

THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



we are disturbed and molested only by that which 

 actively troubles. Pecuniary wants are the greatest 

 troubles in life. Trouble may be permanent; disturb- 

 ance and molestation are temporary, and lxth refer to 

 the peace which is destroyed; a disturbance ruffles or 

 throws out of a tranquil state; a molestation burdens or 

 bears hard either on the body or the mind. 



Truth, Veracity. Truth belongs to the thing; ve- 

 racity to the person; the truth of the story is admitted 

 upon the veracity of the narrator. 



To Turn. Hrml. I \\i-t. IM-tort. \\rinj:. >\ iv-t. 

 n MI h. We turn a thing by moving it from one point 

 to another: thus we turn the earth over; to bend is 

 simply to change its direction; thus a stick is bent, or n 

 body may bend its direct ion to a certain i>oint : to twist 

 is to bend many times, to make many turns; to distort 

 is to turn or bend out of the right course; thus the face 

 is distorted in convulsions. To wring is to twist with 

 violence; thus linen which has been wetted is wrung; 

 to wrest or wrench is to separate from a body by means 

 ing; thus a stick may be wrested out of the hand, 

 or a hinge wrenched off the door. 



I I Urn. Wind. )Vhirl. Twirl, Writhe. Wind is 

 to turn a thing round in a regular manner; whirl, to turn 

 it round in a violent manner; twirl, to turn it round in 

 any irregular and unmeaning way; writhe, to turn round 

 in convolution within itself. 



I nhrli.f. Intidrlit.t. Incredulity. The Jews are 

 unbelievers in the mission of our .Saviour; the Turks are 

 infidels, inasmuch as they do not believe in the Bible: 

 Deists and Atheists are likewise infidels, inasmuch as 

 they set themselves up against Divine revelation; well- 

 informed people are always incredulous of stories respect- 

 ing ghosts and apparitions. 



I Bdentaadteffi Intellect, Intelligence. Under- 

 standing is employed to describe a familiar and easy 

 power or operation of the mind in forming distinct ideas 

 of things. Intellect is employed to mark the same 

 operation in regard to higher and more abstruse objects. 

 The understanding applies to the first exercise of the 

 rational powers: it is therefore aptly said of children 

 and savages that they employ their understandings on 

 the simple objects of perception. Intellect, being a 

 matured state of the understanding, is most properly 

 applied to the efforts of those who have their powers in 

 full vigor; we speak of understanding as the character- 

 istic distinction between man and brute; intellect is 

 applied merely to human power, and intelligence to the 

 spiritual power of higher beings; as. the intelligence of 

 angels; so, when applied to human beings, it is taken 

 in the most abstract sense for the intellectual power: 

 hence we speak of intelligence as displayed in the coun- 

 tenance of a child whose looks evince that he has exerted 

 his intellect, and thereby proved that it exists. 



Unless, Except. Unless, which is equivalent to if 

 less, if not, or if one fail, is employed only for the partic- 

 ular case; but except has always a reference to some 

 general rule, of which an exception is hereby signified; 

 I shall not do it unless he asks me; no one can enter 

 except those who are provided with tickets. 



Unspeakable, Ineffable, Unutterable, Inexpres- 

 sible. The unspeakable is said of objects in general, 

 particularly of that which is above human conception, 

 and surpasses the power of language to describe; as 

 the unspeakable goodness of God: ineffable is said of 

 such objects as cannot be painted in words with ade- 

 quate force; as the ineffable sweetness of a person's 

 look: unutterable and inexpressible are extended in 

 their signification to that which is incommunicable by 

 signs from one being to another; thus grief is unutterable 

 which it is not in the power of the sufferer by any sounds 

 to bring home to the feelings of another; grief is inex- 

 pressible which is not to be expressed by looks, or words, 

 or any sign. 



Unworthy, Worthless. Unworthy is a term of 

 less reproach than worthless; for the former signifies 

 not to pe worthy of praise or honor; the latter signifies 

 to be without all worth, and consequently in the fullest 

 sense bad. There are many unworthy members in 

 every religious community; but every society that is 

 conducted upon proper principles will take care to 

 exclude worthless members. 



I'sams < tistom. Prescription. The usage is what 

 one has been long used to do; custom (v. custom) is what 

 one generally does; prescription is what is prescribed 

 by usage to be done. The usage acquires force and 

 sanction by dint of time; the custom acquires sanction 

 by the frequency of its being done or the numbers doing 

 it; the prescription acquires force by the authority 

 which prescribes. 



