words can be fully or partially verified by those who happen to
possess all or some of the works cited, or they can safely be taken on
trust, as really occurring there, any mistake being due to such
authority.

A second example will make this clearer. '~Brant~,
_adj_. steep, high, MD, HD; ~brent~, JD; ~brentest~,
_superl_. S2.--AS. _brant (bront)_; cp. Swed. _brant_,
Icel. _brattr_.'

Omitting the etymology, the above information is given in two short
lines. Those who possess the 'Specimens of English' will easily find
the example of the superl. _brentest_. By consulting Mätzner's,
Halliwell's, and Jamieson's Dictionaries, further information can be
obtained, and the full article will appear as follows:--

'~Brant~, _adj_. steep, high, MD [~brant, brent~,
_adj_. ags. _brand_, arduus, altus, altn. _brattr_,
altschw. _branter_, schw. _brant, bratt_, dän, _brat_,
sch. _brent_, nordengl. Diall. _brant_: cf. "_brant_,
steepe," Manipulus Vocabulorum, p. 25: steil, hoch.--"Apon the bald
Bucifelon _brant_ up he sittes," King Alexander, ed. Stevenson,
p. 124; "Thir mountaynes ware als _brant_ upri3*e as thay had
bene walles," MS. quoted in Halliwell's Diet., p. 206; "Hy3*e bonkkes
& _brent_," Gawain and the Grene Knight, l. 2165; "Bowed to þe
hy3* bonk þer _brentest_ hit wern," Alliterative Poems,
ed. Morris, Poem B, l. 379]; HD [~brant~, steep. _North_:
"Brant against Flodden Hill," explained by Nares from Ascham, "up the
steep side;" of. Brit. Bibl. i. 132, same as _brandly_?--"And
thane thay com tille wonder heghe mountaynes, and it semed as the