under VERT-O; wise is for wayis, way's, genitive of Way, i. e. VIA.

AFFIXES OF NOUNS.

These are, head also hood, dom, ship, ness, th, ty, tude, ary, ry, ment, men, mony, age, ation, etion, ition, otion, ution and asion, esion, &c., ant, ent, or, er, ist, ism, ling, lin.

As the terminations of words are exceedingly liable to be corrupted, it is hardly possible to arrive at a satisfactory opinion concerning the derivation of many affixes: those of the nouns are particularly difficult.

The affix head, hood, (heid, Dut., heit, Ger.,) would seem at first sight the noun head: as if

Manhead or Manhood were head man or great man; but there is so little obvious connexion between the meaning suggested by this word, whether taken literally or figuratively, and the use of hood as an affix in many applications, that we have conjectured the last to be either a corruption of had, or, what seems more probable, of tudo. Another form of the same affix in German is od, there is edd and dod. But whatever

and in Welsh

be the deriva

tion of hood, it means exactly the same as tudo, ty, &c., i. e., state, condition: Widowhood is being a widow; falsehood is being false, or that which is false.

Dom (thum, Ger.) seems evidently a contr. of

domain or dominion: Kingdom, Pòpedom, Prince+ dom, Dukedom, that which is subject to a king, &c. In such instances the affix is strictly proper; but, like other words, it was extended to more vague applications: as wisdom, freedom, &c., i. e. being wise, free; or the state of being wise, free.

Ship, (Schaft, Ger.,) has also occasioned much trouble. We have conjectured it might (as also haft, Ger.) be a corrup. of hafd, haupt, Ger., i. e. CAPUT; then we have supposed it might be have; again, we have thought it might be a corrup. of SUPER; which so far as meaning is concerned, is the most likely derivation. But whatever be the derivation it evidently serves the same purpose as hood, dom, tas, ty, tude, &c.: as, Lordship, the domain of a Lord, the power, authority, dignity, &c., of a Lord; Worship, Worthship, i. e. being worthy or considered worthy, honour; whence, as a verb to worship, i. e. to honour; worshipful, honourable, or considered full of worth, very worthy; Courtship is the business, state, or process of courting.

The preceding affixes are not much employed and may be regarded as antique terminations; for they are hardly affixed at pleasure in the present time.

The affix of most general application is ness (niss, Ger.); which, as well as ezza, It., and esse, Fr., seems a corrup. of ESSENTIA, essence. Almost any adjective can be converted into a noun by this affix: Round, Roundness (Ritondo, Ritondezza, It.); Fee

ble, Feebleness (Foible, Foiblesse, Fr.); Noble, Nobleness (Noblesse, Fr.). So also in Ger. Finster, dark, Finsterniss, darkness.

Horne Tooke seems to have fancied that the above termination was the same as ness in the names of places on the sea coast: as Sheerness, Foulness, &c.; but the latter is manifestly nose or NASUS; and it would be difficult to discover any connexion between nose and the affix in question.

The affix th in connexion with nouns is considered by Mr. Tooke the same as the verbal affix eth: we have by turns supposed it might be that, or, perhaps, the, (what is called definite article,) or a cor. of ty. The last is rather our present opinion. But whatever be its derivation its use is the very same as ty, ness, &c.: as, wide, width, wideness; long, * longth, length, longness; true, truth, the same as verity, i. e. VERITAS from VERUS.

The affix ty, like té, Fr., ta, It., dad, Sp., is a cor. of the Latin affix tas, tat, and Greek tes: as bounty, bonté, Fr., bonta, It., bondad, Sp., BONITAS from BoNUS, good; vanity, vanité, Fr., Vanita, It., Vanidad, Sp., VANITAS from VAN-US, vain.

There is the same use of tude, i. e. tudo, Lat., and in the ablative tudine; which is adopted by the Italian: Magnitude, Magnitudine, It., MAGNITUDO, from MAGNUS, great.

The termination ary contr. into ry, is properly the Latin adjective affix aris or arius: as Actuary, Apothecary, &c., i. e. ACTUARIUS from ACTUS; so ca

valry, formed on † Cavallus, CABALLUS, a horse, a war-horse; Rivalry, formed on Rival; Pleasantry, on pleasant, &c.

The terminations ment, men, mony, are evidently the same affix: FRAGMENT-um, a broken part, from

FRAG-0, to break; DOCUMENT-um, that which shows, from Doc-eo, to show; Commandment what is commanded, from Command; ACUMEN, sharpness, or that which has a point, from Acu-o, to point, make sharp; PATRIMONIUM, Patrimony, what descends from a father, (PATER,) an inheritance, &c.

This affix is frequently an adverbial termination in Italian, French, and Spanish: Importunamente, It. and Sp., Importunement, Fr., importunately, &c.

The termination age, seems in some instances the augmentive accio, It., i. e. ax, Lat.: as villagio, It., village, the augmentive form of villa; viaggio, It., voyage of VIA, a way, a VIA, a way, a journey; personaggio, It., personage of PERSONA, person; foliage, Feuillage, Fr., of feuille, Fr., or foglia, It., FOLIUM, a leaf.

In the modern Italian, accio has become a contemptuous augmentive; but as it remains in the form of aggio, it is either neutrologistic or eulogistic.

In such instances as the following, age is simply a connective or possessive affix; and seems to be a corrup. of ac, ic, ag or ig, already noticed, under simple adjectives: parsonage, vicarage, poundage, tonnage, &c. In all such cases, age (as explained under simple connective affixes) merely means of, connected with, belonging to: parsonage house, is

the house of a parson; parsonage benefice, is the benefice of a parson; poundage custom, charge, rate, &c., is equivalent to per pound; patronage is the power or agency of a patron.

A numerous class of verbal nouns derived from the Latin, terminate in ation, acion, asion, etion, esion, ition, icion, ision, otion, osion, ution, usion. In Italian, these terminations are atione, acione, &c., being the form of what is called the ablative singular of the Latin. When the modern Latin (i. e. the Italian) discontinued the ancient cases, it retained this as the only singular termination, for no other reason, perhaps, than its agreeable sound. With us, the French and the Spaniards, the final e is dropped: thus, commend, commendation, commendazione, It.; complete, completion; compose, composition, composicion, Sp., composizione, It.; confuse, confusion, confusione, It.

With few exceptions, the French and the English are the same: the Italian differs from them in having the final e and %, instead of t: Spanish has generally c instead of t.

The last-mentioned nouns are formed on what is called the supine. Thus, FACTUM, to make or do; FACTIO, (abl. Factione,) a making or doing; OCCASUM, to fall or happen, OCCASIO, (abl. OCCASIONE,) a happening; INTRUSUM, to intrude, INTRUSIO, (abl. INTRUSIONE,) an intruding or intrusion.

It is evident that all such words are of the same nature as our verbal nouns, terminating in ing, i. c.