*Of the adjectives, in English, ending in able or ible, by far the greater part end in able, while a few, as above, take either termination.

The words in this Exercise take either form of the prefix (in or en) almost indifferently.

In words of this class, it is usual to write the termination, ent, when the word is used as an adjective, and ant, when as a noun. But in the case of dependent and superintendent, usage seems well settled in favor of spelling the noun and the adjective both alike.

* Of this class of words, those in which the er is preceded by c or g, (with the exception of mauger), reverse the order of the letters and end in re, as acre, lucre, etc. The same is done in the words livre and electre.

† Some of the verbs in this Exercise are not unfrequently made to conform in spolling to the class of verbs ending in ize. The best usage, however, is in favor of writing them all as above.

On polyhedron, see note, page 166; on oxide, stearine, etc., see note, page 168; on biped, centiped, etc., see note, page 163.

§ Mould and moult, with their derivatives, to be in analogy with such words as bold, bolt, etc., should be written, mold, molt, etc. The former, however, is the prevalent spelling.

SECTION XIV.

WORDS OF SIMILAR SIGNIFICATION.

One of the commonest errors in dealing with words of this class, in the school-room, is that of supposing them entirely alike in all their various meanings and applications. Hence, often, the highest advantage of the study, aside from the mere spelling, is all but lost; for the main point is to acquire the habit of discriminating between words that seem to be identical in meaning. With proper caution in this respect, few exercises will be found more interesting, as well as useful, than those presented in this Section.