Page:Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1894).djvu/27

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INTRODUCTION.
xxi


order of words ; but the practical inconvenience attending such an arrangement would probably overbalance its advantages.

It° often happens that the same word has several correlative terms, according to the different relations in which it is considered. Thus,' to the word Giving are opposed both Beceiving, and Talcing; the former correlation having reference to the persons concerned in the transfer, while the latter relates to the mode of transfer. Old has for opposite both New and Young, according as it is applied to things or to living beings. Attach and Defence are correlative terms ; as are also Attach and Resistance. Resistance, again, has for its other correlative Suhmission. Truth in the abstract is opposed to Br)'or ; but the opposite of Truth communicated is Falsehood. Acqui- sition is contrasted both with Deprivation and with Loss. Refusal is the counterpart both of Offer and of Gonsent. Disuse and Misuse may either of them be considered as the correlative of Use. Teaching, with reference to what is taught, is opposed to Misteaching ; but with reference to the act itself, its proper reciprocal is Learning.

Words contrasted in form do not always bear the same contrast in their meaning. The word Malefactor, for example, would, from its derivation, appear to be exactly the opposite of Benefactor : but the ideas attached to these two words are far from being directly opposed ; for while the latter expresses one who confers a benefit, the former denotes one who has violated the laws.

Independently of the immediate practical uses derivable from the arrangement of words in double columns, many considerations, interesting in a philosophical point of view, are presented by the study of correlative expressions. It will be found, on strict ex- amination, that there seldom exists an exact opposition between two words which may at first sight appear to be the counterparts of one another ; for, in general, the one will be found to possess in reality more force or extent of meaning than the other with which it is contrasted. The correlative term sometimes assumes the form of a mere negative, although it is really endowed with a considerable positive force. Thus Disrespect is not merely the absence of Respect ; its signification trenches on the opposite idea, namely. Contempt. In like manner. Untruth is not merely the negative of Truth ; it involves a degree of Falsehood. L-religion, which is properly the ivant of Religion, is understood as being nearly synonymous with Lnpiety. For these reasons, the reader must not expect that all the words which stand side by side in the two columns shall be the precise correlatives of each other ; for the nature of the subject, as well as the imperfections of language, renders it impossible always

to preserve such an exactness of correlation.