Subject: (whorl) Names and meanings (2)

From: mary whalen <marewhalen at yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 05 Aug 1998 12:59:51 +0000

This is Sean Whalen (prion).

Alambrera.  Spanish for wire screen or cover.  Building in Viron were
the weapons are stored.

Ambion.  Greek for pulpit.  Also means something that has two
functions.  In the Whorl, the two are probably religious and mechanical.

Aureate Path.  Aureate means golden, brilliant, decorated, or marked
by a style that is affected, grandiloquent, heavily ornamental,
excessively rhetorical, and employing foreign words.  This is used for
the Long Sun itself and also for the way of life that Pas supposedly
wants his followers to lead.  The style described as aureate seems
quite a bit like all of Gene Wolfe's works.  On the subject, is there
any passage in the books where the sword of Pas is used to have
something to do with password?

Ayuntamiento.  Spanish for union, joint, corporation, body of
magistrates, town council, municipal government.  Also means sexual
intercourse.  The advisory body of Viron that is subservient to the
Calde in the Charter, but has taken complete power in his absence.

Azoth.  From Arabic az-zaa'uuq (the mercury), from zaa'uuq (mercury). 
Used by alchemists.  In the Whorl the azoth is apparently a laser
(light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) gun.  The
gem on it may be the same gem used in creating the laser beam.

Bufe.  Also boof.  The sound made by a dog, or a name for a dog.  On
the Whorl, the dog-like animals that live in the tunnels.  Also called
gods (dog reversed) by the soldiers.

Calde.  Alcalde or alcade (Spanish for mayor or administrative or
judicial officer) from Arabic al-qaadii (the judge).  Leader of Viron
under the holy Charter.

Canna.  Irish for can.  Name used by Flyers for the propulsion device
they use.  Possibly it is just a cannister of compressed air.

Catachrest.  Anything that is catachrestic or possessed of
catachresis.  From Greek katakhrestos (misused) from katakhresis
(misuse) from katakhresthai (to misuse, use up) from kata (down) and
khresthai (to use, need).  Catachresis is the misuse of words, such as
using the wrong word for the context, or using a forced figure of
speech.  A kind of animal found on the Whorl that speaks with
catachresis.  I think that catachrests may be the genetically altered
form of some kind of ape, probably a tamarin, like the golden lion
tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia).  Leontopithecus means lion-ape, and
this ties in with the cat usage.  The golden lion tamarin also has a
main of hair on its head (like a crest).

Chrasmologic Writings.  Probably some form (maybe dialectical) of
chresmo- and the common suffix -logy.  Khresthai is Greek for to use,
to need.  Khrestos means useful, serviceable, good.  Khresma would be
a useful thing.  Khresmos means oracle, prophet.  Related words with
this stem mean devoted to useful knowledge and learning, and a
selection of passages and stories from various authors compiled as an
aid to learning.  The Chrasmologic Writings are the major religious
work of the Vironese religion, and of other cities in the Whorl as well.

Gammadion.  Any device or symbol made of gammas (gamma is the Greek
letter corresponding to g in sound and has the shape of T without the
left-pointing line when capitol and the shape of y with an oval or
circle instead of the down-pointing line when lower case).  This can
be one of many shapes or devices, such as swastikas, Greek crosses, or
a square with a cross-shaped hole in the center.  It is not completely
certain what shape the gammadion worn in the Whorl has, though I favor
the square with a cross-shaped hole design.  The gammadion is a tool
that disassembles for easy use, used to make adjustments and fix the
various holy machinery.

Gens.  Latin for a clan, a group of families of common ancestry and
name, an offspring, a people, tribe, nation, district, country.  Stem
gent-.  A city in the Whorl.

Gleachaiocht.  Irish for wrestling, fighting, acrobatics, gymnastics,
and trickery.  Spelled with an acute accent over the i.  Apparently an
unarmed martial art using hands and feet utilized by flyers (who can't
carry weapons when flying because of the weight).

