The Philological Society's groundbreaking dictionary, first published in the late 1800s, remains an essential resource for anyone interested in the English language. Based on extensive research and careful analysis of historical texts, this comprehensive work contains definitions and usage notes for thousands of English words, including many that have since fallen out of common usage. This first part of the dictionary covers words from A through Ant. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.