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APPENDIX

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WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY.

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CONTENTS OF APPENDIX.

EXPLANATORY AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF NAMES OF NOTED FICTITIOUS PERSONS AND PLACES
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES

1591

1645

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QUOTATIONS, WORDS, PHRASES, PROVERBS, &c., FROM THE GREEK, LATIN, AND MODERN LANGUAGES.

1763

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APPENDIX TO WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY.

THE remarks prefixed to most of the Vocabularies constituting the present Appendix contain so full an account of their scope, and of the principles on which they have been constructed, that little remains to be said in this place. The general design has been to extend the range of the Dictionary by giving, as far as seemed desirable and practicable, the pronunciation, or the pronunciation and explanation, of proper names, both ancient and modern, and by adding several useful tables appropriate to the work as a popular manual of reference.

The "Explanatory and Pronouncing Vocabulary of the Names of Noted Fictitious Persons, Places, etc.," might, with propriety, have been entitled a Select Vocabulary; for the limits to which the author was necessarily restricted have compelled him to omit many names whose claim to insertion seemed doubtful. But the selection given has been made with great care, and will, it is thought, prove sufficient for the ordinary wants of the general reader. If, however, it should be found that some names worthy of notice have been omitted, it is to be remembered that many are explained, and that completeness, in a work of this kind, though an object to be aimed at, is one that can never be attained. Whatever may be its deficiencies, it is hoped that the Vocabulary will be found worthy of the public favor, and that it may go far toward supplying an acknowledged want.

The "Pronouncing Vocabulary of Greek and Latin Proper Names" has been prepared by Professor Thomas A. Thacher, of Yale College. It is an enlargement and thorough revision of that which Professor Thacher prepared for the edition of 1847, and is based upon Walker's "Key," but with omissions and corrections so numerous as to make it, in fact, a new and independent work. It contains classical names only, and its plan is such as to show, to a very large extent, the authority for their classical pronunciation. This pronunciation is indicated by the place of the accent, by the forms of the syllables which the accent determines, and by occasional references to preliminary rules. To attempt to indicate to an English ear the quality of the sounds of the vowels by marks which, in classical usage, are employed to show their quantity, would tend to produce confusion, and could hardly fail to be especially disadvantageous to students of the Latin and Greek languages. The rules which precede the Vocabulary are designed to assist the inquirer in settling those questions of pronunciation which are not answered in the Vocabulary itself. These rules do not disagree with those given by Walker, and, in connection with the Vocabulary, will guide to that pronunciation which is in vogue at the University of Oxford and in other learned schools. It has not been thought necessary or desirable to repeat the list by giving a Ter minational Vocabulary, as Walker and others have done. Neither has it been deemed expedient to present the forms of Greek names used by Grote and some other authors. The system which these writers have adopted aims at a more exact representation of the Greek orthography than the commonly received method; but it has not been consistently carried out by its advocates, and seems destined to make little impression upon the long-established usage of the English language.

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The "Pronouncing Vocabulary of Scripture Proper Names" is believed to be more complete than any that has yet been given to the public. The first part is intended to contain every proper name occurring in the Common or thorized" Version of the Bible, including the Apocrypha. It also contains several Hebrew words which are not proper names, but which, being found in the English Bible, and not occurring in the body of the Dictionary, need to have their pronunciation indicated for the mere English reader. To these are added a few names, as Elohim, Gadara, Gehenna, Morians, &c., which are not found in the English Bible, but which, for various reasons, have been thought worthy of insertion. The second part contains a selection of names from the Douay Bible, or Anglo-Catholic Version of the Scriptures. In preparing the lists of names, and in settling the pronunciation, the following works have been consulted; viz., Labbe's "Catholici Indices' (London, 1751); Oliver's "Scripture Lexicon" (Oxford, 1810); Walker's "Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names" (Philadelphia, 1808); Taylor's Calmet's "Biblical Dictionary" (Am. ed., Boston, 1832); Carr's “Classical Pronunciation of Proper Names" (London, 1842); Jones's "Proper Names of the Old Testament

