49S 
N A A 
N A B 
N. 
N IS a liquid confonant, or femi-vowel; and the thir¬ 
teenth letter of the Greek, Latin, Englirti, &c. al¬ 
phabets. The N is a nafal confonant; its found is that 
ot a d, pafl’ed through the nofe; fo that, when the nofe 
is flopped by a cold, or the like, it is ufual to pronounce 
d for n. L’Abbe Dangeau obferves, that in the French 
the n is frequently a mere nafal vowel, without any thing 
of the found of a confonant in it. He calls it the Scla¬ 
vonic vowel. The Hebrews call their N Nun, which iig- 
nirtes “ child,” as being fuppofed the offspring of M; 
partly on account of the refemblance of found, and partly 
that of the figure. Thus from the m, by omitting the 
Lift column, is formed n; and thus from the capital N, 
by omitting the firft column, is formed the Greek minuf- 
cule p. Hence, for Biennius, See. the Latins frequently 
ufe Bimus, &c. and the fame people convert the Greek v 
at the end of a word into an m; as, (pa^p.axov, pharmacum, 
See. See M. 
N before p, b, and in, the Latins change into m, and 
frequently into l and r, as in hi do, illudo ; in rigo, irrigo, 
Sec. in which they agree with the Hebrews, who, in lieu 
of nun, frequently double the following confonant; and 
the Greeks do the fame, as when for Manlius they write 
M«Wn!, Sec. The Greeks, alfo, before x, y, %, v, changed 
the v into y ; in which they were followed by the ancient 
Romans, who for angulus wrote aggnlus; for anceps, ageeps, 
Sec. The Latins retrench the n from Greek nouns end- 
in uv ; as, Xtuv, leo, tyaxuv, draco. On the contrary, the 
Greeks add it to the Latin ones ending in o ; as K cutuv, 
N epuv, for Cato, Nov. 
In Englifh, N has an invariable found ; as no, name, Sec. 
After m it is almoft loft, as condemn, Sec. 
N, among the ancient Romans, was a numeral letter, 
fignifying 900 ; according to the verfe in Baronius : “ N 
quoque nongentos numero defignat habendos.” And 
when a line was ftruck over it, N, nine thoufand. But 
among the Greeks, N was the numeral for 50. 
With the ancient lawyers, N. L. flood for non liquet; 
i. e. the caufe is not clear enough to pafs lentence 
upon. N. P. was ufed among the Romans for notarius 
publicus. N. C. for Nero Ctefar, or Nero Claudius. N. B. 
is ufed for Nota bene. In marine language, N. ftands for 
north. 
N° is ufed as an abbreviation of numero, number. N, 
on the French coins, denotes tbofe ftruck at Montpelier. 
NAAGRAM'MA, in ancient geography, a town of 
India, on the Ganges, placed by Ptolemy between Bu- 
dtea and Camigera. 
NAAGRAM'MUM, the metropolis of the ifland of 
Taprobana, which Ptolemy places in the interior of the 
country between Anurogrammum and Adifamum. 
NA'AM, f. [a law-term, from nam, Sax. to take.]— 
Naam is the attaching, or taking, the moveable goods of 
another man. Tomes de la Ley. 
NAA'MAN, a lmall ifland in the Red Sea. Lat. 36. N. 
Ion. 3 5. 50. E. 
NAAMAN’s CREF.'K, a river of Pennfylvania, which 
runs into the Delaware at Marcus Hook. 
NAAMANIE'H, a town of the Arabian Irak, on the 
Tigris : eighteen miles north of Vafit. 
NAAR'DA, Near'da, or Neharde'a, in ancient geo¬ 
graphy, a town fituated on the confines of Mefopotamia 
and Babylonia; populous, and with a rich and extenfive 
territory, not eafily to be attacked by an enemy, being 
furrounded on all (ides by the Euphrates and ftrong walls. 
Jo/epkus. In the lower age the Jews had a celebrated 
fchool there. 
