one of the earliest attempts/en

early

A adj

1 ( one of the first) [attempt, role, years, play] premier/-ière ; in an early role dans un de ses premiers rôles ; the author's early novels les premiers romans de l'auteur ; the early weeks of the strike les premières semaines de la grève ; one of the earliest attempts une des premières tentatives ; early man les premiers hommes ; in an earlier life dans une vie antérieure ;

2 ( sooner than usual) [death] prématuré ; [delivery, settlement] rapide ; [vegetable, fruit] précoce ; to have an early lunch/night/lecture déjeuner/se coucher/avoir cours tôt ; to catch the earlier train prendre le train d'avant ; to take an early holiday GB ou vacation US prendre des vacances tôt en saison ; to take early retirement partir en préretraite ; at the earliest possible opportunity le plus tôt possible, à la première occasion ; at your earliest convenience sout à votre convenance fml ;

3 ( in period of time) in early childhood dans la petite ou première enfance ; at an early age à un très jeune âge ; to be in one's early thirties avoir entre 30 et 35 ans ; to make an early start partir tôt ; to take the early train prendre le premier train ; at the earliest au plus tôt ; the earliest I can manage is Monday je ne peux rien faire avant lundi ; at an early hour très tôt ; in the early hours au petit matin ; in the early Middle Ages/60's au début du Moyen Âge/des années 60 ; in the early spring au début du printemps ; in the early afternoon en début d'après-midi ; at an early date ( in future) très bientôt or prochainement ; the earliest days of the cinema les tout débuts du cinéma ; an earlier attempt/experience une tentative/expérience précédente ;

4 Biol [gene] précoce.

B adv

1 ( in period of time) [leave, arrive, book, start] tôt ; [get up, go to bed] tôt, de bonne heure ; it's still early il est encore tôt ; it's too early to say il est trop tôt pour le dire ; Easter falls ou is early this year Pâques tombe tôt cette année ; can you let me know as early as possible? pouvez-vous me le dire aussitôt que possible? ; can you make it earlier? ( arranging date) pouvez-vous ○ plus tôt? ; five minutes earlier cinq minutes plus tôt ; Fred can't get there earlier than 3 pm Fred ne peut pas y être avant 15 h ; as early as 1983 dès 1983 ; early next year/in the film au début de l'année prochaine/du film ; early in the afternoon en début d'après-midi ; (very) early on dès le début ; early on in her career au début de sa carrière ; I realized early on that j'ai compris rapidement que ; as I said earlier comme je l'ai déjà dit ; ‘post GB early for Christmas’ Post envoyez vos vœux de Noël à l'avance ;

2 (before expected, too soon) [arrive, leave, ripen] en avance ; I'm sorry to arrive a bit early, I'm sorry I'm a bit early je suis désolé d'arriver un peu en avance ; the postman called ou was early today le facteur est passé tôt aujourd'hui ; the strawberries are early this year les fraises sont en avance cette année ; to do sth two days/three weeks early faire qch avec deux jours/trois semaines d'avance ; to retire early partir en préretraite.

early to bed early to rise tôt couché tôt levé ; it's early days yet ce n'est que le début ; it's the early bird that catches the worm! Prov l'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt ; to be an early bird être un/-e lève-tôt ; to be a bit early in the day to say être un peu tôt pour le dire.

SUBJECT AREA: Domestic appliances and interiors, Textiles

[br]

[br]

[br]

Son of Elias Howe, a farmer, he acquired his mechanical knowledge in his father's mill. He left school at 12 years of age and was apprenticed for two years in a machine shop in Lowell, Massachusetts, and later to an instrument maker, Ari Davis in Boston, Massachusetts, where his master's services were much in demand by Harvard University. Fired by a desire to invent a sewing machine, he utilized the experience gained in Lowell to devise a shuttle carrying a lower thread and a needle carrying an upper thread to make lock-stitch in straight lines. His attempts were so rewarding that he left his job and was sustained first by his father and then by a partner. By 1845 he had built a machine that worked at 250 stitches per minute, and the following year he patented an improved machine. The invention of the sewing machine had an enormous impact on the textile industry, stimulating demand for cloth because making up garments became so much quicker. The sewing machine was one of the first mass-produced consumer durables and was essentially an American invention. William Thomas, a London manufacturer of shoes, umbrellas and corsets, secured the British rights and persuaded Howe to come to England to apply it to the making of shoes. This Howe did, but he quarrelled with Thomas after less than one year. He returned to America to face with his partner, G.W.Bliss, a bigger fight over his patent (see I.M. Singer), which was being widely infringed. Not until 1854 was the case settled in his favour. This litigation threatened the very existence of the new industry, but the Great Sewing Machine Combination, the first important patent-pooling arrangement in American history, changed all this. For a fee of $5 on every domestically-sold machine and $1 on every exported one, Howe contributed to the pool his patent of 1846 for a grooved eye-pointed needle used in conjunction with a lock-stitch-forming shuttle. Howe's patent was renewed in 1861; he organized and equipped a regiment during the Civil War with the royalties. When the war ended he founded the Howe Machine Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

[br]

1 to create.

me crea muchos problemas it gives me a lot of trouble, it causes me a lot of problems

Picasso creó escuela Picasso's works have had a seminal influence

Ricardo crea obras de arte Richard creates works of art.

