THESAURUS

OF

ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.

NEW-STREET SQUARE.

OF

ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES,

CLASSIFIED AND ARRANGED

SO AS

TO FACILITATE THE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS

AND ASSIST IN

LITERARY COMPOSITION.

BY

PETER MARK ROGET, M.D., F.R.S.

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS;

MEMBER OF THE SENATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ;

OF THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETIES ETC. OF MANCHESTER, LIVERPOOL,
BRISTOL, QUebec, new YORK, HAARLEM, TURIN, AND STOCKHOLM.

Author of

"

THE "BRIDGEWATER TREATISE ON ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY,"

ETC.

"It is impossible we should thoroughly understand the nature of the SIGNS, unless we
first properly consider and arrange the THINGS SIGNIFIED."-"Ersa IIтegóSYTα.

SEVENTH EDITION.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS.

1858.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

It is now nearly fifty years since I first projected a system of verbal classification similar to that on which the present Work is founded. Conceiving that such a compilation might help to supply my own deficiencies, I had, in the year 1805, completed a classed catalogue of words on a small scale, but on the same principle, and nearly in the same form, as the Thesaurus now published. I had often, during that long interval, found this little collection, scanty and imperfect as it was, of much use to me in literary composition, and often contemplated its extension and improvement; but a sense of the magnitude of the task, amidst a multitude of other avocations, deterred me from the attempt. Since my retirement from the duties of Secretary of the Royal Society, however, finding myself possessed of more leisure, and believing that a repertory of which I had myself experienced the advantage, might, when amplified, prove useful to others, I resolved to embark in an undertaking, which, for the last three or four years, has given me incessant occupation, and has, indeed, imposed upon me an amount of labour very much greater than I had anticipated. Notwithstanding all the pains I have bestowed on its execution, I am fully aware of its numerous deficiencies and imperfections, and of its falling far short of the degree of excellence that might be attained. But, in a Work of this nature, where perfection is placed at so great a distance, I have thought it best to limit my ambition to that moderate share of merit which it may claim in its present form; trusting to the indulgence of those for whose benefit it is intended, and to the