{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/540",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "whorl",
  "thread": {
    "id": 540,
    "subject": "Names and meanings (2)",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "1998-08-05T12:59:51+00:00",
    "last": "1998-08-05T12:59:51+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<whorl-v0008-0727@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "mary whalen",
        "address": "marewhalen at yahoo.com"
      },
      "date": "1998-08-05T12:59:51+00:00",
      "subject": "(whorl) Names and meanings (2)",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "This is Sean Whalen (prion).\n\nAlambrera.  Spanish for wire screen or cover.  Building in Viron were\nthe weapons are stored.\n\nAmbion.  Greek for pulpit.  Also means something that has two\nfunctions.  In the Whorl, the two are probably religious and mechanical.\n\nAureate Path.  Aureate means golden, brilliant, decorated, or marked\nby a style that is affected, grandiloquent, heavily ornamental,\nexcessively rhetorical, and employing foreign words.  This is used for\nthe Long Sun itself and also for the way of life that Pas supposedly\nwants his followers to lead.  The style described as aureate seems\nquite a bit like all of Gene Wolfe's works.  On the subject, is there\nany passage in the books where the sword of Pas is used to have\nsomething to do with password?\n\nAyuntamiento.  Spanish for union, joint, corporation, body of\nmagistrates, town council, municipal government.  Also means sexual\nintercourse.  The advisory body of Viron that is subservient to the\nCalde in the Charter, but has taken complete power in his absence.\n\nAzoth.  From Arabic az-zaa'uuq (the mercury), from zaa'uuq (mercury). \nUsed by alchemists.  In the Whorl the azoth is apparently a laser\n(light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) gun.  The\ngem on it may be the same gem used in creating the laser beam.\n\nBufe.  Also boof.  The sound made by a dog, or a name for a dog.  On\nthe Whorl, the dog-like animals that live in the tunnels.  Also called\ngods (dog reversed) by the soldiers.\n\nCalde.  Alcalde or alcade (Spanish for mayor or administrative or\njudicial officer) from Arabic al-qaadii (the judge).  Leader of Viron\nunder the holy Charter.\n\nCanna.  Irish for can.  Name used by Flyers for the propulsion device\nthey use.  Possibly it is just a cannister of compressed air.\n\nCatachrest.  Anything that is catachrestic or possessed of\ncatachresis.  From Greek katakhrestos (misused) from katakhresis\n(misuse) from katakhresthai (to misuse, use up) from kata (down) and\nkhresthai (to use, need).  Catachresis is the misuse of words, such as\nusing the wrong word for the context, or using a forced figure of\nspeech.  A kind of animal found on the Whorl that speaks with\ncatachresis.  I think that catachrests may be the genetically altered\nform of some kind of ape, probably a tamarin, like the golden lion\ntamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia).  Leontopithecus means lion-ape, and\nthis ties in with the cat usage.  The golden lion tamarin also has a\nmain of hair on its head (like a crest).\n\nChrasmologic Writings.  Probably some form (maybe dialectical) of\nchresmo- and the common suffix -logy.  Khresthai is Greek for to use,\nto need.  Khrestos means useful, serviceable, good.  Khresma would be\na useful thing.  Khresmos means oracle, prophet.  Related words with\nthis stem mean devoted to useful knowledge and learning, and a\nselection of passages and stories from various authors compiled as an\naid to learning.  The Chrasmologic Writings are the major religious\nwork of the Vironese religion, and of other cities in the Whorl as well.\n\nGammadion.  Any device or symbol made of gammas (gamma is the Greek\nletter corresponding to g in sound and has the shape of T without the\nleft-pointing line when capitol and the shape of y with an oval or\ncircle instead of the down-pointing line when lower case).  This can\nbe one of many shapes or devices, such as swastikas, Greek crosses, or\na square with a cross-shaped hole in the center.  It is not completely\ncertain what shape the gammadion worn in the Whorl has, though I favor\nthe square with a cross-shaped hole design.  The gammadion is a tool\nthat disassembles for easy use, used to make adjustments and fix the\nvarious holy machinery.