Star.
London, England, 1830-11-19 00:00:00

E TYMOI.OGr.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.
grsinmatical correspondent, ANGIMS, quoted in your
Part? of Oci. 27, notices respecting the words rompele and compd.
" that both might be English, bur the objection is that both
are not English Competition is used by Bacon, DRYDEN, Jonx-
stow, Isocan, and Mturox. The veth cons;rele ix not to be found in
any one of these authors. JOIIN4OK does not admit it into his /I *
Hoolartt AIIIIBMOILTII does not translate the verb competo by it, r.or
is it used by any English writer of the least reputation before the be
ginning of this innovating century."
.issocus may be right as to the rerent introduction of the word,
obi I believe it not to have been used in the time of Joirwsort ; but
bet is unquestionably wrong in denying it to be English. Comp/Wiwi
'a heirnine, end tray have been its parent ; ts.r I doubt whether cons-
pet* liaa fetched direct from the Latin, and I suspect it to have been
mined as a verb to correspond to the noun competition, and the coiner,
it he were bard pushed, knew that he could fall back on the Latin,
and maintain his ground. The verb compiler occurs in French, it is
true; but only as a law.term in the sense of ' belonging.'
But ANGLUI misleads us, when he says that the word is not Eng.
Bak because it was not used in ancient times; for compel* is as good
loglith as competition, both being derived from the Latin, and neither
having an English root ! Antiquity may serve to authenticate a word
by supplying an example of its use, as an antique coin proves its use
in a former age, and may still grace the cabinet of the curious ;
but the familiar use of the verb compete in the mouths of
tradesmen, manufacturers, and merchants, and within the
walls of Parliament, stamps it as current coin, which
may be lawfully tendered by any man, and should be refused
by no man of patriotic sentiment or loyal feeling. The men of the
present day enjoy the same liberty, in which our ancestors indulged, of
coining words at their pleasure ; all have:an equal right to coin, learned
or unlearned. But whether the word coined will be received into general
use, depends on various drcumstances,—the station and influence of the

coiner, the grammatical propriety of the word, and its conformableness
to analogy, the want of such a term and its perfect adaptation to the idea
conveyed, the love of novelty and the caprice of taste and fashion, the
striking incident which gave birth to h, sad the strong hold which it
takes on the public memory.
Dr. WiIIITZI, therifore, has judged rightly in admitting it into his

admirable Dictionary, and he gives the following account of it :....
" CONTZT IC, v. L (Lat. eowspeto, eon and petal
1. To seek or strive for the same thing as another; to carry on com•
petition or rival►y : Our manufacturers compete with the English in
making cotton.clothe.
2. To strive or claim to be equal: ' The sages of antiquity will not
dare to earipete with the inspired authon.'—MiLwait."
_ .

11. Another of the graminatiati corespondents, T. H. remarks that
Amax', (doomed to bear yet another blow,) " is wrong as to the
glebe, Wield; be would confine it tot its primitive signification of
werthlam, vulgar,' &e.
If he will look again into Joirisow, he will find that OUT hest
authors hequently employ the word trivial to denote what is ' light,
unimportant',—a sense which he condemns."
♦ third &patent, H. W. writes thus r.—" Arrows does not sewn
yet to have had his full misrule of correction. He refers to Jonsson'.
Dielkstswy far the meaning of the 'word trivial ; there it is found to
import 4 woethiess, incomdderable.' I fancy that he is also incorrect in
his derivation of the word hens Trish. Joawson's meaning, does not
bar him out in the assertion."

That rriokr, which is also Manch word, is derived from Orins/is.
le Lath adjective, and that trivielis traces its origin, not from Tricia
the Infernal goddess, but from rriviwetZwill admit of no disputa ; not
even Primula himself would deny the fact.
Driehaus is defined by Foncer.stwus, " locus in quem
tree via convenient. tat Wiest in quem dues, guarritruse in quern qua.
tuor. Seminar tauten seeps pro quetstsquo lees frequeart, qno Ursine.
egatressire eolette, ac, ilgr. 1, & Virg. 4/34. 4, SOU. Justin. 21, h. de
Dionmio tyrearo Ludimagisnum professes puns in trivia do.
cebat.' Arripere aratedietusa trivia, h. s. verbs contumelies& ea
face plebis in triviis commorantis, Cis. pro Mw. c. 8." " Trivia/is,
ireeisr, I.lr•Szo, ad trivium %madness; sups adso vulgar., pie.
befits, villa, communis, Quintal. 1, 4. (aL B.)' Mtwara pens eta aunt
Judi, et airfoils scientist.' h. e. gramtnaticm, quern dual pueroe in
trolls, mos Mt Gracerum, (Arnob. 7. p. 242. Infanta pastel trir.
aliter et populariter InstitatL) Suet. de Rhea. c. Deelamabat
mode splendid. atque edentate, turn circumcise as mediae, et tantum.
mode ultimates verbis,' Aug. 74.4 Triviaks es vireo ladi,' JuvenaL 7,
86.' Comment Wu carmen trivial* nsonetL' " What is trivial. then,
is 1. • common or ordinary ; ' 2. vulgar or plebeian ; ' 3.' tniSinngg.
linoosiderable, worthless, vile, or contemptible; applied to compW.
dons, 6 comma-place, not rising above medioaity ; such as you may
see or hear in any street, such u meet the e
such or the ear in any di.
ration, such as may be picked up on the highway, as may be
found without search, and such as, when it found, is not worth the

