268 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



cut of the physical, is also seen in the diverse application of the 

 word ; for, as we have just read of preventive medicine, so in 

 divinity you may read of "prevenient grace." 



These remarks, illustrations of which occur in what has just 

 preceded, and will occur in what is about to follow, may serve to 

 Bhow you that language must be studied genealogically. Indeed, 

 every word has a history ; and in the dictionaries, every account 

 given of a word ought to be a complete history of the word ; a 

 history of its origin, uses, and application, the one traced from 

 the other logically, or according to the laws of thought, and 

 philologically, or agreeably to the laws of language. Very 

 different, and very inferior, is the character of most dictionaries. 

 But to return to the subject of English prefixes. 



3, of Latin, or rather Greek origin, in the forms e, ef, ex, 

 denotes out of, as in egress (e and gradior, Lat. I walk), a walking 

 cut; excess (ex and cedo, Lat. I go), a going beyond that is, too 

 far ; effect (ef and facio, Lat. I do), a thing made out, produced; 

 a result. 



E. " All occasions must be taken of sending forth pious heavenly 

 ejaculations to God." Bishop Hall. 



Ex. " The ecclesiastical courts possessed the power of pronouncing 

 ^communication ; and that sentence, besides the spiritual conse- 

 quences supposed to follow from it, was attended with immediate 

 effects of the most Important nature. The person excommunicated 

 was shunned by every one as profane and impious; and his whole 

 estate, during his lifetime, and all his movables, for ever were forfeited 

 to the crown." Hume, "History of England." 



Ef. " Two white sparry incrustations, with e/florescences in form of 

 shrubs, formed by the trickling of water." Woodward, " On Fossils." 



En is a prefix found in the English, the French, and the Greek 

 languages. Into the English it appears to have come from the 

 Latin, through the French. Many words of Latin origin have 

 passed through the French into the English. En is the form in 

 Greek. In Latin, en becomes in. In French, both en and in 

 are used. The same is the case with the English. Though en 

 and in are the same particle, it may be advisable to handle them 

 separately, in order that their respective usages may become 

 apparent. 



En is found in the forms en, em. The prefix signifies in or 

 into, e.g. : 



" He (Samson) rises and carries away the gates wherein they thought 

 to have encaged him." Bishop Hall. 



So in encamp, encase, enchain, enchant, enclose (or inclose), en- 

 demic (en and demos, Gr. a people), peculiar to a district. En 

 sometimes has an intensive or augmentive effect on the verb of 

 which it forms a part; as in encourage, enfeeble, enkindle 

 (candle), encrease (increase), encumber (incumber, from the 

 French encombre, Lat. cumulus, a. heap). 



" Encumbered soon with many a painful wound, 

 Tardy and stiff he treads the hostile round; 

 Gloomy and fierce his eyes the crowd survey, 

 Mark where to fix and single out the prey." 



Bowie, " Pharsalia." 



En has also, though seldom, the force of a negative ; as in 

 enemy. Enemy is from the Latin inimicus, where the English 

 en represents the Latin in. Inimicus is made up of in, not; 

 and amicus, a friend. 



En, for the sake of euphony, becomes em before b and p; em- 

 bitter, emblem, embosom, embroil, emprison (imprison), employ, 

 mpoverish (impoverish). 



" At eve within yon studious nook, 

 I ope my brass-embossdd book, 

 Pourtrayed with many a holy deed, 

 Of martyrs crowned with heavenly meed." Warion. 



There ia a tendency to substitute i for e in many words. This 

 tendency deserves encouragement, if only for the sake of 

 uniformity. 



Enter, coming from the Latin (intra, within) through the 

 French (entre, between, among), is found in enterprise (enter and 

 Fr. prendre, Lat. prehendere, to take, to take hold of), an under- 

 taking ; also in enterment (in and terra, Lat. the earth), now 

 more common as interment. It is found also in entertain (Fr. 

 entretenir, Lat. inter and tenere, to Jwld). 



" His office was to give entertainment 

 A.ud lodging unto all that came arid went, 



Not unto such as could him feast againe, 



And double quite for that he on them spent ; 

 But such as want of harbour did constraine, 

 Those, for God's sake, his dewty was to entertaine." 



Spenser, "Faerie Queene." 