Ellas crean criaturas raras They create weird creatures.

2 to invent.

3 to found.

4 to make, to make up.

* * *

► verbo transitivo

1 (gen) to create

■ crear problemas to create problems

2 (fundar) to found, establish; (partido) to set up

3 (inventar) to invent

► verbo pronominal crearse

1 to make, make for oneself

■ crearse enemigos to make enemies for oneself

2 (imaginarse) to imagine

* * *

1) to create

2) originate

* * *

1) (=hacer, producir) [+ obra, objeto, empleo] to create

2) (=establecer) [+ comisión, comité, fondo, negocio, sistema] to set up; [+ asociación, cooperativa] to form, set up; [+ cargo, puesto] to create; [+ movimiento, organización] to create, establish, found

3) (=dar lugar a) [+ condiciones, clima, ambiente] to create; [+ problemas] to cause, create; [+ expectativas] to raise

4) liter (=nombrar) to make, appoint

* * *

verbo transitivo

1)

a) <obra/modelo/tendencia> to create, < producto> to develop

b) < sistema> to create, establish, set up; < institución> to set up, create; <comisión/fondo> to set up; < empleo> to create; < ciudad> to build

2) <dificultades/problemas> to cause, create; <ambiente/clima> to create; <fama/prestigio> to bring; < reputación> to earn

crearse v pron < problema> to create... for oneself

* * *

= design (for/to), construct, create, engender, establish, fashion, forge, form, invent, set up, compose, originate, bring into + being, mint, found, institute, come into + existence, mother, come up with.

Ex. In lists designed for international use a symbolic notation instead of textual notes may be used.

Ex. The objective in executing these three stages is to construct a document profile which reflects its subject = El propósito de llevar a cabo estas tres etapas es elaborar un perfil documental que refleje su materia.

Ex. National agencies creating MARC records use national standards within their own country, and re-format records to UNIMARC for international exchange.

Ex. In addition to problems with new subjects which lacked 'accepted' or established names, this guiding principle engendered inconsistency in the form of headings.

Ex. The intention is to establish a general framework, and then to give exceptions or further explanation and examples for each area in turn.

Ex. The preliminary discussions and proposals which led up to the AACR, did start out with an attempt to fashion an ideology, a philosophical context, for those rules.

Ex. This article calls on libraries to forge a renewed national commitment to cooperate in the building of a national information network for scholarly communications.

Ex. Formed in 1969, the first operational system was implemented in 1972-3.

Ex. Frequently, but not always, this same process will have been attempted by the author when inventing the title, and this explains why the title is often a useful aid to indexing.

Ex. By imposing a ban one is only likely to set up antagonism and frustration which will turn against the very thing we are trying to encourage.

Ex. There have never been any attempts to compose a bibliography of US government documents relating to international law.

Ex. In the 'office of the present', a document is usually produced by several people: someone, say an administrator or manager, who originates and checks it, a typist, who prepares the text, and a draughtsman or artist who prepares the diagrams.

Ex. MARC was brought into being originally to facilitate the creation of LC catalogue cards.

Ex. The article 'The newly minted MLS: what do we need to know today?' describes the skills which, ideally, every US library school graduate should possess at the end of the 1990s.

Ex. The earliest community information service in Australia dates from as recently as 1958 when Citizens' Advice Bureaux, modelled on their British namesake, were founded in Perth = El primer servicio de información ciudadana de Australia es reciente y data de 1958 cuando se creó en Perth la Oficina de Información al Ciudadano, a imitación de su homónima británica.

Ex. The librarians have instituted a series of campaigns, including displays and leaflets on specific issues, eg family income supplement, rent and rates rebates, and school grants.

Ex. Some university libraries have been built up over the centuries; others have come into existence over the last 40 years.

Ex. Necessity mothers invention, and certainly invention in the presentation of books mothers surprised interest.

Ex. Derfer corroborated her: 'I'd be very proud of you if you could come up with the means to draft a model collection development policy'.

----

* crear adicción = be addictive.

* crear alianzas = form + alliances, make + alliances.

* crear apoyo = build + support.

