Home1860 Edition

YVETOT

Volume 21 · 221 words · 1860 Edition

a town of France, capital of an arrondissement of the same name, in the department of Seine Inferieure, in a fertile plain, 20 miles N.W. of Rouen. It is an ancient town, and consists of one principal street more than two miles long, lined with old-fashioned timber-framed, and slate-roofed houses. Linen and cotton cloth, velvet, hosiery, and hats, are made here; and there is a considerable trade in corn, cattle, and sheep. Yvetot was formerly an important commercial town, and its lords were styled kings, even in legal documents,—a practice which has given rise to some antiquarian researches. Pop. (1856) 8234.

---

1 "Eloge Historique du Docteur Thomas Young," par M. Arago, Memoires de l'Academie Royale des Sciences de l'Institut de France, tome xiii., p. lvii. Z, the last letter of the English alphabet, is merely a vocal sibilant; the sound of which is formed by a motion of the tongue from the palate downwards and upwards to it again, with a shutting and opening of the teeth at the same time. This letter has been reputed a double consonant, having the sound ds; and hence we often double it, as in puzzle, muzzle, &c. Among the ancients, Z was a numeral letter, signifying 2000; and with a dash over it thus, Z, signified 2000 times 2000, or 4,000,000. (See Abbreviations.)