EXERCISE 272.

coun' ter-månd, a contrary order.
coun ter-mand', to revoke a command.
in' ter dict, a prohibiting order; prohibition.
in ter dict', to forbid by order; to prohibit.
ō' ver tûrn, act of overturning; overthrow.
o ver tûrn', to turn over; to overset; subvert.
rep'ri mănd, rebuke; severe reproof.

rep ri mănd', to rebuke; to reprove severely.
at' tri bute, peculiar property; quality.
at trib' ute, to impute; to assign; to ascribe to.
mis con' duct, wrong conduct; ill-behavior.
mis con duct', to conduct amiss; to mismanage.

SECTION XII.

Words changed from nouns or adjectives, into verbs, by a change in pronunciation, in spelling, or in both.

SECTION XIII.

VARIABLE USAGE.

This Section is designed to bring under view certain words and classes of words, in respect to which usage is variable, and which are not elsewhere specially noticed in this work.

*These five are often improperly written without the i, as villany. The spelling with t is the preferable one in each of these cases. Written also with c, as defence, though never in the derivatives. § Often, though against analogy, written wo without the e, and, in the derivatives, almost always so.

Very often written drouth and hight by the best authorities.

As a verb, practice is mostly written with s, as practise. This differ ence between the noun and the verb is properly retained only where the final syllable is under the accent, as in device, devise. See Exercise 275.

* 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 spelling 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.