|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
T. E. Lawrence: manticratic - of the rule by the prophet's family/clan
The position of the Sherif of Mecca had long been anomalous. The title of 'Sherif' implied descent from the prophet Mohammed through his daughter Fatima, and Hassan, her elder son. Authentic Sherifs were inscribed on the family tree - an immense roll preserved at Mecca, in custody of the Emir of Mecca, the elected Sherif of Sherifs, supposed to be the senior and noblest of all. The prophet's family had held temporal rule in Mecca for the last nine hundred years, and counted some two thousand persons.
The old Ottoman Governments regarded this clan of manticratic peers with a mixture of reverence and distrust. Since they were too strong to be destroyed, the Sultan salved his dignity by solemnly confirming their Emir in place. This empty approval acquired dignity by lapse of time, until the new holder began to feel that it added a final seal to his election.
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
definitely.
so, to make this a 'Q about words' (if there's a definitive 'A' I'll petition to move the thread), is this an example of a hapax or merely a nonce-word? I just can't seem to get this straight.
-joe (hello fodder) friday
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
hello fodder Ha--second good laugh I've had here today!  Whoa--nonce once (eee, say that ten times real fast) meant 'the one':
It’s an uncommon word outside dictionary making. It usually turns up in the fossil phrase “for the nonce”, meaning temporarily.
It’s recorded right back into medieval times but was originally created by mistake. It was at first then anes, meaning for the one purpose or occasion, where anes is a variant form of one and then is a defunct form of the. But people misunderstood where the break between words came, and turned then anes into the nanes (said, I think, as though it was spelt nanse). Eventually this evolved into the nonce. (This isn’t the only word known to have been transformed in this way; for example there’s newt, which was at first an ewt, and nickname, which started life as an eke name.)
The use of nonce in the sense in which I employed it seems to have begun with the compilers of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. In fact, the entry under nonce in the Second Edition cites the editors themselves: “nonce-word, the term used in this Dictionary to describe a word which is apparently used only for the nonce”. From .Quinion's World Wide Words hapax: word which occurs only once http://phrontistery.info/h.html Hmm--I tried mant- and manti- with no luck; then I saw a listing for mantic, and lo and behold: mantic
SYLLABICATION: man·tic
PRONUNCIATION: mntk
ADJECTIVE: Of, relating to, or having the power of divination; prophetic.
ETYMOLOGY: Greek mantikos, from mantis, seer. bartleby.com And if neither Onelook nor Google finds the word manticratic (other than G's 'Seven Pillars' listings), far be it from me to say it's not a nonce-hapax. [light bulb] mantis, seer Thus, praying mantis!! I had always supposed that mantis was just some scientific name for bug.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,916
Posts230,438
Members9,211
| |
Most Online17,319
Apr 8th, 2026
|
|
|
|
