ERRORS OF
OF SPEECH

AND OF

SPELLING.

BY THE REV.

E. COBHAM BREWER, LL.D.

(Of Trinity Hall, Cambridge),

AUTHOR OF

"Guide to Science" (300,000th);

"History of France" (brought down to the present year);
"Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" (3rd edition);

"Les Phénomènes de Tous les Jours" (dedicated by authority to Napoleon III.,
and sanctioned by Mgnr. Sibour, Abp. of Paris);
&c., &c.

VOLUME II.

London:

WILLIAM TEGG AND CO.,

PANCRAS LANE, CHEAPSIDE.

1877.

LEEDS:

PRINTED BY MCCORQUODALE AND CO.,

BASINGHALL STREET.

Onycha, on'.i.kah, the shell of the onyx-fish. Onymancy, on'.i.măn.sy, divination by the nails.

Lat. onyx, gen. onychis; Gk. onux, onuchos, the nail, an onyx or nailstone. Any stone with white and other bands is an onyx, whether agate, jaspar, chalced'ony, &c. The white crescent at the base of our nails gave rise to the word.

Oolite, ō'.ŏ.lite (3 syl. not oo'.lite, 2 syl.), a variety of limestone. Oolitic, o'.o.lit".ik. Oolithes, o'.o.lithz, fossil eggs.

Oology, ō.ol'.o.gy, the science of eggs and nests.

Greek oon logos; ôon lithos, egg-stone, so called because its small rounded grains resemble eggs.

-oon (Fr. and Ital. ending) nouns, large: ball-oon, a large ball. Ooze. Whose. Hose. Hoes. Owes. (All one syl.)

Ooze, soft mud, percolation, liquid of a tan-vat; to perco-
late, oozed, oozd; ooz-ing, ooze'.ing; ooz'ing-ly, ooz ́-y.
Whose, hooze, poss. of Who. (Old English hwȧ, hwas.)
Hose, hōze, stockings. (Old English hose, plu. hosan.)
Hoes (to rhyme with grows), plu. of hoe. (French houe.)
Owes, ōwz (to rhyme with grows), 3 sing. of owe. (O.E. ág[an].)
"Ooze," O. E. wós, wósig, oọzy. The loss of the w is to be regretted.
Opacity, o.păs'..ty, obscurity, want of transparency. (See Opaque.)
Op-, for ob- before -p (Latin prefix), See Ob-.

Opal, o'.păl (not ō.pawl), a precious stone very iridescent.
Opalise, ō'.păl.ize. Opalesce, õ ́.păl.èss”.

Opalise, to convert into a substance like opal.
Opalesce, to exhibit the iridescence of an opal.
Opalised, ō'.păl.īzd; opalis-ing (Rule xix.), ō'.păl.īze.ing.
Opalesced, ō'.păl.ěst"; opalesc-ing (R. xix.), õ′.păl.ĕss".ing.
Opalescence, o'.păl.ĕss".sense; opales'cent, o'.păl.ĕss”.sent.
Opaline, ō'.păl.îne, adj. of opal (-ine, Lat., "pertaining to").
Lat. ōpălum (Gk. ôps, gen. ôpos, the eye), a stone lustrous as the eye.
Opaque, ō.pāke', not transparent; opaque'-ly, opaque'-ness.

French opaque: Latin opacus (ab ope, i.e., terrâ, Scaliger).

The introduction of these French terminations in -que is much to be deplored. They do not in any way assist in the pronunciation, but quite the reverse, and the ordinary spelling opake (Latin opacus) would be much better.

Ope (1 syl.), contraction of open. Hope (1 syl.) Hoop. Open, o'p'n, to disclose, free to all, artless, &c., to undo, to commence, &c.; opened, o'p'nd; open-ing, o'.p'ning; openings, apertures, vacancies; open-er, o'p'n.er; openly, oʻp'n.ly; open-ness, o'p'n-ness. Open-hearted, frank; open-mouthed, greedy. The open, the open sea, &c. To open up, to lay open a mine, to make a trade. Old Eng. open[ian], past openode, past part. openod, openlice, openly.