Murmuration

Murmuration (pronounced mur-muh-rey-shuhn)

(1) An act or instance of murmuring.

(2) In ornithological use, the correct collective name for a flock of starlings although sometimes (controversially according to the ornithologists) extended to bees.

(3) In sociology and zoology, an emergent order in a multi-agent social system.

1350–1400: A Middle English borrowing from the Old French murmure (which endures in modern French) from the Medieval Latin murmurātiōn (stem of murmurātiō), derived from the Latin murmur (humming, muttering, roaring, growling, rushing etc).  The wealth of words related to murmur includes rumble, buzz, hum, whisper, muttering, purr, undertone, babble, grumble, mutter, susurration, drone, whispering, humming, mumble, rumor, buzzing and susurrus.

Murmuration of starlings above the Negev desert, near Rahat, Israel, February 2018.

The adoption of murmuration as the collective noun for starlings is thought derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk.  The ornithologists did not approve of the apiarists borrowing the word to describe bees, maintaining bees exist in a swarm, drift, erst or grist.  There are however no rules for this and an alternative collective noun for starlings is a chattering and this is applied also to chicks, choughs and goldfinches.

Bailiwick

Bailiwick (pronounced bey-luh-wik)

(1) In law, the district or area within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.

(2) A person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work.

1425–75: From the late Middle English, the construct being baili- (or bailie) + wick (district of a bailiff, jurisdiction of a royal officer or under-sheriff), a mid-fifteenth century contraction of baillifwik, from bailiff + the Middle English wik, from the Old English wic (village).  The figurative sense of "one's natural or proper sphere" was a creation of American English first recorded in 1843.

From the Ancien Régime

Bailiwick’s origin was in pre-revolutionary France.  Under the Ancien Régime, the bailli (bailiff in the Old French) was the king's representative in a bailliage, in charge of the application of justice and the machinery of local administration.  For historic reasons, in the southern provinces, the more frequently used term was sénéchal and they discharged duties similar to a bailli in a sénéchaussée.  The network of baillages, structurally the most enduring creation of early-Modern France, was created during the thirteenth century, using mostly the geographical boundaries of the earlier medieval fiscal and tax divisions (the baillie) which had been the systems of the various dukedoms and principalities.  In English, the French bailie was combined with the Anglo-Saxon suffix “-wic” (village), the compound meaning literally “bailiff's village”, and defining the geographic scope of each bailiwick.  In the nineteenth century, it was absorbed into American English as a metaphor for a sphere of knowledge or activity.  The term survives in administrative usage in the British Crown dependencies of the Channel Islands which are grouped into two bailiwicks (1), Jersey (Jersey, and the uninhabited islets (Minquiers & Écréhous et al) and (2), Guernsey (Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, Brecqhou, Herm, Jethou & Lihou).  A Bailiff is the head of each Channel Island bailiwick.

Discreet & Discrete

Discreet (pronounced dih-skreet)

(1) Judicious in conduct or speech, especially with regard to respecting privacy or maintaining silence about delicate matters; prudent; circumspect.

(2) Showing prudence and circumspection; decorous:

(3) Modestly unobtrusive; unostentatious:

1325–1375: From the Middle English discret from the Anglo-French & Old French discret (prudent, discerning) from the Medieval Latin discrētus (separated), past participle of discernere (to discern), the construct being dis- + crē- (separate, distinguish (variant stem of cernere)) + -tus, the Latin past participle suffix.  Related forms are the noun discreetly and the adverb discreetness.

Discrete (pronounced dih-skreet)

(1) Apart or detached from others; separate; distinct; that which can be perceived individually and not as connected to, or part of something else.

(2) Consisting of or characterized by distinct or individual parts; discontinuous.

(3) In mathematics, of a topology or topological space, having the property that every subset is an open set; defined only for an isolated set of points; using only arithmetic and algebra; not involving calculus.

(4) In statistics (of a variable), having consecutive values not so infinitesimally close, so that its analysis requires summation rather than integration.

(5) In electrical engineering, having separate electronic components (diodes, transistors, resisters etc) as opposed to integrated circuitry.

(6) In audio engineering, separate and independent channels of audio, as opposed to multiplexed stereo or quadraphonic, or other multi-channel sound.(7) In linguistics, disjunctive, containing a disjunctive or discretive clause.

(8) In angelology, the technical description of the hierarchies and orders of angels

1350–1400: Middle English from the Latin discrētus (separated; set apart) past participle of discernō (divide), the construct being dis- + cernō (sift); a doublet of discreet.  The Middle English adoption came via the Old French discret.  Related forms are the noun discretely and the adverb discreteness.

