Complete Works of Samuel Johnson

by Samuel Johnson

  Law ordered that the Sunday should have rest;

  And that no nymph her noisy food should sell,

  Except it were new milk or mackarel. King’s Art of Cookery.

  Sooner shall cats disport in water clear,

  And speckled mackrels graze the meadows fair,

  Than I forget my shepherds wonted love. Gay’s Pastorals.

  Mackerel-gale seems to be, in Dryden’s cant, a strong breeze, such, I suppose, as is desired to bring mackerel fresh to market.

  They put up every sail,

  The wind was fair, but blew a mackrel-gale. Dryden.

  Mácrocosm. n.s. [macrocosme, French; μακρὸς and κόσμος.] The whole world, or visible system, in opposition to the microcosm, or world of man. Mactátion. n.s. [mactatus, Latin.] The act of killing for sacrifice.

  N

  A semivowel, has in English an invariable sound; as, no, name, net; it is sometimes after m almost lost; as, condemn, contemn. To Nab. v.a. [nappa, Swedish.] To catch unexpectedly; to seize without warning. A word seldom used but in low language. Nadir. n.s. [Arabick.] The point under foot directly opposite to the zenith.

  As far as four bright signs comprize,

  The distant zenith from the nadir lies. Creech.

  Naff. n.s. A kind of tufted sea-bird. Nag. n.s. [nagge, Dutch.]

  1. A small horse. A horse in familiar language.

  A hungry lion would fain have been dealing with good horse-flesh; but the nag would be too fleet. L’Estrange.

  Thy nags, the leanest things alive,

  So very hard thou lov’st to drive. Prior.

  2. A paramour; in contempt.

  Your ribauld nag of Egypt

  Hoists sails, and flies. Shakespeare’s Ant. and Cleopatra.

  Nail. n.s. [nœʒl, Saxon; nagel, German.]

  1. The hard crust or horny substance at the ends of the fingers and toes.

  My nails can reach unto thine eyes. Shakespeare.

  The meanest sculptor in th’ Æmilian square,

  Can imitate in brass, the nails and hair;

  Expert in trifles. Dryden.

  The nails of our fingers give strength to those parts in the various functions they are put to; and defend the numerous nerves and tendons that are under them. Ray.

  2. The talons of birds and beasts.

  3. A spike of metal by which things are fastened together.

  As one nail by strength drives out another;

  So the remembrance of my former love

  Is by a newer object soon forgotten. Shakespeare.

  For the body of the ships, no nation doth equal England, nor for the oaken timber to build them; and we need not borrow iron for spikes or nails, to fasten them together. Bacon’s Advice to Villiers.

  The load-stone mines in the shore of India, are so placed in abundance and vigor, that it proves an adventure of hazard to pass those coasts in a ship with iron nails. Brown’s Vulgar Errours, b. ii. c. 3.

  A beechen pail

  Hung by the handle, on a driven nail. Dryden.

  An equivocal word used for the nail of the hand or foot, and for an iron nail to fasten any thing. Watts.

  4. A stud; a boss.

  5. A kind of measure; two inches and a quarter.

  6. On the nail. Readily; immediately; without delay. I suppose from a counter studded with nails.

  We want our money on the nail,

  The banker’s ruin’d if he pays. Swift’s Poems.

  To Nail. v.a. [from the noun.]

  1. To fasten with nails.

  To the cross he nails thy enemies,

  The law that is against thee, and the sins

  Of all mankind, with him are crucify’d. Milton’s P. Lost.

  He clasp’d his hand upon the wounded part.

  The second shaft came swift and unespy’d,

  And pierc’d his hand, and nail’d it to his side. Dryden.

  2. To stud with nails.

  In golden armour glorious to behold,

  The rivets of your arms were nail’d with gold. Dryden.

  Nailer. n.s. [from nail.] One whose trade is to forge nails; a nail-maker. Náked. adj. [nacod, Saxon.]

  1. Wanting cloaths; uncovered; bare.

  A philosopher being asked in what a wise man differed from a fool? answered, send them both naked to those who know them not, and you shall perceive. Bacon, Apophth. 242.

