Two. This numeral will sometimes cohere with a noun, as twinter, a calf two winters or two years old. Derbyshire. Tovet. This, in Kent, means two pecks, and consequently is a coalition of two fat or vat.

A Twibill. This is an implement that cuts both ways; and as two is pronounced often twa, hence you have twa-bill, or twi-bill

THREE-A Trivet is an household implement of iron with three feet to stand before the fire, for the purpose of setting any thing upon to dry or warm, and takes its name from the said three fect. See Tanner, Biblioth. in Nic Trivet.

TOOT. This word means to peep, or peep out. When pease in Derbyshire first appear, they are said to toot, i. e. to out; and hence they have the participle tooting. Thus, I conceive that tooting at Tunbridge-wells means to out, in the way of inviting and bringing guests to their master's house.

POSTSCRIPT.

TRIMON. In the anonymous metrical history of the battle of Floddon-field, lately published, it is observed, p. 32, that St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Andrew, never taught the Scottish prelates to go to war, but rather some later Popish saints, Trimon of Quhytehorn, or Doffin of Ross; where, as St. Niman was the great saint at Candida Casa, or Whitehern, the editor says, we should read Ninian of Quhytehorn. An cmendation is undoubtedly necessary; this, however, is not a happy one. The Scots, it seems, call Ninian, Ringen, (see Memorial of Brit. Piety, p. 131,) whence I conjecture there is a Crasis here, and that the true correction is Tringen. If this be the truth, as I presume it is, it affords a pregnant instance of the usefulness of attending to the effects of the Crasis but, indeed, of this, in point of etymology, we have scen many examples above."

SMERWICK.-There is something particular in this, as the first letter, instead of the last, in Saint, coalesces; for it means St. Marywick in the county of Kerry, in Ireland. Campbell, Lives of Adm. ii. p. 49.

1777, July, Aug.

MR. URBAN,

LXVI. On the Word ORMesta.

MUCH has been both said and written about that barbarous word Ormesta, or Hormesta, which appears in the title of Paulus Orosius' History, in some MSS. at least. See Prof. Havercamp's Pref. to his noble edition of it; and the Hon. Mr. Barrington's Pref. to King Alfred's Saxon Version thereof. The former of these gentlemen, a professed critic, after exploding Vossius's emendation of Orchestra, which, indeed, has been generally disapproved, thinks it may be a corruption of de miseria mundi; and the conjecture, it must be allowed, agrees perfectly well with the subject of the author's performance. With your leave, I will here transcribe his own words.

"Quum enim in quibusdam exemplaribus de ormesia mundi scriptum inveniatur, id nihil aliud esse existimo quam corruptum, ex verbis de miseria mundi, et hunc verum esse titulum; quoniam ad illum toto suo opere adludit auctor, qui nullam aliam ob caussam septem nos libros, hortatu Augustini, conscripsit, nisi ut ostenderet* miseriam mundi una cum peccato esse natam, neque cum Christiana religione in Imperium Romanum introiisse, sed ab antiquissimis temporibus per universum terrarum orbem viguisse, neque unquam in Imperio Romano, quum vel maxime floreret, de

fuisse."

But now, Sir, I do not see how, in this case, you can get the first syllable Or, or Hor; nor how Ormesta, or Hormesta; or, if you will, the corrupted word Ormesia, which is just as uncouth as the others; can possibly come from de miseria, as this learned man contends. Discarding, therefore, this conjecture as insufficient, what if we should read Or. mesta, and suppose it to be an abbreviation of Orbis Mestitia? This answers equally as well to the argument of the work, and approaches much nearer to the letters in Ormesta. They wrote in these times, the single e for the diphthongs, and if but in one ancient manuscript it was thus once written in short, the rest, transcribed and copied from it, might readily, and by an easy mistake, convert it into one word, Ormesta. I know not how gentlemen will relish this

* Lib. I. cap. i. p. 6. Ego initium miseria hominum ab initio peccantis hominis ducere iustitui, &c.

conjecture, but it appears plausible to me; and if at last I shall be thought to have miscarried in it, I have this com fort left, that I have erred with others, and in a matter of some difficulty.

1778, Nov.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.

T.Row.

LXVII. Sameness of certain dissimilar Words.

Mr. URBAN,

THE radical words of our language are not so numerous as, I apprehend, they are commonly thought. They have often an appearance seemingly different, when, in fact, they are originally the same; thus, to knit, knot, and net, are all from the Saxon cnyttan, whence we have knitting the nets in Mr. Lewis's Hist. of the Isle of Thanet, p. 135. Terms and expressions have been sometimes varied for precision, as in the instance here given, where all the terms imply tying, and yet each expresses a particular mode of doing it: and such variations as these one cannot but approve, and for that very reason, viz. because they serve for the purpose of accuracy and precision. Sometimes, again, our words are altered from less material causes, inaccuracy, mispro nunciation, locality, as also by curtailing, lengthening, contracting, &c. Null, annull, disannull, are doubtless, all the same; so herit and inherit, to minister and administer, &c.