\n\nGens.  Latin for a clan, a group of families of common ancestry and\nname, an offspring, a people, tribe, nation, district, country.  Stem\ngent-.  A city in the Whorl.\n\nGleachaiocht.  Irish for wrestling, fighting, acrobatics, gymnastics,\nand trickery.  Spelled with an acute accent over the i.  Apparently an\nunarmed martial art using hands and feet utilized by flyers (who can't\ncarry weapons when flying because of the weight).\n\nHus.  Word in several Germanic languages for house.  However, it\nprobably is the word for dog, hound in some Germanic language (I\nhaven't located it yet) because it is similar to Gothic hunds, etc. \nAnimals from Blue that the humans train.\n\nInhumu.  Plural inhumi.  Latin for either not on the ground, unburied,\nburied, or covered with earth.  The not on the ground/earth part\nindicates both their flying ability and extraterrestrial origin. \nUnburied suggests undead, relating to their vampiric attributes.\nCovered with earth might relate to their concealment abilities,\ncovering themselves with an appearance of being earthly.  The\nshapechanging, plastic, vampiric inhabitants of Green.\n\nJefe.  Feminine is jefa.  Spanish for boss, chief, leader.  Vironese\nterm for boss.\n\nJuzgado.  Spanish for judged.  Used as name of a court, panel of\njudges, courtroom. Origin of English hoos(e)gow (prison).\n\nLimna.  Latin for pool, from Greek limna (pool, marshy lake), from\nlimne, from limen (harbor, port).  Limna is the name of a lake and its\nport controlled by Viron.\n\nManteion.  Greek for the place of an oracle (mantis).  The Whorl\nequivalent of church, where auguries are made to see the future.\n\nMaytera.  I couldn't find this exact word anywhere.  It is assumed by\nthe Whorl inhabitants to mean mother (Latin mater and Greek meter). \nMetera is modern Greek for mother, and sounds like maytera is spelled.\n If it has a liquid association like patera, it might be related to\nmetron (Greek for a measure) or metretes (Greek measure of nine\ngallons).  It could also be related to materia (mateerial, matter) or\nteaching (Latin magistra).  It could be a way of spelling the\npronunciation of Latin metere (to reap, mow, gather, harvest).  My\nguess is that it's some old form for Magistra, Mistress in English. \nThe Whorl holy women.\n\nOrilla.  Spanish for bank, shore, edge, water's edge,, fresh breeze. \nThe name of a district in Buenos Aires. A poor section of Viron.\n\nPalaestra.  Also palestra or palaistra.  Greek for a place where\nteaching, wrestling, and practicing other sports or just a gymnasium\nor stadium.  From palaiein (to wrestle).  In the Whorl the equivalent\nof school as a service of the priesthood.\n\nPalatine.  From Latin palatium (palace).  Relating to a palace, being\nroyal.  Rich area of Viron.\n\nPalustria.  From Latin paluster/palustris meaning marshy, bogy,\nswampy, fenny.  Palus with stem palud- means marsh and palus with stem\npal- means stake.  Oreb is from the marshes by Palustria and dislikes\ninhumi, so this might be like a stake through a vampire's heart.  A\ncity in the Whorl near marshes.\n\nPatera.  Latin for a shallow dish or saucer used to pour libations to\nthe gods.  In the Whorl it is a religious priest and augur.  Assumed\nby them to mean father (pater).\n\nProlocutor.  Latin for one who speaks for others (from pro- plus\nlocutus (from loqui, to speak)).  A spokesman, interpretor, advocate\nin a court of law, president in a convocation of the English Church,\npresiding officer/chairman of any meeting or assembly. Prlocution is\nalso archaic English for deliberately ambiguous language or a\nprefatory statement, the former is found in abundance in these books\nand the latter is desperately needed.  The head of the Vironese church.\n\nRani.  Also ranee.  From Hindi raanii, from Sanskrit raajnii, the\nfeminine of raajan (king).  Hindu queen, rajah's wife, or a princess. \nAlso a prefix meaning related to frogs, which could relate to the fact\nthat the government police of Viron are associated with frogs.  The\ntitle of the ruler of Trivigaunte.\n\nTalus.  Plural taluses or tali.  The ankle bone.  Talus with plural\ntaluses only is from Latin talutium (slope) meaning a slope,\nespecially of rock debris.  Talus is also the Latin form of the Greek\nname Talos (meaning patient, enduring, suffering).  