reality, neither. Besides, the fact that a word exists, is, in itself, interesting. A glance thru a well-arranged vocabulary often suggests a useful term or expression whose existence would not otherwise be suspected.
Sometimes simple and compound words which one would suppose to be in common use, do not exist in actual usage. What seems to be the obvious meaning or spelling or pronunciation of a word is often not really the true one. It is often, on the contrary, quite difficult to get at the facts of the occurrence, meanings, spellings, and pronunciations of words, even by dint of much study. Then, too, various readers have various degrees of intelligence, and various habits. Some use a dictionary often, others seldom. Some are nativs, others are foreners. Some are aviators, others are writers. Moreover, it is apt to be just those persons who consider these things so very obvious after they are explaind, who are apt to make the worst blunders in using words.
Nevertheless, many nonce-words, temporary combinations, etc., such as aeroplanitis, corkscrew (verb), aero-neck, aviation-committee, aviation-goer, barometer-reading, raviator, are excluded.
Spellings. The spellings or word-forms given in title-place are in the main those which are most likely to be lookt for by the general reader. Under each title-word are given in brackets the other current spellings of the word. In some cases mention is also made of spellings no longer in current use. These are confined mainly to obsolescent forms and forms valuable because more nearly fonetic than those in current use. No attempt has been made to record all the cases in which separate words or solid words are often or generally used insted of hyfenated forms (wing warping for wing-warping; thunderstorm for thunder-storm, etc.); or all cases in which nouns have also assumptiv or adjectival uses.
Cognate forms having the same meaning as the title-word but differing from it in pronunciation, are classified as 'synonymous cognates.'
