ENGLISH LESSONS. FIRST PART. CHAPTER I. WORDS DEFINED BY USAGE. 1. The Method of Induction. — The natural way to discover the meaning of a word in our native language is the method of induction.1 We hear a word, e.g.. oppression, repeated in a certain context in such a way as to give us, as we think, some approximate notion of its meaning, say, violence; then we hear it again in different context, and perceive that it cannot mean exactly violence; it seems to mean injustice but again some further mention of the word makes it evident that, though oppression is always unjust, yet it is not identical with injustice. If we live in society where the word is often and correctly used, or if we read the works of accurate authors, we shall in course of time reject incorrect notions of the word, and arrive at its exact meaning. This process of rejection may be technically called elimination. The process by which, by introducing the different instances in which a word occurs, we arrive at the meaning which the word has in every instance, is called "The Method of Induction." 1 See paragraph 175. |