New-York tribune., 1894-03-21
4 NEW DICIIONAR II /.
SOME INTERESTING AND ORIGINAL fr'Ni
TRES.

,er.>o,DD D1cTtoXARY OF THE ENGLISH
LATGt'AGE Upon Original Plan .eneni nesIi'Tii in
70 GIVE in Complete % an1 A9Sura5 pccent Advances in
Knowadge and in the Readest Form prnnuncia lSr 1
@ Hlar n ye tr EfvnoIogy Of ali the Words and the
Iiiomatic Phrases in the Spe-cr any I,rnnared bv
II otG tne rE56 mS nndTcd Specialists and 0ther
Scholars under the sHPetfv'IFn EPsf Fpnncs A. March
Ill, b. L. H. d., Consulting t&itor' Rsl,cii Rnssnciate
Greaory rtry D. d. 2 Iaaagig RGsfcf Ph % D. John Den
ison Champlin " A; Rossi eco JonEnTk E,nk & Wag,
nails Company.
,rb,ro are two WAYS OF looking at the subject OF
dictionaries on the one hand book of TINS sort
may be consulted court whose de''Sio" ~
final while on the other 1t may be taken H'e.r'
as the testimony Of an expert In given case Nv
former way of treating dictionaries. which seems 10
b, unluly common. is apparently reHc Vi '"''
book Worship when every volume. unless diStncu'
I condemned by some recognized authority WAS SUP
rosed 10 b. true, and In any case had a s"pe'NA'u
efficacy Tho natural differences from such Wv
Of the matter would be that only one ieHlco" -
needed for any language. and that its statement
,,,r any nont must be deemed nflilibe. These
, inforoncos would be highly convenient, but the
/ language would have to be dead D@lore tne aO'
lute Infalblity Of the dictionary could Dc reili~'n
on the other hand II dictionary Is only the 'eSt
mony OF an expert OF group OF experts III Tue
field of lcxicog1phy, then every ne" "o'u-"'"
which embodes ORIGINAL ideas Is Of value on ttie
rrincple that i'm the multitude Of couns"lOrS there
f. safety. the more advice at hand on uou"ti'i
point the better The increasing number OF NC
tonaries Of the English language - "arrahl'l pS
the spread Of the language itself II they are al III
possession of one who knows how TO use them' the!
contribute each IN It's own way to perfect his use OF
words Dclcacy and accuracy OF judgment !" INNS
matter is the final test Of style. When man mas
consulted all the dictionaries he can lay MS hailiS
on concerning given word. has looked It up IN the
10 fCDl
sides has medltatel over H. turning 1t this way ana
that 10 get all aspects OF its meaning. he mas
right 20 the word which Jess care cannot give Inc
STUDENT OF words has the right to expect ihat among
all English dictionaries be will be- able 10 ma al
words that meet him anywhere else. But II Is
physically impossible that one dictionary, even the
most ample should content him. This Is an ado
quate excuse for the publication cited at the head
Of this article The Acknowledged principles OF ex-
cusion deprive It Of claim 70 completeness hut
Il presents words under aspects. one proiessei
aim ~ the book IS 10 add TO the stock OF quotations
intended - Illustrate the use of words The choice
Of authors seems 70 b. eccentric at times but that
may be due T. the fact that the word hunter IS
not as familiar with the names Of certain writer's
as the photographer Il. The proportion of sectlonS
from, living or very recent writers Is apparently un-
usually large In addition 20 an exact reference
with each quotation. tho Initials OF the publishers
are aldcl IN many cases. that one learns not
not merely Of tho books but whore 70 get them
This device may well prove Of great utility at times.
Tho rules of exclusion viii not 10 fel burdensome
bv tho general reader. S-,f-cx xplanatory phrases
and c,mrornds have been left out. But In such
cases A word list IS consulted not for meanings. but
- discover whether A form has been uscl before.
Most people are ,lmi about ny"nting novelties In
nuguage when thcy commit this offence against
their own notions - proprlcty. they do 50 uncon-
s-lpus,y However. the editors Of "a Standard Die
i!orary" are not richly consistent in excluding
scif-oxplanatory words Otherwise. how has the
phrase "Ine novel" crept In? This exception Is
all the moro remarkable. because the definition
aided also traverses the rules Of the book. DE
nncrs have been urged" It IS said In the preface.
'to l.. always their guard against imphrting
10 definitions the color OF their theories. opin
tons or beliefs" Now It be agreed on all
hands that a dime novel is "a cheap. sensational
story usually sold for a dime" but there Is GER
talniy no lack OF color IN such definition.
\ comparison with THE Century Dictionary"
leads TO the inference that the present work has
made n distinct advance In certain fields. There
is good collection of Anglo-ndian AMI Australian
terms. and these are growing feature ot litera-
turc. The dictionary Is rich In terms peculiar
to occutlsm and Oriental religions It has also
profcsscdy paid special attention to the exclusive
vocabuiarlcs Of the various hanlcrafs; but here,
II the comparisons sufficient for verdict
the gain over the past has not been great The
effort at compression has certainly destroyed the
value Of some definitions For example. the word
Persian priests" No quotation is given by way Of
Illustrating this meaning. and II IS certainly not !
common in English books But there f. a word |
"dastur" or "dastoor." common throughout the !
IInioo world. and often heard in |
Zanzbar which figures largely In books OF /
travel. II meets the stranger every turn |
I'm ihos, countries and he s sometimes guilty /
Of harsh language about 1t. Whenever he desires |
particularly that something should be done his !
IIndoo or hnf-caste servants exclam that 1t is |
not "Iastur." They mean that 1t is contrary to !
custom and. I'm their eyes. what is contrary to
custom Indirectly. ''rhe Century Dicton-
AIRY" gives definition Of the word under It's de-
rivatvc "dastur." but It is missing altogether from
the new work 1t may be remarked In reference 10 |
the word. ''Bablsm the principles and practices OF
the Bab a Mohammedan sect founded In Persia |
by Scyd Mohammcl AL" that Mr.. f. c. Browne
the most thorough Western student OF this
religion. gives the name Of s founder MIRA All
Muhammad. II can hardly b. a Mohammedan sect
for It's spread threatens the existence OF Islamsm
In Persia. and 1t appears from all accounts to be
syncretc system I'm which there are features. not
only Of Islam. Judaism. Christianity. Buddhism
Brahmansm and Luh mysticism. but also Of cur
rent Persian philosophy. which does not show much
advancement beyond Neo- Plntonism. II words OF
this be put into dictionary. they should
certainly be- treated on the cyclopaedc plan. The
effort TO compress the definition destroys It's value
In such cases the utility OF THE Century Dction-
ary" Is obvious. and It is readily forgiven
ccsscs on topics already familiar.
An extremely inter- sting feature Of the new dc
tionary is the tables under notable words. For
anpl, under the head II ''coree." all varieties of
IN. plant are Identified by their commercial names
and descriptions. The definition Is cycopaedlc I'm
der The tiiI,s ~ handicrafs a list Of words peculiar
% the trade is given Under the word "Amcrican"
is put elaborate enumtr1tion Of the stocks and
tribes = the native race The text. table and plate
under the head II "con" make essay In numis-
a,ics. covering four pages. Similar Information is
scattered most dictionaries under the sp cilic
names IL coins as the "stater' and the "Doric" The
plate giving example Of ancient coins IL only ~
those which add beauty to the volume. The coorcd
plates at'ractivc. that accompanying the article
"DccOrations"-that Is. badges Of honor-belng
particularly inter stiIg These fuil-page double
page Illustrations are additional to small woodcuts