Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-10-12
THE STUDY OF A WORD.
The Resources and Variety of Informati'
 It Is Likely to Furnish.

The Resources and Variety of Information
 It Is Likely to Furnish.
 The great dictionaries are library in themselves and furnish an exhaustless source of information. A study of single word like cross in the Century Dictionary shows the resources and va riety of information that familiar word may furnish. There are 13t col umns devoted to this word and its com binations. There are 24 pictorial illus trations. All in all there are 257 differ ent words made out of cross which have to be defined. In the great Oxford Die tiOnary there are II pages given to this word. or twice as much as in the Cen tury. In the Century the study is highly fascinating. There are If radical l ly different sets of definitions to the word itself.
 The fundamental idea is, of course, the cross. the crux for crucifying, but it has come to have a variety of meaning as monument, crucifix, the atone ment, the Christian religion itself, any suffering for Christ's sake. anything that 1 thwartS or vexes, mixing of breeds i'll animal breeding, term used in chang 1 ing plants, q joint in a pipe, the aCci- [ l sportsman phrase for contest dishon- | estly decided.
 Then cross becomes an adjective, with several meanings, as falling. athwart 1 passing from one of two positions, per verse, etc, to the other, being opposed. being peevish or fretful, i'll tempered, thoroughly contrary. in the breeder s | vocabulary. Then it becomes an adverb, I. T.. | il becomes a verb, with all kinds of sig niticance, from the running of line to cross a thing, to cancel by crossing. tc cross ones self in devotion, passing from side to side of man. to go over body of water, 10 obstruct, to cause to inter. fcre. to crCss plants, to hoist from the deck to its place on the mast any of the lighter yards.
 Then there is the proposition, Ill riding cross-cOuntry or walking croSS-lots. Al this with the simple word itself, whicl goes cavorting from the most sacred thought in the world to the breeder's and the sportsman's language of tn, coop and ranch.
 After this the mysteries begin. Ther, are cross, -anserated, arellane, began ty, bretesse, catOOSed, commiSse, ere nele. eStuile. titChe. fleury. gringole, lam beanN, moline, nowyed, nyle, quatre foil. saltltr, sarele, resarceled. Thrl there are the innumerable compounds Q cross from cruSSa armed, Cross-batttl cross-hiter, cross-bar and cross bun through crosS-nucan, CroSs-ruff, cross sOwer and -spale to cruss-wort
 Then there are q CroSs-grained Set Q crosses, such as crOsSarchinal, cross archus, CrOssette, crossopinal. crosSop terygia, cross"pterygian, crossopterygi dae, crossopterygii, crOssOpterygia, cross opterygium. crossOpus, crOsSorhined an, crosSorhininae.
 It is incomprehensiblet that q word & simple should have gone rollicking al over the earth, into the bowels of tn earth, into tho depths of the sea. anon, the fowls of the air, the horse upon tn turf. to card table, to the ships upon tn sea, to the fishes in their glee, to tn sharks in their ferocity, to the architec and plumber. to the farmer in his har rowing. to the railroad in its building to the engine ill its working, to the seam stress in her labOrs, to the spider in hi webbing. to the spinner at his loom, [, the lawyers in their pleading, to a shrev in her wrangling, to the gunner in tn fort to the miner at his lode, to tn Turk as he sits, to the sword of the glad iator. to the expert with his telescope, t the woman ill her gazing and in he dressing. to the athletes in their wreS ting and to the swindler at his arts.-A E. Winship in Journal of Education.