Limnology

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Limnology

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Aug 21, 2022 10:24 pm

• limnology •


Pronunciation: lim-nah-lê-ji • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: The scientific study of freshwater bodies, especially lakes.

Notes: Today's word comes with the complete panoply of lexical relatives that come with all nouns on -ology. The adjective is limnological, and the adverb is limnologically. We call someone engaged in this study a limnologist. A limnometer is a gadget for recording the level of a lake and limnophilous refers to organisms that prefer living in ponds or lakes.

In Play: Limnology is encountered far less often than oceanography even though it is the freshwater equivalent of oceanography. What would make someone want to go into this field? Maybe this: "An active swimmer who loves the lake behind his house, after graduation Ford Rivers decided to take on graduate work in limnology."

Word History: The term limnology was coined by François-Alphonse Forel (1841-1912), famous for his studies of Lake Geneva. Forel combined Greek limne "pool, marsh, lake" with -ology "study of", from Greek logos "word, idea". Limne is related to Latin limus "mud", derived from PIE (s)lei-m-/(s)loi-m- "slime, slimy, slippery", source also of English slime, lime and loam, German Schleim "slime", Icelandic slím "slime", Scottish Gaelic sleamhainn and Irish sleamhain "slippery", Dutch slijm "slime, phlegm", Norwegian slim "mucus", and Latin linere "to smear". With other suffixes we find Russian sliz' "slime, mucus", Bulgarian sluz "mucus", and Icelandic slétt "smooth". (Today's fascinating but little known lexical gem was discovered by Maureen Koplow who, thankfully, shared it with us as today's Good Word.)
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Slava
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Re: Limnology

Postby Slava » Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:39 am

Interestingly, not related to limn (seen here and here on the Agora).
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Re: Limnology

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue Aug 23, 2022 3:19 am

Limnology is a new word to me. I will use it. I note the kinship with slime and indeed a limpid pond might get slimy. My experience is with small man-made ponds created by putting a dirt dam across a usually dry creek here in the hinterlands. We call them tanks as a local name. We also call concrete reservoirs tanks, so we lack specificity. My paternal grandfather had inherited some money, so, instead of letting it burn a hole in his pocket, he bought a large farm in central Texas on the Clear Fork of the Brazos. There he erected a dirt dam across the river and created a small lake. Pumps were used to distribute the water as irrigation of farmland. He shared this enterprise with his neighbor. It worked wonderfully for several years. Then there was a heavy rainfall up the river and the water rose so high behind the dam that it flowed around the dam thus destroying it. Granddaddy sorrowfully moved his family back to the big thicket in east Texas where he rejoined a logging crew.
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Re: Limnology

Postby David Myer » Tue Aug 23, 2022 7:08 am

Great family story, Philip. I am growing fond of your relatives.

And, limnology has nothing to do with liminal threshholds (I will have two consecutive h's if I so please).

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Re: Limnology

Postby Philip Hudson » Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:22 am

David, I only expose you to the nice, intelligent ones. one of my formerly expats to Australia relatives is visiting me at present. My Australian born aunt has long returned to Australia. You are now my closest link.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: Limnology

Postby David Myer » Thu Aug 25, 2022 3:37 am

It's an honour, Philip.


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