C
CABIN
concave hollow
L: capanna = hut; *QAB/*KAB = hollow, concave; cf, HB: cab = a measure; qabab = to form in the shape of a vault – see under ALCOVE; cf. cavea, cauea = hollow place, cave; cauus = hollow;
alcove, cave, capital, cove, cover, cube
CADENCE
(be)falling opportunity
L: cadentia = a falling; cadere = to fall; SKT: c(s)ad = to fall; *KAD = to fall; L: casus = occasion, opportunity;
accident, cascade, case, casual, chance, chute, decadence, decay, deciduous, incident, occasion, opportunity
CAESURA
cut-continuum
L: caesura = pause in a verse, a cutting off (that sustains the poetic transport to continue)—from caesus, caedere = to cut, give up, let go;
CAMERA
cambered chamber
GK: kamara, L: camera, French chambre = vaulted chamber, room; cf. camber = convexity; L: camerratus = formed into chambers; cf. L: camurum, OF: camber = bent, crooked, arched; L: campana = bell;
arch, camber, chamber, convex, vault
camp
arrayed field of battle
L: campus = field, ground occupied by an army, the army itself; campsted = battle ground; AS: camp = battle, fight (cf. E: campaign); G: kampf = battle; L: campania = a plain, level country; campus = field; F: campagne = countryside; ME: campaigne – large open field;
campus, campaign, champ, champion
CANON
standard rule
AS, L, GK: canon, kanon = rule, ordinance, model, standard (of right); carpenter’s rule, straight rod, cane; L: canon = church roll or list of dignitaries; GK: kanon = musical system, rule, mode, scale;
canopy
insect repellant netting
L: conopeum = tent, pavilion; GK: konoopeion = bed with insect netting – from konoph = gnat, mosquito – as cone headed; konos = cone, peak, peg; L: cos, SKT: sanas = whet stone; cognate E: cone, hone;
cantilever
weightless brink
E: cantle = projection, nook, corner; from cant = edge, brink, rim, border + lever = render weightless, lift, raise; originally a bracket, one end of which was let into a projection in a wall, and the other into the notch of a horizontal beam above; Middle Duch: kanteel-hout = roof beam – literally, cantle wood, where E: cantle, L: cantellus = small piece, corner, bit; cf. E: canton = small division of a country; small division in the corner of a shield, in heraldry; F: canton = corner, crossway in a street; L: cantonum, canto = region, province; F: cantoner = to separate oneself from others; S: canton = corner, part of an escutcheon; I: cantone = nook, angle;
CAPITAL
head seizure
L: capitellum = the head of a column or pillar – from L: caput = head; capitulatus = to divide into ‘heads,’ chapters or books; cf. *QAP = to seize, hold; GK: kope = handle; L: capere = to receive, seize, hold, contain; captare = capture, catch; captia = chase; L: capax = able to contain; capsa = chest, box, repository, receptacle, cover; cauus = hollow, cave; GK: kuar = cavity, hollow; *KEU = to hollow out, swell up; – cognate E: have, captive, capability; cf. Kaba and *KB = container, capacity – under CUBE;
cap, cape, capture, cave , cavity, cover, cube
CARDINAL
pivotal
L: cardinalis = principal, chief – from cardo = hinge of a door; from GK: kardia = heart ; *KERD, heart; cf. L: cardo = the primary north/south oriented steet of Roman urban planning (and ‘hub’ of the city), crossed by the decumanus, the “tenth’ separation of the tenth cohort from the ninth in the legionary encampment;
accord, chord, concord, cordial, creed, doscird, record
CARE
solicit health
AS: caru, cearu = sorrow; cearian = to care for; OHG: chara = lament; cf. AS: carc = weight, charge, burden, cargo; L: carcare = to load; cura = care, concern, trouble; curare = take care of; OE: carian = be anxious, solicitous, concerned, interested; *KARO = lament; *GAR = cry, call, shout;
cure, curate, solicitude
CARPENTER
carriage-maker
L: carpentare = to work in timber – particularly on carriages; carpentum = carriage, chariot; carrus = car; corbis = basket; carricare = to carry, convey; GK: karron = four-wheeled wagon; L: cursus = a running, journey, direction, course/flow of a river, *KERS = to run;
car, cargo, carriage, charette, chariot, conveyer, corridor, course, currency, current, discourse, occur
CASEMENT
wooden framed inchestment
L: capsa = case, frame, part of a hinged window, concave moulding – from F: enchasement, enchase = engrave, adorn; encasement = to case, or inchest, to make up in, or put up into a case, chest[1] or reliquary—from L: caopere = grasp, hold, capture; cf. MF: enchasiller = to set in, enclose, compass, bind, hold with a wooden frame;
capture, case, chase, staircase,
CATHARSIS
purgation
GK: kathartikos = purgative; katharein = to cleanse, purify; katharos = clean, pure;
CATHEDRAL
bishop’s seat
L, GK: cathedra = a raised (bishop’s) seat, bench, pulpit; cf. catholic (GK: katholou) – from kata - = down + hedra = seat, base, chair—from *SED = sit, seat;
chair, seat
Ceiling
concealing sky vault
ME: seelenl, ciel, seil, syle = to canopy, to hang with canopies; L: caelum = heaven, vault; caelattura = vaulted roof, canopy, portable cover; OF: celer, conceal; cf. seal = fasten, join together, close up, render impervious; *KEL = cover, conceal, save (protect, withdraw from exposure); cf. GK: skene = skin, sky, curtain; celare = to hide; *(S)KEU = cover, conceal; cf. F: platfond = ceiling, literally ‘flat depth’;
chiaroscuro, custody, hide, obscure, seal, skein, skim, skin, sky, tent
CELL
hideyhole
ME: celle; L: cella = small room, hut, small dwelling place; celare = to hide; *KEL = cover, conceal, save (protect, withdraw from exposure); *(S)KEU = cover, conceal;
ceiling, hide, seal, sky
CEMENT
excised rubble
L: caementum = rough stone, rubble, stone chips—from caedere = to cut, give up; *KAEID, strike;
caesura, concise, decide, excise, incise, precise, scission, scissors, verbicide
CENTRE
pivotal origin
cf. L: centrum, GK: kentron = spike, prick, goad, sharp point—specifically the stationary point/arm of a pair of compasses; *KENT = to prick, spur, nail; middle point; point of concentration (of physical force, of political power); point of origin—cf. *KEN = fresh, new, young; GK: kainos = new, and *KEN = empty; GK: kenos = empty; cf. centrifugal – from L: centrum = centre + fugere = to fly from; centripetal - L: centrum = centre + petere = to seek, to fly to;
cenotaph, centrifugal, centripetal, concentration, eccentric
CERAMIC
mnemonic projection
