part of Leonidas, of his arms. "Let him come," said the brave Spartan, "and take them."

Laurus a laurel; poet laureate. A degree in the universities and a wreath of laurel were anciently given to him who excelled in the composition of verses.

Lethe one of the mythical rivers in the infernal regions; to drink a draught whereof, in order to the oblivion of their past lives, was the first act of spirits released from their bodies-lethargic, lethargy.

Liro to make balks in ploughing; delirium, delirious. The latter name applies to one who is devoid of sense, and so cannot manage his own affairs in any way.

Luna the moon; lunacy, lunatic, sublunary, lunar. A man is called a lunatic when out of his mind-the moon, with her phases, having been supposed to exercise a great influence on such.

Manus a hand; manual, manufacture, manumit, manumission. The latter word signifies the enfranchising of a slave, from the word in question, and mitto to send, let go-the Romans having performed such office by a prescribed form, a part of which was to touch the slave with a wand held, of course, by the hand.

Momentum a push; motion, moment, momentary, &c. In mechanics, this word signifies impetus, or the quantity of motion in a moving body. This is always in proportion to the quantity of matter therein; hence momentous, or to be of moment to possess some matter or weight, i. e., to be important. The word moment, a small portion of time, signifies, literally, that small time which suffices by a push to put a body in motion.

Mons a mountain; mount, dismount, mountebank. The latter signifies an impostor; literally, a person who harangues the vulgar from an elevated position with intent to deceive them.

Munus a gift; munificent, common, commonalty, &c. The clients in Rome were expected to attend the levees of their patrons, with gifts or presents in their hands, at a stated hour; hence commonalty, from con together, or at the same time, and the word in question would apply to such as visited with gifts at an appointed hour all together,

=

in contradistinction to the grandees, who might visit separately, and at different hours.

Muo to close; mystery, mysterious. Those who were initiated in any rites were forbidden, under severe penalties, to divulge them to the uninitiated.

Navis a ship; nave, navigate, navigable, &c. &c. The nave of a church in olden times resembled in form the hull of a ship.

Ne not; necessary, necessity, &c. &c. The word in question, and cedo to yield, make up the word necessity, for the better understanding of which it may be personified, and regarded as the opposing power which never yields, and therefore compels men to obey its dictates.

Nihil=nothing; nullus none. From these we have the words annihilate, annul, nullify, all of which literally signify to reduce to nothing. Their application, however, is different; the first is strictly a philosophical word, and applies to the act of the philosophers in changing a particle of matter, by operating on it, into another form; the second, to the act of the legislator, or any other competent authority, in changing existing laws by rescinding them; and the third, to the counteracting by deeds, without literally annulling any law or regulation that may be in existence.

Nomena name; nominal, renown, ignominy, &c. &c. Renown, from re=again, and the word in question, is that fame a man acquires (always in a good sense) which causes his name to be repeated again and again in men's mouths. Ignominy, from ig, a modification of in=not, and nomen, implies the want of name, which implies disgrace— names or surnames (in the present instance we must consider honourable ones only) having been usually given to individuals from some glorious achievement.

Oculus an eye; inoculate, ocular, &c. Inoculate, from in upon, and the word in question, signifies literally to insert the bud of a tree or plant in another tree or plant, for the purpose of growth on the new stock; the place where the bud shoots out in plantsthe potato, for instance-being frequently called the eye: hence, from the similarity of what takes place in both cases, to inoculate signifies, secondarily, to communicate a disease to a person by inserting infections matter in his

skin or flesh. In the case of the cowpox, it is technically called vaccination, from vacca=a heifer, a cow, the infection for the purpose of vaccination having been originally taken from the cow.

Odos a way; period, periodical, &c. &c. The word period, from peri-around, and the word in question, is primarily an astronomical term, and applied as a name for that portion of time which a planet takes to revolve in its orbit around the sun; hence, secondarily, it is applied indefinitely to any portion of time, and as a name for that stop which we apply to the end of a sentence which is complete, that is, has gone its round or completed its

course.

Oleum=oil. Abolish, from ab=from, and oleum, signifies to annul established usages, probably, in a literal sense, to efface writing, or printing, or stains, by the application of some compound, one of whose ingredients might have been oil.

Orkos an oath. Exorcise, from ek, ex-from, and orkos, signifies to expel an evil spirit from one possessed by it, in consequence, as it was supposed, of the non-performance by the possessed individual of some religious obligation laid on through the form of an oath; hence the word in question signifies to free from the consequence of a non

observance of such oath.

