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Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

February 10, 2012

Project::Noah

It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist. Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language.

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(7) Words.

eagle-speed
good-speed
speed
speedily
speediness
speedwell
speedy

Words

Definitions

(7) Words.

eagle-speed
good-speed
speed
speedily
speediness
speedwell
speedy

Webster

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S › speed

1828 Definition

SPEED, v.i. pret. and pp. sped, speeded. [The L. expedio may be from the same root, which signifies to drive, to hurry, of the family of L. peto.]

1. To make haste; to move with celerity.

2. To have success; to prosper; to succeed; that is, to advance in one's enterprise. He that's once demi'd will hardly speed. Those that profaned and abused the second temple, sped no better.

3. To have any condition good or ill; to fare. Ships heretofore in seas like fishes sped, The mightiest still upon the smallest fed.

SPEED, v.t.

1. TO dispatch; to send away in haste. He sped him thence home to his habitation.

2. To hasten; to hurry; to put in quick motion. -But sped his steps along the hoarse resounding shore.

3. TO hasten to a conclusion; to execute; to dispatch; as, to speed judicial acts.

4. To assist; to help forward; to hasten. -With rising gales that sped their happy flight.

5. To prosper; to cause to succeed. May heaven speed this undertaking.

6. To furnish in haste.

7. To dispatch; to kill; to ruin; to destroy. With a speeding thrust his heart he found. A dire dilemma! either way I'm sped; If foes, they write if friends they read me dead.

Note In the phrase, "God speed," there is probably a gross mistake in considering it as equivalent to "may God give you success." The true phrase is probably "good speed; good, in Saxon, being written god. I bid you or wish you good speed, that is, good success.

SPEED, n.

1. Swiftness; quickness; celerity; applied to animals. We say, a man or a horse runs or travels with speed; a fowl flies with speed. We speak of the speed of a fish in the water, but we do not speak of the speed of a river, or of wind, or of a falling body. I think however I have seen the word applied to the lapse of time and the motion of lightning, but in poetry only.

2. Haste; dispatch; as, to perform a journey with speed; to execute an order with speed.

3. Rapid pace; as a horse of speed. We say also, high speed, full speed.

4. Success; prosperity in an undertaking; favorable issue; that is, advance to the desired end. O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day. Gen. 24. This use is retained in the proverb, "to make more haste than good speed," and in the Scriptural phrase, "to bid one good speed," [Not God speed, as erroneously written.]

1913 Definition

Speed (speed)
n.	(?)
Speed
[AS. sp(?)d success, swiftness, from sp(?)wan to succeed; akin to D. spoedd, OHG. spuot success, spuot to succees, Skr. sph to increase, grow fat. ***radic]170b.]

Prosperity in an undertaking; favorable issue; success.

"For common speed." Chaucer.

O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day. Gen. xxiv. 12.

The act or state of moving swiftly; swiftness; velocity; rapidly; rate of motion; dispatch; as, the speed a horse or a vessel.

Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails. Milton.

* In kinematics, speedis sometimes used to denote the amount of velocity without regard to direction of motion, while velocity is not regarded as known unless both the direction and the amount are known.

One who, or that which, causes or promotes speed or success.

[Obs.] "Hercules be thy speed!" Shak.

God speed, Good speed; prosperity. See Godspeed. -- Speed gauge, Speed indicator, ***and] Speed recorder (Mach.), devices for indicating or recording the rate of a body's motion, as the number of revolutions of a shaft in a given time. -- Speed lathe (Mach.), a power lathe with a rapidly revolving spindle, for turning small objects, for polishing, etc.; a hand lathe. -- Speed pulley, a cone pulley with steps.

Syn. -- Haste; swiftness; celerity; quickness; dispatch; expedition; hurry; acceleration. See Haste.

To go; to fare.

[Obs.]

To warn him now he is too farre sped. Remedy of Love.

To experience in going; to have any condition, good or ill; to fare.

Shak.

Ships heretofore in seas like fishes sped;
The mightiest still upon the smallest fed. Waller.

To fare well; to have success; to prosper.

Save London, and send true lawyers their meed!
For whoso wants money with them shall not speed! Lydgate.

I told ye then he should prevail, and speed
On his bad errand. Milton.

To make haste; to move with celerity.

I have speeded hither with the very extremest inch of possibility. Shak.

To be expedient.

[Obs.] Wyclif (2 Cor. xii. 1.)

To cause to be successful, or to prosper; hence, to aid; to favor.

"Fortune speed us!" Shak.

With rising gales that speed their happy flight. Dryden.

To cause to make haste; to dispatch with celerity; to drive at full speed; hence, to hasten; to hurry.

He sped him thence home to his habitation. Fairfax.

To hasten to a conclusion; to expedite.

Judicial acts . . . are sped in open court at the instance of one or both of the parties. Ayliffe.

To hurry to destruction; to put an end to; to ruin; to undo.

"Sped with spavins." Shak.

A dire dilemma! either way I 'm sped.
If foes, they write, if friends, they read, me dead. Pope.

To wish success or god fortune to, in any undertaking, especially in setting out upon a journey.

Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest. Pope.

God speed you, them, etc., may God speed you; or, may you have good speed.

Syn. -- To dispatch; hasten; expedite; accelerate; hurry.

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Project::Noah

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The foundation for American Heritage Access [AHA] strives to capture the essence of American culture with an intent to make early American manuscripts accessible to modern society. We believe that the successful future of this country is dependent on honoring and respecting its past. In order to achieve this ideal, several projects will be introduced and executed. The first initiatives of Project::Noah will involve the accessibility of the 1828 American dictionary.

Vision::Reprint

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The first vision, Vision::Reprint, has an intent to make a modern printing of the first dictionary of the American language available to the public for under $25. The first task, Task::Access, involves the digitizing of the original 1828 dictionary. The dictionary is available in microfilm (American Culture Series, Reel 335.6-336.1, Michigan University Microfilms) at many universities. To digitize the microfilm as a batch process requires a special scanner.

Vision::Redesign

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The second vision, Vision::Redesign, has an intent to improve the current online accessibility to the 1828 dictionary. Beyond the Task::XML, other tasks related to this Vision::Redesign include identifying features and functionality for this new website. In addition, plugins will be discussed and created to make the dictionary accessible in other ways: iPhone, Google widget, Firefox Add-on, etc.

Vision::Recapture

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The third vision, Vision::Recapture, has an intent to evoke the importance of Noah Webster in our American Heritage. This vision will manifest itself in a commissioned painting of Noah Webster. The process involved will require the input from concerned Americans. The final commission painting will be derived from initial sketches and digital compositions. Feedback from the community is essential for this vision's success throughout the entire process.

February 10, 2012