Épatant

Épatant (pronounced a-pat-on)

Something startling or shocking, especially if unconventional

Circa 1910s: An adjective in French formed from the present participle of épater (to flabbergast), the construct being é- +‎ patte (paw) +‎ -er.  The é- prefix is from the Old French es-, from the Latin ex- & ē- and was used to indicate away or moving away from.  Patte is from the Middle French, from the Old French pade & pate (paw, foot of an animal), from the Vulgar Latin patta (paw, foot), borrowed from the Frankish patta (paw, sole of the foot), from the Proto-Germanic pat- & paþa- (to walk, tread, go, step), of uncertain origin and relation.  Possibly it was from the primitive Indo-European (s)pent- & (s)pat- (path; to walk), a variant of the primitive Indo-European pent- & pat- (path; to go).  It was cognate with the Dutch poot (paw) and the Low German pedden (to step, tread); it's related to both pad & path.  The suffix -er is from the Latin -āre, used to form infinitives of first-conjugation verbs (many of these verbs directly descended from Latin, rather than from stem + suffix).

Cubism

It’s probably no longer possible for a style of visual art to shock.  That may be because everything possible has been done or that the representational promiscuity of the last century has dulled collective sensitivity, certainly among Western audiences.  Put simply, new being no longer possible, nor is the shock of the new (Shock of the New (1972) is a strangely neglected book by art critic Ian Dunlop (b 1940), exploring seven exhibitions of the modern period, from the Salon des Refuses (Paris, 1863) to Joseph Goebbels’ Degenerate Art show (Munich, 1937); the title later re-used by Australian art critic Robert Hughes (1938–2012) for his 1980 TV show).

In the early days of modernity, painting genuinely could shock as cubism did in the years before the First World War.  Essentially a simplification of form and deconstruction of perspective, cubism played with ideas of mass, time and space, distorting deliberating the techniques artists had honed over the centuries in creating the three dimensional illusions rendered on inherently flat canvases.  The early works were still recognizably representational but soon, the movement seemed to morph into something which existed to shock and the geometric touches grew in intensity, sometimes overwhelming the represented forms, some of the later work really pure visual abstraction, the sort of self-indulgent technical ecstasy Comrade Stalin would later, in a similar context, condemn as “formalism”.

The origin of cubism is generally traced back to Pablo Picasso’s (1881-1973) painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), a portrait of five prostitutes in a style influenced by the African tribal art which the artist had seen at the Palais du Trocadéro, a Paris ethnographic museum.  Curiously, Picasso chose to show the work only to fellow artists and it went unseen by the public until an exhibition in 1916.  Others certainly adopted its techniques, defining the first era of Cubism which came to be known as Analytical Cubism, marked by depictions of a subject from multiple vantage points at once, creating a fractured, multi-dimensional effect expressed usually with a small palette of colors.  The term cubism was used first in 1908 by French critic Louis Vauxcelles (1870-1943) but wasn’t widely employed until the press adopted in 1911 and it was then often used in a derogatory sense.  The reputation of both Picasso and cubism has since improved and when assessing the drip painter Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), the collector Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979) could think of no higher compliment than him being “...the greatest painter since Picasso”.  Of course, many who thought their own eye for art quite well-trained didn't agree with Ms Guggenheim.  In 1945, just after the war, Duff Cooper (1890–1954), then serving as Britain's ambassador to France, came across Picasso leaving an exhibition of paintings by English children aged 5-10 and in his diary noted the great cubist saying he "had been much impressed".  "No wonder" added the ambassador, "the pictures are just as good as his".

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), oil on canvas by Pablo Picasso.

Although it’s convenient to think of Picasso’s 1907 Les Demoiselles d’Avignon as the first cubist painting and thus the beginning of Cubism, art critics are a schismatic lot, some tracing the origin of the style to earlier decades while others suggest it was the first proto-Cubist work, containing enough of the essential elements of the genre to be linked yet not sufficiently distinct from earlier traditions to belong.  These critiques emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, the dying days of modernity, a time when the post-war expansion of academic art criticism gave rise to an industry of revisionism so unrelenting that post-modernism was perhaps inevitable.

Fiat

Fiat (pronounced fee-aht, fee-at, fahy-uht or fahy-at)

(1) An authoritative decree, sanction, or order.

(2) A fixed form of words containing the word fiat, by which a person in authority gives sanction, or authorization; official sanction; authoritative permission.

(3) An arbitrary decree or pronouncement, especially by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it.

(4) As FIAT, the acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (originally Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin, now Fiat Automobiles SpA and part of FCA (the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles conglomerate).  The companion initialism (as derogatory slang) in certain places (as an allusion to perceptions of unreliability) was “fix it again Tony”.