NAAR'DEN, or Nar'den, a feaport town of Holland, 
fituated at the fouth part of the Zuyder See, the capital 
of a fmall country called Goyland, which includes Naar- 
den, Muyden, and Wefep, with fixteen villages. This 
city has undergone many misfortunes; it has been lacked, 
burned, pillaged, and drowned by the fea. It was firft 
built in 996 ; and the remains of the ancient town may 
fometimes be difeovered when the fea retires to a more 
than ordinary diftance. It was rebuilt in the year 1355, 
by William duke of Bavaria, who bellowed on it many 
privileges. It is of very great importance, being fituated 
at the head of the canals of the province of Holland, of 
which it is confidered the key, particularly of Amfterdam ; 
the fortifications are handfome and regular, with double 
ditches. David de Burgundy, bifliop of Utrecht, having 
obtained a great viftory over the Hollanders in 14.81, fur- 
prifed Naarden, by means of fome loldiers difguifed like 
market-women ; but, in a fhort time afterwards, being 
beat in his turn, it was retaken ; five years after that, it 
was burned down by a fudden fire. In the year 1572, 
Frederic de Toledo, Ion of the duke of Alva, took it from 
the prince of Orange, and to punifh the inhabitants for 
their revolt, commanded them to aflemblein the market¬ 
place, and, after allowing them fome time to prepare for 
death, he ordered them all to be maflacred, without re¬ 
gard to age or fex, contrary to his word given to the citi¬ 
zens; only a very few were fpared, among whom was the 
learned Lambert Hortenfius: all the houfes were burned, 
the walls were rafed, and the dead bodies left exported 
without burial for three weeks. The cities of Malines 
and Zutphen were ferved the fame ; which fo enraged the 
people againft the Spaniards, that it produced a general 
revolt, which ended in eftabliftiing the independence of 
the United Provinces. Naarden is fourteen miles north 
of Utrecht, and eleven eaftof Amfterdam. Lat. 52. 23. N. 
Ion. 5. 2. E. 
NAA'RN, a river of Auftria, which runs into the 
Danube four miles above Grein. 
NA'AS, a market and poft town of Ireland, in the 
county of Kildare and province of Leinfler. It is the 
fhire-town of that county, and alternately with Athy the 
affize-town. It gives title of Vifcount to the family of 
Burke. This place was anciently the refidence of the 
kings of Leinlter. The name lignifies “ the Place of 
Elders ;” for here the ftates of that province aflembled 
during the 6th, 7th, and 8th, centuries, after the Naaf- 
teighan of Carmen had been anathematized by the Chrif- 
tian clergy. On the arrival of the Engliih it was forti¬ 
fied ; many caftles were eredted, the ruins of which are 
partly vifible ; and parliaments were held there. At the 
foot of the rath or mount, are the ruins of a houfe founded 
in 14.84., for hermits of the order of St. Auguftine. In 
the twelfth century the baron of Naas founded a priory 
dedicated to St. John the Baptift, for Auguftinian regular 
canons. In the centre of this town the family of Eultace 
credited a monaftery for Dominican friars, dedicated to 
St. Euftachius ; and it appears that their pofieflions in 
Naas were granted them in the year 1355- This place 
was a ltrong hold during the civil wars. Before the 
union Naas lent two members to the Irifh parliament. It 
is twenty-fix miles north-weft of Wicklow, and feventeen 
fouth-weft of Dublin. Lat. 53. 13. N. Ion. 6. 42. W. 
NA'AS, a town of Sweden, in Dalecarlia: thirty-four 
miles fouth-weft of Fahlun. 
NAB, a river of Bavaria, which rifes from Mount 
Fichtelberg, in the principality of Bayreuth, and runs 
into the Danube four miles weft of Ratilbon. 
To NAB, v. a. [nappa, Swed.] To catch unexpedledly; 
to feize without warning. Seldom ufed but in low lan¬ 
guage.—Old calfock, we’ll mb you. Duke of Wharton. 
NAB, or Nap, f . The fummit of a rock or mountain. 
Ray and GroJ'e. , 
NAB (Schwein), a river of Bavaria, which runs into 
the Nab at Weiden, 
4 NAB 
