English synonyms discriminated-- Author:William Taylor Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: hollandish and the other a Creneli term Cor a water-crock ; or hetween a sharoot and a segar, but that the first is an east-indian and the second a west-indian n... more »ame fora rolled tobacco leaf. Such double terms are always at first commutable, and may continue so Cor generations : but when new objects arc discovered, or new shades of idea which such words are fitted to depict, it at length happens that a separation of meanings is made hetween them. Thus to blanch and to whiten are insensibly acquiring a distinct purport; to blanch heing now only applied where some stain, or colouring matter is withdrawn which concealed the natural whiteness. Thus again whole and entire; worth and merit; understanding and intellect; are tending to a discriminate meaning, A language begins with heing too poor. In rude ages the same word performs many services. Thus in Hebrew ruakh spirit, stands for breath, for temper, for .soul, and for ghost. During periods of intercourse, whether occasioned by conquest or by commerce, many foreign expressions are imported, which enrich but encumber the national vocabulary. At this stage of growth a language may become too wealthy. After a fur theadvance of circulation, of record, of selection, and of refinement, a distinct office comes to be assigned to every individual term. The english language has not yet completed this last spire of the progress. Our double no. menclature is still too numerous; it frequently tempts our writers into idle pleonasm, and favours a useless tautology. Once in a while an echo may amuse, but it is usually an unwelcome companion. Cicero, the greatest artist in composition, willingly employed himself in the discrimination of synonyms. He thus analyzes the substantives labor and dolor. " Interest aliquid inter laborem et dolorem; sun...« less