Begin and commence are so strictly allied in signification, that it is not easy to discover the difference in their application; although a minute difference does exist. To begin respects the order of time; When beginning to act your part, what can be of greater moment than to regulate your plan of conduct with the most serious attention? BLAIR. To commence implies the exertion of setting about a thing; By the destination of his Creator, and the necessities of his nature, man commences at once an active, not merely a contemplative being.' BLAIR. Whoever begins a dispute is termed the aggressor; no one should commence a dispute unless he can calculate the consequences, and as this is impracticable, it is better never to commence disputes, particularly such as are to be decided by law. Begin is opposed to end: commence to complete a person begins a thing with a view of ending it; he commences a thing with a view of completing it. , To begin is either transitive or intransitive; to commence is mostly transitive: a speaker begins by apologizing; he commences his speech with an apology: happiness frequently ends where prosperity begins; whoever commences any undertaking, with out estimating his own power, must not expect to succeed. To begin is used either for things or persons; to commence for persons only: all things have their beginning; in order to effect any thing, we must make a commencement: a word begins with a particular letter, or a line begins with a particular word; a person commences his career. Lastly, begin is more colloquial than commence: thus we say, to begin the work; to commence the operation: to begin one's play; to commence the pursuit: to begin to write; to commence the letter. To commence and enter upon are as closely allied in sense as the former words; they differ principally in application: to commence seems rather to denote the making an experiment; If wit so much from ign'rance undergo, Ah! Let not learning too commence its foe! POPE. To enter upon, that of first doing what has not been tried before: we commence an undertaking; If any man has a mind to enter upon such a voluntary abstinence, it might not be improper to give him the caution of Pythagoras, in particular: Abstine a fabis, that is, say the interpreters, " meddle not with elections." ADDISON. We enter upon an employment: speculating people are very ready to commence schemes; considerate people are always averse to entering upon any office, until they feel themselves fully adequate to discharge its duties. , TO MAKE, FORM, PRODUCE, CREATE. The idea of giving birth to a thing is common to all these terms, which vary in the circumstances of the action: to make (v. To make) is the most general and unqualified term; to form signifies to give a form to a thing, that is, to make it after a given form (v. Form); to produce (v. To effect) is to bring forth into the light, to call into existence; to create (v. To cause) is to bring into existence by an absolute exercise of power: to make is the simplest action of all, and comprehends a simple combination by the smallest efforts; to form requires care and attention, and greater efforts; to produce requires time, and also labor: whatever is put together so as to become another thing, is made; a chair or a table is made: whatever is put into any distinct form is formed; the potter forms the clay into an earthen vessel: whatever emanates from a thing, so as to become a distinct object, is produced; fire is often produced by the violent friction of two pieces of wood with each other. The process of making is always performed by some conscious agent, who employs either mechanical means, or the simple exercise of power: a bird makes its nest; man makes various things, by the exercise of his understanding and his limbs; the Almighty Maker has made every thing by his word. The process of forming does not always require a conscious agent; things are likewise formed of themselves; or they are formed by the active operations of other bodies; melted lead, when thrown into water, will form itself into globules and masses of various shapes; hard substances are formed in the human body which give rise to the disease termed the gravel. What is produced is oftener produced by the process of nature, than by any express design; the earth produces all kinds of vegetables from seed; animals, by a similar process, produce their young. Create, in this natural sense of the term, is employed as the act of an intelligent being, and that of the Supreme Being only; it is the act of making by a simple effort of power, without the use of materials, and without any process. In every They are all employed in the moral sense, and with a similar distinction: make is indefinite; we may make a thing that is difficult or easy, simple or complex; we may make a letter, or make a poem; we may make a word, or make a contract; treaty those concessions which he (Charles