* crear canales para = establish + channels for.

* crear con gran destreza = craft.

* crear consenso = forge + consensus.

* crear demanda = make + demand.

* crear de nuevo = recreate [re-create].

* crear desconfianza = create + distrust.

* crear desesperación = yield + despair.

* crear falsas ilusiones = create + false illusions.

* crear interés = build + interest.

* crear la ilusión = generate + illusion.

* crear lazos = build up + links.

* crear lazos afectivos = bond.

* crear posibilidades = open + window, create + possibilities.

* crear problemas = make + waves, build up + problems, make + trouble.

* crear prototipos = prototype.

* crear relaciones = structure + relationships.

* crearse = build up, hew.

* crearse el prestigio de ser = establish + a record as.

* crear servidor web = put up + web site.

* crearse una identidad = forge + identity.

* crearse una vida = build + life.

* crear una alianza = forge + alliance.

* crear una base = form + a basis.

* crear una buena impresión en = make + a good impression on.

* crear una coalición = forge + coalition.

* crear una colección = build + collection.

* crear un acuerdo = work out + agreement.

* crear una familia = have + a family.

* crear una ilusión = create + illusion.

* crear una imagen = build + an image, create + image, summon up + image.

* crear una injusticia = create + injustice.

* crear una marca de identidad = branding.

* crear una ocasión = create + opportunity.

* crear una preocupación = create + concern.

* crear una situación = create + a situation.

* crear un clima = promote + climate.

* crear un comité = set up + committee.

* crear un entorno = create + an environment.

* crear un equilibrio = establish + a balance.

* crear un fondo común de conocimientos = pool + knowledge.

* crear un fondo común de experiencias profesionales = pool + expertise.

* crear un grupo = set up + group.

* crear un índice = generate + index.

* crear un mercado para = produce + a market for.

* crear un perfil = compile + profile, formulate + profile.

* crear un servidor web = open up + web site.

* crear vínculos = build up + links.

* crear vínculos afectivos = bond.

* oposición + crear = opposition + line up.

* que crea adicción = addictive.

* que crea hábito = addictive.

* volver a crear = recreate [re-create].

* * *

verbo transitivo

1)

a) <obra/modelo/tendencia> to create, < producto> to develop

b) < sistema> to create, establish, set up; < institución> to set up, create; <comisión/fondo> to set up; < empleo> to create; < ciudad> to build

2) <dificultades/problemas> to cause, create; <ambiente/clima> to create; <fama/prestigio> to bring; < reputación> to earn

crearse v pron < problema> to create... for oneself

* * *

* * *

crear [A1 ]

1 ‹obra/modelo› to create; ‹tendencia› to create

crear una nueva imagen para el producto to create a new image for the product

crearon un producto revolucionario they developed o created a revolutionary product

2 ‹sistema› to create, establish, set up; ‹institución› to set up, create; ‹comisión/fondo› to set up; ‹empleo› to create

crearon una ciudad en pleno desierto they built a city in the middle of the desert

B ‹dificultades/problemas› to cause, create; ‹ambiente/clima› to create; ‹fama/prestigio› to bring; ‹reputación› to earn

su arrogancia le creó muchas enemistades his arrogance made him many enemies

no quiero crear falsas expectativas en mis alumnos I don't want to raise false hopes among my students, I don't want to give my students false hopes

se crea muchas dificultades he creates o makes a lot of problems for himself

¿para qué te creas más trabajo? why make more work for yourself?

será difícil llenar el vacío creado con su desaparición it will be difficult to fill the gap left by his death

* * *

◊ crea muchos problemas it causes o creates a lot of problems;

* * *

♦ vt

1. [hacer, producir, originar] to create;

crear empleo/riqueza to create jobs/wealth;

han creado un nuevo ministerio para él they have created a new ministry for him;

me crea muchos problemas it gives me a lot of trouble, it causes me a lot of problems;

Picasso creó escuela Picasso's works have had a seminal influence

2. [inventar] to invent;

3. [fundar] to found

♦ See also the pronominal verb crearse

* * *

v/t create; empresa set up

* * *

crear vt

1) : to create, to cause

2) : to originate

* * *

crear vb

1. (en general) to create

2. (comité, empresa, etc) to set up

   1) All Human Complex Problem Solving Is Creativity

   Put in this bald way, these aims sound utopian. How utopian they areor rather, how imminent their realization-depends on how broadly or narrowly we interpret the term "creative." If we are willing to regard all human complex problem solving as creative, then-as we will point out-successful programs for problem solving mechanisms that simulate human problem solvers already exist, and a number of their general characteristics are known. If we reserve the term "creative" for activities like discovery of the special theory of relativity or the composition of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, then no example of a creative mechanism exists at the present time. (Simon, 1979, pp. 144-145)

