40 FUElXn's LATIN LEXICON, 



The lexicon which we now bring into notice appears not to be an 

 abridgement ol' the large work, and yet exhibits some of its most im- 

 portant features. It purports to contain all the words of the old Latin 

 language, including the proper names, until the decline of the Roman 

 Empire in the west. Also the most important of the middle and new 

 Latin words, namely those which have passed over into the modern Eu- 

 ropean languages, as also the Latin and latinized expressions used in the 

 arts of Medicine, Surgery, Anatomy, Chemistry, Zoology, Botany, etc. 

 The distinction between the classic and unclassic words, is clearly made 

 throughout the work, whilst the Ciceronean phraseology is made the 

 classic basis. 



From the translated prclacc to the larger work, wo learn the princi- 

 ples which guided the author in the construction of his dictionary. — 

 Lexicography, he slates, is the science which sets forth the nature of 

 eveiy simple word of a language throifgh all the periods of its existence. 

 The history of a word is external and internal. The former unfolds its 

 outer nature, viz. form, class, syntactical relations, Slc. The latter ex- 

 hibits its meaning. Uncr the external history of a word are embraced 

 the grammatical and etymological elements. Under the internal are in- 

 cluded the exegelical element; the synono7iious, which compares and 

 distinguishes words resembling each other in meaning ; the chronological^ 

 which teaches to what time a word, or form, or meaning belongs ; the 

 rhetorical, which informs us whether a word belongs to prose or poetry, 

 whether it is a technical term of religion, rhetoric, philosophy, Slc. ; 

 and the slalislical, which stales whether a word is of frcepicnt or rare 

 occurrence. 



Now let us ascertain whether in the smaller work these elements 

 are recognized, and how they are worked out. Under the grammatical 

 element we find all the words referred to in the preface of the large 

 work. Baculum — i. n. {haculus — i. m.) seldom and unclassical. Ad^ 

 prep, with the accusative, also a/, old form ar, as arbiter for adbiter, 

 from adbito ; see the verb. It is contrasted with ah, which expresses 

 whence, and, iii, into. 



T'he etymological clement, wliilst it docs not reject comparative phi- 

 lology, is restricted to the elucidation of the origin of the word under 

 consideration. The author docs not suppose that it is within the pro- 

 vince of a lexicon of a single language to trace out the comparative 

 method to its ultimate results. Take the verb /ero as an illustration : — 

 Ftro, tuli, latum, ferre. The reduplicated form of the perfect ieiuli, 

 Plautus ; telulisli, Altius ; tetulil, Plautus ; letulerunt, Lucretius ; tetii- 

 lissem, Terence ; tetulesse, tetulcso, tetulerit, Fkutus. Fcro compared 