I.) thought he could not maintain, he never could by any motive or persuasion be induced to make.' HUME. To form is the work either of intelligence, or of circumstances: education has much to do in forming the habits, but nature has more to do in forming the disposition and the mind altogether; sentiments are frequently formed by young people before they have sufficient maturity of thought and knowledge to justify them in coming to any decision; Homer's and Virgil's heroes do not form a resolution without the conduct and direction of some deity.' ADDISON. To produce is the effect of great mental exertion; or it is the natural operation of things: no industry could ever produce a poem or a work of the imagination: but a history or a work of science may be produced by the force of mere labor. All things, both in the moral and intellectual world, are linked together upon the simple principle of cause and effect, by which one thing is the producer, and the other the thing produced: quarrels produce hatred, and kindness produces love; as heat produces inflammation and fever, or disease produces death; A supernatural effect is that which is above any natural power, that we know of, to produce.' TILLOTSON. Since genius is a spark of the Divine power that acts by its own independent agency, the property of creation has been figuratively ascribed to it: the creative power of the human mind is a faint emblem of that power which brought every thing into existence out of nothing. A wondrous hieroglyphic robe she wore, FORM, FIGURE, CONFORMATION. Form, in French forme, Latin forma, most probably from pópnua and popéw to bear, signifies properly the image borne or stamped; figure (v. Figure) signifies the image feigned or conceived; conformation, in French conformation, in Latin conformatio, from conform, signifies the image disposed or put together. *Form is the generic term; figure and conformation are special terms. The form is the work either of nature or art; it results from the arrangement of the parts: the figure is the work of design: it includes the general contour or outline: the conformation includes such a disposition of the parts of a body as is adapted for performing certain functions. Form is the property of every substance; and the artificial form approaches nearest to perfection, as it is most natural; Matter, as wise logicians say, Must fail if matter brings no grist. SWIFT. The figure is the fruit of the imagination; it is the representation of the actual form that belongs to things; it is more or less just as it approaches to the form of the thing itself; When Cæsar was one of the masters of the Roman mint, he placed the figure of an elephant upon the reverse of the public money; the word Cæsar signifying an elephant in the Punic language.' ADDISON. Conformation is said only with regard to animal bodies; nature renders it more or less suitable according to the accidental concurrence of physical causes; As the conformation of their organs are nearly the same in all men, so the manner of perceiving external objects is in all men the same." BURKE. The erect form of man is one of the distinguishing marks of his superiority over every other terrestrial being: the human figure when well painted is an object of admiration: the turn of the mind is doubtless influenced by the conformation of the bodily organs. A person's form is said to be handsome or ugly, common or uncommon; his figure to be correct or incor * Vide Girard: 66 rect; a conformation to be good or bad. Heathens have worshipped the Deity under various forms: mathematical figures are the only true figures with which we are acquainted: the craniologist affects to judge of characters by the conformation of the skull. Form and figure are used in a moral application, although conformation is not. We speak of adopting a form of faith, a form of words, a form of godliness; O ceremony! show me but thy worth, Art thou aught else but place, degree, and form, Creating fear and awe in other men? SHAKSPEARE. We speak of cutting a showy, a dismal, or ridiculous. figure; Those who make the greatest figure in most arts and sciences are universally allowed to be of the British nation.' ADDISON. Form may also sometimes be taken for the person who presents the form; Lo, in the deep recesses of the wood, The word figure is also used in a similar manner. TO FORM, FASHION, MOULD, SHAPE. To form is to put into a form, which is here as before (v. Form) the generic term: to fashion is to put into a particular or distinct form: to mould is to put into a set form: to shape is to form simply as it respects the exterior. As every thing receives a form when it receives existence, to form conveys the idea of producing; Horace was intimate with a prince of the greatest goodness and humanity imaginable; and his court was formed after his example.' STEELE. When we wish to represent a thing as formed in any distinct or