(5) In the law of England and some Commonwealth countries, an authority for certain actions issued given by the Lord Chancellor (England) or the attorney-general (elsewhere).

(6) In the law of England, a warrant issued by a judge for certain purposes.

(7) As fiat currency, a government-issued currency backed not by the possession of a physical commodity (typically gold) but inherently by the issuing government (also called fiat money).

1625–1635: From the Latin fiat (literally “let it be done”, the third singular present subjunctive of fierī (be done, become, come into existence).  The original meaning was "authoritative sanction", fiat thus understood as it was used in the preamble of Medieval Latin proclamations and commands.  The Latin fierī was from the primitive Indo-European root bheue- (to be, exist, grow), used as passive of facere (to make, do).  The meaning "a decree, command, order" became formalized circa 1750 and remains in the legal vocabulary of English (and of some Commonwealth countries) law to this day.  Fiat is the third-person singular, fiats the simple present, fiating the present participle and fiated the simple past and past participle.  The noun plural is fiats.  In the transitive, it’s used in academic debate and in role-playing games although use is now less frequent.

It’s also sometimes is a reference to fiat lux (the famous “let there be light") in the biblical Book of Genesis.  In the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Hebrew phrase יְהִי אוֹר‎ (let there be light) is translated in Latin as fiat lux, the relevant scriptural passage (Genesis 1:3 in the Torah (the first part of the Hebrew Bible)) being dixitque Deus fiat lux et facta est lux (And said God let there be light, and there was light) although Fiat lux would actually translate literally as "let light be made" (fiat the third person singular present passive subjunctive form of the verb facio, meaning "to do" or "to make").  Fashions of form and conventions of use in language do however change and translators adjust their work to render sentences in a form familiar to the audiences of the day: The Douay–Rheims Bible (an English translation from the Vulgate made by members of the English College, Douai, under a commission from the Catholic Church and first published in 1858 in Reims, France) translated the phrase as "Be light made. And light was made."  In translations from the Old Testament, the Greek was usually γενηθήτω φῶς (genēthḗtō phôs) and the Latin fiat lux and lux sit.

Although the words authorization, directive, ruling, mandate, diktat, ukase, command, decree, dictate, dictum, edict, endorsement, mandate, ordinance, permission, precept, sanction & warrant often (in practical application and effect) overlap with fiat, fiat retains at law a precise technical meaning.  While there are variations, the power of an attorney-general in the Australian states to issue a fiat is broadly indicative of the scope (where it exists) in the English-speaking world (although in England all or some of these powers may instead be discharged by the Lord Chancellor).  Essentially, an attorney-general will grant a fiat if it is held to be in the public interest or for the efficient administration of justice. 

In order to participate in a legal proceeding, a person must have "standing" which means their legal rights or interests have been or will be adversely affected by the conduct of another party.   If a person lacks standing, they can request the attorney-general to grant a fiat, or consent to bring the action in the AG's name, a practice sometimes called a "relator action".  An attorney-general has a personal discretion in the matter of fiats but will tend to consent to an issue only if things involve the enforcement or protection of a public right or interest.  What constitutes the public interest is a matter for the attorney and there are no circumstances in which they're obliged to grant a fiat but some jurisdictions require the reasons for a refusal to be provided in writing and tabled in parliament and provision for judicial review is sometimes possible.

FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino)

The Italian car manufacturer FIAT is now part of FCA (the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles conglomerate).  In business since 1899, sometime in the late twentieth century, FIAT lost its way, essentially because of the need to respond to the challenge of the much-improved Japanese cars which, even if their dynamic qualities were uninspiring, offered very competitive pricing, reliability, superb build-quality, responsive dealer networks and high standard equipment levels.  FIAT’s response was the same as that of many others which hadn’t expected the rapidity of improvement from the far-east manufacturers: they tried to produce “Japanese” cars only to find out the Nipponese were better at it and in the years since have never really recovered the spirit which for decades, once made even modest, low-priced FIATs genuinely exciting cars which were a joy to look at and a pleasure to drive.

Some notable Fiats

Fiat 850 Spider (1965-1973).

Between 1964-1973 (although the commercial derivative, the 850 Familiare would last until 1976), Fiat produced a range of 850s, all rear-engined (which seemed at the time a good idea).  Most were utilitarian family cars or stubby coupés but most memorable were the 850 Spiders, exquisite little roadsters designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (b 1938) while at Carrozzeria Bertone.  The lovely lines were uncluttered and the restraint extended to the engineering, resulting in a light, aerodynamic body which permitted the engine, although a modest 843 cm³ (51.44 cubic inch), busily to deliver surprising sprightly performance.  Notably too, in a masterpiece of design which eluded generation of English manufacturers, the convertible top folded effortlessly in a one-handed operation and tucked neatly away under a metal lid.

