dike and Ditch, page xxiii. S |