remarkable way, we may speak of it as fashioned; By the best information that I could get of this matter, I am apt to think that this prodigious pile was fashioned into the shape it now bears by several tools and instruments, of which they have a wonderful variety in this country.' ADDISON. God formed man out of the dust of the ground; he fashioned him after his own image. When we wish to represent a thing as formed according to a precise rule, we should say it was moulded; thus the habits of a man are moulded at the will of a superior; 6 How dare you, mother, endless date demand, For vessels moulded by a mortal hand? DRYDEN. When we wish to represent a thing as receiving the accidental qualities which distinguish it from others, we talk of shaping it: the potter shapes the clay; the milliner shapes the bonnet; a man shapes his actions to the humors of another; Those nature hath shaped with a great head, narrow breast, and Façon, figure, forme, conformation.” shoulders sticking out, seem much inclined to a consumption.' HARVEY. Nature has formed all animated beings with an instinctive desire of self-preservation. Creatures fashioned like ourselves with flesh and blood cannot attain to the perfection of spiritual beings. It is supposed by some that the human mind may be moulded upon the principles of art at the will of the instructor, with the same ease that wax may be shaped into the figure of a bird, a beast, or a man, at the pleasure of the artist. This is however true only in part. TO FORM, COMPOSE, CONSTITUTE. Form (v. Form, figure) signifies to give a form; compose has the same signification as given under the head To compose, settle; and constitute that given under the head of To constitute. FORMAL, CEREMONIOUS. Formal and ceremonious, from form and ceremony (v. Form, ceremony), are either taken in an indifferent sense with respect to what contains form and ceremony, or in a bad sense, as expressing the excess of form and ceremony. A person expects to have a formal dismissal before he considers himself as dismissed; people of fashion pay each other ceremonious visits, by way of keeping up a distant intercourse. Whatever communications are made from one government to another must be made in a formal manner; As there are formal and written leagues, respective to certain enemies; so there is a natural and tacit confederation, amongst all men against the common enemies of human society.' BACON. It is the business of the church to regulate the ceremonious part of religion. Under a different economy of religion, God was more tender of the shell and ceremonious part of his worship.' SOUTH. Formal, in the bad sense, is opposed to easy: ceremonious to the cordial. A formal carriage prevents a person from indulging himself in the innocent familiarities of friendly intercourse; Formal in apparel, In gait and countenance surely like a father. SHAKSPEARE, Form is a generic and indefinite term. To compose and constitute are modes of forming. These words may be employed either to designate modes of action, or to characterize things. Things may be formed either by persons or things; they are composed and constituted only by conscious agents: thus persons form things, or things form one another: thus we form a circle, or the reflection of the light after rain A ceremonious carriage puts a stop to all hospitality forms a rainbow. Persons compose and constitute : and kindness. Princes, in their formal intercourse thus a musician composes a piece of music, or men with each other, know nothing of the pleasures of soconstitute laws. Form in regard to persons is the act ciety; ceremonious visitants give and receive enterof the will and determination; tainments, without tasting any of the enjoyments which flow from the reciprocity of kind offices; From the moment one sets up for an author, one must be treated as ceremoniously, that is, as unfaithfully, "as a king's favourite, or as a king." POPE. The liquid ore he drain'd Into fit molds prepar'd; from which he form'd Compose is a work of the intellect; Words so pleasing to God as those which the son of God himself hath composed, were not possible for men to frame.' HOOKER. Constitute is an act of power, which men must submit to. We form a party; we form a plan; we compose a book; men constitute governments, offices, &c. When employed to characterize things, form signifies simply to have a form, be it either simple or complex; compose and constitute are said only of those things which have complex forms: the former as respecting the material, the latter the essential parts of an object: thus we may say that an object forms a circle, or a semicircle, or the segment of a circle; All animals of the same kind which form a society are more knowing than others.' ADDISON. A society is composed of individuals; Nor did Israel scape Law and order constitute the essence of society; TO CAUSE, OCCASION, CREATE. To cause, from the