  He pitying how they stood

  Before him naked to the air, that now

  Must suffer change;

  As father of his family, he clad

  Their nakedness with skins of beasts. Milton, P. Lost.

  Ungrateful men,

  Behold my bosom naked to your swords,

  And let the man that’s injur’d strike the blow. Addison.

  2. Unarmed; defenceless; unprovided.

  Had I but serv’d my God with half the zeal

  I serv’d my king, he would not in mine age

  Have left we naked to mine enemies. Shakes. Henry VIII.

  3. Plain; evident; not hidden.

  The truth appears so naked on my side,

  That any purblind eye may find it out. Shakes. Hen. VI.

  4. Mere; bare; wanting the necessary additions; simple; abstracted.

  Not that God doth require nothing unto happiness at the hands of men, saving only a naked belief, for hope and charity we may not exclude; but that without belief all other things are as nothing, and it is the ground of those other divine virtues. Hooker, b. i. p. 37.

  Nákedly. adv.

  1. Without covering.

  2. Simply; merely; barely; in the abstract.

  Though several single letters nakedly considered, are found to be articulations only of spirit or breath, and not of breath vocalized; yet there is that property in all letters of aptness, to be conjoined in syllables. Holder.

  3. Discoverably; evidently.

  So blinds the sharpest counsels of the wise

  This overshadowing Providence on high,

  And dazzleth all their clearest sighted eyes,

  That they see not how nakedly they lie. Daniel Civil War.

  Nákedness. n.s. [from naked.]

  1. Nudity; want of covering.

  My face I’ll grime with filth;

  And with presented nakedness out-face

  The winds and persecutions of the sky. Sha. K. Lear.

  Nor he their outward only, with the skins

  Of beasts; but inward nakedness, much more

  Opprobrious! with his robe of rightcousness

  Arraying, cover’d from his father’s sight. Milton.

  I entreat my gentle readers to sow on their tuckers again, and not to imitate the nakedness, but the innocence of their mother Eve. Addison’s Guard. № 100.

  Thou to be strong must put off every dress,

  Thy only armour is thy nakedness. Prior.

  2. Want of provision for defence.

  Spies, to see the nakedness of the land are come. Gen. xlii. 9.

  3. Plainness; evidence; want of concealment.

  Why seek’st thou to cover with excuse

  That which appears in proper nakedness? Shakes.

  Nall. n.s. An awl, such as collar-makers use. Tusser.

  Whole bridle and saddle, whitleather and nall,

  With collars and harness. Tusser’s Husb.

  Name. n.s. [nama, Saxon; naem, Dutch; anam, Erse.]

  1. The discriminative appellation of an individual.

  What is thy name?

  Thou’lt be afraid to hear it.

  No: though thou call’st thyself a hotter name

  Than any is in hell.

  My name’s Macbeth. Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

  He called their names after the names his father had called them. Gen. xxvi. 18.

  I know thee by name. Ex. xxxiii. 17.

  2. The term by which any kind or species is distinguished.

  What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,

  By any other name would s
mell as sweet. Shakes.

  If every particular idea that we take in, should have a distinct name, names must be endless. Locke.

  3. Person.

  They lift with women each degen’rate name,

  Who dares not hazard life for future fame. Dryden.

  4. Reputation; character.

  The king’s army was the last enemy the west had been acquainted with, and had left no good name behind. Clarendon, b. viii.

  5. Renown; fame; celebrity; eminence; praise; remembrance; memory; distinction; honour.

  What men of name resort to him?

  Sir Walter Herbert, a renowned soldier;

  And Rice ap Thomas with a valiant crew,

  And many others of great name and worth. Shakes.

  Visit eminent persons of great name abroad; to tell how the life agreeth with the fame. Bacon’s Essays, № 19.

  Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia’s plains,

  Thy name, ’tis all a ghost can have, remains. Dryden.

  A hundred knights

  Approv’d in fight, and men of mighty name. Dryden.

  These shall be towns of mighty fame,

  Tho’ now they lie obscure, and lands without a name. Dryden, Æn. vi.

