Chapter CLXVII: Section IX: Derivation of Prepositions

The following are the principal _English_ Prepositions, explained in the order of the list:--

1. ABOARD, meaning _on board of_, is from the prefix or preposition _a_ and the noun _board_, which here means "_the deck_ of a ship" or vessel. _Abord_, in French, is _approach, arrival_, or a _landing_.

2. ABOUT, [Sax. Abútan, or Abúton,] meaning _around, at circuit_, or _doing_, is from the prefix _a_, meaning _at_, and the noun _bout_, meaning a _turn_, a _circuit_, or a _trial_. In French, _bout_ means end; and _about, end_, or _but-end_.

3. ABOVE, [Sax. Abufan, Abufon, A-be-ufan.] meaning _over_, or, literally, _at-by-over_, or _at-by-top_, is from the Saxon or Old English _a, be_, and _ufa_, or _ufan_, said to mean "_high, upwards_, or _the top_."

4. ACROSS, _at cross, athwart, traverse_, is from the prefix _a_ and the word _cross_.

5. AFTER, [Sax. Æfter, or Æftan,] meaning _behind, subsequent to_, is, in form, the comparative of _aft_, a word common to seamen, and it may have been thence derived.

6. AGAINST, _opposite to_, is probably from the Anglo-Saxon, Ongean, or Ongegen, each of which forms means _again_ or _against_. As prefixes, _on_ and _a_ are often equivalent.

7. ALONG, [i.e., _at-long_,] meaning _lengthwise of, near to_, is formed from _a_ and _long_.

8. AMID, [i. e., _at mid_ or _middle_,] is from _a_ and _mid_; and AMIDST [, i.e., _at midst_,] is from _a_ and _midst_, contracted from _middest_, the superlative of _mid_.

9. AMONG, _mixed with_, is probably an abbreviation of _amongst_; and AMONGST, according to Tooke, is from _a_ and _mongst_, or the older "Ge-meneged," Saxon for "_mixed, mingled_."

10. AROUND, _about, encircling_, is from _a_ and _round_, a circle, or circuit.

11. AT, _gone to_, is supposed by some to come from the Latin _ad_; but Dr. Murray says, "We have in Teutonic AT for AGT, touching or touched, joined, _at_."--_Hist. of Lang._, i, 349.

12. ATHWART, _across_, is from _a_ and _thwart_, cross; and this from the Saxon Thweor.

13. BATING, a preposition for _except_, is the imperfect participle of _bate_, to abate.

14. BEFORE, [i.e., _by-fore_,] in front of, is from the prefix _be_ and the adjective _fore_.

15. BEHIND, [i.e., _by-hind_,] in rear of, is from the prefix _be_ and the adjective _hind_.

16. BELOW, [i.e., _by-low_,] meaning _under_, or _beneath_, is from _be_ and the adjective _low_.

17. BENEATH [, Sax. or Old Eng. Beneoth,] is from _be_ and _neath_, or Sax. Neothe, _low_.

18. BESIDE [, i.e., _by-side_,] is probably from _be_ and the noun or adjective _side_.

19. BESIDES [, i.e., _by-sides_,] is probably from _be_ and the plural noun _sides_.

20. BETWEEN, [Sax. Betweonan, or Betwynan,] literally, _by-twain_, seems to have been formed from _be_, by, and _twain_, two--or the Saxon Twegen, which also means _two, twain_.

21. BETWIXT, meaning _between_, [Sax. Betweox, Betwux, Betwyx, Betwyxt, &c.,] is from _be_, by, and _twyx_, originally a "Gothic" word signifying "_two_, or _twain_."--See _Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 329.

22. BEYOND, _past_, [Sax. Begeond,] is from the prefix _be_, by, and _yond_, [Sax. Geond,] _past, far_.

23. BY [, Sax. Be, Bi, or Big,] is affirmed by Tooke to be "the imperative Byth, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, _to be_."--_Diversions of P._, Vol. i, p. 326. This seems to be rather questionable.

24. CONCERNING, the preposition, is from the first participle of the verb _concern_.

25. DOWN, the preposition, is from the Anglo-Saxon Dune, down.

26. DURING, prep. of time, is from the first participle of an old verb _dure_, to last, formerly in use; as, "While the world may _dure_."--_Chaucer's Knight's Tale_.

27. ERE, _before_, prep. of time, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ær, a word of like sort.

28. EXCEPT, _bating_, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) the ancient perfect participle of the verb _to except_; and EXCEPTING, when a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.

