he notice of Wallis.

Of concrete adjectives are made abstract substantives, by adding the
termination ness; and a few in hood or head, noting character or qualities:
as white, whiteness; hard, hardness; great, greatness; skilful,
skilfulness, unskilfulness; godhead, manhood, maidenhead, widowhood,
knighthood, priesthood, likelihood, falsehood.

There are other abstracts, partly derived from adjectives, and partly from
verbs, which are formed by the addition of the termination th, a small
change being sometimes made; as long, length; strong, strength; broad,
breadth; wide, width, deep, depth; true, truth; warm, warmth; dear, dearth;
slow, slowth; merry, mirth; heal, health; well, weal, wealth; dry, drought;
young, youth; and so moon, month.

Like these are some words derived from verbs; die, death; till, tilth;
grow, growth; mow, later mowth, after mowth; commonly spoken and written
later math, after math; steal, stealth; bear, birth, rue, ruth; and
probably earth, from to ear or plow; fly, flight; weigh, weight; fray,
fright; draw, draught.

These should rather be written flighth, frighth, only that custom will
not suffer h to be twice repeated.

The same form retain faith, spight, wreathe, wrath, broth, froth,
breath, sooth, worth, light, wight, and the like, whose primitives are
either entirely obsolete, or seldom occur. Perhaps they are derived
from fey or foy, spry, wry, wreak, brew, mow, fry, bray, say, work.

Some ending in ship, imply an office, employment, or condition; as,
kingship, wardship, guardianship, partnership, stewardship, headship,
lordship.

Thus worship, that is, worthship; whence worshipful, and to worship.

Some few ending in dom, rick, wick, do especially denote dominion, at least
state or condition; as, kingdom, dukedom, earldom, princedom, popedom,
Christendom, freedom, wisdom, whoredom, bishoprick, bailiwick.

Ment and age are plainly French terminations and are of the same import
with us as among them, scarcely ever occurring, except in words derived
from the French, as commandment, usage.

There are in English often long trains of words allied by their meaning
and derivation; as, to beat, a bat, batoon, a battle, a beetle, a
battledore, to batter, batter, a kind of glutinous composition for
food, made by beating different bodies into one mass. All these are of
similar signification, and perhaps derived from the Latin batuo. Thus