substantive cause, naturally signifies to be the cause of; occasion, from the noun occasion, signifies to be the occasion of; create, in Latin creatus, participle of creo, comes from the Greek xpéw to command, and spalva to perform. What is caused seems to follow naturally; what is occasioned follows incidentally; what is created receives its existence arbitrarily. A wound causes pain; accidents occasion delay; busy-bodies create mischief. The misfortunes of the children cause great affliction to the parents; Scarcely an ill to human life belongs, But what our follies cause, or mutual wrongs. mosity and ill will; As long as the powers or abilities which are ascribed to others are exerted in a sphere of action remote from ours, and not brought into competition with talents of the same kind to which we have pretensions, they create no jealousy.' BLAIR. The cause of a person's misfortunes may often be traced to his own misconduct: the improper behaviour of one person may occasion another to ask for an explanation: jealousies are created in the minds of relatives by an unnecessary reserve and distance. TO MAKE, DO, ACT. Make, in Dutch maken, Saxon macan, &c. comes from the Greek unxar art, signifying to put together with art; do, in German thun, comes probably from the Greek va to put, signifying to put, or put in order, to bring to pass; act, in Latin actus, from ago to direct, signifies literally to put in motion. We cannot make without doing, but we may do (v. To act) without making to do is simply to move for certain end; to make is to do, so as to bring something into being, which was not before: we make a thing what it was not before; we do a thing in the same manner as we did it before: what is made is either better or worse, or the same as another; Empire! thou poor and despicable thing! What is done, is done either wisely or unwisely; What shall I do to be for ever known, COWLEY. We act whenever we do any thing, but we may act without doing any thing. The verb act is always intransitive, and do transitive; we do something, but not act something. The act approaches nearest to the idea of move; it is properly the exertion of power corporeal or mental: do is closely allied to effect; it is the producing an effect by such an exertion. They act very unwisely who attempt to do more than their abilities will enable them to complete: whatever we do, let us be careful to act considerately; We have made this a maxim, "That a man who is commonly called good-natured is hardly to be thanked for what he does, because half that is acted about him is done rather by his sufferance than approbation." STEELE. ACTION, ACT, DEED. The words action, act, and deed, though derived from the preceding verbs, have an obvious distinction in their meaning. *We mark the degrees of action which indicate *Roubaud: "Acte, action." energy; we mark the number of acts which may serve to designate a habit or character: we speak of a lively, vehement, or impetuous action; a man of action, in distinction from a mere talker or an idler; whatever rests without influence or movement has lost its action: we speak of many acts of a particular kind; we call him a fool who commits continued acts of folly; and him a niggard who commits nothing but acts of mean ness. Action is a continued exertion of power: act is a single exertion of power; the physical movement; the simple acting. Our actions are our works in the strict sense of the word; our acts are the operations of our faculties. The character of a man must be judged by his actions; the merit of actions depends on the motives that give rise to them: the act of speaking is peculiar to man; but the acts of walking, running, eating, &c. are common to all animals. Actions may be considered either singly or collectively; acts are regarded only individually and specifically we speak of all a man's actions, but not all his acts; we say a good action, a virtuous action, a charitable action; but an act, not an action of goodness, an act of virtue, an act of faith, an act of charity, and the like. It is a good action to conceal the faults of our neighbours; but a rare act of charity among men. Many noble actions are done in private, the consciousness of which is, the only reward of the doer; the wisest of men may occasionally commit acts of folly which are not imputable to their general character; Many of those actions which are apt to procure fame are not in their nature conducive to our ultimate happiness.' ADDISON. Nothing can be a greater act of imprudence than not to take an occasional review of our past actions; I desire that the same rule may be extended to the whole fraternity of heathen gods; it being my design to condemn every poem to the flames, in which Jupiter thunders or exercises any act of authority which does not belong to him.' ADDISON. Action is a term applied to whatever is done in general; act to that which is remarkable or that