The ending ow in diminutives is another. form of ock, which we have in hillock, bullock, &c.

Meet, to come together with.

MET...... (meet).

Mate, one who meets you habitually.

shipmate, messmate.

Hence

Mote, meeting. An old-fashioned word, still found in folkmote and wardmote.

The Witena-gemote was the meeting of the wise men or witan, and corresponded, in the Old English times before the Conquest, to our parliament.

NEAH.

(nigh).

Nigh, another spelling of Neáh.
Near, still another spelling.
Next, a contraction of nighest.
Neighbour, a dweller near.

Near has an intrusive r; just as some people in the south of England say Anna Mariar and idear. ́ (Some high authorities say that near is a comparative form, which came into use as a positive.) Next is a form of nihst or nighst or nigst. So Chaucer, who lived in the fourteenth century, has hext for highest. Compare the spelling of nigh in neighbour with that of high in height.

PETH....... (travel).

Pad, the modern form of peth.

Footpad, a person who travels on foot. Also a foot-robber.

Path, the road on which one travels.

Paddle, to go with short steps.

The th and d are both dentals or tooth letters, and are easily interchangeable. With peth and paddle, compare wade, waddle; shove, shuffle, &c.

PYN..

(enclose).

Pin, a straight piece of brass wire use to fasten

or enclose.

Pen, a place where sheep are enclosed.

Pound, a place where stray animals are enclosed.
Pond, a piece of enclosed water.

Bin, a place for keeping corn.

The p in pin and the b in bin being both labials, are easily interchangeable.

REAF.........

Reef, what is taken in in a sail. (take away). Rifle, to plunder or take away.

REST........ (stay).

Robber, a person who steals or takes away.
Raven, a bird that reaves or takes away.

Roost, a place where fowls rest.

Rust, a growth on the surface of metals from disuse or rest.

Shoot, to throw out of a gun. The modern spelling of Sceot.

Shut, to throw to-the door.

Shoot, a branch thrown out by a tree.

SCEOT......

Shot, what is thrown out of a gun.

Shout, to throw out of the mouth.

(throw).

Shuttle, an instrument thrown by a weaver.
Sheet, what is thrown over a bed.

Shutter, what is thrown to or closed to guard a
window.

(to form).

SCIR..........

(cut off).

SIT.......... (sit).

Landscape, the form of the land, as it presents itself to the eye.

Shear, to cut. (The modern spelling of scir.)

Shire, a piece of land cut off.

Share, a piece (of cake) cut off.

Shore, the line of land apparently cut by the sea.
Sheer, cut off straight-said of a cliff.

Short, with too much cut off.

Shears, instruments for cutting.

Sharpness, a state in which cutting is easy.

Set, to make sit.

Settle, a kind of seat.

Seat, the place where one sits.

Saddle, the place where one sits on horseback.

SIW.........

(sew).

Sew, to stitch.

Seam, the part of the cloth sewn.
Seamstress, a woman who sews.

With sew and seam, compare glow and gleam.

The word seamstress is a double feminine, formed of the Old English feminine ending ster, and the Norman-French feminine ending ess.

SLAC.......... (slow).

Slack, slow.

Slow (slack, with the guttural k refined into a w).
Sloth, being slow.

Slug, a worm that is slow.

The word sloth contains the w in a latent form, as if it were written slowth. It exists for the ear, though not for the eye. SMIT..........

(to strike).

Smite, the modern word.

iron.

STEORF......... Starve, to be near death for want of food.

(to die).

Starvation, the condition of having no food.

Down to the fifteenth century, the word starve meant simply to die. Thus we have in an old writer: 'Jesus Christ sterved upon the cross for us.' The noun starvation is an improperly formed word-it is a mongrel of English and Latin; it is an English word with a Latin ending. This word was first used by a Scotch member of parliament, a Mr Dundas; and every one laughed when he first heard it. Now it is in common use. But it is only about one hundred years old. The words cookation, for the act of cooking, or walkation, for walking, would be words formed quite as correctly.

STIG........... (to rise).

Stair, a set of steps by which we rise.

Stile, a rising in the foot-way over a fence, &c. Stirrup, the rope by which we mount (or rise) on horseback.

Sty, a swelling or rising (tumour) on the eyelid. The guttural g has quite disappeared.

STIR.........

(move).

(Stir, to move.

Steer, to make a ship move in this or that direc-
tion.

Stern, the part at which the ship is steered.
Store, a place into which things are re-moved.
Start, the act of beginning to stir.

STRING....... (bind up).

Strong, with muscles and nerves strung up.
Strength, the state of being strong.

Strangle, to choke with a string.

The change of the vowel in strong, strength, may be compared with that in long, length. Strong is, in fact, an old past participle of string; just as wrong is a past participle of wring.

TAEO........
(to shew).

Teacher, a person who shews or explains.

The taught, those to whom things are shewn or explained.

Token, an indication; that which shews.

The c in taecan was a hard throat-sound (or guttural). Under the influence of the Norman-French, it became a soft hissing sound, ch. In taught, it vanishes to the ear altogether. In token, it becomes a hard throat-sound again.

TAEL.........

(number).

Tell, to number or re-count.

Teller, an official in a bank who numbers coin.
Talk, to keep telling.

Tally, a piece of wood for numbering.

Toll, money paid or numbered out.

Trow, to believe.

Truth, what ought to be believed.

TREOW......... (believe).

Troth, word given to make another believe.

True, what we must believe.

Trust, belief in a person.

WAD..........

(go).

Wade, to go (in water).

Waddle, to go awkwardly.

Watling Street, the street or high-road along which Vadlas or pilgrims used to go.

Watling Street was the name given by the English or Saxons to the great Roman road from Dover to Chester through London, Warwickshire, &c.

WAR..........

(look after).

Wary, a person who looks after himself.

Aware, looking after and knowing about something.

Ward, a person looked after by a guardian.

Warden, a person who looks after a castle.
Guardian, a person who looks after a ward.

Warden and guardian are the same word. The NormanFrench having no w, spelled a number of our words with a gu. Thus we come to have in the language wise and guise; wile and guile; ward and guard; warden and guardian, &c.

WIT......... (know).

WRAEST......

(pull or

twist).

Wit, the power of saying odd things. But in the oldest English it meant simply knowledge.

Witness, a man who is there to tell what he knows.

Wise, thoughtful. It meant formerly possessed of knowledge.

Wisdom, the state of being wise.

Wrest, to pull away.

Wrist, the part of the arm that wrests.
Wrestle, to keep wresting.

Wrestle is a continuative. Compare wag, waggle; pad, paddle.

Wrong, that which is wrung out of the right or straight line.

ENGLISH PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES.

A PREFIX is something put or fixed before a word to alter its meaning. Thus fasten means to tie up something; to unfasten, is to untie it. The particle un is therefore called a prefix. So in the case of suffixes, drip is to fall down in drops; dribble is to keep falling down. Thus le is a suffix.

We have in our language many kinds of prefixes and suffixes derived from Latin and Greek; but in the following list only those suffixes and prefixes have been given which are purely English.

PREFIXES TO VERBS.

I. BE is a prefix which is added (1) to many verbs (and it frequently turns intransitive into transitive verbs); (2) to nouns, which it changes into verbs.