   2) Artificial Intelligence Models of Creative Association

   Among the questions that can now be given preliminary answers in computational terms are the following: how can ideas from very different sources be spontaneously thought of together? how can two ideas be merged to produce a new structure, which shows the influence of both ancestor ideas without being a mere "cut-and-paste" combination? how can the mind be "primed," so that one will more easily notice serendipitous ideas? why may someone notice-and remember-something fairly uninteresting, if it occurs in an interesting context? how can a brief phrase conjure up an entire melody from memory? and how can we accept two ideas as similar ("love" and "prove" as rhyming, for instance) in respect of a feature not identical in both? The features of connectionist AI models that suggest answers to these questions are their powers of pattern completion, graceful degradation, sensitization, multiple constraint satisfaction, and "best-fit" equilibration.... Here, the important point is that the unconscious, "insightful," associative aspects of creativity can be explained-in outline, at least-by AI methods. (Boden, 1996, p. 273)

   3) Creative Innovation and Social Independence

   There thus appears to be an underlying similarity in the process involved in creative innovation and social independence, with common traits and postures required for expression of both behaviors. The difference is one of product-literary, musical, artistic, theoretical products on the one hand, opinions on the other-rather than one of process. In both instances the individual must believe that his perceptions are meaningful and valid and be willing to rely upon his own interpretations. He must trust himself sufficiently that even when persons express opinions counter to his own he can proceed on the basis of his own perceptions and convictions. (Coopersmith, 1967, p. 58)

   4) Ego Strength and Emotional Stability among Creative Geniuses

   he average level of ego strength and emotional stability is noticeably higher among creative geniuses than among the general population, though it is possibly lower than among men of comparable intelligence and education who go into administrative and similar positions. High anxiety and excitability appear common (e.g. Priestley, Darwin, Kepler) but full-blown neurosis is quite rare. (Cattell & Butcher, 1970, p. 315)

   5) Its Mundane Character

   he insight that is supposed to be required for such work as discovery turns out to be synonymous with the familiar process of recognition; and other terms commonly used in the discussion of creative work-such terms as "judgment," "creativity," or even "genius"-appear to be wholly dispensable or to be definable, as insight is, in terms of mundane and well-understood concepts. (Simon, 1989, p. 376)

   6) Mozart's Musical Ideas Came to Him in Polished Form

   From the sketch material still in existence, from the condition of the fragments, and from the autographs themselves we can draw definite conclusions about Mozart's creative process. To invent musical ideas he did not need any stimulation; they came to his mind "ready-made" and in polished form. In contrast to Beethoven, who made numerous attempts at shaping his musical ideas until he found the definitive formulation of a theme, Mozart's first inspiration has the stamp of finality. Any Mozart theme has completeness and unity; as a phenomenon it is a Gestalt. (Herzmann, 1964, p. 28)

   7) Scientific Theories and Works of Art Alike Originate in Fantasy

   Great artists enlarge the limits of one's perception. Looking at the world through the eyes of Rembrandt or Tolstoy makes one able to perceive aspects of truth about the world which one could not have achieved without their aid. Freud believed that science was adaptive because it facilitated mastery of the external world; but was it not the case that many scientific theories, like works of art, also originated in phantasy? Certainly, reading accounts of scientific discovery by men of the calibre of Einstein compelled me to conclude that phantasy was not merely escapist, but a way of reaching new insights concerning the nature of reality. Scientific hypotheses require proof; works of art do not. Both are concerned with creating order, with making sense out of the world and our experience of it. (Storr, 1993, p. xii)

   8) Self- Esteem and Creative Expression

   The importance of self-esteem for creative expression appears to be almost beyond disproof. Without a high regard for himself the individual who is working in the frontiers of his field cannot trust himself to discriminate between the trivial and the significant. Without trust in his own powers the person seeking improved solutions or alternative theories has no basis for distinguishing the significant and profound innovation from the one that is merely different.... An essential component of the creative process, whether it be analysis, synthesis, or the development of a new perspective or more comprehensive theory, is the conviction that one's judgment in interpreting the events is to be trusted. (Coopersmith, 1967, p. 59)

   9) Stages in Creative Problem- Solving

   In the daily stream of thought these four different stages [preparation; incubation; illumination or inspiration; and verification] constantly overlap each other as we explore different problems. An economist reading a Blue Book, a physiologist watching an experiment, or a business man going through his morning's letters, may at the same time be "incubating" on a problem which he proposed to himself a few days ago, be accumulating knowledge in "preparation" for a second problem, and be "verifying" his conclusions to a third problem. Even in exploring the same problem, the mind may be unconsciously incubating on one aspect of it, while it is consciously employed in preparing for or verifying another aspect. (Wallas, 1926, p. 81)