finding.
Dr. WILBSTRICS account of the word Is this:—
" TRIVIAL, a. Fr. from hada lriofalts ; probably from (h.
rei/Ja Lat. taro, triei, to wear, or from trivial., • a highway.
I. Trilling; of little worth or importance; Inconsiderable ; as a trivial
subject, a trivia/ affair. Divas., Port.
2. Worthless; vulgar. Roscommows
But the senses of frivialy are more philosophically and scien-
tifically and correctly arranged by the learned Doctor, who follows
Jolla sox.
" TitivIALLY, adv. Commonly; vulgarly.
2. Lightly ; inconsiderably On a trifling degree."
One gnat sin of omission by Englishieskostsph•r• is this. that they
are In MOO instances content to trace the English word to a Latin or
Greek root without noticing the primitive, primary, and secondary
meanings of the word in those Languages. Thus the word canon is re.
ferable to the Latin word, and the Latin word is derived from the
Greek word ; but our lexicographers should inform us that the primary
meaning in Greek is a carpenter's rule, a plummet.' The
word hopes* in the sense of ' cheating' Is traced to isesposs• in Latin,
through the French imposer ; but how did the Latin word acquire the
sense of " cheating ?" That is the question. What say our lexico-
graphers ? The fishes are dumb. We say to put on any body, to
cheat him. ' To put'—what ? Aye, my good sir, smile, if you dare; to
put panniers on him, to make an ass or a tool of him. Our ablest Latin ,
lexicographers are not decided on this point; one gropes in the dark,
and the other is led by a dubious glimmer, but I will dissipate the
darkness of the one, and enable the rushlight of the other to exhibit a
steady flame :--
" heponcre, decipere,' I tut itapannare, der ad intenders, corn
that; ei subsuditndus videtur emus. jraudcos, fa/facials, aut qua.
modi, Cic. Q. Pr. 2, 6. 'Caulni qgregie imposuit Milo mita,' Ital.
p gel haf aft belga, et Nep. in Bans. 5. Simulata deditione, dune
de eonditionibus tractat, prafectis Antigont imposuit,' Primo. Sat.
106 'Utcurnque imponi Tel donuismi point. Pone:mum
Leiiaos.
" Imposter, alicui, pro deciphere,' et subauditur fraudem, Quintil,
Devi. 6, 22. ' Spes tibi perpetwe Landis imposuit.' Quid et dilates,
freissits, vol tale gait la,ilefit, qp prinium bat formula uses eat,
4 hoe voluit intelligi, alterum cui imposuit. jumintl s" •
Gitpit!ent Thesaurus.
Eves Cicsxo's ablest and most indefatigabli editor, IstMunaktlngly
imos a on the credulity of gib waders '—
Glavin. 261 'l4lciaa tat* sabarparl Wet, at is fate, ta.
LANDISCII et HOTOMMINUI, quis imponi non coneoqualsont,
,quod amues li.laLhabont, 'orbs= Warped. imostorokatiat
, anal Immo/tom dieirotui, qui iosporpswe bake
is pp aliqiis pod veto. Natal mime ms4i od stem
*len. lasisonera sic eat ad AU. 16, 26."
J. A. giIIIESTI, ChM. Cl..
Without any HECATIVIC power of evoking defunct personages, in
the papaw of the moon, at the witching hour of night ;--without the

aid of CONIDIA.B Soffoefiell, TIM/ALIA'. herbs, Of MEDIA'S cauldrou;
—without the spade and the sack of a practised RIESUILRICTIONIST,
have exhumed from mouldering obscurity, the remains of an useful
lIRAMIIoRIoIf, for the benefit of schoolmasters too old to learn Of un-
lcurn, and of students too careless or impetuous to read the guide-posts
which would direct their course, and which teach the royal road to
knowledge :
" Sardis., a saddle,' in imponere, to put upon one,' for •to
chest one,' Nept. 18, 3,7. Cic. Q. Fr. 8, 6. Quota'. 6, 22." I quoted
above,) " vi& 'archon& Plautus Meal. 2,1, 82. • Conctslam elm ibus
hue, hint apeculabor procul, Linde advenienti &eminent imponam
sent.' "

E. PALAIRTT'II TA!MUM'S &Upsilon Lai republished by E. H.
Basnea in 1829.

What Gisxs■ had successfully comPetured, PALALRET has
proved.
. .