Talos was a man\nmade of brass or bronze who lived on Crete.  He was supposedly the\nlast survivor of the Age of Bronze that came after the Silver Age.  He\nhad only one vein that ran from his head to his ankles.  This\ncontained the blood of the gods (ichor) and was sealed at the foot\nwith a membrane of skin or a nail.  He had to run around the island\nthree times each day and repel all invaders by throwing stones at them\nor making himself red hot.  Medea killed him when the Argonauts wished\nto come to Crete.  There are many stories about how she killed him. \nIn the Whorl the tali (the formal plural is only used once in the\nbooks, by Remora) are robots made by the inhabitants and used as\nindentured servants until they fulfill their duty, usually to guard a\nplace. They may be a newer form of tractor robots, and this would\nrelate to the slope talus that tractors sometimes make.\n\nTrivigaunte.  Looking at this word, I couldn't image its origin. \nParts of it looked Latin, but I couldn't place it at all.  In Latin,\ntri- means three (from tres), vi- means road (from via), and there is\nno stem gaunt-.  However, the closest is gaud-, meaning joy.  This\nmight mean Joy at the Three Roads, or something.  This seems a bit of\na stretch, however.  Trivia is also a by-name of Hekate, the goddess\nof witches, magic, and other things, who was often worshipped by\nwomen.  Trivialis means trivial, unimportant, which is what the\nTrivigaunti war is.  Another Latin word meaning trivial is levis. \nLevis with a long e means smooth, beardless. Trivi means I rubbed, I\nwore away, from terere, to rub, to wear awawy.  This verb is the Latin\nequivalent of Greek tribein, to rub, wear away.  A tribade is a\nlesbian, so Trivigaunte might be Joy of Lesbianism.  This reminded me\nof when Siyuf tells Chenille that in Trivigaunte, men are duty, women\nare pleasure.  Duty in Latin is officiu, munus, pietas, religio, or\nfides, so I don't know if the second part of that phrase has anything\nto do with it.  None of this is perfect, though, so I looked further. \nThe closest word to this in Latin is triginta (thirty).  Taking the\nletters in triginta out of Trivigante, we are left with u, v, and e. \nThe only Latin word I can form out of these is uve, which means,\napproximately, \"be wet!\".  This wasn't going anywhere, so I thought\nthat maybe the letters were scrambled.  The closest word I could find\nwas vigintiviratus, the office of the vigintiviri (a council of twenty\nmen).  The vocative form of vigintiviratus, the form used to address\nas \"you\", is vigintivirate.  Taking the letters in Trivigaunte out of\nvigintivirate, we're left with v, i, and i.  This could form 7 (VII)\nin Latin.  Taking the letters of Trivigaunti (the adjective) out of\nvigintiviratus, we're left with i, u, and s.  Ius (stem iur-) is Latin\nfor both, soup, right, or LAW.  This would make vigintiviratus equal\nto Trivigaunti law (Trivigaunti ius = vigintiviratus).  Since it is\nscrambled, this might mean that men no longer rule in Trivigaunte. \nHowever, virago (stem viragin-) is Latin for warrior-woman.  Taking\nthe letters of viragin- out of Trivigaunte, we're left with t, u, t,\nand e.  Tute is the vocative form of tutus, meaning watched over,\nguarded, protected.  With a long e, it is also the adverbial form of\nthis adjective, meaning safely, guardedly, while being protected. \nThis would mean Trivigaunte means \"Guarded by Warrior Women.\"  I'm\nfairly sure that the explanation for the name can be found among these\nspeculations, but the exact one is still unclear to me.\n\nUr.  Name of an old city on Earth.  A city in the Whorl.\n\nUrbs.  Latin for a city, especially one with a wall.  A city in the\nWhorl.\n\nViron.  French for circle, from virer (to turn), from Latin virare (to\nturn).  The stem vir- in Latin means man, power, or slime.  City in\nthe Whorl.\n\nWhorl.  Also wharl.  A coil, a spiral, a thing that whirls, any\narrangement of things in a spiral shape, groups of things that\nresembles whorls.  The name of the ship Typhon sent to colonize Blue\nand Green.\n\nWick.  Old English for a dwelling place, farm.  A farmstead,\nparticularly a dairy farm.  Also a bundle of fibers, used especially\nin candles.  A corner, an inlet, creek, a narrow passageway, or\ndialectical for week or quick.  A city in the Whorl.\n\nprion"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}