y word.

The chapter headings only indicate in a general way the division of the
subject matter, the arrangement of which has been determined rather by
the natural association which exists between words. The quotations are,
with few exceptions, drawn from my own reading. They come from very
varied sources, but archaic words are exemplified, when possible, from
authors easily accessible, generally Shakespeare or Milton, or, for
revived archaisms, Scott. In illustrating obsolete meanings I have made
much use of the earliest dictionaries[1] available.

It seemed undesirable to load a small work of this kind with references.
The writer on word-lore must of necessity build on what has already been
done, happy if he can add a few bricks to the edifice. But philologists
will recognise that this book is not, in the etymological sense, a mere
compilation,[2] and that a considerable portion of the information it
contains is here printed for the first time in a form accessible to the
general reader.[3] Chapter VII., on Semantics, is, so far as I know, the
first attempt at a simple treatment of a science which is now admitted
to an equality with phonetics, and which to most people is much more
interesting.

Throughout I have used the _New English Dictionary_, in the etymological
part of which I have for some years had a humble share, for purposes of
verification. Without the materials furnished by the historical method
of that great national work, which is now complete from A to R, this
book would not have been attempted. For words in S to Z, I have referred
chiefly to Professor Skeat's _Etymological Dictionary_ (4th ed., Oxford,
1910).

It is not many years since what passed for etymology in this country was
merely a congeries of wild guesses and manufactured anecdotes. The
persistence with which these crop up in the daily paper and the
class-room must be my excuse for "slaying the slain" in Chapter XIII.
Some readers may regret the disappearance of these fables, but a little
study will convince them that in the life of words, as in that of men,
truth is stranger than fiction.

ERNEST WEEKLEY.
_NOTTINGHAM, January 1912._

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

On its first publication this little book was very kindly treated by
both reviewers and readers. The only criticism of any importance was
directed against its conciseness. There seemed to be a consensus of
expert opinion