In 1968, except for the US market, the engine was enlarged to 903 cm³ (55.10 cubic inch) which sounds slight but in percentage terms was about the same increase Chevrolet during the same era performed on their small-block (327 (5.3 litre) to 350 cubic inch (5.7 litre)) & big-block (396 (6.5) to 427 (7.0)) V8s so the effect was noticeable, torque and top speed both benefiting (a little) and despite the bump in displacement, instead of being re-named to 900, the new model was instead called the 850 Sport.  US buyers got an engine with a slightly smaller bore, reducing the displacement to 817 cm³ (49.9 cubic inch), a quick and (literally) dirty solution to the new emission-control rules in that the regulations weren't imposed on engines smaller than 50 cubic inches.  Adding insult to injury, the US lighting laws forced Fiat to replace the elegant faired-in headlamps with rather ungainly sealed-beam units, a fate also suffered by machines as diverse as the Jaguar E-Type (XK-E) and the Volkswagen Beetle.  Between 1965-1973, 125,010 were built, 87,360 of which were sold in the US and the few survivors (rust was quite an issue) are a collectable, collectors attracted especially to the limited-production variations, the rare, highly-tuned Abarth version the most coveted.

Fiat 130 Sedan (1969-1976).  Only four of the coach-built estates were made.

Had the Fiat 130 been sold badged as a Lancia or even (with a V8 engine) as a Ferrari (both marques at the time owned by FIAT), it might now be remembered as a great success rather than a failure.  It’s debatable whether brand-name consciousness was any less then than now but perceptions certainly counted against the 130 which moved FIAT suddenly into the upper middle-class market where not only were Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar-Daimler long dominant but the newer, bigger BMWs were also becoming established, building on the successes enjoyed by their smaller models.  Some at the time criticized the styling of the sedan, suggesting it showed little more imagination than increasing the dimensions of the company’s smaller, three-box designs but this was after all exactly the approach of Mercedes-Benz and the 130 was a well-executed, balanced shape with an interior which displayed true Italian flair, offering something more modern than the leather & walnut of the Jaguar or the austere functionality of the German competition.  However, as a driving experience, the 130 was very much in line with the smaller Fiat sedans, demanding involvement from the driver to extract the most from the 2.9 litre (175 cubic inch) V6 but rewarding with fine handling and high levels of adhesion though ultimately not the refinement and effortlessness to which Jaguar and Mercedes drivers had become accustomed.  Not even increasing the engine capacity to 3.2 litres (197 cubic inch) helped sales and when production ending in 1976, only 15,089 had been built, Mercedes-Benz in the same time having produced 243,234 of their comparable (six cylinder) W114 sedans (230.6, 250, 280 & 280E).

Fiat 130 Coupé (1971-1977).  The Maremma (a two-door shooting brake) and the Opera (a four-door sedan) were both one-offs.

If the avant-garde had thought the appearance of the 130 sedan underwhelming, few were less than effusive in praising the coupé when first it was displayed in 1971.  Styled by Paolo Martin (b 1943) of Carrozzeria Pininfarina , it makes an interesting contrast with the Citroën SM (1970-1975) on which barely a straight-line could be found and the 130’s knife-edged lines so defined the European rectilinear motif that no manufacturer has since attempted to push the envelope further.  In Europe, like the sedan, it was available with a five-speed manual gearbox which really suited the characteristics of the high-revving V6 but in most exports markets it was offered only with an uninspiring three-speed automatic, resulting in performance which, while not exactly anemic, was lethargic by comparison. Again, the badge meant that sales suffered but Pininfarina saw the possibilities offered by the severe lines and fabricated two prototypes, the Maremma (a two-door shooting brake) in 1974 and the four-door Opera the following year.  Both were much admired but FIAT, disappointed and financially chastened by what would be their last foray into the (European) large-car market, had already decided to abandon the segment and neither project proceeded.  When production of the 130 coupé ended in 1977, only 4,498 had been made.

Fiat 124 Sport Coupé (1967-1975).

