924 Dynamic Theory. 



sleep ; strepent, noisy; subtiliate, to make thin; impester, to vex; indagate, to search out; 

 indign, unworthy ; jument, a beast of burden ; faring, instructive discourse; malaxate, 

 to soften ; moliminous, very important ; meticulous, timid ; reclude, to open ; won, a dwell, 

 ing ; wis, to think ; swipper, nimble ; spane, to wean ; rede, to counsel ; seely, fortunate ; 

 munite, to fortify; mugient, bellowing; gast, to frighten; gemote, a meeting; ethel, 

 noble; depectible, tough; costrel, a bottle ; azyme, unleavened bread. 



A study of the obsolete words is exceedingly instructive as showing 

 how language dies piecemeal, and is sloughed off like the hardened 

 scales of the skin. We also see the fertility of invention by which 

 new words are constantly being added or introduced, and the resulting 

 struggle for existence. It is curious to observe, too, how words may be- 

 come obsolete in one sense, perhaps their principal and appropriate 

 sense, and still hold their existence by doing some other duty. Thus, 

 formerly knave meant a boy, then a servant, and the beginning of one 

 of the epistles of Paul, which now reads, ' ' I, Paul, a servant of Jesus 

 Christ" is rendered in an old version, "I, Paul, a knave of Jesus 

 Christ." Prevent, which formerly signified to "assist " by "going be- 

 fore " now means to effectually hinder. Meddle used to mean simply 

 to mix or mingle; now it is restricted to mixing in an intrusive or 

 officious sense. Miser formerly signified merely a, wretched or afflicted 

 person, now it is applied only to a rich person wretched from stinginess 

 and greed. Pretend means literally to hold out a thing as if at arm's 

 length, and probably was first used with reference to material things 

 only, but this sense of the word is entirely laid aside. Captivate for- 

 merly signified to seize a prisoner as in war. This meaning has fallen 

 upon the word capture, and now captivate is almost exclusively devoted 

 to moral seizure. The radical meaning of buxom is to bow or bend, 

 hence obsequious, obedient, &c. , applied to wives and young women. 

 But this meaning is now lost, and the word applies to quite different 

 qualities. Renege formerly signified to deny or disown; now the word, 

 somewhat modified, is confined to a false denial of suit in a game of 

 cards. Wang used to be a shoe-string, and whang a leather thong. 

 Now whang alone is used for the leather strings by which the sections 

 of leather belting in machinery are fastened. Then again we may ob- 

 serve that many words have lost their relatives, which to all appearance, 

 had as good right and prospect of life as they. Thus we no longer use 

 munite, to fortify, but retain muniment and munition; prow (adjective), 

 for valiant, is obsolete, but prowess (the noun), for valor, still flourishes; 

 serr and servy, to crowd, have gone out; but serried still does a restricted 

 duty in describing dense ranks of soldiers; mure, a wall, has gone, but 

 we still use immure, to inclose with walls. We have mercy, but no 

 longer mercify; we have minority but no longer minorate; we say "we 

 had as lief," but the comparative lever, has been cast aside for rather, 

 the comparative of rath, while rath itself is now seldom or never used. 

 Icon, an image, is obsolete, but we keep iconoclast, an image breaker, 



