Horology

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Dr. Goodword
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Horology

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Nov 14, 2021 5:45 pm

• horology •


Pronunciation: hê-rah-lê-jee • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass

Meaning: 1. The study of the measurement of time. 2. The art of making instruments that measure time, especially clockmaking and watchmaking.

Notes: Today's Good Word is based on horologe "a timepiece, hourglass or (sun)dial". It brings with it an adjective, horologic(al) and a personal noun, horologist "a timepiece maker".

In Play: This word refers to any device for measuring time: "I make decorative sundials for gardens. Is that horology?" It also refers to the most sophisticated time-measurers: "Swiss watchmakers, known for their accomplishments in haute horology, have designed a watch with nods to the playfulness of Looney Tunes while showcasing masterful technical prowess."

Word History: Today's Good Word is a creation of constituents of the ancient Greek lexicon: hor-a "hour, time, season" + log-os "word, idea, reason" + -ia, a noun suffix. Hora was passed down from PIE yer-/yor- "year, season", source also of English year, and German Jahr. English borrowed its hour, Spanish, its hora, and French, its heure "hour" from the Latin copy of Greek hora. Logos comes from that strange PIE word leg-/log-, which seems to have referred to both law and speech. We see it in the Latinate borrowings legal and legislate, on the one hand, and logic and loquacious on the other. It is usually presented as meaning "to gather, collect", because both laws and the words of language are collected. I think it goes back to the time when the word of the autocrat was the law. Neither theory has any hard evidence to support it. (Thanks again goes to George Kovac, a long-time contributor and avid participant in the Agora, for today's useful but seldom used Good Word family.)
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bbeeton
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Re: Horology

Postby bbeeton » Mon Nov 15, 2021 12:49 pm

The hora is also a circle dance, a folk dance known in Israel and several Balkan and Eastern European countries. The variations I'm familiar with progress counterclockwise and often feature a step known as the "grapevine".

I'd never before made an etymological connection, but It makes sense.

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Re: Horology

Postby George Kovac » Tue Nov 16, 2021 12:58 am

The Royal Museums Greenwich, just outside London, contain over 1000 horological objects, including John Harrison’s prize-winning 18th century timepiece, “H-1.” Visit the museums’ website just to see how many times the adjective “horological” can appear in a single paragraph. Or read Dava Sobel’s excellent book about Harrison’s horological challenge in “Longitude,” which explains why it was so critical to navigation to invent a portable precision timepiece. In sailing, as in comedy, timing is everything.

The word is not without expanded usage. The switch in and out of daylight savings time or the adoption of the leap year could be described as “horological events.” The Aztec calendar is an exercise in gnostic horology. A recent car review praised the precise timing of the transmission by noting that “The gear meshes are practically horological.” Happy as I was to see the word appear in a major newspaper, I think the usage was a bit off: “horological,” IMHO (in my horological opinion), is neutrally descriptive of things relating to the measurement of time, but the car reviewer seems to think the word implies “precision” or “excellence” in such matters.
Last edited by George Kovac on Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Every battle of ideas is fought on the terrain of language." Zia Haider Rahman, New York Times 4/8/2016

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Slava
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Re: Horology

Postby Slava » Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:21 am

The switch out sand out...

:?: switch out sand out :?: Is this a way of saying Spring forward, Fall back?
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Re: Horology

Postby Debbymoge » Tue Nov 16, 2021 12:20 pm

Slava, I've never heard that saying, "switch out sand out".
Can you give me any examples of usage?
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Slava
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Re: Horology

Postby Slava » Tue Nov 16, 2021 12:29 pm

That was how it was in the original post, but it's been edited now. I thought it was something I'd never come across before, not merely a typo.
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