The versatile platform on which FIAT built the 124 sedan (1966-1974) is now probably best recognized as the remarkable Russian-made Lada VAZ-21xx (Zhiguli in the home market but often known by the nickname Kopeyka) which in modified but substantially original form remained in production until 2012 (lasting ever longer in the license-built versions produced in Egypt).  However, FIAT also leveraged the platform even before selling designs and tooling to the USSR, in 1967 producing the stylish Fiat 124 Sport Coupé on a shortened wheelbase but otherwise using most of the sedan's mechanical and structural components.  Sold over three generations with three engine displacements (1438 cm³ (88 cubic inch), 1608 cm³ (98 cubic inch) & 1756 cm³ (107 cubic inch), it was an immediate hit in both home and export markets, and worldwide, often in short supply, sales constrained only by FIAT’s inability to increase production.  One quirk was the 1592 cm³ (97 cubic inch) version produced for the home market to take advantage of tax regulations, a regime which also produced oddities such as the two litre (122 cubic inch) Lamborghini & Ferrari V8s.  Over 285,000 had been built when in 1975, production ended and another 24,000 odd were built under licence by the Spanish manufacturer SEAT between 1970 and 1975.

Fiat 124 Sport Spider.

Long lived though the 124 coupé was, the 124 roadster lasted another decade, produced by FIAT until 1982 and then by Pininfarina as a separate line until 1985.  The 124 Sport Spider used the same mechanical components as the coupé although in 1979, a two litre version of the familiar twin-cam four was made available, eventually gaining fuel-injection and a turbocharger although the most powerful of all was the Volumex, a supercharged model which for reasons of compatibility reverted to carburetors; it was sold only in Europe, there being no prospect of engineering the induction system to conform with US emission rules.  Despite being available only in left-hand drive, over 200,000 124 spiders were made in the two decades it was produced and, perhaps improbably, the roadster also enjoyed an illustrious career in competition, Abarth in 1971 co-operating with FIAT in homologating it in the FIA’s Group 4 for entry into the World Rally Championship where it proved competitive, winning the 1972 European Rally Championship despite competing against more obviously credentialed machinery.  The experience gained proved useful when the factory later embarked on more serious campaigns using the Lancia Stratos and the Fiat-Abarth 131.

Fiat G.55 Centauro (Centaur) (1943-1948).

The Fiat G.55 Centauro was a single-engine, single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Regia Aeronautica (though not in combat) and the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana between 1943–1945.  Acknowledged by both sides as the best Italian fighter produced during the war, it was in some aspects as good as most competitive types of the era, only the very last of the Allied fighters demonstrably superior.  It was an extensively re-designed development of the earlier G.50 Freccia, distinguished by a highly efficient wing, a more slender fuselage, heavier armament and the use of the much more powerful Daimler-Benz 605A V12 engine or the FIAT-built RA 1050 equivalent.  Manufacture began early in 1943 but it wasn’t until shortly before Italy’s capitulation in September 1943 that the first planes were delivered to operational squadrons, too late to be deployed in combat.  Instead, it entered service with the pro-Nazi Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, partly equipping six fighter groups operating with Luftwaffe units defending the skies of northern Italy.  Fewer than 300 had been completed by the end of hostilities in 1945 but the quality of the airframe was noted and production resumed in 1946, almost all of which were exported, used by the military in Argentina, Egypt and Syria.  Demand continued however and, once stocks of the now out-of-production Daimler-Benz and Fiat engines were exhausted, the front sub-frames were re-designed to use the Rolls-Royce Merlin V12; in this form production continued in 1948 as the G.59.

Fiat 127 (1971-1983).

Replacing the rear-engined 850s, the 127, along with the Peugeot 104 and Renault 5 set the template for what would be called the European “supermini” class, the design imperatives of which would last for three decades, the influences seen still today.  What however distinguished the Fiat 127 from the French (and soon the Japanese) competition was its Italian flair, the driving experience genuinely involving though admittedly at the expense of NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) to which others paid more attention but Italian drivers probably didn’t object, enjoying pushing the little (903 cm³ (55.10 cubic inch)) engine to the redline with one hand on the stubby gear lever, the other hovering above the horn button.  One magazine tested a 127 and called it “the .9 litre Ferrari which was hyperbolic but made the point the thing was a hoot to drive.  Like the 124, the 127’s platform also had a long life even after Fiat ceased production in 1983, made in Spain for another year and in South America until 1996.  Ominously too, the 127 was the basis for some of the Yugos, the Yugoslav-built cars which feature so frequently on list like “the ten worst cars ever built”.

Fiat Dino (1966-1973).