29. FOR, _because of_, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying _cause_, or _sake_.

30. FROM, in Saxon, _Fram_, is probably derived from the old adjective Frum, _original_.

31. IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin _in_: the Greek is [Greek: en]; and the French, _en_.

32. INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of _in_ and _to_.

33. MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for _Amid_ and _Amidst_.

34. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is from the adverb _not_, and the participle _withstanding_, which, by itself, means _hindering_, or _preventing_. 35. OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by Tooke to come from a noun signifying _offspring_.

36. OFF, opposed to _on_, Dr. Johnson derives from the "Dutch _af_."

37. ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some etymologists to the Gothic _ana_, the German _an_, the Dutch _aan_; but no such derivation fixes its meaning.

38. OUT, [Sax. Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from the adverb or adjective _Out_, or the earlier _Ut_; and OUT-OF, [Sax. Ut-of,] opposed to _Into_, is but the adverb _Out_ and the preposition _Of_--usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.

39. OVER, _above_, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, _over_; and this, probably, from Ufa, _above, high_, or from the comparative, Ufera, _higher_.

40. OVERTHWART, meaning _across_, is a compound of _over_ and _thwart_, cross.

41. PAST, _beyond, gone by_, is a contraction from the perfect participle _passed_.

42. PENDING, _during_ or _hanging_, has a participial form, but is either an adjective or a preposition: we do not use _pend_ alone as a verb, though we have it in _depend_.

43. RESPECTING, _concerning_, is from the first participle of the verb _respect_.

44. ROUND, a preposition for _about_ or _around_, is from the noun or adjective _round_.

45. SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word _Sithence_; but is conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, "_Seen as_."

46. THROUGH [, Sax. Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to _Thorough_, Sax. Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a _Door_.

47. THROUGHOUT, _quite through_, is an obvious compond of _through_ and _out_.

48. TILL, [Sax. Til or Tille,] _to, until_, is from the Saxon Til or Till, _an end, a station_.

49. TO, whether a preposition or an adverb, is from the Anglo-Saxon particle To.

50. TOUCHING, _with regard to_, is from the first participle of the verb _touch_.

51. TOWARD or TOWARDS, written by the Anglo-Saxons _Toweard_ or _Toweardes_, is a compound of _To_ and _Ward_ or _Weard_, a guard, a look-out; "Used in composition to express _situation_ or _direction_."--_Bosworth_.

52. UNDER, [Gothic, Undar; Dutch, Onder,] _beneath, below_, is a common Anglo-Saxon word, and very frequent prefix, affirmed by Tooke to be "nothing but _on-neder_," a Dutch compound = _on lower_.--See _Diversions of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 331.

53. UNDERNEATH is a compound of _under_ and _neath_, low; whence _nether_, lower.

54. UNTIL is a compound from _on_ or _un_, and till, or _til_, the end.

55. UNTO, now somewhat antiquated, is formed, not very analogically, from _un_ and _to_.

56. UP is from the Anglo-Saxon adjective, "Up or Upp, _high, lofty_."

57. UPON, which appears literally to mean _high on_, is from two words _up_ and _on_.

58. WITH comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon With, a word of like sort and import; which Tooke says is an imperative verb, sometimes from "Withan, _to join_," and sometimes from "Wyrthan, _to be_."--See his _Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 262.

59. WITHIN [, i.e., _by-in_,] is from _with_ and _in_: Sax. Withinnan, Binnan, or Binnon.

60. WITHOUT [, i.e., _by-out_,] is from _with_ and _out_: Sax. Withútan, -úten, -úton; Bútan, Búton, Bútun.

OBSERVATION.

In regard to some of our minor or simpler prepositions, as of sundry other particles, to go beyond the forms and constructions which present or former usage has at some period given them as particles, and to ascertain their actual origin in something ulterior, if such they had, is no very easy matter; nor can there be either satisfaction or profit in studying what one suspects to be mere guesswork. "How do you account for IN, OUT, ON, OFF, and AT?" says the friend of Tooke, in an etymological dialogue at Purley. The substance of his answer is, "The explanation and etymology of these words require a degree of knowledge in all the _antient_ northern languages, and a skill in the application of that knowledge, which I am very far from assuming; and though I am almost persuaded by some of my own conjectures concerning them, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and far-fetched derivation, to justify your imputation of etymological legerdemain."--_Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 370.