PROSPECTUS OF AN ENGLISH DICTIONARY. 3 



That such a Dictionary will be, therefore, not only more 

 correct in its definitions, but, it will be also the Petitioner's 

 peculiar care to make it, the most copious in words, of 

 any Dictionary extant; that he will avail himself of all 

 the knowledge which is abroad relaiive to Etymology in 

 addition to his own ; and that he will, besides, make it a 

 Pronouncing Dictionary. That it is by the Copious Ad- 

 dition of Words, and upon the combination of Pronunciation 

 with Etymology and Definition in one Volume, he 

 chiefly relies for the originality and utility of his work. 

 But this is not all. Your Petitioner will add, in a separate 

 Alphabetical arrangement, all our provincial words, as far 

 as they can be collected, either from his own knowledge or 

 from respectable Glossarists ; and also such terms of art, 

 words from foreign languages, &c. &c. which often occur 

 in English authors, but which are, nevertheless, not English 

 words ; such are Ennui, aufait, literati, andante, &c. &c. 



That many words not now used, but found in our old 

 authors, usually termed obsolete words, would, in this last 

 arrangement, find an appropriate place; where also such 

 synonyms as Sarum for Salisbury, Barum for Barnstaple, 

 Salop for Shrewsbury, &c. &c. would appear, an explana- 

 tion of these being essential to a correct knowledge of 

 our Language by Foreigners, as well as, indeed, by the na^ 

 tives of this country. 



That, in order to render the Dictionary as complete as 

 possible, he should prepare an original and compendious 

 Grammar for it, in which a series of Lessons would be 

 given in which this part of the science of speech may be 

 more effectually and expeditiously acquired. 



That it would also contain a History of the Language 

 itself, and a brief sketch of the principal Grammars and 

 Dictionaries relating to it which have appeared since the 

 invention of the art of printing. 



