besides PREPOSITIONS DEFINED AND ILLUSTRATED BESIDES 70 Besides is etymologically the same as beside, and was formerly used interchangeably with it, as · Alas, Sir, how fell you besides your five wits SHAKESPEARE Twelfth Night act iv, sc. 2, 1. 92. Now, however, besides is quite closely restricted to the sense of beside, II., 2 (c), in which sense beside is now little used, except in poetry or elevated style, the process of discrimination elsewhere referred to, which is working throughout our language toward the result of one word for one meaning, making its way also here, to distinguish these closely related forms. 1. In addition to; in connection with; other than; over and above; as, besides this we have as much more. The caloristic doctrine, besides its fundamental hypothesis, which we now know to be wrong, had given an absurd and illogical test for quantity of heat in a body. WM. THOMSON in Encyc. Brit. 9th ed., vol. xi, p. 557. 2. Apart from; beyond; except; bating; save; as, I care for nothing besides this. The Marquis had not much besides his palace. N. P. WILLIS Lady Jane can. 2, st. 32. Distinctions Besides-but-except-save-without: See under BUT. VII-Prepositions Defined and Illustrated BETWEEN Between is derived from the Anglo-Saxon betweōnum, from be-, by, plus tweōnum, dative plural of tweōn, double, two I. Of place: In or at some point within the space which separates (two places or objects); as, between two fires; he stepped between the combatants. [Between is strictly applicable only to two things, but this may be understood as including cases where a number of things are discriminated collectively as two wholes or as taken in pairs, or where one thing is set off as against a number of others; among is used in cases of distributive discrimination. Standard Dictionary.] And he [Abram] went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the begin. ning, between Beth-el and Hai. Gen. xiii, 3. A break between the house tops shows The moon. Every step of the way lies between two precipices, and under toppling crags. TYNDALL Hours of Exercise ch. 3, p. 30, When the distance between two bodies is doubled their mutual attraction falls off to one-fourth of what it formerly was. P. G. TAIT Recent Advances lect. xiv, p. 356. And, for the winter fireside meet, The apples sputtered in a row. WHITTIER Snow-Bound st. 9. What silence dwells between Those severed lips serene! II. Of time: Intermediate in relation to (two times or periods of time); as, between morning and noon; between 6 and 7 o'clock. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream. SHAKESPEARE Julius Cæsar act. ii, sc. 1, 1. 63. Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower. LONGFELLOW The Children's Hour 1. 1. No true form of figurative art intervened between Greek sculpture and Italian painting. J. A. SYMONDS Renaissance in Italy, Fine Arts p. 8. III. Of various relations; 1. Intermediate in relation to, as qualities, conditions, characters, etc.: (a) Denoting transition, agreement, or likeness; as, the flavor is between sour and sweet; he is something between knave and fool. Stood on the bound between Man social and man savage, dark and massive. BULWER-LYTTON Lost Tales of Miletus, The Secret Way st. 34. The English cabinet . . . resolved to follow a middle course between peace and war. LINGARD England vol. vi, ch. 1, p. 38. Virtue is nothing but a just temper between propensities any one of which, if indulged to excess, becomes vice. MACAULAY England vol. i, ch. 2, p. 190. He was now in a chrysalis state-putting off the worm and putting on the dragon-fly-a kind of intermediate grub between sycophant and oppressor. MACAULAY Essays, Bacon p. 248. (b) Denoting contrast, difference, or unlikeness; as, the difference between violet and red. The chasm between vertebrates and invertebrates is one which it has taxed the ingenuity of transmutationists to bridge. WINCHELL Doctrine of Evolution, Objections p. 63. That difference which is always to be seen between the stroke of talent and the stroke of genius. HELEN HUNT JACKSON Ramona ch. 1, p. 15. There is such a difference between far-reaching and far-fetching. LOWELL Among My Books, Shakespeare Once More in first series, p. 193. Between saving a cent and spending a cent there is two cents difference. C. C. COFFIN Caleb Krinkle ch. 12, p. 107. The difference between extreme temperatures at a station is called a range. A. W GREELY American Weather ch. 10, p. 120. 2. Denoting joint or reciprocal action in agreement or opposition; with relation to both (or all) of; involving both (or all) of; as, a compact or a quarrel between friends; between ourselves. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Gen. iii, 15. The struggle between the two fierce Teutonic breeds [Saxon and Dane] lasted during six generations. MACAULAY England vol. i, ch. 1, p. 8. The consummation of peace between Great Britain and the United States of America was the sublime result of powers which were conspiring together for the renovation of the world. BANCROFT United States vol. v, epoch v, ch. 1, p. 461. There was a triparite treaty afterwards agreed to between England, France, and Austria. MCCARTHY Our Own Times vol. ii, ch. 28, p. 344. The daily widening schism between Lutherans and Calvinists seemed to bode little good to the cause of religious freedom. MOTLEY Dutch Republic vol. iii, pt. iv, ch. 4, p. 6. They had captured a wolf between them, and had brought in his scalp for bounty. COOPER Pioneers ch. 9, p. 142. 3. From one to another of: implying motion or a continuous connection; as, the steamer between New York and Hamburg; the railway between New York and Boston. I did go between them [the lovers] as I said. SHAKESPEARE All's Well act. v, sc. 3, 1. 259. He may come and go between you both. SHAKESPEARE Merry Wives of Windsor act. ii, sc. 2, 1. 130. The appearance of Joseph in Egypt is the first distinct point of contact between Sacred and secular history. A. P. STANLEY Jewish Church vol. i, pt. i, lect. iv, p. 67. Distinctions Between-betwixt: Though no close line can be drawn, it may be said that betwixt in modern use seems to incline rather to the sense of separation than of union. We should hardly say, "This will be a bond of union betwixt them," but "a bond of union between them." So we say, "I mention this in confidence between [not betwixt] ourselves." Erroneous Use The impossible combination of between with a singular object is a somewhat common error; as, "There were ten boats with a space of twenty feet between each." The number of objects governed by between can never be less than two; in other words, between can not be used of a single object, as in the following And with a gap of a whole night between every one, DICKENS Martin Chuzzlewit ch. 8, p. 152. between each two," Correct usage requires us to say, Betwixt is kindred in derivation to and a close synonym of between. You shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia. SHAKESPEARE Winter's Tale act i, sc. 1, 1. 4. Nor can the foot Of disembodied spirit, nor angel wing, Transgress the deep inexorable gulf Betwixt the worlds of darkness and of light. BICKERSTETH Yesterday, To-day, and For Ever bk. iii, 1. 650. |