  Bartolus is of great name; whose authority is as much valued amongst the modern lawyers, as Papinian’s was among the ancients. Baker’s Reflect. on Learning.

  6. Power delegated; imputed character.

  In the name of the people,

  And in the power of us the tribunes, we

  Banish him. Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.

  7. Fictitious imputation.

  When Ulysses with fallacious arts,

  Had forg’d a treason in my patron’s name,

  My kinsman fell. Dryden, Æn.

  8. Appearance; not reality; assumed character.

  I’ll to him again, in the name of Brook;

  He’ll tell me all his purpose. Sha. Mer. W. of Windsor.

  There is a friend which is only a friend in name. Ecclus. xxxvii.

  9. An opprobrious appellation.

  Bids her confess; calls her ten thousand names;

  In vain she kneels. Granvil’s Poems.

  Like the watermen of Thames

  I row by, and call them names. Swift’s Miscel.

  To Name. v.a. [from the noun.]

  1. To discriminate by a particular appellation.

  I mention here a son of the king’s whom Florizel

  I now name to you; and with speed so pace

  To speak of Perdita. Shakespeare’s Win. Tale.

  Thou hast had seven husbands, neither wast thou named after any of them. Tob. iii. 8.

  His name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived. Luke ii. 21.

  2. To mention by name.

  Accustom not thy mouth to swearing: neither use thyself to the naming of the Holy One. Ecclus. xxiii. 9.

  3. To specify; to nominate.

  Did my father’s godson seek your life?

  He whom my father nam’d? your Edgar. Shakespeare.

  Bring me him up whom I shall name. 1 Sam. xxviii. 8.

  Let any one name that proposition, whose terms or ideas were either of them innate. Locke.

  4. To utter; to mention.

  Let my name be named on them. Gen. xlviii. 16.

  Námeless. adj. [from name.]

  1. Not distinguished by any discriminative appellation.

  On the cold earth lies th’ unregarded king,

  A headless carcass, and a nameless thing. Denham.

  The milky way,

  Fram’d of many nameless stars. Waller.

  Thy reliques, Rowe, to this fair shrine we trust,

  And sacred, place by Dryden’s awful dust;

  Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies,

  To which thy tomb shall guide enquiring eyes. Pope.

  2. One of which the name is not known or mentioned.

  Little credit is due to accusations of this kind, when they come from suspected, that is, from nameless pens. Atterbury’s Sermons.

  Námely. adv. [from name.] Particularly; specially; to mention by name.

  It can be to nature no injury, that of her we say the same which diligent beholders of her works have observed; namely, that she provideth for all living creatures nourishment which may suffice. Hooker, b. iii. s. 4.

  Which of these sorrows is he subject to?

  To none of these, except it be the last;

  Namely, some love that drew him oft from home. Sha.

  The council making remonstrances unto queen Elizabeth, of the continual conspiracies against her life; and namely, that a man was lately taken, who stood ready in a very dangerous and suspicious manner to do the deed; advised her to go less abroad weakly attended. But the queen answered, that she had rather be dead, than put in custody. Bacon, Apophth. 14.

  For the excellency of the soul, namely, its power of divining in dreams; that several such divinations have been made, none can question. Addison’s Spectator.

  Solomon’s choice does not only instruct us in that point of history, but furnishes out a very fine moral to us; namely, that he who applies his heart to wisdom, does at the same time take the most proper method for gaining long life, riches, and reputation. Addison’s Guardian.

  Námer. n.s. [name.] One who calls or knows any by name. Námesake. n.s. One that has the same name with another.

  Nor does the dog fish at sea, much more make out the dog of land, than that his cognominal, or namesake in the heavens. Brown’s Vulgar Errours, b. iii.

  One author is a mole to another: it is impossible for them to discover beauties; they have eyes only for blemishes: they can indeed see the light, as is said of their namesakes; but immediately shut their eyes. Addison’s Spectator.

  Nap. n.s. [hnœppan, Saxon, to sleep.]

  1. Slumber; a short sleep.

  Mopsa sat swallowing of sleep with open mouth making such a noise, as no body could lay the stealing of a nap to her charge. Sidney, b. ii.