GK: keramikos/keramos = potter's earth, a mix of clay and water, earthenware, thin (tiled) roof; kerameus = potter; kerannumi = i mix; from kerao = to mingle, pour out; cf. keros = wax; L: cera; F: cire = wax; *QER = to make; GK: kreon = ruler; L: cerus = creator; crescere = to grow; ceres = godess of the growth of corn; SK: kr = to make; karman = deed; *QAR = to sing/cry aloud/love; SKT: karu = singer; GK: karkairein = to resound; kerux = a herald; L: carmen = song, carus = dear; cf. GK: kardia/kar, L: cardia/cor = heart; *KER = to project, stand up; SKT: srngam = horn, siras = head; L: cornu = horn; cf. E: corner, cornet, horn; GK: kara = head, keras = horn, keraia = horn-like; see *GHER, under GARDEN; cf. HB: *KR—sign of compression (K) tied to that of motion (R) = incisive, penetrating, engraving; speech, oration, exclamation, designation by name, convocation; coursing, enchainment (of events); hollowed/carved out, well, fountain, fosse; *GR = engraving, incision; and *CHR—sign of assimilation (CH) tied to that of motion (R) = monumental, distinctive mark, engraving, hollowing out, excavation; round vase, measure; that which serves to conserve the memory of things;
corn, corner, horn, increase, garden
CHAMBER
vaulted covered room
ME: chaumbre, L: camera = chamber, vault, room; GK: kamara = vault, covered wagon; SKT: kmar = to be crooked; *KAM = to cover over;
arch, camber, camera, convex, vault
CHAMFER
broken corner
F: chanfrein = channel, furrow; chanfraindre = to bevel off—from chant = edge, corner + fraindre = to break, remove; L: canthus, GK: kanthos = the corner of the eye, rim of a wheel; E: cant = edge, corner; to tilt, incline; to turn upon an edge; D: kant = border, edge, side, brink, margin; G: kante = corner; L: frangere = to fracture, break; fractura = breach; fragilis = fragile, brittle; see *BHREG/BREK = to break, under FRAGMENT;
break, brick, fragment
CHANCE
favourable fall(out)
L: cadentia = that which falls out (favourably); cadens, cadere = fall, cadence; L: casus = occasion, opportunity;
accident, cadence, cascade, case, casual, chute, decadence, decay, deciduous, incident, occasion, opportunity
CHANCEL
obliterated enclosure
ME: chancel, chancer = an enclosure screened by lattice work; the screen that separates the choir space from the nave in a church (in late Latin, identified with the space itself); L: cancellus = lattice, latticed window, screen of lattice work, grating, raling—in the sense of cancellare = to draw lines across a deed, to mark with cross-lines, to cancel; literally `to obliterate a deed by drawing lines over it in the form of lattice work’[2]; cf. cancellarius = chancellor—"keeper of the barrier,” who works behind the lattice screening the basilica or law court from the seat of judgement[3];
cancel, lattice, screen, nave
CHANGE
alter
ME: changen, OF: changier, L: cambiare = to change, exchange; alter, make something other than what it was, cause to turn from one state to another; differentiate; *KEMB, bend, turn, crook, curve; cf. camber = convexity on an upper surface; cant = slope, slant, edge, brink;
camera, cant, chamber
CHANNEL
transmission passage
ME: chanel, canel; L: canalem, canalis = canal, bed of a stream, trench, (grooved) conduit, reed pipe; F: canal = channel, kennel, furrow, gutter; E: kennel = gutter; L: canna, GK: kanna, HB: qaneh, Arabic: qanah = tube, reed, cane;
CHAOS
yawning gape
L: chaos, GK: khaos = empty space, chasm, abyss, cleft; *XHA = to gape; L: chasma = an opening; *KHA/*GHA = to gape, yawn; *GHEI = to yawn; *KEU = to swell out, be hollow; GK: kuar = cavity; L: cauus = hollow; SKT: kha = zero, void; see *KHA, under SPACE and GARDEN; the sense of ‘disorder’ (GK: tarakhe), or the primal void before genesis, is due to Hesiod and its opposition to kosmos, order, is due to Ovid; the sense of ‘orderless confusion’ is a theological reading dating to the 17thC[4];
chasm, cavity, gap, garden, space
CHARACTER
distinguishing trait
OF: carecter = symbol, mark, brand; drawing used in sorcery; alphabetic letter, graphic symbol standing for a sound or syllable; caratere = feature, character; from L: character/Greek: kharaktēr = engraved mark, symbol or imprint on the soul, instrument for marking, defining quality, individual feature; kharassein, to engrave—from kharax, pointed stake;
engrave, graphic, mark, sign, signature…
CHART
map
g: karte = leaf (of papyrus); cf. cartridge, f: cartouche = tablet for a scolled ornament, roll ready to receive an inscription (architectural term), paper case for the charge of a gun, cornet of paper for groceries or apothecaric goods; l: charta = paper; chartula = document, register; f: charte, carte = (sheet of) paper, card (charter = document granting privileges; cf. carte blanche); *qert = to bind together; *chrt = fasten together; gK: kartalos = woven basket; skt: krt = to spin; and *qer = to make; skt: kr = to make, karman = work, deed; gK: kreon = ruler; l: creare = make (cf. create, graphic; and cart, chariot, cartage etc.); *qerp(f) = cut, shear; gK: kropion = sickle; l: carpere = pluck fruit; as: haerfest = harvest; *sqer = sher, cut, cleave;
card, cartridge, charter, map
CHOREOGRAPH
space performance diagram
L: chorus, chorum = band of singers; GK: choros = round dance, band of singers and dancers; cf. choreograph – from choros + graphein = to write, describe – see GRAPHIC; from *GHER =grasp, enclose; GK: khora = generative enclosure/space; see *KHA = gape, yawn, under CHAOS;
chaos, khora, space
CHORD
twisted gut string
L: chorda, GK: chorde = string of a musical instrument, gut string; ME: corde, L: corda = chord, rope (of twisted strands); *GHERE = gut, entrail; cf. *KERD = heart—hence the sense of agreement, accord, concord, etc. meaning “to be of one heart,” to be in harmony;
accord, concord, cordon, discord, heart, yarn,
CHROMA
stained skin
GK: khromatikos = suited for colour; khroma = colour; khros = skin, covering; khroia = surface; khriein = to rub over; khroizein = to color, stain, touch the surface of the body; khrosthenai = to take on a color or hue; possibly from *GHREU, rub, grind (cf. corn, kernel, grit);
colour
CIRCLE
AS: circul = ring; L: circulus = circle, small ring; GK: krikos, kirkos = ring; AS: hring = ring, circle; cf. circuitus = going about, going around; cf. circuit – from circum = around + ire = to go; cf. gyre = circular course [gyrate], from GK: gyros (cf. chortos) = ring, circle;
CIRCUMFERENCE
carried around
L: circum = around + ferre = to carry, bear; *BHER = to carry, to bear children, burden; cognate with GK: peripheria = periphery, line around a circular body, measure of what surrounds;
boundary, circle, defer, difference, fertile, furtive, metaphor, periphery, prefer, refer, suffer, transfer
CITY
site of pullulating citizenry
l: ciuitas = community, the quality of citizenship; ciuis = citizen (cf. civil, civilian, civic, civilisation, citadel—I: citadella = small town); related to gk: heiwa = house; and cf. E: cite = to summon, quote—from l: citatus = cause to move, excite, summon; ciere = rouse, excite; gk: kio = i go, kinomai = i hasten (cf. excite, recite, incite); see *stha, sit, stand, settle, etc.