The Fiat Dino (Type 135) was from a happy era when manufacturers built road cars with racing car engines so a sufficient number would exist to homologate them for use in competition.  In what was at the time a novel arrangement (and similar to the later agreement between Volkswagen and Porsche for the 914), the all aluminum 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) V6 would be used in the front-engined Fiat Dinos and Ferrari’s mid-engined Dino (1967-1974).  It was the Dino spider which Fiat first displayed, the coupé released a few months later and the Dino 206 (made by Ferrari), some weeks later still.  In 1969, Ferrari and Fiat almost simultaneously announced revised Dinos, the engine now with an iron block and enlarged to 2.4 litres (146 cubic inch), the configuration and tune more suited to use on the road, the highly-strung two litre version most at home at high revs on a race track.  Now named the Fiat Dino 2400, it also gained an independent rear suspension, revised gearing and upgraded brakes.  The Fiat Dinos were always expensive and very much a niche product so production was accordingly low: 6225 coupés and 1583 spiders, most being the earlier, two litre versions.  Interestingly, the pattern was reversed at Ferrari which, having made only 152 Dino 206 GTs, entered almost mass-production when the more manageable 2.4 liter Dino 246 GT was released, 3569 being sold, 1274 as the 246 GTS with a (Porsche targa style) removable roof-panel.

Fiat 8V (1952-1954).

The Fiat 8V (Otto Vu) was powered by a 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) V8 intended originally for a luxury car but when that project was cancelled, the power-plant became available for re-deployment, the curious name 8V adopted, according to industry legend, because FIAT’s in-house legal department became convinced Ford held a world-wide trademark to “V8”.  Displayed first at the 1952 Geneva Motor Show, the car generated great publicity for the company but few sales and apparently little or no profit as it shared few parts with other Fiats although production costs were reduced somewhat by most of the 8Vs being supplied only as a rolling chassis, external coach-builders being contracted by customers to fabricate the bodywork, Zagato, Ghia, and Vignale all building their own versions although the factory’s experimental division did make one fibreglass body, FIAT’s first ever use of the composite material.  Most were coupés although a handful of roadsters were also made and eventually 114 were built, 34 of which were bodied by FIAT’s Dipartimento Carrozzerie Derivate e Speciali (Special Bodies Department).  Being light, powerful and by the standards of the time, apparently aerodynamic, they enjoyed some success in competition, over 200 km/h (120 mph) attainable in racing trim and the 8V gained a class wins at the 1955 Targa Florio and the 1957 Mille Miglia, taking the 1956 Italian Sports Car Championship in the two litre class.  The 8V remains a genuine one-off, the only Fiat ever fitted with a V8 engine.

Coffin

Coffin (pronounced kof-in (U) or kaw-fin (non-U))

(1) The box or case in which the body of a dead person is placed for burial; in US use, usually called a casket.

(2) In veterinary science, the hollow crust or hoof of a horse's foot, below the coronet, in which is the coffin bone.

(3) In printing, the bed of a platen press; the wooden frame around the bed of an early wooden press.

(4) In cooking, a casing or crust, or a mold, of pastry, as for a pie (archaic).

(5) In fingernail art, one of the standard shapes.

(6) In cartomancy, the eighth Lenormand card.

(7) A type of basket (obsolete).

(8) Industry slang for a storage container for nuclear waste.

(9) A conical paper bag, used by grocers (obsolete).

(10) In engineering, an alternative name for a flask or casting mold, especially those used in sand casting.

1300-1350: From the Middle English cofin, from the Old Northern French cofin (sarcophagus (and earlier basket & coffer) from the Latin cophinus (basket, hamper), a loanword from the Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos) (a kind of basket) of uncertain origin, the Latin the source also of the Italian cofano and the Spanish cuebano (basket).  The original meaning in fourteenth century Middle English was "chest or box for valuables", preserved in the modern coffer (see most frequently in the plural form coffers), meaning, inter alia, a specialized type of container for storing money or other valuables.  The funereal sense, "chest or box in which the dead human body is placed for burial" is from 1520s; before that the main secondary sense in English was "pie crust, a mold or casing of pastry for a pie" (late 14c.). The meaning "vehicle regarded as unsafe" is from 1830s; coffin nail (cigarette) is slang from 1880; the phrase "nail in (one's) coffin" (a thing that hastens or contributes to one's death) has been in use since 1792.

Shapes of boxes

A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation, although it’s increasingly common for elaborate and expensive coffins to be used only for the funeral ceremony with the dead actually buried or cremated in simple boxes made from cheaper timber or even reinforced cardboard.  Use for burial became two-pronged.  The Old French cofin, (basket), evolved into coffin in English whereas the modern French form, couffin, means cradle.  Within the English-speaking world, coffin is rare in the US where the preferred form is usually casket; elsewhere the words are used interchangeably.  However, some undertakers (now often gentrified as "funeral directors") do note detail differences between the two, a casket denoting a four or eight-sided (almost always a rectangular or long octagonal) shape, while a coffin tends to be six or twelve-sided (almost always an elongated hexagonal or elongated dodecagonal).