    10) The Bisociative Pattern of the Creative Synthesis

   he basic, bisociative pattern of the creative synthesis [is] the sudden interlocking of two previously unrelated skills, or matrices of thought. (Koestler, 1964, p. 121)

    11) The Earliest Stages in the Creative Process Involve a Commerce with Disorder

   Even to the creator himself, the earliest effort may seem to involve a commerce with disorder. For the creative order, which is an extension of life, is not an elaboration of the established, but a movement beyond the established, or at least a reorganization of it and often of elements not included in it. The first need is therefore to transcend the old order. Before any new order can be defined, the absolute power of the established, the hold upon us of what we know and are, must be broken. New life comes always from outside our world, as we commonly conceive that world. This is the reason why, in order to invent, one must yield to the indeterminate within him, or, more precisely, to certain illdefined impulses which seem to be of the very texture of the ungoverned fullness which John Livingston Lowes calls "the surging chaos of the unexpressed." (Ghiselin, 1985, p. 4)

    12) The Inner Life of the Creative Process

   New life comes always from outside our world, as we commonly conceive our world. This is the reason why, in order to invent, one must yield to the indeterminate within him, or, more precisely, to certain illdefined impulses which seem to be of the very texture of the ungoverned fullness which John Livingston Lowes calls "the surging chaos of the unexpressed." Chaos and disorder are perhaps the wrong terms for that indeterminate fullness and activity of the inner life. For it is organic, dynamic, full of tension and tendency. What is absent from it, except in the decisive act of creation, is determination, fixity, and commitment to one resolution or another of the whole complex of its tensions. (Ghiselin, 1952, p. 13)

    13) The Problem of What Impels the Creative Person

   [P]sychoanalysts have principally been concerned with the content of creative products, and with explaining content in terms of the artist's infantile past. They have paid less attention to examining why the artist chooses his particular activity to express, abreact or sublimate his emotions. In short, they have not made much distinction between art and neurosis; and, since the former is one of the blessings of mankind, whereas the latter is one of the curses, it seems a pity that they should not be better differentiated....

   Psychoanalysis, being fundamentally concerned with drive and motive, might have been expected to throw more light upon what impels the creative person that in fact it has. (Storr, 1993, pp. xvii, 3)

    14) Theories of Creative Thinking

   A number of theoretical approaches were considered. Associative theory, as developed by Mednick (1962), gained some empirical support from the apparent validity of the Remote Associates Test, which was constructed on the basis of the theory.... Koestler's (1964) bisociative theory allows more complexity to mental organization than Mednick's associative theory, and postulates "associative contexts" or "frames of reference." He proposed that normal, non-creative, thought proceeds within particular contexts or frames and that the creative act involves linking together previously unconnected frames.... Simonton (1988) has developed associative notions further and explored the mathematical consequences of chance permutation of ideas....

   Like Koestler, Gruber (1980; Gruber and Davis, 1988) has based his analysis on case studies. He has focused especially on Darwin's development of the theory of evolution. Using piagetian notions, such as assimilation and accommodation, Gruber shows how Darwin's system of ideas changed very slowly over a period of many years. "Moments of insight," in Gruber's analysis, were the culminations of slow long-term processes.... Finally, the information-processing approach, as represented by Simon (1966) and Langley et al. (1987), was considered.... [Simon] points out the importance of good problem representations, both to ensure search is in an appropriate problem space and to aid in developing heuristic evaluations of possible research directions.... The work of Langley et al. (1987) demonstrates how such search processes, realized in computer programs, can indeed discover many basic laws of science from tables of raw data.... Boden (1990a, 1994) has stressed the importance of restructuring the problem space in creative work to develop new genres and paradigms in the arts and sciences. (Gilhooly, 1996, pp. 243-244; emphasis in original)

(pl. óðul), n. ancestral property, patrimony, inheritance (in land); family homestead; native place; flýja óðul sín, to abandon one’s home, go into exile.

* * *

n., pl. óðul; in Norse MSS. it is usually contracted before a vowel (whence arose the forms öðli eðli), and owing to a peculiarity in the Norse sound of ð an r is inserted in contracted forms, örðla, orðlom, N. G. L. passim: [akin to aðal, öðli, eðli, = nature; öðlask = adipisci; oðlingr, q. v.; A. S. êðel = patrimony; it is also the parent word of Germ. edel, adel, = noble, nobility, for the nobility of the earliest Teut. communities consisted of the land-owners. From this word also originated mid. Lat. allodium, prob. by inverting the syllables for the sake of euphony (all-od = od-al); oðal or ethel is the vernacular Teut. form, allodium the Latinised form, which is never found in vernacular writers; it may be that the transposition of syllables was due to the th sound in oðal; and hence, again, the word feudal is a compd word, fee-odal, or an odal held as a fee or feif from the king, and answering to heið-launað óðal of the Norse law (heið = fee = king’s pay), N. G. L. i. 91.]