  Let your bounty

  Take a nap, and I will awake it anon. Shakespeare.

  The sun had long since in the lap

  Of Thetis, taken out his nap. Hudibras, p. ii.

  So long as I’m at the forge you are still taking your nap. L’Estrange, Fab.

  2. [hnoppa, Saxon.] Down; villous substance.

  Amongst those leaves she made a butterfly

  With excellent device and wondrous flight;

  The velvet nap, which on his wings doth lie,

  The silken down, with which his back is dight. Spenser.

  Jack Cade the clothier, means to dress the Commonwealth, and set a new nap upon it. Shakes.

  Plants, though they have no prickles, have a kind of downy or velvet rind upon their leaves; which down or nap cometh of a subtil spirit, in a soft or fat substance. Bacon.

  Ah! where must needy poet seek for aid

  When dust and rain at once his coat invade;

  His only coat! where dust confus’d with rain

  Roughens the nap, and leaves a mingled stain. Swift.

  Nape. n.s. [Of uncertain etymology. Skinner imagines it to come from nap, the hair that grows on it; Junius, with his usual Greek sagacity, from νάπη, a hill; perhaps from the same root with knob.] The joint of the neck behind.

  Turn your eyes towards the napes of your necks, and make but an interiour survey of your good selves. Shakes.

  Domitian dreamed, the night before he was slain, that a golden head was growing out of the nape of his neck. Bacon.

  Nápery. n.s. [naperia, Italian.] Table-linen. Dict.

  O

  Has in English a long sound; as, drone, groan, stone, alone, cloke, broke, coal, droll; or short, got, knot, shot, prong, long. It is usually denoted long by a servile a subjoined; as, moan, or by e at the end of the syllable; as, bone: when these vowels are not appended, it is generally short, except before ll; as, droll, scroll, and even then sometimes short; as, loll.

>   1. O is used as an interjection of wishing or exclamation.

  2. O that we, who have resisted all the designs of his love,

  would now try to defeat that of his anger! Decay of Piety.

  3. O! were he present, that his eyes and hands

  Might see, and urge, the death which he commands. Dryd.

  4. O is used with no great elegance by Shakespeare for a circle or oval.

  5. Can this cockpit hold

  The vasty field of France? or may we cram

  Within this wooden O, the very casks

  That did affright the air at Agincourt? Shakesp.

  Oaf. n.s. [This word is variously written; auff, ofe, and oph; it seems a corruption of ouph, a demon or fairy, in German alf, from which elf: and means properly the same with changeling; a foolish child left by malevolent ouphs or fairies, in the place of one more witty, which they steal away.]

  1. A changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies.

  These, when a child haps to be got,

  Which after proves an idiot,

  When folk perceives it thriveth not,

  The fault therein to smother:

  Some silly doating brainless calf,

  That understands things by the half,

  Says that the fairy left this oaf,

  And took away the other. Drayt. Nymphid.

  2. A dolt; a blockhead; an idiot.

  Oáfish. adj. [from oaf.] Stupid; dull; doltish. Oáfishness. n.s. [from oafish.] Stupidity; dullness. Oak. n.s. [ac, æc, Saxon; which, says Skinner, to shew how easy it is to play the fool, under a shew of literature, and deep researches, I will, for the diversion of my reader, derive from οἶκος, a house; the oak being the best timber for building. Skinner seems to have had Junius in his thoughts, who on this very word has shewn his usual fondness for Greek etymology, by a derivation more ridiculous than that by which Skinner has ridiculed him. Ac or oak, says the grave critick, signified among the Saxons, like robur among the Latins, not only an oak but strength, and may be well enough derived, non incommode deduci potest, from ἀλκὴ, strength; by taking the first three letters and then sinking the λ, as is not uncommon.]

  The oak-tree hath male flowers, or katkins, which consist of a great number of small slender threads. The embryos, which produced at remote distances from these on the same tree, do afterwards become acorns, which are produced in hard scaly cups: the leaves are sinuated. The species are five. Miller.

  He return’d with his brows bound with oak. Shakesp.