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Re: Esplementary Angle
Posted:
Jul 27, 1999 11:32 PM
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In article <32r65cnkd5dl@forum.swarthmore.edu>, Steve.Wells@think3.com
(Steve Wells) wrote:
> You had proposed REMANENT, but said it would be nice to have a term
> that "rhymes" with the existing two. I was reviewing the language in
> the CAD software (thinkdesign) my company produces, because our
> company, think3, started in Bologna, Italy 18 years ago and most of
> the development work still occurs there. Some of the language needs to
> be adjusted from Italian English to American English. Within the
> software and the tutorial materials, I found the term ESPLEMENTARY
> used to represent an angle which completes a given angle to 360
> degrees. Discussion with the folks in Italy implies that the usage is
> not particularly rare.
>
> The word "esplementary" comes from the Latin "explementum" meaning
> "filling" or "stuffing". I've searched over the Net for a suitable
> term for filling to 360 degrees, including your discussion with Mr.
> Keyton of Dallas (copy below). Your discussion was about as good as it
> got. Based on that, and the desirability of the rhyming ending, I am
> approving the continued usage of esplementary within thinkdesign
> software....
I haven't seen what was in the earlier discussion you mention, but
it's an interesting idea to have such a word to go with complement (90
degrees minus the angle) and supplement (180 degrees minus the angle).
The Latin prefix "ex-" often changes to "es-" in Italian, but usually
stays as "ex-" in English. In fact the Oxford English Dictionary lists an
old word "explement" meaning "that which fills up", but mentions no
mathematical use of it. It could nevertheless have been used
mathematically, as the O.E.D. is still working on improvements to its
listings of technical terms.
So if there's a similar Italian word, then "explement" or
"explementary angle" seems to me quite suitable in English, using "x"
rather than "s".
Ken Pledger.
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