HB: hiyr/har, hayar = a place guarded by a waking or watch, an encampment, a post; hiyruw = citizen—as one who watches; hiyriy = urbane; hiyram = city-wise; all from huwr = to open, wake, raise-up, stir; to be bare, naked; skin, hide, leather;
*hir = that which manifests a physical impulsion, a communal centre of activity, a surveillance (city, fort, rampart); *hi = increase, corporeal manifestation, material development, cumulation; *hur = physical reality, external form of things (*hu) tied either to intrinsic motion (*r), or to light (*aor)—giving notions such as passion, internal ardor, furor, exitation; blindness, privation of light or intelligence, privation in a general sense: sterility, nudity, naked skin, arid earth or desert; *hr = inflame with passion, to awaken, excite; to wake, watch, guard, survey; a naked body, leather, a corps-de-garde, obscure cavern, city;
hb: kiryah—from karah = to light upon, bring about; to appoint, lay (beams for) floors or roofs; cf. keriyowth = buildings; kiryath = city (cf. words related through *kha to notions of covering, hiding, horned, projecting, etc.; cf. corner); karab = bring near, approach, bring forth; kerab = war, hostile encounter; kereb = the nearest part, centre, midst, therein; karob = near (in place, time or kindred); kinsfolk, neighbour;
*kr = incisive, penetrant, straight; that which engraves; script, lecture, proclamation, designation by naming, convocation; *kiyr = incision, hollowing-out; well, fountain, fosse, abyss; penetrant, cold - and that which leads to it by extension: walled boundary, grotto, tower, city;
gk: polis = (walled) town; cf. polemos = warfare, battle; pollos = plural, many, much, plenteous, extremely (numerous); pleos = full (f: plein); polites = citizen, politeia = citizenship, polity, condition of a state; politeuma = community, conversation; politeuomai = to behave as a citizen, to converse, to live;
SKT: pur = city; puru = much;
l: poly = many; polutus = to defile (literally: pol = towards + lues = filth; cf. luere = wash); *pu = foul, putrid; skt: puti = foul, puy = to stink; gk: puon = pus; l: pu-s = matter; putridus = putrid;
gk: polos = pivot, hinge, axis, pole; pelein = to be in motion—as motion around the poles; l: pellere = to drive; gk: pelas, L: pellis = skin (F: peau); *pel = to flay, skin; as: fell = skin (film); pal, l: palus = stake, thin rod; cf. poll = back and rounded part of the head, crown of the head, person; l: pollen, pollis, palea, puluis, gk: pale = powder, fine flour, sifted meal, dust (pulverise);
The city is community, summoned and hastened to citizenship. Citizenship is dwelling as a waking or a watch. The urbane is one who watches, who remains open - one bare and exposed. What to? To a surveillance that watches-over and surveys. Neither disengaged nor panoptic, but an attending to the dwelling and rising-up of community. Not rising up in revolt as a directed-elsewhere, but a suffusing emergence of that watching that wakes over the exposed.
To attend to is to lean towards, to incline, to desire, to tend. That which is attended to watchfully is given corporately to community. What is done together gathers and opens community to that attentiveness—to that attending to what comes, to what enters in. This waking is a giving way, a surrender. It attends to an increase in which what comes grows and is witnessed waxing. Such watching builds. It lights-upon—and in that brings-about or forth, brings near-to or approaches, the there-in of a neighbourhood: not only a near-dweller[5] but also a nigh-dweller, a kinsfolk whose dwelling is nigh; as impending or up-coming—as effortless dwelling in the waking in which something is wrought.
Citizenship is polity: attending to conversation, to engagement, to the condition of exchange and discourse—to the agonic that is game and warfare.[6] The city is community exposed. Its skin is that of surveillance. The city (graven and engraved; penetrant cold) incites a watching that wakes over the adversary—with hostilities, with warfare never far. Tcity pollulates. Its plurality is surfeit, fullness: pleroma.[7] The city pollutes—its surface is filth, putrid and foul. Its over-muchness is decay, desegregation and rot.[8] Paddled into confusion and promiscuity—pillaged and pell-mell— it stinks.[9]
On this watching, community is hinged and unhinged: in motion—as motion around the poles, fastened—it is driven, pulsing. As driven, it is flayed and exposed raw, dilapidated: its pelt, peeled, glints.[10] Pollinating, it pulverises; pinched and pounded like fine flour, sifted meal, chaff; pallid and beyond the pale, scraped-back again, grey and appalling: a palimpsest. palisade stakes it out and forecloses territory—the palings impale and stake its limits.[11] Always at stake and staked on the watching that unhinges—that skins and exposes it at the rim, at the boundary: this limit that is a gate kept and surveyed by community.[12]
centre, civil, citizen, civilisation, community, excite, full, middle, midst, neighborhood, pelt, pole, politics, polity, pullulate, settle, sit, skin, stand, wake, watch
CLAY
clammy, cloying matter
AS: claeg; G: klei – from *KLEI/*KLEU = to stick, adhere to, lean, incline towards; GK: gloios = sticky matter; cf. E: clod = lump or mass of earth; clog = hindrance, impediment; clot = mass of coagulated matter, lump; G: klotz = a log; Scandanavian: claggy = covered with adhesive mire; Teutonic: kleut = to mass together, cluster, clutter, coagulate; klukjan = to bend a joint, grip, lay hold of, clutch, claw; AS: clyccan = to bend or crook the fingers;
climate, cleave, glue
CLEAT
fastening clod
ME: clete, clite = wedge; G: klotz = clot, clod, clump, lump, ball; piece of iron used to strengthen the soles of a shoe, piece of iron or timber for fastening ropes to; cf. E: clout = patch, rag, piece of cloth; AS: clut = patch, mass; F: clou, L: clauum, clauus = nail, key;
close
CLEAVE
split asunder
ME: cleoven; AS: cleofan; G: klieven = to split asunder; GK: kluphein = to hollow out, engrave; L: glubere = to peel; *GERPH = to carve, incise, engrave, cut; and *GLEUB = to cleave, tear apart, split asunder; cf. AS: clifian; D: kleven: G: kleben = to adhere, kling, cleave to, take root; E: clump, clamp = fasten tightly together; *KLEI = to stick, adhere to, lean, incline towards – see CLIMATE; Icelandic: klifa = to climb by grasping a tree; D: klijf = ivy; climb; GK: glia, gloia; L: gluten = glue; cf. E: cliff, AS: clif = rock, headland; G: clippe = crag; AS: climban; D: klimmen = to climb, to grasp firmly; G: klinken = to cling, clinch, clench, become drawn to, adhere together; Danish: klynge = a cluster; ME: clenken = to strike smartly, rivet, fasten firmly; cf. E: clough = hollow in a hillside, breach or valley; OHG: clingo = torrent, gorge;
cleat, cling, climate
CLIMATE
slope, leaning, tendency, proclivity
*KLEI = to lean; GK: klinein = to incline; klomax = ladder; klima = situation, climate, slope; klimatos = slope, region of the earth; cf. L: clinare = bend, incline (towards); inclinare = to make lean; AS: hlinian = to lean; hlaw = hill, declivity; cf. E: clinical = relating to a bed, one lying in bed; L: clinicus = a bedridden person; GK: klinike = the art of a physician who visits patients in bed; kline = bed; klinein = to slope, lie down;
climax, clinamen, clinic, declination, inclination, proclivity…
CLOSE
lock up
L: claudere, clausus = to shut in, enclose, close; clausa = period, clause; *SKLEUD = to shut; *KLAU = (fastening) hook, crook, clasp; GK: kleis = key; L: clauis = key; clauus = nail; ME: cloister; F: cloitre; L: claustrum = enclosure; cf. E: closet – from OF: clos = enclosed space; clore = to shut; cf. E: cloy = to gut, satiate, stop up; F: enclouer = to nail, fasten;
clause, claustrophobia, cloister, closet, conclave, conclude, disclose, enclave, enclose, exclude, foreclose, include, key, occlude, preclude, seclude, shut, shuttle, wainscot
CLOTHE
adorning array
AS: clao = cloth, garment, raiment; G: kleid = dress, garment; ME: clothen, cladde = to cover with a cloth (woven material or felt), to clad;
adorn, apparatus, apparel, cosmetic, cover, decoration, decorum, equipment, garment, gear, ornament
CLOUD
agglomerated clods
ME: clowde, clod, clud = mass, conglomeration, cumulus—cf. the expression `clowdys of clay,’ meaning round masses or balls of clay[13]; cognate OE: weolcan, ME skie = sky; cf. GK: skene = stage, tent, proscenium curtain; skia = shadow, shade;
cover, curtain, scene, shadow, shade, sky, skin, skein
COLOUR
occluding radiant complexion