1937 Cord 812 Phaeton

Probably because of the morbid association, the coffin has never been widely used as a design metaphor except where adoption is dictated by functional need.  It was however the most famous feature of the Cord 810/812 (1936-1937), known from its debut as the “coffin nose” and probably still the most memorable car of the art deco period.  Despite the elongated hood (bonnet) and coming from an era during which the configuration was widely used, the Cords were fitted not with straight-eight engines but used a 289 cubic inch (4.7 litre) Lycoming V8, the generous length necessitated by something unusual for the time: front wheel drive.  This demanded additional space to achieve the desired lines so the semi-automatic four-speed gearbox was mounted in front of the engine.  In the improving economy of the mid-1930s sales were initially brisk but reliability problems dampened demand and the rectification programme proved so expensive production ceased in 1937, the recession of 1938 dooming hopes of any revival.

Coffin-shaped fingernails painted in Dior 999.

With a distinctive curve which tapers to an obtuse end, the elegant and much-admired coffin is one of the standard shapes in fingernail art.  The name is also sometimes misapplied: If the tapering is more severe, the nail should properly be called an almond and if rounded, it’s an oval or squoval (although some manicurists list those variations as a pipe).

Lindsay Lohan with coffin during vampire-themed photo-shoot.

Bottle

Bottle (pronounced bot-l)

(1) A portable vessel, usually of plastic or glass (the original containers of this type were of leather) and typically (though by no means exclusively) cylindrical with a narrow neck that can be closed with a cap or cork, for containing liquids

(2) The contents of such a container; as much as such a container contains.

(3) As “the bottle”, a verbal shorthand for alcohol, strong drink, intoxicating beverages; liquor.

(4) To put into or seal in a bottle.

(5) To preserve (usually fruits or vegetables) by heating to a sufficient temperature and then sealing in a jar (not a common use in the US).

1325–1375: From the Middle English botel (bottle, flask, wineskin), from the Anglo-French, from the Old French boteille (the Modern French is bouteille), from botel, from botte (bundle) probably from the Vulgar Latin butticula (literally “a little cask”), the construct being the Late Latin butti(s) (cask) + -cula (ultimately an alternative form of -ulus; added to a noun to form a diminutive of that noun) although etymologists note the origin remains disputed and there may be a Germanic link (although some maintain it was actually from Archaic Greek), possibly with the Low German Buddel and the Old High German būtil, the latter the source for the German Beutel).  The Latin was the source also of the Spanish botella and the Italian bottiglia.  The third-person singular simple present is bottles, the present participle bottling and the simple past & past participle bottled.  The noun plural is bottles.

The borrowings by other languages make an impressive list including the Assamese বটল (botol (which may be via the Portuguese botelha)), the Bengali বোতল (botôl), the Bislama botel, the Cornish botel, the Brunei Malay butul, the Dutch bottel, the Ese butorua, the Fiji Hindi botal, the Gamilaraay baadhal, the Georgian ბოთლი (botli), the Gujarati: બાટલી (bāṭlī), the Hindi: बोतल (botal (which may be via the Portuguese botelha)), the Dari بوتل‎ (bôtal), the Jamaican Creole bokl & bakl, the Kannada: ಬಾಟಲಿ (bāṭali), the Malay & Indonesian botol, the Min Nan 帽突 (bō-tu̍t), the Papiamentu bòter, the Maori pātara, the Marathi: बाटली (bāṭlī), the Nepali बोतल (botal), the Pashto بوتل‎ (botál), the Pennsylvania German Boddel, the Persian بطری‎ (botri), the Punjabi: ਬੋਤਲ (botal), the Samo botolo, the Sranan Tongo batra, the Scottish Gaelic botal, the Shona bhotoro, the Sinhalese: බෝතලය (bōtalaya), the Swahili libhodlela, the Tok Pisin botol, the Welsh potel, the Xhosa ibhotile & imbodlela, the Yiddish: באָטל‎ (botl) and the Zulu bhodlela.