B. Nature, inborn quality, property, = aðal, eðli, öðli, q. v.; this seems to be the original sense, þat er eigi at réttu mannsins óðal, Sks. 326 B; þat er helzt byrjar til farmanns óðals, a seaman’s life, 52; þat er kaupmanna óðal (= mercatorum est), 28; jörlum öllum óðal batni, Gh. 21.

II. a law term, an allodium, property held in allodial tenure, patrimony. The condition which in the Norse law constitutes an oðal was either an unbroken succession from father to son (er afi hefir afa leift) through three or more generations, N. G. L. i. 91, 237, Gþl. 284; or unbroken possession for thirty or more years, N. G. L. i. 249; or sixty years, Gþl. 284; or it might be acquired through brand-erfð (q. v.), through weregild, barn-fóstr (q. v.); and lastly heið-launað óðal, an allodial fief, was granted for services rendered to the king, see N. G. L. i. 91: the oðal descended to the son, and was opp. to útjarðir ( out-lands), and lausa-fé ( movables), which descended to the daughter, Gþl. 233; yet even a woman, e. g. a baugrygr (q. v.), could hold an oðal, in which case she was called óðals-kona, 92, jörð komin undir snúð ok snældu = an estate come under the rule of the spindle, N. G. L. i. 237; the allit. phrase, arfr ok óðal, 31, Gþl. 250: brigða óðal, N. G. L. i. 86; selja óðal, to sell one’s óðal, 237. The oðal was in a certain sense inalienable within a family, so that even when parted with, the possessor still retained a title (land-brigð, máldagi á landi). In the ancient Scandin. communities the inhabited land was possessed by free oðalsmen (allodial holders), and the king was the lord of the people, but not of the soil. At a later time, when the small communities were merged into great kingdoms, through conquest or otherwise, the king laid hold of the land, and all the ancient oðals were to be held as a grant from the king; such an attempt of king Harold Fairhair in Norway and the earls of Orkney in those islands is recorded in Hkr. Har. S. Hárf. ch. 6, Eg. ch. 4, cp. Ld. ch. 2, Orkn. ch. 8, 30, 80 (in Mr. Dasent’s Ed.); cp. also Hák. S. Goða ch. 1. Those attempts are recorded in the Icel. Sagas as acts of tyranny and confiscation, and as one of the chief causes for the great emigration from the Scandinavian kingdoms during the 9th century (the question of free land here playing the same part as that of free religion in Great Britain in the 17th century). The attempt failed in Norway, where the old oðal institution remains in the main to the present day. Even the attempts of king Harold were, according to historians (Konrad Maurer), not quite analogous to what took place in England after the Conquest, but appear to have taken something like the form of a land-tax or rent; but as the Sagas represent it, it was an attempt towards turning the free odal institution into a feudal one, such as had already taken place among the Teutons in Southern Europe.

III. gener. and metaph. usages, one’s native land, homestead, inheritance; the land is called the ‘oðal’ of the reigning king, á Danr ok Danpr dýrar hallir, æðra óðal, en ér hafit, Rm. 45; eignask namtú óðal þegna, allan Noreg, Gauta spjalli, Fms. vi. 26 (in a verse); banna Sveini sín óðul, St. Olave will defend his óðal against Sweyn, 426 (in a verse); flýja óðul sín, to fly one’s óðal, go into exile, Fms. iv. 217; flýja óðul eðr eignir, vii. 25; koma aptr í Noreg til óðala sinna, 196; þeim er þar eru útlendir ok eigi eigu þar óðul, who are strangers and not natives there, Edda 3; öðlask Paradísar óðal, the inheritance of Paradise, 655 viii. 2; himneskt óðal, heavenly inheritance, Greg. 68; njóta þeirra gjafa ok óðala er Adam var útlægr frá rekinn, Sks. 512: allit., jarl ok óðal, earl (or franklin) and odal, Gh. 21.

2. spec. phrase, at alda óðali, for everlasting inheritance, i. e. for ever and ever, D. N. i. 229: contr., at alda öðli, id., Grág. i. 264, D.I. i. 266; til alda óðals, for ever, iii. 88: mod., frá, alda öðli, from time immemorial.

C. COMPDS: óðalsborinn, óðalsbréf, óðalsbrigð, óðalsjörð, óðalskona, óðalsmaðr, óðalsnautr, óðalsneyti, óðalsréttr, óðalsskipti, óðalstuptir, óðalsvitni.

