Famous Quotes | Every living language, like the...

Every living language, like the perspiring bodies of living creatures, is in perpetual motion and alteration; some words go off, and become obsolete; others are taken in, and by degrees grow into common use; or the same word is inverted to a new sense or notion, which in tract of time makes an observable change in the air and features of a language, as age makes in the lines and mien of a face. - Richard Bentley
Attribution: Richard Bentley (1662–1742), British classical scholar, critic. A Dissertation Upon the Epistles of Phalaris (1699).

Categories: Change, Classical Scholar, Critic, Language

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.