L, OF: color = complexion, hue, tint, appearance, pigment, dye; colora = tint; OL: colos = covering, skin as a means of concealing; celare = hide; from *KEL = to hide, cover, conceal (in order to resist radical exposure, in order to protect, in order to save, in order to preserve); SKT: cala, GK: calia = hut, house, hall, nest; GK: kalyptein = cover; koleao = sheath; kelyphos = shell, husk; L: cella = small room, hut; celare = hide, conceal; clam = secret; OE: hol/holu, hole, cave, husk, pod; GK: khroma = surface of the body, skin hue, chroma; ornament, makeup, beautification; kallos = beauty, warmth, colour (as outward surfacing of inner temperature, mood, emotion)—cf. E: calory, L: calor, from *KELE = warm; khros = surface of the body, skin; khroizein = to stain, colour, touch the surface of the body; possibly from *GHREU = rub, grind, grit (the skin and the material that produces pigment);
There is an ethical or solicitous aspect to colour: colour skins, protects, conceals, in order to sustain, maintain and enable what it colours to come forth, to advance, to shine, to endure. But what is it that colour conceals or veils, and what is it that, by veiling it, reveals it?
When we say that someone “shows their true colours” we mean that they are demonstrating what they are really like, who they really are, in spite of who they appear to be. Similarly, when we say that someone’s cheeks are “flush with colour,” or when we see someone blushing (or else taking on a sallow pall), we mean that who they are appears to surface through the skin, across the face: a surfeit of emotion, a shiver of recognition, the redness of embarrassment, the glow of contentment: all signs of life.
Colour then as an inherent property of a person, a place, a season, a material… a “distinctive mark of identification” (like the livery of racehorses).
Metaphorically, in the Middle Ages, colour came to mean “stylistic device, embellishment.” The associated word chroma, from Greek khrōma, meaning "surface of the body, colour of the skin," was also used generically for "colour" and, in the plural, for "ornaments, makeup, beautification" (hence the whole thematic of decoration, ornament and cosmetics, that are not skin deep but rather revealing of the nature of a room, a building, a culture, a body, a face); and from there, the idea that colour, by covering, concealing or dissimulating, also simulates, by trickery, the effect of an appearance that is different from the reality—for example, the craftiness of colour to render a featureless wall into a radiant, illuminating presence.
Two aspects of colour then: colour reveals inner life, inner truth; and colour dissimulates, colour lies. From inner heat emerging as temperature, warmth, radiance, colour, and with temperature, we have the allied sense of temperament: human temperament (sanguine (optimistic and social), choleric (short-tempered and irritable), melancholic (analytical and quiet), and phlegmatic (relaxed and peaceful), but also the temperature and temperament of a culture, of as place: that is, its character, its identity.
The Greek word for beauty, kallos, deified as Callisto, shares the same etymology as kallos, meaning both colour and warmth. Beauty is the outward emergence and surfacing of inner life—whether of a place, an occasion, a person or a work of art.
Temperament implies complexion—the particular (colourful and calorific) combination of the 4 primary qualities (wet and dry, hot and cold) and the 4 humors (blood, phlegm, bile and black bile or melancholia) that are woven together. In medieval physiology, the colour of the face was believed to be caused by the balance of humors in the body ,and to indicate temperament or health as degree of wholeness (healthy and whole if the balance is harmonious and concordant; ill if the balance is discordant).
The complexion of a person or of a place is its distinctive quality, constituted of inner life-warmth and perceived emergent or radiant colour: of splendour. Colour is not superficial; it is a mark or sign of what carries it, or what causes it to emanate or flow out, from an inner constitution, through the veil that conceals it. Colour is a sign of the times, a signal of place, a signature of character.
apocalypse, atmosphere, calory, caldron, ceiling, cell, chroma, coddle, complexion, conceal, excel, hall, hell, helmet, hill, hold, hole, hollow, housing, hull, mood, occult, scald, Stimmung, temperature, temperament…
COLUMN
dissimulated summit
L: columna = pillar; columen = top, height, summit; culmen = culmination, highest point; collis = hill; *KEL = prominence, hill; *QEL = to raise up, lift; GK: kolonos, kolone = hill; L: culmen = summit; cf. *QEL = to drive on; GK: kellein = to drive; cf. *QEL = to hide, cover, dissimulate; GK: kalia = shelter, hut; kalux = calyx; L: celare = to hide; cella = cell; AS: helan = cover, hide;
calory, cauldron, cell, chroma, coddle, cover, culminate, excel, hill, scald
COMMEMORATE
collective mindfulness
L: com- = together, fully, completely + memorare = to mention—hence recall, remember, reconstitute the limbs, members (L: membrum) or parts of something (forgotten or at risk of being forgotten); menere = to call to mind; memor = mindful; mensurare = measure—from *MA = measure; *MEN = to think;
man, matter, memory, mind, mnemonic, recollect, remember
COMMUNITY
service-in-common
L: communis = general – from com- = with, together, fully, completely, + munis = complaisant, obliging, ready to serve; commune = make common, share; cf. *MEN = to think; L: munus = service, serving each other; ME: comunen; L: communicare = to communicate, to have in common; cf. commutare = to exchange with, to change together, to commute—from com- = with + mutare = change;
common, commune, commute, man, matter, memory, mind, mnemonic, recollect, remember
COMPASS
encircle
ME: compass = circle; space, area, extent, circumference; L: compassus = circle, circuit; compassare = to encompass, measure a circumference, surround, circumscribe, embrace, divide equally—from com- = together + passus = pace, step, track, passage, way, pass, route; compassus = a route that comes together and joins itself; pass is from *PETE = to spread—giving cognates such as expanse, passport, spandrel;
circle, circumference, circumscribe, divide, expanse, pass
COMPLEMENT
completely fulfill
l: complementum = that which serves to complete, a full number; complere = to complete; completus/complere = to fulfil, fill-up; com-/cum- = together + plere = to fill; cf. plenary, pleroma, and f: plein = full; cf. *PLE = ply, plait, fold, felt; hence interpretable as com- = together + ple = folded + mentum = what results from an action or an instrument of action—giving the sense of “what results from a folding-together” {what is full is fully-folded or felted together so that it densifies and fulls or comes to completion}; L: plicare = fold—from *PLEK/*PEL = fold; cf. OE: full = containing all that can be received; having eaten or drunk to repletion; filled; perfect, entire, utter; l: complere = to fill-up, complete; cf. comply = to yield, asssent, agree, accord; related to compliment and complement = to fulfil, suit, fit, furnish, accomplish;
complete, complex, complicate, complicity, comply, fold, full, ply
COMPLEX
fully plaited together
L: complexus = entwined round, intricate; complecti = to embrace, twine around; from com-/cum- = together + plectere = to plait, plicare = to twine, fold, plait; cf. complexion = texture, outward appearance - from complexionem = a comprehending; complexion; colour or hue of the face; complexio = combination (in Late Latin, physical constitution); complexus = surrounding, encompassing; complecti = encircle, embrace; complicatus = plait together, entangle – from com- = together + plicare = fold; complicem, accusative of complex = confederate with, interwoven (complicity, accomplice); all from *PLE = fold - cf. *PLEK = plait; GK: plekein = plait, braid, wind, twine; plektos, twisted; L: plicare = fold, twist; OE: fleax = flax fabric, linen.; cf. complexion, from OF: complexioun = temperament, natural disposition of body or mind; particular blend or combination of primary qualities (hot, cold, dry, moist) or humors (blood, phlegm, choler, black choler); temperament, character, make-up;
accomplice, application, apply, comply, complement, complete, complex, complicate, complicity, comply, deploy, display, duplicate, duplicity, employ, explicate, explicit, exploit, fold, full, implicate, implication, multiply, perplex, plait, plexus, pliant, ply, replicate, reply, simplex, splay...
