2. =HYBRIDS.=--A _hybrid_ is a word composed of a _mixture_ of foreign and native elements. Sometimes an English word has a Latin ending; sometimes a Latin word has an English ending. All such words are called _hybrids_. One of the most interesting of the earliest hybrids in English was the word _bondage_, which is said to have been introduced in the year 1303. The word _bond_ comes to us from the Icelandic or Norwegian word _bondi_, which means _farmer_ or _tiller of the soil_. Farmers in Norway are to this day called _bonders_. The suffix _age_ is Latin; but it has come to us through Norman-French. The full Latin ending is _atĭcum_, which, in France, in the course of generations, was compressed into _age_. There are other hybrids with this ending, such as _tillage_ (which has pushed out the pure English _tilth_), _cartage_, _stowage_, and others.--The ending _able_, which comes to us from Latin, combines very easily with words which are purely English. Thus we have _lovable_, _biddable_, _laughable_, _breakable_, and others.--The Latin ending _osus_ means _full of_. Thus, _vinum_ is _wine_, and _vinosus_ is _full of wine_. This _ōsus_ becomes in English _ous_; and we find this Latin suffix added to words which are purely English. Thus we have _wondrous_ from _wonder_, and _ravenous_ from _raven_. We have also _righteous_, which was originally _rightwîs_, and the change into _righteous_ was a corruption of the spelling.--_Dis_ is a Latin prefix, and it is added to English words. Thus we have _dislike_ and _disown_. We have also _dishearten_, an old word, in which the prefix _dis_ contradicts the suffix _en_ (which means to _put_ or _make_).--_Re_, another Latin prefix, unites with purely English words, and we find _renew_, _reopen_, _rebuild_, _reclothe_, and others.--French words with English prefixes are also found. Thus we have _besiege_; the word _siege_, a _seat_, being French. _To besiege_ means to take a seat in front of a town, with your mind made up not to go till you have taken it.--Latin words with English endings are found in _useful_, _useless_, _usefulness_, _uselessness_, and others. English words with Latin or French endings are not uncommon. Thus we have _goddess_, _forbearance_, _hindrance_, _oddity_, and others. In old-fashioned English, and even in Wordsworth, who died in 1850, we find such curious formations as _oddments_, _needments_, _eggments_ (_eggings on_ or _incitements_), and a few others. 3. =WORDS DISGUISED IN FORM OR IN MEANING.= =Abase=, to bring or make low. From a Low Latin word _bassus_, low. =Abate=, to _beat_ down. Low Lat. _abbattĕre_. =Adder=, O. E. _nadder_. The _n_ has dropped from the noun, owing to the mistaken notion that it belonged to the article. Compare umpire for numpire (_non par_--that is, _not equal_), orange for norange (Pers. _náranj_), apron for napron. The dropping of the _n_ is probably owing to the prefixing of _an_ and _mine_.