(gen. -ar), m. veto, interdict; verja e-t lýriti, to put a veto on, forbid by law.

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m., or better lýritr or lýrittr, gen. lyritar (but lyrits, Grág. ii. 233), dat. lyriti, plur. lyritar. N. G. L. ii. 94, Jb. 193; the quantity cannot be ascertained because the vellums do not distinguish between long and short vowels; it is spelt with one t throughout the Grág. (Kb.); the alliterative phrase lagalyritr, as also the invariable spelling in the Grágás, shew that the word had no initial h. Former attempts at an etymology, from læ and rifta (Björn á Skarðsá), hlýrar and réttir (Pal Vídal.), lygi and rift (Fritzner), must be dismissed; tiie spelling lyriftar, which once or twice occurs in Norse MSS. of the 14th century (N. G. L. i. 394, ii. 94, v. l. 19), is probably a mere corruption. Lyritr is a compd word from lög, law, and rör or reyr, a landmark, which word in the old Swed. law exactly answers to lyrit in the Norse law; lyrit is thus qs. lý-ryr-ti, by assimilation and by weakening the y into i, lyritti; the t being inflexive: its literal sense, therefore, is a lawful rör or landmark. In Sweden there were often five mark-stones, but it is added (Schlyter iii. s. v. rör)—fiuri stenar oc þri stenar mughu rör heta = four stones and even three stones may be called rör, i. e. make a ‘law-rör,’ a lawful landmark, a lyrit; this, we believe, is the etymology of this much-contested word. About the gender (masc., not fem.) there can be no doubt, from the numerous instances in the Grágás; but in the 13th century the word began to become neuter, thus we have lyritit, Grág. (Kb.) i. 103, lines 14 and 21, but lyritinn several times in the same page: nom. lyriti in Grág. (Sb.) ii. 226; and elalausu lyriti, Nj. passim.

B. SENSE:

I. prop. when the boundary of a field or estate was to be drawn, the law prescribed that a mark-stone (mark-steinn) should be raised on the spot, and three other stones laid beside it; these three stones were called landmark-stones (lyrit-steinar or lyritar); by their number and position they were distinguished from all other stones in the field, see N. G. L. ii. 94, cp. note 19 (Jb. 193).

II. metaph. in the Icel. law, a full title of possession, lawful claim to right or property; thus defined by Konrad Maurer—‘Lyrit bedeutet in der Grágás und in den ältern Sagas, das volle Eigentums-recht, oder auch den Bann, der dem Grunde gentümer zum Schutze seines Eigentumes, dem Goden aber Kraft seiner Amtsgewalt zusteht:’

1. the earliest kind was probably the land-lyrit or ‘land-ban;’ this law term was originally borrowed from the mark-stones themselves, and then came to mean a full title to land, field, pasture, or estate, Grág. ii. 224, 225:—eignar-lyritr, full lawful possession, a legal title of ownership; hafa eignar-lyrit fyrir landi, 204, 222.

2. a veto; Goða-lyritr, the veto of a Goði ( Priest), forbidding the court or neighbours to deliver a sentence or verdict in a case, and thus quashing the suit. A Goði alone, by virtue of his office, was entitled to stop a court in this way, whether personally or by one of his liegemen, so that if any one else wished thus to stop a suit, he had first to go to his liegelord (Goði) and be authorised by him to do so; cp. the phrases, taka lyrit af Goða, selja lyrit, ef Goði færir lyrit sinn sjálfr fram, and similar law phrases, Grág. i. 109–111, cp. esp. Þ. Þ. ch. 38; neglect of this was contempt of court, punishable by the lesser outlawry. The word lyritr occurs at every step in the Grágás, esp. in the phrase, verja lyriti, or verja e-t lyriti, to defend through a lyrit, i. e. to put under veto, to vindicate one’s right, forbid, or the like; eigi varðar hagabeit, nema lyriti sé varið, Grág. ii. 224; verja lyriti haga, 225; þótt maðr veri fleirum lyriti (dat.), 226, Nj.; láta lyrit koma fyrir sök, to stop on a case, Grág. i. 109; kaupa land lagn kaupi ok lyritar, to buy land by a lawful bargain and with full tide of possession, ii. 213; eptir þat nefndi Þorkéll sér vátta, ok setti (varði?) þeim lyriti, ok fyrirbauð þeim at dæma, Lv. 31; ok er únýt stefna hans eðr lyriti (lyritr?), Grág. ii. 226; hann (the Goði) skal nefna sér vátta, áðr hann færi lyrit fram, í þat vætti, at ek ver lyriti, goða-lyriti, löglyriti fullum dómendum at dæma um sök þá … enda skal hann svá verja kviðmönnum lyriti, at bera kviðu um hann, i. 111; ek ver lyriti mínum, löglyriti dómendum at dæma, id.; færa lyrit sinn fram, to utter one’s veto, id.; fara með land-lyriti, ii. 225.