Strange words

An etymological tangle, it was the influence of the Middle French discret (prudent, discerning) which saw discreet evolve to mean “wise person” in Angle-French.  The Latin source was discrētus (past participle of the verb discernere (to discern; to separate, distinguish, mark off, show differences between)) and in post-Classical Latin discrētus also acquired the sense “prudent, wise,” possibly arising from association with the noun discrētiō, which shows a similar semantic development: physical separation, to discernment, to capacity to discern.

Discrete (apart or detached from others; separate; distinct) was originally a spelling doublet of discreet, sharing meanings, both deriving from the same Latin source.  The spelling discrete is closer in form to the Latin discrētus and is probably an attempt to differentiate discreet from discrete and one has always been more prolific than the other, dictionaries for centuries tending to offer five time the citations for “prudent, circumspect” compared with the sense “separate, distinct” although the history of the latter is long in statistics, angelology, astronomy, and mathematics.  It wasn’t until the late sixteenth century that discrete became restricted to its present meanings, leaving the spelling discreet to predominate in its own use.

In a way not uncommon in English, pre-modern spellings proliferated: discreyt, discrite, discreit, discreete and others existed but, by the late sixteenth century, the standard meanings became discrete in the sense of “individual” and discreet in the sense of “tactful”.  Technically, it should have been the other way around because the Latin ending –etus usually becomes –ete in English.

The Assumption of the Virgin (1475-1476), by Francesco Botticini (1446–1498), tempera on wood panel, National Gallery London.  Commissioned as the altarpiece for a Florentine church, it portrays Mary's assumption and shows the discrete three hierarchies and nine orders of angels.

Vest

Vest (pronounced vest)

(1) A sleeveless, waist- or hip-length garment made of various materials, with a front opening usually secured by buttons, a zipper, or the like, worn over a shirt, blouse, dress, or other article for style or warmth:

(2) A part or trimming simulating the front of such a garment; vestee.

(3) A waist-length garment worn for protective purposes, now often in high-visibility (hi-viz) colors.

(4) As bulletproof vest, an outer garment worn by soldiers and others in security-related fields.

(5) Historically, a long garment resembling a cassock, worn by men in the time of Charles II (archaic except as an ecclesiastical vestment).

(6) To place or settle (something, especially property, rights, powers etc) in the possession or control of someone (usually followed by in).

(7) To invest or endow (a person, group, committee, etc.) with something, as powers, functions, or rights:

(8) In the sense of something becoming vested in a person or institution; a right.

(9) In common law jurisdictions, an absolute right to some present or future interest in something of value.  When a right has vested, the person is legally entitled to what has been promised and may seek relief in court if the benefit is not given.

1375–1425: From the late Middle English vest (to put in possession of a person), from the Old French vestir (to clothe; get dressed), from the Medieval Latin vestire (to put into possession, to invest), from vestire (to clothe, dress, to adorn) and related to vestis (garment, clothing (and akin to wear)), from the primitive Indo-European wes-ti-, a suffixed form of wes- (to clothe), an extended form of the root eu- (to dress).  Vest & vested are nouns & verbs and vesting is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is vests.

The noun developed from the verb in the sense of a "loose, sleeveless outer garment" (worn by men in Eastern countries or in ancient times) dates from the 1610s, from the French seventeenth century veste (a vest, jacket), from the Italian vesta & veste (robe, gown), from the Latin vestis from vestire.  In England, the sleeveless garment worn by men beneath the coat was introduced by Charles II (1630-1685; King of Scotland 1649-1651, King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1660-1685) in a bid to rein in men's attire at court, which had grown extravagant and decadent in the French mode, Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) noting in his diary on 8 October 1666:

The King hath yesterday, in Council, declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes (and) it will be a vest, I know not well how; but it is to teach the nobility thrift.

Louis XIV (1638–1715; le Roi Soleil (the Sun King), King of France 1643-1715) is said to have mocked the effort by putting his footmen in such vests and sending Charles a painting of them standing at court.  The past-participle adjective from the verb in the sense of "established, secured, settled, not in a state of contingency" dates from 1766.  The verb revest (clothe again (with or as with a garment)) developed with the verb and was from revesten, from the Old French revestir, from the Late Latin revestire (to clothe again), the construct being re- (back, again) + vestire (to clothe, dress, adorn).  The related forms were revested & revesting.