Bottle features much in UK slang.  The phrase “to bottle” refers to (1) a bottle as a weapon (usually involving it either as a blunt instrument or (when broken) as an improvised bladed weapon to slash or stab (“glassing” the equivalent if a glass drinking receptacle is used), (2) to pelt (a musical act on stage, a sporting team on the field of play etc) with bottles as a sign of disapproval, (3) to refrain from doing something at the last moment because of a sudden loss of courage (that use based on the cockney rhyming slang "bottle and glass" (meaning "ass" as an expression of courage or nerve)) or (4) money collected by street entertainers or buskers.  In printing, it can refer to (1) pages printed several on a sheet (to rotate slightly when the sheet is folded two or more times) or (2) as “bottle-arsed”, the old printers' slang for a typeface wider at one end than the other.  Bottle (with variations such as bottle-fed & bottle-baby) is also a general term to reference infants fed from a bottle with baby formula or some milk other than the mother’s natural supply; that from which the infant is fed is the baby-bottle (wholly replacing the suckling-bottle from 1844).  A bottle-neck is any point in a system which is a cause of inefficiency or congestion, based on the idea of the neck of a bottle being the narrowest part and thus establishing the maximum flow-rate; use in this context dates from 1896 in the specific sense of “narrow entrance, spot where traffic becomes congested”, extended to “anything which obstructs a flow” by 1922, the verb in this sense used since 1928.  To “bottle (something) up” is not to deal with problems or emotions; letting something “out of the bottle” is the less common companion term.  Interestingly, the figurative use “bottling-up” in this context is from the 1620s, pre-dating the literal use (putting stuff in bottles for storage) by two decades.  In a variety of forms (“on the bottle”, “hitting the bottle”, “to drown one’s troubles in the bottle” et al), bottle has since the seventeenth century been a generalized reference to alcohol and its (usually excessive) consumption.

Natural red-head Lindsay Lohan during bottle-blonde phase with bottle of Fiji Water.  As a modifier for various hair-colors (though almost always blonde if applied to women and something more youthfully dark with men), “bottle” was a suggestion of the use of dye, bottle-blonde the most frequently used.

First sold in 1996, Fiji Water quickly became a celebrity favorite, many attracted presumably by the claim that, coming from an “ancient artesian aquifer”, it was "Earth's finest water" but it attracted controversy because at the time when the company began shipping to high-income countries what was a high-priced, premium product, almost half the Fijian population lacked access to clean drinking-water (the Fijian government claims fewer than 10% are now so deprived).  Analysis also revealed an extraordinary environmental impact by the time it reached the consumer, more water consumed in the extraction, production and distribution processes to produce one bottle of Fiji Water than was in the delivered product.  A combination of the use of diesel-fueled machinery, plastic packaging and the vast distances over which what is a very heavy product was shipped meant a effective carbon footprint per litre well over a thousand time higher than the safe tap water available just about anywhere it was sold.

A magnetic bottle is a machine created by placing two magnetic mirrors in close proximity; they’re used in experimental physics temporarily to trap charged particles, preferably electrons because they’re lighter than ions, the best known use of the device to isolate high energy particles of plasma in fusion experiments.  A message in a bottle is literally that, a written note placed in a sealed bottle and cast to the ocean currents, hopefully to be found somewhere some day; these may be distress messages requesting rescue or for no particular purpose.  Although long obsolete, a bottle was once also something tied in a bundle, especially (hay), the link being to the Old French botte (bundle).  The zoological term bottle-nose dates from the 1630s, applied to the porpoise from the 1660s although as a general descriptor in engineering and architecture, it’s noted from the 1560s.  The bottle-washer is from 1837, the bottle-shop a surprisingly recent 1929 and the first mechanical bottle-opener was advertised in 1875.  A jar, jug, urn, vial, canteen, carafe, cruet, decanter, ewer, flagon, flask, phial, soldier, dead soldier or vacuum bottle can also be used to store liquids and certain designs of some of these are in some cases classified as bottles but the use is technical and a bottle is usually defined and understood in its most simple and traditional form.  

The UK dialectal use to describe a dwelling, building or house is obsolete.  It was from the Middle English bottle, botel & buttle, from the Old English botl (building, house), from the Proto-West Germanic bōþl, from the Proto-Germanic budlą, buþlą & bōþlą (house, dwelling, farm), from the primitive Indo-European bhow & bow (literally “to swell, grow, thrive, be, live, dwell”).  It was cognate with the North Frisian budel, bodel, bol & boel (dwelling, inheritable property), the Dutch boedel, boel (inheritance, estate), the Danish bol (farm), the Icelandic ból (dwelling, abode, farm, lair) and related to the Old English bytlan (to build).

The anatomy of the bottle

The finish (also called the closure) is the very top where the bottle is sealed with a cork (natural, composite or some alternative) or screw-top cap, the latter increasingly popular but now that the problem of cork taint (caused usually by trichloroanisole (TCA)), appears to have been solved, cork is making something of a comeback, aided perhaps by the tactile experience of opening a bottle with a corkscrew.  Collectively, the finish is made of a lip and collar, the collar the lower part of the finish, below the lip.  Structurally, the finish is all that is above the distinctive upper terminus of the neck, the term “finish” a glassmakers reference to the final process of making a mouth-blown bottle (ie the final step or the "finishing") and it’s sometimes also referred to sometimes as a "top," "lip" or "mouth".  The wrapping (metal or some form of composite) which is applied around the finish is called the capsule.

