PREFACE.

Replum original: "Replum", the panel or frame of a door, Buccula original: "Buccula", a small opening or a cheek-piece on a helmet, &c. and it was believed that this would hinder the discourse less than if one had used Gnome original: "Gnome", an index or sun-dial pointer, Camille original: "Camille", a young temple servant or acolyte, or Buccule. This is because a strange ending immediately signals that the words are not English, so the mind does not waste effort trying to understand them as familiar terms; this occurs when a familiar ending makes one suspect they are English, increasing the frustration of not understanding them. But without seeking a better reason to authorize a practice that works well enough, I have kept to what has been established, without wanting to risk introducing any novelty. I have followed the example of all those who until now have not written Cyre for Cyrus, nor Tane for Tanais The ancient name for the Don River, nor Lesbe for Lesbos, nor Larynge for Larynx, nor Phyllide for Phyllis, although we do say Daedalus instead of Dædalus, Hebrus A river in Thrace instead of Hebrus, Erymanthus A mountain range in Greece instead of Erymanthus, Esophagus instead of OEsophagus, and Chicory instead of Chicorea.

Now these foreign words—both those left with their natural endings and those given an English ending—are explained in the marginal notes by a circumlocution A "circumlocution" is a roundabout way of describing something when a single word doesn't exist., or even by a single word, when proper terms for them were found. For example, we have rendered Triglyph as carved in three places; Stylobate as Column-bearer; Eurythmy as Proportion; and Decor as Suitability.

Regarding the spelling of Greek words: as we did not wish to write them with their specific characters, we followed the example of the Romans, and even that of the Greeks when they inserted foreign words into their discourse. Just as they used their own characters to express the sound and pronunciation of borrowed words—for instance, the Greeks wrote the Roman name Quintius as Κυΐντιος because they have no letter "q"—and the Romans wrote the Greek words εἴδωλον original: "eidolon", meaning an image or apparition and εἰρωνεία original: "eironeia", meaning irony or dissimulation as idolon and ironia because they have no "ei" diphthong; thus, when it was necessary to write, for example, τέλειον original: "teleion", meaning perfect or complete with English characters, we wrote telion, because there is no "ei" diphthong in our language, and the "i" has the same sound as the Greek "ει". Similarly, when we included ἀντίϐασις original: "antibasis", a counter-step or support, ἀμφίϐραχυς original: "amphibrachys", a metrical foot, and ἔκτασις original: "ectasis", an extension or lengthening, we wrote antibacis, amphibrachys, and ectasis, and not antibasis, amphibrachis, or entasis. This is because an "s" in English between two vowels sounds like a "z", and the "c" here sounds like the Greek κ kappa. I have acted in the same manner for extraordinary words whose usage has not yet regulated their spelling. In others, I was obliged to follow the whims of common usage, which gives the letter χ chi sometimes the pronunciation of "ch" and sometimes that of "qu"; this leads us to write Orchestra with a "ch" just like Architrave, although the pronunciation of these two words is very different, and that of Orchestra would require it to be written Orquestra.

In addition to all these precautions taken against the obscurity of the text, we have also placed Notes at the end of each page. In these, one finds the explanations judged necessary for understanding the text, which the literal meaning of the words in the margin did not sufficiently provide.

We have been scrupulous about changing nothing in the text, not even in things that make for unpleasant reading or which are of no use for understanding the subjects treated. An example is the Author's tiresome affectation of including Greek words while noting that the Latin words he has used carry the same meaning—as when he says Architecture consists of order, which in Greek is called Taxis. original Latin: "Architectura constat ex ordinatione quæ Græcè Taxis dicitur" We have acted thus because if we had wanted to cut from the text everything that is not necessary, we would have been obliged to remove many other things, and perhaps we would have been mistaken