Reply: Item #8520349 from WHORL at LISTS.BEST.COM@INTERNET#
Kieran Mullen,
Re: Dorcas as gazelle. Ah, so sorry--you must have thought I was being wooly and mantic. Nope. Not to deny the saint Dorcas/Tabitha at all, no sir. Just that "Dorcas" =means= gazelle; this is not a debatable point. (Tabitha is Aramaic for gazelle, I believe.)
DICTIONARY OF NAMES:
"Dorcas" (Greek) A gazelle
LATIN DICTIONARY:
"dorcas" feminine gazelle, antelope
(hmm, so which is it: Greek or Latin?)
DICTIONARY OF WORD ROOTS AND COMBINING FORMS:
"dorca, -do, =s" (Greek) A gazelle
The encyclopedia entry under "gazelle" states that there is a dorcas gazelle (G. dorcas), which isn't surprising.
I'd swear there's an interview with or article by Wolfe that says "Dorcas means gazelle" but I can't find it at the moment, so maybe I'm mistaken.
In any case, I'm surprised that I didn't mention this in the Lexicon (where I did allude to the resurrected widow of Bible lore), or, having failed that, that I neglected to mention it in either errata chapbook. Well, that's how it goes, doesn't it? On the bright side, there's always the next chapbook!
=mantis=