The bore (also called the aperture, corkage, opening, mouth, orifice or throat) is the opening at the top of the finish from which the bottle's contents are poured.  The relationship between bore & stopper in a bottle is exactly the same as that of cylinder & piston in an internal combustion engine.  The neck is the (almost always) constricted part of a bottle that lies above the shoulder and below the finish.  The sealing surface sits atop the bore and is where the closure and finish mesh to seal the contents inside.  The extreme top portion of the finish (rim) is sometimes referred to as the sealing surface though that is dependent on the type of finish.  It varies with the technology, the sealing surface on a cork finish is primarily the inside of the bore whereas if an external threaded finish combination is used, the rim becomes the sealing surface against which the screw cap twists down and seals.

An embossed bottle.

The shoulder is the portion of the bottle which lies between the point of change in vertical tangency of the body and the base of the neck.  In the design of bottles, the shoulder is the upper of the two transition zones between portions, the other being the heel, the body the part where most of a bottle’s contents are stored.  The body lies between the shoulder and heel (insweep) and it’s on the body that most labels appear.  Some bottles feature an embossing, raised lettering, designs, or graphics on the surface of the bottle that are formed by incising or engraving on the inside mold surface(s).  The embossing was often effected by the use of interchangeable (usually cast-iron) engraved plates which could be swapped in the same bottle mold so runs of different embossing patterns could be applied to the same type bottle.  The use of these transformed the economics of bottle production; simply with a swap of the plate, the same mold could be used to produce scores of unique and individually embossed bottles of the same shape and design.  The plates are collectables and are called "slug plates" by collectors although the industry insists they were for centuries never known as anything but “plates”.  Bottles thus produced are said to have emerged from a "plate mold".  Mold seams are raised lines on the body, shoulder, neck, finish, and/or base of the bottle that are formed where the edges of different mold sections parts came together, some manufacturers preferring "mold line(s)" although in the long history of glass-making, they’ve also been known as "joint-marks" & "parting lines".

Pol Roger Vintage Brut (1947).

The heel (also called the insweep) is the lowest portion of the bottle where the body begins to curve into the base, terminating usually at the resting point of the bottle (ie the extreme outer edge of the base so the heel may be thought of as the transition zone between the horizontal plane of the base and the vertical plane of the body).  Wine aficionados like to call this the "basal edge", a kind of masonic code-word with which they identify each-other.  The base, as the name implies, is the very bottom of the bottle; the surface upon which it stands.  Traditionally, manufacturers’ quoted measurements of a base are of the greatest diameter (round) or greatest width and depth (non-round) and the "resting point" of a bottle is usually the extreme outside edge of the base.  The kick-up (also called the punt or push-up) is the steep rise or pushed-up portion of the base which slightly reduces the internal volume of the bottle.  Originally, kick-ups were included certainly to enhance strength & stability but historians remain divided on whether the shape was crafted to collect any sediment in the liquid.  In the early twentieth century, some US glassmakers called this feature a "shove-up" but the term never caught on.

Absquatulate

Absquatulate (pronounced ab-skwoch-uh-leyt)

To flee; abscond; decamp; run away.

1840: Absquatulate replaced the earlier absquotilate (attested from 1837), both being facetious coinages of pseudo-Latin: blendings of abscond +‎ squat +‎ perambulate with the middle portion probably influenced by -le (frequentative) and the dialectal term squattle (depart).  The source is contested.  It’s said to have been used on the London stage in the lines of the comical American character Nimrod Wildfire in the play The Kentuckian as edited by British author William Bayle Bernard (1807–1875) although there are references to it being in some editions of James Kirke Paulding’s (1778- 1860; US Secretary of the Navy 1838-1841) original script.  In an example of the language displacement caused by war (which would become more prevalent in the twentieth century), the US Civil War slang skedaddle replaced it; other synonyms in the sense of “quickly to leave” include abscond, decamp and the unfortunately rare vamoose.

Lunch aftermath: Lindsay Lohan in chunky platforms, absquatulating from the Café de Paris, Monte Carlo, June 2015.

Although absquatulate is wholly facetious, all agree the meaning has always been "to flee; abscond; decamp; run away" but the use to which it was put does hint that there was often some suggestion those absquatulating were doing so after stealing something or committing some other crime.  The word become sufficiently Latinized for a family of relations to emerge including absquatulation, absquatulated, absquatulater and absquatulative.  The latter-day creation abscotchalter was criminal-class slang describing someone hiding from the police; it seems now extinct except as a humorous literary device.

Election aftermath: Crooked Hillary Clinton in blue pantsuit absquatulates, Washington DC, November 2016.