SOME QUEER DEFINATIONS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 19, 14 May 1908, Page 37

SOME QUEER DEFINATIONS

' BaiJiey's Universal Etymological Dictionary,' with the subtitle 'An Interpreter of Hard Words,' was first published in London, in 1721. Most of its definitions are eccentric, and some of them increcl'ibly so. Here are specimens taken at random :—: — Man— A creature endowed with reason. v Thunder— A noise known by persons not deaf. Lightning— A meteor. A Rainbow — A meteor of divers colors. Weapon Salve— A sort of ointment which is said to cure a wound by being appl ed to the sword or other weapon that made the wound. v Balloon— A^ football, also a great ball with which noblemen and "princes' used to play. Cow — A beast well known. Millo— A food well known. Peacock — A fine bird. Elephant— The biggesb, strongest, and most intelligent of all four-footed beasts. Medlar — A fruit which is grateful to the stomach, but it 5s not ripe till it be rotten. Snow — A meteor well known in northerly and southerly climates, especially be3 r omi the tropics. " Mouth— Part of the body of a living creature. . Eye— An instrument of sight.