" Bari elitellat impoaere, proverbium ap. Cic. ad AU. 5, 15. h. c.
mums alicui imponere, quod ei accommodatum non sit; bourn cnim
t: rga ipsa•deelarant, non ease se ad onus accipiendum figurata, ut him
'le Nal. beor. 2, 63. loqultur. QuintiL 6, II: 'Non nostrum inquit
onus; bos clitellas." Adde Ammian. 16, 5. (al. 7.) Huc pertinct
illud Handl Ep. 1, 14. • Optat ephoppia bos piger, optat stare ct-
hallas :' quo significatur neminetn sua sorte contention) ease."
Foactm.txt Lczucon.

" Cliteas, ad Ali. 5, 15. c Clitella bovl ►uns insposita :' pro-
%erbium In eos, quibus aliquid negotli datut, cut admintstrando idoncl
von sent. Melia enhu &this insponunuir, non babes." J. A.,
EawErrt MO. Cie.

" Metamphorice Plant. Most. 3,2, 91. Vchit hic
(egregie till impositum est, ut imprudens frauds man adjuvo,)
vehit hic autetn alter genes, Novitium mihi quantum institui nor.
malum : Nam muliones mules clitellarios Habtnt : ego habeo homins-,
clitellarios Magni aunt oneris ; quicquid famous', vehunt.' Hor.
Serra. 1,5, 47. Hine mull Caps clitellas temporc ponunt Episl.
I, 13, 7. A bjtci to potias ilium quo perferre jubetis elitellan fem.
Impinges,' h. e. mandatum ttbi negotlum. Cic. Att. 5, i 3.
he'd aunt imposita ; plane non at nostrum onus s' I. provincia hare
mihi non convenit, non magis quam bort clitelle. Aintnian. 16, 5
Nomine veteris proverbii totem jiver, a noble laudatesu proposuit."
esswset Thesastrus.
But that my beast may not be too much jaded, I will stop to bait
awhile ; and it is to be hoped that, as I enter the house, to which the
rubicund, tun-bellied &entice smilingl) invites ins with real hospi-
tality, rubbing hls hands in entecy, and bowing most submissively.
while the dog at his aide is parasite toenoo
at precise adulation 6, to
wag his tail, drop his can, and Wafts delight the superabundant
and overpowering eloquence of his master,— shall not find Minims
triumphantly singing in Vas ioazc strains, Asians ad tyrasn.'
• ddsino !gra superfine condi,' (Elkton. Bp. 102. ad Mare Fa-
bstkins narrari credo tuella; (Hog. Spirt. 2,1, 199 ;) Ashton in
(Petron. Fr. Tragur. e. 63.)
Thetford. E. 11. BARKER.
• " Adulor, voce et gesticulatione, motuque bLsndo corporih ut
caudse blandior. Eat enim proprium eauum, (si Nonio credimus c. I
n. 37.) aliarumve bestiarum gestientium et blandicntium. Colum. 7.
12. Canes mitissing furem quoque adulantur." Foac ELLIS/LYS.

THE TURF.

TATT ERSAI4 V S.

There was a very meagre attendance yesterday, and more talk of the
new Ministry than the Derby and Oaks. In these .•akes scarcely any
changes have arisen. The offers on the field for the Derby are 15 to I,
and no takers. Humus was backed at 10 to I to 1001. by a party act
grmt inane= ; there is no doubt that he will be a prominent favourite.
For the Oaks, a mere shade divides Oxygen and Circassian. The
friends of both are numerous: in fact, nothing else is in any demand.
At the close of the mow the odds stood thus :

S to & mat Mr. Chifney's Caleb
16 to 1 Lord Euter's Bohemian
10 to 1 .-- Mr. Beardswortb's Coiwick
16 to 1 Lord Jersey's Cobweb
18 to I Lord Sligo's Bras.de.Fer
20 to a Lord Exeter'. Humus
60 to 1 Duke of Riehmon's Belietar.
OA U.
S to 1 alit Duke of Grafton's Oxygen
11 to I Mr. Houldsworth's Circassian
All the other horses remain at the odds quoted in our I.tst report.