Scriptures Expounded and Illustrated" (London, 1856); "The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament" (New York, 1859); Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible" (London, 1864); and the Scripture Vocabularies contained in the Dictionaries of Perry, Knowles, Smart, Worcester, and Ogilvie.* For the proper names in the Apocrypha, the books themselves in this collection have been carefully examined. A similar course has been pursued in regard to the names contained in the Douay Bible. Particular attention has been paid to the orthography; and, in all cases of doubt, the original editions of both versions have been diligently collated with the best modern editions, in order to insure as great a degree of accuracy as possible.

The pronunciation of Modern Geographical and Biographical Names has been attended to by Dr. Joseph Thomas, of Philadelphia, the author of the system of pronunciation in Lippincott's "Gazetteer of the World." His aim has been to exhibit the pronunciation of such modern proper names, including those of distinguished living persons, together with such names of eminent mediæval characters, as, from their foreign, unusual, or irregular spelling, might occasion perplexity in reading or public speaking. The account of the Elements of Pronunciation of the Principal Modern Languages of Continental Europe has been very carefully prepared, and will be found sufficiently comprehensive and complete for the purposes of those for whom it is more especially designed. The system of notation employed is that used in the body of the Dictionary, with additional signs for foreign sounds; and it serves, in most cases, to exhibit the pronunciation with precision, and, in all other cases, with such an approximation to the true sound as, in English discourse, is practically preferable to a minute and idiomatic accuracy.

As an appropriate accompaniment to these two vocabularies, there are given an "Etymological Vocabulary of Geographical Names" and a list of "Common English Christian Names, with their Pronunciation, and their Equivalents in Several Other Languages," which, it is thought, will prove both interesting and instructive to those who have occasion to consult them.

The Table of "Quotations, Words, Phrases, &c., from the Greek, the Latin, and Modern Foreign Languages," has received careful revision and many important additions. The three parts, or alphabets, into which, in former editions, it was distributed, have been blended into one for the greater convenience of the consulter. In its present improved form, it is believed to be as complete and satisfactory as any within the reach of the public.

The Table of "Abbreviations" given in former editions of the Dictionary has been thoroughly revised and greatly enlarged; and, for general use, it now forms one of the most extensive lists of the kind to be found in any work of reference in the language.

The Table of "Arbitrary Signs" has been very much improved by the addition of many new characters, and by the explanation of such as originally possessed a significance other than that conventionally assigned to them. With the single exception of the symbols originally used to distinguish the asteroids, no notice has been taken of signs which have become obsolete, as those used in Doomsday Book and by astrologers and the older chemists. Full lists of these may be found in Crabb's "Universal Technological Dictionary," Savage's "Dictionary of the Art of Printing," Johnson's "Typographia,” and other like works.

The repetition in a classified arrangement, at the end of the book, of the wood-cuts distributed through it, and the addition of numerous larger engravings that could not be introduced into the main vocabulary, give to the work an enhanced value, which, it is believed, will be generally recognized and appreciated.

BOSTON, July, 1864.

*The Scripture Vocabulary in the work here referred to (Ogilvie's "Comprehensive English Dictionary," London and Glasgow, 1864) is by Richard Cull, F. S. A.

EXPLANATORY AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY

OF THE

NAMES OF NOTED FICTITIOUS PERSONS AND PLACES;

INCLUDING ALSO

FAMILIAR PSEUDONYMS, SURNAMES BESTOWED UPON EMINENT MEN,

AND SUCH ANALOGOUS POPULAR APPELLATIONS AS ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO
IN LITERATURE AND CONVERSATION.

BY WILLIAM A. WHEELER, M. A.

AS PEOPLE READ NOTHING IN THESE DAYS THAT IS MORE THAN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS OLD, I AM DAILY ADMONISHED THAT
ALLUSIONS, THE MOST OBVIOUS, TO ANY THING IN THE REAR OF OUR OWN TIME NEED EXPLANATION. — DE QUINCEY.