COMPOSE
pause together
L: com- = together + posare = place, pose; F: composer = to compound, make, frame, dispose, order; L: compositio = putting together; componere = to compose – from com- = together + ponere = to put, lay, contracted from posinere = to set behind; but L: pausare - distinct from ponere = to to place, set, lay eggs (F: ponder) - more accurately meant to halt, cease, pause, repose, make to rest[14] – and hence has a temporal rather than spatial connotation: to arrest motion, to bring to rest something in transit; pausa = pause, rest, lodge; cf. E: pose = position, attitude, repose, ceasing; compound, Malay kampong = enclosure, fenced village, collection of buildings; compositos = mixed;
order, pause, place, pose, position
CONCEAL
fully hide
ME: concelen, L: concelare = to conceal, hide – from com- = together, fully + celare = to hide, seal-up, fasten; *QEL/*KEL/*HEL = to hide; L: cella = hut; AS: helan = to hide; helm = covering; heall = hall; helle = hell; L: occulere = to hide; GK: kalia = hut, shelter; kaluptein = to cover; AS: hol = hole; cf. GK: lethe = forgetfulness – from lanthano = to lie hid; thano = to die; thanatos = death; cf. HB: *LN = to spend the night, to wait and wake by the light of a night lamp;
cover, hall, hide, hut, shelter
CONCEPT
what fully takes hold
L: conceptus – from con- = together, fully + capere = to take, hold, have capacity for, contain, capture; to take in, think, be pregnant;
capacity, capture, contain
CONCERT
common accord of the disparate
L: concertare = to dispute, contend with, negotiate, bargain—with a view to agreement, to common terms, to settlement; cf. I: concertare = to agree, tune, accord together, sing or play in consort; to contrive, bring to pass – from L: con- = together + certare = contend, decide by contest; from cernere = to separate, sift, decree; decide, refer to, regard; mingle, mix; GK: krinein = separate, decide, discriminate; *SKER = separate, shear, cut, cleave; AS: scernan, scaer, scoren = shear, score, scrape; cf. *SEQ/*SEG = to cut, cleave; *SEGH = to bear, endure, hold in; GK: sechein = to hold, have; F: serrer = tighten; and *QAP = seize, hold; *QERP = cut, shear; AS: haerfest = harvest; cf. L: concinnitatem = skilful adjustment, elegance of expression, congruence, harmony, concinnity;
capacity, certain, congruence, section, scheme, school
CONCORD
of one heart
ME: concord, concorden = to agree; L: concordia, concors = concordant, agreeing – from con- = together + cor = the heart; *KERD = heart; GK: kardia, AS: heorte = heart; cf. L: concurrere, concursus = to run or race together, an assembly, course, concurrence;
concourse, concur, heart
CONCRETE
what increases together
L: concretus = grown together, compacted, thick, dense—from concrescere = to grow together; con- = together + crescere = grow, wax, increase;
crescent, increase
CONFIGURATION
fictionalise and depict together
L: configuratio = conformation, likeness, resemblance; configurare = to fashion together, form up together—from con- = together + figurare = to fashion; figura = form, appearance, representation; a thing made; from L: fig-, fi(n)gere, fictus = feigned, fiction, figment; *DEIGH = shape, form, figure, likeness, appearance—from *DEIGH = form, build; to smear, handle, form with the hands (as a potter smears clay, or a baker kneads dough); SKT: dhigh = to smear; GK: teichos = a wall of earth; cf. *DEIK = to show, point out, indicate; and *PEIK = to scratch, cut, adorn, paint; SKT: pic = to cut, prepare, adorn; L: pingere = paint, picture;
depict, figure, indicate, paint, picture, pigment, teach
CONJUGATION
yoke together
L: coniugare = yoke together; from com- = with, together + iugare, join; from iugum, yoke; *YEUG = join;
adjoin, adjust, conjoin, conjunct, enjoin, disjointed, join, joint, junction, juxtapose, subjugate, subject, yoke, yoga…
CONNECT
knit together
L: connectere = fasten/tie together—from cum = together and nectere = to bind, tie, knit, join, and *NED = bind, tie; cf. *NEKWT = night; GK: nyx, L: nox, SKT: naktam = night—from *NEG = to be dark, night, and *NE = not;
neck, negative, night, not, nought
CONSEQUENCE
what follows-together from circumstance
L: consequi = to follow after, flow from (continuously, without a break), ensue; from com- = together + sequi = follow; cf. *SEKW = follow, and *SEK = cut - hence: the flow of what is cut together;
associate, circumstance, dissociate, execute, infer, persecute, persue, second, segue-way, sequel, sequester, subsequent, suite…
CONSILIENCE
concurrent, coincident leaping-together
L: consilient-, from com- = together + salire = leap, jump; L: saliens/GK: hallesthai = leap, flow, run; L: saltare = hop, dance;
assail, assault, salient, resilience…
CONSIDER
side with the stars
L: con- = together, with + sidus = star, constellation; L: consideratus = to inspect the stars; cf. AS: sid = long, what is extended, side;
disaster, side
CONSTRUCT
strew together
L: construere, constructus = to heap together, build, construe a passage—from con- = together + struere = heap up, pile up; cf. *SREU, *STER = to scatter, strew, spread out; cf. E: instruct = to scatter-into, to build-into;
instruct, instrument, destruct, strategy, structure, stress
CONTEMPLATE
cut together
L: contemplari = to observe, consider—from con- = together + templum = space marked out for observation (originally in the sky; cf. Heidegger’s definition: “to partition something off into a separate sector and enclose it therein”[15]—from L: con- = fully + *TEM = to cut; hence, fully cut off, separated, banished, cast out, abandoned; L: contemptus = scorn;
consider, contempt, dichotomy, temenos, temple, temperature, temperament, time, tome
CONTAIN
grasp together
L: continere = to contain—from con- = together + tenere = to hold, grasp, tension; cf. L: tendere = to stretch, from *TEN = stretch; cf. *TEM = to cut off; also cf. the double sense of E: content: as something contained, and as satisfaction; L: contentus = content; contentare = to satisfy, make content—possibly by holding together, or fulfilling; continuare = to connect, unite, make continuous; continuus = holding together; continere = to hold together, contain;
content, continent, continue, contend, temple, tend, tenon, tent
CONTEXT
woven together
L: contextus = a joining together, connection, order, construction; contextus = woven together—from com- = together + texere = to weave; *TECK/*TEKTH = connect, join; *TECS = weave, fabricate; GK: tecton = builder, carpenter, woodworker, master of art; techne = art, skill, know-how; technikos = pertaining to art;
architect, art, discriminate, fabricate, fabric, shuttle, tactic, technique, technology, tectonic, text, textile, tiller, warp, weave, weft
