of the changes that take place in various parts of speech, this principle has been already applied; we shall now endeavour to apply it more generally.

Of Prefixes.

A, is of Greek derivation, and when prefixed to nouns, has a negative or privative power; pathos, means feeling; changing the last syllable os into the English termination y, and prefixing a, it becomes apathy which means without feeling. When the word to which it is prefixed, begins with a vowel, a becomes an, thus archy, signifies government; anarchy, without government; byssos is the Greek for bottom, hence the English abyss, without bottom.

A, ab, or abs, is a Latin preposition equivalent to from; vert, verse, and version are different modifications of the Latin verb vertere, to turn; avert is to turn from ; averse, turned from; and aversion, the act of turning from, or the state of being turned from.

Ad is a Latin preposition signifying to or at and becomes ac, af, ag, al, an, ap, ar, as, or at, according as it may be more easily pronounced in connection with the word to which it is prefixed; vert, from the Latin vertere, to turn, originates advert, to turn to; here,

H

from the Latin hærere, to stick, adhere, to stick to; junct, in Latin junctus, adjunct, joined to; cede from the Latin cedere, to yield, accede, to yield to, &c.

:

Al, besides being one of the forms of ad, is of Arabic origin, in which language it is equivalent to the thus koran signifies reading or book; Alkoran, the book, by way of eminence, that book holding the same rank with Mohammedans, which the Bible does with Christians.

Amphi, is a Greek preposition, signifying about. It is not of frequent occurrence in English words; we have examples of it in amphitheatre, a circular theatre; and in amphibious, capable of living by turns on land or in water; the latter part of this word being derived from the Greek word bios, life. This preposition gives rise to ampho, and to the Latin, ambi, or ambo, which in some instances signifies both; thus ambidexter, from dextra, the right hand, or from dexter, right handed, is one who can use his left and right hand equally.

Ana, is a Greek preposition, which when used as a prefix, signifies again, or back; anabaptist, is one who performs, or submits to the rite of baptism again, after it has been performed in infancy. Anachronism, from the Greek chronos, time, with ana prefixed, is an error in computing time, by which an event is

antedated, or placed earlier than it happened; analyze, and analysis, are from the Greek verb, and substantive, which signify respectively, to loose, and a loosing, or solution: hence, to analyze, is to loose again, or to separate the parts of which any thing consists, in order that each may be considered by itself.

Anti, is a Greek word, signifying against, or opposite: antipathy, from pathos, as before explained, means having a feeling against, or in opposition to a thing; anti-christian, is against christianity; anti-ministerial, means being against ministers. Sometimes the i is dropped, as in antarctic, opposite to the arctic. Antipodes, is the Greek podes, feet; and, with anti prefixed, implies having the feet opposite.

Ante is a Latin word, and signifies before; thus, antedate, is to date before; antediluvian, from the Latin diluvium, flood, or deluge, is before the flood. Antemeridian, before noon.

Apo, is Greek, and equivalent to from: apostate, is compounded of a verb, signifying stand, and apo, from; hence, an apostate, is one who has forsaken his religion, or who in any way stands from the opinions which he formerly entertained. Apology, is from the Greek logos, word, or speech, and is a speech intended to turn from his anger one who is offended. Apogee, signifies a point in the heavens, in which the sun, or a

planet, is at the greatest possible distance from the earth; it is composed of apo, from, and ge, or gea, the Greek word for earth. Aphelion, in like manner, means that part of the orbit of a planet most distant from the sun, and is compounded of helios, the sun; and ap, contracted for apo, from.

Arch, is of Greek derivation, and is equivalent to chief: hence, archangel is chief angel; archbishop, chief bishop; arch-enemy, chief enemy, &c.

Be, is a common prefix of English extraction; it is simply the verb be, and generally conveys the idea of being, or existing near, or in the state denoted by the word to which it is prefixed, as may be seen in the following examples, become, bedawb, bedim, bedrench, befit, befool, begone, beside, beseech, beseem, &c.

Bene, is a Latin adverb, signifying well: thus, factor, is doer; benefactor, one who does well or good to another; beneficent, is doing well; and benevolent, wishing well; from the Latin participles, faciens, doing, and volens, wishing.

Bi, or bis, is the Latin bis, twice; hence, biped, means having two feet, from the Latin pedes, feet, with this prefix; bipennated, having two wings; bisect, 'from the Latin sectus, cut, is to cut in two parts.

Circum, which in some instances becomes circu, is the Latin preposition, signifying around; circulate, to carry around, is composed of circu, and the Latin par

ticiple latus, carried; circumfluent, is flowing around; circumfuse, is to pour around; circumnavigate, is to sail round.

Con is a Latin prefix, equivalent to with, or together: it is changed into co, col, com, cor, as it happens to join more readily in pronunciation with the following word: conjoin is to join together; concur, from the Latin currere, to run, is to run together; coheir, one that is heir with another; collect, from the Latin participle lectus, gathered, is to gather together; commingle, is to mingle together.

Contra, in Latin, signifies against, and in English compounds it is frequently written counter; dictum, in Latin, means spoken; to contradict, therefore, is to speak against, or in opposition to; to counterbalance is to balance one thing against another; to counteract is to act contrary.

De is a Latin preposition, signifying of, from, or concerning; scribere, in Latin, is to write; describe, is to write of, or concerning; ducere, is to lead or draw, deduce, is to draw from; ferre, is to carry, or bear, defer, is to carry from, or to put away.

Demi, hemi, and semi, from the Greek, are different modifications of the same word, each of them is equivalent to half; thus, demigod, is half god, half man; hemisphere, is half sphere; hemistich, is half a