In English the term accent commonly denotes superior stress or force of voice upon certain syllables of words, which distinguishes them from the other syllables. Many English words, as aspiration have two accents, a secondary and primary, the latter being the fuller or stronger. Some words, as incomprehensibility/, have two secondary or subordinate accents. When the full accent falls on a vowel, that vowel has its long sound, as in vocal; but when it falls on a consonant, the preceding vowel is short, as in habit. This kind of accent alone regulates English verse as contrasted with Latin or Greek verse, in which the metre depended on quantity or length of syllables. In books on elocution three marks or accents are generally made use of, the first or acute ( / ) showing when the voice is to be raised, the second or grave ('), when it is to be depressed, and the third or circumflex (^) when the vowel is to be uttered with an undulating sound. In some languages there is no such distinct accent as in English (or German), and this seems to be now the case with French. Research Accent
Anointing is the rubbing the body or some part of it with oil, often perfumed. From time immemorial the nations of the East have been in the habit of anointing themselves for the sake of health and beauty. The Greeks and Romans anointed themselves after the bath. Wrestlers anointed themselves in order to render it more difficult for their antagonists to get hold of them. In Egypt it seems to have been common to anoint the head of guests when they entered the house where they were to be entertained. In the Mosaic law a sacred character was attached to the anointing of the garments of the priests and things belonging to the ceremonial of worship. The Jewish priests and kings were anointed when inducted into office, and were called the anointed of the Lord, to show that their persons were sacred and their office from God. In the Old Testament also the prophecies respecting the Redeemer style him Messias, that is, the Anointed, which is also the meaning of his Greek name Christ. The custom of anointing still exists in the Roman Catholic Church in the ordination of priests and the confirmation of believers and the sacrament of extreme unction. The ceremony is also frequently a part of the coronation of kings. Research Anointing
Carpet, a thick fabric, generally composed wholly or principally of wool, for covering the floors of apartments, staircases, and passages in the interior of a house or other place. Carpets were originally introduced from the East, where they were fabricated in pieces, like the modern rugs, for sitting on - a use obviously suggested by the Eastern habit of sitting cross-legged upon the floor. Eastern carpets are still highly thought of in Europe, into which they are largely imported. The good quality Persian, Turkish, and Indian carpets are all woven by hand, and the design is formed by knotting into the warp tufts of woollen threads of the proper colour one after the other.
Of European carpets the Brussels carpet was a common and highly-esteemed variety at the end of the 19th century. It was composed of linen thread and worsted, the latter forming the pattern. The linen basis did not appear on the surface, being concealed by the worsted, which was drawn through the reticulations and looped over wires that were afterwards withdrawn, giving the surface a ribbed appearance.
Wilton carpets were similar to Brussels in the process of their manufacture, but in them the loops were cut open by using wires with a knife-edge, and the surface thus obtained a pile.
Tapestry carpets have also a pile surface. They were traditionally manufactured according to a process patented by Mr. Whytock of Edinburgh in 1832, the great speciality of which was that the threads were particoloured by printing in the proper manner for each design before being woven up.
The Kidderminster or Scotch carpet consisted of two distinct webs woven at the same time and knitted together by the woof. The pattern was the same on both sides of the cloth, but the colours were reversed. An improvement upon this was the three-ply carpeting, made originally at Kilmarnock.
The original Axminster carpets were made on the principle of the Persian or Turkey carpets. Patent Axminster carpets (invented by Templeton of Glasgow, 1839) have a fine pile, which is produced by using chenille as the weft, the projecting threads of which form the pile, which is dyed before being used. Carpets of felted wool, with designs printed on them, are also used, and are very cheap. Cheap jute carpets are also made. Research Carpet
In logic, a category, or predicament, is an assemblage of all the beings contained under any genus or kind ranged in order. The ancients, following Aristotle, held that all beings or objects of thought may be referred to ten categories: quantity, quality, relation, action, passion, time, place, situation, and habit. Plato admits only five: substance, identity, diversity, motion, and rest; the Stoics four: subjects, qualities, independent circumstances, relative circumstances. Descartes suggested seven divisions: spirit, matter, quantity, substance, figure, motion, and rest. Others make but two categories, substance and attribute, or subject and accident; or three, accident being divided into the inherent and circumstantial.