Hus.  Word in several Germanic languages for house.  However, it
probably is the word for dog, hound in some Germanic language (I
haven't located it yet) because it is similar to Gothic hunds, etc. 
Animals from Blue that the humans train.

Inhumu.  Plural inhumi.  Latin for either not on the ground, unburied,
buried, or covered with earth.  The not on the ground/earth part
indicates both their flying ability and extraterrestrial origin. 
Unburied suggests undead, relating to their vampiric attributes.
Covered with earth might relate to their concealment abilities,
covering themselves with an appearance of being earthly.  The
shapechanging, plastic, vampiric inhabitants of Green.

Jefe.  Feminine is jefa.  Spanish for boss, chief, leader.  Vironese
term for boss.

Juzgado.  Spanish for judged.  Used as name of a court, panel of
judges, courtroom. Origin of English hoos(e)gow (prison).

Limna.  Latin for pool, from Greek limna (pool, marshy lake), from
limne, from limen (harbor, port).  Limna is the name of a lake and its
port controlled by Viron.

Manteion.  Greek for the place of an oracle (mantis).  The Whorl
equivalent of church, where auguries are made to see the future.

Maytera.  I couldn't find this exact word anywhere.  It is assumed by
the Whorl inhabitants to mean mother (Latin mater and Greek meter). 
Metera is modern Greek for mother, and sounds like maytera is spelled.
 If it has a liquid association like patera, it might be related to
metron (Greek for a measure) or metretes (Greek measure of nine
gallons).  It could also be related to materia (mateerial, matter) or
teaching (Latin magistra).  It could be a way of spelling the
pronunciation of Latin metere (to reap, mow, gather, harvest).  My
guess is that it's some old form for Magistra, Mistress in English. 
The Whorl holy women.

Orilla.  Spanish for bank, shore, edge, water's edge,, fresh breeze. 
The name of a district in Buenos Aires. A poor section of Viron.

Palaestra.  Also palestra or palaistra.  Greek for a place where
teaching, wrestling, and practicing other sports or just a gymnasium
or stadium.  From palaiein (to wrestle).  In the Whorl the equivalent
of school as a service of the priesthood.

Palatine.  From Latin palatium (palace).  Relating to a palace, being
royal.  Rich area of Viron.

Palustria.  From Latin paluster/palustris meaning marshy, bogy,
swampy, fenny.  Palus with stem palud- means marsh and palus with stem
pal- means stake.  Oreb is from the marshes by Palustria and dislikes
inhumi, so this might be like a stake through a vampire's heart.  A
city in the Whorl near marshes.

Patera.  Latin for a shallow dish or saucer used to pour libations to
the gods.  In the Whorl it is a religious priest and augur.  Assumed
by them to mean father (pater).

Prolocutor.  Latin for one who speaks for others (from pro- plus
locutus (from loqui, to speak)).  A spokesman, interpretor, advocate
in a court of law, president in a convocation of the English Church,
presiding officer/chairman of any meeting or assembly. Prlocution is
also archaic English for deliberately ambiguous language or a
prefatory statement, the former is found in abundance in these books
and the latter is desperately needed.  The head of the Vironese church.

Rani.  Also ranee.  From Hindi raanii, from Sanskrit raajnii, the
feminine of raajan (king).  Hindu queen, rajah's wife, or a princess. 
Also a prefix meaning related to frogs, which could relate to the fact
that the government police of Viron are associated with frogs.  The
title of the ruler of Trivigaunte.

