76 



and tongues, strictly adhering to historical facts, and evidence 

 of etymology, properly so called.! 



Whether by thus disposing of genuine titles and pedigrees, 

 which, though varying in dignity of extraction, shall be equal 

 in that of truth, the Author's heraldic services shall deser- 

 vedly engage the attention of readers, the following few exam- 

 ples will probably decide. 



1. Aghast occurs in the eighth century as achust. Schilteri 

 Glossarium, p. 18, shows that it meant abhorrence, disgust, not 

 merely moral but also physical, as in Levit. xv. 25. Otfried 

 (ninth century) spells it akust, our agast, Avithout the h. He 

 has also unkust, the first trace of uncouth. A glossary of 1482 

 renders unkust with untugend (un-virtue) and ungeslacht 

 (degenerate). The last Lexicon that treats of those words 

 defines achust, quod est rejiciendum, impuritas ; but chust, 

 without the prefix, quod est eligendum, purum, probatum ; 

 chust, kust, being the first source of our word choice, of cur 

 in curmudgeon (which see), and of the German Chur, Ruhr, 

 kiihren (Churfurst, Willkuhr), kiesen, erkoren, &c. The flat 

 German (Plattdeutsch) has afkeesen (choose off, declare off), 

 reject, resign, for Avhich the high dialect would say ab kiesen (it 

 occurs in Frisch, Berlin, 1741, p. 170); and Avhilst the ab of 

 the latter was at one time simply a (see Schilteri Glossarium, 

 asneita-abschneiden), the af of the former is our off; but since 

 this latter is never used as a verbal prefix, we abide by the 

 mere a instead of off, in Avords like ago (agone), alight, aloof, 

 atistaff (see Distaff), aAvkward, &c. Should this remark obtain 

 the reader's assent in considering these words Avith me in their 

 turn hereafter, we may then A'enture to suppose that the said 

 vowel produced a verb, to aAvn (to keep off), of A\diich the 

 word awning is still in use. See Disgust and Cochrane. 



2. Apricot. The word biccoora, "hasty fruit," of Es. 

 xxviii. 4, Avhen, with slight changes and the article, made 



Arabic, becomes SoCjM albaheerat ; this, perverted by the 



