Both Flesh and Not: Essays

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sopor—abnormally deep, lethargic sleep sordino—a mute for an instrument soricine—looking like a shrew sorrel—fancy greens for salad sortilege—sorcery, witchcraft, divination sough (n.) — a soft murmuring or rustling sound; (v.) to make such a sound… wind, surf, leaves souk—open-air Arab market spagyric—relating to or resembling alchemy spall—chip or flake of rock or ore spanakopita—Greek spinach pie spandrel—triangular space between arch’s exterior curves and the rectangular framework around it spathic—having good cleavage (used of minerals) spavined (adj.) — marked by destruction, ruin; junkyard full of spavined cars speleology—study of caves (“speleothems”) spirituel—having a refined mind or wit spoliation—plundering or despoiling Sprachgefühl—“feeling for language” sprat—small edible fish stanchion—upright pole, post, or support sternutation—sneezing, a sneeze sternutatory—causing sneezing stertor—a heavy snoring sound in respiration stob—short piece of wood-like stake; Southern stridulation—noise produced by moving body parts, like crickets and locusts succor—assistance in time of distress supernal—coming from or related to heavens, celestial; q.v. “supernally” as sarcastic adverb sural—of or relating to calf of leg surbase—baseboard suspire (v.) — to sigh susurration—soft whispering sound sutler—army camp follower who sold provisions to soldiers swage—tool used in bending or shaping cold metal swanskin—any of several flannel or cotton fabrics with a soft nap tailing—refuse after ore has been processed talus—sloping pile of loose stone at base of cliff; also “anklebone” tangram—intricate Chinese puzzle w/squares and diagonals tarantism—disorder where you have uncontrollable need to dance tardive (adj.) — having symptoms that develop slowly or appear long after inception; used of disease tarn—small mountain lake formed by glacier tatterdemalion—a ragamuffin, person wearing ragged clothing taxon—a taxonomic group like phylum, class, species tellurion—a device that shows how the movement of earth on its axis and around sun causes night & day & seasons tenebrosity—gloominess, darkness tenesmus—urgent but ineffectual attempt to pee or shit thallophyte—algaeish super-simple plants w/no differentiation between root, stem, leaf thrombus—clot in blood vessel or heart toby—a drinking mug in the shape of a stout man wearing a three-cornered hat toile—sheer fabric like linen or cotton trecento sent st — the 14th century, esp. w/r/t Italian art and lit treillage—decorative trellis for vines tremolo—like vibrato, a tremulous event produced by rapid repetition of a single tone trencherman—gour mand, hearty eater trepan—rock-boring tool used for sinking shafts in mining tribade (n.) — lesbian tribology—study of friction, lubrication, and wear of surfaces in relative motion trichoid—resembling hair