Register Log In Wordsmith Talk Forums (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) Words from medicine obtund Search Advanced Forum Search Forums Calendar Active Threads

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread obtund #121177 01/24/2004 11:09 PM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 In salvage vs. selvage, I was reminded of using a sewing machine. When I was first married I asked my wife to mend a shirt. She told me to learn to use the sewing machine. So I did. Twenty years later she was asking me to show her which way the bobbin went into the shuttle. With the thread exiting at an obtuse angle, naturally. Obtuse reminded me of "obtund" = relieve "acute" pain. Source: The Collins English Dictionary © 2000 HarperCollins Publishers: obtund [ɒb'tʌnd] verb [transitive] (rare) to deaden or dull [ETYMOLOGY: 14th Century: from Latin obtundere to beat against, from ob- against + tundere to belabour] ob'tundent adjective, no Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obtund #121178 01/24/2004 11:41 PM Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California jheem veteran jheem veteran Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California But you were on the right track, Doc. L. obtundo, obtundere, obtudi, obtusum (also obtunsum) 'to beat (on), thump; to stun, deafen, annoy, importune'. In traditional Latin grammar, verbs are given in four forms in the dictionary from which the rest of the verbal paradigm (or conjugation) should be recreatable: first person singular present indicative, infinitive, first person singular present perfect, and finally the neuter past particple. In the example above: 'I thump', 'to thump', 'I have thumped', 'thumped'. Same idea worked for the nominal paradigm (or declension): cite nominative singular and genitive singular, and the rest follow. (Sometimes there are exceptions, and those would be listed, too, after the four (or two) paradigmatic examples. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: obtund #121179 01/25/2004 12:27 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 wwh Carpal Tunnel wwh Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 13,858 You incidentally reminded me of the buzzword "paradigm shift"/. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen UBBT77 UBBT77 - Dark ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith Talk