From: mdhangton@gmail.com
Brian M. Scott wrote:
> On Sun, 10 May 2015 13:15:00 -0400, William Vetter
> wrote
> in in
> rec.arts.sf.composition:
>
>>>>> aileuromorphic
>
> Should be , to match other similar
> compounds, or , if you want to use a more
> accurate transcription of Greek αἴλουρος (ailouros) as
> basis; there’s no basis for .
>
Nevertheless, the only way I've seen it spelled in print has eu in it.
>
>> Some of them are not in 2nd Ed. OED., but there are no
>> subsitutes.
>
> The OED has in lieu of the more recent
> . The only one that it lacks altogether is
> , the OED does have its Latinate
> counterpart, .
>
When I look feliform up, it doesn't say anything like "(esp. in
relation to a deity)," so I don't think it's equivalent.
>> The last 2 refer to parts of extended hind foot of
>> animals of order Carnivora.
>
> Among other things. Both metatarsals and metacarpals are
> metapodia, and mammals in general (and some reptiles) have
> calcanea.
>
Metapodia is the _collection_ of foot-bones that, when elongated by
Evolution, result in the long hind feet of carnivores, and also the
only word for the part of the hind feet exclusive of the toes, which
toes digitigrade animals walk upon. Calcaneus is the name of the
heelbone, and also a word for heel, the only effective word for the
heel-end of the metapodia.
I have a bunch of dictionary programs that are supposed to be based on
the OED database. One of them is similar to the 2nd OED. The closest
word it gave me was "metapodialia", as the collection of foot-bones.
But it is not the word for the part of the animals' foot that, in
comparative anatomy, is linked to its mode of hunt, its speed and gait,
its posture, its aboreality, the grasping ability.... The development
of the musculature and connection points of the ligaments in the
metapodia is involved with the degree to which the toes will curl. So
the sense of metapodia is important.
>> The 1st is similar in meaning to teliomorphic and is used
>> to describe godesses Bastet and Bubasis.
>
> Bubastis was an Egyptian city; its Egyptian name
> means ‘House of Bast’, and it was,
> unsurprisingly a centre of worship of Bast(et).
> is a later form of her name, with a redundant feminine
> suffix <-et> -- the <-t> of was already a feminine
> suffix -- but I believe that it’s the one most often used
> by Egyptologists; in fiction I’ve more often.
>
> Brian
In my understanding, Bubastis is the form of Bastet that was adopted
into the Isis cult exported to the Roman Empire, in that case
considered to be an incarnation of Isis. Bastet was the cat-headed
goddess in Ancient Egypt, often depicted with her four kittens at her
feet. Bubastis was associated with cats in the later Isis cult; they
were her symbol and black was her special color. This cult persisted
into Medieval times especially among rural folk, and eventually the
Catholic Church identified it with witchcraft, launching an inquisition
to stamp it out. This witch hunt decided cats, especially black ones,
as demons and witches' familiars, the burning of cats and their
owners...the extermination of village cats throughout Christendom was a
factor that enabled the Black Plague.
Such is the importance of the goddess Bubastis in the history of the
cat's role in civilization.
Public Librarians in America have told me that the OED Online is too
expensive for them. I would need to take a train to Stony Brook to
read OED volumes in Univ. Library. I try OED-like programs on my
computer, and, if the words don't come up, then they seem obscure to
me.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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