To Utter, Speak, Articulate, Pronounce. Utter 

 from out. signifies to put but; that is, to send forth a 

 sound: this, therefore, is a more general term than 



speak, which is to utter an intelligible sound. We may 

 utter a groan; we speak words only, or that which is 

 intended to serve as words. To speak, therefore, is only 

 a species of utterance; a dumb man has utterance, but 

 not speech. Articulate and pronounce are modes of 

 speaking; to articulate, from articulum, a joint, is to 

 pronounce distinctly the letters or syllables of words; 

 which is the first effort of a child beginning to speak. 

 To pronounce, is a formal mode of speaking. 



To Value, Prize, Esteem. To value is to set any 

 value, real or suppositious, relative or absolute, on a 

 thing; in this sense men value gold above silver, or an 

 appraiser values goods. Prize and esteem are taken 

 only as mental actions; the former in reference to 

 sensible or moral objects, the latter only to moral objects: 

 we may value books according to their market price, 

 or we may value them according to their contents; we 

 prize books only for their contents, in which sense 

 prize is a much stronger term than value. 



Venial, Pardonable. Venial is applied to what 

 may be tolerated without express disparagement to the 

 individual, or direct censure; but the pardonable is 

 that which may only escape severe censure, but cannot 

 be allowed: garrulity is a venial offense in old age; 

 levity in youth is pardonable in single instances. 



View, Survey, Prospect. We take a view or survey; 

 the prospect presents itself: the view is of an indefinite 

 extent; the survey is always comprehensive in its nature. 

 Ignorant people take but narrow views of things; the 

 capacious mind of a genius takes a survey of all nature; 

 our prospects are very delusive. Sometimes our pros- 

 pects depend upon our views, at least in matters of 

 religion; lie who forms erroneous views of a future 

 state has but a wretched prospect beyond the grave. 



Violent Furious, Boisterous, Vehement, Impet- 

 uous. A man is violent in his opinions, violent in his 

 measures, violent in his resentments; he is furious in 

 his anger, or has a furious temper; he is vehement in 

 his affections or passions, vehement in love, vehement 

 in zeal, vehement in pursuing an object; violence 

 transfers itself to some external object on which it acts 

 with force; but vehemence respects that species of 

 violence which is confined to the person himself; we 

 may dread violence, because it is always liable to do 

 mischief. Impetuosity is rather the extreme of violence* 

 or vehemence; an impetuous attack is an excessively 

 violent attack; an impetuous character is an exces- 

 sively vehement character. Boisterous is said of the 

 manner and the behavior rather than the mind. 



Wakeful, Watchful, Vigilant. Wakefulness is 

 an affair of the body, and depends upon the tempera- 

 ment; watchfulness is an affair of the will, and depends 

 upon the determination: some persons are more wakeful 

 than they wish to be; few are as watchful as they ought 

 to be. Vigilance expresses a high degree of watchful- 

 ness: a sentinel is watchful who on ordinary occasions 

 keeps good watch; but it is necessary for him, on extra- 

 ordinary occasions, to be vigilant, in order to detect 

 whatever may pass. 



To Want, Need, Lack. To want is to be without 

 that which contributes to our comfort, or is an object 

 of our desire; to need is to be without that which is 

 essential for our existence or our purposes; to lack 

 expresses little more than the general idea of being with- 

 out, unaccompanied by any collateral idea; it is usual 

 to consider what we want as artificial, and what we need 

 as natural and indispensable: what one man wants is 

 a superfluity to another; but that which is needed by one 

 is in like circumstances needed by all. 



Wave, Billow, Surge. Breaker. Those waves 

 which swell more than ordinarily are termed billows; 

 those waves which rise higher than usual are termed 

 surges; those waves which dash against the shore, or 

 against vessels, with more than ordinary force, are 

 termed breakers. 



Weak, Feeble, Infirm. We may be weak in body 

 or mind; but we are commonly feeble and infirm only 

 in the body: we may be weak from disease, or weak by 

 nature, it equally conveys the gross idea of a defect: 

 but the terms feeble and infirm are qualified expressions 

 for weakness: an old man is feeble from age; the latter 

 may likewise be inhrm in consequence of sickness. 



Weight, Burden, Load. A person may sink under 

 the weight that rests upon him; a platform may break 

 down from the weight upon it: a person sinks under 

 his burden or load; a cart breaks down from the load. 



Whole, Entire, Complete, Total. Integral. Whole 

 excludes subtraction; entire excludes division; com- 

 plete excludes deficiency: a whole orange has had nothing 

 taken from it; an entire orange is not yet cut; and a" 

 complete orange is grown to its full size; total is the 

 i opposite of partial; integral is applied now to parts or 

 I numbers not broken. 