COMPDS: lyritareiðr, lyritarvarzla, lyritarvörn.

SUBJECT AREA: Textiles

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Cotton was originally employed in Loughborough and became one of the first specialized hosiery-machine builders. After the introduction of the latch needle by Matthew Townsend in 1856, knitting frames developed rapidly. The circular frame was easier to work automatically, but attempts to apply power to the flat frame, which could produce fully fashioned work, culminated in 1863 with William Cotton's machine. In that year he invented a machine that could make a dozen or more stockings or hose simultaneously and knit fashioned garments of all kinds. The difficulty was to reduce automatically the number of stitches in the courses where the hose or garment narrowed to give it shape. Cotton had early opportunities to apply himself to the improvement of hosiery machines while employed in the patent shop of Cartwright \& Warner of Loughborough, where some of the first rotaries were made. He remained with the firm for twenty years, during which time sixty or seventy of these machines were turned out. Cotton then established a factory for the manufacture of warp fabrics, and it was here that he began to work on his ideas. He had no knowledge of the principles of engineering or drawing, so his method of making sketches and then getting his ideas roughed out involved much useless labour. After twelve years, in 1863, a patent was issued for the machine that became the basis of the Cotton's Patent type. This was a flat frame driven by rotary mechanism and remarkable for its adaptability. At first he built his machine upright, like a cottage piano, but after much thought and experimentation he conceived the idea of turning the upper part down flat so that the needles were in a vertical position instead of being horizontal, and the work was carried off horizontally instead of vertically. His first machine produced four identical pieces simultaneously, but this number was soon increased. Cotton was induced by the success of his invention to begin machine building as a separate business and thus established one of the first of a class of engineering firms that sprung up as an adjunct to the new hosiery manufacture. He employed only a dozen men and turned out six machines in the first year, entering into an agreement with Hine \& Mundella for their exclusive use. This was later extended to the firm of I. \& R.Morley. In 1878, Cotton began to build on his own account, and the business steadily increased until it employed some 200 workers and had an output of 100 machines a year.

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SUBJECT AREA: Electronics and information technology, Public utilities, Telecommunications

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After education at King's College, London, in 1852 Preece entered the office of Edwin Clark with the intention of becoming a civil engineer, but graduate studies at the Royal Institution under Faraday fired his enthusiasm for things electrical. His earliest work, as connected with telegraphy and in particular its application for securing the safe working of railways; in 1853 he obtained an appointment with the Electric and National Telegraph Company. In 1856 he became Superintendent of that company's southern district, but four years later he moved to telegraph work with the London and South West Railway. From 1858 to 1862 he was also Engineer to the Channel Islands Telegraph Company. When the various telegraph companies in Britain were transferred to the State in 1870, Preece became a Divisional Engineer in the General Post Office (GPO). Promotion followed in 1877, when he was appointed Chief Electrician to the Post Office. One of the first specimens of Bell's telephone was brought to England by Preece and exhibited at the British Association meeting in 1877. From 1892 to 1899 he served as Engineer-in-Chief to the Post Office. During this time he made a number of important contributions to telegraphy, including the use of water as part of telegraph circuits across the Solent (1882) and the Bristol Channel (1888). He also discovered the existence of inductive effects between parallel wires, and with Fleming showed that a current (thermionic) flowed between the hot filament and a cold conductor in an incandescent lamp.

Preece was distinguished by his administrative ability, some scientific insight, considerable engineering intuition and immense energy. He held erroneous views about telephone transmission and, not accepting the work of Oliver Heaviside, made many errors when planning trunk circuits. Prior to the successful use of Hertzian waves for wireless communication Preece carried out experiments, often on a large scale, in attempts at wireless communication by inductive methods. These became of historic interest only when the work of Maxwell and Hertz was developed by Guglielmo Marconi. It is to Preece that credit should be given for encouraging Marconi in 1896 and collaborating with him in his early experimental work on radio telegraphy.

While still employed by the Post Office, Preece contributed to the development of numerous early public electricity schemes, acting as Consultant and often supervising their construction. At Worcester he was responsible for Britain's largest nineteenth-century public hydro-electric station. He received a knighthood on his retirement in 1899, after which he continued his consulting practice in association with his two sons and Major Philip Cardew. Preece contributed some 136 papers and printed lectures to scientific journals, ninety-nine during the period 1877 to 1894.

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