☞ (559). Fte (73), fr (77), fll (83), ft (81); m (93), mt (95); pne (105), pn (107); n (162), mve (164),
Y
Yacht, yt. s. (356)
A small ship for carrying passengers.
☞ This word is pronounced as I have marked it, by Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Scott, W. Johnston, Mr. Perry, Mr. Nares, and Mr. Smith; Dr. Kenrick pronounces it yat, rhyming with hat; and Mr. Barclay yaut, rhyming with nought.
Yam, ym. s.
A root that grows in America and the South-Sea Islands.—Mason.
Yard, yrd. s. (78)
Enclosed ground adjoining to a house; a measure of three feet; the supports of the sails of a ship.
Yare, yre. a.
Ready, dextrous, eager.
Yarely, yre′l. ad.
Dextrously, skilfully.
Yarn, yrn. s. (78)
Spun wool, woollen thread.
Yarrow, yr′r. s. (81)
A plant which grows wild on the dry banks, and is used in medicine.
Yawl, ywl. s. (219)
A little vessel belonging to a ship, for convenience of passing to and from it.
To Yawn, ywn. v. n. (219)
To gape, to have the mouth opened involuntarily; to open wide; to express desire by yawning.
Yawn, ywn. s.
Oscitation; gape, hiatus.
Yawning, ywn′ng. a. (410)
Sleeping, slumbering.
Yclad, -kld′.
Part. for Clad. Clothed.
Ycleped, -klpt′.
Called, termed, named.
Ye, y.
The solemn nominative plural of Thou.
Yea, y. ad. (227)
Yes.
☞ Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Scott, W. Johnston, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Fry, pronouncr this word so as to rhyme with nay, pay, etc. But Steele or Brightland, Dr. Jones who wrote The new Art of Spelling in Queen Anne's time, Dr. Kenrick and Mr. Perry, pronounce it like the pronoun ye. Though so many are against me, I do not hesitate to pronounce the latter mode the best; first, as it is more agreeable to the general sound of the diphthong; next, as it is more related to its familiar substitute yes; and lastly, unless my memory greatly fails me, because it is always so pronounced when contrasted with nay; as m that precept of the Gospel, "Let your Communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay."
To Yean, yne. v. n. (227)
To bring young. Used of sheep.
Yeanling, yne′lng. s. (410)
The young of sheep.
Year, yre. s. (227)
Twelve months: it is often used plurally, without a plural termination; in the plural, old age.
Yearling, yre′lng. a. (410)
Being a year old.
Yearly, yre′l. a.
Annual, happening every year, lasting a year.
Yearly, yre′l. ad.
Annually.
To Yearn, yrn. v. n. (234)
To feel great internal uneasiness.
To Yearn, yrn. v. a.
To grieve, to vex.
Yelk. ylk. s.
[Gealkewe, yellow, Saxon.] The yellow part of the egg.
☞ It is commonly pronounced, says Johnson, and often written Yolk. To which we may add, that when the word is so written, the l is silent, and the word pronounced Yoke. But Johnson seems justly to have preferred the former mode of writing and pronouncing this word, as more agreeable both to etymology and the best usage.
To Yell, yll. v. n.
To cry out with horrour and agony.
Yell, yll. s.
A cry of horrour.
Yellow, yl′l. a.
Being of a bright glaring colour, as gold.
☞ Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Nares, Mr. Scott, Dr. Jones, and Mr. Fry, pronounce this word as if written yallow, rhyming with tallow. But Dr. Kenrick, W. Johnston, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Perry, preserve the e in its pure sound, and rhyme the word with mellow. The latter mode is, in my opinion, clearly ihe best, both as more agreeable to analogy, and the best usage; for I am much deceived if the former pronunciation does not border closely on the vulgar.
Yellowboy, yl′l-b. s.
A gold coin. A very low word.
Yellowhammer, yl′l-hm-mr. s.
A bird.
Yellowish, yl′l-sh. a.
Approaching to yellow.
Yellowishness, yl′l-sh-ns. s.
. The quality of approaching to yellow.
Yellowness, yl′l-ns. s.
The quality of being yellow: it is used in Shakespeare for jealousy.
Yellows, yl′lze. s.
A disease in horses.
To Yelp, ylp. v. n.
To bark as a beagle hound after his prey.
Yeoman, y′mn. s. (260)
A man of a small estate in land, a farmer, a gentleman farmer; it seem to have been anciently a kind of ceremonious title given to soldiers, whence we have Yeomen of the guard; it was probably a freeholder not advanced to the rank of a gentleman.
☞ Junius gives us a great variety of derivations of this word, but seems most to approve of that from gaeman in the old Frisick, signifying a countryman or villager; and this word is derived farther by Junius from the Greek γαια, γαια, γη, which he tells us does not only signify ihe earth in general, but any great portion of land. Skinner says it may be derived from the Anglo-Saxon Gemaene, or the Teutonic Gemein, a common man, or one of the commonalty; or from Eoweman, a shepherd; from Goodman, an appellation given to inferior people; from Gemana, a companion; from Geongman, a young man; from Jeman, an ordinary man, or any body, like the Spanish Hidalgo; but he prefers its derivation from the Anglo-Saxon Guma, a painful or laborious man.
But however widely etymologists are divided in the derivation of this word, orthöepists are not less different in their pronunciation of it. Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Scott, Mr.Coote, (author of the Elements of Grammar,) Steele's Grammar, (published in Queen Anne's time,) Mr. Mr. Barclay, Mr. Smith, and Buchanan, pronounce it with the diphthong short, as if written yĕmman; Dr. Kenrick pronounces it as if written yŭmman; Mr. Elphinston, (who quotes Langham, the famous reformer of orthography in Queen Elizabeth's time, for the same pronunciation,) sounds the eo like ee: and Dr. Jones, the author of the New Art of Spelling in Queen Anne's time, pronounces it in the same manner. To which we may add Ben Jonson, who says, that yeoman, people, and jeopardy, were truer written yéman, péple, jépardy. But W. Johnston, Mr. Perry, Entick, and Fry, pronounce the eo like long open o, as if written yōman: and this last appears to me to be the most received pronunciation. It is that which we constantly hear applied to the King's body guard, and it is that which has always been the pronunciation on the Stage; an authority which, in this case, may not, perhaps, improperly be called the best echo of the public voice. I well remember hearing Mr. Garrick pronounce the word in this manner, in a speech in King Lear: "Tell me, fellow, is a madman a gentleman, or a yōman?"
Yeomanry, y′mn-r. s. (260)
The collective body of yeomen.
To Yerk, yrk. v. a.
To throw out or move with a spring.
Yerk, yrk. s.
A quick motion.
To Yern, yrn. v. a.
See Yearn.
Yes, ys. ad. (101)
A term of affirmation; the affirmative particle opposed to No.
☞ This word is worn into a somewhat slenderer sound than what is authorised by tie orthography; but e and i are frequently interchangeable, and few changes can be better established than this. W. Johnston and Mr. Perry are the only orthöepists who give the sound of the vowels, that do not mark this change; but Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Scott, Dr. Kenrick, Mr. Nares, Mr. Smith, and Dr. Jones, in his New Art of Spelling, confirm this change, and rhyme it with hiss, miss, bliss, etc.—See Been and Dispatch