requires to be distinguished. The sentiments of the heart are easier to be discovered by one's actions, than by one's words: it is an heroic act to forgive our enemy, when we are in a condition to be revenged on him. The good man is cautious in all his actions to avoid even the appearance of evil: a great prince is anxious to mark every year by some distinguished act of wisdom or virtue. Act and deed are both employed for what is remarkable; but act denotes only one single thing done; Who forth from nothing call'd this comely frame, His will and act, his word and work the same. PRIOR. Deed implies some complicated performance, something achieved: we display but one quality or power in performing an act; we display many, both physical and mental, in performing a deed. A prince distin + Girard: "Action, acte." guishes himself by acts of mercy; the commander of achievements of knight-errants or of great coman army by martial deeds; I on the other side Us'd no ambition to commend my deeds; The deeds themselves, though mute, spoke loud the doer. MILTON. Acts of disobedience in youth frequently lead to the perpetration of the foulest deeds in more advanced life. DEED, EXPLOIT, ACHIEVEMENT, FEAT. Deed, from do, expresses the thing done; exploit, in French exploit, most probably changed from explicatus, signifies the thing unfolded or displayed; achievement, from achieve, signifies the thing achieved; feat, in French fait, Latin factum, from facio, signifies the thing done. The first three words rise progressively on each other: deeds, compared with the others, is employed for that which is ordinary or extraordinary; exploit and achievement are used only for the extraordinary; the latter in a higher sense than the former. Deeds must always be characterized as good or bad, magnanimous or atrocious, and the like, except in poetry, where the term becomes elevated; Great Pollio! thou for whom thy Rome prepares To sing thy deeds in numbers worthy thee? Dryden. Exploit and achievement do not necessarily require any epithets; they are always taken in the proper sense for something great. Exploit, when compared with achievement, is a term used in plain prose; it designates not so much what is great as what is real: achievement is most adapted to poetry and romance; it soars above what the eye sees, and the ear hears, and affords scope for the imagination. Martial deeds are as interesting to the reader as to the performer: the pages of modern history will be crowded with the exploits of Englishmen both by sea and land, as those of ancient and fabulous history are with the achievements of their heroes and demi-gods. An exploit marks only personal bravery in action; an achievement denotes elevation of character in every respect, grandeur of design, promptitude in execution, and valor in action. An exploit may be executed by the design and at the will of another; a common soldier or an army may perform exploits; High matter thou injoin'st me, O prime of men! An achievement is designed and executed by the achiever; Hercules is distinguished for his achievements: and in the same manner we speak of the manders; ACTION, GESTURE, GESTICULATION, POSTURE, ATTITUDE, POSITION. Action is either the act of acting, or the manner of acting; gesture, in French geste, Latin gestus, participle of gero to carry one's self, signifies the manner of carrying one's body; gesticulation, in Latin gesticulatio, comes from gesticulor to make many gestures; posture, in French posture, Latin positura a position, comes from positus, participle of pono, signifying the manner of placing one's self; attitude, in French attitude, Italian attitudine, is changed from aptitude, signifying a propriety as to disposition. All these terms are applied to the state of the body; the former three indicating a state of motion; the latter two a state of rest. Action respects the movements of the body in general; gesture is an action indicative of some particular state of mind; gesticulation is a species of artificial gesture. Raising the arm is an action; bowing is a gesture. Actions may be ungraceful; gestures indecent. A suitable action sometimes gives great force to the words that are uttered; Cicero concludes his celebrated book "de Oratore with some precepts for pronunciation and action, without which part he affirms that the best orator in the world can never succeed.' HUGHES. Gestures often supply the place of language between people of different nations; Our best actors are somewhat at a loss to support themselves with proper gesture, as they move from any considerable distance to the front of the stage.' STEELE. Actions characterize a man as vulgar or well-bred; gestures mark the temper of the mind. There are many actions which it is the object of education to prevent from growing into habits: savages express the vehement passions of the mind, by vehement gestures on every occasion, even in their amuse |