August/September 2005

Notable and Quotable

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born August 30, 1797. Her first and best-known novel, Frankenstein, gave our language the word Frankenstein. It also gave the editors of Webster’s Third copious material for examples of words used in context—assembled here.

Remember, finding quotations from an author is easy. Just choose your reference—the Unabridged Dictionary or the Collegiate®—and click on Advanced Search. Type the last name of the author in the Author Quoted box and click on Search.

accomplishment noun
“It was on a dreary night in November that I beheld the accomplishment of my toils.”

amount verb
“… anxiety that almost amounted to agony …”

ardor noun
“… desired it with an ardor that far exceeded moderation….”

corruption noun
“… death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.”

dainty adjective
“… the hungry cannot be dainty …”

example noun
“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, then at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge….”

hue noun
“… livid with the hue of death …”

ideal adjective
“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds….”

proportionably adverb, archaic
“… of a gigantic stature … about eight feet tall and proportionably large.”

sink verb
“… nearly sank to the ground through languor and extreme weakness.”

start verb
“I started from my sleep with horror …”

To see the full list of more than two dozen examples, just choose the Unabridged Dictionary as your reference and click on Advanced Search. Type Shelley as the author in the Author Quoted box and click on Search.