ey DEE 
MON THLY MAGAZINE, 
eu a 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
RESULLORY, COMMENTS 6z MASON’S 
SUPPLEMENT 70 PHAR S DICT10- 
NARY.-=- 
ODERN analogy requires that a 
WV derivative from the Latin abacus. 
fhouid be fpelled abac, not aback; and 
accented abac, not abac. Polytyllables, 
which formerly terminated in ck, as pub- 
lick, rhetorick, ammoniack, have dropped 
the k: and diffyllabic fubftantives have 
ufually the penult emphatic. 
ABACK. 
There is a difference between authority 
and propriety ; between words ufed and 
words ufeable. Aback, in the fenfe of a 
plain fquare furface, is not of the latter 
defcriptiony. becaufe it might be miftaken, 
fer the regular adverb aback, which, like 
aboard, adrift, aloof, adays, anights, 
abreaft, ahead, afide, isin common ule ; 
and, in moft inftances, it might with ad- 
vantage be further fabftituted for the un- 
couth adverb apighack, or apeakback. 
Abear—This is merely a poetical li- 
cence for the verb bear. Theaugment a, 
{4 common in Spenfer, is now fitly become 
obfolete, wherever it is infignificant. 
In two cafes, this verbal augment is ftill 
fignificant, and extenfively employed. 
x(t. To tranfmute nouns into verbs: 
as in to abafe, to afcertain, to accompany, 
to accouple, to accuftom, to acknowledge, to 
acquit, to affranchife, to affright, to affront, 
to aggrieve, &c. 
At this laft word, Johnfon thinks, that 
fo grieve was Oi iginally neuter, and ¢ ag- 
grieve, a&tive: the converfe propofition is 
more probable. =~ 
2d. To torm the participle prefent of 
the neuter or middle voice; or to indicate 
that the aétion is reflected, as grammarians 
phrafe it, on the agent. Thus one fays, 
While the chocolate is amilling, the coffee 
abviling, and the bread atoa/ling, the but- 
terwillarrive. But one fays, While Abi- 
gail is milling the chocolate, boiling the 
coffee, and toafling the bread, the butter 
will arrive. Again, to go ahunting, to go 
afbooting. But, they are ” hunting the hare, 
they are /hooting partridges. 
Aby.—To aby is merely a poetical li- 
cence for to abide; and, even in the ad- 
duced inftances, is not equivalent with to 
abide by. 3 
MontTuty Mac, No. 72» 
S iy 
MAY 1, rey 
No. 4. of f Vor 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
Acates—Acates being derived from achafy 
purchafe,fhould be {pelledwath an h,achates: 
it was probably pronounced fo as to rime - 
with hatchets.. The like may be faid of 
acater, for acheter, from acheteur, pur- 
chafer. The gloffarift fhould every where 
refer to, or record, the true {pelling, and 
not make a diftinét word of an orthogra- 
phic variety, or an error of the prefs. “‘Be- 
fides, it were a pity to {poil Swift's deri- 
vation of the name ef /Eneas’s Squire. 
Accite—Avother error of the prefs, or 
of the pen, hitched into a new word. 
Accoy.— This verb is itfelf well-found- 
itt, and rimes with many of the moft eu- 
phonious words in the language. Poets 
have an intereft in refuming its ule, Ie 
has relatives of popularity ; coy, coynefs, 
coy, being of the fame family 5 fo that 
its re-circulation would impofe no frefir 
burden on the memory. its longevity 
may conféquently be expected. It is 
worth while then to underftand it; for it 
cannot mean, as here ftated, to make much 
of. It cones from the French adjective 
coi, which derives from the Latin adjective 
guietus, and fignifies tranquil, ftill, reureds 
Thus Benferade writes, 
Bee /) cherche des lieux fombres et cols x 
and our own Grainger talks of 
The Nile’s coy fources 
The word coy is raetaphorically applied 
to the tranquillity of indifference or dif- 
dain, to the {tillnefs of referve, to moral 
retiringne(s, and in this fenfe is very com-~ 
mon in Engiifh writing. The verb zo ac» 
coy muft coniequently fignify to render 
quiet, as_in the paflage of Spenfer’s gk 
bruary : 
Then is your carelefs courage accoyeds 
But in the other paflage, adduced as an 
authority for this word by Mr. Mafon, ong 
ought to read accoyled, from the French 
participle, accueillt, received. 
With gladfome glee 
Of fair PeanaI received was, 
And oft imbras’d, as if that I were hee, 
- 
And with kind woud ria ta vowing great ‘ 
love to mee. 
The kindred word, iE il for fair 
reception, hofpitality, occurs often in 
Spenicrs: but this tamily of words has 
yg fince 
