262 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



open- a latent motive is that which a person inten- 

 tionally, though not justifiably, keep* to himself; an 

 occult science is one that is hidden from the view of 

 persona in general, which is attainable but by few; 

 occult causes or qualities are those which He too remote 

 to be discovered by the inq operations of 



Providence are amid to be mysterious, aa they are alto- 

 lether past our finding out. 



T.. >,-,-. IVn.-m-. On,,-rxe. T:-.e * MM ** 

 the mind is absent; the mind and the eye or other 

 MOMS perceive in conjunction: hence, we may say that 

 a person sees, but does not perceive; we observe not 

 mereJ>iw a simple act of the mind, but by its ix.sitive 



To 8em, Appear. Seem is said of that which is 

 dubious, contingent, or future; appear, of that which 

 is actual, positive, and past. A thing seems strange 

 which we are led to conclude as strange from what we 

 see of it; a thing appears clear when we have a clear 

 conception of it. 



Seavoallfti Vnlupni:ir\. Kplrure. The sensualist 

 Ihres for the indulgence of hi? senses; the voluptuary is 

 devoted to his pleasures, and. as far as these pleasures 

 are the pleasures of sense, the voluptuary is a sensualist; 

 the epicure is one who makes the pleasures of sense his 

 god. and in this sense he is a sensualist and a voluptuary. 

 In the application of these terms, however, the sensual- 

 ist is one who is.a slave to the grossest appetites; the 

 voluptuary is one* who studies his pleasures so as to make 

 them the moot valuable to himself; the epicure is a 

 species of voluptuary who practices more than ordinary 

 refinement in the choice of his pleasures. 



. Hurl. Close* When a work is published in dis- 

 tinct parts, those which follow at the end may be termed 

 the sequel; if it appears all at once, the concluding 

 paces are the close. 



Servant, Dome>ti< . "Mi nial. Drudge. In the term 

 servant is included the idea of the service performed; 

 in the term domestic, the idea of one belonging to the 

 house or family; in the word menial is included the idea 

 of labor; and the term drudge, that of drudgery. 



Shade, Shadow. Both these terms express that 

 darkness which is occasioned by the sun's rays being 

 intercepted by any body; but shade simply expresses 

 the absence of the light, and shadow signifies also the 

 figure of the body which thus intercepts the light. 



Sharp, Acute, Keen. The general property ex- 

 pressed by these epithets is that of sharpness, or an 

 ability to cut. The term sharp, in German, etc., scharf, 

 from scheren, to cut, is generic and indefinite; the two 

 others are modes of sharpness differing in the circum- 

 stance or the degree; the acute is not only more than 

 sharp in the common sense, but signifies also sharp- 

 pointed: a knife may be sharp; but a needle is properly 

 acute. Things are sharp that have either a long or a 

 pointed edge; but the Keen is applicable only to the 

 long edge; and that in the highest degree of sharpness: 

 a common knife may be sharp; but a razor or a lancet 

 are properly said to be keen. 



^Imrt, Brief, Concise, Succinct, Summary. We 

 may term a stick, a letter, or a discourse, short ; but we 

 speak of brevity only in regard to the mode of speech; 

 conciseness and succinctness as to the matter of speech; 

 summary as to the mode either of speaking or acting: 

 the brief is opposed to the prolix; the concise and suc- 

 cinct to the diffuse; the summary to the circumstantial 

 or ceremonious. 



show, exhibition, Representation, Sight, Spec- 

 tin I c. The show consists of that which merely pleases 

 the eye; it is not a matter either of taste or art, but 

 merely of curiosity; an exhibition, on the contrary, 

 presents some effort of talent or some work of genius; 

 and a representation sets forth the image or imitation 

 of something by the power of art: hence we speak of a 

 show of wild beasts; an exhibition of paintings; and a 

 theatrical representation; sights and spectacles present 

 themselves to view. Whatever is to be seen to excite 

 notice is a sight; a spectacle, on the contrary, is that 

 species of sight which has something in it to interest 

 either the heart or the head of the observer: processions 

 are sights; but battles or bull-fights are spectacles. 



McE Sickly, Diseased, Morbid. Sick denotes a 

 partial state, sickly a permanent state, of the body, a 

 pi-oneness to be sick; he who is sick may be made well; 

 but he who is sickly is seldom really well. Sickly ex- 

 presses a permanent state of indisposition unless other- 

 wise qualified; but diseased expresses a violent state of 



derangement without specifying its duration; sickly 

 1 morbid are applied to the habitual state of the 



and 



feelings or character: a sickly sentimentality; a morbid 

 sensibility. Morbid is used in no other, except in a 

 technical sense. 