PREFACE.

AN attempt is here made to meet a want which has long been felt by readers of every class. In view of this want, so widely experienced and so generally acknowledged, it is indeed surprising that no similar work has hitherto made its appearance, at least in our own language. This very fact has made the preparation of the present Vocabulary a task of great difficulty, as it has required an amount of general and special reading, and an extent of research in certain directions, which might have been materially lessened, had there been earlier laborers in the field. This fact, too, must serve as an apology — if any is needed for whatever omissions the critical reader may discover. Many names are doubtless wanting which ought to have a place in a complete work; but it may still be said that nowhere else can such a variety and amount of information on the same class of subjects be found in a collective form.

An objection may be made by some, that, however useful and important such a glossary may be, it does not form an appropriate accompaniment to a general dictionary of the English language. But the same objection would apply with equal force to each and all of the Vocabularies in the Appendix to the present work; and it is a sufficient answer to say, that experience has shown, that information of the nature which they convey is more naturally looked for in a general dictionary than in any other kind of book.

The main design of this Vocabulary is to explain, as far as practicable, the ailusions which occur in modern standard literature to the names of noted fictitious persons and places. For this reason, the plan is almost exclusively restricted to proper names, or such as designate individual persons, places, or things. The introduction of appellative or generic names, such as abbot of unreason, lord of misrule, kobold, undine, &c., as well as the explanation of celebrated customs and phrases, such as flap-dragon, nine-men's-morrice, Hobson's choice, philosophy of the Porch, to send to Coventry, to carry coals to Newcastle, &c., would open too vast a field of inquiry; and, besides, there are copious special treatises on these subjects already before the public, as those of Brand, Hone, Pulleyn, Timbs, and others. Many names and phrases of this class will be found explained in the preceding Dictionary. The names of the Greek, Roman, Norse, and Hindoo Mythologies are for the most part excluded on like grounds. The exceptions admitted are a few names, such as Alastor, Comus, Laodamia, &c., which are chiefly known to the general reader from their adoption into English literature. From the

Rabbinical and the Mohammedan Mythology have been taken some names, which are occasionally made the subject of reference, and concerning which information is not readily obtainable. Prominence has been given to the departments of Angelology, Demonology, Fairy Mythology, and Popular Superstitions, which afford many of the most important names in Fiction. Parables, Allegories, Proverbs, and Medieval Legends have also furnished a considerable number. Ecclesiastical History contributes the names of several pseudo-saints, and other imaginary personages. In the Drama, and in Poetry, including the various kinds, Epic, Romantic, Narrative, Comic, &c., -the intention has been to give the names of all such characters as are familiarly referred to by writers and speakers at the present day; and, though accidental omissions may have occurred, it is hoped that under this head the Vocabulary will be found reasonably complete. The principal deficiency is most likely to exist in the department of Prose Romance; for, while there is very little that is fictitious in ancient literature which is not included in Mythology,- a subject not here treated, yet the field of research continually widens as we come down to modern times, until it seems to be almost boundless. In fixing the necessary limitations of the work, the consideration which has determined the admission or rejection of names has not been the intrinsic merit of a book, or the reputation of the writer, but the hold which his characters have taken upon the popular mind. There are many authors of acknowledged genius, and hundreds of clever and prolific writers, who yet have not produced a single character which has so fallen in with the humor, or impressed itself upon the fancy, of the time, as to have become the subject of frequent allusion. The English romancers and novelists whose creations are most familiarly known and most firmly established are Bunyan, De Foe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, Goldsmith, Scott, Dickens, and Thackeray. Many of the portraitures of these writers may be safely presumed to be of more than temporary interest and importance. In regard to other and subordinate characters, from whatever source derived, it is to be borne in mind that a dictionary is chiefly designed for the use of the existing generation. To what extent names of secondary importance should be included is a question which it has been difficult to determine. Opinions from scholars entitled to the highest consideration have been about equally divided upon this point. Some have favored a selected list of the most impor. tant names only: others, and the greater number, have recommended a much

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