The root is the A. S. lyft, the sky, air, G. luft, O. E. lift; so that' aloft' is literally, in the air, on high.

'To be aloft' seems to mean 'to have the upper hand,' and so Latimer uses it:

We esteem it to be a great thing to have a kingdom in this world, to be a ruler, to be aloft, and bear the swing. Rem. p. 64. It is used redundantly in Gower, Conf. Am. 1. p. 284: And as they shulden pleid hem ofte Till they be growen up alofte

In the youthe of lusty age.

Alway, adv. (Ex. xxv. 30; Phil. iv. 4). Always; A.S. eallne wag, ealle waga. So algate, algates, beside, besides, betime, betimes, sometime, sometimes, toward, towards, which were once used indifferently.

Sire, ye ben not alway in lik disposicioun. Chaucer, Tale of Melibeus.

For the book saith, Axe thi counseil alwey of hem that ben wyse. Ibid.

That on may se his lady day by day,
But in prisoun he moot dwelle alway.

Id. Knight's Tale, 1352.

Amain, adv. (2 Macc. xii. 22) occurs in the Bible this once only; where it means with vehemence or precipitation; from A. S. mægen, might, power, connected with magan to be able.

Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain,
To signify that rebels there are up.

Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. III. I.

On, myrmidons; and cry you all amain,
Achilles hath the mighty Hector slain.

Pliny says of the lion;

Id. Tr. and Cr. v. 9.

But having gained the thickets and woods and gotten into the forests out of sight, then he skuds away, then he runneth amain for life. Holland's trans. VIII. 16.

Amazed, pp. (Judg. xx. 41; Mark xiv. 33). Confounded, bewildered by fear or any strong emotion. Like 'abashed,' which occurs in place of 'amazed' in Tyndale's version of Mark xiv. 33; this word is now used in a much

narrower sense.

But when they were aduertysed of the kynges puissance, or elles amased with feare,...departed from thence to Barckamstede. Hall, Hen. IV. fol. 13 b.

Vpon the walles the Pagans old and yong
Stood husht and still, amated and amased,
At their grave order and their humble song.

Fairfax, Tasso, XI. 12.

Bear with me, cousin, for I was amazed
Under the tide.

Shakespeare, K. John, IV. 2.

Compare the use of 'amazing' in Rich. II. 1. 3 ;

And let thy blows, doubly redoubled,
Fall like amazing thunder on the casque
Of thy adverse pernicious enemy.

Amazement, sb. (1 Pet. iii. 6). Confusion or bewilderment of mind from whatever cause; not, as now, simply astonishment. The O. E. form 'amay' for 'amaze connects the latter with the Fr. s'esmaier and It. smagare and the root of dismay. Amaze is further akin to the Prov. esmagar through the provincial French s'esméger. Diez refers the forms smagare and esmagare to the Gothic root magan, to be able, with the negative particle (Wedgwood, Dict. of Eng. Etym.). With the two forms amay and amaze may be compared apay and appease, allay and allegge.

Alas! what sorrow, what amasement, what shame was in Amphialus, when he saw his deere foster father, find him the killer of his onely sonne? Sidney, Arcadia, p. 40, l. 29.

Ambassage, sb. (2 Chron. xxxii. cont.; Luke xiv. 32; 1 Macc. xiv. 23). An embassy. The root of the word is doubtful. It is immediately from the It. ambasciata, which again is from the Med. Lat. ambascia, ambactia, and this is connected with the Gothic andbahts, a servant

(comp. ambactus, Cæs. B. G. VI. 15), A. S. ambiht, and Germ. ampt. In A. S. ambiht-sæcg is an ambassador. Like the more modern'embassy,' ambassage is used both of the mission of an ambassador, and of the persons through whom the mission is sent.

But now for the fault of unpreaching prelates...They are so troubled with lordly living, they be so placed in palaces, couched in courts, ruffling in their rents, dancing in their dominions, burdened with ambassages...that they cannot attend to it. Latimer, Serm. p. 67.

Before his throne as on ambassage sent.

Spenser, Mother Hubberd's Tale, 1. 472. Yonder men are too many for an ambassage, and too few for a fight. Bacon, Ess. XXIX.

