PETER MARK ROGET, M.D., F.R.S.

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; Member of the Senate of the University of
London; of the Literary and Philosophical Societies &c. of Manchester, Liverpool,
Bristol, Quebec, New York, Haarlem, Turin, and Stockholm: Author of
the "Bridgewater Treatise on Animal and Vegetable Physiology," &c.

"It is impossible we shouid thoroughly understand the nature of the signs unless we first
properly consider and arrange the things signified.”

Έπεα Πτερόεντα

NEW EDITION

Enlarged and Improved, partly from the Author's Notes, and with a full Index

BY

JOHN LEWIS ROGET

PHILADELPHIA:

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & COMPANY.

424
R63t
1886

PREFACE.

ΤΟ

THE FIRST EDITION.

It is now nearly fifty years since I first projected a system of verbaï classification similar to that on which the present Work is founded. Conceiving that such a compilation might help to supply my own deficiencies, I had, in the year 1805, completed a classed catalogue of words on a small scale, but on the same principle, and nearly in the same form, as the Thesaurus now published. I had often, during that long interval, found this little collection, scanty and imperfect as it was, of much use to me in literary composition, and often contemplated its extension and improvement; but a sense of the magnitude of the task, amid a multitude of other avocations, deterred me from the attempt. Since my retirement from the duties of Secretary of the Royal Society, however, finding myself possessed of more leisure, and believing that a repertory of which I had myself experienced the advantage might, when amplified, prove useful to others, I resolved to embark in an undertaking which, for the last three or four years, has given me incessant occupation, and has, indeed, imposed upon me an amount of labor very much greater than I had anticipated. Notwithstanding all the pains I have bestowed on its execution, I am fully aware of its numerous deficiencies and imperfections, and of its falling far short of the degree of excellence that might be attained. But, in a Work of this nature, where perfection is placed at so great a distance, I have thought it best to limit my ambition to that moderate share of merit which it may claim in its present form; trusting to the indulgence of those for whose benefit it is intended, and to the candor of critics, who, while they find it easy to detect faults, can at the same time duly appreciate difficulties.