Oxus-sharp, severe. Paroxysm, from para=beyond, and oxus, signifies an attack of any malady arrived at its height; also the affections of grief, rage, joy, &c. &c.; literally that which is beyond or more than severe.

Pagus a country village, or district; pagan, paganism. These words originated in early Church history, and were applied to the religion, and its professors, of Polytheism, which, when the Roman empire became Christianised, found an asylum in the country parts, as opposed to the towns and cities, the enlightened understandings of whose inhabitants enabled them to perceive the superiority of the Christian religion.

Palatium a hill in Rome, where Augustus Cæsar resided. Palace, a name for the residence of a monarch.

Pallas a name for Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. There was an image of this goddess in ancient Troy, during

the continuance of which therein it was fated Troy could not be taken by an enemy; hence Palladium, the name given to the image, signifies a bulwark or protection.

Palpo to touch gently; palpable, impalpable. A thing is said to be palpable, that is, clear, whose nature or property is capable of being understood even by a slight touch.

Paradisos a garden enclosed for the purpose of pleasure; a hunting ground of the Persian kings, wherein they enjoyed themselves after the fatigues of business. Paradise, secondarily, a blissful abode.

Pan-all. Panegyric, from this word, and egora a place of public assembly, signifies, literally, an oration delivered publicly in praise of a celebrated character for some distinguished services; hence, secondarily, any sort of commendation.

Phaino to appear; phantom, phenomenon, sycophant, &c. &c. The latter word is derived from sukon=a fig, and phaino. The Athenians called a man sukophantes who informed against a person who transgressed the law which regulated the exportation of figs from Athens. The informer in Athens, as everywhere else, was held in contempt; and so the English word sycophant signifies, secondarily, an individual who would do a mean act,—hence a person who fawns on a superior for a consideration.

Philos=a lover; philanthropy, philosophy, &c. &c. The latter word signifies literally "a lover of wisdom," sophia signifying wisdom. The history of the original of this word may be interesting:-It happened, while Pythagoras was on a visit to Leon, that the latter was exceedingly charmed with the ingenuity and eloquence with which he discoursed on various topics, and asked him in what art he principally excelled; to which Pythagoras replied, that he did not profess himself master of any art, but that he was a philosopher. Leon, struck with the novelty of the term, asked him who were philosophers. Pythagoras replied that, as in the public games, while some are contending for glory, and others buying and selling in pursuit of gain, there is always a third class of persons who attend merely as spectators; so in human life, amidst the various characters of men, there is a select number of those who,

despising all other pursuits, assiduously apply themselves to the study of nature and the search after wisdom. "These," added Pythagoras, are the persons whom I

call philosophers."

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This

Posterus coming after; posterior, preposterous. latter word, from pre-before, and the word in question, signifies, literally, having the latter part first; hence, ridiculous, absurd.

Prehendo to take hold of, to catch, to seize; apprehend, comprehend, comprehensive, comprehension. Comprehend signifies, literally, to lay hold of all parts of a body at the same time; hence, to grasp or hold firmly, from the similarity of the two processes. It is applied secondarily to that act of the mind, and to the understanding, whereby it thoroughly grasps, i. e., understands a subject it studies. It is worthy of observation how many words in the language in like manner as this, from applying primarily in a material, apply secondarily in a mental sense.

Rogo=I ask; interrogate, prorogue, prerogative. By the municipal institutions of Servius Tullius, the votes of a certain tribe, constituted by the first class, outnumbered the votes of all the other tribes in Rome, and so decided an election. From this fact, this tribe always voted first, i. e. was first asked its opinion, and was therefore styled "prerogativa tribus;" hence the English word prerogative.

Signum a sign, a mark; signal, sign, resign. The prefix re frequently has a negative force, as in the word reveal, and reverses the signification of the root to which it is attached. Parties entering into an agreement are supposed to attach their sign, that is, signature, to a document in which such agreement is specified; and on releasing themselves from the obligation hereby imposed, they resign, i. e. annul, or destroy, such sign by a counteracting

one.

Stylus the pen with which the Romans used to write on their waxen tablets; style, stiletto. The word style, therefore, would signify, literally, the manner of writing; hence, more generally, the manner of doing anything. This stylus was made of steel, sharp at one end, for the purpose of writing, and flat at the other, for that of erasing the characters impressed on the wax; stiletto, therefore,