DUMP. (1) (Of obscure origin; corresponding in form and possibly connected with the word, are the Mid. Dutch domp, mist or haze, and the Ger. dumpf, dull or dazed), a state of wonder, perplexity or melancholy. The word thus occurs particularly in the plural, in such phrases as “doleful dumps.” It was also formerly used for a tune, especially one of a mournful kind, a dirge. (2) (Connected with “dumpy,” but appearing later than that word, and also of obscure origin), something short and thick, and hence used of many objects such as a lead counter or medal, of a coin formerly used in Australia, formed by punching a circular piece out of a Spanish dollar, and of a short thick bolt used in shipbuilding. (3) (Probably of Norse origin, cf. Nor. dumpa, and Dan. dumpe, meaning “to fall” suddenly, with a bump), to throw down in a heap, and hence particularly applied to the depositing of any large quantity of material, to the shooting of rubbish, or tilting a load from a cart. It is thus used of the method of disposal of the masses of gravel, &c., disintegrated by water in the hydraulic method of gold mining. A “dump” or “dumping-ground” is thus the place where such waste material is deposited. The use of the term “dumping” in the economics of international trade has come into prominence in the tariff reform controversy in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes used loosely of the importing of foreign goods at prices below those ruling in the importing country; but strictly the term is applied to the importing, at a price below the cost of production, of the surplus of manufactures of a foreign country over and above what has been disposed of in its home market. The ability to sell such a surplus in a foreign market below the cost of production depends on the prices of the home market being artificially sustained at a sufficiently high level by a monopoly or by a tariff or by bounties. An essential factor in the operation of “dumping” is the lessening of the whole cost of production by manufacture on a large scale.
DUNASH, the name of two Jewish scholars of the 10th century.
1. Dunash Ben Labraṭ, grammarian and poet, belonged to the brilliant circle attracted to Cordova by Ḥasdai, and took a large share in promoting the Jewish “Golden Age” under the Moors in Andalusia. Dunash not only helped in the foundation of a school of scientific philology, but adapted Arabian metres to Hebrew verse, and thereby gave an impulse to the neo-Hebraic poetry, which reached its highest level in Spain.
2. Dunash Ibn Tamim was, like the preceding, a leader in the critical study of language among Arabic-speaking Jews. Professor Bacher says of him: “In the history of Hebrew philology, Ibn Tamim ranks as one of the first representatives of the systematic comparison of Hebrew and Arabic.” The philological researches of the 10th century were closely associated with the Spanish-Moorish culture of the period.
(I. A.)
DUNBAR, GEORGE (1774-1851), English classical scholar and lexicographer, was born at Coldingham in Berwickshire. In early life he followed the humble profession of gardening, but, having been permanently injured by an accident, devoted himself to the study of the classics. When about thirty years of age, he settled in Edinburgh, where he obtained a tutorship in the family of Lord Provost Fettes. In 1807 he succeeded Andrew Dalzel as professor of Greek in the university. Dunbar held his appointment till his death on the 6th of December 1851. Although a man of great energy and industry, Dunbar did not produce anything of permanent value. He deserves mention, however, for his Greek-English and English-Greek lexicon (1840), on the compilation of which he spent eight years. Although now superseded, it was the best work of its kind that had appeared in England.
The little that is known of Dunbar’s life will be found in the Caledonian Mercury (8th of December 1851).