[32]
I now turn to minor points concerning which
enthusiasts for etymology give themselves an
[p. 127]
infinity of trouble, restoring to their true form words
which have become slightly altered: the methods
which they employ are varied and manifold: they
shorten them or lengthen them, add, remove, or
interchange letters and syllables as the case may be.
As a result perverseness of judgment leads to the
most hideous absurdities. I am ready to admit that
consul may be derived from consulere in the sense of
consulting or judging; for the ancients used consulere in the latter sense, and it still survives in the
phrase rogat boni consulas, that is bonum iudices, “judge
fit.”
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