CONTIGUOUS
touching together
L: tig, tag, tactus, tangere = touch; see *TECK, *TEKTH = connect, join; cf. *TAG = grip, take (hold of); touch, handle, tap, tick, take, contact; cf. E: contingent = dependant on—in the sense of relating or touching; L: contingerre = to touch, relate to;
contact, context, touch, tactic, technique, technology, tectonic, text, textile
CONTOUR
turn together
L: tornare = to round off, turn—from *TERE = rub, turn; F: contour = “the compasse, or whole round of territory or ground, lying next unto and about a towne”[16]; I: contorno = circuit; contornare = to encircle, turn around something; L: tornare = polish, round off, fashion, turn on a lathe; GK: tornos = lathe, tool for drawing circles;
tower, turn
CONTRAST
withstand
L: contra = against + stare = to stand, front on to; F: contraster = to strive, withstand, contend against, contest; originally from con- = together + extra, exterus, extera parte = beyond, outside, extra, exceeding, supplementary; see *TER = limit, go through, turn;
exterior, limit, outside, perimeter, stand, tarry, term, territory, terror
CONTRIVE
imagine together
ME: controuen; OF: controver = to find, imagine, invent, hit upon; L: tropare = find out, devise (a song, poetry), compose; F: trouver = find, uncover; trope = figure of speech, turn of phrase; GK: tropos = turn, way, manner, musical mode—from *TREP = turn; F: trouver = to find, rime, versify; I: trovare = find, devise, invent, imagine, get, obtain, procure, seek out; L: tropare = compose;
retrieve, trope, turn
CONVENIENT
what comes together
L: conuenire = to come together, meet, suit—from uenire = to come, summon, assemble, arrive; conuergere = converge, from uergere = to turn, bend, incline; and conuersari, conuertere = to turn round (with); to change, to keep company with, associate with, talk with;
convene, convent, convention, converse, convert, diverge, verge
CONVEX
vaulted together
L: conuexus = convex, arched, vaulted; conuehere = to bring together—in the sense of uniting two sides or parts by way of an arch; from uerhere = to carry; cf. conuiare = to accompany on the way, to travel together—from uia = a way; uerhere = to carry, vehicle; *WEGH = to go, move, transport; *WEL = to turn, L: volvere = revolve;
convey, convoy, devolve, revolve
COPPER
from Cyprus
AS: copor, L: cuper, cuprum, cuprium aes = Cyprian brass—from GK: kuprios, kupros = Cyprus, where the Romans obtained copper; G: kupfer, F: cuivre = copper;
COPY
exceeding opulence
ML: copia = reproduction, transcript; abundance, ample supply, profusion, plenty; ME: copie = abundance; L: copia, copiosus, F: copie = copious, abundant, plentiful—from co- = together, exceedingly + op, opes = riches, opulence, abundant production;
cooperation, copious, cornucopia, manoeuvre, office, opera, operation, opulence, opus
CORBEL
raven’s beak
L: corbellum, corvellus, coruus, F: corbeau, OF: corbel = raven; I: corbella = a projecting bracket—in the shape of a raven’s beak; cf. L: corbis, F: corbeille = basket;
CORNER
horny excrescence
L: corneria, corna = corner, angle; cornu = horn, projecting point, excrescence; *KER = horn, head, growth—cf. L: crescere = grow, increase; cf. E: cornice, F: cornice, corniche = brow of a wall or pillar; I: cornice = ledge from which tapestries are hung; L: coronix = square frame; GK: koronis = wreath, crown – in the sense of crooked or curved; cf. E: cant, L: cantus = edge, corner, to tilt or incline, to turn upon an edge; L: canthus = border, edge, margin; GK: kanthos = corner of the eye, rim of a wheel;
cornice, corniche, corona, cranium, crown, excrescence, increase, horn
CORRECT
put right together
L: co- together + regere = to rule, regulate, order, set straight, put right—from *RG = move in a straight line; L: rectus = straight, upright; regere = to keep straight, regulate; regula = straight measuring stick, ruler—hence, to lead, rule; cf. *RE = reason, count; L: regionem = region, tract of land, district (as circumscribed by a limit, boundary, direction or cadastral line;
cadastral, boundary, horizon, ratify, ratio, reason, rectangle, rectilinear, rectitude, region, regulate, rhyme, right, rite, ritual, rule
CORRIDOR
racing gallery
L: currere = to run; I: corridore = runner, swift horse; long terrace or gallery; cf. L: cursus = course, race—from *KERS = to run; possibly also from co- = with and *REID = to ride, raid; cf. F: raide = stiff, straight and E: ready = prepared, suitably equipped, armed, at hand, readily available;
course, equipment (apparatus, decoration, gear, ornament), race, raid, ready, reed
COSMOS
world-distributed arrangement
GK: kosm- = distribute, arrange; kosmikos = relating to the world; kosmos = order, world, universe; S: qsm = divide, arrange, decide; cf. GK: kosmogonia, E: cosmogony—from gonia = engendering, begetting, becoming, production, creation: hence, ‘the manner in which the world is produced and created’; GK: kosmographia, E: cosmography—from graphein = describe, inscribe: hence `a description of the order of the world’; GK: cosmologia, E: cosmology—from logos = speech, legein = to speak: hence `an account of the order of the world’; cf. E: cosmetic, GK: kosmeo = I adorn, decorate;
adorn, order, ornament (apparatus, decoration, equipment, gear)
COUNTENANCE
self-gathering appearance
ME: countenaunce = appearance, face, bearing, demeanor, disposition, conduct; OF: contenance = look, face, geature, posture, behaviour, carriage; F: tenue; L: continentia = gesture, behaviour, demeanour; continere = to contain, preserve, maintain – hence, to comport oneself, to tend-together; from con- = together + tenere = hold, *TEN = to hold, grasp, stretch;
certain, contain, continent, detain, entertain, incontinent, intend, maintain, obtain, pertain, sustain, temple, temporal, tenable, tendril, tenement, tenet, tension, tendency, tenement, tent, tenure, time, tone…
COUNTRY
territory encountered over-against a viewing subject
ME: contree; I, L: contrada = country, region, territory (including the native people of that country, their customs and practices)—from contra = over against + terra = earth; G: gegend = country—in the sense of `what is opposite to the view’[17]; L: contrare = to place opposite; from
encounter, contrary, counter, territory
COURT
caught together
ME: cort, curt, OF: curt = enclosed space, tribunal, court, yard; L: cortem = hurdle, enclosure, cattle yard; cohort – from co, con = together + hort, hortus = garden; see GK: chortos = courtyard and *GHER = seize, grasp, gird, catch;
courtesan, courtesy, garden, yard
COVER
open up into concealement