In the philosophy of Kant the term categories is applied to the primitive conceptions originating in the understanding independently of all experience (hence called pure conceptions), though incapable of being realized in thought except in their application to experience. These he divides into four classes, quantity, quality, relation, and modality, placing under the first class the conceptions of unity, plurality, and totality; under the second, reality, negation, and limitation; under the third, inherence and subsistence, causality and dependence, and community (mutual action); and under the fourth, possibility and impossibility, existence and non-existence, necessity and contingency. J S Mill applies the term categories to the most general heads under which everything that may be asserted of any subject may be arranged. Of these he makes five, existence, co-existence, sequence, causation, and resemblance, or, considering causation as a peculiar case of sequence, four. Research Category
A club, a select number of persons in the habit of meeting for the promotion of some common object, as social intercourse, literature, politics, etc. It is a peculiarly English institution, which can scarcely be said to have taken root in any other country except America. The coffee-houses of the 17th and 18th centuries are the best representatives of what is meant by a modern club, while the clubs of that time were commonly nothing but a kind of restaurants or taverns whero people resorted to take their meals. But while anybody was free to enter a coffeehouse, it wao absolutely necessary that a person should have been formally received as a member of a club, according to its regulations, before he was at liberty to enter it.
Among the earliest of the London clubs was the Kit-cat Club, formed in the reign of Queen Anne, among whoso forty members were dukes, earls, and the leading authors of tho day. Another club formed about the same time was the Beefsteak Club. Originally these two cluba had no pronounced political views, but in the end they began to occupy themselves with politics, the Kit-cat Club being Whig, and the Beefsteak Club Tory. Perhaps the most celebrated club of the 18th century was that which was first called The Club par excellence, and numbered among its members Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, Oliver Goldsmith, Edward Gibbon, and others.
Clubs are often provided with reading-room and library, and formerly a smoking-room, billiard-room, coffee-room, dining-room, drawing-room, etc, and also may have a certain number of bed-rooms. Besides being convenient for social intercourse, members may obtain their meals in them, served in the best style and at moderate cost. New members are admitted by ballot, and pay a certain entrance fee as well as an annual subscription. Research Club
Drunkenness is the state of being drunk or overpowered by alcoholic liquor, or the habit of indulging in intoxication. A similar condition may be produced by numerous agents, but the term is always applied to the act or habit of drinking alcoholics to excess. Formerly, at the start of the 20th century, by the law of Britain drunkenness was an offence against the public economy, and those found drunk were liable to be fined or imprisonment. Drunkenness is no excuse for any crime, but it renders a contract invalid if either of the parties was in a state of complete drunkenness when the contract was signed. Research Drunkenness
Habit and Repute, in Scotch law, was an expression applied to denote something so notorious that it was taken without further proof to be true. Thus, marriage could be established by habit and repute, where the parties cohabited and were recognized by the neighbours as man and wife. Also if a person was by habit and repute a thief, that is, a notorious thief, the punishment inflicted was heavier. Research Habit and Repute
The Sons Of Temperance are a friendly society originally founded as an association for the promotion of temperance. The Sons Of Temperance were founded in 1842 at New York City with the objects of 'to shield its members from the evils of intemperance, to afford mutual assistance in times of sickness, provide a sum of money at the death of a member, to elevate character, to enlist workers in an earnest and noble endeavour to reclaim those who fell under the influence of strong drink, to save the young from the terrible power of the drink habit, and to assist in every way the suppression of the drink traffic.' Research Sons Of Temperance
An umbrella is a light, portable screen usually circular and supported on a central stick. They are used as protection against the rain and also sun - in which case they are usually refered to as a sunshade or parasol. Umbrellas are made of fabric, silk, paper, cotton or other materials stretched on a steel or wooden, radiating, folding frame supported on a central stick.
Umbrellas were known in England in the 17th century, but their use does not appear to have been general until the later part of the 18th century, Jonas Hanway being one of the first to make a habit of acrrying an umbrella.
By the invention of the 'Paragon' ribs, Samuel Fox, in 1852, improved upon the old umbrellas with wooden ribs, and did much tostimulate the trade of umbrella, making, among the chief centres of which were London, Manchester, Paris, Lyons, and Angers.
In the East, umbrellas were used as symbols of royalty and power from early times. In ancient Egypt and Nineveh sculptured remains show them carried in procession, and they are found pictured on Greek vases. Anglo-Saxon manuscripts show them carried by attendants over persons of rank. The Maratha princes of India were known as Lords of the Umbrella, and in Burma white umbrellas were reserved for the use of the king and the sacred white elephant; coloured ones, graduated according to their tint, belonged to corresponding grades in rank. The baldachin , the canopy of a throne or a pulpit, has the same original symbolical meaning as the umbrella. Research Umbrella
Adam's Pearmain is a late dessert apple, probably from Norfolk, which was a Victorian favourite because of its rich aromatic flavour and crisp texture. It was widely grown in the nineteenth century, when fruiterers ' always paid good prices because it was attractive for windows'. The pear shaped fruits are of a medium size and can be stored until March. The vigorous trees have a spreading habit and pretty blossom. Research Adam's Pearmain
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Accent