It may be entertaining, however, even in such cases, to oba serve the present compass and copia of our maternal tongue; and in others it may be useful, in order to understand rightly the true force and energy of some of our terms. I propose, therefore, to give a short alphabet of words, dissimilar in shew; but in reality the same as to their origin; and if I happen to explain but one term to the satisfaction of your readers, I shall be pleased: and after this declaration I ought in all reason to be intitled to their candour and indulgence in other instances, where they may think I have either miscarried, or been guilty of omissions."

To assay, and an Essay. The last is the French Essai; and · the first, used for the trying of metals, is as apparently the French verb essayer.

*See Gloss. to Douglas's Virgil, v. Rowit.

To allay and alloy. The substantive alloy is a baser metal mixed with a richer, so as to abate the value of it; and to allay is to abate, correct, diminish: both from the French Allier, to mix: an Ally, the French Allié, may be supposed to come from the same idea of tying, matching, mixing.

Alexander, Saunders, Sanders, Sawney, Sandy. These are all the same, the four latter being the hypocoristical or fa miliar names used for the first. But perhaps Saunders and Sanders may mean Saunder-son and Sander-son; see Har ris, below. I give this specimen of the variation of names, but do not propose in the sequel to give many examples of this sort, (though perhaps one or two may be inserted,) as that would be tedious and superfluous.

Amaze, as it amazes me, I am amazed. A maze is a laby rinth, and metaphorically a perplexity. The verb comes apparently from the noon, and is a compound, a-mazed; just as we say a-hungred, a-thirst. In strictness there is no such substantive as amaze; but when it is said I am in amaze, it ought rather to be written I am in a maze.

Astoin, astound, astone, stun., Astoned is astonished, in Erudition of Christian Man, p. 198. Astoin'd occurs in Capel's Prolusions, p. 10, where the edition of 1609 has aston'd; and Capel conjectures astoun'd. P. 11, we have stoin'd, which methinks shews that astoin'd may be right. However, it is plain that stun or stun'd is the same word abbreviated, unless you will deduce it from astound, i. e. astonished. Fairfax ix. 23, xiv. 66. Either of these is more natural than to derive it as Dr. Wallis does, from extonitus, attonitus.

Attone. I much doubt whether there were anciently any such word; for as to attone is to reconcile, Shakespeare's Othello IV. 6, it means to at one them, or make them one. It answers to unite: see Junius, and Hanmer's Glossary. Old Plays, Vol iv. p. 140. Carew, p. 142. B. Acts vii. 26.

An Adept. V. a Dab.

Brown, the colour; bran, furfur. As bran is the brown part of the corn when ground, I conceive it to be so called from its colour, and consequently that these are the same

words.

A Band, a string; also an ornament of the neck. A bond, an obligatory writing. These all come from the verb to bind, and consequently are the same words. It is remarkable, that, in the Peak of Derbyshire, a band, in the sense of a string, is vulgarly pronounced bond or bont. V. Tend.

Bodice from Bodies, says Dr. Johnson. Thus it takes its name from the part it is applied to, and is the same word

VOL. II.

with body; just as a neck or sham shirt takes its name from be ing worn on the neck, and as a head is used for a head-dress Beseech. V. seek.

Bellow. V. low.

Bliss, which means happiness, is no other than bless, as is plain from blissed being used for blessed; so blyssyd is blessed. Legend of St. Erasmus. Blissedhede, blessedness. Hampole. See Ames Typ. Ant. p. 14, 15, Percy's Songs, I.

p. 288.

Cloth, and clout. A clout is only a piece of cloth, pro- ́ nounced cloth in Yorkshire.

Cloth and cloaths. As the last were commonly made of the first, it cannot be doubted but they are the same word. Chattel and cattle. As Catalla with the old lawyers and monkish historians signifies all goods moveable and immoveable, these are plainly the same word. Indeed, chattel is only the foreign pronunciation of C, just as of cancelli and cancellarius we have chancel and chancellor. V. Cant. Chanon, Canal.

To convoy, to escort or conduct; to convey, to remove. The first has arisen from the latter. Convey means convoy in Life of Duke of Newcastle, p. 88.

A Criple and Creeple. Dr. Donne writes criple, creeple, which we find also in Field's Bible, as if it came from to creep, and that we ought to deem them the same words.

Cozen and Cousin. The first signifies now to cheat, by pretending, as it were, to be your friend and relation. Lylie, in his Euphues, p. 181, has "to make a cozen of a person,' i. e. a dupe. Many still write cozen for cousin, or consanguineus.

Cud and Quid. The cow chews her cud, and the man, when he chews tobacco, calls it quidding; so that there seems to be no difference but in pronunciation.

Collogue and Collegue. To collogue, in Dr. Johnson, means to wheedle, to flatter; but it also signifies to conspire with others to defraud a person: and as a collegue is the same as the Latin collega, to collogue may seem to come from this.

Coarse and Course. Coarse is written course, Fuller, Worth. p. 82; and see Mr. Hearne's Cur. Disc. p. 126: so that it seems to mean a thing of course, common to be met with, or ordinary.

Common and Commune. To commune, in the sense of

conferring, occurs often in the Bible; Sir Thomas More, p. iii. has to comen, for the same; and Hall often, in his Chronicle, to common, i. e. to discourse in common. Hence you have communely for commonly, in Tanner's Bibl. 583;