L: cooperire = to cover—from co-= together + operire = shut, hide, conceal; cf. cooperate = work together—from L: operare = to work; opera = a work; opus, oper- = work, labour, toil; F: oeuvre = work, ouvrier = worker, ouvrir = to open; cf. E: manoeuvre—literally both `hand-work,’ and `thinking-work’; note the alliance between L: operire = to open and to shut; ME: open, ope, “literally `that which is lifted up;’ the metaphor being probably taken from the lifting of the curtain of a tent, or the lifting of a door latch; allied to AS: up—cf. the phrase luk Doren op, open the door, literally ‘lock the door up’”[18]; ope = riches, opulence—as released through an opening up; cf. *PER = passage to the limit, experience, produce, bring forth; L: pereo, perire = to leave, disappear, pass; F: deperir = to decay, wear down; ME: cuv, cove = den; AS: cofa = chamber; G: koben = cabin, coven; L: cubare = to lie down; hatch, brood; GK: kuphos = bent, curved;
cooperate, copy, cove, coven, covert, cube, curve, experience, paradise, periphery, incubate
CRAFT
discriminating performative strength
G: kraft = power, energy, strength, skill, dexterity, talent; GK: krataios = mighty; krateo = to use strength; kratos = great; SKT: kr = to make (skilfully); karayami = i cause to be performed; L: creatus, creare = make, create; creatura = creature—as `made’; GK: krites = judge, discriminator; cf. GK: panourgos = all powerful, all working, from ergon = energy; demiourgos = demiurge, creator; *GHER = desire, yearn, crave; grasp and *KER = grow, increase, magnify;
city, concrete, craft, crave, create, crescent, critic, discrimination, increase
Craft has four key meanings:
1. a destructive and constructive instrumentality tied to sound and light; a weapon proper to the implementation and inscription of order:
GK: keras = horn; krouo = to knock; qereu = to wound; L: crepare = to crack, rattle, crash, cry; F: crever = to burst, pierce; *KR, *KER, *GHR = incisive, penetrant; HB: charab = to destroy; charash = to scratch, engrave, plough; charah = to glow, grow warm, radiate;
corn, cornet, crevice, scream, hornet, graft, engrave, scratch, graze, score, scripture, scribe, character
2. the act of ordering by division and designation:
GK: techne = weaving, art; meros: meiromai = divide, apportion, allot, designate; HB: charash = fabricator, artificer; cheret = to engrave, stylus; charam = to designate, consecrate, dedicate; charak = to braid, entangle, bind;
architect, technology, technique
3. a hollowed-out or woven receptacle; a cavernous space; a region for proportionate combination and composition; a place of initiatic transformation:
L: crater = a bowl: GK: krater = a mixing bowl; krat = a basket; kerameus = potter; keramos = `ceramic' tile; kranion = skull; krupte = cellar; kruptos = concealed, secret; kruphe = private; HB: cheresh = magical, secret craft; choresh = forest, wood;
cranium, crate, crater, crypt, cryptic, grave
4. cunning and sophistry:
GK: panourgia = trickery, sophistry, cunning; HB: mirmah = deception, fraud, treachery, `craftiness’;
CREEK
crook
ME: cryke = creek, bay; Swedish: krik = bend, nook, corner, cove; D: krig = turn, bend, bending in; W: crig = crack; crygyll = ravine, creek; E: crink = a bend, crick in the neck; Norwegian: krenk = twist, sprain, crank; AS: crincan = to be bent up, rumpled, crinkled, to give way; cf. *KER = to make, increase; *QERP = to cut, shear; *QERT = to bind together, spin; *KWERF = to turn round; cf. GK: krupte = underground cave, crypt—as vaulted or curved; from kruptos = covered, concealed; kuphos = bent;
cover, crack, crank, cranny, renelated, crevice, crimp, cringe, crinkle, crook, crossing, crouch, crypt, wrinkle
CRISIS
decisive pivot
GK: krisis = turning point; imminent condition of change; from krinein = discriminate, separate, decide, judge; *KREI = to sieve, distinguish by separating; cf. *KER = grow, generate, create; L: creatus, past participle of creare = to make, bring forth, produce, procreate, beget, cause; crescere = arise, be born, increase, grow;
create, critic, criterion, discern, discreet, decree, discriminate, excrement, secret...
CROSS
crisis site
L: crux = cross_originally a gallows; crisis = a decisive point, moment; GK: krisis = separating, discerning, decision; krites, kritikos = judge; kriterion = test—cf. `the crux of the matter; cf. GK: stauros = stake, post (as instrument of punishment, pillar of atonement)—from *STHA = stand; L: crocia = hook; cf. E: cruise, cross, in the sense of crossing and traversing the sea;
HB: pereq = crossways - from paraq = to break, tear to pieces, scatter, deliver, redeem; *QER (SKT: kr, krt) = make, create, spin; GK: creon = ruler; cratus = power; L: crescere = grow, increase, cf. E: crescent; F: croître = increase; croissant = the increasing moon; cf. *QREU = to wound; SKT: krura(s) = wounded, raw; GK: kreas = raw flesh; L: crudus = raw; cf. GK: cruos = frost (crystal, crustacean). Icelandic: krus = cup, pot; cf. Christ = the annointed one, from GK: christos = annointed; chrio = touch, graze, rub, smear, anoint, consecrate; chrisma = an ungent; cf. E: charisma from GK: charis = graciousness, spiritual endowment, deliverance; GK: crusos = gold; chraomai = to furnish what is needed, to give an oracle, to touch or light upon; see also GK: cheir = hollowness for grasping, the hand, an instrument, means; chros = the body; cheo = to pour (through the idea of a channel); a storm (as in pouring rain), and by implication the rainy season, winter; and GK: chao = gaping interval, gulf, yawning chasm; space, room, territory, region—from *KHA/*GHIEH = gape, yawning gap, space;
chaos, chasm, crescent, crisis, criterion, criticism, crotchet, crucible, cruet, cruise, crypt, chrysalis, discriminate, gap, gape, increase, space, yawn
CRYPT
what conceals
L: crypta, GK: krupte = vault, crypt, underground cave; kruptos = hidden, covered, concealed; kruptein = to hide, conceal; cf. Heraclitus’ dictum, phusis kruptesthai philei: nature tends to hide;
cover, cross, cryptic
CUBE
centralised capacity for containment
L: cubum, GK: kubos = cube, die; *QAP = to seize, hold; GK: kupe = handle; AS: hebban = lift, heave; see *KHA = gape, yawn, space; and HB: *KB = excavation; capacity; measure; *KA = convulsive effort, expulsion, vomiting; *KHB = centralisation; cutting; *KHPH = curvature, concavity, inflexion, centralisation; capacity for containment, gathering, taking; the palm of the hand; cf. E: cabal, L: cabbala, HB: qabbalah = hidden science or mysterious doctrine; tradition; qabal = to take, receive; L: cubitus = a bend, elbow – the measure from elbow to middle finger; cubare = to recline, lie down;
cape, cave, cover, cubit, cup, cupola, incubate, Kabba
CULTURE
cultivate by cutting
