“Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife,
    Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray.”—­Gray’s Elegy.

UNDER CRITICAL NOTE III.—­OF DEFINITIONS.

(1.) “Definition is such a description of things as exactly describes the thing and that thing only.”—­Blair’s Gram., p. 135.

[FORMULE.—­Not proper, because this definition of a definition is not accurately adapted to the thing.  But, according to Critical Note 3d, “A definition, in order to be perfect, must include the whole thing, or class of things, which it pretends to define, and exclude every thing which comes not under the name.” [453] The example may be amended thus:  “A definition is a short and lucid description of a thing, or species, according to its nature and properties.”]

(2.) “Language, in general, signifies the expression of our ideas by certain articulate sounds, which are used as the signs of those ideas.”—­Blair’s Rhet., p. 53. (3.) “A WORD is an articulate sound used by common consent as the sign of an idea,”—­Bullions, Analyt. and Pract.  Gr., p. 17. (4.) “A word is a sound, or combination of sounds, which is used in the expression of thought”—­Hazen’s Gram., p. 12. (5.) “Words are articulate sounds, used as signs to convey our ideas.”—­Hiley’s Gram., p. 5. (6.) “A word is a number of letters used together to represent some idea.”—­Hart’s E. Gram., p. 28. (7.) “A Word is a combination of letters, used as the sign of an idea.”—­S.  W. Clark’s Practical Gram., p. 9. (8.) “A word is a letter or a combination of letters, used as the sign of an idea.”—­Wells’s School Gram., p. 41. (9.) “Words are articulate sounds, by which ideas are communicated.”—­Wright’s Gram., p. 28. (10.) “Words are certain articulate sounds used by common consent as signs of our ideas.”—­Bullions, Principles of E. Gram., p. 6; Lat.  Gram., 6; see Lowth, Murray, Smith, et al. (11.) “Words are sounds used as signs of our ideas.”—­W.  Allen’s Gram., p. 30. (12.) “Orthography means word-making or spelling.’”—­Kirkham’s Gram., p. 19; Smith’s New Gram., p. 41. (13.) “A vowel is a letter, the name of which constitutes a full, open sound.”—­Hazen’s Gram., p. 10; Lennie’s, 5; Brace’s, 7. (14.) “Spelling is the art of reading by naming the letters singly, and rightly dividing words into their syllables.  Or, in writing, it is the expressing of a word by its proper letters.”—­Lowth’s Gram., p. 5; Churchill’s, 20. (15.) “Spelling is the art of rightly dividing words into their syllables, or of expressing a word by its proper letters.”—­Murray’s Gram., p. 21; Ingersoll’s, 6; Merchant’s, 10; Alger’s, 12; Greenleaf’s, 20; and others. (16) “Spelling is the art of expressing words by their proper letters; or of rightly dividing