vitrum = glass, words related to this root :)

A discussion of word histories and origins.
vaibhavd85
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vitrum = glass, words related to this root :)

Postby vaibhavd85 » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:26 am

Vitreous (adj): resembling or containing glass.
This word comes from the Latin root “vitreus” which means “glassy, transparent”. This root in turn is derived from Latin root “vitrum” which means “glass”. A term which is cognate to this root is “in vitro” which means “in glass”; you may have seen this term in relation to “in vitro fertilization”. Well there are two types of fertilization: one is “in vivo” (in the living system, in the life form) and other is “in vitro” (as the fertilization is done in Petri dish which is made of glass.)

Vitrify (V): convert into glass or a glass like substance by exposure to heat.
People you might have heard about a particular type of tiles that are quite famous these days, by name “vitrified tiles”, they are called so because they undergo a process called as “Vitrification” which gives them a shiny, glass like appearance. For more information about Vitrification follow this link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrification

Vitreous humor (N): the transparent jelly like tissue filling the eyeball behind the lens. It provides structural support to the eyeball and offers an unobstructed path for light to reach the retina. For more information about this fluid follow this link (especially you can check out the schematic diagram of human eye, to know exactly where the fluid is present in the eye).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitreous_humour

Was that helpful? Feedback, cognates, discussion expected.

Regards,
V

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Postby sluggo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:05 am

Very elucidating, V!
Your posts are a glass act. :roll: Keep it up.
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vaibhavd85
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Postby vaibhavd85 » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:22 am

Very elucidating, V!
Your posts are a glass act. :roll: Keep it up.
thanks, will do :) ...can u tell me some online courses, or formal courses to delve deeper in etymology ?

Regards,
V

sluggo
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Postby sluggo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:44 am

...can u tell me some online courses, or formal courses to delve deeper in etymology ?

Regards,
V
Would that I knew! Any pretense of such decree on my part would be vitreous - surely you have better resources already.

Checking my bookmarks, I seem to have only the Online Etymology Dictionary, the old "Origin of English Sayings" page (phrases here rather than words) and the similar Meanings and Sayings. I hope other Agoriacs will drop in with others.
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skinem
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Postby skinem » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:11 pm

They've been working for years on turning nuclear waste into a vitreous state so that it can more easily and safely be stored. You don't hear near as often about glass objects migrating toward ground water as you do liquid nuclear waste...

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Postby sluggo » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:05 pm

They've been working for years on turning nuclear waste into a vitreous state so that it can more easily and safely be stored. You don't hear near as often about glass objects migrating toward ground water as you do liquid nuclear waste...
Great. Nuclear waste will be showing up in car windows.
Doubles as an energy source, no fossil fuel needed!
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Postby Stargzer » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:44 pm

No, actually, volcanic glasses are among the more stable substances. The problem comes in the heat needed to form them. Some 25 or more years ago I was on business travel in Chicago watching the Today show. A professor from either George Washington University or American University, I forget which one now, came on to explain about that and about how they were experimenting with putting impurities into the glass mixture to lower its melting point so they could form the containers. They would then leach out the impurities, leaving the more stable volcanic glass vessel. David Hartman, the host, cut the professor off by saying "I don't think our listeners are interested in the technical details." Being a recent college graduate with a degree in Chemistry with an interest in the environment and nuclear waste I shouted "YOU @#$*ING IDIOT!" at the TV and never ever watched the Today show again.

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Postby Bailey » Tue Aug 07, 2007 5:19 pm

While we're on the subject of Geology why do they build hiways with sheer cliffs on one side? The very first thing I learned in Geology was that nature seeks a 32 degree angle, so why are they so shocked when rocks start to rain down on vehicles? Some people are so obsidian.

mark not-a-geologist Bailey

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Re: vitrum = glass, words related to this root :)

Postby gailr » Tue Aug 07, 2007 9:09 pm

Vitreous (adj): resembling or containing glass.

Vitreous humor (N): the transparent jelly like tissue filling the eyeball behind the lens. It provides structural support to the eyeball and offers an unobstructed path for light to reach the retina.
Ahhh, that explains glassy-eyed. :lol: Your posts are always interesting, vaibhavd85, keep them coming.

[gzer the chemist knows this] A college prof taught us that glass is not, technically, a solid, but rather a 'super-cooled liquid'. Further, the objects we were learning to create had no crystalline structure. For everything you ever wanted to know about glass chemistry but were afraid to ask, click here. Warning: it may leave you glassy-eyed.

Also, recycling broken plate windows for glassblowing is a penitential experience. They're not designed to expand and you'll see stars while trying to expand a vessel, not so safe around molten substances and 2400° flames... Recycled beer bottles, now, they worked fabulously, despite their...mmm...scarcity on campus.

-gailr

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Re: vitrum = glass, words related to this root :)

Postby sluggo » Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:27 pm

For everything you ever wanted to know about glass chemistry but were afraid to ask, click here. Warning: it may leave you glassy-eyed.
-gailr
yow :shock: (where's the emoticon for seizure)?
I just flashed on high school chemistry class.

Just reinforces the old maxim: "People who live in glass websites shouldn't throw bones"
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