in the United States of America. 487 
17> IMMIGRATE, IMMIGRATION, IMMIGRANT. These words were. 
first used in this country, I believe, by Dr. Belknap in his History of New 
Hampshire. In the preface to the third volume of that work he has the 
following defence of them: “There is another deviation from the strict 
letter of the English dictionaries, which is found extremely convenient in 
our discourses on population. From the verb migro are derived emigrate 
and immigrate ; with the same propriety as from mergo are derived emerge 
and immerge. Accordingly the verb. immigrate, and the nouns immigrant 
and immigration are used. without scruple in some parts of this volume.” 
There seems to be a conyenience, as the learned author observes, in 
having these words in the language ; but in practice they have not been 
found necessary. I do not recollect that any American writers (except 
such as haye copied from Dr. Belknap’s work) haye adopted them. None 
of them are to be found, I believe, in any of the English dictionaries except 
Bailey’s and Ash’s ; and these have only the verd, immigrate, not the sud. 
stantives, immigrant and immigration. They are all unknown to the 
English authors of the present day. Mr. Webster has inserted them in his 
dictionary, upon the authority, I presume, of Dr. Belknap. Mr. Kendall. 
(the English traveller already quoted) observes, that “immigrant is per- 
haps the only new word of which the circumstances of the United States 
fas in any degree demanded the a¢ dition to the English language.” en- 
 dall?’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 252, note. 
te 
To IMPROVE ; to occupy, employ. The use of this word in the Jirst sense is 
very common in New England; but it is not much used in the second 
Sense, as in the following example; “ In actions of trespass against several 
defendants, the plaintiff may, after issue is closed [joined] strike out any of 
them for the purpose of improving them as witnesses.” Swift's System of 
the Laws of Connecticut, vol. ii. p. 238. 
: The following remarks of Dr. franklin, on this and some other words, 
will not be uninteresting to the reader. They are taken from his letter of 
Dec. 26, 1789, to Mr. Webster. 
“ I cannot but applaud your zeal for preserving the purity of our lan- 
guage both in its expression and pronunciation, and in correcting the pop-- 