Talus.  Plural taluses or tali.  The ankle bone.  Talus with plural
taluses only is from Latin talutium (slope) meaning a slope,
especially of rock debris.  Talus is also the Latin form of the Greek
name Talos (meaning patient, enduring, suffering).  Talos was a man
made of brass or bronze who lived on Crete.  He was supposedly the
last survivor of the Age of Bronze that came after the Silver Age.  He
had only one vein that ran from his head to his ankles.  This
contained the blood of the gods (ichor) and was sealed at the foot
with a membrane of skin or a nail.  He had to run around the island
three times each day and repel all invaders by throwing stones at them
or making himself red hot.  Medea killed him when the Argonauts wished
to come to Crete.  There are many stories about how she killed him. 
In the Whorl the tali (the formal plural is only used once in the
books, by Remora) are robots made by the inhabitants and used as
indentured servants until they fulfill their duty, usually to guard a
place. They may be a newer form of tractor robots, and this would
relate to the slope talus that tractors sometimes make.

Trivigaunte.  Looking at this word, I couldn't image its origin. 
Parts of it looked Latin, but I couldn't place it at all.  In Latin,
tri- means three (from tres), vi- means road (from via), and there is
no stem gaunt-.  However, the closest is gaud-, meaning joy.  This
might mean Joy at the Three Roads, or something.  This seems a bit of
a stretch, however.  Trivia is also a by-name of Hekate, the goddess
of witches, magic, and other things, who was often worshipped by
women.  Trivialis means trivial, unimportant, which is what the
Trivigaunti war is.  Another Latin word meaning trivial is levis. 
Levis with a long e means smooth, beardless. Trivi means I rubbed, I
wore away, from terere, to rub, to wear awawy.  This verb is the Latin
equivalent of Greek tribein, to rub, wear away.  A tribade is a
lesbian, so Trivigaunte might be Joy of Lesbianism.  This reminded me
of when Siyuf tells Chenille that in Trivigaunte, men are duty, women
are pleasure.  Duty in Latin is officiu, munus, pietas, religio, or
fides, so I don't know if the second part of that phrase has anything
to do with it.  None of this is perfect, though, so I looked further. 
The closest word to this in Latin is triginta (thirty).  Taking the
letters in triginta out of Trivigante, we are left with u, v, and e. 
The only Latin word I can form out of these is uve, which means,
approximately, "be wet!".  This wasn't going anywhere, so I thought
that maybe the letters were scrambled.  The closest word I could find
was vigintiviratus, the office of the vigintiviri (a council of twenty
men).  The vocative form of vigintiviratus, the form used to address
as "you", is vigintivirate.  Taking the letters in Trivigaunte out of
vigintivirate, we're left with v, i, and i.  This could form 7 (VII)
in Latin.  Taking the letters of Trivigaunti (the adjective) out of
vigintiviratus, we're left with i, u, and s.  Ius (stem iur-) is Latin
for both, soup, right, or LAW.  This would make vigintiviratus equal
to Trivigaunti law (Trivigaunti ius = vigintiviratus).  Since it is
scrambled, this might mean that men no longer rule in Trivigaunte. 
However, virago (stem viragin-) is Latin for warrior-woman.  Taking
the letters of viragin- out of Trivigaunte, we're left with t, u, t,
and e.  Tute is the vocative form of tutus, meaning watched over,
guarded, protected.  With a long e, it is also the adverbial form of
this adjective, meaning safely, guardedly, while being protected. 
This would mean Trivigaunte means "Guarded by Warrior Women."  I'm
fairly sure that the explanation for the name can be found among these
speculations, but the exact one is still unclear to me.

Ur.  Name of an old city on Earth.  A city in the Whorl.

Urbs.  Latin for a city, especially one with a wall.  A city in the
Whorl.

Viron.  French for circle, from virer (to turn), from Latin virare (to
turn).  The stem vir- in Latin means man, power, or slime.  City in
the Whorl.

Whorl.  Also wharl.  A coil, a spiral, a thing that whirls, any
arrangement of things in a spiral shape, groups of things that
resembles whorls.  The name of the ship Typhon sent to colonize Blue
and Green.

Wick.  Old English for a dwelling place, farm.  A farmstead,
particularly a dairy farm.  Also a bundle of fibers, used especially
in candles.  A corner, an inlet, creek, a narrow passageway, or
dialectical for week or quick.  A city in the Whorl.

prion
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