One movement, many agendas: The Gilets Jaunes, December 2018.

The yellow vests movement (mouvement des gilets jaunes) was a large but loosely structured protest movement with origins in France in mid-2018.  It began in May that year as an online petition on social media with mass demonstrations being staged on successive weekends in November and December.  The agenda was primarily one of economic justice although factions within the movement have different objectives, ranging from tax reform to a revolutionary overthrow of the state.  Yellow vests were chosen as a symbol for the wholly practical reason French law requires motorists to have them in their vehicles so they were cheap, distinctive and widely available.  In other countries, protest movements with similar grievances also adopted yellow vests (often called "hi-vis" (high-visibility) but none seem yet to have achieved critical mass.

Lindsay Lohan in white puffer down vest with furry hood , black leggings and Ugg boots leaving XXI Forever, Salt Lake City, Utah, November 2013.

Although the economic pressures had existed for some time, it was the policies of the newly elected President Emmanuel Macron (b 1977; President of France since 2017) which inspired action.  Although of bourgeois origin, a few months in the Élysée Palace mixing with the rich convinced Le Président he was one of the aristocracy and accordingly followed the advice of his new friends that France’s problem was the working class spending their disposable income on fast-food, tobacco & drink and it would be for their own good to tax them more so the money could be passed to the rich who would put it to better use.  In the Élysée, while there’s now a sense of much noblesse, there’s rather less oblige.  The protests forced Macron temporarily to retreat but even at the time this was thought a change in tactics, not strategy and few doubted the hostilities would resume as soon as the country began its peaceful co-existence with COVID-19, the mouvement des gilets jaunes making it clear it would respond to any attempt by the authorities to concoct spurious pandemic-related reasons to restrict protest.

Waft

Waft (pronounced wahft)

(1) To carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water.

(2) To send or convey lightly, as if in flight.

(3) To signal to, summon, or direct by waving (obsolete).

(4) A sound, odor etc, faintly perceived.

(5) A light current or gust of air; a brief, gentle breeze.

(6) In admiralty jargon, a signal flag hoisted or furled to signify various messages depending on where it was flown (archaic).

(7) To convey by ship (obsolete).

1535–1545:  In the obsolete sense of conveying by ship, a back formation from the late Middle English waughter (armed escort vessel) from the Dutch and Low German wachter guard (a watchman or convoy vessel) which in some historic documents is confused with waff.  The familiar modern meaning “gently to pass through air or space, to float" appears first in 1704, thought likely related to the northern dialect word waff (cause to move to and fro) which dates from 1510 as a variant of wave.

How to Waft

Waft, in the practical laboratory work of chemistry and other sciences, is a term used in safety manuals when describing the recommended way to sniff stuff.  To waft, one uses an open hand with the palm facing the body, moving the hand in a gentle circular motion over or about the substance or gas of interest so as to lift vapours towards the nose.  This permits a lower concentration to be inhaled, especially important with anything dangerous like ammonia, hydrochloric acid et al.

Right: Student in lab.

Wrong: George W Bush (b 1946; US President 2001-2009) in lab.

Atrophy & Hypertrophy

Atrophy (pronounced a-truh-fee)

(1) In pathology, a wasting away of the body or of an organ or part, or a failure to grow to normal size as the result of disease, defective nutrition, nerve damage or hormonal changes.

(2) Degeneration, decline, or decrease, as from disuse.

1590–1600: From the earlier Middle French atrophie and Late Latin atrophia from the Ancient Greek ἀτροφία (atrophía) (a wasting away), (derived from trephein (to feed)) from ἄτροφος (átrophos) (ill-fed, un-nourished), the construct being ἀ- (a-) (not) + τροφή (trophḗ) (nourishment) from τρέφω (tréphō) (I fatten).  Atrophic is the most familiar adjectival form.  The a- prefix, a proclitic form of preposition, is from the Ancient Greek ἀ- (not, without) and is used to form taxonomic names indicating a lack of some feature that might be expected.  In Middle English a- (up, out, away) was from the Old English ā- (originally ar- & or-) from the Proto-Germanic uz- (out-), from the primitive Indo-European uds- (up, out); it was cognate with the Old Saxon ā- and the German er-.  The suffix –ia is from Classical Latin from the Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) & -εια (-eia) and was used to form abstract nouns of feminine gender.  It creates names of countries, diseases, flowers, and (rarely) collections of things such as militaria & deletia).

