Read the sentence from Samuel Johnson's preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . It is the fate of those who toil at the lower employments of life, to be rather driven by the fear of evil, than attracted by the prospect of good; to be exposed to censure, without hope of praise. What is the best definition of the word censure as it is used in the sentence?
Read the sentence from Samuel Johnson's preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . I have studiously endeavoured to collect examples and authorities from the writers before the restoration, whose works I regard as the wells of English undefiled, as the pure sources of genuine diction. Which words in the sentence help readers determine the meaning of the word undefiled ?
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . But to COLLECT the WORDS of our language was a task of greater difficulty: the deficiency of dictionaries was immediately apparent; and when they were exhausted, what was yet wanting must be sought by fortuitous and unguided excursions into books, and gleaned as industry should find, or chance should offer it, in the boundless chaos of a living speech. My search, however, has been either skilful or lucky; for I have much augmented the vocabulary. The excerpt claims that Johnson’s work is significant because he
Read the excerpts from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . When first I engaged in this work, I resolved to leave neither words nor things unexamined, and pleased myself with a prospect of the hours which I should revel away in feasts of literature . The chief glory of every people arises from its authours: whether I shall add any thing by my own writings to the reputation of English literature , must be left to time. Which statement best describes Johnson’s treatment of the underlined word?
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . The solution of all difficulties, and the supply of all defects, must be sought in the examples, subjoined to the various senses of each word, and ranged according to the time of their authours. When first I collected these authorities, I was desirous that every quotation should be useful to some other end than the illustration of a word; I therefore extracted from philosophers principles of science; from historians remarkable facts; from chymists complete processes; from divines striking exhortations; and from poets beautiful descriptions. The excerpt suggests that Johnson’s work is significant because it
Read the sentence from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . And such is the fate of hapless lexicography, that not only darkness, but light, impedes and distresses it; things may be not only too little, but too much known, to be happily illustrated. What is the best definition of the word hapless as it is used in the sentence?
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson's preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . From the authours which rose in the time of Elizabeth, a speech might be formed adequate to all the purposes of use and elegance. If the language of theology were extracted from Hooker and the translation of the Bible; the terms of natural knowledge from Bacon; the phrases of policy, war, and navigation from Raleigh; the dialect of poetry and fiction from Spenser and Sidney; and the diction of common life from Shakespeare, few ideas would be lost to mankind, for want of English words, in which they might be expressed. It is not sufficient that a word is found, unless it be so combined as that its meaning is apparently determined by the tract and tenour of the sentence; such passages I have therefore chosen. How is Johnson’s approach innovative?
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . The two languages from which our primitives have been derived are the Roman and Teutonick: under the Roman I comprehend the French and provincial tongues; and under the Teutonick range the Saxon, German, and all their kindred dialects. The underlined word emerges as a key term in Johnson’s preface because it
Read the excerpts from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . Many quotations serve no other purpose, than that of proving the bare existence of words, and are therefore selected with less scrupulousness than those which are to teach their structures and relations. Thus have I laboured by settling the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures , and ascertaining the signification of English words, to perform all the parts of a faithful lexicographer. In both excerpts, the word structure refers to the
Read the sentence from Samuel Johnson's preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . It is the fate of those who toil at the lower employments of life, to be rather driven by the fear of evil, than attracted by the prospect of good; to be exposed to censure, without hope of praise. What is the best definition of the word censure as it is used in the sentence?
Read the sentence from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . And such is the fate of hapless lexicography, that not only darkness, but light, impedes and distresses it; things may be not only too little, but too much known, to be happily illustrated. What is the best definition of the word hapless as it is used in the sentence?
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . But to COLLECT the WORDS of our language was a task of greater difficulty: the deficiency of dictionaries was immediately apparent; and when they were exhausted, what was yet wanting must be sought by fortuitous and unguided excursions into books, and gleaned as industry should find, or chance should offer it, in the boundless chaos of a living speech. My search, however, has been either skilful or lucky; for I have much augmented the vocabulary. The excerpt claims that Johnson’s work is significant because he
Read the excerpts from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . When first I engaged in this work, I resolved to leave neither words nor things unexamined, and pleased myself with a prospect of the hours which I should revel away in feasts of literature . The chief glory of every people arises from its authours: whether I shall add any thing by my own writings to the reputation of English literature , must be left to time. Which statement best describes Johnson’s treatment of the underlined word?
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . The solution of all difficulties, and the supply of all defects, must be sought in the examples, subjoined to the various senses of each word, and ranged according to the time of their authours. When first I collected these authorities, I was desirous that every quotation should be useful to some other end than the illustration of a word; I therefore extracted from philosophers principles of science; from historians remarkable facts; from chymists complete processes; from divines striking exhortations; and from poets beautiful descriptions. The excerpt suggests that Johnson’s work is significant because it
Read the excerpts from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . Many quotations serve no other purpose, than that of proving the bare existence of words, and are therefore selected with less scrupulousness than those which are to teach their structures and relations. Thus have I laboured by settling the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures , and ascertaining the signification of English words, to perform all the parts of a faithful lexicographer. In both excerpts, the word structure refers to the
Read the excerpt from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language . The solution of all difficulties, and the supply of all defects, must be sought in the examples, subjoined to the various senses of each word, and ranged according to the time of their authours. When first I collected these authorities, I was desirous that every quotation should be useful to some other end than the illustration of a word; I therefore extracted from philosophers principles of science; from historians remarkable facts; from chymists complete processes; from divines striking exhortations; and from poets beautiful descriptions. The excerpt suggests that Johnson’s work is significant because it
Did you find these answers helpful?