In Shakespeare it occurs in the form 'embassage.'
Their herald is a pretty knavish page,

That well by heart hath conn'd his embassage.

Love's Labour's Lost, V. 2.

Ambush, sb. (Josh. viii. 2). Men lying in ambush. The verb is derived from the Fr. embuscher, Prov. emboscar, which are from It. bosco, Prov. bosc, a bush, thicket. The ambush then let fly

Slew all their white fleec'd sheep and neat.

Chapman, Hom. Il. XVIII. 479.

Ambushment, sb. (2 Chr. xiii. 13; xx. 22). An

ambuscade.

Judas, the twelfth,...was providing_among the bishops and priests to come with an ambushment of Jews, to take our Saviour Jesu Christ. Latimer, Serm. p. 217.

Marcellus was intrapped and slaine, by an ambushment lying in wayte for him. Marcellus insidiis interfectus est. Cic. Baret, Alvearie.

'Bushment' is used in the same sense by Latimer (Serm. p. 220); compare Gower, Conf. Am. 1. p. 349. Horestes wist it by a spie

And of his men a great partie
He made in busshement abide.

Amerce, v. t. (Deut. xxii. 19). To impose a pecuniary penalty upon an offender. Blackstone and Spelman say to be amerced, or à mercie, is to be at the king's mercy with regard to the fine imposed.' An amercement differs from a fine proper, in that the latter is fixed by statute, but this distinction is not implied in the Hebrew. The author of Piers Ploughman has evidently this etymology in view;

And though ye mowe amercy hem
Let mercy be taxour.

Vision, 3872.

Shakespeare keeps up the true meaning of the word.

But I'll amerce you with so strong a fine,
That you shall all repent the loss of mine.

Rom. and Jul. III. I.

Millions of spirits, for his fault amerced
Of heaven.

Milton, Paradise Lost, 1. 609.

Amiable, adj. (Ps. lxxxiv. 1). Lovely; from Fr. aimable, Lat. amabilis, of which we have retained only the active sense of 'loving.'

Amiable, or woorthy to be loued. Amabilis...Amiable ou digne d'estre aimé. Baret, Alvearie, s. v.

Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,

While I thy amiable cheeks do coy.

Shakespeare, Mid. N.'s Dr. Iv. 1.

If it be true, that the principall part of beauty, is in decent motion, certainly it is no marvaile, though persons in yeares, seeme many times more amiable. Bacon, Ess. XLIII. p. 177.

Amity, sb. (1 Macc. xii. 16). Friendship, especially between nations, political friendship; from Fr. amitié, Lat. amicitia.

As well the Romaines, than great lordes of the worlde, as Persians, and diuers other realmes, desyred to haue with theim amitee and aliance. Elyot's Governour, I. fol. 8 a.

First, to do greetings to thy royal person;
And then to crave a league of amity:

And lastly to confirm that amity
With nuptial knot.

Shakespeare, 3 Hen. VI. III. 3.

Ancient, sb. (Is. iii. 14; Jer. xix. 1; Ez. vii. 26, &c.). An elder.

For as much as our duetie is to worship and adore the gods, to honour our parents, to reverence our ancients, to obey the lawes. Holland's Plutarch, Morals, p. 9, l. 23.

Ancientest, adj. Most ancient.

The Apostle excepteth no tongue; not Hebrewe the ancientest, not Greeke the most copious, not Latine the finest. The Translators to the Reader.

Let me pass

The same I am, ere ancient'st order was
Or what is now received.

Shakespeare, Winter's Tale, IV. I.

And all (Judg. xvi. 3, 'bar and all'). Halliwell and Hunter (Hallamshire Gloss.) put this down as a provincialism, and it certainly is very common in Yorkshire.

To vs of Syon that ben borne
If thou thy favoure wolt renewe
The broken sowle, the temple torne,
The walles and all shalbe made newe.

Croke's Vers. of 51st Psalm.

Yea and this citie here of Hierusalem...together with the temple and all...shall bee trodde vnder fete by the Gentiles. Udal's Erasmus, Luke xxi.

In that respect we must hate none, we must love our enemies and all. Peter Smart's Sermon, p. 3.

He razed townes and threwe downe towers and all.

Sackville, Induction. See also the example from Ascham's Scholemaster, quoted under All.