Webster's High School Dictionary A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING A PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF BIBLICAL, KD 17256 HARVARD COLLEGE Copyright, 1892, By G. & C. MERRIAM CO. REGISTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND. All rights reserved. E-P 28 PREFACE. THE HIGH SCHOOL DICTIONARY here presented is compiled from Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language. As that work replaced Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, so this is designed to take the place of the High School Dictionary originally prepared by Mr. William G. Webster, in 1848. In 1857, Mr. Webster published a revision of this work, containing a vocabulary of the more common words which constitute the body of our language, with many technical terms in the sciences and arts. That book was in turn revised and enlarged by Mr. William A. Wheeler, in 1868. The present volume is an entirely new work, and contains many words and definitions not to be found in its predecessors. Its purpose is to give the correct orthography, pronunciation, and definition of all words which pupils in High Schools are likely to meet with. The pronunciation of every word is clearly shown by respelling with phonetic markings that are explained in the key lines below the pages. For the first time in a school dictionary, the pronunciation of unaccented syllables is thus accurately indicated. The addition of many new words, and the free use of illustrations to help in understanding the subject, have not excessively increased the bulk of the volume. Condensation has been accomplished by omitting definitions of derived words (mostly adverbs, adjectives, and abstract nouns) which are self-explaining as soon as the root word is understood; and, further, such derivatives have usually been grouped in the same paragraph with the root word, where this could be done without interrupting the alphabetical order. On the other hand, care has been taken to discriminate between words of the same spelling and pronunciation, but of different etymology and meaning. For instance, SOUND is a form representing four words of the same pronunciation but of widely different origin and sense. In older dictionaries such words appeared as one word with different meanings. This mode, tending to confuse or mislead the pupil, has been carefully avoided. There is a copious APPENDIX which contains a list of Biblical, Classical, Mythological, Historical, and Geographical Proper Names, combined in a single vocabulary. iii GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION. KEY TO THE SYMBOLS. In the RESPELLING FOR PRONUNCIATION in the Dictionary, there is employed -as shown in the Table — a symbol for every clear vowel or diphthongal sound in the language; with, in four instances, a pair of equivalents for the same sound as occurring in different situations, viz. : u̟= 60; u̟=00; ô = ą ; and ǎ (final) = I; besides a and e, italicized, as these vowels are in certain cases obscured and turned toward the neutral form; also, apostrophe for the voice-glide; and N to indicate foreign nasalized vowels; ;-some of the sounds occurring only in accented and others only in unaccented syllables, and some others, with but slight difference of quality, in both. The â, é, and ô are used to represent the similar sounds in foreign words, but not limited as they are in English to unaccented syllables. The u is employed, as the nearest English vowel we have, inexact as it is, to replace u French and ii German; and in like manner the ẽ for the eu French and ö German. The consonant letters b, d, f, h, j, k, l, m, p, r, t, v, w, and y, and the digraphs sh and ng, are used with their ordinary normal value; g, s, z, and ch are each limited to a single sound; n and th are marked for one sound of each and used unmarked for the other. No use is made of c, q, x, or the digraphs ph, gh, dg, and wh. The principal substitutions of the consonant symbols used in the respelling are noted in the Table. ā, as in ... ale, fāte, la'bor, chā'os, chām'ber, pā/tri-ar'chal. sen'äte, pref'âce, del'i-câte, ã-e'ri-al, châ-ot'ic, sal'u-tâ-ry. câre, shâre, pâr'ent, com-pâre', plow'shâre', beâr, âir. ēve, mēte, se-rēne', hē'li-om'e-ter. e-vent', dê-pend', crê-ate', so-ci'ě-ty, dê-lin'ê-ate, sê-rene'. ill, pin, pit'y, ad'mĭt', hab'ĭt, di-vide', în-fin'i-tive. rude, ru'mor, in-trude'. full, put, push, fụl-fill', joy'ful, in'stru̟-ment. |