A select glossary of English words used formerly in senses different from their present

· 1886

This volume is intended to be a contribution, though a very slight one at best, to a special branch of the study of our own language. It proposes to trace in a popular manner and for general readers the changes of meaning which so many of its words have undergone; words which, as current with us as they were with our forefathers, yet meant something different on their lips from what they mean on ours. Of my success in carrying out the scheme which I had set before myself, it does not become me to speak, except to say that I have fallen a good deal below my hopes, and infinitely below my desires. But of the scheme itself I have no doubts. I feel sure that, if only adequately carried out, few …

Read free

Your support pays for translating these classics into more languages.

Support for $12/month DonateSubscribers read with instant translation, without waiting for the free daily limit.

Lindy Books — 78,696 public-domain classics, free forever. No ads, no accounts, no tracking. Browse the library