Sign, Signal. The sign enables us to recognize an 



object; it is. therefore, sometimes natural; signal serves 

 B warning; it is always arbitrary. 



Simple. Single, Singular. We may speak of a 

 simple circumstance as independent of anything; of a 

 single instance or circumstance as unaccompanied by 

 any other; and a singular instance as one that rarely 

 has its like. 



*"i mutation, Dissimulation. Simulation is the 

 making one's self like what one is not; and dissimulation 

 is the making one's self appear unlike what one really 

 is. The hypocrite puts on the semblance of virtue to 

 recommeml himself to the virtuous; the dissembler 

 conceals his vices when he wants to gain the simple or 

 ignorant to his side. 



Slack, Loose. Slack is said only of that which is 

 tied, or that with which anything is tied; while loose is 

 said of any substances, the parts of which do not adhere 

 closely. 



To Slant, Slope. Slant is said of small bodies only; 

 slope is said indifferently of all bodies, large and small: 

 a book may be made to slant by lying in part on another 

 book on a desk or a table; but a piece of ground is said 

 to slope. 



To Slip, Slide, Glide. To slip is an involuntary, 

 and slide a voluntary, motion; tnose who go on the 

 ice in fear will slip: boys slide on the ice by way of 

 amusement. To slip and slide are lateral movements 

 of the feet; but to glide is the movement of the whole 

 body, and just that easy motion which is made by 

 slipping, sliding, flying, or swimming: a person glides 

 along the surface of the ice when he slides; a vessel 

 glides along through the water. 



To Soak, Drench, Steep. A person's clothes are 

 soaked in rain when the water has penetrated every 

 thread; he himself is drenched in the rain when it has 

 penetrated, as it were, his very body; to steep is a species 

 of soaking employed as an artificial process; to soak is. 

 however, a permanent action by which hard things are 

 rendered soft; to steep is a temporary action by which 

 soft bodies become penetrated with a liquid: thus salt 

 meat requires to be soaked; fruits are steeped in brandy. 



Social, Sociable. Social people seek others; so- 

 ciable people are sought for by others. 



Solicitation, Importunity. Solicitation is general; 

 importunity is particular: it is importunate or trouble- 

 some solicitation. Solicitation is itself indeed that, 

 which gives trouble to a certain extent, but it is not 

 always unreasonable: there may be cases in which 

 we may yield to the solicitations of friends, to do 

 that which we have no objection to be obliged to do; 

 but importunity is that solicitation which never ceases 

 to apply for that which it is not agreeable to give. 



Solitary, Desert, Desolate. Solitary simply de- 

 notes the absence of all beings of the same kind : thus a 

 Clace is solitary to a man where there is no human being 

 ut himself; desert conveys the idea of a place made 

 solitary by being shunned, from its unfitness as a place 

 : of residence; desolate conveys the idea of a place made 

 solitary, or bare of inhabitants, and all traces of habita- 

 tion, by violent means. 



Sound, Sane, Healthy. Sound is extended in its 

 application to all things that are in the state in which 

 they ought to be, so as to preserve their vitality: thus, 

 animals and vegetables are said to be sound when in 

 the former there is nothing amiss in their breath, and in 

 the latter in their root. Healthy expresses more than 

 either sound or sane: we are healthy in every part, 

 but we are sound in that which is essential for life. He 

 who is sound may live, but he who is healthy enjoys 

 life; sane is applicable to human beings, in the same 

 sense, but with reference to the mind; a sane person is 

 opposed to one that is insane. 



To Speak, Say, Tell. To speak may simply consist 

 in uttering an articulate sound; but to say is to com- 

 municate some idea by means of words: a child begins 

 to speak the moment it opens its lips to utter any ac- 

 knowledged sound; but it will be some time before it 

 can say anything; to say is to communicate that which 

 passes in our own minds, to express our ideas and feelings 

 as they rise; to tell is to communicate events or circum- 

 stances respecting ourselves or others. 



To Spread, Expand, Diffuse. To spread may be 

 said of anything which occupies more space than it has 

 done, whether by a direct separation of its parts, or by 

 an accession to the substance; but to expand is to spread 

 by means of extending or unfolding the parts: a mist 

 spreads over the earth; a flower expands its leaves; 

 diffusion is that process of spreading which consists 

 literally in pouring out in different ways. 



Staff, Stay, Prop, Support. Anything may be 

 denominated a staff which holds up after the manner of 

 a staff, particularly as it respects persons: bread is said 

 to be the staff of life; the stay makes a thing stay for 