L: cultura = cultivation; cultus, colere = to till; husbandry; cultivare = to till, work at – in the sense of improving and civilising; L: culter, cultellus = coulter, ploughshare, knife, cutlass; cultellarius = soldier armed with a knife; ME: culter, colter = knife, striker; F: couteau = knife;
civilisation, cult, cultivation
CURVE
crook
L: curuus; GK: kurtos = crooked, bent; L: curuare = to bend; ME: courbe, courben = to bend; cf. E: curb = check, restrain—literally `to bend,’ or submit by bowing down or bending the knees;
CURTAIL
cut short
L: curtus = docked, clipped; GK: kartos = chopped; *SKER, *QERF = shear, cut; *QER = to make, work, deed, create, increase; *QERT = to bind together, weave, fasten, hurdle; cf. F: accourcir = shorten, abridge; and court-tailler = to cut short; OF: court = short + L: aldo, G: walt = power; cf. curtilage = courtyard; OF: courtil = back yard; L: cortile = enclosure, small yard; cortis, cors = courtyard; cf. *GHER = grasp, enclose; *KER = horn, head; *KERD = heart;
bind, court, curtilage, cut, garden, shear, weave, yard
CURTAIN
enveloping undulation
L: cortina = small court, small enclosure, croft, rampart or curtain of a castle, hanging curtain round a small enclosure; L: cors = enclosed yard—with the allied sense of a surrounding border or frame; from com- = with, together + hort/hortus = garden, plot of ground—from *GHER = grasp, enclose;
HB: irioh = a hanging; *IOHR= that which surrounds and defends something, like the envelope of a seed, wood of the reed, skin of the body; a wood or forest destined to protect and preserve a habitation; cf. *HUR, in the dual sense of internal ardor and blindness;
hb: masak = cover, veil, hanging, curtain; masekah = a pouring over; masah = test, temptation, trial; mesuwkah = hedge—from suwk = entwine, shut in, fence, protect; sowkah = bough of interleaved branches; sakak = entwine, screen, fence, cover, protect; sak = thicket, crowd, multitude; sok, sukkah = hut (of entwined boughs), lair, cf. souk = market place; *SOU = roundness, curvature; *SOUH = veil, vestment which surrounds or envelops and undulates; *SCH = restriction, something round and closed for containing or covering, a sac, veil, cover; cf. Isaiah 40: 22, where God “stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain”; HB: doq = something thin, crumbling, or fine like a cloth; *DCQ = division by fracture; something rendered small or held by division; extreme subtlety; cf. skt: daca = fringe of a garment, tail;
city, light, dark, wake, watch
CYCLE
drive around
GK: kuklos, L: cyclus = circle, cycle; SKT: chakra = wheel, disc; GK: kuklon = whirling round; *QOL, *QWEL = to drive; *WEL = to turn, go; see WHEEL;
circle, wheel
NOTES
[1] Skeat: 95.
[2] Skeat: 88.
[3] Skeat: 102 and Online Etymological Dictionary: chancel, https://www.etymonline.com/word/chancel
[4] Online Etymological Dictionary, chaos: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=chaos
[5] Heidegger, M. Building, dwelling, thinking: 146-7.
[6] Apollo is a-pollon: unparted, undifferentiated. On the agonic in the Greek polis, see Vernant, J-P, Myth and Thought Amongst the Greeks; and in postmodernity, see Lyotard, J-F, The Postmodern Condition.
[7] GK: ploion = sailor/vessel; ploos = sail/navigation; pluo = to flow/plunge; pleuo = to plunge through water, to pass in a vessel; pletho = to fill/imbue: to fulfill (in time), to accomplish; allied to pleon = abundance (plural); pleroo = make replete/accomplish/fulfil (pleroma = what is filled: container/performance/period). FR: pluie = rain; pleurer = weep. Cf. GK: nao/neo = to float; nautes = boatman (Noah); and naos/naio = to dwell; fane/shrine/temple (navel, nave).
[8] Cf. *MT/MN: matter, metropolis, money.
[9] Cf. pell-mell = confusedly, promiscuously - literally stirred up with a shovel, from L: pala = flat spade, fire shovel (FR: pele) + mesle, from L: miscere = mix.
[10] GK: polos = pivot, hinge, axis, pole (pile, pillar, pilaster, pulley); L: pila = a pier or mole of stone; pelein = to be in motion - as motion around the poles; L: pellere = to drive (cf. pulse, from pulsus = a beating, throb, vibration - as driven; *QEL = to drive); GK: pelas, L: pellis = skin (FR: peau); *PEL = to flay, skin (pelt). GK: pilos = felt; L: pilus = hair; pilare = deprive of hair, to skin (pull, peel, pillage, pilfer); ME: pelf = to rob property; AS: fell = skin (film), cf. pall = cloak, mantle, shroud - from palla = mantle, loose dress. See note 47 above, and Plato, Cratylus: 405-6, for a definition of the name Apollo (aplous = the single one) in terms of the solar god’s 4 attributes: musician (omopolon = moving together, presiding over harmony); prophet (aplos = diviner; aplous = sincere); healer (apolouon = purifier, purger; apolon = destroyer); and archer (a ei ballon = everdarting - the archer who never misses).
[11] AS: pal, L: palus = stake, thin rod - cf. pale = narrow piece of wood for enclosing ground, an enclosure, limit, district (impale, palisade = enclosure of pales/poles; peel = wooden stockade, small castle; and pile = pointed stick, javelin - originally a pestle, from L: pinsere, SKT: pimsh = to pound; cf. pinch) - cf. pac- = to fasten; pacisci = to stipulate (pact).
[12] L: pollen, pollis, palea, puluis = dust (pulverise, powder, pullulate); GK: pale = powder, fine flour, sifted meal; L: palea = straw, chaff; FR: paille; cf. pallet = straw mattress or couch (palliasse); SKT: palala = straw; GK: polios = grey (pale, pall, pallid, appal); palaios = old, long ago (paleography, paleology); pale, palaien = to wrestle; palaiestra = wrestling school; palin = back, again (palimpsest = scraped [phestos] again); GK: pula, pule = gate; poloros = gate keeper. See Agamben, G. The Coming Community: 67: “the notion of the “outside” is expressed in many European languages by a word that means “at the door” (fores in Latin is the door of the house, thyrathen in Greek literally means “at the threshold”). The outside is not another space that resides beyond a determined space, but rather it is the passage, the exteriority that gives it access - in a word, it is its face, its eidos. The threshold is not, in this sense, another thing with respect to the limit; it is, so to speak, the experience of the limit itself, the experience of being-within an outside. This ek-stasis is the gift that singularity gathers from the empty hand of humanity.” See Heidegger, M. Building dwelling thinking: 154 - “A boundary is not that at which something stops but, as the Greeks recognised, the boundary is that from which something begins its presencing”.
[13] Skeat: 115.
[14] Skeat: 465-6.
[15] Heidegger, Science and Reflection, in The Question Concerning Technology: 165.
[16] Skeat, citing Cotgrave: 132.
[17] Skeat: 139.
[18] Skeat: 412.