Hypertrophy (pronounced hahy-pur-truh-fee)

(1) In physiology, the abnormal (but usually non-tumorous) enlargement of an organ or a tissue as a result of an increase in the size rather than the number of constituent cells.

(2) By analogy, excessive growth or accumulation of any kind.

1825–1835: A compound word hyper- + -trophy.  Hyper is from the French hypertrophie, from the Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér) (over, excessive), from the primitive Indo-European upér (over, above) (from which English gained over), from upo (under, below) (source of the English up). It was cognate with the Latin super- and is a common prefix appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “over,” usually implying excess or exaggeration (eg hyperbole); on this model used, especially as opposed to hypo-, in the formation of compound words.

Hypertrophied catfish now found in the cooling ponds of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor which in 1986 suffered a meltdown and subsequent explosion.  Their huge size is not a radiation-induced mutation but a result of the absence of a predator since humans were removed from their environment.

Peccant

Peccant (pronounced pek-uhnt)

(1) Sinning; corrupt; guilty of a moral offense.

(2) Violating a rule, principle, or established practice; faulty; wrong.

(3) Producing disease; morbid (archaic).

1595–1605: From the Latin peccantis & peccant- (stem of peccāns), present participle of peccāre (to sin, to err, offend).  The Latin peccāns was the present participle of peccō, from the primitive Indo-European verbal root ped- (to walk, fall, stumble) and related to pṓds, the same source as the Hittite pata, the Latin pēs & pedis, the Tocharian A pe, the Tocharian B paiyye, the Lithuanian pāda (sole (foot)), the Russian под (pod) (ground), the Ancient Greek πούς & ποδός (poús & podós), the Albanian shputë (palm, foot sole), the Old Armenian ոտն (otn) and the Sanskrit पद् (pád)).  Derived forms include the nouns peccancy & peccantness and the adverb peccantly.  Also related in English is the familiar impeccable and the almost unknown peccable.

Peccant: SARS-CoV-2 which causes the disease COVID-19, is thought to have jumped from bats to humans via an as yet unknown species.  The transmissibility, morbidity and mortality rate in humans is a product of the interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with the three species.  Despite the popular association, there was never any proof of casual connection between eating bat soup and contracting COVID-19.

Redact

Redact (pronounced ri-dakt)

(1) In publishing, to put into suitable literary form; revise; edit (professional technical use only).

(2) To draw up or frame a statement, proclamation etc (rare, mostly in historic references).

(3) To hide or remove (confidential parts of a text) before publication or distribution, or to examine (a text) for this purpose.

(4) To bring together in one unit; to combine or bring together into one; to bring an area of study within the comprehension capacity of a person; To reduce to a particular condition or state, especially one that is undesirable; to reduce something physical to a certain form, especially by destruction (all of which became obsolete between the sixteenth & eighteenth centuries).

1350–1400: Middle English from the Old French redacter from the Latin redāctus (past participle of redigere (to lead back)), the construct being red- (from metanalysis of re- in verbs) + āctus (past participle of agere (to lead; to drive)) and perfect passive participle of redigō (drive, lead, collect, reduce), that construct being re- (back) + agō (put in motion, drive).  Derived forms are the nouns redaction & redactor and the adjectives redactional & unredacted.

An example of a redacted document with the "plain black block" method using the redaction tool in Adobe Acrobat DC.

Lindsay Lohan's conquest list, 2013.

Traditional forms of redaction were as simple as crossing-out with a black pen or smudging entries to the point of illegibility and these methods can be emulated by the software tools but software houses caution that if undertaken in the simpler image editors, it is sometimes possible to reverse engineer the process of "smudging" or "swirling", making things appear in their original form.  In 2014, In Touch magazine published a partially redacted list of three-dozen names compiled by Lindsay Lohan.  Written in a Beverley Hills hotel room in 2013, the 36 names were those said to be Ms Lohan's "conquests" although it wasn't clear if the list was selective or exhaustive and it produced reactions among those mentioned ranging from "no comment" to a Clintonesque "I did not have sex with that woman".  Points of interest included Ms Lohan's apparently intact short & long-term memory and her commendably neat handwriting.  She seems to favor the "first letter bigger" style in which the style is "all capitals" but the first letter (in each word in the case of proper nouns such as names) is larger.  In typography, the idea is derived from the "drop cap", a centuries-old tradition in publishing where the opening letter of a sentence is many times the size of the rest, the text wrapping around the big letter.  In many cases, a drop cap was an elaborate or stylized version of the letter.