Epi, a prefix of Greek origin, from eiri (ep'-i), signifying upon, 

 as epidemic, upon or over (widely spread over) a people. .En- 

 demic declares that a disease is in-born, native to the soil ; 

 epidemic that it is very prevalent. Epi is found in epigram (epi 

 and the Greek ypa/j./j.a, pronounced gram'-ma, a writing, from the 

 verb fpa.<pia [graph'-o], I write), epilepsy (epi and A/^io, pro- 

 nounced leap'-si-a, a taking), epiphany (epi and Greek Qaivca, 

 pronounced phai'-no or fi'-no, I appear), epistle (epi and ffrf\\co, 

 pronounced stel'-lo, to send), etc. etc. 



" He that would write an epitaph for thee, 

 And do it well, must first begin to be 

 Such as thou wert ; for none can truly know 

 Thy wortb, thy life, but he that hath lived so." Donne. 



Equi, of Latin origin (aequus, equal), denoting equality, forms 

 part of several words, as equipoise (equi and peser, Fr. to weigh; 

 pendere, Lat. to hang), equity; equivocal (equi and vox, Lat. a 

 voice). 



" Faith ! here's an eqwivocator that could swear in both the scales 

 against either scale; who committed treason enough in God's sake, 

 yet could not equivocate to heaven ; oh, come in, egitivocator." Shake- 

 speare, "Macbeth." 



Es, of French origin (Lat. e, ex), is in English found in words 

 borrowed from the French, as in escalade (es and scala, Lat. a 

 ladder), a scaling (of a city), escape (Fr. echapper, to get away), 

 escheat (old Fr. escheoir, to fall due), a forfeit, eschew (old Fr. 

 eschever, to shun), escutcheon (es and scutum, Lat. a shield). 



" Hence without blushing (say whate'er we can) 

 We more regard the escutcheon than the man; 

 Yet, true to nature and her instincts, prize 

 The hound or spaniel as his talent lies." Cawthorn. 



Eu, of Greek origin (eu, pronounced you), signifying well, 

 occurs in ephony (eu and the Greek q>u>vi), pronounced pho'-ne, 

 a sound), euthanasia (eu and the Greek Oavaros, pronounced 

 than'-a-tos, death), a happy death; the eu in ewnuch is a part of 

 the word ; eunuch being from the Greek evvri, pronounced n'-ne, 

 a bed, and ex*"* ek'-o, to have, or have charge of ; eunuchs were 

 chamberlains. Men were made eunuchs by the jealousy of 

 Eastern despots. They were also made so in order to give them 

 a contralto voice. The latter fact is well alluded to in this 

 quotation : 



" Our present writers, for the most part, seem to lay the whole 

 stress in their endeavours upon the harmony of words ; but then, like 

 eunuchs, they sacrifice their manhood for a voice, and reduce our 

 poetry to be like echo, nothing but a sound." Lansdown, " Peleus and 

 Thetis." 



Ever, of Saxon origin, signifying ahvays, is seen in everlasting, 

 evermore ; evermore appears in the older writers as evermo. 



"I shall readily grant that the words for ever and ever-lasting do 

 not always, in Scripture, signify an endless duration." Barrow, 

 " Sermons." 



Extra, of Latin origin, with the meaning out of, appears in 

 eatfraneous, out of (not belonging to) the subject ; earfroordinary 

 (extra and ordo, Lat. order), out of the usual order. 



" Some lands, either because they were in the hands of irreligious 

 and careless owners, or were situate in forests and desert places, or 

 for other now unsearchable reasons, were never united to any parish, 

 and therefore continue to this day extra-parochial." Blackstone, " Com- 

 mentaries." 



For, of Saxon origin, whose original is probably found in the 

 German ver, which denies and reverses the action expressed in 

 the verb, occurs in forbid (not to bid ; that is, to bid not). 



" Rather how hast thou yielded to transgress, 

 The strict /orbiddance, how to violate 

 The sacred fruit /orbidd'n." Milton, "Paradise lost." 



For is found also in /orbear, not to bear or take; to abstain. 

 " Phidias, when he had made the statue of Minerva, could not /or- 

 bear to engrave his own name, as author of the piece." Dry den. 



Fore, a different word from the preceding, of Saxon origin (vor, 



