• ABILITY, CAPACITY - Ability is the power of doing; capacity, the power of containing, of understanding, of acquiring. Go to article

• ACCEPT, EXCEPT - To accept means "to take something offered;" to except means "to make an exception of." Go to article

• ACCEPTANCE, ACCEPTATION - ACCEPTANCE, ACCEPTATION.—Acceptance is the “act of accepting”; also “favorable reception”: as, “The acceptance of a gift,” “She sang with marked acceptance.” Acceptation now means “the sense in which an expression is generally understood or accepted.” Go to article

• ACCESS, ACCESSION - Access has several meanings authorized by good use: (1) outburst; (2) admission; (3) way of entrance. Go to article

• ACCREDIT, CREDIT - 'To accredit means 'to invest with credit or authority,' or 'to send with letters credential;' to credit means 'to believe,' or "to put to the credit of." Go to article

• ACTS, ACTIONS - "Acts, in the sense of 'things done,' is preferable to actions, since actions also means 'processes of doing.'" Go to article

• ADHERENCE, ADHESION - Adherence is used of moral relations, adhesion, of physical connection. We speak of the adhesion of glue to wood, of a man's adherence to the principles of his party. Go to article

• ADVANCE, ADVANCEMENT - Advance is used in speaking of something as moving forward; advancement, as being moved forward. Go to article

• ADVERTISE, ADVISE - To advertise is "to announce to the public" to advise is "to give counsel or information to a person." Go to article

• AFFECT, EFFECT - To affect is "to act upon," "to influence;" to effect is "to bring about." Go to article

• AGGRAVATING, IRRITATING - n good use aggravating means "making heavier, more grave, worse in some way." It is often misused for irritating, exasperating, or provoking. Go to article

• ALLEVIATE, RELIEVE - To alleviate pain is "to lighten" it; to relieve it is to go further, and "to remove it in a large measure or altogether." Go to article

• ALLOW, ADMIT, THINK - Allow properly means to "grant" or "permit," not to "admit," "think" or "intend." Go to article

• ALLUDE TO, REFER TO, MENTION - We mention a thing when we name it directly. We refer to it when we speak of it less directly. We allude to it when we refer to it in a delicate or slight way. Go to article

• ALLUSION, ILLUSION, DELUSION - An allusion is an indirect reference to something not definitely mentioned. Go to article

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